#yes the show would be in this artstyle

[yokyoaaa]

Imagine if HAL made another Kirby show but instead of King Dedede being an asshole towards Kirby for the plot, it’s about these four going on silly adventures

[rawpastamoth]

Did someone say early 2000s webseries. Because I heard early 2000s webseries.

[cookinary]

Totally Spies is so much more fucked up than I originally remembered and I fucking love it

So anyway, they most likely have ptsd from some of their missions because while they live in a cartoon world, I still love me some good long-lasting psychological trauma

Some more details under the cut if you're curious!

Mitch takes Jerry's place in this AU! He's chill and he loves his kids very much, and if any villain were to seriously hurt them, he'd chase them to the end of the Earth to make them pay

While the siblings (only in this AU of course) are based on Sam, Clover and Alex, they aren't a one on one perfect equivalent

Ophelia is the only one who doesn't wear makeup while Pedro and Denny are into it, but with more subtle things like eyeliner and nail polish

Of course they all fight in heels uwu

They're all homo, all the homo everywhere (which makes Mandy very confused when it comes to picking a rival to fight with over the new cutest boy in school)

[scarapanna]

Man, developing an AU is such a fun but wild experience, could sum it up like this

Still planning out what story arc to start with for the storybook au blog but it shouldn't take too long on my own terms as I'm usually pretty slow when it comes to sorting things out, apologies

[more text regarding storytelling and the hk blog in tags]

[alienssstufff]

i think you honestly have the best use of shapes ever! really enjoy ur explanation for that buildings tutorial cus its a nice way of thinking abt simplification and stuff :D that being said are there any artists you specifically study for their shape design? or did discover ur process through experimentation?

Gotta be SO real with you.

BDoubleO100.

His builds are so fun to study and it travels to his 2D/3D art as well -I feel sick- Bdubs has such a strong read on form and every block/brushstroke has a function his artstyle just has so much PERSONALITY.. I aspire to be as good as him some day ><

If anything I love the Building with Bdubs series loads. A lot of what he says in there comes from literal art and architecture terms - his care for composition and moving around in a space …. He’s so cool

The horticulturalist building I love especially when he shows things like This.

Cuz yes “If the shape is great, you’re going to be fine” he’s right, everything else comes second nature when you have a defined Shape. Would recommend just watching those videos through an artist’s mindset he’s awesome. I love Bdubs :]

[ouroborosorder]

VFX ask! You've mentioned before that Jessica the Liberated has notably good bullet and glass shattering VFX, would you be willing to break down what makes them stand out?

Okay yes absolutely I will, and in order to do so, I am going to briefly talk about Arknights' history of guns because this is my feed and you can't stop me. This one will probably be long. I wanted it to be short. But it is not.

Guns in AK's worldbuilding are extremely rare, with only Blacksteel, Lateran, and collab ops wielding guns. So there's a sort of weight towards making the rare gun wielder... feel like they're using a gun, making them feel distinct from a crossbow.

Early on, AK did this in a very very simple way. Simple, single color muzzle flash, impact spark, no visible projectile. All the guns worked hitscan, which did really help to sell the illusion of a gun, it hits instantly.

Exusiai even amps it up a little and adds a visible bullet trail when she's in Unloading Mode!

But for a time, because of how rare guns were, that was kinda... It. After Nacho Cheese Executor, the next wielder of a traditional gun was the Rainbow 6 Siege Operators?? Really??

R6S is extremely important. Being from a shooter-ass shooter game, they had a lot of reason to make them feel like real guns. So what does Ash do? Well!

That's a VISIBLE BULLET baby!

It's WILD that removing the single biggest trait about guns - that they are instant - does a LOT to actually help sell that it is a Real Gun.

But on top of that, they do a few interesting things. The muzzle flash isn't just a single flash, it's a semi-realistic looking muzzle flash that also releases sparks. The bullet trail emits sparks as well, eschewing AK's stylization for the sake of making it feel like a Real Bullet Trail. This really helps sell the

Even on the impact, there's no Textures or traditional bursts to be found - instead it is black, white, and red sparks alongside a very very layered flash of light. This is really unique in AK, and it serves brilliantly to juxtapose the R6S ops within the world of Terra, while still being over-the-top enough to fit in within the game's cartoony artstyle.

What's interesting is that these choices carried forwards in the future! Enforcer has very realistic-looking muzzle smoke with Ash's black/white/red sparks. Meanwhile, Insider has a visible bullet and sparks coming out of the muzzle flash!

Also I just barely noticed while writing this but all the Lateran use the shape of their wings as part of their effects! Exusiai's bullet trails are triangular like her wings, Ezell's impacts are dark iregular polygons with a lip like his, Insider's trail is rectangular like his, and Cool Ranch Executor's shots are shattered diamonds that fade to black as they get closer to him. Neat!! That's SUPER fucking cool.

(Also notable is that Exusiai and Ezell's effects are the only lateran guns that don't have a predominantly white aesthetic. Just a little treat for Exu Errari Believers)

So, with a history of four ops with Real Guns and a bunch with weird magic guns, how do you make an operator whose gimmick is that she is definitively Terran who also uses a fuck ton of Guns?

Jessica's muzzle flash is a realistic-esque flash that quickly fades into a burst texture. She gives off a few sparks like Ash does, but there are few of them, and they're really large for stylization. Also her bullet is much larger, but is distinctly a realistic bullet.

I wish so badly I could get footage of this one properly but an image will have to do. The trail of the bullet is a rotating mesh spiralling like the bullet is rotating. Also the bullet itself is glowing, allowing it to stand out better against the background.

And when it hits, hooooly shit. There's blurry, semi-realistic looking light textures flying off the enemy, sparks, and the same hitflash she has on her muzzle flash (cool asset reuse there!) They went all out to show the impact of her shot, since it is a Real Ass gun.

AND ALL THIS FLAIR AND DRAMA FOR JUST HER NORMAL ATTACK. THIS IS OFF-SKILL. When she's on-skill...

WHOO. WHOOOO. WHOOOO.

The muzzle flashes become longer to sell a BIG impact, but they last MUCH shorter (this muzzle flash lasts one single frame), since all her skills are rapid-fire, making it feel like bigger shots in less time. The impacts become ABSURDLY BIG. And then. My absolute favorite part of the whole thing.

(These are Not The Texture, but a similar, oft-mistaken cousin of The Texture.)

This fucking followthrough. Every hit on an enemy creates a burst of shattered glass and fire. I would not have thought of adding EITHER of these, but I love it. It's a great call to her art, it's unique and distinct, and even though it can be "where is the glass coming from" it's so cool i don't care. I literally saw it and gasped and went "I have never seen this before." It adds great color contrast, conveys the armor-piercing nature of her bullets, adds unique shapes, makes it look more chaotic, I can't praise these glass shards enough, I love them, they're so cool.

Fortunately for you, Jessica's skills all kinda look the same, so I don't have much more to say about this. I like that her S3's muzzle flashes create more chaotic sparks, creating the look of a wild, uncontrollable spray and pray strat. I like that she fires multiple shots and muzzle flashes but only shoots one bullet, but you rarely ever notice it because of the weight of the impact.

But I have one final thing to say.

BEHIND HER IN HER S3 SHE HAS AN ACTUAL ROILING, BURNING, MOVING FLAME. WHY IS HOEDERER BEING SHOWN UP BY JESSICA. WHAT THE FUCK.

[ninakoll]

i love your artstyle so much its insane, ty for blessing the tag of any fandom you draw ;; out of curiosity, whats your thoughts on alkaloid? hiiros my favorite character, closely followed by aira (along with niki and shinobu, both of whom u draw So Good btw). my big sister's favorite (next to rinne. yes we have been called the amagis before) is tatsumi lol (shes also a big fan of your art!! we both showed your crazy b comics to each other like "ITS SO GOOD" "RIGHT???")

(also !!!! fellow ace attorney fan!!! i love the way you draw nick hes so shaped <3 idk if youre still into it or not [so like dont feel pressured to draw it if u dont wanna ofc] but if you ever drew more ace attorney fanart i would Die. apollo esp would look so good in your style,, )

THANK YOUUU you and your sister are so kind!!!! ;____; you bring me great joy. and anon it's so sweet you two are like amagi siblings:DD

putting my alkaloid thoughts under a readmore as to not make this post 100 miles long!!

to me alkaloid are such a sweet unit, they seem like they would never ever hurt each other ever... my favorite is actually hiiro as well! i love his way of doing things being a fish out of water of sorts; his way of seeing the world and logic is wonderful and makes for great writing opportunities. aira rly does have that french gene, he is about idols the way french people are about soccer players i swear... overall alkaloid is fun (+ black out seesaw is SUCH a banger). i am not completely decided on how i want to draw hiiro and mayoi, but for now let them be... this!

+ i love ace attorney so much!! i'm slooowly working my way thru the apollo justice trilogy, waiting for fall when the gaming weather is just right to keep playing. when i was younger i played thru the AJ game on the DS with my sister next to me and it's a fond memory of mine. fanart of the games is inevitable :DD thank you again and have a wonderful weekend!!!

[ikroah]

I've given everything I have, didn't know I'd run up such a tab, Oh, Lord, ain't the reapin' ever done? —“Ain’t the Reapin’ Ever Done,” Eddie Noack (1972)

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #25 - Ring-a-Ding-Ding IV

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Read IKROAH on Archive of Our Own

Notes / Original Pencils / Transcript:

Notes:

At long last! As I've mentioned a few times, this issue got...delayed because I spent 2023 getting divorced, falling in love again, going outside, touching grass, laughing, playing, et cetera. But even if you toss all that aside this issue would still have been a doozy because I've been wanting to try an issue in this artstyle, and with a much large page size, for...well, for over a year now, ha. The thumbnails for this issue are nearly a whole year old!

Usually I have a lot of fun commentary about how a script changes over the course of working on an issue, or how the production panned out, but the making of this issue has been stretched over such a long time that I can't even begin to really describe it. Lemme just show you the original pencils so we can get out of here and move onto the next one, which will hopefully take far less than the time it takes to carry a pregnancy to term.

Oh, actually, there is one thing! If you spotted this happy couple on the first page, then check out @memepipboy's comics too.

Also, here's Vulpes in the dead Yamcha pose.

Which is also about how I feel after going on a bender of productivity last week to get the whole issue colored before it slipped away again.

Original Pencils:

Transcript:

EXT. NEW VEGAS STRIP. A small plaza outside the casinos is flushed with lights and people, all coming and going, even at such a late hour. The crowd is monitored by the Strip's POLICE SECURITRONS. Two people are exiting a casino: ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY, and

MESSENGER: AGNES SANDS!

AGNES: Oh God, I'm--

AGNES: --wait, are you NCR?

The MESSENGER that has called out AGNES' name is a surly and middle-aged man in uniform.

MESSENGER: Correct, ma'am. I'm a messenger.

AGNES: Courier, huh.

CASS: Hell do you want, boot boy? We're busy.

MESSENGER: Your presence is requested at the embassy on the south side of the Strip.

The exchange has caught the eye of a BYSTANDER READING A NEWSPAPER.

AGNES: You said requested, as opposed to, um, required?

MESSENGER: Yes. I'll be blunt with you, Sands: the incident near Gecko and your subsequent desertion have made you a fugitive of military police since 2269. I'm sure you know that--but this is not an arrest.

MESSENGER: This isn't even about your personal case, necessarily. It's only from chance reports at the Mojave Outpost and Boulder City that intelligence was made aware of your presence here at all. The NCR merely wants to let you know that you--as well as your companion--are persons of interest to us in two of our other open investigations: the Legion raid on Nipton, and recent terrorist attacks on merchants in the area such as Crimson Caravan.*

CAPTION: *Various events of IKROAH #7-16. -Lou.

MESSENGER: There's also some other matters, which are classified.

CASS, at AGNES' side, listens intently. Then she glares at AGNES, who is grimacing but avoiding her eye contact.

MESSENGER: Now, our intelligence officers only want to speak to you, not arrest you. So there should be no cause for alarm or any worry on your part. It's your choice to come to us willingly--and on your own time. But--

AGNES sweats nervously.

MESSENGER: My orders are to make this next part very clear. This is merely the current state of our interest in you and your companion. If your presence does become required, as opposed to merely requested, by the NCR--and it very well may--

MESSENGER: --consider this a nice, friendly notice. I'm here because the NCR knows where you are. And the NCR wanted you to know that, because it wants you to keep it in mind as you mull over whether--and when--you might be feeling co-operative. That is all. We'll be in touch, Miss Sands.

The MESSENGER departs. The BYSTANDER READING A NEWSPAPER observed the entire exchange. The moment that the MESSENGER is gone, he speaks:

BYSTANDER: Ahh...I must admit, it does make me glad when people discuss my work.

AGNES: W-what?

CASS: Pardon?

BYSTANDER: And it was fortunate, as it turns out, that you were spared that night in Nipton.

AGNES: Oh...oh no--

CASS: --YOU?

BYSTANDER: Very fortunate indeed--

The BYSTANDER grins.

BYSTANDER: --that you were spared from the burning tires, spared from the teeth of the dogs, spared even from the cross and stake--all of this, there, was the finest work yet of VULPES INCULTA--against the profligates of the west, and for the glory and the might of CAESAR'S LEGION.*

CAPTION:*IKROAH #9. -Lou.

AGNES and CASS are transfixed where they stand, taken aback by the reveal. CASS scowls while AGNES squirms with terror. She remembers:

The raging fires and the horror show of NIPTON. Crucified bodies and dogs to eat the corpses.

VULPES: During our talk in Nipton, I admittedly became quite curious about you, Agnes. You had intrigued me for some reason, and I wanted to know what it was. Only later did I finally place it.

Her hands up in front of her face, a futile barrier between herself and three men. Benny. His gun, pointed at her, shining in the light from the moon and the lantern.

VULPES: A tabloid story from the news on the radio. A courier shot in the head near Goodsprings Cemetery.

The SECURITRON with the cowboy face, VICTOR, carried her out of her grave. Or so she was told.

VULPES: --who miraculously returned from the grave. It was you.

There were three men. Two besides Benny. She found them later, one was dead and the other had two more with him.

VULPES: It was also you, as I would later discover...who slaughtered that pack of Great Khans in Boulder City. Clearly no ordinary courier.

VULPES: Why, even now, you assassinate the leader of the Chairmen in his own casino--in his own bedroom, no less. Very impressive.

AGNES: But how did you--

VULPES: Know? From one saboteur to another, I do have to commend you, Agnes. You're quite covert...for someone who had no reason to realize that she was already being watched, that is. Just as we have been watching Benny, the dearly departed.

VULPES grins wider.

VULPES: My network of frumentarii have detected something of a conspiracy in Vegas...something about a certain piece of platinum, I hear. Which reminds me--the mail has gotten so unreliable lately, don't you think?

AGNES is visibly panicked as VULPES continues.

VULPES: The NCR'S interest in you is not misplaced, Agnes Sands, given your recent exploits.

CASS is suddenly going down the casino steps--

VULPES: But I doubt that they are as quite aware of the bigger picture as--

--and raising her fist, and--

VULPES: the--

--punching VULPES in the face.

SFX: WHAM!

VULPES is flung to the ground, his nose bloodied. One of his teeth have been knocked clean from his mouth. He stares upward, in disbelief, up at the furious woman who's laid him out.

VULPES: Ah...yes. Rose of Sharon Cassidy. I've--

PTOOEY. A wad of spit splats against VULPES' cheek. CASS points a finger at him as he shuffles back onto his feet.

CASS: Get my name out of your mouth right now. I'm not afraid of you. You just piss me off. And unless you get lost I'll deck you so hard that you forget my name. Hopefully how to form complete sentences, too.

CASS: I think we've heard enough, you goddamn dogfucker, and whatever you're selling, we don't fucking want any.

VULPES: Ah...so no less impudent than last time, despite...well.

VULPES wipes the blood from his face with the back of his hand, muttering from behind his palm in LATIN.

VULPES: Sī cognōscere nōn vīs canis senex tum nēquam praeter futuendum eris.

VULPES reaches his bloody hand toward his dislodged hat.

VULPES: Agnes--the Legion has a particular use for you, a use which comes with certain courtesies that are not extended to your companion.

VULPES: ...she would do well to keep this in mind.

VULPES returns his hat to his head. AGNES has rejoined CASS at the base of the steps.

AGNES: "Use?" What use? I don't have anything--I mean, I'm not--whatever you--whatever the Legion wants with me, I don't know anything. About this, or about Benny. If you want the chip, I--

VULPES: Agnes, Agnes--you're a terrible liar. Or else just terribly naive.

VULPES turns to leave.

VULPES: If the NCR is interested in you, and they are, then seizing you for ourselves is certainly useful enough on its own. But truthfully, this isn't about the NCR. The Legion is interested in you--I am interested in you--because Mr. House is interested in you. You and that chip.

AGNES: Mr. House!? But I...no, no, I just thought the chip--

VULPES: Vale, courier. And vale, Rose of Sharon Cassidy. And be safe in your travels, if you can help it--you never know when somebody might be watching.

As VULPES departs, a SECURITRON approaches behind AGNES and CASS, casting a shadow over the both of them.

[sparkbeast20]

My thoughts on the 3rd PV

First, the CG with each kings..

Beelzebub lending his coat to a sleep Bael: This is enough prove to tell me that Beelzebub and Bael's Relationship isn't bad or worse after Beelzebub left Avisos.

Like many others, I assume that Bael hates Beelzebub for leaving Avisos or letting Bael stand in for him as "King" of Avisos. Like I would've assume that Bael resent Beelzebub in a way, but after seeing the Chat feature vid and this CG. I think that even what Beelzebub did, their friendship is still strong.

First appearance of Leviathan in a CG: *HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!!! GODDAMN HE'S SO HOT*

Anyway, yeah. This is the first time we ever see Leviathan in a CG form, because most of the time it's just the Legendary Card artstyle. And judging from the background we are in his castle/palaces. And we can see his coffin in the background.

Seeing Satan in action: Yes!!! I love action stills CG.

All I can say is that, Satan is hot in this CG, and also, Mammon at the right side corner.

Seeing Mammon in action: RIP that Angel

This makes it clear that Hell has day/sun, and Mammon using his signature weapon which is golden fist summoned... Which (I think) that Tartaros have in common.

The Pact marks are on their tongue:

So in the 2nd PV, where Satan is licking MC's finger, it turns out that MC was "Breaking" Solomon's contract with Satan. And now with this new PV. It shows that the kings and the 72 nobles' pact mark on their tongue.

Unknown Character would I aren't sure if their angels or devil:

I chatted with my friends in discord and we assume that she'll either be one of Solomon's wives or failed angelfication.

Devils turning into angels: *I love TF (Transformation scene/art)*

I got to say, wow... That looks painful as fuck!!

And no, the Avisos devil is a lesser devil and not Naberius.

Gabriel leading the attack on hell:

RIP my theory that Satan knocked Gabriel out and dragging him into hell with us after their fight.

Seeing Gabriel with six wings is... well 🥵 "Klein, get your man!!"

Paimon's Sex CG with MC:

If you were like me, you would've think that we are having a threesome with Paimon and another devil, but no it's not.

We are in front of a mirror, and Paimon is behind us, you can tell that the one that is showing Paimon's face is his reflection in the mirror. And the dark shadow in the middle of the CG is MC, cause you can see the purple hair.

Zagan's sex CG with MC: *Oh shit his hot!!!!!*

Okay, what drew me was his quote, he is clearly referring to Solomon, when he said "Him" which hurts me... But again, it's better for the story that most if not all of the devils don't like us, because it makes developing a bond/relationship with them even more sweeter.

Bonus simping... Put me into a chokehold with your arms Sitri!!!

Ppyong can talking!!! and he sound adorable 🥺

Minhyeok's death: (RIP to our Simp)

So this conforms that Minhyeok die and he is the "Plot device" of MC's story.

Gabriel just comes out of the PC:

Just... Why XD

And that's it, I'm happy with this summary of the Prolog and story for... the first few chapters.

Don't be shy and share your thoughts on the PV, either by reblog this or sending an ask in my Inbox/

[bambiraptorx]

I think the reason people, myself included at first I'll admit, are/got so hype for missing sis' design is because it's a 'canon' (I can't remember how canon the comics are) appearance of a character reveal that was planned to happen in Rise but we never got. Now that my hype has gone down I'm disappointed too :(. I'm semi-willing to forgive the snatched waist she has because Leo has it too. I do think the face marking are cool though

Yeah I do appreciate the facial markings, they're a different enough shape from Leo's (and the fanon ones the others often get) that they stand out nicely. The idea of a flame-like pattern that doesn't seem to be fully symetrical is very cool. But honestly? It's one of the few things I like about her face reveal/comic design, the rest I'm neutral on or mildly annoyed by.

this next part got ranty, so I'm just gonna put it under a read more. Absolutely nobody has to read this lol. TLDR I get heated about the design for Big Mama's Assistant in the comic.

I do want to clarify upfront, most of my issues are with the design of Big Mama's Assistant (Venus/Frida) as shown in the comic specifically. Given that it does not (and isn't meant to) fit into the show's artstyle, it's possible that her show design would have looked different. But the fact remains that this might be the closest we ever get to having an actual canon design of her.

And... it's not all that great a design in my opinion.

(That said, I do still like the markings that she's given in that design. Those are cool. Thumbs up.)

My main issue is with how there's so many little details intended to scream "I am a Girl Character that's G-I-R-L and don't you forget it". Like, I genuinely hope that's not the design she was supposed to have in the show, because it feels like it's being almost shoved in your face that This Is A Girl.

The traits I've noticed so far:

She has lips. Or possibly lipstick, but in either case the appearance of lips. None of the other (male) turtles have lips, but all the important female characters in Rise do.

She has heavy eyeliner/mascara, as in the upper line of her eye is noticeably thicker. Yes the boys look like they have winged eyeliner at some points, but hers is much heavier.

This is more subtle, but she seems to have larger pupils than the other (male) characters in the comic, giving her something of a doe-eyed look.

Her plastron shape has been rounded out/simplified, giving her the appearance of boobs and an hourglass figure. (Interesting note here: in the show, the male turtles have comparable or perhaps larger sized bumps in their plastrons. Yes there's a slight difference in shape, but it defintely doesn't look like she has boobs in the show.)

They made her have an obviously lighter skin tone than the other turtles. Yes it may well be a result of dramatic lighting, but enough people have taken it as her canon skin tone that it still counts.

Long story short, all these items are things often used in visual media (especially in cartoons) to code male and female animal characters as, well, male and female. And it's important to note, most of the time this coding is *completely divorced* from the sexual dimorphism actually seen in those species. We can speculate all we want on if she's wearing makeup or not, but the fact remains that turtles don't have lips or cinched waists. She doesn't *need* all that to emphasize that she's a girl. Even just two or three of these traits would be fine!

(And while I also have issues with the whole "you have a brother and sister" thing when it was previously discussed as being two sisters, maybe it would have been fun to see a design that gave us a little more room to debate if this was a brother or a sister. Yeah we'd heard from the creators that Big Mama's assistant was a girl, but that's also where we heard that the turtles had two sisters.)

It also kind of bothers me a bit to see the fandom response, in that there's a lot of people who are taking the design as is I guess? And sure, there's plenty of people who *aren't* drawing her as is and remove some of the intense girl coding, but there's also people who do draw her as close to the comic design as possible. And while there's nothing automatically wrong with that, I do hope those people are at the very least aware of the tropes that her design falls into.

Now to perhaps the more controversial part of this post outside of just the visual tropes she falls into. For me personally, there's nothing (outside her markings) that makes the face reveal all that interesting design-wise? And there's basically nothing that indicates anything about her personality.

She wears makeup. So what? Not only is that the societal standard for women and girls in real life, it's basically the standard for how female characters in Rise are designed. It's also a hugely common design element of female animal characters. It tells us nothing about her, except, again, she's a girl.

Her outfit is the same as canon, so there's no new information there.

Her expression is carefully neutral, and doesn't really tell us anything. Heck, everyone else in the scene is having more of a reaction than she is. The other turtles have shocked expressions and Big Mama is angry. Venus... has her eyes open I guess? There's a lack of expression on her part in an otherwise very expressive comic.

And (again in my opinion) her design honestly isn't particularly unique. She has a face shape relatively similar to Mikey's (the main different being his chin is rounded and hers is pointed) and she has facial markings like Leo. And while it's not a bad thing that her design resembles the other turtles given that she's supposed to be related to them, many of the design traits that make her stand out are the Girl Design Traits.

It's also worth pointing out that there's a very specific way Rise draws important female characters, with them all having similar body types and facial details, and this design plays right into that. It's a further example of a Rise girl/woman who's thin with a small waist and lips and a small nose and no obvious musculature. There's been other posts that break this down more than I'm going to here, but the design for Big Mama's Assistant just... continues all that.

And I don't have a problem with characters looking feminine, but when they're all feminine in similar ways, it gets a little... boring? Even a little body type diversity would have been nice (like giving Casey muscles instead of the same slender arms as everyone else, for example.) The assistant doesn't have to follow the same pattern (she's an entirely different species, for one), but she does.

And in some ways it's like, yeah, we got to have confirmation that she's a character. She exists. Hooray. She said nothing and she did nothing besides take off her mask. We all knew there was gonna be a face under there anyway! And seeing her finally appear in canon, only to be drawn using so many visual cues to show her as The Girl Turtle is... a little underwhelming, I think.

But the fact that I've already got a design for Venus/Frida is probably also a factor here. I'm more attached to my design and I like it better lol. Rant over.

[newplayingsmash]

Regarding “¡Oye! ¡Primos!”

As a Mexican, yes, my first gripe with the show was the terrible title used. And in second place, the horrible, horrible artstyle.

The main idea of a group of cousins in the house? Yes, it’s relatable, you can have things like that happen with some sides of the family, so that one was a good choice.

“Terremoto” being the name of the town was... a very weird choice. It’s not really racist as much as eyebrow-rising, since it takes place in Los Angeles, but still...

And the names of the characters, despite some of them being dumb, they aren’t really inaccurate. “Cuquita” can be used to call a cockroach, yes, but it’s also an existing nickname. “Gordita” is again, accurate, if questionable to use. Maybe the joke is that the girl is actually slim? Or it has to do with the food named Gordita?

Also “Nacho” and “Nachito”. Real way to call someone named “Ignacio”. Having two characters with the same name seems creatively dumb, but maybe there’s an in-universe reason?

Really, if Disney would have kept their mouths shut and didn’t respond to criticism with idiocy like “Well, language is fluid!” or “This is attacking diaspora!” then the vitriol wouldn’t be so high. At most, it seemed very “meh”. I would give it the benefit of the doubt.

Would. Until I saw things like this shit:

Yeah, the moment you use the word “Latinx”, you immediately made yourself an enemy out of the vast majority of the latin american community.

Including me.

A la mierda con esto. Voy a ver Mucha Lucha.

[centrally-unplanned]

Bocchi The Rock! is really hitting sweet spots for me on how it presents its main character’s core plot concept. Bocchi is essentially K-On! but if main girl Yui was too introverted to function instead of too stupid to function; which is a challenge to make interesting. The Yui of this show, Hitori, is a social train wreck who convinced herself learning guitar would substitute for having a personality and make her friends, with the expected 0% success rate. The plot follows her new desperate attempt to achieve friend-dom by joining a band. Which is a character concept that gives us some extremely relatable content: 

Yet the show does still have the challenge of making a character who sucks at socializing be the main character of a Slice of Life show about socializing. Its a comedy, obviously, but still that can get repetitive fast, these character types are often side characters for a reason. Shows like WataMote keep it fresh by making main girl Tomoko a degenerate scumbag on top of a shut-in, its the *degeneracy* that powers the show; you want to have an angle on characters like these

Bocchi’s angle is both character & directorial. On the character side, what endears me to Hitori is how much she is halfway there on understanding social interaction. She might be a breathing pink stress ball but she isn’t clueless, she knows, kindof, what you need to do to make friends - her panic-attack levels of social anxiety just preclude it. So you get opening scenes like these, where she dresses full-musician to go to school to inspire musician-types to talk to her:

And it falls flat on her face because she has been there for months already and still refuses to initiate anything:

But that is what fashion is for! She did look good, in another context this would work (and does accidentally to trigger the ~plot later)

Or when learning about her new also-weirdo band mate Ryo, she goes from “yes friend!!”:

To, 5 seconds later on hearing that she spends her time visiting ruined buildings & second-hand clothing stores, “oh no, not like me at all”:

Which is actually pretty smart for 5 seconds of thought, Hitori groks that interests correlate with personality and people relate to being alone differently.

The point is that Hitori’s social failure is stacked on top of social insight, the humor derives from what she gets right vs wrong. Her *almost* getting it is more enjoyable, and more importantly way more likeable, than her just flailing. She holds the stupid ball for sure but you get why, she is trying to throw it away at least, which is endearing instead of frustrating.

More exceptional is how the show communicates her struggle; she can’t talk good right? So tons of her dialogue is internal dialogue - which you have to spice up somehow, static shots w/ voice narration is not very fun. Bocchi has a grand time playing one of anime’s trump cards of having fantastical brain-scape setpieces to communicate mood. That ‘she is a loner’ revelation ain’t settling for some sparkling pink-background; we have a full apocalypse to carry her aborted dream instead:

Communicating information hits the same struggle as emotion; this is a show about music after all, and another of anime’s strengths its presumption the audience actually is interested in the details of the niche hobby stuff the show is about. But Hitori-in-actuality couldn’t teach someone how to breathe let alone music tips, so instead we get random artistic cutaways to diagrams and explainers by imaginary instruments:

Which I love! Its expressive, you can shift the artstyle in a way that doesn’t clash, it lets the animators flex technique, and the information gets across without dragging down pacing (a lot of media, *unable* to do this, simply cuts the information out entirely, primarily to spite me). 

And of course since all of this is happening inside Hitori’s head, she is, apparently, immensely creative - I love her now, teach me your ways my gumball princess! Her head would be a great place to be if you could lobotomize the anxiety somehow. All this means that Hitori, while awkward, is rarely cringe - partly because the directing always cuts away from any shots that would focus on cringe, but mainly because Hitori is too interesting to be cringe, you got other things to think about.

All in all Bocchi the Rock is my favourite silly-Slice-of-Life show of the season, and I hope it continues this level of playfulness going forward.

[gophergal]

I know fuck all about tf2 except for character names. Most I got is you and a few other mutuals posts, and they're 10/10. How does the game..... work exactly? Like is there plot? Is it first person shooter sort of thing? Is there a tf1?

I could google it but that's not nearly as fun

OH BOY GET READY FOR THE B I G R AM B L E

WHAT THE FUCK IS TF2?

It's a team based first person shooter published by Valve (of portal and half life fame) in 2007 with nine classes to choose from, each with strengths countered by other classes (for example, the Spy is often a counter against the Sniper and Engineer. Respectively, by picking off the Sniper with a quick, stealthy backstab or by destroying the Engineer's machines). The game has been free to play since 2009 (i think. grain of salt please), and has a healthy playerbase to this day, aside from the bots. But not every tf2 fan actually plays the game. I play sometimes, but mostly just rotate the characters in my brain like a microwave burrito.

It is ALSO, however, a multimedia franchise. Aside from the game, which shows off worldbuilding and characterization through the environment and character dialogue (as well as the update announcement flyers on the official blog), there are also animated shorts and comics created by Valve that further flesh out the world and characters of TF2. Frankly, I think you should give the Meet The Team shorts a go if nothing else. They're iconic. It's hard to pick favorites, but I'm partial to Meet the Medic (obviously), Meet the Engineer (which I can quote verbatim), and Meet the Sniper.

Broadly, the world and aesthetics of TF2 are based on 60's/70's cold war thrillers and spy movies. Think James Bond and the Manchurian Candidate. These impeccable vibes are then wrapped neatly in a cartoony artstyle that wasn't common at the time (and arguably still isn't. I'm pretending that fortnight doesnt exist, as is custom). On a related note, the soundtrack FUCKS SEVERELY. Like. They just DO. They have influence from Jazz, Funk, and miltary marching songs, with more specific influences for individual characters (ex: country western for engineer, polka for medic, and bagpipes for demoman)

An important thing to note is that every class is a play on some stereotype from the movies that inspired the vibes:

Heavy Weapons Guy is a husky ruskie and a man of few words, but he has hidden depths. He's a family man, most importantly, and has been supporting and protecting his mother and younger sisters since his father was killed when he was a teenager. He has a close bond with the Medic and speaks highly of the Engineer ("Engineer is credit to team!"). In a debatably canon piece of dialogue from TellTale's Poker Night At The Inventory, he is revealed to have a PhD in Russian Literature.

Engineer is a texan with 11 PhDs in hard science. He exudes southern hospitality and seems like the most sane man on the team. He also takes great joy in the death and destruction his weapons cause, and ALSO helps the Medic in performing deeply unethical experiments that go against the laws of nature for curiosity sake. He's the third in a line of engineers, btw, and his grandfather basically conquered death. Which isn't super relevant, but I feel is a good lead in to some of the wackier elements of this world I would like to mention.

And every character is like this to some degree. Some more so than others- Soldier is basically just "how american can a man be before it starts impacting his mental health" and Pyro is unknown in terms of nationality, gender, and background

TF2 has a plot by the way! Yes, there is a reason for these many dudes in funny hats to be fighting. They are fighting over gravel. Yeah. So, these two brothers are fighting over land willed to them by their father (who died in the 1890's) which is largely useless aside from having a lot of gravel. Their names are Redmond and Blutarch Mann, and they're the ceos of their own corporations. Reliable Excavation & Demolitions (RED) and Builder's League United (BLU) respectively. They each hired mercenaries to fight a proxy war for them with the goal of owning it all. All the while, a third party, The Administrator, has been playing both sides of the Gravel War to keep it going as long as possible. Why? It's a mystery...

RAPID FIRE TF2 WORLDBUILDING BULLSHITTERY BE UPON YE:

(most of this is just stupid shit that was made up for Pure Random Funny HaHa and has very little bearing on the plot, but tells you a LOT about the tone of the franchise)

Rocket Jumping (that is, shooting a rocket propelled grenade at your feet and crouch-jumping at the same time to launch yourself into the air) was a technique pioneered by Shakespearicles, the STRONGEST POET TO EVER LIVE. He also invented the concept of a Second Floor in a building

Btw, stairs were not invented when the second floor was invented. I want you to take a wild guess how people got to the second floor before stairs were invented. (hint: it involves explosives)

Stairs were invented by Abraham Lincoln. He died due to rocket jumping up said stairs which caused him to accelerate rapidly into a wall. He was also the first Pyro in the 1890s.

New Zealand sank below the ocean sometime in the 40's. By which I mean it was intentionally sank because a Jor-el knockoff believed that the world was ending and that going underwater was the only way to save the nation.

CisMpreg exists. This fact is Medic's fault.

OK But What About Team Fortress 1?

So, its. Not complicated but it's not exactly simple. Quick answer, the original TF game has nothing to do with TF2. Team Fortress was originally a mod for the game Quake and has the same basic gameplay premise as it's successors (team based FPS with 9 classes) and quite a few maps have actually been remade for TF2. It was released in 1996, so, as TF2 was taking A Very Long Time to complete, Valve released a sort of... updated version that was meant to hold fans over. It uses the half life 2 engine, I believe, and was released in 1999. It is called Team Fortress Classic and it's only a LITTLE confusing to research I swear.

TFC takes place in the same universe as TF2, but in the 1930's instead of the 60's. Ignore the scifi/modern looking tech. Don't worry about it. This has no bearing on TFC, really, because it was only confirmed in one of the comics released in 2014. The TFC team matters to the comic plot, but is otherwise kinda just. there. Like, they only exist in the Mann Co No More story line and otherwise just exist.

Fun fact: TFC (the game) was updated to change the ingame class models to more accurately represent the appearance given to them in the comics.

For example, look at the glow up given to the TFC Medic! (original on the left, updated on the right)

In Conclusion:

I will be surprised anyone actually reads all of this, but that is my rambling summary of what in the fuck TF2 is. To be fair, the game is richly detailed but also kinda sparse at the same time. Its all vibes and interpretation my dude. Honestly I think what has made TF2 so popular and long lasting (lore wise) is related to what early FNAF games had going on

[sixosix]

hiii! idk if u accept fanarts(?) but if u dont then just ignore me i do not exist hahahbsb

i rlly love ur thawed series like i wake up on sudays for the sole reason of reading ur work and i made this design for her n i just wanted to show u bc why not

(from the first chapter, that time paimon comments about reader's new fit)

ty for inspiring me to draw that day ily

anyways, love ur works, keep it up n stay hydrated❤️❤️

HELLO OH MY GOSH First of all i have a question for you: is it okay if i link this in the first chapter?

yes i absolutely accept fanart how can i just ignore this your artstyle is so BEAUTIFUL. the color of the red is so flattering and matches so nicely with the cryo vision -- THE CRYO VISION!! i literally gasped when i saw it thats such a cute detail T__T the way readers expression is so shy too; u perfectly captured it!!

your artstyle is so lovely im so honored to get fanart from such a skilled artist 😭😭 rolling around th ebed screaming rn +

its so???? whahdfdjf to hear that u read my series!!! i didnt actually think people would want to keep up w it so art aside (absolutely impossible to do btw) that comment made my day

ILYSM thannk you for sharing this w me this made my week my month im so overwhelmed iin a good way ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[stiffyck]

first of all, i wanna go ahead anf praise your art for the millionth time because holy shit it is so amazing. idk what kinda crack you put in your colouring or artstyle but im eating it UP!!! i especially love all the detail you put into your designs, its amazing SECONDLYY!!!! I see the daau starting to form a bit more and i was wondering if i would be allowed to make a story/fanfic based off of your art so far?

AAAAA THANK YOU SM AND ALSO YES! ABSOLUTELY.

Daau is actually an older au I've already talked about a lot last year on my blog but I'm sorta reviving it and kinda redoing it?

But if you want more about the au I have plenty of thoughts.

Scars planet is gone. It literally fell apart. Everyone was being evacuated but scar got left behind because he was trying to find jellie. Jellie looks mostly like a cat but has 6 legs.

Scar gets to where everyone was supposed to be only to find everyone gone already. They were already evacuated and he got left behind. This happens when he's around his teenage years so he's still a kid basically.

There is an emergency button if I remember correctly and he uses it to let someone know he's still there. He doesn't expect anyone to come find him but he tries anyway.

Xisuma, one of the people helping Scars species evacuate the planet does see the signal and decides to go back himself to get whoever got left behind.

Scar gets saved by X and later joins hermitcraft when X gives him the offer. (Dadsuma to the rescue)

Scars planet was very hot and it was mostly just a desert planet. Lots of sand, not much plants or water.

Scar is covered by hard scales to protect him from the sun and even the rough sand.

His hands are rough as is most of his fur except the short fur covering his stomach

His species are omnivores- theres not much food to find in the desert anyway so he can't really be picky. He does love bugs and since he's been on hermitcraft he loves fruit and candy.

In the original au there was some hermitshipping which I'm kinda avoiding in this version (still love the original au tho ofc) because aroace scar rjgkkge

While he loves hermitcraft and considers it his home and the hermits his family he still misses his actual home where he grew up. Hermitcraft is always cold for him. Even when he sees the other hermits sweating and complaining how hot it is he's reminded that he's not supposed to live here at all. The sun feels nice on his scales and his skin but it's not the same heat as on his planet.

He does like the nether. It's warm. He also likes deserts even if they're not as warm as his desert was.

His 4 ears. The bottom set of ears is not out most times. Usually the ears show only when he's cuddling with someone and feels really safe and relaxed.

Also he's cold blooded.

That's all my thoughts for now but I can come back with more I think

[rinnie-marylin]

Hey guys

So imma start school tomorrow, yes i know, i live on the other side of the world from yall that's why i started school later😔

Anyways, i will still be uploading (at least i'll try to) but at a WAY slower pace. I still have many ideas but in order to execute them perfectly i'm gonna need alot of time, and ofc that won't be possible with school in the way. So as a filler post, i'mma show yall the artworks that i drew just for fun, some of which include info about me :)

Nothing much to say here, just wanted to try a new artstyle

Remember when i said i'd try to draw their designs in the heathers AU? Well i made this as a "sketch". that's why it's not perfect, i just wanted sort of like a blueprint to map out my ideas and metaphors. Ex: tobey's hammer is mechanical, victoria's holds her intrument, and eileen's is a confetti canon.

Nothing much to say here, all in the colors!

I saw this bingo somewhere and wanted to try it out for myself.

I saw a picture of two kittens cuddling 3 months ago and immediately got motivation boost, so i drew tobecky over 'em! Unfortunately, i don't have the original picture, i'll update this post when i find it!

There was this art trend with the song "takin' what's not yours" by tv girl, and i thought it would be perfect to do tobecky with it, i would've recorded it but i dunno how to make videos yet- (definitely not an excuse to not show how ugly this artwork actually is)

Just a fun little silly thing i made a while back because my mind was plagued by yhe tobecky virus.

Tried to draw myself in the wordgirl artstyle. Not perfect but i'm pretty proud of it. I know i'm a teen but i wanted to draw myself aged up because i wanted to be a more mature character.