#do u know how Important it is to me that this whole show was essentially a photo shoot for the star tattoo

[mattsunsdollie]

OH!! Well I always love (not actually love ofc) hearing how u find out ur the other girl stories!!! I feel like it’s a universal experience unfortunately eep

LMAOO as a chismosa i get what you mean babe. also get ready cuz this might be long bc the details are important🫣

so this happened last year, around july .you guys know im colombian, and one thing ab colombians we support our teams. so during the copa america whenever my team played i would be outside. anywho, i was at a restaurant for a game and it was packed so the tables were kind of closer than usual.

i was next to this guy who was super attractive. he was tall, had dark hair, earrings, and a goatee. like literally my type. pero i never make a move first bc i don’t do the chasing. we ended up talking because colombia had scored and we were just talking about the game

we exchanged numbers and we started talking a lot. probably for the whole day for atleast a week before we saw each other again. he was super sweet and raised no red flags. he moved from cali with his mom and sister, but still had family in cali.

we went on about 5 dates before he asked me to be his gf, which i obviously said yes too. after that is was smooth sailing, we saw each other everyday, we were literally inseparable. and he never gave me a reason to be suspicious, he let me hold his phone, he gave me the passwords, he would leave his phone facing up, etc. y bueno, i was with him everyday and his phone would be dry except for his sister and mom texting or calling.

right after our 3 month anniversary he went to cali to go see his family (he went with his mom) we texted normally and fell asleep otp. he wasn’t lagging, and again he never gave me reason to think anything had been going on.

on the 4th day of his trip i was getting calls from a cali number. i thought maybe his little cousins were calling me since he said he was going to show them a photo of us. the number would call them hang up but not text so obviously i just left it alone. i didn’t bring it up to him either because i figured he would just tell me when we would get on the phone.

well that night i get a message from that number, and turns out it was his gf. she sent me a really long message essentially trying to clock me for being in her mans phone, when i didn’t know she existed. i replied with receipts and photo evidence w the dates showing he was lying. she never responded but my and my cousin got on our fbi shit and found her instagram.

she had a lot of posts of him, and that’s when i found out he had 2 instas. she had posted a story too from that day with like one of those calendars showing how long they had been together. YALL they were together for a little over 2 years.

he found out i knew through her im assuming and he spammed me trying to talk. i didn’t respond or pick up. i blocked him and that was it on my end.

he came back from his trip and would show up at my old job and trying to talk. my manager ended up kicking him out multiple times. i honestly don’t know how he was able to pull it off

[kindahoping4forever]

📸: Nikki Phillips

[ohcorny]

hey corny. so i always see people recommending to outline their story before starting it, but could you talk a little bit more about what that means? what is an outline and how do you structure one? how long are the ones you write, depending on the project? do you focus on plot beats or feelings? how specific do you get? can u recommend any readings for learning more?

up front i don't have any resources for this, only experience. and outlines feel like one of those things where it's like... there are a million ways to do it and the way that works for me might not work for you. i have a friend who writes out all his ideas on index cards and that, for me, is insane. but he's also a better writer than me so who can say what is right or wrong.

anyway an outline is essentially a sketch but for a story. you go through the whole thing, start to finish, and figure out what goes where and what happens when. the idea is that this is the stage where you work out all the big picture stuff and make sure it all fits together, now, and not after you've drawn twenty pages and suddenly go "wait shit that doesn't work" and have to do it over. it is much easier to delete and rewrite a paragraph than to redraw several pages.

doing anything more, ie including dialogue or feelings, depends entirely on how useful that information is to you at that point in the process and whether the purpose of the outline is for your own guidance, or so somebody else can tell what you're trying to achieve.

this got really long with multiple examples

here is an excerpt from the original outline i used to pitch Hunger's Bite to publishers. this one had to be polished to a professional standard, because somebody else was going to read it and decide whether they wanted to give me thousands of dollars to tell this story. (also several of the details are no longer accurate. for instance it now takes place 9 years earlier lmao)

this paragraph represents the first eight pages of the book. the final book is 264 pages long, and the outline was 12 pages of paragraphs as dense as this one.

it establishes where we are, who's there, and what they're doing. i describe their conversation, but i don't commit to the dialogue. i will occasionally include snippets of literal dialogue, but usually only if it's Important Dialogue, or i just don't want to forget a good idea i had while outlining. it's not expected at this step.

an outline written as part of a pitch to a publisher should tell the whole story, with all the important details, and leave nothing ambiguous. they need to know the tone, shape, and the arcs. no secrets! all the spoilers. outlines for yourself should do this too, but outlines for others need to be as clear about your vision as possible. again, an outline like this exists for the purpose of getting you paid thousands of dollars. you should write it like that.

in comparison, here's an excerpt from the outline i wrote for revisions to my WIP prose novel, so i could show it to my agent (who already read the draft) to be like "do these changes sound good?" i'm not selling it to anyone yet, just making a guide so i can have a conversation about it. so it doesn't need to be neat, it just needs to be functional and clear. the first chapter was entirely new stuff. the second bit was just writing down what was already in the chapter that existed.

i have historically been very bad at outlining things when i don't think i "need" to, and only wrote this one after having written like 60k words of the book without any overall plan. i gave what i had to my agent for feedback and then sat down and figured out how i could apply it. it's made the whole revisions process significantly less daunting. now i have a checklist for things i need to do! this one was a paragraph or two for each chapter, with the ones that needed a lot of rewriting given a bit more detail.

lastly, here's a bit of the outline for the first roger crenshaw book. i was the only person who had to see this, and since the story was planned to be very short i didn't have to worry about a whole lot. as long as i knew what was supposed to go where, it would work. honestly it's not a whole lot different from the previous example.

this one was like five paragraphs and it did the job, and this story was like 15k words. you only need as much or as little as will actually help you on the page.

basically if you take nothing else from this, it's that there are multiple ways to write an outline, that it does not need to be perfect if you're doing it for yourself, and that it only needs what you think is important (unless it is for other people. then it should have everything). and also it's a good idea to do it earlier in the project than after you've written 60k words or drawn--jesus christ i got up to 12 chapters in never satisfied? it's amazing i didn't quit sooner

[starstrikeer]

armin arlert is such a great character and i dont see people talk abt him enough. his character development throughout the series is such an interesting and fun one to dissect; (cant forget abt jean but thats for another post) he's this kid who constantly gets bullied but never runs away and continues to have this attitude the whole time, hes often depicted as a coward, a baby, just someone who cant intervene which is so frustrating cuz he will fight you if u hurt his friends 😭 (erens meeting with him and mikasa). armins first kill during the battle of shignshina district in s3 ep2 where he saves jean by shooting the armed person. armin had essentially thrown out his morality and humanity out the window and it was something he knew he had to accept and continue to do for as long as he has to. armin is empathetic, he genuinley feels immense amounts of guilt each time he has to kill someone especially when he aquires the colossal titan and has to transform in the middle of busy streets filled with unsuspecting families. this moment of his first kill is such an important moment in armins development, it changed the way he thinks and acts. just wanted to add how armin was always one to come up with ideas that may seem crazy or unrealistic ideas which just makes his character even better when you think about how his mind works. going back to how armin wont stand back if his friends are being hurt honestly that scene with eren, mikasa, and armin really showed the type of person armin is, we all know he uses his words to fight or more so talk things out against what he believes is wrong, but in this case eren gets physical with armin who he knows cannot fight physically meanwhile using words against mikasa who in general wouldnt do anything to defend/fight back against eren. and even after all this, everything eren and the world has put on their shoulders armin continues to be this understanding, and kind person. yes he is a murderer but hear me out ok.. anyways, even in the end when eren is this giant skeletal monster armin STILL want to talk to eren, to sort things out. even when people were murdered, homes destroyed, friends and families torn apart due to erens actions, armin just wanted to talk to his best friend.

[jon-sedai]

Hello! So i know that I am WAY! less knowleged than u re: asiof but I have a question about the Prophecy (AA/PTWP). I did a deep dive on it and GRRM spoke repeately about handling prophecy carefully/not too literally etc 3 weeks ago at Oxford he repeated: "you cannot have a prophecy that comes true way it was written and everbody understands it(..) it has to come true in a way you didnt understand(..)so it bites you in the ass" So rather than "who has the most obvious PTWP clues" shouldnt we theorize "how will the idea of AA/PTWP backfire on the believers" or "how can a unique/unpreditable element fill the role"? Since Im assuming GRRM stance will likely apply to the biggest prophecy in the books. What do you think? do you know theories like that? If anything, I only see "the prophecy is just nonsense!!" but that is clearly also not what GRRM says: not prophecy is bogus but has to be unexpected or "bite you in the ass".

Hey! No, you're far too kind 😭

I completely agree with you, and you raise some interesting and important questions, especially when considering how these ideas reflect back on our protagonists.

The tricky thing with interpreting prophecy is that the characters are operating on second-hand, third-hand, or even more distant accounts, all filtered through their cultural understandings of what a hero should be. Their beliefs are shaped by the information available to them, which is often incomplete or distorted. This means each character's idea of who is the subject of prophecy is largely subjective, influenced by their biases and specific cultural narratives and thus might never present the whole truth! So as readers, we should be very cautious about how we interpret the declarations presented by any character as absolute truth. We will probably never know until the final book is published, and even then it might be murky at best.

I saw GRRM’s comments a few days ago, and they really resonated with me because they align with how I’ve been feeling lately, particularly regarding Melisandre's role in all of this:

“[…] It is written in prophecy as well. When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.” (Davos III, ASoS)

It's often amusing in fandom to discuss how wrong Melisandre is, and she certainly is almost all the time. But lately, I've been wondering: what if we're wrong too? We focus so much on Melisandre misidentifying Azor Ahai, but what if she completely misunderstands her own role in all of this—and we're too blinded to notice it?

Because the issue isn't just that she's chosen the wrong person. The bigger problem is that she's fixated on providing what she believes are the necessary tools to defeat the Others. She wants to "wake dragons out of stone”, repeatedly asserting that "two kings" are needed to wake the dragon so they can serve Stannis Baratheon. This thinking leads to the burning of Shireen—because someone must die to forge the hero's weapon. Melisandre even sees herself as expendable in this grand scheme. But what if her entire understanding is flawed—not just about who the hero is, but about the very dragon she is trying to awaken?

I've been considering all this because "dragons" in the text don’t always refer to actual winged creatures—they're often symbolic descriptors for Targaryens in visions. For example, Moqorro's visions show dragons old and young, true and false; Baelor Breakspear appears as a dragon falling on top of Dunk; and a dragon egg hatching essentially symbolizes Aegon V. So if we're taking prophecy at face value, just as Mel does, we're left wondering where in seven hells she expects to find her "sleeping dragons".

But the thing is, she already has one: Jon Snow. In fact, her visions in Dance suggest that Jon is the one she is truly searching for. And I often think of these visions as moments where I go, "Oh, come on, Mel! It's not that guy; it's the other one!" Yet I've come to realize that even if she identifies Jon correctly, Mel would still face the dilemma of needing another sacrifice to "wake" Jon's dragon. However, she is likely to resurrect Jon before reconnecting with Stannis, which means that by the time she and Stannis consider burning Shireen, she may have already awakened the dragon - and thus fulfilled the prophecy.

If Jon is the awakened dragon, that adds a tragic irony to the whole situation with Mel and Shireen. Legend has it that the woman (Nissa Nissa) dies for the hero’s glory. But if Jon is the dragon, then does that make Melisandre Azor Ahai in this case? After all, we don't know much about the original prophecy so who knows how much it has been distorted over time?

But wouldn't that be such a twist? Mel isn’t a noble lady or royal; she's a former slave, a mere priestess—a tool, a guide, but not the hero. She never considered that she, a woman, could be R’hllor’s chosen. Yet she would perform an actual miracle in bringing a dragon back to life. And if, like me, you believe that Jon will be born from a funeral pyre (inverting Khal Drogo and Dany's dragon eggs), then the prophecy is turned entirely on its head.

This also raises the question: what about Shireen? What does she, an innocent little girl, die for? Why should she have to die for a dragon that is already living? Why should she have to die to exalt a false hero, when the true miracle worker is actually the "expendable" woman who stands before her? Then we have Melisandre carry the baggage of killing a child for something she had successfully completed before...It doesn't matter if she's able to perform some bastardized miracle and create a shadow dragon, because it would all be all for naught and a wasted effort. To me, this is more satisfying from a character development perspective because Melisandre is no longer a background character. She’s got POV chapters now, which means she has an arc that needs to reach its natural conclusion. It cannot begin and end in service of the men around her. She must reflect on her role and come to terms with her actions—both good (waking the dragon in Jon) and bad (sacrificing Shireen for something she had already accomplished and for a prophecy she had already fulfilled); and this could lead to some compelling writing. This might also answer your question about "how will the idea of AA/PTWP backfire on the believers?”. Because “incorrect” interpretations not only hinder progress, but the cost of human life is perhaps too high :/

Oops, so sorry for the long tangent.....

[false-anachronism]

i don't think i've talked abt the nhw greats' costumes yet?? i think i did at one point on my old blog but i can't find it soooo im doing it now. hero costume design is important 2 me

solstice - his early costume looks so silly. bro is wearing a bedsheet toga that is not tied properly and a shitty plastic spirit halloween comedy theatre mask <3 god bless i love baby capes <3 he does get 2 make it better, gets like a proper toga with some details around the edges (probably wears stuff under it when it's cold, like a full bodysuit or something especially when it's winter or he's like facing leviathan or something but if he's not then he's mostly just wearing like. shorts and an undershirt) and he's got a lil crown of laurels (kept alive by flora <3) and he wears an actually decent looking gold comedy mask (probably made by gauntlet) he usually wears like roman sandals just casually out on the field but he will put on other more practical stuff if need be (like winter boots if it's cold, runners if he has 2 do a lot of moving. he will show up 2 a leviathan fight in rubber boots or even full waders. aesthetic be damned my boy can fish)

anna - anna sollll my beloved....... she's usually in a full bodysuit with vines covering the more important parts, kind of like living armor. cool as shit. her bodysuit is purple and her mask sometimes covers her whole face and sometimes just her lower face depends on how she's feelin, and also it's made of living green vines (i love u ourple and geen colour combo) she usually has vines holding her hair back in a ponytail or she has it braided. footwear?? boots. she's like her son she loves big stompy boots!!!! will wear jewelry out on the field. she is not taking out her piercings fuck u. may wear a purple leather jacket over it all if it's cold as balls

strider - only consistent part of his costume is his cool black fantasy rogue cloak and his lower face mask!! bc of his powers he doesn't Need 2 be super inconspicuous. ofc he is anyway when he first starts (all black clothes, trying not 2 be seen) but eventually he goes Fuck It and starts wearing like. just graphic tees and cargo pants and shit under his cloak. usually has bright red braids that match his bright red sneakers (dakota would have loved him.....) Always wears fingerless gloves. for the aesthetic. sometimes has a knee brace on but it depends on how bad his knee is feeling from day to day. if it's cold he's wearing a hoodie under the cloak (fuck u he doesn't need a winter jacket he's fine. no he's not shivering shut the fuck up grayson)

grayson - ARMOR!!!! i think he's got a couple different suits for different situations. his heavy duty armor for endbringers and shit is like. idk i have a pinterest board for the greats and the armor there is literally just how i picture his. swooped spikey pauldrons, same kinda spikes on his helmet, and most of the pieces have details that look like scales, and ofc he has 2 have a hole somewhere for his tail. very important. other than that it covers pretty much every inch of his body!! he's got lighter armor that covers a bit less but makes it easier to move (still needs the fancy spiked details. second most important detail next 2 the tail hole) (sometimes probably just wears simple chainmail with a few bigger pieces in some cases especially if it's hot as fuck outside) and he probably wears the same helmet no matter what else he's wearing. his helmet is detailed 2 resemble a dragon's head with like horns and stuff. sometimes will wear a green cape for the Fantasy Vibes. carries his double-sided polearm in his hands all the time but can sling it across his back if needed. i love him a lot did u know this

ram - ouughghhgoho thats a COWBOYYYY BABEY!!!!! in my beautiful mind he looks like cassidy cole kind of. he doesn't wear armor tho (it's too hot he's not a fan) but he's got a cool lookin poncho and a cowboy hat and ofc his dark blue bandanna over his face that part is ESSENTIAL. usually wears a long sleeve shirt under the poncho (ram voice guys it's cold up here in canada :[ guys it's so cold up here how do u deal) usually wears jeans. maybe chaps over top if he wants 2 REALLY look like a fuckin cowboy. cowboy boots obvi WITH SPURS!!! sometimes wears fingerless gloves if it's cold but never anything that covers his fingers. he is not handling a gun if he can't feel every detail of the damn thing with his bare fingertips. yes this does cause his hands 2 get rly fucking cold sometimes in the winter. has gotten mild frostbite over it once or twice. shut up. his eyes are uncovered but the cowboy hat kinda shadows his eyes anyway. his hair is like at shoulder length and he usually has it tied back in a ponytail out on the field. two holsters on his hip with his guns law and order babeyyyy

min - ohhhh weird little freak <3 covered in ice on the field like all the time. her legs are giant spikes of ice. her arms are also ice. she wears a black bodysuit with legs that go down 2 her mid-thigh and no sleeves but u can barely tell bc she's constantly covered in ice <3 her head is covered in ice with spikes that go back and her hair is usually tied up into a braid crown or a bun or something, anything that will keep it out of the way yk??? not that u can see it much under the . ice. literally a fucking creature. icy spikes sticking out of her joints purely bc she thinks it looks cool and intimidating and honestly it fucking!! does!!! sometimes if she needs to move better she'll keep the ice over her bodysuit to like vital places so she doesn't have 2 constantly break and refreeze it just 2 move

chungus - ilyyyy gus hes so important. shirtless ALL the time. only wears a shirt when he's out of costume and even then it's a tanktop. even if it's cold he's not wearing one out on the field. u can't make him. built like an absolute beast gets stronger/more durable the longer he's in a fight etc etc so like having lots of clothes would just get them ruined bc he's tanking hits for his teammates all the time anyway!!! u know the loz botw barbarian armor??? kind of what i picture minus the bodypaint. shorts and leg wraps (will wear shoes if he must 🙄 but only if it's cold and they HAVE to be like wrestling shoes or cleats or something) has some kind of short cape/cloak with an animal print on it. wears a skull technobladestyle that covers most of his face. also has a big thick beard and thats rly important. and thick long hair. sometimes min puts little braids in his beard. might wear arm wraps if it's cold.

alphonz - FULL armor. full paladin/knight armor. all the time. no other option. he doesn't care if it's fucking hot out he literally generates his own heat he's physically unable to be overheated. idk how 2 describe it!!! paladin armor with like lots of . bird motifs. wings engraved across the chest and back. helmet covers his whole face and has little wings on each side hermesstyle. wings also on the sabatons hermesstyle!!! idk i think about alphonz the most out of the nhw greats but i only have a vague image of his armor in my mind's eye..... fights w a large broadsword and a shield obvi. idk!! might not even wear his helmet sometimes but he glows so bright it's hard 2 see his face anyway. his hair probably sticks out of his helmet even when he's wearing it bc he either leaves it loose (really. unsettling to see his hair moving like the simurgh's when he's in his breaker state.) or has it braided (thanks min <3) idk!!! his armor is gold tho. thats important

[prettyboykatsuki-moved]

if its not too tmi, the guide to making your girl cum might still be useful 😭 my gf and i are both in our first relationship and any help would be welcome

i have so many asks fdjslk?? abt this. like no bullshit at all maybe fifteen. but sure 👍🏾 note i am no sex expert or really anyone u should listen to but you know. i get okay reviews

first things first - the most important thing is learning to communicate with your partner. ik u have heard that many times but every body is different and if you can take instructions well, making someone cum is much easier. like. people say it all the time for good reason but just focus on listening more than anything else

also im using woman / she + her but this advice applies to any afab people who are not currently talking T👍🏾 testosterone changes some stuff so i'd give diff advice on some parts abt touching n stuff

learning how to take an apply what ur told is truly like 99% of the game

for women in particularly - u should probably carve out a chunk of time. most women need at least 15 minutes if it's with a partner (often more) and if it's your first time tg it's good to take each other apart and get comfortable

also somewhat obvious but you absolutely cannot forgo foreplay. truly cannot be overstated but u can't. lol

if share the same parts, u are already at somewhat of an advantage as you have some ideas on where to touch etc. neck and chest are always safe bets, and so is inner thigh etc. deep kissing is always also a safe bet. don't overthink it too much, just do your best to communicate both appreciation and attraction

foreplay also starts before getting naked being genuine. undressing someone or showing sensual affection is your friend. ik this sounds corny but its very genuine advice lol

a lot of foreplay is both to build arousal but also getting someone out of their head. a lot of women in particular tend to get really hung up on various aspects of the process. if you can effectively get them out of that mindspace, you're already on your own way

sometimes dirty talk is good and dirty talk does not need to be crass - making sensual small talk can go a long way. praising how she looks or feels, showing your enthusiasm by telling you're looking forward to making her feel good.

thank you is also always safe in that process. thank you for letting me touch you, thank you for trusting me to make you feel good etc. and if you're not feeling confident - it does the same job as something more dirty lol

here is some more specific stuff 👍🏾

a lot of getting 2 know someone sexually is figuring out various sensitivities and pressure. generally speaking, women tend to lean one way or the other when it comes to pressure on different areas of the body for foreplay.

(usually of course, there is some mix of both - but at least in my experience there is more general lean one way vs another)

some people prefer softer touches and caressing and some people prefer more deep pressure and groping. always start on on the soft end and move towards the other slowly.

YOU WILL WANT TO LEARN INDIRECT VS DIRECT PLEASURE. ON YOUR PARTNER AND WHAT THEY PREFER !!!

some parts of a womans body are too sensitive to be touched directly, and they may highly prefer indirect contact as their choice of pleasure. if a womans clit is too sensitive, you might want to stimulate the area just around or underneath instead of directly touching their clit. use their clitoral hood as a buffer essentially.

the clit itself firms up but it's an entire area inside of your body. and what's exposed is just one nerve. its why touching or rubbing the sides can still make effective foreplay because internally the clit has a whole body etc

the hardest part about clitoral stimulation is reading reactions. but the clit will respond to pleasure physically most of the time. try things deliberately, and time your tongue or fingers in a way that lets you gauge their reaction

if someone is feeling good - you'll usually get a very faint throb. you have to look for it to notice it sometimes, but the intensity of that throbbing is what will tell you. clits are similar to dicks in that way

same thing goes for nipples usually. plenty of people like it being touched or sucked directly (again it is all abt sensitivity and pressure) - but it's common for the area to be too sensitive.

touching around, through / over the fabric of their top (this works better with non-silky materials / stuff with no slip), and underneath can also do the job. if the nipples are sensitive to the point of being unpleasurable - the swell underneath the boobs is often a good place to show affection. u can try running your fingers underneath to cup and squeeze instead. or just

the no slip thing is because rougher fabric give nice friction. being touched through cotton feels different from silk. its more hit or miss in my experience

im going to break down the advice about actual fucking into three parts so bear with me .

the most important thing for ALL of this is fucking consistency. listen to me im being so serious. when you hit a rhythm do not stop. ESPECIALLY if she tells you not too.

oral: this one is tricky because there's truly not a universally good way of eating pussy. it's like... four of the above skills wrapped in one skill. so even if i wanted to school you in i don't think i could lol

my best advice is to remember the above about pressure and sensitive and start slow. stimulate the surrounding areas with your tongue, do a lot of teasing. if she's too embarrassed to tell you things verbally, this will usually push her to showing you at least. if she bucks up against you that's a good sign to give a little more pressure.

building pressure is important here. she will feel pretty much every part of your tongue, so make sure you are careful and listen to what she says or does. when you find the rhythm to lick, it's normally safe to suck on her clit (from light pressure to deeper pressure like before)

you will know when you're hitting the right everything because it will start to pulse in your mouth and she will squirm more. when you're there, stay there and don't move unless you're going to die. learn to breathe through your nose lol

FOR PENETRATION THERE IS TWO THINGS. and most time you will still want to pair with clit stimulation but rmb 2 ask.

fingering: the vagina is one of those things that is very hit or miss. with fingering in particular. for most women, it feels better to have another person do it. and it's best combined with clitoral stimulation so it can often be a two-handed affair or used as a sidepiece to oral.

the most pleasure will be felt around the actual opening and against the gspot. the opening has a lot more sensitive which is why the thrusting motion feels good. the g-spot can also feel good, but keep in mind that a gspot orgasm is internal and can feel especially intense. so just be prepared for what reaction you might get and maybe getting pee-d on. or squirted on. or both.

finding the g-spot isn't complicated, it will feel a little textured and have a little more give. with enough arousal it will also be swollen and easier to find.. you will hear a lot about the come hither motion, but what you're actually doing is rubbing along the upper walls.

again, everyone is different but honestly - i've had good luck combining a thrusting motion with the rubbing motion. use your wrist to move so you don't get tired. you can pick what fingers to use but middle and pointer is go to, so you can angle your palm against their clit (in the instance you are just using your hands).

FOR SEX TOY PENETRATION:

dildos: if i tried to explain how the strap works we would simply be here all day, so i will be talking about the dildo as a separate appendage used with your hands and not as part of a strap-on. strap sex is too much of a science lmao

almost all of the time - using a dildo is trying to create the same stimulation as above with gspot pressure, but that's not the only way. there are several angles and those angles hit different things, so it's worth experimenting with this. but for internal orgasm and using dildos - you want to understand comfort and friction.

lube is your friend, but too much slip can make it feel like nothing so build up the lube slowly. some resistance can feel pleasurable and is often ideal. with dildo, you also want to keep in mind the rigidity and maybe buy a toy together. a dildo can be too hard or too soft depending on what it's made with

internal orgasms rely a lot on muscle tension and angling, as well as pace. everyone is different and there is once again no universal way but your best bet is a rhythmic, pushing up motion. if you're using a dildo on your partner, i recommend put a pillow underneath their spine for easier angling.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, REMEMBER ALL ORGASMS ARE TENSION RELEASE.

you need to build tension to release it and keep tension to cum. the need for steadiness and rhythm comes from that. if you're wanting to make someone orgasm, some physical tension can really help - so asking your partner to grab your hair and hold onto your wrist can be helpful. giving their muscles something to flex and hold can redirect focus and help with intimacy so let her pull your hair or dig her nails in your back or grab your wrist. it will actually get u closer to the orgasm

remember most of all though to have fun and feel good together. sex isn't a performance, it's a mutual act of pleasure. too much pressure will kill your boner. good luck 🫡

[galvanizedfriend]

hiiii friend!!! how are you?? are your football dudes winning?? I get scared whenever they aren't 😭😭

So! I was watching a Klaus & Davina compilation, and when I opened the comment, I saw someone saying "grandpa & granddaughter duo" which, of course, instigated a whole family-tree-related discussion.

Now, I already know your general opinion about Marbekah & Kolvina, but have you ever thought about changing things in TW? I mean, I know Kol and Davina relationship is crucial for very few but very important plot points, but still... Have you ever thought of "fixing" the relationship of this family tree?

Also, almost off topic, but talking about TW! Are you going to address the fact that Bill and Care died in the same way? aka with their throat cut open and vampire blood in their sistem which literally drained them from their magic. Idk how much of Bill we will actually see, but it'd be nice to see a reference to this!

of course, this is pure curiosity and not judgment 😭😭 actually, it never is, but you know how tone deaf texts can be🥲🥲

Hope you have a good day, love u!!! xoxo

Hi, friend! My football dudes are currently ✨on vacations✨ which is a bliss! 😌 But sadly they do find ways to piss me off even before the season officially starts omfg. Liking sports is the worst thing ever, do not recommend.

I thought about doing lots and lots and lots of things. Like I've said before, TW isn't necessarily my dream version of The Originals or what that show would've turned out like had I been the mastermind behind it. It's just *a* version of The Originals, one that very deliberately follows the show's major plot points while trying to shape it into something I could have (personally) still become invested in. I wanted to add more depth to the characters, their storylines, their relationships, make sense out of their actions, give background to some of the stuff that seems to come out of nowhere and just basically write Caroline into the family and give Klaroline a happy ending, but preserving the storyline in a 'see? you could've still made this work' sort of way. Whether I accomplish any of that is subjective and not the point here, but it was my starting point. If I could go back, I might have done things differently, but I decided to stick to my original plan and that's where I'm at. The problem with Marbekah and Kolvina is that I simply do not care enough about them. "Fixing" those relationships, as in coming up with a different pair for Kol, if any, or never going down the Marcel/Rebekah line (which - ew) would mean having to wreck my brain trying to come up with completely new and improved additions to the story that would invariably alter a *lot* of things, essentially rewriting entire parts of The Originals that I do not care about. I'm not writing The Wolf to give Rebekah a happy ending or Marcel a better storyline. I love Marcel, don't get me wrong (I loved Rebekah too, but she's a barely there at all after S1), but he's not the reason I'm writing this. I do rewrite huge portions of the story, there's an entire new arc that doesn't exist on the show connecting it back to The Vampire Diaries, but it's all Klaroline-centered. Rewriting Kolvina or Marbekah would demand a huge amount of time and a level of commitment to these characters that I simply do not have. That's not to say that I don't do my best because I try to work with what I've got, I try to rationalize all of Marcel's actions, I give Kol more scenes with the family than he has with Davina, I care about the world building and that involves all of the side characters and what happens to them. But in order to actually change all of that, I'd have to give them way more screen time in order to develop the new lines and, simply putting it, I don't want to. lol I don't want to write 20k extra words of Marcel or Kol. I want to focus everything around Caroline and Klaus and add the rest of the cast into the mix whenever they become absolutely necessary or when they suit my purposes to push my Klaroline agenda. The one exception to that is Elijah. That's it.

Maybe a better, more engaged and committed writer would do a much finer job of fixing The Originals in its essence, but that's not what this fic is about. So I'm not a fan of Kol and Davina, but I also don't care enough about Kol to go out of my way to give him an entire new love interest in a side story that will have nothing to do with the main arc of the story the way I care about Elijah, for instance. As for Bill and Caroline, I'm not sure yet. I haven't actually written those parts. All I can say is he's dead and he's not coming back. He's not the same brand of bad father he was on TVD. I mean, he was awful, what kind of parent tortures their own child like that, but he's way worse in TW. He didn't just marry Stephen and move to another state, he walked out one day and never came back, essentially abandoning his family after tormenting Caroline for most of her childhood. So any parallels that could be drawn between them would be a bit more gruesome than just father and daughter being killed the same way. It would have to do with the fact that, in TW, Bill was killed because of what he was doing to his daughter, while Caroline died for her daughter. I'm sorry if this is all a bit disappointing, and please don't take it the wrong way, but I'm just being honest. 🙃 Hope you have a lovely weekend! ✨

[red-dye40]

What do you think of Johnny's hc/implied schizophrenia?

i think. hmmmm. i think a lot of things about this actually.

i mean the hc makes sense considering his pretty much everything about him! it’s weird to even call it a headcanon u know bc it feels essentially built into the narrative. but it’s not EXPLICIT and i think that’s absolutely intentional and also pretty important to the overall idea of the thing

like nny is lost before he’s anything else right? jhonen describes him as “not evil but lost” (im absolutely paraphrasing here) and so to assign any kind of diagnosis or identity or label to him is to give him a place or a purpose thus putting an end to the story. and imo jthm doesn’t end necessarily ? ever?

like we see him in squee, volunteering in a sleep study (probably in a greater effort to understand his brain or his psyche or something to that effect) talkin abt how he even dreams about killing; we see him still stalking devi in ifs; the twitter account if it’s to be taken as canon in any way shows that he’s still up to his same old same old as recently as like 2020 ? (i don’t have a twitter account anymore so i literally have no idea if the johnny c account is still actively updating)

so like johnny is still The Homicidal Maniac and that’s pretty much what we know about him. that’s all he knows about him. so like. it makes sense to hc him having schizophrenia or did etc etc ! and everyone can do that and no one is really of authority to stop that. but, like the story as a whole, i think it’s a lot more fun to just sit with the not knowing?? and be like yea he could be schizophrenic or he could be an asshole or he could be evil or he could be truly surrounded by demons and lovecraftian horrors or or or

so i guess for me ? personally ? i like to be like :) he’s just like that! but ppl like to relate to things and im no exception soooooo everyone is free to do whatever they want forever

[echo-heo]

Hey! I saw your post abt “involve me in your projects”. I really want to learn gamedev, and I’m specifically stuck with no clue how to learn music. I don’t know everything else, but I know how to learn it. Music though, I have no clue where to start. Any advice?

oubhhh i feel like its really hard for me to give an advice on things that ive been doing for years (specifically for music i have compositions from when i was like 8) because I. forgot what I was like before I was me today. I learned a lot of things over the years and I still do, but I would not have any idea where to start if i had to start all over again.

i learned how melodies work, then harmony (learning to play guitar & basic jazz stuff rly helped cause i wasn't thinking in terms of chords before) then more practically how to use instruments so things sound more complete etc. those r all smth u can work on but im not sure if i can give u a specific advice because I don't remember the day i decided to make music for the first time

If i had to make a guess as to what might be a good advice, id say start by making songs with three elements: the melody, the chords and the bassline.

you're gonna learn how to string together chords (you dont need to learn music theory beyond how to like read chords.) prooobably by picking songs you like and analyzing chords used by it youre gonna notice patterns and youre gonna kinda start to understand that certain chords in certain situations have specific vibes to em.

you're gonna learn how to write melodies (sometimes its just. as simple as just making up a tune. humming it out loud and writing it down. when i make music what i often do is just. imagine a song, and then make it real. really effective strategy cause it comes planned out somewhat!!! more people should do this) and youre gonna learn how to put chords under it so the chords flow nicely but also so that they support the melody nicely.

the bass is something i realized wayyyy too late is kinda. essential. its the BASE of everything. makes things sound full. (its cause i used to get piano lessons so i didnt know it was that necessary) The bass should, broadly speaking, point out the root notes of the chords. (however! learn when inversions are super useful) Sometimes it's useful to start with bassline and then putting chords on top than doing the reverse.

Ofc if you want like an actual audio file. theres a whole separate collection of skills you might want to have. instrumentation and mixing are something i struggled A LOT. but its really important if you want something to sound a certain way. i know some people are REALLY perverts with the way they mix things and GOD does it show!

Also depends on the style honestly? that you wanna aim for. Like with some styles the harmony is way less important and whats more important is a sense of rhythm, which is ALSO a whole nother thing i had to learn. Theres so much to learn!! but its fun

Honestly? Start from *somewhere* and you'll find yourself *anywhere*

[chazmcfreelyhater]

CHAZ/TOBOR BRO HEADCANONS

omg. so I realised that after I drew Chaz/TOBOR content one time that i haven’t actually shared how important they are to me. erm. so I have made a silly little document of background/headcanons that could have been pages long but I didn’t want to be TOO insane.

also BIG DISCLAIMER the TOBOR headcanons and art at the bottom belong to Chiptoons on Insta/Chipt00ns on Twitter. SHE IS AMAZING and helped me to edit this doc so thank u for ur service chippy. thank you for inventing tobor mysims

They became friends because we were friends and it was like dragging our children along to a function and being like “ok now go play w the other kids” lol. lmao.

We both have OCs x canon with the robots so that's pretty much where it all started from- I probably won’t do a whole timeline at least for now but basically Makoto, Naomi (Louie’s OC) and Vivian (Chippy’s OC) would all spend time together regularly until they started inviting the bohs along

TOBOR was. a bit suspicious of Chaz at first since he had some pretty bad trust issues when it came to humans, and also because that’s usually the normal reaction to meeting Chaz, but he honestly wasn’t super phased by it. Chaz was used to people being kinda cold towards him yet also had a tendency to latch onto them anyway. Even though he spent hours actively trying to annoy him and talk about bike mechanics, which was pretty much just his attempt at being friendly and having fun- the biggest thing for TOBOR was that Chaz would never use the fact that he was a robot against him. Like he would never treat him like any less of a person, to Chaz he literally was just Some cool dude with a green head

Even when they become like Friend friends they still are surprisingly careful around eachothers’ boundaries. Tbh a lot of their relationship is built off things most people wouldn’t expect from them, as in the two scary bitch boys are actually very respectful of eachother and keep secretz and look out for the other n their bffs. It’s not OOC if we make the chars. IDGAF

They actually didn’t think they’d get as close as they did: TOBOR and Chaz essentially see eachother as brothers at this point, since they (mostly through accident) found out they had a surprising amount in common, with the way people kinda assumed stuff about them beforehand and were not the nicest . Chaz considers him one of his best friends bc he is CRINGE and is still constantly out to annoy him but at this point TOBOR just effortlessly shows him up. Chaz also likes to bully him on account of he hearts Vivian and you know what who doesn’t. They both got parental issues too which they also kinda relate to each other with; sometimes there will be stuff between them that they tease eachother for RELENTLESSLY, but if anyone else were to bring it up at all they would be killed within the second. TOBOR tends to stick up for Chaz a lot since he is more naïve and struggles to see when people are actually trying to upset him instead of just being Chaz Haterz for fun. Defending people and having their backs is his love language.

There is also a whole thing in the future with him/Makoto being more closely associated with the Delarosarenas but I don’t want to overshare or b cringe but Kerry literally adores TOBOR and the fact he loves cooking :> he simply IS her new son and she displays interest in hiring him one day. If the lab thing doesn’t work out. Which it is not. Again they r like BROTHERS make no mistake we do not ship them.

Silly little HC list for the fun of it:

Chaz likes to attempt to tackle TOBOR every time he sees him and it always ends in an injury.

TOBOR is secretly very good w Chaz’s younger family members.

TOBOR attempted to teach Travis how to cook for Chaz romantic style. After it all went to shit he informed the Englishman the only way to save it would be to fake his own death.

Chaz’s favourite name for TOBOR is “Flat Head Ass”, closely followed by “Toby”. His bro name for them is “Chobor”. TOBOR is repulsed by every single thing that comes out of his mouth.

TOBOR considers Naomi a little sister. Not super relevant but when Chippy said he probably did I wept. oh how I wept

Toborviv bridal party at Chavis wedding. I may be cringe but I am free.

TOBOR succumbs to the fact he is in love with Vivian. Instead of confessing, he panics and asks Chaz, who has NO electronic experience, to program it out of him. They both damn near die, bro style

TOBOR LETS HIM INFODUMP he is happy that Chaz trusts him ahehe

WTF!!! Da gallery:

[ariicandy]

typing the beginning AGAIN. Time to yap abt my theories (WITHOUT deleting them. I had it worded so perfectly and now I feel like in forgetting important things 😭😭)

SO there's this character called the “Dreammaster” (assuming they're different from the “Watchmaker”), to which Acheron KNEW they were the Dreammaster. They claim to be able to control (more like the Oak Family are their “eyes, ears and mouth”) the “Oak Family Offspring” (is how they worded it). This proven by how the people are crowded around Acheron. If I remember right too, Robin and Sunday are from the Oak Family so have they been the Dreammasters “eyes, ears and mouth” but when? Is the Dreammaster with them 24/7??

The Dreammaster also talks abt how they “exile evil from the haven in their head” (shown in screenshot) and I thought at first that they meant Acheron, because while she's not apart of the Oak Family, she's in the Penacony Dreamscape. She's asked (forced, and chose) to leave because she “knows too much” I think they said. Is the Penacony Dreamscape the Dreammasters head? But then, later on, the Pepeshi shown here is seen in the other Dreamscape we now know (it's a new one, can't remember what it's called)

Before we meet the Pepeshi tho (he's talking with March), we meet Misha and Clockie again and it's said that “Death” (or “Sleepie” as Misha calls it) has “started ferrying people back and forth between the two Dreamscapes.” Why was the Pepeshi so stressed though? What happened?? Was he exiled from the Dreammasters head????

I had ORIGINALLY thought that the Dreammaster “exiled” the people from his head via “Death” (kinda proven by the Pepeshi showing up in this Dreamscape where Robin and Firefly also showed up after “Death” got them), but Sleepie (“Death”) is depicted essentially as a dog Gallagher takes care of (surprise Gallagher mention!!) by Misha and isn't a threat, and it's well behaved but is just a bit aggressive. I'm still on the fence abt this idea bc of that, but it think it MIGHT be plausible (take all of the things I'm saying with a grain of salt I'm normally not very good with theories, hence why I never tell anyone 😭😭)

I have a LOT more thoughts honestly but this is the biggest one as of now. If you're GENUINELY interested in more of my theory yapping Arii I'll keep talking abt this stuff with you <33 (just keep in mind that, again, my theories are almost never right 😭😭 and I feel like I had more thoughts to this but this is the whole gist of it.) This is definitely the longest ask I've ever written PLS. Ask me if you have any questions abt this tho and I'll answer my thoughts on them :33 I ALSO TRIED TO PROOFREAD BUT If THERE ARE ANY TYPOS I'M SORRY

I love complex stories EVEN THO I DONT FULLY UNDERSTAND I DO GET WHAT U ARE TRYNA SAY DW J LOVE THEORIES THEY SHOW THE CREATIVE OF THE BRAIN

[pinksilvace]

Fern guides their mutuals and followers through Cats 1998 as if we're all sitting on the same couch watching it and I'm shouting out stuff: 3/?

shaking you by the shoulders it's about the SUBTEXT this is SUBTEXT you've got to trust me on this one I swear

7: Grizabella the Glamour Cat

OKAY OKAY OKAY NOW WE'RE COOKING!!! We're moving along with Plot #1 (Grizabella) and getting hints about Plot #2 (Macavity)!!! Wahoo!!!

Unfortunately, the beginning of this scene is cut off in the official clip, so I'm going to drag a few pics from this recording as well since it covers all the same bases:

Starting off strong with a Psychic Moment (TM) so we know Something Big is coming

Bombalurina always does this sort of haughty walk past/around Grizabella, since Bomba's 100% on Team Demeter and Grizabella (maybe) represents stuff that Demeter wants to detach herself from. I will say, this production is quite a bit more aggressive than 1998, but I like this portrayal a whole lot too!!!

One of the big and obvious things to notice is how the kittens are physically protected from Grizabella (and moreso her past/what she represents). In 1998, this happens more in the form of the older cats pulling the kittens (Mistoffelees, Jemima, [who Skimble does physically restrain], Electra, Etcetera, and Victoria) away from Grizabella.

Another kitten moment - Plato and Tumblebrutus convince Pouncival to scratch Grizabella (in this recording it's just Tumble convincing him) and are reprimanded by Munkustrap. This is definitely one of my favorite background moments.

First, it shows off a dynamic consistent throughout the show: everybody takes care of everybody. More specifically, there isn't a specific assignment of which adult takes care of which kitten or who is closer than whom, and however much I'll reference ships and siblings and whatnot throughout these posts, I can only think of one canonical relationship; the rest change production to production, even in replica performances. Hell, they change cast to cast. The one exception is that of Coricopat and Tantomile, who are almost undoubtedly siblings/twins. Even the thing going on between Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer is left vague. TLDR, I enjoy how everybody bears some amount of responsibility for the kittens in this community model.

Second, this is one of those parts that calls into question Plato's age. He's in the same nebulous area as Mistoffelees, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer, where he primarily hangs out and has interactions with the kittens but spends more time on his own than most of them. This is where looking at the RCCL performace coincidentally comes in handy for this analysis; the interpretation of Plato's character in that one has him older and more responsible. I've seen versions wherein Plato essentially acts as a third protector, and that's a neat way for his character to progress! Anyway uhhh I like him and he's pretty :3

THIS, THOUGH??? THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART. Demeter reaches out to Grizabella, gets skittish, and rushes off to seek comfort from Bombalurina.

SO. Obviously, with all of the lines she sings, Demeter is familiar with Grizabella - if not on a personal level, then at least at a level distinct from that of the rest of the tribe.

What gets me. What GETS ME. is that Demeter only acts strangely (and stands out in general) whenever events have to do with one of two cats: Grizabella and Macavity. Most fans I've come across elect to go with the theory that these relationships are connected, especially because Demeter appears to have some sort of trauma associated with each of them. Their appearances also affect the tone of the Jellicle Ball in relatively similar ways, the main difference being that fear of Macavity translates to disgust of Grizabella.

Other folks have pointed out before that some stagings of this scene have Bombalurina (and sometimes Munkustrap) physically turning Demeter away from Grizabella, presumably for her own well-being.

Somewhat similar to what I pointed up above, this number establishes one of the few gender norms recurring through this show: the female kittens are guarded/protected/turned away, but the male kittens are left comparatively unsupervised. Considering that the only male kittens are Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, and Plato, one could argue over whether this is a gender norm in this society or whether there are other reasons for this. For instance, it is possible that Plato's older age and taller stature grant him independence, or that Pouncival and Tumblebrutus don't have solid guardian figures in the tribe.

Personally, I think it's more likely the choreography was directed with the mentality that the female kittens have a greater need for protection - which, considering the implied content of Macavity, Grizabella, and Demeter's stories, might not actually be wrong in-context.

So, it's obvious that Demeter wants to talk to/about Grizabella, even if she brings up apparently bad memories. She turns away from Bombalurina of her own volition. Whatever memories are stirred up, the badness of them likely does not have to do with Grizabella herself, lending credibility to the idea that she's connected with Macavity.

Tottenham Court was, historically, somewhat of an entertainment district in a poorer area of London. Allegedly (as in, I've only seen this stated in Cats circles and don't have time for further research at the moment), it was also strongly associated with prostitution in Eliot's time. "The Rising Sun" and "The Friend at Hand" are local pubs.

Essentially, the lines Demeter sings imply that Grizabella was a cat of the streets that hung around seedy areas, and that she eventually became so wretched as a result that even humans wonder how she's still around.

Some earlier lines - those that Grizabella sings about her appearance - are from a different poem of Eliot's and are used to describe a prostitute.

All in all, one interpretation of all of this is that Grizabella fell from grace by being "in kahoots" with Macavity. At this point in the show, the other Jellicles don't chase her off, but she is clearly not welcome.

I'll talk more about Demeter's deal in the Macavity section.

Electra loving Munk moment :3

[seastoried]

may we know the 1-sided drama story 👀

hiiii sorry totally forgot abt this but a friend reminded me of the whole ordeal today! so!

i've had pretty much the same close friends for most of my life, and we all went into hs together. during orientation everyone was put into random groups, and a couple of my friends were in a group with these two girls, we'll call them jes and dan. they sorta just....started doing lunch with us, which was fine by me. i wasn't ever all that close with them but a couple of my friends were closer with them and i didn't mind them or anything.

notable, my whole close group is essentially family friends at this point, and it's important to know that jes and dan never really ingratiated themselves in the group that way, and i can count on one hand the number of times i (or most of my friends tbh) hung out with them outside of school. now jes and dan and one of my friends (lets call them an) were also good friends with this whole other group of girls who i truly never interacted with. i had class with one of them freshman year and bar that i hardly knew them. but an was very close with them and they were nice enough and sometime around the start of senior year they started sitting w us at lunch? by then i and most of my close group were spending lunch in the library or in classrooms working or writing college essays and whatnot, so i hardly even saw them. and again, i was....ambivalent about them. wouldn't Choose to spend time with them but it's not like i hated or loved them. i was like. mildly miffed that they'd just invited themselves to our small lunch group (bc there were SOO many of them my god) but since i hardly did lunch with them it truly did not matter.

anyways fast forward a year and we're graduating and i'm cleaning my instagram, trying to unfollow people who i just dgaf about before summer and college. that whole gaggle of girls + jes and dan fall into that list bc like. we had not had a single meaningful convo ever i knew nothing about them and at this point truly did not care to.....should have been a nonissue right? like. who even keeps track of instagram follows. summer happens, year one of college happens and then i'm back home for summer again, and catching up with a friend called nina. an is still in touch with most of that group, though they had a bit of a falling out with dan and jes over political stuff. she tells nina who tells me that the summer after college, one of the gaggle (slightly mean but i need to refer to the collective in a distinctive way) had found out, at her birthday part (idk how still lol) that i didn't follow her anymore, and apparently this had hurt here deeply. i cannot express how little we knew each other. like Nothing. she was hardly an acquaintance. anyways, this prompts the other girls to check, and bar an, they all realise i've unfollowed. APPARENTLY this was some MASSIVE deal and i was soooo mean for doing this and how could i (again. i don't know u !!!! i tried having a convo w jes in the last week of the year in the 10 min break between exams and we talked about TEH WEATHER) and as an tells it, they all sat in a circle and pressed unfollow on my profile at the same time like something out of a shitty teen netflix show. brought me to tears laughing bc had she not told me i wouldn't have even realised and like. i hadn't thought about them for ages and yet i was on their minds enough to piss them off.....also the imagery of everyone in a cirlce going 3..2...1 and then hitting unfollow.....soooo deeply silly 2 me. anyways that's the story!!!

[herbofthyme]

tips on drawing hands? u do it so good!

omg ty!

It definitely took me a while to become more confident with them, and it was pretty sudden when i realized “wait. this isn’t so unpleasant anymore”

I think the most important thing for me was learning not to focus too much on the specific shapes of the fingers, and think more about the vague shape of the hand as a whole. If you zoom in on my more recent stuff you’ll probably notice that often rather than actually drawing fingers, I sort of draw a suggestion of where the fingers are. If the hands do look more detailed and precise, I’ve just drawn on top of the suggestion where it Feels Right. It’s all about vibes! (And half the time the clean lines feel wayyy worse than the loose sketch i had before lol)

I threw together a little thing here:

Basically, I rely pretty heavily on this funky little 3d trapezoid shape, because it helps me keep the 3d shape of the hand in mind. Then the fingers just kind of… happen. Usually with a fair bit of trial and error. This shape is super helpful to get the vibe of the hand across, but it’s important to remember that it’s a guide, not a rule. I often used to make my hands Way too stiff, because I was keeping the lines on the trapezoid very straight. Bend it! Warp it! Let your trapezoids be weird because hands can be pretty weird.

I’ve seen a lot of tips that say you should separate the pinky and/or index finger from the others, and I often do that. It helps keep the shape just a bit more dynamic, while still letting it be more natural.

An important thing to keep in mind is remembering that the fingers are 3d objects, even if what you’re drawing is still just a suggestion of a finger. I defffinitely used to struggle with this. I’ve placed some red arrows to show what I mean: the base finger should be connecting to the whole face of the trapezoid thing. They have a round base, they aren’t flat. (I know this sounds obvious but it’s SO easy to accidentally flatten them).

Depending on the angle I also will use circles to vaguely represent the joints in the finger, which helps a lot with foreshortening . I tried to show this in the bottom right.

Trial and error is also sooo essential for me. I’m going for the vibe of a hand, not a detailed hand. Lots of erasing and redoing until it feels like a hand. Most of my art is very sketchy in general, so this might not work well for people with more detailed styles or precise line art, but it helps me to keep in mind.

Anyway, don’t be afraid to look at your own hands for reference! Think about how your fingers intersect with the main part of your hand. I hate studying photos (it’s so much effort lol) but it can be VERY helpful. The more comfortable you get, the less you need to look at reference, but I still lift my hand up and contort it into silly shapes all the time! Hopefully I explained this coherently :)

[siya-sayani]

hi

if u were in an alternate universe, where u are dream self, what would u be?

if u were in another alternate universe, where u are ur worst self, how would u react?

if u were in another au, where, ur counterpart simply doesn't exist but all the people u know do, how do u think u would fit there?

if u were, again, in another au, where ur counterpart exists and the people u know don't, what would u do? come back or stay there?

if u were, again, in another au, where ur and ur loved ones' counterparts exist, but they don't know each other, would you change it?

Okk I never thought I would get such an interesting ask and I'm not sure if this is copy paste or if u actually took time to write this to me , if u did thanku sooo muchhh.

Let's see ... Ok sooo

1) in a/u where I'm my dream self, I would be businesswomen, and a doctor too... Essentially open up a hospital on my parents' name and yeah...live an elite life or atleast try to (gawar hu mai dehati panti mei maza aata mujhe )

2) in a/u where I'm my worst self, so that essentially means, I tortured my mom, ran away from responsibilities and gave in to drugs and alcohol and fucked up in my career or didn't even end up having one .... I would kill myself that is if I'm left with a little consciousness if not then indulge into more drugs and alcohol till I die and I would try to make my death really gruesome..like dying in mob lynching

3) if my counterpart doesn't exist , but everyone around me has their partner... That's been the case my whole life lmao... I'm quite ok with it actually.. I have learnt to make peace with myself and I enjoy being alone now , if this remains to be the case in the future as well then I plan on adopting children and being a single mom... And talkin' abt adjustment well what I do now is that I show interest in other people's lives so I end up becoming frnds with them ...

4) I would definitely stay in an a/u where my counterpart exists cos I realise that your better half is more important than the society... The society did no good for me and didn't care, so I don't wish to be sympathetic to the society as well

5) oh yes I would definitely change it if that means my loved ones can have their partner and so do I... Why be kanjus in that? Always try to make things better if u can

Also I'm really thankful for this ask again ... Lemme know if I answered them well... And hey I would love to talk to u in person, feel free to dm me anytime 😊