#tell me you only looked at the art without telling me you only looked at the art

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Lost, never found

Wei Wuxian ends up in Ghost City after he dies. Somebody is looking for him.

Loosely inspired by this official art

Wei Wuxian had not expected that death would lead him to the gates of a city. In all honesty, he had not expected to even retain his consciousness after the manner in which he had died and the way his soul had been pulled apart from his body – but here he was, standing at the entrance of a vibrant settlement, teeming with all sorts of unusual inhabitants.

Be they headless ghosts, half-animal ghouls, demons or monsters, the crowd past the gates was decidedly not human – but Wei Wuxian wasn’t either, not anymore, but his status as a ghost was still new to him, though not much different from when he was alive. If anything, other than the fact that his body was no longer in constant pain and ghosts weren’t screaming in his head, he felt quite normal.

As normal as one could feel as a spirit.

He stepped past the ornate gate into the city, and felt himself overcome with sights, smells and sounds, the place lively as it could be. Laughter, wailing, fighting, music, conversation – everything blended together into a low hum, all sorts of stalls and buildings lining the streets and people animatedly walking around. It was a peculiar place, all sorts of creatures selling all sorts of things, from food to trinkets and even body parts, ghosts walking about the markets, in and out of buildings, everyone blending into the large crowd.

It felt almost overwhelming – but more than that, it was nostalgic. It reminded Wei Wuxian of Lotus Pier, before everything happened – the hustle and bustle, the merchants, the games, the street food and the energy of a restless crowd.

It reminded him of Yiling, of the camaraderie between poor merchants and the way they traded customers, of the jokes and the laughter between stalls, of trying to get discounts and make a living in a place for the dead.

“You seem lost.” A smooth, confident voice came, covering the buzz of the crowd in a way that told Wei Wuxian it was meant for him.

“I…I am.” He replied, turning towards the source of the voice. A man in ornate, red robes and countless silver ornaments greeted him with a placid smile, one of his eyes covered with a black eyepatch. Wei Wuxian’s eyes caught onto the pearl shining at the end of the single braid in his dark hair, a detail he felt was not at all unintentional.

Wei Wuxian may not have known who this man was, but he could tell that he was powerful, dangerous. For a moment, he felt intimidated, missing the weight of his flute at his waist.

But, Wei Wuxian reasoned with himself, he was already dead, what was the worst that could happen to him now?

“Somebody has been looking for you.” The man continued, “Would you like to see them?”

“Nobody wants to see me.” Wei Wuxian replied, almost on instinct. After all, anybody wanting to summon his soul would for sure only be looking to disperse him, so it would be best to avoid them. He had known that he would not be allowed to rest in peace even if he died – the disdain the cultivation world held for him was boundless, especially as he destroyed half the Stygian Tiger Amulet. He had taken all that power in death with him, and likely ruined many plans with that.

The man insisted. “It is not easy for the living to reach this place. Are you certain you do not want to see the person seeking you?”

Wei Wuxian paused at that. The living… who could possibly be going through the trouble to reach this place for him?  He could not think of anybody that would – at least not without malevolent intentions. The only one that came to mind was Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian knew if it was him, he had come to settle the score once and for all. To seek revenge, perhaps, and kill him like he had planned to. After all, Wei Wuxian died on his own terms, gruesome as they had been – he was certain Jiang Cheng would have liked to kill him personally.

“No.” Wei Wuxian replied, at last. “Tell them I am not here.”

--

Hua Cheng walked outside the gate of Ghost City, his expression unchanged as he looked towards the white-clad man in front of him. His expression, sunken, regretful, had lit up slightly upon seeing Hua Cheng, a glimmer of hope in his dulled honeyed eyes.

“He is not here.” Hua Cheng said, his voice almost sterile as the lie flowed out of him with ease.

Lan Wangji’s eyes widened for a moment, in disbelief, lips parted to say something though no words came out.

“The dead are elusive. You will not find him if he does not want to be found.”

The hope in Lan Wangji’s eyes dimmed as soon as it had appeared. He bowed deeply in thanks and left without a word, unable to speak. Hua Cheng did not hold it against him.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #writing attempts

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Based on this post and another one (that I cant find for the life of me but I'm sure exists!!) about Sonic also doing graffiti because he vibes with it as a form of self expression, Aka Sonic and Nine banter fluff with a grain of plot somewhere in between

[2,358 words]

---

"Still find it so pleasantly surprising it was so easy to convince you." Sonic said after he vaulted over the railing while keeping his hold on it with one hand, his words now slightly muffled through his respirator.

"Says you! I didn't know you were up for vandalism."

"It's not vandalism, It's art." The hedgehog replied in a sassy tone, accentuating the 't' at the end and then shaking his spray can. "Without it, all this would be just a sad gray slab of concrete."

"Tch, sure."

Nine scoffed but the smile in his tone was evident while he rummaged through the bag of sprays and paints and finally settling on a few eye-bleeding colors on the yellow-blue spectrum he wanted to use.

"That one's almost empty." The hedgehog pointed towards the turquoise can that Nine flipped in his hand. He deadpanned as he must've felt it was unusually light.

"No wayyy, I couldn't tell."

"And wear the mask."

"My lungs are destroyed already, what's a few more whiffs of spray paint. No need to pester me."

Oh, Sonic will have exactly none of that backtalk, nor will he rely on the fox's habit of saying no but doing what he was told anyway, because this is not putting away the salt after a lunch, but genuine health concern.

"Nine." he added just a bit more insistence into his tone.

The mentioned fox was now staring at him unimpressed through the railing, a silent challenge as neither of them dared to blink for a good minute.

Nine eventually gave in when his eyes started to dry out and sighed, pulling out the respirator from his pocket and tying it behind his head.

"Thank you." Sonic finally shook the spray can and gave a couple short splashes of it into the open air before putting down the first lines of his soon-to-be masterpiece.

"Didn't do it for you."

"Ah but didn't you "don't" need to wear it?" Detecting the immediate loophole in the other's baseless complaints Sonic continued to focus on his outline, not lifting his head to look at the fox.

Whatever he grumbled under his nose was inconsequential as both of them finally let the conversation drop and Nine then flung himself over the railing as well.

Albeit Nine had just a bit more advantage than one poor hedgehog hanging on with one hand that will surely fall asleep sooner or later, since he could not only fly, but use his mechanical tails to hold onto the road overpass in case he got tired of that.

For a while the only sounds accompanying them were that of late night traffic and spray painting.

Sonic just couldn't let it go though, it wasn't fair,

"Heh, cheater."

His arm was still doing strong but what was a little salty banter, he was itchinf for a conversation.

"Nah, I just didn't pick a spot where I'm at a risk of falling into a highway."

A fair point, he probably should've done more pre-planning just this once, but come on, how often do you see exquisite graffiti made on the _middle_ of a road overpass? He has to have the bragging rights to it!

"Not like you can just fly."

"Eh, it's more of a hindrance really." The fox waved him off and grabbed onto the concrete base of the road, then anchoring himself onto it with his mechanical tails "Can't get the lines straight."

"Bet those don't get tired either." Sonic's point still stands.

"Done complaining?"

Nine looked at him with seemingly all of the annoyance and indifference he could with just half his face. And Sonic couldn't help but snicker.

"Hey I'm just poking fun! No need to take it so personally!"

Nine sat, stood? something in between, in silence for a second. A silence Sonic recognized as a very bad, not good kind of silence. As in, he's contemplating to either do something stupid he knows he shouldn't do, dangerous, or a mix of both.

And thank Gaia for his light speed reflexes, when he barely managed to dodge a green splotch of paint landing on his shoe.

"Oh it's on."

Sonic reached as far as he could and even if he gave a warning, Nine didn't get to dodge the attacking mist of turquoise that landed on the side of his shorts and an edge of his mechanical tail.

"He-hey! This won't get washed off!" Nine cried, but didn't let the new design bother him for long as Sonic saw a malicious glimmer in his eyes.

Nine reached towards his left-hand glove which Sonic almost moved out of the way, if he didn't remember that was the only difference between him being here or careening bellow onto a highway. Not that he couldn't get back up here in a second but instinct still betrayed him as the glove was no longer white.

"You're lucky you don't wear more clothes." The grin in Nine's voice was heard as he threw the can away "and that it's almost empty."

"What can I say, luck is always in my cards."

Drat, he should really restock his supplies. Ah but when he always forgets and remembers already when it's too late.

He looked at his new paint job and figured it wasn't that bad, good gloves are much easier to come by and buy in bulk than shoes that could withstand his daily running. Not that he would mind a change in color per se, but green just wasn't his.

On his clothes he means, well- ah whatever, he should focus on the task at hand.

Only after getting a last metaphorical word in by sending a tiny cloud of paint Nine's way, who promptly hissed at him.

Speaking of hands though, it was slowly beginning to fall asleep, but he chose to persist, this is gotta be a quick one then.

As he planned to turn his full attention to his own piece of art however, his eyes were dragged by what Nine was painting.

"Woa you can do it lineless?"

"Yea, pretty cool right." The smugness radiated off of him as he leaned back to either admire it or show it off better "Doesn't help that I might have to line it anyway cuz so far it looks like shit."

"Hey don't say that, trust the process!"

"If the process makes it look like a jumbled paint stain what is there to trust."

"Well for one, someone will find it pretty, beautiful even. And second!" Nine raised his spray can, as if to threaten Sonic with a mouthful of neon green spray if he continued. Sonic was not deterred in the slightest though, "It's by a road. No one will have the time or chance to look for every minor mistake you see up close."

And Nine promptly lowered his hand at that and sighed, resuming his work.

"I hate how you make sense."

Nine sighed, almost fondly? Though Sonic ignored that in favor of observing his style, which for some reason rang familiar.

"Hm, were any of the graffiti in New Yoke made by you?"

"Just one."

One question satisfied, yet another popped up, but he could finally turn away and catch up in progress to where Nine was at. Quickly setting down the outline for the idea sitting in his head for weeks.

"And it stayed unfinished because I almost got busted by eggforcers. Didn't have the courage to return to it since."

"Maybe we could someday go back there and finish it." He gave a quick look towards the fox and while he can't say he expected a positive reaction, the other almost recoiled even at the mere mention of going back to New Yoke.

"The city is bound to have changed since the council was dethroned and left to float endlessly in the void I'm sure!" Sonic tried his best to make the proposal sound more appealing despite that. Mostly cuz he wasn't too much against the idea himself, if anything he'd love to go back to check on everyone.

Chaos he missed them all so much actually, there surely has to be a way to get in and out of the Shatterverse. And he knows someone in particular to pick their brains about this.

"Doubt the people have."

"Who knows, maybe they're in a better mood now that they get to see the sun every once in a while. It sure worked on you."

Nine glared at the graffiti before him as if it just called him the most offensive insult, but really sonic found out that was his defensive thinking face.

"Still a no."

"Sure thing bud, won't pressure you. Although..." Sonic started, unsure of just how much more he can push this before it gets too uncomfortable. "I wouldn't be against going there myself."

"Doubt Shadow will let you near the Prism or that you'd want a repeat of the first adventure"

That was, a surprisingly calm and straightforward answer, huh. "Yea but I mean it like, there's gotta be a different way right? Since you're here and all."

Yea he was definitely pushing it, Nine turned away from him and fully concentrating on his artwork in favor of answering.

And the subject dropped after a while of tense silence. It mellowed out back into the more plesant one they had at the beginning, with Sonic continuously reminding himself he can't rush it too much or it will end up looking not up to his standard.

Somewhere along the way he exchanged hands as his left one was threatening to fall asleep and he really didn't want to deal with the aftermath of that. But he could do with a few wonky lines instead, so it was a fair trade-off.

They both stayed without a word, up until Sonic felt confident enough to sign his signature and Nine's voice suddenly perked up

"Nicky?" He questioned while it turned out he was actually observing him for a while.

"Gotta have a pseudonym, my name on itself is pretty famous as is." Sonic could finally release the strain on his arm and leg as he hopped up and sat down on the railing. Then finally put down his respirator and took in a deep breath.

"Sounds weirdly adorable for a street artist."

"Oh come on what's yours then?" Sonic asked with more of a genuine curiosity. 'Nine' was already a pretty cool name in his humble ever-correct opinion, and he could imagine the fox coming up with a myriad of cool variations of it.

But Nine's ears only pinned back slightly.

"I don't really have one." He admitted and Sonic could swear he sounded embarrassed.

"I, well most of what I draw is just for myself," he started slowly, "I never needed a complicated signature or a pseudonym since no one besides me would see it anyway."

"Hehe, understandable" Sonic couldn't help but find that both charming and sad, in a way. A fond memory of Tails trying and in his words failing to draw him a picture or two years back resurfaced. The little kit suppressing tears because he could "never get the lines just right" and later lighting up like a candle when Sonic complimented it up and down, because may the lines not be perfect, it was draw for him, and no amount of technical mistakes Tails decided to point out didn't stop his heart from doing backflips.

"Wouldn't mind seeing some of your hidden masterpieces if that's the case."

Aaand Nine froze again, sucking in a deep breath.

"They're all... in New Yoke. Or the Grim. But since both of my labs were destroyed due to one reason or another I don't think most of it survived." The fox resumed his work, and when Sonic leaned over he could see him most likely adding the finishing touches to what was most definitely a self-portrait with a few artistic liberties. Either Sonic was reminiscing for way longer than he registered or Nine managed to speedrun it.

"Oh well," the hedgehog took a second to mince his words as he properly leaned back a bit, a couple of cars breezed past him as he contemplated whether to try again or leave it be. "I mean, there would be no harm in taking a quick look. I-if not then you could always just make more stuff here! It's just, a shame I think?" He regretted his choice halfway once he heard the fox sigh.

"We both know you wouldn't just go and dip, Sonic." Nine threw the white spray over him into the bag and sat back into his mechanical tails, finally putting down his mask.

"But there's also no convincing you otherwise. So fine." He crossed his arms "But we're dragging Tails along."

Sonic's heart swiveled at that. He kicked up his legs and flipped back off the railing.

"That was the plan!"

And he couldn't help the grin that made its way across his face as he outstretched a hand towards Nine to take it.

The fox only pulled out his phone from the pocket of his pants and let go of the concrete wall, suspending himself in there further away.

"Don't you want a photo?"

"Ohoho, you betcha!" Sonic almost feared he would have to let his hand fall in shame, but he gripped the metal in front of him with excitement instead.

"Do you want my shoes on there or not?"

"Sure, if you want to incriminate yourself."

With a smirk that slowly turned to a genuine smile, Nine took at least five separate pictures.

Afterward, they packed the bags and slowly took off back to the nearby field with a not-so-subtly parked biplane.

#sonic prime #theyre silly your honor #artist nine be beloved <333 #if you see a mention of sonic seeing nine's facial expressions no you didnt #i had to keep reminding myself that Im trying to write this from Sonic's perspective and not Nine's #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #miles nine prower #nine the fox #me when I finish writing #the same but different

[negobeauriva]

The Windows95manifesto: In defense of Finland's performance for 2024

Happy first rehearsal week everyone!

The first wave of rehearsals is done, and with it, we have gotten a wave of comments about the performances. Some filled with praise and approval, but some others completely hateful and rude. And today I'm going to talk to you about this second kind of comments about one of this year's controversial entry: Finland's "No Rules!" by Windows95man (Teemu Keisteri) ft. Henri Piispanen.

Many people have said that this entry is a joke, or that it doesn't deserve to be in Eurovision because it's distasteful. But here I am, in defense of uniqueness and weirdness, not only because this entry is in my top 5 this year, but also because it's important to understand what "art" is about. Here's to all the "weird" Eurovision entries that have been called unworthy of stepping on stage because they've been misunderstood.

A special shoutout to @/tottakaibi on Twitter/X because she gave me one of the pointers for this article in particular! And she's constantly in the lookout for Teemu and Henri's projects.

Without further ado, step in and enjoy the read.

No Rules! is, undoubtedly, the most distruptive entry this year - the nudity, fast-paced music and unique mise-en-scene, all make for an entry that many have deemed nonpalatable or not artistic. But behind every art display, there is a story, and I'm here to tell you a little bit more about it.

To start, the staging of No Rules! refers to the Kalevala, a book of finnish folk poetry from the 19th century that contains the myth of creation: Earth was born from an egg, with the shells forming both sky and land. Goddess Ilmatar, mother of nature and creation, soon realized that whatever she touched would grow and her every move was an act of creation itself. And so, she gave birth to Väinämönen, the first man to ever walk upon Earth.

Teemu arising from an egg is a clear reference to the Kalevala myth of creation, and he's even referred to it in some way in a video recently posted by UMK, in which he tells the tale of how Windows95man was born and Henri, in the figure of an eagle, becomes his friend so he can walk on the rule-burdened Earth without caring much for the impositions. It's both a mythical reference and a song of liberation: to not care about what others think and what others say to live freely and happily. To disregard societal "rules" in order to pursue happiness (this, of course, in the sense that you shouldn't care about "neat" or "appropriate", and not about the lack of order).

This song has also been called an anthem of liberation for LGBTQ+ members: No Rules! refers to the absence of gender norms ("Quiet, as I speak / I am the king, I am the queen" // "Is there something wrong with the way I look? / Is there something wrong with who I am?") and to live your life expressing yourself in the way you deem the best fit for you. As an agender person who's constantly told what to wear, what to say and how to act, this song is very meaningful and close to me. It makes me feel a bit better about my identity.

Now, to the point that interests you the most - how can No Rules! be considered an artistic performance, with the disruptive elements that make many shriek in disgust?

Let's begin with this - art is subjective and it's meant to make you feel something, whether good or bad. Art is meant to move something inside you, to make you question things. Have not many artists in the past made paintings about poor people's lives to protest poor living conditions or to showcase how hard it was to get on by? To many, art forms like paintings and sculptures that we now consider artistic were once considered scandalous or distasteful. This is the exact point of this performance.

In a recent documentary called "No Shame", Teemu referred to this - the point of his art is to appeal to disgust, to weirdness and to what makes you question what's tasteful or not. Shock factor also plays an important part in modern art performances. It's about going into the raw parts of your psyche and make you uncomfortable.

Teemu has been a visual artist since 2008, under the name Ukkeli. Vibrant colors, strange outfits and drawings, uncovered butts as part of his art installations and the message "No Rules" as one of his oldest mottos (not surprising, considering that in an interview he said he grew up with hippie parents that were very permissive) are the main features of his work. It's reminiscent of early 2000's adult animation shows, who also had a big shock factor and were frowned upon back then.

In this appeal to weirdness resides the charm of Windows95man's performance - in making you feel uncomfortable and weird, you're proving the exact point of the song. You will be bitter about how Finland could've "sent something better", but that won't change the fact that Teemu and Henri were chosen by his people because they understood the art beyond the shocking display. They understood what living with no rules means, to embrace weirdness, to embrace unique, and not care about what others say. If it makes you feel happy, who says that you're not allowed to like or pursue it?

Let's take a look back - Go_A's Shum, who was also catalogued as weird due to Kateryna's bewitching voice and vocalizations, made it to 5th place with no problem in 2021. Zdob si Zdub & Advahov Brothers' Trenulețul 2022 got to number 7 in 2022, after being called disruptive noise, and Konstrakta's In Corpore Sano made it to 5th place even when it was called creepy by some. Mama ŠČ! by Let3 made it to an impressive 12th place last year, and 3rd place in Dora this year with their strange Baba Roga.

If every country sent the same cookie-cutter type of "safe" song to Eurovision, the contest would be very repetitive and monotone. Let's face it, the public loves unique, loves something that will blow your hats off for three minutes and wondering what happened. They love songs that go off the "normal" standard because it takes you for a trip and makes you jump off your seat. It's no wonder that, in contrast with No Rules! getting so much hate, along with Doomsday Blue (another of the misunderstood entries, reduced only to its wrongly called "satanistic" character), 5Miinust and Puulup seem to be favorites this year, along with Joost Klein, who is rumored to win. People either love or hate weird and unique. Sadly, Finland got the worst end of the stick, and I think that's very unfair.

There's also the double standard, many think that it's inappropriate for Teemu to show up in nude-colored underwear, but they had no problem with female contestants in revealing outfits in previous years. Here's the thing - it's either okay for everyone to wear revealing outfits, or it's not. The argument that 2022's Chanel is given a pass to wearing revealing clothes because "she's a sexy girl speaking about being sexy" is invalid. Beauty, much like art, is subjective. And I do think that Teemu is very beautiful. He is allowed to wear what he wants (of course, according to EBU's standards, and they seem to have approved of the performance as is) and you don't get to say what's tasteful or not based off an aesthetic standard settled in sexism.

To finish this off, let me sum up the most important points of my mini-essay: No Rules! is an artistic performance because it's disruptive, it has elements that refer to Finnish myths and it's a liberation anthem that is meant to reach all those who feel like being themselves is wrong, to make them forget about this world's standards for three minutes and remember that the only person they need to please is themselves. As such, this song accomplishes its goal perfectly and beautifully. To call Teemu and Henri's performance a joke is to bypass every element of its artistry and to insult the artist standing on stage. Finland chose them, and so we must respect their decision and refrain from sending hateful comments.

I do think that we need to keep high hopes for this performance. I know that the two of them will go beyond everything we know and expect and will blow us all away when the Semifinal 1 comes in May 7th. After all, Henri's vocal skills have improved greatly since UMK, and Teemu's charisma can only grow by the second. These two have everything to go far and to show everyone that sometimes, all you need is to not listen to your surroundings and act as your heart commands.

Sometimes, the only rule is no rules.

#eurovision #eurovision 2024 #esc 2024 #esc24 #no rules #windows95man #teemu keisteri #henri piispanen #get this guys to top 5 asap #finland #umk

[puppyeared]

meow

#i feel like i should have made his ears a little bigger in th first pic. maybe ill go back and edit it later #GET WRINKLED IDIOT #i first thought of drawing him as a sphinx cat bc i looked at his third eye like hm... if he had wrinkles he could hide his eye #its also very fun imagining him wearing head coverings and hoods cause hes so fucking nakey #kinda makes me wanna draw him more... sphinxes are fun to draw. i kinda wanna make a sphinx design now <- loves designing characters #a thought i had while drawing this is that if only few had seen narinder before (like the lamb and previous vessels) then not many would #know what he looks like. since hes supposed to be death and the only time you see him is when you die and pass on i guess?? #so i think it would be an interesting situation if the lamb just introduced narinder as some guy without telling anyone he is or used to be #the one who waits.. smth like a false idolatry situation so everyones like. oh wow our leader has been channeling the messages #of the one who waits for so long its almost like they have become death itself!! ^_^ and narinder is just. standing there #maybe if he gets enough power he can grow more eyes between his wrinkles like in his eldritch form. that would b cool #cult of the lamb #cotl #cotl narinder #cotl fanart #my art #myart #doodles #the one who waits

[mispatchedgreens]

more of xu da's internet activity, placed thoughtfully (to me) in the reincarnated band au, featuring the most beautiful woman alive, one bug person crouched on the rooftop of the recording studio while ouyang is being Fussy downstairs, and the rarest creature ever to be caught on film: grumpy bitch ass smiling. permission to imagine esen, chin to chest, flopped on the couch, staring at ouyang's photo, ablaze with jealousy at all of his interactions with xu da, while wbx rubs at his temples in preparation for yet another oblivious, nonsensical sibling conversation.

#the radiant emperor #she who became the sun #he who drowned the world #ma xiuying #zhu yuanzhang #general ouyang #xu da #my art #yes another installment of me making you look at my handwriting #also last time i drew ma in this context she was way too thin and i did my self reflection and Fixed my mistake #i love this au okay i'm not giving up on it #xu da is their mixing guy and jovially goes along with both whatever 'original analog sound' bullshit ouyang wants to use #and with zhu asking for re-recordings only to change the whole thing without telling anyone bc she wasn't 'vibing'

[blueskittlesart]

me, thinking that i have at least a base level understanding of botw: :)

blue, about to write a 1,000+ word essay that is going to completely revamp my understanding of the game and interpretation of its events: bada bing bada boom

i dont know how you do it. i am incredibly impressed and using all of this for fic inspiration. keep writing

every time someone asks me how i do this shit i have to regrettably inform them that the real genuine answer is that i am fucking insane. my 2 passions in life are writing and video games and the place where the 2 converge fascinates me to no end and i am that special kind of crazy that is capable of latching onto something and not thinking about anything else for 10 years. so. the only thing i have cared about deeply for the last several years of my life has been the way video games are written and constructed. and zelda is one of the most interestingly constructed franchises i have found to date. these games are just like. the absolute perfect story for my brain to work with and i truly do not know who i would be without them. and i am genuinely incredibly grateful that ive been able to build a platform where people like. CARE about what i have to say and take the time to ask me to think about the games because like. i would be doing it ANYWAY but knowing that there are people who actually read my analysis and appreciate the amount of thought i put into this stuff makes me really happy lol

#i sincerely think video games are an art form and that so many stories benefit from being told interactively via video games #and i'm especially fascinated with the way loz chooses to tell its stories because the games are almost always designed so that the player #actively makes every decision in the storyline even though every game only has one preset ending. that's SO COOL. #ive found myself frustrated recently by rpgs that are super cutscene heavy and i was struggling to articulate why until i went back and #looked critically at the way zelda games are designed and i realized that there isn't a single cutscene in loz that openly takes away the #player's autonomy. cutscenes are almost always reserved for dialog or the beginnings of fight scenes but link almost never makes choices #without the player's input and that's a huge part of what keeps the games engaging! YOU are link. he's not a vessel you occasionally #control. he is you. his decisions are always yours. #and that's generally easier to do with a less complex storyline but the way botw kept that autonomy despite its complex story is SO clever #by making the cinematic cutscenes MEMORIES there's never any percieved loss of autonomy because the player understands that this is #something that has already happened so obviously there's no way they can alter link's choices. that's SO SMART #ANYWAY. i didn't mean for this to be a tag essay about video game mechanics sorry but tldr i am so so so passionate about this LOL #if you cant tell. very few people irl will listen to me talk for this long. this is why i love tumblr #asks

[kennys-parka-jacket]

Tbh I'm glad that sp artists dont do that "reblogs > likes" thing. I was a little worried when a few people put it on their posts a while back, but it died off pretty quickly.

#1) 'always reblog every single piece of fan art you interact with' wouldnt really work in this fandom since liking sp is considered- #-taboo on tumblr. Reblogging sp fan art requires admitting to your moots that you like sp. That's why a lot of popular sp fan art has- #-really high like to reblog ratios #2) from what i've seen most of the artists doing the 'reblogs > likes' people are fresh from twitter and mostly only care about the numbers #-tumblr is getting more traffic now than it did a few years ago; but it's still not where you want to go if reaching a lot of people- #-is all that you want #3) not too long ago i was in another fandom where begging for reblogs was common practice. Let me tell you how that turned out. - #-first it started as 'reblogs > likes' on every piece of fan art. Then it was posts going around saying that 1 to 10 reblogs to likes was- #-a pathetically sad ratio. Then it was 'always reblog because you are singlehandedly responsible for an artist's mental health'. - #-then it was putting 'please reblog; likes do NOTHING' on every fan art. Then it was begging for even more reblogs because- #-1 to 2 likes to reblogs ratio was pathetically sad. Then it was 'by not reblogging you are telling an artist to end it all' gaining- #-traction among rpf proshippers. #Look. I get it. I'm not as public about it anymore; but i'm a fan artist and fic author too. I sympathize with working hard on something- #-and wanting a lot of people to see it. But if people quiely appreciating your work is affecting you that much then maybe you need to- #-work on yourself instead of trying to control what a bunch of strangers on the internet do. #Also you need to learn how to enjoy creating without caring about the numbers. Because if you're creating just to watch- #-the numbers go up then you will never be happy. It's a miserable; joyless way to be an artist of any kind

[blujaydoodles]

@opportunity-strikes​ HI HELLO I’m gonna answer this heeere because I just realized I did a couple of sketches of them way back but never posted them aaahah

Indigo "Skylights" Asterix Pollux Kosjisk Ankabut Fatespinner is my pirate!! Quite awhile back one of my friends mentioned the idea of an all-gnome pirate crew whose ship’s name is comprised of the names of all the ships they’ve successfully raided and/or destroyed, and long story short it ended up being a one-shot and hopefully an ongoing series of one-shots :D

Indigo is the ship’s navigator and lookout; they’re a circle of stars druid, and their star map is a gold false eye etched with constellations, with a Gem of Brightness core that can project the stars outward-- which is, not to brag, the coolest idea I’ve ever had about anything (it’s an admittedly low bar; I’m not a very creative Ideas Guy lmao)

also their Archer starry form gives them a flintlock that shoots comets, and their Primal Savagery cantrip is flavored as a cutlass that’s formed from an extension of their starlight :D

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #gnome #druid #character art #heroforge #imagine the treasure map from treasure planet. that's sorta how their eyeball is (they pop it out to do readings and stuff) #in starry form their eye is the only thing that remains solid and opaque and you can see the whole thing floating and shining #I never got an opportunity to blind someone with my eyeball when we played 😭 hopefully next time lol #I default to they/them because I personally prefer consistency but they use any pronouns and their gender is 'none for me thanks' #they're an astrology bitch and constantly saying things like 'the stars predict you're gonna see a bird today' #but they also have like you know... Actual Portents and stuff as class features but they straight-face all of it #so it's hard to tell when they're being serious about astrology and when they're bullshitting you #similarly if you ask what happened to their eye they'll give a different answer every time including 'this IS my real eye?' #also we've talked about doing rotating DMs for Pirate Gnomes but my friend who ran it first had us explore a mysterious ghost ship #which was extremely cool AND we managed to grab her nameplate off her before she sank forever into the depths HELL YEAH #their roll20 bio is just 1) the 'look at the sky-- it's not dark and black and without character' bit from the van gogh ep of doctor who #and 2) the bridge from weird al's 'that's your horoscope for today' #so that's The Vibe lmao #anyway they're cool I like em they've got a handful of features I didn't get to use that I'm excited about in a theoretical future adventure #altho I'd want to better dial in how to actually roleplay them lol their voice and manner of speech was all over the place :'D #my OCs #Indigo

[ribcagewolf]

how to explain how much the theatre backstage pics hurt me

#its rare to have something in your life this large and abandon it #i started doing theatre when i was 9 or 10 #i started dancing around then or before too i think #i dont think im a genius but i would not be anywhere near where i am now without it #my entire understanding of people comes from this #its the last remnant of a life i had where i had goals and i could tell where i was going and what i needed to do #to someone on the outside it looks like i never left cuz i do film and music now but i cant explain how different it is #that used to be my entire world. i only spent time there. i literally went to an arts school because i was accepted into a theatre program #and now ive left it all #idk i think about ********** and i start crying #it killed us too #im just completely different now i get stressed thinking about it or when people mention it unrelated to me likedrop that. leave it alone. #i had to kill her and now im dying too #its easy to sell your soul to rock and shred yourself on stage its expected its relieving but the mental damage theatre and dance does is #much much harder to explain #the critics and the directors like you need to constantly question why and discipline yrself #god this is so dumb i need to never look at those images again #i just remember being twelve sitting on the black boxes knowing i had to prove myself ill probably never feel like that agian #and just the basic thing of like. how many of us died from dance. how much it ruined out bodies. ballet is truly a disease #ballet kills children #rahh ive had too much im not thinking straight rn this is all feelings #just. the pride. and safety i felt fromthe backstage view #mitski i cry at the start of every movie because i wish i were doing things too

[franeridan]

was watching a process video of an artist i really like trying a style he doesn't usually go for and he's usually got this very flowy, free style but for this one he was doing lineart and he was obviously struggling with it and said something like he really doesn't know how people can comfortably work with solid lineart and that genuinely shocked me into stopping the video and looking at nothing for a little while ngl

#this is for a few very real reasons given that you all probably know my style is ONLY lineart #the first being that somewhere in my brain I'm convinced lineart is Easy #and i don't say this to put down people who can't do it i say this as someone who's convinced lineart is the Cheat Way of doing art #with solid lineart you can minimize your coloring and the drawing still looks somewhat finished yk what i mean #it's like you do a good enough lineart and you just speedran your way through a drawing #but this dude can put down the most amazing coloring in fifteen minutes and then struggle for an hour with lineart and #my brain just got rewired a little #you never know what your fav artists struggle with my dudes maybe you're acing something they lose sleep over! #i can't believe I'm better than him at something i need a week to assimilate that #another reason this sent me into outer space is that #i just spent the past week trying to figure out how to color a bit more like him and turns out!!!! #our basic understanding of what makes a drawing easy are so fundamentally different!!!!!!!!! #that if i don't change my approach to SKETCHING I will never get close to what he makes!!!!!! #without struggling my way through hours of fixing and adjusting!!!!!!! #speechless i tell you #of course if your style is carried by colors your lines are gonna be minimal get a grip fran

[puppy-the-mask]

So I've been cooking up some alternate outfit ideas for my Lmk sona and this is what they'd look like if they were with the Demon Bull Family! The idea is basically they'd be something of a court musician but it's mainly just a title.

Edit: Added the version without her armor <3

I don't have a concrete story but the initial idea was that cas was friends with swk in the brotherhood days and stuck with dbk after everyone else got sealed away and the whole consumption incident went down since she had nowhere else to go (and conveniently was the only lady around that he could ask for relationship advice when courting Iron Fan). They didn't expect Cas to live this long, only really expecting to have her around through her natural lifespan but they noticed she wasn't aging so now she gets to be their babysitter for date nights! Through the years she's been something of an aunt/sister figure and has become fiercely loyal to the family despite having no desire to take over the world. Redson built her electric bass and the armor she wears over her gems, the Bass has 2 extra buttons on it- the fire button spews fire out of the pipes and the Bull button unsheathes her sword from the neck of the instrument since she can't exactly walk around with a sword on her hip so easy these days. She travels with a heavy metal band across the continent- i like to imagine her intro episode has the crew excited about a big band coming to the city and while they wait they run into redson and annoy him cause he's bragging about getting exclusive vip passes to the show. The crew would expect someone mean from the music and the from the rest of the family but Cas is super welcoming and nice when the crew sneak backstage to bother redson some more XD

#my art #sketches #lmk oc #it me! #Cas #i'm not mentioning connie because they're the same no matter the au #though you can bet they're gonna flip when they hear redson and dbk opened a barbecue restaurant without telling them #they want a taste! Cas is probably the only mortal who can eat the Inferno level simply because Connie will consume it #and also they've been eating this boys cooking for years- they've gained an ungodly spice tolerance #i also like this concept because i think it'd be funny to have wukong be weird about Mk knowing Cas now #and innocently being like 'we should invite them over to hang out- since we're cool with redson why not the token nice one of the family?' #and Wukong is just getting flashbacks to the last time they spoke- right after sealing away dbk and is like 'haha that's nice bud- #'but oh darn they're still touring and won't stick around- she'll probably be leaving the city super soon! what a bummer!' #"all the more reason to get together Right Now!!!' :D '... Thats... GREAT Bud- i can see no reasonable point to argue!' ;w; #Meanwhile Cas is Vibing- big chillin- is only gonna realize her mistake when she locks eyes with swk and they both immediately share a Look #and wordlessly agree to simply Not Bring It Up #i have 1 other design i'm working on- i have the sketch and concept done already #i just need to color and finish it #that one i had the entire outfit And Lore a lot more thought out than this one but i had this idea first and REALLY wanted to draw the bass #im so proud of it you have no idea- the idea of the sword hidden in the bass and the flame jets make me so happy #it feels like something Redson would make- Cas uses it for all their performances they love it so much #And they wear the armor he made Religiously- even if their gems are covered by clothes or theyre chilling at home #unless they just woke up and haven't gotten dressed then they're most likely wearing them- the necklace especially #I still gotta make a regular Ref sheet but these are more fun- i have so much random info about Lmk cas i wanna ramble about >:3

[toytulini]

everyone gotta be fuckin around tryin to do ai now im so fucking tired. shut up stop it. i wish i was a worm. if microsoft or discord tries to tell me one more fucking thing about ai im going to combust

#toy txt post #NOT looking to argue about this #its not even that i think ai is inherently evil like i know its just a tool #but like rn if ai is a hammer. every company that exists feels like its trying to smash the house apart cos they just got this shiny new #hammer and they wanna hit things with it without bothering to stop and think hey maybe some things shouldnt get hit with a hammer? #im tired and i hate it here #i dont want to chat with a fucking bot that is going to lie to me i dont want ai search engines i dont want ai art #ai art makes me so fucking TIRED bro like it legit makes me less likely to reblog art or interact w it cos i cant tell #and i hate not being able to tell. and like not bc oh a robot made it and so it doesnt have soul. or whatever #it does feel fucking. hollow to me to realize smth is an ai image but i think its bc of the. knowledge of the art theft to make that #i cant even explain how i hate it it just feels fucking deceptive and gross and i fucking hate it. i know its just a tool i dont think the #ai itself is evil i think its like siri and alexa and that it is being used and created evilly via data and art it didnt get consent to use #i think the ppl creating it rn are not being ethical. i know other things we currently have are also not ethical. but is that a good reason #to just. create more unethical things? #and i especially hate seeing exactly how this is gonna go bc that post awhile ago. pointing out how translation automation was bad i think #explained it well #like on an individual scale i dont actually think its the end of the fucking world if you were to use ai art to get an image of your oc #that you dont have the artistic skill to create or money to commission like if your only purpose is to idk use it as a fucking blog icon #or tape a picture of it to your wall or use it as your desktop background like i dont actually Care that much. #like ideally the datasets wouldnt be chock full of stolen art to create that but i think ultimately someone just making #a phone lockscreen for themselves isnt the end of the world #or like idk a fucking meme? whatever. thats not a huge deal imo. like if youre an artist whos art was heavily sampled and it replicated #your specific style? i think that is pretty shitty. that understandably fuckin stings i bet especially if you werent ever #asked or anything. the issues start to arise when ppl use it for like #book covers that they publish. when p start selling shit. when corporations and companies and businesses are like #well why should we bother to contract or hire or commision and artist or graphic designer when we can just use ai. thats some bullshit #its going to be used to fuck over artists more #and already starting. its become just another tool for capitalism to fuck over artists. and truly thats a career #that we havent disrespected enough/s. anyway theres some disorganized ai thoughts. feel free to keep any comments to yourself im very tired #i think they should go back to letting the computers make nightmare melty shit. at least that was interesting

[gaydryad]

more sketches from the character lineup in progress. validated by the fact that this is the first completed sketch I've done of Oscar (left) in literal years and it was surprisingly easy. my boy ily. oh also karyn is here for comparison 

#kat speaks #from the writer's den #my art #between these two you can also see the dichotomy of my sketching styles #Oscar : fuck posing we ball #Karyn : girl help your proportions are stressing me out #you can tell that Karyn's was the first I did also from how messy it is jjjdjdkd #as I do increasing numbers of sketches in a short period my ability to do actually good first passes increases #resetting every time I go more than two days without #side note but I LOVE drawing Oscar's hair :3c his was inspired by one of my friends in high school who was Greek #he had these really tight dirty blonde curls and my brain went ''aight those are the exact curls Oscar has now'' #albeit a different color. Oscar's hair is a reddish brown color #triste is the only one allowed to be blonde and even then his barely looks it anymore #void talks

[majorasnightmare]

obligatory vent text

fun fact there is a limit on the number of tags you can add to a post.

its 30

#i live in hell! i live in hell! i live in hell! #how do i tell the people i know that the reason i take so long about anything #to read the fic theyve written look at the art theyve made #is because i exist in a state of being constantly abused while my disabillities worsen #and it is in fact constant! there is no escape! i cant even sleep without the threat of abuse! #how do i make anyone understand that i have not left the house in years plural. like? i dont leave i am locked in with an abuser #the windows are shut the doors are closed i do not Get Out #no one will employ me! so i dont leave the house for work #i cant maintain an education! so i dont go out for school #no one who cares about me and my partner lives nearby! so i dont visit friends or leave for meals or j #hang out at all #it keeps escalating! because i cant leave she knows she can get away with it so she keeps escalating #all my online friends get used like piggy banks because she dangles necessities over our broke heads and says pay me or die #pay me or have no cell service. pay me or have no internet. pay me or dont eat. pay me or get kicked out #it wasnt even this bad at my parents. i could have 8 hours of school every day where i didnt have to deal with them #i dont even have that anymore #i dont have the energy for anything anymore. i am in constant misery #it doesnt ever stop! it only gets less bad! but it doesnt ever stop! #how do i make anyone understand ive been in a locked room for years and im not exaggerating #how do i make you get it! think of the things you do to leave your house! i dont go out to get snacks or drinks! #i dont go out to get groceries! i dont go out to say hi to people i know! there is no one i know here! #think about all the times you close your front door behind you and take them all away and thats been my life #everytime i bring it up i feel like no one gets the profound soul crushing isolation i live in #its just me and my partner. in hell. nonstop #all my doors are closed and theres no escape and i dont know whats going on in anyones lives anymore #i do not eat i do not sleep i can barely walk and i spend every day fluctuating between begging for death and being terrified of it #i dont. hear anyone else talk. i hear 2 voices. every day. i cant remember how to interact with people #im not the person any of you used to know im worse im worse im so much worse #how can you exist when you cant fully unpack your box of clothes in case you get thrown out next week. how do you have hobbies #how do you talk about a traumatic event last year when yesterday someone screamed at your partner so loud it knocked the bathroom door open

[descendantofthesparrow]

How was Vampire!Harry and Sea Witch!Uma’s first encounter be like? Because I can’t stop thinking about it like Harry ran away from his home when he was like 10 and he smuggled himself, but the ship sunk and there’s noway he as a vampire survive the sunrise unless he find somewhere to avoid the sun but where? It’s the middle in the sea. Then Uma found a boy who looked like a wet dog clinging onto a floating plank and brought him back to her favorite cave.

i answered this in my post about the monster s3 my dude lolol

"Dracula got some stuff from Uma’s fam one time and bebe Harry just-latched onto Uma, he’s her’s now, try and stop him. Dracula didn't, he’s just happy someone is there to unVelcro his son from him. “good luck, he’s your problem now. no caffeine he has an iron deficiency. have him back by 6pm thats when dinner is.”

but if you want that to be ur canon for ur monster set go for it, just-is not canon for my monster s3

#tell me you only looked at the art without telling me you only looked at the art #harrys not ship raised in this au #hes castle raised cuz dracula lol #dude LOVES ships n pirates n all that jazz #but sun aint good for him anymore #so he mostly stays inside/around uma who can create a uv protection sheild #perks of a sea witch/goddess

[moe-broey]

Feels like ripping out a particularly stubborn plant from the ground. Your explanations are beginning to sound like excuses. It always seems to grow back.

(fourth panel is a little unclear I know lmao, it's supposed to be pulling roots from the face w a bit of dirt and blood)

#this actually applies to. many feelings i've been having. #i'm. struggling a bit here lmfao. ik i'm chatty n sometimes i'll share something that feels like i'm pushing it #but i'm very careful to never overshare too much. i want to be responsible for the sake of others n myself #to speak vaguely and broadly though. i am technically disabled. somewhat mentally ill too but better since meds #that's the core of it! how it seeps into every facet of life. how it's isolating. how i can not want to get out of my own way at times. #i have a lot of wishes i have a lot of dreams. #i look at my circumstances and go 'well it would be annoying as hell to work within those. achievable? yes. annoying? yes.' #i tell myself i'm working on it i tell myself i need a break i tell myself maybe one day in the future. #and maybe that's all true! but i am fighting for my life to even get myself to be in the present lmao #all that said death of the artist. this could just as well be about how you're the only one wearing a mask in the grocery store #for real though???? that bitch the pandemic isn't helping either fuck you navigating shit was hard enough without you!!!!!!!!! #me tag #my art #blood #there's only a little bit but i wanna be considerate!