Winter's Grace is Ready!

New hope AU:

I think these are dragon!Min-ji and fox!Celine prime days Guardian form before, yknow. The death of their third Guardian.

with the goons in question being led by a little kid who uses 'YOU FOOLS' in every other sentence named JOSE VON REICHTER.

JOSE

VON

GODDAMN

REICHTER

who looks like THIS:

AND the animation of FLIPPIN' Trigger!?

Also it was not animated by Trigger. Trigger didn't exist yet. It was animated by TMS who famously did the animation for several early 90s cartoons like Animaniacs and Batman the Animated Series. As well as local anime like Lupin the third, Dr. Stone, and Fruits Basket. They also work in Collaboration shows like Cybersix and the 1990s Moomin show.

Studio Trigger was formed in 2011 by former Gainax studio members.

This is my favourite part!

Woman~

Bonus huntrix

The mythology of a fox who torments and threatens a dragon. This was long before Celine named herself and became a Guardian just as Min-ji who was once an imugi and taken the role of being the Sanctuary's Guardian.

The fox loves to torment the imugi. The people who had worshipped the imugi always sees the white fox, stalking the outer borders. Sounds of woman crying at night, eating their livestocks and destroying their livelihood.

"It is not over yet. We have to endure until dawn. Ready yourselves, you overgrown noodle," the fox says.

The imugi snorts, "Yes, yes, fleabag," the imugi goes quiet for a bit before it says, "Thank you. For staying."

The fox looks at it for a moment before it nods, "The least I can do to make amends for my past."

The fox that led Celine whines, thinking they were too late to save the kit. Then, both foxes sees the kit's eye opening slightly, its nose twitching as it tries to move but couldn't. Sensing the strength from the kit, Celine closes her eyes then touches the kit with her snout, healing it using the Moon's blessing. Relieved the kit wouldn't be dying anytime soon, Celine gently picks the kit up and heads back.

The sun shines brightly and she can feel the familiar warmth. Min-ji releases a contented sigh and continues walking. She then hears a weakened caw. Min-ji rushes over and sees a baby crow under a tree. She gently picks up the chick and looks at the nest she suspects the chick is from. She doesn't see the chick's parents, she opted to wait under the tree and kept the chick warm.

The next day, there's still no sign of the chick's parents. A deep sense of Min-ji calls for Celine's foxes to find the chick's parents. A moment later, the fox bears a heartbreaking report that the chick's parents have died when scavenging for food.

Hearing that, Min-ji's heart breaks as she feels the chick cawing for food. Its unusually small for a chick and the thought of leaving the chick to its fate doesn't feel right for Min-ji. Especially when she senses the chick is more than it seems. Cradling the chick close to herself, Min-ji vows she'll take care of it alongside her fellow Guardian.

The chick grew up to be an amazing and graceful flier, with a very particular difference between it and the rest of the crows. It has three legs instead of two. Hence the two Guardians have no doubt in their mind that the crow is a samjok-o. It is friends with the foxes and for this particular rabbit that was taken in by the fox Guardian, they're best friends.

Before they take their name and become the samjok-o and daltokki:

The crow and the rabbit knows the people of the sanctuary and the Guardians who took them in. They grew up together and are always by their respective Guardian side or each other. But alas, good things come to an end as the crow and the rabbit become old. The Guardians let these two stay together and care for them when they couldn't move as much.

When Min-ji senses the crow is nearly at its life end, she stayed and hums a lullaby, gently caressing its feathers. The moment she feels the crow is about to take its last breath, Min-ji leans in and tells it that she'll wait for it by the tree and new dawn will embrace it home.

As that's happening, Celine enters the room they're in. She also senses the rabbit's life slipping away. She gently picks it up and murrs, gently carding her claws through its fur like it loves. When she feels the rabbit is about to take its last breath, she whispers to the rabbit that she'll wait for it and that the full moon will embrace it when it comes home.

When the crow and the rabbit breathes out its last breath, the two Guardians take their respective charge and carry them to their domain.

Min-ji covers the crow with black silk and bells, before placing it under the bough of a tree, overlooking the sanctuary. She places a Sun emblem and conjures orbs of light where the crow is currently resting.

In the fox domain, Celine covers the rabbit with white silk. A green jewel and ribbon is place with it before she gently place the rabbit under the bough of a tree, overlooking the forest outside the sanctuary. Celine places the Moon emblem on top of the mound and places moonstones.

Every year, the two Guardians make offerings for the crow and the rabbit whether they're the sanctuary's harvest or tteok.

(100 years later)

Min-ji had was watching over the sanctuary as dawn comes. She then looks toward the tree where the crow rest when a single beam of light from the Sun hits the mound. A flicker of light emerges and once there was a mound, there's now a three legged crow, cawing weakly as it slowly opens its eyes. Min-ji quickly walks over and kneels in front of it. The crow recognizes the Guardian and gives her a playful peck. Smiling, Min-ji picks the crow up and care for it like she had once did. The crow is now a samjok-o.

...

It's the full moon night and the song of the forest picks up. Celine was meditating with the foxes napping around her, surrounded by their murr. Hearing the news from Min-ji that the crow has ascended brings her joy she hasnt felt in a long time. At the moment, the crow is resting in Min-ji's domain and continue to rest until next year. Then, she sense it. The pull towards the mound where the rabbit had been put to rest. Celine quickly gets up and head towards the mound. The moonlight beam hits the mound at the same time Celine arrives. An ethereal light surrounds the area before a white rabbit, adorned with an emerald jewel and green ribbons emerges, seemingly having a nap. Celine approaches the rabbit with an amused expression and nudges it to wake up. The rabbit slowly wakes up and sees the Guardian. It was about to hop happily seeing the familiar face. Not realizing how weak it was, it flops towards the ground. Celine snorts in amusement before she gets a glare from the downed rabbit. Shaking her head, Celine picks the rabbit up and cares for the now ascended rabbit. The rabbit is now known as a daltokki.

The two, now ascended, friends are reunited with each other and their Guardians (caretaker).

start now. now. now now now. or else you'll never draw this damn thing

it's fine if you don't have the entire story figured out yet, it'll happen naturally

draw what you want to draw!! webcomics often run for years, so you better work with something you like

don't overcomplicate things. a simple, efficient work flow is your top priority in order to stay consistent

bullshit some things. trace background refs. reuse poses. draw your character's face from different angles and just copy paste it in to save time. be smart about your work baby

take breaks if needed. webcomic burnout is real

sometimes, a panel or a page looks bad. shit happens. move on

lettering is actually really important and super hard to pull off

it's your comic. do what you want forever!!!

I'm begging you again to work smart, not hard. reuse backgrounds. use brush sets for webcomic artists. trace 3D objects. use 3D models to pose your characters

you may need hours or days to draw one panel, but people will look at it for 5-8 seconds. keep that in mind

a simple background is better than no background at all (avoiding the white void increases the quality of your work by a ton!)

sometimes the anatomy needs to be a little off to make an interesting shot/panel. that's fine, don't worry about it too much

at least 2000px canvas and 300 dpi for good quality results

Shattered AU:

But eventually she does figure it out. And at first is a little annoyed at the hypocrisy of Celine writing and singing a song about wanting to express who she truly is but is forced to hide behind a facade. But then she gets a little older, and oh. Oh.

Selene (Celine) collab with Huntr/x

Add a profile picture and any words to your "about" section (or old users will think you're a bot and block you)

Reblog stuff liberally. (Liking means less here, there is no algorithm. Also an empty blog makes you look like a bot too)

It's NORMAL to spam like/reblog or like/comment/reblog on post that are decades old here. Seriously. No one cares. Artists would actually be thrilled

so don't get too comfortable.

For coming up with character names:

Behind the name (my absolute fav)

Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.

You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.

Census sites

Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.

For coming up with place names:

Fantasy name generator

This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.

For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:

One Look Thesaurus

This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.

For coming up with ideas:

Word cloud

When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!

WWF Discord

This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!

For visualizing places and characters:

Pinterest

Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.

This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.

(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)

Death to Stock

Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).

Cosmos

Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.

Dupe Photos

Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!

Minecraft

If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.

The Sims

This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.

For checking grammar:

Grammar Girl

Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.

Grammar Monster

This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.

Reedsy

Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.

For writing advice:

One Stop for Writers

This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.

My Blog Directory

Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!

For an alternative to Google Docs:

Ellipsus

Think google docs but without AI. Yay!