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minty-mumbles · 8 months

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Linked Universe Survey 2023

The long awaited results of the survey. Sorry it took me forever, making graphs is hard.

There were 452 responses to the survey as a whole, which is almost double what we got last year, so thank you to everyone who participated!

If you want to see the raw data, you can find that here. I had thoughts about the data, but compiling that into another post would be too much of a hassle. Feel free to send me asks about it though!

The rest of the post will be under a read more as it it large

Demographics

Other: Demigirl (4), Transmasc (3), Grey genderfluid, Unlabeled, Demiboy, Demiagender

Other: Omnisexual (4), Poly (2), Trixic, Abroromantic or Bellusromantic, Demisexual

General Questions

Other: Quotev, Discord, their own google docs

Other: Discord, Variations of "I haven't posted yet, but I pan to" and "I haven't posted my fics in ages",

Other: Wattpad, Deviantart, Discord

Other: Crochet dolls, Custom dolls, Roleplay blogs (2), Fan translations, Headcanons (2), Piano music

The purple section in the “Warriors vs Warrior” chart is supposed to read “Warrior.” I made a typo.

Favorites and Least Favorites

Selected Free Response Answers

im sorry warriors i just can't play your game (it is very very hard. i am stuck very early on in the game)

I love cats meow meow meow

was extremely tempted to put twilight for least favorite. unfortunately he is my favorite to write from the perspective of (he has taken over most of my wips. help) and that probably counts for something. WILD on the other hand. hooo boy how the hell do i characterize this gargoyle. why is he Like That. least favorite it is

Twiddy

very good fandom to be in :) everybody is very nice

It's a straight up crime that Wars lost the aesthetics poll so quickly. He has such a peak Link design with the best colors. Ugh I'm getting wistful.

FROGS. FROGS. FROGS. ALSO HAPPY PRIDE MONTH. FROGS. FROGS. FROGS. FROGS. FROGS.

I will fight Hylia herself and the next person who implies Twi can't handle spice. If we're going to lean into him being southern/Midwestern, which is an alright stero type for our rancher, please keep in mind the culture you're basing him off. The south and midwest can handle their spice, I assure you. Have you ever had authentic Louisiana gumbo? It will melt you tongue off. Or some good old fashion spicy fried chicken? I promise the real stuff has quite a kick. (In all seriousness, though. It's more important that you're having fun. And even I can admit the idea of Twi being an Ordonian who can't handle his spice is more than a little funny.)

I am an OoT Link edgelord and have been since early 2017. So, in September of that year, when an artist by the name of jojo56830 puts out a lineup of nine different Links and the Hero of Time is there – the oldest, no eye, Hero’s Shade armor? I saw that one sketch and just thought “oh this is gonna be bad.” Yeah of course he has the coolest design. By the way, it’s only a matter of time until Fierce Deity shows up in the comic and I have reason to believe it could be this current Dawn arc. Dawn … Dawn of a New Day … and who brought about the Dawn of a New Day? Fierce Deity. Twilight is recovering but still injured and what will happen if he falls again? Fierce Deity is coming and we need to be prepared. In this essay I will—

Remember that time when someone put the whole script of the bee movie in here? I’m not that dedicated, and I don’t have that time, but let us remember and hope someone else does it again this time. Cause someone is bound too. We’re all crazy enough to do it. Alright, love you and stay hydrated pls!

Hi! I joined this fandom really recent but i’ve always seen LU stuff on pinterest and elsewhere. Only recently have i actually took the time to understand the fandom and get back into LOZ stuff and i adore the characters and story! The more and more fanart, fanfics, and comics i see about the different Links the more i love them all. It’s such a pain to pick just one i like or one i don’t like because they’re all so unique. I love this fandom and hope to get more involved!! Have a wonderful rest of your day :]

Epona is an underrated queen

your mom

I really don't get why Zelda is called Artemis. Athena makes more sense???? It perplexes me

Anyone seeing this should check out Breanna’s E!Wild AU

Something something queer every Link into oblivion!

#linked universe #lu survey 2023 #lu wild #lu twilight #lu time #lu warriors #lu legend #lu wind #lu hyrule #lu four #lu sky

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wife-of-halloween · 2 months

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The young women in Hazbin Hotel are so infantilized by the fandom.

Yes, it's true that any noncanon ship on the show will be contested, even the least toxic ones. However, people try to prevent any other ships with the girls; especially Velvette and Nifty. I can't even tell you how many times I've seen people trying to stop others from ships involving them.

It's constantly, "Nifty is like a child. That's weird!" or "She's like Alastor's daughter" or "Husk and Angel are like her dads". I'm sorry, but that's not canon, so you can't just use that to justify attacking others for their ships. I get it, okay. Nifty is small with a high-pitched voice and acts childish and sensitive at times. But she also has moments where she acts adult. For instance, her whole "bad boy punishing" thing or her getting drunk. And you can view her as a daughter-figure if you like, but don't make that everyone else's problem. She's a full-grown adult, but any ships or adult treatment of her by the fandom gets flamed because she seems "childish".

It's especially annoying because fans can't make the argument that either Nifty or Velvette are "in a canon ship already" like they could with Chaggie or Huskerdust or Lilifer. Their only reasoning against ships with them is the whole child thing.

Then there's Velvette. Most of the fanart I see of her involving the other Vees makes her very small and cutesy and want to portray her as a "daughter" to Vox and Valentino. (I'm sensing a common theme here with the whole "daughter thing"). I've heard that Vivziepop has confirmed Velvette to be in her thirties so that would be a very odd dynamic if she was so grown and close in age to Vox and Valentino. Valvox is basically canon, but some people ship the three Vees in a poly ship or some variation. It's all in good fun but people are attacked for it because they view Velvette as a child.

With Charlie, she actually is a daughter figure, so debates here are a bit more grounded in reality. She is Lucifer's child and has that dynamic going for her. Alastor also called himself a father figure to her out of the blue, though Vivzie confirmed that he was being manipulative to Lucifer and doesn't actually view himself that way. Charlie is also in a canon ship, which gives people ammunition against those who subscribe to non-canon ships.

If the woman in the show is "young" and isn't a mother like Carmilla or Lilith, then fans treat her like a child. Can people just enjoy their headcanons for themselves and quit weaponizing them against non-canon ships?

#nifty hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel nifty #velvette hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel velvette #the vees #hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar

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tinylantern · 5 months

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It's interesting how some of the criticisms I've seen over on r/runefactory concerning RF4's writing--specifically those surrounding Act 3--are serving as inspiration for a potential AU to explore in fanart (and maybe fanfiction as well, if I ever get around to it.)

So, you know, even as someone who adores Rune Factory 4's cast of characters and the individual character arcs everyone goes through, I am not without my criticisms of the writing. One thing I am definitely not a fan of is the fact that all three acts of the main story are essentially "save Ventuswill: Parts 1, 2, and 3." It's not that "save the Divine Dragon" is a bad plot to have, but that it never really switches up the formula enough to keep it consistently interesting across the length of RF4's story. You can easily describe the three acts of RF4's story as "Ventuswill is secretly dying! You must save her! Oh, now she's dying again! Get the Rune Spheres back from Ethelberd and save her! Surprise! She's not actually dead! Let's save her for real this time!" And because of that lack of variation, the most interesting aspects of Act 2 and Act 3, at least for me, are not saving Ventuswill, but the stuff that happens with the other characters who are involved in the plot. Arthur, who cites frequently in his dialogue how much he dislikes having been born a prince, utilizes the resources he has at his disposal to get Selphia the support it needs from the capital because as much as he may complain about his position, he knows he has a responsibility as a member of Norad's royal family and the true prince who was supposed to run Selphia. Doug, who was revealed earlier in Act 1 to actually be a spy for the Sechs with a personal vendetta against Ventuswill, feels immense guilt for having believed in a lie that ultimately hurt the people he cares about, and he actively seeks to redeem himself to the point of getting injured multiple times across Act 2. And during Act 3, we finally learn that Frey/Lest is a surviving descendant of the Earthmates who have spent literal centuries trying to find a solution to the runes in the land dying out so that Ventuswill will no longer have to rely on the sacrifices of the Guardians in order to live.

However, a post by u/KamenRiderSekai, who I believe goes by @avenger-concerto here, highlights that Act 3 does, to an extent, potentially ruin the narrative themes of Rune Factory 4's story. Even as someone who generally prefers happy endings to sad or bittersweet ones (hell, the whole reason I originally bought Rune Factory 4 Special was because I needed a more lighthearted game after the literal rain of depression that was Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights), Act 3 does feel very... out of place. A lot of RF4's themes revolve around those of loss, grief, loneliness, and self-isolation, and how you need to make the most of the time you have with those you love instead of shoving them away because life is so short. Although it was upsetting to see Ventuswill die at the end of the Act 2 despite all the crap Lest/Frey went through trying to save her, it feels... fitting, especially since Frey/Lest's ending narration solidifies that although they and the rest of the town were in mourning for some time, they resolved to move forward with their lives because all Ventuswill wanted was a bright future for her friends and for Selphia, and she was absolutely tired of people sacrificing themselves for her sake.

But Act 3 comes along and you learn that Oh, not only was Ventuswill not ready to go just yet, but we still have a chance to save Ventuswill despite the fact that she's literally dead. I get that although it has its "dark" moments, Rune Factory is overall a fairly lighthearted series, but it just seems very shoehorned in for the sake of giving players a happy ending where Ventuswill is alive and well. And when you do complete Rune Prana and save Ventuswill, there is so very little fanfare to the point that there isn't even a credits roll like the first two acts; all you get is a commemorative illustration featuring Ventuswill in her human form down in the trophy room. It makes Act 3 almost feel like one big afterthought despite the important lore it contains, especially in regards to Frey/Lest.

With all that said, KamenRiderSekai did briefly bring up an interesting, alternate concept for Act 3, one that has been gnawing at my brain off and on again since I originally first read it. Taken directly from the original reddit thread:

"A more apt arc would have been maybe the birth or succession of a new "Ventuswill", which is something I've always thought of as an alternative for years on end."

This makes so much more sense to me on so many levels. First off: Ventuswill does state during Act 1 that, when she expires, the runes her body gives off will be enough to sustain the land for another 1000 years, during which a new Native Wind Dragon will be born to play their role as she did. A new "Ventuswill" being born, possibly as a result of the influences of the Rune Spheres as well as whatever efforts the protagonist and the Guardians put in, would 100% make sense from a lore standpoint. However, it also makes sense from a thematic standpoint in regards to the franchise as a whole.

A major theme prevalent in the Rune Factory series is the cycle of life, death and rebirth. In almost every game, the protagonist loses their memories, resulting in the "death" of their past self. They wake up in a new town that takes them in, where they create a new life for themselves; eventually, they fall in love with someone, get married, and start a family with their spouse. This lines up so well with the idea that even though the old Ventuswill is gone, she is not forgotten and her spirit will live on in the new Wind Dragon who will one day guide and protect the land like their predecessor.

If I were to make this into a full blown AU, there are other things I would like to explore as well. I highlighted in a post from August about how Arthur's Another Episode reveals that Selphia's relationship with the royal family is complicated because it is not actually ruled by the king, but by Ventuswill herself, and that her death should have had more implications in terms of Selphia's political status as well as in regards to Frey/Lest and Arthur's switch... which it doesn't because a major point of RF4's gameplay is that you're in charge of Selphia and even Arthur returning to his position briefly during Act 2 doesn't affect your ability to manage the town through the Order Symbol.

There is also the matter of the Guardians; although they willingly allowed themselves to have the Etherlink spell cast on them because they wanted to save Ventuswill, all four of them had lives prior to their centuries-long slumber and with her death, it seemingly renders the sacrifices they made pointless. So, you know, there is an incredibly great potential for angst as well as character development if this becomes a "Okay, we failed to save Ventuswill, but we can speedrun the birth of the new Ventuswill" plot.

I'm sorry for the massive ramble. It is just strangely satisfying knowing that some genuinely valid criticisms of a game I adore have the potential to result in some incredibly tasty fanwork scenarios.

#rune factory #rune factory 4 #rf4 #rf4 ventuswill #spoilers

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applegameisprollytaken · 7 months

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Welcome to... I dunno, some bullshit? Look, I mostly am making this to do some shameless self promotion, and explain some gimmicks.

Let's start with the side blogs

@the-forgotten-god-of-spite

This is Eivel, an OC who, as the url suggests, is the forgotten god of spite. He is, despite barely being at a tenth of his former power, more powerful than some gods.

Then we have @plushiemonstervoid

This lil baby man is a OC known as Monster apples (the naming conventions will be explained after the side blogs). He is a he/they babyboy who exists only to be optimistic and eldritch. Did I mention he eats people's souls and absorbs their personalities? He is the wholesome one, in case it wasn't obvious

Then, @the-fort-official

This is all the other OC's I have made. Some have their own blogs, but 99% are there. It's basically a shared account between most of my OC's, or at least the ones who live in the F.O.R.T.. (send an ask asking for one from... well, basically any fictional universe, and you will probably meet a citizen. But watch out!)

Also: @themothtoyourflame

One of the fine citizens of the F.O.R.T. actually managed to get a date. With mothman, but still. He got his own account. Sadly, mothman-fucker apples still has to use the f.o.r.t. account

@game-overkill...

Well, let's just say, in some alternate timelines, the villains decide to stop pulling punches. So everyone dies. Almost, that is. One survived. One escaped. And is doing a AMA!

@appledoawrite

My rant blog has become a writing blog. See the blogs pinned post for more, because I'm tired of writing. Go there for fanfics and also sometimes saying things about my different characters.

@projectb-33

The text Beekeeper. He sure is a guy. Too bad he barely knows anything about himself, is a kleptomaniac, and in denial of being gay. Oh, also, he is very not ok. Because I like him as a character

@appledoamisc

Music? Animations? Fanart? You want it, we got it. As long as you have enough reblogs!

The context bits for lore and stuff:

The fort is a base of operations for all the variations of apples from across the multiverse. They took over a whole universe just to build it

Naming conventions: most versions are named after where they are from, or their gimmick, as most are named some variation of Nicolas, or apples (if the former, then will probably have a nickname regarding the latter). Examples: bioshock apples, crusader apples, monster apples, looper apples, prime apples, ect

The multiverse I go with is a bit complicated, but the barest of bones is that all fiction is a alternate universe, and there are "teirs" of multiverse, which is basically a bunch of bubbles that get harder and harder to travel between.

There is a void. It tends to mix whatever gets thrown in and spit out amalgamations. Or, if you have enough plot armor, make your own nemesis (see prime apples and evil apples)

There are villains, and they might be hunted towards. Sadly, they are not interested in talking to you. Exept the seduction twins, but I try to keep this place at least mostly sfw, so... no.

More to be added when I remember

SIDE BLOGS ARE ASK FOCUSED. IF NOBODY SENDS ASKS, NOBODY GETS TO SEE THE LORE I WORKED SO HARD ON

The obligatory dni's:

Transphobes, homophobes, radfems, terfs, nazis, racists, Karen's, creeps, weirdos, and other unsavory persons. (If you think a specific type of person is worse for one of their attributes, then you probably are not allowed.)

Sadly, nobody cares about the lore, so... enjoy seeing all the random posts that gave my brain the happy chemicals

#introduction #applegameisprollytaken #idk add tags or something plz

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piracytheorist · 10 months

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tagged by @priscilla9993!

ff.net is considered "old"? Especially for my standards it doesn't, like, I made an account in like 2015... but I also stopped updating there about four years later so XD

If the comment box isn't mean from screaming and keysmashing what is it meant for. How else am I supposed to convey my feelings when a fic rips my heart out and stomps on it for good measure?

I've written self-indulgent fic alright. Most of them are on my whump account, cause I go all out there, lol.

Most of my fic is unbeta'd, lol. Even my latest multichapter wasn't a "typical" beta-read, cause I didn't give my beta the full chapters, only asked them about specific phrases I wasn't certain about.

About the researching thing... I kinda like it? But it's half-and-half, like it's VERY tempting for me to just wing it and half the time I just wing it, lol. But other times I research quite a bit before writing something.

As for "multifandom writer"... it's again kind of. I have written for four different fandoms up to now, but rarely at the same time. I usually move headspaces for the different fandoms, and it confuses me if I jump from one to the other too quickly XD

"At least one unpublished or unfinished story" if only it was only one T_T

Getting fanart for my fic has been among the best things to happen to me. I remember how fucking giddy I was, waiting to get on a long bus trip, and getting a notification about a mention, and it was someone surprising me with fanart for my fanfic. Best feeling ever.

I not only get ideas in the middle of the night anymore - I record them. When I'm too sleepy to have my phone in my face and type, I open my voice recorder app and record my idea with voice. There's been some fun incidents with this (like me saying "character sees this and goes like whoa what the fuck" when this specific character would never say "whoa what the fuck") but it's been a very interesting exercise. It's how half my ideas for Macabre Theme and Variations stuck to memory so I could use them in the fic.

I both do and don't want to be a professional writer. Idk. I have an original idea for a show, but it would never ever be picked up, especially in my country. It would be so fun to see it acted out, but I'll have to be satisfied with it staying in my memory.

uhhh tagging some pals cause I'm curious to learn more about you but no pressure! @lentachorum @maimaktes @prettyblubox @samatedeansbroccoli @delicatebluebirdruins @smoresbythefyresyde and whoever if you see this and want to do it consider yourself tagged

blank template, sorry I forgot to post it lol!

#outline what outline #I don't outline I just type shit #and hope they make sense in the long run #I've never even read on wattpad #... that's a lie. I did read once but it was a dramatic reading of a very bad fanfic that we did with my sister for fun #but yeah I've made no account or actually used that site #nette speaks #tag game

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caliginouscreature · 2 years

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If you may have a fictotype, how do you tell your “noemata” apart from strongly-held headcanons or projecting?

Psychological nonhumanity is a hot topic for all kinds of debates and discussions, and understandably so. There’s tons of room for variation, and infinite possible reasons and presentations for it from copinglinking to fictherianthropy. But with non/alterhumanity of any origin, lack of “memories” is a known struggle with those wondering whether or not they may “count” (and is something I intend to dedicate a separate post to talking about later). This is where a new community term, “noema” (pronounced “no-ee-muh”), was introduced to possibly fill in an area of ambiguity left in the wake of such worries. It’s a term left rather vague on purpose, making it useful for describing many kinds of feelings.

It is often described as feeling like “just knowing” something about your ’type, whether it’s something about their body, past, home, opinions... could be anything! But, in some circumstances, how can you tell the difference between true noemata, and fan theories one has dwelled upon so long and hard that they just “feel right”? Can you trick yourself into thinking you “just know” something by forgetting how long you’ve actually thought about it? Is “feeling right” all it can take to count?

In this thinking-out-loud post, I’d like to point at the character of Snufkin from the Moomins franchise-- a character who seems like a great example to use due both to how I myself find him relatable, and how I’ve seen other Moomins fans receive and interpret him through fan content.

Isn’t he spiffy!

There is no other fandom I’ve yet been in where so many of the fans (at least in the english-speaking one, that I myself was in) had never actually interacted with the bulk of the source material. Sure, some watched the ’90s anime on youtube, but large quantities of fans never touched the books or comics (even those that have official english versions, pirated or not), or sometimes even only got their material through fanart and fanfic. A quantifiable amount of english-language Moomins fanworks from around 2019 are going off of nothing but what “feels right”.

Now, this isn’t just me looking for an excuse to whine about the shallowness of the Moomins fandom, or me trying to invalidate people who don’t really interact with the sources of their ’types. But in my opinion, it’s a comparison I can’t help but make. How far can you basically just go off of vibes? How do you know what counts?

It’s like, fascinatingly easy to get your brain used to a certain headcanon. Even some diehard Moomins fans-- ones who actually do go to the trouble of digging up and consuming obscure canon material-- could admit it’s easy to forget that Snufkin isn’t confirmed to be canonically transgender. “Trans Snufkin” is an extremely popular headcanon in the english Moomins fandom, and most who hold it, myself sometimes included, would tell you it’s because it simply “feels right”. It’s to the point that many consider it a vital part of how they write and read Snufkin!

Projecting onto a character you see a bit of yourself in is also pretty easy to do, by accident or otherwise. Most Moomins fans I see doing this do it with Moomintroll, but it’s arguably even more obvious when it’s done with Snufkin. I once saw a fic (which I won’t link, so as not to possibly get them teased), which the author admitted was written as a form of vent art, where Snufkin hated coffee... but if you read Comet in Moominland, where Snufkin is introduced, one of the very first things he ever says is asking for coffee, he likes it so much! Something similar goes for fics that make Snufkin speak any swear words, a thing he is confirmed to dislike. How much of this is active self-indulgence, and how much is due to it “feeling right” to the author? I try and notice when I may be projecting on a character or not, because I find it to be useful in my work, but we can’t all be so self-aware (and who knows, I may be less self-aware than I think!).

Back to fictotypy... I am well aware that one’s ’type ID isn’t always going to be a 1:1 to how it is in canon. To compare the phenomenon to fictives, I’ve met multiple manifestations of the same character across different systems, and none of them are identical (even if there are multiple fictives of the same character within one system!)! If someone turns out to be a Snufkin, and they can’t force themself to like coffee, that doesn’t make them any less a Snufkin. They may just be a Snufkin from an adaptation where his opinions on coffee are unclear, or a Snufkin from an AU! ... or maybe they just hate coffee that much, hehe.

But how can a Snufkin-- or someone who may be of any character/species ID-- tell their possible noemata apart from some other similar non-noemata thing? When I come to a “headcanon” or “interpretation” of something from fiction, it often feels like a process of going “Hey, it’d be cool or interesting if...” or “It could make sense that...” and then pondering and scanning canon material to possibly back it up so that it can sound legit enough to not ping as OOC to an onlooker (at least if I explain it, depending). Ponder any of these long enough, and they can wind up “feeling right”, in a way, even if I took an active role in figuring out how they might work and know they may not be truly canon. Are my numerous theories and headcanons about the species that the Groke belongs to that have little-to-no canon backup the result of me being very autistic and having an immense passion for worldbuilding, or could their combination of how I relate to the Groke herself make them evidence of noemata for a possible ID? When I get offended if Snufkin is written or treated a certain way in fanworks, is it just me being a stickler for canon compliance and feeling hurt when traits in him I relate to are demonized, or could it also be a sign I may be a Snufkin? I’m already pleased that I look a bit like him in real life, but I’m not sure I feel if I am a Snufkin, as it’s not really as intense a desire as some of my other possible IDs... folks argue that such IDs need not be intense or constant and can be experienced casually, but how can I tell the difference?

When, as beings with human brains wired to delight in such pattern recognition and ascribing meanings to the like, can anyone tell the difference? How do I tell my noemata apart from what may just be thoughts about my possible IDs that I like to have? As someone who’s questioning several possible IDs and is uncertain about ’most all of them, it’s hard for me to know the differences that define this.

A fun little question to any artists with ’types from fiction, to close this post off with: When you write or draw fanart of the character or species you may ID with to post in public, do you base their interpretation off of what you feel are your noemata, or do you tend to lean more to what will be more definitely canon-compliant? Why or why not? If you do the latter, does it make you question your ““validity””? Is making fanworks of your ID a pretty personal experience, or is it more of a separate thing you can do for fun? Does it vary?

#noemata #moomin kin #fictionkin #fictionkind #fictionkith #fictionhearted #otherkind #synpath #tagging this w moomin kin b/c it's relevant tbh. maybe a serious Snufkinkin might see this #this post is obv very much more about psychological IDs. if you get Visions or your Soul just Knows then good for u #I'm so perplexed like would I ACTUALLY have a semi-prehensile tail or do I just think it'd be nice? also who doesn't want that lol #I'm full of ponderings like that. and ones even yet more niche and specific *shrugs!!*

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utilitycaster · 2 years

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On character design, what are your thoughts on there being official art? Not the art itself, though if you have thoughts please share, but for example, my own opinion is that while it's a good tool and help for cosplay and nice as a base for artists to use when drawing, I feel like it stifles a lot of creativity. When you have a "correct" template to follow it's so much rarer to see any designs that don't match up, and if they do they easily fall into samey stuff or stereotypes like characters that are infantilised being chubby or having big round glasses (as was mentioned with Imogen and Jester). I think it'd be really cool to see what all the talented artists in this fandom would do with character design if there wasn't anything but descriptions as to what characters looked like (I've seen one person do that and it's easily some of my favourite c3 art out there). With official art it just sort of feels like every piece of fanart ends up being a bit of a dtiys of the characters. Imagine how many cool robot designs of FCG there'd be for example, since that is a race that really lends itself to unique designs as it doesn't follow the humanoid forms everyone else has. I think it'd also lend itself more to small variations that end up happening during sessions, like imogen being blue or bald. And while I'm not sure if she started wearing them, Fearne got those glasses of charming people and I don't think I've seen any art of her wearing any yet

This is going to sound pretty harsh, but: I like having official art, and I like seeing other people's interpretations within the bounds of that art but a lot of "interpretations" go into the realm of "literally an OC" and often in ways that are like...actively worse. I've seen multiple people try to tone down Ashton's obnoxious outfit or draw his hair as regular hair rather than purple crystal and it's like "literally just make your own character at this point, who is this bargain-basement imitator that you captioned with Ashton's name."

Like...I recognize this sounds rich coming from me, a person who can just about draw a stick figure, but if someone wants to draw creative aeormatons...no one is stopping them, but at the same time, FCG is a yellow robot with a sort of cylindrical head and big blue glassy eyes, with an image of some blades of grass on their chest, and that's what they look like and if you draw something else I'm just like "maybe make an original character then? If you say it's Aeormaton concept art you can even still tag it as Critical Role in good faith."

It's also worth noting: I don't reblog a ton of NADDPod or TAZ art, but those are both fandoms that by and large haven't had very prominent official art (at least not until TAZ Balance's graphic novels). The following two things have happened pretty often:

The art still is largely all very much the same - which, I should point out, I don't mind! I mind when people all do the same thing and I think that thing sucks, but like, you can look at my blog and see tons of reblogs of renditions of Imogen looking largely the same throughout (ie, very similar to the official depiction), but they're interesting and enjoyable for reasons of composition and art style. I have a stronger musical background than visual arts, and the idea with music(unless you're doing like, improvisational jazz) is that you add your own self-expression through the interpretation, but you are still largely hitting the same notes as anyone else, and I don't think that's a bad thing! I think it shows judgment and talent to work within parameters in a way that is still unique to you. Toddlers can easily scribble outside the box and frequently do. It takes some skill to actually add something inside the box that makes people go "oh hey I never saw the box that way."

People get, shall we say, self-righteous and terrible. I think representation in art is important, but this is where you get headcanon depictions being treated as canon, and then, if canon art comes out later and conflicts with that hc depiction, a certain segment of people start bringing out the accusations of bigotry and the creators are like "literally I was just hanging out". I've mentioned how absolutely bugfuck people got about Taako having blue-green skin. I also love NADDPod but people who complained about the lack of diversity in CR often touted NADDPod, a show that is also entirely made up of cis white people over 30, as some shining unproblematic example; at least part of this was, in my opinion, because there was no official depiction of the characters and therefore people felt more validated in their headcanon depictions - there isn't, actually, any more representation. (This is not the only reason why this happened, nor should "fandoms having some obnoxious people in them" be a reason for creators to do anything ever, but, on a practical level...having official fan art is my preference).

I guess the tl;dr is: if you truly want to let your creativity roam free...why have you chosen the medium of "art based on an existing work." I say this as someone who writes fanfic - it's great! It's fun! Also if I wanted to write a story that deviates significantly from how the characters are depicted in that work, I would write original fiction rather than a fan work.

#something something ship of theseus metaphor idk it's been a long day #on fandom

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thelastspeecher · 2 years

Note

In the MerStan and Ford au, do Ford still need his glasses underwater or are they fixed because of Merman transformation.

Second ask, if you don’t mind, do Ford can turn human like any other mer and does he take Stan to see his grandmother, Caryn?

Sorry for the many questions, I just love the idea. I hope you post them in AO3 in the same place, they would be easier to find.

As for your last point, you're in luck! I have a compilation of my MerGucket ficlets on AO3. It's specifically the OG MerGucket AU, so it doesn't include the Egg Stan AU that I was posting about yesterday. But I do have them on AO3, and you can find them right here!

(As for whether I'd put other things up on AO3...idk, it's a surprising amount of work and effort and at least for now, I don't have the bandwidth to do so. If enough people nag me about a specific AU, I might put it on AO3. Eventually.)

Okay, now to get to the first part of your question, lmao. Ford does not need his glasses underwater, but on land, he does. I actually went and dug through my blog to find a fanart to confirm this. If you haven't seen the amazing MerStan and MerFord that agent-jaselin made, you can find it here.

The second part of your question, yes! In all my Mer AUs, the merfolk can turn human. Some variations have a better human form than others, but they're all able to go on land. The born mers have to be careful, though, since they don't have belly buttons and thus shouldn't let any humans see their torso unclothed. Since Egg Stan AU Ford was genetically rewritten to be effectively a born mer, he is missing his belly button as well.

I think eventually, Ford might let Stan see Caryn. When Stan's about five or so, Shermie reappears in Ford's life because he became Angie's mate, and Shermie works hard to pressure Ford into at least letting Caryn know he's not dead. Caryn knows everything about Shermie being a mer now, so Ford won't even have to explain the whole mer thing.

It does take a long while before that happens, though. Ford tries to block out most reminders of his past life, and that includes his older brother and mother. But eventually, Shermie gets through to Ford, and Ford makes a very rare trip to human territory to introduce Stan to Caryn.

#MerGucket AU #Egg Stan AU #ask #elishevart

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kenobihater · 3 years

Text

You’re (Probably) Drawing Archers Wrong

Hello, my name is Len and I’ve shot archery as a hobby for as long as I can remember. I have a problem: fanart depicting archery is oftentimes Very Wrong! I feel like most of this stems from not using good reference pictures, and from a general lack of knowledge. So, I wanted to create a post for anyone interested in accurately drawing an archer! Disclaimer: this is not a comprehensive post or a tutorial on how to shoot, and is intended for artists. That said, if you’re interested in archery, you may still find value in this post, though I recommend doing your own research. I’m certain there will be errors here considering I do this as a hobby not a profession, and I welcome corrections. Finally, archery can be dangerous, and even if you don’t read any more of this post, PLEASE read the safety section.

Safety

This part is going to be a PSA, because the thought of someone reading my post, getting into archery themselves, and doing these things? It terrifies me. So, rules number one, two, and three are: never aim at another person (duh), never use a damaged bow or arrows, and never, NEVER dry fire a bow. Dry firing means drawing back and releasing the string without an arrow. This can make your bow EXPLODE. It can hurt you, and even if your bow doesn’t explode, it’s fucked it up so bad that you should never shoot that bow again. Don’t do it, and don’t draw art of people doing it. Okay, PSA done, now onto the rest of the post.

There’s a TL;DR at the bottom!

First thing’s fist: the equipment! Archery requires four things: a bow, a quiver, arrows, and protective equipment (which is usually what I see most posts lacking). The first thing you should do before you draw your archer is decide what type of bow to give them. I’m not covering crossbows because I’ve only shot one once and I also Hate Them. There are three main types of bows: longbows, recurves, and compounds.

Bows

There are two different types of bows that are commonly called a longbow: English longbows, and flatbows (yes I’m considering flatbows a type of longbow to simplify things). English longbows are very large and have a very high draw weight (which means it’s hard to pull the sting back). These were used mainly by the English in the Middle Ages. Flatbows are typically smaller and have a lower draw weight as well as a slightly different profile. These were mainly used by Native American tribes such as the Hupa, the Karuk, and the Wampanoag, as well as prehistoric Europeans and the Finnish, among others. It is often seen in historical fiction and fantasy, and the English longbow is usually depicted as Robin Hood’s preferred bow type. I believe Katniss uses a flatbow in the beginning of Hunger Games, but don’t quote me on that.

Recurves have limbs that curve outwards and are smaller than longbows. Many, many cultures have used these, including but not limited to certain West-coast Native American tribes, the Mongols, the Scythians, the Greeks, the Turks, the Koreans, and the Chinese. Recurves can be made of either wood or of a combination of wood, horn, and glue, making them either composite or non-composite. These are the bows you typically see mounted archers using, and are often used in competitions today. It’s commonly seen in fantasy, and is the bow type used by Legolas, Tauriel, Katniss Everdeen in Mockingjay, Merida, Green Arrow has a lever action, and Hawkeye uses a silly collapsible one.

Compound bows are the most commonly used bow among hunters, are almost always made of fiberglass and either carbon fiber or aluminum, are Technical Looking, and pack the biggest punch for the least amount of effort. It’s a modern invention used worldwide. I don’t know where else to put this, but almost everyone who I know that shoots a compound uses something called a trigger release (pictured below) to draw back the string because it means your release is cleaner.

So, those are the main types of bow! Google which bow would be appropriat for the era and region your character is from, or if they’re from space or an alternate dimension, pick whichever you think fits the character the best.

Quivers

There are two types of quiver: back quivers, like Legolas wears, and hip quivers, like those used in the Olympics. Which quiver you should use varies from culture to culture and time period to time period. If it’s fantasy, set in modern day, or set in the future, you can chose whichever you prefer.

Arrows

Arrows can have shafts of wood or fiberglass, can have real feathers or synthetic for fletching, and can have countless different types of heads. The main two that are in use today are called field points and broadheads, and most commercial arrow shafts allow you to freely switch them out.

The arrow on the top is a field point, used only for target practice, and the arrow on the bottom is a broadhead, used only for hunting or war. You never hunt with a field point, and never practice with a broadhead. Basically every fictional character out there is shooting to kill, so they’ll all use either a broadhead, or a culturally appropriate variation of deadly arrowhead (bodkin, scythian, flint, etc). Do your research! A Native American wouldn’t use a bodkin, and a Scythian wouldn’t use a flint arrowhead!

Protective Equipment

The one really necessary piece of protective equipment is hand protection. If your character uses a three fingered draw or a pinch draw (we’ll speak on draws later), they need either an archery tab, or an archery glove. If your character is using a thumb draw, they need a thumb ring. These three pieces of equipment keep archers from getting blisters and damaged skin.

This is a tab.

This is the type of glove that I use. All an archery glove needs to do is protect your three draw fingers, but it can be more traditionally glove-like than this one. I’ve even seen ones that are a combination leather bracer and archery glove that give big Fantasy Vibes.

This is a ring. Some historical ones can get REAL ornate and pretty.

Another piece of protective equipment that is commonly used is an arm guard or a bracer. Not everyone uses one, because if your form is good the string should not be hitting your arm, so you can get away with not giving your character one. They can vary in style from something like the more minimal one below up to a full leather bracer.

Form

Form can vary greatly and I’m not about to diss other archery disciplines especially ones I’m ignorant on, so just know that not every culture has the same form. I’m just going to cover a few cultures’ variations, and what I’ve been taught by 21st century Midwest archers. There are several aspects to form, as form is just another term for “everything pertaining to how you shoot”. I’m going to break it down into stance, posture, draw, elbow discipline, holding the bow, and anchor. These are not the only aspects of form (there’s aiming, release, and breath control), but these are the only relevant aspects to drawing archers. I will not be covering mounted archery because I’m sadly ignorant on the topic. I recommend doing your own research and looking into Mongolian mounted archery.

Stance

The thing all stances have in common is that you should put your feet a shoulder-length apart, balance your weight equally between both feet, keep your knees slightly bent, and stand facing approximately 90 degrees away from your target. There are three stances that are common that I’m aware of: squared, open, and closed.

Squared stance means keeping both feet squared up to an imaginary line. Open means that you’re facing slightly towards the target. Closed means you’re facing slightly away. I vary between square and open, and to be honest I’ve never noticed a difference. So long as you draw your character standing with a stable stance, facing away from the target, you should be good.

Posture

Your posture should be with your back straight, your hips squared, and should never have you leaning. Below is one of my favorite archery pictures, not only because I love Marilyn, but because it is a great illustration of what not to do posture wise.

See how she’s leaning back? Yeah, don’t draw your character like that, it looks foolish.

Draw

There are four different types of draw that I’m aware of, I’m educated on three, and I have experience with one (though I’m itching to learn to thumb draw). The types of draw are three fingered draw, otherwise known as Mediterranean draw, pinch draw, thumb draw aka Mongolian draw, and Japanese draw, or torikake. I know fuck all about Japanese draws, so I’m not going to speak out of my ass on topics I don’t understand (if anyone reading practices traditional Japanese archery I would love if you chimed in!). I highly recommend doing your own research on which civilization your character comes from and which draw they use, especially if it’s Japanese because I’m not covering that here.

First up is three-fingered. This is the draw I use, and it’s the most common draw in my limited experience in the Midwestern archery community. It is common in Europe and the Middle East. It requires you to use three fingers, partially wrapped around the string. You do not pinch the arrow. Most people place their index finger above the arrow and their middle and ring finger below, though I’ve seen all different variations. If your character is right handed and uses this draw, draw the arrow on the left side of the bow. Lefties do the inverse, and make sure and draw a left handed bow while you’re at it.

Next is the pinch draw. I’ve never shot with this, nor seen it used. It was common in the Americas and for a time in Ancient Greece. You’re supposed to physically pinch the arrow between your thumb and index finger. Your character would need a full archery glove if you draw them with this grip. The release is supposed to be smooth because there’s only one point of contact, rather than three. I believe you would place the arrow on the right side of the bow when using this technique, but I cannot speak with certainty as I’ve never seen it done (again, lefties would do the opposite).

Last but not least is the thumb or Mongolian draw, though it is/was also widespread in Korea, China, Russia, Persia, Turkey, and the Roman and Byzantine Empires. In this draw you wrap your thumb completely around the string and tuck it behind your other fingers. You do not grab the arrow. This draw utilizes your strongest digit, and so it may be less strenuous than other draws. This draw is commonly used with mounted archery. If your character is right handed and using this draw, put the arrow on the right side of the bow (lefties, do the inverse).

Elbows

Another aspect of your draw that is important is elbow discipline. The elbow of your character’s string hand should not point up into the air. It should point straight back, like the picture below.

Now, the other elbow is important, too. Don’t draw them with a locked elbow, instead keep it slightly bent and rotated inwards, like the picture below.

Holding the Bow

Your character shouldn’t have a death grip on the bow. Instead, show it resting in the curve between the thumb and index finger. Here’s a wikihow article that describes the different ways to hold different types of bows that is more succinct than I could ever be. Ignore the crossbow (derogatory).

Anchor

Everyone needs an anchor. What’s an anchor, you ask? An anchor is a fixed spot that you draw your string back to whenever you’re going to shoot. It’s necessary in order to ensure consistency, which is accuracy’s best friend. Your anchor spot can vary. I anchor at the corner of my lip. Some people anchor underneath their chin. Some anchor to their ear. I’ve even seen some people in Asian disciplines anchor behind the ear or almost above the head, which is incredibly impressive. Bottom line, unless your character’s archery discipline has them draw behind the ear or above the head, you need to have them touching their head somewhere. The only wrong anchor is a short anchor. If you can’t draw the string back far enough to touch your face, that means you’re either trying to draw back a bow with too high a poundage, or the draw length is too short for you. The picture above of the person with the compound trigger release has a good anchor point on their face. The picture of the person with the arm guard has a good anchor point under their chin.

This person, on the other hand? Their anchor is out in space, that is to say they don’t have one (also their elbow discipline, posture, and stance are atrocious). I see this in fanart ALL THE TIME. It’s a pet peeve of mine. Don’t do this, have them anchor to their head or behind it somewhere.

Carrying The Bow

The best way is to just carry it in your hand by the bow (not the string). You can give your character a bow sling, or a back mount like Legolas has as well. You can slip the string over your shoulder and wear it across your back in a pinch, though this may damage the string. The only really wrong way to carry a bow is by the string, though you can damage your bow carrying it on your back if you’re stupid, and I’ve never tried to do so with a compound. Too pokey.

TL;DR

If you’re drawing a fantasy character, go buck wild. Still make sure to give them the right type of arrowhead, hand protection of some sort, a strong stance (no kneeling or sitting), good posture, a sensible draw, elbow discipline, an anchor point (don’t be like the person above!), and a good way to carry their bow, but you can have fun with the rest. If you’re drawing a character from history, research the archery discipline they would most likely use, and draw them with the appropriate bow type, quiver, arrows, protective equipment, stance, posture, draw, elbow discipline, anchor, and bow carry.

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cryptidmads · 3 years

Text

good evening nsr community, i went through the ama from today and came back with an armful or two of lore. there’s a bunch more than last time, and i included bbj as well as the npcs. cozy up, check under the cut, and prepare for a long read. enjoy!

today's ama featured wan hazmer and daim dziauddin again, as well as concept artist ellie and animator ben fong.

BUNK BED JUNCTION (FT. DK WEST)

- mayday and zuke live in the sewers because they're an underground band. it's a pun - there were originally two variations of bbj leaving the sewers - one with mayday hi-fiving gigi (which had a 95% chance of happening), and one with zuke awkwardly fumbling and attempting to hi-five gigi (which had a 5% chance) - one of the inspirations for mayday and zuke were the two main characters of samurai champloo (zuke was jin, mayday was mugen) - someone asked about if the rest of the cast had their own shadow puppets. ben suggested a lemur for mayday, while ellie suggested a zucchini for zuke. she may have been joking. - mayday's guitar solos were done by different people, but zuke's drum solos were all done by bruno valverde. - zuke was the one who implemented the canister thing into mayday's guitar. - someone asked who of the cast are the introverts and who are the extroverts. mayday is an extrovert, zuke is an introvert. - the team does have a bit of lore for mayday and zuke and how they met, but they want to save it in case of a future project. - mayday was inspired by both genevieve from company of thieves and the unbreakable kimmy schmidt. - ben did the animation for mayday swinging the hammer in the workshop. - haz recalls seeing some fanart of mayday being brought up as a rich girl. he doesn't remember the artist, but he does like the idea. - the japanese version has zuke say he has a phd rather than a master's degree. this is apparently a mistake. - the pattern on zuke's pants was inspired by jolyne cujoh and prosciutto from jojo's bizarre adventure. - zuke's toilet seat collection came partially from a story from one of the environmental artists where one of their high school friends pranked another friend with a toilet seat. - zuke does a lot of reading and is naturally inquisitive about things like tech and mechanics. - dk west's shadow puppet abilities might run in the family, and zuke may have it as well. - both zuke and dk west are connected by percussion (zuke with the drums, west with the hand claps) - zuke and west weren't always designed to be related -- west was originally designed as "some guy who comes and goes," but was made into zuke's brother later on in production - dk west is an extrovert.

DJ SUBATOMIC SUPERNOVA

- djss' dj name is obviously a stage name, but the team didn't have a real name for him in the script or anything. - haz joked that his name is bob salad. that's not canon but from what i seen the chat loved it lol - haz brings up the symbolism of djss spinning the planets around himself and how it represents that he thinks of himself as the center of the universe. - ellie helped design the districts, and something she noted about dj's is that it's supposed to look the "slummiest" because he cares more about himself and less about things like blackouts. - dj had some lines cut from his boss fight. those lines? mini lectures towards bbj during every phase. they were cut because the team felt like they were too much for the game, but they want to share them one day. - daim says that dj could be either introverted or extroverted becuase of how much time he spends alone looking at the stars. - dj was never planned to have an approach segment, but funk fiction wasn't told that, so he made him an approach theme anyway. - dodo ice pops are traffic light flavoured, which is a popular ice cream in malaysia. it's strawberry, pineapple, and lime flavored.

SAYU AND THE NERD SQUAD

- three of sayu's creators were based on staff members at metronomik. remi (voiced by ben) was based on one of the programmers and one of the environmental artists (ellie calls him "the lovechild of two dudes"), tila was based on (and voiced by) ellie herself, and dodo was based on danish mak (another environmental artist who also voices him). - sofa wasn't based on anyone in particular, he was more of a "general otaku guy" according to ellie (though haz joked that ellie could just say he was based on him). - dodo is daim's favorite npc -- he also designed him! - sayu was ellie's favorite character to design. she loves drawing mermaids. - the progression in sayu's fight where you go deeper into the "ocean" is supposed to be a metaphor for going deeper into the internet/the deep web. - ellie suggested that if sayu were to have a shadow puppet, it would be a cat. - as for the introvert/extrovert debate, daim says sayu is technically comprised of 4 introverts. sayu herself is the extrovert mask they wear. - sayu's ahoge is a submarine periscope. remi looks through it in one of the cutscenes. - sayu's not a mech. she's remotely controlled by her creators from their computer room. - the backstory between remi and tila is meant to show that artists can come from all sorts of backgrounds.

YINU AND MAMA

- yinu's promotional video was one of the first ones done before they brought in lzbros, so it originally looked different from how it looks in the game now. - yinu's mother's eyes are yellow because she spends most of the fight focusing on yinu (who is mainly yellow). when her eyes go blank white, it represents that she's momentarily forgotten what she loves the most. when her eyes become yellow again after the fight, it means she's remembered yinu and her piano playing. - the way ellie describes natura is that yinu is a plant and her mother is very protective of her, and one of the distinctive features is that there are a lot of domes with plants inside, particularly on the roofs of the houses. - yinu's commercial was not intended to reference little miss fortune. the commercial was shown in 2018, while LMF came out a year later. - yinu's mom turning into a giant tree monster isn't exclusive to her just being angry at bbj. apparently the whole plant thing runs in the yinu family.

1010

- 1010's concept as a boy band had been around since before the team started production, but they were the last to be fully designed -- their designs weren't finalized until way later on. - 1010 were ellie’s least favorite characters to design. she doesn't like drawing guys OR robots. - 1010's early designs had them wearing tuxedos. - 1010 do have memories. - the inspiration for the butt plates came from one of ben's gundam figures from his collection in the metronomik office. thanks ben. - ellie's favorite member of 1010 is purl-hew/blue. - eloni/green is apparently the rapper of the group. - the jingle you hear from the carousel in metro division is a carnival remix of 1010's boss theme. - the numbers underneath 1010's names on the autographs are completely random.

NEON J

- neon j is a dancer. daim explains that in addition to being in the navy, dance has always been his true passion. - in the final phase of 1010's fight, he was originally supposed to control the dance moves of the factory as he was fighting you, but it was cut due to limited resources. - daim designed neon j based on ellie's designs for 1010. - neon j's factory's dance moves were all animated by ben -- no mocap needed. the factory was also his favorite thing to animate. - daim says that "neon j is to tatiana as soundwave is to megatron." basically he is extremely loyal to tatiana. - neon j was one of earliest members of nsr. - neon j seeing 1010 as his sons wasn't planned, but daim loves the concept so much that he could see it being canon. - daim says neon j's brain is "probably" still inside the monitor head. somehow. - neon j is an extrovert. - haz likes the idea of neon j being blind and using his sonar to "see" things. ben joked that the screen worked like giant glasses. - neon j originally had red dots that would pop up on his face when the sonar moved by that were meant to represent acne, and that would've been the reason why he's mostly behind the scenes.

EVE

- in mayday's side of the room when eve splits up bbj, the hands all over the walls are meant to be there to show how eve is angrier at mayday than she is at zuke. - the time signature for the music in mayday's room during the fight is 6/8, whereas in zuke's room it's 4/4. - ellie suggested a platypus shadow puppet for eve. the rest of the team seems to be on board. - eve was ben's least favorite character to animate. he said he struggled with animating her dance moves because it was something he'd never done before, and he still doesn't think he did a good enough job. - eve was born with her split skin tone. - apparently eve's near scrapping had something to do with costs. haz was the one who stopped it from happening. - eve's outfit was partly inspired by beyonce, while her jacket was partly inspired by ariana grande. the team took some inspiration from bjork, as well. - the sleeves on eve's jacket were apparently limbs at one point. - eve is an introvert.

NPCS/OTHER CHARACTERS

- part of tatiana's symbolism is how she used to be a rock star, but her flame/passion slowly burned away, and now she's just a rock, referencing how she was literally on fire as the rock star kul fyra, but now looks burnt out. - daim thinks kliff is older than tatiana, probably over 50. - in addition to the neon j dance lore mentioned above, kayane rambling about neon j after the 1010 fight was supposed to be connected to her watching neon j dance. - ben and haz's favorite npc is mia, and ellie's is dj zam. - dj zam was inspired by one of ellie's college friends, who she says "makes you feel comfortable to be around". - ellie thinks dj zam's neck tattoo says "i love mom". - amal the unicorn was inspired by lady amalthea from the 80's animated film "the last unicorn". he was originally written to be a real talking unicorn, but it was changed partially because his horn wasn't in the right spot on his head. - zed was based on game designer dzaid and has hyperacusis, a hearing disorder that makes it difficult to deal with everyday sounds. - yiruk's name is an anagram of kiryu, the protagonist of the yakuza games. - chef sunshine's design is a homage to julia child. she originally had a bigger physique, but was changed to match lylia's bubbly performance.

#no straight roads #nsr #nsr ama #madison speaks #mayday nsr #zuke nsr #dk west #dj subatomic supernova #nsr sayu #yinu nsr #1010 #neon j #eve nsr

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tobi-smp · 3 years

Note

Headcanon anon here:

Thanks for the quick answer!

I totally agree that "No explicit yes means no" is not something that I wish was a fandom wide attitude.

The reason I said the dream smp was "Rpf" was bit badly phrased. What I meant was that we look at real faces through facecam. So every fanart etc of c!Tommy often portays the appearance of cc!Tommy.

If I were to use actors as example: "If I make Spiderman fanart he would look like Tom holland but Tom Holland isn't Spiderman (cuz spiderman is not real)"

And that's where most of my culture shock comes from "How much should I use another person's appearance when making headcanons or the like"

It's one of the main reasons I like white streak Tommy designs the they put a sort of distance between the actor and the character.

Or tubbo scar designs.

context: [Link]

of course !! I imagine I'm probably answering this one a bit slower since I was away from my computer when it was sent, but I usually try to answer asks right when I see them (I unfortunately tend to forget otherwise fjkdsl)

and don't worry, I didn't think that you specifically meant it that way, it was just my thoughts on it in general in this context as an extension of the previous conversation. I think it's a very respectful stance to take

that said, you did mention that you weren't in a lot of fandoms that used real actors, so I understand how that'd feel different but I don't necessarily agree.

not in that you aren't right about c!tommy fanart being based, at least in part, on cc!tommy's design. but in the idea that that's unique to this medium (which I don't think you were implying as a hard rule or anything, just that it feels different to you).

dream smp character designs are, at their core, fleshed out versions of their avatars. people tend to borrow heavily from the real people to fill in those gaps because of how Simple minecraft avatars are, but in that sense you could say that dream smp is half animated.

dream smp character designs are some of the most diverse I've seen in any other fandom. while other fandoms have people who push the canon designs on purpose, dream smp has both a simplified canvas And a complex reference with both acting as Suggestions which breeds creativity.

tommy's one of the most consistent characters throughout because his avatar is based on him (same with wilbur). which means that any abstraction of his real face is going to bare some resemblance to a more complicated version of his minecraft skin, at least in the broad strokes. and people are likely to take influence at any rate because it's an easy reference guide. a spit fire kid with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a red and white shirt. simple, recognizable.

but then line different versions of that design up next to each other, and you have a world a variation. put those designs in context of how those artists draw other characters and its pushed even Further.

face shape, height, body type, clothing designs, hair design and length, eye shape, how he caries himself, the impact the world has had on him, all of it can come through without changing the core of what makes tommy recognizable as himself. that's honestly what makes dream smp so brilliant. a million different dream designs ranging from "normal guy" to "eldritch monster" and I've never had a moment where I didn't recognize him as himself because they had the markers of the simple avatar in them.

c!tommy is very often shorter than cc!tommy, sometimes just by comparison to the Enormous hybrids and monster designs around him, sometimes because he just is short. this is used to highlight his age in comparison to other characters, to make him Look younger and Feel more vulnerable. whether that's in service of making him the spitfire underdog child, or the starving abuse victim under dream's palm in logsted.

he's near universally given scars of all types, from his death, from the wars, from logsted. his chin is drawn without the divot he has in real life more often than it is with. his hair has gotten longer and longer in fanart ever since exile. he'll be given things like prosthetics, things like freckles. there's a million human ways to make c!tommy differ from cc!tommy without looking entirely separate from him.

that's not even getting into the wealth of Inhuman design choices. there isn't one cohesive design like there are with other characters (certainly not ones that've overtaken the human design like there have been with other characters) but that leaves the door open for creativity and there's a Lot of it.

raccooninnit, avianinnit, moobloom, mooshroom, mothinnit, devil horns and tail, post-revival zombififcation, Tons And Tons of little creature designs (which I'm happy to report had a sharp uptick after it was hinted that tommy could've been made in a lab), etc.

you'll see other fandoms make monster aus, but I've Never seen any other fandom go "this character is a goat actually" and keep up with it so consistently that the guy writing and acting that character goes "if you say so," and yet here we are. this fandom is In Love with creature designs and I'm right there along with all of them.

of course, this is all the more pronounce in characters without face cams or with characters whose avatars aren't human to begin with. it's so rare to see techno designs based on the real man that they just look Wrong to me when I see them. and antfrost is cat, don't think I have to expand on that one.

I think we're more Used to see streamers faces (provided they have fan cams) because the medium means that they stream for hundreds of hours with a camera pointed at their face. if you watch enough of one streamer you're going to be more familiar with them than you are for a character in a movie you like. but as far as the designs themselves they're honestly much more varied and Free than most other fandoms are, even ones that aren't live action (maybe even especially ones that aren't live action).

doesn't mean that you have to feel any different about it of course

#dream smp #tommyinnit #meta #long post

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blazehedgehog · 2 years

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I mean no harm when I say this but I feel the main reason why Sonic has survived and has a passionate fantasy is because, in a way, it became an escape for people who didn't quite fit in with the rest of society. Sonic is so far removed from what a standard media franchise is that some might see it as "its a messy franchise, but it's my messy franchise." I know you have mentioned that it might be the good ideas in the games but can that really keep a franchise afloat? I can elaborate if needed.

No harm intended, but I've gotten variations of this Ask before -- or at least, I'm going to give you a variation of an answer I've given before. I'd just link you to one of those, but Tumblr search is notoriously bad and there are 7,000+ posts on this blog.

In short, I don't agree with what you're saying. To some degree, you are just describing fandom, all fandom, everywhere. Much like how every family has "weird uncles", every community has at least one oddball with a skewed perspective on life. Depending on the size of the community, there are multiples.

My opinion has always been that there are weird community shards out there for everything. I mean, there is, or was, a whole cult dedicated to Gadget Hackwrench from the 1989 "Rescue Rangers" cartoon. You can say that they aren't entirely serious, and that may be, but there's a spark of something in there that's real and caused them to do that.

Turn over enough logs and you'll find all kinds of things you didn't know where there. That's fine. That's the sign of a healthy fandom.

What's perhaps different about Sonic is that the franchise by its very nature casts a wide net. Sonic's identity crisis has brought in all types -- people who identify with any one of the five (soon to be six) cartoons, people who identify with the myriad comic series (four different books and countless specials at Archie, IDW, Fleetway, and all the manga), people who identify with specific generations of the games (classic, Dreamcast, modern, etc.), people who only identify with specific spinoffs (Sonic Riders, etc.) and then, perhaps most potently, people who are just in the fandom for the fandom.

I talked about this in my Le Monde interview, but media properties sometimes get big enough that they kind of reach a kind of perpetual motion -- where there are so many people in the fandom making so many fan "works" that it becomes self-sustaining. It literally takes on a life of its own. You get fans making content for other fans, forever. Whatever they aren't getting from the main franchise, they make up for themselves. And for Sonic the Hedgehog, a franchise with such a breadth of different interpretations, there are a lot of people who feel like they aren't being served.

When working with a corporation, there are rules that have to be followed. Style guides and character bibles that dictate what characters can and cannot do. Fans don't have those kinds of restrictions. They can write whatever stories or draw whatever fanart their hearts desire. And once you put something like that in to the fandom's perpetual motion machine, other people can feed off of it, and mutate it. Pretty soon the wheels come off and suddenly you have the first ever gay fanfiction, starring Kirk and Spock from Star Trek, something that would never be allowed to happen in the actual show.

And Sega, for their parts, has been very welcoming of the Sonic fandom. They've encouraged people to make fan games, they feature fan art on their live streams, and so on. Today's Sonic fans could very well become an artist on the Sonic comic, the person who helps save the Sonic movie, or the team that develops the most critically acclaimed Sonic game in the last 25 years.

That's just going to bring in more people. And more "weird uncle" types with them.

The vast majority of the Sonic fandom are fine, normal, well-adjusted people. The only reason you don't hear about them is because they are normal. But the Sonic fandom is huge and varied, and the Sonic franchise is under constant scrutiny from everyone looking for an easy dunk. Of course a lot of fans are going to get caught in that crossfire. When people are searching for something to make fun of, they're going to find it, for better or (more often) worse.

But don't take that as a complete picture of everyone that exists in that fandom. Because it's always going to be a very, VERY large picture.

#questions #anonymous #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #fandom #slash fiction #fan fiction #weird uncle

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violenceenthusiast · 3 years

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WARNING: transphobia

sorry to intellectualize in your inbox and feel free to like... delete this if it's too heavy or not your thing! but i've been having a lot of ideas about transness in fandom (i'm trans myself btw jsyk where this is coming from) and the whole like... cas-giving-dean-a-male-body thing and today's Discourse wrt that ask lampgate received about "looking trans"

like basically butler says that there's this Thing we all create that's basically an idealized male/female body that doesn't exist. like by labeling bodies as normal/abnormal for whatever reason we create sex, we create normative bodies. we are constantly referencing a non-existent ideal male/female body. claiming that all cis women and all cis men have the same bodies is stupid because they don't. everyone has slightly different hormones and slightly different expressions and that's not even to speak of intersex people who complicate the idea of Normative Bodies even further.

so then oftentimes when i look at transness (more specifically transmasculininity) in fandom - and i mean this in literally the nicest way possible - this tends to get represented a certain way. mostly it's represented in drawings/fics as people who've either had top surgery and have scars underneath their pectorals or people who wear binders, and most of the time they have not had bottom surgery. and while it is important to stress that YES people who look like this do exist and it's good that they are being represented it in no way is the Only or even Most Common transmasculine body. there is no way to "look trans" because there is no kind of Idealized Trans Body in the way that there is an Idealized Cis Body that is referenced. but i worry that in fandom we are creating this sort of Idealized Transmasculine Body by constantly referencing the same type of body that i previously described, which transphobes then weaponize as characters "obviously not looking trans." bc ya know in order to make that statement there must first be a Body That Is Trans.

and then cas bringing dean back in a male body sort of crystallizes this because it both upholds the idea of there being A Trans Body as well as there being A Cis Body. if we theorize about there somehow being a switch between those then there must be some sort of larger concept that we are referencing. it's buying into the non-existent concept of idealized sex, of normative bodies.

(for the record i feel the same way when it comes to temporary gender/sex swap fics. also this doesn't come from a place of "this is bad and Should Never Happen Ever" but more... what are the subconscious philosophical consequences and implications of the decisions we make)

OH addendum to that last ask bc i realize i might've come off wrong: that is not to say that trans people creating content for themselves and others to enjoy are responsible for the existence of transphobia. again i'm trans myself and i LOVE all trans content and i would love to see more of it. i'm just saying that the issue is like... complicated and intertwined and we are unfortunately all still trapped within a system that most people accept as being Right even though we have definitive proof that it isn't

glad for that addendum because that was literally the first thing i was gonna say lol. you can’t pander to transphobes, they’ll always take issue no matter what you do so you might as well just do your thing, yk?

but yea i was a sociology major so this is absolutely my type of thing. basically i agree with you. but i think there is a societal Ideal Type of transness and it’s still very much the “binary trans person who wants to be and look cis and transitions all at once and then passes perfectly and never brings up transness again” which. barf, there’s not enough time to unpack all of that. but at the same time the Ideal Type of transness boils down to: there shouldn’t be one bc it shouldn’t exist. which again, barf. as far as inside the trans community... idk i feel like on average, non trans/med etc. trans ppl are very aware and appreciative of the diversity of transness and the beauty inherent in that? but maybe that’s just my experience. if anything, i feel more worried about intracommunity ideals of transness being warped by whiteness and thinness, if that makes sense. also i think again always good to remember that what any given person posts in fan space will pretty much never be indicative of the full scope of their thoughts and opinions on the subject. but yea also there are ppl where fan spaces are there only queer spaces for example and then what happens if you’re seeing this same image over and over again but it’s not your reflection at all.

i think really what it comes down to with the elements you’re pointing out is that they are just what’s familiar to us? like. 1) as a bunch of twenty-somethings, binders and top surgery, maybe T is about all that most of us have been able to do if anything (at least that’s my impression. OR that may be all we’re interested in, etc. there’s always variation in prefs of course), 2) top scars are just such insanely good visual shorthand, and 3) fanart/fic is always in some way aspirational so as someone who hasn’t gotten to get top yet, i for one like thinking about a dean who got to do that already :)

and yea again any fic/post/etc that has cas changing dean’s body without asking/being asked.... it’s a no from me. bad on the consent side, bad on the conceptions of bodies and gender delineations side, bad on the “right” and “wrong” bodies side, so many things abt it that make me :/. also like even if you have dean brought back in laz rising with a flat chest sans scars, and a whole new set of reproductive organs.... like that’s still a trans man’s body? both literally and rhetorically speaking that still wouldn’t be a Cis Body (assuming you could even define in any meaningful way what it means to have a Cis Body, given the amount of variation in bodies AND the fact that literally every single person is failing the normative bc it’s by nature shifting an unattainable)? but also again, i’m gonna insist that “male body” as synonym for “cis man’s body” sucks bigtime.

#tw transphobia #asks #i had more thoughts but these are the only ones i could get to be coherent #long post #im assuming this will be long on the dash that is. esp on mobile #anonymous

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sailorfailures · 5 years

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October 22nd is Minako Aino/Sailor Venus’s birthday!

So how can you celebrate?

♀ Rewatch or reread your favourite Venus-centric chapter, episode, or musical! She might’ve been the last of the Sailor Team to be introduced, but she was actually the first Sailor Soldier ever - Sailor V. Prominent 90s anime episodes include episode 036, one of the earliest Venus-centric episodes, where she take Usagi out for a haircut to cheer her up; episode 042, where we finally learn of Minako’s (anime-canon) past working in London as Sailor V with her mentor, Katarina; episode 078, where the rest of the Sailor Team falls ill with a mysterious flu and it’s up to Minako to “help” nurse them to health; episode 100, where an old unrequited flame gets Minako rethinking her life goals and considers quitting her duty as a Sailor Soldier; episode 114, where Minako gets a shot at becoming a real idol, but has to compete with the villain Mimete; episode 141, where Minako goes on two dates at the same time and reaps the reward of her own hubris; and episodes 175 and 192, where Minako gets even closer to realising her idol dreams with some industry experience.

Did you know Minako has her very own manga series? In fact, it was written before the Sailor Moon manga even existed! Codename: Sailor V is much shorter, more comedic, and action-oriented than PGSM, and elaborates not only on Minako’s character and role before meeting the other Guardians but also the history of the Silver Millennium and the Dark Kingdom. If you were disappointed with Minako’s under-utilised role in the 90s anime, now is the perfect time to give the 2003 live-action a shot, where she has a much more prominent and plot-heavy role.

♀ Sailor Venus has several official image songs across different canons you can play for her big day, particularly in the live action, where she is a professional idol:

90s anime: Anata no Yume wo Mita Wa [“I’ve Seen Your Dream”]; Setsunakute Ii [“It’s Fine Even if it Pains Me”]; ROUTE VENUS; Ai no Megami no HOW TO LOVE [”How To Love per the Goddess of Love”] Live Action: C'EST LA VIE ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun [“C’est la Vie ~ The Loving Side Within Me”]; Katagoshi ni Kinsei [“Venus Over My Shoulder”]; ROMANCE; Kiss!² Bang!² [“Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang!”]; Sayonara ~ SWEET DAYS [“Farewell ~ Sweet Days”]; HAPPY TIME, HAPPY LIFE; I’M HERE Crystal: HEART ga Tonjau Sora Dakara [“As It’s the Sky My Heart Soared Through”] Musicals: TRADITIONAL THE GRACE ~Ai no Arashi~ [“Traditional the Grace ~Storm of Love~”] Her voice actress Rika Fukami also recorded a cover of Shocking Blue’s hit song, Venus, inspired by the Bananarama cover that popularized the song in Japan. The opening bars of their version were also referenced in many of Minako’s official video game themes.

Here’s a playlist of all these songs and other Sailor Venus BGM cues!

♀ Indulge in some of Minako’s favourite foods! Minako is living that carb life, as her faves are ramen, gyoza (potsticker dumplings), and curry rice. Order out or challenge yourself to cooking them from scratch - just don’t include any mushrooms, which are Minako’s least favourite food.

♀ Minako is a very goal-oriented person, even if she’s not always the most focused, and many of her hobbies revolve around her dream of becoming an idol. Topmost, of course, is singing! She’s loved to sing and dance ever since she was a child. Learn a new dance routine - YouTube is a great start - or go clubbing with some friends. Minako is also particularly relevant to karaoke in the live action; why not gather a group and hit a karaoke bar?

Minako’s pride and joy is her long, silky hair, which she takes great care of. If yours is in need of some TLC, treat it to a fancy hair mask, or make your own from simple ingredients. Alternatively, if you’ve been looking for a sign to make a drastic hairstyle change, chop, or colour, this might be that sign, as Minako is a huge advocate for how changing your hairstyle can change your outlook.

She might not seem the type, but Minako has also been shown to enjoy knitting. Maybe she uses these skills to contribute to her massive collection of stuffed toys? Pick up those needles and finish that project you’ve been putting off or learn how to start from some videos or a local meet-up. If you’re an expert, you could even try a Sailor Moon pattern.

Minako is a video game junkie, which makes sense, considering her alter-ego stars in one. She seems particularly fond of racing games, but also side-scrollers and fighting games; why not give a new indie title a try, or play as Minako herself in one of the many retro Sailor Moon games for the Super Nintendo and other systems? (Personally, my favourite is this arcade brawler.)

After being an idol, and (maybe) her duty as a Guardian, Minako’s highest priority is volleyball. She had an incredible talent for the game even before discovering her super-human abilities as Sailor V. Why not hire some equipment for a casual game with some friends on the beach? (Though Minako wouldn’t judge you if you just played virtual volleyball instead.)

♀ Dress like Minako for a day! She had the widest variation in fashion styles amongst the show’s characters, ranging from sporty, to preppy, to “cool”, to girlish, to eccentric high fashion. In colder weather she loved scarves and oversized jackets, but in warmer weather she opted for simple, breezy, minimalist looks. She favoured vests, and shorts/flowy, non-restrictive skirts so she was always ready to leap into action. The consistent element linking her different styles is her tendency to layer, layering jackets over vests over turtlenecks, layering necklaces over sun-dresses over summery blouses, etc.

Her one mainstay accessory was her iconic red hair-bow, though she actually did swap it out to coordinate it with her outfit at times, and it was a pale yellow when she was a Princess. She started wearing the ribbon to impress a boy, but after he turned out to be a monster - uh, literally - she decided to keep wearing it because she liked it; so if something you used to love wearing has been tainted by a toxic relationship, you can Love and Beauty Shock it into something you wear for yourself. (By the way, before she wore the bow, she used a simple red scrunchie.)

(Manga scan credits: sailormusic.net, MissDream.org)

As Sailor Venus, she started with simple yellow/orange studs that later became red and wore orange flats (often styled as d’orsays) with ankle-straps. Her nail polish was a fresh tangerine, and in her attack Love and Beauty Shock we can see she wears a pale orange/coral/peach lipgloss. Her image colours are orange, yellow, and a navy blue accent.

... And of course, Minako never missed an opportunity to go big or go home; so if you have an over-the-top campy stage costume just lying around...

♀ Match with your BFF twin for the day!

♀ Take up the sword!

♀ Line up a date. Or two. On the same day. (But don’t complain if you get caught!)

♀ Fav and read some Sailor Venus fanart and fanfic on sites like Pixiv, Twitter, and AO3 - or contribute your own new content! Don’t forget to tag!

Feel free to reply and reblog with your own ideas of how you’re going to celebrate Mina’s day!

Happy Birthday, Minako!

#Sailor Moon #Sailor Venus #birthday #long post #is this the longest one yet? I think so #makes sense though seeing as she has the most lore after Usagi #also I finally finished one of these posts before the day-of #so this is an advance notice!#at last!

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