#solaspeaks

[sunderedazem]

Okay it's too late for me to be awake rn but my fever brain is BUZZING-

But just consider: when HxH comes off hiatus...

The Leopika reunion we've all been waiting for is just medical trainee Leorio is frantically trying to save his idiot rat's life because Emperor Time is finally taking its toll.

That's it. Just pure angst for five chapters.

And then we get another hiatus as Kurapika is in surgery or something- sjdjdndjdkair

[solaarts]

BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award, you’re supposed to paste it in the ask of 8 people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing will happen, but it’s sweet to know someone thinks you’re beautiful inside and out. ❤ (two can play this game)

Wow, sending this to my fic/art blog too? You sweetheart, you XD

[sunderedazem]

Really freakin' grateful for the friends I've come out to this season that, though they mess up cuz habit, consistently correct themselves and use my chosen name and pronouns.

They're the best ;w;

(YES! I'm out of the closet to a few people irl now!! And they're so super chill about the whole thing I love them djdjdjdjxjshxhd)

I only have so much time in my day, so ...

[sunderedazem]

OR. EVEN WORSE.

When the main four all finally reunite, Kurapika has killed Kalluto and Illumi because they're Spiders. And Killua does NOT know how to handle this and just. Shuts down.

(Cuz let's be real, I don't think he wants his family dead. He just wants them to leave him alone/to understand him. He's just a kid, after all. I don't think he understands what the Zoldycks have done to him yet)

Except THIS time the hiatus will be like...Nanika knowing Killua is sad and asking Gon or someone to help fix it and they CAN'T and the hiatus comes just before the fourth request-

JEJDJDJCJEJKDODO

[sunderedazem]

Writing Minority Groups

So, obviously this is going to be very much influenced by my perspective on me being queer/LGBT+ and the current state of representation in the media, but these are some very basic guidelines that I think curious writers would benefit from following when writing a character from a minority group you're not a part of.

Be careful. - I say this as kindly as I can, because frankly, I want to see more representation, and I want to see it everywhere. And I'm never going to see it if I have to wait for the "right" person to make it. But just be aware that you're writing a story through research and not personal experience, so if someone points out a bias or facet of the situation you didn't think of before, listen to them. It could benefit your overall story and it's readers immensely.

Don't carelessly make it the focus of your plot. - For real, though. If you're a straight person writing a queer/LGBT+ romance novel, for example, you need to be aware that your personal romantic experience will only be so helpful. Obviously exploring the lens of another viewpoint can be very, very helpful on a personal level - it's one thing that helped me realize I wasn't straight! - but please do it with a certain level of tact. The more research you do, the better!

Find sensitivity readers! - this will be one of your saving graces. Ask a friend/acquaintance/someobe from that minority group if they're willing to help you read through your portrayal of these characters, and to point out things you've done that aren't conducive to well-written representation. Also, the more sensitivity readers you have, the more varied viewpoints will go into your understanding of this identity.

Don't spotlight it. - this might seem weird, at first. But honestly, the more normally you treat the character, the easier it will be to believe. This means, basically, that if it's not immediately plot relevant that the character isn't straight, you don't have to toss it in as a mandatory descriptor. At the end of the day, write minority characters as individuals first, identities second.

Make lots of them! - don't let this one minority character be your last. Keep writing them, keep introducing representation to your stories - we want to see that. I know fellow LGBT+ and queer folks genuinely want to see that - so don't do it once for the woke point. Take what you've learned and build on it. Write it better!

And finally - Support Minority Writers! - actively help out and promote fellow writers, especially if they're writing characters that represent them. Find folks that are writing good rep for minority groups and tell your following "Hey, if you liked this, check this out! This author really knows what they're talking about!"

I think that's it for very basic guidelines on how to write a character from a minority group. The bottom line is to be willing to learn, and to be respectful, and if you're willing to do both of those things, then you'll be fine.

Now, let's boost that rep, shall we?

[sunderedazem]

PLEASE LOOK AT THIS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS ART BY @trashsketch THAT YUI COMMISSIONED FOR ME-

IT’S KILLUA AND GON AS THEY LOOK IN SEEKING PETRICHOR AND I’M SOBBING I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS-

[sunderedazem]

Announcement Time!

I’ve been saving this until my askbox was empty - and it is now - so it’s time to share! It’s mostly for fun, but I thought I’d do it anyway.

I have decided to start doing commissions!

More info available on my Carrd: https://avtorsola.carrd.co/

Types of Commissions I’ll do!

Ship art

Fanart (yes, even for fandoms I don’t really know)

Original Character art

D&D-related art (negotiable)

Writing Commissions (max 3k words)

Possible Art Styles!

Sketches

Lineart

Color Art

Flat color

Cell shading (think anime shading)

Paint shading (blended)

Illustrations

Definition - Any full-color image with a complex, full-color background

Chibi Art!

Lineart

Flat Color

Cell/Paint Shading

Possible Writing Genres!

Fanfiction - (familiar fandoms only, please)

Varied fiction genres

Creative writing, general

D&D-related

Character backstories (300 words) discounted with purchase of character art

Pricing and more thorough details/guidelines are available on my Carrd site, linked above (and also linked in my bio)

I’ll only be taking a few commissions to start off with - first come, first serve - and I’ll post on the Carrd site when the slots are full. I’ll also make a quick lil note on Tumblr and Twitter, because sometimes Carrd takes a little bit to update.

Thank you for reading this!

[sunderedazem]

THIS.

THIS IS THE QUOTE I WANT AS A TATTOO

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

— Lao Tzu - (hatin)

[sunderedazem]

FUCKING FINALLY I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR CHIKA TO KICK ASS FOR *AGES* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

God I love World Trigger

[sunderedazem]

HxH bag!! I don't know all of the artists because some of these buttons/charms were gifts, but the artists I DO know are @mornintide @trashsketch @pameladraws @buttercupsticksntricks and @kokorogue !! All the merch is so lovely :DDD

I don't know the artists for the set of main 4 buttons, or two of the charms though, since those were gifts, but they're all super pretty! Ty to all the artists for selling this stuff ♡♡♡

[sunderedazem]

Zoldyck Family Rambling

SO, the ask that one of you sent about Illumi and his ‘love’ for Killua a while back got me thinking about how truly horrifying that the Zoldyck family really is on the whole, how it’s far deeper than it appears on the surface, and how truly lucky Killua was to escape that cycle.

Necessary warning for mentions and surface-level discussion of systemic abuse. Because Zoldycks. Check my tags.

I mean - it’s very obvious that the Zoldycks are an awful family, and for a number of reasons, mostly involving how they treat their children, and how cruel that the older siblings can be to their younger siblings. Even when watching the anime, in which the Zoldycks’ awfulness are both contrasted with and mitigated by Killua’s kind nature and genuine ability to love, it’s inordinately clear that the Zoldycks are Bad People. 

But there’s something very important that seems overshadowed by Killua’s implicit acceptance - even expectation - of his parents’ behavior towards him. In the anime, we’re shown a Zoldyck family gentled by Killua’s presence - the audience is expected to be horrified, true, but Killua’s ignorance towards the cruelty of his own upbringing and the notes of fantastical otherworldliness surrounding their family dampen the full effect.

A family like the Zoldycks can only be created by generations of systemic abuse. Generations. 

Killua isn’t fazed by his parents’ actions towards him. He’s terrified of Illumi, yes, but there’s no sign that he doesn’t understand that to be a highly abnormal sibling relationship. He’s in awe of his father and grandfather still, the same way a lot of young kids are in awe of parents and grandparents they genuinely love and respect. And there’s no sign that he thinks his relationship with his mother and Milluki are anything other than simple family arguments, despite having caused both of them physical harm.

It’s a sign that these kinds of interactions are commonplace among Zoldycks. Expected, even. The concept of violence is so ingrained in their family dynamic that nobody even blinks an eye at it. And for this sort of behavior to be that jejune, you need generations of this kind of behavior. You need generations of isolation and abuse for not a single member of the Zoldyck family to even pause for a moment and reevaluate. For this cruelty towards each other to be so boring that nobody takes a second look.

(We’re not counting Killua, obviously)

It means Zeno was abused by his parents. That Silva was abused in turn by Zeno. That Kikyo, somehow, was indoctrinated into this mindset, or was twisted into believing the Zoldyck way of raising children. It means not a single one of the Zoldycks wasn’t at one point taken and tortured until the goalposts of their morality were shifted so far that they have to institute family rules to prevent them from turning against each other. Not a single person escaped this cycle of systemic cruelty and violence.

And then we have Killua. Killua, who probably is just like Silva was, when Silva was twelve. Killua, who’s the favorite baby, the family heir, the one they’re the most careful with. 

Zeno was like Killua once. Silva was like Killua once. As was Kikyo, and Illumi, and Milluki - all of them were once kids being poisoned, electrocuted, whipped, mind-controlled, and manipulated. All of them went through that toxic ‘Zoldyck’ process, and were told it was love. All of them were shown cruelty and hate and pain and taught that it was love, that it was normal and expected, by their own family members. And at some point, they started to truly believe it. 

All except Killua, the one who got away. The one Zoldyck that managed to break out of isolation and talk to other people beyond kniving them in the chest, the one child that managed to find his way off Kukuroo Mountain without an escort and have something good come out of it.

And, should Killua have only met other children his age, the ones with normal homes and families, the ones that went to school during the week and played silly games on weekends - He probably would have done exactly as Silva had. He would have returned eventually, because the normal kids wouldn’t have understood his home life. The normal kids would have run the second his assassin side came out, would have been horrified by who he was the second he trusted them enough to show them. And this would not be unreasonable of them - by any standards, Zoldycks are scary and tend to do bad things like, say, kill people. 

But that’s not something Killua would have understood. He would have seen perfectly normal children running away from him, and only known that they were running because he was a Zoldyck. That they were running because his normal wasn’t the same as their normal.

And, being a young kid who knows nothing but the Zoldycks, he likely would have gone back disheartened, and ready-and-willing to believe anything his parents told him.

But instead, he meets Gon.

Gon, the only other twelve-year-old to be taking the Hunter Exam, an exam which has a regular mortality rate. Gon, the only other twelve year old who found the Hunter Exam’s starting point. Gon, the ONLY person who could possibly look at Killua’s claws and think ‘kitty’.

He meets Gon, who is possibly the only other child in the world that would accept him wholeheartedly, and finds friendship.

And that changes his entire story. It shows him what true love can be, what a real mom looks like, what kindness and laughter and fun without murder are. It opens up an entire world that doesn't exist on Kukuroo Mountain. It teaches him that most people aren’t assassins, that violence should be a last resort, that murder without reason is frowned upon by the majority of society. All concepts he was likely never introduced to as a young child.

Gon is how he breaks the cycle. Gon is his key to escaping his family.

And so I can’t help but sit here and wonder what would have happened if there was a twelve-year-old Freecs for every twelve-year-old Zoldcyk.

[sunderedazem]

...yeah, basically. This was an adult site for the longest time, and because Tumblr staff is incompetent as fuck all sorts of disgusting illegal shit ran rampant on the site.

And now the adult artists of legal material is are paying for that incompetence and the panicky response to being dropped from the Apple store due to a problem that *could have been fixed* if they'd just...you know, made an effort?

TL;DR - Tumblr staff are all apparently incompetent or at least severely understaffed, so they took away one of the most unique and adult features of an adult site - and they did it so poorly that the pornbots are almost *worse* now.

Reblog to show your support for NSFW Artists, who deserve better than having their art censored/removed because of a badly thoughtout idea

[sunderedazem]

So I’m listening to Ashes, from the Promare soundtrack....that shit SLAPS

[sunderedazem]

APPROPRIATE NOT-MISNOMERS FOR THE MAIN FOUR:

Killua:

That Little Shit

Murder Marshmallow

Static Shock

Killua “He Who Uses Assassination Skills To Raid Chocolate Factories” Zoldyck

Killua Zol-not-a-dick (Actually A Sweet Boy)

Puffball

One Of Those Little Pricker Balls That Fall Off Trees, But White

Gon:

He Eats Bugs!

SPROING

Froggy Boy

Grass Stains Everywhere, That’s Why He Wears Green

Light So Bright It Burns

The Catbug Zapper

Multiple Punch Man

Leorio:

Man Who Yells Things Sometimes

Dramatic Dad Outside, Sweetheart Sibling Inside

Will Shank A Bitch

Nineteen Year Old Has A Briefcase And A Medical Degree What Will He Do Next?

Tiny Sunglasses Can’t Hide His Big Heart

Himbo Extreme Plus Book Smarts

PLEASE ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE-

Kurapika

What Is Phone Service

Are His Eyes Bloodshot Or Is He Angry? Place Your Bets

Kurapika “Original Sasuke” Kurta

The Other Little Shit

Hypocritus Maximus

My Life As A Teenage Parent (But The Kid Isn’t Mine)

Insomniac Club President

The Better Rat

(please feel free to add on things i missed!!)

[sunderedazem]

Okay so a little while back I saw a post about how Mozilla Firefox is pretty much the only web browser that allows you to turn off the constant data tracking and etc that other browsers do to more accurately sell you things, and it does this via extensions & built-ins, but like-

HOLY SHIT.

I’VE CLICKED TO *TWO* SITES. GMAIL AND TUMBLR, THAT’S IT. ALREADY GOT 6 TRACKING ATTEMPTS BLOCKED. AS I’M TYPING THIS IT WENT UP TO TEN. (My antivirus software installed an anti-tracking extension the second i downloaded Firefox)

holy SHIT y’all. I think Mozilla actually tries to marginally respect online privacy - and if i remember correctly, they’re a nonprofit...?

JFC i didn’t even KNOW how often this was going on online but TEN PINGS ON TWO WEBSITES IN UNDER FIVE MINUTES. jfc.

bless this extension. Deleting chrome as we speak.

[sunderedazem]

I've done this challenge before, but I'm curious to see if I've improved at all!

Send an ask to my sideblog - solaarts - with a character and palette request!

(I will do characters from fandoms I'm not familiar with, if I decide I like the character's design enough!)

made another one of those palette challenge things, i wont be taking requests for it rn but feel free to reblog this and have ur followers challenge you

ya can repost it on other websites or w/e but for the love of god credit me, i even made it easy for u and slapped my url right on the top so u cant say u forgot who made it