#i have a lot of thoughts. but with just drawing it's hard to make a meaningful distinction

[solardriftx]

Damon and Diana, Snake and Chameleon

in the context of chapter 1 i wanted to expand on some of the animal symbolism, particularly damon's symbol of a snake and diana's of a chameleon. buckle up yall!

while the biblical snake symbolism is obvious, i think lots of meaning can be derived from real world knowledge--in particular, the familiar image of a snake shedding its skin. snakes enter periods of heightened aggression when molting due to the sensitivity of their new skin, and i think this will be reflected by damon becoming much worse in the name of defending himself before he changes for the better. his initial distrustful mindset was proven right, the second he even *began* to trust someone it blew up in his face. while he was crying for a moment in the face of eva's death, this sorrow was quickly overrun by frustration and anger, particularly at diana's words.

additionally, while i'm not sure if exact genus/species of certain animals were intended or will become important to interpretation, i'd like to draw a connection between damon's snake symbol and a certain genus. from the green color and his american origins, i think he can be connected to opheodrys, a common genus of green snake from north america coming in two species of rough or smooth variety. these snakes are not commonly kept as pets due to their standoffish and defensive nature around humans, making them prone to biting. despite this, they're non-venomous and generally harmless. damon makes it clear when confronted that he does not intend to harm anyone. in fact, his monologues show he thinks much more about how he would respond if someone were to attack *him* instead, noting the physical advantage some of his classmates have (rough/smooth green snakes are very small). we can even tie these traits of non-venom back to the prologue trial, where he appeared very hostile despite genuinely thinking he was helping. and of course, a connection can also be made to damon's general personality of being outwardly cold when deep down he's just... a guy who gets easily embarrassed.

now onto diana! first off i was surprised she actually mentioned her animal and how it relates to her, i thought the motifs were going to be more of an unspoken thing. makes me wonder if any other characters will mention their animals. anyway, fun fact! chameleons don't change color to camouflage, they do it for thermoregulation and social signaling. for diana, i'm more concerned with social signaling, as chameleons can change into very bold displays of colors to communicate dominance, as paralleled by diana's bold display at the end of the first trial with the intention of rallying the others behind her. this could be a stretch, but diana's darker/bold color pallet could be a reference to the potential spectrum of colors that a chameleon would display under stress.

i find it funny though, that while diana says that she will adapt like a chameleon, keeping chameleons in captivity is notoriously hard due to their highly specific environmental requirements- be it temperature, humidity, or lighting, they're easy to accidentally kill. diana may claim with a brave face that she has the strength to fight this killing game no matter the struggle, yet someone with the stress sensitivity of a chameleon in a situation like this is doomed to buckle.

anyway...can you tell they're my two favorite characters. antag diana im so ready for you if you're real

[howlsofbloodhounds]

If killer had the chance do you think he'd kill nightmare / torture or would he just leave? Though it would probaly depend on the stage right

I think he fantasizes about revenge, about all the things he wants to do to Nightmare. He may even act out these fantasies on others instead, back when he was trapped under Nightmare. I think he ruminates over it a lot under Nightmare. I think he’d enjoy seeing Nightmare in pain and suffering, especially if it was because of something he did or said. Possibly even if it’s only on his behalf even.

But I also think he’s too scared of Nightmare. He sweats when Nightmare even touches him. He sweats when talking about or thinking about him. He doesn’t like when his attention is on him. He doesn’t seriously consider the possibility he could ever do anything to escape or win or fight back against Nightmare physically.

He doesn’t even try to resist when Nightmare chokes him unconscious. He just focuses on trying to heal Nightmare’s bruised ego, and explain what he meant. He doesn’t even bother trying to say that his words of advice wasn’t him trying to insult Nightmare, or imply that he thought nm was weak.

He’s not aware of his fear or able to completely understand or process his fear in Stage 2, which is also in large part why he finds it difficult to understand why he says or does certain things in relation to Nightmare.

In Stage 2 he doesn’t much believe he feels anything at all—detached from the emotions behind his revenge fantasies, detached from the emotions of his kidnapping (if he’s even completely 100% sure that it was real), detached from the emotions of his torture and punishments and the pain inflicted on him as soon as it’s passed—often back to the state of derealization towards his own memories, emotions, and experiences if there’s no evidence left behind.

(Probably one reason he may be apprehensive about the idea of healing physical wounds and scars or trying to ease any of the body’s pain. He sees the benefits and can’t afford to be disabled physically and deemed useless and discarded of, but the pain and injuries and scars are the only things his mind has to reliably latch on to. Something that was real.)

I think his fear of Nightmare would only heighten after his escape. He misses the familiarity Nightmare brings, but he also fears him. Even if he’s not aware of it in Stage 2, he’s likely to do and say things now that he’s free as a result of his fears and be unable to fully comprehend or understand why.

(For example, bringing back the idea of Killer being interested in the possibility of Color absorbing his soul.

He may reason this away as scientific curiosity, or a desire to understand Color more and try to connect, or even a desire to control. All can be correct, but what can also be correct is that he’s scared—that when he’s in Stage 1, he’s scared and terrified. And he’s looking for something that makes him feel safe from the person who makes him feel safe, even if he’s not able to process that given the Stage he’s in.

If killer associates power and strength and control with safety, that’s color. He just wields his power differently than the human and nightmare did, differently than killer has or would.

Color wields with kindness and integrity and justice and patience, something that still appeals to a part of killer. Even if he often has a hard time understanding or trusting it in the beginning, and likely still from others.)

I think Killer would love to have revenge. Likely ruminates and thinks about it often, possibly even draws or writes or talks about it with Color sometimes. But i think he’s far too afraid to do anything about that—and that fact also holds him back.

He doesn’t think he’s truly free from Nightmare, not really. He doesn’t think he’s strong enough deep down, he doesn’t think he’s “won” the game between them, doesn’t think he’s earned his freedom—not until he wins.

He probably thinks his escape with Color is a new game or a test, maybe a dream at some points, even if a lovely one—for a long while. Often just waiting for the facade to fall around him, or the shoe to drop, or some new entity stepping in to seize control over him if he starts to believe that it’s finally, truly over. Most days he just clings to the idea that Color is at least real, and that has to be enough.

It has to.

[rabbitindisguise]

Idk if this will be helpful to anyone but a list of techniques I would use:

Confine the multipronoun character to one paragraph, and change paragraphs when another character speaks/is described/does something, noting the new character's name before switching to pronouns

Avoid dialogue tags altogether and focus on making the dialogue more obvious with heavy characterization and solid structure that makes who's speaking clear. Then later on you can sprinkle in some dialogue tags as looks appropriate once the reader grasps the character well enough to know what they would say in a certain situation

Use at least one neopronoun or singular they and use it in situations where the other character has the same pronoun but using names is way too clumsy

Probably don't switch within the same sentence (or don't make a habit of it). Unless you're committed to creating a multi pronoun user's dream come true narrative, it's difficult to follow because instinctively you're thinking "oh this is a new character." Much easier to describe them doing verb and then character continuing that verb with a different pronoun in the following sentence

Don't draw attention to it if you're not aiming to do that, it'll look sloppy instead of authentic to life. I've seen some authors make a big point of clashingly putting pronouns together and it's just not natural. Especially when other characters are speaking about them- even if someone is super good with using them equally, they often talk using one pronoun for one conversation/one day/etc and definitely at least for one sentence. But the MOST important thing about this is that people don't usually use pronouns for someone in front of them. So making a bunch of excuses for someone to refer to someone as if they're not there looks weird. Which could be the vibe you're going for- maybe you're writing a piece about gender and want it to smack you right in the face every sentence. But if you're trying to make it blend into the background it will not help to make a point of putting two different pronouns in the same sentence/same paragraph/same interaction with other characters.

Have pronouns that make sense to you. It can be difficult to juggle atypical neopronouns for you at the same time as trying to do multi pronouns for the character. Typing "him" instead of "his" on accident for example makes it even harder to read, and multi pronouns are already hard enough to read as it is (<- should not be smug about this, but is, because he don't have multiple pronouns because it's easy)

Context!!! This one is the most obvious but it really helps.

You can loosen up the further into the narrative you are because they'll be able to guess based on how the character is behaving and characterization.

Example:

Carin tapped his foot irately, becoming the human personification of anxiety. The clock said they were ten minutes late, and the time on his phone said twenty. If they didn't show up soon he was just going to-

The bell chimed and they stepped into the room, telescoping the umbrella with a SNAP! that could barely be heard over the chatter in the coffee shop. The noise didn't abate at all when they entered and the bell chimed again as the door fell shut.

"It's about damn time," he said. Worry creased his brow.

They looked like they were going to apologize and thought better of it. "I don't see what the rush is."

She rolled her eyes. "I told you, we have a deadline."

"So you've said. Like five times." They sounded more amused than stressed now that they were in the shop and out of the rain. The umbrella folded up into a little tube, one of those tiny ones you could get at target. They flagged down the barista.

He groaned. "Do we really have time for coffee?"

"Hi! I'll have a latte, and xie will have an cappuccino."

The barista looked at xir warily, but shrugged xir off. She looked a bit stressed herself since the place was packed with people trying to escape the downpour. Okay, a lot stressed. But the thought of that was making xim feel bad so xie tried not to think about it. [Alternatively: The barista looked at her warily, but shrugged her off. She looked a bit stressed herself since the place was packed with people trying to escape the downpour. Okay, a lot stressed. But thinking about the barista's situation was making her feel bad so she tried not to think about it.]

"Will that be for here or to go?"

"To go. Thanks."

The sound of change made her eyebrow twitch.

"You didn't have to-"

"You looked like you could use a coffee. Now. The deadline?" They asked, leaning their hip against the counter near the WAIT HERE FOR YOUR COFFEE :) sign.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

ok i brought this up in a discord server already but i'm gonna ask this here as well for maximum coverage

when writing characters who use multiple pronouns, what's the best way to avoid confusion?

no i'm not making this a poll as the answers are bound to be a lot more nuanced than a multiple choice question can do justice lmao

[artensi]

Apologies for the delay

@luminousbright , I was your partner for the Precure Secret Santa! @precuresecretexchange

You mentioned Cure Empress as one of your favorite side characters and you better believe when I saw her name I was ecstatic!! I have a massive AU in my head about the legendary cures from DokiDoki if they were set in a modern timeline, and it’s genuinely one of the things I love most in the whole world (even though we don’t even know what Magician and Priestess look like!!)

So obviously, I had to draw Empress! I have my own headcanon design for her that has a lot less colors and though I considered using that design, I decided to just go for canon. It’s really hard making the colors look good together since they’re all so different, I hope I managed!

Here is the picture of Empress on her own

You also said you loved Pokemon! I’ve always been interested in Pokemon, but I have super low knowledge since I just never had the time to go into it. I decided I wanted to challenge myself by drawing a non-human object (something I’ve genuinely only ever done once or twice). I spent a while trying to figure out which Pokemon to draw, but I landed on Zygarde from Generation 6. I chose Zygard because it’s a Dragon/Ground type. Dragon because Empress’ fairy partner, Melan, is a dragon. Ground because I headcanon Empress to have earth as her element which she’s most powerful in. I actually forgot this wasn’t canon until recently… oops. I always thought she looked like an earth type because of her green hair, and the pink in her design somehow reminded young me of flower petals so it kinda stuck.

There were a few Dragon/Earth types to choose from, but I chose the one that looked the coolest and also because it appears to be the most powerful. The last legendary precures in DokiDoki were the only ones powerful enough to ward away the darkness for good (until a certain king decided to interfere), so Empress had to have been really powerful too! So the only Pokemon worthy of fighting alongside her would be Zygarde, since it’s super strong. I don’t know much about Zygarde since I haven’t watched much of Pokemon XY or XYZ nor played the games it’s in, so I hope I made it look ok!

Here’s the picture of Zygarde alone

I hope you like your gift ! I worked super hard on it, and it was really difficult to step out of my comfort zone and draw something that isn’t humanoid for the first time in forever.

Have a happy holidays! 🤍

[actuallysaiyan]

“You know, I could always get you off right here, right now.”

from hero!reader to big might after he gets hit with an aphrodisiac quirk while on patrol

warnings: smut, unprotected sex, oral sex(male receiving), aphrodisiac quirk, semi-public sex, slight dub con.| dividers: @adornedwithlight

These villains weren’t easy. They were giving you and All Might lots of trouble. But they were being foolish by not surrendering when it came to the duo that is you and the Symbol of Peace. They thought themselves so funny, you could tell.They were being way too cocky.

“Go around the corner,” Toshinori says. “We’ll ambush them.”

You listen to his instructions. He’s always been a master strategist. So you do as he says, but before you two can ambush them, one of them tosses what looks like pink glitter in the air. You realize that All Might has just been hit with an aphrodisiac quirk.

You’re so quick to go over to him and push him into the empty and abandoned alleyway as the villains run off in the wrong direction. Little did they know that there were police positioned everywhere.

When you return your attention to Toshinori, he’s panting and his eyes look like they are glowing. You know you need to help him, though you’re going to have to put your own personal feelings aside.

He grabs at his crotch, squeezing and rubbing the bulge that’s forming a tent there. You look down and you swallow hard when you see the size of him. He’s so much bigger than you anticipated. Finally, you look back up in his eyes.

“F-fuck,” he growls. “That was…fuck, that was stupid!”

He throws his head back when you replace his hand and palm him through his suit. You’re going to take care of him, he’s grateful for it. But he would still like to hear your consent on this. He may turn into a sex-crazed monster, but he wants to know it’s okay for you to help.

“Need your help,” he whines as you continue stimulating him.

“I know, I know…”

He growls. “Gotta get back to your place…”

You shake your head, smirking at him as you reach for the zipper of his suit. You begin to undress him and he’s trying to protest.

“You know,” you begin as you get on your knees. “I could always get you off right here, right now.”

It sounds ridiculous, but his brain isn’t thinking very logically right now. With you already sucking on the head of his hard and leaking cock, any semblance of privacy is forgotten. He doesn’t care if anyone sees. He just wants to get his cock wet.

With you working on his cock, he feels his balls drawing up quickly. There’s a fire deep in his belly, and you know exactly how to stoke it. The aphrodisiac was running through his veins, making him feel even more needy and hungry for you.

Without warning, he picks you up and slams you against the wall. Your eyes widen when he rips your suit at the crotch. There’s a dark laugh that rumbles from his chest before he begins to impale you on his cock. Your warm, wet, tight walls are much better than anything else. 

Toshinori begins to fuck you harshly against the wall, holding you close to his chest. He grunts your name over and over, and suddenly he’s promising you things and praising you for being so good for him.

His legs shake as he feels his impending orgasm. He then kisses you deeply as he spills his cum into your pussy. You hold onto him, exhausted from the pleasure of being fucked by the man you’ve loved for so long.

“I’m not done with you just yet…”He whispers in your ear before continuing to pump himself into you.

You’d be here for a while, and you weren’t in any rush to get away.

[therenaissancedungeonmaster]

Hi everyone! Been talking to Sock (@ s0ckh3adstudios) about her Time Spent Amongst the Stars AU and I have drawn SO MUCH about it and will continue to draw more about it but I Have this comic to share! Transcription Below teehee~!

Panel 1: Loop 57

Panel 2: *BONK*

Panel 3:

Bonnie: Why are we stopping? We have to keep going.

Panel 4:

Siffrin: Just thought we could use a break!

Panel 5:

Isabeau: But there's a better stopping point a few rooms away...

Siffrin: Shut up Isa...

Panel 6:

Siffrin: I just think we've been working very hard, especially our lil Bonbon! They of anyone here deserve to sit and we ALL would love to make that space for them RIGHT?

Panel 7: *nod nod*

Panel 8:

Narration: This has happened before. This is when they ask if you're okay.

Panel 9:

Twinkle: But maybe you can convince them this time.

Panel 10:

Bonnie: I'm not stupid. I know you're worried... So FINE! I'll tell you...

Panel 11:

Bonnie: But you HAVE to believe me. What I'm about to tell you is REAL, it's really happening!

Panel 12:

Isabeau and Siffrin: Of course we'd believe you Bonnie!

Panel 13:

Narration: Bad start.

Panel 14: *inhale*

Panel 15:

Bonnie: WE'RE IN A TIMELOOP AND IT'S BEEN 57 LOOPS I THINK AND I DUNNO WHAT'S WRONG OR WHY AND

Panel 16: *RAMBLES*

Panel 17:

One of the adults: It's okay Bonnie, why don't we take a deep breath?

Panel 18:

Isabeau: I know this is a lot for a kid.

Siffrin: So much new info for you all the time.

Mirabelle: We're always here for you.

Panel 19: *TALK COMFORT APPEAL*

Narration: It's happening again. Even using all the adult words didn't work...

Panel 20:

Narration: Take a deep breath. Stop crying. Just get it over with.

Panel 21:

Siffrin: ... Right Bonnie?

Panel 22:

Bonnie: Right. Thank you... I'm going to help Odile.

Panel 23:

Narration: They're talking about you behind your back. Wasn't convincing enough either way. Stupid Rotten Adults.

MEMORY UNLOCKED.

[letteredlettered]

Hello!! I've read all your hp works and I wanted to say that I love them all and they've made me feel feelings. The way you write drarry and just hp in general is very close to my heart.

That being said, there is a question I wanted to ask you as a writer. What does plagiarism mean and what does it constitute? Like... I hear that term a lot but just reading a definition is not making it clear to me. As far as I understand, copying someone's work, word by word is plagiarism. Does it also count as one if I copy someone's idea but just modify it a bit. Carry on is such a work and it's resemblance to hp and main pairs similarity to drarry are well known. Even hp itself has a evident similarity to Neil Gaiman's ‘The books of magic’ , at least as far as the titular character goes. It was also said that maybe jk stole the idea from there but Neil later said that it wasn't the case. So I'm guessing that's not plagiarism.

Let's take another example, I love you fic away childish things .. so if I wrote a fic with the same idea.. is that plagiarism? Or if I copy the plot? What if I liked a particular scene very much.. or a sentence very much and I used it as a base for a new fic.. or used that scene/sentence itself but in a different context is that plagiarism? I'm sure a lot of people have read Running On Air by eleventy7 in the drarry fandom. So if I use the sentence “Going away is easy, coming home is hard.” in a fic I write (maybe in another fandom or the same) does that count as plagiarism? Ofc I'm assuming that other people will know which scene or sentence I'm using on account of said fic being a famous work (in this case, fandom). But there could be a case where the source is not well known. What if I took something from a particular folktale of a community or country? Would that count as plagiarism? Jk Rowling herself has said that she used a lot of info while writing hp from various stories, folktales, religious books, lore and some good old tropes of said genre and pure imagination. Most of it was done unconsciously while writing. I guess it doesn't count as plagiarism if the place where you're copying from doesn't have a particular author (for eg folktales etc). Like.. God is not gonna sue me if I wrote things similar to some religious text. His followers on the other hand... yeah best not go there haha. But yeah.. what if I used different things from various sources, like.. just picking my way across it all and using them to write a story, just mish mashing things together like a collage and making something out of it. Will that be plagiarism? Or is that just being inspired by other art? On the other hand there is a saying that every art has a genesis and nothing is original. Every work is inspired by some other work be it art, music, writing or whatever. So where does one draw a line between inspiration and plagiarism?

I know it's a very long ask and I'm using a lot of scenarios but I wanted to cover everything that might come under the word 'Plagiarism'. What are your thoughts on it? What is included in plagiarism? Specifically, in writing.

If you made it this far thank you for reading where i essentially just ramble lol. I would like to know your answer and if you have any reading material on it please point me towards them. Thank you and I hope you're doing well xoxo

Plagiarism is copying word for word. It's one kind of stealing.

Copyright infringement is also a kind of stealing. That's a legal term about copyrighted material, but laws from some countries around this issue can maybe help clarify what is socially considered stealing and what is considered fair use. "Fair use" is also a legal term (at least, in the US); it refers to reasons you can use a copyrighted work without permission. I think that what many people socially consider "not stealing," even though its using someone else's ideas, falls under fair use.

Fanfic generally falls under fair use. The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW)--which is the organization behind AO3--argues that while fanfic uses things like characters and settings from copyrighted work, fic falls under fair use because it is creative and transformative.

The transformative part is important. If you copied Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone word for word and put it on AO3, that would be plagiarism. It's not transformed in any way. But if you write a story in which Harry and Draco fall in love, you're significantly transforming the story in a way that progresses the world of literature.

Other attributes of fair use (beyond whether the work is transformative) include whether the work is done for profit, whether the market for the original copyrighted work will be impacted negatively by the derivative work, and how substantially the derivative work uses the original copyrighted work. Fanfic uses the original copyrighted work quite substantially in many cases, but if it doesn't impact the market for the original copyrighted work and isn't done for profit, that shouldn't disqualify it from fair use. This is why it's extremely important never to ask for money for a fanfic, and why any author doing that should be reported to the hosting site.

Now, you asked about the Harry Potter series. While JKR may have gotten ideas about kids attending magical schools from other books, HP differs significantly enough that whenever she was sued for copyright infringement, she won her cases. Some might call JKR's books a ripoff of other books like it, but most agree that while not terribly original, these books do not count as stealing. (I would add, though, that just because someone wins a case doesn't mean it's not stealing. Disney steal shit all the time but wins cases because they own everything.)

You also asked about Carry On. I would say about that series, too, that it is substantially different enough from other books, that it doesn't count as stealing. There are just lots of books about kids secretly going to magic school, as it turns out. But I would add that even if there were more similarities to HP than there are in Carry On, Carry On could not be considered theft, because it is transformative.

Carry On, like Lev Grossman's The Magicians, is in a conversation with books like Harry Potter, books about magical schools and books with young, Chosen One protagonists. Carry On is not a fanfic; the characters are not the same; the set-up is not the same; the plot is not the same. But it is a book that asks questions about Harry Potter, and other books like Harry Potter. It's asking, what does it mean to be the Chosen One? Isn't there something sinister about a supportive mentor figure who pushes young people into war? Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games is also in a conversation with books that have young Chosen Ones, and it asks the same questions. Carry On further asks, isn't there a strange chemistry between the archetypal Golden Boy protagonist and the archetypal schoolmate antagonist? That's something tons of high school romance stories ask, and tons of HP fics, but it wasn't something that hadn't yet been done in a magical school Chosen One series--not with homosexuality--which also makes it pretty damn transformative.

You asked about using a line from Running on Air in a different work. This is plagiarism, because it's the exact words. Using that sentence in any work would be plagiarism. Using the exact sentence that someone else wrote, not matter how well known the work, is plagiarism. You likely won't be sued, but it's still stealing in most cases.

Now, it could be acceptable to use a phrase from the sentence to reference Running on Air. You'll see this in a lot of older literature. You'll see a little phrase in quotes that isn't credited, but your Penguin footnote will tell you they were referencing another author there. That was common because everyone was expected to have read the same body of work in certain cultures.

In fandom, lots of people will have read the same fics, so it could be a nod to another author to quote their work in a fic of your own. That's generally not the culture, mostly because the reason authors would do that had more to do with literary ideas that story telling, and most fic has a focus on storytelling. And, because fandom is a non-professional community where it's easy to reach out directly to the authors, if you do want to quote something by a different author, the author should be asked--again, because that's the culture.

Some material is so often quoted that it's idiomatic. If you say "I put away childish things" in a work, that may be from the Bible, but most people know where it's from, and even if they don't, it's part of our language now. Same would be true if I put in a work "Parting is such sweet sorrow," which is from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Few would call it stealing if I didn't credit such sentences, but if you're not sure whether it's idiomatic, a place where you're using the exact words should be credited with a footnote or citation.

You asked about using a line from a folk tale. As you say, folk tales often don't have known authors--but more importantly for your question, they usually don't have definitive versions. There are literally thousands of versions of Cinderella. If you used an exact sentence the Brothers Grimm used in their version of Cinderella, that would be plagiarism. Any exact language from an extant version of the story would be the same way.

A lot of what I'm saying is about how law works (particularly in the US), which deals with what might be socially acceptable in terms of whether something is stealing or not. But many cultures do have oral traditions that have a specific way a story is told. I would argue that's still a specific version, and if you're quoting the exact language, it's still stealing. But lots and lots of cultures have stories they like to tell but always tell it a little different, in which case you might be stealing ideas but not plagiarizing. And some things that are said enough, such as "Once upon a time" and "And they lived happily ever after" are idiomatic and not consider plagiarism.

But idioms touch on an interesting topic related to idea theft, which is how likely it is that you came up with something on your own, or that anyone could without the original text. The line you quoted from Running on Air is unique, but the idea that coming home is hard is commonly accepted. Indeed, there is an idiom that states "You can't go home again," which refers to the difficulty of coming home again.

Therefore, if someone said, "Going home is difficult," it might be a paraphrase of the sentence from Running on Air, but it might also be a paraphrase of the idiom, and it would be a little silly to call that plagiarism. Paraphrasing can be plagiarism, but it depends on a) how closely the paraphrase hews to the original, b) how much is paraphrased (as soon as you're paraphrasing more than a line, it really starts to be plagiarism), and c) whether someone could reasonably come up with it themselves.

So, if someone said, "Leaving home isn't difficult, but going home again is," that paraphrase is a lot more directly related to the original sentence and could be considered plagiarism. However, in a story without any other Running on Air references or similarities, I would assume an author came up with that based on the idiom and would never even dream of accusing them of plagiarism. But if the next two sentences were also similar to lines from Running on Air, I'd get suspicious.

In fact, the original line you quoted is close enough to the idiom that if I read it in a different story, I might assume that the author hadn't remembered that that line was from Running on Air. This has definitely happened to me--I used a line or phrase that I thought was mine, but I actually got it from somewhere else. If you're doing it consciously, you shouldn't. With paraphrasing, I think it's a little dicier; some would say if you're consciously paraphrasing anything it's a problem, but if you know you read that line from Running on Air but also know you've thought about that idiom about coming home a lot, it might be fine to say something sort of similar, as long as it's not the same and as long as you're not taking other things.

The same is true with ideas. You asked about Away Childish Things. If you read that fic and decided to write a fic about Harry de-aging, you might have been inspired by me, but it isn't stealing because de-aging is a common trope in fandom. You could've come up with it yourself or by reading any number of things. You asked about the plot; if you wrote a story in which Harry and Draco got to know each other by identifying illegal potions and then while doing some of that work together, Harry got de-aged and later Draco got de-aged, I would still say that this is a plot you could have thought of yourself. If you wrote a story in which everyone was infected by a potion that was like Imperius, meaning Harry only trusted Draco to help him, and Harry de-aged, and then to cure him Harry re-aged and then Draco de-aged, and could only re-age one year at a time, dealing with all of their Hogwarts years again and revealing Draco's history with his mentally ill mother and Muggle dating, I would say...okay, that's hewing pretty closely to Away Childish Things and feels a bit like you took something from me.

If you called a shop in your fic Tailored Tinctures, that's very specific, and I would say you took something from me. If you had an indicator solution in which you had to dip your thumb and your thumb turned cerulean to indicate a positive, I would say you took something from me. For these kinds of questions, it has to do with the amount you took but also the specificity of it.

As I mentioned, fandom has its own culture. Usually if you get an idea from someone else it's a very good idea to drop that author a line and say, "Hey, I got inspired, do you mind if I do?" But I don't do that when there are a hundred fics that all have the same idea, because by then it's starting to be fanon, and using fanon is not considered in this culture to be stealing.

Different people have different ideas about this, but I do feel that I'm pretty close to the general thought on this. Some people will say that any time you are inspired by anything you must credit, or you must ask, or you must never use it to begin with. But most of us are inspired by things all the time, and the only times we claim we aren't are the times when we really can't remember what the original inspiration was, or when things are so jumbled that ten different things inspired one idea. In those cases it isn't true that we aren't using other works, only that we can't identify them.

[yandere-paramour]

What would the yanderes do for the holidays?

Noelle's birthday was yesterday so I added an extra bit to her birthday post here!

Atalanta checks in at the business for a few hours then heads right back to the apartment to retrieve you. Obviously, the Montclair businesses are very profitable at Christmastime, so she's been appearing at work every day, even weekends, much to your disgruntlement. But she promises, uninterrupted family time from Christmas until her birthday. It's finally Christmas Eve, time to leave the busy city for the stately Montclair estate in the countryside.

Asteria and Jamie are overjoyed to see their children. You and Ata are met with hugs and kisses and love. Jamie's been baking and his gingerbread cake is on the horizon; you even offer to help! After some rest in your rooms, you all gather to eat. The Christmas Eve feast is light, but filling. As tradition, tonight is all about the sweets. The drawing room is set up with cookies, fruits, and hot chocolate, and the family all gathers for some family time. You play games and watch Christmas movies, talking and laughing and enjoying being together. You can feel the love in everyone's eyes as they look at you.

Christmas morning is deliciously lazy. Everyone sleeps in and you wake up in your girlfriend's warm arms, her messy brown hair tickling the back of your neck. No presents end up being opened until late morning. Your presents are meticulously chosen, thoughtful, and expensive, as one would expect from the Montclairs, and you love them. Asteria and Jamie gift you and Ata a luxury cruise, and you thank them profusely in shocked pleasure. You all lie about on couches, drinking hot chocolates and warm cider as you binge-watch movies. At one point, all four of you end up asleep. It's so warm and comfortable and loving, the perfect Christmas, and you love Ata's parents even more.

Vivien spends November/December GRINDING. The flower shop is busier than ever getting shipments in and out, and his own side-hustle is also busy. He spends weekends stirring giant pots of syrups and salves, packaging herbal teas, and distilling pure essential oils. He makes a lot of his extra money with this work, selling over his website and at the farmers market and at the small stand in the corner of the shop, so he really has to work hard to get it all done. He might be a tad bit distant during this time but just because he's so busy and tired.

He stashes away some of the money for a future rainy day, but most of it will be for your presents. Any spare time is spent ordering things online for you. Throughout the year he keeps a note on his phone of things you'd mentioned in passing, and now he's getting as much as he can to spoil you. In the days up until Christmas, he starts work on a big batch of sancocho or whatever else delicious Caribbean food you both decide on. He bakes sweet after sweet, perfecting his recipes for you and giving the others out as gifts.

Christmas morning, you and he open presents while he makes breakfast and hot chocolate. He is perfectly happy to spend the late morning/afternoon with your family, as long as you both visit the old lady who runs the flower shop later in the day. Vivien might as well be her son for all they love each other, and he's been her only Christmas guest since he was 15. After dinner made by Vivien, you both go home and have some more hot chocolate, falling into bed so Vivien can finally sleep off the holiday season.

[theoldkyokodied]

One wedding and three funerals

Background paintings under the cut

[forgettable-au]

What do we think? I think he's like the coolest scientist to ever science

HEY HAPPY 2000 FOLLOWERS‼️HOW DID THAT HAPPEN SO QUICK?????

I'm genuinely so shocked about that I'm so so glad you're all enjoying this AU so far hehehe:D

Also I just made the 1000 followers celebration post like a month ago or something??wow

Here's the guy ‼️‼️ I wanted to practice drawing him quickly and in different poses. I think I achieved that, all this was made with just the lasso fill tool it was soooo fun and I loved not being worried about details just SHAPE

ALL SHAPE (and colors)

[medi-bee]

isat pokemon au, my liege?

my rambling in tags

[gods-perfect-idiots]

something something blood-soaked hands cradling your face something something

anyway here's the post btw

[cathalbravecog]

letting the days go by

(got a feeling someone defo already drew this so i chose a different pose ref to the mv lol.)

[skitskatdacat63]

Happy One Year Anniversary to Boy King AU!!!! 🎉

Okay wait before I start talking, look at these close ups and the process!! Aren't they so beautiful aaaahhhh

Wow, can you believe it’s really been a whole entire year since my very first post about this AU? Well technically I first started talking about the statuette a day earlier, but the very first sketch was exactly a year ago!! Let us not forget the incredibly prophetic tag on that post: “also in the sense of this au i think the only ship that would work(historically accurate wise) is Vettonso.” Who knew that after that my entire life would devolve into vettonso, this specific period of history, and the lovely combo which is Boy King AU. Also wow this means it’s taken me almost a whole entire year to actually draw a joint portrait of them hahaha. I drew this sketch around the beginning of the AU, but never finished it. It’s fine though because this one is a lot better, and I’m in love with it. Took me a year to draw a couple portrait, and took me almost a whole entire month to finish said piece. 

Okay let me explain this piece, which I am very obsessed with!!! I dragged the process out more than I usually would, but I’m glad, because it was so enjoyable. But also look at that fucking crown, no wonder this took almost a month. Usually I’d write like 50 paragraphs detailing the characterization. HOWEVER! I’ve spent over a month writing little bits of characterization, mostly for fun, but also in preparation for this very post. A lot of the earlier ones, I had this drawing in mind, thinking on how I could expand on the ideas I was drawing. Though there’s definitely some things I could still write about. I’ll probably continue to write more Lore a Days, but yeah, they basically amounted to this drawing where you can actually see the characterization I was talking about displayed. Anyways, here are the explanations of bits in the drawing:

First of all, this is some part of the long process of their wedding. Look at the married couple!! Look at their rings!!!

Okay, but why are there two, almost identical looking pieces?? Because look at their hands!! I talked a lot about how Fernando is the one to give out affection more easily, especially in public, where he knows he can easily fluster Seb. He’s acting all grumpy and out of it, I mean to be fair, it’s probably been such a long ceremony across weeks. But he notices Seb is out of it too, just better at keeping his smile (let’s be honest, even if he’s distracted, he’s super smug.) So Fernando catches him off guard by squeezing his hand. Before that, as you can see, Fernando is just resting his hand on Seb’s outstretched palm, like that one scene from Succession. Very: yes I’m getting married, but I’m not happy about it. The combination of Fernando refusing to even touch him more than lightly beforehand but now going full force, them being in public, and Seb already being distracted catches Seb so off guard he has to try to cover his blush with his fan. He thought Fernando was being super impolite, but now he’s the impolite one!! Getting all blushy and giggly over a simple display of affection, perhaps even ha-

So. Their crowns. Seb’s wearing the crown of Austria, because he is in fact only a king still! Also, because I really wanted to try drawing it after I wimped out of it before in this drawing. Fernando’s a king as well by the point, but the fact he’s wearing only a tiara-like hairpiece is to represent how much of an outsider he still is. At this moment, he’s just Seb’s wi- ,I mean husband, to all these guests. Of course this bitch wears a black veil instead of a white one, to signal that he’s mourning the loss of his autonomy and personhood. Don’t worry too much about his mental state though, considering he’s not depressed enough to be able to resist teasing Seb. 

The fan, oh my god. Back in this era, people would gift/make fans for basically any occasion. To symbolize an event, to celebrate something, to show a story, etc etc. I wish I could have drawn something more narrative, but I think the bull vs. horse is good enough. Also you can see those same symbols on the pendants they’re wearing!! I’m so happy when I can fit irl, modern stuff like that into these drawings, it feels so clever!!

It’s so funny, I wrote a lore a day from a prompt about what they’d be like when doing a joint portrait, while I was already almost through painting a dual portrait of my own! So I got to explain some stuff like their clothing colors and poses before I even posted this. I feel very coy about that still honestly. 

Hmmm what else? It feels so weird to not expand on the characterization, considering I already did it for myself weeks in advance. I can’t imagine what it’s like opening this read more, and seeing more than 10 in-text citations. Happy reading!!!

 Happy anniversary to  this wonderful, crazy AU that makes me download 500pg German papers about 18th century etiquette. I drew a couple pieces of fanart before this AU, but I definitely think it jumpstarted my insanity about drawing/making AUs, and literally is what made me insane about Vettonso in the first place. Remember, if I hadn’t learned about Joseph I/Charles VI, most of my blog probably wouldn’t exist in it's current form. Thank you if you’ve stuck around since the beginning, or if you’re even just learning about it now!! It’s so incredibly niche but I’ve had so much fun researching and building this world and these characterizations, and I hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve made in the process. I hope I can draw/write many more things in the future. I think next, I’m gonna maybe open up requests. I’d like to try to either write ficlets or draw chibi comics about specific Lore a Day posts on request. I think that’d be a lot of fun, but also will probably kill me. We’ll see!! Anyways. PPlease enjoy this absolute labor of love, which is a result of a year’s worth of work.

[alexandriaellisart]

So now i have migraines apparently 😭

[puppyeared]

its so hard to watch time pass when things like careers and assignments exist. what do you mean im supposed to take that seriously