#easing back into drawing by doing a whole comic

[whenthewallfell]

~ I Got Them Quarter Quell Blues ~

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

"As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"

A quick portrait sculpt of my favorite champion to ease myself back into 3D sculpting after taking a long break from it 🙏✨

/Alt angles under the cut;

[phantomarine]

Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic

Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.

1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode

You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.

But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.

Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.

2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity

Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.

But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.

Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!

3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!

The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."

You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.

I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.

But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."

Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!

---

That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!

[kyri45]

✨ShadowPeach Bio Parents Bio AU Q&A! 7/11✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

Anonimo ha chiesto: AWIUSBSWDN I LOVE your art especially your LMK comic! Wanted to ask if you've seen that one fan art on twitter from @/Jay_chaos_art on twitter (or X) That is the part where little MK is holding Macaque's finger AAAA that scene is too cute! Also poor MK :']

Awww I saw that! It's sooooo good!!! For anyone wanting to see it, check it out HERE!

Anonimo ha chiesto: ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡᴘᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛs ᴀᴜ ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏ ɪ ʜᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇsᴜɴ ᴘʀᴏᴘᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ? ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs ɪᴛ's ᴀ sᴏɴɢ ᴏɴ ʏᴏᴜᴛᴜʙᴇ.ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ!

Aw thanks for the song rec!!

Anonimo ha chiesto: If I remember correctly macaque can hear people thoughts so I just imagine mk having thoughts about ✨courtnapping✨ and macaque just hears it

Macaque is just

Anonimo ha chiesto Mei if she knew what was going on inside MK’s head. Mei: it’s called being a “Furry” MK it’s the biggest plus to have in a world filled with anthropomorphic animal Yaoguai. That and the awesome magic stuffs.

me too Mei, the fuck

Anonimo ha chiesto: Soo that time when shadowpeach were at pigzi's and saw tang with the "bite mark"🌝 Did they realise what was goinn on?? Will they like ask mk or smt about it? *I can imagine the shock on their faces*

They don't know if either to be shocked or not since they called it

@straightally2001 ha chiesto: I love and hunger for Spicynoodles! 🍜🔥 What if during demon courting season, Pif decides that even though her son is strong she doesn't want to risk her son to end up court napped by some demon stranger that he doesn't even like. She wants him to be happy. So, she goes to MK and tells him about Red Son's feeling for him and convinces him to courtnap Red Son.

asjcajcb can't answer yet bc of spoilers!!

@stardynamite ha chiesto: I was desperately searching for another good fandom fanfic to latch onto here because I can’t draw fanart at the moment and you have saved me for my eternal searching with your lmk au, thank you sire🫡 I am forever indebted to you for thouesth servicesth

Aw thank youu!!!

Anonimo ha chiesto: What would a demon do with the other person after they courtnapped them? Like is it just a forced date?

Nah I mean, If they refuse the courtnapping the captors has to release them otherwise they would just look like an asshole. If they agree then it's more of a surprise date.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Other demons who have tried to cournap wukong seeing Macaque do it with ease: HOW THE FUCK DID HE NOT DIE

He has the advantages that Wukong is a Simp

@wolfsonic ha chiesto: AWWWWWW!!! I LOVE THESE MONKIESSS! I just imagine Mk and Mac training with shadows, and Mk decided one day to practice his shadows by trying to tickle WuKong!

betrayed by his own son

@phoenixeclipse-lmkau ha chiesto: Is Macaque going to have to re-courtnap Wukong because they broke up before? Or would Wukong Courtnap Macaque after all this. Or are they just gonna skip the courtnapping part since they already did it in the past?

depends if we go by the headcanon that courtnapping=marriage

@elixcv ha chiesto: HI! first of all, I just wanna say that I LOVEEEEEEE you bio parent AU, it simply scratches something in my brain. I wish you all the good things in the world(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧ Now, in second place, I have 2 questions (and dw, if it's smth u don't/can't answer i don't mind, i just wanna say it, i guess?): 1. In your AU, pigsy is some kind of lower/not-so-strong demon? And, if he is, did he also Courtnapping Tang in his own way? 2. Can the courtnapping go both ways? Like, it just can happen one time per couple, or is a requirement that u have to courtnapping the other person back to show ur feelings? Bc, I can see a MK Courtnapping RS, and then RS trying to Courtnapping back, and in my head is like they're playing around the city in a complicated game of tag, or a hide n' seek. This can also apply to swk and macaque. I appreciate your thoughts about anything of this, even if I'm wrong in every way. I'm so excited about this AU and really love the way you write/draw it (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤ (sorry for the bad English, I know to read/hear but the grammatical is always a pain in my ass ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ)

Yes, he's a lower demon, but in the end, it was Tang who did the courtnapping bc he thought that Pigsy wouldn't date him if he didn't court him the demon way, while Pigsy was planning on courting him the human way.

Yes. I think courtnapping can go both way but it's not a must or expected to.

@straightally2001 ha chiesto: I was reading your last post about MK and his mortality and I was wondering, if MK was on the verge of dying and there was no other way to save him would Monkey King give him a Peach of Immortality? Would MK be upset about it? Also sorry if this question is too angsty 😅 Anonimo ha chiesto: Isn't redson immortal due to being half celestial or fallen celestial idk? Wouldn't he try to convince mk to take it if they get together? @purpleprinceblood ha chiesto: I think Wukong desperately wants Mk to be immortal but also knows that a) Mk would hate it and b) Wukong would too Like, dude has severe depression from his immortality and his friends leaving him, I think he would hate to watch Mk deal with that I could see Wukong offering Mk a life span growing thing, like in jttw iirc the peaches add like 500 years to your life span, Wukong just eats so many of them that they make him immortal, so I could see him offering it as a "I'm scared to lose you but also don't want you suffering like I do" @sakurablossoms-world ha chiesto: Wouldn’t MK technically be long-living since he’s the child of two powerful entities, I mean Redson is 500 and he’s considered to be in his early 20’s by mortal comparison, so wouldn’t it be expected that he’d outlive everyone (Redson and maybe Mei being an exception)? So while he would still value his mortality, immortality wouldn’t really make that big a difference in hindsight. Then again I could be mistaken.

I think MK wouldn't like to become immortal against his choice regardless. Yes, in S1 we see he wanted to become one, but I think he still was in that phase were he just wanted to be/do everything like his hero. And that included eating a peach of immortality. I don't think he ever thought of the implication of being immortal

@yainmy ha chiesto: If Mk has been developing more of Macaques powers does that mean he can develope shadow clones like Rumble and Savage? Or will it be a chaotic nightmare like that one clones episode in the series?

He can only control one shadow clone: his own shadow!

Anonimo ha chiesto: Hello, I'm too nervous to send this non-anonymously, but I was wondering if I could take inspo from your ShadowPeach Bio parents AU for my own AU called Twins Of The Cycle? It's an AU with my oc, I basically just gave MK a twin.

Nope. If you want to ask for permission, you need to ask me not in anounymous.

@oddogoblino ha chiesto: Random but I find it so silly to imagine Wukong doesn't have the courtnapping instinct bc he's just a stone monkey (made up of pieces of heaven itself + the earth bc...stone), so the times he blushes over Mac are just him imagining cute innocent stuff like wanting to hold Macaque super close and cuddly. Also funnier thing, I was playing with the idea of shape-shifting being gender-limited for most beings/demons and Wukong's ability to shape-shift into women being wukong being an iconic monkey again so your latest update is a very fun surprise ! Yippee!!!

waitwaitwait I got it-

Anonimo ha chiesto: Can they monkeys purr like kittens?? It will be SOO CUTE if they can!!!✨

Maybe???

Anonimo ha chiesto: was Macaque ever more reckless than Wukong ? Maybe in their youth 🤔

Oh definetely

Anonimo ha chiesto: did the Brotherhood in your AU know about Wukong being trans or Macaque courtnapping Wukong? did one of them try to courtnap someone, including our fav monkey boys? 👀👀👀

Yes, the brotherhood knew

@blossomhill36353 ha chiesto: AAAAAAAHHHH THIS IS SO FUCKING GOOOD!!! I love u and your shadowpeach AU with all of my heart u know that!!!!❤️❤️❤️ I have a question tho!! Soo about the glamour thing are they can teach MK how to use one? And since mac has already shown without glamour Infront of MK will Wukong do the same as well??

Yes MK knows the basic of glamours. as for your second question, who knows....

@cutvdo ha chiesto: How oblivious / dense do you think Redson is? like would he notices when MK is blushing?

I'll tell you that, in the last comic, he actually did (the crowd goes in a standing ovation for the idiots of the century)

Anonimo ha chiesto: sooooo a lot of ppl like having Macaque having white hair/fur bc BUT does Wukong have any that he’s ashamed to admit?? 👀👀👀👀

he has but they are only stress related

Anonimo ha chiesto: I like how the shadow tickle courtnapping implies that Macaque could've gained the upper hand during any of their fights in the series, but he chose not to because the feelings associated with it were still raw.

Ah. Ok. Well, thank you but now I gotta stay in the corner and cry after this information

Anonimo ha chiesto: If Wukong and Macaque had been around for school who would the school prefer come if they called home Macaque or Wukong. I feel like Wukong because macaque would be overprotective.

They are the meme where MK got into a fight and they come in a hurry just to ask him if he won

Anonimo ha chiesto: I want someone to call either Macaque and Wukong old, and they get super mad and try to say they aren't old but they are

they are. they are very old.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Has macaque ever had to deal with Wukong having a period?? Does Wukong even have any if he shape-shifts?? Sorry if this feels inappropriate. Anonimo ha chiesto: WAIT, DOES WUKONG BEING TRANS MEAN MACAQUE HAD/HAS TO DEAL WITH HIS PERIODS?!?!.! ANCHHDMSBJFMDBCMDN 😂

Yup, he still has the normal period symptoms and Mac had to stay with him all the time

Anonimo ha chiesto: Who would ask "would you still love me if I was a worm"

Wukong. And he would do it while shapeshifting as a worm

Anonimo ha chiesto: If they where like super angry at someone or something would Wukong & Macaque hiss (not sure what you would call the noise but, full on fangs out.)

I think yeah.

autism-autobot ha chiesto: Are we ever going to see the pilgrims in the shadowpeach bio parents au?

Nope

k4izershasfreakycanon ha chiesto: Hello,so if you dont remember me i was the one who made a custom outfit for mk! i only have the front rendered and coloref so i just wanted to say that you're always allowed to use it in comics! just please credit me:)

Thank you! But I made already his outfit way prior your own post so I already planned to using my original design.

[ryanmarshallryan]

Art Reflects Reality - A Prey's Birthday

Carter had been enjoying some community with some new friends of his local chapter of a gay rugby association. They played hard on the field, then they played hard afterwards, often partying or hanging out together, and always eating big.

Some of the guys accidentally came across some vore art Carter had drawn of himself getting swallowed, when it fell out of his bag one day after a practice.

“Hey this is good!” one said to Carter, who looked a bit mortified at the paper in another’s hands, “Don’t worry mate, you’re in good company.”

“No kink shaming here,” said another. 

“Sounds like a good way to get protein,” another said with a wink and a slap of their gut at Carter

After that Carter assumed the other guys had forgotten about it. But when it came to his birthday, he discovered he had been wrong. One of the guys who had seen the drawing, held out a large envelope to Carter, with “Happy Birthday” written on the outside. Carter opened it to find a very well done comic sketch of a vore scenario. In the art Carter saw himself being swallowed head first, by another one of the players during a rugby practice. There was another comic panel showing the aftermath and the pred saying “Sorry, I was trying to catch the ball, accidentally caught you in my throat instead!”

“Been meaning to get back into art for fun, so I decided to take some inspiration to make you something for your birthday.” Carter was speechless at hearing these words from his teammate.

The player went on, “Oh yeah and some of the guys have another surprise as well.” Just then five other players lined up and started lifting their shirts off over their heads and casting them aside, “If you’d like, feel free to choose a belly to lounge in the rest of the day.”

Carter looked puzzled. What could they mean?

The guys laughed, and one piped up “Maybe he needs a demonstration.”

“All right then,” said the artist player, who promptly stripped off his own shirt and walked over to the other who had spoken. Carter watched in disbelief as the artist was lifted off the ground and swallowed whole in less than a few moments by the other player, who sat down with a thump on a bench and began rubbing his gut.

“Oof, great, idea Carter, great idea,” he said, “Wanna rub?”

Carter came over and cautiously felt over the player’s hairy belly, with his mouth dropped in awe, “How did you do that?” Carter felt the prey player writhing around underneath the layers of fat.

The player gave a great belch, “It’s your birthday, mate. Feel free to watch and rub a gut… or if you’re adventurous… why not get inside one?”

Carter considered a moment. He heard a shout of approval from the artist prey, and decided it couldn’t be that bad in reality if there were no signs of pain. Maybe vore in real life could be fun. But how?

“Oh yeah, and don’t worry mate, we each got a whole bottle of Tums if it gets too tingly in there.” said one of the big bellied players jiggling his belly, “happy to have you be a snack to hold us over for your birthday dinner, but don’t wanna lose a player off the team to a digesting belly.”

Carter smiled and shrugged, “Ugh I wish I could choose all of you,” looking around at the bellies in front of him. One player had a round hairy gut, another more smooth with a low hanging gut. Another had one that looked like their gut was hard as a rock. He decided upon the last in the line, a player named Kai, whose round, flabby belly looked soft and cozy, roomy but still snug. 

Kai gave Carter a smile, and took his hands and placed them on Kai’s belly, “Wanna get cozy up in here?”

Carter nodded enthusiastically, and stripped off the rest of his clothes. The other players lifted Carter up in a fireman's carry, and tilted him downward into Kai’s waiting maw. Kai made quick work of Carter, swallowing him down into his fleshy belly with the ease of someone a pro at eating. Carter felt himself jostled around inside Kai’s belly, and saw the faint red light through Kai's shirtless belly fat. He could hear muffled talking and laughing, felt a jolt as Kai must’ve sat down, and heard a car rumbling. Carter felt around his enclosure and got comfy, experiencing his vorish dream for the first time in an unexpected birthday fashion.

Quite suddenly he felt Kai’s stomach muscles begin tensing and relaxing with intense force and thought that they might have waited too long. Carter felt a twinge of fear and arousal, assuming that Kai’s stomach was about to begin digesting him right now. Bracing for the stomach acid to burn his body, and the air to leave his lungs for good, Carter tried to let go of inhibition and relax into this final birthday adventure, when suddenly he felt himself thrust upward back through Kai’s throat and into the waiting arms of half a dozen players, who forcefully dried him off with towels and had him throw on some clothes.

Carter was both relieved and a little disappointed in his vore experience being over, but the fun did not end, the boys chanted a drinking song while leading him into a local bar. They ordered him a piece of cake, and continued singing joyous melodies of “he’s a jolly good fellow” and such, much to the annoyance of some other bar hoppers.

After a raucous chorus of another song, one of the other potential pred players leaned in close and asked Carter, “Had enough of being in a belly? Or still wanna try out the other guys’ guts?”

On his other side the artist friend leaned in close, “Reynolds is probably big enough to fit both of us if you’re looking to try some fun a little different.”

Within five minutes the crowd was chanting on Reynolds, who had swallowed the artist friend already, and was beginning to swallow Carter, headfirst.

“I could get used to this as a post game activity,” Carter suggested to the artist friend, as they squirmed around in Reynolds belly. Through the thick layers of fat, they could hear a chorus of “Happy birthday dear lunch meat! Happy birthday to you!” Carter never thought he’d be so aroused and excited to be called “lunchmeat” by a group of big men, but alas, birthday magic makes the strangest of scenarios wonderful and memorable.

[nortsauce]

I love all the fun and unique ways you draw fanart of characters from ace attorney (and other things) but my favourite detail by far is you giving Maya purple eyes.

It really ties her whole design together super well, given it's her main colour, and I assume that's why you draw her with purple eyes, plus it's also just a cool eye colour in general.

OMG I GET TO TALK ABOUT MY LEAST/MOST FAVORITE THING EVER: COLORS!!!

One thing that many ppl realize about me is that: i have a VERY short attention span. I get lazy when things take too long, even if i enjoy it!

SO! When designing each character in my style, i like to make it so they are easy to color bc it’s so tedious to me, especially cus i make animations and comics rather than full pieces!

This means that all the colors match to SOME OTHER thing on them!

BUT!!! Theres MORE to it! Bc despite my love for ease and swift-art? I LOVE SYMBOLISM EVEN MORE!!!!

These two for example: Have eachother’s color palette match something on the other’s!

All of the mother kids have the same red or yellow or blue on them! Save for claus who has a cyan to differentiate him from the actual protagonists, yet still being a form of blue because. well.

Do I have an hour to explain?

Lol anyways I do this with every character like as far back as when I was in Madness Combat. Hell when I first Joined the Good Omens fandome too!

[rrxnjun]

portrait of a blank slate. huang renjun

pairing: huang renjun x fem! reader genre: college au. fluff, smut, and the tiniest bit of angst. warnings: swearing, alcohol, angry man renjun, very bad dialogue, this is the most un-renjun fic i've ever written, dry humping, a heavy makeout session, unfinished blowjob word count: 5.8k playlist: no specific one this time but i listened to a lot of keshi while writing this, so have this playlist of mine to fit the vibes a/n: inspired by that one tweet describing how someone's art professor met his wife the same exact way, lost the screenshot and also the og post im so sorry!

turns out all it takes to save a life is a bad, bad college party, a few shots and a weird, magical coincidence back in a girl's dorm room.

It’s hard to believe that Huang Renjun is currently finishing up the art portfolio he needs for his summer internship program after procrastinating and angrily stomping at every single bad stroke of his paintbrush for the last few months.

Because he’s not.

He’s looking at the canvas with stern eyes, the smudges on the white linen so messy he could cry just by looking at them, and the more he tries to save the disgrace currently scribbled in front of him, the worse it gets and makes the levels of frustration in him turn into rage and fury, because let’s be honest– what is Renjun’s primary emotion if not anger. 

And he tries hard to fix it again, he really does– he sighs heavily while doing so as he takes a smaller brush and tries to paint on a few hairstrokes to the portrait of Frida Kahlo he wants to execute– and in honest reality, it doesn’t even look half as bad as it does in the poor boy’s eyes when he takes a step back after holding in his breath and carefully piercing together the artwork. Maybe if there was someone else in the room– everyone but his annoying roommate Donghyuck, because that fucker always manages to make things even worse– they could talk him out of it, offer some words of consolidation, even, hype him up and tell him that with outsider’s eyes, the canvas looks beautiful and very well put together. But the truth is that there’s no one present right now, not a single soul in what feels like the whole campus right now, that could ease Huang Renjun’s frustration from what seems to be art block, when he throws the paintbrush to the wall (he’ll worry about the stain of acrylic paint later, when he gains consciousness) and puts a fist through the middle of the painting.

If he was a character in a comic book, his hand would go through the canvas and create a quite satisfying hole. He’s a real person, though– a weak one as well, to be quite honest– and his fist is stopped by the stretched-out fabric, making his hand bounce back, but now stained with all shades of brown and tan, which somehow only makes him even more mad and turns him into a furious animal roaming around free and causing uttermost chaos in his all true sense.

Nothing can stop Huang Renjun when he opens the drawer he keeps all his artwork in, taking out all the graphite sketches and colored pencil drawings, and then the next one containing the watercolor paintings and various other acrylic paintings done on expensive sheets of paper, stacking all of those onto one pile in the middle of the table. Not one thing is safe– except from the digital artworks he keeps in his iPad and his big A4 sketchbook he forgot about in the heat of the moment, since he keeps it on his nightstand– when he takes the big, heavy stack of art and runs, chimes towards the entrance of his and Donghyuck’s miniature dorm room, luck only standing by his side once in this whole evening when his said roommate opens the door and clears the way for him, looking at the poor boy with mouth agape in a slight shock.

“What the fuck are you doing right n–”

Donghyuck doesn’t get an answer. When he asks stupid questions, Renjun doesn’t tend to pay him much mind, settling on not engaging with the discourse if it doesn’t make much sense, so Hyuck should be used to the ignorance– he thinks this was a very valid question to ask at this moment, though. If he was curious enough, he’d even follow his roommate down the hall and watch him in his endeavors only to find out what’s the intention behind his angry stomping and the fierce look on his face. The truth is, though, he doesn’t care all that much.

That doesn’t stop Huang Renjun, though, as he chimes down the hall of the boy’s dormitory, kicks the glass door open (thankfully not the actual glass part, because that would for sure be expensive) and practically runs the rest of the way towards the bins at the end of the street, dumping the papers into the bin (forgive him for not recycling in his current state of mind) before he angrily kicks the poor object twice for good measure and turns on his heel, slowly, but still as angrily making his way back to his dorm room by stomping all the way up until the entrance.

The dorm guard doesn’t even ask for his dorm ID like he usually does– Renjun must have been quite memorable as he ran out of the building with 5kg of artwork of various sizes in his arms– but the truth is, the man isn’t as old and he saw the boy going out just a few minutes ago, so he doesn’t think it’s necessary. Renjun would appreciate the memo, although, when he remembers that the man always asks for the dorm ID, especially on the nights out when he comes back slightly intoxicated and too disoriented to look for the little slip of paper in his pockets, and on the nights when he forgets his dorm ID as well– the man was set on letting him sleep on the front porch of the dormitory once and it took Renjun 15 calls to get ahold of a sleeping Donghyuck and another 15 of him walking down the hall in slippers and pajama bottoms with his roommate’s dorm ID in hand before he could warm his bones from the cold slowly seeping into his bones on the January night– and that whole thing makes Renjun somehow even more angry at the whole situation.

And so when he comes into his room again, Donghyuck now sitting on his bed still in his outside clothes (something Renjun hates and would murder for), and his eyes land on the damaged canvas still waiting for him in the corner of the room, he wastes no time in opening his window and throwing it down from the second floor, not really caring where it ends up or if he’s gonna get a fine for violating one of the dormitory rules– to never throw stuff out of the windows..

“Dude, what is–”

“Don’t ask.” Renjun huffs as he closes the door and peels his clothes off, taking a towel that’s still hanging from the top bunk of their bed and aims towards the bathroom door. A true tantrum can only end in a cold shower, and that’s what Renjun’s gonna do as he washes his dreams down the drain and ends up silently crying himself to sleep tonight in agony.

It’s hard to believe Huang Renjun is currently at the best college party since the days of ‘megaparties’ of Johnny Suh, the senior that’s slowly halting his party performance due to stilling in life. Renjun was dragged to Lee Jeno’s party by his roommate Donghyuck after he mourned in his bed for approximately two days before it got too much for the poor gemini, promising and honestly thinking that alcohol is truly the best solution for the poor boy’s misery. Again, it’s hard to believe Huang Renjun is currently at the best college party of the year when he listens to the loud EDM music piercing through his eardrums and he swears he catches a glimpse of a couple dry humping on the couch.

Because he’s not.

He’s at a college party, sure. He’s also getting some alcohol into his system– because why not, am I right? He’s not the one paying, and that’s always enough of a reason to drink. Is it the best college party he’s ever experienced, though? Absolutely not.

It’s quite literally the worst party he’s ever been to. The music is too loud and the whole house smells of cheap vodka, people are pushing each other around and with the amount of alcohol in his system, the whole room feels like he’s on a boat, his stomach weak and his eyes hazy. Renjun must admit Hyuck’s therapy skills are kind of paying off– because at least now he’s not thinking about the wasted opportunity of a summer scholarship and is instead looking into the eyes of his cute classmate from History class across the room– but at the same time, he’s not thinking much of anything in this moment, and the glint of your eyes is the only thing he can focus on when you get closer.

That might be a good or a bad thing– depends on how the encounter goes. There’s a fine line between the amount of alcohol that’s just perfect for Huang Renjun to get rid of his usual shyness and speak to other, much more attractive human species, and the amount of alcohol that’s just perfect for Huang Renjun to black out and puke on the floor, efficiently making it impossible for him to chat up the cute classmate he’s been eyeing the whole semester and ruining his chances of ever being seen in a good light in front of the said person ever again. He prays intensely that he hasn’t crossed the line yet when you open your mouth and speak to him in the crowded kitchen.

“Renjun!”

“Y/N!” he tries to mimic your tone, a flashy grin settling onto his face when you approach him first. You two aren’t strangers, after all– you’ve sat together in class during various exams and also accidentally bumped into each other in the cafeteria, but what were your courageous attempts in making conversation with him and efficiently trying to make him more interested in you didn’t lead to your desired goal of getting invited out by him, instead leading him to think you’re just that friendly to everyone and not just him, making the chances of him taking the next step that much slimmer. Not tonight, though– he really must have had too much to drink.

“How are you?” you ask, clearing your throat as you bump into someone and decide to shift closer to Renjun, making the boy’s breathing hitch in his throat.

“Wonderful,” he gasps, and for some reason, the response laced in irony makes an excited laugh escape your throat, and the more he listens to your bubbly giggle, the more he wishes he did music instead of fine arts, because maybe if he was competent enough, he could mimic the sound in one of his songs and replay it over and over even when you’re not around. 

“That sounds very genuine,” you note, which makes the boy laugh in return, making him wonder if maybe he could have the same effect on you– if you’re smiling wider now because of the sound of his laughter, or if you’re just amused at something completely else. 

It’s pathetic, really– the gloomy boy that was trailing to this party behind his roommate Donghyuck is nowhere to be seen now, instead replaced by the cheap imitation of a ray of sunshine that you brought out of him only with the magic of a few words and the few drops of alcohol on his tongue.

“Oh, trust me, it was genuine,” he teases, and you only nod to his attempt at masking his obviously saddened composure from before.

“Having a rough week?” you ask, and you sound truly interested– something Renjun hasn’t found in the tone of his roommate when he insisted on dragging him here– and maybe that’s the reason why he just shrugs and decides to come clean and be honest with you. You seem like that kind of person that wouldn’t make fun of his troubles, the kind of person that would genuinely want to help– although he’s not seeking counseling tonight, he figures he can talk a bit about his shitty mood if it means that it gets the conversation flowing.

“A rough life, actually,” he snickers before he sees you eye him with a concerned look, “just joking,” he adds before he retracks back and fixes his initial answer. “Some things didn’t work out the way I wanted them to, so I’m kind of moping around for a bit.”

You seem to feel empathetic towards the boy, nodding and pouting at his confession. “Well, I hope things get fixed for you, Jun,” you mumble, tone of voice encouraging– and maybe he could dwell at the caring nature of you a little longer, only if it wasn’t for your use of a nickname for him that just oh so sweetly rolls of your tongue and Renjun wishes he could legally change his name to the nickname so he could listen to the way it sounds forever– scratch that, to the way it sounds from your mouth forever, which means he won’t change it, just so it’s reserved for you and only you to say.

“What about you, though?” he finds himself asking in the midst of his inner screeching.

“Me? I’m great, totally fine, having the time of my life,” you emphasize, the over-the-top expression on your face making the boy burst into laughter as you wave your arms around as if to show him your surroundings. “I am a party person for sure, you know, so this is perfect,” you joke, and Renjun seems to get the memo. If he’s being honest, he’s not sure he’s ever seen you at a party before– not that he goes to many himself, which might honestly be the reason, actually– you could just be at different parties in different times that hadn’t overlaid, but by the way you’re currently tensely sipping at the alcohol in your hand, he figures you’re not too familiar with the scene of college partying.

“Who forced you to go? Was it your roommate?” Renjun remembers the girl from another one of his classes– you two were always walking around together and often got to class at the same time. Figuring out that you two lived together wasn’t as difficult, and she surely seems to be the more extroverted one.

“No, actually,” you say, eyes glimmering when he seems to remember the girl you share a room with, “to my surprise, honestly. It was another one of my friends– Na Jaemin, not sure if you know him– but the moment we got here, he disappeared and left me alone to deal with my thoughts,” you click your tongue and Renjun finds himself totally mesmerized with you– amazed with everything about you; the way you talk, the way you lean on the counter and watch him with stars in your eyes (which might just be the reflections of the kitchen lights, but don’t tell him that), the way you slightly lean into him when he cracks a joke and earns a laugh out of you…

“They always do that,” Renjun scowls, “they drag the introvert in and then force them to survive on their own…” he shakes his head in disappointment, clearly distraught over the situation. 

“Exactly! But if you ask them to come with you to a picnic, or to the library, they decline the offer. So much for being good friends,” you roll your eyes. Renjun finds himself smiling, and although he must admit that as every other college student, he himself would decline an invitation to a library if anyone asked, he’s like 99% certain that if it was you uttering out the question, he wouldn’t miss a heartbeat before joyfully jogging there with you. 

“Ask me next time,” he blurts out, a poor attempt at flirting, “I wouldn’t say no.”

And it seems like tonight is the night where you suddenly get the last kick of courage needed when you talk to Renjun– maybe fueled by his coy smile when he said the previous comment, maybe just acting out on pure hormones– tonight's the night where he breathlessly takes your offer, still not thinking much of it, but igniting a curious spark in his own heart nonetheless, when you scratch the back of your neck in the last residue of anxiety, scrunching your nose at him and mumbling under your nose, barely heard above the loud music resonating through the living room. “Do you wanna sneak into my dorm room, then?” 

Renjun almost chokes at your question– visitors in the dormitory are only allowed until midnight and as far as he’s aware, the clock is well after 2 AM right now, and he’s a male visitor, which is even more off the bounds in the eyes of the fierce woman guarding the entrance of the girl’s dormitory building. The more he stares at you, the more you seem to translate his silence into disagreement, which you panically try to undo with even more rambling. “I- I mean, since we both kind of hate this party and I think that if I drink more, I’m going to puke all over myself, so… My room is on the ground floor, so you can just climb in, if you wanted to. My roommate went home for the weekend, so there’s no one there, and we could– I mean, we don’t have to, honestly, but it’s kinda cold out and I thought we could both use a place more silent, ‘cause I really wanna head back now, but I don’t want to stop talking to you, y’know, and I don’t know if–”

“Okay, I’m down,” Renjun nods, efficiently shutting up your rambling, and when there’s a very apparent relief flashing over your face, he finds himself smiling in endearance at your antics, going as far as ruffling a hand through your hair in whatever kick the alcohol mixed with adrenaline gave him before you have him dragging his feet out of the house, both of your feet shuffling towards the campus.

The walk isn’t long, but he finds himself enjoying it. The condensation coming out of your mouths at the chilly weather serves more to the atmosphere when the both of you giggle out at absurd jokes and gossip, your voice breaking into soft hums when you sing a song under your breath in moments of silence that somehow feel both kind of awkward, but also kind of pleasant. He drags you by your hand to the other side of the sidewalk when a car passes by and you jump in surprise, eyes wide and glossy, mouth a little agape in an open-mouthed grin when his fingers stay intertwined with yours and you adjust your purse on your other shoulder, clearing your throat before you try to nonchalantly continue on with the conversation.

“I’ll go inside now,” you announce when you get to the girl’s dormitory building, breaking apart from the eager boy and coming closer to him when you confide the secret, “I’ll turn the light on in my room when I get there, so make sure to look out for the window. I’ll help you in, don’t worry,” you smile at him, and before he has a chance to reply, you disappear behind the glass door with a pep in your step. 

Renjun finds himself sighing– now is the moment when he should realistically get relief, the moment when he’s supposed to relax for at least a second and prepare himself for whatever might happen in your dorm room– but when he slowly walks over to the left wing of the building and squints at the dark squares of windows, he wonders how in the hell he’s gonna climb in. Escaping out will be an easy task– the windows aren’t that high up– but coming in will be the problem. He guesses it’s the same with the whole situation– he bets the easiest part of the whole evening will be jumping out and running to his own room– how to survive the night in your presence and not go completely insane, he doesn’t know and wishes he had a manual to before he agreed to do this in the first place.

When the light goes on in one of the rooms and you wave at him from the inside, he finds himself involuntarily jogging towards the window, gears in his brain turning faster than the speed of light when he reaches the wall and you grin at him, opening the window and offering him your hand. 

“If you grip the edge of the window and give me your hand, you can get in easily,” you say, watching as the boy cautiously looks around himself and scratches the back of his neck, mentally calculating his next movements.

“Have you done this before?”

“No,” you bashfully shake your head, “but my roommate did it twice, so I don’t think it’s that hard,” you note and nod at him, waiting for him to finally take action. 

Renjun finds himself doing what he’s been told– and even though he huffs and almost falls over to his back (which would kill him, he thinks, since his physique is very close to a turtle’s), victory fills his veins when one of his legs finally ends up in your window, his body stumbling forward and almost toppling you over when the warmth of your room welcomes him as he lands on top of your desk. 

“Welcome,” you laugh at him when he shakes his head in disbelief and takes off his coat, dropping it on top of the wooden table and watching you close the window behind him, so the cold doesn’t get in. 

“That’s one way of inviting guests over, I guess,” he teases you, watching as you roll your eyes at him and go over to one of the beds. Renjun notices the room is different to the one he shares with Donghyuck– you and your roommate have two beds instead of a bunk one, the table is right under the window and you get a little more space over-all. You turn on the little lamp kept on your bedside table, and the boy watches you with interest as you cautiously walk around your own room as if it’s your first time seeing it, reminding him a little of a deer in the headlights, clueless and suddenly out of ideas.

Renjun finds himself laughing at your behavior– he finds himself endeared by it, the way you play with your fingers in nerves and try to think of anything to do in the intimacy that suddenly envelopes you when you invite someone over to your dorm room in the middle of the night– and when you aimlessly end up standing in front of him, your big eyes even bigger and glossier than before, he snickers at the state of you and shakes his head.

“Okay, so I know I was the one who invited you over, but now I’m kind of helpless in what we should actually do and all…” you giggle, a little embarrassed when you bear your eyes into his, your body subconsciously slotted in between his legs, his position leaning on the edge of the table allowing you and inviting you to do so. 

“You’re cute,” he laughs at you, and before you have a chance to question him about the compliment, he has you silenced abruptly by his next actions.

“What do you–”

His hand is gripping your jaw and he leans into you, the newly found courage and affection towards you having him drunk on more than the alcohol, but also your whole presence– the way your hair smells when he’s this close to you, the way you pull the sleeves of your sweater further down when you don’t know what to do with your hands, the shyness in your gaze now that you have him in your cage– and his lips act on themselves when they press themselves against yours, soft but firm, tasting the strawberry juice mixed with vodka off your mouth, a surprised gasp against his lips more than enough to invite him even further in.

He feels your fingers tugging at his shirt and your skin growing hot under his touch, leaning back from you a little and finding you looking at him with a thousand different galaxies in your eyes, enough of a confirmation to him, but he’s a man– he still needs it vocally, when he grins lazily at you. “Was this one of the things you thought about when you invited me over?”

“Maybe…” you tug at your bottom lip with your teeth, a clearly battled grin trying to settle its way onto your lips.

“You should’ve just said so, then,” he smiles when he leans into you again, a little more confidently this time and kisses you again, again and again.

You stay under the window for a while, lips pressed hard against each other as you try to learn the curves of each other’s mouths by memory, lazy hands threaded into his hair and an arm around your waist now, steadying you in place. Foreheads pressed against each other when you break away for air, giggles resonating through the room when his lips make their way towards your neck and the softness of his hair tickles your skin, fingers threaded when you tug him towards your bed and you watch him kick his shoes off before you follow him onto the soft mattress.

His head falls into your pillow and you straddle his lap, your hair falling into your face when you look down at him from your position, the newly found dominance in your position charging you with unexplainable energy, and Renjun can’t help but smile at you sweetly when your eyes meet and you eagerly lean down towards him, fingers once again intertwined with his, hands laying next to his head. Your breath fans his swollen lips that you once again find yourself attacking, the contact overwhelming you and making it hard to breathe. Who knows how long the both of you have wanted to do this but never had the courage to– it’s a miracle that it’s even happening tonight.

And with the built-up desire, you act instinctively– hands breaking away from his when you grip his cheeks and give him one last peck, lips now traveling down his jaw and neck instead, having the boy shivering under the contact, your actions slowly but surely driving him crazy when you find his sweet spot and you get a satisfied gasp from him, a reward for your tonight’s efforts.

His hand grips your hip, and something about the burn of his fingers even through the fabric of your jeans makes you move on instinct, earning yourself a sharper hiss this time that doesn’t make you stop, however– quite the opposite, actually– as you break into a wide grin at the very evident effect you have on him, your movements slow and painful, but still having him harden under you.

Goosebumps appear all over your skin when his cold fingers capture the skin of your stomach when he aimlessly tries to find a place in your body to ground yourself, but the more he answers to your movements, the more encouraged you get. He tugs you back down so you’re facing him, which does nothing to halt your painful pace as he drags out yet another kiss from you. 

“If we don’t stop now, it’s gonna be really hard for me to do so later,” Renjun huffs into your ear, which only gets you more excited.

“Who said I want to stop?” you ask him, fingers trailing up his side over his shirt, yet still making him fire up and flush in his cheeks. “Do you want to stop?”

“Do I look like I wanna stop?” he snickers, shaking his head in utter disbelief, hand traveling dangerously close to the cup of your breast.

“Let’s continue, then,” you muse, peeling yourself off him only the slightest amount, hands dragging themselves down his body until you reach the waistband of his pants, gently dragging the fabric down until he’s left in front of you only with a tent in his underwear, big eyes curiously and breathlessly watching you in your actions. He could be a gentleman and tell you you don’t have to, tell you to stop and come back up and that he will pleasure you first, but the more he watches you as you palm him over the thin fabric of his boxer briefs with the dangerous doe eyes of yours, the less he wants to do just that. In all reality– who is he to deny a blowjob from you? Or anyone, for that matter?

His whole body shudders under your touch, actions careful, but so painfully satisfying. Renjun watches your face with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, the reality of it all sobering him up and making him aware of each shift of your body, each centimeter your fingertip travels against his skin, each motion that slowly makes a bundle of nerves appear in his stomach. It only gets too much for him when you lean on your elbows, nails gently pricking the skin of his thighs as your mouth hesitantly greets his dick, and he feels like a virgin again when his eyes peel off you just in case he finishes just by watching you blowing him off like a highschooler at his first blowjob, forcing himself to watch the ceiling instead.

Eyes traveling all over your room– the closed window opposite of him, the bed on the other side of the room, the walls above your bed– he gets lost in the galaxy drawn on a piece of paper that’s plastered right above your pillowcase, and another graphite sketch of eyes bearing right into your soul, as if they were watching him in the act, and another one, of a deer that looks through the shade of the trees, before it hits him.

“Oh my god what the fuck–” he gasps, and his tone must have sounded too different to the satisfied moans that have been spilling out of his mouth up until now, because you abruptly stop your movements and your gazes lock, your eyes completely mortified.

“Am I doing something wrong?”

“Oh– Oh god no, fuck, you’re doing amazing, trust me,” apologies spill off his tongue at your distressed state, “it’s just– where… where did you get these?” he asks, pointing towards all the drawings taped all over your walls that he failed to notice in the heat of the moment before.

“Oh,” you cluelessly hum, eyebrows furrowed, “I found them spilling out of a trashcan close to the boy’s dorms when I was walking to class one morning, and they were so pretty I had to take them.”

“I– you like these?” Renjun asks, full of strange surprise and genuine curiosity. You’re now sitting back on your heels and looking at the boy with big eyes, still slightly clueless and very much in a weird state of distress– because why would a man ask you about the random artwork on your wall in the middle of a mindblowing blowjob?– before you nod with a slight pout, agreeing.

“Well, I wouldn’t have decorated my room with them if I didn’t like them, y’know… Why are you… why are you asking?”

“Oh,” Renjun repeats again, a dumbfounded look taking over his soft features before he sits up on the bed and scoots closer to you, a weird sense of euphoria spilling out every vein of his body when the held-back dopamine is released into his system. A wide grin appears on his lips before he stares into your eyes with a milky way mirroring behind his eyeballs, glittering orbs haphazardly gliding over your face before he reaches your lips again, pecking them one, two, three times before you break away and look at him with furrowed eyebrows, a slight crease right in between them.

“What are you–”

“I think I’m gonna literally cum just at hearing those words, Y/N,” he blurbs out before he kisses the tip of your nose again, completely endeared and close to a happy boy under the Christmas tree, and while you may enjoy that look on him, you’re still slightly confused. Huang Renjun sighs almost a little too dreamingly and smooths the wrinkle between your eyebrows with a careful swipe of his thumb, still not giving you any explanation.

“Renjun, I’m afraid I’m not quite following why this is so important to you right now,” you mumble, having your partner laugh airly– just as if all his worries escaped through the window and you fixed his life with a few drawings plastered on your wall.

“Those, dear Y/N,” he points towards the papers stuck to your walls, eyeing the specific one he worked for 3 hours on and kind of mourned the morning after he realized he threw it away, months of practice and art that maybe wasn’t even that bad in the first place ending up in the trash because of a fit of rage, “are all mine. Mine as in, I drew them… And then threw them out in the middle of a slight mental breakdown.”

You look at him for a few heartbeats, eye contact never breaking before you avert your gaze towards the artwork on the walls– it takes you a few seconds before it hits you– and you gasp, hurriedly looking back at the artist in front of you, stars glimmering in your eyes now as well, matching his excitement. “Oh my god, are you for real?”

“Yeah.”

“You drew all of these?”

“Yeah,” he nods again, breathless.

“This is an insane coincidence,” you snicker, and Renjun didn’t know he had it in him– maybe it’s still the effect of alcohol that slips off his tongue when he speaks– but he cages you in his arms as he kisses you again, a whole new world appearing in front of him when the cheesiness meets the comfort of your walls.

“You’d call this a coincidence?” he hums. “Maybe it was fate.”

Earning himself a sharp laugh, almost mocking him as you swat his shoulder, you fall back with him towards the mattress, and while the heated moment might be gone, you don’t mind at all. Renjun looks at you with a certain softness in his eyes, a pride swelling in his chest, and for a moment, it’s true and you truly did open up a new reality for him and changed his life forever, fixed all of his problems, if you will, because the appreciation it takes for a girl to tape up at least 20 of his messy artworks onto her wall after finding the stash in the trashcan on her way to class might just be the encouragement he needed to keep going with the craft. 

It’s hard to believe that this shitty party actually brought him somewhere– not only to your bed, but also to your life, to a beginning of something new and a restart in something he thought he’d forever be giving up on.

“So… Do you need those back? Because I kinda like them here,” you giggle, and the crinkle of his eyes is enough of an answer to you.

“You can keep them. I’ll just draw new ones you can look at,” he muses, stealing another kiss from you and squeezing your hip, having you squeal against his mouth.

“Now, to get back to what we were doing before–”

[fobnsfwdoodlesbackup]

Hi y'all, I just wanted to talk a little about the behind the scenes of what I've been up to, to give y'all a little transparency and to open myself up for any tips or input! 🙏 Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my art 🫶

First and foremost I wanted to give some transparency about my art capacity.

As og followers may remember, I started this blog when I was doing art full time. Eventually my living expenses grew and I had to go back to work. I find myself in a cycle of "I'll make more art soon, once I get a job!" And "I'll make more art soon, once I am done with this job!" I lost my most recent job suddenly, having had an extension waved over my head until the last day(October 7th). Now I'm excited to have more time for art, but I am also feeling a rush to get a new job ASAP as I've been living paycheck to paycheck. I dream of doing this work full time, I'm just scared it's not quite there yet and I worry that I come off as scammy or dishonest when I anticipate more stability around the corner.

Second, I've been struggling with the Patreon. It's taken me a while to come to terms with this, but from what I've seen Patreon is not intuitive at all from the creator end. It doesn't do a good job of organizing addresses, emails, showing who or who isn't subscribed to me, or organizing and displaying the work I put on there. I've been really shocked by this experience, since lots of big names use Patreon. It's been a great way to streamline support, but it's been unhelpful in every other regard. I would like to continue using it, but I will most likely post more wips or process videos there in the future.

Which brings me to my third point, zines. I love making zines so much, it feels personal and fulfilling and fun! However the Patreon issues make it harder to keep information in order about where to send zines, or even where to message folks about them. In addition to this, the post office has been a big barrier to me, oftentimes only being open at the same time as my dayjob. Making zines can take days, then sending them out is a whole other monster.

This work is so important to me. Drawing peoples fantasies, representing body types, creating work around sexuality and the human experience feels like what I'm meant to do. I've made comics since I was a kid. This is the dream to me. The friends I've been able to make through this work are so important to me, and the conversations have been invaluable. Not to mention fun! I wanna doodle, I wanna draw hot stuff, I wanna thirst over these dudes! I want to play!

But I also just want to be transparent about the barriers I'm working around to share that experience. I'm completely self taught, both in art AND in running shops, building websites, running 8 accounts, etc. I take a lot of time to learn the logistics of these things, and try to make them make sense for my relationship with y'all (I do not want to paywall my art!! I don't want to!!!). This year my desktop broke down (the main one I use for all paintings and digital art). I've paused my Etsy shops and my Patreon to try to catch up with things. Trying to learn to paint in a completely different program. Then lost my job with no savings.

At the end of the day I don't want anything to come between me sharing my art with you. I wish I could doodle a thing, take a picture, and post it here. No third party site, no shop, no subscription. Just sharing my art with you. I promise I'm trying to figure out how to stay as close to that as possible, and I want to thank y'all for sticking with me as I untangle all of that.

So, what can you expect in the near future?

I'm working on a couple of painting commissions right now, which you should be able to see in the next couple of days! I want to catch up on kinktober and get those posted as well. There's a comic commission in progress which I'm very eager to work on, and which I think y'all will be excited for! To ease the weight of the Patreon I think I may do less zines/polls there and more wips and process videos! If possible, I want to do more full colored work too.

Thank you again for enjoying my work, and if you have any input or tips my inbox is always open 🙏🫶💕

[princessmacedon]

{ happy anniversary!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Template courtesy of Neffi! 💕

Name: Red, more commonly nicknamed Reddo

Pronouns: they/them preferred, she/he OK!

Birthday (no year): December 28th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? moved to kentucky when I was young, and for sake of ease i use EST (TOAST)! i live near a timezone line, so i get to be flexible like that >vo)v HAHA

How long is your roleplay experience? with a few on and off breaks, roughly 15 years? i forgot about a period of my life where i 'moderated' (read: was the most active user on) a warrior cats RP site; my first foray into rp proper was in pokemon rp on tumblr, my first muse was lyra but i didnt have an internet name until i picked up and settled into writing (you'll never guess who)

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? kind of half answered this above oops, but with warrior cats i genuinely dont remember? i probably just googled warrior cats and wound up there HAHA. for pokemon...... honestly probably the same thing

How were you introduced to TOA? key had mentioned it to me in passing a few times, so i knew she was there, but it wasn't until my friend zyra mentioned it to me and suggested we write macedon siblings together again that i actually joined, hahaha

Do you have any pets? i do! i adopted a ?? year old dog from the shelter about six years ago, so now he's x+6 years old :] pretty sure he's some kind of border collie mix, but not certain! his name is tobin, but he'll answer as long as you say 'ob'. he's a sillyhead

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) it used to be winter because i love the snow! but as i get older and more harrowed by weather conditions, i appreciate how normal and not-trying-to-kill-me autum is HAHA

What is your IRL occupation? (finger guns) figuring it out

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? drawing was my first love! i like reading, especially comics, and writing; i like video games and immersing myself in stories, and have passing interests in things that i don't commit to trying out (like resin, charms, etc etc)

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? FFXIV, mainly; genshin impact and hsr; various farming-ish sims (story of seasons + old harvest moon, stardew valley, rune factory, currently fields of mistria); to a lesser extent dragon age, ace attorney, various VNs / otome / rhythm games, pokemon until roughly scarlet/violet era and then my wallet couldnt keep up with it HSDFSGVSD

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: as a kid it waffled between fire / dark, but not sure i have a dead set favorite type anymore. favorite pokemon still lucario and appletun for sure though!

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! (Optional bonus challenge: if you filled this out last year, try not to repeat what you said back then!) - i love christmas and thinking about gift giving! when i was in school my christmas spreadsheet hit like, 50 names HAHA nooooo way do i have that energy anymore, though - i'm reasonably fond of baking and also reasonably terrible at it! something always goes wrong but usually (usually) stuff comes out pretty tasty in the end. except for that time i set my oven on fire

How did you get into Fire Emblem? my friends were talking about how much fun they were having with the new game at the time, awakening! it looked fun so i decided to try it out

What Fire Emblem games have you played? - Beaten: Genealogy, Blazing Blade (FE7 if youre like me and still cant remember which one is which), Shadow Dragon & New Mystery, Awakening, Fates (Conquest + Birthright), Three Houses (Blue Lions) - Started: Binding Blade (FE6), Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance (FE9), Fates (Revelation), Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (Black Eagles & Golden Deer), Engage

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening -- still Awakening! possibly tied with 3H, though. i really enjoy games where i can peacefully level grind

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! vaguely ordered, it's: Wolf, Maria, Cordelia, Seliph, Katarina...? if you think you're seeing a trend you're probably right, hahaha ^^ writing a character is an expression of love for me, so inevitably my muses climb higher and higher on my list over time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! the clearest one i can remember is wolf, because when i was playing fe11 i was passively using him because he was pretty, and then he got 7 crits in a row and i was like :pika:

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳i'm weak toward green haired women AHSJASFDSF but actual game crushes, hmm... not sure!

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: chrom -> still chrom! - Fates: takumi -> hmm... silas or flora? - Three Houses: dimitri -> still dimitri, except now he's duking it out with yuri - Engage: i have the ring in my pocket as we speak, suffering from the burden of choice... probably diamant though?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? whatever class my blorbos thrive in

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? in all likelihood i'm a villager with just absolutely baffling AI. not entirely stupid, but you cant in good conscience say it's smart either HAHA as a playable unit though, i might be a recruit-type? i could do well if you help me grow, otherwise i'm just this scruffy shitty thing tucked into your pocket. middling-high skill growth, paper defense, and you wish you knew what my speed growth was because i don't (probably fast as a mage but realistically NOT as anything physical)

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) my heart says blue lions, but if i'm just some guy (unaffiliated civilian) i won't be surprised

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? - Boons: Reason - Banes: Authority, Gauntlets - Budding Talent: Flying

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) hmm... probably either Firene or Lythos! i'm too much of a weenie to be from brodia HAHA

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) toah, like noah! to all my xiv gamers out there this definitely applies to job shorthands too. durg. dirk. whum blum sidge. rurpur and rogg...

Current TOA muses: Maria & Katarina

Past TOA muses? Cordelia my beloved

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Maria! unless something unprecedented happens, i don't see that changing. writing her, her want and determination to love and find wonder in the world, to spread and be joy -- it just puts me in a good place! it's really, genuinely helped me a lot, even if her extroversion is exhausting to my introvert ass sometimes HAHA

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) uhhh... i definitely tend toward characters who are in some regard defined by a form of love or strong emotion, romantic though it need not be -- people who have some sort of powerful, aching tenderness in their heart. i've not really done as much as i've wanted in terms of bringing that out of them, but it's definitely something that draws me in to a character in the first place!

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? ooh, there are lots of characters i like who have a brusque edge or manner, who might be harsh or cold... i wish i could do that! i'd like to try, i think. and also the funny, energetic, boisterous types -- i love to see them and be around them, but i definitely can't pull it off hahaha

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) it's been a while since i've gone all in on this kind of scene, but i love emotional scenes and heart-to-hearts -- the sort of thing where you're communicating your feelings with everything you have and trying to reach someone else! i usually rein myself in well shy of that though, hahaha. i worry a lot about getting too lost in the sauce and derailing a conversation/thread, or making it all about what my muse/what they want to communicate.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for katarina, i'd love for her to make some friends! she's her own worst enemy in this regard, separating herself from friends/friendships whether consciously or subconsciously. for maria... well, i'd love for her to have a real heart to heart with someone!

Favorite TOA-related memories? to this day i miss and adore annie's frederick! his dynamic with my cordelia at the time was so much fun to write and to talk about and we had such thoughts for how their relationship would evolve -- it's one of the most interesting and endearing relationships i've had the pleasure of writing! on a sillier note, i often think about leif hauling ass after kanoesa's lewyn HAHA

Present or past tense? it used to be past tense, but i think toa's successfully converted me to defaulting to present hahaha ^^;; consciously at least, i try to match whatever my partner does!

Normal size text, small text, no preference? it doesn't matter to me, but i do hate fighting tumblr to keep all of the small text small.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 the wolf app/blog i've been refining on and off for the better part of three years is no secret HAHA, but i've seriously contemplated writing a few other characters! radd and boucheron, to name a couple. i get super attached to my characters though, so it's a bit tricky

[washy0uaway]

Kiss City Pt. 4

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!Reader Word Count: 1.6k Chapter Summary: Movies with our favorite guy to recover, things be heating UP y'all. Series Summary: The thing you expected least on what you swore was a day set out to be cursed by the universe, was Frankie.

Shoot me a message or respond to be added to the tag list :)

Series Masterlist | Part 3

It’s comical really, how the already tiny Apple TV remote somehow grows smaller in his massive hands - one of which is still draped across your abdomen, resting on the bone of your hip. “Shit,” Frankie mutters as he presses the wrong button for a second time. Shifting to your side and propping yourself upwards and facing him, that hand on your waist comes dangerously close to your ass.

“Here,” you offer, resting a much smaller hand on his as your petite fingers press the right buttons, starting the second movie with ease.

It musters a slightly embarrassed “Thanks,” from him as you reach and set the remote back on the table. “Tiny ass remote, not so tiny ass hands,” he explains. Spreading his fingers apart, glancing down at his palm angled slightly toward you as proof.

You can’t be held responsible for moving your palm to meet his. You just wanted to feel him, even if it was under the guise of comparing hand sizes. Even with your longer acrylic nails, Frankie can still bend his knuckles to wrap around the tips of your fingers. The hand on your hip tightens its grip just slightly as he does. It’s not intentional and he doesn’t even notice - but you do.

“Your hands are fucking tiny, hermosa,” he realizes after a slight closed mouth chuckle.

“I’m pretty fucking tiny Frankie, if you hadn’t noticed.” At a solid 5’1 (and only on a good day), he was nearly a whole foot taller than you.

“I had,” he admits. Going out on a limb, he shifts his hand in yours until your fingers are fully intertwined, now resting in his lap. His eyes trail up to meet yours when he adds, “it’s cute.”

You roll your eyes but the blush spreading across your cheeks is not lost on him.

“Whatever you say, Morales. How about some popcorn?” A single eyebrow raised, and Frankie’s not sure how you keep doing this. Each new expression he sees spread across your features draws him in further. He wants to learn you, each expression - take it all in.

“Popcorn would be great, just don’t spoil your appetite. We ARE still ordering tacos.”

“We fucking better be,” you respond as you saunter into the kitchen.

A few moments later, after grabbing a beer from the fridge for Frankie and starting tea for yourself, he hears rustling from your kitchen. Like something is being dragged across the hardwood floor.

Intrigued, he interrupts. Poking his head into your kitchen with a “What the hell are you doing?” He is indeed seeing you drag a barstool across the kitchen toward an open cupboard.

“Top shelf,” you motion with a slight nod of your head in the direction of your pantry, still actively dragging the damn thing. “Can’t reach.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“We’ll I mean,” stopping in your tracks as you’ve reached the edge of the counter, giving him a smirk. One hand on your hip, the other resting on the barstool, you feed his words back to him, “Tall ass cabinets, not so tall ass legs.”

He laughs, but you’re already turning around starting to scale the stool.

Two strides is all it takes before he’s snapping a playful, “nope, absolutely not,” at you, wrapping am arm around your waist and planting your feet on the ground.

Except now, oh no. Now you’re backed against your kitchen counter, Frankie’s body brushing against yours slightly in the commotion.

“You’re ridiculous,” you joke. “I get stuff from the top shelf on that stool all the time.” Fully playing into the situation, just slightly amping up the doe eyes as he looks down, your gazes locking for what feels the millionth time today.

Without breaking eye contact for even a second, he reaches above you and pulls the box of popcorn from its home on the shelf. “Not when I’m around,” he’s stern but soft, coming from a place of .. concern? Caring? You can’t be sure, but my god do you want to find out.

Setting the box beside you, Frankie’s long arms come to cage you in by resting on the counter at your sides. Then, it’s another few seconds that feel like hours. When he looks at you, and I mean really looks at you, it stirs something in you. It’s almost unsettling how strongly you feel for one another already.

His eyes then start tracing each of your features, including the bump on your forehead. He again reaches out to brush a stray hair from your face, but when he breaks the silence again as he does, his voice is different.

“What am I going to do with you?” Deep. Rough. Low. Gravelly. Sexy as fuck, with his signature softness somehow still shining through. Not to mention, his eyes spending another few long seconds looking at your mouth before finding their new found home back on yours.

Your stomach knots and arousal builds as his calloused thumb traces your plush lower lip, your mouth slightly parted. The way his palm cups the side of your neck under the edge of your jaw and his long fingers spread into your hair has you absolutely reeling, heart pounding in your chest.

“I don’t know,” you continue, just barely above a whisper. He’s so close he can feel your breath on his face as you begin to melt beneath him.

Then suddenly, there’s a slight mischievous glint in your eye (absolutely deadly, if you were to ask Frankie). “What did you have in mind?”

That does him in. Entirely. His thumb on your lips is instantly replaced by his own meeting yours.

It’s intoxicating. Insanely intense, but not too rough. Not yet. But that’s when you sneak your tongue out to run it across his bottom lip. It’s quick and delicate, almost as if you’re trying to be sneaky about it.

He’d usually ask permission for a first kiss, and that usually wasn’t with anyone he’d only known a few hours. But my god, Frankie can’t help himself. The hand not spreading across the back of your neck finds salvation on your hip first, pulling you impossibly closer to him.

It’s not there long though. He slips his tongue in your mouth as he wraps his entire arm around the small of your back and his grip on you drives you mad.

You let him know when you wrap your arms around his neck, fingers running through his hair (hat long forgotten on the couch). A small groan escapes your lips, finding its home between his.

Before you’ve even noticed the placement of his hands shifting, he’s lifted you on the countertop to sit with ease. Your legs spread instinctively and his hands squeeze your hips, dragging your clothed core towards his own.

You stay like this for what is probably longer than either of you think. Frankie’s hands are everywhere, running up your thighs and then your sides, sneaking their way under your crop top. His fingers wrap around your rib cage as yours still dance in his hair, pulling slightly when he nips at your lips or finds a ticklish spot on your body.

Coming up for air a few minutes later, he sighs and nuzzles his forehead in the crook of your neck. "I'm not usually like this," he admits before planting a delicate kiss on your collarbone.

"What do you mean?" your nails tracing the back of his neck and into his hair has him on another planet.

"Well, I'm usually more of a gentleman. We just met and I haven't even taken you to dinner yet."

Your pull on his hair brings his head up to face you and you cup his face in your hands. Oh, sweet Frankie.

"I can't say I'm complaining, though. Would you feel better if I let you pay for tacos?" You offer with an eyebrow raised.

"Please," he pleads with wide eyes, before he starts kissing you everywhere but your lips. Pecks on your cheek, nose, jaw, arms wrapping around your waist and holding you close.

"Okay," you concede with a laugh. "If that means I get to keep kissing you, it's a small sacrifice."

Offering his hand to help you off the counter, you purse your lips and speak again. "You know, the popcorn will take a few minutes.." voice trailing off as he realizes what you're insinuating.

Dashing like a madman, he unwraps the popcorn bag and puts it in the microwave, sets the time, and presses start. When he kisses you again, it's hungrier. A new found confidence knowing you want this as much as he does. The way your tongues dance and his hands fit perfectly anywhere they're placed have you wondering. Where has he been hiding? How have I gone my whole life without this?

"Fastest three minutes of my life," you whine between kisses when the microwave beeps.

"You know, we should probably let it cool down before we eat it anyway," he responds, mouth now planting kisses on your neck, nipping ass he goes. "Just to be safe."

More than a minute passes while you're drunk on each other. His hands finding their way under your shirt, just to feel the warmth of the skin on your lower back, kneading like he needs you.

"Frankie," you whisper when you can get a word in. He pulls away for a moment and the look on his face (dazed, in awe of you), gives you all the confidence you need for what you're about to ask.

"Can you have sex with a concussion?"

-----

Tagging @lilipads @harriedandharassed @anoverwhelmingdin @missladym1981

[nonsensicalramblings79]

L'albatros and parallels in OFMD

1.4k word meta

If you haven’t read my other posts about why I’m talking about albatrosses in the first place, as well as the literary significance of referencing them, read those and come back! All of this will make the most sense if you read all of the parts I’ve written – I’ve split them up for ease of reading, because holy shit this is long.

This particular post is what I will deem as less likely to be supported by canon than the one talking about The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but I still want to get this out because regardless of whether it’s intentional or not, L’albatros sums up a lot of what I feel Ed is thinking regarding his life and his place in the world.

For future reference, I’m writing this on 10/8/2023, so I’m only working with season 1 and the first three episodes of season 2. More than likely, extra information concerning my theories will come up when new episodes are released – I’ll see about reworking these posts then if necessary.

TWs: suicidal ideation, depression, isolation, canon-typical mental health problems

MAJOR OFMD SPOILERS THROUGH S2E03

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just like in my post about The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I’ll clarify that yes, this is anachronistic – this poem wasn’t published until 1859. I also don’t care: Oluwande is wearing crocs, Stede’s “corpse” is crushed by a piano whose maker won’t exist until 1863, Blackbeard’s got his whole leather-daddy getup, Zheng Yi Sao won’t be born until 1775 – OFMD plays fast and loose with historical accuracy, and I am never going to dismiss an OFMD theory because the ~timeline~ doesn’t match up.

L'albatros is a poem written by French poet Charles Baudelaire that describes the plight of the albatross – a mighty king of the sea and sky, with massive wings that dwarf other seabirds (no, for real, these things are gargantuan – its wingspan is wider than most humans are tall) – who is well suited to its environment, but only its own environment.

The poem is originally in French, and while there is an English adaptation of it, when I quote from the poem, I’ll be drawing from the original text and translating it. I think that method best captures the original intent of the word choices.

So, the poem starts out by describing a common pastime of sailors – catching albatrosses that fly alongside their ships, bringing them down onto the deck and keeping them from flying away (how exactly they do this is not made clear in the poem). The poem describes the downed birds as pitiful, clumsy, and ashamed/shameful (French: honteux). Their great big wings trail beside them as they try to walk, dragging like oars. Here are the first 2 quatrains, if you want to try to read them or translate them.

Souvent, pour s’amuser, les hommes d’équipage

Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux de mer,

Qui suivent, indolent compagnons de voyage

Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

À peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,

Que ces rois de l’azure, maladroit et honteux,

Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches

Comme des avirons traîner à côté d’eux.

The third quatrain essentially describes, from the perspective of an onlooker, how utterly stupid this bird looks. He is gauche – a word you might recognize from its English usage – which is translated as “awkward,” but I would argue that in the case of describing humans, this word also can be translated as “socially inept.” That’s important, I’ll come back to it later. The bird is veule – a word that translates directly as “weak” or “spineless.” He, who was so beautiful just a short time ago, is now comical and ugly.

Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule !

Lui, naguère si beau, qu’il est comique est laid !

Continuing the third stanza, the sailors poke and prod at the albatross, making fun of how he has been crippled by having landed on the deck of the ship.

L’un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule,

L’autre mime, en boitant, l’infirme qui volait.

The fourth and final quatrain makes a link between the author of the poem and this albatross that he observed. To me, the wording here is really what drives home the connection between Ed and the poet/the albatross, so I’m going to translate each line.

               Le Poète est semblable au Prince des nuées

               The Poet is similar to/like the Prince of the Clouds

               Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l’archer

               Who haunts the tempest and laughs at the archer/bowman

               Exilé sur le sol, au milieu des huées

               Exiled on the earth/soil/ground, in the midst of jeers/booing

               Ses ailes de géants l’empêchent de marcher.

               His giant wings keep him from walking.

Quick clarification - I’ll admit that there’s a huge assumption that I’m making in that the writers of OFMD decided to reference this specific poem in this extremely tangential way, despite the albatross here representing something entirely different than its normal meaning in literature. For the sake of argument, I’m going to assume for the rest of this post that they did do that, and that this poem exists in-universe over 100 years before it was written in real life. Ok? Ok! :D

So at this point, if you’re familiar with Our Flag Means Death, you may have guessed that the connection I’ve drawn is between the narrator of this poem (the Poet) and Ed. In my mind, at some point in his life, Ed has read this poem, and he has also heard that little factoid about albatrosses spending their entire lives away from shore (and read my first post if you need clarification on that!). And over the course of his life, and especially the past several months, he’s come to associate himself with the views he’s cultivated of the albatross – never meant to leave the sea, never meant to be a part of life on shore (“polite society”), and he would look stupid and silly if he tried. This is a view he’s held since childhood – as we see with his conversation with his mother in S1E06 –

…

We’re just not those kinds of people.

…

And it’s a view that Stede had started to put a dent into during their time together. Where Ed says he’s not a good person, Stede vehemently defends his good character. Where Calico Jack says pirates don’t have friends, Stede tells him that he’s his friend. That Ed wears fine things well, that he’s quite sophisticated. All things that Ed has never allowed himself to believe could possibly be true – until he met Stede, he never even considered that he could “land” – and for a few precious weeks, Ed believes him.

And then Stede leaves. After Ed has laid himself bare, more vulnerable than he has ever let himself be in his life, after Ed has exposed who he really is – the only person who has ever wholly accepted him leaves. And Ed is left floundering, like the mighty prince of the sky trying to walk on the deck of a ship. That fourth quatrain brings a lot of scenes from the show to mind – here are some examples.

The Prince of the Clouds, who haunts the tempest.

The one who is exiled on the Earth.

In the midst of jeers. (recall the use of the word “gauche”? I believe that in this case, the “socially inept” definition applies even better than the simple translation of “awkward”)

His giant wings keep him from walking.

The way this poem describes the plight of the albatross is nigh on exactly how Ed is supposedly seeing himself post-breakup. He just was never meant to have the kind of life that he wants; he’s extremely good at one thing, and one thing only – violence. He will never have any other life.

This is why I think Ed has read this poem – because he references the albatross as a “bird that never lands,” and in the poem, this bird just so happens to also be seen as stupid, ugly, and gauche when it is put into any situation other than what it excels at. And regardless of whether this is actually intended to be a canonical reference or even if it was completely unintentional on the part of the writers, this poem holds a special place in my heart because of how well I believe it captures Ed’s emotional situation.

So, thanks for making it this far – I’d love to hear some feedback if any of you have anything to add! As always, my inbox is open, feel free to DM if you want to do any reciprocal info/opinion-dumping about the beloved Pirate Show!!

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #25

Batgirl (2000) #10 Words: Kelley Puckett Pictures: Scott & Campanella

With a new status quo established, the book takes a break from serialized business and goes back to stand alone episodic stories for a bit, like as with issue #2 from way back when. And as with issue #2, the focus is on "street level" stories emphasizing the humanity of the characters involved, the sort of smaller stories that would get lost in the over-the-top action and larger-than-life supervillains of typical superhero comics.

I don't have too much to say about this story specifically. It's kind of a sad bit about a guy named Kenny with extreme inferiority issues and a mean violent streak who gets fired from a job he didn't think he deserved in the first place, doesn't think he will ever find anything else, and decides to take out the new boss who let him go in a murder suicide.

Despite Cass's attempted intervention he succeeds at the murder part, but fails at the suicide part when it turns out he's metahuman and literally bullet proof. His whole life convinced of and consumed by his own inadequacy only to find out too late just how special he really was.

Like with Mr. Merc in issue one, Kenny's not a good guy, not a good person. But the story takes pains to humanize him. It invites you to empathize with him. Sort of a 'bad people are still people' motif that runs through a lot of Cass's early stories and ties into her relationship with her father, but also to her own feelings of guilt and inadequacy. The issue never directly draws a connection between Kenny and Cass, but there's a really strong parallel there even so, too strong for me to believe it's just a coincidence.

Cass also has a job that she loves, that she commits everything to, but that she doesn't feel she actually deserves. She's also sure at any moment her boss might realize just how unsuited she really is and fire her, bringing down her entire life around her, shutting her off from the only future she can see for herself. What would Cass do then? Would she give up? Would she lash out, like Kenny did? It's not even hypothetical, we just got out of an arc where Cass lost her job and essentially committed herself to suicide-by-Shiva to get it back.

So if there's that much in common between Cass and Kenny, then has Cass also been unwittingly denying herself a bigger life and a better future this entire time, just like Kenny had? One she hasn't been able to see because she's been to focused on keeping a job and a life that deep down she doesn't even believe she deserves? And if so, will she realize in time to do something about it, or like Kenny will it be too late?

....

Ok, so I guess I had more to say about this particular story than I thought.

Other than that, I think it's also worth taking a look at how the storytelling style has changed now that Cass can talk - or more to the point how it hasn't. Even though Cass can talk now, even through she does have an internal monologue expressed in words, we don't actually see it in this issue. There are narration blocks, but they're entirely from Kenny's perspective. Cass has word bubbles when she talks to Babs, but when she's on her own she's as silent as she ever was, and her emotional state and though processes are conveyed through the art, through her poses and expressions, just like before.

Like in this bit where she tries to knock Kenny out and he just no-sells it with an 'ow', and she looks at her fist in confusion before winding up to hit him /extra/ hard, her cape wrapping around her in the pose to convey just how much extra force she's packing into the second hit.

I also like how Cass and Babs start and end the book with Babs trying to get Cass to ease off on training and try to engage on some normal life activities, and both times Cass passes in favor of more training. The first time, you get the feeling that she's training so much for the joy of having her abilities back, and there is a random fight against some street toughs where you get the sense that she's kind of playing with them...

(I love how the belt of big boxy pouches acts like a skirt to add an extra feeling of motion and specificity to the silhouette)

But then at the end when Cass is doubling down on training you can tell it's because she failed, that she feels she should have saved that woman, that she could have if she were better.

...

So anyway, it's nice to see that even though Cass is talking now, the core artistic concepts that were basically the reason she was mute in the first place - to get her stories away away from the reliance on narration, to let the artwork do more of the heavy lifting in both narrative and characterization - that's all still here. At least with her current creative team. At least for now.

[bulbabutt]

Do you have any insight or tips on your comic-creating process?

my best tip is genuinely just try even if you dont know how, cuz (i say this a lot) but i have no real idea what im doing and ive just been trying different things for a while to have fun

as for my process, it has changed a bit since i started posting, something that made it easier early on was just saving an image of thumbnails and roughly drawing inside of them to get the vibes out

basically pretending i know how layouts work just to storyboard it out (like i never have a script i just vibe) then i can move them around if i wanna add another panel for humour sake or something with ease (like i added leo standing up w mikey on his back here just cuz i thought it would be a funny pause, and then i did end up duplicating the last panel cuz it was funnier as two)

and for the process of me trying to make a whole comic page thingy, well originally it was the same thing, just way longer

like i did this months ago to vibe out the story and get the vague visuals out and left it alone. at some point after getting csp (cuz all these were done in sai) i was like OH HEY csp can do comics ? with ease? maybe that would be a better way to do this because it is so long, lets just try it out! so i used this as like a guide for the story. it was helpful cuz i already knew the basic ideas of shots i wanted.

idk again i dont really know what im doing but theres so many people in this fandom that are so inspiring so i was taking a couple of lessons from them every time i changed my approach, but the basic tip is like scribble it out first and see if you think its worth continuing! put as much or little effort as you care to do, just as long as you have fun

[valentijnsstuff]

I really thought last week was gonna be chill but I overdid it again huh

Monday. Go to therapy, middle aged therapist asked how my date went that I was so nervous for two weeks ago. Tell her it was a huge dissapointment, but that its a funny story to tell. Do work. Text friends. Productive day.

Tuesday my dad comes over for lunch. He fixes some stuff he doesn't like in my house, without me having asked. We go for a walk, talk about jobs. A guy comes over for an intake to be my volunteer. He is a bit posh, but he is gay, ace and funny, and he thinks helping me is a fun way to do volunteer work. Go to queer focused trans support group in the evening. See some of the homies. Do my best to sit and listen, doodle drawings for my next porn comic. End up flirting with handsome transman from Italy.

Wednesday morning I go to my GP. I'm greeted with 'Wow buddy we heard you got into crisis treatment?' (yeh I was suicidal haha) 'You say that so matter-of-factly'. Have a meeting for a big gig in november. Spend the rest of the day chilling in bed, but also finishing work for comic deadline. Go to a transman support group in the evening. Get overwhelmed, bc I've been too productive.

Thursday I feel hungover, partly from taking half a Quetiapine. Try to mentally ready myself for the evening, because I'm giving a drag workshop with other drag artists. We have an interesting group of seniors and young people, everyone is shy but very excited about doing drag. A transmasc I matched on a dating app once is there, we flirt a lil. I go home and stay up way to late to take pictures of my make up.

Friday morning I skip therapy, because I am too hungover from the workshop, and everything before it. Spend the day purposefully aknowledging how miserable my body feels. Have a sleepy date night with poly girl. She cooks, we rewatch hungergames and cuddle. I am a bit put off by her boundless energy, but I regain some of mine as soon as the make out sessions start. Hot queer sex ensues.

Saturday morning, wake up in poly girls bed. Get up with them, but the sleepyness overtakes me and I go back to bed to take nap. They come and cuddle me when I wake up, it's nice and we both express how at ease we feel with eachother. I go home and get ready to chill, bc tonight is the big night in terms of a prestigious job that I have lined up. I give a workshop at a national museum for museum night. Everything goes really well, its a huge success, I get a lot of praise from the people I work with. But trough the rushed nature of the evening, I feel very flighty the whole time, and a bit scared I am going to crash really hard. Still totally worth it.

Wake up from a nightmare sunday morning. Ultimately I feel a lot less hangover than I thought I would. Get myself freshed up and go to poly girls house, because they are having a friend hangover. Immediately get infodumped on, now I do feel hungover. Two more poly people show up. Everyone watches me draw them as furries. We have a big cuddlepuddle, I get kinda sleepy and horny. I ask poly bestie if she'd like some when the others leave (she says yes). I'm a bit cautious, bc past partners never wanted to have sex twice a week. We have a good time, but when I go home, I somehow still feel horny. Spend the whole evening pent up, especially when having a call with the longer distance transman I have been flirting with for a few months.

(Bonus) Monday, sleep out till late, go to therapy. Have a fun session explaining my lore to a younger therapist who is a huge trans ally. I stick around the therapy building to do work, because it's a nice place to sit, with a garden. Have dinner at the house of a newly made poly friends. They are a huge nerd, who keeps telling me they are demi, but then continuesly flirts at me. They open the door with 'my other transmasc friend would definitely have sex with you' (hi buddy good to see you too). We chat about childhood stuff and make pizzas. At some point they propose cuddles and watching show, bc they know I like cuddling. We watch scavengers reign, and I somewhat taken aback how intimate they cuddle, but I act casual. We talk about our definitions of queer sex dynamics, while they are wrapped around my leg with theirs 😳 at some point we tickle fight 😳😳 before I go I mention I think I smell, they push their face into my armpit 😳😳😳 (can it get any gayer) I now have flustered feelings about all this. I dream about having sex with a transman later that night.

[waywardavatarenthusiast]

Hey IDK if you’ve seen Airspeed’s video about Azula in The Spirit Temple. What are your thoughts?

Here’s the link to the video: https://youtu.be/FFNGmbBw-1U

Hi, anon!

Thank you so much for sending me this video! I can't believe I might have missed such amazing insight as to what's to come. I have a ton of thoughts on the video, but ultimately, it put me at ease.

I think the comic will be great.

When I discovered the character Azula, I was thirteen and impatient. I still am impatient, but I've only become more fascinated with Azula with time. I want an Azula redemption story. Azula deserves more than a seventy-two page graphic novel to close out her character arc.

I am overjoyed to know that the comic will be character-driven, and not feature a ton of action. Azula confronting her past through projections means that Azula is doing inner workings already. The spirit in question honestly feels like a mouth-piece for the fandom, which I love. People love to make fun of it, especially Azula's corner, but I think the amount of quality critical thinking through feminist, cultural, and literary perspectives done for one character should be studied.

I'm especially anticipating the new flashback featuring Ursa, because I myself haven't quite been sure what to think of her relationship with Azula both as a writer and fan. I'm even more excited to see some of Azula's thoughts on Ozai as they have an even stronger correlation to her thoughts on her role as a princess, sibling, and the Hundred Year War. If I understand correctly, Azula will also be met with harsh truths, most likely at the hand of Mai (definitely Mai) and Ty Lee. To be honest, I have zero clue how things will go with Projection!Zuko. One think I like about Faith Erin Hicks is that she draws a lot from the show, which would do wonders to Azula's character, repairing some of the damage that Yang did to it.

There's one fact, however, that I'm getting from the video which already makes this comic miles ahead of Yang's. I put my trust in Faith Erin Hicks with this, as she's a liberal, feminist author. Azula won't be made out to be a monster, or treated like one in this comic. That counts for everything.

I'm more interested however, in what this comic means for her character arc. I've noticed that Azula has gone unrepresented in almost all recent Avatar content, and as I suspected, this seems to be a good thing. I'm actually delighted that this comic will do little to nothing to progress her character development, because as I said earlier, Azula deserves more than what the comics could offer her.

That being said, here are my final predictions and reasonings regarding Azula's character in the near future.

I believe that Azula is getting a redemption arc. I do not believe she was originally intended to, post-show at least. Regardless of Bryke's thoughts on Azula, she is one of their biggest cash cows. Most people who don't want to see an Azula redemption aren't terribly interested in Avatar as a whole. Bryan Konietzko has already stated the comics will be relevant, but they won't be looked back on. An Azula redemption movie, in theatres, is the most likely plot to restore the prestige of Avatar (as much as I love Korra, a ton of people feel as if it dropped the ball). If the first movie from Avatar Studios isn't well received, it may very well be the last. Oddly enough, this is a fandom where fans are listened to, if the creative team doesn't have bias of personal feelings on the matter (see the author responses to the Azula fanbase and Zutara).

Thanks again!

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Great week this week.

Superman #11 - I was right that it was a Luthor under that armor, but it wasn't his sister Lena. Wish it was, this Revenge Squad is lame other than Pharm and Graft. Should've added Humanite to the mix. For a second I wondered if Williamson had forgotten the Bizarro tease, or if he had handed that off to Aaron, but it looks like Pharm and Graft simply got their hands on a dead Bizarro clone and used it for experiments with the Kryptonite. Guess the next issue will tell us the story of what went down between Lex and those two guys, I've enjoyed them but I'm ready to move on to the Brainiac storyline.

World's Finest #24 - A nice bittersweet note to end on. Magog kills Gog to keep the ALE out of Darkseid's hands... and thus alienates himself from the other heroes for good. Great to see Darkseid not job, but Waid hurt his takedown of Magog here by writing events in a way that makes the heroes chastising Magog for making the hard call come across as disingenuous. Darkseid crushed two Supermen with ease, no one else was close enough or able to stop him, Magog made the right call in my eyes. Our Superman is still willing to forgive David, and encourages him to seek redemption after the events of KC. I liked how Magog found that redemption by serving alongside a new generation including a new Superman (the Clark/Diana kid godfathered by Batman from the epilogue of KC). Until/Unless Waid chooses to flesh that story out, my headcanon is Magog served as the kid's mentor and helped guide him so he would avoid making the mistakes that Magog made. It's a nice note that Magog managed to forge a partnership with a Superman after all. And goddamn can Mora draw the shit out of Darkseid. Would love to see him do a Fourth World arc with the whole New Gods cast.

Wonder Woman #6 - Coolest Grail has been... ever basically? I'm a huge sucker for "the villain talks major shit to the hero before the two throw down" and I liked how Grail has a sense of honor compelling her to toss her own weapon since Diana has no sword. Grail constantly invoking her father as the source of her strength and pride vs. Diana invoking Hippolyta to the same effect feels like the first interesting thematic undercurrent between the two. Going to make a separate post on this, but finally, Grail brings something to the table beyond merely being an evil WW counterpart. Loved seeing Diana take on her entire Rogues Gallery, and while she might have "lost" (but since she took her entire Rogues Gallery down too I think we can say it was a tie), I think between Sov's narration and the Wonder Girls seemingly taking Steel off the board while keeping back, we can guess that even Diana's collapse at the end is part of her plan. Sampere is an absolute beast on art. Dude drew multiple pages that I can see becoming "iconic" down the road: Diana catching and throwing the Monument back at Giganta, Diana punching Grail in the face, etc.

GL: WJ #6 - I'm going to miss Varron man, even as a zombie he's such a dick and it's great to see him and John interact because of how much they despise each other Taking the form of John's dad is such a petty dick move lol. Hell yeah, PKJ's bringing in his Old God storylines from the Warworld Saga, I loved that stuff and am eager to see it continue. Great issue, John got to kick ass with all his constructs, and the reveal about the Revenant Queen is super messed up. She's a host for an Old God like Osul is, except she's Guardian John's wife. Could she be a Katma, or is this a new OC, perhaps even someone our John hasn't met yet? Can't wait to start unpacking all the Darkstar stuff next issue. Looks like the Darkstar is going to be revealed as an Aspect of Olgrun.

Batman #144 - Yawn. Another story where Joker tells Batman he loves Bats and Batman tells him to fuck off. C'mon, I liked how Zdarsky explained the three Jokers, but this is banal.

JLvGvK #5 - Alright we get it, Clark might be dead or maybe not, no need to keep beating us over the head with it. Next issue I want to see Lex's Mechagodzilla kick the BatMech's ass, let's see Lex finally get a big win. Then for the final issue, Superman comes back to team up with Godzilla and take Lex down.

Incredible Hulk #9 - Art did a good job of giving the whole story a macabre feel. Felt like I was reading a Hellboy story in certain parts. Damn Betty and Bruce simply can't catch a break can they? I hope we get more movement on the Eldest plotline soon, I want Betty to get freed and join Bruce and Charlie on their road trip.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 - Hickman wrote this issue for the people who claim he's all plot and no character - this issue is nothing but character work. We get Peter growing into his own, his first fight with a supervillain, May finds out her dad is Spidey, Ben and Jonah begin investigating, and the Maker's Council pokes their head in via Captain Britain berating Fisk (or is it Captain EU given he's French?). I liked how May was scared of Peter's black suit and that's why he's going to change to the red and blue look, just like how MJ in 616 is the reason Peter switched back to his red and blue costume. I bet we get a Superman: For All Seasons moment where someone compliments Spider-Man's red & blue look and Spidey proudly says his daughter made it for him. There's an interesting parallel between Peter and Harry here. Peter keeps getting his ass kicked by Shocker while Harry keeps failing to kill Fisk. Both of them are trying to be who they're "meant" to be, but neither is great at it from the start, I really like that. Oh and while Ben and Jonah continue to be a great duo, I loved the squabbling between Richard and May while Peter and MJ were texting each other. Really want more interactions between them.

And yes of course I loved that OMD nod at the end, Marvel & Hickman know what they're doing!

I have a theory regarding Mary Jane. Here she's a businesswoman, and just like how the variant cover for issue 1 teased May finding out her dad is Spider-Man, the variant for issue 2 makes MJ out to be very successful as a businesswoman. Given this "zone" is run by the technocrats, I think we're going to see MJ get a villainous counterpart offer to what Tony offered Peter, the Maker's Council will approach her to replace Fisk after Spider-Man deposes him, or maybe even Stark later on down the road. It's made clear the the Council has lieutenants who rule their own sections of the overall domains shown in Ultimate Invasion. MJ getting her own offer of power from the opposite side is the kind of drama that could set up a nice character arc for her. I think MJ ultimately being tempted but refusing causes them to go to Harry next, who accepts.