#But the moment I see an artist I like post their open for comms

[dreams-of-wind-and-void]

In a world where capitalism hasn't ruined everything, this might not be bad.

Ai art gives people who have ideas, but not (yet) the skills to visualize or create the things they want a tool to do just that. A tool you can use to give form to complex ideas and at least approximate what you had in mind, to create a rough shape you can build upon. All the while, those making art can continue to do so, working on their craft and enjoying the process of creation.

However, capitalism exists. We need to pay a mandatory subscription fee on life. If you have a day job, you probably won't be able to create as much as you want to (I know I can't). So artists, who hone their skill through endless practice, who enjoy this practice and enjoy the process, need to be paid so they can be artists.

Ai art is a great tool. But it's currently being used in the most capitalistic way imaginable; to cut costs and replace human skill with cheap algorithms. It has been a tool for people to be creative with not too long ago, when it was still janky and weird. And it was great for it. Now that it has become "good enough" to pass the 0.5 seconds someone takes to look at a picture on their timeline, it's being used to make money. No matter that every ai piece I've seen so far falls completely apart under close scrutiny.

Ai art is a tool, just like the mechanical loom was just a tool. And just like the mechanical loom allowed factories to exploit unlearned workers instead of paying skilled weavers, ai generators will allow companies to cut costs by getting an intern to generate images and slap them together, instead of paying artists and designers.

Ai art generators will become another tool to just create Content. A product to sell. It makes it even more important, at least to me, to find enjoyment in the process more than in the end result of it. And to try and seek out art, from artists who enjoy the creation process and put a piece of themself into their art, to support them in what little ways one can.

I FUCKING TOLD YALL THIS SHIT WAS COMING AND YOU DIDNT BELIEVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[s4ndg3m]

COMMISSIONS! FROM ME! YAY!

Status: Open!

okay, gonna start this with.. i have no idea how to make a comms info post. i was going to try and make a carrd but it's... a lot! so, under the cut, i'll have some examples and prices and some info on what to expect! (LONG POST) (YE BE WARNED)

Rules! (and some general info)

because we need that

Don't haggle with me. I'm not selling you old furniture, you're paying me for my time and effort.

For smaller commissions, I require pay up-front

Larger commissions (over $30) can be paid half up-front, and half later. For both ours' insurance!

I can do cashapp, zelle, or paypal.

Time taken on each piece will vary, of course, and I can give you an estimate when we hash out details. I can provide updates as well! Don't be afraid to check in whenever! I won't feel rushed or hassled if you just want to know how progress is :)

If you have literally ANY questions. ANY OF THEM. at all. just message me. Even if you're not sure if you want to commission, or don't intend to at the moment. Have a curiosity? My dms are open, friend. And my ask box too, if you'd rather. I'm so open to questions it's unbelievable. I am almost begging you to ask... If you have something to ask.

YAY / NAY / MAY(or, what i will and won't do)

YAY!

Furries

Humans

Roblox avatars/characters

Fandom

Oc

Light/medium mech

Ships (including selfship)

Suggestive

(Artistic) nudity

Multiple characters

Whatever's not on my "no" list! Please please just message me and ask if you're unsure. Even if you're not sure about commissioning and just want to see if it would be possible! I won't bite, I promise. :)

NAY!

Nsfw

Fetish (even if not explicit)

Heavy mech

Heavy gore

Anything proship/comship/whatever the hell they're calling it. NO KID DIDDLING! OR INCEST!

Anything vivziepop related. I don't like her or anything that she makes.

Celebrities (actors in a role, sure, but just the guy? the plain dude? just some guy on our earth who works a job? a real person with a life? no.)

MAY! (or, things I'm on the fence abt)

Horror

Minor gore

Large scenes (not my strongest skillset)

Whatever! I'm okay with stepping outside of my artistic comfort zone, so long as you're okay with the result varying in quality (and possibly taking longer, depending on what you ask for) Again, and I CANNOT say this enough, JUST ASK ME!!

WHAT I HAVE TO OFFER!

Okay, so, as shown here, for a standard commission i'll have 3 sizes, along with 4 stages of completion.

The stages are sketch, line art, flat colors, and render (shading/lighting)! sketch is the cheapest, and render is the most expensive. I'll list some prices for each size below :3

Head

Sketch - $5

Line art - $7

Colors - $10

Render - $15

Half

Sketch - $10

Line art - $15

Colors - $20

Render - $25

Full body

Sketch - $20

Line art - $25

Colors - $30

Render - $50

Add-ons!

Background (any commission automatically comes with a simple one, free, to be pictured in examples) - $15

Extra character - $7-$20 depending on what you're getting! just ask

COMPLEX object (like a weapon) (simpler ones r free) - $5-$10 (again, depending. just ask)

Anything that would take me more time and effort than usual, really. Time and effort is what you're paying for! I try to keep most of these pretty cheap, cus you're already paying for the drawing itself lol. Just ask if you're unsure.

Other kinds of stuff I'll do!

Icons! (or emojis, they're very similar)

These are basically just the head w/ colors, so $10 If you want an emoji set (or icon set, i guess?) it'll be +$5 for each additional one!

Reference sheets!

These are fun to make! They'll include 2/3 full-body shots of your character (front, side, and/or back), 1 head shot, flat colors, and some spaces for info! You can add in the info yourself, or have me add it in for you (no additional cost). They'll run you around $50 (however, you can add/take away stuff to change the price.)

Character page!

I will just. draw the character a bunch of times. $30 base price (sketch quality) can go up to $70 if you want them VERY spruced up (full render)

FINALLY. What we've all been waiting for... Examples!

These are fullbodies! (with their categories and prices in alt) (First is a commission of one of my friends ocs, last one is moff, @/sneablebeable 's character!)

these are rendered pieces w/ backgrounds! (though pokémon like these, I would consider chibi, making them a slightly lesser price.)

Reference sheets! Highly customizable, these are 2 I did for art fight a lil while ago :)

sketches! (with complex background, with extra character) For these, I can include basic values to help with composition, but usually done just cus i feel like it. (no extra charge if I do).

Half body (in the style of a valentines card)

Icons!

Thanks for considering me! or... just checking this out! reading this far! whatever!

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

CONGRATS ON 300 FOLLOWERS LOVE!!!🥳

I got a little something for you to ponder…how about Gloss with a fem reader, SFW, and #22 "I think I need a hug."? Because I need more about this artistic sweetheart, I think 300 words will suffice me for a while.😅

My brain just went kapoot so I am relying on you to make this magical!!!☺️✨

Soup Assault

Gloss (OC) x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Gloss (OC) x Fem!Reader

Tags & Warnings: domestic fluff

Word Count: 300

Author's Note: STITCH, I AM SO SORRY. I got so carried away trying to complete the bingo fics that I let the last three event requests sit idle in my inbox. However, as promised in my New Years post, I have finally completed it!!! Thank you so much for your patience and putting up with me. I'm so happy you asked for Gloss, too 🥺 He's such a good boy. I hope you love it 💚

Your day at work has been exhausting, and all you want to do is go home and go to sleep. However, a customer spilled an entire bowl of hot soup on you during your shift, so you need to shower and do laundry before you can even touch your bed. Not to mention, another customer started screaming at you for something that wasn't your fault and it almost made you cry. You're a mess.

You unlock your apartment and sigh as you throw your bag on the entryway table. You really don't care at this point if it lands or falls off the table. There's nothing breakable in it, other than your comm, and even that you don't care about right now. You just want peace and quiet, and no conversations with anyone, because you've had enough people chewing your ear off today.

After changing, you walk into the living room and see Gloss lying on his stomach on the floor, feet kicking in the air as he sketches in his notebook. He doesn't look up when you enter the room, but seems rather enthralled in whatever he is drawing. You plop yourself down next to him, lean your back against his side and close your eyes as you listen to his soft scribbling.

After a long quiet moment, you open your eyes and sigh. "I think I need a hug."

Gloss stops sketching and lays his pencil down onto the notebook. He rolls onto his side and clamps himself onto your body like a clamshell. "Better?" he asks.

You giggle. "Much better."

"Rough day at work?" he asks.

"You wouldn't even believe me," you say.

"Try me," he says. "I'll believe you."

"I fought a bowl of soup today," you say.

"Did you win?" he asks.

You laugh. "Nope."

Event Masterlist

Masterlist

A03

Tag List: @nahoney22 @commander-sunshine @sunshinesdaydream @padawancat97 @verndusk @sun-roach @coraex @lickylickylicky @homemade-clones @523rdrebel @clonemedickix @starrylothcat @moonwrecked @ladyzirkonia @stunkbiggu @cdblake1565 @ladytano420 @moonlightwarriorqueen @anxiouspineapple99 @clonethirstingisreal @dreamie411 @trixie2023 @cw80831 @ca77m3anna @rinwritesfics @t3mpest98 @novas-daydreaming @twincesskorisoka @thestarwarslesbian

Join my taglist HERE

Tip me a tea on Ko-fi HERE

[eloradorable-art]

OLD PRICES!!

still up for the sake of price comparison, see this post

My Commissions are Open!

Kia Ora, Hello! My name's Shep, I'm a 21 yo furry artist and aspiring animator from NZ. At the moment I have some commission slots open for just about any kind of comm.

The prices listed are all base prices based in USD, and I work through Paypal as it's the only website that I know works internationally. I work through discord mostly.

In the past, I've helped people design characters from scratch, though I haven't quite figured out how much to charge for that yet lol I aim to be pretty flexible in my style, so I'm happy to hear and try any style requests.

Some T.O.S Stuff

I can draw: Anthro, Feral little creature guys, People, Monsters, Light Gore (I'll let you know what I mean) I won't draw: Extreme gore, NSFW, Kink, Firearms or Military/Cop stuff

For my process, we talk first and I do a quick sketch with a bit of back and forth so you know what you're getting. It shouldn't take more than an hour, and when you're happy with the plan, we go through with the full payment. I aim to complete commissions within a week but will let you know ASAP if that isn't possible and will offer a refund.

As you can see, my style is very flexible hehe

If you like what you see, please message me so we can chat!

[cringetownusa]

Cheers! I'm Clownie!

💥💥They/Them, 26 nonbinary, lesbian💥💥

(This is updated frequently!)

Writer/Artist

An intense and avid fan of Animaniacs, A Goofy Movie, and Yax (Yakko Warner x Max Goof) I'm also the owner of the discord server YAKKO'S BALL PIT And I ran the @animaniacssecretsanta for 2023 and 2024 I am the head mod behind Wishing Star, a Wakko's Wish zine I'm also hosting a Mass Collab for the 4th anniversary of the Animaniacs Reboot! You can join the discord HERE to contribute!

💥I run several Animaniacs related blogs as well!💥

The Warner Mailroom - A blog about the changes in the lives of the Warners post reboot ending.

On The Open Range - A blog for the Western/Cowboy AU @night2time and myself have together.

Animaniacs Secret Santa - A blog that details updates and gifts for every year of the exchange.

Wishing Star Zine - A blog that tracks the updates and release for Wishing Star, a Wakko's Wish Zine.

💥Here is a list of my Animaniacs/Yax fics:💥

The Differences We Share (finished) Wallpaper Guy (one-shot) The Needs of the Few (In-progress) A Royal Ruse (In-progress) Final Exam (one-shot) The Favorite Warner (one-shot) Tangentially Related (a compilation of drabbles) The New, Special Friend (not updating) A Brief Moment (one-shot)

If you've read any of my fics and want to make any art or other content based on it, please @ me. Nothing makes me happier than to see the effect my words have on people. I love and appreciate everything I've ever gotten for them.

💥Analysis Posts💥

The Warner Tax Rant Yax, the How and Why part 1 (For if you, like many, are confused about what Yax is and why it's so popular)

💥Frequent tags💥

#my art -all my art i've done or collabed on #my writing -all posts related to my Fanfiction #ask - asks I've answered #update - updates on progress with fics #journal - personal posts

💥Other Socials💥

Ao3 -- Insta

💥Commissions💥

Both Writing and Art are currently CLOSED! If you would like to be placed on a waitlist for when they open if they are closed at the time, please DM me! For Art Comms you can find the info HERE For Writing Comms, please refer to my carrd HERE

💥Asks, Requests, and DM's💥

under the read more

Both asks and DM's are always open! I'm very much a people person, but I do have adhd and often forget to respond to asks or dm's. I don't always answer all my asks, but I do love seeing them so much!

I also love making new friends, so If you're 18+ and would like to make a connection, you're welcome to DM me! I'm very extroverted so it's never a bother :)

Couple Rules about types of asks/dm's I take!: PLEASE DO: - yax - Animaniacs - A goofy Movie and related media - my AU's - Rise of the TMNT - leoichi - Sam and Max - any of my posts here - my fanfiction: I absolutely adore when people write in commenting or asking about my work. It really touches my heart to know that people are actually thinking about my works, especially when I put so much love into it. I also love constructive criticism! It helps me refine my art to be it's best self! - writing behind-the scenes: this means questions about a fic, how i write them, my process, other writing ideas from me, questions about WIPs! NO: - nsfw - gore - drama - conflict baiting - bashing other creators

REQUEST RULES: 1. I will only take requests off anon, as I prefer to do requests for followers. 2. Requests should fall under one of the "Please Do" categories listed above! 3. It is more likely I will fulfill a request if it is Warners or Yax. 4. Oc submissions are allowed, but if you want me to draw your oc, a reference must be provided, I can't draw without it. 5. I am only taking OC submissions now so that I can broaden my horizons with different characters, animals, and body/face types. They will not include backgrounds and I'm in control of how i want to draw them. 6. Any requests will be sketch only. 7. There is no guarantee that I will do a request or a time frame for it. I do whatever idea happens to catch my fancy, and whenever I have time. I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so this is as I have time for it.

[seafauxmy]

dogday doll fanart

🐶☀️🌈✨🧡

hey, poppy playtime fandom! i’m new here so this is my fruity little smiling critter fanart offering. can someone tell me what aesthetic this is??? 😭

i present to you, dogday! with a twist! okay maybe a couple… 💀😭 i thought it would be cool to draw dogday as a doll concept. now i want to do all the other smiling critters and make it a little series. expect them to all have some zest because i am genderfluid and femme if you couldn’t tell. 😂💅🏾🥰

note: i said “draw” but i actually painted this because i am soooo bad with lines you have no idea… dysgraphia has entered the chat. i had to find my own “drawing” process that doesn’t include the type of sketches most artists do. 💀 should i post what my “sketch” looks like?

poppy playtime means a lot to me because when i first played it, i was going through one of the roughest moments of my life. i needed a distraction and poppy playtime’s kidcore dreamcore weirdcore aesthetic was comforting so i decided to play all 3 chapters back to back.

i had no experience with puzzle horror games and hadn’t watched any playthroughs so i was completely lost. it took me embarrassingly long to complete chapter 3 but i never gave up once. sure, it might be just a game to some people but it wasn’t for me. i was convinced that if i could beat the game, i could get through the hell my life was. i think i was right.

i guess poppy playtime is one of my comfort fandoms because of trauma. it’s probably why i feel so protective over dogday and don’t like how he’s treated by certain niches within the fandom.

anyways, i am looking forward to making more smiling critter fanart and other art too because i finally found something i can do. i’m autistic and i have adhd and i felt like a failure for years because there was nothing for me. my art journey was slow and daunting thanks to my life circumstances and dysgraphia but i think i finally found my thing. i can’t wait to see how much i can improve. i’m gonna study so apply to art school next fall.

HERE’S MY SOCIALS:

⬇️ 🌷💜🥰🪸🌸 ⬇️

🎨 COMMS OPEN 🎨

💖 INSTAGRAM 💖

👾 TWITCH 👾

🖍️ YOUTUBE 🖍️

[awiola]

im so sorry I've asked so many questions at this point, but by any chance are you taking drawing requests? just in case me and my friends want to ask you to draw a *few* dumb memey or cute stuff with the cast, we're just really into this game! its fine if you aren't lol, it's an honor enough to be speaking to the artist behind this game n_n SORRY IM TALKING WAY TOO MUCH IM JUST HAPPY HONESTLY

you don't have to answer this if it feels unnecessary to do so!: THANK YOU SO MUCH THESE ARE SO COOL TO SEE!!! IM ACTUALLY GOING INSANE. also, i just wanted the final art just in case me and my friends wanted to make some stupid memes with them, a shame you couldn't get the backgrounds/transparent sprites ;___; AGAIN, ME AND MY FRIENDS LOVED YOUR ARTWORK ON THE GAME!!! the watercoloring was simply beautiful, and your style was perfect for it! thanks for that one fun trivia fact by the way ^___^ id honestly love to see more of your art, thank you again for responding! Text

I can't answer two asks at the same time so I just quoted the previous one.

You're so enthusiastic I don't know what to say ;;; I guess that's nice you like my art?

I don't take commissions at the moment and while I could probably draw some memes for free, I'm literally working on five games at the moment so I don't really have time for that. At least this year. I'll definitely post about it here if I ended up opening comms, though.

And one more thing - if you want more memes and some secret info about thug's games, you can always join his discord server [linked on his itch profile]

[moomoomooing]

moomoo’s landing

I’m Kai! I draw :D

I draw for whatever im interested in! Currently thats Twisted Wonderland and Seventeen~ I also draw lots of oc/ original artwork as well.

This is a SFW blog: I will never post or rb full NSFW content, suggestive art will be cropped and the full piece under a cut. If I happen to draw NSFW, again I will post a sfw crop of it here, and there will be a link to a separate site with the full image.

This blog also contains spoilers for any of the fandoms I’m in. I won’t tag anything as spoilers unless I’m talking about it within 3-ish days of it’s release, so be warned!

(Important info from below- my DM’s are open to mutuals only! If you want to chat but we aren’t mutuals, use my ask box. Art requests are only open when I make an announcement for it. If one’s going on, that announcement will be my pinned post.)

This is a side blog I use as a main! Any followbacks will come from @kaiikko.

KYUU SCARLET (OC/Sona, he/him pronouns)

(info card is a work in progress!)

Kyuu's UM (writing)

Kyuu and why he’s in NRC (writing)

A Lion’s Warmth (writing)

A Pair of New Ears (writing)

spiraling down into your arms (writing)

Camp Vargas Card

Halloween Card

ADONIS BEAU (OC, he/him pronouns)

(info card is a work in progress!)

Reference

YUU (OC, he/they pronouns)

(info card is a work in progress!)

Old Yuu reference

COMMISSIONS OPEN 

REDBUBBLE SHOP

CARRD

want to know more? more info below!

I go by Kai and use any pronouns! I’m bi and idk what gender I am but I go with whatever feels best at the mo’ (I will pretty much never disclose my age here as I’m not comfortable doing that.)

I don’t interact too much with others because of anxiety -v-;;; but I’m doing my best to change that! I love it when people send me asks, for request, ask games, or just to chat is lovely!

As you can tell- I draw! I’ve been drawing as a hobby for most of my life, but I’ve recently been trying to get into a career for it! I have two cats, Prince and Mochi, that I may sometimes post www~ I tend to say some unhinged things every now n’ then so... uh be warned? I also love hearing people ramble about things, so my dm’s are always open to mutuals~

Twst favs! Leona Kingscholar (i can’t even explain why I adore him so much.) Ruggie Bucchi, Jade Leech

Cookie Run favs! Red Velvet Cookie, Pastry Cookie, Pure Vanilla Cookie

I used to be in Genshin (I recently quit) but heres my favs anyways- Chongyun, Shenhe, Diluc, Scaramouche, Jean

Genshin Mains Jean, Zhongli, Ayato, Chongyun, Shenhe

Other games I like: Professor Layton, Nonary Games (I’ve only played the first so far), Bloodborne (never played, only watched), Hades, For The King, Inscryption, Pokemon, Stardew Valley, Monster Hunter World, Monster Hunter Rise, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, Outer Wilds

(I watch RTgame almost exclusively so lots of my game’s come from him, or game’s I play with friends.)

REQUESTS:

- Again feel free to chat with my anytime you’d like! I don’t take art requests unless it’s from mutuals. Art requests will only open for events or for small 1-3 hours long periods when I feel like it. If you don’t wanna miss them try to keep updated with my posts, I don’t do anything special for spur of the moment requests.

COMISSIONS:

- My comms are open! See my ko-fi for details and consider supporting me! New commission options might open or more things might pop up on my shop so check in regularly! I also have a Redbubble shop should you wanna buy and of my past doodles. Don’t see one you like? Just DM me and I’ll put it up for you

TAGS:

Art tag: #moomoos doodles

Asks tag: #moomoos talks (looking for a specific ask? I put the blog name in my asks)

Writing tag: #moomoos writes

ART TECH INFO:

XP-PEN Artist 12 Pro, Clip Studio Paint Pro, Procreate on iPad

I usually work on a 1600 by 1920 px canvas, or a square 1000 by 1000 px canvas

I’ll add more here as I go~!

[underleaves]

BREAK

Like the title says, I'm going to take a break, not from drawing but from social media. With this news comes the closure of my Tipeee and Patreon accounts.

The decision may seem abrupt to you, but it is the result of a need for a change in the way I work which has grown over the months, until it became obvious to me.

Including the webcomic platforms, I update no less than 10 platforms, including 6 on a multi-weekly basis. It takes me a third of my time and honestly, I've gotten to a point where I literally feel exhausted from social media and the race for visibility. I feel like I have been chasing for years after a train that started without me and that I will never catch up anyway.

The problem is, working without social media when you're a freelance artist is like leaving your career behind. So I would like to rethink the way I manage communication in order to free myself time to draw again and to regain a freedom of mind that I have lost for too long.

And this change requires that I close Tipeee and Patreon as well as some of my other platforms.

With Instagram, Deviantart will remain one of my favorite platforms.

Tumblr is in the hot seat, although I have over a thousand subscribers, between the bots of and the people who left the platform, I don't feel that the number is very representative of the audience actually present. And since the Tumblrians are more lurkers than anything else I kinda feel like I'm alone in front of a ocean of indifference, which doesn't help to think that the game is worth the effort. Maybe I'll keep updating, but only by posts sent from instagram, I won't be doing manual updates anymore, unless you come forward to deny my impression.

For now, I'm mainly going to get away from the web and try to relearn how to enjoy drawing without a second thought, without seeking productivity or consistency, because it's something I haven't been able to do for years.

With the 4 months of exclusivity my Tipeee had on public posts, I have a lot to post. The webcomic will continue to be updated on DA and webtoon on a regular basis until I run out of pages ahead, but I honestly have no idea how to handle the rest. Maybe I'll take an outright break of several weeks… or several months. Maybe two days from now I'll be back and be posting randomly depending on my mood and my energy. The only sure thing is that I want to stop seeing sharing what I do as a constraint and so I can reconnect with all of you a bit.

I opened a Kofi page if ever some people want to continue to support me without compensation. https://ko-fi.com/maiwennunderleaves

Thank you for continuing your journey with me, I hope you are all doing as well as possible. ♥

-------------------------

Comme le titre l’annonce, je vais prendre une pause vis à vis, non pas du dessin, mais des réseaux sociaux. Cette nouvelle s’accompagne de la fermeture de mes comptes Tipeee et Patreon.

La décision peut vous paraître abrupte mais elle résulte d’un besoin de changement dans ma façon de travailler qui a grandi au fil des mois, jusqu’à s’imposer à moi comme une évidence.

En comptant les plateformes de webcomic, je tiens à jour pas moins de 10 plateformes dont 6 de façon pluri-hebdomadaire. Cela me prend un tiers de mon temps et honnêtement, j’en suis arrivée à un stade où je me sens littéralement épuisée par les réseaux sociaux et la course à la visibilité. J’ai l’impression de courir depuis des années après un train qui a démarré sans moi et que je ne rattraperai de toute façon jamais.

Le problème c’est que se passer des réseaux sociaux quand on est artiste indépendant, c’est comme tirer une croix sur sa carrière. J’aimerai donc repenser ma façon de gérer la communication afin de me libérer de nouveau du temps pour dessiner et de retrouver une liberté d’esprit que j’ai perdu depuis trop longtemps.

Et ce changement nécessite que je ferme Tipeee et Patreon ainsi que certaines de mes autres plateformes.

Avec instagram, Deviantart restera l’une de mes plateformes privilégiées.

Tumblr est sur la sellette, j’ai beau avoir dépassé le millier d’abonnés, entre les bots de et les gens qui ont quitté la plateforme, je n’ai pas l’impression que le nombre soit très représentatif du public réellement présent. Et comme les tumblriens sont des lurkers plus qu’autre chose j’ai un peu l’impression d’être seule face à un océan d’indifférence, ce qui n’aide pas à se dire que le jeu en vaut la chandelle. Je continuerai peut-être les mises à jour, mais seulement par renvoi de post depuis instagram, je ne viendrai plus faire de mises à jour manuelles, à moins que vous ne vous manifestiez pour démentir mon impression.

Pour le moment je vais surtout m’éloigner du net et essayer de réapprendre à apprécier dessiner sans arrière pensée, sans recherche de productivité ni de régularité, parce que c’est quelque chose que je ne sais plus faire depuis des années.

Avec les 4 mois d’exclusivité qu’avait mon Tipeee sur les posts publics, j’ai un paquet de choses à poster. Le webcomic va continuer à être mis à jour sur DA et webtoon sur une base régulière jusqu’à ce que je n’ai plus de planches d’avance, mais je n’ai honnêtement aucune idée de comment je vais gérer le reste. Peut-être que je ferai une pause pure et dure de plusieurs semaines… ou de plusieurs mois. Peut-être que d’ici deux jours je serai déjà de retour à poster de façon aléatoire en fonction de mon envie et de mon énergie. La seule chose sûre c’est que je veux arrêter de voir le fait de partager ce que je fais comme une contrainte et qu’ainsi, je pourrais reconnecter un peu avec vous tous.

Je me suis ouvert une page Kofi si jamais certains veulent continuer à me soutenir sans contrepartie.

https://ko-fi.com/maiwennunderleaves

Merci à vous de poursuivre votre chemin à mes côtés, j’espère que vous vous portez tous aussi bien que possible. ♥

[gumnut-logic]

Callisto (Part Six - Rescue Site)

Prologue 1. Incident - Bit 1 | Bit 2 2. Fallout - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 3. Voyage - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 4. Arrival - Bit 1 | Bit 2 5. Orientation 6. Rescue Site

This fic seems to be taking forever, but I hope it isn’t reading that way. I had so much fun over the weekend and I still have some fun ahead of me writing one of the core scenes I had planned. I hope you are enjoying reading this.

As always, many thanks to the amazing @tsarinatorment​ @scribbles97​ @janetm74​ and @vegetacide​ as well for all the read throughs and support. Wonderful science officer @onereyofstarlight​ this bit has one of the places we talked about extensively and wouldn’t exist without your help :D

Again, thank you to all the wonderful peeps who have been reading along and commenting despite the once a week posting schedule. You help keep my enthusiasm alive and you have no idea how much I appreciate every word of encouragement ::hugs you all::

Have a Tracy boy or two on the job :D

-o-o-o-

Scott rolled his shoulders and tried to stretch out the tension that was slowly giving him a headache.

At least now they were moving. This rescue felt like it was taking forever.

Hell, it was the same with most space recues, if even more with this one. The distances involved just went on and on and no matter how fast the Thunderbird, it was slow.

It rankled Scott just a little. The fact that the environment could not be influenced by his impatience.

And Dad…

He shunted the thought aside. Perhaps that was why he scorned the time needed. It gave him far too much time to think.

The tunnel stretched out before him as it had for some time now. The life signs were nearly seven hundred kilometres away from Callisto Base. Usually, this was not a problem. There wasn’t a Thunderbird that couldn’t cover that distance in a short period of time. Even Four could do it at velocities no other underwater craft had ever managed.

But this location was at least two kilometres underground, and while the molepod was always an option, Virgil had vetoed it with the option of travelling via dragonfly through the tunnels. Scott had to agree. They needed far more information before barrelling into an unknown situation, not to mention the difficulties of deploying the molepod in these conditions.

But by this point he was almost ready to jump out and blast a hole in the damned moon to get where they needed to go.

Time. So much damned time.

Too much to think.

His hands shifted on the Dragonfly’s controls spinning her into a dive as the tunnel dipped suddenly. The brilliance of the pod’s forward lights lit up the never-ending cave as clear as daylight.

It sparkled back at him in sharp, stabbing needle-like reflections off the walls that did nothing to improve his headache. He had already set his helmet to shade to protect himself. It was ridiculous to be needing sunglasses this far underground.

Behind him, Virgil was following him at a short distance in Dragonfly Two, his lights just bright enough to light up the red of Scott’s pod.

For some irrational reason Scott wanted his pod to be blue.

The blue of the sky he was currently missing.

He sighed.

Again, too much time to think.

“Another five hundred metres.” Alan’s voice from behind him was the reassurance it always was. Why he felt comforted when his littlest brother was nearby and within reach was something he did not want to examine too much.

A twist of his wrists as the tunnel backed around on itself in a hairpin of a turn and he had to dodge another nest of those weird deformed ice stalactite formations sticking out into their path. “What are we looking at?”

“Looks like another cavern. A big one.”

They had flown through several of those enormous caverns on the way out here already. They acted like junctions, some having multiple tunnels converging on them, every single one a home for more ice formations and that damned reflective rock. It had taken John to get them out of the last one. This place was a damned maze.

Virgil had fortunately come prepared, as always. He was leaving a trail of comms-support beacons behind them as a clear path to return to Callisto Base.

Scott fought the urge to duck as the tunnel suddenly shrunk by several metres and took another swerving turn. Scott spun the pod over one-eighty degrees on her longitudinal axis as her wings nearly scraped the ceiling.

Righting them finally, he couldn’t help but check his monitor to make sure Virgil took the turn safely.

He almost smiled as the green pod behind them flipped in a manoeuvre that no doubt had Gordon yelping in the back seat. He couldn’t help but be proud for just a self-indulgent moment.

But his attention was torn away as his pod suddenly shot into a large open space and the light reflecting off the walls suddenly blinded him.

Alan’s gasp behind him only echoed his own.

Their forward lights were being shot at them in blinding brilliance off the ceiling of the new cave.

That brightness only increased as Virgil’s pod spun into a hover beside them.

Oh god.

Whatever had been in the walls of the tunnels was obviously concentrated here.

He redirected the lamps away from the ceiling only to have the brilliance follow them all the way down the closest wall until he was able to turn the pod towards the most distant wall.

Crystal.

There was crystal everywhere.

The cave walls were covered in spikes of the stuff as it they were inside a giant geode. He had to acknowledge that it was stunningly amazing when it wasn’t ripping his eyeballs out.

But that wasn’t what took his breath away.

As their lamps lowered, they caught the edges of something else.

He turned the lights down towards the floor only to discover he couldn’t see it.

Because it was covered in water.

Fluid, liquid water, the dragonflies causing the faintest of ripples to dance across its surface.

A lake.

Scott’s jaw dropped as he tipped the pod to peer down into the dark water only to have more crystal attempt to stab him in the eye from the depths.

“What the hell?”

Water wasn’t supposed to be able to exist in this environment. He poked at his scanners. Atmospheric levels were the same, ever so thin, providing little to no air pressure or heat to keep the water in this state.

“John? What am I seeing?”

Thunderbird Five did not answer immediately, but the data transmission rate on comms doubled as his space brother reached his fingers into the cave through the pod’s sensors.

“Impossible.”

“That was my thought. Virgil?”

“It’s beautiful.”

Scott’s lips thinned. “Scientific explanation? Gordon?”

“You got me here, bro. But I’m more concerned about those lifesigns.”

Scott frowned and double checked his readout. The two dots registered, glowing strongly at him.

From under the water.

-o-o-o-

Virgil frowned as Scott spun his dragonfly around and returned to the entrance of the cavern. His forward lights lit up only what could be considered a beach where the original tunnel swooped in and connected with the crystal cave. At the base there was only a few scattered crystal formations and Virgil watched as his brother expertly put down without touching a single one.

“Are we going to take a look at the lake?”

Typical. Nearby water body and his fish brother wanted in it.

But Virgil needed more reconnaissance.

And if he was honest with himself, there was just a dash of sightseeing involved. Not much, because of the urgency of the mission, but enough curiosity to send him off on a scout around the cavern.

Crystals that had to be the length of an arm or a leg stuck out from the walls in haphazard directions. Most reflected back clear, but in streaks, as if seeping up a localised mineral, there were ribbons of colour in places – reds, greys, golds, pinks. His scanners spat back that it was simply quartz, silicon dioxide, but he had never seen a formation like this.

Which was understandable as this was an alien landscape with vastly different environs to those of Earth. The artist in him was literally stunned, while the scientist valiantly fought for a reason.

He swooped around the edges of the cavern, his lamps lighting up brilliance as he went. The cave proved to be roughly circular, approximately four hundred metres in diameter and about a hundred metres high. He came across two more tunnels leading off it, but all were as dry as the one they had used to enter the cave. Towards the centre, but not quite, the ceiling arched down and what appeared to be a stalactite met a stalagmite to form a column of swirling crystal that looked like something straight out of an art glass exhibition. The ribbons of colour were here too, but this time mostly in a rose pink and a startling blue.

Virgil didn’t have words.

The light playing among the crystals just touched every artistic sense he had and froze them solid.

But there was a mission and those two glowing red dots glared at him from beneath the surface of the lake.

He ran scans of the water. For it was water, mostly, though, certainly not any he would want to drink.

For one thing it was salty, a definite brine solution with a number of minerals including silica in concentrations that defied as much logic as the water’s existence did in the first place.

The difficulty was that the lifesigns weren’t clear. They were in the water, but resolution faded at a very shallow depth and there was a lot of deep depth in places.

“John, can you get any more resolution on these scans? I can’t pinpoint the lifesigns.”

There was a muttered curse on comms that had Virgil arching an eyebrow. “No, I’m sorry, Virgil. Interference is particularly strong in that cavern. We’re working on it, but I don’t have any great hopes.”

“What about a probe? Would that improve the signal?” Virgil blinked as his headache suddenly flared. Ow. Damn. The controls in front of him blurred a moment. Shit!

But then everything righted itself, just leaving an echo of the pain in his head as the headache droned on as it had before.

Maybe his painkillers were wearing off. A glance at the time proved that was far from the case.

He dreaded to think what that would have felt like without them.

“Virg?”

“What?!” Okay, so he was abrupt, but he was busy.

“Hey, hey, calm down. You didn’t answer John. Just checking on you.”

“Virgil, you there?” John’s voice dripped concern.

Shit.

“Sorry. Just got a headache. Need some sleep.”

“I feel you, bro. Want me to pilot?”

“No. No. I’m fine.” He swallowed bile and mentally shook himself. “John, you were saying?”

He could feel Gordon’s eyes on the back of his neck.

“Probe deployed. Target is Burr Crater, which you are directly under at the moment.”

Virgil’s display reported the probe entering Callisto’s atmosphere. He hoped it would give them enough information to act.

Time was ticking.

He spun the pod around and tried to ignore the rainbow of light that was his forward lamps. The flicker, while beautiful, was doing nothing good for his headache at all.

“You sure you’re okay, Virg?”

He pressed his lips together and considered ignoring the question from Gordon. But he knew if he did, his brother would only worry more.

It was a Tracy trait.

“Let’s just get this mission done. We have people who need saving.”

Gordon’s grunt wasn’t a happy one and the chances of Scott being called in on his headache were increasing by the moment.

“I’m fine, Gordon.” He cut the conversation off by dropping the pod rapidly towards the beach where Scott had climbed out and was walking to the water’s edge. Another spin mid-air and Virgil lowered into a rather delicate landing, keeping the pod’s feet away from the crystal formations sticking out of the rock.

Virgil swallowed again before climbing out of the pod. His boots hit solid but glittering rock, damp in the darkness.

Scott and Alan were standing at the water’s edge staring out at the spectacle that the pod lights lit up.

Gordon clambered out behind Virgil and together they both walked over to stand beside their brothers.

“This is so cool!” Alan was obviously excited.

He said it on external comms and the sound travelled across the cavern only to bounce back in so many perfect ‘ool’s Virgil’s eyes widened.

On the spur of that, as the ‘ool’s slowly faded away, he activated his own external comm and sung a single pure C note.

It came back at him from so many different directions it was like a chorus.

“Oh, wow.”

‘Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow…’ It went on, the faint atmosphere sporting just enough density to carry the sound waves.

“That is something, isn’t it?” Scott’s voice was quiet. “The dragonflies made one hell of a racket. We’re going to have to be careful. Wouldn’t want to set up a harmonic that could bring the roof down on us.”

Virgil was still processing. The thought of playing his piano in this cave was just mind boggling.

“Dad says the Base scientists are having some kind of scientific fit over this place.” A grunt. “I’m more concerned about those two lifesigns.” He paused. “John, any luck with the probe?”

“Unfortunately, no. The interference is just too thick. I can read the water, but very little in it or below it. I’ll keep trying.”

Scott sighed. “Keep us updated. Looks like this will have to be more hands on.” He turned to Gordon. “We need Thunderbird Four.”

-o-o-o-

Next

[sisterofleatherfrog]

Star Wars Kinktober day- 1

Prompt: Symbolic jewelry

Sub! Tup x Female (AFAB) OC

Hello! Willkommen to the grand opening of me doing Kinktober (even if this post is a few hours late for the actual 1st 😅)! Here is my prompt list derived from Kinktober lists by @ink-and-flame. Their prompt lists are phenomenal, but for the sake of my ADHD I had to whittle it down into a more finite list of interests that I am comfortable writing and know at least a little about it, or else I’ll just get lost in the sauce of prompts! But seriously, go check out their lists, they’re incredibly varied and have something for everyone! 

And now without further ado:

Tags: some drinking, sub male, femdom, nudity, almost pussy eating (working up to it in part 2!), pussy worship, praise kink, worship kink (is that a thing?),  there’s no sex in this fic it’s just the lead up (she is spoicy tho)

Words: 1609

🍑🍑🍑

Under his shirt, the chain and pendant Tup wore brushed cooly against his chest. As unpleasant as the gooseflesh it raised was, the reminder it gave him was anything but. 

From the moment he’d awoke that morning, wrapped in arms as pale as the thin sunlight at that hour, he knew what he wanted and began to get ready. A few kisses pecked around his groggy girlfriend, Aurelie’s, face placated her awakening at his rising and he moved to her dressing table to grab the aforementioned necklace. If she wasn’t interested in playing, it would have been put away the night before in it’s felt case, but this morning he plucked it from it’s customary open place before the mirror. 

Catching the morning bus he felt it leap and jump with the rhythm of the air vehicle as the pilot navigated Coruscant air-traffic. After the war ended and the clones were given their freedom, sentient rights, and a hell of a lot of backpay, there were questions of what was to be done with them. As it turned out, there wasn’t such a mass exodus from the GAR as previously thought there would be, though many opted to retire from combat positions. Tup chose to oversee the supply requisition and organization for the newly formed Search & Rescue Ops, a subsidiary of the Disaster Relief Squadron, helping places around the galaxy affected by natural disasters. It felt meaningful and good, and he could honestly say he didn’t miss having to carry a gun and constantly keep an eye out for clankers.

After a day of approving supply drops, running reports, and the pendant lightly caressing his chest with every slight sway, he was back on the bus home. A man scowled at him from among the crowd; some people would never see the clones as anything more than meat-droids undeserving of even the life they were given, but the pendant mocked that man’s ideas from behind Tup’s shirt. It was a gift of love freely given to him and he was worthy,

When he returned to his apartment Aurelie was still at work, not getting off until late. As he waited for water to boil he straightened up around the place, clearing dust from the nooks it always returned to settle and gathered laundry. When he came to the bed in their room he came to a spot by the bed and stopped, considered, and opened a drawer to reveal a medium sized case which he deposited neatly on Aurelie’s side of the bed. He already had the necklace, it never hurt to be proactive in terms of their play. 

Half an hour later dinner was had and a portion of it was squared away in the fridge with a reminder to reheat it and enjoy and Tup was ready to meet a few of the boys at 79’s. As he changed from his work wear into something light blue and more casual, the afternoon sun caught the silver pendant resting on the tan skin of his breast bone, dying it almost the same shade of pink- before he could finish that thought a beep from his comm sounded informing him that his taxi had arrived outside.

20 minutes, a few levels down, and a familiar neon sign later, Tup was walking into a familiar bar. Nothing had changed about the place, only now armour and dress greys were a rare sight to be seen as the open opportunity for individuality to flourish among the clones led to some, interesting, experiments in style. ‘Speaking of which,’ thought Tup as a discordant but jovial chorus of his name called him over to a table in the corner. Fives, Jesse, Kix, Rex, Waxer, Boil, Cody, and even Wolffe, to his surprise, sat there having already gotten a small headstart on happy hour. It wasn’t a full reunion, others still at work or spread across the galaxy exploring life, but it was always nice to see familiar faces.

They took their time and paced themselves drinking, it was still early and they didn’t have to run off in an hour to prepare for a campaign and weren’t shotgunning a train of shots to try and forget one. Some of them had to be able to operate tomorrow morning though and they parted as the night lowered it’s curtain over day; Jesse and Kix remained however to scope out some of the ladies coming in with the party crowds.

As good as the times spent together were, Tup silently willed the air-taxi to carry him away faster through the legendary Coruscant traffic and back home. He’d worn the necklace, the empty place it would otherwise occupy obvious, if she hadn’t noticed then she would certainly see the familiar box he’d left resting by her pillow. Stars he was ready, the anticipation had built all day, the secret only he kept feeding his need. He was thrumming for whatever Aurelie had to give him.

The taxi stopped and he cursed the second it took for the payment to transfer, the minute in the elevator, the short march down the hall, and the door code he had to spend time punching in-

The entry was dark with the exception of a string of pink fairy lights strung along the wall and leading around the corner to their room. He grinned and, remembering to turn back and lock the door when he was already halfway across the room, soon came to the closed panel that marked their space. He knocked, “May I come in mistress?”

“Enter, darling.” A high, breathy voice answered.

As the door opened Tup entered the threshold and lowered himself to his knees, his hands finding their place on his lap as he gazed upon the shining woman perched on the edge of their bed (somehow, someway, his girlfriend, a part of his brain never ceased obsessing). She regarded him warmly, “Have you been a good boy today Tup? You took your necklace and I really hope it didn’t make you do anything naughty.”

“I was very good, mistress, just for you.” His voice was breathy and quiet, he had been good, and he anticipated his reward. His eyes drank in the milky skin that clothed the leopardess in repose before him, partially obscured by the long, wavy strands of pearly blonde hair.

“Oh I know Tup, you’re such a good boy. You wake me up with kisses, make sure I have food to eat when I work late, and you were so considerate to get our box of toys out for me. I don’t know where to begin, but good boys deserve to be rewarded, isn’t that right my beautiful boy?” 

Aurelie’s voice caressed his every synapse as he breathed in air that still held the trace of a burn from a heavy incense and he was already in a state. Her words of praise had passed straight down from his ears to his cock, bringing him to a full erection from the half mast he’d been sailing at since walking through the front door. “Yes, please mistress, yes.” If it sounded like he was begging, Tup didn’t care. Her soft thighs were resting atop one another, hiding from him what he’d been craving all day. Just one simple shift was all it would take to reveal to him where she was no doubt already soft, sweet, and wet.

Her legs uncrossed, but she stood instead of spreading wider and came to stand before him, her curl-crowned mound a tease before him that turned his need to a desperate clamour within him. He held still, eyes glued to hers as she leaned down to him and brought her pillowy lips to kiss him, one hand coming up to cradle his cheek and the other fiddles with his collar for the necklace she’d gifted him. His hands were curled hard on his lap, restraining himself from the urge to reach out and touch; being so, so good and waiting.

Drawing the pendant along the chain away from Tup’s racing heart, Aurelie held it between them and teased: “Is this what you want Tup? Do you want to eat my pussy until you’re begging for me to fuck you, until you cum in me? Or maybe I’ll ride that handsome face of yours all night and let you cum in my mouth while you’re hard at work.” Tup could only manage a tortured moan, the pictures being painted in his head making him dizzy. She lightly laughed and graciously accepted that as her answer, gently leading him across the floor as she walked backwards with the chain still in her hand, him crawling on all fours after her. When she returned to the bed she sat as he looked up at her with lust and adoration.

Still holding the pendant, she slowly drew her legs apart, raising one to rest on the bed so her pussy and the glorious pink of her vulva were wide open on display for Tup in his current position. Aurelie considered the pendant again for a moment. “I’m glad I found that artist, it’s a wonderful likeness, isn’t it darling?” From the petal-like folds of her labia minora to the majora that protected them and the unique hood that shadowed her marvelous clit, it couldn’t belong to anyone else. The highest honour Tup felt was being lucky enough to be the one person allowed to worship it. 

“Stars yes, mistress!” He agreed emphatically and Aurelie laughed lightly again and let the necklace fall back into its place from her fingers. 

“Well, come and get your reward Tup.” He gladly obliged. 

🍑🍑🍑

So yeah, Tup as a Sub wears a necklace of his girlfriend’s vulva when he really wants to be her good boy (; It also helps that it’s really pretty ✨👀✨

Also sorry if this is a little off, this wasn’t even alpha read, let alone beta read.

Aurelie is one of a few OC’s I’ve used in my daydreams, she may make another appearance in another story if I think she’ll fit! I may try and do some art too…

As for the boys at the bar, I came up with ideas for what they’re up to now and may either write other Kinktober stuff in this AU, or do some drabbles later (though I could include the Kinktober stuff in an AU drabble, right?). I didn’t include it in the story though because I felt like it would disturb the flow too much. I’ll probably detail the AU in another post if I do end up doing that.

Kinktober works so far

Masterlist

[janeykath318]

Prompt Fic: Skinny! Steve (Romanogers)

For @marshunter06

5 times Natasha thought Steve was adorable and one time he was downright irresistible

1.The first time Natasha Romanoff met Steve Rogers was when she was teaching firearm techniques to the group of newbie shield agents, which included the scrawny blonde man. She didn’t expect much from him, but he was very polite and attentive, and quickly picked up in her instructions. A lot of his fellow IT people were quite literally very gunshy and required much patient handling, but surprisingly Steve, who was the nerdiest looking of them all, turned out to be by far the best learner. (His only fault was he said “ma’am” too much.)

The glee on his face when he succeeded in hitting the target was the cutest thing she’d seen all day. Maybe she wouldn’t kill Clint for shoving the training on her.

2. The second time she met Steve was when she and Clint and James were going out to celebrate a very successful mission and James asked if he could bring his good friend and fellow Shield employee along.

“Kid never gets out much. He needs some socializing and a break from his computer screen.”

Clint of course agreed right away, the big softie, and it didn’t take Natasha long to be convinced. She trusted James.

Her eyebrows rose into her hairline when James’s friend turned out to be Steve from Cyber. He looked very out of his element and she wondered if the guy had ever been in a bar before.

“Steve, this is Agent Natasha Romanoff, one of the best in the business,” James introduced. “Natasha, this punk here is Steve Rogers, my best friend and skilled computer geek.”

“We meet again, Steve,” Natasha said, smiling at the flushed looking Steve. She noticed he had very pretty, soulful blue eyes and striking cheekbones in his thin face.

“It’s a pleasure, ma’am,” Steve blurted out awkwardly as he shook her hand. He looked so cute when his face went all red.

3. “Rogers! What happened to you?” Natasha asked in astonishment, seeing a bloody faced Steve being hauled down to medical by an exasperated looking Barnes.

“Yes, tell her, Steve,” Barnes said, earning himself an annoyed look.

“One of the guys from Alpha made a gross sexist comment and I called him out on it,” Steve mumbled through a bloody nose, eyes fixed on the floor.

“And….” Barnes prompted.

“And he wouldn’t apologize, so I punched him,” Steve muttered, giving his friend another glare.

“Oh, Steve, you precious idiot,” she sighed, shaking her head. “He could have snapped you in half. Report him to HR instead. We’d much prefer having you in one piece.”

“I’ve tried that before,” Steve sighed. “They’re always likely to take the big badass agent’s word over hers or mine.”

Now Bucky was frowning as well.

“Sounds like HR needs investigating too,” he said.

“They do,” Natasha confirmed. “I’ll mention it to Hill today. Those guys from Alpha need attitude adjustments.”

Later, when she was watching tape of the incident with Hill, she saw the look of pure rage on Steve’s face as he clocked the offending agent who was twice his size and her heart melted a little inside. He may be reckless, but his heart was in the right place.

4. Natasha returned from a mission in Russia in a very dark place emotionally. All of Clint’s attempts to comfort fell flat and and as soon as the grueling debriefing was over, she high-tailed it to the comfort of her apartment. She’d told Fury she was taking the next few days off and for once he understood.

She’d worked so hard to move beyond her past, but sometimes it smacked her right in the face, bringing back the old traumas she’d hoped she’d left behind years ago. The faces of her targets and trainers swam unendingly through her mind, and not even alcohol was working.

On day two post mission, she collected her mail, noticing it was pretty much all junk, except for a brown manilla envelope that had Rogers in the return address.

Curious, she opened it up and pulled out a thick piece of paper and a smaller one with writing on it.

“Agent Romanoff,

I heard you had a rough mission and thought this might make you smile.

Steve”

The other piece of paper had several very good sketches on it, one of which portrayed Natasha knocking Steve on his ass, above which he’d written, “You and me if we ever sparred.” That DID make her smile.

Another showed a heavily muscled, taller version of Steve beating up Rollins from Alpha and he’d captioned this one: “If Only.”

The Third was a drawing of Natasha, Clint, and James in full gear, ready for a mission.

“Badass Trio” was what Steve had titled it.

The final sketch was Natasha by herself, giving her trademark half smile. Her breath caught at the detail and skill of the art. She’d seen him doodling at his desk before, but had had no idea how good of an artist he really was.

She looked at the sketches for a long time, then picked up her phone to call James and ask for Steve’s number. It was high time she got to know him better.

5. Steve’s first time being in the field for a mission was a momentous occasion. He was going to be decoding and interpreting data that Natasha, Clint, and James were “borrowing” from a probable Hydra cell. Holed up in the back of an inconspicuous van across the street, Steve could hear and communicate with the main team as he worked on his computer.

Tense as the mission was, it went ten times faster than it would have done without Steve there. Natasha overheard him through the comms muttering things like, “Got Ya, Sons of bitches!” and “You’ll rue the day you joined a Nazi group, pal.”

Clint’s eyes raised when he heard it and he whispered to James “Is he always like this?”

James nodded, a fond grin on his face.

“Yep. Don’t let his innocent looks fool ya. Steve is one hundred percent ready to throw down with evildoers at all times. He’s fueled by coffee and rage.”

“Accurate,” Natasha agreed, smiling as Steve swore again over the comms. She’d developed quite a fondness for the feisty fellow and was contemplating asking him out on a date.

+1 “You want to go out with m-me?”

Steve’s blue eyes were round as saucers as he processed the question Natasha had just asked him.

“Yes, Steve, I do,” she told him, lounging against his desk.

“Wow,” he breathed. “You really LIKE me like me?”

“Yes,” she confirmed again. “And I strongly suspect the feeling is mutual.”

Steve blushed bright red and smiled rather shyly.

“I was content to admire from afar,” he admitted. “I’m in this league,” he held his palm very low, “and you’re in this league,” he raised his hand above his head. “So I was pretty happy that you would even be friends with me.”

“The world might see it that way, but, Steve, you are a good man with a big heart who is honest and sincere and hates bullies and Nazis and is an incredibly talented agent. Oh, did I mention your pretty eyes and handsome face?”

Steve’s blush deepened and he was speechless for several moments, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“What do you say, Rogers? Friday night work for you?”

The shyness melted away and A slow grin spread across his face, the type of grin Natasha had never seen on him before, but it DID things to her. Normal Steve’s smile was adorable. Flirty Steve’s smile? Irresistible.

“Abso-freaking-lutely.” He declared.

[jasontoddiefor]

Title: Mouse Droids and How To Fix Them – A Quick And Easy Guide [Livestream] Summary: Luke has a Space Youtube Channel and Leia watches his videos to de-stress from a terrible day. Mouse droids are named and the Empire and its terrible quality are dragged through the sarlacc pit. AN: Anyway, did somebody said TIE-Fighter story prequel? No? Too bad.

Leia was a well-composed and well-behaved serene princess right up until the doors of her rooms closed behind her. The moment she was out of sight, she kicked off her shoes with such a force that they soared half across the room and crashed against her wardrobe with a loud crack. She took the pins keeping her braids in place out of her hair and threw them onto the dresser. Then as graceless as a regular fifteen-year-old girl, Leia dropped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Today had been terrible.

Leia hated all the pointless festivities that only ever served to make everyone there feel important and powerful but did absolutely nothing for the people they were supposed to govern. She couldn’t understand how her parents managed it. They were good and selfless people, always calm and serene even when the newest governor was basically spitting one insult after the other at them. Leia always wanted to shout back, it was her first instinct. Idiots who couldn’t be bothered to contribute anything productive or kind, should shut up and stop hindering others from doing their job. Leia had kept her mouth shut of course. She had smiled pleasantly as her mother had taught her and acted as expected from her.

But that didn’t mean that she hadn’t wanted to strip the gloves off her hands and show him how much of a bloodthirsty royal she really was. She shouldn’t have desired it, but it annoyed her so much when others purposefully misunderstood her. It had been a year since she picked her coronation color. When would people finally stop commenting on it?

Yes! Princess Leia Organa had chosen white! She’d forgone five-hundred-years of tradition and picked the color of the snow on Alderaan’s mountains, of ice so cold it burned, of the sheets upon which they wrote the names of their dead.

Leia wore the color of war, mourning and remembrance and she wore it well.

How could she not when the Empire was murdering innocents, subjugating whole worlds and waging an unjust war? Picking green or blue would be an insult upon the suffering she had been forced to witness. She didn’t want to be remembered as another impassive royal, bowing to the whims of the Empire. Leia hadn’t been meant to live in a tyrannizing Empire in which she had to watch her every word and step. She wanted to speak her mind and missed the Republic she never got to experience.

Her parents, while displeased she out herself in such danger, had understood it. Most Alderaanians understood it and supported her, but not that stupid new governor. Instead, he went on and on about her image and character flaws – and worse! Talked about marriage.

Leia was already dead set on staying unmarried. Her parents had been lucky. Despite their marriage being arranged, they’d loved each other. Or maybe they had been in love first and the political advantage of the marriage was just a bonus. Leia didn’t entirely know, but she knew to one hundred percent that all her potential Alderaani suitors sucked. They were arrogant and petty or worse, both of that but way older than her as well. She could marry somebody from a different planet, but the Old Houses would frown upon that and then she’d have to deal with more in-fighting and risk losing control of Alderaan’s society and give the Empire even more access to her planet. It was bad enough as it was.

Groaning, Leia rolled onto her back and got up from her bed again. She’d hate herself in the morning if she didn’t dress out of the fine robes completely. She fetched herself her sleeping clothes and washed the make-up off her face. It felt like taking off uncomfortable armor and she was more than glad to get rid of it. Leia didn’t mind dressing up. As a child, she had loved trying on her parents’ much too large clothes and she still loved picking out dresses together with her mother, but sometimes she wished it all wouldn’t take so much energy.

Redressed, Leia returned to her bed, ready to pretend to fall asleep when she knew that she wouldn’t be able to close her eyes now. Her mind was too unfocused, her thoughts all jumbled up. She laid still and waited until another moment had passed before reaching for her bed stand and pulling out her secret private comm.

Leia had three of them. One for official business, one was the officially private secret comm – the one every important person in the galaxy was supposed to have and hide – and then there was her own, which she used to stay up-to-date with activities unbefitting on an Imperial princess.

She checked the holonet, skimming through articles that made her blood boil and delightfully bright art that called for resistance. She was pleased to notice that more and more Alderaani artists were choosing lighter colors in their barely legal paintings and downright joyful when she saw an account post images of white flags. Those posts would probably be taken down once the meaning behind them spread a little more, but Leia was proud nonetheless. She had caused this, this was her contribution to the Rebellion.

In a better mood already, Leia went through her notifications. She had a few replies to articles she had written and- oh.

 [Notification: Scrap Hunting has started a livestream – 1 Min ago]

Smiling widely, Leia clicked on the link connecting her to the video. The livestream had indeed only started recently, and not even properly. Leia had missed the last one sadly because she’d been in the Core, too far away for Scrap Hunting’s terrible holonet connection to reach. Alderaan was just close enough to Tatooine for Leia to watch them.

She couldn’t quite recall how she had stumbled upon the channel. She had just been clicking through some random videos one day and there it had been. Leia wasn’t all that knowledgeable about ships – her parents had kept a keen eye on her since the Speeder accident she’d had when she was ten – and didn’t really have much access to the hangers either. Droids, on the other hand, Leia knew plenty about. They were everywhere and nobody wanted to live without them, which made them the perfect spies with the right adjustments. Leia knew how to wipe a droid’s memory so clean, it was shinier than any crystal and how to hide protocols upon protocols in their storage. Her favorite droids were C-3PO and the R2D2 unite serving on the Tantive IV. Artoo especially had a lot of personality. Leia needed to sort out her Binary so she could catch all the colorful curses the astromech liked to inflict on people.

The two boys running Scrap Hunting – well, only really Luke actually – were sympathetic. They didn’t talk about droids like they were simple tools and they were proficient in fixing them up. Therefore Leia was very pleased to see that the title of the livestream was Mouse Droids and How To Fix Them – A Quick And Easy Guide. This would be fun, the right kind of distracting noise she needed after such a long day.

X

“Alright, we’re all set up now,” Luke said. “Hello everybody! I’m Luke and welcome to another episode of Scrap Hunting!”

He waved at the recorder and then picked up a small back droid from his table. “This is what today’s livestream will be about! An MSE-series droid! A lot of you guys said you’d like more livestreams and the weather’s been pretty good recently and I fixed the signals so I hope this works out just fine.”

Luke smiled and reached for the first tool lying in front of him. “I decided that fixing up this little guy here should be fine for a shorter video. I don’t have to think so much about what I’m doing and can talk at the same time.”

He began taking off the outer casing of the droid and carefully set it aside. “I know, I know, I’m always talking, but nobody complains about it.” Luke stopped spinning his wrench for a moment to think. “Okay, alright, maybe my uncle complains about it sometimes but that’s what he gets for making me check all the vaporators on my own. Anyway, I talk a lot and so does this chat. Lots of people joining in here! Hi!”

Luke looked through the chat, returned greetings and explained how he had gotten the droid as payment for helping out in a repair shop.

“And I know the owner thought he was just giving me so boring little plaything, but do you know how versatile these MSE droids are?”

X

Leia definitely knew how useful they could be. She grinned when Luke comically shook his head when people began sending in question marks and began belittling the tiny Mouse droids. They made excellent spies, infiltrators and guides. Underestimating them just because they were cute was fatal. Leia was happy when Luke reacted as outraged as she was and began elaborating on what the droids could be used for.

X

“And like, I get sending the droids back when they trigger your instincts, I wouldn’t keep around a droid that reminds me of a womp rat or a krayt dragon.” Luke paused, the half-open mouse droid lying on his lap, and apparently considered his suggestions.

“Okay, maybe I would actually want them. Could you imagine a droid krayt dragon? So cool.”

Luke reached for the nearest datapad and took a few notes, then put it next to him on the table and returned to working on the MSE.

“But yeah, point being: Why did the Aar’aa sell them to the Empire so cheaply? Add some extra software and boom, you can sell them for twice the price. Then you’d even make a bonus. Oh, well, I suppose the Empire at least made a good deal there.”

The MSE droid laid bare now and Luke could easily access its memory. He took his datapad once more and connected it to the droid. After a few seconds, he had access to its memory and immediately frowned.

“Or it did not. What is this programming? I researched what I could find before, downloaded some protocols-“ Luke looked away from his datapad to point down, “-links in the description as always. But just- honestly. Who wrote this protocol?”

He gently knocked his head against the droid’s frame. “I’m so sorry, don’t worry, I’ll speed up your processors.”

X

The next hour, Leia spent listening to Luke ramble on about what changes he made and why. Once or twice she even threw her own suggestions in the chat and watched contently as Luke picked up on them and began to work with them. She wished she didn’t have so many duties and could spend her days doing things she actually wanted, take a more active role in the rebellion. But she supposed that as long as she could escape annoying politicians for a while, she’d be fine.

Leia glanced at her chrono. While it appeared to be midday still on Tatooine, it was already early morning for her. She should head to sleep soon.

Thankfully, the livestream was also wrapping up. Luke had reassembled the droid and screwed the last bolt down.

 “And done!” Luke said and helped up the repaired Mouse droid. “A Quick And Easy Guide to Mouse Droids. Now, the only thing left is repainting and naming it. Same rules as always, highest donator gets to choose the color and the name.”

Leia watched as a lot of people began donating. Some just threw in five credits, just to support the channel. She’d done so before as well. It was only right to help somebody else and give him a thanks after cheering her up. Leia typed the first one, then stopped.

She was tired, had been for at least thirty minutes now, but her mind was finally calm as well. She was still and upset, but not so that she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Leia shouldn’t waste her allowance on this, but Leia had also had a terrible horrible no-good day and wanted to name that Mouse Droid.

X

“And that was it!” Luke announced. “Many thanks for all your donations. I’ll keep you posted on what my next project will be. Hopefully something a little more interesting than this little buddy here. Now let’s see… The highest donation is one- one thousand credits from @rebelroyal!?”

Luke’s voice was awfully high-pitched, shock visible all over his face. “Is this real- oh gosh. Thank you so, so much! I’m not sure- Many thanks for supporting this channel! You may name any future Mouse Droids I come across, oh Force. Right. Uhm. What is your suggestion?”

Leia eyes her discarded white dress on the floor and chose.

X

History’s eyes on you @ rebelroyal

Paint it white and name it Emmy! Many thanks for all the lovely content you provide.

Little Emmy, it turned out, look much better in white than it did in the awful black so representative for the Empire.

X

[Notification: Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot has mentioned you in a new post]

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

I have adopted 4 more mouse droids to keep our ship clean!

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

[Foto: Five Mouse Droids standing in front of Luke, who was sitting on the ground, smiling cheerfully. The droid in the middle was Emmy. It was a little banged up and had a couple more scratches. On its right were an orange and a blue droid, freshly painted from the looks of it. On Emmy’s left were two black ones]

@ rebelroyal The orange and blue ones have been painted and named already, care to do the honors for the other two?

X

Leia smiled fondly at the picture and began to type.

History’s eyes on you @ rebelroyal

How about yellow and green? Benny and Penny so it rhymes?

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

Done :D

[Foto: The two previously black mouse droids have been painted as well and are furiously cleaning the floor of a ship]

[nightowlgunner]

Her

It was like June 2020 when I started playing with Kristine. That was also the time na she got laid off so we got the chance na magkalaro sa game full time. It was also the time na, I slowly opened up to her. Because I have strong walls eh, I do not let people come in my life easily. Since Kristine looks sincere and a listener to me, I gave her the way to get in. I talk about my rants about how my day goes and my relationship status with Joan. There is something about her that makes me want to know her more. There are many things na napagkakasunduan namin that leads to laughing and feeling na magaan lang kausap. I also liked that she is interested in the Game that I am playing, We shared things from the moment she started playing pc games back then, her ex gf's, her dramas in life, her fam, her girlfriend but not too much of it. She shares her problem too, the same goes with me.

Back then, I got curious about Kristine because of the stories that I have heard from Joan about her and her ex-gf and the toxicity of her relationship with Rose.

I admit she got my sympathy. Reminded me of my past relationship and how she handled it. Later on, whenever Kristine goes back here in Manila for a vacation, she always invites us. So I have no choice but to go with Joan though I am way too shy na makihalubilo sa mga tao.

By the first time that I met Kristine she was with her ex-gf Siena. There was nothing special or any thing that I felt. I was just nervous meeting her. Idk. Because I feel like she is intimidating. It was just a stage of knowing her, but she was nice naman. That time I remember Joan blocked her on my fb friend's list because of some reasons that i am not sure of, like Jealousy. Joan is always jealous which make me feel like hindi ako katiwa tiwalang tao. Lol. Grabe lang. And since then, Kristine unblocked me.

Way back 2018, I casually message her, like saying Hi, Hello, a little update of my day, and a little sharing of how me and Joan is doing.

I remember that it was also the time that she is trying to open up about her problems with Siena and so i made a GC where me, Joan and tine are messaging so she will not think too much back in Dubai.

I think she was on the verge of breaking up with Siena?

I have work back then so our exchange of messages was not that constant.

Joan used to rant at Kristine about me and how our life have been, which I do not like. Kasi nahihiya ako na kailangan pa ilabas ang mga bagay bagay na hindi naman dapat. There are times I feel uncomfortable kapag sinasabihan din ako ni Tine about our probs. But i just shrugged it off na lang.

It was also the time that I am focus to Joan too.

'Til Pandemic came. I am so happy may kalaro na ako sa game and that is her. Most of the time we play during afternoons, we also got the chance to try voice call each other on Messenger.

Then there goes the story, we talk a lot, shared a lot and our game time is way fun because she is a good team mate.

She was a good listener. And she understands me. Not all the time she is in favor of me, there are times she helps me understand things.

But most of the time, She makes me feel valid.

August came and Joan celebrated her birthday.

September and I celebrated mine, and I received a gift from her, it was a cake. She told me in Whatsapp that it was for me only. She just made it look like it was also for Joan since she never gave her any present last month.

October came, and I decided to make a surprise for her birthday, I'm talking about Kristine here. And so I did. We call her through VC in Messenger and I greeted her in my Facebook Gaming page, and made an appreciation post for her in my IG, which she really liked.

November came and I broke my thoughts to her. It was my nephew's birthday, Ethan.

I told her through Whatsapp that I liked her. That I liked her back then because of some reasons like, She went through hell in her relationships yet she stood up, etc. and my curiosity ate me.

I told her I might not feel uncomfortable talking to her because she already knew my secret that I like her. Then Kristine said, Bakit naman?

I asked her am I not likeable? She answered me, it's not that I am not likeable, she also said that she knew that I am a good person, and she reminded me that it was wrong. I told her I have no intentions of ruining her and Kamille. I just wanted her to know that I liked her, period.

Then we played a game, shared some secrets and stuff, because I started to trust her na.

Then as days goes by, we play constant and we talk mostly.

She even shared to me the time she went to sleep over with workmates because Kamille and her had an argument. We had our first Video Call in Messenger the next day before she go to work. Send me photos that I asked her too cause I am not seeing her lately.

We still talk even at her work hours, I listen to her work rants and stuff.

Then came an issue of this gaming headset that she wants to give me without malice as claimed by Kristine. Joan did not like the gesture. So, we talked secretly and talk about it. We agreed not to pursue the headset anymore.

December came and yah, we still play. I found out she resigned at her work.

I had an issue with a basher of my page, so I have to deactivate my gaming page and make an investigation who the hell is she.

So my attention draws closer to the game itself and also Kristine. and stop streaming for a while, She decided to install the Global server instead of using Garena for months because she is running out of VPN's to use for free anymore.

I felt like we have this kind of understanding where she gets me. And she agreed. But sometimes she sends me mixed signals.

I came to a point where I became confused.

I felt the need to share this because I am having these "time bomb" like feelings that if I cannot find a way to consult it to other person i am gonna explode and became clingy at her.

So I brought my classmate back in High School named Annarie, who prefers to call herself Pacsy. We play in Garena sometimes and we chat in Messenger too. I shared her my thoughts about Kristine. And I decide to her to be like the observant of the girl I liked if she feels the same way to me.

There are times that I felt jealous whenever there is a guy flirting with her on the game and sometimes she makes me feel that she is jealous too when I do the same.

And then came February, we had an argument.

My thoughts went confused, concern at Pacsy, and at the same time jealous.

Felt bad because we made a promise to each other to be open and not keep secrets. But things fail.

I broke down and cried.

Then came Joan who confronted Kristine, and Pacsy without me knowing it because I was asleep when Joan hacked my phone. I lost all of my phone datas and apps.

And I did not like it. Joan should have talked the proper way but instead choose to hysterical all the time.

She discovered that, there is something between me and Kristine based on our exchange of chats in Messenger.

Since I'm woman enough to admit my fault, I did.

I admit that I fell to Kristine.

Joan blocked her in my Messenger first.

And next is IG.

CODM became an exception.

It was a week of pain and confusion and discoveries.

I have discovered that She admits that she felt the same way for me.

That she doesn't want to lose me too.

That I am important to her, that she thinks of me by the time we lost our communication for like a week and more.

She was the one who initiated a contact.

I knew in my heart she wants it.

Let me just have a detailed flashback:

FEB 17: That night, we played, me, Pacsy and her. Dhanush invited me. I said sorry to them. And Kristine drop this line that it will be the last time she will talk to US. So I distant myself.

FEB 18: It was like 5pm, I called Pacs and I apologized to her of what happened and I cried because of what I feel in my situation. I told her, it was so hard to tell Joan that I fell in-love with her friend.

I asked Pacs not to update Kristine about me anymore because I wanna distant too.

FEB 18: 10:30 PM Pacsy texted me that Ktine asked her a favor to tell me that Joan is attacking her on messenger. I just said, it was noted.

FEB 19: Vertigo attacked me.

FEB 26: I received an XP rewards from Kristine. Just to be clear, giving away XP rewards is customized, you are the one who will choose who to give it to. And with that gesture, I knew in my heart she wants to talk and play with me. The past days Dhanush has been chatting me whenever he is playing with her. I told Dhanush I cant because she does not want to talk to me anymore and I wanna keep my distance too.

FEB 27-28

I played in CODM that night and I message her in the app, and invited her to play. Just a duo. At first she said, "Hi joan." then I told her, "Hindi nuh, hahaha." Then we play both off mic. And I notice she is messaging me while playing and says she misses me. "imy" I asked her "Kumusta" etc. At first I did not want to answer back I miss her too, because I am doubtful that it might be Kamille who's playing, but again, I knew it was her. So I told her, I miss this duo. Then she replied ":(".

Its like we had 2 games only, I said goodbye yet she tried to invite me again for another round for a squad with Dhanush but I have to leave the app and so I did.

FEB 29

We talked in CODM Global server app. We did not play instead we just talked. She told me she created an account in deviantart.com which is a website for artists, I actually have account there for art purposes. However she cant find my account there so I suggest how about Twitter. She opened up to me that day, as I remember, she apologized to me of the things she have done like how she cracked my secret to Joan etc. She said she does not normally say sorry to anyone yet she is doing it for me that day. I asked her if, "hindi ba kapani paniwala kapag ako ang nagsabi na mahal kita?"

She answered, she feels things the same way. She understands that my IG stories was for her mostly, and I claimed it. She told me she was scared to lose communication with me, that sometimes she feels like she's using another person just to get connected at me. And I get what she is saying. She said that she felt something for me.

I am sorry but the words we shared felt like... there is something.

Days have gone by, We played again. However I am hiding it.

I made a letter for her by using a website app. I told her everything there.

We also both made a Twitter account. Obviously, we missed each other.

[fallenfurther]

Untouched by human hands

I have completed Whumptober! It was an incredible and hard challenge but I’m so glad I did it. It was reading whumptober last year that made me want to start writing fanfic, which is why I wanted to do it this year. I’m certain that my writing has improved in this past year and joining this community has been so fun and they have helped me through these unprecedented times.

This whumptober post is going to be posted differently as the first part contains no whump and I hope people would enjoy the description, so I have wrotten a soft ending alongside the whump ending. Anyone who wants to read the whump, and it’s the softest whump I’ve written this month, can use the links at the end to read it.  AO3 or FFN

Thank you for all those who have read my other posts, liked them and commented on them. Enjoy the last one!

Whumptober prompt 28

*******

The breeze danced through his hair as Virgil left the trail. In his pocket his grandfather’s compass rubbed gently against his thigh as he strayed into the trees. It was everything Virgil needed to get back to the car park. Small shrubs brushed against his trousers as birdsong drifted through the leaves. Enforced downtime had never felt this good. The tension Grandma had tried to massage from his shoulders two nights ago was unfurling with every step. Reaching up, Virgil grabbed a branch, the bark rough and flaky beneath his grip as he ducked beneath it. A deep exhale and he was at one with the forest. The way the light lit up the green of the leaves, creating shadows that danced around him, set off the artist within him. His hand fell on the satchel, his sketchbook, pastels, watercolour pencils and charcoal all housed safely within it. It also contained a packed lunch, snacks and water to keep him going. 

Every step took him further into the untouched wilderness. The terrain headed down the hill, and Virgil knew where he wanted to go. The trail took people past a spectacular waterfall, with gushing water and a roar that filled every inch of you. So many artists, as well as a younger Virgil, had sat there at some point. The trail he’d left was the one that went the furthest north. Virgil had trekked beyond it, up to the ridge and back down so he could join the brook before it joined with another and became a waterfall. He wanted to see the part of the park that was untouched by human hands, where only the rangers went. It was dangerous to leave the trails, but he was prepared, and had International Rescue of speed dial. He had a tracker on his belt and his comm on his wrist to be safe. Though all notifications were off. Only priority one calls could reach him today. 

The trees started to thin as he reached the brook, its babbling called out to Virgil long before he could see it. A smile graced Virgil's face as his eyes took it all in. Its murmuring was soothing, the cool clear liquid inviting as the sunlight reflected off the surface. Light spray sparkled like diamonds where the water hit the odd protruding rock. There was a light foam where the water swirled, chortling as it passed. Virgil settled himself down against a tree, the sun warm on his face, and retrieved his sketchbook. The complete lack of human noise was a comfort. So often he was faced with screams of agony, fear and grief, to hear only the soft sounds of the forest was a blessing. His heart opened and healed with each brush of the charcoal pencil. The rocks and trees came to life on his page. When a little Blue Grosbeak joined him for lunch, he managed to sketch it by feeding it some of the sunflower seeds Grandma always slipped into his bag. He was able to immortalise its colourful plumage before it flew away. 

Virgil was about to close his sketchpad and move on when the great majestic beast came to the brook to drink. Virgil froze, his eyes meeting the deep brown orbs of the stag. The stag held his gaze, before bending down to drink, an eye still on Virgil. With the utmost care, Virgil turned the page in the pad, before slowly reaching for the pencil. Every detail of the magnificent creature was something he wanted to capture, but he feared now much time he had. Virgil focused on the face and the magnificent antlers, his hand making swift movements that were hidden to the stag by the knees he was using to prop up the pad. Awestruck, Virgil could barely dare to breathe, for fear of spooking his subject. The deer took a step closer, dipping his nose deeper into the brook. Every movement it made was cautious. It was on high alert. It knew Virgil was a predator, a danger, a threat. Virgil’s eyes left the drawing to examine the stag again. He observed the muscles of the legs, the contours in the skin and the texture of his fur. Virgil could even discern the velvet on the antlers. 

Soft Ending: 

Virgil’s pencil danced along the page, capturing the stag in all its glory. Raising his head once again, the stag’s eye met Virgil’s. A moment passed before the stag stood tall and walked away. Releasing the breath Virgil had been holding, he relaxed against the tree and smiled down at the sketch. It had been an honour to have been able to see such a shy animal. 

Whump Ending: Read on AO3 or FFN 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic: 16 Mar 2020 (Trump wants a US-only vaccine, Covid at Home, tips for laid-off techies, Tiktok's secret moderation guidelines, Corona Bar Mitzvah, Shmoocon 2020 videos)

Today's links

Covid At Home: A guide for isolation, illness and recovery

Trump wants a US-only vaccine: Reality has a well-known globalist/collectivist bias.

Folding@Home to beat covid: 23 distcomp projects to give your CPU to.

Italian hospitals fix their ventilators with 3D printed parts: Fablabs to the rescue.

How to prepare for coming layoffs: A guide for techies junior, senior and prickly.

Leaked Tiktok moderation guidelines are a censoring mess: No poors or ugly people welcome.

Canceled Bar Mitzvah is still a mitzvah: Today I am a mensch.

Shmoocon 2020 videos online: Hours of entertainment and infosec funnies.

This day in history:

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Covid At Home (permalink)

Dutch hacker and XS4ALL cofounder Rop Gonggrijp and artist Vera Wilde have produced Covid At Home, an open-access guide to staying healthy, treating illness, and general pandemic preparedness.

https://covid-at-home.info/ It's an excellent, sober, accessible guide, produced with help from medical professionals.

They're seeking help to translate it into other languages as well. German edition coming next.

Trump wants a US-only vaccine (permalink)

The Trump administration has offered "large sums" to a German manufacturer for US-only access to a potential covid-19 vaccine

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/15/trump-offers-large-sums-for-exclusive-access-to-coronavirus-vaccine

According to Die Welt, Curevac has made progress on the vaccine, and the Trump admin is seeking access "but for the US only."

The company's recently departed CEO, Daniel Menichella, is a US citizen who recently visited the White House.

The Trump administration's failure to understand our shared collective microbial destiny is emblematic. Trump epitomizes the neoliberal sociopathy of "enlightened self-interest" and "meritocracy" and the belief that "there is no such thing as society." It's a pathology as dangerous as any virus, and could yet kill us all. Immunizing America against coronavirus only works if

The vaccine is perfect (they never are) and

The US blocks all entry into the country by unvaccinated people (which it cannot do).

Instead of figuring out how to orient 100% of US capacity to producing enough vaccine to eliminate the virus worldwide, Trump is engaged in isolationist, superstitious fantasies.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1238180609899429889

Within hours, Curvac had told Trump to go fuck himself and announced that any vaccine they produce will be available worldwide.

https://twitter.com/SWRAktuellBW/status/1239225432739844097

Folding@Home to beat covid (permalink)

Since the year 2000 (!), Folding@Home has been harnessing the power of idle personal computers to do scientific work on protein folding, using donated cycles to improve science. Now they're running 23 (!!) projects to help improve our scientific understanding of covid-19.

"We're simulating the dynamics of COVID-19 proteins to hunt for new therapeutic opportunities."

They've already used this to locate sites in the Ebola protein that can be targeted by therapeutics.

https://foldingathome.org/2020/03/15/coronavirus-what-were-doing-and-how-you-can-help-in-simple-terms/

Download your Folding@Home client here (Mac/Win/Lin)

https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/

Then choose your simulation from here. Be prepared to wait for your computer to be given work – they're overwhelmed with cycles at the moment.

https://apps.foldingathome.org/psummary

Italian hospitals fix their ventilators with 3D printed parts (permalink)

A Brescia hospital urgenty needed valves for their ventilators. A journalist contacted the local Fablab, who contacted a local 3D printing expert who came to the hospital, redesigned the part, and printed a replacement on the spot.

https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/covid-19-3d-printed-valve-for-reanimation-device/

Within a day, 10 patients were breathing with respirators incorporating 3D printed parts.

How to prepare for coming layoffs (permalink)

It's not outlandish to prepare for a recession (and hence layoffs) as a result of Covid-19. And while techies have a robust labor-market relative to other sectors, tech-workers are not immune from mass layoffs when their employers contract sharply or shut down altogether.

Jacob Kaplan-Moss has been here before and has some tips for techies to prepare for unemployment. He points out that the highest layoff risk comes to juniors (unprotected and easy to jettison), seniors (highest paid), and prickly people (politically easier to lay off) and underperformers (obvs).

https://jacobian.org/2020/mar/13/layoffs-are-coming/

How do you prep for layoffs? First, try to have 1 year's savings in the bank (advice from the 2000 dotcom crash). You probably can't do this, but start saving now. Cancel all nonessential expenses.

Next, update your resume. When layoffs start cascading, being ready to start applying for jobs can give you a head-start over your competition.

Kaplan-Moss suggests setting aside an hour every quarter to update your CV – this is good advice generally, as you never know when someone will ask for your resume (periodically I have to produce one for a visa or a grant, for example).

Practice interviews, using online resources, like this one:

https://eng-hiring.18f.gov/

In addition, contact your "professional network" and start feeling them out;Tb and brush up on your tech skills.

Leaked Tiktok moderation guidelines are a censoring mess (permalink)

There's a lot going on in The Intercept's deep dive into two leaked set of moderation guidelines from Bytedance, parent company of Tiktok, ably reported (as ever) by Sam Biddle.

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/16/tiktok-app-moderators-users-discrimination/

First is a confirmaton of Tiktok's policy of telling moderators to downrank videos from unattractive, fat, old or poor people, and signs of poverty. Homes need to have "no obvious slummy charactor" (sic), without a "crack on the wall" or "old and disreputable decorations."

The reasoning is clear "This kind of environment is not that suitable for new users for being less fancy and appealing" (overweight, poor, old or unattractive users lower the tone). Tiktok spox Josh Gartner said these were to prevent bullying, (but they don't mention bullying).

The leaks are pretty frank about their ableism and lookism, banning "low quality" traits including "abnormal body shape," "ugly facial looks," dwarfism, "obvious beer belly," "too many wrinkles," and "eye disorders."

They also ban "slums, rural fields" and "dilapidated housing."

The flipside of this is that Tiktok mods secretly contacting influencers to clue them in on secret moderation criteria that might get them downranked or banned, creating a group of insiders who are protected from the arbitrary, shadow regulation regime other Tiktokers never see.

That shadow regime is documented in a second set of leaks, which details the subjects and views that can get you kicked, suspended or downranked from the platform. Anything that embarrasses or upsets China is obviously out, like Falun Gong or Tiananmen.

Beyond that, livestreams of encounters with cops, videos that criticize the military, or criticism Tiktok itself are all lifetime bannable offenses – while racism and hate speech get you a one-month suspension.

Also revealed: Tiktok has a bunch of fake accounts maintained by its own staff, who gank influencer videos from Instagram that look classy and fun, as a way of shifting the content mix on the platform.

But even as these accounts were focusing on tags like "#BeachGirl," actual Tiktok users who posted pictures of themselves in swimwear faced temporary or permanent bans.

(You can get a permanent ban for wearing a garment that reveals "outline of female nipples").

There's also a "voice vulgarity" category of guidelines, including bans for "Singing or playing music pornography contents, sexual cues, etc," or "discussing the topic of sexual reproduction." You can also get banned for flipping the bird – but only if you do it more than twice.

Tiktok's appeal is that they use secret sauce to elevate accounts with few followers and share them with millions of viewers. The legend is that this is a way to rocket the humble but meretricious to fame, but the leaks reveal that no olds, fats, or poors need apply.

Canceled Bar Mitzvah is still a mitzvah (permalink)

A heartwarming story of "Covered Dish" behavior in the time of coronavirus! "Friends canceled their son's Bar Mitzvah this weekend but decided to keep the contract with their caterer, a tiny Hmong-owned business. They delivered the food to friends in quarantine & sent pans home with others."

https://twitter.com/mrotzie/status/1239249970458484736

(Image: Eli, CC BY)

Shmoocon 2020 videos online (permalink)

It's been years since I last attended a Shmoocon, but holy moly, is it ever a great annual infosec con. They've just put the 2020 videos online, which affords you plenty of viewing for your lockdown pleasure.

You might have already heard about Samantha Mosely's presentation about how she and her teen friends defeat Instagram's privacy invasions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTCBEimhXMM

Here's some gnarly stuff: securing satellites and space-base comms, presented by three researchers styling themselves Yakko, Wakko and Dot (swoon!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR_H9_pnyDc

Feed your inner technothriller writer with this one, on "anti-forensics" ("the practice of modifying or removing data so that others cannot find it later during an investigation").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSmsiSvvAQs

How NGOs – and you at home – can use "open source intelligence" to help support human rights and survivors of human rights abuses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRzGiR4DS7w

A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure guide to surviving ransomware attacks, using data gleaned from real attacks and recoveries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkNFUQrg_GA

Analyzing the effects of 200 data-breaches on public companies' share prices (shareholder capitalism won't save us from overcollection, overretention and bad security).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdxiwpACwYc

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago Apple steals iTunes customers' paid-for rights to stream https://web.archive.org/web/20050405225837/http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21866

#15yrago My talk from ETECH: All Complex Ecosystems Have Parasites https://craphound.com/complexecosystems.txt

#15yrsago ETECH Notes: Folksonomy, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mess (Schachter, Wales, Shirky and Butterfield) https://craphound.com/etech2005-folksonomy.txt

#15yrsago ETECH Notes: Feral Robotics and Some Other Quacking, Shaking, Bubbling Robots (Natalie Jeremijenko) https://craphound.com/etech05-feral.txt

#10yrsago Downloadable 3D cover for MAKERS is now also an article of commerce https://www.shapeways.com/product/Z55YYHW5P/cory-doctorow-makers-cover-3d-print

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Geoff MacDougall (https://twitter.com/taliesan), Bleeping Computer (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com), Javier Candiera (https://twitter.com/candeira), Four Short Links (https://www.oreilly.com/feed/four-short-links), Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/).

Currently writing: I've just finished rewrites on a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I've also just completed "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel next.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/13/when-sysadmins-ruled-the-earth-2/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250757531

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583