#honestly this stuff keeps me from getting art block

[cartoondrawer]

Hello! Can you do Justin x Ezekiel, please!

bro just wanted a hug

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @jijidraws

Jiji Knight is a latina pinup illustrator. Her work is overall geared toward thick ladies and dedicated to fat positivity out of a purely selfish need to create art she wished she had seen growing up. She often features sexy and soft macabre themes on vibrant or sweet colours and takes great joy in making folx feel good about themselves with her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and operates out of her very sunny hometown of Las Vegas.

Check out our interview with Jiji below!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

Oh my gosh… I have art blocks all the time. My favorite way of overcoming it is by making fanart. Funnily enough, that’s something I don’t do in my own work anymore. But there are still IPs I return to that still bring joy to my heart. I love returning to drawing Sailor Moon like when I was in first grade. Or I’ll even look up the last fashion week and start drawing the fashion week outfits from the Paris or New York show. Stuff like that is what gets my creative juices flowing.

What medium have you always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

Resin. Resin art is so stunning. People make the most amazing and beautiful sculptures using resin, and I don’t think I could ever bring myself to play with something so complicated. There are a lot of ways to cure it, and sometimes, it doesn’t cure properly…I already work with enough chaos as it is! I respect resin artists, but I don’t think I would ever touch it. I’ve admired it from a distance. There is an artist I follow who does these resin layer paintings. So they’ll paint a layer of resin, then cure it, and paint on top of the cured layer. They build up these amazing paintings using resin…I could never. Maybe one day!

What is one interaction you had with a fan of yours that has stuck with you over the years?

I still remember…It was my first and only Flame Con in New York. I had a fan come up to my booth. They didn’t say hello or that it was nice to meet me. They started to cry! They cried, and the first words out of their mouth were, “I’ve never seen myself in artwork before.” So, of course, I started to cry! So we were just crying across the table at each other. It was just one of the sweetest interactions, and it really sticks with me still to this day.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

My latest collaboration with the artist Missupacey. We’ve been collaborating for two years now, and our last collaboration was for Midsummer Scream. It was two very cute clown girls, and I designed our T-shirt. It was one of the most fun projects we’ve done in a long time. We love doing collaborative work because it keeps working in the art industry fresh—being able to bounce ideas back and forth. So we do it where someone picks the color palette, and someone picks a theme. We’ll get references together, put them on a big board, and send each other sketches. It’s really nice to work with somebody else.

How has technology changed the way you approach your work?

Honestly, it changed everything. I mean, I used to draw for myself a lot. And while I still do that, I now predominantly draw for my Patrons. For a while, I was drawing for the internet. So I was drawing stuff people wanted to see in terms of plus-sized versions of characters—a plus-sized Poison Ivy or a plus-sized Sailor Moon. My Patrons have allowed me to start drawing for myself again. But technology, for a while, essentially dominated what direction I was taking with my art, so I’m grateful to take some of that power back.

If there is one thing that you want art enthusiasts to remember you by, what would it be?

Body positivity. I would love for them to remember that there is an artist making work that is making people feel good about themselves and about the way they look at themselves.

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Have a method of taking money, have a method of displaying your work, and have a way to take a break. I have a plastic picnic cover that costs like a dollar at any store. All I have to do is clip it to my display grates, and it covers up my entire display. I feel secure enough to take time for myself in a 10-hour workday to eat something, go to the restroom, or even take a moment to breathe and reorganize my inventory. So it’s so funny that this one-dollar piece of plastic is like the most life-saving item in my display of items.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@mayakern comes to mind. She is another body-positive artist who expanded into making body-positive clothing. She’s amazing, and just to see someone else out there promoting body positivity. Maya’s been doing it longer than I have, I believe. It feels good to know that I’m not alone. Her work is always stunning, and I love her body-positive DnD characters and the fact that she’s still plowing through the clothing industry. For example, she’s expanded from skirts to button-downs and even custom-wrap shirts. I love to see what she’s doing, and it inspires me to pursue different avenues with my own work.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, Jiji! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @jijidraws.

[epickiya722]

When I tell you I'm so sick of this.

Yes, yes, Bakugou used to be his bully and all that yadda yadda. Oh my gosh, wow, a bully in the story! How dare such a thing exists!

Okay, stop clutching your pearls. Even Bakugou knew he was a total ass and it's not something he ever got away with like that, let alone he does grow up, so chill.

But if you're gonna go that route, throwing Todoroki in there to be like "it makes sense to pair them instead" is kind of strange because even though Todoroki didn't bully Midoriya, they did still immediately start on the wrong foot. I mean, Todoroki could have killed Midoriya in their match but I don't see people going "I don't understand how people can ship them, it doesn't make sense to me when Todoroki could have seriously killed Midoriya that one time".

I have seen people ship Midoriya with characters worse than Bakugou, but OMG, it's their ship that gets tackled on the most and at this point, I see it as a trend.

I see it as someone has to do because they're a follower.

Honestly, it's just getting ridiculous.

If the ship doesn't make sense to you, it doesn't make sense to you, who cares? But posting about it like this and then tagging it, doesn't do anything good.

No one who has caught up with the anime and manga would post about the ship in a rather negative way would be "it doesn't make sense to ship them".

"What if they aren't caught up?"

Even so, does it need to make sense? Is it an actual necessity for someone to have a ship to make sense if at the end of the day they're just entertained by the mere thought of it and not bothering you about it?

Take it from someone who ships Miruko and Burnin and is her favorite MHA ship at this time. We ain't see them have no onscreen interaction. That didn't stop me though and going "Hey, I think you two would look cute together".

There are ships in this fandom that have a way worse relationship in canon and still people ship them.

"I see art that depicts them being cute together." Okay, so and? Are you losing HP from it like some video game character that has yet to move out the lava? Do you grow a horn every time you see cute ship art of it? It's not the only ship drawn out there being cute together. It's not like there aren't cute moments in canon for them. Then stop looking at the art. Why are you looking at the art? If you keep seeing BakuDeku art, clearly... you're in the area. Probably on purpose.

I know if I keep seeing art of a ship I don't like it's a me problem because I have the choices to not follow certain people, block the tag, etc.

Maybe you shouldn't be in the MHA fandom at all given the amount of art for them anyways that's official.

Look, I'm not bothered by someone not liking Bakudeku. Could really give zero crap about it, honestly. I have ships I don't like either.

But what bothers me is posting about it, attacking the ship and tagging it.

We all have our opinions and I believe, good or bad, post about them.

However, people do shit like this and then mask it as "having an opinion" when really they probably want to start drama.

"But, Kiya, what if they're not trying to start drama? What if they don't know the proper way to tag?"

I call bullshit and I don't care. Oh, yes, I sound like a bitch, but let's be real here.

Stuff like this happens no matter where. It doesn't just happen on Tumblr. People have done this over and over and over to the point that it is hard to believe that person isn't trying to start anything.

New or not, people by now should know that if they're going to say something negative about a ship, don't draw in the shippers.

If this person didn't want to start drama then why bring TodoDeku into this? "Make it make sense." That right there is a sign of "I'm starting drama". Uh, people do happen to ship TodoDeku. I even ship it. It's not like people don't at all in the fandom ship them and only ship BakuDeku, so stop.

It's not like this person or anybody who does this is genuinely asking and do what to know because maybe they are genuinely curious and/or considering the ship but first wants to know more about it.

No, they're just being hostile. This is not an opinion. It's an attack disguised as one.

If you don't like the ship, okay. But if you're going to post about it, don't tag it.

This isn't even about BakuDeku only anymore. I see this with ships that don't even have anything wrong with them and in different fandoms. It's tiring, it's annoying and just takes the fun out of shipping.

[sunnysunnatko]

[[tw; old drawing ahead]]

Welp. Ignore any mistakes, its almost midnight<\3.

Kg3 is coming at 5 pm CMT tomorrow!. Might drop a drawing. Don't get your hopes up, though. (:

Anyway, what I wanted to say is, honestly, good luck. It's only going to get wild from here. More people, lots and lots of new content. But, new people also mean weird people. If you ever come along a weirdo (dark/proshipper, incest enjoyer,..) ignore, block and report them. Don't encourage them, don't interact with them, and most importantly, don't let them ruin your super awesome energy.<3 Keep posting fanart, headcanons, fics and so on! Those people should not get to you, you're better than them.

I wish my friends lots of luck, happiness, strength and motivation. I only hope that this only brings us closer. You're the best online friends I've had, I love and value deeply each one of you. ♡

I waited 5 years for this game and it's finally here. It's crazy. And it's real. I can't believe it. I still remember some vivid memories of 10 year old me (yeah I'm that young lolsies) watching gameplays, looking through fanart and creating art of my own using gacha life bases. I look back and think how much I've improved, how much I've changed. It's really weird to think about. I'm so excited for all the new content and lore!! It's going to be so much stuff to analyse and discuss.

I'm excited for all the new fan content. I'm excited to see amazing artists and wonderful fanfic writers. I hope I can keep up with all the content,,,I just know I'll be super overwhelmed the first weeks. Hell, maybe even months :D. But I think it's all worth it for this game.

Sorry that I'm getting emotional, I'm just really happy right now!! I've had two of my dreams come true at almost the same time, it's hard to keep it in :DD. I got into medical//nursing school and my favorite game series is getting another game. I feel like the luckiest person right now!

I wish you all well. See you with more Kindergarten content so so soon .ᐟ

[papsthepepsota]

IMPORTANT!! 🔞

I got blocked lol. I'm just gonna repeat what I said on twitter. It's very concerning that there are many minors popping & shamelessly posting games clearly not for their age and stating how they're a minor? (Where are your parents bruh) This just shows that kids aren't dumb they're really just ignorant.

I honestly dont wanna deal with this but I do belive it's our responsibility to not blur these lines. There is a reason why many accounts say in bold for minors to not interact. Many of my friends who are in the fandom have been getting shitty treatment like art getting reposted without permission and some have gotten as far to send death threats. We seen a pattern and these are mostly from minors cuz ye ofc they're very immature. However what shocked me the most is that some adults also act like this and it gets me very frustrated 👺👺

And ofc we gonna post about these stuff. This game is not for minors and I don't get how much clear we need to be. There isn't much we can do tbh and this is something parents should monitor. There are many great visual novels for minors such as Mushroom oasis, Klein v.0.1, where winter crows go, and or our life!

This is not a good excuse. This isn't drama its an actual issue in this community where we adults get effected. Most have kindly told many off (not me tho im a fucking cunt). You also cant expect @fantasia-kitt to keep on repeating HER RULES and expect her to not to feel disrespected. Seriously there are many other games you can safely play, so go play those.

This isn't 'harmless' at all and you kids are very stubborn to understand this concept. It feels like you never had any adult to tell you no. You kids have been coddled and let off so many times that you have normalized this to the point of entitlement. Also y'all realize Fantasia is on TikTok too and she knows about these? She is a indie developer too, her game isn't created by a big company.

Ofc you are being 'cancelled'. Your being told off for a thing that you aren't allowed to do, but ur too oblivious to realize it. Again this game is for adults AND INTENDED FOR ADULTS what a shocker!!! Yet many of the replies in the comments section aren't from adults. You are all dumbasses and Fantasia has mentioned she probs will be only giving access to future games on Patreon cus all of u lil shits. "me getting cancelled by the fandom that's happening LMAOO" so all those comments went one ear in and out? You are very aware what you are doing and don't get surprised if there are any consequences.

My mind is kinda all over the place already cuz I been having a lot of personal stress and I just wanna come back from uni or work and see my favourite characters all oil up 👅😈

[bigshotautos]

Ok so this is gonna be very random and weird and I'm not even expecting to get a reply out of this but I just reallyyy needed to get this off my chest and stuff. So like I LOVE YOUR STUFF SOOOOOO MUCHHH I can't even begin to describe how much happiness and inspiration seeing your art and yk your profile in general has brought me through all this years (I think years yeah?). Like I'm so serious whenever I'm having a bad time or something I literally scroll down your profile even for hours on end. and don't get me started on how happy I am to see someone who still ships spamvil and just continues to create such amazing and thoughtgul content of them. All those sketches that magically turned into fully colored and polished masterpieces, all those paragraphs analyzing relationships dynamics and god knows what, those AMAZING tags under every post and your reblogs YOUR REBLOGS. Like seriously HOW do you simultaneously make AND find such cool stuff???? Do you have like a secret gold mine where you find all those beautiful posts?? I'm just so thankful to have ran into your stuff yk? Idk how to explain it but it just makes me happy like nothing else does, especially cause this whole year I've been having awful very awful art block and I'm like very much not creative at all as a person so you're so cool to me for everything. Also I don't even need to mention this but the way you draw spamton and jevil is like divine like I'm so speechless seriously and it's not just the way you draw them it's the way you depict their character and their relationship so well altogether!! Now I really reallyyyyy don't expect you to even read through all this but there is something I actually wanted to ask you yk? Like this whole spamtenna thing has been aching me honestly, like I can totally see the ship's potential and everything I think it's a great ship with great dynamics amazing story and development behind it, just a very good ship with a lot of potential. Point being I still enjoy spamvil much more and I've been seeing sooo much spamtenna ship art and all and I miss spamvil SO BAD (idk what I would do without your content tbh) so basically I wanted to get your thoughts on their story, their relationship, any ideas of how things between them used to be and how they would be now, just how you feel about it in general and how you think their dynamic is, I've found myself agreeing 100% with all the headcanons you talked about in here so far so I'm very curious to hear your opinion on all this since I've been hearing a LOT of opinions and analysis about them recently. Um so if you've read through all this you have NO IDEA of how greatful I am rn I hope you have a great day!! ❤❤ (also I'm so very sorry about the rant like really sorry but I just needed to get this off my chest thank you for everything you did until now)

HIIIII THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE NICE MESSAGE!!!! i love seeing people go crazy liking my stuff and youre definitely a familiar face. :-) thanks for writing such a kind and thoughtful message, i never could have imagined my little blog would have such an impact on someone! i hope you can get drawing soon, even little doodles help start up the juices.

going to throw thoughts under the cut for Interested Parties

i DO fully know what you mean about the spamtenna wave, but quite honestly the way i think of it, i'm just going to keep doing what i'm doing, even if spamvil is seen as even more of a "crackship" than it already was in the past. quite honestly even years ago people were putting spamvil fans up on the cross for no reason and i'm just keeping with my cockroach like tenacity of sticking to my guns.

SO about the Spamton and Tenna relationship, from what we know in canon was that there WAS a period of good times in their past, a time where "their smiles seemed so bright...", but I think the room itself and the poster can alone speak a lot about what we know about Big Shot Spamton, considering the only other "faithful" depiction of him in-game is the Cungadero ad. He lives through his perfect photoshoots, manicured and manufactured images of success and prestige, but we know it's a lie, we know there's someone putting their thumb on the scale and helping him along. Tenna does not, Tenna sees a potential business partner, someone to strive to be, someone to admire. That poster to him represents happy times, a beautiful glimmering past that he wishes he could preserve, now in this wrecked room that time has made an unhealed wound.

Spamton, the way I think of it, would approach Tenna as an accessory to his own success, a status symbol, and a potential person to manipulate. He knows he didn't make it to where he was by his own merit, so he's trying to leech off of the qualities that made Tenna appealing to not only other Darkners (Tenna having the charisma and pull to create the TV World out of the purple wastelands) but to command the attention of Lightners. Just as Spamton is trying to extract as much value from Tenna, Tenna himself fears aging out of usefulness and wants to know how Spamton became so successful. I do think though, that on Tenna's part, he is coming from a place of genuine admiration and trust, whereas Spamton from the beginning saw Tenna as a stepping stone, just as he does everyone else.

Initially, I see their partnership going off well, communicating a lot, going on rides together, talking together, it all feels like big things are coming. Spamton slowly appropriates things from Tenna, Tenna appropriates things from Spamton, to the point where us as players have difficulty figuring out what quirk or character detail came from who. But occasionally, the cracks start showing, with Spamton coming off as a little too controlling, his jokes a little too dark, his actions showing a lack of concern for any consequence. Tenna, unfortunately, is already on his hook. I can't fight against the Spamtenna narrative that Tenna had a crush on him, or even if something existed between them, but I feel fairly confident in thinking that it was far more one-sided on Spamton's part even if there was something there.

To elaborate a little, this could just be me Coping, but a lot of the 'slam dunk' spamtenna stuff comes from Tenna's part and not Spamton, and the Valentine cards that reference Tenna on Spamton's part aren't exactly indicative of a functional dynamic.

This one references Tenna's lines, and if it's directed at Tenna (though it probably is directed at us as the e-mail recipients instead of Tenna, just using his words) it's using an emotional connection to manipulate him for his own gains, pretty standard Spamton stuff.

This one, referencing South of the Border (song that plays on the Tropic of Love) mentions the relationship "going south", meaning that even if Tenna associates that song with the Tropic of Love, Spamton has a negative association with it.

Finally, the Wedding Ring page that links to d_a_m_n_y_o_u_t_e_n_n_a shows animosity towards Tenna, not showing affect for him, but at the bottom of the page you can highlight that he actually regrets how his relationship turned out with Mike, not yearning for reconciliation with Tenna. It isn't exactly a Spamvil win of course but it makes me think that his relationship with Tenna was far more transactional than it was affective, at least on the part of Spamton. I've already headcanoned that Spamton had fleeting relationships with other people during the Big Shot era as an expression of his new status, them being expressions of his success.

This isn't to say that Spamton isn't without his own feelings and insecurities and his struggles, he would have extreme fear of expressing genuine emotion with anyone. Admitting and allowing a weakness for someone who's set out to Win Capitalism is even worse than failure itself, it's the hope that he can claw back to the top that keeps him going during the days after his downfall. I can see him having a fondness for Tenna as a friend, but if the relationship existed I could see Spamton going through the motions because it's the most "advantageous" thing to do, privately questioning why it doesn't actually feel right to him. And coming from my Spamvil poisoned perspective, I don't think Jevil would particularly mind the relationship existing, my Big Shot Era headcanon was that they didn't actually get together romantically during that time, but the seeds for it were planted before Jevil got locked away.

Just a personal thing, I think the Spamton and Tenna dynamic after CH3 would be kind of fraught, for the same reason it'd be difficult to salvage Spamton's image among other Darkners. What he did to the "lightner's dream" to get his Spamton NEO form was particularly appalling to Swatch (previously referred to as a friend by Spamton under [Easels] in the ' * WE DON'T NEED ANYONE ELSE!!! WE DON'T NEED [[Easels]] or [[CRTs]]!' line) and even to Seam, who one would expect to be more emotionally checked out. Tenna differs ENORMOUSLY from Spamton in that he's actually experienced the positives of being in a family and from having genuine, non-transactional friendships, and centers his role to Lightners as a pillar of identity. Not that Tenna is without his negative and darker side, but comparing how low they're willing to sink, Spamton would do anything, Tenna has much harder limits. Learning what Spamton did would be a hard blow to existing goodwill, it'd definitely be something to have to work through.

Quite honestly, not sure if it's controversial or anything, but Mettatenna makes more sense to me in terms of Tenna's growth, in that he moves on from negatively fixating on Spamton and his idealized vision of the Dreemurr house during his golden days to gaining new experiences in the ghost house. To me it symbolizes not romanticizing a past that hurt him and forging new memories, something that I see in Spamvil. Jevil exists as a boogeyman in Spamton's head for his strength, not for his fame or pull. I always think that while Spamton has to wear a mask with Tenna or with anyone else, there's nothing Jevil particularly expects from him, he finds Spamton in himself entertaining as a novelty at first, and then as someone who's a funhouse mirror of his own experiences. For me, Spamton and Jevil having a relationship accepts moving forward and moving past preconceptions in a way that comforts each other, neither of them have to pretend to be anything to fall into lockstep.

I hope this somewhat answered your question, LOL. I left out a lot of detail because I don't want to overwhelm you, but this is generally my thoughts on it. TL;DR: Spamton and Tenna's dynamic adds flavoring to Spamvil, I continue to live my life peacefully and happily.

[honeyhotteoks]

Is this a safe space to vent about something? If it’s not, feel free to delete my message. Has anyone noticed the sheer amount of AI generated stories lately? I don’t find joy in reading anymore. I'm hunting for fics written by real humans like water in the desert. People don’t seem to understand that reading something created by AI just isn’t a beautiful experience. I don’t feel anything when I read those fics. And if you're going to post a fic written by AI, keep it to yourself, I don’t want to see it. Stop pretending it's your work. I really appreciate people who put real effort into their writing and don’t use AI at all. You are truly amazing, and I’d read a hundred of your stories over any of that AI junk. Oh, and one more thing, those of you who write stories without any help from AI, I truly appreciate the effort you put into your work. I’d much rather wait weeks or even months for the next chapter to be posted than read something written by AI and posted every single day. I hope this message didn’t bother you, but I really needed to say it to someone.

hey! definitely a safe space and definitely happy to have this conversation.

i honestly do have a lot of thoughts about this, and it's for me pretty complicated because outside of my smutty little fic i work in a field that demands a lot of conversations about AI / use of AI and I just feel very weird and torn about it.

obviously there's horrible environmental and economic implications and all of that, which i won't get into but think we can all acknowledge..... but the affect i'm seeing on art is pretty painful to me as someone who spends so much time writing and planning.

i think for me personally.... AI is one of those things where like..... if you want to hop into Chat GPT and be like "write me a drabble about xyz specific thing" because you want to kick your feet over it and just get the dopamine hit, i really don't care. you probably shouldn't do that considering it's going to destroy the planet, but i'm not going to call you a bad person or something, i get it. what you do in the privacy of your internet browser is between you and god.

i also personally don't mind if people use a writing software with AI to edit their works (such as grammarly etc.) i've never actually used them outside of a professional email setting at work where my company pays for a subscription, but i can understand how lengthy the process of editing is and how nice it could be to have something be just like.... a better spell check and grammar check tool. i post stuff with typos all the time and it makes me sooooooo annoyed at myself when i catch it, but i don't have a beta reader and it just is what it is.

the problem for me, which plays into what you pointed out, is actual generative ai and content creation. if you understand how ai works are created, how work online is being scraped for data, and what it means to be derivative.... then ai writing is not writing. you can certainly come to my inbox and explain nuances of using generative ai for content ideas, outlining, etc. and honestly.... whatever, you do you. i don't like it, but i also know writer's block sucks etc.... but the idea of having a tool write something for you in full and then posting that and claiming it's writing? it isn't.

people have scenario ideas all the time, think about every twitter thread or imagine, and those are forms of writing sure, but if i fed that into chat gpt and asked it to turn it into a 10K word fic and then i turned around and slam published that on AO3..... like i'm sorry but what the fuck are we doing? i don't understand who that's for. the only thing i can think is that the people doing that want the attention that writers in these spaces get or wish they could do it, but either they aren't a good writer naturally or they don't want to put the work in to learn. in my opinion.... if you post an AI generated fic and get positive comments, they're not praising you for anything, they're praising chat gpt for successfully plagiarizing actual art. i'm not sure what the comments or clout those people are getting is actually doing for them except for giving them momentary ego boots.

and truly like.... not to talk up my own writing, because i'm not trying to be cringe or pretend i'm some great writer (like i'm out here writing rpf kpop porn trust me i have a good grip on reality) BUT - i spend hours and hours and hours on this. i spend hours outlining, i spend hours researching, countless hours writing, editing, making edits for my headers, like..... truly it's the thing that consumes my brain because i love it. i have a drive in me to write that is unlike anything i've ever felt otherwise.

if you all knew the sheer number of half written fics on my google drive of just like.... i had a dream about xyz scenario or can't get a particularly thing out of my brain. it's insane. i literally have a 60k word fic for yunho that i will never publish because there are topics and experiences in it i don't know if i'm comfortable working through in writing publicly, but i write it in my spare time because it means something to me to do it, and to have that (literally like therapy)

i write because i have to. if you guys weren't here reading it, i'd still be doing it. i can't get my brain to calm down without it, but then being able to share it and have it embraced? that's extra for me.

i really appreciate your words. and i agree, if you're someone using AI to generatively write your fic.... i also really don't want to know. i also really don't think you deserve the comments and kudos at all, and i think deep down you also know this. i personally hope those people can find creative outlets that suit their talents if that's something they want to do, because as someone who's been writing for well over a decade, it's been the most fun and rewarding process of my life. i sucked when i started, like really REALLY sucked, but it's something i had to do, and i got better.

writing is a little bit of a gift, i'm sure, but it's also a learnable skill. ai is never going to help you hone that skill.

okay rant done.... i hope this makes sense. let me know if anyone has thoughts on this!! i'm super curious. i've been noticing other ai fic popping up and just feeling weird about it too.

[telamonisms]

✦INTRO+RULES✦

✦Who am I?

I'm merely someone obsessed with Telamon and by extension, Shedletsky, you may call me Illumina though.

✦What are my pronouns?

He/They.

✦How old am I?

22.

✦What do I write for?

Despite the name of the blog, my name, the layout and more, I don't just write Telamon, this is a multifandom blog and I will write mostly whatever I'm into at the moment, only x readers though.

✦What kind of things do I write?

I'll write x readers, SFW, NSFW, Gender Neutral and Male readers, headcanons, oneshots, who knows maybe even a longer fic, drabbles and more honestly just about anything I feel like, I'll also write gore/guro so if that's not your thing off you go.

✦What kind of things do I not write?

Basic DNI stuff like loli/shota, zoo and such, pregnancy, "sibling/child of" readers or "reader that is like X character from different franchise" readers, depressed/SH/ED readers, Female readers, songfics, yandere, some kinks/fetishes, OC x canon, character x character(unless it's character x reader x character), I will not write more than 3 characters at once per ask so please do not request so(unless you're requesting character x reader x character in which case each instance of it counts as 1 character so you may ask up to 3 CxRxC's), probably some more but I forgot.

✦About my writing:

I am forever stuck on phone, forgive the formatting issues, English is not my mother language, forgive my spelling mistakes, when writing HC's and the like I will no longer write for the full cast as there's simply way too many and doing so quickly gets draining as well as time consuming, if you do not specify character I will pick them at random, I will write characters with my own headcanons for appearances and more, if you don't like them off you go, I reserve the right to say no to your request, do not be rude. I do not allow for the feeding of my creations to AI of any kind, that includes chatbots.

✦NAVIGATION+MASTERLIST✦

✦Masterlist✦

Forsaken

Block Tales

✦Tags✦

#Writings of the Fanatic - Self explanatory, this is where all fics, x readers and such will be found at.

#Musings of the Fanatic - Unrelated text posts, be it general updates or anything else.

#Answers of the Fanatic - Self explanatory, ask answer tag, writings will not be tagged with this even if they are requested via ask.

#Fantasies of the Fanatic - NSFW tag, block this one out if you don't want to see NSFW or are a minor.

#Illumina's favorites - Self explanatory, tag for my personal favorite pieces of others I enjoy the most.

#Writings of the Heretics - Tag for reblogging writings made by others.

#Fantasies of the Heretics - Tag for reblogging NSFW writings made by others.

#Writings of the Followers - Self explanatory, for when the followers of this blog send their own writings via the askbox, I may elaborate on these with my own points, continuations or opinions.

#Offerings of the Followers - The tag in which I shall post any and all fan art that the followers of this blog send via asks or submissions.

#Prayers for the Fanatic - Asks directed towards me that I enjoy in particular and wish to keep saved to forever remember.

#Illumon✨️🪶 - Ship content tag for Illumina x Telamon/Shedletsky.

#Illumina's Reference - Self explanatory, the tag where the character reference sheet for Illumina is at. Do remember that this is my own character and design. You are NOT allowed to use him or claim him as yours in any way, shape or form.

✦Divider Credits✦

✦Banner & Icon Credits✦

[trappezoider]

I've been your follower for months now but I'm still in awe with all of your beautiful and jaw dropping artwork!

Little question: how can someone as handsome as Avaric Gaunt sire a man like Marvolo? Like, I get Marvolo still being "handsome" during his youth but he aged like a block of room temperature butter that's so close to its expiration date. In your last art of baby Ominis and Avaric, I'm sure he was around... in his thirties in that picture, correct me if I'm wrong.

So, what went wrong with Marvolo? 😭 And did Ominis inherit Avaric's "youthful" genes, at least?

Good friggin' question because honestly, no idea xD Thankfully we never got to see Marvolo or their father in canon - heck, we don't even know if Marvolo is Ominis' brother - so anyone can headcanon whatever they like, really, which is super neat! When it comes to Marvolo, I do like to think he probably aged like milk, perhaps because of dark magic, or drinking, or the pipe, or drugs, or genetics... Who knows really! He could've been equally handsome as Ominis when young, or maybe not. Genetics are kinda fun like that hahaha. And perhaps Ominis aged better than him (or died young so we never got to find out mwahahahha). It's really fun to speculate all these things. Love brainrotting this stuff! Now, the reason why we hc Avaric as this pretty boy is because we wanted to combine the aspect of someone being beautiful but also acting like the worst possible human being. It's a common trope for sure but we wanted to explore it from a standpoint of shipping him with Phineas, who we know to canonically be quite hung on appearance and "style" :D We wanted Avaric's looks to be sort of a lure when in actuality he's completely rotten inside. It's quite interesting to explore these characteristics, especially since most of us who were brainstorming this know approximately what abusers are like and how they operate, and some of us have been in pretty horrible relationships. It appears that sometimes, being charming and good looking is something that keeps the victim coming back for more. I suppose that was the reasoning for me at least behind his looks when I first drew him. Plus men with long hair, oh lord jesus save me, it is the best thing to draw. But yeah, his appearance is mostly for story reasons and poetics. No clue what he actually looks like or whether we will ever find out :D And hmm, I suppose Avaric in that art is about 30, more or less? Ominis would be maybe around 4-5. I'd say Marvolo is in his first year of Hogwarts at this point. Math is not my strongest suit so somebody who I brainrotted the ages with has got to check that for me xD I love to hc that Avaric started having kids when he was still young and married at 19 probably, out of pettiness that Phineas actually went through his engagement with Ursula. Maybe the secret to his youth was that he never took care of his children or went near them much :'DDD

[autisticdiluc]

AYANO AISHI REDESIGN

yandere sim...

Guys I freaking love ayano... She's been on my mind for so long and I finally got out of an art block and the first thing i decided to do was draw her because do NAWT get me started on how terrible the actual promo art is..

Let me break down the redesign I had for ayano and also I kinda just did what I liked because Lol?? I can.??

NUMBER 1: I HATE that fuck ass short skirt,, in game I can ignore it cause I'm too busy worrying about the characters more than the actual designs but holy shit in the promo art?? (May all the deities out there bless my eyes from this)

Warning for the promo art because..yeah...

The chronic blush kills me because my pookie bear doesn't even do that unless it's around taro

And holy shit these thigh highs are so ?? I wish I could bleach my eyes rn (nothing wrong with thigh highs honestly it's just how it's drawn here)

Now in my redesign the tie is short and there are some pieces missing from the shirt but honestly my main priority is covering her up.

On another note I literally get COLD from seeing her promo art cause hello.?? I feel like ayano would be a really cold person just in general so I gave her some under sleeves because why not besides they look cute!

Her skirt is long because 1. most schools need skirts alteast touching their knees from what ive seen in the almsot 2 decades I've been alive and 2. I felt like it

NUMBER 2: face

Her hair I kept relatively similar cause I feel like if I took it away I'd be taking ayano away but that's just me NOW her lips I feel like she would really wear lipstick to keep a 'natural' look I KNOW ryoba suggest to wear some but they're like a muted pink naturally so she just keeps it like that

Luckily for her! In my redesign bed resting face kinda looks like she's happy so she doesn't necessarily gotta do anything yk??

Number 3: her casual outfit....

The miniskirt, thigh highs and GLOVES is really killing me

The shirts find and honestly so is the miniskirt by ITSELF but I wanted to change it so I did. Her thigh highs are just..?? Unnecessary here I fear. Don't get me wrong I'm sure if it was a better outfit (and a better creator) she could've pulled it off but because of multiple things it just doesn't work. The clash of that green with the miniskirt jean isn't really complementing the black thigh highs

Also the gloves?? I get that like ayano buys yk rat poison and sedatives and blah blah blah but gloves... In the middle of the day/night... In THAT outfit.... It just doesn't work for me

Ryoba didn't wear gloves and she still got her man so I don't get why ayano has to.. if anything have y'all ever seen were germaphobes get a plastic bag and use it to pick up stuff? I feel like that could be used in a situation like this instead of just gloves out in the open,, honestly thats just highkey suspicious (coming from someone who wore various kinds of gloves when going out before)

For me redesign I just wanted something a bit more cuter I feel,, I think the green top couldve been good by itself but once again i get cold looking at her so boom sleeves but then i realized it looks a lil plain (which probably was the point but executed in the worst way possible) so I gave her one of those tops with another shirt connected to it in a lighter minty color. Besides I think it served a purpose to let her JORTS not clash terribly with the darker green,, and I actually like the idea that she wears tights so I gave her black tights (which yk is like the thigh highs but yk not)

Anyway that's my redesign of ayano my pookie bear who can do no wrong she's just a girl or doesn't matter if she's a murderer or not 💭❤️

[clegfly]

Woo, it’s about time I made one of these… *cracks knuckles*

MORE ABOUT ME!!!!

HIIII!!!! My name is clegfly, or just cleg!!!! I’m an artist/ writer / professional paint drying critic/j. I’m just a silly person doing silly things, don’t mind me. I use they/them pronouns and I am aroace!!!

LIKES

BULLET POINTS BULLET POINTS BULLET POI

Pancakes. All day. All the time. Everywhere, anywhere. Pancakes

That goes for bacon too

JELLYYYYYYYYYY!!!!1!1!1!

Why are these all foods what else do I like uhhhh

Warm. And cosy bed. And fire. And all that stuff

OLD COMPUTER AESTHETIC!!!!!! N64!!! WINDOWS XP!!!! ALL THAT SHIT

Bugs in theory

PLANTS

MUSICAL THEATRE

Graphic novels

Video games… ough my beloveds

Books

Okay now this is too long

Oops

Sorry

JELLYFISH JELLYFISH JELLYFISH

The ocean full stop actually

In theory

CHINCHILLAS

Uh

Yapping

Analysis

IS BREA LIOM GAEILGE!!!1!1!2!!1

Law

History

Drama (as in like. Theatre)

DISLIKES

anything on my DNI >:((((

Bugs in practice

Sport

Exercise

I’m literally hero omori

Commitment

Stress

Internet drama

Anyone who gatekeeps like. Anything.

INTERESTS???

All day every day, baby.

MAINS

OMORI

PMMM/ Madoka Magica

DDLC/ Doki Doki Literature Club!

Coraline

TADC/ the amazing digital circus

LITTLE GUYS THAT HURT MY BRAIN SOMETIMES

Petscop

Fnaf

BATIM/ bendy and the ink machine

BSD

Deltarune (I also have a deltarune sideblog now: @battery-acid-p1e go follow that for my UTDR stuff!)

Undertale

Hawaii: Part II

SUBJECT TO CHANGE BECAUSE IM PROBABLY FORGETTING LIKE 20 AND ALSO HAVE LIKE 20 STILL TO DISCOVER

HOBBIES?!2!2!

Ya!!!! :D

Art

The main thing I do on my silly little page!!

…in which the art is mostly unfinished doodles… but that’s okay!!!! We ball anyway

YOU CAN SEND THE CLEG REQUESTS!!!!! ALL DAY ANY DAY UNLESS I SAY OTHERWISE!!!! Do not expect premium quality though lmao. (And also nothing related to DNI. Shouldn’t have to say this but. Uh. Yeah)

You cannot yet commission the cleg :(

you can view all of my art via the my art tag on my blog!!!!! most of it should be there :)

Writing

Currently on a writing hiatus and have been for a little while (5 MONRHS WHAT) but… i do!!!! That!!!! Aka I write fan fiction AGH

Mostly. Heromari stuff. Actually all heromari stuff. I think I have one fic that isn’t heromari and it’s one I co-authored I love them your honour…

Yeah

DNI

Bit of a bummer, but I gotta set my boundaries to keep the riff-raff out!! That being said, do NOT interact with my blog whatsoever if you:

Are a shotacon, lolicon, pedo, etc etc etc. (yucky. Yuck yuck yuck. Fuck off)

Are a proshipper

Are homophobic

Are transphobic

Are aphobic/ arophobic (why. Why are you even still here)

Queerphobic in general actually get OUT!!!!

Actively shit on any of my main interests. Like ACTIVELY go out of your way to tell me how bad it is (what. What is the point. Just go)

NSFW is on thin ice but I will likely just block the tag if you post about it so it doesn’t really bother me!!... however PLEASE keep it away from me I am very sex repulsed and WILL block you ON SIGHT!!!

Are racist/ xenophobic

There is likely LOTS more I’m forgetting so I will update this later… also just saying I reserve the right to block ANYONE no matter if you fit into this criteria or not. If I don’t vibe with you I will politely block you and look the other way!!! No theatrics required, I just want to curate my experience and NOT cause needless conflict hsjshshsh…

Anyway with all the negative stuff out of the way… I really hope you enjoy my blog!!! I’m just here to have fun honestly and express my ideas and passions and work on a little page of the internet so!!!! Hope you have fun too!!!! :D

[the-fallen-collective]

ok so i expect to lose quite a few followers and possibly even get sent hate but i keep seeing stupid posts so i wanna speak on it because i can

shipping discourse is stupid

we dont really use labels like anti or proship, we just say neutral because we dont want to get dragged into that either way but we do lean a lot more one way

i just wanna say that theres nuance. Please guys i beg of yall to remember nuance.

“Fiction affects reality” is the same thing people claimed when saying violent video games caused violence, when they really didnt, but you cant say fiction doesnt affect reality because it can and it does, but not in the way people claim

fiction affects reality in the way theres propaganda (which… fandom is not typically propaganda) and people who are young and impressionable but it is not our job to cater to kids when little kids shouldnt be online in these spaces in the first place, and people who have delusions which while unable to control what triggers you and when something causes a delusion, it is up to that person to either step back or reach out for help if fiction is affecting their reality in a harmful way

its also just fiction. It is literally just fiction. I promise people having weird fucked up ships isnt going to do anything horrendously awful and scary when its literally just pixels and/or ink. Youre not traumatized from it, it can be a trigger but youre in charge of catering your own experience, but seeing that stuff just by itself is not traumatizing and if it disgusts you, just block and move on

“oh but its illegal” no its really not. Any art or writing or any depictions of anything that would be illegal irl would have to be about an identifiable real life person to be illegal but if its strictly just fiction then its not illegal, and again, block and move on if it disgusts you

i literally cannot care what someone does so long as they arent actively hurting anyone else (and no they arent grooming somone for having ships you disagree with and they arent purposely triggering people when thats not their intention and no they arent hurting any real person, and anyone i talk to who ships dark things is strictly against those things irl and would never condone these things irl). Fandom has always lived by ship and let ship and i still abide by that, if something bothers me at all i just block those tags/that person and move on and im fine, its not that hard

neither side of discourse (both shipping but also in any discourse ever) is a pure saint. Antis definitely harass people more and lots of them send death and rape threats and often make false accusations, but there are proshippers who harass others and send threats and ive seen some suicide bait too, theres groomers on both sides, theres abusive people on both sides, neither side seems to be able to apply much nuance

Honestly, some people online making dark things and most the time puttinf warnings on them and telling minors to dni arent going to turn our world into a utopia for offending pedophiles and zoophiles, i promise. If you dont like it, block and move on, and thats it

also no the terms havent changed meaning, an anti is someone who is against problematic media, proshippers are people who are anti harassment and anti censorship, comshippers are people who ship things like angel x demon and human x monster, darkshipper is people who ship problematic things, lightshippers are people ship non problematic things, these are not all hand in hand. It is peoples own fault for thinking pro means problematic instead of doing research and learning it always has and always will just be the suffix for ‘for’

We interact and are friends with people on all sides and honestly the misinformation and harassment is getting so fucking stupid i felt i wanted to make a post about it

[brooklyn-house]

hello riordanverse fandom. i, a tumblr elder, will now go over some tumblr etiquette. it's alright if you've not been doing some of this, or even all of this! i'm not writing this to be mean – i'm writing it so that we can all be better-informed, and better-accustomed to how this site works <3

(also this post isn't comprehensive, and if you've got anything to add on, be my guest)

general good practice:

reblogs over likes

if you like something, the general consensus is to reblog it on your blog! that's how you show the creator that you appreciate their effort, or agree with their point.

if you have something to add to the post, such as a talking point to somebody's analysis of a character or such, it's perfectly fine to add it in the reblog! starting conversations is good, especially with other fans! even something as little as taking your time to comment on someone's art or react/add on to their headcanons can go a long way!

remember – fandom is a collective effort, and it thrives on people talking to each other. about their favourite characters, aus, pairings, whatever. even a simple "oh, i've never thought of that, tell me about it!" can make someone's day. this isn't your "personal brand" or whatever you might be used to from other social media. this is your sandbox that you're playing in with your friends!

post your stuff!

this one may seem kind of evident, but it needs to be said. is there a character you like? a book you like? a ship you like? or perhaps an alternative universe: have some characters swapped roles? have they been transported to a totally different universe? or have they perhaps met your OC?

that's all great! tell me more!

honestly! write a post about it! even if it's not really coherent, and it only gets like two likes. you're not doing this for anybody else, you're (probably) doing this because you've read a book that you keep thinking about! and that's the beauty of it! write your character x self fanfic for yourself! post about that unpopular ship! make up a weird au that you think only you will like! coz if you never do, you might never find the people who share your interests.

on that same note, tell people if you like their stuff!!! for the love of god, tell people when you enjoy something they've made. it's quick, it's easy and it's free

no place for AI

look, fandom is about making things yourself. generative ai, in any way, just does not belong here. even if you use character.ai. (join a roleplaying group.) even if you "just" use chatgpt to run ideas by it. (find a friend to discuss it with you.) seriously. this is something you're doing for fun! a little exercise for your brain!

tag, tag, tag

tumblr is a website that thrives on tagging your posts correctly.

DO:

tag your posts with series and characters that are mentioned/drawn. what i usually go for is: ♡ for any post that's about the characters from one of rick's series: #rrverse, #riordanverse, #pjoverse. these are generally the same, and show the universe where the books are set :+1: ♡ if the post is about a specific book series (it often is), i tag it. for example, for my heroes of olympus posts, i tag accordingly: #hoo, #heroes of olympus, #pjo hoo, #pjo hoo toa, #pjo hoo toa tsats. ♡ if the post is about a specific character or pairing, i tag it with those. ♡ if the post features any common triggers (blood, death, gore, etc.), it's good practice to tag those too. usually, they're tagged with something like #cw death (cw stands for content warning).

tumblr has a system where you can block out tags you don't want to see. this can be found in the settings. i strongly advise you to use this feature to block out definitely stuff that might trigger you, but also things like ships you don't like seeing. trust me, it makes life a lot easier. and no, nobody will be mad at you for it. it's normal and healthy.

i personally recommend having a tag for your own posts, so that you have an easier time finding them on your blog if you ever need them. it varies, some popular ones are #[name].txt, #[name] speaks, #[name]'s rambles – i personally use the broccoli emoji as my own post tag. (it works, if you look up the tag on your blog. tag content shows up differently depending on if you're searching just a specific blog, or all of tumblr.)

fun fact: tumblr lets you follow certain tags, so that if there's new posts in them, they appear on your dash!

DON'T:

overtag. if you're making a post about something from, let's say, heroes of olympus, it's generally considered bad etiquette to tag it with things that are unrelated.

if i, for example, made a post of headcanons about the son of neptune trio, i would avoid tagging it with other characters that aren't mentioned (#piper mclean, #nico di angelo), or ships that feature only one of or none of the characters (#jercy, #percabeth, #solangelo).

a big no-no is to tag it with another series entirely: if your post is about characters from hoo, don't tag it with the kane chronicles or magnus chase. those fandoms are a lot smaller, and we like to see things actually relevant to the trilogies in our tags.

lastly, if you're making a post about how much you dislike a certain character/ship (which, in itself, isn't really recommended – if you don't like it, posting about it is only gonna make it worse), don't tag it with the character/ship tag. it only makes the experience worse for people who are going through those tags, and are looking for content of their blorbos.

don't like; don't interact

if you see a take you don't like, a ship you find "problematic" or anything else that you don't like seeing, the golden rule is to take a deep breath and not interact with it. scroll past. those memes really weren't lying when they said "learn to sit back and do nothing".

it might not seem intuitive in this internet age, but you don't have to have an opinion on everything. and if you do, you don't have to express it. you probably wouldn't like it either if someone hated on your blorbo under your post about them.

no room for discourse

tumblr is a place where we all, at the end of the day, come to play with our dolls, or talk about our interests. some of those interests (I AM TALKING MOSTLY ABOUT SHIPS) may not align with yours, or seem "bad" or outright "horrible" to you. however, it's good to remember that if someone likes a thing that you personally find "problematic" or "icky", it's just not your problem.

DON'T:

♡ make a call-out post about how they're a disgusting pervert. even if what they like is that thing. or that one. yep, even that one. most of tumblr's userbase are weird little freaks, in one way or another, so it's kinda pointless to try to turn on someone because they're a freak, you get me? ♡ send them hate. it's not gonna help anything. ♡ try to fight with them about their interests or preferences.

INSTEAD, TRY:

♡ if you don't quite understand why somebody likes something, you can try having a respectful conversation about it with them. but please, really do try to be respectful. they'll probably be happy to explain. even if you might come away from it finding that it's just Not Your Thing, you'll understand somebody else's perspective better, and that's always a good thing! ♡ if it really upsets you, you can go find a trusted friend, and vent to them about it. it's okay, it's normal to be upset. as long as you're understanding that your reaction is a valid response, but one that is unique to you (and the thing you see is probably making at least some other people happy or interested in it), and one that isn't to be expressed directly under that certain post.

turn on asks!

this isn't a general rule, but my personal recommendation. turn on asks, as well as anon asks, so that people can send you questions. about your headcanons, or your favourite characters, or just chats about how your day is going.

(though don't feel pressured to have asks open. it's good, but it's not, like, mandatory.)

don't censor yourself.

here on tumblr, we can say all the words like kill, death, sex, AND OTHERS! if you're speaking about these topics, please don't censor yourself! tumblr has a feature that allows you to filter out words in posts (that may be triggering, or that you just don't want to see). by censoring those words, you're actually more likely to cause harm to someone, by letting it pass undetected through their content-filtering.

TL;DR: BE NICE TO EACH OTHER AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE

[katyspersonal]

Honestly, sometimes saying the wrong thing is beneficial. I remember that looser who cried that "fromslop now does male gaze and fanservice and ABANDONED their principles to insert fully armoured strong women (source: 20 characters in like 400+ of them in 20+ years of Soulsborne history)" when Executor just got introduced. And I was dying to respond with "let's not make hasty conclusions just because of the male voice, I am sure that Fromsoft will yet surprise all of us in the base game". Itching to say that. But instead I commented explaining how their accusations towards the developers were unfair. And of course they've blocked me (and literally every other person who didn't agree with trashing Fromsoft the way they did), and also complained on Twitter about being "mansplained" even though half of the people not agreeing were not men fdshfhdfdsfsd

I think elitist fans who exclude everyone that dares to say anything but enthusiastic agreement from interacting with their art, as well as locks themselves out of ever seeing what these people drew/write are just bad for the fandom. Like, I don't care about fandom as a "community" and just laugh when it burns in flames of drama, but I still feel bad for other people who do want fandom to be a place where everyone sees and supports everyone and can chat and interact freely yet have to be scared of saying anything because they might get locked out of someone's content over nothing. :p But like..... until that point, that artist seemed fun for me, even challenging themselves to draw every Elden Ring character and shit. Yet I've uncovered they were nothing but another toxic Tiktok elitist only allowing people with """correct""" opinions to support their stuff just and JUST because I've chosen the wrong dialogue option...? I was even right about Executor, I just could sense that character was not 'just another male', but something moved me to keep it and look.

Honestly, "blocking liberally" IS for loosers when you create something and I will never accept thinking otherwise. In fandoms, blocking is a big deal because it severes both giving support and receiving it when in fandoms everyone like needs each other on at least superficial level and shit like that. I don't know, this is just all so dumb and boring. I can't even choose whether I am raging individualist or have minimal caring for community to be better, I probably should pick a struggle. I just know it is dumb and boring.

[sophie-frm-mars]

How is Paris? Most of the anecdotes I've heard when it's brought up are the pickpockets and the heavily armed Eiffel tower guards. I hope it's not all bad.

It was really nice! The heavily armed police are pretty exhausting, the tourist areas kinda suck even though they're beautiful. Pickpockets? I uh, idk about this one. Personally I've been warned to keep an eye on my stuff in every major urban center I've ever been in and I've never had a bag or phone snatched. Maybe I just give don't fw me energy lol but I think it's all a bit over hyped and there's a big racial element there. Like MORE people warned me about it in Paris and Paris is a very demographically mixed city. Even more more people warned us about it in Saint Denis where we were staying, which is a majority black neighbourhood with people from Algeria, Tunisia and other French colonies. The only person who approached me trying to get something there was an MSF volunteer.

I don't speak much French, I wish I did, it would be a different experience to go there more able to make new friends casually, but it's still just a deeply gorgeous place. There's obviously a cultural sense of the importance of beauty in one's environment there. There is art everywhere and incredible architecture. My favourite spots were around the Pompidou in the queer neighbourhood, in particular shout out to the dyke bar la Mutinerie, but honestly everywhere I've been in paris has been really pretty. There are different kinds of pretty though. Last time I was there I was staying pretty centrally and it was all tall apartment blocks with elegant brickwork and masonry, wrought iron balconies and shops and restaurants with beautiful awnings. This time it was all graffiti and metros and trams and bodegas - I felt much more at home.

Over drinks with a comrade from the harm reduction collective who recently moved there we agreed that the biggest difference in Paris is whether you have friends there or not. The strangers are pretty rude and stared at us a lot

[angiethewitch]

CONGRATS ON YOUR ABUSER GETTING JAILED!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!

THANK YOU!

Like I said, I cant take credit for it, it was two other women who were incredibly brave and did what I was too scared to do, and pursued him in court. honestly, its kinda surreal. my best friend (who he also did something evil to) called me to tell me and then I was like oh my god...it just ended. because I don't know how he did it, if it was well meaning but misguided friends or what, but he always found my number or email addresses.

the worst part was, he was my manager at my job when I was 16. he was 18 at the time. he had access to my bank details, addresses, phone numbers, email, the lot. he knew it all and he used that to his advantage. follow me home. stuff like that.

I last heard from him 2 months ago, on yet another fake account he made to message me on, to circumvent my block. it had been going on for 10 years and I was so used to it, it got to the point where I'd see his messages and be like "oh fucking hell, hes back". he would hang around my friends trying to get information on me. ask around about me. go to events at the art gallery i work with because he knew I'd be there.

for 10 years, hes been lurking around in the background of my life. but it was "just messages" and "just being friendly" so the legal route never went anywhere. it was just a case of keep blocking and hiding and hoping for the best.

I got that call 5 hours ago and it was just...freedom. its over. I can go to my hometown without looking over my shoulder again. i owe those two women so much, and so do many other people I know.