#i guess its just because of my particular anatomy

[tr1ppykay]

1 week post OP -> 2 weeks post OP

seeing the healing happen slowly each day is really surreal. a lot of the stiffness and skin tightness is already clearing up. i'm not wearing the binder because i'm lucky and don't have much swelling or fluid buildup, just tape on the incisions and aquaphor + bandages over the nipple grafts

the nerve regeneration is pretty painful, but only for a few seconds at a time. it feels kind of like spasm or a pinching sensation, with a surge of what i can only compare to a static electricity shock. it sucks but im being optimistic and taking it as a good sign that i'll get sensation back :)

[llitchilitchi]

tentacles/vines

11/10 underrepresented kink

[jesuistrestriste]

The other posts before just kink shaming people. Calling people weirdos and creeps and that the authorities should be called and some how writing men squirting, "because its not biologically possible" is in the same category as well like damn have abit of whimsy

helloo !

so i guess a user who follows me, or used to follow me, is posting on their acc snippets of my work and talking about how im weird and gross (as well as some other unspecified challengers writers) bc i wrote about ‘puppy’ stuff and ‘men squirting’. they blurred out my user but my writing was directly referenced.

they basically likened the puppy play stuff to sexualizing real animals, and said that it was also creepy to write about men squirting bc it’s not ‘biologically possible’

i don’t wanna make this into a big deal, bc it’s genuinely not, but i’m responding to it to hopefully give this individual some clarification and also to defend the users who actually enjoy this type of kink content (bc i do too)

so. first of all — puppy play. i, for one, in the particular drabble they screenshotted, do not have the reader treating art like an actual dog. the reader only calls art ‘puppy’ and he is submissive. those are literally the only two things involved that are similar to puppy play. however, many people enjoy/write about other more direct aspects of puppy play, like collaring and leashing and etc, and that does NOT mean they like sexualizing real animals. it is NOT bestiality. i’m going to assume that the user in question who likened it to bestiality is not informed on what puppy play actually is/represents, and just took the concept of calling someone ‘puppy’ = sexualizing dogs and ran with it. that’s definitely not what it is, and i certainly was not writing it that way. for many, puppy play is simply about the power dynamics of it all. do i enjoy puppy play in its entirety? no, not really (i like certain bits and pieces), but i respect those who do. it also goes without saying that i do not advocate for or support the sexualization of real animals in any way shape or form ..? that’s disgusting.

— more info below the cut —

second of all — squirting. men squirting is possible, just the same as how women squirting is possible. if you don’t believe me, look it up on pornhub lol; it’s definitely possible. to my knowledge, the anatomical/bodily processes that allow someone to squirt are the exact same ones involved in. well. peeing. like. if you can pee, you have the anatomy necessary to be able to squirt. i’m mid-writing this and i can’t believe im talking in depth about what squirting is and how it works. help. but yea, is squirting = pee ? no. no, it’s not (controversial lol). but even if it was, some people are into that. no need to yuck someone else’s yum. you’re entitled to your opinion though. if you don’t enjoy it/understand it and think it’s ‘creepy’, that’s cool too ! idc—it’s your life! do what you want !

third of all — i read their post and they also talked about how it’s weird to write about puppy!stuff because some users (i don’t know if they were talking about me in this instance or just some writers on challengers tumblr in general) are writing about ‘real men’ and that these men should be ‘calling the authorities’. i know for me, im not writing about mike faist in a puppy play context. im writing about art donaldson. a fictional man. and i promise you, art donaldson will not be reading my stuff. and for that matter, neither will mike faist. that man wants nothing to do with social media, let alone tumblr (rip to his tumblr era though).

bottom line, kink shaming is not cool. it’s not fun, it’s not kind, it’s not cute, it’s not very demure.

some people use kinks as an escape from harsh aspects of their reality like past trauma, etc. or to process those traumas. that being said, you are 1000% allowed to not like something. that is your business ! but posting about someone’s work and making grotesque claims about their character and what they stand for based on smut writing is very odd. i do not appreciate it !

i am in no way trying to attack/hate on the person who made the posts, but i think it’s important to try to address stuff like this and educate those who may be confused or misinterpreting. to the user who made the posts: i hope you have a good day, and i hope this clears things up ! if you see this and want to talk more about it, my dms are open. all love.

UPDATE: i was just informed that the user in question used to write for (tw) school shooters and apparently cleared all evidence of it from their account except for some lingering tags.

i take it all back ! ! as someone who has experienced the effects of a school shooting + has been in a uni community targeted and affected by an act of gun violence, that is absolutely disgusting, and you can rot ! seek therapy ! :)

[autumnfangirler]

Late delivery by request! I've got a question for you:

Where did your Sidestep get your name? Do they know what it means? Do they feel any particular way about their name?

Looking forward to your answer!

-Cigarettes

hello!! thank you for indulging my request dhsjdj, my little treat for myself :]

Caine:

they yoinked it from somebodys mind while trying to come up with names for themeself. who the person was referring to or why, they dont know nor care about. he hasnt taken a secondary look into what it meant. theyve always considered their real spoken name to be spot anyway, after his regene name. caine grew on him once people started tying more significance to it, but spot will always be more him. thats the name he first gave ortega (before realizing thats not a normal name and panicking), and thats the name ortega still calls them. he misses seeing his signed regene name though, thats his actual name (to himself at least).

Cyrus:

im ngl, i originally wrote out a completely different answer for him and was going to go with that before coming up with this one and realizing its way more true to him. so! cyrus got help with his name from anathema. i might draw this out as a comic one day, but basically, cyrus admitted to anathema he didnt like his name. anathema already had suspicions he was trans by this point, but cyrus officially came out to him when he picked up on anathemas suspicions and realized it was a good cover story for not having a name. they spent a while going back and forth on names, and eventually picked one he liked. cyrus knows the meaning behind it, anathema actually nicknamed him sunny because of it. he had a keychain of a crocheted sun on his person too when he was acting as a civilian (hes probably been caught with it as a hero multiple times when the emergency was too urgent to change). pre-heartbreak, having a name people cared enough to call on made him feel at home. post, though, it feels like a scab people wont leave alone.

Cecilia:

fun fact about this, ortega actually saw her face Before finding out her name. she already had a name in mind (i mean, obviously she was going to tell them eventually, thats a given), but since there was No way ortega was going to leave her alone about it after that, she figured she might as well take the chance to fuck with him. she had him guessing names for about a week before relenting. theres no Real meaning behind it as far as she or i know, its just a common enough name that she likes the sound of. as for what she feels about her name, she likes it a lot. its something uniquely hers that she got to pick out, and she still got to keep it after heartbreak. she likes it a lot better than her regene name, thats for sure.

Cynthia:

im gonna be so real rn, looking at this question and thinking about How cynthia would pick her name, made me realize she wouldnt pick cynthia for herself in the slightest. im. probably going to have to rerun her with a new name once i figure out something she Would name herself, but were sticking with cynthia for now adhsjsjd. cynthia wanted significance to it; it was her first chance at a new life, and she wanted something that felt would describe her. something that would break her off from the life at the farm. she researched meanings for it and picked one she was satisfied with. i looked it up, the name cynthia has strong associations with the moon. honestly very fitting for her, but shed think the name was too,,, pretty. she doesnt feel like something that nice would represent her. im not sure what shed gravitate towards, proobably something meaning new? or something pertaining to the human anatomy, well see. either way, as it stands now, her name is another piece of an identity she doesnt know anymore.

[sleepyhouse2art]

this is an old drawing of joey from i think 2021, the year i started seriously drawing. its the first one of him i did. before that i did some zines and posters for shows but i never drew for myself after i was 12, although before that i had really loved to draw. when i was 12 i had to go move in with my dad in seattle because after a bunch of stuff tbh i wont go into it but the precipitating incident was one august my mom socked my grandpa and went walking naked down their street. so my grandparents drove me halfway to washington, and my dad picked me up and drove the rest of the way. i hadnt seen him since i was 8 -- we got in a car accident and he never came again. when i moved in, he had a girlfriend who lived with him. and i had never even ridden a city bus before except as a very little kid in providence.

my dad signed me up that summer, because i liked to draw and i didnt have any friends and i think he didnt know what to do with me, to this fancy atelier program for kids. it was every day at this really pretty private catholic school. they used one of the buildings in the off-season. anyway, i went there and i worked hard on my little cartoons. but very quickly i found myself very embarrassed, because all the kids were leagues better than me. they could draw hyperrealistically. a pretty girl i had a crush on lent me a book on the anatomy of trees, which i studied for her but never returned. gradually i grew to hate it there, because i felt too low to belong even though the kids were nice to me. one of the grownup artists who helped out gave me her gaia online username.

the time came for the end of program show, and i lied to my dad. i told him that the show was canceled when it really wasnt, and i went by myself and skulked around. after that i didnt draw anymore, except for sometimes little punk zines and posters for shows, but never just to draw. i think i broke my own heart by not being good enough. it was really all my fault.

i was always mentally ill i guess -- ive had an ed since i was 12, and ive always had problems, like id tried to kill myself before and stuff, but when i hit 20 i started getting really sick. that was the year i first got involed. it was very, very bad. it fucked me up. my therapist told me they did things they shouldnt have done. i am super scared of hospitals because of that and some other times ive been in the hospital where really fucked up things happened to me. i have developed a crazy fear in particular of being restrained and having people sit on me. i think the next time i go they will rape me and kill me (the hospital emergency room down the street from my house has holes in the ceiling), and when my psychiatrist and my therapist tell me its time to go now, i cry a lot and beg them not to send me and that i will be raped and killed, and so they let me stay at home where my husband takes care of me. its safer for me here and nobody can do bad stuff to me. i get to be with my cats who are healers and from god. my life is pretty baller now, even if we are poor. i draw a ton because there isnt much expected of me and we dont need much. we own our house. my husband has a small job. really the only really bad thing in my life is getting sick like i do, or i guess being sick like i am. i hate my schiz, but i cant really do anything about it. also i hate sleeping, which people tell me doesnt help. i have a lot of symptoms and take a lot of pills. its ok tho.

so i draw. i write and i draw A LOT. often i sit and i draw for 14 hours straight or longer. making stuff makes me fee normal and happy and useful. i talk to my best friend all day, the one who i write the kirche street pharmacy stories with. they are the best.

anyway, thats why this drawing is a little special to me, i guess. im glad i made it. im glad i picked back up drawing. im glad you guys like my drawings sometimes!!! thank you thank you thank you. i hope you like this very old drawing of my very loud slutty one-legged son from brooklyn

[quirkwizard]

The most annoying aspect is why didn’t AFO just give Tomura Overhaul? He could still kill his family by the surprise factor and turning his family to paste and would be more stronger and versatile for future plans. Like have Garaki teach anatomy to Tomura to master overhaul if it requires knowledge or heal up AFO after his fight with all might since Tomura is completely loyal. Plus it would make crime so much easier like overhauling walls to break in and out with no sign of damage or kill/torture someone over and over and not leave fingerprints, heal wounds since Tomura complained about no having a healer in the party. My only guess is that Decay would ensure the family dies. Honestly it feels like Hori knew people suspected that Decay was given, so he tried to add a surprise twist by having be from Overhaul but just ended up raising more questions.

AFO had access to Overclock and Overhaul and didn't keep either of these quirks, or at least a copy of them. These two alone would make for an extremely broken combo. That, imo, is just complete dumbassery on AFO's part.

Its still weird that AFO didn't have a copy of Overhaul because Garaki could make artificial copies of quirks starting with the AFO quirk itself. If Garaki had the quirk him he could have easily fixed and improved AFO after his fight with All-Might

I have a particular question regarding Kotaro Shimura. We know that he and Nana had a rough time after the death of the father and force to let go his son to being raise from foster family. Why didn't All For One track him and brainwashing him to thinking that his mother abandoned him? Why target Tenko, his son to be his successor?

I've already talked about the flaws of him taking "Overclock", that it's an extremely skill reliant power that needed a dedicated user to make the most of, so I'll just talk about everything else here.

I think you are overestimating how much "Overhaul" would by of use to All For One. Yes, I did say that All For One would benefit from "Overhaul" and I stand by that. However, that is my assumption that "Overhaul" is super easy to use. if I were to play devil's advocate, I could put forward "Overhaul" is a lot more complicated then it appears. It's only as strong as it is since Kai is equal parts competent and experienced enough to make the most of the power. This can be further supported if you go with the idea that "Overhaul" was a deviation, which are infamous for being dangerous and unwieldy for even trained users. Whether or not any of this was Hori's intention is unclear, at least to me. What I can say for certain is that "Overhaul" could not heal All For One. While "Overhaul" can fix injuries, it can't reserve damage. If anything is missing or too far gone, Kai can't fix it. It's why Eri is still scared from all the experiments that Kai did on her. The damage that All For One took is far more extensive then that, to the point that not even "Super Regeneration" could fix it. It's why we don't see it healed until he took the Rewind Drug. He needed something that potent to put his body back together.

While "Overhaul" is certainly a more practical power, there were multiple reasons "Decay" was given to Tomura. It prevented Tomura from being able to heal his family. "Overhaul" is meant to reverse any of the damage done, potentially giving Tomura an out from whatever destruction he caused. "Decay" is only meant for destruction. Second is that All For One didn't want Tomura to be too capable. You need to remember that All For One didn't want a true successor. What he wanted was a vessel that he could eventually take control over. For that, he needed Tomura to hate and for that hate to be strong. So he gave him a power that was a constant problem, risking destroying whatever he touched and was only applicable in destruction, further pushing his destructive nature. "Overhaul" would have been too useful to really work with that. Finally, it helped keep Tomura under All For One's wing. It made him easier to direct and influence. We see this all the way when they first interact. It's why he didn't use Kotaro. Going by the flashbacks, Kotaro was a full adult. It could have been that All For One had only just found him and decided to reoriented his successor plan to use Nana's family, engineering the whole scenario to make the successor he wanted.

[scatterpatter]

CHAPTER 2 RAMBLES

It DOES have spoils for chap 2 so like,,, maybe read that first maybe i like shamelessly promoting my own fics SUE ME

Oh also bonus deleted scene at the end so ooooo you wanna read my infodump so baaaaaaaad

UNDER THE CUT BC ITS REALLY LONG ENJOOOOOOOOOOY

okay okay man i just. There's a lot of smol lil moments im so proud of that i just wanna gush about so here's my time to gush about it, in no particular order im just gonna go through the chapter and make comments as i go so uh. Director's commentary i guess LOL

Oh man so so so. I'm gonna avoid posting any spoilers for future chapters but. In both chapter 1 and this chapter I started setting up a future plot point. I had this planned for MONTHS. And idk when the reveal will drop- currently thinking chapter 4? Who knows but that's my current plan. BUT. but. but. BUT. There's a plot point I've been alluding to and foreshadowing in both chapters... and I don't think anyone's caught on to it yet >:3c And i cannot WAIT to finally get to The Thing(tm) and FINALLY be able to point at EVERY LINE in chapters 1+2 that were leading up to it like "iVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FROM THE START, GO BACK AND REREAD, ITS BEEN THERE FROM THE BEGINNING!" Again i wont spoil what the thing is but I'm gonna be so excited when we get there. I'm also curious if anyone will catch what it is yet... >:3ccc

Oh my God. The scene of Quickman and Dr. Light actually sitting down and trying to find ways to help Quick was so cathartic to me. Yes I want Light to be a flawed character and trust me we're gonna SEE those flaws in coming chapters, but I really just. Wanted him to genuinely try to help these bots. Like this is a conversation I had with a friend from over a YEAR ago, so it's so satisfying to finally get to make the closure I wanted from this!!

This fic is a unique challenge for me!! Like on one hand, I want to make Quickman abrasive and confrontational- want him to be the "problem" bot which is why so many people give up on him so early... but on the other hand, I want his actions to be understandable. Like yeah he's a jerk but he's more often than not kinda right to be pissed at their situation. I want him to be a relatable and realistic protag, not just some dick who's a jerk to everyone for no reason. I really hope I got that across in this fic... Yeah he's gonna start at his worst and slowly soften up but I hope I hit a good balance of asshole vs righteously upset

"He sat down, bouncing his leg restlessly." <- This bad bot can fit so much undiagnosed audhd in him

Terms like "cycling vents" as a robot tie-in for breathing was something I picked up from my time in the Transformers fandom!!! I picked up a lot of mech related terms from TF that'll be used a lot in this series which'll be fun to point out down the line. But yeah Cybertronians gave me a good dictionary to describe robot master anatomy/mannerisms with!

"Would he have better odds destroying Ice or Cut? Probably Cut." <- You've heard of love at first sight now get ready for... whatever the fuck THIS is supposed to be

Oh man, Flash and Quick,,, I'll talk about them in a lil bit bc man i have so many thoughts about them, but I'll mention one thing for now: The scene where Quick and Flash banter before Flash goes with Time that first day? *Chefs kiss*, Idk why but this scene means a lot to me. Sets up a lot of small things. Flashman being more receptive to DRIP, Quickman being more vocally against it all, the way Flash is keeping things lighthearted... the way that unnerves Quick, because they've never been nice to each other before??? They. They mean so much to me. THIS IS THE NOT-SO-SUBTLE SHIT IM TALKING ABOUT I JUST WANNA BRING ATTENTION TO IT MAN,,,

OH CRASHMAN! I really love what I'm gonna be doing with Crash. Yeah I'm taking a bit of my own hc instead of just pulling his personality from the Archie comics but Crash is one of my favorite robot masters. I like to imagine him as someone who looks intimidating, but is actually quite shy and sweet once you get to know him. I also like to imagine him with a programming flaw that leaves him with some significant emotional disregulation- it can leads to sudden spikes of any emotion that are overwhelming and hard to deal with. Anger, sadness, joy, they can all spike with no warning and he really struggles to keep up with it.

One thing that I want as a recurring theme is that Crash is often written off as a "problem" case because of his unpredictable and occasionally violent outbursts, but Quick has always been someone who's understood Crash and always treated him kind and even helped him through some of his worse episodes. It's a big reason why Crash looks up to Quick and almost treats him like an older brother of sorts.

... I also just like this Quick and Crash scene since it shows Quick's softer side but yknowwwww >:3

OH one tiny detail im SO proud of is that Quick ALWAYS says "DWN RIP" instead of "DRIP"... but around Crash, he calls it DRIP, because he knows Crash wants to give this an actual try -> “… You want to go through with this DRIP thing, don’t you?”

Oh yeah I'll allow myself one very minor spoiler- Quick's bed being next to the window will be important for plot stuff later >:3 nothing major but like I'm just happy I thought abt it in chapter 1 and went "wAIT I CAN USE THIS FOR PLOT POINTS IN LATER CHAPTERS"

Cut hanging out with Time and Oil! This is mostly my personal bias towards those 3 bots, but I also want Cut to be closer to the two of em than most of the other DLN are. Also specifically Cut and Time's relationship will be semi-relevant in a later chapter... and I'll probably find a way to rope Oil in too LMAO

“You know, you and Time weren’t the easiest to work with at first, either...” <- This one's probably obvious but Cut's alluding to the fact that Time and Oil were more or less Wily bots from the get-go and VERY noncompliant and unhappy to be brought back to Light and re-made into Light bots >:3c

Cut giving Quick the mp3,,, I didn't call it an mp3 since it's 20xx and idk if they would call a music player an mp3 player in the future... i mean hell, its only 2025 and we already dont call anything mp3s anymore. But yeah its just an mp3 LOL-

Oh yeah and "Audials" instead of "Ears"! Another lingo I took from TF!

Yeah I originally wasn't gonna have Quick properly meet Cut yet but like. I liked adding the scenes I did to this chapter. I really wanted to give Quick and Cut just a few small moments like this before they really start to bond. Just- really want Cut to actually try and accommodate Quick instead of telling Quick what he wants. Really want to drive home the friends in "enemies to friends to lovers". They're still not friends yet ofc, but like, yknow, Cut's genuinely trying to be a friend. Let's see in future chapters if it works >:3c

Ngl I originally wanted to make Dr. Light's favorite genre Classic Rock instead of Rock and Roll but like. He did name his bots after the genre so it'd feel really weird changing his fav genre. Old ass man.

"Honestly? It was pretty funny to imagine Elec learning to play that cringe old man music." <- While I don't hc Elec as a Rock and Roll fan, I DO hc Elec goes nuts over, like, Stadium Rock and a lot of the rock that was popular in the 70s-80s

... I'm gonna be honest you guys. Idfk what genre I imagine Wily to listen to. Idk what band Quick was playing, and i definitely don't know what song was his trigger. I purposely kept it vague, so imagine whatever you'd like! My fiance made the joke that Wily probably likes early 2000s German Metal so like- if you want to imagine that, be my guest LMAO

I'm so proud of his flashback you guys. Guilty pleasure. Those who read my fics know I loooove my hurt comfort and I have a big guilty pleasure for sudden trauma flashbacks leading into panic attacks~ Yeah I'm coping with my own trauma dw about it~

I really wanted to play up just how fucking horrifying Doc Robot is, ESPECIALLY in the Archie comics. The fact that EVERY bot was vocally against it, to the point Quick tried to literally fight Breakman off to save himself??? And they were literally forced because they couldn't disobey programming??? And that Wily seemed to not care about doing that to his Seconds??? It's like... some of the worst we've seen Wily. He is usually written as someone who deeply cares for his own machines, so to see him do this to the Seconds was kinda insane. And like... I think I'm gonna play with this. This idea that Wily really mistreated his bots, and what that means for them going forward.

... Also drew a teensy bit from my own experiences as a system, hehe. Luckily our lives aren't the literal hell that's Doc Robot, but- sharing a brain, watching someone control your body, recognizing you're a part of a whole and not your own full person? Insane enough for me and my alters who have ALWAYS been parts of a whole, now imagine being a fully complete separate person suddenly shoved together with 7 other fully complete separate people? *Shivers*. I keep saying it but Doc Robot is peak plural horror to me and I hope I captured how chaotic and scary it was for Quick in that very short flashback.

Oh and being so overwhelmed by the trauma in the moment that Quick was in such an intense fight or flight that he accidentally destroyed something he genuinely enjoyed? And immediately regretting that? Ough,,, yeah,,, trauma is messy like that. I'm really proud of the heartbreak of it but y e a h. Trauma is. Messy.

AND AGAIN FLASH AND QUICK!!! I mean I don't think this is spoilers to say that Flash very clearly wants to be redeemed through this program, I feel that was very obvious even with his banter with Quick. I like to hc that Doc Robot really messed with Flash too, and he matured significantly after that. He's basically already given up on Wily, he's just not admitting that to anyone. He just wants him and his linemates to be safe, even if that means integrating into industrial functions.

OH THIS IS ALSO WHERE I PUT MY DELETED SCENE! I'll add that at the bottom- but basically Flash jokes about Quick being trans. Because yeah I'm adding trans!Quick to this fic because it's my fic and I do what I want~ But then I figured with everything else revealed in this chapter... ehhhh, pacing didn't feel right to mention it now. Not sure when I'll bring it up but I feel it'll be better pacing to mention it in a later chapter.

OH and Elecmaaaan~ So my original idea for this chapter was to end it after Quick and Elec do their race, spend the day together, and everything that comes with that. But with how long each scene got and how many scenes I added, I figured leaving on the race cliffhanger and covering their full scene together next chapter would be a better call.

I also just love Elec and Cut being such brothers. Cut's the """eldest""" but he also acts so immature that he gets perceived as "younger". Meanwhile Elec's the """youngest""" but gets appointed "leader" due to his more mature and cynical personality. They both look up to each other, and constantly argue over who has more authority in the DLN. I like to think Elec's the brains of the group, but Cut's the heart. We'll absolutely be exploring Cut's and Elec's relationship more in later chapters, especially their very conflicting feelings around Quick >:3

but i THINK thats all i wanted to ramble about!!! Here's the cut(HAH) scene that would've taken place while Flash is comforting Quick, before I tucked it aside and replaced it with what we DO see in chap 2:

“What I mean is… I think we can use this program to our advantage.” … Okay, Quick was officially interested. He slowly sat up, giving Flash his full attention. “I mean, just think about it.” Flash explained, “Sure, the government is going to be keeping super close eyes on us while this goes on, but… What happens when we trick everyone into thinking we’re ‘fully adjusted’? They can’t keep curfews and babysitters on us forever.” … Ohhhhhhh.  Quick nodded, quickly seeing where he was going, “So we play nice, until they let their guard down.” “Exactly.” Flashman smirked at him, “Who’s to say we don’t just pretend to like whatever jobs they give us, then defect right back to Wily as soon as he shows his face again?” Quick cracked a smile… though it quickly fell as he thought about it further. Sure, it seemed nice in concept, but… “... They want us to be like them, though.” He explained, sighing, “They’re gonna try to make me something I’m not. Even- Even if I play along at first, I don’t know if I can keep at it for months. That’s not what I am.” Flashman stared at him for a few moments… before he huffed, rolling his eyes, “You’re so painfully trans.” Quick bristled at that, not expecting Flash to bring that up, “What the hell is that supposed to mean-?!” “Quick, no one’s asking you to be Quickwoman.” He answered, “You don’t have to change a fundamental part of what you are to pretend to like working on a fucking construction site.” Quick blinked, then growled at him, “Well making a weapon try to fit into an industrial job is changing a part of what I am.”   “... Quickman. I’m a weapon too, ya dumbass.” Flash retorted, bluntly, “You may be the only trans one in our group, but literally all of us are weapons. You’re not special in that regard.” “So?” Quick challenged. “So,” Flash continued, accepting the challenge with a playful air to his tone, “If I can play nice- and if the rest of our line can play nice, even if it’s an act, then what’s your excuse? Or… are you saying you can’t handle it?”

Cut for the reason I listed above: I didn't think it was the best moment to reveal Quick being trans, but also... I just didn't like the way the convo was going. Felt a little too "muahaha we're both plotting >:3" rather than... Flash genuinely caring about Quick and trying to get him to give DRIP a genuine chance. Like it felt like too easy an out for Quick's concerns about changing what makes him him. So ended up replacing it with the scene we have in the fic! But I hope this was cool to see!

AHHHH thank you for letting me ramble!!! *Gives you cookie* pls have a cookie for getting this far. I'm just really happy with a lot of the small choices I made for this chapter and just- wanted to share it so maybe someone else could see the thought I put behind all of this 🥺

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Almlaeni

Here are the results for this week's bestiaryposting; as always, anyone who doesn't know what that's about can see all previous posts here: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

This one, I think, really illustrated to me how differently one perceives these entries when one knows what animal is being described. There was a particular detail in this week's entry that I thought was an absolute dead giveaway as to the identity of the animal, but most of the commentary I've seen from the artists indicates that they didn't see it as obvious, which was a relief -- I think the harder it is to guess, the more fun this whole thing is. (Yes, you're not supposed to try and guess it at all, but on the more obvious ones like the Gligglae I see a lot of comments along the lines of "I'm pretty sure I know what this is", so there are indicators whether people know.) It probably helps that it was a longer entry, so there's a lot going on. I just think it's worth noting because of the conversation recently going around regarding what's obvious to the author vs. what's obvious to the reader.

The entry we're working from can be found here:

Art is below the cut in roughly chronological order.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) started with the thought that an example of an animal with strong jaws is an ant. But given the description of manes and fur, this is probably a mammal, so we get an "ant-lion" that they describe as looking "like he should be an alien pet in a sci-fi movie or game", which I think is spot-on. Good design for a weird alien pet. I really like the execution of the "ant's head but mammalian" concept, and the coloring of the mane looks really cool. Some more detail on design decisions can be found in the linked post.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) does note that she thinks she knows what this animal is -- but, in the spirit of the thing, intentionally avoided drawing that -- so we'll have to see how identifiable it is at the end of this post. She's also provided her own alt text, thanks for that. I find this design really charming -- the blend of porcine and feline makes for a good silhouette in my opinion, the pose looks cool, and the rainbow mane is quite pretty. I particularly like that the tuft of hair the entry says is a love charm is drawn to resemble a heart.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has drawn a rather frightening-looking beast, here shown nipping its own paw after accidentally stepping on a twig. (They also provided alt text, thank you.) There's a lot of interesting design choices here -- explained in some detail in the linked post, check that out. We can see a stocky, muscular head and chest, showing that this animal has the strength in its jaws and chest mentioned by the entry, paired with kangaroo-like legs and tail to give it the leaping capabilities mentioned. Also, this picture shows an Ethiopian Almlaeni in summer, which is why it is bald except for a bit of fur on its mane and tail. The shining eyes, I think, are what really gives this animal an unsettling appearance.

Cheapsweets also would like to note that they're "on the lookout for some good resources for animal anatomy and musculature", so if anyone has any suggestions, please send those their way!

@pomrania (link to post here) has given us this creature that is very much A Mammal but it's hard to pin down anything more specific than that -- it makes me think of the sort of old engravings that archaeologists just kind of give up on categorizing as specific animals and end up just calling them something like "the [culture/location] Beast". It's kind of feline, kind of equine, and it has what Pomrania (accurately) characterizes as a greyhound-like build. This impression is aided by the pose and the line work -- I don't know, there's just something about it that makes me think "this should be on the wall of an old tomb somewhere." I like the vibe, is what I'm saying. Very good beast.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has selected a couple of the elements in the description that stand out and taken them to their most dramatic interpretation. The Almlaeni can jump in such a way that it seems to fly, and it can live on the wind -- what if it has bat-like wings it can glide on? (Someone else noted "live on the wind" as possibly suggesting flight depending on how you interpret the ambiguity of the phrase, but discarded the idea; here we're running with it.) The result is quite a fearsome beast; that face is downright scary. We can also see here sensory organs adapted to hunting at night, and strength concentrated in the front of its body (which probably helps with those wings). And of course the stylization is excellent as always -- the linework is very convincingly medieval and I swear I've seen illuminations with that exact style of starry background. The linked post describes the design decisions in a bit more detail. (Also thank you for providing your own alt text.)

@strixcattus (link to post here) put this up after I drafted the rest of this post, and from the text of their post I think they guessed the nature of the animal, so take all references to it being more difficult to identify than I thought with a grain of salt. They also describe it as "a little freak (affectionate)" which is definitely an accurate description of the creature they've drawn. I really like the combination of different types of animal you can see here. The pose comes from a pretty reasonable interpretation of a couple points in the original entry: they can leap really well, but most of their strength is in the front half of their body. Therefore, obviously, they must use their front legs to jump and to propel themselves for rapid motion. Excellent direction to take that, I think. As usual, I strongly recommend clicking that above link and seeing the details Strixcattus writes up for their beasts.

And now, the Aberdeen Bestiary version.

As you can probably gather from this image, this week's animal is the wolf. And I think it's an interesting peek into the medieval imagination to see how fierce that wolf looks. The shaggy fur, the fangs, the eyes -- it's striking. That looks like a fairy-tale illustrator decided to draw the Big Bad Wolf in such a way as to frighten children. All the best wishes to our heroic little dog up there.

I also like the interestingly-symbolic depiction of the sheepfold: it kind of looks like our sleeping shepherd keeps his flock in a TARDIS. And, of course, look at that lovely Stylized Tree in the background.

So yeah, it was the bit about them sneaking up on sheepfolds that I thought made it Too Obvious that the Almlaeni was a wolf. Glad that didn't turn out to be as much of a tip-off as I thought.

As for the Ethiopian wolves mentioned: damned if I know what they were thinking of. Jackals and African wild dogs can be pretty colorful, so there might be something there, but I wouldn't describe them as having manes. My best guess is that the original animal being described was a black-backed jackal, but it's hard to be sure what, if anything, the grain of truth is here. (There is an animal we call the "Ethiopian wolf", but it looks more like a coyote than anything, so I'm not seeing the "colorful mane" thing.)

The thing about this is that medieval authors were very much ignorant of that part of the world. "Ethiopia" to them was much like "India" -- to the modern ear, those are countries we're aware of with a defined location, and we can go read about them if we want. To medieval Europeans, both were just kind of vague geographical blobs: they knew these places existed because they heard about them from classical sources and/or from trading partners, but there was virtually no direct contact or reliable information. These were distant and mysterious lands to them, and as a result they were willing to believe just about anything regarding what those places were like. (Also, if you see "Ethiopia" in a medieval text, don't necessarily think the region we now call by that name -- it tends to just be an umbrella term for "sub-Saharan Africa".) So, leaping maned wolves? May or may not be based on anything real, and if it was, it's been Telephoned to death by this point.

[chimeride]

how do you avoid making a creature that's too similar to another?

Excellant question, because it’s a perfect occasion for me to discuss about diversity, a central theme in this serie, and how to illustrate it !!

The first method is creature design in its purest form : what does my creature looks like ? And then breakdown every aspect of what makes a monster. For anatomy i see 2 main parameters :

architecture : how many limbs ? heads ? and where to put them ? For example you can see “gryphons” as a kind of structure, with 4 legs, 2 wings and a beak (roughly) and play around with this structure

proportions : the same chimera with different proportions makes very different monsters ! You can play with the head/body ratio, make some limbs vestigial, or big wingspan to make them impressive, etc. For chimeras, this is the main difference between drawing and taxidermy !

Another aspect for my case with chimeras is which species i’m using. Unless i have a precise idea in mind i always make some quick research :

for example if i need a flamingo i check all the different kinds of flamingoes on wikipedia ; sometimes i go back up the phylogenic trees to see similar animals but slightly different

if i’m illustrating a monster from a precise geographic location i try to look for local species too, to make it more consistent

sometimes the design is based around a particular specie of animal i find interesting

i guess it goes with species, but you can obviously change patterns (on fur, wings etc) or colors (not my problem tho).

For example, lately i’m drawing Lemures where i combine bodies of lemurs with heads of larvae : the architecture is always the same but the possibilities are endless !

Second method is more concept-driven :

it’s how can i challenge definitions and concepts (whats is a dragon ?? seriously ???), try to explore it and cover all the range of the definitions and push them at their limits (ok now i have no idea what a dragon is anymore)

it can also start with a theme (what if i combine all the animals behind the symbols of the Seven Deadly Sins to make a chimeric representation?? what if that beach i went once 2 years ago were full of creatures ???), and it could be something very abstract (what if that music is actually about a monster ??)

you can also mix concepts together (metachimeras) !!

I also start from prompts (through asks, challenges and shittycryptids, mostly), because there are many ways to interprete them : sometimes i try to channel different inspirations by previous interpretations into one design, sometimes i just give what people wanted to see, but i have more fun when i respond exactly to the prompt in the most unpredictable way.

All of these methods bring a lot of diversity, and i will never run out of ideas ! The possibilities for chimeras are endless, and these are some methods i’ve got to find them. If you have other methods please share them !! And if you are interested by the methodologic aspect, i’ve done a masterpost that explain the tags for different categories and links to check the chimeras behind.

And also, most importantly maybe, but i try to leave some space for intuition : if something works or comes in my mind and it looks good i just go with it ! I always have a sketchbook for when i’ve got random ideas coming to me. Intellectualizing the process is fun, but creation isnt only about methodology.

[ninjapaste]

dude your art is so GOOD!!! Do you take any classes or have any tips to share? that resource post you reblogged the other day was helpful but i've felt so stuck in my art. I don't know if you have anything u learned that just made something click for u or anything like that?

Tysm anon!!!👍

In terms of your questions, I apologise i advance for the long answer im about to give and possibly things you already know haha:

I guess in terms of what classes i take, Ive gone from GCSE to A level Art and design (Fine art), and both courses have helped me to learn the importance of observation studies.

However, its moreso all the art i practice in my own time that has played the biggest part in my art improvement journey. I adopted art as a big hobby around 2018, and really ever since then I tend to draw/create for myself every day, however big or small it may be.

I guess my first tip would be to indulge in a 'sketchbook' or space to work in freely, it could be any form but the importance is that its personal and can be picked up whenever. I find that having a sketchbook to draw in has really helped with productivity and creating new ideas. I think you can go into a sketchbook space with any mindset and it can work wonders, like for example if you wanted to focus purely on challenging yourself, you can do that! If you just, want to doodle without thinking, go ahead! After all, its a sketchbook for you and nobody else, so go wild!

My next tip would definitely be, when you are feeling stuck in art, to take inspiration from a wide range of different things be it in real life or on the internet, a building or a really cool tree, since I find it defintiely fuels the creation of new ideas/concepts that can provide a path out of that creative rut. I guess to an extent there may always be periods where you have that 'I have no idea what to draw!' Feeling, and thats okay! Sometimes its refreshing that helps the most. But I often see that the solution to being in a rut is usually REFERENCING, wether it be trying to accurately draw the anatomy of an arm or if I just saw a cool design/pose/style on Pinterest and i drew a bunch of wacky characters from it. In fact, I find that places like Pinterest or Resplash are such good resources to hone imagination and generally most art skills by looking at and drawinf from all the cool images (and get some of that inspo!). And if im not using Pinterest, im usually using an art book as reference! (The itsv and splatoon art book helped me so so much lol)

On the topic of REFERENCING, its mega important! Depending on imagination/memory feels pretty good at times but its always beneficial to have image references in your process when you find its good to have them. I woudl always recommend having a reference when drawing poses/expressions/anatomy because the more you use them, the more you learn about how an object like a face muscle, a torso or even light behaves and looks and the easier it is to draw/depict them.

The next tip is uh YOUTUBE, or any account/person who's art inspires you in particular. I found that certain channels like Ethan Becker, Marc Brunet, Marco Bucci and more have helped me the most to gain confidence in drawing and learning how to practice it better. Of course, theres a lot to learn from a plethora of other channels too, even ones that dont specifically promote themselves as teachers! Also, if theres a certain style/art approach or an artist that appeals to you, study it in any way you like! Analyse an artist's work or ask/find out about their personal process (or even watch a speedpaint/art stream)! Sometimes it can be a big inspiration booster and skill boost to do just that (plus the 'artist' could be any piece of media/thing too!! Like a game or something).

Ok ok last paragraph haha, on the topic of your last question. Thinking back, its hard for me to define any specific moment or thing that gave me a 'click' moment. Its more like a process of growth that starts with learning and understanding a new thing, then familiarizing myself with using it successfully/'correctly' by studying and practicing, so that eventually its like muscle memory or easier to use in my work.

Hope this helps!!! If theres anything else you want to ask, dont be afraid to dm or send another ask!!

[themichiferqueen]

Do you have to do your cumming to figures of closed/extinct cultures?

I don't have to anything I don't want to, just like you don't have to read my content if it makes you uncomfortable. Having said that, you raise a valid concern about closed/extinct cultures so let me do my best to address this. Firstly, everything I write is using The Bible as its primary reference. ALWAYS. And The Bible is primarily Christian in nature, especially when referring to the New Testament. Therefore, I cannot be borrowing from a 'closed' culture if Christianity is widespread and very much open.

Now, I'll take a wild guess and assume you primarily mean my usage of Yahweh in particular. I understand that Yahweh has major significance in Judaism and that is a practice that I, an American goyim, have no business meddling in. I won't argue with you about this, I am in full agreement.

Having said that, anytime I write about Yahweh in particular, I'm referring to the deity that existed in the Levant pantheon PRIOR to His emergence as G-d in the traditional sense of the word. Since The Bible originated off of the Torah, there isn't really separating the Old Testament from the New Testament when it comes to dealing with Yahweh as an entity as I study it from a primarily Christian lens. He is very much a presence all throughout the entire Bible from beginning to end, even if the way He is referred to changes as a result of post-Jesus prophets adding their interpretations to the New Testament.

And if you're skeptical about that, sure, I understand. But Yahweh was a god on a pantheon like any other before His ascension and therefore the interpretation I cast for Him is through the historical lens of His emergence. Both are completely possible because there are also occultists who practice Yahwehism, which again is a totally different concept then the traditional G-d (YHWH) we are referring to in Judaism.

In addition, I do my best to research what I'm writing about before I just post it on the internet. Here's a few of my sources discussing Yahweh in particular before He was seen as G-d:

"God: An Anatomy" by Francesca Stavrakopoulou

"Where God Was Born" by Bruce Feiler

"Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction" by Laurence Boadt

"Monotheism and Yahweh's Appropriation of Ba'al" by James Anderson

Now, you also proposed 'extinct' cultures which confuses me. Do you mean to tell me that the version of Ba'al Hadad from Mesopotamian culture is extinct? I suppose it is - the Ugaritic texts were written 3,000 years ago by a civilization that no longer exists as we understand it today. Having said THAT, there is also Ba'al the demonic entity that most demonolators understand to be one of Lucifer's Chief Princes of Hell, an entity that shares its roots with Ba'al Hadad despite the divorcing of his once godly status. Will you then proceed to accuse them of 'cumming' to an extinct culture?

Really, if there's one thing you take away from my rant, please take this: I'm trying to understand how our modern understanding of God came to be and Yahweh is the closest vehicle to express it based on my current historical knowledge. I do not, will not, and cannot ever speak to a religion I do not practice and never have I pretended to. I do my best to imbue my characters with the culture(s) through which they originated but I'm not the authority on this. I write for fun and entertainment purposes. Again (and I cannot emphasize this enough), the Bible itself is primarily Christian in nature which is NOT closed, and any interpretation I add on top of it is my effort to get to the historical roots of where such a concept came from. I know I write a lot of kinky, erotic nonsense but I also make it my best effort to do culturally accurate representations so that these beings feel like real concepts, not just caricatures.

And one last time, if you hate seeing me pop up in the tag, block me. The block button is free, I've been here for almost two years, and you clearly know who I am. I appreciate you at least engaging with me on this because I can see where your concern comes in, but I hope this illuminates my approach and why I do not agree with your assessment at the end of the day.

(Also, if you got beef with it, I'm not the first person who's done this shit. Check this person out who's done their research on Yahweh and Ba'al over here.)

[amunyan]

"Ah... yes... Yes," you moan softly, your hands clawing harder into the blanket. "That's the spot."

A satisfied grin flits across Mereoleona's lips as she buries her fingers deeper into your skin, applying more pressure. Making you sigh louder.

"You sit at your desk too much, sweetheart. No wonder you're so tense. This is where it hurts, isn't it?" Her fingers press on a particular spot on your back and you let out an abrupt yelp.

"Ow... Yeah, right there."

You grasp one of the pillows in pain, but your lover takes it away from you immediately. She orders you to lie flat on the bed while she massages the tension out of your body. At the crack of dawn. But only because you made a very unfortunate turn in the early hours of the morning when you came back from the bathroom and wanted to crawl into bed again.

As well as being a personal trainer in a gym and teaching martial arts on the side, Mereo is also very good with her hands and knew more than a thing or two about anatomy. She knows exactly where to touch to put an end to your back pain. And you just lay there and let it happen to you. 

But with a glance at her alarm clock, Mereoleona stops.

"Looks like we have to continue when I get home. Will we see each other in training?"

"I don't know. I have to get my other stuff from my apartment... And a lot of work..." You sigh deeply and sit up in bed.

"I see... So I guess we'll see each other in the evening?"

"Definitely." With a blissful expression on your face, you accompany her to the door, she says goodbye, tells you that you can always help yourself to the fridge and her other supplies, and boldly plants a kiss on your lips, so that you can start the day with a stupid loved-runk smile on your face.

Home office was the order of the day today. For once, or you won't be able to complete all your duties for the day...

With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, you open your laptop and join the morning meeting online. Only to get a proper verbal spanking from your boss right at the start. Firstly because of yesterday's incident, and secondly because you're not at the office. He doesn't accept your justification that he authorised it yesterday at short notice and that others do it regularly - especially him - which is why the whole meeting is always online and you could do your work from home.

"Looks like this guy is having another really, really bad day. This could be fun..."

But Marx, who had asked for a postponement because of your mistake, also got his punishment in front of the whole office.

All attempts by your colleagues to defend you and him, or to offer help, are stifled.

"Really a hell of a working atmosphere again. Literally. Getting scolded for the stupid spreadsheets and for working from home. But the guy himself spends half the day sitting in cafeshops doing nothing. And his stupid mistresses too - otherwise Marx and I wouldn't have any problems working through the lists, which are kept like cabbages and turnips. But who gets the blame? Marx and I, of course," you mutter to yourself. "What an idiot! If I were the boss, I would have called those wives back from their holidays and made them do the work. Let the three of them choke on vanilla crescents! On top of that, he wants to deduct the keybord I drowned in my coffee yesterday from my wages! Understandable, but he didn't have to say it in front of everyone."

After all that trouble, you need a second coffee. So you get up, wobble around the counter, put your cup under the machine and switch it on. Only to be reminded by its rattling that this little machine is a very clean thing. It started the rinse cycle and you, not wanting to get a new cup, by getting your current one dirty, reach out for your mug. But that's when the clumsiness kicks in again. You can't get a good grip on it. The mug slips from your hand and falls clattering to the floor.

"Well done," you congratulate yourself, rolling your eyes. "That wasn't the plan."

The coffee machine clatters approvingly in the background as you pick up the pieces.

Mereolena wouldn't make much of deal becouse of a plane white cup. Or even get angry. But you still have your guilty conscience. And a flash of inspiration.

"Hah! That's it! I'll give her nice cups in a partner look."

For a moment, you think it's the best idea ever. But only until you give it a second thought. Then your mobile phone starts ringing in protest.

"Or not," you have to admit to yourself.

You get up and reach for your phone to answer the call. Yami is there.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Do you want a serious answer or should I say that everything is fine?" You wrinkle your forehead.

"A serious one - otherwise I wouldn't have called." Your friend sounds unusually serious that day. "I heard about what happened from Vanessa and Finral."

You vaguely know that Yami and Finral live in the same apartment complex. A new neighbourhood that the city had built a few years ago, but for the money they charged for the flats, they could not get rid of them. In fact, it had fallen into disrepair before the city finally gave in. What you did not know was that Yami and Finral were already more or less neighbours, and that the poor Finral was often allowed to play Yami's chauffeur when he overdid it with his forays into the city's bars. So they knew each other quite well.

"Vanessa told us her misery over one or two six-packs of beer. And that you wanted to go to another friend of yours. So I thought I would call and check if you are all right. Having to move out is a big shit. You ended up in Charmy's place, right?"

"Yes, it's really shit! But no, I wanted to go to Charmy's, but since she didn't answer her phone yesterday - and I panicked so much that I forgot that the CC also has a phone - I'm not at her place. In fact; Mereoleona took me with her after training..."

"I see," Yami laughs loudly on the other line. "The scary witch kidnapped you. And I was worried about you and wanted to cheer you up."

 "Excuse me?!? Mereo is not scary! She is sweet and gentle - she just has her own way of showing it! And just because I am with her now, does not mean that all my problems have been magically solved!"

"You've always been into weird stuff. But to each their own. "He laughs again.

 "Are you done now?" You grimace in offence.

"Sorry. But listen - the reason I called was to ask if you were free tomorrow. I know - bad timing, but I need you. I still don't have a present for Charlotte and I'm as helpless as ever. I could get you your favourite coffee - maybe a gingerbread latte or some of those crazy flavoured fancy things you like - you complain to me about all your other problems and we can have a nice day at the mall. How does that sound?"

"Except for the fact that the gingerbread latte might be the cause for one of my other problems; perfect!"

[alpinezro]

hi... I HOPE THIS IS ALRIGHT TO ASK but ive admired how you render for a long time and you mentioned a while back in a post that you'd studied light particles n how they work and i have been. deathly curious as to how you went about doing that... drawing from reference and doing studies of course, but was there any particular way you went about it? i hope this finds you well. anyways . sorry ! thank you for your time

no need to apologize, and thank you so much for asking! not sure i can provide the best explanation, but most of what i learned was off of youtube and some blog-ish websites. this probably wont make any sense at all but ill try my best.

The Anatomy of Shadows

a big part of it was learning the anatomy of shadows, specifically the terminator and different varieties. heres a diagram,

terminators are just where the light and shadow meet. you always want to be able to tell where the terminator starts and ends!!! be CONFIDENT and BOLD with them!!!! they communicate so much information about structure

more on the different types of terminators/shadows. the ones i most use are cast and body.

a great example of these is the rembrandt triangle, composed of the shadow cast by the nose (cast shadow) and the shadow of the cheek (body shadow). body shadows are so so aewsome because they represents changes in planes. cast shadows r just kinda there. but i think they get softer the further away from the object they are since the light particles wiggle their way underneath and create reflection/ambient light

Ambient Occlusion and Light

SPEAKING OF WHICH!!! ambient light is basically just, the light particles that are bouncing around in a scene. imagine you're at the beach and its a really cloudy day, the shadows arent gonna be dramatic like they would if you were in a dark room with one light source.

youd think that we're kinda like. enveloped in light by default but no, we're pretty much always in shadow. shadows are the normal part. light is a strange freak that broke into your house and fucked everything up.

more about ambient occlusion. ambient occlusion just occurs when objects get close together and light cant wiggle its way in, as stated earlier. heres a shitty example. AO is key to realism.

this guy explains it better than i ever could

Lighting Focus or Whatever the Fawk its Called I Forgot But There's Definitely a Scientific/Cinematic Term For This

another thing. level of detail in shadows is gonna be way different than in light and vice versa. u know when u spend a bunch of time outside and u go inside and its just solid black for a few seconds? its a similar idea here, ur eyes are so focused on the lit area they dont even give a shit abt the shadows.

because of this, i try to keep shaded areas blurred. a lot of detail is implied, just let the viewers mind fill in the blanks.

last but not least,

Subsurface Scattering (on the skin, at least)

can i be so honest with you for a second??? i dont actually know what this means, like in depth. im sure this has something to do with light penetrating through semi-transparent skincells and illuminating blood,, but i cant be sure. thats just an educated guess. past oakley is always smarter than present oakley for some reason.

i usually combine it with reflected light to create a more cohesive look. burt like... yeah... theres plenty of people who can explain this better than me

ok thast all i hope this helped at least a little!!!!! LOTS of youtube videos. lots of visualizing silly little particles bouncing around. i probably forgot some stuff.

this video is realy good

[logicpng]

For artist ask game: 3, 10, and 13

3. What are your favorite subjects to draw? (OCs, your fan faves, etc.)

nonhuman humanoids mostly. most favorites i end up with are beings with human-like body with a nonhuman head that don't require much accuracy with human anatomy. so, objectheads, tv-heads, robots, what have you. Aster and DCA fit the type perfectly too! sorry urs.......

10. How do you deal with art block?

either i play with the brush settings, get new brush sets entirely, or i just change around the colors i sketch with or background image/color! it's a very small thing but i think it minimized artblocks. this year also pose/anatomy studies saved my ass because i got dissatisfied with my skill level in particular

13. What kind of art do you personally not see the appeal of, and why?

i guess if the (apparent) intent is solely to be a cashgrab or to offend someone it loses appeal to me no matter its medium. any media has its fans but if to me if it seems to lack the Soul behind the creation it's egh. what is a cashgrab and what isn't is subjective in some instances but that's the clearest example i can think of? otherwise any art is good and i can at least see the appeal even if it fails to grab me by the throat

[mystery-moose]

EYO THE OSCAR NOMS ARE OUT

Let’s discuss!

BEST PICTURE: I've seen four of the ten nominees this year! Not a bad score for me. Of the remainder I am very interested in American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, and Past Lives. American Fiction in particular got Jeffrey Wright a Best Actor nomination! I love Jeffrey Wright! He deserves more recognition! Any film that can get him that has gotta be worth something.

Of the ones I’ve seen… I’d probably select Killers of the Flower Moon as the best? It’s a hard watch, but the craft on display at every level is exceptional. If not that, then… I dunno, maybe Barbie? The Holdovers is a safe choice, it’s a great movie, but there’s almost nothing… surprising about it. Barbie is CONSTANTLY surprising! But it’s also a madcap comedy bathed in metaphor so… man I don’t know!

Regardless, I wouldn’t pick Oppenheimer. Not to disrespect it, I genuinely believe it to be a very interesting film that’s compelling to watch, and as always Christopher Nolan’s ability to make weird-ass films with experimental structures popular with a mass audience is worthy of tremendous respect. But its pacing is rushed, its script is sometimes awkward to the point of parody, and I just don’t know that it’s saying or doing anything THAT interesting or enlightening about the real people involved or about people or history in general. Y’know?

BEST DIRECTOR: Nothing but Best Picture nominees here, which makes sense. Pretty blown away that Alexander Payne didn't get a nom here for The Holdovers. Not blown away at all that Greta Gerwig didn't get one for Barbie, despite that whole thing clearly being her baby. A real Streisand situation here, I'd say! "Eight nominations on the shelf, did this film direct itself?" Regardless of who wins (or even who I think deserves to!) I'd definitely say Gerwig got snubbed here.

BEST ACTOR: All best picture nominees here, save for Colman Domingo for Rustin. Had never heard of this film before, because it's a Netflix film and they always bury all their work, but it's about a civil rights activist so that makes... how many years that the Academy has included one of these in a Best Actor/Actress context? Selma, Harriet, Judas and the Black Messiah. I'm sure Colman Domingo gives a good performance, just noting that the Academy loves to nominate these for acting awards and not honor them in most any other way. (Hey, Jeffrey Wright's in that movie too! Good year for him!)

Bradley Cooper's here too. I don't think I like him very much! I've never disliked him really, but I've never loved his performance either. But the Academy seems to, since he's been nominated... TWELVE TIMES? Holy SHIT no wonder I wasn't surprised to see his name. Never won one, though. He keeps this up, maybe they'll throw him a pity one like they did for DiCaprio. Then again, I don't think Cooper assigns as much value to it as Leo did -- or at least, it doesn't feel like it. I care so little about Bradley Cooper! I don't follow his personal journey very closely! He's fine, I guess!

As a fan, I'd LOVE to see Jeffrey Wright take it, even though I haven't seen his movie. Of the ones I have, Cillian Murphy is very good in Oppenheimer, no question, but I've gotta give it to my man Paulie G. Dude is an incredibly talented actor with a non-traditional look who's done great work for decades and deserves a big win. He's fantastic in Holdovers too! It's a layered, funny, incredibly natural performance that he just falls into. Not particularly showy, which lowers his chances for a win, but to me (and most sensible folks) that makes it a better performance, so there, nyeh!

BEST ACTRESS: I haven't seen four of these but if they don't give it to Lily Gladstone they've fucked up. Sorry, other nominees, that's all there is to it. Also, where the fuck is Margot Robbie? She's incredible in Barbie! If I get to Supporting Actor and Ryan Gosling is there, this is misogyny.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: This is misogyny!! But I'd love for Gosling to win for this. It'd be his first, and for a role like this that'd be hilarious. That being said it's still a tremendous performance! His commitment to the role both on-screen and off is clear, he's having a ball throughout, and he does his own dancing! God, I just wanna see his speech.

That being said, he has some extremely stiff competition. De Niro continues his golden year renaissance with an excellent performance of a very evil man in Killers of the Flower Moon, and Downey Jr. is so good in Oppenheimer that it took me a couple minutes and a scene transition to realize it was him at all! Also Sterling K. Brown and Mark Ruffalo are here! I like both those guys! If I had to pick one that I've seen that isn't Gosling? Probably Downey Jr. If I gave Oppenheimer one award, it would be this one.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: I like all these actresses, I think America Ferrera is very good in Barbie, and Jodie Foster has been doing great work lately, but this award belongs to Da'Vine Joy Randolph. She takes a character that could be one note in The Holdovers and invests them with so much life and complexity and history. I still think about that movie in part because of her, and because she made choices that made that character feel more authentic. It's maybe the most I've been impressed by an actress in a good long while, frankly! She deserves this one! Don't fuck it up, Academy! (but I know you will)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: All Best Picture nominees, save for a movie called May December... because it's a Netflix film, of course. God, they sure do make a lot of award-worthy films I never ever hear about, huh! Wild how that happens! (Did you even know a new Spy Kids movie came out this year? Of course you didn't! It was on Netflix!)

I haven't seen four of these, but heard good things about Past Lives. I do really love The Holdovers though! Unless one of the others really knocks my socks off, I'd be comfortable with that winning here.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Oppenheimer does not deserve this. I'm sorry, maybe it's a failure of editing, but the pacing on this thing is too breakneck. Maybe that's a failure of editing more than screenplay, though. Then again, the dialogue itself is uh... often pretty blunt and borderline silly, in that Nolan sort of way! So, y'know!

I'd love to see Barbie win it. It's so fucking funny, and occasionally vibrating with pathos. But I haven't seen the others, and they might rule, actually! American Fiction might be great! I'm looking forward to finding out when it hits digital!

ANIMATED FEATURE: I still think we probably shouldn't cordon these off into their own category, but then so few would get nominated for anything, so let's just live in the world we have, huh? The Boy and the Heron is a Miyazaki film, so that automatically makes it a contender, though I've heard some mixed things about it. Nimona is a dark horse that I remember having some buzz around it earlier this year, and Robot Dreams is a sad movie about a robot so it's automatically a movie I vibe with! Elemental... exists! (Why in the hell was this nominated and not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem?! Why of all things did THAT get snubbed?!)

But we all know this belongs to Across the Spider-Verse. It might not be a complete narrative, but purely on visual spectacle alone, it should win. It is, without question, the wildest eyeball experience I've ever had watching a movie, finally dethroning the previous occupiers, the Wachowskis' Speed Racer and the animated film Redline. It is constantly visually surprising and experimental, to the point that much like its predecessor I don't know how they fucking did some of the stuff they did. It's not the out-of-nowhere immediate game-changer that its predecessor was, and it might not have the immediate influence on an entire genre in the same way... but I think it pushes the medium even further! I can't wait to see what other movies look like in the future because of it.

(also the production sounds like it was a nightmare, animators deserve more pay and more respect, unionize, etc.)

PRODUCTION DESIGN: I mean, of all the things about Napoleon, how it looked was the absolute best of them. I wouldn't be too upset if it won... except I would, because Barbie. I mean, come on. COME ON. This one's a gimme. (Though why is The Creator not here? I know it was a pretty bad movie, but the design? Absolutely impeccable vibes!)

COSTUME DESIGN: I mean. Barbie. Did you see Ken's outfits?

CINEMATOGRAPHY: This is my nerd-ass award I care about. I've liked Hoyte van Hoytema's work in the past, and if Oppenheimer won this I wouldn't think it a complete miscarriage of justice -- it's got some really great images in it. But to me this is Flower Moon's award to lose. I haven't seen the others, but I don't know that anything else is going to match that. It's not too showy, but it is pretty damn impeccable.

There are also movies that I think got snubbed here, like John Wick 4 (yes I'm serious) and Sisu (again, I'm serious) and The Killer. Heck, they didn't even nominate The Holdovers here, and that movie leans into its period setting by aping the cinematography of films from that period! That's neat!

EDITING: That Oppenheimer is here is more proof the Academy doesn't know what good editing is. I mean, if you isolated a couple scenes of that movie, there IS great editing there! And even structurally, I think it makes some bold choices that should be rewarded! But as a whole, I didn't feel like I had time to breathe during a scene, and most of that is down to Nolan always choosing to cut or transition too soon. Sometimes it's even a matter of seconds! But those seconds matter! They're the difference between me feeling like I'm moving through a room and feeling like I'm being hurried through a room, y'know what I mean?

I'd probably go with Flower Moon here, but Holdovers has a lovely, languid pace to it and some very funny cuts, so I'm leaning in that direction too. Haven't seen the others!

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: How is Barbie not here?! What the hell kind of award show is this?! (A Bad one, we all know this.)

SOUND: (This used to be two awards, one for sound mixing and one for sound editing, and on a technical level those are two very different skills, but whatever, Academy!)

This is one I think that Oppenheimer will probably take, because it does some cool things with sound a few times. But it's also one that I think The Creator might actually deserve. Some really killer sound in that film, right up there with its production design -- which it should have gotten a nomination for! Also, Mission: Impossible dark horse, just to give it something. Because I love those movies, even if this year's was maybe my fourth-favorite Mission: Impossible movie that still makes it better than most movies!

VISUAL EFFECTS: It's kind of a long-shot, but I'm pulling for Godzilla Minus One here. Guardians looked good, The Creator looked good (it's about all it did) and I absolutely adore and respect the commitment to practical stunts and car chases and effects in Mission: Impossible and it should get all the recognition possible for throwing a real train off a real cliff... but c'mon. It's Godzilla. And by all accounts, it does so much with so little, at least in terms of budget. It's a movie directed by a guy who previously supervised visual effects! Of course it was gonna look good! That it looks that good at that budget though? Might be enough to get it the big win. Here's to hoping! It'd be nice to see a movie that cost about ten million dollars be recognized as having better visual effects than a movie that cost... two hundred and fifty million Jesus Christ what are you doing Disney.

ORIGINAL SCORE: Be neat to see Indiana Jones take this one! Good score, nice but not too reverent. But I don't have particularly strong feelings this like I have in previous ones. Don't remember many movie scores from this year, nothing's made it into my playlist beyond a couple Mission: Impossible tracks, certainly nothing's impressed me as much as something like The Batman's score or anything.

ORIGINAL SONG: Two songs from Barbie here, one from the Flamin' Hot Cheetos movie (yes it's real and yes it's historically inaccurate!) and one from... Killers of the Flower Moon. Uh oh. Uh oh! I was all ready to be ride or die for "I'm Just Ken" (and to be clear if it won I wouldn't object) but that song in Flower Moon and how it hits at the end... well. It should probably win, is what I'm saying. Even if it's not the fun choice. Be nice to see it performed, at least. These will all be great performances, probably!

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: I haven't seen any of these! I usually don't until at least year or two after the fact! Just how I end up watching documentaries, usually. It'll probably be the one about Ukraine, though. Not necessarily because it's the best one, but because the Academy likes to think that making picks like that is somehow activism. (Also can you believe that's still happening? Ukrainian sovereignty, end the war, etc.)

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE: Haven't seen any of these, but heard good things about Society of the Snow. Zone of Interest is a best picture nominee, so odds are that'll be the one that wins. Surprised a Japanese film got in here but it's not Godzilla! Damn! Was hoping for a dark horse win for Big G!

ANIMATED SHORT: Never seen 'em!

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Most of the short documentaries I watch are on Youtube these days!

LIVE ACTION SHORT: Good for all these people who got nominated!

THAT'S IT hoo boy the Oscars, huh. This year's a bit of a dull one, nothing that I'm really excited about winning anything outside of like, Barbie. Killers of the Flower Moon definitely deserves a lot of awards, but how many it'll get remains to be seen. Also I just realized DiCaprio didn't score a nomination for his part in that! Just Lily Gladstone! Haha! Good! (Though I do think DiCaprio's work has improved noticeably after he finally got his stupid Oscar. Almost like he stopped trying so hard and that made his performances feel more natural! Wild!)

Anyway, next year I'm gonna be stumping hard for Dune 2 so. Be prepared for that.

[scientesting]

“What’s that noise?”

“Hm?”

“There’s a noise coming from… inside of you. What is that?”

For a moment, Madison has an expression of genuine puzzlement on his face. It isn’t immediately obvious what Fourbit is referring to, and he feels the need to question for clarification.

“...Well, what does it sound like?”

Fourbit pauses, then narrows his eyes, his eyelids making a soft whirring sound as he does so. He is silent, his head held against Madison’s chest. Madison quirks his brow, subtly adjusting the arm that was wrapped around his partner.

“There are multiple.” Fourbit blurts out after a few more moments. “Sounds, I mean. There are multiple sounds coming from within you, and I can’t be sure of their source or meaning.”

He continues. “There is one… that is deep. Deep and repetitive. It has a particular rhythm, but its speed isn’t constant. Since I’ve started listening to it, it’s gotten faster and louder. What… is that? Do you know what that is?”

Madison smiles�� a bit sheepishly. Halfway through Fourbit’s explanation, he’d realized what sound he was referring to. His partner bringing attention to it makes him feel both smitten and somewhat embarrassed.

“Well, yes. I know what that is. You’re probably hearing my heart beating. It makes that noise as part of its functioning— its job is to keep me alive. Sort of like… a battery, if that comparison makes more sense to you.”

“Hm.” Fourbit hums, both in thought and in acknowledgement. He pulls his head away for a moment, then presses it against Madison’s body again.

“There are other sounds. There’s another one— that is repeating. It sounds like wind. It seems to correlate with the movement of your chest. Like… something is filling with air. What is that?” he asks again.

“That— is breathing.” Madison says fondly. “It’s another thing that’s helping me stay alive. My body needs to take in air to function, because there are things inside of air that are used for many different bodily processes.”

“Then… why are you letting it back out? You must be letting it back out. I can feel it leaving.”

“It comes in as air and leaves as a waste product. That’s the simplest explanation I can give you.”

“Mm.” the robot hums again. “So… it is like a furnace. A furnace needs fuel to function. But the fuel also causes it to release gases as a byproduct.”

“That’s pretty similar to what’s going on, yeah!”

“Then… I understand now.” he says, shifting closer to Madison— apparently content with the answers that he’d received.

“That’s good. I guess you don’t really know much about organic anatomy, huh?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“Mm…” Fourbit adjusts his head, gears clicking softly. “No, not right now.”

Madison gently brushes his fingers across the metal of his partner’s back, letting out a content sigh. The robot seems to perk.

“Why did you… do it that much?”

“I’m just feeling happy.”

“So… if you’re happy, you release more waste products.”

He stifles a snort. Fourbit gives him a confused look.

“Okay— uh, yeah, I guess so.” Madison chuckles. “Just, like— don’t generalize that statement, please. Don’t take that out of context. But, uh… yeah.” He sighs again, running a finger through his curly hair. “It can mean that, yeah.”

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. The way you worded that just— brought something else to mind. For a moment.”

“Care to explain?”

“Uh—” he starts, letting out an exasperated scoff, “—no. No, I don’t think I’d care to explain that.”

Fourbit stares at him, irritated by his sudden unwillingness to cooperate. He relents eventually, though, and relaxes against his partner once more.

“...It’s very rapid, right now. It’s interesting. I’ve never heard a sound like it before.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, uh… I don’t care if you want to keep listening to it. Go ahead.”

“I think I will.”

thinking very hard about the concept of a machine finding appreciation/fascination for a person's heartbeat or breathing, similarly to how a person would find the hum of a machine's inner parts running to be pleasing to listen to or feel