#people are charging like $50 or more FOR THE CASE ALONE

[delightfuldevin]

Why can people get away with horrendously overcharging older games

I don’t care how popular a game was, there is no reason a game that came out over a decade ago should cost more than twice as much now, and it especially shouldn’t be more than games coming out right now.

[tia-shay]

Astro Observations 2.0

Thank you all for 222 followers! <3

Take these observations for what they are: personal observations.

Super duper long because I love you all. :)

Aries moons tend to always be on the move. Often times, these natives have something energetically "off" at home which results in them not even wanting to be there. They're the type to always be at work or at their friend's place. May have parents they want to get away from. At least one of their parents leans toward a more masculine energy.

You cannot be in your feelings when you talk to a Virgo moon. Their love language is literally telling you all the ways you can improve yourself. It's not necessarily that they're trying to make you feel some type of way, they genuinely don't think there's anything offensive about it. They're naturally attracted to "fixer-uppers" and they love a good project. Only problem is, people are not your projects and your loved ones are allowed to be flawed.

On the note of Virgo moons, they also have a tendency to be permanently unimpressed. My mom has this placement and my sister and I always wanted grand reactions to the stuff we did as kids, but we never got them. Even to this day, my mom is the queen of giving absolutely nothing extra energetically lol. They literally look like this emoji --->😐. Unless they have fire placements, they tend to be the definition of stoicism.

I've been studying the relationship between Scorpio moons and their mothers for a while now because it is such an interesting dynamic. I noticed in the past, that Scorpio moon natives may experience a rather controlling mother figure, but I've recently noticed that this controlling nature goes both ways. Yes, their mother has control over them and their actions, but they have just as much control over her too. They're almost like puppets to each other. It's an incredibly intriguing dynamic that honestly leaves me speechless. Makes you wonder, in these specific situations, "Is anyone here truly the victim?"

We've talked about how moon signs can manifest and what your mother may have taught you, but what I have yet to touch on is how your moon sign reflects your mother's pregnancy experience. I've studied this a bit and I think my mom is the perfect example! My sister and I have opposing moon signs: Cancer and Capricorn. I've spoken to my mom in-depth about both her pregnancies and here is how she describes them:

-Pregnancy with Cancer moon: she was overweight, gained 50+ lbs during her pregnancy, used food to cope with her abusive relationship, was on bedrest, too depressed to do or go anywhere, spent most of her days in the house crying.

-Pregnancy with Capricorn moon: she was in amazing physical condition, gained less than 20 lbs during pregnancy (10 lbs of that was baby), had endless energy, worked out every day, worked overtime at her job, was broken up from my dad, lived alone, was in her bag.

Opposite moon signs and two completely different pregnancies!! Crazy, right?!

I've heard the theory that Capricorn moons are the eldest child, which is true in many cases. However, in my experience as a Capricorn moon, I'm the youngest and my eldest sister is a Cancer moon. But that doesn't debunk my "big sister" energy lol. My sister has always referred to me as her "big little sister" and when we were younger and my mom left us home alone, she always left me in charge. My Cancer moon sister was known for her big emotions and ability to quickly lose control. This dynamic has always been funny to me. Ex. We had a tornado watch (super rare where I live) and my sister was running around the house screaming and crying. While I was calmly in my bedroom playing dolls keeping it kosher. 🤣

God really did give his toughest battles to Virgo, Scorpio and Capricorn moons. No one else is doing it like us! We came equipped with everything we needed to handle ALL the bs in our families.

Don't scorch me fire moons, but where is the personal accountability? I've seen water signs talk their way out of some situations, but the way a fire moon will dance around the truth really needs to be studied. I made this observation before and a Sag moon came for me which is how you know it's true. 😭

Moon sign compatibility is so real y'all. As an earth moon, I mainly form deep connections and bonds with other earth moons and *some* water moons. The other elements just don't do it for me. Even with my fire placements & degrees, I still struggle to understand fire moons.

I've read before that Leo moons have a tendency to be selfish, which I concur depending on the situation. But I think the reason why some of them act like this is because often times, they are either the only child or the favorite child. So they literally don't know what it means to compromise or not get their way. I've only met 2 Leo moons (that I know of) years apart and they both had the same tendencies and personality. Let me know if you've had a more positive experience with this moon sign!

Fixed moons may have mothers who are very controlling over their lives. Their mothers have a “fixed” idea of what their child’s life should look like. They have a tendency to have a puppet & puppeteer relationship. I’ve noticed that because of this, these natives tend to have one area of their lives that their mother can’t control and they spiral out of control in that area. Kinda like a “look mom, you can’t control me in EVERY way” type thing. The most common areas I’ve noticed this in is their sex lives and drugs/alcohol use.

Of course the above note is based on personal experience. I’ve heard quite a few mothers of fixed moons say to other people: “I made them do this” “there was no way I was gonna let them not do this…” like the kid has no choice in the matter.

Okay, enough about moon signs. For now...

This may not be too popular with the astro girlies buttt I believe we have a tendency to attract the versions of signs we speak into existence. For example, when I first started studying astrology, I was sick to my stomach to see that I was a Sagittarius rising because I had back-to-back experiences with Sagittarius suns stabbing me in the back, so I told myself they were the worst. In time, I wanted to accept all of my chart which included my own Sag placements. I had to heal my understanding and perception of them to see them differently. Now, I attract the funniest and kindest Sag suns! It all started with me. This is your sign to heal your trauma with that placement. 🤍 (yes, this is also a message to myself). What you see won't change until you change what you see!

If there's anything a mutable rising is gonna do it's change their physical appearance.

Earth risings, rising at earth degree, or chart ruler in earth house: these people are less likely to take bold chances and risks with their appearances. Not really the type to dye their hair crazy colors, although they are quick to get visible tattoos.

Virgo in big 6 appears naturally put together. They don't really have to get ready because they stay ready. And they expect the same from you, especially if you're their romantic partner. This is amplified if they have Libra or Leo placements.

I’ve noticed Virgo suns and risings are much less likely to wear makeup. I see them with it maybe once a year and even then it’s like one coat of mascara and some highlighter. One thing I have heard a lot of Virgo women say is that they literally don’t know how to do their makeup which may factor into why they don’t wear it. Virgo moons however do tend to wear makeup.

Aries and Scorpio placements are very protective of their loved ones. One wrong look in their direction and they're ready to pounce.

Gemini-Sagittarius axis: if there's one thing these placements are gonna do it's laugh at absolutely nothing for an extended period of time.

Taurus and Libra placements, do you really need that new blouse? Or that new stationary knowing dang well you have more than enough? No, put it back. Aht! PUT IT BACK. And keep your receipts, so when you get home from that impulsive purchase, you can bring it right back where you got it from.

Something about Virgo, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn placements in dark academia that really does something to me chile...dark academia was made for us!

Saturn rules teeth. Saturn placements and aspects can describe your teeth’s appearance and health. Saturn aspecting Jupiter may have larger teeth. Aspecting Mercury may result in the native having smaller teeth or possibly getting veneers. Saturn aspecting Venus can manifest as the native receiving many compliments on their teeth/smiles. In the case of harsher aspects, the native can feel their teeth directly hinder their perceived beauty.

I’ve noticed people with prominent Gemini/Virgo/Mercury placements are much more likely to have gaps in between their front teeth. Often times, this is a result of their teeth being on the smaller side.

Virgo placements (esp. moons) can have naturally “perfect” teeth that don’t require braces. But upon closer inspection, you can see their teeth are not perfect, but rather, the imperfections are so minuscule you have to truly look to find them.

Libra Suns typically go for either the relaxed look (very natural appearance, not much makeup) or all the frills (makeup, couture, luxury). I have yet to see an in between. Libras with Scorpio/8th house influence enjoy darker colors and go for a much more relaxed look. More likely to portray a dark feminine embodiment of Venus or a more natural feminine. Especially if they have Virgo placements.

Aries suns (males and females) are the BIGGEST sweethearts and I don’t see enough people praise them for their pure hearts. 🥹

DO NOT under any circumstances copy, paste, reword, rewrite, translate, or repost my work.

All Rights Reserved to astro-enthusiast.

[cerastes]

Hey, would you recommend nabbing Gnosis or nah?

For context, I'm a Day 1 Player with 289 total Operators. Mainly just missing Gnosis, Archetto, Swire Alter and Ejya Alter.

I'm like 5 certificates away from affording him in Gold Cert shop, just trying to balance the scales on to use them for him or continue to hoard the monthly headhunters like a dragon sitting a top their funny little gold.

Hey, dope icon first of all.

Yes, but I need to elaborate on that yes a little: I'm very biased in favor of Supporters, and specifically I like Gnosis a lot, both as a character (fail INTJ garbage guy) and as a gameplay element.

So, why is this a Yes with an asterisk? It depends on how you go about your gameplay, really. Specialists and Supporters, or as I call them, "Also Specialists", are the classes that most heavily fall into "some players may not even use them". They are powerful, but generally require more than activating Thorns S3 twice and calling yourself the strongest Doctor in the landship.

Now, Gnosis himself: Is he powerful? Very much so! His Freezing crowd control and how easily he can inflict it, in addition to the immense Fragile he inflicts on Frozen enemies, his Hexer range, and the ability to knock low altitude hovering enemies with Freeze make him a valuable unit is a ton of different situations. In SSS, if you stack ASPD on him, he permafreezes (and thus, permafragiles) his target. In IS, he synergizes with a baffling about of items, with S1 and S2 being Spinach skills, benefiting from every CC buffing item besides the new Levitate items (so, he benefits from extended duration and Arts dmg during Frozen very easily), and in general gameplay, Hexer range is very good, and can enable incredibly solid killboxes with S2 and S3.

His obvious weakness is Freeze-immune enemies. He's not completely useless, because he can still land Cold on them if they are not Cold immune, but still, that's where his weakness lays. Still, even in those cases, it's important to note that he's still very good at dealing with every other enemy in the map, since bosses don't come alone in a vacuum. For example, the Trees of Rot enemies, the ones that become stronger the more enemies you kill before they bloom? When those start getting out of control due to engaging them late, Gnosis is god tier at handling them with constant Freezing and Fragile. Again, Supporters are Also Specialists, and when they are in their zone, they perform.

The trick to Gnosis is that, for single priority targets, you want to activate uncharged S2 right after he uses an autoattack. That way, that enemy will be frozen for 4 seconds (at S2M3) on a charge of 6 seconds. That makes that particular enemy actionable for (approximately) 2 seconds and then on Fragile Timeout for 4 seconds before repeating. That's very powerful! If you have many enemies in range, you let the skill overcharge and Freeze everyone, making a nice, nice Fragile killbox for Fia, Horn, Firewhistle, Dusk, Mostima, Omertosa S3, you name it. Please keep in mind that enemies Frozen in Gnosis E2 range receive 50%(!!!) Fragile, 60% with Module and no Potentials! That's a lot of Fragile!

So, if you're going to use him? Yes, he's a stupidly powerful support unit. If his gameplay or inclusion to your general playstyle doesn't spark light in your heart? You should continue cosplaying Reed and sitting nice and cute on your golden hoard. I personally use him a lot, as people that come to my Arknights streams can attest to!

*As an extra: Enemies with Cold have -30 ASPD, and enemies that are Frozen have -15 RES.

[fishmech]

It's just like, damn man communication and getting info cost so much around 2000.

You wanna look up some information on the phone so you can call someone that isn't in your phone book? That's like $4 in modern money.

You wanna call your aunt who lives a couple of states away and you're not paying the extra monthly landline cost for unlimited long distance? $15 in modern money for a 10 minute call in daytime hours, still like $3 nights and weekends, and these are both like "you got a pretty good deal" cases. Worse for most people.

OK so you just want to call your buddy who moved like 25 miles away? Maybe it's free cuz you lucked into still being in the same local call zone, but maybe you're still paying $3 in modern money for a 10 minute conversation because you managed to hit through two long distance zones. Especially if you're on opposite sides of a metro area or something. And if he had a cell phone you were calling, it might mean you paid even more because it registered as a further call.

But that's landline, let's say you were going cell. You might be paying the equivalent of $50 a month in modern money for 120 minutes of call time and no included texting. This service would likely charge you extra for "roaming", that is being out of your designated home calling area, as well as exceeding 120 minutes of talk time (and you would be billed a full minute minimum for any call that connected, mind), and texting once might be 75¢ in modern money on a cheaper provider, as much as $2 modern on others. Your excess call minutes might cost between 50¢ and $3 in modern money per minute and roaming calls would cost similar amounts even when you were within your plan. And on such a plan there was no cell data service so it would be an addon around $5 a month in modern money to have it at all - and prices of between 35¢ up to $5 in modern money per kilobyte transferred. Even if you were using strictly plain text that piled up quick.

You could of course move up to significantly more expensive plans per month in fixed costs to have much bigger pools of call minutes, freedom from roaming charges texts, and data. And to have significantly cheaper per-unit overage charges if you exceeded those. But that would quickly take your bill beyond $100, even $200 a month in modern money for a single line.

And of course if you wanted a couple songs from favorite singer? You ain't streaming it on a cheap monthly plan or likely even paying individually: your ass is paying nearly $38 in modern money for the whole album on CD, maybe $23 in modern money if you got a good sale price. And the artists still got a fraction of a penny off it cuz music royalties have been fucked forever. (of course you could pirate it probably... If you had internet service, if it was fast enough, if you could afford it for generally $36 a month in modern money for slow dialup, often much more if you had broadband available at all)

You wanna watch TV shows? Well like now you could watch the over the air stations for free. With tons of ads on the non-public stations ofc. But this is generally pre digital so there's much fewer stations on the air.

Or you could pay around $85 modern a month to get a pretty decent cable or satellite package and well you know, hope the time the shows you like line up with your schedule and of course it's full of ads too. Maybe you will setup a vcr or DVD recorder to catch what you couldn't be around for, and if you're not willing to wipe your old recording then you're going to need to drop serious cash to have fresh tapes and rewritable DVDs to keep that stuff around.

You want the higher end cable/satellite stuff? Well HBO alone back then was like $28 in modern money for a month on top of the rest of your bill - and most other similar no-ads premium channels were similar.

And let's not forget that this was still a time where getting official copies of shows on any kind of media often just Didn't Happen. Or they'd do it but they'd only put out random single episodes, maybe one full season on a multi season show. You might easily pay $26 in modern money for two half hour episodes or one full hour episode on a tape or DVD. Maybe you'd get lucky and instead be buying a whole season set for $75 in modern money, admittedly a much cheaper price per episode. Otherwise though, it's record it yourself in often pretty bad quality or trading and copying recordings from other people who liked that thing, if you got in touch with any.

And on-demand cable/satellite was just getting started and often required upgrading to a higher package, including paying more to rent a higher end TV box, with miniscule libraries. And the pay per view costs were often like $5 modern to watch a single movie squished to fit your TV, sometimes up to $35 modern for "new releases". Similarly, typical rental store costs were in the ball park of $7.50 to $30 in modern money per item, depending on overnight versus all week and sometimes old release vs new release. That shit added up quick! And Late fees could easily double up or triple up in just a few days.

And of course newspapers and magazines and books all cost money. We generally expect most of these to have some at least limited amount of free access on demand today, whether it's the free few articles a month before the paywall or getting free access digitally through your library. But of course back then, that's no such thing. A lot of online versions of publications were strict pay only, others only posted summaries for free, and that's if you were even online. It may not sound so bad to shell out 65¢ to $2 in modern money for a newspaper issue, or $4-$15 in modern money an issue for various magazines, but you'd be buying them pretty often if you wanted to keep up with things in more detail than they got into on TV. Even if you subscribe and get that discount for everything in a year, that's like maybe $90 a year in modern money for a major city paper, or $70 to $150 in modern money for a magazine depending on its frequency and size and content.

Shits just so fucking easy and cheap these days for real. You want to call someone you don't think about distance charges or roaming, you just fucking call. If you're calling overseas you probably use some app or program on a computer to call for free. A text message does not cost more than sending actual mail, it's nothing. Even all those stupid streaming services, which I don't use personally, you can have like 5 of those damn things, have way more to watch for less than cable back then, let alone modern cable prices, and have somewhat more reliability in what will be available next month!

Even when you're stuck on something like a strict budget, using prepaid cell service with blocks of minutes now, like some Tracfone "I only can afford $15 a month" stuff? It's like shlt at least that's 500 minutes/texts/megabytes of data. Like you're still getting screwed but it's much less so than what you got for that 10 or 20 or 25 years ago, and a lot more places have wifi you can use to stretch your data usage out.

[sea-you-in-paradise]

☽ ⛧  a r m i n   a r l e r t ‘ s   s l e e p i n g   h a b i t s  ⛧ ☾

summary: a *painstaking* list of every (sfw :/) sleep-related armin thought word count: 1.954 setting: canonverse implied, but can be applicable to modern au features: armin :))) genderneutral!reader (implied established relationship) warnings: implied nsfw note: here is a link to the nsfw part 2 (MDNI!)

before he goes to sleep, armin utilizes every waking minute to the fullest extent. 

- if he’s coming up with a plan of some sort, he will not sleep until he’s gone through every possible outcome he can think of

- spends time getting ahead of future work so he can never get behind

- sometimes he will get really lost in his books (obviously)

- most of the time, he pushes himself to stay awake far past the limit of what is considered “normal”

he’s trying to tire himself out enough to avoid nightmares

- he can go about 50 hours without napping, but tries to sleep before that (at least in small intervals) because he jokes that he can feel his brain cells dying. if he’s up for this long, it’s usually because he’s in the field/in charge of something that will effect a lot of people

- his naps are long enough to recharge a bit, but not normally long enough for more than 1 REM cycle

____________________

*however* when he actually sleeps (and i mean like a real sleep. all it takes is a semi-comfortable bed/couch and no responsibilities until 10:00 the next day), armin sleeps.

- the minute this man’s eyes shut for the evening, good luck getting them to open again. needless to say, he’s a heavy sleeper

- despite refusing to admit how tired he is while he’s awake, once he’s under a comforter it would take a fucking fire to get him to stand up again

- an unburdened armin needs a minimum of 10 hours, but ideally 15 (ofc, if he were to actually sleep that much more than twice a month, he would freak out and feel like he’s missing his life)

____________________

- he likes to wear either flannel or cotton pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and he likes it when you borrow each other’s clothes to wear to bed, especially when you’re apart (either to wear or just to have for the smell lol)

- if you go to bed at the same time and you have some sort of skincare routine, he really likes to watch and learn about what all the products do. bonus points if you do his skincare too. sometimes he’d probably keep you company while you do this even if he’s not going to sleep yet

- he’s really meticulous about brushing his teeth for a long time (canonverse specific, iykyk ;-;)

- if it’s up to him, he prefers bedding he can sink into. cushy mattress and either a duvet or comforter with a really plush blanket in case he gets chilly (he will get chilly. he is always cold. he sleeps in socks)

- he likes a pretty firm pillow tho because neck support > sleeping on a cloud

- right side of the bed is his preference, but he would give it up in a heartbeat for you

- sleeping position varies. usually he sleeps on his side, but he also sleeps on his back sometimes bc he has back pain and he doesn’t want to strain it more :( 

- if he’s alone he sleeps facing towards the door bc he’s anxious. if you’re there, he likes it when you face each other or if one of you rests their head on the other’s chest

- if you move away from him, he will notice because he’ll get cold and he’ll move towards you again

- he doesn’t snore or breathe heavily, but he occasionally does the thing where he has little gasps or sharp inhales

____________________

- he does what he can to prevent dreaming, but it still happens sometimes

- if he has nightmares it usually comes with night sweats and crying in his sleep. he doesn’t move a lot tho and he doesn’t wake you up on purpose. when he wakes up, it’s not some big jolt. his eyes shoot open and he takes in his bearings before getting up to change his clothes and get some water. when he comes back, he’s careful to get into bed really softly and then he’ll hold you as you sleep. if you wake up, please hold him back and run your fingers through his hair :(

- his nightmares are usually anxiety/regret/remorse related. he’ll talk about them after they happen sometimes and cry a little bit if you’re awake and he feels like it, but he doesn’t like to talk about them in the morning

- most nights he’s too tired to dream tho, so it’s okay ;-; no it’s not, he just says that

____________________

- armin is not a morning person.

- as a matter of fact, if he gets less than his 10 hours, he is a certified grump. and he is so embarrassed about it

- he does everything he can to prevent it. like going to bed early if he can make himself or budgeting time into his schedule to stay in bed for longer, but he cannot stop the inevitable- if anyone, including you, tries to make him get up, he is a little bitch. 

____________________

the morning of a day off/day with few responsibilities might go something like this:

- armin goes through three stages once he’s been woken up: pouting, bargaining, and complete loss of filter. he will go through a version of these stages whether he is forcing himself to wake up, is woken up by a friend, or by you. as his partner, it’s usually you who is subject to this trio of events, even if you’re the gentlest, most loving person in the world

- if you must wake him up, he likes it when you stroke his arm/back and whisper softly. it takes some time, but he’ll eventually make a whiny noise and move around a little (if this isn’t your style, a more take-no-shit approach will be briefly detailed later)

- the pouting stage is exactly what it sounds like and it will be the shortest of the three. he’ll pull his covers a lot tighter and turn on his stomach so he can block the light easier and in the prettiest voice bc it’s all pouty, but also raspy from sleep, he’ll say something like, “baby, it’s so early, i don’t think it’s time yet.”

- then, when he’s more aware of the situation, he’ll turn to you and choose one of three options: a) he’ll ask for ten more minutes and promise not to complain when you wake him up again (lies). b) he’ll ask you for cuddles until he’s more awake. if you agree, it absolutely will not wake him up more, he will drift off again even if you’re talking to him. if you agree and you don’t have anything super important going on soon, he will try to make you fall back asleep too so he has an even better excuse for not showing up. c) he will attempt to seduce you. this sometimes follows option b (see note above for link to the nsfw hcs for more on this one)

- if you survive the bargaining stage and armin realizes that you’re not giving up, he will put on his grump face. it’s a cross between a pout and a glare, and it is rather amusing

- BUT unless you want him to be mean (and not in a fun hot way), do not make fun of him for the face. if you do, you’re going to realize that armin’s observation skills really do come in clutch and you’re going to start wondering about all of the things you do around him without noticing

- it would be like : “it’s so funny when you make that face” and then he fake smiles and in a totally innocent voice says something like, “aww, i’m sure it’s not as funny as you having broccoli in your teeth at dinner last night! It was in there like all night. sorry i didn’t tell you, it was just so funny.”

- he definitely apologizes for this later and most of the time assures you that he wasn’t being serious, but sometimes he is being serious. and the worst part is that you’ll never know all the embarrassing things he’s noticed you doing that he just doesn’t say anything about

- if you don’t make fun of the face though, you will stumble across a prime opportunity

- as someone who likes to lie in bed for a bit (forever) after waking up, armin will probably fall back asleep if he’s not doing something. so what better way to make sure he wakes up than to gossip with him?! with no filter, armin will say what he is honestly thinking about the people around him, and more often than not, he has some strong opinions

- tbh it’s just shit talking floch most of the time and he tells you what he finds annoying about everyone in the friend group (jean gets on his nerves the most)

____________________

- if you’re the kind of person who will not baby him, mad respect to you. it would go more like this

- if you wake him up abruptly, he will be very surprised every single time. normally, he would find you’re assertive tendencies hot. this is not one of those times. assuming you leave immediately after waking him, armin will run through his stages on his own. he will fall asleep in either the pouting or bargaining stage. then stage 3 will be taken out on you when he finally pulls himself out of bed. he will go find you and be snarky, no gossiping, only sass. it is unbecoming, but also hilarious

____________________

- regardless of how things play out, when armin finally “gains consciousness,” he is usually a bit mortified. he knows it was so nice of you to wake him up and he feels so bad for being grumpy (and for being so candid about his thoughts on Jean’s unrequited love), but his brain is always working overtime and sometimes there are some really positive benefits to his morning alter ego. the selfish parts of him don’t really feel like giving it up, especially if you don’t mind. that being said, he only apologizes for behavior he intends to change, so if this sort of morning routine is okay with you, he doesn’t really have anything to say sorry for. he’s so grateful that you have so much patience and love for him and he’s glad that there’s someone who is willing to help him stay punctual <333

____________________

- once in a blue moon on these days off, armin wakes up before you (he’s well rested sometimes???) and if that happens he will move closer to you and wrap his arms around you

- if you have long enough hair he will brush it off your forehead. tuck it behind your ears, fix your bonnet, move your braid(s)/ponytail to a more comfy position (etc). he just likes being tentative 

- MORNING FOREHEAD KISSES AJDFADJFLDFEW

- even if he is awake, he will do everything in his power to stay in bed with you for as long as humanly possible

- on days when he has actual responsibilities, armin is pretty good about being punctual, but he will still stay in bed as long as humanly possible and go through a shortened version of his routine. he’s good about being places on time, but it doesn’t mean he is in a good mood

____________________

- and finally, despite everything, he doesn’t drink caffeine in the morning. he is a firm believer that a cold glass of water will wake him up faster. since he doesn’t eat much for breakfast, he doesn’t want to get jittery

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Avital Norman Nathman at Rewire:

Within hours of Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement that she had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Donald Trump’s followers mockingly dubbed him “Tampon Tim.” Named for a recent Minnesota law that provides free menstrual products in public schools, the opposition took joy in deriding a man who signed a bill that addresses a very real public health need. I can’t be the only one who has had to stuff scratchy, one-ply toilet paper in my underwear after an ill-timed or unexpected period while in school. In fact, I know there are others like me, because as a teen, not a month went by without a friend asking if I had a spare pad or tampon.

In the days after the Tampon Tim moniker gained momentum, many friends shared their own stories of menstrual malfunctions and humiliations, where access to free supplies would have been a lifesaver. According to Alliance for Period Supplies, which leads a national network of more than 140 independent, community-based nonprofits working to end period poverty, 86 percent of people who menstruate have started their period unexpectedly in public. So to find out that Minnesota public schools are now stocking bathrooms to ensure that students, teachers, and staff have the supplies they need? I don’t think it’s shameful in the least. It’s exemplary.

However, conservatives took a cursory look at the law and decided to run with the sensationalized spin that Walz was forcing fourth-grade boys to have tampons in their bathrooms. Grasping to find some way to sell this to their base, they infused a “trans panic” on the public health policy that states Minnesota public schools “must provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge. The products must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12 according to a plan developed by the school district.” The language actually provides schools with flexibility, and nobody is being forced to use any products.

[...]

The shock and outrage over boys as young as 10 coming across a pad or tampon while at school is just a smokescreen for transphobia—because yes, there are most likely nonbinary or trans students, staff, and faculty who now really appreciate having access to health-care products they require. And perhaps, some schools will provide products in their boys’ restrooms, but as the mother of a teen son who “bravely” uses the bathroom in our home with unfettered access to tampons and pads of various sizes, I can tell you that the boys will be alright. Worst-case scenario, these young dudes get some free toys to play with. But best-case scenario, they grow up thinking of pads and tampons as boring and normal—because they are.

In our house, menstrual products aren’t dirty, gross, or shameful, just items needed on occasion. When I asked my son if he had heard of the Tampon Tim nickname, he thought it had actually come from the Harris camp as a positive endorsement, and laughed at the thought of anyone using it to ridicule someone.

[...]

Minnesota is not alone. The state joins Hawaii, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon in providing state-funded, free period products in public schools. Ten other states, along with Washington, D.C., require free products to be available in public schools despite not offering funding, and eight other states (including conservative-leaning ones like Alabama, Arizona, and Georgia) have no state mandates, but do provide funding for schools that want to offer free products. So while online critics may be attempting to attack Walz, more than 50 percent of states are tackling this public health need.

Why are the right obsessed with lobbing tampon attacks against Tim Walz? Their campaign against menstrual equity is part of their campaign of reinforcing traditional gender roles.

[ukrfeminism]

The number of 10 to 19-year-olds charged with rape in London has more than doubled in two years, according to shock new figures.

In the year to December, 802 suspects were charged out of 8,839 reports — nine per cent of the total, compared with 364 over the same period in 2021.

For those aged 10 to 19, the number shot up from 35 to 74 individuals — a rise of 111 per cent.

The Metropolitan Police figures were revealed as a leading expert issued a stark warning over the rise of teenage boys copying what they see in violent pornography.

Sian Ruddick, an NHS specialist in supporting adolescent rape victims, said many consider choking girls during sex as “normal” behaviour after viewing it on their phones.

She called for teachers to hold regular workshops on consent and boundaries because it had become “really horrific” for teenage girls in and out of the classroom. 

Ms Ruddick, who works at The Havens — three clinics for survivors run by King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, Whitechapel and Ladbrooke Grove — wants schools, colleges and universities to become “zero tolerance��� places for sexual violence. She said “turning the tide” on wrongdoing starts at school.

“You’re never going to be able to wipe out everyone’s access to porn, but you can have a safe and rigid conversation about consent. 

“The normalisation of strangulation in sex among teenagers does feel like a step backwards. Boys see it in porn and then it’s expected. We need to have more sex-positive conversations but pornography has filled that void.”

Last month, the UK police’s lead in tackling child abuse revealed that hardcore porn and access to smart phones had turned children into abusers — with more than 6,813 alleged rapes committed by youngsters aged 10 to 17 across Britain in a year.

Ms Ruddick — a member of the pan-London rape scrutiny panel — runs a team supporting 350 women going through the justice system. Funding restraints mean another 50 are on the waiting list.

The advocates provide information, emotional and practical support, including going to meetings with police and attending court if the case goes to trial. 

They work as part of a wider team at The Havens, where specialist doctors, nurses and therapists work together to support people who have been recently assaulted.

Anyone sexually assaulted or raped can ask for a forensic medical examination in order to gather DNA evidence for a criminal investigation – the timescales are different for different assaults but for vaginal rape tests can still find forensics after seven days. Last year, 1,200 examinations were carried out in the capital.

Not everyone wants to report to the police, and for those that do, keeping underwear, clothing, sanitary products, images or used condoms and not to wash or bathe helps to preserve evidence.

Later this year, a pilot will see survivors being able to give live video link evidence to Croydon Crown Court from a suite at The Havens.

Ms Ruddick said: “We don’t try to steer people to what they should or shouldn’t do.

“The most important thing is they have the information, access and time.

“We know the withdrawal rates, particularly in London, are very high. The criminal justice system can be an overwhelming place to be.

“We want survivors to know you are not alone - you will have someone with you seeking to understand and advocate. We don’t speak on behalf of our clients but we hope to amplify their voices and get to the ears of people making the decisions.”

Ms Ruddick says many victims have been left uneasy due to low trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police following the murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard, 33, by PC Wayne Couzens who worked in the same armed unit as serial rapist PC David Carrick.

Baroness Louise Casey’s scathing review of the force painted an alarming picture of how crimes against women and children are investigated.

A lunchbox was found in the same fridge as rape samples and appliances were so full they had to be strapped shut. One fridge containing rape kits broke down, meaning evidence could not be used.

Ms Ruddick says “There is no getting away from the Met having had a really difficult couple of years. For that to be someone’s anxiety, is understandable. Things need to significantly improve if survivors are going to have faith in the process.

“But too few cases are charged and too few found guilty.

“In the past three years, we see more and more people struggling with the length of time it is taking.

“The shame that ends up being put on survivors. It’s never their fault - they are not to blame. That message feels so important. This was someone else’s choice that was inflicted on you.

“People often don’t feel able to tell their parents, friends or people at university. However, one thing we hear from clients is having their voices heard made them feel valued and believed.

“For survivors, it feels very mixed even with a guilty verdict. They find hardest an expectation from other people that they should now be fine and it’s all over. So often, it’s the start of the recovery, a different type of beginning.”

In December, teenage serial rapist Kevarnie Queen, 19, dubbed the “Brixton R Kelly” was jailed for 12 years after committing a three-year campaign of sexual violence against six girls under 18.

Commander Kevin Southworth, the Met’s lead for public protection, said: “We are dedicated to putting victim-survivors of rape at the heart of everything we do to eradicate sexual violence largely caused by predatory men and support those who are impacted.

“We’ve transformed the way we investigate rape and sexual offences, more than doubling our number of rape charges since 2021.

“We’re not complacent and remain absolutely resolute in our commitment to target offenders and protect women and girls, but we cannot do this alone.

“Listening to victim-survivors, and working together with charities and partners across the criminal justice system, we’re working to ensure that all victims-survivors have the confidence to report these most awful crimes and do all that we can to get them the justice they deserve.

“If you have been a victim of sexual violence and not yet reported it – please contact your local police service and we will do all that we can to help.”

Recent Ministry of Justice data shows the average London rape victim waits three years and three months to get a court result, down from over four years at the start of 2022.

A MoJ spokesman said ministers introduced a raft of measures to speed up hearings since the start of the pandemic, including funding unlimited Crown Court sitting days for a third year in a row.

She added: “We know that victims who feel supported are 50 per cent more likely to stay engaged in the criminal justice system and Independent Sexual Violence Advocates and Domestic Violence Advisors offer crucial emotional support to victims regardless of whether they report to the police.

“This is why we are quadrupling funding for victim and witnesses support services and committed to recruiting 300 more specialist advisors by 2025.”

[panpanpanini]

detco salt. moonlight sonata remake rant below

forewarning that i am a staunch funi-dub enjoyer and fell in love with this show in the first 50 episodes (and still consider the early show to be superior)

-

broke sequence and watched detco episode 1000/1001 yesterday, and not to be a negative nancy but jfc i think i would've been pissed if i had tuned in to watch that on premiere day.

maybe i set myself up for failure expecting anything more (especially given my very low ceiling for ridiculous anime shenanigans) but for transparency's sake i watched the tubi dub (👎) with my brother, since we grew up watching and loving the funi dub version. ooh man did we think it sucked

remaking moonlight sonata at this stage in detco is only a good idea on paper bc it's sentimental. that's literally all it has going for it though. it didn't hold a candle to the original, not even close, not in translation/writing or voice acting, not in animation or color or background or music direction. it was so so bad, the kind of bad that cuts so deep disappointment turns to insult. rigid and stilted, environments feel sterile and vacant and weirdly huge (this is a uniquely me criticism of modern detco lol, absolutely fuckin MASSIVE environments), all sense of small town superstition and tension are gone, no time is spent even acquainting with narumi and so i felt nothing when his identity and status as the killer is eventually revealed, let alone when he self-immolated. and coming off of that, conan himself barely feels like a character. the funi dub does a stellar job of cementing shinichi as the overarching narrator of the series both in writing and in the decision to dub conan's inner monologue with his "true" voice, so while the tubi dub is already at a disadvantage in that regard there's next to no framing of the situation by him otherwise and it just kind of feels like we're flies on the wall in the most boring way possible. this isn't to say the original, subbed or dubbed, is a masterpiece of high art or anything, it just knows what it wants to do and it does it well enough to get you invested in it. there's a reason it's an iconic case, right? in the remake, you just don't get the sense that conan is invested in the case or moved by any of the ominous circumstances at all. it's so fucking weird because he should be the audience surrogate for these cases and instead it's flat and the opposite of immersive. maybe it's harsh of me to say but dare i say it's incompetent. absolute night and day compared to the original, even if you remove the dub variables.

speakings of dubs. i don't know any japanese so i have no meaningful input as to whether or not the tubi dub is a more """accurate""" translation than the funi dub but i'm firmly of the opinion that 1:1 translations belong exclusively to subs. there's way more at play in a dub than just "accurate translation" and i can't fucking tell you how awful the tubi dub is all around. it's just so wooden. i'm sure the cast are capable actors and the rigid writing was more than bogging them down but every time a name was said i made a face. every time a character spoke like a wired informant i made a new one. have the writers ever heard real people converse with each other before? does whoever was in charge of voice direction know what good performances sound like? nobody talks to each other the way the people in this dub do!! christ on a stick

(as an aside, people have pegged my criticisms of anime shows as 'expecting too much realism' but in my defense [1] detco likes to treat itself as a show that--compared to its other big-name modern shonen counterparts-- exists mostly within the bounds of real-life rules and [2] people talking to each other transcends expectations of realism. the show already expects me to think of it within a certain box and i'll eat my hat if you or other people in your life normally talk to each other like they're wearing a wire, repeating everything that's said to them like someone is on the other side of the glass)

overall verdict 1/10. mid episode for the late 900s/early 1000s era piggybacking mostly off nostalgia and good intentions but horrifically executed outside of that bubble and especially in comparison to its predecessor and the legacy thereof. extremely underwhelming and upsetting thing to put out as a commemorative special. i'm not impressed, but i'm not mad either - i'm just really, really sad

[hourglassstationacademy]

About some HSA School Facilities

So what kinda food does the HSA cafeteria have and what is the main thing?

Given its a very advanced Technology school and many Talerenea members help out, often its a basic menu of things that cater to Vegans, Vegetarians, Allergie friendly, Glutenfree and just simple everything is covered with the basic menu…

Each week there is a few specialty dishes, maybe from another culture, maybe some sort of theme, On halloween there is like Spider cupcakes or something… The Basic HSA menu already covers over 50 different dishes, the school is huge so there is often like many people at once taking orders and working in the kitchen, Angelica is just the head of the this group and mainly in charge.

So each day is busy in the HSA cafeteria.

About some of the the HSA specialty dishes:

New Years: Fortune teller cookies and a big golden pig shaped dessert Amore wings day: Butterfly cake and cakepops Springs beginning: Sakura Mochi and Sakura Onigiri April fools: Russian Roulette Takoyaki Easter: Omelette of beginnings, many boiled egg dishes Summer time: Tropical Ice cream parfait, Big bang burger challenge Autumn: Pumpkin pie with Carrot juice Halloween: Spider cupcakes, skeleton candy, bleeding cake and ghostly cakepops Winter: Snowmountain cake and Snowman ice cream Christmas: Baked apple cake, Bûche de Noël, Santa hat cupcakes

About the HSA Gym: -Lots of things are already technology locked. Aka use your gem again. Your own personal lockers for your stuff and everything will be set and Psynched up with it, so only you can open your locker -Teachers often only 1 or 2 are present hence their room is so small -there is a pool too for the swimming club and general lessons -The showers are locked as well automatically after entering and open once you press a switch inside the place -often there is enough showers so 25 people can shower at the same time, -Girls and boys dressing rooms are not locked to Cis-Gender, but also as what you identify as, I was unsure about making an extra one but I had no idea what would be better.

Actually HSA infirmary facts: -Beatrice doesn't really do her Job alone, on Occasion some students help out Volunteering as well as Pherea to fetch her stuff, she may only look pretty but Beatrice with her old age and observer powers is quick to find the pain and find spells to mend it quick -There is enough beds to house a whole 3 classes of students, yets still some prefer to stay in their dorm room… if so she has the allowance to get into the dorm despite the whole old rules, cause this is an emergency -Angelica who is close with Beatrice also has a professional doctor as friend if things go that far that someone has to go to an actual hospital, but that is rarely the case cause most can be fixed on its own -Beatrice is kind and Caring to most students but people like Greg who get into fights for unessesary reasons might get the worse tasting medicine or a bit more of a menacing aura from her -Its mostly full on Combat tournament days aside that many also rely on the Exodus dorm as well, but in all some students like Kome or Eleafy are daily people who come for medicines and all

[sovonight]

Hi you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, I just have a question! You know a lot more about charms than I do, I was thinking about opening custom charm commissions and ordering the charms from Vograce. I think production, if I had 6 charms/slots, would be around 40-ish dollars if I include shipping? Maybe 50? I’m wondering if you have suggestions on how much I should price per charm. At first I was going to charge just $50 per charm, $65 if someone wants two characters, but then again, I don’t want to undersell myself at all, I’ve seen artists charge from $90 up to $105 per charm commission. but I wanted to ask your opinion first. I’m always afraid to price high because a lot of people complain if anything is over $50 when it comes to artwork, but then I have this habit of underselling. One time I only charged $10 for full body full colored artwork and I really burnt myself out making almost 30 of those, it took me eight months to complete them all... and I’m afraid of repeating that mistake with charms too. I’m experienced with drawing and ordering charms and experienced in drawing commissions, but I’ve never done custom commissions for physical items before. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

(disclaimer that i haven't done charm commissions before either, but i've been thinking abt it a lot so i've been paying attention when it's discussed on the art discords haha)

to establish a starting price for the art alone, just time yourself and multiply your hours by at least minimum wage as usual (i'd start with $15/hr). then add in production/shipping cost, then consider adding in extra based on other time factors (in the bulletpoints)

in the end i'd expect at least a $100-$200 starting price for charm commissions, especially if you're drawing the charm fully custom each time. the exception is if your process is relatively quick and easy, like if you use a simple style that's quick for you or a pre-posed base that you only need to make adjustments to. in this case i could see the starting price go down to $50-$100. so if it turns out that the price you calculated based on your hours is higher than what you think your clients are willing to pay, cutting down your hourly rate should be a last resort; i'd suggest first trying to see if you can make your process shorter and faster by offering a more simple or limited design. or you can offer designs that utilize art assets you've already drawn beforehand, and just cleverly select the customizable element of the charm

other things to think abt:

consider adding to your initial time estimate by accounting for time spent formatting your files, placing the order, quality checking, etc. plus the normal commission stuff like time spent on revisions. charm commissions also often mean extra time spent messaging the commissioner compared to digital commissions (explaining choice of clasps/finishes, communicating production/shipping status, etc) so you may want to account for that extra correspondence time too

personally i wouldn't heavily discount multiple characters. maybe a 10-15% discount, but tbh no discount is normal too. if the characters are separate, they're as much work as 2 commissions, and if they're interacting, that interaction takes extra effort to plan and pose, so it's still the work of 2 commissions

bc the difference in cost is small and it adds a lot of value, i'd definitely offer the charms as double-sided. it'd be no extra work, just the same image on both sides, where one side's flipped. you could offer an alternate expression for the other side of the charm for an additional cost

if the character is asymmetric and the commissioner wants them to be correctly asymmetric on both sides of the charm, charge extra (or alternatively don't even entertain this as an option, some silhouettes are difficult to flip for this)

you could consider offering a discount if the commission is of a character with enough demand that you can reprint and sell the charm separately

remember to update your tos to cover the details of physical charm commissions 👍

and on the production end of things, these are what i immediately thought abt:

how many copies of the charm will you give commissioners by default?

how much will you charge for additional copies of the charm?

how many copies will you actually order? (do you get extra to account for flaws, or order exact amounts)?

do you cover shipping cost to the commissioner, or does the commissioner cover it?

what happens if the package gets lost or damaged--either on the way to you, or on the way to the commissioner?

what happens if the charms come in and they're flawed?

can your pricing setup cover the occasional need to order replacement charms for the scenarios above?

[highonmarvel]

Officer

content warnings here!

Bar On Jax Masterlist

Previous Chapter: Still

“No,” he replied, “But I love the enthusiasm. Really, doll,” he sighed, folding his arms and leaning against the doorway as he watched you frown, “I can’t trust you not do anything drastic, here; you’re erratic.”

You’re erratic? You wanted to scream at him, shriek that he’s the one who is constantly flipping between being loving, gentle, caring, and aggressive, violent, a few times, even, and you were sure he wasn’t going to stop. But losing your cool would only boost his ego, he’d think he was right, so he suppressed your rage.

A knock at the front door it sounded like.

James whipped around and peered down the hallway.

Moving quickly, he pulled a drawer open and snatched a cloth out of it. Despite your struggling against him, he managed to gag you pretty quickly as another knock pounded at the door.

He gripped your neck and pulled your face right up to his, your noses bumping, as you struggled to breathe.

“Make a sound I’ll rip your throat,” he threatened lowly. You could feel the anger seething off of him by his rising temperature, and whimpered in response.

He let go and tossed you back, your head bouncing harshly against the headboard causing you to groan.

He looked back at you with wide eyes as a warning for you to shut the fuck up before heading out.

Bucky closed and locked the door behind him as the banging continued.

“Coming!” he yelled as he jogged to the front door, trying not to groan at the interruption and the prospect of spending time with anyone that wasn’t you.

“Sergeant Barnes, it’s an honour to meet you.”

Two police officers stood outside his door, clearly slightly intimidated by him. Fuck, did they know something? If he did he’d have to kill them — he could not have the NYPD on his case — but how would it look if two police officers went missing after going to visit a super soldier.

“Can I help you, officers?” he asked, leaning his stretched arm above his head on the right of the doorway.

“We just wanted to have a few words with you in regards to a suspect in a murder case, believed to be your current girlfriend…” Officer 2 trailed off nervously.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

As bad as this may have seemed, he could at least take solace in the fact the two police officers before him clearly feared and respected him, and maybe for that reason they would leave him alone as soon as possible. And as bad as this may have seemed, he couldn’t help but feel a little giddy that they had called you his girlfriend.

“Uh, of course,” he stepped back and allowed them into the house. He directed them to the living room on the right as he stared down the hallway — where his door was the last on the left — wondering if you had heard it was the police, and why they were here. Even if so, who could help you escape him? Two normal people with guns against an assassin with more than 50 years under his belt? He didn’t think you were stupid enough to think they could make an impact, and hoped you’d understand that causing a scene would only irritate him, hurt you more than help you.

“Have a seat,” he offered following after them.

The night of your date, they asked about.

“Yes,” he replied, “She was with me, we went out for dinner, took a drive up to the peak, and I dropped her off around, say, nine-ish? A little after nine, maybe just before ten past. I haven’t seen her since.”

“Her car is in your driveway.”

Your car was in his fucking driveway. Fuck, they probably wanted you for more questioning and when they realised they couldn’t get hold of you thought you skipped town to went into hiding. Your car was in his driveway, did they think you were hiding there? Technically, they would be right.

“Right!” he remembered, “Right, yeah, I took her car,” he lied, “She said there was a problem with it, wanted to take it to a mechanic, but I said I could do it, free of charge. She hasn’t come to pick it up, I thought maybe she was spending more time with friends and just let it slide. I’m sure she’ll come around in a few days time, maybe even tomorrow.” Fuck, why did he say tomorrow?

Officer 1 nodded as he peeked over his partner’s shoulder while she scribbled down notes.

“So you haven’t had any contact with her since that night?”

He shook his head, “No. It was only one date, and I’m kind of old-fashioned, so I wanted to be a gentleman and help a lady out. And I’m no good with today’s technology,,” he joked, hoping they’d chalk up his different behaviour to old age, “ So I didn’t really keep in touch; we just agreed that I’d see her in a four or five, and I’m at home most of the time so I didn’t see a need to overly coordinate it.”

“Today is the fifth day since your evening together.”

“It is?” he asked, clearly shocked. Fuck, would it have been? The last few days had been so crazy, had it really been less than a week since Sam’s birthday and your date and all this? “Time flies,” he decided to answer, instead of backing himself further into a corner with details.

“Will you tell us if she comes by, Sergeant Barnes? We have reason to believe she’s dangerous.”

“Of course, officers,” he smiled. He was sure if he was anyone else they wouldn’t have just trusted him to tell them if he was harbouring a potential murderer; they wouldn’t dare disrespect a war hero like that.

He led them out and was just about to close the door when one of them called out to him.

“Yes, Officer?” he yelled back.

“Again, it was an honour to meet you, sir; thank you for your service.”

He wondered if they knew he was (had been; in the past) the Winter Soldier but didn’t care and were focused on his service, or if they were oblivious.

He gave them one last tight-lipped smile and shut the door with a breath of relief. Now what? Would he just have to whisk you away, take the two of you to live a private, secluded life, or would he be too recognisable, regardless of where he went? Did they have any more “evidence” on you? Under RUI, you’re free to live your life as you please unless you’re to be charged, and he imagined that wasn’t happening on the count of them having absolutely nothing except a frightened note against you.

Whatever it was, he would handle it as it came; he wasn’t too worried, but did make a note to be more careful. He couldn’t move your car now because where would he take it? And what would the police think if they came back to your missing car but Bucky hadn’t reported you had been here?

He shook the thoughts and walked down the hall back to his (and your) room, where you sat in the same position, looking straight at him.

“Hey, doll,” he smiled as he undid you gag, “You were so good for me, sweetheart. Maybe you can be trusted in the living room with me—”

“You killed her.”

He paused. Had you heard the entire conversation? He didn’t think they had been particularly loud.

“What?” he decided on, playing dumb.

“You killed Cassandra, and you set me up.”

He clenched his jaw but remained silent. You were a smart girl; if you had figured it out, there wouldn’t really be anything he could do to sway that opinion — you had been looking for reasons to have him since day one.

“I heard you “Yes, Officer?” like a respectful saint, when we both know you’re far from it.”

So that’s how you had heard.

“Stop speaking,” he warned.

“A hero, selfless, as if you aren’t the most selfish bastard in the world; you’re bad man, James.”

He wanted to grip your throat, choke you until you nearly passed out and then maybe fuck your limp body on the floor. But he didn’t, instead, he took a deep breath, and met your eyes, keeping his gaze as calm as possible, “You don’t really think that.”

“Oh, but I do,” you responded, a disbelieving smile slowly spreading across your face at the sheer nerve of this man, “You’re a bad man.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I’m crazy?!” you screamed as him, “I’m craz- Which one of us is keeping a woman captive? You’re delusional, James, you’re a sick fuck. Which one of us is a murderer—”

He wrapped his right hand around your throat and slammed your head against the headboard, his grip tightening by the second, more than you thought was possible, completely cutting off any type of circulation, it felt. Instinctively you tried to claw at him, but obviously your restraints prevented you from protecting yourself. Before you could start flailing your legs, a cold, hard, metal punch landed to your upper cheeks, and your head barely bobbed to the side what with his tight grip. Two, three, four punches more and he harshly tugged you forward toward him, your shoulders threatening to pop out of their sockets as your wrists remained behind. His anger was palpable, pulsing off him like music out of loud speakers and hitting you in waves.

He spoke in a gravelly voice with a calm tone, “Stop. Speaking.”

At least that’s what you thought he said, but you were starting to lose consciousness, his voice becoming fainter and your vision going blurry. You cheek hurt from the harsh metal blows and your shoulders hurt from being near dislocation and your lungs hurt from a lack of oxygen, but that all dulled as did the world, black slowly creeping up in your peripheral, and just as you were about to sink into unconsciousness, he practically threw your head right back against the headboard causing you to groan while simultaneously trying to gasp for sweet oxygen, oh lord; you still somehow felt as if you were being choked, like his hold still lingered as pale skin under your bikini would after a tanning session.

He just watched you as you tried to pull yourself together, body hurting, face hurting, and heart hurting; he had set you up and you had run right into his arms, being enclosed in the cage of his care.

You couldn’t even get on your hands and knees to better gasp as that annoying ass rope reminded you of your fate every time you tried to control the narrative.

James just watched you, face expressionless, eyes unreadable as you tried to search his oceans; usually you could feel the anger or regret after he hurt you, but now he was just blank, and that scared you, not knowing what he was thinking, what he would do next.

You wanted to scream at him, but your voice was still much too hoarse from the asphyxiation, and, if you were being smart, you wouldn’t tick him off any further.

“I thought you were being good but looks like I was wrong. I’ve been very patient with you, doll. Aw, what, gonna cry?” the faux pity dripped like acid from his tone, burning through you, and the stinging pain causing more tears to fall on top of the ones you hadn’t even noticed streaming.

You had the feeling he was becoming not only impatient, but sadistic as his eyes glinted with a sick joy, causing your stomach to churn.

He tugged you back toward him and licked a strip from you chin up your cheek, lapping up tears as you tried not to cringe at the action. He pulled back with a wicked smile and you retuned it with a sneer, your breathing still heavy, not quite adjusted.

“Let me tell you something, doll,” he said pulling up a chair from next to his dresser and settling into it at your side like he was a parent telling a bedtime story, “You’re it for me; this is your life now, our life now, and baby that’s something you gotta accept before things get out of control.”

How could anything get more out of control than having you investigated for murder and then not only keeping you captive, but being physically abusive in the process.

“I’ve protected you, that’s all I’ve ever done, all this, it’s so you’re safe with me. Because,” he leaned in, baritone voice dropping several octaves, “Who’s more dangerous than me?”

You gulped. He was right; he was one of the most dangerous people on the planet, so not much worse could happen to you under his control. That didn’t make any of what he was doing okay, no, far from it, you wanted to scream in his. He was painting this illusion of him being the most dangerous, and therefore he had to be the most fierce protector, but he wasn’t protecting you from anything; he was the biggest threat to your safety, and he proved that, like, three times, maybe more, times now, but he was acting like the hero.

Safe from what?

Corrupt, delusional, dangerous this man was, yet here he sat before you with a soft expression, even softer eyes, cooing you to believe his words, that he was your protector, when he was the exact opposite; he was your abuser and kidnapper, claiming this deep connection between you two when you barely knew each other, but you were scared; would he tell the cops you were with him? Who were they going to believe; an Avenger or a random lady who worked at a small bar? A nobody, you were, and he was one of the most powerful men in the country, in the world, and not just by physical strength. It would be impossible to go up against him, your only hope was to just get away from him. But that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

You were starting to get desperate; you thought if you just played along, pretended for a while, that he’d loosen up and you could slip through his fingers, but it had only been two days! Yet you were still sure you couldn’t take it much longer. You anger clashed with his, and he was getting more and more violent during the short period he had you, and you were sure at this rate, he’d accidentally kill you in a week’s time.

Breathing slowing down, you tried to speak calmly, your voice barely a whisper, “I’m scared.”

Jumping right into being submissive probably wouldn’t work; he’d grow too suspicious, know you’re planning something and maybe become harsher with his tactics. Your only hope was to try to control your outburst, and maybe slowly coax him into believing he had gotten through to you. How long that would take you weren’t sure, but you just hoped it would be over as soon as possible, and this plan, as long as it may take, seemed like your best option.

“I won’t hurt you unless you give me a reason to,” he replied, raising his hand to cup your face and brushing his thumb up and down your cheek, “Just be good for me.”

Be good, he said, as if he wasn’t a bad man himself, but wanting you to be good for him. He thought he was a good person, oh! Would not being good to a bad person be being bad, by his definition of good.

“I’m sorry, it’s just all new and I need time,” you responded, hoping you weren’t coming off too heavy. You thought you saw him narrow his eyes, but maybe that was just a trick of anxiety, for in less than a blink the corners of his blue eyes were crinkled and a smile was on display.

Erratic, it felt like both of you were, and you were certain you would clash the more time you spent here until the blow sent one of you flying — it was probably going to be you. But, deep breaths, baby steps, one day at a time, and this could end peacefully, or at least quietly. Maybe you’d have to spend the rest of your life constantly looking over your shoulder, but you tried to stay optimistic; you would come out of this stronger, and a more resilient woman, and if you could survive this, you could survive anything — and you would survive this.

End Of Officer.

✪

Next Chapter: Gauze

taglist; @cjand10

[golbrocklovely]

Hi, so the thing about the volunteer mods on xplrclub kind of rubs me the wrong way. They absolutely have made millions in their career, I mean their channel has been blowing up steadily for years. Their channel on top of merch sales, tours, xplrclub, they're living rather comfortably. One of the other anon's said colby has admitted to spending 10k a month on just clothing?? 10k is what I make in 5 months of working full time, dropping that on clothing in one year is insane let alone one month. Plus they have 2 mansions and not just rent but own. I'm the same age as them and I'm still living at home because despite having an MA and working full-time, my job doesn't pay me a wage that would allow me to live on my own without going completely broke and ending up in even more crippling debt.

I do like snc, as people I think they're probably really nice guys, but I think they've been in the influencer sphere for too long and no longer have any grasp on the real world. We're in a cost of living crisis right now, so asking anyone to essentially work for free is a bit tone deaf. I know they're not asking for crazy work, but they're still asking someone to give up their free time to put in labor for something they pay snc to be able to access. It's just a bit icky to me. Either don't charge them the monthly subscription if they're going to mod for you, or pay them. It just kind of strikes me as snc think their fans should be grateful to them for allowing them this opportunity to mod for them, that money shouldn't even be a factor. Idk, maybe I'm being a bit too harsh, but in the economy we're currently in, asking people for free labor while you are raking in hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars a year is gross.

Sorry for this long post, I just felt like I wanted to get it all out, haha.

you're totally fine to vent. i agree with a lot of what you're saying. i think it's ridiculous that snc would think mods should be volunteers and not paid employees.

but to defend snc just a small amount….

snc haven't stated what the "perks" will be of being a mod. so it's possible it's negotiable to ask for a free membership as a mod, if not possibly more. on top of that, now that it has been a day and i'm not as upset as i was, i think the reason snc think this volunteer system is okay is bc when they did a livestream on wednesday, they mentioned getting mods and ppl in the comments started asking to be a mod.

not to mention the amount of ppl that have already applied to be mods. i mean the last time i checked the post (and this was yesterday mind you), there was 50+ comments, and only three of them were critical about this whole thing and one of them was me. so a lot of ppl are fine with being mods without being paid.

that, tied with ppl being on twitch and streamers pick randos from their fandom to be mods, i bet snc think this is the best case scenario and way to go about things.

i would like to believe that it's mostly this, tied with a little bit of snc being cheap lol

and look, personally idc how snc spend their money. they made it, they can do what they want with it. even if i think it's outrageous to spend 10k on clothes in a month. reality is, we're just in a different tax bracket than them. i don't relate to them on that level. and i wouldn't want them to act poor, so to speak. so….. it is what it is.

that being said, they should pay for mods. mods should be ppl not in the fandom. bc even tho snc also stated in the post that there is no amount of time you have to be online and moderating, i know there are some fans that if they do it, will be on 24/7 and will neglect their lives just to be in snc's good graces assumingly. and i think that's where an extra layer of problems lie. the lack of money is an issue, the trusting of fans is an issue, the possible future problems is another, and so on.

it would be better to get rid of chat, impo. but they ain't gonna listen to me lol

[ufonaut]

I’m trying to give more minis and limited runs a try this year, what are some that you count as must-reads? 💖💖💖

hiiiiiiiiiii <333

you've come to the right place, THE HOME OF THE OBSCURE MINISERIES. okay, let's do this!

set in the dcu/vertigo

martian manhunter: american secrets (1992) - three issue miniseries exploring j'onn's early years on earth and his status as a literal alien relating to 50s/60s counterculture, the ufo craze and various conspiracy theories of the era. good art, great writing -- it's opening paragraph and sometimes-tagline ("strangers to each other, we were both greater strangers to the hordes of new york. he was a beatnik. i was a martian.") plays in my mind every so often and tells you a great deal about the tone we're playing with here!

arkham city: the order of the world (2021) - six issue miniseries. you'll rarely see a modern recommendation from me, let alone a batman-related one, but i feel like this little book sort of slipped through the cracks when it came out and it's more than worth reading for the sublime art alone. horror miniseries following one doctor's attempts at rounding up some of arkham's less conventional escapees.

mystik u (2017) - three issue miniseries. while not strictly set in the actual canon dc universe, it's an uproariously fun book about a young zatanna's days at a school for magic users and it's got some great great characterisation for the likes of, say, mister e & the trenchcoat brigade that we haven't seen in decades and decades. which speaking of,

mister e (1991) - four issue miniseries. this is one i rec pretty often on here but if anything fits the actual definition of a must-read for me, then it's this mister e solo book. ostensibly a sequel to the books of magic (1990), which is another go-to recommendation, this is a little horror tale of abuse and trauma and deeply repressed sexuality among a surreal attempt to take charge of one's own destiny. tw for child abuse (i can be more specific in a dm!)

hawkworld (1989) - three issue miniseries. this is the post-crisis origin of the thanagarian hawks, with a specific focus on katar hol's evolution from policeman to vigilante and all the ideals betrayed in-between.

vigilante: city lights, prairie justice (1995) - four issue miniseries. another sincere & legitimate must read! this is classic james robinson, blending westerns with noir and the golden age of comics, and it follows greg saunder's short-lived hollywood years and the insane revenge quest that consumes him. one of the very best books i've ever read, with astounding art too!

challengers of the unknown (1991) - eight issue miniseries. who doesn't love washed up heroes living off their own merchandise and fame until tragedy forces them back into the people they've forgotten how to be? a compelling look at some of the few heroes that have been allowed to age not to gracefully, and then their quest to find themselves again. tim sale's art is hit or miss for me but this is a definite hit!

superman/doomsday: hunter/prey (1994) - three issue miniseries set immediately after clark's return to life, featuring doomsday's unexpectedly tragic origin. i'm rarely a superman fan but i adored this one and in fact own the trade.

jonni thunder (1985) - four issue miniseries. a female private investigator with all the trappings of the archetypical noir detective and johnny thunder's powers. there's really not much else i can say!

sugar & spike: metahuman investigations (2016) - originally appearing in the backups of legends of tomorrow (2016) #1-6, this keith giffen/bilquis evely humor book sees grown up versions of sheldon mayer's world-famous sugar & spike dealing with all the unpleasant, better-forgotten, just plain weird embarrassments of the world's most famous heroes. their first case is finding batman's rainbow batsuits before their existence is leaked to the general public!

adam strange (1990) - three issue miniseries. legitimately an all time favourite book based on the kubert brothers' art alone, we follow adam strange's last night on earth before he's set to move to rann permanently and all the regrets that come with it. the definitive adam strange portrayal, and a magnificently written one at that!

standalone

nathaniel dusk (1985)/nathaniel dusk ii (1986) - four issue miniseries. if this isn't a must-read then i don't know what is! i mentioned this one in my 'comix of the year' round-up so i'll just go ahead and copy paste what i said there: "the quintessential film noir, in comic book form. gene colan's art makes the miniseries but dusk is a truly unique outing no matter how you look at it, and its status as ostensibly set in the real post-wwi world makes it all that more fascinating. nathaniel dusk is a hardboiled detective whose career is marred by too-personal tragedy, the book's custom made for anybody who's as big on character studies and character-driven pieces as i am".

cinder & ashe (1988) - four issue miniseries. again from my round-up: "at its heart, this is a story about the vietnam war but also a harrowing mystery thriller set in new orleans and an exploration of racism, the military industrial complex, and two lives consumed by grief." there's not much i can say that won't spoil it but trust me, there's a reason it's one of my favourite books!

wild dog (1987) - four issue miniseries. the book follows mysterious vigilante wild dog, who takes to the streets with a baseball bat and single-minded determination in an attempt to put an end to the crime wave that had cost him the life of his girlfriend. it's a fun, action-packed miniseries that keeps you guessing the whole time and doesn't reveal wild dog's identity until the very last issue!

jonny double (1998) - four issue miniseries. down on his luck private investigator is hired to plan out the perfect heist, and it only gets better from there! a solidly fun, sincerely fantastic book with some great art from eduardo risso and extremely clever writing. some gaycoding thrown in for flavour, too.

slash maraud (1987) - six issue miniseries. a sci-fi/dystopian story, we follow slash maraud and a gang of lesbian bikers as they try to avert the incoming apocalypse on an a lawless earth where humanity's only got five years left to live. exactly as fun as it sounds!

tempus fugitive (1990) - four issue miniseries. a freedom fighter from the far future travels across time in an attempt to change his present. a recent read but a thoroughly enjoyable one.

there's a lot i'm missing, and i mean a whole lot, so i suggest taking a look at my completed series list and seeing if anything jumps out (for example, you've simply got to read wrath of the spectre!) but this is what came to mind just now! hope it helps a little bit!

[elennare]

Poetry-inspired flash-fic

It has been far too long since a. I posted here, b. I wrote fic, c. I did this fun little meme, so here I am again!

Rules 1: Pick five fandoms. List them in alphabetical order. 2: Visit this site to find your first RANDOM POEM OF POWER. Write down the 5th line (yes, even if it's an E.E. Cummings poem and you wind up with an apostrophe). Repeat five times and - you guessed it - list them in alphabetical order! (No cheating, mind! This is a challenge and it's always been about creativity.) 3: I think you can see where this is going. Write a very quick 50-word half-drabble for each fandom (try to do it all in one sitting), using the line from the poem as a prompt. You don't have to include it in the half-drabble - it's just inspiration. 4: Bravo! Have a cookie.

(I always forget to alphabetise the poems, I just take them in order - and I had to find another random poem generator, the old one was broken. This one is very Canadian, but it's the best I could find - suggestions for other ones welcome!)

Chalet School - informed crowded alloys detect no (Rita Wong, “fluorine” from forage) “I don't expect scientific brilliance from Corney and Co,” Nell Wilson assured the Staffroom. “But is basic coherency really too much to ask for?”

Hilda Annersley's eyebrows rose as she read some samples. “Leave them to me, Nell,” she replied, in a tone that boded no good for the miscreants.

High Rollers : Aerois - too large for this body. Too willing to (Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, "COMFORT" from There Should Be Flowers) It's not that Quill doesn't feel the lure of the spark of divinity. But it's too big, too powerful. What will he be if he takes it? Not an aarakocra any more, not really… will he even still be Quill? No. He'll stay mortal, stay with his friends, stay himself.

High Rollers: Curse of Strahd - “Forward, the Light Brigade! (The charge of the Light Brigade, Tennyson) Yesper hears stories, on his trips outside Barovia. Songs of glorious last stands, heroic charges, victories against seemingly insurmountable odds. He likes these tales, memorises them for the campfire. But he doesn’t believe them, not really… Maybe they’re true, maybe in Faerun they can be true, but not in Barovia.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Forsaken by my parents (Alootook Ipellie, "Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border," from Gathering: The En’owkin Journal of First North American Peoples: A Retrospective.) Vivien and Merlin rarely talk about their parents. What is there to say? Their father is birthday cards with dutiful invitations to visit Cambridge, that Vivien takes up occasionally and Merlin mostly avoids. Their mother is a case file Vivien doesn’t want to think about and Merlin can’t leave alone.

Swallows and Amazons - travels a direction it cannot find, (Kevin Irie's "Current") Susan peers blindly into the fog, trying to make out anything at all. Why did she let Titty and Roger go back by themselves? It’s all very well Nancy and Peggy saying they’ll have been back at camp for ages; Susan won’t be happy until she sees it for herself.

[hollisofficial]

49 and 50 for the OC ask game 😎

THANK YOU DAME!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

100% cena, whos entire existence is based around a meme from jr high. hes since became an actual oc with his own serious story, but his roots still remain and i continue to only make fun of him and redraw him over memes. his seriousness can continue to live in only my head.

alternatively: geb, who, if they knew what memes were, would fucking love them.

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

UNFORTUNATE FOR YOU im going to talk abt ttt. forever.

for background: ttt and a decent chunk of other characters only fit into my (human oc) stories via a character named jeanie who can see ghosts. i know. marry sue but i am free<3

ok!! so, ttt is a ghost and hes the second oldest ghost in the story (time on earth wise). my story is set in the way future of (maybe) this world, and ttt is introduced around the time that theres a giant nuclear war and subsequent fallout. while he was alive he was a doomsday prepper which was (for the time) rightfully so. he spends about 5 years living down in a bunker eating a shit ton of shelf stable doomsday prepper stuff. as you can imagine living alone in a concrete hole for years didnt treat him very well mentally, but thats besides the point for now. it will all be erased once he becomes a ghost (and replaced with more trauma). at any rate, he ends up running out of food/water earlier than planned and has to wander out into the wasteland to try to find supplies. he doesnt last too long out there (havent decided on a time but probably a little less than a year). he gets stabbed in the remains of a walmart over a can of beans. and ends up dying.

ttt becomes a ghost! in this universe when people become ghosts its usually for a reason (think unfinished business, need to atone, or have some grander purpose type stuff) but for whatever reason t just got fucked over and wasnt actually supposed to become a ghost. his ghost-ness coincides with a time period where a lot of fucked up things are happening with the deities that are in charge of the solar system and at the time the deities that controlled things like death + fate were MIA. so all in all ttt becoming a ghost was genuinely just a glitch in the system type thing.

because of this ttt is. interesting as a ghost. unlike all other ghosts he doesnt really have an appearance. instead hes just vaguely brown/gray humanoid (ignore the ttt sign on him for now, thats not part of his appearance and i'll get to that later). additionally, t cant remember a single thing about his time as a human nor what his name is, hence the name ttt. i know what his human name is but thats secret information not in the story. most importantly to t's story is that he cant be seen by 99.9% of other ghosts.

the reason behind this fact has to do with the weird mechanics of being a ghost. it kind of works like channels or levels on a tv. when you become a ghost youre randomly given a handfull of 'channels' you can access and this ties into certain powers that ghosts can have. for example: being able to touch a ouija board or mess with radio-frequencies would require you to have access to those two channels- not all ghosts can do so. almost everything runs on channels, even just simple things like 'have an appearance' and 'being seen by others' and 'see others'. theres also an insane number of duplicate channels, so for example one ghost could have quite a large number of 'being seen by others' channels which allows them to be seen by a large number of ghosts that share those channels. conversely, (in ttts case) he only has a few 'being seen by others' channels and quite a few 'see others' so basically he can see other ghosts, but they cant see or interact with him. sorry that was longwinded but i love my ghost mechanics. theres more to the mechanics via a ranking tier system but for the sake of brevity i WILL NOT BE GETTIN INTO THAT.

at any rate. because of weird ghost mechanics and because t was fucked up and wasnt supposed to be a ghost, he cant be seen by almost anybody, but he can still see them. as you can imagine this is horrible. ttt spends centuries wandering through the post-nuked world as a ghost trying to find other ghosts to interact with. as the centuries go on he just slowly loses hope more and more and bitterly resigns himself to the fact that he'll never be able to interact with people in the way that he wants. (small sidenote: despite ttt not having baseline/low level channels like being seen, he does have some fairly high level channels that let him interact with the physical world (think like typical poltergeist stuff like throwing small objects ect). this ofc is not a very good substitute for being able to interact with people).

so anyway, ttt spends centuries being functionally alone again. kinda meant to mirror his time in the bunker. resigning to not being able to mess with anything, ttt just tends to pass the time people watching and trying to entertain himself other ways. one day hes people watching and happens upon a literal murder (theres more to this bc its someone elses story but i wont get too detailed bc its edgy emo). this ofc isnt the first time t's seen something like this and (being a touch bitter abt his unable-to-interact-with-anybody situation), t basically just watches and once the murdered guy's ghost drags himself outta the river t just starts roasting the new ghost for being stupid and getting murdered, thinking he cant be seen or heard.

unfortunately this is the first ghost that can actually see and hear ttt.

the new ghost (whos name is perry) is basically just like. (status: doesnt know hes dead or whats happening) HUH?? WH?? WHO ARE YOU?? ttt proceeds to freak the fuck out bc HOLY SHIT THE FIRST PERSON WHO CAN SEE AND HEAR ME?!? WHAT?!? hes completely elated and brain short circuiting at the same time, so hes falling over his words and trying to explain things and say sorry for being a dick to him (thats the least thing perrys worried about). amongst the confusion perry somehow gets it into his head that ttt is his guardian angel because hes some like shapeless entity that appeared after perry (apparently??) died (perry voice: wh huh what do you mean i got shot???).

they speedrun getting to know each other bc ttts just railroading the conversation bc hes so excited and perrys still on like “my name… its perry right..?” brain . perry sticks with t for a while (still assuming hes his guardian or smth) but it literally only takes like half a night for perry to realize like . ok maybe im wrong . (ttt hotwires a car and drives the two of them around before crashing it [another pastime] and thats when perry kinda decides like . no i dont think this guy is an angel.) (during the carride perry also keeps phasing thru the seat + out of the car bc he cant do ghost stuff yet) (also ttts able to hotwire + drive the car bc touching irl stuff to an extent is one of his aforementioned powers).

oh also, the name ttt came from perry and t's first interaction. perry asked what t's name was and t (who didnt know his name) just made something up on the spot and ttt it was.

after that the two of them just end up constantly being together (bc perry really hasnt met anyone else yet so he doesnt exactly like, know theres others out there . and t is ofc not leaving perrys side). it is very evident that ttt is basically attached at perrys hip and VERY afraid to lose him. i mean, perrys the first person who hes been able to talk to for literal centuries and now that ttt has that lifeline hes clutching to it for dear life.

the more they get to know each other t opens up and lets perry know that like . yea youre the first person thats been able to see me and ive KIIIINDA been alone and unable to interact with anyone for a few thousand years . no big deal or anything (<-guy whos brain was becoming mush from lack of interaction). perry starts to understand just everything t must have been through + why he acts so.. like that. he assures t that theres no way he would leave t behind.

i dont have very much for what the two of them did between their meeting and the current timeline in the story, but basically the two of them fuck around for 400 years or so. sometime during that time perry finds a super old (prewar) magazine ad for fiji and the two of them decide they wanna go. so now their thing is perry constantly is trying to teleport (one of his powers) them to fiji but he cant bc fiji doesnt exist anymore and he keeps (unknowingly) teleporting them to the remnants of old fiji water bottles. theyre on like a mission to find fiji.

eventually, one of such teleporting incidents lead them to meeting the character jeanie by chance, who, by the power of I Say So (and a whole nother plot i wont get into), can see ghosts. perry and t end up staying with jeanie as well as a couple of other ghosts that hang with jeanie (their names ade hummingbird and ekr). the five of them become very found family. the rest of their story becomes the group getting wrapped up in/uncovering weird deity politics and subsequently trying to change jeanie and his friend pattersons fate and keep them from dying.

oh yeah, and the ttt thing on ttt's head is a floating apparition of a stickynote that perry controls so the other two ghosts can tell where ttt is.

more doodles:

[carlwheezybaby]

Marketing Yourself

One thing I’ve learned along my journey as an artist is that it is SO important to stay on top of marketing yourself. It can be difficult to achieve if you’re leaning towards introversion, but overcoming that challenge will help immensely. It always helps to have a healthy dose of narcissism in your personality as well ;) 

One of the ways I market myself is through various social media platforms. Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok are all great platforms for doing so. It’s not that simple, though. Staying consistent with posting your works is vital to growing as an artist and achieving your marketing goals. I post almost every single day on each of these platforms (aside from YouTube, I’m still working on that), along with posting on more personal platforms (Snapchat, Twitter, etc.). I include videos, pictures, personal posts, and try to engage with my audience. Engagement includes running polls, asking questions, and talking to your audience like you’re having a conversation with them. The more you engage with your target audience, the better the outcome will be. Your analytics and insights after doing this will prove that.

Using hashtags in your posts is half the battle. MOST of my engagement (curse the algorithm sometimes) comes from hashtags alone. I try to use broad and niche hashtags including #artist , #pittsburgh , #pittsburghartist and #acrylicpainting. 

Two years ago I opened up my website (https://carolineheckmanart.bigcartel.com/). If you’re an artist looking to sell and promote your work, I highly recommend using a platform such as Big Cartel. Big Cartel will show you website data every day and has integrated apps that can show you the analytical side of things. My sales have increased by a decent amount since I opened up my website. Having a site allows people to view your full body of works for sale/portfolio and you can include what you’ve been up to as well as an About Me and Contact page. 

Allowing yourself to take on commissions helps to market your work as well. I almost always have my commissions open not only to increase sales, but to meet new people, increase engagement, and increase the size of my portfolio. When I started taking on commissions a few years ago I charged around $50 and now my minimum pricing sits at $200. Doing commissions allows you to hone your skills as an artist and practice different techniques and maybe even try out different art styles you wouldn’t have thought to do previously.

Another way I market my art is by being a part of various festivals and exhibits in my city. I typically find open calls and festival applications through my Instagram and my fellow artist community (I will touch base on this next). Not every festival will fruit sales, but experience is the key here. It’s difficult to start doing something you’ve never done before, but once you start it gets easier and easier every time. Vending is a lot of fun, too! I’ve been a part of several festivals/shows/pop up events since I moved to Pittsburgh and in doing so I’ve increased my engagement and online following ten-fold. I’ve met some extremely cool and interesting people/artists along the way!

Being a part of a local or online art community is important to growing as an artist. A lot of artists I met are working towards the same goals as me and it helps to be a part of a community that can hold you accountable. Forming relationships with other artists can and will help you achieve your goals! In my case, I’m a part of an Instagram group and artists in the group will send out various open calls, exhibits, and fun art events around the city. Start by following local artists and engaging with their content. You’ll never know who you’ll meet and maybe collaborate with someday!

Finding a local gallery or co-op is a great way to meet these people. When I arrived to Pittsburgh I found Redfishbowl, a gallery and community of like-minded people. I formed a new relationship with the owner and have since been invited to display some work and be a part of various exhibits/pop up events. It’s one simple step that will take you miles closer to your goals!

Last but not least, it is imperative to be passionate in your work and PRESENT in your work. This includes having your own style and trusting/enjoying the process it takes. If you only think about what the final piece will look like you’re not being truly present in the creation of it. The process should be fun and flexible, allowing you to explore various styles and techniques.

All in all, creating art and not showing it off to anyone isn’t going to result in the marketing goals you may be trying to achieve. It’s important to market yourself by being present, engaging, building relationships, building your online presence, building your portfolio, and having experience in the industry. It’s imperative that you just show up for yourself.

I hope my advice helps and please feel free to DM with any questions or if you just want some website or book recommendations :)

As always, thank you for being here!