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madisockz · 2 months

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Hello! I wanted to share my process of how I made my Easter Pony! She is my second ever custom and she made all the trouble I had with the first one seem like a walk in the park in comparison ಥ_ಥ Let's begin!

DISCLAIMER: Custom ponies like this one are not to be played with by children nor made by children. This pony was made with the use of nail polish remover (acetone) which is toxic. You need to wash your hands throughly after use and use in a well ventilated area. This pony was also made with sharp tools such as an xacto knife, sewing pins, rehairing needles, and an awl.

First, the concept art! Trial and error caused her to look a little different than the concept art but I still love the end result!

I wanted to start with a white base to give myself a clean canvas for dyeing so I got this G3 Breezie off Ebay for only $3. I decided to first remove her mane and tail which requires removing the head. If you know anything about G3 pony customzing, you know their heads are difficult to get back on once they come off. Even when you run them under warm/hot water. So to get it back on for dyeing, I tried trimming a little excess of vinyl off the neck ring with my xacto knife. It slipped and got me right under my nail! Bad omen for what's to come!

After getting her prepped (removing her mane and tail, cleaning her, using acetone (nail polish remover) to remove her cutie mark) she was ready for a dye bath! I used Rit DyeMore as regular Rit Dye won't dye the vinyl material that ponies are made of. This was my first ever time dyeing anything that wasn't fabric so I was thrilled when she came out this warm rich brown! So pretty!

I read online that dyed ponies will leach dye onto other ponies if they touch, so I wanted to try and prevent this as much as possible with some matte sealer. Lesson #1: Even though she was dry, the matte sealer reactivated the dye! The smallest touch left a print! :(

I pushed forward! And tripped immediately after! I thought, "Surely matte Modge Podge will seal her just that much more" and to my dismay, the Modge Podge kept every brush stroke I made when it dried!! She looked like a leather hand bag! ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚ I learned later you can buy matte Modge Podge spray online but all I had was the type you brush on to your surface.

Thankfully, with the help of sixteen cotton balls and a q-tip with acetone, I managed to remove all the sealer but she was no longer that nice rich brown. Oh well I still loved her!

And whoever said the paint will protect the eyes from the dye has clearly never dyed a dark pony! Her eyes were so brown after this lol

Painting, adding of polymer clay easter themed confetti, and adding her 3D chocolate bunny cutie mark went great! It was all going well until the eyes.

I had never fully painted pony eyes before so the first attempt was pretty bad. Not even my multiple attempts at glitter and using clear nail polish as a cheap gloss on the eyes could save them.

It was so bad that I almost didn't take any pictures but when I went to seal her head, this weird white powder covered half of her face?? I had never seen this before and it freaked me out thinking I just ruined her. I managed to get it off with a cotton ball and some acetone but her paint was fully damaged.

Turns out this was caused because I didn't shake the can of sealer well enough. I needed a break....

While I took a break for a few days, I decided to watch tutorials on how to paint doll eyes and learned that it's actually pretty common to use high quality watercolor pencils; either Faber Castell or Derwent (which is what I ended up buying).

When I came back, I made the hard decision of removing all the paint and decorations from the head and starting over. Hours of work gone but it was so worth it! 🩷 Removing the paint with acetone ended up making her head lighter than her body so I had to redye her head lol. This time I mixed Derwent pencils with acrylic paints for her eyes.

Time for the hair! I've never done curls before and my original plan was to buy curly hair online but it's so hard to find in the color and curl size I wanted.

So my second idea was to buy small curlers to use on regular nylon doll hair bought from ShimmerLocks on Etsy. But when I tested them out on poor Flower Bouquet it looked so bad ಥ_ಥ

I discovered a Youtube channel you may know called Dollightful where in one of her Stock Box videos she used yarn that she unraveled to make super cute tight wavy hair for a doll. It was a perfect solution! It looks so good but omg it was tedious haha! I used it for her tail too; sectioning off the colors hoping they'd stay separated (they didn't lol).

She's nearly complete! Time for small decorations! I tried so many different ears from air dry clay to stealing some from bunny decorations I bought at the store and nothing was working! But I had one last idea...

I gave these old Littlest Pet Shop costume bunny ears some use with a flat top sewing pin and some glue so now my pony has bunny ears! Yay!

I forgot it in the concept art, but I originally wanted to add flowers to her mane but I couldn't figure out how to do that without glue which I didn't want to do, too permanent, so I opted for some beads I had on hand. I didn't have any light blue so I made some with the use of acetone (nail polish remover in my case) and boom! Light blue beads! Then I washed them off so the acetone wouldn't damage anything :)

I used a gold topped sewing pin, a butterfly charm, a felt flower and two faux flowers to create a cute hair accessory!

Finally I sewed a hair tie to a puffball to give her a removable cottontail if I ever wanted to take it off.

And DONE! She looks so good after so much time and effort! I worked on this girly for two weeks I think? She actually had a partner I designed but I've run out of time to make her :') Maybe next year? 👀 🩷🩷

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darlinguistics · 5 months

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'its just IMPOSSIBLE to not be addicted to your phone nowadays its UNREALISTIC-'

heres some advice to being less chronically online. for gen z (and younger??) who dont even know how to start thinking about it and have only heard shitty advice from older adults who just genuinely do not get it, from a fellow gen z and my experiences so far.

*these are personal and may not all 100% resonate but its still good prompting to start thinking about things! PLEASE feel free to add your own stories/advice in the notes! support your fellow humans, dont gatekeep what youve learned, lets have these conversations! and no negativity/pessimism please <3

first thing is to make it a less scary thought, a more concrete idea and not a hypothetical. it doesnt have to be all-or-nothing, cold turkey, a huge announcement and a fundamental shift in your personality. the internet will be in your life for the rest of your life, this is an ongoing relationship you are trying to make healthier thats all! and it takes one step at a time and some self-compassion, but a true effort nonetheless. 'dont you think thats a bit too serious-' if youre my age you quite literally grew up and developed online, it is literally part of your psyche the way your childhood is, it IS serious, you deserve to treat it seriously.

dont save your login info/dont stay logged in for social media accounts, having to manually log in when you want to go on like youre on some elementary school chrome book is a really healthy and clear boundary to have between being logged off and logged on.

-> bigger challenge - uninstall it on your phone in general, only log on on your laptop/pc if applicable for you!

if youre motivated to, try to work on your posture too. i only say that because most of our bad posture is at least partially related to being on our phones a lot, and when i started wanting to fix my posture, completely separately and unrelated from trying to break my phone addiction, it made it easier to lose interest in my phone since i didnt want to ruin my progress with my posture. it made me start to have a mindset like 'well if you cant do this on your phone with good posture then dont do it' and 'if youre on your phone so long your posture starts to cave in, youve probably spent too long on your phone anyway'

listen to music more. its easier for me to kinda write off my phone and do other things if i just open music or a podcast or long youtube video on it. i know we all love long video essays, but i recommend music more specifically for me at least because im less inclined to pause music or scroll while listening to it for some reason? whereas using a show or video or podcast for white noise, im way more likely to also be scrolling on my phone and that is my activity lol. music for some reason i dont want to interrupt and instead of being on my phone i can clean or do something productive on my computer etc

this one is sooo hard but try to fall asleep with some distance between you and your phone, even just a couple feet. mine stays on the desk next to my bed which isnt that far but its better than on bed like it used to be. when you wake up you probably wont feel like reaching for it right away if its far and even better if you have to get up for it because then at least you stand and move your body first thing instead of looking at your phone first thing. and try to get more and more of your morning routine done before touching your phone over time.

-> for me, i started by just trying to at least wake up a bit in bed before touching it, then stand up before touching it, then stand and stretch, then going to the bathroom first, making coffee first, feeding the cat first, etc. its surprisingly helpful to have a specific chore/task in mind that is The requirement so that everytime you do it you get a lil dopamine rush for unlocking your phone from yourself lmao. when the weather was nice i used to make my Requirement being outside first before going on it and i LOVED that. esp as it got easier and i started doing more and more before going on it and finally walking outside with coffee and my phone felt like such a pleasant little reward.

find a hobby that uses your hands. example: i really need to get back into knitting because when i did it regularly so much time that wouldve been on my phone was spent knitting with music/podcasts/shows/(even online lectures! when i felt productive lol) playing. its the same amount of physical relaxing - barely moving lol - but uses a longer attention span and a much better dopamine hit than scrolling, i literally MADE things.

-> you might be thinking, 'but mindless knitting isnt better than mindless scrolling is it?' but that mindless feeling on your phone is just that, mindless. the mindless feeling you get when doing something like knitting is actually closer to a flow state, which is actually incredibly good for you, like a fulfilling nutritious meal as opposed to 'empty calories' or whatever

get a widget for your homescreen that shows your screen time. i have one and of course it doesnt always stop me but seeing that time go up all day the more i use it and the pride of keeping it low is really helpful

practice grounding. in general.

spend more time on anonymous activities and have more privacy and less attachment with your 'persona' - what i mean by that is, i consider things like scrolling through tumblr (for me personally!) to be relatively harmless because i dont try to like,, brand myself here. if youre a tumblr regular you know the jokes - 0 follows, 0 notes, screaming to the void, moots you dont talk to, blorbo pfp and urls, fake names everywhere, and we're having fun! basically targeting the 'everyone is famous now' thing with this one - embrace being a nobody with no personal stakes here

-> personally ive never kept up with having social media accounts that are actually just, me irl - like a facebook or main instagram, like a locals account yknow? but i think it goes for that too - stop spending so much time trying to further personalize your online presence in the hopes of it representing you perfectly - because it never will, and it shouldnt, and you shouldnt aspire for that. your social media presence is lighthearted and incredibly surface-level, treat it like that! thats not me bashing social media either, having that mindset will make it more enjoyable bc youll be using it as it should be used!

do following/followers or camera roll/files or app purges. this is also a soft launch type of way to practice easing into a better mindset. aside from just literally getting rid of junk, the process of trying to judge whether or not you need something is good practice in mindfulness! even if you dont delete everything you feel like you maybe should, thats fine, youll do other purges in the future too. eventually youll get better at parting with things and realizing when things that feel good in a moment are actually bad for you. and it forces you to regularly check in on your more long-lasting parasocial relationships online and how theyre serving you or not

speaking of parasocial - for actual friends, if theyre irl, think about how much you interact with them online vs in person and why you think that is and how it affects you. maybe youll wanna see them more irl if possible (i promise its better for your friendship), maybe youll realize you dont need to keep tabs on them anymore (old high school acquaintances lookin at you). for celebrities and fandom things - try to think about the bare minimum content from them you could do with. you dont have to unstan all your faves and stop enjoying things - but do you need their notifications on? do you need to have a stan account? do you need them on all the platforms? do you need to have all that saved content of them? are there aspects of this that you love that could be found elsewhere?

if youre of the genre of online where you just cant help yourself from getting involved in big discussions or discourse and arguments - i recommend journaling when you get upset by something online, articulating your feelings without the idea of someone ever reading it and without the goal of 'winning' or being the most correct and logical or even the most sympathetic and morally good. take away every audience aspect of it. what is this really about for you, and why would strangers online deserve to hear your personal well-thought out opinions? why would your thoughts deserve to be simplified and misconstrued and underappreciated the way they would be in this discussion? is there even an outcome to this where you feel truly satisfied? are their people who are more worthy of hearing your thoughts who arent part of this audience? is this a conversation that is best held online where so much communicative nuance is inevitably sacrificed?

in the end these are all just practices in remembering how in control you are. and that goes for if any of these are scary or too difficult sounding too! these all become less scary if you remember that as soon as anything becomes too uncomfortable or painful, you have all the power to stop doing it, make a change, and try again later. so much of advice for quitting bad habits can be intimidating because the pressure and the shame that would come from failing scares you out of the possible benefits of trying - just go ahead and kill that shame from the jump. of course youre going to fail! you are going to have setbacks! thats part of it! you have agency in this, always. the internet is not inherently or completely evil nor good. build trust in yourself to make the calls on when it is serving you and when it isnt on a case-by-case basis, and then give yourself permission to learn through trial and error.

and remember you are worth all of this effort. i believe in us <3

#phone addiction #screen time #gen z #chronically online #i have no clue if any of these are even real tags tbh #mental health #parasocial relationships #<- very risky tag i better not get dragged into some discourse somehow #i have 0 interest in arguments resulting from this post #i am peace and love rn <3 good vibes only lol #this is also in honor of like literally all my friends saying 'less screen time' as a new years resolution lol #🌟.txt #adhd studyblr #new years #new years resolutions

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pyjamaart · 2 months

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I never needed such help / This is my SOS

(Content warning: self harm) (If you don't have a problem with that, huge Drillman essay under the read more lol)

When I said that I wanted to draw Drillman some more, this really wasn't what I had in mind.

This week, I've been shopping for music on various second hand sites, which made me realize I don't physically own one of my all time favorite albums: "Squaring The Circle" by Sneaker Pimps. I had to change that immediately. (As well as buying like 15 other CDs and vinyls, lol.) As I was listening to it once again, I realized just how much the song "SOS" reminded me of Drillman and his struggles.

If you don't want to look it up, here are some of the lyrics:

"I look much smaller seen from inside out/Far too small to see myself/Down on reflection, cast in hate and in doubt/Flawed and flaws I add myself"

"Oh mirror mirror hanging on the wall/Please just show me someone else/My hopes were low and I got so much so less/Nothing left to save myself"

Listen, this dude got some major problems with his self esteem. He feels like an embarrassment because he was forced into a life he never wanted by his father. Now he seeks revenge on the company that bought his families business, along with him and apparently his bodily autonomy. Think about that for a minute. How fucked would it be if your parents wanted you to be a doctor, but a requirement for that would be to have your hand surgically removed and replaced with a scalpel. That's the exact situation Drillman found himself in.

Now a lot of people probably think "Well why doesn't he just ask Dr. Light to give him a new pair of hands then, if he's this miserable?" This is where we get to one of Drillmans biggest problems: the refusal to ask for help in any way. And even after the finale of the season, why would he go to the Lights for help in the first place? Wasn't it Aki who thought the best way to help him through his problems was hypnotism? And in the process embarrassing him in front of the whole city, ruining the last bit of reputation he may have had? (For real though, that episode is so hard for me to watch. I just feel so so bad for him, since I really struggle with social anxiety myself.)

As the guys from the Youtube channel "The D-Pad" (who reviewed all of the MMFC episodes) fittingly commented: "This would be like fucking Vietnam for him." And they were right. Obviously, Drillman is horrified that Aki would humiliate him like this and lashes out, solidifying his opinion that asking for help is a bad idea.

In that episode, there's this one moment that really stuck with me. At around the 8 minute mark, while Drillman is having a breakdown over the terrible "music" Aki made him perform, there's this one shot where he takes a moment to look at the drills that replaced his hands in frustration. The camera perspective makes it seem as if we are experiencing this brief scene through his eyes. It's actually quite upsetting. (A link to the moment I'm talking about: youtu.be/OC_jdhoeTrE?si=ZPzAXu…)

This is also a perfect moment for me to gush over the voice acting for this scene. Andrew McNee did such a fantastic job of conveying Drillmans distress and anger through his voice. That reminds me, giving him a British accent was honestly such a good decision.

The reason he doesn't talk at all throughout most of his first appearance is probably because the writers wanted to surprise their audience a little. As in, you see this big, imposing construction robot and think "Oh man, what a brute. He probably has a pretty deep voice." And then he actually starts to speak and it's this sophisticated, well-articulated British voice instead. Quite the whiplash.

To get back to the original topic, I'm honestly still upset that they didn't give Drillman a redemption arc at the end of the show. This probably would have happened in season 2, as Mega Man even says at some point "I know deep down your inner bits are good", proving to me that the writers definitely had something in mind regarding Drillmans character arc.

And now that all of that is out of the way, we can finally get into headcanon territory.

You might have seen this image while browsing the tags and asked yourself, "Why is this Mega Man Fully Charged artwork littered with content warnings?" And well, now that you're here and reading this, you probably know why. I can't say I've ever made myself sick with a drawing before. That's a first for me.

My headcanon is, that after the finale of the show, Drillman is just utterly lost. Lord Obsidian, who sought him out specifically because he knew of Drillmans problems and offered him a place to stay and a way to get revenge on the people he thought responsible for his predicament, turned out to be a horribly racist human who was just using him to achieve his own devious goals. After getting his ass kicked by the Lights, the same people who had not only humiliated him in front of the whole city, but who had also left him stuck to his abusive father for an entire day (I bet that ride to the police station was horrible for all the people involved, most of all the police bots who had to hear the Drillmen yell at each other the whole time), Sgt. Night is detained by the police. We don't actually see what happens after that, because that's where the show ends.

I'd like to think that the Lights actually try to talk to the robot masters once everything is over, telling them all the horrible things their so-called "leader" has said and done. And most importantly, what he thinks of robots: That they're nothing but tools to him. That once they had gotten him his Mega key, he would have wiped their minds and turned them into mindless machines.

I'm guessing none of the robot masters would take these news well, but most of all Drillman. I think that after he ran away from Skyraisers Inc. and fought Mega Man for the first time, he was really relieved to have some place to stay and a new goal, maybe even a robot to look up to. That being Lord Obsidian of course. Who knows what lies he told Drillman and the others? Kinda sad that we never really got to see what the robot masters who stayed with Lord Obsidian did the entire day. When they weren't causing havoc in the city, that is.

None of them seemed really friendly with each other in the finale, now that I think about it. I guess "Obsidians robot sanctuary" wasn't really a great place to stay at after all. But still better than being homeless, like that one maniac living in the forest all by himself. Speaking of Woodman, in my AU, he and Drillman already knew each other at this point. This also reminds me of something I forgot to mention in my last post. While I'd love to see them interact in any way, because they're both my favorite characters, I don't ship them in any way whatsoever. I'd also like to think that Woodman and Drillmans father were schoolmates back in the day, maybe even friends? (I'm still holding onto those 30 years).

Anyway, after all the former robot comrades part ways, now without a leader, what was Drillman supposed to do? Once again betrayed by a trusted figure, feeling useless and without purpose, still with these stupid drills mounted to his body... Still too ashamed to ask for help. After all that has happened in the past few hours he begins spiraling, which ultimately leads him to make a very unfortunate decision. Trying to get at least some of the freedom in his life back, he attempts to get rid of the drills making up his body on his own, using the same tools that have haunted him all this time to finally rid himself of this burden.

He regrets this just seconds after, when he's left with an unresponsive limb, metal and wires exposed and oil splattered all over his orange plating. All he can do is stare at the stained drill in front of him in horror.

"I never needed such help/This is my SOS"

Jesus Christ that got dark. Sorry. I mentioned in my last post that Drillman possibly has really bad body dysmorphia, which I'm also trying to convey here. Don't worry, he really gets his hands back after this. Maybe the Lights find him after that and the good Doctor offers to fix him up. By which I mean not only his arm. Because apparently, Dr. Light also doubles as robot psychologist. I just really need Drillman to get his happy ending. He really really deserves it after everything he had to go trough over the course of the show.

I also need him to have a DJing redemption, besides the normal redemption. I've seen people headcanon that he exclusively likes classical music, but I personally don't believe that. He'd be the kind of music nerd who would say stuff like "I listen to everything" and then you look at his playlists and he actually listens to everything. Maybe not experimental noise rock, though. I can just imagine Aki and Suna helping him put on an actual show, this time without any hypnotizing bullshit, as a way for Aki to apologize for the dread he's caused Drillman during that incident. Drillman would be highly suspicious at first, but actually goes along with it in the end. Maybe they'd also take Fireman along, who Dr. Light also blessed with a brand new pair of hands. The punchline at the end would be that Drillman would have so much anxiety about embarrassing himself again, that he forgets to make an actual set list for the gig. In the end, he exclusively plays Lady Gaga songs, which no one complains about.

Alright then, enough yapping from me. I've really been writing this essay since 8pm. And now it's 2am. My god. I just have a lot of feelings about Drillman.

But now I really gotta go to bed. Stay safe peeps. I hope you actually read the content warnings. Jenny out.

#oh man i would like to formally apologize for this #just throwing my favorite blorbo into the shredder over here #if anyone needs me to add any other content or trigger warnings please please tell me i really dont wanna upset anyone with this #megaman #mega man #mega man fully charged #mmfc #drillman #drill man #self harm tw #its robot sh but juuuust in case yknow #robot gore tw

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chaifootsteps · 5 months

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Hi, hi! I've been a longtime follower of your blog, but this is my first time sending in an ask because of anxiety. You're the most consistent blog that keeps up to date with Viv and her work. As someone who first saw Viv through the Die Young animation, and watched the HH pilot when it was first released, I grew disillusioned as s1 of Helluva Boss slowly aired. It was mostly because I didn't really enjoy the Stolitz ship and I believe the Erin Frost drama had come out (god bless Erin - she, Ken and everyone else deserved so much better). Plus the world-building and character development was just so off.

I know people have said this before: the concept Viv has is good, but the execution sucks. There's a vision but the product is so damn juvenile. I'm ace, and I became attached to Alastor due to him being ace as well, but we all know how Viv responded when the ship wars were happening. I couldn't stand the constant sex jokes or swearing in HB since when was it required for an "adult" show to have that?

Thank you for the episode leaks. Only got to see ep 1 before they were removed. The only thing that made me laugh out loud was the Niffty gag where she stared dead into the camera. I also liked Adam a bit? Sure the "original dick" thing went on way too long, but he was funny too. I surprising enjoyed his song - the lil fist bump he did with Lute was cute, and I like Lute but knowing Viv's record... eh. There was this cool shot where Adam flew up and Lute and those golden angels go behind him and spread their wings making Adam look like the biblically accurate angel. Except Adam himself ruins the effect because what the ever-loving heck is he wearing? I hate it.

In terms of shipping, I wasn't into the Huskerdust interactions. Angel wasn't flirting, that was sexual harassment. In the pilot it was okay because their interaction was brief and Husk pushed Angel off. Chaggie was... something. I genuinely feel that Chaggie could've worked had they not been established as a couple in the first place. The reason why Charlastor (and I guess Charlentious?) happened is because they had chemistry and their interactions could be read as a romantic interest. Since Chaggie was already established, there was an expectation for them to have those, but they weren't delivered and we know well that they weren't supposed to be a thing in the first place. Have Vaggie still be her bff and bodyguard, but show those moments where she genuinely cares for Charlie's well-being that indicates she's in love with her, yet Charlie is completely oblivious to everything. Actually, reverse harem Charlie sounds pretty funny to me.

Btw, armchair psychology anon, as a person studying psychology in my final year of college, dw about people taking issues with your speculations. NPD and other personality disorders are ego-syntonic, which means that the individual's behaviours line up with their beliefs, hence why PDs are only diagnosed during adulthood once brain maturation and personality development is reached. The only exception to this is ASPD (which NPD shares a category with called Cluster B along with histrionic and BPD) as you can diagnose a child with conduct disorder that can become ASPD when they're adults. Cluster B PDs are terribly demonised by media and the public despite the volume of research (I blame misunderstanding and ignorance). Viv could have it or could not; it's just that she shows signs of having it, and that's it. Even if she doesn't, she's still an awful person. Idk what happened in her childhood or some point in her life for her to become like this, but it doesn't excuse treating people like crap - oh wait, ain't this her characters in a nutshell?

That's all I gotta say for now. I hope it's okay to send more like this in the future; I'd love to be a specific anon but idk what's already taken lol. Take care, Chai, and I hope you have a good day/evening.

By all means, send as many as you've got! Because this was a delight to read.

Let me know when you come up with a name. I'll give you a placeholder one for now.

#Anonymous #to be named anon #viv stuff #actual blog post #vivziepop critical

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aria-ashryver · 25 days

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Welcome to the Jungle | Choices MC Colony | Episode #3

We are starting strong once again: Anitha and Rin got a case of the plague, Evie got malaria, and hot damn do we need an actual doctor out here! (Hello, foreshadowing 👀)

In good news, however, the panther problem is no more! (For now)

The MCs have been settled at Cedar Station for a couple of seasons now: purpose-specific rooms are being built; crappy barracks are being upgraded to little, individual houses, and we are getting more artsy with our crafting!

Luca *gasping softly*: cauliflowers, of course! Omg I'm a genius.

Anitha has taken non-cauliflower approaches to boosting settlement morale! Namely;

planting yellow, sunshiney flowers outside the rec room

singing songs to capybaras in the hopes they will come live with us (which... worked?! Go Anitha!! 💛)

Our MCs have collectively decided capybaras are the perfect symbol of hard work, perseverance, and being extremely friend-shaped, so they are now our ✨ venerated animal ✨ (Sprites now get a mood boost when they spend time near a capybara lol)

!!A wild Oliver appears!!

Good news: We have found a doctor! Bad news: Said doctor has been wandering alone in the jungle for weeks on end and is clearly Going Through Some Stuff

Dorian tried to calm Oliver down and talk him through The Horrors TM (and just managed to make things worse 😆)

(Dorian "Silvertongue" more like Dorian "Can I Offer You a Nice Berry In This Trying Time- ow why are you hitting me ow")

Anitha's got this, don't worry 🌻

Here's Oliver, all cleaned up with fresh haircut and change of clothes, and feeling much calmer!

Welcome to the colony, Oliver! ✨✨✨ Great to have you aboard

Having a real doctor in the group means we can safely go on caravan journeys! Today, half of the MCs split off to:

Attend peace talks with a hostile faction

Fulfill a trade agreement with a nearby settlement

Loot an ancient ruin to get Dorian a cool new sword

Get... uh, wait- get mugged by a random imp raider who wanted to steal Oliver's extremely cool t-shirt?

um. Dorian's new sword got a test run and Oliver kept his shirt.

We did unfortunately run out of food on the way home, though, so our MCs have arrived back hungry, tired, and desperately in need of something fun to do.

Things were tense, folks. Rin might have snapped at Evie a little bit 😬

aaahhhh the blorbos are brawling aaahhh this is our first social fight

Things calmed down pretty quick when Evie went for the suckerpunch and cracked Rin's jaw. Rin got lots of quick jabs in too, so Evie has a ton of bruises to her torso, but I think since Evie went beast mode on this one, she wins 😆

Fortunately, Oliver knows just how to help 💗

We are all friends again in time for the Skylantern Festival though!! Awww look at them go 🌈✨ (Marianna is helping Evie with hers, that's so sweet 🥺)

Anitha: we require more morale Anitha: *brainstorming so hard* Anitha: I've got it. TWO Capybaras!!!

So, on top of our OG Labrador, Ricky, we now have Sunny and Sugar-Plum, our resident Guinea Bigs. We have also recently acquired an (actual) guinea pig and a cat!

I'm letting the smaller pets pick their owners on a "first nuzzled, first served" basis, so congrats to Evie and Oliver, who now have their very own pets!

@cadybear420 - what does Evie name the guinea pig?

@dr-colossal-pita what does Oliver name the cat?

(If it makes a difference, the guinea pig is male, the cat is female, both are 3 years old)

Raids are getting tougher! This one was weird, because some visiting traders rushed to our defense with... with their pet bull? Guys, we have it. Its... its fine, you don't need to-- okay, sure. Fine. Send in the bull. Also misfire your bow and arrow and shoot Dorian in the leg, that's great too.

It was a tough scrape, this one! A bunch of tough adventurers, pushed to their limits, trying to survive in this harsh, unforgiving jungle, came to steal our supplies. A few of their people died, some of ours were injured, and we hauled the enemy survivors inside to tend to their injuries (because what is the jungle without a little humanity, right?)

In what is perhaps the most metal move I have ever seen, here is Oliver talking Marianna through what to do when someone* has been stabbed in the kidney and is bleeding out

*"someone" in this instance is Oliver 🤘

OH MY GOD I JUST NOTICED MARIANNA USED THE REALLY GOOD MEDICINE I WAS SAVING THAT klsjgksfjglkdf dammit 😂 thats fine, I'd rather Oliver be okay, but omg that stuff is expensive and I only had 1 ahh 😭😭😭

Curiously... the enemy adventurers are rather taken by our empathy. These are good people, they say. This is a small settlement, but it looks homely. These people are tough, but fair. Hmmm...

"Do you really think we can trust them? We attacked their home." "We didn't have a choice! But these people seem... honest? They could have left us to die, but they didn't. Maybe... this could be a home for us, too." "Daenarya, that's madness. You can't just try to steal from someone, only to turn around and ask if you can join them!" "...Its worth a shot, right?"

(uhh I forgot to take a "New recruit: Daenarya" screenshot, just pretend I did lol)

Welcome aboard to our newest pair of adventurers, Brienne and Daenarya!! 💖💖 (Brienne's lil horns are everything to me hehe)

And just in time, too -- our colony have received a tip-off about a lone, freelance detective in need of rescue not far from our base -- @stars-are-within-me 's Carina Rose! Maybe Brienne and Daenarya can help us pull off a daring rescue in the next episode 😎

as ever, thank you to @choicesmc @cadybear420 @rosesnink @storyofmychoices @dr-colossal-pita and @lover-also-fighter-also for letting me steal your darlings!

#welcome to the jungle

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exouniverse · 5 months

Text

Three Little Words

Pairing: taehyung x gn reader

Genre: fluff, established relationship

Warnings: canon context and time with Tae being enlisted, but no signs of major angst otherwise

Summary: A happy birthday for Tae only required three simple words and your presence, whether you were physically together or apart.

Word count: 1.3K+

A/N: This one turned out small, but I couldn’t let myself continue or I would ruin it lol I found myself surrendering too much to the angst at some point and I really am trying not to for this project. I know it’s not on the specific date again, but bear with me, I’ll get them right at some point hahaha. Happy (late) birthday, Tae!

Also, I made the dividers, so please credit if you use them 🫶🏻

MASTERLIST | MOODBOARD

“Happy birthday Taetae!”

Just hearing your voice through the phone after the first month apart made him feel like the happiest person in the world. It was all bittersweet, but he was okay with how things were working between the two of you. “Thank you Y/N! Ah… I miss you so much!”

“I miss you too!”

He sighed cheerfully. “How is your trip so far? I wanna hear everything.”

You noticed the eager tone in his voice, so you giggled. “You have nothing to share? It’s your special day.”

“I wanna hear your voice more than anything. Not having you around has been tough… I’ve been thinking so much about where we were a year ago.”

“A year ago?” you asked and reminisced. “Everything changed just a year ago.”

Lately, being alone together has somehow become an oddly tense situation. For you, it felt as though any step closer would cause the butterflies in your stomach to flutter away. It was exciting and, at the same time, frightening. You wondered if, after all this time knowing him, the affection you felt surpassed mere friendship and ventured into a realm of deeper connection. As for Taehyung, he found himself needing to fixate his gaze on any random object around him; otherwise, the magnetic pull towards your eyes would win, and he would spend a lifetime studying the light that danced within them.

“Do you want to listen to the demo Yoongi was working on?” You asked to break the silence.

Taehyung glanced at you with a smile and nodded his head enthusiastically, offering some strawberry gummies for you two to share. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind yet until you placed the left earphone in his ear and moved closer, accompanied by a sweet giggle. His gaze quickly shifted back to the mixing console, but the captivating music drew his attention back to you. He didn’t anticipate that you would be staring back at him, but you were almost hypnotized.

You blinked twice and giggled again. “Wha-what do you think?”

“I love it!”

The silence was not uncomfortable; both of you were just enjoying the music and editing the photo sequences of the music video you were working on.

The chaos was within both of your hearts, which could have served as background percussion to the instrumental piano music the two of you were listening to on your phone. The chaos also came with Hoseok’s call, which interrupted the music. Taehyung was too concentrated to even notice, so he kept helping you organize the video footage on the other computer. Meanwhile, you answered the call, oblivious to what your friend might have in mind to call you at this time.

“Y/N!” His voice rang through yours and Taehyung’s ears. Taehyung was still too concentrated to notice he was still listening in with your earphone, and you seemed to have forgotten as well—too concentrated on the gummies and the photo frames.

“How’s the video going?” Hoseok asked, actually uninterested in that piece of information, so you didn’t have time to answer. “Has anything happened?” he continued, his tone meddling, but you didn’t think much of it. “Tell me my plan worked and you ended up working with Taehyungie all by yourself and now the sparks are flying—“

You turned the Bluetooth off right away, but the audio only switched to the speakers on your phone. Taehyung did hear what Hoseok said from the moment he heard his name, so he was now looking at you with a sweet smile on his face.

“—your moment to tell him you like him.”

You hurried to end the call, even knowing that there was no way to erase Hoseok’s words or prevent Taehyung from hearing them. However, before you could disconnect, Taehyung gently stopped your actions by placing his hand lightly over yours.

“Y/N will call you back, Hoseok hyung,” Taehyung said out loud, leaving Hoseok speechless until he ended the call himself.

The silence was uncomfortable for you, but Taehyung was the calmest he has been since you arrived at the studio and found out you were going to work on your video without Hoseok’s help. He knows Hoseok can be playful and joke around with you, but he is sure about him never lying or exposing someone’s feelings just to play mind games.

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t!” Taehyung held your hand just a little bit tighter. “I like you.”

Your heart steadied.

“I like you,” Taehyung repeated, but more to himself in case he had only said it in his mind.

“I… I like you too,” you giggled less nervously than you had done before.

Taehyung smiled fondly at the memory. “I'll never forget how nervous I was that day. I thought my heart might burst!”

His laughter faded as tender affection welled in his gaze. “Yet your smile, your sweet spirit—they gave me courage, and that moment was the best birthday present. Ahh… Hoseok hyung’s meddling ways were on the dot.”

You giggled at his unique expression, making you miss him even more. A comfortable silence fell as he reminisced. It had been the beginning of everything. Now, a year later, distance kept you physically apart, but your bond remained strong as ever.

“I really miss you so much, Y/N. But hearing your voice, remembering that day... it makes this all feel okay somehow. As long as we have each other, I can bear anything.” He sighed contentedly.

“You’ve always had me, even just as friends, and you’ll always have me; you can be sure of that. I’m here to stay.” You heard his breath getting caught through the phone, so you hurried to keep the mood light. “Wanna know what happened to someone on the staff?”

His laugh was soothing as you told him about the monkey stealing the microphone and the staff member’s snack and how you ran around trying to get it all back. Nevertheless, time seemed to fly by as you shared your anecdotes about your trip.

“It’s getting late for you, isn’t it? We only have about ten minutes more, but you also must be tired,” he said with a soft sigh. As much as he dreaded ending your call, your well-being always came first for him.

You smiled as you played with the necklace he gave you a couple of months ago, a token for you to keep him close while he was away on duty. “I wanted to wait until the end. I planned today and tomorrow’s activities so I could talk to you.”

“I don’t want to keep you, jagiya, though I may be selfish and wish to hear your voice all day long.” A gentle giggle escaped him. “I suppose I’ll just have to settle for dreaming of you instead.”

You laughed with him. “Tae! But did you already call your family? Don’t spend this time only talking to me!” You deviated bashfully.

“I did; I just saved most of my time for you… you’re farther away. But promise me you’ll rest well tonight, for my sake, if not your own. Your health and happiness must come before all else, even talking to a lovesick fool like me.”

“Another lovesick fool on the other side of the world wants to keep talking. I promise I’ll rest well.”

Taehyung agreed to your request. He was more than happy to share some more minutes with you over the phone. Your promise remained, with only cheerful moments while you two were apart. Soon enough, you will be able to see him when you come back, and visits are available.

When the moment to say goodbye finally came, you were almost asleep. “See you soon, Taetae! Be safe and have a happy day.”

“Rest well, Y/N! I love you.” His send-off only managed to wake you up. You were unable to contain the laughter bubbling within you; it couldn’t have been more true to character of him to say those words so casually and all at the same time figure it out in a nervous attack that ended up the call.

Only a minute later, you saw the incoming call from him and immediately answered. “I love you too!”

#happy birthday taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung #taehyung fluff #taehyung fanfic #bts fluff #bts fanfic #bts #bts fanfction #bts v #birthday fic #exouniverse

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strqyr · 11 months

Note

very intrigued re: your thoughts on cinder’s grimm arm but I’m not sure its symbolism thus far supports your point.

like to me it’s a sign of salem’s power and control over her. it’s creeping up her body and eating her as she does more and more evil to serve a master that doesn’t care about her.

i think if she dies the arm dies with her but if she lives she lives without the arm, just like i think the only way she survives the story is if she breaks free from salem.

also i just feel like it can’t feel good to have grimm be a part of you and i want good things for cinder

i want to pre-face this by saying that my thoughts spiraled from the fairly popular theory that summer tried to destroy / 'purify' salem with her silver eyes and obv it didn't work ( and if you subscribe to the theory that salem got her veins as a result of that, it might have made things 'worse' ) so like. the implications are there.

this might also be all over the place so sorry in advance i just woke up lol

anyway. back to cinder. they've clearly paralleled the grimm arm with the shock collar which definitely muddles the ground re: the fate of the arm, buuuuuut there are some interesting points here as well as differences.

for one, cinder doesn't take the collar off until after the madame is dead and the fight with rhodes is over, signifying a power struggle—the madame shocks cinder to no affect; she holds no power over cinder any more with or without the collar—and the main failure of rhodes—he was the huntsman supposed to help, but cinder only took the collar of after his death.

in V8 cinder and salem already had their power struggle which resulted in salem having to give 'concessions' ( for the lack of better term ) to cinder lest she wanted to lose her bc cinder was going to do her own thing ( and almost getting herself killed. no good ) rather than follow salem's orders. and then cinder lied to salem who does not like being lied to so either she pulled it off successfully ( doubtful with how much she hammed it up ) or salem let it go bc she's got two relics now and reprimanding cinder would ruin the moment of success.

something something balance cannot be restored with force or calculations true balance finds it own equilibrium it only requires love and the patience to see things through in the end something something the villains do be getting it.

and through it all, the grimm arm remained.

unlike the shock collar, too, the grimm arm cannot be easily removed; slicing it off won't work as it will just grow back ( which begs the question of it's origin, as regrowing is not regular grimm behavior ), and, well. silver eyeing it is a bit of an odd choice when that's the reason cinder lost her arm in the first place, so... how do you remove it?

also, thinking about silver eyes and grimm, specifically ruby challenging maria's notion that the eyes only work against grimm bc she used them against cinder, "perhaps there was something that you weren't seeing" <- obvious answer is the grimm arm but atlas arc has come and gone, ruby has seen the arm a plenty and has had zero reaction to it re: why she can use her powers against cinder, which makes me think that this conversation in an episode titled DEAD END has more to it; either that there's more to silver eyes than "they only work against grimm" or that "something you weren't seeing" is less about something physical like the grimm arm and more about cinder herself, i.e. cinder is not a monster who needs to be eye-lazered on sight but a human being and that maybe it would be better to understand why she's the way she is rather than going pew-pew.

also also, as far as any villain -> hero arc that cinder may or may not be going through, i think it would be more poignant if she had the grimm arm through it rather than chopping it off as a sign of it beginning. ya know, like. despite all the negatives that come with it, the grimm arm is also beneficial for cinder in that she can siphon maiden powers that she wants with it, so if she has it until the end, any development would be more meaningful if she chooses to not use it rather than removing it altogether. it's the difference between "would but can't" vs "could but won't".

and yeah the arm growing is a concern so that's. A Thing. but i think there's like. how much does cinder and / or salem even know about this stuff. like i could see cinder agreeing to having a grimm arm bc maiden powers but not knowing exactly what having a grimm arm entails—i.e. it was not an informed choice—but does salem know either or is she just experimenting? cos i feel like that also changes thing like is this intentional negligence or is this uncharted territory for everyone involved? idk.

what i do know is that i like the grimm aesthetic tho and i would be sad to see it go :( but that's the character design gremlin in me talking.

#rwby #cinder fall #ask.strqyr

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kulapti · 9 months

Text

Cover construction for The silent isle imbowers, July-Aug 2023.

Finished binding here.

Materials shown: metallic gold and matte black heat transfer vinyl with cricut-cut designs, cricut-cut paper stencil, acrylic paint, bookcloth made of cotton + drawing paper backing + Lineco PVA glue. Calligraphy by quillingwords, flower art and cover construction by me.

————-General tips on how to make smth like this:

Steps in order were (1) have bookcloth, (2) cut and paint stencil, (3) cut and weed both HTV layers, (4) apply black HTV, (5) apply gold HTV, (6) add paint detail with paintbrush over the vinyl, (7) apply bookcloth to cover board.

This is not a beginner-friendly design LOL. Be like me and try most of the steps by themselves on other projects first.

I drew this design knowing how the sections would be layered, and which materials (and therefore colors) would go with each layer. Achieving a similar result with a premade design will likely require editing in a digital art program.

Test how your materials will layer before committing to a complex design. In this case I discovered that the type of bookcloth I made actually helps conceal the adhesive spread under the black HTV.

Layering HTV over small sections of acrylic paint works! Cannot confirm the result if you were to use large painted sections.

PSA This black layer with many very small pointy bits is at the extreme limit of what I think is possible to weed from machine-cut HTV. A different material might work better, and I got a lot faster at weeding the second copy than the first one, but some of this is just a technical limit. The gold section worked great but I would not recommend this for the black.

Layering HTV is much easier to do uniformly with a heat press! Check if your local library or maybe an art class studio has one you can use before doing smth like this with your iron.

Paper stencils are easy to make with the cricut but don’t try to use them for anything with small details. The above example is pushing it despite being very simple shapes. Stick-on stencils are better.

Tiny HTV design tip: designs with jagged sections and very thin lines are hardest to weed successfully. Smooth curves are much easier.

Scale all pieces of a stacked design on the same drawing program and within the same canvas in cricut so they layer precisely.

Cut tiny HTV designs with the washi paper setting on a cricut. I did not find this out myself but I can confirm the results! Using the HTV setting will cause the blade to catch on and pull up small sections of the design while cutting, ruining parts of the design.

—————-Tiny HTV design weeding tips:

For the love of cheese do not try anything this complicated the first time you use a cricut. or the second. you will cry

Seriously consider trying both HTV and cricut stencils before doing anything complicated like this. I wish I had at least attempted the black layer as a stick-on stencil.

This isn't a weeding tip but again you better cut this with a washi setting.

Use a very sharp weeding tool, good lighting, and consider a magnifying glass

Be prepared for this to take several hours, especially if you have never done a tiny piece before.

Important! The cricut does not perfectly cut out designs, leaving very small connected sections around the design at various locations. This is almost unnoticeable on large designs but can ruin tiny designs very easily. Be prepared to hold down the “keep” sections of the design with tweezers or a fingertip while pulling or trimming off some of the “remove” negative space.

Do NOT attempt to pull off all the negative space in a single piece. Either add dividing lines to your design for the machine to cut, or use a sharp tool to scrape them yourself. You are much less likely to accidentally remove part of your design if you weed the design in distinct sections.

#my art #bookbinding #work in progress #fanbinding #art tips #artists on tumblr #here there be fandom #long post #weeding the black layer was so. lol. I started the first one and was like I may have made a terrible mistake #renegade chat lighting candles for me #worth it!! also would hopefully come up with a more efficient stencil strategy instead next time!!#I normally post wip stuff on my side blog but figured this might be worth going on main #also the first wip photo looks neat so #only the vision of this fic being a Really Hecking Badass Book could sustain me thru 12 hours of weeding those black layers #my Learn Bookbinding Skills strategy is basically to choose an extremely ambitious project that excites me enough to keep me motivated #and then to just work on it for months because I am stubborn as all hell and genuinely find this fun instead of frustrating :D #tailfeather binding #id in alt text #described #update I have added ids!

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yanderes-galore · 1 year

Note

how about a valentines Rick (Rick and Morty) with prompts 4 and 1? Maybe it’s a date night! Could be hcs if you want!!

Prompts don't work with HCs, they're always short stories :)

Sure! I'll make this take place during a date night. I finally bought Season 6 to watch so I have a little bit of motivation. Written with C-137 Rick in mind. I haven't written for Rick in so long, lol. Altered one of the prompts for this :)

Triggering themes in this, read with caution.

Spoilers for Rick & Morty/Rick's past

Prompts Found Here (Link may be broken)

Yandere! Rick Sanchez V-Day Prompts 4 and 1

"...why won't you love me?"

"You think I am crazy?! The world is crazier- It does not let us love!"

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Forced relationship, Relationship trouble, Implied past intimacy/Intimacy in general, Obsession, Heavy themes with a relationship not working out/scared of commitment, Darling just wanted a normal relationship, Angst probably, Kidnapping mention, Murder mention, Possessive behavior implied, Delusional/Desensitized Rick, Swearing, Slight grief implied, Fear of losing a partner/Trauma, Manipulation, Hypocritical behavior.

Dates with Rick were rare. Whenever they did happen they usually involved interdimensional travel or something weird like that. With Rick... you had no true sense of normal.

Which was one of the reasons you hated him.

Rick used to be someone you thought was cool. Before you were involved from him. That was because you did not understand or look into his madness.

You had no idea you drove him crazy.

Not until it was too late, that is. The moment you accepted his first date and hooked up, you had forfeit your life to him. Rick never left you alone after that.

He probably couldn't, even if he wanted to... you managed to worm your way into his mind.

So he gave in and expressed the intensity of his obsession towards you.

Being officially together was a strange feeling for the both of you. You didn't like the amount of stress Rick's life caused you. Rick was probably still not used to sticking around you so often as he was used to having flings. Now he... strangely doesn't want any.

Rick felt content with you. He thought he'd never love anyone after Prime Rick ruined his life. But here you were... captivating him.

Your pair felt like it wasn't meant to happen. Probably because no other universe had you two together, from what you knew of. Your "relationship" was an anomaly.

Which was probably why it wasn't working out.

Rick finally tried some sort of normal date this time. You both knew this relationship between you was going down the drain. Rick... didn't actually want it to end.

No... he liked this and was determined to hold it together. Even if it requires some sort of tech to force you.

The date he planned was as normal as he could think of. A walk, some dinner, and some time alone together. He promised nothing too weird.

However, the date still made you wish for a way out... away from him for a sense of normalcy.

You knew what Rick was capable of. He's murdered people in front of you, he's shown possessive tendencies about you... and he's always on the run. You wished he just... gave up on this bond between you.

Yet despite your feelings, you're forced to walk and chat. You're forced to give into his loving embraces and hold his hand. You held out for as long as you could...

But near the end you're on the verge of a breakdown, standing with him in your bedroom while arguing.

"...why won't you love me like you used to?"

"We can't work, Rick!" You cry out, desperation in your tone. "Stop pretending we can!"

"Come on, (Y/N)... I'm sure we can. Just calm down, you know I just want to make us happy."

"You want to make yourself happy, Rick!" Rick's silent at what you say. You turn away, letting out a shakey sigh.

"Baby... you know I can't let you go. I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Rick..." You plead. "Our relationship isn't right."

"How?"

"You're possessive..." You start, shuffling away from him. "You've killed my friends from my universe. You took me away from my home. All because I told you I couldn't handle what you go through every day!"

You watch Rick for any reaction. He gives you a weird look like what you brought up was normal. Which only encourages your argument....

"You're crazy, Rick! That's what I'm saying! How come you don't see any of that!?"

That sets him off.

"You think I am crazy?!" Rick argues, stepping closer. "The world... no, the UNIVERSE is crazier- It will not let us love!"

"Rick, please... don't shift the blame-"

"You don't get it! You don't understand the universe like I do. The universe could take you away easily! Especially with that other fucking Rick out there who killed Diane!"

Rick lets the past fall out of his mouth... stunning you into silence. The relationship only hurt the two of you now. But Rick would rather deal with that than be alone again....

"... is that what this is about?" You ask mostly to yourself. "That doesn't excuse shit. That just makes you a hypocrite!"

"Yeah, I'll accept that." Rick shrugs. "Doesn't change the fact you loved me at one point. I was protecting you! I was leaving no trace so HE couldn't find you! It was all for the best!"

You stop talking and look away. You don't react when he embraces you. He doesn't force anything... he just holds you in silence. There's no point in fighting.

You aren't sure if what Rick's saying is true... yet you'll never forgive him either way.

You just wish you never hooked up in the first place... you wish you were at home in your dimension... you just want to be normal again.

"... I'm sure you'll love me again someday...."

#yandere rick sanchez #yandere rick and morty #yandere c137 rick

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gelataisa · 3 months

Note

I'm not delusional, right? When I read other people's thoughts about Squalo and xanxus's ship, they say that it is not real 🫠, and if it was real , it would be one-sided, which are Squalo's feelings🥲, and it is just a relationship between Boss and his captain, who admires his ambition, but I feel that it is illogical if that is the case? There is something beautiful, but they ruin it, but if what is between them is not real, especially xanxus’s feelings for Squalo, this will not become beautiful, but rather a nightmare. Squalo’s interest is clear, but xanxus does not, and this is what makes me not sleep, and what do you think about xanxus’s feelings for Squalo? I don't want to be delusional lol.

I want something that eliminates my doubts so I can live in peace😔helppp

My dearest anon, finally I have the time to answer you. This ask has not left my mind since you sent it, im sorry it took so long.

At the same time though, I am glad it took so long cause i can answer you calmly.

Your ask really angered me. And dont get the wrong idea, none of that anger was directed at you.

There are many layers of wrong in what you reported on your ask, and i'll try to adress them properly. Under the cut cause its gonna be long (and i hope i wont bore you) - i will answer your direct question in the last point, in case you want to go straight to the point. But for real, there is much to unpack here.

We have people bashing you for a ship that you really like, to the point you think that you are delusional. And that is fucking nuts. Every ship is legit. Every single crack pair and rare pair is legit. Cause we are all losers who spend their time thinking about puppets kissing. There is no higher ground to stand on. And this applies to ships that we see no fucking point in as well. And i am not saying this as a person that loves any ship. I am the pickiest shipper ever. And i am not a good person either, there are many ships which i loathe. Yet, i have the decency not to go to the people who ship such ships. If i complain it is privately and with the right people. If i dont like a thing i block (and i have blocked people because of what they ship). Everyone has the right to see only the stuff they want. No one has the right to make others feel bad for the stuff they like.

Personally, i firmly believe that there are ships and ships. And I hope i was not too italian saying that. the point is: i think some ships are basically written in the source material. That is to say, regardless of whether you pair the people romantically or not, the dynamic is deep, complex and (especially) apparent. You dont need to add much of your own to make it work. Other ships, on the other hand, need more work to be "justified", to gain substance. They may require filling in a lot of gaps, or looking at details scattered in the story. Now, both kind of ships have their own dignity (as per point 1), we dont get to choose the things we like. Still, i believe that at the same time we allow anyone to enjoy their thing while we enjoy ours, we need to also realise that some ships have more substance in the source material than others.

I know that the first two points may seem unrelated to what you asked, but i needed them for now. ive heard many the complains you have mentioned in your ask. and they angered me particularly cause usually they are brought up by people that try bring forward their own ships, and that know to do so only by bringing "competitor" ships down. I know you have not explicitly said so, but i believe its whats going on in this case, and it makes me incredibly angry and - honestly - sad. I believe that people that do this realise their ships are not as solid as XS (or some other ship) is (back to point 2), so they bash on it to advance their own. This is what angers me. Now, what makes me sad is that while doing this they also terribly mischaracterise the characters to the point they are not themselves anymore. Indeed, what a pity

Now, about XS: most of what i think of them i have said here. And about Xanxus, as you asked... one thing is clear: people that say that he does not care about Squalo have not spared one thought for him. And if they have, I am sorry, but they have not understood a thing about him. Xanxus is a very complex character. His most apparent trait, once you read the manga, is that his actions most of the times dont reflect his thoughts. and what he thinks is masked, and very well so. he was raised with the pressure of expectations, and hardened a lot because of it. he wasnt allowed to show any weakness, or maybe it was just himself who got convinced of it. but any feeling he has, apart from his anger, he suppresses. it took him one whole arc to express his motivations (and i dont even remember how much of his past was revealed to the cast) and to show emotional weakness. it took him 10+ years to defend his family and show he cares, and even then, he still didnt admit that he accepted Tsuna as tenth. after 10 years. How could anyone expect him to show love for someone? Or that he cares for anyone? That is the only gap you need to fill in XS, a gap named "Xanxus Vongola and his multiple issues".

To conclude, my dearest anon... you are right to say that there is something beautiful. Dont let anyone ruin it for you. And especially, surround yourself with people who share your interests and dont even look at those that try to bring you down instead. You deserve better than that.

And i know im not the best one in interactions, whether it is answering asks or messages or else (thanks anxiety and constant exhaustion) but i truly am glad when people interact about xs. You are more than welcome in my inbox, or if youll ever want to add to my posts and reblogs. to build a xs community is my dream on here, i hope ill have the energy to do so

#this took way to long and i got derailed as well #one day ill make a good post about X->S #but i will need references to make it well #this will suffice for now #btw if anyone wants to build the community while i sort my shit out #please go ahead ill gladly join #gegeask #XS #xanxus squalo #xanxus #squalo superbi

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captainmera · 8 months

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ello mera,

I wanted to ask how you post your comics online because i was thinking about making my own web comic series but i dont know where to start hehe

I think the website you used for IBWR was called Hiveworks but im not to sure how it works...

Also if you have any other tips when it comes to making comics like time management, planning, or even how draw those gorgeous backgrounds, it would be much appreciated :D

Thank you for your time ヾ(•ω•`)o ✧.*

Sure thing buckaroo, get in the backseat and let's hit the comic road!

ヾ(•`ω´•)o ✧.*

this is all from my perspective though, some stuff may not work for you, but hey - no knowledge is bad knowledge.

Hiveworks is a... Publisher! of sorts! Kind of. They're not like webtoons or Tapas when it comes to comic hosting, you have to be invited to Hiveworks (like me!) or apply to join them! :) They also have Hivemill which is a place where they sell merch for the comics. Either Hiveworks helped making the merch, or the artists themselves made the stuff and Hiveworks helps distribute it (I THINK, don't quote me on that. I haven't made or sold merch with them before. But it's what I understand. They have explained it to me, I'm just kinda dumb).

However! Comic control, of which Hiveworks uses to make the websites are free for anyone to use! :) So if you want your own website, go ahead and make one!

I'd still recommend you buy the URL you'll use in that case though. I pay a yearly fee on GoDaddy.com for mine. It's affordable and honestly worth it as a precaution, lest a dirtbag buy it just to ruin my day and give me distress for a year(s).

But my recommendation is that you mirror your comic in as many places as possible.

Now, my website has ads on it, so if you switch off ad-block when visiting IBWR, I can get ad rev from it! :D (thanks to Hiveworks, that is, they added the ad stuff on there. Idk how it works but it's nice passive income that I really need. It pays for my food).

That means I will prioritize the website over the secondary mirrored places. So that's the place I always link to first. So if people REALLY want to get the next page sooner, they can always check there first.

However, mirroring is great because it is very difficult to get people to read the story you've put so much love into. I want people to enjoy my story as much as I do. The more places you update it to, the more people will discover you.

I've noticed that people like to follow the artist/author on social media for update announcements and general news of what's going on for the comic - so know where your presence on socmed is at! If it's instagram, well, then prioritize instagram but don't forget bluesky or tumblr too! Just know where you're at.

BUT!! And I cannot stress (lol) this enough - but don't stress (lol) about it. which is easier said than done.

It can feel super overwhelming to constantly make each update of a page feel like a check list of "okay, posted announcement to insta, tumblr, twitter, I have scheduled a mirrored post to comicfury and tumblr, I have added all the links in the author section, uuuh, I gotta add a cropped panel sneak-peak in each and I gotta--" that shit gets tiring quick. Work smart not hard. I copy paste from a document and I print-screen crop a panel from my comic on my phone kind of flimsily and that works. Nobody cares if it's fancy. It's just extra energy on my part that I can't be arsed to worry about.

Like Webtoons require that you to always have a preview icon for each update. That's as complicated as I'm willing to get tbh. If it requires more than that from me I'm gonna hate it. But that's just me.

you want to be able to do something consistently.

Which brings me to..

MANAGEMENT

bro, it's a job. It takes work. Work is not always fun, but you gotta show up for it. you're the only worker here. If you don't show up, it doesn't get done.

And people are not going to read it until there's at least pages enough for them to catch on to a story. If you're here for recognition right away, stop. You'll hurt yourself. I know we live in a time of quick-positive feedback through likes and shares, etc. But that's just not reality most of the time when starting up.

So, you got to want to tell the story more than whatever you are expecting to get out of this.

Which will also help you with managing your feelings if your reader count grows or declines. Just remind yourself of why you even want to tell your stories. It's easier said than done, but I found it to be a helpful philosophy to try stick by.

Everything I gain from sharing my story is just a plus. Not the reason.

What I did, also, was to just post whenever I finished a page. I had no readers, only commitment to myself and the comic. That's it. You'll find it easier if you don't force yourself at first, at least I did. And then as you gain your own momentum and work-pace, you'll be able to be like "Oh yeah, sunday works for me. I'll aim for that." Aim for it, don't promise. But show up. You're not a machine, shit happens, life comes in. If you have a deadline that makes you feel guilty, you might start avoiding it etc. So maybe just cut yourself some slack and go "whenever I'm done with a page is a good day."

You are your own boss. You make your own rules.

Yes, there is an algorithm to it all - when's the best time to post, getting new readers through memes or what have you. You might discover that the best way for you to get readers is to make funny videoclips on instagram or tiktok - there is no wrong way.

However, it shouldn't feel like too much of a chore. You should enjoy it at least a little bit. Like, maybe you kinda like making goofy vids of your comic, or draw memes, whatever, right? But you should enjoy some of it. If you hate making vids, but you know it is a good pond to fish in.. well, like... I'm sorry but you're gonna get frustrated with it.

I like posting THANK YOU FOR READING doodles of my characters on instagram stories! :D <3 I like that! That's not too much trouble for me.

BE CRINGE, BE FREE.

who gives a shit.

enjoy yourself you goofy ass little comic artist. Blast your story everywhere, be proud, have fun. People enjoy having fun, they usually want to join in with the fun.

If you have fun, others have fun being with you.

DRAWING COMICS

dawg I wish I had any better tips than... Fuck it, poke at it however you want.

I usually have ten pages flimsily sketched out with speech-dialogues so I know what's gonna happen in the next pages, so I can pace the scene somewhat.

I say that, like I'm some kinda professional, but I jump between pages. Whichever page seems a little more fun. Sometimes I stare myself blind on a page and gotta draw on something else.

Some pages are super well sketched, others are just bald stickfigures making faces at other bald stickfigures.

BACKGROUNDS

Get references. Either look at photographs or take the yourself. Start getting into looking at buildings in real life. I, myself, spend quite a lot of time looking at different windows and brick buildings going "Dang, so that's a widow huh? Architects sure just make windows like BAM ENJOY THIS ONE huh?"

Basically, start appreciating the world around you. There's art everywhere. Someone has put thought - however big or small - into that sidewalk.

Is it a shitty sidewalk? Well, that's really grounding isn't it? Someone, at some point, looked at this space, sighed and thought "fuck man I just wanna go home. That's good enough." and that really grounds you visually into that this world is a place where people have been before you.

Sometimes I get lazy and at the same time in a mood to challenge my memory, and I'll start inventing what the heck a building or street looks like. And you can probably easily tell in a page when I, too, am going "fuck man I just wanna get this page done with, that's good enough."

AND THAT'S FINE!!!

Not everything have to be an awestriking master page! Damn, the pressure I'd be under if that's the only thing I had to produce asdfghj! if anything, great pages look better because some pages are shite.

It's okay.

It doesn't have to be perfect every time. Learn what didn't work, what worked. Post it. Move on. You can't sit on this forever or the story will never be told. Just post it, it's fine.

THERE IS NO PERFECT TIME TO POST YOUR STORY.

Post it in chunks or page by page. It doesn't really matter - new readers are going to read it all in one sitting anyway.

-------

I think that's all I can think of for now??

Hope that helped!

Oh also I have this side blog I've been neglecting a bit, but feel free to check that out: @comicartistcentral

#comics #comic #webcomic #comic tips #comic creating

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fonulyn · 2 months

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20 Questions for Fic Authors

thanks for the tag @thebrandywine 💖

answers under the cut.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

268 works.

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

1,256,253 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

RE. and still have the urge to write Gears but lol if you thought nivannedy was a rare pair...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

nobody's perfect (TOG, pretty gen)

now drunk on lust I drown in you (forever within I'm lost in you) (RE, Chreon)

and who's to find the way right through you (RE, Chreon)

scattered fragments of time (that's all we are) (RE, Chreon)

how to accidentally get adopted - a guide by Piers Nivans (RE, Piers-centric, also background Chreon)

5. Do you respond to comments?

always! i know i missed a couple, sometimes i take ages, but i do always try to respond bc i love and cherish nice comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

the bad endings on three words to last forever. i still like the angstiest one the most :'D

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

lmao like everything else idk i want them happy. i've written loads of fluff idk how to quantify which is the happiest.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

only ever got a few nasty comments thankfully, so no, not really.

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

yeppp. idk what does 'which kind' mean? anything that feels inspiring lol.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

not really. i did start a few back in the day but i didn't really finish them. i am not really into crossovers tbh i don't even read them 99% of the time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah. someone was selling it on amazon pffth.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

a few. apparently five on ao3 lol but i think there was one or two back in the lj days too. might be wrong tho :'D

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

lol loads. at one point in life like... fifteen years ago, most things i wrote were co-written with a friend. and i've done it a couple of times after that too. i really like co-op stuff tbh but haven't found people to collab with lately.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

right now i would sell my soul for nivannedy. might already have.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ehhhh at this moment i doubt i'll ever finish anything. maybe the lifeguard au? i was red-hot for the idea at first but then it kinda... fizzled out. kept changing. got ruined by pushy ppl lol. but maybe i'll get back to it one day bc i would love a nivannedy summer romance tbh.

16. What are your writing strengths?

uhm. characterization. dialogue. emotional shit? idk i think i do best when i have intimate moments with two people. tiny everyday moments and mundane shit. like that. if i get going writing sometimes flows super well and i think i can get consistently readable stuff done in one go. but that'd require getting going lol.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

action. i suck at action. i also suck at it in the way that i can't actually make myself start writing. i got way too co-dependent when i still had people excitedly participating in the process and now i sit here sad doing nothing :'D but anyway. writing action and having some self-discipline lol.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

depends very heavily on the context. in general i do think it should be all in one language for readability but there are exceptions. i've done it too lol but it was only like a line or two in finnish :'D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

diru, twenty years ago lmao, it's like a different lifetime. i only learned of the existence of fanfic at the ripe old age of nineteen lol but yeah it's still been so long now.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

asdjfngkn i can not choose between all of my children c'mon. uhm. am just gonna say the self-indulgent series bc it truly was so important to me for so long and i'm still devastated it ended. sigh. now i made myself sad again :'D

#meme thingy #me and my fics

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reynanghugot · 10 months

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I closed out July and started August with a roller coaster of emotions. As you all know, I've been struggling with my current health situation, but I did not let it ruin my day.

I ended my third-year second semester [July 29] with a bang by passing our final research defense with flying colors. [If you're following me on Instagram, you were able to see the snap of that in my story.]

I was admitted the following Sunday [July 30] for my RAI therapy the next day, Monday [July 31].

The first night of my therapy was fine. Apparently, I woke up on Tuesday. [August 1] with a swollen neck, no voice, a dry throat, and total pain. I spent the first half of my day in a hospital bed and just had my lunch late because I felt nauseous, but despite that, I was able to manage to schedule some Instagram posts and launch my first one. [big thanks to @/kindclouds for all the help.]

I had the same feeling when I woke up on Wednesday, and I'm a bit irritated already because I am having a hard time pulling myself out of bed and taking a bath [as it's a requirement to take a bath at least twice a day to wash off the radiation] but at the same time praying that my radiation will go down to at least 3 or 2.5 in order for me to get the full body scan the same day. After I took a bath, the nuclear medicine technician called me for the radiation exam, and viola! I'm at 3, and I got my body scanned that day, which took around 40 minutes to an hour. I had a good nap too while she was doing the scan, lol! I didn't do anything the whole day after that, as I still felt nauseous. I had my devotional prayer before I went to bed and had a good cry, asking for more help, peace of mind, and to be discharged the next day.

Thursday, I woke up with the same side effect but was hoping that there would be another good news to follow once my doctor visited me early that morning, and an answered prayer indeed, I was informed that I'm truly ready to be discharged that day too. So I messaged my mom and asked her to go to the nurse station asap and process my billing and everything, as I can't go outside of my room yet.

I'm so nervous to death about my bill because I am expecting to cash out for my room and board, but the universe really loves me because I didn't pay anything for the whole procedure because of my HMO, PWD, and PH. I didn't expect that at all as my coverage is not that big and I don't have a 100+k to cash out at all. It was such a relief. [and the funny part was that mom cried first before she went back to the nurse station to forward the discharge stab or something from the billing department.]

That's my latest chika for now. I hope everything goes well in the next few days. I might not be allowed to go out until Monday, especially if it's crowded, but I'm glad I am home, and I hope that the scan will be all cleared and there will be no other hospital staycations in the next few months. Praying for my fast recovery in order for me to go back on track. There is still a lot on my plate for both academics and a new industry that I would like to enter. Happy Friday, Tumblr!

#LifeLately

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radioroxx · 9 months

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ok bear with me for a sec trying to think how to phrase this

in order to destroy all three glamrocks and get all the upgrades, youre required to stay past 6am for freddy to give you the extra pass. before ruin came out we all assumed this was the canon ending where you would go down to see burntrap. you’re required to have all three upgrades to get down there so it made sense

BUT. we now know princess quest is the actual ending. in princess quest route, you’re only required to destroy two animatronics. roxy (always required) and chica (her route starts in fazerblast -> find vanny hideout -> pq3). you can get the three star ending without ever doing the monty boss fight.

(and even if the player DOES choose monty first, you can still go back to fazerblast post-6am and go straight to vannys hideout ending instead of doing the trash compactor)

anyway anyway. the point is that it is entirely possible in the 3 star ending for one of the glams to have survived. we didnt need all the parts. but we see them in ruin, and ALL of their special upgrades are missing. WHICH MEANS,

gregory found and played the first two games. destroyed two animatronics. SURVIVED til 6am. THEN he went back, saved vanessa, and killed the last band member forrr…the fun of it?? to rub it in?

honestly props to him lol

#fnaf #fnaf gregory #im joking ofc but like still #what was the thought process bud 😭😭 you can just leave!!!!#it is a bit funny to think that he wouldve had to have got the third upgrade before pq3 #only to immediately lose it when he took freddys head #all that work for what….#i love gregory what a legend #if im wrong about anything in this post uhh no im not /j #its been a little while since i played #radio rambles

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sinni-ok-sessi · 3 months

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Fic writer interview

Tagged by @bitterflames, thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? 21, a number that surprises me every time by being both more and fewer than I think it should be

What’s your total AO3 word count? 186, 378 (again, feels like this is both way too many words and also not as many as it ought to be)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Moonlight as My Guide (The Untamed) The Naming of Small Things (The Untamed) Continuing Professional Development (The Magnus Archives) Noli me tangere (The Magnus Archives) Spin Me Right Round (The Untamed)

Nothing suprising here, given the ridiculous size of those two fandoms, but I am always charmed by the love CPD gets, given it's mostly me making jokes about a librarianship conference I went to once

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Aaaagh, I wish I did? I'm bad at thinking of things to say! I think I do better at responding in small fandoms where I know/know of most of the commenters and 'thank you for being on this small liferaft with me' feels like an appropriate sentiment

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? I don't really do angst-angst, but The Winding Roads They Led Me Here is probably the most obviously not-a-happy-ending thing I've written?

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? I am surveying my corpus and learning that wow, I write a not inconsiderable number of things about learning to live when you don't really want to? Shan't be analysing that too closely, tyvm, but I do remain pleased with the way And Green the Ground Below and Breathe In For Luck came out. For sheer straightforward glee at the ending, it's gotta be never knew a part of you / you didn't set in ink

Do you write crossovers? No, I imagine crossovers at great length and then make no moves towards writing anything down (see: the sprawling Nirvana in Fire/Vorkosigan series Entity that gets passed around between me and several friends, which consists entirely of one of us going 'hey have you thought about if X met Y?' and then yelling about that for several hours straight)

Have you ever received hate on a fic? lol, only from the one person who told me 'toxic xiyao' was ruining MaMG, which is very funny to me because that's kind of the point in that fic

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yeahhhh but I find it very difficult. A long, hard process, in fact. As for 'what kind', uh, mutually obsessive D/s dynamics pretty much covers it, I think

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yeah! Someone on Wattpad was translating MaMG into Spanish, though idk how far they got

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No because I am very secretive about showing people my writing until it's 'presentable' and I think that would kill me

What’s your all-time favorite ship? [Douglas Richardson voice] Sir is fickle and changeable [/Douglas Richardson voice], but I think the ship I have spent longest actively contemplating is proooobably MCS/Jingyan?

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? All of themmmmmmm. (No, I would really like to do more with the Langya Hall prequel fic, but I think it's currently beyond my confidence as a writer so...)

What are your writing strengths? Fraught conversations and minute observations of body language, my beloved

What are your writing weaknesses? Plot? I don't know her. Pacing? A distant acquaintance at best

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I doubt I ever would, because I'm not confident in the spoken forms of any language I quote-unquote 'know', and I also find the 'multilingual character uses non-English endearments for their beloved' trope to be...a little painful, but I'm not averse to the idea on principle, though I suspect it requires more skill than people generally think to pull it off well

What was the first fandom you wrote for? hhhhh fucking. Sherlock Holmes (ACD stories), I think. Maybe the Psmith books by PG Wodehouse? I think it's for the best that the fic I wrote as a teen is marooned somewhere on LJ

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? I'm not going to do it, because it involves way too much compartmentalising not to set off my RPF squick, but god those sad boat men from The Terror are compelling and would bring me nicely back into my wheelhouse of repressed Victorians and also the Navy (I think I never actually finished writing anything for the Hornblower fandom back in the day, but my god it was not for lack of trying)

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? usually my most recent fic tbh (in this case, Make A Mercy Out of Me, which is, uh, unrepentant Disguiser smut and therefore of interest to like. three people worldwide, but that's fine)

tagging: @tallangrycockatiel, @goingsparebutwithprecision and anyone else who's interested and hasn't already been tagged

#tag games #writing about writing

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