#but I wanna get back into art/creating and at least put my stuff out there even if only a couple people like it & see it

[twili-witch]

Finally getting the guts to post one of my OC's!

This is my FNAF SB OC, Betty B. Bunny. She takes over Bonnie Bowl (now Bunnie Bowl) and its new 50's diner/ice cream parlor redesign. She's a rollerskating waitress, expert sundae crafter and overseer of the bowling alley. On special occasions and birthday parties, she'll hop on the old stage, sing a couple 50's/60's love songs and play her guitar (a fender telecaster). Betty has helped Bunnie Bowl become profitable & popular again at the pizzaplex, but hmmm... something about her is a little too... human-like and realistic? What's her connection to Bonnie and the Glamrock gang?

[the-s1lly-corner]

Dude, imagine something like: TADC x Mime! Reader. Reader usually stays quiet most of the time, but sometimes they suddenly talk startling everyone around them. At the same time, they are like, very expressive, using exaggerated gestures and facial expressions, and usually communicates solely through their miming skills. And if you wanna go extra crazy THEY COULD ALSO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE MR. MIME FROM POKEMON, where they like, do a mimic of a wall, and then a invisible wall appears out of nowhere or something like that

I hope you understood what i meant, sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language 💖💖

TADC cast x mime!reader !

eueueu i totally understand what youre saying and i love the idea sm!! i love it when mime characters have mime physics, or when clown characters have clown physics!! love it so so so much!! sorry if this is a little short, ive been writing personal stuff all day and the back aches are starting to creep back in already </3

CAINE:

his jaw drops the first time you speak, he genuinely thought you were totally incapable of speech thanks to your whole theme going on... i think he would love your little mime tricks with the invisible walls and barriers and... did you just no clip through the floor while pretending to walk down some stairs...? where did you go?? where? was there another no clip glitch issue thing going on? he thought he fixed that...!

POMNI:

ah, a jester and her mime.... not the weirdest pairing... though granted pomni doesnt commit to the bit of being a jester and doesnt do tricks or jokes.. while you do commit... i think she would grow frustrated if you put a barrier up and made her slow down... calm down.. chill.. sure you understand the whole "finding the exit" thing going on with her, but rushing things probably wont help.... to time out she goes... probably gives you a side eye if she sees you just randomly walking on some invisible platform to just. leave in the middle of an IHA

JAX:

tries to coax you into using your powers for evil... i have a feeling jax doesnt like people who arent talkers... like being incapable of speak is one thing, i think at most is that he would make decisions for you (ie wrap an arm around your shoulder and be like "oh well me and (reader) were just thinking about......." yk? like in a joking way) but i dont think he likes quiet people... tries to coax you into speaking more... imagine you never spoke before in front of anyone and you finally reveal that you can talk, to jax, and he tries to tell everyone but no one believes him. psychological torment 101

RAGATHA:

i like to think she plays along with your mime antics, pretending to also be putting up invisible props and such... though her actions and movements are noticeably more sloppy and not as... fluid...? afterall, ragatha hasnt spent time practicing to be anywhere near your level! is a little surprised when she finds out your stuff is at least somewhat tangible within the digital world... thinks your emoting is cute..

KINGER:

so you know how he gets startled by gangle simply standing next to him? its like that with you, but he jumps when you randomly start talking next to him.. ponders... invisible safe square/cube/whatever... though i think part of the comfort of a pillow fort is that hes out of sight... but i think he would enjoy it at least a little if you created something like that for him

ZOOBLE:

enjoys that you dont talk much, zooble doesnt like chatty people i dont think... though they are willing to listen to you on days where you do feel like striking up a conversation... you actually get a laugh out of them when you banish jax to time out (aka putting up 4 see through walls around him for whatever length of time to atone for whatever crime he committed that day)

"he took my arm off.. give him an hour.."

GANGLE:

art kid meets art kid, you guys are both a little silly... okay sure your stuff is more performative, and while gangle does have a comedy and tragedy mask her thing is more so in drawing and painting imo, i love me artistic gangle... loves doing your makeup, if its not just a permanent part of your digital face, and can be customized... not much to be said here... theres comfortable silence between the two of you when you hang out since you dont talk often and gangle doesnt know what to talk about and may or may not fear ruining the dynamic between the two of you

[katlover14]

I wanna talk-

-about a ship I like very much. It’s Reapermare. Imma call it OctoDeath because it sounds silly. (I’m pretty sure Nightmare’s tentacles are supposed to be tree roots, but idk if that’s true.)

If you don’t want to read this, scroll. No point in leaving hate because I will either:

Ignore you

Report and block you, or

Respond (idk how else to put it)

(Someone on Wattpad told me to KMS, and all I did in response was say “No”. Someone else asked them what was wrong with their head.)

Anyway, I wanna talk about their dynamic and how I think their relationship would work. Most of my ideas (and the one who introduced me to this ship) come from @mildarka’s art of these two. (I dunno if I was supposed to tag u. Sorry if you don’t like being tagged)

So I’m not taking full credit for the ideas of this ship. Now, onto the actual ranting part.

So, these two are, at the same time, different and not different. Nightmare causes chaos, destruction, and death for negativity. Reaper’s literal job is to take souls that don’t want to go (I think).

In my mind, if Reaper has a hard time convincing a soul to go with him, that’s gotta create some negativity, right? Which would catch Nightmare’s attention; not by much, but it would. I’m guessing that the feelings from gods, since they’re pretty rare, are at least 10x stronger than a humans/monsters. At least in my mind, they are (I like making god characters on the side). At the most, a gods feelings could be up to 1,000x stronger, which I think is dependent on how long they’ve gone without emotion. So, with that in mind, it catches Nightmare’s attention to some degree.

I think that, at first, Nightmare would hang out near Reaper just to feed off of his powerful negativity. Though it would slowly develop into Reaper trying to bond with Nightmare (cuz this dude’s literally just following him). Nightmare would be apprehensive and cold at first, like how all good tropes go. But, before he knows it, he wants to know more about Reaper than just “he feeds me”.

And, Nightmare being… himself, I feel like he’d be very awkward about it since I imagine he doesn’t have the best communication skills. And this time, he really doesn’t want to mess this up. But once he does start opening up, Reaper ends up doing most of the talking anyway. Somewhere in there, they develop feelings for each other, which brings back the awkwardness, and then an accidental confession happens mid-fight after some miscommunication.

The usual. (Why’s it always the miscommunication, tho? It’s the most frustrating thing in the world when you know it wasn’t what it looked like, but the characters are so- ugh!)

‘Nyway, in the end they get together and live happily ever after. The end. Thank you for listening to my TedTalk. (Those things are actually interesting. Had to watch a few for school. Crazy stuff, man)

[beatrixstonehill2]

Kimberley's dad approached his daughter filming on his phone, zooming on the girl's plump ass. "Hello, sweetheart, say hi for the camera!"

"Oh, hello, daddy!" Kimberley said, turning. Her cock measured almost a foot long, quite hard, excessively swollen and red from so much masturbation. She waved to her dad, smiling.

"Look at how gorgeous you are. Excited to live at home with mom and me again?"

"I've been looking forward to it all semester! Um, sorry if my clothes are too skimpy..... My college wardrobe is a bit, well, tailored for college life."

"I bet you distracted the whole class with that big cock of yours hanging out."

"Oh yes! Girls would come up to me all day and service me, guys would just fuck me from behind and jerk me off. Oh! Sorry again.... was that too raunchy?"

"Nah, the family will just be happy to have you back in town for a while. I'm happy you've grown into such a sexually active girl. Last time you were living here you were so shy, but you were barely starting to transition by then. Once you went to college, though, your mother and I were delighted by how fast you went from a shy feminine boy to a total vixen. We watched all the videos you'd post. We couldn't believe how your social media was all about art and music one second, then you're in a tiny dress looking and sounding just like any other girl, getting fucked in the ass by two guys at once!"

Kimberley giggled. "That was a fun day, I think I had sex with over twenty boys! And of course.... I'm not quite like any other girl, daddy." Kimberley lifted and jerked her monster cock.

"Look at that thing. You really pumped it full supplements, huh? And those balls are so big I can hardly believe it...."

"Uh-huh! The guys at all the frat houses injected my cock with stuff to make it grow. And my balls are almost the size of my fists! I can cum a whole liter in one orgasm! Wanna see?"

"Why not? And I'm glad those boys did this to you, you look gorgeous with such a big cock, sweetie."

"Thank you, daddy." Kimberley rolled back her eyes, jerking with one hand as she grabbed one of her breasts and squeezed it until milk squirted out, she stared directly into her dad's eyes, jerking faster, eventually bringing her other hand from her breast to her fat ass, inserting her fingers, using her milk as lube, fisting her ass as she smiled and panted, increasing her rhythm for a while until she rapidly sped up both her cock pumping and her fisting until she squealed in a slightly boyish voice. She shot rope after rope of cum, almost twenty, creating a huge mess on the outer edges of their inground pool. By the end of her orgasm, Kimberley was lightheaded, drooling, eyes rolled back, her brain looking friend. "How..... did I do...... daddy?" she asked, licking the hand she used to fist herself.

"Perfect, sweetie. It's going to be so fun having you live with us....."

"How long has it been since you moved in with us, sweetie?" Kimberley's dad asked his hugely obese pig of a daughter.

"Mmmm, omffff," she stuffed her face, smiling, talking with her mouth open, "A bit over one year."

"Wow, and just how did you get so fat so fast, darling?"

"You guys don't stop feeding me all day...."

"No, we don't. What else have we done to get you so gorgeously fat?"

"You force funnel feed me weight-gain drinks a few times a day......"

"How many calories does our perfect, horny college slut consume a day?"

"At least thirty thousand calories. You and mom put me on a thirty-pound a month diet as soon as I settled in. I've put on 370lbs in one year," she explained, all with her mouth open, shoving fries in and chewing loudly.

"So how much does our oversexed angel weigh now?"

"Almost 500lbs...."

"Wow, from a petite, albeit fat-assed, slim and fit girl who's up for countless hours of sex and masturbation a day to such a pile of lard. What's your favorite part of being so hugely fat, darling?"

Kimberley smiled, blushing, unwrapping a double cheeseburger. "Everything...... I love struggling to walk. I love how hard it is to get up, to do anything. I was so into looking good and being sexy, now I hardly bathe. My heart feels like it's going to pop from putting on so much weight so fast! I'll never look slim and sexy again and that turns me on so much. Plus it makes my cock so hard when you two get so excited about fattening me up and seeing my weight go up and up. Even if I am totally gross now...." Kimberley said, all between belches, shoving the burger in her mouth, farting loudly, her stomach gurgling in so much distress the mic picked it up from a distance.

"That's our lovely daughter. Ever since you started transitioning, and posted those raunchy videos of you getting fucked in every hole, puking on guys' cock as you were cheered on, pregnant sorority sluts forcing your cock into their holes as they pinned you down or against a wall. You looked so divine. Your mom and I would discuss how fat we'd love to see you get ever since. Every night we'd fantasize about seeing you get so fat you can't walk, so fat your poor heart can't keep up with all the lard we pile on you. And most of all we fantasized about you loving every second of it, even as you have a heart attack, caked in grease, sitting in your own excrement, a total slob weighing over a thousand pounds, cumming as she feels her heart finally give up."

"Oh fuck! Mmmmm!" Kimberley came, lifting her belly a bit too fate, getting wad after wad of cum splattered against it, flatulating and groaning in discomfort as she pulled up her heavy belly, her fourteen-inch bloated cock shooting load after load across the living room floor. After finishing she clenched her chest, panting. "Oh fuck, daddy.... Mmmmm...... I can hardly breathe I'm so fat, my heart is pounding so much it hurts! Oh!"

Her dad smiled, taking her other hand, encouraging her to put her belly back down, piling all that heavy fat on top of her cock. "Good girl. You're everything we ever wanted out of a daughter. Now eat up, mom is about to prepare your next weight gain shake, so make sure you finish your second lunch by then, OK?"

"OK, daddy." She slowly returned to her bag and opened another double cheeseburger, still panting, sweating, letting out a few belches and farts as she resumed stuffing her face. Her dad felt so proud of how eagerly fat she became in so short a time, and couldn't wait to see how huge she'd get in another year, if her heart was up for the task.

[literallyjusttoa]

Hey guys! I'm putting out a call for my commissions again for two big reasons: One, Emergencies have caused me to be low on funds when I wasn't expecting it, and that kind of sucks actually. Two, I have a project that I've been dreaming about for years but have actually been able to start working towards in the last couple of months, but to finish it I need to not be living paycheck to paycheck for like a month at the very least, which brings me back to point one :(. I will talk more about the big project under the cut, bc I think it's something you all might really enjoy!

But for now, I will link my commission sheet: Here (It's also my pinned post)

And my new Ko-fi!: Here for if you just want to donate, which would be literally incredible and I would owe you my soul actually.

Ok now for big Project Time!!!

I am in the process of editing and revising my first Youtube video! This has been an on and off dream of mine for like 7 years at this point, but I've finally taken the plunge and gotten to work on a channel. I wanna talk about all sorts of fandoms (including the riordanverse ofc) With videos ranging from plot and character analysis, to trends in fandom culture in general, to fun little ranking videos and speedpaints. All around, I just want the channel to be a fandom hive, where everyone can find something they enjoy.

I already have PNG's created of my sona to use as assets (And I have a sparkly new sona, the one in the pic above!) and I have two finished scripts, with the first one being fully recorded as well! One for my first video, which will be a retrospective on Gravity Falls, and one for a video about the Percy Jackson TV show, the inherent differences between TV and books as mediums, how I think the TV show could improve, and the things I think it got perfectly. I also have a bunch more ideas, such as:

BIG Trials of Apollo video essay, with a focus on how the books and the fandom have effected me over the years.

Ranking all of my favorite characters from all of the media I've been a fan of over the years (This would be over 70 characters)

Explaining the Iliad, but make it funny (with a side of Troy apologia)

Reading Lore Olympus and pointing out how it deviates from myth (the things I'm willing to do for you people /j)

Canon vs. Fanon, where I compare a characters canon characterization with their fanon counterpart and try to figure out how things turned out the way they did.

And more, but I don't want this post to be 5000 words long.

Now here's the big question. As I said in the part above, I'm struggling a bit now money-wise. And I really wanna make this project work, but there's also, you know. Tuition. Rent. Food. Stupid other adult stuff. So if anyone is amenable (and this is totally up to demand, I don't wanna pressure anyone into doing anything!) I was also thinking of maybe making a Patreon. Now, I'd have to do research for this, bc I wanna make sure anyone who signed up would get the right rewards and really get the bang for their buck. I'm pretty sure there's not gonna be much interest in this rn, cuz like, I'm not that big of a blog oof. But if anyone is interested! Here are some of the perks I would definitely be implementing! (sry it's another list)

Early access to videos, and behind the scenes looks at art assets and video creation

the ability to request topics for videos

Patrons names being shown in the videos. And higher tiered patrons getting custom chibis that will be shown in videos as well (and given to the patrons obv)

This ones a bit complicated, but I want to create a cover of a song that has to do with each video to play during their outros. So like, for the gravity falls video, I'm gonna record a quick cover of the Disco Girl song from the show. Only a small section of the song would be in each video, but patrons would get access to the full covers, and be able to request songs to be covered.

Discounts on commissions

A monthly speedpaint that would be exclusive to patreon. Patrons would be able to vote on what the drawing would be.

All of these ideas I'm 100% sure I want to add to a patreon if I make one, but obv there could be more that comes up later. I'm just gauging interest on this idea rn, so let me know if that's something you'd be down to sign up for! Maybe I'm jumping the gun here but I'm just really excited to create and give back to the community and aaahhhhh

Now, no matter what, I'm gonna have this first video out by mid-September at the latest. Because stupid money troubles are not gonna stop me from making this a thing dangit. So look out for that, I'll link the vid here when it releases! But I am just really stressed rn and any support would go a long way towards making this dream come true. And on that note, one more sappy real talk if I am allowed it?

If you've read this far, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. This community and fandom is truly incredible. My blog is about to reach 5 years old, and I've never seen a group of people so accepting and creative and just fun to be around. You guys have truly changed my life, and I wouldn't have the courage to try for this if I didn't have the support you've given me. I know this is super dramatic for just trying to make a youtube channel, but making a place where I could just talk about all the nerdy and overly specific things I care about and share them with the world is something I've wanted for my whole life. You guys gave me that with this blog, and if this channel works out, it'll be thanks to you, so you'll have given it to me twice. I don't have the words to express how much I love this community and all the incredible people in it. So even if you can't support, just know that being here for however long you have been, whether it's the whole five years or the last two days, has done more than you'll ever know. You guys are the best, thank you for everything <3

[cheesysoup-arlo]

Cady’s Cousin (pt.2)

(pt. 1)/(pt. 3)/(pt. 4)

A/N: sorry this is mostly like “texting” also the relationship/couples I have in here are (karen and gretchen), (cady and regina), later I’ll add (janis and reader) and maybe (aaron and kevin g) idk maybe lol I won’t be tagging the ships since they’re not the main ship I hope y’all liked this lol

(Sunday 8:30pm)

*Cady created a group chat*

Cads 🦁: hey guys I made this group chat so (Y/N) can get to know you guys, you guys can get to know them, and just for fun 👍

???(1): aw Cady that’s so sweet, this is Aaron by the way lol

(Y/N): can everyone send their name please 🙏

???(2): karen 💕

???(3): Beyoncé

???(4): that’s Damian ^, this is janis 👾

Damian🌟: janis you’re no fun this is homophobia

Janis👾: yeah I hate the gays 🙄

karen💕: ??? u hat me 😞

Janis👾: no not you karen just Damian

karen💕: o okie 😽

???(5): the hottest bitch you’ll meet

(Y/N): hi Regina

Cads🦁: Y/N!!!

(Y/N): cads chill I know she’s off limits

Regina👛: aw baby you’re so cute when you’re jealous

Janis👾: barf 🤮

(Y/N): 😭😭😭

(Y/N): wait where’s Gretchen?

karen💕: sleping 😴

Damian🌟: Important question! Y/n are you one of them queers?

(Y/N): I would be offended if you thought I wasn’t

*damian has named group chat “fruit loops”*

Janis👾: I-

(Y/N): oh that’s-

Damian🌟: OK STOP BEING HOMOPHOBIC TO THE GAY BLACK MAN IM A MINORITY HERE

Regina👛: how’s everyone feeling about school tomorrow? I’m kind of excited mostly because the school cheese fries just hit different yk?

Cads🦁: I’m excited too but for classes I picked an extra math class this year

(Y/N): ha nerd 🤓

(Y/N): I’m nervous lol but at least I have you guys

Janis👾: I’m not excited I hate school it keeps me from doing more important things

(Y/N): like what?

Janis👾: sleeping

Damian🌟: I’m excited I decided that I’m gonna take the new senior only theater class which is a little out of my comfort zone but I’ll manage

Aaron🧍‍♂️: I was supposed to be graduated last year so I’m not excited at all

(Y/N): YOU GOT HELD BACK?!?! WHAT?!?!

Aaron🧍‍♂️: yeah I failed English and history so I couldn’t graduate

Cads🦁: it’s ok Aaron now you get to be with us for another year 😊

(Sunday 11:50pm) fruit loops

(Y/N): guys I can’t sleep

Janis👾: same I’ve been lying very still and it’s not working

Damian🌟: janis did you take the melatonin I gave you?

Janis👾: yeah but it’s not working 😔

Damian🌟: welp that’s a you problem then

(Monday 2:30am) fruit loops

(Y/N): do you think I can fit 40 mini marshmallows in my mouth?

Janis👾: oh absolutely

(Y/N): omg ur still awake too?

Janis👾: yeah lol

(Y/N): I just put 35 mini marshmallows in my mouth idk if I can fit more

Janis👾: if you fit all 40 I’ll give you 5 bucks

(Y/N): challenge accepted

(Monday 2:37am) fruit loops

(Y/N): I fit all 40 and almost choked lmao

Janis👾: lmao nice your $5 will be given at school

(Y/N): yippieeee

(Y/N): dude I literally can’t sleep

Janis👾: wanna call? That’s what me and Damian used to do before he got a good sleep schedule lmao

(Y/N): um sure me and my friend back home used to do that too

*incoming call from Janis👾*

“Hi” you whispered suddenly feeling a little more tired with her company even if it was only over the phone “hey” janis said with a small yawn “nice shirt” you say seeing her Lego movie shirt “oh um thanks” she says with a laugh “so what’s up?” “Let’s take turns asking each other questions until we fall asleep” you say with a little yawn “hmm ok favorite color?” She asks you “ooo definitely (your favorite color), how about you?” “Hmm either green or purple” “ooo good choice, hmm hobbies?” “I sing and write a little but I guess art even though I don’t consider it a hobby it’s more of a lifestyle” “art? Can I see some?” “Yeah sure I’ll show you some stuff tomorrow” you both yawn “shit it’s 3 am” janis sighs “fuck” you chuckle sleepy “um I’m getting tired” janis says with a tired laugh “me too” you say starting to close your eyes “good night (y/n)” “good night Janis” you say with a yawn falling asleep as she hangs up

Monday 5:30am

“Pst…(y/n)? You gotta wake up” your cousin said lightly shaking you “ugh five more minutes” you mumbled “no come on up you gotta get ready” she insisted, you got up against your body begging to go back to sleep “good morning sleepy head” Cady said with an enthusiastic smile “cads what time is it?” “5:33” “doesn’t school start at like 8:30?” “No it starts at 8 and I wanted to make sure you had enough time to get ready and have breakfast, breakfast is very important” “uh huh…mm thanks cads” you say with a yawn deciding to get up and look through your clothes “meet me in my room when you’re done getting dressed, ok?” Cady said “um ok?” You said grabbing your favorite jeans and shirt then going to look for your jacket as your cousin left

(Monday 5:40 am) fruit loops

Gretchen🌷: good morning everyone soooo so sorry for not texting yesterday I went to bed early

Regina👛: it’s ok Gretch don’t worry about it

Regina👛: also damn I think Janis and (y/n) our new insomniac duo

(Y/N): unfortunately yes I’m so fucking tired also good morning Gretchen

Aaron🧍‍♂️: why are you guys up so early it’s not even six yet? I literally woke up because of all the buzzing

(Y/N): cads woke me up :(

Regina👛: my skincare and makeup routine take like and hour

Gretchen🌷: I like mornings ☀️

You finished getting ready and headed over to Cady’s room like she asked you to. “What’s up cads?” “Eee (y/n) ok so first of all how are you feeling about your first day” “a little nervous and tired I only got like 2 and a half hours of sleep” “oh goodness (y/n) why didn’t you sleep sooner?”cady says concerned “Because I wasn’t tired?” You half joked. Cady hands you a paper. “That’s a map of the school the way Janis sees it she gave it to me on my first day I feel like it could be helpful for you” “oh um wow thanks cads” you say giving her a half hug. Your aunt knocks on Cady’s open door “hey girls good morning” “good morning mom” Cady says enthusiastically, you yawn “morning” you say with a small smile “I’ve got to head to work but I’m assuming you girls have a ride?” “Yeah Aaron’s gonna pick us up I think?” Cady answers “alright I love you two, be on your best behavior and call me or text me if you need me” your aunt says as she leaves “bye” you and Cady say at the same time. You head to the kitchen and pour yourself a bowl of cereal

(Monday 6:40am) fruit loops

Regina👛: my mom is doing a coffee run what does everyone want?

Damian🌟: iced coffee, oat milk, vanilla

Gretchen🌷: just the usual for me and Karen

Janis👾: iced coffee, oat milk, lavender

(Y/N): um (your coffee order) please

Cads🦁: can you just get me a tea?

Regina👛: yeah of course I’ll get your favorite

Aaron🧍‍♂️: regular coffee, cream and sugar please

Regina👛: ok also who’s picking up who today? I can get Karen and Gretchen as usual

Aaron🧍‍♂️: my mom said I don’t have car privileges this week so I can’t give anyone a ride

Damian🌟: I can get janis for sure but if anyone else needs a ride I can get them too

Cads🦁: can you give (Y/N) and I a ride please we’re ready whenever you are 👍

Damian🌟: yeah I’ll be over in 10 then we’ll go get Janis because I know she’s not ready yet

Janis👾: I would be offended but it’s true

Regina👛: alright meet at our usual spot?

Aaron🧍‍♂️: 👍

Damian🌟: sounds good see y’all soon

[thecryingastrologer]

A hot take on tarot and tarot readings🌚🌝

DO NOT 🚫 PLAGIARISE MY WORK. IF YOU WANT TO REPOST IT GIVE ME THE CREDITS💌🧿

Hey you guys❤️ it's been a long time since I've posted on here. I had a lot going on and i have so much to share with you guys. I'm officially a clg student and I've been trying to figure out how this clg stuff works and i can safely say, I've figured out enough at this point. I will be becoming more regular now onwards by posting at least once a week so that you guys don't feel like you're following a dead account. I will admit I've been active on Tumblr but didn't post as I felt very disconnected with astrology and tarot. I felt like i didn't wanna do it because I had a lot of things going on and was trying to figure my self out but came to a realisation about my inclination towards spirituality and the reason why I created this account. Thankyou all for being by my side and still viewing my content, engaging with me and following. I'm eternally grateful for it and wish to repay you all back by bringing life to this account🧿🫀🤍🙏

Soooooooooo, let's start off with something that may rub ppl the wrong way but😘

So I started getting into tarot a while ago and have been following and engaging liking and all alot of tarot pages on this app, which i will say are very good. Like alot of the readers on here are very good🧿 and not just here but also on YouTube.

All of these opinions are my own thoughts and observations and NOT a fact so 🌼

🌺 i feel like a lot of ppl who turn to tarot readings do not accept what the readers say because they don't want to hear anything other than their expected thoughts.

🌺 Alot of the tarot accounts on YouTube and Twitter tend to sugar coat what the cards are saying. In the sense, that they will somehow manage to manipulate even the most straightforward reading to cater to the audience instead of being upright with it. Like the cards will say one thing and the reader will either completely change the meaning of it or try to manipulate the meaning. Nowwwww, ik alot of yall will say that sometimes the intuition is just different than the meaning and i agree but I'm talking abt the ones who straight up manipulate tarot for views and engagement and such ppl are clowns who should stop this kinda nonsense for their 2 min fame and learn how to be honest.

🌺 Now, you see, there's a reason all these tarot readers on this plateform tend to tell you to use your discernment and get in touch with your intuition and it's because spirituality today, is not limited to only a certain group. Anyone can get into tarot and astrology but not everyone is spritual and give 2 stones about its art and essence. These ppl will try to manipulate the fuck out of you so that you either stop using your intuition and discernment orrrrr start trusting them too much to a point where you rely on them energetically, if you know what I mean.

🌺 You should take tarot and astrology with a grain of salt. Remember, nothing is set in stone. It always changes and that is the beauty of it. Speaking from personal experience, it is very easy to get addicted to tarot readings. I remember, i started off with one video and then got hooked to it and stopped using my own discernment. Now, i tend to use my discernment and remember that at the end of the day, the power lies in my hands.

🌺 Continuous use of tarot readings will make out of touch with reality and your own intuition. I remember i used to feel very mindless after consuming alot of tarot readings and thay was because I was living in my own dillusion that got created because of excessive tarot readings. So go for tarot readings but don't become chronically dependant on it.

🌺 it is fine if you don't agree with a reading but do not go around disrespecting the readers who are genuinely doing it for you and put actual effort into their content.

THANKYOU Y'ALL FOR MAKING IT TO THE END OF THIS POST. ILYSM YOU GUYS SO MUCHHH🧿🫀❤️

[bosskie]

Mean 'n' Clean

I didn't mean to draw more today (yesterday) but I just got a vision like this and I just had to draw it... Man, it feels like all this sketching is starting to actually improve my stuff. That Molluck just looks better than all the other Mollucks I have done within a week.

But yeah, what the odd is this? Well, I kinda tried to vision RuptureFarms back then. I felt like drawing kinda twisted versions of those Scrab Cake and Paramite Pie ads. Yeah, that Scrab is 'dancing' on that cake, like they do after killing their victim. And well, Paramite is eating the Pie... I have never drawn those creatures before, so it was nice to finally draw them too.

That Abe, well, I felt like portraying him as a cleaner with some cleaning equipment and I wondered why he would have such an expression if he is cleaning... Then it came to my mind that maybe is cleaning Molluck's toilet, so that's why he got that toilet cleaner. Just some random stuff for fun, I have been just laughing at that Abe.

Also, kinda related to this cleaning thing. One day, I figured out why RuptureFarms is so clean in New 'n' Tasty compared to Abe's Oddysee: There are 200 Mudokons more! Yes, Molluck could figure out the amouth of Mudokons he needs to keep the place clean.

I also wanna add that despite of my own problems toward myself, I do appreciate you liking my stuff! And I wanna say this that I do love this community. I did get such a warm reception when I started to post my Molluck stuff and it still warms my heart, especially after many years of feeling like no one cares about the stuff I create. I do admire the stuff you do here like daily but I have had hard times to tell you it, even thru a like. It's nothing personal, my thought about that no one probably wants me to interact with them is just strong... I used to be lonely for years... But I'm trying my best with healing this scar and gather my courage to say the stuff I would like to say but I just cannot because of my mind... Sometimes, I also just feel so embarrassed of my way to speak...

I also wanna say that I don't wish that creating fan art is a competition. The more important thing is all the passion and love people put in it. Of course, great art deserves to be featured but it was kinda odd still (I think that they should had been a bit more neutral too, to create a more believable image of that they do really love all the fan art; this is what I mean. Just changing it to be 'one of the best' or being an artist feature video in general would had been enough). And especially to me in a sense of that I did won that SoulStorm tattoo design competition but OWI never posted it but some other submissions to that competition before announcing the winners. There was a Stranger fan art competition before and they did post the winners on social media. It's just odd and I think that I really should ask OWI about that, I'm still waiting for my prices from them. I'm just not sure of how to do it. It has just started to feel like maybe they didn't even really like my piece and just made me a winner because I probably spent the most time... If someone hasn't seen it or needs refreshing, here's my piece I did for that competition:

Sometimes, I have been thinking about 'remastering' this since it has some flaws I would like to fix. But yes, I really gotta try to ask OWI why did they kinda cancel this tattoo competition after announcing the winners, though they never did it on their media but on the competition website. I don't really mind if they don't post this since this ain't great but I still would like to hear their explanation for this. This was supposed to be a temporal tattoo they would have shared and I would have gotten one too. Well, I did get the main thing, the moolah price, at least! My inner Gluk is happy.

~ Lots of love to ya!

[tsarisfanfiction]

Eclipse: Chapter 16

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Adventure Characters: Apollo, Hades Now, I could make the gods' lives easy... or I could not. No prizes for guessing which way I went here. I have a discord server for all my fics, including this one!  If you wanna chat with me or with other readers about stuff I write (or just be social in general), hop on over and say hi! <<Chapter 15

APOLLO XVI

Tell a tale of woe Cross the lamenting river And then we get stuck

While he’d been preoccupied – Apollo hesitated to call it dreaming, because that implied he’d fallen asleep – his form had made considerable progress in pulling itself back together.  His healing abilities were superior to most, even down in the depths of Tartarus, it seemed, and when he pressed a hand to the knife wound in his gut where Orion had tried to disembowel him, he felt nothing but unmarked skin.

His throat, too, was intact once more, as were the other various smaller injuries he’d picked up from both their battle with the giant and the broader Tartarus experience, and part of Apollo wondered how long he’d been sat there.  Ichor still stained his armour and skin alike, a jagged slit in the abdomen of his armour showing where Orion’s hunting knife had passed through it as though it hadn’t existed, but it was a simple matter to will it away.

The action didn’t bother his essence in the slightest, adding credence to the suspicion that he had been… out… for some time, for whatever measure or worth time had in the Pit, and some self-evaluation put him at not quite a hundred percent, but recovered enough that he was confident in his abilities to handle most non-Orion levels of confrontation once more.

Cool metal, celestial bronze at its finest despite the haphazard nature of the creation, made itself known in his hand and he looked down at the Valdezinator – or rather, the remains of it.

The instrument was, for lack of a better word, ruined, and Apollo felt a not inconsiderable amount of regret at the sight.  For something he had more or less forced Leo to give up to keep up his own appearances, he had grown attached to the strange yet utterly unique instrument, and had been making great strides in mastering the art of playing it.

In fact, his performance against Orion could have argued that he had if not mastered, at least achieved a high level of proficiency in playing it – something Apollo had never fully expected himself to manage.  Not because it was outside of his realms of ability – it was a musical instrument, it was always within his abilities – but because of the requirements for playing it.

The Valdezinator fed on emotions.  It was ingenious – music and emotions were heavily intertwined, but never had Apollo before seen an instrument that required emotions to make sound in such a way as the Valdezinator.  When he considered that it was constructed with less than a thought from Leo, simply something his hands did while his mouth was busy, it seemed unbelievable – and yet, it fit so perfectly.  Something created on a whim, away from conscious thought, that required the intangible to play…  Apollo loved it, but the vulnerability it had forced from him had been something he had been unwilling to display.

It demanded honesty, not a performance, and Apollo had never thought he would be in a position where he would willingly shed his performance in front of an audience – at least, not until his trials, and Lester, and everything that had entailed.

Still, against Orion – in front of Hades – with the fear from the Helm swirling around him and Orion’s vicious face threatening him, threatening his sister and his children, Apollo had managed to harness the right emotions to stop the giant, to lasso the fear his uncle’s Helm emitted and channel it into a weapon against his bane.  He’d hoped that would have been enough, but he’d known that just the music wouldn’t have been.  More had been needed.

Apollo hoped Leo would understand.  His hands shook as he looked down at the mangled metal, before he pushed at it with his essence, picturing the nook he had placed it in for safe keeping on Delos.  Such a piece of mastery deserved far, far better than to be discarded in Tartarus for evermore.  Perhaps, if Leo forgave him its destruction, he would be willing and able to repair it.

Summoning it in the first place had been exhausting, not just because he’d lost so much ichor he’d been struggling to perform any truly godly feats at all but also because of the distance between Delos and Tartarus.  Sending it back, despite being well-rested, was just as difficult.  Having his ichor and strength restored helped, but Tartarus was automatically opposed to things leaving, and it took several long minutes before the instrument faded from his hands entirely.

He took one more moment to remember it, to mourn the instrument that had saved him at the cost of itself much like a certain ukulele, before casting his attention around the cave to find Hades.

His uncle was stood at the entrance, sword held loosely by his side.  It was the exact same position Apollo had seen him take up as he’d slumped against the wall of the cavern, and he wondered if Hades had moved at all since then.

All gods were capable of remaining still for long lengths of time – Apollo preferred not to, preferred to keep moving, keep seeing and doing and learning, but he could, if he had to – so it wasn’t entirely out of the question.  He decided against asking Hades if he had; with time so hard to track in Tartarus, he couldn’t even ask probing questions like how long was I out?

All he could do was pull himself to his feet, pass his hand over his quiver to make sure it was once again bristling with arrows – running out against Orion had not been fun, not when it had slowed him up and the damn giant had starting timing how long it took him to summon more arrows, ending with a perfectly-timed strike while Apollo was mid-summon and couldn’t do anything about it – and head for the entrance, where his uncle stood.

“Are you sufficiently recovered?” Hades asked as he approached.  Apollo caught sight of dark eyes flickering in his direction briefly before returning to look out upon the jagged plains of Tartarus.

“I am,” he said, offering him a slightly apologetic grin.  “Sorry about that.  And… thanks, for fighting him.”

That was another thing that had been playing on his mind, beyond the safety of Asclepius – Orion had not been Hades’ responsibility to fight.  He hadn’t needed to fight, Orion had given him the chance not to, but the older god had intervened regardless, once again taking on the role of melee combatant while Apollo stayed back as support, despite the fact it should, really, have been Apollo’s fight.  After the earlier encounter, barely getting away from his bane, he had simply been glad for the help.

“I do not need your gratitude,” Hades dismissed.  “I merely saw no reason to stand aside, and certainly not once he implied that I should.  Giants have no right to order me around.”

The reasoning, when he heard it, made sense; Hades’ pride had been insulted, so really, Orion had brought his wrath down upon him himself.  Still, Apollo couldn’t shake the feeling that, more importantly, Hades’ involvement had been the difference between defeat and victory.

“There is no more to be gained from sheltering here,” his uncle continued, sheathing his sword and turning to face Apollo fully for a moment.  “Come.  The prison is still far.”

Typically, he didn’t wait for a response before striding out, forcing Apollo to follow and take some extra strides to fall into step beside him.

For some time, they journeyed in silence.  Hades was not the sort for idle conversation at the best of times, and Apollo could think of no topics to address that his uncle would deem worthwhile, especially while they traversed a terrain as unforgiving as Tartarus.  The idea of singing, or even quietly humming, was also dismissed before it fully formed – again, not in a terrain as unforgiving as Tartarus.  Apollo had no desire to attract the attention of the Primordial any more than was absolutely necessary; if he was honest, he was already worried at how much attention their fight with Orion had gained, and he suspected Hades was similarly displeased at the potential notice.

Surprisingly, it was Hades who broke the silence, as they started descending back down the jagged ground.  At this point, the constant slicing and healing of their feet was simply a background familiarity; neither of them left a trail behind them, healing too fast for the ichor to drip.

“You said that neither you nor Artemis have ever defeated Orion,” he observed.  “However, I am aware that he has been defeated in the past.  If you did not defeat him, who did?”

That was not a topic Apollo particularly wanted to discuss, but he could understand his uncle’s reasons for asking.  Gods didn’t like not knowing things, and Orion hadn’t kept his mouth shut while they’d fought.

Nor had he, although Apollo barely recalled letting the confession slip.

“Orion didn’t fight against us, the first time,” he said, unable to keep the venom out of his voice as he spat his enemy’s name and not particularly caring to try, either.  “He was the first male to join Artemis’ Hunt.  They were friends.”  Or so Artemis had thought; he remembered her delight at meeting such a talented, respectful male archer.  At the time, Apollo hadn’t noticed the danger he posed, either.  “He was… sly.  Artemis never likes me spending too much time with her Hunters, so I saw little of him.  By the time I realised who he was – what he was… He’d almost destroyed her.”

He felt himself flare up, the rage and fear when he’d discovered what Orion was truly doing in the Hunt, the way he was grooming Artemis, intent on taking away her maidenhood, of everything that made her the independent goddess she wished to be, writhing around within his essence.

“She didn’t listen to me,” he admitted, and the pain of that stung, too.  In the millennia since, they had talked about it, and Artemis had realised how ensnared, how blindfolded, she’d been, but at the time…

At the time, it had been the first true division between the two of them, a rift that for several centuries, Apollo had feared would never mend.

That was the first time he’d truly realised that he’d do anything to protect Artemis.  No matter what.

He still wasn’t certain if she’d realised that.

“I cursed Orion,” he continued, skipping over the years of arguments, of fighting, of fearing he was going to lose his twin, either physically or emotionally (or even both) because that was still raw, too raw to talk about.  “I couldn’t kill him, but I could drive him mad.”  Dionysus had helped, a secret between the two of them.  Not even Artemis knew he’d been forced to enlist the help of another god – Orion had always needed two gods to oppose him, after all.  “In the end, the Earth killed him.”

In terms of storytelling, it was probably the worst thing he’d ever told.  Too staccato, to abrupt, with no pacing and absolutely no embellishment at all.  Were the topic anything else, Apollo would have felt embarrassed to have even considering voicing something like that.

But it was Orion, and Orion didn’t deserve a proper story.  Nor did Apollo care enough to give him one.  Not after everything he’d done and almost done to those he loved.

“He was the first giant to come back,” he said after a moment.  “He hunted the Hunt for centuries; more of my sister’s Hunters have fallen to him than any other cause, but he never showed himself when Artemis or I were nearby.”

“I recall the deaths,” Hades told him, his voice quiet.  “He hunted Nico and his travelling companions in the recent war.”

Apollo remembered that.  “That day was a slaughter,” he said, fury and grief welling up.  “We- She lost so many Hunters that day.”

Hades looked at him sharply.  “We?”

He’d hoped that slip of the tongue would have gone unnoticed, but the black flames boring into him told him otherwise.  It wasn’t like it was a secret, that some of Apollo’s daughters joined the Hunt the same as any other demigods, but voicing it out loud still felt dangerous.

“One of your daughters entered Elysium that day,” Hades said after a moment, clearly realising that Apollo wasn’t going to say it.

Apollo hadn’t realised his uncle knew the parentages of the dead, let alone that he could keep track of where they had all ended up – there were so, so many of them, from across the millennia.  Even Apollo, despite his perfect memory, couldn’t fathom remembering every single one.

“Phoebe served Artemis for four thousand years,” he said, because talking about his dead children hurt but they always deserved to be remembered, and as time passed and the mortals that knew them passed, all too often he became the only one who cared to remember them.  Artemis would remember Phoebe, too, as would the surviving Hunters, but that still didn’t diminish his desire to remember her.  “She joined before Orion.”

Hades said nothing else, but he had started the conversation, and Apollo was grieving Phoebe’s death, still, like he was grieving Jason and Crest and so many others who had died in the past year and he hadn’t had the chance to process yet, so he kept talking, as they traversed Tartarus, slowly descending down in gradual increments.  He told Hades about when she was born, about the fate of her mother and the fate that had almost befallen her, about intervening, because the Laws hadn’t been strict on that, back then, and taking her to Artemis, who welcomed her with open arms.

Four thousand years was a long time, and Apollo had a lot of stories to tell about his sharp-tongued, vibrant daughter with her healing hands and strategic mind.  He didn’t know if Hades was paying any attention, or if he’d tuned him out as background noise, but his uncle made no indication that he wanted him to stop talking, so he didn’t.

It felt cathartic to talk about her, to share stories even if his audience was both captive and unresponsive, like a celebration of her life rather than a mourning of her death, so when his mood suddenly swung around to grief again, the weight of her death pressing back down on him and stifling his words, forcing him to swallow them down before they turned to sobs, he faltered.  Grief was a tricky thing, but never had it changed his feelings so rapidly.

“Apollo.”

Hades spoke for the first time since he’d begun telling the stories, his voice firm and a little sharp.  It didn’t overly surprise Apollo that perhaps his uncle had finally tired of hearing him, but the hand that gripped his bicep almost made him jump.

“Focus,” the older god told him.  “Cocytus lies ahead.”

The river of lamentation.

Now that Hades had mentioned it, Apollo could hear the whispering cries, the accusations of all those he’d failed to save, of those he’d killed in cold blood and later regretted.  They were on the edge of his hearing, words indistinct but intent crystal clear.

He’d briefly come across the river in his rare forays into the Underworld, but it had never troubled him there.  Here, in the depths of Tartarus, it was clearly far more dangerous.

Apollo was self-aware enough to know that he had too much raw, unprocessed, grief to be able to push through the river, but at the same time turning back was not an option.  The prison was the other side, and no matter what, they had to reach it.

Beside him, Hades’ jaw was unusually set, a stiffness to it the older god would never normally show.  His uncle had been unaffected by the Phlegethon, but it was immediately clear that the Cocytus would be a far greater challenge for both of them.

“How do we cross?” Apollo asked, feeling tears welling up, pushing and pushing and pushing until they finally spilled over, down his face.  His voice shook, completely out of his control.

Hades tightened his grip on his arm.

“Keep talking,” he said, through grit teeth.

“About what?” Apollo nearly sobbed.  They hadn’t stopped walking, and the wailing voices were louder; intellectually, he knew it was just the river, that nothing it was saying was real, but everything was accurate, down to the exact timbre of their voices.

“Your daughter.”  It sounded like an order, and it startled Apollo so much the tears halted for a moment.

“Phoebe?” he croaked.

“Yes,” Hades told him impatiently.  “Or another one, if you’ve somehow exhausted all your stories about her.”

Normally, Apollo needed no persuading to talk about one of his children – Olympus, he’d just spent the last however long talking about Phoebe – but with the Cocytus wailing his sorrows back at him, the timing felt somehow wrong.

“I-” he started.  “Why?”

His uncle’s grip tightened again, his nails digging in almost painfully.  “To cross,” he said firmly, “we need a distraction.  So: distract.”

Distract who, Apollo didn’t ask.  The river’s sole purpose was lamentation – it could not be distracted from its entire being.  It was them, the gods, who needed distracting away from the river’s cries, before they ended up in a lot of potential trouble.

Apollo could do one better than talking.

With the Valdezinator destroyed, and returned to Delos beside, and no other instruments with him, he had no accompaniment, but while Apollo liked to blend his voice with the beauty of music, he could carry a tune perfectly fine without.  His first instinct was to sing of grief, but he still had enough presence of mind to recognise the river’s influence, and that music, no matter how raw, could not hope to outmatch the river with its own genre.

So he sang of life, of his children – not just Phoebe, but all of them, and their accomplishments.  Of everything they did with their lives, the hearts they touched, the stories they made.  He celebrated all of them, feeling the ever-present demand of grief pressing against him, trying to smother everything he remembered with joy and override it with the dark bitterness of lamentation.

It was difficult.  Not to sing, nor to tell stories of his children, but to keep it away from the inevitable grief that ended each of their times in his life.  Cocytus wasn’t interested in the good things, in the light, in the love, in the kindness and laughter.  It wanted the tragedy, the heartbreak, to drown Apollo in the tears that he couldn’t keep from falling no matter how brightly the stories shone.

He felt Hades pulling him forwards, shaking him aggressively whenever a strain of grief trickled into his voice until he chased it out and replaced it with joy instead.  Part of him registered that it felt strange, to have such prolonged contact with another god – with Hades, the most notorious of all for keeping his distance.  It helped him to keep singing, the reminder that Hades wanted him to distract them from the river’s thrall, and followed his uncle as they reached the bank of the river, and waded in.

At the touch of the water, a deep chill that had Apollo’s voice shaking, he stumbled, grief pressing down on him more incessantly, insisting that he stop and let the river pull him so far under he’d never resurface again.

Hades kept him upright.

How his uncle was managing to keep going, one foot in front of the other as they waded through the Cocytus together, assailed by the river’s determination to break them, Apollo didn’t know.

But he kept singing, because it was keeping him something that could almost be deemed functional, and it had been Hades’ idea so perhaps it was what was keeping him going, too.  The water around them stopped getting deeper, and then started receding again, and still Apollo sang.

He didn’t stop until Hades pulled them to a halt, finally releasing his arm and taking a half step back, re-establishing his personal space.  They were some way past the river; Apollo could almost hear the words within the wails, could certainly still identify the voices.  But they were past.

“Clean yourself up,” Hades instructed, not for the first time since they’d arrived in Tartarus.  Apollo suspected it would not be the last, either.  It was the largest admission of unease his uncle was consistently showing – a need to look perfect, to look untouchable, to the monsters that watched them hungrily as they passed.  Apollo understood; appearance had been a large part of his life for a very long time.  Fake it ‘til you make it, mortals were fond of saying.

Apollo considered it to be a very important motto, too.

There was no ichor to clean up this time, simply tracks of tears that had cut down through his cheeks.  It made a nice change, as Apollo willed himself back into a presentable appearance.  He was not a fan of the puffy, gold-stained eyes that crying inflicted upon his face, either.

Hades barely waited for him to clean up before resuming his walk, leaving Apollo to take a couple of larger steps in order to fall back in line with him.  Conversation – even one-sided – now felt unwelcome, and while part of Apollo wanted to continue to play and sing his song, especially without grief trying to clog up his voice, the rest of him knew that he, too, had to process what they had just been through, so he kept it to himself.

He was also nervous about the next river; according to Hades, it was Styx, and Apollo could not imagine how that encounter – if, of course, the goddess decided to reveal herself – would pan out.  Her actions on the edge of Chaos remained an enigma, and Apollo did not know her well enough to predict what she would do.

When they reached the banks of the river, however long later, the goddess was waiting for them.

Arms crossed, she stood in the middle of the flowing water, her legs seeming to dissolve and merge with the flow of foggy river.

“Oath Keeper,” she greeted, confusing Apollo for a split second, before her black, cruel eyes landed on him and her voice changed to a guttural snarl.  “Oathbreaker.”

The look Hades gave him was indecipherable, and Apollo played it safe by not responding to either of them.  The last time he had seen the goddess, she had reminded him of the important lessons he had learned and then walked away, allowing him to go free despite her ability – and motive – to unfurl his desperately reaching fingers and cast him into Chaos, much the same way he had cast Python bare moments earlier.

“Styx,” Hades said after a moment’s silence.

“The Oathbreaker does not pass,” Styx said, her eyes still pinning Apollo in place.  “You, Hades, Oath Keeper, are free to cross my waters, but I will not allow Apollo the same luxury.”

It felt like Apollo should say something.  Not a defence – his oaths had been rash, but that had not made them any less binding, and breaking them no less of an offence – but something.

“We need to cross,” Hades told her, unwavering in the face of her glare.  Apollo did not know exactly how close their relationship was, but Styx guarded the Underworld, so clearly there was some degree of a working relationship, if nothing else.  “Let us pass.”

“No.”  The water swirled around her exposed torso aggressively.  “You, Oath Keeper, may cross.  Apollo, Oathbreaker, may not.”

“Styx-” Hades started, but the goddess seemingly held no fear for the god of the Underworld as she cut straight across him.

“If you cross my waters, I will take my owed dues.”

Her dark, dark eyes bored straight through into Apollo’s essence, uncomfortable in their intensity, but nothing compared to the painful twist of his insides as the threat registered.

“And what would those be?” he asked, keeping his back straight even though there was a large part of him, god of knowledge or not, that did not want to know what Styx thought an appropriate recompense for his rash oaths.  He remembered her threatening him before, with deaths of loved ones, taking the credit for Jason and Crest even though Jason, at least, had been prophesised to die, but it had never completely felt like she had taken her price, not even on the edge of Chaos when she’d turned away instead of casting him down.

Now was a terrible time for her to take it, so of course now would be when she chose to.

Her answer came in the rapids of her water, not words.  In an instant, she burst her banks, water cascading down on Apollo.  It didn’t drive him to his knees – as a mortal, he would have never stood a chance against the onslaught, but he wasn’t mortal, not anymore, and being one of the twelve Olympians counted for a lot – but it hammered his form nonetheless.

It also showed him images.

Images that made him roar, blasting away the water and shattering the vision of Will, dragged down to Tartarus and tossed from river to river before Styx dragged him down into her depths and his body went slack, blue eyes glassy and lifeless.

“No,” he snarled, knowing that he had no right to dictate the terms of punishment, but refusing to let any of his children take the fall for him.

Styx seemed unconcerned at the way he’d scattered her waters, drawing it all back within the bank and letting the clouded rapids continue hurtling their way down the body of the Pit.

“Anything else,” Apollo continued, his hand tightening around his bow for wont of something to do, “but not my children.”

“You do not get to decide that,” Styx told him, her voice chilling.  Apollo trembled, whether with fear or rage, he didn’t want to determine.  “Oathbreaker.”

“This is a waste of time,” Hades interjected, catching Apollo’s attention as he began to walk away from the river.  “Come, Apollo.  There is another way.”

Apollo hesitated, the clear threat to his children making his instincts scream that he had to do something to get them off of Styx’s list of potential retributions.  The goddess smiled at him – not a nice smile, but a harsh, cold smile.

“Go,” she told him.  “Go, and suffer in the depths of Tartarus.  Or…”  Her teeth flashed, sharp, like a predator, and uncanny in her otherwise human face, “cross me.”

It was a test, but it was an easy one that Apollo didn’t even have to think about.

If he wasn’t willing to sacrifice everything to save his children, he would never have returned to Tartarus in the first place.  Whatever Tartarus – and Styx, it seemed – was willing to throw at him, Apollo would endure.  Anything but his children.

He turned his back on the goddess, and followed Hades as his uncle led them away from the river.

Chapter 17>>

[guacomelon]

I wanna ask about the JSaBsonas, actually! I'm intrigued about all of them, so if you could say a few words about each one or at least how they came to be, that would be nice, but if you want to focus on a specific one - I'm curious to know more about the sunny one, top right.

Alright,

we'll be going in this order: 006, "Sunny", "Crown", and "Pae-ki" Here we go. Forgive me for using the same old art, it's the only rendered stuff I have of them 😅

🎵 Dancing on Our Disasters by Calavera

alt song: 🎵 Granite by Shirobon

The very first was 006, or "Six". All the way back in Sep 2021, I had the idea of creating a shapesona. At the time I had certain.. feelings, about JSB and my identity surrounding it. I definitely see those feelings represented in the character now.

Six is a professional JSB player in a world where the game is in AR. They're reclusive, obsessive. Attention seeking. And they dance. Oh, they dance until they no longer can.

Some of you had the chance of talking with them on April Fools of 2022; I liked that. It was very fun to write them, and I wish I could do it again. Maybe in the form of their own roleplay/ask blog, just like I always intended.

🎵 A New Day by Danimal Cannon

alt song: 🎵 Same Song by DEFENSE MECHANISM

Second persona is a character I've nicknamed "Sunny."

I started a continuation of a previously failed project under a pseudonym, a persona. It wasn't until Jun 2021 when I gave that persona her design... I think it helps when I'm writing as them.

There's currently not much character story to them, other than she exists in the same world as Six. She gets burnout often but never gives up. It's not over til it's over.

I'm sure you've seen a certain one of my projects so far. Maybe it was obvious from the beginning, maybe it just clicked now, or you're still lost. Those who know, I want you to know this aswell: I'm not being sneaky, I'm just anxious. When I'm tired of pretending and gain the confidence to put my face on these projects, I do plan on just using them as the mascot.

🎵 Ecstacy by Nitro Fun & Rob Gasser

alt song: 🎵 Fracture by Shirobon

Third is the crown. It doesn't have a name, and it probably won't - Jan 2024

Ok, this ones strange. I've been invited to play a certain fangame a few times, and one of their available shapes is a crown. The crown is just the shape I played with. Nothing else, nothing more. It will never be something greater, involving me.

So what about that art...well.... I think I'm just going through post-JSB:FE depression 😭 ... Recently I've been thinking about the "maybes", alot of "what ifs" And if I'll be honest with myself, I need to let those go.

🎵 happy camper by laamaa

alt song: 🎵 DON'T STOP by DEFENSE MECHANISM

And last, but not least, is my actual JSB/shapesona!

They currently have no real name (idk you can call them my ingame name "GUAC" lol,) but for records sake I've been using "Pae-ki". I first drew them up in Oct 2023, around when I first played The Fangame.

They are just, me! Lover of 'Close to Me', unreasonable hater of 'First Crush', and protector of triangle players. An "OG god" as some say. (I'm not sure what else to say that isn't just me talking about myself. idk, I still play Challenge Runs, come join me on NSwitch or Steam)

I'm still working on their design.. I wanted to incorporate mementos from all the JSB-like things I got to do. They were always going to have a crown.

[it's been 3 months I'm not working on this ask anymore, I'm just happy to have it out GOOD LIRD]

[gunkreads]

(back to our regularly scheduled programming)

So I know I said I was about to read Leviathan Falls, but I had to put a hold on it at the library, so I grabbed Ten Arrows of Iron in the meantime.

Ten Arrows of Iron is the second book in the Grave of Empires trilogy by Sam Sykes. I read the first book, Seven Blades in Black, nearly a year ago now. It was... well, if you wanna read my review, you can search its title on my blog. Ten Arrows of Iron is preeeeetty much the same deal.

Before, I compared this story to Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (one of my all-time favorites) by saying Seven Blades in Black had all the same things right with it as Kings, but more things wrong with it.

The world of this series is pretty compelling, with Sal, the protagonist, on a revenge quest the no-man's-land of a war between the militaries of the Empire (made of mages with a comically hackneyed array of powers) and the Revolution (Basically the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k). There's some wacky interdemensional shit going on in the way background, but the foreground stuff is basically "Sal has a haunted gun and a list of people to kill. She is mean, bad, funny, and in extraordinary pain with even more extraordinarily bad coping mechanisms."

These books, the Grave of Empires trilogy, are an exercise in non-restraint. Sykes lives and dies by the idea that every single line he writes should be fucking killer. He makes liberal use of paragraph breaks, italics, choppy sentences, and all-caps dialogue to this end (kind of like I do in these reviews!). You might be able to tell this just from that description, but these books can get BEYOND exhausting to read. Blah blah, "when every line is a showstopper, none of them are," blah blah.

However! If you let yourself melt into the narration, you can see it as both 1: characterizing the narrator (diegetic narration; Sal is telling another character her story) and 2: a thousand attempts at greatness with about a hundred successes. Sykes takes that 10% success rate and says "Fuck it! Good enough!" assuming that you'll also feel that way. As I believe the old crusties on this site say, "YMMV" (Your Mileage May Vary, for those of you who also didn't know what that meant).

Personally, I read these books in the same way I watch action comedy movies. They aren't high art. Are they constructed well? Yes. Are they changing my life? No, not at all.

Do I have a good time reading them? You fuckin betcha! They're oozing style in a way I don't see often. I've seen somewhere that Sykes created his setting inspired by old-school JRPGs; to this I say nay, this is Wacky West. Y'know how Sergio Leone basically said "Here's what a cowboy looks like!" and all of America went "Yeah we're cool with this, it's awesome!" Sam Sykes agreed with all of America on this and made Sal his Clint Eastwood. She's a cowboy through and through, in all the most ridiculous ways mythologized by classic American filmmakers.

Or... at least, she was in the first book. The second book cranks up the melodrama quite a lot. It's actually a very pleasant transition, with Sal having plenty of reason to become more emo and the difference coming out fairly smoothly. She's really questioning herself more in this book, which is saying something, but her narration does show wild swings in her belief that she's a bad person that are actually super interesting to read, but... possibly too deeply buried for some peoples' tastes. It's not that Sykes actually buries anything--he's about as subtle as, well, a zeppelin falling out of the sky--but because he's so blindingly hamfisted most of the time, any character or plot beat that's done normally feels like a little secret just for you.

I can't say I'd recommend these books outright, but I will say that if you're in for a couple 600+ page brain candy fantasy action comedies, these are pretty fuckin' stellar.

[biganimal92]

update for the 4 of you reading this that care (this isn't meant to be pessimistic I just mean that very few of my friends follow me on here lol)

I feel like my art has been stagnating for a long time and it's mostly because I limit myself to fandoms and the attention I get for my fanart messes with the way I value my self-worth so a few months back I decided I wanted to start doing a lot more with my art to gain more personal fulfillment and to give myself a direction i actually wanted to take it in so that i felt like i was making progress and going somewhere with it. I was making plans to create a proper portfolio of things that weren't star wars yaoi or the dudes from fall out boy fucking, and I was planning on launching a YouTube channel where I posted speedpaints and stuff and I actually made some decent progress

I drew something I was really proud of and I knew the content in it would be pretty popular despite still technically being fanart, and I had a time-lapse recorded for it and everything, I was even halfway through the script. I also had a number of original drawings I'd done that I never posted anywhere and I felt like by this time I should have been able to properly launch this stuff and start taking appropriate steps to have my art reach a wider audience.

butttttt then my laptop died suddenly and randomly (i was literally using it just fine, i lifted it up from my lap and it shut off and wouldnt turn back on) and it's been in the repair shop for a week and they still don't know what's wrong with it. they think it's a motherboard issue and if it ends up being at least $600 to repair it I'm just getting a new laptop. I think they can transfer the data on the hard drive to an external that I have and if so that'd be wonderful because that laptop contains all the work I've been doing these last few months for this thing I wanna do with my art.

thankfully since then my roommate is letting me have one of his backup gaming pcs (he works in tech so he has plenty) and I've been able to get set up there in case I need to start my progress over, but the issue is that it's a Linux and clip studio literally doesn't work with Linux because the desktop version of the program apparently relies on either edge being installed if it's windows, or safari being installed if it's Mac. so I can't sign in or download the full version, I'm stuck with the super limited trial version, and because of this I've been trying to get comfortable with Krita. which thankfully can record time-lapses.

my mental health has only been improving since moving to Seattle despite some pretty low lows so thankfully, even though this is uh a pretty big deal all things considered, I'm handling it really well. I had one horrible encounter with a psychiatrist when trying to get treatment for my anxiety and adhd, but since my insurance here sucks since I'm poor and nothing has worked for my other issues I've been fortunate to be able to see doctors about, I've officially become a crystal mommy and I've resorted to ~alternative medicines~ and as a result I've had a considerable amount of improvement in a very short amount of time with the things I've struggled with getting help with from a professional psychiatrist. so yeah, I'm only getting better

biggest issue that still impacts me is that my attempts at befriending people irl have not borne much fruit, granted I haven't been trying super hard but with a huge covid spike coming up soon, said weak attempts are going to have to be put on hold for the time being. especially since the main thing I was literally going to do as soon as Christmas was over was join this drawing group that meets up every other Sunday, but now I don't have my laptop so it'll just have to wait regardless of what the state of things are looking like otherwise

uhhh what else. oh yeah I got into Chinese yaoi and Indian cinema and I got out of my head enough to start playing genshin impact again so basically I'm a huge faggot ama

OH SHIT I forgot to mention I got another horrible job and I'm kind of trapped into keeping it for at least a year unless something catastrophic happens because it's giving me really important experience in the field I'm trying to go into, but when I say it sucks I mean it's probably the most disorganized place I've ever worked at that wasn't a locally owned franchise. I work at an open-access low income healthcare organization that's all over Seattle so when I say it's terrible and disorganized I think you get the picture

anyway I don't know how often I'll be on here but I'm bored and lonely and scrolling through tumblr seems like a better use of my time than spending an entire shift looking at r/shittyfoodporn

[50cal-fullauto-astarion]

that art is beautiful, i'm also just obsessed with how you write könig. the nervous energy needing to be burned, the hyena-like laugh, the way he curls into himself when he's ashamed UGH it's so good and fucked up and human i love it!!!!!!!!!! i look forward to anything you write for him in the future (also i think you're gonna drag me into the bg3 fandom, i have no idea what's goin on there but damn if you do not reblog the most interesting shit about those characters!)

ISN’T IT JUST 😭😭❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 I got so blessed with @utttoka ‘s talent and loveliness in wanting to share their vision of my take of him, I just jump up and down when I go back and look at it dghj 🥹🥹

And THANK YOU 💖💖 like logically he’s such a minor character in a campaign with much more fleshed out and interesting characters played by amazing actors, but I really just went full crab with knife and just picked him up and ran LMAO. I put a lot of thought and attention into my portrayal of him (and at this point he’s basically just an OC), and I still do, and he’s ended up being very special to me. Not to get too corny about it, but I’ve put enough of myself into my rendition of him that he’s become a significant comfort character, and I’m so glad that ppl respond to how I write him and relate to him and find him believable and engaging fghgd.

I AM gonna take a min here and get faintly cornball about it, but I’ve been - hi this is after-work rags and i'm here to finish up my thoughts on this topic now that i'm home and looking up lockets to put video game character pictures in. life's a fuckin joke and i'm going to laugh the hardest. ANYWAY.

i've been spending a lot of time considering my place in the CoD fandom through a myriad of lenses (some far FAR weightier than others, but with thoughts that ppl far more intelligent and articulate than me have already put to words), but it basically has boiled down to the condensed soup of "is this making me happy, is this giving me an outlet, is it time for me to shift my focus and step away, or should i change my approach to the things i'm creating?"

sorry for turning your sweet and kind ask into a like sljlskjd semi-existential crisis sweetie. i'll cut it short and basically sum up with: i still love these characters even if i'm neck deep in bg3, i still want to tell my stories with my versions of them, and i'm pretty sure i'm gonna just switch to solely "oc x" content after finishing up the last reader-based projects i have going, so at the least i'm having fun. christ, off the soap box now, sorry again dldjs.

BUT AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR ENJOYING MY PORTRAYAL OF THE BIG AUSTRIAN ASSHOLE, I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE STUFF I DO WITH HIM IN THE FUTURE <3 <3

(ALSO PLEASE GET DRAGGED IN BG3, THE COMPANIONS ARE A FUCKIN MESS, THE GAME IS SO FUN AND HEARTWRENCHING AND KICKS SO MUCH ASS. I WOULD TO HEAR ANY SCREAMING ABOUT IT FROM YOU THAT YOU MIGHT WANNA DO IF YOU JUMP IN THE HELL HOLE WITH ME SLKJSD)

[gurorori]

O, P, Q, for thé ask game if you dont mind me asking..

SUM OF Y'ALL PUTTIN' DA SAME LETTERS WAHHH I FEEL BAD!! alrdy answered Q so. we do a li'l scrollin?

anyway!!

O - Where would I like to travel?

travellin' (as a leisure? time? i guess) isn' smth i think ab a lot yet, save 4 in terms of immigration from. here. buuuut in my dreams really, i'd luv 2 travel 2 a few places 4 da cultural aspects.. namely ukraine, our.. half-homeland i guess, which we never actually been 2, but obviously uh. sumthin' sumthin'. nawt anytime soon, but i really wud love 2 reconnect with dat side, even if we don' have any contact with our ukrainian side of da family :[ i still want us b able 2 go there one day, specifically vinnitsa which is where our mother's side of da family was from.

apart from dat, i'd luv 2 go 2 japan — ok stay with me — but 'm deathly afraid of big cities (been 2 moscow & st petersbrug an' both times killed us badly) an' tokyo has like, da same population as moscow but much more population.. density? an' jus' seein' da amnts of ppl mkes me super nervous >_< i dream of goin' on a tour of like, shrines an' temples an' otherwise culturally significant stuff, as well as foooood. but ofc 'm willin' 2 put up with a bit of tokyo ONLY cuz of harajuku. i Will hit all da lolita stores. but really i'd luv a trip 2 japan jus' 2 experience da food & culture :3c an' i guess put our dusty musty japanese 2 da test?

nextttt morocco, ik dats.. unusual but dats where our mother's part of da family is Originally from, as they immigrated from there 2 ukraine.. (an' then our mother did, 2 russia.. gulp) an' she was born & raised in ukr, so she always kinda wanted 2 go back 2 morocco 2 at least experience it, but obv lack of funds etc. she always talkd ab it a lot an' stuff. kinda like we're the repeat of dat but with ukraine hehe? so, i wanna visit both if we ever have da chance 2.

P - What kind of music I like?

oghhhh well. bit all over da place but again do stay with me.. i think our very first music experience where we Knew wat we wer doin' & consciously wer seekin' out music 2 our taste was with the Holy Emo Trinity. yeah sorry 2 bring those memories back, none of em r even 'emo' exacly & hate bein' called it or wtv, but yeah n_n mcr, patd, fob... i think we wer into patd da most, ik i personally still am (system integration is a weird thing - i believe i merged w the previous host who was the one 2 discover all those, like, arnd the age of 11-13?).. a fever you can't sweat out (2004) by panic at the disco changed our entire life trajectory. i still have it as my #1 mika album of all time. i do have a lotta love 4 mcr too, fob we wer a bit less into, but yeah.

'm occasionally into pop-ish stuff, i like mika lots (also name twins :3), his voice & his art r spectaaaacular an' very unique an' him. he's so goodddd, his songs def helped us thru many stuffs jus' like da aforementioned bands. idk he jus' gets it, even the melancholic songs he writes (dat hit suspiciously close home >:0) r like DESIGNED 2 lift ya up i swear.

idk wat 2 define aurora as an' i wudn' really call her pop, she's a bit of her own character, especially here she's nawt exacly well known at all, but yeah i had 2 mention her. i don' think i ever connected with an artist on a deeper level than it was with her, largely due 2 her also bein' on da spectrum (it wasn' clear if she's adhd or asd but hey i can diagnose her.), like i see myself in her thoughts an' behaviors so much, da way she talks an' carries herself an' expresses herself in the art she creates. i genuinely Have Feelings 4 her she's so beautiful an' i can't stswp bein' obsessed w her & her music. da stories she weaves & da way she puts her emotions into lyrics is sooo special 'm Really happy 2 live in da same time as her. back 2 her bein' different like us, it really inspires me how unapologetically herself she is, like seein' a neurodivergent creator get Big (in sum parts of da world at least) an' thrive so visibly is astonishin'. i hope 2 attend her concerts one day :[ srry 4 da ungodly amounts of infodumpin' i doin' here but she means Dat much 2 me...

oh an' last but TOTALLY nawt least, 'm a huge goth, i luvvvv goth music so much, i guess a bit 'basic' but i really love the og styff, like siouxsie, bauhaus, the cure, joy division, sister of mercy etc.. i also luv 45 grave, the cramps, the birthday massacre, plastique noir, alien sex fiend, depeche mode, an' ugh SO much more i can't list it all 😭 i listen 2 a lotta goth is wat i can say.

oh an' 'm also a big fan of visual kei (as an extension of gothic lolita ofc...) but i mainly focus on malice mizer, as well as a few eroguro kei bands (which i rly enjoy as a genre too, who woulda thought...)

[quibbs126]

OH RIGHT THE FUSION PROJECT

I WAS SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THAT

*groan* but I don’t really wanna right now, that’s a lot of stuff to get through. Like, if you thought my other original idea posts were long, you have no idea how long this would be. Made worse by the fact that there are so many plot points and I don’t know how to put them in a coherent format

But I did say I’d talk about it if people wanted me to, and people do

How about this, for now I’ll just give you the prologue of how I came up with it, since I should at least give people something

Okay, so backstory, I was in my Dragon Ball phase at the time. I was only ever able to get about halfway through the original series, just at the start of the 2nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc (random fact, I forgot the name of the tournament and just now had to look it up, and I got it mostly right other than me swapping the ending bits. Sorry I just thought it was funny), but I still knew what went down through people on YouTube. And Dragon Ball Z Abridged. I should go and watch it again sometime

Anyways, one thing I discovered and loved about the series was the fusion aspect, I really liked it, with Vegito being a favorite of mine and someone I often drew (sketchbook only though, so no Vegito art for you). I admit I liked the Potara method far more than the Fusion Dance method, considering the clothes combined too. One thing I also liked was how it fused the characters abilities, giving them both character’s abilities and even creating combinations of both. I also discovered the Fusions game, in which a bunch of the characters could be combined and fused, and all the different fusions that came with it

However, one thing that got to me is that with the majority of the main fighters, if they weren’t distinctly alien looking, not many of them would have fusions with much variation. Like yes, the designs would look distinct, but something that was a bit of a gripe for me was that a majority of the characters would have black hair and eyes, with the only major exceptions I can recall being the Androids, Videl and Mr Satan, and the Briefs family. While I generally don’t have a problem with this with the characters themselves, it makes fusing them a little boring in the looks department, since there’s not much to do

So one day in Physics class junior year, I was typing these thoughts on my computer, and I was struck with the idea to make my own shonen esque series with distinctly different characters, so I could fuse them all and make a bunch of designs?

And for all intents in purposes, that’s what it all started out as, just an excuse to make cool fusion designs. I made 10 characters, tried to give them all distinct looks and character archetypes, so that I could have fun fusing them and drawing those designs. Though soon after I started trying to develop some sort of story with them, though it was never more than a collection of general plot and character points

Though I do admit, I didn’t go too far with designs, as they’re all human, and it wasn’t until much later that I started to consider non human options

Looking back, I find myself wondering if I should just have stuck with that original idea. I do love combining characters to make new designs, that’s one of the reasons I like making fankids, but I also realize that other than the beginning, I never really did draw those fusions, focusing only on the characters on their own

Honestly maybe if I want to move forward with the fusion project, I just need to leave everything behind and start from scratch once more, going back to that original idea. I’m just not sure, especially since I do like a lot of the original characters and don’t want to just get rid of everything I made. But I also realize in my constant attempts to rewrite things, I may have made a mess of things, and might just have to start everything over again with that clean slate

But yeah, there’s your origins for the fusion project

…Actually you know what, I’ll be nice and leave you with some of the earliest art of the series, when I was creating the designs and not the story, including the very first lineup

…You know, I kind of just want to leave you with my art and designs and not have to go super in depth about all these characters and the world, sort of like what I did with when I showed off my Standswap drawings. But I also recognize that there, I had a pre-established world with Jojo’s that I didn’t need to explain, whereas here I’m the only one with the knowledge of all the characters. Hmm

[sneepity-snoop-snorpity-sneep]

one of the big problems with how AI companies are trying to design and market their AIs is that 'replacement' is what it was designed to do. This is a problem which causes MORE problems on a couple of levels, but what I'm getting at rn specifically is that the AIs don't have a specific enough function to be actually...useful (even if they WEREN'T committing massive amounts of intellectual property theft/copyright violation in the process).

cuz like.... its function is too general to be able to get fine control over the finished product. AI isn't smart, it can't adapt or problem-solve and workshop ideas, the 'intelligence' part of the title is pure marketing. What it can do is copy data and randomize it

This isn't gonna help people who aren't already professional, commercially viable artists make digital media on that level, cuz its ALREADY not useful for the guys who can already do that - AI doesn't give you the options to edit pieces, you have no fine control over what it gives you. And frankly, with how much time you could spend trying to tweak your prompts and try and get it to give you a precise change here and there, it'd probably be faster/more accurate to just have an artist draw it themself.

the whole 'AI creates finished art images in seconds' is only useful if you don't have care a whole lot about the specifics of what it gives you: you just want a generally good-looking image that will get you a generally good reaction

like, all the things that AI could do to make the art making process easier for digital artists of various kinds? ....a lot of them already exist. like I'm an animator trying to get my hands on the programs that have tools like that which are considered 'industry standard' precisely BECAUSE they smooth out parts of the process: some have software built in that makes it much faster/easier to color in lots of frames very quickly. Programs like Adobe Animate for 2d and Maya and Blender for CG have interpolation options for animating, where you animate your keyframes and tell the program to fill in the motion in between (although that alone is not enough to make the animation look good - the animator still has to do a LOT of fine-tuning)

there's actually a program I really wanna try called Moho, which can be used to do much fewer clean-up drawings (one of the LONGEST parts of the process in traditional hand-drawn anim), and then allows the artist to edit those drawings to every frame instead of having to draw them all from scratch (at least that's what it looks like). as someone who really hates the clean up animation part of the process that is REALLY appealing to me.

But its not cheap. like all those really nice tools that make it SO much easier to do this stuff? They 'spensive. and none of them mean the artist doesn't have to do the work, you still have to sit there and put in the hours to finish projects even with these tools.

and as far as I can tell, the appeal of AI to those who use it? Is that they don't have to do anything themselves to claim they "made art" or "wrote a book" (they didn't.) and for very little money. AI thats designed to do the entire process so the human doesn't have to? Its basically just a gimmick.

because as mentioned earlier - these things can't think or create or problem-solve on their own. They're basically just complicated software blenders which ONLY WORK IF THEY HAVE HUMAN WORK TO TAKE DATA FROM - AI isn't intelligent in the slightest! It can't simulate creativity, only copy it!!!! They haven't made it to be otherwise cuz they CAN'T

Like if there was a computer on the same level of complexity as a human brain do you have any IDEA how much of a PAIN IN THE ARSE it would be to try and run it?????? When these crappy steal-data-and-barf-it-back-out-randomized AIs are already taking up massive amounts of water and other resources to run!!!!!????? HELLLLL NO they're not able to make actually intelligent AIs!!!

its not even that AIs are bad, its just this is a Really Stupid way to use them - like AI as a tool for scientists, doctors, etc. has amazing potential!! Pattern-recognition is something that AI is actually very good at, and its already being used to catch breast cancer ahead of time - although something I find interesting is that this specific AI use is only being done in Europe so far, not the US. Intriguing, given that Europe is also who is already writing legislation to try and prevent damage from unregulated AI use, while the US is...not doing that (like its something that legislators in the US are starting to do, but not particularly quickly)

(full article here)