#or at least like. Access To The Focus

[pixlokita]

Freddy's proud that Gregory is continuing his gay lineage by having mutual feelings for Tony.

As he should. Bonnie would be proud, too ✨

Honestly I was trying not to ship more characters because at this point everyone is either gay or ace or aroace and I feel like I need more straight ships to balance it out 💀 but it just don’t click =w=

#pix answers #fnaf #i don’t have that many ships to begin with #heck #and the straight ish ships consist of at least a non-binary character so that doesn’t even count #=w= #like Idk…. they feel forced #i just won’t focus too much on romance =w= aside from Jeremike and Beckory #and even then- Mike is ace 🧍‍♂️ #ah frick #frack #tictac #Big Mac #💥💥💥💥 #Lmao thank god my family doesn’t have access to my tumblr they’d disown me so fast

[running-in-the-dark]

got the main thing done that I wanted to do today (built a desk/table/shelf thing for the living room), so while it wasn't a great day overall it was alright. I hope I won't be as tired and exhausted tomorrow (I probably will be though because I did more than I should have again today 🙃 and I will keep doing that until everything is done and then I will not get up off the couch for a month.)

#we also watched last week's episode of taskmaster finally. I don't like this season so far 🙈 #but other than that? I don't know what I did. just lay in bed and then on the couch and then in my husband's bed with the cats #lots of lying down and being exhausted #and then manically running around and doing everything I possibly could for like three hours #before lying down and being exhausted again #I would really like to do something fun but I can't get my brain to focus on anything because everything around me is so messy 😭 #and ALSO. I can't even look at gifs to relax because my stupid phone signal is too bad like 95% of the time. most of the time even regular #images won't load (at least on tumblr. pinterest works just fine usually. but not tumblr 🙄) #I miss that 😭 #can't watch my shows at the moment and can't even see pretty gifs 😔 so unfair #hope we'll get internet access sooner rather than later 😭 #personal

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

I will never stop screaming about the untapped potential of Shouto and Fuyumi's relationship

#its really a part of how shouto basically became a side character in what was supposed be his own arc #and so much focus was put on endeavour #but seriously #weve had focus on natsuo and touya to a degree #but fuyumi and shouto were the only other people than their abusive dad in their house for at least a year #and even before then rei was gone and we dont see any staff like cooks or cleaners or healers #so we can assume fuyumi spent more time around shouto than anyone aside from endeavour #possibly since rei was burned (when shouto was 5/6) #also shouto only ever uses his ice up till the sports festival and we can assume endeavour wasnt teaching him #so who was?? who also has an ice quirk of unknown power?? who again would have the most access to shouto out of sheer necessity?? #all im saying is fuyumi and shouto SHOULD have had their relationship explored esp given hes more like his mom than his dad #fuyumi todoroki #shouto todoroki #mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #todoroki family #anti endeavour #anti enji todoroki

[kyouka-supremacy]

( •_• )

#Aight I'm no marketing strategist but like. It doesn't take a genius to see on my dash everyone going #“If there's not going to be new bsd content soon I'm just gonna drop it” #I really don't get why they went for this route. Oh well. *Goes make the bsd reread announcement post I've been procrastinating on making* #random rambles #Tbh I too have found myself a little tired with bsd but also. #Idk I like the fandom. #Even if I'm not as excited about it as I used to be right now it's still something that makes me happy to interact with every day. #I like the format. To an extent I also like not getting new content because it gives myself the illusion- #I will be able to focus on studying more (lol) #Or at least dedicate myself to other projects I've been wanting to complete #And one of the main appeals of bsd to me stays how the content is widely accessible. #Like I love p/p and I definitelly love it a thosuand times more than I do b/sd. I truly love that franchise. #But besides from watching the anime it's impossible to get your hands on the extra content (manga‚ novels‚ dramas‚ stage plays‚ fanbooks) #Which left me - archivist obsessed - just frustrated #With bsd aside from very niche things (I love you pricey fanbooks... ) #Most of the main content is within reach. Man I was able to compile a magazines archive. I could have never done it with p/p #So yeah it's just. A space that fits my very specific kind of autism #Why am I even discussing this again?

[steampunkforever]

Making movies about real tragedies is always a difficult undertaking. No matter the pains you take to be as sensitive as possible, it's inevitable that such a touchy subject is going to anger SOMEONE. This doesn't even take into account the times that you, as a hypothetical filmmaker, will actually mess up for real. Nevertheless, director Paul Greengrass set out to tackle the Irish Troubles-- by no means an uncomplicated subject --in his film Bloody Sunday, a piece of cinema that tackles tasteful portrayal of the Bloody Sunday massacre by putting you in the crowd.

When we talk about how using cameras to communicate affect in cinema, handheld is one of the simplest mechanics for getting the audience to feel present in a film. It's why the crowd shots in Pi or the Goodfellas club scene or even the Evil Dead DemonCam work so well. This is essentially first person POV, and even when it isn't directly so, we feel like we're there with the characters, protesting on the streets of Derry against internment at the hands of the British. Greengrass uses handheld camera effectively, eschewing the newsreel perspective in favor of camerawork that felt more like the handheld camcorder footage used to film the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers just a year before the release of this film. He pulls you directly into the narrative. You're as much of a witness to the violence as the reporters documenting the Derry protests or the commanding officers giving the order to send in the Paras.

This brings us to the way Greengrass edits the film. The footage in Bloody Sunday rarely cuts, instead fading to black and then fading in the next shot. It feels almost like archival footage, the fades cutting off characters mid-sentence before taking us to the next segment of the film. This technique isolates the shots, but it heightens our awareness of how these discrete places and people (The British Paratrooper squad, Irish Nationalist politician Ivan Cooper, Major General Patrick MacLellan) all led up to the massacre.

It reminds me of working on my own films and logging footage. Each clip stringing together in a vacuum, telling a story without the invisible hand of narrative shaping perception through crossfades and transitions. Until the shooting starts, and Greengrass organically moves into a seamless, breathless sequence in which the Paras start shooting and the crowd scatters. It feels like you're there, and I noticed my blood pressure raise at the injustice unfolding onscreen. Incredibly effective filmmaking here, and the intentional camerawork does an impressive job at bringing the audience into the events of Bloody Sunday without the feelings of voyeurism often present in cinema about human suffering.

Bloody Sunday is, in my opinion, an elegant portrayal of a tragic landmark in the Irish Troubles. It's a film that impacted me emotionally, elevating my heartrate at the injustice unfolding onscreen. The British Government still shields David Cleary from prosecution for the mass killing, with legal repercussions for anyone who refers to him by his real name instead of "Soldier F," making clear the need for us to remember these atrocities perpetrated in the name of imperialism.

#filmposting #bloody sunday #paul greengrass #film #cinema #really liked this one #greengrass still got flack for it btw #people said he focused too much on civil rights leaders and military command instead of the people in the crowd #which I get but also thats a lot of territory to cover for a film that's only so long #the camera in the crowd bits can only go so far and its definitely easier to focus on public figures who have more documentation about them #good movie though #definitely should be on your list #also the paras wear Denison smocks which I realize were a connection to the rhodesian brushstroke #the rhodeys were big paratroopers during WWII and would've had access to these smocks #if you look at rhodey brushstroke its basically portuguese lizard mixed with the Denison smock pattern #fascinating really how the cultural influences mix #also made the paras seem that much more evil as they seemed to be wearing the uniform of a colonial ethnostate while doing a colonial war #I think at least one of the para smocks was taken from rhodesia bc it looked too crisp to be pat59 denison #but maybe it was just a repro

[holydramon]

*piedmon fight 2*

takuma: think we’re gonna have to kill this guy miyuki

miyuki: damn

#also btw. that piedmon fight is stupid as hell. #who thought it’d be a good idea to put you up against a mega when you only have access to Agumon and your misc recruited digimon. #like he was already a tough fight when I did have all my guys. how the hell am I supposed to fight a guy that ONE SHOTS triceramon??? #literally only fight I had to switch to easy mode to beat. and even then I came somewhat close to losing. #had to use the strategy of relying on angewomon to deal damage and giving zudomon a vex crystal so the kiwimon would focus on him instead. #also had a weregarurumon with holy knuckle or whatever it’s called but. he got one shot before he got a hit in -_- #and this shit was after grinding them all up to be at least level 30 #which I mean. to be fair is kinda low but also in my defense the only one of my the digimon I regularly use that aren’t partners #is angewomon. cause she’ll be a Holydramon as soon as I’m able to make her one <3 #but like… angewomon and agumon are both high 40s. all of my partnered digimon are high 40s. is that?? low for this point in the game?? i #admittedly don’t do free battles too often…. #idk I’m confused free battle encounters are 20 and bosses are 30 so like. I’d THINK high 40s would be fine?? #dramon thoughts #roseate plays survive

[bunnyb34r]

Really wish this brain fog would pass bc I have a shitload of posts in my drafts i saved bc i wanted to read them but my brain said no. And it's tax season so I'm getting important papers in the mail and I cant fucking read them. Well I can read them but it's just words. Nothing is connecting up there. Thank god mom is here to help read that shit and translate but fuck do I hate this shit

Why can't my brain fucking WORK

#it feels like when i kept getting concussions in 9th grade (had 4) and i couldnt fucking focus and my reaction time dropped significantly #like we were doing a basic reaction time experiment in science and i said oh lets not use mine when we submit it (group of 3 pick best #result) and my friends were like pfft whatever go. and i did and they got real quiet and were like oh... #bc they didnt realize i was concussed concussed like bitch my ability to vaguely see in the dark is GONE i cannot see my rt is SLOWED #my brain cannot WORK RIGHT #it's recovered since then (yay neuroplasticity) but i still have bad brain fog from fibro and it's like god at least when I was concussed i #could easily be like listen i had 4 concussions i need help. no problem. but with brain fog it feels like give me a min im stupid today #i hate it!! i hate feeling broken i hate feeling like my brain is half working! it sucks!! #i got insurance shit the other day and had to ask my mom to make sure it was just a basic 'yeah youre covered heres more access' and not #something i needed to act on and it was so frustrating #marquilla #and whats worse is sometimes ill be talking or typing and think im making sense and then ill look back at it later or someone will ask me ab #it and its like oh... im sorry my brain is not working atm and i cannot get out what im trying to and what is getting out is jumbled #the absolute worst is when it hits when im driving and it's like hey you're 2 hours away from home snd now LOST get home bitch :) #luckily it only happened when i was 40 min from home and in a familiar enough area but my brain couldnt find the right 'path' #sucked but i actually knew i was actually on the right path when i saw this house with a lesbian flag sgsgdgdgdgdgdgd like oh! here!!

[amokslime]

I think it could be fun to make a small perfumery/scent notes table for fanfic authors. I think most of the time the classic "they smelled like ______ and ______" is more of an atmosphere building tool than a literal description, which is great. Also a lot of the time, i get the sense that characters aren't necessarily meant to be wearing a perfume. But it seems like it would be cool to have the option of referring to a list of scent notes that includes scent descriptions, popular combos, maybe something like date/place of origin. Plus it would be an outlet for my perfume obsession that doesn't involve me spending all my money. Perfume nation how are we feeling

#lotus oil smells like bubblegum it it smells like BUBBLEGUM #im a perfumery beginner #so idk how effective i would be. but it sounds fun! #maybe this already exists but i haven't been able to find one #there's scent note tables out there for perfumers #but they're not always that accessible and they focus on slightly different information #the formulas for many accords are classified as trade secrets but you could at least get an idea of what accords are possible #stink radius

[meikostan]

fuck it. vocaloid reblog game time. reblog & write your controversial vocaloid opinions in the tags

#ill go 1st. maybe these arent as controversial as i think i dont really talk to that many other vocaloid fans #1. i truly do not mind the extreme focus on miku in merch etc etc. like i 100% would love if other vocaloids got even a fraction that kind #of attention but as a financial decision it makes sense. shes basically the firestar of vocaloid: as the most accessible character even if #you have only had the slightest contact with anything vocaloid you at the very least know hatsune miku. also i like her and shes cool :) #2. kikuo is overhyped 😔 or at least people are hyping up the wrong songs #theyre not bad songs but some of them i just do not see the appeal in past the initial 'waow these lyrics are so dark :0' #uhh. idk what else. idk if this counts but 3. i dont really care that much about the project sekai characters i dont hate them or anything #i just dont really get it 😔 theyre alright i just dont think about them very much. may be influenced by me not knowing how to navigate #to anywhere other than the song selection and music shop #<---ill add that none of these are opinions i hold very strongly lmao they may change within the next 10-30 business days #i talked more than i expected o-0 strange #vocaloid

[castielmacleod]

My specific approach to rewriting a piece of media is always going to be to trim the fat and simplify things as much as possible, and then take those simplified concepts and develop the absolute hell out of them. If that makes sense. Like okay I’m going to cut all the monster baddies in spn and just keep the demons, but then I am going to spend hours upon hours worldbuilding an entire demon culture and society and develop the inner workings of the kingdom of hell and all the specific roles of the king’s court and figure out how demons WORK and why/how they are created and how they tend to behave and what it feels like to be one and the concrete powers they have access to. I can do this because I don’t have like a dozen other monsters drawing on my creativity and attention and the story/world is cleaner, deeper, and more concise for it. At least that’s my philosophy anyway

#The writing I post on here is intentionally kept very canon adjacent (or as canon adjacent as I can stand to be) for accessibility purposes #But I can’t wait to start sharing things from my lore redux document. I think there’s some neat stuff in there #I have narrowed the show right down to demons + angels + demon-hunters + witches and like nothing outside of those “cultures” #Well other than like normal human cultures of course lol I meant just in terms of the supernatural stuff #There are ghosts too since those don’t require too much as far as additional worldbuilding goes. Ghosts are ghosts #And those can be taken care of either by a paranormal investigator or by a particularly savvy demon-hunter #Psychics have been incorporated into witches. Any MOL ridiculousness I’ve just reduced into a demonologist society #The horsemen are all demons save for Death who is an very ancient eldritch angel with unique powers #Reapers are very fucked up wisps of stray grace under Death’s command and you could maybe call them angels if you squinted but #they’re more like something that USED to be an angel and now definitely isn’t (I’ve been thinking maybe dead angels actually become these?) #And idk maybe this is boring but I’d rather focus on making a few things really interesting and deep than trying to stretch myself thin #over trying to account for 15 years of absolute rubbish from canon #My posts #If you’re wondering about my approach to prominent characters who are monsters…. I either don’t care about the character enough #or I revise them into a demon or witch. Whatever works out better #So like Mia VaIIens for instance. Right now I have her as a human witch who is an absolute master at spells that entail mimicry #I.e. making herself look like someone else in a certain person’s perception or augmenting her voice #And it accomplishes more or less the same effect as shifter Mia can in canon #It works for me at least #Characters like Benny and Garth I don’t personally care much about (sorry Benny and Garth fans) so I’ve just kind of left them out atm

[maeamian]

I don't mean to come off as harsh or rude, but the fact that we beat the shitty dude by multiple millions of votes but he got to be president anyhow and make three supreme court nominations because Mitch made up some traditions on the fly to let him, maybe doesn't show that we didn't vote hard enough in 2016 so much as the institutions of the senate and electoral college structurally bias republicans and are fundamentally undemocratic and I think any conversation that blames voters for how they interact with that system completely misses the fact that the systems are failures and failing us and at minimum a voting based strategy needs to acknowledge that some people's votes just flat out don't count or at least count significantly less thanks to these systems

#Just like I've voted in practically every election my entire life #I did miss one that I view as having been crucial and unfortunate #but one was not the vote difference in that election so my lack of vote there even didn't technically turn it #And things do keep on getting worse in spite of that #and I feel like maybe it's okay to look at these two things and wonder in what way they are related #I'm not saying give up on voting or whatever but my votes just flat out count for way less as a Californian #So I'm not sure what they want me to do about that if voting is the only solution to any problem #Luckily it isn't and I've spent years on election related issues #tbh this is also the fault of the Democratic party who could've seen any or all of this coming. #literally 'the GOP wants to take control of the judiciary to repeal the later half of the 20th century' was common knowledge #among activists when I was in high school back in the early 00's #And probably longer too that's just when I came into possession of it #As has been pretty much everything else they've tried to do or succeeded in doing #Like they aren't doing it in the dark it's just that Civic Society requires elected Dems to feign ignorance #Or at least they seem to think it does #Like for fuck's sake leadership won't even unendorse the last anti-choice dem in congress #And regularly have said 'focus on abortion access is bad for us' #so forgive me if I'm not lining up on the 'we just need more democrats' parade when we also need better Democrats #I'm allowed to demand they at least have a pro-choice litmus test before I go all in on them in response to this #I'm telling you that 'look what voting got us' isn't a cry to give it up but a cry to build power in other ways too #Not mad at anyone but OP of the post this is obviously responding to #But genuinely unimpressed with being chided about voting at this fucking point in history #It's just that I gotta share one good senator and one useless senator with San Fransisco #While the same population out in the midwest gets literally thirty senators #Just can't see how I'm supposed to vote my way out of a system where the winner isn't the person with the most votes

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also i remembered the other day that if i was gonna share pics of myself it would be from like fifteen years ago when not only did i have a role in a dance production that was a cat but the person in charge was absolutely going full jellicle with it like showed me bits from a vhs of cats to demonstrate a point. and The Point here is that was the costuming too, i had a purple bodysuit with a lot of glittery design on it iirc and the leg / armwarmers and for once thank god i was getting to do my own stage makeup b/c it was full face cat, obviously. and it occurs to me that i just don’t think many people have pics like that, even though we all could, and that does pwn. additionally i think all the pics are selfies via like backstage vlogging done by me with a disposable camera

#when it comes to what i look like. i'm like that default way ppl draw a white guy w/short brown hair & glasses #but that doesn't really help w/like what did your jellicle cat costume look like.... #i'm also now struggling to remember like what tf was the approach w/my hair...it was long back in those days #getting riled up thinking about Enjoying Theatre Adjacent Things lmfao like being backstage / in rehearsal / onstage.... #my star turn in that particular thing too b/c after one show someone's dad asked if i'd take a pic w/them b/c they were a fan of the part ig #at least one of three Productions where i had a part with a name and sole focus at times but.... #anyways i absolutely don't have access to these pictures rip lmao #also had a good time banishing all stage fright lol like ppl doing last min backstage stuff never quite got it together re coordinating cues #like hmm we are in the middle of this performance and the one curtain opened when it wasn't supposed to but the music's going for My cue.... #grande jeted out there anyways like we're making it work. cue even when i have thwarting / anxiety dreams abt being in on stage productions #like it doesn't bother me lmao just having a great time while absolutely everything goes wrong #jellicle....

[roboromantic]

gd watching the Pass the Game Challenge videos and I mean. I get that they're more focused on making a game that Works as opposed to one that's really polished, but it is kinda depressing just how bad the UI tends to be throughout the videos and how unintuitive a lot of the systems can be

not to mention how uh. uncreative some of it can be. like I get that they're under a time limit and are probably trying to stick to stuff they know they can do quickly but Man.

#tbf AAA titles aren't always great about this either (see: D1's horrible yellow subtitles) #honestly tho thank gd for Moonleaf Studio and a couple other people that always save the day when it's their turn instead of fuckin. #starting the whole damn project over from scratch at the last second lmao #at least a lot of comments call that out. some people need to focus more on working as a team and less on adding their own distinctive twis #like it is still very impressive! obviously I can't do anything like that (yet) #but it's like. okay now I wanna focus on accessibility & making UI that doesn't look like fuckin. Windows 98 or very basic html/css buttons #and that is actually good at providing useful info to players

[trans-leek-cookie]

crocheting in the dark has made me much more aware of the random shit I do to get proper tension on the yarn and like. I get why machines can't do this shit how the fuck would u program that

#I have various thoughts abt machines and labor most of which are Capitalism is the Problem not necessarily machines but also u gotta #Consider how automation can make things more accessible to certain ppl especially when it comes to creative mediums (ai neutral here) but i #Terms of straight up machine physics and limitations humans will not be replaced by machines- at least not ones that can do what a human #Does as well- within our lifetime. For example my dad worked at McDonald's and remembered having to adjust the cooking time of the burgers #To account for the cooking stuff getting greasy and such. Unless they somehow changed shit up thats probably still the case and when it com #Comes to automation there isn't a really good fix that can match a humans ability to adapt. Like maybe you could program a process to try #And gradually increase the time cooking but that would be difficult and have to consider a lot of factors. Or you could have it scrape the #Grill regularly but that could end up with a lot of time the grill could be used being wasted on unnecessary scrapings or it could happen t #Infrequently. Not to mention glitches that would require the robot to be actually tampered with- the equivalent of which would probably be #Very minor issue of a human made the same mistake. There was also an interesting post I remember abt the topic of automation and like I #Think there was a focus on navigation in machines and visual input as a part of that? Anyways machines are nothing without the humans behin #Them and some people need them. They aren't inherently evil they're just a tool we have to adapt to and use ethically

[creatingblackcharacters]

“That One Hairstyle? RETIRE IT!” Black Hair is an Art (pt.1)

(This is part one of two lessons, with this one focusing on how our hair itself! The next lesson will encompass how to incorporate its existence into your writing. It'd be a massively long post otherwise.)

So! Black hair. Black hair is a CENTRAL, ESSENTIAL part of our culture and identity. Writing and drawing it means understanding the vulnerability and trust that comes with access to it, and yes, it is racist to suggest that ‘it’s just hair’ when our hair serves such an important role in our history and art. I already wrote a mini-lesson and ask on the topic, but being aware of what our hair looks like, and what means to us, will help you to understand why we care that you put in the effort to get it right.

Hair Textures

We are not a genetic monolith! However, for the sake of this series, we are focusing on 3C-4C, because 1) it's most likely to be seen in life and 2) least likely to be seen in popular art! When you are creating your characters, consider the style and care for THESE textures. I will get more into this next lesson.

Let's get into SOME of the hairstyles!

Afros (36 Afro Hairstyles)

“So, what’s the phenomenon behind the Afro? Well, it’s our hair in its most natural form, but that’s only part of the phenomenon. It’s a way to fight the status quo without saying a word.”

-Ebony Magazine, The History of the Afro

When nonBlack society hears ‘afro’, they think completely picked out, Black power imagery, political statement. And it was, and is! But in actuality, afros are just the natural hair growing out of a Black person's head. The same way your hair grows out of your head. Our texture. Even my hair is not allowed to be ‘hair’, it has to ‘assign’ my Blackness; my distance from whiteness. Imagine, the hair growing out of your head being automatically associated with how you should be perceived. Just by existing, it is making a statement in a Eurocentric society.

Braids (31 Braid Styles)

There are SO MANY TYPES of braids and ways to wear them. If you can imagine a design, I bet there's a Black braider that can do it!

CORNROWS ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY BRAIDS! Internalize this! They may be used in the same style, but they are NOT INTERCHANGEABLE TERMS!

Braids are considered a protective style; that is, a hairstyle designed to let our hair 'rest' and grow without having to manipulate it. If you have a Black character that's constantly on the go and/or doesn't have time to focus on their hair, and you want an accurate, more true-to-life experience for them, braids can be a crucial part of character design.

Locs

(Yes, while that link has plenty of examples, it was also self-indulgent. Locs are gorgeous, Black men with locs are gorgeous!)

"Locs vs Dreads": As someone in the loc community, there’s been a push to refer to the style as ‘locs’, rather than ‘dreadlocks’. Some people with the style will not care, but others take it very seriously, so it’s something to keep in mind. There’s a societal stigma behind having locs, that they’re ‘dirty’ or ‘unkempt’ or ‘lazy’ and that is NOT true. Locs are beautiful, and they take far more effort than people seem to want to believe lmao.

Locs, though there is currently a positive revival, are still highly discriminated against. Kids have been expelled from school and even have had their hair forcibly cut off to be allowed to participate in sports. Many places won't hire you if they think your hair is 'unprofessional' or 'dirty', especially if you're a Black woman. To consider yet another example of the hair that grows out of my head 'dirty' is extremely racist.

LOCS ARE NOT BRAIDS!!!!

Locs are also a protective style, albeit a much more permanent one, and one that comes with a long history and culture behind it. Many Black people consider the biblical story of Samson to be a man with locs, and that our locs hold power within them. That not just anyone should be allowed to touch your locs. So, if you're interested in mythology and powers, that might be an intriguing way to go, that would be possible if you had a Black character with locs!

In Professional Media

The lack of awareness and concern about our hair isn't just a fan or amateur creator experience. It is ubiquitous in the professional media world. Black actors, actresses, and models have discussed having to do their own hair when working, because no one would properly care for it on set if it wasn't familiarly white. It’s admittedly grown better- however! After decades of not having options other than ‘stereotypical afro’, ‘box cut’, and ‘white people hair’, it is LONG PAST TIME to stop settling for the bare minimum in Black character design. We can tell when "one of us" (with some sense, at least) wasn't in the room to make decisions in popular media.

If you were curious about the lesson title, here's a current example of what I'm talking about in video games. Tell me if you see a pattern:

This style? The Killmonger? We seent it!!!! It has become the “hairstyle to show I understand the exaggerated swagger of a young Black teen” option, the "I know the Black people!" go-to, and frankly, we are all tired of it. Okay it was cute on Ekko. The Black Delegation DEMANDS the professional video game industry pick something else! We have SO MANY DIFFERENT HAIRSTYLES!

I'll give you an example on the other end (not trying at all; refer to Lesson 1) from one of my favorite games, Hades:

This is my blorbo. My favoritest guy. I’ll fight for Patroclus being Black til the day I die. While I begrudgingly settled in my excitement, I can tell you no one Black with any voting power was in the room at Supergiant when they approved this design. Why? His texture! Locs were such an easy option if they wanted long hair! Locs existed BEFORE Ancient Greece! The man did not have a flat iron while fighting in a war! A good Black designer would have considered that!

To give him a more accurate design, some artists (myself included) lean into giving him locs (one of my favorites is @karshmallow 's Pat; a phenomenal example in caring about your Black characters). It’s something Black fans find themselves doing- redesigning Black characters. That's not something we should have to do at all, especially in media we pay for!

But if you REALLY want your Black character to have straight hair, that leads into the last style of this lesson:

Straight Hair

We do have straight hair. But it’s not straight because it grew out that way! It will still look and be thicker! It might be a wig or a sew-in (human or synthetic), it might be flat-ironed (while relaxed? While natural?) It takes effort to get and maintain straight hair.

'I think it looks better good this way!'

If you catch yourself thinking this, this is a racist statement. Whether you’re aware of it our not, there is a bias towards Eurocentric/white features in our society, and that includes in our media. When you think “I only drew [this Eurocentric hair texture and style] because I think it looks good on them!” I want you to PAUSE and think about the WHY. WHY do you think that this Black person’s natural features are unattractive in comparison to the white hair texture you gave them? And how hurt might a Black peer of yours would feel hearing that you find their natural features not worth drawing because they’re “not attractive”. It requires approaching your own internal biases, recognizing them, and then working to unlearn them. And that means practice! Using references to draw our hair and styles, and growing used to using OUR features on US!

Doing it in Art

Me personally, I think if you think drawing thinner hair textures is easy, thicker hair textures should be a BREEZE. I was curious, so I challenged myself and-

(it took me about thirteen minutes total to do ol boy's hair and it's still not right. I'm sick fr y'all don't even know 🤢)

@ackee has a really good art lesson on the how-tos of drawing Black hairstyles. I highly recommend checking it out, as well as following and supporting a fellow Black artist (who is far better than I!)

Hair Brushes

Finally, an option you can use for painting is downloading Black hair brushes! Vegalia has an amazing array of brushes with different types of curls, locs, and braids at her Etsy store! You can also follow her on social media to see how she applies them, and support yet another amazing Black creative!

I know this was a long one, but you made it! Just keep going. Remember, it's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

#creatingblackcharacters #black art #black characters #character design #black hair #black history #black culture