#my previous religious art was just character design stuff pretty much

[threegoblinart]

Your art is amazing!!! The style is sooo pretty. How long does it usually take to finish one piece? And what are some tips for a beginner artist?

Hi friend! Thank you so much, you're just lovely. ❤️

At the moment I'd say a real finished painting can be 8-12 hours of work easily when you factor in sketch thumbnails, practicing tricky things and doing more than one draft.

My Willow at the Window was probably 12 hours because I had to reteach myself so perspective stuff I haven't done for 15+ years since set design class in college.

The drawing I posted today is already 5-6 sketches in my notebook and one previous first attempt with watercolor.

All this time is often over weeks - I work full time, have kids and we have a stupid number of hobbies, lessons, so I draw and paint in little snatches of time here and there.... Frequently at around 11 o'clock at night.

Advice... Oh, settle in and let the Art Mom tell you a tale... No, just kidding. I could regurgitate the usual junk (okay it's not junk and very valid, good advice like - yes you have to practice, use references, invest in quality materials whenever you can, explore different mediums until you find your thing, etc.). But instead I'm going to say this...

Remember two things:

1) art should be something you do because it makes you happy

and

2) remember you're an artist no matter what and be fucking proud of that

About point one, at the end of the day making art should make you happy... So that will mean different things to different people some people can find joy being considered a professional in their field, having art be their source of income and some will not. And that's okay.

I learned this the hard way. I tried to be a professional in my field (theatre) and for a while it was great, but I burned out quickly and realized that tying my livelihood to my art did not make me happy. I did not fail, I learned where my boundaries are to be happy, healthy and creative. So now I draw just for fun, sometimes do small commissions for friends, etc. Maybe one day I'll try to do more (I do have goals, I'd love to do more commissions, have my art in a book, have a small print store), but right now drawing my DND characters and fanart and silly little mushroom houses makes me happy and that's enough. Our worth as artists is not determined by sales or contracts or likes or followers, that's a bunch of consumerist, capitalist bullshit and your art and you are inherently worth more than that.

About point two... You're amazing, yep you, and you're an artist. Art is simply the expression of creativity and imagination and inspiration. It doesn't matter if your art is something on chapel ceilings or the back of your maths notebook - it doesn't matter if it's entirely original (I ❤️ fanart and guess what that stuff on the chapel ceiling is just religious fanart). Are you doing something creative, imaginative or inspired - congrats you're an artist (que Newsies "We're a union just by saying soooo!!!") And there are no other qualifiers based on skill or ability.

Whatever you create is something only you can do.

While it's absolutely fine to work on improvement and goals - it is good to study others work and take classes and learn and seek to improve - be proud of what you're making no matter what because you made it and that alone is amazing!

I learned this the hard way... I stopped drawing for 10 years, and only started again 3 years ago (I'm, ahem, not super young) and I'm still learning to take this to heart. I struggle with comparison and self worth as an artist still, it's not a light switch I can turn off but something I work at (and take medication for - stupid insufficient brain chemistry).

Comparison does nothing but rob you of joy. Be proud of what you can do right now. Be proud of what you could make last week or last year or when you were 6. Be inspired by others, but only compare you to you - that way you only see your improvement and surround yourself with people who will hype you up no matter where you are in skill and ability.

... but also, like, practice ... a lot.

P.S. as bonus these pictures are one of the first things I drew three years ago when I finally said "fuck it I'm going to draw again" and my most recent quick sketch. They both are different in skill and ability, but I'm proud of both.

#art advice #drawing stuff #artists on tumblr #art mom #art mom says #illustration #fanart #art in progress

[writingwithcolor]

Jurassic period alien interacting with key cultures and historical figures in Middle East & Asia throughout history

@ketchupmaster400​ said:

Hello, so my question is for a character I’ve been working on for quite a while but wasn’t sure about a few things. So basically at the beginning of the universe there was this for less being made up of dark matter and dark energy. Long story short it ends up on earth during the Jurassic Period. It has the ability to adapt and assimilate into other life animals except it’s hair is always black and it’s skin is always white and it’s eyes are always red. It lives like this going from animal to animal until it finally becomes human and gains true sentience and self awareness. As a human it lives within the Middle East and Asia wondering around trying to figure out its purpose and meaning. So what I initially wanted to do with it was have small interactions with the dark matter human and other native humans that kinda helped push humanity into the direction it is now. For example, Mehndhi came about when the dark matter human was drawing on their skin because it felt insecure about having such white skin compared to other people. And ancient Indians saw it and thought it was cool so they adopted it and developed it into Mehndi. Minor and small interactions though early history leading to grander events. Like they would be protecting Jerusalem and it’s people agains the Crusaders later on. I also had the idea of the the dark matter human later on interacting with the prophets Jesus Christ and Muhammad. With Jesus they couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice himself even though the people weren’t deserving. And then Jesus taught them that you have to put other before yourself and protecting people is life’s greatest reward. And then with the prophet Muhammad, I had the idea that their interaction was a simple conversation that mirrors the one he had with the angel Jibril, that lead to the principles of Islam. Now with these ideas I understand the great importance of how not to convey Islam and I’ve been doing reasearch, but I am white and I can understand how that may look trying to write about a different religion than my own. So I guess ultimate my question is, is this ok to do? Is it ok to have an alien creature interact with religious people and historical events as important as they were? Like I said I would try to be as accurate and as respectable as possible but I know that Islam can be a touchy subject and the last thing I would want is to disrespect anyone. The main reason I wanted the dark matter being in the Middle East was because I wanted to do something different because so much has been done with European and American stuff I wanted to explore the eastern side of the world because it’s very beau and very rich with so many cultures that I want to try and represent. I’m sorry for the long post but I wanted you guys to fully understand what my idea was. Thank you for your time and hope you stay safe.

Disclaimer:

The consensus from the moderators was that the proposed character and story is disrespectful from multiple cultural perspectives. However, we can’t ignore the reality that this is a commonly deployed trope in many popular science fiction/ thriller narratives. Stories that seek to take religious descriptions of events at face value from an areligious perspective particularly favor this approach. Thus, we have two responses:

Where we explain why we don’t believe this should be attempted.

Where we accept the possibility of our advice being ignored.

1) No - Why You Shouldn’t Do This:

Hi! I’ll give you the short answer first, and then the extended one.

Short answer: no, this is not okay.

Extended answer. I’ll divide it into three parts.

1) Prophet Muhammad as a character:

Almost every aspect of Islam, particularly Allah (and the Qur’an), the Prophet(s) and the companions at the time of Muhammad ﷺ, are strictly kept within the boundaries of real life/reality. I’ll assume this comes from a good place, and I can understand that from one side, but seriously, just avoid it. It is extremely disrespectful and something that is not even up to debate for Muslims to do, let alone for non-Muslims. Using Prophet Muhammad as a character will only bring you problems. There is no issue with mentioning the Prophet during his lifetime when talking about his attributes, personality, sayings or teachings, but in no way, we introduce fictional aspects in a domain that Muslims worked, and still work, hard to keep free from any doubtful event or incident. Let’s call it a closed period: we don’t add anything that was not actually there.

Reiterating then, don’t do this. There is a good reason why Muslims don’t have any pictures of Prophet Muhammad. We know nothing besides what history conveyed from him. 

After this being said, there is another factor you missed – Jesus is also an important figure in Islam and his story from the Islamic perspective differs (a lot) from that of the Christian perspective. And given what you said in your ask, you would be taking the Christian narrative of Jesus. If it was okay to use Prophet Muhammad as a character (reminder: it’s not) and you have had your dark matter human interacting with the biblical Jesus, it will result in a complete mess; you would be conflating two religions.

2) Crusaders and Jerusalem:

You said this dark matter human will be defending Jerusalem against the Crusaders. At first, there is really no problem with this. However, ask yourself: is this interaction a result of your character meeting with both Jesus and Prophet Muhammed? If yes, please refer to the previous point. If not, or even if you just want to maintain this part of the story, your dark matter human can interact with the important historical figures of the time. For example, if you want a Muslim in your story, you can use Salah-Ad-Din Al-Ayoubi (Saladin in the latinized version) that took back Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. Particularly, this crusade has plenty of potential characters. 

Also, featuring Muslim characters post Prophet Muhammad and his companions’ time, is completely fine, just do a thorough research.

 3) Middle Eastern/South Asian settings and Orientalism:

The last point I want to remark is with the setting you chose for your story. Many times, when we explore the SWANA or South Asian regions it’s done through an orientalist lens. Nobody is really safe from falling into orientalism, not even the people from those regions. My suggestion is educating yourself in what orientalism is and how it’s still prevalent in today’s narrative. Research orientalism in entertainment, history... and every other area you can think of. Edward Said coined this term for the first time in history, so he is a good start. There are multiple articles online that touch this subject too. For further information, I defer to middle eastern mods. 

- Asmaa

Racism and Pseudo-Archaeology:

A gigantic, unequivocal and absolute no to all of it, lmao. 

I will stick to the bit about the proposed origin of mehendi in your WIP, it’s the arc I feel I’m qualified to speak on, Asmaa has pretty much touched upon the religious and orientalism complications. 

Let me throw out one more word: pseudoarchaeology. That is, taking the cultural/spiritual/historical legacies of ancient civilizations, primarily when it involves people of colour, and crediting said legacies to be the handiwork of not just your average Outsider/White Saviour but aliens. I’ll need you to think carefully about this: why is it that in so much of media and literature pertaining to the so-called “conspiracy theories” dealing with any kind of extraterrestrial life, it’s always Non-Western civilizations like the Aztec, the ancient Egyptians, the Harappans etc who are targeted? Why is it that the achievements of the non West are so unbelievable that it’s more feasible to construct an idea of non-human, magical beings from another planet who just conveniently swooped in to build our monuments and teach us how to dress and what to believe in? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, it’s because it should: denying the Non-West agency of their own feats is not an innocent exercise in sci-fi worldbuilding, it comes loaded with implications of racial superiority and condescension towards the intellect and prowess of Non-European cultures. 

Now, turning to specifics:

Contrary to what Sarah J. Maas might believe- mehendi designs are neither mundane, purely aesthetic tattoos nor can they be co-opted by random Western fantasy characters. While henna has existed as an art form in various cultures, I’m limiting my answer to the Indian context, (specifying since you mention ancient India). Mehendi is considered one of the tenets of the Solah Shringar- sixteen ceremonial adornments for Hindu brides, one for each phase of the moon, as sanctioned by the Vedic texts. The shade of the mehendi is a signifier for the strength of the matrimonial bond: the darker the former, the stronger the latter. Each of the adornments carries significant cosmological/religious symbolism for Hindus. To put it bluntly, when you claim this to be an invention of the aliens, you are basically taking a very sacred cultural and artistic motif of our religion and going “Well actually….extraterrestrials taught them all this.”

In terms of Ayurveda (Traditional holistic South Asian medicine)  , mehendi was used for its medicinal properties. It works as a cooling agent on the skin and helps to alleviate stress, particularly for the bride-to-be. Not really nice to think that aliens lent us the secrets of Ayurvedic science (pseudoarchaeology all over again). 

I’m just not feeling this arc at all. The closest possible alternative I could see to this is the ancient Indian characters incorporating some specific stylistic motifs in their mehendi in acknowledgement to this entity, in the same vein of characters incorporating motifs of tribute into their armour or house insignia, but even so, I’m not sure how well that would play out. If you do go ahead with this idea, I cannot affirm that it will not receive backlash.

-Mimi

These articles might help:

 Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens

A History of Indian Henna (this studies mehendi origins mostly with reference to Mughal history)

Solah Shringar

2) Not Yes, But If Ignoring the Above:

I will be the dissenting voice of “Not No, But Here Are The Big Caveats.” Given that there is no way to make the story you want to tell palatable to certain interpretations of Islam and Christianity, here is my advice if the above arguments did not sufficiently deter you.

1. Admiration ≠ Research: It is not enough to just admire cultures for their richness and beauty. You need to actually do the research and learn about them to determine if the story you want to tell is a good fit for the values and principles these cultures prioritize. You need to understand the significance of historical figures and events to understand the issues with attributing the genesis of certain cultural accomplishments to an otherworldly influence. 1.

2. Give Less Offense When Possible and Think Empathetically: You should try to imagine the mindsets of those you will offend and think about to what degree you can soften or ameliorate certain aspects of your plot, the creature’s characteristics, and the creature’s interactions with historical figures to make your narrative more compatible. There is no point pretending that much of areligious science fiction is incompatible with monotheist, particularly non-henotheistic, religious interpretations as well as the cultural items and rituals derived from those religious interpretations. One can’t take “There is no god, just a lonely alien” and make that compatible with “There is god, and only in this particular circumstance.” Thus:

As stated above by Asmaa and Mimi, there is no escaping the reality the story you propose is offensive to some. Expect their outcry to be directed towards you. Can you tolerate that?

Think about how you would feel if someone made a story where key components of your interpretation of reality are singled out as false. How does this make you feel? Are you comfortable doing that to others?

3. Is Pseudoarchaeology Appropriate Here?: Mimi makes a good point about the racial biases of pseudoarchaeology. Pseudoarchaeology is a particular weakness of Western-centric atheist sci-fi. Your proposed story is the equivalent of a vaguely non-descript Maya/Aztec/Egyptian pyramid or Hindu/ Buddhist-esque statue being the source for a Resident Evil bio weapon/ Predator nest/ Assassin’s Creed Isu relic.

Is this how you wish to draw attention to these cultures you admire? While there is no denying their ubiquity in pop-culture, such plots trivialize broad swathes of non-white history and diminish the accomplishments of associated ethnic groups. The series listed above all lean heavily into these tropes either because the authors couldn’t bother to figure out something more creative or because they are intentionally telling a story the audience isn’t supposed to take seriously.*

More importantly, I detect a lot of sincerity in your ask, so I imagine such trivialization runs counter to your expressed desire to depict Eastern cultures in a positive and accurate manner.

4. Freedom to Write ≠ Freedom from Consequence: Once again, as a reminder, it’s not our job to reassure you as to whether or not what you are proposing is ok. Asmaa and Mimi have put a lot of effort into explaining who you will offend and why.  We are here to provide context, but the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for how you choose to shape this narrative, particularly if you share this story with a wide audience, is you. Speaking as one writer to another, I personally do not have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I think it is important to be face reality head-on.

- Marika.

* This is likely why the AC series always includes that disclaimer stating the games are a product of a multicultural, inter-religious team and why they undermine Western cultures and Western religious interpretations as often (if not moreso) than those for their non-Western counterparts.

Note: Most WWC asks see ~ 5 hours of work from moderators before they go live. Even then, this ask took an unusually long amount of time in terms of research, emotional labor and discussion. If you found this ask (and others) useful, please consider tipping the moderators (link here), Asmaa (coming eventually) and Mimi (here). I also like money - Marika.

#alien character #historical fiction #science fiction #pseudoarchaeology #Middle-Eastern cultures #South-Asian cultures #Islam #writing with Islam #mehendi #cultural appropriation #areligious perspectives in writing #asks #WWC

[grifhinx]

Current ideas (D&D Modern character fashion collections) - Recap

Edits

Oh my god the first four are finally done. No more 7-piece Cleric collections, no more 8-piece Wizard designs... no more generic Fighter vibes too; the Rogue was ok but IDK. That aside tho, I feel like it was a good thing I went thru with this as the first batch of character classes to make designs on because it is legit the largest that would be, with the rest of the batches having character classes that include two to three subclasses and hence designs (each character class is pretty much a collection, if you haven’t picked up on it by now).

Yes it was that many

This week I’d be on break from releasing the next collections because I have not done any just yet. Instead some updates and recaps will be made on the previous ones. Design posts will be updated to connect to their overview posts, same way that overview posts will connect with their individual design posts (it’s just links but easier access if ever). 

Nerf nerds (Wizard collection)

Punk in action (Rogue collection)

Available representative (Cleric collection)

Everyman with a story (Fighter collection)

Each overview post, meaning character class collection, will have their own checkpoints. Some reflections on the designs (and maybe even updates or variations) will be seen here.

Image from gokojojo

Now that it’s been established that a batch of four character classes will be presented for four straight weeks, the next ones are of course something to sort out. Luckily, some checking into the remaining eight got me to arrive at the next four (no particular order, ‘cause I really haven’t sketched anything):

Bard

The Pied Piper cranked up to a thousand, the Bard takes art to high levels but harnessing magic from a somewhat unknown origin and putting it to effective if not lethal use on and off the battlefield. With its current incarnation in the game delving into the concept of colleges for subclasses, it may seem like the class has taken a more academic mindscape, which may or may not play out extensively in the final designs.

Paladin

One of the early introductions to the game outside the classic three classes of the fighting-man, the magic-user, and the cleric, the Paladin has come to pretty much embody the classic “knight in shining armor” perspective of most western fantasy settings and stories. Religious underpinnings or no religious underpinnings, it seems this armored aesthetic has been strongly attached to the class for the longest time. So I might just be doing some very structured stuff with the three subclasses/designs this class has.

Ranger

Everyone’s favorite explorer and long-haired blonde (riding down a flight of stairs with a wooden board) is gonna have their own collection now that would be rooted in, no surprise, outdoor gear and apparel. As the quintessential wilderness expert, it is basically a given that we are gonna be hitting The North Face for this gig. What I wanna find out now is how to put a spin on that - Steve Irwin but a little more fantasy. We’ll see.

Sorcerer

Casually known as the anti-Wizard (and my personal fave), there’s an allure to being naturally gifted with magic, whether that is thru genetics or upfront exposure to powerful entities and elements. So yeah, it’s X-Men actually... tho not really, IDK. But besides that kind of superhero reference, there might just be more ideas to pick up from this class to arrive at the final designs. I hope, ‘cause I don’t wanna work with spandex. 

Image by Douglas Nhung

This lineup felt like an interesting reinterpretation of the first which was the primary reason, alongside the fact that some of these have historically been known to almost there with the original four in the very first editions of the game. There’s also the instance of some of these being like foils to the first batch, like (obviously) the Sorcerer and their story with the Wizard, or even the Ranger with the Rogue and the Paladin with the Fighter.

Image by sirwallus

This batch is considerably smaller than the first since I still plan on sticking to content from the Player’s Handbook. This isn’t necessarily comforting since aesthetics and references would more or less be from scratch for most if not all of the classes in here, with almost zero chance to backtrack at what would be archived stuff already from the first batch. Either way, this should be a fun challenge to produce more designs according to the agreed schedule of one class per week. So... best of luck to me.

#sewing #sewist #sewn #sew #clothes #clothing #fashion #fashion design #fashion sketches #dnd #dungeons and dragons #dnd 5th edition #dnd 5e #dnd character

[drink-n-watch]

I say this every week and every week I fail, still I’m going to try to keep this post to a reasonable size. At least on my part. I have been rambling on way too much! That doesn’t mean we’re going to skip over the important stuff, like for instance: Matt how are you?

I’m fine (aside from some random back pain)! How are you doing Irina?

I have a huge cold, I guess I’m doing Canadian?

I’m not sure if this is a freaky coincidence or if I’m a low-key psychic but this week’s Psycho Pass was an illustration of what I was talking about in my post last Thursday. Essentially, the production values took a visible step down. To be fair, Psycho Pass is a stunning looking show and it’s unsurprising that it couldn’t keep that level up for an entire season.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed art consistency go way down and CG integration get a lot less smooth in this episode. Fortunately, with Psycho Pass being so detailed to begin with, even pared down versions of the art still look pretty good. Nevertheless it has definitely looked better:

Of course I pay way more attention to technical details than most people. In all likelihood most viewers didn’t really notice! Did you?

I was very distracted by how off-model practically every character looked in any medium or long shots–I think having to produce a 45 minute episode in such a time schedule is proving too much for the production staff. But you are correct, even at its most inconsistent it’s still a strikingly good-looking show.

As division 1 continues to slowly hunt down the Foxes, we finally get a bit of background regarding the mysterious organization. It seems that there’s a whole group of Makishima’s out there and they are organizing against the system. An underground criminal outfit full of people with magical every clear hues.

It strikes me that this may have been an inevitable outcome. In a Sybil controlled society, evolution was bound to quickly create a bunch of mutants capable of controlling or at least maintaining their hues. The brain is really fantastically adaptable. I mean just the advent of smartphones has already physically changed the neural net mapping in younger generations. With something like Sybil, that has a high impact on every aspect of a person’s life, the change is going to get accelerated for sure.

It’s actually a brilliant bit of world building in my opinion but it could very well be entirely in my head. What’s your take on it Matt? Also I realize that my interest may be a bit niche, so don’t hesitate to jump in and talk about whatever you like.

What was that about trying to keep this post to a reasonable size and not ramble too much…? If we’re talking about things I like, I really enjoyed the absurdity of Karina delivering a political speech about religion and then without missing a beat transitioning into her idol outfit and performing a song.

We already have story threads regarding white collar fiscal manipulation with nationwide impact, neuroscience in the unique universe of Psycho Pass, shadowy mastermind puppeteers, a criminal organisation of uniquely advantaged people, Kei and Arata’s very peculiar background and personal arcs, racial tension and high level political intrigue.

And now, we get a religious angle. Do you think that the narrative is going in too many directions and is risking to lose focus or do you figure the more the merrier and it should add a few?

This show wants to do and say a lot and while I think everything it’s wanting to do and say is important it’s very much at the point where if it tries to do much more it’s going to collapse under the weight of itself.

It seems the rise in terrorist activity happening in the city right now is linked to a church of some sort. Or at the very least, a lot of its members are involved. The latest bomber having joined in hopes it would help him get in a better place spiritually and clear his hue. Of course, the are also leaving calling cards all over the place so they must have something to do with it as well.

Although were a lot of things happening in Psycho Pass already, I’m actually rather interested by the religious aspect. There’s something fascinating and terrifying about a “Sibyl sanctioned religion”. And religion does odd things to people and their psyche in the best of times, I can’t wait to see what it can do under these circumstances.

After all, we are what we believe!

It seemed a bit weird to me that the show never really mentioned religion before and now suddenly it’s all anyone’s talking about. I realise it’s because it’s currently integral to the plot but I think it would have been better world-building had someone mentioned ‘Heaven’s Leap’ in any of the previous episodes–even in passing–especially since it’s apparently a big deal.

We got to meet 3 very different spiritual leaders from 3 very different religions. I am not a religious person in real life. I grew up in a place and time where it was more or less outlawed and it has just never really been a big part of my life. But I’m not someone who dislikes religion either. In fact I find it very interesting. I just don’t have much experience with it.

This is why, to me, despite the outward differences, all 3 of these guys sort of seemed the same.

That sounds like a bit of social commentary on religion in general, Irina! If we’re looking for a parallels with real world religion I suppose ‘Heaven’s Leap’ is supposed to be some sort of Jehovah’s Witness / Scientology hybrid and the CRP is some vague version of Catholicism. And then there’s just straight up Buddhism.

*It wasn’t..I literally meant they seemed to be built around the same character archetype not that their religions are the same. Don’t know if all religious figures in real life are that similar.

Because of all the different themes season 3 of Psycho Pass has been exploring, I wasn’t sure what the main focus would be. 5 hours in, I think it’s going to explore the effects of culture clash in an authoritarian society with thought crime. That’s a pretty ambitious goal. Even if it doesn’t manage to quite pull it off, I’ll be impressed by the effort! I know you think that speculating on where a story is going is not good but I would love to have your thoughts on it, Matt.

It’s not that I think it’s not good, my writer brain can’t help but speculate, it’s just I’m happy for a story to play out however the writer of the piece wants it to play out–I’m a bit of a bad critic in that respect. Whether this show is wanting to have a grand specific theme like you mention or just paint a broader canvas of the complexities of living in such a regimented world I’m not sure but it’s still interesting nonetheless.

This is probably nothing…But Arata’s house really looked like the division 1 mandated psychiatrist’s house in the first season. I’m almost 100% certain it’s not the same because it’s in the middle of the city, while the other one was in the countryside, but the architecture is similar. I wonder if it’s significant in any way.

Probably not.

I thought the design looked familiar, I don’t know if this is the kind of show that’d just forget its own world-building like that and this not be important but then again who knows!

So Matt, what were your thoughts on episode 5?

Honestly probably my least favourite episode so far. Sure the allure of something new with the religion aspect is interesting but the overall episode itself felt like a bit of a downgrade and not just with the off-model character art. Some scenes felt too fast paced while others felt drawn-out and Arata not being able to use his ‘mental trace’ felt like artificially handicapping the story for the sake of not using its own “cheats” to find the culprit. It’s by no means bad, nor even mediocre, it’s pretty great and had a lot of excellent character moments and interesting expansions to the overall world. I’m just worried the writer of this series may have bitten more off than he can chew. What about you Irina, I’m guessing you enjoyed it more than last week?

I liked it way more especially in the second half. And I’m ok with Arata not using his trace since it was set up properly how dangerous it is for him and how weak he is right now, fresh out of the hospital and all. Not to mention that using extreme empathy on someone who could very well be mind controlled sounds like a quick way to get himself mind controlled. These guys are detectives, they should know better.

I enjoyed it. I like when the story slips into speculative fiction and I found the pacing much better than in the last arc so to me it was a plus rather than a drawback. I have a feeling we are enjoying very different aspects of the season.

Psycho Pass s3 ep5 – Leap of Faith I say this every week and every week I fail, still I’m going to try to keep this post to a reasonable size.

#action #anime #Collab #crime #drama #Psycho Pass #sci fi

[themildestofwriters]

Character Creation Tag

Tagged by the illustrious @gottaenjoythelittlethingzz and thought that it would probably best to get some kind of content out from my OCs. For this one, I plan on doing Josephine Williams because Babette Melwyn is a bit more complicated and divulges into territory that I do not wish to discuss when it comes to the creation of her character.

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

Basic appearance and name. She was always a Josephine and she always had that general outline of appearance (Long curly brown hair; dark skin; that kind of stuff). The rest just developed over time and the more I considered Josephine critically.

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Yes. Josephine was thought up as someone who’d help begin Babette’s happy ending. I needed a character who’d bring out the best in Babette, who’d get her on track to healing whether through giving her the confidence to go through with therapy while also reconnecting her to humanity. I feel really bad for just creating a character who’s sole purpose is to be a love interest, but fortunately, I feel as if she’s much more than her original concept would have some think. There’s still much I need to develop around her, but the same can be true for other characters such as the two leads families and even the main character (Babette) herself.

3) How did you choose their name?

I always liked the name Josephine and I was inspired by the character of Josephine Montilyet from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world that they live in played the most influential parts?

She a lesbian woman of colour living in Australia, Earth (2016), there would be a lot influencing her. Her life isn’t abhorrent, but she does face issues that I’d rather not discuss here. What counts is that her family and friends love her and so do most the people she interacts with. This story won’t explore these themes as a main focus, because that’s not the point of the story, however they will be brought up and do effect her as a character.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair colour?

There’s nothing significant behind their hair colour. I like it, is all.

6) Is there any significance behind their eye colour?

Not really. I just thought the colour fit her character. Though, if you wanted to, you could just google “Green Eye Colour Meaning” and get a few links, one of which tells you that the symbolic meaning behind green eyes, but it won’t have much baring on the character aside from the fact they’re pretty.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

Relationship Height Difference. One of my favourite tropes is where you’ve got a very tall character and a very small character dating because of all the cute things they can do. Originally, Josephine was something like… 5’5” or 5’6” but I changed it to 5’8” because a height difference, even if it is just 5” is adorable AF and I’m pleased I decided on this.

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

Well, aside from the fact that I’m quite literally giving her my High School life, not much else I’d say. Josephine’s quite a bit different then me and we’ve both had very different lives. She doesn’t live in a broken family, my brother still breaths (as far as I know), she doesn’t have any sisters, I’ve never had a relationship as successful as hers, she doesn’t have to worry about what her parents will think about her non-heterosexuality (she’s already out), I don’t really have a choice about my religious practices. About the closest things I could relate to about her is how I’ve written her dealing with people and noise and whatnot.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

*Looks up at the previous question* Nope, not really.

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation? 

Due to her original concept being a companion for Babette, yes. I needed to create a character who’d not only be able to engage with Babette as a friend but also as a significant other. Josephine was always going to have a preference for women one way or another and it just seemed right to make her gay as well.

As monogamy vs polyamory, the choice was simply as not only is Babette monogamous (making a healthy poly relationship impossible) but I’m monogamous myself so the character trait was there from day one.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

Face claims. I could say the difficulties in finding how to write her character, but that can be worked on easily and I’ll be constantly improving my portrayal of this character. No, the real issue is that I can fecking find a good faceclaim that fits! Worse, I can’t do it for any of my characters!

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

While I haven’t gone as far as mapping out before her birth and the preceding years after, I’ve gone far enough that I know when her story definitively ends and it’s incredibly heart-warming and cute and I can’t wait to write it! At some point, I might reach a point where I’ll decide to take a few days to just 100% full-dive into worldbuilding and fully flesh out these characters backstories in complete detail (events preceding conception to what grades they got in year 2 of Primary School) but until then, I know the basic outline of the events from their childhood to they’re old and greyed.

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Her personality certainly. Without her personality, her entire position in the story changes and it would also effect how healthy the relationship is between Babette and Josephine as well as the overall result. The second one, however, is her part in the story--not necessarily as a romantic interest for Babette, but for acting as an anchor to not only reality but also humanity for her godly girlfriend.

Dating or not, it doesn’t matter, but Babette wouldn’t reconnect with humanity on her own and without a character like Josephine existing, she would’ve flown off to Pluto or something and buried herself waiting for the heat-death of the universe to kill her.

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

The fact that I’m not sure if I should make her go full butch or femme or just stay somewhere alternating between. She’s fast enough to out run you at a marathon, strong enough to beat you at arm-wrestling, would absolutely rock certain short hairstyles and a leather jacket, but at the same time she’s leaving lipstick marks on Babette’s cheeks and rocking absolutely stunning dresses.

No heels, though. She hates heels.

15) What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

The fact that when she begins learning magic from Babette, one of her first thoughts goes straight to necromancy and the idea that she could possibly maybe resurrect her late older brother.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

Just as @gottaenjoythelittlethingzz said, I’ll tell you when I find it.

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

The most recent thing I’ve discovered about Josephine… She’s was extremely hopeful for the Wonder Woman movie and absolutely adored it when she watched it in theatres. She saw some issues but overall, she loved it and not just because Gal Gadot was a thing.

18) What is your favourite fact about your OC?

Josephine is a massive, massive, greek mythology nerd. Literally, her computer wallpaper is probably some picture of Athens or the pantheon of greeks or something like that. When Babette gives her a pet raven, she names it Cerberus. When she and Babette adopt a kitten together she names it Sappho (I blame @sunlight-melodies). She really likes greek mythology which makes interesting parallels considering her favourite greek god is Persephone and her girlfriend has been known as the God of the Dead.

Tagged, in no particular order, is: @sleepy-and-anxious, @ariellaskylark @cometworks @focusdumbass @rose-writes-and-drinks-tea @truebisexualdragon @fallen-angel-nightshade @pyr0clast @i-tried-and-i-loose @sunlight-melodies

I’ve realised that i need to keep a list of writers I follow to tag in these things because I’m absolutely horrible at remembering them all...

#writer #writeblr #characters #ocs #oc #character #original character #oc: josephine williams #character tag #character creator tag #tag meme #tag game #writers #writers on tumblr #i wish I could think of more tags