#I just needed to draw something that wasn't related to anything I'm currently working on

[sammy8d257]

"What do you get when you mix blue and pink together?"

"A mess."

-

Aka the horrors of realizing, for better or for worse, you are your parents

[gritsandbrits]

Since today marks the 40th anniversary of thomas and friends (the show) I'd like to share personal story.

I first got into thomas when i was a little girl. I wasn't scared of the sudden closeups on the characters faces, or the crashes or the unmoving expressions. It was quite the opposite, i was fascinated. There was something about the vibe that drew me in. It wasnt a cartoon but it wasn't realistic either. The characters didnt have traditional voice actors yet they had a personality and charm that made me eant to see what will these guys do next.

We had tapes of the Alec Baldwin and George Carlin narrations, I used to play Make Some Happy on Repeat. I think i still have it, it's in storage and i hope to burn in onto a disc one day.

I was surprised when the show transitioned to CGI. But i still wasn't entirely against it. If anything i wanted to see where it would go. I was pleased when the show finally had dofferent VAs for the characters. Narration was great and all but i loved the idea of the guys having their own VAs and got a little tired of the female characters sounding the same. Eve. When the show started to get bad, even during the Dharon Miller era, i still got my ass up as 7 am in the morning to watch episodes on pbs kids every Sunday. I didn't care. I just liked watching colorful trains and loved seeing new characters and locations.

Thomas gotten me through some pretty rough patches in childhood, and I had a lot. It showed me a world where problems can be eaisly fixed and mistakes arent the end of the world. It taught me it was okay to ask for help, that i shouldn't tackle everything by myself. Now, you might be surprised giving i tend to criticize a lot of stuff but I am also someone who embraces change. In a way, the shoes ups and down taught me sometimes you just have ti acceot everything will not be exactly the same as you want.

It's this mindset that's currently helping me through another rough time. I admit, i was too hard all all Engins go, but watching some if the episodes I came to actually like some of it. Thought it probably helped that i got turned off by the massive backlash, I felt other fans were too harsh to the point of bein downright gross. I don't want to be like them. So i had to let go of that anger and see the positive AEG has. Ironically it was this specific incarnation that really got me into drawing fanart, which was how i came up for my Shining Time Station reboot.

Without thomas, i wouldn't have met my friends. I wouldn't have gotten back into art, since i have drawn some ttte art and even rewriting the magic railroad. Speaking of, TATMR got me into fantasy, I remmberthe first time I watched it was on HBO kids and was intrigued because it literally never referenced in the shoe and i didnt grow up with Shining Time. For all its faults I still enjoy the movie. I'm even making a custom ken doll of Junior conductor. I credit thomas for helping me find my true love with Junior, i dont care if he's fictional, he's my f/o and I care about him greatly.

As for the blue man himself, I relate to thomas a lot. We're both bossy and tempered, but we're also friendly and hardworking. We slip up and pick ourselves back up. I guess, seeing thomas handling failure has gotten me to reconsider how I've been viewing life and needing yo stop defining myself on my faults. He's flawed yet still likable and beloved, so maybe, I can have a chance too.

I used to think the color blue is overrated, moresore than pink, but thanks to rediscovering Thomas, I now admit I love the color blue. It reminds me of thomas and how i should work on improving myself and my worldviews.

So, thank you thomas and friends. Thank you for being in my childhood and reminding me Adulthood should'nt have to be a cesspool of misery. I can't wait to see what the next 40 years would bring!

[hrodvitnon]

So I reread Shamhat on a whim and came up with some more questions:

So wouldn't Goji and San's coming brawl (or at least them beefing with each other) violate the sorta unspoken rule about being civil to each other on Infant Island? I ask because Vivienne previously stopped a potential problem between Goji and Rodan in an earlier chapter and just generally feel like Mothra wouldn't be very happy about either of them banging each other up.

So I'm assuming Mothra lets out the pheromones because she's a moth, and that's a thing that Moths do and not just a kaiju thing. Or... is it? Like if Tiamat went into heat would she also start shooting out pheromones? Or does each female kaiju have like a unique heat thing that works to attracts mates?

We've been told that the rut/heat relationship works on a Female - Male basis. Female goes into season, triggers male rut, the fuck happens. Is this constant across all sexual orientations? Like, if there was an exclusively gay male kaiju somewhere would a female's heat just have no effect on them? Would they need another male to trigger their rut?

Was the weird thing with Vivienne in the chapter where she bit Tiamat because of the baby developing and instincts bleeding over, or something else? (if the answer to this is a spoiler than by all means be vague about it)

Has Rodan and/or Vivi thought of a name for the kid yet? (refer to the previous question if you don't want to answer this yet)

Final spicy one: What's the projected spike in the Demi-Titan (Titan/Human Hybrid) population looking like when word that the Titans are biologically compatible gets out? Or just the spike in Titan/Human relations?

Whoo!

Mothra certainly won't be pleased that the boys are fighting on her island and plans to make them both sleep on separate couches once all is said and done (she doesn't care "who started it," only that it started at all, and also San knew what he was getting into when he agreed to come and that Goji was playing with fire for seducing his rival's mate). Her ire will be a bit lessened considering what the beef will quickly turn into, though...

I wanna say the sex pheromones specifically are a Mothra-species staple, while others have different ways of drawing in potential mates. In Tiamat's case, it's her bioluminescence and frills fanning out, like a male peacock. Some species will announce their "current state" through body language or straight-up screaming to get a male's attention ("FOR FUCK'S SAKE I NEED A DICK IN ME RIGHT THE FUCK NOW MY ESTRUS IS FUCKING KILLING ME!!").

I want to be careful about this for obvious reasons, but I want to say that a female's heat signals wouldn't necessarily work on a gay male Titan. Maybe the male is aware that a female is in heat, it just doesn't do anything for him because he's naturally not attracted to the opposite sex. It would work on a bisexual Titan, but I digress. Maybe thanks to how intelligent many Titans are, there's a social agreement among the various species that the "breeding zones" are to be separate from zones where gay Titans can go looking for a mate; in which case, a Titan would react to the "call" of a potential mate of the same sex. Sort of like the gay bars of the wild.

If memory serves correctly, it might be a mix between the baby developing, Rodan's instincts bleeding into Vivienne's more dormant "ancient human" instincts, and her being in close proximity to multiple males in rut, which caused her angry bitey cavewoman reaction. She wasn't just defending her mate, Vivienne in the moment was perceiving Tiamat as a potential threat to her expecting family. (It also makes sense to me that a mama bird would flip out if she spotted a snake anywhere near her nest.)

They haven't had an opportunity to brainstorm baby names yet, on account of the whole rut happening at the moment, but once things calm down and Vivienne begins showing, they'll have plenty of slow days where they can relax and test what names work... or rather, Vivienne will test names. Titans don't always refer to each other with specific names, so Rodan is getting used to that.

I wanna say that there won't be an immediate spike in Demi-Titan births; the chaos of 2014 and especially the Mass Awakening is still fresh in many people's memories, but the revelation that Titans can communicate on a human scale will make it easier for many humans to come to terms with all the Everything that's happened and continues to happen. Platonic Human/Titan relations will gradually improve over time... and once some brave souls get over the initial hurdle of "am I attracted to a big monster" and accept their newfound sexual awakening, intimate or even romantic Human/Titan relations will slowly follow.

Bonus, because The Elder Scrolls just turned 30 years old, a bit of Shamhat baby lore based on how "mixed" baby-making works in TES lore: Demi-Titans take after their mothers; in the case of Titan father/human mother, they naturally need to be human-sized babies in order for mom to give birth without, y'know, dying. In the case of of Titan mother/human father parents, the same applies but on a larger scale.

[itzmellooo]

Hold up one second, if you're really taking requests atm, then are there any actual rules or conditions that we should be aware of? Do they have to involve certain fandoms and such? And are crossovers also allowed?

Related to that, can we also send a few pictures for reference, in case you're not familiar with the character(s)?

At the moment, reqs are open! (to be totally honest my requests have always been open, but I wrote it in my pinned intro post and I'm beginning to think it wasn't that people didn't want to request stuff from me but rather that they just didn't know I did requests cause they didn't read the intro 💀💀 I'll put it in my bio so its more obvious now lmao mb chat)

I do have some conditions, but they're your average run-of-the-mill stuff. I don't do any NSFW stuff. I guess that's pretty much it. There are also certain areas of art I still struggle in (animals, landscape/backgrounds, instruments generally, etc.) These are things I'm still working at improving at, so just... Don't have high expectations 💀

As for general media, I really prefer to stick to the fandoms I'm familiar with. People are welcome to send an ask concerning current interests, but for the most part, it's what's on my blog. In general, if fanart from a fandom I'm not interested in is requested, I'll just ignore it, sorry guys :/ The last request I did was for the asker's personal AU involving their OCs, and I did it because I hadn't gotten any requests yet, so I hadn't exactly established any "rules" if you will, but I'm gonna say that as of now, OCs aren't really something I'd draw for requests. Maybe if I ever opened commissions, but for requests, I'm going to say stick purely to canon :)

Crossovers are welcome, I think they're super fun! Just again, I'd really prefer if its something I'm familiar with.

Because of my aforementioned conditions, I can't really see a reason why references would need to be sent besides maybe screenshots from specific scenes if you're requesting a scene redraw or something along those lines, but if a situation where its necessary comes up, just let me know in the comments and I will reach out to you provided your messages are open. For my own comfort, mine are closed.

Anyways, I think thats everything? Feel free to ask if there's anything I missed, I'm always happy to answer :) Thank you for inquiring, and I hope more people are inclined to request things from me!! :D

Edit: I forgot to mention I'm also still in school and I have a full time job, so don't expect speedy responses hahah

[bg-sparrow]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

I'm finally getting around to doing this after @professorsaber, @mythical-bookworm, and @daryfromthefuture tagged me! Sorry for the delay (it's been a week)!

Under the cut because it seems I felt the need to write my life story today as it relates to my body of fan work. :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I'm currently sitting at 51.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

650,606 (of which 58K are shared with co-authors)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Predominantly Back to the Future with a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man, and National Treasure in my rearview mirror. I've also contributed one-shots/ small works to 19 other fandoms over the years!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What to Expect When She's Expecting - (137) - Iron Man

Where You Were (Time Circuits #3) - (95) - BttF

Where You're Going (Time Circuits #1) - (72) - Bttf

Principles of Compromise - (70) - Pirates of the Caribbean

A Fracture in the Space-time Continuum - (69) - BttF

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most definitely! I love interacting with the people who have taken the time to read and comment on my work, even if it's a simple thank you!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooo hoo hoo. I might have to poll some people for this one. My first reaction would be There Are No Roads (Time Circuits #2.5), but as the ending is technically an alternate series of events, I'm not sure it counts as an official 'end'. I'm big proud of it, though, because most initial reactions were somewhere along the lines of "oh my GOD." :)

That being the case, Once Upon a Time in the West wins hands down, mostly because I didn't even see the plot twist coming until the fourth chapter of this six-chapter fic! And it delivered an epic sequel!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oof. Don't come at me like this; I'm just now realizing how much angst I really write because I've narrowed it down to maybe two of my Ao3 fics? Sheesh.

I'm going to go with the only 5+1 fic I've ever written, The Manner of Giving. It was five times Marty failed at giving Doc a gift, and the one time (the end) is when he succeeded.

Where You Were (Times Circuits #3) also gets a nod because it's the end of my trilogy rewrite, and I like to think I ended it on the happy note everyone deserved.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've never gotten a scathing flame of a review, thank goodness. I did have someone ask me on FFN once why I was writing an OC for Marty when he had Jennifer in canon, and while it was tempting to just say "don't like, don't read," we ended up exchanging a mature and constructive dialogue and respectfully parted ways.

I also once, long ago, before I ever planned to seriously pursue writing, had one of my fics added to a "Worst of the Worst" fandom collection on FFN. It was a terrible fic written by an inexperienced teenager, but I still find something like that distasteful and uncalled for, mostly because, as the author, I wasn't able to remove my work from the collection. And it's still there. And I'm still mad about it. Oddly, it's ensured I hold myself to a high standard and never put anything out there that could be considered for a "Worst of the Worst" collection again. So, screw that guy, and thank you.

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

No. I've never wanted a tell a story where that was essential to the story. Now, I've recently included/ alluded to more mature situations in the last year for the first time in my 20 years of writing to get me out of my comfort zone, but no graphic, extended scenes.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have! And the craziest crossover I have is FFHQ. Imagine all the characters in all the fandoms in one giant office park drawing up contracts to appear in fics, meeting with fanfic authors, collaborating on crossovers, etc. It's a lot of paperwork, meaning each character has a secretary. That's a lot of secretaries, so there is a list of "subs" who fill in as floaters when a secretary is out, and this crazy crossover follows three OCs as they bounce around random fandoms each day. This baby is my crackfic, the idea I escaped to in those eight years of depression when I wasn't doing so hot. If you're up for it, I promise it's lots of fun!

Honorable mention goes to the BttF/Elf AU I wrote for our server's Secret Santa exchange last year: Pennies From Heaven.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

*inserts Ben Affleck smoking meme*

Yes. And it's… I'm just very over this form of "flattery".

When I was still in high school, I was writing a pretty successful National Treasure fic when a reader told me they found the story on another site. The person who stole it was writing author notes at the beginning, like "Find out what happens to them next time! I've got great stuff in the works!" I emailed that website, and they kindly took it down and banned that user.

Last year, I had someone on Wattpad steal the Time Circuits Series, rename it the "Flux Capacitor Series", and switched out Emma's name with "Dawn". Two things that had me cackling: When I have Marty call Emma "Em," Marty was calling Dawn "Da," and you could see several places where Emma's name wasn't backspaced all the way out of the text. I confronted the "author", and they wisely took it down, telling me it was just so hard to write it themselves. You bet your ass I have this person still on my alerts list to keep an eye on them, and once a month, I am searching Wattpad for my own fics.

Novel HD/ Novel WW also stole Time Circuts off Wattpad for their website, scrubbed my name from it so that it said it was written by "Anonymous", and put the stories behind paywalls. I caught wind of this about a quarter of the way into the last story and took everything I had off Wattpad. I saved the links but they no longer work, and I can't even access the website anymore. I'm not sure if it's gone or if, because it is a foreign site, they somehow blocked our region from accessing it.

I also had FictionHunt take all of my stuff off FFN! It took several months, but I finally got them to remove my stuff from their site. I might not have minded so much if they had asked me, but that's too hard, I suppose.

There was one website called MovieFanficChains way back in 2005 I gave permission to to host my PotC fics, but aside from FFN and Ao3, that the only place with my permission to have my stuff.

If you see my work elsewhere and it has not been linked back to me, let me know. I'll do the same for you. :)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of.

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

I've done a few roleplays with @daryfromthefuture, where I wrote for Doc and she wrote for Marty. Our most well-known roleplay-turned-fic would be the 1885 scarlet fever sickfic Lean on Me (When You're Not Strong).

I've also been part of the silly blind writing game in our Discord server aptly named Back to the Future: Discord.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I don't know. This is hard. I'm a romantic, and I make the excited Andy Dwyer face every time a ship is hinted at. I have so many I love, but the mainstream ones that immediately come to mind are Tony/Pepper (Iron Man), Sherlock/Molly (BBC Sherlock), Jamie/Brienne (Game of Thrones), and Reylo (Star Wars).

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

I wrote a National Treasure story in high school called Another Clue, and it was one of my first real attempts at an OC insert. It did fairly well, given my talents at the time; I incorporated an OC, but I focused on crafting a canon-like treasure hunt more, and a lot of people complimented that.

So I started a sequel, One More Clue. It built a bigger story around the first, highlighting a treasure hunt that required the help of a rival and two friends seemingly trying to out-betray one another. I got about 12 chapters and 69K into One More Clue before life took over. I last updated it on June 1, 2010, and I left it at quite the cliffhanger with Riley turning Ben into the FBI only to learn the FBI guy was working for the rival and UGH, I keep meaning to go back to it. I have all the notes!

The problem is, I would have to rewrite Another Clue at this point because it's a hot high schooler's mess. You could tell as I wrote One More Clue that I was applying what I was learning from my writing classes in college. While Another Clue didn't have that luxury, it showcases some strengths that compelled me to pursue a writing major (AKA I can make a decent history-driven treasure hunt).

So, while I could finish One More Clue if I really wanted to, it would be pointless unless I overhauled Another Clue first. Which I've thought about. Because National Treasure is my guilty pleasure. I'm just fairly certain no one would be around to appreciate it if I put all that work in now. :)

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've consistently been told it's dialogue, and I find myself agreeing with that. The single lines of dialogue that turn a whole story on its head or tell a whole story of their own are what I live for.

This is the DUMBEST example, but there is an episode of Spongebob Squarepants where Mrs. Puff is freaking out because she gave Spongebob his boating license just to finally get him out of her class, and she's spiraling. She arrives at "I'll have to change my name, move to another city, and open another boating school!" or something like that.

And then her voice just goes dead flat and her eyes narrow and she says, "No. Not again."

And I lose it every time! But you know there's a WHOLE story there just by that little bit of dialogue! I love that! And I love implementing it where I can, whether it be in a comedic or dramatic setting.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm wordy. When I give myself a word count goal for a project, it inevitably goes over, but it gets shaved down some in editing.

Thankfully, I got a hard lesson in this in one of my college writing classes. I turned in a prose-y poem I was quite proud of, and in the next class, the professor handed out copies to everyone. We proceeded to workshop (i.e. destroy) my work, whittling the word count down by half when it was all said and done. And while I was mortified at the time, I've since thanked my professor a few times for that day. That one lesson lives in my brain every day, and I am right back in that classroom every time I edit a work, trying to figure out what the most succinct wording is, what is un/necessary, and how to play with my line breaks. Criticism is daunting but so, so worth it if you can find the courage to apply it!

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

I did this for the first time in Once Upon a Time in the South. I have a headcanon that Buford's baby momma is a Spanish actress at a small theater in Pine City, and he had to get something from her. This woman speaks very little English, and it was a challenge to stay true to that because (a) I don't speak Spanish and (b) my brain just struggles a lot with foreign language translations. Me being me, I wanted the most accurate and realistic translations I could get, ones that didn't sound too formal. Then you add in the fact that it's 1893, so there's a time-period language barrier, too. Ultimately, I'm happy with the end result, but I don't see myself going out of my way to do this again.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Pirates of the Caribbean! What a fantastic playground in which to practice storytelling! What really got me hooked on this "I might try writing for real one day" thing was listening to the writer's commentary on The Curse of the Black Pearl DVD when I was 15.

Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio gave excellent insight to this story I was enamored with and how they came up with it! "We had Sparrow and Swann, so we figured we shouldn't give Will a bird name" cracked me up. They covered everything — what challenged them, what rules ("guidelines") they stuck to ("leave the kiss for the end"), stuff like that. But what lit me up was hearing the entire backstory while the credits rolled, about how Barbossa was Jack's first mate until Barbossa committed mutiny and all that jazz. There was so much story to the story! That was a big, big day that influenced me. :)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh, gosh. This is tough because the favoritism depends on the reason!

I'll forever love Principles of Compromise because after abandoning it several chapters from the end and not touching it for eight years, it was the first story I came back to and finished before returning to the Time Circuits Series. It was the first plot-heavy story with canon characters I attempted and completed (most of my works up until that point had been rewrites or headlined OCs). Finishing it was the stepping stone to all the writing I've since completed (30-some works)!

Favorite all time though? I'm a mom; you can't just ask me to pick a favorite kid, and this is just as mean. :)

(But for real, it's probably a tie between There Are No Roads (Time Circuits #2.5) and Once Upon a Time in the East )

Tagging @retro-hussy, @jowritesfanfiction, @writingwife-83, and anyone else who wants to play!

Thank you so much for tagging me, friends!! I don't know why, but I love doing these! Sorry again it took so long for me to get to. ❤️

[layzorr]

OHHHH MY GOD. Just finished episode five of scavengers reign. If I wasn't sold on this show before I sure as hell am now. where do I even begin?

I love that there wasn't like an hour long build up episode explaining All the Lore. All the information. Some people like that but for me I love that you're thrown into these people not really knowing much. I LOVE the slowly telling you more about their lives! I love the conclusions you can draw about them. Azi pushes people away and gets lost in her work, she doesn't know how to maintain relationships. She doesn't know how to relate to people. Ursula is extremely determined but also just...never stopping for a second. Never stops to check in with herself, never lets herself stop for a second. Sam doesn't trust people easily. He's extremely logic oriented. Emotions confuse him. He's angry and stubborn and can't see past his own nose sometimes. He never takes shit into account. Kamen is so many things at once. He's selfish. He makes everything about him. He's controlling. He's extremely depressed and fears loss or things slipping out of control. He fears change. He needs everyone to respect him. He treats people badly because he takes ANYTHING as a personal attack that he has to "stand up for himself" against. He's suicidal. He genuinely loves Fiona and yet has no respect for her autonomy. He doesn't value the lives of the people around him. He holds at least some worry for the crew. But was that just for Fiona? I don't know yet and that's why it's so COOL. I love that they don't tell us everything immediately! They space out different information reveals so it can be taken in! They let you get to know the characters in five episodes before even revealing how the ship got there. And that's what makes the realization what happened actually effective! You knew enough about the characters to care! You know enough about why they act how they do to go, oh FUCK. This is a show you cannot watch with a binge culture mindset or you won't enjoy it it's so good.

Ursula and Sam's dynamic is really cool, hope to see more of how they met/ended up teaming up in these next episodes! I like it's not like. They're besties they're inseparable. it's two people who had to team up and did, and now they might bond. They're not friends yet, they don't dislike each other. They respect each other a lot and I dunno, it's kinda cool to see a completely neutral relationship in fiction.

Sam not apologizing to Ursula and instead kinda implying it. "Without your instincts", as in "I'm sorry I doubted your sense of danger. You wouldn't do something stupid." and also "Thank you for not leaving me alone even though, yeah, you could." Sam's rage at Kamen really adds a lot to him. Ursula so far isn't grabbing me but hey there's episodes left currently out and more to come out! There's gonna be a lot of depth most likely. I am VERY excited for it.

I fucking love Levi. I love their arc so far. I love their being scared of going back to how they were. Unfeeling and not making their own choices. They were never happy before. Theyd never had wants before. It was wonderful. And them being upset at Azi was just??? So good. You treat me like I still have no autonomy. I'm not going to hurt you. Why are you treating me like me enjoying things now and acting differently than I'm supposed to is bad when I'm just existing? I'm helping you. This makes me happy. Why are you upset? Also the scene where she saw her own hands fucked very hard not gonna lie.

Azi realizing, oh. They're a person now. They feel things. That...would be shitty to ask a person to do, huh? Her growing is so good. Her realizing all the times she pushed people out. All the assumptions she made about everything. Her respecting Levi more! Her realizing, okay I need to be nicer to them She...feels it. When I say something they'll feel it. Her telling Levi they're their own person now, and just,, idk I REALLY love them. Azi has so much implications and I love her. The pain about her being so lonely and shoving people out. Never stopping to be around anyone. And her finding companionship on the being that called her out on her shit. Goddd. Something about her treating them better than we see her so far treat a lot of other people. This planet being introduced as Horrific and it still is but it's also just a planet. It's just animals trying to survive. It's just nature and she has to adapt and make it make more sense as she grows.

Kamen....man. The way they've been telling his story with Fiona....at first him thinking the weird creature is her. Then Charlie making him realize no wait is she still there. Then. No. She's gone.

I love the set up to the fiona isn't alive. I saw it coming but it's not treated as a plot twist, it's treated as a realization for the characters. And that is so so much better sometimes. Like you can see it coming and yet kamens reaction, even if he's a horrible person, is still so gut wrenching.

Him being suicidal is STILL so gutwrenching. Because they show you how he feels. They show you, yeah. He loves her. He's a bad person but he has feelings even if he's selfish about them. And the fact none of the other characters have cried before makes seeing HIM much more impactful. He's not a good person but seeing anyone accept assumed death Hurts. And that's what fucks you up.

Man. This fucking show. That shot of the creature kinda consuming Kamen was horrifying and I love it. Still not done so no spoilers but god. This show is fucking good and I need to meet more people into it. I fucking love it.

[voidthewanderer]

INQUIRING MINDS WISH TO KNOW——>

For the OC Ask Game! ✨Creating your OCs✨

1, 3, 8, 12, 16 and 19 for Ripper, Shae and Arsenic!!!

:)

Please :))

Pretty please :)))

(Don’t make me whip out my quadruple chin!!!)

@anonwyvern || Questions About Creating Your OCs

Under cut for length; I needed to talk about my babiesss.

What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

Shae: Shae was appearance, though and through. She'd gone through so many changes; species changes as she traveled through fandoms and back and forth between getting pulled from them to be from original concepts. Being online during the massive point online where "Mary Sue bad and you're a terrible person for making them!", she kind of just went onto this backburner with everything; looks, appearance, story, everything.

Ripper: Mostly appearance, but a super loose as hell backstory as well. Rips was originally a Left 4 Dead OC and of a concept that never actually made it to the game at that. Most of what did exist of his backstory was just that he was an asylum escapee who was turned. Rather than the straight jacket being closed up, his arms were free. He's had the most changes over his entire timespan.

Arsenic: Appearance 100%. He actually was originally a concept made by my nephew! He wanted a zombie chef, so I made a zombie chef!

3. How did you choose their name? 

Shae: I honestly don't even remember where her name came from. It wasn't exactly a popular name when I made her, damn probably about seventeen years ago now? Maybe longer, I think.

Ripper: Was originally a sort of punny name. "A scream ripping at one's throat". Where Joseph Trumoil came from, is one of those things that just... happened. Sometimes names just get stuck in my head. I'll quote him directly from the WIP of Chapter 26 of Mnemonic Impressions for why it's still Ripper: "Thanks to my old line of work, if it were humanly possible at that time, I could rip someone apart and know exactly how to do it to cause the most damage; didn’t help I used t’ do some body building. My friends were… fucked up t’ say the least."

Arsenic: I kinda thought it would be funny for an undead, zombie chef to have his name be the same as a poison.

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 

Shae: Let's just say that I am actually very mouthy like Shae it. And, just like with her current situation with Sinjin, I need to learn how to keep my mouth shut so I don't get hurt.

Ripper: There's actually not much story wise I relate to with Rips. If anything, I'm envious of my own character. He's charismatic, charming, his style is impeccable. I guess he did get a lot of my "do no harm, but take no shit" personality.

Arsenic: The cooking! Arsenic is literally probably the person I would become (sans the murders) if I actually stayed in the food service industry.

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

Shae: It's actually been difficult to keep her silver tongued, combative, defiant, but also keeping her... alive. In all honesty, she would probably be dead by now if I didn't mellow her out a bit. She's legit supposed to be as vile as Sinjin is, cutting some completely reprehensible stuff, but I also know that she would have been long since dead before her story even started.

Ripper: No lie, actually nailing down his official design. Every time I think I have something solid, I go "oh, this would work with him!" and then things would change. Rinse and repeat. Now it's more just trying to nail down exactly who I wanna build his facial structure off of, because William Treat is EXACTLY how he smiles, but I also adore him having sharp features like Dum Dum from Cyberpunk 2077 has. Trying to blend the two together is... fun.

Arsenic: HIS FACE. HIS FUCKING FACE. I DID IT TO MYSELF BUT GOD WHY

16. What is something about your OC can make you cry? 

Shae: Her story. Like, god her story is fucked up and just the fact that so much about her kids was kept from her and knowing everything she's gone through, that she's the way she is through so much tragedy and just out of a necessity to survive.

Ripper: Also his backstory, but also like... this man is such a sweetheart and sensitive. Be it because he's just being so goddamn cute or because he's going through an existential crisis, he's probably gonna say something that would either turn me into a mushy mess or bawling my eyes out because why did I hurt you this much.

Arsenic: There's two things with him. When he lets his walls down and lets people in, showing that he's not just a hardened ghoul who hates everything around him. Also, if anything were to happen to Crow, this man's heart would absolutely shatter and he'd probably lose his goddamn mind. That sort of mental torment of feeling like he's lost his soul mate, knowing how he'd react to it, especially now with them in his life again.

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Shae: Not so much of a fact of the character itself (because imho anything I really say with her will give away parts of Addicted), but the fact that she's the second OC I've ever created! She's my second oldest OC, being seventeen (plus) years old.

Ripper: He's only second generation American born in his family! His parents are the first born, his grandmother is from Palermo, his grandfather from Verona.

Arsenic: No matter what, Arsenic was meant to cook and I don't mean that just by his concept alone. He's someone who would be considered to have a natural born talent for what he does and I genuinely cannot think of anything else I would have ever even considered putting him in. If it wasn't a chef, it would've been a cafe owner.

[ari--anon]

Hi! Big fan of your writing! If it’s not too much to ask:

How do you keep track of the small details you add in your writing? Especially the mega master writings. I find myself not writing for a while and struggling to remember or find the small infinitesimal detail I may or may not have mentioned - in order to keep coherency.

Hi, thank you :D

There's two way I keep track of details. First off, (and this saved me many times), I have a beta reader (friend of mine) who will often remember stuff I don't, and point it out in scenes where bringing that detail up would be plausible, or even if I completely contradicted something I've written before

Then I usually make a note of things that I should keep track of in a separate document, which is sort of a place where I dump all my chapter ideas. It doesn't have to be anything complicated, just a quick mention like "remember x!"

For example, me and my beta reader will often make rudimentary floorplans for rooms the characters will spend a lot of time in. These are made in ms paint and are really ugly, but I always come back to them to see where the characters are in relation to the room. (Plus this is a good way to initially really visualize the room!)

Or before I'm writing, I will make a really simple list of information to every character, and I will update it as I go. This includes stuff like age and important bits of appearance that stray from the norm, and then a sentence that describes the core of their character. You could do something similar with the chapters as you're writing them, so you'll always have an up-to-date list.

I know that taking notes is not for everyone, though, so this might not be good advice. Everyone has their own system that they need to crack, and I'm certainly still trying to settle into mine. Maybe, if notes aren't working for you, you could try to do it in a more visual way.

Like, if they pick up an item in chapter 4 that you want the character to use from then on, but you have trouble remembering, you could take a sticky note, write 'chapter 4' on top, and draw that item, and keep it close to your computer/laptop/writing paper. (Or if you write on your phone, I know that many notes apps have a function to draw on them too. It doesn't have too look pretty, you just have to know what it is! Like drawing a letter on your hand to remember something you need to do later)

If it's more abstract things, like a string of thought a character had that you think a character should hold onto for the story, this might get a bit more difficult, but I think that if you draw something related to it (even if it's just a thought bubble or something), you will most likely remember what it meant, even if vaguely.

But this is all stuff you do before, or during writing. I know this bit is difficult, especially when you've written A LOT but I guess the easiest way to keep track is to just read through it again.

But it's really important to remember that it's fine to go back and fix stuff! That's the fun part of posting online. If it's a matter of if a dress was white or red, and nothing you considered worth writing down (we can't put everything down after all) then I assure you, the minority of readers will catch if you change that up.

I'm currently going through iawwc again before posting the last chapter, because I'm looking out for exactly those type of details that might've gone under as I've been writing. Especially in those mega works that take a while to read and write, readers will often not notice if you changed a past chapter up so that it fits your current stand of things. So don't worry too much about this. Oftentimes when a detail went under, it probably wasn't that important in the first place, and can easily be cut out/changed.

I hope this helped, and thank you sm for your ask!

[misfitclassismyfreetherapy]

Embarrassment and Secrets

~

.

.

IRUMA POV

How in currently looks like:

(I was tired to clean up the freaking background so just live with this for now on)

Well...this is awkward.. I thought it would be good to listen to songs while waiting for Lied. I got carried away, didn't I?

Lied-kun and Opera-san was peaking outside the room. I noticed that Opera-san was holding a recording device. I'm not even surprised at this point, I'm honestly just happy. I took off my headphones.

"Don't mind us, continue. " My face flushed with hues of red on my ears. I'm fine with Opera-san saying that. If Lied-kun wasn't here. It's quite embarrassing to dot on me when my friends are around.

"Operaaa-saaan!" Lied chuckled at my response. " Sumimasen, Iruma-sama." Opera-san placed a bag near my clock and asked Lied kun. " Have you eaten yet?" Lied kun nodded as he responded "Hmm! Daijabu!" he pulled out a smirk and a piece sign as reassurement.

They reminded us to call them if we needed them for something as we agreed in sync. Great, now that me and Lied-kun are now alone. We can finally talk about what I wanted to talk about.

Wait! Shouldn't we talk about light topics first, it'll be weird if I just lay it on him. What did I say we would talk about? Oh yeah, Akudols! It is related to that topic so it's better if we start off there!

Before I said anything, Lied pulled out a bunch of Gyari theory sheets, artworks, posters and etc. Lied-kun took one look at my face and smirked at my reaction.

" You can't possibly think that demons post theory, fanarts without doing work right?" his tone sounds like he was teasing me.

A small laugh escaped from my mouth as I looked at his face. After I calmed down I grabbed one of the fanarts and before I could catch a glimpse of the artwork, Lied snatched it from my hand and looked away.

" What the-?" I looked at him confused. Wait is his ears red? ...Don't tell me he's shy? I can't help but laugh in the inside. " I promise I won't judge, just let me see it. Please?"

It took me five minutes to convince Lied-kun to show me his drawing. " Fineee! But don't you DARE LAUGH!" He showed me his drawing with his hand shaking.

(Honestly i'm way too tired to carefully draw there eyes.. Btw everything Lied-kun said is based of me dissing myself with my fucking crippling anxiety. But the point was for Iruma-kun to make Lied-kun feel better.)

His drawing looks pretty decent! I don't understand why he wants to hide it.. He needs to give himself more credit. "It looks great!" I tried to encourage him but he just looked at me like I called a demon pig cute.

" I appreciate your encouragement but look at the hands it looks like fucking cardboard and what's with the fucking coloring? and-" I don't like cutting sentences. I really don't. But this got me upset.

" Lied-kun. Please don't talk about yourself that way, no one is perfect. Everyone have room for improvements. You're no exception." His face turned into shock quickly as I finished the sentence.

" You're not perfect Shax Lied, but you're still an amazing friend. Remember that."

He looked at me with signs of gratefulness? relief? I can't really tell. "Well, I wanted to talk more about Gyari-chan but- let's admit it with this atmosphere we can't really go back can we?" Lied-kun smiled sincerely as he looked for my response.

I slowly nodded my head. Why? I wanted this right? You wanted to talk to him about it... why am I suddenly feeling so nervous? My head's getting blurry.. Oh god... I was on the urge of crying until I remembered what Lied-kun said.

"Friends care for eachother right? You can always talk to me if you ever feel uncomfortable. But if you want to keep it to yourself, its fine also."

I want to talk about my insecurities but..I can't do it. Not right now at least. My body couldn't handle it yet. But he did come all the way to hear about what I wanted to say.

I sighed as I looked at his face with a smile that reassured me. I returned the smile right back. " Okay, so do you know the new Akudol?" He nodded at me. "You sang about his song half an hour ago."

" Well I think because of him... I realise.." I gulped as Lied-kun looked at me with anticipation in his eyes. I closed both my eyes as I confessed. "I like boys and girls.." I opened one of my eyes to see his reaction. He looked at me with a calm appearance.

"You're okay with that right?" He nodded at me then he looked down. " You really underestimate how much our class watches you, Azz-azz and Clarin huh?" ...what? He looked at me again.

" We knew you weren't straight ever since you've declared Azz-azz and Clarin your soulmates." He chuckled as he said that. They knew the whole time?...They've been watching us quite closely huh... my train of thought suddenly came to a stop sign when Lied-kun interrupted.

" All though why did you tell me first? Why not tell Azz-azz and Clarin? They're a lot more closer to you than me." I paused for a moment. "Well.. it would be awkward to come out to the demons that made you partially made me realize...My heart can't take that.."

Lied-kun raised both of his eyebrows but he is not surprised. "Plus you're the one who is closest to me besides Azz-kun and Clara.." He looked at me with sparkles in his eyes. He moved his body closer to me. As I slightly back away to not bump into him.

" Wait really?! I'm the closest? Wow, wow, wow. Oh my devi!" he laughed as he responded in excitement. His laugh was contagious and I started laughing with him. It went to the point where we basically rolling at the floor.

I yawned as I looked out the window. " We should probably go to sleep." Lied-kun nodded after he yawn as well. He took out his sleeping bag and put it right beside my bed. Meanwhile, I pulled my blanket on top of my legs and laid my head on my pillow. After we settled and got comfy, I turned off the light.

"Oyasuminasai, Iruma-kun."

... I smiled.

"Oyasuminasai, Lied-kun."

.

.

.

~

ENDING

So yeah.. that's all for the fanfiction.. Just please tell me in the suggestion if you have any other ideas for my fanfic series.. I have ideas but but the space timeline between the plot is huge af. So please tell me. Or should I do oneshots?

[dojae-huh]

Hii huh nim!! How's everything going with your work? It's the end of the year, so I'm curious if you've been productive enough. Did you manage to have some free weekends to go hiking and do some workouts? Taking care of your health, both physically and mentally, is really important. Just like Jae said, mental health matters too. By the way, have you drawn anything recently? How's your progress? And how are the animals you're working with? Do they listen to you well?

Anyway, I just wanted to send this message to appreciate your work on this blog. It's not easy to observe and analyze things, but you're amazing! You've done a great job with everything you've worked on here. I have a lot of respect for you. Seriously, there were times when I eagerly waited for your insights on NCT or Jaedo. Haha! I hope you find happiness and have a future full of success. I also hope you can be even more productive in the future, just the way you want. And if blogging brings you joy, I really hope you can do it forever. Since it's Christmas, I hope you enjoy the holidays and spend some quality time for yourself. Thank you so much for your hard work, and I wish you an advanced Merry Christmas. Keep fighting!

(Ps: I wish to read this blog completely...since it's my exams dont have enough time...pls dont delete it..🙏😄)

Hi, thank you for the kind wishes. I hope your holidays will be festive as well. And good luck with the exams.

I'm never as productive as I'd like to be. I'm a human with low energy levels. Doesn't stop me from doing crazy things, but I require breaks between them.

I draw for work currently, but not for myself. I did start drawing something non-work related as I planned, however, I'm still on the first stage (practice of skills, nothing really creative, just exercises for the eye and the hand). The animals I worked with were wild animals... they never listen, heh.

As for the blog... I've been writing fandom-related blogs for many years, so it's a habit hard to shake off. I do regret from time to time how much of my time it eats up. We are all too used to socmed and spending time on the Internet instead of doing something useful. I won't delete the blog, it continues to serve its initial puprose, but I'm thinking of moderating the questions more.

This year wasn't bad. I visited two new countries and made into reality an old wish of mine. It's still a transitional period, lots of work ahead to achieve the future I want (when it's not...).

Oh, I should be working on a book with my own text and illustrations... I keep postponing it because of the other urgent things (like earning money for rent), but I created this opportunity myself, and I'll be paid as the author and the artist. And I need to finally sit myself on a chair and write a scientific paper I've been running away from for months as well, I should publish the data I've collected... so, lots of projects for 2024 are already in line.

[sonarstories]

Infamous in the support department| Support course Izuku

Warnings: N/A

Summary: Rumours tend to lurk about UA concerning the support department, but what's the truth behind it all? When the very boy; Izuku Midoriya is seen as extraordinary for his work efforts and favoured by students for his keen eye and somewhat creepy fascination for quirks and heroes alike.

Tokoyami witnesses first hand himself the amount of truth and dedication behind what he's heard. As he asked the infamous student to help him with a new gear.

Word Count: 715

A/N: I had this in drafts for ages and only now deciding to post it after so long.

He didn't mind offering his assistance. Especially when it came to helping his peers with anything, it didn't even have to be anything specific. But on most occasions it was related to the support class itself. Whether someone needed a repair, a new gear, or had questions about possible gears. Even his direct classmates needing help with a project they were tackling. He always made time.

Currently he was in the workshop with Tokoyami, a student who resided in the infamous 1-A. The class somehow always causing some type of trouble.

"Hey, so can you tell me again what you were wanting? Something to help in close combat right?" Izuku asked, walking over to an unoccupied station where Tokoyami had sat at. Just to make sure he had it right.

"Yes, while Dark shadow can take care of most of my foes on the battle field. It can't always handle close range."

Speaking of the entity itself Dark Shadow hovered by its host.

Izuku nodded, reciting the information in his head that he already knew about the student who sat across him.

"Hm… Alright, how about we start off with something simple?" He suggested, already drawing up a sketch before he could recieve a response.

His work efforts was admirable, that was for sure.

There were rumours about the kid throughout the school, some said the guy was a quirk fascinated freak. Quirkless even. Envious of the powers that others had. Some held pity for him, saying his dreams were crushed and his resting desire was to instead aid them through his knowledge and skills.

The kid had a large knowledge of quirks, that was for sure. A keen eye for observation at that too, being able to tell more about a quirk then the user itself.

But he decided on something simpler for Tokoyami, a pair of claws- well rather a glove like design that resembled sharp claws.

Tokoyami couldn't help but watch, it wasn't neat, the initial sketch being messy with scribbles to cover quick mistakes and sloppy notes written in uncovered space.

But Tokoyami also couldn't help but glance around at Izuku's work space while the kid was distracted by the current sketch. Talking about other things he wanted to implement into the rather simple gear.

He had a few other gears, most it seemed like he was still working on.

One was a gauntlet of sorts, a hose nozzle-type design that extended from the wrist. Another was a headgear, similar to Hawks but the ear cups having been taken apart. Like he was fitting the manufactured piece with something else.

"Uh- Tokoyami?… Hello?"

Izuku was now presenting Tokoyami with a finished- albeit sloppy sketch of his idea. Pulling him back to the current agenda and the reason he was there in the first place.

"Sorry- you have a lot of gear here. But looks great."

He hadn't meant to become distracted. Not having heard half the stuff Izuku had been talking about.

"Yeah- I'm a bit busy with a few projects for other students. But that's not my focus! I mean- they are… But I'm just waiting for Mina to stop by so I can see how her new gear works…" Izuku explained, before further delving into other details.

Repeating certain aspects he had already stated previously, though Tokoyami having confessed to not having listened.

They spent awhile discussing the gear, Izuku making some further changes. At least until they were interrupted, when Mina came bursting into the room. Apologising for almost forgetting about her gear and wanted to try it out!

"Oh right- Tokoyami if everything's fine for you I'll get started on your gear as soon as I can." Izuku said as he stood up, grabbing Mina's gear. Seeming to be leaving to go watch her trial runs, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Of course, me and Dark Shadow can wait." Tokoyami nodded, watching as the two left quickly after that.

He also took it as his time to leave, glancing again at the gears piles up Izuku's desk.

Yes- an admirable student at that… It was a shame somethings he heard weren't pleasant. He was sure others heard the same thing. But decided to just leave. The very least he could do was appreciate the help.

[pielplastica]

I've been putting my heart and soul into school now that I'm going. I am 3 weeks behind and I know that I have to readjust to every teacher to their way of... well, teaching. But mostly I've been doing ok.

I have (had, is less now) a lot of late homework that I must do. A lot of drawings and concepts to study before my exams. Tomorrow I'll have the first one, Anatomy, and I feel nerveous but is because tomorrow I'll also have my first etymology class and I had to do 2 chapters on the manual without any previous knowledge and I feel a bit exhausted. I also help her with her homework too. I couldn't see her last weekend because I was so busy with homework, late works, drawings, manuals... But I know I can do it. I must do it.

I trust in myself, and I know that I am capable of doing this and even more. She came last sunday to give me an hamburguer and my in-laws came too, they were just passing by so it was quick but that 2 minutes that I got to see her were enough for me to regain my focus and being able to finish all my due homework in time. Now I just finished the homework that was left for next week because I really want to spend time with her.

Mom's been incapacitated due to some health issues. She's mostly ok, but needs to rest a lot so that she doesn't hurts her hands even more. She's been more at home so I can spend time with her a little more. But now is difficult for me due to school but last week we saw the new live action for ATLA and... it was better than what I expected. Have you watch ATLA? If not you should. For a long time I felt like I was Zuko in a way, but after watching The Legend of Korra I changed my mind, I really did saw myself in her and her struggles so, if you have time to spare, please watch ATLA and TLoK. I have a feeling you'll like her too. But yeah, we get to spend more time together. I never told you that but when we broke up I told my mom so, but I was feeling so numb that I didn't had any reaction on my face when I told her but she started crying. She was dissapointed. I can remember the look on her face when I told her that, said something among the lines of you being a good person, the worth kind of girl to have in your life and I knew she was right, but I just couldn't feel or do anything.

And I also think that was a big part of me not dealing with my feelings back then, I didn't allowed myself to feel anything related to you. I was trying so hard to put on a hard face with everyone to try and show them that I wasn't hurt but in reality I was just hiding from the facts. It hurt me so much seeing you at our university, so that's one of the reasons as of why I left. Not because of you, but because of me not being capable of dealing with all the beautiful memories that became so painful to bear whenever I was heading there.

I must admit that back then I was watching your FB profile until one day I saw that you were on a relationship with him and I... I just couldn't believe it. I thought that it didn't matter to you because it felt just way too soon for me. And I know we all heal differently, I've met a couple of people who can't stand being alone and are constantly seeking for the one who will give them attention until they get bored of them, and I don't mean you. You guys have lasted a long time and I'm happy he treats you and loves you the way that you want, but that's the current me talking and not the boy who didn'tn allowed himself to cry when he felt sad or to feel at all.

I want to admit that I feel tired, I've been sleeping 4 to 5 hours tops this last few days and I'm feeling a bit stressed but... yeah, I have to put on a brave face and a "can do" attitude. I still have a lot of difficulties talking about my feelings with everyone but I feel this is the only way where I can truly vent...

Can we add #good night at our last letter of the day so that we don't keep each other awake waiting for a response? I'll wait for yours if you have anything to say, but if you don't... I dunno, just a good night is good enough I guess.

But yeah, I'm really glad you had a nice morning and hope to keep reading your letters.

[twotangledsisters]

I just wanted to ask casue theres been a lot of discussion and claims about you in a tangled discord I'm in. Have you ever used AI tools in your art?

It doesn't look AI to me but I'm also not an artist and I know there's been AI hybrid stuff going around?

Hi.

Sorry if I sound a bit off during this response, I am processing the fact people are discussing/making claims about me... I'm going to assume it's all art related and that there aren't any actual artists in that discord who follow me, because, well... Most artists I think can tell the difference, but maybe I'm wrong.

But I appreciate you reaching out rather than making an assumption!

The answer is no. I use ZERO AI in any of my art. I despise AI, not only AI art but AI writing, AI voice acting, anything that includes taking the finished work of an artist (artist in any sense of the word) without their consent and feeding it into a program to then create what is essentially a collage... I don't like it. I've been very vocal about that and have blocked people for posting AI art.

By hybrid AI I assume you're talking about when people feed sketches into AI to complete it? (I heard about that through artists being scammed). But still, no. I do all my art myself.

Proof!

Other than the fact I frequently post sketches and WIPs on this account. Here's a timelapse of a skull study I did as part of a course I'm currently following (tumblr only allows one video per post but I have timelapses of a lot of my art because procreate does them for me):

You can see both the fact I practice and work this skill, and also you can see what the process looks like a bit. It's very much one stroke at a time!

For future reference for recognising AI art, the best way I've heard is to look for mistakes a human wouldn't make. And the 'a human wouldn't make' part is very important!

I've heard talk about style but honestly, AI is trained off of human's art so of course there's a lot of art with that style!

But there are mistakes humans make when drawing, hands are often imperfect, proportions and perspective are hard! But a human probably won't add extra fingers into a fully rendered piece or have hair that seems to go back into the skull unless it's a specific hairdo.

Yeah... for further proof, here's the step by step progress I sent to a friend on one of my recent pieces:

Yep. Hope that helps.

Again, thanks for reaching out so I could hopefully prove it's not AI.

If anybody has something they'd like to discuss with me, quick reminder my ask box is open, my DMs are open, there's not need to theorize with other people behind my back.

And, I mean this in a gentle, not harsh way. I don't really know how to word this, I think I'm maybe having flashbacks to high school and all the whispers that went on around that era xD

I'm sure the conversation wasn't mean. I know new technologies are confusing and it's a lot and we tend to discuss that with people. No judgement towards anybody. But yeah, maybe just ask an artists if in doubt.

And thanks for the ask.

[asjjohnson]

Just talking about skill and creativity

I haven't been in much of a creating mood for awhile, but I thought I would try drawing something despite that.

So, two days ago I tried making a rough sketch from the A Christmas Carol-based fic idea I'd had. However, it just didn't look good at all, and I just felt like I couldn't draw them right, and I closed the program. Sometimes I think I can draw pretty well, but other times, especially if I haven't drawn anything for awhile, it's like everything I try drawing turns out ugly, and I can't get anything to look the way it's supposed to.

But, well, I tried again yesterday. I tried sketching with shapes instead of lines to see if that'd help. I resketched Dan a few times, trying to see if I could get the angle I'd been imagining (a not-quite-from-the-side angle that kept ending up too far one direction or the other). I looked up some pictures of Vlad to see if I could come up with a pose that wasn't so stupid and awkward for him.

And then I sketched some lines on top of the rough sketch, and started coloring. At that point I got excited about the picture and kept going for a few hours straight. I hadn't wanted to stop, but needed to go to bed. Today I added a few last things to Vlad that I hadn't been able to finish yesterday.

Although, today I'm feeling slightly down about the pic again. It looks rougher than I remember. The lines are really sketchy, and the colors aren't perfect, and it really needs some kind of background. But... I can see some potential in it. If I took my time and made some clean lineart, adjusted their expressions, added a background, and experimented with the coloring and shading more, I could see it turning into a good pic (maybe even close to the scene I'd imagined in my head). I'm currently debating on whether or not I want to take the time to make it a good pic.

But I thought I would mention it on here. I'd started out thinking I just can't draw it - the poses are too hard, the faces, expressions, it'll all be wrong, wrong, wrong. But after trying, I got to a point where I don't feel as bad, and think it might could turn out good if I keep going. I should probably force myself to work on my writing, as well. And if it doesn't come out perfect from the start, then just keep trying, and if it still isn't working, then try approaching it from a different angle, until it does work.

(Maybe I should make a New Year's resolution related to creating more stuff.)

[thotsforvillainrights]

if you're still doing match ups, i'd love to have one! you're so descriptive and through with your results, i love it 💕 hope you're doing well!

- I'm 5'1 and a half, 24 yrs (so no minors pls), and a bit on the thicker side. White, long dirty blonde hair, blue/green eyes - Bisexual; I have the slightest preference for men, but if I'm crushing, then I'm crushing lmao - A theatre kid, but not a "theatre kid"; I enjoy acting and being on stage, but I'm not like, obsessed with musicals or sing constantly or anything - My favorite animals are owls and foxes - My ADHD makes me either hyperfixate on things or completely forget about everything I needed to do - My hobbies include video games, drawing/painting, occasionally writing, and spending most of my time researching for an OC to draw them but never actually drawing them lmao - I'm a college student majoring in Wildlife Education, with an emphasis in raptor husbandry - I currently work at my campus' nature reserve carving and painting cedar signs - I enjoy nature and being outside, but I LOTHE being sweaty; not to mention I have a HUGE fear of bugs, no matter how small or harmless - Autumn is my all time favorite season, and additionally I adore Halloween - I'm Pagan/Wiccan, though I don't practice as much as I'd like to - I'm always disorganized and cluttered; I lose energy easily so I don't tend to put things away fully or clean often, despite wanting to - On top of that, I'm a very sentimental person, and tend to keep any little trinket of the past. A crappy project that I failed, a beaten up binder with the script of one of the high school plays I was in, etc. - Omnivert; I come off as timid and overly polite to people I'm just getting to know because of my anxiety/fear of rejection, but I still give off this confident leadership vibe whenever I feel like I'm in some position of authority. When I'm comfortable around people, then I get more extroverted and bolder. - I have terrible sleep issues. I stay up late because it takes forever for me to feel tired, even with medications; I either wake up constantly through out the night or too early with maybe 3 hours of sleep. Sometimes my sleep pattern is so bad that eventually my body gives up and I sleep for far too long. - And a bonus fact: If I were to have a quirk, I think it would be something related to impersonating voices!

(Thank you so much! I'm definitely still doing these babies so no worries. Looking through, we have a few things in common like the quirk exactly, and the autumn being your favorite season etc, and especially researching but not drawing etc. Sorry I'm rambling, I love having the same interests as others haha. Also no need to worry about minors considering that's only Toga and Mustard here and I'm NOT putting them on the match-up list lol. Anyway let me shut up and get it started haha!)

Match-Up #8

-I match you with Sako Atsuhiro-

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-Oh yes, I'm sure you maybe expected this to be the man for you, but let me at least explain to you why! The two of you met on a rather cold evening while you were both heading to a local theater production of (whatever yknow?). It was a little uncomfortable considering he walked behind you silently for at least a block and a half. You turned to stop and look at him, secretly prepared to defend yourself if you needed to do so. He raised his hand in defense and smiled. "My apologies! I wasn't aware you were in front of me! I was reading." He raised his other hand up to show a pamphlet he'd been scanning for the past few steps. "You sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness. The city has been wild lately and my quirk isn't cut out for combat exactly." You silently cursed yourself for revealing that. 'Great job y/n, now this complete stranger knows you can't protect yourself...' Lucky for you, it wasn't needed. He turned out to be a rather nice person. He followed alongside you and struck a conversation. You ended up learning a bit about each other like your quirks and some of your surface level interests. When you got to the show you ended up sitting next to each other the entire way through. Well you weren't going to but he certainly ended being the one to reach out and ask for your email. You laughed considering he wanted communicate through email instead of phone numbers. You ended up giving him both and heading home.

-He kept in touch fairly often with you. The two of you talked about various plays coming to town, and sometimes you brought up different restaurants and cafe's you'd like to check out. Soon the suggestions turned into date requests and the next thing you knew, the both of you were going steady. Dating him was over the top but in a good way. He made you laugh and never failed to express his affections for you. Although he was only 32, he had an old-fashioned way about him. He was the type to practice chivalry on a daily basis, never really text and use emojis, and sometimes complained about the local youth. It was odd but in a charming way I suppose. It was up to you to introduce him to things he wasn't very well versed in. For example, when it came to video games he was ass...I mean the worst you could ever imagine. He preferred to try out solitaire and mahjong rather than more interesting games. As far as your other hobbies, he was more interested in them. Art and writing was something he took part in himself. He was never any good at people or animals but he can paint backgrounds for days! When it comes to writing he shows you that on a weekly basis. He often gave you poems he wrote about you when you least expect it. Your hair and eyes are often a subject of them! He takes pride in knowing you're sentimental and that you'll hold onto these things. He's the same way with you, therefore he will keep what you give him and hold it close to his heart.

-You'll find he's supportive of you in all you choose to do with your life. Right now while you're in college he's cheering you on every step of the way. He loves if you come home and sum up what you've learned or did for that day. He's a good listener so he doesn't lose focus when you tell him even the most simple of details. He'd love to come along with you one day to your campus nature reserve but he understands if that isn't allowed. Instead he'll also settle for a nice picnic out in the woods with bird or wildlife watching. If you can bear the possibility of bugs then you might catch an owl or fox during the late evening hours near the creek by your shared apartment. He's taken to having dates around this time until fall rolls around. it's cooler in the evening and he knows how much you despise the sweat.

-Speaking of the fall season, he regularly enjoys it as much as you do. It's not his favorite season (winter is), but he still likes it a great deal. Halloween is a good holiday for someone like him since he's able to go out with his mask on and not be pestered by law enforcement. The league became as popular as Stain so a few youngsters are out on Halloween dressed as his counterparts. The same counterparts he doesn't bring around you too often since they can be a bit much. He almost killed Dabi when the man tried to gift you a cliché witch hat and broom after he learned you're Pagan/Wiccan. That was probably the first time you'd seen Compress so mad at someone before. It's up to you whether or not you want to continue to hang out with them after that. Compress knows you can sometimes be introverted at first before opening up so he doesn't want to force them on you.

-As a whole, he's a really great person to have fallen in love with. Around the house he never skips on his end of the chores because he knows you'll take over and clean everything. He keeps the organization in line since it's not your forte exactly, and he always pulls his weight. At night when things have settled down in your happy little home, he cuddles up and pulls you close to him. He knows you won't be falling under so soon but he'll be here when you do, and he'll be here when you wake up not too long after. In general, he'll be there for you no matter what (and that goes for EVERYTHING, not just sleep).

[xneens]

love me, hate me - part two

Warnings: explicit sexual content, swearing

Word count: 3.3k

Summary: Christmas comes around and Ransom wants you more than ever.

part one

"You're telling me you actually want to date this guy? The one who can't even make you cum?" you asked, licking the remaining frosting from your finger. You placed the messy bowl in the sink, watching your best friend trying—and failing—to get the egg shells out of the mixture.

Meg gave up, dumping the brownie batter down the sink with the water running, fed up with the shells. "Yeah, but sex isn't everything, you know. I don't know—it's just this guy isn't like my exes. He genuinely cares about my feelings, and doesn't control me. Besides, he made me cum a few times. He's nice."

With Mariah Carey's Christmas music playing in the background, the miniature Christmas tree on the table, and the snow falling, the Thrombey household felt festive. Although, the people bundled up and arguing in the next room—not so much. Yet, neither of you cared while you continued to work, helping Martha out, on the desserts. It wasn't going as well as planned, but you took it as a positive considering you hadn't started a fire. Yet.

"Ah, yes, nice. Can't relate. I'm currently attracted to assholes who have anger issues." you commented, passing Meg the flour once again. Your creation was in the oven, and all you hoped was that no one got food poisoning because of it. Even you couldn't live with the guilt of Ransom, or his touchy father, throwing up Christmas morning.

"Currently?" Meg asked, raising an eyebrow, getting eggs out of the fridge for the hundredth time. She glanced at the direction of the door, the sound of it opening drawing both of your attention. "I'm pretty sure your daddy issues didn't just happen recently. Speaking of which, you may be the main reason Ransom decided to come back for Christmas instead chasing a model around."

You rolled your eyes, sitting back in your chair while contemplating whether or not it's too late to ditch. While Ransom was hot, his spoiled attitude wasn't worth tolerating for a quick fuck. With sarcasm dripping, you sighed. "Oh, how wonderful. 'Cause, that's exactly what I need right now."

Meg chuckled, focusing on the task at hand, trying not get shells in the mixture again. She had held off on mixing the dry stuff, much to your dismay, but to her it made sense to get the hard part out of the way so it wouldn't fuck everything up. Your best friend had just finished cracking her last egg when Harlan walked into the kitchen, Ransom trailing a few feet behind him. The playboy's eyes immediately landed on you, yet you didn't meet his, too preoccupied with the phone in your hands.

Harlan's slight frown lifted into a smile, surveying how messy the kitchen had gotten. "My, my, I wasn't aware a cake had exploded in my kitchen."

Looking up, you grinned at the old man, the smile reaching your eyes until you saw who was behind him. Ignoring Ransom, you giggled at Harlan's remark. "You call it a mess, we call it baking."

"As long as you ladies are having fun." Harlan replied, patting your shoulder before heading off towards his office, too tired to deal with his dysfunctional family at the moment.

Ransom lingered, walking up to you, a smirk impended on his face. Yet, you refocused you're attention back on your phone while Meg left the room, her apron still attached to her. You didn't question her sudden disappearance, knowing she was just as annoyed at Ransom's presence. The man in question peeked over you shoulder to see your screen showing off another man's dick, the words right below it explicit.

His jaw clenched in jealousy. Much to his chagrin, the man's dick was just as big as his own. But, he kept the icy exterior up. "Would it be offensive to ask whether or not your baking will make me sick this evening?"

You scoffed without looking up, tapping out of the dick pic your previous hook up had sent. "Since when do you care if you're offensive or not? Who are you, and what have you done to Ransom Drysdale?"

Ransom shrugged, leaning against the kitchen island while facing your annoyed expression. His smug behavior got under your skin, and the bastard was well aware. "Maybe all this Christmas spirit got into me. Or maybe I'm trying to be nice."

You raised an eyebrow, getting off your chair, rushing to the window, pretending to be looking for something. After a few seconds, Ransom's curiosity got the best of him and he joined you, looking for anything unusual outside. The snow-covered land showed nothing out of the ordinary, furthering Ransom's confusion.

"What are you looking at? I can't see anything." he said, squinting at the general direction you had look at.

Shrugging, you moved back to your seat, propping your elbows on the back of the chair, allowing a smug smirk lift your lips. "I thought pigs were flying. Ransom Drysdale isn't capable of being nice, yet alone say the word. I'm shocked hell hadn't freeze over. Yet."

The playboy rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he took your body in, wrapped in his favorite color, the dress hugging your curves. "What's a guy have to do to be taken seriously with you? You and I both know I can give you everything you want, and more."

"Are you trying to buy me right now?" you asked, half teasing, half annoyed. Ransom could not take a hint, and you hated the fact that he didn't back off despite the sarcasm and insults you threw his way.

"I'm trying to be nice but you're making it really hard." Ransom answered, his cockiness wearing off. He was growing frustrated the more you looked at him like he was a piece of trash. All you wanted him to be was nice, now that he was trying to be, you wouldn't believe his intentions, despite wanting to prove it to you.

Pursing your lips, you tapped your finger against the table, the acrylic nail making a clicking noise. "You wanna prove it? Fine. You've got til midnight tonight. If you're unable to change my mind, you have to buy me my spring break vacation, all the fees and expenses."

"And if I do change your mind..." Ransom smirked, brushing a stray hair behind your ear, earning a half-hearted glare. "... you have to go on a date with me."

Ransom nearly burst out laughing from your shocked expression, the genuine look of surprised slapped on your face with the words. You shut your hanging jaw, still not processing what he was saying. "Excuse me?"

"You have to go on a date with me if I convince you that I'm willing to change my, and I quote, 'bratty and douchebag ways.' An actual date where we sit down, eat dinner, talk about our feelings, and get drunk. Whatever happens, happens." Ransom purred, placing a finger on your bottom lip. You slapped his hand away, and his smirked grew. "Are you going to back out of this already, princess?"

It was your stubborn side that made agree, pressing your lips into a thin line, you grabbed Ransom's hand, shaking it. He raised an eyebrow while you sighed. "You're on. Hope you have enough money to pay for a lengthy trip. I plan on drinking every bottle of wine in Italy."

Despite your baking debacle, you left the kitchen, leaving Meg's monstrous creation on the counter along with Ransom. You went into the living room, trying to find the girl in question when you happened to stumble upon Richard. He barely got to say a word before you turned around, and left the pervert behind. It was always a puzzle how Ransom turned out so hot with Richard and Linda as parents.

Climbing the stairs, you heard the family arguing growing quieter with each step. The second floor was almost a safe haven considering Harlan didn't let anyone raise their voice in the upper level, making it the only quiet place in the house, safe from any Thrombey fights. It was a wonder how the family hadn't murdered each other yet; it was only a matter of time.

Unable to find Meg in your shared room, you sighed, patting your body to find your phone only to realize you left it in the kitchen. With Ransom.

"Looking for this?" Ransom held out your phone, coming up behind you. His usual smirk was gone, a small, genuine smile in its place. It made him look less arrogant.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

You took your phone back, half expecting him to take it back just as you wrapped your fingers around it. But he didn't. You realized he was pulling out all the stops, all the little things that you found annoying was gone. He was acting. Eyes narrowing, you unlocked your phone, studying him. "Thanks. I think."

"Meg is helping the Brazilian maid." Ransom answered your silent question. Your thumb hovered her contact, going back to the home screen. Your eyebrows had risen by his mis-categorization of Martha's race and employment. "Pretty sure they went to the grocery store or something."

"Oh, okay." you replied lamely, putting your phone in your back pocket, the tight jeans making it nearly impossible. Opening the door to your room, you stepped in, not giving Ransom another look. But he followed inside, making you turn around. "Do you need something?"

Ransom stuffed his hands in his pockets, the cream-colored sweater shifting with the gesture. "You didn't exactly give me much time to prove myself. And looking around, we're all alone. I can't think of a better time."

As much as you hated to admit it, he had a point. The bet was a bit unfair considering how stubborn you were, and the amount of time he had to convince you. But it was a bit unsettling seeing Ransom try so hard, let alone being nice. You nodded, agreeing. "Fine, but can I change first? I'd rather not be covered in flour while you try to seduce me."

"You and I both know I wouldn't seduce you before dinner. There's no way in hell I'd treat you like the others." he mumbled to himself, but you heard it. Clearing his throat, he stepped out of the room. "Yeah, I'll be outside. Waiting. Take your time."

As soon as the door closed, you looked around the room to check if you were being pranked, expecting Ashton Kutcher to burst out of the closet along with a bunch of cameramen. After a few seconds, you came to the conclusion that Supernatural was in this universe, deciding "Ransom" was a shapeshifter or a demon possessed him. It was the only reasonable explanation.

Reaching for the hem of your top, pulling it off in one swift move, dropping it on the bed. Your jeans piling on top, allowing your legs to breathe. Despite Joni's hippie side, she had let Meg sneak in a few joints, the smell becoming stronger as you neared both your suitcases. You didn't think Harlan would be too please to have weed in his house, no matter how lenient he is.

You took your time, a little baffled by what to wear. Ransom hadn't exactly given you an agenda on his plans, leaving you to grab a clean pair of black jeans, and a classy, yet simple, red top. You looked decent enough to fit in a nice restaurant, but casual in case Ransom decided he wanted McDonald's, and most importantly: warm. If he wanted to take you to the North Pole, then he'd have to give you his cozy-looking sweater.

You opened the door, the sight of Ransom rocking on his heels greeting you. His back was to you, his hands inside his pockets as he looked out the window, frost crawling along the edges. It genuinely concerned you how much this man was acting; if you didn't know better, you'd think it was real.

Clearing your throat, you watched him jump in surprise, quickly turning to you. Raising an eyebrow, you tucked your phone in your pocket, meeting his warm, blue eyes. "I'm ready."

"Okay." said Ransom, motioning for you to follow him. You walked down the stairs without a word, the air becoming thick as you walked behind him. The sweater did little to no good disguising his broad shoulders, the muscles somehow still visible under the clothing.

As soon as you reached the bottom, you glanced around, the Thrombey fighting becoming louder with each second. It wouldn't be long before one of them stormed out of the room, muttering a curse under their breath. You'd seen all of them do it at least once. You crossed your arms, wary of whatever Ransom was planning. "Be honest, you're not just going to drive me off to the middle of the woods and murder me, are you?"

Ransom chuckled, giving you a wink as he held his hand out. Without hesitation, you took it. "If I was planning to murder you, I wouldn't do it in the woods. If you're going to die, it's going to be epic."

"Oh, well, that makes me feel better." you sneered sarcastically, instantly rolling your eyes. In the back of your mind, you pondered how long it would take for your eyes to get stuck in your brain with the amount of times you rolled them at Ransom.

He led you towards the door, smirking. "You ready?"

"No. Let's go."

—

"Fuck, baby."

He spent a few moments just staring at your spread pussy, amazed and aching for you more than he ever ached for anything.

"Don't you know why I want you to see it, Ransom?"

Ransom just shook his head without taking his eyes off the your pneumatic body.

"Because it's yours," you sighed. "All yours, baby. You're the one I've been keeping it nice and fresh for."

"Fuck," he muttered.

He kept staring at you, waiting for you to rub you pussy again, but you didn't. You just kept holding it spread.

"Don't you wanna taste me, Ransom?" you purred, barely above a whisper. "C'mon, baby, please. I want you to lick it so bad. I love you so much and I want to give you everything that belongs to you."

The playboy was all but paralyzed by your words. He finally dragged his eyes off your open pussy and looked at your face. You were staring back at him with a glazed look in your eyes. His solid cock was pulsing hard in the tight grip of his fist. No girl had ever looked at him the way you were at that very moment, yet at the same time, he knew you were playing with the hottest kind of fire there was.

"Sweetheart, you know this wasn't the deal." he whispered, distracted.

You smirked. "But you still won."

He finished the thought by leaning down and sliding his tongue up and over your generously offered pussy. You pulled in a sharp gasp when Ransom's tongue lit up your heavily tingling pussy. Your hips rolled instantly in response, your gasps turning to moans while Ransom eagerly slathered his tongue all around your creamily delicious slit. He soon focused his attention on your clit and slipped a finger up inside your hole at the same time.

The man's finger curled and twisted inside you, searching for you g spot while he suckled and lapped at your fully swollen clit. You could barely form words as you gasped and moaned, your luscious body now writhing with desire.

Your pussy oozed heavily the more he licked and fingered you. Your cream was sweet, tangy and intensely intoxicating. Ransom probed at your hole with his finger and the tip of his tongue at the same time, but he soon drew his soaking wet finger out of your hole and wedged it between your ass cheeks, searching for your puckered rimhole.

You gasped deeply and lifted your legs up higher, giving Ransom better access to your asshole. He massaged your tight bud with his honey-coated finger and made deep, hungry love to your pussy with his mouth.

"God god god god, Ransom!" you cried, your hips rolling harder and harder against the man's mouth and finger.

Your body went tense for a few moments and then relaxed. Ransom backed off and watched you languish after your orgasm, pausing briefly to catch your breath. Then you shifted your body and took the hem of your outfit into your hands and peeled it off over your head. Ransom pulled off his T shirt and slid over on top of your luscious body, grinding his rock-hard cock against your pussy as he lowered himself to kiss you.

You whimpered while Ransom's chest mashed down against your heavy, naked tits. They felt amazing against his body, and he was beyond reason when the your mouth opened and set your tongue into motion against his.

Ransom had never kissed any girl so hard or hungrily in his life. Nor had any kissed him back the way you had. At the same time, you were grinding your slick, wet pussy against his cock as hard as he was grinding against you. Then he squeezed his hands in between them and grasped at your tits, kneading them eagerly with his strong hands.

He released your mouth and said," Baby girl, reach down there and put my cock inside you for me. I need that pussy bad, but I can't bring myself to let go of these fantastic tits now that I finally have my hands on them."

You giggled happily and kissed him again while you worked your hands down between your naked bodies. Finally, you got one hand on your pussy and spreading yourself open while you wrapped the other around Ransom's thick cock.

"Oh geezus, fuck, Ransom, you're so fucking hard," you cooed. "Oh god fuck me deep."

You tucked Ransom's cock head into your wet maw and he began grinding his shaft deeper into your sheath. Your pussy felt so tight and creamy, and you both groaned as his rock-hard flesh gradually filled your body. You looked at each other in disbelief, even though nothing had ever felt more right or natural.

Ransom growled as he began to pump his cock in and out of your spectacular body with long strokes. His grip on your tits went tighter and he lowered his head to suck and lick on your swollen nipples.

You whimpered with pleasure, wrapping your legs around his hips and grinding your pussy hard against his thrusting cock. It wasn't long before he was straining to hold on and keep fucking you deep and hard. You didn't make it any easier because of the way you were moaning and your cunt squeezed his pounding cock every time you came.

Finally, Ransom raised himself up on his hands while he pumped your succulent pussy hole as hard and fast as he could, watching your pretty face twist with pleasure while your tits heaved with the force of his lunging body.

"Gimme your cum, baby. I want it in me...fuck!"

With a final, frenzied volley of full body thrusts, Ransom's pulsing cock exploded in your pussy, filling you with a hot flow of jetting spunk.

After, they spent a long time kissing while Ransom caressed the your beautiful tits. He kept his cock buried inside you until his flesh finally started to relax.

You fell asleep in each other's arms, and Ransom knew he had the girl he always needed right there with him. He had been right, all the sarcastic comments and stupid fights had been worth it.

In the morning, Ransom awoke from a haze of dreams to look down and find you lying between his legs with your lips sliding up and down his swollen cock. When you realized he was awake and watching you, you released his big cock from your mouth, giving his shaft a long lick before greeting him.

"Merry Christmas, Ransom."