Me: I Hate Graphic Design It Sucks Vector Graphics Were A Mistake Computers Should Have Never Been Invented

me: i hate graphic design it sucks vector graphics were a mistake computers should have never been invented and typography is for fuckheads

also me: hwhat if.... i made my own font..... 🤔

nearly oc-tober time again - time for some prompts for 2024

F.A.Q

do i have to draw?

not at all! you are free to participate with any medium that suits you... writing, artwork, free bases and templates, simple text posts, in-character-as-your-oc roleplay, whatever! (just no stealing or AI)

do i have to make new content?

nope! re-uploading old stuff that fits the prompts is allowed (and encouraged) ... old art that didn't get the appreciation it needed always deserves a chance to be shared again, it's a fun throwback!

do i have to post every day?

nope! only 10 days are mandatory (the ones in red with a star symbol) and everything else (yellow) is 100% optional! if you're busy or tired, please skip as many as you want

can i start early?

you can prep your posts in advance if you need to ... but please wait until the right day in october to share them!

can i re-upload your prompt list to another site?

i would prefer if you dont - i have accounts on most sites, so just reblog/retweet/share from me!

event tag?

#bweirdOCtober

have fun!

image desc/text version ↓under the cut↓ or on bweird.art/october

prompts:

WEEK 1: OC INTRODUCTIONS

WEEK 2: BUILDING BACKSTORY

⭐ 1: FAV OC

what makes them your fav?

2: NEW OC

how recently did you make them?

3: OLD OC

how long ago did you make them?

⭐ 4: UNDER-APPRECIATED OC

an oc you feel like you don't talk about enough, or you haven't fleshed out as much as you would like

5: RE-DESIGNED OC

an oc who has changed a lot (what changed about them?) or, if you haven't redesigned an oc: is there anything you might want to change about an existing oc?

WEEK 3: FUN + GAMES

⭐ 6: PAST

where is your oc from? what did they look like as a child?

7: LIKES

what do they like (and why?)

8: DISLIKES

what don't they like (and why?)

⭐ 9: RELATIONSHIPS

doesn't have to be romantic! can any kind of relationship (frienship, family, rivalry etc)

10: PERSONALITY

what are your oc's main personality traits

11: SYMBOLISM/THEMES

what represents your oc? is there a specific colour you associate them with, or a specific animal?

12: FUTURE

what will your oc look like in the future? do they have any plans or goals?

⭐13: MEMES

do any memes remind you of your oc? are there memes your oc would find funny? maybe you want to redraw your oc as one?

14: WHO/WHAT INSPIRED YOUR OC

are there existing characters that your oc looks like? was your oc based on yourself? is your oc originally from a specific fandom?

15: MUSIC

share a character playlist, write a songfic, post lyrics that remind you of them, etc

⭐16: EYES CLOSED or NON DOMINANT HAND

draw a picture of your oc with your eyes closed or with your non domminant hand, write or type a paragraph about them without your eyes closed, etc ... have fun, and don't worry about it looking "bad" -it's meant to!!

17: DnD ALIGNMENT CHART

put all your ocs into a DnD alignment chart, or any other similar chart if you prefer

i've compiled a few templates on my site, but you can find more easily if you google "oc alignment chart"

⭐18: SWAP

swap something between your ocs - their role in the story, hairstyles, personalities, fashion taste, species ... whatever you want! how would this difference change them?

19: PALETTE CHALLENGES

draw your ocs with as many of these colour palettes as you want (or just skip if you don't draw/don't like doing these!)

WEEK 4: COMMUNITY

hex codes for the colours:

palette 1 - #3C1E81 #6D1EA2 #B059E8 #FE0876 #FE5284 #FE7C96 #E0CFE3 #FFD5C3

palette 2 - #352823 #673F28 #AB541C #BA8233 #897128 #A68B2F #F7BF6A #DAC3A4

palette 3 - #A42E25 #D7412B #E47C29 #F7A233 #FCC02D #FCE4A6 #486548 #FEFDE8

palette 4 - #2F4769 #39597E #53779C #94D1E7 #AADDE7 #D48DB7 #D498B5 #D2BABA

some ideas for what you could do: talk about a friend's oc you like, make gift art/writing of them, collabs, trades, reblog/appreciate ocs in the event tag, make interactions between your ocs and other people's

20-26: A WHOLE WEEK OF SOCIAL STUFF

if you don't have the time/energy to do every day this week, ⭐ day 23 is the only one marked as mandatory! you can skip the rest!

WEEK 5: HALLOWEEN

⭐27: FEARS

is your oc scared of anything? do they have any phobias? are they startled easily? would any of your ocs try to scare ppl on purpose?

28: MONSTER

what would your oc be if they were a monster (eg: werewolf, vampire, eldritch beast.. whatever) or, do you have an oc who is already a monster?

29: PUMPKIN CARVING

your ocs carving pumpkins, a drawing of a pumpkin carved to look like your oc ... or even carve it in real life!

30: GHOST

this can be literally a ghost, or a concept that haunts your oc! up to you!

⭐ 31: COSTUMES

what are your ocs wearing for halloween?

OCtober Day #3- Oldest OC

This is Gummy, who I mentioned on day 1! She's not my oldest OC (I've been drawing ocs since I was at least 9 or 10), but she's the oldest one I have original evidence of still!

I created Gummy when I was 13, and that's when the above images were drawn. They were done on the school playground using my old surface 3 lmaooo

These above ones are from maybe a year or two later (14 or 15 years old? I remember posting these on deviantart if that helps.)

I think Gummy could probably also qualify for day 5 when it comes to being a heavily redesigned OC. As you can see, she used to have panda ears for a LONG time, until I realized there was literally no reason for that and I changed it lol

I also cant really tell you what she's like as a person yet. She was always somewhat of a vehicle for me to process my thoughts growing up, and she always aged with me. Now that I'm 25, I have no idea what a 25 year old Gummy would be like either 😅

I dont remember when I drew these two but clearly I was trying something.

And finally, this was the last time I drew her. I did this either in 2020 or 2021 based on the style its in.

It's fun how I can kinda use her as a 'timeline' of how my character design sensibilities have grown over time. I hope when I next get to draw her I can turn her into something super cool!

Heyy, how have you been lately?? I hope things are going well with your treatment! ( っ˶´ ˘ `)っ

ahh hi!!!!!!! ty so much for asking! I appreciate u thinking of me 🥹💜

I'm doing a lot better than I was! My HR is under control now and that's made a big difference. Mostly psychologically tbh. My energy levels are usually more manageable these days and I feel like I'm able to actually think rationally and relax n shit. I'm also able to tolerate some caffeine again thanks to propanolol 👌 I definitely forgot what 'unmedicated' adhd felt like without it lol

Treatment is a bit of a mixed bag on the other hand, sadly. I still cant sit up at all, but my current doctors have no interest in investigating that any further since they're convinced I 'just' have POTS (I'm actually only diagnosed with IST/dysautonomia). I personally think I actually have a csf leak and will be pushing to get that looked into. I'm seeing a neurologist for the first time next week so hopefully she'll be willing to listen!!

OCtober Day #5 - Redesigned OC

This is Kendall! I redesigned him by turning him into a lesbian lmfao

Kendall was originally 'the protagonist' back when I created him, but I found I had trouble relating to him or making him interesting, so I hit him with the lezzo beam 👌

In their current iteration, Kendall is the 'mysterious bad boy' who originally played for a different netball team. When Shimamura recruits them, Kendall and Gummy become rivals, since Kendall takes over Shimamura's preferred positions (goalkeep and goal shooter).

I'm definitely still working on Kendall's current iteration. Right now I use all pronouns interchangeably for them, which is usually a sign for me that I haven't quite pinned down a character's personality yet. Current Kendall is definitely more than 'a girl' though, so who knows 👀

OCtober Day #6 - Past

This weeks prompts are going to mostly be written prompts for me. I'm not particularly skilled with words but I still wanted to participate!

I took this prompt a bit differently and decided to talk more about where my OCs came from and why, rather than the OCs themselves. It was a good exercise in self reflection. I don't except anyone to read it, but its fairly short if you feel like it :)

Like a lot of undiagnosed autistic girls, I was a mimic. Everything about my personality, even the way I talked, was copied from somewhere else.

I liked pretending to be into fashion and boys and barbies, because thats what I saw other girls doing (and holy shit was I desperate to be friends with them). I liked 'writing stories' that were more or less recaps of books I'd already read with the serial numbers filed off. I used fancy words and metaphors I'd heard but didn't actually understand so that the adults would tell me I was 'smart'.

I was so good at mimicry that it prevented me from becoming my own person for a really long time.

My perchant for copying naturally extended to the 'art' I'd create. I mentioned Gummy in a previous post, and that in her first iteration, Gummy had panda ears. Well- fun fact- this is because when I was 12, my older cousin showed me a song some furry artist had made about a NSFW dating sim. That artist's OC was a busty panda, so I straight up copied her.

Also, Gummy was named after the vocaloid Gumi, but specifically the way I used to mispronounce her name as Gummy. I thought my OC being named Gummy like the Gummy bear song was funny, because I was 13 and that was a meme at the time. Also, Gummy was originally a god-like being, because I was reading Noragami at the time and I was obsessed with Yato and Hiyori's dynamic (with Gummy being Yato, and Kendall Hiyori). I didnt have anything original to say about it. I wasn't doing a take. I just gender swapped them, really.

I had these characters but was never able to come up with a story that 'stuck'. What ended up happening, usually, was that the genre they were in would change depending on what media I was into at the time. For eg, Gummy became a gang criminal with psychic powers when I was watching Mob Psycho and Banana Fish.

I'm sure my mimicry was obvious to others at the time, but it wasn't to me. I truly thought I was being original and cool.

I don't think its bad to copy things in art, especially when you're a kid who's still learning. But I also think that, if you want to make something really good, you should at least have an opinion on what you're copying.

I've realised recently that I haven't had my own opinions for most of my life- just copied thoughts and mimicry, like my OCs, like my personality, like my various attempts at identity. In terms of my work, I think this has long been one of the many things holding me back.

I'm grateful to be 25 now. I hope by reflecting on where my OCs came from, I can chart a path to a version where I finally have something of my own to say.