#ANYWAY that's where ive been for the last week

[ghostofreach]

IM NOT DEAD🔥🔥🔥

I’m not sick and dying anymore so I’m getting back on the grind🙏🙏🙏 have an old ref sheet of my diluc redesign (with some minor changes) that I just finished (finally lmfaoooo)

This is actually bad news for me because now I don’t have an excuse to draw him inconsistently 💔💔

Ignore the misspelling. NEOW……

Anyway I’m gonna talk about his design because i can 💯

Major points/changes

- he is no longer a twig. Very self explanatory this guy has a big awesome claymore I cannot convince myself that he doesn’t have the means to swing that thing around (one handed no less)

- I darkened his color palette, but I also made it a bit warmer in nature. The pure white right in the middle is a bit distracting and I don’t think it does much to communicate his personality. It just breaks up his design in a way I don’t like.

- scars, yes, but also stitches on his face. I imagine it’s new bruises, stitches, or scabs every week. I know it makes his face just a taaad busy, but idk. Ive been drawing that headcannon for forever atp so I try to accommodate that busyness with lots of flat color by the face to balance everything out

- Just a hint of embroidery here and there. It implies culture and adds just a bit of softness to the design (most of it is on the shawl underneath the fur)

Specific details I want to talk about!

The white fur shawl/scarf/neck warmer/make up a word idk💔

- this serves multiple purposes both thematically and visually

- it creates a ‘barrier’ around his face, not unlike the protective walls that border Mondstadt. It serves to imply his personality without dialogue, a bit closed off and skeptical at first. Almost as if he is trying to shield his peripherals from oncoming foes.

But it is still a soft barrier, and can be easily peeled away to reveal a very kind person at heart.

- it emphasizes the square shape. Not much to say there. Makes his shape language a bit more interesting as well by introducing a softer shape near the top.

- looks a bit like snow, no? Almost like snezhnaya still weighs heavy on his shoulders.

- underneath the fur is a faded red shawl from his mother. The only parts visible from the outside are those golden tassels. I like this bit a lot because it implies that (in reference to the point above) he doesn’t really know a whole lot about his mother or father- it’s buried under mounds of snow. The only thing he has truly been left is their wealth. He’s gonna have to dig if he wants to know their true nature.

-it contrasts very well with the Fatui. Where the harbingers have their signature white coats with black fur, Diluc wears a black coat with white fur

The coat

- it’s wind resistant for sure but also a bit… warm. It’s very thick and long and you can’t actually see a lot of what’s underneath. He’s only showing the viewer a sliver of what’s underneath. Under the rest of the coat? It could be anything. Knives, his vision, maybe even a gun? (Correct assumptions)

-it leaves the average onlooker with a lot of questions but is also very convenient in a fight. Can’t block a surprise knife to the liver if you never even knew he had one on his person.

Miscellaneous

- layers are super prevalent in his design. Especially on his face. From the makeup to the contact, he’s trying really, really hard to convince everyone he is fine (WRONG‼️) the people closest to can tell something is off, but… who are they to say anything?

- the nail polish was initially added because I thought it was funny but I also think it could be effective as a last resort in a fight. Imagine you’re in a fight with a guy and he ignites his fingernails. Scary af.

…I realize that’s probably not possible but it’s really cool so I’m just gonna suspend my belief.

Here’s some hair stuff. I wanna write about mondstadt hair lore in my au/rewrite bc it rots my brain but I have so many wips I gotta do those first

[redquackredemption]

Hello cat! I have a request!! This is silly omg.. but could you write something with Hosea Matthews comforting reader? (So im thinking a kinda angsty but then comfort and fluff?? Reader is male teen, and Hosea is like "oh no poor kid, father figure mode on" (I hope this aint cringe, but ive been having a rough week and Hosea is nr 1 comfort caracter)

My main idea for how the story goes is pretty much, at campfire, Hosea realized kid is gone, oh no, looks for kid, finds them hidden somewhere very upset, talks, " its going to be okay"

(its 1899 what is a panic attack?? also overstimulation never heard of that)

something like that!! but you have the reins on this one!

[Anyways thank you, hope you have a great day!!] ‼️‼️

A/N: This one was really awesome to write actually TT it was super sweet and i hope u enjoy it <3

Hosea Comforts You (m!reader)

•◌•◌•★•◌•◌•

Spare thyme, a sprinkle of salt—Hosea lays down the fillet of bluegill, a satisfying sizzle and smell of fish wafting from where it cooks. He promised you a good dinner for your birthday, and he's gonna give it to you.

He flips the fish, squeezes some lemon. More sizzling, and a side of canned green beans, sweetened with sugar, are laid down on a clean dish. There's a fine dinner for a fine lad. Now's to find him—

Hosea stands, calling your name. By your tent, crickets. Certainly not by the campfires. You're not even at your usual spot under one of the shady trees overlooking camp. It's too late to have gone out of camp, especially for that kid. "Abigail," he calls, strolling over with the fish in hand. "You seen the boy?"

She glances up from her sewing, clear-sky gaze zeroing in on him and the plate in his hands. "That for him? Sure, he was out by the horses last I saw."

"Thank you, Miss Roberts."

That's that. If you're by the horses, chances are you're grooming Lucky. Maybe feeding him another one of those apples you can't help but sneak into your pockets every time you tag along to Valentine. That's how they found you, after all. Huddled under the gallows, clutching a bag close while the shopkeeper in Blackwater searched high and low for a street rat and his prize of a measly two apples. Dutch ended up paying for those while Hosea talked you down and searched for Lucky with you.

Those were good days. Still are good days, despite it all. Hosea calls your name again once he reaches the outskirts of the camp. Nothing—save for the babbling of a creek nearby, and a gasping whimper. "Hh....ah....ghh—"

Hosea pauses. He knows what a nervous fit sounds like from miles away. And there you are, huddled behind a tree, palms digging into your eyes as you exchange quick breaths with the frigid night air. "Hey, kid," Hosea calls. "You—"

You shake your head. At what, you don't know. At everything, perhaps. Trying to patch yourself together by clutching at your own hair, one hand reaching for your chest—God, why can't you breathe?

"Breathe, son," Hosea murmurs beside you, as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do. "Look, do it with me. Son?"

He demonstrates. In, out, and in, and then out again—and as much as you try to force your body to obey, it panics like a feral animal, scrambling and scratching for the air it doesn't realize it already has.

And then it fades. You're alive again, only just.

"Hos—Hosea," You whimper, tears hitching your voice. God, a goddamn kid again, helpless and sniveling, so easy to burn like the trash you are. Those words, those fateful words press against your lips, the ultimate treason. "I'm—I'm s-scared."

Hosea, maybe he remembers what that's like. "That's it," he croons. "You're doing just fine, son. Gotta let it pass." The flat of his palm presses to your back, and you shudder, the tears sinking into the roots beneath your feet. 'Round Hosea, you reckon anything could be made alright.

"Good lad," He murmurs once your face has dried, your breathing evened. "Ain't nothing gonna hurt you. None of us are fixin' to kick you out, now, we picked you up and brought you 'long for a reason. You're a good kid. We're gonna make it out of here, go west...West of this mess. We'll be alright."

You cling to him like a babe to his mother, no shame befalling you. Nor should there be. Hosea's hand pats the back of your head, a warm embrace to remind you that you will forever fall back into someone's welcome arms. Then, the smell of food pervades your senses. "Good. Now, how ‘bout we get you somethin’ warm in that belly of yours?" Hosea nudges the plate toward you. "Made you a fine dinner. Can’t let it go cold, now. Happy birthday, son." The fish is crisp, the green beans lightly sweet, and a perfect contrast to the salt of fish. It's a good birthday meal, in addition to that bound journal Arthur got you, and the crown of flowers Jack made you. This will pass, as everything does, you realize. Things will be okay.

•◌•◌•★•◌•◌•

Request Archive

[katabay]

crasso has +100% immunity to any and all rumors, but he draws the line at anything that might cause people to think that ciceron is the father of either of his kids. anyone else would be fine, but he draws the line at ciceron on account of Disliking Ciceron So So SO Much

so!! I finished the first draft of bad governance! which means now I get to edit everyone's dialogue and sometimes during the course of editing, you come across a scene that accidentally sounds like a B plot to a teleserye (you know how they can get). like, I know i have to cut it from the final draft, but it can live on as a comic for my own amusement

the historical dynamic this is based on is extremely funny to me btw

Plutarch, Crassus

Publius Crassus - ‘optimus adulescens’ and his unfortunate career, Ireneusz Łuć

unintentionally this gets into some historical parentage drama, cicero made about publius' (peter, in this story) father being someone other than crassus

Plutarch, Cicero

(the running bit for bad governance is that no one is entirely sure what's going on with crasso's household. crasso calls marcus and peter his sons, but marcus rotates between calling crasso 'dad,' 'kuya,' 'tiyo,' and 'nanay.' no one in that house clarifies anything to anyone else.)

[cccotard]

silly little sara

[alexandriaellisart]

Our power is back on!!!!!😭💖💖🌟🌟

[spittinwatches]

Many of you will not understand it. Many of you will probably turn your nose up in disgust at it. But Bedlam fans I propose to you my favorite crackship ever: Ching (Charles/Sing) (thats their ship name because it sounds like cha ching like in $$$ get it. because Sing came into his wealth through the EIC and Charles was born rich)

[thedrotter]

not-yet-dead-person

silly comic of a conversation in-game i thought was too funny not to make something proper for instead of a doodle ww

(timelapse + wip images (thus silly process commentary in read more if you like artist commentary :3)

i think the sketch looks silly and goofy and funny so i find it important to share with you the mere presence of the faces i drew on it. i drew it on top of the boxes without staying inside its borders because i find my proportions can get wonky if i draw them cropped in a restricted space. and I feel trapped otherwise and i will draw BAD!!! give me spaceeeee to go wild!!!!

the head circles are there for emotional support

very low res speedpaint because truth is the canvas was much bigger than the space where my comic was placed. i didnt account when exporting my timelapse in 720px that that tiny space would look so pixelated ... but it's able to be percieved, so its okay.

(i will now comment on my process and it is not brief sorry)

usually i would try to clean up my sketches and figure out what goes on top before jumping into linework, but since there are multiple panels and drawings i chose to jump into inking right away for the sake of brevity. i just went in with a brush that uses pen pressure and drew what was needed. i added extra line thickness and contrast in areas around the face because it helps direct your eyes there more easily that way.

according to her equipment rei has a chain belt but i only remembered it existed once I was going to color, and i did not like that discovery... I chose to ignore it to maintain my peace. i already have the color palettes for these characters figured out, and i didnt really want to think about a new element at the moment www I tend to overthink those things a lot so i skipped it

the rest is rather straightforward! not that anything else wasn't, but in here i could turn my brain off and sing. linework and sketching require mumbling so i cannot turn my brain off. just block in the characters with a solid color so i can have a mask (something along those lines,) where the color can stay inside. then just color in !!!

Base colors just had slight cell shading on the skin, and for the hair i airbrush a bit of the skincolor in low opacity near the forehead... I'm not sure what it means, but i can look at the faces easier with it somehow. i like the gentle subtlety it adds even if you cant really tell. it makes things look nice.

background was just me blocking in the color of the wall and floor, shade the wall a bit, then slap a noise and free use wood texture on top. work smarter not harder ! yet it took a bit to make it look stylistically fitting with the characters, and even now i think bottom middle panel looks odd. whatever!!!

for the middle panel i thought itd be funny if the background was a solid silly and colorful one to contrast the next panel's sketchy black one. a contrast to how the word widow is seen. on that note my handwritting is not pointy. i gaslighted my hand into thinking that it was indeed pointy in that moment so i could write "not-yet dead person" in letters that didn't seem cute. my hand did not fall for it but it complied anyway

that's basically it! I'm not sure what else i could say that doesn't feel barebones because it really is that straightforward. if you're curious I used clip studio paint for this. only special brush used was for linework (a brush named Lemon Brush), the rest used were just the default. my computer gets the least credit. it was trying to convince me a 20mb file was going to nuke it all the time and hardly let me save multiple times so i do not appreciate it

[helv-ete]

Netherlands Rarepair Week day 1- Lies

[seaweedstarshine]

Hi! Long time no yap but I've been really bothered by this thing and I know you're just the person I can go to with this (even if we don't always end up agreeing at times).

I got into a tiff with someone in a comments section of a post that was about Amy (Which character do you think deserved to become a villain? or something similar). They brought up Amy's abuse of her boyfriend. I may have tried to defend Amy (key word is tried. I am officially rubbish at debating) but then I may have said something? Because they said that I (and apparently a lot of other fans) was excusing Amy's abuse because of her trauma. It got me stumped because isn't young Amy's treatment of Rory rooted in her trauma? Did I miss the memo where we separate trauma and abuse? Am I missing something?

That statement bothered me a lot because if there's one thing I never want to do it's defend an abuser. So here I am, humbly asking and hoping to clear the muddy waters.

Your really confused and disturbed moot, Tia 💌

TIA!!!!! Thanks for the ask 💌 , and I send you all the hugs.

Discussion of abuse, trauma, ableism, infidelity, and unhealthy relationship dynamics beneath the cut.

(First off… while I really appreciate your faith in my explaining skills <3 <3 <3 my passion for traumatized characters and mentally ill+neurodivergent rights doesn't make me especially qualified to fully clear muddy waters especially not knowing the full context, but I feel you, and what follows is my informed perspective!)

Speaking generally first, harm done in media is best examined by the impact on the audience, with a different lens than harm done to real people. While relatable experiences in media can be useful and validating and incredibly important, you can’t be “defending an abuser” when the abuse is fictional. It's actually normal for traumatized/ND/mentally ill people to project onto mentally ill villains, when villains are the only significant representation for those stigmatized symptoms in a media landscape that excludes and demonizes us simply for existing. RTD can't stop people who hallucinate from reclaiming the Master's Drums and projecting onto the Master, for example — 90% of the best Doctor Who psychosis fic by psychotic authors is about the Master, whether RTD likes it or not. It's not true crime.

(This is speaking generally. Amy Pond is very much not the Master.)

Abuse is a behavior, and there can be many reasons for it, but reasons based in trauma don’t make it not abuse (some forms of generational trauma can propagate abusive parenting styles, when the parent thinks abusive parenting is normal, or lives entirely vicariously through their child). This absolutely should not be taken to mean trauma correlates with abusive behavior; rather that abusive behaviors from traumatized people are more likely to present in specific ways.

Abuse is also a targeted behavior, based in control — not consistently displayed C-PTSD symptoms as seen in Season 5 Amy Pond through many aspects of her life. Mental health symptoms don't become abuse just because they hinder one partner from meeting the other partner's needs. Any life event can do that.

Without knowing the context of the arguments, this is the aspect of their relationship I've seen you talk about before (which I also feel strongly about), and what I assume is what you were debating? So, here I will talk specifically in regard to Season 5.

We all know Amy — she's never attached to Leadworth because she never wanted to leave Scotland, no steady therapist because none of them stick up for her, can't stick with one job yet her first choice is a job that simulates intimacy because her avoidant behavior (a known trauma response) isn't sustainable to her wellbeing. Rory knows her fears of commitment stem from her repeated abandonments, it’s why he’ll always wait for her, and it's why he blames the Doctor “You make it so they don't want to let you down.”, who apart from having caused a lot of her trauma, has actively taken advantage of her being the “Scottish girl in the English village” who's “still got that accent,” because he wants to feel important, so yeah, I think interpreting Amy's issues (and how Amy and Rory transverse them) as Amy abusing Rory indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of their relationship, as well as a misunderstanding of the (raggedy) Doctor’s role in Amy’s formative self-image (which of course she works through in Season 6, but I am sticking to Season 5).

Abuse is always based in control. That just doesn’t fit here. While Amy's detachment from her real life includes things like calling Rory her “kind of boyfriend” (which she is upfront about to his face; differing commitment levels isn't abuse, though it can be a relationship red flag for both parties IRL) — her Season 5 disregard of Rory’s feelings occurs only in response to the fairytale embodiment of her trauma. It's never a response to Rory; it's a response to the Doctor, who stole her childhood and led her by the hand to her death. She cheats on Rory with the Doctor in her bedroom full of Doctor toys, drawings, models, she made from childhood to early adulthood.

(And yes, like many repeatedly-traumatized people, Amy is prone to being sensitive and reactive. Take her “Well, shut up then!” line in The Big Bang; but given Rory responds to this by hugging her, clearly he doesn’t take it as her actually dismissing him. He knows her better than that.)

And by no means do I meant to imply this is fair to young Rory, poor Rory, who's left struggling with the feeling that his role in her life is in competition with the role of her trauma (aka the Doctor). But not every unhealthy relationship dynamic is unhealthy because of abuse. Labelling Amy's treatment of Rory in Season 5 more accurately isn't the same as excusing her harmful choices — but making mistakes is part of being human, Amy's mistakes are certainly understandable, and she works through them out of love for Rory.

If there's one thing to say about Moffat women, it's that Moffat allows his female characters the same grace that the male characters *coughTENcough* have always had, to hurt and struggle and make realistic mistakes and overcome those mistakes and to heal without being demonized.

Amy isn't perfect, but she is a fully realized character, and her story gives us a resonant depiction of childhood trauma.

[faaun]

procrastination is starting to have its consequences finally

[lokh]

at this point i have to assume the ongoing chest pain is from living in this fucking house

[aggressiveguitarnoises]

why am i so interested in south american cultures and history. and why do i keep stopping myself from learning about them

[abirddogmoment]

perpetually pingponging between having competitive dog ambitions and wanting nothing to do with the dog community ever again 🏓

[blue-jacket-blues]

[OF HUMBLE ORIGINS AND BORN OF THE CURSED SEX]

[MY NAME IS HUX-A7-13 BUT THE PEOPLE WILL CALL ME REX]

[apathyfairy]

every time it's the end of the year i feel like i'm going insane like the entire year just culminates into me just mcfreaking losing it on new years eve

[sunsrefuge]

im alive btw !! things are settling but my laptop screen is now. being fucky when its plugged in. and it dies within an hour if not plugged in. so 😔. ive been in the void.