#you are allowed (and encouraged) to copy and paste it into the original post directly under the image(s) being described

[the-pure-blood-lady]

〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠��⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜

This blog is mainly for sharing my art, original characters, fanart, and possibly commissions, as well as indulging in my obsession with Satoi's art style in Diabolik Lovers franchise.

I tend to overdo it in personalization and decorations, please bear with me. It will just take me an entire year for each post >.>

|WIP | Fanart | Oc|

(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

「 ✦ Tags ✦ 」

´ཀ` Something to ask...➣ asks blog ࣪ ִֶָ☾. Something to show... ➣ wip/ art / visual 𓆩♡𓆪 Lysebeth ➣ Any post relate to this little one. 𓆩𓆪 Something to tell...➣ Admin just blabbing around જ⁀➴ Something to share...➣reblog ۵ Diabolik Lovers

⟡Request.... ✗ | ⟡Dm ....✓ |

⟡Art trade.... ✗ | ⟡Ask....✓ |

|Dm|

I will respond to them as best I can, but English is not my native language, so I may take some time to respond, and I'm using Ai to help me not sound like a three years old. I prefer to sound like a robot >.> I'm an introvert, so I'm naturally awkward and don't handle overly affectionate or demonstrative messages very well. Socializing is beyond my comfort zone, and I'm tired of people pretending to want to be friends with me just to get free art. This has happened to me a lot, so I tend to keep my guard up. I'm open to drawing your OC if the inspiration strikes me, but I don't take requests. I prefer to do gifts. This community is a bit chaotic and doesn't exactly inspire confidence, which is a shame because there are some truly talented people here. Given my previous explanation, the combination of a language barrier and trust issues can give me a distant vibe, do not take it personally please >.< I want to be clear that I won't be doing role-play here too. My OC is primarily for art purposes, so she's not developed enough for that, asks are the limit for now.

|Ask|

I will not respond as the Admin, but as Lysebeth, the OC I'm working on. You can still ask me things directly, just specify it's for me. To make it simpler call me Erie the name of my main OC in the fandom and I'll know you want to talk with me and not Lysebeth. No NSFW theme that will be ignored, and you can be blocked if you persist with it. It will take some time to organize answers to them. Furthermore, I'll be bending things to fit my OC's lore, so don't take anything I post as canon. Another point, I have prepared a way to answer questions with a shadow of the person who asks something. I've made a girl and a boy shapes, so if you want a specific one, just add "Random-chan" or "Random-kun" to your message, or I'll choose randomly ;D Here is an example for an anonymous ask, the name will change for non anon ask.

" Hi~ Just passing by to ask, did you meet Karleinz as a pureblood ?"

Basics rules

I want to be clear that any behavior I deem disrespectful or toxic will not be tolerated. I'm past the playground quarrels stage, so I'll just block anyone who acts that way.

I also don't allow NSFW content on my blog, so please don't sexualize my OC in interactions, asks, or fanart. She's physically a minor, so that's a big no.

I encourage people to be inspired by my art, but please don't repost it, trace it, or create blatant copies. I don't really understand the pose and color theft things that were happening at some point, but using my OC to create your own character is also a big no.

Lysebeth was created from clichés, so her design isn't totally unique. However, if a lot of her design elements are taken and used as a whole, I won't let that slide.

Concerning my way of presenting my blog, I mainly use designs derived from Diabolik Lovers. I don't own them, so feel free to use them too.

Diabolik Lovers is not for children, it way too dark and toxic. It's portraying unhealthy relationships. I will smooth that out as much as possible with Lysebeth and my art content by not including any romance or ship, but please still be careful.

[fleetwood-cheese]

Persona thief outfit breakdown: pt 2

This is a continuation of my previous post and series regarding my opinions on the phantom thieves' metaverse costumes, prompted by a poll by @waywardsalt. I will like all of these together as they're finished.

Akechi - Makoto - Sumire - Futaba - Yusuke - Akechi 2

Next up is Ann, because she was in the lead on the original poll (but not my personal pick).

Firstly, I want to come out and say that her design isn't actually all that bad; in fact, from purely a design perspective, it's one of the more solid thief outfits, and its a nice callback to the idea of cat burglars and batman's Catwoman without being a copy-paste of the idea. It's the costume's treatment and relation to her character that make it so egregious and so hated (fair enough).

With this in mind, one of the first things to change about this design is its relationship to the character. Obviously, Ann is sexually harassed, and her standing up and saying that no, she doesn't deserve that and neither did Shiho is her inciting incident to awakening a persona and becoming a phantom thief. The game tries to play her character arc as her reclaiming her sexuality, but not much of this is actually seen in how she interacts with her costume. By introducing the costume as something she's comfortable in, starting off nervous but becoming accustom to quickly, having her compare it to the anime villainesses she says she's inspired by the her confidant, and having her express this confidence in her interactions with the other thieves would go a long way for the reception of this outfit overall.

On the actual design of the costume, the most obvious things I'd change are the tail and the zippers, particularly the zipper sliders. For the tail, I HATE the way it falls perfectly between her butt cheeks, its just so uncomfortable and tasteless. I think by having it wrap around her as a belt that turns into a tail, although I'm not 100% certain how you would execute this, would be significantly better. While I do appreciate the way the zippers break up the monotony of the red suit and create a sort of visual lengthening, the way the slider and pull tabs rest directly on her nipples is incredibly tacky; i would either remove/minimize them entirely (definitely change them to a different shape instead of that awful ring) and/or change the boob window to more of a keyhole neckline. Keyholes, like the one pictured below, still allow for the color break up in the chest (and the stylish/sexy look), but raise the line so its less stopping directly in the middle of her boobs and thus directly above her nipples and instead covering more surface area of the breast.

If you wanted more of major change, I would add a jacket to her design. I'm thinking a cropped jacket in a darker red to match her boots, but a similar material to her bodysuit to keep that texture and shine; I adore the way the fabric catches and plays with the light in the in cutscenes (the in-game model ones, not the anime ones). You could also have some fun with patterns on it, perhaps of roses or some sort of feline motif. The only downside to this would be that you would have to change her gloves to accommodate it, presumably either making them wrist length or disappearing under the sleeves, and I love the long gloves as an homage to Carmen's operatic origins (although they're too short to be true opera gloves). If a jacket is incorporated, you could change the catsuit to more of a halter top-esque neckline, as it would cover her and you'd never actually have to see the open back.

Other than this, I really don't have a lot more to say about her outfit; again, I think it's a pretty solid design with a poor introduction that's been incorporated into a character that the writing does dirty in a way it helps emphasize when it could encourage her arc. Overall, I placed Panther's phantom thief outfit as 7th place out of 10 and a rough 5/10 overall.

[autumnalorigin]

[ID: the “two buttons” meme. In the first panel, a gloved hand is reaching out to a panel with two red buttons on it. The buttons are labeled “supporting content creators by reblogging their stuff” and “keeping my blogs as accessible as possible”. In the second panel, a superhero with a distressed expression is wiping sweat from his face as he looks down at the buttons. End ID]

Fellow content creators ily but pls you must understand that you’re excluding a lot of people from seeing/understanding your posts by not describing any images in them 😭

[itsmeevie01]

A Moment in Time-Ch 5

I'm back! lots of things to come, and a slightly longer, Tim centered, chapter! and...the build-up to the Timari subplot! 

Yay!

 I know that is what everyone is actually here for lol.

Tim was tired of looking for Jason.

He wasn’t at any of his normal safe houses, and none of his usual contacts had heard from him in the last few weeks. Three weeks after the ridiculous scandal had broken, the press had all but forgotten Tim for the time being. As he ducked through alleyways, the teen couldn’t help but be thankful as he climbed back on his bike and sped back towards Wayne Manor.

He was done waiting for his brother to show up. There was something sketchy going on in their city, and if Jason wasn’t going to show up, then it was no longer his concern.

When he got home, Tim found Bruce waiting for him in the study looking over the side gardens. The older C.E.O.’s face was grim.

When Tim approached the desk, Bruce handed him a stack of papers. As Tim started to page through them, he had a flashback to when Jared Stone had brought the pile of tabloids.

As he flipped through the new stack, Tim realized that it was Jason’s credit card statement. And-was that…? “did he buy a ticket for Paris? Why didn’t we get notified about his passport passing through customs? Why is Jason in France of all places?” when he looks back at his adoptive father, the man’s face was grim.

“I don’t know, Tim. But we sure as hell are going to find out. Go to his apartment. I know you have a key. We need to see if he left anything out from before he left.” Bruce paused before adding, “he’s been gone for two weeks. There has to be a reason.” Tim nodded as he moved to stride from the room before Alfred spoke, shocking both Bruce and Tim.

“Maser Bruce, did you by chance call Master Jason? Last I remember, his cell phone was still working.” The father and son froze, before turning to the family Butler, slack-jawed.

“We really are stupid.”

 Damian didn’t see anything wrong with Todd being gone. It was quieter around the Manor and it meant that the 13-year-old was allowed to patrol through Crime Alley by himself, something none of his predecessors had been able to do at his age.

As the young teen flew over the city, his mind raced. He found this the most relaxing part of his time with his father.

At the manor, there was always something going on and there was always someone looking over his shoulder. Here, as he went rooftop to rooftop, arching over this city, the boy was able to finally find some peace.

A sound over his earpiece broke Robin from his quiet elation. “Robin, how are you doing? Is everything clear?” oracle’s voice filtered through, bringing him to relax. Oracle he could handle.

“it’s a regular night, Oracle. A few of the regulars. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“perfect. Finish up and head back, B wants you back before 2 because you have school tomorrow.”

The annoyed “Tch” that came down the line made the redhead laugh from where she sat at the computer.

 Tim had texted Jason before he had left for patrol. When he got back, there was a response waiting for him.

Jason: in Paris. I’ll be back soonish

Tim: Jay, what’s soonish?

Tim: there’s a situation we need your help with.

Jason: kid, I'll be back when I can.

Jason: if B cares, tell him Gina kidnapped me. I’m staying with her right now.

Jason: otherwise, just wait. It's personal business.

Tim: Jay, we are your family. Doesn’t that make it our business too?

Jason: in this case, no. fuck off, replacement

Tim: See you when you get back Jay

 The teen sighed. It was just like Jason to try and handle everything himself. This time, Tim couldn’t play interference either, he was stuck across an ocean. He just hoped this Gina person wasn’t as impulsive as his older brother. If she was, they would all be in trouble.

 As he made his way to his room, having showered and gotten himself ready for the next day, Tim paused by his desk.

He had taken the time to compile a file on the girl from a few weeks ago but hadn’t read it yet. He knew that if he was to read it, it would be violating her privacy, but he did that every day, so was this any different? To Tim, the only difference was that this girl wasn’t someone to watch or take in. she was just a normal girl with a normal life, who had run into him for a split second.

It wasn’t like he was going to meet her, right?

The teen shook his head and flopped onto his bed. It wasn’t worth it tonight. He could have the moral debate with himself when he was properly rested.

 Maybe he should have called in sick. Tim was definitely finding a way to leave early, as he looked at the list of meetings that he had been scheduled for.

Why had he agreed to this again? He could have sworn that he had told his assistant that Wednesday was his day to go home and work on his college classes. Instead, Tim had a feeling that he was going to be at the office late.

On his off night too.

 Partway through the day, he noticed an email that he didn’t recognize in his personal inbox. The inbox that he probably shouldn’t have been checking on the company computer but…

After a moment of hesitation, the young C.E.O. had clicked on the new email and blinked at what pulled up.

  From: Mari_Beri2001@gmail.com

To: timdrakeeeee99@gmail.com

Mr. Drake,

My name is Marinette Dupain Cheng. I believe that we ran into each other quite literally a month and a half ago, approximately. As I am sure that you have at least seen the fictitious stories floating through the media, I assume that you are aware of the interaction that I am referring to.

Originally, I had no intention of reaching out, but a friend of mine encouraged me to reach out. (had actually was the one to give me your email. Does the name Jason Todd ring a bell?) I do hope that this whole press fiasco hasn’t hindered you too terribly.

Kindest Regards,

Marinette Dupain Cheng

 Tim blinked once before rereading the short email that the girl had sent. No. no way. She knew Jason? And what did she mean, Jason was the one to encourage her to reach out? Opening up a new draft, Tim hesitated before flicking his wrists to rid himself of tension and trying his reply.

 From: timdrakeeeee99@gmail.com

To: Mari_Beri2001@gmail.com

Miss Dupain Cheng,

I was surprised to receive your email, but it seems that it came at a fortunate time. Yes, I do know Jason Todd. I know him quite well, actually. He and I were adopted by the same man, Bruce Wayne. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you meet my brother?

I must apologize, for the whole scandal from last month. I know that neither of us were directly responsible, but I do feel bad for any trouble it may have caused you. If it is not too much of an intrusion, I might also ask, how were you able to respond so quickly? The only reason I knew about the incident was Bruce’s old friend Jared. The man came into my office in a fit about the nerve of the photographer.

(if you ever meet the man, you will understand what I mean when I say that he never does things halfway. He had picked up a copy of every magazine or tabloid that ran a story about it. When he came in, he actually brought his crocodile as well. Fang scared the lobby staff more than anything has for the past bit, I believe.)

I hope this finds you well,

Timothy Drake Wayne

 After reading through his email one more time to make sure it sounded professional enough, Tim hit the send button and let out a deep breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that this was the start of something important.

Suddenly, Tim was very glad he hadn’t read the girl’s file.

 As he was preparing to head to yet another meeting later that afternoon, Tim glanced at his personal email again. To his surprise, the teen was met with another email from the French girl.

 From: Mari_Beri2001@gmail.com

To: timdrakeeeee99@gmail.com

Mr. Drake (or is it Drake Wayne?)

Jason was sitting next to me when I opened your last email. Imagine my surprise when he panicked. Apparently, he had decided against informing any of his family of his departure. I must say, his reaction was quite entertaining.

Onto your question from your email, Penny Rolling, a good friend of mine, dropped off a box full of the tabloid trash that her husband, Jagged had shipped to her as soon as she got it. After my initial reaction, the two of us got a good laugh out of the whole situation. Especially when we heard that Jagged tried to bring Fang into your office! I guess to you, he would be Jared, but to me, he will always be my Uncle Jagged.

In other news, I thought it would be polite to pass on that Jason will be returning in the next few days. He has been fretting over a family emergency, not that he will tell me what it is but, there is only so much I can do. However, I thought it might be prudent to forewarn you that he will be bringing my grandmother back with him. Nona said it was something to do with one of his ‘side hustles’. Knowing those two, however, makes me think that Jason has gotten himself into something significantly illegal this time.

No need to apologize for something that neither of us could control! You did not ask for the photographer to take that ridiculous photo, nor did you ask for the fiction writers who work for the tabloids to write a piece of the photo. That said, I do feel that it has opened many new avenues. I know that Jason and I reconnected because of the photo, and it has given my lawyers something to focus on while we wait on proceedings for other matters.

Have a good day,

Marinette Dupain Cheng

 Jason was coming home sooner than he planned. It seemed like Tim’s text had actually gotten through to his older brother.

With a sigh, he marked the email as important so that he would remember to respond to it before he started on his homework.

The teen C.E.O. snagged his thermos of coffee on the way out the door, he had a meeting to go to.

And...there it is! this week I'm going to try and work out my posting schedule. what did everyone think of the emails?

  i know that there are a lot more people in the Wayne/bat family, so I'm going to work them in a little bit at a time. as far as Dick Grayson is concerned, btw he knows about the scandal but not about Jason's sister or that he's not in Gotham.

MasterPost

Tag List

@moonlitceleste @redscarlet95 @ultimatetornshipper @mochegato @liquid-luck-00 @maskedpainter 

@trippingovermyfeet @nathleigh @m0chick0furan @susiej1118@t1dwarrior-of-earth

[stormtide-leviathan]

Kaldheim Booster Challenge

I posted this on reddit, if you’d rather check it out there, but I wanted to share it here too b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶'̶m̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶i̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.

In the third great designer search, there was a challenge to pick a set and make a booster pack full of custom cards that fit in that set. I’ve started doing this for sets since Zendikar rising, and wanted to continue that tradition here. Why am I doing this so late after the release of Kaldheim? Cause shuttup, that’s why >:(

Here’s the link to the full imgur album. There are also individual imgur links even though there are images, cause reddit doesn’t allow images directly and I’m copy/pasting from there.

Anyway, let’s get started! (Long post ahead)

Common #1:

Divine Goat 3W

Creature- Goat

W, Sacrifice ~: You gain 3 life.

Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.

Here’s a top down design, based on Thor’s goats that pulled his chariot and were sacrificed for food every night and reborn in the morning. Originally the recursion triggered based on Vehicles, but with two other vehicle cards in the booster including the other white common, one had to go and this was the best option, but I still liked the flavor so I went with another of white’s themes.

Common #2:

Dwarven Elder 2W

Creature- Dwarf Warrior

Whenever ~ crews a Vehicle, draw a card.

2/2

The fabled white card draw. Yes, I am your savior. Your messiah. Bow before my wisdom. I could technically see this design in either white or blue, but I liked white better and white cares more about vehicles anyway. I based the costing off Stealer of Secrets. This doesn’t put itself in danger, but relies much more on deck building to activate.

Common #3:

Ambusher Giant 5U

Creature- Giant Warrior

Flash

Foretell 3U (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

4/4

Foretell works really well with instant speed, so I thought a big instant speed creature would be a good fit. Since blue has a giant tribal theme, and is one of the main colors for foretell, it was an obvious fit.

Common #4:

Heated Rebuttal 1U

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2. They can’t spend S to pay this cost. (S is mana from a snow source.)

Here’s another snow hate card. What I really wanted to do with this was discourage running snow basics where you don’t have to, and though we have the god in the set that does this I think this is an issue that’s solved with both quality and quantity. I wasn’t sure on the power level of this for standard purposes, but I’d rather this more pushed version than be too weak and have it not do anything against snow.

Common #5:

Shapeshifter’s Trickery 1U

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant Creature

Enchanted creature gets +1/+0, is every creature type, and can’t be blocked.

Not too much to say here really. This is good for the tribal synergies in the set, and is just an innocuous little aura for limited. Not everything is gonna be pushing boundaries.

Common #6:

Draugr Fleshchewer 1B

Snow Creature- Zombie Berserker

Whenever Draugr Fleshchewer attacks, mill two cards. If a snow card was milled this way, Draugr Fleshchewer gains menace until end of turn.

2/2

This originally worked with the “exile a creature card from your graveyard” subtheme, but I had to change this to snow and I couldn’t get a good snowy design that used that mechanic. So instead, it fuels it. I also wanted to have another card that cares about the existence of snow instants/sorceries because they were introduced this set and the number of cards that only work with snow permanent cards when they don’t have to is strange.

Common #7:

Arrogant Stand 3R

Sorcery

Creatures without a boast ability can’t block this turn.

Here’s a simple little card that plays around with the flavorful space of boast. You have to be very full of yourself to stand up to the oncoming attack.

Common #8:

Winterdark Ritual 2R

Snow Instant

Add three mana of any one color.

Foretell R (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

Is the name completely on the nose? Absolutely. And I find that hilarious. This is taking advantage of the fact that foretell is payed in multiple payments to turn that into mana storage. And it’s snow, because snow rituals are new to the set, play well, and I don’t think it makes it too powerful, though this has a lot of little factors to it that might push it over the edge. Any number of them could easily be tweaked though.

Common #9:

Blessing of Koma G

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature has “T: Add one mana of any color.”

2, Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.

This card is secretly also a snow card. The intention is, you can enchant snow creatures with it to get extra snow mana. However, it’s not snow itself because a) I thought that made for a cool moment of discovery and b) If it was snow, a lot of players would mistakenly think the mana is snow whether or not the creature it enchants is.

Common #10:

Boulderskin Troll 3G

Creature- Troll Warrior

When ~ dies, search your library for a Forest or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.

3/2

I really wanted this card to be red. See, the legend goes that when a troll goes out in the sun it turns into rock and I thought tutoring for a Mountain when it died would be a good way to do that. However, I just couldn’t find a good way to do that which felt red, so I had to make this green. Luckily red/green are the troll colors so it could still find a mountain. I specifically chose nonbasic so that it could synergize with the snow duals at common.

Uncommon #1:

Immerstrum Berserker 3BB

Creature- Demon Berserker

Boast- 2B: ~ gains lifelink until end of turn. (Activate this ability only once each turn and only if this creature attacked this turn.)

Boast- 1B: Each opponent discards a card. (You may activate both boasts in a single turn.)

5/3

It has two boasts. Ya know how most creatures only have one boast, if any? Well not this, it has two. That’s it. That’s the design.

Uncommon #2:

Master Shipcrafter 1R

Creature- Dwarf Artificer

1R: ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Whenever a creature you control crews a Vehicle for the first time each turn, that Vehicle gains that creature’s activated abilities until end of turn.

0/2

There’s this weird tension in the set where R/W both encourages you to play a lot of vehicles, and has a lot of boast creatures, which do not work well at all together. This card is an attempt to fix that. Originally it just worked with boast, #notallactivatedabilities, but that was an extremely narrow card so I widened the scope. There’s certainly some weird combos you can do with this, but nothing too bad in limited though.

Uncommon #3:

Ring of Kinship 2

Artifact- Equipment

Equipped creature gets +1/+1

Creature spells you cast that share a creature type with equipped creature cost 1 less to cast.

Equip 1

I’m a big fan of equipment and auras that have a universal effect that cares about a quality of the equipped creature. I dunno why, but it tickles me. Creature type is a good thing to care about on designs like this though, and I wanted both an equipment and a tribal reward in the booster, so it was a good fit.

Rare:

Kvasha, God of Magic 3UU

Legendary Creature- God

Flying

When ~ enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying for each enchantment you control and each enchantment card in your graveyard.

Sacrifice a Spirit: You may cast spells as though they have flash this turn.

Kvasha’s Birth 2GW

Enchantment- Saga

I, II: Until your next turn, whenever ~ or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.

III: Mill six cards. Exile ~ then return it to the battlefield face-up.

I’m genuinely really sad they didn’t do a god with a saga as its backside, it could have been really cool. So I made one myself!! I wanted it to at least be feasible as a commander for a Saga deck, and since Kaldheim has a lot of enchantments running around I figured it could use an enchantress like this. The tricky part was, I had to make a blue card that could also feasibly be a selesnya card, since the saga turns into it. It also works well with the tribal themes and the spirit subtype in the set, though that’s more of a bonus than anything else. If you’re wondering why this card looks different, that’s for two reasons. One, I can’t make Sagas on MSE. And two, this overlapped nicely with the Inventor’s Fair contest of the week on tumblr, which I use mtg.design for since it’s easier to get links that way. (Check them out! @inventors-fair​ That contest is what finally pushed me to finish this booster).

Basic:

Snow-Covered Swamp

Snow Land- Swamp

T: Add B.

Look, it's a snow-covered swamp. I needed a snasic in here. I dunno what else you want from me.

So there we go!! Finally!! The booster challenge that took weeks longer than it should have. What do you think of the designs? Do you think they would fit well within Kaldheim? If not, how could I fix them? Also I probably made a formatting mistake somewhere in here so if you notice like, a wrong link or something let me know. Also, if you want me to tackle an old set feel free to request it, though since this took me weeks for some reason I can’t make any promises lol.

Here’s boosters I’ve done before:

- Zendikar Rising: Reddit

- Commander Legends: Reddit // Tumblr

[technicallycleverdetective]

Bathtime

The first in what I hope will be a short series of Kitbull fics :) This is set directly after the short when they arrive at their new home. I hope it provides an enjoyable read for someone.

Hazel had spent the past week looking for the little black kitten, always returning home with a frustrated scowl on her face. When Frank looked out of the window and saw his partner smiling as she stepped out of the car, he knew the mission had been a success and could only be relieved. He didn’t like to see her so worried, although that was an occupational hazard when your girlfriend was such an animal lover. Only a few months ago they had sent their foster puppy on to a forever home, and when Hazel had reported seeing a tiny stray kitten on the street, Frank had known that their hearts and home would soon be opened to another abandoned baby.

 “Did you find your little cat?” he asked, stepping onto the driveway.

 “I did,” she replied cheerfully. “I managed to persuade her to come back with me, but she didn’t want to leave her little friend so he’s here too.”

 Two cats? Well, as long as they didn’t fight, he decided as he approached the back door of the car. He looked inside and launched backwards in horror. There was no sign of a kitten in there, but an enormous ugly pitbull took up most of the back seat. It had visible wounds across its body and had evidently been in a number of fights.

 “What is that?” he demanded.

 “Don’t panic, he’s very friendly,” Hazel said. She reached into the back seat and Frank stared in disbelief. She was putting her hands near that vicious thing? The dog didn’t move to attack, however, and Hazel stood up with a black kitten in her arms. “Can you hold her for me?” she requested. Frank opened his arms and the kitten was deposited into them. She was adorable, so small and fragile, with fur that was matted with dirt and amber eyes that blinked suspiciously up at him.

 He looked up to see Hazel coaxing the pitbull out of the car, rubbing its head as it dropped to the ground. It looked up at her and started wagging its tail. Hazel led the way into the house and brought the dog through to their enclosed garden. She opened the door, but instead of running off to the lawn, it turned around and stared up at her. Its tail was still wagging and its mouth hung open, as if it was waiting for something.

 “He must be waiting for his friend. Put the cat down” Hazel suggested. Frank did as instructed and the kitten scurried outside. The dog turned and followed it down the garden. Frank and Hazel remained by the kitchen window, watching them. The dog was bolting in circles around the lawn, constantly checking over its shoulder to see if its tiny pursuer was close behind. It was remarkable to see such a strong, aggressive animal playing happily with one so small and weak.

 “What are we going to do with them?” Frank asked. Hazel nibbled on her thumb, looking at the animals rather than him. “I thought about it in the car,” she admitted. “We could find a home for the kitten, but even that’s fraught. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t consider a black cat for some superstitious reason and I’d be afraid of her falling into the wrong hands.”

 “I know” Frank agreed, putting an arm around her shoulder.

 “As for him, forget about it. Nobody will want him. Most people are suspicious of pitbulls on sight, and I know we’re not immune from that.”

 She glanced at him with a wry smirk. He shrugged self-consciously. “I was afraid when I saw him too,” Hazel assured him. “But as soon as he knew I meant no harm, he melted like butter. And you can see how close they are to each other.”

 “You want to keep them both” Frank guessed, a statement rather than a question. Hazel smiled. “It would feel wrong to separate them. I imagine they only had each other for company on the streets. I think we could give them a good home, if you’re up for that.”

 Frank sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable, and kissed his girlfriend’s head. “I’m up for that,” he said. “But they need a bath before they’re allowed back in the house.”

 Frank was sent out to get everything they needed for a good scrubbing, while Hazel stayed behind to watch the animals. He returned promptly to find her cross-legged on the grass with the dog resting by her side. The kitten was a short distance away, playing with a stuffed tiger that was bigger than she was.

 “I knew keeping those old toys would come in handy one day” Hazel declared.

 “Where do you want to start?” Frank asked. She looked between the two and then patted the dog. He lifted his head and rolled onto his stomach, once more panting hopefully, and closed his eyes when Hazel stroked his ears. He looked like he was smiling.

 “Let’s start with this big guy. It’ll take longer and I think it’ll be helpful for us to get used to each other. Besides, that one is pretty caught up with her toy.”

 The dog was very compliant. Hazel only had to gesture him forward to make him follow. He’d clearly been well-trained by whoever owned him before, and Frank didn’t know why someone who’d gone to the trouble of training an obedient dog would then leave them on the streets. He eyed the scars marring the pitbull’s white coat and wondered if they’d been caused before or after he was abandoned. They left the back door open so the kitten could come and go as she pleased, and brought the pitbull into their downstairs bathroom. He looked around in confusion, but didn’t seem distressed. Hazel stepped into the walk-in shower and turned on the jet, waiting for the water to turn warm before she encouraged the dog to come in.

 He yelped and flinched from the water at first, but Hazel spoke softly and reassuringly, gently rubbing water over his back until he got used to the sensation. Frank was posted outside the shower to hand in shampoo and brushes. The dog shivered unhappily and gave a half-bark when his scars were first touched, but Hazel’s careful touch finally started to pay off and he relaxed from a standing position to lying on the floor of the shower.

 Hazel was scrubbing yet another round of shampoo into his fur, and the dog was by now reclining fully on his side and willing to let her do whatever she pleased, when Frank became aware of an anxious mewing on the other side of the bathroom door. He turned and opened the door, and the black kitten walked inside and went straight up to the shower door. Frank closed the door and she began to mew again, abandoning her post to scratch at the wood. He opened it once more and instead of leaving, the cat went back to the shower and sat down in front of it, watching the dog through the glass.

 “Are you here to support your friend?” Hazel cooed.

 “Maybe to make fun of him,” Frank suggested. “It’ll be your turn soon, kid.”

 “I’m almost finished with him now. Last rinse and then we can dry you off with a nice fluffy towel.”

 Frank went to the hot press to get that fluffy towel ready for action. Hazel washed the last bits of shampoo off the dog- who now seemed to be appreciating all the attention, judging by his closed eyes and contented expression- and let him enjoy the warm water for a few seconds more before switching it off and taking the towel. She rubbed it all over his body, head and legs before draping it over him like a cape.

 “Let’s go, baby.”

 She and the dog stepped out of the shower and padded to the hallway. The kitten followed at their heels and Frank brought up the rear. He left the trio heading towards the living room and went up to the second floor bathroom, running a shallow bath of warm water for the cat, and then returned downstairs to fetch her. Hazel was still brushing the dog’s hair and his tongue was lolling happily. Frank scooped up the kitten and brought her upstairs, bracing for the wails and claws that were sure to come.

 She must not have had much experience with water because she didn’t respond until she touched it, at which point all hell broke loose. She shrieked and flailed, trying to leap out of the tub, but she was too small to overcome the white wall that stood between her and safety. Frank attempted to copy Hazel’s example, speaking soothingly and trying to pour warm water over her back, but she lashed out with her claws if his hand came near. Finally she realised there was no way out, and stood with her back arched in the centre of the tub, hissing furiously. Clearly this was a betrayal that would take some time to forgive.

 Frank was startled by a thump behind him and turned to see the bathroom door had been nudged wide open, and the pitbull stood there. He padded over to the bath and placed his head on the rim, gazing sympathetically at the ragged kitten within. A change came over her at once. She lowered her back and stared up at him with huge eyes. Frank cautiously poured a handful of water over her back and she flinched in surprise, but allowed him to do it again, and slowly relaxed. She put up no resistance to the shampoo or brush that followed, simply staring up at the dog as if everything was alright now that he was here.

 When the bath was over and the kitten wrapped in a little towel of her own, the pitbull turned and followed them back out of the bathroom and downstairs. Frank managed only three good scrubs to dry her before she jumped out of his lap and went to join her canine pal, rubbing her still wet body against his legs.

 “They really are very close to each other,” he remarked in wonder. “You’re right, we have to keep both of them. That little one would scratch our faces to ribbons if we separated them.”

 “They need names,” Hazel said. “Any ideas?”

 “Nothing original,” Frank admitted. “Ebony, Midnight, Shadow, Sooty…Something like that for the cat.” “I like Shadow.” “Okay, Shadow. That’s nice. What about the dog?”

 “Rocky,” she said at once. “He just looks like a Rocky, doesn’t he?”

 “Rocky it is then.”

  They looked at the two new members of their family. Rocky was lying on his stomach and Shadow had somehow managed to climb onto his head, and was balancing there. The humans’ home and hearts had already expanded to accommodate them, and while learning experiences were surely ahead for all four, there was a quiet confidence in the room. They could make it work.

[jaybug-jabbers]

All-Glitch Pokemon Blue Run Pt5: Ghosting Through Town

June,

How wonderful! The creature you've run across is a very common glitchmon species. Missingno. were among the very first glitchmon to be discovered, in fact. As I have plenty of specimens, I encourage you to keep your new Fractal on your team.

The phenomenon you've described of your first Missingno. specimen reverting to a Rhydon is well-known but poorly understood. It's thought, however, that the pokeball's programming sometimes grows 'confused' by glitchmon and may reject their proper capture. Oddly, with repeated capture attempts, the problem seems to usually vanish. With that in mind, you should remember to always try and capture multiple specimens of a glitch species, if possible.

Your sudden fortune with the rare candies is another side-effect of encountering Missingno. We're not sure how, but these creatures seem to have a powerful impact on the environment around them. There have been many reports of objects being duplicated in their presence.

In fact, this presents us with a unique opportunity. There's a trick I'd like you to try and perform, since you've been lucky enough to find Missingno. This is fairly advanced, so I'm attaching a set of very precise directions for you to follow. Please follow them exactly; any deviations and you could end up in a rather sticky situation. This method involves taking advantage of the influence Missingno. can have on objects, which in some cases can have extremely dramatic results. Give it a shot, and get back to me when you can.

-Professor

---

Professor,

What on this good green Earth is going on?

I followed your directions. They sounded pretty nuts, honestly. I mean, how could messing around with the stuff I carry in my backpack, adding or removing items in a certain order, and then just being around Missingno., actually do anything? I thought maybe you were losing your mind.

Then crazy crap started happening and I thought maybe I was losing my mind. Stuff was pouring out of my bag like the thing was bottomless. There's no way I had room in there for all that crap no matter how well it was packed. Not to mention I had never put those things in there to begin with. And some of the things I pulled out of that bag? I have no clue what they even were. I touched one of them and it lit up like a disco ball, flashing these blinding lights for a while. I touched another one and I immediately felt sick and blacked out for a minute. When I came to, it looked like the world around me was all jumbled up, the path I was on was jagged, and everything just looked messed up.

I did it, though. I got the item you wanted me to find and then Teleported back to the Pokecenter. It's weird. The item looks like a pokemon potion of some kind, in those little squirt-bottles, but it's . . . different. The liquid in there looks all shiny and metallic, almost like it's liquid mercury. It smells super weird, too, and makes me feel a little dizzy. It's definitely not any kind of medicine I've ever seen.

After I "fixed" my backpack so it stopped spitting out weird, spooky objects and it had gone back to normal, I put the funky potion back into it. What should I do now?

---

June,

Good work. But please, next time, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING except what I tell you to. You're lucky that passing out for a minute was the worst thing that happened. You see, when you manipulated the objects in your backpack in Missingno.'s presence, you opened up a small hole into a pocket universe. The items you found were from that universe. Many of them are not stable and can be very dangerous if mishandled. However, I'm glad to hear you retrieved the object I directed you to.

What you have in your possession is an item capable of something I've termed the Rival's Effect. When the time comes, I want you to spray some of that potion on yourself. If you're lucky, you'll temporarily become invisible and partially incorporeal. You should be able to pass through solid objects for a brief time.

I know how strange this sounds. But I've been steering you correct so far, so please continue to trust me. I'd like you to use this item for a very special mission. I have reports that indicate that trainers who spend a lot of time around the pokemon Ditto tend to have a higher chance of contacting glitch pokemon. I want you to try this out yourself. The unfortunate thing is that Ditto live in very specific habitats, namely the routes just outside of Fuchsia City. The fortunate thing is with your special potion, the trip over to Fuchsia can be made a lot less arduous of a journey.

Are you up for the walk? I've charted the trek on your map. Also, you'll want a powerful pokemon by your side on this walk. I recommend feeding some of those extra candies to Abra.

-Professor

---

Professor,

That waiver you made me sign before I started on this journey is starting to make a lot more sense now.

The walk really wasn't so bad, though, surprisingly. Sure, I wasn't crazy about spraying myself with a toxin from a pocket universe that made me temporarily incorporeal, but at least I only had to do it a couple times-- once in Cerulean to slip past a wall, and once at Silence Bridge to get past a massive Snorlax that just wouldn't budge.

After I mucked around with Ditto for a while, I teleported back to Cerulean. And there, at Nugget Bridge, I met . . . this.

It looked like a little dust cloud and was whipping up the air all around it. I captured it after throwing a ridiculous number of balls at it-- the thing sure is hard to hit-- but it transformed into a Rhydon just like the last time with Missingno. Does this mean you want me to walk all the way back to Fuschia so I can mess with Dittos again and meet another one of these glitchmon? Because somehow I think that’s exactly what you’re gonna say.

-June

---

Glitchdex #: BF/191

Family: Normal/Normal

Type(s): Normal/Normal

Species Keyword: TORNADO

Dex Entry: Nobody has seen this POKEMON directly. It hides in the eye of a storm and creates tornadoes with wind speeds up to a million miles per hour.

---

End Notes

Glitches used/mentioned in this post:

* Dry Item Underflow allows you to ‘underflow’ the items in your bag, giving you access to many glitch items. The map distortion is due to a trick that loops the map and allows you to cycle through glitch items to the item you wish

* Rival’s Effect, a class of glitch item that allows the player to pass through normally impassable tiles 

* The ‘Extended Mew Trick/Ditto Trick,’  letting a Ditto copy a player’s pokemon and using that pokemon’s Special stat to correlate to a given glitch pokemon while using the Trainer Escape glitch

* I also briefly mention glitch item hex 69, which makes pretty flashing lights. Nice.

Click for the next part of the series!

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Nov 23, 2019.

[jonayedhasan]

Fiverr Review - We Become a Seller on Fiverr - Very Good Experience Indeed!

In Part 1 of our check out Fiverr, we checked out the origin of Fiverr and the way you as a network marketing entrepreneur can use the services purchasable on Fiverr to your network marketing advantage.

To fully understand the Fiverr experience, we wanted to ascertain what it had been like selling on Fiverr. So, in November we established a free account (all the accounts are liberal to establish).

Two days after our first gig was posted, we had a purchase , and that we need to say, it had been a really cool experience! Since then we've actually filled 36 orders and have earned money and have moved up to be a preferred "#1 Provider." Now we do not plan on making Fiverr a big sort of income, but it's a legitimate platform for further network marketing possibilities (described below).

Selling on Fiverr - What Would you are doing For $4?

While the vendor spends $5 per basic gig, once you are a seller on Fiverr, you simply make $4 of that. Fiverr takes 20% right off the highest , so you're actually working for $4 per gig. OK, so why would you would like to undertake and earn a meager $4 for doing something which may take some real effort? What if it took you half-hour of your time to try to to something for $4. you're doing something which will not even qualify as wage .

Plus, how within the heck does one get found therein massive data base, especially once you , as a newbie, need to be chosen out of the vast army of fellow "Fiverr-ites" looking to beat you out for that modest $4 (or less)?

Well, it isn't as bleak as all of that. Fiverr features a vast forum and lots of blogs through their customer service department on the way to get noticed, and move up within the ranks. Remember, your average gig after you're established might be significantly quite just $5. In our case, as we went up within the rankings, we now have additional "gigs" we will offer to $40 per gig. that's a true opportunity to form some money.

However, the foremost important angle of Fiverr (in our humble opinion) is there's also the likelihood you'll meet someone in another business that makes alliances outside of Fiverr that you simply may never have encountered. Those connections are worth tons . We've made a number of those connections and for that time alone, our Fiverr experience as a seller has been well well worth the effort.

Signing up to be a Fiverr seller is straightforward (and free) to try to to and getting your gig in situ will take some thought - there's limited space for a title and you would like to be good at keyword tags. Here is where you writing skills will assist you out.

Fiverr Selling Success Is About Copy-Writing Skills and Tags like network marketing, your skills at copy writing are imperative. you've got 1,200 words to explain what you'll do for your Fiverr gig, which isn't tons of words. Your Fiverr title must be exact and on the mark. You'll even be given the power to connect tags to your Fiverr gig, and once more , be exacting in your use of keywords so you'll be found.

You have the choice of employing a video of up to 60 seconds, and this is often imperative for fulfillment . Fiverr states that you simply increase your odds of selling something by 220% in using an "introductory video". we do not skills they computed that statistic, but we are in agreement that videos offers an insight to a prospective Fiverr buyer that words and a picture cannot do. If you are doing plan to sell on Fiverr, USE A VIDEO as a part of your gig!

One frustrating aspect of making a title for your gig is Fiverr says you've got 80 spaces to figure with, which isn't really true. Their system won't allow a title past 50 spaces. Fiverr is trying to stay the titles from being overwhelming and with the amount of Fiverr members advertising, the sheer size of long titles would be unwieldy and cumbersome on the results. during this way, we'll give the advantage of the doubt to Fiverr who is trying to help you as a Fiverr member to be succinct.

We get the purpose - tell visitors what they'll get and grab their attention. While we wanted more in our Fiverr title, we had to hone our thinking to be very focused on what we said, and within the end, keeping our headline short is perhaps in everyone's best interest.

As we stated, we view the Fiverr selling experience as a kind of experiment to ascertain how it works, but the connections you'll make are well worth the effort, and that we view any income we make to be a bonus. We take the view here:

Your experience as a Fiverr seller should be with a wider long range goal in mind. As a network marketing entrepreneur, by experiencing how Fiverr works on the selling side you'll expose your skill sets to new people you've got never met and is not that what network marketing and making money online is all about? Future alliances from meeting new people can bring synergy to your network marketing business.

So, what proportion are you able to make on Fiverr? The "secret" like network marketing is not any secret: diligence , correct use of copy-writing skills and persistence to understand what to try to to .

As you sell on Fiverr and obtain more gigs, you'll move up in volume. whenever you increase your sales, you achieve new levels in Fiverr, with additional benefits.

Here may be a summary of the amount from the Fiverr site:

Level One - you have been active on the location for 30 days and completed a minimum of 10 orders while maintaining excellent ratings and an excellent diary . You'll automatically be promoted to Level One. At this Level, you'll gain additional features making it easier for you to supply more advanced services and generate higher income.

Level One features include: ExtraFast Gig Extra / 2X Gig Extras ($5, $10, $20) / Gig Multiples (max. 4)

Level Two - You remodeled 50 orders within the past two months while maintaining excellent ratings and a solid diary . You'll automatically be promoted to Level Two, unlocking advanced sales tools to further expand your services and increase your sales. You'll also receive priority support.

Level Two features include: ExtraFast Gig Extra / 3X Gig Extras ($5, $10, $20, $40) / Gig Multiples (max. 8) / Priority Support

Top Rated Seller - Top Rated Sellers are manually chosen by Fiverr editors. Promotion is predicated on the subsequent criteria: Seniority, volume of sales, extremely high rating, exceptional customer care, and community leadership. As a Top Rated Seller, you'll gain access to more extensive sales tools, early access to beta features, and receive VIP support.

Top Rated Seller features include: ExtraFast Gig Extra / 4X Gig Extras ($5, $10, $20, $40, $100) / Gig Multiples (max. 20) / VIP Support

Conclusions About Fiverr

We are in an exciting time on the web . the very fact that a site like Fiverr can exist and be as big because it is in just 4 short years is pretty astounding. But then, today's global economy is merely getting to get larger because the technology to expand keeps moving at the speed of thought and therefore the ability to maneuver faster keeps accelerating.

What else is out there like Fiverr? There are sites shooting up that are therein $5 range, et al. that have different price points and structure. Here are five such sites:

GigBucks - the most important point GigBucks has over Fiverr is that gigs are often priced between the range of $5 to $50. Sellers even have the choice of getting paid via Payza and credit cards. Like Fiverr, joining is completely free, and you'll post as many gigs as you would like .

Seoclerks - Seoclerks may be a large and busy platform for all things associated with SEO and Internet Marketing. If you're looking to shop for or sell during this niche, it's an excellent Fiverr alternative and it's going to even be a far better option for you than Fiverr. Not only does the location get plenty of traffic, it allows the widest range of cash you'll invite your gigs, from $1 to $999. Payments are made via PayPal, Payee, and Alertpay/Payza.

Taskarmy - Taskarmy might not be as popular as a number of the opposite micro jobs sites, but they struggle to avoid the bidding wars and poor work quality that's so prevalent on Fiverr and its alternatives. All sellers are screened and manually approved before they will be listed and that they are encouraged to list competitive, yet more realistic prices for his or her services. there's a particular sense of order and professionalism on this site, and it's definitely something to see out for both buyers and sellers.

Zeerk - the simplest part about Zeerk is that you simply can charge anywhere from $2 to $100 per gig. there's also no commission and no fees. Sellers are paid through PayPal and Alertpay/Payza directly by the customer .

Fourerr - Fourerr is extremely almost like the new Fiverr in both the design and feel. But, because the name suggests, gigs start at $4. Sellers even have the power to feature gig extras for various small amounts, and there's a scoring system also . the sole real reason to undertake out Fourerr is that it's a reasonably popular platform. So, if you would like to expand your reach, this is often the sole one among the Fiverr clones which will be worth finding out .

Set-up your selling gigs on Fiverr or a number of theses alternatives but always offer value and follow through and you can also achieve success during this arena.

contact us.

[elsaclack]

Hiii so I love your fics, and I wanted to know if you have any tips for a newbie Archive of Our Own user? 💙

omg HI YOU’RE SO SWEET I’M

okay so!!! i’m not sure if you’re only new to ao3 or if you’re new to fic writing in general and i don’t want to come across as condescending so!!! i’m just gonna assume you’re new to ao3 only, and if you aren’t and you’re looking for more general writing tips feel free to send me another ask!!! i’m more than happy to help however i can :)

i’ll also be SUPER honest and say that sometimes i still feel like i’m trying to figure ao3 out,,,,,,,i originally started on ff.n and the functionalities were a little bit different and took a LOT of time getting used to so sometimes i feel like my dad when i’m trying to show him something on my phone and he moves my phone back 3 feet and makes That Face u kno the one

ANYWAYS the most important thing you can do as a new writer on ao3 is to tag the living CRAP out of your fics, first and foremost because that’s how people will be able to find your writing even after it’s no longer on the first page. that’s something i’m still trying to get better at - as u’ve probably noticed i tend to ramble about Literally Nothing in the tags of most of my fics and obviously that doesn’t really tell a new reader much about the content of the fic itself. tags are almost as important as the summary (which SUCKS because those are the two things i’m worst at after STUPID DUMB TITLES so if you struggle with any of those just know that you are DEFINITELY not alone) PLUS!! if it’s a multi-chap fic and you’re only posting one chapter at a time, the tags will let readers know what to expect, which builds trust in the story and in you as a writer as well. i can’t tell you how many times people told me they would have stopped reading my cancer au if not for the “angst with a happy ending” tag i had on ao3!!! 

as for the more logistical side of things, i tend to write most of my fics either directly to this hellsite or in a google doc and then copy and paste them over to ao3 - i usually switch to Rich Text mode (as that allows me to just highlight text and click italics rather than writing in the code to do it in HTML mode) and read through it once before clicking Post Without Preview. i tried clicking Preview once and ao3 glitched and ate my whole fic (which wasn’t That Big Of A Deal except i’d gone in and touched up a few places after copying and pasting it so i didn’t have a copy of the newly edited version and i was So Mad so now i don’t trust it lmao)

ANYWAYS another important thing: try not to pay too much attention to your comment/kudos counts. like obviously the comments are important in that they are so validating and encouraging and at least for me they really inspire me to keep writing, but the actual numbers themselves don’t really matter that much. write and post what makes you happy for however long it makes you happy; as long as you love what you’re writing, it’s brilliant and wonderful and perfect exactly the way it is. i’ve been fortunate and lucky enough to write for a fandom that responds pretty positively to what i write, and while i do draw inspiration from that, the main underlying current to my motivation to write is that it’s something i really want to do. it makes me so happy, it literally lifts my entire mindset - it doesn’t matter if a fic gets 2 kudos or 2000, if it makes me happy i consider it a successful fic. the same thing applies to every other fic writer out there - you included!!! avoid that stats page like the plague (i know i do) and you’ll be so much happier in the long run on ao3 :)

i have more but i’m not sure how detailed you’re wanting to get - let me know if you’re looking for more technical explanation or encouragement or anything else relating to writing/ao3!!! i really really hope this helps!!!

[parisiansulfur]

How Not To Commit Art Theft

Because this is tumblr and people can’t read, I’m gonna start this entire post by saying this:

I DO NOT BELIEVE PEOPLE WHO COMMIT ART THEFT IN 2K18 ARE DOING SO MALICIOUSLY. I SINCERELY BELIEVE PEOPLE SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS WRONG, AND THAT NO ONE IS DOING THESE THINGS TO BE AN JERK OR BECAUSE THEY WANNA STEAL. 

Good? 

Read that again.

Alright, let’s move on.

So, art theft. People get accused of art theft a lot, especially now, especially on tumblr, especially in relationship to anime and manga fandom. Let’s talk about what is and what is not art theft.

In the past, art theft (especially on DeviantArt) was a thing where Person A would post an image, and Person B would trace it or color over it or do some other sort of manipulation to it (or not! people are crazy), then post it as original art. Someone would accuse Person B of art theft, Person B would argue that they changed the art significantly enough that it wasn’t theft (or not, who knows), and then there would be Drama.

This isn’t at all what I’m talking about.

Art theft in 2k18 is different than in 1998.

Art theft in 2k18 looks like this:

I’m using this as an example, and while I realize this looks like a callout post, it’s not meant to be a callout. But I need some sort of indication to show. No falsified example is going to show exactly what the problem is as clearly and precisely as something that is exactly the problem. (To point, I have tried, through multiple channels, to get in touch with the person from this blog, to no avail. So on we go.)

Let’s call this a teachable moment. Let’s call this a chance to be better. Let’s call this an example in a fandom that is, frankly, fraught with this kind of stuff. 

Let’s call this an explanation of why art theft is so prevalent and common that it can be hard to recognize.

Moving on.

“How is this Art Theft?” you demand.

Well, chitlins, gather round.

Here’s the source of the screenshot above:

http://grimtwin.tumblr.com/post/177119081910/summer-twins

Let’s look at this image. This is an image, posted on a blog that is not owned by the artist. The blue text underneath is a text, which leads here: 

https://twitter.com/yuyu_hamu86/status/1021016848622481409

If you click on that, you can go to the artist’s twitter page, with the image: 

So how is posting a picture on tumblr art theft? 

First, let’s talk about what was done.

The person who posted this on tumblr went onto this twitter page, downloaded/saved the image, then went back to Tumblr, uploaded it, posted a link with the translated name beneath (the artist’s name is NOT in the link), added some tags (including the artist’s twitter handle as a tag), and posted it.

Now, let’s talk about what this means. As of this posting, the tumblr post has 1310 notes. The artist’s post, on twitter (this particular artist also has a pixiv account, but this image was not posted there) has 563 retweets, and 1643 likes, for a combined total notes of 2206 notes. 

The tumblr page has 1310 notes that the actual artist will never see.

“So what?” you might say. “It’s exposure, and there’s a link to their twitter. What’s the problem?” 

Well, for starters, don’t just decide for someone else what they want and don’t want. Artists who want their art shared are pretty vocal about it, but for the most part, most artists clearly state: Do not reupload onto other sites. Most image sharing sites like Pixiv (a closed service, meaning you need to have an account, agree to the Terms of Service, and be logged in to view images) clearly have it in said Terms of Service to not do exactly what was done above, to the point that Pixiv has it as the second point in a highlighted section at the very top of their Terms of Service that you must not repost an artist’s work without permission:

So even if you willfully ignore both the will of the hosting site and the requests of the artist, even if the art is posted somewhere without a terms of service, and even if the artist doesn’t explicitly say 'please don’t reupload my art elsewhere,’ the best policy is to move in respect for the artists, and understand that if they wanted their art on other sites, they would post them there themselves.

And also, since you really should want to ask permission in the spirit of like, you know, the kind of consent we’re always going on about on this site, you can always ask the artist.

Here’s a really great breakdown on why asking the artist matters.

Please also understand that fandom is not monolith. Just because YOU don’t mind exposure doesn’t mean someone else feels the same way. Just because your friends don’t mind exposure doesn’t mean someone else feels the same way.

Anecdotal: I had a eastern-fandom friend whose family found out she drew BL doujinshi semi-professionally. She was outed, and she was kicked out of her house, lost support from her family and close friends, and basically had her life ruined for a good chunk of years because of it. There are still consequences to this, despite it having happened some fifteen years ago.

Anecdotal: I have several fandom friends have their work shared onto sites like Facebook and Tumblr, where they’re found by people they work with/family, to the point that they’ve left fandom altogether because the risks were too great.

“But Paris, the person above put a source, a link to the twitter where they found the art!!! You’re just splitting hairs!” you say. “The artist is still getting credit! Don’t be a bully!”

Nah, boo. I’m not being a bully. I’m trying to educate you, darling.

What you have to keep in mind is that even by putting a source, you’re still committing art theft, because you are taking away the ability to choose where an artist puts their art.

“But Paris, like, what about unsourced art in like museums?! Are you saying we shouldn’t put anything in museums if we don’t have the artist’s permission?” 

Listen, I can’t believe I’m honoring this absolute garbage with a response, but you and I both know there’s a huge difference between a piece of art from a lost artist, and an artist publicly asking for their art to remain under their control, and people deciding to ignore them.

“But Paris, you big old jerk,” you ask, "how can I have pretty things on my tumblr if I don’t just download art and post it?”

Well, one of two ways:

1) You can contact the artist and ask permission to post. Here’s some cute templates for how to do so. If you don’t like these, there are others, or, you know, you can use Google Translate. It’s not hard, and even if it was hard, that’s not an excuse. You can even reach out to people like me or other multilingual people to help you if you aren’t comfortable trying to contact them in English.

"But what if the artist says no because they’re a giant meanie who doesn’t want free exposure?"

2) The second way you can keep your blog full of pretty shiny things is by linking to the image properly. On tumblr, when you link to things, an image shows up. For example, if I copy the above twitter link and post it as a twitter link here in tumblr, I get the following:

This allows the very cute art to appear on my blog, without having to going out of my way. Anyone who clicks on it will go directly to the twitter page, and it includes the artist’s name as the primary part of the caption.

If the link is from pixiv, it looks like this:

(Please notice how Pixiv has been so fraught with art theft that at this point, they have an automatic filter that appears on the art itself, with a hard link to the image and the artist on the bottom right. This is because art theft is a huge problem.)

We have an obligation to the artists who enrich our fandom lives with their beautiful, beautiful porn art, to treat their works with respect. We can respect the wishes of the artists for the totally selfish reason of wanting to encourage them to make more art, but it should be enough to say we don’t want to be assholes. I mean, it’s simple niceness, people. I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.

If someone says, “Please don’t repost my art,” don’t repost their art. If a site says, “Please don’t repost the art found here,” don’t repost the art. Simple mathematics, kids.

“But Paaaaaaaaris!” you wail. “What am I supposed to do when I come upon stolen art on my feed? I wanna reblob it! :C And since I’m not the one who posted it originally, it’s totally okay to just reblob it, right? :D Right?”

Well, darling, you have a choice. You can just hit that big ol’ reblog button and continue to perpetuate the same issues I’ve rather clearly delineated above. OR YOU CAN FOLLOW THE GUIDE ABOVE AND MAKE A NEW POST. For example, let’s say I really like the “Summer Twins” image above. I could just hit reblog and move on with my life, who cares, la-dee-da, or I could go to the source, and post a link from there. 

The choice is yours, fandom. It’s all about the kind of world you want to surround yourself with. If you want to be a person who treats others with respect, you shouldn’t repost or post stolen art. If you want to be a person who is a credit to the fandom, follow the guides above, educate yourself, and make changes to the way you interact with content.

IN CONCLUSION, I WILL RESTATE MY THESIS: NO ONE WHO IS COMMITTING ART THEFT IN THIS WAY IS DOING SO TO BE A JERK. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS WRONG. BUT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND WE SHOULD ALL STRIVE TO KNOW BETTER.

DON’T STEAL ART.

DON’T REPOST STOLEN ART.

More reading, because I know y’all love to read:

http://raspomme.tumblr.com/post/68028153710 http://raspomme.tumblr.com/post/69226532697 http://chocoleeto.tumblr.com/reposts

And sources that can help you find out where that stolen art is from:

https://saucenao.com/ https://www.tineye.com/

Thanks, and my inbox is open, and ready for hate. 😘

[princeasimdiya12]

Piqua Falls Part 2

So here is part 2 of the Captain Underpants Gravity Falls AU created by @tornrose24 along with @jackie-sugarskull @nintendogamergirlexe and myself. But we highly encourage any and all fans of CU and GF to participate in this AU either by sharing ideas for characters, potential plotlines or funny memes and fanart. This is an open discussion that all are welcome to join in on. The first part along with the last reblog can be found here.

Ooo yes. Definitely. Absolutely. Weird Al would be a perfect fit for the Several Times boy band and the gang would be hyped to see and interact with him. Since there’s no cloning of any kind, would you like there to be some other abnormal activity that he’d be involved in or him just being himself would be more than enough of the adventure?

And okay, I’ll be fine with Sawyer as Abuelita. I’m not sure where that post was where you made the comparison but I’ll be sure to find it.

I can see Erica wanting to work at the Mystery Shack despite Krupp being an overbearing and ruthless boss. She needs a challenge to test her endurance and mental capabilities. And it would be fun for her to rub it in Krupp’s face when she shows how capable she is. I also have some thoughts on what her character arc would be about. I was thinking that she’d be like a foil to George who is also an academically smart kid who has what it takes to achieve higher standing and seeks challenges that are stimulating to her. She represents George but if he was focused more on himself and what he could accomplish rather than just having fun in the moment and not accessing that potential. And to add on to it, he also has his close friendship with Harold which gives him more reason to have fun and not think of himself as much. Thus, Erica would come off as more detached from other kids her age. She’s friendly and willing to interact with them, but she doesn’t have the same bond as the boys have with each other. It’s something that perplexes her and sometimes she feels jealous that George has something he deems more valuable than his own potential.  (And it would be cool if she was hiding some of her own secrets. Particularly if she conveniently found a way to deal with the monster of the week that no one sees coming. Do you think she’d be part of the same government agency that Rhee and Yewh work at, thus setting her up as a potential Judas? Or is she from another dimension who is trying to keep Piqua Falls safe from the imminent threat of ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’. Because you end up laughing for hours on end if you hear or speak his entire full name.)

I’m really happy that you love the ideas! And I think that would be adorable! I love that Bo and Gooch would get to show off their musical talents. I’m not sure if the Bobeesas would allow it, what if as part of their mansion party, they hold a talent show in their mansion encouraging the youth of Piqua Falls to come and display their musical talents for the town and uppercrust. Bo and Gooch already have their banjo-organ duet set up but they take a drastic turn when they meet Annie Manda Presto (animando presto which is Italian for ‘to be fast in spirit’) a fierce girl with a serious attitude and a protégé opera singer. So while the boys try to get her attention for music advice, they also start to worry about their own music and may end up in conflict over the other’s musical taste. As for Harold, I take it that something happened in which Billy had to uphold his end of his deal with the devil which ended up crushing Harold either because of what Billy had to do or some misunderstanding. The gang tried to take him to the party to get his mind off of it but he was still in a slump. That is, until a mysterious masked boy with an aquatic necklace offers him his hand to dance…

You also make a valid point regarding Anthrope. It’s hard to imagine her being as insane or deadly compared to McGucket. Although her having emotional mood swings would definitely help her in that regard. (It’ll be kinda like Junko going through her personality changes in the last trial right @jackie-sugarskull ?) But if you’re not completely sold on Anthrope for the role, we can always change her for someone else.

That totally makes sense for Melvin. He’d be an established rival of the Shack since he’s trying to win over the public with his mechanical wonders. Made even more wonderous when he finds the second Journal and uses it to his advantage. His reputation in the town is often tarnished thanks to George and Harold publishing comics about Melvin that demean him and paint him as a laughable dweeb (this is one of the few times Krupp is okay with them making comics and even offers to copy them himself so there’s plenty for everyone). I’m thinking that he would end up creating his own monsters of the week in order to terrorize the gang while also trying to find a way to break through and learn of the Shack’s secrets. He’d still have his obsessive crush on Erica and would try to woo her with his smarts and superiority. And Erica returns the gesture with a knuckle sandwich.

Ooo I just had an idea. What if Krupp originally hired Melvin to help him rebuild the machine after he learned from the papers about him being a prodigal genius when it comes to inventing. So he brought him over to the shack with the promise of him being the next Einstein if he could figure out the machine and get it up and running. To Krupp, it actually seems like a miracle since the kid is a whiz at machines. But just because Krupp hires him doesn’t mean that the partnership is easy. Melvin is as insufferable and nitpicky as ever while Krupp doesn’t want him to ask too many questions and wants him to get it done asap. So while Melvin looks around the computer room, she comes across the Author’s loose notes and personal entries where they discuss the machine in vague terms while also referring to the danger of Poopypants as a powerful cosmic entity. Something clicks to Melvin that he becomes drawn to the entity and learns about the other journals which can lead him to personally communicate with him just like the Author did long ago. But Krupp realizes what’s about to happen and doesn’t want a repeat of his past mistake. So he stops Melvin from leaving with this new info by using one of the memory wipes left lying around. Thus, Melvin no longer remembers anything about the portal or him working for Krupp. But he knows  that something big is hiding underneath that primitive shack and he wants to find out what it is. And fortunately, he already knows where to look thanks to a note book page he stashed on himself that reveals the location of Journal 2.

And after that scuffle, Krupp becomes even more secretive regarding the portal and the shack itself. Even if the boys make fun of him for it, no one is learning his secrets on what’s underneath the shack.  Huh, I’m honestly seeing a lot of symbolism regarding the crummy shack that everyone knows and sees followed by the secret portal that no one knows about and how it harbors his darkest secret.

Awww that’ll be adorable. And if they do time travel back, then they may just meet only CU. If CU lived in Piqua Falls his whole life then Krupp wouldn’t have been around at the time. Unless of course he came to visit for a reunion of sorts thus giving the boys the chance to meet both men at the same time.  Aww now I’m imagining CU in his cape and underwear trying to ‘help’ people while freaking them out.

I’m really glad you like that zodiac sign for him. Lol And for the other characters, maybe we can include Lisa’s who’s symbol would be a musical note. Or the emblem belonging to her family which has a musical theme. Billy’s would be a seashell with a star in the middle; the shell representing his heritage and the star to show how his wish inspired him to change in different ways.

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN, TEENS AND ADULTS WHO HAVE NOT YET WATCHED GRAVITY FALLS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Ahh I see what you mean. Well if necessary we can base them on the villains that are directly from George and Harold’s comics both in the book series and the animated series. ( The Wicked Wedgie Woman, the Egg Salad Manwich, the Turbo Toilet 2000, the 3 Robo-Boogers, Sir Stinks A lot, the Jorts Alien, the Socktopus, Jessica’s evil twin sister Messica etc.). As for Edith, it would make the most sense considering that neither she nor Krupp would willingly throw their frustrations at each other like the Stan twins. To quote Phineas Flynn, “Yes, yes we do.” And in all fairness, it’s hard not to make him suffer considering all the messed up things he does to everyone in every adaptation of CU ever. He brought this on himself and we’re at least thoughtful enough to give him a happy ending in any AU. Provided that he works for it. :p And yeah, Edith isn’t one to hold a grudge so she’d be willing to let Krupp into her life. But she does need a lot of time to readjust to every that happened in her absence along with ensuring that Poopypants isn’t successful in crossing over.

*ominous Latin music plays in the background even louder*

Ahh alrighty. Either way, it still sounds like a great outfit idea. :)

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

A few people has mentioned that this person has a theme on desktop that makes this hard to read, I will copy/paste the full tirade below:

[TRANSCRIPTION START]

Okay, now, ladies, gentlemen, and everything in-between– see this?

THIS type of reblog is how we ended up with LycanTheory. THIS type of reblog is how we ended up with Therian Guide being so explicitly, blatantly pro-bestiality. THIS type of reblog is exactly what those fucks at Therian Underground would point at and use to justify the “us vs. them” attitudes we’ve seen cropping up everywhere, to try and lure people into their groups and keep nudging them to actually commit bestiality, zoosadism, and similar. 

I can understand the desire to conflate thoughts with action, to not bother to draw separating lines or even vocabulary between the two, but everyone, I’m fucking begging you. I cannot emphasize how much THAT IS WHAT GOT US INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE. The mess with the so-called “”“zoo-sexuals”“” and their zeta symbolism and their explicitly pro-bestiality community. It’s because there is absolutely no line drawn in rhetoric like this, and that allows them to sidle up and reassure people that them drawing shit like feral art is functionally the same as actual bestialists raping their dogs. When it’s not! I do not know how more clearly to tell you, but shit like Lion King porn is NOT the same as LycanTheory bragging about losing his virginity to his fucking dog and encouraging others to do the same! 

Do I think that the OG post was made in arguably poor taste, given our community’s missing stair issue? Do I think that it’s really not a great idea to attach pride to nonhuman attractions when framed alongside that for context? Yes, yes I do. 

But y'all. You HAVE to stop demonizing people with instincts or emotions that you find disgusting, to the point of destroying all nuance and allowing real, actual abusers to take advantage of your actions, to the point where we’ve been watching it fucking happen in real time. I’m not talking to the owl blog here– I don’t care about their opinions, they’re some rando. I’m talking to the few thousand people who follow me and the few hundred who have seen my work online. I’m talking to y'all. 

You cannot let disgust be your sole driving moral compass.

Not only because it makes for an especially shitty one, but also because abnormal instincts in the alterhuman community are just so damn common. 

According to my Abnormal Instincts survey with 560 respondents, 79.8% of the alterhuman community experiences “urge[s] which one perceives as directly connected to or originating from their nonhumanity, and which involves the desire to engage in actions or for specific stimuli that would be considered dangerous, distressing, or deviant by others.” Which, yes, includes everything you hate or find disgusting! Violent and sexual urges or desires included!

And yet, even despite how common those experiences are, 66% of respondents with abnormal instincts believe that abnormal instincts do not justify acts which may otherwise be viewed as dangerous or illegal. Comparatively, 31% were unsure or said that they maybe could. Only 3%said that abnormal instincts always justify actions which might otherwise be viewed as such. Relevantly, of the “yes” answers, only two focused specifically on their positive outlook on bestiality as the reasoning behind their answers. 

A significant amount of responses pointed out that an explanation for an action isn’t the same as a justification, and said that abnormal instincts offer the former, but not the latter. Many responses argued for accountability and responsibility for one’s actions, regardless of internal feelings.“The sudden urge to attack someone doesn’t legalize attacking someone.” as one respondent put it. And that’s what we should hold as important here, too: accountability and responsibility. 

A large majority of people with abnormal instincts also don’t act directly on them! Only 8% of respondents who have abnormal instincts reported directly engaging with them. 71% of participants seek alternative, adjacent methods to interact with their abnormal instincts, and 21% just completely ignore their abnormal instincts outright. 

This person that I’m reblogging from might not believe it, but I’m incredibly thankful to say that even if our community has relatively high rates of abnormal desires and feelings, we very notably do not regularly engage with them in unhealthy ways. Some of what respondents more generally spoke about included using exercise, video games and other fiction-oriented media, specific diets, toys, kink, roleplay, watching documentaries, and engaging with specific varieties of gear or self-decoration to satisfy their urges. Individuals who mentioned experiencing zoophilic attraction often stressed that they would never intentionally harm or sexually interact with a real-life animal. Some found that furry erotica (or “yiff content,” as one respondent put it), murrsuiting, nonhuman-themed toys, petplay, and other unspecified kinks were safe and helpful outlets.

And, fuck it: let’s break it down by motherfucking category, too. Just to doubly assuage your fears.

We asked participants to list out the abnormal instincts they experience in a long-form write-in question. We got a whopping 424 responses and placed each of them into one or more of these 21 categories based on their contents: Communicative, Social, Aggressive & Destructive, Defensive, Territorial, Protective, Reproductive, Courtship & Mating, Attraction, Parental, Feeding, Hunting, Residency, Self, Physiological, Magical, Service, Migratory & Nomadic, Environmental, Other/Unknown, and Declined to State.

This categorization isn’t the end-all be-all to sorting, and was influenced by the types of instincts we received in the write-in, so keep that in mind, but here were the categories which had the potential to include “zoophilic urges”:

Reproductive – An instinct related to acts of sexual intercourse and the creation of potential offspring.

Courtship & Mating – An instinct aimed at another creature or object with the intention to engage in a romantic or sexual relationship.

Attraction – An instinct regarding sexual or romantic attraction towards specific features, actions, creatures, or objects.

But even when breaking it down by instinct category, we fail to see the spike in direct engagement for certain instincts that people like owl-rando imply there to be.

For cliff notes on this graph:

1.       “Courtship & Mating” had no direct engagement recorded.

2.       “Attraction” had very a low direct engagement percentage overall.

3.       “Reproductive” also had a low direct engagement amount, and a uniquely very high partial engagement percentage.

And this is all with the reminder that instincts within these categories only have the potential to fall into zoophilic feelings! Not all of the write-ins will or do, by far! There’s also some worthwhile information on other particularly fraught instincts in the graph, but I’m not getting into that now. I’m just trying to drive a point home here. Actually, I’m trying to drive several points home here:

There’s no basis in the fear being presented here, that instincts or urges which are deviant, illegal, or dangerous actually drive individuals to engage in deviant, illegal, or dangerous activities or cause individuals to justify such behaviors. In fact, my survey seems to imply the opposite, that people with abnormal instincts as a whole aren’t going to go out setting fire to houses or trying to jump the fence to get into the lion exhibit at their local zoo. They’re going to do….literally anything else, it seems like, to keep both themselves and others safe. Presumably because we don’t all inherently have the backbones of chocolate eclairs, here. 

Trying to turn up your nose and go, “Eugh! These foolish little knaves have never been a part of the therian and otherkin community, what with their finding of Wyrms hot! Jeeves, take them away!” isn’t going to functionally do anything but give real-life abusers the power to manipulate and take advantage of people who are already in vulnerable positions when this happens. These instincts exist in community spaces, whether we like that or not, but they’re not some kind of Lurking ThreatTM, and they’re not some sort of Excluding FactorTM unless you justifiably do something that warrants you getting thrown out of community spaces. Like, once again, Lycantheory. I’ve spoken about this in the past, in my essay Ugly Instincts. 

To finish this off, here was a particularly poignant write-in from the survey that I think summarizes my feelings on all this well:

“If the community cannot learn to provide support to those who have abnormal instincts or struggle with other potentially dangerous/deviant/socially unacceptable behaviors related to their identity, then I really don’t know why we bother having a community at all. If we’re going to encourage people to introspect and find their alterhumanity, we’d better be prepared to also help them deal with the painful or difficult things that might come out of that. Being nonhuman isn’t constant misery, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows either.”

[TRANSCRIPTION END]

“Owl-rando” yes. That is me. Owl Rando. I definitely implied anywhere that the therian community is touching animals. That definitely wasn’t said by hapalopus in that same thread.

I can’t respond to it directly as who-is-page blocked me after posting it, but if you want to see an absolute novel of a nonsensical take on that zoophile post, well, take it I suppose.

[ask-de-writer]

ON THE ROADS OF EQUESTRIA : Origin of the Rom, part 4 :  MLP Fan Fiction : Part 2 of 5

ON THE ROADS OF EQUESTRIA

The fourth part of the Origin of the Rom

ORIGIN OF THE ROM SERIES in reading order.  (will be completed as the stories are posted in linked form)

Part One : NORE’S CHOICE, which starts HERE

Part Two : WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA! which starts HERE

Part Three : FAIR AND UN-FAIR, which starts HERE

Part Four : ON THE ROADS OF EQUESTRIA, which starts HERE

Part Five : THE FIRST ROM HEARTHWARMING,  which starts HERE

Part Six : SANDO’S LAKE, which starts HERE

Part Seven : A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ROM, which starts HERE

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

7755 words

© 2016 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 01/08/16

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge.  I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.  All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Bringing them back to the cook fires, she chirped, “Look what I found!  I think that I saw a stand of nettles back there in the woods, too!”

Heads all turned to stare like compass needles!  Nore just put aside our other lunch fixings and got out our big baking griddle with its cooking covers.  She set it over the fire to heat.  Sarel, Maina, Malit, and Phappa made a beeline for the woods.

Nore happily showed Shehan how to mix the sorrel and leaves of the nettles and mash them to a fine paste-like mix.  They formed the mashed leaves into patties and baked them on the griddle, under covers.

“We keep this a secret, Shehan, dear. When the patties are toasted, they will be Ka'check.  We can eat them as is or make a flour of them to make our many other snacks and good foods.”

Shehan, the pretty leather and gilt Freedom on her head glinting in the sunlight, nodded.  “I understand, Nore.  Mothers Maina and Malit have carpentry and wheelwright secrets that we keep from the town ponies too.”

Sarel set up her portable retting vat, a small two wheeled trailer wagon with a tightly lidded tank.  She loaded in all of the stripped nettle stalks and set weights on them. She added water to help break down the stalks and free the fine fibers that were one of the bases of her excellent weaving.

As she helped Nore to bake up the Ka'chek patties, Shehan looked about at our encampment.  Even though the stop had not been planned to go this long, her adopted mother Maina had a carpentry project out and was serenely shaving two small planks for an exact fit.  He other adopted mother, Malit was happily chiseling the rough work on a new wheel hub.  Big Phapa, our blacksmith, had out an iron strip that she was cold hammering into the circle of a new iron wheel tire.  Sando was working on a drawing for some device and Rom, their leader, was passing quietly between the industrious horses, seeing all that was being done and offering some advice on what might be needed next.

Since the batter was already made up, I got busy dipping chunks of dried fruits on the tips of skewers and toasting them for any hungry horse to eat.  I may appear to be a donkey but that does not change a thing about food.  I like the same things.

Happily, our filly pointed out to me, “I don’t really understand why you want to find us some place to buy and settle down to farming or some such.  I was an orphan in Haulmarket.  They never treated me well.  The only good ponies I ever met were here.  The Rom on the roads.  

“The Royal Road Police have been good to us.  We have met some others that were nice too.  None of them had anything to do with running a town.  My mothers have told me how Sunbreak and her Royal Armored Pegassi unit saved them and their caravan when it looked like it was going to fall down the slope at Riten’s Notch.

“Why do you want us to settle in with ponies that don’t like us, Marchhare?”

That stopped me cold.  I smiled at our perceptive youngster and told her, “You have just ruined my whole day, Shehan.  You have got me to thinking!”  I thumped the top of my head with a hoof.  

Shehan giggled at my antics but persisted, “I really do not understand why you want us to settle down somewhere.  When we do a fair, if there are ponies that we don’t like, we can just leave them behind.  When we meet some that we do like, we can come back to them at the next fair. “

I gave her an appraising stare.  “Those are actually good points, Shehan.  I will seriously think about them. It may be that I will need to change how I am guiding the band.”

Shehan booped me on the nose as she pointed out another thing.  “I am only a filly.  In towns, nopony takes what I say seriously.  That only happens here, among the Rom.”

I wrinkled my brow as I asked, “THE Rom?”

Shehan nodded.  “All of the town ponies call us that.  It is just them shortening the Band of Rom to Rom.  Some of us are going along with it because it is easier than trying to correct them all the time.”

I twisted a lip sourly as I agreed, “I have heard it among the town ponies.  I did not expect to hear it here.”

Rom, overhearing, offered, “It makes it easy for them.  Why not let them?  It also gives us a short and clear identity.”

I nodded at that one.  “It makes sense, my friend.  Too much sense.”

Rom sat next to me and got out a map of the Royal Roads.  He was pointing to a possible problem.  “Marchhare, to get to the Haymarket Fair, we are going to have to pass through Haulmarket again.  We had so much trouble with them at their Summer Fair.

“I have noticed that Haulmarket has notices up for their big Autumn Fair.  They have put it on the same days as the Haymarket Fair.”

Nore, leaning her head over to look at the map, observed, “The Haymarket Fair was created by a Royal Decree to help the village to recover from that disastrous flood last summer.  Haulmarket will have to change the date of their Fair.”

Rom, showing the wisdom that caused the others to follow him, pointed out, “How they treated us last summer was a violation of Crowns law too, Nore.  It did not stop them.  What stopped them was the Royal Road Police.  We may want their aid again.”

Nore, remembering well how Haulmarket tried to cheat us, nodded.  “I can see how that could be.  Perhaps if we had a few of the RRP officers hide in our caravans, they could overhear the problem and do whatever is needful.”

I nodded.  My friends and wife were sorting things out on their own.  Such help as I could give would only be if they suggested something illegal or wrong.

I did not really think that I was going to be needed at all.  Except for Pulling the caravan.  Actually, considering the sheer size of my dear wife Nore, I probably wasn’t really needed there either.

Nore almost seemed to be reading my mind.  She was good at that!

She leaned down an nuzzled me.  “Dear Love, never forget that however well we learn the ways of Equestria, we ALWAYS need you.  We know what happened, that last day on the Desert of Celestia’s Anvil.  You came back for us, after … your nap, to guide us.  We need that guidance now and likely always will.

“It is a great comfort to us to know that you will be with us always.”

I noticed that everything was being packed away.  Rom saw my glance and confirmed, “We have harvested and prepared what we can.  It is almost time to for us to hitch up and Pull.”

I noticed that Sando was watching the whole procedure as we hitched up.  Lively interest was writ wide across his face.  As Nore and I finished our hitch, she began our starting cadence.  “Lean left!  Lean right!  Pull left!  Pull right!  Pull!  Pull!”  The heavy caravans of our whole band got smoothly underway.

Little Shehan, hitched just ahead of her adoptive mothers, began to sing the Shehan Ja Rom in perfect Gyptian.  The whole band picked it up.

They moved seamlessly to other chants. The band called them Road Songs.  I was especially fond of one that they were still hammering out to perfection.  They called it the Two Green Vines.  The songs by any name made the kilometers seem short and the Pull easy.  The ponies of hamlets and small villages, too small to have fairs, nevertheless lined the road to cheer us on.  

With only one fly in the ointment, a Haulmarket Fair flier just posted in the village of Clover Hill, we made our way toward the Road Section Toll Gate.

It was not too long before we pulled over at the local Royal Road Police headquarters.  The desk pony looked up from his solitaire game in mild irritation.  I hoofed over the Clover Hill notice board announcement of Haulmarket’s illegal fair.  I pointed out, “They are advertising our singing, dancing, snacks and unique hoofiecrafts.  The only flies in their ointment are that we have already signed contracts with the Haymarket Fair and it is cross scheduled with a Fair set by Royal Decree.”

Little Shehan, standing beside me, giggled.  “He really blew his stack, didn’t he?  Took that flier straight back through that door!”

I nodded.  “What did you expect?  Who is the High Commissioner of the Royal Roads?  Princess Luna.  Whose idea was the Royal Decree to give the Village of Haymarket a Fair to help it recover from this summer’s Red Branch flood disaster? Princess Luna.”

The door opened.  Sargent Convoy came out to meet us.  He said, “Marchhare, Sir, do you have actual contracts signed or just promises made?”

I pulled out our ledger and removed the contracts from the back pocket of our account book.  Sargent Convoy looked them over and nodded grimly.  “I was afraid of this.  We have the service receipt for the Royal Order demanding them to move the date of the Haulmarket Fair.  

“This flier shows that they have directly violated a Royal Decree.  We are going to have to close their Fair.  Whether they retain town status and the right to have Fairs at all, will be put under the Royal Wing.  Princess Luna will not be a happy pony!”

Rom had come in and overheard the Sargent’s statement.  Sargent Convoy regarded Rom for a moment and said, “As I recall, you are the leader of this band of  pon … horses?”

Rom agreed, “I am.  What would you have of us?  The RRP has always done right to us.  Few others in positions of power have done so.  What you need, if we can do it, is yours for the asking.”

The Sargent relaxed.  “I was hoping that you would help us.  The Haulmarket Fair is advertising your activities at their event on the same day that you are contracted to be at the Haymarket Fair.  Considering how they misbehaved at their Summer Fair, I want to see how they plan to get you to do it.

“Would it be possible to hide myself and some troopers equipped for trouble in your wagons?”

Rom looked blank at the word wagon. Little Shehan spoke to him in Gyptian, “<< He means our caravans. >>”

Rom nodded then.  “You may.  Those caravans are our homes but we will trust you and your ponies in them. We were trying to think how to ask that very favor.  Thank you.”

We were almost to the Haulmarket Fairground cutoff when Foulip and his cronies stepped out of the brush lining the roadside.  Two of them were armed with military pikes, their long, needle like points glittering in the sunlight.

Grinning meanly, Foulip declared, “You are going down the cutoff to our Fairground.  Got it?  We are generously going to allow you to keep a third of all the coin that come your way.  Out of that, you gotta pay the Fair fee.  You also got to pay us Firewood and Water Access charges!”  He stuck his head forward, low, lips protruded in insult as he finished, “What do you think of them apples?”

I regarded him calmly and retorted, “Not much.  Those pikes have to be an empty threat.  Try to use them and the least charge will be attempted murder.

“We are contracted for the Haymarket Fair, which is the ONLY legal fair in the Red Branch Section, this coming weekend.  Your terms are completely illegal and amount to Slavery under the Crowns Law.  Slavers get the Traitor’s Drop.”

Foulip glared at me and snapped, “The fat bottoms up in Canterlot gotta find it out and they won’t!  We are here!  They ain’t!  You are a mere donkey.  Those so called horses of yours are not registered either!  They dance for us or you die! Nopony will miss a lousy donkey!”

TO BE CONTINUED

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[altamont498]

The Apollo color shift art was done by daichi6ki! Also, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but did you ask for permission to repost their art? In their description, they state that they 'wholly forbid the reproduction and manufacturing of my work without permission.' As an artist myself, I know I'd feel pretty bad if someone reposted my work without my knowledge even if it's only to a private group, so it might be a good idea to check if they're okay with it if you haven't already!

Well for starters; “Allow me to explain!”

The group in question is a closed one (i.e: you need a mod’s permission to join) and as such, the image never makes it to search engines like Google or Bing and as it’s a Facebook group, it can’t make it to sites where unauthorised and/or uncredited reposts can usually be found such as Pinterest or similar sites/services.

Credit is also given in the form of a link directly to the work. Like so.

E.g.:

Phoenix Wright fan art I saw on Tumblr that looks cool!

Source: https://thered498cp.tumblr.com/1234567890/lorem-ipsum-dolor

[Picture appears here]

[Please note: In cases where images are used from different artists, they are credited on the photos themselves, still following the above link.]

Group members can’t share it outside of the group and are encouraged to give credit to the original artist of they do. The moderators of the group also actively work in-order to ensure artists/writers/cosplayers are given proper credit for their works, or that full effort is made in-order to try and trace the source. In this case, going to Tumblr to ask for help from friendly people such as yourself.

This is literally the first instance I’ve ever had of not sharing art without such acreditation and I humbly apologise for it. I remember copying the link to the art but I must have not pasted it into the post. 

Again; I apologise to everyone who follows my blog to the artist @daichi6ki: I got it wrong, and I’m going to work in future not to do it again.

Furthermore, I will also work to seek permission from the original artist/creator before reposting works in such a manner again (and do my damndest to track down the original source through whatever means available).

[techcodex1]

Simple Trick to Repost Pictures on Instagram With Original Caption

Instagram is one of the most popular and famous photo sharing service which is now acquired by Facebook. Instagram has quickly lured the eyes of billions of users including celebrities. With better options for privacy and security, Instagram has quickly gained a massive user base. Instagram stories are quite interesting and no one can stop their hands from posting a story at least once a week. Be it a motivational quote or be it a moment from their personal life they are the best to share.

You may often come across such beautiful or motivational pics that inspire you or attract you, but unfortunately, unlike its parent company Facebook, Instagram doesn’t give you an option to share pics on your feed or repost the same. It allows you to share images or videos to an individual in personal.

But still, if you want to repost the images that lured your attention you can rely on some easy tricks that will help you repost the original images with ease.

While there are modified apps like GB Instagram, that will help you extend the functionality of original Instagram to give you the abilities to download stories, save media and copy the text in bio etc, they can’t assist you in reposting an Instagram post to your feed.

You can only do this by either taking screenshot, editing and posting it with original text and credits or depending on third-party apps that are similar to the above mentioned Instagram alternative GB Insta app.

In this article, you can find all the possible ways to repost your favorite Instagram content on your feed by giving proper credits to the original creator.

Reposting Media Using Screenshot Technique:

This method is the most common technique that you can do easily with basic mobile knowledge. All you need to do is to simply take the screenshot of the image and post it to Instagram with the same content and credits.

If you are not aware of how to capture a screenshot on your phone, here is a quick overview on taking screenshots.

Once you stumble on your favorite picture on Instagram, you have to capture its screenshot as Instagram doesn’t provide an option to save photos directly to your Gallery.

Now Press and hold the Volume Down and Power at a time and this will capture the active screen. This may change in some mobiles.

Once the image is saved, open Instagram selects the photo, crop it perfectly and apply filters if needed and post it with the caption. It is quite simple and is like just the way you use Instagram.

This method may not be as simple as described above and is also a not so easy method for some users. It consumes more time and is a hectic task to copy the captions and reshare it. Another drawback is that you can’t use this to repost videos as they can’t be captured as screenshots.

Reposting To Instagram Using Apps:

There are plenty of apps that will help you to extend the functionality of Instagram and add the features that are not available in the original Instagram app. But many of them are not secure and some of them are adware. Only a few apps like GB Instagram, InstaSave, and similar apps are useful but we advise you to use these apps at your own risk.

To repost media on Instagram download Repost for Instagram – Regrann app for Android. It is a free app that will serve the purpose of reposting Insta posts with ease. It connects with Instagram easily and doesn’t require login details. Hence your data will be safe.

Steps to follow while Using Regrann app:

Select the Picture that you wish to repost.

Click on the three dots menu and choose “Copy share URL” from the options in the menu.

As soon as you do this Regrann will pop out automatically and give you 4 options -Repost on Instagram, repost for later, share and save.

To repost the picture or video click the icon that is similar to the Instagram icon. This will launch the media upload screen of Instagram.

To paste the original caption and hashtag long press the icon and the photo credit is added to the caption ( you can edit the caption if you prefer).

Once everything looks fine, simply post it and share it with your followers.

Luckily the app is also available for iOS as well and works fine on iPhones too. If you are an iOS user you can get the Regrann iOS app from the Apple App Store. The process is same as above and is easy when compared to the first method.

Conclusion:

As Instagram is strict about posting duplicate content on its platform, it is better to credit the original author of the content. This will fetch some recognition to content creators and improves the user experience on Instagram as well. Moreover, this also helps you build healthy relationships. This is where such apps and tricks come in handy and mentioning about them is the sole purpose of this post.

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