#hopefully these will be under a readmore

[oswednesday]

okay snap a picture of this

these horny posts take place in a spin off series set when the kid twins are 17 going on 18, like space time peta is like what has happened to bill and the fellow life forms is evil they are the last of their species so its established like a time-space lock zoo that gets attached to the mystery shack and if you Know you Know and you can take your higher being family to gawk at them at the fearrarium, i get hired to watch the store/zoo (unbeknownst to me) because i have a an Alarmingly low Affected By Weird meter like the range of like things without minds range and also i have great tits and im good at sales and have a good eye for when stuff is expensive despite being awful at numbers and i have no ties to anything (plot spoiler) perfect employee-housekeeper the twin kids come to visit earlier than planned to do a surprise party for their grunkles returning from their off season travel, they see that the place is like an abandoned mess like wasnt someone hired for this??? and realize i fell into the fearrarium, they look, assuming theyre going to see a gore show and theyre Riiight but its cause im playing russian roulette with the other henchmaniacs, doing the allotment of their daily party drugs (i was lured in, not getting the lock pad but seeing spaces where it was warn and just getting lucky, but its a one way lock without the proper tools so its like oh =_= because i step in and let it close behind me but im completely and utterly sold like i was persecuted by ALL people and im like thats so sad ACAB ) and dipper has promised mabel that they'd do the party first Then work and dipper relents, after being reminded that, they'd tell other people about that later and get the shack ready for their grunkles and their party this of course is focusing in on themes of the original show but making more sense because mabel isnt an elementary school student--like if you dont take responsibility and brush difficult things off with silliness something something morals

anyway all this to say is a formulaic antics are bill and the crew are trying to escape the fearraium like aquarium squids several running gags are: bill tells me to kill the protagonists and im like b,but theyre just kids! and hes like if you kill them all you'll get to do the second line of space coke off of 8ball's head Aaaaand if you get every headshot you can be the henchmaniac of the month and im like oh boy starts blasting (the joke here is that im Always the henchmaniac of the month, any time another character is in the gallery hall of the enclosure the series of framed images are blurred out and make people turn away, go oh god, retch in their mouths a little bit) the second running Gag is that stan and ford add details how much they fucked up hiring me like stan is like oh yeah they were from a mental hospital hiring program i didnt even have to meet minimum wage haha,,,ford like i thought they were a harmless barely sentient idiot (with a great rack, stan interjects and ford starts to agree and stops himself closing his eyes, sighing, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses) and so on the third most is bill and i get so caught up in larping husband and wife that we forget what we're doing and have to be reminded final bit of tone: close to the end of the spin off series it looks like the pines family have finally Finally convinced me bill is too evil to be with and Bad for me and im pointing a lethal space weapon at him or have some hand on some lever (etc you get the idea) having some kind of sobby wet monologue and hes like "babe cmon" then "babe"(more threateningly and my like we'll stop you and save the world is really hitting its climax when im like-- Just Kidding ^x^ (scampers like faster that they thought i could move back over to bill, turning the weapon around and undoes whatever bindings through sheer dumb luck) like oh my god could you even imagine

[weewoo911]

So I wrote a little something loosely based on this post I made about Eddie subconsciously associating his future wedding as being with Buck- I haven't written for ages but I thought if I was gonna make it into a fic I'd also have an accidental drunk confession to Buck in there- and this is that. If I ever wrote a whole fic of this there'd be no cheating so dw dw

"It must be nice," Buck says from the floor, "Marr-Marriaging, -having a wedding. I want that, I'd want-"

"I know what you want," Eddie laughs confidently from the empty tub. It feels very zen, lying here with his legs hooked over the circular tub, like lying inside a big cereal bowl. He is so drunk, and giddy and totally at peace with everything, "You want a spring wedding because you want a frankly ridiculous amount of flowers. You want it far enough away from the city that you can see the stars at night, but not so far that it'd cost too much for everyone to travel there. You like the idea of releasing lanterns but you're worried about the environment so you'd probably want - like- doves or butterflies instead-"

"Butterflies," Buck says from the floor, his voice thick, "Eddie, what-"

"M'not finished," Eddie continues with the gravitas of someone so hammered they cant feel their legs but who is nevertheless making an Important Point, "Butterflies, then. You want a light coloured suit, something that breathes well because you'll worry about sweating. Bobby would be doing the ceremony, so maybe Athena to walk you down the aisle? And of course Maddie as your best man. Woman. Person."

"… Maddie?"

"Well yeah," Eddie shrugs, transfixed by how the ceiling seems to be slowly tilting to the side, "Because Chris would be mine, and that way they can both be involved."

There's a frantic shuffling noise from the floor, and Buck's voice is much clearer when he speaks again, "Eddie. Eddie are you talking about- me and you getting married?"

"Who else?" And in his alcohol-soaked state, it's as simple as that- who else. God knows he's tried to fit other people into that role and they just never fit right because the void in his life is so decisively Buck-shaped. Haha, God knows, his chest begins to shake with silent laughter, it's funny, right? Because of the Catholicism.

"And that's-" Buck sounds kind of upset, which makes Eddie pause, why would Buck be upset when there's good booze and the ceiling is tilting and they're getting married? "That's something you want- the-the spring wedding and the butterflies and the-"

Oh, Buck's simply misunderstood, that's easy.

"I just wanna be the guy standing next to you."

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[ghostofasecretary]

watching interviews with Israeli officials willing to get on the news feels like i am in the inverted world

"if you want to try Israel for this we should also try France and Great Britian and the US" YEAH. YEAH WE SHOULD. THAT WOULD BE IDEAL ACTUALLY.

"the UN Secretary General needs to be tried for supporting terrorism" "they say we can't completely wipe out Hamas but we can (reporter: no?) and we will" wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf

"we've evacuated Gaza" DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY BUILDINGS IN KHAN YOUNIS AND RAFFAH HAVE BEEN BOMBED. THE ROUTES FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH WERE BOMBED. HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES IN SOUTH GAZA HAVE BEEN BOMBED. ONE FOURTH OF THE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN GAZA HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AND WINTER IS COMING AND PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED, HOMELESS, SLEEPING ON THE STREETS WITH NO BLANKETS BECAUSE OF THIS SO-CALLED "EVACUATION." WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

"UNRWA is teaching children antisemitism and jihad" what do you think words MEAN

a UNRWA guy is also on this al-Jazeera interview and i appreciate him snapping about how big of a lie that is but i'm still. screaming

i hate this world. i hate how Palestinians are being slaughtered and their homes and mosques and churches and hospitals destroyed. i cannot stand hearing people justify the unjustifiable. i hate how there's debate over whether or not the "Hamas slaughtered babies" photos are doctored and meanwhile it's incredibly incredibly easy to find raw verifiable photos of dead Palestinian children to the point that i cannot avoid seeing them in the news. how is the US still supporting Israel with so little caution.

i understand it, on, like, a "colonialism cares for nothing but its own power and never ever ever admitting wrongdoing" level but like. the Israeli guy i'm screaming about is a person with a heart??? governments are made of people who all need food and water and medicine and access to fuel so they can have the first three things? i basically get why global powers are horrible but i can't--i can't fathom how individual people get to this point. of hearing about entire families being exterminated for well over a week and seeing hospitalized infants who are the last survivor of their extended family and going "yeah, that's what i call a-okay self defense"

(i probably could. it just feels, very strongly, like i cannot, and i'm not sure i want to. honestly i don't want to. i am so sad and so angry. i want this to stop. i've done what i can and i'll go to more protests and make more calls and all that but--yallah, ay khoda, god, god, god, god, god, you absolute *fucker,* it's a good thing you don't exist because if you did *how dare you*)

[werewolf-artfriend]

trying out something new :)

bonus peeled version:

[eldritch-muppetshow]

happy anniversary lorax 2012

[void-kissed]

chaining cherry blossom to clover (Clio/Aria)

Clio being chosen for the Dandelions means she gets to avoid the approaching Keyblade War, and Aria vows to find a way to join her in the new world despite not also being chosen. Despite the road ahead not being clear, a very special gift is given, one which would come to be the key to the two reuniting later down the line. (1974 words)

This is my first piece of selfship writing for my new blog, and also my first piece of selfship writing for my (current) newest romantic selfship with my OC, Clio! I hope that anyone who wants to read it enjoys doing so, as I definitely enjoyed writing it ^-^

Tag list: @sunlight-ships | @artificervaldi | @hirael | @thatslikesometaldude (to be tagged in what I make, please see this post!)

Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required!

(Document transcript under the readmore:)

When the Dandelions began to be chosen, the Sapphires were one of the first parties whose members were approached, to the surprise of approximately none of them.

After all, although the group’s existence and purpose did not become widely known for some time, it seemed logical in retrospect that the party which once collected more Lux than any other in the Anguis Union (save for one) would harbour many Keyblade wielders with powerful light; wielders who were therefore wanted, wielders who were valued, wielders whose identities - their bonds to their parties and their Unions - would all be cast aside as they would be made Dandelions, made into Dandelions.

As war’s shadow loomed ever closer over Daybreak Town, tensions slowly but surely rising up to boiling point, the Sapphires found themselves being able to count more than one of their wielders in the ranks of the Dandelions - the ranks of the few who had been chosen from all others to survive the world’s end, leaving the rest of the people they had known to simply fall and be lost in the senseless combat that fate would have them march towards.

“So they want you as well, do they?”

Aria’s casual question that she already knew the answer to reignited the spark in her girlfriend’s eyes as the two sat together by the sunset-lit fountain one evening.

“Yes!” came Clio’s reply, in a light voice that shone with much of her typical positive temperament. “I really can’t say I saw it coming, but it feels like such an honour, you know?”

“I can only imagine it must.”, Aria smiled, though her own tone was comparatively much more subdued. “After all, so few individuals have been selected for such an important role.”

“Mmm! Yeah, that’s.. a really good point..” Clio’s excitement had softened and dissolved somewhat as she picked up on her girlfriend’s quietness. It was easy for her to tell when something was up with Aria, based on subtle details like the way her catlike ears were slightly downcast, or how her wings were subconsciously tilted to face the floor; it had gotten to the point where she couldn’t help but feel slightly surprised when others said that Aria was almost impossible to read, and tended to blame it on things like her cold way of speaking, or the mask that she wore across the lower half of her face.

“..What’s wrong, Ari?”

“I.. it’s nothing.” she tried to insist.

At this, Clio shifted closer towards her on the fountain’s edge, reaching forwards to place a comforting hand on Aria’s shoulder. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna pry if it’s not something you want to talk about, but if something’s up, then it isn’t good to keep it locked up in your heart or anything.“

Careful not to shake Clio’s hand away in the process, Aria shifted, drawing her legs up to lean them on the edge of the fountain. Her wings were now being held outwards slightly to better improve her balance, ensuring she would not go toppling backwards into the fountain.

“It’s.. more that I don’t know how to word it properly without sounding mean..?” she tried to explain. She was looking away at this point, and her left hand was absentmindedly toying with the ribbon of her hairpin, while her right hand held her legs.

“Huh? How so?” Clio asked her. “..What, d’you think I shouldn’t have been picked or something?”

“What? No, it isn’t that at all!” she clarified quickly, finally turning to look at Clio’s now-worried expression. Her own eyes carried surprise; she would never doubt Clio’s worth like that.

“It’s of no surprise to us that you were selected, because you possess such strong light. But you’re not arrogant with it like so many others of similar strength seem to end up being - in fact, I would say you’re the only person with such bright light that I feel so comfortable being around like this.” she admitted. “So, in many ways, you’re perfect for this.”

“Aww, that’s really kind of you to say!” she replied, worry fading away with relative ease and becoming relief. “But, uh.. What is it, then? If I can ask that?”

“Of course you can ask that.” Aria stated plainly. “It’s just.. If you go with the Dandelions, I won’t be permitted to come with you.”

“Why not? I’m.. sure they’d let me bring you with me!” Clio tried to smile further and be reassuring, but the way her voice faltered slightly indicated she was not entirely confident in her statement.

“..Maybe if what they were after were simply strong Keyblade wielders. But they aren’t.” she insisted, turning her head to look down at the ground again. “All they want is light; they’re gathering those whose hearts have strong light inside of them, and leaving everyone else to the chaos that we all know is coming. So, the last thing they would want within their precious ranks is something like me.”

“Oh.. I guess I didn’t think of it like that.” Clio shuffled closer once again, trying to give Aria as much comfort as she could after hearing the “something” and the spite in her tone. “But, if a war really is on its way like they said it was, then surely they’d just want to rescue as many people as they could from it?”

“That would be the sensible way of going about things, but..” She let out a sigh. “Keyblade wielders who have darkness in their hearts are seen by some as weaker, or less trustworthy. Even moreso if those wielders actively try to make use of their natural affinity for darkness, if they happen to have it. It’s.. arguably not entirely misguided, considering the corruptive effect that darkness can have on people’s hearts when too much is present, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who wields the darkness is evil.” Her hand was playing with her hairpin again.

Now it was Clio’s turn to sigh, feeling dejected. “I sure wish more people could actually see that instead of insisting otherwise..”

There was a fairly long pause as the older wielder trailed off, and the pair of girlfriends could only hear the steadily-flowing water from the fountain they were sat on the edge of.

“I mean.. I haven’t technically joined the Dandelions yet.” Clio then stated, taking a moment to lift up the crown of clovers she wore around her head to stop it slipping. “There’s meant to be a meeting pretty soon, but.. I could always just stay here with you instead! At the end of the day, I- I really don’t want to lose you..”

“No.” came Aria’s response, bluntly but not coldly. “You should go with them.”

“Huh? But.. what about you?” she replied. “And everyone else, too - I can’t just leave everyone to suffer while I go with the others!”

“Just because they don’t want me there doesn’t mean I won’t go there, clover.” she stated, very matter-of-factly. “If you’re with them, then I’ll just find a way to make it to you. And it’ll be easier to do that if you go with them, because not only will they then be easier to find, but I can be more certain of your safety while I hunt for them.”

“You really think you can follow them..?” she wondered.

“Yes.”

“..How?” she then asked. “I mean, I definitely reckon you could do it, but.. You sound surprisingly sure about it. A lot more than I would be, in your shoes.”

“..It’s because of this.”

For the third time that evening, Aria’s hand found her hairpin, but this time it was much more deliberate - she reached up above where the ribbon ends hung and carefully brought her fingers around the cherry blossom flower in its centre, running her thumb across its large, soft petals.

“..Your hairpin?” Clio asked.

“Yes.” she repeated. “If you’ll have it, then.. Please take this with you when you go with the rest of the Dandelions. Take it as a promise, and a sign - if it’s with you, then the rest of me can follow. And I will follow, somehow, even if we don’t quite know the method yet. I will find a way to be with you, no matter what it takes. Whether I’m a Dandelion or not.”

A brief moment passed as Clio’s eyes became glittery with tears.

“Aww, you’re going to make me blush, Ari! That’s so sweet of you to say, I.. I don’t think I know what to say! Of course I’ll take it, if you’re okay with giving it to me!”

She smiled. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”

Using her right hand as well to ensure none of her hair got unnecessarily caught, Aria carefully moved her hands into position, her dark red nails that Clio had painted for her working their way to where the cherry blossom grew from. She then took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tugged as hard as she could bring herself to pull. Despite bracing for the action, she still let out an involuntary hiss as she did this, wincing and shutting her eyes much more tightly as the pale pink flower came sailing away from her head with the force.

Keeping her right hand pressed against the left side of her head to try and lessen the intensity of that awfully sharp pain she now felt, she tried desperately to stop tears forming in her eyes, before all of a sudden becoming aware that a strong hand was pressing into her back, gently but firmly, just below her wings.

“I’ve got you.” came Clio’s voice from her right-hand side, before her other hand reached up to clear the tears from Aria’s eyes. “You nearly sent yourself right into the water with how hard you pulled on that.”

“It.. was needed..” she replied, somewhat vaguely. Her head was now tilted to be facing Clio’s more directly, allowing her to see her girlfriend’s supportive if slightly concerned expression. She could feel both her arm and her hand on her back now, giving her confidence that she would not fall backwards even if she wasn’t holding herself upright out of tension.

It was then that Aria realised she had one more thing left to do, so she moved her left hand towards Clio’s right. Resting on her open palm was the flower that once rested in the centre of the hairpin she had never been seen without, the blossom’s five pink petals and two green leaves looking delicate and tender in the sunset’s light. As carefully as if she were handling a baby bird, Clio reached out and tentatively lifted up the flower, making sure not to accidentally damage the petals as she took a closer look before then holding it close to her chest. It seemed to attach itself directly to her jacket once she had decided where it would go.

“..Thank you.” was all Aria could say to fill the silence, her voice just as soft as the flower petals felt to touch. The sharpness of the pain was thankfully becoming somewhat duller and less intrusive with time, and Clio’s gesture of bringing the flower to her heart was something she had treasured immensely.

“Don’t worry, shadow. I’ll keep this safe for you.” Clio declared, now placing her hand on her chest next to the flower. “You’ve just got to make sure you stay safe as well.”

“I will. I trust you, clover.” she replied, shifting to more properly reciprocate her girlfriend’s support with a hug. “No matter what the future holds.. No matter how long it takes.. I will reach you, and we’ll both make it past whatever is coming, in our own ways.”

As the last of the sunlight faded, the pair stayed and cherished this moment in each other’s arms.

[cursedfortune]

Hey. In your post, you did address why I failed to follow up in a timely fashion - I have been intimidated, uncertain and scared. I'm not the person you thought sent the initial message expressing a desire to apologize, but I was a friend of yours, and our friendship came to an end in a nasty fashion a while back and there's been a bad taste in my mouth ever since. In fact, I've been wanting to apologize for quite some time now, but never conjured up the courage because I thought I was not "allowed" to and that you would not ever want to hear from me again. I thought it was just best to let sleeping dogs lie and move on, but I have not been able to stop thinking about you or feeling fondness for you, even after all of this time. I'll be honest and say that I don't want to get closure, close a chapter and move on, instead I want to make amends, hash it all out and renew our friendship. But I completely understand that the onus is on me to approach you, initiate a conversation and work with you towards that desired outcome without any anonymity and with full transparency, and I will as soon as possible. I just wanted to send you this right away to (hopefully) ease the worries, concerns and confusions that seem to be clouding your mind currently. Thank you. I'm not looking for a response to this so you need not provide one if you don't want to, and I know there's only one thing left to do now.

hm.

there's really only two people i've had falling outs with to a not great degree. the one this past month and the one that you mentioned, a while back. i'm not going to fault you for your hesitation to reach out. these things are always anxiety-inducing to deal with. i would appreciate a clearer indicator but seeing how the possibilities are slim that does make it easier.

i try to not live my life as a hypocrite. if you've taken time to think about things and want to have a transparent conversation about what happened and see from there - i'm not someone who will deny it. time gives us the chance to see what we didn't like about ourselves, what we didn't like doing to someone else and all the things between. i'm never going to promise an outcome but i can promise that i go into even personal situations as unbiased as i can because i want to hear you (or anyone) out. also i'm processing how i feeling atm, so please ignore if this message sounds like it's lacking an emotion or something. asdfghjk

i'll admit, i am confused about the timing and intercepting someone separately who wanted to apologize. and what you mean by ease worries and stuff if you weren't the one who initially sent that ask is also a little confusing to me. but i think that's something you can clear up for me if you want to have a conversation about things. i'm also confused by your final line in this post because it has a rather ominous tone? and that might just be my time being forced to be someone's personal suicide lookout for most of my life. so i hope it's just me overthinking and ??? wording there and nothing actually that serious is being considered.

i'd prefer this talk happens sooner. in truth, i'm a little beat being in the position to wait on others to talk to me like a person - or like a friend, with these types of matters. if you change your mind on doing this, i just ask you don't leave me in suspense and send another anon to say as much. i don't know if you have a blog anymore, if i've blocked it and need to unblock it or what. assuming this is best privately discussed on discord, you can feel free to message me your handle or if you still have mine - send a request if you're able. it's very rare i outright block people in case something like this happens (wanting to make amends or discuss it). but it happens. the recent one it did, but i can't recall about the past one.

either way, you can message me and we can move this privately to speak.

[auberginesdonthavelimbs]

It’s somewhat questionable whether the non in nonplus is actually a prefix at all; the word came into English in the 16th century, and was taken from the Latin non plus, which means “no more.” When it first appeared in our language it was used as a noun, with the meaning of “quandary.”

This was then, and is now, the answere to that friuolous obiection, and this is the Nonplus that the Libeller vaunteth of. —Thomas Cooper, An Admonition to the People of England, 1589 I am brought to a nonplus, O Lorde what shall I saie? —Edward Hutchins, Davids Sling Against Great Goliath, 1593 So that now we are much beholding to M. Deacon, and M. Walker, that haue put all fooles and mad men to a perpetuall non plus, whose tongues would otherwise continually bee tampring. —John Darrel, The Replie of Iohn Darrel, 1602

By the early 17th century nonplus was being used as a verb, with the meaning of “to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do.” Then, as now, the word is often encountered in its participial form (nonplussed), with a meaning that is nearly synonymous with “perplexed.”

Here may the Non-plust wooer fetch a wile To breake all Remora's, plots to beguile All Fortune's crosses: and if language faile, Here may he learne to court, triumph, bewaile I'th eloquentest straines. —Achilles Tatius, The Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe, 1638

For the next three hundred and some years nonplus remained on the straight and narrow, avoiding the temptations of demon rum and semantic drift, and as a result of this managed to keep its meaning remarkably unchanged. And then in the early 20th century some people began to use nonplus to mean “unruffled, unconcerned,” and ever since then the word just hasn’t been the same.

I came just in time to see two policemen pushing the car to one side so that the firewagon could get near the plug. Of course anyone knows that under very embarrassing circumstances one is to appear non-plussed, as they say, and smoke a cigarette. —The Pittston Gazette (Pittston, PA), 15 Aug. 1930 The onlooker at the right appears nonplussed at the game the posters offer, but then—she’s only a mannequin. —The Mason City Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), 16 Apr. 1948 Twelve-year-old E. B. “Buzzie” Barker Jr. remained nonplussed yesterday despite the attention and congratulations that he was receiving for having won the Peninsula’s Soap Box Derby Sunday. ”I think we are more excited than he is,” his mother, Mrs. Barton Barker, commented. “He is just about as unconcerned about the whole thing,” she said, but didn’t finish. —Daily Press (Newport News, VA), 28 Jun. 1955

The “unruffled” sense of nonplussed increased as the 20th century went on, although when it was noticed this sense has been categorically rejected as a mistake. Mistake it may well be, but the fact remains that this sense of the word is in widespread use today, and may be found often enough in well regarded and highly edited, publications.

While senior officials in the Israeli Foreign Ministry fume over the diplomatic mess caused by the implications of the Dubai assassinations, those who know Mr Dagan say he is nonplussed by the row. —The Times (London, UK), 18 Feb. 2010 There is also the stumbling conversation of the other blind novitiates,but we are all really dependent on the voice of our guide, Romeo Edmead, a vigorous, charming man, completely nonplussed by the tumult we find around us. —Edward Rothstein, The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2011

If there is a lesson here, it is that you should never trust prefixes (or anything that looks like one). It may leave you nonplussed.

If you are unsure, guess. I don't normally ask, but please share for a larger sample size.

[whatever-remains-is-the-truth]

People on Twitter: Polyamory is weird ASF

People on Twitter: Polyamorous people are all ugly

People on Twitter: lmaaaao a polyamory org why does that exist polyamous people aren't oppressed

Me: ತ⁠_⁠ತ

[leadendeath]

after i get a computer, apart from medical things the other thing i wanna save up for is… big maybe… a fursuit head base. i have tried more than once to sculpt a bovine, and i just cannot get my head around it (pun definitely intended)

i can’t draw cows well, and it seems to make sense that i cannot make them in 3D either.

(leadendeath lore moment: not being able to draw my own fursona is one of my reasons why i feel my drawing art skills are not up to my own standards anymore. why i’ve grown to see drawing as a chore. i’m getting no happy brain chemicals from the only thing i’ve ever been good at.

i have a progressing mental/neurological problem sure, i can’t help that, but i CAN help how bad i perceive my own art to be- i can remedy it by drawing more! getting better through practice, right?

…Well.

it’s been two+ years since i first made my sona and i really haven’t got much better at drawing him. i HAVE considered a different species, but i love minotaurs, and the aloneness and large but stoic nature of them is so… me inside. not on the outside, i’m really short lmao.

this is like an existential crisis i’m going through but like… an artistential crisis. great word i just invented.)

[pvtchurch]

A memorable meal this year?

Song of the year?

Favorite book you read this year?

Album of the year?

Talk about a new friend you made this year

Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

(I copied them straight from the post, so alas, they are not in order and not numbered dhdhsm happy new year!!)

happy new year vamp!!!

now for the asks:

A memorable meal this year? Now the food wasn't particularly good but I'm going to pick the time my friend invited me to go to the restaurant recently... simply because it was actually my first time going to eat with a friend so it was kinda special :)

Song of the year? Let Me Down - Billy Cobb (off his new album that I looped for a solid week... it's not that good but I liked it a lot)

Favorite book you read this year? Now this is a tough one since I read a lot of books I really loved... I don't know. If we don't count modern classics which I was into a lot this year (like The Outsiders, Catcher in the Rye, L'étranger, or even Fight Club) then I guess Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Or... The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness? That was excellent...

Yeah, I'm too indecisive for this, I'm sorry 😭

Album of the year? I'm going to be basic and say Hellfire - black midi (I'm sure this is a popular take for a lot of other people's AOTY) because it's just an incredibly impressive album that really takes you along for the ride... and then be less basic by saying A Boy Named Hexd - 999 Heartake Sabileye which surprised me a lot with how good it is.

Talk about a new friend you made this year I made so many friends this year, mainly due to discord. I joined a music discord server which has become where I am pretty much all the time (for better or for worse, though I like them a lot).

Shout out to my new friends on the r/FormulaE discord server, and thanks to all my mutuals with whom I interacted for the first time in 2022, it's been super fun :)

Finally: Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one. Technically, no, but I fished out one of my old stories in 2022 and started thinking about it again, so I can tell you a little bit about my double agent, Bres :^)

Without explaining all the lore, Bres is a kid who has been raised by his father to spy against another group. He's basically a walking identity crisis: how can you not be when your whole life has been spent spying? Calculating what you can reveal and what you can't, being careful not being seen, and all that? That takes its toll on someone, and especially on one who hadn't had the time to figure who he is before getting caught in this mess. He's kind of awkward and honestly does not make a great spy... but what others see is just a stupidly handsome man who is a bit of an idiot, and tries very hard to please. (He also ends up letting out all his bottled-up anger and Feelings™, that kickstarts the whole story, but that's not important yet! Rest assured he ends up with a lot of blood on his hands)

I think that's enough?? I feel bad about writing this much lmao

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING NICE STYLE

A little fun creepy drawing based off of something that they kinda play off in the games lol

I rlly like drawing unsettling and creepy art of characters I love, not because I necessarily think they’re evil or they would do these things tho I guess canonically raz kills animals in pn1, even if it is played for laughs lol It’s just? A little horror-y as a treat?

blood version under the cut

[officialclangen]

Hi!! i was looking through the masterpost and couldn't find anything for it, so i wanted to ask- is there any guide to how cats would be described in the allegiances page in-game? ex. a rosette cat being described as "oddly-spotted" etc. i wanna use similar descriptors for cats, but the page only accounts for alive cats inside the clan, so i was wondering if theres any list of what pelt traits indicate what description is used?

Well, there was no resource for this, but let's make one now! I peeked into the files to grab the descriptors for you :]

Below the readmore, this is very long as I included everything that goes into it! Hopefully it helps <3

☆ Fable ☆

Colour Descriptors

"pale"— White

Only called "pale" if the cat is not singlecolour, twocolour, tortoiseshell, or calico. In these cases, it is called "white"

"pale gray"— Palegrey

"gray"— Grey

"dark gray"— Darkgrey

"pale ginger"— Paleginger

"dark ginger"— Darkginger, Sienna

"light brown"— Lightbrown, Lilac

"golden brown"— Golden-brown

"dark brown"— Darkbrown, Chocolate

"black"— Ghost

Colours that are listed the same as they are coded— Silver, Golden, Ginger, Brown, Black

Pattern Descriptors

"[colour] tabby"— Tabby, Marbled, Mackerel, Classic, Agouti, Sokoke

"speckled [colour]"— Speckled

"unusually dappled [colour]"— Bengal

"unusually spotted [colour]"— Rosette

"[colour] ticked"— Ticked

"[colour] smoke"— Smoke

"dorsal-striped [colour]"— Singlestripe

"masked [colour] tabby"— Masked

Tortoiseshell Descriptors

"[colour]"— [Base colour]/[Patch colour]

Base colour refers to the main colour, while patch colour refers to the colour of the cats patches. They are always written with the slash between them Examples: brown/ginger, pale gray/black

"[colour] tortie"— A tortoiseshell with either no white patch, or a white patch that is either classed as little white or mid white.

"[colour] calico"— A tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as high white or mostly white.

"[colour] mottled"— A tortoiseshell whose base colour and patch colours are both in the brown, black, or white category

They do not need to both be in the same category, just one of those three; a lilac and ghost tortoiseshell will be listed as mottled, for example, but a lilac and ginger tortoiseshell will not

"[descriptor] tabby"— If a tortoiseshell has the pelt type Tabby, Ticked, Mackerel, Classic, Sokoke, Agouti, Bengal, Rosette, or Speckled, "tabby" is added after the descriptor.

Example: A Lilac and Ginger tortoiseshell tabby with the Rosette pattern and no white patches would be listed as a "light brown/ginger tortie tabby"

White Patch Descriptors

"[colour] and white"— A non-tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as little white, mid white, or high white.

Can also be a tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as little white or mid white

"white and [colour]"— A non-tortoiseshell with a white patch that is classed as mostly white.

"white"— A cat with the Fullwhite patch, regardless of what colour they are underneath. Overwrites their main colour

This is different to a singlecolour white cat as they have a different pelt type underneath the patch. Fullwhite cats that are tortoiseshell underneath are listed as calico on their profile page, but not the allegiances

"[colour] point"— A cat with one of the point markings

If a cat is a point under the ginger category, they are listed as a flame point

Gender Descriptors

"she-cat"— Female, Trans Female

"tom"— Male, Trans Male

"cat"— All other identities

Extra Descriptors

"vitiligo"— A cat with vitiligo

Missing body parts have special listings, as follows;

"no tail"— NoTail "half a tail"— HalfTail "three legs"— NoPaw "a missing ear"— NoLeftEar, NoRightEar "no ears"— NoEar

Vitiligo and missing body parts are joined together as "vitiligo, [scar], [scar] and [scar]"

"scarred [colour]"— A cat with three or more scars

"long-furred [colour]"— A cat with long fur

Putting it Together

For a non-tortoiseshell with no white patches:

a [extra] [colour] [pattern/tortoiseshell] [white] [gender] with [extra]

You would remove any non-used sections. Examples below;

a long-furred dorsal-striped pale gray tom with vitiligo and three legs

a dark ginger/light brown tortie tabby she-cat

a scarred white and unusually spotted black cat

a long-furred scarred light brown/black mottled point she-cat with no tail, three legs and a missing ear

[ooctlt]

I think the etiquette of ask blogs is a forgotten art. what I'm saying is (imo) it's not that people don't want to play, it is they don't know HOW, and more importantly they don't understand that the game exists to begin with. obviously you do not have to teach people the rules because your time and energy is finite but idk. it feels like from some of your OOC responses that you assume people know the rules and are playing badly, but I genuinely think people (me) just don't know what you are wanting them (us) to do. and also they (i) don't know how to tell if they (i) are playing the game correctly.

An example I am genuinely confused about is, is inciting a "shut up" answer a signal that the game is being played correctly, because we are inciting a reaction from the character? or is a "shut up" answer a signal that we are playing wrong and need to do something different? I'm sorry. I really love your art and seeing the story unfold but I'm confused and I want to play and I don't understand how.

yeah ive had a couple people tell me this has been the first active askblog in a while and the concept of askblog etiquette has been forgotten- @thatneoncrisis and i made a diagram:

link to full-res image

a "shut up" reaction will hopefully show whether or not it's a closed path of exploration: if you have gideon sweating, going "pshhh its nothinggg" it means there is something worth exploring. if you have harrow slamming the door in your face, that is an advance that wont work on her

transcript under the readmore:

DEAD END QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU THINK HARROW'S HOT?

"Please stop talking to me."

This question is BAD because it's BLUNT, INCREDIBLY PERSONAL and founded on INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE of their relationship.

NOTE that its not that shitty questions will NEVER be answered, its that 1) they have a LOWER chance of being answered and 2) they have a HIGHER chance of being made fun of in character

gideon: haha who thinks harrow is HOT

DECENT INCONSEQUENTIAL QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU LIKE TO DO ANYTHING FUN WITH HARROW?

"Sure. We run a lot of errands together."

This kind of question may not advance the plot, as it is INCREDIBLY BROAD yet NONINVASIVE. They're good for quick 1-3 panel answers. May generally be met with a less EXCITING answer.

It might also be DIFFICULT TO ANSWER because a broad question could include MULTIPLE ANSWERS - asking "do you guys go out" could not be answered SUSTAINABLY, because i cannot draw all the places they visit

ANON: EVERYONE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLOUD / WATER / MOLECULAR STRUCTURE / BONE / CAR / COFFEE BRAND/ BOOK CHARACTER?

me: "i have to do so much research"

NEAT QUESTION CAMILLA HAS HARROW EVER ASKED YOU TO DO SOMETHING WITH HER SHE WAS EXCITED ABOUT?

"Yes, actually. She once invited me to [REDACTED], I didn't know she liked that sort of thing."

This question is SICK AS FUCK because not only do you learn something SUBSTANTIAL about the characters, you have stumbled upon A NEW PLOT BRANCH, one that actively deepens character connections and their past within the world. It specifically remarks upon a MEMORY* rather than AN OPINION and will typically be LONGER.

Another good option is to PROMPT something following this:

ANON: CAMILLA, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY TAKING HARROW OUT TO DO [REDACTED] THAT SHE LIKES BEFORE XYZ?

and this can then spiral onward…

*DM, ONE TIME I ASKED ABOUT A MEMORY AND I GOT A RUDE ANSWER; WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

It's not that this topic can never be spoken about, it's about WHEN you asked it and HOW you said it, or even WHO you asked.

Some topics, like the nature of HARROW AND GIDEON'S UPBRINGING are too recent for them to talk about, it has only been TWO YEARS since they left and there are SPECIFICS about the situation that the AUDIENCE hasn't discovered yet. There are things like GIDEON'S PARENTS that she CANNOT answer because she DOESN'T KNOW and answering multiple asks with I DON'T KNOW becomes repetitive and dull for both the DM and PLAYER.

BUT! She can learn! Over time, when the time is appropriate and feels the most natural for STORY PROGESSION. Think of it like a BAD ENDING in a visual novel. You START OVER and ask a DIFFERENT QUESTION, or approach it from a DIFFERENT ANGLE. If Gideon reacts poorly to someone congratulating her leaving BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, consider talking to her about the FUTURE. Instead of trying to pry at Camilla to see if she had an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Pyrrha, try to ask about other things in that period of her life, like how they met or what caused her to move out.

FINALLY, if you'd like an ask to be answered out of character, your best bet would be to goto @notedchampagne and send it there. If you'd like an ask to be answered SINCERELY or you don't want SNARK, you can specify this in the ask, but know this blog may not be your thing.

[littlestpersimmon]

Rbs are off because I don't want this to take too much attention from more important things. But I currently only have 4 teeth left on my upper mouth- have been saving up for almost 3 yesrs now for a tooth implant bc I don't want my entire upper row of teeth to be just dentures;; I've neglected my dental health for years due to homelessness and perpetual poverty in the global south.. and because my parents are both very disabled... and because of a fear of the dentist. I currently have two jobs- one is industry work, and the other is doing commissions. I swear on everything I am working as much as I possibly can, but for the past few days my mental health has been very very bad, and I've not been able to work as much as I usually can. I'm nervous because I was not able to draw anything for patreon this month, so am rushing to work on both patreon, and my other two sources of income / workload. A few days ago I collapsed, and ended up hurting my lower jaw / cracking my tooth and experiencing significant paint. I would absolutely love to go to the dentist this month or next month. Hopefully I will just open commissions once I finish the batch I am working on, but atm I just.. I don't have the time or strength or health to draw as fast as I can. I have a tipping jar.. and maybe if you guys like my art, maybe you could send me a small tip. I'm sorry I've not been able to draw of late; I've not had a single proper/ planned day off since August. Thank you for reading, and please stay safe.

(Links are still broken, so pleade just remove the a href thing that tumblr adds)

https://ko-fi.com/littlestpersimmon

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/littlestpersimmon/

Thank you. This is a pic of my cracked tooth; (not graphic, but under a readmore bc it's a part of my face / embarrassing)