#I like talking about art a lot; sue me

[ashwii]

How did you render that Shadow piece? It’s so coollll

UHHHhh I can show off my wips of it off if that helps 🤔

Everything starts off with the base sketch: Draw your sad wet cat however clean or messy you like. And use reference, ofc.

After the sketch, I add in some textures to the background. Usually, I use a cloud brush for that, which helps make everything look all messy ang grungy uwu. THEN, any background details are added, like the building's lights on the left + the little sparks/embers around the bottom

After all that, I move on to the base colors of the character. I usually go ahead and airbrush in some simple color hues on wherever the lights or shadows are gonna hit, but a lot of people keep more simple with solid base colors before moving into lights later. Then, I put a clipping layer on my base colors and scribble in some lights and shadows. Nothing too clean rn, clean up is for later -- just getting my main color comp down uwu.

Next comes clean up :D. This is like.. the hardest part to ever describe, but it's just painting over what you already have there, blend your colors, add or take away texture... stuff like that sdosdfn like you're sculpting :D. And then lastly I always finish off with doing some color adjustments; that usually involves adding more contrast and upping the saturation of the drawing lol.

AND BAM, THE SAD WET CAT IS NOW REAL. go forth and take him as u please uwu

[good-beans]

(Milgram self-insert oc masterpost hehe)

Name: For the sake of posting online I’ll call her Rose!

Color: #E7355B [the pink in the art]

Age: I guess she’d be 20 given when Milgram started huh.

Status: Milgram Staff, Machine Technician

Symbols/imagery: ballet/musical theater, science experiments

Song genre: very similar to Mahiru's, something upbeat and extra pop-y

Tentatively she's number 011? She's not really prisoner but she's also not free to come and go, so I'm not actually sure if she'd get a number (Edit: I've decided she'll actually be 012. Staff is given the 01X range, and even though Es doesn't actively have a number they'd be staff member 011, making her 012.)

Story: Since the project is supposed to be realistic/present day, the mv machine would be brand new and unpredictable tech, so they’d want someone keeping up on maintenance and making sure the brain-invasive process won’t cause any harm to the prisoners. Rose was studying abroad in Japan working on some cool neuroscience tech (irl I know nothing about technology or brains but shh) and she stumbled upon some secret tech/plans from Milgram. Long story short, she was dragged into the experiment to make sure things ran smoothly.

Writer's Reasoning: She’s really fun for me to play around with, as she allows me to work with a character who has a tiny bit of pull over Es’ mindset in conversation but not the final decision (aka mirroring the voting system), and someone who is simultaneously trapped in the prison but has a reason to see all the canon content.* I really enjoy the character interactions and dynamics Milgram has set up so far, so it’s been super fun seeing how things change for better and worse when someone not quite aligned with either Milgram/the prisoners is thrown into the mix!

*As much as I love dramatic irony in fiction, it would drive me crazy if I knew every detail of of the vds/mvs but Rose didn't – and every single Milgram character is The Worst Communicator Ever so I couldn’t justify that she’d hear it secondhand from them...

Story roles:

She’s a bit conflicted -- she’s officially Milgram staff and knows she should remain neutral on the prisoners, since she won’t be allowed to interfere with the process/executions. At the same time, her job description is literally “make sure the machine doesn't hurt them and everyone's safe :)” and she's way too emotional to avoid getting hopelessly attached to everyone 😅

I really enjoy the theory that the machine extracts videos based off of priming, so one of Rose’s duties involves listening in on the interrogation and making sure there’s been enough material discussed/not too much time has passed overall (hence the ringing of the bell happening at different lengths for each vd -- That's her ringing it :3). She then watches the mvs along with Es to make sure there are no machine glitches, and know how to calibrate it better for next time.

(IEdit: I've since decided to add in official trial mvs, but before when I wasn't ready to tackle that:) She has to run some tests on the machine to make sure things are calibrated correctly, so she'd extract little things here and there. It gives me the opportunity to think up lyric snippets and recurring symbols for her without worrying about full encompassing music videos.

I'm not afraid to admit she can fall into Mary Sue territory every so often by being everyone's friend, because it's less about "aw everyone likes her" and more about "canon is too painful rn and I need a fix-it tool to take care of these guys and give them hugs and tell them someone forgives them and cares about them and unfortunately these characters wouldn't let anyone less than a friend do that." Rest assured she's definitely not perfect and will fuck everything up on occasion :3

Miscellaneous: Whenever I play around with normal au ideas she's still working on the machine (but in a public, more ethical setting), and she's Mahiru's roommate :) Her character isn't super focused on love, but if I had to pick a cover song it'd be Stickybug II. It's very much my vibe, the lyrics fit well enough (better than most songs, at least lol) and it's one of my favorites out of my limited knowledge of unchosen Deco songs! (Edit, I've actually given her non-deco cover songs hehe)

So yeah, I hope she's not too boring without a cool crime to decipher, but I wanted to share since I was really proud of her! It took a bit of tinkering to find a way to fit her into a perfect secret-third-thing role that runs very smoothly with all of canon, so I was very excited!

[anarkhebringer]

Not my older brother introducing me to even MORE genAI bullshit that he got sucked into that draws him away from things he's genuinely super talented at creating himself

[graysongraysoff]

Me: Wow I am so excited for one of my favorite fanfic writers to read one of my favorite manga arcs I can't wait to see what they thi—

Them: *Literally posts for all of yesterday and into this morning about how wrong everyone is for making this arc about a ship I like*

Me: Okay.

[youreonyourown-kid]

I miss comics. Like right around when the first Avengers movie came out I got really into marvel and subsequently branched out a bit and fell in love with comics and I swear the era was like a little Renaissance and we were SPOILED cause we had Matt Fraction and David Aja on Hawkeye and Kelly Sue Deconnick was on Captain Marvel and there was my favorite run ever of balck widow with Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto (which I'm still mad we didn't get a hardcover collection of by the way) and there was a great xmen run going and secret Avengers and YOUNG AVENGERS (omg I miss young avengers) BUT THATS ALSO WHEN Saga was starting and imagine getting into comics right when Saga is coming out and being like wow comics are amazing but actually you're just really lucky to have one of the first things you pick up be one of the greatest comics of all time

Like there were other good things coming out for a while and I mostly stayed current until like 2016 ish...but then I fell off and I fell off. I miss it.

[peapodsinspace]

[Image ID: a comment that reads: “it’s crazy how a post will be like “listen u need to get over yourself” and then someone replies like “absolutely! (addition that makes it obvious that they are the exact target demographic of the post and need to get over themself)”” /End ID.]

The stigma of self-inserts is so harmful to the creative process. Relax. Admit it. Everything you make is derivative of yourself, always, no exceptions. You can turn the mirror into tinier and tinier shards or you can make it as big as you want to reflect as much as you want. At the end of the day it's always going to show you inside of it. Pretending otherwise is stupid.

[fruitmouse]

lot going on lots good lots bad but it’s WEIRD bc i’m still like surprisingly pretty present. exhibiting mindfulness and healthy coping mechanisms

[pommunist]

‼️ This is very important so please read ‼️

The ex-admin for Dansir, Lapin, and Sk8ter (a penguin) came out on Twitter with her experience as a QSMP admin and it’s very grim. The user is @/Leasagne_ on Twitter.

I’m gonna try my best to translate from French :

1st Tweet : « Imagine having the first multilingual minecraft server in the world and paying your staff 150€/month and threatening to sue them if they complain. »

2nd Tweet: «  «You signed an NDA blablabla if you speak we’ll sue you. » Yeah Yeah, sure. They think they can gift me a toy and i’ll forgive them and shut my mouth. They don’t know who they are facing »

3rt Tweet : Talking about the NPC she played « Dansir, Tototte, my version of Cucurucho and Lapin won’t come back. Enough of treating people who give a lot of themselves like trash »

She then tweeted art she made for QSMP that she hasn’t been paid for. This include for exemple a Rose drawing, a Lucy drawing and the Techno fanart from Dia de los muertos event.

4th tweet : « Everyone is burnt out in their entreprise but it’s not a problem bc no one can talk or they risk getting sued. »

She then make a serie of tweets explaining why they got fired : « During a stream, Aypierre leaked my name, thanks dude, they saw that i was talking to him on discord, which is a FORBIDDEN THING. I was then accused of leaking things to him, bc on the screenshot, i was talking about DDOSon the server which is considered sensitive information. There was then an investigation on me, which i said was useless as I didn’t have anything to hide and was ready to answer all their questions. I admitted not following the rules (btw it’s forbidden to have chatrooms BETWEEN ADMINS, that’s why I wasn’t following the rules). We aren’t allowed to talk to streamers out of stream, but everyone does it i was just caught doing it. »

She also added some more stuff

-Saying that they were only TWO french admins (the other being Pomme’s) and OP had to do all the translations of QSMP newspapers, as well as adding articles on french CCs as they had been forgotten.

-Said that Empanada wasn’t supposed to be killed that day, it was an accident.

-Said that Pomme’s death, which was reversed, was forced so that « Baghera would have a tragic reaction »

-Said that the QSMP admin staff are all wonderful people with good dynamics, higher ups are the problem.

-Said that she believes Quackity isn’t aware that this is happening.

-Said that now QSMP ccs are aware that this is happening and want to discuss it with the admins.

I’m on my phone so it’s hard to include screenshots or links of everything so if you’re able to feel free to do it by reblog. I’ll add more things as soon as possible.

https://x.com/leasagne_?s=21&t=fDVoT5qDN_AAqnxYhZF3uQ

[astrosky33]

𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐑

ABOUT ME

Hello! I’m Skylar if you’re new to my page and I got my diploma in astrology from Kepler College (the #1 best astrology school in the world)

I’ve been studying astrology for over a decade now as well and these are the books I recommend

☆ BEGINNER BOOKS ☆

The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Woolfolk

Goes over all the basic information for beginners and has interpretations written in as well. In the beginning of the book it focuses a lot on Sun Signs but gives more insight on other placements later in the book don’t worry

Astrology for the Soul by Jan Spiller

Another great book for beginners. I like the interpretations

The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest

Written by a very renowned astrologer. He goes over signs, aspects, etc and breaks them all down really well

You were born for this by Chani Nicholas

I love how this book goes over how to use astrology in your daily life and isn’t just cookie cutter definitions of placements like many other books. It’s also interactive and you can write in some pages which is always fun. It’s one of my favorite books for beginners

Aspects in astrology by Sue Tompkins

This is a great book for people curious about what each aspect means and how they can manifest into your life

☆ INTERMEDIATE BOOKS ☆

Predictive Astrology by Michele Adler

This book is definitely worth the price. It gives lots of information on techniques you can use to make predictions in astrology. It’s based on Western Astrology

The Art of Predictive Astrology by Carol Rushmam

Another great predictive astro book that talks about how to make predictions based on transits in your chart

Medical Astrology by Judith Hill

This is a great book with information on body part astrology and medical information. Although I do want to note when reading this do not be afraid if you share one of the transits that the public figures mentioned had during their health issues arising as astrology is a polarity. Meaning you can take on positive traits rather than the challenging ones often

☆ ADVANCED BOOKS ☆

Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George

Goes over all the major asteroids in astrology. This can help you a lot if you’re interested in learning basic information on asteroids

Planets in Composite by Robert Hand

There are not many books out there on Composite compatibility so out of all of them this is my favorite even though it’s very basic it’s still a good read if you’re learning about Composite charts

The Psychology of Astrocartography by Jim Lewis

This is the best book about astrocartography I’ve found so far and very informative. The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that the print is really small. It’s amazing other than that though

☆ OLD AGE ASTRO BOOKS ☆

Mastering Traditional Astrology by Mychal A. Brian

If you’re more interested in old age astrology then this is an amazing read. You can purchase it on Amazon

Astrology of the Tree by David Frawley

This is great for beginners in vedic astrology and goes over all the basics. Really anything by David Frolly is great if you want to learn about vedic

The Nakshatras; the Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology by Dennis Harness

It’s a short read and goes over all the meanings of all the nakshatras

Light on Relationships by Hart De

A very comprehensive read that goes over synastry in Indian astrology. It gives lots of interesting techniques that can give insight on future marriages as well

Mayan Calender Astrology by Kenneth Johnson

This is extremely hard to comprehend so don’t purchase if you’re new to astrology. Even I had to read it a few times to fully get it. It discusses the astrology that the egyptians wrote in their hieroglyphics

☆ BOOKS I STUDIED FOR MY DIPLOMA ☆ [these aren’t all of them just some of my faves]

Sky and Psyche; the relationship between cosmos and consciousness by Nicholas Campion and Patrick Curry

This is an extremely underrated book and one of my favorites by far. This book goes over not just meanings of the planets, houses, synastry aspects, etc but also why the planets manifest in certain ways

The planetarization of consciousness by Dane Rudhyar

This one isn’t a basic overview like the other books I’ve mentioned it’s more psychological type astrology which I found really interesting

History of western astrology volume 1 & 2 by Nicholas Campion

This goes over how astrology has been used throughout history and why it was used in the past

☆ OTHER ASTRO BOOKS ☆

Moonology by Yasmin Boland

This is a manifestation astrology book. It gives an amazing story about the authors life before using astrology and manifestation and how it impacted them. Great for learning how to manifest using the moon cycles and astrology

The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes by Theodora Lau and Laura Lau

My favorite Chinese astrology book. There isn’t many good ones out there

Birth Time Rectification by Paul Manley

There are some things I would’ve added to this book that weren’t mentioned but other than that it’s pretty good in helping find the right birth times using vedic astrology

<- 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧

[genericpuff]

no stop this article is too funny

this is from 2020 and while it talks about webtoons in general as a platform and medium, there's an excerpt from Rachel that's ironically and hilariously telling on herself when it comes to her priorities as a creator and how her work has aged incredibly poorly in the past 4 years:

She may as well just be saying, "I like Webtoon because they don't have any quality control" and "the trad publishing market had standards that I couldn't live up to, so instead of actually trying to live up to them, I went with a platform that has zero standards and was willing to make me into the standard regardless of my own qualifications and lack thereof."

Like y'all, take this as advice from someone who's had their fair share of rejection letters... the print industry dumping your unsolicited portfolio in the bin isn't gatekeeping, it's the nature of the business. The way Rachel describes it here - albeit I'm sure it's simplified for the sake of being an interview answer, but still - makes it sound like she was just expecting to walk right into the trad publishing market without an agent, without a completed manuscript or pitch, without any professional representation, and just slam her portfolio of mid-2000's art on the desk expecting them to hire her on the spot.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of barriers that prevent people from getting into the trad market, hurdles that can often be outright unfair (lacking the funds, lacking the connections, etc.) but... there's also a reason many of those barriers are there in practice.

First of all, fun fact: the reason why many publishers don't take unsolicited manuscripts isn't just to help them filter out the spam and low-effort submissions and prevent an overload of submissions (because if they took submissions from anyone and everyone, the overviewing system would break entirely), but it's also for legal purposes so that they don't get sued. Because if Joe Chucklefuck sends in an unsolicited manuscript that just so happens to include a plot point about the multiverse, and then a new book series or movie comes out that is about the multiverse, Joe Chucklefuck might get the sense they're being stolen from and attempt to sue them for plagiarism. This is why it's stressed so much by publishers that any unsolicited manuscripts will not just go unread, but will be thrown straight into the bin.

But second, many publishers simply don't want to take the financial risks on random start-up creators whose only experience is running their own personal projects on Tumblr, much less personal projects like Rachel's, half of which are fetish-content and all of which are unfinished. Of course they weren't gonna take Rachel seriously back then, she hadn't done anything to build up her presence in the industry.

In that sense, yes, self-publishing or pursuing a platform gig like Webtoons probably was Rachel's next best option which would be perfectly acceptable on its own, but it's just so, so telling that she thinks it's a "perk" for Webtoons to lack so much in the way of quality control, and we would ironically see the glaring evidence of that "perk" 3-4 years later in LO's final season when every single element of it as a "professional" piece of work turned to shit. It's no wonder she liked Webtoons in 2020 for letting her do anything she wanted, because what she wanted absolutely would not fly with an actual editor and publishing agency that cared about putting out a polished piece of work. The only way she was able to get "in" with a professional publisher was through Del Rey after Webtoons brokered a deal for her to have LO put into print, and even that level of prestige can't hide the fact that LO sucks ass in print. It's almost like under normal circumstances and without Webtoons carrying her on their shoulders above every other creator on the platform - many of whom actually do have experience in both tradpub and self-publishing - Del Rey wouldn't have paid her any attention. Without Webtoons, no one would take her seriously because she doesn't take what she does seriously, and it shows in her priorities as a creator who simply wants to just do whatever she wants without any sort of reasonable oversight like research or editing which are, again, necessary expectations within the tradpub industry, because it's not just about being a free-thinking self-expressive artist anymore in that industry - it's a business.

Of course, Rachel is probably now laughing from her soapbox over the fact that she now technically helps run an imprint, so haha "poo on the meanie trad market", but considering that imprint has still not launched and has been put on the same "coming soon" track that the LO television show has been on for the past 4+ years on a loop, I'm not holding my breath that it's actually going to amount to anything substantial.

(gotta love how they asked if Rachel was gonna create any more stories and her answer was RSP, which will help other creators bring their stories to life. so at best she didn't answer the question which is nothing new for her, at worst she gave away the fact that she's gonna be acting as some kind of producer who will be given all the credit and praise for other creator's works and efforts lmao no thankssss)

And god knows what the quality control of this imprint is gonna be like if Rachel's attitude toward the trad market overall is, "Nooo they won't let me do what I wantttt :((((" when she admittedly never even broke into the trad market to begin with and had zero experience working within that industry prior to LO.

And even then, Webtoons still doesn't give her as much freedom of choice as she claims to have. I mean ffs, this is the same person whose moderators stated that the Swarovski crystal dress from the finale was done as a "fuck you" to Webtoons for not letting her draw Persephone nude all the time.

She's obviously still being prevented from doing what she wants to do, when a lot of what she wants to do is better off not passing the vibe check and making it into the comic.

Quality control exists for a reason, Rachel. And "letting you do what you want" isn't necessarily a "flex" that Webtoons can claim over trad publishing when that "flex" is forgoing the traditional barriers that would usually prevent someone like you from failing upwards into manufactured fame the way that you have.

And that's my big bag of cents on that.

[hetalian-veteran]

Art Styles I Personally Think the Hetalia Characters Looked Their Best In (and Why) Part 1

Link to Part 2

I'm making this at 3am because my back hurts and I can't sleep. But the art styles have been on my mind for a while and I wanted to talk about it. Or at least express which ones I think were best for certain characters and why.

I will also be omitting characters who have only appeared in one season.

Also, please note that I am referring to the show and not the webcomic. This is primarily because I didn't always have access to the webcomic and thus the show is what I've always been most familiar with.

Italy: Seasons 1-4

This was a close call between this and his design for season 5, but you can't beat the classic art style for Italy. When someone mentions Italy from Hetalia, this is what comes to mind. I also feel like there's a bit more fluff to his hair in this art style, but it's also not so flat that it looks like his hair is wet. He also just looks cuter here. I can't explain it. He just does.

Romano: Season 7

As a long-time Romano fangirl, this was a very close call between all the art styles I've seen for this character. But ultimately, season 7 won out. I like how they colored his hair. Not just because I like brown hair, but because they made it shiny, but not so shiny that it looks wet, and... Let's be real here, this outfit. It is everything my middle school self ever wanted and more. The Romano fans were blessed the day he graced our screens with this glorious fit.

Germany: Season 1-4

Part of why I love this art style for Germany is because it's the one I was first introduced to, and it's one where he looks the most like a real person (at least to me, anyway). Another reason is that the other designs for Germany either make him way too muscular for my liking, or they give him a bit of a dopey face. I think it's also worth mentioning that this design gave us some very meme-worthy facial expressions, and that should never be downplayed or forgotten. Also, I miss the black tank top look for him. Iconic.

Japan: Season 5

Japan's design in season 5 hits sort of a sweet spot between his designs for seasons 1-4 and seasons 6-7. His hair is obviously still black, but it isn't so dark that it loses any value. The shading and gradient look really good and help make his design here pop from the previous one. I also like how big and squared his eyes are here, similar to in seasons 1-4. Seasons 6-7 made his eyes too round. I also love that brown gradient within his eyes. I feel like his eyes were too small in seasons 6-7. As I said, this Japan design hits a sweet spot and balances all the best elements of his design while still maintaining the look of aph Japan.

Prussia: Season 5

It took me a while to figure out why I preferred this art style for Prussia, but I think I finally figured it out. Angles. This design utilizes sharper angles than the other designs for Prussia. The reason why this works so well is that angles in character design are often used either for older characters or for characters who have a bit of an edge to them (pun unintended). I understand that Prussia is a huge dork (affectionately), but he has always come across as a sort of rebel to me with a "do or die" attitude, which makes sharper edges and angels work well for him. Also, his eyes are pretty. And he looks hot here sue me.

Spain: Season 5

Okay, I have several notes here, because virtually everything here is an upgrade from his design from seasons 1-4. For one thing, they actually gave him tanned skin, which, in my opinion, makes sense for the personification of Spain, a country that gets a lot of sunshine. His hair is shiny and gives a sort of sunkissed look, like he's been working outside the whole day. Not to mention his hair has a bit of fluff to it, a huge upgrade from his more flat-looking hair from previous seasons. His eyes are beautiful, with a gradient from yellow-green, into avocado green, and then into a shamrock green. I also like the more casual clothing he wears this season, as well as that one cool-looking suit of armor he wore during his battle against the Netherlands. The only reason I am not putting his design for seasons 6-7 here is that, despite giving him even tanner skin in those seasons, which I like, his facial features feel too rounded to me, making him look a bit like a young child. Season 5 Spain walked in, slayed the competition, and walked out. A true king.

Belgium: Season 5

I've heard a little bit of arguing online about how Belgium's hair in season 5 should've been blonde, but honestly? In a sea of blonde characters, I don't mind her having light brown hair. If anything, I think it's beautiful and it makes her stand out more. I really like her light green eyes, as well as the cute dresses that she wears. In particular this outfit. The green bow on her dress and in her hair complement her eyes beautifully. Not to mention that the green bow on the gray and black dress makes for a really nice pop of color. I know she's not a character who shows up a ton, but for me, she looked her absolute best in season 5, and the previous and latter seasons cannot compare.

Netherlands: Seasons 5-7

I'm lumping seasons 5-7 together for the Netherlands because I honestly cannot see too many big differences between his designs there. All I can say is that they are far better than his one design in seasons 1-4. I love the whole outfit he wears, with the long coat and the scarf. I lowkey kinda want that scarf. He also has the added detail of smoking a pipe. Which, sidenote, is that a big thing in the Netherlands? I have no idea. I just found the pipe to be a unique and interesting detail. I'd talk about the design, but that would be best suited for a top ten favorite designs post.

[kyrawaff]

So, im a little dumb and didn't realize till today that Kjera's OpRec was released during Ride to Lake Silberneherza.... let's ramble for bit why don't we!

Ok so arknights has a hand full of relationships that are exceptionally on the nose without out right saying it because they of course can not do that in a gacha game.

That said, there are quite a few wlw relationships like that. Think Franka/Liskarm, Ceylon/Schwarz, Shu/Shennong, etc.

Besides Shu/Shennong, who's fairly recent, one that's kind of been stuck in my head has always been Enya and Kjarr. (I prefer to use these names over their op names, sue me)

We all know these two are attached at the hip nearly. Sure, Kjarr is her head maid and has a job to do. But you'd be kidding yourself if you thought that's all there was to it. They are constantly entwined with one another even when not physically together.

In Break The Ice, there's a lot going on and so not a lot of time to focus on them specifically. That's said, what we do see is that there is a lot of mutual trust between them and some banter.

In Enyas OpRec we just get a casual mention that they are very much collaborating to get Enya out of the controlling environment of the Vine Beart Court.

Then we have Kjarr's OpRec. In it, we see Kjarr having a conversation with "herself" about how she has changed from her time among her people. And a lot can be taken from it, but there is one line that stands out to me

Then we finally get to RS, probably my favorite event story/writing wise. It's just bursting with personality! From Degenbrecher just eating every scene she is in with her dry humor, Harold being just absolutely fantastic all around, and Monch reuniting with her wife (let me be a bit delusional).

On top of all that, we get to see so much more of Enya and Kjarr together. And what do they do? They banter, they flirt, they tease one another, and they trust one another basically innately. Enya trusting Kjarr not to step in regardless of what may happen. Kjarr trusting Enya to help pull her people through this. Just like they talked about. All the seriousness of a deep relationship, with all of the fun that comes with it too like moments such as this:

To me, this is just as solidified a relationship as FriskArm. And of course I don't think it gets appreciated quite enough as it should. I've done a little of my own part with a shirt Fanfic, and I plan to do more in the future hopefully. There are also those creating absolutely beautiful stories and art like @ queeragandr who has two insanely wonderful stories about these two.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Enjoy these two characters together, as they are meant to be lol

[thebottomfromhell]

ONE-SHOT

Female Human (later Demon) Reader becoming Muzans lover

Ok, I will be evil with this one. This is the typical "reader/oc is yeeted i to the Mary Sue role because she is oh so special" but done my own way, which is basically destroy the promt into something more in character, so it might not be everyone's taste. Also being Muzan's part from this post.

Warnings: Manga Spoilers, Sexism, Power imbalance, Non-consented body modification (being turned into a demon), Narcissistic character, and Slight yandere behavior.

Muzan would never admit humanity has impressed him more than a fingers count of times. There have been several humans he found himself amazed with, but honestly? That only makes them less special. But the fact is still the same, when a human is capable os such a thing, it means they are worth of being more. Of being... almost perfect. Because no matter how many times he finds himself linked to human, humanity is a desease. The desease of getting tired, old, injured, weak and dead.

Not that he would ever go as far as to get rid of humans completely, what would he eat if he did? And raising them as cattle seems rather cruel, not only that but he must admit he enjoys human's products. The technology, the arts, the arquitecture... it would be a waste to get rid of it.

You were, are, impressive, not at the same level of Tamayo, but still an impressive woman he met as he was passing by as human. There was something about you, something he wanted. He couldn't ignore it, even if he did try, even if he had a hard time recognizing it. Specially because he didn't know why. With Akaza, it was his strengh. With Nakime, it was his wickedness. With Enmu, it was his... oddity. With Gyutaro, it was his hatred. With Gyokko, it was his art. With Rui, it was their resemblance. With Hantengu, it was his will and madness. With Kokushibou, it was his power and pride. For fuck's sake, he transformed Douma because of his shitty eyes! But in every case he knew exactly what he was doing and why at giving them their position in the Kizuki system.

Meanwhile, you can't compare to any of them. You aren't half as strong as most humans who called up his attention, you are sane, you are normal, average. Why are you here? In his head? Why does he let you stay near him, even when he should have killed you after switching to a new life. You met Muzan as a child, an odd one, very mature and smart for his age, but also had something you couldn't describe, but it set you off. Specially as he kept staring at you while you followed your routine.

You always made sure to show him bare minimum courtesy, he was the child of someone rich, after all. You didn't really care, until a young man came to you, he was very attractive and you did consider for a few seconds asking to meet or something. You are already an adult but haven't married yet, so people talk a lot about you, mostly condensending or nosy things. Maybe getting someone would stop the talking, as, depending on particular people, can be from annoying to hurtful. But after considering a few seconds, you decided it's not worth it, since you didn't know this man. You never wanted to come off as "desperate", that would make the rumours about you worse.

The thing is that. You didn't know this man, "Hello, Y/N." and yet he knows your name. He has a sweet voice, but something upseting from... you don't even know from what. "Excuse me, do we know each other?" You ask nerviously, and every second you look at him, he somehow manages to be more scary. There is something in the air, something... almost cursed. "We do, actually. But that doesn't matter. Tell me, dear, what do you think of your life?" He asks, but honestly? It feels that this is more to make up a conversation than to actually know about you.

You answer, lying in some details, saying some things mostly because it's correct to say it. In some aspects, you don't feel like other women, like you are not like the other ladies, hence you are also treated differently, maybe that is the reason you never got a fiance, even is it's considered unsightful that a young lady doesn't get any attention at all. Most men think you are "hard to manage", so they don't. You don't really like it but at this point you learned not to care. You also tell some truths, but not really giving so much detail. You just want to leave. There is something about this guy giving you creeps.

"I see." He chuckles a bit, and while it sounded nice, melodious even, it only made you tense up. "Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting asking such a silly question. But I guess you do have something interesting, you want to scape your life." That is not odd to find, most of his demons felt that same way. Akaza wanted to scape his family's death and lack of purpose, Kokushibou wanted to scape his weakness and sense of inferiority to his brother, Douma wanted to scape the numbness of the cult, Hantengu wanted to scape his criminal record and death sentence, Nakime wanted to scape her life as a poor wife of a gambler, even Rui wanted to scape his sickness.

You are no different. You are not special. And yet, annoyingly, he can't shake off his interest towards you. Maybe, because you are not special, he should enlist you with the others. In the best case scenario, you will join the Kizuki system. At the worst? He will get bored of you when you prove to be useless. Because, while attracked, he doesn't have the patience to stay by when there is so much to do. He can only have the best and the most useful assets by his side. Prove yourself then.

You didn't even manage to blink before you feel a potent sting of pain in your skull, the smell of blood that runs through your face makes you panic, but you can't move. The pain becomes numb as a liquid, an odd liquid, is... injected to your brain. It burns, but every pain is subdued. Then you feel cold air against your flesh as he removes his hand. "Join me, my dear. Prove that you deserve to be at my side." Everything else goes in a flash, as you become more overwhealmed and your body stretches, your skin becomes ick, your blood preassure rises. Everything becomes pain for a moment... and then nothing.

No pain, no cold, no nothing. Just hunger, hunger for more blood. For him. But humans will have to do, because you are just so hungry you can't think straight. Did you ever? Because now. It's just your hunger and him what matter. "You are doing well, Y/N. Prove yourself worth it, and I will have an special gift for you." How could you reject that?

[vickyvicarious]

ooooh, I love Patrick Hennessey's voice!

Renfield getting possessive over Dracula... or possibly just recognizing that the boxes being taken away means Dracula might leave too, and he wants to prevent that.

kfjsldf Renfield is so good at managing the staff here. politely gaslighting them to believe he's oblivious to his own actions then escaping

OHkay the dull thuds were quite awful when he's slamming the guy's head into the ground

"you know I'm no lightweight" between this and Seward knocking Renfield off with one punch I now find myself imagining them like. wrestling each other for fun or something at least once. (jack would have gotten very bisexual about it and then refused to look dr. hennessey in the face for days probably)

"'I'll frustrate them! They shan't rob me! they shan't murder me by inches! I'll fight for my Lord and Master!'" I love how rough his voice sounds here, so different from usual. Also the murder me by inches is such a vivid and bleak way to describe being deprived of the chance at supernatural life.

sorry for your finger, Hardy

YES, the first of the very thirsty men who are suddenly more relaxed when given a drink. it's so funny

but really, Hennessey managed that very well. his quick smoothing over and attention to detail could be really helpful if anyone decided to sue them or something over this.

the phonograph noises at the beginning of Jack's entry at first made me think they were at the end of Hennessey's report, and it would be very funny if Jack insisted on getting his report in phonograph form. That, or Hennessey just wanted to take the chance to see what all the fuss was about.

...and then Jack started speaking and all amusement was lost. God, he's wrecked.

the stop and scoff before "too miserable" GODDDD

"the flapping of the wings of the angel of death" yeah he's been flapping a lot the bastard

but really, the way Jack lists them off, so bitterly, damn it's horrible

is he drinking? or trying to keep from crying? I mean he's definitely doing that either way but

the shake on "we must not all break down"

van Helsing speaking SO GENTLY to Arthur, auuugh

"You shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy will be comfort to each other, even though we do not speak, and even if we sleep." this is so sweet, I can't believe I'd forgotten about it

"in this room, as in the other," of course, it makes sense not to keep Lucy in her own bedroom, where the windows are shattered and where her mother died... but I wonder where she is. Did I miss a line about it somewhere? A part of me imagines Mrs. Westenra's room, which would mean they both die in one another's beds. :(

NOT THE TEETH

"Her teeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer... and sharper than they had been in the morning. In particular - by some trick of the light, the canine teeth looked... longer... and sharper than the rest." he repeats 'longer and sharper' twice, and especially the second time sounds so... nearly fascinated. It reminds me of Jonathan describing Dracula.

"there came a sort of dull flapping or buffeting at the window" there he is, the flappy asshole. angel of death himself.

"It struck me as curious that the moment she became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to her. It was certainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her; but that when she waked she clutched them close." SHE'S TRYING. GOD I WANNA CRY

van Helsing's fear and despair is so well conveyed. and when he spends several minutes staring at her and then sounds so calm - he is determined.

"I went to the dining-room and waked him." the way Jack says this line is just. brutal.

I CAN'T LISTEN TO ART BREAK DOWN THIS IS GONNA DESTROY ME

the saddest "my dear old fellow" in the world

brushing Lucy's hair... I love that this makes Jack cry, because it makes me cry too.

ffffuck her shaky greeting to Arthur.

so I was talking a little bit ago about how Jack seems to distance himself unconsciously and start referring to Lucy as a thing whenever she is in more vampiric mode, and I love to hear it reflected in his voice here too. He goes from being so choked up with emotion to sounding almost cold as he says "the mouth opened,"

and he sounds so disturbed when he calls her eyes "dull" and her voice "voluptuous"

oh no oh no that "oh my love " is SO DAMN SINISTER art don't do it don't do it. like damn, I can't even make a joke about van helsing playing chaperone I'm just thankful that he's there!

it's not like being a vampire is transferrable through saliva or anything anyway but. she sounded so scary there.

Jack's delivery about van Helsing pulling Arthur back from the kiss was so funny. He sounds so incredulous: "dragged him back with a fury of strength which I never thought he could have possessed," van Helsing may joke about him being bitchless but Jack was here thinking he was a frail old man so who's laughing now. (van Helsing. definitely still van Helsing.)

van Helsing's panting!

art, bless him, choosing not to get into a fight over his fiance's deathbed. (the way Jack's voice gets rough on "and the occasion" uggggh)

god, Lucy's voice makes me so sad. that final "and give me peace"......

"Their eyes met instead of their lips; and so they parted." THIS LINE.

nooooooo don't make me listen to Art cry fuck it's breaking me

the music while Jack is talking about there being peace for Lucy is so ominous!!! also I love the way he is so clearly trying so hard to stay composed and say something nice and look on the bright side if only a little... and then van Helsing has to be mysterious and ominous and ruin that for him too

van Helsing Barbie strikes again

"only some letters and a few memoranda, and a diary new begun." those last few words are so sad. She never got to do more than just begin her diary. She never got to even begin her new life before it was taken away from her.

"we both started at the beauty before us," Beautiful Corpse Jumpscare

"He had not loved her as I had, and there was no need for tears in his eyes." I get how you feel but that's pretty dang rude, Jack. He's told you that he loves her and wanted to save her. He already cried for her once.

kjdsfljksdf THE DELIVERY of "I want to cut off her head and take out her heart." and. no DUH he's shocked, vH! don't go acting like this is typical surgeon behavior/reaction. omg.

and then that sigh and 'kind' concession that 'all you have to do is help me cut off her head that's all'

I fucking love the delivery of "no good to her, to us, to science, to human knowledge"

"I may err—I am but man; but I believe in all I do." the way his voice almost wavers on the word 'believe'. Not out of doubt, but emotion.

"and she kiss my rough old hand and bless me?" the way he says this line... he was so affected by her trust in him and her final request. he feels honored and burdened both.

Jack being so emotional about the maid grieving for Lucy... and me sitting there knowing that she's in there to steal from Lucy. (or at least, she does even if it's not why she went in)

mr. marquand! you are a decent guy, thank you for trying to look out for Lucy's interests. anyone who tries to give her agency is good in my book. even if your rejoicing is in. rather poor taste. (Jack's laugh at that is great!)

Art bringing Jack in with him is so sweet, god, god, his crying.... THE WAY HE SAYS JACK'S NAME. THE WAY HE SAYS THERE'S NOTHING TO LIVE FOR

Jack's line about men only needing "a grip of the hand, the tightening of an arm over the shoulder, a sob in unison," was already ridiculous but the way says it like he's trying so hard to convince himself

I hit the bulletpoint character limit. Wow.

Anyways the delivery is so stiff-upper-lip-this-is-fine, it's great. especially as the further into the line he gets the more you can hear him trying not to sob as well.

THE SADDEST SMOOCH NOISES

the way Art reacts to being called 'Lord'. ""No, no, not that, for God's sake! not yet at any rate." he sounds so desperate, the POOR MAN

and the way he is taking deep breaths while talking to van Helsing. He is working so fucking hard to be kind and try and make things easier and get through this without lashing out at anyone. I love him so much.

and van Helsing immediately follows up with "I stole your dead girlfriend's letters, can I keep them?" I KNOW he feels bad about it and he feels it is necessary and everything but. damn okay.

NOT A LULLABY NOOOOOOOOOO

GOD THAT'S SO SAD. DO NOT COME INTO THE NIGHT DO NOT GO TO SLEEP MY DEAR :( :( oh how dare you with that line about eternal life/shine so bright" AND TAKE MY BITE NOOOOOOO

[rocksibblingsau]

Do you know that headcanon where Jd knows Delta on some level (lovers, friends, acquaintances, etc)? That let me to thinking about how an earlier reunion between John and country Branch would go. Of course, a lot would change depending of when they meet and how Jd reacts afterwards (if he goes looking for the rest of the family or not)

But my favorite scenario so far is an older teen Branch that takes way longer to forgive John than canon. This Branch already accepted that his family leaving was not his fault and probably think that he doesn't need/want his brothers anymore (now that he has family he knows won't leave him and all that)

But John, who hasn't found any signs of their other brothers, decides to just take the long approach and show Branch that he has changed. It takes a while, but by his early adulthood, I can see Branch viewing Jd as a wacky uncle figure and fully forgiving him for what happened in the past. They bond over taking care of others, leadership, the wilderness and their guilt over their family situation (everybody leaving for Jd and grandma for Branch) and share some beers on Rhonda's rooftop, while watching the sunset, at least once a week.

John doesn't find/is afraid to reconnect with their other brothers, just because I like the "Branch has a special connection with a brother that the others take a while to understand" so sue me lol

I don't share that headcanon but it is a fun one. I appreciate that everyone looked at JD and went 'yeah he'd be a country woman's horrible ex'.

I think one thing that would affect their dynamic is if John Dory met Delta Dawn before she met Branch or after. If before she might be able to tell Branch how much John talked her ear off about his family. If after... John Dory better be thankful that the movie Country Trolls aren't like the art book Country Trolls and armed with shotguns.

I love the idea of 'you will never be my brother again, but I'm willing to give you the chance to be something else'. BroZone is never Branch's brother again, but they work their way back to being some kind of family.

[krolik-draws]

hello

(Hopefully this doesn’t sound too cringe)This is Dusk, a NightWing/SkyWing hybrid, and she hatched under two full moons, as well as the highest mountain, as the dragonet of Eris the NightWing and Icarus the animus SkyWing.

Her parents scoured for anything on how to take care of an animus dragonet, as well as Eris contacting a family friend, Hope, formerly known as FoeSlayer, to get some advice so that Dusk’s soul doesn’t waste away like Darkstalker’s.

She wasn’t allowed to use her magic until she was of age, and she was taught throughout her life that she should be careful when using it, and when she was old enough, she was given an earring that would help her make good decisions when she’s about to enchant something.

When I was 13 I was in the cafeteria telling my friends about my new sans OC. I was already anxious talking about him because I was put down a lot by my family so it punched me in the gut when one of my "cool" friends called my OC Kitsune Samurai Sans OC cringe. There were times they also called my OC's mary sues, poorly designed, and at some points they left me out of role-plays entirely for probably the same reasons. It crushed me as a kid and even today I can't make a story let alone write an essay without the nagging feeling in my head telling me that what I'm making is "cringe" or "poorly made". (as you all probably can tell from my CONSTANT self critique on my posts).

Storytelling is a beautiful and versatile art that requires a piece of ourselves every time we set a pen to paper. When someone or even yourself insults a story you made, it kills not only the creativity but the part of yourself that you tucked away in that story. What I have learned, through the hard way, is that no story is a bad story, no art piece is "cringe". Sure there are standards but that's for you to decide and not some dumb-ass who doesn't know an ounce of how much heart you put into your art.

Cringe is just slang boring people made because they were jealous of others who simply created whatever they wanted however they wanted. People fear a world without rules because they don't feel like they have control, don't let them have it over you.

Your story is not cringe, you are simply playing with the logic of magic in Wings of Fire and made a beautiful and neat dragon from that scaffolding. I like how you twisted the take on the usual "dreary depressed all powerful magic dragon" and am curious to see how Dusk would hand magic "properly" so to speak. Also I'd like to know just how important those earrings may come to be in the future. I adore Dusk and I hope to see how you bend the laws of animus magic, as well as, more of your creations!