#not actually referencing but i was thinking abt her work

[angabby-zzz]

i think i play too into gabbys anger with things. idk i think she would be a zoned out tired type of person. like i need to reference how shes an early sleeper somewhere in the quest. she (or angel) realizes shes like acting weird and is like 😟 oh no whats up. but then they realize its just cuz its 9pm already

[cameronsbabydoll]

SCC reader and Rafe at one of his fancy business dinners. For additional context, this is probably also probably when readers on her 2nd pregnancy, so she’s just irritable and uncomfortable but still showed up with Rafe to keep up appearances.

Rafe and his buddies are drunk chatting somewhere, talking about work and normal guy stuff. Then the conversation shifts to their home/personal lives ie marriages. One man is talking about his wife’s new promotion, the other one she’s started a book club, etc…they’re all drunk talking abt how they love their headstrong and independent wives. Rafe is just sitting there, nursing his drink, listening to how they talk about them, like they’re people.

He never talks about reader like that, not about her really, just what she does for him “she’s a great mom, an amazing wife, or she’s beautiful”

Then he glances his eyes over to the wives talking by the bar, except you. you’re just sitting at the table, by yourself, hand rested on your belly, checking your phone (probably texting the nanny), trying to look occupied while you’re just waiting for the dinner to be over.

He makes eye contact with her and she sends him a small, tired smile that doesn’t meet her eyes and promptly decides to take her home. (she’s been faking a lot of smiles recently, he’s noticed.)

On the way home it’s quiet. She’s always quiet now. He brings up the new book club that one of his buddies mentioned, suggesting that reader likes a lot of those types of “girly books” and could join and have some sort of friends (ones that he could monitor and approve of).

The mention of it immediately makes Reader just breaks down sobbing about how she doesn’t fit in with any of the wives, how they’re older and college educated “established ladies with actual lives”. How they think she’s just a “dumb kid who got knocked up by the first rich guy to throw her a smile.” and maybe she agrees with them, reflecting on how she didn’t get to go to college or develop as a person before she had kids. She’s just in this cycle of isolation and self loathing that got worst after she got pregnant.

Rafe tries in his own weird way to comfort her(he’s not very good at it) claiming that she doesn’t need those “old broads poisoning your mind anyways”

She just sighs into her seat looking at the window and tearfully just says “I just miss her. I don’t have anyone… not anymore”(referencing her old best friend)

The rest of the ride is silent. When they get home, maybe Rafe tries to be extra sweet to reader during bed time(giving her a bit more physical affection bc god knows that girl needs a hug) maybe he tries to reassure her that shes not just some girl who got knocked up, she’s his wife. Like it’s some badge of honor or something. She just responds with “because you wouldn’t let me be anything else”

nothing else but yours

warnings: emotional neglect, isolation, emotional/verbal manipulation, references to pregnancy, identity loss, subtle controlling behavior, depressive themes, disillusionment with marriage, hinted age gap, power imbalance, soft angst

a/n: part of my sugar-coated chains series

the dinner is loud. fake laughter and expensive wine. your feet hurt in the heels he picked out, your belly’s heavy with the second baby, and your smile is wearing thinner by the hour.

you sit alone at the table, trying not to look like you're just waiting. hand resting on your stomach, phone in your lap. you scroll through texts from the nanny. check the time. sip water. anything to stay invisible.

rafe’s across the room with his partners, scotch in hand, tie loose around his neck. they’re all red-faced and slurring, bragging about their wives.

“she just got promoted to senior partner.”

“mine’s running a book club now, gets the whole neighborhood involved.”

“god, i love how bossy she is—she tells me what to do and i listen.”

and rafe just laughs, tight-lipped, swirls the ice in his glass. doesn’t say anything about you. not really.

when they ask, he just says,

“she’s a great mom. gorgeous. keeps the house in order.”

like you’re a job well done. a good return on investment.

he glances toward the bar where the wives are, gold and glitter and loud perfume. but you’re not there. you’re still at the table, slumped in your chair, eyes on your phone, trying not to cry from how swollen your ankles feel.

you catch his stare.

you give him a tired smile.

it doesn’t reach your eyes.

he’s taking you home ten minutes later.

the car is quiet. it always is now.

you look out the window, arms wrapped around your belly like you’re holding yourself together.

he tries. in his own weird, rough-edged way.

“that book club thing john’s wife started—you like those girly books, right? maybe you could join. make some friends.”

you laugh once. bitter. sharp.

“i don’t fit in with them.”

rafe blinks.

you never say things like this.

“they’re older. they went to college. they did something with their lives,” you mutter. “they look at me like i’m just some dumb kid who got knocked up by the first rich guy who paid attention.”

you wipe a tear away before it falls.

“and maybe they’re right.”

rafe shifts in his seat, jaw clenched.

“don’t say that.”

“i didn’t even get the chance to figure out who i am,” you whisper. “i just became yours. that’s all i ever got to be.”

he doesn’t know what to say to that.

because it’s true.

you stare out the window and say, quieter,

“i just miss her. i don’t have anyone… not anymore.”

and he knows you mean your old best friend. the girl you used to laugh with. sneak wine coolers with. dream with.

the rest of the drive is silent.

when you get home, he helps you out of the car without being asked. brushes your hair back. undresses you slowly. kisses your shoulder when he pulls the nightgown over your head.

he holds you longer than usual.

hand on your belly. lips against your spine.

“you’re not just some girl i knocked up,” he murmurs. “you’re my wife.”

you close your eyes.

“because you wouldn’t let me be anything else.”

[rexxmako]

raise the curtains! bring up the lights! the [EXTREMELY NICHE APOCALYPSE AU] neighborhood is coming to town!!

scroll for design notes and whatnot :D

i wish i knew how to draw Ray and Gobblette and Pearl and Gordon but i'll have to learn and practice as i go. these are all you get for now until i draw them decently

design notes below :]

Ricky

good god he's had so many reworks. he used to have a lighter skin tone and no dreadlocks and it was sooo off-putting to look at back then

i'm really glad i redesigned his human version

i took the color of his sock body and used it for his major hair color

also thought it'd be neat for him to have patches on his body. he's not exactly human because of this lol

he has earrings cos he's bonita as fuck

he has his bowtie undone but always has it on him because he never wants to forget abt his show days :(

Vi

my OC :D she's the baby of the group. she's human btw

also a child star of the show from the age of 3 or 4 to 8 years old

the main character of LDM (the name of the apocalypse au)

she's absolutely precious

her hair color is natural btw. fuckin anime protagonist ahh hair

Junebug

she is soooo the type to decorate her outfits with patches and decal

an absolute cutie pie gahh i love her

her hair's surprisingly easy to draw

girlie is the whole definition of pretty in pink <3

Lilianna

mother

tried to make her look older than the rest

her hair was pretty tricky to draw hh

also the flower pin on her collar - she does actually have a flower in her og design so thought it'd be cool if mb Junebug gave her the pin

a sunhat wouldn't be practical but a bandana would. decided to give it flower patterns because the hat has a flower on it too.

the color palette took so much trial and error. worth it tho

Lenard

SILLY GUY <3

idc he needed dreads they suit him fight me

one of his voice lines starts with "music? music! oh, i love it so much!" so why not give him music note patches

he also originally has a missing eye but i decided to make him half-blind instead? idk lemme know if this should be changed or not idk if im doing him justice

George

NAH MAN I COOKED LIKE???

i sketched him out on a sticky note in under 5 mins. best piece of trad art i ever made ong

and i've had his design in mind for a while but i didn't know how to sketch him out digitally so i went for traditional and it WORKED

i imagine him as the oldest of the Neighbors but not that much older than Lilianna

he has a missing eye in the game too but for variation i gave him an eyepatch (homage to the Stage 5 pirate variant of him)

his outfit was really easy i just referenced his usual clothing

his grey streaks gahh. he's so old i love him

popeye ahh mf

Norman

fuckin basic-ass bitchass white boy bitch /j

the most normal one of the bunch is the hardest to design. sobs

i need ways to enhance him / make him stand out more send help aaafhggk

EDIT 1: @witheringmascotmess had the suggestion to give him injuries since he's in a lot of warning/caution posters around the studio in the game. i think that's so smart like genuinely! so thank you for the idea fam :D i also tried to make his face a little rounder idk lol

[lupiinist]

Emmeline Vance, Emma vanity

Where did they come from like I can’t Rember them being referenced in the book (not that it matters😭😭) but also what are liek the best bc for them (house, bsf, personalit, style) cs I wanna know more abt them

oh, actually, i have no idea where they were first mentioned, i never finished the books (i'm reading them now because i got them as a surprise gift, sort of against my will lol), but if i had to guess, probably some extra content book! (i sorta went to google it and emmeline i think was mentioned in the... sixth? fifth book? something like that!)

as for hc, i also don't see a lot of them in the fandom, but i'm happy to share mine!

for emmeline:

i don't know for sure if she has an official hogwarts house, i don't think so, but i personally like her in ravenclaw, she's the seeker from her quidditch team, which often makes other people surprised, because she doesn't seem the type, but she's very athletic. she likes sports as much as she likes charms (it's her favorite class), and she's got a great memory for spells and for history of magic. i think she would be besties with both pandora (she likes the way pandora thinks, and they study together often), emma (they train together for quidditch, and they even dated for a while), and also marlene (emmeline likes marlene's vibe, they are good friends). emmeline has a more "girly" style, painted nails, little hairpins with interesting shapes (gifts from pandora), and make-up are her go-to. she loves styling her hair in cute ways (space buns, pigtails, braids, anything that comes to mind).

for emma:

she's a slytherin girl boss through and through, quidditch team captain (this one i think it's actually a canon fact), a sports enthusiast, she's very focused, very serious, very professional. her goal is to be a pro player, and she will. she's a year older than the marauders, not fan of many classes, but very good in potions and defense against the dark arts, with dada being her favorite class, but minerva being her favorite teacher. she's tough, smart and knows how to pick and win a fight. i like to think that emma's best friend was emmeline, but she had a special bond with regulus, she had him under her wing in quidditch, and he sees her as the greates player he ever saw, they have a cute mentor/student relationship, reggie respects her a lot! (she played as a chaser, btw!). emma, contrary to what people think by her last name, wasn't really vain, at least not with her appearance, she was always messy, with her hair tied, because it was easier for her to fly any time like that, and she always had a heavy coat even when was hotter, because she spent most of her time flying around. her favorite color is purple, and she likes shiny things. i hc her as a black person, very curly hair, and although being in slytherin in a time where most students in the house were purbloods, she's either half-blood or muggleborn

i absolutely love making hcs, thank you so much for asking! i've been working a bit more on emmeline and emma recently for a fic i'm writing, so it's always good to put those little details down in words! i hope you liked it c;

[philomenacunt]

see cheerpreacher is so interesting to me because both karen & becky have devoted their lives to other people. becky with her patients, karen with her family (& probably church and community as a whole)

long ramble post incoming. sort of incomprehensible to some probably !!!! to most 😭. warning for. idk like one small paragraph referencing sex

and they just. aren't true or good to themselves. i feel

they both so Desperately need to stop living only for other people and i feel like they could really really figure that out together? indulge, care for themselves, be honest with themselves...

in my opinion they also just feel so guilty. like.

becky feels an insane amount of guilt about stanley, karen is dealing with internalized homophobia & the guilt of "leaving" her family & religious guilt.......

and then ofc all the insecurities. karen has never been with a woman before plus she's older than becky and she has a kid, how could someone like becky (who could have anyone) ever be interested in her.........meanwhile becky is like

i feel like. after getting to know each other maybe through the hospital? becky works there & karen reads to sick kids, or something. they're totally taking care of each other, confiding in one another, telling each other things they haven't told anyone else. and then.

they realize they're gay. and of course they don't tell each other it because karen has a fucking family and is a good christian woman who's married to an amazing guy and she Can't be gay. at the same time becky feels so fucking bad, almost predatory, for having thoughts like these about a woman who's like the first real friend she's had in literal years. angst potential !

when karen slowly starts accepting. it. the fear of being predatory also reaches her bc she is about. 7 years older than becky. & she takes care of her (reminds her to drink lots of water, be nice to herself, they have conversations abt her trauma, etc) & she's actually terrified becky sees her as more of a mother figure. which becky doesn't. but karen thinks she might so it's a whole new layer of "i'm disgusting i'm dangerous. she trusts me & here i am having these thoughts about her"

but even if. even fucking if! you know what let's go there. maybe becky likes the feeling of an older woman being nice to her & loving her. she never got it as a child (headcanon) so why should she deny herself now. even if she wants to call karen mommy sometimes when she's going down on her & making her feel safe and warm and good. as if a mommy kink is so scandalous we've all read fics with it. why am i being so defensive. it's because i'm projecting BUT STILL!!!!!!!!!!

this is so. omg. i'm so sorry everyone schere 🖖

all in all their sex life is calm and good and. really slow and warm. and it's exactly what they both need. they need attention and care and love and that's what they get from each other....

they're so sweet. they're sweet and good and warm. so sweet

[horizon-verizon]

You misunderstand me. I'm not saying it has no bearing on the story because it's from Yi Ti, I'm saying that since the Blood Betrayal hasn't yet been confirmed as the official reason why the Long Night began, HotD wouldn't be interested in referencing it. Also I doubt Condal and Hess read TWOIAF.

Anon speaks of this post.

Not sure why you think I misunderstood. I addressed your point about how "we can't know" that this legend explains or thematically explains the connection of misogyny to how we lose the dragons.

A)

Rhaenyra -- Amethyst Empress --- woman who lost her throne and life to an evil younger brother through force

Aegon II -- Bloodstone Emperor --- both usurp their elder, chosen sister

Daenerys/Amethyst Empress/Rhaenyra --- women of authority and power

Viserys (III)/Aegon II/Bloodstone Emperor --- brothers who have endangered, abused, or killed their sister and meant to displce them from their own rights, innate or sociopolitical, for their own power advancement.

As for Condal and Hess, they can't do pattern recognition, now? Condal especially said he was a "fan" of this series and world. He didn't read TWoIaF and he claims to be a AsoIaF "fan"?

It is similar here, with the Bloodstone Emporer/Amethyst Empress and that particular legend's explanation for the Long Night. This legend doesn't have to be totally real, and I mean that it doesn't have to be true that there was a 1000 year old emperor as the Yi Ti are told to believe abt some of the known Emperors. These are metaphorical in the first place.

All the legend is clueing us in on is that this betrayal, whatever it was, was one between relatives, a man undoing a woman's place, and thus speaking to how it threw off the balance of the world's magic. That women are a critical part of that balance. That's the central idea being conveyed, the purpose of this legend--everything points to Dany vs the Others (yes the others of the Big Five are still relevant, but they have no chance without her).

We don't need to know the actual details of who these particular people were and what they weren't when they loved or died, just that something like this usurpation definitely happened and there was a notable affect on magic in the realm those emperors ruled over, as Yi Tish people are also very active in magic wielding...most of Essos is, unlike Westeros.

I'm going to repeat myself in this post, but: this is not a real history book where we'll likely not know much of anything...GRRM provides more answers in his fictional history than real history books do.

All this is important to the theme of F&B: greedy men sideline, abuse, uproot women they are blood connected to for power (just as the Bloodstone emperor did), the women suffer for it/lose their political authority therefore their ability to as actively direct the direction of the House, and eventually the entire house and Westeros loses dragons to use against the Others and the world's magical & biological ecosystem is totally thrown off kilter until Dany literally sets it right again by bring the dragons back. The dragonglass candles at Oldtown, they light up again when she does this. The last of AGoT:

As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.

So again, why do you need "more" "confirmation" when there is so much evidence, when that's not how fiction works (that you need things totally spelled out for you to be true), etc?

Honestly, this seems a literacy and latent sexism issue that causes this cognitive dissonance in fans that makes them deny these types of connections as canon, real, whatever. Bc you have people caliming Jon is Azor Ahai up the wazzo simply because he's the son of a Targ and a Stark (fire and ice), male, the "sword" of the prophecy they take as literal, etc. etc. But "song" means "war" and Jon has done nothing/nothing has happened around him to predicate a connection the Azor Ahai prophecy in-text. Yet so many people ride for this stupid idea, this stupid unsupported idea!

This idea that has never been "confirmed" and never will be bc there is and has never been evidence to how Jon Snow, a Westerosi Stark through and through, relates to an Essosi prophecy when Dany--who grew up in Essos and was born in Westeros thus is a connector of the two continents; is actively dealing with dragons and having dragons dreams; in Essos where the Azor Ahai prophecy originates; comes from a dragonriding lienage ("fire"); the enemy of "fire" has always been "cold" and Jon is more Stark than Targ, so "cold" must be the ecological and magical threat that is the Others that even GoT has had us anticipate since its very 1st episode as THE enemy before that atrocious last season!!!; when we know "prince" is a gender neutral term form High Valyrian (Prince that was Promised)--has all the evidence of being Azor Ahai.

And why does it matter they they haven't read it when they could have asked GRRM or just read F&B to properly understand the point of the Dance?

Condal can't clock that this legend is narratively important just as much that the CotF/"those who sing the song of the earth's connection to Dany and Westeros' future? Just bc a thing is in Essos, doesn't mean it will not affect Westeros just as real life Ancient Asian societies have been able to make physical trade as well as intellectual "trade" or influence on stuff in the West. He can't clock Rhaena the BB and Elissa's connection to Daenerys? Condal read how Dany is connected to Braavos and how Dreamfyre's eggs went there and didn't put 2 and 2 together?

This is why you don't bring non-fantasy readers to write a fantasy show. who then, bc of said ignorance, want to somehow "make the story better" or different...the same story they don't even understand. Also why you don't bring a marketing guy to write any adaptive as intricate and rich as ASoIaF and to not understand the depth or the patterns of magical phenomenon that good faith fantasy readers have habitually done since their childhood (most readers anyway have read fantasy since childhood and religiously so to understand its conventions) when that's not what they look out for in the first place.

B)

The fact that Dany's eggs are Dreamfyre's also haven't been "confirmed" by GRRM or revealed in The Winds of Winter or A Dream of Spring. That doesn't make this any less true.

1- from his website

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why did it become so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What is the origin of Daenerys’s three dragon eggs? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel

2- It's pretty much fact with how these are THREE eggs that petrified when they are away from Dragonstone; IIllyrio Mopatis had them to give to Dany and she eventually awakens them; F&B takes the time to painstakingly show Rhaena the BB's conversation w/Jaehaerys abt the consequences of THREE dragon eggs going missing. What other reason was there for F&B--a text that aims to contextualize Daenerys by telling the stories of her ancestors before the loss of the dragons and a little after--to do so hard abt 3 dragon eggs stolen during Rhaena's time, from her dragon's clutch, under her watch?! A text that traces the existence of dragons and their maintenance/use by the Targs? Then there is the fact that Elissa Farman--the egg thief--sold the eggs to the Sealord of Braavos, another thing necessary to Dany's arc. None of this is an accident or a red herring, esp since there is literally nothing as damning as evidence or suggestion for the argument of Syrax being the mother...at all. Nothing in the text.

Not everything in ASoIaF is a great and complex mystery; sometimes GRRM gives you clues to a simple "mystery" to deduce the truth of, esp when we already have much evidence of Danyxher dragons being necessary and critical for the coming Long Night against the "ice/cold" others. That she/her dragons are the "fire" in the Song of Ice and Fire, a coming magical war for the world. This is the type of chain of clues that are retrospective and not anticipatory. We already have the result (Dany and the eggs); you were tasked to recognized the line of causation pretty quickly. This is still a fiction series with correct answers.

All this is evidenced just in the main series, TWoIaF acts as a support piece...Condal is a fan, but he can make deductions? Sure.

[bluedesertbruja]

heey! been binge-reading your post abt ysblf on my break and one) can't agree more with your takes, especially when you call out (delulu) marcela stans and 2) sorry if you already answered this but I'd love to read your take on the symbolism of the woods-and-duckling shared dream, please. Would i be right to assume that it goes beyond a cheap "ugly duckling" reference? then again, betty did had several duck dolls and plushies around her bed -more than any other animal or character. Thoughts? 🦆

I have never been asked about the duck dream, a mutual has spoken to me about it in passing a while back and about it's dream symbolism origins. Bc everything has a meaning in ysblf, it's not accidental. I actually never saw the duck or ducks in her room as referencing 'ugly duckling', my mind didn't pick up on it. I'm slow.

But yes, their shared dream goes beyond that reference.

Before I get to the symbolism and all that, let's go back to the dream and when it happens, bc context is important. They don't have this dream for no reason.

For Armando, this dream happens the night before the plan starts. It's after el desfile where he and Mario overhear that whole spiel about Nicolas and the Terramoda business card. Mario is pressuring him to start something with Betty bc they see Nicolas as a threat. For Betty, this happens after she gets home with her dad, and he complains to Betty that she's taking too many liberties and that that work (the world with the models and the fashion) is too much for her. It's a critique on her job and the little life she has.

Both Betty and Armando are being pressured in different ways by people about what they need to do or how they need to do things. And it's only when they're asleep, succumbing to their subconscious, where they can allow themselves to have what they really want.

Armando may not be in love with Betty yet, but he does like her, and he does enjoy her company. In the dream, he's happy running around with her in the woods. He's carefree with her, he's not stressed or angry. He wants to be in those woods with her. And that scares Armando when he wakes up. 'It was a horrible dream, it was an ugly dream'.

Was it? Not to Betty. She says 'fue un sueno muy bonito' and goes on to describe everything in it except Armando's presence. She's happy when she wakes up because to her it was just a dream and probably not the first one she's had of him. She's already in love with him but sees him as something impossible. Betty has already stated that love and romance will never be for her and that work is all she has.

Now the dream---Armando is frolicking with Betty in some woods, she has flowers in her hair and they're holding hands. At some point, she runs away from him and he's dream-frantically looking for her. She's playing hide and go seek with him and giggling about it. When she lets him find her, he tries to kiss her and she runs away again. He runs after her, looking for her bc she's yet again, hiding from him. When he finds her, she's hiding behind a tree, teasing him. When she reveals herself, she's holding the yellow duckling. He runs to her, again tries to kiss her but that's when the dream ends and he wakes up.

Yes, the kiss is foreshadowing what's going to happen the next night at the bar.

What I think is funny is that the dream is him running after her and isn't that what he basically does in canon? She is the one woman he said he would never beg or run after bc he doesnt do that and yet that's all he does for the remainder of his arc. Running after her.

Now the duckling.

Reminder that Betty is holding the duckling. And Armando's subconscious is trying to tell him something.

The dream does not mean 'you need to hurry up and seduce your assistant or she's gonna give ur company away'. It's saying 'You have feelings for this woman. Stop avoiding it.' Armando avoids it.

As I said above, it's not a bad dream. They're both very happy in it. And they are an unlikely pairing. It's also an intuitive dream. But what really sticks out is 'transformation'. The tarot cards predicted to Betty that her life was going to change. This dream is telling Armando the same thing. A change, a transformation in his life is coming and it's in the form of Betty.

(click that to read it better, sorry)

'may trigger some uncomfortable feelings...examine why you are experiencing them. perhaps there is fear of the unknown..' really want to hammer in that it's Armando who's uncomfortable and won't examine his own feelings.

For Betty, who's the one holding this duckling and her bedroom has ducks (one is on her nightstand) and ducks are a symbol of transformation-- she is that 'ugly duckling' waiting to turn into a swan. Unknowingly. But it's not all about a physical transformation, it's about her shedding that naiveté and becoming a stronger, more self assured person. Through various trials and errors and heartache.

For Armando, Betty and the duckling symbolize things he's never experienced and that he's afraid to experience because it would mean changing and taking a harder look at himself and how his original beliefs may have been all wrong.

That duck did a lot of heavy lifting despite being 5 seconds of screentime.

[starseungs]

choose 5 moots! what do you think of when you see their usernames or when you talk to them? (i.e: the ocean, because...)

another game from my anon/s !! let's see 👀🙏

@starlostseungmin — star gazing <3 its the starlost lol i love stars and the night time. plus keisy is so comforting to me she's literally the big sister i always wanted !! always love talking to her especially during evenings shshshs

@hanjsquokka — i think mana's user is supposed to be like "han jisung quokka" but i keep reading it as "hanji's quokka" so to me mana is jisung's quokka... love her so quokka mana would actually be rlly cute i would keep her as a pet and spoil her

@starlostastronaut — i wont lie to you, all i can think of is neil armstrong 😭😭 my bad teri,, blame skz for referencing him so much lol but pretty self explanatory ... he's an astronaut. on the nicer side, he's on the hall of fame (aye) and i believe teri also needs to be on the hall of fame so it all checks out (will binge ur works soon lovely <3)

@l3visbby — another user im sure is supposed to be read a different way that i do 😓👍 ik this is like "levi's baby" possibly but my brain always reads it as "love is baby" WHICH MAKES NO SENSE WHERE DID THE O COME FROM 3??? so yes, me thinks love is ola because ola is an amazing person with amazing music taste and i think she sent me smth on dc that i have yet to reply to-

@ss3oung — ok not much thoughts abt the user meaning but i just wanted to talk about how excited i get whenever i see this user in my notifs??? seo ilysm pls never stop sending me stuff i love talking to you aaaaa <3 its always a blast to see ur asks lol

finally a moot game with explanations are yall proud of me 🤗💓

[pamaizai]

Hey, what's your favorite Dont Starve Character(by Lucy from last post I would guess Woody) and why you preffer this character, also whats your least favorite one. And besides of that, any advices for a person that just starts to learn drawing? (like i sketch a bit from time to time with pencil or on secondhand graphics tablet (small wacoom one) for relax but i would like to draw more often and try to improve my skill from almost zero XD, and do you have any advice about shaky line in digital? Like sure I can use stabilizer setting, but if i put it too high i draw hella slow, and if its too small its too shaky(I use fire alpaca and medibang if it has anything to do with it).

I am playing as him since 2018 so even before he got his update. Why? well, he has Lucy- undestructible axe that you cant get rid of (you can actually abuse it bc by design its a flint axe and you can switch a 1% durability one into Lucy, giving other player the brand new) and i vibe a lot with him regarding his backstory. Also most friends i played with are Wendy, Willow, Wortox, Wickerbottom, Warly and Wx players- so we have fire and charcoal, attacker, healing, quickstart with backpacks, food making and a aguy who goes head first underground- but no real gatherers.

Before updates he was just a "chop chop" guy that could go insane if he did it too much (rel) so you had to balance it with planting and cutting down the trees. After his character refresh it he became ace of all trades- he can gather wood, stone, grass saplings as a beaver, he can kill hoardes of hounds and spiders and even the Deerclops as a moose, he can locate lunar island and discover the map as goose.

And after skilltree update he can even create a helmet and +15% speed walking cane- tho other perks regarding his wereforms i think make his character too easy, especially when you earn points by playing as him so you KNOW his weaknesses and learn how to work with them, to just turn them off (hunger and sanity).

He is useful in every situation in my eyes. And i like bringing 5 stacks of wood in first 3 days. Also i learned to kite treeguards :D

I dont really mind any characters. All of them are pretty balanced and dont have annoying drawbacks that makes me not want to touch them-i simply prefer Woodie. But i aint fond of one decision Klei made regarding Wortox, Wurt, Wormwood and Wanda, so all purchasable ones-not because of mechanics tho.

Why do they have ghost models corresponding to their equipped skins, but not other characters? I want wood themed Woodie transformations too q-q even Abigail has her own skins whyyyyy

Regarding drawing i dont really have good tips. The only ones that are coming to my mind is

breaking model into geometric shapes might help (thats how i draw most of the time and its visible in my sketches)

referencing instead of tracing, even badly referenced helps you more with drawing

using your own hands as a reference is enough XD and its not cheating to look out poses

the more you draw something the better you get at it

you can actually make black shadows work but it will make it seem flat, dark purple set on multiply is enough to me but it depends on artstyle i noticed

Those happened to me:

you may see a lot of mistakes in your own artwork more often than others so dont fret abt it. But if you really are anxious (like me) you can go back to look at it some time after finishing.

you dont have to draw everything in every style. Its no artschool here and you are mostly drawing for yourself anyway. Tho dont use it as an excuse to only draw one thing, try something new from time to time.

custom brushes are cool and dont be afraid to experiment with them. Who knows, it may become your go-to/default brush.

harder pencils dont erase that well but are good with details and leave a lighter mark, als you probably wont need a whole set of 'em i am using like 3 at most (5H, HB, H)

even tho i have a sketchbook on myself 24/7 i still end up drawing in notebooks because i think "its not good enough for a sketchbook"- no, SKETCHbook, its meant for doodling so do it there and you will have a way to track your progress (i myself have a whole DRAWER of papers that i sometimes look through and let me tell ya, seeing that progress is noice)

i knooow they may seem generic but everyone has a different way of drawing and some things may or may not work for them. and i never went to artschool im self taught tho i learned a lot by looking at other artists and watching speedpaints.

With Stabilization- I didnt really use FireAlpaca or Medibang, but I remember that when i was using my old One by Wacom tablet i did had it on like 7 in SAI, because my hand was trained well enough to not shake so much but i needed it to be more precise. I would try drawing a zig zag and waves on the lowest setting and then increase it until you can draw sharp edges and smooth curves at the same time, with line following your pen path as close as possible. The slower you draw lines the more precise it gets.

it might be a bit different in each program especially with different ranges of stabilization but it might be similar to what i have here.

It could be issue of a compatibility between tablet and program, but i checked for myself and it shouldnt be it, tho it doesnt really make it impossible.

hope i helped with artist part of ask ^^"

[quinloki]

"I think that's a great fic idea" good news, it is, or something very similar. Inspiration is very clearly taken from @/turtletaubwrites series Numbers Game. The reader is a financial advisor who worked for Buggy, who then ends up under Croc and Mihawk because Buggy gets in trouble for ignoring her advice and fucking up the financials. Not trying to start anything, I don't think it's stealing to riff on smth but people should maybe be a bit more up front abt where they take inspiration from. At least give the OG a shout out lol

This is one of those things where there’s not an easy cut and dry answer I can give you or agree with, and I’m going to do my best to lay out why that is.

Is it possible the idea came from the person you’re referencing, but looking at the interactions for the first chapter I don’t see Alexa anywhere, not in the likes or comments.

I don’t even see anyone I follow in there either - which is to say that fandoms are HUGE and we don’t actually all know one another. (And that’s not to say there isn’t overlap in moots, just not with that particular story.)

Now, it’s possible there’s proof somewhere, but my point is that it is statistically just as possible that it’s just a similar idea. I wrote Quicksand’s reader as being a good office worker and coordinator - they weren’t specifically the accountant, but that could also be where the idea came from.

Reader being a competent and useful person makes sense when you’re talking about the Cross Guild. Neither Crocodile nor Mihawk are particularly patient people, and Buggy is enough frustration/comedic relief on his own.

If I shouted out to everyone who had inspired every part of what I write I’d hit tumblr’s post character limit before I got to the story itself. There’s a balance in there somewhere but it can honestly be case by case.

Despite your claim of not trying to start something it very much feels like you are, and while I appreciate you wanting to see credit given where it’s due, inspiration is so interwoven and complex, it’s hard to say exactly where an idea comes from for someone. So I’m going to assume that the vibes are unintentional - I’m sure you very much mean well. (If clarification is needed I’m not experiencing any negative emotions as I say this. I’m worried the vibes are there, but I will believe they were not meant.)

Heck, I had a story idea for a Eustass kid story I was (still am) excited about and when I shared it with my friends someone mentioned it was similar to something Mombat on Wattpad had wrote. And they’re right! The setup of the reader was similar - but I didn’t scrap the story idea because the story itself is going to be different.

And I know it is gonna be different, cause I had read that story by Mombat with my own eyes! And honestly it’s very likely where the inspiration sparked, even though I didn’t consciously make the connection until someone said something.

But there’s bound to be a lot of similar ideas in a singular fandom, because we’re all working with the same source material.

Now, I appreciate the intent, cause we all wanna look out for one another and such, but calling out possible sources of inspiration is maybe a bit much. Though I will say if there’s a dozen points of commonality, then it’s probably worth the mention.

here’s a bit of food for thought - Eustass Kid calling the reader Mouse is something I’m fairly well known for, and it wasn’t even my idea - and the friend I picked it up from had picked it up from someone else. Kaku calls reader Filly in most my one-shots but that’s from another friend. Penguin and Shachi calling reader lil’ Shoal was all my idea, but also I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else thought it up too.

Now, my long and exhausting reply aside, I do want to thank you for putting turtleaub on my radar. Her writing looks wonderful and I love how organized the blog and posts are. I am delighted to have something new to read even if my to read list is painfully long already. And there’s a possibility of making a new friend somewhere in there too \o/

[uglyduckling339]

KY'S LIFE IS STRANGE DOUBLE EXPOSURE NONSENSE LIVEBLOG: The Tutorial

(spoilers under cut) (do not take this seriously lmfao this is me basically talking to myself) (this will make ZERO sense without playing the game or watching it btw)

um.. where do i start

firstly that fucking qr code is rhe genuine bane of my existance. i spent 7 minutes tryna get it to work for basically nothing.

also !! the settings menu was hella fucking confusing and i got lost tryna change the captions (skill issue on my part ngl)

anyways so intro to the game: music was ass and i was confused why the door was being shook so gently until Max Fucking Caulfield wandered in😭 10/10 shock value worked tho cuz i didnt think that she was breaking into a broken room until her face appeared on screen

Safi is very cutesy in both a physical manner and a personality manner but her jokes are so hit or miss lmao

Max caulfield stealing that toy and joking abt stealing stuff??? talk abt character growth

i fucking HATE THE NEW CAMERA ARGGGGGGGG i keep fucking up my pics

Hot take i think safi and max are equally sexy in this new game GOD DAMNN

nvm maybe not equal. i'd let safi hit so fast tbh ("boss"??)

ALSO !! HER REWIND GETTING REMOVED POST-STORM IS CANON !!!! *

i've been saying this since the trailers but max's voice sounds so fucking weird in this (and yeah ik its not THAT diff from the og voice, but something abt it is irking me and idk what) (no hate to hannah telle)

nobody:

this game: fun fact !! safi's mom is the principal of the school! her mom! safi's mother! mom! mother! safi's ! principal !

god shut the fuck up i get it bro

FLASHBACK SCENEE

Ik its not just me who thinks this but istg they musta refilmed these scenes cuz chloe and max both sound hella odd (maybe i am trippin tho)

CHLOE! HAUNTING! THE! NARRATIVE!

smooth cut between chloe and safi's voice 10/10

i know the fandom is gonna be in fucking shambles over those choices so i'm holding my opinions off until i form a bigger analysis on it

I don't hate Amanda but i do hate rhat the game is pushing her on us so hard **

Also reminder to check yalls texts!! theres no journal but half of the shit i've seen complanted abt is referenced in the texts/posts

Chloe and Max having issues long before rhe breakup is so nice to see tbh. i'm glad it wasn't just a one comment plot choice.

also the issues primarily stemming from Max's trauma and her need to run is so good i can't wait to yap abt it

god off topic i am fucking DREADING the fandom. im so worried abt us tbh

okay back to the game, I think Amanda is really nice but I'm not gonna romance her day one cuz idk how to feel abt her yet

okay theory time! i think if chloe was actually IN the game, she'd be with a band in the Turtle bar. seen in the pink twitter, chloe "performs". i think she'd totes pull up at perform at the bar (once again im not saying if i think its very likely or nah but its a cool idea at least)

ALSO VICTORIA CHASE IS ALIVE :DDD AND BESTIES WITH CHLOE???

i'm only using pink twitter to watch Chloe and Vic ngl idgaf abt nun u other hoes

did u all a HUGE favor and tested rhe other option w rhe bottle cap.

on that note do the candy not the bag

shit like ts makes me miss rewind :(

animal symbolism my beloved

i think thats all? OH WAIT okay so i actually love safi. she's so weird and cringe but in a subsitute teacher way. it's a vibe and i would romance her w Max if i was given a choice (im gonna get hate mail again for rhat comment arent i 💀😭)

so far i really don't hate rhe game. it's glitchy in ways rhat for 80$ it shouldn't be but so far i've only had one actual issue so i'm not too pressed abt it. (for me, Safi keeps jumping between visible and invisible during cut scenes.)

I think the in game music is fire, but the actual "songs" aren't allthat good. tbh tho thats a personal opinion lmfao

[maristellarium]

(actually yknow what i also want to dump a few thonkies abt yully too now lmao

though im still debating if i really want to incorporate these thonkies as proper hcs for her - it makes her feel a little too op in a way......... - but im also really leaning to doing it anyway bc this really is the kinda bs she would pull off ydgsyugdsudsgdusy)

so anyway, i think baby yully was rather nuts and kept smashing babylonia's security systems to pieces

like ive already put down that she had a habit of coding programs throughout her childhood, and i definitely did say that these programs were for cracking and copying the civilian databases. bc she was so determined to confirm if there were any Very Specific people in babylonia, so ofc, the logical thing is to get the conveniently-already-existing pool of population data for her to sort through.

but yully being yully, she wouldn't want a bunch of statistics alone. she needs as much data as possible - reports and profiles and notes, doctors' notes and school reports and whatever document there ever was, everything! so that she can cross-check the info to the last detail, analyze to the closest decimal of accuracy.

and she won't stop at just civilian data either. constructs count too. the deceased count too.

so she would collect death records and military profiles too. and considering with constructs at least, how even the military lies to itself internally - she wouldn't quite be satisfied with merely a checkmark of someone being dead. no, she would need the full story, so that she can fully and accurately reconstruct an individual's life—history, personality, beliefs; their full identity and mannerisms and mindset—as part of her own cross-referencing and analyzing procedures.

and this is all, at the very least, in the form of encrypted data - if not behind several layers of cybersecurity under Gestalt's supercomputer watch too.

Yulia wouldn't care though. she wants that info. who cares if she's like, 10 yrs old with negative zero chances of being able to hack into god damn Gestalt with her little civilian baby terminal. she needs that information for her goals. she fucking wants it.

and she has never felt something so viciously unrelenting in her life and the life before.

in a way, it feels like a very simple, logical A to B to C process for her. she feels a want, thinks about doing a thing to satisfy that want, and then simply executes.

obstacles or roadblocks or government personnel coming to her house and asking if they can inspect everyone's terminals for "important grown up reasons" aka bc they traced her hacking attempts there? (though they never actually figure out it's her specifically, partly bc child bias, partly bc the exact terminal she used has already been trashed to pieces or surgically taken apart so it doesn't exist anymore). that's all just par the course. irrelevant bc she already expected as much, so she simply needs to work with such things.

(though of course, it does hinder her in terms of efficiency to keep needing to devote time to misdirecting people's attention from her. so she would also develop methods to avoid being traced, at least not so easily - spoofing signals, false trails, falsifying credentials, coding even shit like rootkits and keyloggers, and then going the extra mile with bs like destroying or dismantling or replacing her hardware constantly, as well as even coming up with alibis for every moment she spends doing her very illegal endeavour

she's still considered a kid at this point so ofc she has all this damn free time to do all this nonsense too)

in any case, here's where im really getting at with this thonk -

Yulia going absolute ham collecting as much top-secret info in the most illegal ways means she has quite likely seen a lot of very restricted things within the government's databases. from the lying propaganda used on Constructs such as the lie of recalls, to the confidential and troubling life histories of particular Constructs such as Bianca or Kamui (or Camu rather).

ofc she probably hasn't seen Everything - but she's seen a Lot more than she, an otherwise very ordinary civilian, should by the time she's even enrolled into military college.

which is stupid nuts and also very OP of her in a broader context and mmmmmmmmmmm i don't Want her to come across as stupidly omniscient in a sense - also it's a little nuts to think that even if she's stupid intelligent and determined, that she'd able to accomplish something as difficult as hacking into hecking Gestalt or whatever government systems with the info she wants.

but at the same time..... ughhh.................... she Is stupid smart alright. and that's without fully using her brain. if she actually put her entirety into some task, she is absolutely supposed to be unholy Scary(TM).

but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah thats toooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lies down)

[rollercoasterwords]

hey rae, i’ve just come across judith butler in a reading for one of my classes and i’m wondering if you’ve ever come across any work from them and what you your thoughts are on her theories abt sex and gender

omg first butler encounter FUN <3 i have in fact come across butler many times they’re a v foundational figure in the fields of gender studies + queer theory so i see their stuff cited + referenced all the time. firsthand i’ve only read one of their books (gender trouble) and their article ‘performative acts and gender constitution’ (which i actually return to quite frequently as a point of reference). i find their writing style a bit convoluted and dry but then they’ll suddenly pull out a banger line in the middle of a paragraph and i’m like oh sick ok…

theory-wise my own perspective on sex + gender has been heavily informed by butler and i tend to agree w a lot of their ideas. i think the idea that gender is not some ontological interior identity that everyone is born with but rather a socially shaped and constrained phenomenon is v true, and i appreciate the way that butler emphasizes in ‘performative acts’ that it’s not as simple as someone choosing to “perform” a gender like putting on a costume, but rather that gender itself is constituted through these performative acts. sort of like….idk, a cough or something. like u don’t pick up a cough and go “i’m going to do this now.” it’s something that’s created through a specific action. not sure if that’s the best metaphor lol but…hopefully what i’m trying to say makes sense there.

anyway the first time i ever encountered butler in a class i was mostly just really fucking confused abt what they were saying but the nice thing abt their theories being so foundational is that there are a lot of secondary sources that break down and explain those theories in more simple terms! butler actually has a few youtube videos u can look up where they talk abt their theories of gender in terms that are somewhat easier to follow than their written material lol

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

The magic talk is very interesting! and I would love to hear more ideas if you got em.

If pokemon still exist there/ mage fights replace pokemon battles then I imagine being a mailman in a world where meeting eyes can lead to a throw down then you have to at LEAST be decent at battling lol (maybe it isnt but I like the weird culture Pokemon got going on)

oh man TIMING, i was actually just thinking about whether pokemon exist in this world... on the one hand it feels a little? odd? to have them and the whole snarl of types & etc just be present on the side and then magic is the main focus of the thing, but on the other hand... yeah i do really love the pokemon culture and i feel like you can't really replicate it without, yknow, the pokemon.

would it be weird to have them just be there in the background while the magic shit is happening? OR, maybe pokemon still exist or "exist" but rather than having types in the traditional sense they're more like, magical animals. i was thinking abt the counterpart's pikachu specifically, and if they still had an analogue to it in this world. and them still having some sort of electrically charged rodent but it isn't exactly a pikachu as we know it might be fun. and that also opens up the opportunity to potentially invent some fakemon based on the new magic system... hmm...

and YEAH LOL that's the thing right, is if ingo is this world-class healer but also an adept at like, interrogation and scrying and etc, and emmet is an incredible battlemage alongside him, they can't exactly have like. a safe boring job can they. they are Doing Something to necessitate that extreme offensive/supportive power. but what! hmmm mmm.

anyway entirely unrelated thought. the marks on mage's hands that i vaguely referenced i think are called ley lines. that's not the traditional use of the term, but w/e. ley lines are widely considered to be sort of like metaphysical grooves worn into your spirit and body by repetitive use of magic, like how a river carves out a canyon or repeated footfalls create a packed-earth path. hence why they take on an appearance reflective of your typical school, and appear mostly on your dominant hand (although most people are not 100% exclusively sinister or dexter mages, and so most people will have like, a lot on one hand/arm and a little on the other.) it's unclear and probably a subject of debate if the development of ley lines is what makes a mage more powerful over time, or vice versa.

wearing gloves doesn't always signify you're a mage with someone to hide—y'know, gloves are practical and there are plenty of people who don't use magic and just like, do regular work that necessitates them—but there's definitely a cultural connotation there. cyllene wears a glove on her right hand to disguise the fact that she was a swordguard since her ley lines make it very obvious. otoh, adaman wears gloves to hide the fact that he doesn't have any ley lines, really at all. ingo wears gloves probably as a literal way to block his ley lines since he's forbidden from using magic. the protagonist is probably encouraged to hide their really intense lines whenever they have to go into a town for some reason, bc it draws attention, potentially of the negative sort, but they find doing so really uncomfortable.

e cause i forgot: also thank you!! i think universes like this are really fun to play around with hehe

[razzmothazz]

okay, but what fob songs and lines for what characters, I want to know also, for autism reasons lmao.

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED BUT ALSO I DONT WANNA GO TOO DEEP CAUSE I COULD TALK ABT IT FOR HOURS AAAA

i could take reqs for certains songs cause i have thoughts on nearly all of them, but im gonna ramble rn about how i feel so much (for) stardust [album, not the song specifically] is so vbs to me actually...

starting off strong with love from the other side

THIS IS SO AN TO ME !!! especially after her learning about how everyone hid the passing of someone SO important to her away for three god damn years.

this part is kinda self explanatory i feel? especially "what would you trade the pain for", refering to the pain of losing her role model of sorts of course. someone she looked up to so much and held in such high regard and she didnt even know theyve been gone.. she makes me SOB

this part refering to her feeling like the whole "city" [vivid street] pretty much lied to her and deceived her, everything feels wrong and off now. its not the same home it was before.

the feeling in this case would obviously be grief, anger and so many others tbh, she lets the feelings out and uses music as an outlet of sorts for it ?? not sure how to explain what i mean [im writing this at 3am sorry] the feelings are so overwhelming i dont think she could fight them if she wanted to, but why would you want to fight such justified feelings ?? i feel SO bad for her omg

this part works for all of vbs, but i feel like it especially applies to akito and an, obviously referencing surpassing rad weekend and how difficult it is considering their constant feeling of inferiority, with akitos being a pretty extreme case of it.

also just feels to me like something akito would actually say/sing

also haha funny hampster refering to kohane /j

i dont have words that can describe this line other than just imagine an singing it with the context of what i said before. that is all.

OFF TO HEARTBREAK FEELS SO GOOD

this is just very vbs to me, its easy to apply their stories and themes to these verses. they will surpass radweekend someday. they can do it, and they can do it together and go even further after, hopefully.

the pre-chorus reminded me of akitos situation with older musicians, how they mocked him etc. which at first obviously made him feel horrible, but he learned from that and now he alone is even better than some of them, and with all of vbs at his side hes even better.

dont have as much for this one, so moving on to

HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE

one word. AKITOYA.

cmon now. you see the vision.

this is SO akito talking to toya, how he motivates him to do better and better and helps him up any time he feels down.

they are soulmates, no matter how you look at it!! but theres also akito being a bit of a menace as well as often feeling like hes dragging toya down, yet despite that he wants to stay with him. akito doesnt want to do this without toya, and the feeling is obviously mutual [im actually so insane about them. they are SO important to me not even as a romantic couple just 2 guys meant to be together as partners UEUEUUEUEUEUEEE]

after all the hardships theyre still going strong, some dreams were crushed along the way but their main goal is always there.

the pressure bit makes me think about how each of them feels somewhat inferior to the others, [they need therapy istg] which makes them want to constantly keep pushing themselves to do better and better, and to keep going and going. they have what it takes, they just need to work to perfect it. they know they will do it but they still have a lot to figure out, obviously. they get a bit lost and stuck at times trying to get to their desired level but they will surpass rad weekend. someday.

OKAY IM GONNA STOP HERE BUT I COULD GO ON AND ON AAAAAAAAA I LOVE ASSOCIATING MUSIC I LOVE WITH CHARACTERS I LOVE!!!!!!

< 3333333333

[boypr1ncesss]

i need to post abt my magical girls more often. i mean in the grand scheme of my ocs they and the ressurectionists ocs probs have the best deal bc i like to draw them (just rarely post Anything i draw) and go through periods where i talk abt them a lot. megumi and morana literally got included in my final for two Different classes last semester. meanwhile like. discussion of rtm has been confined to a sideblog since the start and also just Doesn't happen bc i'm shy on there. discussion of the jaubreyverse happens every few years before i eventually have to pull the plug on them bc that's the one oc universe that repeatedly loses the plot and i need to reboot it before i actually get anything done w them and even then they've been sideblog locked. tiffany and friends haven't been revisted in Years and started out on a sideblog. laurette hasn't been revisited in years either but at least i think abt tiffany. aohime (and less interesting associates) seem spoiled for content since she actually has a game up on ich.io but it's literally an unfinished proof of concept and barely features her and i don't fucking post abt her bc that'll spoil the finished game i'm not rlly working on atm. i do not think rodger, lucky, august and friends have been referenced publically since 2018 outside of a 'hey i made an oc concept rlly close to the world of genshin impact when i was like 11' context. i have a set who have been around for Years w/o set names who i've Never once mentioned but have fully developed personalities/stories/designs but still no names. rlly my magical girls have it pretty good all things considered.