#i give long answers XD

[themeeplord]

Hi, Meep :) I was looking (once again hehe) at your cryptid boys design and I noticed that they have one pretty sharp claw on their feet. Is that a spur or is it another special pinky kind of deal? I love picking your brain about anatomy for your monsters, hope that's alright ❤️ Anyways, hope your day is going good, babe!

Hi Naff! ❤️

You know I can't say no to anatomy questions! And I definitely cannot answer them simply ether XD

Let's talk demon paws!✨

My cryptid boys' feet are very theropod dinosaur like, but with all 5 toes intact instead of the typical 3 full toes + 2 vestigial/reduced toes.

The big sickle-shaped claws are not spurs, they're huge claws attached to the innermost digit of their feet. They act pretty much the same as a Dromaeosaur's sickle claws, but they're placed a little differently.

These claws are mostly used for pinning down things on the ground. They're also great slicing and stabbing weapons if the arms are occupied, injured or pinned.

These claws are always suspended above the ground, even in their most relaxed state. This keeps them from getting dull and dirty.

Range of flexibility:

And some extra doodles cause I like drawing these paws X3

Thank you for picking at my brain! XD I love having to put everything anatomy related that's in my head into text and drawing form, it's a very fun exercise!

Aww! My day is going well, I hope yours is too❤️❤️❤️

[ganondoodle]

rough draft for chapter 2 of my zelda comic has finally been COMPLETED! current page count is 68, but that can change as im going through, cutting and redoing panels and all

i will start (trying) to render the first pages soon (its been so long ...)

[polarisbibliotheque]

So like, less of a suggestion and more of a question - I recently found your works and have just been blown away by the details (like, seriously, you're on the top of my favorite writers list) and just how... perfect you craft everything? I genuinely inspire to be like you, but the problem is that I've hit a rut - I'm super unsatisfied with my writing, and whenever I try to get back into the writing zone, I just fall flat. Is there any advice you could give on how to improve one's writing? What would be your tips and tricks at getting into that writing zone?

(Do apologize me taking SO LONG to answer, but I had some health emergencies the last couple of weeks and ended up in the hospital – I’m doing better now, chilling at home and trying to recover. My doctor is 90% sure I have Crohn’s Disease and I’m having many ups and downs trying to find a proper treatment that I seem to respond to. BUT…)

…I hope you are aware of how much you made me smile, blush and almost indulge into my teary eyes upon reading this. Hahahaha seriously, thank you SO much!! I can’t even thank you enough, I’m just in pure awe that another being in this big ol’ world we live in thinks so highly of my writing!!

I mean, not even I think that highly of my writing. Notice a pattern? ;)

One thing I learned being an artist – not only writing, I also draw, play the piano, write music on my free time/when inspiration hits, everything creative, I’m there, doing it – is that we’re never really satisfied with our work. We will always think we could’ve done something better, and we’re definitely going to be pretty “meh” about a lot of things we do – even when other people think it’s a masterpiece.

And that is good! We’ll always strive to perfect our skills! You just have to remember to appreciate the work you do even when you’re not completely satisfied with it. You will get to where you want to – but then, you’ll wish to improve even more! And that is awesome!

But hey, I do have some tips and tricks on improving and getting into that writing vibe!

For the people getting to the party now, my main tip on improving is here, in the first part of the answer for this ask! Now, now…

(long post below, as expected YEE BEEN WARNED!)

Regarding improving:

Read. A. Lot. Hahaha I know that’s quite an obvious one, but it’s really important. Personally, I think reading mindlessly just to fill a quota of “I read 25 books a month” doesn’t work. It works when you absorb it – when you allow yourself to plunge into the world of the book you’re reading, feeling the characters, the emotions, the settings… That helps you build your “mental library” so to speak! And sometimes you’ll find things and expressions you like that you might use both on your daily speech and while writing – for instance, I have this awful thing of saying “there’s a lack of wings to my words” whenever I’m speechless, because of Homer’s Odyssey. I freaking LOVE that book, I loved that expression, I use it all the time, and it has definitely bled into my writing.

WRITE! A LOT! Write bad stuff, good stuff, short 2 pages thing-ys that you go “hey that’s a good idea!” but you’ll never actually turn into a full story, random scenes, fanfiction, stupid fanfiction, serious fanfiction, self-indulgent stories, stories for your family, stories for yourself, stories for whoever wants to read or not, dreams that could be great stories… The point is to write. It’s much like drawing or playing the piano: if you don’t practice, you won’t get better and you won’t develop your style. The more you practice, the better you get! So don’t be afraid to write bad stuff, cringy stuff, or ridiculous stuff – or even stuff you thought would be awesome and turns out bad, or stuff you think will never turn into anything that turn amazing! One way or another, you’ll be refining your craft!

Identify what you like on writers you admire. I started noticing that while reading The Silmarillion. The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book since I read it for the first time when I was 15, but I didn’t pick up The Silmarillion until I was around 22 – and by then, I started underlining with a light pencil all the phrases I liked most, something my mom did on her old books when she was around my age. I then started taking a look at what I liked about Tolkien’s writing so much – and in other books too: what kind of phrases seemed to resonate more with my soul. Which ones brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. And then I notice I tend more to the unconventional ways of describing things.

For instance, instead of going like “she was beautiful, with pale skin under raven dark hair, blue eyes shining on her fair face” I tend to go for the unconventional, sort of eerie, not so much taken for granted kind of describing “her beauty glowed like the first pale star to glisten in the evening sky, under a deep sea of dark, velvety hair, making her eyes twinkle like sapphires with a smart look while carrying the light she kept in her soul”. If I had to, the second one would be how I’d describe Arwen or Lúthien, giving them that ethereal otherworldly beauty they have. It's also the one that evokes more feelings inside of me rather than just a mental image.

That’s why I try to describe some things in a different light. When I’m writing, I want people to feel something – but how can you describe that feeling of joy when you hug someone you love and the whole world fades for a minute? That’s when I go for the “his heart bled with gold while his hands never wanted to let them go. For a minute, time seemed to stop and there was nothing else but his heartbeat intertwining with theirs, beating as the same song – even if theirs was more melodic while his was more melancholic. It was that kind of tune that made his lungs not remember how to breathe and his eyes pour – while his lips reflected all the gold that cascaded from his heart.” It’s a quick (rather ridiculous) example, but I do think about some things: how when I feel like that, I tend to have a hard time breathing and I do cry, but it’s because I want to smile so much I cannot contain it. Then I try to describe those feelings with metaphors and poetic stuff because I’m a melodramatic bitch.

Jokes aside, it’s because I like that sort of writing that has that beauty behind it – or more of a melancholic approach. It’s what resonates the most with me and I adopted it, even if sometimes it feels too… Abstract. I like that ability of people piecing the abstractness together and having their own interpretation – and that’s what makes people have different feelings while reading the same thing.

Is this for everyone? Absolutely not. I bet some people despise all that poeticness I like to put on words to lace them like a painting, you know? So, the more you re-read the things you like, you’ll start identifying what resonates with you and you can apply that to your own writing!

And that doesn’t mean you’ll have to be locked on that writing style as well. I’m currently trying to finish a book (I hope someday I can publish it) which is a cyberpunk style story, with lots of inspiration from Cyberpunk 2077, Blade Runner, John Wick (yes, Keanu Reeves sends his regards) and all that poetic writing doesn’t quite fit there. I’m using more of a direct approach, but there’s a lot of existentialism and reflecting on overcoming grief, trauma, owning your own life and contemplating one’s own mortality – and that’s where that poetic, metaphoric, melancholic, bittersweet characteristic of my writing style comes into play. And then everyone starts cursing and shooting each other again :)

Having a style doesn’t mean getting stuck in it – it means knowing when and where to use it!

Now regarding getting into the writing zone:

I freaking ADORE music and it helps me A TON while I’m writing. It’s like setting the mood. I’m trying to be sexy, or mysterious, or having that vampire-y vibe? Depeche Mode playlist it is. Fight scenes? Metal and Electronic. I need to freaking focus and get to work without thinking too much about the music (or start dancing like crazy whenever a song I love comes in and there I am, dancing and singing in my room at 3 a.m)? Piano playlists – classic, modern, everything and anything, as long as it is piano.

Playing music that goes with what I’m writing also helps. For my cyberpunk book, for instance, I put on the Cyberpunk 2077 OST playlist/radio on, or I search for “Cyberpunk Ambience/Playlist” on Youtube and let it roll while I write. For my King Arthur stories (yes, still working on them), I put on Celtic music compilations, Enya, Loreena McKennitt or the piano playlists. For my vampire stories, be the medieval or the near-future one, dark piano, Dark Wave, etc. Perhaps searching for that one playlist that has to do with your story setting and listening to it for some time might get you in the zone!

I also usually write deep in the night. Because I’m a spawn of Dracula. After everyone at home has gone to sleep, I make myself some hot tea, sit on my computer, start listening to music and write. That’s because I know I won’t be interrupted, and I can do just that. Sometimes, I start writing at 1 a.m, other times earlier, other times later. Try to notice when your ideas seem to flow better and when you get more into the zone – but please, don’t be unhealthy as I am and go to sleep at a decent hour. I’m not an example here with my sleeping schedule hahahaha

Cringy moment: when I’m stuck, I act the last scene I wrote as one of my characters in the shower and, usually, ideas start to come in (and I have to get off the shower). Hahahaha now that’s just a weird one, but I have NO idea why, my best ideas arise in the shower. Water has a weird effect on me, so sometimes I just stand there with warm water pouring over my head and, lo and behold, I’m exiting the shower in a hurry because I just got my writer mood back HAHAHA so maybe some very mundane activity – like cooking, taking the trash out, cleaning the room – might be where your writer brain will come to life. You never know.

Needless to say, I talk to myself a lot, sometimes as if I’m talking to the characters. That is a very bad coping mechanism I developed when I was being bullied at school – I used to pretend Dante was with me when I was alone or something had happened and I needed someone by my side, so nowadays I have a very easy time writing this man. I started doing that with some of my characters, and that goes for repeating lines or part of the stories I’m writing to see if I can get un-stuck. It’s not the greatest of things, but it works. My neighbors might think I’m crazy, though xD

When I’m completely unmotivated or I keep staring at the blank page without being able to write, I try to immerse myself in what I’m writing about. So, if I’m stuck on my cyberpunk book, I watch some Cyberpunk 2077 let’s plays, I re-watch the Edgerunners anime, I re-watch Blade Runner, I re-read some parts of Do Androids Dream of Electrical Sheep? or I, Robot, I listen to Blade Runner’s soundtrack, I even try to play Cyberpunk 2077 (while praying not to get motion sickness or not having my pc exploding from overworking). If I’m stuck on my King Arthur works, then I re-watch the 2004 movie (may the gods bless Ioan Gruffudd and his wonderful Lancelot and Mads Mikkelsen as my beloved Tristan), re-read the 3 books on the Chronicles of Arthur series, listen to some Celtic music, research Arthurian stories for hours on the internet, search for my encyclopedias at home to see if they have something on King Arthur, read obscure translated manuscripts from ancient times on it … So, immersing yourself on reading, researching, listening to music, watching movies, playing videogames, listening to stories, watching series, reading mangas, watching anime, documentaries, going to the movies, basically doing anything that has to do with the theme you’re writing, may get you in the mood. Next time you sit down to write, it might flow wonderfully!

I don’t force myself to write, though. If I do, I usually can’t write a single decent word and I’ll hate it. If things aren’t flowing – and this I learned with my mom, who also draws – I leave it for a while and go do something else. Maybe I’ll have some warm tea, or watch a completely unrelated movie, or read my current book, or talk to my parrot in the kitchen, play some piano, draw a little, or just take a good nap. My mom says it refreshes the head and the eyes, and when you come back to it, you’ll be a lot more inclined to find things that weren’t working and let those creative juices flow.

I also have a very weird search history and I’m not ashamed of it. All writers do, and it’s better to have a weird search history than not knowing what you’re talking about, honestly. And sometimes, researching takes a lot more time than writing and might get you motivated – time spent learning is never wasted. Even if you’re learning what kind of dates grow in Greece and are offered to Apollo (bless his heart).

Sometimes, I write something completely unrelated, with a very different theme, and stupidly goofy – and that gets me back to the writing vibes. Sometimes there’s just this need of writing something for the sake of writing, and you just want something foolish to make you smile like a goof. It’s valid and it might be your ticket out of writing-rut-land.

Now some little uncalled for advices:

I spent too long being self-conscious and too serious about it. If it’s not your style, don’t force it. Some people need structure, other people thrive in chaos – know what’s your style and go for it. I hate planning novels, for example. But I will outline the main points of the story and the ending – the rest, well, the characters have to show me whatever else they’re doing, and I have to go with it. Sometimes there are huge arcs I didn’t plan as a main point of the story, but they pop up in the middle of it and they are important – I like leaving that room for impromptu writing/creating. So, find out how it works for you, not how it works for everyone else.

You don’t have to create masterpieces right at the first time you’re writing. Take my King Arthur thing-y for example. I wrote the full story when I was 15. When I was in college, I decided to re-write it. And then, when I was at work, I decided to re-write the re-write. And now, I just took all my files, read them, thought about it all, outlined a whole new story and decided to write anew. Not re-write, but take all that work and write as if I had never written anything before – in the original file, the main characters were 15 years old and in school, now they have their jobs at Universities and work on the secret society that is now a lot more fleshed out and built with loads of new characters around (including a new one I created yesterday after months not thinking about it).

If I hadn’t written the Twilight-sort of embarrassing thing when I was 15, I wouldn’t have this whole universe, characters and story to build upon nowadays. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was a good idea – and I’ll keep working on it until I’m happy with it. It’s been 13 years I’m working on it now, maybe when it reaches its 15th anniversary, I’ll be able to finally let it see the light of day!

Don’t listen to the “NEVER DO THIS!!” advices. Seriously. Writing is a form of art – and, as in all art, there isn’t a right or wrong. By all means, see what people are saying it’s bad and you should never do – I watch and read those advices so I can learn to be better too! – but don’t take it to heart. As Captain Barbossa would say, it’s more of a guideline than rules set in stone. Sometimes, something people say you should NEVER EVER do is something that works perfectly fine for you and your style of writing. Learn to make up your own mind: learn new things, listen to advices, but absorb those that resonate with you and leave those that don’t. That’s how you create your own opinion about things and how you find your writing style!

One fun thing to point out on this as an example: me, my mom, my sister and my dad ADORE reading. My sister loves Jane Austen, my mom is a super fan of Dostoyevsky and Russian literature, while my dad lives for Isaac Asimov and all things sci-fi. I love sci-fi, my mom can’t stand it. I read Dante’s Inferno in a week and my mom couldn’t get past the first verses. My sister can’t read poetry at all and is terribly bored by Lord of the Rings. My dad read my Chronicles of Arthur books and even told me to buy the complete the series. Me and my sister enjoyed Khaled Hosseini’s books a lot, but my mom never felt like reading them.

All of this to say: it’s not a matter of who’s more intellectual than the other, it’s a matter of who likes which kind of literature and writing styles. Some people are more comfortable with one way of writing or a certain kind of literature and can’t stand others – and that’s ok. Writing is pretty much the same. THERE ARE NO FIXED RULES! BE A REBEL!

If it helps you: character sheets. Around 8 years ago – or more – I searched and searched online for the character sheet that could help me the best. I had never done it before and thought it was quite useless, until I downloaded one and started filling the infos on my main characters of my Arthurian sort of story. Lo and behold, they became SO MUCH BETTER and that’s when I started rewriting everything: I understood all characters a LOT better and made better decisions when writing them. It doesn’t work for everyone, though, but it’s a lot of fun for me. Currently, I don’t use it much because I now know what are the main things I need for my characters to seem alive, but it’s always nice to have a reference when you’re writing.

My cyberpunk story, for instance, it has A BUNCH of characters with scars, different hair colours, different eye colours, the way they dress, birthmarks, cyber-implants, cyber-prothesis, dressing styles… And sometimes I get lost in it. So it’s nice keeping a character sheet when I go like “wait, she has burn marks on the left arm or the right arm…?”

And keeping a file on worldbuilding might be helpful as well. I noticed that writing my cyberpunk thing. The first thing I wrote was a huge file explaining the city, the factions, the districts, people’s styles, who are the viruses, the sub-types of viruses, the political parties, the police and secret police, the difference between artificials and organics, how does access to the world works, what is the Ocularis system, the most important corporations, their names, their owners… And all those things will probably never appear on this story.

But I felt a HUGE difference. Instead of info-dumping right at the beginning to make the reader understand how the world is built and how it works, I started it right at an important point in the story. No one knows anything about how things work, but, as the characters speak to each other, they talk about so many things that the reader catches things and pieces together how all things are organized.

Don’t try to explain everything. Tying with I said before, if you have a very good idea of how things work, how the characters relate to each other, how they react and how they think, you won’t need to info-dump. I usually think I’m seeing my characters going about their day and that is ALL I’m describing: what they are saying, feeling, thinking and doing. If I feel something is missing for people to fully understand, then I add something quite minimal to help. But I don’t overexplain: people are intelligent and they can piece things together.

Don’t go full Marvel movies and explain everything as if no one can understand unless you say it. Go Nolan and try to make people understand with images, feelings, glances, metaphors and such. It’s very effective in writing! (Don’t get me wrong, I do like Marvel movies, but they have become those kinds of movies that require little mental effort because literally everything will be explained in a huge monologue or through dialogue. You don’t always need dialogues – and if you say “oh that’s too ambiguous and people won’t be certain about it” that’s the beauty of art: it’s always up to interpretation)

Having someone to read and give you feedback might be very helpful too. I have a few friends every now and then I send some of my stories so they’ll read and give me an honest feedback. I try to listen to their opinions and refine my work – but if I think they critique doesn’t make sense, I thank them anyway and keep on doing my thing. Like I said, know when to take what makes sense and when let go of something that doesn’t. Also: feedback is NOT a personal attack. DON’T TAKE IT TO HEART. See it always as something you may need to improve – and you’ll improve quicker.

At the end of the day, writing is art. And all art is relative.

Your art will be great to some and horrible to others – and that’s ok! Again, learn to NOT make it personal (the critiques, I mean, because art is always personal and that’s wonderful, I think).

And repeat after me: you will not please everyone. The point is to make yourself proud. You’ll find your people along the way.

Do it because you love. Do it because it comes from your heart, from your soul. The world has become so filled with content, mindlessly created by artificial intelligence so we will keep consuming, that things have lost so much of their soul.

To make art, to write, is to have soul. If you have that heart, that passion in your work, it will show – and people will follow. When you sit to write, don’t make it a chore, don’t make it an aesthetic tiktok post, don’t follow the routine of this or that famous artist – do what you have to do and let your heart flow. Do it for you.

I think that’s the main advice I can give. Don’t do content to post on social media and look good, do your art. Push your boundaries, test new things, write in ways you never did before, but do your thing.

When everyone is doing the same thing over and over again, you’ll realize your words will stand out by doing what you want to do.

Again thanks for attending my TED Talk xD

[fairysteve]

@papermachedragons The second part of answering your ask!

Are there any features to him that are always there in the corner of your eyes but which the human mind willingly ignore in order to conserve sanity and willful ignorance? Like he smiles and his teeth are always a little too sharp? Or he doesn’t have a shadow? Or his eyes change color (which I do know you posted about at one point)? His hands are like claws and even though they sometimes look like hands, they aren’t and if you touch them even when they look like hands you’d feel a claw? I know he mostly doesn't care and doesn’t bother to hide everything behind a human facade, but how inhuman are we talking about? 

Okay, it’s already established that his looks are everchanging, including his eyes going through a spectrum of shades during a week. And that he’s not trying too hard at being a convincing mortal. But let’s go through the questions one by one! 

Features that are always there in the corner of your eye? Not exactly. His eyes might appear black if you’re not looking at him directly; they are black still, underneath the disguise, and the corner of your eye is often where you see through the most magic. But that’s so easy to wave away as a play of the light. (And it’s only his eyes that you might be able to see through – they're the windows to the soul after all.) 

Teeth are always a little too sharp? His canines are definitely a bit longer and sharper than could pass as human, falling more in line with other mortal creatures. (And it took him a while to figure out the right amount of teeth; too many and his mouth felt crowded, too few and it looked wrong. And wisdom teeth only made it all the more confusing.) 

Doesn’t have a shadow? He has one, but it flickers. Magic doesn’t cast a shadow by itself, and he is magic, but he has a solid shape, can be touched, so he does block out the sun. Still, his solidity flickers like his looks, leaving his shadow to do the same. It looks like static sometimes, sunshine filtering through him in pinpricks. 

Eyes change colour? Well, we’ve gone over the spectrum of shades and them looking black. They do change colour completely sometimes; he sees a colour he likes and it bleeds into his eyes for a second, before his disguise rights itself. The part of the eye differs, though the pupil and iris happen more often than the sclera. 

Hands are like claws? No, he has always preferred using his teeth where others would use claws. His hands are maybe the most human thing about him. With that said, his nails might draw some attention. He likes the idea of them being coloured but doesn’t understand nail polish, so he simply changes the nail itself. You’d notice if you were to look at them closely, or touch them, that something isn’t right. (He approaches makeup the same way he does nail polish, making it part of his form instead of the addition it’s supposed to be.) 

How inhuman are we talking about? Oh, nothing about him is human, is barely mortal for whatever that means. A shape – a disguise – can only do so much, especially when he barely tries to contain himself. If you open him up, his insides will not look right. He has tried putting muscles and blood veins and lungs the way they should be after looking in books and on operation tables, but he doesn’t bleed red if he bleeds at all, and he doesn’t breathe unless he consciously inhales or exhales. His muscles work right – he likes the burn from overexertion, so he put more thought into it. He has bones; the body doesn’t feel right without them. But nerves? A stomach? Anything else that makes up a body? Magic fills those spaces for him. 

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, & 15 with lightning!!

SCREAMS!! EEEK SO MANY!!! /positive

I love answering so many fun questions thank you so much!!!!!!

--obligatory mention that I humanize them, so it's all written in the context of them as, well, humans--

Putting this under a read more because my ability to yammer and yap is like no other. I don't think it's truly THAT long but, it feels necessary 😅(future Kane here..ermm..definitely lengthy! Shamelessly lengthy..)

2. Whats their go-to order at a cafe? What's yours?

L.ighting would definitely get some complex, vibrant looking drink, particularly sweet ones. Fun coffee's that have a lot of syrup flavoring/sugar/creamer in them, or milkshakes that have so many toppings on them that you might as well get a spoon for it. KEY component is that it's always something cold. Don't think I've ever seen him with a hot drink ever, unless you count slurping a bowl of soup.

I stick to like the same coffee every time. Some dark roast coffee with a fair amount of sugar and hazelnut creamer in it. Maybe sometimes that vanilla syrup instead of hazelnut. I think I'm a bit particular when it comes to coffee cause I have to have very specific amounts so the flavor is the way I like it, so I don't stray far out of the same place with the same order. If it's a new place we're going to and they don't offer sugar/creamer packets for your coffee then I'll probably just grab some snack/food if they offer any so I don't gotta go through a whole hassel.

6. They gave you a gift!! What is it?

Definitely some or his merchandise that he goes out of his way to sign with a fun marker that's like glittery or some bold color like silver or gold or purple. Probably a sweater or such that has the same design as his racing suit. Though I'd probably get worried about damaging it and only ever wear it around the house! Haha

9. Do you have any AUs for your selfship? Tell me about them!!

Technically!! It's a whole story that I really should make a post about some day😅 but basically I kinda have a different story/AU for how I meet each character, and the role/job I play/have is just about always different. Technically, all of them could be tied together in one big chronological order, kinda like some elaborate G.ame Theory video, but I typicalllyyy think of them as separate, with occasional exceptions and things.

But! The whole(watered down version) story for how I met L.ightning is that because of my super strong love for racing, I ended up trying to(and succeeding) getting hired as a pit crew member, and got put on L.ightning's team and got to work with him. He was a pain in the ass rookie to have to work with(not that I was any less of a rookie myself), but I liked him, nonetheless, and I knew he had a soft side to him. I ended up getting lost with him during the whole R.adiator Springs shebang, and got stuck with him from then on.

10. What's one thing you like that you think your f/o would also enjoy?

Asides from the more outright choice of, well, racing related things, I definitely think L.ightning would be someone that is really into Legos. I only really care much for particular Lego sets like the flowers/botanical ones, or the ones that are different vehicles and things, but 100% we'd make a date night(s) out of picking out Lego sets we like together and then building them together.

13. Who is the most influential person on your f/o's life?

There's the very obvious choice of picking D.oc, but the more I thought about it, the more the answers got kinda complex for me! D.oc definitely played the main role is turning L.ightning around and changing his attitude, but I think everyone in R.adiator Springs kinda influenced him in different ways.

Then there's the more obscure answer that..not really anyone knows about! But, to make a long story short,(I don't even remember the darn name), but when L.ightning was racing the the training achedemy, before he even got to racing in the big leagues and things, one of his friends betrayed him and, to be quick about it, was the reason L.ightning even got the name L.ightning and also played a hand in helping L.ightning have his big break through in getting to race in bigger leagues! YES this is technically canonical(whether you want to include the books as canonical or not is to each their own, especially depending on some books you can very much tell who did help with the movie and who wasn't even filled in on the plot of the movie so it's almost a pick and choose thing), and YES, if you like to count the books as canonical, L.ightning on a camping trip reveals a personal private story to S.arge, F.illmore, and M.ater about how he got the name L.ightning, and his 'original'(if that's the right word for it?) Name was Montgomery. I have a digital copy of said book and can fetch screenshots if yall think I'm pulling your leg🫡

14. Do you and your f/o share any hobbies?

Certainly! I don't have a whole list off the top of my head, but we definitely have the same taste in playing games together, whether it be video games or board games, I mentioned the Legos earlier, going out and just exploring things...OH! OH!! And 100% the whole dinosaur thing. L.ightning(canonically, I say once more, as if I give a darn to canon and don't avidly preach about bending it to however you please and partake in such actions myself) lovesssss dinosaurs! Even goes to a museum with M.ater about one! And proceeds to have the most blatant display of neurodivergance-y if I've ever seen one. He also watches documentaries and stuff on them. And I love dinosaurs, and I love documentaries!! So there's definitely that.

15. Badly describe your selfship!!

"I love you regaurdless of your past trauma/experiences and you are safe to be vulnerable around me and to be your authentic self without any masking, and without any repercussions." Count 1/??? hundred

[idv-the-scientist]

✂️ Hair Swap

[swapped with the Gravekeeper - Andrew Kreis]

“I feel a bit shy like this… I just feel like I’m missing something…”

---

> promts

[quaranmine]

Honestly, has nothing to do with anything in the published hcxfw fic at all, but given the year setting I couldn’t help but be curious (since it sounds like Scar keeps good contact with his mom). If firewatch!Scar and Grian ever hitched up together someday way down the line, you think Scar would try to hide it from his mother (be it his or Grian's request) or is she understanding that Scar is able to be open to her about his feelings?

Hello anon! This is honestly a very specific question that I just have not thought about? Well, not in the context of their families/friends. I do think that the time period would influence things of course. This is a story grounded—often very tragically—in realism, so it wouldn't just be ignored. It is even implied in the main fic that one of the reasons Grian's boss is awful toward him is that he doesn't actually believe that he and Mumbo were just "roommates." How fw!Grian and fw!Scar themselves would navigate a relationship could go a million different ways depending on how the post-storyline/au-storyline goes. (Is this their first gay relationship? Is this a version of the story with past Grumbo or not?)

I haven't written that and do not presently plan to, so I don't want to definitively lock down any specific ideas. You're free to theorize what you want.

However, in general my answer is that I feel like I've traumatized both of these characters enough that I'd rather give them a little peace with supportive family/friends. I think his mom would be okay with it. I think she probably just desperately wants him to be happy after the last decade. Losing your husband and almost losing your son at the exact same time probably does that to you.

[paladincecil]

I won a Lightbringer ring in osrs tonight by answering a question about full metal alchemist xD

It's worth 3mil but I'm gonna keep it'll be useful when skilling :)

[damnation-if]

Congrats on the follower milestone!! Such a huge accomplishment, you and this amazing story deserve it! I knew you were one to follow after I saw the D&D rants. Just thought "yes, a fellow person obsessed with the outer planes. this is someone whos storytelling I can RESPECT!!" 😤 For the ask list, could we get a lil treat with #17?? Tell us more about how demons are as friends and lovers.

hahaha... thank you, i'm glad someone appreciates my D&D opinions. if i had the spare money to hire an artist i've always thought it would be funny to make a logo for the game that is a parody of the D&D logo with the dragon ampersand but D&B lmao... however somebody might talk me out of that at some point, i'm not sure XD

thank you for the ask!

17. What sort of role do they take on in relationships, either familial, romantic or platonic. i.e. are they a defender, protector, nurturer, etc.

i'm not sure if there's like... a set group of archetypes that this is pulling from or if they're just trying to convey basic attitudes so i'll probably just do. basic attitudes. hope that's okay!

Arianis - Arianis' familial relationships are quite different from their romantic or platonic ones; it's not that they don't get along with their dad, but they do get sick of his company pretty easily because the two are very different. when it comes to other relationships they're a lot more laidback and don't mind arguments/cold patches so much as long as they don't get Personal, though they can be sort of fairweather in a way unless they really trust someone.

Heluur - Heluur is really very stable when it comes to relationships (as with everything else)... he has kind of a lot of practice being the mum friend in his group of pals just because he's naturally the most responsible and least chaotic. it stresses him out sometimes because it can be difficult to pull that off when you can't really travel, but most of his close friends have learned to come to him when they need to. he's never been in a romantic relationship before but it'd be similar in principle.

Lithiana - Lithiana is definitely the fantasy equivalent of a Fun Party friend; she's always planning little events and fun get-togethers for everybody. a lot of the people in her close circle of friends are more reticent than most so she often has to work really hard at it, but it's something she likes doing and she's not going to let them dissuade her lmao. she's the same in relationships... she always likes to have some upcoming Thing to be thinking about and preparing for, whether a date or a party or something.

Malkorath - Malkorath's experience with interpersonal relationships is unique and a bit. skewed in favour of ones that weren't very good, especially before the past few years. as a result they're often bad at navigating social situations and friendships and their perception of "closeness" swings back and forth between "i really like that guy, i said good morning to him thirteen weeks ago and it was my Best Ever social interaction" and "following someone around like a puppy dog". they're a bit clingy, but not because they don't respect other people's boundaries, just because they haven't yet worked out how to set any of their own. their adoptive mother is trying to teach them, but it's slow going as they have a lot of shit to sort through. like Heluur they've never had a romantic relationship before so there's not much to say on that front.

Suchebh - Suchebh is very attentive to the people who are important to them; even if it doesn't seem like it or they act petulant or snarky sometimes, they always try to keep in mind what's going on with everyone in their little circle of loved ones and whether or not there's anything that they can do to help at any given time. this includes Twilit... though Suchebh would never admit it lmao

Twilit - Twilit's attitude towards relationships is... complicated. They're definitely the kind of person that you can not talk to for two (hundred) years and yet they'll pick right back up where you left off as though there's no extra distance between the two of you. time doesn't really factor much into their perceptions of how things are going; if they like you then they like you. All of the people who manage to get really close to them basically change their entire outlook and set of priorities, as a function of needing a feeling of newness and curiosity to actually facilitate that closeness in the first place, and romance wouldn't be any different.

[despairforme]

not gonna lie I do envy Nnoitra’s sex drive, what’s his kinks ?

❝ What can I say? Alpha males 's got this kinda sex drive. ❞ Was he being smug about it? Absolutely. It was his animistic side that ruled by majority. He'd been told that he was just an animal, and maybe that was true. He definitely didn't care about the emotional aspect of sex. For him it was just about getting off, and not even about pleasuring his partner. His list of KINKS would be a long one. It all depended what he was in the mood for. It would take less time to list what he wasn't into.

❝ As long as I'm 'da one dominatin', I'm in'ta pretty much anythin'. ❞ Some of his favorites? Choking, for sure. He loved doing that to his partner. He also liked dirty talk ( it came natural for him, he was always crude ). Blood play, biting ( cannibalism, if he was real hungry ). Breeding - he always wanted to breed his partners. He liked humiliating them. He loved to hear them beg or cry.

[anikasenkujo]

no. 6 for the ask game !!

So sorry I was late to get to this but thank you so much Tahaaaa for the ask <3

A Simple Self-Insert Meme Ask Questions (Open, feel free to send in asks!)

6. What does your s/i have most in common with you? What's different about them?

Anika and I have a lot in common. She was basically designed to be my self-insert with just a couple of differences here and there. Some examples:

Like her, I was born in Calcutta, and I may not live there but I’ve visited it ample number of times (once a year, sometimes even more and have stayed for long) and it’s one of my favorite cities.

Like her, even I’ve moved to multiple places. She’s moved from Calcutta to Mumbai and back, then traveled to Cairo, then came back (with a lot of memories lost), then went to Morioh and Texas and now she lives in Morioh. I’ve moved from Bhubaneswar (which is in a state closer to Bengal) to a city in the South and then to Texas for a while and back.

Anika and I went through a couple of similar difficult situations (bullying especially) and have had our fair share of bad relationships too. Difference? She’s fought them back and with style, I didn’t do that for all. But that’s okay.

Like her, I love WWE wrestling. Only difference is that she’s lived through the 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s and so on, whereas I’d only started watching since 2000 so when I was 6?

Big difference? She knows MMA, and I learned a bit of karate, although I can fight back if things went awry. She rides a motorcycle, whereas I don’t know how to ride one just yet. XD No, but I’ll get to it sooner, because I love motorcycle rides and reading up on them and their mileages. And she’s a PhD gal whereas I’ve only finished my Masters, and let me say this: grad school is very hard and strenuous. But those who are doing so, you’ve got this 💕

[mymanymerrymuses]

Some random things I love about my muses in relationships:

- Kenma takes a while to catch feelings, and when he does he's odd about it. He won't say a word to the person that he likes, but all of a sudden he goes from 'I guess you're okay' to 'I will fight anyone that upsets you', and also 'I must be in your personal space at all times'. He goes from distant to clingy overnight because he makes no sense.

- Kagari falls a little bit in love with literally anyone who is nice to him.

- Piers uses his hair to show affection on days he can't quite make the reach to his partner himself. If he wants to cuddle but doesn't feel up to it that day, he'll make sure his masses of hair are still in contact with the guy he's dating, that way he almost gets the hugs he wants, but can't quite face.

- Pietro doesn't love freely, but he does love hard. Once you've got his loyalty, that's it. He'll be by your side forever. Mostly to annoy you, but also to protect you.

- Pietro also enjoys leaving little surprises around for people he cares about to find and enjoy. He denies that it was him, but he uses his speed to do it, and he's not very subtle, just fast.

- Viktor will try to involve the people he really loves in his experiments, which isn't always a good idea because when he's not fully focused (and even when he is) they often explode. He's excited though, so at least it's kind of sweet.

[sillyfreakx5]

he didn't respond for over 5 hours and it's the middle of the day in his timezone aaaaa did i do something wrong??? (he usually replies quite quickly and i already sent several texts)

[we-dont-talk-about-potato-nonono]

The new episode of amazing circus was so good. Did you see it?

Gummigoo

this is me to Caine for killing him (but it’s really no surprise Caine did something messed up like that or mybe he doesn’t want to mix up humans and NPCs in the circus)

and this is to Jax for being an asshole to Gangle

Jax, being so rude and disrespectful to Gangle, was definitely uncalled for (still love him tho) Ragatha should really say something to him about it instead of focusing on Pomni all the time (which all I see is toxic positivity) 🤷🏻 LIKE GIRL DO SOMETHING! why are you letting Gangle being yelled at by him 💀 but that’s just Jax being Jax. he’s just some guy playing his part.

(justice for gummigoo!)

[nataliedecorsair]

I wanted to give you some of Pticenoga's Borderlands AU backstory, how she was raised by Shade and before starting her shenanigans with Vaughn.

Plus a bonus comic about how she decided to set up a meeting for Vaughn and Shade, but didn't tell Vaughn who is supposed to be there x) Mostly because Vaughn has met Shade before in his macabre World of Curiosities museum and thought that Shade is too weird for him. Well, that's the kind of person that would raise a feral harpy siren, gotta deal with it!

When she was very young, nothing bothered her much as she was just a wild baby exploring the world x) And Shade was a good father figure to her. However, as she grew older, she realized that she doesn't really "fit in": yeah, Pandora is a crazy planet, but not every person there is crazy. There are plenty of "regular folk" like Shade or other people from their town - and many others. And she was frequently called a monster, a mutant and many other things by the regular kids and even adults. She was wild though, could bite them or fight with them in a pretty feral manner, and, even though she protected herself, it didn't help the situation much. She wasn't crazy enough (and too small) to fit in with the psychos or bandits, was "too human" for actual monsters living on Pandora, and for a long time she had no idea she was a Siren, as even for Sirens she looked too different. Only when she hit her teens, she was able to confirm that she is one, started using her powers, and in her human form she could see the full extension of the glowing pattern she had on her skin. She still, however, didn't know why she wasn't born "normal", and there were no older Sirens around.

At some point, she decided to become independent and live on her own. Her "wild" upbringing was helping that a lot, and she felt fine being away from people. She'd still visit Shade frequently, of course, and at some point she'd even met Zer0 and could hang out with him for some time. As Zer0 is a mystery himself, they had some common ground between them (though constantly listening to his haiku were exhausting xD). Sadly, Vault Hunters attract attention, not always positive, and that was the reason why she got spotted by a big bandit gang (could be the beginning of Vallory's gang, but before she took over). And local scientists like Tannis already declared that there may be some connection between Sirens and the Vaults. And they noticed that she's a Siren, but also pretty young (and dumb). After the first Vault on Pandora was opened, there was plenty of weird and valuable stuff around, but it wasn't so easy to get it when you're just regular bandits. And when Eridians, the aliens that are guarding the Vault, are everywhere. The Sirens like Lilith were too strong for them, and hiring a Vault Hunter is expensive, so they decided to wriggle into her favor and use her to gain access to the area. She didn't know she was dealing with bandits first, she naively thought it's a rare case of nice fellows just wanting to be friends and such, plus the Vault could have answers about her origin, and the new "friends" confirmed it.

At some point, she realized she was being used, and got into a fight with the bandits - and lost, as there were too many of them, and she had too little experience, and they knew about Shade. She got kidnapped and told that she'd do everything they told her to do, or they'd kill Shade, so she had to obey. She helped them to fight the way to the Vault and get some of the riches, and during the process she felt that she really does have a connection with Eridians - they boosted her powers and helped her to get free, and kill every presenting member of the gang. She was worried about Shade though, so she left immediately to find him before the remaining members found out what happened and could harm him. But she was too late - the water source in their town of Oasis was poisoned, and every single person there died. Except Shade though - he lasted longer, but dehydration made him insane, and he turned corpses into the stuffed dummies he could talk to (though she didn't have much of a problem with this part). As she was gone for at least several months, he didn't believe she's real, and she had to adapt to the new reality.

She never got back to the Vault after that as she felt it was a source of more trouble than anything good (in her view, the price was too much for a bunch of physical stuff).

That lasted for years, and became a bit easier as her powers, enhanced by the Eridians, wasn't only serving the destruction,  but could eventually "heal" some part of Shade's mind, so the moments of clarity became more frequent (she didn't know it's the reason, though). And you still need money, whether you like it or not, so, when Shade decided to use his World of Curiosities as a spot of illegal deals and smuggling, she didn't resist, but would watch over him in the shadows in case something goes wrong.

Eventually, she calmed down and just embraced herself. And, after some time, she met Vaughn, whose personal struggles she could sense right away, as she had to experience "being different" herself.

[p1nkp0nkk]

💥, ☕️, 🙉, 🌌, 🏊, ✂️, 🚆, 🌪️ for. ask game. any oc I am. curious. I tried to only pick one interesting one from each section to limit myself but. oh my god there were so many sections. you don't need to answer all of those if you don't want to there's literally eight.

ill be. switching between ocs then to. try and provide the most interesting answers. may or.may not use different ocs for same question aswell

💥what emotions do they have trouble dealing with

dexter. cannot recognize being happy so instead it feels like adrenaline and it kinda stresses him out because for him adrenaline usually means that bones in danger. so it. scares bug really bad. (this is a self projection however i have since gotten over this)

☕cold or hot beverages, favourite drink?

i think. pink enjoys both actually but likes cold more. pink makes. a lot of coffee and tea but despite that i think she probably just like water or juice(cranberry in particular probably. just juice in general though)

dexter. likes black coffee. antrigus likes anything fruity and trigerz likes oil

🙉what is the worst thing your oc could hear from someone

im. actually not sure. pink has a really bad fear of making people anxious and stressing them out. shes overall a really anxious person so if she feels like she's done something wrong it'll. kill her internally forever. dexter has a. really bad fear of people being inlove with him. also his parents being mentioned. trixie hates being compared to people. i think ill go with pinks answer though.

🌌what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

i. honestly don't know. tbh most of my ocs come from intense daydreaming or dreams actually(antrigus is a. notable example) there's not really inspiration behind. any of them. i guess the first thing i decided about antrigus was. his backstory. when i made him he basically immediately had lore with trigerz

🏊can they swim? are they afraid of water? how well do they swim and how do they feel about swimming in the ocean

antrigus cannot swim and is. not aware of it. he can't swim because. hes a robot. hes not afraid of water, he wouldn't swim well and. he probably is barely aware the ocean exists since its not something he's been told about often

dexter cant swim, he's mildly afraid of water, he. actually swims not awfully because of his fear instincts. if you threw him in water he would panic and would figure it out for the moment and then forget. he does not like the ocean

pink can swim, shes not afraid of water but she doesn't like it, she swims. okayly. but she doesn't like doing it. she probably does not enjoy the ocean much

i cant swim. i am afraid of water. i swim awfully. i hate the ocean(im. counting myself becquse ryan is me and im ryan)

✂️what is the last straw for them to cut someone out of their life. how easily do they let go of people

pink doesn't tend to cut people off. she doesn't let go of people easily whatsoever(she will. cry for like 6 months atleast.) shes a massive doormat. you could use the shit out of her and its. pretty rare she'll do anything about it. i guess there's not exactly a final straw, just at some point she gets tired of it and explodes at you and then feels guilty and cuts you off and thats it

antrigus. cuts people off over everything. if you're not extremely similar to him he'll probably find you annoying and put you on his dnfi list. he doesn't care about basically anyone so he lets people go very easily

🚆 what is their answer to the trolley problem?

trick question. pink kills herself instea

pink. stresses really hard and probably accidentally hits the 5 people. however if shes thinking rationally she'll only kill one of them. she might really fuck up and kills all of them on accident instead(/j. mostly.)

dexter. hits the 5 people because he hates everyone. he probably actually finds a way to hit all of them. however if ill stop being an edgelord for a second; he might hit the five people instead because atleast they won't be alone when they die. i feel like that could also go for pink actually.

🌪️ whats the biggest change you've ever made to them? how have they changed from their original version?

pink has. changed a ton. however im gonna use trigerz for this example. originally, trigerz was basically just antrigus. he was annoying he was loud he was a total asshole and he was full of himself. however, at some point i. changed him because i had antrigus for that now and i thought lore wise this would be better. trigerz is more self reserved, hes definitely still full of himself but a lot less and he knows he has his flaws now. hes loud once you get to know him and he's passive aggressive only if you're mean to him. i think the biggest chance ive ever made was. his personality. yeah.

incase you're wondering; pink has changed because. i made her her own character. originally she was literally just me

i. wanted to use seraphim and asmodeus for these atleast once but i couldn't fit them in anywhere so. feel free to ask again and ill see if i can do that(i also wanted to fit blink in somewhere)(did not work)(i think it just doesn't work because none of these are as developed as my main ocs lol)