#but really applies to all creators in general

[lushnightjelly]

It’s wild that people are just out here going like “I need this thing but it doesn’t exist, I’ll just make it myself.” Like do y’all realize how powerful you are!?

[melody-magic]

so as a third world transfem there's a bit of a parallel that ive noticed and it goes kinda like this:

if you live in the Imperial Core (or maybe even first world countries in general tbh), you never have to consider the third world in your worldview. what i mean is, you can be born, have a long, rich, fulfilling life and then die of old age, never having thought of any of us beyond the 5 minutes after you get shown some sort of news piece. there's vast, vast swathes of people that think of mexico, or nicaragua, or argentina, or or or or - as basically just names on a map, if that much. we're not people to them, not really. and when we stand up and say "no actually, we are human beings, people worth just as much as any citizen of the Imperial Core", they get upset! because we are shaking the fundamentals of their worldview.

and there's not necessarily any malice involved! like, obviously some people that feel like this are malicious, but their personal feelings are irrelevant. the point is that their position insulates them both from knowing us and from any consequences of not knowing us, while we most assuredly are not protected from either of those things in response.

if you are not transfem, even if you are also queer in some way, a similar concept applies. you can have a full, rich, fulfilling queer existence while never having to take us into account! you can go to queer and inclusive events, watch queer and inclusive creators and shows, read queer and inclusive books, and so on and so forth, where we don't feature at all, or if we do, we are a throwaway! and so, when we stand up and say "hey actually we deserve as much space and respect as anyone else", they get upset! because we are shaking the fundamentals of their worldview.

im not saying they're related but ultimately both of these worldviews stem from a position of privilege, and can only be eliminated by destroying that privilege. i dont really know how we do that but this is mostly meant as an observation rather than a solutions post.

[inthevoidzone]

Hey so I really love how Davrin's vallaslin is handled in Veilguard and how it ties into not only his arc, but his internal conflict between two halves and the choice at the end of his character quest.

First of all, I'm gonna say god/Creator rather than Evanuris for this post because I'm not talking about the actual historical elves with all the associated baggage and atrocities, but the maybe-false but still culturally meaningful constructs the Dalish created out of ancient half-remembered history to be their gods. In reality and even most fantasy, Gods aren't literally real, but are always meaningful. In universe, vallaslin are unique. In opposition to the default set that a player character gets to choose between and is also applied to generic NPCs, Dalish characters with bespoke facemorphs have unique vallaslin designs. Identifiying a particular Dalish elf's vallaslin in-universe isn't so much checking a chart for an exact match as it is studying the design elements and recognizing the symbology of a given Creator. Elgar'nan is represented by a play of light and darkness. Mythal by the boughs of a great tree. Falon'din by a design that is "as above, so below." And Andruil and Ghilan'nain are represented by a bow and horns respectively, as the hunter and the mother of halla. Writers have confirmed that Bellara and Cyrian's vallaslin honour Dirthamen, god of secrets, mysteries, and lore. And of course they did! It's pretty obvious where these two truth-seekers would be aligned. But the same writers were cagey about answering who Davrin's tattoos represent, and I think this is on purpose, because Davrin's vallaslin are meant to be ambiguous.

Assume they're for Andruil, the hunter who loved testing herself against stronger and stronger foes, who was revered by the Dalish as a warrior and a protector and who could never bear to remain at home. You can see the curve of the bow, the point of the arrow. Now, assume they're for Ghilan'nain, the nurturing creative spirit who created the gentle halla and then cared for them as if they were her own children. Now you see the delicate lines curving up into the shape of horns, crowned by a second set at the top.

(Davrin's mentor, Eldrin, wearing Ghilan'nain's vallaslin, alongside a render of the player character's options for Andruil's Vallaslin.)

You see where I'm going, right? This is Davrin's character arc! His internal conflict! The brave and fearless warrior ready to throw himself into the arms of death vs the caring and soft-hearted surrogate father to a magical creature. The young man who couldn't bear to stay with his clan vs the boy who sang to the halla. And the choice he and Rook make together at the end of his quest, where Davrin's conflict is reflected onto Assan and the other griffons. Brave fighter or nurturing caretaker? The hunter or the shepherd? Schrodinger's vallaslin. Devs won't clarify which it's intended to be because it's intended to be both.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

i saw this poll and it was like "is watching porn wrong?" and a lot of people were defending the fact that they voted "yes" because a lot of porn comes from sex trafficking and coercion and rape and now i'm conflicted. i don't think porn in general is wrong but is it wrong to watch it since they're technically right, there is technically no way to 100% confirm that everything was consensual. but also a lot of people called them terfs for voting yes. i don't even really watch porn it just kinda grosses me out but i have in the past, does that mean i could have been watching, like, rape?

I think if you're going to start overanalyzing your porn consumption like this you're going to also need to start giving up any clothing or products that you're 100% sure aren't made in sweatshops, any produce that you're sure weren't harvested by underpaid or trafficked laborers, any seafood that you can't be sure wasn't fished sustainably, any meat or eggs that can't be sure don't come from factory farms, any movies or music where you can't be sure the performers weren't in exploitative working conditions, etc.

all of those things are bad, sure, but making broad sweeping generalizations isn't helping resolve any industry-level issues and it sure as shit isn't helping independent producers who are doing their damndest to create things sustainably. porn is an easy issue to target because it's inherently tied to sex and it's very easy to moralize about sex, but you could apply this to literally any other industry. imagine a poll asking "is owning furniture bad?" and having people reply "yes, owning furniture is wrong because some furniture is made from endangered rosewood that's illegally harvested." you see how deranged that is?

porn is also, like, quite obviously one of the industries where it's easiest to support ethical practices, by financially supporting independent creators instead of just watching shit ripped to pornhub to watch for free. go subscribe to some onlyfans.

[k-hippie]

k-707 2025 BOLD UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS

Hello everyone :)

The new k-707 is going to be released in the coming days :D but as it is a kind of new experience, we have some kinda instructions in order to get everything working fine.

Step right up, folks, for the grand unveiling of our biggest project yet! The K-707 isn’t just a mod—it’s a green revolution. Taking on almost every flower, patch of grass, bush, and tree makes this even more massive than the K-505. And trust us, our brains are already feeling the strain! :D

But before instructions, let me tell you the k-707 story ;)

We really hope you'll enjoy it. We worked hard on it with 5 rules :

Replace EVERY tree of the game

NO overrides with crazy high polygons amount

Follow as much as possible the Maxis directions ( trees style )

Decrease amount of polygons where it is possible

No trees defying gravity and laws of physics

It took long for few reasons ...

At first, we always knew the first version was a vast experiment. When ea made its direct x11 update, it was time to make a bold update ... but we didn't want simply remove the non-strictly-dds-x2 images and replace them ... we wanted more. We always wanted more, even we are not kinda ea gurus :D ( hey EA ! don't you want hire some true creators with a long term vision of your game ? ) <- poll : would you like k-hippie as maxis creators or not ? :D

Joke apart, it was difficult. Almost 1 year long, we searched and searched solutions to get rid of all problems we met when replacing foliage on a debug tree, or modifying anything on a debug tree ( for info : we are not blender gurus nor sims 4 core users )

All we knew was few lines :

When cloning a tree, you cannot lose the any of the vert color data. I suspect whatever tool(s) you are using to do the cloning is losing this data, since this setup is somewhat unique to trees.

The vertex color layout for trees is as follows. Green and Blue are ignored for channels 1…4 : Color 0 RGB Surface color tint Color 1 R Rustle direction X Color 2 R Rustle direction Y Color 3 R Rustle direction Z Color 4 R Rustle phase ( game generates two wind scales that change over time, this term interpolates between the two )

The pipeline keeps the rustle information in a vertex color format for what the game engine will load, which means it’s in the range 0 and 1. The shader remaps this into a 0.5 to -0.5 range before scaling it and applying the offset to the leaves. Note that these directions are clamped but not normalized ( they’re allowed to be different lengths ) The WindMagnitude material parameter acts as a scaling factor.

So, we started with this information, begging in vain for some help, both inside the Sims community and outside ... but nobody helped us. And frankly, it interested no-one except us and our beloved followers :)

We found multitude of tutorials ( funny how many they are as soon as it is clothes related ) but nothing related to our specific target. We paused our research many times, made direct x11 updates for our other k-mods and so on. Until ... zaceitorius in July 13rd 2024

Who is zaceitorius ? We do not know. A simple member of sims4studio with 6 posts who gave us a simple bright clue which seems obvious after all, but yet very very precious indeed !

And here we are today. 300 trees and numerous plants later ... <- another reason why it took a long time :D

We made a lot of vertex experiments, we lost data colors, remade again and again some other experiments and well, we are still experiment, remake small details which seem important to us and so on ... And for now, it works :D And now you are warned : the k-707 is far from perfect.

And now, the instructions :)

The k-707 covers both trees & plants, both debug and lot trees & plants

What's new ? No more than usual. We tracked all the non-strictly-dds-x2 images, reshaped some trees ( such as the multitude of oaks ), added some flowers ( where we removed them in 2021 ) but kept many foliage we already did. We tried to simplify many details but added some others and replaced some plants.

How many stuff it represents ? We do not know. Many indeed. We stopped the count :D

Because of its size ( and our love for our sanity ), THE RELEASE WILL ROLL OUT IN PARTS ( not slowly but piece by piece ). If we waited until it was all perfect, you’d be seeing it around ( maybe ) September 2025 ... Let’s not tempt fate—or burnout! :D

The K-707 is neatly organized for your convenience :

Each DLC gets 2 folders : one for plants, one for trees.

The base game gets 4 folders ( a bit different since most of the greenery is drawn from there ) divided into lots and debug folders.

Expansions which have very few greenies ( City, Get to Work, University ) get the same folder named : k-hippie-k707-multi-greeny-2025

IMPORTANT :

Leave them in each of their folders ( or create your owns based on a similar methodology )

If you merge files : we can’t help troubleshoot if it doesn’t work anymore, so be smart ;)

You’re free to do as you like, but we strongly recommend keeping this tidy folder setup. If you need to troubleshoot down the line, it’ll save you a major headache.

And for the mavericks out there who love merging files—go for it, but know this : we won’t be able to help if things go haywire.

Now, we could wax poetic about how stunning the K-707 is, how every leaf, petal, and blade of grass is crisper, richer, and beautifully integrated into your worlds—but hey, we'll do it later, inside the release post :D

We could do more, more realistic trees and so on but we do not want integrate crazy high poly models. We do not want an unplayable game isn't it ? ;)

The k-707 is not yet finished. We got some more work to do on it, shape the last details, and some re-checks.

But here is what is new compare to the previous version : we kinda cracked ( a bit only ) the code. Trees swinging in the wind like it’s a dancing contest ? No more. Trees defying gravity and laws of physics by groveling into the ground ? No more. Just remember we do not have the hands upon the worlds construction, so, when trees are not into the ground, well, call your reseller aka EA itself ...

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr. Gaiman, this is not a question, this is a story about how you helped me.

I took my law school entrance exam today. A few weeks ago I decided to take a study break by watching the second season of Good Omens, since I'd enjoyed the first one so much. The continuation of the story completely engrossed me and broke my heart. But it also gave me a framework to start talking about things that have weighed heavy on me for years.

You see, I'm transgender. When I came out at the end of college, professors that had been willing to write me letters of recommendation for graduate school suddenly weren't anymore. My parents bullied me. A few weeks before graduation I moved to another state. I've had a strained, if any, relationship with my family ever since.

Through this lens I identify heavily with Crowley; questioning the precepts of gender should not have been a reason to kick me out, and if it was, it's not a place I ever want to return to.

But if I am honest, I have an Aziraphalean desire to rejoin the edifices from which I have been ejected, and attempt to fix them, not just my family but academia and society at large, and within all that is tied up my Crowlian shame that I could ever want to return to a system that has treated me so ill, to somehow validate that treatment by returning.

In applying for law school I am caving to my Aziraphalean conviction that if I can possibly effect change, I should at least try. But through this I am struggling to hold space for and honor my Crowlian "you can take your external validation and stick it where the sun don't shine" attitude that has kept me alive this far.

Watching the show didn't resolve any of these questions for me, but it did get me to confront them, to give them form and shape and language so that I can start to resolve this for myself. So thank you and everyone who worked on this show, and I hope the strike resolves promptly and positively.

P.S. I really love the in-screen trivia bits and "how its made" factoids, it feels like you're fostering the next generation of creators and it warms my heart.

I appreciate that. I hope you make it into law school and out the other side. I suspect we will need good trans lawyers soon enough.

[sparrowlucero]

Even if a creator is a bad person it's still okay to like their work. People need to mind their own business.

Honestly it's not really that sort of situation. I'll actively defend Steven Moffat here.

There was a huge hate movement for him back in the early 2010s - which, in retrospect, formed largely because he was running 2 of the superwholock shows at once, one of which went through extremely long hiatuses* and the other of which was functionally an adaptation of an already well regarded show**, making him subject to a sort of double ire in the eyes of a lot of fandom people. Notably, his co-showrunner, Mark Gatiss, is rarely mentioned and much of his work is still attributed to Moffat (and yes, this includes that Hbomberguy video. Several of "Steven Moffat's bad writing choices" were not actually written by him, they were Gatiss.)

People caricatured the dude into a sort of malicious, arrogant figure who hated women and was deliberately mismanaging these shows to spite fans, to the point where people who never watched them believe this via cultural osmosis. It became very common to take quotes from him out of context to make them look bad***, to cite him as an example of a showrunner who hated his fans, someone who sabotaged his own work just to get at said fans, someone who was too arrogant to take criticism, despite all of this being basically a collective "headcanon" about the guy formed on tumblr. Some if it got especially terrible, like lying about sexual assault (I don't mean people accused him of sexual assault and I think they're making it up, I mean people would say things like "many of his actresses have accused him of sexual assault on set" when no such accusations exist in the first place. This gets passed around en masse and is, in my opinion, absolutely rancid.)

On top of that a ton of the criticism directed at the shows themselves is, personally, just terrible media criticism. So much of it came from assuming a very hostile intent from the writer and just refusing to engage with the text at all past that.

Like some really common threads you see with critique of this writer's work, especially in regards to Doctor Who since that's the one I'm most familiar with:

A general belief that his lead characters were meant to be ever perfect self inserts, and so therefore when they act shitty or arrogant or flawed in any way, that's both reflective of the author and something the show wants you to view as positive or aspirational.

An overarching thesis that his characters are "too important" in the narrative due to the writer's arrogance and self obsession (even though this is a very deliberate theme that's stated several times)

A lot of focus on the writer personally "attacking" the fans or making choices primarily out of spite.

A tendency to treat the show being different to what it's adapting as inherently bad and hostile towards the original.

Just generally very little consideration and engagement with the themes, intent, etc. of the shows

This one's a little more nebulous and doesn't apply to all critique but a lot of it, especially recently, is clearly by people who haven't seen the show in like 10 years and their opinion is largely formed secondhand through like, "discourse nostalgia". Which. you know. bad.

I think these are just weird and nonsensical ways to engage with a work of fiction. I also think it's really sad to see the show boiled down to this because that era of who is, in my opinion, very thematically rich and unique among similar shows, and I'm disappointed that it's often dismissed in such a paltry way.

This isn't to say people aren't allowed to critique Steven Moffat or anything, but the context in which he basically became The Devil™ to a large portion of fandom and is still remembered in a poor light is very tied to this perfect storm of fan culture and I just don't agree with a ton of it.

* I'm sure most people have seen the way long running shows and hiatuses will cause people to fall out with a show, with some former fans turning around and joining a sort of "anti fandom" for it while it's still airing. That happened with both these shows. ** Doctor Who will change it's entire writing staff, crew, and cast every few years, and with that comes a change in style, tone, theme - the old show basically ends and is replaced by a new show under the same title. As Steven Moffat's era was the first of these handovers for the majority of audiences, you can imagine this wasn't a well loved move for many fans. *** I know for a fact most people have not sought out the sources for a lot of these quotes to check that they read the same in context because 1) most of them were deleted years ago and are very difficult to find now and 2) many of them do actually make sense in the context of their respective interviews

[tiredfox64]

Liu Kang × unimpressed person that does their best to make fun of him. If you could do him and a girl who could not care less hes a god and instead is making fun of his bob and the fact that he seems allergic to shirts given that he cant wear more than 75% of one at aany given time

I'm Not Impressed

Yip notes: I feel bad when I have to fake being impressed. It's a lot of "Really?!" which is the equivalent of "That's crazy"

Pairing: Liu Kang (MK1) x Afab reader

Warning‼️: I never warn about my language, second half not proofread cause I was in class

So god comes to your door one night and tells you that he wants you to be one of his champions. Right, okay, cool.

…

Cool? Sweetie, that’s your creator right there. Your creator asked YOU to be one of his champions to fight another realm. Did you need time to process that or…no, alright…I don’t know why I am trying to talk to you.

You’re not the kind to marvel at Liu Kang not that he asks for that. You’re not all that impressed. Sure, he’s the god of fire but if you think about it hard enough you could extinguish him with a fire extinguisher.

Let’s get this straight, you’re not undermining him at all. You understand that he could still beat your ass terribly. Nobody wants a burst ass. But you’re just not someone who is easily impressed. Some think you are plain rude. Some think you aren’t entirely neurotypical. You don’t see it that way, this is just who you are. You find it would be ruder to pretend to be impressed. This rule applies to everyone, not just Liu Kang. Even your family understands that about you.

Liu Kang could see that you weren’t like Johnny who didn’t believe Liu Kang at first. He knew you understood that he was the god of fire and the protector of Earthrealm. That didn’t stop you from making comments though.

Even after first introducing himself you made it clear that you didn’t care who he was. I mean you were outright ready to start shit the moment you opened the door.

“Who the fuck did your hair?” You said the moment your eyes landed on him.

“I beg your pardon?”

You saw his glowing eye go wide before narrowing in disappointment. He was hoping your comment was because you wanted to drive him away. A little tease like that won’t drive him away. So he explained the whole god thing and the protector bullshit to you.

“Oh yeah? Is that right?” Your tone was not rude you were actually asking if what he just said was the truth.

“Yes. Please, I must discuss important matters with you. May I enter?” He asked in his gentle voice.

“I mean, whatever, sure. But don’t try anything stupid I won’t hesitate to beat your ass.” You warned the literal fire god himself.

You believed everything he was saying which was surprising. If he could make himself burst into flames right in front of your eyes, you’d believe anything he says. You accepted his offer to go to the Wu Shi to train. It’s for a good cause so whatever. You could get out of the house.

══💤══╡°˖��🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

Poor Liu Kang, you never give him a break.

You always find something about him to make fun of. It could be his hair, his clothes, his face in general. You were warned to be more respectful of him. In a way, you do respect him by listening to what he has to say and the advice he gives you. But that doesn’t stop you from pointing out some silly things.

For example, his hair. You’re always pointing out the bun in the back. It does nothing. His hair is still down and possibly getting in the way. And when he mentioned to you all that he used to have a bob cut, hah, fuck him he shouldn’t have said it. You snorted the moment you heard that. You laughed at the thought of it because you could never understand why he would have that cut. Good thing he didn’t mention what color it used to be; he would never hear the end of it.

You also make fun of his facial expressions. He’s calm and you know it. But his resting face seems so disappointing. When he’s disappointed, like when Johnny doesn’t take something seriously, it adds more fuel to the fire. You only figured out the difference when you first said something.

“Well, ain’t you just a ray of fuckin sunshine. Why are you so upset?” You asked as you looked at everyone else training. They seem to be doing fine, what does he have to be upset about?

When you looked back at him you saw his eyebrows were more furrowed and you could see the corners of his mouth tip down. Now he was upset. He was upset with your assumption.

“I am only displeased with your attitude. I was fine beforehand.”

“Oh so you just look like that.”

May the elder gods help this man.

You watched him roll his eyes as he grimaced at your attitude. He pointed at the others to signal you to return to training. You put your hands up like you didn’t just insult this man’s face. He could see that smug fucking grin on your face.

His clothes though, ugh, that is so easy to poke at. It’s like he’s allergic to covering up. You would expect some modesty from a god but you could always be wrong.

You found it funny that the sleeves were rolled up. The shirt is already short-sleeved but apparently it’s not short enough for Liu Kang. If you wore your button-up shirts like he wears his you would be called a slut. Side titties would be shamed in this Academy except by Johnny, he would welcome it.

At first, you thought he purposely got a shirt that was too small for him. The sleeves looked like they struggled to contain his muscles. Those things are bound to rip if he flexes a little too much. Oh but remember he’s “modest” so he would never do that. No, no, he’s too modest to gloat but not modest enough to cover up. And to answer your question, no, his shirt is not too small. In fact, it might be his size. He’s scrunching it from the back.

Why it took you so long to notice you had no idea. You were more focused on the front and not the back.

You only noticed when he was explaining to all of you why the Mortal Kombat tournament was important, something about making sure those Outworld fuckers stay back. You were staring at the back of his head before lowering your gaze. Wow, he has a nice ass OH something is up with his shirt look at that. How could your eyes not be drawn to that area. The red sash wrapped around his waist called for your attention. His shirt was bunched up in the back. It’s like those girls who would tie a hair tie at the back of their shirt to make it squeeze against their body which just made it funnier.

As you all gathered to figure out who would be the true champion, you decided to stand near Liu Kang instead of with everyone else. Johnny had already aggravated him from the start so a fire was already going. Oof that eye-roll and grimace came from the soul. He was already side eyeing you as you scooched over to him. Before you could say something he was ready to interrupt you.

“Please act well today. Do not provoke me.”

“I wasn’t gonna provoke you, damn. I just wanted to ask you if you’re feeling a little cold?”

He wasn’t confused, he knew you were starting something. His hand went up to his forehead as he leaned against the armrest. He’s so tired.

“I’m just asking cause, ya know, you could easily button up that-“

“Enough!” He pushed your hand away which was slowly inching towards his chest.

“I’m just trying to help. You could easily button up if you untuck your shirt. Here.” You reached towards his back and started to untuck his shirt from the tight red sash.

“By the Elder Gods, you are out of your mind!”

It became a scuffle between you and Liu Kang as he tried his absolute best to stay calm. The monks that were near were either occupied with Raiden beating Johnny’s ass or trying to avoid being stepped on by you. Once you got it untucked he was mentally defeated. Liu Kang gave up, you won.

“See, now we can button that up. No need to show the universe your man tits.” You used the loops on his right side to hook the buttons.

He let it happen. His eyes stared straight ahead, not at the fight but past the horizon. Where did he go wrong? Why him?

You stared down at him, waiting for any other reaction than that blank stare. All you got was him holding his hand out to tell you to fight Raiden. You looked over to see that Johnny was flat on his back, clearly the loser of the fight. You shrugged and made your way over. He clearly didn’t want to talk to you. Now time to get your ass beat.

No, you will not win this match. You were never gonna win this match. You got your ass handed to you by a simple farmer who speaks softly. And could call Liu Kang cruel or even sadistic for how he was feeling. But by the gods was he satisfied by seeing that fight. Karma!

Yap notes: Yeah so I died whoops lol. Nah but I'm glad to get another fic out and hopefully I start feeling better soon. Uni is killing me this semester ugh. Maybe I’ll make a post explaining more. Adiós!

[shinesurge]

Webcomic rings run by people within the community are cool and you should support them

I've been loudly struggling a little bit with corporate webcomic Stuff lately so I want to mention something positive to balance it out: webrings run by small groups of creators earnestly trying to support each other are slowly making a comeback and I for one am delighted.

If you weren't around for them in the before times, webrings were just some folks who hang out a lot who feature each other on their websites. That's literally it lmao. There's generally no money involved and it only really functions the way it's supposed to if people have control over their own websites AND genuinely want to participate and get excited about other folks' work, which means the practice has pretty well fallen by the wayside over the years in webcomic culture given. Everything. In the rare event someone decides to do something like this it's usually in the form of a link list somewhere on their website; this doesn't usually indicate any sort of mutual support, it's just a list of what the creator is reading themselves.

A webring, though, is an official banner or hub that people gather under intentionally where each member is more or less on equal footing. It's essentially the concept of "a rising tide lifts all boats" put into practice, each creator brings their own audience to the table in a passive, opt-in sort of way that's different from working for a publisher since there isn't necessarily a Top Spot or a paycheck everyone's vying for, and individuals retain autonomy over both their own work and how (if) they promote each other. You're all at your own tables in an artist alley rather than fighting over the table in the front of the book store, essentially.

I have two rings and one collective for you today!

Webcomic Ring was brought to my attention AGES ago by Holly, one of the artists featured there, and I might have brought it up at some point but I'm doing it again lmao. This is exactly the kind of thing you ought to be looking for; a small group of enthusiastic folks having a good time making their weird little comics. You probably haven't heard of much in the catalog, that's PERFECT in the context of webcomics that's where the GOOD SHIT is. Finding something like this is A Gift go dig around in the longboxes for a while.

Then a few people have pointed me in the direction of the KNIFEBEETLE collective and that's neat too! Most of the comics there are already fairly well-known, but the vibes are excellent and I haven't seen a lot of talk about the collective /itself/ outside folks already in the know. I think it's important for this sort of thing to be more visible to folks who aren't terminally steeped in webcomic culture already so here I am telling you about it. You were probably reading several of these before I suggested it, but that's how a webring works! For it to do its job you should take those bigger creators' tacit recommendation of the less popular titles as a sign to go read something new and strange. Wild, I know these are practices held over from the old internet, but I think we should try and bring them back.

Lastly, I want to mention Spiderforest, which is a collective (slightly different from a webring) BUT still a very cool project readers starved for new stuff should pay attention to.

You've probably seen Spiderforest kicking around for a long time already; they're wonderful and have always been an overall positive force in the community in my experience. They really focus on building up a community, and especially welcoming newcomers and helping them get their feet under them. Full disclosure, I've been asked to apply by a few different folks over the years and the only reason I never did is I don't have the ability to participate in their forums and such as frequently as they want their creators to; it's a very good system (from my outside perspective) that might contribute to the community staying mostly healthy in ways that art communities usually don't and I appreciate it a lot!

ANYWAYS that's all I got for now, just trying to balance out some bad feelings I've been having by talking about some good stuff. Please go binge an archive this week.

[elitadream]

Hi guys~! ⛅👋

Long time no see! Much longer than I ever intended, in fact. Truth be told, I wanted to make a public post sooner, but I've had a lot to catch up on in terms of notifications and messages since logging back in a few days ago. I've also made some changes that I will address shortly, but first of all I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out with so much care and understanding during my absence. Adjusting has been a slow and fragile process for me -still is-, and I sadly haven't responded directly to everyone yet because of it, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate your patience and support nonetheless. 🥹 🙏

Long story short, I was gone for five months due to a huge burnout, then progressively found my spark again somewhere along the way and have since mostly recovered. It was my wonderful friend @drones-of-innocence who reached out to me outside of Tumblr, and her sense of initiative is largely the reason why I managed to make this post in a somewhat reasonable delay. 😅💖 With that said however, I must also mention that I've deleted a lot of stuff from my page and have removed most of my work from the public eye as well. This may seem quite drastic and frankly a little unsettling, but I assure you that it was a thoroughly considered and reasoned decision! The thing is that I was still getting lots of notes on these drawings everyday and… To put it simply, I didn't want that anymore. 🙇‍♀️ Experiencing popularity was very detrimental to me in the long run and I needed to put an end to it for the sake of my own wellbeing; at least for now.

Which brings me to my next point.

After mulling it over for a while, I've decided that I would not be returning as an active creator in the Mario community this time around. 👐 Making fanart for this franchise (with such a high and continuously maintained degree of involvement) had a lot to do with my health's decline and I've come to realize that I wanted to direct my focus elsewhere going forward. For that reason, there are things which I know will never be repeated again in the future, both in regards to my art and online presence in general, but that's alright. Things change, as they do and should. I'm looking forward to reuniting with folks and would be very happy to stay in touch with those of you who wish to message me privately. Like my lovely pal @istadris said, what matters most about any fandom are the friends you make in it. ☺️

And speaking of which-

@ody-and-fanatu That's so sweet of you, thank you! 💗 I'm glad you've enjoyed my contribution to the fandom. It was fun while it lasted! 💫 My visual ideas may be gone from my page, but most of my written posts and replies are still there for anyone who wants to revisit those at least, so there's that! And I'd also like to answer some of the asks I still have in my inbox at some point. Knowing that you hold my art in such high regard makes really happy! 🥰 Unfortunately, the other account that I have is reserved for my professional work and I prefer to keep them separate from one other, but the good thing is that I intend to go back to this blog occasionally. Hoping to see you around! Cheers! 🥂

@heiressofdoodles Thanks, I appreciate that! ✨ I'm honestly doing much better than I was earlier this Spring. Back then, I was running on empty and on the verge of crashing without even knowing it. Being in constant physical pain was one thing, but feeling mentally and emotionally drained on a daily basis was another entirely, and something had to be done. It took me a moment to really figure out what was wrong, but thankfully I realized very quickly what was causing it and applied the breaks with all my might. One of my main priorities now is to be more alert and respect my own boundaries to make sure that this never happens again. 🥲

@keakruiser Thank you. 🙏💐 I'm just glad to have found my footing again. Feels good to be able to create freely.^^ Hope you're doing well too!

Special thanks also to @pianokantzart, @jelly-fish-wishes, @katlyntheartist, @triniji and @wahooitsamee for their kind words. 🫂 Your graciousness and consideration means a lot to me. 💝

As for all the nice people who sent me anon comments and well wishes, I tried to summarize my thoughts as best I could in this update, but if there's anything else you'd like to say or know, don't hesitate to ask me anytime! Now that I feel like myself again, I think I'm gonna hang out on Tumblr for a little bit. I'll be excited to see what you guys have been up to in the meantime! 🤗 Wishing you all a very good day and pleasant Fall. 🍂

-elita 🌸

[amerricanartwork]

RW Headcanon: Know the Difference! | An Overview of Quetzalli's Slugcats

Here’s a headcanon I’ve wanted to elaborate on for a while, and today I finally felt compelled to make it real! Also, just a disclaimer I am not a huge biology nerd nor have I studied it that heavily, so I apologize if something here doesn’t make sense or if I get something wrong. I just like fantasy worldbuilding from time to time, and I always like trying to make sense of things I’m interested in!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Basically, I’m in the crowd that interprets slugcats as mustelids rather than literal slugs. When I say this, however I don’t mean that slugcats would necessarily be classified in the actual mustelidae family, seeing as Rain World’s world is most-likely not Earth and therefore our taxonomic classifications and phylogenetic relations can’t necessarily apply. Thus, when I call them “mustelids”, I really just mean that I imagine them as some kind of weasel with all the necessary physical traits to earn that general label. 

The first half of the name “slugcat”, in my headcanon, is thus not referring to any literal connection to slugs or other mollusks, but is instead derived simply from their appearance. Due to their long ears and thick tail, and because their fur and fat often squishes together in such a way that it makes their features blend together and their bodies appear more smooth (it’s the same physics as that whole “cats are liquid” idea), the general silhouette of a slugcat can easily be likened to that of a literal slug. The second half of their name is also not literal, and instead refers to their jumping and acrobatic abilities and their skill in hunting and pouncing on small prey, which is very similar to that of small cats.

Species Overview

Now to give a little more detail on slugcats themselves as a species! I headcanon them as small to medium-sized mammals most similar to Earth weasels in both their biology and their ecological niche, who originally served as cute low-maintenance pets for the Ancients and as hunters of small pests in facilities on the ground. They’re clever by nature and good at fitting through tight spaces, and later on they evolved greater jumping abilities to pounce on prey. They’re also very social creatures, who’ve taken to forming medium to large colonies primarily in and around the massive trees that thrive between the cracks in iterators’ rainstorm areas (like the one Gourmand, Survivor, and Monk’s colony lives in). Due to this social nature they also generally travel in groups of at least two, both for company and protection against tougher animals. Travel partners are usually siblings or good friends, and sometimes even whole families will journey out together to find food and other resources for the rest of the colony.

Despite being a small prey animal, slugcats have managed to get by not only due to their intelligence — the evolution of which would be seen as a rather unexpected twist of events if you asked their creators, for the Ancients found them cute but rather simple — but because of their impressive adaptability. It’s similar to that of real life red foxes and pigeons, and it allows them to survive decently well even in less ideal environments; a trait especially necessary for a world as industrialized as this one, even if its people are gone and most of the machinery is inactive. As such not all colonies live in trees; some find homes in the abandoned facilities, large underground hollows, and a few bold colonies have even claimed territories high up in iterator cities alongside scavengers. Slugcats are opportunists and masters at making the best of their surroundings, yet even beyond that they carry a certain other, “special” ability of their own that makes them as diverse as they are clever. But that’s a headcanon for another day…

Reasoning

Now for some out-of-universe explanation for this classification choice. I’ve always seen slugcats as some kind of small scurrying mammal (kind of a bias on my part, I just like mammals honestly, and they’re most familiar to me), mainly due to the way they look and move when on all fours, and their place in the game’s food chain. Originally though I saw them as rodents and compared them to mice and rats, which I still sometimes use for anatomy reference for these creatures. But one day a friend of mine saw me drawing slugcats and thought they were weird ferrets, and the more I thought about it and the more I developed personal speculative biology headcanons for slugcats, the more that label seemed the most fitting for them. It was also solidified when I did a bit more research and realized the main characteristic of rodents is their buck teeth, which just didn’t seem to fit with how I perceived slugcats. Not to mention rodents aren’t really predator animals, and slugcats’ implied natural diet and the gameplay itself does strongly imply if not confirm they have some instinctive hunting ability. 

Thus, it seemed “weasel” was the best classification for these creatures, and I quite like it so far! Once again it satisfies my mammal preference, but I also just think it’s a fun idea that neither part of the “slugcat” name is literal, similar to a lot of real-life creatures named after completely different animals, including fellow weasel, the polecat. Plus, I realized recently it’s kind of ironic with how I perceive the messenger slugcats, Hunter and Spearmaster, as being like hunting or guard dogs for their creators, when weasels are exactly the kind of animal humans with their dogs would normally hunt for! It’s cute, it’s familiar, it’s fun, yet I think it still has just as much potential for some interesting speculative biology ideas as the literal slug slugcat interpretations!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I'm so glad to finally get this out! I like seeing specbio slugcat headcanons in the RW fandom, yet I haven't seen many more in-depth takes from artists who don't take the "slugcats are literal slugs/mollusks/primarily mollusk-based" angle. Not that that's a bad headcanon of course; do what you think feels right! But once again I personally prefer slugcats being mammals, and I always look for fan-content that's as close to my personal preferences as possible. And when I can't find enough of it, I make it myself!

So hopefully this serves as a bit more of that kind of representation for the mustelid slugcat interpretation. It at least helped me develop my own idea of the species a bit more; much of that stuff in the overview part was ideas I came up with while typing this whole headcanon out!

As always, I hope you enjoy this headcanon of mine! I've still got so many ideas to develop and share, and even more coming as I continue to ponder these characters and their stories, so as long as you guys still like these Rain World headcanons of mine, they'll keep coming!

[mcytblrholidayexchange]

Holiday Exchange 2024: General Rules and FAQ

WHAT IS THIS?

MCYTBLR Holiday Exchange is a multi-mcyt gift exchange now in its third year! Because of the size of the exchange, we are going to be matching through Ao3 this year, including tag nominations. The discord will be open with more information in late October.

TIMELINE: 

Tag Nominations Open, Discord Opens: Monday 28 October (0:01 EDT)

Sign Ups Open Monday 4 November (0:01 EST)

Sign Ups Close: Sunday 17 November (23:59 EST) Monday 18 November, (11:59 EST)

Assignments out by: Friday 22 November (23:59 EST)

Check-in: Saturday 7 December (0:01 EST) through Sunday 8 December (23:59 EST)

Posting Week: Monday 23rd December (0:01) through Sunday 29 December (23:59 EST).

Final Pinch Hit Deadline: Sunday 5 January (23:59 EST)

LINKS

Discord: [here]

Ao3 tagset [here]

All Ages Collection [here]

18+ Collection [here]

RESOURCES:

How to nominate tags to a tag set. [link]

How to sign up for an Ao3 gift exchange. [link]

A guide to your Sign-up, stage by stage. [link]

Apply for an Ao3 account (currently a 10-day waiting list): [here]

How to add a treat to an Ao3 Collection. [here]

How to image-describe your art. [link1] [link2]

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR GIFTS: 

Art (1 drawing, created to a standard you would normally post as “finished”) 

Writing (1k+ words, a complete work that stands alone) 

Playlist (2 hour-long playlists, accessible without an account) 

Moodboard (2 boards, at least 9 elements each, for a total of at minimum 18 elements between both boards. Speak to mods if that really doesn't work for your designs)

Web Weaving (1 board of at least 10 elements, credited)

Podfic (1 podfic of at least 1k words, edited to your normal level of editing)

Rules and Guidelines and FAQ under the cut.

Rules and Guidelines

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR NOMINATING TAGS:

Instructions for how to nominate tags [here]

For a tag to be used in signup, it must be part of the tag set, and thus, must be nominated and approved before it can be used.

Tag nomination is done through Ao3’s tag set nomination process. You can nominate up to 20 tags per fandom, and up to 10 fandoms. Fandoms do not need to have a canon tag to be nominated, but please use the canon tag if possible.

Please only nominate tags you intend to either offer or request, to help with matching.

Please nominate tags without using the creator’s tags names, just gamer tags. Do not use the canon tag, as that will be sorted into Video Blogging RPF automatically, (unless you are nominating RPF). Alphabetize the characters by gamer tag within the tags, i.e. GoodTimesWithScar & Grian (3rd Life)

& denotes a platonic relationship, / denotes a romantic and/or sexual relationship. Tommyinnit & Tubbo (DSMP) would be platonic, and Ranboo/Tubbo (DSMP) would be romantic.

You can nominate up to 6 characters within a tag, as long as it fits within Ao3’s character limit (100 characters). 

Please disambiguate (include the server name in parentheses after the characters), as that helps us distinguish between creators who’ve been on multiple servers, i.e. Grian could be in YHS, EVO, Hermitcraft, 3rd Life, 100 Hours Hardcore, or Guess the Build, and we need to know which one.

Please distinguish between Empires S1 and Empires S2 if you are nominating Empires.

If you want a work that focuses on one character instead of a relationship, whether or not other characters are present, you can nominate a solo character as Solo: [Character Name], i.e. Solo: TommyInnit (SMPEarth). 

Video Blogging RPF is allowed as a nominated fandom, as long as the creators are all over 18 and famous in their own right. Mods reserve the right to reject tags they feel to be in bad taste, such as a person accused of misconduct and the person who accused them.

Crossovers are allowed. Please nominate them in the format Grian (Hermitcraft) & Tommyinnit (Dream SMP) (Crossover Fandom), or if you wish a character to be moved to a different canon, please nominate them in the format Technoblade (Origins SMP) in QSMP (Crossover Fandom). Crossover tags do not need to be entirely MCYT, non-MCYT franchises are allowed. All crossovers go under the fandom Crossover Fandom.

This event does not allow Adult/Minor romantic relationships. A list of characters considered to be minors in canon will be available in the discord– we will be going with age during the bulk of content for past servers, or present age for currently-running servers. Minor/Minor romantic shipping is allowed as long as the character is not extremely underage (15 or younger). Because of the difficulty of moderating content on a tight schedule, this event will not allow aged up characters for the purposes of relationships not being adult/minor.

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR SIGNING UP:

Instructions for signing up [here]

Must join our Discord for communication. If we cannot find you in the discord at the end of sign-ups, your signup will be deleted.

Must have an Ao3 account for sign-ups, as they happen on Ao3. If you do not have a Ao3 account and need help getting on, please contact the mods as soon as possible.

Because of Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13 to participate.

Signups are divided into Requests (what you want to get as a gift) and Offers (what you’re offering to make). You must request and offer a minimum of three different relationships or solo character tags. They can be from any number of servers and your requests do not need to be the same as your offers. You can offer or request a maximum of 10 servers with 20 tags each.

There are two collections, all-ages and 18+. Signing up in the 18+ collection is opting into NSFW as a possibility. You must be 18 or older to sign up in the 18+ collection, and any under-18 persons found signing up for the 18+ side of the exchange will be banned from this and all future iterations of the exchange.

If you do not want shipping, simply only request & tags. If you do want shipping, request / tags. If you are open to either, request both tags. 

Must mention your tumblr blog username in your signup, so your recipient knows how to give you your gift.

You must either write down a DNW (things you Do Not Want) in your gift, or put down DNW: No Restrictions, for each fandom you sign up to. 

You must write down at least one like, prompt, or have a letter with more information linked, to give your creator something to work with.

if you are requesting a Solo character tag, you must indicate if you are okay with shipping or not, and any romantic or platonic relationships you don’t want to see in the work, because your creator will be picking from all canon characters as the supporting cast.

Signing up gives mods access to your Ao3 email (it's how we send you your assignment), so make sure the email attached to your AO3 account is one that a) you check regularly, and b) are comfortable with exchange mods seeing. You can verify your email here: archiveofourown.org/users/[your ao3 name here]/change_email

This event does not allow Underage or Adult/Minor relationships. A list of characters considered to be minors in canon will be available in the discord– we will be going with age during the bulk of content for past servers, or present age for currently-running servers. Minor/Minor shipping is allowed as long as the character is not extremely underage (15 or younger), but no NSFW, even if signing up to the 18+ collection. Because of the difficulty of moderating content on a tight schedule, this event will not allow aged up characters for the purposes of content not being underage or relationships not being adult/minor.

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR CREATING: 

Your gift doesn’t have to contain only requested relationships, but it does have to center on at least one requested relationship or character. 

Respect your recipient’s use of / or & in their requested relationship. Ship work must be delivered for a / relationship, and platonic work must be delivered for a & relationship. 

If you are a participant in the 18+ collection, you do not have to deliver NSFW, but you can if you want.

If you are a participant in the All-ages collection, you may not deliver an NSFW gift, or a non-NSFW gift that is E-rated. The maximum rating of a gift in the all-ages collection is M-rated. 

Respect your giftee's DNW. Any gift found to be in violation of a reasonable DNW is grounds for a ban from future iterations of the exchange. 

Must check in at the half-way mark of creation to make sure everything is on-track.

Contact a mod ASAP if you don’t think you’ll get your gift out on time or at all, or you want to withdraw

No AI-created content.

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR GIFTING

You do not need to post on Ao3. You can if you want, and clicking your assignment button will automatically gift it to your recipient, but this is optional.

You must make a tumblr post and tag your recipient to give them the gift.

Must tag this blog in your gift post so we can keep track of gifts

If you are posting from a blog other than the one you signed up with (an art blog, or a 18+ blog for example), you must inform the mods so we can keep track of gifts.

Dark or Violent themes must be tagged appropriately

MISC:

Your requests will be publicly available, to conform with normal exchange standards, and because of the mechanics of pinch hits and treating. If you have something you do not want to be public, do not request it. Your offers will remain private, and mods will work with you to give a gift on anon if necessary.

You will not necessarily be matched with someone who matches your “offer to create” exactly. If the algorithm can make a better match it will do that, but in cases where there are more obscure requests, you might be matched with someone who only has one ship in common between your Offer and their Request. In that case at least you know what to make pretty quickly!

You do not have to make a gift for every ship or character your recipient requested, even if you offered multiple ships they requested. You only have to pick one and make one gift. 

Please ask in the discord if you need information. You could also send an ask here, or if it is something you do not feel comfortable sending in an ask, you can message the head mod at @antimony-medusa​ 

Mods reserve the right to ban people for being assholes.

FAQ:

-I changed my mind about my sign-up, I want to add something, what do I do? You can edit your sign-up right until the sign-ups close! As soon as the sign-ups close, everything locks and you’ll be unable to edit it any more.

-I added my fic to the Ao3 collection, but I can’t see it? The collection is currently set to ‘unrevealed’, so works can be added but won’t be visible before reveal day, so it’s all a surprise.

- I don’t have an Ao3 account, what do I do? Speak to the mods— we can help you sign up (there is a waiting list), or we might be able to give you an instant sign-up link (we have a limited number of these).

-I need to contact my recipient, but they have anon off! What do I do? Talk to us, we’ll contact them for you.

-I can’t finish my gift by the deadline, what do I do? You have two options. Option one is to consider if you can still finish it within a couple days, and ask the mods if you can get an extension (you can get an extension of up to two days if necessary). Option two is to drop entirely, in which case you tell a mod, and we will assign your gift to a pinch-hitter so your recipient still gets something. In both cases, the important thing is that you get in contact with a mod as soon as possible— discord is best, but @antimony-medusa can be contacted here if discord is not an option— to figure out a plan.

- My recipient requested 10 different fandoms, do I have to make a gift for each of them? You only have to make one gift! Just pick one fandom and one ship that you like and focus on that one.

-If I want to make more than one gift, can I? You can make as many gifts as you'd like! If you really enjoy making gifts, we suggest signing up as a Pinch Hitter in the discord, and there is also Treating, if you want to look for signups that really catch your eye!

-I don't celebrate Christmas, can I sign up? This exchange welcomes all holidays (even a complete lack of holidays), and people will have an opportunity to opt in to what events they want represented in their gift, whether that's real-world holidays, imaginary minecraft events, or no holidays at all.

-I'm only a fan of a small server, can I sign up? You are very welcome to sign up even if your fandom doesn't have the most active tag, this is a broad MCYT exchange. We will do our best to match you with someone else who also likes your block people, pinch hitting it if possible. If your fandom has less than a thousand fics on the archive, we recommend that you try and recruit friends into the exchange too, so you know that there are people who like the same characters as you in the matching pool. We can't absolutely promise to match on smaller characters, but we have run this exchange twice and we haven't had anyone be entirely unmatchable yet, so fingers crossed that continues.

-Is RPF allowed? While this is intended as a character-focused exchange, we know the lines for that are fuzzy when it comes to off-server events the creators have also done, such as the GIGS Phasmaphobia streams, and it becomes difficult to moderate this line. As we are now able to distinguish between RPF and the server creators using Ao3’s tag sets, so matching is no longer a difficulty, you will be able to request or offer direct RPF from this exchange.

-Is shipping allowed? Yes. Because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about the appropriateness of that in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious case) or between specific fandoms (Lifesteal approach to shipping is different from Empires is different from DSMP), and because of the impossibility of being aware of everyone’s boundaries across the entire internet, the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event will operate on Don't Like Don't Read, in that everyone will have the chance to opt in for themselves as to if they are comfortable with shipping or NSFW for each specific character relationship they want to work with, and they will be matched based on that.

-Is NSFW allowed? Yes, NSFW is permitted as long as both characters are 18+ and both the giver and the recipient are participating in the 18+ collection. You will only match to people who want NSFW if you have signed up to the 18+ collection. To comply with Tumblr’s TOS and for the comfort of the greatest number of people in the exchange, nothing that would warrant the tags Underage or Adult/Minor Relationship is permitted. 

- Are major archive warnings (noncon/graphic depictions of violence/MCD) allowed? Aside from the content rules governing NSFW (no Underage, for the comfort of the greatest number of participants), major archive warnings are allowed. Depictions of real life horrors such as genocide and slavery are not-uncommon motifs in MCYT fics, along with torture, executions, and abuse in the source material, and the mod team is not interested in legislating which types of horrors, griefs or abuses are inherently worse than others and are therefore off-limits. Because holding writing to a quality standard or saying only survivors can write atrocities is unworkable from a moderation standpoint, the three mentioned major archive warnings (MCD, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Noncon), are permitted to be included in the 18+ collection. The all-ages collection permits MCD and Graphic Depictions of Violence as possible warnings, though gifts cannot go over an M rating if delivered in the all-ages collection, even if your recipient has opted into Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Major Archive Warnings must be explicitly opted into by your recipient in their signup, and gifters are free to not include major archive warnings that their recipient has permitted. Delivering un-asked for major archive warnings is grounds for a ban from this event. The mod team reserves the right to warn other mod teams on both the MCYT and Multi-fandom side about your bad behavior.

-Do you allow dark or violent content? Yes. The lore of many mcyt servers includes death games, abuse, cannibalism, murder-for-hire, and other dark or violent themes. However, all potentially triggering content must be tagged for so viewers and giftees can make an informed choice to get involved or not. We would recommend that you not include particularly dark topics unless requested to by your giftee.

-If I want to opt into e-rated gore, but I don’t want to opt into sexual NSFW, can I do that? To opt into e-rated gore or violence you must be part of the 18+ collection, but you can do so and then say you Do Not Want smut. Note that you cannot demand e-rated gore, in the same way that you cannot demand e-rated smut (or fluff, or anything else for that matter), it is simply an option you are offering your gifter.

-My person requested characters I don't want to write, and one of them is a ship I don't like. What do I do? You are only expected to create a gift for the characters you matched on. If you offered to create for GoodTimesWithScar & Grian (Hermitcraft),  Docm77/Rendog (Hermitcraft), and Grian & PearlescentMoon (Hermitcraft), and you matched to someone requesting GoodTimesWithScar/Grian (Hermitcraft),  Docm77/Rendog (Hermitcraft), and PearlescentMoon/ZombieCleo (Hermitcraft), you are only expected to make a gift with the characters and relationships you matched on, in this case, RenDoc. If you are entirely uncomfortable with your match, you can tell a mod, and we can take it off your hands and get it pinch-hit. You will still receive a gift.

-What is a Pinch Hitter? A pinch hitter is a person who saves the day and steps in when the original creator is unable to deliver their work for whatever reason, making a new work on an accelerated timeline. You can sign up to be a Pinch Hitter in the discord.

-What is a DNW? All participants will have the opportunity to fill out a DNW, which stands for Do Not Want. This is anything that has the potential to ruin a gift for you. DNWs must be phrased politely, (so no "No foster aus because they suck and you suck if you like them"), and they must be reasonable, (so no attempting to box someone into a specific gift, i.e. "DNW anything that isn't a space au where Tommy is a dinosaur-hybrid and Tubbo is a ghost bee and they rampage through the living ship named Las Nevadas"), and they must be clear and defined (so no “no dark kinks”— that is too subjective for someone to try and interpret), but they can be as petty (disliking specific art styles) or as broad-reaching (no modern aus, no specific ships, no crossovers with specific servers) as you like. Deliberately breaking someone's DNW is grounds for a ban from the exchange.

-When do I have to join the discord? You have the option to join the discord and hang out as soon as tag nominations starts on October 28, and you must join the discord so we can communicate with you by November 17. Anyone not in the discord once we start matching will have their sign-ups deleted.

-Is the discord a social server? Can I expect game nights? The discord is primarily an event server, we are not going to be hosting events. 

-What are Treats? Treats are optional bonus gifts that people give once they are done with their original gift! All of the sign-ups are available for people to browse through, and they can find prompts they like and make an extra gift for that person! They are completely optional for someone to make and you cannot ask for treats.

-What's a check-in and how do they work? Check-ins are there to make sure everyone is on track to finish their piece in time, and to communicate any issues with the mods! They take place through a google form and will require a short list of information— your name and if you think you will make the deadline, mostly. If you know that you won’t be able to check in on a specific date (lack of internet, etc), please contact the mods in advance.

-What if I need to drop out? It is your responsibility to communicate with us if you need to drop out of the event for any reason, and we do need that communication. We know that life is no respecter of fic and art deadlines, so no hard feelings if something happens. However, we would hate for anyone to end up having no gift, so please think about this if you are thinking of dropping out close to reveals. Please inform us in advance if you must drop out or think you will not be able to complete your gift on time. Dropping out after the last check-in without informing the mods will result in not being permitted to take part in further events run by this mod team.

I have a question not answered here? Ask us in the discord, send us an ask on tumblr, or contact @antimony-medusa on tumblr or discord!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So... twst anime—

I feel I should be much more excited than I actually am. Don't get me wrong- I am excited ( for Leona animated content ) to see how they'll handle some things- but apart from the worries you listed, I just... I know this sounds a little gatekeepy but an anime will mean more ppl will know and talk about the story and I fear that they won't go into the game/other content and thus have a limited opinion on characters/events and misunderstand them. Basically I fear that characters will be even more mischaracterized than they already ( sometimes ) are by the current fandom 😭 ( specially Leona- gunshots )

[Referencing this post!]

I feel like there's for sure been mixed reactions to the recent anime news. The general consensus is excitement, but occasionally I've also seen skepticism or worries that the anime won't be as good as the long period since the initial announcement would have had us believe. That's to be expected; we won't know the quality of the anime until we watch it ourselves.

Mmm, there's that age-old sentiment again 😅 The thought of, "More people will be exposed to Twst because of this; I'm worried they will misunderstand the story/characters." It always seems to make a comeback whenever a new major piece of Twst media is announced... It happened when the official EN localization was announced too. People were jumping to conclusions and worrying that the influx of "EN-only" folks and/or a sub-par localization would lead to newer fans not seeing the story and characters the same way as the JP side did. I'll repeat what I said back then (as I think the same logic applies), along with a few additional points/expansions, as are relevant:

As you've said, mischaracterization happens, even now. This is normal in fandom, and it doesn't necessarily make fandom a "bad" space. Variation in thought is a normal human thing in general and I don't think it should be discouraged. If everyone thought the exact same way, life would be boring and we would have a limited number of ideas circulating.

This thinking sort of presupposes that the Twst fandom is currently without issues (or has few of them) and that it is the growth of the fandom that will cause problems. From experience, I can tell you that fandoms always have their toxic pockets. Fandoms growing larger just exposes more of those pockets because, statistically speaking, with more bodies present, there's a higher chance something will come to light, be it a personal squabble, a cultural difference, actually serious allegations, etc. It's a natural part of a fandom's lifecycle.

How other people interpret the story/characters should have limited or no bearing whatsoever on your own enjoyment. It does not erase your own views on the story/characters either. If you find that your concerns about others are becoming overwhelming, I'd encourage you to take a step back and think about what in this fandom makes you happy.

I feel that the mentality I mentioned earlier stems from an "us versus them" mindset. We're viewing current Twsties as the "in" group and everyone else as the "out" group... when, really, I think it might be healthier to perceive the "out" group as potential Twsties. Like... instead of fearing them as strangers coming in to "taint" the fandom, let's try to think of them as "friends we haven't met yet". After all, these anime-first or anime-only Twsties could end up being your next buddy, someone cool you meet at an event, a Twst content creator you enjoy, etc. Try to reframe your thinking!

Lastly!! We have no idea how the anime will go. They might not make it solely the main story just because it’s a manga adaptation. The team might have weaved in vignettes/event stories or bonus content exclusive to the anime which helps flesh out the characters.

I think that about wraps up my thoughts. I hope that helps alleviate some of your concerns. Hang tight, keep an open mind, and pray that the L*ona content in the anime is good 🤡

[primus-why]

Another A/B/O AU...

... this time TFA!

Okay some rules this time are:

Alphas can mate with Betas to produce offspring-- with the exception of cross-factional pairs. And you will only ever produce the same frametype as the creators.

Betas and Betas can mate to produce offspring-- but again, they have to both be civilians or both be warframes. They will only produce offspring of the same frametype.

It's very rare for Alpha pairings to reproduce. Same rules above apply concerning frametypes.

Omegas are rare in that anyone can reproduce with them, and thus their offspring can be any frametype. Contrary to a popular myth, the sparkling's frametype is random and not automatically based on whomever the sire/carrier is.

Generally the majority of Decepticons are Alphas, and the majority of Autobots are Betas. A Beta!Decepticon or Alpha!Autobot is not rare but still pretty uncommon.

Omegas have not been seen for generations, and it's believed they've been wiped out. The deaths of Omegas on both sides is partially what kicked up the war, as it now became much more difficult to procreate. Especially for Decepticons, being mostly Alphas.

All mechs regardless of secondary status go through a reproductive receptivity cycle-- the horny time we usually call "heat" or "rut". (But since I couldn't think of a 3rd word for a Betas cycle, we'll call it "RRC" or just "cycle" across the board lol)

Surprise, surprise! Optimus Prime is, in fact, an Omega. He doesn't know that, though...

See, Omegas have been out of the picture for so long, they don't really teach about them anymore in the Academy. Obviously some folks like Ultra Magnus and Ratchet are old enough to remember, as are many of the Decepticons. But generally speaking, Optimus believes he's just a Beta with an abnormally persistent cycle.

Optimus' status is only known to a few-- thanks to the standard examination all new recruits undergo, only some of the older medics and Ultra Magnus himself were aware. The Magnus took great care to not place Optimus on the front lines whenever possible, as he did not want to risk the Cause losing something so precious as an Autobot Omega.

However, at the same time he did not disclose Optimus' status to anyone else-- he knew it would likely result in his peers treating him differently, or worse, the Council might vote to sequester him to a breeding center. No, Optimus himself couldn't even be aware-- Ultra Magnus was worried he'd fall prey to the old stigmas which claimed Omegas were inherently weaker or incapable. Perhaps that was hypocritical of him, since he had been avoiding using Optimus in battles, despite the young Prime being one of the most skilled and capable Bots at the Academy...

Perhaps that's why when the incident on Archa-7 happened, he took the opportunity to all but banish Optimus from Cybertron. Repairing space bridges kept him out of the direct line of fire; nothing ever seemed to happen all the way out there. What's more, Ultra Magnus wouldn't have to continue fabricating reasons why one of the Academy's top students was not being placed in more active roles. Optimus would also be spared the scrutiny of re-evaluation, wherein his status would likely have been disclosed to the Council and everyone in the upper ranks... as well as Ultra Magnus' favoritism.

Yes, Ultra Magnus had thought he was in the clear. The young Prime still had a part to play in the Great Autobot Machine, but not until things had quieted significantly. One day, Optimus would have the chance at a normal civilian life while their planet rebuilds, and Ultra Magnus would have the medics disclose his status so he could decide his own future without the pressures of wartime. For now, all he needed to do was ship the Omega somewhere, far away from prying optics, with a medic who could be discreet and a parting reminder to not be a hero.

... A lot of good that did him.

Some additional notes of who-is-what:

Alphas include*: Megatron, Sentinel Prime, Lugnut, Strika, Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead, Starscream, Blitzwing, Drift

Betas include*: Shockwave, Blurr, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz, Blackarachnia, Prowl, Jetfire and Jetstorm, Rodimus Prime

*but are not limited to

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I just think the show would have been better if they skipped the romance entirely. Why making the two main characters have romance? Show that a boy and a girl who's great friends don't need to end up together. If people still shipped them, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. Shipping is for fun after all.

And imagine them knowing eachother's identities from the start. No more will they won't they. Plus I could see Marinette helping Adrien with kagami. Like making the right outfit or even give advice on how to act. And ofcourse teasing him. Same with Adrien helping Marinette with Luka. But being more gentle and saying to just go for it. Go with the feeling. And still teasing.

(plus if the creators could, change the love interests. Yes I ship lukadrien and marigami)

I'm just saying. Then being great friends would be a lot better than what we actually got.

I personally love the concept of the love square and I'm a sucker for a cute romance, so I want it to be in the show. That being said, I still think you have a point. A romance plot is not a great fit for a formula show because good healthy romance* is all about letting the relationship develop and grow while formula shows are all about nothing ever changing.

That's a fundamental mismatch and there's really no way to work past it unless you do something like the Kim Possible route where the characters are just friends with no romantic undertones until things suddenly shift during a tie-in movie. Subtle romantic tension is also a thing, but a poor fit for Miraculous given its intended age group and the fact that subtle growing tension is usually used in formula shows that have somewhat formulaic plots, but allow for more serialized character development. For an example of that, think of basically any mainstream mystery series where every episode solves a crime while also developing the characters.

It's become pretty clear to me that the Kim Possible path is probably the only way that the love square could have worked in canon. Let them be close friends with a meaningful bond until it's time to let things shift and make dating the new status quo. Of course, that's much less dramatic than canon, but of course it is! Formula shows tend to be characterized by minimal drama because every episode stands alone, making overarching plots nearly impossible and you need solid overarching plots for drama to work.

*While it's not my preference, there's nothing wrong with enjoying unhealthy romance in fiction. However, I will die on the hill that unhealthy romance has no place in shows aimed at young children and that's what Miraculous is, so even thought my general stance is ship and let ship, that doesn't really apply here.

[lil-liaa]

𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷 with 𝐋𝐢𝐚!! ♡

2,000 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 followers ♡⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

Hi!! It's Liaa and if you don't know me i'm a kpop mbd creator i'm not sooo old or recent, but I do have some notable tips that I can give you if you need a push to improve (or start creating) your moodboards based on my criteria and experience ♡ bonus at the end!

Before you r e a d this : This guide is not a rule! You don't have to apply all the tips, feel free to apply them depending on your own style and taste.

In choosing the image on which the mb is based I want to separate them into 3 levels

Easy: An image that has common and striking colors that you can find popular aesthetics - easy to combine, harmony in colors etc!

Not so difficult: an image that has one or more not so popular colors,a background or image a little more complete, with aesthetics not so seen or visual

Difficult: The image has a color filter (dying) It has extra decoration or accessories, it has a specific bright (or duller) color (it means in any case that any image to combine will have to be edited to get the exact color)

Not everything is as difficult as I describe it! Getting started tips to make it much easierrr

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟏 : ¿Where to find?

Ways to find the aesthetic you are looking for!

Searches on Pinterest

Color + color aesthetic

Color- X Soft X Bright X Palid X Dark

Object - Subject-Color-Animal-Place-Serie/movie-country- Aesthetic

𝓐𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼 that you may be 𝐥👀𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 for

I recommend this website that, apart from showing you many aesthetics, tells you the story of how it came about and more info!

Click to "Find aesthetic"

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟐 : ¿How to decorate it?

1. Collages on PICSART cute and easy♡ Make sure that the images complement each other from one side to the other so that there is balance and very importantly give it a center image!

2. Dividers You can make them yourself (On PICSART again) or find them here on tumblr!

I also have my own dividers if you want to check them out ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

3. Gifs I always move the images a little to make it more striking! (you can do it in capcut and create the gif here on tumblr♡) another tutorial of example gif here

4. Texts! separate the angles you can always put a poem or some lyric music! (To add color to the text I have a tutorial here) You can always add "bios", symbols or kaoemojis since they are closely linked to the aesthetics in the texts

5.Pngs: It's very cutee and also gives an extra resource ((I don't use it as much as before but it can work well on quite a few mbds) I would recommend putting it in the middle

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟑 : ¿How to combine images? (My way to do it!)

Taking into account the general color palette, look at the image and check if the most prominent colors are warm or cold (including the background will be very useful) this way it will be easier for you to combine the tones without really having to find the exact color of the image! It will make it look much better.

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟒 : Center and sides

Keep in mind the center of your moodboard! As it is still a square (think like it's a painting) you can have more balance if you put certain colors or certain photos on one side or the other and put the main photo (or a collage) in the middle! So that it harmonizes and draws more attention.

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟓 : Tonal degrees

Always keep in mind what tonal degree the color of the photo has. Depending on that, you can look for images with the same tonality! As I already mentioned, if it is more opaque or stronger or brighter, it makes it much easier to identify a better combination.

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟔 : Combination

At first glance, you might be able to identify the most prominent colors in a photo, but taking into account color theory, the color of that photo only exists when it is contrasted by another, that is, based on the combination of colors with each other.

So when choosing photos to match, look for the two colors together in the photo to give a more similar impression even if the colors are not exact (In any case, you can also edit the color of images that have the same tone as your photo by changing the image and the difference would not be noticeable)

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟕 : More ways to apply aesthetics . . .

Related objects: depending on the image, there are also usually certain objects that can be related to the aesthetics of the photo. You can always add details with reference to the aesthetics that, without necessarily matching the photo, can look good.

Angles and sizes: Looking at the reference photo we can find photos that have the same dimensions as this one will make it look pretty good and make sense to put together

Requirements for adding a photo: to make it easier to combine you can write down things to keep in mind so that they combine, for example:

1.Color and Color palette

2.Size, shapes and angles

3.Common objects

4.Balancing abundance (for example if a photo has a lot of details, you have to find similar ones and at the same time find photos that have less details to give it a better impression.)

# 𝐓𝐈𝐏 𝟖 : Your own Style and have fun!

Don't rush into having your own style, eventually your mbds will be guided by your tastes and then you will have your own stamp unconsciously so don't rush!

Have fun and take your time making mbds, that's the secret formula to making a good moodboard♡

𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓾𝓼 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓾𝓼

Match Technique 💋🎀: My painful technique for making everything match so well comes from my perfectionism and I'll tell you what I do,sometimes the photos match each other perfectly (which is perfectly fine lol if you want you can leave it like that) but to make sure.. what I do is separate each of the images and compare them to each other to see the contrast and thus realize if they really match.

Searching: ¿How did we get to the final result? There will always be many times in sex where you simply won't like the result, I always recommend having at least two stages when looking for a good result.

This requires quite a bit of experimentation.

Stage 1 "Draft" : Where you look for the basis of what you want

Stage 2 "Improvements" : You look for the parts that don't fit and why.

Stage 3 "Details": The finishing touches!

𝐓𝐲𝐬𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! These are my own techniques and I know that probably not everyone puts so much science into this but I hope I have helped you improve certain things 💕 xoxo

(English is not my first language, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me to correct any mistakes!)