#btw this is why i haven’t been drawing as much my free time has mostly gone to her

[viatrix-glow]

i got to cosplay natsume in @natsmagi’s wonderful fem natsume vday outfit this weekend 🥺🥺🥺 worked on her since march and i finished her hours before the con LOL but she was so much fun

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #3 - Drawing tips!

Hi everyone!

As you may know, every week or so I’m writing blog posts with art advice hints and tips for artists of any skill level in the hopes of helping some people out a bit! The tag is here so feel free to check out some of my other posts!

This week’s post is going to be some drawing tips I’ve picked up over the years that could hopefully be useful for beginner artists! 

(this is about 1800 words altogether btw)

Drawings tips!

I’m going to split this post up into little sections which will hopefully make it easier for you to scroll to find certain advice you’re particularly interested in!

Part 1 - How to get started?

I’m a firm believer that anyone can be an artist, regardless of what materials or equipment they have. So when it comes to my advice on what kind of materials I recommend for beginner artists, I’d mainly say ‘whatever you have’. 

But if that’s a bit vague, I’d essentially recommend you have a set of pencils which you can usually get relatively inexpensive online or in craft/art shops which range from 6B all the way to 6H (’B’ being for softer, darker pencils, often good for shading, and ‘H’ for the harder pencil leads which are best for much lighter shading or if you want a really faint sketch. Something important to note about ‘H’ pencils is not to press too hard with them since they’re a lot more likely to leave indents in the paper than ‘B’ pencils! For general sketching I personally use 2B or 3B pencils since they have the perfect balance of soft & hardness in my opinion!) 

Of course, you can just draw with whatever pens or pencils you already have, so definitely don’t feel you have to go out of your way to buy something new or expensive just because your favourite artists use a particular brand of pencil or pen... Of course, often higher quality pens or pencils (especially colouring pencils) will have better pigment payoff than the cheaper alternatives, but as someone who’s been using the same WHSmith pencils they got when they were a child, I definitely think that as long as you have something to draw with, you’re all set to produce masterpieces of your own!

A lot of my art education got us using charcoal for a lot of our drawing practise. It’s not a medium I’m particularly fond of personally, but it is a great way to practise being a lot quicker and expressive with drawing, so definitely if you’re up for the challenge you can try some charcoal stuff! Only piece of advice is that I wouldn’t really recommend those ‘charcoal pencils’ you can buy in some shops, since they mostly just break apart every time you try and sharpen them... Regular charcoal is messy, though, and smudges very easily, so if you are interested in using it I’d say to do a little bit of research before hand! 

(Or feel free to send me an ask if you want any further advice on using it!)

If you’re wanting to get into digital art, I’m planning on making a post discussing my tips for beginners to digital so... keep an eye out for that in the near future lol!

~

Part 2 - Getting over ‘Drawing Anxiety’

Drawing can be a daunting thing, particularly when artists who are already pretty good at it can seemingly produce a perfectly proportioned face out of thin air. But these artists weren’t magically born with this skill, of course, so with practise and some perseverance, I can assure you that you’ll be at that stage one day!

So my first piece of advice here is to be patient with yourself. Don’t expect yourself to be perfect straight away. 

Second piece of advice is to sketch constantly!! I notice a lot of people who haven’t been drawing long are really careful about how they draw, almost like they’re afraid to be rough with the pencil. So I’d really recommend just starting to sketch a lot: be rough, be messy, draw things you can see and things from your imagination! 

Observational drawing is another thing I think is crucial in improving your drawing skills (and I’ll go into more detail with this in a bit), but honestly just sketching things you like is such a great way to help you grow as an artist! And yes this includes drawing anime fanart or drawings of your original characters! 

Below is some comparisons of my attempts at drawing Freema Agyeman from 2013 to 2019... Is the latest version of this perfect? Of course not. But I just want to show what constant practise can achieve!

~

Part 3 - Observational drawing

I honestly think that observational drawing was one of the most important things I learnt in my years of art education. 

Observational drawing can take on many meanings. Perhaps it’s drawing a still life of a fruit bowl, or a life drawing class with a naked dude in front of you, or even drawing from a photo. The point of observational drawing is to improve how you translate the world around you onto a 2D surface, essentially. 

And you don’t need anything fancy to do observational drawing either! Just placing an array of things in front of you and trying to sketch them (try and focus on a mix of textures and surfaces for the objects. So, for example, including a cup along side a woolly hat will help you get a handle on how to create texture with your drawing, and drawing anything with a reflective surface like cutlery is both challenging and interesting to do! Basically just use what you have around you!)

If you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on how fond you are of seeing naked people lol) enough to have the chance to do life drawing, I would honestly recommend it! Often the final results aren’t great, but it’s a really good way of practising your observational skills! And even if you don’t have the opportunity, just trying to sketch a friend or family member from across a room, for example, is something that can really help you improve! 

Top tip: a teacher once told me that when you’re drawing something like a face, for example, a way to improve how you draw is to see the face not as a ‘face’, but instead as a collections of shapes. Because our brains have a preconceived idea of what a face looks like that we end up drawing what we think we can see rather than what we can actually see! 

There’s a lot of art snobs who believe that drawing from reference images is ‘cheating’ in comparison to life drawing, Of course, this is bs, and I’d say I’ve learnt just as much from using reference photos for the basis of my art as I have from drawing from ‘real life’. For more information about my thoughts on references and how to use them, see This post!

~

Part 4 - Drawing from references: Tracing, Grids and Freehand (which is best?)

Tracing in the world of art is a ... Contentious subject to say the least. And I’m not really interested in getting into the ‘moral’ implications of whether it is ‘cheating’ or not.

Instead I want to focus on the pros of using something like tracing when you’re starting out. I think particularly if you’re trying to improve how you shade things, colour things or how to get better at blending, then I do think that tracing can be a useful tool! Even I used tracing in the very start of my delve into digital art, but soon found that tracing wasn’t really something that was helping me in the long run so moved onto freehand stuff. 

Overall, I think tracing is good as a starting point when you’re still learning about art, and also if you’re not too comfortable with your freehand drawing skills yet. I’d also recommend you mention if you have traced a piece if you share art to social media. Of course, no one is obligated to do this though! 

This is an example of an artwork that I traced (it’s from 2013, hence why it looks... like That lol)

But if you’re someone who perhaps has used tracing in the past and found it doesn’t really work for you, or if you don’t want to start with tracing at all, then a good ‘next step’ I’ve seen other artists get into is using grids. 

Now I have to admit, I’m not the best person to talk about grids since I’ve actually never used them lol... But I know a lot of artists who do, particularly people who do a lot of traditional work, since it makes it a lot easier to translate the reference image to your piece of paper or canvas. 

And in a way I would recommend grids more for people starting out in drawing than tracing, and this is mainly due to the fact grids force you to use a lot more observational drawing skills than tracing! If you’re interested in getting into using grids I’d recommend doing a bit of research yourself! 

The final technique of drawing from references I want to talk about is freehand! Now this is the one I’ve been doing for the majority of my art ‘career’ and honestly is probably the most ‘difficult’ to do of the three techniques. 

But I find freehand drawing particularly rewarding with the ways it can make you reimagine an artwork in ways you never intended! Like what I mentioned in my Reference advice post, I have found that making ‘mistakes’ in freehand drawing can actually lead to more interesting and unique works of art than tracing or grid work could ever do! 

I also think that freehand allows you to create your own characters or concepts in a much more free way. For example, my Spirit of Somerset piece was something I created from a variety of references (I seem to remember I used Isak from SKAM’s mouth as a basis for the girls’ mouth?) and the dragon was based on a real mishmash of references, which is something that I I feel I couldn’t have done if I’d have been using grids or tracing!

With this I’m not trying to say that freehand is the ‘best’ way of drawing, it is just the one that I personally have found to fit me the best, which is the entire point of this post! All of my advice is just pointers I think could be useful for new artists, it is up to you to find which ‘path’ in art suits you best!

And of course, I’ve phrased these techniques as separate purely for the sake of explaining them easier, but the fact of the matter is that you can use a combination of these in your art if you wish! 

If you struggle with drawing the outlines of hands, perhaps use tracing as a way to get a handle of the shape and then maybe use freehand to fill in the colour of them! Use a grid to draw a tree but freehand the leaves and bench below it! 

Remember that your art is your art, and no one can tell you how to draw things! 

~

I think I’ll leave this here for now! But I may do a part two at some point in the future! & my ask box is always open for anyone who wants any specific advice!

I really hope you found this at least moderately helpful, and a massive thank you to everyone for the constant support of these posts and my art!

[notbang]

thoughts of you subside, then i get another letter

[Facebook Messenger window: Nathaniel

   THUR 12:07

hey!

are you there?

   12:13

the little green light is on next to your name that supposedly means you’re online so I kind of feel like gatsby right now jsyk

…that may have been a little dramatic

definitely feeling like this is some kind of glitch because I know you think social media is a productivity suck and it’s the middle of the work day so the chances of you not being knee deep in the environmental law equivalent of guatemalan jungle mud right now are slim to none

but I’m bored and restless and kind of having a shitty day (phone call with the mother this morning… ugh… enough said) so if it’s all the same to you I’m just going to continue to send my thoughts out into the internet ether where you’ll probably never see them

   12:32

https://www.buzzfeed.com/25-times-red-pandas-were-relatable-af

what are your thoughts on red pandas? I love their bushy tails and how they’re kind of like little red raccoons??

okay so I just googled guatemalan wildlife and here are some animals I think you should consider wrestling when you get bored of your monkeys:

a quetzal - national bird of guatemala, could possibly get you thrown in jail? also endangered. maybe don’t wrestle so much as gently tussle

an armadillo - they’re armoured and weird and cartoons lead me to believe they roll up into balls? please confirm

VAMPIRE BATS - self explanatory

an ocelot - looks like a house cat but will rip you to shreds. a comical misdirect

a toucan - why are their beaks so big? just feel like it would be funny idk

a FREAKING BASILISK - oh my god BASILISKS ARE REAL???? I don’t know what to do with this information. fuck.

   12:48

still reeling about the basilisk agenda

anyway I’m supposed to be writing but I just keep scrolling and I know I should just close my browser but I CAN’T because writing is the worst it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done

remember when I told you breaking up with you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done? WRONG that was a walk in the park my friend

(sorry to rehash old wounds)

   12:59

I know I owe you a letter btw but in case I haven’t made it clear writing is currently my mortal enemy and I am currently only capable of charming streams of consciousness

wonder if I could harness that somehow. I could be, like, the virginia woolf of songwriting.

morbid thought: your little icon thing-y at the top of the window kind of makes me feel like I’m having a one sided conversation with your portrait at your wake

I don’t know why I said that wow that’s such a weird creepy thing to say??

but also I stand by it

nathaniel plimpton iii: mauled by monkeys. may he rest in peace

(I know we’ve covered this but please don’t die)

you’d think I would have learned my lesson joking about that since the last time but turns out I decidedly have Not

   13:07

I love how I don’t even need you here for this conversation, really, because I already know exactly what you’d say. something about my pervasive inability to focus on work, probably

you’d be wrong, though - the reason I felt so free to focus on other things was that practicing law was easy. I could argue municipal code in my sleep! but writing songs? god, you have no idea. you’re lucky you don’t have a creative bone in your objectively aesthetically pleasing body because being creative is the fucking worst

it’s just occurred to me that perhaps you’re ignoring me because of the aforementioned letter-owing

and in response to that I’d say: who’s keeping tabs, really? should friendship be about keeping score?

so I just checked and it has been literal months since you wrote me and since the last time we went this long without corresponding it turned out you’d been in hospital recovering from a monkey mauling, I want to make it clear that I’m not in hospital, I’m just terrible

I’ve been working hard at being a more reliable friend lately but turns out that’s easier when it mostly consists of responding to impromptu facetimes with your friends that have moved to different law firms and cities and states and not so much the physical act of handwriting to words to your ex boss slash boyfriend that moved to a different country.

we draw the line at political borders, apparently!

this electronic word vomit DOES have me considering the merits of switching to email, but I’m also really attached to how romantic the act of letter writing is?? Who needs immediacy, really

to be clear, I mean romantic in the byronesque, whimsical idealism sense of the word. I’m not, like, coming on to you via Facebook messenger.

hahahahaha because that would be so wired right

*weird

yeah.

   13:22

anyway speaking of weird I’ve had my notebook open on the table next to me for well over an hour now and yet somehow this song hasn’t written itself which is basically a hate crime at this point

do you think in the future they’ll have some kind of technology that can extract images from your mind and adequately express them on the page for you? elon musk and his waifish canadian baby mama should get onto that

because these songs are always so clear in my head - we’re talking costumes, set pieces, montages - and the second the pen is in my hand it’s like crickets chirping

🦗🦗🦗

what would you say is the natural soundscape of guatemala btw? are there bug noises? I always imagine it with bug noises

   13:39

do you need bug spray? I could send you bug spray

   13:52

it has since occurred to me they probably have bug spray in guatemala which is probably for the best because they’re always weird about mailing aerosols since they might explode or something

hey. if your sabbatical had a theme song, what do you think it would be? right now I’m picturing a duran duran - hungry like the wolf kind of deal but you’re like… hungry for new opportunities or something

how do you feel about dressing like indiana jones?

idk I’ll workshop it and get back to you

anyway time to actually focus on my song writing so… sayonara I guess. or, as one might say in guatemala:

nos vemos 💩

   16:37

ok ok ok so I maaaay have just googled 'elon musk mind reading’ instead of song writing and that maaaay have lead me down a terrifying two hour long rabbit hole where I learned way more about the future of technology than I care for bUT BUT

https://www.thecorset.com/article/4372-elon-musk-grimes-rococo-basilisk

thanks, baader meinhof phenomenon. basilisk agenda CONFIRMED.

okay, actually signing off now but for realz. I’ve abandoned any delusion of you ever actually reading this which is probably for the best at this point but thanks for inadvertently keeping me company in my procrastination 💕 - strongly slash apologetically worded letter to follow.

maybe. hopefully. if I ever actually remember how to write.

bunch out!

💩]

[le-poofe]

Idk if this has been asked already, but how long does it take you to create a comic/art piece? And what is the order of the steps you go through? (Btw I love your art)

That’s a good question! I’m gonna use the most recent page as the example. I’ve talked a little bit about how long it takes, but I haven’t really explained my process. Heads up, this is pretty long! I could have just put in one panel’s process, but it’s more fun to show the whole page

1. The Sketch ~ 1-2 Hours

This can take a while for a number of reasons. A few factors could be business, tiredness, a lack of inspiration, creating too many options for myself, etc. But generally this part goes at a decent pace. I have a script that I follow loosely, where I’ve written dialogue and actions that seem good for what’s going on. I will spend more time on panels that I have a specific image in my head for. Those last two panels are much cleaner/more fleshed out than the previous four because I had a much better idea for how I wanted them to look.

2. The Lineart ~ 2-4 Hours

The lineart takes the longest, hands down. It’s the clean up, final changes/additions, and just making everything look all nice for the rest of the piece. This is where I spend like 5 minutes comparing facial expressions to see which one I like better, drawing another one, and then choosing the first one I drew. 

3. The Background ~ 30 minutes

The coloring is so much faster than the lineart. I will usually go slower here on purpose because I enjoy it, and it’s a relaxing break from the lineart. I just color right underneath the lineart, I don’t worry about anything looking messy under the character linearts because I know they’ll just be covered up. Typically, if I start the lineart in the afternoon, I’ll get to this point and stop for the evening.  

4. Flat Colors ~ 5 Minutes

This goes relatively fast as well. I take my time for the most part. It’s just tedious to select the lineart. I kind of color them differently. Sans gets his darkest colors first, and then I add light layers on top. With Grillby, I put on the lightest color for his shirt and the middle color for his flames (I use 3-4 colors for them). Doing that kinda helps me establish that Grillby is a light source and Sans is not.The color schemes are almost direct complements, and I do eventually add yellow to Grillby’s flames. It makes them contrast with each other, and is generally satisfying to look at imo. It also makes Sans’ colors somewhat analygous to his surroundings, because of the deep blues and reds. The purple does stand out, but not nearly as much as the bright orange. 

5. Finishing Grillby ~ 45 Minutes - 1 Hour

I have a general routine for adding Grillby’s details, which is why it goes quick. ((There will be a separate post on that process later)) It only takes that long because I have to do it for multiple panels per page. I’m sure this page was even shorter because it mostly featured incomplete shots of him. To finish his flames, I use an airbrush to add the reds, then I do the same with the yellows. I take the brightest yellow on the palette and use that for his freckles, eyes, and mouth ((if it’s open)). The last thing I do is color his lineart a dark red. His eyes are lined with a darker red to compensate for the glow I put over them, which makes the lines look faint and hard to see. For his shirt, I shade it with the lighter pink color, and then airbrush the darker pink on the areas that are further away from his flames.

6. Finishing Sans ~ 1 hour 

Sans definitely has a more drastic change than Grillby. Almost none of the original purple survives the overlay layers. I have two or three light layers on top of the flat colors. I use one of the colors that is from grillby’s color palette, it’s a slightly altered version of his flat orange. First I do hard lights, that don’t have their edges blurred. The top of his skull and those half circle shapes under his eye sockets are some of the most noticeable examples. Then I go over that layer with another overlay, but this time with an airbrush. I put it in the same areas, but it makes everything look softer. There’s one more overlay, which uses the dark purple of Sans’ shirt. It helps me to not make everything too light. On top of all three of those is a a Luminosity + Shade layer in the orange color to make the brightest spots pop.

7. Finishing Background Details ~ 15-20 Minutes

This is basically doing the same thing I did to Sans on the background. I use the same orange from Grillby’s color scheme and add light where it needs to go. I can be more lenient on details because it’s not the main focus of the page.

8. Adding the Glow ~ 5-10 Minutes

This is just me taking the orange light color and airbrushing it just above the background on a Lum + Shade layer. This goes under the layers that Sans and Grillby are lined and colored on. The next layer is the same as the last and goes over both figures. It acts as a final highlight to the lightest points of the two. Usually it’s the top of Sans’ skull, the tips of Grillby’s fingers, and the area around his mouth. Then I airbrush Sans and Grillby’s eyes in blue and orange respectively on a Lum + Shade Layer.

9. Text and Final Details ~ 20 - 30 Minutes

This is where I figure out where I want to place the dialogue, and add in anything I might have missed. In this case, I forgot to fully draw and shade Sans’ tears at the beginning. I slap my signature on and boom! All done!

I hope this was helpful! And sorry it’s super long 0v0;; If you need clarification on anything, feel free to ask!

[altarflame]

Let me give you this real country music breakdown.

Keeping in mind that 2019 involved lots of gut wrenching transition, including divorce and selling my home of 11 years (the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere). Moving away from the tropics, to a place where the ocean is usually too far and my plants can’t live outside through the winter. I had a kid move out and away, for the first time.   My oldest friend also died last August, after a scant 3 month long battle with cancer. It was a real plague upon my proverbial dog, wife, and pickup truck. And, of course, I’m living through a pandemic, and a long overdue but very emotional racial justice uprising, with the rest of you, now. Anyway. OTHER than those things, my 2020 has been like...My sister’s gradually, gut wrenchingly cut off all contact with me over the past couple of years, culminating in the last couple of months, whenst we no longer speaketh at all. I’ve fought hard for this to be different and it’s still very sharp. I don’t think I’ll ever give up hope, or stop making a fool of myself about it. A new friend I was starting to really care about hung herself in April. I’ve tried to be there for her husband and 5 year old daughter when and how I can, which is honestly not much. I’ve taken several people who were scared to go alone, to her grave.  I felt forced to break up with the person I thought was my soul mate, these past 3 years, and wanted to be with forever, and I have grieved it hard over the last couple of months. I’m still processing this. I’m gonna be processing this for awhile. My threshold for being anywhere near him without overwhelming sobbing is apparently approximately 45 seconds. In the beginning we were scrambled together, mixed in a celestial bowl and hand fluffed with a feather. And the tears of bliss were not amiss - it was a good day.  But the story nears the present time Of restlessness and wake up calls Wake up! Years have flown fast but then who's counting The wars have been won but there's few left standing between us And the shadows of Christmas past... Critically acclaimed but sadly underrated - Fortune definitely favored us, but no one celebrated. Our wits were splitting at their ends... We gazed upon the city lights We each laughed aloud one final time and agreed: This is one thing we'll miss... On his way out, he sabotaged my part time foster child’s mom’s tenuous, fragile relationship with me, so I no longer have the ability to connect with or help that child who he brought into my life. Who I love and wonder about and periodically hear horror stories about via mutual friends. I bent over backwards, I burned calories straining for that trust between the mom and myself.  

It’s so terrible sometimes. It hurts so bad. Jean-Paul. LAURA.   *MILLS*  . Coralye. FUCK. This post brought to you with plenty of hard crying, and no shortage of echoing painful music. I’m physically sick about this shit semi often.  I don’t normally let go of anybody, guys. But certainly not my fucking nearest and dearest.  I have a lot. I have SO MUCH. I know this. I feel good a lot of the time.  I have all 5 of my kids under this roof while the pandemic rages on, and they’re all healthy and beautiful and they all love me and talk with me. It’s mostly all cake these days with them, Elise telling me where she is in her own solitary reading for pleasure, Ananda cracking me up, Jake biking to the grocery store for treats to share, Aaron showing me something amazing in the yard, Isaac washing dishes and giving me weirdly helpful and totally unanticipated advice. They’re almost no work now, it’s all return on investment and I have tons of privacy and I use the fuck out of it.  I’m deeply in love with somebody these past 7 months. Being deeply in new love AND devastated-heartbroken about lost love at the same time is honestly dizzying, I spent a first destitute day thinking maybe I can’t do polyamory anymore, period. Maybe this is too fucking much and I’m gonna be alone and focus on my career and my goddamned plants. (<--not fucking really, obv I am not gonna let the pain win and go full hermit. Brief compelling temptation, though.) My career and my plants are great, btw, thanks for asking. I’ve got basically my dream job, it’s flexible and lackadaisical AND meaningful and challenging, it’s salaried with bonuses and hella benefits and amazing job security. It’s the whole thing, the culmination of 6 years in school and unpaid internships and volunteering. I even have a spare PRN position elsewhere that I mostly hang on to because it’s fun when they want me to come make $200 for a shift, to mix it up a little.  And I have solo projects, writing and web and mental health, all in the works, and they’re good.  I have seedlings sprouting. I have a yard that is pure magic, revealing new secrets each day.  I’ve got some of my oldest people, like Jess. I’ve got some exciting new people, like Jill.  The love, did I mention it? Holy shit. I’ve got Sterling, and that is a whole other story. That it’s been this good while things are this bad is pretty astounding. His own drama quotient has been off the charts, too. I almost can’t imagine how wonderful it would be if we weren’t constantly adrift in a sea of bullshit, though I also strongly suspect we both need a certain staggering minimum quota of bullshit. It’s no accident that we met mutually chasing along after the wake of the same madman’s chaos. We’re nursing some deep wounds in each other, waking up some old old hurts and soothing them back down smaller and smaller. Anytime we’re touching it’s either syrupy soma sweet, blazing inferno hot, or a staggering blend of the two - and then we pull apart to try to actually speak with whole brains, and inevitably take turns being baffled, just hilariously relieved, at how easy it is to communicate. We alternate coming at each other on tiptoe, braced, and then feeling confused and just.... amused? Skeptical? that the other is totally able to empathize with what was just said and is accepting it gently.  We don’t have a ton of objective stuff in common, on paper. We’re both very wordy and linguistic, we’re analyzers, we draw unusual people who will feel safe telling us insane things. We’re both hypersexual perverts, chronic pickers, we both wear too much black. It doesn’t go a lot further than that at a glance. We both have PTSD and ironclad outward facing coping skills, nostalgia for the Florida Keys, scientific skepticism mixed with some faith in magic.... we were both brilliant children who felt pretty isolated. But I haven’t ever really felt like anyone is loving me the way I love people, before. I’ve never even felt like anyone else received my love, the same way I intended it, or at least not all of it. It’s like the intensity of what I’m conveying and meaning when I kiss somebody’s cheek, I dunno man, he experiences it. The goofy flowing sense I have, of holding hands, he comments on it all the time. I’m not just like.... alone, in my overwhelm with being touched, or my enthusiasm for sensations, and that is honestly pretty new to me. Sterling is not tolerating my affection for my sake, and I’m still gradually adapting to that with periodic backsliding into hesitance, and unneeded apologies. It’s like we’re totally fluent in the precise same love language, so nothing gets lost, and the feedback loop is instantaneous.  He’s dark inside, but dark like Nine Inch Nail’s A Warm Place. Dark like the womb.  So as I was saying. I have so much. Including a candle that’s about Mills, and is burning behind me, giving me this slipping sense that I need to blow it out, I need to reserve it, it’s gonna be gone soon. This one spans so many feelings, it’s been positive, some new candle would be what, voodoo? Meddling? I don’t know. This one’s been in a drawer, with our ring buried in it (my dragon). What will I do with that ring? What will I do with all this love?  How can I contain so much, anyway? Why can’t anything ever replace anything else? It’s like infinite space, and the empty places just keep throbbing, and it’s like I sprout new spots for new fullness and the cavities pulse on.  I’m deeply grateful for a certain self-completeness I’ve come to understand that I have, and that not everyone does. I am resiliant A-motherfucking-F (<--meta vulgar!). AND YET. OW OW OW.  I’m sitting here trying to exposure therapy my way through my Mills playlist, as I write this, so Spotify can’t surprise me into sads anymore. I’ve gotten already to a place where sometimes i remember positive things purely positively, and laugh and tell a story and it’s ok. I’m bitter as all hell that I can’t even talk to my sister about this breakup, after she had so many stupid goddamned feelings about the relationship itself, about polyamory in general, about ever knowing him (which might have allowed her to help me grieve at all).  Sigh. I love the internet, maybe feel free to send me a message if you’re still reading, whoever the fuck you are <3

[austennerdita2533]

A ship edition of make you choose, my friend! Klaroline or Bangel? Lorelai/Luke or Rory/Jess? Anne/Wentworth or Emma/Knightley? Mondler or Benslie? Rachel/Ross or Rachel/Joey? April/Jackson or Lexie/Mark? And I always love your analysis, so please feel free to explain the reasons behind your choices if you want to! XO

I am always so excited to receive these even though answering/picking means ripping my soul into shipper Horcruxes haha. Love your new icon, btw! xx

Klaroline or Bangel? 

Although Buffy and Angel are arguably my favorite forbidden love couple on TV - their longing for each other is an eternal, visceral, soul-encompassing thing - I have to go with Klaus and Caroline on this one. They’re the ship that brought me to Tumblr. They’ve yanked more fic out of me than I can believe. They’re the reason why I have so many amazing friends and mutuals. More importantly that all that, I am trash for them and always will be. 

THIS CANNOT BE HELPED.

Klaroline have such tangled history, such rich possibility for the future. I get lost in the labyrinth of goodness and darkness unspooling between them. The qualities that clash. The emotion that sparks. The resistance that builds and builds, binding uncomfortably before it snaps. The enigmatic ‘something’ that scrapes between them like teeth until it comes away infected, bloodied, marred in chunks that are beyond reconciling with any chronology. They have the kind of connection that digs under the skin with claws. It’s neither painless nor pretty, not always happy nor healthy, but it pervades. It permeates until possession becomes nine-tenths of the law in their conquered hearts. Inevitability coils like like a living thing between them--and breathes.

I love the malleability of time that surrounds them, too. Part of that comes from their status as vampires, as supernaturals, but it also has something to do with how they punch through it as well - individually, together - both of them finding new ways to love eternity as it continues to stretch before them, bending it to their will whenever necessary. 

I don’t know, it’s fun to imagine the enigma they pose to the world. To each other. What will a new year bring? A decade? How about a century? 

Despite their lack of heartbeats, there’s change on the cusp of every word they utter to one another, on the fringe of every kiss they almost share but swallow before they reveal too much, not enough, everything all at once. It’s a dizzying, dangerous, and intoxicating “thing” they share, you know? 

I suppose...well, I suppose I just like how there’s nothing easy about who they are or want they want. 

Lorelai/Luke or Rory/Jess?

This one was difficult because JavaJunkies and Literati are top tier ships for me. *cries* I went with Luke and Lorelai mostly because I’ve been a shipper since I first saw them in the pilot episode back in the early 2000′s, and--I haven’t looked back since. They had me rushing home from school to watch re-runs, hightailing it from after-hours sports so I could catch new episodes on the WB. I haunted message boards. I scoured the Internet for spoilers. I tumbled into fanfiction before fanfiction was even a thing. I watched the seasons over and over again until I nearly memorized every moment they had, every bit of dialogue they spewed; until I analyzed subtext until I made my own head spin.

What I love so much about them is that they’re friends first and foremost. They genuinely like, trust, and respect each other as people beyond all else. They’re opposites, of course, but in a complementary way that just works. They also come to know they can depend on one another in good times or bad, and it’s that ‘unconditional’ element in their dynamic which draws me in hook, line, and sinker because it’s the kind of quality that preserves the longevity of a relationship. To be honest, over the OG series, we do see Luke and Lorelai veer farther away from each other romantically more than we’d like: *side eyes s6-early s7 specifically*; yet, at the same time, there’s a Permanence about them that never fails. Never fades. They’re simply THERE in whatever capacity the other wants or needs. No matter what, no matter when, no matter the emotional crap that’s already pooled between them.

Call me crazy, but I think steadiness and devotion of that caliber is beautiful.

Luke and Lorelai evolve together in such a way that it’s impossible for me to imagine them with anyone else in the end. They belong together like coffee and donuts.

Anne/Wentworth or Emma/Knightley?

Ask me this same question tomorrow and I’ll probably give you the opposite answer. However, today...today I am all about the angst and pining! 

Eight-and-a-half years worth of regrets and broken hearts that never mended, looks that scorch because they were held a moment too long in front of company, secret longings that are whispered into pillows before the candle on the dresser expires and they tuck their weary limbs into bed, dreams that feature that one face impossible to forget--LEAVE ME HERE TO SING “KILLING ME SOFTLY” because that’s what Anne and Wentworth do to me!

Mondler or Benslie?

Look, I will love Monica and Chandler until my dying day but Ben and Leslie are so unbelievably adorkable together that anytime I think about them my heart is instantaneously flooded with warm, sunshiny, politically active, eats-waffles-for-every-meal-and-regrets-nothing fuzzies. I just--*melts onto the floor in a puddle of Pawnee rainbows*

Rachel/Ross or Rachel/Joey?

Ross-hatred is pretty embedded in the Friends fandom these days so I am sure many are or will be tempted to jump down my throat for this choice but...BUT...I do not care! *laughs maniacally* Ross and Rachel always had that boomerang spark, that “we’ll find our way back to each other” ellipsis at the end of every break-up or missed opportunity, that kissing-each-other-in-the-rain passion that could not be weathered despite the number of years or marriages or ‘almosts’ they had with other people, and I cannot get over them. I cannot give them up. I won’t, I won’t.

SHE GOT OFF THE PLANE, OKAY?  She. got. off. the. plane. And, controversial though that might be for some (trust me, I get all the arguments against it; against them, really), I can’t help but be gleeful they got their happy ending. I wanted it then, I’m still satisfied with it now. *shrugs unapologetically*

April/Jackson or Lexie/Mark?

This last one cut me deep. 

Ouch. 

However, with Slexie, at least it’s canon that they were each other’s true albeit last *cries* loves and I can pretend that they reunited somewhere in the afterlife. But Japril...Japril was done so. stinking. dirtyyyy by Grey’s Anatomy. I will never forgive the writers for ending them the way they did. Never!

JACKSON AND APRIL ARE THE EPITOME OF SOULMATES. Their relationship was predicated on the purest, most wholesome kind of love because it blossomed from mutual respect and admiration as well as understanding. They invested the time. They put in the work. They peeled back the layers slowly, carefully, learning the magic of caring by opening their ears first then offering their shoulders when hurt swooped in to snip at pieces the other had left undefended. It was only later, with time, with trust that had turned conversation into a balm of contentment, that arms became a refuge, too. A harbor. A place of comfort and affection where they felt seen. Heard. Known. Loved in a way that wasn’t free from tears - oh, no - but was embracive of them as they fell, cushioning their remnants on thumbs as if they were more precious than pearls. 

They loved everything about each other, vices included. They were best friends, lovers, something more intimate that defies definition but wraps itself around the sentiment of “having a favorite person.” 

There’s an ethereal quality to what they are--what they mean to each other. You can’t quite touch it, can’t quite capture it, all you know is their atoms continue co-mingling whether or not anyone else notices it’s happening. 

There’s no ending to a love like that, only another beginning.  

[carlottastudios]

Please Read 2.0 Part 4: EUAAAEO

That mess of vowels that served as a title stands for Expelling Unnecessary Accounts And Altering Existing Ones. Because that’s basically what this whole bit of news is about. I was originally going to have it split into multiple parts, but they’re all similar enough that I changed my mind. So, straight to the chase: I find that I have too many social media accounts and I think it’s time to change the ones I will continue to have. Now, I know that it’s a good marketing strategy to have as many social media accounts as possible, but honestly? I’m willing to risk my marketing taking a hit in exchange for maintaining my sanity. And actually? I’ve not gotten rid of as many accounts as you might think (not as many as I want to, that’s for sure). Only 2, Wattpad and Fanfiction.net. Yes, my longer being on Wattpad means I no longer have access to stories posted there. But I never honestly liked using Wattpad, whether for reading or posting, so I really only held onto the account because I felt I had to. Really, I just needed an excuse to delete it. There are some stories there that I am sad that I’ll never get to read again, but *shrugs* that’s something I can live with. As for fanfiction.net, I just don’t feel like risking going against their rules, particularly when it comes to rating. I know that some have gotten away with posting lists or explicit smut and stuff on there, but still. It is a risk, and I’d rather not end up pushing my luck too far and facing the wrath of FF.net’s admins. So, there’s that. Also, no, I didn’t actually delete my FF.net account, because they don’t actually let you delete accounts over there. But I have altered it so I can’t sign in there anymore. On the plus-side, this means the stories over there are still up so you can still read my first 20+ fics over there if you want. Just know that I won’t be able to interact with anyone over there. Next up are some accounts that I’m not deleting, but I will no longer be active on as a creator: DeviantART, YouTube and Facebook. Yes, I’m still very unhappy with DA Eclipse and I would rather use it as little as humanly possible. So, even after my hiatus, I won’t be posting there anymore save for rare exceptions (like if I made a post for/inspired by/in collaboration with my brother, who is still on DA). I also won’t be super-active there in terms of messaging and chatting, partly because I just prefer Tumblr’s PM method now. So, yeah, as sad as I am to mostly-leave my first ever platform, I’ve finally settled on this decision and I’ve made my peace with it. I like to think of it as my “growing up and leaving the nest” kind of thing. Again, not abandoning DA entirely, but it will no longer be my primary and most active social media platform. For YouTube, it’s more that I just don’t want to make AMVs anymore, and, quite honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with Raptor of the Opera. It was just such a long, grueling and so negative experience that it just put me off making AMVs and soured the whole hobby for me. Video-editing is a lot of work and I sincerely applaud those who make it their livelihood! I also know that it can be very fun work, and I will admit that I had lots of fun moments when making AMVs in the past. But it’s not quite enough fun for me in comparison with all of the effort and work that I have to put into it. Add onto that the negative experiences and emotions now associated with AMV-making for me, and I hope you can understand why I’m not doing it anymore. But another reason I don’t plan to make videos anymore (at least for the foreseeable future) is because that’s just not the content I want to focus on. It’s not my most important content or the kind of content I want to be famous for making. I’m a writer. My writing is what I care most about and, when I get back from my hiatus, I want to focus more on writing and making more written content. It won’t be easy, and I admit that I still love drawing and will doubtless continue drawing a lot, but this is what I want to put more time and effort into, and I feel it’s more worth it than any of my videos, whether it’s AMVs, MFMs (dear god, someone please explain to me why those are my most popular videos *epic facepalm*) or Speedpaints. So, yeah, I’ll still be on YouTube a lot (maybe more than I should be, honestly, that site is just so distracting) to comment and like and stuff, and my old videos will still be there. I just won’t be posting any new videos, at least not for a LOOOOONNNG time. BTW: I’ve put all of my old videos into a playlist, and I’m thinking of making said videos Unlisted, so you can only view or find them via the playlist. Maybe. I haven’t quite settled on that decision yet. As for Facebook, I think I’ve made it no secret at this point that I just DO NOT like Facebook! Honestly, if I felt I could get away with it, I would delete my Facebook account entirely. But I still need it for IRL stuff on occasion, so *sigh* better safe than sorry. Someday, though, I’ll be happy to kick that account to the curb. Which leaves the sites I will be remaining very active on: Pinterest, Tumblr and ArchiveOfOurOwn. Pinterest because I really like it and it’s a great place for me to gather images that inspire me or that make me feel better when I’m down (I have an entire section of one of my boards dedicated entirely to Keith Kogane because that boy is my self-care and I’ll be making a similar board for Karna because he is my emotional-support-husbando). Tumblr because, despite being a hellsite, I’ve come to enjoy my own little corner there, because I met my best friends there (and because I like the PM system there, though not as much as Discord), because I can find a surprisingly huge amount of good content there and because, since I’m dropping DA, it’s the next best thing I’ve got to a place where I can post all of my content. And ArchiveOfOurOwn because…actually, do I even need a reason? As long as people are smart enough to tag everything appropriately, it’s pretty fucking fantastic! So, yeah, when my quasi-hiatus is over, I’ll be back to posting frequently on these sites. Until then, I’m afraid I don’t have much else to say about this. I guess I…hope you guys will follow me on Tumblr, Pinterest and Ao3 because that’s where you’ll see me most once I’m fully back? *shrugs* You do you, guys. Thanks for reading/watching this, stay safe and take care of yourselves in this crazy world of ours! (oh, and if you’ve been reading/watching all of the parts so far, stay strong, there’s only one left, then you’re free)

[tonystarktogo]

Top 5 Favorite Time Travel Fics You’re Prepared To Defend To Death

Full disclosure, I absolutely adore the time travel trope. I have yet to meet a fandom where I didn’t enjoy it and the MCU is no exception. Especially since -- let’s face it -- it’s not like there’s a lack of issues that need fixing. Nor is it out of the realm of possibilities, in-universe-wise. I do my best to avoid spoilers, but that isn’t completely possible.

Here are, in no particular order, my favorite gems of the lot:

#1: If You Had This Time Again by dls

Tony Stark closed his eyes in a wrecked Siberian bunker and woke up on a demolished New York street. Four years earlier.

There are many, many reasons why I adore this fic and I promise it’s not just because I have a huge weakness for long stories (which, by the way, dls has my utmost respect for writing so much so well, seriously and their posting schedule is something I can only dream off). The changes Tony inevitably causes, big and small, immediate and over time, are wonderfully done.  But I think my favorite part is the way the author takes time to develop Tony’s relationships. The way Tony builds his family this time (in true Tony fashion both accidentally and on purpose) and particularly his friendship with Pepper are things I cherish.

The main pairing is FrostIron, which isn’t for everyone, but I personally love it and damn if it doesn’t work well in this fic. Their interactions had me on the edge of my seat right from the beginning, wanting more and at the same time knowing that the wait would make it all the sweeter. I could list more things, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I also haven’t read everything yet -- for that matter, the fic is incomplete at the moment -- because I occasionally lose track of this beauty during stressful times and then go back and re-read everything from the start. So far, I haven’t regretted that a single time and I know I’m going back to this fic again soon.

#2: We'll Meet Again (Some Sunny Day) by @tangodancer91

Stranded in the past, Toni Stark builds herself a new life, far from superheroes and corporate expectations.

Reading this series is both, the best choice and the greatest mistake I ever made. Mostly because it is wonderfully woven, heartbreaking and -shredding mess of angst -- also because it’s incomplete. I’m still waiting for my happy ending here *pouts* 

Seriously though, the series handles the interactions between a post!CW Toni and a 40s-Bucky-and-Steve, the developing relationship between Toni and Bucky, the inevitability of the ever-looming future events ARSIDLSLKSjksadkls!!! This fic just gives me so. many. feels. and I swear Build, Now, a Monument delivered everything I expected after the previous parts, killed what was left of my heart and was so freaking amazing that I had to re-read it despite the pain I knew it was going to cause me. What is it about angst that draws me in like this? I’d seriously like to know.

Anyway, whether the series will be finished or not, I assure you it’s absolutely worth reading. Just-- try not to let bitterness and tears swallow you whole while you do that.

#3: Seize Yesterday by DannieU

In 2017 the Earth is about to end. In 1987 Howard Stark might have the answer. The solution seems simple, except Tony has the worst of luck, and he might just be stuck.

In which Tony hates magic, time travel, babysitting amnesiac assassins and being seventeen.

Another favorite of mine. I really enjoyed the plot in this one -- and of course the WinterIron. But don’t let the summary fool you, the key words are indeed ‘worst of luck’. Which means that, yes, this another mess of angst and heartbreak. So much angst and heartbreak. I’d say the ending more than makes up for it, but to tell the truth I was still reeling from the emotional rollercoaster and couldn’t properly enjoy it. I also really liked the thing with Natasha (you’ll know what I mean) which I’d never seen done in a fic before (though I’m pretty sure there are others out there, I just haven’t seen them yet.)

Overall, it’s a great fic -- and contrary to the first two this one is finished -- and I definitely recommend it.

#4: Anew. by @ivivao3 

In death, there was no glory, no redemption, no salvation.

Only darkness and ice—or that’s what Tony thought. He closed his eyes in a Siberian bunker and opened them again on his 41st birthday, with War Machine flying into the distance.

This one is for you IronStrange fans out there! (And I know for a fact that you are out there, guys, denial is futile!) There are two obvious reasons why I remember loving this fic, even though it’s been a while since I’ve read it. One thing is indeed Tony and Stephen. The other is JARVIS. Also seeing Tony say “Go. Save. Yourself.” was incredibly satisfying, therapeutic and honestly couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy (okay, there might be a couple more on the list, but it’s a start!!) 

Anyways, the fic is completed and there’s also a sequel, though that one is still ongoing. Enjoy :)

#5: Veni, Vidi, Amavi by Maedlin

(We came, we saw, we loved.)

Tony's not the hero type. To suggest otherwise would be outlandish and fantastic, clearly.

Yet somehow, he's the one that's responsible for saving the universe. Now, he's a decade in the past. He's just revealed to the world he's Iron Man. Tony finds himself facing dozens of old problems, and as time passes the ripple effect of his presence generates ever more new issues.

All the while, the impending threat of Thanos looms ever-closer.

(Or: how I becomes we and Tony learns that not all burdens must be shouldered alone.)

Truth be told, I might be getting ahead of myself here, since I haven’t actually finished this fic yet. Oops. Still, it’s time travel and also it includes bot feels. (And yes, I’m counting JARVIS as a bot in this scenario, just let me, okay.) I’ve really enjoyed the chapters I’ve read so far, which is really enough to warrant a place on this list *shrug*. The story is also finished and has a still on-going sequel.

*

Obviously these aren’t the only great time travel fanfics, so if you have a favorite that hasn’t been added, please feel free to join the Top 5 Fanfic Saturday or just add it in a comment/reblog.

Btw what do you think about time travel?

[makeste]

BnHA Smash!! 01 and 02: Smash!!Might is a Fucking Menace

okay, so. I have about a million other things I should be doing instead, including (1) responding to asks and/or finishing in-progress metas, (2) reading Vigilantes, and last but not least, (3) actually making a dent in the ever-increasing backlog of Actual Work That I Really Should Be Doing Instead.

so naturally I’m procrastinating by taking my first stab at reading BnHA’s cute 4-panel omake spinoff series, BnHA Smash!! IT JUST MAKES SENSE. look, I have exactly one thing I felt like actually doing and not procrastinating today, so I might as well do the thing. basically it’s my attention span’s world and I’m just living in it.

anyway! so apparently this series was scanlated by good ol’ Fallen Angels. that’s right; prepare yourselves for some very creative cursing, fellas. other background info for anyone who, like me, is unfamiliar with this spin-off: this series debuted on November 9, 2015, a little over a year after the original series. said original series was currently at chapter 66, meaning the Final Exam arc was just wrapping up.

so now that we’re all properly oriented, let me go over a few disclaimers real quick and then we’ll get started!

all comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.

I’m aware that not everyone may be familiar with Smash!! even if they’ve read/watched the original series, so I’ve tried to make this recap comprehensible even if you haven’t read the spin-off. that being said, it’s probably more enjoyable if you have, so you can either purchase the first volume from Viz here, or read the chapter online (I don’t want to link directly, but the spin-off is available on most of the usual sites. literally just google “read mha” and you’ll find some good options).

this readthrough contains a handful of sorta-kinda spoilers for the BnHA manga, although there are no direct spoilers. just an indirect reference to a joke in chapter 242, as well as a reference to a theory which as of now is in no way canon. but just to be on the safe side I’m posting a heads-up.

and I think that’s it! so here we go.

so we’re opening with a brief summary of the series. people have superpowers and shit’s nuts. you know the drill

there’s also a brief description of the way that the superhero economy works, complete with Mt. Lady’s employees unionizing and demanding better pay

...what

guys I keep staring at this and thinking that surely, SURELY it doesn’t say what I think it says. sidekick... what... manager??

you know what? Viz unfortunately doesn’t include this series as part of their subscription package (WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR, VIZ), but it does at least include a free preview of Smash, and I bet you that this, the first fucking page of the series, is a part of that preview. so... let’s see...

okay, see, this actually makes sense! so did the FA scanlating team collectively all have a fucking stroke?! just, what??

this is one of the reasons why I had difficulty reading Vigilantes too, tbh. those early chapter scans were, uh. but at least Vigilantes has a Viz scanlation too. I don’t want to spend 10 bucks just to read one volume of this, but we’ll see. anyways

so now there’s a strip about baby!Izuku watching his favorite clip of All Might saving one hundred people from a bus accident or whatever

lol Inko you should not have left your shrewdly calculating four-year-old son unattended omg

TWELVE MONTHS’ WORTH OF TEXTBOOKS HOW CAN THIS EAGER YOUNG MIND RESIST

and this is why you don’t leave your credit card info saved on the computer when you have kids. life lessons learned today

this is the first indicator we have ever had that baby!Izuku wasn’t perfect and was, in fact, capable of being a little shit and giving his mom plenty of gray hairs in his own special way. ngl, I fucking love it

also 12,800 yen is about $118 USD, which is honestly a really good deal for a year’s worth of textbooks. he got three boxes of books! I just googled the average cost of college textbooks, and the google article said the average student spends about $1200 a year. so this is a fucking steal tbh

OH MY GOD INKO HOW MANY TIMES MUST HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF BEFORE YOU LEARN

at least install a fucking adblocker ffs. you’re lucky quirk supplement ads are the worst of the ads he’s getting! PARENTAL CONTROLS

now we are cutting to a comic about baby!Izuku defending another boy from my problematic fave, as seen in page one of the original series!

lmaooo

I’m not clear on how much of this spin-off can actually be considered canon. my understanding is that it is Horikoshi-reviewed and approved, even though he doesn’t actually write it. but it’s obviously a humor series, so a lot of it is just going to be jokes. that being said, I think my approach is going to be “if it’s not completely ridiculous and doesn’t contradict the actual manga, go ahead and consider it canon”

(ETA: I might change this up after reading the first two chapters. most of these strips would have terrifying implications if they were actually canon sob.)

anyhoo, this actually does contradict the manga in that we saw this encounter play out very differently. but I kind of wish it was canon regardless because looool. these cocky preschoolers and their fucking Battle Tears

the next comic is Mt. Lady accidentally stepping on a guy’s face and the guy being way too fucking happy about it (read: having a fucking nosebleed and taking an upskirt shot). we’re just going to skip this entirely. this is another problem I was having with Vigilantes too. you know, for all my complaints about Mineta and such, BnHA as a whole is so much tamer than it could be, and I need to give Horikoshi credit for that. he mostly knows where to draw the line, and to his credit he’s also much, much better about this kind of thing than he was when he first started. maybe Mineta’s standings in the character poll results are helping to clue him in

anyway, I’ll mostly just skip past the iffy stuff because I don’t have patience for it and there’s still plenty of other stuff to cover. so on to the next strip

which features a bunch of reporters fawning over Mt. Lady’s flashy quirk while Kamui Woods laments in the shadows

and yet we know this kid will have a prominent rise within the next six months. it’s so strange to revisit the start of the series and see how much things have changed in such a short time

oh my god

no one who dresses up as a giant mushroom could possibly have good intentions. I. just

and look at the fucking disappointment in Deku’s eyes. KAMUI WOODS HE BELIEVED IN YOU!

now some strange man is coming up to Deku and is all HEY YOU, YOU’RE A HERO OTAKU, TELL ME WHAT TO BUY MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. better not ask him unless you’re prepared to shell out $120 bucks for some fucking textbooks

hey, what!!

WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO SEE WHAT HE BOUGHT HIM? unless it’s the action figure the kid appears to be holding? but I’m just going to go ahead and assume Izuku recommended the number one best gift that any seven-year-old child would love, i.e. a giant sword

now it’s a sludge monster omake!

so Izuku is trudging home all depressed after CERTAIN INCIDENTS, and Sludgey is glooping his way out of a sewer towards him

oh no All Might

my biggest takeaway from this is the fact that the entire second half of chapter one takes place after All Might has emerged from a fucking sewer. I forgot all about that somehow. or maybe it never fully processed until just now. but omg. this entire chapter must have smelled so fucking bad. these poor kids

wow All Might

sure called that one wrong. ah well nobody’s perfect

looooool

lmao, Smash!!All Might appears to be quite a bit more vain than the original. wow dude

btw, friendly reminder (and I think this is something that was actually pointed out to me after one of the recaps; that’s one of my favorite things about doing these) that All Might, after saving Deku, actually read his notebook before signing it. super-fast, I guess, because he’s the best. but yeah, so he knew exactly how smart and observant Deku was, and how much he wanted to be a hero. his decision to pick him as his successor didn’t just come out of the blue; even before the “my body moved on its own” thing, there was a lot Deku had going in his favor. this is one of those little details of which BnHA has so many, and which I love

lmao what the fuck

ngl this version of the series would have been amazing in its own way. but yeah. so this is why we clearly can’t assume everything in Smash!! is canon lol. but I can already tell I am going to enjoy the shit out of this series

now we’re cutting to Deku running at Sludgey in order to save Kacchan, oh shit. the most dramatic part of chapter one. clearly no moment is sacred

sob what

I don’t understand this strip at all. is this supposed to be a serious moment inserted unexpectedly among this multitude of joke strips? or did I miss the punchline? heeeeelp

(ETA: okay so. my best guess is that All Might wrote all over Deku’s life-saving advice, and so the joke is that Deku no longer knows what to do when assaulting sludge men because HIS NOTES ARE RUINED. idk. what does 25 P mean??)

now All Might has Done The Thing and saved my boys, and now Mt. Lady is helping with the cleanup. scooping up all the bits of sludge and putting it in trash bags

oh my god

nope nevermind. nope. nope

-- shit. okay, you know what? this first chapter has been a real in-your-face reminder of the fact that the sludge monster was not made of cute sparkly 2018-trending-fad slime, but was in fact composed of RAW FUCKING SEWAGE. (ETA: to be clear, I’m pretty sure the joke in this strip is that she accidentally picked up dog-doo during her clean-up. but still, the fact that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the gunk speaks for itself.) I think I forced myself to gloss over this fact originally due to the nope factor. but just. Izuku and Katsuki were both choking to death on this shit?? and just, how the fuck did they make it out of this not traumatized

and also, like. All Might was straight up going to leave Izuku alone afterwards, just, “well enjoy your autograph, fine citizen” and blasting off out of there. and everyone fucking saw Katsuki almost suffocate to death later on, and after giving him a pat on the back they fucking let him go off on his own too? and you can’t even make the argument that this was Just Another Day In Quirk Society either, because more than a year later, Katsuki is still a bona fide fucking celebrity from the media coverage of his attack. it clearly was not something that happens every day. in conclusion, these kids are resilient as fuck, and thank god for that because people apparently just do not give a shit, holy christ

anyway. at least Mt. Lady had gloves

OH MY GOD

I FUCKING KNEW IT OH MY GOD. THE ROIDS. MUSCLES LIKE THAT DON’T JUST GROW ON TREES, I DON’T CARE HOW MANY LBS OF GARBAGE THIS KID HAULED OFF THE BEACH. THIS BOY BEEN HITTIN THE JUICE

Smash!!Might is so fucking shady omfg. probably sells cheap counterfeit electronics on Amazon

oh shit and that’s the end of the fucking chapter lol. that’s it?? that was only eight pages. fuck it, let’s read another. but first here’s Horikoshi’s note on the spin-off

so he really feels that Neda gets the spirit of the series and understands him. that’s very encouraging. the best spoofs and parodies are done out of love. I really think I’m going to enjoy this series

so! onward to chapter two

so here’s All Might dressed as Mr. 2 Bon Clay from One Piece, I guess??

“you know what’s funny? dressing a man in girl’s clothes LOL.” guys can we grow the fuck up. and also acknowledge that All Might can look good in anything, so this questionable gag wouldn’t have even landed anyway. you work that tutu All Might

lmao check out the past users of OFA here

All for One for All theory fucking confirmed lol. just look. that’s him in the back of the conga line. clearly

so Deku is all “hell yes why would I possibly say no??” but then

HIS LIMBS. lmao. sign here

in all seriousness, given the shit this kid has been through since the part of the series, All Might probably should have gotten him to sign a liability waiver of some sort. not that it would have stood, since Deku is underage! anyways Deku you totally have grounds to sue the shit out of the Symbol of Peace should you ever choose to do so. and the trend of Smash!!Might being shady af continues yes please give me more I love it

so now All Might is giving Deku his fitness plan which has a really elaborate name

given that this is Smash!!Might, I can’t help but wonder if this plan is in actuality some sort of MLM scheme. All Might are you trying to get Deku to do Herbalife

lol what in the fuck

the original series skipped right over a hell of a lot, it would seem. like the time Deku traveled to Arizona and fought coyotes in a poncho

I’m starting to suspect that Neda-sensei might be on some sort of substance. “let’s see what jokes can I make about chapter 2 of BnHA. I know, I’ll send the protagonist to a fictionalized version of the American Southwest in a sombrero, and then turn him into a 65-year-old oil tycoon.” naturally

lmao that’s really it, that’s the strip. moving right along. okay??

now Izuku is staring at the intimidating piles of Beach Trash and is all “I HAVE TO PICK ALL THIS SHIT UP?”

omg Deku no

somebody call Marie Kondo. Deku none of this is salvageable. not even to reuse in a color page photoshoot spread four years from now

OH SHIT

PROVED ME WRONG OH SNAP. SHOWED ME RIGHT WHERE I COULD PUT THOSE SASSY TAKES. MY BAD DEKU I’M SORRY

anyways I don’t know what Smash!!Might is so upset about. he probably wove some kind of clause into the contract Deku signed that allows him a percentage of the profits. unless Deku already spent it all on textbooks

what the fuck is this fucking series lmao

time for a round of “what is All Might casually crushing in this panel?” is it (a) a cardboard box, or (b) like, a mini-fridge or some fucking shit. IT COULD BE EITHER. IT MAKES EQUALLY AS MUCH SENSE EITHER WAY. “HEROES THESE DAYS ARE [FLEEEEEEX] OBSESSED WITH BEING FLASHY” 

holy shit no wonder he ran away to the Sierra Nevada. it’s only a matter of time before this freak fucking kills someone

NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO KAMUI WOODS DRESSED LIKE A DAFFODIL, IN THE SAME FUCKING COMIC STRIP, BECAUSE REASONS

my jokes about the mangaka being high as a fucking kite when he wrote this are gradually becoming less jokes and more serious inquiries??

lol so he coincidentally just stumbled across All Might and Deku at this exact moment

AND IT WAS A FUCKING REFRIGERATOR OH MY FUCKING GOD

do you guys remember during the final exam when All Might beat the everloving shit out of Deku and Kacchan, and everyone was all “JESUS CHRIST WOULD YOU LEARN TO FUCKING HOLD BACK A LITTLE THEY ARE CHILDREN YOU MANIAC.” but now we can see plain as day that he was, in fact, holding back. anyways Smash!!Might is terrifying as shit and if this had been the main series I would have already pegged him as the final villain by this point

here he is now wearing an old-timey bathing suit but looking more like an escaped convict than anything else

this panel is actually canon. I’ve decided. this 100% definitely happened at some point. especially the swimsuit

now two bikini babes are walking up and they’re all “IS THAT ALL MIGHT??” with excited sparkly eyes because they don’t know that he’s actually a deranged con artist who crushes refrigerators like empty soda cans. this spin-off has truly opened my eyes

LOOK AT THIS SKEEVY FUCK. JUST LOOK

AND NOW HE’S RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING DEKU TO DROWN IN EXHAUSTION, SON OF A

“SUDDEN BUSINESS” KSJLDKF SMASH!!MIGHT IS A FUCKING MENACE TO SOCIETY AND ALSO DOES NOT GIVE ONE SINGLE FUCK. NOT ONE!! HE’S OUT THERE FUCKLESS, AND NO ONE IS SAFE

now Deku is approaching his mom all serious and says he wants to change up his diet

and she’s looking at the menu he prepared all impressed and thinking that she might join him. as long as it’s for your health, Inko. if this manga starts making jokes about your weight, I will beat it over the head with Deku’s textbooks

OMFG

THIS WENT IN THE EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS EXPECTING, AND THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER READ WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. the whole fucking family is on the juice. and the fucking mangaka is on some special juice of his own oh my stars

now we’re cutting to Mt. Lady stomping on a car

thank fuck no one was actually in there. also does she not wear shoes

and also, it only just occurred to me that she must be another person with a special quirk costume, because her suit shrinks and expands along with her. Hagakure and Momo are really getting shafted by the costume design team here. they need to fire some people

anyway so Mt. Lady slipped on this carelessly placed vehicle and fell down and crushed an entire building whoops

bruh, you think you’re “ow.” let’s hope that building was empty too

and now she’s toppling another building just fucking because, I guess. and saying she can’t do urban areas

lmao and now the sidekick [CENSORED] manager from chapter one is back to guilt-trip her omg

I need this man to show up in every freaking chapter. please. respect my wishes

and now Izuku is standing on top of his collected pile of garbage screaming in victory

I only just realized that there’s still a big old Pile O’ Trash on this beach, though. someone needs to haul all of this junk away. or else get All Might and Mt. Lady to crush it all with a combined effort

oh shit here it comes y’all, the famous “eat my hair” scene. potential comedy gold right here omg

lol what the fuck

this man is a fucking billionaire and he’s out here clipping coupons and deleting pictures of his son in order to make room for them smdh

okay now we’re doing the hair scene

oh. oh no. I know where this is going sob please keep this comic rated PG for the children Neda

motherfucker they really --

Smash!!Might is a straight-up felon. this man has no fucking scruples. that’s okay Midoriya-shounen, if you don’t want to eat my hair we could just try some REDACTED, jesus christ I am going to need some bleach for my eyes after this

OR LET’S JUST STRAIGHT UP GO THERE WHY NOT

lmao sob. well, two chapters in and we’ve established that no territory is off-limits here. it’s a brave new world. wow

 so that’s it! our introduction to BnHA Smash!! I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading more! I’m not sure what kind of schedule I’ll keep, but this is a really good procrastination manga thus far, so knowing me I might actually work my way through this relatively quickly. especially since the Manga At Large is on break this week. anyways my deepest apologies to the many people who have been requesting for me to start Vigilantes instead. I just need something lighter right now, and this is a good fit. one of these days I’ll get my shit together with the other two spinoffs as well.

[creativetrashcans]

Simmer - Get To Know

By @cupcakegnome

Tagged: @ talemagne

CHIWAWA

Your name: Lonely Chiwawa (she/her)

Languages you speak: Catalan, Spanish and kinda English 

Are you a mermaid: No not really... can barely swim tbh

Your play style: mmmh i like most things, creating sims, builidng is so much fun too, also challenges mmh stories no tho i cant write em LOL rip 

Your Selfsim picture: 

Stories or gameplay, builds, lookbooks, edits or cc: Challenges, builds and some other things coming heh

Your favorite age state: Teen or young adult

Your favorite season: Winter!!! i feel it has a lot to do and the snow is soooo pretty 

Your favorite holiday: Only played harvest fest so far... in sims BUT irl i like Christmas 

How was your day: It was chill and nice, even went outside wew

Your favorite career: Painter...........................maybe?

Your favorite aspiration: Soulmate

Your favorite EP, SP or GP: Seasons 

How old is your simblr: Less than a year i think 

Have you woohooed: Yes, many times

Your favorite skill: Cooking, parenting and painting

The size of your Mods folder: 37,7 GB

Your 3 favorite mods: uhhhh hahaha impossible to choose

Your interests (other than sims): Drawing, make up and nails, mmh minecraft old anime and series too 

Your favorite sim (picture if possible): Maybe not my favourite Sim of all time because we got so many! But this is our version of Franky form One Piece. Before starting any project just for fun we made him and I always felt so proud of how he turned out. Not only he looks very attractive, i also feel its a good representation of how a human him would look like.

Which Sims games you have played (including mobile games): Sims 2, 3 and 4 

Propose a crazy scheme: People being nice always and world being in peace and not dying in gud old climate change

Best part of simblr: seeing how other people enjoy the sims and how they play also them aesthetic 

Worst part of simblr: mmhhhhhhhh lack of comunication between players i don’t feel much sense of community here at least now... i actually suck at comunicating so..... dunno

What other games you play: Minecarft recently but not much into games actually

Other websites or accounts (origin, twitter etc..):  

Twitter --> https://twitter.com/creativetrashc1

Intagram --> https://www.instagram.com/creativetrashcans/

Personal Instagram --> https://www.instagram.com/elia_clco/

My side tumblr --> https://generationtrashcan.tumblr.com/

Are you single: Nuuuupe

WORM

Your name: Lively Worm (she/her)

Languages you speak: Catalan, Spanish and some English.

Are you a mermaid: Nope, I’m a worm.

Your play style: I love building houses and decorating them, dressing sims and doing their makeup.

Your Selfsim picture:

Stories or gameplay, builds, lookbooks, edits or cc: I do gameplays, challenges and buildings.

Your favorite age state: I think it’s young adult because I can explore more.

Your favorite season: Autumn, because of the beautiful colors.

Your favorite holiday: I don’t know yet, I haven’t explored all of them.

How was your day: It’s 15:40h and I’m hungry, I want to eat soon.

Your favorite career: Musician.

Your favorite aspiration: Musical genius, unsurprisingly.

Your favorite EP, SP or GP: Pets and vampires.

How old is your simblr: Less than a year.

Have you woohooed: ¬_¬

Your favorite skill: I don’t know, maybe the singing skill?

The size of your Mods folder: 29,9 GB.

Your 3 favorite mods: I can’t choose. There are so many so good!

Your interests (other than sims): Singing, drawing, anime, manga and kpop.

Your favorite sim (picture if possible): Why?? I can’t choooooseeee, I love most of them! Okey, after a lot of thought I’ve chosen Una, Usopp’s daughter from our 100 Baby Challenge, because the three of us love her and I love drawing her!! She’s really charming and she’s grown up really well. I relate to her because she also loves drawing and vampires.

We posted some drawings of her on twitter and insta!

Which Sims games you have played (including mobile games): Sims 2, 3 and 4. And some PS game I don’t remember.

Propose a crazy scheme: Making people learn expectatives are bad and judging others hurts everyone involved.

Best part of simblr: I can share our art and tell many stories with interesting sims.

Worst part of simblr: The lack of comunication.

What other games you play: Kingdom Hearts, Hollow Knight, The Last of Us... mostly play station games.

Other websites or accounts (origin, twitter etc..): 

Common Twitter: https://twitter.com/creativetrashc1

Common Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativetrashcans/

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makaru_walker/

Are you single: No, I’m Turtle’s.

TURTLE

Your name: Lazy Turtle (she/her)

Languages you speak: Catalan, Spanish, English and some basic French.

Are you a mermaid: Pretty sure I’m not.

Your play style: Starting projects and never getting past the building process is a playstyle? I usually like to have some objective though, instead of just playing aimlessly.

Your Selfsim picture:

Stories or gameplay, builds, lookbooks, edits or cc: I find stories pretty awkward to portray on Sims, and fashion and decoration were never my strong point. So I stick to challenges, both found and created.

Your favorite age state: Depends on what for. Young adults are the easiest to manage and have more options, but toddlers are the most challenging on a Baby Challenge.

Your favorite season: Autumn, always. Its colors are just beautiful.

Your favorite holiday: Haven’t played them all yet, so I can’t say.

How was your day: (Tumblr erased all my hard work on this thing, but the day I first wrote it I had my blood taken so not great). Today, I discovered the extent of human stupidity in mass hysteria situations. Never seen a supermarket so empty of food before.

Your favorite career: Hypotetically, writer. But I haven’t played as one yet so I can’t confirm.

Your favorite aspiration: Big Happy Family’s been pretty fun for our matriarch, but I still have many more to explore. (I can say it’s not the kid’s mobility one. Stupid mecanography.)

Your favorite EP, SP or GP: Probably Seasons so far.

How old is your simblr: Less than a year.

Have you woohooed: Uh.

Your favorite skill: Uhhh... No idea.

The size of your Mods folder:  29,9 GB. Worm and I share a game and a mods folder, but Chiwawa dumps her messily organized mods on us from time to time.

Your 3 favorite mods: Wow nope.

Your interests (other than sims): Mostly writing and reading (I’m the main writer of this tumblr, btw), but also videogames, anime and k-pop.

Your favorite sim (picture if possible): I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite sim of all time, I have far too many sims I love for different reasons, but this one was specially hard to get right so we feel particularly proud.

His name is Carles Serra, and he’s a parental figure for two of the MCs of the story we’re working on. He’s a math and ethics teacher on a very exclusive highschool, and he needed to have both a very refined and snobbish air and this inevitable awkwardness all math teachers seem to have. Plus, he has to deal with teenage drama all through the story, so I feel like he needs a lot of love. And maybe some vacation.

Which Sims games you have played (including mobile games): Sims 2, 3 and 4. And I think I once tried to make a sim on a terrible PS2 version or something.

Propose a crazy scheme: Mandatory therapy for teens so everyone learns empathy and management of one’s emotions would be pretty neat.

Best part of simblr: Sharing our common passion with others in a free and creative way, probably.

Worst part of simblr: The lack of interaction, I guess. I had only ever been in a very small fandom here on tumblr before, and compared to the closeness of that comunity, I feel like simblr is... very scattered.

What other games you play: Play Station ones, mostly. Whatever gives me a compelling story.

Other websites or accounts (origin, twitter etc..):

Common Twitter: https://twitter.com/creativetrashc1

Common Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativetrashcans/

Personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALazyTurtle1

Are you single: I’ve been dating Worm for years now.

We will tag: @hellobreadsims

[mrpenguinpants]

This isn’t important at all but because of social distancing I have nowhere else to vent my feelings about this game too and my friends have all blocked me.

Man, you ever see someone so beautiful that you know they are going to overrun your life because not to be dramatic, but I will lay my fucking life down for Seox

Like fucking, move over Gilgamesh. I have not touched FGO or BSDTOL because I’ve just been playing gbf 24/7. Literally, its 5am when I’m typing this (mostly because of the new drang and strum event which I will get to later in this essay) 

Btw I have this weird auto-correct on, idk how to turn it off or why it only fixes some words, so if names get mixed up that’s why 

I started this game because I saw Belial being posted 84 times on my twitter and I’m thinking, who is this man and why is he on my dash so many times. Turns out he’s from gbf. like okay seems interesting. turns out it a mobile game. well, buddy lemme level with you I don't have any more phone storage so ripp but oh shit wait I can play this mobile game on my browser??? I've been trying to get FGO on my computer for 84 years (I haven't actually I'm too lazy) okay now I am very very intrigued because playing a mobile game on my browser is apparently a big deal to me

okay play the tutorial seems like an okay game, kinda boring I think after a while but oh wait

they got me where it hurts

the gambling addiction 

and when you first start you get free 10 draws every day for maybe a week? and its like fuckinggg??? my first ssr was melleau (I will treasure her forever) so I was pretty much sold 

I just wanted to peek into the lore then fucking tripped on my ass and fell into the rabbit hole that is lucilius and sandalphon because ummmm sandy is my bread and butter and I hate the fact I didn't get his summer version. literally, I started Feb 25 this year just I was right before the 6th anniversary and the GOD DAMN FUCKING SCRATCHER BULLSHIT but my gacha luck is fucking god tier in that game but my e rank luck sucks all the life out of it so I have a pretty stacked team (let’s ignore the fact that I could have gotten grimnir 2 times on the scratcher but nope more fucking soul berries yay...though I shouldn’t be complaining too much because it gave me cain, Lucio, monika, and someone else?? I don’t remember) but did sandy wanna come home? no of course not

though I did get percival summer and halluel and malluel and they can do 2M dmg if the boss your facing is at max health with one ability/skill. Basically, I’ve got a pretty stacked team for all elements but weapons are awful because I may be Lvl 100+ but I'm on chapter fucking 9 because I accidentally made an oops and got the 1hr Exp boost and did slime search with my nuke team over and over again. Also I was super sad I couldn’t get Heles summer event character either cause she’s a god tier okie dokie in my heart. I also love Zeta and Beatrix like fuck dude. I have both of them and their white day scenes are so cute, esp Bea. Side note, I would smash Esser/Tien so hard into the ground because holy fuck my heart cannot take this abuse?? She’s also such a sweetheart and I basically love everyone in this game 

But yeah, seox, I love him and I am so upset that when I started, it was during the unite and fight event and I could have gotten his revenant weapon and nope I fucking went for niyon and seite and I didn’t realize that when I fully upgrade the weapons I get the eternal and even then. i literally fucking switched draw boxes because I didn't understand how uncapping worked so I have a 2 star siete weapon sword thing and a 2 star harp and I wanna kms basically because I could have gone for the six ruin fist to get seox or the fucking dagger because oh my god I love quatre/feower??? I played the seeds of redemption and thought he was low-key kind of a prick but NO I UNDERSTAND NOW HE IS A PRECIOUS CHILD AND I WILL ALSO LAY MY LIFE FOR HIM. Dude is so pretty its unfair and my fugly ass. i looked like the joker from the Animated batman cartoons (you fucking know the one) But its okay, at least I went for two wind eternals and I like pretty much everyone except funf. Precious child and everything but I hate her voice. Also vryn, like best lizard but a fucking gremlin that I wish I could mute

this entire game is basically me understanding that I really like sweetheart tsunderes and self-empowered girls and that I really enjoy guys that are all gay to some fucking dumbass bastard, hate life, and angsty 24/7 and full of anger but that's okay because I am stuck in reality and self aware

but is that going to stop me? probably not

Also can i just go on an entire different subject and talk about lancelot because FGO did him wronggggggg. I love him. So much. Like holy shit dude im so happy him and Percy got into gbf versus 

Also when I was doing lucio’s fate episode I love him but god damn i wanted to skip that fate episode. homeboy comes out with a fucking spotlight on him and starts spitting bullshit like he's god damn Shakespeare 

Also, I really like Sandalphon with Lyria and Drang with Strum platonically cause its some major wholesome shit. The new event for Drang and Strum is some pure stuff and I’m speedrunning the event so I can get all the materials and etc but holy shit do people kill the event raids so fast??? i still have ptsd trying to solo nehan tho granted drang and strum aren’t that hard to beat. Also playable nehan when??? Mugen is great and all and I have him but if it was nehan instead that means I could have gotten nehan AND I WANT THAT TRADE. Mugen goes super saiyan and he’s an absolute unit so it’s alright but i love nehan and fuck dude give me seeds of redemption part 2 please

In conclusion, my love for seox has turned violent but I will be the first to say that when he get’s his mask taken from siero it is not okie dokie for my heart when he acts surprised 

[artgurusauce]

Haven’t posted here in a while since the guidelines changed but I thought “Fuck it why not” since this is so huge.

Yup just go ahead and throw some shitty google translate kanji up there you dumb American hahaha Seriously tho I was just too lazy to do dialogue in english ;w; Anyways, been scrolling through the Haudion tags on here for the past couple of days and while I already have a Haudion fic on my plate and I'd rather not do 3 fics at once, I got inspired after watching "A Silent Voice" by Kyoto Animation on Netflix after being recommended to me by several people (Yes, I am aware of the arson attack btw, that was mostly why I was getting recommended). So I decided to make a special secluded AU thing here and share it with y'all. Not gonna elaborate on this further so please don't ask me. You guys are all free to write something of your own out of this if you want, though. But this little binch is just too tired and too overworked -▽- Now I did a doodle page of Gladion and Hau as Shoko and Iida but after clicking around on here and AO3 some I decided to make a new and more original doodle sheet. Gonna go over each doodle one by one, starting from left and going to right and also starting at the top and going to the bottom. Hopefully it's not too confusing lol. Context: This AU essentially is just "If Glad was a greaser" but also "Hau is blind/deaf". Gladion is a gang member, straight up. Not much to comment on, other than he is in constant conflict with an opposing gang that sometimes trespasses on his turf (The Skull Gang). He is in fact an ex-member of this particular gang, but quit after a huge falling out in which he actually left the leader with a scar on his face. Unfortunately, I didn't get to build much on his background for this since I wanted to keep the focus on the relationship. But you can fill in the blanks. Hau is basically a Helen Keller type deal, and while he can speak it is slow and stunted and sounds very awkward. Usually when talking to someone he doesn't know, he will attempt to sound out words while using his hands to communicate. He has a special sign language he performs by tracing and moving his fingers a certain way along someone's palm. 1.) Greaser Glad Reread an AO3 fic that was Haudion drabbles. I came across a chapter titled "Seven Kisses" and a particular scene was rather interesting. After reading the comments, I found someone who I was actually familiar with and has sent me fan art before talking in-depth about a possible Haudion Greaser AU and I thought it was a pretty cool idea (Obligatory shout out to @the-kawaiifan you should totally check out her page). So this first doodle is just concept art basically. I looked up Greaser fashion and I do in fact have my own Southside Serpent leather jacket so it was pretty easy for me to draw up lol. 2-3.) First Meeting I would imagine they first meet when Hau is being mugged on Gladion's turf by Skull Gang grunts. Of course, Gladion is mostly just beating their asses for trespassing on his turf, and he drives them away pretty quickly. At first he mistakes Hau for a girl as he is rather small and feminine looking with long hair. At first he warns "her" to leave but he quickly notices it seems that "she" can't hear him. Hau eventually manages to communicate with Gladion and figure out what happened to him and he speaks aloud while tracing on his hand to thank him for his help. Gladion is off-put by this and quickly realizes Hau is actually a boy and while he feels embarrassed and shameful he shakes it off. (Dialogue in number 3 translates to "Thank You") 4.) Chibi Smoking Sucks Just a cute doodle of the boys. Hau don't like the smell of smoke. 5.) You're Beautiful Now I've been taught a lot about how blind and deaf people work and the thing I hear most often is that their other senses are extremely heightened as a result of their other senses being cut off. Basically, since less attention is put on those senses, way more attention is put on others. And in Hau's case, I'm sure that's probably double the case. Just a generic scene of one of the first times Gladion realizes he's totally in love with this cute clueless boy. He's beaten up (Fill in your own context by whom and why, personally I'd insert a Skull Gang beat down here lol) pretty badly and Hau touches his face and basically examines him and he just says out loud that he thinks Gladion is beautiful. This pretty much has greaser boy totally head over heels for him buuut he hides these feelings cause he feels like he'd just be taking advantage of Hau. (Dialogue in this one translates to "You are beautiful") 6.) Obligatory Rain Snuggle Poor poor Hau is not very popular with other kids in his neighborhood. On a particular day going on his way to visit his best friend Gladion he's cornered and beaten up by a bunch of jerkwads in his class. They steal his jacket when they see it's about to rain and leave him there. He keeps on his way to visit his friend even in the pouring rain and starts to catch a cold. By the time Glad finds him he's pretty much blubbering incomprehensibly aside from Gladion's name and sobbing profusely. Gladion offers him his jacket and lets Hau trace on his hand to tell him what happened. He just hugs Hau and takes him inside somewhere to get him warm. Gee, what a nice gangster. Is his heart warming up lately? 7.) Confession Time Obligatory confession scene. This is pretty basic. After learning from Hau how to speak in his special signing language and eventually getting over that god darn insecurity of his he confessed to Hau by tracing on his hand. Hau is shocked initially and Gladion immediately regrets it. He decides it'd be best if he just went away. He tries to leave and Hau trips trying to follow him and begging him to come back and Hau confesses he's super in love with this dumb greaser boy. They kiss and hug and all that good stuff. Happily ever after, yay~ Or is it...? (⚆_⚆) 8.) Blind/Deaf Hau I tried looking around at 1950s-1960s wear that might look cute on him, but I ended up half assing on the clothing for this one. Hope it doesn't look too out of place lol. I imagine since he's blind wearing his long ass hair up is probably unnecessary. Not much to comment on here, tbh. Ain't he cute? .w. 

I haven’t slept since yesterday when I started editing this bout to pass out now bye

[ais-n]

Creator 2017 Tag Meme

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created this year (fics, art, edits, etc!) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works. <3

No one tagged me, I just need some positivity after the shitshow of 2017. Although, because 2017 sucked so much for me, I actually might not even be able to do 5 works... If you look through my tumblr archive, I had so much less than normal that year.

But here’s to trying! :D Below are in no particular order. Sorry for the long post.

1. Have I the honor, milady?

I got excited in September because I started my patreon and I wanted ideas for things to draw. I asked on tumblr for people to suggest the funniest outfits for Boyd and Hsin from ICoS to wear for Halloween and there were some great responses lol One of them was for Hsin to be a princess, at which point I drew first the sketch version below and later made it into my typical Ais’ Terrible Art via Paint comic. Original post here.

This continues to be one of the silliest and stupidest things I’ve ever drawn, and yet it makes me laugh every time I look at it XD So it’s definitely a 2017 fav for me lol

2. Reciprocal: Reina’s Story

In case you didn’t know, in October I started what is meant to be a serial series called Reciprocal. I released the first story already on my Patreon - you don’t need to be a patron to read it (in other words, it’s 100% free for everyone to read, it’s just where I posted it). Read it here.

I wanted to write a story that has a bit of a supernatural twist to it, but that let me also touch on mental illness, and focus a lot of LGBTQIA+ stuff. I also wanted to set it in a seemingly super mundane, real world setting. I’m actually really excited about the serial itself, and plan to submit a future story of it to a magazine some friends are doing. I’ve started 2 more stories in this universe but haven’t had the chance to finish them yet. One of my goals for this serial was to really try to chill out on word count per part, and try to keep it 5,000-10,000 words per story. This is exceedingly difficult for me to do and I’m pretty sure I failed in the first installment but here’s to hoping for future ones lol

(Read all of Reciprocal #1 for free at my patreon, in case you missed the link above)

3. Incarnations

I am by far most proud of Incarnations. If you didn’t know, this is a book I worked on (on and off) for about 20 years. I finally finished writing the first draft of it in October 2016, then tried to edit it in 2017. I got some great feedback that will require some major rewrites, which was delayed by several months due to my bout of extreme depression this past Fall. But I did get some chapters out already on Patreon, and more will definitely be to come.

Incarnations is an LGBTQIA+ fantasy/sci-fi book which is the start of a series called Wildwood Rising. It’s sort of a police procedural, sort of a murder mystery, and sort of a typical fantasy story. What’s it about? Well..

It started with one body, and soon became four.

No connection except unknown magic stopping the decay. An ancient sentient language appears near the latest corpse.

Vikenti’s the magical cop assigned this case. Experts are baffled and he’s impatient. He wants this case solved, because it’s starting to seem a serial killer is targeting the community.

He isn’t the only one having problems.

Sloane wants answers for the nightmare that turned her into an outcast in her own home. Fawkes and Corrin need to know who they are. Keiran wants clarity. Besin craves history. Ven and Enria lost their family. Jade wants justice. Harper wants to forget. Twins Cypress and Hunter are on the run from everyone just for being born.

Everyone has a story.

Everyone has a past.

Everyone has darkness that can find them, and everyone will learn more than they expected about themselves, the world, and life.

It started with one body, but the story that body tells is so much more than a simple murder.

-Incarnations by Ais

patreon.com/ais

btw many of the characters are LGBTQIA+ in some form and/or people of color.

Here’s the beginning of it:

(read more Incarnations here)

4. Queenie

I really like to draw but mostly suck at it (hence Ais’ Terrible Art). Still, it doesn’t affect how fun it is for me to draw random shit. I’d been seeing on youtube that people are doing this “one marker challenge” thing where you get one marker and try to do a whole piece of art using just that one marker. I thought it would be fun to do but decided to start slow, by using a set of “dual tip skin tone markers” I got at Barnes & Noble randomly. They’re alcohol -based markers, the first time I’ve ever used those. 

I sat down to draw and didn’t really have a plan at all for what I’d do (I would have done some things differently if I had planned with pencil or anything instead of going straight in with sharpie like I did). I ended up with a girl I call Queenie. She isn’t the best piece of art I’ve ever done but I really like something about her, I think particularly her eyes. She makes me happy when I look at her so that’s why I’m including her in this 2017 recap. And because she’s my first alcohol-based marker piece of art.

I used 6 markers and 2 sharpies altogether on her.

5. A strange discovery in Irridian library

In all honesty, this wouldn’t hit my top 2017 moments if I actually had more options, but I’m super limited because 2017 was horrendous for my creative energy. Not that this sucks by any means, this thing amuses me, but I’m sure I’ve written better stuff in my life.

Anyway I thought it would be really funny to write a fake newspaper article set in the Incarnations world, about one of the main characters (Besin, he shows up in the first chapter and is Head Librarian). I thought it would be funny to show petty local urban politics in a fantasy world setting. So this was a whole article written by this woman Ghieta from Seiyunne Circle (the main newspaper in the largest Magetown on Ariwyn), basically all about being salty about Besin being way too devoted to his job as a librarian. XD idk I just thought the topic was absurd enough that it would make me laugh.

Read the whole article here. Preview below:

(read the rest here)

One of the things that I’m really looking forward to with Incarnations and Wildwood Rising is the whole thing is my world/etc. Which means I can do all the stupid random shit I want for extras without having to ask another poor soul to randomly go in on silly little stories whenever I feel like it (like I had to whenever I collaborated with others on writing). If you get into Incarnations, look forward to a loooooot of random shit in the future because it’s so fun to do XD

Honorable mention

by the way, honorable mention is a woman I just drew after being inspired by Queenie to the point that I bought some Prismacolor alcohol-based markers to try doing art only in color (no black lines etc). I would have added her to the list but she’s technically my first drawing of 2018. Still, I really like how her eye turned out so you get to see her below anyway.

I still need more shades in between though - couldn’t get enough blending on the shadows as you can see below. Also I fucked up her right eye’s eyelashes but oh well, I like her left eye enough I don’t mind the right being fucked.

TAGGING: I don’t know who to tag because I’ve been so inconsistent on tumblr lately so idk who even is into tags lately. So here’s the thing - I want to see everyone do this! If you don’t have anyone to tag you, say I tagged you and do this! Let’s get all the cool creativity out there, friends! :D

[groundramon]

🌟 Teen Titans or My Hero Academia 🌟

Teen Titans:

Character I first fell in love with: Robin was my first favorite character in the show.  But between Terra and watching the middle of the Trouble in Tokyo movie and later being EXTREMELY disappointed with the bullshit “oh it was just ink so its okay!!” trick they pulled when i finally watched it all (i know i shouldnt have expected anything more from a show but….HE SHOULD STILL DEAL WITH THE RAMIFICATIONS THAT HE HAS THE /ABILITY/ TO KILL, DAMN IT.  THAT’S INTERESTING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND PLAYS INTO HIS CHARACTER ARC EXTREMELY WELL. FUCK THE TROUBLE IN TOKYO MOVIE [I dont hate the trouble in tokyo movie tbh but IM FOREVER ANGRY AT IT] he kinda fell from grace.  He’s still one of my favorite characters though because damn, his arc in the first season is amazing enough to make up for my personal feelings about him lacking character development in other seasons.  He’s also a really well-constructed version of a trope to the point where he’s actually a proper subversion of the trope, which is ironic because the very thing that makes him so great of an example of the trope done well is sticking to the trope literally (he’s the literal embodiment of a hero focused only on their job, but he’s SO focused on it that it makes him a super fascinating and complex character)

Character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Tbh Terra??  Apparently somewhere I had heard that Terra was evil or had a sneaking suspicion because when I saw her first episode had recorded I was like *squints* but then I watched it and was like “….thats not what I was expecting Terra to be like.  Okay.” and then by the moonlight scene I had fallen in love.  I cried like twice by the end of the episode.  Have you ever been so overwhelmed with love for a character that you just cry because I have.  Also Starfire, idk she really grew on me in later seasons.  I could never hate her since she’s not a mean-spirited character but she did feel a little bland until she got more character development.  I’m still sad she didn’t get more character development, though; I’m still really confused about her backstory and if Teen Titans ever got a reboot (a proper, serialized one) the season better fucking be about Starfire (and the Terra cliffhanger too, but still) 

Character everyone loves but I don’t: Idk I like pretty much all the titans fine.  My least favorite would probably be Beast Boy but I cant even say “I dont like him” because he’s got so much wonderful development and depth to him for a trope that usually pisses me off.  I also probably dont like Raven as much as other people but she’s still one of my favorite characters.

Character I love but everyone else hates: TERRA yall are just spoiled with Zuko, SHE CAME FIRST U FOOLS (I could make an argument about what factors can/do contribute to the reason people hate her, some unspoken rules about fiction and others bigotry-based, but thats a post for another day and also not everyone who dislikes terra is going to dislike her for those reasons so…but tldr there’s an explanation for the common “i think she’s annoying” that stems from an actual unspoken rule about fiction so I actually in a way understand where they’re coming from)

Character I used to love but don’t any longer: I kinda already addressed Robin, but I still like him.  Also Slade because in season 1 I was like “holy shit this is a badass villain, I like him a lot” but then in season 2 he made me cry.  Fuck you slade

Character I would kiss:  Platonically or motherly? Terra 100%

Character I want to slap: SLADE

A pairing I love: STARTERRA IS??? SO GOOD?? its my rarepair and i came up with it and its mine…other people can have it too though thats fine.  Pls make my rarepair a not-rarepair.  Tbh that’s the only thing I really ship in Teen Titans; anything else is a “aw that’s kinda cute”, the ship below, another rarepair I haven’t thought of yet, or a “wtf why would you ship that”

A pairing I hate: I really, really dont like BBRae.  I dont know if hate is the right word because there’s nothing wrong with it, but….ghah.  I dont like ships that stick a quiet kid with an “annoying”/super talkative one.  Like I said there’s nothing wrong with it, please dont call BBRae abusive lmfao its not (contrary to many pairings of this nature, BB actually takes steps to rectify his mistakes when he goes too far with Raven), but I just dont like ships where one individual or both individuals find the other(s) annoying.  Idk I feel bad for Raven whenever the show puts her in situations where she has to be annoyed, I’d dare say she could have some sort of sensory issues besides just being an introvert and being an introvert with sensory issues myself I can tell you that not having down time and/or being around crying children is SUPER PAINFUL.  I just feel like both of them would be happier as friends and with partners that fit their personalities and temperaments more.

My Hero Academia:

Character I first fell in love with: Tsuyu, I watched BNHA mostly because of Tsuyu tbh

Character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Kirishima?? I looked at art of him before and he looked angry but he’s such a fucking sweetheart?? you’d think he’d be like conceited and angry and energetic and want to punch everything, like a less violent/cruel version of Bakugo, but he’s like the opposite?? I love him so much

Character everyone loves but I don’t: BAKUGO.  I’m sorry but your screaming son pisses me off.  I dont like angry characters

Character I love but everyone else hates: Tbh I dont know if anyone hates the characters I like?  Kirishima is underrated though.  Draw Kirishima in something outside of Bakushima you cowards.

Character I used to love but don’t any longer: Uhh I dunno?  Aizawa?  I thought he would be more charmingly pessimistic based on tumblr posts than he actually is, and I just found him to be needlessly cruel to his students in the show.  Like there’s strict, and then there’s being a jackass to people that you have legal power over.

Character I would kiss: idk, platonically speaking I just want to comfort izuku and/or izuku’s mom tbh

Character I want to slap: Hmm sometimes I want to slap All Might for never saying what Izuku really, really needs to hear but not always.  Otherwise Endeavor, hes a jackass.  Also Mineta would be here but slapping is not all Mineta deserves.  Mineta would enjoy being slapped by me.  He doesn’t deserve that.  He deserves nothing.  Not even oxygen.

A pairing I love:  HEY HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE DEKUSHIMA LATELY?  BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE DEKUSHIMA.  Honorable mentions: Tododeku, Tsuchako, The lion guy x the invisible girl (sorry too lazy to look up their names-), Iida x Deku and/or Todoroki x Iida and/or all three together and happy, and tbh Ochako and Deku is really cute too, mutual puppy love is my favorite type of overused romance tropes.  It’s so innocent and pure.  PS feel free to mix and match todoroki, deku, iida, and kirishima because honestly? they’re all good, esp polyamorous ships.

A pairing I hate: BAKUDEKU this one i can safely say i hate because like ?? What bakugo did is not fucking “playful teasing”??  This isn’t Klance or BBRae (which btw im tentative on Klance for the same reason as BBRare but Klance has improved in-canon a little so I’m more on-board now), the characters don’t share a mutual annoyance with each other that eventually blooms into friendship and mutual respect.  From what I can tell, in the manga currently, despite being quite a ways along in the story, Bakugo still doesn’t treat Izuku well even with him mellowing down a bit, and in his current position in the anime? Bakugo is straight-up an abusor of Izuku.  Making Izuku fear for his life/safety around him, regularly impeding Izuku’s own progress for no good reason, literally telling Izuku to die…is this really what yall want to romanticize??  You can say “oh but he’s nicer in my version of the ship!! uvu” but you still looked at an extremely toxic bully-victim relationship and said “hey, there’s romantic potential there!” and idk about you but I find that to be pretty bad and pretty much romanticizing abuse.

Thanks for the ask!!

[granteares]

parswoops prompt: swoops gets traded (possibly to the falcs?) so maybe just cute stuff him and kent do when they see each other... and i love your icons btw

3 months late is better than not at all, right…? i’m so sorry this took me so long((((( muse didn’t want to cooperate and i legit rewrote this like 5 million times until i was happy with it. i hope you see this, and that you like it!! i love these soft boys so much ;w;

and thank you so much i’m glad you enjoy the icons i’ve made so far!!))))))

i’ve also added this to my ao3!!!

When Jeff gets traded to the Falconers in the off-season, Kent truly isn’t sure for a good few weeks how he’s going to survive it.

It’s stupid, because he’s been through worse.

Like, a lot worse.

And Jeff assures him that they’ll make it work, promises him.

But it almost feels like a rotten cherry on top of a shit cake, like a kick in the balls, another big old fuck you from the universe, because the only person who’s ever made him feel like things could be okay is leaving– and not just anywhere. If he’d been traded to literally any other team, Kent would have been able to cope, would have been able to believe Jeff’s promises. The Falcs, though, they’re Jack’s team, and since he had signed with them two seasons ago, Kent has noticed a different kind of tension during their games. They know something, Kent doesn’t know how they couldn’t, and they hate him for it.

And his boyfriend is going right into it, and Kent is convinced that there’s a slim chance Jeff won’t come out of it hating him, too.

If Jeff comes to hate him, Kent doesn’t know what he’s going to do.

He takes advantage of how they can still be together for a month, before Jeff decides he should go to Providence and find a place to live and settle into his brand-spanking-new life while Kent tries not to panic.

_/ x \_

But Jeff’s promises are, actually, accurate. They’re halfway through the season on opposite sides of the country and they’re still together. They haven’t seen each other in months, but they talk on the phone– if not on Skype– every day, and every day, Jeff still says ‘I love you, Kenny’– and knowing Jeff was in close proximity to Jack, hearing that name had made him flinch the first few times– so Kent thinks Jeff was right. He thinks that, and hears Jeff’s voice inside his head, laughing and saying ‘I’m always right, baby.’

When the Aces get to their bye-week halfway through the season, Kent practically invites himself over to Jeff’s new apartment in Providence. The Falcs’ bye-week isn’t for a few months yet, but they got lucky enough that the games the Falcs are playing that week are all at home. Jeff will be busy, but they’ll get his free time to be together and Kent is practically buzzing with the excited energy he feels as he finally gets off the plane and is trying not to fucking sprint to baggage claim where Jeff said he’d be waiting for him.

The problem with that, though, is that when Jeff spots him in the airport and closes the distance between them, they can’t kiss, don’t feel comfortable doing more than that stupid bro-hug, and Kent needs more than that, and he knows Jeff does, too. As quickly as possible, they gather Kent’s suitcase, and head to the short-term parking lot; they walk close enough that they can accidentally brush arms or fingers, and it sends a jolt through Kent every time, and it’s a good interim until they get to Jeff’s place.

They’re in the car, and Jeff’s hand is on Kent’s thigh as he uses the other on the steering wheel. “The guys tend to pop in, sometimes, just… so you know,” Jeff warns, sounding hesitant. And Kent knows why: because he tenses at the idea of Falconers waltzing into Jeff’s place and seeing him there. They know Jeff is pansexual, know he has a boyfriend, but Kent wasn’t willing to let Jeff tell them who that boyfriend is. “You know they don’t hate you, right, babe?” Jeff squeezes his thigh, and Kent nods automatically. It isn’t the first time Jeff has told him that, or the fifth. Jeff has told him how there’s plenty of players on the Falconers who praise his skills and the ones who have had conversations with him say he’s a good guy– but he continues to avoid telling him anything about Jack, or Jack’s reaction toward anything Kent-related. “I really think they’d be more than okay about it, if I told them we’re together.” Because Jeff hates keeping secrets from his team– and it’s hard to think that his team isn’t Kent’s team anymore– and Kent does know that Jeff wants to tell them if Kent is ready to.

“Let’s– Can we not, right now?” Kent replies. “Not today?” He looks over at Jeff, who takes his eyes off the road for a second to glance back at Kent and give a little nod of assent. “I’m here for a week, we can talk about it later, I promise.”

“I’d rather just enjoy you today, too,” Jeff agrees, and Kent feels himself relax again. He takes his hand off Kent’s thigh for a moment to grab his phone from the center console, and hand it to Kent. “Chinese for dinner? My nutritionist will kill me, but I think you’re worth a cheat day,” Jeff explains. “There’s a great fucking place not far from the apartment, we can grab it on the way if you want to order it now.”

“Yeah,” Kent says, unlocking Jeff’s phone– because of course his passcode hasn’t changed, still 1490, the fucking sap– and finding the contact simply labeled ‘Chinese Food.’ Kent already knows their orders– except for when Jeff pokes him in the side and mutters ‘Get some crab rangoon, too, fucking divine here’– and goes through the process quickly enough.

When they get to the apartment, Jeff grabs Kent’s travel bags, because “You’ve got the important shit, bro, carry the food”– and proceeds to take it to where Kent is guessing the master bedroom is, while Kent is left to divvy out the Chinese food in the kitchen. He hasn’t seen Jeff’s place before, and that fact bites at him a little, but it feels comfortable the same way Jeff’s condo in Las Vegas had. It’s already decorated with most of the same things, although there’s a much more rustic feel– the building is obviously older, a converted house, the opposite of the sleek modernity to Vegas. It fits Jeff better, though, Kent thinks.

Kent forgets the food and his thoughts the second that he feels Jeff’s arms wrap around him, though, turning and allowing himself to be pinned against the edge of the counter.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Jeff murmurs.

Kent laughs. “Fucking dork. Just kiss me.”

Jeff rolls his eyes, but leans further into Kent’s space. The kiss they share is long and certainly verging on desperate, and if Kent ever doubted that Jeff truly did miss him, he told himself he never would again because of the way Jeff is holding onto him like he’s never going to let go again.

But eventually he does, and Kent is sucking in shaking breaths and he’s a little hard in his pants– and he can feel Jeff is too– but mostly he’s hungry and longing for the casual nights he hasn’t gotten in so long, where they would sit on the couch just being together: no pressures, no expectations, no overthinking. Those kind of stupid domestic nights Kent hadn’t even known he’d wanted and that had taken months of dating Jeff to achieve.

“C’mon, I’m fucking hungry,” Kent grumbles, prodding Jeff’s chest even as he’s stepping away and grabbing plates from a cabinet and utensils from a drawer.

They divvy out the food onto plates, then head back to the living room and settle on the couch. “All yours,” Jeff offers, pushing the remote to Kent on the coffee table to let Kent pick, like he always does, and Kent feels his chest tighten for a moment because even though everything is different on the surface, everything is ultimately the same, and the relief he feels is so immense he struggles not to show it in front of Jeff– who would certainly ask what was up, and then Kent would have to talk about his feelings. Which wasn’t bad, with Jeff, but the last thing he wanted to do tonight.

Kent spends some time going through Netflix, but ultimately settles onto something silly they’ve watched a dozen times before so that they can concentrate more on each other than a plotline of something on the television.

They eat in silence for a while, and it’s fine with Kent, because it’s the soft and comfortable silence that is one of Kent’s favorite things about being with Jeff. Kent gets his fill, puts his plate down on the coffee table, and then gets himself comfy by turning himself sideways on the couch and throwing his legs in Jeff’s lap after the man raises his plate up.

When Jeff finally puts his plate aside, Kent doesn’t even hesitate a second before crawling into Jeff’s lap and settling there. Jeff, almost like it’s instinctual, wraps his arms around him, one hand positioned so he can play with the hair against Kent’s neck, a little longer than usual because it’s that point in the season where he can’t be bothered to keep up with haircuts and shaving regularly. Kent nuzzles his face into Jeff’s neck, pressing kisses and soft nips to the skin. “You smell so good, shit,” Kent murmurs into skin, “I’ve missed you so much, Swoops.”

“Missed you, Parser,” Jeff answers back, shifting to draw Kent’s head away from his neck and meeting his lips instead.

Kent is happy to make-out lazily and slowly for a while, until Jeff complains his leg is falling asleep and they reposition themselves.

The couch in Jeff’s living room was brought from Las Vegas, and it’s comfortable and worn and just wide enough that Jeff can spoon him but they have to press close together– which is always perfectly fine by Kent. They lay like that for a while, watching more stupid movies, until Jeff is prodding at him, and saying: “Parse, wake up, if you’re gonna fall asleep we might as well go lay in bed.”

“M’not sleepin’,” Kent protests.

Jeff laughs quietly, Kent feels the rumble in his chest and the breath huff on his neck. “Sure, Kent, okay.” He pushes at Kent, gently, but enough that he rolls a bit closer to the edge of the couch. “Up you get. Bed’s comfier, anyway. You’ll bitch all day tomorrow about your neck if you sleep here.”

Kent sighs, because Jeff is always right, goddamn it. He pulls himself out of Jeff’s arms reluctantly, even though he knows he’ll be back in them shortly, and gets to his feet. He follows Jeff down the hallway to the master bedroom, which also has a large bathroom attached. Kent rushes through his bedtime rituals, looking forward to how great he knows Jeff’s bed is.

In just boxer shorts now, he crawls into the side he always slept on when the bed was in Jeff’s Vegas condo, and Jeff gets in on the other side. It’s only a short moment later that they’re tangled together in the middle of the bed, and Kent sighs contentedly, not having quite realized how off-kilter he truly felt without Jeff’s physical presence with him.

[sundcwns-blog]

heey, hello, it’s a meme. i’m maze ( she/her ) & hailing from one of the oh so lovely coughs gmt tzs aka gmt+2. besides being trash on the daily i’m literally always listening to music aka if u ever need something new in that department .. hello, or browsing through netflix without any intent on watching smth. living that wild life ik .. DKAMS. but you’re here for my two kids aka basil & saint so here we go ! if you’d like to plot like this and i’ll slide into ur ims or look under the read more for my disc*rd ! also as a warning i unintentionally was v vain and made both muses scorpios .....

☾ — ·˚ » BASIL CRATES is in saint tropez !! they often get mistaken as KIAN LAWLEY. apparently, HE/THEY is/are the JOCULAR of the group. they’re a TWENTY-ONE year old PANSEXUAL DEMIMALE. i hear they’re known as ALTRUISTIC and DOGMATIC. they also make their living as ART STUDENT / BARTENDER / COMIC BOOK ARTIST but you’d have to ask them a bit more.

BACKGROUND + PERSONALITY.

born and raised in berlin, germany until his mother decided to move to the us when basil was twelve.

despite growing up bilingual, he had difficulties adjusting to the new surroundings and rather spent his free time drawing, eventually building up universes without needing any context and instead having the designs speak for themselves.

after finishing high school at age sixteen basil took a gap year to travel through europe with money they earned from several jobs during school times. bas was v very introverted back then, so it served as a challenge which once again they had difficulties with at first. but ofc you can’t get around without trying, so bas did. he’s still more of an ambivalent than an extrovert, but this journey made him see the beauty of uncertainty and they loved it.

also ik i used he & they in that last paragraph instead of just one bc basil honestly truly doesn’t care which one others use as long as they acknowledge bas isn’t cis bc he’s v open about his gender along with being pan .. but that’s another thing.

basil has a very high iq, but always prevented others from knowing about it. he basically failed tests on purpose back in germany and in the us he always made sure others don’t feel bad about their results and said his were worse even though he probably always got an a+, thus resulting in bas being able to skip two grades.

his mother had to carry two jobs to make a living for the two of them, which was one of the reasons why bas sold his art from a young age. thankfully it was actually decent ( coughs and looks @ ryan reynolds’ twitter ) and ppl actually wanted to pay good money for it. this was also one of the key moments in which bas realized they wanted to have their profession somewhere in the art department.

married his high school sweetheart in las vegas as soon as they both turned eighteen, but divorced just three weeks later. this is just one of their impulsive decisions as bas isn’t much of a planner, they rather have a few good laughs when telling the story ( even for the 10th time ) instead of asking what if. the only thing bas ever truly planned was becoming a comic book artist. they’re still at the very beginning as basil’s v young, but they’re just as determined to make it in the industry.

basil’s mother was always into greek mythology and even gave her child the middle name cerberus, which literally is the most dangerous thing about him and while he’s into mythology himself, he doesn’t really tell anyone his middle name as he’d rather not be compared to a three-headed dog .. but if he ever ends up drunk u can bet he’d insist on being called cerberus and nothing else.

being a comic book artist basil’s an avid comic reader as well, but mostly prefers indie comics as they’re more his kind of humor. speaking of, basil’s more of a morbid humor kind of pal ? but he’ll also immediately apologize if he takes it too far bc he values comfort even more than getting a laugh out of others and himself.

huge fan of dogs, literally the person that points at a dog and says “aw.” and definitely wants to pet them.

the least scorpio-like scorpio you will ever meet, and trust me this is coming from a Real Scorpio™.

ends up in a lot of weird scenarios while just trying their best, but always tries to take it with humor especially if someone’s with them.

most of his friends wouldn’t expect it, but basil’s very romantic, like going all out even for a first date and is probably doing waay too much for his opposite.

not really into the whole sex, drugs n rock ‘n’ roll as he prefers to maybe drink a few beers with his closest friends due to seeing what alcohol can do to people on an almost daily basis as a bartender. however, all of kian’s tattoos are canon for bas except for the native american and butterfly ones.

WANTED PLOTS.

literally everything but to be basic .. a best friend ( who might even know about his high iq bc he truly doesn’t tell anyone ), bad influence ( basil’s not exactly innocent or good himself but there’s always worse am i right ), childhood friend ( someone he considered a friend after moving to a completely new country ), enemy ( maybe they’re of the opposite group or even in the same and they had some fight that led to it or just disliking each other for apparently no reason at all just .. pls give me smth negative ), ex on good/bad terms ( as basil’s pretty romantic it could’ve been too much for the other or literally any other reason k thanks ), someone who hates his jokes ( plain n simple .. kewl ), my brain is scattered bc it’s almost 2am rn so i Def missed 820397 plots i’d love but u know what .. i’m a plot pro so shrugs. also i nearly wrote pro plot so u get me now .. pls killme KMDSX.

☾ — ·˚ » SAINT DEVERAUX is in saint tropez !! they often get mistaken as ALISSA VIOLET. apparently, SHE arrived from THE USA. they’re a TWENTY-ONE year old UNLABELED CIS FEMALE. i hear they’re known as VIGOROUS and DETACHED. they also make their living as an ACTRESS but you’d have to ask them a bit more.

BACKGROUND + PERSONALITY.

just as a small disclaimer: if anyone read girls on fire by robin wasserman, saint’s personality is heavily inspired by one of the characters in it aka lacey. and if u haven’t read it .. pls do it if you’re even just remotely into ya literature.

born and raised in los angeles, us, saint was practially thrown into the lives of the rich and famous. her parents were big in hollywood back in the 80s & 90s and gave those legacies to her.

being practially raised by nannies, saint didn’t really have a connection to her parents till they retired when she was fourteen. from there it was basically always good which is .. v weird but they somehow made it work.

as soon as saint turned eighteen she decided to change her last name to her mother’s maiden name, as she’s never been a fan of women having to give up their names just for being married even if it’s voluntary. this also resulted in her imdb page ( she truly made it huh. ) being “divived” into saint bartowski ( also shoutout @ anyone who gets this ref ) and saint deveraux.

at age eighteen saint also let out her true self, at least towards her parents. she admitted to worshipping lucifer just to piss them off and see how they’d react, it was just a game for her. but to be as convincing as possible, she did the most, even though she would’ve already had them just with her words, but saint always wanted to know just how far she could take it.

to the public she’s seen as this socialite turned actress who never did anything wrong, but just due to her parents and herself keeping everything under a neat little rug.

saint’s a very passionate person and loves to be surrounded or admired by people, but at the same time she doesn’t really care about anyone, no matter how many i love yous she’s going to whisper into someone’s ear or no broken promises ever.

as a result of the press putting labels onto her 24/7 she resents them. the only one she’ll ever claim is being in the lgbtq+ com as it’s basically the only thing in her life she truly cares about besides acting and her cats. however saint also makes a lot of fun of men and highly prefers females and nb pals for .. u know what.

she can also be extra af as she literally bought an old vw t1 bus in st. tropez for the short amount of time she’s there and have it look exactly like the one she has back in la with the pride flag sprayed on its roof and every little sticker/detail on its doors, etc.

getting to her job .. she currently stars in a made up netflix show that’s somewhere between veronica mars, twin peaks and 21 jump street ( the movie version ). i actually made a whole filmography for her but i’m too lazy for graphics and i’m not even sure whether i can use real movies/shows so oo. but if u want a list i can tots send it via disc*rd ( btw mine is artcmis#4377 ). and just know that she admires amber heard and mostly chooses roles like her aka not the damsel in distress. tho she would def love to save that kind of character one day .. js.

this is getting soo messy already omg. but to put her in a nutshell, saint’s a callous, manipulative, control loving, determined scorpio who also happens to be an actress, cat lover and feminist putting up a facade daily. also she can’t handle relationships for shhhit.

and what would these bullet points be if i didn’t start and finish them with a disclaimer ? still a mess yeah ik .. MXKAJD. but even tho most probs don’t even know who alissa is i just wanted to say that saint will have green eyes bc .. #aesthetic.

WANTED PLOTS.

once again any plot goes except for romantic stylez kind of plots bc yk not her kind of thing. catfish ( either someone used to catfish someone else using her pics or even better someone got catfished with her photos n now they’re meeting and she’s .. acting v different. plS. ), fwb ( so yeah saint hates relationships but u know what she doesn’t hate wink wink ;) KMSLASK also probs won’t work with males bc she’s all like [ cher horowitz vc ] as if ! ), fan ( someone who likes her movies or show idk ?? let her be all chill with them pls ), smoke bud ( she loves to party & smoke soo .. maybe even in an all-in-one with the fan plot ), enemy ( probs one of the other sec charas bc maybe they’ve met before or even wanted the same role ?? ), once again my brain is a mess sooo .. good bi !

this got longer than my biography ever could so if u read it all .. u truly are the mvp and deserve an award.