I used to be a TV Troper in the ancient times (like 2014) and it was boring at work before Christmas so I made a sheet.

Thought some of you would appreciate.

Roy
- Affectionate Nickname: Manya calls him "змея" Russian for snake and 'Royka,' a pet name.
- Author Avatar: He's basically me, obviously.
- Deadpan Snarker: Always on the lookout for a wry burn.
- Love at First Sight: It wasn't just Manya's hands... but they were a not-insignificant factor.
- Pungeon Master
- Reclusive Artist: He/ I don't socialize much.
- Sssssnake Talk: Roy/ Sid will start hissing their s'es when they're under the influence. It comes out like an accent.

Sid
- Badass Normal
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: He can mess you up, but he'd rather not have to.
- Mr. Fanservice: Sid will take advantage of any pretext to go shirtless.
- New Job as The Plot Demands: When Sid takes over he does whatever per-diem job he feels like doing. Anything from volunteer firefighting to mercenary work.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome
- Sexier Alter Ego: In a Nutty Professor kind of way.

Manya
- Cats are Lazy: She works hard in her career, but when she's off the clock she can be an immovable object.
- Cuddle Bug: In classic cat fashion.
- Disabled Love Interest: There are a lot of everyday things Manya can't do because of her big ol' hands.
- Fashion Model
- The Fashionista: Comes with the job, but she's always dressed to impress.
- Guilty Pleasure: Fast and Furious movies (they're about family).
- Language Barrier: When her and Roy met she didn't speak a word of English.
- The Movie Buff
- Multiple-Choice Past: So are those her hands or are they gloves that she wears all the time? Not even Roy can say for sure. The world may never know...
- Peek-a-bangs: Her usual hairstyle, one side.

Ayame
- Artificial Family Member: Initially views Momo as a mother and Toshio as an uncle. This was just a phase, clearly.
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of sentient sexdoll characters. Her AI unintentionally evolved beyond the basic, 'doll' level making her a fully-formed person. But, being owned by a psycho, she was forced to suffer the kind of treatment these characters usually enjoy until she was freed. And now she only wants to be seen as more than just an object.
- Easily Detachable Robot Parts: Her limbs are modular, including her head.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: After being freed Ayame wore her hair up or tied back, but when she started to overcome her shame she literally let her hair down.
- Guilty Pleasure: Ayame actually really likes sex (she was made for it after all) but she keeps this under wraps to avoid the bimbo stereotype.
- Head-Turning Beauty: To her chagrin, generally.
- Hollywood Homely: Ayame initially wanted to be as low key as possible, but no amount of frumpy sweaters and baggy pants could hide her figure and features.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure: She can adjust her sizes to be as modest or... bombastic, as she wants.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: All she wants is to be seen as a person instead of a "synthetic companion."
- Ignorance is Bliss: Romeo forced Momo to make Ayame 'dumber' which was a blessing because she was less aware of the way she was being treated.
- Meaningful Rename: Romeo gave her the gaudy, on-the-nose name 'Lexus' but when she was freed she chose a Japanese name for herself.
- Naive Everygirl: Despite having the mind and body of an adult she's very 'street-dumb.'
- Robot Girl
- Robots are Just Better: While she's not a Terminator, she can do usual robot things like rapid, precise motions, speak most languages, and her flexibility is what you'd expect given the purpose she was made for.
- Sex Slave: What she inadvertently became after gaining self-awareness.
- Sexbot: She was manufactured... for a purpose (High five if you get that reference)
- Three Laws-Compliant: Averted. She can hurt anyone she wants.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Very girly girl to Momo's tomboy.

Momo
- The Alcoholic: Always manages to have sake on hand.
- The Atoner: Momo is stricken with guilt for basically selling Ayame into slavery (even though she was obligated and intimidated into it). Now that Ayame is free Momo is dedicated to helping her experience normal life.
- Cannot Spit it Out: Fell in love with Ayame during her creation, but didn't feel comfortable pursuing it being her creator and all.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Can make just about anything given enough time and money.
- Grew a Spine: Momo put up with Romeo's treatment of Ayame for months before finally working up the courage to set her free.
- Horney Scientist: But could you blame her?
- Milholland Relationship Moment: Momo is responsible for Ayame being self-aware while she was being mistreated and blames herself despite Ayame repeatedly insisting she doesn't blame and her.
- Robosexual: She did too good of a job on Ayame.
- Smart People Build Robots
- Straight Gay: There's nothing stereotypically lesbian about Momo aside from her fondness for machines.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Ayame's Girly-girl. She usually can't be bothered with femininity when she's neck deep in blueprints and robot parts.

Romeo
- Book Dumb: He makes sure he's feared and getting his due, but beyond that he's pure ego.
- Braggart Boss
- Complete Monster: A career criminal who'll kill, demean, or torture anyone who gets in his way.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Crazy Jealous Guy: A part of his women issues.
- Establishing Character Moment: Walks into Momo's workshop and disrespects her while groping Ayame.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Has some deep mommy/ women-in-general issues, clearly.
- Malicious Misnaming: He continues to call Ayame Lexus because that's what he named her.
- The Napoleon: A chunk of his bitterness comes from being short for a man.
- Sharp-dressed man

Hello!

Commissions will be opening up tomorrow from 2 to 7pm EST

Prices - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46769259/

10% off if your request features or includes my characters, including adopts bought from me!

Thanks,
~ Roy/Ayame

Not bad, just overrated. *Spoilers*

After absorbing FMA through cultural osmosis for like 15 years I finally watched Brotherhood and I'm not really getting the hype. It's a -good- show, but I'm having a hard time seeing it as more than that.

My first issue is that I don't find the Elrics very interesting as protagonists. Their origin story is iconic and interesting, but beyond that Ed is bland, shonen kid and Alphonse is passive for most of the story. To be fair it's an ensemble cast and some other characters make up for Ed and Al, but they're the main focus. I'd like to be invested in them, but I was mostly uninterested.

None of the humor landed for me at all, which is bad because it pops up a lot to 'lighten the mood.' Is anyone laughing at short jokes or people mistaking Al for the Fullmetal Alchemist more than once? It was tired by episode one and I'm just forced to roll my eyes for the rest of the series when it shows up. The only thing that reliably made me chuckle was Alex showing up and being demonstrative as hell.

I'll say it, I find alchemy boring as used in the story. I was expecting a Nen (Hunter x Hunter) system where every alchemist has really unique, cool powers that have to be carefully counteracted, but most fights just amount to launching the alchemist's element at the bad guy. I laughed out loud a few times when Ed would get into a big fight and whip out his... dinky little arm blade. Like you can control matter and that's what you're bringing to the table? I wanted more imaginative alchemy, is all.

Finally, I found my suspension of disbelief failing a lot in regard to the writing. For example Alphose sitting with Pride in the dome and just letting him tap rhythmically, repetitively on his helmet for half a day. Boi have you never heard of morse code, and beyond that why wouldn't you just take your helmet back anyway?! Ridiculous.
Also the gang not letting Roy kill Envy. That made me mad. I get it, he who hunts monsters, but Roy hasn't been shown to be psychopathic at all for the whole series. He's been remarkably level-headed and stable given the situation. And if anyone deserves to be burned to a crisp it's the monster gleefully absorbing people and starting civil wars and who also killed Roy's best friend. I never bought that Roy would start down a path of madness after killing Envy, it felt contrived to serve the no-killing theme (which was done much better in Trigun BTW) There were enough additional examples that it hurt my enjoyment of the show overall (Like Envy tricking what's-her-name into bringing him back to Central. I know she's a kid, but really? You're going to believe this guy after everything he's done?)

I can't fault the look and character design, that's for sure. The characters are very recognizable and appealing. I think my favorites overall are the Armstrong siblings and Roy. The animation is at minimum good for the whole run and when they splurge for the big fight scenes it's excellent. I didn't like the backgrounds, but that's not much of a knock.

So yeah it's a low 7/10 for me. I can see the appeal, but I feel like almost everything here has been done better elsewhere. Like in HxH ~

For some reason there are awesome, crazy people who draw things for me unsolicited and I love it every time. So much so that I want to shout you all out here (except for the few that asked to remain private).

I'll make this a semi-regular thing if you beautiful people keep making me things... As a 'guy who draws' there's nothing I love more than seeing people take enough interest in my characters/ concepts to draw them themselves.

> Stalwart is my new kouhai! He's just getting started, but he's the real deal.
Roy portrait

> Fwingerz is an ostrich friend now so we've been back-and-forthing for a while.
Spooky animatronic Ayame
ChadRoy
Handz
Roy gets paffed
Manya Birthday
Manya frames

> Nitefire
Custom Lusty Doe
Modest Big-hand Roy

> JIBRED
Ayame and Momo being tender

> thecrazydragon
Ayame cute

Let me know if I missed you. I tried to get everyone from the last year.

- "But Roy, You know they're not really bringing porn back, right?"
Yes. But they're making an effort to open up again within their restrictions. And it's surprisingly lenient. Basically just no nipps or private areas. 75% of my stuff should be fine.

- "But Roy, You made such a stink when you left Twitter, you hypocrite."
Listen, I hate social media more than almost anything, but tbh I've been feeling lonely lately and this is one way to feel more involved. Tumblr is certainly preferable to Twitter, at the very least it functions as an actual gallery. Used to love Pumblr back in ancient times.

---

HERE - https://www.tumblr.com/badroyarts

I'll be uploading old things once Tumblr is convinced I'm not a bot (ironic). But you can also ask me questions and chat and stuff now!

OK, thank you to everyone who was interested.
If you don't see your name you can always try again or try another idea next time.

Queue - https://trello.com/b/dXeGdwgi/badroys-queue

If you got a slot I'll be in touch. Thanks,
~ Roy/Ayame

This topic popped up on the forums recently and it got me thinking. I'm curious to hear what people think.

I'm not going to name or shame, but out of the 10-15 characters I've made and sold off I think only a single one of them has gone on to be used in any way. And now I know it's not just me, apparently it's a common occurrence, but why?

It seems to me the main reason a person would buy an adopt is because they really like the design and want it for themselves, right? Maybe they just want to own that particular art piece, or they're buying to support the artist, but I think those are rarer reasons. And if that's the case why would you buy a (potentially expensive) character design only to sit on it?

If you've made characters before you know that you can't avoid putting a little of yourself in there. It can be really personal and satisfying. I love it. If you sell it and it goes unused it's like, idk, putting your child up for adoption only for them to end up captive in a basement. You come up with a character and imagine all the ways a person could fill out their personality and bring them to life and then it just vanishes. I think I can speak for most artists and say that when a creator sells you a character all they want is for you to love it and make it flourish (like I did with Manya UwU)

I'm not mad, just disappointed.

More notes from my ongoing Tokusatsu adventures...

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (Complete)
- 10/10
- I flipping loved this show to the point where I don't understand why people tend to rank it so low.
- Lovable goobers ride around Japan selling crepes in incredible/ awful 90s attire. A 16 year old girl and her boys fightin' monsters.
- I love how the yokai/ monsters-of-the-week exist in the world already rather than being created in that episode. It makes the world feel much more lived-in, like they have real history.
- I like this team dynamic. Tsuruhime is the leader because her family's been holding the torch for so long and she's the most experienced, but she's also 5-10 years younger than her boyz so she really relies on them and vice versa.
- Jiraiya top tier, GOAT of all time. Also Tsuruhime is an icon.
- I think this is the first sentai I saw (except for Toqger) where the cast really feel like true friends. It's the little things like singing driving songs in Nekomaru and the fact that they sleep in little tents together.

Ressah Sentai Toqger (Complete)
- 9/10
- Fashion souls are on point in this show, damn. Shout out to Right, Kagura and Zett.
- The music is especially great. Very 'fantasy adventure' sound and good themes.
- Zett is a great villain. He doesn't give a damn about the politics or being evil for half the show, it's awesome. He's kind of tragic.
- I noticed a few episodes had particularly great fight scenes. Tight choreography and direction.
- Very charming characters throughout. I love the running gags with Conductor, Ticket, and the 'Sidedish'.
- Akira is hot. There, I said it.

Machine Sentai Kiramager (Dropped ~Ep.5)
- Was excited for this one because I love the suits and that the Red is an artist. I like humble, inexperienced Reds.
- Really like the Blue and Pink here too. Blue could have easily been the typical loner d-bag, but he was pretty chill. And the Pink is just really attractive and cool <3
- After Kyuranger I'm extremely triggered by the appearance of a catchphrase. Not as obnoxious as "Yossha Lucky!" but still.
- I didn't like that the gems were quirky characters that talk and with the Tik-tok dance ending I just had to nope out. I could see it getting better, but eh. There are many other shows to try.

Tokumei Sentai Gobusters (Up to Ep.20)
- Enter, my man, what a fun villain.
- I really like Ryuuji. Maybe because he is an old man like myself.
-Heroes with weaknesses are cool. These are mostly goofy weaknesses, but still it adds a dimension to the events.
- Maybe the worst sentai 'swords' yet. They're more like combat knives, but only ⅓ of it is bladed. Weird.
- No showy roll-call T_T

Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger (Dropped ~Ep.10)
- I think I'd appreciate this show more if I were a Japanese full-on otaku. There are just too many references and such going over my head. Not bad though.



Kamen Rider Fourze (Complete)
- 6/10
-Meteor was too good for this show. What an awesome look/ gimmick.
- Really loved the monster designs in this one. And some of the minor villains too. The rakugo Cancer guy was great.
- I found Yuki and JK extremely annoying. More than annoying. They were always overacting in the background which was straight up distracting.
- OH! This really bugged me. They're always saying "When you activate Last One you'll never be human again!" But when they defeat the zodiart in their Last One form they just wake up in their human bodies... What's up with that?
- I feel like this show should have just been an anime. The way the pacing and direction were handled just made it feel like a middle of the road anime in real life.
- I cried at the end tbh.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (Dropped ~Ep.10)
- I found Emu really uninteresting as a lead and the side-riders are douchebags! I'm sure they get closer over the course of the series, but I couldn't stand the constant antagonism between them all. I actually liked them individually, but as a cast they were just so unlikable.
- Lazer was great though.
- Legitimately annoying henshin sounds.
- Like with Den-O The central concept just felt really weird and convoluted to me. The virus appears and you have to beat it at level 1 or whatever before it evolves and then you can fight it for real? Why so many confusing hoops just to punch the bad guys.
- I didn't care for the "HIT" effects in fights.
- Had a hard time seeing what people love about this one? Is it just the Shin-Dan memes?

Kamen Rider Build (Complete)
- First-half: 10/10, Second-half: 7/10
- Such an interesting premise for a Kamen Rider show. The consequences of Japan getting split into thirds were handled pretty realistically for the most part. So much paranoia and strife.
- Banjou and Sento aren't quite on that Phillip and Shotaro tier, but it's a pretty good bromance.
- While humor was used sparingly I found a lot of it really funny. Especially Banjou missing the point and Gentoku's stupid shirts. Orrrra!
- I love all of the riders in this one. Unique, cool, good chemistry.
- The show loses me in the second half for a few reasons:
1. Evolt was much more interesting when his motivations were obscure. Once we know what he's up to it becomes apparent that he's kind of one-note. It would have been cool if he'd had a moment of weakness toward Misora or something, but he's just yukking it up and dropping 'Ciao's right up to the end.
2. There were so many macguffins that I eventually lost track. First it was Pandora's Box, then the black panel, or the Hazard Trigger, or the white panel, or the lost full-bottles. It was ridiculous by the end.
3. Sento directly talking with his past self was a really baffling decision. They even did a tropey episode where Katsuragi's psyche takes over for a few episodes. Come on.
4. Evolt's body hopping got annoying. The first time with Banjou, fine, he has Evolt's DNA, whatever. But then Sento got possessed and someone else after that, I think. Ugh.
- I feel like the show needed more emotion in the second half. Evolt raised Misora for 10 years and made Sento who he is. I feel like there should have been much more personal angst between them and Evolt but it just wasn't there.

Kamen Rider Den-O (Dropped ~Ep.12)
- I thought this was supposed to be 'the funny series?' The main imagin are clearly supposed to be funny, but I mostly just found their bickering annoying. I laughed at one great gag where main guy got hit in the face by ascending sports balls. Otherwise it's just middling slapstick.
- Couldn't stand the main character's whiny voice. His performances while possessed were really good, but ironically his normal voice sounded way too put-on.
- Also don't like the absurdly convoluted flow of events. Wishmaster forces a wish on someone and then grants it... so that they can go to that person's most prominent memory to 'wreak havoc' (which directly affects the present instead of having already happened RE: time travel laws). It's just so many hoops to jump through.
- I can see why it's so popular in Japan though. I imagine the average nerdy Japanese boy can really identify with the put-upon, soft-spoken MC who gets possessed by badass dudes.

Kamen Rider Gaim (Up to Ep. 24)
- I love the look of this show. Very vibrant. I can practically taste these dang armors.
- I'm not done yet, but I love Mitchy. What a great character to watch. He just keeps lyin' and you know it's going to implode at some point.
- Cool themes about the value of ignorance and whether or not you should lie to your loved ones to protect them.
- Kouta's kind of boring as a protagonist but it works for this series. He's just trying to do the right thing in this messed up setting.
- Triumph Arms is incredible. Orange hip-hop gun, let's go.

Tokusatsu, of course, being the Japanese 'Guys in spandex/ monster suits punching each other' genre. Last month I was looking for new shows to watch when for some reason I tumbled into the tokusatsu hole. I think it was that Youtube compilation of every Super Sentai (origin of the Power Rangers) intro. It was just unbelievable how many there are and that it's been going on since the 70s. I was like "At least one of these has to be pretty good." So like a normal American, adult man I started watching Japanese kids shows.

It's pretty fun stuff! I think I get why people like wrestling now. You just turn your brain off and let the hype wash over you. I started with Choujin Sentai Jetman because that's what everyone recommends. I didn't love it, but I could see bits of things that I'd probably like in a different show. Then I watched Kamen Rider W and it allll clicked. That's a great show. I'm also looking forward to watching Toqger, Kamen Rider Build, and Kakuranger.

Anyway, do you toku? Got any faves/ recommendations?

Here are my actual notes for the shows I've seen so far... SPOILERS for some:

Choujin Sentai Jetman (Complete)
- I don't like any of the Jetman. That's a problem. Ako and Ryu are the least offensive and Gai only becomes slightly tolerable toward the end. There's just nothing to them to make me really like them. They're also kind of unattractive :V
- Fuck the love triangle so much. It's so basic and contrived.
- Tetra Boy is GOAT.
- Maybe my favorite toku villains yet. Especially Grey. All really well characterized and fun to watch. Well Tranza was kind of boring, but Tran is fun.
- Killing Gai was a really weird decision, but I like it. Really blunt and sudden like death just is sometimes. Did Trigun homage this scene with Wolfwood's death? It's the same thing where the red and black theme'd characters are talking on a bench while the latter is secretly dying. Seems too close to be coincidence.

Gosei Sentai Dairanger (Ep 5)
- Main cast seems kind of bland. Took a few episodes to tell who was who.
- Cool suits though. I like the gold accents.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (Ep. 5)
- This is a fun crew. A 16 year-old girl and her 20-something boyz including an actual American who barely speaks Japanese. Oh and their SENTIENT CAT RV.
- Lots of Engrish so far, always a plus.
- This show's goofy as hell, I like it.
- Those end credits, woo.
- People seem to shit on the suits a lot, but I really like them in a corny way. So derpy they wrap around to being charming.

Uchu Sentai Kyuranger (Ep. 43)
- I LOVE these suits and the look of the cast. Very diverse in body type and attitude. Feels like a good RPG cast. Oguma Skyblue and Ryu Commander especially. They look awesome.
- Shou Ronpo is precious. Love the voice actor.
- I don't hate Lucky as much as many seem to, but he's not great. I don't even mind him having as much focus as he does I just wish there was more to him than pure shonen protagonism. Kamina he is not. That actor is hot though.
- It is unfortunate that half the cast gets almost no development at all. I get it, how are you supposed to develop 9-12 main characters evenly, but still. Spada, Hammy, and Raptor are basically just 'bodies present' for fights. Spada's probably the most egregious. He's just 'Chef guy.'
- There have been like four betrayal/ mind control/ possession plots and I hate that. Stinger, Naga, Champ, and now Lucky's dad. Having main characters suddenly be evil only works like once or twice a series unless you're really smart about it.
-One of my favorite roll-calls so far. That little circle Lucky does gets me every time.

Kamen Rider W (Complete)
- Them's some endearing characters. I really just wanted to hang out in Shotaro's office.
- Sure the CG sucks, but it was 2009. Some of it's surprisingly good for the time, honestly.
- It's funny! Something about seeing all these classic anime tropes but done in real life is hilarious.
- Some really great fights, but I was almost burnt out on it by the end.
- Phillip and Shotaro are both sexy which is always a plus.
- The only plot thing that really didn't work for me was Wakana suddenly being evil in the last ¼ of the series. When we last see her she's tearfully begging Phillip to leave their family behind and then... she's just all in on the family plot. I was hoping Terror had influenced her or something, but no she's just full-blown evil all of a sudden. It was a bummer because her friendship with Phillip was super wholesome.

Compartmentalization is important.

From now on I'm not doing any owed arts on Sundays.
I've been trying to keep up with this, but I don't think I've mentioned it.

My indulgent day ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

This is mostly me thinking out-loud, but let me know what you think.

I've tried making streaming happen for a while, but it never sits right with me. I think It mostly boils down to my schedule. I work full-time and then come home and draw for half the night. Arts are my escape and I do it for my own pleasure first and foremost (hence the indulgent pics only myself and a handful of dank fans like). I don't want to come home from work and then be beholden to a stream for X hours, y'know? I want to draw as fast, slow, or clumsily as I please because it's my time.

I don't like watching streams, myself. That can't help. Maybe I'm just too much of a boomer. I'll pop into an art stream for a bit to see what people's techniques are like, but then I get inspired to draw and leave to do that. People also stream writing which, I'm sorry, I don't know who would want to watch words steadily appear on a word processor. The only stream that I'll watch occasionally is Vinnysauce, but even then it's just 'background noise' when I'm cooking or something. Which seems to be how a lot of people approach streams...

Why do I want to watch someone else do something when I could just be doing it myself?

Is anyone even watching streams? Maybe if you're popular enough, but it seems like any time I get a handful of watchers ¾ of them are in another tab or window. Why do people do that?? If you're going to watch and hangout then do it. If you're doing other things then just do other things.

I'll probably still stream when the mood strikes me, but man, I just don't get this stuff. Is it my mindset? Streaming periodically almost defeats the point because unless you do it consistently no one will be invested.

Do you stream regularly? If so are you a full-time artist, or a part-time/amateur?
Do you hangout in streams? Like actually hang out and not just leave the tab open.
Games too or just art/ writing?
Do you do stream commissions?

Disclaimer: I'm no pro and I didn't go to art school. I'm just an observant hack doing his best and who wants you to do your best.

If I could go back in time and tell NoobRoy one thing it would be this: Sketch more

"Well no shit, Roy thanks for the git gud." Hold up Strawman-san, there's more to it than that.

In the six years I've been doing the art thing I've found that the main dividing feature between low-tier artists and high-tier artists is consistent sketching. Full-timers and professionals always seem to have unending sketch books filled with experimentation and study and I think that's the key. I made a concerted effort to sketch more this year and I've never felt more confident in my arting.

Sketching keeps you sharp, it helps you understand shapes and composition. Sketching is the bedrock of art, it seems. You can't build a good house on mud, you need a good foundation. IE: Before you do any fancy inking or rendering tricks you need a good outline to work off of.

Unfortunately, it's hard to make something out of nothing. Much easier to hack a workable sketch out and hurry on to inking and painting. There's a tendency among inexperienced or mediocre artists (we've literally all been there, don't feel bad) to sketch exactly as much as necessary for a piece. You thumbnail once or twice, get on with the sketch, and then wrap it up. Maybe you're over-loaded with commissions or you just want to rush ahead and post it for those sweet upcummies. Fair enough, I guess, but when you only sketch to get a piece done you're not necessarily giving yourself room to refine your skills or experiment. It seems to me that operating in this way leads to skills stagnating.

In order to sketch more I believe it's necessary to stop worrying about your output. There's such a push to follow the trends, build up a fanbase, build up your portfolio, etc. But that's all a distraction. All that matters is the canvas and what you want to put on it. I recommend you sit yourself down for a half-hour (or more) every day with an open canvas, a reference or two, and just sketch whatever you want. Get self indulgent. Forget about what people expect of you. You don't even have to show them your sketches. This is for you. If it turns out great on the first try, awesome. If not, try again. It'll be easier the second time.

If you do this I guarantee you'll feel the results in a matter of days. The more you sketch the easier it gets and then you'll really start improving. Don't let your memes be dreams.

But that's just one hack's opinion. What do you think?

I've been outspoken about my disinterest in Vivzie's work in the past, but I finally chugged through Helluva Boss and... it's fine.

Seems the most common complaint about HB is some of the juvenile, cuss-laden dialogue and yeah that's a big one. It's disappointing because there are some genuine moments of pathos, sweetness, etc. that are often immediately undercut by a dick one-liner or three. I want to get invested, but those moments pull me right out of the show. It feels like the show is try-hard, but it doesn't need to be. Know what I mean?

(Rant Alert)
My biggest complaint is still the character designs. Vivizie's designs are clearly meant to be animated, because they look so much better in movement, but on paper they're so busy and angular. Blitzo, probably my least favorite part of the show, is the worst offender with the patchy white skin, and the mark on his forehead, and the stripey horns, and the accessories. At first I didn't know he was wearing gloves and boots, I thought they were part of his body because of the coloration. Before watching I didn't know Stolas was meant to be an owl. I thought he was an alien or something because of how long and weirdly angular he is.

Like I said, I get that these designs are made to be animated, but they still really rub me the wrong way. My favorite design is easily Loona, not just for the obvious reasons but because she's simple and has appealing colors. I can tell where she begins and ends and what she's about which I can't say about the cast of Hazbin Hotel (no interest in watching that at all) for example.

Come to think of it, the fact that 75% of the show is strongly contrasting black, white, and red is most of my problem with the visuals. When Millie, Moxie, and Blitzo get into a fight it's usually a confusing blur of black, white, and red. Not great.
(Rant End)

As for positives, the animation is the clear winner here. Great in the grand scale set-pieces and small scale character moments. Voice acting's pretty great. Millie and Moxie are really endearing. Loona's in it.

Curious to hear if anyone else shares my distaste for the general character design. I'll keep watching along, but unless the scripts really start stepping up I'm not hotly anticipating the next episode.

On Saturday I was having a totally normal, healthy day when my shoulder was suddenly in screaming pain and then I had trouble breathing.

Went to the hospital and learned that my lung had collapsed/ imploded a half-inch. Apparently it's not uncommon for tall, thin, young men.
No one really knows why, but it might be just because tall people have more 'stretched out' lungs.
Anyways after a nightmarish few days (my neighbors were a suicidal guy, then a schizo going through withdrawal) I'm finally back home.

Just in time for my birthday

Commissioners: You'll have to bear with me on arts for a while because I can barely stand right now. I'll get to you as soon as I can.

See you around, kiddos.

For those who might want to be savvy of such information.

I'm turning 30... something. Don't worry about the specifics, tbh. I'm young as fuck, haha >_>

I see this a lot, and it's totally understandable, but Lusties aren't actually inflatables. They're more like advanced fuckdolls.

- They have a sturdy plastic 'skeleton' embedded with all of their computery bits.
- The skeleton is covered in the 'muscles' that let it move along with many, MANY, shaped cushions and gel sacs.
- Then there's that supple, shiny skin on top. The seems are just for aesthetics.

Standard models weigh a scant 70 pounds. Light enough for anyone to overpower.

That's how I designed them, but feel free to pretend they're just inflatables if that's what you prefer.

Hullo everybubby,

I'm looking to open commissions later this week, but there are going to be a few changes this time:

Application Window - I'm shamelessly copying RubberMage's method of announcing a small window of time (2-3 hrs) when commissions will be open in advance. I do this because leaving commissions open for a day or more gives me too many applications and it gets overwhelming. And this way people can know exactly when I'll be open and come up with their ideas beforehand.

Roy's Premium Prices - I've increased prices by $15 across the board because my time is worth it, dangit. When I first started out I figured "Well I work full-time so I can charge less for commissions." I was a dumb man. Because my free time is at a premium it ought to cost more, right?

Choptions - The Shaded Sketch slot wasn't very popular so I dropped it in favor of a Flat Color slot. I'll also be sticking to the restrictions more. No more 'Colored Sketches' that come out like my best work. You'll get what you pay for which is only fair ~

Now that the stuff people care about is out of the way: I quit Twitter last week and alcohol the week before! I'm feeling like a million dollar-bucks these days, it's really wild.

I'm thinking of doing a weekly conversation journal or something to shoot the shite with people.

I said I'd be streaming more and then I had to go back to riding the bus home and it really did a number on me. I'll try to get back on it (for the 6-7 people who actually come lol, jk I luv u)

Let me know if you have and questionz,
~ Roy

TL;DR - Less dumb action, more comfy character/relationship drama.

I discovered Beastars about two years ago and have been ravenously keeping up with it since. Over the last few months though my investment in the series has dropped off bigly
These days I just scan over the latest chapters to keep up to date...

Before I start it's worth noting that Paru has admitted she only had the series planned out up until final fight with Riz (so Ch. 99-100) And so she's been relatively flying by the seat of her pants since and that definitely shows.

The focus of the series has changed and not for the better. From emotional coming-of-age drama to dumb action. Paru's strength has always been character drama and exploring interesting relationships, I think that's safe to say. Think Shiira and Peaches girl-date, Ibuki's friendship with Louis, Tao and Kibi in the hospital, so many touching, impactful moments. What Paru is not great at is writing action, but lately very other chapter has a scuffle of some kind. I read in an interview that someone above her requested more action so I guess that person's partly to blame.

Stupid shit. There has always been a lot of nonsensical, shark-jump-esque stuff in this series (Legosi losing his bite strength because he worked out too much, going on a spirit quest and growing his fur back instantly by eating a bug, moth magic) It was kind of charming in a "what will she throw at us next?!" sense, but it has gotten way out of hand and it's just distracting.

The first big one for me was the whole "I accidentally ate Haru" escapade. Legosi wakes up with a red-stained sack and despite having the strongest nose ever doesn't realize it's tomato juice. His fur instantly turns white from shock. And then he scales a tall-ass building to confront Melon and also jumps out of that building to chase him. It was just so ridiculous and not in a charming way. Then we had Dolph suddenly reappearing after having his throat opened up. Melon waking up jacked because "O MY LEOPARD GENE" Oh and lets not forget chimeras. Suddenly there are spirit animal stands?! Legosi getting blown up by like six grenades, covered in rubble and getting up just fine. Sorry, sorry It's too much. This is a story that started as a thoughtful, exploration of predator/prey dynamics vis-a-vis social allegory, I don't want this dumb fantastical stuff here.

Melon. OK so I liked Melon at first, but over time I'm finding him more and more disappointing. Which is unfortunate because his role in the story has grown like a tumor. The Joker comparisons are valid, but Melon's not even that interesting. He's a typical cuh-razy, edgy anime villain. Riz had layers and was interesting because he completely deluded himself into believing eating Tem was a good thing that they both wanted. He believed he didn't do anything wrong. Plus Legosi and Pina playing cat-and-mouse with him before the fight was awesome.

I wish there was -something- redeeming about Melon, but there really isn't. His mom was a psycho bitch, but he gleefully killed her and basically just kept on killing. Melon is eh, fine, just not very interesting.

This one's a little questionable, but I miss characters. All the characters. With the Legosi V. Melon plot growing out of control every other character is getting shafted. Even Louis barely shows up these days. Have we seen Gosha since the cliffhanger with the bats?? There used to be a good variety of viewpoints and stories, but 90% of chapters these days are "Legosi gets into trouble and probably does something really awkward/stupid" Give me "A Day in the Life of Zaguan" dangit.

That's my long-winded shpiel. I do love the series in general, but for now ugh. Not great. (A new Louis x Juno chapter would get me giddy tho tbh)

Tell me your Beastars thoughts

I've had a few people ask what goes into choosing requests so I thought I'd lay out some of the considerations I make when deciding.

PLEASE NOTE: Following these 100% doesn't mean I will pick your request. At the end of the day the requests I choose are up to my whims in the moment.

• Be concise. The more I have to read to suss out your request the more likely I'll just give it a pass.
• Bad (and NSFW) reference pics are another big turn off. If I don't find your character appealing I won't draw it so put your best foot forward.
• I try not to accept multiple requests with similar subject matter. IE: If everyone asks for the latest popular thing, Costume Curse for example, I'll pick the one or two I like most and drop the rest.
• I try to go for one 'crowd-pleaser' request each time I open. Usually something with a popular character that I expect to get a lot of attention.
• I generally dislike drawing primates, any kind of genital focus, piercings, herms, and taurs.
• I generally prefer to draw character designs, TF, big cats, hand stuff, bimbos/ himbos, diapers, fanart (especially Zootopia, Beastars, Armello, etc) growth/ inflation. See my Gallery/ Favorites for more.

Let me get the hard talk out of the way and then I'll explain myself.

I refuse to draw anything that I don't have any interest in.
I'm not obligated to draw anything for anyone. I accept commissions part-time for kicks.

At the outset I said I would favor commission hopefuls that I'd passed over previously, but this has proven less and less tenable as these people happen to request things that I continually have no interest in. This isn't a condemnation of them or their tastes of course! I just have no interest in what they want me to do and there's no way around that. It's a hard line.

In any case I'm going to be a mean guy and stop weighing priority with commission requests. I'll pick the ones I like and only the ones I like. I would love to be fair and give everyone who wants something from me a chance to get it, but that's just not working out. Sorry.

If anyone has any recommendations I wouldn't mind hearing them.

Hey gang,

Anyone who's dug through my favorites and old stories could tell you that I like diaper stuff. I'm not going to justify it. It's a fetish (*￣з￣) I've avoided posting such stuff to my gallery lately because, obviously, it's one of those love it or loathe it things. However I've recently accepted some diaper commissions and wanted a way to upload them without alienating half my watchers.

The plan is to upload diaper stuff with clean thumbnails denoting 'Diaper' or 'Dirty Diaper.' That way people who like diaper stuff can see it and those that don't can ignore it. Custom thumbnails aren't working on FA these days so I'm forced to relegate my diaper content to Weasyl and SoFurry If FA sorts the thumbnail problem out I can upload the backlog there, but until then: If you want my diaper pics follow my Weasyl and/or SoFurry (SoFurry is down atm).

Now I'm sure some of you will drop me over this out of principle or something. That's your prerogative and I couldn't really blame you for it. To everyone who doesn't mind though: Thanks! Everything's basically the same, but there will be diaper stuff now and then.

TL;DR - If you want to see my diaper stuff watch my Weasyl and/or SoFurry. I'll be uploading the pics with clean or pixellated thumbnails for those that don't like that stuff.

~ Roy