#maybe I’ll still post them online when they’re finished

[atomi-cat]

I couldn’t pick between them, so I drew both XD

That’s all the prints. I had fun meeting the VAs at Anime Expo Chibi. ^^

[writing-blog-iguess]

Online Matchup

Summery: Y/n thought it would be fun signing up on dating sites, just for shits and giggles. Who knew that was one of the best decisions they made, especially when they're having too much fun talking to a certain Jason Todd.

warning: swearing, unedited I think, mentions of cancer, fluff, lots of back and forth teasing

word count: 3072

a/n: I promised myself I'd post a fic today, though it's not the one I wanted, I hope you enjoy regardless.

ao3

Series master list

Inspired by this:

September 19

You matched with Jason Todd, say hello!

Y/N So, when you say you're looking for a partner in crime Do you mean, like, rob a bank and fight batman? Or like, cozy up on the couch with the fireplace going while it's raining while we try to finish the books we bought? Cuz, I can do the second one I dont think i could fight batman or any of his kids Or even what to, you know? They’re kind of scary …. well maybe one of them i would fight I say fight but its wont be Oh man, I am so sorry about this. This is not how i wanted to tell you that i am a rambler I’m just gonna see myself out Goodday

Jason Ngl this made me laugh So who would you fight but not really?

Y/N You can’t honestly be interested in who I would fight? No way

Jason Way you seemed interesting and i want to get to know you

Y/N … okay but you need to answer my question first

Jason: Lol fair. And it would be the second one. I too wouldn’t fight batman but for different reasons

Y/N: So you're a fighter?

Jason Nope This isn’t how it works

y/n: Fine but remember, you asked for this

Jason: Okay but it’s not like you have a plan on fighting all the batmans kids so i think im safe

y/n: …….

Jason: Oh shit you do?!

y/n: I plead the fifth

Jason: You just got a little more interesting

y/n: I’m going home

Jason: Damn and here i thought i’d finally found the love of my life

y/n: No, nope Don’t say that The more you talk to me, you’ll find the real me and then want nothing to do with me

Jason: Let me be the judge of that We matched for a reason and i want to find out Don’t you?

Y/n: Aren’t you a charmer Okay fine. 20 questions?

Jason: Sure but after you tell what you would do in a fight with the batfam

y/n: I was hoping you would drop this, damn Alright, you get the honour of telling me who you want to know 

Jason: Nightwing

Y/N: Really? Okay. well first i was thinking of just flirting my way out, but he looks like he’d flirt back and i’m not the best at it to begin with, so I’d just get all flustered Bro’s an acrobat, i aint running from him. I aint running from all of them if i’m being honest. Nah for nightwing, he strikes me as a dork in some way. I’ll talk my way out of it. And if there’s something i’m good at, it’s talking.

Jason: So your plan is to talk circles around him?

Y/N: Yes Once i figure out what type of dork he is, imma talk until he gets confused and then i’ll run away Bro won’t see it coming

Jason: I should tell my brother He’s a huge nightwing fan

y/n: Nooooooooooo No one needs to know i don’t need other people to know how weird i am Especially your family I don't want my first meeting to be ‘hey, you’re that chick that’ll talk nightwing to confusion. Man that was a great laugh’

Jason: You think this will go that far?

Y/N: Honestly? No But i have hope You?

Jason: Ya Anyways, red robin?

Y/N: You skipped red hood

Jason: Saving him for last

Y/N: Fair Hes smart, can’t really talk myself out of that one nor would I flirt He is too young and not my type So i use his weakness

Jason: There’s no way you know that

Y/N: No but I know the dude doesn’t have a regular sleep schedule.

Jason: How do you know that?

Y/N: Back when I worked at a coffee shop, I took his order a few times and watched him down his coffee while it was still hot I asked him once, why? Dude said, and i kid you not ‘sleep is for the week and coffee is god’ Ngl, i laughed and gave him a free coffee just for making my day

Jason: Shit day?

Y/N: Ugh you had no idea. I had two tests that day and a term paper due but i couldn’t get it printed in time so that was late Didn’t help i woke up on the couch, and my body didn’t like that

Jason: You in school?

Y/n: Ya, only two years in but i want it to end

Jason: Not a fan?

Y/N: Eh When did we start playing 20 questions?

Jason: Right, we we suppose to play after you finished your hypotheticals

Y/N: Curses Me and my big mouth Who’s next?

Jason: We’re still on RR

Y/N: Blah right I’ll just bride him with coffee and make a run for it

Jason: The fact that that could actually work is scary Are you sure you’re not a villain?

Y/N: Nope just an engineering student who could fight god with enough coffee and no sleep Honestly, RR’s my spirit animal

Jason: Robin

Y/N: Are you nuts? I’d turn myself in and then some ain’t no way i’m coming up with a plan for him He scares me

Jason: Why?

Y/N: I watched him fight a few times The dude has enough skill and rage to fight the justice league if need be I bet he could kill too He looks like it

Jason: Okay you're not wrong But if you had to come up with a plan, what would it be?

Y/N: Cannot believe you’re making me do this Fine Little dude may have a hard exterior, but years of reading and knowing people like him, he has a soft spot and use that against him

Jason: Do you know what that is?

Y/N: … I am going to die If robin finds this, I am dying by either embarrassment or by his hands

Jason: Come on, you gotta tell me I’m at the edge of my seat here

Y/N: Fine, but if i’m going down I’m taking you with me

Jason: But we’ve only just met

Y/N: Maybe so, but I actually like you But i’m starting to doubt

Jason: Aw come on, little bird

Y/N: Damnit I happened to be walking home and watched him sit in an alley playing with cats Must have been a slow night, he was there for hours

Jason: It was the little bird wasn’t it?

Y/N: So who’s next? Spoiler? Batgirl? The signal? Red hood? Oracle? Well, I wouldn’t fight Oracle, I don’t know who they are but I know they would win so I’m going to stay clear of them No, you know what? I can tell you my answer for all three of them I’d bribe them with cookies or something. Idk if they would take it but that’s my plan. Just straight up bribery. Who could resist cookies?

Jason: That’s your answer to everything huh?

Y/n: Yup

Jason: Even with RH?

Y/n: … He’s different

Jason: How so?

Y/N: Mm, okay but your not allowed to judge Or laugh

Jason: Should I be scared?

Y/N: Depends Anyways, i have a crush on him So I would shoot my shot and if i get turned down then at least I tried

Jason: You have a crush on Red Hood? Out of everyone there is, why him?

Y/N: You’re judging! You said you wouldn’t

Jason: I didn’t say shit Now tell me why him?

Y/N: Hell if I know But have you seen him?

Jason: I have but you don’t even see his face

Y/N: That just adds to the mystic that is Red Hood I just know he’s got a good looking face underneath the mask

Jason: You really are something else

Y/N: Sorry I’m a big fan of RH And I guess I like the thought of a mystery So if you want to end this now, I understand

Jason: Who said anything about ending this?

Y/N: Don’t know, a lot of people who seem interested in me kind of leave after they find out Either they don’t want to compete with a crush that I know have zero chance at or they just don’t like red hood and being with a fan isn’t something they want

Jason: They’re stupid I ain’t leaving for that And who knows, maybe you can shoot your shot one day

Y/N: HA That’s not going to happen I freeze up when I’m near someone I like I’d probably stutter and say something embarrassing and run away No thank you

Jason: Thought it out huh

Y/N: You have no idea Anyways, 20 questions?

Jason: I did promise You can ask a couple?

Y/N: Favourite colour?

Jason: Really? After what I did to you, your going to ask something simple

Y/N: Answer the question Jason

Jason: Green

Y/N: Thank you Favourite food?

Jason: What’s with the easy questions? Give me some hard hitting personal ones

Y/N: I will in time Now, answers please

Jason: Chili dogs

Y/N: Those things are gross

Jason: Hey, they are the pinnacle of street food You just have to find the right places

Y/N: Mmkay, if you say so

Jason: Alright, gonna have to take you to one of my favourite places

Y/N: That right?

Jason: Only way to convince you Where do you go to school?

Y/N: Looking forward to it Gotham University, you?

Jason: Not yet, but trying to Kind of hard when you were declared dead for a while

Y/N: Fucking what?! Gonna need that story

Jason: Nope, gotta reach at least level 10 in friendship to unlock it

YN: Damnit

Jason: Sorry little bird

Y/N: You didn’t need to say it so casually tho Who just mentions, ‘yeah i’ve been declared dead but haven’t done anything’ into a conversation And not elaborate on it This is bullshit, sir

Jason: It has happened to people

Y/N: Yeah, but they tell people why You just Dropped a bomb like that and say, not yet Whatever, i’ll drop it

Jason: You sure? Sounds like it’ll bother you until you get the story

Y/N: Yes I’m sure Yes it will bother me But like I said, I like you and I don’t want to be pushy I’m not a pushy person

Jason: Awe does someone have a wittle crush

Y/N: No You got nothing on RH

Jason: Now that just hurts, little bird

Y/N: Don’t you have a question you need to ask?

Jason: Are you flustered? I feel like you’re flustered

Y/N: Amazing weather we’re having Despite the rain and all

Jason: Alright, I’ll stop with the teasing For now Born in Gotham?

Y/N: No I am from Metropolis, moved here for school

Jason: Any other reason?

Y/N: Yeah, Superman kept destroying my apartment building I’ve moved three times and somehow, he always finds the building I’m living in Minute I graduated high school, I moved

Jason: But why Gotham?

Y/N: Gotham intrigues me

Jason: You’re so weird

Y/N: Thank you Since you’re not in school, what do you do?

Jason: Mechanic Didn’t really want my dad’s help so I’m finding my way in life

Y/N: Not a great relationship?

Jason: You can say that So, engineering huh?

Y/N: Yup I love building and taking things apart Have since I was little

Jason: Gonna change the world?

Y/N: Imma try but can’t really do that while working at luthor corp

Jason: Please tell me your joking

Y/N: Ah, not a fan I see Can’t blame you but I am not It was one of the first places I’ve applied to and hear back right away I accepted before getting my other interviews

Jason: jumped the gun a bit 

Y/N: Yeah I did. I wished I didn’t but oh well I’ll find something better if this doesn’t work out

Jason: Why don’t you quit now?

Y/N: I am a broke college student who needs money If I quit now, I’m not sure if I find someone to take me Plus the hours working there are helping my schooling, so it’s kinda late to switch jobs

Jason: Can’t believe I’m saying this but try wanye enterprise I hear they’re good to work for

Y/n: I plan too eventually But at the moment, this is fine The hours I have now works with my school hours

Jason: How’s working there anyways?

Y/N: Not too bad I guess I’m allowed to work on my own projects as long as I work on the assigned ones The people are nice and all but it could be better

Jason: But you don’t like it there?

Y/N: I don’t like Lex Luthor and what he represents I guess

Jason: So you believe that he’s trying to take down superman?

Y/N: I’ve seen one of their fights Nothing to believe

Jason: Must of been some fight

Y/N: Mm So What did you mean, I can’t believe I’m saying this?

Jason: You can’t be weird about it

Y/N: Oh? I am intrigued

Jason: You’re making it weird

Y/N: I am not It’s not like I said you have a crush on Bruce Wayne or something That would have been weird

Jason: Is this how you felt when I teased you?

Y/N: Paybacks a bitch isn’t it?

Jason: I hate you

Y/N: Okay

Jason: I do

Y/N: You’re deflecting

Jason: Oh my god Fine He’s my dad, well adoptive dad

Y/N: Cool

Jason: That’s it? You’re not going to fawn over him being my dad? Ask me questions about what he’s like? Ask if the tabloids are true?

Y/N: Nope Tbh, I don’t care for Bruce Like, I applaud him for what he’s trying to do for Gotham and all But, seeing him on every magazine everywhere I go gets a bit tiring He’s just another dude that people are obsessed with Who cares if he’s rich Besides, I’m talking to you aren’t I? Who cares about Bruce Wayne I wanna know Jason Todd

Jason: You know? I think I may actually be in love 

Y/N: Stooooooop You can’t say things like that

Jason Why? Cuz you get flustered so easily?

Y/N And if I do?

Jason Gotta say it’s my favourite past time

Y/N So, the reason you don’t have a great relationship with Bruce Does it have anything to do with you being dead or something?

Jason Wow WOW I cannot believe you We go from what's your favourites to hard hitting questions huh? I see how it is

Y/N I told you they were coming

Jason I just didn’t think you’d use it as a deflection tactic

Y/N Yeah I want to say sorry But I’m not I’m sure you would use anything to get attention from yourself

Jason Can’t do positive attention

Y/N Eh

Jason I hear you And yes it is part of the reason why me and Bruce are not in good terms

Y/N Mm, I’m sure he’s trying

Jason In his own Bruce way yeah

Y/N Are you?

Jason I like to believe I am Why the interest?

Y/N I don’t know Maybe it’s the fact that my relationship with my dad isn’t the best

Jason You’re dad’s not Bruce Wayne’s too?

Y/N HA Then I would not be talking to you in this fashion

Jason That is true So then what?

Y/N My mom says we are too similar to each other Got the same attitude and all I believe it Growing up, it was all your useless and you’ll amount to nothing Or he’ll ignore me, and I’d prefer that over the degrading Only time he’d show his affection was if he was drunk

Jason Wow Sorry 

Y/N Yeah It’s gotten better since I moved out Now it’s there, and I’m still processing 

Jason Processing what?

Y/N Mm It’s a pretty heavy topic to get into with someone you just met

Jason Can’t be worse than me being dead for months

Y/N Months?! How many?

Jason Oh damn You are a lot easier to talk with then who I normally socialize with

Y/N I shall take that as a complement

Jason As you should And no, I will not be elaborating 

Y/N Alright fair But I will get the story

Jason Mm, I’m sure you will So? Gonna answer my question

Y/N Last year he was diagnosed with cancer Not sure what it is, but it already spread

Jason How long did the doctors give him?

Y/N He didn’t want to know Can’t blame him for 

Jason Sorry about that

Y/N Yeah

Jason You don’t sound to hurt about it

Y/N Like I said, still processing it so I don’t know how to feel With the childhood I had, I don’t know how too But I know when it comes down to it, my emotions will hit me like a truck when the day comes

Jason Well, soak up as much time as you can before you have any regrets

Y/N Trying to He is just making it impossible Whoo boy! That was a lot of emotion for one night I think I’m going to eat some ice cream and binge watch my favourite show

Jason Sounds fun, wish I could join but I promised my brothers with help

Y/N How many do you have?

Jason Do you read anything about the Wayne family?

Y/N Nope What I know about him is what is whispered between my classes and work and even then I don’t listen to them

Jason Really committed on not caring about him, huh Four brothers and three sisters

Y/N Big family

Jason Bruce likes to adopt

Y/N I can tell Anyways, have fun tonight

Jason I’ll try Would you be interested in talking some more?

Y/N I would love to

[sitron-sunni]

I watched the new episode of 9-1-1

a personal essay on queerbaiting (sorta)

I watched the new episode of 9-1-1, and immediately burst into tears as the credits started rolling.

Then I rewound the last six minutes, and watched the scene again, pausing to rewind the kiss. Again. And again. And again.

We got a kiss. I didn’t know we were getting a kiss. I sorta knew we were getting bi Buck, but I didn’t know we were getting a kiss. After last week’s episode, a lot of people were 100% convinced we were getting bi Buck. I saw their reactions before I watched that episode, too, and I was so confused once I finished it. Had we seen the same episode? That guy, Tommy, Buck’s so-called bisexual awakening-guy, was barely in there. He had about two memorable lines, and then he was in the background of a different shot, where he received a job-well-done slap on the shoulder from Buckley. That last one’s the one people were focusing on online. Look at the way this is framed, look at how he’s positioned, between Buck and Eddie. This is foreshadowing how he’s gonna get between them. Buck and Tommy is gonna be the gateway into buddie. They’re actually gonna do buddie, why else would they introduce a relationship between Buck and Tommy?

Reader, I’ll keep it straight with you. I did not believe them. After a while I gathered a lot of people already knew the name of the next episode; Buck, Bothered and Bewildered. They’d seen some stills, they knew there would be conflict and jealousy within that trio. They were putting it all together with comments and hints dropped by the actors. All those things added up, and it did paint a far more convincing picture. And I thought it was fun! I reblogged a few posts about it, I think, or at least I liked some. But the fact remains: I did not believe them. I thought, oh, imagine how cool it would be if they actually went there. I thought, yeah, realistically it would make sense to bring in a third person if they were actually gonna do it. That way they could test the waters, gauge audience response, and it could work as a catalyst for the relationship after so long. But mostly I thought Okay, so they’re gonna bring in Buck’s fear of not being enough for the people he loves again, this time through his friendship with Eddie, and we’re gonna get some sort of final resolution for that. Like, a big moment of catharsis. Or something along those lines, anyway. It just seemed to me like the most realistic thing that could happen. I mean, the idea of canon buddie was nice, of course it was! The queerbait is why I started watching the show in the first place: I wanted a good queerbait! But ultimately, a ship like that going canon was completely unrealistic. I speak from experience, after all.

Maybe it would’ve been different if I was younger. I remember being in fandoms when I was a teen. I remember reading theories, watching youtube-videos with “proof” that this or that was real, that it was gonna go canon. I remember getting my hopes up, thinking Oh my god what if they’re actually gonna do it!? for shows and pairings that, in hindsight, were completely unrealistic. Maybe that’s why I, even with fairly good evidence in front of me, didn’t actually get my hopes up this time. Because why be that stupid? Why invest emotionally like that? Why not just enjoy what we actually had instead, and then get anything extra from fanworks? Haven’t we learned by now?

I woke up this morning and opened tumblr, and I read half a sentence about how we actually have bisexual Buck confirmed canon now, before I quickly closed the app to avoid too detailed spoilers. Oh my god they were right! I can’t wait to watch the episode, I thought happily, and went on with my day. I opened the app again a few hours later, and scrolled for a few minutes, until I saw a brief glimpse of one, maybe one and a half gifs. Bucks face, Tommy’s face. Warm orange-y yellow lighting, Buck’s loft, you still owe me a beer. Close the app, move on. There were other posts throughout the day, more glimpses, all along the same lines as the first one. The last one came late in the evening, this time on twitter. Just the word in all caps; ANNOUNCEMENT, and then Bucks face and a bisexual pride flag.

And then finally, finally, after I’d brushed my teeth and gotten into bed, I was alone with my laptop, and I could watch the episode. The hype had built up, I was so excited to finally watch it. I was internally vibrating just a little bit. I was giggly, I was grinning widely, I was making comments to myself out loud, and laughing. I said oh my god, they’re really laying it on thick. I remember watching that scene for the first time and thinking how Tommy really looked so nervous at some points. That last one I found interesting. I really liked the actor’s portrayal; His facial expressions were quite subtle, and I thought he captured that nervous feeling so well. Maybe I took such notice of it because, well, I wasn’t quite expecting it.

I wasn’t expecting nervousness in an interaction between Buck and Tommy, because I still wasn’t actually expecting anything. At least I don’t think I was. Even with everything I’d seen online. Even as I was watching the show, I convinced myself. Those words, you still owe me a beer, they’ve misinterpreted them. They think it’s an invitation to a date because Buck’s jealousy in this episode is making it more plausible than ever before. Sure, the show’s leaning into it this time, but they’re gonna pull the rug out next episode. No, of course it wasn’t an invite to a date, what show were you watching, are you delusional? It’s just gonna be one week of people speculating and theorizing and building it up, and then the show’s gonna resolve it with some no-homo followed by a nice new buddie moment. The buzz will die down, and things will go back to normal.

And then the kiss happened. And then I burst into tears.

And now I think, oh my god isn’t it wild that they’re introducing a new romantic relationship for one of the main characters, and for the entire lead-up to the relationship, both Buck and Tommy are entirely focused on Eddie? Like, they’re just making everything about a third person! Imagine if they did this for anybody else! and, oh my god Tommy’s gonna break up with Buck because Buck’s basically already dating Eddie or something, isn’t he? and, oh my god it’s gonna be glorious! and, oh my god I can’t wait!

And I’m also thinking, I was wrong, and you were right. And I’m so happy I could cry.

TL;DR: If you and I share sterek, or destiel, or god knows what other similarly-shaped trauma, 9-1-1 might heal ya.

[dailydoofypokemon]

HOENN DONE!

Wowee zowee, I’ve been done with Hoenn for a while now and am about 20 into Sinnoh, but oh man, I think more people are finding the lil blog here as Hoenn was going by, I got to 100 followers and am averaging about 10 notes a day. Which I know that’s not much, but it’s so much more activity than I’ve had on my main blog. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the consistency? But that’s still rad.

Special thanks to @everysinglepheel and @drizzileiscool for being such regulars! I know I don’t respond, but y’all’s tags keep me going. I know Drizzile, you’re waiting for the gen after this one, and that’s cool! I appreciate you sticking around like you have, so thank you so much! Same goes for Pheel! Thank you for always checking out my art!

Also a little extra thanks to @somekindabard who I love very very much and is my partner in crime and life and the best and helps me finish off all the Pokémon probs gosh, has it been since the beginning of Hoenn? Either way, love yoooooou

After Hoenn, I also think I’m going to drop off the numbering for the days. I know it’s not a lot, but I keep losing track over where I’m at, and I’m almost positive I’m off by like five or ten at this point, so it’s just a little change to the descriptions, but it’s enough that I gotta do something about it and it would help me queueing everything up ‘cause I keep losing which number i was last on //OTL

I also have posters for each gen I’ve completed so far, along with one that just has the starters! Once I get my shop properly fixed, I’ll put them online if anyone is interested. They’re 11x17, and I’m honestly really happy with how they turned out because they’re just so goofy looking, and it’s great seeing everything I’ve done so far combined into one. I want to make prints of each of the these guys in a fun collectible way eventually (a la trading cards maybe? Or something in the realm of a pack of cards or something) because there’s just some thing really satisfying to the idea of that, and may be a better solution for my table situation when I’m vending, lol. I’ll have a post on that soon so if y’all are interested!

To answer a question that came up early in Hoenn: Yes I do plan on doing every version of every Pokemon eventually! My plan is to finish all the current Pokédex, then get to work on the Mega Evolutions, then regional versions, then potentially spend a month just doing the Unown alphabet to hopefully turn into a silly font. It’ll be a while until I get there, but maybe I’ll do some of the Unown alphabet over the course of a few days and upload those as a set when I get the spoons for that. So I won’t just stop at Paldea! (Or whatever gen Pokemon will be by the time I get to Paldea, lol)

Lastly, I was curious if you guys wanted me to answer more things on here? I read everything that is sent my way, but I don’t respond because I know some people do prefer to have blogs that are themed blogs to remain consistent and not see much else. If I did interact more, I would always tag these regular posts with ‘#not pokemon’ so if you block posts then you shouldn’t see them!

Anyway, thank you so much all those who’ve been following me for a while and all those who found my blog in Hoenn! Tomorrow starts the next region: Starly! …because I also already did the starters! :D

[thelonesomequeen]

Will you ever share your theories about what the two possibilities in which you think we could still get wedding pics are? Totally understand if you don't because of how people like to put words in your mouth but I was curious.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Alright I’ll do it. But only for those of you who are genuinely curious and visit our space because you like to be here. But if you see someone misrepresenting my words here, you better call them out or I’m keeping future theories to myself! 😂

So again. These are just theories or guesses. I’m saying nothing as a concrete fact.

1. Like many others, I wonder if we won’t see something until an anniversary rolls around and one of them posts something about their anniversary with pictures. Or when/if Chris returns from his social media hiatus with some sort of post like “look at what happened while I was away!”

But the next one is what I’m really curious about. Again, this is just a guess and nothing I’m staring as fact.

2. I wonder if there is going to be a PRINT feature with some type of publication. Not just the online posts you see every weekend from People, but an actualspread in a print magazine with pictures and details.

Why didn’t that happen for October since they got married in September? Because there wouldn’t have been enough time to write up an article and add in photos for something going to print in October. Most of these printed publications have articles ready an entire month in advance so they can be printed and shipped out to distributors. There wasn’t enough time to do that for an October issue of anything. But maybe for November? I don’t know. I guess we’ll see? But that’s my one big wonder. Maybe the hold up is because of the wedding appearing in print, not just online. Again, it’s a theory that could be wrong. But a lot of the vendors they used for the wedding have ties to publications like Bride magazine and Vogue Weddings. So it made me pause and wonder.

An example of this…in 2017, third baseman Kris Bryant was married in January, but wasn’t featured in an article until June of the same year because of the timeline for sending things to print and how long it took for the photographer to finish editing the photos to send to the publisher. Again, I’m not saying this is the case for Chris and Alba’s wedding, but it does make you wonder 🤷‍♀️

Overall, I think if we don’t see something soon we probably won’t ever see it and they’re going the route as other celebrities who choose to keep photos from their weddings private. They certainly wouldn’t be the first couple to do so.

[penname-artist]

Newewews

Sum shit been happenin’, so in case there was a noticed lack of me, I’ve had company over this week, and we’ve been going and going and going and I am mentally pooped. I have no more spoons, my body turned into noodles on me yesterday (although maybe that was more the fault of the CBD...more on that in a sec)

But I’ll be back to doing my stuff again towards the end of this week, after a recovery day and such. But while I’m on the train of next week:

I did not quit my job last week. Believe me, I was gonna, I planned it, and then right ON the day I was set to leave, something interesting happened. The [new] manager had me start teaching how to do planograms and label changes and all my regular job to two new hires. All was going swimmingly. And then he pulled me aside and went “PLEASE I need you, I need your brain, can you work supplemental?”

So, I said I would, and we talked it over with the district manager as well and my title, officially, has been moved to part-time. This way I have the same set time to come into work, but I can work more hours in the week if need be. And what time do I work you might ask?

Three hours a week. T’ursday, nine to noon. I’m working, while not working, and making something to cover smaller expenses while I focus on my other goals. AND I can keep the shirts. And not need to go through the rehire process later on. Thank you Lord!

And with that set aside now, I can really really focus on my art finally. I have plans to start up some [ugh I actually don’t like them but whatever pays] commission work online through sites like Fiverr and Upwork. I’m also going to invest time into learning a new animation program and uploading videos to my channel a little bit more regularly. I have big goals for 2023 on that front.

And something I’m very deeply debating, in the ways of making content, is doing personal stories. I debated making all those possible stories into animated ones like every other YouTube creator has, but I kinda want to take the content that I’ve made with speedart and combine the two. You can watch me draw a thing and listen to me rattle on about a story at the same time. I may add small animatic elements too, to keep it interesting.

As far as what those stories entail, well I have some lighthearted funny ones I can go over, like my pet history, art camp, actual camping experiences, lots of mental health stories, and maybe down the line some brushing over of my trauma experiences with sudden and unexpected friend losses and grief. That, and/or the repercussions I’ve gone through as a result of that, when I get stressed and my body goes “aw HEEEELLLLL NAW” and shuts itself down.

Fun stuff.

But that’s all on the roadmap, might not get any traction til after the beginning of 2023. But I will be able to get back to writing and drawing and such, I’ve got several projects I’m still trying to get made and finished and posted and they’re being very slow.

But I shall keep y’all posted!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAOOP YES IVE SEEN THE RWVENT YUKI POSTS too real omg ok but this era third selection and u20 yuki fr my fav he’s so gorgeous and Karasu is giving big asshole bully energy rn LMAOOO can’t wait for those little scenes of him in Shibuya or when he’s catching otoya from falling off the bench

STOP RHE POKEMON REPRESENTING THE FANDOM IN SHIP WARS GOODBYEEEE LMAOOO not them also being chronically online pulling out evidence of their ships that has me rolling

OOOHOHSOSHO OTOYA OR KARASU OEAU im so excited RAHHHGHH its ok they both make up for the lack of aikulations we’ll still feel the oaeu vibe

Bro that scene with otoya doing the weird finger gun things is FR promoting tf out of otoya I see so many people converting because of that scene (real honestly his face card is serving there) but IVE GOT EVERY KARASU PANEL BURNED IN MY BRAIN IK THE EXACT SCENE YOU MEAN also cannot wait for him to shove Isagi around LMAOOO a Mira classic wc HAHAH its ok you got this!!! Oaeu comeback soon after use that as your motivation LOL

Also im crying not you having meetings and doing hw on your horse LMAOOOO

- Karasu anon

HELPP i fear i have been going more than a little insane over yuki 😓 he’s just so so perfect and handsome and incredible and sweet SHFJSHSHHS agreed though third selection/u20/shibuya yuki >>>> he was okay in vs manshine as well but my man has been a ghost ever since 🙁 manifesting he gets a comeback in the next arc though!! since there will be hopefully be fewer characters to focus on that might mean characters like yuki and karasu can get their spotlight back

LMAOAAOO the pokémon are all chronically online post-aegislash 😭 i bet reuniclus is writing ESSAYS about how nagi is actually a really loving and kind guy (he’s a mira kin #nagidefenderforlife) like bro is def analyzing every single thing nagi does to explain how it actually shows his deep trauma and how he’s risen above it JFHFSHJS omg reuniclus 100% has a tumblr nagiy/n stan account where it’s just explaining why they are the top ship HAHAHA its posts are all insane too…like “y/n challenged nagi to a battle. this shows that they are deeply in love because they are sharing their passion for battling and coming together to bond. they also made eye contact two times, and their hands touched when nagi gave her money for beating him.” and then someone hydreigon comments “nagi doesn’t even like battling UNLIKE OTOYA so there’s no passion there basically he hates her and you’re problematic for shipping them” so reuniclus is forced to block

YESSSS I MISS MY SILLY BOYS even if i don’t do oaeu for them i’ll do smth for one of those two most likely (or maybe yuki) just because they’re my goofs 🥹 HELP no you’re so right otoyalations especially can def compete with aikulations…not quite on the same level but i def sense his pov being really fun to write (karasu is just him d1 pining like usual so it’ll be fun in a diff way)

HELPP NO LITERALLY THAT EXACT SCENE HAS EVERYONE GOING CRAZY honestly i was not expecting so many people to convert to otoyaism??? i expected more karasu fans at this point but they really did their best to make otoya silly and dumb asf whereas karasu is still giving mysterious villain energy lowkey so maybe that’s why 😭 BROOO THAT PANEL IS SO GOOD I LITERALLY MADE IT THE COVER OF BFB 🤩 i need to see it live sooooo bad 😍 and yeah another mira wc incoming unfortunately but hopefully i can finish it soon!!

PLSSSS online school got to me 😓 my teacher was just rambling abt nonsense i was like eh might as well exercise my horse while i’m at it 🥱 it fr gave me a six pack though because i had to control him almost entirely with my abs so that was nice ig (even though no one ever saw them before they vanished because we had to stay at home 😔💔)

[la-principessa-nuova]

ok, i think i need to just make a hard rule not to buy anything with printed/painted/whatever art on it online unless I’m sure who the artist is and that it’s not stolen.

i had this moment late one night while very tired where i just sort of forgot about all potential ethical concerns and was thinking purely about build quality, and i was like, “hey, i could get some cheap halloween decorations online and it doesn’t matter that they’re terrible quality because it’s just a cheesy halloween decorations to be viewed from a distance”.

and then while i was buying them i saw some t shirts and i was like, “that’s a funny picture/phrase, i want that.” and then when stuff started arriving a few days later i had several thoughts:

first of all, why did i buy half of this? i was in some sort of state where i just wasn’t thinking past “that’s funny” or “that would fit in this room” and i just would not with my full brain capacity choose to buy those things and do not want to hang them or wear them

i forgot that these cheap things aren’t just poor quality, they’re also often stolen art, and since last time i bought anything like this, it’s upgraded from stolen art to stolen art with more steps, A.K.A. AI generated garbage that looks awful up close even though it passed as not AI when looking at a little thumbnail on my phone.

i also forgot that like a lot of this could be made in unethical conditions, and i don’t know what the situation is with any of this stuff

also i forgot that they take low res images and just print them way too big so it’s not just flimsy and fragile, it also just looks awful.

So I need a hard rule because i apparently can’t trust the part of my brain that normally thinks of these things and stops me buying them to be on when making these decisions apparently.

It’s just so weird, like it’s almost like if I got drunk or high because it was all just so out of character and without thought but like I was just maybe a little more tired than normal, not even like sleep deprived like I have been at times in the past.

Mostly posting this to hold myself accountable by not just quietly ignoring it, but also in case anyone else would benefit from hearing this.

One of the really bad AI ones was on a really comfy shirt so I used nail polish remover to take off the heavy, ugly print and now it’s just a gray shirt (there’s still some left over stuff but if it doesn’t come off over time sleeping in it I’ll finish the job. i just didn’t want to waste more nail polish remover and my arm was tired).

There were also some where I’m pretty sure they just straight up sent me the wrong thing bc i would never order that but idk… whatever.

My plan is to just wear the other shirts around the house until the prints wear down and become unrecognizable and then maybe remove what’s left later on and have some solid colored t shirts.

And the 3d decorations are fine, just low quality things to put out for halloween like i wanted (maybe better quality than i expected even), but the wooden sign with an AI generated print, I’m thinking I’ll just paint over and make my own sign?

Trying not to waste this stuff but it’s not exactly worth my time shipping it back.

[infernal-house-demon]

Idk why I’m on such a writing/reading advice kick today but I’ve got so much to say.

This post’s topic: Fig’s guide to reading the classics

I’m was an English major, so of course I am here to tell you that many of the classics are classics for a reason: they’re really fucking good. But I also understand that I’m a big nerd with a special interest and not everyone has the same motivation as me. Hell, sometimes I don’t have the motivation. So, here are some tips for having an easier time with them.

DONT READ SHAKESPEARE

Before anyone freaks out, I am not advocating for you not to consume Shakespeare’s plays. I adore Shakespeare with all my heart. His plays are phenomenal—but they are just that. Plays. If you read the script like it’s a book, of course it’ll feel boring and confusing. That isn’t how they’re meant to be consumed. Obviously the best way is to see it is performed live, but not everyone has that opportunity, myself included. However, you can find lots of recordings online for free. If those aren’t for you either, try listening to them! BBC has a lot of them as audio for free online, many with notable actors you’ll recognize! (Nothing better than hearing David Tennant perform Shakespeare directly into my ears. I love it.) It makes so much more sense to see/hear it performed. It flows so much easier, the emotion carries through in the performance, I promise you you’ll have a far easier time understanding the plot.

2. GOOD TRANSLATIONS

If you’re reading something that was in another language, find a good translation. I thought the Odyssey would be tough to get through in school, but when I actually read it, it was an easy read! I personally like the Robert Fagles translation. Do some research, see what people recommend, and find one that’ll be best for you.

3. ADAPTATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Find other ways to get yourself excited about the story. If there’s an illustrated version of the book and you’re a visual person, get it! My brother got me an illustrated version of the Divine Comedy and while my reading is still going pretty slow, the pictures absolutely help me engage more. Additionally, if a book seems daunting to you, try an adaptation first. (I am typically a read the book before the movie type person, but if doing it the other way around will get you into it, do it!) Keep in mind adaptations will be different (I’m looking at you Epic: The Musical, my beloved) but if they get you interested in the story and themes then use that as your way in.

4. TAKE YOUR TIME

I kid you not when I say that it’s been five years and I still haven’t finished the Great Gatsby. It’s because I only read it when I’m at the airport. It’s my airport book. I don’t read it on the plane (motion sickness), I only read it while I’m waiting to board. For whatever reason, that’s the context where it’s easier for me to get into it. I will finish it someday. Probably. There’s no rush.

5. SUMMARIES

Summaries are your best friend. I read A Tale of Two Cities in high school. I thought it was fantastic. There were absolutely chapters where I had to look up the spark notes to figure out what in the fuck was going on. Especially with writing from this time period, sometimes you encounter a sentence the length of an entire paragraph, and suddenly it’s four semicolons later and you can’t remember where you started. Language evolves and changes; you’re not stupid if it doesn’t come naturally to you, and you should give yourself whatever help you need to in order to still engage with it.

6. TAKE YOUR TIME (Part 2)

You don’t have to read them all. Ever. Read the ones that sound interesting to you. If people try to say “oh my god you haven’t read (insert famous literature here)” just ignore them. I haven’t read the Picture of Dorian Grey. I still haven’t read the Iliad even though I’ve read the Odyssey. Maybe I’ll get there someday. I’m certain I’ll like both of them. But I’m not in a rush. They’re in my pile of books to read and I’ll get there when I get there. There’s nothing wrong with having a collection of unread books. And again, you do not have to read all of them. They’re not all worth reading anyway, which brings me to my next and final point.

7. IF IT SUCKS, HIT THE BRICKS

There are a lot of books touted as classics, many of which we have to read in school, that I think are stellar. There are other ones that I think have no right to be held up as anything worthwhile. This is about my personal beef with the Scarlet Letter lol. I had to read it in one of my university classes. And let me tell you: I could not finish this book. Now, not to sound full of myself, but I have good reading comprehension and a wide vocabulary. My nerdy ass was explaining what was going on in Shakespeare to my classmates when I was 13. English is where I thrive. When I tell you that reading the Scarlet Letter felt less interesting to me that reading a car manual, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. It felt like raking my brain over hot coals. It was boring. I hated it. I straight up don’t think it’s a good book and I’m certain there are better ones out there that cover the same topic and themes. So I didn’t finish it, and in fact refuse to ever pick it up again. Just because something is a classic, doesn’t mean it’s good, and doesn’t mean you have to read it. Find the ones that work for you (I have so many recommendations). Also, look at other stuff from the same time period that isn’t considered “classic.” Ask yourself why. When I personally look back at what we were given in school, a lot of it was white male centric. I was lucky to have professors at university who showed us voices outside of this.

All this to say, reading stuff from different periods of time is such an enriching experience, but if it isn’t something you’re deeply interested in, it can be hard to get into. I hope some of this is helpful and makes the idea of engaging with these stories easier for people.

[z-h-i-e]

New Year's Fanfic Asks - 4&5/5

The final installment for my good friend Anonymous...

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?

Oh, Unforgettable. You are basically done.  Someone just has to get my ass in gear and get it all put together and posted.  Probably me. But peer pressure helps, too.

17. Do you typically answer all comments/reviews individually? Do you plan to change the way you interact with your readers this year?

>.> This is something I am terrible at on AO3, but great at in emails and on Discord.  If you connect with me on Discord and show an interest in wanting to discuss what I’ve written, chances are we will end up in a voice chat where I will tell you stories that may never get written down and will wish you sweet elfy dreams when we part. Emails, there’s a good chance I’ll answer back and we’ll become email penpals and start writing fic together.  On Tumblr, I am likely to answer back.  On AO3, I have an embarrassing amount of unanswered comments (maybe someday we’ll play guess a number); I used to take one Friday a month, take myself to lunch at Panera, specifically one that I used as the basis for Salgant’s home, and answer AO3 comments. Then pandemic. So I need to get a routine going again.  But until then – I’m .zhie. on Discord, and I can be poked there. Or here. Here is good, too.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method? 

I am chaos. Both. Either. And I’ve even written and posted chapters out of order. I’ve posted them so out of order I’ve posted endings before the middle has been figured out. 

19. Would you consider non-fandom writing events, like NaNoWriMo or writing contests? 

Oh.  Oh, you have no idea.  I spent about 12 years as a NaNoWriMo ML, I run a state-wide writing Discord for the state I’m in, and I do in fact enter writing contests.  I was published as a poet when I was in high school, placed in a playwriting contest as well, had three different plays I wrote produced in a community theater type setting (I got to direct two of the three – two were comedies [those I directed] and one was a drama), and three times in five years been chosen for a local short works contest to be in their chosen ten for writing, and one of the years was a chosen photographer for the same contest (ten or less photos are chosen, and ten or less written works, and then they are read in public at an event night), and I perform at open mics on the regular, so locally, in person, not just online, a fair number of people know me as Zhie as well. (And at some of the public open mics, I do sometimes read fanfiction. The first one I read was back in 2005 or 2006, and it was a story about Celegorm, and then there’s been various stories since then, the latest one I recall was about Celebrimbor and Feanor reuniting in Valinor.  I read these while on a stage or in the middle of a room filled with people drinking fancy coffee drinks and eating pastries and there’s a couple of IRL fans who have recorded some of the readings, so they’re probably out there somewhere.) And I do all of those how to write sessions and events – at one of the writing groups I regularly attend (I’m a regular member of two in-person writing groups at local libraries) a member gave me the title ‘The Book Doctor’ and I kind of like it. 

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year?

Yes. Fingers crossed. I need this fantasy horror story out of my head and on paper. 

21. Will you try writing software, like Scrivener or those programs that won’t let you stop writing?

I have used some of those in the past, but I don’t really have much of a need for them anymore.  I do still enjoy a good session of written? kitten! from time to time, and I’ll use Fighter’s Block during nano or any time I need to write much faster. (It’s the only reason I managed to write 50K words in 10 days during NaNo a few years ago.) 

22. Do you plan to take writing classes this year?

I’m kind of at the point where I give writing classes. I enjoy going to the two in-person writing groups because I think it’s important to interact with other writers outside of one’s normal genre, and I have a lot of different people I interact with.  One of the groups leans more nonfiction, and the other is more fiction.  So there’s a guy who writes these nonfiction essays about dead people (basically, famous people, but they have to be dead, I think so that he can have a definitive end, but he’s recently started writing a book about banned books), a WWII vet who writes poetry about the war, someone who professionally is a blogger, someone who writes social psychology pieces, someone who writes these one-page anecdotes that relate back to a Bible passage, someone who writes anecdotes about Jewish life in the 1960s/70s, someone who writes blogs about libraries and books, someone who writes about economics. Then there’s someone who is a children’s author (3 books published), someone who writes YA fiction, someone who is an illustrator, another who is writing a theatrical play for a specific band’s music, someone who writes those nostalgic books full of postcards, someone who is writing her family stories down for her grandchildren to read later when they’re grown up in case she’s not around when they start asking about family history, a scifi writer, a romance writer, a fantasy writer, a songwriter. And me. Those live writing groups are better than any writing class. I get exposed to so many ideas and levels of writing and things I would never write but analyzing them gets me thinking about other things, and all in all, makes me a better writer. 

23. Would you like to go on a writing retreat?

I would like to host one.  I’ve done college-level coursework in convention and meeting planning, and I’ve done a lot of convention and event planning.  However, at this point, one of the above mentioned people in one of the groups does run a writing retreat, and she has two of the events of that retreat open to the public, so I went to one of the events this past November, and I enjoyed it.  So maybe I’d consider going to her retreat, especially since I wouldn’t have to majorly travel to get there. 

24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as “that author who _______.”

I don’t need to wait until the end of the year.  In the back of a dresser somewhere there’s a shirt that has a big purple rabbit on the front and on the back, it says something to the effect of “I’m the author that brought your fandom cheesecake and flamingos and purple bunnies”, and that’s pretty much what I do and what I’ve been doing.  I brought a little chaos, as a treat, and people seemed to like it, so I just keep doing weird shit, like licking virtual couches in Yahoo!Groups or running an event called Screw Yule just because I could. I bounce around, from the fanfic and fanart groups, into the crafting groups, over to the gaming groups, around to the bookclub groups, sliding into the scholarly groups, and I’m always just a little quirky and a little unexpected and very authentically me–I’m just tiggering my way around, and like tiggers, the wonderful thing about zhies is that I’m the only one. 

25. If you answered questions from this list last year, find your answers and compare your goals to your results. How’d you do?

I did not answer these last year, but now that I have a full slate, perhaps I’ll have to revisit next year.

[sparksocialagency]

Tips To Write A Thoughtful Social Media Post

Writing a thoughtful social media post can be difficult. You want to write something that resonates with your audience, but you also want to avoid going overboard on the corniness factor. So how do you write a thoughtful social media post? Here are some tips for creating content that is both meaningful and well-written:

How to write a thoughtful social media post

Write with a purpose. Social media is a place to let your audience know what you’re up to, so don’t post random and irrelevant information just for the sake of posting. Think carefully about what you want to say and how it connects to your brand or mission as a business.

Write for your audience. Your social media posts should be written in such a way that they are easily digestible by people who may not have been following your account before, but still retain all of their meaning in case someone has been following along all along. This can be tricky, but try using images and videos on Instagram where appropriate, or using hashtags when writing on Facebook or Twitter so that people browsing the platform will see your content in the feed (this strategy is especially effective if you’re doing paid advertising).

Writing a thoughtful social media post is like telling a story.

Writing a thoughtful social media post is like telling a story. The first time I wrote something that got a lot of attention, it was because I thought about what my audience wanted to hear, how I wanted to tell that story, and how I wanted them to feel when they finished reading it.

At the time, we were working on an app called [I’ll write a link here]. In the months leading up to launch, we had been spending our evenings posting screenshots on Twitter and Facebook while getting ready for work in the morning (and occasionally during lunch). We felt like this was pretty fun and interesting—and our friends seemed equally amused. So one night after work when everyone else was asleep or busy watching Netflix or whatever else people do these days instead of staying up late working on their blogs or podcasts or podcasts about their blogs that are also full of photos taken with your phone at dinner parties where no one ever raises their voice but still manages make you feel uncomfortable about yourself even though nothing has happened yet but maybe later tonight if you could just hold off sending me those pictures from last weekend until tomorrow when maybe I’ll have more time then too because right now it would just be better if you sent them tomorrow instead so then later tonight could happen sooner rather than later which would mean now because while this process may seem slow compared with other processes such as breathing heavily into someone’s face while they loudly ask themselves why they’re doing this instead of playing video games online all day long like most people who aren’t 22-year-olds whose parents pay for everything including rent bills for places like Brooklyn where there isn’t much going on besides bars filled with young adults drinking iced coffee drinks from local roasters even though neither party actually needs caffeine since both have already consumed enough earlier today anyway…

What to avoid when writing a thoughtful social media post?

Avoid using slang, emojis, abbreviations, emoticons and hashtags. Slang is typically used in a very close group of friends or family members. Emoji’s are for someone you know well enough to have inside jokes with. Abbreviations and emoticons should only be used if you are very familiar with the person you are speaking to. Hashtags should be used sparingly because they can make your post look unauthentic if there are too many hashtags packed into one sentence and not enough content around them.

Ask for help from others in order to write the best post possible.

Confide in the people in your life, who you know will have honest and thoughtful feedback on what you are writing. If someone has a different perspective than yours, ask them to share it with you in order to make your post better. This can be done through email or even face-to-face conversations with those who are close to you. Ask that person: “What do I need to keep in mind as I write this post?” Your friend may also offer advice or suggestions that might seem helpful when writing your next social media post!

Writing a thoughtful social media post can be difficult, but you can do it!

Writing a thoughtful social media post can be difficult. But you can do it! If you have trouble getting started, try telling a story. Maybe your friend got stuck in traffic on the way to work yesterday morning and nearly missed their appointment with their boss, who really needed to talk about something important. Your friend was able to share with them what they wanted because they were late for the meeting anyway.

Spark Social Agency is a social media content marketing and marketing agency that specializes in creating compelling and engaging content for brands, businesses and influencers.

Spark Social Agency is a full-service social media content creation. We specialize in crafting compelling content and beautiful visuals that will drive engagement on your social networks, help launch new products or services, grow your audience, and increase sales.

[writing-for-life]

I totally understand the dilemma, but this came absolutely from people in the wealthier countries you mention who think it’s some sort of social activism or “fandom kindness/looking out for fandom friends” to basically steal (because let’s face it, that’s what it is) from authors. When it’s really just about feeling entitled to have something they can’t afford. Or they’re very clearly able to afford it, but they don’t WANT to pay for it. Because they want to “try it first and maybe buy it later”. Or simply because they don’t see the point to pay for it because they think the world owes them something. Because they simply do not value the arts while loudly proclaiming they do.

Don’t get me wrong: If situations are dire, people can do what they think they need to do. But there’s a world of a difference between just doing it and keeping quiet about it, and loudly proclaiming it’s okay to do it somehow, or that we’ll pass around links etc.

We are defunding the arts everywhere. If we want our art to be valued, we need to assign it value. It’s as simple as that. That value isn’t just monetary, but for pro artists, it’s ALSO monetary. Because we need to make money from it to survive. It’s our intellectual property. We often spent decades to hone our craft. And I know that there’s a whole movement on Tumblr that’s very anti-IP, but all they see are big corporations. But that’s not how it works. Grassroots artists aren’t big corporations. And most writers very much fall into the category of grassroots artists.

I’d also hazard a guess that the majority of the people who think piracy is ok just like the sound of their own echo chamber of (mostly very young) people who think it’s somehow “cool” and “anti-establishment”. All the while not getting that by not assigning value to the arts (because they’re not willing to pay for them because they assign higher priority to something else, which is fine), they play into the very hands of the people who want to defund it. And then cry years down the line that no one values the arts/their art…

I personally think it’s a false equivalence to compare, “I can’t really afford it but I still feel entitled to have it,” with “This is something I need for a degree or similar.” Because artists even in those wealthy countries you mention are struggling. I can still remember the days very well when I made barely enough to scrape by (thank God they’re over). But it honestly would have never occurred to me to say, “I still feel entitled to stuff, so I’ll take it anyway.” Or to have a list of criteria that would need to be fulfilled so it’s good enough for me to read (disabilities/questions of accessibility aside).

There are online libraries like parts of the Internet Archive that people everywhere can join via OpenLibrary. They might not have everything, but they have quite a lot, and over 1,000 libraries worldwide have linked themselves in. What I’m trying to say is: Sometimes it’s just more convenient to do a quick download from some fishy piracy site instead of really looking into what’s out there.

The problems you mention are systemic. And they’re bad, and they need solutions. But is the solution to an underfunded University degree or an underfunded library to take the money from the weakest link in the chain, i.e. the author? It’s an honest question, because of course it points at wider problems that go far beyond this post.

I don’t have answers to these questions either because none of these are simple when it comes to systemic problems. But I’d urge people to really check in with the difference between a “want” and a “need”.

That comic people think is okay to steal? It’s a want, but not a need.

That book of the indie author people think is okay to steal? It’s a want, but not a need.

And in those cases above, it won’t hit the big author because they’re established enough not to care. But it will hit the indie-author.

And just before I finished this, @tickldpnk8 has added such a great reblog. I will just add it as a screenshot to this one because it’s already written, but yes: the irony should not be lost on people. And yet, it seemingly is:

Considering this is a site where so many people have aspirations to become professional authors or artists, I think it’s really astounding that many (often the same) people encourage book piracy. And by that I mean: They don’t just do it behind closed doors (whatever, do what you have to do and keep it to yourself)—they actually package it as some act of immeasurable kindness in the name of “social justice”. And I’d say: If you’re not a professional author and have no experience in or with publishing, hence don’t really understand what it means to make your living as a writer, maybe just… don’t? And if you ever want to sell your books, maybe also just… don’t?

It’s not some cool subversive thing in the name of social justice you’re doing. You’re really hurting authors with it, and it’s in no way comparable to “fighting the big bad streamers.”

Yes, Neil Gaiman will be okay, but if you’re saying it’s okay to do it to him, you’re also saying by extension it’s okay to do it to lesser known authors. And those authors make up the vast (and I mean vast!) majority of authors. But maybe you’re one of those people who think that all artists are minted and picture them in La La Land, entirely possible. If that’s the case, maybe educate yourself what the median income of authors is, be very surprised and wake up. Sometimes, it really helps to think before hitting post. And if rants are not your thing, this is the exit sign because I’m not going to mince my words…

Here are a couple of really good comments from *that* post that people should maybe inwardly digest before they prioritise being oh-so-understanding and supportive of every Tom, Dick & Harry who “can’t afford the book” via piracy (how about buying them one instead if you care so much. No? Thought so) over supporting authors, artists and, yes, libraries:

(Re the last comment: Or use online libraries—they’re also free. That was also part of above post btw. Libby, Hoopla etc exist for a reason.)

If that’s all too hard, then let’s at least stop pretending on here that we care about supporting authors and artists while vocally supporting book piracy. Because really, it’s the same in all arts, even if the symptoms are slightly different—take it from one who is both a published author and used to be a stage performer.

And to say it quite frankly: These “ideas” are probably held by the same people who were tearfully blabbering about the arts being what kept them going during the pandemic and then forgot about it all when lockdown was over. Or maybe they are the same people who think that art is a “jolly pastime”, and that everyone should just be content to “do it for the love of it and give their art away for free because awwwww, so amazing, here, buy food with my exposure bucks.” Go on then, write and consume fanfics and create fanart, problem solved. Just don’t ever ask for the pro art that inspires it again. Ah no, I forgot, it’s all made for money and soulless anyway, innit? Why oh why then do you want to consume and pirate it though?

You’re not progressive and/or supportive of artists. You just have no clue how making a living in the arts works and think your comfort (= “I have to have all the things even if I can’t afford them”) matters more than someone’s livelihood (namely that of the people who devoted their lives to creating that art for you), and it really shows.

I don’t care about anyone’s Google history and even said so several time on here when people asked (this is the latest one, and yes, I see the people who had a “reaction” to this one or the reblog above, but I bet that’s “coincidence”). Do whatever you want to do, it’s your choice, keep it to yourself. But stop pretending that piracy means “caring about the noble cause”, because repackaging entitlement as social activism is performative crap…

[hockey-prose]

smh game night

my brain wouldn’t leave me alone until i put these thoughts down in a post but it’s 4 am and will probably be incoherent. anyway. (woke up this morning to finish this up, tired as hell but i’ll be thinking of this at work today, i just know it.) also i’m tagging @absolutepie because i feel like you’d think of more funny scenarios and as mutuals, i have to respect your craft lmao

so the smh gang are all spread out on the east coast. none of them are very far from one another, but sometimes on the weeks where bitty’s had a lot of trouble with the cook book and the publishing company and ugh!! and jack has been having a rough week with the falcs (not his teammates but sometimes his self doubt gets the better of him. his therapist says healing isn’t a straight line and he feels marginally better) shitty has law school by the throat but when the weekend comes, maybe he just wants to relax on the couch with lardo and her big ass electric sketch machine (he should really learn the name of it so he can buy her a new compatible pen for christmas)

LONG STORY SHORT: they try to have game nights every weekend either at jack and bitty’s or at haus 2.0 with the frogs, the taddies, and even the waffles get an invitation, though they’re still a little occupied with school. ollie and wicks (love them) can rarely make it but always dominate the night. but sometimes work and personal life gets in the way and not everyone wants to put in the effort to travel a couple hours for a game night. it’s reasonable!

so, the smh gang proposes online game nights. they start on skype, which is a disaster.

(“jesus fuckin christ jack, i thought you had the fastest internet known to man and yet bitty is still a minute behind on everything.”

“it’s not my fault, shits. i’m not god of the wifi router.”

“well, you should be.”)

then they migrate to discord for a little bit, but it’s not user friendly for everyone. nobody talks about the summer of 2019 when jack cursed up a storm trying to get the microphone out of push-to-talk mode when it wasn’t even in push-to-talk.

and so it’s not long before everyone is locked inside and forced to use zoom for everything anyway. but it’s better than skype for connection reasons, and easier than discord for technology reasons, so it’s good.

so the game changes every week. sometimes it’s a huge game of uno online that doesn’t make much sense. other times it’s a tense battle of go fish on one of those sketchy websites where you don’t really trust it but when there’s nothing else!

honestly they could just get a couple games for the gaming consoles they have, but then everyone would have to shill out the money for said consoles if they don’t have them and it’s not worth the time. everyone has a computer or at the very least, a laptop that can run both zoom and go fish at the same time.

but one week, it’s bitty’s turn to pick the game they play. and he has a good idea. so good, he doesn’t even reveal what it is until the night of when everyone is eagerly waiting. when bitty shares his screen and starts playing the ‘shark tank’ music, everyone gets hyped. (tv show where small businesses and/or potential businesses pitch their product in front of a panel of judges to see if they want to invest in the product.)

bitty distributes a starter of $10,000 to four people in the call and tells them that they’re the investors (the sharks). shitty, jack, nursey, and holster are the sharks. people lose their shit when bitty asks for certain members of the crew to give their pitches. lardo, chowder, whiskey, and ransom are the people giving pitches.

lardo obviously wins the first round, and then a second one starts up, with a sweeping victory from whiskey. everyone is clambering for a chance to be both a shark and a pitcher, but by then, it’s the end of the set hours for game night and everyone has to sign off. but bitty says that the next time his week to choose the game, he’ll do this again with different people as the sharks and pitchers.

soon there’s a tally in the haus 4.0 group chat about who has the most wins. lardo is first, with dex behind her, ford in third place, then ransom and holster tied for fourth. if ollie and wicks showed up more, they’d be higher on the list. jack is near the bottom, while bitty is directly in the middle.

the people who win the week before get to be the sharks. they decide the winner on who has the most approval from the sharks. there are four sharks, so it’s majority. if only two sharks invest, it depends on what other people have been given. the money that’s decided on is given to the people immediately as a rolling fund so that they can participate next game night.

lardo has been a shark almost the entire time, but she greatly enjoys critiquing nursery’s work in particular because he has such fantastical ideas with no way to execute them. dex always goes to simple. chowder is a good player and he’s been a shark a couple times, but he really, honestly, enjoys pitching a lot. bitty likes being a shark, but he invests in everyone so his money is always so low. jack invests in no one besides bitty and sometimes shitty. ransom and holster invest in each other’s things. shitty has been a shark maybe twice because his products are batshit crazy. (love you shitty)

shitty likes to think he’s a good persuader outside of being a lawyer but it never works out in his favor. dex, chowder, ransom, and lardo are the best pitchers for their products. bitty is a close one, but sometimes his products are more just what he dreams up that he needs to assist him in the kitchen. nursey, holster, and shitty go for the humor route.

because they’re all friends, they can rag on each other’s products and ideas so much without getting any feelings hurt. i’m thinking the smh gang works much like the jenna julien podcast when they play this game where if it’s shitty pitching to lardo, she’ll automatically say she’s out before he can even finish because his product is either a pun or just bad. the zoom is overrun with yelling and arguing, but at the end of the night, everyone says they had a lot of fun.

i have no conclusion to this. but i think i got all my thoughts out. if i have more, i’ll reblog this and add on but for now, thank you for your time lmao.

[unoriginalmess]

Untitled Feralnette Fic Ch. 1

Hiya there anyone who happens upon this first chapter of this fic. I would like to start out by saying that this is my first fanfic ever. I've been wanting to write a fic for the miraculous fandom for a while but I haven't had any inspiration until I stumbled upon this glorious AU created by @bigfatbreak. I highly suggest checking out all of their posts about this au because they are hilarious and genius and about 100 other amazing adjectives that could be used to describe them and their posts. Anyways enough with my rant and let's get on with the fic. ⚠️Slight angst⚠️ ⚠️Swearing⚠️

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When Marinette got home after her and Luka's breakup, all she could do was cry. She wanted to be with him, but her Ladybug duties came first. If lying is a deal breaker for him, then maybe it was best that they ended it now while their relationship was still in its early stages. Still, she couldn't help but feel the loss of her first relationship. She ended up crying for a whole entire day. She just hoped that Hawkmoth(or Shadowmoth or whatever the fuck he wanted to be referred to as this week) wasn't feeling particularly akuma-y today, because she didn't know if she could bottle up all these feelings, even though the world is relying on her ability to do so.

Ugggghhh!! It has been exhausting having to be "happy and perfect Marinette" and "happy and perfect Ladybug" All. The. Time. She's also pretty sure that Hawkmoth had discovered the similarities in her personality as Marinette to Ladybug, and that's why she's been targeted by multiple akumas lately. She has had to have her emotions under control even more than usual. If only there was a way to get Hawkmoth to stop targeting her. Maybe she should just not give a fuck anymore. Haha as if! It couldn't be that easy! Could it?

The more she thinks about it the more it starts to make sense. If she just let herself go completely crazy as Marinette, she would be killing like 10 birds with one stone. She would get hawkmoth off of her trail, she wouldn't have to deal with having to hide her emotions all of the time, she wouldn't have to deal with the added stress of maintaining her perfect persona, she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of Lila's lies taking her friends away if she didn't have friends in the first place, and so much more stress would be taken off of her plate! It was perfect! It might hurt a little at first, but it's for the best in the end. She spent that night planning out her outfit for tomorrow, doing her homework, and going to sleep knowing that, in the morning, François Dupont isn't gonna know what hit them.

....

Adrien Agreste had been having a rough week. He had been abandoned on patrol by ladybug, been broken up with by his girlfriend, and was feeling completely and utterly alone. He knows that his lady has been feeling overwhelmed by her guardian duties lately, and that he 100% deserved that verbal lasting that kagami had given him but he couldn't help but feel this way. He was also feeling guilty about lying to kagami and leading her on for so long. After she broke up with him he took some time to assess his feelings for her and realized that he had more of an admiration for her than an infatuation. He definitely didn't feel the same way about her that she felt about him. She told him that she LOVED HIM, and he was so distracted (blinded) by ladybug that he didn't even process her confession. So, he was looking forward to Sunday morning. He cleared his schedule and on that beautiful Sunday morning, he did what he is only allowed to do on very rare occasions: sleep in. Or at least... thats what he had planned on doing.

When Nathalie had knocked on his door that morning Adrien was not in a good mood. He vaguely heard her say something about father wanting him downstairs in some amount of time for something involving a business partners child and some other robotic sounding words that his half asleep brain couldn't process completely.

"I have a cleared schedule this morning, Nathalie. What could father possibly want me for that is more important than my precious sleep?" He asked snappily.

"Your father wants you downstairs to welcome the new guest that will be living in the house for the rest of the school year. You have 15 minutes to make yourself look presentable and I suggest leaving the attitude upstairs," she half informed/half reprimanded him. As she walked away, Adrien reluctantly rose from his nice warm bed and went to go get ready with only one thought racing through his mind: Who could possibly be staying with them?

....

Felix Culpa was not looking forward to living at the Agreste mansion for the rest of the school year, but for their parents' sake they would do what they had to. It wasn't all for their parents either, they were also concerned about the strange "dissapearance" of Emilie (who was his aunt in all ways except blood relation) and about the treatment of Adrien since said "disappearance".

You see, Felix Culpa is the heir to the Culpa Fabric Empire. The Culpas have been the sole fabric supplier of the Agreste brand since the very beginning. Felix's mom Diana was best friends with Emilie since their college days. Diana and Emilie made the deal with the two brands because as best friends who are both involved in the same industry, it just made sense to have a business relationship with each other. Diana never really cared for Gabriel as a person, but she could tell that he loved Emilie more than anyone else in the world so she could tolerate him for the sake of her best friend.

When Emilie went missing, Diana was absolutely devastated and tried anything she could to find her. She invested in missing person ads as large as billboards, organized search teams, tried to aid the police in their search for her in any way she could, but there was no leads, no legitimate calls to the number on the billboards, and the search team came up empty handed. While she was doing all of this to try to find her, she couldn't help but be furious over the fact that Gabriel was doing nothing to help in the search. All he did was hole himself up in his oversized mansion and call it a day.

The last straw for Diana was when Gabriel tried to use the "grieving my wife" excuse to try to abuse their business arrangement. That day, she told him that the Culpa brand would no longer be associated with the Agreste brand and that after the new collection is released, he would need to find a new fabric supplier. She knew that the Agreste brand would take a huge hit from having sub-par fabric, but she never thought that Gabriel would try to make up for that fact by using Adrien as a walking mannequin and locking him up in the desolate prison that he calls a home. As soon as she realized that he was doing this she scrambled to find a solution.

That is how Felix ended up here, standing in front of the mansion they would be living in for the next 9 months in exchange for Gabriel getting back into the Culpa brand's good graces. Don't get them wrong, they were excited about being able to be in Paris, home of the most innovative fashion pieces in the world, and about being able to see their honorary cousin Adrien (who wasn't half bad to be around despite him having no backbone whatsoever when it came to anything involving his father) but dealing with Mr. Agreste was definitely one of the low points of this arrangement.

They decided to just get it over with and knocked on the door. It was opened by the man that their cousin affectionately referred to as Gorilla. They nodded a thank you to the man, remembering that he was a man of few words, and proceeded to the bottom of the staircase. Mr. Agreste stood at the top with a very tired looking Adrien a few steps down. Felix wasn't even slightly surprised that this is where he chooses to welcome his guests, looking down on people must give him some sort of power trip or something. It's almost as if he heard the phrase "It's over, Anakin, I have the high ground," and made that his own personal motto. Whatever, let him have the feeling of false power if he wanted it, Felix knows that they have all the power in this situation and they're sure that Gabriel knows it as well.

"Hello Felix," Mr. Agreste greeted them with the same amount of warmth in his voice as liquid nitrogen, "while you are staying in this house you will abide by my rules. Adrien will inform you of them and show you to your room. You will attend school with him in the morning and I'm sure that you already know that you must represent not only the Culpa brand, but also the Agreste as well. I will be in my office working, do not disturb me. Contact Nathalie with any questions that cannot be answered by Adrien." He finished his spiel and left to what Felix assumed was his office space.

"Hello Felix!" Adrien greeted him with as much enthusiasm as he could muster in his sleepy state. "Come with me and I'll show you to your room."

Adrien led Felix to their room and listed all of the rules of the household that they were expected to follow. And... wow. Felix could not believe that their cousin had to live like this. The only social interaction this kid gets is at school and fencing? Pre-approved outings only with people determined socially acceptable by Gabriel? And if he gets even one "B" he isn't even going to be allowed to go to school at all? Felix knew that the living situation was bad for Adrien but know the only question running through their head was: What did they get themselves into??

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And... thats it for chapter 1! Mostly background info at this point, but next chapter will be the class' reaction to feralnette and felinette meeting for the first time. I just want to say thanks again to @bigfatbreak for giving me the inspiration to write a fic for the first time ever. Feel free to leave constructive criticism, I'm always looking to improve, especially at writing since this is my first time posting anything I've written online, so I want to get better so that I can make better content for you guys, gals, and non-binary pals. If anyone wants to be tagged just let me know and I'll make a tag list for ya. :)

[13yearslater]

Attitudes surrounding bottom surgery

I’m so tired of the misinformation, misconceptions and attitudes surrounding bottom surgery for trans men, especially phalloplasty and especially amongst other trans men.

All too often I’ve see other trans men saying that phalloplasty looks fake, unrealistic, unnatural, bad, terrible, is useless, insensate etc. I’ve seen much harsher words used to describe phalloplasty; again, by other trans men, but I won’t repeat them here.

Can we just think about how inconsiderate, unnecessary and hurtful that is? It is absolutely ok to not want phalloplasty, it’s ok to feel it’s not adequate for your needs but it is not ok to speak about it this way simply because it doesn’t suit your needs. You must remember, these aren’t just “surgery results”; these are people’s bodies. People that like you, have fought long and hard to feel at peace in their skin and once they finally get there and are kind enough to provide these deeply personal and intimate photos for the purpose of providing information for other trans men seeking bottom surgery, we see their bodies shamed and degraded by the very people they’re trying to help.

I’m sure many of the trans men who speak this way about these surgeries would realise the impact if we switched the scenario. Imagine you’ve started testosterone or maybe you’ve had top surgery. It’s been a long time coming, you’ve waited a long time for this, you’ve scrimped and saved to afford it, you’ve dreamt of this moment for years; of being able to finally see yourself in the mirror, of being able to take your shirt off and finally feel comfortable with what you see, to be able to touch your chest, to be able to be intimate with another person. You’re so grateful to have been able to have these things. The relief, the euphoria, the swagger as you walk now without the weight of the dysphoria from these aspects of your body. You feel good, you’re proud, you’re happy, you finally feel at home in your body and it’s amazing. You want to share your results; maybe to help other trans people who are considering going to the same surgeon or maybe because you're proud of how far you’ve come, how happy you are and you want to share that. But then you post a photo of yourself to show your changes or you post a picture of your chest post-surgery and you’re met with the same kind of comments we see about phalloplasty FROM OTHER TRANS PEOPLE:

“Top surgery is terrible, it looks so fake and unnatural, it’ll never look like a man’s chest.” 

“Those scars are AWFUL!” 

“I want top surgery, but I don’t want THAT!" 

“Testosterone doesn’t even work, you can still tell they’re not cis; what’s the point?” 

“I guess I’ll have to wait until they come up with something better”.

Maybe as you’re browsing trans spaces you might see your pictures being shared elsewhere. Maybe they’re being used to demonstrate examples of “bad results” and you’re reading a thread of other trans people picking fault at the most intimate part of your body. 

Can you imagine how any of that would feel? To finally feel at peace in your body, to like how it looks and feels, to be proud of it, only to be told by people - who should understand - how awful it looks? I hope you can.

There are two main reasons why you may think these things about phalloplasty and you’re perpetuating one of them. There’s a reason we have an almost constant stream of people showing their post-surgery chests online and yet almost no one showing their penises after phalloplasty and it’s not because no one gets phalloplasty. 

1) Phalloplasty is usually performed across up to three separate surgeries. For this reason, the photos we see on Google or surgeons’ websites are taken in between these stages and very often either immediately after surgery or during the healing process. You will be extremely hard pressed to see a finished and healed phalloplasty from either of these sources. Even photos posted by the patients themselves will often be in between the years long process of multiple stages and are often shared to illustrate the healing process. 

2) This is the one you’ve had a part to play in. After countless people having negative experiences with sharing their photos publicly, the sharing of photos after phalloplasty has been driven largely underground. Often to member-only websites, to secret Facebook groups that require proof of surgical referrals to even gain access to, to Yahoo Groups (RIP), to documents on Google Drive that are shared only by word of mouth between trusted individuals, to speaking directly to those who have had phalloplasty. 

Chances are, you’ve probably never even seen a completed and healed phalloplasty. Let alone one with full medical tattooing. 

Either way, I urge you to be mindful when speaking about other people’s bodies. 

[thewertsearch]

Asks Compilation 30/05

And they really do. It’s kind of a crime that they never grew up together, because that would have been the funniest shit ever. 

I’ll give them a look soon then! I’m planning on doing a few in-between things like that after the conclusion of Act 4.  

That’s four accidental references. I guess when your comic is already so reference-heavy, this becomes kind of a statistical inevitability. 

I really gotta check out this game. 

That’s hilarious, but also - people do live reads on Twitch? That’s so fun! It wouldn’t be for me, but I’d love to watch some of those, once I’ve finished the comic. It’s such a novel way to do something like this. 

The Midnight Crew are duplicated across sessions, and I think it’s pretty likely that the same goes for all unique Carapaicians. I’m fairly confident that WV, PM and AR all exist in the troll session.

If he’s always predisposed to rebel, then he’s just another card Sburb can play. It’s like anon said - if the Reckoning is coming on a little too early, he attacks the Black King to delay it, so Players can get there on time.

But he can’t ever win, because the game decrees that Prospit can’t be spared. This is why I hope he isn’t scripted, because if he is, this whole thing gets really tragic really fast. 

Hah, I noticed after I posted it, but I didn’t bother to change it. It really captured the energy of those last few panels.  

Hell yeah! 😍 It’ll be cool to see how the design evolves as I learn what each of the trolls’ features actually mean and signify.  

They’re honestly a ton of fun to make. I haven’t done any sprite work in a long time, and it’s been really fun to get back into it!

Damn it, this is what happens when you type your FAQ at 2am...

Theory: The Guardians weren’t cloned from themselves. They were created from mutant TBH DNA, and the Striders are the least mutated of all. 

As a former security analyst, I am honor-bound to practice good infosec and not share my birthday online. But yeah, we’re in my season! 

I never liked having a summer birthday - I much prefer winter weather, since I’m kinda photosensitive. I’m also the only one in my family with a summer birthday. In defiance to Gemini symbolism, I stand alone. >:)

Oh, yeah, I can for sure believe that people would still ship these kids post-Veil - lest we forget the perfect storm of discourse that was early Supernatural. 

It’s probably a good thing that these kids were thirteen-year-old online friends, and not eighteen-year-old college roommates. That could have got really awkward, and I imagine (read: hope) that Sburb intercedes to make sure such situations don’t arise. 

Again: My heartfelt thanks to all readers for not asking me about shipping pre-Veil. I don’t think I would have shipped RoseDave or JohnJade, but if I’d actually had reason to think about it at the time, you never know...

Like, I know this stuff is probably just being alchemized, but I can’t get over the possibility that Players have ‘iconic accessories’ built into their DNA. 

Except the Striders. They just get big ol’ eyes. 

Love the idea that Battlefield Carapacians have their own distinct culture. Living in an eternal war zone would change you, no matter how deeply ingrained your Sburb programming was.

I like to think that when WV rose up, it was the war-weary Battlefield Carapacians who were the first to stand beside him 

[ Rex Duodecim is really good but it spoils some stuff later on. you should watch it after Act 5 fully ends... maybe even liveblog it? - Cat ] 

Thanks a bunch, and get well soon! I’m glad that the liveblog is helping you through it!

So it’s a fanmade video that was confirmed as canon later on? Or is it more that the author likes it so much that they consider it canon? Either way, I’ll check it out when I can be sure it won’t spoil me on anything!

Thank you! You can thank @beneath-these-bones for the initial design. It’s a fantastic base, and I plan to update it when I get round to drawing some alchemy gear.

It works either way! Despite the fact that I never get assigned the Space Aspect, I still love all things astronomical. 

Yeah, I’m inclined to agree. I love the star’s dopey face, but the planet does look a lot better. Initially I made the planet’s ring fully horizontal, but this is definitely an improvement.  

Chillingly plausible. Now that we know Rose’s Grimoire is the real deal, who knows what effect that thing was having on her, over the years? Plus, she’s been dreaming on Derse her whole life...