#which is definitely a reoccuring thing for me lol

[savethepinecones]

okay i was totally right about not putting my rant in the tags of that last post because ive been writing it up and its getting out of hand even for its own post and im not sure if im gonna finish writing everything out or if im gonna just scream in my head for a while. anyway on a related note who wants to hear about my very boring dating history

[jazeswhbhaven]

Falalalala, Michael is Sold~ (Christmas Miracle Card Spoilers|Summary)

Howdy there lovelies, sorry it took me fucking forever to drop this, I've been distracted with Amy and Sitri (which I still need to finish out the last parts of that lmao) But, alas here we go with seeing how things play out with this bratty, brother-complex angel being sold at an auction... To view the prologue parts for the card I already went over HERE YA GO <3

If you've already saw all of that, I'm jumping right in. Same format as Raphael's Summary. As a reminder since the angels are paid banner only per PB's warning I am only allowed to really just paraphrase and heavily summarize his card story instead of the usual reacts I do.

Enough of the boring yapfest let's go lol

First I would like to thank my friend for continuously sharing card content with me. I wouldn't be able to do these things without such blessing, ;w;

Second, I would like to let the public know Michael was my fave at first due to aesthetics only. The pretty black hair, the one wing on the side of his head, but goodness doesn't he have some demons in him. (I want this to be a joke and a literal thing because..)

Anyways

We lead in with Michael being pissed off that he's having his body shown, and everyone is infauted with his skin describing it as porcelian white. So marks show up very easily.

I like the continued theme that every seraph does not show their body to anyone but God.

The bid was high, like 55 million. Makes sense Tarataros is rollin' in dough.

Some important things to note for Michael's card is that unlike his brother Raphael, he made a lot of expressions each time he was touched.

Instead of cursing and vocally trying to say anything, his body is simply reacting as he's thinking about how he shouldn't be showing ANYONE this and that MC needed to be stopped.

We still have the elements of "non-consent" but it seems it's different with Michael. He's wordlessly threatening everyone's demise but he doesn't put up as much of a fight.

MC ofc is getting turned on by everything he's doing

The guests have started masturbating in their seats (imagine being that one person just wanting to be there for the auction and your neighbor just starts jackin' it/flicking the bean. lmao)

Oop. We're punching them in the stomach again. I think that's going to be a reoccurring thing for Gabriel too.

This is interesting...Michael slumped forward? I don't even think Raphael did that. I wonder without his powers poor Mike is possibly the weakest? He seemed to be the most powerful aside from Lucifer.

Michael is and has been getting turned on by the way since MC started touching him. He doesn't understand, but I'm like...my guy you almost came when your brother plucked out your eye I know what you are....

Now I don't remember if Raphael was branded, but Michael is branded for the auction. His halo starts glowing around this time too. Again I know what you are.

Also, Michael is so pissed off and horny random objects are shattering and he's basically crying buckets. Also his emotions are affecting the weather too. Neat.

Alright so now he's really upset. He doesn't want MC to touch his cock because it's only for God to see and touch. He was not doing much before but he's definitely putting up a fight now.

Even auctioneer was like "Uh head for the decks folks he may cave the walls in on us" and everyone was like "Nah, stfu" like damn ya'll really want that angel bussy.

So as common theme of sounding continues...as you guessed Michael gets a metal rod stuck in his pee hole and well he's losing his mind ya'll.

I bet he would like being called a good boy by his favorite person...

Anyways, after all the poking and probing from MC it appears that he only needs the rod stroking the inside of his cock for him to get to his climax. Nothing anally is being done to him for his story.

So after he cums he basically leaves in a beam of light. The other devils came on him too. They say though that he left wordlessly he stared at MC as if he wanted to say something. Interesting.

Though that's over and done with, basically the end of the story are the devil's bidding on MC's tormenting as if that's something to bid on lmao but Mammon was like yah 10 billion and it's being donated for the end of the year party in MC's name. What's cute though is that MC is referred to as His/Her Majesty along with Mammon. It's like his citizens shipped them already.

ANDDDD that's all folks. That's Michael's Christmas Story. If you want my blunt opinion????

5/10

I'm sorry ya'll, this card story wasn't really worth the money for Michael fans. It falls short in terms of what's done to him, he kinda just sat there for the majority of it until his cock was touched, and he just kinda poofs back home without confirming any feelings whether negative or positive towards MC like how we see in Raphael's card.

However, I did like the elements of Michael being able to withstand being touched and stayed still for the most part. This has me believe something that I will explain in my theories below. Also in adore mode you can play with his tiny head wing, like pulling on it and such. Wings are sensitive I imagine so it's a fun element.

THEORY TIME

I want to say that I think Michael didn't put up much of a fight because to him any other part of his body being touched, though it hasn't been touched by anyone before...is not that big of a deal to him and perhaps he's had these feelings faintly but just didn't push himself to explore that any further.

Now also, we note that his chastity belt was not removed by MC. I feel that the reason this did not happen is because Michael has 0 feelings for MC and thus the miracle didn't extend to that possibility. Now to compare with Rara's card...maybe during the event he started feeling things for MC, curiosity, and some kind of need for them, in that moment perhaps he felt as if this is what God wanted for him so he gave in 110%.

Michael resisted feeling that way for MC, because he simply did not want those feelings. He just wanted to experience being in pleasure only. Because perhaps...those feelings are deep for "someone else" that keeps getting implied ._. But anyways. That's more for those who ship that to go about, I personally do not lol (brother complex is brother complex)

I also think that perhaps the relationship between MC and Rara is meant to build more than the other two seraph angels. I'll just have to see Gabe's card and see what we're working with. I do not have a prologue for him because he was in the Nightmare Pass only last time....I wonder how they will pan out his story and what differences I will notice.

As always thank you lovelies for tuning in ^^ see you in the next react <3

[sparrowsoupp]

some of the most iconic queer poster children of the warrior cats fandom. happy pride to the girls gays and theys (particularly those who enjoy brawling feline content)

dabble in my headcannons for these pairings under the read-more button if i’ve piqued your interest…

RAVEN x BARLEY (gay x gay)

i know there’s been a bit of controversy going around about these two and how they could be seen as toxic, with barley being insecure over ravenpaw’s connection to thunderclan. i get that perspective for sure, but i think it’s representative of REASONABLE flaws in a real relationship. obviously it’s not ideal that they never completely resolve it (since it’s ‘solved’ in the graphic novel but reopened in ravenpaw’s novella) and i wished that they addressed that more concretely (i say about a fucking middle grade book about talking cats LOL) but even more so i think you could see it as a realistic relationship as with issues in those, they often subdue and reoccur at intervals. it’s just about talking it out with your partner 🦭👍 plus if the majority of their relationship outside of this is good (which i definitely see it as, since obviously the books have to take place at points of conflict for there to be interesting things to write about) then it seems to be a somewhat small flaw.

that being said i haven’t actually read the books this comes up in so take my opinion with grains of salt, just online discourse about it. totally get if your life experience makes you see their interactions another way as this is just my two cents based on my experience with people.

overall i’m not a superfan of the sickly-sweet reputation these two get but i do like them for what i see them as, which is a Normal Relationship with Some Flaws. i like that they find solace in each other in a peaceful place after fleeing their less peaceful pasts. it’s a great dynamic (and i’m a sucker for farms) and i think they compliment each other’s personalities really well, with barley bringing ravenpaw out of the shell he’s been forced into and ravenpaw inspiring more cautiousness in a very brash barley who would otherwise probably jump into fights at the drop of a hat.

on a somewhat unrelated note, as a kid did anyone else wish that ravenpaw dropped his paw suffix? or blue/firestar granted him an honourary suffix for everything the poor kid went through? this isn’t like a super big meanigful thing but it just annoyed me when i was younger that the paw suffix kind of belittles him to apprentice level when after the fuckery the poor kid went through i think he deserves more recognition from the clans than that.

BLUESTAR x YELLOWFANG (bi x bi)

OKAYYY old women! while fanart of the two of them being in a loving happy relationship is very cute i like to take my old woman yuri one-sided and traumatic.

i think that yellowfang would have an unrequited crush on bluestar. what’s there not to like?! at the point when they meet bluestar is a compassionate but commanding cat in the prime of her leadership. after a bit of her being in the camp i think bluestar would also start spending a curious amount of time in the medicine den… unconciously she definitely saw the appeal in yellowfang from the getgo- it definitely strengthens the reasoning of her surprising decision to defend yellowfang as a member of thunderclan depsite risking a full on war with other clans from it, and her other clanmates lives in the process. obviously bluestar’s a leader that wouldn’t base a decision like that just based on a crush, and it was definitely because of what she wants her clan to stand for, but it’s Not a downside that the cute lady she used to see at gatherings gets to stay a while

bluestar’s definitely not letting it occupy her mind though, of course, totally not (the lady has Trauma from her relationship with oakheart and i see her as having an attatchment issue where she doesn’t feel like she deserves to have a healthy relationship, especially after losing mosskit. she’s just not fully ready yet). yellowfang pines as she watches bluestar throw herself fully into her work to distract herself from the growing feelings, and at some point probably grows annoyed with the cat-and-mouse and starts dedicating herself fully to her own work as a medicine cat too. there are moments of sweetness and clarity and words on the tips of tongues, but just as unexpectedly as they come bluestar will turn her head back to her duties.

unfortunately once tigerstar’s betrayal happens all cute flirting comes to a screeching halt as bluestar is consumed by the paranoia. on the good days she’ll hold stilted conversation with her clanmates, but not so much on the bad days. yellowfang hurts as she watches her crush sprial into madness and dysfunction, the likes of which is only heightened when the fire happens and yellowfang passes- completely insetting bluestar’s hatred for starclan for taking her love (who she still does have deeply-buried feelings for) away from her.

overall, can you tell i love inflicting mental anguish on bluestar? it’s my favourite hobby. i’m not even joking.

LEAFPOOL x MOTHWING (bi x lesbian)

okay this one might make you realise i love doomed yuri. Anyways,

put simply, i think leafpool and mothwing find each other attractive and secretly hook up on a frequent basis for some…. Funny Business. Hanky-Panky, if you will. ‘no-strings-attached’ yeah right i don’t think sapphics have ever pulled off a no strings attatched relationship without casualities.

mothwing definitely wants to confess but leafpool by that point has been forcing herself to move on and ends up telling mothwing about ‘liking’ crowfeather right before mothwing works up the courage (reading leafpool x crowfeather for the first time in the canon books geniunely felt like someone’s ao3 crackship. i guess that’s what traumabinding will do to two mfs). or maybe mothwing notices that leafpool is pregnant (which HOW THE HELL DID NOONE NOTICE IN CANON) and backs the hell off from that. maybe a very angsty argument over that… delicious.

how very ‘good luck babe’ by chappell roan of them! i think things end pretty awkwardly for mothpool and neither leafpool nor crowfeather are really in love with each other they’re just something shiny and distracting from each of their respective circuses of personal lives. i literally hear the clown music playing as they run away together. maybe it’s tinnitus.

they probably pine for each other forever and ever after that, neither falling in love again because they never get over each other. damn. how awkward is it to see your kind-of-ex at the moonpool every month…

anyway thanks for reading though beau’s cat rambles! if youve stuck it out to here… a tip of the hat to you

[felinefractious]

Hi! I was wondering if you have any thoughts or resources on the Highlander/Highland Lynx breed? Or what, if any, is the difference between the two?

I've read that they're two different breeds, but that that may only be the case because of different registry requirements..??

Also, are they really truly domestic? Every where I've read has said that they most certainly are, but that they're also crossed with Jungle Curls? That bit has left me a bit confused...

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/sampson-71366971/wi/new-richmond/gregorys-gift-of-hope-inc-wi432/

This pretty little guy is up for adoption at a shelter near me, and I'm contemplating going to see him (if he isn't snapped up in the next week lol), but I'd like to cover all my bases for breed research first!

He apparently came in fully intact and was recently neutered which seems.... Strange to me. The people who surrendered him supposedly bought him from a breeder out of state?

I'm not by any means 100% certain, but i did look at a few Highlander catteries and I THINK I may have found his breeder? At the very least they have a king that very well looks like he could be this guy's sire

https://www. highlanderswildnwonderful.com/ Kings.html

I do still wonder why he would be sent out as a companion fully intact though... Or why he wound up in a shelter and not returned to the breeder...

Anyway! I'd love to hear thoughts/opinions resources for potential health issues

So far I've only read that they require frequent ear cleanings and have some UTI issues, but the stumpy tail does make me a little nervous... It doesn't seem to be the same thing as manx, buuuuuut......

Woah, amazing find!

From what I understand - and if this isn’t correct someone more familiar with the breed is welcome to correct me - but the Highland Lynx is essentially the outdated name for the breed more widely known as the Highlander.

The exception largely being the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry which has decided the Highland Lynx is still the Highland Lynx and the Highlander is the same thing but backcrossed to the Desert Lynx use in the breeds foundation.

Which doesn’t make sense to me, it should just be considered an allowable outcross…? But whatever. I don’t respect that registry anyways.

As for their domestic vs hybrid status it’s true that the Jungle Curl is a Jungle Cat and American Curl but it seems like the Highlander falls more into the Toyger realm… there are technically wild caat hybrids in the ancestry but they’re far enough removed that it isn’t super relevant.

Even after 4 generations a cat is largely considered domestic or “SBT” (Stud Book Traditional) and these guys are generally even further out than that.

Before I get into the health of the breed I just need to make a small correction to their description… this handsome fella is not chocolate, he’s black sepia - often called brown or sable, sometimes called natural.

The toe beans tell, and he has many beans to reveal his secrets.

Currently we are not aware of any issues related to curled ears the way there are with folded ears but anecdotal evidence suggests that they’re more fragile and.. yes, require more frequent cleaning. Dirty ears and ear infections are definitely something to be mindful of.

As much as I enjoy polydactyl cats I’m not a fan of deliberately breeding for the trait, the nails on these extra digits can be difficult for the cat to maintain and are more prone to becoming ingrown. Some cats even require an onychectomy (declaw) of the excess digits due to reoccuring problems.

[Image Source]

So acclimating to having their paws handled and tolerating routine nail clips is an absolute must.

And finally… the tail.

Your concern about the relation to the problematic manx gene is warranted.

There are presently two types of tail mutations documented in domestic cats: the “natural bobtail” manx gene due to T-box mutations and the “asian bobtail” due to an HES7 mutation. The latter is not presently associated with the same issues as the manx gene.

HES7 mutations are not present in the Highlander.

Two T-box variants have been identified in the Highlander breed, meaning the mutation for their bobtail is the same as those responsible for the manx. Standard Highlander’s can have no tail to a short tail, those with a long tail are considered non-standarf and are largely used only for breeding purposes due to the lethal nature of T-box mutations when homozygous.

Some Highlander lines owe their bobtail appearance to a “novel variant,” meaning no known mutation has been identified. As this variant or variants are currently unidentified we can’t confidently say which gene (if either of them) it’s most closely related to or if there are similar issues associated.

All that being said not all manx gene cats will present with related problems and for those who do the severity is variable, some may have minor issues that can be managed with diet or medication while others may be… pretty severely effected.

I imagine at this age they would have a good idea of if Sampson has any issues and to what degree they’re present if he does.

If you’re prepared to deal with potential health issues should they arise I think it would be lovely to adopt him, you’re not contributing to the breeding of more if you go through a rescue and are equipped to educate others on why “Yes, mine is awesome but no you don’t actually want one.”

Like Dr. Frank Bozelka and his rescue Scottish Fold. His videos are hilarious and informative, by the way, I definitely recommend giving him a follow.

It would also be good for him to be placed with someone aware of and prepared to accomodate possible breed-related issues instead of someone who just wants a fancy cat… but I understand this can also be overwhelming, so absolutely no judgement if you decide to pass.

But if you do adopt him I’d love to see more pictures! I want to squish his cheeks.

[mini-jiminie]

About your comment on jkkers associating Letter with jungkook, I agree with you and I lowkey feel like its because Letter is the only song that jkkers really can associate with jkk out of all jimin's solo work in chapter 2. On a different blog, some anon was saying they didn't think the content of jimin's solo work was compatible with jikook being real or something along those lines, and a jkker blog literally used Letter as proof against that saying that it was obviously a love song for jungkook. Outside of the songs he explicitly says he made for army, jimin's solo work doesn't exactly paint a happy picture, especially when you read translations of his notebook pages from when he was working on Face. That shit is dark and lonely, him questioning if there's anyone he can trust and then questioning if he can ever love someone to his producers while working on Muse. Not saying jikook isn't real by any means, but jimin's solo work definitely doesn't readily lend itself to shipping, not just with jungkook, but with anyone, so I think jkkers cling to Letter. I also agree with that anon's post in that jimin didn't have to comment on it at all really, it was meant to be a hidden track anyway. So the fact that he explicitly states who the track was about and some jkkers twist that does feel shitty. Of course art can have multiple meanings, but to deny the meaning jimin himself stated is just taking his autonomy away for the sake of shipping and is no different than the tkkers who twist taehyung and jungkook's actions or say the company makes them do everything. All of it is shippers disregarding the boys words/actions in favor of their own beliefs.

Before I get cancelled (again lol) this ask was in response to a comment I made under @jeonscatalyst’s post:

Look, I can’t claim to know 100% what the boys’ music personally means to them and why they choose to write and create art in certain ways.

When we look at Face, it's so clear that the album is an extremely self-introspective body of work where jm has allowed us to witness such a raw and vulnerable part of himself. What I love about bts is that the boys have always created music about themselves, their own stories and experiences. I'm so grateful that the rap line set such a wonderful precedent for the other boys to really use their solo music as an outlet.

Back to you anon, I 100% agree with you on this part:

"Outside of the songs he explicitly says he made for army, jimin's solo work doesn't exactly paint a happy picture, especially when you read translations of his notebook pages from when he was working on Face. That shit is dark and lonely, him questioning if there's anyone he can trust and then questioning if he can ever love someone to his producers while working on Muse."

I feel like face (as a whole) is such a polarising album. It's really interesting. We start off with 'face-off' and the delivery is aggressive and it clearly comes from a dark place. Like crazy is..like crazy. To this day, it's my favourite song ever. I just love the connotations and imagery behind it. I've read many analyses of the song, its mv and the choreo. One consistent thing across all of them is this reoccurring theme of reflection. This is him attempting to confront himself and the state he's in. Looking at the lyrics of like crazy, he feels lost and is struggling to cope with his reality. In the english version, there's the line 'emotions on ice' which really struck me when I first heard it. I know it's not the direct translation of the original line in the Korean version however, it's a perfect reflection the song as a whole. I've seen people interpret that line through the theme of dilution; 'on ice'. I personally read this as him feeling lost and numb. It's almost as if his emotions are an imitation of what they're meant to be. He wants to be stuck in a dream-like state and not have to face his daunting reality.

Alone also has a similar storyline (these translations are from doolset). The chorus goes:

Day & night 반복되는 fall Day & night, the repeated fall

(Mayday 날 꺼내줘) (Mayday, get me out of here)

Again, there's that need for escapism. Further into the song, we get lyrics such as:

똑같은 하루가 The same day all over

또다시 흘러가 goes by, yet again

뭘 어떻게 해야 What even should I do

이 어둠이 끝이 날까? to make this darkness come to an end

Smf is such a powerful end to the album. Its definitely a heroic song and such a poignant finish to his introspective process. He knows what he needs to do to heal and grow.

Finally, letter is clearly so dear to jm. It being a hidden song and so beautifully written says enough. It has the same delicate quality as the hidden track ‘sea’ from ly:her (another incredible song). When I say Face is such a polarising album, I say this in consideration of letter. If smf was the catalyst to his healing, letter is jm during that process of healing. In my original comment, I said that it irks me when jkkrs try to link every one of the boys' solo endeavours and actions to their relationship. And I don't mean people can't speculate that letter might be about a s/o. I'm also not trying to diminish jkk's relationship in any way but, jm has explicitly shared the meaning of the song and how it's a song dedicated to army. Yes, music is subjective however, when an artist explicitly shares the meaning of their song and their intentions, we do have to respect that.

Apparently, people have been calling him a liar?? jm -the original writer - a liar??

Jm has outright expressed what letter means to him. That's what he wants us, as listeners of his story, to get out of that song. If we the fans were part of his healing process, that's so beautiful. I don't understand why some people are so quick to brush this off. As I've said, Face is such a deeply personal album. It's jm, as an individual, laid bare and untethered. When we try to force the ship onto it, it just seems so reductive of jm's art.

Jm has expressed that face was a culmination of his struggles during the pandemic as well the relationships he's with the people in his life. For such a short album, I think he's done a wonderful job of conveying the sheer breath of emotions and struggles he experienced leading up to the production.

[greetingsfromuranus]

I love your art! Do you jave any tips ondrawing in the EENE artstyle?

Thank you!! The best advice I have is to study, study, and then study some more lol. Look at something, try to replicate it, trace over the original to see the underlying shapes, draw the shapes on your own page and replicate it like that, freehand it w/o reference, just see what works! i know it sounds like general advice, but the EENE style, especially once you get to later seasons,is very stylistically and technically complex! You're gonna have to see which aspects of it are intuitive to you, and which ones you'll have to sit down and make yourself learn. I primarily use Raven Molisee's art (lots of stuff on Deviantart and Poshmark more recently) since with his sketches you can see a lot of the underlying shapes and processes! But it would be a good idea to also check out stuff from the rest of the art department, such as Scott Underwood, Jim Miller, and Cory Toomey (you can find a list of em here: https://ed.fandom.com/wiki/The_Creators). Instagram account dawn_of_the_eds has a lot of good references!

You can also study screenshots of the show, especially if you're trying to replicate the colors/linework/movement/etc… I would recommend @ededdneddy-artrefs, as they have a nice tagging system for finding anything specific, but its also a good idea to just look at your favorite EENE clips on YouTube and go thru them frame-by-frame! It helps with understanding how the characters move, talk, express, etc… and you can really nail down the stuff you'd only get a vague idea of from watching the show at a normal speed.

For me, it took me months (minus some breaks) to get to where i am now with drawing the Eds. Someone more studious and hardworking could easily do it faster, but the point is, it takes practice! Practice combined with active, intentional learning! My progress with drawing the Eds has several phases marked by a sudden jump in skill (usually caused by me finally going out and studying some more art, and internalizing what i learned), followed by healthy stagnation, where i get comfortable with the new knowledge and just do the same stuff for a while. If you really wanna get good at drawing them, you can study much more than i do, or have shorter stagnation periods! It's ok to calm down and get comfortable with the characters, have some nice, easy, art making time, its important to not get too stressed or burnt out! But when you're feeling motivated, absolutely take advantage of that!

Some things to remember:

While the characters do have consistent design elements and basic underlying shapes, these are NOT hard rules. REMEMBER AND INTERNALIZE SQUASH N STRETCH! I've tried assigning hard rules to how I draw the eds, and it's VERY difficult. It's definitely important to write down/point out as many design quirks and reoccurring themes/shapes as possible, but just remember that the Ed Edd n Eddy style is extremely fluid and dynamic - and the guidelines you may have thought were 100% true can be shattered at any point. Basically: all rules are optional! Don't draw something because the "rules" say so, draw something because it looks good! Sometimes one rule looks good, sometimes something else looks better! I'll use the teeth as a visual example:

(art in 1st image by Raven Molisee)

Sort of a continuation of the last point - Before EENE, I had a tendency (and still kinda do) to use more symbolic drawing process, the kind of design language you'd use for logos or graffiti, or the kind of style you see in shows like Dexter's lab or Total Drama Island or something - where you get good at drawing the same shapes/lines over and over. The EENE style, especially in later seasons, does not follow the same process as these sorts of styles. For example, I used to look at Edd and say "ok, His head is THESE TWO SHAPES!" And then there would be another, I'd say "okay, 3" and then another, and another and this will keep going on and on and on. Sometimes his ears are at the corners of whatever quadrilateral his head is (like in Molisse's art), sometimes theyre on an edge (like ive seen in Underwood's art), and sometimes you just can't see em! You have to accept that the characters are a lot of things at once, and different things at different times! Like Eddys head is usually a sort of bent pentagon - but is his mouth is enough he's more like a tin-can - but from a more top view he's almost a triangle - you can do this cycle forever.

you can think about it like this: the eds designs (especially their faces) are sort of a collection of features, and the shapes holding them together than be molded and distorted as you please!

Remember that the eds often exist with 3D underlying shapes, not just flat ones! I would highly recommend studying 3d shapes in extreme perspectives specifically. Draw bent cylinders, twisted stretched out cubes, any sort of shape at the most extreme fish-eye perspective you can manage, just absolutely take advantage of them. Bend and distort and break those shapes, dig your foot into their backs and and pull at their corners like you're ripping the arms out of their sockets. Extreme visualization, I know, but Ed Edd n Eddy is a slapstick comedy - there is immense force and stretching and distortion present, you really have to get that energy into your art to replicate the style (even if I'm not great at it yet, it's something I know I must learn).

Specific tidbit that's important & I sometimes forget: The characters limbs can be as long as the pose calls for! They will be fine! If they're holding something above their head, their arms are going to stretch out much longer than normal and it's ok! You can always sacrifice the "accuracy" to the model to get a strong pose/silhouette. Though one thing I've noticed is that their clothes often don't stretch the same way their bodies do! If you stretch double D's arms out 3 yards, his sleeves are gonna be about the same length as always! Except for when it looks better to break this rule, of course :3 basically imagine their bodies are like stretchy rubber, while their clothes are not

(note how his arms are stretched reeeal long in the gif, the look of the action holds higher priority than "correct" body proportions)

Apologies on my lack of notes on Ed specifically, I've drawn him good a total of One time and haven't been able to do it again lol.... Sometimes his head is an upside down triangle, but its bent in a way that i cant find a good pattern to remember it by... though sometimes his head is a square but the bottom stretches downward to become his neck. He's weird as hell, one day ill figure it out!

That's all my advice for now :3 If i think of any more i will add it!

[nightcolorz]

Can you talk a little more about how you view gender roles in the vampire chronicles vs amc iwtv bc I feel like sth is missing from amc compared to tvc that i can't place

I would love to !! (Explodes) I have so many tvc gender thoughts. So so many. 

I believe the major disconnect between the show vs the books and gender is the place and perspective the writer’s are coming from. Something I really love about Anne Rice’s writing (and really hate sometimes lol) is that she didn’t think about themes or implications at all when she wrote. She just purged her story onto the page and themes and patterns just end up there. This means that every bit of consistency and meaning in tvc comes from something Anne Rice had fixed into her subconscious that she without realizing is putting into her work. So when it comes to gender, in tvc it’s all personal feelings of Anne rice’s. This differs in the show that obviously has a team of writers who put a lot of thought in about public reception and meaning and all. So these perspectives color how gender (and everything basically) is presented.

Anne Rice had some complicated feelings about gender. I’m not going to go too deep into that bcus that’s not what I want this post to be about, but in summarization she had a combination of problematic biases and internalizations that came from a Catholic upbringing in the 40s-50s and some apparent gender dysphoria or at least disconnect with womanhood and gender/gender roles in general. She’s spoken about not understanding gender or feeling like a woman. This comes off very strongly in how she presents her vampires as androgynous, almost genderless beings. It’s a reoccurring theme in tvc that vampirism takes away the burdens of gendered expectations and gives vampires the freedom of self expression and androgyny. It makes sense why a concept like this would speak to a trans person like me, so it’s a big part of why I prefer the book’s handling of gender. Of course Anne Rice also has problematic gender biases, so her presentation of being an androgynous being free of gender roles is flawed, since gender roles are very ingrained in her mindset, which adds to my dissatisfaction with the show’s handling, which could’ve been so good if they took what Anne Rice tried to do and enhanced it.

Anyways, when it comes to tvc there’s also Anne Rice’s subconscious projection of her irl struggles onto her characters. A handful of Anne Rice’s insecurities and struggles came from, well, being a woman, and since her characters r so much of the time vessels to vent her problems through, a strange occurrence happens where her vastly male cast is struggling in ways that would be relatable to women and people who face misogyny and/or internalized misogyny. (Cough cough this is especially apparent with Louis and Armand cough cough).All of this wasn’t conscious on Anne Rice’s part, it’s just a natural consequence of how personal her writing was. An outlier to the “cis men experiencing misogyny” phenomenon is Gabrielle, who I could write a whole essay on, one of the few afab characters who also has projected gender problems by Anne Rice syndrome, but since she is afab she just ends up coming off as a gnc/transmasc/ftm person dealing with gender dysphoria. 

Then there’s the show, which disclaimer I like the show a lot, but boy do I have Issues with it. I could be wrong, we only have one season, but it doesn’t seem like the show is attempting to tackle the “vampires are genderless” concept. They definitely do things with androgyny and gender roles, but not in the context of “messing around with/being free of these things is amazing”. Vampirism in iwtv seems to only enforce gender, weirdly enough. Let me explain!

Ok, so what the show seems to be doing with gender roles is using the concept of a “nuclear family” and our expectations of what that entails to assert the dynamic of Louis, Lestat, and Claudia’s familial relationship. Through utilizing tropes and imagery associated with a nuclear family the viewers are easily able to pick up on the subtext and conflicts that the show is presenting us with, bcus we all know the nuclear family. I think comparing the rue royal family to a nuclear family is interesting in concept, but in execution, I’m not a fan. I think if the show went a different route, and had Louis frame the story in a way that compares his life to familiar hetero, mortal family conventions for the sake of being sympathetic and understandable to Daniel and readers, without that being the literal dynamic of the characters, that could’ve been interesting. Also, I like the concept of oppressive systems like gender roles becoming oppressive in different ways for vampires, since “vampirism isn’t freeing it just gives u different problems” is a theme of the show that I rlly like, esp bcus Anne rice was rarely able to decide if vampirism was super fun or tortuous. But that doesn’t seem to be what the show is doing. Lestat, Louis, and Claudia literally just fit into your stereotypical abusive nuclear family tropes. Sometimes things are switched around and subverted, but for the most part it’s pretty consistent. Anne Rice’s personal projections onto the characters is nearly nonexistent, most glaringly for Lestat. I don’t like this, it doesn’t make sense for the characters, and it also simplifies their dynamic and conflict in the book to be much less interesting in my opinion. 

Sometimes the show will show us characters breaking gender expectations, Lestat occasionally or Antoinette cross dressing (speaking of Antoinette I’ll get to her), but none of these moments seem to mean anything adjacent to “vampires are genderless or gender-fluid and this is freeing for them. These moments seem to align more closely with imagery associated with queer coded villains during the Hayes code era. Both Lestat and Antoinette are being particularly grotesque and villainous during their gnc moments, which aligns with the old hollywood vibe that the show seems to be going for, which is mildly cool, but not particularly compelling or relatable to me beyond that. And it definitely doesn’t have the type of resonance that the books do when it comes to gender nonconformity. 

So, I think Antoinette is the prime example of this. Antoine in the books was a young man, 19 years old, who Lestat used in a way that was reminiscent of how a cheating husband would use a mistress. He fooled around sexually with this younger man and also confided to him in ways he didn’t his “husband” (Louis), escaping to him when he was fed up with his family at home to blow off steam and vent his struggles, the way he does with Antoinette in the show. But Antoine himself did not have the stereotypical personality of a “mistress”, he was naive and well intentioned, didn’t realize he was being used and that Louis was being hurt in the process. When Lestat tells him that he needs his help fighting back against his family he’s horrified and confused. Antoinette in the show is not this, she’s very much a “mistress”, and the sex change from book to show makes this even more annoying to me. It just seems like the show writers wanted to make the subtextual coding of Antonine’s character in the books annoyingly unsubtle text, by making Antonine the stereotypical evil and seductive female mistress, which I rlly hate. And also they removed any and all sympathy attached to Antoine’s  character in the process. (Side note ik ppl are gonna come at me with “oh but it’s from Louis’s perspective! That’s why Antoinette is treated that way, he hates her! And to that I say there is no evidence to support that, it hasn’t happened in the show, you made it up. And if it’s true and done well I’ll eat my words, but for now my opinion is based on what is in the show, and it prob won’t change until we get new content.)

There’s more, like how Louis fulfills the traditionally female roles in marriage (cleaning, taking care of the kids, etc) which is kind of gnc, but only so that the show can frame him as more of a stereotypical abuse victim, and not to say anything interesting about how vampirism gives people more opportunities to explore gender fluidity in ways they find freeing. The show uses gender roles to non subtly code the characters in ways that are easily digestible and relatable to a cis audience. That’s my main gripe, gender in AMC’s iwtv is very cis. 

What I love about the books is how fluid gender is with the characters. Lestat is very feminine and very masculine, so is Louis, these traits can co exist without ever contradicting each other. But ig that was too complicated and varied for the show to want to tackle, just like the complex mutual toxicity of loustat’s relationship, which was dumbed down so much also. I feel like the show writers didn’t know what to do with a gay relationship where both men are feminine and masculine and also both men have complex trauma and traits that make their relationship unhealthy + a hot mess, and instead just reframed loustat to be traditional abusive relationship we’ve seen a billon times in media.

In conclusion, the show could very well change my mind and portray gender/gender roles in a way that I enjoy, but for now I’m unsatisfied. I want to be wrong ultimately. If you like how gender is handled in the show feel free to disagree, but plz don’t come at me with anger. I’m happy to have a discussion, I’m very interested in this topic, but I don’t want to humor you if you’re rude. And if you want to talk more about the books and gender I’d be more then happy, feel free to dm me or send me an ask or reply to this post, I love the androgyny of the books sm and love talking about it. Thank you anon sm for sending the ask <3 I’ve been wanting to talk about this.

[ryuichirou]

Happy April fools, or Boop day. I shall now give all the twisted wonderland boys a Boop *boops all of them*

I am mainly here to ask how you would headcanon them reacting to a Boop (from either their lover or prefect) because this scenario has been stuck in my head looping for hours and I need to be fed.

(I’m sorry to everyone else who’s waiting for a HC list, but I just had to reply to this one asap lol)

Anon! Happy Boop day to you too, even though it’s already over. I already miss it… Also, thank you everyone for the boops once again <3

Let’s go through the list and boop all the boys! Although as always, it’s easier for me to write this thing with ships in mind, so apologies to Yuu.

Riddle – if Trey does it, he’d be confused and flustered, but then look at him with a pout, asking why would he do that and saying that he isn’t a kid… And he’d look so adorable that Trey would suffer :”3 But if Ace does that, Riddle’d get annoyed and yell at him. And if Floyd does it, he’d get even more annoyed, red and aggressive, maybe he’ll even try to bite Floyd’s finger (spoiler alret: this one is going to be a reoccurring theme in this post). Floyd is going to be so happy – he just found Goldfishie’s funny button! I can also easily picture Che’nya appearing out of nowhere Bugs Bunny style and booping Riddle all day long until he loses it…

Ace – either a “ehh what was that for?!” or a bored and judgmental stare. He is the type to go “really, a boop? What are you, 6?” and then hypocritically boop the person. The moment he learns that it’s Boop day, his first thought would be Deuce lol

Deuce –  he’ll get confused and react a bit slowly, but then immediately get mad at Ace for laughing at him and try to boop him back. These two would probably chase each other, completely ignoring their surroundings and accidentally booping random people.

Trey – with any random person it would be a “do I have to boop you back now?” with an awkward smile, but if it’s Riddle who does it, he’ll get so stunned that Riddle is going to think that he did something wrong and get worried. It’s okay, Riddle. You did everything right, Trey just wasn’t ready for that.

Cater – “Oh nooo, Kei-kun got booped!” with almost everyone but if it’s Idia who does it (for whatever reason), he’d probably be too shoocked to react and just stare at him for 10 seconds. In general, I think Cater (as well as Kalim and Lilia) would enjoy Boop day the most. It’s fun + a good excuse to start a conversation with someone.

Leona – he’d warn Ruggie not to get too ballsy with him if he doesn’t want to lose his arm or something like that, but Ruggie and he both know that Leona won’t do any of that. Still, he’d get very annoyed and hide his face when he falls asleep until the day is over lol

Ruggie – he’d get worried that Leona might’ve hit his head or something, why would he boop him all of a sudden? Of course he knows that Leona has his kinda playful moments, but he probably wouldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him a little bit. Then he’ll hear an annoyed “forget it” and giggle to himself, because he doesn’t get to see embarrassed Leona every day.

Jack – he’s a big doggo, so he might be a biter in theory (it’s a reflex, nothing personal), but he is such a good boy that he’ll probably just get surprised and then frown. If it’s Vil who booped him, Jack is probably going to hear “what, aren’t you going to boop me back?”, just to see if Jack gets flustered hearing that. And if it’s Deuce who booped him, it’s going to get very awkward to both of them afterwards. But just as Deuce leaves, Jack would catch him and boop him…with his nose.

Azul – he’d get a bit startled, because he didn’t expect it, but then – it depends. If it’s Jamil who did it (for some reason…), Azul would get smug and a bit annoyed at the same time, trying to somehow embarrass Jamil for doing that. And suggest a payback, i.e. a boop for Jamil, which he definitely won’t get. And if it’s Idia, Azul is probably going to get more naggy and openly annoyed, because the fact that Idia is giggling at him makes him embarrassed. At first he would say that he doesn’t want to do something so childish, but if Idia keeps provoking him, he’ll absolutely try to boop him back.

Floyd – a biter. A total biter. When he is in a bad mood, he’ll bite out of annoyance, and when he is in a good mood, he’ll bite playfully. Either way, it’s scary! Epel is probably going to be traumatised by that, as well as poor Idia who didn’t want to boop Floyd in the first place. Riddle would yell at Floyd that biting is against the rules though lol Floyd doesn’t like to get booped in general, he prefers to do the booping.

Jade – pretty much the same as Floyd. Fortunately for Jade, he isn’t as popular as Floyd so there isn’t a huge line to boop him, but if Idia somehow ends up booping him, Jade will smile and hit him with “are you sure you want to do this?” before he does, making him reconsidering his choices. But it’s too late now, because Jade would get closer to Idia with his face, as if inviting a boop… or daring him to do it? I don’t know if Idia has it in him to actually boop Jade…

Kalim – he would laugh as if this is the funniest shit in the world. Especially if it’s Jamil who does it: it’s so unusual for Jamil to do something like this; Kalim is glad Jamil is having fun (he isn’t)!! He would make such a big deal out of it that Jamil is going to regret everything…

Jamil – if it’s Kalim who does it, he would react with a sigh, as if asking if Kalim is satisfied now. But he doesn’t mind it all that much – this isn’t the worst thing in the world, butt-smacking was way worse. But Jamil would get quite a lot of Scarabia people wanting to boop him after Kalim’s example so that would be very problematic. And if Azul wants to boop him as well, this is even worse! Jamil would hide from all of them, he isn’t getting booped by them!

Vil – only a couple of people are allowed to boop him, the rest wouldn’t really dare. He doesn’t really like having others’ fingers on his skin, even if it’s just the very tip of his nose. But if it’s Ortho, it’s okay, because his fingers don’t have any natural oils on it… and he is his special boy who can do no wrong lol He’d probably just smile at him for that. Rook would also be okay, but he has to take off his gloves and wash his hands first, so it’d have to wait until they’re alone. But then the boop would somehow turn into something sensual with Vil biting his finger very playfully?? And then there if Floyd who doesn’t ask for permission and just boops Vil, making him gasp because THE NERVE--

Rook – he is another one who prefers to boop and not to get booped, so he’d spend the day hunting or watching others hunt, enjoying the whole thing. But if someone boops him, he would act surprised and maybe even make a funny sound, but this is pretty much fake – he expected the boop, it’s very difficult to catch him off-guard. I feel like the only one to do it would be Vil who would lean for a kiss and them book Rook when he lets his guard down. Then Rook will get surprised for real.

Epel – this is the one who would definitely make a funny sound. A very cute one, actually. He didn’t mean to, and it was embarrassing, but he sounded so cute that it would make Floyd want to boop him again and again. And the best thing is, Epel can’t even boop him back, because Floyd is too tall. Rook would also boop Epel once, and it would be so stealthy and suddenly that it would take a moment for Epel to figure out what just happened.

Idia – thinking about all of his potential boyfriends, I feel like a boop from any of them would feel like a threat to this poor boy lol But anticipation is much scarier than the boop itself, so after getting booped he’d just sigh and grumble about this whole thing being childish. Which is funny considering that he himself would probably gladly boop Azul, but see, it’s different: Azul is such a stick-in-the-mud that it’s funny to boop him. If Ortho boops Idia though, he’d instantly get playful enough to boop him back. And if it’s Lilia who does it, Idia might actually get flustered.

Ortho – he’s going to make a computer “boop” sound. And then he would giggle and ask to boop him again, and then make a different sound. If it’s Vil who boops him, he’ll scoff and call him silly for that…  and boop him again. And if it’s Idia, he’d probably feel so much tenderness and love for him all of a sudden, which would surprise Ortho – this isn’t the reaction he was expecting at all!

Lilia – oh it’s Boop city for grandpa. He is the mayor of it. He boops everyone he can, and if someone boops him? He’s either sneezes in surprise (was it intentional?? Is that his sneeze button??) or tries to bite the finger with a smug face. He’s probably going to have a booping game with Malleus when they hunt each other, as if it’s beansfest all over again lol

Silver – well, for starters, he would wake up. I don’t think he’d do anything after that… but as he squints and looks at his own nose that just got booped, he’d look so cute that both Lilia and Sebek wouldn’t resist a second boop.

Sebek – wow, another biter lol And not a playful one like some of the previous boys. I feel like if Idia or Silver boop him, he might get so mad that he actually would try to bite them. But not on their first try, I think they would have to boop him a couple of times before he loses it. If Malleus boops Sebek though, he’d whimper in surprise, his brain would overload with information and he would faint… while standing still and still staring at Malleus. The lights are on but nobody’s home…

Malleus –  if Sebek does it, he’d get so surprised that he wouldn’t even get mad. Seeing how nervous Sebek is about this whole thing (was this a bet? Did Lilia force him to do it?), he’ll just start teasing him and enjoying himself tremendously… But if Lilia boops him, he’ll probably get pouty and might even complain about Lilia treating him like a kid. But then, as Lilia tries to look into his face to see if he is really mad at him, he’ll boop him right back with a smug smile on his face. Now it’s 1:1.

[gioiaalbanoart]

Writing interview tag!

Triple tag, so...I'm going to do this 😁

Thank you @moltenwrites 💗 @aintgonnatakethis 💗 and @the-letterbox-archives 💗

A couple of things : I'm an artist too so I might end up doing some parallels between painting and writing. Also....I usually talk A LOT 😁 but tend do be pretty dry in writing, so I might cut it short on certain answers

About me

When did you start writing?

Since I was in elementary school and I learned letters, probably. I used to draw/fake-writing "comics" even before.

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write?

I don't have genres neither in reading or writing. Maybe themes ? Existential, spirituality, some kind of magic, investigation, love?

In fact what suits me the best is the follow : if I love the characters I go everywhere.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often?

Compared? (laughs) No way! Salinger was probably a God. I still like Isabel Allende and there are for sure many others that right now I don't remember (also italian and french authors since I speak those languages , for instance Camilleri and Japrisot ). The list would be veeeeeery long.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

A table. A need a table, and a chair or something I can sit on. And even so I tend to take weird postures.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I don't think I have a specific way. Sometimes just the Goddesses know where the muse is!

BUT I'm stubborner so I sit at my computer anyway or I wander around faking tiding the studio (if I'm gonna do art) and at some point she usually shows up.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and/or places you write about?

Probably somehow they're there. More at an emotional level I would say. Like I might write something completely unrelated (which is what I do) but I can connect the dots in terms of perceptions, sensations, emotions.

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so, do they surprise you?

Surprise? No. It's pretty much the same old same old for me 😂 both in writing and painting : healing, recovery,evolution,some kind of spirituality and soul magic.

Characters:

would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

It's easy 😂 I mainly have ONE and she's pestering me about focusing on her story. Ashley Knox from my wip The scarred angel.

The title was suppose to be temporary but I got used to it and I'm lazy to find something else 😎. Oh and I'm generally BAD at titles, I have the same problem for my paintings.

Ashley is a stunning beautiful girl with scars all over her face since she was sixteen and a bit of a temper.

She has to investigate about something happening mainly along the mexican border which means dealing with a pretty violent world, drug cartels and so on.

Amy Salinas, journalist with PTSD, will stuck with her, becoming first a friend than a significant other....at some point.

Ashley has also intention to take her revenge against who scarred her.

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

I would definitely be friend with Ashley! Just I'll make her come here….it's a bit safer than where she lives.

which characters would you dislike the most of you met them?

Well, the one who scarred Ashley probably. He will be the worst in my wip....even if, by the time I'll be finished, I'm afraid there will be a few.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

LOL. There is no process.... They come in my brain and decide to stay there until I consider writing their story. Ones are more stubborn than others and those generally win.

Also they usually come (Ashley did) quite "completed", it's their story that I have to develop and then they grow and become wider and deepest characters. Like : when they arrive and squat my brain they don't say it all right away, I have to find out by myself.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

I would say polarities and some kind of spirituality and personal moral code. then they heal, or grow or both.

How do you picture your characters? 🤔 I listen when they talk….then I try to figure how bloody hell I'm going to show their actions to the world 😁

My writing:

what’s your reason for writing?

I use to say that painting for me is like walking, I don't think about it, it comes naturally, it's just there. It was there even during the fifteen years I didn't paint at all. Writing on the opposite is much more complex for me, I struggle more and is more related to a personal healing process. The more I dig in a story, whatever the story is, the more I actually connect my own dots, I see a path and then go further, it's like evolving in the process for many different reasons but with the explaining part, since I use words. And it never goes straight from point A to point B, damn it!

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating?

All of them, really. I get all emotional 😅 My problem is I have to make a REAL EFFORT to let the comment sink in....I'm still pretty hard to myself when it comes to writing and I don't believe fully the good comments. I'm trying to get better 😁

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Jeez, I don't know. A badass ? 😂 If I surprise them in a good way it's all good.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Maybe dialogues. I enjoy my characters talking .

What have you been told is your greatest strength as a writer is by others?

Oh dear,I don't have the answer. I recently wrote something pretty hard topic and apparently all the emotions I wanted put in went through ....so I'll take that.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I'm happy, it will get better, I want to have fun with it.

If you were the last person on earth, would you still write?

Oh yeah, and painting too. You never know....

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both?

This is a good one! I would be lying if I say that sometimes other possible opinions (it's always all in our head!) never cross my minds trying to influence me.

But I'm also happy to say that I discharge the idea off quite easily now and just go on my way. Otherwise I would certainly ending to block myself completely. I know, I did it already.

I feel the unbalance in my body and soul and it doesn't click so it usually "dissolve" pretty quick.

Fluffy NP tag (and sorry if I double tag !! ) because I'm really curious and I don't think I already read them for this particular game : @alinacapellabooks @fortunatetragedy @lavender-gloom @lychhiker-writes @saturnine-saturneight @words-after-midnight @noxxytocin + OPEN TAG FOR ALL and a drink too 🍻 🍻🍻

[90shaladriel]

Writing Interview Tag Game

Thanks for tagging me @klynnvakarian !

About Me:

When did you start writing?

In my 30s I definitely made an attempt to write a "novel" and did some world building and a few pages of writing and it didn't go anywhere. Then Late 2022 after Rings of Power season 1 just joining the Haladriel fandom I read so much fic that I thought maybe I could do some as well. Got some encouragement from other haladriel writers (crucial for me)

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write?

I love history and science non-fiction. I mostly am writing in the fantasy fan-fiction space, but I do like sci-fi as my first love.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often?

I either consciously or unconsciously imagine I am writing in the voice that Frank Herbert used in the Dune series. Maybe mixed with some George RR Martin and a tinge of Tolkien.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

Vast majority of my writing was on an iPad lying in my bed before sleep when no one needs my attention.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I usually write a chapter per month so it's just random thoughts or reminders while reading other fics which inspire me to write a snippet here or there when I have the energy.

The other big muse I've found in recent months was actually listening to or reading Tolkien books: "The Silmarillion", "Beren and Luthien" and "Fall of Gondolin" the beautiful prose and the rich lore just sparks new ideas I want to try to play off of or emulate in my own fics.

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so do they surprise you?

I always like stories of characters that are beaten down, up against the world, maybe a little unappreciated, but not giving up. Even if they cannot win they try their best and work hard. A lot of sadness too. I don't express much of that sadness IRL so that is a bit surprising.

Characters:

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Tough call - probably the Lady of Light, Galadriel based on the ROP - characterization

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

Hmm, I'm not sure if I would be best friends but I think I would get along with Ereddâz, my Orc OC from A Lord and his Builder.

I think Galadriel would ignore me and Sauron would send me to his dungeons to be a thrall.

Which characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Melkor from my First Fire in the Void fic

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

I touched on it above, I think I like writing characters that believe they are doing the right thing. I do not like writing characters that are specifically and intentionally bad. Even my villains have plausible motivations or perspectives to justify their actions.

How do you picture your characters?

Most of my writing is currently around the Rings of Power cast and that style.

I am dabbling with non-ROP fics, like First Fire in the Void and there I pictured Mairon based on a lot of fanart that basically draws him like a pretty woman with long red hair lol.

My Writing:

What’s your reason for writing?

A creative outlet. For years and years I would day dream my own stories, going back to when I was a kid, I was also a pretty decent DnD DM making up my own campaigns. I've often had dreams of telling stories by creating video games (I am a software dev professionally) but I usually get stuck on the actual technology side of creating a game and can never get to the creative side. By writing fic, I was able to just get my ideas out there without being held back by the lack of skills in other areas (game dev, art, making a story interactive and still make sense)

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating?

Ive gotten a few amazing comments that say this is their favorite fic and I can't believe it since I just write one of many thousands of fics so I feel honored, and for my WIPs a little pressured, to produce more at that level.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want to write stories other people like, I do think about how can I make a story original in a way no one else does? What's a premise no one else has or could be done differently?

But really I am mostly writing stories that I like?

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think putting my characters through emotionally charged or traumatic events where they have realistic responses or reactions that I or I think readers might relate to emotionally.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I read other writing and it feels so polished and natural. I often feel like I am "emulating good writing" rather than being a good writer myself. I like my stories and plots but I am not always impressed by the words on the page after writing them. Sometimes I just give up during editing and just post and people seem to like it enough.

When you write are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both?

AS I was saying I do think about the readers and I'm surely influenced by what I see in the community and what people respond to but every single idea is a kind of "wouldn't this be cool" idea I have myself first and then I judge how much I think other people would also find it to be cool or enjoyable. That part I sometimes guess at or things resonate with others that I didn't expect

No pressure tags!

@eowyn7023 @demonscantgothere @cliffdivingsblog @pursuitseternal @theriverwild

[sleeping-jayy]

"Here we go again" Information Post

(Read the fic here)

《¤》

Calling all creepypasta fans!

Do you like Eyeless Jack? Do you like gore, violence, and thrilling horror? Do you like homey vibes too?

I have just the thing for you! This fic (somehow) has all of this! From tags like hurt/comfort, to found family.

This fic is about Jack, who has hit his one year mark of working for The Tall One. Provided with a cabin, electricity, and protection, he is tasked with fixing up anyone who comes along. It's not in the job description to become familiar with them, but Jack can't help but hear their stories.

With reoccurring characters such as:

Toby Rodgers, Helen (The Bloody Painter) Otis, Tim Wright ("Masky"), Brian Thomas ("Hoodie"), Kate Hayes-Milens ("Kate the Chaser"), Cody (X-Virus) Unknown, and many more iconic characters.

And with lesser known characters (/OCs) like:

Pippa Darling, Leo ("Cross-X") Fincher, Reed Carter, "Something", "Smokey", and more!

《¤》

(For those of you who have read it already, hi welcome to under the cut, the ad is over lol. I wanted to explain some stuff since Act 1 has ended.)

Act 1

Starting with Toby Rodgers, and ending with Kate Hayes-Milens, Act 1 is a calm, homey handful of chapters with intertwined hurt/comfort along with sting of horror.

Although Jack has only been in his cabin for a year now, he definitely has a handle on things.

Along with the end of Act 1, comes the start of a secondary fic called "I want to die with all my scars (and if they don't like the way we are then fuck them)" I know I do a lot of songs as titles, but they do actually have significance, I swear.

This fic, will have a lot of additional material from outside of Jacks cabin. At the end of Act 1 (spoiler for those who haven't made it there yet.) Kate visits and gives Jack a walkie talkie to communicate with the others outside of his small circle. This secondary fic is for things mentioned in the first one but not fully touched on.

For example, it's mentioned by Liu that Ben said the Hornets boys (Tim, Brian, and Toby) were on a road trip. That is one such things that will be talked about in this fic.

Silly little adventures with other characters that may change the dynamic between each other that wouldn't otherwise be I the central plot of the first fic.

This includes OCs! Pippa Darling, a character from a fic on ao3, will be popping up occasionally, and my own character Reed Carter.

You can even submit your own character to be in the two series. Just leave a comment with a link leading to their story, or a social media so I can contact you!

(If they're heavily leaning on or shipped with a popular ("canon" in heavy quotation) character, then I probably won't use it due to not wanting any shipping or big relationships in the story. Unless you happen to have a set of OCs.)

FAQ

1. "Can I make fanart/fanfiction of HWGA?"

Yes! I encourage it! Just tag me so I can see it!

2. "Will [insert character] be in it?"

Most likely. If there's any requests, then I'll probably write for them too!

3. "What does Jack look like?"

Jack in this fic is more of a metaphor than a person. I'll let you choose what that means to you, but this also means that Jack can look like whatever you wish him to. Any "official art" I make for the series won't even have a consistent design for Jack because that's not the point. See Jack however you'd like, because he's supposed to be a source of comfort in anyway you, and his patients, see fit. You'll notice that that's why I've never outright described what he looks like. Be creative. :)

4. "Where/when does this take place?"

That's sort of a spoiler as of now. It's connected to "The Path of Black Leaves" which was made/coined by the slenderblogs here on tumblr, which is a a mode of transportation. But for a simple answer, kind of in New England.

As for when, it's taming place sometime in the mid 2000's

《¤》

That's all for now! This post will update as things get posted and the plot moves along. If you have any questions, OC submissions, or just want to say hi, do so in the comments! :) I love to see it!!!

[solitarily-sofia]

heartstopper (tv show) unpopular opinions:

tao should not have cut his hair. i feel like his hair being long was a sign of him standing by elle and growing his hair out in solidarity bc elle had mentions she got suspended bc of hair length (and taos is curled bc straight it would be past his chin which is the length elle got suspended for) also tao is supposed to be an "outcast" but now hes lowkey fineee

i wish the rugby lads had more screen time, specifically in the reoccuring line up of the three of them gossiping and being cut off by coach singh.

the whole point of the show is providing happy healthy lgbt couples so people complaining its too cheesey, cringy or unrealistic are incorrect.

i hate to say it but charlies mom may have been correct in banning him from nick until he got his grades up... maybe there was a better way of doing so but there was a clear connection bc charlie declining in school and him constantly being with nick. but i am glad how they added that to the show especially from charlies pov bc its so perfectly teenagerly and angsty lol.

i wish they had more characters not in romantic relationships especially with the implications of sahar x imogen other than issac just bc hes ace

kit and joe are the best actors in the show, both together and on their own. (i do think nearly everyone is fantastic but they are definitely the best especially kit but he has 10 more year of experience than everyone else)

most unpopular of all.. i dont love inogen as a character... i think she deserves the best but nick refering to her as one of hsi oldest, closest friends seems a bit strange seeing how most of there relationship is her having a crush on him. she provided a good subplot and conflict in season one but idk she doesnt seem to fit with the show. (this could be bc i was a comic fan first) also i think this could be different if she was a straight ally and expanding on her friendships instead but now i fee like they just wanted more queer people in the show and so they are throwing her with sahar. (the lighting was not subtle) anyway i dont think she was really needed in s2 except to keep ben, who i also dont rly think was needed, and i wonder what they do for her in season three

sorry for such a long list lol and although it may not seem like it i do truly love this show/story. feel free to disagree with any id love to hear your thoughts

Hii sorry for the late response today's been a bit chaotic.

Let's unwrap thiss

I to an extent agree with the tao one, his hairstyle really compliments his personality and he said he felt comfortable with it in season 2! And at first he only cut his hair for elle. But I personally think his season 2 hair looks better aside from that. Still love this though because it's cute that he grew it long for elle! :)

For the second one, I KNOWW!!. I would have loved to see the friendship between nick, Christian, sai and otis develop more!! However, if the show continues to follow as it does in the comics. We should see them more in season 3!! :)

With this I agree, heartstopper isn't supposed to be 100% realistic, it's meant to bring a sense of comfort to people who are struggling.

I agree that his mum probably should have handled it better but it helped Charlie in the long run so that's good. And I think she does genuinely care, but reading this winter and solitaire I can't say I'm a massive fan of her.

The imogen x sahar thing is understandable as there are a lot of queer teen relationships in the show, but the show is showing different types of queer experiences/relationships and how they come to terms with their sexuality. I understand your side though :)

Kit and joe are such incredible actors!! They never fail to have me sobbing on the floor. I MEAN THE FINAL SCENE OF SEASON 2 I WAS BALLING. And I agree the rest of the cast are so incredible too! I really loved tobies performance especially this season. It's rare to see aroace representation but he really did such a great job and it stood out to me.

And finally, with imogen (as a comic fan myself) at first I'll admit I didn't exactly LOVE her character, but it wasn't really her fault she was just a girl who liked a guy. I loved how her character developed though! I kinda think it's a good idea for imogen to be more involved because as seen in season 2 she doesn't have many friends and it would be great to see her adapt herself more to the Paris squad and maybe understand her sexuality more.

Thankyou so much for this ask I loved answering this :)

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I have dyslexia as well so I listen to podfics a lot! Can I ask how you write so perfectly with dyslexia? No need to answer if you don't want to, jus curious about your process :-)

Hey, sweets, it's no problem, don't worry!

I'm gonna take this opportunity to do what I do best and... overexplain. (Which--the overexplaining, overwriting that I do--I'm convinced is due to dyslexia. It takes a lot of words, which I don't feel naturally attuned to, to communicate the thoughts I have in my head. I struggle with words and sentence structure, and it all comes out tangled, so I just keep trying until I have monster paragraphs, lmao.)

Yeah, I'm dyslexic! Very dyslexic, lmao. And I do a lot to work around it, trying my best to write (mostly) coherent words, but also, I don't really think about the process I use all the time because... it's just what I have to do, y'know? I've always had to have work arounds. Like, I've obviously been dyslexic my entire life, but I didn't get a diagnosis until late, late middle school, and at that point, the "accommodations" I got at school were entirely useless. Like, oh, wonderful, preferential seating. Sure. Yeah. That will definitely help with my dyslexia. Thanks.

I also remember, just as a side note, that it was during that time when I was refused accommodations like extra time for tests, reading aids, note-taking aids, etc. all which would've been EXTREMELY HELPFUL because I was doing "well enough" in school. So, clearly, I didn't "need" them, if anything, they would be "wasted" on me when they could go to someone else who was actually struggling (which, I get, public school funding is shitty and there aren't unlimited resources, but I'm still slightly salty, lol. Just because I didn't appear to be struggling on the outside didn't mean I wasn't struggling. It's similar to having "high functioning" depression, like, it doesn't matter if I can function if I still feel like fucking shit constantly). I was also so, so close to not being diagnosed in the first place because, according to the doctors I saw, I was smart enough that it wouldn't matter.

That's a reoccurring theme with my dyslexia, actually!

People never believe me!

Which, sure, is a compliment to other people. But it's a backhanded one. I don't want to be complimented by pushing everyone else down.

ANYWAY-

The process.

The process starts--background wise--with practice. The shit answer. I know. But, really, practice. I've been writing stories for a lot longer than I've been posting fics. I've written lots of fiction (short stories and nonshort stories), I used to write poetry, and I'm a life-long journal-er. I used to read a lot, lot of books, too, despite the challenges with my dyslexia. It'd just that now I write so much for fandom and with higher education challenging me, I find it hard to have the time or the energy to read and deal with more words than I already do.

So, I have lots of practice on my side, active and passive, but I also have other things...

I type all my fics, and I use fonts and font sizes extensively. I tend to use bigger font sizes overall, not like wildly huge fonts, but not 11 or 12, either. It depends on the font itself--some fonts have larger letters than others. Something about the letters being more visible and having smaller sentence chunks on each line helps me anchor the letters in place.

I also will plan my fics in one font (probably whatever the program is set to by default), then flesh out the plan more in a different font, after I'll actually go and write out my fic in a new font, and when I'm ready to make edits and add final touches I use a new font, again. I tend to bounce between Arial, Verdana, Open Dyslexic, and Comic Sans. Yes, I write smut I comic sans regularly 💀💀

I've seen research that says, yes, fonts can affect dyslexia and research that says it doesn't do shit so... 🤷🏻‍♂️ Either way, I feel like it helps me find mistakes because it tricks my eyes into thinking the words are new, lol. That, and I find it more comfortable to write in dark mode, I don't know why or if it's doing anything specifically to my dyslexia, but I get less lost in the words when in dark mode.

While I'm doing all that font changing, I'm also, as I mentioned, writing and re-writing, which means reading and re-reading. I go over my fics A FUCK TON. Pure repetition irons out a lot of shit by brute force, lol. I have friends who will write essays for school and look over it once, maybe twice if they're feeling spicy. I can not comprehent that. Not me. If I haven't re-read it, once I'm at the final editing and final touches stage, at least six times then... it's not going to be posted. I'll also change fonts between re-readings. And when I put the fucking thing into AO3, I re-read it again.

(I'm sure a beta reader would be very helpful, but I'm also very protective over my art--writing, drawing, sculpture, or otherwise, and so I haven't played with that, lol. You'd have to ask someone else about their experience there!)

While writing, reading, re-writing, and re-reading, I'm also reading out loud to myself.

Everything.

All 👏🏻of 👏🏻 it 👏🏻

I say all of it.

It helps me with flow and writing style, sure, but really, it forces me to realize mistakes and lessens my mistakes. You mentioned podfics and while I haven't gotten into podfics I am a fucking podcast, music, audio guy. I find audio so much easier to process than written words.

(You might find this poll of interest, I do, lol)

Aaaand, while all of this is going on, I also, of course, use a grammar program. I use Grammarly because it was most accessible (re: free and recommended to me by an English teacher) in high school. I keep in mind that it has batshit insane suggestions sometimes, and I have all their bullshit AI helping tools turned off, but... it does help a ton.

In conclusion, something that I am working on myself is that sometimes when I'm having a bad day with my dyslexia--maybe I'm tired and I can't focus, maybe I have a headache, maybe my eyes are fried from staring at a screen all day, maybe I've done too much reading for college, maybe my threshold for frustration has been exceeded and I just can't deal with the challenge that writing presents that day, or whatever--I can't write and I need to accept that. I'm not gonna be able to produce something good, maybe not even something presentable, every time I sit down to write.

That's fine!

That's how writing works for everyone! That's how writing works for me, someone who struggles with letters and numbers and writing and reading and the whole fucking thing. That's okay. Let it happen. Let it go. Try again tomorrow.

Uhhh, I hope some of that, any of that, was of interest? Helpful? Maybe?

[sf3uuf]

ART POSTING!? IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK!I've been pretty shy to show off my art, mainly my ocs, but since my account mostly has revolved around my love for metalocalypse, I shall introduce my first MTL OC: Leslie Lee! (These are old drawings of her, so of course they don't really look the best. It was my first time drawing scenes hairstyles! Also, her fashion style is still the same, but I just did her dirty here 💀)

TONS OF WRITING DOWN BELOW:

Leslie Lee, 23-24 (In season 2 when we are first introduced to her)

Leslie Lee is an aspiring musician just trying to get through in this hard life. Of course, considering her conditions, you would think it wouldn't be that easy. Leslie is a bit different from other girls and musicians, and no, I do not mean that in a pick me way, she's quite literally different, because unlike most people attending a high class college for the musically talented, Leslie is blind! However, she doesn't let her disability stop her from pursuing her passions, which are playing instruments, writing songs, and dressing up!

Of course, this is just one of the many special things about Leslie. There is so much more to this scene girl than meets the eye. (pun intended)

I feel like in the show, Leslie isn't a main character (none of my ocs really are LOL), but she is a reoccurring character that I feel like everyone would love despite not having a lot of screen time. She'd definitely shine more in the 3rd and 4th season and the movies. Just like Knubbler!! (Wait... maybe not like Knubbler... maybe....)

----

FACTS:

•In Leslie's concept (which I've never drawn) she was going to wear all black and blue from her clothes to her hair, she was also going to have her eyes covered by her bangs.

•Her last name Lee comes from the Evanescence singer Amy Lee, who was one of Leslie's inspos.

•In her original design, she was blasian (Korean and Jamaican), but now she's Indian and Jamaican, but she can speak a good chunk of Korean.

•Leslie is bisexual.

•Her voice claims would be: Dokkaebi from R6 Siege, Juliett from Lolipop Chainsaw, Deb from Finding Nemo (aka Vicki Lewis her VA)

•I know I mentioned her being blind, but I can't really describe what she sees. It's not pitch black, though. I'm still researching.

•She also was a part of a band called GLITTERWRIST as the singer, but I kinda scrapped that idea?? Maybe I'll add it back, but idk.

•She LOVESSSS rave parties and parties in general!

•Whenever her friends or loved ones are down, she is always there to make them feel better she will never leave you alone unless they yell at her to leave.

•She's the type of person to eat A LOT but never gain weight.

•Her love language is physical touch and quality time, but mostly physical touch.

•Speaking of quality time, she's very fashionable and LOVES fashion (preferably scene stuff, y'know?) She loves to go shopping with her friends and loved ones.

•Even though she loves scene music and pop, she very much loves classical music, which shocks many!

•Speaking of classical, she is very VERY skilled on the violin. Obviously, Dethklok finds weird since the violin is just so...boring to them. It's a grandpa guitar but fancier.

•She also plays a bit on the piano and keyboard, but she's horrible at guitar no matter how hard she's tried to play!

•She doesn't like needles, which is ironic since she has piercings on her nose and snake bites under/on the side of her lips.

•She also has a nice singing voice, but you wouldn't know that since whenever she does make music, it's filled with that Ke$ha type music. But don't say she can't sing. She's definitely good at it.

•She is roommates with my other oc, Skyler Lovelock. (who we will also learn about in a later post)

•I wanted to mention this in a later post, but there is a running gag with her that whenever she's with Toki, she never dies or even gets hurt, but instead has near death experiences that are usually dealt with by someone nearby them (that isnt dethklok ofc), I can't explain this well sorry, but if you've watched scary movie 2, just remember the road scene with Brenda where she mentions bad luck and the couple behind her gets hit by a bus. That's kinda what happens.

Those are all of the facts that I can think of right now. If you have any questions about my oc(s), feel free to ask!

[northern-passage]

I remembered Lea asking the Hunter, "Is that where're you from?" last night (the scene where Hunter recalls Merry's accent) and it's been stuck with me.

The fact they have to ask this one, simple, get to know you question shows just how much Lea has kept the Hunter at a distance for the years they've worked together.

Will this be a reoccurring thing between these two that you'll be bringing up no matter what route we're on with Lea? I imagine at some point you'll stop at a certain chapter because by then it'll be very clear where the Hunter and Lea stand with one another.

Hate asking that because I'm on the rival reassignment path, so if you were to show us more evidence of just how big the distance is between these two, it'll feed right into my Hunter's resentment lol

yes, it is something that will come up again!

Lea doesn't know anything about the hunter's family, or their history before the order (which isn't much, to be fair...) they suspect that the hunter left someone behind, especially since they used to send money/are still sending money depending, but they've never pressed them about it.

it was a mix of "it's not my business" and "if they want to tell me then they will" from Lea, and the hunter just doesn't talk about their family in general. if you go with Merry in blackwater, she'll ask you about it, and the hunter is pretty vague no matter how you respond because whether or not they feel conflicted, angry, or sad about their family, they also always feel protective of them, too. and they feel like talking about their family makes them (and the few memories they have of them) vulnerable.

so while Lea is definitely a part of the problem, the hunter has also kept a lot of things to themself, too, and refused to share, even when Lea has asked. it's complicated! and the hunter (particularly in the rivalry route) likes to blame it all on Lea.

[buddiesmutslut]

I saw a post the other day about someone being pissed that people were calling Eddie gay instead of bi only because they couldn't handle more than one bisexual person on a show. Now, I didn't make Eddie gay/demi, he was born that way, BUT it got me thinking, because the whole crew feels very fruity? SO, I want to get your guys' opinions on what you think the rest of the characters are. (JUST the characters. We're not speculating on the actors. We all know this.) I'm going to put mine below & I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts :) These are by vibes only. As a definite demisexual and probable bi woman, idk how great my gaydar is, but sexuality is a spectrum & straight isn't the default, so let's go!!

Bobby - 0% fruity. That is a straight, middle aged white man (affectionate) if I've ever seen one.

Athena - Also straight.

Chim - Chim feels very straight to me, but that scene with the bachelor had me peering at him a little closer, because I've never watched the Bachelor, but it looked like Joey (I think that was the bachelor's name, right? I've never watched a single episode of that show so I have no idea) had been around before, so I couldn't tell if he was like, starstruck, or "Wow that's a pretty boy and it's making me feel things" -struck 😂

Maddie - I don't get many vibes from her either, but I also have a vague fic idea of Madney breaking up in s4/s5 and her ending up with Shannon instead, so idk, maybe she's just unlabeled but somewhere on the spectrum of queerness?

Shannon - Bi vibes

Taylor Kelly - 100% bi, I refuse to hear any other argument.

Lucy Donato - This is a pansexual woman if I've ever seen one, you cannot convince me otherwise. (Also, the most interesting AND likable of Buck's female LI's, argue with the wall. Lucy, they'll never make me hate you bby 🩷💛💙.)

Lena Bokso - Lesbian vibes, for sure. I don't think there was ANY romantic undertones with her and Eddie (Which, I'm not saying that's the only reason I think she's a lesbian. She can like men and not like Eddie. Even if she did, Eddie wasn't in a place to do anything with those feelings, but I saw a post about that pairing recently & wanted to throw my 2 cents in)

May Grant - May also gives off queer vibes, and I've seen other view her as full wlw, but I think she gives off more bi/pan vibes?

Ravi - This man is soommmeee kind of queer that I just cannot put my finger on. I've seen him HC'd as gay, pan, & ace in some way, and I can honestly rock w/ any of the 3 of them. All I know is that he is not a straight man lol.

Albert - Also unsure about him, but if someone were to tell me that he was bi, I could definitely see it. I think that's influenced by the fic that had him, Ravi & May in a throuple, which was genuinely so cute.

Ana - Dr. Flores doesn't give off queer vibes for me, but that could be bc she was criminally underdeveloped & we know practically nothing about her.

Natalia - See above ^^

Ali Martin - Same ^^ although I could see her just being queer and not being more specific than that. Maybe she's straight, who knows. I literally forgot about her until I was looking up actor/actress names 😂

M*risol - straight & homophobic lmfao

Abby - Literally could not care less about her, but I wanted to include her so I could talk about her possibly being Tommy Kinard's ex-girlfriend and her coming back to LA for whatever reason and finding her ex-boyfriends happy & having totally forgotten about her predatory ass.

Also, obviously not speculating about any of the children, bc they're still children, even if they're fictional. It's icky.

I think that's all the main/reoccurring characters that we don't already know about, let me know if I missed any.

Talk about being the gay firefighter show, how accurate lmfao.