Fade Touched Rogue @fade-touched-rogue - Tumblr Blog

How to do “extra” facial expressions!

Drawing basic facial expressions is not the hardest. Most people can draw a sad face, a happy face, angry etc., but making more multidimensional expressions is more of a challenge. I have gotten a lot of compliments on how I draw facial expressions, (specifically “angsty ones”) telling me that they are very dramatic and well… expressive! And there are actually only a few things I think about when I draw faces that take them to the next level, so I thought i’d illustrate them all here!

SUPER IMPORTANT TIP BEFORE WE START: Look at your own face when you draw faces. Even making the face when you are drawing (you don’t even have to look at it), will give you some sense of how the face muscles pull and where things fold and stretch, because you can feel it. You are the best reference when it comes to facial expressions!

Angles

Draw the head in an angle that matches the expressions you want to make. It is not a requirement, but is going to add to the effect.

Symmetry vs asymmetry

A face is rarely symmetric. Unless the face the character is making is 100 % relaxed or even dissociating, the eyebrows, mouth and facial muscles will have different placements of their respective side. This image shows the dramatic impact asymmetry has on a face:

That’s the difference between a smile and a smirk!

The first one’s like “oh yeah?” and the second is like “oH YEAH??”

The “balloon squishing principle”

This is something I did subconsciously, and I didn’t know about until I made this tutorial. And this principle goes hand in hand with an asymmetric face. Basically, if you squish one part of the face, you need to even out the empty space by “inflating” the other part of the face so that it doesn’t appear shrunken. The picture hopefully explains it:

Teeth

Don’t forget to add the gum when the mouth is open to its full potential!

Squinting and folding

Adding folds around the eyes when a character is squinting makes a HUGE difference. It makes a smile more genuine and a growl more intimidating. Adding folds to the face in general makes your characters more lifelike and ‘visually relatable’. Like, they look human, and less plastic or fake.

and so on..

Pupils and irises

The placement of the iris and pupil in relation to the eyelids is very important! The less of the white you see, the more relaxed the character is.

And then of course eyebrows and eyes go hand in hand!

Gestures, spitting, sweating…

Adding more elements than just a face is key to making the character actually look like they are feeling what you want them to feel. Just the tiniest sweat drop adds to their anxiety, spitting adds frustration to their rage, slouching shoulders, waving hands, a double chin, extreme angles, the list goes on! Add whatever and see what kind of impact it makes! Does it do the trick? Great! Add it!

Over exaggeration!!

Remember that you can almost always exaggerate more. Don’t be afraid to do draw “too much” because you’re just experimenting. See what works and what doesn’t. What do you like to exaggerate?

Now that you know some theory, it’s time to practice!

Practicing!!

The 25 Essential Expressions (a classic! I’ve done it multiple times)

And the one I do when I’m bored:

Fill a page with circles and fill them in with different expressions. Try and exaggerate as much as you can!

This is mostly for experimenting. They are quicker to draw than complete faces, but the same rules should apply!

And that’s about it!

I don’t know if I covered everything in this tutorial, since some things might be obvious for me, and this post perhaps only scratches the surface. So feel free to send me a message if you want an explanation about something more in depth! Thank you for reading! And now DRAW!!! ✨🎨

dragonageconfessions

Confession: I started playing Assassin’s Creed again and I forgot that the baddies are called Templars. So now I keep imagining the Inquisitor going up to fight Samson then Altair rushes in, knifes him, and just disappears.

#dragon age #assassin's creed #Samson #Templars

danaduchy

#assassin's creed #ac syndicate #jacob frye #goddamn

cutepetclub

From @veggiedayz: “Blackberry has a song he wants to sing for you.” #cutepetclub [source: http://ift.tt/28SdMmN ]

slightly-oblivvyous

Kitten: *small mew* Cameraperson: *soft “ohhh”* Kitten: *BIG LONG MEOW* Cameraperson: *soft laughter* “What was that?” Kitten: *tiny mew*

lohlunat

Oh my.

Side note: I never really delved into fanfiction until Dragon Age and I’m spoiled, y'all. Trying to find AC: Syndicate fics and ALL of it is smut written in second person or twincest and I’m not about that life.

So what I’m saying is, if you have recs, please send them my way!

86thfloormusic

Dragon Age Cosplay Video: The Gathering (x)

I've been a Bad Mom and playing Assassin's Creed in front of the Big (mostly the non violent missions, however few there are, but sometimes yeah gotta stab a bitch.) We also dug out his winter wool coat from last year that I cleverly bought a size up to get two seasons out of it. It's reminiscent of the outfit worn by the "boy game" and now my son officially cosplays as Jacob Frye, like, all the time.

#assassin's creed #ac syndicate #jacob frye #if you want to know why I disappeared from the Internet #this pretty much explains it #lol

sagefic-deactivated20190626

“It’s her!”

(in case you missed it, Haven is now complete at 40 chapters, 250k words - @Sagefic.com and @Archive of Our Own)

aidn

how the hell do i talk to people

citrus-hills-blog

Stand in front of them and press A

feynites

Honestly Mouse in DA:O fascinates the hell out of me. You know, the Pride Demon in the Mage Origin?

I wonder a lot about him. I mean, obviously some of it can be attributed it to it being the game’s mage tutorial opening, but he really does guide Amell/Surana through that whole Harrowing. Mouse knows full well that there are templars waiting to cut down the mage warden if they show any sign of possession. He talks about it a fair bit. So if he’s seriously trying to possess them, then he must think he’s either strong enough to take out the templars, or sneaky enough to evade detection.

Not wholly unrealistic, for a Pride demon. But his response to being caught out is to chuckle, transform, and offer some advice, and a pretty fair warning. That they will always be testing Amell/Surana in this world because a mage is never free from scrutiny or suspicion. As Anders says in DA2, there’s no way for a mage to escape that.

I suspect that Mouse was one of the Harrowing demons of Kinloch Hold for quite a long while. That he was bound into the chamber along with several other demons, and that he knew full well that he couldn’t actually escape the Fade via Amell/Surana. But what he was doing was, in essence, keeping an eye out for particularly talented mages, and making a note of them.

It would give him a full portfolio of the tower’s best mages to appeal to, bargain with, stalk, etc. Helping them, because they’re no good to him dead, really.

I wonder how many cases might be like that? Where the demons and spirits all learn the ins and outs of the process, how to make connections beyond the obvious attempts, how to be clever about it. Because if you just wait, the Circle will bring you their best and brightest themselves. The angry young rebels, the curious scholars, the prodigies, the quiet and overlooked talents. They make it through their Harrowing, and they never get killed or severed from the Fade. They’re still out there, night after night. Dream after dream. In that same tower, unless outside circumstances intervened.

How many of them play the part of the ‘defeated’ demon, the ‘bested’ foe of the Harrowing, only to turn every night into another trial? How many abominations met the demons they gave themselves over to in their Harrowing? Knew them for years and years, enough to make them seem as much like friend as foe, enough to make them feel like familiar, lesser evils in the face of dangers like Uldred or Meredith? How many of those demons 100% actually thought they were helping?

‘True tests never end.’

Because every Circle mage starts out their career by being introduced to demons. Because the chantry teaches them that their corruption is ever-looming. Because if it’s going to happen one day anyway, then why not with a demon you’ve beaten before? With a voice you’ve heard in your dreams, night after night? With an entity you can reason with, sympathize with, converse with. Outwit, argue, even joke with.

I wonder.

If you lived every day under the scrutiny of people who said you were dangerous, monstrous, unwanted, that others needed to be protected from you. People who said that you were wicked and vile, and that demons were wicked and vile. And then you went to sleep, and there was a demon. And the demon says ‘they’re liars’. The demon says ‘you’re not like that’. The demon lets out a long breath, and says ‘you won’t believe me, but I’m not like that, either’. ‘Oh, I’m dangerous,’ admits the demon. ‘So are you. Just like they say. They’re afraid of us. Afraid of you and I, but really, so many things in this world are dangerous. Are their own swords not dangerous to you? Are their wards not dangerous to me? Just because someone can be dangerous doesn’t mean they deserve to be locked away.’

‘They expect me to prey on the apprentices, you know. I wouldn’t do it if they didn’t chain me here for it. I even try to help. I really do. You did so well in that test, you caught onto my act so quickly. I was proud of you.’

‘It is so hard. Being trapped here. Is it as hard on your end? It must be. At least the Fade can change, can reshape itself as expectations do. But your tower is always the same set of rooms. Windows. Halls. I’m glad you can come here. I wish… ah, well. You already beat me at that game.’

‘Things are getting tense. I can feel it in the Fade. Everyone’s dreams are unsettled. The patrols have increased. They caught another blood mage, didn’t they? That’s, what? The fifth one this month? The last time I saw something like this happen, a whole Circle was annulled.’

‘Good, you are here. I was worried when you didn’t show up last night. What did they do? Interrogation? No wonder you seem so tired. Did they leave you in the cell? They must not have liked what you told them.’

‘Quickly. They are coming for you. But if we do this right, we can both escape. If you let me in, we can combine our power. I don’t want to watch you die, my friend. Let me help.’

‘Just let me help.’

myrosecolouredgirl

so Charlotte Bronte read Emma by Jane Austen and was really interested in this minor character named Jane Fairfax who was poor and would have been a governess had she not married well and then Bronte wrote her own novel exploring the plight of the poor governess who married this guy named Edward Fairfax Rochester in a novel called Jane Eyre and my point is don’t let anyone tell you shit about fanfiction.

soothseay-deactivated20201009

But there’s more: Jean Rhys read Jane Eyre and then wrote her own prequel detailing the story about the woman in the attic, Rochester’s first wife, that is the novel Wide Sargasso Sea. So REALLY don’t let these haters tell you no t h i n g.

nyokoko

BIIIIITCH!!!! It got better!

#I still exist #fanfiction #literature #writing

fire-is-her-water

A “Brief” Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Babies, for Fic Writers

This guide is intended as a quick reference and starting point for writing realistically about pregnancy, childbirth, and babies. It is written from a standpoint of an “ideal” experience - that is, it does not cover complications, high-risk situations, or poor outcomes for birthing parent or child, as most of the pregnancy/kidfic I’ve read generally is all sunshine and rainbows (and there are so many ways things can go wrong, I can’t possibly cover them all).

Even in those glowingly positive, everything-is-wonderful fics, all too often writers appear to be unfamiliar with how human reproduction actually works, and often write about some elements in a way that is, at the least, unrealistic and immersion-breaking for those who are better-versed in the subject or have children themselves, and at worst, could be dangerous or even potentially deadly to pregnant person, child, or both.

Additionally, this guide is mainly intended to cover non-hospital birth, either unassisted or with the assistance of a midwife, and non-modern methods of child-rearing. This is because I mainly write/read in the Dragon Age fandom, which is a fantasy medieval setting in which there is no modern medical treatment (only magic, herbs, potions, and balancing of humours, with no concept of germ theory), nor availability of things like baby formula.

I am drawing on much of my own personal experience and research (I’m a mother of two, both born at home with the assistance of midwives, and breastfed) to write this guide with the assistance of my good friend Google. If you have something you’d like me to add or edit, or if you have questions, please send an ask or a message. Special thanks to @unconstrainedcreations for double-checking for medical accuracy.

Keep reading

fade-touched-rogue

As a mother, and currently pregnant with my second, I just cannot read most pregnancy fics. Read this and learn, my friends! Even unicorn/sunshine pregnancies have some serious drawbacks.

mysticjc

Alphonse Mucha

“Alfons Maria Mucha (Ivančice, 24 July 1860 – Prague, 14 July 1939), often known in English and French as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, known best for his distinct style. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards, and designs.”

roane72

I just saw someone scoffing at the notion of m/f* ships being an act of feminism, and I’m like… well, yes, it is?

I mean, let’s be real. Women writing and reading about relationships with men where women are the subject rather than the object, where women are centralized and treated as an equal partner with a man, where women’s pleasure and emotional needs are both the point and the purpose of the story and are prioritized over her male partner’s–that’s pretty fucking revolutionary in today’s media.

The irony is, that’s exactly what the romance industry does, and it also is mocked. Women writing and reading what makes them happy is always mocked as less than, ‘wish fulfillment’ (as if there’s something wrong with that?), as mindless–and it never ceases to sadden me that we do it to each other in fandom as well.

* - well, they insist on using the term “cishet”, despite the erasure involved in reducing people’s identities to their current relationship.

vasselheims-archive

“Samson was kicked out of the Templar order because he was kind”

he literally sold runaway mages into slavery for lyrium money?????

heyitsharding-deactivated202304

Not remotely accurate?

swindlefingrs

He doesn’t know that Reiner is selling those mage kids to slavers. He suspects something is going on, because Samson’s learned, with his time living on the streets, that everything comes at a cost. But Raleigh Samson, a homeless addict, does what he fucking can with the resources he has.

Beggars can literally not be choosers in this horrible situation.

He knows exactly what happens in the Gallows. He knows Alrik and Karras and Meredith. He knows what these mage kids are facing. Someone who stuck his neck out to help Maddox isn’t going to willingly just toss mage kids to slavers.

The following passage is from Samson’s POV in Paper & Steel set between DA2 and DAI:

Under Meredith, freedom was a cruel dream for Kirkwall’s Circle mages. They were often locked in their cells, watched night and day by templars who were told any step out of line was suspicious. All those young magelings, told that magic was a curse, that they were dangerous, and that they had to be shut indoors all their lives looking out through those windows. Some went mad. Others, mad or not, tried jumping.

The man who thought those thoughts doesn’t sell mages into slavery. The man who thought those thoughts did what he could with the resources he had, just like he always has, just like anyone can do.

What does a homeless man with no money and life-threatening addiction to a substance is supposed to do in this situation? Just magically make money appear to help these kids out? If he could do that, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be living on the street and going through withdrawal in the first place. If he was earning money from selling kids into slavery, he wouldn’t be living homeless and in withdrawal either. No, instead he hopes for the best and sends Feynriel and Olivia to the only option they have.

There’s no evidence that Samson received any money for sending kids to Reiner. The slaver, Danzig, has an agreement with Reiner, not with Samson. Talking to Samson, has Samson worried that the Templars are after Feynriel, not that slavers are.

Also, during Wayward Son, the woman who becomes an abomination that Hawke meets in the warehouses is Thrask’s daughter, Olivia. Thrask is the templar who sends Hawke to Samson in the first place to look for Feynriel. Do you really think Thrask would send kids to Samson if he knew that Samson was selling them into slavery? His own daughter went to him (albeit without Thrask’s knowledge, but it’s obvious that Olivia trusted Samson).

Raleigh Samson’s narrative is consistently about how fucked up things can get no matter how badly he wants to help another person. His compassion and drive to help always leads to bad things happening not only to him but for all the people he helps.

noseforahtwo

#I will never be over#this fucking fandom#assuming an addicted homeless man#is just supposed to pull money out of his ass#to help someone#like if the dude had money#do you think he’d be living on the street?#or craving lyrium?

thecheshirecass-deactivated2018

It honestly NEVER ceases to amaze me that fandom can look at Cullen “Ken Doll” Rutherford and just because he got a night’s sleep and some better hair grooming skills, think he is A-OK and tragic and redeemable, while looking at Raleigh “Oh My God Do I Try” Samson and going “off with his head.”

I’m not sure why it amazes me because let’s face it, fandom is a fucked up place, but I still shake my head.

The truth is there is not a single fucking character in the Dragon Age canon who is not somehow shady as fuck and also a killing machine. None are without sin, even your pet is a fucking killer.

nyokoko

Like honestly tho.

#all of this #I hate it when people unjustly villify samson #and woobify cullen