#fanarting cartoons is so much easier | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mdhwrites · 1 year

Note

Since you mentioned it in a recent post, what do you think about TOH having a sympathetic main cast of mostly conventionally beautiful, humanoid characters while still preaching about how 'weirdos have to stick together'? Do you think there's some hypocrisy in how the show handles its less 'cute' characters?

I do think it's hypocritical and that in and of itself is a problem. It's also just really fucking boring and contributes to the problem of it feeding into the fantasy problem of "Our world but with more teeth."

So since I'm going to rip into this creative choice for the rest of this blog, let's first talk about the positives of having a cast that is effectively all humans, especially all good looking ones, instead of demons, monsters, etc. After all, we need to be fair. There's a lot that goes behind these choices and while the Isles has a lot of bizarre designs in the backgrounds, there had to be a point to all of the denizens we commonly interact with looking like generic elves. *flips through notes* *checks some papers* *flips through more notes* It makes fanart easy.

...OKAY FINE! That's only SOMEWHAT hyperbolic. The reason it makes fanart easier is also why it's really easy to just go with a cast of humans. We as a SPECIES inherently trust and connect better with those who look like ourselves, for better and mostly worse. This can be as specific as skin color and as abstract as simply the human form. Yes, for people like me who are proud monster fuckers, this line blurs but for common Joe Shmoe, they're going to want someone who looks fairly normal if they're going to get really invested.

Worse yet is if you look at modern cartoons. Bare minimum, Molly McGee and Amphibia. Yes, SOME people in those fandoms will draw the frogs and Scratch... But they ALL draw the trios of human characters. And yes, shipping matters here but I've also seen a good number of Amphibia artists just admit to spending way too much figuring out how to draw Sprig because the anatomy is wonky enough to make you question yourself. If they're all humans, you can still get by just fine with your normal style and lessons that most art books are going to teach you.

This isn't even untrue from a writing perspective. Just a cultural shift (and yes I'm calling myself out on this) can be enough to throw you WAY out of your comfort zone for how to write a character besides token elements like food. Throw in entirely different anatomy, skill sets inherent to biology, weaknesses similarly inherent to that biology, and you start to have a lot more questions you need to ask for a very basic level understanding of a character. Which seems like a good transition point to talking about the monstrous denizens of TOH. Specifically that there is ONE 'monster' in The Owl House main cast and that is King.

...

Can you tell me what the fuck is special about King? Besides being short and fluffy, his differing anatomy effectively NEVER comes into play. His magical blasts are practically replicated by Raine whistling. Make him an 8 year old elf child and the only thing you lose is his ancestry. Not his heritage, his ANCESTRY. That's pretty fucking weak.

Edit: Someone on Twitter pointed out to me that King's design is effectively just a furred Cubone and I hate knowing this.

Otherwise, the only inhumane thing about him is that they make him a dog. Which, you know... isn't exactly going very far down on the spectrum of likability for most people. In fact, this technique isn't anywhere near new. Toothless is just a giant cat and I love him for it but I wouldn't blame anyone who looked at the How to Train Your Dragon Dragons and went "I wish they acted like dragons." Because... They don't? They have the designs and move sets of dragons but most of their temperament is far more cat like, down to having dragon nip and being distracted by reflected light.

King is also the only foreground deviation for the protagonists. As I said when I first mentioned this, you can't even really go with Willow being heavier set. She is pretty much the textbook definition of "More to love" seeing as her being slightly heavier just gives her a softer design than the rest of the characters instead of being anywhere close to unappealing like one of Mabel's friends in Gravity Falls is. You're supposed to look at Willow and go "I bet she gives really good hugs" and that's about it. Her weight, much like her ethnicity frankly, is hardly what you're supposed to think about with her design besides basic contrast.

And she's still better than the rest of the cast who are models. Including Luz for that matter. Now the show's style doesn't lend itself well to distinguishing how pretty a character is besides their reactions from a different character... But it can also absolutely do ugly. And no one in this main cast is ugly. You want a NASTY scar, you're gonna have to look elsewhere than the tatted up teenage boy and the girl who has a little flair on one of her eyebrows. One is meant to look cool, the other is still the same job while also being slight enough not to embellish the main face too much.

Amity and Eda though are explicitly in text stated as REALLY PRETTY. Like model pretty from how people react to them. Yes, one of these people is Luz's girlfriend but literally any acknowledgement of her looks is more than Gus, Willow or any of the villains (especially positively) are given. Not even Odalia who is the best case against this argument. But, you know, those are Amity's genes running through Odalia. She's not gonna be ugly because then how are all of the Blight Children ready for a Vogue cover shoot?

And here's the thing: In most media, this isn't really a problem. People like attractive people and there's nothing wrong with that. I know people want more representation and they are right to want that but also most media is a fantasy of some sort. Especially for a basic wish fulfillment isekai like TOH, a really pretty harem is packaged explicitly into the fantasy because who doesn't want hot magical beings saying they're the best?

Except then there's the line of "Us Weirdos Gotta Stick Together," or the fact that Luz is stated to be bullied (but didn't actually look out of place amongst the cheerleaders or drama kids), or the fact that TOH theoretically peddled early on a Fantasy vs. Reality theme. It is a show that is meant to CELEBRATE the Other and be challenging to those who are commonly seen as better... But the Other isn't present. When they are... They're villains. Belos is the only character with a curse that doesn't make them pretty. It's really gruesome what the curse does to him, even before he becomes a full monster. Contrast that with Eda who sprouts feathers and that's really it? Then you have Tibbles, who is a literal pig, the evil publisher who is a lizard, the monster hunters who are orcs effectively, Warden Wrath who is a homunculus? There isn't actually a clear inspiration directly for him besides 'monster' which is part of why he's one of the best one off villains of the series. The closest to a protagonist monster is Hooty which the series goes out of its way to make most people mock, outright hate and/or be actively repulsed by him, especially if it's a character we're supposed to care about.

When it comes to the villains, there are two who stand out as prettier than the rest and they both have direct connections to the main cast. In fact, to Amity. Odalia who I talked about earlier and Boscha. I guess Matt if you want to count him but as far as looking like a basic ass bitch goes, you don't get much more basic than Matt without bleaching his skin. Boscha on the other hand's prettiness is pretty much the best argument we had before she was given a half assed redemption that she was going to be redeemed. Why else make her so much prettier than everyone else? Unless it was just fueled by "She is going to be next to Amity a few times and a Blight wouldn't interact with anyone too... alternative." None of Amity's friends are more monstrous than a third eye after all and that doesn't really hold Boscha back all that much. Frankly, it probably saved her from large forehead jokes akin to what Amity gets since they both have hairstyles that pull their hair back and that's a problem for the show's style.

What does all of this mean? Well, it means in a show that is trying to lift up those who feel like they don't belong, it's still reinforcing standard beauty ideals of society. Worse yet, it just kind of discredits that Luz meets ANY outcast. I wouldn't have called my friends in High School ugly of course but were any of us ready for the runway? Of course not. We didn't take care of ourselves right for that or just didn't have the right genes for it.

Because let's face it: The eyeball head girl was NEVER going to be a main character. And that's... also really boring. The fact that witches are just elves but without any of the culture, long lifespans (as far as we know) etc. like that is also just really boring. And for a fantasy show, especially one that pitches in the first episode that ANY folk tale we have originated here, that's not good. Especially since even if they look like elves, you could have still at least TRIED to make them interesting with things like the bile sac but that's a throwaway joke to the writers. And the saddest thing is... If you're a person who LIKES weird characters, or actually embraces their weirdness and so doesn't need to be told they'll have a Victoria Secrets model as a wife... What is TOH gonna do for you? Or for anyone who doesn't want designs that are less interesting and less unique than even Danny Phantom's. And that's from fucking Butch Hartman who is not exactly known for being a top tier artist. Like SAM as a goth is more alternative (especially for when the show first aired) than fucking ANYONE in the main cast of TOH. And that show debuted ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO. And Valerie even had a similar bodytype to Willow but with WAY more personality!

Now I'm just thinking about all the shows I grew up with like Total Drama Island that had so much fun with even their pretty boy designs. That's frankly my biggest issue. The pretty problem in TOH IS bad thematically. Above all else though... it's just boring. Boring and lazy. How these characters look don't mean ANYTHING to them. It doesn't say much about them, the show or anything else.

They're pretty just because the creator probably likes making pretty people and I can usually support. I support Yoko Taro after all. But Yoko Taro makes people (or androids which are based off humans). This is fantasy. You can do whatever you want and the TOH crew couldn't be assed enough to even do a demon.

In a world called the DEMON REALM! I think at that point, you need to ask why the fuck they're bothering with it being a fantasy show in the first place, let alone one trying to pitch itself as anything other than basic wish fulfillment.

=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#TOH Critical #The Owl House Criticism

52 notes · View notes

narzissenkreuz-ordo · 3 months

Note

1, 9, 12, 16, 17, 21?

1. the character everyone gets wrong

i've answered this one already but gonna double down on dan heng/dan feng (their relation cannot be defined as black and white as fandom wants it to be) & neuvillette (he's not a uwu cry baby who doesn't know what sex is)

9. worst part of canon

[puts on my clown shoes] the high cloud quintet......... and also the fact that jing yuan literally has no reason to be in the story as is. they did not utilize his character at ALL when they could have easier done some cool things with him, but it all fell flat in the end and it sucks since he was the character i got into hsr for (im a big fan of his eng VA and only started playing bc of him)

and for genshin. they nerfed dottore with sexy anime ass plague doctor aesthetic. its just so boring and predictable. RIP webttore you should have survived the dottore segment hunger games not omega :/

12. the unpopular character(s) that you actually like and why more people should like them

the entire narzissenkreuz cast.... like genuinely one of the coolest and most tragic group of characters from more recent in game history that is fully expanded on in world quests. it a great self contained story told over 3 patches and offers neat context to the events of the fontaine archon quests but more specifically.... rene de petrichor i love you and youre unhinged culty academic shenanigans

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

im sorry but fanon haikaveh (its annoying & reduces their characters down to just a tropey ship) and jingheng (its boring) and i understand why people like neuvifuri and its neat they can be read as so many different relationship dynamics but i very much dislike it in a romantic sense.

i hate the weird sexualization of wriothesley being a prison warden x prisoner! reader, canon character, oc etc

but as for general tropes i think friends to lovers is boring and a snooze fest on its own. wheres the drama....the conflict.... the compelling plot. and i think high school aus are cringe in general. especially from either adult writers or characters who are already adults in canon

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

like in general? im sick of seeing so much rendered/soft shaded 'anime-esque' fanart being the most appreciated in fandom spaces. not to say these folks aren't talented they ARE but it feels like their type of work is the only stuff being praised and lifted in communities i personally would REALLY love to see more graphic and exaggerated cartoon work because i feel like there can so much personality put into pieces like than rather than just pure skill and technique in more rendered/painted styles of work

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

i really don't have any interested in the traveler as a character. i understand Why they exist but id have just as much if not more fun if they didn't have a story arc of their own........ the abyss twin being connected to khaehnri'ah and the abyss order is more interesting than the traveler's entire journey

#ask a fool #ty for sending these maur!!#i forgot to answer this until now

7 notes · View notes

djsherriff · 9 months

Text

I should really start posting more about my ocs/original ideas instead of fanart (maybe it’ll stop my brain from having Rayman brain rot) so uh, have some short plot descriptions

Untitiled magical girl isekai

Current progress, not much but currently the one I’m most likely to do something with

Stella Cross is an ordinary teenage girl who finds herself transported into another world full of mythical creatures and magic, Stella learns she is one of 7 chosen to awaken the world’s sleeping princess and unify this divided world.

Of cause, it’s easier said than done

Agents of Wu Xing

Current status (inactive) work in progress

Inspired by 2000s cartoons such as Xiaolin Showdown and Jackie Chan adventures, as well as the Adventure Bros, Agents of Wu Xing is an adult action comedy focusing on five young adults as they train to master one of five elements (Wood, fire, earth, metal and water) and hunt down mythical keys to ensure that Xiangliu is never free to unleash unspeakable evil upon the world. Of cause as all 20 somethings do, they get up into various hijinks, friendship dramas and debates on internet memes.

Also there’s a group of villains with a Chinese Zodiac theme, idk how else to add that.

I did a blog for it back in 2021 for a uni project you can find here and had a Google slides for it but I accidentally deleted it and I’m forever heartbroken over it ;-;

Little Pink Magical girl hood

Current status, just an excuse to draw fairytale girls?

Little Red riding hood but she wears pink instead and the big bad wolf was actually just a socially awkward gremlin GF, also Pink has magic powers maybe?

Debating if there be a larger plot involving other fairy tales/folklore characters or just make each one a separate plot unrelated to Pink Hood, perhaps all set in the same world though?

Palette Witch

Current progress, 🤷‍♀️

Iris is the guardian witch of a small town called Inksmouth which is home to toons of various kinds, though her closet companions is Julius the cat, a street wise feline who smirks to hide his fears, and Fanny the rabbit, Mayor of the town who worries for everyone’s safety.

Inksmouth is surrounded by an ocean of darkness and the town folks has lived in darkness for so long they don’t remember what natural light looks like. The town is repeatedly under attack by disfigured monsters from the sea, which Iris must destroy with her paint brush in order to protect her home.

But when a glowing light falls from the skies, Iris’s perspective of both herself and the world begins to shatter

Frame by Frame /Toon mates

Current progress, just a concept

Cartoon and anime characters from various genres find themselves as apartment roommates due to the difficulty of paying rant on their own, but can they learn to live with each other’s differences or will tensions rise between them?

#Ocs #character design #concept art #story pitch #artia #artists on tumblr

7 notes · View notes

beautifully-lumpy · 11 months

Text

introducing my new AU...bricks and border!

back in april, jetpackbraggin's thumbnail image for caddicarus' resident evil 4 remake stream series sparked something in me - i started developing an idea for a cartoon series about the personas of online reviewers living in a large city. this idea eventually evolved into bricks and border!

bricks and border follows the escapades of the nintendo-obsessed scott (the woz) - an ambitious guy from the midwest who just so happens to be the younger cousin of the hot-headed mayor, and "laz" (caddicarus) - a brit with a mysterious past who is only known by his nickname. together they solve mysteries and get into other shenanigans in their city of oaksport. nothing is off limits!

this is basically a love letter to the entire comedic review genre on youtube. i'm super excited to start working on this!!

more info about the world and its wacky cast of characters will be revealed soon, but first we need to get into some format/release/disclaimer talk...(some of it's pretty important!)

this project will be written in prose format. i'm still deciding whether it will be in first person with the chapters alternating between scott's and laz's viewpoints, or just in third person. i know first person is looked down upon in fanfic, but that's just what my mind immediately goes to because they're youtubers who review things, and it's easy to imagine them narrating their points of view. i'm still deciding that though.

i will draw a lot for it as it's meant to be imagined as a cartoon series - and just like my previous major fandom project (onward the fanmade series), i will be drawing stills to accompany each chapter/episode! and i will gladly negotiate with any lumpy germ or wozzer who would like to contribute a guest still! and yes - you absolutely CAN create fanart/edits/etc. based on this AU! i would love to see them!

the big differences between this and OTFS are that B&B will not be contained in one book/AO3 work. OTFS episodes were written in script format, and episodes were released as one whole chapter. however, for B&B, "episodes" will be separate stories that could range from 3 chapters to 15.

as to when the first story will come out? i can say maybe soon, but i can't say the exact date and time. i'm gonna be a bit easier on myself with this one - as in, i won't be busting my ass to get a chapter out every single week. not only will i not be able to accomplish that with both my summer job consistently exhausting me and my senior year of college on the horizon, but i also don't want to burn myself out and not want to produce anymore content for the project. that's how the original caddicarus show died.

also, just a little disclaimer - this is not RPF. these are heavily fictionalized versions of the youtubers' already exaggerated personas - i mean for god's sake, B&B!scott is the younger cousin of B&B!AVGN, who is the mayor of the fictional city oaksport. lore from scott's and caddy's shows is referenced, and private people in their lives are absolutely not included in this (for example, cerys and the kids will not be mentioned). however, caddy's sister may be included, as she's a public figure.

with all that being said, i'm doing this as responsibly and cautiously as i possibly can - trust me, i previously wrote realistic non-AU caddicarus RPF and i almost got in trouble for it in 2017 when i was a stupid 15 year old who didn't know better. i know the harm RPF can do, which is why this is strictly being labeled as an AU. also i'm just gonna go ahead and say i won't be shipping characters in this. even though they're fictionalized AU versions of the youtubers, i feel uncomfortable shipping them. if you would like to create your own fan content of this AU where you ship the characters, i can't stop you. but i'm not gonna make it canon or anything.

that's pretty much all i have to say, i think. i hope that the caddicarus and scott the woz fans of tumblr will take interest in this!

#caddicarus #scott the woz #AU #alternate universe #bricks and border

8 notes · View notes

sparkagrace · 1 year

Text

I posted 5,357 times in 2022

That's 4,347 more posts than 2021!

225 posts created (4%)

5,132 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@musette22

@possibleplatypus

@cable-knit-sweater

@alpineandbucky

@not-withoutyou

I tagged 5,303 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#queued - 3,489 posts

#steve x bucky - 2,660 posts

#fanart - 1,372 posts

#fanfic - 797 posts

#bucky barnes - 752 posts

#ca:tws - 503 posts

#steve rogers - 503 posts

#ca:tfa - 459 posts

#ca:cw - 436 posts

#sebastian stan - 295 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#you're so compelled by the winter soldier before you even see him and then everything after as it fits in around steve and bucky's history

My Top Posts in 2022:

be kind, rewind: ch.8

author: sparkagrace notes: a Stucky 90s AU written for @stuckyhistoricalfiction rating/words: T (47k) ship: steve/bucky tags: shrunkyclunks, alternate universe - 1990s, slow burn, mutual pining, getting together, movie references

summary:

Bucky opens his mouth because he could tell Briony about Steve and Becca, and he could tell her about how he doesn’t know how to start picking his life back up, but he swallows it down and lets it hang in the air between them. “He told me once that anything can be fixed. Starting is the scariest part, but once you do then it all feels easier. Just start small, Bucky.”

This fic is now complete! You can read Chapter 8 here.

Previous chapter posts: [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven]

Thanks so much for all the support and lovely comments over the last few months. I hope you like the final chapter (and there's some headcanons at the very end of the fic) 💖💖💖

89 notes - Posted October 6, 2022

title: be kind, rewind author: sparkagrace rating/words: T (47k) notes: a Stucky 90s AU written for @stuckyhistoricalfiction. tags: shrunkyclunks, alternate universe - 1990s, slow burn, mutual pining, getting together, movie references, bucky hates star wars and has a thing for hugh grant

summary: It's 1994 and Bucky Barnes is stuck in a dead-end job at Blockbuster trying to figure his life out. That is until a recently unfrozen Steve Rogers walks through the door and asks him for movie recommendations.

"You lookin' for something for your kid or your niece or… the kid you babysit?" The employee's nametag reads 'Bucky', and in a smaller font underneath is the word 'Manager'. "No." Steve frowns, then follows his glance up towards the sign that reads: CHILDREN'S. He picks up Snow White and shows it to the employee. "Found it." "Alright, dude. Whatever floats your boat. Lemme know if you need anything else. Your Cinderellas and your Sleepin' Beauties. That Jasmine chick from Aladdin is a pretty big hit." Bucky crosses his arms over his chest and that polo stretches a little. "Unless it's the dwarves that getcha goin'." Steve opens his mouth and then shuts it. "Um, what?" "Look, if you're gonna perve over cartoon girls, can you wait until you've rented them out? This is a family establishment."

I wrote a little thing and have had so much fun rewatching classic movies. It's eight parts in total so check it out if you love the 90s and lots of movie references.

Read on AO3

114 notes - Posted June 15, 2022

treading water | @sparkagrace steve x bucky | mature | wip

tags: olympics au, swimming, sports au, established relationship, amputee bucky barnes, break up, getting back together, depression, coming out, suicidal ideation, angst, eventual happy ending

Olympic swimmer Bucky Barnes always believed that when the time came to retire, he would walk away with his medals and world records firmly in the history books and never look back. He never thought the water would leave him first.

updates on the 3rd, 13th and 23rd of every month.

lane lines series: lane lines | lumiere | new traditions

121 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

OFF THE RECORD

written by sparkagrace ; art by @konfundus for @shrunkyclunksbang rating: mature words: 37k | 5 chapters summary:

The Avengers have a problem. Six months after the Battle of New York, public opinion is beginning to turn on them and they are in dire need of a PR boost. Reporter Bucky Barnes needs to impress his boss enough to get a promotion onto the Features desk. This assignment might get him there, but the fact that he really hates the Avengers is the least of his problems today…

Chapter 1 is up now, and there will be a chapter a day until 12th August.

155 notes - Posted August 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

hearing someone irl (at work!) say the "we deserve a soft epilogue" quote is jarring, but also 👀

she followed it up with "i don't even care about captain america or the arm man, but i see that quote everywhere and i like it".

163 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

4 notes · View notes

glittergummy · 1 year

Note

🙃 Which is easier: faces facing left, right, or front view?

🎼 Your favorite music to draw to right now?

already answered 🙃 but i like talking so lmao, i'll add some more since i gave it some thought

3/4's is easiest ofc, view i've drawn the most and i don't know most artists who draw completely side or front view anyways so i guess it's not too unusual

but front view is more difficult not on placement but my perfectionism on wanting it to be symmetric and gosh that takes *so* much longer to do than just 3/4'ing it and calling it a day

🎼 Your favorite music to draw to right now?

i actually don't draw to music? i don't know how common that is but i usually have some youtube video in the background, problem is i won't be listening to it so it has to be something random or something i don't care to remember details on

sometimes just silence because i tend to get overly stimulated on sound pretty easily :(

but i do use music to stim and get inspiration more than anything, close to other creative content like cartoons and fanart

right now it's actually nostalgic songs for the most part, about the early 2010s i believe

#thank you for the ask again!#i cannot express just how much this means to me #thank you so much!!#asks answered

2 notes · View notes

bilumiart · 8 months

Note

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12!

Thank you for asking and sorry for the late reply!

1. Art programs you have but don't use

Photoshop

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

I think they're almost equally as easy. Maybe the forward one would be harder to draw if the character had a big nose.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

I think making cute fanart of my favorite cartoons. Also having fun creating stories with my OCs

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Hands and poses/anatomy can be tricky. Lord Hater can be hard to draw sometimes.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

I have more ideas in my head than drawings. I'll try to draw them in the future (it's hard to stay motivated sometimes)

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

Maybe anime, disney, mlp

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

Gouache painting

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

I wanted to make a comic about my two OCs being roommates, a cute pink villain and a half succubus half human.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

I like drawing super heroes/villains suits but also sweaters.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Yes!! I love listening to music while drawing. I like to listen to playlists made by others for specific ships or characters or feelings. But also energetic playlists, indie pop, indie rock, pop rock. It can also depend if the drawing is more sad or happy the music could match.

12. Easiest part of body to draw

The head/face

#answered #bilumi talks #art #art questions

1 note · View note

tr4sh-hive-3 · 1 year

Text

Hello, *world! (re: *tumblr)

no, the title does not make sense. fitting for my first post. this is gonna be a long one, so fasten your seatbelts honeys and allow me to take you on the thrilling ride through my various inner turmoils and tragically unrealistic aspirations!

I hate myself. with my heart, soul, and mind, I hate every fiber of my being. logically, I know I’m probably not that bad (maybe), but logic doesn’t mean shit to my stupid brain. I don’t like hating myself. I find it makes it much harder to be happy and I do enjoy being happy. sometimes. actually, I think when I’m feeling “happy”, I’m really just feeling empty and stale. wowza, that flipped around fast. I hate being happy. I hate not being happy. I hate being alive. I hate wishing I was dead. I hate talking to people and I hate being lonely. I hate everyone and I hate that they hate me. I hate myself. yay~

I have this really weird self esteem thing where I overthink everything relating to my mental abilities. I hate hate hate the part of me that seems to have this stupid elitist complex based on my intelligence. I’m sorry, I should stop talking about hating things. what I mean to say is there’s a part of me that only cares about getting smarter and having everyone know I’m smarter than them. I feel absolutely amazing when someone praises my intelligence and like complete shit when I’m wrong about something.

if you’ve read those last two paragraphs, you now know that I (not saying it) myself and my sense of self worth depends entirely on my own perception of my intelligence. now that you’ve got the basic rundown of my inner turmoils, let’s get into the tragically unrealistic aspirations.

I’m an artist. I’d like to consider myself as such. to be an artist, one must create art. I don’t really do too much of that. I’m not really an artist. I draw, sure, but I’m not very good at it. and everything I write is shit. take this text post for example. it’s got no flow, no rhythm. I don’t know what that means. are texts such as this supposed to have a “flow”? I think I’m incapable of gauging the quality of my work. I’m incapable of defining anything related to me. I don’t know what I look like. my physical features are always shifting. sorry, that’s more turmoil, isn’t it? let me (try to) tell you about my dreams.

I want to create a world. a universe. not a D&D fantasy map the size of Manhattan, I want it to put those little wimp dicks to shame. big, sexy, and full of endless niche crevices to get lost in. I want to write a big-ass 12 book series following a beautifully layered character aged 12-24. I want to make comics, cartoons, movies, video games, all that shit in this one uni(multi?)verse. I want people to fall in love with it and make their own head canons that I can (legally) declare canon. wouldn’t it be cool as hell if other people actually liked what I made so much that they made fanart or wrote fanfiction for it? I would die. I would actually just pass away over the motherfucking rainbow if anyone ever did something like that for a thing I made.

that was a lot less depressing than the last few text blocks. I promise I’m not that miserable most of the time. just when I’m venting into the unforgiving void.

let me tell you something fun—

humans create what they consume. read fiction? get ready to be gripped with the urge to write fan fiction, or worse, your own books. watch cartoons? get ready to find pencils forcing themselves into your shaking fist, yearning to make sweet, sweet, love to your paper and make beautiful fan art babies. if you consume media, you’re a hell of a lot more likely to become interested in the creation of that media, and eventually in creating similar media yourself. which is good; because it’s a lot easier to have fun making something when you have references.

I’m not so interested in books, cartoons, video games, and stuff. I think it’s because I have moderate to severe depression and instead of being gripped with the urge to write fanfiction, I’m usually just gripped with the urge to kill myself. I’m very interested in being part of several fandoms and essentially having a gargantuan online family. I vibe heavily with that idea. I know that I can enjoy consuming that sort of media, because I’ve done it before. I remember some years ago when I wasn’t so mentally ill; I remember devouring books and rotting my brain with cartoons like they were cocaine. I remember the crazy strong rushes of serotonin I got from rereading the same sentence for the third time just so I could fully appreciate it. I remember how I could get addicted to a show and the anticipation I felt during the seconds between hitting play and the intro. I know I can feel that way again because others can feel so strong they write millions of words out of love for it, spend hours on drawings and cosplays to share with their online family just because they love those stories that much. I want to feel that way. I want to feel like I can create out of love.

that’s probably one of the reasons I want to make that big, sexy world. I want to make others feel that way. I keep talking about this feeling like it’s so abstract. there’s probably a word for it. I hope there’s a word for it.

have you formed any opinions on me yet? are they good? I hope they’re good. I happen to be very self conscious of what others think of me. If I’d want you to feel anything about me, I’d want it to be a sense of kinship. I find that’s a very nice feeling to have. especially for a complete stranger. well, I suppose we’re not much of strangers now that you know some bit of my deepest heartaches and wildest dreams.

would you like my name now? I’m gonna give it to you anyway.

hello. please, call me Pan. I hope we can be friends.

0 notes

skellydoodles · 2 years

Photo

Belle was FINALLY released in dvd May 17th and I am ecstatic!! Beautiful animation, beautiful music and a beautiful story (Spoilers ahead) I adore Hosoda’s work, and Belle definitely came at a time when I needed it most. My mother passed away January 2021 which was (and still is) one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with. And wow, was this a timely film! Hosoda’s work is filled with so much emotion, dealing with love and loss, family and relationships. And Belle was no different. Suzu spends the movie navigating the grief of loosing her mother, wondering why her mom sacrificed her life to save a stranger’s child, only to find the answers when she ends up doing the same thing, throwing aside reason and doing all she can to save two strangers. And through all of this, she finds her love for life (and music) again. There is so much more I want to say about this film but honestly it’d be easier just to tell you to watch it! (Tags) #belle #anime #animation #illustration #cartoon #art #mamoruhosoda #studiochizu #suzu #procreate #digitalart #fanart https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd81vRyFH0q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#belle #anime #animation #illustration #cartoon #art #mamoruhosoda #studiochizu #suzu #procreate #digitalart #fanart

1 note · View note

abd-illustrates · 7 years

Photo

Rick and Morty!

Catching up on the latest season -- figured it was about time I drew some fanart for the show!

–SPEEDPAINT FOR THIS DRAWING–

(DON’T REPOST TO OTHER SITES) // VECTOR VERSION ON MY DA (<-link in my blog header)

#rick and morty #fanart #rick sanchez #morty sanchez #sticker #doodles #havin so much fun with this cartoony style #sadly so far it's only been very successful with fanart of actual cartoons and nothing else lmao #the portal ended up being way easier to do than i thought as well so yay for that

1K notes · View notes

biteghost · 2 years

Note

What did your base your drawing style off of? Cause honestly i get a lot of Batman TAS vibes from it, which is a great vibe, btw!

Hi anon! Thanks for the message - you're right, there is a lot of Bruce Timm's art (and specifically his work on BTAS) in my art DNA. You can also find a lot of various anime/manga series in there, and if you go back far enough you'd see some other cartoons, too!

Now, I hope this doesn't come off as pedantic, but I wanna talk about how you asked this question. Don't worry, it wasn't rude or anything and I'm not trying to call you out specifically. Obviously I understand what you are asking, but I find phrasing it "what did you base your style off of" interesting.

I spoke with a couple of my peers about this, and we've all seen similar things throughout our various time on the internet - and it's getting more frequent. A lot of upcoming artists are looking for advice from professional and established artists online and approaching art and 'success' as a mathematical formula with a correct answer. A correct answer that professional artists aren't giving away - and honestly? How dare they.

(I think part of this is definitely at the fault of social media. Quantifying successful or 'good' art by how many followers, likes, shares, reblogs or retweets is... bad for brains. 'Number go up' doesn't really mean anything, and the sooner you start to ignore those numbers the easier it will be for you and your relationship with your own art.)

I did not 'base' my art or general drawing style off of anything. It was not a conscious decision I made. I didn't watch Batman: The Animated Series as a 13 year old and decided to copy the art style until I could draw the shapes in my sleep. What happened was the art moved me, it resonated with me, and I liked it so much I wanted to draw it. I made a lot of fanart for a cartoon that wasn't even airing on television anymore, and the fanart I made wasn't very good because I hadn't been drawing seriously for very long. My control wasn't good, my lines weren't confident, and my tools were limited (printer paper, black sharpies and colored pencils all the way, baby!) But I didn't care because I loved those characters, I loved that world, and I wanted to express that love and appreciation - even if myself and a few close friends were the only ones who would ever see it.

To be perfectly honest, the art style I tried to replicate as a child (before BTAS, even) was CLAMP's work Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. My oldest sister introduced me to manga when I was 11/12 years old, and I thought the art was so beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it before - the stark black and white, the use of negative space, the VERY BEAUTIFUL characters which stole my heart and captured my imagination (Kurogane, mi amor 💕)... I tried to copy the work I saw in the manga (my volumes are very well-loved from carrying them around school in my backpack), but I hadn't tried consciously to copy what I was looking at before. I hadn't tried drawing seriously before that point. I had never cared that much about something that it made me want to create something of my own, too. But I didn't have the knowledge that CLAMP did. I didn't have the years of inking experience to understand why they did each stroke, and where they allowed their figures to be implied. So try as I might, I never got the style down because I simply did not have enough experience with drawing. Instead, it's how I got comfortable with holding a pencil and drawing with it. It gave me more confidence in myself. I think that's why when I got obsessed with BTAS a short while later, I had a much easier time making bad fanart for it. The style was simpler, and I had gotten a lot of my bad drawings out trying to make fanart for Tsubasa first, haha!

Art style is something that is not real - or not real enough that it should be something you are worried about as a young artist. If you find your 'art style' changes a lot that just means you're learning at a quick rate. It means you are taking in and applying a lot of different things that you see into your own work. That's a good thing! As you continue your artistic journey and gain more experience, your internal library of resources will continue to grow. You will develop the ability to purposefully wield those influences and styles. You will be able to look at art and dissect what you like about it and then apply it into your own work with intent and confidence. You will experiment with this, and you will hone your other skills at the same time. Line work, confident brush strokes, proportions, rendering, color theory, lighting, perspective, depth, confidence in your tools (digital or traditional - or both!) - all of this will be worked on as you experiment, as you learn, as you practice and as you continue to chase your self-expression.

I think when professional artists give the advice of "draw every day" or "keep practicing", younger artists might feel that it's not good advice. It might be a let-down, because they're looking for the mathematical formula to become successful and to get recognition quickly. But art is a skill, like anything else. It takes time to learn, to grow comfortable in, and it's something you never finish learning!!

You have to keep in mind that older artists might have been drawing since before you were born - they have years and years and years of experience. Like, I've been drawing since about 2005, which was 16 years ago! And I get teenagers asking me things like this, and it's like, buddy I've been drawing since before you were alive. I have your entire lifetime over you in terms of experience. It doesn't mean I'm better than you, but there is just a literal gap in terms of time spent experimenting, failing, and learning that you haven't gotten to do yet.

You see an artist's current work, and you have to remember that this is their CURRENT skill level that has been attained after a lifetime of working on their craft. Every piece you make is a stepping stone in your journey, and THAT is why you should draw every day. You should draw what you love. You should draw what interests you. And if you're unsatisfied or feel you can't do justice to the things you're trying to depict - focus on that skill and practice it until you're happy with it.

OC's not as sexy as you think they could be? Go practice anatomy. Read some books, study how the body works and bends. Want to make your comics more dynamic? Go read some comics you think are dynamic or cool and study their layouts, study their framing and posing. Want to make smoother animations, want to try painting backgrounds and sweeping vistas, want to up your coloring game? You gotta go seek out the materials to help you learn. You gotta be willing to read and study in order to hone your craft into what you know it can be!

Your art style is a combination of all your experiments, influences and practice. It's your struggle, it's your joy, it's your triumphs and it's your failures. The things that you like and that bring you joy combine in you to make your unique artistic voice. Don't worry so much about style. Consistency doesn't matter in art. Don't worry so much about how other people got to where they are today. You don't need to be them to be great. Just keep drawing.

#long post #art talk #asktime #not art

62 notes · View notes

titilationexpress · 3 years

Text

StarscreamxReader-Sweet Dreams are made of Screams Ch.1

First ever lemon. Please give your input. Reposting from my Ao3.

You haven’t been able to sleep properly for weeks now. And frankly, you’re wondering if you ever will again in your lifetime.

Yet what caused you to have such a problem with something that once came to you so easily? Ok, maybe not easily. No, scratch that. It was never easy. You had to take some sleeping pills every night to even get a few hours in. Still, how did it happen?

Well, the trouble had started back not long ago. In fact, from what you could recall, it hadn’t even been a full month before your ‘problem’ started. See, you were a fairly average individual. You had your quirks, your habits, the little things that make each person an individual. One particular interest you had though was quite specific, and even more, came from a decade long before you were born.

Transformers.

Oh yes, your beginnings were humble when you first started with the franchise, and you looked with wide, awe-filled eyes. Your starting place was where you first discovered it, the one show that will remain in your heart forever. From that, you got into the characters, the story, the lore of what started as a toyline for young boys (though it was clear now that both sexes had a love for it), all of it. And from there, you went on to past and future generations from your starting point, and now, you were a certified Transformers fan! Hell, one of your favorite sites ever is TFWiki.

With this entrance into the fandom, you took to devouring everything that you could: the cartoons and animes, the books, the movies, fanfiction, fanart, fan comics, doujinshi, anything and everything that you could get your hands on, you did. And not long after, you began contributing yourself, drawing, writing, whatever you could to make your stand and have your place in the community. At first, it worked well enough, you weren’t exactly prolific, yet you were doing well enough. You managed to get a few requests for certain things to be drawn/written, believe it or not, but still, you weren’t overly big.

And then came your discovery of the Reader genre.

What is the Reader genre? Why, as far as you were concerned, only one of the greatest genres ever to be conceived! Well, to be more accurate, the form of writing wasn’t anything new, remembering the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ books. It seemed said genre now spread everywhere, you being very aware of the numerous games and dating sims that ranged from well done and engaging to outright ridiculous and stupid (but those were fun in their unique way). And since you didn’t have any knowledge or time to do that, you settled for writing them yourself. Your first piece was a simple Optimus x Reader with the standard plot and standard outcome, which was a declaration of love and a resulting kiss with the Autobot Leader. You were NOT expecting the overflow of response that it had gotten. You were quite shocked, but at the same time, overjoyed. Soon, you decided to try your luck with another one, this one being of Bumblebee, the scenario being mostly the same, albeit with a bit more cutesy fluff, as in your mind, Bumblebee was always the little guy. This one was just as successful, and you beamed, having finally found your calling.

Since then, you were getting requests left and right for more and more choices, all spanning different universes. From the animated cartoons to the comics, different universes, everything that spanned from the most well-known incarnations to the more obscure. It was through these that you managed to get even more into the Transformers multiverse as a whole and even discovered some truly overlooked gems. You opened yourself up to the people and declared that you would write whatever they requested, but you had some taboos that you wouldn’t touch. But any scenario, character, and universe, all of that was fair game.

You had originally begun working on more mundane, typical stories with expected outcomes (but sweet ones nonetheless), yet over time, the requests and your imagination began getting more creative and crazy. Soon, you were delving into several different areas that you had never touched. Elves, goblins, mermaids, vampires, forbidden love, love triangles, all of these were laid at your feet. And while it took a bit to find your rhythm, all of this having come on you so fast, you eventually got it and soon, you had a wide collection of X Reader stories, ranging from G1 to Prime and IDW’s run.

You mainly did Autobots, for you had to admit that writing for them, while they were still complex characters, came somewhat easier for you. True, each of them had their faults and quirks (both from canon and headcanons people had come up with), yet they were still the good guys, and even those with more questionable morality still came out as heroes in the end. But then one day came where you were asked to write about a Decepticon. This threw you for a loop, as, while the thought had intrigued you, you had been writing for good guys for some time, so a total shift in direction was somewhat off-putting and scary. Possibilities of it being too saccharine or sweet, or getting the characters wrong or out of character scared you a bit, yet still, you wanted to test the waters and see if you could do it. And if you could, this would open up so much more for you.

And judging from the input, you had just struck gold yet again.

Soon, not only were you flooded with requests for Autobots, but now their foes were also available, and, as you found out, people had just as much an attraction for the darkness as they did for the light. Again, the same scenarios were implemented, yet now, they had something of a darker edge to them, which allowed you to explore some subjects you couldn’t touch with the Autobots without toning it back somewhat. In a way, the Decepticons provided you with more freedom. Ironic, seeing as Megatron’s motto was “Peace through Tyranny.”

That said, you went through the list of available characters throughout the generations, and so far, those had been garnering quite a following as well, your Autobot and Decepticon stories neck and neck in popularity. Everything seemed to be going well for you.

Then that one question came.

‘Hey, where’s Starscream?’

Then another.

‘Could you write one about Starscream?’’

Then another.

‘Hey, hate to bother you, yet I think that Starscream could use some love here.’

More and more questions and requests for the particular Decepticon filled your messages, and frankly, you were at a loss on what to do. Truth be told, you and Starscream had something of a complicated history. When you had gotten into Transformers, you had heard of the character, yet at first, you never saw why he had gained such a large fanbase. True, he wasn’t a bad character, yet he wasn’t your favorite. But over time, as you wrote more and more for the Decepticons, as well as read X Reader stories from other people, you slowly began to, as one would say, gain an interest in the winged robot. And soon, you found yourself enamored by the smug jerk as well.

But this only made you reluctant to write for him.

True, when you started writing for the Decepticons, you were allowed to experiment with some more intimate and extreme situations, yet with Starscream...it was different. It was hard to explain, yet whenever you got a request to write for him, your brain seemed to seize up. Thoughts came to your head that you had tried to banish, thoughts that came every time you saw the Seeker’s name. You had no idea what was going on or why this was so difficult, yet it seemed the Silver Snake had taken to making your fingers not touch the keyboard.

You had no idea at all. Or at least, that’s what you told yourself.

And since you had gotten the slew of requests, your sleep problems began. The moment you shut your eyes, the scenario began all over again.

…

You needed no introduction to where you were or what you were seeing, it all quite familiar to you now. Around you were towering walls of a silvery mauve color, the only available light from above sparse and leaving several areas coated in darkness. This place was all too familiar, for you had seen it many times in your watching and reading of Transformers.

You were in Decepticon headquarters.

Your dreams had been filled with the base of the enemy faction of the Autobots, and at first, it had shocked you as to why you were here at all. But over time, night after night, you came here, and soon, you grew accustomed to the sight of it. You took on the form of your Transformers persona/OC or remained in your regular, human form, whatever pleased you as if you had some control over this environment. Yet as you grew more familiar (you were never sure if you’d be comfortable), you began to explore the place, finding that, to your surprise, there was no one here. No signs of any sort of life aboard the ship, and while it took a good while, you traveled everywhere you could think of, and still, nothing. No Megatron, no other Decepticons, no one but you had been aboard.

At least, that was what you believed when you first had this dream. Then, you heard it. The voice. His voice.

“Oooh, I’m the Boogie Man,”

Singing, serenading, just loud enough for you to hear, yet low enough for you to know it was far away. It always started this way.

“The terrible, horrible Boogie Man,”

Your ears/audio receptors registered the voice as it echoed throughout the ship. When the dreams had begun, you knew immediately who was singing, and then you were more surprised at how it sounded. Sure, it had its infamous high pitch, yet it wasn’t bad to listen to. Daresay, it was rather enjoyable in its own way.

“I come in the middle of the night and frighten bad little girls like you.”

The first few times you had this dream, it would almost always startle you, yet it led you to look down the other balls and corridors of the ship. The results were always the same though: no one was aboard. No one but you...and him.

“Beware, better have a care,”

The song changed each and every time you entered the dream, tonight being a track you heard on a video game you played not too long ago (Bioshock 2 you believed). Yet the songs always had the same effect on you.

“I’m going to follow you everywhere.”

Despite your trepidation, you wanted...needed to follow it.

“I crawl through the ceiling and the wall and call on bad little girls like you.”

Walking, then running, you traversed the winding path before you, taking several left and right turns, having no sense of direction but that voice. A voice that, despite its infamous sound, held power to it, a siren’s song in a way. Ironic, you thought. Still, you followed, for you had reached your limit. You knew what would happen if you didn’t find him.

“I’ll torture you and hunt you,”

And never leave.

I’ve got you where I want you,”

And never let you escape this dream.

“A victim of my dark and dirty plot.”

And he knew it too. He knew he had power over you. And you hated it.

“And at the slightest whim, I’ll tear you limb from limb,”

Or…

“In other words, I’ll put you on the spot.”

Did you?

“Oooh, I’m the Boogie Man,”

You were close. So dangerously close.

“The terrible, horrible Boogie Man.”

Just a turn around the corner.

“I come in the middle of the night and frighten…”

He paused, you stopping in your tracks at what you saw. There he was. Situated behind violet bars of energy in a cell, the Decepticon stood there with his arms folded and looking upon you with satisfied, hungry red eyes.

“...bad little girls like you.”

It was him.

Starscream.

Your favorite incarnation of Starscream, those ruby orbs boring into your own eyes/optics. You stepped back from the cell, eyes/optics wide at what was before you. Sure, if you were to go by dream logic, some part of you always knew that it was ‘him’ that awaited you at the end of this journey, but still, to actually see him, standing there so casually when it looked like he was locked up, it chilled you. As if he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

“My, my, so you finally found me,” he said, his voice perfectly matching the incarnation that stood before you. “Or rather, I found you. Whichever way it goes, it doesn’t matter,” he smirked. “For I already know the outcome.”

You blinked a few times, still trying to see if who was before you had truly been there. “St…” you began nervously. “Starscream?”

The Decepticon chuckled and stepped out of the shadows, allowing you to fully see him. “In the mesh,” he said. “And I see that introductions won’t need to be made either, will they, Y/N?” your eyes/optics went wide. “That’s right, pet, I know everything. This IS your mind after all.”

“Wh-What?” you stammered. “I don’t understand.”

Starscream’s grin only grew wider. “You will soon. You will understand EVERYTHING.”

Just what was he talking about? From the looks of it, he seemed to be enjoying your tension and trepidation, very amused. Your mind went into fan mode, recalling every fact you had known of Starscream and his various incarnations, which then led to you going on the defensive. “You…” albeit, it took you a try or two. “You’re the one that’s been doing this to me. Giving me these...these weird dreams.” the Decepticon didn’t answer, yet it was clear that he already knew that the secret was out (even if it wasn’t much of one). “You’re also the one that’s not letting me have one decent night’s sleep without being trapped here!”

“Or me serenading you?” he added in. “How do you like it? I don’t do it often, yet if I wish, I can stretch out my vocal components if I want.”

Your cheeks grew hot. Damn, this bastard was already making you too wound up, and you had only gotten a few words in! “Well...I’m here now,” you said, trying to sound confident, and, ironically enough, trying to channel Megatron’s dominating aura. “So, what do you want?”

This didn’t phase him in the slightest. Despite him being the one locked up, you were the one who felt like his prisoner. “I think you already know that dear Y/N,” he said. “But to put it simply, I’m feeling left out.”

You were confused. “Left out?” You asked. “Left out of…” you paused. Indeed, you knew well what he was talking about. “My...my reader inserts.”

Starscream nodded. “Quite an extensive library you’ve built up over time.” He told you. “Though your choices could be much better.” he scoffed. “Of course goody-good Prime would be on the list, along with the rest of the Auto-dolts.” Then he grimaced. “Yet there are those that actually want to FRAG Megatron? Ugh! No taste at all!” He then looked back at you. “You’ve written for everyone, from either faction, of every series,” he then pouted. “But none for me. Truly, Y/N, I’m hurt.”

You felt quite awkward. True, while you were known online for your stories, it was your username and persona they were seeing. They weren’t someone that was right around the corner that could walk in and see you writing these things. While you loved doing it, the thought of your family or friends discovering you wrote in this genre was a thought you dared not entertain, as you swore that you’d die from embarrassment. Thus, you were very careful whenever you did it, your room completely locked tight so you could focus without fear of someone barging in. The only times you left during your writing periods were for bathroom breaks and/or to eat/drink something. It was a big secret...and thinking about it now, it was a secret no more to the most infamous backstabber in all of Transformers. You had been found out.

“Well...so what? Are you going to keep haunting me until I do?” you asked. “You can’t do that!”

Starscream didn’t seem phased by this at all. That damned smirk of his both frustrated and made you excited, a combination that left you very unsure. “Can’t I?” he asked.

You didn’t like his tone. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s consider for a moment, Y/N,” he said. “You believe that I’m merely a figment of your imagination, yes? A stubborn thought that is lodged in your subconscious. Am I right?” you shifted a bit, knowing well what he was saying would lead to something else. Something that probably would flip everything on its head. “Well...who’s to say that I am?”

“I...I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t. But what I say might just jog your memory.” he then went on. “In your last X Reader, you spoke of multiple versions of the characters, such as Prime and...yes, even Megatron,” Starscream scoffed. “And how it would’ve been peculiar if they met. Then, one of your readers linked you to a page on the TFWiki.” Starscream then chuckled. “Quite an array of knowledge, I must say. Especially for a primitive species such as yourselves. Anyway, said page spoke of what is labeled as the Transformers Multiverse, which, if I may say, is an excuse for you all to toy with and shape us into what YOU want. But back on track, you did a small amount of research on that, then went on about your business.”

“...and what does this have to do with why you’re here?”

Starscream smirked. “Then, after some time, you went and read the entries of me from various series and incarnations. To get a better feel for what you were thinking of writing. What you wanted to write. Only, you never did.” You were about to speak again, but the seeker spoke again before you could. “There was one detail from my earliest incarnation that spoke of a ‘ghost’, an immortal spark that couldn’t be snuffed out. One that could travel through space and time.” He drew closer to the bars. “And then discovered a way to travel through dimensions. Wherein, I found out all about how so many humans have seen my reality behind a television screen.”

What was he talking about? What did any of what he said mean? It was then that it all clicked for you. Sparks were essentially the ‘soul’ of a Transformer, which Starscream’s was indestructible. You read that he made an appearance in Beast Wars, and had made cameos elsewhere. What was before you right now...mere feet away…” Are you.. “ you stammered. “Are you really…”

The Decepticon nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am, Y/N.”

You were left speechless. No. No, this...this was impossible. It...it couldn’t be him! It couldn’t be the REAL Starscream! He was a cartoon, no, a toy! A damn toy! A toy from the eighties that were made to be marketable to young boys (and the girls that were secretly into it) among several other toys that were made be marketable to young boys (and again, the girls that were secretly into it)! There was NO way he was in your mind right now! He wasn’t real! He wasn’t real! He wasn’t-

“You step out into the chilled air, wrapping your arms around yourself as you do.” the Decepticon suddenly began. “He’s there to pick you up. He’s there to pick you up. You’re both terrified and exhilarated, eager to start the night, but also to make it fly by just enough so nothing embarrassing would happen between the two of you.” your jaw dropped when you heard him say that. How did he- “Know that you recently read over your very first entry? The one that started it all?” he then ‘rolled’ his eyes. “The one that clearly displayed that you had little taste at first?”

Of course, you did! That was from your very first X Reader story! It told of Optimus Prime and you, a human, in a relationship. Odd start, you knew, especially given that Transformer x Human relations was sort of controversial, yet overall, it wasn’t a bad one. Still, the fact he knew that…” No.” you said aloud. “It can’t be.”

He smiled. “I am.”

You stepped back until you hit a wall. “S-Starscream.” you stuttered. “You’re him. You’re the...the real one.” he was quite satisfied with your reaction, you clearly flustered yet cautious at the same time. The sensation drove you mad. But then you remember, this was just a dream! You were just making up all this stuff! You were relieved by this revelation...yet at the same time, you were...curious. Just where would this go if you continued? “Well...well, what are you doing here? What do you want?”

“Exactly as I said before, I feel left out,” Starscream told you. “And considering my popularity in this universe, I’d think me being here should tell you something.”

You knew what he wanted. “You want me to write about you.” it was obvious. “I-I know. I mean, I’ve been wanting to. Really, I have. But...but I...I just…” you sighed. If you knew Starscream (and you had at least a decent enough faith you did), you knew that this could potentially earn you his anger. Yet, to your surprise, he didn’t try to order you around. Instead, he seemed like he already knew you were going to say that.

“You can’t,” he said for you. “Understand, I’m the one in YOUR mind. Thus, you could say, I know everything about you. A perk of being something that, in this universe, started out as a drawing on a piece of paper.” you were confused, this seemed to humor Starscream even more. “Oh, come now. Surely you know that concept art exists, right?”

All of this was so insane for you, yet it was then that you felt the urge to speak up and say something for yourself for once. “Well, if you’re here from the...well, YOUR universe, what are you doing here in the first place?”

“Why, this is one of the few places I win!” Starscream exclaimed. “Of course, when I first came here, I was quite perplexed about how I and many others were known as products from a company called ‘Hasbro’. But overtime, I discovered your version of the internet, and, well, as you flesh bags say, the rest is history.” he then continued, not giving you a chance to speak. “And bring that I am an idea in this universe, I can go freely as I wish, peering into minds,” his red eyes looked upon you. “Become one’s permanent muse or vice versa.”

God, you felt weird. You felt so confused and conflicted. You wanted to sink into the wall to get away, but you also wanted to know more about this. You had to know more. You needed to know more. “So…?”

“So, I’ve come to you, as you’re truly in need of some inspiration,” Starscream said. “As well as some changes in your thinking.”

“Like what? Worshiping the ground you walk on?” you ask, feeling a little bolder.

“Oh, you already do.” he said. “If you didn’t desire me, I wouldn’t be here.” he grinned at your shocked expression. “That’s right, Y/N, I know what truly holds you back from writing about me. Your fears, your anxieties, your loves and lusts.” you had no words. “You fear that you may get me wrong if you will. That I won’t be in character. Or you fear that you won’t be able to satisfy the wants of your readers, as I AM so highly anticipated. Or…” he leaned closer to the bars, the only barrier separating you two. “You fear exploring those more intimate pleasures with me. You’re intimidated and unsure. After all, writing for Autobots is easy, yet us Decepticons are more difficult. But it HAS awakened things in you that you wish to explore on either side. Things that you are dying to let out.”

You had no words, he was completely right. Damn him! The smug bastard knew he had you in the palm of his hand...and yet also probably knew that’s what made you so hot and bothered right now! “So...what? Are you here to force me to write those things with you in them?”

“Dear Y/N, I can’t technically make you do anything,” Starscream told you. “Oh yes, I can stay and torment you night after night until either I pass onto another universe or I grow bored of you, but my reason being here is for both our benefits.”

“How?”

“It’s quite simple,” he said. “We shall go through those scenarios in your head.” his ruby red optics bore into yours/your eyes. “Together.” he then reached out from in between the bars and traced a digit around your jawline. “Believe it or not, I want to help you, Y/N.” his voice was smooth and sultry, something you never expected from a voice like his. “But only you can allow me to do so.” he then stepped back from the bars. “This prison of mine is something you’ve constructed from your fears and insecurities. Allow yourself to embrace what you fear…” he then extended his hand again, yet stepped back as well, sinking into the darkness. “Only then, will you truly be free.”

You were at a standstill. You knew what he wanted, and, to your horror, you were wanting to give it to him. Deny it all you want, this was something that had been in your mind ever since you got the first request for the Seeker. You approached the bars, trying to get some sign that he was still there. Surely he hadn’t left you, had he? No, he hadn’t. He was still there, you could feel him. Watching, waiting, and perhaps, knowing what you would do before you did.

Yet would you do it? Would you bite into that forbidden fruit?

Some while after pondering this question, you looked at the cell, the energy bars vanishing. Why fight it when you could already taste the sweet tartness of said fruit in the back of your throat?

#starscream g1 #starscream #tfp #transformers bayverse #transformers animated #transformers cyberverse #transformers x reader #lemon #set up #fanfic #reader #self insert #first part

75 notes · View notes