#don't expect my art-style to stay the same
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“Tell me something about yourself that not many people know.”
“What's this?” he asks, voice laced with amusement.
“Just answer me, ‘tsuya.” you grumble, head lolling over the side of the bed you're currently spread out on, peering at his upside down figure. “I'm bored.”
Mitsuya hums thoughtfully, pen tapping against the table absentmindedly. Both your homeworks lay abandoned on his table, you having already given up a long time ago and pestering him to do the same, despite his best efforts to stay focused and finish them.
“I have a dragon tattoo on the side of my head.” he says casually.
“WHAT?????” you leap up from your spread-eagle position to gape at him properly. His lips curl into an impish grin at your reaction, the sight sending butterflies flying through your stomach. You swat them away in favour of focusing on the more pressing matter at hand.
“Yeah.” His hand comes up to tap at the right side of his head. “Right here.”
You scramble off the bed, nearly tripping over yourself as you rush to his side. “Whaaat the fuck. You're the last person I'd expect to ever have a tattoo.” you say as you pull up your chair next to him, plopping down on it.
He huffs in amusement. “I am in a gang, y'know.”
“I know, but you're like, more well behaved compared to them.” You pause, peering at his face suspiciously. “...right?”
A mischievous smile is all you get in response.
Rolling your eyes, you turn your attention back to the side of his head, peering closely at the short lilac hair, trying to catch a glimpse of the tattoo. You can't see anything, though, due to all the hair fully covering it.
“Can I…?” you raise your hand hesitantly. He nods, grabbing your wrist and bringing it to where the tattoo supposedly lies, the warm touch sending sparks flying through your skin.
Carefully, your fingers gently part his hair to reveal the scalp below. The slight shiver as your fingers make contact with his head doesn't go unnoticed by you, although none of you say a word.
And there, under the lilac strands, you catch glimpses of furling strands of black ink, coiling and curling into something resembling—
“A dragon?” you murmur.
Mitsuya hums. “Mhm. I designed it myself. Cool, huh?” You can hear the pride in his voice.
You snort, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. “I suppose.” Following the strands of ink, you trace down the side of his scalp, mesmerized by the intricate design. Despite your seemingly unimpressed response, you found the tattoo really beautiful, the art style unique and artistic, the way it curves along the side of Mitsuya's head so naturally you wouldn't be surprised if he said he was born with it. Lost in your concentration, you don't notice Mitsuya's slowly reddening cheeks, closing his eyes as his head subconsciously leans into your gentle touch.
The two of you stay like that for a while, in comfortable silence, him enjoying your ministrations, you too absorbed in admiring every detail of the tattoo to notice.
Until you trace the final curl of the dragon's tail, the trail ending making you snap out of whatever trance you were in, face immediately flushing a deep red as you realized you probably spent way more time touching him than you should've. Your hand instantly jolts back from his head as if it touched hot iron. At the loss of your touch, Mitsuya's eyes slowly fluttered open, gazing lazily at you, the sight once again sending some weird, hot feeling shooting through you. Damn this man and his stupidly pretty face.
You clear your throat, trying to act natural. “Why have a tattoo when you can't even see it under all that hair, though?”
That question catches him off guard, and he barks out a laugh. “There's a funny story behind it, actually.”
He goes on to tell you the story of how he got the tattoo, from meeting this boy called Draken, to playing games at the brothel, to deciding to become a delinquent and accidentally matching tattoos with Draken. Your jaw dropped more and more as the story progressed, mostly from how unexpected and wild the entire thing was.
“Damn.” you laugh when he finishes. “And here I thought you were this good, well-behaved child who got roped into the gang business by their friends. I mean, abandoning your sisters to graffiti a wall?” you shake your head in mock disapproval. “What a bad child you are.”
His lips stretch into a sly grin, something dangerous glinting in his eyes. “Oh? Really, [name], you should've known by now.”
He leans forward until his lips are right by your ear, voice coming out in a teasing whisper.
“I can get quite naughty sometimes.”
...
You're quite certain your face is in flames.
You sit there, short-circuiting, as Mitsuya leans back into his chair, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Fumbling, you glance around desperately from something that will save you, and your eyes land on the abandoned exercise books on the table, the whole reason you were at Mitsuya's house in the first place.
“Oh! Would you look at that! Our homework! That we still have to finish!” You pull your chair back to the other side of the table hurriedly and bury your face in the books, your homework suddenly being the most interesting thing in the world. You hear him chuckle, but he doesn't say anything, picking up his pen and continuing with his work. Your heart finally stops racing, and you think that you're safe until—
“[name]?”
“Hm?”
“I enjoyed that very much. Feel free to do it again if you want~”
“...”
This boy is going to be the death of you.
(part 2 here!)
#i was daydreaming in the car and this came to me and i HAD to write it down#and then it spiraled out of hand into this.#would u believe me if i said this was my first time writing fluff. like deadass.#the things mitsuya takashi does to me 😔#what a man#mitsuya takashi#mitsuya#mitsuya x reader#mitsuya takashi x reader#tokyo revengers#tokyo revengers x reader#my writing
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Kayn x Graffiti Artist!Reader
16 / 11 / 2023
hi hi~ welcome to the start of my heartsteel x headcanon series "creatively charmed"! sorry, i cant think of a better title atm LOL anyways, this is gonna be a series of the heartsteel band with a lover who's got a creative side to them XD that's all, hope you enjoy! next up will be sett ^-^
Started with another one of days where Kayn decided to go out and wreak havoc by vandalizing everything LOL
When he does he often comes across a lot of grafitti art, this one in particular has a certain style to it
He always lets out a little chuckle when he sees it.
Now, as a fellow artist himself, he is respectful enough to not ruin that person's art, but he does his own grafitti nearby. For him it always includes his HEARTSTEEL icon and if he's feeling good then some song lyrics or a joke
This time, it was shortly after HEARTSTEEL's debut MV released, so when he left to do his usual vandalizing, he wrote "two sides to a story but they never tell my side" with a bunch of doodles. He was particularly proud of this piece, so he was planning to continue working on it the next day
What he didn't expect, however, was for someone to continue the lyrics, with "never been the kinda guy to stay inside the guidelines" written underneath, as well as some art of Kayn's scenes and even a headshot drawing of him from their single's thumbnail
Kayn was surprised and amazed to see it, and broke out into an excited shit-eating grin once he saw the artist's signature that he saw in all their other pieces
"So, looks like I captured this person's heart too. Ever the popular star I am, no?"
And so, he continued the lyrics to his verse, secretly hoping this grafitti artist will continue it again.
Which they did, and gradually, that specific wall gradually filled up with PARANOIA's lyrics from their gradual exchange, even with additional doodles of the other members, Ernest and Rhaast, and some of the funny scenes of the MV
Even mini conversations started with side comments on each others drawings, for example:
"This dog -> true MVP of HEARTSTEEL"
"The dog in the MV? His name's Ernest. (But Kayn is the real MVP)"
"LOL u come up w that name? I can see it tho ngl"
Oh right, this person doesn't know this is THE Kayn Shieda they're talking to
Anyways, this exchange made Kayn excited to come back every time (even his bandmates questioned why he goes out every night looking all excited)
Same with Rhaast actually LOL, but Kayn doesn't let him because he knows how crazy he gets when it comes to vandalizing
"I WANT A TURNNN KAYNNN" "No! I don't need you drawing 100 dicks on the wall again!" "THAT'S HOW MUCH OF A DICKHEAD YOU AREE-"
But alas, all good things must come to an end, after... 2 months, I guess? They had finished writing all the lyrics of the song and the whole wall was full of just HEARTSTEEL PARANOIA. Okay, so that's the end of it then.
Until a paper plane hit the top of Kayn's head. Annoyed, Kayn immediately lifted his head up to the direction it was thrown, yapping angrily at whoever had the fucking audacity to do that
Just as he was about to crumple the plane, he noticed writing on one of its wings, "read me!" Raising a brow curiously, he opened up the paperplane, where it revealed a username with a discord logo drawn next to it, along with your artist signature :)
I love how writing for Kayn gives me the free reign to swear AHAHAHDJSN
#heartsteel#heartsteel paranoia#heartsteel lol#heartsteel headcanons#heartsteel x reader#heartsteel kayn#heartsteel kayn x reader#kayn x reader#kayn#shieda kayn#kayn lol#kayn league of legends
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hello. i'm an art nerd and as such do art nerd things like study art. you are one of my favorite artists for your smooth and organic lines. is your style of line work something you've developed unintentionally over time or is it a matter of intention and technique? ive noticed you're able to do a lot with very little, which is something i strive for in my own art. happy late easter if you celebrated btw
oh this is an interesting question! I've never really stopped to think about this before.
I think it's a bit of both, but mostly unintentional and developed over time as a characteristic of the way I prefer to draw.
I draw quickly, erase minimally, like continuous lines, and enjoy the actual physical feeling of drawing messy, and I think that's helped me be more confident in my lines in general and contributes to how it looks. Being precise and accurate is usually not my goal, so it's ok if something is off (please never flip my sketches haha). I like the way drawing like this feels.
But there are also a lot of styles I love that use fluid lines, like ukiyoe art and artists inspired by those same styles, or others' quick gestural drawings. Seeing those inspire me to stay loose, or not care about accuracy, simplify things, etc, and folding these concepts it into my work is intentional, because it loops back into enjoying the way it's done.
I don't really have much advice or technique for how to achieve this deliberately because I guess I'm not really sure myself LOL but based on how I approach things myself, these are tips to try (which it looks like you're doing some already!):
draw with pen on paper. If you mess up just go with it, or try again from the beginning. Don't get hung up on erasing and fixing things, just keep drawing
practice speed, with timed gesture drawing or other methods of practice you're comfortable with; try it without picking up the pen
turning stabilization off while drawing digitally for a more natural line (entirely subjective, but stabilization trips me up so bad and feels weird)
draw from life. It can be random objects around the house, or random photos, but draw things you normally wouldn't - train your hand to follow your eye, as this will help you see the way you use line, and is an easy way to practice what kinds of lines you want without getting hung up on idea generation, or if the character looks right, expectations, etc.
It's okay to be impatient and lazy sometimes LOL. Sometimes doing the bare minimum helps you to learn where you want to simplify or stylize things. "Good enough" is also a pretty useful catchphrase sometimes
I hope something in this post helps! And sorry if it doesn't, I'm not very good at articulating my own art or thought processes.
Thank you for your kind words and for enjoying my work. happy late easter!
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another hazbin hotel rewrite/redesign?
yup! and i'm so serious about it that i made a whole blog for it. i'm a white queer ex-cath tran doing this as an art and writing exercise, so feedback from other creatives + jewish and/or racialized folks is especially welcome.
i'm putting this post and only this post in the main tags for visibility. also, not gonna link my main, but i do make my own original stuff, and i encourage fans and haters alike to do the same.
anyway, here's a mostly good-faith 1.7k-word essay on the original. i think it's pretty funny and brings up some less talked-about points. correct me on the facts, disagree with my opinions, and ask clarifying questions, but don't come at me with any piss-poor reading comprehension.
the hellaverse is garbage, and here's why
cw: strong language, stronger opinions, intersectional feminist critical discourse analysis
1. vivienne medrano, the person
medrano was born as a well-off white-passing latina (salvadoran-american) in bougieass frederick, maryland. while attending new york's top art school, she got popular on deviantart-tumblr-twitter by being a prolific multifandom fujoshi furry who's more into ornamental character design than storytelling. upon graduation, she leveraged her fanbase and industry connections to make the hazbin and helluva boss pilots, get helluva made for youtube, and get hazbin made for amazon prime.
like every woman online, she gets harassed for no good reason, and as a certified autist, i will defend her right to be dumb, weird, annoying, and bad with words. however, there are legit reasons to criticize her:
racism, misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, some antisemitism, past transphobia, past ableism
shitty boss, bad friend
cowardly, vindictive, manipulative, thoughtless behavior
skeevy friends
sucks at taking criticism
in short, i think she desperately needs a PR person and someone to clean up her digital footprint.
2. medrano's art
incurious
inauthentic
noncommittal
creatively stagnant
overindulgent, and the indulgence isn't even fun
shallow and childish framed as complex and mature
bland and boring framed as shocking and subversive
to be clear, i'm at peace with the existence of suckass art like this; i just think the money, attention, and praise it gets are unearned and should go to more interesting works, of which there are infinite.
medrano's had the time, money, and social cache to grow as an artist, learn from the best, and take creative risks, but she hasn't. if she truly has nothing more to offer, she should let her collaborators take the wheel, but she doesn't do that either. instead, she keeps getting more and more resources to make the same baby bullshit, and that pisses me off. she could be the nicest person ever, and this fundamental arrogance would still make her art blow.
stop with the pointless guilt: liking medrano's work does not make you stupid or evil. however, if you stay in the kiddie pool of culture, if you refuse to engage with a diversity of art, if the hellaverse is your point of reference for anything media-related, you can't expect to have your opinions on art, media, or culture taken seriously. you have not earned a seat at the table. you gotta hit the books first.
i cannot emphasize enough how much incredible stuff is out there if you're willing to look further than what social media and streaming services put right in front of you. if you come away from this blog having learned about just one new artist or piece of art, i'll be a happy camper.
3. the hellaverse
a. empty and confused
hazbin and helluva's content and marketing has no clear target audience. the subjects are inappropiate for teens, but the execution is too childish for adults, and lemme tell you what i don't mean by that, first.
not inherently inappropriate for teens:
sex and sexuality
violence, including when it intersects with the above
politics and religion
not inherently childish:
animation (any style)
comedy
episodic writing and/or loose continuity
young characters
fun, happiness, optimism, the power of friendship, cuteness, tenderness, sincerity, etc.
what i mean is that these shows are literally about adult characters who fuck, smoke, drink, do drugs, go clubbing, work full-time, manage their own finances, and deal with stuff like bureaucracy, sexual violence, domestic abuse, marriage, divorce, late adoption, and family estrangement.
however, none of these "adult" things are given enough specificity to create drama or comedy. it's all too stock, vague, flat, weirdly sanitized, and thus utterly banal—pure aesthetics on top of bad saturday morning cartoons. it's exactly what i'd expect from a sheltered disney kid who needs to log off and get into their local gay scene ASAP so their only contact with things like poverty, policing, addiction, and sex work stops being facile movies and TV.
if the shows were aware of this and played with it, that could be amazing, but they're not. they give you the mickey mouse version of the world with a straight face and then play looney tunes sound effects to try to make you laugh and sad_violin.mp3 to try to make you cry. now that's funny.
b. old and tired
let's make like americans and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. even within the confines of the USA, home of the hays code, the red scare, and reaganite propaganda, this neopuritan fascist state ruled by 1000 megachurches in a trenchcoat, the indie/underground animation scene has been doing crazier shit for decades. anti-war films in the 60's, bakshi movies in the 70's, the simpsons shorts and r-rated movies in the 80's, adult swim and MTV in the 90's, flash/newgrounds/youtube in the 00's, streaming in the 2010's—so what are we doing in the 2020's with this wet white rice drowned in expired ketchup? i feel crazy making this point because it's obvious if you've watched these things, but if you haven't, you're gonna be like "well, there's gotta be something new here". no! there isn't! in the words of jimmy "the scot" jordan, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!
c. ideological purgatory
actually, there is one thing in these shows i've never seen before: the presbysterianism. shout out some interesting or at least intentional presbysterian art in the comments, because the way these ideas are presented here is not compelling. it just makes the rainbow neoliberalism even more confusing and contradictory.
i guess the big presbysterian things are protestanism, calvinism, and, uh, big church government? presbysterians, get your shit together. get your brand down. catholics have BDSM and vampires, evangelicals have TV and corporatism; what do you have? celtic crosses? no wonder medrano has such uninspired ideas on divinity.
d. queer deficiency
when i look at a piece of art, i ask myself: "what does this give me that i can't get from the hunchback of notre dame (1996)?" if the answer is as limp as "uhh, gay people, i guess", i can probably look for my gay shit elsewhere and rewatch the hunchback of notre dame (1996) in the meantime.
but let's say that you have no standards. you've been waiting for ages for a show about gays by the gays for the gays, and by god you're gonna get it. this is it! here we go! time for some
generic twink obliteration
male sexuality as aggression and dominance displays
WLW (sex and chemistry not included)
a couple straight femdoms
and the stalest sex jokes known to man
...yeah, it's not very queer. and by "queer", i mean "questioning or subverting gender norms (including sexual roles) within a given cultural context regardless of creator identity and intent". i'm not a queer studies scholar so LMK if there's a more specific term for this, but whatever you call it, it's not in the hellaverse much.
there's not even any transness, literal or metaphorical, just ancient drag jokes. i guess the writers thought we would've been too controversial. so much for an indie animation studio that prides itself in the diversity of its staff both above and below the line, bakshi-style. i wonder how medrano, a bisexual woman, would've felt if told that a lesbian main couple in hazbin would be "too controversial".
4. spindlehorse and the vivziepop brand
spindlehorse toons underpays its overworked staff and keeps outsourcing more and more labor to even more overworked freelancers overseas to cut costs. a rainbow sweatshop is still a sweatshop, and just because these practices may be "industry standard" doesn't make them any more ethical.
the studio has also been repeatedly accused by current and former employees and contractors of creating a hostile and abusive workplace. AFAIK, it still has no dedicated HR person, and victims are too afraid of retaliation like blacklisting and online harassment to speak out.
this is exactly the stuff that unions exist to prevent. as i'm writing this, the IATSE (the parent union of TAG, which is the parent union of all US animation unions) is negotiating with entertainment industry executives for better working conditions, and if the execs fuck around like last year, it's strike time again. so watch this space, voice your support, and don't cross any picket lines.
i hope spindlehorse unionizes, but until then and for these reasons, i don't think you should give money to the company.
first of all, all content on amazon-owned platforms is ok to pirate, and all youtube ads are ok to block. everyone involved in making the episodes has (or should have) been paid upfront, so you're not taking the bread out of anyone's mouth.
next, let's look at the succulent offerings of the official vivziepop merch shop:
$10 pins and keychains
$15 sticker packs
$20 mugs and acrylic cutouts
$25 shirts
$30 metal cards (not even tarot)
$40 lounge pants
$50 mini backpacks
random $80 skateboard deck
forgive my latin americanness, but this is all stuff you can get made by a local metalsmith, print/sublimation shop, or just crafty people in your life. it's cheaper, customizable, and better for the environment to skip all the shipping and packaging. also, not painting your own skateboard is poser shit.
the hazbin website also has $15 pins, one $20 keychain, and $6 trading card packs. people are weird about trading cards, so if for some reason you wanna gamble for a mass-produced bit of cardboard, plastic, and tinfoil, at least bulk-order for all the vivziepoppers in your area so it's less of a huge waste. better yet, trace the designs and make infinite bootlegs.
at the end of the day, buying merch is not activism. your bulk order of trading cards will not save any wage slaves from getting evicted from their overpriced studio apartments. however, the shop links you to all the credited artists/designers, and more of your bucks will actually reach them if you buy their designs directly, then turn them into body pillows or life-sized bronze statues or whatever the fuck.
go through the credits of any episode of helluva or hazbin, and you'll find even more creatives you might wanna support. get jinkx monsoon's albums on CD. subscribe to actually good artist, animator, and composer gooseworx. lots of voice actors now have patreon, cameo, or self-hosted pages where you can write better lines for their characters and have them read it. these things may not look as shiny as Official Merch™, but we all need less plastic shit and more culture anyway.
#spindlehorse#vivziepop#hellaverse#hazbin hotel#helluva boss#spindlehorse critical#vivziepop critical#hazbin hotel critical#helluva boss critical#hazbin hotel rewrite#hazbin hotel redesign#helluva boss redesign#communism#degrowth
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do u have any advice for those that want to run a quest?
it feels a LEETLE silly answering this when all my own are currently on hiatus bc i got busy (SORRY TO CALLIST0 READERS LOL) BUT!!! yes i do. i have only ever run quests/interactive comics on the site questden, so i guess as a baseline this will kind of all be geared towards that, but i think most of this should translate to any hosting situation
you have to be cool with your plots branching and mutating in unexpected ways, and you have to be willing to play ball with your readers.
quests are a collaboration between the author and the audience. it often feels a lot like gming a tabletop campaign (and that's the origin!! questden, specifically, was originally an offshoot of /tg/.) -- we've all had or heard about bad GMs who view their position as that of a narrative dictator who exists to punish and prod a captive group of players thru their own personal novel, but a good GM is interested in telling stories as a group. u have final say and have to stay true to the important stuff abt ur story, but if u get mad or frustrated when ur readers want to explore something "off topic" or aren't following the threads of ur narrative the way u expected them to, u don't actually want to run a quest, u just want to make a webcomic w mandatory comments. (the flip side of this is: consider if the story u want to make is the right one for an interactive quest. if it is REALLY important to u that the plot beats of a story go a certain way, maybe save it for a medium where u have more control!)
keep it loose and fast. the art does not matter.
i am rly guilty of not following this one, but i still think it's really important! one of the things i like best about quests is the barrier to entry is very low and you SHOULD be able to start and maintain one very quickly. if i were better at keeping my art scrabbly and sketchy and loose, my stuff would not go on hiatus as often as it does. draw fast! it's NICE if the art is gorgeous to look at and definitely will draw readers, but it's way better if the art is simple enough that you can update frequently and without much stress. the quality of ur writing + character building, and whether u are telling a story that's engaging and that ur readers feel meaningfully involved in, is 100000x more important than the art.
on the more nitty gritty side: try to have a hook in each update.
one of the most common reasons suggestions die off is readers being unsure of what they're supposed to do next. sure, too much spoonfeeding could end up feeling like railroading, and you don't have to end every single update by getting right in their faces and yelling "WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT??", but when you finish an update try to take a second to put yourself in a reader's shoes and see if there's an obvious next step. is there a course of action to decide on/debate, are there clear questions they can ask an npc, etc -- i can't think of a great way to describe it, but you want to avoid ending an update on a note where the player character and readers are basically sitting there looking at each other like "um... okay. that's that, then." some ppl even just end all their updates w multiple choice options, which is a super simple way to keep things moving if it fits the style of what ur doing. if you don't want it to be that overt but you still can't think of a way for there to be a clear hook, you can at least try to leave a little nudge in the narration that invites the readers to try to tie whatever they've just done/learned back into the pc's main goals/motivations or current tasks. (on this subject, VERY useful for your main character to have a very specific goal or end destination that everyone is on the same page abt. it's harder for your plot to lose momentum if you can always point at what your readers are supposed to be moving toward!)
finally: KEEP UPDATING EVEN IF YOU GET VERY FEW/NO SUGGESTIONS.
it's a niche genre. questden is a small website. it's hard to get people to read something new, especially if it's in a new and unfamiliar format (and especially especially when it's on a website that looks like a chanboard lmao). picking up readers takes a long time, and a lot of people lurk without suggesting (ESPECIALLY if it's a difficult/plot-important decision, and also especially in the opposite, if it's a very obvious next step and someone else has already commented what most ppl would say). it's very tempting to want to wait for more suggestions bc u "only" have one or two, and then that wait becomes stagnation, and then you're frustrated and u end up dropping the quest bc "nobody cares." instead u just have to push thru!!!!
u only have two suggestions and u wish u had more? maybe next update u'll get more. u have NO suggestions and u feel like that means ur quest is dead in the water? NOPE! the solution is to update again, bc maybe ppl with latch on more and have something to say in the next scene. the more u update ur quest, the more u'll be able to talk abt it (and maybe get more readers), and specifically in the case of questden the more ur thread will be bumped to the front page. think abt how many times you've seen ppl talking abt a webcomic or a book and thought "i need to check that out eventually...." but it takes months for you to actually do it. 99.9999% of the time, ppl need to see something MULTIPLE TIMES before they check it out!! most readers do not come from clicking something the very first time they see it!! i know it can feel lonely and discouraging, but u owe it to ur art and the stories u want to tell to keep trying, even if engagement is very low at first, otherwise you're killing it before it's even had a chance.
like, get shameless about it. ask your buddies to comment on your quest. but give that horse a few really good whacks before you decide it's dead!!
i think that's my main thoughts. if you have any more specific questions i'm happy to help if i can! but also i think you'll learn the most by just jumping in and fucking around. quests are easy to pick up and easy to drop, and imo do really well as a playground where u test different ways to draw and tell stories, so might as well just get messy.
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Needed a moment to collect.
I hear the winds of the wasteland blowing through my head because it will feel so barren without them. It's not as if we see them in real time everyday...but... I already miss them.
It's the same feeling I had after the June 2022 Festa dinner. I was so bereft it was mind-blowing. They tried their best to convey what their plan was and to reassure us and they asked us to listen to them and trust them.
Many struggled with that request.
It was slow realizing it wasn't the end and then everything accelerated and these past few weeks/months have been a doozy. Look at what this past year and a half brought us. More Bangtan joy than I thought was possible!
Now, for me, its just knowing they won't be going about their regular crazy days staying up until dawn, or flying out in the morning just to sleep for the next 10 hours on a plane and land at who knows what time where ever, and hit the ground running. Or going out with their friends to a meat restaurant to just eat, drink and chill. Or working on music or choreo or planning whatever. Or visiting art galleries or museums and stopping for coffee on a beautiful day.
They certainly didn't update us everyday about those things but they did just enough for us to know that's what their lives entail and let us fill in the rest. All that's on pause now.
It is hard to comprehend that Jungkook just wrapped up a very successful solo release just to put it all aside and step away.
His heartfelt letter was precious. I expect something similar from Jimin.
They knew they were going to do it. We knew to expect it. Still...
This is something they are required to do, they are going to do and they are prepared to do it.
Let them do it in peace, grace and dignity.
They prepared some things for us. Be grateful.
Though it's tough knowing the time has come, I also know that they are not going to let those wasteland winds linger in my head very long. They are already dissipating because we have stuff coming down the pipe:
We heard last year that the Disney+ documentary was going to be a series and here it's coming soon. It will take us through to January.
And now the excitement is through the roof upon learning Jimin and Jungkook are about to head to Japan.
The MAMA Awards are being held at the Tokyo Dome, Tuesday, Nov. 28. They are leaving today/tomorrow. Plenty of time to relax, have a little down time and vacation, shoot some content, and then accept their awards Tuesday night.
We already know a "travel with Jimin and Jungkook" is coming soon. Should we anticipate a revisit to GCF Tokyo, or maybe something else similar? I love those two so much, they're always on my mind. They've been so sneaky and careful only because they know this is something special for us. Maybe it will come to us following the Disney series. We don't know what content they've got in the can, ready to follow.
Then we will have a few more months before Jin returns next summer.
Jimin and Jungkook. In recent months, I've gotten really good at filtering out the noise. I've sat here with calm understanding about Jimin and Jungkook, seeing them STILL the same with each other in every bit of new content they've shared. I only need my own two eyes and ears to detect that strong bond. They have the thing that is precious between two people. Grand gestures are not necessary and not their style.
They love their fans... that would be us: ARMY... they love us. They want to give us what we want. They live for that. So Jimin brought back his blonde hair, showed us his moons running down his back. And Jungkook stepped out of the shower naked. They KNOW what we want and want to give it to us as best they can! They know we love them and want to show off their chemistry.
Not gonna lie, this past year flew by for me. It was month after month of anticipation. And now here we are at the end of the year.
All the arguing and fighting and ugliness that some engage in is just noise. Our mens are gonna be the good and honest beings they are no matter what anyone says. Listen to them.
We expect them all back mid-year 2025. We expect a wonderful new most beautiful moment in life. We expect the best is yet to come. We expect something amazing and we won't be disappointed. Trust them.
Their plan is already in motion and has been. We wait™️.
#bts military service#we can do this#FIGHTING!#apobangpo#jimin#jungkook#taehyung#namjoon#jikook#kookmin#minkook#jimin and jungkook#bts chapter 2#we wait#a year and a half passed fast since Festa 2022#the next year and a half will pass fast too
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This has been on the horizon for a while, but I think a part of me just didn't want to admit it until recently. I'll cut straight to the chase, you probably won't see much RA content from me anymore.
The topic of the fandom, the tags or quality of the posts have been discussed a few times already -mostly by me I think which should have been a warning sign haha- so I'm not going to go into too much detail. I'll just share my perspective.
The fandom simply just doesn't have much to offer me at the moment.
Everyone knows that a huge part of my interest in RA was and always has been TRR Will. If he didn't exist, I would have lost interest in the series a LONG time ago. But I can cook my own meals for only so long before I get tired and want to eat out for a change, and unfortunately for me no one is serving the food I want at the moment. I still love love love this man, but there just isn't enough content for him in the fandom (except the ones made by me) for me to want to actively keep engaging with it.
Not only that, art just doesn't get the same reception as it used to here. If I can draw another interest of mine and get triple the engagement, then it's just easier for me to be motivated to share my art of that other thing. Sure I draw because I want to first, but suprisingly for everyone I do want to draw things other than RA. And if those other things are more appreciated, then it just means I'm more motivated to keep posting them for everyone else to see. Most people probably remember I used to be very active in discussions and character analyses on here as well, but I just don't see the space for that sort of content here anymore. (Sorry to that one anon who said they liked my writing, you know who you are)
I still love RA and TRR Will, but I'll probably keep my thoughts or the occasional sketch I draw for myself from now on. I just don't feel motivated to share it.
Also just in case anyone asks my opinion after the recent discussion at the ask blog; yes, I don't like the current state of most of the posts here either. I don't want to go out bad-mouthing others though, the current style of content in the fandom just isn't my taste. Which is alright, maybe I've simply grown out of the series! The book getting newer fans is a good thing and I hope they have as much fun as I did when I first joined. This fandom has been my home for years now but I think it's around time I go out and explore more.
I'll still keep up with the series. Again, my fixation on Will is very much alive and well. It sucks that I don't have the energy to share my passion with others anymore, but I'm sure people will do just fine without me mauling every other guy that completely misunderstands his character to death. Don't get me started on the beard shit, genuinely frustrating how a fandom revolving around a book series has 0 literacy at times.
TLDR: I'm not going to be active in the RA fandom anymore because of multiple reasons. I still love TRR Will but I'm not motivated to share my work here in the current state of things. I loved my time here and I hope everyone else does too.
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Also if my feelings change in the future, then that will be that and I might come back. I'm not sending myself off to exile here. I'm not writing any of this because I believe I have to explain myself either, I'm doing it because I simply want to avoid causing people confusion. Feel free to send me RA related asks still, just don't expect to see me around the RA spaces as much. I'll stay in all the servers obviously, and my presence will be around indirectly since most of my friends are still here. Also, if you draw TRR Will do feel free to send him to me in the dms. Love that guy and his apprentice so much, wish more people did.
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I don't know if you still accept requests but 1 (palette, it is literally a bisexual flag🤔) with Joker
But besides that. I like your art! Your art style is soft and fuzzy but at the same time can be badass >:D
Good luck<3
Hope school is treating you well!!!
Thank you so much for your nice words! (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤ This palette was a lot of fun to work with!
My inbox will stay open for more requests from you guys, just expect that it will take a while until I get to yours because I still have like 15 asks piled up hahaha
#persona 5#persona 5 royal#persona 5 joker#akira kurusu#kurusu akira#amamiya ren#ren amamiya#p5r#bisexual joker is my favorite joker#liz art
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I'm so happy that you like Elden Ring and SAGAU, because here's a concept I thought of recently and I'm dying to share it with someone - SAGAU Imposter AU, but with Ranni the Witch!Reader. Self-indulgence on my part (and Elden Ring spoilers) but hear me out:
- Canon Ranni has unusual allies, such as a troll blacksmith whose species are used as slaves in the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader who isn't the only one disgusted by the Archons' actions - Traveler and Paimon are officially done with the Seven's sh*t, and offer Ranni!Reader their help. The 'truth of this world' can wait, now that Traveler's seen the true face of the Archons. Maybe Nahida chose to be reasonable and stay out of it. Maybe the Tsaritsa is too busy with her own plans to care about some mere mortal 'stealing' the Creator's face. Either way the twins are reunited earlier than expected, and Ranni!Reader now has an army at her back.
- Canon Ranni stole a fragment of Destined Death to kill her flesh and Godwyn's soul. Ranni!Reader is the Creator, she has sovereignty over death in Teyvat. Ranni!Reader lets the Archons capture and publically execute her, to reveal her true identity (golden blood ✨️) and turn the mortals of Teyvat against their idiot Archons. Speaking of Archons, they're all horrified and panicking. The once-cheering crowd is in silent shock, then all hell breaks loose. The Hydro Archon, who struck the killing blow, becomes a soulless shell - a living corpse, just like poor Godwyn. Unlike Godwyn, not a single soul cries for Focalores. This was her punishment, after all. She brought this on herself.
- We don't know who crafted canon Ranni's doll body, maybe she did it herself. Maybe Ranni!Reader does the same, maybe she employs the services of a certain wandering puppet, or perhaps the doll body is a peace offering from a certain Fatui Harbinger...
- Canon Ranni wants to completely remove the influence of Outer Gods from the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader wants the same, just replace 'Outer Gods' with 'Celestia.' It's not dissimilar to what both the Abyss Order and the Fatui want. For all that the two groups hate each other, they are willing to accept Ranni!Reader's radical proposal. They can go back to killing each other when this is done, for all she cares, but they need to keep it together for this one plan.
- Canon Ranni takes the Tarnished as her consort in her ending. For Ranni!Reader - well, there's the Abyss twin and Traveler, for starters. The Adepti, Xiao and Ganyu, who turned their backs on Rex Lapis after Reader's execution. Childe, who's fighting style could translate perfectly into Elden Ring. Any one of the Anemo boys. Pick a fave and go for it, honestly.
- Canon Ranni, once the Erdtree is burned and the Elden Beast is dead, brings forth the Age of Stars and removes the influence of Outer Gods on the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader and co. crush Celestia, undo the curse on the people of Khaenri’ah, and Ranni!Reader purges Teyvat of divine influence forever - no more Archons, no more Celestial gods, no vague and infuriating requirements to 'earn' elemental powers - the elements can be wielded by anyone now if they have the stats, catalyst and slots for it. The people of Teyvat are free to take control their own destinies, for better and for worse. Still preferable to being divine pawns for uncaring gods.
- Canon Ranni, despite what the English translation would have you believe, departs the Lands Between for the stars, taking the not only her consort with her, but the Elden Ring itself, to ensure the Lands stay god-free. Ranni!Reader bids Nahida and the Tsaritsa a heartfelt farewell - they committed no crime against the Reader, so what is there to forgive? But then the other, now-mortal Archons come to grovel, desperately begging Ranni!Reader to stay, spewing endless apologies. Various Vision holders join in. Ranni!Reader is unmoved.
"Ye art not sorry for thine actions. Only that ye were wrong. Were I not thy God, but a regular mortal, ye wouldst feel no remorse. I care not that I wasn't recognized - I care that ye were willing to make up a crime, and kill innocent people for something they could not control. Monsters, the lot of ye. T'was worth it, I hope, this callous and heartless behavior - I loved ye once, truly, but no more." Ranni!Reader turns to the Vision holders, "If anyone, blame them," Reader points to the heartbroken Archons, "t'was them who caused this. Do what ye will with them - this is the last ye will ever see of me."
Ranni!Reader departs. Perhaps to other worlds, perhaps the Abyss. Perhaps she has a consort at her side. The twins and Paimon are believed to be in Khaenriah. Nahida and the Tsaritsa, now mortal, quietly settle into somewhat normal lives. The remaining traitorous Archon, now powerless, are left at the 'mercy' of their former worshippers. Centuries pass, and tales of gods become half-forgotten myth and legend.
I'm aware that this turned to complete word vomit, but I'm super excited that you wrote Tarnished!Creator SAGAU
Congratulations, you just made my fucking neurones activate xd
LIKE???? HOLY SHIT????
Now, consort-wise, I AM in a Faruzan mood... but I'll just go with Ganyu for now:
Yeah, I can see how that certain someone--Sandrone--would be one to craft Ranni!Reader's body; what would they be previously, however? A mere spirit, or perhaps their old body, before bringing about The Knight of the Black Knives?
I mean, gonna say this now; I did Ranni's quest and got her ending so... yeah xd
Still, ouch to Focalors; a Soulless husk of a body? Then again, imagine striking down on the Creator's neck and seeing the blood of your God. Focalors genuinely believes that she can do no evil. Well, perhaps now it's time for her to learn... the hard way.
KSKSIISJDSJDJ I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS MY FELLOW YOU JUST WROTE A GODDAMN MASTERPIECE--
Imagine other characters too; Millicent!Reader? Gideon Ofnir!Reader? Heck, Morgott!Reader sounds cool!
Still, thanks, I'll have to continue this later but sidnsjdjjddj thanks! And don't worry, always happy to see another Tarnished :3
If you have any other ideas, honestly? Feel free to share them! I'd love to hear them! :D
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I have a couple of questions if that's alright.
1) you're a self taught artist right? So do you have any tips or tricks or maybe even references for other self taught artists?
2) how did you stay unique, with so much content out there how did you manage to create your own style and everything?
3) how did you name your AU I'm planning on making my own but I just don't really have a consistent themes so I don't know how to name it?
4) any general advice for someone who wants to try and make their own comic but doesn't really want to go anywhere with it and doesn't know the first thing about comic making?
Yours truly a TMNT lover and artist :)
oohh love getting asks like this <3
i am a completely self taught artist !!!!! i've genuinely just made up everything as i went lmao- i picked up a few things watching speedpaints and tutorials (unfortunately tutorials don't do much for me,, which has kinda held me back)
i think the main thing is to learn the basics as boring as they seem- you may be able to render like a god,, but if your anatomy and form is off (and clearly not intentionally as a stylistic choice)??? it can take away from the entire thing,, yk??
anyways !! aside from that, my main tip is to just mess around !! try different styles,, shading methods,, filters,,, overlay,,, etc.....
2. there's no real way to stay completely unique- with so many artists it's like,, basically impossible?? i literally found my art styling by very obviously taking style inspo from a warriors cats video (this one) and somehow,, after literal years of learning and cramming other inspiration into it,,, it turned into my current style,,,, i don't know how
3. i looked up cool words, found the word "aberrant" sent that in my tmnt discord server and someone was like "what about aberration, it means the same thing" and the rest is history
4. plan ahead- it's so tempting to just jump straight into that,, but trust me,,,, it doesn't end well- i think it's best to have a broad idea and an end goal,, and then get more specific when planning like, individual comic parts,, like a rough script
as for actually making the comic??? just kinda,, take the time to look at other artists comics,, figure out various methods you'd wanna implement into yours?? like "oh i like how this person does dialogue,,, and how this person splits up the boxes,,, and how this person shows sound effects" n stuff like that
there's really no right or wrong way to do any of this !! and don't expect perfection right out that gate !! best of luck :D
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HI! WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS
Asks:OPEN!
Art requests:Closed
Anonymous:Allowed (just don't be gross)
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So this is @spookykittyzzz, I made this blog bc Gangle's my favorite and I wanted to do this really bad so yes its me.
since this blog is asking Gangle questions, ima try my best to stay in character but if I get out of it sometimes I'm sorry. These are also my headcanons as well
Also another thing, I do not like certain things that Gangle likes but since Gooseworxs confirmed certain info I'm using it in this blog (essentially I'm rping)
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ASK GANGLE BLOG
Hi I'm Gangle (you can also call me Gangle Bagel)
My pronouns are:She/her
Im 26 years
I like anime, Comics, Manga, drawing, plushies, crafts, and many more that I can't say all of!
I'm here to awnser any of your questions mainly because I can't talk to people well in person...
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yes buttonblossom and another ship is in this blog, deal with it
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@ask-the-zooble is officially the Zooble that I interact with most (that's not stopping anyone just saying)
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If i haven't answered your question it's one of the following:
-its inappropriate or I don't feel comfortable awnsering it
-I don't know what to say for it or have no idea what your talking about
-I might be drawing something for it (if I have artblock I'm most likely saving it so when I have motivation I will draw something of it)
-I haven't gotten around to it yet
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How do we talk?
Gangles text will be red whenever she's talking
Gangles thoughts with be red italic text and will most likely have quotation marks as well (" ")
Description, actions, and ect will be white/black
Me/owner of the blog will have bold blue text
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RULES:
-No inappropriate/NSFW related questions
-You may ask crush's/romance related questions
-the other characters are here and you can ask questions but let's stay towards Gangle
-Please ask/request in the ask box, not comments!
-My ocs are here so you may ask them questions as well (again let's stay towards Gangle tho
-Unlimited asks are allowed!
-Please do not send me the same ask over and over and over, it's very overwhelming and disrespectful
-Drawing requests are allowed but it's Gangle who's drawing them (ima make my own art style for her)
-if you ask me to draw Gangle doing something or being wholesome ima draw it so feel free to ask!
-BE RESPECTFUL
-Ship related questions are allowed
-dares and would you rather asks are allowed
Thats all for now but rules are expected for change.
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The other characters are still here along with Gangle but he main focus of the blog is Gangle
(I'm bad at drawing caine)
All characters (except for DoOdLe, Eyesiaran, Fuzzle, and Gabbit) belong to @gooseworx
EDIT:This is going to change very often so if you see something that wasn't there before just think of it as an update
#zooble x gangle#gooseworx#the amazing digital circus#Ganglebagel#tadc ask blog#Ask blog#Gangle#gangle fanart#Ask Gangle#tadc ragatha#tadc pomni#tadc jax#tadc bubble#Tadc Fuzzle#Tadc DoOdLe#tadc zooble#Tadc kinger
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Entryway to heavens, a.k. the BL genre!
As requested by @weiying-tododeku-2023 , who wanted to dip their toes into the genre, I, Nora, am once again here to compile a recommendation list that you can take a peek. Most titles here won't be any news to my seasoned fujin frens, but it's always interesting to think of which manga or anime would be the best for a newcomer!
BL ANIME
We don't have many options to choose from when it comes to anime, so I might as well start from here.
Stranger by the Shore: This 1-hour, gorgeous movie is an adaptation from Kii Kanna's manga of the same name. Since it's short, I think it's better to focus on what the plot has to offer instead of expecting a deeper dive into the characters individually.
Sasaki and Miyano: Another manga adaptation, but this time it's 12-episode series (with a +1 OVA). Very sweet and emotionally rich coming-of-age story with a fudanshi as its MC. A must see!
NO.6: Less like a BL and more of a sci-fi anime with queer MCs, NO.6 is not exactly suitable for a newcomer, but I still wanted to include it because of its tender story and the companionship between Shion and Nezumi. So you shouldn't expect a big emphasis on romance.
Bonus: This Boy is a Professional Wizard: This is a 4-episode short anime. It's honestly gorgeous and cute, but not very "deep" as every episode is around 8 minutes. You can finish it in one sitting!
There are so many other popular (and great) BLs or action/sports series that have queer characters out there: Given, Banana Fish, Yuuri!! on ICE, Doukyuusei, Case Study of Vanitas, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Antique Bakery, Yes No or Maybe? etc. They are already popular so with a quick search you can find more about them as you finish the ones you've started!
BL MANGA
Now, this... is a challenge. There are SO MANY good stuff that it's hard to pick, so I decided to go with my gut xD
I Didn't Mean To Fall In Love (Suzumaru Minta): There's something in this series that just.. UGH! It hits me. I have reviewed it before so you can head over there to find more information, synopsis, and my thoughts.
Love Tractor (Hmmyongyong & Angrymonster): I started reading it for the sake of the challenge I mentioned above but what a joy this one turned out to be!! Has great balance of fun and drama, gorgeous to boot. The main story is finished but there'll be a continuation! Here's my review.
Here and There and Us (Thanat): This is a very interesting work (as any other Thanat work, I'm a huge fan of the artist) and it's less focused on the romance and more on the main characters and their friend circle navigating their high school life and the the ever-changing relationship between them. If you're looking for something that's more slow burn, this should be your go-to BL.
Under My Skin (Usui Iroha): People tend to stay away from spicy recommendations for newcomers but I say, why not give it a go! Usui Iroha has a way of drawing sultry gazes that'll make your heart skip a beat! I'm taking a break now, but I normally review a new BL title every Friday, and I've also reviewed Under My Skin before because it's THAT good.
Dream Away (Hana Lee): If you like a sprinkle of supernatural on your plate, then this is for you. The art style is simple yet eye catching, it's short and completed, the characters are wholesome; what more you could ask for!
Bonus - Swing Baby (Mudan): This manhwa, again, is a bit different. It does feel like it has supernatural elements at first and is a bit confusing (bc there's an interesting stylistic choice in narration) but it'll feel worth sticking to! Here's another Friday BL review if you'd like to check some screenshots out and read the synopsis.
And that's it! Welcome aboard and hopefully, at least one of these titles will be to your liking. Thank you for sending an ask, see you around!
#allthefujoshiunite answers#bl manga#yaoi recommendation#yaoi manhwa#i didn't mean to fall in love#love tractor#dream away#here and there and us#swing baby#under my skin#stranger by the shore#no.6#sasaki and miyano#this boy is a professional wizard#bl anime
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I just finished reading Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect going in- all I've ever heard about it was from people going "Can you believe Nickelodeon asked a guy who makes stuff like that to make a children's show!?" After reading it, I can say that it's definitely interesting in a way I don't think any basic plot description could've fully prepared me for, and I kind of want to dump my thoughts about it as I just come away from it.
As the title would suggest, its most noticeable surface-level feature is that there is a lot of gore. It gets about as brutal and graphic as it can with its cartoony art style- I was actually a little bothered by it a couple of times. There are a lot of things reminiscent of Invader ZIM beyond its art style- it shares a lot of the same humor, its randomness (often to the point of stupidity), and the chaotic nature of the story progression. (There are also two aliens that show up in a few pages that I'm pretty sure are the same aliens that appeared in the IZ episode Abducted, which would mean that ZIM and JTHM take place in the same universe...? Interesting.) In a lot of ways, it had the same energy as ZIM, but lacking the restraints of a children's network- admittedly, it was very fun and tickled the twelve-year-old ZIM fan part of my brain.
The story itself is a bit trippy and somewhat disjointed. There are lots of times where Johnny will go on long monologues about how he sees himself and the world (alongside blocks of text at the beginning and end of each issue from Jhonen himself). The actual story is cut up in-between little unrelated comics of various characters getting slaughtered and mutilated in some way, facing their inner turmoils and making other people miserable, or yelling incoherent word salads and then getting murdered. You are often left unsure as to whether some of the story's events were really happening or just Johnny dreaming or making things up. It also gets kind of cosmic horror-ish at one point, but that proceeds to end itself somewhat abruptly.
I haven't looked at any discussion of the comic and what it's *really* about yet, but my first impression coming out of it is that it's... a lot of things, really? It's a nihilistic black comedy, but I got the feeling that it was also somewhat of a vent story- A lot of JTHM is dark humor and absurd scenarios for the sake of societal criticism and expressing frustration with the world. It brings up a lot of ideas about what the "nature" of humanity is, if there is a caring God, the good and bad of living, and ultimately, what the true "evils" of society are and what causes them- all told through the eyes of a weird morally bankrupt loner that likes torturing and murdering people he doesn't like.
Most of the people that Johnny goes after are assholes and bullies, generally bad people, or anyone that just generally upsets or inconveniences him in day-to-day life. His arc throughout the story is discovering who and what "controls" him in his search for true freedom- and through that, he realizes that he, himself, is a massive contributor to why everything is so awful, eventually seeing people like himself as one of society's issues (but not really doing anything to change or control his behavior, which, to me, suggested he really never attained the "freedom" he desired so much). It was quite interesting to have a main character like that.
And, while I do not really know anything about Jhonen Vasquez as a person, a good amount of Johnny's traits struck me as... maybe a bit of a projection? A lot of the blocks of text from Vasquez at the start of issues will have him describe his thoughts and behaviors, and then in the story, Johnny displays a lot of those same thoughts and behaviors, like his hatred of sleep resulting in him regularly staying up the entire night and his tendency to experience loneliness and sadness (though, of course, these blocks of text might also be Jhonen simply putting up a persona as well.) Still, though, I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of things about Johnny were in fact an exaggerated depiction of the author's own perceived negative traits and turned into an edgy serial killer character (especially since I know that this is indeed the case for a lot of Vasquez's characters, like ZIM in his inability to realize when his ideas won't work and Dib in his undying need to prove himself above all else in IZ.)
JTHM was one of the most unique things I've read in a while- it's one of those stories that sticks in your brain and leaves an uneasy feeling in you when you come away from it, but it definitely has a lot of substance to it beyond the "edgelord serial killer gorefest" surface-level appearance. It doesn't give you any moments of comfort in its overt negativity, but I think it manages to come out as something meaningful beyond just a nihilist "everything is awful and there's nothing you can do about it" message. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you're up for it, I'd really recommend giving it a shot.
#rambles#shoe talks a lot#johnny the homicidal maniac#jthm#i hope none of this sounds too dumb to someone who knows more about the inner-workings of jthm than i do
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Exactly 0 people asked-
Oh, never mind, Andy wants to know, so here I am yet again, rating Love Island the Game: Double Trouble this time!
Here’s the rating post I did for s5, for anyone curious:)
I just wanna preface this by saying, I love this game. I know it is greatly flawed and I get frustrated, annoyed, irritated, riled up very often, but it’s still my comfort place and I enjoy playing it so very much. I am aware that fusebox as a company has many issues and I am not thrilled that they might be using AI to write their scripts, even if it's just a speculation. I don't spend any money on the game and I play it on plane mode, so I don't get any ads. Additionally, I think it’s long established that nothing will ever repeat the success of s2, the one hit wonder I’m afraid, so I choose to not compare it to earlier seasons to not ruin my expectations. However, my one hope for s6 was for it to not be worse than s5. Did it fail my expectations? No. Did it exceed them? Also no. But it did meet them exactly where I set them, so to me, this season was generally a success. But not without its issues, of course.
Disclaimer: I tried to be as objective as I can, but at the end of the day, I’m a mere human and these are all just my humble, subjective opinions. Feel free to agree/disagree/add on/make your own:)
Also, beware of the potential spoilers ahead:)
So, without a further ado, shall we?
Character Design: 9/10
Lots of hotties this season, that is for sure. The design team (I think/hope/want to believe that a human did the art for the most part at least) worked very well this time and the art style is wonderful. I personally found myself attracted to most of the islanders - Bella, Jamal, Ozzy/Marshall, Chloe, Andy of course… Their faces look proportional, I love most of their facial expressions, the blushing faces are just so adorable (especially Andy’s, but I may be a little bit biased lol). Took the point off for some weird poses though (*ahem* Andy *ahem*), some odd expressions, Ryan’s mop of hair that just doesn’t sit right on him, and for the fact that both sets of twins have the exact same sprite - I understand that they’re identical and share the same face, but like, give them a different pose at least?
Character Personality: 6/10
This is where my main issue lies: they’ve given us so many fun characters with distinct personalities, and then they merged them into one. Why? Less work, I assume. How can a bad boy wannabe Jamal who never settles for a relationship act the exact same way as a golden retriever footballer Lewie? Conversely, how can a golden retriever Lewie become a villain in the same exact way that a suave, confident pilot Roberto became? Why do we never learn about their personalities besides the first date in the first volume and then through random sprinkling of one sentence facts about them to give a slight illusion of variety? Why are all their personalities boiled down to recollection of past events that were so surface-leveled and so superficial that even talking about them in later episodes feels like an afterthought, or, dare I say, a chore? Why do all the og’s personalities revolve around love bombing? So much potential down the drain.
Personally, my favorite islanders this season are Casa Amor people. To me it seemed that that’s where the most energy went when creating the season. Everyone in Casa was their own person with unique personalities and stayed that way for the longest time. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they all had unique dialogue and shared bits about their life, their worries and concerns about relationships and life that helped me get to know them better, understand them as people, as characters with personalities. And even after being merged post casa, though they suffered from the merging as well, Flo remained the most interesting girl and Marshall kept his snarkiness still.
Character Diversity: 5/10
This section brings me great sadness, I can't lie. Yes, this is about Grace. You've talked about it, I've talked about it - we're all in consensus that the way her character was treated is absolutely wrong. How many times can Fusebox step on the same rake to finally get it in their heads and stop villainizing women of color? It is frustrating. The treatment of Black women in the fandom is already... not great, even if the characters themselves did absolutely nothing wrong (Thabi, Genevieve). So, of course, let's perpetuate the stereotypes, let's make the one Black woman in the game possessive, territorial, immature, and the main rival to MC if you're romancing Ozzy. Why? What reason does it serve? Who hurt you, fusebox?
Let's look further. LGBTQ+ players were downright neglected this season. All three queer women in the game share the same route - it's not really a choice to keep eliminating women so that you're only stuck with one per wlw route and basically pre-pick who you like most solely based on looks. Why can't we have them all in the villa at the same time and get to actually learn who they are, then ruminate on who we like the most, and toss and turn in our sleep, and then pick amongst them? Why couldn't we couple up with Bella right away? There was literally no obstacle to do that, it's just ridiculous that we can bring her to the hideaway, but not couple up. Why can’t it be done in equal measure to, you know, picking male li’s?
Overall, I’m glad the cast is diverse, but I still wish we’d gotten a better look into everyone’s culture and identity, and I would’ve loved to see at least some nod to their cultures throughout the game.
MC Design: 9.5/10
MC is beautiful. Every single MC I’ve seen is absolutely gorgeous and none look the same. She fits in with the cast, she stands out as a true love islander, she looks fantastic in a couple with any and all LI’s. Might even say, s6 MC is the most beautiful and unique MC we’ve ever had. Half a point off for reusing s5 pose - while it didn’t bother me at all, that is a little bit of a lazy move.
MC Personality: 8/10
Well, I'm glad she has one. If I were to compare her to myself - we are completely different people, but that doesn't make her any less fun and/or entertaining to watch/play as. Let's put aside for a moment her generic comments a la "oh yeah?" or "oh really?" because she has said many a gems this season. She's not afraid of putting people in their spot, she's telling it like it is, she's an instigator, she is fun and fiery and so unashamedly herself that I strive to be more like her. Truly. You cannot tell me she doesn't cuss like a sailor and I love her for it. If I knew her irl or even if she were one of the npc's, I'd probably love to hate her because frankly, she's a bit rude, but that's what makes her loveable. Or a loveable bitch, so to speak.
MC Customization: 7.5/10
I was easily able to make my MC look like myself (more or less), but I am a white cis girl and can’t speak to experiences of bipoc players. I will be honest and say that I didn’t register the prices for any of the customization choices because my game has unlimited amount of gems, so there might have been choices for more diverse hairstyles that were gem blocked, as has definitely happened before. I thought the game had a lovely range of facial features and hairs to choose from, though I’d love to have seen more color choices for hair. The outfits were hit or miss - some I loved, others I cringed at, the shoes were outright ugly, but I’m just glad we put granny fashion to rest and no glass shard bikini was detected. I’m glad they kept the choice for a curvier or skinnier body, but I think they can definitely do a bit better, for example giving us a choice of feminine/masculine presenting figures, variety of curvy body types, allowing us to pick pronouns - here’s already typos and inconsistencies in the script, I don’t see how that could make it worse.
Challenges: 6/10
Is it bad that I can’t really remember much of them? Yeah, I’d say that’s a bad sign… The challenges were so… forgettable? And just not done correctly? Couples quiz - over too quickly and I didn’t learn anything about anyone. The doghouse whatever it was - I don’t even know the purpose of it. What were those categories in villa vs. villa? “The sportiest girl?” “The most well traveled?” Is this a joke? Why are we having a snogathon in casa amor? How is movie night not giving us the most tea and why is it not stirring any pots? How can you manage to make the baby challenge so.. boring? And just fleeting? I would say, the heart rate challenge was the most elaborate and fun, Snog, Marry, Pie was okay, but nothing to write home about, unfortunately. Fusebox, you have good ideas, but just see them through to the end next time please. Oh, and maybe watch the show for inspo? You know, as a suggestion.
Drama: 5/10
I know you don’t want to hear it, but I think fusebox definitely took our feedback regarding drama. Of course, Ivy’s pettiness and twin mix up is.. annoying to say the least, and Grozzy-MC love triangle is tiring, especially if you’re not on Ozzy’s route, but otherwise we are able to have a chill summer of love, just like you signed up for. Personally, I love drama only when it has nothing to do with me, and that’s how I felt about playing this season. If you want to be a little more involved in it - by all means, go for Ozzy and pick ruthless choices, but if you want to sit it out - sweep all the arguments under the rug, couple up with an og for a loyal route, or play around in casa amor with no repercussions and couple up with someone there to enjoy the rest of your a chill summer. The choice is yours. After the disaster of s5, this felt quite refreshing and exactly what I wanted, but I wouldn’t say the drama was so otherworldly that it kept me very invested… Therefore, I’m afraid by toning things down they ran into another problem - they made it a tad boring.
Relationships: 6.5/10
I touched upon this already, but I’ll just say this, I strongly dislike the merged routes. In my humble opinion, the og route was written for Lewie, the post-casa route was written for Andy (or I can also see Elliot sharing some dialogue with him), and the only other unique route is Ozzy. Oh, and I suppose there is a Bella/Chloe/Flo route (you see how sad this is that they don’t even feel unique enough for me to consider them as a separate route? Yeah, sad.) I personally think casa amor li’s/Elliot are the best relationships, if you’re looking for a sweet, loving route with no drama, where your li is head over heels with you in a cute kind of way, and you learn a lot about them that isn’t just rehashing past events and/or love bombing. It progresses so naturally and realistically, in my opinion. That romance just makes sense and I love it. I haven’t played other routes, of course, but from what I’ve seen, they just feel a bit lacking in something. They feel superficial, perhaps boring. I don’t think they did a good job with their attempted slow burn route with Ozzy either - all his chats became so repetitive that it didn’t interest me enough to pursue his route. That being said, I appreciate that we could have a completely loyal route this time, with no backstabbing, no persistent exes, and no drastic change of personalities.
Friendships-wise… Did we have any? I know all the girls are kind of friends and all the boys too, but I feel like after the first few volumes where I could definitely tell the islanders were all bonding and having their lil bro moments, it all kind of vanished with time. Of course, we had those moments of gossiping with the girls and the boys, but yet again, it felt a bit surface-level. It was just not enough. In addition, I would love to see relationships bud between the islanders I didn’t interact with as much. It can’t be that mc is the only one who developed feelings for one other person - what about others? Why are they just extras? Why aren’t there bromances and romances and girlmances happening among the rest? We need those background friendships and couples who are genuinely in love to make it feel more realistic and more interesting and more fulfilling.
And of course, we can’t talk about s6 and not talk about family (insert a Dom Torreto gif). Introducing a twin to our mc was a risky move, but we’ll talk about that later. I’ll just say, family relationships are complicated and nuanced and their attempt at doing that kind of failed. Amelia could’ve been our saving grace, she could’ve been our confidant, she could’ve been our best friend. Or, she could’ve been our rival, our source of unresolved family drama, or at least our shared attempt at building bridges. We, on the other hand, got none of it. The twins seem neither close nor distant - they are just paid improv actors who pretend to like each other, but just don’t share any sentimentalities. I was hoping they’d tap into why they seem so estranged, but instead they just kept on talking about Zeph, which turned out to be the most worthless and meaningless plot point ever. They could’ve just made MC’s relationship with Amelia very close and non-problematic, that’d be so easy and lovely to have an instant bestie in the villa. Or, they could’ve let us shape our relationship through the choices MC makes - become closer or more distant or remain neutral - but instead, we got a very superficial relationship yet again, where Amelia is hopelessly desperate no matter what your choices are, and MC is deeply uninterested in what she has to say.
Recouplings: 4/10
It’s funny because I don’t actually have much to say about recouplings this time. Nothing extra disastrous happened, nothing drama worthy - just rather predictable. Yes, we could pick who we wanted, more or less, but at the same time, recouplings are a great way to stir the pot and we didn’t have that. Did the boys pick at least once? I can’t remember… And the way we had recouplings so close to each other in the beginning and then they barely meant anything in the end - meh. Also, I still don’t understand why we couldn’t couple up with Bella early on - she went first that one time and could have definitely picked us, but for some reason that was too much to allow for us…
Finale: 7/10
The finale did what it set out to do and checked off all the required boxes, so technically, I have nothing to complain about. We got the final dates, the prom prep, the speeches, the winners, the love or money, a spicy scene on the swings, and even a little lighthearted pranking moment with the girls that I enjoyed. I would have actually liked to see the afterparty this time because I truly loved the characters, but I guess it’s too many personalities for fusebox to handle at once. Fine. The final date was nothing special and didn’t differ from any other dates we had, although the overall vibe of the date was quite sweet, I can’t lie. The declarations of love were cute as well, we got to make things official, although no “l-bombs” were dropped, which is a little sad, if not disappointing. Massive bonus points for bringing back Hamish as the host - he is such a perfect showman, I think that was actually a great decision! He’s hilarious and no one takes him seriously and that added a lot of charm to the final, in my opinion.
Structure: 5.5/10
The structure of this season was so odd to me, I can’t lie. It just needed more volumes and more chapters to be better paced and to really take time with the storyline and all the twists they set up, give us the character development we deserve. The beginning started so well and promising, then everything was incredibly rushed, then Casa Amor happened - the best three volumes in my humble opinion, and then the plot just dragged on to the point where I just didn’t feel excited to play the episodes. The challenges were rushed and some were nonsensical, the recouplings oddly sprinkled throughout, gossiping around the villa was just weird, when we could’ve just asked the islanders concerned straight on. Though I loved Casa Amor, it also felt weird how we could go on dates during our time there or to the hideaway, and none of the challenges were done correctly either: the raunchy races were weird, and the beer pong not substantial enough, and the snogathon doesn’t really happen in casa. The beach huts are completely abandoned at this point, which I hate because it was one of my favorite things, but at least we had the hideaway this time and the box with spicy trinkets, so I’ll give them that. The finale hit all the necessary points, so that’s good I guess. I don’t know, I just want them to draw more inspiration from the show itself, I suppose, which they are not doing as much anymore.
Storyline: 5/10
Double Trouble. Amelia. Our beloved. Or beloathed - however you choose to look at it lol. Like I mentioned previously, giving us a twin was a risky move. I’m an only child who always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, or a twin at that, so I was madly excited about this sibling plot line. On the other hand, again, like I said, families are complex and nuanced and are not always sunshine and rainbows. Much like the ex storyline, the family one could be just as triggering. Moreover, deciding MC’s identity and background story for us, the players, is far from a good choice. Even if we pretend it was done well, which it wasn’t, not everyone wants to have a sibling steal their thunder in the game where we are the main character. Not everyone identifies as a woman, but giving us an identical twin forces us to be so. You see where I’m going? The interactive game is becoming more and more of a visual novel and we are just living in that story instead of creating our own.
Overall, the storyline of the game was just not pushed enough, not elaborated enough, not drawn out enough. Of course, they’ve beaten to death the Grozzy thing, and the sister chats, and Tobelia, but everything else… Zeph - the most anticlimactic and useless plot point. Ozzy and Marshall - so much fuss and completely unrewarding resolution. The fake dumping plot twist - wasted potential. Casa Amor - no consequences. Movie night - I ran out of synonyms for “useless” and “wasted potential.” What saddens me is that they had so many interesting ideas and just did not see them through - they gave up too quickly, untwisting the twists too easily, which made the plot, yet again, superficial and a tad boring.
Writing: 4.5/10
I know I said I don’t like comparing, but I was replaying s4 at the same time as s6, and even though back then s4 felt like a downgrade, the difference in writing is humongous. With the speculations that fusebox is using AI to write their game, I feel like I could exactly point out to where it was written by a robot and where a human hand was involved. All the superficial, going in circles, love-bombing moments (which make up about 70% of the season) were definitely the product of a computer, but I think the moments where we learn something personal about our li was written by people. The first couple of volumes were written by people, when the characters still felt unique. Casa Amor islanders were written by people, I’ll stand by that because that’s where characters had the most charm. MC’s telling off moments were written by people, I am sure. But right as we got back to love bombing and all those “hey remember when *something superficial that happened before*” and every! time! a sentence! ended! with! exclamation! points! it all went back to AI. I wouldn’t say in general the writing got worse, but it didn’t exactly get better either. No raw animalistic NSFW display of passions happened, and the spicy scenes seemed a bit better this time, but as with what seems to be my main concern with the season, it felt very superficial a lot of the times.
Replayability: 4/10
Initially, when they’ve given us the illusion of branching routes, I was very excited to go back and replay for other characters, but I have since changed my mind. I lost any interest I may have had in Ozzy’s route, and I fell out of love with Jamal, who was my og li because they made him (and other og’s) boring. Knowing Elliot shares his route with Andy turned off any temptations I had for pursuing him either, especially because I like Andy more than any other character in s6. The girls routes? *sigh* I was curious about them, but not anymore, sadly. But you know what? Despite all that and my hatred for shared routes, I can see myself replaying this season. They’ve given me Andy, who has become one of my favorite (if not the favorite) li’s of all time and I would absolutely replay the game to relive his moments again. Plus, there’s so many scenes that I genuinely found funny that I’d play again to have a little laugh for myself. I can see s6 becoming a comfort season on par with s4 for me (at least the Casa Amor bits).
Overall Score: 6.2/10
This season had a lot of pressure on its shoulders - it had to convince us that things could be better than s5. Some people loved it, others - hated it, and as for me, it was okay. They tried to do better, I could tell, and maybe they were careful not push it too far for the sake of preserving whatever the thing that fans keep coming back for, yet not without making heaps of mistakes along the way. I think that’s the main problem with s6, it had an interesting cast, a fun premise, a promising start, curious twists - everything needed to pique our interest, and then they just didn’t use any of it to its full potential. I appreciate that we could have lovely, loyal li’s, and they’ve given us the best casa cast, they’ve given me Andy lol, and I definitely had a fair share of laughs throughout the game. I think after s5, Double Trouble felt refreshing, which created the illusion that it’s better. I’m not saying it’s much worse, not at all, but it’s positively mediocre, which I would still take over s5 every time.
Thank you for reading through this sheet of text, if you did! I’ll definitely be here for s7 because I don’t have that much respect for myself lol. And I’ll still be here in between the seasons - we have the fanfics to get through, don’t we? But until then,
Stay hydrated, islanders. xoxo
#me and my unsolicited hot takes hahaha#as always i went off lol#the overall score is the average of all the categories#no matter how i feel about s6 i already miss it😢#and I’m already missing andy😭😭😭#there’s no way i’ll feel ready to give it my all for a s7 boo because I’m weird like that lol#litg#love island the game#litg s6#litg double trouble#litg everyone#fusebox#fusebox games
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Sorry if this is a weird question but how long did it take for you to start making art you felt was good enough, at least at the time? I have a lot of ideas for projects I want to make but I'm slowed down by not quite being at a level I'm happy with for professional endeavours. Wondering if I should quit while I'm ahead and just hire an artist I like.
Hoo. Good question.
It's hard to keep track of, honestly. I think every artist is going to feel a degree of "this could be better" about anything they make, and if that's all you're keeping track of it can feel like no progress is being made - but in hindsight, I think "this could be better" means a lot of different things, and what it means for my work has changed over time.
One of my earliest art-related memories is having a very clear image in my head of a pencil sketch I wanted to make (a family portrait of some wizards, a mom and dad flanking a young daughter) and then being immensely frustrated that what I produced was a pale, inexpert shadow of that image. The starting point I was at was "this doesn't look right and I don't know why," and I stayed there for a long time, even as I got overall better.
The first time I remember trying and failing to emulate a specific cartoon style, it was the manga Steam Detectives - I'd mostly been exposed to newspaper comics and scientific illustration, so I had never seen that sharp-angled straight-lined manga style before. There was a liveliness to it I couldn't capture, and that frustrated me. At this point I could see what was wrong, but couldn't yet correct it - my unconfident pencil sketching wasn't going to produce the same kind of three-dimensionality and flow as the brush strokes used in the, in the same way that a traced figure can look strangely odd and off-balance because it's only mimicking the outlines. At this point I'd hit "this doesn't look right and I know why, but I'm not sure how to fix it."
At that point, practice was kind of the only solution - unconfident linework can only be improved by honing the muscle memory and confidence of the artist, which I didn't know at the time or do on purpose but ended up happening anyway, especially once I got going on the channel and was regularly doing dozens to hundreds of drawings per project.
I do remember the first time I thought "oh, that's actually better than I expected" - I had broken my clavicle and my right arm was in a sling, and my art teacher encouraged me to try drawing something with my left instead. I am very much not ambidextrous and my lines were spidery and shaky, but when I stepped back at the end, the thing I'd tried to sketch - a portrait of a regal-looking elf man - actually wasn't too bad. The muscle memory in my right hand was completely absent from my left, but apparently my basic understanding of shapes and shadows had come through and made something that got across the gist of what I wanted. That was the first time I felt "this doesn't look right, but I already knew that, and what it does do is actually pretty solid."
At some point in the process of cranking out channel illustrations, and later chibi character commissions, without even noticing I hit a baseline level of confidence in what I was doing. Certain things got easier because I was doing them a lot more. I stopped thinking about whether a facial expression was communicating exactly what I wanted it to, stopped spending long stretches of time trying to refine poses - because in those specific areas I was no longer experiencing "this doesn't look right and I don't know why." I'd draw a face, realize it could look angrier, redraw the eyes and brows to be angrier, then move on. I'd block out a pose, decide the leg didn't look right, redraw it, line it and move on. It wasn't that I was nailing everything first try, it's that I'd had enough time and practice to quickly diagnose what wasn't working and quickly try something else to correct it.
Instead, I was thinking "this doesn't look right and I don't know why" about other things. Trees, buildings, figure shading, fire, water, metal textures. I still didn't feel ready to do the comic in earnest, but I'd started doing digital illustrations of the characters and mock-up pages/covers, and I kept finding problems in the composition. It didn't look right and I didn't know why. If I didn't know why, I couldn't fix it. A lot of that process boiled down to redrawing stuff until it managed to look right, then trying to reverse-engineer what had worked about that. I'd accidentally draw the most perfect torso and try to figure out what magic combination of lines had made that work. And again, it was a slow process, almost unnoticeable from my perspective, because I just gradually stopped worrying so much about unsolvable artistic problems because the solutions had just arisen with practice and experience. The background looks wack - it's probably under-shaded, darken some corners to make it match the foreground. This texture looks off - probably needs some particle effects to help give it detail. Etc etc.
At present, I very rarely think "this doesn't look right and I don't know why." I still have moments of "this doesn't look right" - almost constantly, probably - but they aren't noteworthy because I've had enough practice improvising solutions that it turns into a brief experimental phase before I fix whatever was bugging me and move on. It doesn't mean it's perfect, it just means whatever problems or places it could be improved are either subjective choices that are fine either way, or small mistakes I don't notice at the time. The process of error-correction and bug-fixing becomes quick and painless enough that I hardly think about how I used to spend ages agonizing over something that was wrong that I couldn't make look right.
The point I eventually got to could probably be best described as "I could make this better if I wanted - do I want to do that?"
Making a comic like this, it's very important for me to consider the value of pouring too much into any one page. If I vastly overdesign anything, I'm going to need to keep up that level of design every time it shows up. If I drew every forest shot by hand-drawing every single tree I'd never get anything done. If something looks off and I know the solution would be more detailing and more texturing, sometimes I'll do that - filigree and particles and all that good sauce - but sometimes I'll just try a few things until I find a shortcut that makes it look fine to my eyes. Art can always be more polished, so that's not really a metric for completeness or ready-ness - I really do think the most helpful metric is whether you're regularly struggling because you can see something is wrong but you can't figure out what. If you consistently know what's wrong - or, more accurately and less judgmentally, what could be polished if you wanted to polish it - you're probably in a pretty good spot.
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Hi Herb!! I was wondering if you had any advice on opening commissions? I enjoy your art immensely and you were one of the first people I thought of to ask since I know you do commissions on occasion
Sorry if this is totally weird, I am just at a complete loss! Thanks for taking the time to read this!
These are things I wish I had figured out when I started selling art commissions. Also, feel free to use my current commission form to pattern your own. (also if anyone >.> wants to commission me, I am open <.<)
Step 1: Write a Terms of Service
Good terms of service will manage the expectations of your clients, establish a level of professionalism, and protect you if someone tries to argue something already made clear in writing. You can keep your ToS really simple, but it's good practice to include the following:
What kind of art you will/won't do (I don't do nfts)
Estimated duration of the project (2-4 weeks is my M.O.)
Number of revisions (more than 3, I add a fee)
When and how often you will update the client
Rights that you retain as an artist/permit to the client
Note: This mainly applies to personal/non-commercial work. If you are approached to make art for a game/magazine/website, do a ton more research. You will need to write out a contract that makes things Boringly Clear, and you will want to retain all of your rights as an artist.
Step 2: PRICES (scream)
Everyone starts out underselling. I'm underselling (I'm trying to get better.) Just go at your own pace. Look at what other artists are offering, but don't just look at the quality of their work. Think about your turnaround time, your style, and your target audience. If you are a fast worker or very detailed, that's worth a pay bump. Niche communities will pay solid money for artists to cater to them. So for example, if you draw fetish art, you have more room to charge higher.
ALWAYS GET PAYMENT UP FRONT. You can offer half upfront and half upon completion. If it's a big or long-term project, it's okay to go 30/70. BUT NEVER START WORK WITHOUT SOME SORT OF COMPENSATION. I just had a client that has not paid me the 2nd half and they are blacklisted. This rarely happens but it does happen.
Once you think you've got a price chart you feel comfortable with, add $20. Do it, even if it feels wrong. You may have to pay transaction fees, or the work (often) takes longer than expected. It'll be a small mercy to yourself to account for these things. Raise your prices a little bit each year because you are growing in experience and inflation (scream) is a thing that affects the arts too.
Step 3: INTEGRATE AND AUTOMATE
I wish I had done this step years ago, but I slacked off, and therefore staying organized was a nightmare. The less "business" stuff you have to do manually, the more time you can focus on "creative" stuff.
Make a google form. Make it as easy for the client to input information as possible. In the settings, set it so that responses will go to an excel file. The questions you ask will be the titles of the fields, so keep them short and easy to read. Reference image attachments will save to google drive.
You can set it up so that you will get an email whenever you get a new response (you might want to make a separate email account specifically for commissions.) Prewrite confirmation responses and save them as templates so that you're not writing the same email to clients over and over again.
Set reminders for responding to clients, requesting payment, and finishing work. This can be through google calender or some other app. You are responsible for facilitating communication. Even if the email is just, "Hey, just letting you know the work is still in progress, I will send you a wip in 1-2 days." Client assurance is high priority.
I use paypal invoice for payments. It means I have to pay a transaction fee, but I factor that into my prices. It also ensures that I have clear documentation for orders, I can send reminders easily if I haven't been paid, and it just looks more professional overall. You can use whatever service feels most comfortable, just make sure you practice good bookkeeping (*stares at my taxes in horror*)
Step 4: Mockups and Descriptions
Provide examples of the work that you are going to. Make a mockup of busts/half body/full body, etc. Don't include anything you don't intend to actually produce.
Make sure that your form includes room to answer EVERY question about the commission that you might have. This will reduce the amount of back and forth you need to have with your client. You want to be able to get that request, confirm it, send that invoice, and jump on it ASAP.
Step 5: Start small, be honest, be firm
If you haven't done commissions before, have a limited number of slots available. Take break time after you've finished a certain amount. Don't languish over an art piece. At some point, it will be as done as it can be. Send it to the client, and keep rolling.
If you feel like you are getting overwhelmed, tell your client. It's bad practice to go on hiatus and not notify them while they're waiting on an update. If you genuinely forget to touch base with them, do so as soon as possible. Apologize, then finish the work as soon as you can. Refund if you think that's the most polite route, but completing the task is usually more appreciated.
Be cordial, but firm. People will try to bully you over little things, but don't give in. Ignore folks who say your prices are too high. Make it clear that if they ask for more than what is agreed, you will charge a fee. If you feel like a request is sketchy, get a second opinion.
obligatory paypal link: help me pay kravitz jr's vet bills
#Okay I'm sleepy i'm going to bed#i hope this was helpful#i wrote this at midnight whoops#tips#advice#art commission advice#art advice#art business
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