#it was very fun being apart of this zine!

[smolcatpilot]

Here's the two versions of my piece for the Laika's Comet zine!!

[istormortis]

A small glance at the piece I decided to do being apart of the @kizukizine2023 ! Had a lot of fun working on this piece and seeing everyone's pieces coming along, very glad to be apart of this experience! If you are interested the preorders for this zine are open! A link to the shop will be below; be sure to check out all the goodies and support the artists, writers, merch makers and mods that were apart of this lovely zine! :D By preordering you'll get to see all the wonderful work that was done for this, in addition to my little contribution of one of my favorite upper moons! https://kizukizine2023.bigcartel.com/

[seldomscilence16]

Can't believe i'm actually apart of a zine! Its been fun working with so many incredible people and seeing their amazing talent! The @sing-it-togetherzine mods have been awesome and I can't wait to see it all come together. Random snippets of my contribution below!

...

Branch had spent 20 years of his life stubbornly alone and dedicated to the hard work it took to keep himself- and the village- as safe as it could be. He rarely had time for breaks, though his routine was something he’s grown accustomed to, a system that worked for him and allowed him to be as prepared as he possibly could be. A system that was currently being uprooted and redone as his life as he knew it changed, as he had to try to adapt to new circumstances and being a part of a society again- Not that he was complaining!

At least, not out loud…

.

Grabbing his basket, forcing his legs to stop shaking, he heads up and out to find… berries? Yeah that sounded right, he would find the heck out of those berries…

.

“Usually we’re keeping others from bugging Branch about a party, a little ironic that we’re going to bug him about preparations for one.” Boom remarks idly, smiling slightly at the thought.

.

The very thought of Branch being in trouble, from predators or otherwise, felt like a stab to the heart.

.

Grandma comes closer and brushes a gentle hand over his forehead, a sad smile on her face-

.

“Not getting rid of us, that's for sure.” Hype agrees, “If Troll eating giants can’t keep us apart, I don’t think a few scars will either, yeah?”

[ghostwise]

Happy New Year, 2025 💖

In 2024 I started a new job and faced some changes with my health that are unfortunately life-long. But while the horrors persist, so do I. Friends, I hope you can find some comfort amidst the relentless passage of time. I hope joy and good health find you and the people in your life. I wish you love, creativity and fulfillment in 2025.

This year brought me a few new OCs which was fun to explore in art and writing! (Happy Birthday Zirahuén, Aya, and Lirio 🎂) I wrote over 50k words. I participated in the May Writing Challenge and was fortunate to participate in the Dragon Age Annual mini zine. I posted 4 chapters of Matacuervos, averaging an update every three months. My goal is to double that in the coming year. 🍀

My favorite piece this year was written for the Dragon Age Annual. It's a Garahel-centric fic based on this year's theme, Legacies, and the digital project is available for purchase here!

Thank you for sticking around! 🥹

Fic summary by month under the cut:

January :: the little deaths of Zirahuén Acendrar

“I wanted to come back here because this is the only safe place for us,” she says softly. “Safe from the Shadow-curse. Safe… from the blasphemous magic at the inn.” Her voice shakes for a moment, but she composes herself quickly, ending in a soft lilt. “Safe from it all. We can be apart from all of that here and just—”

Her breath catches and she looks away. A sharp twinge in her hand reminds her to watch herself, but as of late the pain is but a shade of what it had been in the past. A sign that she is getting closer to some revelation. To the truth.

She’s so close to figuring it out. Closer still for Zirahuén’s part in all this, whatever it may be.

Gods, it frightens her sometimes.

February :: [Job Transition Void]

March :: [Job Transition Void]

April :: kiss prompt

“I’ve proved—so changeable. Everything I ever claimed to be or believed to be true was false! At best I can claim ignorance. At worst, I am a liar and fickle as the moon—”

“Shadowheart, no one thinks that of you,” Zirahuén tells her earnestly. “You did something admirable. Our victory would have been impossible without you.”

“Silver linings,” Shadowheart says bitterly. “And believe me, I am glad for my deficits if they led to you being alive and well. But face facts, Zirahuén: I lived my whole life devoted to Shar, and threw it away in an instant. What’s left if I so easily threw away my whole identity? Who’s to say I won’t do this again? To our allies? To you?”

May :: playing with the other's hair while cuddling prompt

There is a cowlick behind Zirahuén’s left horn; a tuft of hair growing boldly in opposition of its counterparts. It hurts if brushed into shape, sensitive to any touch. Perhaps that is why it so often builds up with thick patches of psoriasis, which flake and crack and even bleed at times.

“Te curo,” Shadowheart whispers at it. The open wound closes up.

“That’s the best,” Zirahuén sighs, as the magic settles at the roots of her hair.

“Your scalp looks good,” Shadowheart says with a smile. “That was all of it. The rest is very clean.”

June :: matacuervos, ch. 4

The sun bore down like a dagger. They’d spent all day searching for leads, visiting brothels and orphanages across the city with the same story: that they were tracking down a long-lost relative.

It was not entirely a lie. Zevran felt a genuine kinship with the workers of Rialto’s brothels; they had raised him, after all, and just like anyone else in the city, they sought only to make a living, to raise enough coin to build a life. But they had few protections when things went wrong. A single misfortune—a death, an illness, or an arrest—was all it took. When children were involved, it spelled grim consequences.

They had yet to find any tangible evidence, but many of the brothels had reported curiously similar anecdotes: a generous donor, a charitable organization, or an anonymous do-gooder who arrived to adopt the forgotten children. The offer would come with uncanny timing, often just when it was needed most. And who could argue against one less mouth to feed?

July :: matacuervos, ch. 5

“The Crows pay you a pittance for their recruits. Do you know how many end up dead? Do you remember my friends?” He hissed. “I was the only survivor!”

“If—if that is true I am truly sorry.” She cringed, face wet with tears and spit. “It was not supposed to be this way. But I can help! I can find you the best lawyer in Antiva! You don’t need to hurt me! Please! I’m sorry I chased you off, I didn’t know why you were here!”

Zevran shook his head. “Why else would I be here?”

“I… I don’t-”

“What are you hiding from me?”

Her defenses had crumbled. She stared at her reflection in his blade, and took a breath.

“I processed the payment that undid your father, boy.”

August :: Ten Hours, Five Coppers - a Dragon Age Annual Zine fic!

Repairs are underway since the storm swept through our home. Believe it or not, shemlen visited yesterday, offering work. The pay is low, but regretfully I am considering the offer. A man cannot get by on goodwill and flour alone.

We’ve heard tell that the Circle is sending mages to help—in the shemlen cities that were affected. I understand the knight-commanders’ priorities. But we could use all the help we can get in the alienage.

And it would be agreeable to see you once more, sister.

September :: matacuervos, ch. 6

“What does it matter who you deal with, so long as you get what you need?”

“I suppose you want me to hand all that money straight to your hands, elf?” He gave a dry chuckle. “But do not worry! If what you say is true, then we’ll talk again soon.” He paused and gave him what was no doubt meant to be a lecherous smile. “Maybe we could talk alone then, you and I. Being as you are such an enterprising young man we could work out an agreement of our own. What do you say?”

The suggestion did not escape Zevran, and he nearly bristled; once he would have leaned into it, using it to manipulate his target, but it was all too crass in these circumstances.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “that won’t work for me.” 

October :: kiss prompt

“Careful!” Hamal hisses.

“I’m fine!” Zevran says. “Ah, but how thrilling this is. Just air and branches between us and certain death!” Giggling now in dizzy mirth, looks up at Hamal. “Did I worry you, my Warden?”

Hamal stares at him, silent for a moment. He grips the branches in his right hand, squeezing, then leans down, pressing a measured kiss against his lips.

November :: what are we? moment prompt

“You know,” Lirio hums as he and Harding pore over the charts and annotations, “I heard a rumor from a Dalish friend of mine. He said he once saw a volcano that had formed new islands around it. He said this happens from time to time, but when there is a lyrium vein inside the volcano, curious things start to happen. The islands pop up fast. The Fade gets weak around them. There is a lyrium trade in the area.”

“So… look for volcanoes on islands?” Harding suggests.

December :: matacuervos, ch. 7

“Proof or no, you will go to jail!” Nadia told her. “And still, there will be no guarantee that the guard will care, or do anything to help. What’s the point of that? I have worked this brothel for thirty years. This is how things are. A whore can be replaced.”

“The way things are must change. This is my life.” Rocio, unmoving, let out a hiss of air. “If it makes even a little bit of difference, I have to try.”

[draculovemp3]

@revenge-of-the-assbutt @firstaidspray @sachermorte thank u for enabling me NEWAY since I’ve been too dead to do any of my own hobbies here’s some thoughts on House & Co’s physical hobbies/lil crafts & such they do in the comfort of their home<3:

House: canonically does a ton of shit like piano/guitar/cooking/so on but In the spirit of him resisting change (At Times!) I think he’s gotten very good if not makes a fun time out of mending clothes🥺…. Didn’t wanna throw away his favorite shirts so it started w small hems+resizings until he looked up more tips online and get decorative w it. Pretty contrasting colors/patterns now randomly laid on his shirts and pants w only the careful eye(Cuddy+Wilson) to notice. If anyone cares

Wilson: gardening. Well as much one can do within his apartments/pretty nonplant friendly homes. He’s not a super greenthumb expert but it always gives him a lil confidence boost when he’s able to grow out spices and herbs & such to use in his cooking ♥️

Cuddy: she seems like a collage-making kind of girlie💗💗 no specific theme in em or anything but she still holds onto the potential self-aid of making vision boards and it’s relaxing for her to go thru magazines/etc + cut out whatever interests her enough to use. Rachel tries and cutely fails to help 💓💓💓

Chase: ironically enough for the prodigal son lol but . He genuinely seems like someone who enjoys spending time in silence/music doing puzzles w 1000+ pieces & such #DWEEB❤️. House once got him a 5000 piece puzzle of a kangaroo or w/e as a joke and he is Determined to complete it. In due time chase…

Foreman: the thought of Foreman crocheting is so dear to me….. he doesn’t rly tell anyone ab it but there’s a lot of half-finished + worn projects as proof around his home. #angsting it sorry but I think he took it up after his mom started deteriorating bc she crocheted too and it was a fonder reminder + sumn they could do together. One yr he gave the fellow ducklings scarves he made as Xmas gift. Not that he told him he made it tho😅#repressed

Cameron: I think she has a moderately sized zen garden on a table somewhere in her home she takes SERIOUS. Changes the lines/circles in the sand periodically, sees what new arrangement of rocks she can do etc etc. Girl that thing is meant to be relaxing!! also colorcodes/sticker-covers/etc her planner like a CHAMP.

Amber: she has the most well-detailed prettiest most concerning-when-read journal/diary everrrr. Dedicates a specific time in every day to it w specific pens of various colors. Some of the recounting even have lil doodles or if she takes the journal out w her she draws her view wherever she is<3 they’re literal chickenscratch but its still fun and fulfilling. It’s a bibleesque piece to Wilson’s Amber shrine btw

Thirteen: she’s hard to analyze for me soz 13heads I do love her #trust… nonetheless I bet she goes to hella dance classes. Partially for the exercise partially for the fun partially for the need to experience Life partially for the women. Heh. She’s rly into zumba, jazz, contemporary classes to be specific.

Taub: ok ok so remember when he did/bought pottery or w/e to convince his wife he was being faithful. I think he’d do it for real as a joke/alibi then be like wait…. This is kinda fun…? There’s no constraints to what he can make + the sculpting reminds him vaguely of plastic surgery work so he keeps it up.

Kutner: I think he draws + writes his own lil comics/zines 🫶 they’re mostly scifi or superhero and more than a lil inspired by his fave preexisting medias . He likes using the crazy cases he’s experienced w House as story inspo. Also he 4 sure runs dnd campaigns so well and fun. Btw

Masters: she’s a suckerrrr for trivia nights my lil nerd wife<3 but um anyway when she wants to relax she Really doesn’t want sumn that can become info overload so in free time she’ll make friendship bracelets, lil shapes/figures out of string, etc. Will someone please give this woman a full on loom to go cray with!!!!

Park: I can see it so clearly . I can see her lil handpainted warhammer and other tabletop game figures so perfectly in my head. She paints more than she actually plays(but she does !). God save you if you touch or tumble them.

Adams: I kinda DGAF about her sorry women… hmm there’s sumn compelling ab her doing blackout poetry plus occasionally full-on written when the inspo hits! started as a boredom thing in her job in the prison w whatever book she brought in then she kept on doing it w more and more written pieces she comes across.

I put so much time into this. Perhaps too much.😭feel free to gimme y’all’s thoughts on this/ur own ideas :3

[niennanir]

There was, in my experience, two solid ways to find a zine in 1985. This was the year Back to the Future, Enemy Mine, and Coocoon all came out. Star Trek returned to prime time two years later. It was a seismic shift in which sci-fi went from being for dorks to being cool. It was a hell of a time to be alive. It was also when I first started publishing fanfic.

The first most effective way to find a zine to subscribe to was to flip to the back of your StarLog magazine. Anyone who was into Sci-Fi or fantasy subscribed to StarLog. Wild stuff went on in the back of StarLog because this was where the classifieds were.

If you are younger than 20 you might not know what a Classified Ad is. Back in the dark times, before the internet, the way you got information out to the world was to mail a couple of lines of text, about the length of a short Tweet, to your favorite newspaper or magazine along with a very reasonable ad fee. The editorial staff would then put your classified ad in the classified section where there were hundreds of other tiny ads. The ads could be for anything from a car for sale to someone looking for a date.

But in StarLog the ads were usually one of two things: Sci-fi Conventions and Zines. You would also see a lot of ads labeled 'fan club' these were targeted at a younger audience, but apart from the lack of racy art and erotica they were, essentially, just Zines. both fan clubs and Zines were cheap to subscribe to. You would take 4 envelopes, put a stamp and your mailing address on each of them then put them in another envelope with a dollar bill and mail that to the Zine address. If you had aspirations of being a published fan fiction writer you would mail your manuscript to the zine as well. You may or may not make it into the Zine. I was 13 so I did not get into a lot of Zines this way.

The second way to find Zines was to get on your bike and ride down to the comic shop, or maybe the video rental store (Not Blockbuster usually) and check the public bulletin board. You might find ads for Zines stuck to the board, or you might even find the zines themselves. Our local comics shop had a Zine of the month, you could come in, pull the Zine off the bulletin board, read it while sitting on the crappy couch in the back corner and then stick it back to the board when you were done. I got into a lot more of these Zines.

I started writing fanfic when I was still very young, 10 or 11 I think, I didn't know at the time that it had a name, I was writing because it was important to who I was then. I suppose I began publishing because the classified ad said "Do you have Star Trek Stories you'd like to share?" and I did and they asked nicely so I sent them.

I have no idea what my readership might have been, I don't know if they enjoyed my stories, or if they even finished them, I can presume that the editors who chose to publish my work must have liked it. Or maybe they were just desperate for something to put in the Zine, I don't really know. The type of validation we have now wasn't achievable then so no one thought of it.

But it was a fun adventure all the same.

[mishacakes]

Hello, I'm making a magazine for a university project. I have a few questions:

What inspired you to make comics?

How were you inspired to make “Alice and the Nightmare”?

Apart from “Alice and the Nightmare”, do you plan to do more new stories?

Are you thinking about translating your comics into other languages to attract more audiences?

Have you participated in projects that are inside and/or outside of Hiveworks?

How do you feel that your comics are well received by the public?

Hi hi thanks for asking!! to answer, in order

I’ve been reading and making comics as long as I can remember. My first comic series i made when I was 8 years old of a stick figure princess beating up a dumb prince who keeps trying to rescue her, so you truly know i’ve Always Been Like This. I’d staple the pages together, baby’s first zine. I just never really stopped haha

Alice and the Nightmare happened cause I started drawing Alice in high school, and I liked her as a character so I kept drawing her. Edith came next, then Hatter, then other cast members, and I wanted to make a story for them. I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland stuff, growing up on anime inspired by it, and it was fun to do my own take on it. As I researched Alice in Wonderland more it really made me fall in love with the classic book itself, which made me want to work on Alice and the Nightmare more. Now normally I’d say don’t make your high school story your first project, HOWEVER, “Alice” as it is now is sooooooo heavily edited and so far from where it started out over a decade ago. “Kill your darlings” is very real and it WORKS. Huge shoutout to my editor and dear friend @secondlina who’s so often saved my storytelling bacon <3

Of course!! I love storytelling and there’s so much I want to do! Light novels are something I really want to explore.

That’s not something I really think of? English is the only language I’m fluent in, so even if I wanted to I couldn’t. That’s up to Hiveworks and translators for if they think my work would benefit from having translations. However there have been fan translations of my work before which I think are cool!

Oh yea! I’m in two of the three Valor Anthologies (Bride of the Rose Beast being one), I’ve done a couple zines, short comics, Eldritch Darling, animated films in college (Panic and Bookaneer). I like having a wide variety.

Feels nice! It’s always a delight when someone tells me they love my work or it’s affected their life or how they view things. Comic making—and art as a career—is more often than not a lonely profession, so that human connection is always very special and lovely <3

Hope this helps! Best of luck with you magazine! Cheers!!

[kamenriderliveblog]

Guess what's ready for digital order! It's @ultra-zine!!!

Okay look I know that my very first post said that I wasn't a figure person. That has obviously changed and I have officially fallen into the SH Figuarts rabbit hole. I preordered Blazar plus I want to get Zero and all of Z's forms. Send help, lmao

Full disclosure: I did contribute something to this zine, which is one reason why I haven't done many liveblogs lately. (I'm still a little emotional about seeing something I've written in print.) I wrote Chill Out, It's Snow Problem, though that was before I saw the dub for Z. Watching that notably changed how I write Z's verbal tics.

I had a hard time with this story because my first draft was like 4500 words. I had to cut out a lot and that was a painful experience! Granted, for me editing is always a painful process, but I'm of the opinion that if it doesn't hurt in one way or another, I'm not editing enough. I'll probably toss up the longer version on AO3 eventually though. It actually really, really hurt to cut as much as I did and I want those parts to see the light of day in one way or another.

There were some scenes that I wanted to write but didn't even make it into the first draft. There was originally going to be a scene with Z taking control of Haruki's body with his permission and skating at an ice rink because my headcanon is that Z would be really good at it. Yes, that scene from episode 7 has been living rent-free in my head for way too long. I also thought Z skating in Haruki's body would be a fun scene for the artist (in this case the amazing @chacerider, though I didn't know that at the time) to use for the illustration if they wanted. Beliarok was going to appear too, but I couldn't think of a way to get him in there in a way that I was happy with.

Originally the story started in Haruki's apartment before going to STORAGE, which actually did make it into the first draft. I had to choose between scrapping that whole intro or paring down the emotional beats that came later. The choice was obvious. Oh yeah and I had Haruki nearly get hit by a truck in the first draft. Fun! Still had to cut it, though.

Haruki and Z being able to tell how the other is feeling or emotions bleeding from one to the other isn't exactly something that happens in canon, I know. It's pretty much me taking the idea of Haruki's emotional state having a big effect on Z in episode 12 and then dialing it up to 11. I like the idea of there being side effects (for lack of a better word) to merging, and I wanted to explore how the friendship between Z and Haruki might develop if there was a lot more unintentional emotional openness. I'll also fully admit that I stole some things from Geed. Leito and Zero's conversations when they're out and around regular people was the big one, and while Z does take control of Haruki's body in episode 7 for a second, I was really more thinking of Geed's early episodes and how Zero would take control of Leito's body basically whenever he felt he needed to.

If you made it to the end, thanks! The link to read my story on AO3 is below. If you didn't manage to grab a physical edition of the zine, you can get a digital version of it and the previous volumes here!

[donnerpartyofone]

times they wouldn't let me just be a regular person (randomly selected)

My friend and I visited my stepmother, who I dearly love, but she is very much from a world of Wealth and Ambition and she doesn't totally "get" anything else. Friend and I had recently put together a little zine just for fun--something that would barely qualify in the zine world, it was just office paper and staples and scans of crude jokey drawings--and when we talked about how much fun we had with it, my stepmother insisted that we have a book launch party with wine and cheese. A bunch of her fancy friends were there, just looking at us. I could tell she thought she was being encouraging, and I could also tell that she thought I wouldn't know that it wasn't normal to have a formal launch event with canapes for something I printed out and stapled at work. Friend and I were in our mid- and late-30s. I absolutely could not risk acting offended, but it was pretty humiliating.

I was living way out in a frankly dangerous neighborhood in a big empty apartment that I had leased so my boyfriend and I could start living together, only to have him break up with me after I moved in. Life was pretty hard in most respects. When my grandmother sent me a check for Christmas it was a big relief; I called her and thanked her, telling her that I really needed help paying the rent that month and I was extremely grateful. A cold, weird silence followed. "Oh," she bit off. "I thought you would use it for something special." She made it really obvious that I had to apologize for using the Christmas present to do something boring and lame like avoiding homelessness, and I had to spend a few minutes trying to make her feel better about my disrespectful behavior. I don't think I totally succeeded.

[missanthropicprinciple]

Pacific Rim and Newmann: A 10 Year Retrospective.

Strictly speaking, I’ve only been a fan for 9 years. I was at the dentist when the film was released. I never went to see it in theatres even though I was interested. I’d seen the clip they showed on Leno when Charlie Day was on to promote the film, the bit where Hermann and Newt bicker while Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, and Rinko Kikuchi look on. By the end of the year I saw people posting about it on Tumblr and I became increasingly intrigued. By the summer of 2014 I was shipping Newt and Hermann hard, getting sucked into very naughty fanfiction. 

That August I bought the DVD and then watched it into the early hours. The scene with Otachi’s baby blew my mind at 4am.

(gif from neillblomkamp)

I didn’t know then that it would change my life. I spend a lot of money on kaiju and a couple jaegers from NECA, books, clothing merch, stickers, doujinshi, zines, and several prints that adorned my apartment walls for years. I wrote a large volume of fanfiction, sometimes in a notebook at work. Other than academic work it was the most I’d written in years. I even created fan art which I had hardly done before that. I was so invested as a person and a writer.

Even more impactful was how it changed my social life. I made friends who sadly did not remain so. I miss those people, I truly do. And I feel very badly about how things either ended abruptly or faded away, regardless of it that was my fault or another’s, or simply life. The people have gone and the ghost of my love for them remains.

But the friends I have stayed close to changed my life more. I never thought I would gain a sister out of it. I met my best friend in October 2014 online through the fandom and as the years went by we became very close, closer than we are to our own families. I’m going to see her in person for the third time this summer. And of course I made so many other friends and mutuals who have been so kind and patient with me all these years, talented writers and artists, and very good people. I love them all.

And of course the sheer fun that came out of being in this fandom. The fact that we all mass-halucinated a lab couch, thereby proving the concept of the hivemind. The wonderful, unhinged conversations we’ve all had and the laughter we shared. Not to mention cosplaying as Hermann when I went to see the Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters exhibit.

The scene where Hermann says they’re going to drift together is STILL my alarm every morning after all these years.

I certainly love Newton and Hermann. They’re a part of me in many ways. Expressions of who I am. I never stray too far away from them. Even now after so much has happened in my life, they continue to be a comfort and conjure up so many fond memories and always will.

[mentalblabbermouth]

May the 4th hit me like a truck and i'm still stuck like a fly to a windshield 3 months later

(just posting notes from my ramble doc, i should just get the app at this point)

Man it’s lonely not having people outside of online spaces being just as obsessed with the same media. My sib and I have kind of drifted apart in terms of tastes in shows/fandoms and my folks aren’t interested at all. I don’t really have any friends in my hometown that I could just go on impromptu hangouts to the mall or park with, and the ones I do have their own long established clique and they’re into different stuff. It’s not like in college with living on campus, and all those friends are miles away. These days it’s hard to even find a free day. I think it really comes down to I wish I had someone to turn to and be like “this character connects to this and foreshadows this and did you know etc. etc.” basically infodumping but actually being listened to with the same amount of enthusiasm. 

   I want to talk about Star Wars, casual mainstream stuff I guess, like I’m late in the game but just started the Bad Batch and I got so excited hearing the narrator again. I used to watch the Clone Wars when I was little so it was a huge hit of nostalgia. Funnily enough I’ve basically gotten the highlights of the whole series through reaction posts, fanart, clips, and finally decided ok I’ll check it out after reading a fic (it was "Success Rate" on Ao3 btw). I wasn’t initially interested when the Bad Batch first came out until their personalities really started to show and of course sibling family moments. And I’ll admit the fandom space from what I could see on insta genuinely looked like fun from the sidelines. 

   The Dad Batch is so real, watching the very first episode knowing what happens later on and how much they grow it’s bittersweet and touching. Literally the moment Hunter sees Omega it’s like the remnants of the paternal Mandalorian instincts kicked in. This man was already set on becoming a father figure even if he hadn’t realized it. I just thought it was the fans doing their thing but no I witnessed it with my own eyes they’re all girldads and now I wish I got into the series sooner. 

   Also because I’m an animator at heart I love catching the little side glances between the brothers and the little quirks. For being voiced by the same guy, each of the Bad Batch have their own distinct personalities and mannerisms and I’m having such a good time.

   Omega is such a sweetheart, I don’t get how people could not like her! She’s literally baby and I know she grows up at the end of the series, so seeing how she started out she’s so small! She’s just a kid! She’s their little girl! They love her immediately and wholeheartedly! I didn’t know that in the first episode Order 66 just hits them like that, everything is confusing and chaos, the world they’ve known their whole lives is crumbling down. But they risk their lives and their freedom and return to Kamino for her! 

   The food fight scene was great, absolutely love how they’re ready to throw hands.

Nothing is more euphoric than finding a piece of fanart you remembered liking years ago but not remembering the artist so you go on a long search detective style and then find it! Yes it was Bad Batch content—I liked the occasional art even though I had never seen a single episode until now and I’m living rn absolutely delighted to find the piece was part of TBB Zine! Catching up on quality content now with context is healing rn (just in case the piece is by clone.enthusiast aka Bird on insta, forever treasuring this I’m smiling)-update: i think with the whole Meta AI thing the artist left Instagram and I'm so sad i can't find them.

Anyhoo, wanted to get that part out of my system. Been busy with a new job that's been so draining that I haven't finished Season 1 yet. Burnout has made picking up a pencil feel like holding a hot iron that it just hurts idk. Thinking of making a Tumblr blog just for professional art portfolio things since Instagram is now a hot garbage fire and lots of people are moving to Cara. I don't think i'll leave Insta myself since I've got mutuals there and there's still awesome art around. But yeah that's what's life been lately, if you've read this far, thanks!

[mlsquaredance]

ML Square Dance — Moderators

Noodles — Head Mod (@ladyofthenoodle)

Hi, I’m noodles! I’ve been in ML fandom for a few years now and my favorite side of the square is Ladynoir. I have moderated for a several events, including Coup de Foudre: An Adrinette Zine, Ladynoir July, and Miraculous Core Four Week. I’m really excited to be running this event and I can’t wait to see what everyone remixes!

Bren — Organizational Mod (@jattendschaton)

Hello! I'm bren and I'm excited to be an organization/matching mod for this event! I joined the ML fandom in 2015 and have since helped run the ML Secret Santa for several years as well as modded multiple zines such as the Ladynoir zine, the Ladrien zine, and the Adrien zine. I look forward to seeing everyone's creations!

Lettuce — Graphics Mod (@miraculosus)

Hey leafas here better known as Lettuce 🥬 I’m an artist who became a fan of Miraculous in 2015 but didn’t get too actively involved in the fandom until last year. This is my first time helping run an event like this and I’m excited to contribute as a graphics mod!

Asukiess — Discord Mod (@asukiess)

Hi, I’m asukiess (aka Autumn)! I’ll be helping moderate the discord as well as a point of contact for participants. I enjoy being silly and having fun with people, and I’m excited to be apart of such a fun event. I’m excited to see how creative people can get!

Mia — Social Media Mod (@miabrown007)

Hey, I'm Mia! I'm a writer, a Marichat/Ladrien solidarity advocate, and the social media mod for this event. I have experience with managing ship months, as well as running the ML Big Bang since 2021. I'm very pumped for this LS-centric event and can't wait to see everyone's creations!

For more information: Schedule || FAQ || Rules

[amazing-spiderling]

for the fandom ask game: 5 6 11 16 23 24

something you see in fics a lot and love

I really love seeing Foggy sort of leap-frogging over his panic and anger and confusion in moments of crisis to get right to the part where he works on being helpful. That, "We are going to fight about this later, but right now I need to stop that bleeding" sort of thing. Foggy is absolutely allowed to have emotions and fall apart in a crisis, but he has a good head on his shoulders and certainly after a certain point he's had to learn to compartmentalize just to survive being in Matt's life. I think it's comforting to imagine having a friend or partner like that- I guess it speaks to the idea of there always being an undercurrent of love. No matter what else is going on in the moment, no matter how furious or scared or worried the events taking place right now make them, they do not supplant the love that is at the basis of the relationship. I just think that's neat.

something you see in art a lot and love

When artists really have fun with the clothing, paying attention to details and making things really specific. When someone really pays attention to drawing a certain kind of shoe- I'm just... yeah, that's the good stuff. :)

if you’re a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

Well, I'm a little bit of both- but I guess a fic sprang to mind first so I'll answer for that. (tw for fictional CSA mention btw) So, as I've not-so-casually mentioned, one of my first big/long term fandoms was Metal Gear Solid. And I know that some of the memes from that series have escaped containment, and to the outsiders it might look like "Call of Duty but with the occasional zany moment" but it does have a lot of story (too much, some might say XD) and intricate character relationships and lore and, ugh it's just SUCH fertile ground for art and fic and all the things that make fandom great. But, it *does* also very much appeal to gamer dudes of the usual type. And normally this is fine, the transformative fans and the archival fans largely keep to their own fandom spaces- but sometimes there is crossover that rubs one group or the other the wrong way.

One such case is that there is a character who has an "affair" with his step-mother, but I put that in quotes because when the dust settles, it turns out this happened when the character in question was 16. There is TERRIBLE fallout from the event (family trauma, suicide, estrangement) and the game plays it all straight- this is something that broke the already fragile family to pieces. BUT for a long time, the joke was "haha character banged his stepmom". Which. Ew.

Anyways, I always really wanted to write a story that sort of expanded on those events, not the actual relationship/abuse/fallout, but more the events that precluded it, mostly what made the character an easy target. (Isolation, otherness, a lack of confidence in who they were as an individual). Basically, I wanted to really tell a story that treated the matter with the needed level of seriousness, if only to say, "hey, this isn't a punchline, this is a traumatic experience".

I ended up watching, "The Graduate" a few times as sort of... research? Partially for tone, partially because the themes and characterization in that movie matched the vibe I was trying to go for in my own story. (I can't help but think that Kojima, known for referencing movies in his games- might have had it in mind due to some shared imagery.) This was maybe the first time I did something like that, watching a movie to pick it apart for nuance in tone, as opposed to looking at it for canon events, timelines etc.

So that story ended up being, "Surface Tension", which first appeared in the "Metal Gear Solid: Lost Years" zine, and then eventually got posted to AO3. It's not my best reviewed fic by a long shot (understandably, it's a difficult subject material and not shippy or anything), but it's one that I can say I am proud of.

a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

Wow, this one is tricky for me- I feel like a lot of fans are way more detail oriented than I am when it comes to canon. I'm always the one in awe when people are like, "Oh in episode seven, this one song is playing in a car as it drives by, and that's significant because it came out in 2013 and that was the year that..." and i'm just like "you guys know the names of songs?"

I guess to that end- I always liked the line in, I think it's season 1 where Matt says it's a "90's Top 40" kind of guy. I think it's really funny because people characterize him as having... well, let's just say "better" musical taste, but like, no. That dude would bop his head if you played the Spin Doctors.

the fandom you’re curious about because of a mutual

I have no idea what's going on in the Trolls fandom, and at this point I'm afraid to ask. But they all look like they're having a great time.

how has fandom positively impacted your life?

I've made so many friends, and as someone who doesn't get out as much as I'd like (especially as an immunocompromised person in the middle of a pandemic), my fandom friends are so, so important to me. I love the feeling of having a group of people who love the thing I love and being able to waltz into a space and say, "Hey, who wants to do this crazy thing with me?" and have even a few people say "Yeah, let's fucking GOOOO". ^^

I also think I wouldn't write nearly as much if it wasn't for fandom, and writing has certainly gone a long way towards helping me become better at unraveling the balls of yarn in my brain and making them into sweaters and scarves, as it were. I think a lot of the time when you write, you're practicing empathy- because you're forcing yourself to see the world from someone else's perspective. Maybe the character you're writing about had something in common with you, maybe that's what drew you to them in the first place, but identifying that also helps you understand more about yourself *and* how you relate to others. So I like to think that writing has helped me relate better to other people, even the ones I disagree with, and made me more able to slow down and ask, "well, why does this person feel/think that way?" Storytelling is so important for a lot of reasons, but that's a big one for me.

[jlonejacketwthe30out]

continuing HAND & EYE - visual diary entries!

to help with creating a narrative for our publications/zines, as a course we were encouraged to hold a visual diary for a few weeks.

the *aim* of the visual diary was to capture everyday scenes or ideas in a pretty relaxed way; there wasn't any emphasis on anything looking neat or even coherent, so ofc i ran with that yfm🤣

these first two entries were two very ordinary sights for me at LCC; one being a super messy collage-ish sketch(?) of the table i was sat at, surrounded by my friends and their stuff. the other sketch was meant to be a first person view of the steps i was sat on (in the tower block) after staying back on campus. i wanted this sketch to be more realistic and focused but erm... yeah.

(the visual diaries themselves were part of a drawing kit we were given by the course for this project - containing an a4 sketchbook, a crayon, a stick of chalk, and a stick of charcoal. my chalk was yellow and my crayon was green!😁)

this next spread was my attempt at drawing a pair of BeReal photos that me and some buddies (hi star toni and julia🤗) took at a restaurant together - i don't know how but one of these a drew really well, and the other i totally messed up! must have been the change in perspective idk...

the pizza is what me and my buddies ate at the resturaunt!! so i thought it would be fitting to draw my next restaurant experience next to them - burgers at TGIF's for my 19th (super low maintenance. i'll try and be more excited for my 20th... not my fault my birthday is in between deadlines.... its hard to be happy during that time🛌🏾)

because it was my birthday, i was on the move w my family so i drew my sketches on post-it notes and stuck them into my visual diary later. my favorite out of these sketches is the one in the bottom left corner, which is a very loose sketch of the inside of my mums car from my perspective.

an actual spread to celebrate mine and my sisters birthdays (10 years and 8 days apart ???

below (1) was a super rough spread of the trains that pass by my back garden - i started focusing on trains a little bit after this!

the page in the middle was inspired by the song Day In Day Out by the band XTC, which i felt kind of resonated with the repetitive nature of getting the tube every day.

THIS SPREAD ON THE RIGHT ... was kind of a stream on consciousness ibsr. it was meant to be a sort of build on my ideas around trains and public transport, hence the priority symbols but its kind of devolved into me thinking about people who sit with their legs spread on public transport... annoying. and then thinking about eye catching trousers with logos on the crotch... not annoying. i love design like that, actually - its kinda... 🤭

along with getting input from friends for what i could add to it (including giving the little guy in bed a boner... cos like. do it for the bit ig💀) i just had a lot of fun with this one.

and below are some more chill drawings:

the first page - doodles on post - it notes again

the second page - a very normal view on my bedroom window and the outside, the colours are way off but that's fine; i really like this one lol.

the third page - the view of the main IVM class room YEAHHHH (but like. with no people... i drew this during a class)

there's another entry but i'm saving that for! another post !!

[fagexe]

my doc upped my adhd meds and my brain is rattling and nobody is home for me to talk to… so, here you go, it’s me! a machine of consciousness!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every once in a while i consider getting off tumblr, but then i remember that this is my main(only) source of people who care about mcr as much as i do. Don't get me wrong, i have friends who are always excited to hear me talk about whatever the fuck is going on with those freaks and i love them for it, but they don't really have a lot of opinions or things to say. They like to hear about it because they care about me and want to hear about the things that i care about, which is fucking wonderful! But, at a certain point i feel like a physicist talking to a first grader. They retain most of the information i give them and some of them listened to my chem growing up. But the ones that did were never like seriously into them. They know the hits or maybe had a bp cd in hs but that's it. Aka they weren't/aren't in the spaces and don't really have the full context and overflowing number of opinions that comes from being here for years and years and years. So.... i don't really know anybody irl who was and still is in the fandom. I had friends in “high school” that were into them at the same level i was at that point, but a lot of us have drifted apart or they've drifted away from mcr (i use quotation marks cuz i'm referring to the age range not actually going to high school ((since i didn't do that;) )). I think the third or fourth to last time i saw the person I talked about MCR the most with in hs was at a celebration show that absolutely rocked my world, but that was like 2014 or something idk. I still have that one on instagram:0 they're a dj now! it's so wonderful to see them finding success at something they were wanting to do back then. But like we don't really talk(meaning we don't talk). I want people to go off with irl so badly. dykegerard and amanda are the luckiest fucking duckies, also fievel is the cutest little baby!!!:) (ps i miss living with a dog so bad) (pps yes i know dykegerard has a real name but that's their name in my head) i want to marry somebody who cares about mcr as much as i do<3 it's nowhere near the top of what would be important for me to marry someone, but it would be cute.

Oh dear lord, okay, i went off for a second, give me a minute

Ok, my other thought was -> Yeah, i think i would miss having that (mcr besties) but like i only actually talk to a few people on here and if i wanted to i could talk to them somewhere else. But I like doing silly little zines!! And this is my main(only((unless one of my irl friends is doing one. But those zines are never fanzines, they are usually poetry or political, which I love, but it's definitely a different vibe )) source of knowing when those are happening and knowing when their apps are happening. I know a lot of them are promoted on twitter in addition to here. But! I absolutely refuse to go on twitter in any sort of real and sustained way. Yes, i have a twitter. Yes, i go on there occasionally. But no, i will not be replacing tumblr with twitter, doing that would keep all of the things i dislike about tumblr and the way i interact with it and get rid of most of the things i like about tumblr. Also as far as i can tell mcr twitter is absolutely fucking wild, and not in the way i want it to be.

Speaking of zines :) I've been looking through all of the final submissions for the swarm zine and everyone's work is so absolutely amazing, i'm so excited for it to come out. I'm also just generally like pretty proud of the piece I have in there:) Since going back to school for art stuff everything's gotten to feel much more serious, which isn't necessarily bad. I am genuinely very serious and care a lot about the work I make. But also like having a fun low stakes artistic outlet has been absolutely amazing :) Plus since the thing I work on at school is film/video/installation, working in a format that's not even kind of related to that is really wonderful:)) anyway, FFUCKING GET HYPE FOR SWARM TO COME OUT!! (Having all of that capitalized feels really aggressive and I don't like it but I wasn't sure which part to capitalize so I left it all capitalized. I thought about just having “fucking get hype” capitalized but then it seems weird to go from “high energy” to “low energy”:/, maybe just hype capitalized idk whatever.)

Ok i’m going to go see the regrettes at wickerfest see you later bye-bye <33

[shroomyart404]

Answering these bc no one looks at my blog so might as well

1. Procreate. That bitch fucked up my pen pressure and so I refuse to use it out of spite. Also flippaclip.

2. Facing right and I’d put money on the idea it bc I draw with my right hand

3. My current OCs for the lighthouse guidebook (and in general the want to create my own fantasy story.) I was very much into mythos and fairytales when I was little, along with being read diskworld stuff before bed.

4. Arthur bloody Kirkland, can’t draw him consistently. As for subject generally, landscapes and housing, like I love them but fuck I can’t draw them

5. I post most my art, but it’s scattered across the abyss. Some bits are on tumblr, some bits are on Instagram, some bits are on twitter. What isn’t posted is things I planned to finish then never did… my sketchbook won’t be posted bc all that’s shite

6. I can never escape BNHA, in the eyes and hair I draw ot always remind me of it. That and Pokémon.

7. 3D and animation. Like that shit takes sooo much patience, y’all have my utmost respect

8. Less loss interest and more realised what I was attempting required a lot more research and plotting than I had patience for. My little polyamorous vampire comic idea.

9. Brief description of the piece, let me grab an example for you. Sometimes it’s silly shit like ‘cringe bastard’ tho

10. I think pilot jackets, they’re fun to draw. But also corsets and silly shirts. Hijabs are also fun to draw but I need to try gather better references

11. Depends. Sometimes it’s a playlist, most times tho it’s a show or a gaming stream

12. NONE OF IT ITS ALL TRICKY (noses)

13. Uhhh a lot of artwork in museums, especially a lot of pop art. I feel bad for saying it because it has shaped a lot of modern art but sometimes I’m like ‘…huh.’

15. On the bus, currently. Or at college. Just spots where I can have a little bit of peace

16. Detailings. This could be jewellery or patterns or such. Like the end products pretty when I can be arsed, but fuuuuck I always forget and stuff.

17. Usually if I am, I’m snacking, I can’t draw and eat a proper meal. So usually it’s chocolate and lucazade.

18. Not a lot actually! Which is shocking. Uhh a couple of my oil pastels are snapped and I severely fucked up my secondary schools watercolours rip

19. None of them fuck inanimate objects (maybe weapons? I’m not good but they’re fun)

20. Probably armour. I’m shit at shading metal but I’m decent at drawing it in my personal opinion

21. You know those surrealist pieces where the faces stretch? Specifically those. Also a lot of library/lineweight heavy styles

22. None because uhhh I’m stupid

23. Yes. I would be nowhere without multiple and linear burn.

24. Stock images are more for moodboards. Every so often there’ll be one that works for poses but…not usually

28. A couple dtiys things but that’s it, I wish I was apart of a zine but I’m not so lucky yet.

30. A couple pieces I wish got more love. Personal favs of mine

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated