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Will wouldn't think of himself as crafty since most of the skills he has are ones that he needs to survive in his world. He's a good dancer and an okay singer, dancing is one of his favorite things to do because he feels freer during it. Writing is something that he doesn't feel comfortable doing on a basic level.

Charles is a good writer, fair dancer and singer but in terms of his artistic skills, they're not his main focus. They're more things that he knows how to do and enjoys doing but would have a hard time imagining making a living as any sort of artist. Part of that is his era as well, he's been taught that art is a hobby, that's changing but slowly.

Moist is very good with words and creating especially maps and handwriting. If he wasn't a conman, he could use those skills for other uses which he does in later canon. Its also something he plays down a great deal, he doesn't want people to know how easy it is for him to figure out how to accurately forge a signature.

Sameth is defined by his crafting and inventing abilities, that's what makes him Wallmaker. On the other hand, he is an awful dancer and not a good singer though he's a decent whistler.

William like Will is good at some various skills that to him are just what he does to survive. He's a good singer, that came about when he was interacting with Tamara the mermaid, but otherwise he's just not that artistic.

Jane defines herself by the fact that she's a writer and a good one. She also has some skills that are prized in her era, she can embroider, dance, sing and play at least one instrument and she loves dancing.

Demeter is a goddess who is known for her gifts with plants and also as a goddess is kind of unfair with this, because even a god who's not good at something is better than most mortals.

Tumnus plays the panpipes in such a way that it has magic in it, he's a good dancer, but not that comfortable singing. He can do it but prefers using his pipes, he's also a good writer and is working on a book.

The Pirate King is from an operetta so he's kind of cheating for this one, because well he's glorious.

Apropos of nothing...did you see the photos of 70s Charles? Days of Polyester Past!!

I did, yes, at one point it felt like everyone was showing me that image.

My guess is that the outfit and hair are something connected to plot as while James McAvoy looks good, he doesn't look at all like Charles Xavier.

Did you see Hank in all his corduroy glory? I wonder if this is a image inducer scene or if they're going to CGI fur over Nicholas.

Enzo is, of course, in a band with some fellow Guardians called Short Bus. He is the lead guitarist; they sort of take turns being lead vocals. They're good enough that their concerts are quite enjoyable. Do not ask Enzo to do any songwriting, however. It would be terrible.

He could probably do any crafts that don't require small fingers. He co-built the treefort in the woods and it held up until the Allpocalypse, and then he co-rebuilt it. His drawing is adequate to be consistently recognizable (I daresay it's a Game skill), but you wouldn't want to hang it except maybe on the fridge.

Oh, and he's a very good dancer. It's all the martial arts training.

Edited 2013-05-22 13:01 (UTC)

None of my pups are much with visual arts of any sort. Knox dabbled with the camera, and immediately went back to words. Speaking of which...

Whether or not journalism as practiced by Knox and Charlie is artistic is up for debate. But here are two men who make or made their livings using words to tell the news. Knox's style is blunt, straightforward, and sarcastic on occasion. If you have ever read anything by the legendary NY columnist Jimmy Breslin, you might see his influence on Knox. Charlie, by comparison, tended to wax poetic from time to time in his heyday, though he has long since abandoned journalism and wordplay. (Odds are, BTW, that Charlie was also influenced by Breslin indirectly since Denny O'Neil trained as a reporter before moving to comics and probably read Breslin's work religiously back in the day.)

Is engineering creative? Howard Stark would argue it is. He works with hands to create not art but commerce, not poetry but power. He doesn't understand Picasso or Hemingway, and has no idea how to write a song. But man, can he make an engine hum.

Cy and Gibbs like to sing. Neither is that good these days, though Cy was in a choir as a kid, and Gibbs can harmonize in that unique sea shanty way of the time.

Kirk has no artistic skills or interests whatsoever. His log entries are functional. He doesn't sing or play an instrument. He doesn't make engines hum. He is, without a doubt, a lump in this regard and rather exceptional next to Spock and Uhura's musical skills, Scotty's engineering, Sulu's dabbling in everything, and later generations of Starfleet officers who seemed to have more talent than most art colleges and conservatories.

Joshua plays the piano. He hasn't played in years, probably since before the shiny gold nonsense, but he did take lessons when he was younger. He thinks he sucks, but really even though he's no Chopin, he's not bad. Better on things like Piano Man than concertos, though. Otherwise, he's actually pretty good at acting, shit at visual arts, and amazing at what he'd call Creative Science. His non-fiction writing is pretty damn good, but the only fiction he'll fess up to is some Time Machine fanfic from his teenage years.

Helena: Well, she -is- HG Wells after all. I think she wrote more of the books than she fesses up to in canon. Charles inserted himself into the revisions more than she wanted, but there wasn't much she could do about that. So: Published author of Time Machine, Island of Doctor Moreau, and Invisible Man so far. She's working on War of the Worlds. (Which paradoxed in the bar, because Howard mentioned it, and she hadn't named it yet. mwahahaha.) Otherwise, her visual arts would be ok if she bothered sitting down and trying, but she doesn't really care to bother. She probably has a pretty lovely singing voice, but again, none of the caring.

Gordon is not particularly artistic in any discernible way. All his creative energy goes into scientific hypotheses and the like. He's made a pretty good speech or two on the radio in his world, but he needs about a week's worth of prep time and a copy of How To Write And Deliver A Speech to make that happen.

Shephard has a pretty good singing voice, nothing outstanding, but he's really good on the drums. He was in the Preston County High School marching band. If he'd gone to college he could've gotten about a $500 scholarship to a state school for playing drums in their band, but college was never going to be his thing, so. (As a boy he wanted to learn to play the violin, but his family couldn't afford one, let alone the lessons. One of his aunts found an old drumset in the attic and gave it to his mother and things took off from there.)

It's a little stereotypical of the thoroughly unpleasant, socially weird intelligent person, but I'm pretty sure Medic plays the violin, at least when Herr Scout or somebody hasn't stolen his and hidden it somewhere as a joke. (This is why Herr Scout has a tendency to find that Medic has put his feet on backwards after a very big explosion. Among other things.) Medic's pretty good at it, but he'll be the first to admit he plays more as discipline and mood therapy than as anything really artistic.

Mordin, as I noted in an earlier DE, canonically performs in community theater. His user name is derived from the fact that they generally make him do the patter songs. Here's the canon.

Ray's about as artistic as Gordon is, and for about the same reasons.

Unless Santo designed his own cape and shiny pants I don't have any evidence that he's got artistic talent in the conventional sense. On the other hand, he's a hell of a showman and performer in addition to genuine wrestling skill, so that counts for something.

Varric writes any number of novels and short stories, and apparently they sell pretty well, but since we never actually see any of them in-game I don't know about their quality. I do know that there's one batch of banter with Aveline, the captain of the City Guard, in which she tells him that his latest series is causing arguments in the barracks over which guard the main character is based on. So they're popular, but we don't know if they're actually any good.

And Ellen really isn't much good at the artistic or musical stuff at all. At best, she's got a decent draftsman's hand and can sew well enough that it's often hard to tell her repair work apart from the undamaged original. Also she can build decent weapons from spare parts, but generally she doesn't really add artistic flair or anything to them so that probably doesn't count.

Edited 2013-05-22 14:01 (UTC)

I may be remembering wrong, but I think Medic plays a bonesaw as a violin as one of his taunts.

Anyway, I found a dapper looking polymer clay blu medic for you.

On a second look, that taunt happens when he wields any bonesaw but has a special effect when it's the amputator, healing multiple nearby teammates

Oh that is a nice sculptor!

Dick and Robin aren't creative at all I don't know what you're talking about they've never had a career in the performing arts.

Dinah is actually a pretty good artist and has occasionally lusted after a career in fashion design (this is canon). She's not as good as fashion design as she thinks she is. witness the only time she designed her own costume rather than following her Mom or getting Babs to do it.

Marguerite was an actress, and she's a great singer. A lot of that comes down to charisma, but she's got it.

Um.

Apparently my pups aren't artistic! I put this down to me not being artistic.

Amascut's two areas of expertise are kaboom and anatomy, and she really wants to stay away from notions that she indulges in either artistically. That would be outright evil instead of utilitarian evilish.

Evil Chicken builds huge, sturdy, comfy nests?

Fairy Fixit is giving me scrimshaw and ivory carving vibes.

Yrael is a creature of magic that is irrevocably entwined with music. His voice and the voices of his kin are enough to create something so omnipresent and powerful as the Charter which underlies the entire Old Kingdom (and in the past, six whole other worlds, before they were destroyed). His skill with music is tremendous and he is well aware of it, though he rarely-if-ever uses it to its full extent. He sings, and can play a number of instruments that he has learned since gaining his freedom. Those include the piano, harpsichord, recorder, guitar, and violin, among others. He can draw reasonably well, also, though he rarely does.

Sunshine bakes extremely well, which is her major creative outlet. She's a phenomenal baker and knows it, and enjoys experimenting with food using her innate talent and her cultivated skill. She sometimes doodles in the margins if she's writing something, but has no real artistic talent. She might also occasionally sing quietly when she's by herself in the kitchen, but with little more than minor ability.

Zelgadiss has few creative outlets, but has some skill with a guitar. Singing, however, is not one of his abilities. *wince*

Cata: Nope.

Sam's a decent singer, but he doesn't often.

Claudia plays guitar! She's better at both that and singing than she gives herself credit for, but because it's not her Main Thing she clams up whenever she realises she has an audience.

Apollo: ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha WHERE DO I START

Imp: I have no idea what you're talking about. It's not like his spot of canon hinges on him being a very good musician at all.

Regulus: Can hold his own at a formal dance by virtue(?) of his mother drilling it into his head, but that's about it.

Red: Not so much.
(Ruby's probably a decent singer, but she wouldn't use it much, pre-curse-breaking, and I'm not at all sure about after.)

Yugo's a florist, and that's pretty artistic. Given that he's from a wealthy (if crime-ous) family, he's probably also had calligraphy and tea ceremonies drummed into him, both of which are somewhat artistic. He can dance pretty well, too.

Beyond that, nah. He can't play any musical instruments, he can't sing, he's not great with words (there are, sadly, limited applications for the word 'dude', otherwise he'd be the greatest wordsmith of our age), and he's pretty much well aware of these things.

... the greatest wordsmith of our age.

'Kittenbrodudeski' over here is torn over this, but eventually falls firmly in the camp of telling him to stick with flowers and leave the words to the professionals.

Ben models for Alicia or perhaps his cooking could count. He is very good at both.

Hank doesn't have any creative skills to date but in the future he will as he struggles to prove to the world and himself that he is cultured and not a true beast. I can see him learning drums and guitar (comic canon supports this), memorizing Shakespeare, sculpting and even giving Beat poetry a go. In fact I think he will try anything once.

Andrea has a singing voice that is just bad enough to be entertaining which she revels in at karaoke.

Thalia plays an electric guitar from time to time but only knows the few basic cords of most punk music.

Edited 2013-05-22 15:18 (UTC)

Gaeta can sing really, really damn well. He hates doing it, though, since he now associates "singing" with "that time I was in sickbay with horrible phantom pains after being neglected on a ship for fifteen hours and losing my leg to gangrene" -- and he's always pretty surprised when somebody compliments him on his singing voice. Good or bad doesn't enter into it, as far as he's concerned; when he sings, he's not doing it for everybody's entertainment.

The Trickster's creative streak is partly what landed him in his current gig. He loves making stuff! It just...tends to be deadly illusions like man-eating alligators and chainsaw-wielding maniacs. Or Batboy. (Or super-hot ladies and silk sheets.)

Bolin could probably be a good dancer if he tried, considering his pro-bending skills, but he doesn't have much of a desire to try. Both him and Olivia aren't very artsy people.

I have it in my head that Felix is a decent cartographer. Don't ask him to draw your portrait, though.

Fluttershy, like everypony, likes to sing.

Autor plays piano! He thinks he's better than he is, but on a deeper level, knows that he's not as good as he projects, and is terrified that everyone else knows, too. This is a metaphor for the rest of his life, forever and ever.

He can also dance! But he hated grabbing onto people in lessons, so he's great in a technical sense but terrible at the whole enjoying himself and supporting his partners bit.

He thinks he can Write! ...Hahahaha. The kid hasn't set a word to paper, and likely never will. So sad. He is a fabulous editor, though.

I'm sensing a theme.

...Crazy Legacy of Romulus update with it's stupid log in queue. (More than seven thousand? Really?)

Moving on!

Ako plays bass guitar.
Tyler is a professional novelist and was a journalist.
Janet does fashion design. Eventually. (I don't! So, uh, that'll be fun at some point.)
Robo performs his artistry on the fabric of the universe through the power of SCIENCE!

Artemis *looks at superhero name, looks at civilian ID* No comment. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

Steve drew comics before WWII, and is a trained illustrator.

Bilbo can blow pretty bitchin' smoke rings.

The Ice King writes fan fiction.

Lydia... dresses really cute? They haven't really gone into her creative side canonically and I haven't played her enough to discover something.

Merlin makes dragons out of fire and smoke to amuse himself.

Edited 2013-05-22 23:46 (UTC)

Elle has the pitch and rhythm to have a good singing voice, but it would never occur to her to try.

Asami is very good at sketching and sculpting models, but she views the talent in a purely utilitarian way. If she were to try to just sketch in a more creative way, she'd probably be stumped. To her, this ability is a tool to communicate and flesh out concrete ideas, and it's difficult for her to work with it in other ways. She can also dance, but not in any particularly complicated way.

Leslie is also fairly good at drawing, and sometimes uses this in department projects. She can also write, and while she mostly dedicates her time to memos, she has also authored one book, a nonfiction account of her hometown. And like Ben, let's face it, she totally writes fanfiction. Leslie also likes to sing, but she's... not very good at it.

Manny has no particular artistic talent, but he is an otherwise creative thinker. He has a good eye for aesthetic quality and potential, and is talented at bringing these sorts of things together.

Marceline has a beautiful singing voice and plays the guitar. She's even in a band called the Scream Queens. She has no real lack of talent, but can get edgy and insecure about it pretty easily.

Hiccup is also good at sketching and sculpting, but like Asami, he uses this in an almost exclusively utilitarian fashion. I think he'd be a little more open to expanding beyond that, but as of right now, it wouldn't really occur to him.

Katara learned to dance very quickly, probably in part because of her agility and acrobatic skill. I also imagine she can sing decently, though I think this exclusively comes up when there's a need to have something to pass the time while traveling on foot.

I hear Manny makes a nice balloon worm...

Run you pigeons!!!

Henry actually has the mind to be a good storyteller one day, I suspect. Other than that, not so much.

Lois actually has at least one alternate incarnation which wrote novels too. I think so, anyway, I just don't recall which. Still, her writing's pretty darn good, just, y'know, news and not 'creative.' Also, just because she likes karaoke does not make her good at it.

Tavi -- uh. Creative, yes. But as I don't think we're looking for problem solving, weapons design, tactics, etc, the answer is no. I swear the boy has no poetry in his soul. He's decent at speeches, actually (goes with his whole Thing) but not-- artistry.