#but i don't think doing it like that will work simply due to the proportions that i've already laid out

[gamebunny-advance]

Not the anon, but! I think I know what they meant. Here's a drum set with some curves; it's not the drums themselves, but it can be a visual. Plus stick figure to show what I think the anon meant

Yeah, I guess I can see that, but the thing with that is that the shapes of the slim drums are just gonna crash into his hands, either being barely visible, or awkwardly visible. At that point, they might as well not even there.

I'm a little too busy today to do a proof to see if it'd work, but my gut's telling me that it's gonna look crowded.

[bekolxeram]

The ever so observant @misterapril pointed out in this post that there may be a fake plane crash scenario on Hotshots while a real one (possibly with Athena onboard) is happening, explaining the 2 different planes we see in bts material.

I've mentioned numerous times before, this cockpit mock up belongs to an aircraft from the A320s family.

The cockpit mockup seems to be from the same type of aircraft as well. It's a narrow body judging by the proportion, and the 2 Boeing narrow body airliners (737 and 757) both have cabin doors working like a regular door, namely rotation outwards to open. While all Airbus doors pop straight out and move to the side without rotating.

B737 door vs A320 door

This aircraft on the other hand looks more like a wide body to me, simply because a narrow body airliner doesn't have enough ground clearance to fit a whole firetruck under its wing. It's a Boeing for sure, look at the cockpit windows. I'm leaning towards it being a 767 instead of a 777, simply because a 777 should be a bit larger and I see no winglet on the wing (can be a perspective issue, 777 has raked wingtips that might not show up if you take a photo leveled with the wings).

Well, thanks to @misterapril, I've just noticed something that should be super obvious if I wasn't blinded by the plane.

This is not the Ontario Airport tower.

So we know Angela filmed something at ONT terminal 2. The hangar with all the firetrucks and ambulances is also there. What you may not know is that said hangar is right next to the ONT control tower, so I always assumed the night scene with the Boeing plane and the 119 truck was also filmed there.

But guys, they're not the same tower.

The one behind the firetruck is the San Bernardino Airport tower.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I know exactly where they filmed this particular scene, taking into consideration other landmarks visible in the same bts photo.

I think this video posted by Kenny was filmed in the same location.

I believe they are the same building. You can judge it on your own by watching this clip. It's also the only area within the airfield with highway like markings, leading straight out of a fire station.

Why is this piece of information important you may ask? Well, we've been speculating the 2 different planes conundrum might be due to budget/production constraint. In S1, the show bought an actual 757 from an airplane boneyard in Arizona and shipped it piece by piece to California. It was such a headache.

Do you know San Bernardino Airport is also a boneyard? I can imagine Tim says, "don't worry about logistics, we're taking the filming straight to the boneyard this time!" So everything is possible, you have all sorts of retired airliners you can play with for cheap. There's also the possibility that the Boeing we see is just parked nearby, maybe it has nothing to do with filming.

Do you know what else San Bernardino Airport has? A USFS air base. In 7x04 they used the Helinet hangar and its (mostly news) helicopters for the Harbor tour scene, right? San Bernardino is filled with actual firefighting air tankers and helicopters. Perhaps they would be generous enough to let the show take a few shots of a certain helicopter flying around, I don't know, saving people?

EDIT: From the same bts video Kenny posted, I think they're standing under the horizontal stabilizer of a plane? I might be seeing things, and it's not very important, just curious.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

what do you like about cars?

I think you knew, upon asking this, that I could only ever have answered with either an ironic one-liner or a dozen-part novel. And unfortunately, this is already the second line, so novel it is. So then, without any further ado than the literal half year that’s gone by since this was asked, let's go.

1. Engineering matters

At the end of last year (aka when I started writing this, yikes) my dear old iPhone 6S moved on to a new home because it simply wasn't keeping up with me anymore. (And again, I was using an iPhone 6S in 2023. If I say a phone is too slow, it's too slow.) I had plenty of criteria for the replacement: a smallish screen not overboard on resolution, ideally a physical media control button and/or vibration toggle, repairability, a FUCKING AUX JACK... Something like the Sony Xperia 10, whose only real issue is marketing so trash you've only just now learned Sony never stopped making phones.

And yet...

This fancy wallpapers-sporting foldable is a Motorola RAZR 5G, a phone whose too-big screen already broke (though at the edge due to adhesive issues) and those who dared try warn repairing it will be as hard as phone repairs get. Why the fuck did I buy this? Well, because it has something more important than the aux jack, proper sizing, and good cameras: it made me go “That’s so cool!”, and when’s the last time a phone made you say that? It's the cusp of a new technology, and whether it becomes the future of phones, a future of phones, or just a weird footnote, it is an island of interesting in a sea of boring. And sadly, even this island is rapidly sinking. The drive for new form factors has already boiled down to the same two phones and their evolution is sinking into the usual millimetric proportion tweaking, camera rearranging, touchscreen expanding, case material switching, fingerprint sensor moving, and spec improvements not even manufacturers can come up with use cases for. I mean, seriously, how does the iPhone 15 differ from a software-updated iPhone X (which is apparently not pronounced "x", so I guess the iPhone Twitter)? Nothing is new. Nothing is tackled differently. The user experience does not differ. And why should it, when iPhone users will get a new one out of habit anyway and many are so tech illiterate moving a button could hospitalize them? Five generation newer and 150% faster are numbers you basically have to trust, because they don't make a difference that matters.

But in cars? 150% faster will matter alright. Even just looking at it. Cars are a visceral experience to even witness, let alone ride in or drive, and the frantic engineering pursuits for performance and overall capability actually have impactful real world implications beyond "some pockets will bulge 1mm less". And their engineering involves so many fields that there’s always a breakthrough going on somewhere - which leads to another reason their engineering is so interesting: there’s simply so much of it that anyone interested in engineering will find something for them, no matter their level or sector of expertise! Interested in mechanics? Well, obviously you’ll have a field day! Aerodynamics? Don't even get me started! Electronics? You're getting more goods by the year! It spread from engine management to safety assists to infotainment to ergonomic adjustments to even suspension and aerodynamics! Sound design? Even just working on the way engines sound is a profession of its own, let alone making these barrels of metal and glass propelling themselves at triple digit speeds through hundreds of explosions a second things you can comfortably have a conversation in - and that's not even mentioning horns and chimes! Hi-Fi? We’ve spent most of a century trying to get concert hall sound from a tiny tin can where everyone sits off-center and everything bumps and shakes around and you have maybe room for two components* a third the normal size and speakers can only be in a handful of places you wouldn’t want them which may well be the next room over**!

And this is just engineering.

*Like everything in the car world, there are exceptions to that

**For those unfamiliar, subwoofers, the speakers dedicated to, indeed, sub-bass, due to their frequent humongousness are often installed in the trunk.

[ipsomaniac]

Just reread Middlemarch. Thoughts, in no particular order:

Boy was I unqualified to read this aged 17. I think I wrote about it for my (dismal) first ever uni essay on the realist novel? Laughable. You're not gonna fully grasp the pathos of this book until you've lived enough to understand that the boundless potential inside you is not awaited by some corresponding perfect mission out there in the world. Like most kids about to start uni - like the characters at the start of the book - I still believed, on some level, that I would find the Thing to channel my own greatness. I don't think I had a clue what Middlemarch was really about.

Lydgate and Dorothea are of course parallels; Lydgate's fate is much harder because he is a man with a man's ambition and self-belief. As a gentleman he has not been brought up to submit to fate or the will of others. He doesn't bear it well and his disappointment is greater in proportion to his greater ambition.

On the other hand Dorothea's goals are always qualified: even as a supposedly outspoken/opinionated woman the extent of her ambition is to encourage and help the men around her to undertake great projects, be a daughter of Milton etc. She never really imagines achieving greatness for herself, even when it is within her grasp: as the widowed Mrs Casaubon she has, literally, more wealth than she knows what to do with, a highly respected status within the community and freedom from husbandly or paternal control. She could have done anything - could have been a philanthropist in her own right! But she is simply too uncomfortable with holding power, over others or herself. She is desperate to cast away the burden of self-determination as soon as she has it and flees again into the refuge from responsibility that married life and poverty represent. Her little tragedy is that she clearly does in fact have the emotional drive for greatness - she is not a middling soul like her uncle Brooke, she yearns for a grander scope of life and has a quality of greatness about her that people recognise and respond to. But she is unable to manifest this for three reasons: one, she read too many pamphlets and too much bible and got radicalised into a trad christian pick-me-girl; two, she is unfortunately just not that smart. she is highly empathetic and articulate with a strong moral sense BUT she is scared shitless by business and finance and practical organisation. she wants to go on some grand evangelical mission, she does not want to figure out how to fund and execute a big charitable project in her local neighbourhood that will actually have an impact. And three: she was just born in the wrong place, wrong time. 1830s small town some random place in the Midlands, doesn't have a railway yet, a single newcomer to the town is the most socially disruptive event to have happened in decades, there's like 2.5 pretty girls and 4 eligible gentlemen within a 10 mile radius, the peasants have it pretty shit but they're not like dying of plague or anything spectacular. There's just not much scope for ardent endeavour.

(Personally I love Dorothea because she has the power of emotional fervour and can use it occassionally to provide super-therapy to people but is quite ineffectual and shirks responsibility for her own life. And this is relatable to me. I am also having a lot of dark sneaky thoughts about the prospect of marriage and having a kid and the likelihood of my career being curtailed by this due to childcare being a disaster in the UK, and how that would be convenient because it would free me from the responsibility of finding some kind of meaningful work to do with the semi-decent mind I've been given. Such things the wisps murmur as I wander the perilous marshes of hetero partnership. Don't follow the lights!)

[shayminlucario07]

I want to talk about Naberius Tern.

We, The Locked Tomb community, talk a lot about how Babs (AKA Naberius Tern) is awful. Because he is. He is deeply unpleasant, and is viscerally off-putting to the majority of characters in the series- I'm not sure if there's anyone who actually has a positive opinion of him. He's an asshole, and we should treat him as such.

But... that's not his fault.

Something I've seen proposed in a post here on Tumblr (I can't find it and wouldn't know how to link it even if I could, I'm very sorry), which seems to be pretty widely accepted is the idea that, Naberius' proportions being. Basically perfect for the rigidly structured dueling that takes place, is a result of his body being altered by Third House flesh magic to *make* him that way (Likely by Ianthe). But what we don't seem to talk about or acknowledge as much, is...

That's not all that would have been *made* the way it was.

I have seen the theory be proposed that all of Naberius' unpleasant behavior in Gideon the Ninth is simply him attempting to draw attention away from Coronabeth so that she can conceal her lack of necromantic ability (Again, I can't find the post and wouldn't know how to link it if I could, and I am very sorry about that- both posts I've referenced are excellent ideas that make perfect sense and are extremely smart insights!). If this is true, which it very much seems like it is, then it would mean that Naberius has no choice but to be an unpleasant asshole- otherwise, the act he needs to put on to shield Corona wouldn't work. I'm not going to make the claim that Naberius was secretly a good person all along, because that's probably not true, but I think it's important for us to acknowledge the fact that, Naberius Tern has no choice. Naberius Tern has no power. Much has been said about the power imbalance between Necromancer and Cavalier, and about the added layers of nuance to that imbalance in the case of the Necromantic Heirs of Gideon the Ninth- but Naberius is, perhaps, the best possible example. And yes, I say that in spite of Gideon being an indentured servant, knowing full well what that means. While the relationship between Gideon and Harrow is never anywhere remotely close to healthy, Harrow will at least listen to Gideon, ever- though she doesn't do so very often. However, neither Ianthe nor Corona *ever* listen to Naberius. Due to the nature of the Necromancer and Cavalier relationship, the Cavalier has no power by default. There are examples of individual cases where a Necromancer gives power to their Cavalier, such as Camilla and Palamedes, or Abigail and Magnus, or even Judith and Marta, but Ianthe and Corona *do not do this*. In fact, if anything, they have taken away whatever power he may have had, in a very similar way to how Harrow did to Gideon when she kept Gideon trapped on the Ninth- due to Naberius knowing Corona's secret, he *cannot be allowed to have any escape*, in the exact same way as Gideon. He is privy to a secret that could destroy the heir of a house. As such, he is a threat to that house- and his leash cannot be given the slightest bit of slack.

We see at least one example of Naberius seeming to genuinely want something divorced entirely from the Tridentarii. This is when, at the Fifth House's anniversary dinner, he seems to genuinely want to befriend Colum Asht- albeit, in his distinct, asshole Naberius way. And, of course, Colum is visibly discomforted by this, because Naberius is quite unpleasant. However, personally, when I think about this interaction, who I feel the most bad for is Naberius. By all evidence, he seems to be genuinely interested in a friendship with Colum, but this idea is visibly distressing to Colum- and, given the fact that Naberius doesn't have the choice to not be an asshole- at least at Canaan House, due to its public nature- this is a prospect that simply is not available to him, and it isn't even his fault. He is denied the chance at a friendship he seems to genuinely want because of a persona he was *forced* to cultivate.

The final note I want to discuss is probably going to be the least well received, which is frankly understandable- but a sentiment expressed by some characters in the books (Most notably Gideon), and echoed by many fans, is that Naberius' attractiveness is unpleasant. He seems to want people to know that he's hot, and that *he* knows that he is, and he attempts to draw attention to that. He puts time into wearing his hair Pompadour every day, he stretches to show off his abs- and no one cares. He seems to be bothered by this, and it may genuinely be upsetting to him- especially given the fact that, in The Unwanted Guest, it's stated by Ianthe that every ex he's ever had has cheated on him, and that fucks up your self-esteem- but he doesn't actually make a big deal about it. But, the general consensus is that this aspect of Naberius' character makes him particularly unpleasant- and, largely, I think that sentiment comes from our perceptions as the reader being flavored by Gideon's own thoughts, as she is the lens through which we view the events of the book- and Gideon, of course, is a lesbian. She simply does not find men attractive, including Naberius, and she especially seems to find muscular men particularly unattractive, as she describes Protesilaus' muscularity as "Grotesque". Ultimately, her reasoning for this doesn't matter, and it's not a problem- she's perfectly allowed to have that opinion. However, what it has inadvertently lead to- which is further stoked by Naberius' failed efforts to draw attention to his attractiveness, and every character seeming to not find him attractive at all- is that Naberius' attractiveness is, itself, unpleasant; as though that mere fact of his character is a source of unpleasantness. And, to be clear, I can completely understand why someone would find that attitude unpleasant- especially a person who isn't attracted to men, given. You know. The way the world thinks about lesbians, what with patriarchy and all, but this, to me, seems like an example of an odd phenomenon in our modern culture, where men voicing attraction to someone, or attempting to be attractive themselves, is seen as inherently predatory, whereas a woman doing so is not. Now, maybe I'm just wrong- I'll fully admit that's a possibility. I'm a bi/pan cis man, so I definitely do not understand the full nuance of the situation. But, at least the way that I interpreted the book, Naberius *isn't* predatory, he's just kind of conceited? Or, at least, considers his attractiveness to be a major, relevant part of his identity. And, being hot, and trying to be hot, is not inherently predatory- it can make people uncomfortable, but that does not make it *bad*, nor is it *the fault* of the person who is trying to be attractive that the other person was made uncomfortable by them. That's the other person's problem to solve, and not the responsibility of the person who's trying to be attractive, since they're just living their life how they want to. That's true of Naberius, too- it's not a bad thing that Naberius is trying to be attractive, even if he is in a book primarily about lesbians. He has the right to do so- and frankly, given all the shit he's been through, I think he's earned the right to be a bit of a fuckboy.

Anyway, with all that said, my ultimate point is this: While, yes, Naberius Tern is awful and we hate him because he's an asshole, and that's deserved, we also have to be willing to acknowledge the fact that... he doesn't really have any choice BUT to be an asshole, and if he weren't trapped in the *situation* with the Tridentarii, it's entirely possible he wouldn't be an asshole at all. It really isn't his fault that he's deeply unpleasant in so many ways, and that only furthers the tragic nature of his character. And I think that we, as readers and fans of these books, haven't really acknowledged or accepted that. It's actually quite sad that Naberius is so awful, and it's tragic that he ended up that way, whether it was by his own choice or not, whether it was simply a product of his nature or not.

[2willowlane]

i do really love emily. i don't know, but something just makes me very affectionate towards her.

femme reader, sfw, established relationship

ever since emily was then wedded to her new spouse, there's something that she still cannot get used to. well, in her heart, it feels so natural—as if she was made for this purpose, and as if everything that has been said and done was all aligned for her. even if she does indulge in her beliefs of mysticality, emily knew that what she had was real and cemented. a best friend, a girlfriend—a wife, of all things. tossing and turning in their shared bed, emily looked at your peaceful sleeping face. she found you to be so beautiful...

her eyes glossed over each of your features, from the fine contours of your nose, to those lips of which she oh, wants to kiss so dearly. the artistic side in her finds you just so genuinely interesting, as she's able to map out all of the different proportions in her mind. even if you may not be perfect, and emily is far from that as well, you two were perfect for each other. the tailor then gave into her impulses, pressing a soft kiss on her wife's cheek; lingering a bit, as she then withdraws. she misses the warmth already.

something has been nagging at emily recently, and it's mainly due to her scheduling. normally, she'd go out and work the saloon late at night; often times, just the hustle and bustle of her shifts do get her through the hours—however, she promptly would then pass out as soon as she makes her way towards home. how emily would dream of having that taste of sleep; looking forward to it every day, since it's the most downtime she has in her day—well, other than in the morning (of which she likes to relax in her home... whenever she doesn't have chores).

it's past 11pm, and the bed already feels uncomfortable for her. she has this insatiable itch to get up, to dance, to move—but, there're a few moments in emily's life where it feels as if it's better to stay still. as if she doesn't need to go put an imprint on the new day, rather, just let the earth turn. it felt like an eterenity for the woman, as she was still just glazing over the features on your face, whilst trying to think of something to do. she already knows what she wants to do tomorrow—probably tend to her crystal garden out by the farm, and then surprise her love with taking care of her chickens. oh, how she does love birds!

possibly, she could go out and forage some? she has a few hours to make it back home, and she knows you do appreciate a fresh medley. she wants you to grow healthy wnd strong, and with all of your farmwork, combat expertise, and mining efficiency... she'll be surprised if she could find anyone that'd be stronger than you. well, not only by physical strength—she knows that you're a capabale woman; more than capable.

it makes her feel proud that her gut feeling was right about you being special; but her sense of pride over having the person she loves doing what she wants to do, and is equally proud of her own work? oh, emily's heart swoons!

preparing to go out, she then slips on her shoes, makes sure to change into something she could get dirty in, and makes her way out of the house. making sure that none of the wooden floorboards don't creek underneath the rug she's walking on, emily takes softer steps—to ensure that you're not going to have a rude awakening anytime soon. she then turns around whenever she reaches the fromt door, blowing a kiss in the bedroom's direction to say "goodbye, my dear!"

the chill of the night washed over emily. well, at least it brings her more of an incentive to get out and be active! however, she still needed to be careful being out at night without light; she could still make out some objects due to the moonlight. oh, how romantic this felt with emily, and how it just felt so in-tune with her emotions. she was glad she was able to be friends with—now, be with—someone who doesn't just dismiss her mannerisms as simply "odd" or "too weird". yes, she knows that she is far from the conventional standard sometimes, but the world would be too boring if everything was a simple carbon copy of each other.

how she felt things were different than most. you were able to be with her and understand, and even if you didn't quite get everything she rambled on about, it made you feel special that she'd want to show you all of those things. emily may have her quirks, but that's what makes her, well—her! you wouldn't have her any other way.

humming a saloon tune whilst skipping to the beat of it, just thinking about surprising you with all of these goodies makes her feel so, so upbeat! if you were there, you could've seen the color to her cheeks; how that rosey hue was something all-too familiar. picking up some dandelions along the way, she did remember to pack a wicker basket a while back; as she tried her best to then assort each of the plants the best she could. emily had an eye for design and arrangements, so it did take her a bit until she was fully satisfied to continue onto the next task. if she feels so strongly about something, she needs to vent it out! emily believes that it's a true emotion, if it resonates that deeply within her.

something about this late night nature stroll does rekindle feelings emily never quite knew she had. she never had the time to go outside and to fully appreciate the stars; however, being able to actually go out, and to observe all of the things she'd normally miss due to her body just aching to get to bed... she loves it. the fresh breeze of the spring's night air was cold, however, there's still a warmth to it. oh, well, maybe it's because she's full of thoughts of you. maybe that's it.

she then makes her way throughout town, waving to some of the nightly saloon guests as they make their way out of the restaurant. ever since she was married, she doesn't have to work as much at gus'. this made her feel more free, as she knows that she cannot simply be a barsmaid forever—there's too much on her plate to do, y'know? though, now that she thinks about it, work feels much more rewarding, if she can go home and see you, to cook for you, to bring gifts to you (from all those times you've given her some), and to simply be the first and last thing she gets to see in her days.

as emily progresses up towards the mountains, she doesn't frequent this area; as she doesn't have much of a use for it. now? she loves just how raw and natural this feels to her, as she gets a good feeling of energy coming from her. you'd often talk about all of the difficult fish that you'd have to catch in this area, and you have to reassure her that you're handling the little creatures humanely; and that they're all okay, under your care. she loves how caring you are with even the smallest of things, and that positivity is contagious. well, at least in her mind.

this was the place where she truly belonged, now that she thinks about it.

[sorenblr]

thoughts on Akihiko Yoshida? hes done several greatest game of all time contenders but I still don't know how 2 feel about him tbh

I would rank him highly, although I do think his best work belongs to a bygone era. I've always had a lot of affection for Yoshida as the Square-affiliated artist most likely to describe form with profuse hatching. The original Tactics Ogre cover is one of my favorite pieces of game art:

I think he produced his most compelling work around this period, in collaboration with Hiroshi Minagawa, and more generally prior to the onset of HD development. I don't know how deeply involved he was with the process (Minagawa is credited as supervisor in both cases), but between Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII, his designs have been treated to the most compelling applications of texture mapping in the medium.

I also love the lush storybook style he adopted for Four Heroes of Light, and I wish that quality had carried more cleanly into Bravely Default.

His contributions to FFXIV are obviously accomplished but they don't really stand out in my mind due to their proximity to so many other artists on that project working in a style that roughly approximates his own. I think that's something that has muddled my impression of his work over the past decade, the glut of designers seemingly trained in his style, or the new prominence of those who simply came up in the industry working in a comparable idiom, usually in the Ivalice games. The deliberately abstracted faces contrasted with baroque or luxuriously rendered dress, the almost exclusive use of earth tones etc. It's evident everywhere from certain of Kazuya Takahashi's key art in FFXVI to Naoki Ikushima's entire corpus of Yoshida-lite emulations, even Hideo Minaba's work on Granblue Fantasy.

At one point this was a perfect triangular complement to the sectors defined by Amano and Nomura, but as we recede further and further from any remaining stylistic imprint of the former and all the appealing extravagance is bled from the latter, a sort of repetitious sameness sets in. It's no fault of Yoshida's, and I think his own work still consistently outshines his "imitators", but it probably accounts for my cooler feelings of late.

As an aside, the guy has definitely indulged his predilections to a greater degree as time goes on. He's settled on an anatomical template for his female characters that I find vaguely disquieting, as evinced in this Tomb Raider illustration. That one has especially chitinous proportions, but most of it is basically just, like... hippy zettai ryoiki shit. A fetish so mild that it's one step removed from being really 'into' big titties. Guys with active accounts across multiple booru image boards will be cranking their shit to 2B for long and silent aeons, when even the memory of man is only a shadow over the wine-dark sea.

I would still like another game where he's allowed a fuller reign over design responsibilities. Like Nomura, he's reached a position of seniority that precludes him from designing anything beyond a few core characters and some key art, leaving the heft of the work to younger artists or middle-talents like Roberto Ferrari. Hopefully he'll be on tap for something other than Nier Automota phone games or FFXIV package illustrations or whatever the fuck Little Noah: Scion of Paradise is supposed to be. Damn, videogames are rough! This shit is not cooking!

[linka-from-captain-planet]

minthara/shadowheart let's fucking go

also viconia/shar if you're so inclined (fellas is it gay to feel some type of way about your goddess)

oh ho ho....

Minthara/Shadowheart

What made you ship it? If there is one thing I know in my heart, it's that elven MILFs are like catnip to Shadowheart. And a drow MILF to boot? Fire up them mommy issues baby. From Minthara's perspective, I think it'd have to be an Origin!Shadowheart situation because otherwise Shadowheart sucks too much (really needs that element of "I owe my life to this cute/pathetic mongrel" to get over that hump). So you wind up with a ship that begins with Sad Wet Cat Drow MILF x Sad Wet Cat Mommy Issues and that is simply my cup of tea

What are your favorite things about the ship? It's so juicy. They're brought together by the tadpole, both have endless trauma (I would go so far as to say that Shadowheart also has drowtrauma due to being raised by Viconia) especially religious trauma. You gotta have religious trauma in any Shadowheart situation. They could do a lot of healing together, or they could feed each other's worst qualities. They could make each other better OR worse and that's ideal; there are plenty of ways to take it. Also they're both so funny, their conversations would be hilarious.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I would say that generally I'm not into BDSM or super rough sex in fanfic which is definitely the majority preference when these two are involved (no reason, just a personal squick), so I've only read a couple of the fics on AO3. Also I especially enjoy DJ!Shadowheart for this dynamic because the only thing sexier than 1 evil woman is 2 evil women.

Viconia/Shar

If I'm being for real, I am willing to accept Viconia's status as a heterosexual but does a goddess even really count? Fellas, is it gay indeed...........

What made you ship it? Sorry but Shar is so hot? And Viconia being the ultimate Drow MILF who's maybe trying to sabotage Shar's will so she's not abandoned by another goddess and so she didnt throw her whole life in Waterdeep away for nothing... also hot

What are your favorite things about the ship? I'm very picky about what power imbalances I like and don't like in ships (snobbery re: things I think are boring or cliche, not puritanism) but this one works for me. Like yes Shar is literally a goddess but deities being actual, tangible beings somehow tips the scale. Viconia could kill her! The drama potential is proportional to the rancidity of the vibe. Definitely a Doomed Ship which is my shit.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Impossible as there is no popular opinion, but I think the sympathy I have for Viconia is maybe unpopular. Yes she did all that to babygirl Shadowheart and it was wrong, but I see her as a victim as well. She's a model for the tragedy of what will become of Shadowheart eventually if she doesn't break free of Shar.

[samasmith23]

Why do fans hate Bruno from Ms. Marvel so much?

Back when I was still on Twitter and was reading Saladin Ahmed's run on Magnificent Ms. Marvel as it was being released on a monthly basis, something which really confused me was witnessing a fair number of Ms. Marvel fans talking about how they not only really disliked Kamala's childhood best friend Bruno Carrelli as a character, but even would go as far as to label Bruno as a "manipulative incel" and accuse his and Kamala's romance subplot in Magnificent Ms. Marvel as being "emotionally abusive."

Like... I've honestly never understood where these criticisms were coming from. Especially since I personally never got that impression of Bruno's character having read all 75-issues of G. Willow Wilson & Saladin Ahmed's initial runs. And while Ahmed did state in a tweet that the romance subplot between Bruno & Kamala was about "overcoming toxic pedestals," I still think a lot of the claims I've seen from fans that he somehow wrote Bruno as behaving like a manipulative incel or something is a massive stretch.

I personally took Ahmed's statement to instead mean that he was trying to convey that childhood-friendships-turned-teenage-romances don't always lead to the most healthy or naturally progressing relationships, especially one of them has an idealized version of the other even if both harbor similar romantic feelings for each other (which Kamala did for Bruno contrary to some fan claims).

And Kamala and Bruno both realized this and decided that even though things would always be weird between them, they should just "keep it weird but without the kissing" in Magnificent Ms. Marvel (2019) #15.

I always really loved this scene. Although I was personally a huge shipper of Kamala & Bruno as a couple, I honestly understood both of their perspectives about why they felt pursuing a romantic relationship together won’t work out them and feel they should just stay friends despite their feelings for one-another. Kamala acknowledges that she's not ready to commit to such a relationship since despite kissing Bruno she did so purely in a heat of passion when she was emotionally stressed due to outside factors like her Kree Stormranger Nanosuit negatively influencing her physical behavior to try and kill her nemesis Discord, as well as experiencing extreme grief and anger when her Abu dying in the hospital and receiving life-saving surgery and she was forced to go off and fight the supervillain Mister Hyde.

Conversely, Bruno realizes that the progression of his and Kamala's relationship has felt forced and unnatural due to him having an idealized version of Kamala in his head, and Kamala herself wasn’t ready to commit to romance due to all the hardships she was then-currently experiencing.

It's also worth noting that the worst thing Bruno did in Magnificent Ms. Marvel was briefly complain about them still not dating while on a trip to the state fair due to Kamala not being ready to do so despite previously kissing him, and angrily storming off (which he recognized was a mistake on his part in the very next issue).

But aside from that, Bruno never came across as particularly jerkish to me, since he never insulted or demeaned Kamala. And throughout Ahmed's run, Bruno was shown to be always willing to put Kamala's feelings and well-being into consideration. Whether it be helping her find her missing parents, comfort her when her father was dying, and saving her from being drowned by Stormranger.

Plus, it not like Kamala lacked any agency in their relationship, and she clearly held similar feelings towards him (both in Ahmed or Wilson's runs). And the fact that she and Bruno decided to simply remain friends felt very genuine and authentic to me when I read it.

So overall, the criticisms against Bruno always felt rather inflammatory to me, blowing the character's flaws wildly out of proportion to make him seem like the worst most unlikable irredeemable person ever.

I honestly just don't understand the outrage towards Bruno among other Ms. Marvel fans... I really don't...

[criticalsucc]

Okay I finally went through them and dang that is just hard to read isn't it?

7. What is your favorite type of underwear? (Type of lingerie that you most prefer on yourself, AND on a partner?)

7. What is the last thing you thought of or masturbated to?

26. Is it easy for you to orgasm or do you have to work for it? (Previously vs now with hormone balancing)

36. Do you edge when you masturbate?

13. Do you enjoy tease and denial? (This is worded awkwardly but like - do you like teasing or being teased, and/or edging, and/or orgasm denial?)

Aaaand free space: what's one (sexual) thing you have never been asked that you wish you had been and would like to share the answer to?

7. What is your favorite type of underwear? (Type of lingerie that you most prefer on yourself, AND on a partner?)

So I have to give a special shoutout to bodysuits. I just think the way they highlight the curves of the body is so sexy. However I can never wear them. My torso is simply too long and my tits are simply too small. If it's sized appropriately for my torso length then it's too baggy and the breast cups (if it has them) are about 5 sizes too big. If it's size appropriately for my waist measurement and breasts (itself difficult to achieve), it will be uncomfortably tight vertically, probably won't have enough support in the crotch, and will not even cover my breasts because they don't hang down due to being so small. My proportions are just very atypical.

So that said, a full three piece set with stockings is probably the next best thing. However, I don't have anything like this but, I think I would probably look really good in a two piece set that was like a longline bra (I'm thinking a band that's like 5 or 6 inches tall) and a pair of high-waist, cheeky/tanga style panties where the waistband itself is really tall//thick. I don't really wear straight up thongs because they usually don't have enough material to contain everything lol. But I do like a style halfway between bikini and thong. If the waistband is also tall and therefore covers more of my lower stomach, in combination with the longline bra, I think it would have the visual effect of shortening my torso and making me look fuller in the chest and hips. And the cheeky style of the panties would accentuate my butt and highlight the length of my legs. (you can tell I've put a lot of thought into this)

As for what I like to see on my partner, there's nothing I don't want to see. But generally I want to see you wear whatever makes you feel best. I know that's such a cop-out answer but honestly, I will enjoy seeing you in literally any style of lingerie. Whether that's a slip, or a 3 piece set, or a bodysuit, or something like a basque/merry widow with panties. Any of it is going to excite me 😍

7. What is the last thing you thought of or masturbated to?

If I'm being completely honest? The thought of looking down at you and seeing your pussy stretch around my cock as I fill you from behind. Feeling myself deep inside you and savoring every thrust. The intimacy of knowing I'm feeling you inside your body.

26. Is it easy for you to orgasm or do you have to work for it? (Previously vs now with hormone balancing)

This really depends on what my libido is looking like at any given moment. Before HRT, I could cum pretty easily, but usually held off (see below). Then when my T was really low, it took kind of a lot of effort to cum and sometimes just couldn't happen, which was not very fun. With my current hormone balance, it's fairly easily but just takes more time to get to. But just a bit of concentration and a fast steady pace for a few seconds and that usually has me cumming. Every once in a while I'll have a bit of difficulty, but not too often. Usually that's if I'm a bit distracted and can't really get into it. But I do have little techniques that will get me there fairly reliably.

36. Do you edge when you masturbate?

Yes generally I do edge. Very rarely do I just masturbate and cum as soon as I'm able. It's actually just kinda the default way that I masturbate. I did it for years before I even knew it had a name. The best sessions are when I can barely get a couple of strokes in before I have to let go because I'm so on the verge of cumming. That's my equivalent of ovulation horny I guess 😂

13. Do you enjoy tease and denial? (This is worded awkwardly but like - do you like teasing or being teased, and/or edging, and/or orgasm denial?)

Do I enjoy teasing my partner? Theoretically yes. That's never really been a thing in my sex life so I've never tried it, but I don't know why I wouldn't enjoy doing it, especially if you like it. As for being teased, I think I would enjoy that, as long as there is a slow buildup and it feels like it's going somewhere.

Edging I covered above. I think being edged during a hand job or blowjob could be really fun. You'd have to learn my tells and figure out exactly when to start and stop. And I imagine there is great intimacy in being able to so adeptly control someone's pleasure like that. You would know things about me that no one else did, which is hot in its own right.

But I definitely don't like orgasm denial. And by that I mean "you don't get to cum at all." Because then my arousal will fizzle out and I'll get super frustrated, which I don't enjoy. I don't necessarily have to cum to be satisfied with sex (though I would prefer it), but if I don't cum I prefer it be the result of exhaustion, rather than straight up denial.

what's one (sexual) thing you have never been asked that you wish you had been and would like to share the answer to?

This was a hard one to think of but here's a random fact about me: sometimes after I cum, if i'm like really satisfied, I purr. That comes from it being a great orgasm and me being in a really good mood. I guess it's like a stim thing 😅

Thank you for the questions love! 😘♥️🩵💖

[machifuwa]

Autumn Cafeteria | Episode 3

Tsukasa: In summary, we are working as Volunteers to help this place.

Yuuta: I see, so that's why you're all here.

But I'm a bit disappointed that even my seniors used to come here. I thought it was a hideout that only I knew of because there are never many customers no matter when I come.

Shu: I used to think the same way before. Because there are few people, it is calm and comfortable.

However, when I put myself in the position of the store, I realized that the number of customers is proportional to its profit.

Even though it's a holiday, this situation is simply terrible... It's not a viable business at all.

Koga: Even though you're just volunteers, seems like you guys still have time to talk to usーcutomers.

I mean, what about work? Is it okay for all three of you to be relaxed like this?

Shu: It's a bit of a bummer, but it's not a problem. As of now, you two are our only customers.

Yuuta: Oh, that's true. But there was another couple there just now.

Tsumugi: By the time I had brought the food to you two, they had already paid the bill and left afterwards.

Even though it's pretty busy during lunch time. It's still a lonely sight~.

Koga: …So, how's that workin' out for you? Do you guys know how to solve this, huh?

Yuuta: Why is Oogami-senpai acting like he's in charge?

Koga: I didn't mean to meddle, but I'm pretty sure you're also curious about all this, ain'tcha?

Tsumugi: We've been looking for ways to improve the café while we work, but we haven't thought of any good ideas so far.

The menu has a wide variety of items, the prices and tastes are perfect, and the customer satisfaction is high.

The only thing wrong is the location. If this store could be moved to the front street with just a "bang," it would be an immediate solution.

Tsukasa: As expected, it's difficult. We don't have any more land left to move this place…

Tsumugi: No no, I'm just kidding. Don't take it seriously.

Shu: What are you doing, teasing a serious child, Aoba?

Tsumugi: I was trying to make the situation more relaxed~. After all, we won't gain anything staying still like this.

Yuuta: Is that so? I can't believe they're closing, even though I found a great hideout. I'd hate to see it go down the drain without being able to do anything about it...

I don't have any good ideas. But can I help you?

Shu: Umu, you are very much welcome. This place means a lot to me too.

Koga: Dammit. This reminds me of "Special Music Zone".

Seems like the number of closed shops and collapsed buildings increased due to the influence of ES over there, too.

Yuuta: So, this means Oogami-senpai will be joining us.

Koga: Haa? Why would I?

Yuuta: Eh, am I wrong? In the spring, when I was making a fuss about helping the live music clubs in the "Special Music Zone".

"I'll help you," you offered. So I was expecting that you would cooperate with me this time again.

Koga: Ah…Well, since I've stuck my head in so far, I can't just ignore it, huh?

Yuuta: Really? Fufu, Oogami-senpai is very caring, isn't he?

Koga: Shut up. Don't be comfortable just cuz there are more people. It's all meaningless if you don't have any ideas.

Tsumugi: Even if there are volunteers like us, there are no customers and this place is deserted in the first place.

We're still having a lot of free time, and now that we've increased to five people, we're going to have a lot more...

Aah, yes. If you guys don't mind, Yuuta-kun, Koga-kunーand Suou-kun, can you three inspect the site?

Tsukasa: Inspect?

Tsumugi: If we all stay stuck here, we'll just end up wasting time, so I think it might be a good idea for you to visit other stores to gain some insight.

I want you to leave this place to me and Shu-kun.

Tsukasa: Hah...I understand. Oogami-senpai, Yuuta-kun. I'm looking forward to working with you.

Yuuta: Yeah, same here! What are you going to wear? Are you just going as you are?

Tsukasa: No, I'm going to go change. Could you give me some time?

Koga: Alright. We'll wait for you outside.

Yuuta: See you later~!

Alrighty then, we're off for a visit!

Tsumugi: Take care~.

Shu: ...It's such a pity. I had no idea I'll have to stay with you, out of all people.

Tsumugi: I'm simply worried about leaving it to only Shu-kun and Suou-kun, who have little customer service experience.

Even if you went with them, will you be able to blend with them?

Shu: Excuse me. I'm more used to collective action than I was before. In Paris, I'm always surrounded by free people who pretend to be artists.

Tsumugi: Oh~. You must be a good influence there, then.

But still, Paris, huh... When I was still a student, I remember making the "French Special Corner", even though I haven't set foot in the country myself.

If I come visit sometime, will you show me around?

Shu: Non. I don't want to.

Tsumugi: Even if Natsume-kun and Sora-kun came along?

Shu: ………

...I never came to Paris to become a tourist guide.

However, it'll be troublesome if they go missing, so I'll simply lend a hand.

Tsumugi; Fufu, thank you very much.

Shu: Somehow, I feel like I'm being tricked into this.

Tsumugi: You are kindhearted.

Shu: Hm. You saying that won't make me feel proud at all.

Tsumugi: Aw, that's pretty harsh~♪

Prev | Masterlist | Next

Translated by mars | Proofread by machi

[chesacakeripper]

vent post incoming because I am not sure if I'm having a proportional reaction to this or not and throwing it out into the void might help...

So. For context.

My mum's side of the family is very Organised. Particularly my aunt, who is queen of the Itinerary, but this also comes from primarily my grandad (in his 80s but pretty fucking healthy & ex-navy). I love them to bits, they're the Most Sane extended family I have (father's side has all sorts of weird interfamilial politics going on (which I shan't get into but jfc) and my stepdad's family is very nice but also Very Religious.

Bearing this in mind, they have this tradition of these big family holidays around special occasions - these have been the only family holidays I've ever been on barring boating with just my father and grandma when I was a kid - and they are always like. A big affair. Domestic, not abroad, but it's always Rent A Big House in an Area for a Time and then have extremely itinerised activities and have lots of Family Fun (usually whilst me and my mum quietly seethe about it because my aunt has Money and we have historically been very poor, so it's always been more of a burden for us but we just have to suck it up and deal.)

Anyway, this was Tolerable when I was a kid or a teenager and, ya know, in school and living at home.

I am now a 26 year old adult with a Real Job that has a fucked up rota of unsociable hours, that I often don't get until weeks before I'm due to start shifts, and runs year-to-year on the academic year calendar August to August. I also live several hundred miles away from my family.

Last year, there was a Big Family Holiday planned months in advance that I told them from the outset I was unlikely to be able to attend, because the date of it fell on my rotational week from one speciality to another, on a completely different site, and I would either not be able to take leave during that week due to mandatory induction or simply not *want* to due to learning how a new job works. So I didn't go.

My grandad evidently missed me being there (and is feeling his age a bit) so wanted to do another Big Family Holiday this year. Which I was asked about via a message from my mum. Initial planned date was september time 2023 which I said, yo that's way too far ahead for me to even know if I'll have a training post or even know where in the damn country I'll be working - this year I'm taking a year out of training to work ad-hoc shifts and have a break from the Relentlessness of Covid Pandemic Medicine, so like, before August would be good! Because I'm choosing my own hours!

Okay, mum said, are there any dates that are a solid no for you right now?

Ah, I said. Not during the week of Glastonbury Festival. Because we're trying to get tickets this year as it might be my only chance to definitely go and it's my partner's favourite place in the whole world.

This was. All the input I had. In the planning of this family holiday.

I received confirmation a bit later (this was in september 2022) to say that IT'S BEEN BOOKED! Family Holiday is GO!

For EIGHT ENTIRE DAYS in early July, like literally five days after Glasto is done.

Okay, I say, pissed off that I didn't get any input in how fucking long this holiday was, or, crucially, where it was. I got sent a link to a holiday house that I had a skim through but didn't think more about it other than, fuck me, a bit rude not to include me in literally any other part of the planning.

Skip ahead to now - May 2023 - I have secured a training post in a nearby city starting in August, which is excellent news, but still means I have to move house.

So I sit down with my partner as we try and run logistics on getting packing materials and looking at leadtimes on renting, and looking at quotes on storage units and the like.

I get my calendar up and check dates and when things are going to be best planned.

And I realise I have this fucking 8 day chunk of July blacked out for this family holiday that I absolutely have to attend this year because my grandparents are getting old and it might be The Last Big Family Gathering before something happens to their health, right. And I missed the one last year, so I gotta be at this one, otherwise shame on me.

This 8 day chunk of July that's right smack bang in between Glasto and When We Need to Be Moving House.

And then I double check where the fuck in the country this holiday is supposed to be, again.

*Dartmouth*. It's in. Fucking Dartmouth. Which if you are unaware of the British Isles Geography is right in the southwest corner of the fucking country. And is approximately a 5.5 hour no stops drive away from where I live.

Readers, if you've gotten this far I need to tell you something. I don't yet have a driving licence. I'm in the process of doing lessons and have my test booked for the 20th June. Which is the day before we leave for glasto, right. So even if I pass my test first time (I might not, pass-rates are about 50% here), the only chance I will have to practice driving on motorways etc will be on the 4.5 hour drive to glasto, and then possibly on the way back.

Partner can and does drive, right, but probably can't come to Big Family Holiday because he'll either still be in work that week OR will be sorting the moving house stuff out in my absence.

So if I pass my driving test, I might have to do a 5.5hour solo drive cross country completely alone on big fucking motorways less than two weeks after passing my test. Not fucking ideal.

Alternatively, I could take the train. which costs (with a railcard) nearly £120 for a return and takes approximately EIGHT HOURS each way.

Other options would be to travel even earlier (still also via train, as it's also a 5 hour drive to where they live) to my parents and accompany them on the 4.5 hour drive from where they live to Holiday Destination, because my family decided to choose a place to go on holiday that is pretty much an equal distance from both of our locations but NOT IN A HELPFUL WAY. We'll still all have to travel the same fucking amount to the far corner of the damn cross country triangle between us.

Third option is to beg my friend who lives near glastonbury to let me stay with her or in her parent's house for the inbetween five days and then travel the 2 hours to Holiday Destination from there, but this isn't ideal because 1) I'd need to pack clothes for three weeks, 2) we only have one vehicle so how would partner get home, and 3) due to moving house I do actually need to be back at home in that inbetween time.

Anyway. I'm pissed off. Because I'm an adult with a job and none of the planning for this family holiday other than *avoid this one specific week* was done with any kind of consideration toward me. It feels like I'm still being treated as a child that can just Drop Everything and Attend an event I'm not even particularly thrilled to be going on (for eight entire fucking days) and if I don't or can't go I'm in the wrong.

/scream

[strawberry--bride]

To admin

can I ask a question ? I hope this question of mine doesn't upset you because I don't intend to do so, I'm just asking out of curiosity. What's the reason why you make OC for ship boys when they all love Yui and have a girlfriend. Please don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with OC, by the way, I like all of them, but I want to know what is the purpose of this work. I've heard before that people make Oc to almost mirror their own personality with boys because not everyone is like Yui, but I see people like you make a character with the most similarity to Yui and instead of Yui, you ship her with your favorite boy. What's wrong with Yui shipping with Subaru? Because the character of both is similar. Is it because you hate Yui? Because your OC is exactly like Yui.And when I see that these two characters have so many similarities, but you even left your old favorite ship, Subaru and Yui, because of your OC, it makes me wonder what is the reason? Have you hated Yui like other people? Or is it just jealousy? Or maybe you don't want to see your favorite boy with someone, but as far as I know, your OC is different even with your own personality . Please let me tell you I don't mean to upset you . I'm just curious.

// Before answering this question, there's one thing I have to clarify for those who haven't been around on my blog long enough to hear me mention this in the past.

Sharon was not created to be a DL OC. I created Sharon way back in 2016 when I was in the Mystic Messenger community. Heck, I don't think I had even heard of Diabolik Lovers at this point. I picked up the game in 2017, didn't like it at first, banned it to the back of my shelf for 2-3 years and then picked it back up in 2019 for a second time and got hooked.

So the similarities Sharon bears with Yui in terms of personality and general demeanor do not stem from me wanting to 'replace' Yui with my own character, since Sharon had already been established and possessed these character traits long before I even knew Yui exists as a character.

I definitely will not deny that the two of them do share a lot of core personality traits such as kindness, compassion and patience. However, there are differences between the two as well. Sharon has deep-rooted feelings of self-hatred due to her blaming herself for her own parents' death. She tries to cover these dark feelings by being kind to those around her, but this raises the question whether her feelings are actually sincere or whether she's simply trying to make herself feel better. Yui may not be the most confident girl either, but she doesn't struggle with her self-image nearly as much as Sharon does.

This raises a second point, their backstory is different. Yui is a human with Cordelia's heart which makes her 'Eve'. Sharon is not 'Eve' and will never be. She was born from a human dad who hailed from a family of Vampire hunters and a mother with Vampire descendent (although not a Pureblood). Because the human genes are bigger in proportion, her Vampire nature has so far been suppressed and in the current timeline, she still believes herself to be 100% human.

Her parents reflect the concept of 'forbidden love', since her father was raised to condemn Vampires and see them as nothing but bloodthirsty monsters. However, they were able to overcome their differences, found love and even created new life. This is why Sharon's birth name is 'Nozomi', written with the character for 'hope'. She was their literally hope that one day, humans and Vampire would be able to co-exist in peace.

Now for the shipping part. The first boy I shipped with Sharon was Shuu, based on in-character interactions which took place on this blog. I still think the two of them match well together, bearing similar traumas in having lost someone incredibly dear to them and blaming themselves for their deaths. (Sharon's parents & Edgar respectively).

However, with Subaru being my favorite boy, I genuinely enjoy pairing my OC with him and drawing art of them. That being said, I do think their personalities match well. This is also where there is a key different with SubaYui. I do like Subaru x Yui as a ship even to this day but often times it feels very one-sided in regards to what they do for each other. Subaru is completely relient on Yui as she was the first person to show him genuine love and affection (which he never got from his mother).

I imagine the Subaron dynamic/development to be much more of a rocky road since Sharon is not nearly as mentally stable as Yui is. She struggles with similar issues to Subaru and just like it frustrates her how he calls himself a monster, he also grows agitated by how she will hide her true feelings behind a smile. This is actually what made Sharon fall for him in the first place. He didn't just welcome her kindness with open arms and abuse it, he actually got mad and called her out on her hypocricy. This is what eventually made her realize that she had to stop acting kind as a mere coping mechanism to mask her own pain.

I probably rambled on for way too long already but to summarize my response:

Do I hate Yui/Am I jealous of Yui? -> Nope! I love Yui. I have her as my avatar on my translation blog for a reason.

Do I simply not want to see my favorite boy with someone else? No. As you already pointed out, I don't see Sharon as 'me'. I wouldn't date any of the DL boys myself, honestly! Way too much drama!

What is the purpose of my OC? A personal passion project and comfort character. Sharon exists for me and not to please anyone else. If you don't like her, then don't follow this blog, it's as easy as that. I don't have to justify my character or my ships to anyone as long as I get a personal sense of enjoyment out of it.

[maifrenthebesto]

Everyone you meet is important. Their importance is proportional to the amount of time we spend with them, and the lesson they came into your life to teach.

Some are as innocuous as being present to comment on an event adjacent to you as a bystander, others come in to show you why that thing you like so much is actually not so good for you, and every now and then, you meet someone who you just know are going to be a constant in your life. Either through the lessons learned when near them, or due to the quality of the time spent together. The vibe check needs to be maintained, and the more you like the vibe, the more willing you are to allow for time in order to measure stability rather than holding back, because it *can* stabilize, but it's more likely that the issue will escalate if it's already spiking before anything major takes place.

Anyways, with the principle of adjacent presence established, let me tell you an anecdote. You might know who I'm talking about, because they may be you.

I met this person. They seemed really shy at first, but played it off with an air of nonchalantness that extended to everything around them. They seemed 'quirky' at first, and they had some clear edge to them. I never really had a problem with them, they lived in a completely different world, one you [reader] might be more familiar with than I am, however through the chain of events that led to the consistent intermingling of all the involved parties (up to that point) I came to like them for who they were (up to that point).

Eventually, through life's many storms, we found each other under the same roof. I was looking forward to the prospect of getting to know this person more, and they made it known that they were excited about the prospect. I didn't really question the reason for the excitement outside of excitement for someone I was expecting would see me under the same light I saw them. My problem was the expectation of a parallel being present purely because it would make me trust them quicker, and that just facilitates daily living. However I also learned that a certain degree of separation was necessary after some harsh, albeit similar lessons from before. It simply exists lower than what is percieved to be fundamental for most to lower the bridge, if that makes sense to you. (What anyone does under a lowered bridge scenario is entirely up to them, you can visit, you can live, or you can raid. I do not condone this last one, and not for the reasons you might expect.)

After a while of living together, going through the flow of life, certain aspects about everyone become apparent to the household, and you try to adapt the best as to not encroach in the life of those enabling the place to continue to be. The only person that didn't know me was this new person that I've been working on trusting, and things hit unexpected roadblocks even when you open yourself to letting someone live near you. Growing pains, if you would.

I saw past the pains straight to the source, the individual was being so narcissistic that it was seeping into the household. There was a power struggle in the individual's mind long before I showed up. I think in their head, having the 'new guy' element be pushed unto someone else would help steer eyes away from what was to stay hidden. I don't think their pleasant demeanor was purely as an act of misdirection for the other roommates, but it was indicative that the worldview was not consistent nor compatible with the household, and that ousted them through self-performative attempts to nurture the idea they were the 'Alpha' of the household, or that if they weren't, they were going to be somehow, someday, somewhen.

This was exhibited by their words, hobbies, dreams, and aspirations. This individual was very vocal about long term goals, however some of them didn't really have solid systems to bring them to fruition. Save one of them, which was ironically the reddest flag in my scenario. (There was an even REDDER flag, but that does not pertain to me to speak of. Save for one point, but it'll come up later.)

Their point of contention, the angle from which they aimed to climb the mountain, was through music. A very noble path, requiring a tremendous amount of skill, and even more passion. They mastered their instrument long ago, and did maintenance on their tool and its use frequently, however they never had the self confidence to believe they were good enough for what their dreams were, and if the gig wasn't matching the expectations set by them, it wasn't worth it. This led to no gigs, no experience gained, and no self promotion through word of mouth, purely due to a reluctance to gain notoriety within the local community, and would rather get something out of town, which limited the rate at which he could do anything. They compensated this through coaching by industry specialists. I heard a few of the calls, and it all seemed like a bunch of people making the song theirs. I heard the first version of the song, and then the "post-arbitration" edit, and it felt as though the song was drained of its soul, and it was made to blend in with the rest of the nightclub tracks. This is fine, but it was counterintuitive to the goals stated, standing out and being your authentic self were baked in to the dream, and I witnessed the live vivisection of this dream.

Which also I don't think it's a very good dream, it's just drinking the Hollywood tea dreaming you could be a looked up by as many people as possible the same way you looked up to the person who sold you the dream, and then have all the girls you want, all the money you want, and all the blow you want.

And you know what. I was also there for the night those dreams came true.

It ruined his life (Up to that point).

It started a chain of events that culminated in their removal from the household.

The saddest part is, I wanted to like them beyond their flaws, beyond their problems, beyond themselves, but bow, because they self destructed, I'll never get that chance (up to the foreseeable points in my future, idk about theirs tho)

I'm really upset that he insinuated doing the same thing they got kicked out for to me, even after I opened up to them about how I had gone through that very same thing. I really hope they didn't go through with it, although at this point it's not like I could say or do anything about it if it were to occur, but it feels like even if someone tried, someone else is not lowering their bridge to anyone, because apparently only people that want to harm us knock on that bridge, and that's so not fair to anyone.

"It's all fair in love and war"

Crazy how one line ruined a whole species.

[valcuda]

(Note: Most of this was written prior to my previous post! And this was actually the draft I referenced in it!)

I've had an idea for a story so long, that it actually predates literally every other story I'm working on currently, including Carrot Man's! (Though the roots of that story predate this one)

I simply call it "The Tiny Series", which makes it one of 2 series I've created which doesn't reference a main character in its title! This was originally meant to be a side-series for "TheModSeries", taking place in the same world, and occasionally featuring TheModHead, but he wasn't the focus.

Anyways, the only core part of the series that doesn't change, is that it takes place in a world with tinnies. For those who don't know, on the internet, a tiny is basically just a name given to tiny humans, with what tinnies are being left up to the writer.

In this series, tinnies are a sub-species of human, split off thousands of years ago due to being trapped on a remote island, evolving to be small, before being found in the 1700s, then basically turned into pets. I have a bit more written, but that's the gist of it. In fact, this marks the 4th time I've written an in-universe research paper on them! Cause I keep returning to this idea, and losing the damn document!

Anyway!

What does this all have to do with anything? I've decided to make Quinton's story a part this series.

It opens so many more doors for what I can do with him, Elizabeth, Jasmin, and the others, including allowing for some interesting stories with Quinton interacting with a Tiny! Which is an idea I had before, but ended up scrapping for various reasons. (The "Tiny" would've been a young kid shrunken down, so she was raised as a tiny person) I also felt like if I was gonna have 2 series involving tiny people, I'd end up only focusing on one, with that likely being the Tiny series anyway, since it more easily lets me tell the kinds of stories I want to.

Despite what you'd expect, this decision doesn't really require much of a rewrite of Quinton's story. I already have all the changes I'll need to do, and their impact on the story, all planned out. I think this change improves quite a bit honestly. Quinton and Hellen meet, cause she's doing an experiment on him. I ended up skipping most of that in the draft though, cause I didn't know what to put. This change however, makes the experiment make far more sense, and I actually have an obvious reason for that experiment now!

---

Now then, with the resurrection of this series, I've decided to revive 2 characters who I associate heavily with this series!

Trisha Hammert, and TheModHead However, I'm renaming TheModHead, and the name I settled on (at 6 AM during a restless night) is Timothy, because TiMOtHy, and "Tim-Moth-E" "The-Mod-Head". Yes, that was my actual logic.

If you read my last post (from only a few hours ago), you'll know I was having difficulty drawing one of these two, and that was Trisha! I had an epiphany almost right after making that post, and after some more tweaking, and the finally drawing her final linework, I finally have a drawing of Trisha!

This is something I've been trying to do for years, but just couldn't for some reason. I unfortunately only have 1 of these attempts saved, and I was gonna share it, but it is far worse than I thought! It might be a day or two before I recover from how horrible that was...

Instead, here's some of the test exports I made while working on the current version!

Starting off, we have icons I made for something funny I thought of, and am gonna share later in this post. I somehow messed up at first, and made her blonde with an orange sweater. She's never looked like that.

My first actual attempt at her base art. She was supposed to be pressing her cheek against Timothy, but he was shorter than I expected (based him off Quins proportions in Hellen's artwork), and I didn't want to draw him standing. Instead, it looks like he's pulling her hair. In reality, he's just holding it to help avoid falling. Anyway, this didn't look right, so I thew this out almost completely, and started anew.

I have 7 exported drafts from this version, but I picked out 4 to show. I didn't redraw Timothy for this, that's the same drawing as in the previous version, and I just kept moving him around. He hides in her hair, just cause it's warm, and safe, and this fact helped me hide the fact he's still drawn sitting!

Anyway, with all of that! This is the final (unshaded) version of Trisha Hammerts artwork!

This whole process took multiple days...

Anyways, I don't have any artwork of Timothy by himself, I'll draw that up later.

---

Now then, let's talk about Trisha!

IRL, I originally gave her a sister, and I was planning on reusing Skizzy for this, since she basically stole Trisha's sisters personality, and is based off of Trisha anyway. However, I decided to scrap that idea, and make Trisha an only child.

This is why she has Timothy! Her parents bought her a pet tiny, so she wouldn't be alone all the time, since they were often busy, and couldn't spend much time with her.

Personality wise, Trisha is meant to be a bit introverted, but still rather kind, and caring. I imagine her studying for a test, under a tree in a park, with a nice breeze. She's the kind of person to catch and release most pests, instead of just killing them. She takes Timothy almost everywhere she goes, even school! They're basically inseparable.

Because of this, Timothy doesn't come across as very shy most of the time, as he trusts Trisha's judgement of people. Like most tinnies, he's a bit naive of the world from a humans perspective. (Unlike Quinton and Elizabeth, who aren't, due to actually being humans)

I don't have everything figured out yet, as Trisha is admittedly not very developed, and Timothy needs to be completely redone due to not being TheModHead anymore, and Quinton stealing quite a bit of his personality...

---

Now, finally, onto that funny thing I made! This is what cemented the idea of bring the Tiny Series back in my mind.

I imagined what social media posts might be like in the Tiny Series universe, thought of this, and laughed my ass off so much, I decided to make it with Tweetgen.

---

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm gonna continue working on this, and try figuring out how everything fits together. I already have Quinton's story figured out, but I don't know what I want to do with Elizabeth yet.

--- Addendum Except Trisha's artwork to change every time you see it.

I think she's gonna be the first case since Junk-Watt, where I constantly make small changes to her. I did this with both Skizzy and Junk-Watt, just constantly iterating on their appearances as I notice things that bug me. I had improved to the point I didn't need to do it, but I'm starting to think it's more of a character thing than a quality thing.

[joylinda-hawks]

This time, for a change, a photo of ZZH from a promotional session for one of the magazines. I think it was Ok, but I'm not entirely sure. For this photo shoot, ZZH was styled in a youthful way. Besides, this style suits him as a young man. You should also bear in mind that his appearance does not indicate his age, ZZH definitely looks younger than his year of birth. Even dressed in a youthful way, he looks exactly like a student. From the very beginning, ZZH delighted with his beauty, regular facial features, proportional slim figure and quite tall height. Basketball training, cycling and other physical activities nicely sculpted his figure. As an actor and model, ZZH had to remember to maintain an appropriate body weight, but he was never excessively slim. However, there were times when he was much thinner, but I think this was due to stress and a fast lifestyle. There were also times when ZZH was a little chubby, but he looked cute in this version too. Coming back to the photo, the chosen styling fits ZZH's character and his fashion preferences for an ordinary day very well. ZZH likes a sporty, loose style, he feels great in it because it simply doesn't restrict him. For flights or going out with friends, he chooses loose, sports clothes. For important events or meetings, he chooses formal clothes, suits or more elegant sets. For everyday outings, ZZH always chooses good quality clothes from well-known fashion houses, as well as accessories such as hats, belts and bags. ZZH wears original clothes because, as an actor and public figure, he knows that wearing fake clothes will affect his perception as a person. We know that in connection with the cooperation, he received some of his branded clothes and was obliged to wear them as part of these cooperations. I also think that ZZH himself bought some of the clothes, encouraged by their quality. Here in the selected photo, ZZH is dressed in a mostly brown outfit. ZZH is wearing brown pants and a brown raincoat. Underneath his jacket he wears a navy blue and white hoodie. ZZH is sitting on the back of the bench, looking like a dark, rebellious boy waiting for his friends. The hood placed over ZZH's head suggests that he wants to hide from someone, wants to remain unnoticed, which is why he adopted a slightly hunched position. Unfortunately it doesn't work, even with a hood and a grimace, ZZH is an eye-catcher. No matter what ZZH did, he couldn't hide his beauty. Maybe that's why he looks so angry in this photo, like he's annoyed that someone took his photo. Some would say that brown does not suit ZZH's beauty because it matches his dark hair and eyes. But I don't think ZZH looks very good in this shade of brown. All you need to do is choose the right shade to suit his beauty, such as the one chosen here. Yes, ZZH fit perfectly into the role of the rebellious boy he probably once was.