#At least this drawing turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself

[ninjagirlstar5]

i think you forgot the tech wizard's birthday (mikado)

TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, ANON, THIS IS LESS, "Oh shit, I forgot one of my favorite character's birthday-!" AND MORE, "I've been swamped with work, school, and been more focus on a silly little stick figure show over SDRA2 and now I'm pass the deadline welp-"

Anyways, here's his birthday art that I tried to plan in advance but never finished it in time until today cause I didn't spend my time wisely.

Happy birthday to my worst boy(s)! I totally wasn't, like, four weeks late for this, hahaha!!;;;

(Featuring me still figuring out my IRLkado Lives AU coat design for him. Still not sure if I like it or not-)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for not making any of my characters, that I have to crank out daily, pansexual/polysexual/omnisexual specifically and only making them bi?

🏳️‍🌈👶🏼 so i can recognize this later lmao also I'm not panphobic or anything, this isn't about the validity of the label, pan is fine.

So i (20snb bi) have a project I'm working on where I take all the characters from a specifc media I'm into and pair them up with each other to make every possible ship kid from every possible ship(excluding characters who are kids themselves or are related or something, that shit is gross). Basically taking every character and pairing them up with another and creating a kid I think they'd have. Its a big project with lots of characters and I'm easily over 400 at this point. I really enjoy this, even if I'm not even 25% complete.

However I set a schedule for myself that at least one ship kid needs to come out each day which, considering I draw them, color them and give them some development and some even have siblings, (The refs themselves easily take me an hour to an hour and a half) I have to make lots of them quickly to keep up with my daily grind. I've been doing this project for over a year and although it's stressful, I can get them out quickly with breaks for myself.

Their character sheets all have some pretty basic info like their name, gender, pronouns, personality and more but it also includes their sexuality/orientation. I have a pretty basic list of options for what their sexuality will be: straight, lesbian, gay, Enbian, bi, Aro, ace and aroace with a few random things like polyam, WLW and a good amount of the something-loving-something/juvelic terms. I did this because, well, there's not many entirely unique orientations outside of them and although I love mogai/xenogenders and complex identities, I dont want to potentially drag up discourse or bring problems to my budding art blog over it. Its just not worth it to me to turn something I really care about on its head, even if I like microlabels.

In this case, I'm using bi as an umbrella term as most of the other terms share the same definition with slight variations in wording or action but not much difference in practice. We all like everyone, it's basic stuff. However, apparently this is a problem.

I've gotten one or two anons asking me questions about my guides asking some kind stuff like is this lesbian ship kid a butch or femme or Is this picture of them now or just at the age you put on the ref and other harmless stuff. Then things got rude with some Nbphobia but thrice now I've gotten asks:

1. Asking snarkily if im a panphobe

2. insulting me for not specifically writing pan or Omni and just writing bi.

3. Saying that I "clearly dont care about pansexual representation." Then brought up how my primary oc is native american so i clearly care about representation but that oc used to be a sona and I'm native?? Its confusing. (And Lowkey racist shit to just assume any native character is a "diversity quota" character instead of just a person existing but I digress-)

Im not pan, im bi so ig these people assume I'm not cool with pan people which isnt true? I have nothing aginest them, they are just pretty similar and I dont feel like it matters if they are specfically bi or pan or poly or any other label. I don't go into details like that for any other sub-group, not even pronouns and I included combinations and some common Neopronouns. I understand the importance of representation but my project has less than 50 people looking at it every day, Im not netflix or something. I'm one guy on the most LGBT blogging site with a big project and very little audience, I'm not showing people who wouldn't already know what pan is that pansexuality exists.

This project isn't that deep considering the characters in question aren't human/dont have human characteristics.(no it's not hazbin/helluva) Also ive never spoken about lgbt discourse or stated anything remotely close to it beyond the guides just passively having characters who are an LGBT identity. I've not even mentioned all the potentional orientations they could have so I'm not sure where/why this came up in the first place. The most politcial things ive said are calling out a creator in my fandom who outed themselves as a transphobe and mentioning im pro-palestine. That's it.

I mean this is pretty low stakes, I can just block these people and be done with it and this some seriously online shit but I just wanna check.

Am I being an asshole for just writing bi instead of specifying their mspec label because I have to produce characters quickly and I don't see enough of a difference to warrant a change/specification that would ultimately slow and clog an already stressful and complex project?

I dont think I am but idk lol

What are these acronyms?

[michellemisfit]

✨Weekly Tag Wednesday ✨

Thanks for creating the game and for the tag @jrooc thanks for the tag @vintagelacerosette

Today we’re talking fandom. Come play!

Name and A03 handle: Michelle, michellemisfit

Current Location: Living room, surrounded by feathers, as I’m currently fletching some arrows

Favourite picrew: This one is pretty fucking spot on. Or at least it was at the time. Hair is very different now. But then, hair is always different… lol

Also this one is spiritually VERY me

What's one thing you want in a picrew? Ability to add coloured streaks! And a wide selection of scars, or alternatively the ability to move them around the screen. Either is fine. But mostly the hair thing. My hair is generally 4 different colours. Don’t try and limit me to one!!

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom? Erm… 3 way tie between Mexico Gallacrafts, Fimo Gallavich, and Cookie Gallavich? Maybe? Argh. Turns out, looking back at my art tag… I’ve created some pretty cool stuff. Huh. Yay me.

Why is it your favourite? I don’t really do photography, and I’m really proud of the idea behind and the execution of that photo. And while I LOVE drawing more than anything, I don’t think I’m exceptional or anything. But I’m damn creative when it comes to silly 3D craft projects, so both Fimo Gallavich and Cookie Gallavich make me happy and feel like something not just anyone could do… I dunno.

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? It was LONG to create. Both cookie and Fimo Gallavich took several days in total. And I think that’s the other thing I like about myself. I am willing to put in the work, and it usually pays off.

Last ao3 fic you commented on? Hah! You’ll be able to corroborate this, I’m not just sucking up!! LOL I’m currently reading Camp is a Battlefield by @blue-disco-lights, @jrooc, and @mybrainismelted, with artwork by @creepkinginc, so that’s the last one I commented on :)

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? I mean… every single WIP I have ever started reading, only to realise that maybe there won’t be any more of it… 😱 Every. Single. One. They’re all special, and they all hurt in their own special ways. And I will remain subscribed to all of them FOREVER, because you never know!!

Also? Comment on WIPs. Tell authors how much joy the story brought you, how much space it’s occupying in your brain, how much you would love to see it continue but how happy you are to have read as much of the story as there is because it’s changed your brain chemistry… do NOT comment saying ‘next chapter when?’, cause that makes you a dick bag.

Favourite trope or head cannon you like included in a fanfic? I’m a sucker for fake dating, only one bed, and a soulmate AU 🤷🏽‍♂️

Least favourite? …not a huge fan of kid fic, but hey, all it takes is a great author to make it work.

Secret or surprising kink or trope? Again, do not kink shame, because you’re only ever one good fanfic away from discovering something about yourself you did NOT see coming…

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new? Exhausted and antsy. Is it good enough? Are people gonna like it? Should I even bother anyone with this? Why don’t I just go and hide under a rock forever?? I felt okay about this when I finished it, why is it suddenly the worst thing to have ever been created??? …I wish there was a sense of calm and accomplishment. There is not. Brains suck!

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line: @deedala - I so appreciate how we’re on a similar wave length when it comes to art as well as ‘everybody wants to hunt me for sport’ vibes. I know I can always count on you for kind but honest words, and that’s so important!!

It's been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____? Read comfort fic. Probably Like Real People Do or None the Wiser.

Edit: Also? Go and read comments and tags on old art posts. That’s a sure fire way to cheer me up!

This was fun, and made the 15 minute wait between fletching each feather pass much faster. Thanks!!

If you are currently making your own arrows and need something to occupy your wait time with… how about completing a tag game? lol

@heymrspatel @loftec @creepkinginc @deedala @too-schoolforcool @darlingian @iandarling @iansw0rld @ian-galagher @mybrainismelted @palepinkgoat @crossmydna @mikhailoisbaby @sickness-health-all-that-shit @rereadanon @rutherinahobbit @energievie @junemermaid @francesrose3 @deathclassic @faejilly @rutherinahobbit @gallawitchxx @look-i-love-u @jessij1997 @callivich @celestialmickey @wehangout @doshiart @lynne-monstr @the-rat-wins @blue-disco-lights @suzy-queued @sleepyfacetoughguy @spookygingerr @burninface @gallapiech

[astrodances]

"Now I've had the time of my life No, I never felt like this before Yes, I swear it's the truth And I owe it all to you"

This is a very, very special drawing for me. ✨

In September of last year, I watched Dancing With The Stars' "Step Into the Movies" special again, at the end of which they recreate "The Time of My Life" scene from Dirty Dancing. And that sent me on a nostalgia trip back to my high school theater days over a decade ago now, where the drama club accepted my idea to do a "Time of Our Lives" theme, and a performance for that song à la Glee. Mind you, I was mainly the stage manager/techie sort, but I did some scenes for the showcases, and participated in this song with my then-boyfriend, along with two other couples.

And while we were hanging out in the green room backstage, a friend took some pictures of us. Including the one that directly inspired this drawing of Webby + Lena.

This started out as a memory remix of that photo, after watching the DWTS special, because I thought these two lovebirds would be really cute subjects for it.

But once I got going, it turned into a love letter, for many things.

As part of the remix aspect of it, I now picture myself in Lena's spot in the photo, getting to have the short hair I wish I had had back then, and getting to wear a suit and tie! (Yes, in the original photo, I am wearing the dress and red bow Webby's sporting here, and I have long hair. 🙈 Though I will say here that the little heart necklace she's wearing is exactly like the one I had, too! :)) Drawing this was really cathartic for my nonbinary self. 💜

And as for Webby, in this remix, she represents someone that, in retrospect, I wish I had shared this moment with from back then. In many ways, she really was the Webby to my Lena. 💜💖💝

(Literally) beyond the subjects of this though, this is indeed very much a love letter to a lot of things, to passions. The background is pretty much a replica of the drama classroom wall we were in front of for the photo, at least as far as layout goes, with a few direct recreations of things that were on the wall and on the table there. Everything else was me being a passionate (theatre) nerd.

(Details (many details) of said nerdiness and alternate versions below the cut!)

I've included un-blurred and background-only versions (and a version with drop shadow lines on the girls, because why not? it's a cool effect!) below, but I just want to point out the details, because I'm so dang proud of this.

The posters/programs for The Phantom Blot of the Opera, Featherspray, Chickago, and My Fair Dewey are obvious duck-parody references to their real-world counterparts (with the latter being the exact poster they use in DuckTales, in Dewey's dream in "Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!" So thanks, Dewey! 😂). The Featherspray one was also included because Hairspray was one of the shows we did in high school! And lemme just say, creating theater posters is really fun!!

The MJ the Musical poster and the half-shown Notre Dame de Paris "Duckbill" right behind Lena's head are particularly special to me, since they (along with Phantom) are my favorite musicals, and getting to draw those two was especially fun!

The L'Orange Theater poster in the top-right is a bunch of duck easter eggs in one - the L'Orange Theater is mentioned and seen in the very first episode of DuckTales 1987, and of course, there's Aquarioon from DT17! Looks like it toured in Duckburg a long time ago. 😉

And the sheet music is the DuckTales theme! (Or at least the left side of it :P)

The "Congrats" card, calendar (the whale for upper half was my own touch), folder, page of random backstage stuff behind Lena's head (which includes little Star Trek and Darkwing Duck references), and golden "Theatre" card (with my old director's favorite quote) are directly from the photo (or at least based on what I could see through its blurriness 😝), as is the very edge of a cast photo in the upper-right. The purple note (totally not with any secret messages whaaaaat) below that, the certificate of excellence, and the little pride heart pins everywhere are little garnishes/dedications. 😊

The stage/theater diagram below the certificate is really cool, because that's a direct recreation (+ another hidden message) of a project a friend and I did for stagecraft back in our freshman year - I was even able to copy my own handwriting for the labels! 😄😂

The "Time of Our Lives" poster is a reference to the showcase I mentioned above that inspired all this, though the real-life poster looked very different, from what I remember.

The green bag below is sorta a nod to the secret pal exchanges we used to do during shows. 😉

And finally:

The Glittering Goldie show poster is me just having an absolute blast drawing her once again and coming up with something for her Blackjack days! And bonus - I'll be posting a gradient-only version of Goldie tomorrow! Really happy with how she turned out!

And the "All the World's a Stage" poster is me combining all of my theatre nerdiness with my passion for space and a good pun! 😁

ANYWAY...

I learned a lot with this drawing, about creating and about myself.

And I just had so, so much fun with it - it was all love, all passion, all happiness for this one. 💜💖💝

Wishing the same for all of you. ✨

Love, Astro 💜

[yuis-art]

🏋🏼‍♀️ Gym Trainer!Abby x Fem! Plus size Reader 🏋🏼‍♀️

Part 2!

< Hi everyone! Sorry it took me so long to make a part 2! <3 I got a little busy with work and stuff! But without further ado here u go!! Also I May draw something for this! Like I could draw scenes for u guys and imma post them with the fics! >

Word count: 1.5k!

Proof read: a little!

No use of y/n!

Part one: here!

Part three: here!

< btw sorry if my writing is a bit wonky! I never really written fanfics before!! >

🩷🩷🩷

You’re sitting in your car, contemplating; waiting on Nora to get here. You text her.

You: Nora? You here? I’m not walking in unless you’re here.

Nora: sorry i won’t be there today! Something came up, i got called into work, sorry dude. :/

Your face drops. ‘Oh my god oh my god, i have to take the class by myself, NONONO.’ You begin thinking and you end calming yourself down.

You: it’s ok :((!

Nora: I’m sorry girl, but you got this, i promise abby is nice. She’s cool. Trust 🤞🏾

You look at the door and sigh hevaily in the car. “Ok.” You get out and grab your gym bag and your phone. Your making your way to the doors and peek in only a little. It’s nice. The walls are a soft blue with a light pale yellow mix. It’s pretty small but you’re glad, at least it’s not huge gym. “Hi! How are you?” A girl at the front desk smiles at you. “H-hi.” You walk in and adjust your bag. “I-I’m looking for Abby.”

“Yeah, just sign in right here and then just head down that hall and turn to your left!” She smiles and walks away to help another member. You sign and make your way down the hall.

It’s an all white room, more like an office? There’s a tiny desk in the corner of her gym room. It’s a pretty big room tho, enough for a class of 6, but it’s only you here so far. Where’s Abby?

You look around the small room, and head towards her desk. She has pictures of her and what you assume is her dad.

You look around and grab it. “Aww.”

You sit it back down and as soon as you turn around Abby is standing there watching you again.

“You’re early.” She says and she walks towards you. “S-sorry I didn’t mean to snoop through your things!” She comes closer. “Chill it’s ok. I don’t mind.” She smiles softly and reaches over looming over you again to adjust her and her dads picture. You back up into the desk a little while she leans over you. She smells so good. Her hair smells like pine.

She leans back, but she’s still close to you. “I see you chose the blue.” She chuckles. ‘Even her laugh Is sexy.’ You think. “Y-yeah. I had too. I mean… if you thought I looked good in this one.” You smile and advert your eyes from her again. “I-I like the one you chose too!” You say speaking up a little. She’s wearing an orange gym wear. Which is really showing off her physic to a T. She smiles. “Thank you pretty.”

Your face turns hot. ‘There’s no way she is flirting with me right now.’ You think to yourself.

“If you want to we can do a warm up before everyone gets here.” She points to the mats on the floor, “let’s do stretches.” Abby smiles and walks across the room grabbing mats. “Ok!” You say eagerly.

You walk over to her and watch her closely. Her arms, the way she lays the mats. “Here sit.” She says as she gets on the yellow mat and then points to the black one next to hers. You walk over and cross your legs and sit and watch her. You’re honestly excited. I mean this girl hasn’t done anything and it’s already motivating you.

“So..” she says stretching her torso while she sits in place.

You repeat after her. “Soo..”

“How did you meet Nora?” Abby says as she watches you repeat her movements.

“We met in high-school! She told me you guys use to be dorm mates in college..?”

Abby smiles and nods her head. “Yeah. She talks about you a lot. But I never got a chance to ever see you.” “Same here.” You say agreeing with Abby. You both sit there in comfortable silence.

Occasionally looking at each other. Abby looks like she wants to ask you something but she’s so nervous. You see her blushing, cheeks getting redder.

“Can I ask you something.” Abby says breaking the silence, but that’s when her other students walk in. You look up at her. “Talk to me after class I wanna talk more.”

—————————————————————

Class ends and as your grabbing your bag. Abby taps your shoulder. “How did you like it?” Abby says. Your clearly out of breathe even if it was a beginner exercise. You stand up straight wiping your face with your towel. “I honestly liked it! You give me so much motivation Abby. You’re so cool. And the way you teach oh my gosh, it’s so relaxing.” You’re smiling at her and Abby blushes. Did you say something bad? “Oh.. I’m sorry! I just get a little excited about things-“ “N-no you’re completely fine! I appreciate it really. You’re so cute.” You smile widely, and hide your face in your hands. Your melting. This women is making you melt, and you barely know her. “Hey.. hey!” Abby is waving her hand in front of your face. She gently places her palm on your hand and moves it away from your face. She chuckles. “Are you thereee?” Her face is so close. You see the details on her. Her freckles, her ocean eyes. The way her nose scrunches when she smiles. “I-I’m sorry. I Just. Listen Abby. I know we kinda just met, but if you don’t mind me asking.. are you flirting with me?” Abby’s eyes widened and she backs away a little. “And if I was..?” She looks away shyly. “Oh my gosh..” you knew you weren’t delusional. “Abby-“ “Um.. listen I have to go, but I’ll see you next week right?” “R-right..” you say. You watch Abby grab her bags and her gym equipment. “Wait.” You say. Abby looks at you. “What were you gonna ask?”

“Oh uh.. if you wanted.” She struggles “We could have one on one sessions where it’s just us. We could talk more.”

Your eyes widened. “I would. I would like that!” You smile and Abby looks shocked. “Really? Ok! Um.. I’ll shoot you a text, but if I forget, don’t be shy and just text me ok!” Abby smiles and winks as she leaves the small room.

You get your phone out. Immediately texting Nora.

You: Nora!?!!!

Nora: yessss?

You: Girl. I think Abby likes me.

Nora: not to be a teller but

Nora types.

Nora: she’s been texting me about you, she was wondering if you’re single and I told her yes, and ever since then she hasn’t asked me anything about you since.

Your eyes widened.

You: WHATTT OMGOMGOMGOMG

Nora: yesss girl, she literally texted me the day u bought the workout clothes, she sent me a pic of you in line and was wondering if it was you or not, I think she’s been liking you since I showed her a pic of you when we were dorm-mates?

You: TELL HER DONT BE SHY TO MAKE A MOVE

Nora: why don’t you txt her?

You: cause I’m a pussy, TAHTS WHY!

Nora: dude.

You: FINE..

————————————————————

A couple of hours pass. You grab your phone, your fingers hovering over you and Abby’s chat. You haven’t texted her but it doesn’t hurt to say hi.

You: Hey!

You look at the text and tap your index finger on your phone.

“NOO… to excited.” You take off the exclamation.

You: hey

“Too formal damn.” You say pressing backspace.

You: Hey! <3

“Well… fuck it.” You send it. You turn off your phone and walk around your apartment. You’re tapping your feet.

A ting rings from your phone.

It’s Nora. She sent you a TikTok. Your head hangs back and you throw your phone. “Ugh. I need to distract myself.” You start cooking anytging you can find.

Seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours. You’re watching a movie and then you hear a ting.

Abby: Hey, what’s up? :)

Your face goes blank your hands start to sweat. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh. Uhhh… be chill.”

You: Nothing much! Just had a question about the one on one sessions. What days did u want me to show up!

Abby: how about, Monday thru Thursdays?

You: ok that’s fine! :)

Abby: Cool cool :)

You’re staring at your phone, you don’t know what to do or say.

She’s typing.

Abby: So what are you up to Rn?

You: nothing, why?

Abby: wanna grab something? My treat :)

Your face gets hot. Is she asking you out?

You: yes omg ofc, I would love to hang out with you more. :)

“Smooth, keep it smooth.” You say and you grab a pillow and squeeze it.

Abby: meet me here!

She sends you a location.

Abby: unless you want me to come get you. I don’t mind.

“Hmm.. ride in Abby’s car.. or take your own..” you think for a moment.

You: I don’t mind riding with you. :)

Abby’s typing but she’s taking a minute to respond.

Abby: Ok, send me ur place and I’ll be there In a hour.

You: Ok! :))

You think for a moment and then you stand up. You’re shaking “oh my gooooddd, I’m freaking out so bad, is this a date? Would this count as a date?” You look at the time. “I don’t know what it is but all I know is I have to get ready!” You rush to the restroom.

<Thank you for reading! Part 3 is coming out soon! I already wrote some, but maybe expect some smut? MAYBE IDK I MIGHT DO A LIL SUM>

🩷🩷🩷

[salty-croissants]

Hey! If your still taking requests, I was wondering if you can do Rayman/Ramon being a father to him and His S/os kids? I can see Rayman being his kids to work, like bring your kid to work day, that would be so cute

Thank you for the request !

I’ve been struggling to get back writing for quite a few days now , had a massive writer’s block phase … I’m really sorry I took so long to get this done ! Hopefully I’ll finish the next request a bit faster ;-; 

Anyway , I really enjoyed writing this one : I love the idea of Rayman being a sweetheart to his kids … it brings me joy :,) 

Hope it turned out okay ! 

And again , sorry about the inconvenience ;( 

Details : use of gender neutral reader ; 

established relationships ; 

no warnings needed 

Rayman 🧡

Two words : Best Dad . 

Rayman has always had a soft spot for children , so now that he has a family with you , the love of his life , he truly feels like the luckiest man alive .

He knows that he can’t be around all the time , but whenever he’s there he wants to be as present as possible and make everyone smile … that’s probably the most important thing for him .

Rayman is more than happy to bring his children along to work when he is allowed to , and the sheer enthusiasm he has when talking to them and answering their questions is surely something to behold …

< Ohh - what is that , Dad ? > 

< That is the television production studio , sweetie : it’s the place from where the things I say get filmed and then put on tv . 

It’s one of the most important rooms in this building , and the one where I spend more time into . > 

< That’s so cool !! 

Can we go in there now Dad ? Can we ? Can we ? Can we ? > 

< Hehe , alright , let’s go !

Just be careful and stay close to me , okay ? > 

< Okay ! > 

Rayman isn’t bothered in the slightest by the fact that his coworkers and staff members could see him and his kids , and if anyone has complaints about it ?

Well , he is ready to have an hours long argument with them if necessary , so most people don’t even try to talk about it … at least not out loud . 

When he comes back home , despite how tired he may be , Rayman is pretty much always down to see what his children have been up to while he was away : 

they crafted something or made a drawing ? He will see it .

They want to tell him all about something cool that happened today ? He will give them his full attention .

< Dad ! Dad look , it’s you ! We made it together ! > 

< Wow - that’s such a good drawing you made there ! I love it ! > 

Rayman makes sure to keep every little thing they gift him , and sometimes you can find him sitting somewhere , smiling while staring at something they made …

< Aw , is that a new one Ray ? > 

< Mhm …

Y’know y/n , sometimes I look at you and our family and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have all this .

I can’t thank you enough for staying with me … I love you , I love you so much ~ > 

< I love you too sweetie … I’m so lucky to have you as well ~ > 

Ramon 🖤

Saying that Ramon will do anything to keep you and your kids safe is an understatement …

He is ready to throw his life away to ensure that , and that often brings him to make many , many dangerous decisions .

< y/n ? Is … is Dad okay … ? > 

< Don’t worry hun , he just needs some rest and he’ll feel better soon …

Still Ram , that’s not an excuse for doing stuff like that . 

Please , please promise me you’ll never do it again … > 

< I … hnn … I’m sorry … I just - I forget myself sometimes …

I’ll try to be more careful , I promise . > 

Ramon’s softer side is especially visible when he is spending time with your children , playing with them …

< Aha ! We got you ! >

< Heh , you got me … >

< And now you’re trapped , forever !! >

< Noo - how could I be so easily defeated ?? >

You can’t help but smile whenever you see your partner like that , at this point only ever smiles when you’re all together : it’s the one thing that keeps him sane . 

Since he doesn’t want to make your kids worry about how bad things actually are , with Eden constantly on the hunt for him and his beloved family , Ramon most likely confides  to you at night , when his tormented thoughts prevent him from getting some much needed rest …

< y/n … ? > 

< Hey love … can’t sleep … ? > 

< … yeah … 

This is just such a huge mess … I really have no idea how we’re gonna make it through this with those assholes constantly looking for us .

You deserve better … our children deserve better … maybe the both of you should - > 

< No . I know what you’re about to say , and I’ll never leave you , no matter what happens .

I know that … things aren’t easy right now , and I honestly have no idea what’s gonna happen next … but I know we’re going to get through this , and we will be happy , all three of us … I promise . > 

Your loving words always manage to give Ramon some reassurance , and with a momentary sense of peace he eventually manages to fall asleep in your arms , grateful to have you and your kids by his side . 

He will do everything in his power to keep you safe , no matter what it takes . 

[chaoticbeanz]

Hellfire's Girl

Summary- A new girl moves to Hawkins and has already made an impression. 

Pairing- Eddie Munson x Fem!oc

Warnings- friends to lovers, slow burn, she/her pronouns, cursing, mainly nickname will be used, 

Notes- This is my first Eddie fic. Also, I will be straying from the storyline. Please don't forget to comment. I'd love to hear feedback.

Masterlist

Part 2 Part 3

~Lena~

Moving to Hawkins wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. Sure it sucks that I had to leave, but knowing I was only about 3 hours away from my friends made me feel better about it.

Starting my senior year in a new high school on the other hand… blows.

Well, it would have if I cared about fitting in. Back home no one judged. But here? Oh boy did they. I had to keep some of my hobbies on the down low, for now at least. Apparently, Dungeons and Dragons was considered “Devil worshipping”. So much for me trying to find people to teach me how to play. Or so I thought. Barely one week in Hawkins High is all it took for me to make a friend. Or a few.

~English class~

I was sitting in the back because I couldn't pay attention today. I was a passing student so I wasn't worried. 

As I tuned out the teacher, I started doodling on what should've been my notes. The only thing on my mind was smoking my last joint that was tucked away in my car. I was unconsciously drawing clouds around the leaf I had made on my paper.

“Hey, New girl.” I heard whispers next to me. Turning my head to see a boy wearing a shirt with the words “Hellfire Club”. Maybe it was a new band?

“Do you partake or just like drawing?”

This felt like a trick question. Was he trying to get me caught or being friendly? I've learned quickly not to trust anyone yet. The jocks and the cheerleaders are the royalty in the ranks. Any lower on the food chain and you're a target no matter what.

He felt my hesitation to the question so he continued, “I only ask because if you need “flower”- he points to my picture- I know a guy.”

That sounds even more suspicious! I lean in slightly whispering, “You do realize how that sounds like a total set up right? Why should I trust you?”

The boy puts his hands up in defense.“That's fair. But wouldn't me asking you just be me outing myself? Why would I rat both of us out?”

“Touche.”

“I’m Gareth by the way.”

“Lena. And hypothetically if I were to say I had “flower”. Would you partake?”

“Uh Duh.” We both laughed silently.

“You seem pretty cool Gareth.” I could tell that took him by surprise but he tried to cover it up. 

“Uh, thanks. So do you.” he paused for a second “Would you wanna come sit with me and my friends during lunch? I can't guarantee that you'll think they'll be as cool as me but…” I giggled.

“I’d love to. And trust me if they're like you I'll like them way better than the “royalty”.”

With that said the bell had rung, dismissing everyone for lunch. I put my notebook in my bag seeing Gareth standing in the corner of my eye. Like he's waiting for me. How sweet.

“I have to put some stuff in my locker. You can go ahead and I'll find you.” I smiled at him. He nodded his head but looked unsure. Like he thought I was lying about sitting with them. Nonetheless, he walks out of the room towards the lunch room while I head to my locker.

~3rd Person~

As Gareth walked to the lunch room, he thought about Lena. Was she being serious about sitting with them? Regardless he would have to mention her to his friends. Even if she didn't sit with them she was one of the good ones.

As he walks through the doors, a roar of multiple conversations bounces off the walls. He grabs his lunch and then heads to his table with his dungeon master and best friend seated at the head of the table.

The kiddies arrived just as he sat down. Now was his chance.

“Hey guys, I invited the new girl to sit with us.”

Everyone at the table paused as if processing what Gareth had said. Then a chorus of laughs erupted from the group. “I’m serious!”

Eddie wipes a fake tear from his eye. “Good one Gare.”

“Yeah like a girl is gonna sit with us.”Jeff rolls his eyes.

“You're delusional man!”

With Gareth trying to defend himself and the group in denial, they had not noticed Lena approaching their table.

~Lena~

I rushed to my locker to dump whatever I didn't need for my next classes. Then into the bathroom to make sure I didn't look crazy. I wanted to make a good first impression on Gareth's friends. It’d be nice to have real people to hang out with who are not snobby rich fakers.

When I got to the cafeteria I scanned the room to find Gareth while going through the line to just get some fruit. Surprised that they had peaches I grabbed two then spotted Gareth after I paid. 

As I was heading to the table, a blonde cheerleader I met earlier stopped me. I think her name was Chrissy.

“Hey, would you like to sit with me and the girls?” she smiled sweetly.

“Oh thanks but I've got a seat already.” offering her a smile back. I didn't want to hurt her feelings because she seemed like the only genuine popular girl I'd met.

“Oh, that's okay! Maybe next time.” she then walked away to her table.

I started walking again and as I approached the table it seemed like they were arguing about something. Before you could catch what was going on they all fell quiet when you stood in front of their table. Looking at the boy standing at the opposite side of the table. 

~3rd Person~

Eddie was not buying it for one second as soon as the sentence left Gareth's mouth. A new girl sitting with them? The freaks of Hawkins High? Yeah right. But alas Eddie believed that Gareth was committed to the bit til he had enough. He stood from his chair and slammed his hands on the table.

“For fucks sake! Why would she…” 

He never finished his sentence. Once he saw her walking and stop right in front of his table he was speechless. No one ever makes Eddie Munson speechless. 

The boys turned to see why he shut up and were equally astonished, besides Gareth of course. He wore a smug smile, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair. 

“Uh hi. Gareth said I could sit with you guys.”

Silence from the whole table. They just couldn't believe that Gareth was telling the truth. With no response, she tried again.

~Lena~

“Is that okay?” I asked as I looked at the boy directly across from me. He seemed like the leader of the pack so I awaited his response. But nothing. They all just stared at me like they had never seen a girl before. I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned. Before I could feel embarrassed and think this was a bad idea, Gareth spoke up.

“Here, you can sit next to me.” He scooted the chair next to him out for me to sit.

I sat down hesitantly, eyeing everyone as they still didn't speak. Lingering a little longer on the curly long-haired boy. He was cute no doubt. I toss that thought immediately away. Friends Lena. You're making friends. It was too soon to be having a crush on someone.

“Don't mind them. They didn't believe me when I said you were sitting with us.”

Gareth went around the table, introducing everyone to me. Next to him was Jeff. Across from me was Mike, and to his right was Dustin and Doug. Lastly, at the head of the table was Eddie. “Guys, this is Lena.”

I gave them all a smile and waved. Also noticed that they all wore the same shirt. I made a mental note to ask about it.

 Dustin seemed to be the first of the group to come to his senses. “So, where are you from?”

“Harrison. It's about a half hour outside of Cincinnati.”

“What made you come to Hawkins?” Mike asked with a confused face.

“Uh, well my dad overlooks construction jobs. The company he works for has a new location. So he decided to move closer since he’ll be running that place.”

Everyone seemed to become more comfortable as I answered their questions. Seemingly deciding that I wasn't a threat. As I talked I subconsciously worked on opening my peach. It was what I always did to them. Slightly crack open the top, and run my finger all the way around. Now and then lick my finger to stop the juice from running down my hand then twist until it splits in half.  Once opened I took a bite and noticed they all were staring again.

“What?” I said wiping the corner of my mouth.

“How in the hell did you just do that?” Jeff asked.

I couldn't help but giggle. “It’s my party trick.” I took another bite.

~3rd Person~

“Is that okay?”

The way she looked at Eddie stirred something inside of him. Genuinely asking for permission. His permission to sit with them. He was so dumbfounded to speak. Just taking her in. From her pretty brown eyes to the Queen t-shirt and jeans she wore that hugged her curves in all the right places to her ring-adorned hands holding peaches. She looked godsent. Well, at least that's what Eddie was thinking. He got a weird feeling as he saw you take the seat next to Gareth. Jealousy? What? No way he was already crushing on the new girl?! He barely even spoke a word to her, just listened to her answer any questions the guys had.

He watched her as she absentmindedly moved her fingers through the peach. His mind started creating naughty thoughts he couldn't shake away. The way she licked her fingers, completely oblivious to what she was doing to him. The juice of the peach slipped out the corner of her mouth as she took a bite. All he wanted to do was lick it off her. Oh, how he was already done for. 

Jeff was the first to express his bewilderedness. Man, hearing her giggle? Eddie wanted to bottle it up and keep it forever.

“It’s how I've always eaten peaches. They're my favorite,” she says like it is the most obvious answer in the world. Before anyone could ask about the side with the pit, she does the same trick to split it again in half and then pop the clean pit out. She holds out a slice offering it up to anyone. Before Eddie could act, Dustin took the offering.

“Well in that case should we be calling you Peaches then?” Gareth joked.

She pondered the thought and then shrugged with a smile. “I wouldn't mind that.” Right at that moment, Hellfire as a collective decided that from now on they would only call her Peaches.

Tagged: @luv4peterba1lard @arlxtarts @midnyghtsolstice

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.

If you would like to be tagged or share your thoughts please leave a comment. It would be greatly appreciated.

part 2 underway

[nyrasbloodyclover]

ghost stories (tate langdon x reader)

a/n: FIRST OCTOBER FIC LET'S GOOO

It was the beginning of October when my family decided to move into our new house. I was already in love with it, even though my mom said it made her feel depressed by just looking at it.

It was much bigger than our previous home, so the exploring part made me excited. We dropped our bags and I immediately went to see each room.

It was getting pretty dark but I didn't bother turning on the lights. The air smelled of rain as I entered one of the rooms. It looked like it belonged to a boy, probably around my age. There were a lot of records of many different artists, some books and even an empty hamster cage.

"What are you doing in my room?" I turned and almost screamed when a boy appeared behind me. He looked young, with blond curls and pretty brown eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I finally asked when I gathered myself.

"This is my room." He was still not answering my question.

"We just moved in, and I don't know what are you talking about or how you even managed to get in without us noticing but if you plan on staying, I suggest you explain that to me."

And he did explain. But how was I supposed to believe him that he was a ghost who died in this house and is trapped in here forever?

"Prove it." I crossed my arms.

"Fine," he almost rolled his eyes. Then he disappeared. Like literally. From thin air.

"What the fu—" But then he appeared. I shook my head in disbelief and started to laugh. "Oh my god, that's so fucking cool."

"You think so? I'm Tate, by the way." He looked genuinely happy to introduce himself to me.

And so I became friends with one of the ghosts that lived in our house. We talked most of the time, he made fun of my music taste and made me listen to Nirvana (which I surprisingly liked). I read to him sometimes and he listened. He was an amazing listener.

But my parents didn't know about him and I meant to keep it that way.

He was okay with that and it was pretty easy to hide him. I mean whenever we were in my room and someone tried to come in, Tate just had to disappear.

The more we hung out, the closer we became. Sitting beside each other on my bed turned into him laying between my legs while I did my homework and he listened to his music. But we never tried to point that out. At least I haven't.

I pretended not to notice him drawing circles on my skin or playing with my hair, his hands wandering carefully, trying not to be too obvious. That made me feel...something. Something towards him. I hated it because we had such great friendship and admitting my feelings would just ruin it.

Until one night I was pissed about my school and I was just rambling to him, saying the worst stuff I could about everything and I had a feeling that he was trying not to laugh at me, but I didn't care.

He called me to join him on my bed and take a break from studying because it was getting late. For the first time, I listened to him.

And at some point, both of us fell asleep. I was exhausted and my body was screaming thank you when I finally closed my eyes.

But in the middle of the night, I woke up in panic because I never planned to fall asleep. I didn't even finish all my work!

In all my distress, I woke up Tate and he looked at me with his adorable sleepy eyes while I ran around the room and gathered all my books. He realized what I was doing and immediately stood up with intention to drag me back to bed.

"No, Tate, I have to finish this!"

"Relax. You need sleep. It's three in the morning."

"Yes, but how will I sleep when I know I left half of my assignments unfinished?"

He smiled innocently at me while I looked at him, not understanding his sudden mood change.

"I can help you fall asleep. If you want to." I looked at him, then at my books.

I was still confused. "I do, but...You have sleeping pills or something?"

At that he grinned at the floor and my chest fluttered.

"Let's just get to bed. I'll show you, but you have to relax." I couldn't hear a thing in that moment, not even the rain, not the pounding in my chest. I wasn't oblivious anymore. I knew what he meant and I still let him do whatever he pleased.

In seconds I was on bed with Tate slowly climbing on top of me. My face was burning and I couldn't see straight, but I didn't move.

He slowly put his hand on my pants, tucking his fingers beneath the waistband. "May I?"

I just nodded, not being able to form a proper sentence, but it was enough for him to take both, my pants and my underwear down.

His dark eyes were literally glowing while his mouth watered at the sight of me. Tate spread my legs and lowered himself enough to reach my aching cunt.

He looked up, smiling innocently before he went to work. His tongue licked me, up and down and I immediately grabbed his blond locks for support. He repeated the movement and it made me want to let out ungodly sounds, but I remembered we weren't alone and my parents were probably sleeping. If they found us like this, with Tate's head between my legs and my fingers in his hair...I would be joining Tate at being dead.

He put one finger in while his tongue circled my swollen clit and I accidentally pulled his hair. He let out a soft groan and I almost smirked for myself. I did it again and Tate groaned into me.

He didn't plan on stopping, apparently. Tate wanted me to see stars. I just wasn't sure how was this going to help with my sleep. I felt like I wasn't going to be able to close an eye for the rest of the night.

Tate decided to add another finger and I almost lost it there, but I couldn't let myself ruin this perfect moment. Not yet.

"If I add one more will you stop being to stubborn?"

"Let's find out." And he wasn't kidding. He stretched me put enough to put his third finger in and I moaned into my hand, not being able to control myself anymore.

He continued working with his tongue and it didn't take me long after that to lift my hips as I came on his mouth. He pressed his hand over my stomach to pin me back on bed as I clenched around his fingers.

He got up, licking his fingers and cleaning up his swollen mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. He took it off and did the same with my mess.

My legs were weak, I could barely change, but he helped me and got under the covers.

I joined him and realized that I haven't once thought about my assignments.

"Tate?"

"Yes?"

"Are we still friends?"

"Of course. Especially when you're in the need of sleeping pills."

I fell asleep with the weight of his hand on me while rain pounded on my window.

[ask-the-bone-boys]

ATBB's Future

Hiiii y'all, its uh. been a minute huh

Now that it's been a bit over a year since I put this blog on hiatus, a loootta stuff has happened and changed and i've been doing a loootttta thinking!

Looking back on it, like really really looking, my biggest reason for the hiatus was that at some point the blog just kinda became more of a chore than something I wanted to work on for fun. Ask blogs are a lot of work, even when you're just using talking portraits rather than drawing out every individual answer, and with how much ask culture on tumblr has died out over the years there just wasn't really enough payoff to make it feel worthwhile to keep burning myself out.

I think it's a really good thing I stopped it when I did, because having to deal with all that in my senior year of high school would have been a nightmare. I've actually just finished up my first semester of college now, and there's no way in hell I would've been able to keep up at any rate! With all of this in mind, I've gained a newer perspective about how to approach things going forward.

I'm still really attached to this story. With how much time I've spent thinking about it and developing it in my head, I can't let it go, even if the blog isn't really working out anymore. I keep thinking of different ways I could fix the decisions I made early on, as well as the super cool directions I could take it in in the future, and I just. I GOTTA.

So, I've decided to reboot it entirely as a fic series!

This means that, unfortunately, there won't be nearly as much artwork to accompany it, but it's far more likely for the story to actually progress! Writing is way less draining for me and once I get going I can do it much quicker than art anyway, even though I do still sorta wish I had the spoons to just turn it into a full-blown webcomic instead haha

This DOES mean that updates won't be nearly as linear as they were here, seeing as right now I've mostly been working on backstory fics that took place before the blog's main story, but that can at least give you guys more context for how the characters interact with each other! I'll also state that while I do write faster than I draw, I still do it a hell of a lot less, so updates will still probably be pretty infrequent. But at least they'll happen at all, right?

As for the state of this blog itself, obviously I'm going to leave it up! I still love looking back on the old interactions you guys had with my characters and your reactions to certain plot points (your reactions to Fluff tagging along with the rest of the group were my favorite by far) and I think it would actually kill me to erase them. I'll be posting the fic updates here too, just like I did for Self Hatred!

And even if it's not going to be an ask blog anymore, because of how much I still miss that kind of interaction with you guys, I think I want to do a sort of "last hurrah" event, to finally send off the asking format with some good vibes.

You see, there's a character I made up around this time of year two years ago. He's a pretty cool guy, but he doesn't actually show up until a specific turning point later in the story. I've been excited for you guys to talk to him since the day I made him, but a little bummed lately that you may not ever get the chance. I still need to get a lot of stuff prepared, so I'm not quite ready to announce or start anything just yet, but there's a reason I waited until my winter break to start thinking about this seriously.

I think you guys would really like to meet him.

But anyway, that's about all I wanted to say for now! This is a very long post already so it's time I start wrapping it up. As always, thank you all so much for sticking with me, even though I really haven't been consistent through the years. I hope this change doesn't come as too much of a disappointment, and that you'll keep sticking around for the reboot!

[wondermacaroni]

Happy 4/13!! Since I’ve been posting group doodles lately, it was obligatory that we draw something to celebrate. Mine is in green (except for the shading, lol). Some thoughts on my history with Homestuck and my reread of the comic with friends are under the cut.

I’ll say preemptively, forgive me if the paragraph spacing is wonky. I don’t post a lot of big text posts, if any at all, so I have no idea if this will show up in a bearable to read format or not. Anyways.

I first read Homestuck on an early morning in April, soon before that year’s 4/13 and a little ways out from my 14th birthday in late May. I hadn’t slept at all that night, and my normal internet circles had slowed to a crawl as the sun began to rise. Bored out of my mind and too energized to sleep, I decided it was finally time to check out that one webcomic that I had seen some people post cool art for.

To keep it simple, I had a pretty big scare in the family that same day I started reading. Everything ended up and has been just fine regarding that, but I think it cemented Homestuck in my mind as a way to process things somehow. Now that I’m about to graduate college, I’ve returned to needing to process things, and of course, my way to process it.

So, one night a month or two ago, I’m looking into some Homestuck browser game (shoutouts to Wigglersim) when my friend asks what it’s about. I get a little clammy, but I do mention the game, Homestuck and all. Imagine my surprise when they ask for a link to check it out as well.

I could hear the interest egging me on like the Green Goblin mask at that point.

Over the next few days, we went from the browser game, to the doll maker, to installing the collection, to almost-nightly streams of our read-along with the comic. It has been a BLAST so far. Sure, we probably could have blazed through on our own much faster. But having someone there to break things down and engage with, especially for a work like Homestuck, has made the whole ordeal even more enjoyable overall.

To be honest with you, I could never really get myself to reread Homestuck before then. I had the collection installed on my laptop but I could never get past some feeling of shame that came with opening it, or even looking at it for too long. Even when I had finally forced myself to get comfortable with Homestuck Posting or die trying, the thought of fully reengaging and not dwelling in the bliss of memories was a little too much.

Having a friend there, one who has been willing to engage despite it all, has made the reread much less daunting. Despite all of my warnings of the future like a frenzied oracle, I’ve been able to expose that long-hidden soft spot after all these years. It’s like unclenching your jaw, in a way.

The time we’ve spent taking it all in has REALLY spurred us to put something out lately as well. Every turn of the New Year, my friends and I boot up a group canvas and collaborate on one big slab of doodles. Lately though, I’ve been wanting to do that a lot more, and so have my friends. With the reread, I finally decided to rip off the bandage and do something I hadn’t really done as a teen first reading through Homestuck— I decided to make some fanart.

It felt like uncorking champagne. Though it was probably more akin to uncorking sparkling grape juice. Whatever. I hadn’t done it, I did it, and it felt GOOD to do it. You get it. If nothing else, waiting to draw that fanart for eight some odd years meant that I didn’t have any old drawings to painfully reflect on, for better or for worse.

I don’t like doing much other than lurking. However, with all of the drawings we had made, it’d be a shame not to share them beyond like ten people. My friend started posting some, to some really surprising amounts of engagement, at least for us. I followed in suit for support, and I’ve seen much of the same myself. It’s intimidating to be perceived, but it has been nice to shake hands with the community from the other side of my normal lurking perspective. Thank you meowrails fans for your support, maybe I’ll cook again soon, who knows?

We’ve now gotten to the point in the comic where this reread just becomes a read, and right before 4/13. I never finished the comic past the second Alterniabound flash, though I’ve picked up on little spoiler things here and there. I’m excited, I’m nervous, I can’t wait to see what horrible ick I’ll get next.

With streaming this to my friend, I have accidentally convinced more friends to look into Homestuck as well. The network slowly grows, and with it, another ticket is reserved for a group movie night of Con Air. I can’t wait to see how it goes.

Anyways, that’s all for my yapping. Have a happy 4/13, consider a reread with friends, and thank you for your interest in my lecture if you’re reading or skimming through this.

[xf-cases-solved]

S2E7: 3

Case: Bro... I don't even know where to start with this one. Before this stats project, I had seen 3 maybe one (1) time before, because I had never had any cause to repeat the experience. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that, while it is still just as terrible as I remember (and perhaps even worse), it is terrible in an entertaining way, so at least I enjoyed myself, even though I have no FUCKING idea what the plot was about. 

But I'll try to summarize it the best I can. The X-Files are reopened, which would be cool, except Scully is still missing, and Mulder is handling it... poorly. He is basically running his own self-imposed Russian sleep experiment, so much so that at one point during the investigation, a detective asks him if he's going to his hotel to get some rest, and this fucking edgelord sort of huffs a laugh and says, "I don't sleep anymore." Okay, Mulder.

But right, I haven't even said what he's investigating, have I? Well, I would say that he is investigating [REDACTED], but apparently this episode is following zombie apocalypse rules, because literally no one will say the word [REDACTED] out loud except for mb one scene where Mulder briefly references "[REDACTED] myths." Please keep in mind Mulder once showed Scully a shitty drawing of Bigfoot with tiddies and called it the Jersey Devil, so the word [REDACTED] must be pretty fucking cursed for him not to accuse anyone of being one outright. 

Anyway, something something, there's a trio of [REDACTED] in Los Angeles who are called the Holy Trinity, and they're committing murders that have a religious undertone, I guess? And then there's this other [REDACTED], Kristen, who isn't a part of the trinity, but is the ex of one of the people in the trinity? I think? Or he's the one who turned her into a [REDACTED] when they were doing kinky bloodsport stuff? Bro idfk. I was so distracted by the Everything™️ about this fucking episode to really pay attention to the story. It's about [REDACTED] but no one says the word [REDACTED], and that's all you really need to know.

An LAPD detective offers Mulder some assistance on the case, and Edgelord Mulder says, "I work alone," causing the detective to question why an FBI agent doesn't have a partner and we see all five stages of grief flash across Mulder's eyes, and by all five, I mean only one, and that's depression; in the ONLY scene I can recall the word [REDACTED] even coming up, Mulder rambles at a crime scene pathologist(?) about how he had thought such creatures didn't exist, and the pathologist says, and I quote, "You are really upsetting me, on several levels," which was really fucking funny and I wish more people reacted to him that way; Mulder meets a hot [REDACTED] who tries to feed him blood, and his only reaction is to grab her wrist and shout "AIDS!"; the hot [REDACTED] has a tragic backstory, but unfortunately the hot actress who plays her is not very good at acting so no one cares; and Mulder has a very sad hookup, which goes up in flames the morning after. I mean that literally, by the way.

Does someone die in the cold open: Yes. Some [REDACTED] kill him with hypodermic needles??

Does Mulder present a slideshow: He is all alone again since Krycek went and did that whole "trying to murder him" thing, so nah. But you can't keep Mulder away from his projector forever. I want to believe they will be together again soon.

Does the evidence survive the investigation: Looooool

Whodunit: [REDACTED]

Convictions: Yeah, nah fam.

Did they solve it: I guess I'll give Mulder a "yes, but." Yes, but there's no way he's going to be able to write a meaningful report on whatever the fuck that was, and also they all exploded so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Hot Topic or My Chemical Romance or fucking fishnet gloves and eyeliner or something, man, idfk. What the fuck even is this emo-ass episode???

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 15 (did you really think mulder could solve a case without scully? i doubt that prior to her arrival in that basement office, mulder ever solved an x-file in his entire goddamn life)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me": 9 (she doesn't have cell service on the spaceship, or wherever the fuck she is)

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 6 (she didn't seen anything, but it certainly wasn't convenient for her; she probably would have preferred to be dealing with [REDACTED] than going through all of those... well, we'll get to that later)

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 11 ½ (if he would have died in this episode i would have lost all respect for him immediately) 

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 11 (i think as long as we don't know her whereabouts it's valid to consider her as being in mortal danger)

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 16 (fuck it, if i counted him gazing longingly at the sky last episode, i can count him wearing scully's necklace the entire episode and holding it in his hand and staring at it sadly in this one. someone, somewhere mentioned recently in a text post that he would have had to lengthen the chain for it to fit him the way it does, and that's just ☹️)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 5 

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 19 (oh my GOD how X would have roasted him if he had been in this episode tho. it would have been glorious)

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Times Someone Correctly Guesses a Password: 3 

Total Number of (Plot Relevant) Nosebleeds: 5

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 3 (no, but that mfer came VERY close to eating blood, but thankfully his fear of aids prevented it (and not the fact that it was fucking weird for a stranger to offer you her blood to taste??? ok. i think it is way past your bedtime, mulder))

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 3 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 4 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 2 

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 13 

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 2

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 2

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 3 (no more krycek for right now 😔. but like mulder's projector, i want to believe he will return)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 11½ (i wrote it down, even tho i don't recall doing so)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 6 (this episode is fucking stupid lmfao)

[him-x-her]

Vee is for Vampires - Chapter 1

Author: @sinnysuicide AO3: SinnySioux Vamp!Ville x F!reader Warnings: This story will be 18+ as there will be smut in later chapters. Wordcount: 2k + Read chapter 1 on AO3 here. ❥ Next Chapter ❥ Fic Masterlist

Droplets drizzle down from the wide gin cocktail glass in front of me. The cool drink raining condensation in the warm but dimly lit bar, down a cobbled side street in the city. It was always my favourite; the way there were so many flavours of vodka, gin and rum on the neon-lit back wall. A gem in the grey and polluted big smoke.

Larissa is halfway through a story about some guy she met and dated briefly. I sense there is a big twist coming but I lost interest a while ago; not least because her love life is far more exciting than mine. Part of me envies her, she has no trouble attracting interest, still part of me pities her for entertaining London’s least eligible bachelors.

“He offered to drive me home and I was like… erm, dude, you had like half a bottle of Jack, and he was like ‘No I didn’t!’. Then I was like ‘I literally watched you and now you want to fucking kill me by drink driving?’ and he walked out. Like, literally walked out of the bar, angry at ME for not wanting to DIE! Like, what the fuck?”. She takes a sip of her ridiculous fluorescent pink vodka based cocktail to lubricate her throat, dry from her monologue, “And I’m pretty sure he just got in the car and drove himSELF home. Like, is he dead now? Hope so, idiot.”

“Wow, that sounds crazy”, I manage to stifle a yawn somewhat successfully, but my mildly slurred speech gives me away.

“You stopped listening like a year ago, didn’t you?”

My eyes dart up to meet her gaze, worried I’ve upset her. “Oh no, I have, I’m sorry, it’s just work is, y’know, work, and I’ve just been so tired…”

She glances at her phone. “Fuck it’s eleven thirty! We better wrap up, actually”. We split our drink bill and each order our respective Ubers. I give her a hug and wave her off in hers. “Let me know when you get back!” she yells out of the window.

I wait 10 minutes… 20 minutes… “This is ridiculous” I mutter to myself. I could’ve walked it back to my flat by now. I glance down at my phone to see that my Uber driver is completing a journey before he plans on driving to me. Fucking great. I tap my stiletto heel on the cobbles; my impatience vibrating through my body as I shiver in the darkness.

“Fuck this!” I declare, and set off on foot. Google Maps tells me I’m eighteen minutes away, and the cocktails have numbed the pain in the balls of my feet from my ridiculous choice of footwear. ‘They DO make my legs look great, though’ I think to myself as I scroll social media absent-mindedly. The back streets are so poorly lit that I use the torch light from my phone. I hear the clink of empty cans hitting cobbles and the shuffling of feet… I walk more briskly. I hear men whispering and look over my shoulder. I see two, very drunk, men walking in my direction. I sincerely hope they are not following me, and quicken my pace.

“Oi bitch, don’t ignore me!” they start to chase me. The light of the main street is so fucking close and my heart is beating out of my chest. I turn a corner and lean against the building, breathing noiselessly but desperately. Fuck, they’ve spotted me.

“Where ya going dressed like that, ya slut?” says a balding, pink, hideous shell of a man. The other throws his head back to laugh. “Bet she was on her way to get her five pounds for a blowie!” he says, making lewd gestures. I want to have the confidence to say “Fuck you!” out loud instead of in my head, but the best I can mutter is “Please…”. The balding one puts his hand down the front of his jeans and I close my eyes as tears track down my cheeks.

“UGGHH… what the fuck man?” I hear the sound of punches being thrown and tentatively open my eyes. A dark figure, decidedly tall, slim, draws back as the balding man chokes on blood and falls to the floor to join his friend. My mouth agape in horror and wonderment, the figure spins on his heel to face me and moves forward. My breath quickens and my eyes widen, my chest heaving as my back is pressed against brick.

“Are you hurt?” his eyes stare straight into my soul. It’s dark but they are light; I can make out specks of green. His skin is so pale it glows in the moonlight. My eyes follow his sharp cheekbones to his jaw, taking in his handsome face. I scan his body. He’s wearing what looks to be a velvet blazer, skinny jeans, converse all stars? The contrast of the white on black is actually quite appreciated in this light.

“Miss?” My eyes dart back up again. “I… uh… I’m okay” I manage to speak quietly. His eyes are so mesmerising in this light.

“Those pigs didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No”, I smile, “Thanks to you”. His concerned demeanour turns to fury and his brows narrow. “You shouldn’t be alone in the dark this late; there are people that can and WILL take advantage of a woman travelling alone.” I’m grateful for his chivalry, but I don’t take too well to being told what to do.

“I… uh… yeah, so thanks for knocking those guys out”, I say, avoiding eye contact and slinking to the right of him, “I’m just gonna go and…”

“No” he says, his sharp eyes sensitive to my movement. His face softens “I’m sorry, no, I can’t let you do that when there are men out there like this. Please, let me walk you home, or at least close to it…”

“Oh, um, you don’t have to…” I hesitate.

“Please” he closes the gap between us with a single step “I’d like to make sure no further harm befalls you tonight”. He doesn’t talk like the typical London man. Hell, he doesn’t talk like the typical man. His voice deep and alluring; his words eloquent and decisive.

“Oh, um, okay” I say, in a vain attempt to silence the inner voice that is SCREAMING at me to tread cautiously.

We walk a little in silence, a foot or so apart. “So, what were you doing walking all alone in the dark?” he implores, scanning my face as we perambulate onto a better, brighter lit, street. I can see I was right as two beautiful pools of green await an answer from me.

“My Uber driver was taking forever so I thought I’d walk home. It isn’t far. I wasn’t expecting two drunk idiots to ruin my night.” I roll my eyes.

“Have they? Ruined your night, I mean….” he looks disappointed, or perhaps angry, I think, as I notice a balled fist.

“Well, no, I guess I’m safe and nothing really happened… you, uh, you don’t speak like you’re from here”.

“I’m not” he says matter of factly with an essence of smug, he pauses to locate a cigarette from his pocket and to light it. He brings it to his pale lips and inhales. His lips part delicately as the swirl of smoke dances around his cheeks. He closes his eyes briefly; it appears his vice brings him bliss in the chaos. “I’m sorry” he stares at me “Do you mind if I…?”

“Oh, no, no it’s fine. Your funeral, I guess, I heard those things kill you” I smirk, teasing.

He side-eyes me, inhaling again “Good thing I’m already dead” he exhales with a grin. Fuck, he looks so good when he smiles. The flash of his white teeth and the angles of his jaw make me feel moist in my underwear, but then I remember I’ve been drinking.

“How much alcohol have you had to drink?” he asks, smirking, as if able to read my less than holy thoughts.

“Touché” I say, rolling my eyes, “Enough, I guess, and I’m more than capable of walking the rest of the w-“ his fingers close around my wrist suddenly and I turn to face him. His lips are dangerously close to mine and I can feel my heart beating furiously on the walls of my chest. The adrenaline in my body is sending signals that I should run, my logic tells me I can’t outrun him and my mind? My mind is hesitant but intrigued. Why has this dark handsome stranger stopped to help me? Why is he walking me home? I realise I can no longer hear the click clacking of my stiletto heels against London’s cobbles; I no longer hear the bustling of the street. I see, and hear, only him.

He looks down at my lips. “I’m sorry if I have offended you. Please, let me get you home safe, and you won’t see me again”. My heart sinks a little and I’m sure he can feel it.

“Why did you help me? Who are you?” I ask, feeling a strange connection between us.

“I couldn’t have lived with myself if I turned a blind eye to a woman in distress, and allowed those poor excuses for men to do what they had in mind.” His looks darken, and I turn to humour as we begin walking again.

“Oh, you read minds? How many fingers behind my back?” I giggle, wiggling three secretly. He side eyes me again, smirking. I can tell he’s not impressed that I am minimising my brush with danger, but he is enjoying this playful exchange.

“You should be careful wandering around in the dark” he stops and turns his body to face me, wetting his lips with his tongue, he edges closer, “There might be vampires”.

“Oh, that would be a shame” I say, deliberately avoiding his gaze before the punchline “I taste pretty good, I’d be a goner”. I look up at him through my lashes; he finally gives up the ghost and laughs wholeheartedly.

“Why do I get the feeling trouble follows you?” He shakes his head, smiling, “For your sake, I hope the vampires aren’t thirsty.” We stopped walking some time ago, and I realise we’re outside the block of apartments I live in. I loiter, to stop time, not knowing when I will see my night hero again.

“Are you thirsty? … for a drink, I mean.” I glance towards my window, hopefully.

“I, er, no… I should return to my post. I have damsels in distress to save from bloodthirsty beings.” he muses, with a tone of humour, not arrogance. He looks off into the distance and I sense there is something heavy weighing on his chest.

“Well, thank you, my unmasked nicotine-fuelled vigilante!” I giggle, walking to the entrance door. He follows me, as though he wants to come inside, then hesitates. Turning to face him I realise our lips are centimetres apart again. Every hair on my body stands on end as my senses hyperfocus on him. I lift my hand to palm his velvet-encased arm. The material is soft, a direct contrast to the muscle within it. I breathe, and almost taste, the cigarette smoke from his lips. I see never ending waves of green, washing over me. Eyes that look like they have traveled the world over and over again, but haven’t found what they longed for… until…

“What do I call you?” I whisper.

“Vee” he says as his eyes refuse to move from my lips.

You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.

He leans forward to press his forehead to mine as I let out a sigh. “No more late night walks. Remember, vampires.” His hand lifts to my cheek, cold but inviting, and I close my eyes.

In a moment, he is gone. I stand under the twinkling starry night sky wondering if it had all been a dream. I touch the cheek that felt his hand and smile. “Hey, Vee stands for vampires!” I yell into the dark, and I swear I hear chuckling. I open the entrance door and click clack up the stairs to my apartment, wondering what Larissa would make of all this.

…

AO3: SinnySioux; more to come 🦇

Graphics by saradika-graphics

[squeaksinc]

2023 creative year in review! 💦💦

The most stand-out thing to mention was this was arguably my most active and productive cosplay year...maybe ever? its incredibly uncommon that I can handmake 9 costumes in a year, but on top of that, 7 of the 9 were also custom designs, which is pretty wild.

costume-wise, i learned a stupid amount of skills and really pushed what i was comfortable with. IMO the best from the year are the collector, knives, pupet, and nekomancer at least just from a craftsmanship perspective. I try not to brag or be an ass, but I am genuinely very proud of those. they posed fun creative challenges that kept me engaged, and I'm happy with how they turned out!

the other side of the coin is although last year was my most dormant cosplay year, other crafts were super active....and the reverse happened this year _(:3」∠)_ i didnt really draw much at all other than making cosplay designs, and other physical media didnt get much time to shine either. I made some plushies, but they were lackluster, and I think I made maybe one unfinished figure lol. but I did try BJD making and loved it!! I made 4 this year and have plans to do more haha.

thats the upbeat overview, the readmore is going to be a more negative perspective so proceed with caution haha.

More than anything I wish i had more time to do art and build up Stitch in The Ditch/more OC work, but honestly this year was also objectively insane in the non-creative front. like i hit the worst patch of chronic pain i've ever had/found out my abdominals have been ripping themselves apart and bleeding for the past 10 years lol/had to go to the hospital like THREE!!!! goddamn times and now i'm dealing with the news i'm going to need abdominal surgery, got a teaching promotion/award, got my physics masters, utterly INSANE family happenings, had gastroparesis for 2 months and couldnt eat more than 200 cal a day in that time which caused all my blood levels to crash and i'm still reeling from it, and of course, have just been Cashually working goddamn 60-80 hours a week in an experimental physics lab in the background during all of this which is driving me to the point of madness- suffice to say i hit my limit like months ago lmao.

like looking back i know i should be happy and proud i did so much but i cant help but feel disappointed and wishing i had done better quality stuff. honestly, i know i goof about how hard work is, but its really really getting to me. i've always been happy with my ability to juggle so many things and preserve my ability to have a cool job, make cool things, and independently take care of myself, but work is month-by-month morphing into more of a monster thats just been suffocating everything else out. I really dont know what next year will look like, as i've been wearing thinner and thinner i'm noticing a trend where I just dont have the energy that I used to to do anything outside of my job.

I bring this up because on paper I should be happy with what I made, but I still feel like im in a stand-still. I made a lot of costumes, but tbh they were low quality/lackluster. like the number went up, but the quality didnt and I couldnt do much of any other art things. I couldve, and shoulve, been able to make much better work this year than I did, but it didnt happen as a combo of being snuffed out by my job physically and mentally.

in 2023 I got a head start/built up momentum from the beginning of the year that carried me through when things got insane in spring/summer/currently, but I'm already starting 2024 from a low point. yall. im so tired. im so goddamn tired. like its funny to goof about how much I do but its catching up fast and i think this is going to be the year when I just cant keep up anymore. Its hard to talk about since the "being crushed to death by your job" topic isnt one people want to engage with, and unless you're experiencing it first hand its hard to understand what living like that really means.

for 2024, i know theres no way I will be able to match this same number of costumes, but my goal is no matter what I want to start making things that are more solid on a construction level. fewer projects, more polish. also doing more non-cosplay stuff like world building and dolls would also be awesome. will that happen??? lord only knows. honestly usually these predictions/goals go haywire but this is also more of a response to external things outside of my control so ???? ??????? we'll see lads

[fahbev]

Babs, Bruce and Danny in my dpxdc merfolk au!!!

argh, plz excuse the poorly edited photo lmao- lost a lot of detail TvT

Babs has her info Here. But this is her design! I’m not actually entirely sure if any of these designs are final, i might tweak them, but here she is! I gave her necklaces.

Bruce is based on a leatherback sea turtle! The spots aren’t actually super accurate to a leatherback’s underside, but if you look at it a little harder... you may find a fun little easter egg. It’s subtle... or at least i tried to make it that way. (If people don’t get it i’ll explain in a rb lol) Did you know that leatherback sea turtles can be up to 880 pounds? Idk what that is in metric but that’s roughly 7 and a half Bahfevs. They’re also much more triangular/less round than other turtles, so I reflected that in his design. And ofc, Bruce and Damian are both sea turtles bc they’re related. But they’re different sea turtle species so it doesn’t make much sense. Who gives a flip. What’s Talia, you ask? To that I say: 🤷‍♀️

(Side note: apparently, I’ve conditioned myself so I can’t draw nuetral expressions. It’s gotta have some emotion or else it looks wrong, and it feels natural to always have something going on there. So... drawing Stoic McStoicface here was a pain in the penis. He kinda has an expression anyway lol)

Danny is based on a ghost knife fish! I’ll be honest, i didn’t even know these existed until I looked up “ghost fish” in the hopes of finding something thematic. But then... omg! They’re black with little white accents? Like Danny’s design? And they have cool, funky bodies? AND they produce electricity!?? That’s so FKING COOL! I’ll have to do more research, but so far i’m pretty sure they don’t produce enough electricity to hurt someone. They are related to electric eels though! I first learned that electric eels were knife fish and not true eels when I was researching the moray eel for Duke. Funny how that connects!

Danny’s story under the cut!

Heehoo!

Okay so basically: Danny went diving to gather pearls because he wanted to make his parents happy/proud. While he was diving, His foot got caught in a rock and he couldn’t get it out. He panicked and he begged— to who? God, maybe? The universe, or the ocean? Maybe just begging fate or any higher power that could be out there, he doesn’t know. His only prayer was “Don’t let me drown!”. Unbeknownst to him, one of the pearls he’d grabbed was a magic, wish granting pearl. They’re rare enough that humans don’t even have legends of them... but the merfolk do ;).

The pearl took his very non-specific wish and decided to give him a tail and gills. He swam back up in a panic, and saw his new tail. Of course, this is a very horrifying thing to happen. But in less than a minute... it was already starting to dry off. As it dried, it turned back into skin.

Now, Danny has to be extremely careful not to get his legs or hair wet when he’s near people, because he’ll turn back into a merboy.

i... probably should have given him a shirt? He’d be wearing it, right? But i also did need to see what I was doing with that fin thing lol. I mean, a shirt would get annoying with that fin- he’d probably take it off. Tbh he’d probably have it off when swimming in general? Idk.

So: funny thing that happened when I was drawing Danny:

A first grader came up to me while I had it open on my desk, and she was like:

“Oh my god, that’s so good! Like, how did you even draw that?”

so I was like: “Oh thank you! ❤️”

And I think she asked again “How did you even draw that?”

so I was a little confused on how to answer, so I said:

“Well, I used my pencil...” and held up my pencil—

and then she got distracted by a spinny chair.

She’s so precious omg 🥰

[ebegastbabysittingservices]

Violet, can we have a more in-depht explanation about what powers you have?

Violet simply throws a small book outside her bedroom, in the hallway, and closes the door again. The book hits Dexter right behind his head.

"OW-?!? WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"HEY, ASSHOLE, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE UPSET DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET TO THROW SHIT AT M-"

"...Oh, it's this fucking journal."

"Cannot stand it. It loses glitter fucking everywhere all the time."

On the cover, there's some disgustingly big writing, made with purple glitter glue and shiny markers.

"VIOLET'S SUPER DUPER COOL JOURNAL!!!"

You open the journal somewhere in the middle.

"-Entry #25

Okay so, I think I'm starting to get the hang of whatever these powers are. At the very least, I haven't passed out and summoned anything by accident after my latest traumatic experience, and I haven't been throwing up that gross black inky mush for some time now. So that must some progress!"

"Anyway, Dex said we should at least try to see the general area my powers are dwabbling in, and I told him "whaaa, it's necromancy, duh!" and he was like "Yeah but there are different kind of necromancy, we should at least be sure of what you can and can't do" and I was like "nuuuh, that sounds boring!!" and he yelled at me :( so now i'm doing whatever it is he wanted me to do."

There's a big drawing of a pouty ghost with glasses on the next page. The word "MEANIE!!!" Is written next to him, in red pen.

"I can see summon ghosts, that much is clear. Not all ghosts are the same, but I can see and talk to pretty much all of them! I can move them around, get them in and out of Vessels as I wish, and I'm like 90% sure I can fix them back in their original bodies too. Gonna have to try that one out first, though."

"What else... oh! Apparently, if I follow any ritual on that strange book, they work! (the ones that don't involve human sacrifice are actually pretty useful! Been using their Ancient Fire Of Pain one to save some money on turning on the stove when I want to cook myself some eggs:P) But only if I do it. Carl tried to do one of them, and it didn't work. Since all of those rituals require blood samples, Dex says my blood must have something odd or magic in it. That's cool! I have cursed blood!"

"This must also be why I seem to heal way faster than the average person. When I got stabbed one inch from death, it took me just a week to be good as new! We don't know if this means i'm anywhere near Immortal, but I doubt that. Dexter didn't want me to check. And honestly, I wasn't feeling like proving or disproving this fact either."

"Another cool thing I can do, is sense whenever something odd or paranormal is happening and/or getting closer to me! Which has proven to be more useful than any house alarm ever. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on people from the cult. I can never predict how or when they might be coming after me. Dexter says he can handle them for me though, and I trust him. So it's all good!"

"I don't know if it's related to my powers, but i've been having these weird dreams that

The rest of the entry is scribbled out. On the dark scribbles, Violet drew some stars.

[dgdraws]

Artfight Postmortem

as you may know, i am prone to reflection on my art and process and progress. herein, i'm gonna navel gaze a bit about artfight 2024.

top line: really enjoyed myself, did a bunch of new things and this was "The Year of Artist Friends" which is spectacular.

i completed 20 attacks this year, including my first ever mass attacks! altogether I drew 28 different characters (incl 4 of my own).

for the first time, I had *users* i wanted to attack, rather than just characters i'd gathered via search or discord. honestly, three years ago when i picked up the stylus i was just excited at the prospect of drawing for other people, period. artfight was a cool way to be in community without prerequisites. i didn't quite dare to dream i might make some real connections and make proper friends. and yet :) here we are! i went in with three 'art friends' and i'm leaving with at least three more

in addition to being the year of artist friends, this could be "the year of clip studio paint was on megasale a week before artfight" because i knocked out like 2 practice pieces before July 1st so i wouldn't be starting with completely unfamiliar tools, but i used/learned csp for the vast majority of my attacks. one i finished in krita (lonnie), and my final attack i only used krita.

definitely trial-by-fired myself! but it motivated me to explore csp, and most important, gave me a reason to practice practice practice. last year i drew almost exclusively humans, lots of full bodys, because i wanted to get a better grip on anatomy and drawing a variety of faces. it worked then, and, well, i think i learned more of csp in one month of artfight than i would have if i was just plodding through my personal projects for 33 days :) *looks at my wip folder with months old files* pretty sure.

ok i'm gonna look at a few faves/standouts now:

came in hot with 0tt0 here! the main brush for this one (froggy pencil) was a mainstay for the whole month. so versatile!!! and lovely texture. this isn't quiiite brat green but this was what made me go, hmm, what if i... did a few pieces inspired by this album i can't stop listening to?

and then i took a huge turn and just used a soft round brush for Desa and Iryna for my dear friend @bobomcfoe bc i really wanted to turn these out in something approaching my "usual style" of late and i feared getting too deep into the temptations of csp if i put them off. and, um, yeah i love them. i got sooo close to matching that angle but ahh i can see the tilt now! nonetheless, love these two, not least bc brookie has some of the most pleasing color palettes to work w :)

then on to Rosé and baby's first vector lines! you can RESIZE lines in csp. did you know that? i didn't know that. i did forget to use it as much as i could have in later ones though, so i still only kinda know it ig. and halftone shading! bc why not? another thing i really only did this once, but want to experiment with more

Rook here, for my new friend @gender-premium-tm, was me realizing how to use filters/filter layers in csp. now THAT is something i used a lot this month! also something i use often in krita. i must say, though the csp options are slightly more limited (afaik), they have oomph!

okay these two are my "explicitly brat pieces"! artfight keeps you moving, which i find really valuable, bc i could have dithered foreverrr over Lonnie's gif here. like, do i add his arm? maybe he should be wearing a shirt? or, what if i just draw him twice, instead of splitting the expressi--see it just never ends. and as i am always going on about, art is so precious bc it is a reflection of us when we make it. maybe for some future artfight i'll redraw this (as Lonnie's artist @wenmistry did for me with Ebon this year), but for july 2024, i'm amazed at how well i executed this for just 2.5 days of work! (i did forget his glasses, which realization gave me a different take on the composition, so this is high on my list of potential redraws)

and then Aagatha. this is in my top 3 for this year. the pink just works so well with the green and her artist added the song to her character playlist AND added the necklace to her actual dnd inventory. like. omg. the impact your art can have!!! how freaking cool is that???

two mass attacks! i was in a silly goofy mood. i feel like i really got a handle on vectors w the anthro mass attack, i adjusted every single point on that one by hand. weird what hyperfocus makes you do sometimes, but i learned a lot from that. mainly that i will probably never user vectors as my main linework tool. there are circumstances it is perfect for, and outside of that i'm good w my raster lines lol

which is exactly what i used for this other mass attack, featuring mostly my ocs. hey, sometimes you need to shake things up! i can see here the style starting to hew back to my "usual style", though i'm thinking that might have a lot to do with drawing 5 people very quickly. falling back on practiced techniques. and by this time i apparently knew csp well enough to reproduce them pretty closely! ooh, one thing this made me miss was the transform tool in krita. that floor was ROUGH to wrestle into place in csp.

purple and green turned up a lot this year!

Echo is my crowning achievement with the froggy pencil, most of the shading here is just layers w that. and one last nod to brat green :)

i've worked in the paper cut style before (both my pfp's use it) but i really exploited csp's clipping layers to make Scraps here. they did make me briefly forget how they work in krita when i switched back, so well done w that

i played with gradient maps a little earlier in the month but for Okanar i actually made my own gradient! really a useful tool for ref'ing real human skin tones to make non-human ones, without muddying them up too much.

finally, Chaos. this actually might be my favorite! ironically this is the one that i made in krita. it was like, ahh, yes my old friend. wait where is the scroll bar. ah, okay, yes my old friend... the line layer is set to burn which just makes the whole thing so warm (and the cause of the red outlines on the earrings). used my old sable brush, a pattern fill set to overlay... my old stomping grounds! but plus a rendering technique i picked up this month and some other random habits i picked up in csp (like copying a detail to a new layer, moving it where i want a copy, and drawing/tracing it back onto the original layer in the new position. nothing i couldn't have been doing in krita all along, but made easier by the tool layout in csp, and therefore now discovered by me. amazing how one integrates new knowledge. it's like magic sometimes!!!)

that was a good roundup! if you actually read this to the end, wow! and thank you! i hope it was interesting... and inspiring! bc i want to read about your process and reflections too! yes you! and plz tag me, i'm always down to gush about art XD