#i tried a new style for these to make them go faster. it didn't work but it was fun anyway

[duckshuffled]

HAPPY HALLOWEEENN

they broke out of their icons. i stole the chip from my friend go see him?

[cdlum]

I just wanted to say I think your art style is awesome! I was wondering if you had any tutorials on how you draw anatomy in your style (hips and legs especially)? Sorry if there's already one posted and I just didn't see it 🥲. Happy New Year :>

thanks for the kind words. i tend to draw people pretty stylized and then some so a good bit of artistic licence gets used. these tips are just what i use so feel free to take them with a grain of salt. with anatomy in particular you can kind of talk in circles because human/animal bodies are that complex so ill just zone in on the points you specified. here's a little image with a bunch of pointers:

the above image condenses a lot of the points I'd make, but basically the key parts are to start with the bare essentials and build up that complexity. using a line of action is a good way to get a quick, rough start. you draw a line out in the general direction of the pose and do your best to adhere to it to give the pose a sense of flow.

you can also draw smaller, thumbnail versions that throw a lot of caution to the wind but capture the basic energy of what you're going for. even having a tiny little stick figure version of your idea can make for a good guideline of where to take it forward.

when it comes to actual limbs, you wanna consider how they integrate and work together, kind of like how chains do. you can see on some of the parts of pear i've drawn out these wireframes to kind of portray how the mass of her legs works in a three dimensional space. for aspects like the waist/hips, i use that X technique i highlight above a lot, particularly for the lower torso. a lot of the times, even when drawing a character totally naked, imagining them wearing things like skintight underwear can help a lot to guide you in the right direction.

its also a good idea to consider things like gravity and weight to a degree. humans are essentially big meat sacks and gravity is always pulling down on that, but theres all kinds of aspects that effect that, such as character build or clothing. pear technically isn't naked in this, but i've tried to imagine her as such and take that into account.

if you are drawing digitally, don't be afraid to take advantage of the convenience you get with that workflow. you can retry and iterate on things a lot faster that pen and paper, and do things that aren't really feasible at all when it comes to editing and modifying your existing work. things like resizing certain bodyparts, instantly flipping the canvas, or using selection tools to completely adjust the positions of parts of your drawing. to give you an example heres a timelapse with all the little edits i made just to this demo drawing:

you don't have to use these techniques linearly, either. sometimes ill have a really solid idea for a piece in my head, and go back to basics with certain elements if they’re not coming out right or i just want to brush them up a bit more. some of the tutorial-y parts i added in i didn't actually use during the drawing but often do use so they're there just for demonstration. not every drawing i do starts as building blocks or a really basic version, often ill just start with a face and build it out from there.

i always encourage liberally using references (this can include yourself) and trying out stuff like life drawing or looking at things like existing photographs of real people/places/things if you can, the more you use learning material the better you'll draw up a mental inventory in your head that you can rely on more and more. some of these tips are things i've learned from other artists over the years (the chin one especially i remember seeing a tutorial about lol), so this is a lot of knowledge i've amassed from other sources over time myself. there are plenty of times ill use all sorts of reference material and its all in service of arriving at the final destination as smoothly as possible. learn by doing, as they say. hope this helps!

[uknowmesblog]

Lol? I truly didn't expect people to enjoy my little writting, but let's go?

Also before continue I should warn you this is will be with her/she pronouns because well.. I am a woman and its much simpler for me like? We will see what the future will hold for me as evolving my writting style.

Also: It will be eventually poly 141, smutty and let's hope delicious. I have zero idea about what's happening in real life military and the lore it's known by watching youtube videos.

Also probably I will make the read less athletic and more fluff, prolly going towards being task's princess or smth, idk.

Shall we?

Damn you, damn the vodka and damn your friends because they didn't apply the enrollment all the way, just you. Poor, sad little you with all your hopes decaying with each hour that passed, while you tried to call your father and beg him to take you out ot this situation.

"You are finally making me proud" he said, causing you to huff a breath. Yeah you didn't want his approval, he wanted you to step in his shoes and run around to sacrifice yourself. Hell you are not sure you could run to the store and back, less on a front.

Damn your friends again, at least if two of them would be enrolled; you could burn the whole base to the ground with your "creative ideas." But not today satan, you have to deal with it yourself and make sure to bring your annoying level to a new height. Just to be sure you know? So with bags ready, eyes puffy with tears born out of sheer anxiety and one cute pink, Teddy bear that was a last gift from your loving mother, watching the clock like a hawk and calculating how easy should be to fly in another country with.. the small amount of money left in your bank account.

Scratch that, back to "being the worst human being" plan, as everything was packed and ready to leave. Thanks to God this house was yours, left as inheritance. No rent to pay, no fussy landlord worrying about no one to live here for a while, always a safe place to come back.

06:20

Huh, maybe they forgot? Hope die last, maybe someone, somewhere listened to your prayer and now everything is going back to normal.

06:45

So close to unpack everything, belly tight in knots as you watched your phone.

07:00

A short knock distracted the train of thoughts, your throat working to swallow as you walked towards the door with a small heart beating frenetically. Fingers wrapped around the door knob, your mind churning with all the possibilities, close opening slowly only to see a masked figured.

Dark, whiskey eyes watching you blankly. A skull baklava adding to the eerie effect the hunk had around him. Tall, muscular and wide you might say. A bloke that looked like a killer, like only a flicker of two fingers could snap someone in half.

Of course you shrieked and tried to close the door, only to be blocked by a boot. Stepping back, letting him in without your approval he scanned you with a cold, inexpensive look. But if you weren't so busy trying to melt in the wall, you could observe his chest rising faster for two short seconds. All the photos did little to no justice for you, such a fine specimen.

"You look weak' he said, deep voice with a Manchester accent reverberating around the hallway.

"No shit?' You asked sarcastically, provoking the beast. Maybe this is the moment you should learn to hold your mouth shut.

The stranger only huffed and eyed your luggage, grabbing your troller and backpack.

'Come one, we're already late." He grumbled "I won't babysit you, shift your arse"

"To the slaughterhouse? Do I look dumb?" You whined, clearly don't understanding his words.

"God you are dense, to the fucking military base!" He just turned around, starting to move towards the black car waiting in your driveway.

"No-uh" shaking your head, obtaining a growl.

"If you want me dragging your arse kicking and screaming, be my guest."

"I also bite'

"Be my fucking guest, only move' he snarled, a tremor making your core clenching.

Grumbling under your breath, key shoved in the keyhole while a stream of unholy swears that could make the devil himself blush spewed between your lips, asserting dominance over the asshole who just snapped a photo, behind your pack. He just couldn’t hold himself back, your jeans hugged your generous curves so good; a snack waiting to be bitten and smushed between his calloused hands.

Of course, the photo flew towards the group chat and his phone was shoved back in his pocket before you even finished your imaginary fight.

"Happy?" You asked as you took the passenger seat, already planning your revenge while he said nothing.

Oh and what an interesting revenge you planned, question after question flowing in the car. One side conversation of course.

"Do you always wear that?" Gesturing to the baklava, ignored.

"How long until we arrive?" Asked for the eight time.

"Do you have any snack around here?" He rolled his eyes.

"Can't you leave me on the side of the road?" A breath huffed behind the material.

"Why aren't you talking? Are you mad on me?" The 'crazy woman' card didn't work either hun.

"Do you have a missus?" A breathless laugh escaped him.

"What's your favourite color?"

"How long until there? I need to pee."

You tried again and again with no success, until the fatigue finally settled after a sleepless night full of pacing and anxiety. Snoring soflty, head resting against the window, a little bit of drool on the corner of your lips. Fine moment and all that.

But Ghost? He think you have zero chance to be a good soldier, but nothing could stop him from trying to shape and mold you.

Johnny was already foaming at the mouth to put his paws on you, Gaz waiting patient to see how long before you crack and Price being always the misterios boss ready to.. teach you.

Ghost's mind was set, by the end of the week you'll be panting like a bitch in heat either from the drills or one of the boys sprawling you on your future bed and showing you how a real man take care of a woman.

That if you won't have a stroke until then, only the time could decide.

@brxghtlxghtz here we gooo <3

Damn if I didn't had a long day, I swear to God I love my boss. She is a sweetheart, but woman take a break. Cheers to finally having some me time, hope yall liked it, again don't be shy pointing out how I can improve my english speech, still learning!

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on Dr. Robotnik's Ring racers and the current version of SRB2 Kart?

I never dug too super deep in to SRB2 Kart because I very rarely play online games with randos and I had no real consistent group to play with otherwise. Like, I tried to play the few times Tracker hosted a server, but he lives in the UK and I'm on wifi so it just didn't really work out.

So I was kind of waiting for the singleplayer campaign mode. I could see the potential in SRB2K. "The Mugen of Kart Racers" has been an idea in the back of my head for literal decades at this point. But I did not care about time trials because there were no items.

I streamed about four hours of Ring Racers (obviously) a couple days ago:

And I've also seen a lot of SRB2 Kart diehards lose their mind over some of the changes and problems in Ring Racers.

As someone who has never really put more than, say, two hours in to SRB2 Kart, Ring Racers is... fun? Yeah. It's fun. I'd say I enjoyed myself.

But it's also got problems. Broadly speaking, the entire game is way too complicated for its own good. It's nice that they really sat down and thought very deeply about kart racer mechanics and tried to elevate things to a new level, but it feels like they overthought a lot of it. And I mean beyond the fact this game opens with a very wordy, 30-60 minute tutorial. Don't get me wrong, it needs at least some of that, because it's a very mechanically dense game, but that's also sort of the problem.

Like I literally just bailed out of a Discord conversation about this because I wanted to write it over here, but let's take, for example, the spindash.

The spindash mechanic has three primary functions in Ring Racers:

You charge up a spindash at the right time during the starting line lobby segment to get a boost going into the first lap

You charge a spindash to get through one of the speed barriers for secret shortcuts

This game has Sonic-style physics and there are slopes where, if you aren't already going fast, they are too steep of an incline to drive up. So you have to stop and charge a spindash to clear them.

What value does this actually bring to the table? What's useful about it?

The starting line lobby segment is annoying because even CPU racers will bump you into a FAULT state, forcing you to start in last place. Lobby segments are also different sizes, different lengths, so as a newbie like myself, that already puts me at a disadvantage. Charging a spindash for a starting line boost does not add anything you could not already do with Mario Kart's more traditional starting line mechanic. So that means everything around it is just to make the game less friendly to newbies.

Unless you are an ultra-skilled sickos player who optimizes ring consumption to the max, or you're lucky enough to have a boost item, you are never going to be setup to crash through a speed barrier. I certainly never am. I only touch them by accident and they always make everything worse for me when I do. I would never stop and deliberately use a spindash to clear one of these, and places in the map where I get owned are never near one for it to act as a shortcut to get me back in the race faster.

The only time you need to use a spindash on a slope is if you get blasted by someone else's weapon, and there's always this deep dread to that where it's like, if I have to spindash to get up a slope, the race is already lost. Getting slammed by a weapon can already be very devastating on its own, but adding the extra step of having to come to a complete stop, wait 2-3 seconds to charge a spindash, and then crawl up the incline? It's insult to injury.

So, then, in practical terms: what value does the spindash bring to this game? The shortest summary is it's a recovery mechanic that adds an extra step to systems that are tuned to be very difficult and maybe don't even need to exist. You could remove the spindash (and all the systems that depend on the spindash) and I think it would be a better game.

And there's a few systems like this in the game, like the ring tether system, the air drop, and so on. It's nice to finally see someone trying to meaningfully evolve the kart racer into something with greater depth, but I also feel like people who liked SRB2 Kart liked it because it was a very good one of those. And it had extremely friendly mod support.

I get the desire for what's happening here. People were unfairly harsh about how "SRB2 Kart is a bad name" and the developers wanted to both establish a fresher identity and push things in a new direction. But they're also kind of reinventing a lot of wheels and adding all of these extra steps, which will and is hurting the pick-up-and-play element of "it's just a good kart racer." If you roll up on a friend group with Ring Racers and say "hold up, you gotta play the 40 minute tutorial first", that's a killer, and that's still considering they've already trimmed the tutorial length once since it launched only a few days ago.

A kart racer with the depth of a fighting game is definitely an interesting idea and like I said, I was having fun in the stream, but it's just one of those things where the more I think about what the ideal form of this game is trying to be, the more I wonder.

And that's not even considering that some things that worried me about SRB2 Kart are still here, like how many very narrow and winding tracks there are. Sometimes you get what is effectively a rally racing track but there's 8 other hyper-aggressive cars on the road with you and they're all armed to the teeth with projectile weapons. Even in SRB2 Kart's time trial mode, when I was the only one on the track, it could be hard enough to stay on the road. Now that I'm being knocked around by other racers at the same time? It can borderline on feeling impossible.

Again, I don't hate this. It's just that there's a lot of weird friction in places I feel like it does not benefit from or need.

[kanaglows]

Hellllooooooooo new blog <3 (I’m fairly new too dw) your masterlist is so pretty lmao. anywayyyyy can I request Leo/need (separately) with reader who’s in wonderlands x showtime? Only if you want to ofc sorry if it’s a little weird. anyway enjoy it here, it gets easier with time and it’s totally worth all the work <3333

Your wish is my command *bows*

Note: gender-neutral reader

Style: Bullets/Hcs

Leo/need X Reader Who's In WxS

Ichika Hoshino

Ichika wasn't really surprised that you're part of such an eccentric theatre troupe since she's so used to you cheering people up

The first thing she did when she found out that you're in WxS is complement you, she found it super cool that you're able to act

Unfortunately, Ichika doesn't like noisy places like Phoenix Wonderland so she can't frequently attend your shows but she tries to make up for it by inviting you to eat lunch with her at school.

When she does decide to attend your shows, she's absolutely BLOWN away every time, when did your singing voice and acting get so good? It must be Nene's help.

Ichika likes to pay you back for your amazing shows by writing songs for you and then performing them to you whenever you two hang out.

She feels like her songs are a bit too cheesy sometimes but seeing you get so happy after hearing her songs eases her worries <3

Saki Tenma

She was SO excited when she found out that you're a part of WxS.

She already visits Phoenix Wonderland a lot already but knowing that you perform there made her go more frequently.

Literally told everyone to start going to Phoenix Wonderland just because her partner performs there.

Whenever you go to her house to rehearse with Tsukasa, she asks if she can watch, she wants to take in all the stardom while she still can.

Saki tries to impress you a lot. "Y'know, I learnt how to juggle in hospital, maybe you should let me be a guest star" she smirks. She obviously forgot because she dropped all the balls on the floor within seconds 😭

Honami Mochizuki

"You're in Wonderlands X Showtime? I think my classmate, Emu, is in your troupe!"

She immediately brings her friends with her to see your shows

Honami can't always attend because of her job as Kanade's housekeeper but if there's a time when she can come, she definitely will.

She brings apple pies with her to share with you after a show

Before shows, she takes a nice walk with you and her dog to ease any nerves you may have.

Shiho Hinomori

Shiho found out that you're a WxS member through a path of embarrassment. She was looking for some Phenny merch at a Phoenix Wonderland stall when she got jumpscared by you.

"Shiho?" you said from behind her. Girl literally JUMPED out of fear 😭"(N-Name)?!", she had been caught red-handed buying Phenny merch, how humiliating. She hoped that this wouldn't too awkward. "Hi! I didn't think you would be here" you exclaimed, ignoring the current situation she was in. Shiho was relieved when she realised that you weren't gonna further embarrass her.

You become immersed in conversation and she finds out that you're a member of Wonderland X Showtime.

Since she visits so frequently, she thought she could stop by to see one of your shows sometime. She was just a bit worried about bumping into that thing (Tsukasa).

Nonetheless, she still attends and watches your shows. If Tsukasa approaches her though, be prepared for her to run away faster than the speed of light.

[claypigeonpottery]

Heyyyyy~ I'm just... So in love with all the work you do, they're all so precious and beautiful I'm in tears. Thank you so for what you do, can't wait to buy something you made soon :D

If it's okei, can you please tell the story of how you got into this and how did you progress from being babie artist to now growing artist and how long you've been doing this for? What's your top 3 fav works you've done? Did you eat good food today, if not please dooo. Thenks

thank you! that's very sweet x3 I'm excited to get more stuff fired and up on Etsy, hopefully before the end of June

.

choose three favourites of my work? oh, that is a difficult question.

one thing I really didn't like about my art when I was younger was that it was all very static. it was people sitting or standing, it was still life paintings. one of the things I'm really proud of in my work now is the sense of capturing a moment instead of someone posing, and/or giving a sense of movement

these two are just the opposite of static and I love them for that

and then there's this mug. the design is great, the details are great and I had so much fun carving it. it was honestly just delightful and I wish I'd kept it. I don't say that very often.

all sold

.

I'm putting the rest of this under a cut because I'm going to ramble

I started drawing because I was making silly comics about me and my friends in grade school and through high school (I assigned them all fursonas because I was a really cool 15 year old lol)

I got a little more serious about art in high school, but I never thought it'd be something I'd make money at.

when I was... in my early twenties? maybe 19 still? ah, memory issues, I went through a nine month art program, the 'Urban Canvas' project run by SCYAP (saskatoon community youth arts programming). the program is meant to support young artists, especially those with mental health or addiction issues. and it meant I got paid to draw and paint and create weird shit for 40 hours a week, for nine months. and then some (seven? eight?) years later I got to go through the program again which... honestly I'm so grateful I got to do that. (and SCYAP still supports me, they give me a table at their craft show every year and helped me with my first solo gallery show)

these are some of the pieces I made during my time at SCYAP:

and two very rare pictures of me, posing with two of my master studies. the left from when I was 20ish, and the right when I was... 27ish? (man I'm still proud of that Gentileschi copy)

.

it was after SCYAP when I started thinking that I could actually make money as an artist. so I painted more than a dozen murals, drew a 20-some page full colour comic, painted pet portraits, and sold my own paintings. commissions were more reliable than selling my own work for a long time lol

as for how I got into pottery, my mental health uh... haha. it took a nosedive about six years ago and during some of the worst of it, I was severely agoraphobic. my mom, who has always supported my art, offered to take me to pottery classes with her, in an attempt to get me leaving the house at least once a week. it did help (along with a lot of other things) and once I started exploring the surface decoration side of pottery, things really clicked for me

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tangent: one of the things that really drove me to progress as an artist was having something driving my work. whether it was preparing for a gallery show or making a bunch of holiday cards or making piles of fan art because I was obsessed. every time I made something, anything, I improved. so when I had a goal that made me create more, I improved faster.

my unsolicited advice: make that weird fan art. it's good for your art. (I was really into tf2 lol)

.

I've tried tons of different mediums and I think it was a great way to help my style evolve.

when you're making art with a new medium, it might take awhile before you're making your own personal work. I, at least, find that I usually have to do some studies of other peoples' art and just try some basic creations before I do anything more personal. but once I'm ready to do MY stuff, I have a new repertoire to pull from. I wouldn't be the potter I am if I didn't have the experiences I got from other mediums

like acrylics (I did a lot of self portraits >.>)

paper flower making

watercolour

collage

cake decorating

(also oil paints, pastels, 3D wire art, crochet, linocut, stone carving, sewing, set painting and quilting. also my spouse and I like to make crafts together, like cutting-construction-paper, gluing-pompoms-and-googly-eyes crafts, because it's just fun to make stuff together)

I'm sure pottery isn't the last medium I'm gonna try. I'll probably get obsessed with carving tiny wooden figurines or making wax sculptures at some point. who knows!

.

and now I'm in my mid-thirties, making art pretty much every day. I've been doing this since I was a teenager, so almost twenty years now.

I never imagined I'd be satisfied with my own art, that I could look at most of my pieces and not see how I could have done it better, but hey, here I am.

.

wow that was rambly. the ADHD really comes out when I'm writing lol. and I did eat real food today! before having some freezies

thanks so much for your ask, hopefully I satisfied your curiosity

[griseldabanks]

Comfyvember 23

Story: clone sister (original) Prompts: Remembering medication — Art on fridge — Warm toast

Lily eased herself into the chair at the kitchen table with a sigh of effort and propped her crutch against the wall. Technically, she was supposed to be using two crutches to get around, but she kept on knocking things over, so in the house she preferred to just use one and grab onto counters and doorways for support.

“What can I get you, sweetie?” her mom asked. “Tea? Toast? Eggs?”

She'd finally stopped hovering anxiously every time Lily tried to move around, but she compensated by bustling around even more than usual, doting on Lily like she was staying home from first grade with an ear infection again.

“Toast is fine, Mom,” Lily said, watching helplessly as her mother had already begun to butter two more slices of toast and poured out a steaming cup of tea. “Don't you have to get to work soon?”

She checked her watch, then bustled around faster than ever, setting down Lily's breakfast in front of her, grabbing her purse and keys, and chattering away a mile a minute about when she'd be getting off work, exactly what leftovers were in the fridge for her to heat up for lunch, and then she hurried over to kiss Lily on the forehead. On her way out to the garage, she paused and said, “You help your sister while I'm gone today, okay?”

“Okay.”

Then, with the grumble of the garage door opening and closing, she was finally gone. Lily picked up a piece of toast and munched on it thoughtfully, wondering what she was going to do today. She still had another week of leave from work after her injury, but the time was beginning to feel a bit long.

The smallest sound brought Lily's attention over to Ivy, who stood peeking at her through the slats in the chair at the other end of the table. Lily smiled. “Looks like it's just you and me, kid. Again.”

Ivy smiled back. It was hard to believe she used to find Ivy kind of creepy, rather than utterly adorable.

Only when Lily lifted her cup of tea to her lips did she realize what was missing. “Shoot, I forgot my meds.” She sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. It was so arduous to go up the stairs like this; she'd been planning to hang out in the living room for a while before making the trek back upstairs in the afternoon.

“I will get them.” Ivy scurried off, almost before Lily could even register what she'd said.

While she waited, Lily's eyes strayed to the fridge, covered in artwork just like always. After years of nothing more interesting adorning the fridge than shopping lists and the occasional note when someone was going to be home late or something, the surface was once again covered with childish crayon drawings and watercolor paintings. Most of them were almost exact copies of simple drawings like a flower or a house with a smiling sun overhead—things their mother had demonstrated for Ivy to show her what to do with her art supplies.

But there was a new one on the side she hadn't seen before, almost hidden under a flyer for the church rummage sale. With just a little maneuvering, Lily managed to reach out and snag it off the fridge, though the magnet went skittering away across the floor.

Lily was still holding the picture when Ivy returned, rattling loudly with an armful of orange pill canisters. “Oh, I didn't need all—um, thank you.”

Ivy carefully placed each canister in a row in front of Lily's plate, turning the labels so Lily could read what each of them were. Lily picked up the two she was supposed to take with breakfast, then set down the drawing where Ivy could see it. “Did you make this?”

Ivy glanced up at her, then down at the drawing, and nodded slightly. The stick figures were in the same style as the ones Ivy always drew, but instead of standing stiffly with huge smiles like the ones their mother had shown her, she'd drawn the one with yellow hair with a big round O for a mouth as it gaped at a boxy grey shape that could have been a car.

Flying in from nowhere, wearing a bright blue cape like a superhero, was a bigger stick figure with brown hair. A superhero swooping in to save a little girl from an impending car crash.

“That's you, isn't it?” Lily asked, tapping the little girl with yellow hair. “And is that...?”

“I asked Father what a hero looked like,” Ivy said solemnly. “He said they usually fly and wear capes. I do not remember you wearing a cape, but I wanted to draw it correctly.”

Lily's throat hurt like one of her pills had gone down the wrong way, even though she hadn't taken either of them yet. She pulled Ivy close to her side and whispered, “I like your picture. I like it a lot.”

[eventinelysplayground]

Happy Birthday Jean

It's Jean's birthday and so I had to write something for him. Your plans for Jean's birthday didn't turn out quite the way you wanted but in the end it doesn't matter. I tried out a different pov (reader) style for this one from what I usually do. It's also not smut but dang is it suggestive. WC 718.

You had so many plans for today but none of them worked out right. You woke up late, ripped your new skirt, broke a glass while washing the dishes and burned yourself taking the macarons out of the oven. If all that wasn't enough you tripped on a bit of upturned rug and sprained your ankle pretty badly. This day was supposed to be special and now it's ruined.

“ Thank you for carrying me upstairs.”

You feel Jean's strong arms relax around you as he gently sits you on your bed. He joins you on it sitting close enough your thighs are touching and you can feel his body heat through your clothes.

“ Also I'm so sorry.”

“ Why are you sorry?”

“ Because I wanted to make today special for you but I just messed everything up.”

You sigh and flop back onto the bed. Jean looks down at you, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“ I don't think you messed anything up, everyone seemed to have a good time at dinner and the marorons were very tasty.”

“ See that's part of what I'm talking about! There was supposed to be more of them but I kind of forgot about the others after I burned myself taking the first tray out of the oven.”

“ I thought your ankle was injured?”

“ That came after I burned myself.”

“ I see.”

“ It's just, I know you didn't always like celebrating your birthday and I really wanted you to have fun and enjoy today but instead there were barely enough macarons and you had to carry me everywhere tonight.”

You cover your face with your hands in frustration and embarrassment wishing you could hide away. As you lay there mentally cursing at yourself you feel Jean's hands take hold of yours and gently pull them away from your face.

“ Look at me. If what you wanted was for me to enjoy myself today then you achieved that. I always enjoy myself when I'm with you.”

Jean tightens his grip on your hands as he pulls you to sit upright then kisses you softly on the lips.

" Did you really enjoy yourself?”

Jean's gaze moves away from yours for a moment and you can feel your heart clench.

“ I knew you didn't really enjoy it.”

You go to flop back down onto the bed but Jeans grip holds you in place.

“ I did enjoy it it's just that…”

Suddenly you feel Jean's touch caressing the bandage on the bottom of your palm.

“ I could smell faint traces of your blood all night and it was hard to control myself.”

“ Oh.”

Your eyes widen and heart beats faster as Jeans fingers start to make their way up your arm to your neck.

“ Well we're alone now, you don't need to control yourself any longer.”

You look into Jean's night sky eyes and can see his passion and concern for you fighting with each other within them. Not wanting to wait for a conclusion you reach out cupping Jean's cheek and kissing him hungrily. Your kiss deepens and you feel his tongue licking at your lips seeking entry. You open your lips slightly and he takes hold of the back of your head as his tongue seeks out yours. When the kiss is finally broken you only see desire in Jean's eyes.

“ Hold still, I don't want you to get hurt any more today.”

“Ok.”

Jean adjusts his hold on your head while he leans towards your neck. He places soft kisses along your collarbone and up the length of your neck each one sending a jolt of pleasure through you. He kisses and licks his way back down to the base of your neck and you put your hands on his broad chest in anticipation of what's to come.

Jean whispers your name in a husky voice then you feel his sharp fangs pierce your skin.Your whole body pulses and sings with pleasure. His one hand still holds the back of your head while the other tightly grips your waist, his rough fingers digging in and lighting your skin on fire. You feel yourself becoming lost in the pleasure but before you're too far gone

“Happy Birthday Jean.”

Jean groans at your whispered words and sinks his fangs in even deeper nudging you closer to blisses edge.

[goldentemplariumcrow]

hi! which kind of pen do you think it’s the most comfortable to write with, fountain pens or rollerballs? i’m still learning about pens and i tried googling the differences between them but some websites say that fountain pens are more comfortable and others say that they’re basically the same thing, but rollerballs are more practical. also, do you think fountain pens are a lot of work? i heard someone saying that fountain pens are not worth it because the ink doesn’t even last a week and it leaks and you have to buy the right kind of paper and stuff like that… i’m still curious about fountain pens though, and i wanted to hear your opinion about it! :) thanks in advance!

Heyo, my fellow stationery lover! 🥰💕🖋🖊

It's so nice of you to ask about this, and I totally understand how it all sounds confusing depending on who and where you take your information from. I, myself, had a long run over the years to learn the differences and what works best with my writing style.

So, I'll start retroactively and sort of correct your friend there, because fountain pens and rollerball pens both need good paper to give their best performance. However, as a beginner I'd tell you to work with what you have, which means adequating your chosen pen nib to the paper you have at your immediate disposal.

As an example: I started writing on printer paper and normal everyday notebooks (those you buy in bulk from dollar store to be more precise). Sure, I didn't have the luxury of writing on both sides of the pages, because both fountain pens and rollerballs are usually heavy on the dispense of their inks in this kind of paper, but it taught me about size and flow.

Tip/Nib Size:

Fountain pens work on the range of Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Double Broad and Stub (stubs often go from 1.0 to 3.0 size, the bigger the number the larger it'll be, they're usually associated with Goth Style calligraphy). The stub nib is also known as the italic nib, it writes thin on the horizontal and diagonals, but when doing a vertical, downward stroke, it becomes thick. (You can see some different nib sizes on the image bellow)

Rollerball pens work on a range of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, and 1.9 tips, with the easiest tips to find going from 0.3 to 0.8. And their tips will always be just simple round ones with not much variation in terms of colors. (I'm sorry for not having a photo to explain this one, but my rollerball has given up on me this Monday morning and ran the last of its drops of ink 😂 I need to get a new one)

Flow:

Fountain pens and rollerballs work in kind of the same manner in terms of dispensing their ink, they work through capilary mechanisms and gravity. You have to have them down in contact with the paper to make the ink go down to the tip/nib in order to make it work.

The flow usually derives from the kind of ink that are being dispensed and the kind of nib/tip on your pen. The bigger the nib/tip size the more ink will be dispensed on the paper and so the faster you'll need to fill the fountain pen back or buy a new rollerball/refill your rollerball.

About fountain pens not being worth it...

That's a common misconception, because in today's world a lot of people prefer to exchange customization for practicality.

Fountain pens require a little bit of maintainance, because most aren't disposable, the biggest number of them, even the cheapest ones, are meant to last if you don't simply throw it in your bag and have the bag be benchpressed by a rollertruck or be in the way of an explosion (et me tell you, I've yet to find an every day hurdle that can break a Lamy Safari PBS body and stainless steel nib @-@ it scratches and fades, but doesn't break, and I have this baby for around 10 years now, it faced two college degrees with me). A fact that becomes more evident when you see the fact that most brands design converters for their pens.

Most fountain pens can be customized to your liking, from the nib, to the feeder (the part that brings the ink from the cartridge/reservoir/converter) to the nib, to the body, to the ink you write with. They become a sort of statement of your style.

From top to bottom:

- Majohn Moonman C1 (10USD) (can be used with a converter, but I prefer to fill the body with ink for maximum capacity, around 5ml)

- Lamy Safari (20-30USD)

- Wing Sung 3008 (5USD) (built in piston sucks the ink into the pen for maximum capacity, around 2.5ml)

- Pilot Kakuno (15USD) (with Con-70 converter, around 1.7ml)

- Jinhao Centurion (10USD)

- Jinhao 9019 Dadao (10USD) (biggest converter I've ever seen, carrying up to 3ml of ink)

- Jinhao 82 (3USD)

- Tramol T100 (4USD) (full body holds 2ml)

A comparison between the nibs of the Jinhao 9019 Dadao, Jinhao 82 and Majohn Moonman C1. As you can see, I have the heartbit limited edition fine nib on the Dadao, while the 82 has a dual color nib and the Majohn has a long and slightly narrower nib. These are all customizations.

As you can see, there are fountain pens for all styles, likings and price ranges. From the thicc ones with double and triple Cs (I'm looking at you, Dadao) to the more minimalist and sturdy ones, like the Lamy Safari, which is a model that's been around in the market since the 80s and, if you want to be even more conservative, there's always the Pilot 78G and 78G+ that's been around since 1991; if you're one to love traveling, it's hard to go wrong the brass body Traveler's one too.

About the ink not lasting, spillages and all that jazz...

When you buy a fountain pen, they usually come with an ink cartridge, which in my experince last around 2 weeks with me writing daily for 8 hours a day (for my daytime job). However, that depends on the size of the cartridge, smaller ones won't last as long, but they're often the ones you can find more easily on your local stores, since this makes for a bigger compatibility between pen and cartridge due to the thickness of certain barrels (some brands have their own style of cartridges, like Parker and Pilot).

Personally I remedy this by simply having a bottle of Noodler's Ink (this one of the link even comes with a nice beginner friendly pen in the package) on the side and a make-up siringe to suck all the ink from the bottle to the cartridge that comes with the pen. It's much more enviromentally friendly than the rollerballs that usually aren't refillable.

The whole spillage happens because of mishandling. I personally only had one single episode when I was a newbie and brought a fountain pen on an airplane, the pressure change made the ink go kaboom in the pen, but my cap held up well and all I had to do was wash it once I landed. I know some people who are heavy handed also have ink spillage accidents, but again, that's due to mishandling, as fountain pens don't require pressure to get the ink writing on the paper. And, of course, like any liquid, if you shake it hard enough, it will, eventually, spill everywhere in one way or another, but that is a risk that also exists on rollerballs.

Which one is better: Fountain Pens or Rollerball Pens?

I can't emphazise enough that this is an opinion and I enjoy most writing instruments, for each has their very own beauty.

Personally, see fountain pens as a long-time commitment while the rollerballs are more of a shortterm "save me in a pinch" type of pen.

Fountain pens often help correct writing vices that cause harm to the hands and wrists, they train you to slow down for a moment to mind your grip and angle, and in exchange give you the beautiful experience of premium writing with an instrument that's all your own, if not by nib and body, by ink, because every single fountain pen lover has their very own favorite (if not beloved) shade. They give you a freedom that other pens don't usually give in terms of color, you can even like a simple everyday blue, but you can choose from a Pilot Kon-peki to a Waterman Inspire Blue, and don't get me started on the inks that change shade once they dry out or that have metalic shimmer mixed in their composition.

Rollerballs will save me if I don't have my fountain pen with me (I carry a Lamy Safari everywhere I go) and need to jolt down some quick notes, but not write for a long while. They don't feel so good, because my angle of writing (near 45°).

In summary: I wrote this post defending the fountain pens, because I know the discourse of them being obsolete and inpractical that's everywhere, but I see both rollerballs and fountain pens as excellent writing instruments that deserve equal space in our lives, pen pouches and pencil cases 🥰💕🖋🖊

I hope this helps you a little, my fellow writing friend.

Happy writing!

[oobi-oobi]

Hihi!

Question: How did you develop your art style, and do you have multiple?(like a more realistic and a more chibi?) Also! Who inspires you to make such pretty masterpieces?

𓅭 𓅰 𓅭 𓅰

Thank you so much!!! You’re so kind!

Sorry, in advance for the extremely long response :') My hand slipped/j

These are the 3 big tips for developing an art style I wish knew when I was younger:

Find the things that inspire you, and break down what you specifically like about them.

Experiment! Try new things! Practice! Your art style will develop on its own as long as you keep creating. 

Have fun! Draw what you enjoy and what makes you happy. Your style is yours; you should enjoy it.

When I was younger, I caught myself thinking things like, "I would like to draw the eyes like this, but I can't because it's not my art style." Then I realized that I was getting in my own way. Once I overcame that mental blockade, I started having fun drawing again. When I allowed myself to experiment, it also caused me to improve faster because I could figure out the things I liked and the things I didn't like. Everyone's art journey and process are different, but this helped me personally.

Yes, I do have multiple different art styles. I have my regular art style, a cartoony art style (I am not currently happy with it. I have a lot to work on), a silly doodle art style, and a realism style (or as close as I can get to it). I also draw eyes differently depending on the feeling I want. For example, I draw tear ducts on characters that I want to have a sort of scary horror vibe, and I don't on other characters (I don't really know why or how it started). I also experiment a lot, which causes my art to always look slightly different. 

I also like to prioritize drawing the things that I enjoy the most. I really like drawing faces and expressions so I've practiced that the most (along with neglecting things I don't enjoy like coloring, I'm working on it I swear, I digress). 

There are also a ton of little trademarks that show up over and over again. Like giving characters sideburns or hair strands that frame their faces, never adding highlights in eyes, adding swirls in hair, and there is this weird thing where I associate the number of eyelashes I give characters to their personalities (I couldn't explain it if I tried 😅). I think it's important to stumble upon little things you enjoy drawing and to keep doing it. 

I never made a list of things that inspire my art even though I really should. Below, I'll list off some artists who inspire me who you can find here on Tumblr.

☆Cryptidw00rm 

(also highly recommend their YouTube animatics they're absolutely breathtaking)

☆Seiishindraws

☆Sinlizards. 

☆Nanamis-username 

☆Viria

(their drawing tutorials have left a lasting impact on me from when I was younger. I really suggest looking them up; they're really in-depth. I couldn’t find the original posts, but it's the first results when you Google "viria art tutorial".)

I'm always instantly enamored whenever I see these artists' works. They are such a huge inspiration. Please go check them out!

There are also a ton of other artists and things that inspire me too, but I'll spare y'all for now. >:)

As a bonus, here is a little example of how my art has developed. I just found my old art from each of the listed times. This is my OC Amaryllis over the years.

Below are some collages of sketches that I hope will showcase my style (these took forever to compile)

And finally, have a Megamind that I am proud of but never posted *thumbs up*

[kapten425]

Chapter 2 Part 2 " A Glimpse of Hope"

The priest opened her eyes slowly. Trying to understand what was going on. Her body felt heavy but at the same time rather light. A weird filling of numbness and soreness. She raised her hand to her face as a reflex to the headache she had.

"Ah you have awakened. Thank the stars."

The priest tried to locate the origin of the voice. Only to see a white haired man with greenish blue eyes approaching her. His clothes were ragged and torn at some places. A silver sword was at his waist, the design looked Nokstelian but had some differences. The stranger kneeled in front of her focusing on her face. It took her a while to see his own, as her eyes tried to adjust to the dim light. She started talking to him.

"Who are ......"

The stranger smiled at her questioning look.

"Well. Back in the day you used to call me your Highness. I was the ruler of the Eternal Cities."

The priest tried to understand his words. He was her Ruler. What does that mean. Then it got to her. Infront of her was none other than Elias The decisted King of Nokstela. Her King and Lord. She tried to stand up, to greet him properly, only to be stopped by him.

"Easy. You still need time to adjust to your new body."

At his comment he looked at her hands. She didn't noticed the first time but her hands were different. Her skin was that of porcelain, hard and shining. Her clothes were different, a leather armour corset lined up with satin cover, upon a meticulously crafted thin chainmail. On her waist a small curved sword, crafted in Nokstelian style. This form was familiar. She looked at her king.

"What happened to me?"

Elias took a sadder look on his face, and after a deep breath he answered her.

"You attacked me. I suppose the years of isolation and your constant vigilancy dulled your senses, to the point you couldn't understand friend from foe. I ....."

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I was forced to kill you. You and your friend there."

The priest froze at the sound of his words. Not only she attacked her king, but she also died by his hand. Her eyes wander around until it came across her previous body and that of her sister. She noticed the damage. Her sister's body was cleanly decapitated while hers had a accurate stab in her heart. She understood that her king tried to make their death swift and painless. Her mind then began to wonder. How was she still alive. She looked at Elias, who knew what she wanted to ask. Elias smiled tearfully.

"Before you died, you had a moment of clarity. You recognised me. That gave me hope. Immediately I decided that I was not going to allow anyone to die. And thanks to your duty as guardians of my creations, an idea came in mind."

Elias placed his hand on top her heart's location.

"I transferred your souls into glintstone cores and merge you with my creations. You are now glintstone dolls."

The priest looked with widened eyes. She couldn't believe it. She was now a doll. But not just any doll. A doll made by her king, the famous Elias the Master Craftsman of Nokstela, and judging by her weapon she currently resided in his Nox Swordstress Doll. Despite now understanding her situation, she started examining her body. It felt natural, as if it was her true body. Elias spoke breaking the silence.

"What's your name my child."

She looked at his, bewildered by his question.

"Alena my Lord."

After answering his question she started to chuckle. Elias tilted his head to the side with a questioning look.

"What's so funny my dear."

Alena tried to contain herself.

"Nothing my Lord. It's just that I always was in awe of your work, especially of the Nox Duo. To one day be part of it is quite an honour."

Elias smiled at her.

"Thank you my dear, but I need to correct you there. You are not part of my creation."

He placed his hand on her cheek.

"My creation has become a part of you. You govern them, not me."

Alena's heart started to beat faster. Her Lord's face was way too close to her. Whenever she was able to see him, on parades or in the Royal Palace, he was always with his beloved queen at a distance. To have him this close was too much for her. She was captivated by his eyes. A perfect mix of green and blue, looking like glintstone gems. Her sister was always berating her for not concetrating on her duty and instead imaging her King with her. That small thought made her realise something. Her sister. Where was her sister. She looked at Elias with a desperate look.

"My Lord, my sister, where is she? Is she ok."

Elias pointed at the other doll on the ground.

"She still hasn't woken up. But she is fine."

Alena rose from the ground and rushed to the other doll. The doll of the Nox Nightmaiden. A similar doll in appearance but with a few changes. Her weapon was not a sword, but rather a small knife of similar design. On her waist a band with an array of perfumers cocktails, organised by type. Alena got a hold of the doll's head.

"Lanet, LANET please wake up. Come on sis."

Lanet open her eyes slowly trying to adjust. The moment she saw Alena she jumped out of her hands and tried to grab her Nox flow hammer, only to find herself the knife. She raise it towards Elias and Alena.

"Who are you. What have you done to my sister."

Alena raise her hands in the air, in an effort to calm her down.

"Sister it's me. Alena."

"No you're not. I don't know what you are but if you think you can trick me you are foolishly mistaken. Now tell me WHO ARE YOU!"

Elias stepped forward.

"Lower your weapon, Lanet. I would explain everything."

Lanet pointed her knife towards Elias.

"Who the fuck are you."

Elias took another step forward.

"I'm Elias. Your former King. I have returned."

Lanet's grip on the knife tighten at the sound of these words.

"How dare you.........HOW DARE YOU USE THE NAME OF MY LORD AS IF IT WERE YOURS!!!"

She dashed to Elias, with deadly speed.

"DIE!!!!"

Her knife moved with lighting speed towards Elias's neck. Before it could reach though it was deflected by Elias's sword guard. The two stayed eye locked for a moment. Enough for Alena to grab a hold of Lanet's other arm. Lanet tried to attack with her knife back, but was immediately disarmed by Elias's sword. Having been completely neutralised, Lanet gave a defiant look at Elias. Elias kneeled to the bend down Lanet, coming closer to her face and keeping it up with his hand under her chin.

"Defiant as ever. Truly the rebellious spirit of Nokstela still shines bright within you, Lanet."

Lanet's expression started to change. Her face filled with shock as she recognised her King.

"My Lord........... Is it truly you?"

Elias smiled and nodded at her, answering her question. Tears began to flood her eyes.

"Thank the stars. Blessed be as they shine above. Our Lord has......"

Alena seeing her sister having realised the situation and let her go. Lanet rushed to embrace her King. The man that had elevated the spirit of the Eternal Cities. Alena watched in shock the scene in front of her. Her sister, the one bound by honour and always keeping herself serious in front of any superior, was now embrasing Elias, like a child holding a teddy bear. Elias feeling the sincerity in her action returned the favour.

"Yes my child. I'm back. And I'm sorry you had to endure all this because of me."

He placed his chin on top her head.

"Such a poor excuse of a King I am. To cause so much pain and suffering to my subjects."

Lanet raised her head towards Elias. Her gaze filled with happiness and tears.

"But you came back. And when we needed you the most. We were so close to lose hope."

Alena came close to her sister with also tearfull eyes. She took her hand as Elias slowly let her go. Alena talked with a shaky voice.

"Sister?"

Lanet now recognising her sister grabbed her.

"You were right lil sis. You were right. Sorry I doubted you."

The hand holding became an embrace and both sisters started crying together. Elias's heart filled with joy as he saw them like that. He had save them even when all odds were against him. He may have caused this to happen with his death, but now he was determined to fix everything. He rose up from the ground and walked towards a big pile of woods he had prepared while the two sisters were asleep. He took a glass vial from his pocket, full oil, and smashed it on the kindle, he then took his sword and striked the ground creating sparks. The oil caught fire quickly, and soon a bonfire was created. Lanet cupped the cheeks of her sister. She still couldn't believe what happened to her. It took her a few moments to realise that she was on a similar fate.

"What happened to us sis. Why are we?"

Alena averted her eyes. How was she going to explain all that have happened. Luckily for her, Elias was quick on the response.

"I will explain everything to you. Come closer to the fire. We have much to discuss."

[mediciean]

UNDERESTIMATE chapter 1

"Go ahead and clock out, Esmé, I'll take care of this", Mrs Jones says, coming from behind me to grab the rag that I was using to scrub the crumbs off the counter. I smiled warmly back at her and nodded with a tired sigh escaping my nose.

No tired would be understatement. I was exhausted beyond my mind. Getting a job at a coffee shop, I had thought I would finally get my mind off things. But it seems that the faster life style of signing off coffees and baking croissants only signaled to my brain to catch up.

I pack up my little belongings in my tote bag before checking my cellphone. Thankfully it wasn't too late, the last thing I wanted was to be too tired for my first day of senior year. I state a quick goodbye to Mrs Jones before rushing to my car in the front parking lot and turning the key to the ignition.

This summer had to be the hardest time of my life. Ever since I moved in with the dad it seemed as if everything was dull and slow. That's part of the reason why I decided to get a job, but also because I was tired of hearing dad talk about getting "therapy". The last thing I needed was to talk to a shrink.

Honestly, I'm fine. I don't even think about the incident anymore, why would I need to talk about it?

"Esmé?", I hear as I walk through the front door and place my keys on the rack, "Is that you?".

"Yeah", I call back, shuffling off my coat. I hear the sounds of feet shuffling and as I lift my head I could see my step mother with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Isn't it awfully late to still be out, sweetheart?".

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, "I thought I told you not to call me that Angelica. I had a late shift". It wasn't even that late but I guess a teenager staying past 8 was taboo around this place. I walk past Angelica who let out a breath of air behind me. I found my way to the kitchen where I grabbed a cold water bottle before turning to go to my new room.

That is until I'm interrupted by my father who stood behind me with his arms crossed. I jump in surprise.

"Geez dad!".

Just like his wife, I thought to myself.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?".

"Uh", I look down at my phone, "10:45?".

"Exactly", states the darkskin man who scowls at my response, "Esmé I know you're new to this but I thought I told you not to be out when the streetlights are on".

"I wasn't trying to but my coworker left early so I took her shift. I didn't think it would be a big deal".

"A big deal? Anything can happened to you out there! You can't just stay out till the crack of dawn without letting anyone know".

The urge to roll my eyes was really dawning on me, "Well I tried to call you dad but you didn't answer".

He replies, "I thought I told you that if I'm at work to call Angelica".

"Why would I do that? It's not like she'd answer, she's too busy getting her hair and nails done", I state as I crack open the water bottle and throw the cold liquid into my mouth.

"Esmé! Watch your mouth".

"Look I'm sorry okay? It won't happen again", I groan as I move past the older man to the stairs.

"It better not! I'm expecting better from you Esmé. Remember to be up by 6 tomorrow!".

"Yeah whatever", I mumble to myself as I make it to the last step before getting to the second floor and walking to my bedroom.

He acts as if I'm a baby, like I can't take care of myself. It was so frustrating! Especially since he never treats Angelica's kids this way. Once I moved in it felt as if I was this weird situation that they're all hoping they can solve so I can get out of their hair.

I tried to clear my mind by taking a shower, washing my dyed red locs before tying them up and exfoliating my body. When I had finished and lotion my entire body, I smelled like honey and coco butter.

But even then when I lie in my freshly washed sheets and looked up at the white painted ceiling I still had that feeling. It was unexplainable. Not numb but not fulfilled either. I didn't know what it was.

By the time I dozed off it was meaningless sleep that had went and gone. I'm awoken by my loud alarm that I quickly grab and slam it on the counter to shut off.

My eyes swiftly close again to go back asleep. Until I hear a loud bang at my door.

"Esmé! Open up!".

No one but Justin. Justin is my unofficial my step brother but it wasn't like we ever talked. He stayed his way and I stayed in mine. I'm pretty sure the only time he said two words to me is when I moved in and he asked me to return his game system since my room was his old room.

So the fact that he was banging on my door at 6 in the morning was a shock.

Displeased, I grumble and wrap my body with my blanket and make my way to the door. I unlock it before flipping it open and looking up at the 18 year old teen, "Yes?".

Justin walks past me without a second thought, "Melanie is taking too long in the bathroom".

"Uh—okay", I reply bewildered by the weird interaction. Not a second later I hear my shower turn on and the sounds of ASAP Rocky fill the room.

I hate that kind of music.

"Good morning to you too!", I shout annoyed, "Jerk".

Well while he's in there I might as well get dressed. First days meant first impressions. And not just any first impressions. Good first impressions.

I'm sure everyone had heard about the incident by now, let's just say our town was small enough where words spread around fast.

I bend down and find some clothes from my suitcase. I'm not sure why I haven't unpacked everything. A part of me hopes that maybe if I keep my things away it'll be easier to take them back to my real home.

When I'm tying my shoes is when Justin returns from the bathroom, wearing an all white  shirt and baggy capris with brown Jordan's. His hair was defined and curly and he was spraying on some cologne as he walked in my room.

I ignore him, grabbing a hair tie from the drawer and tying my locs up in a half up half down style.

"I'm not a jerk", he grumbles.

"What?", I ask, turning to him with furrowed eyebrows.

"You called me a jerk? I'm not. I just don't like you", he states before walking out my room, slamming the door behind him.

"Yeah well.. ditto!", I yell back but it was hopeless he was probably already downstairs.

So what?! I didn't like any of them either. They act like just because they have money they can walk around like they own the world.

Well it's not going to work on me. I dust off my pants before opening the door and walking downstairs.

I'm met with the sight of Justin playing with his basketball on the couch, Melanie looking at herself in the mirror and Angelica working on something in the kitchen.

"Oh good morning Esmé!", Angelica chirps as I walk in the kitchen, a spatula in her hand and a mitten in her other, "Care for a waffle? Pancake?".

"No thanks", I dismiss her and instead grab a water bottle from the fridge and a granola bar from the pantry. As I'm eating the oats and chocolate my dad comes down the stairs fiddling with his tie.

"Okay kiddos! First day of school!", he states overly excited, "Now I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. Make sure your phones are charged and you have your schedules".

"Dad we're not 4", Melanie giggles from her place in front of the mirror, fixing her loc that fell in front of her face.

Dad.. it sounds weird coming out of her mouth. I supposed I'm used to dad being well my dad. Me and Eli's dad. I'm not used to hearing the sound of that word coming from someone else's mouth to reference my father.

"Well I know that honey but I just want you guys to stay safe".

I grab my bag, ready to leave this house but when I go to grab my keys they're nowhere to be found, "Where are my keys?", I exclaim.

"After your little stunt last night I thought you needed a little break from the car", Dad replies with a cross of his arms.

My mouth drops, seriously?! He can't just do that, "Wh-what about work?".

"Justin can drive you. Right Justin?".

Justin waves him off, "Sure. Whatever".

"Great", states dad as he walks into the kitchen and comes behind Angelica.

I watch as he grabs behind her causing her to squeal and tell him to knock it off with a laugh, "Oh hush you know you love it", he chuckles as he kisses her neck.

Angelica smiles brightly, turning around and fixing the older man's tie, "When do you think you'll be back?".

"Around 5".

"That's a bit early don't you think?".

"I told you I'd start taking some shifts off.. remember what we talked about?". And from the way their eyes darted towards me before flipping back towards each other I could tell that whatever they talked about involved the name 'Esmé'.

"Okay kiddos! It's 6:50, let's rock and roll", dad announces, grabbing his brief case and giving Angelica a kiss-goodbye.

Melanie, Justin, and I all made our way to the front door. Dad gave Melanie a kiss on the forehead before dapping up Justin then finally moving towards me.

He tried to give me a hug but I stop him with a shake of my head and follow the other two out the door.

We made it to Justin's red convertible, Melanie starting to open the door to the passenger side but Justin stops her before she can.

"Mel get in the back".

The young girl looks up at him with puffy cheeks, "What why?".

"Oldest are in the front remember? Dad's rule".

"That rule is stupid we don't even follow it half the time".

"Doesn't matter", Justin states with a shake of his head, "You're the youngest".

"That's not fair! I'm only a year younger than you two—".

I watched between the siblings the argument unfold before I decided to cut them off, "I can sit in the back", I open the door and slide inside.

Justin and Melanie look at each other before Melanie smirks and opens the passenger door.

"Whatever", Justin grumbles as he slides inside his car and turns on the ignition.

The entire ride I popped my headphones in and listen to some gospel music instead of the weird rap Justin had on. It distracted me as we drove to the school. Melanie sprayed about a thousand tons of perfume on, claiming it was for her boyfriend or her crush or something— I spaced out half the time. Whatever it was it was burning my nose.

See Melanie was everything I hated in girls my age, she was loud, obnoxious and only cared about her looks. She never focused on school so how she was still in it surprised me. The fact that I had to call her my step sister was something I don't ever think I'll be used to. But I had to admit she was one of the most prettiest girls at our school.

Even before dad met Angelica I knew who Melanie was. Her brown locs, light skin, and deep brown eyes held the attention of many guys. She always dressed in luxury brands and smelled sweet like cotton candy, now I can see why since she sprays so much of it on at 7 in the morning.

"We're here", Justin states, opening his door and slamming it close.

What is with him and slamming doors?

I fix my backpack over my shoulder before opening my door, watching as Melanie already huddles up with her clique and they walk towards the entrance of the school.

"Lincoln High school oh how I've missed you", I groan sarcastically as I shut the door behind me and make my way through the crowds of bystanders.

Our schedules are given to us via email so my face was burrowed in my phone as the bell rang. I look up and see the number to my first class and a smile paints my face as I walk a little faster.

But just as I need one more step to reach the door suddenly a body slams into mine. My feet lose their footing as my arms swing back and forth as I fall to the ground with a loud THUD.

"Ouch..", I grumble, rubbing my back as my face meet with the other body. But as my eyes meet one blue eye and and one brown, they suddenly widen.

"Tristan?".

The boy looks at me in shock but he quickly masks it and shakes his head, lifting to his feet. "Why don't you watch where you're going?".

He scowls before turning around and opening the door to the classroom I was trying to get to. I sat there confused, feeling all types of eyes on me. Some laughing. Some looking at me like I was crazy. I managed to find the strength to raise to my feet and hold my tears back.

"Ah Miss Poverly, so happy to see you decided to join us", states the teacher, Mr Alfonso, who had an aggravated grin on his face. I meet eyes with Tristan who was all the way in the back but once he sees me another scowl fall on his face and he looks down at the paper on his desk.

A few memeber of the class snicker as I find my assigned seat and immediately put my head down.

So much for good first impressions.

[the-firebird69]

Dirt Bike to Vintage Style Tracker Conversion

Just simply don't have to do this much work you just lower the suspension you paint the swing arm and put brackets on for new tank and voila and yeah don't forget to change the tires to Enduro and it's faster because it's lower and it's more or less a real street bike this is what he's talking about it's an easy conversion this guy makes it into a nightmare and his Trump and he's a fool

Thor Freya

Olympus

You're an airhead you have nothing and you're running around trying to get rid of whatever you have who cares I have an army and you don't see them good

Zues Hera

Where they at where are they stuff like that

Trump

There's no sense in telling you and who cares to tell you and why would I you're an insulate little child aren't you

Zues Hera

I didn't tell you you look vulnerable we tried everything and we can't do anything you know just sitting here saying stuff and getting hurt everyday yeah we don't know that

Trump

of course you don't know that you're stupid

Zues Hera

Leave me alone Trump you f****** moron anybody can do the conversion you make it into this huge f****** deal because you don't want people to do anything and we need armies of people and you're just sitting there cutting us down cuz you're stupid you don't have the AI man we got to get you out of here he's right this is ridiculous he keeps doing it look it's like 300 times on this one and it should take once one time this guy is a buffoon and he's rooting your entire race of the warlock and he doesn't care at all because he is a complete dead man now what does it take okay I'm going to do this every day a million times a day this is what the assholes think and we have to do this conversion but this is what the assholes think okay you see how it goes right no he's not just exposing the fact that he's a dick head. So now I see what you're saying it's more useful than useful and yeah we sort of get that

Woody

Olympus

[mysticdragon3md3]

🐼🫖☔🌊🥋

One thing I hope for the Ranma 1/2 anime remake is to drop out all the filler. People forget, but before Naruto and Bleach, Ranma 1/2 was the poster child of filler episodes. Not only would they have entire filler episodes, but they'd take short manga stories and pad them out with less interesting B Plots. Like, I love Ryouga, but that whole "Akane helping him study" wasn't in the manga story about "Akane fighting in her sleep". Takahashi's storytelling is so tight, that many times, the filler in Ranma 1/2 just ruined perfectly good manga-based anime episodes.

One of the biggest problems is that Takahashi specializes in short stories, but anime adaptation needs more material to prevent exceeding their source manga. Most of her manga were either anthologies of short stories (Rumic Theater, Rumic World), or were long-running series that functioned almost like a collection of short stories. This is why Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Mermaid Saga, and I think maybe Rinne were more episodic than focused on a serialized-style overarching plot. This was also why Inuyasha was such a switch, and even Inuyasha still felt like a collection of episodic incidents during the series' beginning. When Takahashi's series got their first anime adaptation, Urusei Yatsura had episodes less than 15 minutes. Each "30min" episode would be 2 stories. And I think this type of adaptation works best for Takahashi's series. Back in the day, it was standard for anime to write anime-only, "filler". But now that the current anime industry is more open to giving anime series a mid-season break, to give the manga time to catch up, or they'll actually wait for the manga to finish before starting the anime adaptation, I have more hope that a new adaptation of Ranma 1/2 will have the opportunity to stay truer to Takahashi's original pacing. Even her choices of when to insert humorous, side story type plots, interrupting multiple chapters of overarching plot drama, felt like masterfully tactical choices, of when to provide relief and when to know how long higher drama storylines should go. I don't know about everyone else, but I enjoyed the short manga chapters of humor, after something heavy happened for multiple chapters in Inuyasha. But those short reprieves of humor worked because they were short. I could feel the friction, when the Inuyasha anime tried to make these short-reprieve, short stories longer than they needed to be. When anime adaptations veer away from Takahashi's pacing, they noticeably suffer. Takahashi writes a lot of short stories, so her storytelling style is extremely efficient. There is no "fat" and everything, even the seemingly wandering side incidents all have a purpose. Sometimes, in my opinion, an anime episode based on her manga doesn't need to be a full half hour (~22min). Sometimes they work best as anime shorts, just like her short story styled manga. Please let this next Ranma 1/2 anime have shorter episodes, when they need to be.

The thing I didn't like about the original anime adaptation of Ranma 1/2, was the pacing. I'm not just talking about overall storytelling structure. I mean moment-to-moment during individual scenes. At the time, I thought maybe this was a more Japanese sense of humor to "sit on" things. But by now, "awkward silence" has become a very popular type of humor in the West. And I think I just don't like it. But besides me personally enjoying faster, more Animaniacs-styled humor (that I grew up on), I suspect that Takahashi meant for her jokes to be very fast too.

When I read the Ranma 1/2 manga, it gives me the sense that the pacing should be faster. And yes, there's a certain amount of subjective pacing that goes into reading manga, individual to each reader. But Takahashi often does these jokes where she will redraw an ENTIRE panel, changing only the one part that's meant to be a joke. The way human eyes/brains work, our attentions tend to glaze over things we've seen before, and take more note of things that are now different than they previously were. So the eye registers all that repeated background information incredibly quickly or barely at all, because it's not worth re-analyzing. That means, the eye goes immediately to the new information, which is usually a gag. When the paneling of a comic facilitates such quick comprehension of one moment to another, I can only assume that there was intentional fast pacing. So I believe most of Takahashi's jokes are fast paced. She also often draws these highly exaggerated, melodramatic poses/scenes/atmosphere, so that the contrast of the later joke panel (where Ranma or Akane refuse to take other characters' melodrama seriously) is instantly jarring. There's no build up to make the sudden change in tone make sense. There's no build up to make Ranma's/Akane's humorous reactions seem predictably aligned with the tone that was just happening beforehand. The joke is that Ranma's/Akane's reactions are jarring, sudden, and I think fast. The humor was often like this, so I can only assume that Takahashi's sense of humor is supposed to be using fast delivery.

So many times, I thought a joke or a storyline from the anime adaptation would have worked better if the pacing was faster. And then I'd read the manga, and find it much more engaging. Or, I'd read that manga storyline first, then see the anime adaptation, and find it too slow. Again, I grew up on Animaniacs' quick sense of humor, so it'd believe it was just my subjective preferences. But so often, these drawn-out places in the anime, do not correspond to Takahashi drawing long panels of atmospheric environments, to intentionally slow the "reading" of a panel/scene. But Takahashi does know how to intentionally control how the readers' eyes drift across a panel. Lots of her manga have proven that she knows how to control the pacing, whether that's how the eye moves across panels, or how quickly stories wrap up. There are slow moments in Maison Ikkoku where 2 or 3 panels that extend from one side of the page to the other, covering the entire breath of a page, just to show how the light in the sky changes from night, to dawn, to daylight. And she will slow down the set-ups for jokes, with long, melodramatic weight, that gives a character only a small part of a panel, so that the panel can be mostly environmental space for the readers' eyes to linger through in silence. And that is often quickly contrasted with the quick cuts to a joke panel, where everything is so easily comprehended (there is no background or no background change for the eye to wander), that the eye has no choice but to comprehend the scene quickly, implying a sudden quick pacing. Takahashi knows how to slow down the pacing and how to control speeding it up. She has very intentional control over the pacing of her scenes. (Honestly, I think she has the best control in conveying information to readers. In almost 20 years of reading her manga, and over the course of multiple 10-year-long series, I only got confused in her panel transitions TWICE. After reading so much Shoujo manga, it's easy to recognize that is an impressive feat.) So when I see the anime adaptation going slow on corresponding manga panels that were read quickly, I can't help but think the anime director's pacing clashes with Takahashi's original intentions.

In short, I hope for a much tighter adaptation of Ranma 1/2. I feel like all those people who used to dismiss Ranma 1/2 could better experience the best of that series, if the anime would just keep the fat trimmed, instead of adding filler or slower pacing.

But also, I'd love to see an anime studio/director better emulate the serious, melodramatic, martial arts movies that Ranma 1/2 was parodying. A lot of the jokes from Ranma 1/2 come from these characters acting so serious and playing out martial arts movie tropes...only for Ranma or Akane to point out how stupid the situation actually is. LOL I always loved that. lol If we could get action scenes like Sunrise's Inuyasha, and serious, melodramatic tones for the joke set-ups, I think it would enhance the humor in Ranma 1/2.

[kiwikiwikiwisstuff]

3-1

(Rengoku, Uzui, Obanai and Shinazugawa followed the group of circus performers to the outskirts of the brothel, taking advantage of all the commotion of the fight. They looked towards the roofs and at least six of the ten young men, without their costumes and revealing their identity, running upstairs at full speed, so the four of them jumped up to chase them) Tsubame: (looking back, next to Ren and Hiroko, half annoyed but mocking) Tsk, did you fall out of the crib when you were born that you are stupid from birth or are you, Ren? Now we have that little group following us! Ren: the work they gave us now was boring and slow, we needed a little action, even if they are mortal, Tsubame~ Hiroko: I don't know why youtake it lightly, guys, demon slayers and high-ranking people are following us, what a nuisance! Tsubame: Shhh… not everyone knows the existence of that, Hiroko Hiroko: Explain to me who the hell will listen to us if we're running on the roofs like it's nothing! Ren: (turning his head) HEY, IDIOTS! Are you following us for this?~ (he said in a sing-song voice, making the Hashiras even more furious) Shinazugawa: GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK, YOU SON OF A BITCH! Ren: Do you talk to your mother with that mouth? Shinazugawa: MY MOTHER IS DEAD, DAMN IT! Ren: (to the girls) Oops, this time I lost my bearings~ Uzui: (to Shinazugawa) Hey! It's still not your money ["At least he's helping me get my bag of money back"] Rengoku: keep up with him to reach them, there are only three in front. (Suddenly, Kaito, Enko and Yoru jumped next to the Hashiras, they were laughing at them and grinning)

Enko: Wow, wow~ What do we have here? People who were in the audience want more show? Kaito: What if the three of us fight, guys? It doesn't matter if they are one more, I'm sure we can Yoru: Kumiko gave the order that we should not fight anyone and unless we shed blood, Kaito Kaito: How boring… then we'll have to stop them Enko: But we can mess around without any problem~ Yoru: HEY, REN!! PASS IT ON!!

(Ren threw the bag of money at Yoru and together with Kaito and Enko they deviated between mocking laughter. The Hashiras began to chase them, already annoyed by the new boys next to them) Obanai: Give that back, motherfuckers. Enko: Oh~ excuse me, but my mom had an honorable job, how about yours, guys? Yoru: I couldn't tell you, I didn't know my mother. Kaito: At least mine too, how about yours, new guys? (laughs) YORU, HERE! (The boys separated and Yoru threw the bag to Kaito and had Uzui and Shinazugawa at his sides) Kaito: Wow, he's the guy who tried to flirt with Kumiko at tonight's show (his tone was mocking but jealous) Enko & Yoru: ["Are you seriously going to think about that while we have this chase?"] Shinazugawa: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Kaito: Oh, plus you have an attitude… strangely she likes guys like that, but the vacancy is filled Shinazugawa: SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE BAG Kaito: You should put a muzzle or something on your friend the mad dog (this time he was talking to Uzui) Uzui: (for the first time in all that time, his face lit up and he laughed) HAHAHAHA HE'S RIGHT THAT YOU LOOK LIKE A MAD DOG, SANEMI! (Kaito continued running and turned around, with the bag in hand and doing pirouettes to get away from the group faster and smiled at Uzui) Kaito: Well, I'm quite right~ Uzui: To be stealing from me, you have a very elegant and flamboyant style. Kaito: Oh well, thank you, it's part of the show to have grace, style and be handsome… but we're not stealing, we're borrowing Uzui: What? Kaito: God will provide~ ENKO! (he threw the bag to his friend and whistled)

Shinazugawa & Uzui: OH C'MON!

(Enko received the bag and laughed, behind her was Rengoku) Enko: I can't believe they're doing all this for a bag of money. Rengoku: It's my friend's money. Enko: Your boyfriend? Rengoku: MY FRIEND AND COMPANION Enko: It's just a couple of borrowed coins Rengoku: I don't care! Just by carrying out the act they would be considered criminals! Enko: (laughing out loud) Did you guys hear that? Now the law is officially looking for us but with demon hunters! (While his companions laughed, the Hashiras looked bewildered) Hashiras: How do you know who we are? Enko: Oh, it's a long story, like for a cup of tea or something else… Hey, Kaito! Did you call Toshio too? Kaito: I called everyone, Kumiko and the rest still don't show up (Quickly, about five monkeys and a falcon appeared next to each one, throwing each of the young rebels a sword guard, although they were very different from each other… Enko received a Masakari, but the material was not common and ordinary) Rengoku: (widening his eyes, he was stunned) nichirin katanas? A Nichirin Masakari? Enko: (grinning) That's right… you are not the only demon slayers in this chase~

[3daveprints]

This week's post is not as I expected, but I am excited to do it anyway. I had to disassemble my first printer (from 2018) to make way for the new one that is coming, and it seems like a good time to remember everything I lived with it (and that people do not make my same mistakes) and all the changes I made. Photos 1-3: My first printer was a Prusa i3 clone, super cheap, which as you can expect ... It wasn't a big deal. The structure was made of plywood and that added a lot of vibrations (Z-wobble for those who understand more) to the prints. I tried everything: printing parts to decouple the Z-axis, changing it... But in the end the most effective thing was to reinforce the structure. In 2020, while the confinement due to covid, I participated with my Ender in a project to make equipment for the protection of health personnel, and I decided to fix the Prusa, at that time inoperative, to go faster. That's when I added the iron bars to reinforce the structure, which is what worked. I used 1.5 kg of filament a day making visors, whose photo is lost on my Instagram account. As you can see, I chose blue as the main color for the Prusa, just as for the Ender I have red, because I like to have them decorated uniformly. The new printer will also be red, so it seems that I chose well having red as the basis of my logo. And well, also comment that two of the rods that are seen in the structure are the Z-axe of the printer itself, which I changed them for trapezoidal spindles (no, it did not bring them before, just as I put the union between axes and motor because the one it brought was a piece of shabby plastic). Photos 4-5: Some improvements I made separately. The first is a tensioner for the Y axis (the one it brought did not work) and the second is a guide for the filament I designed. Since the printer had nowhere to leave the filament coil, I had the holder for the coil on a shelf above the printer, and with the guidance I made sure it fell on the extruder. NASA technology, as you see. Photos 6-7: Here we enter electronics/electricity. First, a MOSFET that had to be put in at that time, because if you didn't put it the risk of the hot bed start a fire... Super safe everything. The second thing, as silly as it sounds, is that I put a switch on the printer. No, it did not bring one, the plug cables went directly to the power supply. There was one of the reasons why this printer was so cheap. Photos 8-9: The most observant people will have noticed that the printer does not have an extruder, since I did not use it after COVID, there came a time when I said "what if I transform it into a CNC machine?".  And so I did, attaching a Dremel-style rotary tool to it. I think I only used it for the smiley face testing if it worked, but hey, I have fun adapting the hardware and software. Photo 10: And finally... We say goodbye. I plan to reuse all the components for other things, that's why it doesn't taste so bad to disassemble it, but I do have good memories spending hours with this printer. Of course, as much as I have learned with it, I strongly recommend with this type of technology to inform yourself well in advance and invest a little more to make sure you have something in conditions. En español:

El post de esta semana no es como esperaba, pero me hace ilusión hacerlo igualmente. He tenido que desmontar mi primera impresora (de 2018) para dar paso a la nueva que está por llegar, y me parece un buen momento para recordar todo lo que viví con ella (y que la gente no cometa mis mismos errores) y todos los cambios que le hice.

Fotos 1-3: Mi primera impresora fue una Prusa i3 clónica, super baratilla, que como podéis esperar… No era gran cosa. La estructura era de contrachapado y eso añadía muuuchas vibraciones (wobble para quien entienda más) a las impresiones. Probé de todo: a imprimir piezas para desacoplar el eje Z, a cambiárselo… Pero al final lo más efectivo fue reforzar la estructura.

En 2020, en pleno confinamiento por el covid, participé con mi Ender en un proyecto para hacer equipamiento para protección del personal sanitario, y decidí apañar la prusa, en ese momento inoperativa, para ir más rápido. Fue entonces cuando le añadí las barras de hierro para reforzar la estructura, que fue lo que funcionó. Gastaba 1,5 kg de filamento al día haciendo viseras, cuya foto está por ahí perdida en mi cuenta de Instagram.

Como podéis apreciar, elegí el azul como color principal para la Prusa, igual que para la Ender tengo el rojo, porque me gusta tenerlas decoradas uniformemente. La nueva impresora también será roja, así que parece que elegí bien teniendo el color rojo como base de mi logo. Y bueno, comentar también que dos de las varillas que se ven en la estructura son los propios ejes de la impresora, que se los cambié por husillos trapezoidales (no, no traía de antes, igual que le puse yo la unión entre ejes y motor porque la que traía era un trozo de plástico cutre).

Fotos 4-5: Algunas mejoras que hice aparte. La primera es un tensor para el eje Y (el que traía no funcionaba) y la segunda es una guía para el filamento que me diseñé. Como la impresora no tenía donde dejar la bobina de filamento, tenía el soporte para la bobina en una estantería sobre la impresora, y con la guía me aseguraba de que cayese sobre el extrusor. Tecnología de la NASA, vamos.

Fotos 6-7: Aquí entramos en electrónica/electricidad. Primero, un MOSFET que había que poner por aquel entonces, porque si no corrías el riesgo de que la cama caliente echase a arder… Super seguro todo. Lo segundo, por tonto que parezca, es que le puse un interruptor a la impresora. Porque no, no traía, los cables del enchufe iban directamente pelados a la fuente de alimentación. Por algo era tan barata esta impresora.

Fotos 8-9: Las personas más observadoras se habrán dado cuenta de que la impresora no tiene extrusor, y es que como no la usaba después de lo del COVID, llegó un momento en el que dije “¿y si la transformo en una máquina CNC?”.  Y así lo hice, acoplándole una herramienta giratoria estilo Dremel. Creo que sólo la usé para la carita sonriente de prueba de si funcionaba, pero oye, ¿y lo bien que me lo pasé adaptando el hardware y el software?

Foto 10: Y finalmente… Decimos adiós. Pienso reaprovechar todos los componentes para otras cosas, por eso no me sabe tan mal desmontarla, pero sí que tengo buenos recuerdos echando horas con esta impresora. Eso sí, por mucho que haya aprendido con ella, recomiendo encarecidamente con este tipo de tecnologías informarse bien previamente e invertir un poquito más para asegurarse de tener algo en condiciones.