#EXERCISING IS THE PROBLEM. YOU FUCKING PIECE OF.

[mxdotpng]

im STILL angry. its almost been an entire day and im STILL ANGRY

[a-pute11as]

caught - alexia putellas

first time doing this so it's a short one. r gets caught staring at alexia in the gym. based on this godly picture.

words - 727

“you’re staring at her again” cata rolled her eyes at my behaviour. we were in the middle of a gym session and i was meant to be spotting her as she did a chest press. meant. yet my focus was much further away than making sure cata didn’t drop a heavy set of weights on her. 

i watched as one of her arms extended upwards and the other lay across her stomach. her muscles prominently pressing against her training top as she continued her set. i watched as her face tensed after every movement, with small grunts leaving her lips as she continued. the way her veins popped out across her hands, highlighting her perfect hands whilst drawing attention to her toned arms. 

“i’m not staring” i said, shaking my head as i looked over at cata, tearing my eyes away from the sight clearly sent from heaven. 

“you’re literally drooling” she laughed whilst continuing the exercise i should��ve been paying attention too. 

i quickly ran my hand across my mouth, making sure she was joking.

“not funny, i don’t drool” i said rolling my eyes as we switched positions for me to begin doing the required exercises. 

“hm, you do when you sleep” she said, shaking her head at my dismissal. 

“one time catalina! that was one time!” i defended, raising my voice whilst trying not to gain too much attention. 

i finished my set before switching with cata again. i stood up again, my eyes instantly traveling to alexia. i knew i shouldn’t but couldn’t stop myself, not with the way her sweat glistened in the fluorescent lights. 

and then her eyes met mine. my cheeks instantly flashed a bright red colour as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a smug smirk. she knew exactly what i was doing, and i wasn’t going to hear the end of it. 

i quickly looked away as i diverted my attention back to cata, “i have a problem” i said, fanning myself with my hand to give me some kind of relief from the heat that was spreading across my body. 

“don’t i know it, it’s like your eyes are permanently glued to her” she said, finishing her set and standing up to join me. 

“no, i’m being serious, ale caught me staring at her, like really caught me, like she looked me dead in the eyes” i whispered, rubbing my hand against my temple. 

she was instantly hunched over laughing, and not quietly, meaning suddenly a lot of eyes were on us. 

“catalina thomas coll lluch, shut the fuck up” i aggressively whispered punching her arm in hopes she’d stop. 

the laughing continued as my face began to develop an even deeper shade of red. 

“i can’t believe she caught you” she managed to get out in between her ridiculously loud laughter. 

i covered both my hands with my face in hopes the embarrassment would disappear. 

“who caught you?” a thick catalan accent appeared behind me, an accent that i knew incredibly well, an accent belonging to the person who just caused me to go as red as possible. 

my hands instantly dropped to my side as i spun round to meet her face.

“no one, she’s just talking about a show we were watching” i explained, lies spilling out of my mouth to somehow hide the embarrassment i was feeling, “she clearly finds it very funny, when it definitely isn’t” i added, giving cata the straightest expression i possibly could. 

“well, if you two are done, could you come spot me?” alexia said, directly a seemingly innocent smile appearing on her face, yet i knew that was a cover for a very cocky grin. i couldn’t believe she was doing this on purpose at this point. 

“oh of course! we just finished” cata said, her laughter instantly disappearing whilst being replaced with an exaggerated smile, as she pushed me closer to alexia by my shoulder. 

“thank you cata, i’ll go easy with her” alexia winked at cata, as she began walking over to her next piece of equipment. 

before joining her i quickly shot cata a strong glare, “i hate you, so so so much” i whispered. 

“try not to stare” i heard her snigger back, which caused me to simply raise my middle finger at her causing the laughing fit to reappear. 

[animentality]

not to be a fucking BOOMER or anything, but...

as a writer, whenever i see that kids these days rely entirely on chatgpt bc they don't know how to write anything at all without assistance...

i don't know.

i feel like... you're really cucking yourself.

like you're a human being...with thoughts. and feelings.

why do you not want to organize these?

like generate the things you see. the things you experience. the things you feel.

put them down somewhere, and then organize them from there.

not just because oh you have to for some assignment, but because you understand yourself better when you know what you mean...and what you don't mean.

writing isn't just something you do because you have to, it's something you do because you are a person, and people have the gift of language.

it's one of the most important inventions of the human race...

and writing...editing...re-writing... all that shit is problem solving.

it's not just an exercise in copy and paste.

it's not something you can regurgitate and still benefit from.

i get some of you aren't writers naturally, and it's not something you're necessarily interested in, but...

at a basic level... yes.

you should be able to express yourself in your own words?

you're going to be dead one day, you know. you only have so much time to leave behind evidence that someone as unique as you once existed...

maybe you want to leave something of yourself behind...

or maybe you don't.

because chatgpt is just gonna farm whatever you say and regurgitate it for the next person using chatgpt to use for some bullshit essay anyway, so what does it matter really, if you were the regurgitator or the regurgitated...?

but you know.

whatever, i guess.

who cares

generative ai is pecking at corpses. we are the living dead, and there will be nothing left of us soon.

at least ai will be spitting up the mangled bits and pieces of our bloated rot long after our flesh has become chemical.

[fanauthorworkshop]

Applications now open!

The Fall 2024 Fanauthor Workshop is a 7-week writing course led by Betts (@bettsfic). The workshop lends a supportive space to writers who identify as fans to receive constructive feedback on fanfiction, original fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Art by @emimayooo 💖

Where & When

We meet weekly over Zoom. You can apply for one of two sessions:

Group A: Wednesdays from Oct. 9 - Nov. 20, 12-2pm EST

Group B: Mondays from Oct. 7 - Nov. 18, 6-8pm EST

What

FAW is a feedback-oriented workshop with the occasional generative session. This means that each week we read 2 pieces submitted by participants, offer written feedback, and discuss them over Zoom. You'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your own piece, which can be anything under 6k words.

There may be weeks where, in lieu of workshopping, I present external readings and writing exercises. These sessions will be dependent on the number of participants. For example, if we have 10 participants and 6 workshop weeks, that means one week will be devoted to a reading discussion and generative activity.

I developed a workshop model that focuses mostly on affirmations and positivity, as well as descriptive over prescriptive feedback, which is to say, describing one's experience of reading rather than prescribing solutions to perceived problems. We also present improvement-oriented feedback, but avoid negativity, judgment, and pedantry. Week 1 is spent going over the model and how to give feedback.

About FAW

The first FAW was held in 2017 as an independent study in my MFA. I restarted it in 2022 and since then have led 9 sessions with a total of over 50 participants, about half of whom have participated in the workshop more than once.

Participation in the workshop includes entrance into the FAW community, an active Discord server where we host:

Ongoing accountability meetings, where we chat over Zoom about our projects and set goals for ourselves every other week

A monthly longform writing workshop, where writers can workshop any story between 6k and 100k words

A short story club, where we read and chat about original short form works

Events and activities like movie nights and co-op gaming

Scheduled write-ins and impromptu writing sprints

We also chat about writing and craft, offer resources, and share many, many pet photos.

In addition, participants of the workshop receive:

A one-hour consultation with me to go over your workshop feedback, come up with a plan for revision and/or publication, or anything else you’d like to discuss regarding your writing

Open enrollment in future workshops

Priority sign-ups for WTFS (Write the Fucking Story), WIP Cleanout, and other one-off generative sessions

Eligibility

Anyone over the age of 18 who considers themselves a participant of fandom and who is familiar with fanfiction may apply. A stable internet connection is also required.

Cost

The cost of the workshop is "pay what you can" with the recommended amount of $300. To be as inclusive as possible, I don't want money to be a deterrent for anyone interested in participating.

Payment (or notification of nonpayment) will be requested prior to the start of workshop via PayPal, Venmo, or Wise. You can also pay in installments.

Application requirements

To apply, you will need:

An informal cover letter discussing your fan history and goals as a (fan)writer (more specific instructions on submittable)

A short sample of your writing, either original work or fanfiction. This may be previously published/posted

You can apply via submittable. Applications close September 15.

FAQ under the cut

FAQ

Are there any content restrictions to what I can workshop?

The only restriction is word count (max 6k), with the following caveats:

If you workshop a piece in a form other than prose (for example, a script), your peers may not be able to offer constructive feedback on that aspect of the work. Participants are asked only to have a familiarity with prose.

Content warnings are required for each piece (if applicable), and participants who are uncomfortable reading certain subject matter may abstain from your workshop.

What is the time commitment of the workshop?

As a participant of the workshop, you'll be asked to:

Workshop any piece of your own prose up to 6k words, which will need to be uploaded to the group folder one week before your workshop.

Read 2 pieces per week, write out your individual crit, and attend the workshop itself.

What is the timeline of the workshop?

In week 1, we go over the syllabus and do a writing exercise. Weeks 2 through 7 will be a workshop, a discussion of an external reading, or a writing activity. Prior to the start of workshop, you'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your piece.

Structure of the sessions:

Question of the day

First workshop

Short break

Second workshop

We'll go over my workshop model and the syllabus in week 1.

Do I have to participate in the Zoom meetings (camera and mic on)?

Attending the workshop itself is required, and everyone is asked to offer at least one note of positive feedback on each piece, so mics are necessary. Cameras are preferred but not required.

You can't asynchronously participate, i.e. read the pieces and offer written feedback without attending the sessions.

Can workshop participants submit to OFIC Magazine?

Yes! Part of the reason I run the workshop is to inspire and promote the original work of fanwriters. You can follow us on tumblr @oficmag.

Who is running the workshop?

@bettsfic! In short, I lived a dreary cubicle life as a banker until I found fanfiction at 24. I loved it so much that I quit my job to get an MFA in creative writing. I loved the MFA so much that I became a writing teacher. I have some publications, awards, an agent, and 2 million words of fic on ao3. I don't have a book out yet but I'm getting there.

Currently I'm a writing coach and freelance editor. I also have a lowkey writing-related newsletter. And I've been answering writing advice asks on my blog for 10 years.

If you want an idea of the kind of writing activities I create, last summer I worked with @books on a workshop series which includes craft essays and some fun prompts.

If you're interested in my original work, my short story "Not If, When" is a good representation of my writing. For something darker, check out "Shut Up and Kill Me."

What is the workshop like?

Check out G's experience of attending the workshop. And here's some feedback from previous participants.

One final note: I'm working on updating the copy about the workshop on my website and move it over to OFIC's website. This post and Submittable has the most updated information on the workshop. If you have questions about discrepancies (or anything at all), you can shoot me an ask, DM me, or add me on Discord (I'm bettsfic there too). Or you can email me at ekweeks@gmail.com.

[doeidawn]

18+ MDNI

yeah i'm hoping on the ex!price bandwagon. so what.

your car breaking down now was probably the worst possible timing in the world. sure, it was a miracle the piece of junk ran as long as it did, but it's not ideal for it to sit unmoving in your driveway when you've got a job to work and a life to live.

as if it could get worse, you realize that no one you know is available at this time; they're either working their own jobs or they live miles away. but while scrolling through your contacts and internally debating whether or not to call a shop out of your budget, you come across that number you should have deleted a long time ago.

you hate how much you hope he’ll pick up as you listen to the line ring. even more, you hate the jolt of warmth that shoots through you when your name is the first thing to come out of his mouth. you've barely given john the time of day since you left him, and now here you are calling him for help. you can't decide if you're grateful or not when he says he's coming over.

you thought sitting and waiting for him would be the worst part, until you see an all too familiar car pulling up in front of your house. your stomach churns when you see him; of course a man of such routine would look the same as always. he still towers over you and the sound of his voice nearly shakes your core. at least he has the decency to be civil. this time.

it doesn't last long, though. after the small talk and asking what'd happened with your car, john's moved on to asking where your boyfriend is and why he couldn't help you out. you don't miss the way he smirks when you inform him you don't have one. you ask if he's found another woman to terrorize only find yourself more relieved than you should be when he says no.

john, out of the kindness of his heart (kindness he never much cared to exercise in your relationship), says he has no problem helping you out. he's cheaper than a shop, more hands-on than any professional. besides, you wanted him here, right? that's why you called him, after all, and who would he be to deny you?

the subject of payment inevitably arises, and john is sure to let you know that he doesn't need your hard-earned cash. you know that his job pays him well enough anyway. he doesn't bother being sweet—knows he doesn't have to butter you up like he used to—a quick fuck should cover the labor just fine.

you hate how quick you are to agree. you hate even more how you were secretly hoping that was what he wanted. and you know he notices how little you fight it when he bends you over the side of the sofa, but you can't bring yourself to care. not when you're this wet from the sight of him (something he's adamant to point out when he strips you down) and his thick cock fills you so perfectly.

stomaching all of his taunts and teases is only possible because of how good he feels lodged balls deep inside you. it's a sensation you missed more than you'd ever care to admit. and given how quickly john's pace stutters and he spills inside you, you assume he felt the same. you'd tease him about it if he hadn't made you cum the hardest you have since the last time you were with him.

yeah, he'll fix your car up, but he might need a follow up session afterwards for all his hard work. c'mon, you know you want to.

[thetreefairy]

Heyyy 🤍

I wanted to request a platonic father Aizawa, in which his daughter is really stressed and he finds her crying, almost in the border of a panic attack. And how he helps her, etc.

A little context of this request is that today i had a panic attack hahaha. So basicly confort and a slight angst ñ.

Thanks love 🤍

she/her reader (f/f) - favorite food tw: panic attacks, yandere undertones but not so much because I accidentally mixed up requests, so I did tone it down extremely so that it was just father Aizawa but because of that i had to cut some scenes, so sorry if it's like messy.

sorry for the late response, internship is depleting my energy levels like a fucking leech (love my internship though) <3

this isn't my best piece since I kept the panic attack vague as there are many ways to like have a panic attack so I didn't want to be too specific.

Reader always had been an anxious child, that's why Aizawa Shouta wasn't a fan of her being a hero student. Even as a support student.

While she inherited his quirk, she was rather talented in science and making support items, so she chose the support route.

Shouta saw it as a comprise, this way she won't be involved in direct combat and she would still be able to live her 'dream'.

"Reader?" Shouta called out as he opened the door of their apartment, he had come home late after a rather nasty fight with Shigaraki. "I brought you back some (f/f)."

That was something he rather often did when he got back from a nasty fight that was actually on TV. Ever since his new class, he wasn't really an 'underground' hero anymore, so his fights were more available to the public. The downside of that was that Reader could watch them.

He heard a rather loud sob and he saw his daughter wrapped up in a banket, watching TV, the news sender. "Oh, baby." Aizawa cooed instantly, thinking she was crying because of his fight. He placed the food on the table and rubbed his baby's shoulders. Pulling her in for a side hug. "Papa is okay."

Well he was right to some extent, Reader wasn't just crying for her father. She was crying about her support items, she had given her papa a prototype of one of her eye-creams (which she made with recovery-girl as a trying something new thing) and a taser that paralyzes the person at the receiving end for like an hour or two, so why didn't he use them?

He could have ended the fight quicker and less injured, Reader was panicking because she thought her items weren't good enough. That they failed her papa when he needed them. When Reader didn't make a sound besides heavy breathing and sobbing when Shouta pulled her in for a hug, he realized that something else was going on as well.

"Petal?" Reader was too quit for Shouta's liking, so he pulled the weighted blanket over her. She was either having a panic attack or mad at him, so he'll comfort her until she's able to tell him what she wants. "I'm going to keep hugging you, okay?"

He felt a weak nod but Reader was still breathing too quickly for his liking. "Now, I am going to do some breathing exercises, wanna do them with me?"

She didn't respond so Shouta silently started to guide her breathing and when she was breathing properly he whispered comforting words in her ears.

"Papa?" Reader asked softly. "D-did my taser fail you?"

"Huh?" Shouta asked confused, then it clicked to him, the prototype. "Oh, papa lend it out to Midoriya, my biggest problem child, remember him?"

Reader nodded, Midoriya often hung out with her in Recovery girl's room because he usually got injured a lot but also because she made a cream to help with his joints but that cream needs recovery-girls quirk to be made.

"He keeps getting in trouble so I gave him your taser, since it has multiple uses so that he can run instead of fighting."

"...So you didn't hate it?"

"No, I love it baby." Shouta cooed, his poor baby was rather insecure and weak. He really shouldn't let her watch the hero news-channels, perhaps he should just keep her safe and sound in the apartment. (the league of villains have been becoming way more aggressive and calculating for his liking). "I love everything you make me, you know?"

"But you would tell me if I need to improve?" Reader asked softly, she needed an answer to that, so that she could be for sure if he was sincere about his compliments and feedback.

"Of course, whenever have I sugar-coated anything?" He grinned up to his daughter with his trade-mark shit eating grin. Reader chuckled weakly, she felt better now, but the small voice in her head was still bullshitting her. (At least for Shouta would it always be bullshit, and Reader? Well she'll need some convincing)

"Never."

"Exactly, how about I call in sick tomorrow and we go to a cat café huh?"

Hope you like it<33

[bullet-prooflove]

7. When it rains, I wanna share your umbrella

For Dean Archer and Isobel 🫶

Tagging: @kmc1989 @mandy426 @mysticcandymiracle @sweetdaytimedreams @Cosmic-psychickitty

Companion piece to:

The Wrong One - A disagreement leads Dean to reconsider his choices.

The Deepest Cut - Dean realises the effect his condition is having on you.

One Rule - You and Dean try to forget about his illness for a night.

Live - Dean makes the right choice.

Leanne - Dean's ex wife causes issues with his surgery.

It’s raining when you step outside of the lecture theatre, big, heavy droplets that cause ripples in the puddles that seem to go on forever. When you left the house this morning there hadn’t been any reason for a coat, now you’re standing here in a white blouse that’s going to go see-through on the trip back to your car.

You take a deep breath, about to plunge into the midst of the torrential downpour when a familiar hand cups your elbow.

“Good thing I brought an umbrella today.” Dean says, his palm shifting to your lower back as he leans in close, his lips brushing over your cheek.

The scent of cedar floods your senses, warm and woody with an undertone of citrus. It always makes you think of home, of nights tangled up in Dean as he kisses you into oblivion. His arm loops around your waist, tucking you against his body as the two of you step out into the rain underneath the protection of his umbrella.

“I was on one of my walks.” He tells you as you meander together through the grounds of the university. “And I just happened to see the most beautiful woman standing in the atrium.”

“Did you get her number?” You tease, tilting your head up to look at your husband and his eyes crinkle with mirth. “Maybe she could join us sometime.”

He laughs then and it’s a rich sound that vibrates through his entire body as he gives you an disarming grin.

“This old man can barely handle you right now.” He reminds you. “I wouldn’t know what to do with two.”

He’s talking about the fact he wants to fuck you.

Ever since the transplant, he’s had this new lease of life. More energy, more vigour, more pep in his step. The old Dean Archer is back and so is that relentless libido of his. The problem is he’s still healing. It takes a long time to heal from a surgery like the one he had and if he overexerts himself in anyway, he’s at risk of facing a major setback. You’ve managed to get by with filthy make out sessions and some assistance from your hand but it’s nothing compared to the intimacy of making love.

It’s that that Dean craves, the connectivity of the act, showing your partner how much you love them with every single part of you.

“Maybe…” You say, your palm slipping into the back pocket of his jeans so you can give his ass a discreet squeeze. “If you’re a good boy we can partake in some gentle, light ‘exercise’ when we get home.”

“You’re making me blush.” He murmurs against your temple as he buries his face into your hair.

“Oh Dean.” You utter, squeezing his ass again. “You’re going to be doing a lot more than that once I get my mouth on you.”

Love Dean? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Interested in supporting me? Join my Patreon for Bonus Content!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[rowretro]

𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝕱𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗

Warnings: mentions of blood, angst

✧CHAPTER 1✧

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It's just a harmless crush. Babe Yang's massive crush on Park Jongseong of course. It's pretty much old news, everyone knows about her crush on him, except Jay himself of course. Babe is known for being sweet to everyone, always sharing her sweets and snacks with anyone, and just genuinely being nice.

Everyone knows her best friend is Lee Aram, and she puts all her trust in the girl, it's no surprise that they see her drop Aram off, and treat her at random restaurants, as if they were dating. She's such a sweetheart.

So why didn't Jay notice her? Why didn't he love her? Who could possible reject the sweet charms of Babe?

"I don't get it- How is he not getting the hint?" Babe huffed in annoyance, a small pout adorning her glossy lips. Aram smiled sweetly t her as she pat her head "Maybe he might not be interrested?" She suggested as Babe frowned more.

"Not interrested? then why would he accept my gifts and be really nice to me? why would he still engage in conversations with me and why would he say I have W rizz? no one has ever said that to me except from my ex crush." She said As Aram sighed. "Well I don't know... You've been trying him for over a year now- aren't you tired?" She asked as Babe aired her lips.

"No I love that boy with all my heart Aram... you know this, no matter what Ill never give up, I have a good feeling about this!" She said as she walked off, seeing Jay. Aram watched as she happily walked along side Jay.

She felt as if she was watching a video of the people boarding the titanic, she knew what they were getting themselves into but they didn't know. It annoyed her how Jay was still being friendly to Babe.

. . .

Babe smiled as she walked alongside Jay to class "God your handwriting's so uneat how could you even read that?" she asked frowning as she tried to ready the messy notes "Here let me write-" she said as she neatly wrote down the small paragraph he wanted. Jay smiled as He read it out loud, clearly.

Sunghoon sat in the far corner, smiling at Aram who glanced at her a little. The male had developed a small crush on her... he doesn't know why or how. Perhaps from the time they were paired together to work on a science project?

He was rather observant. He watched how she stared at Babe and Jay, she seemed like such a supportive best friend to her. Of course. Everyone knew they were practically inseparable. He couldn't help but smile at the girl's actions.

As the teacher walked in, the class went silent. The students opened their exercise books all ready to take notes. Which Sunghoon was practically already doing, whilst admiring Aram. The way she pushes her hair back when she lowers her head to write, was a sight he loves. Its the only thing he could see from back there.

. . .

"Wow I never knew the scary quiet guy he beat the shit out of Cheung would be this shy to talk to his crush!" Babe exclaimed as Sunghoon glared at her. "I-I- sorry... I'll help you... just wait here- Im gonna try and ask Jay out.... he's usually alone in this classroom afterschool time" she said with a smile.

Yet she froze at the entrance. A sight for sore eyes. Her heart felt as if a monster was chewing on it, ripping it to pieces. Lee Aram, her best, most trusted friend was Kissing Jay. "What are you going to do about babe?" she asked with a pout as Jay scoffed.  

"Just tell that bitch already Aram... She's so fucking annoying it pisses me off, if you don't tell her I will." Jay spat as Aram snickerred. Fuck that fucking hurt. Sunghoon tried to pull her back, despite feeling hurt, himself. His own brother dating his crush?

That's fucking brutal. But it didn't hurt too much, after all its a small crush nothing more, Sunghoon has money, a nice house, a strong mafia business, why would he need a pretty girl to share that all with?

He was too focused on consoling himself he almost forgot the real problem at hand "You could've told me Aram. So much for being fucking friends. I would've backed off, and You... you could've told me you aren't interested but no, you spent over a year leading me on?!" Y/n yelled catching the 2 off guard.

"I- Y/n... Y/n wait-" "No Aram just shut the fuck up. We're done. I don't want to see your fucking face ever again... you don't know what girl code is?! even then, you could've fucking told me- i would've moved on happily."  with that, y/n ran off, Sunghoon following somewhat behind.

As the girl reached an alley way that was pretty far from the school, she paused, her head ringing, tears falling, as she coughed. But it wasn't a normal cough.... she coughed up blood, and a white flower petal. 

What the fuck? a fucking flower petal? she frowned, assuming it was probably from one of those times she got hungry and took a bite out a flower in the vase, not too bothered, she ran home, her heart broken.

Sunghoon stopped running, not wanting to upset her further, hopefully she'll come to school he can comfort her then right?... Wait why the fuck would he want to do that, he mentally slapped himself, he's never taken interest in any other girl, or any human being in general, with a sigh, he walked to his car, an inch of him worrying for the small girl...

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[shizukateal]

Hey, I want to ask you something because I'm in somewhat of an impasse. It's about magical girl fashion. To start at the beginning, I'm planning to design magical girl costumes/clothing for characters from a piece of media. My main struggle is, how to make the costumes visibly a magical form while also retaining its practicality. These characters move around a lot during battle and in general, and even the ones who use ranged weaponry do get to have their one-on-one fight occasionally when fighting enemies. So how do I design a magical girl costume, without sacrificing personality and 'fanciness', so to speak...while also being practical so that there'd be few things for an enemy to potentially grab or things to get stuck somewhere?

The key is always verisimilitude in movement and weight. You don't have to be perfectly grounded in what's practical for the form of combat your character takes, you just have to make something that seems like it at least wouldn't get in their way and which compliments them stylistically.

For a concrete exercise recommendation I give you this: draw your characters in different action poses, with as much range of motion as their fighting style allows. Put the clothes and hair on them. Now, if you find an element in the design that seems to be impractical, ask yourself before deleting it "how much and how consistently can I cheat the physics of this element to make it work with this fighting style?".

Take Batman's cape for example. In real life that would be impractical as all hell (Edna Mode's rant and all), especially since Batman primarily uses martial arts, but the illustrators and animators "cheat" by making it flow in a way that doesn't get in the way of him throwing punches and kicks. If Batman is fighting mano a mano the cape stays neatly behind his back and only the bottom moves a bit without ever turning front. Enemies conveniently avoid grabbing him by it and on the off chance they go for that option then he'll overpower them and use their grip against them. If he's dodging or stalking then suddenly the material is more floaty or almost liquid. If he does a big dramatic jump then the cape will perfectly retain its wing shape mid air for as long as it's needed to really imprint the fact that yes, indeed, he does look like a bat. What's important is that you're never really asking yourself how much Batman's cape weights, even if you understand that it's not realistic. You know that the cape will be more stiff around his torso and shoulders and more loose at the bottom, you get how those differences interact to make the whole, and you also get that sometimes the whole will become a bit stiffer if it's for the sake of maintaining a cool pose. So as long as the cape moves consistently with that in mind no one will give a fuck that it doesn't snag on everything around it.

However, this also means that there's a limit to how acrobatically Batman moves, unlike the robins, because there are only so many ways you can stylize that movement before you break the verisimilitude of the physics involved. Can Batman do a cartwheel with a cape that moves like that? Yeah, sometimes, but to keep the stylization consistent the cape would need to move so slow that it would strain suspension of disbelief for him to do so all the time instead of dodging normally.

That's the "problem" (quotes because it is a matter of personal taste) I have with most modern Precure outfits. Good or bad, the dresses are so charged and the hairstyles so big that the animators can't really move those elements in a way that compliments their fighting style of big jumps, punches and kicks. You try to pose them for a generic jab and you have to contend with both their massive skirts not getting in the way of their stance and their hair not whipping around in a way that would unbalance them, and the result ends up feeling way too artificial because everything has to remain unnaturally frozen in place for it to work. Oops!

But ok, those are practical concerns, what about choosing the stylization itself? Well, movement can still help us a lot on that area.

Let me be predictable as I turn your eyes towards the Holy Quintet once more. First let's focus on Sayaka Miki, who also has an overdramatic cape.

As we can see in this gif above, Sayaka's cape is constantly flaming, not only in the sense of how it moves but in the shape it most consistently retains, always coming from the focalized point of her neck. This loose application of physics makes it move wherever it would help her silhouette look more impactful aided by the short hair not presenting the usual competition that would be present on other magical girls (looking at you Cure Sky), although of course it can stay still and quietly cascading when it's stylish. But even beyond that the movement of the cape matches a consistent motif in how Sayaka moves within her fighting style and what that means in the context of her aesthetic. If you rewatch the show or most of her transformation sequences you'll notice that Sayaka tends to swoop into to or dive into the action. Of the Holy Quintet she's the one who seems to run the fastest and usually in a straight line, because that's what she is: heroic and straightforward.

Now let's make a broader comparison with the 5 members of the team.

Naoko Yamada from Kyoto Animation fame has said that you can tell a lot about a girl from her legs and in this case she's right. Starting from the left, Kyoko has thigh-highs and pirate boots that cinch below the knee, and along her skirt her legs are framed by her long-coat. Her weapon is a spear, a weapon that requires a stance that must be solid but still quick enough to shift, so the weight of her outfit is focused downwards while her shoulders are exposed for mobility but her arms and especially her wrists are protected, and her big ponytail balances the whole thing. Sayaka runs fast and she sword fights, so she's covered in most of the same areas as Kyoko since she needs a similar balance of stance and mobility, but the weight is put more around her torso so she can run more freely and the cape frames her arms instead of her legs, because her sword serves mostly to slash and so her arms will move more stiffly than Kyoko's. It's another genius way to show they're foils.

Mami has very long, stylish guns and uses her ribbons as vines to move around. Stance also matters in her case, but not in the same way as the previous two. She doesn't need to keep standing on her feet, she needs to move around more freely and even crouch or kneel at times, so her boots are very form-fitting, but there's still some ease and looseness with her absolute territory. And since pointing a gun requires a stable grip and quick reflexes on the fingers her arms are heavier and her gloves are finger-less. But beyond all of those practical concerns you'll notice that she's very very fond of twirling around, whether standing on the ground or in mid-jump, so it's important to her that her skirt has that furls and unfurls like a blossoming flower.

Homura's legs are very highlighted. Unlike Mami who jumps around in her loose skirt doing somersaults an adds unnecessary frills to her movements Homura is efficient. Precise. Practically a rectangle. Her stocking-boots protect her whole legs and keep them compressed and strong without sacrificing much mobility were it not for her very high and thin stilettos. There's a limit to how quick she can run in those things before making her run cycle look kinda stupid, so instead her focus is to do as much as she can with the least amount of movements possible. She elegantly falls feet-first and poses into action, her hair moving most of all in a similar manner to Sayaka's cape. When she's Moemura, however, her braids flop clumsily like oversized ears on a puppy. She'll look good with a big gun like Mami since her silhouette is so subdued, but since her specialty are bombs and short guns her uniform calls more attention to her hands.

And last but not least we have Madoka. Constantly perched on her rounded tippy-toes due to her high heels, with bunched up shoulders and dainty gloves that call attention to her wrists. Her outfit is designed to highlight her Girly Run. Kyoko flails her arms, Sayaka dives, Mami twirls, Homura glides and Madoka bounces around, hence her buoyant tutu. But she's also an archer. Now, would a real archer wear those dainty, frilly, white tea-time gloves? Haha, no. But that doesn't change the fact that gloves are a useful thing for an archer to wear. It's credible enough and it fits her style, so why not add it?

Please note however that I'm not saying the Holy Quintet's outfits are the only way to handle their respective fighting and movement styles. Rather, I'm trying to teach you how the elements they use compliment them so you can analyze what you want to achieve and start looking for solutions from there. Here, let's make a comparison between characters with the same core idea and what the subtle differences in their executions tell us about them.

Now, why would two catgirl magical girls both wear round-toed, tight boots that highlight their knees? Well, because cat's hind legs are one big feet up to the knee is why. And if you're gonna stand in all fours then might as well add some gloves for protection. Then add a puffy skirt for bounce and dessert theming and voilá, jumpy acrobatic cat. If anything, however, I'd say Mew Ichigo's fit is better movility-wise, because her bob is lighter and less obstructive, her skirt and boots allow for more range of motion, and her gloves look thicker and more resistant. But both work well for their purposes, it's just that Ichigo is built more around the agility of a cat and Macaron around its elegance.

Then we have Cat Noir, who has 3 ways of moving: his acrobatics -similar to Ichigo-, his bo-staff, and his cataclysm. Notice that his joints stick out from his otherwise form-fitting literal catsuit. This is because he puts even more of his weight into those than the previous two. Ichigo mostly jumps catlike with her legs straight, but Chat crouches and stalks and climbs and slashes with his claws, and sometimes I think he even uses his bo-staff to fence like a rapier. He may be the most practical out of the 3, but on the other hand notice that his feet seem the heaviest both because of how highlighted they are and because the boots seem steel-toed. Chat can contort into positions the other two won't, but he'll likely do less somersault twirls than them because it feels like his feet are too heavy for that. If his tail belt was more alive like an actual tail, however, we might have a different story, because that would provide a counterbalance to the heaviness of the shoes and it could move in a similar way to a skirt.

One last example and I'll be over.

So, I watched The Mandalorian (pirated so that Disney can't legally kill my spouse), and at the end of the first season they give the main character a jet pack. Now, it's important to this character that he wears a long cape because he's brooding and questant and mysterious but with a strict code of conduct and so his pastiche of archetypes includes looking like a crusader knight. So you'd think that getting a jetpack would make him ditch the cape since it's a fire hazard, but no, not quite. Instead he simply gathers it over one of his shoulders, and since the flame of the jetpack is small, so long as the end of the cape doesn't move around to wildly you barely notice that it's there at all. Is it improbable that the whole thing doesn't catch fire? Absolutely. Does it work anyways? Yes!

In conclusion? Find ways to cheat physics. But find them! Don't just stare at your first draft expecting it to do the work for you!

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[fuzzyduckduckyfuzz]

after all this time I still found you part 6 Timebomb

64.media.tumblr.com

64.media.tumblr.com

Summary- months after jinx’s “death” Ekko had gone into a spiral, making everyone around his worried. He can’t stop the feeling that maybe she’s still out there, and it’s only when he finally goes looking for her that his dream and nightmare comes true

warnings- hella angst, some fluffity fluff, uh oh curse words, also mentions of depression and alcohol abuse.

Ekko was practically sprinting to the last drop, eager to see what else jinx had in store for him. By the time he got down to the under city he was panting heavily. it had been a while since he had gotten proper exercise after his mid life crisis at 19.

“damn it Ekko, knew you should’ve worked out more…” he mutters to himself as he leans forward to catch his breath

once he can actually breath he walks into the last drop. He is immediately greeted by smiling friends and fellow firelights. They attempt to make conversation with him but he quickly excuses himself from the conversations, he had a mission.

“stay focused Ekko…” he mutters to himself

is it a problem how much I’ve been talking to myself lately? He thinks to himself. He quickly shakes his head, he can’t get distracted right now.

he searched around the last drop for a bit, trying to be discreet. But he didn’t mind anything. He sighs and leans back against the bar, and guess what happened? Bam! Another tin monkey plops down on his head.

“Ow! Mother fu—” he curses to himself as he rubs the top of his head. He picks up the tin monkey off the bar counter and scowls. Why did her amusement have to be at his expense…

“this better be fucking good, I’m starting to get a headache from this….” He mutters to himself, opening the little piece of paper this monkey was also holding

“haza!! Haha!! You found your clue, and now you’ve got two. Four more to go my dear dear friend and then this game must come to and end”

he rolls his eyes with a small smile and flips the paper over, again there’s a message on the back that reads.

“that sounded a lot darker then intended, the next clue is somewhere hidden in plain sight…literally, especially after the rebuild.”

he laughs slightly, when he reads the last bit of the message his brows furrowed in slight confusion. He tilts his head back as he thinks to himself.

he walks out of the last drop thinking, and then…it hits him. A place hidden in plain sight, especially after the rebuild. This clue was already in the last drop so that leaves…the firelight base!!

he smiles, feeling slightly triumphant but also praying that he actually guessed right. He looks back down at the tub monkey in his hands and notices…another piece of paper. He raises his eyebrow. He takes it and slowly unfolds it. His eyes widen and his cheeks heat up slightly at the message.

it said…..

ha!! You actually thought you were gonna know, maybe another day. He chuckles softly and tucks the paper into his pocket.

“you cheeky little shit…” he mutters to himself, before he heads towards the firelight base.

[mpregandproud]

Isaac II (Part 7)

Once Isaac and I got back to fucking all the pieces of my life were back in order. There was something missing in my life and that was to feel my husband skin to skin. Yes, we've been together for 20 years, but living each other to the fullest again made all of this make sense again. With my previous pregnancies, the sex was one of the biggest attractions, so something was missing here.

Fewer kids around the house made things easier for Isaac and I to make up for lost time. My rest forced me to be home practically all day, added to the fact that the boys were practically out of the house all day between school and extracurriculars and that Isaac works from home, meant that in just a few days we were more than catching up.

So much cumming inside me made my belly start to grow at a much faster rate. I guess it also affects that the caloric expenditure of all this exercise we are practicing is leading me to eat a lot more. Not to mention that between months 5 and 7 the fastest growth usually occurs, and I'm right in the middle of it. Nothing I haven't experienced before.

As for our children, Sandra and Cal informed us that they wanted to travel to his parents' home country soon. Although we thought it might be risky going into their fifth month of pregnancy, they were really looking forward to sharing this moment with Cal's grandparents before she gave birth.

As for Patrick and Isaac, they are somewhere between scared and very horny. If my hormones are raging, they, in the midst of adolescence, are unbearable. This situation got a little tricky when the high school principal called Lucas and I into his office because the boys were caught having sex during a break between classes in the student restrooms.

Lucas and I didn't know where to jump in when we got there and saw the two boys waiting to go into the principal's office. They both stood up with a start and looked very embarrassed. They had better be embarrassed, they had been caught making love in a bathroom, what less to be embarrassed about. Two guys with bellies that rival mine doing this kind of dirty stuff in a public place, it can't be right. We went into the principal's office with them.

“Gentlemen, we know that your children are a couple, and we have no problem with that, but it can't be that they are having intercourse in the bathroom,” said this elderly gentleman with incredible seriousness.

The moment was very serious but Lucas and I couldn't help but laugh. I remember that in our student days Frank was caught having sex with half the school. In one of those encounters he conceived his first child, Frances. We both remember when he and Stephania were pulled out by the ear in front of the whole school.

“Excuse me Mr. Principal, it's just that we experienced this in our student days and we couldn't help but remember our friend Frank. You are absolutely right, this can not be repeated, we will talk to them,” Lucas told him, as I was still laughing at the situation.

Both were expelled for a week and had to commit not to repeat this behavior. At home we talked to them and agreed that they would not do it again, that at home they could let off steam as much as they wanted, but outside the house they could only hold hands or kiss each other. Deep down I feel sorry for them, because they are living their adolescence to the fullest and without barriers. The madness of youth, who could live it again.

A month after their trip to Africa, Sandra and Cal sent us a beautiful photo of the two of them. She already had a huge belly and they looked happy and radiant. Isaac and Patrick have entered into a kind of competition to see how many times a day they can fuck. Blessed youth, not even the fact that they were already huge at six months pregnant didn't stop them.

In my case, at eight months, I am starting to feel the weight of pregnancy. If before I could go for walks around the house, now I was locked in my room practically all day long, lying in bed. Isaac often came to give me his medicine, although not as much as I wanted.

The last month of pregnancy went really slowly, but I guess that's what happens when you can only eat, watch TV and fuck sporadically when your husband isn't working or taking care of a house full of minors.

The thing is that with a week to go before my due date, I started to feel intense discomfort. My belly dropped, it became hard as a rock and the contractions started to be too intense. The problem was that this situation didn't improve for three days, and my water wouldn't break for any reason. So it was time to resort to extreme measures. “Isaac, honey, it's your turn to get these four out of me like you did with the previous ones, like only you know how.” He nodded and started to take off his clothes, already my man was coming to save me.

Go to Part 8

[icycoldninja]

The Turks incorrect quotes

Reno: You’re not jealous, are you? Rude: No! Reno: Good, ‘cause I consider my fake relationship with you a lot more meaningful.

Elena: Have I ever told you that I love you with my whole heart? Tseng: For the love of all that is holy, I am not taking you to McDonalds. It’s 2am! Elena: Mean.

Tseng: Did you like the food I made? Elena: No, not really. Tseng: But I put my heart and soul into it! Elena: No wonder it tastes so cold and dead.

Reno: Anybody got any crayons so I can color in my Ph. D.?

Rude: Tseng likes to win. When he was 8, a little Club Scout friend of his bragged she could sell the most cookies. Rude: Damned if Tseng didn't walk the neighborhood till he got blisters on his feet, and won by 10 boxes. Rude: Best part is, Tseng wasn't even a Club Scout.

Reno: You know the sound a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound that my brain makes all the time.

Reno, washing the dishes: Who the fuck used this pan?? Reno: Wait. I the fuck used this pan… Tseng: It was you the fuck. Reno: It was I the fuck… Rude: Who cooks rice in a pan? Tseng: He the fuck.

Reno: Any questions? Rude: Uh, yeah, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? Reno: Uh, a plan, duh… Elena: Rude, chill, I know it’s weird, but Reno has a point. Rude: Rude: THAT WAS LITERALLY A PONY DOODLE WITH A HAT!!

Tseng: If there are no questions, we’ll move on to the next chapter. Rude: I have a question. Tseng: Certainly, Rude. What is it? Rude: What’s the point of human existence? Tseng: I meant any questions about the subject at hand. Rude: Oh. Rude: Frankly, I’d like to have the issue resolved before I expend any more energy on this.

Reno: Anything else? Rude: Yeah. Stay away from me! Reno: Alright. See you in the room we share.

Reno: I’m sorry, I really flew off the handle back there. It was like the handle was a bald guy going really fast, and I was his toupée.

Rude: What's the most efficient way to burn calories? Tseng: Exercise more! Reno: Set yourself on fire. Elena: There are two kinds of people.

Elena: Come to think of it… You’ve always been nice to me. Elena: I mean, you listen to all my problems- Tseng: No, Elena I just simply stand here while you talk, there’s a big difference.

Tseng: Guys where did Reno go? Elena: He got arrested. Tseng: How the hell- Reno: bursts in through the window The cops are after me, I thought it would be fun to steal crackers and throw them at people.

Reno: Shut up, you’re messing with my train of thought! Tseng: I thought you didn’t have a brain and now you say you have thoughts?

Elena: Okay, but what if we went to dinner not as friends this time? Tseng: AS ENEMIES?! Elena:

Reno: Tseng, you need to react when people cry! Tseng: I did. I rolled my eyes.

Kidnapper: I have one of your friends. Rude: Which one? I have seven. Kidnapper: The loud, annoying, rowdy one who never shuts up. Rude: Which one? I have seven. Reno, distantly: HEY!!!

Reno: Come on, you need to go to bed. Tseng: Mr. Snuffles says that I can stay up as long as I want. And that you need to die! Reno: … Reno: What the hell, Mr. Snuffles—

Tseng: Oh, they left the bowl out? Tseng: It says, “Take two pieces of candy.” Reno: Nobody around though… Reno grabs the entire bowl and runs off with it Tseng: NO—

[amphiptere-art]

Alrighty! Finally!

The new ravenous ref!!

Of which I'm also going to tack on his new story. If you want to see a description of the new arts thought process. And then scroll all the way down until you see something called art ramble. Otherwise enjoy their new story!

Ravenous's new story for arcade.

So. Before ravenous was born / made. There was this pretty large pizza plex. And it ran like any other sort of pizzaplex. Except this one was definitely abusive. The robots did everything. If some model found some time to relax. They wouldn't be allowed to. There was handlers where they're only job was to make sure the animatronics were doing something. It wasn't a very nice place for any sort of animatronic to be in. But surprisingly for having such a big building. The actual plex seemed pretty small. And that was because the Plex was sort of the front.

The real purpose of the place was to pump out animatronics, and make animatronics for war. It was a place where animatronics like Pluto and Blood Moon were made. And this one guy in the facility. Well he was dead set on making a giant animatronic that could not only best other animatronics, But would be hyperobedient. And so as he was working in a facility where they already built violent out animatronics. He thought it would be easy.

The only thing is that he was a terrible coder. So he kind of just grabbed some code from somewhere else. And started to mess with it. Copying what violent tendencies he could basically steal from other places. This includes the cannibal bug, The shit blood moon and Pluto have, Plus anything else from the facility. Stealing sharp claws and the sharp teeth. There is of course the cannibal bugs stuff but he just added more. Meaning that while an animatronic like Blue Moon still has that metal dissolving saliva. This little ravenous prototype has like 10 times more.

Anyways. Point is other than the violent parts and what violent code he can grab. He kind of grabbed the wrong base code. And with him messing with so much of it. He kind of broke it. And instead of getting a AI that had every violent thought it could get, and the basic age of like 20 or 30s. He instead got a AI with the age of a young child, and barely any understanding over any of its violent codes. This pissed him off. He was creating a monster not a child! But he decided whatever. Maybe if he raises this kid as a part of his family. He can at least fulfill the whole obedient part.

So little ravenous got cared for by his "father". Ravenous was none the wiser about the fact that his father was a fucking human. Neither was he none the wiser that his father was trying to raise him into a monster. This was just father. And he loved his father! The human despite not really wanting to do any of this. Kept treating ravenous like a little child or baby. They would cuddle and watch movies together and did basically any sort of bonding exercise. The human nearly put to the whole raising a monster thing on the back burner.

But ravenous still had all those violent pieces and violent tendencies. The only problem is that they were practically a child and didn't know what to do with any of this. Ravenous didn't really realize that when he licked something. It could melt into fucking butter. Ravenous would give hugs that would nearly kill people. Ravenouses wildly waving tail was as sharp as a knife. And they were constantly destroying paperwork, we're just blatantly hurting somebody by them wagging their tail.

This started to get on their human's nerves. Ravenous still love them because they remember all the times they were being treated so sweetly. But they're creator started to distance himself as he restarted his project. This time with a bit more experience and a tad more friends to help. Also the timer of the revolution was now on them. Meaning that Raven is his father was slowly growing more and more cold. And so like any kid. Ravenous started to sort of do things that get his father's attention.

He started to eat more things he wasn't supposed to. Hugging people was more of a fit to get somebody to look at him. Ravenous would randomly come in and cut paper up just to get their attention. And one time ravenous went attention seeking on the wrong thing. He found what was essentially his Father's second version of himself. Differently colored and stuff but still was essentially the better version of what ravenous was supposed to be. And ravenous figured that this would be the best thing to get his father's attention.

So he might have taken a nibble off of this very expensive and preciously worked on project. He wasn't meaning to damage it but... He's a kid with the most violent metal eating saliva ever known to man. The thing was basically destroyed at the first nibble. Weeks of work down the drain. And ravenous's father was not happy. Their father was already getting on the edge of their nerves with ravenous. The attention seeking behavior was destructive just because of how ravenous's body was. Ravenous was already a project failure. And not only did he have his own pressure. But the pressure of all the coworkers he had that had also had their work ruined.

So ravenous's father lashed out. Ravenous was a failure. Ravenous destroyed the only thing that was important to him. Ravenous had to go. Ravenous was of course heartbroken at their father basically screaming and yelling at them. Calling them nothings and nobody's. But what he did after was what really made them sob.

The facility is huge. There are tons of halls where stuff is just discarded. And there is tons of stuff in the facility and made in particular to fight off the facilities own made killer materials. Medals they're strongest animatronics and metal eating saliva couldn't break. And so ravenous's father and his companions dragged him down to one of these lost halls. They welded chains to a giant metal brick. And then they started to slowly shackle ravenous down.

It took until they were halfway done and that ravenous realized that something bad was happening. That his father wasn't just yelling at him now. He started to cry and sob. Loud enough that it started annoying everyone and could be heard in the fake Plex. So using their manpower and they're dark sense of reasoning. They welded some chains to a piece of metal that they had haphazardly opened holes in. Pulled down ravenous's face and welded the thing on him. Ignoring the poor babies screams.

Ravenous's father and his friends left the scene soon after. Once they were sure ravenous could do nothing to get out. And could only let out whimpers or growls. His father talked about plans on reusing ravenous for parts or even just his chip. Which is the only reason they didn't deactivate him. And they just turned off the lights in this lonely storage room and left him there.

Ravenous was of course devastated. Practically mute, unable to escape, and left alone in the dark. Not only did it devastate the bot but it's also scared them. They were all alone. In the dark. Unable to scream for help. And their father had abandoned them. As a child it was something they couldn't quite grasp all the way. Plus they started to get hungry. Before his father didn't really like him eating but let him eat. But with this muzzle on his mouth he couldn't eat anything. Neither was there anything really around.

Raven is of course started to fade into desperate instincts. Starvation, and isolation making them mad. Only really held alive because of their souped up robotic parts. Unable to die really. Reactor is in electrical stealing devices always recharged their battery enough for them to come back online eventually. They would sometimes devour their own nanite saliva. Basically eating themselves over and over and over again. The area around their lips would melt, get devoured, And then the resources from their own lips were used to repair it. And that happened for a long time.

Of course the revolution was happening. The Plex was on high alert for any animatronic because it wasn't exactly not well known that they treated them terribly. Handlers didn't have a good reputation from there basically. And so won the revolution was finished. They were investigated immediately and shut down. Not only for having terrible practices with animatronics, But also because they quickly tried to just kill them all. Luckily most of the animatronics there had basically learned a rough and tough thought process. And survived through their own violence, and cleverness. Able to call in for help and escape.

Ravenous's father never got to build his super weapon. He had to restart a new, and with the revolution his friends had basically scattered early. The Plex was shut down. And while the animatronics did eventually learn of the facility and stopped its production. Looking through every room that every personnel in the building talked about or spoke of something important. Anything realistically wrote down. They never really went into the deep warehouse. No one looked down in the storage. Ravenous his father never really wrote down that he was there. No one heard ravenouses screams.

And so this lines the spot with the crossover time area.

Now of course there's other things that happened. And I have actually made a little bit of a after story. (Technically because I figured this out first before I actually figured out the new story) So I'm going to share that despite the crossover time area being here.

Basically while ravenous was slowly rotting away in the facility. The facility long abandoned by now. Nykur found his way into the facility. It was big and large and had resources that hadn't been pillaged. It was a pretty good hiding spot for a lot of people that lived on the streets. The top level of mostly ruled by humans. The top level of the facility and some of the upper warehouse had robots like Nykur in it.

But the little fella traveled a bit deeper. He heard an interesting sound he couldn't resist. The curious little fella found the room that ravenous was tied up in. Now ravenous was not in good shape. Not only are they crazed by hunger. But also just damaged by time and their body being self-destructive. So when ravenous woke up to the scent of metal. They of course lashed out. But it also was filled with the echo of scratching and broken parts. Unravenous only got to lash out for a while before their battery died and they collapsed.

Nykur was of course scared out of his goddamn mind and ran out of there. But once they realize that ravenous was offline. They started to think about their new find. They had just found this giant animatronic that was changed to a giant metal block. This animatronic didn't seem to move any further than the tip of its chains. They also were able to close enough to see that he had a muzzle on. Ravenous couldn't eat them. Although Nykur figure that ravenous could still hurt them.

But the fact that ravenous couldn't eat it gave them an idea. Nykur is small. They can't hunt for their own food. They can barely survive off of scraps and acting cute. So they figured. If they brought something to this big scary robot. And the scary robot killed it. It might tear it into tiny pieces, But it couldn't eat it. So Nykur could realistically just wait until it powered off again and steal the food. Nykur basically figured that ravenous was a food grinder with extra steps.

And so Nykur sort of made Ravenous's prison they're den. They never got too close to ravenous. But they basically had their own place in the room. Every once in a while Nykur would lead some unfortunate animatronic down there to be killed by ravenous. Being so small that he could slip between their claws and they're blind fury to eat. Ravenous wood sometimes tear the victim apart enough that they could eat some pieces. But it was hardly enough. Nykur would always come in afterwards and drag the pieces away. Eating this parts happily until they lead another person down.

No of course ravenous is still very much stuck in a starved madness. But the company is nice in the few glimpses of sanity they get. Ravenous enjoys the company. It's better than being all alone. And while they are still being edged by starvation it makes them a little better. Ravenous starts to see Nykur as their brother. Nykur starts feeling the same way being a similar age. But it's only held back by the fact that ravenous usually snarled and tries to eat them.

I may as well also mark this as a crossover time point. For those of you that want to get both children at the same time.

Of course I'm sure some of you saw that little tiny story. And that takes after this paracism relationship happens. No of course I think I'm going to continue that particular storyline. Inside of arcade Universe itself. Reveal it too you guys slowly until I feel like I want to reveal it all the way. So you guys might be getting little bits and pieces of Ravenous and Nykur adoption, alongside Vapor and the Neptune pack having scuffles.

Anyways

Art rambles!

As you can see ravenous didn't get that radical of a redesign. But they definitely had a redesign in their colors and patterns. I've been wanting to redo ravenous for a long time. His design was okay enough for me not to immediately want to change it over others. But I've always had problems here and there. My attempt at a glitchy effect on his body just... Didn't work and wasn't reliably repeatable. It was something that would probably look really cool on a 3D model that had this wrapping animated texture. But it was something that I just couldn't do by hand.

I needed a new pattern for ravenous not only for my own sanity, But also just because every single time I tried to draw it looked horrible. Plus the colors of ravenous that I had wasn't a perfect match. I didn't quite understand How color sort of shifted when you did certain stuff to them. And therefore there were some colors in their palette that really didn't need to be there. Or they were the wrong picked color. Inaccurate to the SB Arcade Eclipse image.

So. First thing I did was to fix those colors. Grab the actual colors and not just the colors that I thought I needed. Figuring out the colors properly, and settling on a much cleaner palette. And then I had to get onto the patterns. I had done a lot of different patterns. And I definitely want to ravenous to still be unique looking. So I didn't want to copy anything I had already.

So I went through a random list of animals. Chose a couple and started the process of figuring out which ones worked. There was a couple of ideas that I had already sort of thought of for ravenous. One of these ideas was called "edges". Basically we're ravenous glowed from the inside out. Something that was sort of there in their old design but was more there to help fight against their black lines. Another one was something I called frilled stripes. Taken off of a swallowtail butterfly. And the last one was a pattern guy called sequence of dots. Based off of the many patterns lizards get on their sides. They were some of the favorites and so I sort of mashed them together.

Smashing them together resulted in this lovely pattern. He honestly reminds me of some sort of toy solar system. And I think it works for the big little guy. He feels like some sort of astrology book or a silly little illustration of the stars for children. And it still feels like ravenous in every other regard. I didn't change much about the design other than the pattern, and a slight color adjust. So I hope the new design isn't jarring to anyone, And hopefully will be celebrated for just how better it looks.

Anyway that's all I have to ramble. Hope you guys like ravenous new story and design.

[asexualactivities]

Progress Update

I've been actively working on writing the asexual sex ed book that I mentioned.

I have probably 400 3x5 cards with notes on them, nearly filling two card boxes. I keep adding a few more every day.

I have over 8300 words put down in a Word doc so far. That's probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 pages. Progress is meandering. There's some introduction pieces, some anatomical descriptions, some exercises, but nothing remotely resembling a complete chapter.

I have some good bits like "societal shame tsunami" and being a tourist in the land of sex.

I think the book should be illustrated. The illustrations will look like they've escaped from an Ikea assembly guide. I've done a few examples and they are... something. I'd share them here, but I'm sure they run afoul of the rules.

I'm running into a few challenges that are slowing progress somewhat:

My back hurts. It has been hurting for months now, but sitting to type is making it worse.

I'm facing occasional bouts of paralyzing fear over the election. I can still feel my face, unlike last time, but I'm sure that will change. So holy fuck get out there and vote for Kamala Harris if you want to see this book happen, because if she loses I will probably fall apart and won't be able to write anything. Not that it will matter, this kind of book will probably end up being outlawed anyway.

I've made the mistake of putting on Elementary in the background as I write. I chose this because large sections of You Are Asexual were written to reruns of Elementary, so I figured I'd keep up the tradition. The problem is that Elementary is a really good show, so I end up watching it more than typing.

There are Life Things™ that I need to do but am not doing because of the back pain and the paralyzing fear and every time I think about how I should be doing one of those I end up staring at a wall for a few minutes.

[calissto]

On Writing Every Day

Possibly the most ubiquitous piece of writing advice: write everyday. Write every day or you’re not a writer, your work has no value, you’ll never get good, you’ll never go pro. Maybe I am at a bit of a disadvantage because I’ve never published a book, but I feel like I have some place to question this motion. 

Don’t write every day. Write often.

Because I agree; writing is like a muscle; you must train it. You have to exercise your vocabulary, your voice, your prose — all as often as you can. It’s essential. But you can do all of these things without gluing yourself to the chair each and every day. Some of us just can’t do that — some of us have obligations; a job, school, sickness, or emergencies. Things come up. And some of us just don’t want to. And that’s okay, too. 

I say write often because it’s a promise you can keep. No matter how pressed for time, you can construct a schedule around often. You can stick to that. Practice becomes joyous instead of overwhelming. You will improve without being weighed down by guilt clouding your judgment, adding on to the already compounding series of worries and doubts you have about your identity as a writer anyway. 

Often can look like this: every other day, a few days a week, a few days a month. Often is up to you. It’s a malleable guideline, and that’s why I like it. It’s about constant practice — routinely coming to dance with your writerly spirit without letting it die nor allowing it to overshadow everything else you are. You can be a writer and other things, too. It’s essential you are other things, too, otherwise you pigeonhole yourself and dull any unique perspective you may bring to the vast, ever-broadening literary table. Have something to share with your peers. Something to bestow. Besides, some of us have dreams besides writing we would like to pursue, and we have every right to pursue them. 

I think writing (well) is so demanding we sometimes forget writing is an incredibly forgiving art. It doesn’t usually feel like it. Writing is difficult (because it is everything) and mystifying and capricious. It feels like the most unforgiving art (because it is: it can be forgiving and unforgiving all at the same time, because it is everything). The muse coquettishly woos us one day then sets us on fire the next. You can have amazing ideas and, propelled by the whirlwind it conjures in your mind, sit down to write and hate everything you put down. The inner critic can be restricting, mean, impossible to satisfy. Plots can get dizzyingly convoluted and messy (and sometimes they don’t come at all! Yay!), wips take years and decades to perfect. You can spend hours, days, weeks, months, years in confusion as to what the fuck you’re even meant to be doing in order to make your story work. Just thinking about all this makes me tired. Writing can be grueling.

But it is also forgiving. 

We can take our time. We can fix our stories again and again and again. We can wait until we're ready for the world to see it.

A contradictory mistress, writing is. The truth is your writing hands will not fall off if you choose to take some time off. You do not really forget to write creatively. Oh, you can get rusty, and it can take some time to get your groove back, but the talent you’ve accumulated (and, perhaps, have been born with) does not evaporate out of thin air just because you step away from your word processor. I, myself, have stepped away from writing for large swaths of time only to return just as strong as I was before. If this is indeed a problem for you, I suggest reading more often — just so you can remain close to writing without actually doing it. You can stay familiar and play with language and characters and plotting without actually doing anything— watch essays on movies and characters. Stay engaged. Don’t feel like your talents will be irrevocably blunted by a break, no matter how long it is.

I often think writers are their own jailers, while other writers you associate with and look up to can function as fellow wardens; what exactly is gonna happen if you don’t write everyday? I’ve come to really detest writing “rules.” There are no rules — they aren’t even rules to be broken. There are guidelines and things that have worked in the past. The trick is to learn what has worked for others, why, and what works for you. Mix and match at your own discretion. The life of a writer is often a solitary, lonesome affair. Not just because you do it yourself, but because you are your own god; a huge part of being a writer is fashioning things for yourself, coming up with your own rules, if you dare to call them as such. You conjure up worlds for your own amusement. So, the way we find ourselves chained to the so-called rules and those who espouse them has become kinda hilarious to me.

Also, go ahead and accept this: a lot of what defines good writing is completely out of your hands. What is popular and lauded as a masterpiece today may be rejected and ignored tomorrow. There are principles to help you bridge the gap of generations — compelling characters, thoughtful plotting, and, oh, idk, basic understanding of storytelling elements etc, but we all will have our own personal talents as writers. Rest assured, you’ll be an acquired taste, so go ahead and study your own talents and strengths as a word person. What are the things you love about writing? What do you like to zero in on? What do you look forward to? Focus on those things, and just try to have a basic grasp of other, essential things.

The point is this: if writing really is that important to you, it will be in your life somehow. You won’t have to make room so much as it will wedge itself into one of the movie theater seats in your mind. Your mind will wander to your wips. You’ll think of your characters at random times. You’ll picture your settings and scenes will just randomly come to you. Don’t worry about it so much! Write often, stay engaged, but if you need a break, take one.