#which probably means its only $2 more but still. but still .

[otterloreart]

Steps of creating a 3D model replica from scratch

trace photos of character from available and cleanest angles. attempt to get a 90 degree*, front and back, side profile and straight on of the face. save additional reference photos such as bottom of body, back, and various extra angles without tracing which may help reference later on.

*more on angles later, but trying to get a 90 degree from each side is the most realistic and practical option if you dont actually have the character you're copying

2. block out the body and head

and by block i mean, yeah, its made out of elaborate rectangles

4 aha, you thought I would hand sculpt those? no. no. I used the curve tool to add these swirls. And yes i exactly traced them over the drawings to match the original as best as possible. The end of the curve tool is flat by default so I added a few spheres to make the ends nice and round. (there is absolutely a way to make the ends of curves rounded but I did not feel like looking it up or messing with the settings)

this wasn't mirrored to the other side- I traced both sides of the body and the front from photos and sculpted the swirls for each side. I couldn't get a single photo of the swirls at the butt area so I just winged it.

6 I am struggling to not make Cha Cha look angry.

I feel like the eyes are basically traced off the original and yet she looks so much grumpier. maybe it just needs to be smoothed out?

I added a little definition to the area around the eyes and I do think it looks a little better. The more definition I add in this stage the better, because I prefer this to sculpting. However, if you're more adept at sculpting you would probably not make this as detailed.

7 Here she is after smoothing everything out in sculpt after remeshing, in both Eevee (left) and Cycles (middle/right). still trying to figure out how best to render things. For some reason her nose ended up lighter in cycles but i cant be bothered to fix that rn

On the previous step I made the elements of her face + ears mirrored but once I start sculpting I'm not using the mirror tool. In fact nothing ends up mirrored, even the back right foot is slightly shifted in position.

this is probably not even the final version, I think i might redo the smooth/sculpt part and fiddle with the underlying shapes (basically go back a step)

Cha Cha's face. is one of the most difficult things to sculpt. It is extremely difficult to understand the shape of the underlying sculpt because there aren't any photos of her with the eye paint removed. There are so few of her out there I don't think anyone would willingly remove the paint to make a custom or anything unless it was in truly awful condition, and I dont think that has ever happened.

I have saved dozens of references from a number of different sites- these pics here are from etsy, the above was from the wiki. Her eyes are different from every single other pony and pony and friends- they're so bulging, so round, the eyelashes are longer. It's wild.

I can only see all the things that are wrong with it.

It's basically impossible to get something like this 100% perfect unless you have like, a set of turnaround photos all from the same angle that you can match up to the camera. You can basically overlap references with the camera view but you will never know the exact angle so if you make edits from multiple angles like this you'll inevitably not match each angle and then have to go back and adjust the angles and then you're fiddling with it infinitely. That's why I usually go for the "trace 4 angles and make the rest up as you go along" method.

I don't want to spend _too_ long on every model I make- the Takara pony which took 6 months really shows how far down the rabbit hole I will go with something like this, and it's just not practical. But I think with a slight amount of fiddling I can match the reference a little better.

[cl-0v3r]

What if Mel took her mothers side as to know what her true plans are? What if Mel "foxed" her way in to know why, who, how, everything? What if Mel doesn't KNOW what she is, or at least what "blessed" blood she has running in her veins, but something happens that leaves her questioning??

What if she didn't even know her gold was actually "armor" and thats when she decided she needed to jab more information?

What would Ambessas reaction be towards this information? If this is a sudden change, will she have doubts? (Probably), will she accept this flip of character? Is she the one that initiated this change after the problems happening finally got to her daughter?

What if Ambessa kept denying telling her the truth for the sake of protecting her, which could lead them to truly part and become enemies? Which means Mel would be further from finding the truth, so instead, she agrees to go back to Noxus with Ambessa, so she could find not only ways to take her mother down (as in break her course of plans set for everything in the timeline) but also to gain knowledge over everything related about THEM (including kino) ??

We don't know if Mel is aware of her abilities or not yet, so if she didn't, is she willing to go that far to know? Would she go to that extent to strengthen herself against her mothers weaknesses? To be fair, thats what Medardas do, do they not?

Im so desperate to know why Mel would wear similar to her mother, which is noxian war attire, we know Mel wants to part ways from her family, or at least part from their ideals and paths, so why would she suddenly change her course of action and head for that road?

I feel like she wouldn't do such a thing for the sake of going back, but has an intention to use it against Ambessa or against an enemy of hers/theirs.

Makes me curious too, as stretchy as this is, did she meet with Kindred??? Was she at a near-death experience like how Ambessa was?

If she's truly going back to Noxus, would she be a dictator like Ambessa?

I still HEAVILY believe that Black Rose/LeBlanc is the main enemy for the Medardas in s2, and we know that she can transform into ANYONE, right? What if that isn't even Mel, but LeBlanc? What if LeBlanc SPOKE to Mel as leverage to get to Ambessa? And Mel being probably vulnerable at that moment, allows herself to follow along?

Or, what if Mel knew about LeBlanc (in the timeline of season 2) , or has an idea of what her intentions are, and manipulates her way through, and kills two birds with one stone? LeBlanc is a master manipulator, but is Mel really that weak?

Mel, from my understanding, is not the type of character to make quick decisions and changes (like Jayce for example/non-neg). She thinks, about the present and the future, but when it comes to her family, the past always lingers in her mind, which is why it takes her so long to decide what to do. She tried endlessly to find a way around violence & war, past memories of such still haunt her, I don't think Mel would want to be a fighter, or one to accept a fight in such way.

That would be the final resort to something with no other solution. But there is always a CATCH to that.

In s1, Mel recommended the creation of hextech weaponry as an act of self defense, a final resort incase something happens, but is that REALLY just for protection against inner attacks? Elora mentioned to Mel that piltover looked vulnerable before that, do you think its ONLY their friends abroad who noticed? And immediately after she'd handed her the letter. Its safe to say Mel wasn't just preparing for Zauns bite, but the bites from outer threats. "I wanted to protect the city from people like you." Yeah, THAT was the catch, a stronger reason.

so if Mel went back to Noxus, or took Ambessas place, or just stood by her side, is it REALLY for her? Or is there some other thing affecting her descisions? Again, I don't think Mel would take off the ring, cover the painting of home with her color, go through this major character arc/development just to go sit in her mothers lap and let her caress her head because "nothing worked". That's genuinely not Mel, neither how it works ESPECIALLY in artistic fiction such as this.

Those things have SO many meanings, them being "erased" feels like poor writing, thats not what arcane does.

Mel is strong, she'd pushed and pushed and pushed so far for her ideals, her hopes and dreams, all of this is what makes her Mel. Even though she'd faced never-ending problems trying to find solutions, she still pushed herself so far. Is she willing to sacrifice herself after reaching such a point? Is the sacrifice worth it in the end? Will it benefit what she wants for her city and people? I don't think that's something she'd do UNLESS there's a catch to it that counters the effects.

To choose the Medardas path feels as if she weakened/gave up herself, shattered like glass, OR, she'd made herself stronger by being weak at the beginning, and gaining strength by the end to bend the rules, to understand the space to shift it. Which is why I don't think its permanent long-lasting decision, it's more of a "let it bleed until it stops, then bandage everything together well" sort of thing.

Mel is going suffer with her weaknesses in s2 like all of them will, that is important, but what really matters is that will she LEARN from her mistakes? Is she going to act upon said weaknesses?

They could quite literally make Mel end the Medarda problem without raising a hand if they wanted, or they could have her suffering in abseloute agony down in the basement (I hope not) 24/7, and there's still a space in between too.

Mel is probably the last heir of the Medarda clan, will she be able to break the cycle? Its all down in her hands, what is she going to do? What is she planning?

I still have so many questions, they never end, they're all ALLOVER the place, I literally can't even think straight, one minute I think of something, the other i think of something else. Its that crazy 😭

Part of me doesn't want to see Mel change, well, at least not a lot. change is very inevitable in the show and even the writers stated that in s2, the characters will be in the dark depths, but seeing the possible change of currents, drifting away from her core which made me love her so much is a little upsetting, but I will forever love her nonetheless, whatever she partakes in the future is for me to follow !!!!

Truth is, im scared, anxious, worried as all hells, all the characters are going through various changes, we already know how viktor is going to change, going against his previous dreams. Him slowly coming to an acceptance with death, only to become something that isn't even close to a living being at all. His dream to help the undercity lead him to do harsh things to them, which is unfortunately the only way he knows to help. Mel, who parallels Viktor, is she ought to fall into the same fate? Or is the parallel going to be opposite of what he has become? If he is going back to Zaun, his homeland, doing all of these things, will she go back to her own? And do something similar? Or will she stay in piltover and continue to pursue the approach of Mercy and peace?

How will this affect her relationship with others? What would Jayce think? Elora? The remaining council? Most of all, Ambessa?

I don't want all of the answers to these questions, but I just hope some of them get answered, I have high hopes for s2, i can't wait to see if anyone's theories turn out correct or close to cannon!

[cosyvelvetorchid]

So here’s where we’re currently at with it, lol!

Sorry for the delay. Technically I did finish it but it wasn’t enough—it needed fleshing out more and more inner monologues.

Which basically means that the smut portion (honestly i feel like the most beautiful love scene I think I’ve ever written) has ended up at over 5k words!

Anyway, I just need to finish the end portion which will probably only be 2 or 3k more words so won’t take too long. It will definitely be up by this evening (Nov 3rd) UK time.

**********

Here’s another little sneak peak for you 🩶

———

• Listen, Tommy was an exceptionally humble man—never a braggart or particularly egotistical, but he’d been with enough men, experienced enough men, who put him on a pedestal that he could tell when they couldn’t quite believe that Tommy Kinard had kissed them.

Which, in all honesty, baffled Tommy. He was a 40 year old man, with a childhood full of trauma, a 10 year stint in the military that left him with some, at times, really fucking gnarly PTSD—both of which he was still unpacking in therapy; a house that, although he owned, was fixing up at a far slower rate than he had wanted, which continuously had it looking like a building site and not the most calming of spaces to come home to after a tough day work. He had a father he hadn’t spoken to for almost 10 years, a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda in his garage that he could never find the time to actually bring back to its former glory and a cat with an incontinence problem.

All in all, Tommy was not the man that so many others seemed to admire.

And yet.

Evan Buckley was looking at him as though Tommy had reached into his soul and rearranged the atoms that made up his whole self•

So I’ve done that thing again.

Was supposed to be writing a ficlet as part of @bucktommypositivityweek bingo (I’m behind as I was sick for 2 days) and I’ve ended up with over 6k words and I’m probably only just over the halfway mark.

Oops.

It’ll more than likely be up here and ao3 at some point today (Nov 2nd) as a big fat one shot.

Here’s a little sneak peek because I love you bloody weirdos in my phone and you deserve all the nice things 🩶

P.s it’s a Halloween themed alternate meet au (No corpses were harmed in the making of this story)

****

“Oh, uh, this is Tommy. I didn’t think you’d mind I brought someone? Figured as he’s former 118 it’d okay?”

She didn’t wait for him to answer and walked straight to the kitchen to get a beer.

“I’m trying to train Lucy to be more polite but it doesn’t seem to be working.” Tommy informed him .

“You should try tequila.” Buck advised

“Thanks for the tip.” Tommy smiled. “But really I hope it’s okay? I’m not crashing your party am I? Evan? That’s your actual name? Or is Buck?”

“Uh, Ev-Evan is fine.” He said having no idea why. “And no-no, you’re not crashing. Although, you’re not wearing a costume.” He furrowed his brows as he looked up and down Tommy’s body.

“I’m dressed as someone who just got off a 48 hour shift.” He said deadpan.

“Ah. Now you say that I can totally see it. Very original.” Buck remarked.

“I’m known for my originality.” Tommy replied with a smirk. Buck smiled and was it getting hot in his apartment? He should turn on the AC.

[dariusaurs]

i think dinostar is such an interesting ship right now even if i've kind of turned away from it after this season. the problem is that it's complicated, and fandoms historically don't like nuanced situations or takes. i don't think it's fair to say darius is putting brooklynn on a pedestal, since from his perspective, she hasn't done anything wrong, and kenji has been framed as this unfair partner to her. it does feel like his feelings are very immature and more of an infatuation right now ("if he loved you half as much.."/"unless?"), especially when you compare them to kenji's own feelings for brooklynn - his girlfriend who he's loved for 6 years - but that isn't a horrible thing, it's just different. i do completely understand if people dislike the ship right now, and even criticize darius' way of handling the accidental confession, but i just think people have been way too harsh on all three of them without being willing to see that all of their perspectives are different

[skitskatdacat63]

Please save me, I'm reading a reddit thread about Seb vs Max(bcs Tost said he thought Seb would win out), and none of these people know how good Seb was in his prime

[raskies456]

GRE today…..

[emdotcom]

Tbh, can't believe I'm cutting ties with Fnaf before Batim.

[hearts401]

okay posting these on their own actually

[carcarrot]

another new good job listing....... do i go for it

[thevalleyoftriumph]

im beginning to think that i am mentally ill and the internet makes my mental illness Worse

[lucalicatteart]

Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 6: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression

(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)

The winning option of yesterday's poll was that the adventurer should ask the Innkeeper about the suspicious egg he got from the Well Creature….

-

After finishing his food scraps, he awkwardly creeps back over to the main counter, pulling up a stool and just hoping the Innkeeper will eventually make eye contact with him... She finally looks to the side whilst cleaning a glass, his chance to blurt out whatever he can.

"SO!- uh,, I um... I found something weird, or uh.. I didn't find it actually, I guess, I..... s-someone, or something.. gave it to me, as maybe..? a reward, or.. oh, well i-it doesn't matter why.. but UH, but so, I was just wondering, d-do you think you might know anything about it? about like, uh... stuff? Objects.. perhaps.....?"

She stares with equal parts amusement and concern, crossing her arms and letting out a soft chuckle, "Well, I've seen quite a variety of things while working here, so - Yeah, I could try to help you identify an item, if that's what you're asking."

"G-good. Okay. Well.. It's, uh..... this." He's barely even placed the little wooden egg box up on the counter before she's already slamming the lid shut and reaching over to force it back into his bag. Suddenly serious, her eyes dart around the room, scanning to ensure no-one else happened to notice.

"Don't EVER let anyone see you with that, okay??". Abrupt tone shift making him even more nervous, he just stares blankly, muttering a few gibberish noises whilst nodding at her in confirmation.

"I mean, I'm not absolutely certain," her voice lowers as she speaks, "but to me it looks exactly like a Caiploras egg. Those animals have been nearly extinct for at least a hundred years. Only tiny groups of them still exist here and there, and even those eventually get wiped out as soon as they're discovered. Kings and nobles used to hunt them, especially for the eggs, 'cause of all the theories - unique magical properties, uses in enchanting, shit like that.. I don't really know, I'm not that experienced with magic.... But.."

She pauses for a few seconds to stare him down (this does not soothe his anxiety at all), examining intently, as if to determine whether he's actually trustworthy before continuing..

"...My brother is. He's a mage, and a scholar, and he specializes in stuff like this, all these rare animals and whatnot. He'll hate me just sending a complete stranger over there, but.. I think you should go see him. He'd definitely be able to identify it- hell, he'd probably even pay you for it, if it really is what I think it is. And, he'd know how to take care of it properly, raise it well, not just cut it up for fucking potions or whatever...", she scoffs bitterly.

Grasping at a nearby napkin to fan himself with, he shifts sweatily in his seat, "W-wh... but,.. How would I do that?"

"What do you mean? Do what?"

"F-find, him.. IHhh... I just.. I don't, know the area well.. is all, I uh...."

"I'll give you directions, obviously.. Are you okay? Do you like... need some water? You look-"

"NHnnnou, I'M FINE! I just, haha.. uh... Maybe, am.. not very good at....uh.. this.." He gestures around himself nonspecifically.

With a brief confused glance, she pours a cup of water anyway, then casually plucks a small notebook from her pocket to begin scribbling messily. "Well, look, I'll give you the information, and if you feel up to it, you can go. I really think you should, but, eh... your choice, y'know."

As he fights his shaky hands to maintain control of the water glass, she lays out the paper on the table, pointing at parts of her sketch. "He's over in Fargahel, which should be a few days travel from here. See? The roads kind of go like this, but it's mostly a straight path. Look for the ruins of an abandoned castle. He's holed himself up in there, the underground part, repurposed into some sort of 'sanctuary' for rehabilitating injured birds or whatever the hell he's up to now. He probably won't attack you or anything, but I signed a little note on the back of this so he knows I sent you.. just in case."

Neatly folding up the map, she slides it towards him as she leans closer to intensely meet his eyes. "Just remember, no matter what you do, do NOT let anyone know you have that egg. There are plenty of folks out here still hunting for them. You don't want someone recognizing it and coming after you. Especially with how, uh...", it feels like she might mention he doesn't seem he'd be very good at combat, but she simply lets the sentence trail off, shrugging with a smile and politely patting his hand as he takes the paper.

"Just get some sleep, yeah? Think about it. And talk to me in the morning if you have any more questions."

He slumps over to lean on the counter, resting for a moment after she walks back to the other end of the room, just trying to wrap his head around all the new information.. He only took the egg because it looked pretty! He just wanted it to hatch into a cool chicken or something! Why does it have to actually be some big stinky scary secret rare item?... With a heavy sigh, he resolves to never again trust mysterious creatures that pop out of abandoned wells....

Eventually trudging up to his room for the night, he flops onto the lumpy mattress that seems to just be hay stuffed into dusty old potato sacks. As he rustles around waiting to fall asleep, he considers all of his options... What should he do with the egg?

[rigels-nigels]

Girl help I've acquired possibly yet another expensive hobby

[phagodyke]

its actually nuts how missing a single vaccination has shaped my entire fucking life. like not only would I not be deaf if I had gotten it on time but I probs wouldn't have adhd either 🫣

[caffeinatedopossum]

The workout I've been managing to do the last three times takes me about 20 minutes and I'm honestly really happy that I can complete that because that's a lot for me.

I think my next goal is going to be to do that workout twice a day so I'll get a total of 40 minutes everyday which brings me infinitely closer to my 1 hour a day goal :D

I'll still have to see how it effects my body though because even with the amount of trial and error I've already been going through for years to find out what exercises I can and can't do with my ehlers danlos, it's still really unclear to me what's hurting me and what's helping

[credulouscanidae]

me: spends the better part of 2 years slowly being online and talking to people less and less, not responding to messages, not organising any irl get togethers or cancelling last minute cuz i cant handle it

me: *feels isolated, depressed, like a failure, feels unloved, feels guilty and nostalgic for the old days, feels ive grown distant from all my loved ones, and have bad cyclic thinking about how maybe this is all for the better and i cant fucking handle seeing anyone and going out is a big fucking effort

me: 

[spark1edog]

im in a terrible mood today idk why