#it's been a while since i have drawn those two and my art definitely did improve hahah...

[kb11rd]

your octogoblin art is making me lose my mind

ahh thank you anon i really appreciate it <333 let me offer you this!!!!!

#kebb's asks #kebb's art #it's been a while since i have drawn those two and my art definitely did improve hahah... #otto is not taller!! norman is bent forward!! he thinks he's smooth!!! he is!!!!!!!!!!!! because he's a business man!!!!! he needs to be!!! #thanks again anon!!! i give you a kiss on the forehead #octogoblin #ottoborn #norman osborn #otto octavius

[galaxygolfergirl]

Some of my favorite Helsa fan arts I’ve done throughout the years (dates are in the alt text).

I’ve been thinking about this ship recently, especially its place in the fandom, and I have some thoughts (read below)

Ever since I was roped into this franchise 10 years ago, I think I’ve almost always drawn Hans with a beard. Primarily, it was because I felt that if he ever did show up again in Frozen media, he would be more weathered and unpretentious about his appearance since dropping his facade in the first film. Also because I just thought he would look better with more facial hair (it’s a me thing).

As for Elsa, I’ve never been consistent in drawing her, as it was hard for me to read her animated model, what with her huge eyes and baby nose, as normal, so that’s evolved over the years to a happy medium where it still reads as Elsa, but also reads as human with normal face proportions.

As to why I’ve shipped helsa all these years? Hans and Elsa are two sides of the same coin to me, the main difference being that one of them succumbed to their worst intentions and desires, while the other freed themselves and learned to embrace love and peace in their life. Both were isolated during their childhoods, resulting in years of loneliness, misery, and bitterness; both try to appear poised and reserved, hiding their inner self-loathing; both are intelligent and cunning, both have a definite aggressive streak, and both have interesting chemistry in their very few scenes together. Hans seems to be the only one on equal footing with Elsa who can get through to her throughout the film, mainly for his own ambition, of course, but it intrigued me to see even all these years later how compelling their interactions are.

Why would he sympathetically plead, “don’t be the monster they fear you are,” and stop her from killing those two guards? If he was planning on killing her, why would he go to her and ask if she could stop the winter? Why does he look shocked, almost sad when she tells him that she can’t, like he’s regretting having to kill her? It’s moments like these that paint these characters with more nuance than meets the eye.

I’ve always thought after the first movie, there was definitely potential for a more nuanced and interesting story if Hans were to return. Not simply for revenge, but rather an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” situation, where Frohana would have to work with Hans somehow to fend off an invading force or adversary, like the Southern Isles, to stick it to his family. He and Elsa would be adversarial, for sure, but through forced cooperation, they could open up and become more vulnerable with one another. The amount of angst and turmoil over their feelings for one another would be doubly engrossing. The drama would be incredible.

Now listen: I don’t really expect any of that to happen. I got off the Helsa or die party bus years ago and I’m just mainly enjoying it as it’s own non-canon concept. Believe me, I would love it if it did happen, god willing and the creek don’t rise. But really, when you get down to it, these are movies marketed at little girls, and I don’t think it would really go that far. It’s not easy to come back from holding a sword over a girl’s head, as quoted by Santino Fontana himself.

I grew up with this fandom, I started all the way back in middle school 10 years ago, and this has been a definite learning experience for me in separating the extrapolated world of fan-fiction and the reality of a pg animated musical. I’ve grown up and my expectations are different, and now I understand that canon doesn’t mean shit. I beg, do not take any of this seriously. Just because it has the Disney trademark slapped on it does not mean it’s the end all be all of a story. Stories are fluid things that adapt and evolve in each of the hands they pass through. No one interpretation of a story or a character or a relationship has to be “the right one,” and not every character has to sit on a black and white scale of moral dichotomy, there are always shades of gray.

I’m not saying all of this to be deep about a ship between a Disney princess and a Disney villain that I got into when I was 13, believe I know it’s not that deep. I’m saying this because I’ve lived through fandom and set myself up with false expectations, only to be disappointed. Hell, I took a break from helsa for a solid 3 years because of how burnt out I was. It’s far too easy to dissociate from the text and treat fanon as canon; you’re just setting yourself up to be disappointed. Just let it be its own thing! Like I said, canon does not mean shit! Don’t take things so seriously! Feel free to tell your own stories!

Anyways, I still love this ship, or at least the version I came up with in my head, because I am a storyteller, and I saw potential in these two that could be realized through other means. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s canon or not. Just enjoy it as it is.

#helsa #disney #artists on tumblr #important #illustration #fan art #hans x elsa #queen elsa #prince hans #frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #fandom #disney frozen

[choicesficwriterscreations]

December Creator of the Month: Oh-So-Youre-a-Nerd

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is @oh-so-youre-a-nerd . We're very excited because Ascindio is our very first artist to be highlighted! We hope you will enjoy learning more about them and their work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog Instagram

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Ascindio 

More below...

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

I started playing in 2016, I can't remember if I read Endless Summer or Rules of Engagement first, but I ended up deleting the app after like 2 weeks cause I couldn't stop buying diamonds 😅🤦

I re-downloaded it about, ohh idk 2 years ago?

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the Fandom specifically on Tumblr and specifically for It Lives Within, which happened to come out right after I read the first two books 

3- How did you pick your blog name? 

I always try to seem cool and mysterious when I meet people irl, and then as soon as I open my mouth, I ruin it with some niche trivia or something, and they say,  “Oh, so you're a nerd.” 😂 Can't tell you how many times this exact phrase has been uttered to me. 

4- Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!  

This is the first Choices related post I made 😂 I was just thinking about the concept of what if characters make terrible decisions cause they're controlled by a player who is out of diamonds lol I was going to do a whole series of them (next was going to be lotr “fly on eagles to mordor?” *30 diamonds* or “simply walk”) but got lazy lol

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

Only art. God, I  WISH  I wrote too. I've thought about trying cause I have so many ideas floating around in my head, but at the end of the day, I'd rather spend my free time drawing. 

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

For Choices, since early 2022

For other fandoms, since well, forever, but I only started posting around 2017/18

7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

Favorite Choices book is probably It Lives in the Woods. All of the characters were so interesting, I never got bored reading it, and it had an incredible twist that made sense but I still didn't see coming. 

Favorite to create for is probably Blades of Light and Shadow though because I am such a sucker for the fantasy aesthetic.

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?.

This isn't the first Choices art I made, but it IS the first I actually shared

And honestly, I DO still like it because I still remember the way I felt absolutely POSSESSED while drawing it (I hadn't drawn anything for *months*). I would definitely change the background, though. Those trees look like shit, and they're not even the correct type for the kind of forest they're in. 

9- What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

My favorite Choices art I've done is probably this piece. 

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

I definitely didn't expect this one to do well at all as it was so hastily drawn

And I was sad this piece didn't get more love, it was such a dope scene and I was so excited about how the sword turned out

11- If you could only draw one style or type of art for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? 

I'm not sure if I'm interpreting the question right, but if I had to pick like a specific type of art, it would be digital, and I would want to do fan art. I have a hard time painting anything that I don't already have a deep connection with (so original art with no story behind it is usually a chore for me), and digital art is just so incredibly convenient and not messy and so so versatile. 

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Because I use fiction as a way to safely process trauma/ grief/ other big emotions, each MC I make has a small part of me, whichever part I feel the need to explore at the time.

There's an amazing quote by Patrick Rothfuss that I feel explains it perfectly. 

It's from Wise Man's Fear

“These folk knew all about death. They killed their own livestock. They died from fevers, falls, or broken bones gone sour. Death was like an unpleasant neighbor. You didn’t talk about him for fear he might hear you and decide to pay a visit.

Except for stories, of course. Tales of poisoned kings and duels and old wars were fine. They dressed death in foreign clothes and sent him far from your door. A chimney fire or the croup cough were terrifying. But Gibea’s trial or the siege of Enfast, those were different. They were like prayers, like charms muttered late at night when you were walking alone in the dark. Stories were like ha’penny amulets you bought from a peddler, just in case.”

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most?

I have a very difficult time making the poses seem natural and flowing. My all time favorite art is Baroque/Renaissance style and how fluid the poses are, how soft the skin looks, how delicately it's all done. Obviously, I will always have my own style, but those are things that I so want to incorporate but never seem to get quite right, and it drives me crazy 😂

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Not really. I mean, I have a ton of unfinished work, but as soon as the window of inspiration passes, I just can't get myself to care enough about it to finish it (insert Jake the Dog, “now it's gone, and I don't care about it anymore!” )

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

I would, and have.  I typically show them whatever most rendered recent picture from my Instagram because I don't post any nsfw there and usually try to post only my prettier work for this specific reason haha. (As opposed to here, I post everything here, ain't NO ONE from real life invited to see my tumblr 😂)

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

Writers: Brandon Sanderson, for sure. He's the reason I got back into art back in 2017 ish. His stories are just so emotional they push me to create. Same with @saibug1022, there is always at least one scene from every story he shares that I desperately want to draw to try to capture the emotions. 

Artists: God, sooo many, here are just like my top 3 favorites and their instagrams.

Audra Auclair

Obsessed with her unique style, and specifically the way she draws eyelids and noses

f3lc4t

The way they draw those dripping, glowing wisps. I stare at their pieces for hours (no lie) trying to dissect them stroke by stroke to figure out how they do it.

Miho Hirano

Their art has a delicate whimsy-ness I would SELL MY SOUL to achieve 

17- Which one of your creations would you like to see a fiction written about? 

JC, this is the shit I DREAM of.

Definitely this one. 

So this is love.

This little comic means a lot to me. 

18- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

Very rarely, but I do, every so often. This is my favorite original piece.

20-  What other hobbies do you have?

Gaming, singing, walking through the Cemetary with my wee daughter, reading, that's about it 🤷

21 - What’s your favorite emoji? 

🙇

22: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

I really wanted to say that I don't believe in “good” art and “bad” art (just ethical vs non-ethical). That being said, I know what it's like to hate your art, like soooo intimately. If you ever are feeling shit about your art, you can ABSOLUTELY message me (I don't care if we're mutuals or not, I don't care if we've never interacted before) and just say, “I am feeling shit about my art” and I will go through your art and tell you every specific thing I love about it and why it's wonderful. I am not joking; I am so so serious rn. 💗💗💗💗 

#choices fic writers creations #playchoices #choices stories you play #cfwc creator of the month #oh-so-youre-a-nerd #choices fanart #playchoices fanart #december creator of the month

[thescribblings]

Long post ahead! I type a lot .^.

Here's a lil something I've spent some time on! I'm definitely nearing my goal of being able to draw comics! .^.

However, keep in mind that I'm very much an amateur artist, so there will be imperfections😅.

Here, I've drawn a lot of new (and scary) poses, expressions, perspectives, and clothes! I never draw clothes! I've also never even tried to draw them in the same clothes from different perspectives like this before. I also mainly draw without references

And i know i know, it's always better with references but i always just get distracted while looking for a good reference and most of the time i give up before i even find one and just draw it without anyways, lol

Rant over now! Promise

Here's a page I've been working on non-stop for literal days. It was a lot of fun! And it helped me try out a new art style :]

Individual pictures and context under the cut! i will be referring to future leo as nardo or leonardo, and present leo as, well, leo!

Here we have the doodle that started it all! I did use a cat as a reference, and i personally found that hilarious

Anyways, leonardo is being held like the cat that he is. Meanwhile, leo is held next to him vibing, not a thought behind those eyes

✨️co-existing✨️(with iced coffee)

They decided to have a day of leo to leo Bonding and got iced coffee for the occasion, probably spending some time clothes shopping and going equally crazy over a random article of clothing with a unicorn on it

This one has a bit more story behind it, they went on a day outing with the fam, nardo had grabbed a map of the city and they decided to stray from the group to explore, and they quickly got lost.

Leonardo helped leo get on his shoulders to see if there were any familiar landmarks around, and while leo enjoyed being roughly 12 feet tall, nardo texted the others asking where they were and looked around the area.

(Shirts lovingly made by mikey)

Entirely lost, leonardo decided to ask a pair of yokai ladies for directions. They turned out to be extremely helpful, one of them pointing out where on the map they were and where the landmark raph had sent them is.

Meanwhile, some backstory here: ever since leonardo had stopped staying in the lair 24/7 and actually started coming with when the others went out, leo had become an expert at keeping flirtatious yokai of all shapes sizes and genders away from his eldest brother

Leo noticed one of the yokai women was trying to make a move on him and stepped between her and nardo, making for a hilarious scene when he told her to stay away from his clearly adult brother

Leonardo is entirely oblivious as to the amount of yokai that find him attractive, which is exactly how leo wants it to be, for some reason

It's even funnier with the fact that leonardo is, in fact, very gay.

They thanked the yokai (leo doing that gesture where you point at your eyes then at the person as an unspoken "i got my eyes on you" behind nardo's back) then stepped away from the crowd and planned when and where everyone would meet up (they quickly decided on a food spot that accommodated everyones needs, and they had often gone there for lunch or early dinner in the past)

While they waited, the two decided to browse some stores, window shop etc.

Leonardo bought himself a backpack and proceeded to purchase knickknacks, snacks, and gifts for the fam, including some that he snuck in there for leo without the teen noticing (he was the greatest ninja the world had ever seen, once, after all)

While nardo walked, leo was chatting away happily on his shoulders, the elders tail wagging along as well, especially when leo told a pun or two, once a leo, always a leo. (Leonardo chipped in with some puns as well)

(leonardo personally believes his tail is pretty damn useless since it's so short. He has stated, "The only thing it's good for is waggin' " in the past. However, the rest of the fam think that's a perfectly adequate reason to have a tail)

They spent the entire day out having fun and walked around with just a handfull of breaks, so i think it's safe to say they'd be pretty drained by the time they got home

On another note, nardo being a war veteran and all that, I'm not 100% sure how that works but i like to imagine he'd get rather overwhelmed by all the crowds, different smells and loud noises (in other words overstimulation) so i think he'd be WAY more drained than everyone else by the end of the day (save for maybe mikey, i bet he'd be pretty drained too)

Either way, nardo basically just flopped onto the nearest plush surface and went out like a light while everyone else went to bed like regular people. This is a common occurrence after long, exhausting days

But sometimes...

Sometimes he dents the floor

(Bonus doodles)

I don't even know why this came to be, but it did

Thank you for reading!

Have nice day

#rottmnt #save rottmnt #art #third season #my art #rottmnt future leo #rottmnt fanart #sffl(wg) #future leo #amateur artist #rottmnt leo #rottmnt leonardo

[elitadream]

I’m sure you haven’t been asked this before (let me you know if you did)

BUT! How would you’d draw Wario and Waluigi compared to the Mario Bros? since Wario and Waluigi are supposed to be exaggerated versions of Mario and Luigi, how would you’d describe them in your own version? would they be the same or drastically different to match your versions?

and How would they interact with your Peach and Bowser? I imagine your Peach would be very shocked and appealed or at least be surprised and curious about Wario and Waluigi? 🤔 Also fun fact, Wario and Mario were depicted as childhood friends at one point so would that be the same for your version? I’m just dying to know! 🙇‍♂️

I remember I've been asked about these two before, but it was admittedly a while ago! 🤭 And to be completely fair, I've never drawn them either. 👀 Oh, it's not that I don't want to! But I'm just really unsure about how I want to portray them exactly. x3 As distant and shady relatives? As mere competitors? Adversaries? Unexpected allies? An odd blend of the two?

Something that I've always liked about Wario and Waluigi is that they are neither villains nor heroes, but rather an indifferent in-between with pure gremlin energy sprinkled on top. They're the very definition of "chaotic neutral"; Doing things not because it benefits evil or the greater cause, but because it benefits themselves, be it good or bad!

If anything, I'd definitely aim to keep that vibe if I were to include them in my art at some point. One specific image that I always have in mind when picturing them is the two standing invasively on either side of a cringing and visibly annoyed Mario, teasing him crudely about Peach or trying to sell him an idea. 😆🗯

Simply put, I'd say I paradoxically view them as mild bullies and very clumsy helpers at the same time, lol. Like those awkward and slightly toxic friends that just won't go away, but at the end of the day aren't all that awful or mean either. 🤷‍♀️😅

I would need to give their characterization a bit more thought to imagine what their interactions with Bowser or the princess might look like, but if that's something people are interested in, then I just might!^^

#asks #mario #wario #waluigi #potential headcanon #concept #fanart and fanwork #thoughts and ramblings

[moonspirit]

Hello! I'm super late to the aot and aruani train (having just binged the entire show start to finish like 2 months ago over 4 days lmao) but I just gotta say that I really enjoyed your Fort Salta series! Annie and Armin were legit my favourites already during my first watch of the anime, and it really saddened me to know that it seems alot of people online really hate Annie? Like (no hate on any other characters) but Annie is legit best girl how tf can people hate on her ;-; Anyways, I've been ecstatic since I've found your fics and blog along with many others (shoutout to distortedclouds and flailingkittylover too!!) bc it felt like I finally found my people - good to know I'm not the only one brain-rotting from this show and especially over these two xD I've been dying to talk to someone about this recent discovery of mine since I've started reading the manga though...did you know that Armin has been taller than Annie since even before she was crystalized?? In the anime he's like the shortest person pre-timeskip beside Historia, but turns out it's not the case in the manga! In volume 8 when Armin confronts Annie in Stohess, he's clearly drawn to be slightly taller than her in the scene - I thought it was just a perspective error, but it's drawn that way over multiple pages so it's definitely intended! Makes the whole height/size difference thing even more adorable omg ;-;

Ahhh hello there! First off: Welcome, welcome to the Aot fandom, and the AruAni fandom in particular! No time is too late, we're all happy to have one new aruani fan join in haha xD

I agree that while it's very sad seeing the Annie haters, it's best to ignore them. They may have their reasons or not (tho tbh, those of us in the Annie/AruAni fandom would say they just have a very poor or nil understanding of her character). Annie's an extremely well written character honestly; @distortedclouds and I once had this conversation where she was talking about how Isayama managed to give Annie flawless character development in spite of portraying her as the non-typical badass female (in that she doesn't have huge, heroic ambitions and etc) - and I agreed wholeheartedly. Annie's very strong and lethal, but in her vulnerability and desire to be loved and wanted, I think we can all see a bit of ourselves.

Wait I digressed xD My point: Annie's best girl, and we stay away from the haters and stick to worshipping her. Strengthening the Temple of Annie Leonhardt must be our ultimate goal.

I would go on a rant about Armin too being the best, bestest, bestestest boy, and of our other goal of strengthening the Temple of Armin Arlert, but that is for another post, maybe xD

Regarding the height difference! I believe it's an established fact that Armin has always been taller than Annie, right from the beginning. If I remember right, the official Character Guidebook (2014) which was based on the first 11 volumes of the manga, listed Armin as 163cms while Annie was 153. While he's one of the shortest among the boys in general (and post-timeskip he's taller than Levi), he's been at least a whole head taller than Annie ever since they joined the military. Post timeskip, he's 169cms while Annie remains apparently unchanged, so the gap is larger, and likely to grow an inch or two more (since he's only 19). Anyway, yes it's fucking cute, and don't get me started on the size difference 🫠🫠🫠

Once again, welcome to the aruani fandom here, there's lots of lovely people with great blogs writing fics, making art, brainrotting 24/7 and posting about AruAni all the time, and we're very happy to have you be a part of it, here!

And thank you so much for reading the Fort Salta series T/////T I'm very grateful.

#ask #hurry-up-mel #annie leonhart #armin arlert #aruani #attack on titan #armin x annie #aruannie #VBEOW

[museaway]

Happy 10th anniversary to my beloved Free! fandom. When I was struck down by a fever in late 2017 and decided to watch the anime, I had no idea the ways the fandom would influence me. So since @rinharumemories is a memory event, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to finally write a love letter to the fandom! 💙❤️ 

(Adapted from this twitter thread!)

After my fever-inspired crash-course, Free! fell out of my head for a while, but Rin never did. The following year, I watched a cosplay tutorial for him on YouTube and decided to watch Take Your Marks. I saw The Bench Scene. Suddenly I had an OTP!

My first-ever rinharu friend, Rubi, encouraged me to write fic and kindly beta read for me! I was neck-deep in anxiety at the time because of another fandom and Free! was refreshing. My anxiety was so bad that she actually screened the comments on that first fic to make sure I could read them without spiraling.

I found more shippers & joined the Sakura Pool discord, where I would meet my dear SweetHeaven! Su & the other friends I made there helped shape @ficwip's early days as a hashtag game, and (along w/friends from SPN & VLD) were some of our discord's initial members.

When I was designing the ficwip discord, Aenya was kind enough to share tips for role-based channel permissions & let me pick her brain about modding a year-round space! Her advice was invaluable, an absolute lifesaver. 🙏🙏🙏 

Around this time, through the original #ficwip game on Twitter, I met fellow writer @matsuoka-lin and we got to be friends. (During the pandemic, Lin would join the ficwip server and we would recognize our Aquarius bond ♒)

Late into 2018, I was still writing rinharu fic, and I also participated in Inktober, with a good number of the images being rinharu themed. It had been years since I’d drawn, but those two brought it out of me. Sadly, that December, the VLD finale hit during my very first @rinharuweek and launched me back into the VLD fandom for a couple of years. I never finished my RHW '18 entry. But I never forgot Free! or rinharu, and definitely not Rin, who was my profile pic more often than not. 

Flash forward to 2021. Su won a fic giveaway & prompted me to write a rinharu amnesia fic. I worked on it across 11 months. That awoke my muses, and I ended up writing rinharu hanahaki for @ficwip's 5k!

Last August, I was days away from announcing a fandom-wide SPN event when I recalled my dream of a rinharu bang and mentioned it in passing to Lin. We talked for eight hours straight. By the end of the conversation, @thenightpool had been born. 

We started TNP with the humble goal of five participants in our first event, a mermaid-themed fic & art fest. We had months to prepare! Then something happened with FS2 and we scrambled to launch a Halloween fest that we pulled off thanks to incredible contributors. They formed the foundation of the TNP discord, which is set up a lot like ficwip’s to be a year-round little creative community. We’ll actually be launching our own version of fw’s writing retreat weekends later this month! 

The merfest, which got renamed Unleashed Blue, blew past our expectations — as did Sakurathon, a dormant event that we revived for a weekend in April. UB ended up with 52 entries; we’d hoped for maybe 15. Sakurathon was such a success that we rescheduled it immediately. Right now, we have a prompt meme running, and have events scheduled through 2024! 😅 

In addition to @thenightpool, we’ve formed @iwatobievents to promote events across the Free! fandom. And we’re running events there too, for Nagisa and Soumako. Because what is sleep!! 

So the TL;DR is that the rinharu fandom helped give @ficwip life, has inspired me as a writer and artist, led me to my best and dearest friends, and will make a big dream come true later this year: I’ll finally be running a rinharu bang! 💙❤️

And I still have a Rin Matsuoka icon.

(eta: I did, up until the day I posted this. It may temporarily be changed to another favorite character!)

#rinharumemories #rinharu #harurin #I've been meaning to say these things for a long time #really happy to have the opportunity!

[esta-elavaris]

Flufftober Day 17: Encouraging Someone to Achieve a Goal [1,142 words]

My Flufftober '23 masterpost can be found here 💜✨

I do have a main fic for these two in the very early stages, but it's currently on a break while I finish up some other things - but I'll definitely return to it eventually.

Anyway, throwing all of my insecure artist angst into this one, lads.

Fiona threw down her pencil and sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands and not caring if it ended up streaked with grey thanks to the action.

“Hurdle?” Eddie’s voice sounded somewhere from the bed behind her.

They’d long since taken to spending a lot of their time here, in her studio apartment – where they couldn’t be interrupted, nor often found at all. He’d been lounging on her bed for some time, and after a certain length of quiet she’d quietly assumed he’d dozed off and thought little more of it. Apparently she’d been wrong.

“More of a roadblock,” she replied sourly, voice muffled by her palms. “Surrounded by lots of yellow tape reading danger do not cross, land mines, all of that sort of thing. Maybe an armed guard or two. Orcs, I think. Uruks. Great big ones. Covered in blood. Occasionally, they laugh and call me a dumb bitch. It’s a whole thing.”

Had he laughed, despite the fact that she’d purposely riddled her words with a touch of the ridiculous, she wouldn’t felt worse. And maybe he knew that, because he didn’t. The bed creaked as he got out of it, feet padded against the floor, and then there was warmth at her right side as he leaned over her to peer at the sketch that was sending her around the bend.

“Why don’t you like it?” he asked quietly.

Once again, knowing the right thing to say. The bastard. Because any exclamation of it’s fine, or there’s nothing wrong with it, or you’re being dramatic would make her feel even more ridiculous than she already did.

Although she was doing a pretty decent job at making herself feel ridiculous, grumbling in response – although finally lowering her hands as she did so, just so she could scowl at the paper before her.

“It’s like every other crap, mediocre thing I’ve ever drawn.”

“Ah. One of those nights?” he asked knowingly, leaning down so he could rest his chin atop her shoulder.

“I mean it, Eddie,” she insisted. “What am I thinking? What was I thinking? Art school? Like that’s not a direct path to living hand to mouth for the rest of your life. I have no…no back-up plan. No other bloody skills. Nowhere to go when this shit inevitably doesn’t work out.”

“You’re good. Real fucking good. Best artist I know.”

“That’s not enough,” she shook her head.

“You’ve got the dedication. God knows you’ve got the work ethic.”

He remained close, a ring-clad hand settling down atop her waist.

“That might not be enough either.”

“What would be, then?”

“Luck. Fate. That…that it thing, that all the people who make it have. The shit people know when they see, but can’t really explain. You have it.”

As she shrugged, his chin remained firmly planted at her shoulder despite how her action jostled it. When she was done, though, he pulled back only enough to wheel her chair back with him, spinning it around so she faced him and ignoring how it creaked in protest.

“So do you! You have all of that, babe. Luck? Luck is shit. Luck is what the naysayers who gave up on their own shit call it when the people who didn’t succeed, so they can feel better about the path they chose.”

“But what if nobody else sees it, Eddie?” she gestured wildly, too lost in the spiralling panic to care if she sounded ridiculous. “I can do everything I can to make this work, I can ignore that gross, pitying look people who don’t matter give when you tell them you’re an artist – the one that’s all ‘oh, sweetheart, you’re too old to still cling to a dream like that’ because fuck them, but if the people who do matter see my shit and decide it’s not for them, I’m- I’m fucked. And what then?”

“Then you give them the finger and you keep going for it,” he said like it was obvious, eyeing her with no less fiery fondness than he usually did for how damn hysterical she knew she was being.

“And if it doesn’t work out?”

“It will.”

“If it doesn’t, Eddie?” she leaned forward. “If I end up…if I end up some- some unemployable sixty-year-old woman who can’t afford her phone bill because she poured everything into delusion and ended up with no other skill to offer?”

“Better than being a sixty-year-old in a job she hates wondering if she could’ve had it all doing what she loved if only she’d tried,” he said without hesitation. “I know you, Fi. You’d be ten times happier scraping to get by doing what you love than you’d be living like a queen with a job that has you dreading the alarm going off in the morning. You’re doing it now, neither of us exactly lives like royalty – is it so bad?”

His hand rested on her shoulders then, impressing the full weight of his words on her.

 “It’s not bad at all,” she said, honestly and without hesitation.

“So…worst case scenario…more of this. Could be a hell of a lot worse. You can’t view the other path as a surefire win, either, because who’s to say it’d work out? You can get fired from a shitty job you hate just as much as you can fail doing something you love. If anything, it’s probably more likely. So what’s the point?”

The tension left her – a slow sort of unfurling working its way across her body, her chin lifting, her shoulders loosening up, and her jaw unclenching one after the other. Eddie grinned.

 “It’s…” he paused and leaned in close so he could reach and turn the little alarm clock on her desk towards his gaze, “two in the morning. Which means it’s around four hours after the cut-off point where you can start trusting your opinions on the trajectory of your whole life.”  

“I know,” she sighed.

“But,” he cut in with a little grin, “what I’m about to say is a fact, not an opinion, so it’s fine – right?”

He paused then, dark eyes fixed on hers as he made sure she was about to hear, really hear, every single word he was about to say. Whatever he saw looking back at him was good enough for his liking, and he continued.

“Me n’ you are gonna take this world by storm. You hear me? Real power couple shit. They won’t know what hit ‘em. And we’re gonna do it together. Yeah?”

“Do you never doubt?” she asked fondly.

Eddie grinned – that wide, brilliant grin that lit up his face, the room, and the world they were about to take by storm – and then he answered, leaning in so they were almost nose-to-nose.

“Us? Never.”

Links: AO3 -- FF.net -- flufftober masterpost -- dividers by cafekitsune

#esta's flufftober '23 fills #flufftober2023 #flufftober 2023 #eddie munson/oc #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #fluff

[epickiya722]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For anime/manga : Sk8, Demon Slayer, BNHA, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Thanks 🌻

I guess so, Anon! 😆

**

SK8 THE INFINITY 🛹

Favorite Character: Reki, hands down it's Reki. He's just such a great character to me, honestly a little bit of relatable (both as someone who isn't sure of themselves and having siblings).

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The beach episode is definitely my favorite episode. But I gotta say the epilogue scene he has with his family is one of my favorite scenes because it's so damn cute!

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Reki/Langa is my favorite! They're just so cute!

Character I Think is Underrated: Oka is one, Sketchy is another. But a really underrated character? Miki. She's the green haired woman seen in the first episode. Made a post about how she should be a more major SK8 character. I like her design very much and I just think she should be a bigger part of the cast as a skater.

Character I Think is Overrated: Ooh, it's like most of the main cast... Reki is definitely one, Langa is one, too... Shadow is more underrated though... but it's definitely Joe and Cherry!

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: What mostly drawn me in to the show was the vibrant colors. I love colors and the aesthetic of the show is a bonus to me. Also, I love that Reki isn't like some big shot protagonist where he can outskate everyone and anybody. Really like it took an opposite approach, and hone in that he was the more creative type.

**

DEMON SLAYER 🗡

Favorite Character: Tanjiro! He is just so precious, kind and badass! (And it will always gets me how he got that hard ass forehead he got from his mom.)

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Just any time he interacts with Nezuko will always touch my heart. One scene I adore a lot is from the Swordsmith Village arc when Tanjiro braids her hair to mimic Mitsuri's style. It was just too cute. Ooh, but overall my favorite arc so far has to be the Entertainment District arc. Gyutaro and Daki actually became my favorite antagonists because of that arc. And the opening for that arc in the anime is one of my favorite songs.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: I actually had to stop and think for this one. "Do I have a favorite ship here?" Okay, I gotta admit Tengen with his wives are cute. (Watching the anime in dub though becomes something else when you also watch JJK in dub and realize Sukuna and Uraume are married here.)

Character I Think is Underrated: Hmm... I wanna say Mitsuri for this one. Every since the Swordsmith Village arc came out, everywhere I turn there's some video on how Muichiro put in work in his fight scenes, and he did. I applaud that precious little misty guy. But I don't see a lot or even a little praise for Mitsuri and she was whipping that sword!! If anything, that is very impressive that she has a sword like that!!

Character I Think is Overrated: Ah... I gotta say it's tie between Uzui and Rengoku. But before anyone gets on my ass, I do adore both characters very much. (Remember seeing a post that had the absolute nerve to put Rengoku on the list of "frauds".)

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: That anime definitely deserved the animation award. But for me, it's definitely the character designs. The art style makes those designs pop and a lot of the way the characters look pleases me. Like the demons? They don't look like your average demons. One of the reasons why Tanjiro is my favorite is because of his character design.

**

MY HERO ACADEMIA ✨️

Favorite Character: If you have been following since forever, you already know I'm going to say my favorite two are Miruko and Midoriya. They're both my #1s.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The first half of Miruko's episode. I'll be honest... while I do like Kaminari, every time I rewatch that episode I just watch the Miruko parts. Another episode I really like is the dorm episode because it's mostly like a feel-good episode for me.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: It's Burnin/Miruko for me. "They haven't inter---" Ah! I am allowed to ship characters who haven't interacted and I adore them. Right now, they are my top ship.

Character I Think is Underrated: A lot of them. 😭 First person that comes to mind is Rock Lock. I would question, too, why kids are at a meeting about a dangerous situation. He's a husband and a dad and he loves his family! Of course, he would ask that!

Character I Think is Overrated: In-Universe, Hawks. I'm sorry, but every time there is a scene that showcases how he has many fans I just make this face 😐. He's like that famous gut almost everyone and their mama loves but you are just like "... what's so great about him". I mean, I get it, I do and I like Hawks. But... Also by the fandom, other than Hawks, Dabi and Bakugou. I feel like I don't have to explain here. Again, characters I like, but they are overrated. "But, Kiya, you like Midoriya!" I do! And I don't know if there is another popularity poll coming up, but if he doesn't get #1 on that I will scream. Come on, 9th poll? He is the 9th OFA user?

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Definitely the range of quirks here. Some quirks, Horikoshi definitely got creative with. Also, say what you want, I like how some of the common tropes are here, but not exactly. Weird thing to be happy about, but I was happy I had to guess who the protagonist was because Midoriya didn't look like the typical one. (I didn't watch the first season first.)

**

JUJUTSU KAISEN 😈

Favorite Character: Yuji Itadori! He is my sunshine! Also a little feral and will take your kneecaps. Like Midoriya, I find he's not really the typical protagonist. He has some traits, but others you don't see too often in protagonists.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I do like the Shibuya Incident and Culling Game Arcs. Personally, for me, and yes I'm a little bias, my favorite scenes are those with Yuji. My favorite fight scene is his fight against Choso. Now, for the Culling Game Arc, I really enjoyed the fight between Uro, Ryu and Yuta. Mostly because Uro was the best character for me there. But fight scenes aside, I gotta say that other scenes I enjoy are those scenes Yuji has with Megumi and Nobara.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: ItaFushi is the first ship I got into! It's just... it makes me want to cry. Also, NobaMaki! Oh my gosh, that scene they have after the small confrontation with Mai? Love that scene!!

Character I Think is Underrated: The Kyoto students as a whole. My favorite out the bunch is Kasumi Miwa. She's just so silly, kind and come on. I know she says she's frightened at times, but she's also really brave to still fight. I admire that.

Character I Think is Overrated: Once season 2 came, I swear Toji has been a favorite almost overnight! Don't blame the fans, of course. And, no surprise, Gojo and Sukuna.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: If I need a story to break my heart, I know I can just look to JJK! And I mean not in a dramatic way, I mean like "I'm watching a horror movie and the character I hot attached to too fast dies". Okay, for real though, one of the strongest points for me is the characters. I find a lot of the characters entertaining and intriguing. Even if it's a character I don't practically like. When it comes to the characters, I actually don't get bored of them. There's probably a couple I don't really care for. Also, unpopular opinion, I do like Akutami's art style from the beginning and to end. The style before has this charm to it I just like and it's the same for the style now.

Anime Ask Game

#kiya answers #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #demon slayer #kny #kimestu no yaiba #jjk spoilers

[master-k0hga]

| A M É L I E |

[ Category: Zareans ]

| This is probably the proudest ref I've ever fucking drawn tbh... I had to re-draw this lovely gal cuz her current re-design was a little off to me, and drawing her bust was absolutely fun so yeah that's happening... Anyways this is Amélie, or "Beaut" which is her celebrity name cuz she is in fact, a celebrity..

Also this would've been at least a month or two since I finished this when I do the mass post some time later.. So even though I'm proud of this now, wonder if that'll hold up til a couple months later when I get to the post spam..

Anyways- Amélie is another one of those old OCs of mine who's gone through massive changes, especially from when she was a fan character of another fandom I was semi into a few years ago... This is her now and honest to god, she's absolutely beautiful and I swear if anybody dares gives this post shit. I will massacre everyone and laugh while I do.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

INFO

Name: Amélie Species: Zarean General Personality: Funny, outgoing, supportive, forgetful, self conscious, posh, vocally talented Height: 15ft Relationship Status: Single

Extra Info:

"Beaut the Beautiful" is her stage name she randomly made on a whim in a sudden panic for a 'label' one day, it's kind of just stuck with her since

She is known for a variety of skills and talents within the species; Singing, dancing, acting mainly in pantomimes, fashion model, online influencer, all sorts. And despite seemingly extroverted and overall social, she actually deals with a lot of social anxiety; So she has to do all sorts of breathing and mental exercises just to get out there

She came out trans to her family roughly when she was in her teens, although her family had somewhat mixed reactions, in the end they supported her and her goals. She was officially "herself" when she got famous

Growing up she starred and took part in many things; Talent shows, school plays, all kinds of after school activities and clubs along with other events and such town. So she really has quite the experience in a lot of fields, she worked hard to where she wanted to be

She actually worked retail and working part time in a library while she was juggling career driven events and such

She stylizes, sometimes even crafts her own outfits, wigs and occasionally even the events she hosts in like concerts and such. She also has a personal assistant who is totally not her best friend she met in college

She never acknowledges her dead name or anything with the only exception being her grandmother before she passed (Emile was her grandfather's name)

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

And that's it for her again, re-doing her ref was a good idea tbh because I'm really happy with how I drew Beaut here, definitely catches her type of likliness better than the previous "re-designs" I did of hers on separate occasions throughout the years I've been drawing and re-designing all my OCs... Would hope I keep at it for a long time but I feel that somehow isn't going to work forever.. I genuinely thought at one point that I'd get all my OCs fully re-done, sorted and all along with their worlds and whatnot then I can work with what I got there..

But I've noticed now that the whole of the Zarean species specifically, which I was working on off and on for like 9 or so years now, has to now be re-done completely cuz the lore was kinda all over the place without reasoning and that it just felt.. Wrong..

So yeah... I'll probably be dead by the time I actually finish any of this, I probably won't have started by the time I end up on my death bed tbh..

Especially when loads of my OCs haven't really been touched since like... Before I completely ditched DA a couple years ago.......... Oh well....-

. Amélie, Art © Me . DON’T RE-POST .

#MASTER-K0HGA #Ary / Kohga Chronicles #Ary / Kohga OCs and Works #Beaut #Amélie #Female #Trans #M to F #Zarean #Zareans #Planet Zaria #Species #Personal Species Project #Fandomless #Original Character #OC #My OC #My Art #My Character #Re-post #My art re-posted #Yeah after I at least get most of my OCs specifically related to this species out the way then I'll start properly introducing them here to #Technically re-introducing them if I was still on DA since that's where I explained and talked about the majority of the lore there but it' #kinda gone now and don't really wanna use most of it since it's very outdated and very dumb... Like I'll re-read everything that I've got #and work with what can still be used so I'll work with that.. But the rest will obviously be scrapped entirely as it's not really useful no #needed much for these guys... A lot of it was very unimportant so yeah... And again yeah #This will be posted in like a month or two cuz I wanna get all this done for a mass post at some point since I won't really be online much #Fan art will be included with the bulk too even if it won't be much of it ofc.. So don't expect loads I expect my OCs to get the limelight #here....... Anyways...

[quibbs126]

So I remembered this one concept I made some years ago and I just wanted to sketch and talk about it

I talked about how maybe I needed a design overhaul, but since I’m not really sure how to do that, I went back to @droolingdemon imitation for now. Or at least, semi that. I wouldn’t say it looks…anything like their work

I had a lot of fun with the rough sketching of this group (Callous was a bit difficult though with his demon form), but realized I need to also do sketches of them that were nicer, which I had less fun with. Don’t think it turned out too bad though, I just need to figure out how to do sketch lines in this style, since I instead just do straight line art. Though maybe it’s also because I’m always looking at the reference image (the smaller screen of the entire picture thing). I don’t think I used that back when I first did the imitation style

I definitely messed up Callous’s hands in the bottom left though. I wasn’t really thinking about them tbh

But anyways, how about I talk about the characters here?

You know, I think I’m gonna try and be more concise with my points on the plot. I feel like with these things I ramble too much and it starts to become a bit incoherent

Okay, so basically this takes place in a world where humans summon demons from their realm via magic scrolls as basically servants. Our main human character, Pawky, summons a demon from a newly appeared scroll, this being our main demon character Callous, to help her with a quest by being her bodyguard, and that’s pretty much how the plot gets going

I don’t think I ever actually decided what quest she’s actually going on or what they’re doing. I haven’t worked on this for a very long time and a lot of the plot points that might have been there are lost on me. The things I do remember are vaguely how the demon thing works and Callous’s backstory. Mostly since I think those are the things I actually thought about

But I do know the two become friends by the end

So I’ve drawn Callous before, a long time ago, but I’ve never drawn Pawky, which was basically what I was trying to do here

Here’s the original drawing

I like how their designs look in the end though, at least the final pic (bottom right). Need to work on Callous’s demon form though

Okay so first up, origins. Of the story I mean

So basically this thing was inspired by this one au I saw back in my Dragon Ball days (so junior year high school) of basically a monster au, in which witch Bulma summons demon Vegeta for reasons I don’t remember. I don’t remember if it was part of a larger au or this was its own thing, since they did have a full on monster au too. Basically I just took the concept and made it original. Though I did later take out the romance aspect as I changed Callous. But the inspiration may be seen somewhat in their hair

Anyways, so let’s start with the whole demon summoning thing and how it works

Basically how it works is that demons get summoned with scrolls that end up magically appearing in the human world, and with summoning, demons can enter it

There’s different “levels” of demons depending on their power, with the low level ones being your common enemies like slimes and skeletons, stuff like that. They’re generally summoned in groups for proper effectiveness. Then there’s the middle group, which are usually part of a species, but are more powerful than the common enemies, things like manticores and such, but aren’t powerful enough to stand on their own. Then there’s the high level demons, who are so powerful they get their own personal scrolls

Callous is a high level demon

Now granted, the levels are a spectrum, there’s a big difference between the weakest member of the middle level and the strongest, while there likely isn’t as much between that weakest member and the strongest member of the low level. But there is a separation somewhere. Callous technically lies somewhere on the lower end of his spectrum

Demon scrolls usually pop up in the human realm once a demon is old enough or powerful enough, with Callous being the former

Now as for demon summoning, you can’t just do it willy nilly, it takes practice and training, sort of like alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist. And the higher level a demon, the more difficult they are to summon. But when summoned correctly, a demon will appear and the two strike a bargain, the human asking for them to do something, and the demon having to carry that out so that they can return to the demon realm. Though technically speaking it’s not really a bargain, the demons don’t have much say in what they have to do. And while the demon is summoned, they basically have to cater to the summoner’s wishes

If the imbalance of power seems unfair, yeah. I think the lore is that demons and humans fought a war that the humans ultimately (somehow) won, and this is the demons’ punishment for it

One big thing with demon summoning is that if someone of too little experience and power tries to summon a far more powerful demon, they run a very high risk of dying in the process, if not certain risk. And if a summoner dies while summoning a demon, then demons are ultimately left in a loophole where they can go about the demon realm with no limitations, which generally isn’t good. There are people who hunt down those rogue demons, but generally speaking to prevent these sorts of things, there are strict regulations and laws when it comes to distributing demon scrolls, to minimize the risk of this happening. Pawky is someone of a high enough experience that she can summon someone like Callous no problem

Also I’m just remembering, I think there may have been a character who was a Goku stand-in in this story, who’s one of these demon hunters. He’s a very friendly guy, but he has an absolute hatred of demons for one reason or another, and this puts him in conflict with Callous, who is a demon. He might not know Callous’s true nature due to him using a human disguise

I don’t remember why he’s using a human disguise, just that he is

Anyways so I think I’ve just about covered the world building, let’s finally get in to the characters, starting with Pawky

So I don’t have much to say on Pawky, mostly because I don’t remember much about her, if I even wrote stuff about her. She’s spunky and sassy, and she’s good at summoning demons. Also she’s an adult at least in her 20s. I don’t…really have much, that’s about it

As for Callous, he has a lot more going on

So Callous is a manticore, which is a mid level demon class, but he was able to rise up to a high level status on his own. Not only that but he was originally to be of a relatively high ranking in his own race (which is why he has horns like he does). As such he’s very prideful of his abilities and doesn’t take too kindly to being stooped to something as demeaning as being some human’s bodyguard

Now I’m sure you may notice that he’s got something weird about his back, and also that he doesn’t have wings (I know not all manticores have wings, but plenty do, including here). Well he originally did have wings, and quite nice ones that that. But at a young age, the manticore group he was part of was basically exterminated by another, much more powerful demon, with him as the only survivor, and he had his wings ripped off by this other demon, who takes body parts of other demons and basically just attaches them to their own body, becoming this patchwork demon. The copious amount of scars on Callous’s back in the original are from him scratching his own back because of the pain he feels about what happened and to cover up that he ever had wings in the first place, as he sees him losing them as incredibly shameful

Yeah, don’t know why I have him a backstory like that. But that patchwork demon is still out there, with Callous’s old wings, and Callous has a chip on his shoulder from the incident. That demon would probably show up sometime later in the story

Another thing to note is how in his human form, I called out in the sketch that he’s supposed to be small and skinny, which is also supposed to be demonstrated in the bottom right pic, to which Pawky is confused by his non threatening appearance. He’s also supposed to look like a teenager in this form. This is because when a demon goes into a human form, it’s essentially them if they were humans. So what this amounts to for Callous is that despite his appearance in demon form, in comparison to other manticores, he is pretty tiny, and in manticore years only a teenager. His small size is because he was malnourished and had his growth stunted after the extermination of his people. However it might take Pawky some time to realize the reason why Callous looks the way he does in human form

So in reality Callous is actually a tiny 16 year old with a lot of trauma, and ego to compensate

Now let’s talk about Callous’s abilities. Generally he’s just got great strength and sharp fangs and claws, but he also has natural poison/acid that comes from his mouth and stinger.

…Thought I’d have more to say on that front but no. But one thing I have is that he’s a carnivore, and while he’d love to eat human flesh, they usually aren’t fighting enough people to do so, so he just settles for large animals he finds, and he uses the acid in his mouth to essentially melt his prey while tearing an eating it. He’s an incredibly messy and loud eater. Pawky finds his way of eating absolutely disgusting and so makes him eat somewhere where she can’t see and generally hear him

And I think that finally about covers it

I realize now I don’t actually have a title for this. Hmm, was there a name for it? …I don’t remember, nor can I really think of one, other than like, Summoners, but that’s lame. I’m not good with title

But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this

#so I didn’t keep things concise #I still need to work on that #also if you’re wondering why their names are what they are #it’s bc Witch Hunt had a naming scheme and I thought that was cool #so here everyone is named after adjectives #which is kind of weird #but I’m not changing their names #original characters #pawky #callous #my art #I’ll come up with a title some other time #character design

[timetraveltiddy]

alright I'm gonna go on a slightly petty sub4hibi rant that will probably only make sense to like 2 people here but has been sitting in my head for a while (if you haven't read it then. some spoilers ahead!)

posting here instead of twitter 'cause I know some friends and people that follow me there (but not here) that really like the ship I'm about to...definitely not hate on but maybe be a bit critical of and though I know perfectly well those in question can take criticism and the like perfectly fine nobody really wants to randomly have crit, or even just opinions they don't agree with of their faves thrown at them (so if any of you ever see this post in the future I promise that's the only reason why)

ANYWAY sca-di went on the usual art reblog and it made me think about how I'm a little bit bitter at the popularity of Takuji/Kimika. It's a ship I myself like, I think it's definitely interesting and I support it, but to put it plainly I mostly like it for its impact on Kimika's character more than anything else. Her ending and the way she talks to Takuji about her insecurities is great and it gives a lot of insight into her character, plus it's nice to see her sort of get brief bit of happiness in a bittersweet ending. However I still prefer Kimika/Zakuro by a LONG shot and it makes me sad that it doesn't get as much attention

I've gone on a bit about Kimika's relations to Takuji and especially Zakuro so I can see why it's more popular from a narrative perspective. Many of us love the grimdark shit because it's a hell of a lot more interesting and compared to happy sunshiney things, and well...EoS definitely ends on a much happier note than the main narrative does for Kimika. I love a good angsty narrative myself but what I like even better is a complex relationship between two women who have great chemistry together and BOY did this story deliver well on that. But anyway in general I would think most readers of this VN are chasing some of the more philosophical and dramatic components than a happy gay ending. Plus, by proxy of being Tomosane's brother Mamiya is relevant for the whole story, as opposed to poor Zakuro who loses relevance to the latter events fairly early in (most) routes. Why wouldn't a ship involving him get more attention?

And herein I touch upon a bit less hypothetical criticism and more my personal thoughts on the matter. I don't really have the authority to say anything on the matter between the differences between Western and Eastern fandom approaches to the VN but regardless...I see soooo much fanart of Kimika with Takuji and so little of her with Zakuro. It exists, but I could probably count the amount I've seen on one hand (and one of those was drawn for me by a friend!). And it makes me a little sad because I love them so much. Like I said, people aren't reading the story for the gay parts (and if they are, they're braver than any US marine tbh) but it saddens me that one might pass over this ship because they got a happy ending in a single route.

And like...not to be that guy but you can't always disconnect your biases from what you consume. In this case, I'm referring to what appears to be a VERY heterosexual Western fandom. Which is kind of funny to me, considering that the narrative engages in some very interesting choices that aren't tackled too often in m/f stories (but often enough in hentai and other media I suppose). Especially since the game literally starts and ends with homoeroticism if you go back to Down the Rabbit Hole 1 after you finish the game. Regardless, the narrative as a whole really shies away from making any of these yuri relationships lasting or being meaningful (aside from Yuki/Zakuro, arguably). None of them are connected to the main plot and Kimika/Zakuro has zero chance of happening in the canon endings. And then of course there's the constant casual stereotypes ("but we're both girls!" and Yuki's dad, though funnily enough I think it's kinda nice that nobody questioned his sexuality or where Yuki came from) and the constant use of the f slur. All of which may make those who are still sort of uncomfortable with gay content feel "soothed" in a way and still enjoy it. Not to say you can't be an ally and still love the gay ships in this VN but given the intensity of the subject matter, you've gotta have a mind and stomach made of STEEL to get through a good portion of it, ESPECIALLY if you're gay. And unless you're already into VNs and/or enjoy this kind of intense subject matter then it's probably hard as FUCK to get past IMOI.

ALL of this to say that I feel like a big part of the reason there's so little attention to the gay ships is that there's simply...no gay fandom. At least visibly. I was of course being facetious when I mentioned in my post the other day about the fandom being only me and 4 other gay people but I personally haven't seen a lot of discussion of the Gay elements from those who aren't part of the LGBTQ community. I'm sure it happens in places that aren't so public or easily accessible but aside from little pockets on twitter I'm under the impression that there's not a hell of a lot of us who talk about it openly. And it's not hard to see why; take a look at the reactions to this satirical post by @girlwhodeceivesfate! Some are more open than others but those top comments say something about those who bothered to open the post. And many seem annoyed that anyone could possibly have a queer focus.

This went off topic from the specifics very quickly but anyway...of course shipping isn't the main purpose of any of these narratives but I'll be real with y'all. Even though I liked the main story enough Kimika and her relationship with Zakuro were the things I liked most about this VN, so. Longwinded point is that I get why there's not a lot of content for them compared to the other ship but it still disappoints me.

it's past 5:30am and I need to simmer the fuck down so if anyone actually made it through this all the way to the end, well done! you've made it through my messy unedited sleepy ramblings

#it's shiny time #ship hate #like not actually but I don't want anyone to feel bad about their ships ya know

[etaleah]

I Watched the Animaniacs Reboot and I LOVE IT

When I first heard about it a few years ago, I was on the fence, thinking there was no way they’d be able to replicate the clever humor, how it wouldn’t be the same, etc. Then, after seeing a couple of clips on YouTube and liking what I saw, I borrowed the Season 1 and 2 DVDs from the library and gave it a go. 

It. Was. PHENOMENAL. 

Surpassed my expectations and left me eager for Season 3, which I believe is happening this year (which means I likely won’t be able to see it until next year since I don’t want a Hulu subscription). In a time when I’ve been feeling really depressed, this show made me laugh and cheered me up more than anything else has. 

Here are all the reasons why the reboot succeeds and is well worth your time: 

1. The original voice cast is back. Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, Jess Harnell, and Maurice LaMarche are all reprising their roles, and you can really tell how much they love their characters. It bleeds into every sketch. 

2. Despite being marketed as a family show for kids, this version of Animaniacs is clearly aimed at an older audience, mostly millennials like me who enjoyed it as kids and are grown up. There’s some slapstick for the young ones, but most of the jokes are wordplay, parodies, political/cultural satire, and barely-disguised sex jokes. I really dug it, and enjoy that kind of thing more than I do in the original because I actually understand it. I was so young in the 90′s that some of the bits about celebrities and pop culture went over my head and still aren’t all that clear to me, whereas now I understand everything. 

3. Instead of having 15 different characters like the original, only the Warners and Pinky and the Brain feature in the reboot. This was, in my opinion, the best decision they could have made. With the exception of Slappy Squirrel, I really didn’t care for any of the other characters. They were boring, void of any personality beyond one or two basic traits, and just didn’t really add much. Tightening the focus to the best-loved of them all makes the writing much better since the creators aren’t spread too thin. 

4. The reboot clearly had a much bigger budget than the original, which means the animation is more consistently good. Some of the older episodes look really dated and have mistakes in them, while the newer ones are well-drawn, more colorful, and just nicer to look at. This isn’t the original’s fault; it was made in an era where television wasn’t as respectable an art form and they didn’t have a built-in audience like the reboot does. But it’s still definitely a point in the new version’s favor. 

5. The humor for the reboot has clearly been updated for the current social climate. One thing I didn’t care for in the original was how Yakko and Wakko would throw themselves all over any woman of childbearing age, and Dot did pretty much the same for any man while saying “Boys! Go fig.” This doesn’t happen in the reboot. Hello Nurse is gone, Warner Bros. has a woman CEO who Yakko and Wakko don’t flirt with, and Dot has more of a personality outside of simply being “the girl” or “the cute one.” There’s even a bit in the revamped theme song where they sing, “Gender-balanced, pronoun-neutral, and ethnically diverse!” And yes, that does feel a bit like pandering, but still. I like it. 

6. FUCKING PINKY AND THE BRAIN. Whoever is writing them knows what they’re doing because just about every episode with those gay mice is pure gold. And speaking of gay mice, Season 2 really dials up the gay subtext between the characters. Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche have fully admitted there is love between the two and that they play them as kind of an elderly gay couple, and this dynamic is so delightful to watch. Season 1 is more similar to the original, but Season 2...man, they really threw the Brinky shippers a bone with Season 2. Brain is far less physically abusive with more cutesy facial expressions, there’s more hugging, and even a few episodes dedicated to showing how much they care about each other. For most of the season, the world domination plot takes a backseat to whatever is going on between them, and I just. Love it so much. The Christmas special of their ‘90s spinoff, the one where Brain cries over Pinky’s love for him in a letter to Santa, is the episode that won them the Emmy, and I think the writers learned from this and wisely decided to do more in that vein.

The fact that this is being made in the 2020s and not the 1990s means they can really go hard on the gay, and the result is that I actually enjoyed the mice even more than the Warners. There’s a super touching and emotional scene where you’re led to believe that Pinky has died, and Brain has tears in his eyes about it. Now, the audience knows Pinky can’t be dead because it isn’t that kind of show. Animaniacs is a silly cartoon full of satirical sketches, not the kind of media where characters get killed. So I knew Pinky was going to spring back to life at any second (which is of course what happens), but the important thing here was that Brain didn’t know that. He genuinely believed Pinky had died, and the tears in his eyes tugged at my heartstrings in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. Then he does something I could not believe the creators were willing to have him do: 

He kisses his hand and then caresses Pinky’s face with it in a loving gesture. 

I about melted from sheer emotion at that scene. Not since Basil and Dawson have I had so many feels over cartoon gay mice.

There was a similar bit in Wakko’s Wish where we’re meant to think Dot is dead, only for her to snap back to life a minute later. That one didn’t work nearly as well because we’re told that Yakko knew she was acting the whole time and was only pretending to cry over her. The result here is that you feel cheated and manipulated because you were led to believe that Yakko was in emotional distress when he wasn’t. They were smart enough to avoid that with Pinky and the Brain by having Brain actually believe Pinky was dead, so the emotion feels genuine and sincere. They’re able to have moments like these that the Warners really can’t, so I think the mice have more potential. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we got a reboot of their spinoff as well. They’re just so damn good together. 

All of this is not to say that the reboot is perfect. There are some sketches that are duds, a few god-awful ideas that don’t work like those stupid alien and gnome bits, and way too many fat jokes for comfort. Plus the songs aren’t quite as catchy and memorable as they were in the 90′s, though there are a few good ones.

But even with all of that said...anyone who loved Animaniacs should really give the reboot a chance. It kept what was good and scrapped what was bad from the original, and if they can keep that up in Season 3, I’ll be very happy.

#animaniacs #pinky and the brain #brinky #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #90s cartoons #personal #my thoughts #yakko wakko and dot #gay stuff

[z-cerulean]

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (2020)

My first main exposure to Xenoblade was, as I'd imagine with a decent number of people, Chuggaaconroy's playthrough of the game. On first attempt to play it I'd admittedly not been that drawn into it initially, but Shulk's announcement for Smash 4 convinced me to give looking at the series another shot through his playthrough and this time I had to force myself to stop watching it halfway through for want to play the game myself and not be spoiled on everything.

Fortunately, I'd get my chance to do so in 2015 when the game got a re-release on the Wii U eShop, and I was pretty hooked on the game. Though I ended up pretty badly underlevelled from doing no side stuff because I wanted to see the main story continued.

I hadn't actually played the game since that initial 2015 run, until about now when I managed to pick up Definitive Edition and, being in a situation where I pretty much only had my Switch and 3DS for a game machine option, figured I'd use now for my second run through the game. Though this run of the game was now with both Xenoblade X and Xenoblade 2 well behind me, and not recalling as much of the game as I'd like, Definitive Edition and wanting a primer for when I get to Xenoblade 3 was enough of a reason for a revisit.

Effectively, these are my spoiler-free thoughts on what I recall from the Wii version, how that was improved in the Switch version and my general thoughts on the game as a whole. Future Connected will be covered later, I am yet to finish that. Once again, opinions are solely mine.

Changes from the Wii version

Surprisingly, not... much. The primary difference is the game used to look like this:

but now it looks like this:

Which, definitely a warranted graphical update, something had to be compromised to fit this on the Wii. Hell, I'm surprised they got the game on any version of the 3DS on that note.

The other main difference, of course, is the addition of the Future Connected story and the game's soundtrack being rearranged. I'm not that much of a music connoisseur so I'll leave my comment on the rearranges as 'sure they're generally fine, if not necessary'.

The game also added a separate time attack mode which gives a separate currency to buy items, armour, etc., which, cool, but i admittedly never did much with it personally.

Otherwise, the original version's story is left untouched and is largely 1:1 to the previous versions, so unless you really wanted to replay the game you probably just got Definitive Edition for Future Connected if you already had played any previous version.

World and Story

The primary draw of the game I found to be its worldbuilding and overall story. For those uninitiated, the game's setting is the corpses of two titans that died in a battle against each other, with the game focusing on the denizens of the Bionis, enduring attacks from Mechon, mechanical automatons from the Mechonis seemingly out to destroy all Bionis life. The game follows Shulk, the main protagonist, and companions he meets along the way as he sets out for revenge following an attack on his home, Colony 9, at the foot of the Bionis.

The world of Xenoblade 1 is easily my favourite aspect. Everything about it is phenonemal, between the setting conceptually to the vast areas you can explore while playing the game, it's one of the best open world experiences I've had in a game. The world is further enriched by entirely optional quests you can choose to do to see the relationships between a number of the citizens.

The game's story definitely overall hits as well, though I have some grievances, mainly that some characters end up oddly starved for their screen presence and often won't get suitable screen-time outside of Heart-to-Hearts, an effective equivalent to something like Fire Emblem supports.

Gameplay

The game's battle system follows a real-time system, with automatic attacks done at given intervals with the player able to execute special attacks, or Arts, at will. One player is designated as player controlled, with 2 other party members controlled by an AI. A primary gameplay feature is having visions of the future, notably a devastating enemy attack, to provide a window to respond by way of protecting the target or changing who the enemy is aggro'd towards to save the initial target.

The system definitely works, though I do have some slight issues. Mainly, only certain characters can be trusted in the AI's hands. Most notably, Shulk and Melia, the former frequently using Battle Soul (half HP to restore talent gauge) and Monado arts (fueled by talent gauge) for seemingly little reason, and Melia's elemental summon focus often being squandered by the AI for sake of extra damage. Generally though, the other party members play fine in the hands of the AI.

My second major gripe is some Arts having terrible frame data. Chief example is Shulk's Shaker Edge, an Art that inflicts Daze on a toppled enemy. Though the attack takes so long to actually come out, half the time the toppled enemy already recovered from Topple by the time it lands. Not the case with everything, but it occurs enough to be annoying.

Additionally, for doing optional quests along the way as you find them you're generally on track for staying on level the entire game without need to grind. This is the case until the final stretch, where everything suddenly level jumps by about 10 and most lategame quests become too challenging without grinding. It's annoying it lets down on that front so late in, but I suppose only the 100% players would be as concerned by that point.

And while I did praise exploration in the story segment for those reasons, on occasion finding low drop rate items can be incredibly tedious and is the main reason I did not go for 100% beyond bloating my 62 hour playtime to a 160 hour playtime.

Characters

For sake of not spoiling anything, I'll not be covering all characters and instead go over a few highlights.

Primarily, of the main party, Shulk and Melia were my easy favourites of the main cast.

Shulk manages to both be a pretty compelling main character while also being sort of hilarious, ending up going on this grand adventure when he's actually just this freakin nerd who wants to sit around and poke a legendary sword all day in a lab. His story transforms from one initially of revenge but later pivots to a more fundamental focus, and is generally executed pretty well.

Melia is one of the later party members to join, whose arc follows living up to her family's legacy primarily. Though in later parts of the game she's also a noted victim of the limited screen-time, with a huge gaps between her story relevant scenes.

The other party members range from generally pretty good to mostly... fine. Again, Shulk gets the majority of the screen-time focus, so the side cast are often left wanting.

Antagonists wise, not much can be said about them without spoilers, but of the roughly 10 or so primary antagonists I'd call one maybe my favourite character in the game, another not quite there for me but about as compelling, and the rest vary from pretty good to villain of the week, mostly on the latter side. Usually character writing is my compelling force for a game, notably with Fire Emblem, but in this case I have to admit I find the character writing comparatively lacking to the overall story and worldbuilding.

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was handled by a mix of Manami Kiyota, ACE+, Yoko Shimomura, and Yasunori Mitsuda.

Overall I do admittedly recall liking this game's soundtrack a bit more overall. My favourite tracks from the game are most likely Colony 9 (Day), You Will Know Our Names, Mechanical Rhythm, and the last few I'll spare mention of due to being far into late-game.

Though the game's main battle theme, Time to Fight!, is admittedly pretty underwhelming, and I don't recall too many of the game's area themes.

My single most disliked song in the game though is Vision of the Future, which plays when the future changes in a battle over whatever was playing previously. Even in boss battles. The future changes a lot typically, and it gets old very fast, especially when the battle theme in question is You Will Know Our Names. It's pretty rare that a given battle theme is exempt from being overridden by it.

Overall

On the whole, I definitely enjoyed my time with going through Xenoblade 1 again, though I admittedly felt far less drawn into it compared to my first runs. Maybe it's just getting older, knowing how the game plays out or being more aware of the game's flaws on this run, or something else, but I wouldn't put the game as highly as I might have done about 7 years ago.

Regardless though, the game is still a pretty good time around in spite of those flaws, and I'd encourage anyone who hasn't played it yet looking for a decent action RPG to give it a shot.

Xenoblade 2 is another game I want to give a similar revisit at some point, and I'm yet to play Xenoblade 3, so I'll cover those eventually. Next writeup will be for Future Connected.

Thanks for reading.

EDIT: had to put images in again because why does WEBP format exist

#media thread #media thread 2022 #xenoblade chronicles

[lovelymessybubbly]

hello tama/egg!

this is my first time going to someones asks with courage to talk about my tickling fetish.

im a minor and ive had this since i was 9 or younger. its really hard to talk about, and im actually going to share something extremely personal with you because i know its not okay, and i might aswell for the first time get someone’s opinion on my change of ways.

im not fully ashamed of it anymore, and for a very long time i hated myself bc of it.

im currently 15, and when i was 12 i used to, USED TO, think of children in my mind around the ages of 5-6, they were my ocs, getting tied up and tickled. i dont know why i went through that faze, it was really hard for me to change that for some reason. it hurts alot to talk about it to anyone, but going out here in public to tell you about it makes me proud.

i changed to thinking of only adult ocs, and i left the kid part behind because i felt like a pedofile, and thought i would be a pedofile when i grew up. i never really wanted to be hated for this, but i was, and i get why. i’ve had several close friends early in life tell me to fuck off or just unfriend/block me after i told them about this, and i get why they did that too.

im still working up to telling friends i know now about this personally, because you never know if someone’s going to hate you still, even though you think you’ve made a huge change in your life.

i also wanted to ask how you told your friends/partner ever about your fetish? its always been so hard for me. some advice would be nice, because i usually am somehow approaching in the wrong way.

anywho, thank you so much for your time, and im honestly proud of how you’ve handled that person who is sending alot of blogs that message, you did well!

sincerely, and ticklishly, your friend ruby!

hi ruby ! nice to hear from you ヾ(^ω^*)

this is quite a bit of personal information ! i will be honest with you, ruby - those kind of thoughts you were having are definitely not okay. it sounds like you were incorporating bondage into some of these thoughts with such young children and that is definitely not a harmless fantasy. but it sounds like you have come to terms with that, owned up to your perhaps harmful actions, and worked through it in your own way. recognizing your mistakes and putting in work like that is very respectable, so i would not hold i against you !

make sure you just understand how that might have negatively affected others, especially those who are triggered by situations like that. i am proud of you for being honest with yourself and not making excuses.

anyway! on the subject of telling partners about the whole tickling thing… Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑) that’s hard because the two people in my life who know just found out lol. i didnt tell them. my best friend stumbled across a sketchbook that i had drawn tickling art in, and my bf, well… he’s just intuitive.

when it comes to being comfortable with yourself, though, it’s not easy! i would definitely say to always remember, it is really not as weird as you may think. yes, it still is definitely “weird,” but… it’s just tickling. lots of people have weird kinks, even the most vanilla people have their quirks ! it is no biggie. and even for those who just like tickling nonsexually… it’s no different then enjoying back scratches, or having your hair played with.

if you are working up the courage to tell a partner, i say go for it ! especially if you have been with them for a while and trust them a lot. i am at the point with my bf where i feel like i could tell him anything and he would still wholeheartedly love me. i think that if you have a good relationship with someone, they will find such a quirky thing endearing and adorable. it is harmless enough anyways.

and, as always, never feel pressured to tell someone! it is no rush, go at your own pace. but remember tickling is just a unique part of your personality! nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you are respectful and follow consent, of course.

thank you for stopping by and sharing such a personal story ! and thank you for your support ! i wish you well as you continue your journey of self-discovery !! ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅

#tamakucha shaberu #egg talk #ruby-chan #kusugutama

[came0dust]

artstyle and color experimentation

(image description and extras under the cut)

[Image description: Two somewhat loosely colored duplicate drawings of Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends With You, on a dull tan background. He's drawn from about the middle of the torso up. He stands angled to the left, with the arm closest to the viewer held slightly away from his body, though it's only drawn about as far as the elbow. He looks in the viewer's direction with a quizzical expression, with the high collar of his shirt slightly covering his chin. The left drawing is labeled "CYMK Only", with "C" colored in cyan, "Y", colored in yellow, "M" colored in magenta, "K" colored in black, and "Only" in all caps, colored and underlined in white. The colors used for the drawing itself are bright and generally saturated, as well as generally being tinted toward one of the five colors used in the label. Of note, Neku's skin and hair are tinted pink, and the majority of his tanktop, which is normally a dark gray, is a deep purple instead. The right drawing, labeled "Free Style" in all caps, with a soft rainbow gradient, has colors that are comparatively more muted. In this drawing, Neku's skin has more of an orange undertone, his hair is closer to brown, the darkest part of his tanktop is more gray, and the purple and yellow stripes are much less saturated than the left drawing. The right drawing is overall darker and generally has more granular shading. End image description.]

extras (if you were just here for that art up there, feel free to bail now)

so csp updated recently with a separate color mixing window and if you saw the last post's timelapse, you know i like to keep my colors on hand and for the most part i tend to either pick them out before i work on whatever i'm coloring or set them aside as i go. i did the former for this aside from when i realized i didn't quite like a color, which is pretty much standard fare. i've been wanting to do an experiment with just blending my colors from only cyan, yellow and magenta (with the addition of black and white for values) for a while, but between practicing and learning other things and just not being very thrilled at the prospect of either having a bunch of space on my canvas dedicated Just to the colors i'm mixing or having to go back and forth between two canvases just to work, i'm only getting to it now bc the new window makes it a lot more convenient so i felt the drive. i did the cymk neku first to try to avoid feeling a bias to just mix for the types of colors i usually would opt for since i would have just used them and i think it counted for a lot, given the difference between the two. i saved the color mixing windows for both of them and i think it kind of speaks for itself.

[Image description 1: Multiple splotches of color on a white and gray checkerboard background indicating transparency. There are many mixtures along the left and lower parts of the image, and some along the right, scattered amongst more solid shapes of single colors. All colors were blended from cyan, yellow, magenta, black, and/or white, or from other hues that were themselves blended from those colors. End image description.]

[Image description 2: Comparatively fewer splotches of color, none of which were blended with one another and are much less disorderly. End image description.]

honestly when i was picking out my colors for the right neku i was like "damn i really live like this?" and i was beginning to doubt if it would even look good, but i think the answer is really just that it's a different approach. i'm not very good at Picking bright and saturated colors, but until i figure it out, mixing printer colors is definitely gonna help me get there when i need it. it'll get easier with time.

i've also been trying to change up the way i shade when i'm coloring by making really broad strokes before i go in for more detailed or specific shadows or highlights which i think has been helping me a lot with getting values to feel a little more . not necessarily even but balanced i guess? more.... proper (the words aren't coming to me, but you might be able to see it a little in the trunks from a few days ago). but it also ended up getting me distracted because i was putting down the hair for cymk neku and i was like "ooh the orange kinda looks cool there"

[Image description: A mostly unfinished version of the saturated Neku. His arm and the dark part of his tank top are colored in, as well as some of his face. The orange from his hair covers most of the left half of his face and his headphones. End image description.]

and because of this i ended up doing a quick one using just oranges

[Image description: Neku but colored using exclusively shades of orange, which are blended relatively smoothly. End image description]

i wanted to do some layer trickery to see if i could use this to map the shading over flat colors but it didn't work out. i still like the look of monochrome-ish coloring so i might do this again but who knows really. im taking things as they come

#my art #the world ends with you #neku sakuraba #this is actually my fastest turnaround between 'art done' and 'posting art' i think bc i just finished this and honestly im boutta Schleep #and for good reason too bc as soon as i put this in the image selector i started finding things i wasnt really that jazzed about. #if i went to sleep first and then came back to post this i probably wouldnt have but its 3am inhibition died long ago #that being said though as always if there's something you need tagged asks are open. ill get to it when i can #or just say hi even! do whatever really just keep it classy yknow #but yeah lineart am i right #took me so long to write this post it is now 4am. do not be like me <3 #bruh wait i just looked at old art i literally cursed him to be facing left forever this poor guy #(neku voice) looking left bc you never treat me right 😤