#at least here it will be readable

[kuyashiz]

Hi I posted this everywhere so I will post here too idgaf

[entriprises]

hey besties before you go & decide to put a pastel color on a white bg here’s a handy little website

[uniquezombiedestiny]

Merry's right. She has no right to be trusted after that.

@anomaly-beans

[thedailyvio]

Day 253

[uinferno]

I remember watching a RubberRoss video a couple years back, and he was talking about designing his creator persona in parallel with his girlfriend. He started off depicting what he actually looked like in a cartoon style��something he's been doing since he broke out on the internet—but looked over at his gf's canvas and saw her drawing herself as a monster. He mentioned how this made him realize that as an artist, he doesn't need to present himself conducive to what he actually looks like, but simply based on what he thought looked cool. That he wasn't bound by realism but preference.

That carries over for anyone, actually. Especially since the internet is in essence a second life for you, the person who you can be isn't beholden to your life in meatspace. While, most commonly, this is an extension of queer identity and shedding your AGAB, to present in a manner that you truly *want*, it isn't exclusive. Many already do this with various "rp gimmicks," but I'd make this explicit to anyone potentially reading this. Present yourself according to dynamics, aesthetics, and archetypes that you would love if it belonged to a fictional character.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it doesn't have to end at online interactions but can transcend back to meatspace. You know those memes that are all "what fashion companies think people want to wear what they actually want to wear?" You can just wear the second part. Dress yourself as if you were a fictional character with an iconic design. That's basically all fashion really is. The only real "caveat" if you want to truly lean into aesthetic appeal (key word) then becoming familiar with foundations of design and outfit construction can springboard you to the "iconic look" of fictional characters. In a sense, you are the most important character of your life, and you're allowed to dress and look at yourself in a sense that makes you go "Hell yeah!"

[scarycranegame]

antis: "UGH can proshippers PLEASE stop interacting with minors? 🙄"

me: "i dunno, can minors stop interacting with me?/gen/srs"

[sheylads]

how does one actually like. present their ocs. like coherently

the plot is basically like 99% finished, I've got all the characters and the dialogue and everything pretty much done, it's just like. now what do I do with it all

[fancifulflora]

Hello again, can I request Xelef + 'that glance at (assertive mc) body with their eyes subtly widening, almost gulping as they take in Crown attire. fuck.' prompt? 👉👈 aight that's it, gotta prepare myself some fan before it gets too hot 😳

(anyway don't forget to drink your water)

aksjkj this is the second suggestive X ask I've gotten- I'll be sure to do my best and drink water- hopefully yall will be needing some too after this. Also, I took a couple creative liberties with the prompt, just a warning.

Xelef wouldn't trade their mercenary lifestyle for anything. Their days were filled with adventure and aiding the needy- the ones left behind, falling through the cracks of society. They got to see sights they'd otherwise never get a chance to see, meet all kinds of people from all walks of life, and experience the best and the worst that each region of Arsur had to offer.

The only downside was how long they'd be away from their beloved's side.

The distance certainly made his heart grow fonder, if increasingly frustrated on top of that.

Oh, how they craved the heat of their sun's touch, to be able to feel their soft lips once more. To hold them in bed, listen to the lull of their steady drumming heartbeat, hear how it'd pick up every time the two of you traded flirtations with one another.

Hear how it skipped a beat whenever they touched you.

Though patience wasn't really a virtue of theirs, the plush cushions of your bed were inviting enough that the mercenary found themselves content to wait and burn the time away with a bit of rest.

What were a few hours to the months he had spent away from you?

Lucky for the hero it didn't seem like he'd have to wait for too long, his magic detecting yours approaching from somewhere down the hall- it didn't appear like you were coming from the north though.

Were you coming from the baths?

Deciding it better to feign ignorance to your approach, the Pale Sword closed his eyes, cradling the back of his head with both his hands- fingers intertwined.

He could hear the slow creak of the door opening, a familiar gaze brushing over his frame- the scent of jasmine in the air.

"Oh? I wasn't expecting to see you so soon," A teasing voice called out, the mercenary opening his eyes to take in the sight of his love.

The Crown of Arsur shut the door behind them, their sheer gown fluttering with every turn, teasing, guiding those deep green eyes up the ruler's form.

Your form.

Xelef's widened gaze was addicting, the mercenary making no attempt to hide the hunger they had as their legs swung over the side of your bed- eagerly rising to greet you.

"You wound me, my dear," he sighs, quickly regaining his composure - a hand combed through his dark hair, the hero feigning exasperation with a free hand resting on their hip. "Do you mean to tell me that you dress this beautifully without sparing a thought for your poor mercenary?"

You bite your lip, trying your best to hide a smile as your eyes slid down Xelef, the mere sight of him igniting a flame deep inside you.

Spirits, you missed him.

Sensing your desire; your need, Xelef found no reason to play coy any longer- not after waiting so long for you. As if the two of you shared one mind, your steps matched his. Long strides bring you both together in the middle of the room in a tight embrace; your lips locked against one another.

"I may have heard a rumor or two about the Crescent Blades returning to the city," you admit, giving a breathless laugh once the two of you separated, Xelef keeping his arms still wound around your waist, unwilling to let go completely.

Not when he had just gotten you back.

Another kiss, rougher than the last- the Pale Sword clearly pleased with your admission, calloused hands traveling to your hips and giving them a tight squeeze.

You could feel the rumble of his groan against your lips- a thick swallow, the low tones of his voice tying up your stomach into knots.

"I need you."

Xelef's pull back after his words were cruel, a mischievous grin growing on his face when he noticed the way your body followed after his- a move you made without much thought.

Still, he refused to move any further, pressing his forehead against yours- his skin firey hot, the look he gave you killing you on the spot.

"As if I could ever deny you, beloved."

Before the mercenary could act, you pressed a hand flat against his chest. He paused for a moment, a small look of confusion flashing across his face before he read your body language- understanding your message.

Oh, so you were playing it like this, were you?

A playful smile returned to his face, the Pale Sword holding up his hands in mock surrender. The hero took one step back, then another, followed by another step, each allowing you to push him further back onto your bed.

What you weren't expecting was Xelef's hands flashing over to your waist, pulling you right along with him- your seat planted right above his hips.

The months spent apart were not kind to him, it seemed.

"Hands off," You order, putting more emphasis on your tone- the same way you might address your court officials or Mirs.

Obediently, your mercenary follows your instructions, pulling back his arms to his side with curiosity as to what you'd do next. Though the orders you gave didn't stop his gaze from wandering to the places where he would've loved touching. Your thighs, waist, neck- each longing look melting away at your resolve.

Still, you pressed on, dotting Xelef's neck with love bites, feeling the tension in his muscles as he did his best to heed your orders- keep himself from displeasing you.

And hopefully, earn himself a reward for his troubles.

His self-control was strong, you'd give him that, enduring under your torture as you slid the tips of your fingers up his hairy chest- teasing him mercilessly when you settled your hands on each of his shoulders.

A part of you wanted to see him unraveled before you- to bear witness to that self-control of his shattering under your touch.

Sliding your hands under his tunic, you spread out your arms to drag his sleeves down- further exposing his torso.

He was an alluring sight to behold.

Moving your hands down to his hips, you pressed your nails in to give yourself leverage- your hips rolling against his. The move itself was slow, deliberately so. Years of being together had given you an extensive amount of knowledge as to what your beloved liked.

But hearing that beautiful noise he made? Seeing the weakness in his eyes- the adoration and lust? No amount of experience with him could stop the sound of your heart pounding in your ears.

You take his rough hands into yours, lifting them to the collar of your robes- the open invitation a small mercy from you for the torture he was getting under your teasing.

An apology, for all the torture you were certain to put him through by the end of the night.

[zeawesomebirdie]

At this point I think I just have to accept that I do in fact go here, even though I don't actually know where exactly here is

[broke-on-books]

✒️ please!!

Send me a ✒️ and I'll pick a poem I think you'd like

After flipping through my notebooks I decided to go with my first instinct for you, which was "A Toast to the Alchemists" by Laura Gilpin. This poem hasn't been published online officially, so they're aren't a ton of sites that have it that I could find with a quick Google search. However I've attatched photos of a reddit post with it along with my version in my journal.

I picked this poem because of its themes of time and the passage of time, as well as magic and giving emotional significance to the most mundane and clinical of things (atoms and elements). In other words, taking magic from the world around us, especially through a lens usually seen as lacking wonder or whimsy. Also vibes, I mainly did it based on vibes.

Some other poems I considered in my search/additional recommendations are listed under the cut:

If you liked the writing of this poem, and haven't read it already (or have) I definitely recommend "The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin. It's by the same author and is her most famous poem and is fairly well known and also soooooo good. So good.

Poems with similar themes:

Poems with similar themes to "A Toast to the Alchemists" are

"Dusting" by Marilyn Nelson 💘 (literally cried to this. To be fair it was 10 minutes after I finished the HDM finale so it was mainly because of that but still. Great poem.)

"The Sciences Sing a Lullabye" by Albert Goldbarth

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (90% sure you've read this one its the time theme but inverted and it's great if you haven't)

Rejected picks/Poems that gave me Anu vibes (many for no particular reason):

Poems by Ted Kooser for some reason??? NO idea why they're very different from the ones above but some of my faves are "Selecting a Reader", "In a Country Cemetery in Iowa", "The Constellation Orion" and "Flying by Night" (I'm v much questioning this pick now but I'll keep it up here just in case)

Honestly a bunch of random unrelated stuff was popping out at me ("Listen" by Miller Williams, "Cartoon Physics, Part 1" by Nick Flynn, "Snow" by David Berman) and like a million billion more which I all got from the same anthology (Poetry 180, edited by Billy Collins) so if you want to read a bunch more poetry, based on vibes alone, I'd say look for the book, the website, or the sequel. The poems from that book aren't too similar to the one above but it's really one of two books I generally recommend people right off the bat (it was my lit teachers favorite lol) because it's meant to get young adults and teens into poetry and introduce contemporary poetry in general. Idk how much poetry you've read whatever but even if you aren't new to it it's still a good compilation of late 90s/early 00s poetry that makes you think but isn't super long/totally incomprehensible

Anyways that got WAY longer than I anticipated or anyone probably wanted but poetry is an obsession of mine and recommending poetry is much more complicated and harder that it looks, even for the people you know best in the whole world AFTER interviewing their opinions on poetry, not to mention how difficult it would be for internet friends on tumblr. But anyways there's a couple poems, I got the vibes as close as I could with the poems I had on file. (Although i do feel like I'm missing something big 🤔) Anyways thanks for the ask Anu! Hope you thought my pick was alright!

[2blokesgoforaswim]

page 16 is done but i fucked up the dialogue so i need to fix it before i post lmao. tomorrow (later today cuz its like 2am)

preview under read more

[getvalentined]

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed*. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

*The final results of the poll, after 24 hours:

136,635 votes breaks down thusly:

An algorithm based feed where I get "the best of tumblr." @ 1.3% (roughly 1,776 votes)

Chronological feed that only features blogs I follow. @ 95.2% (roughly 130,077 votes)

This doesn't affect me personally. @ 3.5% (roughly 4,782 votes)

[koobiie]

bestowing my highest honor as an artist to ffxv (drawing the characters in fun outfits)

thoughts under the cut

RREAAAGHHHH SO EXCITED TO BE DONE WITH THIS!!!!! it took me forevarrrr but i soldiered through as an act of love. now excuse me. yap time

OKAY SO the concept behind this was originally specific fashion subcultures for everyone!l ike noct emo ignis dark academia etc. but then decided i didnt want to pigeonhole it all and just freestyled outfits i thought would look nice on everyone

noct - i do think noct would still be emo-ish but also opt for comfy baggy stuff a lot. something you could just fall asleep in on the spot. note the details of bass pro shop shirt (of course) XV necklace, little moon + stars accents, carbuncle + fish keychains. i also wanted his metal band logo shirt to spell LUCIS but i forgor some letters but its not very readable anyways

ignis - ignit ooohghh ignos ignaurs. sorry i made him serve so much cunt it will happen again. i drew him first cause that kind of inspired this whole thing i love him so bad if i didnt draw it id explode. not much detail to note except his collar pins are like his double blade thingies

luna - lunaaa the concept was “clean girl aesthetic” idk if that happened but im actually really happy with how it came out! might be my favorite of the bunch just because she looks so pretty and happy. your honor she should have been able to just be a normal girl and just. chill

prompto - prompotoooo i had trouble picking his vibe!!! my first thought was techwear?? because weeheeeehee he loves tech and well... you know... but then i realized i didnt really like the look of anything i saw + it was so bulky and dark and serious for him! ending up going with some more youthful and baggy. i was considering something more loud and colorful but ended up not going with it. i feel like in canon he'd be too nervous to have such a flashy fit and would want to just look "cool" to fit in with the boys lol. itty bitty details here - chocobo keychain, pompompurin and bi miku buttons, and his lanyard is kings knight themed! i also thought it was funny to write LUCIS on his shirt like you know those shirts that just say BROOKLYN or TOKYO or SAN FRANCISCO and thats it. thats what its like

gladio - okay i know this is going to sound like a lie but im not horny for gladio like at all, hes my least favorite, i think he's just alright. but also i KNOW in my heart of hearts that he would LOVE being a leather daddy and so i had to make it happen. main detail to note here is that his tank top has the motifs of a cup noodle! i didnt know what else to add cause you know.. hes the cup noodle guy.. but also i didnt want it to be so in your face about it with a big as logo so kept it subtle!

(side note the leather daddy gave me an idea for a post where its like noct and prom go to a gay bar all nervous but then they run into gladio and its like "p: GLADIO YOURE GAY?" "n: nevermind that PLEASE dont tell ignis we snuck out" and then ignis walks up and theyre all like WHAT THE FUCK!!!! caption would be "the gang finds out theyre all bisexual." probably wont draw it but i think its very funny lol)

iris - iris my sweetheart.... definitely leaned into the scene vibes here and also that one image of the blonde emo anime girl. details here - of course the moogle big ass backpack and keychain (can you tell i love keychains), but also her buttons are an iris (the flower) and also a crown with hearts (haha symbolism)

anyways oh god i didnt mean to write an essay down here. usually i keep this in the tags but this time i just had Too Much To Say. can you tell i put a lot of thought and love into this . anwyays. *walks off into the sunset and fuckig dies*

[notthestarwar]

Me about to make a promise I know I probably can't keep but knowing it'll probably never come up:

If tumblr ever fixes its broken tag system I'll actually make an effort to tag stuff properly cause I love the idea of having a categorised blog where I can actually find stuff. Like a tag for each character ect

[seafoamsol]

The best years of my life...

... what I wouldn't give to have them back.

I had the great pleasure of working with @spiderscribe on a DeadCeptor work for the @tf-bigbang, which you can (and should!) read [ HERE ]!

Details and artist commentary under the cut!

Okay, first off, I just wanna say, thank you so much to @spiderscribe for picking up my very loose scribble and taking the jump. She's an absolute champ, and I IMPLORE you to read her writing. She did a knockout job on the fic, and guaranteed, these two pieces wouldn't have been so elaborate without her. If you're a fan of deadceptor, parallels, lovers to enemies to apocalyptic teammates to ???s, I'm sure you'll find that and more in there.

[ HERE ] is the link to that, if you missed it the first time around.

The background for the supermarket was a MASSIVE undertaking. I ended up blurring it in the final to keep the dream-like quality, but there is a lot happening there! Most of the time I spent on the background was (jokingly) complaining though.

Anyone who works retail will know the agony of customer-misplaced stock. The little canisters of energon additives seem like prime candidates to be placed willy-nilly.

The little warning sign... My favorite soda, apple sidra, has a carcinogen warning, so I'm familiar with it. It was slightly surprising to me that those warnings are not countrywide, despite the fact that they very clearly say "California Proposition 65", and well. Not something else, like "Federal" or whatever.

The bags of nuts and bolts below, I asked several people what flavor they would be, and I suppose I failed in my job, because I wanted the purple to be the "regular" flavor, and the green to be the "sour". But grape and lemon-lime work as well!

The tub is full of rust-sticks. I have no idea if that came across. My friends kept calling the individually wrapped ones slim jims, which I mean, I guess!

The car batteries... My idea was that they were similar to shots, in a way? So that's how I ended up with a battery with enough terminals to rival an international airport. It's also sunset-coloured, because, I don't know, that's what Party Flavor is to me.

Okay. The second illustration. This one was a headache, mostly due to my own lack of planning, and the fact that I lost the file for... basically everything I did, including the above illustration. So it was a bit of a rush job.

The background bots started off as these very vague silhouettes, which I'm a little proud of. Look at how nice and somewhat readable they are! Okay, now what if I ruined it? What? You don't like that? That's rather unfortunate, because that's what I proceeded to do. In fact, if I take off all.. 10 or something adjustment layers, they look like this:

My process went: Shadow block> Fill rest of form> Color randomiser> Copy and skew (to populate background)> Hue adjustment> Gradient map> Fill Light> Chromatic aberration> Vignette> Levels> Curves.

The.... Magenta cube is there because due to the nature of the color randomiser, the foot had a high value, and stuck out like nobody's business in the end.

Here's what it would look like without the cube. Begone, distracting white blob! (I didn't have to worry about the lava arm because Percy happened to cover it up. What a save! But if he didn't then... there would have been a second cube.)

Basically, it was a mess. But... at least it came out fine in the end! I hope!

I'd love to have speedpaints on hand, but I was switching between CSP and PS for a good majority of the work.

I'd say that's it for these two pieces! I actually have more, but those demand more time. I'm much slower at doing inks than I am at painting, but I hope you'll get to see them soon.