#this piece was such a challenge for me and i dont hate it but im ready to move on to something else now lmao

[sewerpigeonart]

The Water Sovereign 🌊🐉

[shalomniscient]

every day, once a year, yelan takes a day off.

this is written directly into her contract with the tianquan. there are no exceptions, no special arrangements. on this singular day, yelan does not belong to the qixing; on this singular day, her leash and collar are abandoned, and she has free reign to do as she pleases.

what does she do? well, prepare for your anniversary, of course.

she hops out of bed, cleans up, tugs her jacket on and then slips out the door with the clink of her jade bracelet. it’s a clear day, and yelan tilts her head to the sky briefly, letting the golden sunrays warm her face almost like an embrace. you were never really a morning person, but the sun on your skin always suited you. she’d have to drag you out of bed to see it, but it was always well worth your grumbling in the end when you finally cave and offer her a smile which she would then steal with a kiss.

“ugh, yelan—“ you giggled, your hands on her chest gently pushing her back. your bracelet was cool against her skin, and the matching one on her own wrist hummed. she nosed along your jaw, pressing more and more kisses until she reached your neck. playfulness turned into something a little more heated, and her blood sang at the sigh she pulled from your lips. emerald eyes flicked up to you, teasing, challenging, and you managed a wry huff before tangling your fingers in her hair and tugging her back to properly kiss her again. it stung, beautifully, but yelan grinned all the way."

she shakes herself out of the memory, and steps into the busy street. liyue’s morning scene has always been crowded, and she blends into the throng with practiced ease. she follows the flow of the crowd down the wharf until she reaches the shop she’s looking for—a florist, tucked snugly between two other stores on the higher levels of the shopping district.

the owner, a midde-aged woman, looks up from tending to her orchids to smile at her. her eyes crease with familiarity at the sight of yelan as the spy steps into her store, fingers brushing the petals of a few flowers. the woman rounds the counter, and rummages in the storage for a few moments.

“the usual, i take it?” she asks, and yelan nods, leaning against the counter and tapping her fingers over the grainy wood. the shop hasn’t changed much, if at all, since she last came here with you.

you leaned down by a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, lips curving upward into a smile as you breathed in the soft, floral scent. yelan looked curiously over your shoulder, a hand casually resting on your hip. she asked if it was your favorite flower—you nodded, your other hand rising to just as casually cup her face from over your shoulder. “they’re quite pretty, aren’t they?” you hummed, and yelan took a moment to ponder the question. in the end, she said they were nowhere near as pretty as you, and took the light smack you delivered to her shoulder with an easy laugh.

the florist clears her throat, coaxing her out of the memory. yelan recieves the bouquet—white chrysanthemums—with a smile, settling it in the crook of her arm. the woman’s expression is measured, but there’s a slight waver to her tone when she speaks. if yelan really had to name it, it sounds close to… pity.

“yelan—“ she begins, but she only flashes the woman a signature grin, before slipping out the door as quickly as she came. she has other things to get, after all, and the clock is always ticking.

(or maybe her clock stopped ticking a long time ago and all this is just extra. maybe it cracked when the rocks fell and the earth buried—)

she dissolves back into the crowd as she heads to her next destination: wanmin restaurant. she can smell the chili in the air as she makes her way down the street again, a sharpness only wanmin seems to be able to make. when she gets there, xiangling is boisterously calling out orders while her father toils away in the kitchen, with guoba tirelessly maintaining the roaring fire for his wok. when she sees her, xiangling’s grin only widens, and she waves her over enthusiastically.

“miss yelan! welcome, welcome,” the young chef says cheerily. “here for another batch of dried chillies?”

yelan chuckles, shaking her head. “no, not this time. i’m here for a few rice buns. with a sweet filling, preferably.”

“ooh,” xiangling coos, nodding. “are you planning to go on an expedition? rice buns are both portable and satiating.”

“you could say that,” yelan says vaguely. the little chef is right, in a way, since she’ll have to hike a little to get to your spot—but really, it’s because rice buns have always been a comfort food of sorts for you.

“how can you not like them?” you asked defensively as you trudged along with her behind the group. there was a slight smear of filling on the corner of your lip, and your expression scrunched up a little more as she wiped it off. her jade bracelet was cool against your heated cheeks. yelan only shook her head, teasingly remarking that spice was a much greater wake-up call than sweets. you huffed at that, taking another bite of your rice bun. “not all of us are masochists, lan’er,” you grumbled, and yelan laughed softly. her nimble fingers encircled your wrist, tugging you closer so she could take a quick bite of your bun. it was sweet, sweeter than she’d like, but maybe that was because you were there. and somehow, that made it good.

yelan pulls herself out of yet another memory when xiangling deposits the bag of warm rice buns into her hands. they’re freshly steamed, and the scent of warm buns fill her senses. she thanks the chef, and disappears much the same way she came before the young lady can get even so much as a word in. in the back of her mind, she can almost hear you chastise her for it.

(she always hears you in the back of her mind. if not, where else—)

there’s only one thing left on her list, and it’s incense. it’s late in the morning now, so the crowds have thinned out—and without her cover, yelan takes to back alleys and rooftops instead. she sighs, relieved almost, as she slips into the shimmering, reflective cover of hydro, darting like a minnow between buildings like rocks, barely a blur in the eyes of anyone nearby. the secrecy isn’t strictly necessary for what she’s doing now, but she’s been so used to being unseen that being in the open feels… unsafe.

it doesn’t take her that long to reach wangsheng funeral parlor. the young lady running the parlor isn’t in today—instead, it’s her ‘assistant’, the elegant man shrouded in such thick mystery that neither her nor ningguang has been able to pierce. he greets her with a solemn expression, no doubt because director hu has told him the reason for her visit. “incense?” he asks again anyway to confirm, his voice low and soft. yelan nods absently, her nose stinging slightly from the intense scent permeating the parlor.

she watches as the man disappears into the back of the parlor for a moment, before he reappears with a delicately wrapped packet of incense sticks. she slides a pouch of mora his way, which he takes wordlessly. she tucks the packet into her little pocket dimension, then turns on her heel to leave. just as she exits the door, he calls out to her.

“safe travels.”

she doesn’t deign him with a response.

her feet take her out and away from the city, down the familiar path to the bleeding wound in the earth—the chasm. the land goes from valleys to large, curling momuments of rock, carved by the force of a falling star. she feels that familiar tug in her chest, the voice that calls to her, that tells her to forsake the surface as her ancestor once did. she listened to it, once. and—

“go,” you whispered, pushing her away. half of you was buried under rock, and she could only see one of your eyes; the other was forced shut by the blood that trickled down your face. yelan nearly screamed herself hoarse, but you grabbed her face and kissed her. it tasted like salt, and her heart lurched at the wrongness. your kisses had always been sweet. you slipped your bracelet onto her wrist, then pushed her again, and then the earth heaved and groaned, and it was the last she ever saw of you—

she turns her head and rips herself out of the memory and the temptation; she has other, more important places to be today. she has other days to chase down her demons. she skirts the side of the chasm, slowly ascending to the top. she passes by the memorial to the millelith, and leaves a rice bun and a few sticks of incense as an offering. they too, deserve to be remembered after all.

(she wonders if anyone else comes out here to remember them. she wonders who will come when she’s gone for—)

it takes her a while, but eventually, she reaches the highest point in the chasm. the sun has traveled across the sky by this point, the afternoon heat mellowing out into a slightly cooler evening warmth. the sky is alive with shades of gold when she finally stops, drawing to a halt right before a smooth stone, standing upright from the earth like a silent vigil. she kneels before it, producing three sticks on incense and inserting them into the censer before the stone and lighting them. she sets a rice bun on the plate by the stone, and saves one for herself. the bouquet of white chrysanthemums, she lays on top of the stone.

yelan takes a bite of her rice bun, letting the sweetness settle on her tongue, as the floral scent mixes with the incense, filling her lungs and settling on her shoulders. she tilts her head to the sun, and the warmth feels almost like an embrace. and when she closes her eyes, the wind in her hair feels almost like a caress. when she opens them again, she lets them rest on the stone—the headstone, and she offers it a smile.

sitting on the edge of the cliff, your legs swinging, you smiled at her, nearly blindingly bright like the golden hour. your pinkies were twined together, your shoulders flush with hers. there was a bouquet of white chrysanthemums on your lap, and just a few crumbs on the corner of your lips. your voice carried in the wind when you spoke.

“happy anniversary, yelan.”

“happy anniversary, sweetheart,” she whispers. the wind carries her voice as well, and she hopes you hear it, wherever you are now. one day, she’ll join you, but for now she takes another bite of her rice bun and breathes in the scent of incense and chrysanthemums.

[lazulian-devil]

Does anyone remember Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks? You know. The one with the train.

Point is. This was my first Zelda and I have so many good memories of it. But I know people hated it so I went back in, just to see how much I liked it.

And oh boy. Oh fucking boy.

Is the train riding a little obnoxious? Sure. Especially in the endgame. We all know that.

But the story is so good? The characters are either wonderful or wonderfully stupid? Zelda is such a cool companion character and I still love her as much as I used to. The mechanics are fun, the fucking Dungeons are amazing (and theres so so soooo many!!) and my heart is just so happy.

Everyone mocked me as a child but I love this game. I played for five straight hours yesterday and everything was just so fun. So incredibly, wonderfully fun.

Look, you dont have to care about it. Its a silly spin off. But the writing is genuinely funny, the graphics are absolutely "You get used to it", the fact that you basically control the entire game with your stylus is something that I dont remember ever having to do in a game, the Puzzles are fun, the pacing is (at least for the first five to six hours, meaning that I managed to unlock three of the slates, went through two dungeons and finished three tower dungeons) pretty damn good, the quests I know to be stupid and time consuming but I was also like a child. Anything Ive struggled with or remembered to be hard isnt actually that bad. The map marking mechanic is such a cute idea and I love it. Stamps. The enemies. The characters. The Dungeons!!! Oh my god, the dungeon bosses. They arent hard or mind boggling or all that jazz, but they're fun! And still a little challenging, despite having played the game twice as a child and now having leveled up a few levels in videogame skill. The camera is never annoying. The SOUNDTRACK. The riddles I found overwhelming as a kid are actually pretty easy to solve from context clues. The world has so much intrigue and I know it all gets answered. I never managed to beat the final boss, but I cant fucking wait. I know you can grind your train pieces into oblivion, but I dont think I will (unless I notice that Im majorly struggling). THE SOUNDTRACK.

I wish there was any way to emulate it so I could Show it to other people. Im playing it on a crappy DS Lite that doesnt close properly anymore. Its just...

This is a Nostalgia win, my dudes. An absolute nostalgia win. My heart is singing. I am so Happy. If you own this game or stumble over it, please give it a try. Its so damn charming. Stupid, maybe. But charming. Might write a proper Essay on it because my heart. My poor child heart. Its overflowing.

[bonefall]

How do you feel about "character joins bloodclan" aus? Im curious about ur thoughts since youre really in tune with the themes of the series but personally i just hate them bc its ALWAYS aimed at 'unfortunate' characters and always ALWAYS ignores the fact that bloodclan is a horrible place in-canon and that they're just reflavoring the abuse and trauma the characters qent through to be more emo or goth themed.

Ravenpaw is ALWAYS a prime target for this and its like. Great. You took the character being abused by their mentor figure and is being harmed from the violent culture the clan has generated... and giving them an EMO mentor figure who will inevitably abuse them and harm them as a result of the violent culture the emo clan has generated. Sasha is another one I've noticed- you've put the woman who lost her kit and is struggling to survive with the others while being controlled and abused by someone who sees her as an outsider (aka alone and easy to isolate), and are gonna put her in a faction who specifically separates kin from one another to easily control them and who have canonically tried murdering those who stick with their family. What was gained here.

Like i know bloodclan is revamped in ur au (thank god for it) but in canon bloodclan is HORRIBLE. People ignore that in favor of putting their favs into bloodclan bc bloodclan is cool and killed tigerstar that one time bc of revenge. Ravenpaw becomes Scourge AUS are SO SO SO much worse bc of this too- sure you manage to point out how scourge and raven has roughly similar stories in their youth but you could also do something interesting and make an au where raven and scourge are FOILS and do a firestar/scourge thing, while pointing this comparison out!! Instead you just went "Ravenpaw emo now and is sad about beating up Firestar his friend" and basically kept everything the same.

Sorry im basically venting here but i just dont like how people forget that scourge in canon does NOT look out for the 'little guy', he's a murderer and abuser who wants to keep his subjects afraid and separated so that he alone has power over them. Bloodclan is not the cool strong goth group, its the group where two cats slaughter eachother over a piece of twoleg scraps, only for the survivor to die bc the food was poisonous to cats and no one knew bc theres no cohesive group that can pass that knowledge around. its a fucking horrible place to live. Im not saying that you cant do interesting "character in bloodclan" aus (a Rusty who lives in bloodclan who STILL wants to do good but is shaped by the horrid reality of bloodclan would be fun imo) but its so often used with already traumatized characters as a 'solution' or 'fix-it with some emotional issues involved' that i just foam at the mouth and howl like a rabid animal on principle at this point.

Hmm... I think for me, it doesn't tend to read that way for me when the fandom makes AUs for it. I'm coming at BloodClan from a point of really deep critique and frustration.

BloodClan's not a REAL place, and what that means is, every speck of how horrible it was is a choice the writers made to justify its treatment. It was something they actively decided, because, BloodClan was a tool to suddenly invalidate the previous 5 books of TPB so that the series could comfortably conclude there was no need to upset the status quo.

If you haven't read it before, I recommend this post I made on how Darkest Hour Is A Personal Disappointment, but anyway;

We spend a whole series on how Fireheart challenges a broken society, because he is different. Their xenophobia, how isolationism and glory get people killed, the way that Tigerstar's greatest asset is how respected he is... these are bad things. They're things that Fireheart fights for several books.

But then, in the LAST book, in the 11th inning, they introduce BloodClan. They're just evil. They have no nuance. The narrative bends over backwards to stress that this group of evil foreigners LOVES murder, hates friendship, and doesn't believe in our good god.

Suddenly, the Clan cats have to be EXTRA xenophobic and glorious to kill these filthy, murderous foreign hordes. Clan cat belief in their good god makes them stronger than the bloodthirsty barbarians. Firestar kills Scourge and we can feel happy and triumphant about it, when Tigerstar was killed a few chapters ago and given a tragic sendoff.

So, I encourage you to step back from an emotional response to how Filthy and Murderous this group was portrayed, and look at it as a writing choice.

When Tigerstar, known cat-racist and murderer of mixed-race people, is killed by Scourge in self-defense, he is grieved by Firestar and commended for his "good qualities". (and then they retconned in that it was actually secretly revenge all along, not just self defense, so this killing is extra evil)

When Scourge is killed, Firestar just thinks about how it's cool he's not going to heaven, and how all of the previously ferocious BloodClan warriors look so inferior to the forest Clans.

And so, with all that said,

I'm 100% in favor of how the fandom widely looks at this, says, "fuck that" and just makes them the Cool Goth Group. I'd argue pretty strongly that the least nuanced idea of that is still infinitely better than canon.

There was nothing there. It was literally just Xenophobia-Is-JustifiedClan. They literally hated love and friendship and banned families so that Clan cats would look good in comparison. Banned families. You don't get this level of stupid evil from anything else but an 80s cartoon.

Maybe I just don't see the AUs you tend to see (I curate my Tumblr experience very well and generally hang out in more adult-oriented spaces, I can imagine a place like Amino being mostly kids who tend to be immature. Edgelord Angstpiddle is just a normal part of growing up), but every project I see that gives me a glimpse of BloodClan Ravenpaws and Sashas come with such tweaks already assumed.

Like, these are examples I've seen,

They'll have Raven be involved with the formation of BloodClan

Scourge will actually be a character with some pity and mercy, like how he was in Rise of Scourge when his abusive siblings begged him for food, and he fed them before sending them away.

no ban on love and friendship. Lol. Lmao, even.

More of the social structure will be based around acquiring food for people in a 'harsh' environment, leading to that battle, instead of just Evil Foreign Greed (which canon!scourge only had after being almost killed by tigerstar, because he said "actually, in light of new information that you are a murderer, i need to reconsider our deal.")

BloodClan will be overhauled completely. I've seen this a few ways. Connecting them to SkyClan, or the Oakstar raids on Chelford, or even as a positive entity; a surprise ally. (VERY common with BloodClan Ravenpaw AUs I've seen).

Anyways... (Shrug), I dunno dude, it doesn't bother me that much.

[pinyeti]

Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back

IS HE JUST????is DARTHY JUST Organs???

OHMYGOD THE TRANSITIONS ARE ADORABLE SUPER SERIOUS EMPIRE MEETING WITH A RADIAL TRANSITION

Luke is such a little golden retriever

he's adorable

WHAT THE FUCK

DARTH VADER DOESN'T HAVE AN EXOSKELETON

this love triangle is pissing me off

Lukes just a baby

yoda looks like gollum -_-

STAR WARS X CHALLENGERS

Lando is soooo sus, caterpillar face

OHMYGOD where was yoda when they were killing the jedis

oogway yoda

Karate kid yoda

Is this like a mirror of the erised show you your desire thing? WHAT FUTURE????

Ohmygod iS THIS FORESHADOWING WHEN HE BEATS DARTHVADER HE KNOWS ITS HIS DAD? CUZ SAME FACE or does it meet he’s going to go to the dark side or does it mean hes going to get urges to go to the dark side cuz he is his dad’s son but he’ll fight those urges and win

poor captain needa I love him

LANDO LIAR

Enemies to loves hansolo Princess Leia poor LUKE I KNEW I HATED THIS TRIANGLE

What does the empire want with luke anyway he was useless untill now they dont know hes in jedi training

Landos kinda cute 

1:43:23 oNE PIECE MENTIONED

Man this just makes me think Darth Vader would be a horrible driving dad

Im really loving Leia

NO WAY??? I AM YOUR FATHER IS REVEALD SO EARLY???? WHAT????

WHY WOULD HE JOIN YOU DARHTY YOU JUST TOOK HIS HAND AWAY???? 

darthvader: Im your father Luke

Luke: WATCH THIS *1000M FREEFALL*

Wowww now hansolo is captured and Luke gets Leia time

Why is Darth vader going so easy on them

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE FORCE??????????? EVERYTIME I TRY TO UNDERSTAND IT IT UPGRADES AND ADDS ANOTHER 5 FEATURES

COOL LUKE HAS A ROBO HAND

(2/9)

[dailyfigures]

(not the same anon) i only saw the anime (not the full thing cause i hated it), ill try to keep the points neutral/factual & not let my opinion/bias shine through too much. heres some of the stuff that happens (spoilers obviously): 1. main character, adult man, works as a doctor. one of his patients is 16 year old idol Ai. she is pregnant. mc is obsessed with her throughout the show. when asked by a colleague if he'd hook up with her if given a chance he says yes. 2. a patient of his (i dont know her age, early/mid teens) is in love with him. she dies. 3. the doctor mc is killed. he is 'reincarnated' as Ai's child, while keeping his past memories, along with the teen girl patient i mentioned in (2.), now named ruby. mc is now named aqua. they are twins now. they don't know each others former identities 4. Ai is killed, which further fuels aquas obsession with her (it seems to be romantic since i believe he mentions being in love with her, her being his 'ideal woman' etc) 5. several teenage girls are also in love with him (while his 'reincarnation' is their age, he has the full scope of his past memories, making him at least 30yo in lived experience), while he doesn't seem to reciprocate their feelings (up to the point i watched the show at least), it's not treated as something he's against due to them being teenagers, moreso that he's too preoccupied with searching for Ai's killer. that's about it, im sure theres more in the manga & bits i havent seen, i personally really dislike the show but i'd understand if you were to keep up the figurines as despite those themes no actual incest happens to my knowledge (correct me if wrong or forgot stuff!), some of the designs are pretty i guess

thank you for taking the time to explain it to me anon! i'm sure there's good parts to it since it's so popular but yeah it doesn't sound like it'd be for me personally either.

i do find it hard to judge media like this without having seen it. i'm a big horror fan so i watch a lot of media that features things you should very much Not do irl but that doesn't mean all horror is inherently problematic. sometimes media is just an exploration of something fucked up without explicitly stating "this is Bad!!! Do Not Do!!!!" because they trust the consumer to realise that on their own.

having said that, oshi no ko doesn't sound like a psychological piece that explores the morals of incest and adult-minor relationships to me (from what i understand without having seen/read it! do please correct me if i'm wrong!). it sounds like it's just kinda very weird without challenging those themes much.

again, it's hard to judge that without having consumed it. i think i'll just leave up the oshi no ko posts i have and not add any more. i might have some in the queue so i'll remove those if i remember to. hope everyone is somewhat okay with that decision!

[obsob]

Hello! I just wanted to compliment your art style becuase it's so wonderful and comfy looking. I also wanted to ask, do you have any advice for other more beginniner artists?

If not, totally OK. Keep doing what you're doing!

:3

hello! tysm!!

idk what specific advice would be helpful for you, so heres some general stuff!

for my colour palettes i generally just generate palettes from paintings/art i like in procreate! idk if there are websites that can do this for u if u dont use procreate i imagine so? i dont often 100% stick to one palette for a piece, but sometimes i like to challenge myself to! its a good way of making you use colours u dont usually do. i find having a good range of palettes to choose from helps me decide what kind of vibe i want for a piece! something i always do when colouring is do a warm yellow underpaint under everything - this is partially so i can do 'alpha locks' for ease but also it gives everything a nice consistent undertone which helps! if im not sure on a palette when im doing the line art i will purposely not shade in sections to give me more wiggle room with the colour choices.

for drawing people i feel as though i should recommend doing figure drawing but i. do not do that so DJBSDKDB i hate figure drawing so much. when i draw people i just tend to take photos of myself in the pose i want and then if needs be look at some reference images of people w the body type i am drawing and then merge the two in my sketch. i like to look at shapes the body makes and exaggerate them - making things more round or more pointy. for both bodies and faces i dont think too hard about life like proportions - i just hve fun with it! whatever suits the character!

for general inspiration i use pinterest a lot - here are some sc's of some of my main insp board! and a link to my account if u are. curious i guess

[kohakhearts]

Ask game- Goh or Gary, 8 and 20? 👀👀👀

thanks!!!! i say…why not both :D and sorry for the resultingly long response lmao

8: what’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

you chose violence with this one fjskfjskd ok side note: i actually dont care about how people want to talk about their faves, like even a little bit. and honestly i support all interpretations even when im like ew why because its fiction who cares have fun etc.

that being said…………..i cannot stand woobification and goh is a huge victim of it in this fandom. like on one side you have the people being like “he RUINED anipoke!!!” so i get where the “he did nothing wrong uwu” thing came from. i do. but he was SUCH a little bitch in early jn and honestly he had his moments later on too! like yeah jokes about jn135 being like a break-up scene are funny because it’s true but also wasnt that SUCH A BITCHY THING TO SAY????? like he wasnt having a cute little insecurity moment he was being a maladaptive JERK. and yes i agree hes insecure but like his insecurity makes him so mean sometimes. and i love that!!! let him lash out and be hurtful and then need to have some sense slapped into him when it causes problems lmao

for gary, idk i guess it’d be like…erasing the fact that he was actually REALLY mean to ash for the sake of the childhood friends narrative lol. like he was a straight-up bully and as someone who was very much bullied by a childhood best friend i find it a shame to erase that part of their dynamic because i think it’s a really important aspect of it imo. like it seems juvenile from an adult perspective ofc but being called a loser and being constantly reminded of your fuck ups by someone who you were best friends with sucks! a lot! and idk that just adds a fun flavour to their dynamic for me because regardless of gary’s reason it still affected ash and i actually really like fics where the author explores the ways it affected him without making gary out to be someone who doesn’t actually care for him. idk if i’m explaining this well i just think that gary being a schoolyard bully and ash’s childhood best friend can coexist djskfjsk

20: which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

for goh i’m gonna say iris. i think they’re both very single-minded and tend to lash out at (or ice out) people who they view as being in their way and/or who challenge their views of the world. and that being said…i think they would challenge each other a lot LOL. i liked iris’s jn debut and i liked the dynamic they established between them, i just think they could get under each other’s skin in a way that would be very productive to them both. friends who hate each other sometimes for pointing out a flaw in the other’s thinking but are ride or die nonetheless

for gary definitely chloe, i would’ve loved to see them interact and i still hate that they didn’t let her meet his umbreon, especially when its evolution is imo really symbolic of his development from someone who sees other trainers as like, people to prove his worth over to someone who sees battles as opportunities for growth alongside his pokemon and a way to establish and maintain relationships even when paths diverge, like with ash. like he was right there!!! the perfect person for her to talk about the uncertainty of the future with!!! also i just think they could have a fun dynamic, especially if they knew each other as children through professors oak and cerise. i think they’d share a kind of understanding that other characters like ash and goh, who are SO ambition-driven and single-minded, wouldn’t be able to get. i wrote a whole fic about this already so i’ve said my piece jdskjdk but just…the potential. what were the writers THINKING :sob:

character ask game

[komohine]

What do you think of James being trans? (Obviously a headcanon haha) I might just be projecting I'm definitely projecting, but I think it makes sense.

I hc him has having an inferiority complex when he was younger, which is something me and a lot of fellow transmascs can relate to! The feel of having to aggressively outdo your AMAB peers because you're constantly being fed the idea they're somehow inherently better.

I also think it would be very silly if he hated Keith as a kid for this reason, reasoning he's a "real boy", only to learn Keith is trans too. T4T jaith or smthn idk lol

Also James is gender.

(also I really adore your art! Thank you for taking the time to read my silly headcanon)

I think hell yea 🫡 Even though it’s not my personal headcanon (in my personal headcanon their cis and transness is ambiguous). Withij my headcanons, both canon compliant and college au, there is never really a situation that arises where the distinction of their cis/transness becomes necessary or significant so i really just never mention it and leave it up to the interpretation of the reader

Its probably bcs my prior fandom space has traumatized me so if im gonna be honest i dont really think about characters genders beyond what they express themselves as 😭 you are boy? Ok! Sorry transfetishization haunts me hetalia and genshin were horrific spaces to be in… i have nightmares about people making one character from an mlm ship trans just for “realistic mpreg”. Oh my god mpreg keith is genuinely so disturbing i get distraught when i think about it. Also this may just be a precaution because of the voltron fandom? Because I came into this fandom like a month ago with the prior knowledge that this place is a literal minefield of fetishizers and weird people. Like do you get it… if i, for example, mention explicitly that my keith is trans theres gonna be people fetishizing that. If i mention he’s cis there’s gonna be people fetishizing that. So my defence is to just not mention it! Schrodinger’s gender!! 30 year old women stop writing crazy p0rn of highschoolers challenge.

Its the same with freaky headcanons like i will occasionally try to think of some for writing and metaphor purposes but i will get flashbacks to when a 13 year old asked me “whos the top and whos the bottom” about my ocs on discord and then my train of thought just stops there. Its like a kill switch. “Freaky jaith? Uhh well-” “whos the top and whos the bottom” “ok nvm 😇” like i personally love artsy and tastefully done innuendo art pieces but i do not trust the fandom to have a great enough level of critical thinking to see past the freaky to see the angsty metaphors i pack my art with.

But i think T4T jaith is fire james can now have internalized homophobia AND internalized misogyny or something!! Yay!! Adding more shit onto his need for perfection and to be a “real man” or something whereas keith dont gaf! And keith can teach james to not gaf!!! Yay!!!

[uzumakichcined]

i wrote this on discord but i want to restate it

you are not responsible for other people's actions

characters dont have to be "good people" all the time

its okay for characters to not be the best of people at times and to explore the good and negative aspects of them

With Sasuke's whole thing about hurting Karin's feelings, that is the kind of angst i enjoy, it is not just torture porn or angst for the sake of hurting people it's a NATURAL and REALISTIC conflict that happens between adults.

Karin is an emotional person, shes going to be upset when someone she thought liked her believes that she was called ugly and especially that she had dead eyes and effectively to her looks dead. Karin has a lot of insecurity when it comes to her physical appearance so her sourness and dislike of that Sasuke now is completely fair (internally) but her taking it out on him isn't exactly nice either

Sasuke is justifiably confused as well because well, sorry he's pretty bad at reading the room. This conflict with Karin and well everyone also pointing it out is helping him be challenged as a character and his views. it, in a way, makes him reassess what he had done, or maybe even double down! because people aren't perfect and its okay to have characters be like this

these situations to me make the characters feel real, it makes me feel like I'm actually setting up arcs, lessons that need to be learned, picking at the big pieces of underlying things id like to explore through small, realistic conflicts that happen between people in non world-ending ways.

These situations make me feel like im not just RPing, but I'm writing a story, and my character gets to go through conflicting emotions. people she liked, she now is hurt by, she has to grapple with her past, she has to grow and change because her perceptions on things are changing and she is being influenced by her own and other's actions.

what people shouldnt do is use these things for hatred or spreading horrible ideas (you know who you are) being hateful and harmful is NEVER okay, as situations like these need to be discussed between the muns of the blog. a lot of conversations go on behind the scenes anons don't get to see, and i for one am an advocate to make sure things are all peachy with RPs and outcomes as its happening or plotting it out when it spirals too out of control.

so long as the muns are okay with shit, that's all that should matter. but never, ever, use this to send legitimate hate to real people or marginalized groups.

I'm not going to let anons who want to use this to spout slurs or other things to degrade others ruin my fun time and build my story. If yo are the anon who sent that horrible ask to the person in question, leave. unfollow me. i don't appreciate people using slurs against people with mental illness or otherwise are neurodivergent. as someone who has ADHD and Autism this has been used against me and i don't enjoy it on the dash, i don't enjoy it in anons, and i don't want it used in the slightest to degrade those people like myself anywhere near me.

[daughterofsarenrae]

I can’t bring myself to do any deep dives into political podcasts or discussions, would you summarize the latest? What are the reactions post debate? Most of my coworkers are going to vote trump but they treat me (an obviously queer person) so kindly. It’s dispiriting.

hiya! preferencing everything i say here with a "this is an extremely close race and will be until the very end" disclaimer but! we are not in doom and gloom mode we are in determined hope mode imo

post debate: fox news anchors were saying on air immediately after the debate that trump lost. like straight up they COULD not spin it in a way that he won. harris challenged him to another debate like hours after and i think it was today where he was like "no i totally won 100% so im not doing another" which. makes him look like a coward running away from facing her again bc he and everyone else knows he lost. so that's fun! of course he could go back on that bc he switched between he would/wouldnt do this debate like 8 times leading up to it. u cant trust anything out of his mouth! who knew?

ANYWAYS so that post i rb'd earlier was true: about 1/4 trump voters said the debate made them reconsider their vote, and i thiiiink wapo cited 6% of trump voters DID change their vote post debate. debates dont traditionally have anything to do with election results but it might be a good indicator in this one. most undecided voters' stance is "we dont know enough about harris's positions/policies" bc her campaign is like. 1.5? 2? (i forget) months old. the debate was her chance to lay her policy out for a HUGE audience- i think it was 67 million people watching? whereas trump: everyone knows who he is and what his views are. he is a known figure and people have made decisions. she is not known. and her core message that debate was "i am not trump or biden, i'm a new way forward" which for all of the people who were not wanting to vote for either trump/biden (bc of policies or age or WHATEVER) is important. national polls are close with harris trending up basically since her campaign started, but the important polls are the swing state ones, which typically are either tied or harris up by a tinyyyy bit.

the important thing here is: trump has his base. they will vote for him no matter what. generally he's kind of capped off how many voters he can get. people who are undecided/abstaining wouldve committed to him by now. harris is the unknown here, which means she has the greatest potential for growth, esp among undecideds and abstaining voters. the general view is they want to know more and are open to learning more. she's only done the one big mainstream news media interview so far bc she's been uh. a little busy! between constant rallies and the dnc and debate prep and such, but she's also been doing (almost?) daily local radio interviews. extremely grassroots campaign stuff. but also she's gotten fuckin. liz and dick cheney's endorsements. and a lot of other republicans. AND ALSO one piece of extremely good post debate news: taylor swift's endorsement. i think i saw a number today where in the 24 hours since her post, over 400,000 people clicked the link to the voter registration website so. extremely encouraging

the maga push to make harris/walz seem super extremist is very funny and also not sticking at all bc walz is literally the most normal guy ever. and every time jd vance shows his face he says something even more self-incriminating. trump distances himself SO much from vance it's so funny. clown show party over there. trump keeps flip-flopping on signing an abortion ban bc the evangelicals will hate him if he doesnt but it's also an extremely extremely unpopular position so he can't really say anything about it without alienating part of his voters

ANYWAYS this is. i guess kind of a summary? i didn't link sources bc im lazy and just got back from work but i will find them if u want me to. and also if u have any other things u wanna know this was extremely general

keep donating keep talking to people keep volunteering! the more voters we get out the better chance we have. esp if you're in the south check your voter registrations. block anyone who encourages you not to vote. most importantly dont give in to the fear. it's ok and normal to be anxious and afraid of this election, but don't let it shut you down. seek news that doesn't just talk about trump, elevate news that talks about harris. remember- people know enough about him that they're committed to him already. letting people know about harris' policies is going to do much more for bringing undecideds into the fold than talking about whatever insane shit trump is on about on any given day. AND ALSO campaign and donate for every other democrat on the ballot. vote blue up and down. let's set harris up for success with a congress that'll actually let her do shit

[hyewka]

fetish! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

the way i dont read mfm threesomes cause they just dont make it for me but this !! made !! it !! for !! me !! I gave it a go bc it was your writing and i love your writing and it didnt disappoint 😭

now you said its an open ending kinda thing so IM CHOOSING TO BELIEVE that obvi oc had feelings for yj, he didnt feel the same but after seeing her all gone like that someeething changed which made him see her in a new romantic light (yes that something is actually just sex wtvr) and its majorly annoyed ab it cause him?? catching feelings??? and not being sure she has them back????, problem is that it happened the same with her for beomgyu, so now she cant seem to stop thinking about him in that light cause his intense behavior has her obsessed with him when AKSHULLY ☝️🤓 it was beomgyu the one reeeeally into her before everything went down as shown by his eagerness BUTTT since he promised her nothing would change and bc he is dumb enough not to notice her heart eyes every time she looks at him, he's COMMITTED to get over her and is choosing the "trying not to let my feelings show and she and everyone and their moms think i hate her now" way which like I said is dumb but yeah beomgyu so anyways it only makes everything just more more complicated cause I like complicated and thats the thought I would be leaving this piece of work with

thank you for writing something so good it makes me write another whole fanfic in my mind ly fr fr

I don’t usually read threesomes in general so it was a little bit of a mental challenge to write something I don’t enjoy a ton lol but I quite enjoyed writing it when I eventually got started on it so I’m happy that it translated to a piece people enjoyed :,)

Ooooh these theories!!! Yeonjun starting to see her in a romantic light after fucking is entirely plausible lmao. Him being annoyed about catching feelings because of the unsure aspect is 😂 I did write fetish with mc starting to like Beomgyu in mind, or at least some sort of switch flipping on after watching the sex tape and even more so when he gets down on his knees to eagerly eat her out, a little different from how Yeonjun does it (hes more skillful and has more intent with every little thing he does, beomgyu…the opposite 😭).

Now, what I chose to leave up to the reader is whether Beomgyu likes her or not. Yes he couldve been eager to fuck her because he likes her, orrrrr he couldve been eager because hes a horny dog and he finds mc, in his own words, “mega hot” 😂 I do see the him keeping his promise backfiring a little because he makes dumb decisions like that, definitely in character lmfaooo

Thank you for letting me in your thoughts on it, I enjoyed reading 😭

[kikker-oma]

Do you have any tips on actually getting into and learning art? I love your art and whenever I see it I get the urge to make my own, but I'm not sure what to do or where to start. Also whenever I see your art I have to stand up and run around my room because I have no other way of expressing how BIFAJSHFJKASBFLSDHBFS your art makes me feel.

First of all, ASJDKDKAKAJAF THANK YOU

Secondly, @/skyloftian_nutcase got a somewhat similar ask that I and a lot of other artists reblogged with various pieces of advice, I would check it out!

My response was mostly for it you are looking to get a foundational base in figure drawing and how to measure and all that jazz, which I do think that is super important cus if you can draw complex subjects and understand how they form, then you can draw them simplified!

But even more than that, just start drawing what interests you. I love drawing people so I end up studying anatomy and poses and facial expressions the most. I love adding backgrounds as well so I've been trying to incorporate more of those into my drawings as well!

Other skills will follow, but if you hate what you're doing, you're not going to want to practice or create.

I end up using a LOT of pinterest posts for reference or inspiration. I try not to downright copy a pose anymore, but I'll find multiple sources and kind of make them my own, the best I can! Pose reference apps are great too, cus you can maneuver the doll into whatever position you need. Great for very specific poses you can find pics of, or have trouble modeling on yourself.

Tracing and copying others work is a FANTASTIC way to study styles and techniques and improve your own skill and find your own style! Just be sure to credit your sources if you share on social media. I did a lot of master studies when I was in art school! Find artists who are more skilled than your and/or have different styles than you and learn from each other☺️ it's a great way to challenge yourself, make friends, and improve! Iron sharpens Iron, and what not😉

On the matter of drawing programs, I use Clip Studio Paint and LOVE IT. it was a one time fee for me (dont know if it still is) and was waaay cheaper than photoshop, which I had used for years to draw. Much more geared towards artists. But there are a lot of great free programs out there too! I've only used the 2 tho, so I would just google free drawing programs so you can test them out first.

If you don't work digitally, any material goes! I would start out with cheap materials first as you're building your skills. No need to spend $50 on 1 tube of water color when you don't know how to paint haha. Take it from me, who spent close to $1k in paints over 3 years of school and im TRASH at painting haha. Like, actually terrible lol.

Idk if this answers any of your questions, but feel free to send more asks or message me if you have more specific questions or clarification! I'll try to help if I can❤️

Art is a skill you have to build and takes time, so give yourself some grace, and laugh at your mistakes💪 as long as you enjoy it, that's most important.

[sunnixsunshine]

Here they are :) Cristiano is on the left with the wavier hair and swoops, and Cristina has the bob(?) i like to think in this au(im making it an au lol) they literally dont even interact with the MC lol if they did, i dont even think they’d reference Katy or Larry being their parents but they would mention their parents both being league members, not saying specifically gym leaders or elite four member whatsoever. Just. League member. At first I didnt want their casual clothes to be so plain like that, but then I really looked at both Larry and Katy and neither really gave me the impression that they regularly wear exciting clothing and that may have rubbed off on the kids. But I did use their work clothes colors to make the twins’ clothes. As you can see, they do take after Katy way more than Larry appearance wise. I couldnt decide on their hair color which is why I went for the split between both of their hair colors instead. Since they take more after Katy anyway, I thought it was fitting that they kind of stood out in the same manner as she did.

Cristina is mostly focusing on school, but kind of hating it. Shes not super motivated by the work, but then again who is really? Shes just procrastinating her treasure hunt, she doesnt know what she wants to do or accomplish so she isnt sure where to start. She is 10 so Larry assures her that there really isnt a need to put a rush on it. She does like the outdoors, but mainly for the fresh air and the nice shade. She isnt a runner or anything like that. She and her Hoppip, Holly, are more like friends than battle partners and theyre both pretty content with it.

Cristiano, however, is doing his treasure hunt. Hes challenging the gyms, but doesnt have the intention to take on the elite four. Battling isnt his thing, but it is Lime’s, his Heracross. So hes making it a point to bond with his pokemon partner more for his treasure! Learn about what makes Lime so happy and motivated, yknow? I think hes more into history class or culinary. Culinary is familiar, it reminds him of his mom. And he just likes how Raifort makes history fun to learn about.

Cristina likes to go at her own pace, which is typically slow. While Cristiano is more at an average pace, just not slow, not fast. He doesnt rush himself.

When Cristiano gets to Katy in the gym challenge, he kind of makes her promise not to go easy. And then promptly got his ass handed to him by his own mother. When he did finally pass after four tries, he moved his way up to Larry, where they had scramble for a different challenge because he was honest when he said he already knew the riddle because his dad falls asleep with his laptop open a lot. That and its an easy riddle if you really know the guy. His challenge ended up just being to fight the other trainers and to give them both the same last piece of the riddle just to make things a little more fair. When he did finally get to battle Larry, he once again got his ass handed to him, specifically by Staraptor. He did beat him on his second try though, he just had to think of a better strategy and learn how to use his other two partners’ abilities better.

I know I listed their tera types, but neither twin have tera orbs (yet). These are in fact their official tera types though.

Their relationship with their parents are pretty average Id say. They work a lot, but its never really been much of a problem. Although they both would much rather do things separately and often on their own, they had always had each other. Still tho, Cristina is totally daddy’s girl. She likes hanging around with Larry because he gets it, he gets her preference for silence and lazy, no effort days. And Cristiano likes hanging around his mom because he gets to be the #1 taste tester. But overall, they both love their parents a whole lot. And yes, Giacomo is their older (half) brother! Giacomo likes having younger siblings. He was excited when he was told he was gonna be a big brother. They three of them dont have much in common enough to really hang out much, especially since the twins arent fans of the same music as him, but they make it work. Giacomo, pre starfall, does tell the others that his siblings are not to be scouted out. They were too young to get wrapped up into it and certainly too good to get into trouble with the school staff.

[effervescentdragon]

Hi! I just wanted to say that this week I chose to read some of the fics you have up in AO3 ( and by some of them I mean a lot) and I'm obsessed with your Sebchal Old Guard AU.

I haven't watched the movie yet, but I've been tempted in the past and your writing was the last reason I needed to do it.

That scene when Sebastian has apparently died and Charles holds him while praying in Latin, and he is so devastated about losing Sebastian because immortality is only a gift if Charles gets to share it with him.

That was..WOW..Yeah. No words. Tens across the board.

Those dreams of Lewis and Nico. The ending in Suzuka when Charles is wearing red again. People choosing to spend immortality together just really gets to me, I guess.

That fic really did something for me, and I have to thank you for it.

PS: your Nico/Jenson Soulmate fic made me see why people ship those two.

PS 2:"Red Gods of Old" is so phenomenal. I had to keep pausing to look at the wall and think about every paragraph.

PS 3: I was blown away when I saw you posted again, and blown away again because I had already read the Piarles piece, but didn't realize it was part of a series. I loved your first chapter. So angsty, and I hated the fact that you made me relate to Lando, but also thank for that.

Thank your for sharing your writing, and I know sending this right now seems so convenient because of your post earlier, but I really enjoyed the reading sprint I had on your stuff and I wanted to say so. Sorry for writing so much this got a little bit longer than the single paragraph I had intended it to be. :)

anon this made me so happy. like so so so happy, insanely happy. the answer is gonna get long because i cant not ramble about all this, so, cut.

my sebchal old guard au is my favourite thing ive ever written and i love it so much and people dont often go for it, though i do have some wonderful asks in my inbox that im saving for a rainy day and i just. thank you for coming here to tell me this and i hope you watched the movie because its MASTERFUL. i put so much into that fic, for example i tried to figure out how to make two white boys be joe and nicky without being insensitive or appropriative about race, and how not to apply the fundamentality of joe's loveliness of being an arab man (gentle and kind and a poet in his soul) to this german dude. that one kept me up for a while, so i decided not to mirror it perfectly but to apply seb and charles' personalities into the context, except adapting the other way around. it was a challenge to write, because i wove so much little ideas and nods to other people in there, not the least lewis and nico as andy and quynh, and then in the end i just really wanted them to come a full circle and somehow tie it in with f1. i always do this in my au's, give a little nod to f1 somehow, just to show my love for it. anyways, thank you so much for reading it and just. i love that you liked it.

oh god the princess cake soulmate fic - i saw the prompt and i couldnt resist! it turned out to be a prompt by a tumblr friend so that worked out even better. i love nico and i love him with jenson and i need to get back to writing him some more soon tbh. he is such a complicated and interesting character and he has twists and turns and i just love him insanely much. (if you liked the soulmate fic, i refer to this fic as my princess cake master thesis, so you may like that one too, maybe.)

oh my fucking god. this part. this part had me stopping in the middle of my corridor when i saw it because like. nobody reads that fic? nobody knows it and its my first proper rpf that i wrote and i love it so much and i just. im just heart-eyeing you now, because that was me trying to figure out some things about seb and about ferrari and to make it work in my head so i know how to proceed, so, thank you for reading it, and especially mentioning it!

thank you also so much for reading my carlando, im very excited about it because i never wrote them and im a bit nervous about the characterisation but so far it seems like it has a positive reception. i made it angsty on purpose because lando is just a ball of anxiety and i rly tried to show it. im super hyped about the next chapter two, but please keep all your limbs crossed for my uni work, which i have to do tomrrow on penalty of death.

please, never think its inconvenient to read something as lovely as this ask, no matter if its because of a post i made or just because, it literally doesnt matter, because you took the time to come and tell me these lovely things anyway. it made me happy and it made me hyped up and thank you. and there's never ever too much rambling, i dont see this as rambling i see this as something lovely. thank you <333

[hertwood]

👀😈🧠👩‍🏭???

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

i have several fic ideas that have just petered out and i'm resigned to not finishing. it's not about not sharing them, it's about making peace with never finishing them. (i also have several fics i havent touched in months but im DETERMINED to get back to but that's a separate problem.)

one of those is, sadly, femdomverse 3 (and everything else i had planned). i have shared bits and pieces about it before, and it was going to be called "points present" bc she leaves a pair of her underwear as a ~treat~ for getting his first points ladkfjasldkfjaslkjf

i think my big problem with femdomverse was just down to teething problems. i wrote fdv1 on impulse in under 24hrs, i dont think i would've even finished fdv2 if i wasn't trapped in my appt with covid (thanks covid.) it sorta grew into a much larger idea than it started as and trying to figure out planning it out once i was already in the middle of it. i think it was a good lesson for really taking the time to think out longer projects fully before i post anything in the future.

but fdv still has such a place in my heart and its spirit lives on in my other girlfics!!!!

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

this is such an interesting question because i spend very little time thinking about this. i write what i wanna write and if yall like it thats just a bonus :P new ask game tell me things i do as a writer you find annoying??? lol i suppose one thing i do a lot is talk about fics and just not get them finished or posted in a reasonable amount of time. WHICH ANNOYS ME TOO TO BE FAIR. idk. let me know~

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

ooooooh gio for u. as a treat. i'll talk abt my sargewood fic idea. this doesn't really count as a wip yet bc i haven't written anything yet, BUT circling back to the first one, planning out longer forms fics is important for me in the writing process. i've only talked abt this with care in DMs so i guess this is its first proper public sharing.

so, it's an au where kyle never really got into racing, he and logan knew each other in carting but kyle's career petered out and he and logan fell of of touch. for logan, his career progresses as we know it irl, until he gets dropped at the end of the 2024 season and he ends up without any sort of drive, goes back to florida in a sort of career limbo. and runs into kyle again!!!!!

but!!!!! surprise!!!! kyle's a dad! (this was all thought up around this btw. i was like how do i make singledad!kyle as a concept into an actual story with substance.) kyle and a high school ex had a baby, kyle realized he was gay so they broke up, she's very very smart and got into law school or smth so she's off doing smart businesswoman shit and kyle is the primary parent who gets child support. (amicable coparenting!!! just to be clear!!!!)

so with all of logan's new free time he can spend all this time with kyle and his kid to the point where lines start to blur and he now has all this free time to unpack any feelings that might pop up. writing a chaptered fic would be so so daunting but i think it'd be a good challenge for me, i just rly need to sent aside time to rly work on outlining everything i want!

👩‍🏭 If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

i'm not quite sure how to answer this question aldfjaslfjasldfja i'm big on. feeling morally neutral abt the fiction we all write. HOWEVER i do know that like, oscarmark is ~controversial~ and i do have this wip. that i havent touched in a while but i love the concept so much i still rly want to get back to at some point. the wip actually predates fdv and i originally was like 'oh i'll just anon post it i'm too embarassed' but now any embarassment abt the wierd shit i write is GONE lmao. i did talk abt it in the replies of this post and thats the most i've said about it before. it's really just a contrived silly little plot all just to set up oscar being fucked over the side of a boat. which is public sex technically which is also a crime. its v self indulgent its very For Me i hope i can take it out of wip purgatory someday :'(