#I'd understand if I asked for like 20 different toppings

[shima-draws]

Orders a Subway sandwich with just turkey and cheese through Doordash. Driver delivers my sandwich. Opens my sandwich. There's no cheese. How can you fuck up an order that badly it was literally TWO TOPPINGS

[marcysdreamydays11]

I showed my mom blue lock characters and told her to rate them from 1-10 part 1

What she said about him: "Ice agi...yo...yo..yoochi??" *then she just spent an eternity trying to pronounce his name* "He looks too young for me." rating: 7.5

"awww what a cute girl she looks like that one girl from the ..the loud house show." *WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP THINKING BACHIRA IS A GIRL??!?!?!?! I'D UNDERSTAND CHIGIRI* *I told her he was a boy* "I ain't never seen a boy in my life that looks like this is he one of those." *ONE OF WHAT?* rating: 10

"Whys he so pale??" rating: 5

"eughhh why that little boy so mad with his uneven curtain bangs..and that lil top knot" *should've showed her a different picture* rating: 0 💀

"DAMN, whooo hes so hot but why he look like he from a porn." *Die.*

rating: 20.

"Aw, is that the little mermaid why she got that resting bitch face??" rating: 9.5

"He's hot too is that Johnny Depp?" *where did she get johnny from??*

rating: 40..

"Whys his teeth like that is he a shark? he looks like that boy from loud house"

rating: 3

Im gonna ask her tomorrow too

[markrosewater]

I'd like to voice my dislike of the paring down of some of the creature types, because I feel like differing viewpoints are good in game design and I've not really seen that many statements voiced in opposition to these changes. My view of it is that it strips out a lot of uniqueness of Magic as a setting. Other settings have humanoid lizards, but they don't have Viashino. Other settings have undersea-dwelling peoples, but they don't have Cephalids. Naga becoming Snake was completely understandable, and I think the justifications for it were valid. I do not think Viashino becoming Lizard or Cephalid becoming Octopus were remotely justified. On top of that, it creates some weird points, where you can see clearly crocodilian humanoids (the Viashino from Alara) now labeled as Lizards, which not only are separate types in Magic, they're not even closely related in real life (crocodiles are more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than lizards). I've seen a number of very loud people advocate for trimming all the "unnecessary" types in Magic out, but their proposals usually end up as "there should be about 20 creature types total." This is not only unsatisfactory from a game design standpoint--as it would make tribal decks a bit *too* easy to accomplish--but absolutely catastrophic from a flavor perspective as well. At that point, why not just have typelines be "TYPE1", "TYPE2", and so forth? Flavor and function have to work together, and sacrificing too much of either is a bad thing. Too little function, and the game becomes unplayable. Too little flavor, and the game becomes cold and sterile. This is not to say that trimming on creature types is a bad thing--I think Magic wouldn't be hurt by trimming on a few more creature types if you asked me--but just that I think the choice of creature types being trimmed is odd, to say the least. Why does a regularly printed creature type with new cards that were printed just earlier this year get the boot, and not something like trilobite, which has all of 5 cards, with a 4 year gap between the printing of the most recent one and the one before that? If this is to help tribal decks, why are there still one-off or two-off creature types being printed, like Varmint and Coyote?

We're not getting rid of Viashino. They will continue to creatively exist. We will still refer to them in titles and flavor text as Viashino. All we're doing is consolidating the creature types so that we're consistent in how we use them.

Magic has been treating animal humanoids this way (aka using the animal as the creature type) for two plus decades. All we're doing is going back and fixing the few that got done before we adopted this policy back in the early days of Magic.

[dumpster-diving-rat]

How I think random bsd characters would tell you they love you (dating and not dating)

Edgar Allan Poe

-When you're not dating him, he's afraid to tell you about his feelings, practically admiring from afar whenever you two are together

-One day, whilst you're at his house, he hands you a book

-Whether or not you want his ability to be used is up to you, so I'll give you two versions here

-You get put into the book, there, you see a letter, in it is a confession of his feelings, if you looked around, you would notice you were in your favorite place, whether that's a place you've dreamed of going, or a place you've been to

-Once you get out after reading the confession, he is quite embarrassed, but tries to act normal

-The only reason why he didn't tell you in the book himself, was because he was too scared to see your reaction in real time, so he wrote the note for you to read while in the book

-If his ability was not used, it would be a book of love poems, confessing his love for you with many words, describing how he loves you with quite the description

-You can tell by the look on his face, in which he finally showed, that he was lovestruck

-He had fallen hard for you, and didn't plan on letting those feelings go

-However, when you are dating him, he shows his love similarly, but still different

-You will hear him say 'I love you' of course, but, sometimes he does it in ways you never thought he could do

-Did he learn different, slightly hidden ways to say I love you? Perhaps, but only for you, because he knows you'll find it, even if you don't understand it

-He gave you a few new love poems, he gives you different ones every week, but what you weren't expecting was at the top of every page, there was the same dots and lines -Wondering what it was? Well, it was morse code for I love you, but not just that, different variations of I love you. It seemed to be a different way of saying it every two pages. Such as 'I love you so much' and 'I love you more than every star in the sky'

-He did it all in morse code, just so you may or may not know it, even so, you'd have to translate it if you did know it

-He does give you some gifts outside of poems, but they have to do with what you like, such as flowers, or art supplies if you're an artist

-Yes, he's not the best at spending well, he spends a lot of unnecessary money, but he gets it back in a day or so, which makes him not care about all of that

-He loves you with his entire heart, and he reminds you with all of those weekly poems, and gifts

Ranpo Edogawa

-Before you started dating, this great detective had his eyes on you -He shared some snacks with you, to every other detectives surprise

-He's even asked Fukuzawa multiple times to let you go to cases with him, even if you hadn't asked to go with him

-Asking for you to go on cases with him was practically his way of getting closer to you, which was what he wanted

-One day, you went candy shopping with Ranpo. While you two were in the rain, standing under an umbrella, Ranpo suddenly said "I love you" to you. Of course it caught you off guard, I mean, you both weren't really speaking, and it was just so sudden

-Cue the prolonged eye contact moment, because he actually opened his eyes, and stared at you

-You two continued walking back to the agency in the rain after a small talk. Wait, are you two holding hands now? Absolutely, yes you are, and Ranpo was happily grinning

-Now, when you're dating him, he is a bit clingy, and is probably demanding hugs (and kisses if you want those too)

-He probably says I love you at least 20 times in one day, mainly while he is getting held by you

-Ranpo will share a few snacks with you, but doesn't really get you many gifts

-I'd say gift giving isn't really his love language, I'd say it's physical touch, and probably even words of affirmation

-He just want to be held and praised for his work, while he tells you he loves you (and that he wants more affection, like the clingy person he is)

-He just wants to be lazy with you all day, sleeping, and eating snacks

Kunikida Doppo

-He didn't exactly expect to fall so hard for you, but, you fit a lot of his ideals, and he just didn't know what to do of it

-He would gift you things that you like, probably slightly smaller things, but still things you like or want

-There's a book you want? Well, surprise, he bought it for you, but it's 'no big deal'

-Dazai found out immediately, and would tease him so much for his little crush, and would talk about how his ideals would make you 'run away'

-Kunikida's face was almost always a slight pink around you

-One time you got close to his face to take a look at his eyes, because you were a bit interested in them, and he turned the reddest shade of red anyone could ever see

-If you ever complimented him, he would stop functioning, even if he never acts that way towards anyone else

-Because Yosano couldn't go shopping unfortunately, (she actually could but Dazai and Yosano ship you and Kunikida together, so she acted like she couldn't) she recommended you go with Kunikida, because he had good time management, and you and Yosano never knew how to keep track of time while shopping together. Thus, you asked him, and he agreed, hesitantly (if you listen closely, you can hear Yosano and Dazai snickering and whispering with each other about you two practically going on a date together, and high fiving each other)

-You and Kunikida did your shopping, while he made sure you didn't over spend, and made it back on time

-Before leaving, and putting your bags in his trunk, he asked if he could tell you something

-Then, he confessed. Saying how perfect you were, and how you were the ideal person for him. He asked you if you wanted to go on a date sometime as well

-He looked a lot happier for the rest of the day when you were both back at the agency

-Dazai and Yosano knew something definitely went down, because it seemed like you were slightly flustered, and Kunikida looked happier than his usual stern face

-"Sooo Kunikida, how'd your little date go with name hmm?" Dazai then got pummeled by Kunikida

-When you're dating Kunikida, you won't always hear an I love you at the ADA (if you choose to work there)

-However, he does message it to you when checking up on you, and does say it while you're both at home

-You'll most likely hear it at least once or twice a day

-He does still give you the small gifts, like I mentioned earlier, but will give you flowers too, and you'll see them mainly when you two go on dates, it's your anniversary, or Valentine's day, which are classic, but it's sweet nonetheless

-He doesn't do that much physical touch, but if you ask for a hug, a kiss, or practically anything, he will do it, just not in public

-You can hold hands in public with him, but that's pretty much the only thing he will do with you in public

-He just prefers to keep it more private, but maybe if it's not so crowded, he'll kiss you, or hug you, whatever you want, really. Just know you have to be the one to ask, because he won't do it

-Consent is everything to Kunikida, and he will always ask for your approval before doing anything that has to do with physical affection with you

Dazai Osamu

(TW: there is one mention of suicide, if that makes you uncomfortable, you could just skip to the dating part, or you could skip this in general)

-Oh. My. God.

-He will tease and flirt with you, and only you once he falls in love with you

-He does practically everything for you, sometimes even without asking

-You accidentally cut your hand or finger? Dazai is already there with bandages, and is cleaning your wound

-Probably kisses your wound as a joke, while flirting with you in the process

-You don't think he's being serious, in fact, you know he can't be

-But, here you are, helping him with paperwork, in his living room

-He isn't doing much, it's more like you do almost all of it, and then he finishes the rest of it

-He walks up to you once you're done and sitting on the couch, and sits next to you

-He gives you a hug, while flirting and giving you random words of affirmation

-While he's hugging you, he stops doing his flirting, and looks right into your eyes

-You get confused at his change in demeanor, but before you can say anything, he says 'I love you'

-You ask if he's being serious, to which he stares at you again, with a serious face, which you don't really see often

-"Honestly, how could you not tell? I've slowed down trying suicide. Did you not notice that?" Dazai is still staring at you, and now you're starting to realize it all

-"You've become such an impact in my life, angel" Yes, he did just give you a new nickname, and he will never stop calling you that from now on

-Dating him is barely different, he gives you every ounce of love he can

-I see his love language as physical touch, and he would cuddle you basically everyday, hugging you, giving you many, many kisses (unless you don't want that, he will respect that, as will every other character, so don't fret)

-He loves to lay on you, or rest his head on your lap, he's surprisingly clingy

-He says I love you almost every second, and you will hear it everyday, as well as see it on your messages everyday too

-You will get gifts often, and compliments everyday

-The gifts are typically stuff you like or want, as well as things like flowers

I hope you enjoyed this, if you have a request, you can comment it, I don't have an ask box, and idrk how the ask box works, so just comment or message me ♡

[thalialunacy]

[for the @calaisreno May Promptnation, which is turning out to be like NaNo but with way less stress]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) 10: choice (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31)

Their lives have never been predictable. Which, in some ways, has made them very predictable, John thinks as he stops Sherlock in the hallway with a hand on the sleeve of his dressing gown. 'Hey,' he says, voice quiet. 'Come here.'

Sherlock raises an eyebrow, but doesn't hesitate to lean down and let John kiss him, thoroughly. Maybe even twice.

'Great, thanks,' John says roughly afterwards, backing away. 'I've got work now.'

He really should have known, from the start, that they'd have to steal moments for this out of the chaos they live in.

'Not your babysitter,' Mrs Hudson sings the next day as she holds Rosie's hands down the stairs. 'But I've got applesauce jelly with her name on it. And I'll change her nappy while I'm at it, won't I?' The last is said to Rosie, obviously, who is very focused on the stairs.

John, in turn, is focused somewhere else as well. 'We've got ten minutes,' he says, already out of his chair. 

'Eight and a half,' Sherlock corrects, pulling John to him and capturing his mouth easily. John is tempted, so tempted, to let it go too far, but his prefrontal cortex is fully developed now, unlike the last time he felt this sort of heady gut-lust.

Maybe it's because Sherlock is a man, but he hasn't experienced a sense of newness this acute since being in school. And he'd thought, because he knows Sherlock in every other way it is possible to know a person, that this added dimension would feel--normal. Comfortingly similar. Would slot into their lives unnoticeably.

Decidedly not, John accepts some days and a solved case later, just before his backside hits the kitchen table. They've got a few more stolen moments while Rosie's napping on the sofa, and he's determined to make the most of them.

At Sherlock's urging, he lifts himself up onto the table's cluttered surface, then grabs at Sherlock's face to bring him back into the kiss. He spreads his knees without a thought and feels enveloped by heat as Sherlock moves further in between them. He fits around Sherlock perfectly, and it feels like--

It feels like lacing his fingers together with the other thumb in front, or crossing his arms with the other hand dominant. It feels like his own body still, yes, his skin heating up and his lungs pressing for air, but from a literal whole new perspective.

And he wants more of it. 'Do you think,' he murmurs in between kisses, 'that you'd want to be the one--' He pauses as Sherlock bites at his jaw. 'The one in charge?'

Sherlock pulls back enough to give him a look. 'Are you struggling through your English modesty to ask me if I'd like to top?'

John's neck flushes further, and he's pretty sure now it's both from arousal and embarrassment. Which is also new; he's said plenty more graphic things to women without hesitation, but apparently all bets are off when it comes to Sherlock. 'Yeah,' he says firmly. 'Yes.'

'I'd assumed you'd want to be the one doing that.'

'Wait, though-- you've done this before…?'

Sherlock's mouth quirks up. 'Subtle as always, John. Yes, I have. But not with you, do you understand? I want whatever you want. Quite literally.'

John swallows. 'And vice versa. I'm not new-- I mean, to the whole idea--'

'I'm very aware,' Sherlock retorts. And of course he is, aware of both John's various partners over the years and also of his, well, solo habits.

'Alright,' John says dryly. 'Rein it in, detective.' He sobers, hoping he doesn't have to go into detail. 'But this feels… different. And I want you to--to show me everything, to do everything you want.'

Sherlock, as he should have expected, takes this as a sort of delightful challenge. 'Well, then, we are at a bit of a stalemate, aren't we?'

John smirks, relief seeping through. 'Flip a coin?' he says, tightening his thighs, ready to dip back into Sherlock's mouth.

But Rosie, naturally, chooses that moment to wake up, and to do so loudly. She's almost got Sherlock's name down, and she definitely can yell for John like she's getting paid for it.

John groans and leans his forehead against Sherlock's momentarily, or at least intending for it to be momentary but shortly hearing the sound of his daughter shuffling into the kitchen, dragging her favourite garishly plaid blanket behind her. 

'Perhaps we'll cut a deck of cards?' Sherlock suggests to him as they untangle.

Then the detective reaches down for Rosie, who is looking back and forth between them. 'Cards?' she repeats once she's in his arms, her tiny person pronunciation still simultaneously hilarious and brilliant. 

'Yes,' Sherlock answers matter-of-factly. 'Your father and I are trying to decide…' He looks at John, a glint in his eye John shouldn't like at all. '...who gets to have the first ginger nut.'

John chokes on his tea, the sting going into his nostrils. 'Unfair,' he says.

His daughter seems interested, which is not surprising considering she shares Sherlock's predilection for the biscuit. 'Ginger nut!' she says. 'Me too?'

'Of course,' Sherlock says amenably. 'It's time for tea, anyhow.'

John tamps down a smile, then goes in for the assist, relieving Sherlock of Rosie so the detective can rummage around in the fridge. In their current arrangement, Sherlock is in charge of keeping edible and non-edible items separated. It's a dealbreaker, John had said when they'd moved back in. And Sherlock had complied without too much fuss, much to John's continued surprise.

Though, to be honest, he half expects Rosie would be delighted to find fingers in the crisper.

When everything's on the table and Rosie's in her booster seat, John digs in his pocket and pulls out a 50p coin, flipping it over to Sherlock without warning.

Sherlock catches it, regards it, then raises an eyebrow. 'I can rig this, you know.' 

'Yes, but you won't, because my daughter is impressionable and worships you. And while you have many fine attributes, casual cheating is not one I'm interested in her inheriting.' 

'Or, erm,' Sherlock starts, fingers casually playing with the coin. 'Any.' It's not a question, but suddenly he's looking intently at John, forehead wrinkled.

John's heart squeezes as he clocks what Sherlock's actually trying to get at. 'Sherlock. Bloody hell. Of course.' He inhales harshly. 'I know I'm not-- not exactly trustworthy any more, in that arena.'

But Sherlock cuts off his self-flagellation. 'Poppycock.'

'Beg pardon?'

Sherlock shakes his head. 'You were seduced by a person who could talk someone into murder with the snap of her fingers. She is literally the most brilliant manipulator in the world, and though I hold you in high regard you in no way had the capacity to overcome that.'

The anxiety slowly eases, though he suspects he'll never fully be free of it. 'You're admitting you're not the cleverest?'

He thinks Sherlock will counter in good humour, but instead he's a bit thoughtful. 'I think that, at that level, one is somewhere in the stratosphere, separated from everyone below. I find I rather like it down here.' He smiles crookedly, genuinely, at John. 'In certain company, at least.' 

John's heart twinges. 'Well. That's.' He clears his throat. 'That's good. We rather like you down here. Most of the time.'

He breaks eye contact, instead looking at Rosie, who is happily getting banana all over her hands. He hopes the words will be sufficient. 'But I mean it.'

Sherlock's voice is quiet, fond and no-nonsense at the same time. 'I know. I know you, John Watson.'

John feels a smile slowly cross his face. 'Yeah, that's right, you'd catch me out instantly anyway. How I ended up with the one person I literally will not ever be able to keep a secret from, I've no idea. Birthdays and anniversaries are going to be very, very boring.'

Sherlock's smirk gives no doubt as to where his mind has immediately gone. 'Oh, I doubt that.'

John can tell his skin is starting to flush again. 'Speaking of… Coin flip is right out, so…?'

'Paper scissors stone?' 

'No!'

'Why not?'

'Because you'd definitely cheat at that.'

'True. Magic 8 Ball?'

'You know what a Magic 8 Ball is?'

'Had a case where it was the murder weapon.'

'What? Really?'

'Yes.' Sherlock leans in, clearly ready to share the tale while assisting Rosie with her cheerios. 

And John wants to remember this, this exact feeling of this exact moment, forever.

[❤️]

[drivestraight]

ok im new to f1 so someones gonna have to explain this to me like im 5 before it gets too late for me to be asking these kinds of questions

what do you mean by oscar needing to be fast??? and getting those two tenths??? like you said it differs from racecraft and tire management,,, is it something your born with?? is it just stepping on the gas harder than anyone else??? (genuinely im so confused)

i'm not going to do a great job at explaining this either (and i don't claim to be an expert, or to be 100% accurate), but the sense, at least how i understand it is that

the two tenths ppl talk about with oscar is the PACE gap between him and lando - you'll notice it during the race, and in quali. oscar's consistently 1-2 tenths behind in quali (most of them anyway), and he's often much slower than lando in the race (re: lando can pull out 20 sec+ gaps when nothing gets in his way - that's speed).

with raw PACE it's like. your sense for the car, how fast you can drive. im of course uncertain about. the actual mechanics behind it, but it's about squeezing every bit of performance from the car that you can. like say you're in an f1 car, completely unimpeded, and just can go around the track and try to go as fast as you can, re: quali - i don't think raw speed is anything as simple as being "born" with it, but the way that a lot of drivers/pundits/etc. talk about it is something more natural than some skill you work on - maybe it's something you develop through karting/your junior career etc., but coming into f1, you pretty much Have speed, or you don't, and it's not something you develop really, by the time you're in f1

with racecraft and tyre management, it's like, that's the sort of experience you learn from - spatial awareness, ability to handle changing conditions, to outsmart other drivers, defend and overtake, etc. it's about building the whole package

drivers that i'd say have both raw pace and great racecraft are like max and charles. even early on in both their careers (especially 2019, i think about), you could see it in them. lando's pace is top tier to me, at the moment to me i'd rank him 2nd behind max when it comes to raw pace, this year has really shown that he's capable of pumping out fast lap after fast lap and extracting the maximum from his car when he's unimpeded (but obviously he has a better car than charles and lewis, so he's able to extract more/perform better with what he has), but he's comparatively a lot weaker than max and charles when it comes to racecraft.

if you really want to learn about this sort of things, in my experience, i've found that sim drivers talk about it most coherently. of course like Physical f1 drivers talk a lot about it, and their teams talk about it too, but when i'm trying to find, like, more critical and clear explanations, i'll read on r/simracing. of course it's different, but to get an idea of what the terms are, how it all comes together technically, simracing is a helpful thing to look at. like with simracing it's in ideal conditions and all very like. Technical without the physical conditions, so it tends to isolate the actual mechanics of things in a more digestible way, at least for conceptual purposes, if any of this makes sense

[multifandomhellhole]

Hey I saw you added resident evil!! Out of curiosity I wanted to know how you feel about ships? Specifically:

-aeon

-cleon

-leshley

-serennedy

Sorry if this is weird but seeing that the fandom is kind of... hostile at times I just want to know what you're comfortable with and where you stand before I ask anything!

Hi hi!! No worries I understand haha. I've technically been a part of resident evil for a minute ( I mean I do like creepypasta and at the time internet horror crossed over into horror in general much more frequently so thats how I got exposed lmao) I just never felt the urge to add it or write for it till recently. Also just a heads up I don't do character x character regardless if I like the ship or not ✨ this is strictly x Dom reader

Also hi this is my first real post in almost two years how's it going guys lmao.

-aeon: not a fan. Originally I was open minded but the fans of this ship have been disgusting. In general and in my personal interactions so it killed the ship for me. See the appeal of the tragic one day love at times but one time situationship is not my thing. It's overrated and kind of icky in a different manner to so I rate it 20/100

-cleon also not really my thing. Once again I see the appeal just not into it myself. Fans were more welcoming though so I can enjoy it better. (Still some instigators but not nearly as many). Ultimately I'm indifferent and just like the community lmao. 60/100

-i decided to throw chreon into the mix just cause I know that one exists. Not a whole lot of interaction between the two for me to form an opinion but I can see how it came about. There is an old man yaoi quality to it that is like fine wine. An acquired taste but pretty good. Has a certain level of bitterness that tops it off. 65-70/100

-leshley. My favorite ship so far regarding Leon. Very cute. Very wholesome. Can dip into angst or problematic and what's a ship without controversy. The shippers are sweethearts for the most part. Don't see a lot of them actually but I do know the general view of leshley is not positive for stupid reasons. Love my two pookies 98/100

-serennedy. I see the appeal. Very funny dynamic and a lot of angst. Kind of generic and predictable ngl so not super intrigued by it. Plenty of good artists though and once again the fans are pretty sweet. A little much at times and a few pushy peeps but not too bad. Personally I like ada and Luis more but honestly both good. 75/100

you didn't mention this one but I'd also like to say I love metaltango. It's just a tad above leshley cause who doesn't like enemies to enemies. Plus the artists always cook with something holy and profoundly poetic in ship art. Even the name metaltango solos sorry 100/100

Also for ships I'm not sure exist with Leon I'm putting them down here. I have yet to see a maria x Leon fanbase begin after death Island with her basically sitting on his face, but I rate maria x Leon 100/100 as well. I'd love to see someone create food for it since there was some tension in that fight.

is hunnigan and Leon a ship?? I haven't seen content for that but I assume there's a few fics on ao3. Im personally not a fan of the concept but ultimately I don't have anything bad to say either so 27/100. Need to know more and interact a bit more to give an accurate rating

[happyk44]

Look. I know that like. Pluto is not the god of business and that wealth is not equivalent to business but like 1) the meaning of wealth has changed over time and differs among people and I'm pretty sure now when you think of wealth and wealthy people, you think of people who own fortune 500 companies and know what stocks are, and 2) I love the concept of tired businessman Hades/Pluto who just wants to spend a quiet day with his spreadsheets and a pencil, and not have to deal with whatever nonsense is currently being drummed up by his employees

Anyway -- Nico's wealth being generational due to his grandfather (and I want to assume that politics was a family thing so likely also before him) vs Hazel's wealth being hard earned, which, at least in the current age, means business know-how and being able to file a tax report and reconcile a balance sheet sheet and understand excel (I might be slightly projecting here lol)

Hazel being almost an obsessive accountant, monitoring bills, income, every single expense and penny off the street vs Nico who knows the value of things, like antiques, stuff with history. He can do surveys of property, anything that has the potential to be passed on. He's good with valuing a will - splitting assets between family members. Or managing a trust, devising different funds for the future. I think he's probably very good at looking at the long-term. And thus pretty good at noticing when someone is scamming another person with the whole "it'll be cheaper in the long run" thing, or "it'll increase in worth over time".

And since generational wealth is mostly familial, I don't think all of it has to be specific to monetary value either. Emotional wealth, the value something carries emotionally, is also something he can sense. A cheap wedding ring passed down from generation to generation could be more valuable than a standard cut diamond bought today.

Like he could look at old vase on sale at Goodwill for $2 and know it's monetarily cheap, but emotionally it's valued in the thousands. I think it could be kind of cool for things that carry high emotional value and were a part of a family's lineage for generations, if he could touch them and see the history behind it - but that doesn't really fit in with the scope of his current powers or the general theme of the Underworld so :/

They're both good at investments as investing is kind of the core of wealth management and plays a big part in building generational wealth these days, although, I'd gather that Hazel is probably better at it.

Nico, however, is very good at being able to calculate future value of a long-term investment (at least 20+ years).

Hazel can calculate future value of any kind of investment - short term fixed deposits, long and short-term investments, property changes (she absolutely hates house flippers, especially when they change or cover all the older original work, because it cuts the value down so much more than they realize), other stuff that has slipped my mind because my brain is stalling, etc.

Hazel's your go-to for reviewing the split of assets during a divorce. She's extremely meticulous and can track down even the most hidden of accounts. She's also the one you want to talk to about getting the most out of filing your taxes. She will go through every single one of your purchases, no matter how minor, to find a loophole she can work with to shave even only a couple cents off.

(disclaimer: bermuda does not have income tax so i have no idea how filing taxes actually works, other than the two canadian tax classes i took over five years ago as part of my degree)

Hazel can also assess depreciation somewhat automatically. Someone trying to choose between types of equipment can go to her and be like "which one will depreciate in value faster if I do X with it" and she'll look and point and if you ask her why, she can sprout off some nonsense at the top of her head without thinking - like percy with sailing, or my hc about jason/thalia and their inherent diplomatic schmoozing skills.

However, unlike them, she maintains understanding of what she's said when she's exited the environment, either because the power just does that or because Hazel is an amazing busy lady. if you casually said "hey hazel, between X brand and Y brand, which will drop in value faster" she'd have to think about it because it's not really "business" related.

In that sense she's also REALLY good at noticing trends. most of it is subconscious - what brands are becoming more popular, what clothing styles are losing touch. I put this in a previous fic, but she's very receptive gemstone trends. She can tell which stones are moving up in popularity and which are going down. In my headcanon about her business with Walt, this is very useful.

Her ability to notice trends, especially from a monetary standpoint, also helps with her managing stocks, and allows her to invest in high interest but riskier equities with very minimal loss (trends aren't set in stone, you know? Sometimes things happen and everything sudsenly shifts)

Plus back to the whole wealth is conflated with succesful business these days concept, putting Hazel in charge for just a day can boost a business's ability to turn a profit. In just a few hours, she can have all major flaws analyzed.

In New Rome, if someone is opening up a shop or whatever, they'll ask Hazel to review their plans because she can immediately point out all the issues and devise a better way to go about things. A couple times she's just taken them gently by the shoulders and said in the kindest voice ever, "This is going to fail. Do not put money into this." Sometimes it's the business concept, sometimes it's the person behind the concept. They either listen or they don't and if they don't, Frank is there to listen to all her complaints about them going against her advice.

Also - as an U-turn back to the splitting assets in a divorce concept, I'm not sure about pre or post-nuptial agreements. I think pre-nuptials are pretty straightforward in a "this is what im bringing in and want to keep separate from marriage" kind of thing, which Hazel could handle easily. I know in both cases it's important to declare all assets - which again Hazel could easily handle.

Post-nuptials are probably more of Nico's thing because at that point the assets in question have become merged and become familial, and much of generational wealth is in the idea of building wealth to leave behind to your family so they may have a better opportunity to build wealth to leave behind, etc, etc. Especially since post-nuptials, I think, are typically created after children are born, and those are the people who wealth is supposed to be left behind to.

This also kind of plays with my idea that the underworld is inherently familial/communal - as a person cannot bury or perform the proper funeral rites on themselves. Plus the Cocytus is the river of lamentation (aka grief and sorrow) and I imagine some of that comes from the people left behind, crying over their lost loved ones.

Also I think the idea that children of Pluto are resistant/immune to monetary greed. Since Hades was never technically the god of wealth, and was only conflated with him over time (to which, I would imagine some things and behaviours began to pop up, like they'd always existed and then becoming Pluto in the Roman era just solidified that conflation), his kids don't really have this innate resilience, but their dad is also rich and loves them, so their ability to fall prey to it is lower.

Oh! Oh! And Hazel can inflict plutomania on people, which is a word I discovered just now that means "the excessive desire for wealth". I don't know how this would be helpful but idk - social wealth is something I found popping up a lot so maybe if Hazel needs information on something that a person won't give, she can utilize plutomania to inflict a desire for social wealth in the person to get them to spill the information

(Social Wealth is about connection and network, having a sense of belonging and trust essentially. Someone with a lot of social wealth will have a lot of connections versus someone with no social wealth)

(oh yeah in my hasty google search to fact check my understanding of generational wealth when I started this post yesterday, I discovered there are many types of wealth. The number kind of varies from result to result, but essentially the 4 mains ones are: Financial Wealth (obvi), Social Wealth, Time Wealth, and Health Wealth (haha, it rhymes). But anyway yeah. Not sure how it could all loop into her without making her too all powerful but like. Hazel is also super cool and deserves to be godlike in consideration so 🤷‍♂️)

I love that when I started this yesterday it was a lot more clear cut and then I came back to finish it and ended on a ramble 😂 I do not have the energy to go and tidy everything up into something more coherent and uniform so this is what it be 👍

Oh, also, Hazel is amazing at gambling and poker. Nico is also good at poker but that's because he's reading people's souls to figure out their tells. Hazel is good at it because she attracts cash money and therefore always wins. That's why whenever anyone plays poker or places a bet with her, money can't be involved.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Re: your post about JohnandPaul. If you do wish to share them, I'd love to know your headcanons about John and Paul's feelings for each other. ( I do get your discomfort about sharing though and yeah, I also miss the long discussions and metas from back when Get Back came out. It feels like, except you and some others, most of my favorite blogs have moved on from the fandom)

I've been sitting on this ask for several days now.

First of all I hear you, re:blogs moving on. It's understandable, but it's also sad when my brain does not want to give this stuff up any time soon lol.

In my post I talked about having specific headcanons about their feelings for each other, but the truth is, it's more like I imagine hundreds of very specific somewhat plausible scenarios, while not actually fully buying into any of them.

I always struggle with how sure people are of some definite timeline of McLennon because I just don't see how it's in any way clear: the most compelling evidence that at least John had Those Feelings™ for Paul is stuff he said after the fact (compiled with the stronger case for John being attracted to men in general) – so, if I choose to interpret his words in that way, I'm still not very close to knowing when he developed this attraction. Let alone concluding anything substantial about Paul's feelings.

(And no, I really don't find the two of them saying the other looked good when they met particularly compelling. Appearance plays a huge role in first impressions, regardless of attraction.)

So I guess, it's more that I have open questions I return to again and again, for which I try to construct hypothetical answers that make sense to me. Aside from that bigger timeline question, here's a few more specific ones:

From what I've gathered researching the topic, listening to psychonauts speak about their trips, the acid mindset very much romanticizes all forms of human connection (among other things). I think that's probably what was going on during those "I know."–"I know." sessions John and Paul had on LSD. With that in mind, how might that have mixed in with John trying to understand how he felt about Paul? Could it have confused him? Opened him up to the idea? "Appeased" him for a while? (and again, the answer here would depend on the timeline of feelings in the end)

I still lean towards "Paul is not meaningfully attracted to men" (or at least "Paul valued other aspects of his relationship with John much more than physical attraction") – with that in mind I do kind of ask myself what Paul thought his relationship with John was exactly. Like, I don't pretend it was a standard, run-of-the-mill friendship, so I wonder a lot what his end-goal was, how he saw both of them continuing into later stages of life. The way he talks about the breakup, equating John choosing Yoko with John leaving Paul, speaks to something somewhat true about most couples that marry – but why did he not anticipate that before? What was different? Also, for $20 don't copout with "hurr hurr cause Cyn didn't matter"

Paul's various takes on The John Question continue to puzzle me. On the one hand, it sort of seems to me like Paul would have had enough context clues at the time to get that John was attracted to men, because some of our evidence for it is evidence he would have had access to – he also indicated at least once that John was in fact kind of openly bicurious??? (note: that rant keeps me up at night. Could write a whole thesis on it and also it's so fucking funny) On the other, Paul is pretty insistent that the rumours are Not True and he's not actually the only person to shoot them down like that. (May Pang, Julia Baird, Tony Bramwell, Hunter Davies off the top of my head) It shouldn't be a stretch of the imagination that a man born in the 1940s might have trouble rearranging the image he's made of his dead best friend so drastically (or in a way that might feel drastic to him). So what is it? Is Paul obfuscating the question to protect John's reputation/because he thinks the curiosity is in poor taste or does he genuinely not buy into it? I'm not actually sure whether he's weighed in on this since Yoko's "John Was BI!!!!" reveal. Has this stance developed over the years? And if I assume Paul does know about John's sexuality: does he in fact think John had feelings for him? I do think this is a thing he would never talk about if he did so it feels like there would be no way of knowing either way. But it also makes me wonder about the barriers he might have set up in his head to avoid that very question – because the truth is that if John had Those Feelings™ for Paul and Paul never knew, that's sort of the second-worst case scenario from Paul's perspective, right after John having never liked him in the first place.

AND THEN THERE'S JOHN. Because just because Paul may not have picked up on it, doesn't mean John wasn't putting anything down. But he could also very much have been sending mixed signals from his own end, right? And again, acid mindset + mid 60s Free Love shit: in that culture, how much could John making advances be perhaps taken as Flowery Friendship? Did he justify it to himself that way? Or was John actually violently shoving all of that down? Was he truly capable of that?

It really never ends – I'm not certain of ANYTHING, but give me a proposal (ie. "In My Life is about Paul") and I'll talk myself into circles exploring the ins and outs of that hypothetical.

[quasiquack666]

Chapter 298... I cannot say I'm surprised because I'm not, I'm just disappointed. But enough of that since everyone is probably pissed, I'll just say my small silver lining thought

Politically, I think the love letters are interesting. Clearly, Kayden sent Guestella letters about fighting. But she recieved letters about a rendezvous. Therefore, I can only assume that someone had intercepted these letters for years and altered them

The most obvious potential motive is to kill off either Gestella or Kayden. Since Kayden was a rising Ranker, whoever altered the letters thought he had a chance at killing her. This could be a win for the sender, who might be able to take her place, or generally remove a Top Ten threat at no personal cost

The other route is where Kayden dies, in which case the sender still may benefit if they have a grudge against Kayden too. Either way, the sender could benefit from either of them dying, with the remaining one being injured

For suspects, I'd assume one of a few different parties. For Gestella, perhaps another Top Ten with a grudge, a Top 20 who wants her slot, or one of Gestella's own henchmen. For Kayden, one of his many enemies

So I think this plot point is halfway interesting. Though if I look beyond that singular point... I just want to facepalm

On another note, I wonder how old Gestella is. Kayden is approximately 40 years old and the Top Tens have ruled for 20+ years without a new one. So Gestella is likely 50-60 years old... Unless she got into the Top Ten at a ridiculous age, before even Kayden's age. And considering that Kayden is already a prodigy for ranking at his age, it's pretty unlikely she ranked Top Ten at less than mid-thirties

Is it really so much to ask that the writers give us an age chart? 😂

Either way, I'm not against shipping Kayden with mega mommy. I'm sorry, but not sorry ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I already had Gestella x Kartein in mind so I don't care anymore, I need HAWT WOMEN in this comic to simp for. And Gestella became my true love so quick

(As for why Gestella x Kartein, just stop and think about them sitting on a porch sipping wine together, legs crossed and looking gorgeous. Do you understand?)

[stars-and-darkness]

20 questions for fic writers!

many many thanks to @garglyswoof for tagging m

How many works do you have on ao3? 63. i need to calm down.

What's your total ao3 word count? 747 502. i need to calm down.

What fandoms do you write for? the vampire diaries, shadow & bone, avatar: the last airbender, star wars, marvel. also, that one suez canal x ever given fic, and that one goncharov fic.

Top five fics by kudos: A Queen's Gamble (you know it's an old one if the title is capitalised lmao), make them bow., the fate makes for a lousy poet., where the heart moves the stones, nyctophilia.

Do you respond to comments? i try. i am not very good at it, but every now and then i sit down, crack my knuckles, and go about emptying my poor inbox.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the end. is like ... the only fic i ever wrote that ended unhappily.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? see above, lol, literally everything else. i'm a wuss.

Do you get hate on fics? i mean ... not really? i would mostly classify the rude things i got as entitlement rather than hate. the impression i usually got was that those people liked my writing style, or the plot, or characterisation, or whatever--there was just one thing or several that they wanted to happen differently, and they felt the need to tell me that.

Do you write smut? looooooo, no, my ace ass would probably spontaneously combust.

Craziest crossover: i don't suppose i've ever written an actual crossover, but today i put dracula-the-historical-figure into the vampire diaries universe, so ....

Have you ever had a fic stolen? ... maybe? okay, strap yourselves: a few years ago someone asked if they could translate a fic of mine into spanish and post it on wattpad, and i said yes. (THIS is one of the reasons why i don't allow translations anywhere but ao3 anymore). they did, and they sent me the link. i linked the translation to my fic, the usual. then, a lot later, i actually went to check their post, and i realised that i wasn't credited though the person said they would. yaaaaay.

Have you ever had a fic translated? well, other than the fiasco up there, the incredible @winterandmistletoe, who made the edit that graces the beginning of make them bow., has two chapters of the russian translation of that fic up on ao3. there's also been an offer to translate The Manifesto of a Last Love into russian, but that one hasn't been posted yet.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? i have not! and honestly, i don't think i'd be very good at it. i'm a bit of a tyrant, so in an effort NOT to be perceived as such i'd probably be super lenient of whatever the other people came up with even if i didn't necessarily like it. i'm pretty particular in my tastes, and one of the things i love about writing fic is that i have nobody but myself to answer to.

All time favorite ship? ehhhhh, nooo, i can't choose between my children!

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? considering that tvd has had me in its claws for two years now, it feels unlikely i'll ever go back to my wips in other fandoms. you never know of course, but it feels that way. i mean. those unfinished wips don't exactly haunt me, but sometimes i remember them and feel awful about it, lmao.

What are your writing strengths? i'm told i do dialogue and humour well!

What are your writing weaknesses? ughhhhh probably action? it's so hard. oh! and my tendency to describe how a character's eyes look in every other sentence.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? SO fun fact that dracula fic that i posted today? the one where half the dialogue is in french? i had originally written it all IN FRENCH, and then decided to take mercy on my readers and just put the english translation into italics. yeah. anyway, rule of thumb, ig: if the pov character understands what's being said, then english in italics (or if it's just a sentence or two the spoken language with a footnote). if they can hear individual words, then the language that's being spoken, without translation. if they hear only gibberish--maybe they're super unfamiliar with the language, maybe it's being spoken very fast or with an accent--then just 'character x says something in z'.

First fandom you wrote in? marvel, for my own peace of mind. star wars is the first one i actually posted for.

Favorite fic you've written? again, you can't ask me to pick between my children.

tagging: @morningstargirl666 @kirythestitchwitch @helpless-in-sleep @marxandangels @purplesigebert @darkestgrays @averseunhinged

[nia-academia]

How to Choose a Stream?

With boards ending, a lot of you guys are wondering what stream you should choose, and a few people have hmu in my dms asking for advice, so i figured I'd make a post about how I suggest choosing a stream. Fair warning, I am a PCMB student so my advice will be a little science-stream focused because, obviously, I don't know what problems other streams might face, so additions are welcome from other people who have more to add <3

First off, this is one of the most important decisions of your life. This decision determines what the next two years of your life will look like, and it plays a strong role in determining your career for the rest of your life. So don't make this choice lightly.

Make an informed decision. I cannot stress upon this enough- do. your. own. research. Don't trust people who say there is no job opportunity in abc stream or that xyz stream will make your 'life set', all of it is bullshit. Half the time the people giving you these advices finished their schooling 20-30 years ago, respectfully- they have no idea what they're talking about. So sure, listen to everyone's inputs but check everything for yourself.

Websites are your best friend. And no, not "Top 7 High Salary Careers' type websites, I mean college websites. The best way to choose your stream is to explore various careers. For this, start with exploring the type of courses and degrees available, then head to the college's websites and check out the curriculum, the eligibility and the entrance exam requirements. Of course you don't have to choose a degree from now itself, in fact even if you have chosen something 9 times out of 10 you will change your mind by the time 12th ends, but knowing what options there are other than NEET, JEE, CUET and stuff will help you understand if you're more inclined towards science, commerce or humanities.

Subjects change after 10th, for example- what you think physics is and what 11th-12th physics is are two completely different things, so if you are more inclined towards a particular stream, go through the books. Either borrow from your seniors or go through the free NCERT pdfs (ncerts are the easiest versions of science subjects, at least, so your actual material will be 1-2 levels higher in difficulty, keep that in mind). Going through the material is not that efficient because everything seems easy at first glance but it still gives a general idea about the type of stuff you will learn so whatever piques your interest most should be a good choice to consider. I would suggest going through the books of all the streams if you have time, that way you can check which is the best fit for you. (Also go through multiple chapters, not just the first few ones)

Work on attraction rather than elimination. Dismissing a stream just because you don't like one subject in it is not a good way to go about it. Choose the stream which has a majority of subjects you do like, rather than choosing one which has the least number of subjects you don't like. Overall the purpose of a stream in 11th-12th is to get you into your desired course in college, so your biggest indication of stream will be the degrees you like, not the subjects you don't like.

Remember to prioritize yourself and your choices, trust yourself. People might have all sorts of opinions about what stream you should take and what career you should pursue. Of course some people have your best interests in mind, but ultimately it is you who has to go through with it. Being pushed into making certain choices is really harmful because there is absolutely no motivation to keep going once it gets hard (and it will). So it is best to choose your own poison so that when times get hard you know that this is something you actually really want and that way you will genuinely feel like working for it, rather than being forced to work hard for something you aren't even sure you want to do.

Don't stress too much. I know I said this is a super important decision, and it is, but it is not life ending. You can only do so much and there is no guarantee whether what you choose today will work out for you two years down the line. And that's okay. Remember that there is always an option to change plans, no matter how far along you are. So don't bind yourself to the choice you make today, you always have more options. Try your best to choose what feels right for you, and if situations change later in life, so can your plans.

If you don't know what exactly you want to do with your life, stop blaming yourself for it. I promise 90% of us had no idea what we were doing when we were your age either, even if we thought we knew what we wanted, we didn't. It's okay to not know what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're 15 or 16. Trust your gut and try your best to be informed about the stream you're choosing. As you go along, you will find your calling when the time is right. It's never too late, you'll be fine

lots of love to everyone starting on this really tedious path, the next two years will teach you a lot about yourselves and I hope you all make the best of it, all the best <3

[vethbrenatto]

favorite cr c3 character?

For a while it was pretty solidly Ashton, but now I'd say I'm evenly split between Ashton, Chetney, and Fearne.

(Apologies for long ass answer)

Ashton is just such a fascinating character, I've been drawn to them since the beginning. Like many Taliesin characters, they have a superiority complex, or at least a sense that they have a better understanding of the world than others, and yet, they also show true compassion and care for their allies. I think the Laudna/Ashton conversation from last Thursday is a top 5 moment from this campaign so far for me, and that's mostly due to Ashton. The way that Taliesin portrayed it in Ashton being completely real with Laudna but only under the caveat of being drunk and letting their raw emotions shine through. And then to cover it up with "Oh, I don't remember, I was drunk" and have Laudna shut it down. I'm fascinated by some of their statements "I know loneliness you don't, I know the truth of people that none of you do." Not statements that I think are true, but statements I deeply want to understand more from their perspective.

Chetney is very within the mold of characters I tend to like. I'm drawn to comic relief characters that have more depth than they appear to at the surface (Grog & The Gnomes in C1, Veth in C2). Maybe this character wasn't intended to be that deep at its inception but became that way via roleplay and organic growth through the campaign, ala a Scanlan. I think Travis plays Chet in a wonderfully comedic way, while also never letting us doubt that they're not just there to be the haha funny grandpa. I also love someone finally playing something different on the age spectrum. D&D races can literally live hundreds of years- why is every adventurer in their 20s-30s (or at least in the equivalent of that for their race like the gnomes in C1)? Much like Veth, I enjoy the ability to more deeply analyze and look into a character that much of the fandom my pigeonhole into a small box or being "just one thing."

Fearne is a delight for me because truly, it just shows that Ashley Johnson Has The Range. Pike was looks like cinnamon roll, could kill you. Yasha was looks like she could kill you, is a cinnamon roll. Fearne is sort of another looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you but in a COMPLETELY different way than Pike. I have been ITCHING for someone to play Fey and Ashley is tackling it so beautifully. The sideways morality, the impulsiveness. That is a HARD thing to pull off as a player, it's taking your better instincts of "No, that's not smart, that's a bad idea" and going "My character would do this, regardless of potential consequences." While I'm not that attached to Orym, I think Fearne's relationship with Orym is fascinating. Because of their EXU connection, she so clearly has a fondness and attachment to him that exceeds her connection with anyone else in the group and I think it's with an intensity that most others can't match. If push comes to shove, I feel she would prioritize him not just over everyone, but in spite of everyone- I think in connection to her Fey-ness, there's this sense of "This is my person" that goes above and beyond others who also have a person. It's why in the Laudna/Orym res, regardless of the coin flip (which is not me saying I think Ashley cheated it), I was confident Orym would be res-ed. It's why on Thursday despite her care and hesitancy to go up against Imogen, when Orym asks, "Are you with me?" The no hesitation answer is "Always." It's intense in a way that I don't even think is reciprocated- Orym of course loves and prioritizes her, but I think there's an intensity in the way that Fearne cares about Orym that's unmatched and that to me is fascinating. A very, who and how many would you throw in harm's way to save this one person situation.

[kira-ani-mcgrath]

Your commission advice is all very practical and helpful, but how can I avoid saying "contact for pricing" when my offerings and the potential requests are so diverse? I understand that pricing schemes can be rather formulaic for character portraits, but I don't want to limit myself.

Note for others: This is referencing my "Commission Tips" post, specifically this part:

Public Pricing I've signed my name to more vehicles than I care to count over the years, which means I've done quite a bit of car shopping. I am a researcher, and I've had times where I have many browser tabs open, pouring over the various listings and comparing all kinds of factors - such as mileage, gas mileage, safety rating, features, and, of course, price - in an effort to narrow down my choices and arrive at the best deal possible. Sometimes in these searches, vehicle listings will say "contact dealer for pricing" for various reasons. That instantly knocks the vehicle down a slot in my rating system. I have enough anxiety dealing with certain things even when I have all the facts and know exactly what I want. It's even worse when I have to cold-call for a very important piece of information and risk getting roped into a conversation I don't want to have. Yes, I have a point to this anecdote. I have many times compared commission shopping to car buying, even joking that I put more research into my commission purchases than I have into our last few vehicle purchases. "DM/email me for prices" is an artist's equivalent of "contact dealer for pricing," and thus is an instant back-button for me at this point. It's just not worth the hassle when there are so many other options out there that give me all the information I need front-and-center.

Admittedly, this point is probably the least universally-applicable, given that there are buyers who have no issue with these sorts of inquiries. However, I'd presume I'm not the only one who avoids this, especially online. So, if you'd like to catch the consideration of a customer such as myself, there's a few options:

1) Include examples with approximate prices in your commission information. These examples can be personal works or past commissions you've done (and the example price doesn't need to be what you actually charged for that particular commission, but what you would charge if asked to repeat it - useful if you raise your rates or if the cost of materials increases). You can also stress that the priced pieces are examples and final pricing is determined by the exact specifications the potential buyer sends in for consideration.

2) Utilize base + add-on pricing. With this pricing method, you have a minimum price for a basic service, then additional charges for increased levels of work. This method is similar to the flat pricing you typically see for artwork commissions, but it gives a little more flexibility in accounting for the differing detail levels of requests while still giving people the ability to calculate an accurate price for themselves. Example 1: base of grayscale half-body = $10, add full-body +$5, add color +$10, add complex details +$10, add basic background +$10, add complex background +$20 or more depending on details Example 2: base of 24-in scarf 1 color of basic yarn = $10, every additional color +$5 ea, upgrade to premium yarn +$10 per color, add an extra inch +$2 ea

3) Utilize ranged pricing. With this pricing method, you advertise a minimum charge for a basic commission but also state that the price increases with complexity and the actual price will depend on the specifics of the commission. You don't specify all the minutia of what increases the cost. While this is less information upfront for the buyer, it's still some information while allowing for more nuanced pricing control by the artist. You can also have different levels of ranges. A top-end price cap isn't necessary, but I have seen it used in tiered ranged pricing or if the artist just wants a cap for their own sake. Example 1: grayscale portrait $50-$150, color portrait $100-$200, color illustration $300+ Example 2: acrylic scarf $15+, wool scarf $50+

On the back-end of things, I would recommend having some type of cost breakdown of what goes into your craft(s). Overall, have a general idea of how long it takes you to create pieces at different levels of quality/detail/size/etc. If the commission is a physical item, the costs of materials and tool wear-and-tear should also be factored into the final price. If you have at least a mental guideline for that sort of thing, it will be easier to price your examples and any incoming inquiries.

I understand the appeal of just saying "contact for pricing" is the artist being able to tailor a quote to the exact specifications of a request, but I think this method is inefficient. There's unnecessary extra steps that can be eliminated with the artist giving potential customers a minimum baseline expectation front-and-center through one of the above methods.

Thanks for the compliment and the question! I enjoyed being able to expand on that point, and I hope it's useful. :)

[faededaway]

Pro hero reader who gets asked "who's the hottest hero?" All the time. They always answer with different names. (They usually mention heroes who aren't "conventionally attractive" or any hero under top 20)

One time!! One time they give a too honest answer.

One time they're doing a 24 hour live stream for a charity event. The event is to help civilians with unique quirks who're having a hard time finding jobs or homes because of the nature of their quirk (like Kirihito Kamachi, Spinner, or Shouji)

It's the last few hours of the stream, all the important information has been shared. They've even played 5 hours of Minecraft on survival mode.

So now, they're taking any kind of question from the fans.

Someone asks, “we know you're playing around with you answer whenever you get asked about the hottest hero. But fr?? Who's it fr???"

Reader is contemplating answering the question. They look at the number of viewers - 1032, Not a lot.

“I'm not playing around. The answer just differs on different days. I meet new heroes all the time. And everyday someone does a little something that makes me think they're more handsome than yesterday”, the reader answers nonchalantly while stretching out their tired limbs.

Still, fans are unsatisfied and keep asking the same question in 20 different ways.

“Can y'all stop asking me the same question over and over? You're making me feel like I'm in my press interview again”, reader sighs.

They quietly read the comments trying to find someone interesting when they spot something they can't read out loud, “who do you hope thinks you're hot?”

“Easy. Ingenium or Eraserhead. Those two look like they'd- ”, the reader gasps so suddenly they start choking on their own spit. They didn't realise they were answering the question out loud.

Meanwhile, the chat blows up with fans wondering which question the reader answered.

“Eraserhead?? They wanna Collab with them?”

“Tensei is hot, I'd fuck him”

“Their childhood heroes?”

“WHICH QUESTION WETE THEY READDEINNN”

“fr fr. Their taste in men popping out.”

“Easy? What easy??? Easy to beat??”

“ANYONE THINKING THIS IS NOT A S3XY ANSWER IS A DUMB*SS. IT'S OBVIOUSLY A S3XY ANSWER. THEY WANNA FORK THEM!!”

“stop sexualizing shit. They probably didn't mean that”

“Understandable.”

The reader gathers themselves and clears their throat, “guys, UA heroes! My top UA heroes. Okay? Calm down. As I was saying, these guys not only work hard on their jobs they also work hard in the community! Eraserhead is a teacher now! And Iida Tensei has built such a great network of heroes within his area that-” the reader rambles on for a while. They scan the chat to hope the fans have been swayed.

“okaayyyy. Suuuuuureeee. Totally.. your favoriiiiiiteeeeee”

"Sir- say less”

“See? I knew it was a good answer! They'd never give sexual replies.”

“I feel like they could've chosen someone else. An underground hero and a retired hero?”

“Wut? Can you give fun repliesssss. Hellooo.”

“I feel like I'm watching the news”

“We're all adults here and I'm sure the media folks are asleep. C'mon”

The reader looks at the viewer count. 5802↑

“I'll give you fun replies, if you ask fun stuff. And No! Nothing illicit. Please! You are not all adults here." The reader checks the timer on their desktop. Just 10 more minutes to go.

“Okay, last question. Take a minute to think about it. I'll take 1 question. Why don't you all discuss amongst yourselves. Yeah? I'll give you 5 minutes to discuss it! I'll wrap up after it” . Saying this, the reader shifts their attention to their phone to reply to some work emails. Meanwhile, the chat blows up.

“Omllllll.”

“Okay, how about who they're datinggg”

“ How about no dating!!!”

“Maybe their sexuality???”

“Why?? Wanna know if they'd f¢ck you??? Answer is NOOOO”

“Guyssss their childhood crush???”

“im sure they ansrd that b4”

“fuck off!!”

“Okay, listen I think we should carefully ask them about their fav hero"

"no wait, Which hero have they slept with"

“i don't think they answer that”

“Wt bout hero they d8?"

“Sounds okayyy”

“Something about their address?”

“Bruhhhh stalkerrr in the comments”

“lol”

“Just ask the dating question! We'll know their type and everything”

“Yeahh!! Dateddd”

“past hookup”

“what if they never dated anyone??”

“someone they wanna??”

“bruv they should have dated sOMEONE”

“Okay guys, your 5 minutes are up. What's the question?” The reader scan the last few comments.

“Last person I dated? Umm... Sorry to break your hearts but I've never dated anyone. Being a hero is full time job. Buttt someone I want to date? I'll tell you that! Tomorrow! I'll upload a picture of them on my story tomorrow. So, keep your notifications on! Okay guys, thanks for being here, we've raised about -” and so, the reader wraps up their live with giddy fans who will be talking about the live for at least next day.

Sadly, they don't know that the picture you'll upload is just a picture of Mori-senpai from Ouran Highschool Host club.

[marypsue]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @rocketnebulas for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

That would be 158!

2. What’s your total word count?

Uhhhhh 1,905,572. Ahah.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Recently and actively, Stranger Things and The Lost Boys. I've also been reasonably prolific for Gravity Falls and Rise of the Guardians.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

This actually surprised me! Duskfall (a Bella/Tanya Twilight AU) is top of this list. And then the rest are more in line with what I expected: Raising Stakes (Gravity Falls vampire!Stan AU), Return, Rewind, Rewrite (Gravity Falls Transcendence AU), Reincarnation Blues (also Gravity Falls Transcendence AU), and A Semi-Normal Life (ditto).

5. Do you respond to comments?

Most of 'em, eventually.

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

I think that's gotta go to this one, where everybody's dead but the main character, who thinks it's his fault. I don't write a lot of angsty non-ambiguous endings, but this one's pretty explicit that things Do Not Improve from here.

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

Uhhhhhhh. Hm.

Actually, it might be Hive! Which is a weird thing to say about a horror story, and yet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully I haven't! Although I did once get a tumblr ask trying to gotcha me for writing Jack Frost/Pitch Black, which was extremely funny, because 1) that ship is between two several-hundred-year-old immortals who tried very hard to kill each other for the entire movie and this person was concerned because they thought there might be an age gap between them, and 2) I had written that ship exactly once, at least five years prior to receiving the ask, as a favour for a friend.

9. Do you write smut?

Verrrrrrry occasionally.

10. Do you write crossovers?

There's a reason my profile on AO3 includes the line "I was born with the gift of crossover femslash and I intend to make it everyone's problem."

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Only, as far as I know, by the usual AO3-scraping suspects. Although someone did once rewrite a fairly unique AU of mine from a different character's perspective, using almost all the same plot points, and didn't breathe a word that it had been inspired by my fic or that my fic even existed, which, like. Man, I'm glad you wrote that thing and felt good enough about it to share it, but also a little bit what the fuck.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few times! It's always an honour.

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

Exactly once. Wouldn't do it again unless the stars aligned absolutely perfectly.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That's a trick question and one that I will not be answering at this time.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I am going to finish Something Borrowed, Something Blues, so I guess that doesn't count. Uhhhh it would have been nice to finish Imbalance, but I just didn't have as much of a plan for it as I thought I had, and the more time passes the poorer taste the plan I did have seems to be in.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Personally, I think that characterisation is the big one. I can pull together a plot that makes sense and has an emotionally satisfying conclusion. I'm very happy with the way I write suspense/tension. And I've had a couple people now tell me that I do a good job of being descriptive without the description getting in the way, which I'm very proud about.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing! Action scenes! The Dreaded Middle! Not overusing italics!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I've done it, like, twice and I had to use Google Translate because I didn't speak the language and I felt so dirty. For anything more than a word or two, I'd personally either describe the character talking without actually writing out what they're saying (if the POV character doesn't understand what they're saying) or write out/paraphrase the dialogue in English (if the POV character is the speaker/if the POV character does understand what the speaking character is saying).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Wrote for was probably Pokemon, wayyyyyyyyy back in elementary school. Posted was the Hugh Jackman-Kate Beckinsale fever dream Van Helsing. Thankfully I think that one is lost amongst the ruins of ff.net.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's still the road goes ever on. It's gonna be the road goes ever on for, like, a while.

I'm going to tag @gretchensinister, @tejoxys, @amethystunarmed, @seiya234, @marzipanandminutiae, @bixxelated, @daddygrandpaandthebeaver, @enquiringangel, @astriiformes, @scribefindegil, @mickeymagpie, and anybody else who'd like to give this a shot!