#i am so excited to get this tablet set up!!

[florenceandtheinkmachine]

look what fell out of my chimney covered in ink this christmas

he’s sitting on my other exciting gift, a drawing tablet!! going to celebrate my new equipment with a ton of Bendy doodles

merry christmas and happy holidays!

[pricesprincess]

part two to this | angst | part three coming soon...

later that evening dinner was served and simone was bathed with her pjs on as she settled into the couch under a mountain of blankets holding her tablet while face timing simon who answered on the first ring with a smile that was reserved just for his little girl.

"hello, princess. i miss you already, are you all for bed?"

it hurt hearing simon talk so quietly like that and seeing him so torn up made your heart sink to your stomach and all the way down to your toes like a weight on fishing line. "i am! do you think you can you come over for dinner? mom made your favorite!" simone asked.

from where you stood in the kitchen you heard the silence fill the video call as you glanced down and sure enough you were making what you were so used too, even after months of the separation you were still doing things for him to make his life easier.

simon mulled the question over his head, and while he does respect you, his daughter wanted to see him and that came before anything.

"tell your mum i'll be there soon, i love you."

simone hung up her tablet and put it in her cubby before running to the kitchen, her lips tugged into a bright smile as she clapped her little hands together. "daddy is coming for dinner!" she announced.

when you and simon had separated she had asked if you still loved her daddy and without a second of hesitation you told her you always would no matter what but she was too young for the rest of it.

she came closer to stand by you, her arms wrapping around your legs as you bent down to kiss the top of her head earning a glare so similar to simon's. "my hair mommy! i want to look pretty for daddy!"

you couldn't help but chuckle a little and crouch down to her height as you took hold of her hands. "baby girl, you are the prettiest already to him, why don't you put on a dress then?" you suggested softly.

simone skipped off to her bedroom down the hallway as you finished up dinner feeling a soft flutter in your belly, like butterflies while you waited for your date to show up, but in this case it was your husband.

when he had flat out refused to sign the papers you thought about using one of the fighting moves on him that he showed you but instead you left your shared home with your daughter.

simon truly never felt like his nickname until the first night being alone without his girls giggling and doing each other's makeup, now it's just silence that keeps him awake, it was all overwhelming.

ten minutes later simone came strutting from her room complete in the princess attire, the glittering crown she wore matched the array of purples in the dress and the plastic shoes as well. "is he here yet?"

"not yet baby, i'm sure he will be soon though. do you still have that card for him?" you asked while setting the small dining room table up for three, the image was enough to make your heart flutter.

perhaps you and simon could work this out.

the card simone bought in the store as you shopped for dinner was something she hasn't been able to stop talking about since then nor could she stop bragging to everyone at the store about her dad.

she zoomed to her room then back to the kitchen holding the white envelope with a grin as she bounced back and forth unable to hide the excitement even though she just got done spending a weekend with simon, he truly was her hero and number one, same for you.

to pass time you cleaned up while simone got on her tablet to watch an episode of her show before asking you were simon was.

an hour passed and no calls or texts, dinner was now cold and you were irritated and disappointed. heating the food up you ate in silence with simone who kept glancing at the door with sad eyes.

you wanted to punch simon in the throat for getting her hopes up and you wondered what it was that kept him from coming over because you knew that him seeing simone was the most important thing to him.

another phone call and more unread texts later you finally helped simone out of her dress and into some pjs before tucking her into bed and reading a story. "why didn't daddy come? does he love us?"

her question made you tense as you perched on the side of her bed, simon and love could be like oil and water sometimes, his version of love was never something like this so he tried his best.

"of course, he does honey bug. i think he got caught up into something which happens, he loves you so very much sweet girl."

her blue eyes watered before flowing over down her cheeks as she clutched the rainbow teddybear simon gave her a few months ago.

even at her tender young age simone was beyond smart.

"why can't daddy live with us?" her question wasn't aimed to hurt but you could feel the physical pain bloom in your chest then your throat formed a lump as you fought back the tears as well.

you cleared your throat and brushed her hair back. "it's a lot baby, ok? just get some rest and tomorrow is a new day." you told her and kissed the top of her head before standing up.

making sure her nightlight was turned on you had to fight off the torrent of tears that threatened to break like a dam as you listened to simone sniffle and bury herself deeper under her blankets.

once the door shut with a soft click you quickly made it to the living room and tapped at the screen, each one a flame adding to the raging fire building inside you from simone being stood up.

as much as you hated to say it you were used to it, from the beginning of the relationship there were enough missed dates and anniversaries to fill years old calendar you were sure but you love simon enough to over look all of that, none of it mattered.

that is until you had simone and while it was just you at first you couldn't stand to see your daughter go through the same feelings or have consuming thoughts of whether he'll come or not.

voicemail. again.

you dropped on the couch and rubbed your face before dialing john's number.

voicemail.

soap, same thing.

taking a steadying breath you pushed aside the what-ifs that you've battled for years and tried to keep calm. why the hell isn't he answering his phone? you kept repeating over and over again.

then finally, kyle answered.

"kyle...hi, do you know where simon is?" you asked immediately, not even giving the man to say hello or anything, suddenly your mouth went dry waiting for his answer. "kyle? hello?" you pressed again.

[clockwayswrites]

Cozytober Day 4: "Thank you for putting up with me."

masterpost

“Walls?” Danny prompted after another few sips. “Filtering?”

“Oh, sure. Stay upright for a moment,” Jason ordered.

He leaned forward enough to snag his work bag and rifle around for his tablet. Danny gamely stayed upright, but slumped back against Jason as soon as he could. To his credit, Jason juggled Danny, his own hot chocolate, and the table with ease.

Soon the wall’s specs were pulled up on the screen and Jason was chatting away about everything that worked and didn’t work with the current construction of the walls. There was no denying that Gotham had particular needs with freak weather changes, temperamental plants, and poisonous gases. But it was good to see Jason so excited about this start.

By the time that the mugs were long empty and Jason as running out of steam, Danny took a deep breath and it came easily. There were no more words or worries or frustrations clogging up his throat. There was just him. He closed his eyes and let out the breath slowly.

Jason stopped talking and pressed a light kiss to Danny’s temple. “Hey there.”

“Hey,” Danny said with a soft smile. “Sorry about the silent invasion. I know I didn’t exactly give you a heads up.”

“Coming home to find you in my bed is never a bad thing,” Jason said. He leaned forward to set his things on the coffee table before taking Danny’s empty mug too. “Besides, I didn’t add you to my door code for you not to visit. You’re always welcome here, boo.”

“A dangerous offer,” Danny said.

“I know what I’m getting into,” Jason replied. He pressed another kiss to Danny’s forehead before he took the mugs to the kitchen.

Danny stretched slowly. “Lies. I am a man of mystery!”

“Danny,” Jason said, giving a dry look from over the kitchen island. “You spilled being a Meta two weeks into us knowing each other.”

“I’m not a Meta, it’s a medical condition, and besides, you were so worried about me getting randomly killed on the streets of Gotham. I had to do something to reassure you!” Danny made himself get off the couch. He grabbed Jason’s work bag and took it over to where it normally hung by the door. He fished the folder out of the front pocket—work Jason would insist on doing over the weekend—and took it to the desk that sat in front of one massive window bays.

“Not a man of mystery.”

“I could have secrets! I could have lots of secrets.”

“Yeah, and what’s one of them.”

“I,” Danny started as he made his way to Jason, “would kill for your hot chocolate.”

Jason laughed and wrapped his arms around Danny’s waist. “Not a secret, and please don’t. I would be forced to cover up the murder and then various members of my family would give me that disappointed look.”

“Your family always sounds so interesting.”

“You could meet them yourself at dinner tomorrow.”

Danny froze. Danny froze and he knew Jason felt it by the the way his brows drew together and his mouth twitched almost into a frown.

“I’m sorry—” Danny started at the same time as Jason tried to say, “Forget I said anything.”

They both closed their mouths with a snap.

Danny broke the silence with a sigh. “I just… soon, okay? I just want to be… better.”

“You don’t have to be better, Danny. They’d love you just like this.”

Danny shook his head. “I just… can’t. I know you want me to meet them, but I just can’t yet. I know it’s… I know that… just…”

Jason quieted Danny with a kiss. “It’s okay Danny, when you’re ready.”

“Thanks for putting up with me.”

“I’m not ‘putting up with you’, Danny,” Jason said. “Giving you room isn’t putting up with you. I like who you are. And I know you aren’t ready, but my family would too. We’re all fuck ups, we’ve got no room to judge anyone.”

Danny gave a little startled snort of laughter. “You’re all Waynes.”

“And the Waynes are fucked up. We’ve been in Gotham too long, fucked up is part of the DNA.”

“You’re adopted.”

“Semantics.”

--- AN: Danny, poking at Jason's hyperfixation to have some calming chatter.

Gods I've missed writing these two ;-;

[jellyfishoreo1206]

Tending (Sebastian Solace x Reader)

Notes: I am enjoying this way too much, I have work to finish yet here I am making sure my children are fed.

Credit goes to @/cafekitsune for the borders!

Picking the harvest was probably one of your favorite things this season. The soft sounds of nature that surround the garden as the sun lays its gentle rays upon the earth while picking the fruits and veggies give your mind a wave of peace. 

It's absolutely lovely.

Lifting that straw hat upon your head, you swiped off the sweat and dirt that had built up during your time outside. There are still traces of summer well into September, despite the dawns and evenings filling with a slight chill. 

Jack Frost sure is taking his time, huh?

There's a sense of pride that fills your very being to the brim as you examine the juicy Brandywine and Roma tomatoes that fill the wicker basket in your hold—not a single blemish or bruise on them, all are perfect! And they seem to be a lot bigger this year than the previous.

A sign of luck, you like to think it. If this year's harvest is bountiful, then the year will be prosperous.

A saying a dear relative always repeated whenever you helped out in their garden.

With a huff, you will your legs to stand straight from your crouched position, several of your joints popping from being in such a crouched stature for so long, heading over to the shaded porch where Painter resided to trade the full wicker basket for an empty one. 

And maybe some water, too. Harvesting is time-consuming, and your throat is parched.

"Hey Paints," The basket made a heavy *THUD* causing some of the items on the table to make a small jump from the force, Painter's monitor and tablet being no exception, giving the AI a small startle.

"I'm painting here." With a hiss, their narrowed eyes fixed themselves onto your sweat-riddled frame. You merely gave an apologetic smile, snatching the basket you came for and backing off before the AI started insulting you in various languages. . .

Again.

~~~

Clip. Clip. Clip.

Large scaly fingers gently picked the green beans off the bustling bush they hung from with care to not accidentally crush them, the wicker basket set beside him steadily filling up with the surprisingly immense abundance of the green capsules. He could probably make some carbonda for dinner tonight. . .

It probably won't be on par with Mama's, pero quién sabe?

Hopefully there's enough potatoes ready. . .

A feeling of excitement fills him at the thought of making one of his favorite dishes that he ate with enjoyment growing up and sharing it with you, his favorite person.

He could already imagine your look of delight when you take your first bite of the soup, smiling wide with glee and eyes wide with surprise as you go for your second bite, little hums of delight escaping your lips as you savor the taste.

Readjusting the straw hat that was slowly falling off his head with one of his hands, and slightly pulling back on his esca—grabbing the basket with the second— Sebastian moves on to the next patch in need of harvesting once he deemed there was no more beans to pick anymore—slithering his way towards where the red-potatoes were growing, being mindful to not accidentally smush his tail on any of the plants.

A soft breeze passes by, gently swaying the plants and trees along with it. It also made Sebastian suddenly aware of the sweat clinging to his tank top and hair, grimacing at the uncomfortable feeling of sweat and cloth sticking to his torso.

Though Sebastian is no longer human, he still maintains some of his most annoying human traits.

"Damn this summer heat."

~~~

Painter got a bit tired of the heat, as it was unfortunately messing with their hardware. Nothing too serious, but you wish for your friend to be comfortable, so you placed them back inside by a fan and a window.

Well, now would probably be a good time to get some water.

Swinging open the screen door with your hip, you walk back into the garden refreshed and with a new mission in mind, with two ice-cold glasses of water in hand as you survey your surroundings to find where your lover is in the garden.

It doesn't take much looking, as you spot him slithering towards the back porch with a full basket as he fusses about with his shirt, frustrated mutters slipping out every so often the closer he gets.

With a smile, you call out to him, relishing in the way his head snaps up to meet your gaze, a look of tenderness overtaking his face once he approaches.

"Mi Amor~" Once he was close enough, he used his two free hands to wrap themselves around your waist, settling the basket full of harvest down on the table next to you—nuzzling his face into your hair as he breaths your scent in, the tension that was once present in his shoulders now ebbing away.

You could practically hear the loud purring resonating within his chest the longer he held you, the low vibrations resonating throughout your whole body.

Ah, your little fishy kitty.

Unfortunately, you don't wish to spill the water, so you push him back a few inches with your elbow—though his hands now rest upon your hips, rubbing small circles as he fixes you with a coy smile.

"Hi baby," Standing on the tips of your toes, you press a kiss against his cheek, letting out an exaggerated 'Muah!' before pulling away, handing him his glass, "-thought you would've wanted something cool to drink."

"It's much appreciated, my dear." With a grateful squeeze of his hands, he brings the glass to his lips as he downs the water quickly, Adam's apple bobbing with every swallow; the glass emptied in seconds as he lets out a sound of delight, his tail thumping softly at the wooden floor boards of the porch.

Placing the empty glass on the table beside you, he flashes you with that handsome smile you loved oh so very much, his sharp teeth adding to the charm. Oh GOD DAMN. You could feel the beat of your heart fluttering rapidly within your chest as you looked into his eyes, full of love and adoration.

Those very same eyes looking at you.

Is it getting hot out here, or is that just you?

"Thank you, Starfish. If I stayed any longer out here I probably would've dried up!" He jokes, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he grins, adding to his gorgeous features.

. . .The sudden urge to smother him in kisses is very strong.

Quickly snapping out of your starstrucked spell, you replied with a joking tone as well, "Oh, you poor thing~!" With a playful pinch to his cheek, you give a gentle tug and wiggle before letting go, not without Sebastian sticking his tongue out in playful distaste.

"I'll make sure to water you if that ever happens," Embracing him once again, you nuzzle yourself the best you can into the crook of his neck, breathing in his citrus yet woody musk, "-my Little Froggit."

A few beats of silence pass by, before the both of you laughed aloud at the absurdity of words that has tumbled from your mouth. His shoulders are shaking as he attempts to shush his laugher, hand flying to his mouth to further contain them from slipping out, but it was no use. What felt like hours when it was merely seconds, the sound of laughter finally winded down—the both of you left breathless, only a quiet chuckle here and there could be heard as the atmosphere calmed around the two of you.

The two of you merely stood on the porch as you settled into comfortable quiet as your surroundings filled it with natures tune.

Seconds passed, eventually turning into minutes, then rolling into hours.

The sun hung low in the sky, making it through the last bit of his long trek down as it climbed lower and lower along the welkin, shadows elongating as the colors in the sky changed, the tune of the forest now changing as the sun dipped lower against the horizon—shining his last rays of light upon the soil of the earth before being overtaken by the moon and the stars.

The moon may not have been full this night, but she still showered the land below with her soft light as the woods became alive. The trees echoed with the sounds of the nocturnal, from the hauntingly beautiful howls of the wolves to the playful yips of the foxes. From within the trees, you could see the faint light of the fireflies luminescence bodies within the dark.

With a tired huff, you leaned more of your weight into Sebastian, sleep gently ebbing away at your brain as your eyelids drooped lower and lower. How long were we out here for? You try to think of when the two of you went out into the garden, but it seems to fade away as your mind slowly turns sluggish; craving a long needed rest.

"Tired?" Sebastian voice seems to be a lot closer to your ear, a pleasant warmth filling your mind as if you ate the smoothest of ambrosia and the sweetest of honey, nudging you closer to the land of dreams.

"Mhm. . ."

"Let's get you to bed, yeah?" The sound of movement met your ears as the floor below you disappears, now cradled within his arms as he sneaks into the house.

"But we haven't ate yet. . . or showered" You mumbled a protest as a yawn interrupts your sentence mid-way, attempting to climb out of his arms, but to no avail as he merely held you closer to his chest.

"I'll wake you up to make sure you eat and shower. Okay?"

". . .Mkay."

"Good,"He opens the door to your shared room, "-now let's get you ready for bed." Sebastian places you on the large bed with care as he slithers over to the dresser, picking out a pair of sweats and one of your favorite sleeping shirts before coming back to the bed. With some trouble, he helps peels off your dirty clothes, then handing you the clean ones before tucking you in bed.

Everything is hazy, your eyes are barely open. Your body feels so heavy with exhaustion, muttering out a small 'love you', to your lover before sleep finally took over. Transporting you to the land of dreams.

"Sleep well, cariño." With a kiss to your head, Sebastian slips out the bedroom with caution, carefully closing the door shut once the last bit of his tail makes it through. He listens to any shuffling from your side of the door, and relaxes when he doesn't hear any, only your breathing.

Now, let's make carbonda, shall we?

Last Part, Next Part (?)

[fyonahmacnally]

Thank you to @rainbow-rebellion for the amazing prompt!

“W-Wait…you’re going to Midvale this weekend? You’re spending the 4th of July in Midvale? With the Danvers? The same place I am going?” Lena asks, voice an octave higher than usual as her panicked green eyes dart between her computer screen, her cell phone, and the woman sitting in front of her. “K-Kara didn’t mention anything at lunch yesterday.”

Oh fuck! Lena thinks. This can’t be happening. Sam knows me too well. This is a disaster. Fuck! That’s it, I have to find an excuse not to go. 

Sam’s hazel eyes scan her boss and longtime friend’s face with a smirk. “Well, that’s because she just asked today. I ran into her on the sidewalk on my way back from lunch with Andrea. She invited the two of us as well as Ruby, but Rubes is going to be with her friends all weekend. So, it’s just Drea and I.” 

Shit, Andrea will be there as well. Goddammit, Kara. Drea knows me better than Sam! Gay panicking. You’re gay panicking. Okay, it’s fine. Everything is fine. You’re fine, Luthor. Get it together. You’ve hidden your pining for years. You can handle a weekend with your friends. 

The brunette CFO raises a brow in question, an act picked up from the raven haired genius over their years of working together. It’s obvious the youngest Luthor is panicking over the presence of two of her oldest friends. No, she’s full on gay panicking. Sam does her best to stifle her laughter for Lena’s sake, but just barely. “Why are you being so twitchy about it, Luthor? Drea and I have been going to game nights since I moved back to National City. Besides, all of us already know you have the hots for blondie.”

The L-Corp CFO grins as she watches Lena’s posture shift from nervous to defensive. The entirety of their friend group knows Kara and Lena have been pining over each other for years. Sam is more than aware of the reason her friend is being squirmy about her and Andrea spending the weekend in Midvale. Lena knows she and Andrea know her better than the rest of their friends. The two of them know her every little tell and both of them live to give her shit about it. 

Sam gives the youngest Luthor one final devilish smile before leaving her office. Lena knows she is absolutely fucked with the Arias and Rojas duo.

Lena does her best to put things out of her mind after her conversation with Sam. The first two days of her week fly by. It’s suddenly Wednesday, she’s finished her work for the day, and is currently standing in the middle of her walk-in closet trying to figure out what to pack for her four day weekend in Midvale. 

The past few years with Kara around have provided a crash course in “comfy clothes” as the hero calls them. She has even accumulated a lot more casual clothing, but it doesn’t mean she has figured out how to pack for a holiday weekend, much less one held primarily outdoors. Honestly, she never really had holiday weekends while growing up with the Luthors. How the hell is she supposed to know these things? 

She sighs and glances down at her watch, she should have been finished packing hours ago.

Kara will be at her penthouse any minute and she has exactly three things packed – her toiletries, her tablet, and her glasses. They are supposed to leave at 7:00 pm, which is exactly 45 minutes from now. There is absolutely no way she will have all of her shit done by Kara’s proposed departure time. 

The Kryptonian wants to beat everyone to her childhood home to help Eliza set-up for all the guests. Lena pulled out all the stops and tried her best to get out of going after learning Sam and Andrea would be there, but the lovable reporter wielded her deadly pout and any further attempt died on her lips. So here she is, packing her suitcase. She was originally excited for the trip. It was supposed to be relaxing, but now she’s certain she will spend the entirety of the trip tense as a mouse in a room full of cats. 

Lena sighs, again. She can already feel her anxiety climbing and shakes her head. Get yourself together, Luthor. Accept the fact you’re the mouse and will be tormented by two very devious cats. Fucking Sam and Andrea.  

She gets lost in her thoughts. The next thing she knows, warm arms wrap around her waist causing her to shriek like a banshee. Once she calms down and wrangles her heart out of her throat, she smacks Kara for scaring the hell out of her quickly followed by shaking her now aching hand. They tag team her packing and get it done much faster than she would have alone. Unfortunately, she let her heart eyes cloud her judgment and allowed her years-long crush to take care of her swimwear for the weekend. There is no doubt in her mind she is going to regret this decision later as she has no idea what awaits her.

You are a fucking gay disaster, Luthor. Useless, pining queer disaster. 

Unfortunately, Kara Danvers is her kryptonite. Lena Luthor cannot say no to that woman. It’s impossible.

Read the rest on AO3 - link at the top.

[deceasedream69]

Museum pt.1

I did it. I finally had the courage to ask her out.

We're going to the museum on Sunday night, it's a date. I can tell she's excited too, I was worried the museum decision was a little... nerd, but I'll guess she'll like it.

We set the time, 6:00 pm, I was going to pick her up but she said she had to do some things before meeting so she'll get there by herself.

It's 6:00 already. My hands are sweating and I can feel this... like, energy flowing through my body, it's making my stomach feel a little heavy, but I'm pretty sure it's excitement.

it's already 6:15 but I'm pretty sure she'll be here anytime, beautiful as always.

After 6:30 I decided to just go home. How could I be so stupid and think that going to a museum was a good idea for a date. I walked inside my apartment, took my shoes off and plopped onto the couch. I was too scared to even call her. I should just wait to see her tomorrow at the office, maybe she had something come up, something so important she couldn't even bother to call.

Y/n's pov

I don't know how long I've been here. I've been punched, spit on, almost drowned and electrocuted. My body felt extremely heavy and sore, my ears and head were killing me and I was cold. I just wanted to go home.

-"hey, princess, ready for another round?"

-"I just want to know why"

-"Is it not obvious yet?"

I just shook my head, slowly, of course.

-"hm, and to think that everyone tells me I look just like my father", he turned around, "or maybe, little miss agent here already forgot about every life she ruined, don't worry, I'll make you remember this day forever", he said pulling me by my hair.

Spencer's pov

I slept very well that night, suprisingly and given the circumstances. I guess crying really makes people tired. I had to put some ice on my eyes to get down the inflammation and redness.

I entered the office, my hands sweating and that feeling in my stomach again. I could do this, tho, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to ask here why she couldn't make it, or why, specially if she lies to my face and I detect it.

The team was already in a meeting when I entered the office, I quickly made my way into the meeting, everyone turning to look at me when I entered. That's when I noticed who was on the screen.

- "I know this might be a tough case for us..." Hotch started.

I sat quickly, I couldn't feel my legs, was this real? Is it my imagination trying to find an excuse for y/n to miss our date last night? Am I having a nightmare?!

- "But we're the ones who'll work the hardest to get to her", Derek said, angry as natural for him.

I wasn't angry, more like confused, sad, angry only at myself for not calling her, trying to reach her or something more than the pathetic "I'll ask her tomorrow" thing I did.

- "it's so sad, I can't even look at the pictures so I didn't put them in the presentation but...' Garcia sniffled... "But you can watch them in your tablets..."

I was too scared to look, although in my case it was a file, but not looking would be too suspicious as well, why wouldn't I look? It's supposed to be my friend, and she needed our help.

With my trembling hands I opened the file slowly, reading the first things, I opened it even more, but no pictures.

- "I couldn't dare to print them either", Garcia said looking at me trying to find the pictures.

The meeting was quick, everyone already assigned to do something different. I haven't looked at the pictures, I'm scared, but I also feel that would be a good way to motivate myself. Regardless, it's a little too late for that now, everyone's busy doing their different tasks, and I should be completing mine, too.

[dailyhmsw]

BOUNCING UP AND DOWN. HELLO SOUL!! I just got a drawing tablet and I’m super excited about it!! I’ve been drawing for a long time, but I’m usually more of a traditional artist, do you have any tips for beginners with digital art? I am REALLY EXCITED (currently vibrating) and since I sadly don’t have any digital artist friends, this was the first blog I thought of to ask for tips!! Because!! Your art is amazing and this blog feeds my insatiable hyperfixation!! I think it’s so cool and your art is amazing!!

(I’m sorry if this is annoying TwT also yes I know I’m sending this literally on Christmas Eve but there is no pressure and you can answer this ask whenever :D)

HELLO HELLO CONGRATS, FIRST OF ALL! ! !! LOL I REMEMBER WHEN I GOT MY FIRST ART TABLET the little wacom one .. it served me very well

i think the one of the biggest hurdles in going from traditional to digital is getting used to how different it feels. at its core it's the same thing, you're drawing on a canvas, but getting used to not feeling the paper under your pen and how it handles and glides differently on the tablet can take a little while. and THEN you have to get used to your art program of choice...........

i started with (and still use) firealpaca because it's free and covers all your necessary bases plus a few nice quality of life features! i know krita is also free and seems like a good pick, though i've never used it myself..

i guess it's less a question of tips and more of getting used to the change????! for an actual tip i'd say explore your program and see all the cool features it has to offer, then play with the settings (like different brushes, stabilizer levels and pressure sensitivity (if your tablet/program supports it)) until you find something you like!! eventually it becomes just as natural as it was before. i'm kinda bad at giving advice but i hope this is something at least ^_^''

tldr give it time and explore the resources given to you.. you'll discover your preferences and eventually it'll just become natural to you !!

[foxtrot91]

Buddietommy prompt: Eddie and Buck persuade Tommy to get a tattoo

This took way longer than planned and went in a direction I was not expecting! I know this might not be the best timing given... things, but I hope you enjoy it anyway <3

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

In the two years that they’ve been together, Tommy learned very quickly that Evan collects tattoos like his little brother collected Pokémon cards when they were children. Some days, Tommy will come home from a 48 and discover that Evan, in a moment of spontaneity, had gone out and gotten new ink. Last month, it had been a hummingbird tattoo after he’d done a late-night deep dive into them following a National Geographic special. The exasperated fondness on Eddie’s face was a mirror of his own as Evan had spouted off fact after fact – did you know that they’re the only bird that can fly backwards? O-or that a flock of them is referred to as a bouquet? – to the point that he and Eddie had resorted to desperate measures to convince Evan to put the tablet down.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too difficult to convince Evan once their clothes had started coming off, and by the time they were through with him he hadn’t had energy left to even think about hummingbirds, let alone continue researching them. At least until the next day, when he’d decided on a hummingbird for his next tattoo.

So, when Tommy comes home from his shift, he’s not exactly surprised to see the Saniderm bandage shining on the inside of Evan’s right forearm from where he’s sitting on the couch, playing Mario Kart with Eddie. What is surprising, is the same kind of bandage covering the outside of Eddie’s right bicep. It’s not that Eddie doesn’t have tattoos, it’s that he has so few in comparison to Evan, and as far as Tommy knows hadn’t had any plans on getting a new one.

“Hey,” he greets, smiling at the quick greetings thrown his way; they’re all very intense about Mario Kart, Tommy included. Evan’s in the lead, but not for long if the blue shell in Eddie’s arsenal is anything to go by – he’s always been the best at nailing down when to hit the button to slow down the item roulette.

Taking a moment, Tommy retrieves a beer from the fridge before joining Evan and Eddie on the couch just as Eddie releases his shell, crowing in triumph as he overtakes Evan moments before the finish line.  

“C’mon,” Evan groans in defeat, “that has to be cheating.”

“Having good timing on the item box is not cheating, you’re just a sore loser,” Eddie says, taking a swig of his own beer.

“I am not a sore loser,” Evan says, pouting up at Tommy as though expecting him to agree.

“Yes, you are,” Tommy says, and ignores Eddie’s snickering as he leans in for a quick kiss. “But you’re adorable, so you get a pass,” he adds, laughing as Evan immediately perks up.

“Don’t encourage him,” Eddie says firmly, and Tommy chuckles with a shake of his head.

“So, new ink?” He asks, changing the topic before Evan can retort.

“Oh, yeah,” Evan says, excited as he holds out his forearm for Tommy to inspect. “It’s an Atlas Moth.”

Tommy nods in understanding and smiles fondly, recognizing it as Evan’s favourite. Dating someone who had a favourite moth, of all things, was a novel concept for Tommy but was quickly becoming one of his favourite quirks about Evan. His fascination with insects had been something Tommy never quite understood – the first time Tommy had killed a beetle in his presence he hadn’t heard the end of it for a week – but the way Evan lights up whenever talking about whatever new species of creepy crawly quickly had Tommy setting aside his own dislike of the critters in favour of basking in Evan’s excitement. Now, instead of squashing the bugs, Tommy dutifully catches and releases them into the wild. He’s a good boyfriend like that.

“And you?” Tommy asks, looking up at Eddie.

Eddie twists so he can better see his left bicep. “You remember the memory box we came across when moving?” He does, it’d been after he and Eddie had sold their homes before a house large enough for the three of them and a teenager. While packing Eddie’s home, they’d come across a box filled with memorabilia from the time Christopher was a baby to just before their move from Texas. “I’d been wanting to get something like this done for awhile,” he says, proudly showing off the tiny footprints tattooed to his left arm with Christopher’s birthdate underneath.

“That’s beautiful, Eddie”

“Thanks,” he says, smiling.

“Has Christopher seen it yet?” Tommy asks. Christopher’s at a friend’s for the night but Eddie could have sent him a photo.

“Not yet,” Eddie says, “Figure I’ll show him when he gets home, though chances are he’ll find it more embarrassing than anything.”

Tommy laughs in response; it’s true, at sixteen years of age the teenage attitude is in full swing.

“So,” Evan says, tone thoughtful, “Eddie and I both have tattoos, which kind of makes you the odd man out.”

Here we go, Tommy thinks as he rolls his eyes in exasperation at the teasing lilt in Evan’s voice. They’ve been down this road before, a few times, actually.

“Baby, I told you-”

“I know, I know, your body is a temple and-”

“I never said that,” Tommy says, cutting Evan off as Eddie barks out a laugh.

“It was definitely implied,” Evan says, smug. “I just think that you’d look really good with a little ink on you.”

“He’s not wrong,” Eddie says, shooting him a smirk.

“I don’t even know what I’d get,” Tommy groans.

“You just have to find something that means something to you,” Eddie says.

“What about the first helicopter you flew?” Evan suggests.

“Not a chance,” Tommy answers. “The first helicopter I flew was with my dad.”

While the memory is overall a good one, it’s still tainted by the presence of his father, and saying so is enough for Evan and Eddie to understand why that’s not something Tommy would want to be reminded of everyday.

“Something else then,” Eddie says thoughtfully. “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath.

*

Normally, whenever they have that Tattoo Conversation as Tommy has taken to labelling it in his mind, Tommy doesn’t think anything more of it. This time, the thought won’t leave him alone. He blames Evan for suggesting he get a tattoo of the first helicopter he flew. It wasn’t a bad suggestion, and if that memory didn’t involve Tommy’s father – a man Tommy hasn’t spoken to in going on ten years now – he might’ve even been open to it. It’s a good memory, one of the very few he has with his father.

He’d been seventeen, and he’d wanted to learn to fly for nearly as long as he could remember. His father had been a pilot in the military as well, and he’d been proud when Tommy took an interest in flying. He remembers their first time going up together with Tommy behind the controls, the whoosh of the blades as they’d sped up, the combination of nerves and excitement that he could feel deep in his belly. Then, the feeling of freedom as they’d made it up into the sky and the look of pride on his dad’s face.

He still feels warm whenever he thinks about it, and he wonders if there isn’t still a part of him that longs for that approval once more. 

It’s that thought that washes away any warmth he feels when he thinks of that moment, because whatever approval had existed there was conditional and the moment Tommy had broken their unspoken agreement, it had been replaced by swift disappointment and disgust.

Such a tattoo would only serve as a reminder of all the ways he could never measure up to impossible standards.

But still, it wasn’t a bad thought, even if it was a touch misguided, which is why a week later he’s still thinking about it. Only this time, it’s not his first flight or his father he’s thinking about, but his mother. He’d been fourteen when she’d passed. Breast cancer – it had felt like no time at all between the diagnosis and Tommy saying his tearful goodbyes at her bedside, somehow both old enough to understand, and too young to comprehend his impending loss.

She’d liked birds. Loved them, more like. She’d likened herself to an amateur Ornithologist – it had been her goal to become one before she’d gotten pregnant with Tommy in the middle of getting her degree in wildlife biology. They couldn’t afford the childcare they would’ve needed for her to finish her degree, so she’d dropped out to raise him.

She’d never resented him for it, or if she did, it wasn’t to any degree that Tommy was able to pick up on it. She did share her love of wildlife with him, however, and in particular, her love of birds. He remembers the first time she took him bird watching with her. He thinks he was seven at the time and he remembers the weight of the binoculars in his small hands and feeling so important for getting to be the one to carry them. He remembers her quietly murmuring the details of each bird they’d come across, most of them fairly common until he’d spotted it circling above them – a red-tailed hawk.

He can still recall the powerful beat of its wings before they’d straighten out, almost lazy in its glide as it searched for prey. Up to that moment it was the most beautiful thing he thinks he’d ever seen, and he remembers his seven year old brain thinking, Oh, I want to do that. That was the moment he’d known he wanted to fly, even if he hadn’t quite understood just how that would work for him at the time.

It’s not difficult to get the name of Evan and Eddie’s tattoo artist once he makes his decision – Evan is a hoarder of business cards and for once, Tommy is thankful for it. He decides against telling them his plans as he schedules a consultation with the artist in favour of surprising them after the fact.

*

It’s another three weeks before Tommy’s plan comes to fruition. After several meetings with the artist, Tommy is able to settle on a design and he makes his booking for a day that Eddie and Evan are working. It had taken him some time to figure out where he wanted the placement today, eventually settling on his left forearm. The wings of the hawk would be spread along his arm in flight, as though the bird were gliding across his arm. The first session, they focus on the outline, with some minimal shading added before they settle up. He’ll have to come back for another session to finish it, and his only regret is that he won’t be able to shock the other two with the fully finished product, but this will have to do.

The next morning, Tommy is sitting in the living room with the news on when he hears the distinct sound of the jeep doors slamming. It’s followed within moments by the jangle of keys and then the flip of the lock before the door opens and Evan and Eddie are walking in, both looking incredibly exhausted. He’d seen the text messages in their group-chat. Apparently the new probie had uttered the dreaded ‘q-word’ and Evan – who is still convinced of the existence of curses, bless him – fully believes it to be the reason that they were bombarded with call after call after call. Eddie, ever the skeptic, and a man after Tommy’s own heart had done the texting equivalent of rolling his eyes before laughing in Evan’s face.  

He's greeted with a kiss from each of his boys before they collapse on either side of him, Evan leaning heavily into his side as he rests his head on Tommy’s shoulder.

“Chris?” Eddie asks, as he tilts his head back, eyes closed.

“Took him to school this morning, had to practically use a blowhorn to get him up this morning but we got there,” Tommy says, laughing.

“I miss little Chris,” Evan murmurs beside him, hand held out at what Tommy imagines must be indicative of his height when Evan first met him. “That Chris was easy, listened to everything I said and loved the zoo. Now when I suggest going to the zoo it’s like I offended him and he only wants to hang out with his friends.”

“Teenagers,” Eddie sighs, “Now that I’m living it with my own, I kinda feel bad for all the shit I pulled when I was his age.”  

“Don’t we all,” Tommy agrees.

It’s not so bad, Chris is actually wonderful, occasional bouts of teenaged attitude aside. Telling him about the three of them had been the scariest part of them even considering giving this a shot, but the way he’d taken it in stride when they did finally take that step, had been so reassuring for the three of them. Eddie would’ve never been open to this if Chris had had any objections and the three of them knew it.

He's broken from his thoughts as Eddie shifts beside him in search of the remote and it’s as he’s leaning forward to grab it that he pauses and Tommy knows the jig is up.

“What’s that?” He asks.

“Hm?” Tommy responds, playing dumb as Eddie leans in closer.

“That. On your arm,” he says it slowly, his eyebrow raised as he returns his gaze to Tommy’s face.

“Oh, that,” Tommy says, unable to hide his grin as Evan finally takes notice as well.

“Did you get a tattoo?” Evan asks in disbelief, grabbing for Tommy’s arm to extend it.

“It would appear that way, wouldn’t it?” Tommy says, chest shaking with repressed laughter at the betrayal in Evan’s voice.

“I can’t believe you got one without us,” he says while still examining the ink.

“Wait a minute,” Eddie says, looking closer once more, “Is that Drew’s work?”

Tommy can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes at the look on Evan’s face as his neck snaps up, eyes wide.

“It is!” Evan exclaims, “I can’t believe you went to my guy and didn’t say anything, after I’ve been telling you about him for over a year.”

Eddie’s laughing now too as Evan’s does a poor job of hiding how pleased he is, trying desperately to keep the betrayed look on his face.

“We were right, you know,” Eddie says smugly, “You do look good with some ink.”

Tommy huffs in amusement, shaking his head slightly and thinks that maybe if they weren’t both so beat from their shift, they’d already be making their way to the bedroom.

“So why a red-tailed hawk?” Evan asks suddenly, and Tommy’s not the least bit surprised that Evan recognized the bird on sight.

“Oh, it’s for my mother,” he says softly, and then tells them the story of when he’d first realized he wanted to fly.

They listen to his story with intent. Even if he doesn’t talk about her much, they’d known that Tommy had been close with his mother, and they’d known that he’d wanted to fly for almost as far back as he could remember, but they hadn’t known how those stories were intertwined. Two years in and they were still learning new things about each other. It was funny how something as trivial as a tattoo could reveal so much, a tattoo he hadn’t even planned on or wanted initially. He can picture his mom now, shaking her head with a smile as Tommy shares a piece of himself that had long since been buried.  

He thinks she’d be proud of the little family they’ve created, and even if she’d been vocally against tattoos because – why would you want to put something like that on your skin? It’s permanent, and you’re already perfect, Tommy – he thinks that she just might have actually approved of this one.

AO3

[astraysimp]

(Un)Expected Visitors

Hi besties. I been real active, and have am imagine for you, all! Hehehe....Enjoy!!!!

(Un)Expected Visitors

Pairing: Changbin and Y/n

Warnings: fluff, sick reader ( like a seasonal cold or flu), other members(Maknae line), worried  Binnie, G!n reader , group cuddles,impromptu  sleepover with the maknae line , reader calls the maknaes “honeys” in a cute friendly way, seungmin being soft ( we know he’s secretly a softie)

~* Y/n is sick…..and some, not so, unexpected guests come over~*

Fall was in full swing, yours and Changbin’s favorite season- leaves changing colors, falling from the trees, crisp leaves crunching under your feet as you walked , pumpkin picking , apple orchards, SWEATER WEATHER…. You loved it all. However….. What you didn’t love was the cold/flu that came along with it. The seasonal illness left you with chills, little appetite, a runny AND stuffy nose and fatigue. And, unfortunately ….that’s what you were feeling like , right now.

You had woken up that crisp chill morning– cuddled in bed, wrapped in the warmth and security of Changbin’s arms and your blankets, the sun peeking through the curtains of your shared bedroom– with a cough and sniffles due to your stuffy nose. Sighing, you checked the alarm clock….8.26AM it read. So, knowing yourself better ( and that Changbin would be upset if you didn’t) you had decided to call into your work saying you were feeling too under the weather to go in, that day. Before going back to bed and enjoying more Binnie cuddles , you decided to message Chan saying you were sick with a flu but to not worry himself or the others – Changbin included– about it and that you’d be resting, for most if not all of the day….once the message was sent, you snuggled back into his Changbin’s warm chest and fell back asleep, feeling his arm tighten around you…

~~~~~12 Noon~~~~~~

It was noon when you woke up , meaning Changbin had been at work for 2 hours. With a fatigued body and slow movements, you pulled yourself out of bed- an ivory soft throw blanket wrapped around you, fuzzy socks and your slippers on your feet - and made your way downstairs to your kitchen. Groaning as the lights of the kitchen caused your headache to throb, you padded your way to the fridge, opening the door and grabbed some soup and a bottle of Gatorade ( the light blue one) to help your electrolyte levels. Sighing to yourself, you put your soup in the microwave and took a couple of flu/ cold medication tablets. “Aish….. My head hurts. “ Hearing the beeping of the microwave , you grabbed your soup; from the microwave, a spoon and your water bottle, before you made your way to the living room. 

Setting the soup and spoon down, you gently sat yourself down on the couch and kicked your slippers off. “Mmmmmmm, want Binnie home.” You had pouted to yourself, as you sipped your soup, after letting it cool off a bit. “Aigoo, still too hot,” you sighed before taking another sip, you turned your TV on, setting the volume low. “Guess I could watch something,” you mumbled, sipping your water as you flicked through the channels. Settling on some random drama, You set the bowl on the coffee table and laid on the couch–a dwaekki pillow clutched in your arms– pulling your blanket tighter  around your body, as your eyes flickered over the TV screen.A couple episodes later and you felt your eyes droop. The fatigue of the flu really hitting you. You were groggy and didn’t realize you had fallen asleep until you heard the door of your shared apartment open….

~~~~~6.30Pm~~~

Changin- along with his other members’-- work day was finally done and he couldn't wait to go home, to you. Changbin was excited, his maknaes were going to go to your shared apartment for a dinner and game night. Exiting their company building and getting in Changbin’s car, they made the 15 minute drive, talking quietly amongst themselves. And 15 minutes later, after parking and getting the elevator to your apartment floor, they didn’t expect the sight they saw…

Changbin and the maknaes, toed their shoes off, by the door, and slipped on a pair of their own house slippers and walked into the small hallway, that opened up to their common area. Changbin noticed immediately, how quiet it was, upon entry. “Huh…… why’s it so quiet?” Han had asked his friends. The others shrugged, not seeming too fazed. “Dunno…..but usually y/n has music playing or is cooking or watching TV,”Felix said, having been over to his hyung’s apartment enough times to know the normal ‘routine.’ It seemed off and Changbin was slightly worried.” Yah, sh. Maybe they’re asleep…..baby? Honey? I’m home.” Changbin had cautiously called out as he walked around. “Hyung……did y/n seem okay when you left this morning?” Seungmin had questioned him before going to check the kitchen and patio area. “Y/n was asleep , when I left…” Changbin pouted and walked into the living room”Seungmin hyung, don’t say that. It’ll worry him,” Jeongin whined, also searching for y/n.”yeah, don’t be silly, maybe ynnie is just upstairs showering or something,” Han suggested. Scoffing gently, Seungmin butted back,”shower? At 6:30 at night?”Changbin was starting to worry, as was Felix.”Hyung? They didn’t go anywhere, today, did they?” Changbin shook his head, with a pout. “no….no…Y/n would’ve texted me plus…their shoes are by the door,in the same position they left them last night”. Sighing, he checked the bathroom and first floor guest bedroom ,before quietly making his way to the living room.  “Huh?....Tv’s on? Baby? Binnie’s ho-” he called out again, before noticing your sleeping figure on the couch, soup and medicine on the table and sighed.” Guys , I found y/n. They’re asleep, so be quiet.” He told his members as he knelt down by the couch, gently stroking your cheek with the back of his knuckle. “Hey, hey, baby. What happened hm?” He pouted at you, noticing your eyes slowly opening, as you nuzzled into his touch. “B-Binnie? You’re  home?” You sleepily smiled at him , stretching your body out. “Yeah,Binnie’s home. Now, sweety, what happened? Why didn't you tell me you didn’t feel well?” He cooed before placing a kiss to your forehead,”it’s okay,Binnie. Just a flu.” You blushed under his gaze, blinking slowly. “Oh baby, my poor baby. Let Binnie take care of you, yeah?” He smiled, softly, until he heard the coos and scoffs of his maknaes.Seungmin speaking first, “ hi, Y/nnie. Do you feel okay? Do you want us to go?” He looked at you softly, the same way the other members of the maknae line were. “ We can go, noona. It’s okay,” Jeongin and Felix added in, Han nodding in agreement. Sitting up, you smiled and giggled softly, feeling Changbin pull you into his side. “Oh, hi honeys. No no … I feel a lot better, now. You guys can stay.” You patted the other side of the couch and watched as a giggly felix scampered over, before cuddling into your side. “ I’m glad you feel better,ynnie,” Felix smiled at you and placed a soft kiss on the top of your head. Feeling left out, Han, Seungmin and Jeongin scampered over, before placing themselves around or on you, Felix and Changbin. “Cuddle pile! Cuddle pile!” They had cheered- yes even Seungmin- as they grabbed blankets of their own and smiled at each other. 

Sure, having the flu sucked– like yeah the flu sucks–  but having your boys there to care for you and cuddle you , made it a heck of a lot better. “ Now….if you boys get sick…. It’s not my fault,” you had playfully warned them, sending points at them. “Yes ma’am, our faults completely.” They had giggled, before cuddling back in. And, a few hours later, once dinner was eaten and everyone was changed into pajamas….you found yourselves asleep in that same cuddle pile– all with soft smiles on your faces. 

[heavenlyeros]

fat cat !

a valentine's gift. i am slowly working on a very cute shop update but until then i am trying to edit slightly older things, so i bring you this egg ! fat cat was my second attempt at making the polymer clay look more like air dry clay but i got a bit too adventurous after the neat outcome of my previous attempt, so i rushed several of the steps and the effect really didn't work as well. lesson learned (:

i added a little photoshoot i took of in game fat cat for anyone who has not seen one before ! come to the final fantasy, we have cute blob animals and tragedy ! (also mount edition because i don't know how to screenshot minion fat cat with leggy? they always sit down in gpose? i am still very new at this. so cute though ...)

big thank you for all of the lovely comments and tags and messages. i am very overwhelmed by internet in general right now and only showing up to share art sometimes in hopes it brings people joy. i know i am very behind on thanking everyone individually and responding to messages but know they are all so appreciated and mean so much. life and health just take priority because the horrors do be persisting. i love you all. i do have some exciting updates for everyone who originally showed up for my illustration work and is trudging through all these wonky animals i've been sculpting: i think i have found a drawing set up that will allow me to work for more than half an hour without intense pain. i found an affordable refurbished tablet that i can lie in bed with instead of using the wacom at my desk. i haven't really been able to draw in over a year because my body has been getting worse and worse, so i am so incredibly excited and have so many ideas in mind ! thank you all so much for sticking with me through it all. the pain is forever but so is my determination to draw blorbos.

[imaginesforeveryone]

Arranged (Part 4)

Pairing: Finn Shelby x Y/N Warning: hangover, fluff Summary: You were the youngest child of you fathers, being part of a mob family in the heart of New York, your family had many enemies in the city, and even further away, and your life was about to change after a Peaky Boy barged into your life.

“Fuuuuuckkkkk.” You groaned out as you opened your eyes the next morning with your head still on Finn’s chest. You rolled over and held you head in your hands. 

“You okay love?” You heard a deep groggy voice say. 

“My head.” You said sighing out. 

“Look on your bed side.” He said as he flipped onto his side to look at you. You looked over and there was some tablets and water. 

“Your the best.” You said to him and grabbed them off the table and took them quickly. You laid back on your back and closed your eyes. 

“So what are the plans today?” You asked. 

“Well, I was thinking I’d show you around the city a bit. Go to the Garrison, which Tommy owns. Meet some new people. Then we can go back to my house and get you all set up.” He said placing his hand softly on your forehead. 

“Sounds good to me. I’d just like to get the alcohol out of my system first and not feel like shit. How bad was I?” You asked not ready to hear how big of an ass you made yourself look like. 

“Not too bad. You were pretty mad at me because I wasn’t around you. You caused some good laughs but nothing near the shit that normally goes on here.” He said rubbing your head softly now. 

“Here. I’ll run you a bath and you can get ready for our day, then come downstairs and have breakfast wit everyone.” He said getting up from the bed only in his boxers. He pulled his pants on and walked to the bathroom. You stood wrapping the sheet around your body to keep somewhat warm and went to the bathroom. 

“Come on. It nice and warm.” He said motioning you over. You dropped the sheet, exposing your completely naked body now to him. Trying to cover up slightly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. 

“I’ll let you know right now, your body is beautiful, I saw you naked last night, and you never have to hide from me.” He said standing and looking over at you. You smiled and walked over to the bath he stood in front and got in. The bubbles he put in covering you completely. The water was so warm on your skin, and relaxed all the muscles in your body. 

“Are you excited to see England today?” Finn asked kneeling beside the bath tub and putting his arms on the edge of it. 

“I am. I’ve never left New York. So, I’m excited to see new things.” You said looking at him. He smiled at you and put his arm over and put his finger tips into the warm water you laid in. He looked down at the water as he caught bubbles in his hands and just kind of looked like he was thinking hard. 

“Hey.” You said putting your finger up to his chin to lift it up to look at you. 

“Everything okay?” You asked looking into his eyes. 

“Oh yeah. Just thinking.” He said with a small grin. 

“About?” You asked trying to understand him. 

“Just thinking about my future. What will become of you and I. What you want from me. If you really want to be in this marriage. I’ve seen how arranged marriages go and most of the time, the couple ends up hating each other.” He spoke up explaining his thoughts to you. 

“Well, it is only day 4 of being married, so I can only tell you what I think at this moment. Right now, I think I would very much like a future with you. Do I think we will get along all the time? No, of course not. You have Shelby blood flooding your veins, I know there is anger in there somewhere. I have Italian blood, Gotti blood to be exact, running though my blood. But, I could see us having a beautiful family, kicking ass, and growing old together.” You said explaining what you thought. He smiled and kissed your forehead softly. 

“Well, I’m happy you feel that way. Now go ahead, clean up and I’ll see you downstairs.” He said standing and walking out. You smiled at yourself. He was a good man, he may not do some not so good things, but the people he loves, they know he loves them. That’s all you ask for. To know you were loved, and safe. You finished up your bath and got out, wrapped your self in the robe that hung on the back of the door. You walked out drying your hair with a small towel. You opened your suit case that laid on the ground on your side of the bed. You grabbed out the pinstripe blazer, with a black button up shirt, and leather pants. Also, grabbing your fedora, and black heeled boots. You slipped into all your clothes and looking at yourself in the mirror before stepping out of the room. You made your way down the stairs and heard the talking coming from a few rooms over. You made your way to that room and entered it.

“There she is!!” Arthur yelled. You smiled at everyone, scanning the room to find Finn, and finally your eyes landed on him on the other side of the table with an open seat next to him. You began to round the table. 

“You need to give me the name of whoever makes that suit. I need it.” Polly said as you passed her. 

“I’ll have one specially tailored for you from New York.” You told her with a smile and made it to Finn. You sat next to him and pushed your chair in. 

“You look amazing.” He whispered to you. You smiled at him giving him a thankful look. 

“Alright, so Item one, Welcome to the family officially Y/N. Hope you wont get to annoyed with all of us.” Tommy said standing from his seat and clanking a knife on his glass. Everyone cheered and hooted. 

“Item two, now with Y/N in the family, we have made amends with the Gotti family, which means we’ve made amends with pretty much all of New York. So we can began our move into America. We may have some trouble with Jack Nelson again, but with the Gotti family, and our men there now. We shouldn’t have too much trouble.” Tommy went on to the next topic. Thinking to yourself that you married Finn, for the business, but looking over at Finn and thinking even if it was just a business transaction you might actually have feelings for this man. Everyone ate and talked over their breakfast for about an hour longer. 

“alright well I’m sure everyone has their own things going on today, so everyone have a nice day. Finn & Y/N have fun around the cities, but Finn remember to be careful.” Tommy said before everyone broke away from the table. You stood along with everyone else. 

“Alright you ready?” Finn asked as you both stood. 

“Yes.” You said with a smile and followed him out of the house and to the Bentley that sat out front for the two of you. You got in and Finn rounded the car to get in and drive off. 

It was an amazing day with your husband. You drove around London met some Peaky boys that you’d be seeing around a lot. You danced, ate, sat and watched people walking around town, learned more and more about each other. You two were back in the car and on your way to Small Heath for the last stop of the night. You pulled up to the Garrison where it seemed like the place was packed.

“Here we are, where everything started.” Finn said before getting out of the car and coming to open your door. You took his hand and stepped out lightly. 

“Wow. This place seems popular.” You said with a smile. 

“Well it is run and owned by the men who own and run this city, so they know where the best stuff is. Come on in, have a few more people for you to meet.” He said leading you into the Garrison. It was covered in gold and beautiful lights hang from ceiling. 

“Wow, this place is beautiful.” You said looking around. 

“Yeah, had somewhat of an upgrade after it got blown up.” Finn said. You looked at him with wide eyes.

“Business.” Was all he said and you understood. 

“Finn!!!” You heard a tall, blue eyed, black man say from a booth on the other side of the pub. 

“Y/n, I’d like you to meet Isaiah. One of my best mates, and one of the Peaky Blinders.” Finn said as you met with Isaiah. 

“Well fuck Finn, look at you, finally got yourself a pretty one. No more slags for this guy, ey?” Isaiah said laughing and putting Finn in a headlock. 

“Very nice to meet you Y/N.” He said holding his hand out for you to place it in his and he kissed the top of it. 

“Nice to meet you to Isaiah.” You said with a smile. 

“Y/N!” You heard your name called from behind you. You turned to see Polly stood at the bar waving you over.

“I’m going to go get a drink.” You said before walking away from the two men. 

“Hey Pol.” You said meeting her and sitting st one of the hightop seats at the bar next to her.

“So, how was your time being introduced to the city?” She asked lighting a cigarette and motioning it to you. You took it and took a drag off of it. 

“It was very nice. I think I’ll like it here.” You said with a smile. 

“Hey! can we get a whiskey over here for the women?” Polly yelled at the bartender. The bartender hurrying to get that whiskey for you. You took a sip and relaxed a bit more. 

You and Polly sat and talked for what felt like hours. Getting to know more and more about the family. 

“Scuse. miss.” You heard a man say from behind you and brush your hip with his hand. 

“Mrs. and you can back up.” You said turning to the man who wanted to get severely close to you. 

“Sorry. Mrs. But you are beautiful, and I don’t see your Mr. next to you. So I’m sure it’ll be okay if I just.” He said as he began to move his hand towards you waist again. Pulling out the knife from your boot, standing up, flicking it open and pushing it to his throat causing him to push back up against the bar. 

“You didn’t let me finish. Mrs. Shelby it is.” You said and his eyes widened as you felt a presence behind you knowing it was Finn and Isaiah. Polly just sat and watched you, studied your movements. 

“I suggest you don’t come back here.” You said backing up and he stood straight up. 

“Fucking, Peaky Blinders.” He said as he ran out of the building. You turned to look at Finn. 

“Well. Didn’t think you had that in ya.” Finn said grabbing ahold of your hips and pulling you into him. 

“I think there’s a lot you may not know about me Finn. But you will learn as time goes on. But for now, let’s dance!” You said pushing him to the middle of the room where everyone danced and joining in. 

You and Finn danced through the night, drinking, laughing, even kissing every once in awhile. It rounded just about morning time when you and Finn sat in a booth just talking and realized there were people passed out in other booths and even on the floor.

“Well shit, we should probably get home. Get you acquainted with the house, and get some sleep.” He said standing up sliding out of the booth. You followed behind him, and to the front door. You walked out, it wasn’t sunrise yet, just before the sunrise where it was light out, but no sun appeared. You got into the car and Finn drove about 20 minutes away from the Garrison. Pulling up to a house secluded with trees around it, and a big farm. The house wasn’t as big as Tommy’s, but still big and just enough room. 

“This is beautiful Finn.” You said looking around the property. 

“Yeah. It not huge, but I don’t need huge. Just need enough room for the horses, and somewhere I’m able to get away from all the craziness.” He said as pulled into the driveway. 

“Its perfect.” You said smiling and becoming more happy to be here by just seeing where you’d live. You got out of the car and met around it to Finn who wrapped his arm round your shoulder and walked with you to the home.

“Welcome home, Love.”

[airandangels]

Assorted thoughts about Infinity Nikki

The controls when playing on mobile are really poor. I would almost say don’t even bother with it unless you have a Bluetooth controller to link to your phone or tablet. It’s still a bit difficult (Nikki tends to bumble off the edges of things when I thought I’d made her stop) but the difference is huge, particularly in the dungeons that require platform jumping.

The bike controls on mobile are simply diabolical, so my Nikki jogs everywhere.

The graphics are really lovely, although I can tell I’m not getting the half of them on a phone screen. It’s the difference between pretty and beautiful. I am obviously not going to buy a gaming PC or laptop for the sake of a dress-up gacha game, but I wish it was available for the Mac OS. My iPad is older and can’t even run it.

I’m not a big fan of the way all but two of the ability outfits change Nikki’s hair colour to assorted shades of blonde. She’s a natural pinkhead and I think that ought to be consistent in those sets. It looks to me like an alternate specialist Nikki taps in and then out again. I imagine they have different personalities; purification Nikki is elegant and calm and has a sort of hallowed air about her, a bit of a Virgin Mary vibe. Fishing Nikki is mellow and down to earth. Bug-catching Nikki is perky and excitable. Animal-grooming Nikki is Fluttershy. And floating Nikki, well, she’s the problem child. Floating Nikki’s all like “I bet I can make that. Hold my beer, Momo,” and then (narrator voice) “She did not make it.” She’s not even very good at floating/double-jumping, she’s hard to direct and if you accidentally hit the jump button again she drops like a rock. Fortunately, there’s no fall damage in this game, unless you fall into water more than knee deep which is instant death. In that really cool cutscene where Nikki helps Nonoy by flinging her through the air like the fastball special, I was like “I’m glad this is a cutscene because there’s no bloody way I could do that manually.”

Where are Nikki’s cute swimsuit and rock-climbing sportswear outfits? Coming in an update, I hope. Nikki has prettier outfits than Link but she desperately envies his climbing and swimming. Also his ability to aim.

[bobcatmoran]

I had the worst vaccination experience of my life today at the local CVS, and that's counting childhood vaccinations that I can remember crying at. The goal: Getting a flu and Covid vaccine at 4:30 pm, which I had signed up for online earlier this week.

I had to wait an hour past my appointment and that wasn't nearly the worst part. Everyone I encountered was simultaneously clearly overworked and terrible at their job. I realize this is kind of par for the course at CVS nowadays, but I got my Covid booster there last year and it was fine. This was. Not. On just so many levels.

First off, I got an email two minutes before my appointment, reminding me to arrive five minutes before my appointment. The check-in link didn't work, and the first CVS pharmacy tech I talked to about it told me to go wait on the chairs by the consultation room where they were giving vaccines. Then she told me after 5 minutes of that, whoops, I was not checked in in any way, shape, or form by just going to sit in a chair and I needed to come up to the Consultation Window to talk to the one (1) pharmacist on duty. He was on a phone call with an insurance company. More waiting. He then couldn't find me in the system despite my having received an email from CVS for my appointment. Eventually, after much confusion, he declared me checked in and told me to go wait.

While I was waiting, the guy giving vaccines took like 15 minutes for one person, came out after another long pause, asked for someone who wasn’t there, then asked for the names of all 4 of us waiting, stared bewildered at his tablet, and then wandered off behind the counter. It was 1/2 hour past my appointment at this point.

Nearly an hour past my appointment, the guy finally came back, and first says that the lady sitting next to me will go first. Then she pointed out that I'd been there the longest and was supposed to be seen at 4:30.

Vaccine guy's solution to this is to maybe just bring us all in at once because he printed out all our paperwork. Mass vaccination, whee. He insists on me and the lady sitting next to me to going in together. We both acknowledge this is weird, but we've both been waiting so long we just want to get out of here. The vaccine room is a disaster. Honestly, I probably should have turned around and left at that point. There was an overflowing wastebasket, wrappers for alcohol wipes and bandaid backings and cottonballs on the floor. The desk was chaos.

He called me by a new, exciting mispronounciation of my name that I've somehow never heard before, misread my birth date as being in March, then held out the bag of cottonballs and told me to take the last one. Then he left to find more cottonballs. There were no more in the pharmacy stock. He declared that he would take a bag from the shelves and they can yell at him later. Then he realized he was out of gloves. A similar song and dance ensued.

He then opened up the contraband bag of cottonballs, told me to take two more, and handed me a set of two bandaids, telling me to open them. This was all interspersed with him describing how understaffed they were and when you are done with this you can have a good laugh. He was clearly very past his last possible fuck to give.

Eventually, I was vaccinated, but not before he took both bandaids from me, put one on top of a cottonball on my arm where I got the flu shot, then gave me the covid vax, was confused about where the second bandaid went, and fished another from the box. Meanwhile, the opened, unused bandaid was sitting on top of the paperwork, where he had put it.

He put cottonball-bandaid combo on the second vax site, and I and the remaining cottonball he gave me to hold left. Quickly. I mouthed to the other people waiting, (who could hear everything because there is zero soundproofing on their "consultation" room) "Good luck."

I am never going to that CVS again. What the actual fuck was any of that.

[serenaoffaerun]

WIP Wednesday

What do we do when the power is out from a 15-minute wind storm and we're sitting in the dark on our tablet with internet powered by a generator? We write!!

I'm supposed to still be on a break for a couple more weeks working on an art commission, but seriously. What am I supposed to do. 😆

And you all reap the rewards of the next chunk of chapter 4 of the Consequences series (started by @alpydk), which now has a name! I present to you, the middle 1/3rd of:

Chapter 4 - Promises

(Pic by me - I'm limited in my choices because I'm on my phone)

After she'd gotten her small camp deconstructed and bathed herself in the river, Tav realized that, in her excitement, she'd forgotten about Gale's letter. She retrieved it from her pack, sat on a nearby boulder, and took a deep breath.

Her hands were slightly trembling with excited anticipation, a sensation much preferred over the anxious jitters that had accompanied her up until now. She opened the envelope and immediately breathed in the scent of mahogany and lavender. Closing her eyes, she smiled so wide her face practically ached. In mere hours, she'd be able to bury her face in Gale's neck and feel the warmth that would usually pair with that gloriously comforting scent. 

Tav kept the grin on her face as she read:

(NOTE: the complete chapter will include a graphic of this letter, just like the ones in chapter 3).

Taviela, My Love,

Words cannot express the joy and anticipation I feel at getting to finally hold you and kiss you properly this evening. To treasure you as you deserve. To comfort and be comforted by you. Would that I possessed the power to make time move faster…

Having said that, I realize I may be assuming too much and wonder if I'm placing unreasonable expectations on you. We are coming back from the deepest depths of pain and heartbreak by each others’ hands. I'll admit, I feel a little out of my depth. I'm unsure if the best course of action is to throw ourselves at each other to make up for lost time, healing and strengthening our bond through physical affection, or to hold back, rebuilding the structure that is “us” brick by brick.

As for my part, I have no doubts, no hesitations. I want to hold you beneath me, caressing your hair and whispering words of dedication and adoration for you while looking into your eyes, making love to you until the sun rises. 

But the last thing I want to do, my darling, is pressure you or make you feel like you're being thrown into the deep end unwillingly. 

It would greatly put my heart at ease if you would set the pace. I'm handing you the reins for the week, starting tonight. If you want us to lose ourselves in each other all night long, I'm ready and willing. If you want me to just lay with you, fully clothed, talking with you and hold ing you until you fall asleep, I will take my leave quietly as you slumber. If you just want a forehead kiss and a smile, I will wait for more until you are ready, even if it takes us years. I'm not walking away this time. Never again. 

I will not squander this second chance we've been given, and I know you won't either. We will navigate this road together, one step at a time. I promise you now: if you ever need a step backwards to breathe and regroup, it will not sway me. If I see us starting to spiral, I will not be afraid to call for a pause so we can get our heads on right and figure out how we need to communicate. Everything will work out this time, I truly believe that. 

On another note, I'm sending this letter with Tara because I believe you and she could use a bit of a chat ahead of our time together. She has come a long way towards understanding our situation, and I believe if she sees you and hears your words directly, she will have more peace of mind. You are both immensely important to me, and I would honestly rejoice at hearing my favorite ladies cackling like hens again at my expense. 

I have some things to take care of before this evening, so I will leave it here for now. When you arrive at The Yawning Portal, you can tie up your horse in the barn and come right up to room 3. The barkeep already knows to expect you.

I will be there waiting for whatever tonight has in store, alongside a hearty meal, a warm bath, and open arms, should you be ready for them.

Safe travels, sweetheart. I love you, and I will see you soon. 

Gale

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tav once again clutched the letter to her chest, giggling and kicking her feet like a smitten schoolgirl. Folding up the letter and stuffing it down her shirt to reread later on the road, she grabbed her pack and swung up on her horse. She smiled again as she grabbed the reins and turned towards Waterdeep. Not the only reins she'd be in charge of today, apparently. Yet she already knew how she was going to handle the next pair she'd be given…

[negobeauriva]

A deep analysis of Konstrakta's "Novo, Bolje"

I know that there are maybe many articles about this song already, considering it came out a week ago or so, but I am so in love with both the song and Konstrakta herself that I needed to put my two cents on this song and why I think it's such an awesome entry. I'm also going to make a comparison to In Corpore Sano and relate both of the songs. I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Btw, I've gotten the necessary translations from here and here.

Let's start out with the title: Novo, Bolje means New, Better. It's already an indicator that sets the pace for what is coming.

Musically, the song is quite simple - It has only three chords that keep repeating in an uniform pattern, with a distinctive synthesizer that repeats itelf throughout the song as well. It's fast paced and eclectic, very modern, to fit the theme of the lyrics. It's worth noting that the backup singers are taking a very important function here. I'll explain it later on.

Now, let's get to the lyrics. Through the entirety of the song, Konstrakta is speaking to an imaginary doctor, to which she's telling of her latest affliction: She craves novelty. She only wants new things, new improvements, nothing seems to be enough for her, and she considers this as something wrong, something to be cured. This is about addiction to novelty and consummerism - modernity has made us addicted to updates, the newest phone, the newest device, the newest social media, every new thing is exciting and we eventually run for it.

The chorus is proof of it: New, better, faster, bigger, higher, prettier, stronger. The things she has aren't somehow enough, and she claims that all of this is coming. She wants something better than good. Good isn't cutting it anymore. It needs to be better.

Konstrakta proceeds to elaborate on her point saying that if she was smarter, she could turn a kilo of bread into two, and that ever since she was born, she has been knowing about better than good, which is another jab at modernity: New generations are addicted to new things since they are little. Let's think back, how many of us in our childhoods wished for better, bigger toys or electronic devices? It's an actual reality. And with the rise of phones, tablets and similar devices in infancies, this is more present than ever.

This also speaks about self-pressure about being better than good, the line "the performance could've been better" is a reference to our modern perfectionism, and the wish to reach even higher heights everytime, with innovations that sometimes aren't necessary. Why would the Pacific ocean need to be more pacific, anyway? The grandiosity and the exaggeration are marketing elements to draw you in, to try and show you that you can, indeed, be better than good. It's exploitation disguised as motivation and self help.

Then she says that she feels set up everywhere, because she is seeing anomalies, which is another point. Consummerism is a social issue, but if you point it out in a consummerist society, you're most likely to get laughed at or gaslighted in the sense that you're not being brainwashed by the consummerism. Which leads us to the next line, Konstrakta asks the doctor what's wrong with her, why is she seeing anomalies everywhere? Why is she addicted to novelty and perfection? She's trying to break the cycle of self-awareness, and at the same time, she wants her head to shut up about the pressure of novelty and perfectionism. She might believe nobody else is going through this, which is, ironically, an anomaly on itself.

When she sings the word "better" over and over again, it eventually gets distorted by the end of the phrase, which shows us that she's losing herself. In trying so hard to reach better, to improve, she's losing and destroying pieces of herself to try and build something new. The backup singers are repeating the other adjectives: better, faster, bigger, higher, prettier, stronger. Another proof that her head presses her further than she can actually reach.

In a more calm section of the song, she says that everything is fluid, and if she stops, she'll fall through, stating that she needs to constantly go full speed, up, towards higher heights. This is very telling. At the beginning of the section, the music gets calmer, almost quiet, but as Konstrakta starts repeating the words "going up, constantly going up", the synthetizers and the fast pace are back again, supporting her claim and her "illness" - the need for speed, novelty, perfection. Nothing is enough. Nothing will ever be enough. Konstrakta is trapped on a cycle of perfectionism and addiction to novelty. In trying to break the cycle, she's perpetuating it at the same time. It's a vicious cycle from where she can't escape.

When Konstrakta asks again what's wrong with her, this time she doesn't even get to explain what affects her. Here is where the backup singers reveal their real role: They are the voice of society. While Konstrakta tries to figure herself out, the singers appear to reinforce her need for novelty, the need for something new coming, the thought that nothing is never and will never be enough. And in this final section of the song, they shut Konstrakta up: "For God's sake, there's nothing wrong with you". They're gaslighting Konstrakta into thinking it's all in her head, and that she needs to keep striving for more.

During the final section of the song, the singers chant, almost like madness, that it's coming. Novelty and progress are coming, and nobody, not even Konstrakta herself, can stop it. While all of this is happening, she screams, calls out for the doctor to help her, but she receives no help - she's being consumed by the spiral. She's being dragged by the tsunami of society, the fast paace of consummerism devouring her as she screams in agony. And then, she says the most beautiful phrase I've seen in a song in a while:

"The wish doesn't know about what is unreachable."

We can strive and wish for perfection all we want, but wanting something and being realistic about it are two completely different things. We can try to reach the moon, but we are too far to actually do it. And in our search for perfection, not only can we lose ourselves, but we can go to dangerous heights: Security breaches, the end of individual liberties, violence, stepping over people's heads to get whatever we want, however we want. The wish doesn't know what's unreacheable. Therefore, there are no limits to modernity. This is a hurricane, and it's going to destroy us all.

There is no escaping this. Which is why she closes by saying "it's coming" - Modernity is coming. We can't do anything to stop it.

Now, let me compare this masterpiece to her former Eurovision entry, In Corpore Sano.

It's curious to notice that both songs have the same length. In Corpore Sano, in case you need a reminder, speaks about how an artist must keep themselves healthy, appreciating our health and the moments in which we have it, to be thankful for being healthy and our body properly functioning. It's a jab at the Serbian medical system for it's negiglence with artists and the lack of medical insurance for them, also stating how health is a privilege, citing Meghan Markle's hair as an example to kick off the song and start speaking about hydration and health problems and how to identify them.

A healthy mind in a healthy body, a sick mind, a scared mind... Where do we go from this?

This song is more ominous, and the beautiful staging was also very ominous, setting the atmosphere for Konstrakta to become an advocate for Serbian artists and their health system. Art and social criticism, hand in hand.

Both In Corpore Sano and Novo, Bolje speak about health, one being physical, the other being mental. In the case of In Corpore Sano, the background singers don't take as big of a role as they do in Novo, Bolje, and when they do, they reinforce Konstrakta's message, instead of being dismissive about it or trying to shut it down. Both the songs are written in minor keys and are limited to a couple chords, keeping it simple.

In Corpore Sano is slower paced, as if trying to get people to understand the point. We also get a hint of grief - Konstrakta lost her bandmate and friend Miroslav Ničić to leukemia in 2019, which inspired this song to come to fruition. Novo, Bolje, is faster paced, showing us the chaos and the need to rush that the song tried to criticize, and it's repetitive, highly repetitive, to catch people in. The catchy tune is meant to make you forget the point of the song, showcasing how tone deaf society can be sometimes.

At the same time, In Corpore Sano has a hint of divinity. God grants us health, but I don't have medical insurance. Latin has always been a language related to holiness, to purity. Novo, Bolje, has no divinity to it, it's quite banal, vulgar if we try to compare it to Latin - in the Middle Ages, any language that wasn't Latin was called vulgar, meaning "of the people". This song is nowhere near God. Our society has killed God, and has gone beyond divinity. Holy Modernity, mother of our Society, has taken over.

In Corpore Sano is meant to be a ritual song in all of its aspects - we see Konstrakta moving and clapping her hands, cleaning them ritually with her backup singers as assistants, overseeing the process as if to take care of her. They are dressed in black, Konstrakta in white, showing herself as a pure, healthy being, trying to teach others about health and how to keep it. We haven't seen anything about Novo, Bolje's staging, but the concept Konstrakta has shown with her in blue skin and an eccentric white attire, with the caption "The Kilimanjaro could be higher" (a brilliant reference), is meant to scandalize, to be weird, to make you think about the absurdity of things. Again, there is no holiness, no ritualism, nothing. It's banal. It's empty. And that banality, along with the message, is what makes this whole concept beautiful on itself. It's what makes it so brilliant and so well crafted.

I hope you've made it so far and that you have liked this analysis. In short, Konstrakta is a genius, a musical and lyrical genius, and I can't wait to see her again setting foot on Eurovision's stage. I hope this helps you look at her song with new eyes.

She's definetely gotten newer and better.

---

I'm adding a new section of this analysis, to further it, now that Novo, Bolje's staging has been revealed.

First off, I want to thank every single one of you who gave support to the original version of the analysis, from the fans, to people from Serbia, to Konstrakta herself! I'm super honored to have been shared and promoted by her. It feels amazing.

Now, onto what's important: The staging.

Many people have put criticism on the fact that "this is just the same as last time", but they fail to perceive this is the exact message Konstrakta wants to get across. Modernity promises new, better, bigger, stronger, faster, prettier... But in the end most of the things that it produces are the same that they were before. Many new phones end up being the exact same as old models, but with a very small improvement, sometimes hard to see. This is the reason why Novo, Bolje is so similar to it's eldest sister, In Corpore Sano. A sequel that doesn't feel as much as a sequel, and in there resides its charm.

I've also been pointed out to the fact that this is supposed to be a satire against returning artists and their efforts to make something "new, better", and I really like that approach. It's a very interesting artistic satire.

Konstrakta is once again dressed in white, and her singers in black - A contrast between divinity and evil. But this also reinforces the fact that she is the "odd one out", she's questioning modernity, she's the one going against the norm. She's different from everyone around her. The fact that we can't ever see the "doctor" she's referring to, also helps reinforce this message. This will come back later, so keep it in mind.

This time around, she is not washing her hands, but instead making bread. Bread has many symbolisms, but in religion, bread symbolizes the gift to God to humankind - a stark contrast to a godless modernity, as stated prior in this analysis. Bread is the most basic of meals, and one of the easiest to put together, it's universal, every culture has its own version of bread. Just like modernity, universal, basic, stripped out of all value when you truly look into it. Bread is one of humanity's turning points. Modernity is, too, one of humanity's turning points. The creation of the Internet, the introduction of cellphones and computers, the invention of social media, didn't they all change humanity as we know it, just like bread did? Also, just like bread, these novelties are "food" - a basic need, something we can't live without now that we have discovered it.

Interestingly enough, the words "Not new, not better" flash around the first minutes of the song. This "episode" is so similar to the past one, it seems to contradict its title, but then again, therein lies its charm.

In the background, we always see eyes on the sides of the stage. "Big brother is watching you" - rings a bell? Modernity has its eyes everywhere. You are constantly being watched, you have to keep on track, not question anything and just lift your head and pretend everything is normal.

Konstrakta is constantly kneading the dough, never do we see her putting it into the oven - this can also make a reference to the "it's coming" line of her song. The bread is coming, it's supposed to come out soon, just as novelty is coming. Evo sa'ce, how the song would say. Inbetween, Konstrakta lets the dough rest, covered. Anyone who's made bread or seen a bread recipe, know that this is so the dough rises up. Just like a further section of the song, rising up, constantly up. If we tie this to the political meaning I've seen people add to the song, this could also double up as the gestation of an uprising against politicians, or even the fake promises they make.

During the first part, her backup singers are huddled in a corner, and from there they scream at her "it's not enough". This is a perfect parallel to what I put in the first half of the analysis, about self-pressure, perfectionism and how they play a big part on modernity's declining mental health crisis.

In one part, Konstrakta uncovers the dough and just stares at it, along with her backup singers. They all stay there, perfectly still, like Mary watching Jesus in many religious imagery. They stay so still one wonders if something's really happening. As this section ends, a gate opens behind her as she adresses the "doctor", showing a white glow. This is the only time we get that the "doctor" is not really there, it's more like a self-reflection device. And this, once again, symbolizes the divinity amongst the profanity. Holy Modernity, mother of society. Once this happens, Konstrakta goes back to kneeading the bread. It's in the part where she talks about the need to go constantly up, putting up self-pressure and the anxiety of not being perceived as a perfect, functioning piece of society. It's a brilliant parallel.

As that section goes on, we can see one of her backup singers wave their white cloth around. The others stay perfectly still. This is also a symbolism of being the odd one out, how the one that's anxious and constantly on the grind is also frowned upon in some sense.

After the section where the singers tell Konstrakta to calm down, they start circling her while she keeps up her work. It becomes erratic and chaotic, just exactly as I had pictured in my head. Ultimately, Konstrakta is left alone on stage. Covering the dough once more, she claims "it's coming". The bread is coming. Modernity is coming. "Food" is coming.

I'm once again fascinated, throughly fascinated and thrilled by this woman's thought process. As I write this, I got the news she made it into the final! I'm so happy for her. March 3rd, I turn 26 years old. And it'd be the greatest early gift to see her win.

This was, indeed, new, better, and brilliant.

[pbandjesse]

I had a nice day. It was nice not feeling guilty for not doing much. After working so late last night it was nice to just have a chill day. And I did work for a few hours in the afternoon but it was mostly just a day for rest and that was really good for me.

When I got home last night James was fast asleep. I took some time to clean up and put away the 2 dozen cookies the caterers gave me. I would stay up for an hour just to decompress but I would go to sleep soon enough. I have noticed that when I get up sometimes in the middle of the night I will then lay back down and start shivering horribly. I don't understand it at all. I am not colder then I was when I was out of the bed. What is happening in my body that is making that happen? It's a weird one for sure.

I slept until 930. And laid in bed just scrolling on my phone until 10. I had no big rush today. I didn't plan on being at the museum until 2. So I was just having a nice time.

I got up eventually though. Got washed and dressed. My face felt very puffy today. I thought possibly allergies, dust, something. I tried to feel comfortable. I like this jumpsuit a lot and it's a favorite for sure.

I went downstairs and had cereal for breakfast. Hung out on the couch with sweetp. It was particularly cold in here. I put the heat on but it still felt really cold downstairs. Upstairs seems to warm better. I think it's because it's all open down there. Something to consider as I keep designing the spaces.

I saw on TikTok today that animal crossing pocket camp released a complete version without the micro transactions and I was very excited. I heard they were shutting down completely but it turns out they are just getting rid of the online version. You can just buy it outright now. And I had a coupon. So it was only $7.

I was extra extra pleased when I was able to redownload my original game and I had almost 2 million bells, which is the in game currency. And I was able to keep all my designs and furniture. So this was very exciting for me.

I was originally playing it on my phone but I decided to put it on my tablet which is how I used to play it. It's much better for me. Scale wise and the play mechanics work better on that screen.

I would play for an hour just getting reaccustumed to how the game goes. And hanging with sweetp. I decided I would go to McDonald's before the museum. Since fries are free in the app on Fridays. And it would take me most of a half hour to get there because the traffic downtown was so bad. But I had good music and it was all good.

I would enjoy my fries in the parking lot. But I was still at the museum at 130.

That's alright though. I would clock 2 hours. I got the copy for the chase for the evening. Chatted with Jules for a bit. The catering came wildly early so I watched the desk while she went to greet them. And then I was off to collect my type.

It didn't take me to long to gather the type I wanted. I found a pretty cursive, swirly type. And I really like how it came out.

While I was setting the type Jim came in giving a tour to a group of old men. Who were very lovely to me. And it was just really nice to work on something I really enjoy doing.

I finished setting the press and made an example print to send to Jesse and get feedback from Jules and James. I noticed I spelled a word wrong and Jules thought I should add a space around the dash. I was unsure about adding space on both sides because it wasn't how the copy they sent me was. But I did add one just to make it not feel so claustrophobic.

The party planner would respond to Jesse after he sent a photo, that it looked great. And I made 5 copies and set up some guides for Jan, who would be the educator tonight. I hung out for a few more minutes. But they decided to go get me and James some groceries and we would meet at home to have dinner.

I did run into Jan in the parking lot and I offered to come back inside to show her the chase but she said it was alright, even though I could tell she was nervous. I told her she was going to do great, and to have a nice night.

I only had some lucky at the grocery store. James would have to stop at the other grocery store because they didn't have butter milk or English muffins. I did get us bread and yogurt. And some frozen pizzas. And then I headed home.

I beat James by a few minutes. And while I waited for them I cleaned out the fridge a bit. Got rid of some old leftovers. And put away the things I bought. Frozen a loft of bread. And when James was home we had cookies. James would chill on the couch for a little. And I was cold so I went upstairs to warm up.

James would make us grilled cheeses and spicy tomato soup. It was an excellent dinner.

I played animal crossing for a couple hours. James laid with me for some of that, sometimes they would work on their laptop. Mostly we were just hanging out together. It was really a good night.

Tomorrow will be a long day. I'm meeting Jess at 930 at the parking garage downtown so she can help me with my market. The market doesn't actually open until 2 so the plan is to set up and then we'll get lunch before the market starts. I am looking forward to this, but also it's going until 8pm! A very long day! Still though it should be really fun.

I hope you all have a good day tomorrow. I hope you can get out there and do something nice for the holidays. I love you all. Goodnight!!