#if you don't see the point of musicals as an art form you will probably think wicked is '''objectively bad'''

[musical-chick-13]

Regarding the previous post, I think the way I approach trying to evaluate a piece of art is asking "Do I think the positive things I get out of it outweigh the parts of it that I don't like?" And when I call something a "guilty pleasure" song/show/book/piece of media/etc. it's really more in the sense of, "Given who I am as a person, the flaws I've found in this should be complete dealbreakers for me, but somehow they aren't, and it makes me feel like I'm having an identity crisis."

[wyvernspirit]

So after watching all of Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld in the past 2 days I've quite a bit to say

This show needed to be two seasons long, I feel half my critiques would probably not exist if it got the runtime it deserved

Kit had the most interesting character arc and was done the most dirty of everyone by the lack of runtime later in the season and also the characters around him??? Can everyone stop treating Kit like shit for two seconds please??

I at multiple points went "God this feels like arcane levels of Greek tragedy" so it has that going for it

If it has ended as a season 1 on episode 9 (I think? The episode where she's out on the field and Cheng revived his daughter then the portals are opened) it could have been a really solid set up for a season 2, but unfortunately the next final episodes feel incredibly jam-packed and rushed with no room to breathe

The music and fight scenes were arguably the best part of the show, there was some really interesting "camera" work too

I didn't like how Michael basically played with 3 girls feelings for the whole show, particularly sorry to girl from the last episode who doesn't even get a name as far as I can tell

(also the way he went "and Kit did you love him too??" as some kind of snap back to Jentry like HE DIDNT LITERALLY JUST DIE MICHAEL CAN YOU STFU FOR TWO SECONDS NOT THE TIME)

Michael kinda just sucked? Like I wanted to like him but he's very meh to me and I'm sorry but the reveal of him actually being really bad at the flute just, threw me off completely especially because instruments are expensive!! He didn't buy it on a whim, the whole thing is he's supposed to have this deep passion for music but like it's not really reflected at all?? There's not even any conversations between him and Jentry about music outside band tryouts

And him having powers I guess could have been set up for a season 2 but we end this season really conclusively? All the plot threads and character arcs wrapped up. Like if anything I could see a spin off with him maybe but- like I don't want one, I just could see that happening

Actually to go back a paragraph for a second, that's something the show does a few times where it drops these very sudden interests of the characters and pretends they had them all along?? Like Jentry and baton twirling, like come on wouldn't it have made more sense if she got sought out by the school dance team or something?? Or just have her main spirit fighting weapon be a baton!! Show her having genuine interest in that aspect of spirit fighting and then have it reflect later in school? Like why did these girls see a video of Jentry dancing and go "Hey she could probably baton twirl!" that makes no sense!

The animation was really great! More than that even, I love the art style and art direction this show has, it really gave me some major inspiration! I want to draw some fanart really badly!!

Okay this a major IN MY OPINION, low-key I think the show might have been more interesting if it was just set in Seoul for the whole time, I preferred Jentrys friends there, I much preferred the environments and the colours the art direction had in the setting of Seoul

I didn't really care for Texas in the show and It made the feelings of her later questioning if she should return or not be hollow to me the viewer, because I was like OF COURSE SHE SHOULD

Stella is a character I have complicated feelings on! I really did not care for the minuet of Michael's introduction at school her getting weighed down as just "the girlfriend" character and how Jentry wasn't allowed form a meaningful connection to her until after Michael and her broke up, hell Stella basically gets forgotten by the plot until the last 4ish episodes, and IN THOSE she's a REALLY fun and strong character! I love how she started learning seals and was such a a big part of them winning that final fight at the school, which frankly I don't think she gets enough credit for

And while I find her blushing at Jentrys other friend cute it just makes me sigh because now I realize the show totally could have just done a "Fuck the boys" Jentry x Stella ship and I would have been totally down

Actually low-key I think my ideal is Kit and their Girlfriend Jentry and Jentrys Girlfriend Stella ((and I guess maybe Stella's boyfriend Michael if he got written better, but meh don't expect me to include him in the polycule if I ever write Fics/draw art for this show))

Also speaking of Kit god I would love them to be genderfluid or I guess it to be acknowledged? As queer and not just, because their a skin walker. Like you can read them that way because of them being a skin walker demon but like if it was acknowledged in the show after making Jentry's skin he experimented a little with how he looked as Kit and his sense of fashion and style!!

Idk I would have loved it, I have some strong feelings on how this show had hints of queerness but never actually acknowledged that queerness besides I guess Jentrys fake parents being like "So do you have a boyfriend?? ..or a girlfriend??" Which I mean, I guess, diversity win the cat spirits pretending to be your dead parents don't care if your gay!

I was very invested in the mysteries of the Chau family for the whole run I just wish that they had time to breathe, we went from one revelation to the next and each one hit just that little bit less because there was no down time given between them.

Okay overall though, it's going to be rotating in my mind like a microwave for the next two weeks I can tell

I don't know if it's strong enough to stick around as a major fixation but maybe a minor one where I occasionally get drawn back over the characters who had so much potential to me

I'd say a solid like 8/10

Yeah I know I just did all that whining and complaining

But I did genuinely enjoy most of the viewing experience and the ideas behind it

It was good, I think other people should give it a try, it deserves a lot more love and attention for sure

[afyrian]

line four - sampling desserts together m.list

    a large sign rests over the entrance of your local restaurant and bar, trellis tavern. backlighting illuminating the lettering. looking through the front doors, you don't see sakusa in sight. for a second, you look back at the parking lot your car is sitting in, wondering if this was a terrible idea. you barely know him, unsure of how he comes across outside of the workplace.

  and yet there'll always be that part of you that knows that the only way to save your show, is to get to know him better, break his walls. your tongue runs along your teeth, hand stuffed in your pocket while the other absentmindedly flips on and off the ringer of your phone. leaning towards the doors once more, you still don't see him.

  "sorry, parking was-" someone starts to say behind you, causing you to jump in your spot, pushing against the restaurant's outer wall, "horrendous..."

  turning around, you see sakusa standing there, his hands resting at his sides. your eyes are wide as your heart beats quickly in your chest, ringing forming in your ears. "you can't just- oh my god, you scared the living shit out of me," one of your hands comes up to your forehead, fingers running along your hairline.

  "sorry, was just trying to find parking," sakusa purses his lips, looking towards the restaurant, "we should probably see how long the wait is."

  assuming you'd follow him inside, he walks in briskly, his attitude to the point. narrowing your eyes, you wonder if he's this back and forth with everyone new or just you. especially after seeing him joke with atsumu in the break room. pushing open the restaurant's doors, you make your way in, listening to the soft music playing over the speakers. 

  there's a few people in front of him, leaving the two of you stand in silence. your gaze makes its way to him more than once, noticing little details about him and his appearance. like the beauty marks by his eyebrow and his hair that curls into a perfect pile above his head. or how he likes to look at certain things in the restaurant, the art, the people.

  he's quick to step up to the hostess, leaving space for you to join him, "we were wondering if you have any space for around twenty people tonight?"

  the hostess clears her throat upon hearing the request, her hands resting on the podium. "luckily for you, we have the event space that you could rent for a couple hours. the only issue is that we have an event going on currently that ends in around thirty minutes. if you could wait, we can send your phone a message and get you over here," her eyebrows raise as she realizes that they have the space available, knowing that they like to book a couple months out.

  writing down his number, you sway back and forth on the balls of your feet. "thank you..." sakusa nods, turning around to look at you, lips pursed, "and thank you for your good luck."

  "anytime," you wink, the action coming from a deep subconscious voice within, looking away from him, your nose scrunches up in disgust.

  "well we can grab a cake or two for the event, osamu has a food critic slash baker working at onigiri miya for the day. although, i think she's going to become more of a regular baker there," he maneuvers his body, walking around another customer waiting to talk to the hostess, a sly smile on his lips. 

  nodding softly, you can feel the excitement building as he starts to talk more. giving you information that only a close friend would be privy to. you can feel yourself smiling, your mouth turned into a soft crescent shape. following him down the street, you start to recognize the area. the pottery shop just a door down from onigiri miya, kiyoko's flower shop not too far away.

  sakusa opens the door for you, letting you enter the pristine restaurant. it's just how you remember it from your times visiting with atsumu. osamu stands by the cashier, the restaurant slowly dying down from what you assume to be a rather busy day with the offering of cake. he's leaning against the counter, talking to someone bringing another cake forward.

  her gaze quickly finds the two of you entering, giving osamu a wave before heading to the back. "so, the cakes seem to be a hit. you guys gonna make it a regular thing.. or?" sakusa crosses his arms in front of his chest, his smile still holding.

  osamu shakes his head, leaning back, "how about i just ask what you guys would like to eat? hi y/n, it's been awhile since i've seen you around here."

  "been ordering a lot online, if you see any getting ordered to the station it's usually me. but we're actually here to get some cake for the station's anniversary, twenty-five years. and we have to wait for the space to finish up," you nod, staring down the few cakes that the woman had brought forward, the decorations looking out of this world. 

  nodding his head, osamu grabs a serving knife, taking a couple slices and resting them on a plate. "take these, try them out, and i'll set aside a few cakes for you guys," he sets down the plate, grabbing a couple forks for the two of you to use.

  not passing on the offer of a free slice of cake, you happily take it. and with the atmosphere that onigiri miya garners, it's easy to be happy sitting in a corner table, looking out the windows. it's starting to get dark outside, the colorful hues in the sky starting to form as the days get shorter. shoving a fork into one of the slices, you take a bite, dwelling in the sweet aroma. 

  "so how'd you meet the miya brothers?"

  "i actually met them in secondary school, played volleyball against them. they were as insufferable as they are now, but as a team they were scary," sakusa takes a bite of the other slice, holding his fork up in the air as his elbow rests on the table, casually, "how'd you meet them?"

  "met atsumu at the station, when he was a writer for one of the fiction audio shows. don't even know how they hired him for a writing position, not with his... creative abilities," you laugh, knowing that writing was never gonna be where he ended up. 

  "when he somehow recommended me for a position there i was actually surprised he wasn't lying the whole time about this show he was gonna be on," sakusa shakes his head, using his fork to grab a piece from your slice.

  narrowing your eyes, you reach your fork down and take a piece from his. tasting it, you realize that this cake would be perfect for the event. and that, hopefully now, sakusa's seeing you as more than just a coworker. but as someone he could go to lunch with, rant about romance or life problems. "yeah i'm not surprised. so, i hope you're enjoying ‘talk it out’ as much as you liked ‘late night rebounds’,” you shrug, trying to come across as nonchalant.

  “yeah, it has been more enjoyable to hear about friends crushing on one another instead of relentless one night stands,” one of his hands scratch the back of his head, taking another bite.

  smiling, you finally feel like you’re breaking through his shell. that the pounding in your heart and ears stems from a new friendship that you’re brewing.

a/n: osamu’s ‘mystery’ friend is y/n from @/lale-txt’s soft launch :D taglist (open): @eggyrocks @causenessus @applepi25 @softpia @bakery-anon

@jadeoru @yessimo @lale-txt @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @sugacor3

@quikhs @todorokiskitten @mollyrolls @honeyfewr @pookiebearcave

@phoenix-eclipses @madiexuberant @kameyyy @cr4yolaas @asrichin

@bakugouswh0r3 @bakingcuriosity @zazathezaer

[genshinemblem564]

Genshin Isekai Headcanons

These can be sagau, but they don't have to be.

• Xinyan is stoked that you love her music, and is excited when you offer to play her some music from your world, but she's confused by some of the lyrics. She understands metaphorical lyrics, like the person described in the song isn't actually a rocket, but some of them don't make sense or feel like they were added just to fill a void. Aside from that, she kinda wants to perform some of these songs, now if only she had some band members.

• Tartaglia doesn't have much to say about the guns of your world. The pyro and hydro fatui agents already use guns of some kind, and the cryo fatui agent uses, um. What would you call an ice based flamethrower? No, what he's interested in is the immense amount of new weapons that Teyvat doesn't have, or they probably do, and we just don't hear about them. Like chain blades, I don't know what else to call them, essentially a flail, but instead of a mace, it's blade. I would write something about axes, but I feel like saving that for my crossover series. A scythe is often seen as a special lance, but you tell him that it's much more complicated than that specifically pointing out the blade, and depending on your own skill, you give him a demonstration. He is way too excited to learn all of these new weapons, like a kid excited about a new toy, you can't help but smile.

• Baizhu is perplexed when he first prescribes medicine to you, as you give him a list of allergies, if any, and are more than willing to go through proper examination to learn how resistant your body is to certain toxins. He's even more surprised when you tell him that his unique practice is actually common in your world, so that's why you don't bat an eye at potentially poisonous ingredients.

• Bennett is rather surprised. When you hang out, his bad luck seems to go away. It's actually just you using a bit of foresight, like checking the date on a flyer before rushing to a sale that had already ended, but seeing that glimmer in his eyes, you decide to let his imagination roam.

• You and Cyno are reference lords. You two reference everything, Cyno, his favorite book or book series, and you, your favorite media source. Now, if only people actually understood them, and yes, you do quote Yu-Gi-Oh when playing Genius Invokation.

• If you're an artist, then you quickly catch Albedo's attention. When he sees your drawings, he is quick to ask what you used as a muse, and your answer will have great impact on his reaction. If you point to an object or animal, his response will be normal. If you draw from memory though, he is astounded, especially if what you drew was a scene of some kind, with people, animals, or what have you. Drawing all that from memory is incredible. If you say it's something you made up, he'll compare it to when he's commissioned for his own art.

• Depending on your own interests, you'll be interacting with several different characters. I can't think of anything in depth for these few, so here's a general basis. Barbara is relieved that you're so open to different views. She knows how cruel people can be when they're closed-minded, and she's happy to teach you about the Church of Favonius and Barbatos. Noelle was lamenting not being a knight yet, which led you to bring up the seven chivalric virtues. Yae Miko and Xingqiu are very interested in the stories of your world. Xingqiu hoping to learn more about your worlds code of chivalry, but he ends up learning about justice's different forms. Yae is simply searching for new inspiration. She often calls on you when her old nemesis, writers block, appears. Nahida takes interest in you right away, wanting to gain knowledge from your world, and you seem fun. She knows better than anyone how dangerous knowledge can be, so she asks you to omit potentially dangerous subjects.

• Mona was shocked when you said that you only wanted to know the bad stuff coming your way, not that she could help you, with you being an outworlder and all. When she asked why, you told her "It's best to be prepared for all the bad coming your way, and if you know all the good coming your way, it takes away from life's natural wonder." Which was promptly followed by you asking "Where did that come from?"

___________________________________________

I'm thinking making more of that last one, like " Characters reaction to reader who is randomly philosophical" might need to work on the title a bit. Also, as stated above, these can be sagau, but can also be normal isekai, so I'll use both tags so they can be found more easily

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Hey students everywhere, I'm proud of you. You are so much more than enough.

Hey my maggots who're stuck in the education system right now. This is a long post but... but I know how many of you need to hear this, so please do. I just want you to know...

I'm proud of you. I'm so, so proud of you.

For continuing to survive in a system that's so bullshit that it can fail you at art, give you a grade for composing music, decide your seat in a medical college based on multiple choice questions about obscure ecology statistics (that are probably outdated), and decide whether or not you should study literature based on your summary of a pre-approved book.

I'm so proud of you.

i see you, I know you're exhausted, you're losing the love for subjects that were once your passion but now are ruined, you're burnt out and scared, you're studying things you don't even care about.

I know there are some of you who feel guilty even taking the time to read these words. I know, because I was there.

I'm proud of you for every second you spend doing the things you love, for every second you've spent trying so hard, for every second you've spent resting, for every second you've spent doing ridiculous things that made you smile and laugh and cry, for every second you studied and every second that you didn't, for every second you've spent wasting time because hey the point is that you lived that time and that's amazing in itself.

It's a fucked up system. It's broken and deeply flawed on every level, from the administration to the teaching to the budget to the students' mentality to the politics to the inclusivity... it's all fucked.

The more you recognise that, the closer you'll get to maybe realising that truth. That your talent and love for a subject, for an art form, for a branch of science or mathematics or a language, cannot possibly be measured in fucking numbers or alphabets from A to F.

The very idea is ridiculous, yet here we are, believing it.

Let's not anymore. It'll take a while to push it out of our head. But we can do it.

Yeah?

Tell yourself, and the people you know who are at any stage of education right now, all of this. It's not your fault. You're doing so well. I'm proud of you. So much of this is out of your control, with factors that shouldn't matter affecting your grade, with things happening that you can't help. So I'm proud of you. For being you and living. I'm sorry if you don't hear it enough, because you should.

I'm so, so proud of you.

[sanemisstalker]

I descend from yuri heaven with a message from god, she says you need to be hornier on main about women, she also requested Fem!reader x Mitsuri, not me I'm just a humble messanger it's god's will

Listen!!! Listennnnnn, I struggle to write about women because I get like, pussy mind fog. I think about vag, and I become a dumb slut, and it's impacts my writing so all of it sounds like I have my hand down my pants :'p

(Also I may or may not have a multi part Shinobu cuck thing in the works, you never know XP )

Regardless, my boss gave me a Victoria's Secret gift card for my birthday, and I'm very excited to use it, but you know who I'd loveeee to go bra shopping with???

:)

NSFW CW// FEM/AFAB/BREASTED READER/ Public sex / Implied Flashing / Dom/Sub dynamics / Ownership

"I don't think they'll have it in my size." Mitsuri fretted, running her hands over the baby doll piece in search of a tag. "I mean, look! These are all so small!" She groaned as she rustled toward the back of the wall.

The item was lace and string, all pillowy and pink, and you'd desecrate the world to see your loving girlfriend in such an item. With a sheer pink fabric split by a thick line, you knew all she'd be able to talk about, the entire time, would be the way it rubbed her.

You were doing your best not to wear your thoughts on your face or verbalize them. This wasn't a date, Mitsuri had pointed out. It was a girl's night out, but fuck were you praying it'd end with her legs around your head because this was torture.

It was your third lingerie store, and she'd purchased something in every. Single. One. Insisting that you not only help her get into each item, but that you help her take it off. The last five hours of your life had been an edging game the likes of which Satan himself couldn't conceive.

It was very easy for Mitsuri to conceive, though. After all, it was a punishment of sorts. You'd gone out clubbing and slutting without her while she rotted away on an art project, an unforgivable betrayal. You swore you only kissed girls while you were out, but that gave Mitsuri no peace of mind. Especially not when she'd gotten a call a day later with a rather unsavory tone.

This was intentional torture, even if it was really hard when you looked so cute and pliant, Mitsuri had reserved herself. She had made her intentions clear (to herself) and was going to stick to them, no matter how hard you whined or begged.

"Ah!" Mitsuri bounced. You swore your eyes were going to pop out of your sockets, and your uterus with them. "Perfect!" She plucked from closer to the back, revealing the full expanse of the abysmal amount of fabric.

"That's really cute." You croaked, doing your best to be girl friend and not girl friend. You resorted to biting your fingers as Mitsuri turned back to the racks. "Under or over?"

"If I pair it with that pink sweater dress I have, it'll probably look really cute over, but it might give me a back ache if im trying to dance." She worried. "I wouldn't want to wear a bra underneath, and if I don't wear a bra, I can't just wear the matching panties-"

'Fuck, she knows what she's doing.' The thought finally donned on you, and you felt sweat begin to form.

Mitsuri wasn't very... dominate. She wasn't predisposed to it, and you found when you asked, she wasn't necessarily the most... capable. She was a very gentle lover, but occasionally, she'd get this... look on her face.

The last time you'd seen it, you were at a fourth of july party with her friends, not yours. You'd laid eyes on her 'friend' Tengen, or rather he laid eyes on you, and while Mitsuri caught up, you and the man discussed... Music, probably, you couldn't remember. It was platonically intentioned, all things considered.

Though you and Mitsuri were quite open, she was... prone to bouts of jealousy. Just here and there. Nothing extreme, but her measures she would take in response were.

The night had ended with you by the bonfire, Tengen watching with one of his, apparently three, girlfriends, as Mitsuri had knocked you on your ass and fingered you open. She'd began probing you about whether or not you wanted his dick- wanted to be in his supposed harem of women. Obviously, since you were having such a chummy time with the man, that was your desire.

She wouldn't let up until you began sobbing, only capable of sputtering out her name and well meaning apologies. She told you to recall who you belonged to- The gap was so stunting you couldn't help but heed the advice.

And she had that look there, and she had it here, and it made your knees weak with remembrance. A thin smile that made you feel like a deer in wait, pulled over, low cast eyes like that of a lynx, and then her motions. The typical Mitsuri motions filled with grace and leisure had become sultry- deliberately tempting you at every turn and flex.

Oh, you realized, you were a fucking moron. A fucked fucking moron.

You, of course, couldn't remember your blatant sins. So when she got that call from Tengen, his voice intentionally goading and laugh particularly grating, Mitsuri gathered herself and decided today wasn't going to be a very good day...

For you, that is. She'd been reeling at the way you were looking at her all day, basking in the almost dopey, lost look on your face, and that insatiable stare. She had to hold back her giggles everytime you clenched your thighs together in search of reprieve. Had to keep her mouth shut when she'd intentionally grazed your nipple while holding up a bra to your chest. You'd nearly whimpered.

She was having a whale of a time with her own antics.

"You know, we should get you something. I've always wanted to go to a rave- and dress like those rave girls! They look super cool, don't you think?"

"The like- the like string bikini ones?" You sounded like you were on your fifth day through the Sahara, this you knew. You couldn't help it. The realization had made you all the more desperate, and the image of your girlfriend in even less?

"I think I'd just wear pasties, I don't know though; I might get a little shy." She'd giggle.

"What for? You're... you have nothing to be shy about." You wanted her. You needed her. She was being deliberately cruel, how exciting.

"You don't either!" Mitsuri rushed, feeling the urge to let up on you rear its head. She stomped it out quickly, thinking about Tengen's daunting tone. "Y-You know what we should do- we should get matching pieces, don't you think?" She posed.

"Matching?" You returned.

"Yes!" Mitsuri didn't give you time to process, instead dragging you to the other side of the racks.

There was slutty, and then there was string. Mitsuri had done herself a favor in picking out something that, though it left little to the imagination, still required a bit of maneuvering to get by-

The item she pulled off the rack for you would be gone in a snip. You couldn't even fathom what it was at first-

Thin strings, all that gathered to thin even further at your pussy, each nipple only garnered with a bow akin to that on the front of a pair of panties- nowhere near enough to even cover a fraction of your nipple- anything and everything would spill in such an item.

An icey, silver tear drop dangled where your clit would sit.

You gaped.

"This is so cute!" Mitsuri flushed, doing another unnecessary bounce.

"O-on me?" You stuttered.

"Of course! Come on! Let's go try them on!"

Mitsuri had you corned in the changing room in seconds, her intentions all too clear in the rush of her motions. With the strings and lace still swaying on the hook, The top you'd been wearing had been essentially ripped off, the sudden rush of cold air hardening your already stiff nipples.

"M-Mits-"

"Hm?" She interrupted, already tugging down your jeans. As you went to step out of them, Mitsuri grabbed your leg with a steel grip. You froze in place.

"B-baby, are you- are you mad at me?" You whispered.

"Mad? Oh honey, I'm not mad." Mitsuri assured. "Well, maybe a little peeved, but I'm not mad."

"What'd I- what'd I do?" She just giggled in response, the daunting noise going right to your pussy. "Baby, please tell me what i-"

"You remember Tengen, right?"

"T- what does this have to do with Tengen?"

"You remember," Mitsuri said, spinning you around. Her hands caught in the waist band of your panties and gave them a violent, exposing, and all too audible rippppppp, "Him and his girlfriends? How he had three of them?"

"Yeah-? I remember, yes." You clarified, fearing your unsure tone would drive her actions further. Mitsuri ripped further through your panties, exposing your wet inner thighs and begging cunt to her unforgiving eye.

"You remember when you went out the other night while I was slaving away over some wax pieces?"

"Y-yes- I- I didn't even see Tengen there, if that's what you're asking- I- I told you I only kissed some girls-"

"Did you stop and question... their names by any chance?"

"No- no I didnt."

"Well, I got the funniest call, Y/N!" She reasoned, slipping a hand between your legs, "Tengen rang me, oh you're dripping, he called me, and I got told something so funny."

"F-funny?"

"You actually made out with his girlfriends! All three of them! Isn't that funny?" Her tone made it inherently unfunny. You knew she found no comedic value in such a thing.

"I-I didn't mean to do th-that."

The fitting room is silent as she ties on the sorry excuse for lingerie. It sits uncomfortably on your exposed nipples, clit now bedazzled and starring at you- almost like a target. Mitsuri stands behind you in the mirror, face presenting warm but feeling cold.

"So Tengen calls me-" Two fingers jam into your core. A pain rockets up your cunt that makes your legs threaten to give out. You can't stop the yelp, even with your hands flying up to your lips.

"He- he did?"

"He calls me, and starts saying how he's having all these indirect kisses with you, and, I don't know, Y/N-" Her fingers are brutal, complete negligence of your clit driving small whimpers from your throat with each push. "I just don't know why that makes me so upset!"

She knew exactly why it made her upset, but she wanted to hear you say it. You know she did, but talking was hard when she was practically fucking you open- and infront of yourself nonetheless.

"I-I shouldn--- ngh--- ah! I should- fuck, Mi-mitsuri p- princess, please-" Mitsuri's heart swelled at the name. She pouted a bit and slowed her assault. Even granting you the gentle graze of her thumb over your peaking clit. How kind.

"What was that? Say it again?"

"I shouldn't've- I should've stayed in with you! I'm sorry, I'm so sorr- ngh!" Mitsuri stood abruptly, her fingers still tucked in your clenching pussy. She hoisted one of your legs with her. You struggled for a moment, before she took to pining you to the mirror of the dressing room.

Her fingers began another rush, your legs jolting out in response... because this time she wasn't ignoring your clit. Every bit of muscle she had in her fingers was set on rubbing your nub and fucking you deep. The teardrop shuddered with each thrust.

You were losing vision- losing the sight of her behind you-

"You should apologize for being a complete slut." She added, voice becoming all stomach, no throat. Her cherry pink braids sat atop your shoulders, ends pressed between your tits and the mirror. Mitsuri's flesh was thick and consuming- plush yet intimidating.

It was times like this where you were reminded that Mitsuri could do whatever she wanted to you, whenever she so pleased. Times like this when you remembered that, no matter how many people you kissed, you belonged to somebody.

You were really happy about that, in a weird way. Your pussy was especially happy- Even if it was proving more than difficult to fill her requests at a socially acceptable noise level for a fitting room.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm a slu- nghh! I'm sorry I'm a slut!" You tried to whisper, failing tremendously and sounding so much like the thing you were apologizing for being. The position you'd be splayed in had completely freed your breasts from their miniscule confines. Your warm nipples rubbed against the cold glass-

The build bubbled in your stomach. Thin fingers threaded your hair. A quick spin of her wrist formed a leash. You were yanked back only far enough to see the full expanse of your face- of your pussy getting ruined by her fingers.

The sight of it pushed you over the edge. Mitsuri's fingers worked gushes of cum from your pussy. With one ankle still locked in your pants, you shivered as your cum ran down- wetting the fabric.

You twitched against the mirror. Mitsuri dropped your leg and moved to your waist.

You whimpered as she pulled your pants up over the lingerie. The fabric was drenched- you'd been insanely loud. Even as Mitsuri pulled your top back on, the bows were so present through the miniscule fabric of your shirt-

You were a slut.

As Mitsuri guided you to the cashier with her arm around your waist, you turned blood red.

"Princess, I c-"

"Hi! Did you all-" The cashiers words cut off immediately, seeing the state you're in. Her face paled, and she lost control of her eyes. She took in everything- From the way your nipples stood at high alert, to your deerish way of walking in your came on jeans-

"Everything is great! She'd going to wear it out if that's alright?" Mitsuri pushed you forward, the tag for the strings just barely hanging out the side of your jeans.

With hesitance, the cashier, who already held the scanner, scanned the item. Mitsuri handed her the lingerie she'd picked out for herself, and as the seond item rang up, her face dropped further.

"We-we're actually having a two for one s-sale. So you can- go and pick something else out for free, if you'd like."

You looked over to Mitsuri, whose eyes grew wide with a joy only predators could experience. You swore you felt your ovaries shake at the sight.

Her hand found perch on the band of your wet jeans-

"Oh! Do you have this one in pink?-"

[grungeprincess2]

Kurt Cobain Quotes

1. I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

2. Practice makes perfect, but nobody's perfect, so why practice?

3. Friends are nothing but a known enemy.

4. Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.

5. If my eyes could show my soul, everyone would cry when they saw me smile.

6. I am definitely a feminist. I'm f--king disgusted by the way women are still treated. It's 1993 and some people still think we're in 1950s. We need to make more progress. There needs to be more female musicians, more female artists, more female writers. Everything is dominated by f--king males and I'm sick of it!

7. Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.

8. Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with with your self-esteem. They're no good at all.

9. We're so trendy we can't even escape ourselves.

10. I definitely feel closer to the feminine side of the human being than I do the male - or the American idea of what a male is supposed to be. Just watch a beer commercial and you'll see what I mean.

11. I mean, I’m definitely gay in spirit, and I probably could be bisexual. But I’m married, and I’m more attracted to Courtney [Love] than I ever have been toward a person, so there’s no point in trying to sow my oats at this point. [Laughs] If I wouldn't have found Courtney, I probably would have carried on with a bisexual lifestyle.

12. Ever since the beginning of rock and roll, there's been an Axl Rose. And it's just boring. It's totally boring to me.

13. I thought I would try to be gay for a while, but I'm just more sexually attracted to women. But I'm really glad that I found a few gay friends, because it totally saved me from becoming a monk or something.

14. If any of you, in any way, hate homosexuals, people of a different color or women, please do this one favor for us—leave us the fuck alone. Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records.

15. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.

16. The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.

17. We’re not as popular as everyone thinks, and we’re not as rich as everyone thinks.

18. There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life.

19. Punk is musical freedom. It’s saying, doing, and playing what you want.

20. Words suck. I mean, everything has been said. Words aren’t as important as the energy derived from music, especially live.

21. I'm a spokesman for myself. It just so happens that there's a bunch of people that are concerned with what I have to say. I find that frightening at times because I'm just as confused as most people. I don't have the answers for anything.

22. Holding my baby is the best drug in the world.

23. No one is afraid of heights, they’re afraid of falling down. No one is afraid of saying I love you, they’re afraid of the answer.

24. I use bits and pieces of others’ personalities to form my own.

25. If you die you're completely happy and your soul somewhere lives on. I'm not afraid of dying. Total peace after death, becoming someone else is the best hope I've got.

26. I just can’t believe anyone would start a band just to make the scene and be cool and have chicks. I just can’t believe it.

27. To be positive at all times is to ignore all that is important, sacred and valuable. To be negative at all times is to be threatened by ridiculousness and instant discredibility.

28. You can’t buy happiness.

30. Nobody dies a virgin. Life f***s us all.

31. Music is energy. A mood, atmosphere. Feeling.

33. If you’re really a mean person you’re going to come back as a fly and eat poop.

34. There’s good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much, so much that it makes me feel too f****** sad.

35. I have to admit I’ve found myself doing the same things that a lot of other rock stars do or are forced to do. Which is not being able to respond to mail, not being able to keep up on current music, and I’m pretty much locked away a lot. The outside world is pretty foreign to me.

36. I really miss being able to blend in with people.

37. It’s better to burn out than fade away.

38. God is gay

[empresskadia]

Hear me out:

If you're dating a Spartan, they're more than likely used to you as a member of active military, right? They're so used to you being a soldier that they tend to forget that before them, before the war, you were someone else. Like, Linda finding out you were a pianist, or Kelly finding out you were a gardener, or Naomi finding out you were in art school. Something like that.

OKAY I'M HAVING A FANGIRL MOMENT BECAUSE THE CHARACTER I HAVE IN MY HEAD WITH NAOMI IS AN ARTIST AND YOU READ MY MIND AND I'M SCREAMING

anyways-

I'm excited you brought this up and this whole prompt, because the Spartans would be more used to a more active military partner, whether it's being a Marine, ODST, a Spartan-IV, Scientist, Engineer, etc. They used to you fighting in a war, Spartans are antisocial by nature, so they most likely wouldn't hang out with your friends or other teammates, and most other branches of the Military view Spartans in awe, so they most likely never see you in a "normal" environment until way later on.

I'm sure they know you have hobbies, they've heard you talk about them and the Spartans delight in it for you but they've never seen you doing them. Most of the Spartans probably never thought of who their partner was before them.

So they are always pleasantly surprised to find out new things about their S/o, like, Linda would be scouting the ship looking for her partner after a mission, more likely than not, she's never heard someone play the piano before in person, sure, Deja played them music as children but Linda had never seen someone play in-person before, she didn't even know the Infinity had a piano. Imagine her surprise when she enters the empty bar and finds her partner lost in their own world playing a random song that might have significance to them. When you finish the song, she wants to hear it again, scaring you half to death when she silently appears at your side, "What song was that? Will you play it again for me?"

Or, Kelly going for a run around the Infinity's memorial park one early morning, say, maybe after breakfast, she knew you had plans after eating with Blue team. She respects her partner's space, choosing not to pry and going on with her business, of course, Kelly can spot her partner a mile away, it's second nature for her at this point. So when she sees you digging in the ground with flower pots all around, she goes to investigate. Her shadow towers over your hunch-over form and you just give her a smile over your shoulder before going back to business. Kelly observes for a while, remembering a conversation in which her partner said something about growing a garden again. "Is this what you mean by 'green thumb'? I don't think these flowers grow tomatoes."

Or, one night, Naomi finds you, Mal, Vaz, Dev, and Phillips, all slightly intoxicated in the staff room, chatting away about life before entering the military while her partner is tapping away at a datapad with a stylus. She's seen you use it before, assuming you were working on reports or reading in-time information. Naomi is about ready to drag her partner away before you've had too much when you start talking about a boarding school on earth that your parents sent you to before the war started, an art academy. Dev leans over, and gaps at the datapad before ripping it out of your hands to show the table and Naomi has to blink before she registers the sketches. Most of them were of...her? Different angles, her expressions that she often shows to you, some were even in armor and you had gotten all the pieces drawn correctly. There was one of BB, and the whole crew, another one of a previous unit you've served in and the last one was her laughing with stars and hearts drawn around her, the words 'the love of my life." written above her head.

I can even assume that John's heard his partner hum melodies, never a full song but humming to yourself while working on a project or even getting ready for bed. He's never questioned it, it's something you always did, he's aware some of the tunes you hum are from your grandmother. What he didn't expect was to return from a mission and being unable to find his S/o for a while until Roland directed him to the Infinity's bar, saying the Spartan-IVs convinced you to perform. It's your voice he's aware of first before seeing his partner on the small stage, singing away like nothing else mattered around you. John isn't surprised when you notice him right away after giving a bow as the room fills with cheers and 'encores'. You both slip away from the area knowing this wasn't John's crowd to be around. "I didn't know that was a song. Or that you sang."

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 8/20/2024

a little light this week bc i had a fairly wretched week, medically speaking

listening

hozier's nobody's soldier would have been on every 8tracks mix for every character. THEEEEE blorbo song of all time to the point i am already annoyed at the thought of seeing it on every spotify mix. fuckin owns tho. very fun mod sixties heist taste to the horn arrangement

-

reading

thank you philip.

polished off the Marauders (2019-2022) comics. i liked the first volume way more than these three-- they didn't quite deliver the same quality of art or swashbuckles-per-minute. also this was probably not a great choice for someone who has forgotten what little she once knew about the xmen, even though they came at the beginning of a reboot.

why did i read these? mostly bc they were readily available or with short wait times at my library and my bestie is making me watch all the xmen movies. a girl gets curious about comic books sometimes

surprisingly, i came across this one from the Pocket integration on the firefox new tabs

McDonald likens the functions of Spotify to Google Maps. “Google Maps doesn’t do the exploration for me, but it’s helpful if I go somewhere,” he says. Rather than taking us on guided tours, it provides the tools for us to navigate somewhere new. Much as it shows us what’s nearby and how to get there, and flags notable landmarks others have visited, Spotify helps us access most music, lists global listening trends, and introduces us to artists similar to those we already know. But it’s communities that help us home in on a destination Spotify can help us explore.

part two of breaking down infamous academic paper mill Hindawi and why it was bought by Wiley anyway bc they did seemingly no due diligence, bc as a whole they do very little actual work in the publishing process.

i have included a very long quote bc it is one of only two things that made me genuinely laugh out loud this week (the other was phil unsticking a claw from the couch by backflipping herself out)

One issue of Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing from 2022, edited mostly by Hamurabi Gamboa Rosales, took an average of about 20 days to go from initial submission to revision submission. This is not unlikely, it’s impossible. The easiest way to explain this is with an analogy. Say there’s a pothole outside your house, and you call the council. You tell them ‘there’s a big hole in the road outside my house!’ The person at the other end, rather than tiredly telling you to fill out a form - which is what councils do all over the world, in my experience - instead yells ‘MOTHER OF GOD! WE’RE RIGHT ON IT!’ Twenty minutes later, a bitumen truck comes HURTLING around the corner of your street at full send, with the road workers hanging out the back of it, the driver leaning on the horn and yelling ‘GET OUT OF THE WAY! POTHOLE!’ They pull up outside your house, and you see the brakes go hot. But the guys don’t even wait for it to stop, they jump off while it’s slowing down, and they grab pry bars and a burner and a kettle of bitumen, and they start hammering out the edges, pour the bitumen and start slamming it with hammers almost at the same time. In about six minutes, the hole is filled and flattened, and they admire their work for about four hundred milliseconds and SCREAM off the way they came. No sooner has the truck disappeared, then your phone rings - and it’s the council worker from before. ‘POTHOLE! *pant* *pant* FIXED! Happy to be of service!’ *click* That’s how likely the entire editorial process taking 20 days is.

-

watching

i don't understand why the third xmen movie isn't named x cubed. it extremely is not their last stand there are like a dozen more movies to go. gun to my head i could not tell you what happened in this one. whatsherface did look good as hell though

and now for the movie i actually want to talk about, Monkey Man (2024, dir. Patel). imdb says:

An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless.

i am so so so lucky that my favorite kind of fight scene — fast, brutal, right spaces with improvised weapons-- is fashionable. pour it DIRECTLY into my open mouth

i think i generally agree with a broad sweep of reviewers here when i tell you that this movie is gorgeous and grossnasty at the same time, there are a lot of ideas that aren't all quite resolved, and i am much more interested in why it has a hell of a lot of ideas (part of why they don't all get resolved).

patel's first movie, it feels very much like a movie of someone who isn't sure they'll be able to do another one, so throw everything you've got in here. a sort of famously rocky production and shoestring budget, but you would not know it. the club scenes are especially dripping in glitz and, like many stage productions, have a lot of clever editing and strategic deployment of mirrors and repeats. there's a fight scene with hanging mirrors near the end where the mirrors can't have been more than fifty bucks each but it looks SO fucking sick.

i am much more willing to go to bat for this movie and ignore some of the rough edges bc it is so refreshingly earnest, and despite the style references, is very focused on being its own thing. at some points it's going to feel like The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) bc every movie made in a post- The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) world is going to feel a little bit like The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis). or like when the above gif happened in the movie it did not make me want to turn it off and go watch the first john wick.

people who live in india or are part of the diaspora are a little cranky about the political parties of the film, which had to be neutered for release. while i don't think i would have grasped all the nuances even if we did have the original cut, i think it's likely some of the characters would have resolved a little cleaner if that original intent was still there.

why did i watch this? i think patel is easily as hot as tumblr darling mifune. while drafting this post i got distracted sooooooo many times trying to pick the perfect gif. some of them are too hot!!!

-

playing

fallow week

-

making

just stayin alive! just livin the fuckin dream!!!

[maopll]

May I request Trey, Rook, Azul and Jamil with a reader that's a goddess of all that flows (water, dance, music, etc)?

In your ethereal light

| twisted wonderland !

⌗:, you are the goddess revered by many. but when you have a special devotee all to yourself who never bats an eye to other deities? you feel so so special

⌗:, a/n: gotta be my favourite request. I have a hard time figuring out how to make my fics have that warm feeling. I really need to learn more words.

⌗:, characters: trey, rook, azul, jamil

⌗:, warning: none only fluff

,,you've always hid your original identity...you wanted to blend in with the realm where dieties like yourself don't exist. where everyone would visit you to spend time with you..not to worship you and ask for glory and prosperity and so one eventful meeting changes your life...

✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .

Trey found out about your identity in the most fairytale way possible. He knew something was different about you..the air around you maybe? he couldn't point. you were so sweet, so kind almost in a godlike way

He wanted to confront you about it but he was breathless when he found you, in all your glory in a lake near your dorm. You were on the surface of the water completely balancing yourself with who knows what magic. You were dancing freely without a care. the water was splashing around you.

he stood there. he knew it was rude to stare but he can't help it when you look so beautiful. you noticed his presence and softly called his name. at first he was going to apologise but his worries were soon forgotten when you asked him "did you like my dance?". he did. it would probably grow to become his favourite of all time but you might have to give him an answer as to how you were able to stand on top of water. you told him you were a goddess of all that flows. he was finally starting to piece everything together. you were quite scared to tell him about your original identity but no matter who you are he will always love you because he knows you love him equally as much.

˖ ݁ . ࿓ ˖ ݁ . ࿓

Rook had known something was different about you. You were so soft so gentle...just like a swift flowing stream of water. With you around he would call you with his usual petnames but sometimes he would just get his heart beating so fast with a lovestruck look in his eyes. As if he had just seen the fairest beauty.

He wasn't curious about your original identity. he just had a hunch you were more than the information about yourself you told him. so he just wanted to see what his little rabbit was doing in the middle if nights. Just how astonished he was, he was also quite enamored by your effortless swirls and taps of your feet against the water. As you were done dancing he emerged from the darkness while clapping. He asked you to continue as he loved the way how your dance was so regal. even beasts and birds came from somewhere to watch their goddess in all her beauty.

If he had to choose between loving hunting or loving your dance. He would without hesitation watch you dance once more if it means seeing you dance freely.

˖ ݁ . ࿓˖ ݁ . ࿓

Azul from the start saw that you took great enthusiasm with the landscape of the Octaniville dormitory as it was under water and you would be pleased by all forms of dance. There was nothing wrong with liking performing arts but your enthusiasm was of a master who was well versed in the

Now he was really invested he desperately wanted to know what secrets were you hiding. He was thinking of finding a way on how to make you say it but when he went to your table in the lounge he found you twirling water around your fingers as if they were threads. Flowers bloomed around your head making a wreath. He always found you beautiful and one of a kind but...right now your beauty looked unparalleled.

He gently asked what is it that you were making as a very soft smile hung on his face. You were embarrassed but told him that you were a goddess who can control water and flowers and also a goddess of dances as well.

He was really glad that you were able to tell him your secret and he would promise to keep it safe. He took it really naturally as if he already knew...which he kinda did but hearing it directly from you knowing that you trust him a lot has him bursting with happiness.

˖ ݁ . ࿓˖ ݁ . ࿓

Jamil had enough faith in you not to judge you or question you. He loved you and if you ever had any secrets that you couldn't share with him at the moment, he would wait until you feel comfortable.

But even he can run out of patience. Although he knew it was rude of him to truly ask about whatever you were hiding from him, curiosity got the better of him. He asked you one night when you two were watching the stars from the open grounds. You never expected that he would have understood that you were hiding something but...a secret can't be hidden forever.

So instead of telling him you decided to show him what you are. He was enchanted. Your gently yet passionate dance with little swirls of water forming underneath you feet as you maneuver them carefully as if they were silk. You looked like the pole star under the starry impressions. So bright, so beautiful

You ended you perfect presentation of what you were by extending a little bouquet of flowers to him. Yeah he definitely knows that you are the one and only goddess of all that flows.

His heart did race a bit when he processed that he was the one true lover of a goddess. Then he must give you love equal to what a deity such as yourself must receive

I'm already in physical and mental pain I'm feeling from all the studies of grade 9. I'm dying

[goodluckclove]

A Meandering Ramble on AI Art Because I Have a Cold and I'm here to Hopefully Not Start an Argument.

Okay, so I had someone comment on some post I made about writing advice that causes shame, and they decided to add the clarification that my words didn't apply to people who use AI in their writing. I responded, mainly saying that I saw their point, but that I'd say shaming someone who uses AI in any fashion is far more likely to just get that person to double down. They seemed annoyed by me saying this for a variety of reasons. I blocked them because if someone says "it's not my job to educate" it's rarely an earned perspective and it only reminds me how it's not my job to have a conversation with them.

It is my job to make too-long essays about things to help me process thoughts in a way other people might find interesting. So for your consideration I have a sort of wandering, cough-syrup addled Think Piece about AI art that is not pro-GenAI, but also doesn't just say fuck AI and fuck anyone who uses it because that is also wrong. I have a ton of links that I'm hoping are right, as well as a ton of outsider/folk artists, as well as a few AI artists I think are great.

Also there's a drawing of Link I did. He's nude. There's no dick but it's still very bad. He's either about to eat trash off the ground or he's screaming at a bit of hot dog.

Enjoy???

I mean I get it. I'm also easily aggravated by the type of person who is staunchly, aggressively defensive over Generative AI tools. They might be the kind to talk about the "democratization of art" and how genAI means anyone can be an artist. This line of thinking makes me very angry - not because I don't think anyone can be an artist, but because the fact that so many have been sold on needing some Big Tech start up to make that happen is infuriating. Anyone can already be an artist.

Anyone can be an artist. Anyone. Anyone can be an artist! This has been a case for a long, long time.

I get the sort of novelty of image and text generators. I'll go ahead and say what other writers might be unwilling to admit - if there was a provably ethical LLM I would absolutely love to collaborate on it for a project. The ethics of a lot of genAI is debatable - truly coasting on legal gray areas and hidden opt-out buttons - but it's enough that I'm not into it. Even without the practices of OpenAI, a company where every headline I see around it makes them sound comically sketchy. A lot of the reasons why I wouldn't collaborate with an LLM as they are now are the same things that would keep me from collaborating with another human writer (Maybe stealing, almost certainly wrong about potentially important things, loved by Elon Musk, ect.).

But I don't see myself ever using a genAI to do the entirety of any of the writing process for me - because I enjoy writing. I've been doing it for a long time now. I am objectively skilled enough that a select populous of people are willing to pay me for it on purpose, and since I find it fun and fulfilling I have yet to found a form of even minor automation that appeals to me.

But I also draw and paint, and I am far less skilled at that than I am at writing. I could certainly tweak at various Midjourney prompts to create something visually cool, but if I did that I'd be robbing myself the joy that came from trying to draw Link from Legend of Zelda from memory (he's either eating trash or lamenting his fallen lunch, I can't decide).

My wife saw this and their first note was that he "looks like the Grinch". Their second note was that his ass should be bigger. They also drew the fart cloud. Collaboration. This was the hardest I've laughed all day.

If you're a person who uses AI to help in art, or to do the entirety of image/writing/music creation - at this point you have to know the arguments against it. GenAI uses energy for each output - more for images than text, probably even more for videos. But so do tons of other things.

I did my best to research and calculate, and it seems like every 100 outputs of genAI images uses roughly .29 kWh, which is the rough equivalent of three hours of streaming video, running a Dyson vacuum cleaner for an hour, or using an average microwave for 10 minutes straight. It also uses water to cool the servers, right? A lot of water during a time of looming water scarcity across the globe. It's pretty likely that the water is being reused through a closed-loop system, meaning the 16 ounces that are spent for every 5-50 queries on ChatGPT aren't likely to go to waste. But with the exponential spike of data centers being built - some in parts of the country that require far more water to stay cool - that's still a pretty big water footprint. It does good, useful things for society and it's also used for crimes. This is true for most technology. But it seems, from what I've seen, that the parts of AI that are the most accessible to the public at large (GenAI mainly, run by a select major companies) are the ones most likely to be used for questionable purposes right around now.

But in all honesty I don't imagine a majority of people using genAI are using it for crime, or even deepfaked nudes. It's happening, but I imagine that's a loud minority. I don't even think most people using it to tout about being artists. I imagine most people just find it novel, or an accessible way to get into a craft that otherwise feels unavailable for them for whatever reason.

For a lot of people with no experience in forming any sort of creative practice, the concept of a machine that can fairly effectively mimic the styles of existing artists without their consent might come across as inconsequential. It might even get harder to find that understanding as you get deeper and deeper in the practice of genAI art - which, as far as I understand it, removes the creator entirely from developing an individual style.

When I say style in this point, I don't mean a completely original perspective free of any outside influence. I mean a combination of background, influence, and medium used that allows someone to recognize you in your work without you needing to say you made it. I know my writing is not entirely original. I can happily list what I've been influenced by. At the same time, I've heard a lot that people can tell my writing just on paper without my name attached at all. I believe there are ways to train a genAI to create an effect similar to this, but I'm also certain that it would require a technological influence that most people using the main programs out there don't have.

Because there's good AI Art. I'm not afraid to say it. There's AI art that I find super interesting and would pay money to see. Anna Ridler created a piece called "Mosaic Virus" that uses machine learning to generate a morphing video of tulips blooming that changes based on the market value of bitcoin. She created her own dataset. This rules and I love it. 1 the Road is an AI-written novel composed across a massive real-world road-trip by Ross Goodwin, a creative technologist. I won't call him a novelist - but neither would he. He did strap a surveillance camera on the car he drove, rigged it with a microphone and GPS, and put a shit ton of effort into something I will say sounds abstract and pretty rad.

The AI artists I think that don't really struggle to sell and exhibit and overall collect accolades for their work, from what I've seen, tend to be people who put a ton of effort into the structure of the AI itself. The artists who create from existing programs are limited by what that program is trained off of, unless they alter or edit their work after the fact.

And I know people who do the latter. My own view on how valid of a choice that is depends on the intent of the work, the meaning behind having the foundation be generated, and how you choose to credit it once it's done. In a lot of cases I just sort of tend to wonder why people think they need the machine to start at all.

I get it's hard to start making an individual piece. It's even harder to start making art at all, especially if you were taught to think somehow that you aren't a "naturally creative person". If that's you then I'm sorry, because that means you somehow internalized a pretty terrible lie.

We're a creative species. Just because it doesn't fit within the deeply narrow spectrum of Marketable, Blockbuster, Bestseller Creativity, doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile.

You can only draw stick figures? Great maybe you should give one of them a hat and then he'll be a Hat Guy. You can't even draw a straight line? Sick, sounds like these are going to be some Wiggly Stick Figures and at least one of them will have a hat. That rules.

You don't know what to write? What if a guy bought a new hat? What if the hat was cursed? What if the guy was Naruto? I don't know man I've taken a lot of cough syrup today and most of my suggestions are hat-based, I'm finding.

People might give you shit. They might give "constructive criticism" - a phrase I learned quickly that people online use very loosely. And that can be scary and discouraging. I'm not going to try and say you should do it anyway because it's the Ethically Right thing to do because I have seen the way some people treat newer artists and it made me so fucking grateful I didn't share really anything I did online until I was pretty settled in my own personal vibe.

But if you use genAI because you think it does something you can't otherwise do - you can do things too. And it might be worth trying sometimes, even if you never share it. You might think it's bad - but if you don't treat that like a failure of your character it doesn't feel as important.

Might I offer as example - my son, Fart Ass Trash Link?

My child. My legacy. My wife insisted that sometimes Link would go fully nude. I understand now that they were fucking with me.

[blue-thief]

oh the wonders of realizing due dates are actually farther than i expected

@marcsnuffy this is all basically just based off how this guy is made up of twelve billion contradictions esp when we're considering gender expression.

i've gone over this before, but he's the type of guy who would read dazai, dostoevsky, kafka, etc in a male manipulator kind of way. this type of guy also goes in hand with the type of guy who watches fight club, american psycho, etc with zero self awareness (i'm not much of a film nerd so i can't really speak about his taste in films specifically).

his dad probably had a collection of old films he worked on, and kaiser watched them all on some old cd or cassette player in hopes of finding some with his mom. even though his mom showed up in more dramatic films rather than tougher serious ones, these ones hold a special place in his heart. he's not in denial about this, but he never brings it up to anyone. around the time he was a tween, he snuck into a movie theatre to watch one of his mom's films.

i believe it was mentioned that his parents started off in theater, and once kaiser became rich enough, he took time to see live productions at least once a month. his goal is to catch up on shakespeare since he never got a chance to learn about him at school (i had to check r/askeurope to see if shakespeare is taught there 😭😭).

as much as it's funny to imagine hamilton fan kaiser, i don't think he'd be drawn to musicals that much. he doesn't mind them, but they aren't usually on his radar. he's considered going to the opera though. for the sake of affirming to himself that he's now financially stable.

he canonically reads psychology textbooks, and i think he has read jordan peterson's books. (SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP BECAUSE I HAVE PROBABLY WALKED ON THE SAME FLOOR AS JORDAN PETERSON ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS GET ME OUT OF HEERREEEEEE) i don't think he'd care or agree with jordan peterson but he definitely has read him, maybe even bought some of his works shudders he also read the dictator's handbook + the art of war and has used this in ways that are disastrous for everyone involved

beyond the dazai, dostoevsky, kafka, etc vibe, i don't think there's much fiction he'd be drawn to. at some point, he decided to check out f. scott key fitzgerald, saw jay gatsby, and went "he's just like me fr" (again, zero self awareness)

as for music, i think he would listen to three days grace in particular (i have listened to exactly ONE three days grace song and that is "i am machine" and all i could think was "he would listen to this /neg" then added it to my own liked songs playlist). he might have stumbled across panic! at the disco and he probably vibed pretty well with a fever you can't sweat out. he would not care for any other panic! at the disco album. he also wouldn't care for ryden so he wouldn't read throam. but i need this guy to somehow read throam because throam!ryan ross is literally him.

he probably heard primadonna girl by marina but didn't care at first. it wasn't until he accidentally stumbled across oh no that he was like "i need to listen to the rest of this". he only ended up caring for the family jewels and electra heart, and electra heart is more feminine than most things he would allow himself to listen to, but this is just his way of going "whoa look i'm a feminist i like women i'm listening to a woman and sings about woman stuff". relates to the persona of electra heart once again because AGAIN. THIS GUY HAS ZERO SELF AWARENESS 😭😭 HE NEVER REALIZES THE ART HE CONNECTS TO IS TELLING HIM THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE THE WAY THAT HE IS 😭😭😭

but yeah. electra heart is his limit to willingly admitting to feminine art but this guy is subconsciously drawn to taylor swift but more like in the sense that he's fascinated with her presence in the cultural zeitgeist. which is a strange form of being a swiftie, but his relationship with famous women is strange considering his relationship with his mother. if his mother got big enough that she worked with americans on american projects, there's a chance that she would talk about/be publicly acquainted with a lot of young famous women for the sake of white feminism yk. he consumes their art just through cultural osmosis but his understanding of their personal drama and stuff is weirdly detailed

also these are all totally definitely absolutely not examples of me projecting 😁😁 because i AM self aware and i am better than michael kaiser in every way possible 😁😁😁

[nerves-nebula]

Oh yeah i agree the way i framed it as good authors vs bad authors was a very reductive i usually try to stray from that sort of framing (i guess you cna call that a bad writing moment on my part), i was trying to see the whole "it breaks my immersion" critisims in good faith, because there are stories out there you're supposed to immerse yourself in but just sort of fail at that, but i do find like you said more often its a fault of the audiance for not being willing to immerse themselves to begin with, like how people nitpick the logic of a story when the logic of the story is already pretty loose and established to be that way.

Its a lack of trust in the author/the work, which leads me to go "well why are you even engaging with the work if you cant give it your basic trust"

Also, I do belive in story telling rules but not strictly like some people do, i just sort of use them as a guide line and as a way of figuring out why i like certain thinks in stories and why i dislike others (eg. "The reason these characters dont compell me is because all of their relationships revolve around the MC". Something like that isnt automatically bad, but I usually dont like it in stories and figuring out thats what is bothering me in a story is pretty helpful for my purposes of trying to understand what appeals to me)

Its like music theory, there are many rules and many ways to break them but that doesnt mean a song that breaks a bunch of those rules cant kick ass, not to mention these rules can vary a lot based on region and tradition, but knowing them can still be helpful in identifying why certain songs don't appeal to you (eg "the melody lacks structure and doesnt follow the beat/ the melody is too repetitive, never iterating on the original idea and settling on simply repeating it ad nauseum" neither of these things are inherently bad but help explain why I specifically don't like this theoretical song)

Also yeah i tend to center author intent a lot, seeing as i see story telling as a conversation between audiance and author, however i do understand how this view centers the author too much and leads people to build up an often false image of who they view the author to be (i mean, this phenomena is common enough that someone made a game about it with The Beginner's Guide).

I been on the side of the author myself of this conversation im positing fiction to be, with some of my work being misinterpreted in ways more intresting than i originally intended and others in ways less intresting (to me). It's simultaneously a delightful and frustrating experience, but i like it when people think of my work deeply regardless of what conclusion they come to, as long as theyre thinking, i find it very endearing

I think i place so much focus on authorital intent because art has always been a way for me to communicate and express my self since my earliest memories due to me having difficulties communicatig growing up due to varios factors, its why i get annoyed sometimes at people misinterpreting my work, wven if im glad theyre thinking about it at all, i feel like i failed at communicating, and it especially stings if im trying to communicate something inportant to me

Anyway its probably more productive view it as a conversion between the work and the audiance rather than between audiance and author, yknow, to prevent parasocial stuff forming

Also youre so real for that emotional whiplash thing, i dont think i ever seen that critisicm applied in a manner i agree with. I think i can see where people are coming from (maaaaaaybe theyre engaging with a work that flips between dark and comidic and feel that the impact of the dark parts dont hit as hard due to the comedic parts, which sometimes *is* the point but sometimes doesnt work well due to poor implementation (tho even that is subjective)) but like i feel there is a better way to word that critism rather than just calling it emotional whiplash, especially considering a lot of works of fiction use those qucik shifts in mood as a feature, not a bug

Also exsuese the mispelling, im very sleep depreived, and thank you for humouring my ramble to begin with

when i tell u this ask comes from a universe i no longer remember... technically a day ago but in my mind? years. decades.

also, i can tell we are both The Over Explainer cuz i already assumed like 80% of what you've said here based on what you've already told me. lmao. like, we have both played the beginners guide like, i get it

[operator-report]

i saw your radiohead post so what music do you think the travelers would have liked :)

thank you anon for this ask because it is the single best response i could have gotten from the radiohead post! sorry i took so long to answer but i wanted to give it some thought:

noelle: all jokes aside, i do stand by noelle listening to radiohead. in general i think she really likes sad dude alternative rock and indie, because it's alt and nerdy enough to fit her tastes, it validates the fact that she is going through it in high school, and, you know, noelle does have a pretty high tolerance for edgy-of-center guys who may or may not suck. the fact that the original car seat headrest twin fantasy came out in 2011 is honestly so sad because noelle got simurghed before she could hear it......... i think it would have helped her immensely

krouse: does a complete overhaul of his taste when he meets noelle, in conjunction with him getting good at games. i think krouse has a more pop-sounding version of noelle and luke's tastes, so he likes muse, the killers, etc. his annoying music opinion is that he will go to bat for coldplay and nickleback just to get a rise out of people. he genuinely likes coldplay but does not like nickleback.

marissa: some top 40 and singer-songwriter. marissa probably has the most "basic" taste, but i also think her taste is influenced by her experience as a dancer, so it's not bad taste! she's just not into the mopey stuff that noelle likes. i think mars likes rihanna and i also think she is the traveler who is most likely to be a swiftie. the band that unites noelle, mars, and jess is paramore.

jess: the traveler who probably cares most about music as an art form, as well as things like genre, etc. listens to art rock bands like yeah yeah yeahs. jess likes pop punk and pop emo, but will also firmly inform you that MCR is not emo. (this is an activity she and krouse like to do together.) i think jess has slowly been approaching getting into more DIY guitar music, like midwest emo and math rock, but, like noelle, tragedy struck before she could get there.

luke: pop punk, grunge, and other assorted varieties of Dude Music. luke likes green day, foo fighters, blink-182, and queens of the stone age. listens to a little kanye from time to time, which is a point of slight contention between him and mars, although i do think he is chill about the 2009 vmas.

oliver: i don't see oliver being super opinionated about the music he listens to, honestly, i think he just kind of goes with the group. you have never met a person who has less wanted to be on the aux. this is a guy who probably could have used linkin park but i think linkin park makes him too scared

cody: given how dedicated cody is to gaming, i think that he's the traveler who listens to the most video game soundtracks. he also listens to Epic Music mixes on youtube and a very small amount of tame nu metal

[marybeatriceofmodena]

I'm curious, do ppl hate Love Never Dies because they think Eristine is problematic and it's made canon in it, or is it due to something else? I havent watched it yet or anything but i like the vibes, lol

Heh... Love Never Dies has always been controversial at the very least? It came out at a time where Erik/Christine was still the most popular ship in the phandom - it still is, by the way. That didn't change despite a clear shift in fandom and ""problematic content"" around 2013, so a good 3 years after the musical came out. If anything, Raoul/Christine shippers have been a minority for most of the phandom's history, and both sides of the debate at some point more or less decided to agree to disagree (I mean, the homophobic slurs Raoul would get at times were starting to REALLY be in poor taste), except on the point that without the love triangle, there wouldn't be much of a story, and there are various ways of interpreting said love triangle. So, quite frankly, I don't understand why some people on either side are trying to restart discourse in the POTO fandom but I digress. And look, if you see people in the tags saying that Erik/Christine is problematic, they're probably new, and not really representative of the phandom at large. Anything having to do with Sierra Boggess is more controversial.

I really don't think the controversy stems from it making Erik and Christine bang and have a love child - I know there are some people who are against the idea of any kind of sequel, in fanfic form or otherwise, for a variety of reasons, but most of them were being responsible adults about it and didn't actively seek fanfic. As I mentioned before, a lot of folks were Erik/Christine shippers and thought that Christine was more into the Phantom than into Raoul, that's nothing new. But a lot of them also had issues with how LND dealt with it, for several reasons. It didn't come from an "anti" sentiment, it was very much them having issues with the material that was presented to them.

Raphael/phantoonsoftheopera (who is a long time fan of POTO) goes into more detail here and I think he sums up a lot of phans' thoughts back in 2010 when LND came out (whether they shipped the Phantom and Christine or not), and I think @musicalhell is another one who was also around at the time (feel free to pop in, and hope I'm not bothering you with the tag).

As for the rest, I wish I could defend ALW's choices here in the same way I'd defend Lana Wachowski for Matrix Resurrections - i.e. you're allowed to not like it but this is this creator's baby and they're allowed to do whatever they want with it, so let's all respect art for the sake of art here. But LND is very much a vanity project, as ALW has proven multiple times, that is mean-spirited to its core in various ways. For my fellow SW fans, it's the TROS to POTO'S TLJ. The cast and crew were treated in a really shitty way back in the original London production days, same with critics of the show, and there was even a case where a journalist and long time phan who provided a critical review of LND was demeaned in an article as some sort of sad housewife who was obsessed with POTO. Mind you, ALW has tried to make LND work FOR YEARS, with various productions and tours opening here and there, but it always underperforms. And mind you, the Eristine crowd is still hanging around, and POTO is doing extremely well whereever it goes to this day. If the Eristine content was good, the crowds would follow, "problématique" posts and tweets or not. They aren't there.

[ereyies]

i love your of mice and men oc. let me tell you i was scrolling thru the omam tag after reading that book for class because GOSH that ending destroyed me. bronwyn is so cute!!! and i love the ideas you have for her character and how she’d add onto the book. is there any more of your character that u thought of?? i’d love it hear it! ur art is stunning btw!!!

artists and writers are the backbone of dead fandoms. but i dont know if you could even call this fandom dead cuz i dont think it even had a life 💀

THANK YOU SO INCREDIBLY MUCH!!

this means the entire world to me you have no idea just how touched i am that you love my oc 💖 💖!! be VERY careful going through the of mice and men tag because unfortunately there are a LOT of nsfw bots!!

as for anything else relating to Bronwyn and her character, I don't have much else written/in mind other than that I have already shared other than maybe two things (copied and pasted from a document i made just to keep track of her lore):

Candy and Bronwyn probably wouldn't be close despite Candy having worked at the ranch for years. Not because of anything bad that happened between them, however I imagine that Candy was initially the main contributor to all the gossip said about her on the ranch and later on he learned she wasn't a bad person at all and just a lonely ill child, but by that point he had both immortalised her as a legend but condemned her from ever making real connections with people again. Knowing what he started and how he unintentionally isolated her and prevented her from being easily able to make friends with people on the ranch, the guilt would probably prevent him from forming any close connections with her.

I feel like if she were actually a character within the novel, her presence within the story would be similar to Andrey Bolkonsky in the musical Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 (brilliant but strange musical btw, if you're interested in musicals it's definitely worth a listen!!). She is this looming presence amongst all the characters, always being mentioned in passing during conversation, this figure that everyone is aware of yet never sees, never actually being present in person up until the very end.

Candy would probably be the reader's introduction to Bronwyn, since Candy is a known gossiper. She'd be this influence in the story but is never truly there. I'm not too sure how she'd be important if that were the case though? Perhaps she'd be a figure symbolic of a 'point of no return' for all the characters. They all have a dream that isn't totally impossible which they come very close to achieving, and could very well leave their situation, but Bronwyn never had a chance and can never truly escape, locked up just to be forgotten about. Maybe she'd be a warning of the terrible fate which Lennie would have faced if he had lived and been institutionalised.

ANYWAYS moving past all of that; i have only made very few drawings of Bronwyn since my last post talking about her (admittedly due to extreme art block). But I’ve mostly been brainstorming about Curley and Bronwyn, the similarities and differences between them, mostly differences. Here is some of my recent art:

I always love experimenting and playing around with my style, trying out new brushes, techniques and colours <33 The last isn’t exactly my favourite mostly because i was just getting a feel for how to draw Curley and had little to no references for the pose and so it looks a little stiff. But!! I made many notes for my ideas while I was doing the sketch:

Thank you once more for your ask!! It means the world to me <33 I was so embarrassed when I first made her and feared being called ‘cringe’ or that people wouldn’t like her or something else along those lines, but the reception so far has been nothing but positive and encouraging!! I definitely plan to make more art and potentially even write some short fanfics including her in the future!!

oh one final thing, i also made a spotify playlist for her!! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qrBhwqopc6KrC7RouFxOZ?si=GPudTv12S92QwBBXqxw0Bg&pi=khdpmOzjTfeQP

Thank you once more for being so kind <33 I hope you have the most wonderful day/evening/night!!