#so yes it's a very arduous process

[hosseinis]

hello!! I really hope this isn't a rude question, bc I'm genuinely curious. I've been wondering for a while now why people who make gifs from a movie or a show or whatever get upset when somebody else uses the gif in something or want credit for it. Is the process difficult? I'm not 100% how to make a gif but I can't imagine it being that arduous. Anyway like I said not trying to be rude have a good day :D

hey there! it's not a rude question if only because you're asking in the first place instead of just discrediting it.

the thing a lot of people don't understand is how much work actually goes into making a gif, because we don't just plug the video into a gifmaking program and call it a day. a lot of us start JUST with the process of pirating the highest quality video we can find, which can be anywhere from an hour or two of downloading to days at a time (my record is five days for all five seasons of the a-team, but that's a story for another day)

so there's already at least a few hours potentially, just from downloading. granted, we do other things obviously but that's still time that's going into the process.

so you have to download those videos, find the clip you want, and then there are several different methods of getting the clip into whatever program you use (i use photoshop). most of the time i have to reformat the video from .mkv to .mp4, because PS doesn't take .mkv but the highest quality videos are typically in that format. so i put that into a reformatting program, which can take at least another hour depending on how long the file is.

so i've finally got the file ready to go in photoshop, and then i can actually start working on the gif itself. i've now spent at MINIMUM two or three hours just getting this video ready. then i personally clip it down to the exact scene i want it and go from there. if you're just doing a random assortment of scenes, you can choose whatever you want. but if you're doing a scene itself, you have to clip that scene in bursts so you can add the subtitles based off the mouth-movement.

so say you're doing a gifset of your favorite character from a tv show. well, you don't want to just have all of the gifs come from the same episode. so you do the reformatting process all over again. more hours. you do that eight or nine or ten times until you have all the scenes you want. and THEN you can start the actual editing process.

what size should it be depending on what kind of gifset you want to do? 540x540? 540x405? do you just crop it first or should you resize it? the resolution might go down depending on how you resize it. do you know what smart sharpen is, and which levels you should have it on in order to make the scene look the best? what's a smart object? what percentage should your frame rate be so it doesn't look too fast? it's completely different between live action and animation, after all. do you know which colors you should use in the adjustment layers, like selective color? does levels or curves work better for what you're trying to do? how do i get rid of the yellow in this scene so it matches the other gifs? what's the difference between linear contrast and medium contrast? should you use exposure or vibrance to get the shadows you want?

you've done all that, it looks good! you go to export it as a proper gif so you can post it to tumblr. but don't forget your settings on that either! transparency dither, web snap, the amount of colors and what size it should be. you do all that and the gif ends up being over the 10mb limit. so now you have to go back and carefully chip away at the frames until it's under the limit, which means you ultimately have to choose what to sacrifice from that scene so you can properly export it.

so you try again. okay, it's on 9.7MB. that's going to read as 10MB on tumblr. back in you go to chip at it again until it's going to read as 9MB instead. finally. you export the gif, add it to tumblr, and then tumblr doesn't like how it looks when you import it and destroys the quality, so you have to go back and try different export settings until it looks the way you want it.

so you do that nine more times. The Entire Process. downloading and reformatting the .mkv, getting the scene you want, clipping it, resizing and cropping it, coloring it, exporting it, and if you're adding subtitles then it's an entirely new process to add on! and don't forget that if you're doing a mix of scenes, you have to color them all depending on their own lighting, so you're basically doing the process again from scratch.

then you try to think of a fun caption. maybe you want to choose a line you feel best summarizes the character or scene. you put that caption through an HTML formatting program so it can be a gradient (the easiest part!), make the caption look pretty, and then tag it and press send.

you've spent HOURS on this process. literal fucking hours. you've been learning how to carefully manipulate the colors to look good, you know what frame rate looks the best, you have all of your settings saved as .psds.

and then someone right clicks, saves the gif (or just copies it) and posts it to twitter with their own funny little caption.

they get 26k likes, who knows how many retweets, a bunch of new follows. they get all the attention for that gif when they put zero work into it. all they did was write a caption and press send.

you got 400 likes and 165 reblogs on your gifset over on tumblr. maybe you get some tags on it if you're really lucky.

so tell me. wouldn't you be a little frustrated, too?

and just in case anyone wants to try and tell me this doesn't happen, you're welcome to compare the stats on this gifset of godzilla versus the repost on twitter.

[nnugatoryextravagance]

Little did I know the key to gender euphoria wasnt wearing a specific kind of clothes it was to just not wear half of them because the summer heat makes me want to explode and die, I have so much gender right now and all im doing is laying awkwardly in front of a standing fan by my bed without a shirt on, this is truly what being a boy is amen god bless

[b0tster]

So like is it normal to question if you want to be a big or a girl and thinking that the whole transitioning thing just seems like too much of a hassle and shit? Like if I could be a girl I would but the whole process just seems generally arduous and annoying.

Idk what I’m even asking.

questioning your gender is something a lot of people do, but cis people tend to come to the answer very very quickly ("am i trans?" "..." "ok no lol") if you are repeatedly questioning your gender to the point ur reaching out to trans people there is a high chance that you are trans, and could be worth looking into. also, if one of the main reasons you're on the fence is because "it seems like its too much of a hassle" ask yourself if u would transition if it wasnt an intentional hassle created by the government, and was instead very easy. if the answer is yes, then you are probably trans

[traumxrei-archive]

【 v. plated perfection 】

summary: now that yuu was better, they still had nothing to do. that is, until they heard the cheerful tune of a certain white haired maid floating down the halls… maybe they should go see what kalim is up to.

word count: 1.3k

author’s note: kalim’s part !! i really wanted to do the whole shoujo manga cliche w/ this one so i hope you enjoy ^^

[ the perfect debutante series | or read on ao3 (coming soon) ]

There wasn't much left to do for Yuu when they finally got permission to start working again. (That was an arduous process on its own.) It appeared that Azul, Jade, Riddle, and even Jamil had pitched in to take care of any last-minute preparations.

Now that everything was decided, the previously fast-approaching ball seemed to approach at a snail's pace. On top of that, Yuu had even more free time than usual because the Duke had taken over their work to "give them more time to plan". They did come up with an idea for something special at the Debutante, but it was undergoing some final review from the head butler, so it was a waiting game.

That was why they were strolling the halls, looking for something that they could do. A cheerful tune floated down the halls catching Yuu's ear. They instantly recognized the singer's voice, approaching the open door carefully.

Inside the grand room was Kalim, silverware and dishes spread out in front of him. The silver haired maid looked more put together than usual, his short skirt fluttering over stockinged legs as he spun. A white and gold bandana laid over his silvery hair, ribbons trailing down his neck.

"A whole new– Master?!"

Yuu suppressed a laugh when Kalim finally noticed them, "Hello Kalim, that was a nice song you were singing."

"Oh, I think so too! It's a classical ballad from Scalding Sands. But, Master," The maid blinked, his earrings clinking when he tilted his head. "What brings you here?"

"I was bored." And wasn't that the truth? It was easy to be a little more unfiltered with Kalim. Red eyes sparkled knowingly at their words.

"Hmm, then Master," Kalim very gently grabbed a plate. "What do you think about this plate?"

The plate was...shiny. So shiny, in fact, that Yuu felt a bit dazed, "Er, why did you pick that one out?"

"Well," Kalim set the plate aside. "Jamil and Azul told me to pick something perfect. It's Master's debutante after all!

Kalim started listing on his fingers, "They said, 'pick something that shows off the dukedom's opulence, elegance,' and..."

"Humility?" If it was those two that gave Kalim advice, they would know a thing or two about not going overboard on the flair. 

"Yes! Something like that," Kalim pouted. "But it seems that this set isn't to Master's liking." They could see the metaphorical puppy ears droop as he picked up the plate, going back to the display cases.

"It's only a little bit too shiny," Yuu said quickly, trying to soothe Kalim's mood. "There are plenty of other options."

"Theb how about this one?" Kalim picked up a dish with flowery vines adorning its rim. The gold tipped edge made it look all that elegant. "I think it's very pretty."

"Hmm, but I don't think it would fit with the interior decor of the ball," Yuu offered. "It would be very nice to use for the gardens area, but the plates should be uniform."

A thoughtful look crossed Kalim's face, "How about using it as serving plates? It would also make it easier for the chefs if they knew which plates would go to the hall and which will go to the garden."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Yuu said, and Kalim all but beamed at the compliment.

"I heard Jamil complaining about it before," Kalim said, taking out some serving plates. "One of the times that he was helping out at a party my Baba held, the servants weren't given clear instructions on which food was for which hall and it was a mess."

"Okay, now we have some flowery serving plates and trays!" Kalim dusted off his skirts. "Do you have any suggestions, Master?"

"How about choosing something with Night Raven colors?" Yuu took a seat on the bench beside the tray of plates.

Kalim perked up at that, "That's a great idea! The grey plates are somewhere on this shelf..." The silver-haired maid crouched, reaching for another plate, "This one seems very Night Raven colors." The plates had a grey base, and symmetric white lines crisscrossing to create an intricate pattern.

It was certainly an elegant choice, "That's a bit..."

"...too serious," Kalim concluded, sliding the plate back to its spot. "I guess I'll look at the top shelves."

They watched as Kalim dragged a rolling wooden ladder toward the shelf, "Don't forget, to lock the wheels." Yuu stood up, approaching the shelf as Kalim started climbing the ladder. He made it to the platform, opening the doors to the cabinet.

"It's alright Master, I've been doing this all morning," Kalim called out, as Yuu braced an arm against the ladder. Suddenly, Kalim shouted, "Oh! I found the perfect one!"

Kalim spun in his excitement and that was when it happened. Yuu could do nothing but watch as Kalim's body tilted unnaturally to the right, and—

Yuu lunged forward.

It was instinct, and they could barely think before their back was hitting the ground. A burst of pain hit their shoulder as they rolled before finally coming to a stop.

Their chest rose and fell, the blood rushing in their ears. Kalim's weight was keenly on top of them. That much they could figure out. Yuu pried open their eyes, their chest feeling stifled when—

Oh. Kalim's eyes were such a startling shade of red. Yuu had never seen his eyes that close before. The maid's head jerked back, his earrings chimed at the action. His ribbon brushed against their neck. The sensation was strange. A little ticklish, making them huff out a short breath.

Kalim blinked, his mouth falling open. He reeled backward with a shout and they winced as they heard another thump. Yuu sat up, gingerly touching their shoulder. Kalim was still lying on the ground, his skirts in disarray, still seemingly shocked.

And then Kalim shot up, hands clasping their own, "Master! This– I'm so– this maid apologizes for such a blunder, the ladder was— I-I should've been more careful, but— Oh, the others will kill me if they—"

“The others won't find out," Yuu reassured, glancing at the spotless floor. "None of the plates are broken, and we are both fine, save for our clothes."

"But—" Kalim seemed to sputter, hands gesturing wildly. "But Master, you—"

"Instead of arguing, why don't you show me the plate you found?" Yuu stood, dragging Kalim with them.

Kalim looked conflicted, his stare swinging between the cabinet and them, "Still, you... Master shouldn't do anything dangerous like that again. Promise?”

“I promise,” Yuu nodded toward the shelf. “Let’s see the plate that made you so excited.”

Kalim climbed up the ladder— but not before double-checking all of the wheels to the ladder— before returning with a white plate, with grey flowers and gold patterns lining the border, “Isn’t it perfect?”

“It is,” Yuu agreed, taking the plate into their hands. “You found the perfect plate.” Kalim pumped his fists in the air, before going back to grab the rest of the set. They grinned at Kalim’s quite antics, nodding along to the happy tune he was humming as he placed the plates onto the cart. 

“Should we go have a treat to celebrate?” Yuu suggested, and Kalim’s eyes grew even more shinier than before, his previous mood forgotten.

“Oh! Jamil was cooking up some tester desserts last night!” Kalim gushed, grabbing their hand. “Let’s go and ask him for the rest!” Yuu laughed as they were hurriedly led down the hallway. They had all but abandoned the plates there, but oh well. Maybe having fun and letting loose with Kalim was exactly what they needed before the debutante. (And sweets. Sweets made everyone’s days feel better, right?)

thank you for reading ^^ if you’d like to read more, check out my masterlist ! like the art ? look at more of dumple's works on insta !

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[bomberqueen17]

we don't need no stinkin plan

my family is not big on like. planning for stuff.

we used to be. some parts of us still are. but communication is not our forte.

wittering about holiday plans and an upcoming Sudden Road Trip.

so this year thanksgiving was supposed to be us all together at Farmsister's. at the last minute, my oldest sister, the one with all the kids, had to cancel, because her middle child had a horrible case of walking pneumonia, and nobody was mad at her for this and we all regretted it but like yeah keep that shit home and let that baby rest! (He is fifteen. But yes he is baby and needed to rest. Don't worry he's okay now. It's just that what with Covid and everyone's immune systems destroyed, some truly wild exotic diseases are now sweeping through schools, and middle schoolers are now having to deal with the kinds of weird shit you used to only find in nursing homes. It's sort of grim. But he's okay.)

Anyway. I asked, as soon as the plans were cancelled, if we could instead perhaps all convene down at Older Sister's in Maryland at some point between Thanksgiving and Christmas. She put me off, as the logistics were too complicated, and I said perhaps we'd revisit a concept for early January or something? We could talk later, she had in-laws descending for Christmas and was overwhelmed in advance. Understandable. No problem.

Yesterday my middle-little sister texted me. "Hey Mom was so bummed about missing Thanksgiving with the grandkids, I texted Older Sister and came up with a plan for us to go down just for the weekend right before Christmas. But do you want to take my car and drive Mom down instead?"

This was a baffling question. Let's compare the routes here. Me driving to Maryland: I haven't put in the actual start and stop points, just the nearest big cities, but it's over 350 miles, in the six-hour range, but that's doable for a weekend trip. Not the nicest driving and a bit fraught in current weather conditions but doable. We've done it before. It wasn't super fun but it was okay. I do the 300-mile cross-NY jaunt constantly so this isn't that much more, it's just So Much PA and like. That's its own hell but survivable. (The cross-NY jaunt is a very easy 300 miles because there's not any appreciable terrain and 270 miles of it is one highway. So I know this is much more arduous driving, but it's not beyond what I can do in a day.)

[image: a google maps screenshot, zoomed out, showing a route beginning in buffalo and ending in baltimore, with a tag showing an estimated six hours nine minutes for 362 miles.]

But if I just "swing by" to pick up Mom, this is now the route:

[image description: a zoomed-out google maps screenshot now showing a route of more than 600 miles, 9 and a half hours, swooping straight east 300 miles from Buffalo to Albany, and then swooping down through New Jersey to Baltimore. Yes this is also general data, my mother does not actually live in Albany but rather somewhat near it. Don't put your mom's address on the internet guys.] That is NOT doable in a weekend or even in a single day of driving EITHER direction. Yes the 300 mile cross-NY jaunt is an easy day's drive but it very much is a day's drive.

"Why would you ask me this," I said to M-L, who immediately confessed that she had forgotten New York did quite so much New Yorking between us. The train is out of the question because both Mom and half a hog, frozen, in several large cardboard boxes, have to traverse the journey from Albany to Baltimore, and M-L can't take any time off work so it really does just have to be the weekend, and her whole thought process was that I could take more time off than that. Not two whole extra travel days worth of time though!!! and I am committed in Buffalo for Christmas, so this is not open-ended.

But anyway. M-L agreed she'd drive Mom down, but said Dude and I should come too, and I texted older sister directly to ask her if it was really on that M-L was inviting me to her house, and she was like yes actually i did say that to her, LOL. So anyway.

I had just decided that I wasn't going to actually get any fucking christmassing done, myself, so. Fine! Let's do a 700-mile road trip instead. Whatever! Maybe I should get my oil changed first.

(Do we take the one-year-old Subaru Forester with all weather tires, or do we take the gracefully-aging Mazda 3 that just got its winter tires on. Hmmmmmm... Honestly this is nice, neither of our cars is actual shit. A middle-aged pause ensues, while I contemplate how nice that is. Started from the bottom now we here. The mazda just had an oil change... the Subaru just ticked over its first 10k miles... last time we did this drive we hit lake effect at Batavia and the entire last 50 miles of the drive home sucked out loud but we'd been lucky up til then. it's survivable. we didn't die in iceland so we can do this probably. it's just so much pennsylvania.)

Anyway. I gotta do some Christmas baking I guess. And like. Get my shit together.

[sureabel]

who: @mercy-grigoryan when: very late night / very early morning

How he had wound up there, he was not quite sure. Of course, outside of the house or the church, he was never quite sure how he ended up anywhere else. But she had been the one beacon of hope, the one shining light. No matter what time of day, no matter how human or how animal, she knew His light just as well as Abel did. It did not need to be said to be felt. It did not need to be said to be observed. Nonetheless, with the fur that decorated his hands beginning to recede, leaving mats in some places and staining flesh with blood in others, to wash himself of the blood by the time the sun had fully arisen was an arduous process. He had learned how to do it, yes -- a century of the same mission taught the man -- but how faster it could be... Rapping at the door, all he could say when he held his hands up, moving one to his mouth, was, "There is so much blood." Literally. Metaphorically. So much blood. Too much blood to consider her reception. Mind still too animalistic to care, and mind just human enough to realize just what the stains were.

[goombasa]

You Should Make a Personal Website

I don't mean a site to promote a business, or for financial purposes, or anything like that. No, I mean just a basic website about something you like. Make a site talking about a series you like to read or watch. Make a shrine to a ship that you enjoy. Make a weird, experimental, scattershot archive of your favorite gifs or weird fonts that you've collected over the years.

It's honestly a lot easier than you would think, despite what every single advertisement for Squarespace would have you believe.

First, why would you want to do this, making your own personal website if you don't have a big purpose for it? Well, back when the web was fresh and new, folks would just set up a web page just for the sake of sharing an interest that they had, or talking about some little nuance that they enjoyed. It could have been as broad or as simple as a person wanted, and like-minded sites, rather than vying for space on a search engine's front page, would be connected together with each other via things called web rings, basically a group of similarly themed websites that helped to promote each other just by virtue of being part of the same group. And then, of course, there were personal link collections, a massive dump of other sites that the webmaster thought were worth sharing that might lead outside the limits of any web ring they were a part of.

Beyond just sharing an interest or a passion with the world, regardless of how small or narrow it might seem to others, a web site is an experimental canvas to express yourself, your own little slice of the internet where you can do basically whatever you want with it. It doesn't have to be perfect, in fact perfection is something that should be ignored when it comes to your own vision. We've been trained to look at websites and see them as these incredibly slick, sleek looking, perfect and polished, suit-and-tie landing pages that are more just there to entice you into whatever a business is trying to see you. There are very few web pages out there in the major space of the web that pack as much personality as a thrown together Geocities site. Even sites that are attempting to have more of a laid back, casual aesthetic tend to be so precisely designed that it loses a lot of the magic of a site being built by an inexperienced hand, or someone who isn't interested in making something sleek and appealing. Yes, you want your site to be legible, at least, but the dearth of creativity in modern websites can't really be denied. So many of them look the same or use the same sort of default layout. Not saying that older sites didn't sometimes have similar layouts as well, but the odds of seeing at least a unique spin or font or color combination is much, much higher.

Compare that to where most folks will gather to share their creations nowadays, social media sites. In general, the creative freedom that you have over, say, a twitter profile or a facebook page, is very limited and in general, your stuff is basically just put into a big feed that folks will scroll over or past as they flip along their phones.

But don't you have to know how to program or write code to make a really impressive website? After all, we have tons of services like Squarespace and Wix and the plugin market for things like Wordpress that are meant to make the arduous process of building a site as quick, easy, and painless as possible.

Speaking of someone who works on a Wix site as part of my day job, I hate things like their drag-and-drop interface. It is, at least from my experience, slow and clunky and despite the variety of options presenting to you, most of them feel very limited and samey, with little room for individual expression. Add to it, they also show you a lot of options that you can't access if you aren't paying for certain tiers of service, so there is also an element of upselling to their services that I really don't appreciate.

When it comes to building a personal site, all you really need to know is HTML, CSS, and a little bit of Java, but only if you want the site to have some cute little interactive elements, which are totally optional. HTML is honestly super easy to learn, because it's not even really a coding laguage, it's more of a language for structure. You wrap things in specific tags that tell the text how to present itself. HTML on its own is very easy to learn and there isn't a huge amount too it, but it is very ugly on its own.

That's where CSS comes in. Not going to front, CSS is, for me, the most confusing part of the process. It's important, but it's also overwhelming. CSS is is a LOT looser in terms of its setup compared to HTML and is meant to do a lot more; it is used to alter the font, the color, how pictures look, the placement of text and elements, the shape of buttons and links, everything about how a website looks beyond its very basic structure, which is built off of HTML.

Beyond that, if you do want to have some fun little widgets here and there, a little bit of Javascript can help add a bit of pizzazz to your site, but it is far from necessary, especially if you're still learning. You're allowed to be sloppy and imperfect, you are allowed to make something that isn't visually cohesive or even all that appealing at first. You are learning. You are making something for fun, or because you enjoy it, or enjoy what you're trying to communicate.  Learn HTML, take your time learning CSS, and then after you've had some fun getting to grips with the absolute basics of that, then think about spicing it up after the fact.

And again, it's not like this is tough to learn, or at least not tough to find resources on the subject. I'll be linking to a bunch of various resources for this sort of stuff. And hey, if you don't want to code an entire web page or website from scratch, there are plenty of places to grab pretty detailed templates of elements for your site, or even full pages that you then can just inject your writing or pictures or links into without having to go through the whole situation yourself. This can also be useful for a beginner because it allows you to see exactly how the HTML and CSS is used to create a specific effect, and gives you something you can experiment with and see results on without having to build it from scratch, which is a handy learning experience.

And where would you put your brand new site once you've put it together. Well, Wordpress does allow traditional HTML sites to be put up, but they're more about making those slick, eye-popping websites that we've discussed before. You could also just pay for a domain name and some hosting and then suss it out from there, but you do have a few places where, rather than putting in a substantial investment, you can throw up a site for basically nothing and still have plenty of room to experiment with your site and make something fun and interesting.

My personal recommendation is Neocities, a Geocities-inspired service that very much wants to bring back the idea of the personal website and web rings in general. They are completely free to use, and focus specifically on HTML pages. They do have a paid tier, which is only five dollars, that does give you a bunch of added features, including the ability to host multiple sites, fifty gigs of story as opposed to one (which might not seem like a lot, but a basic HTML website which is mostly text will almost never come close to that amount of storage, and the ability to give your site a custom domain (though you will have to buy that separately). I mostly recommend Neocities because their entire mission statement is what I've been talking about here; bringing back the creative freedom of having your own playground to toy with however you wish, and experiment with making something that just looks funky, in the best way possible. Plus, it gives an excuse to brows through all the other stuff that people have been putting up as well.

So do it. Even if it's just as a little hobby or a side project, give it a go. You have nothing to lose and might even pick up a skill you really enjoy flexing. Who knows, it might even lead you down a new path, or at the very least give you a creative outlet that you weren't aware of beforehand. It's well worth the effort.

Now, let's round this out with a quick list of some various sources that can help you in your quest to design that which lies in your heart, yeah?

W3 Schools: This is more a straight up reference site, and you can find tutorials here on a ton of different programming languages, but their HTML and CSS section is very robust, and will show you examples of various commands and tags and how they work. I find it's layout a little bit confusing at times, but it's a good place to go back to when you're looking for examples on how specific tags or commands work.

Sadgirl Online: This is basically a one-stop shop for tons of references and resources for making a website. It not only has a bunch of free assets like fonts and backgrounds that you can use in your own projects, but it also has a section for learning HTML and CSS that gives some very detailed explanations on how everything works, and even has a website generator that will generate a web page template for you to use in your own projects. Sadly, the site itself is no longer actively updated, but everything on it is still in working order, and most of the information on it is very timeless. The link section is also invaulable in finding more tools and resources as well. At the very least, I'd say it's an excellent starting point for any aspiring website builder.

Word to HTML: If you really don't feel comfortable writing out your own HTML, you can use this tool to quickly paste in things that you wrote in Word, or other formatting programs, and turn it into HTML that will keep the formatting, such as text position and style. Useful for if you're writing stories or long-form blog posts and you don't want to manually put in line breaks or paragraph tags yourself.

Web Guide: A basic and straightforward text tutorial on how to begin building a website based on HTML and CSS. It's even a site that was made and hosted on Neocities! It's another really good starting point if you need to figure out the very basics of HTML and CSS.

Color Hex: Once you start getting into the depths of CSS, you'll want to familiarize yourself with the hexadecimal codes for colors, since the pre-baked colors you can access otherwise are pretty basic and limited. Color Hex will show you popular colors with hexadecimal numbers, and can also general color palettes for you that will either contrast sharply, or look very nice together, which might help inspire the look and feel of your website.

[hinamie]

Hi! How are you :3 I’ve got an ask! Do you draw poses with construction? Or what’s your method? How do you tackle difficult poses?

(I hope that’s an interesting ask 🫣)

Hi !!!! I'm doing well thank u thank u <333

this IS an interesting ask but i apologize in advance because i am about to say so many words with a minimal chance of them making sense bc frankly i just..,, don't have a good method orz ,, it's a bit sad dsgghd like yes I'm largely self-taught but fr someone who has been drawing their entire life my fundamentals r honestly awful most of everything i do boils down 2 me winging it and praying tht it works out

to start off ! one thing abt me is i do not tackle difficult poses difficult poses tackle Me and i have 2 fight for my fucking life every gd time :( real talk tho poses n figures have always been one of the harder elements of drawing for me because i'm coming to realize i kind of struggle with visualizing ? I really need to have something already in front of me and shape it from there but the thing abt the human body is it can look and pose SO many different ways. that being said usually i start with the messiest human-shaped scribble you've ever seen in your life and play around with the limbs until i have a ~vague~ idea of the pose i want to go for. with my rough sketches i rely very heavily on the torso/shoulders/neck as a way to ground the pose because that's the part of the body I'm most familiar with :'> once i've got the chest i can usually wrestle the rest of the body to cooperate, though how long and arduous a task that ends up being depends on th overall complexity. action poses my beloathed </3 With them i just Look and Guess and Pray

circling back to the limited visualization element. i collect refs like a magpie with trinkets i've got a novel-length anatomy folder on pinterest bc i just ! don't know what most things look like unless I'm looking at them :( it balances out a bit though because a skill of mine is I'm very good at (fr lack of a better word) copying what i see? all i mean by that is i usually don't need 2 bother with using grids or breaking things down into shapes since I can pretty easily translate what i see onto the page n manipulate it to fit the piece as needed

anYWAY im getting sidetracked gomen gomen i knew this wld happen but ! tl;dr if i had to put an order to my process it wld b

scribble something resembling a human in something resembling a pose

map the neck shoulders n torso as a jumping-off point

spend 300 hours looking through arm and leg angle refs and try to frankenstein something together from the ones i can find at the Correct Angle

bonus: undo all my hard work and/or hide the parts im not confident in by putting clothes on it

hope u could get something (if anything) out of this !!!

[m-for-musings]

Honey Webbing

Part 19

The sizzling of vegetables and the aroma of freshly brewed tea filled the kitchen as Halsin tended to the morning meal. He had woken up from his trance a bit earlier today, so he found himself tending to the day’s home activities. His movements were methodical, a familiar routine that provided a sense of grounding amidst the chaos of the last few weeks. Halsin stood at the hearth, but his mind was elsewhere, consumed by the troubling thoughts swirling within. He thinks about how he should help Baleen's family with the funeral preparations, or should he keep his distance for now to avoid inflicting them more pain? He also thinks, now that he had time to process the events of the past nights, about the memory of that dream, that re-played out vividly in his mind, and the intimate encounter with Minthara that had unfolded in his subconscious hleaving him profoundly unsettled. 

Halsin paused, his brow furrowing as he contemplated the possible root of this intrusion. He couldn't help but wonder if the drow's words while under the effect of the painkiller had somehow seeped into the deepest recesses of his mind, manifesting in this… odd manner.

With a heavy sigh, Halsin tried to focus his attention back to the pan. It was not the first time he had found himself drawn to his foes, a realization that troubled him deeply. Despite not considering her any longer an enemy in the proper sense of the word, it was a fact that, in his youth, he had bedded almost as many adversaries as he had slain, a fact that he often grappled with, his moral compass constantly at odds with his desires.

It was in these disturbing introspective moments that the druid could no longer ignore the void that had taken root within his life. This void had grown more pronounced after the arduous battles he had faced alongside the group who would become the saviors of Baldur's Gate, from the relentless struggle to lift the Shadowcurse, all the way up to Baldur's Gate to vanquish the Elder Brain. Halsin's fingers tightened around the worn wooden spoon, a subtle tremor running through his hands, as he realized that what he feels right now it's a profound solitude that left him, in a very real sense, touch-starved – craving the warmth and comfort of another's embrace, the tender caress of a lover's hand.

But how could he be so lonely, if he is surrounded by people all the time? His children, his students, his neighbors, his protegés… Yet no romantic partner. The druid's mind drifted back to the troubling dream. Could it be that his subconscious was trying to fill the void, to find some semblance of companionship, even in the most unlikely of places? Or was it simply a reaction of his psyche at his… peculiar carnal impulses? Halsin shook his head, his expression utterly troubled, as if to physically dispel the thoughts that threatened to consume him. It was better to not delve into such… strange introspection. Yet, try as he might, he couldn't escape the lingering disquiet that had taken root within him. The dream, and all that it implied, would continue to weigh heavily on his mind.

Halsin's gaze drifted to the window, where the first golden rays of dawn were just beginning to peek over the horizon. Why now? Why her? It could have been literally anyone else, at any given time. He traveled alongside her some time ago, yes, but there were much more people with them. Also, Halsin now lives in an ever-growing village, fully populated with all sorts of people. Surely there were a bunch of villagers that he finds attractive and possibly reciprocate the feeling, who would be interested in engaging in a relationship, be it casual or otherwise. So, why…?

A soft rustling sound caught his attention. Halsin turned, his gaze falling upon the familiar figure of Minthara, standing in the doorway. The drow’s expression was inscrutable as always. Halsin couldn't help but wonder if she even remembered the things she had said a couple nights ago – the startling admission about her intentions at the goblin camp, the mocking jests that had so thoroughly unsettled him.

"Good morning," Halsin greeted, his tone cautious, yet cordial. He wondered if he should broach any subject, to ask Minthara about her talk with the girls, or ask if she recalled the events of that night. But the prudent part of him hesitated. Instead, Halsin gestured to the simmering pot, offering Minthara a silent invitation to join him for the morning meal. The druid's gaze remained steady, trying not to betray none of the questions that swirled within his mind.

He watched as Minthara silently made her way to the table, lowering herself onto the bench with a subtle grace that belied her wounded condition. A good sign, the druid mused; an indicative that the spell took the desired effect. With a gentle gesture, Halsin served her a steaming cup of tea. The drow accepted it with a brief nod, her fingers curling around the warm ceramic as she brought the cup to her lips, taking a slow, contemplative sip.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. "Are your wounds healing well?"

The drow paused, her fingers tracing the bandages on her leg. "The pain is negligible now," she replied, her tone blunt and detached. Tilting her head slightly, she added, "Your... ministrations were adequate, I suppose.”

Halsin couldn't help but detect the begrudging gratitude in her words, and he felt a flicker of relief wash over him. "I'm glad to hear it," he murmured, offering her a small nod.

Minthara took another sip of tea as she studied him. "In that case, I suppose I can relinquish your room back to you," she said, "I'll take the couch instead."

Halsin raised a hand, shaking his head slightly. "There's no need for that," he assured her. "You should rest comfortably while you recover. The couch will suit me just fine."

Minthara arched a brow, but she didn't protested. "As you wish," she conceded, a touch of guarded respect in her tone.

Halsin couldn't help but study her, his gaze searching for any hint of recognition, any sign that she recalled anything unusual. Minthara's features remained impassive, but there was a slight fidgeting of her hands, a subtle shifting in her posture that betrayed an underlying unease.

“Thank you for tending to Mera in such… delicate matter.” Halsin ventured, his voice laced with a hint of gratitude. “It can be a difficult moment for one as young as she is.”

“It is only difficult because you, surfacers, make it difficult.” Minthara's response was tinged with a touch of disdain.

Halsin nodded thoughtfully. “I dare to say that I agree. Among druidic circles, there is much less fuss about various aspects of the body’s natural processes in general.”

The two fell silent for a moment, the only sound was the soft sizzling of the vegetables in the pan. Halsin's focus had drifted, and as a result, the vegetables had begun to brown, nearing the point of being completely overcooked. Jolted back to the present by the telltale sounds, the druid quickly shifted his attention to the stove, deftly removing the pan and its contents before they could be ruined. Halsin could feel Minthara's piercing gaze upon him as he worked, her silent observation heightening his awareness and causing a slight tension to creep into his movements.

"Why waste such a powerful spell on someone you hate?" Minthara finally spoke, her voice laced with a hint of accusation. "Why not just let the infection spread, and bury my corpse somewhere? Be honest, don’t patronize me with that ‘compassion’ talk again.”

"We’ve had this discussion before, haven't we?" Halsin met her challenging stare unflinchingly, his brow furrowed as he let out a short sigh.

"Have we, druid? You said we could discuss this once the haze cleared from my mind.” She pauses, taking a sip of her tea. “Well, the concoction's effect has long faded. Let us speak now.”

So she had not forgotten, after all. The druid felt a flush of embarrassment creep up his neck. Torn between worry and bafflement, Halsin struggled to maintain his calm demeanor. How much did Minthara recall? And more importantly, how would she use that knowledge against him?

Halsin drew a deep breath, steeling himself to meet Minthara's gaze. With a slight frown, the druid resigned himself, prepared to face the drow's incoming taunts and jibes.

"I would not be the man to let one of the saviors of Baldur's Gate perish," he replied, striving to keep his tone even and matter-of-fact, though a hint of annoyance crept in. He paused briefly, serving the freshly cooked meal. "Besides," he continued, "despite all the animosity between us, you have never let me down in combat before. Against your better judgment, I suppose. So, you can see this as reciprocity, or even retribution, for old times' sake.”

The druid fell silent for a moment as he studied Minthara's features once more. "Are you satisfied?" he asked, his words tinged with a faint note of challenge.

"Satisfied?" she scoffed, the word dripping with a mixture of derision and reluctant respect. "No, I'm not satisfied. Although… Your reasons are sound, I'll give you that." She paused, her gaze fixed on Halsin, in contemplation. The druid held her stare, refusing to back down, even as the weight of her scrutiny threatened to unsettle him. 

For a fleeting moment, Halsin found his gaze drawn to Minthara's features, despite his best efforts to maintain a neutral demeanor. As the drow sat across from him, the morning light filtering through the window cast a warm glow on her features, highlighting the edges of her expression. Halsin couldn't help but notice the delicate arch of her brows, the striking contrast of her dark skin against the brightness of her light hair. Even visibly exhausted and weary, there was an undeniable allure to Minthara's appearance – a feral grace that captivated the senses. Halsin felt a flutter in his chest as his eyes traced the elegant line of her jaw, the curve of her lips. He chastised himself for this wayward admiration, but in this moment, he could not deny the raw beauty that radiated from the woman who was, for all effects, his adversary.

“Is something the matter?” Minthara raised an eyebrow, and Halsin felt his cheeks flush with warmth as Minthara's piercing gaze fixed upon him, her keen eyes seemingly picking up on the slight shift in his demeanor. He cursed himself inwardly for allowing his composure to slip, even for the briefest of moments. 

Clearing his throat, Halsin quickly averted his eyes, focusing his attention back on the food before him. "Nothing is the matter," he replied, his voice betraying a hint of unease. "I was simply... lost in thought, that's all."

But Halsin knew it was a poor attempt at deflection. Minthara was not one to be easily fooled, and he could feel her scrutinizing him, as if she was searching for the truth behind his words. The druid shifted uncomfortably under her penetrating gaze, his fingers fidgeting with the clutery in his hand. If she indeed found it, she didn't say anything. Minthara's expression remained frustratingly stoic as she silently resumed her meal, her movements almost casual. Halsin watched her warily, half-expecting her to pounce on his weakness, to twist the knife and mock his discomfort.

But the drow said nothing, content to simply eat her breakfast as if nothing untoward had occurred. The kitchen fell into an uneasy silence, the only sounds the gentle clink of her clutery against the ceramic bowl and the quiet crackle of the fire. Halsin found himself holding his breath, his heart pounding in his ears as he waited, with bated breath, for Minthara to make her move. Yet she remained infuriatingly composed, leaving him to grapple with the turmoil of his own mind.

Minthara finished her meal in silence, the bowl scraped clean. With a soft sigh, she pushed her chair back and rose to her feet.

"I will be out with Mera in the morning," she announced, locking eyes with Halsin. "Do not wait for us for lunch."

"May I ask where you're taking my daughter?" he inquired, his brow furrowed in a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

Minthara's lips curled into a faint smile, the expression both enigmatic and unsettling. "We're merely going for a walk," she replied cryptically, before turning and making her way towards the door.

Halsin watched her go, torn between relief and unease. Was this a gesture of goodwill, or did the drow have something else in mind? He couldn't help but worry for Mera's safety, even as a part of him felt oddly reassured by Minthara's apparent willingness to spend time with the girl. With a heavy sigh, the druid resigned himself to the uncertainty.

< Part 18 | Part 20 >

[seblaineaddict]

You Kissed My Flaws...& Made Them Perfect

In a world where every single person has a Soulmate bearing their identical Soulmark and is bound by law to pursue a life with their Soulmate once located, Sebastian and Blaine are gay as a rainbow men from very different countries, who have never met....yet.

Sebastian Smythe is a charming, devilishly handsome (and doesn't he know it!) 30 year-old commitment-phobe still living in his native Paris, where he is an LGBTQ+ Rights Lawyer. He is highly promiscuous, enjoys the finer things in life, especially very expensive Wines and Spirits and First Edition Science Fiction novels, comes from old and new money, and is a bit of a risk taker, to boot.

As far as his 'love life' goes, he pretty exclusively prefers hookups and shuns anything serious, to which end he has never sought out his Soulmate. He really doesn’t see the point, is 100% against people being forced into 'unnatural' liaisons with someone they have never met, just because they share some unremovable (believe me he has tried to remove it - many times!) permanent Body Art that's branded into their skin.. somewhere...on their bodies, and he is determined to challenge, then ultimately overthrow, the Law that decrees you will become bound to your Soulmate from the very second you locate them.

29 year-old jaded (hopeless!) romantic Blaine Anderson is an equally gorgeous (though with a much more dapper and sweet side) Broadway star who lives in Upper Manhattan, New York, and is currently playing Elder Cunningham in The Book Of Mormon. He has had a similarly privileged upbringing to Sebastian, albeit in the US, and is not in the best place in himself. when our story begins

He (spectacularly!) failed to find his Soulmate after a long, long, long and arduous quest to do so, then gave up on men completely after his Fiancé Kurt, with whom he shared a tumultuous, unequal and in truth pretty freaking toxic six year long relationship, finally broke off their engagement. His heart is bruised and battered, and his self-esteem is in tatters, after Kurt slowly but surely eroded the very essence of Blaine and dulled the shine of everything about him that made him so unique and so vibrant….

...then fucked Blaine's co-star and ran off into the sunset with him…

What will happen when (via Grindr - of course!) these two polar opposites discover they are intrinsically and irreversibly linked? Can twin flames bound by law to meet, then pursue a life together, no matter how much the Fates seem to be weighted against them, make a go of things without killing each other in the process? Can an arranged (by law!) relationship ultimately beat the odds and lead to a happy ever after?

Well..you're going to have to read their story to find that out, but rest assured it will not be short on drama, heartache, pining, Angst, laughter, happiness, many hilarious and absolutely NOT so hilarious misunderstandings, and of course…a great deal of good old fashioned…

…hot sex! Oh, yes, and romance and Love of course, too! 😏😉

The unexpected news is - this is actually going to be turned into a fic! Yes..despite still having been unable to update my three ongoing Longfics, due to my increased commitments, I sat down last night to write a short bio to accompany this graphic, and..it took on arms and legs. So yes. A fic it shall become. Either a One-Shot or at most four chapters, but definitely a fic. Soon... And now that I have managed to make time to write, I'm determined to update my other three fics by New Year's Eve! 

Wishing everyone a fantastic 10 Days Of Seblaine, and also an amazing 12th (ahhhhh!) Seblainiversary on 8th November!

10 Days Of Seblaine 2023

6th November 2023 : Day 1: Soulmates/Soulmarks

@seblaineworld

[oakbuggy]

hey, just some art questions if you don't mind?

1. is nsfw art in anyway different to draw compared to non-spicy art? Do you find the process easier or harder? More fun maybe?💀

2. do you start your pieces with the guidelines, and shapes as a base before you outline for the specific positions/poses?

3. how long have you been drawing for? Do you prefer digital or pencil?

Apologies if that is too much, I love art, especially fanart 🥹 and I love your art style so much.

yea I don't mind, I'm honestly very flattered!

1: Yes, NSFW is way harder for me because I am so new to it! I have to look for more references and spend longer sketching than usual. The process is usually easier because,, it's just naked bodies rather than having to deal with clothing/fabric. I don't do anything too arduous for the stuff I'm posting here

2: I will show u!

I start with a v rough sketch. If I'm feeling lazy, it could look even simpler than this, but usually I would refine it to this level

I put in color flats and shadow flats, and put the shadows on multiply and lower opacity

And then I just paint on top! I prefer making corrections and adding details in this stage, it's the most fun part. I add further corrections and add other things like eye shines and Neteyam's stripes and then it's done 👍👍👍

3. I've not drawn for long, I've just graduated art school earlier this year! Now I'm recuperating at home for a bit as I deal with my post-grad depression 👍👍👍 I prefer digital but for works that need more preparation/ideation, I start with pencil.

hope this helps and keep loving art! It is hard but it can be fun 👍

[songofsilentechoes]

/)///v///(\ talk about the blocks! :D

"Ah yes, the blocks."

"Well, like all poros, they're paradoxically difficult to predict....and alarmingly easy to predict. Difficult to handle....and extraordinarily easy to handle."

"They're blobs of snuggles and fluff that radiate love...but in cube form in the case of that particular fluft. I think they're babies of the calmer, more serious ones I sometimes see on Ray'je's island. As babies, they're curious about their world...and react to everything as if it's the first time they've seen it....probably because it is."

"They're also very VERY impressionable...especially for bad habits and propaganda. No, I don't know how they understand the radio broadcasts. But they can and will decide that every news broadcast means the end of the world. When that happens, they seem to huddle up and barricade their nests, which until recently, meant my apartment."

"Also be careful about breathing a word of any problem, regardless of how mundane, in their presence. They WILL see it as the biggest problem facing them, panic and bunker down....or try and solve the problem. And before you say 'they're babies, what harm could they do?', consider the arduous process of returning large amounts of gold and jewels they took, borrowed and conned from all my friends back simply because I was a little light on funds that week, or was dreaming about purchases that I hadn't saved up for."

"No. I wasn't going to keep money I hadn't earned."

"A-anyway. They're well-meaning, but it can often result in disproportionate chaos. So...keep that in mind."

"On a lighter note, they're pretty easy to placate. I think they seek out snuggles and snax. Yes, I'm serious. I think all the panic and bunkering down is all because they see it as a threat to how they get snuggles and snacks...and so they make the nest feel safe, and attempt to help whoever they're bonded to in the way they think is best.....but they are only babies."

"That being said, I'm not sure if grown poros behave that much differently. I know Koko and Achara know poros better than me. Oba Chiasa seems to know just what to tell them, too."

[silverstormsxx]

Poor, Delicate Soul - An Undertale OC Fanfic

The monsters of the Underground came in many shapes and sizes. Goats, skeletons, ghosts... you name it, there was probably a corresponding monster.

As such, it should be no surprise that there existed a species of monsters who were indistinguishable from thick, slimy piles of inky pitch-black goop.

You and your family lived in the dark crevices of Snowdin, buried deep within its frosted woods. None of you had the capacity to stand the light that seemed to seep into every corner of the Underground, so you were forced to remain in the darkness for the rest of your life.

How wonderful.

...

Sometimes, when you were tired of the endless tea parties that you held in order to keep yourself entertained in the unending blackness, you drew.

Nothing fancy, mind you. Just little doodles and sketches of what you wanted your life to be like.

For one, you wanted an actual body. Preferably, a feminine one. One with long, luscious raven hair that shone in the sunlight (In your fantasies, Monsterkind was set free from their banishment and living happily on the surface with no problems whatsoever. Also, you could withstand the light radiated from the sun for.. whatever reason) and pale, unnaturally white skin. Your eyes were an an empty and bottomless void-like ebony, to go along with your hair - and you wore.. a dress.

Not just any dress, no no no - a dress you had seen in a dream once, when you were much, much younger - around 4 years old. One you had never forgotten, and one that could never leave your mind, even for a moment.

The dress itself was the most glamorous thing you had ever seen. It was an alluring shade of african violet, covered in every inch with sparkles that lit up the entire room like a disco ball. The gloves that went with it were an exquisite shade of floral lavender, similarly shining. It was a gown fit for a star. A gown fit for you, and only you.

In your dreams, you were a radio star. Despite your obvious and apparent beauty, the thought of appearing on camera made your very SOUL quiver in fear. You would be able to ramble on and on about a variety of topics - tea, fashion, makeup... whatever the case may be.

You would be adored by everyone else in the world. You would shine so brightly that you would escape the darkness that had held you captive for as long as you can remember...

And look into the light for once.

But that was merely a fever dream. One filled with hope, yes, but still merely a delusion to keep yourself from going insane.

You lifted your pencil off the paper you were doodling on. The paper in question had a large stain on it - a glob of your murky goop. Which then began to spill onto the table, creating a huge mess in the process.

... You had gotten used to this over the years fortunately.

Sighing, you began to shuffle your way towards your bedroom, dragging yourself along the floor.

You would deal with the.. situation with the coffee table after a quick nap to clear your mind, regardless of what your parents thought. You were much too tired to deal with it now.

Slipping your way underneath your door frame, you were about to begin the arduous process of tucking yourself into bed before a thought crossed your mind.

You had been born with a little extra goop on you than your parents. It didn't interfere with your daily life, of course, nor were you oversized - but it was still notable.

Maybe if you used that extra bit of matter to your advantage...

You begin to make your way towards your mirror, a new feeling blooming within yourself.

Staring at your reflection, which currently showed a useless, hideous, pathetic puddle that should've been swept up a long time ago, you began to internally visualize your true self.

I want to reach the hearts and SOULs of billions, you told yourself. You could feel your body beginning to mold itself into a humanoid form. I want everyone to hear my voice and think of the woman who glowed brighter than even the shinest star.

You opened your eyes (Since when did you close them? And since when did you even have eyes, for that matter? Bleh, who cares?) and in the mirror..

You saw someone beautiful.

---

Sans was having a normal day, all things considered.

Papyrus was hanging out with Undyne in Waterfall, Grillby had warned him to get to paying off his tab yet again, and he was taking a peaceful, relaxing nap in a new store he found a few days ago in the woods even though he knew damn well he was supposed to be on patrol.

All in all, everything was going as per usual.

He didn't know why he thought otherwise.

"must've just been me being a bonehead." He laughed at his own joke, before promptly yawning and closing his sleepy eyes.

...

"Hhhhhh..."

What was that?

He opened his eyes, slowly rubbing the sleeping off them.

"don't ya know it's rude to wake someone up-" He began, only to immediately stop talking when he felt something dribbling down his leg.

His blurry vision cleared shortly after, and he met face to face with a monster made entirely out of a strange, liquidy substance.

They appeared to be taking on a vaguely human-looking form, though they were clearly having trouble maintaining it, judging by the fact that they were actively dripping and leaking onto the snow, painting it an abyssal black.

Their eyes had no kind of light in them whatsoever, and yet they looked at him with such manic intensity that made him instinctively tense up, even of he kept the same composed, laid-back demeanor he always had.

"Hhhhi.." They eventually managed to force out, and by now he suspected that their vocal cords were somehow melded with their throat, preventing them from speaking properly, "Mmmmy nnname issssssss Vvvioletta..."

They - Violetta, he reminded himself - began to creep closer to him, and their eyes glinted in the light of Snowdin.

"Wwwwhat isssssssss yourssssssss?"

---

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Prompt / Fix-It AU for MDZS & TGCF Crossover

In the AU, the Burial Mounds were left / gathered in order to hide the entrance to The Ghost Realm at some point after tgcf. Most anyone thrown in dies immediately and then joins the city or has their spirit released by hand. Very limited grief on Hua Cheng's (or his husband's) part because they would have been killed regardless

Except This One Kid.

Whether Hua Cheng notices Wei Wuxian the first "visit" or only after he causes a far greater ruckus bringing the Wen Remnants in (or during the first siege), he gets his story (because if anyone could pry the full thing it'd be Crimson Rain Sought Flower) and thinks:

"This guy is the same kind of self-sacrificing rebel with a heart of gold as Gege"

And decides to keep him. Yes, like a pet. WWX assumes he'll have to earn his keep or pay him back eventually but in reality the entertainment and reminder of his husband is plenty. Hua Cheng does not say this, because Hua Cheng is an asshole to anyone but his Gege

Xie Lian immediately reminds WWX of his Shijie cause he's nice and has a sweet + humble demeanor. WWX probably reminds XL of the Wind Master's engaging and accepting nature. Whether WWX keeps enough distance to avoid HC feeling jealous would depend entirely on if he knows who XL is + WWX's emotional state.

XL takes one look HC's newest find and can't decide if he'd rather WWX be their new apprentice or new kid. HC can't say no to his Gege either way

From here there are two routes:

1: XL goes "oh I know stuff about cultivating without access to spiritual energy" and stuffs WWX with protection (from people and damage from resentful energy) talismans in the mean time. Thus begins the arduous and long (13yrs maybe???) process of WWX re-cultivating a gold core with the new methods from Xie Lian

2: In the spirit of the immense and somewhat hilarious power difference between MXTX's novels, XL just... gifts WWX a new core. He gives him spiritual energy and helps him spin it til it sticks. WWX's system was already primed for a golden core and should be otherwise undamaged so... why not?

HC gives WWX tips on how to keep your head while full of resentful energy + all kinds of ghostly tricks.

Once HC realizes WWX isn't going to spontaneously die (the way humans are meant to in the Burial Grounds) and he didn't make any deals or bets with him he really has no excuse to keep him in Ghost City.

He gently deposits the weirdest and wildest mortal he's ever met in Yiling and sends him on his way. Not without a spiritual tool / talisman / whatever to instantly bring him back to the Ghost City of course. He claims it is from his husband. WWX already has a magical panic button from XL, so he knows this is a lie. Hualian expect letters.

The greatest conflict in WWX's life from that point on is trying to convince Hualian to accept the massive debt he's sure he owes them while they refuse on the basis of being Actual Immortals (they do not need it) and Decent People (they don't save lives to be repaid)

[thegoblinwitchqueen]

🌟HEAR YE,HEAR YE!🌟

COMMISSIONS STATUS|OPEN|

50% OFF “Sadie Bee has ❤️🪱” SALE!

So, a dog we rescued was found to have heart worms after the rescues’ first attempt with deworming was unsuccessful. As heart worms are extremely difficult to remove, Sadie will need to start the very long and arduous process of treatment. While I’m lucky enough to be able to pay for the treatment at this time, any commissions I receive will help go towards the bills and lighten the burden of paying out of pocket.

In no way am I begging or demanding that I be commissioned! It would just help us. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. NO GUILT!

🌟EMAIL OR DM ME 4 Inquiries!🌟

I have more examples of my art on my #my art tag on my tumblr account and on my IG @/wtchface

.:|EXAMPLES|:.

|BUST|

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Thank you! 🌟

[ask-dcf]

Mod ask here

So I saw an old reblog you did once

And I gotta ask

Have you met your gf in person now

Sorry that I don’t know yes or now yet

Main Mod: We sadly have not as of now. We do know how we look. We have had video messages and we know where eachother live and all the personal stuff including our families. My mom has even spoken to her a few times. Sadly despite years being together with our anniversary coming soon we still haven’t been able to meet irl. We are working towards it though. Especially me with me putting money I save up for hopefully getting my own house near her. Which she ok with. All and all we both working hard to put money together to hopefully start a life together. QwQ

Gf mod @theyoshimister: "I have seen my BF's face via voice calls, I know his current location as well as his family. Honestly, I wish he lived closer by, especially when I have my weaker moments. But, with the plans we have, it'll come into fruition and I can't wait for it. To be frank, I still find it unbelievable that I have someone like him in my life, but he's just the sweetest person I've met. I'm very thankful to have him and I await the day where I can finally hold him in my arms. But, as he stated above, we are still working towards finally meeting IRL. It is a long, arduous process, but it will all be worth it in the end. "

One day we will be with eachother. For now. We simply have a screen between us. Love and bless to my honey boo qwq