I have a bisexual guppy and its funny as hell to watch because it seems like he’s only bi out of desperation. Like all of the female guppies are unimpressed by him, and dont accept his mating displays, and every time he fails, he goes over to a SPECIFIC male guppy (the prettiest male guppy in the tank) like PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE and that male guppy always lets him????
So to me Dante is ace. There’s something performative about the way he acts to me in the scenes he’s shown to be appreciating women and like just generally he doesn’t seem to have any real interest in anyone in that manner.
Anyways, this is not really a discussion of that, it just leads into why I started thinking of this silly headcanon, which I’ll explain now:
So demons/devils inherently do not find humans attractive at all. Humans are food not friends. Even the ones with a more human-like appearance cause they really just take that appearance to lure in the good food.
Sparda having any interest in Eva like that was something that happened after he fell in love (and really demonkind finds him really odd for somehow producing offspring with a human).
So anyways demons in this headcanon don’t find humans attractive at all unless they have fallen in love - a rare thing.
Dante has never had much real interest in things of a sexual nature. He’s tried, cause he’s committed to being human and acting the way he thinks a man should act, but really it doesn’t really do anything for him. Unknowingly this is him taking after his demonic side rather strongly, though in human terms that would make him akin to demisexual.
Now it gets really fun with Vergil ‘cause of Nero’s existence and either it’s
Option A: Sad love story with Lady in Red
Option B: Vergil taking hilariously after his human side and puberty had him make some generally-considered-to-be-unwise choices (but since they resulted in our boy Nero I hesitate to call them that) XD
Anyways I just really like the idea of Dante who’s tried to reject the demonic actually having some more instinctive demonic traits and Vergil who’s striven for demonic power ends up saved by the results of his humanity.
Also could you imagine Vergil’s face realizing he takes more after his human side than Dante does?
Okay, I need to add some clarification and correction to this.
This photo is known as The Pale Blue Dot. It was taken by Voyager 1, a space probe meant to explore the outer reaches of the solar system. Far from dying, she's still out there doing her job and is the furthest human made object from Earth.
In the mid 80's, they knew Voyager 1 would soon pass beyond where her cameras would matter and she needed to save power, so the question became: what's the last thing she should take a picture of?
Carl Sagan and Carolyn Porco both independently had the same thought: take a picture of Earth. Us. Yes, it would be essentially just one pixel. It wouldn't be scientifically useful. It might even damage the camera because of how intense the sun is, even forty times as far from Earth as Earth is from the Sun. But they got it sorted because it's NASA.
3.7 million (not billion) miles away, that's Earth. Caught in bands of light, artifacts of the Sun's incredible power even 4 million miles away. We are an island in a sea of radiation and vacuum and it's all we have.
I can't say it better than Sagan did, so I'll let you alone with his words:
From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
I've been thinking about the Sparda twins having physical, uncanny, demonic characteristics.
Some of my headcanons are that Dante and Vergil have physical characteristics such as eyeshine, sharp teeth (like two sets of upper canines), and slit pupils. And animalistic behaviors like purring.
Then a random thought hit me: What about the possibility of demons (in general) having a broader hearing range than humans?
Humans can hear sound frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Many animal species can hear frequencies outside this range, so either below 20 Hz or above 20 kHz.
A well-known example is dogs, who can hear higher frequencies than humans can- hence why we have dog whistles. The same applies to house cats, which actually have the broadest hearing range among mammals. Rodents produce high-frequency squeaks that cats can hear, allowing them to locate and catch their prey.
Elephants and whales can produce infrasounds, or sounds with frequencies below the range humans can detect, to communicate over long distances. Bats, dolphins, some insects (like katydids), and whales (again) can produce ultrasounds, or sounds with frequencies above the range of human hearing.
The main point is that many animals can hear and produce a wider range of sound frequencies to communicate with one another.
So, what am I trying to suggest about demons (and the Sparda twins)?
Going back to the question above: what if demons can also produce sounds of frequencies outside of the range humans can hear? Hypothetically, demons could create a network of information amongst each other to share general information that everyone in the Demon World needs to know, like who fought who and won, who's the leader, etc. Or for demons that are a part of packs, they can formulate plans to attack others or humans while also avoiding detection.
Also, imagine being a demon sneaking into the Human World and putting on a perfect disguise to avoid attention and make hunting humans easier. But you decide to send a message- like the location of the portal for others to find, or a warning to other demons you're around and to avoid you (because it'll mean death for them).
Then, a few hours later, a man in red appears and foils all of your plans.
The ability to hear across a broad spectrum of frequencies would allow Dante (and likely Vergil) to find other demons easily and make them even more effective demon hunters.
In addition, the twins being able to produce sounds of higher or lower frequencies due to their demonic heritage could allow them to have secret "conversations" in front of many humans. Trish, being a demon herself, would most likely hear those, though.
(Just imagine Dante and Vergil secretly "arguing" in front of Lady and Morrison while Trish is in the background trying not to laugh out loud. Or the twins being miles apart and "sharing" their locations with each other. )
There's also a comedic aspect to this possibility with Nero-
What if Nero has no clue that demons, including his dad and uncle, can hear frequencies that humans can't?
He also has no idea he can hear those sounds, too.
As his demonic abilities develop further, Nero starts hearing these sounds that Kyrie, the kids, and Nico can't hear. It drives him insane because: 1) Where are these sounds coming from? 2) Why is he the only one who can hear them?
Out of desperation, he tells the twins and is nonchalantly told that he's probably been hearing a group of a particular type of demon conversing amongst themselves... which does NOT calm him down at ALL.
The conversation then leads to an impromptu family demon-hunting trip. Plus, Dante and Vergil have to teach Nero how to control his hearing and block out certain sounds. And (to his horror) also how to produce specific sounds.
Later on, he asks Nico to make special headphones to block out sounds of specific frequencies (with the intention of avoiding hearing the twins' "messages" to him, lol)
Other random thoughts I had were: Dante and Vergil (plus Trish) getting annoyed whenever someone blows a dog whistle near them (which Lady takes advantage of). Or when they are near construction or machinery that produces infrasonic or ultrasonic noise.
On a more serious note, that type of hearing would also be a double-edged sword, as it would be easy to become overwhelmed by all the sounds around them.
Everyone says NEVER TRACE!! THAT'S ART THEFT! Ok but we can do a little crime in the name of Learning.
Trace to learn, not to earn.
I like to take my own photos, but you can study whatever you want. Link back to original photos, and don't post copied artwork unless the artist is dead, cool with it, or both.
As always with learning, start every sketch with the intent to throw it away (trash for paper, quitting without saving for digital) This takes the pressure off and lets you make Bad Art, which is very important.
So let's make Bad Art of a Deer
because I happen to have one handy
Start with a photo of your subject in a nice/neutral pose with all four feet visible. (so not like me)
Freehand copy it. Try not to stylize, focusing instead of matching proportions and pose. Don't get too detailed!
It's ok if your art looks terrible and has broken legs. I've drawn LOTS of deer so I have a leg up. Everyone's art sucks in their own eyes and here's where mine went wrong:
Either lasso-distort (recommended for beginners) or redraw a copy of your first sketch with your reference behind it (scaled to match the main body of your sketch)
Put the original and modified sketches together and compare the differences. Write it down if you want. This shows you where your eyes saw things the wrong size, so you can correct for that next time.
After learning about both deer and yourself, try freehand copying again.
Marvel at your newfound knowledge and skill!
but there's always room for improvement
You can stop here and move on to your real drawing, Or do another freehand-fix-compare cycle. I actually overcorrected my "draws heads too big" and veered into "heads too small."
Another note on tracing: Learning HOW to trace is more important than anything you could learn By tracing. Draw the Anatomy, not the outline. In real life, things don't have outlines, they have bones.
These are from the same shoot which is extra useful for consistency. The lines are minimal and follow where the animals joints are, and only important parts are drawn.
You won't know what Important Parts means right off the bat, which is where in-depth study comes in. You need to do learn the hard parts to do the easy parts right.
"Study the anatomy study the anatomy" but they never tell you HOW. It's not "read a book," It's more like flailing around wildly and crashing your browser from too many tabs.
This is going to be about How to Make a bones and muscle chart. Because even if your art sucks, you learn so much more by doing than by seeing.
References I gathered: X X X X X X X X
Get Set up. Get a photo, like above, but it doesn't have to be the same photo. And now... gather reference.
We'll start with bones. Search up "[animal] skeleton" and get photos or super scientific illustration. Add in things like "top view" to spice it up.
Next, search "[animal] skeleton sketchfab." This pulls up 3D models that you can rotate in your browser. Remember that these are art and the anatomy is only as good as the artist, so pick a good one.
Time for bone!
The spine is the most important, and in a lot of animals it will surprise you. Draw it in over your photo and then add spikes because skeletons are punk. These are not scientific and I didn't count them because their number doesn't matter to art. So you better be referencing from scientists and not me!
The rest of the bones and some notes. These are my notes to myself about things I want to remember. My personal discoveries in anatomy that made my art better. You can make the same notes but also make sure you have your own thoughts on there as well. that's how you help yourself the best. Be as detailed or vague as you want.
Same deal with muscle. Here are my personal notes to myself. Label stuff that is important to you. I actually grouped a bunch of muscles together based on what is visible from the outside. Muscles are way more complicated than this, but Baby's First Anatomy Chart gets to be simple.
This is good enough for me because I have intimate knowledge of the other muscles working under and over these ones. Feel free to add as many or as few muscles as you like. You chart your own course.
This is very VERY much not an anatomical chart. I'm sure there's nerds out there pulling their hair out looking at this. But listen, it works for art!
And you know the wildest part about this?
I don't need to look at it to use it. The act of making your own anatomy chart puts that knowledge in your brain. Like how you can make "cheat sheets" even for tests that don't allow them - the act of making the sheet helps you remember what you struggle with most.
And after all that complexity? Your simplification will be based on Real Knowledge and you'll put those random circles in the right spots.
Look at all this hard work you've done. Eventually this will be second nature to you.
Show me what you make! I'd love to see what creatures yall make anatomy charts of.
I put together some photo packs and uploaded them to my gumroad. You can use them and this guide to study! So far there's only a Doe and a Fawn pack, but if I get sales I will put in the effort to do more for deer, horses, cats, birds, and anything else I can point my camera at.
having feelings that contradict your morals is soooo fucking annnoooooyyyiiingggggg. can the emotions and logic department get on the same page im tired of having to like strangle myself into being a tolerable person
I think the thing that annoys me most about AI on a personal, day to day, level is what it has done to grammar checkers. If you've never done a lot of editing, or used to 5+ years ago but haven't really in the last couple years, I can't even begin to describe how fucking BAD this shit has gotten. And as an author it is EXHAUSTING.
I just want to catch spelling errors and accidental double spaces and repeated phrases and whenever I use the wrong too/to or affect/effect and shit. But no. They've shoved AI up the ass of every grammar checking software out there and now they all fucking suck and make the most random, obnoxious, nonsensical suggestions.
And yeah, I can ignore all the times it's trying to get me to cut out any semblance of my own voice, or shove things into the wrong tense, or make the most random suggestions on comma usage. But if it's getting all that WRONG, what is it just straight up missing that I SHOULD be correcting? What real spelling and grammar errors are still lurking in there?
I get why people keep saying this (and other versions of it like "Use Adobe alternatives" and "Use Google product alternatives."). But here's the problem: I do not create in isolation. Even my own 100% personal projects are getting sent to other people whether it's editors or printers or beta readers and unless every single person in that train is using the same products, things can get wonky.
Libre Office and Word handle formatting differently on the back end, which can completely break documents if you move them back and forth between the two. So if I write in Libre Office but my beta readers are still using Word, when I send them a manuscript for review there's a good chance things won't look right and my beta reader will not actually be reviewing what I sent them.
Industry standards are industry standards FOR A REASON. Having everyone on the same workflow can be crucial to getting things done effectively and correctly without creating a lot of extra work. And those things are not going to change overnight, as much as we might want them to.
Yeah, Word, let me just leave this whole chunk of dialogue without the closing quotation marks. That's the thing to do. How dare I have two punctuation marks in a row. It's not like that's how closing quotation marks fucking work.
And you know, for young writers, this has got to be so detrimental just from the perspective of opening your document and seeing a million corrections that, frankly, don't need to be there. If you're a young writer you're likely not going to have the background knowledge to know what is and isn't a good suggestion, you're just going to see a document that makes it look like you made every mistake possible so clearly you must be a terrible, stupid writer and should just give up.
and annotate them with who is in the photos and when and where the photos were taken!!! your extended family 50 years from now will be grateful, and so will you if you end up forgetting any details
