#and no i don't want to change back to a later update where i'll have to start from scratch

[saturncoyote]

Y'know, it's kinda hard to feel hyped about the new Nightcat/Watcher DLC when Rain World itself is completely unplayable for me in it's current state

[deadsetobsessions]

To the mf who had my house before me, if you see me on the street, turn around and run the other way. Because if I see you, know that it’s going to be on sight. Who even puts tile like that?? Anyways, I'm kind of sick, so that's why I've been kind of inactive.

But good news (ish) I got me a house! Yay! Let’s hope I can keep it. To celebrate, y’all can have this! And a few chapters! So technically this is a chapter update post?

——

Danny’s most favorite thing to do with Alfred Pennyworth is groundskeeping. While he might not be Sam, Danny could still appreciate the serenity and beauty of nature.

“Ow, fuck!”

“Master Danny, please refrain from using explicit language.”

“Sorry, Alfred. I got stabbed.”

“Oh dear. Will you be needing a bandage?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I think…” Danny hummed, peering closer at the reddish brown thorns sprouting from the ground. “That might be the rose bush?”

Alfred paused his snipping, turning around and coming closer to inspect the plant. “How peculiar. It seems to have grown a branch beneath the soil.”

In unison, Danny and Alfred lifted their heads to look at the rose bush, innocuously sitting three yards away.

“Huh. Weird.”

“Indeed.”

The door to one of Bruce Wayne’s many gardens, all opulently gothic to hide their vigilante disturbances, opened. The hinges swung without a single creak, as Alfred the butler always carried WD-40 on his person and a squeaky hinge in this mansion was an affront to his professionalism.

"Hey, guys! Whatcha doing?" Duke greeted, followed by Jason.

"Gardening! You wanna help?"

"Nah, I'm a Gothamite, not Poison Ivy, man. I don't do grass." Duke replied, plopping down on one of the lawn chairs with his drink. "But I can totally give you moral support... from over here."

Danny snorted. "What about you, Jason?"

Jason shrugged. "Sure, what are we doing?"

"There's a rose bush that grew all the way over here."

"Woah, crazy."

"Indeed, Master Jason. I shall go get the shovels."

"Okay, Alfie," Jason absently agreed, focused on finding where else the rose bush had grown to. "You wanna keep the bush, right?"

"That would be preferable."

"Duke, can't-" Jason paused, throwing a quick look at Danny before visibly changing tracks. "Can't you get us some drinks?"

"Kitchen's right over there, Jason." Duke pointedly leaned back and took a sip.

Danny piped up. "I'll get it! What did you want, Jason?"

----

Two hours later, covered in all manners of dirt and blades of grass, Jason and Danny sat back to survey the messed up garden.

"You sure we can't hire Ivy to move the plant somewhere?"

"She'd just make it worse," Jason grumbled.

"You guys can do it!" Duke cheered, scrolling through his phone and cherry picking the most hilarious pictures of Jason and Danny to send to the group chat. He chose the selfie, where he was grinning into the camera as Jason fell on his ass as Danny pulled up a long section of thorns.

Duke gets nailed in the face with two clumps of grass from his disgruntled brothers.

"I believe it is time for a shower." Alfred Pennyworth smiled, content. Days like these made him glad that his grandchildren found their way back.

[caffichai]

Food Bank Fundraiser

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who's been leaving such nice tags/comments on stuff I've posted! It's been really encouraging (o^▽^o)

Anyway, I think we all know it's very dark days on the economic front for many of us. So as such, I'd like to help raise some funds for Food Banks Canada! In exchange for you making a donation to the food bank, I will draw a character suggestion!

I know this is not really the sort of thing I normally do or post here but... many folks are struggling to put food on the table right now, and the food bank is a source of support for many and provides an absolute necessity. I've seen many people struggling in my own city, and food security has become an even bigger issue than it already was in the last couple of years with the food bank struggling to keep up with demand. Of course, food security is an issue across the whole country that's putting a huge strain on food banks, with nearly 5% of the entire population making use of food banks monthly, and 23% of the population reporting food insecurity (CBC, 2024; Global News, 2024). Unsurprisingly, those who are already most disadvantaged suffer the effects of food scarcity even more (Statistics Canada, 2023). To make matters more desperate, Canada's food bank system is on the brink of collapse (CTV News, 2024).

I know this isn't going to something big enough to change the world or anything, but being able to make even a small impact for individual people is important too!

✨Incentives✨

Of course, I'm sure people aren't just in it for a reward, but rewards make things all the sweeter, right?

For those who want to contribute, I'll take a character suggestion and add it to a poll (depending on the number of contributors, it may be split up into multiple polls), and then I'll draw as many as I can from top to bottom ranking! If you contribute, please send me a DM with your donation receipt and your character idea! They won't necessarily all be drawn in the same style, and they'll be done according to how much time I've got. (I know that commissions are probably the biggest incentive, but realistically, I struggle to get them done quickly and they're probably not that affordable to everyone)

If you prefer SFW or NSFW, you can let me know (But NSFW will be posted to Cohost). If you make a bigger contribution, I'll reach out to you and ask if you wanna see more specifics/details in your piece. How's that for sweetening the pie? :3

For those who can't make a donation (which is completely understandable), simply spreading the post is also helpful, and I appreciate that greatly as well!

Don't forget that giving a donation allows you to get a tax break based on the amount donated as well!

Alternatives?

If you'd rather donate to your own local food bank, that's great too! You can DM me and send me a pic of your receipt and I'll still add your suggestion to the poll.

If you REALLY want a commission, you can also DM me and I'll do my best to fulfil it! I won't be taking commissions for this till/if there's at least a couple of items on the poll though. The proceeds will go to my own local food bank. The commission will be done later though, and may take some time to fulfil. I take payment only after starting.

When do we start??

I guess once there's a good number of poll options? I have no idea how long that will be, but rest assured I'll keep you updated!

Where do we contribute?

You can make your donation to Food Banks Canada! They really need it!

Alternatively, you can make a donation to your local food bank or equivalent charity.

Other Questions?

Feel free to send me a message or an ask! I'll get back to you ASAP. If I need to include more details or clarify something, let me know! It's my first time doing this!

TL;DR

I want to help raise money for food banks! Anyone who contributes to Food Banks Canada (or donates to their own local food bank or equivalent charity) can DM me with their receipt and give a character to add to the poll. Poll characters will be drawn in order of their ranking, as many as I can manage, over as long a period of time as I can manage!

No pressure to donate of course, I just figured this would be a fun way of raising a bit of money to help out, and allow us to donate more than what I personally can

Current Contributor Count: 13

Suggested Characters:

Imagine your beloved, obscure or popular character here on this poll list! Oooooooh, how lucrative :3

Total funds raised:

780.36$!!!

[gumbootillustrations]

UGH I FUCKING FINALLY FINISHED THIS

so yeah, have the divine warriors of the second war of the magi!!

more deets n closeups under the cut :3

aph!! i like to think that although the incarnations of the divine warriors r generally pretty similar, they do have some minor differences. for example, whereas the matron of the first war of the magi (irene) had one of the sets of wings on her head covering her eyes, the matron of the second war (mcd!aphmau) has both of them held back. this is bc whereas irene had lost her humanity (and therefore the ability to connect with mortals), aph hasn't - and, therefore, her eyes are open to the struggles of humanity. additionally, i took a lot of inspiration from honkai impact 3rd for these designs - in aph's case, i was inspired by elysia's herrscher of human: ego battlesuit and how it looks like a wedding dress (which a lot of folks have interpreted as an expression of her love for humanity, which is smth i want to convey w aph).

i think my favourite part of aaron's destroyer form is his seal (the thingy behind his head like a halo). i wanted to rlly play into the whole destroyer/devourer aspect of his abilities and domains, and i thought a black hole would fit perfectly! it also sort of (unintentionally) plays into how i see the dynamic between the matron and the destroyer and how they're both mirrors of each other; whereas the destroyer, well, destroys (and his black hole devours everything in sight), the matron creates and nurtures (seen in how aph's seal is almost like a white hole). i also wanted his armour to look a lot like the armour that shadow knights wear, albeit without all the spikes and spines and whatnot given that he isn't a shadow knight himself (shad's destroyer form from the first war probably looks a lot more similar to traditional shadow knight armour).

i'm lowkey suuper proud of how travis's keeper form turned out (even if i had to go back right at the end n fix it bc i forgot to add his tail 😭). i wanted this form to sort of be a mix between a high mage and a rogue: whereas the keeper embodies knowledge and magick, travis himself is a prankster who relies on cunning and trickery to gain the upper hand on his opponents. as a result, he's the only one who doesn't automatically manifest a weapon when he shifts into this form - instead, i feel like he chooses to rely more on magicks and witchcraft during combat.

katelyn's design was lowkey the hardest to pin down. originally, i wanted to go for something that was suuuper inspired by roman armour and had a copper and teal/turquoise colour scheme, but it wound up feeling too magical girl-ish and i scrapped it. i've retained the roman inspirations, but i headcanon that her flames are so hot they burn blue, so i settled on a blue-and-white colour scheme w some purple elements. i think my favourite part is her gauntlets! i feel like she uses them as an extension of herself/another pair of hands to punch with. the blue elements also lean into menphia's association with the moon - in ashes, ashes, tu'la is based on the roman empire and, as a result, is where werewolves originate from, and with werewolves having such close ties to the moon.... yeah. i'll probably do a post on tu'la later on at some point.

my blorbo

garroth's design is probably the one that's changed the least, but i'll still need to update his ref sheet anyway. i don't know if i conveyed it very well but the sort-of wing-things on his back are slabs of earth that can be shaped into a shield - originally i had him holding a shield but i wanted him to look a bit more divine warrior-ish so i retooled his design.

the boy! i was tossing up between having vylad or dante fill the role of the wanderer, but i settled on dante as i feel like vylad fits better as a sort of weird guide sort of figure within the narrative. plus, i have a real soft spot for dante and wanted him to remain in the limelight a little bit - i love his dynamic with garroth and laurance and i wanted to explore that further. i sort of wanted to play into his whole red-and-blue colour scheme that we see in canon diaries, but bc kul'zak is a nature deity (specifically of the wilderness), i wanted to incorporate some greenery into his design. i hope i've done an okay-ish job here - overall i'm pretty happy tho, but i can't promise that there won't be any tweaks in the future.

this is a redhead laurance propaganda spreading blog and i Refuse to apologise for it. i'd like to think that laurance's original colour scheme is similar to his justiciar form - lots of beautiful reds and golds and oranges to match the flames of his father's forge - but after he comes back from the nether with a Severe fear of fire he switches to the greens and browns that he's known for in canon. eventually he slowly begins to reclaim his fire and returns to the golds and oranges that he's introduced with (haha colour symbolism go brrrrrr).

but yeah. the special interest is special interesting. let me know if u have any questions!

[muirmarie]

spock with memory loss but not emotional memory loss. he can't remember anything since he left vulcan, but he looks at jim's and leonard's faces and he's like. hmm. i appear to be in love with both of these men. fascinating.

except. y'know. they are absolutely NOT together.

[hi hey have some absolute crack underneath the readmore]

mccoy being a ridiculous mother hen in sickbay and kirk running down from the bridge every hour on the hour all "UPDATE, BONES????" is not. is not helping spock's assumptions.

mccoy GRUDGINGLY allowing spock out of sickbay because lord knows there's some big thing happening and they need the beds, and spock doesn't need immediate medical attention, he just needs, y'know, a cure for the weird memory loss disease he's picked up. you heard me, this isn't amnesia, this is a weird space memory loss disease that mccoy is going to CURE, thank you very much.

he only allows spock out of sickbay if kirk keeps an eye on him. spock's like =/ when will you be joining us, doctor? and mccoy, not nearly as suspicious as he should be because he's so delighted that there's for ONCE a version of spock who actually appears to not be running away from medical, is like !!!!! once i'm sure everyone in sickbay is stable i'll come down to check on you!!!! i'll check on jim too!!! i'll run my scanner over everyone who will allow me to make sure they're okay!!!!! (jim: >=| i did not consent to this. bones: shut up idc i'm already scanning you.)

kirk takes spock back to kirk's quarters figuring they'll bunk together so he can keep an eye on him/make sure the space forgetfulness disease doesn't make him forget anything else.

spock's like. hmm. is this where we live? why don't we keep it warmer for me =/

kirk, oblivious doll that he is, is like yeah, all the quarters are like this, this is indeed where we live! isn't the enterprise the most beautiful ship there is!! also i am so sorry let's crank this place up to a sauna asap

meanwhile spock is sleepy what with the space forgetty sickness but he's like. determined to wait until their bf joins them so they can sleep in a cuddle pile. it seems polite. he's pretty sure he'd be a polite bf. amanda would definitely want him to be a polite bf. plus he feels certain that he needs to make sure the doctor gets some sleep after working non-stop in sickbay. like. that feels like that should somehow be his and jim's responsibility. that feels right.

bones shows up two hours later with his tricorder and even darker circles under his eyes than normal, and is like all right, time to check on my favorite patient <3 (he's still not used to spock not snarking back at him, and is more than a little =/ when spock just sparkles a bit instead of slamming him with an insult, tbh)

spock and jim get a clean bill of health (beyond, y'know, the space-nesia), and mccoy's like, all rightie, i'll be back in the morning to check on you!!! tell me immediately if anything changes!! i should go back to sickbay and check on things

spock: =( what.

mccoy: i need to keep an eye on everything in sickbay

kirk: no he's right you need to get some rest, bones. the on-duty staff will keep an eye on everything, but you've been going non-stop between spock and this new thing

mccoy: i'll grab a nap in my office don't worry

spock: =(((((((

mccoy: ...spock why are you holding onto my wrist. spock why are you - spock why are you dragging me over to the bed. spock - jim why are you laughing

kirk: i mean it is an effective solution

spock: i have the space forgetties and i can't even sleep with my boyfriends????? illogical.

mccoy: ......

kirk: hmm.

mccoy: ????? hmm???? HMMM???? IS THAT ALL YOU GOT????

kirk: i mean, it does sound illogical when he puts it like that

mccoy: ????? i don't know what the two of you have going on on the downlow, but i'm not dating spock. spock, i'm not dating you.

spock: no, no i definitely love you both, so it would be extremely illogical for us not to be dating, and i am, above all else, logical, so ipso facto we must be dating. it's far more likely you just don't want to say we're dating because you'd feel like it would be a shock to my blank slate brain. occam's razor.

mccoy: we're - we're definitely not dating

spock: hmmm jim i am worried that leonard may also have the space forgetty disease.

kirk: bones, just sleep here tonight, it's not a big deal

mccoy, slightly strangled, because he is extremely in love with these two men and this is a bizarre situation even for them: JIM, I -

spock, aggressively laying in the center of the bed and then trapping mccoy next to him by sheer strength and mccoy's surprise, and unfortunately, having pegged mccoy within 5 minutes of meeting him again, saying: what if the space forgetty disease makes me worse during the night and my doctor bf isn't even here to help me =/

kirk: [unhelpfully giggling]

mccoy: gdi why would you say that now you know i can't leave - this isn't you winning this is me GRACEFULLY changing my mind and we are NOT dating and if you use this forced snuggling against me when i ONCE MORE SAVE THE DAY and figure out a CURE to FIX your STUPID VULCAN MIND then i will -

kirk: [leaning over and kissing bones' forehead to shut him up and then walking around the other side of the bed and getting in next to spock] you forgot the key word, there, bones

mccoy, visibly restraining himself from frothing with rage: what.

kirk: yet, bones. we're not dating yet.

[motianz]

I'll rant about Zhanyi for a minute

Honestly such a shame that OX refuses to do anything with Zhanyi.

I'm not even talking about them not being the main couple anymore, but the lack of progress on their relationship overall.

In the beginning, they had a really cool concept of Jian Yi being this lovable childhood friend who hides behind smiles and jokes, that suddenly disappeared and came back years later with no explanation. Then we go to the past, and there's some angst about the intensity of Jian Yis's feelings, the mysteries of his family, his kidnapping, etc. And their dynamic was really good, with Jian yi being a very carefree but also intense person, and Zhan Zheng having a short fuse in a kind of childish way (as he is a teenager at the time), being extremely loyal and intensely confused about his feelings towards this friend of his, who he spent most of his life with.

Jian Yi kept pushing and Zhan Zheng was this un-movable force where he just decided fuck it, whatever the kind of love I still love you no matter what and I'll fight for you. From the dangerous adults around them to the people who had crushes on Jian Yi, Zhan Zheng refused to let him go. They had depth and a lot of development at the start.

It could be such a great dynamic, and could lead to so much angst with Jian Yi's disappearance.

And they even had some great comedic moments of teenagers figuring out their sexuality, so a lot of them being caught doing or saying weird stuff to one another and getting flustered about it.

But it's like OX just GAVE UP ON DEVELOPING THEM

LIKE GOD DAMN

Their dynamic pre and post disappearance is exactly the same, it didn't get any deeper or more explicitly romantic, it feels like they are the same people, no changes at all. They're not upset, Zhan Zheng didn't acknowledge he has sexual/romantic feelings towards Jian Yi (which was great back then, but how is it still the same), Jian Yi has the exact same personality - no shiftyness about his experiences being gone, no serious moments, no growth. Yes they do have this "I'll stay and take care of you forever" but they've had this same dynamic FOR YEARS (in universe), how has it not developed? How has it not sowered or changed after Jian Yi disappeared??

They still feel like the same teenagers that are very close but aren't together. Every time we could get a serious moment, or progress on their sexual/romantic feelings we just get another vague "no mater what, we are besties" or goddamm comedic relief.

(Teenagers on the left, adults on the right) Like, we got this same situation so many times already, where Jian Yi does something dumb, Zhan Zheng reacts and they get caught doing something that is misunderstood. (The bug bite photo Jy sends Zzx, Zzx drying Jys pants, Jy tearing Zzx pants on the subway, jy touching Zzx chest in public, Jy wearing the skirt, this update with Zzx spanking Jy, I can list this forever) it's always the same concept/situation, and their reactions are always the same, there's just never any progress.

And don't get me wrong, I very much understand and came to terms that 19 days is not a plot focused story, and let's be honest the time-line has been a bit of a nightmare lately, but I feel at the very least we have some very good and fun progress and character depth with Tianshan. Zhanyi did progress from the very beginning, but overall it feels like that just stopped.

Like, we still didn't get to see Mo realizing he tian is gone or anything from that period, but their dynamic changed SO MUCH from when they first showed up. From when they first meet to when Ht leaves (after beating up SL) their relationship deepens, their characters gain layers. And since 19 days takes time with its plot we are still at the very beginning of their post leaving dynamic and we've already got some pretty obvious change on how the intensity of their relationship changed (Ht basically proposing sex during their last update).

But it just feels like Ox doesn't want to do anything with Zhanyi, not even just forget about them, but freeze them in the same state. Maybe OX is just leaving them frozen until they finish Tianshan's story and then go back to focus on Zhanyi, but like, it just feels like such a let down to continuously see Zhanyi stay the same.

We got to here, we got JY admitting his feelings and ZZX accepting them but being vague whether he felt the same or not, and then we got them several times dedicating their futures to each other, and that's it. Nothing else changed or advanced from their teenage years.

I think it's why Tianshan became so much more popular, because they never got stuck in time. Zhanyi had around the same level of potential (don't come for me, I love Tianshan and HT is my favorite character from 19D so I can't say it's exactly the same lol) and could have such a great intense dynamic, but it keeps not happening.

Maybe I'll have to re-read their chapters, and the progress is just super nuanced, but hopefully, OX will do something with them now that they are really testing the limits of Chinese censorship, lol

TLDR: Zhanyi relationship and characters had so much potential but now feels frozen in time, their relationship lacks depth because OX keeps making them repeat the same situations and have the same reactions. Hopefully this will change.

[suzukiblu]

I kind of want to try your method of posting wips a snippet at a time while writing them, but on the other hand I am nervous about it. Can you give me some advice?

I've been trying to nail down the mixed feelings, and this is what I've got so far:

for:

it will get eyes on my fics faster, and I can show off what I've written sooner, instead of needing to finish a whole chapter

it will encourage engagement both in reacting to specific posts and in asking for more

it will be more chances for people to be intrigued and want to read the whole fic

against:

what if I do it and nobody cares?

til now I've been releasing fics a chapter at a time and it would feel weird to change that. inertia and all

what do I do if/when I change something I've written and already posted a snippet of?

it feels weird to post them on my writing blog, which currently only holds finished chapters (and fanart), but if I post them on my main, I feel like they'll get lost and/or I'll miss reactions in my busy activity channel. Where should I post it to? Should I make yet another sideblog?

in direct response to your listed mixed feelings, in my personal experience of writing this way:

for:

it will get eyes on my fics faster, and I can show off what I've written sooner, instead of needing to finish a whole chapter: yes it will, and it feels great! and personally it also helps me keep momentum and helps soften the sting if I drop a fic/chapter later and people don't have much to say about it. I KNOW it's good, other people already told me they liked it!! no, I'm not gonna throw out the whole story because of one mediocre reception, SHUT UP IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND GET BACK IN THE WRITING TRENCHES.

it will encourage engagement both in reacting to specific posts and in asking for more: yes it does, and WAY more people consistently (and more gratifyingly!) engage with me since I've made a habit of posting this way, especially when they're especially interested in a specific WIP over my other ones, and a lot of people just seem to be more engaged and invested in my writing in general. or at least more willing to tell me that they are, if nothing else, haha.

it will be more chances for people to be intrigued and want to read the whole fic: yes it will, and if you post larger scenes and tag them, then more people are likelier to find you/your writing than would if you only post one chapter in the tags however often you update those. also, if you have a fic-specific WIP tag that you link to, it's very easy for people who are just discovering the WIP to go back and catch up all at once ( or for people who aren't into it to blacklist, if that's a concern, as opposed to them feeling like they have to unfollow/block you ).

against:

what if I do it and nobody cares? good news: they probably won't care! at least to start. that's just kinda how it is, to start. I get a lot of engagement because I am REAL prolific and do my best to be responsive, plus I've been updating this blog and in this specific fandom pretty consistently for over a year, and also have also been in online fandom spaces on and off for, like, legit twenty-five years at this point. so I am just very used to being in these spaces, and I also have readers who've followed me for a decade+ or even since I was an actual literal TEENAGER in at least a couple cases, so like, they're already kinda invested in my writing, haha. there are people following this blog who not only read my Inu-Yasha Miroku/Sesshoumaru fanfic back in the day in the Pit of Voles but also still REMEMBER reading my Inu-Yasha Miroku/Sesshoumaru fanfic back in the day in the Pit of Voles, to say nothing of everyone who found me through AtLA or the MCU or the Witcher ( or so, so much Star Wars meta, the Star Wars meta has also definitely been a thing ). also I update my blog pretty consistently and I do writing memes that reward the people who play with me with new content and more progress in their fave WIPs, and also they're technically "voting" for what they wanna see more of, so that also adds to them feeling engaged/invested and me feeling motivated/energized, because they feel like they've affected the growth and progress of the story ( which they have ) and I feel like they're enjoying the story and genuinely appreciate it ( which they do! ). so everyone wins!

til now I've been releasing fics a chapter at a time and it would feel weird to change that. inertia and all: yeah that is the sunk-cost fallacy trying to fuck you up and you can and should tell it to fuck off. if you try it and you don't like the change, you can just stop doing it. you're free! no one can stop you!! hit the bricks, do your thing, the past is gone and it is NOT in charge of your ass! your ass is all yours!! whatever, we do what we want! I am in fact giving you explicit PERMISSION to do what you want.

what do I do if/when I change something I've written and already posted a snippet of?: then you've changed something! if it's a major change, you can repost the updated scene or mention you're making a change in a separate post or just say there's been a significant change when you post the chapter and therefore people who've already read the WIP posts might wanna reread it, but personally I change and tweak and fiddle with stuff I've already posted all the time. usually it's just bits of phrasing or formatting or adding in little details to round stuff out or correct mistakes, or to clarify things that confused people or that I forgot about, but sometimes it's adding multiple paragraphs or even additional little scenes. it's absolutely a thing I do and a thing that I consider fair play. you're literally posting "work-in-progress" excerpts, it is in the NAME that stuff might/will change or be adjusted. shit, if you feel like it, throw the whole story out and start over with a 2.0 WIP tag!! art is meant to be fucked with!!!!

it feels weird to post them on my writing blog, which currently only holds finished chapters (and fanart), but if I post them on my main, I feel like they'll get lost and/or I'll miss reactions in my busy activity channel. Where should I post it to? Should I make yet another sideblog?: the past is gone! you are free!! it's a writing blog that is for your writing and you can write whatever you want on it. the rules are made up and the points don't matter!! if you want a WIP blog too, you can totally start a WIP blog too, but you also don't have to feel obligated to bloat your sideblog collection or to have to go to all the effort of building up a brand-new following for a brand-new blog when there's already people who followed another blog of yours specifically for your writing. it's your writing blog. it's for your writing. write on it how you please!! if you're SUPER-concerned about the change, include a specific tag on all your WIP snippets that people can just blacklist if they only wanna see your full finished updates. for example I use "rintalk" so people can skip my random talky posts/asks if they wanna but also won't accidentally be filtering out anything they DO wanna see from anyone else on their dash; they can specifically avoid just mine. so like, maybe "octo WIPs" or "nb WIPs" or just whatever you're into would work for you, or just something like that.

unrelated to your for/against: posting stuff like this is not an approach that'll give everyone the same results or even WORK for everyone, obviously, but it works for me because again, I'm prolific, responsive, tend to follow my readers' interests, and have been doing this a lonnnggggg time and have built up an audience both from past fandoms and in specifically DC fandom. and also I'm super, super ADHD. definitely also because of the ADHD. there is . . . there is just so much ADHD lol.

but yeah, like, I'm pretty sure I've been updating pretty consistently for the past . . . what, year or so of DC-hyperfixation? something like that?? I've also published over 300k to AO3 in that time and GOD knows how much more word count I've put up on Tumblr, so like . . . tl;dr, I absolutely think you should give it a try and see if it works for you/if you like it, I just also wanna include the caveat that you shouldn't be discouraged if you don't get an immediate return on or big response to said try. like, I dunno what your followers are like or how much they talk to you, obvi, but I personally had to kind of . . . cultivate, basically? I had to cultivate the communication and the back-and-forth, it didn't just happen immediately. we have cultivated, all of us here, hahaha.

for actual practical excerpt-posting advice, generally speaking, the best start I've found for starting out with posting a WIP as you write it is to take, like, the starting scene of the fic/chapter up until either a narratively-interesting/satisfying end point ( or better yet, a cliffhanger ) and post that as a WIP excerpt in the relevant tags. then you're likelier to introduce the story to new people and bring them by your blog to see more, and they'll come in both primed for and LOOKING for WIP excerpts. then, you know, you can post subsequent scenes or bits in chronological order, ideally. personally when I do WIP Wednesday or anything like that, I don't tag little posts like those in the main tags, just with a WIP tag specific to their story ( which, like, obvi you know I have those, haha, I know you've been around MORE than long enough and even if you hadn't pretty sure I already mentioned them somewhere up there anyway, I'm just being thorough ), but anything that's pushing 400-500 words or longer gets fully tagged with ships/characters/fandom/etc and gets chrono/non-chrono links included in the post and then sent out into the world as my lil' story ambassador, haha. just, you know, use a cut or at least a "long post" tag if it's much longer than that, because like, Tumblr manners and all, hah.

ummmmm . . . so yeah idk how much of that was helpful for you, obviously, but if you have follow-up questions or anything, feel free to hit me up, I'm always down for those and I'll do my best to answer!

[muffinrecord]

Current Plans + Musings

I don't plan on playing Exedra to the degree I did for Magia Record, or playing it at all. Because of that, I won't be taking an active role in the community and archiving anything for it. Of course, if Exedra has like amazing gameplay and stories then this is all subject to change, but for now I think I'm done with phone games.

The two youtube channels will stay up and I'll check em periodically to make sure there aren't copyright strikes against the content. I've saved all my raw files, especially for the battle animations, so I can remake them in the future if the music ever becomes a problem for some reason.

Google Drive will stay up until Google rots away. I haven't recorded footage in a long time (as in stories, I do for the character doppels and such), but I'll upload things if they're sent to me.

Magia Union Translations still plans on translating things and making videos, especially leading up to the end, but also for after the game is over for whatever wasn't made in time. I'm not sure what form this will take in the future-- if it'll be manual captions added to the videos or not, but I know it WILL happen.

As for this blog, I'm not going to delete it or anything. However I'm going to be taking a step back. I'd like to say that I'll do liveblogs but I mean... *gestures at blog* I've been saying that for years and the only one I really did successfully was the Oriko one lmao. Ahhh oh well.

I'll have more words later, but it was really fun to be part of a fandom experience like this. I'm excited to work on my own original story projects though and quiet down a bit.

...

When I started this blog, I never expected it to have people actually read it. Or look at it. I just wanted a place to gush about how much fun I was having. I didn't even want to tag the posts with "Magia Record" at first because I was terrified people would be mean at me, haha.

But I'm glad I did. I made so many good friends through this game. I'm glad it existed. And it made me happy to have a place where people cared about what I had to say. Some folks actually got their news from here, can you imagine that? They had notifications turned on for this blog. My god.

Anyways, I'm going to be here for the next two months, and tomorrow I'll start reblogging fan projects and initiatives, plus general news. Maybe this blog will turn into a dumping site for art and fanfic reblogs, who knows. I might watch the remaining stuff and add various thoughts here and there.

Otherwise, you can find me on my main blog @malignmuffin, which only reblogs stuff (I don't talk much if at all there). I have another tumblr blog for my comic, but I think I'll reshare the name once I actually have content you can look at on it. It's pretty bare bones for the moment.

Actually it'll be funny if the end of this game is what makes me finally work on it again. I was in the process of working on it when NA came out, and it totally derailed me. Stopped writing, drawing, just focused on this silly little phone game. Now it's like those five years have gone by and I'm going back to where I started, except I think my lil comic is going to be a bit better than it was before. If I actually make it, that is.

If I ever do actually make my comic and start posting it, I'll be sure to update y'all here. hah

Anyways, thanks for being on this wild ride with me. The memories have been great, and I'm glad I had this experience, even if it had to end.

[doughliciousfrosting]

What was it like for your Transfem Leo to come out to her family?

Intro:

Oh my god I love this question. I LOVE ANY QUESTION ACTUALLY. Personally I've been debating on whether Leo would come out as transfem before or after Splinter's death. I've decided before for the simple reason that I really want Splinter to have a nice moment with her as her daughter yk? I guess I'd have to start off with how Leo realized she was transfem. I'm gonna be honest prior to this ask I hadn't given it much thought so I'll try my best to figure it out here right now!! If my initial headcanon for this changes I'll make an update post on it later.

Leo realizes she's transfem:

I'd imagine the turtles themselves don't really have a strong sense of gender, since not only are they turtles, they've also spent the first 15 years of their life in social isolation in the sewers. The only idea of gender they really percieve stems from Splinter, and from their perspective I imagine they kind of just interpret Splinter as a ninja and nothing else. So I think Leo initially tries her best to mimic Splinter and his behaviors. I think Leo's view on herself completely shifted when they met April, because she was an entirely new person. I think Leo at first didn't think much of it because April was human, but then when they met Casey she didn't feel the same kind of envy YKWIM?? Like Leo took one look at April and was like "idk what that is but I wanna be that." I feel like this internal dialogue came to a climax when she went to visit the tea girl from S1. I headcanon she still visits and they have cute lil tea parties lol. So the little girl says she wants to give Leo a makeover, and at first Leo is like "haha no." And the girl is INSISTENT she's like "if you don't let me I'm going to scream and get my dad over here" and Leo caves finally, she's like "OKAY OKAY 😰😰" so the girl dresses her up with what she can (obviously the little girls clothes wouldn't fit Leo who has a huge ass shell on her back LMAO) and she tries to do Leo's makeup. Leo looks in the mirror and thinks like wow.. something abt this just clicks for me. And it kind of makes Leo realize like, this is what she had been wanting since she realized there were genders outside of her rat dad LMAO.

Coming out:

April:

With this in mind, I think that Leo wouldn't exactly have a word for what she is? And frankly I don't think she'd immediately take action either. I think she'd go to April for help, and after telling April what she felt, April would be able to explain what Leo is experiencing. So I guess unintentionally, she came out to April first LMAO 😭 and after Leo realizes she might be trans she's kind of like ermrmmm what do I do abt it now.... So I imagine April gives Leo help on where to start! I think she'd recommend Leo come out to her family members one at a time (if that's what she wanted). So Leo thinks on it for a couple of days or weeks.. (Let's be honest, months). And after finally mustering the courage, she picks a sibling to talk to.

Donnie:

I don't know if this is surprising to some people or not, but I feel like Leo would come out to Donnie first. Mainly because Donnie wouldn't yell (Raph) and would be less likely to accidentally tell other people (sorry Mikey..) Since the 2012 turtles aren't as in touch with emotions as the ROTTMNT turtles, I think that it would definitely be very awkward, but Leo would try to approach it as scientifically as possible. Which serves a double purpose of not being confusing and also being a little more devoid of emotion. I think Leo would start like "you know how gender is a social construct and etc.." And then after blabbing over her words Donnie would be like "hold on are you trying to tell me you're trans?" And Leo would be like "erm.. Yas? Unless u think it's weird because then no.." I think Donnie would know what trans means bcuz Donnie studies human society and stuff. I don't think he'd know how to respond, but I think he'd def question Leo on it out of curiousity, not malice. So after a thorough interview so Donnie can collect data LMAO Donnie kicks leo out the lab is like "cool thanks sis," and that's the end of it.

Mikey:

I think Leo would go to Mikey next because I dont think Mikey would care much BAHAHA. I imagine it's just Leo pulling up next to Mikey (whos doing something like hanging out with I.C.K. or practicing skateboarding) and I imagine the convo goes somewhat like this:

Leo: "Mikey?"

Mikey: "Yeah bro?"

Leo: "uhh I'm not ur bro, I'm ur sister it'd be cool if u could call me that from now on"

Mikey: "cool sis."

Mikey and Leo: "...."

Mikey: "do I still call u Leo orrrr?-"

Leo: "Leo is fine! I have to go train now so uhh bye?"

Mikey: "k bye Leo!"

Mikey would be so unbothered I think LMAO

Raph:

I think Raph would be last, why? Because any sort of convo with Raph regarding emotions tends to be very heavy for Leo and Raph together lmao. I think Leo would STRESS OUT, after telling Mikey she 100% has to tell Raph soon before someone else says something. I think Leo would ask to speak to Raph while Raph's in his room. After knocking and being allowed inside, Leo would sit on raphs bed completely silent and withdrawn. Raph would realize the serious atmosphere and give Leo his full attention. After a little awkward silence, raph would get over it and I think the convo would go something like:

Raph: "Whats up leo? You kinda just made urself cozy in my room. "

Leo: "I..... need to talk to u abt something"

Raph: "well yeah I figured that much"

Leo: "right...."

- more silence -

Raph: "so?? -"

Leo: "Raph. Do you hate girls"

Raph: "WHAT???"

Leo: "WAIT NO THATS NOT HOW I MEANT TO ASK THAT"

Raph: "are u asking me if I'm gay???"

Leo: "NOOO NO NO I'M ASKING ABOUT ME"

Raph: ".... Are *YOU* gay???"

Leo: " WAIT NO.."

Raph: "cuz it's fine if u are this is just a rlly weird way to say it"

Leo: "NOO NO I LIKE GIRLS, THATS NOT WHAT I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU"

Raph: "SO SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!!"

Leo: *sighs*

Leo: "okay I like girls right?.. But I dont just LIKE girls, I also like um.. BEING a girl."

Raph: "huh???"

Leo: "LIKE. YOU KNOW??"

Raph: "wait so.. youre saying that youreeeee a girl?...." (Brain processing)

Leo: "yes...."

Raph: "....so are you gonna like wear dresses and tiaras now?"

Leo: "dude. Have u ever been around a girl?? U don't see April walking around in dresses and tiaras!"

Raph: "I was just asking jeez!!"

Leo: "well don't ask dumb questions!! And to answer ur dumb question no, I will not. I'm a ninja first, I don't think doing flips and Parkour around the city in a big poofy dress is very practical.."

Raph: "righttt.... so when are you gonna tell everyone else?"

Leo: *cringes* "emm I kind of already told everybody else besides splinter? ":)"

Raph: ".........."

Raph: "WHY AM I THE LAST PERSON TO KNOW!?"

-- end scene LOL --

Splinter:

I don't exactly have dialogue for this one, but I think it would definitely be the hardest one for Leo to do. I think Leo would feel like shes ruining splinters expectations of her or something yk?? So she starts off on this big ramble about how she'll always be splinters kid and she hopes this doesn't change anything. I think she'd come off as kind of hysterical so splinter would shut her down and straight up ask what's wrong. So Leo would blurt it out and splinter would 100% be accepting. I think splinter would tell Leo that back when he first named them, he assumed them all to be boys bcuz he didn't want another daughter at the time since he was still mourning Miwa and didn't want to feel like he was replacing her. Splinter would tell Leo he's honored to have her as a daughter now, and then ask if she wants another name that suits her. I personally think Leo would decline, I think she'd want to keep it because it's the one splinter gave her and she doesn't have a problem being called leonardo lolol

Conclusion:

Firstly, this was a long read so if ur still here thank u for listening to my word vomit!! Secondly, I'd like to give a disclaimer here.. **I AM NOT A WRITER** HELPMEAHSLAH I don't know if thats clear or not. I have a vague idea on how these events would go, but I can't always articulate them correctly. I hope this was somewhat comprehensible. And lastly, to the person who sent the message thank u for the asking!! This was very fun to answer and it made me give thought to something I hadn't before!

Edit: WAIT LAST THING I FORGOT TO ADD. I AM NOT TRANS!!!! So if the way I describe this experience for Leo doesn't seem right please let me know 😭😭

[kanmom51]

JK update 2 November 2023

MV teaser

I do have thoughts about where this MV is going. Will reserve them to myself (mainly because they are probably all crap, but also because I'm really not able to write full on essays at this moment). If indeed I was on the right track I will share them with you later on. If not, well you'll know, lol.

A couple of things I did notice, well so did everyone else:

We got black swan JK. We know who loves black swan JK.

We get black versus white (JK black, the woman in white).

Which is interesting, given that JK is being compared to Michael Jackson by many in this MV, and the black and white motif being played (?), when JK and JM did MJ's B&W dance back way then...

Another interesting coincidence?

And we also have this:

Which is an interesting choice made by JK. Yes. A choice made by JK.

I cannot wait to see what he has install for us.

Tonight show

We're getting JK on the tonight show on 6 Nov 2023.

JK has a super busy week ahead of him, and I guess he'll be off to the US real soon. Because on this coming Monday he has Jimmy Fallon, and then on Wednesday he's on the Today show.

Today show

Funny thing with this one though.

I really don't think this was that hidden event on JK's promotional calendar. You know, that mysterious unknown for 8 Nov.

This feels like a last minute thing. The Citi concert series was actually concerts going right through summer, last one ending 31 September. Nothing in October. JK was never on that list that was planned and pre-announced months ago. And now suddenly JK's concert on 8 Nov. Just JK's concert announced. Nothing else.

And that makes me wonder what was actually planned for this date and why was it changed around.

JK Golden introduction

So, what does JK tell us?

That the order of the songs has meaning and was chosen on purpose.

That what we were saying all along is just that - the album is targeted for the Western market, hence it being in English.

He also said that he will record a song in Korean (when he can) and to look forward to it. I'm wondering if we have a song in Korean waiting for us pre-enlistment.😭😭

His favourite tracks are the main track - Standing next to you, and Hate you. Although he loves them all.

And again showing us how humble he is, lol.

The man stated he wants to be a global pop star. But when he's called that he feels embarrased.

As for Standing next to you:

"I'll always be with you no matter the situation/conditions".

Anyway, tomorrow Golden is coming out.

STREAM

STREAM

STREAM

[red-riot-unbreakable-heart]

My Fave Fics Rn | What Red is Reading❤️

No one asked for this but I want to share the fics I've been OBSESSED with lately because they deserve so much love!! A combo of AUs, smut (I'll mark off which ones are smut!), lovely comics and everything in between. If you're looking for a new read I HIGHLY reco each of these stories! Including vague spoilers/descriptions for each so be warned!!

Here's what I've regularly been reading and re-reading:

Time's Arrow by @m0stlygoodvibes - Time Travel AU. Hawks goes on a mission back in time and attempts to set himself + the Todoroki family a better future. This fic is so sweet and healing - watching Hawks grow up without the trauma of the Commission is wonderful, and his x Touya's friendship/hinted relationship is explored fantastically. I'm constantly checking to see if there have been any updates because it's THAT good!!! I discovered the story after seeing beachbeibi's adorable art!

Lost & Found Comic by @beachbeibi - Quirkless Todosib AU. Oh my goodness this comic is AMAZING! The art is so lovely and sweet! The character designs are spot on (Shoto's little strawberry sweater in later chapters makes my heart squeeze!)! The relationship building between characters is authentic and fun to read/view! I love the way Touya is drawn and how we learn more about his growth journey with every passing comic. And Keigo. Oh my goodness Keigo!! The way the artist draws him is just SO cute and I am interested to see where they take his storyline next.

A Cozy Cloud by @gaecactae- Another wonderful comic! An AU where Oboro Shirakumo/Loud Cloud lives to adulthood, has a wonderful partner, is still BFFs with Shota + Hizashi, and adopts Tenko before AFO can get to him. The art is so gentle and thoughtful, and the color palate is just wonderful. Seeing baby Tenko and Hitoshi so well loved makes me so happy - this story is another great tale filled with healing and fabulous visuals. I'm so excited to see more!

Inevitable Things (We Try To Avoid) by @mintmatcha - Shota Aizawa x Reader. 🔞 SMUT alert! 🔞The story is so good and the characters are SO complex! I have re-read all of the published chapters several times at this point because the author winds so many fun, complex details together and it's fun to go back and see how they plant the seeds for major plot points in the earlier chapters. This is def a bit angsty but SO good. Aizawa is HOT and his character is so brilliantly fleshed out. Plus the tension between the reader and Aizawa is palpable. I'm excited to read more!

Mission Accomplished by glynfrans - Hitoshi Shinsou x Katsuki Bakugo. 🔞SMUT alert!🔞 Holy Woah are these sex scenes HOT!!! Like I've always been a Hitoshi fic girlie and I personally have never shipped him with Bakugo but WOWOWOW whenever these two are together in a scene sparks are literally flying! Hitoshi is shady af in the beginning of this fic, but he seeks redemption and I like how the author really builds out the character around these feeligns. Also a heavy amount of Monoma x Shinsou which I love. I won't say anymore because I don't wanna spoil anything but worth reading!!

I'll Have The Fish by ShipSeekingShippers - Hitoshi x Denki. This is the only completed fic on the list and I have come back to it so many times because it's cute as all heck! No quriks/college/fry cook AU (!?). This was the first Hitoshi x Denki fic I ever read and it CHANGED ME. Each chapter is more hilarious than the last, and watching the main characters bond and grow is so sweet and wholesome.

That's all for now - please send me your own recs or link great fics in the comments!! I'm always looking for new reads to devour!

XOXO,

Red Riot Unbreakable Heart ❤️

[grendelsmom]

Knitting Update or as I like to call it: the ice bear sock (mis-)adventure

So, I've been getting more comfortable with patterns lately and I thought "Hey! I wanna try my hand at this with something easy!". Seeing as christmas is around the corner I decided I would knit a pair of socks for a friend. And as a little challenge I wanted to design my own pattern for it. Which I mainly did by taking inspiration from an old pair of socks and changing the design around until it fit the amount of stitches required for the size of socks I wanted to knit. And look at that! They look nice - don't they? And they're almost finished!

Lovely ice bears walking through the snow! Only, I made a mistake with the first sock, which I only noticed once I reached the Zwickel of the second sock (my dictionary is telling me it's called gusset or gore? basically the part of the sock where the heel turns into the foot). In the first sock I had forgotten to leave two normal rows inbetween the decreasing rows - meaning that that part of the sock is now much steeper. It does still fit me, but it could potential be a problem for someone with bigger feet. So, I asked my other friend with the same shoe size to try them on for me. It wasn't a problem. What was however a problem was the ice bear pattern part at the top of the sock. You see, I did try my hardest to knit it as loosely as possible, but I still only knitted the stitches recommend in the guidline for a normal pair of socks without a two colour pattern. Meaning the part, because of the two colours, is less elastic and therefore too tight.

At this point I concluded that I had two options. The work I already done wouldn't fit my friend, so I decided to make them shorter later on and use them myself or gift them to a friend with smaller feet so they wouldn't be wasted. Continuing with the project I could either re-work the pattern so that it would work on a higher stich count or knit two plain socks and then stitch the pattern on afterwards. Because the second sounded like less work, I decided to go with that. And tada!

Looks fine, right? A perfectly normal sock, just waiting for the pattern to be stitched on. Yeah... well... as you can see I used a different yarn for this one. (I was getting kind of bored of the first one and the local store didn't have it in stock anymore anyway so I decided to change it up.) The first 1 1/2 socks were knitted in a 4 ply yarn. The second one in 6 ply. Or so I thought. Until I put them next to each other and realised that the second version looked way tighter.

So, I looked back on the yarn label (something I apparently hadn't done since buying the yarn) and - yes, you guessed it - turns out it was actually a 4 ply yarn and I had somehow confinced myself that it was 6 ply to the point that I never double checked it again. (Actually, I know how I did it. I was choosing between two different yarns and the other was a 6 ply. I thought "Oh, I definitely must remember that, because I'll need a different amount of stitches then". Which, yes, I remembered that. I just didn't remember that that wasn't the yarn I went with.) This is a sock the length of a EU 44/45 (US 11.5) with the amount of stitches, so width, of a EU 34/35 (US 4.5) - yes, it's that ridiculous.

So, instead of fixing the original problem of the socks being too tight, I actually just made it worse. And now three weeks after I started a project, that was supposed to take me a week max, I have 2 1/2 socks I cannot use for their intended purpose and just started the first sock I will hopefully, actually be able to gift my friend.

[wipbigbang]

OT: An Open Letter From Mod Ragna

So I would like to take a moment to bring something up to all of you on the Discord server, and similar messages will go up on the Tumblr and Dreamwidth. So bear with me.

I have been homeless all of last round and most of this round. I only lucked into the housing I have right now because the city I now live in owns the apartment. I have arthritis, fibromyalgia and Long Covid. I live on a second floor apartment now. So, naturally, considering I am the most able bodied person in my family even with my disabilities, I am the primary caretaker of everyone: I do the cooking, I do the cleaning and as such, I have been building all the furniture we've managed to get.

Up until last night, all three of us were on mattresses on the floor. I gave up a lot of energy making three seperate beds in a non-air conditioned apartment. It was hard work. I just got my daughter's bed up this evening and I am sore. I decided I'd deal with WIPBB business in the morning and was trying to relax and escape the pain I was in.

What I got this evening was a very demanding email from a participant. Now, I will not name names and circumstances, but the tone was demanding and it immediately soured my mood to the point I am still upset nearly a half hour later. I wasn't fast enough in making a correction. Instead of sleeping, I have now updated the posting list, made the corrections that were demanded of me, and I'm about to post a link to the final drafts check-in form and then stay offline for a few days. Maybe. I'm still not sure about that last part.

We are all human. We all have a lot going on. But I've been pretty candid about what's happened with me and, for the most part, everyone is great when it takes me a few days to do something, or we need to change the schedule to accommodate a change in my home life. But I'm partially considering not running this event anymore as well. I put in a lot of time and energy doing behind the scenes work, not to mention I take on about 40 fics a round to do art for. I love this event. But right now? Any enthusiams I had for making art/fic is gone. And I don't know if/when it will come back.

So yeah. That's where it stands right now. The AO3 collection is open, and I will always make sure people get their stuff posted, but I'm going to take a break for at least a day or two, try and get my temper under control, and reevaluate if I want to spend so much time on this event next year, if I even run it next year. So I'm going to keep the claims list open a few more hours, update it when I wake up, and then I'll take a break. Until then, Mod Ragna signing off.

[graveyardhorror]

HIS LETTER TO YOU ON THE ROAD

>SUPERSTARS MASTERLIST

➽────────────────────❥

DEAN AMBROSE/JON MOXLEY

-Dear sweetheart,

-I want to start this off with expressing my appreciation for how much you've supported me throughout my career and its increasingly crazy schedule. Thank you for showing how to be and give unconditional love. You're my special person, and that will never change.

-I'm not great with technology, but I'll do my best to text and call you everyday. I will master this technology stuff for you one day! Time passes by quicker than we realize, I hope this is the case for this work trip. I love you sweetheart, take care of yourself for me.

P.S. I love you, as if I didn't say that enough in this letter ha ha. I'll see you very soon my sweet.

-ᡣ𐭩

ROMAN REIGNS

-Dear babygirl/babyboy,

-Though the distance between us grows as I'm on an airplane that is taking me across the country, right now the only thing on my mind seems to be the special moments we've shared over the last couple of years. I know we will only strengthen our relationship as time goes on, and that our love will only grow as well.

-I ask that you think about our loving moments together instead of thinking about the distance currently between us, like I am at this time. I love you, take care my dear.

-P.S. I'll call you when I get settled into my hotel room later tonight, and again I love you so much.

-<3

SETH ROLLINS

-Dear honey,

-Though this time apart may seem unpleasant at this time, know that it'll all be over sooner than we know it. I love you more than you'll ever know and this love that I have for you grows everyday. I want to thank you for being my rock and my strength in this hectic lifestyle I have.

-I'm deeply honored to call someone as special as yourself as my partner. Let's continue being strong and loving one another until the end of time. Our daily phone calls and video messages will definitely keep me sane during this long trip. I love you so much honey.

-P.S. I can't wait to have you back into my arms after this long trip, I'm always thinking of you my hun. I love you.

-XOXO

RANDY ORTON

-Dear Angel,

-I really wish I wasn't so far from you right now, it's only been one day and I am getting withdrawals ha ha. Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and I miss you dearly my angel.

-I know you must be feeling lonely, especially since I'm working across the world right now. But I'm here to tell you that I love you and to not miss me too much. I will be facetiming you everyday, so don't worry about forgetting this handsome man. I love you so much.

-P.S. Promise I'll give you updates on what I'm doing everyday, don't have too much fun without me! I love you.

-XO

FINN BALOR

-Dear love,

-For the past couple of weeks that I've known about my long work trip, where I'll away from you for a few months, I can't help but think about the downsides of this career. I love you so much to depart from your side, but it seems like I have no choice but to work overseas.

-I hope that you'll be able to understand how much this pains me. However I do not want you to be upset during this time, think about all the things we'll do together once I get back.

-P.S. Don't worry we will watch our favorite show together through facetime! I love you so much! Take care.

-ᥫ᭡

NEVILLE/PAC

-Dear sweet pea,

-I know it's not easy being away from one another when we're used to spending everyday together. I know you find it just as difficult as I am being so in love, yet so far away. I can't wait to see again when I get home from this long work trip.

-In the meantime I hope this letter finds you well, I will be writing you more of these as my trip progresses.

-P.S. I love you so much more than you know, don't forget to call me when tonight

-XXXX

➽────────────────────❥

[meanbossart]

Asks about VaM, art advice, and miscellaneous stuffs

HI! Real quick please refrain from referring to Sad Sack as S/S for the uh... Obviously reasons LOL We call it "sads" for short!

If what you're asking for are recommendations for a website to host that kind of thing, Neocities, Twitter, Itchio and as you mentioned AO3 are all perfectly good options! Patreon too (depending on how gnarly you're planning on getting) but I'd suggest keeping that as a secondary host option because I don't think it lends itself super well for getting your work circulating. I believe Bluesky allows that kind of thing too, but I'm not too sure since I don't use it.

Now, If you're asking about public reaction rather than guidelines, anywhere you go you might find people that don't jive with the work you do 🤷 just be upfront about the type of content you're making right off the bat to avoid having anyone stumble upon it by accident to the best of your abilities, otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much. I know we're constantly exposed to examples of overwhelming harassment and "dogpilling" happening to others but... Truth be told, most of us won't ever get to the size/internet level of fame where we experience that. I think the threat is a little bit... Overstated, nowadays. Not to mention that most of the time people are getting harassment for things that have nothing to do with their work, and rather relating to their behavior and attitudes. Play smart, be responsible, and be honest! Whatever comes next is in god's hands LOL

Thank you for the ask! Not sure I was of much help 😅 but frankly when you're just starting out it's best to focus on getting the work done first and just throwing it out there, wherever it may be. You can worry about technicalities like that later!

I GOT YOU MAN the full sketch is now up on my patreon!

YES AND YES WHETHER IT BE STORIES OR ART OF DU DROW AND YOUR CHARACTERS SLAMMING PINTS TOGETHER BE MY GUEST PLEASE

I love seeing everyone's take on my weirdo so much, anything is honestly welcomed!

AW DUDE thank you so much! Especially for suffering through the mammoth of a story that ANE turned into - writing has never been my strongest point so I'm always shocked to hear from people that enjoy it 🥲

About the booze question, honestly I'm not picky at all, I usually go by price and by that I mean whatever is cheapest LOL but I prefer a dry white as far as types go.

You only have to pay for it once! You get a code that unlocks the software and all of it's features and you're free to cancel your subscription after that. At some point the code might change or there might be an update that requires subscribing again - but that seems like a very rare occurrence so I wouldn't worry about it.

OH NO I HAVE DEFINITELY TRACED MY OWN REFERENCE BEFORE, but not entire poses! When something is challenging I'll make a point of drawing it out the usual way.

I can remember a couple of instances from Nick and mine's comic where I traced pictures I took of myself, just as a time saving measure. Again like I said in the post, there are several ways to employ tracing your own material that is perfectly acceptable. I have also traced bare-bones 3D backgrounds that I made for the same reasons.

I know you specifically asked about tracing when something's complicated, but I still wanted to be upfront to demystify the practice under different circumstances. The rule of thumb is to never use it when you know it would be inhibiting your skill development!

Happy to hear you wanted to pick up the skill! I definitely understand the urge too LOL since playing BG3 and becoming so invested in the stories and characters my art has improved a ton, simply from forcing me out of my usual style and making me want to capture different moods and scenarios - finding something you're passionate to draw is, frankly a great damn start.

I replied to a bunch of asks asking for pointers and advice a while back, one of the questions was very similar to yours and I still stand behind the advice I gave then. Hopefully you can find something helpful here! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/740543514692173824/some-art-advice-asks-ive-been-meaning-to-reply

HMMM I don't usually think of myself as the best teacher/tutorial guy, but funnily enough I can think of a few things about this topic that I could elaborate on lol. If I do that in the near future, I'll put it up on my patreon (for free as with everything else.)

If there are any specific things about it that you (and anyone else who would be interested in it, for that matter) find challenging and would like for me to focus on, let me know!

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That's all for now folks, and as usual thank you so much to everyone who's left a nice compliment, word of encouragement or funny tidbit in my inbox as well! I can't reply to you all individually, but I see and read all the messages I get c:

HAVE A LOVELY REST OF YOUR WEEK

[short-for-melancholy]

Intro post, intro post... this'll do for now

Hi hi! Mel's not my real name, she's just a character of mine, but you can call me that and I'll respond to it. I'm a writer with little to show for it. I like cats, creating fantasy characters, and collecting and cataloging isekai anime.

I'm aroace so whatever you do, don't flirt with me<3

the following is a collection of information about my ocs! you can click their names for a link to their associated posting tag.

Girlie Compendium

Mel

24, 5'6", cis, lesbian, human

it's not actually short for melancholy, she's just mel. as a child, mel's family died protecting her and she was left orphaned in the street. with nothing left to live for, but unable to justify suicide after her family's sacrifice, mel picked up a blade and threw herself into adventuring, hoping to die excusably in an attempt to provide for herself. 18 years later, she finds herself the strongest swordsman alive, having survived encounters with every monster shes come across, though not without scars. she has no special skills or magic, but her ability to fight without fearing death and her natural combat prowess have served her frustratingly well. mel leads a solitary, untethered life, as expected of one who never expects to make it home. her most notable wound is her missing left hand, which was incinerated when she first fought a dragon at age 12. since dragonfire wounds never fully recover, she has to keep much of her arm bandaged to keep the smouldering flesh from spreading further.

Hikari Ni'naritai

25, 5'4", cis, aroace, moon miqote

(art by @atelier-aria)

hikari is my final fantasy 14 warrior of light character. a former conscript of the garlean military in othard, hikari changed her name and defected to eorzea in an attempt to escape her vicious past. if youre not familiar with japanese, 'hikari ni naritai' translates to 'i want to become light', and she's made this a personal creed. her story after defecting follows the events of the game pretty closely, though her meteoric rise to the status of Hero did untold damage to her mental health. her favorite things include fighting, sugary sweets, costuming, and fishing. she started adventuring as a mage, but shes too stupid to cast spells and is much more comfortable in a physical role. her primary driving force is her need to be a perfect, shining example of infallible heroism, and her secondary motivation is redeeming her enemies, because as the worst person to ever walk the earth, she has to believe that everyone can change so she can believe in her own change.

Aoi Furukane

28, [height to be updated, shes shorter tho], cis, bisexual polyamorous, au ra

aoi is hikari's normie friend! they met on the ship to vesper bay, separated when aoi continued to limsa, but met back up again later. aoi left a comfortable life in kugane to go where the wind takes her, which happened to be adventuring in eorzea. she was present with hikari through stormblood, but didnt take part in shadowbringers, and now serves in a more supportive role as hikari's problems become more and more world-threatening. she did go to the new world with her for dawntrail though, as a vacation that quickly went out of control. even when shes not involved though, aoi serves as hikari's confidant and closest friend. she was the first to learn about her past and often lends an ear to her depressed ramblings. aoi's a mage and a healer. her hobbies include scrapbooking, crochet, wearing leather jackets, and helping cid finalfantasy test fucked up motorcycles.

Euthalia "Lia" Pontikos

1024, 6', cis, pansexual aromantic, elf

Lia is a monument to my hubris. she is the epitome of what i believe a wizard is. lia is an elf who has exactly two hobbies: studying magic and having weird polymorph sex. she's always looking for new knowledge and experiences, but she has trouble forming connections with others and doesnt emote well. after pioneering and mastering magic as an adventurer, lia grew bored and developed a spell to travel to a different random universe, where she would be able to study the magic there from scratch. she's repeated this process numerous times, visiting a number of worlds and developing a minor interest in cataloguing curious similarities between worlds, until she landed on a world that didn't have magic. luckily, it was technologically advanced enough for her to get a job working on warp speed space travel, and she stole their prototype ship to escape that universe in a desperate gamble. she's now spent the last 500 or so years searching for a way to gain some kind of inborn magic to use in case of similar emergencies. she hasnt managed it yet.

Anestesia "Nest" Blackmoor

17, 5'7", girl-adjacent (she/they), demisexual lesbian, human

Nest is the daughter of two shitty nobles. Due to her poor behavior as a child, her parents sent her to a remote boarding school to learn proper decorum. this did not work, obviously. she often snuck out to play with a family of orcs she found while exploring the woods around the school, where she learned to fight. nest's primary hobby is getting into unnecessary fist fights, and their second hobby is protecting girls. occasionally these goals align but mostly she just likes fighting. surprisingly, nest is actually smart, and she picked up a baseline level of magic at school, which she's been working to incorporate with her swordplay. nest is still figuring out her sexuality but im sure if they find a girl to protect, that will sort itself out pretty quick.

Violet

real age ???, physical age 14, 4'8", Girl Presumably, aroace, human?

(art by @s-lycopersicum)

violet has a few iterations, like an automaton created by a vampire horologist, but in her primary iteration she was a mid-tier modron in Mechanus in the service of the god of order Primus. modrons can be promoted from one tier to a higher tier when a spot needs filled, and by a similar process violet was 'promoted' to a human, as a sort of experiment to see if order could be restored to the material plane in this way. however, between the confusion of the human experience and her lack of clear orders (she was simply ordered to Increase Order), violet was a failure. she woke up in a dark bedroom, so she put everything in the room in alphabetical order and left through the window, where she walked due north until she luckily came to a city with a temple to primus in it. a worker there named Enba (created by @neurodecadence) took pity on her and allowed her to stay, where she was given a name and earned her keep organising the library every day. after a year, she felt the presence of her god leave her and realised she somehow misunderstood their directions. now she is searching for a new way to bring Order. violet has a curious interest in fashion, though she doesnt understand it at all. she's red-green colourblind. she reorganises her things every day, with different sorting methods. she gives off the air of something very obviously trying to imitate a human girl, but in a cute way rather than an unsettling way.

Valyrie

35, 6'3", trans woman, demisexual lesbian, half-elf

valyrie was orphaned when her hometown was burned down. she was rescued by a priestess of a temple and taken in, where she was raised as a holy assassin. she's a proper follower of the god they worship, but her duties to the church come second to her quest for vengeance against the person who destroyed her home and family. officially, her title is Priestess, and she introduces herself as such, but she prefers to wear a priest's outfit. she likes the pants. she keeps most of her body covered to hide her burn scars. valyrie's physique is most similar to a starved child stretched on a torture rack. she rarely smiles because her smile scares children. she's soft-spoken but firm. she could sneak a knife into a public bath.

Dr. Anarcha "Ann" Marion

30, 5'6", cis, lesbian, human

Ann Marion got her medical license revoked for performing experimental healing magic on a patient, resulting in his death. the patient was doomed anyway, and she only did it as a last resort, but it was determined that the pain experienced by the patient caused him to go into shock, accelerating his death and therefore placing the blame firmly on Dr. Marion's shoulders. despite healing magic being the domain of the divine, dr marion is more attempting to replicate the effects through intellectual arcane means. she rejects the gods for creating humanity to be so eminently fallible and murderable. her goal is to overcome death and evil through advanced medical technology. she has since completed her work on her healing spell (including an anesthetic preparation) and continues to experiment with more advanced healing. in its early stages, dr marion's healing spells would leave a visible herringbone-pattern scar, but she's perfected it now. she has several of those scars on left her arm from where she practiced on herself. she has a pet adder that she's modified to replace its venom with healing potion. her primary combat spells are for healing, but she does also work with necrotic spells, poisons, and diseases for damage.

Cassidy

32, 5'11", trans woman, lesbian, half-elf

cassidy comes from a very large family. her parents are a legendary 5-member adventuring-party-turned-polycule who've spawned a catastrophic number of exceptional children. each of her dozens of older siblings are independently famous or powerful in some way, including her identical twin brother. cassidy took a more mellow path in life and got married. unfortunately, her wife died in childbirth, and cassidy did not deal with it well. she left their child with her wife's parents and went off to try and find herself adventuring, even though she knows she'll never live up to her family's reputation and skills. she is so tired. currently partied up with Caroline.

Adela, Witch of the Veil

???, 7', cis, aromantic lesbian, erstwhile elf

Adela is the rotting corpse of an ancient evil reanimated by a god of peace and forced to serve. she hates this so so much. she once subjugated the world as the dreaded Witch of the Veil, leading terrible armies against the forces of good and laying waste to whole cities with a single wave of her staff or swing of her blade. now, adela is forced to do good deeds and protect others under penalty of death. she cannot even suggest violence. as such, she relishes any opportunity to kill afforded to her by her work as an adventurer, though such privileges must be granted by her church-assigned handler. her primary goal is to reclaim the relics of her ascension from the old days (her Veil, her Blade, and her Staff) so she can break the god's hold on her and resume her quest of world domination. critically, this will not work.

Elyria

23, 5'3", cis (derogatory), bisexual, human

Elyria is an annoying nightmare of a woman who shows up in a number of universes and has been noted by Lia as a 'curious and irritating multiversal semiconstant'. she's an accomplished and deadly assassin with a talent for arcane magic and a fanatical obsession with the holiest god she can find in whatever universe has spawned her. she dedicates all her kills to the god she worships and claims her arcane tricks are divine magic granted to her because she is a holy servant of the lord. she frequently uses a nun's habit as a disguise for her work, and she also uses it to indulge in her nun kink. sometimes these two goals intertwine. its her greatest joy to defile the divine with her earnest, misguided worship. whatever god she worships hates her so so much and wants her dead. shes dumb as hell and i love her.

étoile

???, 3', sexless girl, aroace, doll

étoile was created by a mad wizard in the throes of apotheostic euphoria as a tool through which she could maintain a connection to the material world as she ascended to godhood. She can't speak, but she's able to communicate concepts and feelings telepathically. She's not shy per se, but she takes a while to open up to others and doesn't readily offer information about herself. But once she's more comfortable, she's very open about what she wants and how she feels, in her own way. If she likes you, she'll let you write your name in her Cursed Book so she can write messages into your brain or maybe save your life. The wizard god IS potentially watching everything through her eyes, but it's impossible to know when, and étoile wouldn't have told you anyway.

Caroline Miller

23, 5'5", cis, we'll call her "bicurious", human

Caroline Miller is a normal girl with no problems. She grew up as the middle child (of 5) in a loving family who ran the mill in a midsized rural community. She's very friendly and quick to pick up on others' emotions. She decided to become an adventurer because of a local coming-of-age tradition wherein the mayor, an amateur diviner, foretold that she would make an excellent adventurer. She attended some local seminars on adventuring basics before moving to the city to intern with an established party and get some hands-on experience. With her natural charisma and familiarity with the family lute, she took on the mantle of Bard. At the end of her internship, she celebrated by getting drunk with her party and dying a streak of her hair pink. Currently partied up with Cassidy, but she has yet to meet her eccentric family.

Robin

???, 5'10", cis, lesbian, soul bound to a weapon

Robin is the closest thing I have to a universal game avatar. She began as an NPC in my DnD game, but I've created her in Monster Hunter and Bloodborne and will continue creating her in any action game i play that lets me. She was created initially as an excuse to have a scythe-wielding character in my game despite scythes being extremely unwieldy, so her general lore is that a powerful wizard bound her soul to a scythe, and then some other more kind wizard created a body she would be able to possess so she could pass as human. Unfortunately, since she needs to maintain contact with the body to possess it, she's had to learn to wield herself as an effective weapon. The exact weapon she's bound to changes from game to game, and her canon is more fluid than most of my other OCs to allow her to fit other settings. She's a generally carefree woman who loves adventure and fighting, and she doesn't tend to think too deeply about anything.

Unnamed Angel

???, 5'9", sexless girl, aroace, fallen angel

one day i'll name her... the angel once served a great creation god, but when that god was destroyed, all the angels in his service fell to the material realm. as a creature created for the purpose of worship, she shows extreme reverence towards all creation, especially living creatures, but shows similar reverence towards destruction, because the object of her worship was destroyed. desecration of life is an act of divine worship, and she finds particular beauty in the eyes of living things, which she preserves and collects. She often spends a great deal of time staring at her own eye in the mirror, though she's managed to hold back the urge to pluck it out so far.

Elemental Sisters

Peach: ???, 5'7", cis, aroace, earth-aspected human

Eltah: ???, 5'10", cis, bisexual, water-aspected human

Vasch: ???, 5'0", cis, aromantic lesbian, air-aspected human

Lefah: ???, 5'3", cis, demi, fire-aspected human

Four kidnapped orphans whose hearts were fused with the cores of elementals, granting them powerful combat abilities. raised by their creator, a monstrously abusive paranoid minor noble dabbling in unethical science, to believe themselves to be artificial homunculi whose lives were directly tied to their creator's, they first discovered this to be false when he was killed by Eltah and they were forced to flee. now, with nothing but each other and their ludicrous combat power, the girls struggle to understand that they might not be merely weapons after all. NOTE that they are not biologically sisters or related in any way! so it's okay when they kiss!