Author: squigglysquidd

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Questions About Creating Your OCs

Posted on by squigglysquidd

cassandrapentayaaaaas:

‘Cause sometimes the stories of how OCs come to be are just as interesting as the OCs, themselves. Tell me how your virtual kids came into the world.

  1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 
  2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind? 
  3. How did you choose their name? 
  4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? 
  5. Is there any significance behind their hair color? 
  6. Is there any significance behind their eye color? 
  7. Is there any significance behind their height? 
  8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 
  9. Are they based off of you, in some way? 
  10. If they have an LI, how much of their character is tailored to be compatible to that person? 
  11. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation? 
  12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 
  13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 
  14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 
  15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh? 
  16. What is something about your OC can make you cry? 
  17. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story? 
  18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? 
  19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?
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Do you listen to music while you draw or write?

Posted on by squigglysquidd

Yes! I do listen to music. Anything from soundtrack music to my favs. Jane, for instance, gets lots of old rock (Metallica, AC/DC, Priestess, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, etc) and Garrus gets more of a Two Steps From Hell soundtrack. Damocles gets lots of Tool and Cassia more of a pop rock vibe.

Fibonacci, on the other hand, uses Elder Scrolls and Witcher soundtracks. That’s pretty much a given, I know, but I’m a dork that way. 😀

Thanks for the lovely ask!

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Halloween One-Shot for the Parable Series

Posted on by squigglysquidd

My output for the @masseffectwritercircle Saturday sit down and write, dammit. 😀

So what would the season be without a Halloween One-Shot?  Early?  Maybe, but how can Christmas decorations go up in September and I not get my Halloween one shot?  Here’s a snip (*cough* see more at this link *cough*)

When all the kids in school got excited about a holiday named ‘Halloween’, Damocles and his sister went to their mom and dad to ask what it was. Daddy didn’t seem to know, but what mommy said surprised Damocles and Cassia so much they couldn’t even talk.

Getting to dress up and play pretend and get free candy? It must be their birthday! No. Christmas! Maybe even better than Christmas and their birthday together!

Mommy and daddy said it was good that they asked before too long because now they could get costumes just like they always wanted. Damocles must have spent a million hours looking at the extranet with Cassia on daddy’s computer so they could find costumes, but they found the perfect costume. Mommy had the clothes lady in the Wraith city that always makes their clothes fit better make them the costumes they wanted and Damocles couldn’t wait until he could dress up, go out trick or treating, and get lots of candy.

And mommy and daddy would actually let them eat it that night too!

“Dammit,” Mommy says, puffing out a breath that makes her hair fly off her face, and Damocles giggles at her trying to help Cassia get into her costume. “Why did you have to pick an outfit that makes no sense?”

Cassia smiles up at their mom as she holds the grey dress thing for Cassia in both hands, holding it up and pulled out. “I wanted to be a wizard.” She looks to Damocles as they both say without actually speaking ‘duh’ to each other.

“This robe makes no damn – Ah!” Moving her hands, mommy holds up the fancy dress the right way where Damocles can finally see the sleeves now. “I had no idea this thing came in two pieces.” When both Damocles and his sister laugh at their silly mom, she snorts and comes to where Cassia sits on her bed. She’s the first to get her costume on, so Damocles waits for his own. “Alright. Put this dress looking one on first. Then come back out and I’ll help you buckle your belt and tie your cape on.” She hands Cassia the dress looking part of the costume. “Off you go, Gandalf,” she says with a chuckle before looking at Damocles, smiling. “Is my scary little ringwraith ready to get his robes on?”

Damocles grins and nods. “Uh huh!”

Mommy laughs and waves out of Cassia’s room. “Go grab your costume, then.”

Chirping happily, he runs to his room. He had seen his costume when the clothing lady had it sent to their house, but daddy said he couldn’t wear it until today. All day at school, Damocles wiggled and jumped in his seat, just waiting for class to be over and it to be night.

When asked what he and his sister wanted to be, the only thing that came to his mind was the grown up movie he and Cassia watched when mom and dad weren’t looking. Up on the upper balcony, Damocles and his sister pressed their faces against the bars as they watched a vid about monsters and soldiers that fought with sword instead of guns in shock and excitement. Mommy and daddy had caught them, but they didn’t get mad and, instead, invited them to come see better on the couch and share popcorn and snacks.

It was the coolest movie Damocles had ever seen. He even thinks Cassia loved it as much as he did because she wanted to dress up as it for Halloween too.

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Sharing Fan Works: by a fan artist

Posted on by squigglysquidd

bethadastra:

We love making art, and sharing it with you. We love putting our hearts into our work, whether it’s art or fanfics or what have you, sharing it, and seeing the amazing work that others do. In my experience, making fan art, especially art of OCs, is an incredibly personal undertaking. For a lot of us, it takes a great deal of love and courage to share our craft with you guys.
And if you haven’t noticed, we are very protective of our creative work. We put hours of labor into our art. We care deeply about the subject matter. And just like any commercial artist or published writer, we want to be recognized for our hard work, and not have it invalidated.

When friends and followers use tags like “mine” or “look it’s me! I look so good!” for pieces that are not explicitly intended for them, what it tells us, as artists, is that you don’t want to recognize our unique creations (especially OC’s), and by extension, that you don’t want to recognize our hard work, or us, as creative artists.

I know that I can be guilty of it. In the heat of the moment, sometimes I catch myself word-vomiting in the tags of art and fics that I strongly relate to, because they’re exciting and AMAZING. And while feeling this way can be very exciting, this can be very hurtful to the creator when you start self-inserting. 99% of the artists I know will look through all of their reblogs to look through the tags, because it makes them feel good about their hard work. And when a friend with good intentions shares it, but chooses to identify the art as art of themselves, it is very demotivating. I find myself thinking things like 

“Was my OC so bad that you had to go and reidentify them?”
“Why couldn’t you have just asked me if I could draw your character instead? Am I that unapproachable?”
“Why can’t you create your own content for yourself, instead of commandeering mine??”

All of these questions are toxic to an artist’s creativity.

Please consider the time, and energy, and emotions of the creator. When you see an OC or fan work that sends you over the moon, let the creator know that, not yourself. Hell, go to the artist’s page, see if they’re cool with requests or collaborations! Many of us are! (And please respect the artists who aren’t, remember that we are here of our own accord, and don’t owe our followers anything!)

We love making and sharing our work with you, and collectively “fangirling (I’m using this with a positive connotation!) But please, respect our work and our efforts as artists. If you don’t, chances are we won’t want to stay around, or share the things we all love, for very long.