#gonna tag a bunch of stuff that may apply

[surachibee]

if you’ve been following a lot of my recent stuff, you’ve probably noticed (or maybe you haven’t, idk!) that I’ve been tagging a few art posts as ‘pitverse’. You’ve also probably noticed that I’ve provided no context to these posts what-so-ever! and that sucks! So to explain a bit, I present:

”surachi what the heck is pitverse”

Okay, first. ‘Pitverse’ is a working title. Maybe. It’s cheesy, but I kinda like it because it’s cheesy.

Anyways, if you’ve been following me for a while, you may or may not remember this art where I designed a bunch of pits that were loosely based on the different ending to the original Kid Icarus on the NES. Some took influence from different places (eg. the solider ending heavily drawing inspiration from Kid Icarus: of Myths and Monsters) and some were completely made up (eg. the farm ending’s design). It was fun! And it pretty much started this whole idea to begin with.

I’d draw some stuff here and there for it, but other than that I never really did much with the idea other than ‘oh hey look designs’. That is until it came up again a couple years later when I started to get *really* into oMaM stuff, which led to me coming back to the idea of a weird multiverse thing.

Thanks to a few friends, we talked about it and eventually it became like a four-swords adventure multiverse labyrinth thing. Pandora’s Labyrinth times twelve. So as it is right now, it’s like a hypothetical game where some new *evil big bad* takes a handful of Pits from different universes/timelines and plops them into some pocket dimension of different levels and challenges, and together, they have to find out what the heck going on.

Right now, I think I’m gonna try to keep it to three Pits for simplicity sake. Obviously, Pit from Kid Icarus: Uprising has to be here, that’s our guy. He’s also the protagonist! He’s left relatively unchanged in this AU. This also takes place in a post-game setting, so he’s already fought Hades. This applies to the other guys as well, even if their hypothetical “games” and adventures aren’t actually real (Factor) or heavily rewritten (Myth) here.

Good news is that Uprising Pit can still communicate with Palutena! But he’s the only one out of the bunch that can. (Would’nt that have been nice? Imagine all the work you could get done with THREE Palutenas [haha reference]). In this AU’s logic, Uprising’s world in the pocket-dimension what-ch-ma-have-it space is closer to the one where this takes place, so (Uprising) Palutena is able to establish a decent enough connection to at least communicate, though it’s not the best. The other Pit’s worlds are further away, so communication with their respective realms are off the table. This also causes other problems like occasionally “bugging out” and forgetting stuff since they’re so far from their original worlds. So Uprising Pit got kinda lucky.

Speaking of other Pits, there’s other Pits! Both of them draw inspiration from things previously done/involved in the franchise so they’re not entirely made up, but they do stray pretty far from their source material. Anyway..first, we have Factor! He’s heavily inspired by Factor 5’s rendition of Pit from their “Icarus” project back in 2007-2008 that was turned down. Here, this AU’s interpretation of the idea is a little more in line with the franchise’s overall light-hearted and goofy nature. (In this AU the Pit’s are taken from different points in time, so he would’ve been plucked from the future. I did this so 1. They all could look visually distinct from each other, and 2. the thought of Factor going “oh he doesn’t know about [x] yet” or Uprising Pit insisting Myth to NOT go after the wish seed in the future was funny.)

Next…there’s Myth! He’s based on Kid Icarus: of Myths and Monsters, and besides a few plot points he’s pretty much just a modern take on the character. He was easier to pin down because while the concept of Factor’s story was interesting, being banished from the heavens for some unspecified crime, it’s pretty vague in comparison. With Myth, there’s an entire game with a plot to go off of, even if this AU strays a bit from it.

That’s pretty much the basics of this AU! Just a couple of Pits going on an adventure getting into other-worldly shenanigans. I’m having a ton of fun with it and hopefully I can develop the idea more as I go along. Thanks for reading! There’s some extra footnotes and miscellaneous doodles below.

• This AU follows the idea that oMaM takes place in a different timeline than Kid Icarus: Uprising, hence it not being referenced (at least not on purpose, I’m looking at you aurum track accidentally having the same intro motif) or mentioned. Plus y’know, Sakurai not knowing it existed so there’s that. Might as well rework it into a weird explanation. (coping)

• All of these worlds take place in different timelines, so Factor isn’t an older version of Uprising Pit, nor is Uprising an older version of Myth. They’re all still Pit, and all of them have fought Medusa, but it had different outcomes (somewhat based on the endings) and at that point they diverged from each other. • I’ll probably change the naming of the Pits at some point. While they’re good right now, I’m not sure if I wanna keep Factor named after a company. Might have their names based off the titles of their respective games, so instead of “Factor”, “Myth”, and “Uprising” it’d be “Icarus” (based on the project’s internal name), “Myth”, and “Uprising”.

[freddie-77-ao3]

sup yall we're vibing here

anyway. hey, my name's freddie, and i'm finally trying to write an actual intro/master post which... we'll see how this goes.

important stuff is highlighted in orange.

so, basic stuff:

as I said, my name's freddie. he/him pronouns. i'm a college student (majoring in accounting, might add a psych minor). not gonna say which college but i'm currently in california.

i've been on tumblr since 2019 i think? not under this account, this started as a fandom account and then spiralled out of control... really fast. um, my regular tumblr which i've not actually opened in ages is @chronicchthonic14 so. yeah.

not particularly relevant to this blog, but i might mention it at some point so, i have autism and adhd. and some other things but. like. that list is very long and those are the two most relevant because i promise if i come off wrong/mean, i didn't mean to, i just forget to make my words normal. but. those are the two most referenced. if for whatever reason someone wants to know more or has questions you can send an ask ig?

i'm scottish, born there. moved to US when I was four. finishing uni and moving back.

some quick warnings

this blog definitely contains cursing/vulgar language, whatever you want to call it, so if you're not comfortable with that, probably not the blog for you, as i don't tag cursing or anything for you to filter out.

if, for whatever reason, if i ever reblog something that contains a slur (against racial minorities, queer people, anything) i will ABSOLUTELY tag that though.

also if anyone has any trigger warnings they think any content needs, please let me know-- asks, dms, comments, reblogs

the cursing thing also applies for sort of dirty jokes? think that only applies to like. two posts and very not explicit. those aren't currently tagged but if they get any more explicit they certainly will be.

queer identity because the explicit reminded me, i'm asexual, and probably straight. maybe bi? dunno, don't particularly care. and i'm trans. ftm. this isn't the blog i talk about that on usually though, unless it relates to a specific ask or a fandom thing.

which, getting into what this blog is for because i can't think of anything else i need to add here (guys let me know if i forgot important stuff, please, i'm an idiot!!! i will forget the important stuff and write random shit instead!! i've already deleted three tangents from this!!)

sooooo

fandoms!! ones i write and/or post about or will potentially post about

percy jackson extending to hoo, toa, tkc (definitely post way less about this), mcga (again, way less). haven't read TSATS or COTG yet, but spoilers are fine. i post way more about minor characters. write fanfiction for and have some posted (both on here and ao3) and a bunch of snippets.

dcu-- films, comics, animated shows, all of it. personally, my favorites are young justice (the comics, not show version), new teen titans, and batman inc (batgirls, nightwing, and red robin esp). late 90s yj run is my favorite, and i loved the DCeased event. favorite batman comic is definitely court of owls run. no fanfics posted, but some on docs.

mcu-- way less so, but have a stucky oneshot. slowly making my way through in timeline order.

throne of glass. i'm an aedion and chaol apologizer because they do a bunch of dumb shit but then WHO DOESN'T in this series. fanfics in doc, not posted.

this would go on for ages if i listed everything so instead, here's an ask i answered on my fandoms/genres and everything. feel free to send me asks about anyone. if you send me something about radium girls i may cry though (tears of joy) so there's your advanced warning.

main things you'll see on my blog are incorrect quotes, snippets, and the occasional fic

this^^

my... idk, contact policy? seriously what do i word this

asks are always open, anon is on.

if you send hate... whatever. i'll probably delete it.

unless i find it funny. then I'll post it. there's really little you could say to me that would hurt.

when i say asks are always open, you can drop anything you want.

literally anything

you need to vent? want advice? want to request headcanons? request a fic? give me a prompt? ask random things about me? something else I've forgotten? go right ahead

if you want to ask me to update my fics? go right ahead. sometimes i forget i didn't post something.

send as many asks as you want, i don't care if it might be spam

i can't promise i'll respond to asks in a timely manner, sometimes i open my inbox and forget they exist for months, i'm sorry. if it's something you really want answered you can send another one

dm's are alright? if you want to be friends or something, go right ahead.

anyone can reblog any of my posts/comment/heart, i don't care. you want to heart 50 things in a row? i adore you. if i had kids, you would get my firstborn

if we're mutuals you can ask for my insta/give me yours.

now, other accounts:

anyway, i think that's it?

[presiding]

i wanna hear your recommendations!

a list with some stuff i like + a request for you to share yours :)

as a godless queer who spawned on earth randomly one time, my only holiday-season tradition is charity + passionately enjoying things. in lieu of passing my followers & mutuals $100 cash, have a random variety of things you might like to try - i know we're an international bunch so your mileage may vary on what you can access. in the spirit of giving i am hoping for some recs 🎁♥

disclaimer these are just things i like i am not paid. would be great. but.

yo ho ho if you read comics & manga but always found it to be a pain in the ass to source online, here's the aggregator app of your dreams: tachiyomiJ2K. real. not clickbait. android only tho. the extensions mangacute, mangadex, allanime, and mangareader, are good places to start. as a creator, i'm always iffy about recommending this kind of thing because i'd much prefer you went out and brought the things you're reading, however i'm not under any illusions about which era we're in, media-wise and economy-wise

gemma! - webcomic what if corvo was a woman and young emily was a dragon and they went on adventures in a fun fantasy/adventure way that is Extremely Gender. pictured: gender. god i want to be her > is this the greatest webcomic of all time? no. is it that sweet spot between 'mindless fun' and 'good'? yes. you get me

laksa noodles the more intl friends i have the more i realise that laksa isn't common everywhere. don't let that stop you from trying it. ultimate comfort food. hearty noodly soupy goodness. worth seeking out fr

ways of seeing - mini-documentary so profoundly changed the way i think that i had been wanting to revisit it and so was delighted to find its all on youtube. if you're an artist or want to improve your ability to critically think about what you're seeing in media, this is a must-see. link or embedded>

FUCKING GOOD AND CHEAP GREEN TEA price comment won't apply to everyone this site offers great prices for high quality tea direct from the farm. been buying from here for years and its always amazing - i love the houjicha/roast green tea, and if you like green tea but always wish it was stronger without sacrificing taste or becoming bitter, i recommend genmaicha matcha-iri, which uses matcha to intensify the flavour. yum

incense body powder being a perfume nerd who is prone to migraines sucks. if you like spices and good incense - not the $2 kind that you use to hide cigs from your parents but rather the kind that smells like wandering into a forest temple - you'll love incense body powder. it lasts well and i'd most compare it to a softer, more gourmand comme des garçons Incense series 3 kyoto. shoyeido is the easiest to source as far as i can tell, but other brands make it too. USD$11 - cheaper than even cheap perfumes tbh - the bag will last you years. if you try this please tell me i'd love to know what you think!

anyway!! i wanna hear your recs if you have any! can be any type of thing that has recently improved your mood or changed your life or you think someone else might like?

anyone reading can go for it, consider this a carte blanche for recommendations. gonna tag a few people - you don't have to of course thank you love you <;3 @lapinneok @dangerousdan-dan @arosebyothernames @headcrabrave @corvidad @neznoodles @retired-crow @corpseprince @i-really-hate-creating-usernames @geminison @fakeshibe @skemford @loveofdetail + please feel welcome if not tagged! edit OH @nekon-ron i tried to tag your old URL. ha

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

hiiiii i don't know if you are okay with your followers ranting, if you're not just disregard this and I'm super sorry! (And sorry about any typos I'm on phone and sometimes autocorrect does what it wants)

But basically I was feeling down in the dumps and I wanted to read some content about comfort characters and I stumbled upon a Mihawk fic so I started reading and (trigger warning here!! Mentions of abuse but nothing graphic described!!! take care of yourselves and your peace!!!) it sadly was untagged with tw and for some reason, in what should have been a normal mihawk x reader, there was him being extremely toxic and demeaning towards his significant other either because he had a bad day or he was jealous and stuff like that.

I know it may seem silly to some people, but it really screwed me over. I know everyone can write what they want and headcanon characters how they want but it got me really upset and I figured someone who finds comfort in writing and watching shows and stuff could understand

Thank you for all your content, and especially for not making Mihawk abusive towards the reader. To me, he always seemed just as you portrayed him. Cold, perhaps, but not one to put you through emotional and especially not physical turmoil. Your fics and even little drabbles and comments are super nice and they helped cheer me up so thanks a whole bunch. And especially thank you for tagging tw stuff too and making this a safe space.

This applies to all characters, by the way, not just mihawk. You write all of them wonderfully and I love reading through them, especially Sanji and Shanks. It's just at that particular moment your mihawk content really saved me a good few silly tears. Thanks ❤️

This is very very important and I'm glad you sent me this. I'm NOT glad at all that you had to go through that. So I'm gonna make this a PSA.

It takes very little time and effort to add a trigger warning to a fic and there's no excuse not to. We don't know what everyone's triggers are, no; but if it's something blatantly obvious like toxic and abusive behavior, mental health troubles, graphic violence, etc:

Then, my comrades, PLEASE PUT TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE THE CONTENT.

And Anon, I'm so so sorry you had to go through that. I wholly understand the importance of comfort characters and how stumbling into that kind of fic unknowingly can essentially ruin it.

I'm beyond happy you've found my blog to be a safe space, and I hope that it continues to be one for you and anyone else that needs it.

I also understand that everyone needs to let out a good rant now and then, and this is absolutely a safe place for that too!! I'm happy to hear from anyone at any time about anything, my ask box and inbox are both always open, so please don't hesitate utilize them ❤️🫂

[randomimagesofspongebobgames]

1,442 followers!!

First off, i'm glad that this account is continuing to thrive! Even though I have been a bit too busy to update the queue I have worked to check each and every tag if I can!

I'm getting there with Lights Camera Pants at the moment though working through putting up some flash games as well to hopefully not drown everything in TOO much Lights Camera Pants haha.

I'm thinking about direct links to videos I'm getting materials from now. I have a current queue of 217 images which at my current rate will take a while to reach 0. I still have some stuff in the queue that was from all the way I started. I'm wondering if to wait for the queue to deplete or if I should start linking now. It might be confusing based on how I do my postings since I love to click that shuffle queue button after getting a bunch of images. I will still obviously be updating my FAQ but I'm wondering if I should go a little step further. I haven't fully decided yet but if I end up just going with links now you might see a lot of stuff in the queue that isn't fully linked mixed with stuff that is.

Things i'm considering for the blog also: Fan games, Mods, and Games that Include Spongebob. For each of these - unlike the main games - I will try to include a note that categorizes them based on these descriptors. Aka I'll note if they are not official Spongebob games or are games that use Spongebob's likeness

For explanations click the Read Below!

FAN GAMES:

This one is going to be the most vague admittedly and hard to define as what I apply as applicable to this blog. I understand that most Spongebob fan games lately are horror material or may contain mature topics. Even games that I was considering (If you've seen my FAQ you know i'm familiar with Around The Clock At Bikini Bottom.) may contain swearing, death, horror material, etc. So it's sorta matter of would these sorts of subject matters are befitting to this blog or not.

Though there are some games - at least right now - I'm gonna sorta avoid putting on just because they're a little too out of the realm of Spongebob. Stuff like Mr. Krabs Overdoses on Ketamine, SpongeGlock SquarePants, and Sinister Squidward. Also, some of them are just a little TOO MUCH for me lol (especially Sinister Squidward.)

Also, let's be honest, there are a lot of SpongeBob games out there that's made by younger audiences (Which I don't want to bully) or by greedy scammers trying to get money by putting Spongebob on a bike game or creepy dentist game (Which I don't want to give attention to.)

MODS

For Mods I will not be doing just simple reskins (unless the reskin is large in scale such as BFBB Winter Wonderland and Battle for Boo-kini Bottom.) Aka I won't pick mods where it's just Spongebob in Sonic Adventure 2 or Sonic in BFBB. I'll probably pick ones that are specifically mods for Spongebob games.

When approaching this particular subject i'm thinking of stuff such as BFBBMix but I understand there are probably not a lot of Spongebob mods under those sorts of criteria.

SPONGEBOB-INVOLVED

This is just a coined term for things that include Spongebob in some way such as Nicktoons Unite! / Spongebob Squarepants and Friends Unite!. I'd probably skip on material that doesn't have much to actually offer in content (Nicktoons Racing, Nicktoons Party Blast, Nicktoons MLB.). I want to use games where Spongebob characters have an actual impact on the game through dialogue or story (so things such as All-Star Brawl 2 Campaign could count since each of the characters has active dialogue!) However, i'll try to keep the focus on Spongebob and Spongebob characters!

[sequoiareachesforthesky]

Ok I'm gonna give a warning for this one : please check the TW in the tags before reading. Because I'm gonna go into some real life examples in relation to the first tw listed in the tags, and it's not something that's usually talked about in the Milgram fandom (at least as of late). I won't go too deep into the topic, but still, be aware of that.

Edit: since people reblog this without necessarily tagging the tw, here they are: TW for police brutality, abuse and torture.

The way I approach Milgram is : What the prisoners do inside the prison is their problem. The only thing we have power over is the vote and maybe the kind of voices the prisoners hear. That's it. We don't have power over the prisoners' actions. They are responsible for their actions inside the prison.

Sure, they may give us indications on what they intend to do and what they might be able to do depending on their verdict, but you know what? That's their responsibility, not mine. Kotoko is the one who chose to go around the prison with a bat to beat up guilty prisoners. Not Es. Not me. The prisoners are mature enough to make their own decisions and I'm not here to enact preventive punishment (because preventive punishment/policing is just fucked up).

So if Amane tries to hurt other prisoners or convert them if she's voted innocent? Her choice, not mine. Because that hasn't happened yet, you know? For all we know, an innocent verdict might make her reconsider things, or the way she approaches things. The only choice I can make is whether I inflict pain directly and with certainty by voting the prisoners guilty (psychological torture).

I have really strong opinions on preventive punishment/policing because of some stuff that has been happening in France lately. There has been a lot of protests for a bunch of different reasons and the way the police was instructed to "take care" of them is just alarming: a bunch of random kids being put in custody (even though we have the right to protest) just to dissuade further protests, or just sending a lot of police force because the protest might go violent (which in turn just increases the tension among the protesters. How effective./s). One of the reasons protests have been happening is that a cop shot a kid in the chest because he could have caused a car accident (I'm summing things up here but that's pretty much what happened). And if you don't see the problem in this kind of preventive law enforcement (which is simply not the role of the police, punishment must be decided in court, not before a trial has even started), well I'm afraid we just can't get along.

I know Milgram is different, but the latest events have made me especially cautious of arguments that go "we should do this violent thing to prevent another violent thing to potentially happen". It just irks me. I'm not mad at people who vote Amane (or other prisoners for that matter) guilty or whatever, it's just fiction and I realize those people wouldn't act the same in real life, but I do think we are going off too many assumptions about things that are not certain to happen and that aren't our responsibility anyway. And most importantly in my eyes, we think we have a bigger influence on Milgram than we actually do.

Sorry for the rant about the police. In this post, I'm talking about the situation in France specifically, and I realize it doesn't necessarily apply to other countries. I just wanted to explain where my aversion for preventing policing comes from and give examples of how it can really derail.

Anyway that's it. That's the post. Hope you're having a good day.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group A Round 3: #A8 vs #A2

#A2: Girls do DIY together, but after a new industrial revolution

#A8: Badass woman deals with the supernatural

Details and poll under the cut!

#A2: Do it Yourself!!

Summary:

This series takes place after the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Serufu and her childhood friend Miku/“Purin” both applied to an elite school, where advanced technologies are incorporated into the curriculum. The tech-savvy Purin is accepted into the school, but accident-prone Serufu is rejected and enters a traditional school instead, driving a wedge into their friendship.

On her way to class one day, Serufu encounters Rei, who has a passion for old-fashioned crafts and is the head of the school’s Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Club—which is in danger of closing due to a lack of members. Realizing that this may be her chance to repair her relationship with Purin, Serufu joins the club in hopes of creating projects that could bring them together once more.

Propaganda:

It’s just a really feel-good series with some great characters. I adore all of them and their dynamics with each other, especially the main dynamic between Serufu and Purin as it develops. I’m a really big fan of the show’s angle on stuff such as do-it-yourself crafts following another industrial revolution, just because it does frequently bring up the question of “What’s the point of DIY if in a year or two/maybe even now a robot could recreate the exact same result?” through characters like Purin (who is the major character with the lowest opinion on these kinds of crafts at the start, since she’s in the technologically advanced school and has beliefs more in line with the efficacy of technology rather than the joy of human creation), with the short answer largely being because it’s just fun!

I first watched this show before I saw a lot of AI stuff intruding upon art and rewatching it after sure was fun, because I love its ideas on the worth of doing stuff that machinery could do much faster. It’s not super complex or emotional, but that largely goes in its favor, because it really doesn’t need to be those. It’s just a fun little anime about a bunch of girls having fun together through one shared hobby that some of them had from the start and some of them adopted. I also love the opening, and the ending is a massive comfort song for me. The series can also be very funny at points, and is usually super heartwarming.

Trigger Warnings: None.

#A8: Trese

Summary:

In Manila, where dark supernatural forces pervade the criminal underworld, it’s up to one woman to keep the peace—but there’s a storm brewing.

Propaganda:

It’s the first Filipino anime (at least, that I know of) to feature the country’s supernatural creatures, so if you’ve only watched Japanese anime up to now, you will find the magic in Trese very novel. I also like how the protagonist is a woman when the Lakan, in Philippine history, tended to be a man. She’s also quite badass. Although she has two bulky twin sidekicks who can serve as her bodyguards, she is in no way less than them when it comes to fighting. The show’s on Netflix with different language audios. If you’re gonna watch it in English, you can even hear Dante Basco (Zuko’s voice actor) voicing one of the minor characters.

Trigger Warnings:

Child Abuse – for the episode about a reanimated baby

There’s Violence from fight scenes. There’s also Gore for when the monsters get killed brutally, but because of the art style, it doesn’t appear that extreme.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[coconox]

honestly been going back and forth w myself on a lot of things lately attaching a read more for the sake of ik i'll be rambling like theres no tmr

a part of me wants to drop pnc but i havent really gotten everyone i wanted yet + im broke so i need to build my stash up *looks at clotho and eos* oddly enough pnc has been a game ive been pretty happy on playing still hate how i missed a login day tho tbf ive rarely borderline never interacted w the fandom so me just being in the dark w what goes on there has kinda been a blessing and a curse in a sense that i can enjoy the game in peace but it feels like im alone doing so

pgr im really REALLY tempted on dropping my glb acc, once nocti comes around which will prob be around the end of the school yr for me thats where i'd be like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ welp ig im done and drop that acc after playing around w nocti and whatev. tw im still not too sure abt?? prob when i get around to lvling up my main teams i can be like ok im done and drop that at any time since im just there to experience content ahead of time without being in cn directly

before dropping pgr entirely i do wanna complete a few stuff i had in mind tho

countdown for hyperreal which will prob happen bambi patch

still need to finish that nocti countdown for tw ive barely had any motivation completing that

nocti's bday countdown (similar to how lee's went)

glb nocti's countdown

draw every char up to latest one in cn

a few noctiskk comics thats been in the back of my head for MONTHS now

basically LOTS of countdowns and nocti stuff before i drop everything entirely

will i still draw pgr stuff after all that? mayyybeee???? itll moreso be towards kye's lore building rather than it being a standalone thing. i'll still collect merch and build up my shrines and make cosplay for chars but aside from that i'm pretty much gonna be moving on to other things

ive always had 50/50 feelings w being in the pgr fandom, tho being introduced to it on disc and then going to twt may have affected my views on this whole thing. esp when the side of the fandom i was first introduced to is like the lowest of the low, i dont want to go back to a place where a bunch of dudebro incels made fun of me for being afab and liking lee and me thinking that was a norm when it clearly isnt. its been 2 goddamn yrs and theyre still poking fun at that?? like my god grow up im so sick and tired of it.

if by a slim chance i still want to participate in being in the pgr fandom i'll just go back to lurking like ive always done in prev fandoms, if i really wanna be active in talking abt the game i'll talk abt it in servers or dms, but publicly i felt that i could never really comfortably talk abt how i feel abt it aside from here cause this site >>>>>> bc i felt like my opinions arent valid, tho that really applies to anything i do so 💀💀

pgr has been a really nice game for me to destress and detach myself from reality for a bit, tho now i wanna move on to other games and focus more on my ocs like i did back in the day. once i properly set up everyone's lore doc maybe in the future i'll make a game around them, nothing too big since i'll pretty much be making most of it, but i kinda wanna fulfill my childhood dream that was just recently unlocked

theres also that small part of me that wants to be known for my oc stuff rather than pgr stuff, but bc im not tagging w popular art tags im kinda just existing, and thats fine by me. hitting 500+ follows on twt was like peak realization of me going like "oh shit, 😨 maybe this big of a following aint for me" and it truly isnt lol

[still-capricious]

WaZzUp? NaMe’S gAmZeE. hE/hIm. WaNdErEd ThRoUgH a WeIrD dOoR aNd NoW i’M hErE. iT’s A cOoL pLaCe, LoTs Of DoOrS aNd StUfF. aNd ThEn ItS cOnNeCtEd To ThIs OtHeR pLaCe WhErE tHeRe’S lIkE a BuNcH oF cOoL cReAtUrEs So ThAt’S cOoL tOo.

WhErE aM i FrOm? Oh MaN tHaT’s A lOnG sToRy. BaSiCaLlY i LiVeD oN aNoThEr PlAnEt By ThE bEaCh BuT tHeN mY bUdDiEs AnD i PlAyEd A gAmE, gOt SeNt To LiKe AnOtHeR uNiVeRsE oR sOmEtHiN, lOtTa OtHeR cOnFuSiNg ThInGs HaPpEnEd...

BuT aNyWaY, i’M hErE nOw, AnD tHaT’s MiRaClEs! wItH mY nEw BuDdIeS iN tHe InCuRsIoNiStS! sO hErE wE aRe NoW, i’M iN tHiS nEw WoRlD, aNd I’m JuSt GoNnA bE cHiLl AbOuT aLl ThAt. NoT lEtTiNg ThE pAsT wEiGh Me DoWn, AnD lIvInG iN tHe MoMeNt WiTh My PoKeMoN aNd My BuDdIeS.

AlSo BtW i ThInK i EnDeD uP iN tHiS wOrLd BeFoRe BuT iT wAs LiKe, AnCiEnT pAsT oR sOmEtHiN. gOt LoSt AgAiN aNd EnDeD uP hErE

My ‘MoNs

GoOpEr, A mUk

aRlEcChIo, A mAsQuErAiN

sMoKy, A tOrKoAl

CaIrN, a StEeLiX

sUrFiE, a MaNtInE

dEnDrY gEaN, a ToRtErRa

Well, it seems the Chains of Time have begun to rust, such that even one such as the Jester Redeemed may escape. This will be interesting indeed. And what's this? Visitors? Well then, allow me to introduce myself: Baron Twyst Von Jokewyld at your service. But what's in a name? That's for me to know. This lost clown has quite the journey ahead of him, together with the astronaut lost’s little band, and I have my role to play in that. I'll also be posting on here, when the fancy strikes me. Ask as much as you want, I'll see what I feel like answering!

//OOC under the cut

//OOC: Hiyo! Call me Cyber. I use they/them, I’m over 18, and this is my first time RPing as a  character that isn’t an OC so please be nice (in-character hate is fine)

I’m still learning so if I mess up don’t hate me

Events and plotlines are 100% OK and encouraged. I might even have my own later

Pelipper Mail and Malice are both on, as is Magic Anons, and interaction is encouraged

Sentient pokemon are welcome here

The usual tag warnings and DNI apply for a PokeRP blog, also for this blog specifically there’s a blanket warning for Homestuck, and a few warnings for liminal spaces as well.

Also yes I use Gacha Club. If that's a problem I'm sorry

Facts about Gamzee (as far as this blog is concerned):

Gamzee is part of the Nebula Incursionists (see @nebula-incursionists-official )

Gamzee is technically a faller so he still has much to learn about the pokemon world

Gamzee has been to Hisui before where he wandered around for a while but didn’t really pay attention to what was going on around him

As far as this blog is concerned Homestuck ended at the credits. The epilogues, HS^2, and all of the other stuff aside from the main comic never happened 

Gamzee is from the end of the comic, but can't remember anything from after beating the Black King in the troll session

Gamzee is high despite not having sopor, he has discovered how to use shedding from his Grimer to emulate the results

Gamzee will not under any circumstances use strong language on this blog due to personal reasons (nor will I due to past trauma). He is ok with people swearing around him however.

[jamiscrazy4krerdly]

Happy Mermay gamers!! To celebrate I ate a gummy bear and wrote an ENTIRE 60 Chapter mermaid Krerdly fanfic just last night!! Not really but trust me I am tempted, instead here’s something smaller because I found the concept funny. I call this one… “Fishing For Crits”!

EXT. SECLUDED ROCKY SHORE SIDE - SUNSET

Merbird Berdly, posing tentatively against a rock with soggy feathers: I concur, you WOULD make good company for my impending excursions… alas, the only way for us to walk along the same soil is if I beseech THE SEA WITCH *lightning strike x4* to grant me a pair of stick-structured chicken legs and you’d be a PLEBIAN to think I’d go to such lengths for a single travel companion- ACK!

Kris cannonballs into the water, splashing the avi-phibian and further dampening his vaguely water resistant feathers.

Kris, grinning cheekily behind their already kelp-filled hair: Lets go turn me into a merperson.

Kris snatches up Berdly’s wing in their fishnet-styled, fingerless glove covered hands and watches him expectantly.

Berdly, adjusting his glasses (GOGGLES??) as his seafoam irises glimmer: Y-yes! Lets!

-one epic five-minute-swim adventure later-

Kris with their head in an air bubble: *signing at Catti that ghoul should totally give them gills and shit*

Catti with tentacle hair or whatever: k *blasts them with dark magic*

And then Kris swims out the door and shows Berdly (who was required to wait outside) that they are a mer now!!!! YAY!! Then the two of them go off to dress up and travel together and MAYBE fall in love, idk… you can’t really say for sure… its up to interpretation, really… (they eventually make a habit of gazing longingly into each others’ eyes and exchanging ocean facts late into the night as they lock their tails together and lay alongside one another at the bottom of the sea).

The End!!!!

—

Okie that was fun, I’m just gonna type a bunch of randomly selected but definitely Deltarune related thoughts down now. :P

You won’t even believe which character I’m not done talking excessively about yet- it’s CATTI!! This demigirl just unlocked a new pronoun and by the goddess it is he. WOOHOO! Rockin that She/He/Ghoul swag… I probably won’t actively use it in my w.i.p fics because there’s almost always someone with a he pronoun on screen and I don’t want all that stuff to get jumbled up but it will DEFINITELY be in the fic tags and perhaps actively said by Catti ghoulself. YAYAYA!! Y’all have no idea how long I’ve been itching to post about this, applying the he pronoun to ghoul just makes so much sense to me idk how to describe it but yeah. YEAH!

I’m genuinely terrified of writing a Catti POV fic thing because I love a good side character that makes a lasting impression but I could TOTALLY flesh ghoul out more if I tried… maybe after I get through my current projects I’ll consider it.

SPEAKING OF PROJECTS!! I may or may not have three now. Derp. The new one is smaller and I’ll probably be done with it first to get it out of the way but I don’t plan to post it until the first two projects are done but yeah. Don’t think I’m going to do a Halloween fic afterall ;n; but there’s always next year.

Btw this is random but in my first ever Krerdly fic I had the two attend this thing called Alternative Prom and apparently that doesn’t… HAPPEN in the mainland?? I feel like I made it pretty clear what it was but I’m making a callback to it in my super secret fourth project *GASP* so I mine as well address it: Alternative Prom is a dance held specifically for LGBTQ+ teens, basically. I went once when I was in 8th grade and it was MAGICAL y’all… and then I proceeded to NEVER GET TO GO AGAIN because it got cancelled due to covid hitting during my freshman year and it hadn’t recovered by the time I graduated my senior year (this year) so yeah. I really hope it comes back for the future teens tho!! I MIGHT be romanticizing it a bit but oh my godssss was it such a fun night. I still have the rainbow flower crown and pin as a souvenir. I used to wear my pride shit to school like allll the time, I was a rainbow princex and shit!!! Hell yeah!! I’m a frickin inspiration!!

Ok ok less about me now. I lowkey already outright said so in my Valentines fic but I headcanon that Kris and Catti are exes, right? Well it’s about time that I reveal the dramatic story behind their breakup… Kris wanted to kindate Beastboy and Raven from Teen Titan with ghoul and when ghoul said no it was all over. </3 I hope I didn’t make anyone too emotional with that one. /s

BY THE WAY… a new challenger might have entered the ring that is my infested brain. I’m definitely not gonna tell you guys because it’s my little secret OK FINE it’s M.K!! They are the guy ever and I’m DEFINITELY biased due to their iconic role in Undertale (ty Ask Frisk and Co. ask blog for changing my life for the better). Anyway so yeah they’re awesome and they’re precious and if I’m alone for two seconds I’m going to start shipping them with everybody so. Uhm. Idk if the world is ready for my M.K x Berdly rare pair…

BUT THEY BETTER BE READY FOR CATSEI because it’s been festering in my mind an d oo ooh my g osh… it is so based……………. almost too based, honestly. Like in my headcanon-ing brain the puzzle pieces fit together really well (fashionista x fashion designer) but I don’t. Know... there’s like a mental block that’s not letting me enjoy much past the original idea of their first meeting. If I try to envision their domestic life together I end up with big blurry blanks in the picture where their bodies should be. Which is PRECISELY WHY in my SUPER SECRET FOURTH PROJECT that isn’t super secret anymore they will undertake a magical adventure together through a dark world and tighten their bonds and Jockington will tag along and maybe put them in precarious situations and help them… do something idk it’s just a spontaneously slapped on B-Plot addition to one of my older Krerdly fic ideas but idk maybe something beautiful will bloom out of it!! IN DUE TIME, because it’s gonna take a while. Yea yea yea. Plus I need the excuse to write Ralsei more. His jolly little clap has been one of my dominating stims for a while now.

Also!! Also!!!!! Uhm!! @v@‘ Not super related at all but as I briefly mentioned I finished high school recently and it’s scary (bad thing) and I’m not in contact with anyone I know from there anymore (good thing) and like I’m kind of a bump on a log that’s in dire need of a job (the library thing was a student position) and am definitely nearing a low mentally (very bad thing) BUT I am battling so hard and writing helps so much (it’s like the only active thing in my life right now lol) and yeah… it’s giving going into chat rooms in Amino and telling people I’m depressed (NOT SOMETHING I DID I SWEAR)

As a reward for making it this far here’s two out of four of my outfit boards for my not-so-secret third project that isn’t coming out anytime soon!! Once again featuring my ultra cringe sprite edit of Kris that gets me giggling every time and doesn’t even apply here because both of their eyes will be concealed in this one but yeah!

It’s so obvious I’m a Nintendo kid it’s not even funny. -v- (HIGHLY EMBARRASSING!!)

[stargazeraldroth]

Rainy here again to agree with you on your tags!

People definitely get very… Intense? About how very specific characters are portrayed by the fandom, regardless of how canon that portrayal may or may not be. I swear, it’s the same reason I interpret Error as such an asshole sometimes, in my own AUs- I’d be much more open to him being a better person if people weren’t so. Damn. Insistent. On him being the good guy and slandering Ink in the process.

If 404 is as hyped up as Error’s alleged moral superiority is, then I can see why it’d annoy you so much… I don’t actually know much about Alphatale and the characters, but it seems like something that’d get to me, especially if it’s played in conjunction with making Ink out to be the bad guy.

🌧️ Rainy Anon 🌧️

I'm gonna keep it real with all of you, I genuinely don't remember much about Alphatale. I remember bits and pieces, but I haven't actually checked the AU's canon in a while... both for Alphatale and Alphaverse. I don't even know what the difference between them is. All I know is that I care about 404 and sometimes the Astral Mother when her involvement is convenient for me, and that I feel like I'm entering an active minefield whenever I have to go to the wiki to check something.

Honestly, I do kinda understand why people can be so insistent about sticking to the canon. I do think knowing what's canon and what isn't is important! I'm not trying to downplay the canon or the work put into the AU. While I'm not the biggest fan of Alphatale/Alphaverse, I do think there's a lot of passion and care put into the project by its creator, and I admire that. I want to be like that, able to create and work on an ambitious AU project regardless of what people might think of it! I honestly don't have much serious beef with the AU, all of my irritation and dislike for it comes from people who try to pressure me into perfectly abiding by it. It's the same situation as my relationship with the FGOD concept: I don't hate it, I actually quite like the concept, but fans end up ruining it for me.

And before anyone says anything, yes I know, I shouldn't let other people ruin things for me. But after so long of the same stuff, it gets tiring. I feel like if I were to include 404 in something and then abide by Alphatale canon, it would be more limiting to my creative freedom than its inclusion is worth. My creative freedom- in my own AU- would be far too limited if I took every canon factor into consideration. And that's not fair to me, or to anyone who is trying to make an AU.

Because, see, people generally disregard the complete canon for characters like Ink, Error, and the twins on an almost daily basis. When you make an AU for Undertale, you kinda have to accept that people might interpret your characters differently and aren't guaranteed to stick to the canon details. That goes for anything in general, not just the Undertale community. But it especially applies if your AU/characters are very popular in such a big community. You don't have to agree with it, but you do have to accept that things like this will happen. Not just as a character creator, but as a fan of such works too, because I can guarantee that everyone has strayed from canon at least once. If everyone strictly abided by canon, I bet more than half of the Undertale community's content wouldn't exist. Hell, even Underverse- one of the most popular pieces right now- wouldn't exist because parts of it conflict with the characters' canons.

For example, Nightmare canonically cannot feel anything other than negative emotions. Dream cannot hate anyone, even the douchebag that he calls his brother. I believe it's canon that Ink doesn't remember tearing his soul apart, but I'm not 100% sure, I think I'm like 50/50 on that one. And yet, we don't always take these factors into consideration when making content.

AUs exist for fun. The whole point is to have fun with a bunch of different ideas. And when it stops being fun and feels more like a chore, where there's too many set-in-stone rules to follow based on what characters you include, then there's a problem. If we don't get shit for turning Ink into evil incarnate or wobbifying Error into the UwU-pocalypse that everyone hated, then why should people get shit for straying even the tiniest bit from 404's canon? I'm genuinely asking, what makes 404 so special compared to everyone else? What makes 404 above everyone else to the point where we aren't allowed to have even the smallest bit of fun with his character? What makes 404 the one where we have no choice but to follow every single aspect of canon?

I nerf 404 when I include him in stuff. I make him weaker than he is in canon. Why? Because it's convenient for me and fits my AUs. If I kept him as overpowered, untouchable, and unbeatable as he is in canon, then there's no point in including him at all. Because then he could either just solve the problem with a snap of his fingers or, in the situation where I have him as the villain, there's nothing that can be done. I change his character to fit into the AU because that's the only way his existence will work.

And I know what you're gonna say, "But Stargazer, you don't HAVE to include him!" yeah, you're right. But I also don't have to include Ink. I don't have to include Error, the twins, Reaper, CORE, etc. But I still do. Because I like their characters and it's fun. It's the same for 404- I like him and it's fun to use him in a story. Also, some parts of his canon just don't work with the AUs, such as him being Error's mentor. He's also just not as mysterious as some people seem to think he is... if we're taking all of canon into consideration, it's very likely that Ink knows he exists lmao, and it's not just some "I saw someone who looked like Error... but white!" (this sounded funnier in my head)

Also, just wanna mention this piece: Some of the canon with 404's character directly conflicts with the canon of other characters, such as Error, who canonically DOESN'T have a mentor, which makes it counterproductive and hypocritical to the argument of sticking to canon in the first place.

Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about 404 and I have a lot of passion. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to really communicate my thoughts in a way that's very coherent, so I'm sorry if I'm like. All over the place with this. There was more I wanted to say, I think, but I don't remember what it was. I also wanna give a quick shoutout to those people who comment stuff like "404's the strongest Sans" on stuff where he isn't involved or doesn't exist!!!

I guess the main takeaway from this would be that it is possible to be compliant with canon aspects while also having as much creative freedom as you want, and you shouldn't sacrifice your own enjoyment for your own AU just because of canon. AUs exist because people deviated from canon, so arguing that you absolutely have to abide by canon 100% is going against the very foundation of AUs. And abiding by one AU's canon 100% can interfere with the canon of another AU (for example, I believe Comyet confirmed that Canon Ink wouldn't do the X-Event, but Cross's canon requires Ink to do it, which is a direct conflict/contradiction of canon), so you may as well just have fun with doing whatever the hell you want.

Honestly, I've been pressured into just. Stopping some fanfics entirely because of people constantly leaving comments about my 404 portrayal not being 100% accurate to canon. Yet every other characters gets a free pass?? Erm... okay?? And if you leave comments like that, giving unwanted "corrections", I just have one question for you: Why? Literally why? What do you get from this? What motivates you do to this? And yes, I know I said one question, but I don't care.

Like I don't always like how FGOD stories/AUs portray Ink and/or Dream as villains, but do I leave comments preaching about canon or anything? No, I just stop reading it. I get nothing out of leaving that kind of comment except being an asshole, and I'd probably make the author feel bad. Which I don't want. Their work doesn't exist to cater to my wants and what I think is best, their work exists for THEM. Just like how my AUs and my work exist for me. Yeah, it's fun to share them with people and interacting with others because of them is a nice feeling, but at the end of the day, they only exist because I want them to.

I'm just gonna end it here. My head's starting to hurt and I'm worried that if I continue, I'm gonna get too passionate about my opinions and start sounding cocky or like a righteous ass.

[nagichi-boop]

Aight imma lay all my auditory cards on the table. And by that imma throw out a bunch of little auditory issues I have for input on what could be causing them because I have no idea what’s what anymore (and I wanna know if my doctor was right to dismiss me or if I should pester them to look into it).

I’ll put the stuff under a readmore cuz I don’t want people who follow me to be annoyed by my ear problem rambles.

Bear with me cuz I’m rly bad at explaining things like this. :’)

• Sometimes when people talk, it causing and uncomfortable crackle/popping(?) sensation in my ear and can be borderline painful.

- Happens more often over zoom calls (especially on tablets where you can’t turn the volume very low) and phone calls but also happens irl if people talk somewhat loudly.

- Often causes me to try to “politely” cover the effected ear(s) or sometimes distance myself from the source of the sound.

(This has been an issue since about 2018 I think. That’s when I first noticed it.)

• Freak out when I hear buzzing insects or similar sounding noises. Sounds loud and intense and I tend to cover my ears, become more sensitive to stimuli and cry. If I’m exposed to the stress for too long I become jumpy and find it difficult/impossible to talk for a while. (This has been an issue as early back as I can remember.)

• I don’t necessarily struggle to hear but I misunderstand what people say a lot, especially if the room is noisy.

- For example, I can’t understand what people are saying when I’m washing dishes cuz of the sound of running water.

- I also just generally struggle to understand people. I either just hear noises or I confuse the words. (I have been called “deaf” many times cuz of this issue.)

- Sometimes I’ll understand what they said midway thru them repeating themselves.

• I get occasional ringing in my ear but it’s not constant. It only lasts for a few minutes tops and seems to come and go randomly.

• I just generally don’t cope well will loud noises. Sudden ones especially. Like fire alarms or phone notifications make me very anxious. (In fact my phone is actually on silent all the time because of this. My phone only vibrates for calls and that’s it.)

• I often get irritated by my ears and I scratch them cuz they feel full and sticky, though I usually just clean my ears at that point.

These are the ones off of the top of my head. Idk I’m likely overreacting but the first two definitely have a fairly big impact on my life. The first one makes it difficult to concentrate or be in the room for conversations or zoom calls cuz it’s uncomfortable painful. And the second means I rarely go outside due to fear of bugs. I also don’t open my window cuz of them. Plus the embarrassment that comes along with it isn’t fun - everyone judges me.

Some possibly helpful side notes:

• I am on a waiting list for autism. My brother is diagnosed with it and my dad probably also has it (but refuses to get diagnosed).

• I suffer from what I assume to be migraines and have since I was a kid. My dad was diagnosed as having them.

Uhhh so anyways, hopefully someone out there knows what the hell I’m talking about. I’m assuming they’re a mixture of issues but I’m open to any experiences, input or advice!

[nim-lock]

Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant. 

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional. 

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant. 

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist; 

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet. 

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works. 

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job. 

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post. 

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them. 

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job. 

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client. 

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant 

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule. 

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way. 

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you. 

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy. 

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more. 

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it. 

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you. 

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE  Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines) 

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up. 

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc. 

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on. 

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers. 

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers. 

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back 

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So:  Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em. 

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you! 

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

–

Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha. 

My reference post tag My tip jar

[haus-seeblick]

Suptober Day 3: Rainbows

Title: We’ve Got Your Back, Jack

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 1,660

Tags: Mild (brief) Angst, Dean Winchester and Castiel are parents, De-aged Jack Kline (he did it to himself), Jack Kline is twelve, Fingernail painting as therapy, Claire is an excellent big sister, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Canon Divergence from 15x18 (twelve years later), Jack has a guinea pig named Nougat

Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Claire Novak/Kaia Nieves, Background Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy

On AO3 Here

When Jack is teased at school for wearing his favorite rainbow jacket, his family comes together to help build him back up.

“Sunshine, you gotta calm down.” He moves to stand behind Cas where he’s sitting at the kitchen table and squeezes his shoulders reassuringly. There’s hardly any give; Cas is a single ball of tension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean sets a steaming mug of tea in front of Cas, who glares at it with such intensity that Dean’s surprised it doesn’t shatter on the spot.

“I can’t calm down,” Cas growls. “He was bullied. The sweetest boy in the world, and they made him feel small. How are you calm, Dean?”

Dean sighs and pulls up a chair. “He seemed fine, Cas. I mean, he is God. He was already talking about changes he wants to make once he comes back into power.”

Cas grips his mug and takes an abrupt, angry sip. “I wish he could make them now.”

“Me too, buddy. But he’s learning. Every shitty person he deals with, he learns something. That’s why he’s doing this whole human thing, remember?”

The kitchen’s quiet for a moment while Cas contemplates. He cups his hand over the tea, steam escaping between his fingers in lazy tendrils. “It’s just my instinct to shield him from cruelty.”

Dean nods. He scoots closer, sliding an arm around Cas’ warm, solid waist. “I know.”

Some of the rigidity in Cas’ posture softens and he leans into Dean’s side. Dean presses a kiss to his temple.

“What can we do?” Cas asks quietly. “For now. I want him to feel happy at school.”

Dean hums thoughtfully. “Not sure. The school already talked to the other kid's parents, so that part’s taken care of, and Jack said it was just the one boy. I think we just gotta be there for him. Remind him he’s awesome.”

“I just want to wear my rainbow coat.”

Dean and Cas turn around to see Jack standing in the doorway, rubbing his eye. He’s wearing the bee-patterned pajamas Cas got him for his twelfth birthday in the spring, and is cradling his guinea pig, Nougat, in one arm.

Cas immediately stands up and beckons Jack over. “You couldn’t sleep?”

Jack shakes his head, as earnest and deliberate as he does everything. He pads across the kitchen and hands Nougat to Dean before sitting down in Cas’ empty chair. It took Dean a while to get used to the guinea pig, to her sharp nails and shrill squeaks, but now he likes having her warm little body against his chest.

Cas flips the kettle back on to make Jack a cup of tea, too. “Did that boy’s teasing start with your coat?”

Jack plays with the strings on his pajama pants and nods. “I don’t understand. When he said those mean things and laughed, he felt—” Jack pauses, blinking thoughtfully at the ceiling. “He felt afraid, like he was cornered. Defensive.”

“His emotions must have been strong for you to sense them,” Cas says gently, pouring the steaming water into Jack’s favorite mug, a blue one with a big sun on the side. Dean slowly strokes a finger over Nougat’s soft brown head. His chest feels tight.

“Yes, they were. I feel bad that he’s scared,” Jack continues. “And I’m going to work on helping people like that when Amara gives me my powers again. But I also just want to wear my coat.”

He’s twelve, Dean thinks. He’s God, and he’s twelve.

“You’re gonna wear your coat, kiddo,” he says, bumping Jack’s foot with his own. “That other kid, it sucks that he’s hearing shitty stuff at home. And it’s not your fault that he took it out on you. Trust me. If you wanna go to school decked out in rainbows, we’ve got your back.”

Cas nods and crouches down next to Jack, handing him his mug. “Dean is right. Our priority is helping you be yourself and be happy during your time as a human.”

Jack shuffles his feet a little. He cups his hand over the mug just as Cas had done. “Um, in that case, can I ask something?”

“Yes, of course,” Cas says.

“Well, my friend Mallary likes painting her nails. They look so cool. But she said boys don’t usually do that.”

“And you’d like to,” Cas prompts. His eyes meet Dean’s for a moment.

Jack nods. “Rainbow.”

Dean stands up, cradling Nougat snug against his chest as the guinea pig emits a startled squeak. “Well, then, you’re gonna have rainbow nails. I know just who to call.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claire sweeps into the house the next morning — Sunday — in a whirlwind of hair and shopping bags. Even though they heard her coming all the way up the driveway, swearing and dropping things, it’s always a shock when she bursts through the door. Kaia follows quietly, with a fondly exasperated smile on her face. She rolls her eyes at Dean and he stifles a laugh.

Claire stomps into the living room and dumps her mountain of bags onto the couch. “Hi, old men. Where’s my brother?”

“Hello, Claire,” Cas says, lips quirking. “I see you’ve come quite prepared.” He’s leaning in the doorway to the living room, arms crossed, an old t-shirt of Dean’s stretched over his broad shoulders. From his perch on the couch, Dean lets his eyes roam appreciatively; Cas has been ageing ever since he returned from the Empty a human, and the years look good on him. He even has a bit of silver in his wild hair. Twelve years together, and Dean still can't believe his luck.

“Yeah, well, Dean calls me saying my baby bro needs a confidence boost, I’m gonna go all out.” Claire starts emptying the bags onto the coffee table. “I brought every color I could find.”

As if on cue, Jack appears in the doorway next to Cas. His hair is still rumpled from sleep but his eyes are shining, taking in the rows of nail polish that Claire is lining up on the table.

“Wow, is that all for me?” He practically bounces into the room and sits cross-legged on the floor, picking up a blue bottle.

Claire ruffles his hair, disheveling it even more, and sits down next to him. “Hell yeah. And for your dads, too.”

Dean blinks. “Uh— you want us to— yeah, that idea was for Jack, actually.”

This time it’s Kaia’s turn to stifle a laugh, and Dean shoots her a dirty look. Cas chuckles and pushes off the doorframe to join Dean on the couch. He takes Dean’s hand in his own and lifts it up, lightly stroking one finger at a time as he looks at the short, blunt nails. Dean may work hard at the garage, but he’s hygienic and doesn’t bring any grease home, under his nails or otherwise.

Now, he blushes a little as Cas brushes a kiss onto his knuckles. “Dean will look beautiful. Just like Jack.”

Jack whoops and shoots Dean a dazzling smile. Dean can’t really say no to that face.

It’s decided that Kaia will paint Jack’s nails rainbow, a different color on each nail (Jack insists that some should have polka dots, too), and that Claire will do Cas’ and Dean’s. Dean tries to ask for just black, like Baby, but gets shouted down by everyone in the room and grudgingly agrees to a dark green. When Claire is done wiping down his nails and applies the first brush of color to his thumb, he has to admit it looks nice.

Jack keeps exclaiming in delight every time Kaia starts on a new color, and nearly loses it when she reveals that she got some tiny glittery stars to sprinkle on the drying polish.

“It looks like a galaxy,” he breathes, eyes wide, moving his fingers gingerly in the light from the window. Dean glances at Cas, who’s getting his nails painted a holographic blue, and is surprised to see a bright sheen in Cas’ eyes as he watches Jack. He’s smiling softly. Dean reaches over (careful of his own drying nails) and lays a hand on his shoulder. Together they watch their kid — sort of God, sort of not — reclaim his happiness one sparkly fingernail at a time.

Once everyone’s clear coat polish is dry (Dean had no idea there were so many steps involved), they take a bunch of pictures to send to Sam and Eileen. Dean almost considers hiding his own hands, but Jack’s gazing at him so excitedly that he splays them on the table next to Cas’ without a second thought.

They do look cool. Sam even says so in his text, after a string of heart-eye emojis.

Claire and Kaia head out after lunch (Cas quietly packs up about half of the nail polish they brought, pressing it into Kaia’s hands to take back home with them). Jack spends the rest of the afternoon picking out a suitably colorful outfit to match his nails at school tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This was a wonderful idea, Dean. Thank you,” Cas says that evening as they’re back at the kitchen table, Cas nursing his usual mug of tea and Dean packing Jack’s lunches for the week. “He was so happy. I hope he’ll be okay tomorrow.”

Dean slides the last sandwich into the fridge and lays his hands back on Cas’ shoulders. They’re warm and pliant tonight. He digs his fingers in, leaning down to kiss Cas’ cheek.

“He’ll be okay. He knows we’ve got his back.” He’s quiet for a moment and runs a hand through Cas’ thick hair, following a silver strand with his shiny-green thumb. “That counts for a hell of a lot.”

Cas twists around, covering Dean’s hand still on his shoulder with his own and gazing up at him. “You are a good man, Dean Winchester. A good man and an excellent father.”

Dean sucks in a big breath. “All right, sunshine. That’s about all the feelings I can handle today.” He grins down at Cas, though, just to assure him he’s fine.

And he is.

[foxofninetales]

You say "hurt/comfort", I hear "Liu Sang". :P We whump because we care.

For this batch of recs, I'm trying to pick ones that may have not gotten as many eyes on them so I'm excluding everything that appears in the first 5 pages of results for the Liu Sang tag on AO3 (sorted by kudos). There's some amazing stuff there, though, so if you like these, go browse!

pain's a well-intentioned weatherman by Slutspeare https://archiveofourown.org/works/39627858 Rated G No warnings apply Liu Sang, Wang Pangzi Tags: Tomb Curses Cuddles, Touch-Starved, Mild Touch Aversion Summary: Liu Sang touches something he shouldn't have, and ends up on the receiving end of a curse that makes you feel pain unless you're in physical contact with someone. This is bad, because Liu Sang doesn't do touch. And besides, no one wants to touch him either. Right? Why this rec: Sex pollen is out, hug pollen is IN. I love me some PangSang, and Liu Sang facing the mortifying ordeal of being snuggled.

Unexpected Pilots by daydreamorama https://archiveofourown.org/works/40193190 Rated T No warnings apply Liu Sang, Iron Triangle Tags: Alternate Universe - Space, Asexual Character, Chronic Pain, Massage, Getting Together, Established Relationship, Mental Link, Angst, no sex involving ace-spec characters Summary: In a world where pilots are paired up and form mental bonds assisted by machinery, Liu Sang, a newly graduated pilot, will have to learn what that means for him, personally. Why this fic: Pacific-Rim-style mental links are always choice, and combine them with massage (for medical reasons! really!) and you're in for a good time. Lots of good ace feels.

clear water to the bottom by dinomight https://archiveofourown.org/works/34784434 Rated T No warnings apply Liu Sang, Wang Pangzi Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Rumors Summary: He scowls over at Pangzi, who’s currently holding a bloodied bunch of tissues to his nose and tilting his head forward. When he catches Liu Sang’s eye, he grins. Or tries to. It ends up being more of a grimace, especially when he starts talking, all nasally and stuffed up. “Ready to talk about it now, or are you gonna punch me again?” Liu Sang turns to stare, pointedly, at the green canvas wall across from them. (Or: an encounter brings up old conflicts for Liu Sang and Pangzi.) Why this rec: I love the complexity of the relationship between Liu Sang and Pangzi here.

Lost and Found by Alxina, Merinnan, xantissa https://archiveofourown.org/works/43158291 Rated G No warnings apply Liu Sang, Wang Pangzi Tags: Alternate Universe - Space, Space Opera, Spaceships, Psychic Abilities Summary: Liu Sang knew that he'd be discovered sooner or later - it wasn't like a stowaway could stay long hidden on a small ship, after all. He just hadn't expected he'd be found quite so quickly, or that it would turn out like this. Why this rec: Part of a larger series that hits so many of the space opera notes I love. As always from these authors, top-notch hurt-comfort.

With Gritted Teeth by MountainRose https://archiveofourown.org/works/43532844 Rated T No warnings apply Liu Sang, Huo Daofu Tags: Medical Procedure, lack of painkillers, Past Drug Addiction, Body Horror, Liu Sang's unique responses to pain, Physical Restraint, ear trauma, Canon Compliant, Bugs Summary: Liu Sang needs some medical attention after they make it out of Thunder City. Why this rec: "Sensuous" isn't usually a word you would pair with "Hurt/comfort" but by golly it's the only word that will do.

You'll be (in) my heart by Sanctified_Jasper https://archiveofourown.org/works/34178974 Not Rated Creator chose not to use warnings Liu Sang, Kan Jian Tags: tomb traps, Near Death Experiences, Poisoning Summary: Liu Sang is scratched by a tomb's dart trap. A tomb's poisonous dart trap. Thankfully he has Kan Jian, so it's not nearly as bad as it seems. Why this rec: Leave it to Kansang to have me going "awwwwwwww!" even mid-whump.

KanSang week 2021 art by psychicwaffles https://archiveofourown.org/works/35426752 Rated G No warnings apply Liu Sang, Kan Jian Summary: 7 days of art for KanSang Week 2021 Why this rec: Though not narrative, several of these pieces tell a story of whump or comfort. Beware the feels.

Happy Pangchang Week art by scaredysap https://www.tumblr.com/scaredysap/690825685727690752/happy-pangchang-week-2022-this-ones-super Unrated (G or T) No warnings apply Summary: this one’s super cheesy but nobody gets kidnapped and threatened with guns like these two, I had to pay homage to that Why this rec: LOVE the emotion here - these two aren't going down without a fight, especially not when they're together.

Unreliable Narration (podfic) by Thimblerig of a work by fox_of_nine_tales https://archiveofourown.org/works/39288075 Rated T No warnings apply Liu Sang Iron Triangle Tags: Canon Compliant, Injury,temporary disability, Caretaking, Competence, Podfic Length: 1-1.5 Hours Summary: Liu Sang can do this. He’s a professional, after all. That’s why the Iron Triangle brings him on these trips. He can map, and fight, and hold his own. Except now they've been separated from the others, and they're trapped, and Wu Xie's hurt, and their supplies are running low, and Liu Sang - Liu Sang can do this. He always has. Why this rec: I feel that I'm cheating a little because I'm the one who wrote this, but Thimblerig did such a BEAUTIFUL job with this podfic it deserves some recognition.

Fanvid: Struggle by Canary3d https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWdvVxr-rI Warnings/rating: what you would expect for clips from the show Summary: Liu Sang, whump magnet! Why this rec: Because I have watched this video sooooo many times it's not even funny.

DMBJ Recs Round 3: Hurt/Comfort

the post is up here. I am so excited about everyone‘s recs!

[dimancheetoile]

I need your support

Hi, lovely people, I’m Mako, your friendly disabled agender neighbor. I’ve been quiet lately, and not present much on here. I did put out some art, which I’m really happy about because I’m not in a situation that encourages creativity. And the situation is what I want to talk to you about. Basically, I was kicked out. I’m not getting into details, because it hurts and it’s personal, but the tl;dr is that I was living with one of my parents after finishing uni, while I was job hunting and trying to grow a small art business online with commissions. Unfortunately, although the money helped a lot, right now commissions aren’t enough to support me at the rate I’m receiving them. 

At the same time, I was still job hunting, but as some of you may know, I have a physical disability, I can’t really walk and I can’t stand at all for more than a few minutes, so you can imagine that the “classic” young people jobs like waiter, barista and cashier aren’t really suited for me. But despite that, I still applied for jobs that will basically destroy me because of my chronic pain, and that’s because I don’t have any other option. 

I don’t have a home anymore. Right now, I’m living with my other parent but it’s temporary, because they are living with their spouse and it’s not their house, it’s their spouse’s so I can’t stay for long. Today, I’m leaving the house after about three weeks of being able to live there. I’m not really sure where I’m gonna go. I’m going to my other parent’s place to pick up some stuff, and then I’ll see where I end up. 

As you can imagine, it’s not the best situation at all. You know where this is going, but the little twist is that I can’t accept donations. Not only for my, admittedly stupid, dignity, but because the employment center is checking the money I’m getting and it’s illegal to get donations this way in France. 

So here I am, sincerely asking. If you like my stories, if you like my art. If I ever brought you good feelings, emotional times, joy and distraction from the world, if only for a moment. If you’ve ever commented on one of my stories with the nicest words I’ve ever received (really, thank you so much. Some days, your tags and comments are the only thing keeping me going). If you’ve ever cared about me, a bunch of pixels and words on the other side of the world. If you’d like to help out a disabled person, for your own peace of mind, to feel better, I’m not judging, far from it. Then please, consider helping. Please.

I take art commissions, in the Naruto/comics style, I do photorealistic portraits you can gift to family and friends or even to yourself. I do reimagining of Tarot cards with your OC or fanart.

I do writing commissions, drabbles or longer fics, from a number of fandoms and ships.

I have a wishlist, with supplies to grow my art business, a couple of books, and some “survival” stuff in case I end up in my car.

If all the above are too expensive for your budget but you can still spare a few bucks, I have a ko-fi, where for two (2) ko-fi you can get a short drabble or a character sketch of your choice. Nothing as refined as commissions, but still.

And if you can’t afford to help (trust me, I’m the last one to judge), please share this around, send it to people who might want to help me, or who would be interested in an art or fic commission. I would be truly grateful. Thank you for reading, and for reblogging. I wish you well, and for the world to be kinder to you than it has been to me.