#you're ruining the composition

[thelikesoffinn]

Those three really are having their very own magical girl moment, eh.

[pinkopalina]

the storm

[vergess]

Image description:

Photograph of a pile of rubble, mostly bricks and concrete. In the background, smoke or fog drifts past leafless trees. A massive sign reading "BEAUTY" dominates the image, with rubble covering anything else that might have been said.

End of description.

[dragon-ascent]

It's been so long since Zhongli got to take you on a date, and like hell he'd let anything stop him today.

It's finally time for a date; you two have cleared schedules after so long! You're to meet Zhongli directly after work atop a nice scenic hill for an evening picnic. Your husband is to head up there first to set everything up and make sure the picnic spread is as perfect as can be. So there goes Zhongli, basket in hand filled with all sorts of treats, trudging up the hill with a smile on his face.

Zhongli's smile quickly fades as he looks up, brow furrowing at the darkening skies. Must it look like rain, today of all days?

Not to worry. He can will the clouds to part whenever he summons his meteor - so he does just that, his tianxing hurtling through the clouds that come apart like wads of cotton, creating a hole directly above the hill. The rest of the sky remains intact. Then, before his heavenly meteor can collide with the earth, he commands it to burst into a million specks of stardust. They stay suspended in the air, shimmering. Much better.

He continues his journey up the hill, when in his periphery he spots a gleaming knife whizzing through the air. He dodges it effortlessly, throwing up his shield - his lip curls in displeasure when a gang of Treasure Hoarders make themselves known, precious little in their eyes beyond greed.

"Forgive me, but I do not have the time to spare for your antics." Zhongli worries that the basket might be smooshed if he gets into a scuffle, so he continues on; the thieves don't care, they charge at him, possibly hoping to nab the basket or even something off his clothes - Zhongli is dressed nicely for this date, after all.

Sighing, the god gingerly cradles the basket and delivers a swift kick square in the first fellow's crotch, sending him flying. He strikes his shoe against the ground, sending a crackling wave of spiky cor lapis racing along the earth and knocking another three of the men back.

Zhongli is then locked in an eccentric dance as he uses his legs to deflect the others' weapons, willing his composition to become stone. A flurry of crescent kicks, jumping roundhouse kicks, tornado kicks, and Geo summons later, the god calmly makes his way to the top of the hill, the miscreants all groaning and stuffed away in the bushes so as not to ruin the scenery. Most importantly, the basket is unharmed!

There's tremors while Zhongli sets the picnic spread out. Zhongli recognises this as the lingering anger of a god he had sealed beneath the hill centuries ago; glowering, Zhongli commands, "Not now."

The tremors stop. He finishes setting the picnic up happily. When you arrive, you marvel at the glimmering cor lapis and stardust engulfing the area.

Smiling, Zhongli lets the date start in full swing, pouring you some lemonade and watching you fondly as you close your eyes in bliss at the taste of the fluffy strawberry pastries he'd packed. This is perfect.

"Wow, look at that my love! It's raining all around us, except for this hill! It's a miracle!"

"A miracle indeed, my darling."

[husky-studies]

Dr ratio with a child reader that is like ena or shiho? (Platonic pls! Angst and fluff is fine)

Concept: Dr Ratio with a Ena!Child reader

Warning(s): relationship between the character and the reader is STRICTLY platonic, angst at the start and bit of happy ending

Notes: YESSS ANON!! I took the inspiration from the Ena focus event, this seems a bit rushed but hope you enjoy it! 😭😭

He has been observing for so long. Observing you, doing a painting for your assignment. You look frustrated to say at least, by your latest assignment given by your teacher. The sketch looks roughed up with smudges of graphite are littered here and there. Your paint sits to your right, the tubes of paint sealed tight in their respective colors and you haven't opened any of them. You sat on your chair still unsatisfied by your sketch.

Just went you wanted to erase the whole sketch, a hand touched your shoulder. Looking back, you forgot Dr Ratio was here with you. "Why are you erasing it? Your concept and sketch is good enough." He asked while looking at your rough sketch. "I think...the sketch is not good enough, thats why I'm erasing it." You replied, your grip on the eraser tightens.

"My teacher thinks its not good enough..." You muttered lowly. "Your teacher..? What did he say about it?" Ratio asked, curious on what your teacher has to say about it. "I need to add texture to this painting, I need to correct my composition, lighting and the list goes on." You replied, the eraser long forgotten in your grip. Dr Ratio's grip tightens on your shoulders, its firm enough to tell you that he's reassuring you. "You'll do just fine, don't let your teacher ruin it for you." He said as he walked away, assuming that he wanted to leave you alone so you can focus on finishing the painting before the due date.

——————————————————————

He was waiting for you at your usual spot to see your results but, you haven't showed up. Classes shouldve finished hours ago. Actually, you shouldve gotten your grades a few days ago, but you haven't showed up afterwards. 'Did something happened to you?' He thought, a bit concerned but he trusts you to be able to handle yourself.

Finally, he saw you walking in. You looked...sad and you're not holding your usual things with you as well. "[your name], how did it go?" He asked while offering you to sit at your usual seat as you do your art assignments. You let out a sigh, "Everything's wrong, the teacher said theres no feelings in it, the lighting is too dark and what not." you said as you sat down putting your bag aside as you stared at the blank canvas, your back facing the doctor himself.

Before he could open his mouth, you asked him "Doctor...is it really worth continuing this path im walking down? What if art is not meant for me?" He listened to your questions, thinking the right answers to your questions before letting out a small exhale. "Only you can decide that [your name], you have chosen this path and its what you're passionate about. Keep walking down the path, don't run away even if it hurts." This is the only thing he could say for now, not really sure if you're going to take his words wrongly.

"You'll have to face the criticism even if you won't like it. Life is just like that." He added as he looked at you. You looked like you were about to cry but at the same time your eyes held a determined look. A look that wants to keep pushing forward, no matter how many criticism were fired their way. "...thanks doctor, I really needed that. I'll keep pushing..!" You said, smiling at him through the tears brimming at the edges of your eyes. 'His words are sharp...exactly how my teacher sounded, but no matter. I won't give up so easily now' You thought to yourself as you felt a hand patting the top of your head. The famous Dr Ratio was giving you a headpat huh? "Don't go back on your own words now." Ratio reminded. "I wont."

Mention(s): -

[damazcuz]

I know it's Naught so deep but I do think social media (including tumblr) ruins how people look at and interact with art because you're always just scrolling on to the next neat tidbit. It feels like most people are barely pausing to tap like or maybe reblogging with #omg I've stared at this for 10000 hours now - while barely having looked at the piece in question to appreciate any details or even process what the subject matter is. Like right now, watching people tag this gorgeous fanart I just saw with a certain fantasy race, and it's like that's not even the right one, not even close, and it's impossible to mistake the two. Youre not even looking! Do you also run through a museum as quickly as possible? And I'm not talking classical art or modern art or fanart or traditional or digital or handmade crafts or photography specifically I just mean like. I think we all consume everything too quickly in order to scroll on to the next post down. Stop for a minute and chew. Enjoy some details. Appreciate what you're looking at. THINK about the art you're seeing! Why is it beautiful, what do you feel, what do the composition and subject matter mean? Why did the artist create that? You may find that art has a deeper meaning and importance to you when you spend some time with it.

[emelinepommery]

A cover I made for a christmas gift ! The colors are bad because tumblr ruined the quality a bit. I really enjoyed the process, finding the right composition took me the longest time while doing the final cover took me less than a week. I'm starting to become more and more efficient in doing bookcovers ! I also made the typography for the title ! I hope you're all having great holidays !

I change the presentation and add a mock up !

[simminginstars]

Updated: How I edit my sims 4 screenshots (night-time edition)

A more detailed editing tut so you can understand my process as it may help you, i edited this relatively quickly and usually spend about 1-2hrs editing something...so let's goo.....

Before taking screenshots:

Help yourself as much as you can in-game, I always make sure there is some sort of light source in my pictures or something interesting that I can add to enhance something already there

Understand good/bad composition and add variety by using different angles

I take LOTS of photos just to end up with 1 or 2 good ones

I'll just be using photoshop for this, but i also like to use the procreate app as i'm more confident w it.

step1: I check if there are any major glitches or hard areas e.g, fingers elbows etc.. that have sharp points and pull them in liquify so they are smooth. Then use curves to change the contrast.

step2: *duplicates image* using the dodge and burn tools (keyboard shortcut: o ) i'll add emphasis to highlights and shadows (be careful with these as the dodge tool can ruin the image if used in excess) *merges image* (i duplicate and merge as i go, utilise using lots of layers so you can go back if you mess up/ want to change the opacity of an effect.)

step3: making light sources POP. *new layer* change blending mode to overlay or soft light and choose a colour you like.

step4: *new layer* draw hair strands. i just use a basic round brush in photoshop and change the hardness or i'll use a sharp caligraphy type brush depending on my sims hair type. (i try not to overdo it as i like maxis hair and don't want it to look too realistic)

step5: i would then add a new layer and set the blending mode to multiply to add more shadows, but i don't feel like i need to at this point.

step6: *duplicates image* go to filter > camera raw filter, i change the "light" and "curve" panels, i like green tints in my screenshots especially the night ones. (this is where all the magic happens really so just adjust all the channels to your liking, lightroom is also really good to use)

step7: *create new layer* blending mode: screen or linear dodge (add) / makeup and finishing touches! - for this look i'll get stars and glitter pngs off google or unsplash same for the smoke, though if i'm using procreate they have free brushes for that :')

step8: add light leaks as they add some fun dynamic lighting and textures to your screenshots. (i also flip my image horizantally [image > image rotation > flip canvas horizontally] whilst editing as it's like a "fresh pair of eyes" when you've been editing for a while so you can see what looks off)

final step: merge all the layers (though i do merge along the way once i'm happy with something) go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen. I leave it as the default setting.

extra step if u want: for party pics i might add chromic abberation here is a 60 second tutorial on youtube it makes the pic look cool and trippy.

And you're done!! congrats on surviving. if you have any questions please send them in my ask box so others can see and get help too.

[untoldsoup]

Another way AI has ruined the art scene (besides the ethics, theft, environmental damage ect) is how it's basically become poison to real artist's minds.

You're drawing a hand and the angle means you won't see all the fingers? Well better draw them anyway and fuck the composition because you don't want to be accused of ai.

Artists with ocd are now counting and recounting features they have drawn a zillion times before out of paranoia.

Artists who used to be more abstract with backgrounds, or a little messy to save time have to second guess if their time saving techniques will get misinterpreted as AI.

Artists who are shy are forced to record their process and prove they are human just for people to know how many hours and hours went into their craft.

Art has become a minefield of fear and doubt now for so many. New artist are terrified that the mistakes that are natural with learning will get them accused of ai.

Ai has destroyed an entire community and its self esteem. Late stage capitalism's hunger for profits and hatred of human creativity has literally created a world where people are afraid to draw.

The sheer volume of doubt and anxiety in the art world it has created is heartbreaking. This Pandora's box of human suffering should have never been opened.

[mehiwilldoitlater]

"Ah, there you are! I thought I would never find you!"

The mech stared at you for a brief moment, then scufted a little and kept up with his painting session.

"Did not Ratchet tell you to stop coming into my quarter?"

"Nope! He told me specifically to come every now and then to remind you about your lack of social activity!"

"He's the one who's talking here..."

Despite his attempt to get rid of your presence, Sunstreaker never actually succeeded in it. In some way, he started to think that you enjoyed pestering him—maybe a small revenge from the doctor.

He kept ignoring your presence until he understood where you were putting your organic hands.

"Please stop touching my painting."

"I'm not going to ruin them. You're good at it, you know! Like really good!"

"Pff, like a human, you could even get what I do with that."

"Wanna bet?"

He met his annoyed glare with your challenger one. He didn't need to bet; he knew that a sophisticated mind like his was superior to a simple one like yours! He didn't even want to partake in that silly thing; maybe ignoring you would finally do the trick. He kept it up even after you started to analyze one of the bunches—a composition of lines of different colors—and put it into a strange wave.

"Okay, this one is...chaos, I get it."

"Woooow, Sherlock, nice guess..."

"But I see some order in it. With the color. If it were made with a bunch of colors, I would have stopped at chaos, but I can see that there's a pattern here. You used different shades of red, right? They don't follow some logic themselves, so they can be mistakenly confused with the same shade, but the white and black help to see the differences."

He stopped drawing but refused to watch you, only opting to try to process your rumbling.

"The black line and the white ones don't follow a real one; they look like doodles, but the red ones follow a wave, like an actual movement. There's this blueish tones here and there; they look like...OOOH OHOHOH, it's your brother!"

He finally looked at you, shocked. 

"It-it's...no, it's-"

"Of course it is! Sideswipe behavior always looks quite caustic on its own, but you sense the logic in it! You found an order! And on the red line are his own unique traits? His personality??? Awww, that's so sweet! You must care so much for him!"

He couldn't process the right words; he didn't have any! Which was a surprise; he always had bad remarks, something pitty to say, and now there you were, waltzing around and just leaving him out of words.

You finally decided to leave the painting alone, facing the machine, now in pure confusion.

"Well, as always, I must remind you about Rtachet, Yada Yada Yada, and OH, tomorrow me and Bluestreak are going out; if you want, just call! You know where he sleeps, all right?"

And so you left, like nothing happened. You left him alone in his own thoughts, and he grabbed his brush so harshly that he must have left the sign. He started to torture the canvas on which he was currently working.

"Stupid human, stupid artistic sensibility, stupid psychoanalysis session!"

He stopped passing the brush and started to use it as a knife.

"You can't just come here and be this nice! I don't want you to be nice with me; I don't want you around at all."

He changed colors several times in a row.

"Who needs a human that is this nice and kind?! Who needs a stupid, fleshy person who just cares so much for me?! I don't need you to care for me! They even act like I like them!"

He kept pressing the brush.

"Like they can just come and hang around with everyone! If they like everyone, then why bother with me?! I can't stand it! I-...."

Despite the mess of colors, it was nice. A good view. They looked like flowers—so many colorful flowers. The colors were bright—not too hard, but bright. He held the canvas, realizing that he painted it thinking of you.

And in the center, a bright yellow one stood among the others, screaming, Pick me.

"FRAG IT!"

He threw away the canvas, trying to convince himself that that thing was just his imagination and that there was nothing but a bunch of colors and curves.

And, while conversing with himself, he glanced at the small communication device, thinking about your small trip with Bluestreak tomorrow.

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

@hey-name-arya-name-ar @malewife-overlord @ladyofnegativity

i did it

[slay00ryu]

silly but... an MC who likes or wants to put makeup on the cast for fun?

Make Up Artiste.

Ronin - The Self Made Devil.

You are someone who loves to do creative make up looks, paintings all over your face, the exact copies of cartoon characters, make up inspired by a fictional character. You did all that.

Ronin knew about it, and he encouraged you in your creative ways.

"Damn baby, neat work. Looks perfect."

He'd say and kiss the top of your head or your knuckles to not mess your make up, well if he felt more annoying then he would.

Blowing air onto your face, kissing, poking, anything to get you riled up and irritated. He loved your threats.

"I will poke you eye out with my eyeliner I swear to God." You said after Ronin ruined yet another attempt to do your eyeliner.

"Awh, you know you love me." He barked out a laugh and pulled you into his lap so you would sit instead of standing while you're trying to win the war between your shaky hands and the make up tool.

One day you decided that you want to give Ronin a make up look, you even planned out one especially for him. A look that screams The Devil when you look at it and looks very masculine so Ronin's grotesqueness would be satisfied too.

But could you ask him for that? You sighed heavily as you looked at the drawing you made, that was the exact look you planned out. A whole white face, with lots of reds and blacks.

"What's up darlin'? Why feelin' so down?"

There was an elbow resting on your head, a man standing right next to you.

"Oh, Ronin! Um, I-"

You looked down at the sketch. The man lifted your head so you would look at him.

"C'mon. Spill it. I see how much you want to say something."

He snatched your sketchbook from you and inspected the drawing.

"Is that a new look?"

He looked at you, as if he was trying to imagine you with that make up on.

"Nah, it's not your regular style. Who's this for?"

And here it was. The question you wanted to avoid, but it was only natural for Ronin to see right through you.

"It was meant for... you."

Ronin's chuckle filled your ears, like a melody from a broken music box, beautiful yet oddly mysterious.

"Why are you so embarrassed darlin'? Come on, you can do this look on me."

He took off his beanie, lifting you up from your chair just to sit down himself and place you on his lap.

"So what will it be?"

His cocky grin drove you insane, but he also made you extremely happy. You kissed his cheek and gathered all your make up products.

You were sitting on his lap while you were doing that look, somehow he was very much obedient, keeping his eyes close when you told him to, not making any weird faces so your work won't be in shambles. Somehow giving Ronin this make up made you feel so overjoyed...

Angel - The Beautiful Soul.

A make up artist dating a model, who also happens to have a YouTube channel about make up and fashion? This felt like a dream every time you thought about it.

Angel gave you so many ideas for new looks, some related to her as Maria, some to her as The Heartsick Angel and some just to her. Your girlfriend who definitely overworks herself.

You were in the middle of creating another look filled with inspiration after Angel's new kill. The new idea looked pretty innocent when someone didn't look closely. Under all that innocence emphasized by a lot of pinks and hearts, a biblical angel was hidden, small eyes were all around the forehead and sides of the face. Some eyes were even supposed to be drawn on the neck.

"Now I just need to find someone to model for me."

You sighed after the sketch was done. You were proud of this, every detail was well thought, carefully placed to not destroy the composition.

While you were lost in your own inner world, two arms were wrapped around your shoulders and a sweet giggle met your ears.

"Did someone say a model?"

Angel!

Right, why didn't you think about it earlier? All of the looks were inspired by her anyway so she could as well be the model , right?

You turned around on your chair to look at her with dozens of lights in your eyes.

"You would like to model for me?"

You asked, your voice full of hope and barely contained excitement. You could swear that you saw two sparks dance in Angel's eyes after you have asked the question.

"Oh Gosh you're even asking?! You're so talented Y/N!"

Her words made you blush.

"And you know what? We could use it as an opportunity to boost your social media so more people would hire you."

Angel crossed her arms, she was thinking about something, something that had you in it.

"What do you mean?"

"You will record a video with me dummy! My followers will love you."

She chuckled and took your hand in hers to pull you up from the chair.

She looked so excited, and you were just so captivated by it. You didn't think twice before you had agreed to this and went to the recording den with her.

Misaki - The Great Fool.

You are a cosplayer, you post some videos online for fun, a variety of make up tutorials, acting videos or just silly videos in a cosplay.

You absolutely love doing this, it makes your inner child get what it always wanted, dress ups for fun. Fulfilling your childhood dreams felt sweet, it made your days happier.

Especially when your partner is your biggest fan. Misski, the worldwide known assassin, also known as your very best friend and partner, was very ecstatic when you shared your cosplaying passion with her. They were so excited to watch you prepare your cosplays on calls with them.

Your biggest dream was to do a duo cosplay with Misski, but them living on the other side of the globe wasn't really helping this dream come true. You were slowly giving up on this dream, just feeling so disappointed that you couldn't enjoy this hobby with your lovely partner.

But unexpectedly to you Misski found themselves in your apartment. She was supposed to assassinate an impotent politician and that's why she was sent to your town.

"Oh my! Misaki! I'm so happy to see you!"

You wrapped your arms around them, almost squealing from all the feelings that washed over you.

"I'm happy too, sweat pea."

They said and wrapped their arms around you too.

"You know what I'm also excited about?"

Their question caused you to back away a little.

"Hm? For what?"

You asked, brushing a strand of their hair back to where it was supposed to be.

"We'll be able to cosplay together!"

Their exclamation made you realise that they are right! Now that Misaki is here with you, you can do that duo cosplay you wanted with them!

"You're so right omg!"

You were smiling from ear to ear.

"After you're back from this assassination, you will not escape my make up kit."

You gave her the playful threat and a peck on the lips.

"I'll hold you onto that then. Oh yeah, watch my flower for me, don't want it to be all sad while I'm away."

They winked at you, obviously hinting at the fact that you will miss them.

And of course, they will miss you too.

At least until you're done with the cosplay look...

V - The warrior of Justice.

You are someone with a great passion for make up, maybe you're not an influencer or a real make up artist, but you love doing it.

It helps you get your creative spirit out, and it makes you feel and look great, what's there to not like?

V was a fan of your creative soul, the way you looked when you were focused, the fire in your eyes when you knew that you were doing something right, the proud and excited smile you were showing him.

These seemingly small things made his heart flutter.

And you were just so happy whenever you could show him a new project that you were working on for so long.

"V! V! V! V!"

You ran into the living room, hands full of make up products.

"My love? What is it?"

He caught you before you almost fell to the floor.

"Please be careful."

He sighed and helped you stand straight, then he crouched to collect your make up.

"Why have you decided to grace me with your presence?"

He asked. V was always such a charmer even when he didn't realise it, you were just so happy with this. Also his flustered face was even more adorable.

"V can I try to do make up on you?"

You asked in excitement, you gave him the best puppy eyes you could master.

"Oh, how could I ever not give in with you?"

He chuckled, the sound warm and deep, it made your heart flutter.

"Oh my! You're going to look so good, I promise!"

With a small hint of a smile, V followed you to the bathroom.

This moment of quality time that you two shared would stay in both your and his minds for a while, that's for sure.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

HWA writer is doing a vote on Artificial Intelligence and a round up on what graphic designers actually do and why you shouldn't shoot your foot.

So writer news the HWA is voting about AI use, both in writing and covers. Most of my social media bubble is saying NO. 'cause obviously, it's stealing other people's work, but there is also this guy...

I get it, a lot of people don't understand the process that graphic designers have to go through. But it's harder than people think and some of the cost is BUYING LICENSED PICS TO USE IN YOUR COVER.

Unlike AI, graphic designers pay the photographers, etc OR have really expensive equipment to make high res images for book covers themselves. My cheap camera was 600 bucks in 2019. That does not include background, lights, etc. If you're complaining about the cost of custom covers from graphic artists, think about the cost to hire models, costume, and the camera equipment.

But it's more than Oh, snap pretty pictures or pay for it, there are other principles that go into art which include composition (which I covered many times), color and color theory knowledge (which AI can't always do well because there is also psychology per culture that one has to put in.)

There is also typography and knowledge of the market and psychology. You're paying for a lot more than Oh, just slapped pictures together. You're paying for a human who can create something unique that shows off the elements of your book in maybe ways you didn't think about.

Graphic artists are artists because we do things like arrange your websites for you to maximize psychological interaction. Graphic artists are not on the same par as AI.

So, no, this is a horrible take. I use traditional and computer media. But you can't unite if you think, OMG, you drew that in a computer v. you drew that on paper versus and think the first one is invalid. OMG, you wrote that in a computer. You wrote that on paper. The principles the human is applying are pretty similar.

Many graphic artists also draw. Many people use both media.

When Will up there can explain the positives and negatives of what a tangency is and how to color adjust a photo digitally on levels+curves, and how those things can affect the psychology of people interacting with their final product, then he can talk about OMG, how digital art is ruining covers.

Graphic Designers also know how to typeset your covers, who usually do it digitally, so don't eff with them by slamming the people that work with you. Because lemme tell you, the thing that makes your covers and the back of your books look excellent is that tight yet quite difficult art of typography. If that graphic designer really cared, they put that little extra work into eliminating the rivers on the blurb for you to make sure it was that extra bit more readable. They cared about the color of the type and the type face. And those people too are graphic designers. Psychologically, great graphic design is chef's kiss and when typography is done just so, the potential reader *feels* it through the design and the emotion your book is promising to give them.

So don't disparage graphic designers. Even for the fraction who cannot draw, when they are good they HELP with your marketing that much more.

General advice: Don't disparage platforms. Don't disparage your fellow true artists/creatives. Because it's likely you'll have the opportunity to work with them someday, and do you want to cut off the roads to making your book/product the best it can be? Uplift. Graphic designers are not the same as AI. Graphic designers pay other artists for licenses to their work.

Add to that the HWA is holding a vote about AI writing, etc. And yeah, we kinda need to spread this info around.

Dear HWA Members, An open comment period will be coming soon on the drafted Horror Writers Association Al Policy which has been diligently crafted since March. Members, please look for a Special iMailer in your inbox by the end of the month with instructions on where to send your feedback. The feedback period will be open for open for 25 days. The Board of Trustees values art and artists and looks forward to the comments from its membership. Sincerely, Maxwell Gold Executive Director, HWA

[taylor-titmouse]

Meatheads, by R/L Monroe

it's another month gone by, which means another cover for another @petitemortality R/L Monroe book! this one goes hard and sweaty and meaty, and the worldbuilding is both really funny and really fascinating in the little glimpse of it we get. and also there's three huge fuckin dudes going to town on each other. check it out, and follow along on the process for designing the cover below!

FYF 3: Meatheads $3

Trapped by a lethal boiling sun, in the neon ruins of a fallen supercity, three tank-grown ultrasoldiers have nothing to kill but time and no enemy but their own overheated flesh. Daily hormone shots gave them hard bodies, but without a seedsucker to offer them relief, they soon have something even harder to contend with. It's not gay if you come out on top...right? Almost 7k words(!), EPUB and PDF format. Content: -M/M/M -straight turned gay -testosterone dosing -cum harvesting/drinking -dominance struggle -sexual hazing -rough sex

THUMBNAILS

i lost track of the initial notes for these, but the first two were really just me spinning my wheels. my instinct was something with greek wrestling, stylized like pottery. we usually do the covers early in the month, so i hadn't read the finished book yet and didn't have a clear sense of the aesthetic yet. i did know there were three guys, which made composition tough. fighting is not, typically, a three-man's game. lee suggested looking at WWE and rugby

which led me to looking at turkish oil wrestling, because truly, what is greasier than that. originally there was a reference image of turkish oil wrestling here, but tumblr hated it so much that they flagged the post and denied appeal. those men were wearing pants. this post is free to read on patreon so you can see the greasy boys there.

moving on.

AH SHIT THAT'S TOO SCARY

so while we were talking about the color palette, lee brought up 80s splatterfest VHS cover design. we agreed on violent red and purple, but the topic of horror led me in a horror direction. gritty lines, harsh light and shadow, scary imagery with the single red eye, etc. and we agreed this look is Sick and Rules, but wasn't quite right for neon future climatepunk.

so i went back to the drawing board and totally got rid of the hatching. we're looking for neon, for black velvet, for graphic

definitely closer to the final product! though of course as soon as i saw it in discord i realized the purple on the middle guy's back and the third guy's leg were competing too much with the top guy's back and making it hard to know where to look. so: more variants

adding the paint strokes down was just something i wanted to try at the last minute, and it was definitely the right move! there were like five more variations of just That with the gradient map very very slightly adjusted, but honestly it's not worth posting all of those lol. the version we settled with was the best one!

and that's the process for this month's fuck yourself friday cover! this is both my favorite cover so far AND my favorite story. i love high concept worldbuilding that serves the fucking. if you're here and supporting my work, i bet you do too! so go read it! it's only $3 dude!!

[yujeong]

idk if you still keep up with 4 min events after the series but the issue with the photos of fuaiz for the charity auction makes me so mad. the composition of his photos were by far my favourite (jes being a close second) and they do not deserve to be shelved forever.

he really embodied the theme of the photoshoot very well and we can see that he and the team worked really hard to bring tonkla's mindset to the photos. he's really talented and i hope the fans will allow him to have his own autonomy in future. sorry for rambling, i'm just so upset.

I debated over sharing the news on Tumblr, because I've been blocked by people for bringing negativity into the main tags in the past and I don't want to be negative on here, but this issue is too important not to mention, so thank you anon for giving me the chance. In case any of you didn't know, BOC hired Apo as the Creative Director for a 4 Minutes themed photoshoot in which all the actors got their pictures taken as the characters they played in the show. The themes were "sexy" and "cool", as Apo said himself - he asked the actors what their definition of those terms was, and collaborated with them in order to bring those vibes out and into the photos. All the photos will be part of an auction, both online and offline at the Fancon event they have on Saturday, and all the proceeds will be donated to the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation (IHRI). All hell broke loose when Fuaiz reacted to his photos in a short clip BOC shared. People went crazy on Twitter, tagging BOC cursing them for "grooming a child", tagging Apo to tell him "Fuaiz is an actor, not a pornstar", tagging Fuaiz himself for reasons I can't even fathom, and so on and so forth. This resulted in Fuaiz announcing on a live they did for the online auction yesterday that his photos won't be shared, that he consented, that it was his vision of Tonkla, that it was Tonkla in the photos and not himself and that he wanted to do this for charity, which was the point of the auction in the first place. You can hear Bible's translation of Fuaiz's words here. I am disgusted, and angry, and very very sad that so many people decided Fuaiz wasn't allowed to express his artistic vision, that he wasn't allowed to participate in this beautiful event, that his work was supposed to not even exist at all because.... something something pedophiles, something something protect your artist. Let me be very clear here: this is homophobic. Infantilizing a grown up who consented and who had his parents consent as well, because he's "only 18" to have pictures taken AS THE CHARACTER HE EMBODIED AND NOT HIMSELF, pictures which show a nipple and an aroused expression mind you, is homophobic. Calling gay sexual desire portrayed artistically in a photo porn is homophobic. Implying said photos ruin the actor's image and make him vulnerable to predators and pedophiles is homophobic. You're not protecting anyone with this behaviour. You're not morally correct for ruining an actor's hard work and denying him work opportunities. Neither Fuaiz nor Apo deserved this, and it's the second time BOC had to cave under pressure from entitled fans who have no idea about anything and all they do is hate, hate, hate. I'm appalled and very fucking mad. I genuinely hope Fuaiz is okay after this, and that he gets as many opportunities as he can in the future. He deserves every single one of them.

[camaro-and-smokes]

A Shot for Life

A Harringrove fic by Suometar

Chapter 6: When you're leaving (I lose a piece too)

Warnings: No warnings Tags: Pining

Summary: Two electric days on set and one dinner created two men who had hard time to sleep.

Read on AO3 »

::::::::::

Steve leaned his forehead to the hotel room door after he’d closed it and closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. He’d wanted to linger in the corridor and say that it was great to get to know more about Billy, too. That he wanted to know him better. Maybe ask him if he would’ve wanted to go to the hotel bar for a drink, or to go for a walk on the beach and just talk.

He threw his jacket over the backrest of the couch and ran his fingers through his hair as he sat down. Being thrown a bone his way when he was finally ready to open his life for someone felt almost too unbelievable. Even more so when it came in the form of Billy.

He stared at the ceiling and chuckled, indulging himself with the thought for a moment. A young guy like Billy interested in an old man like him? Steve was flattered. Hell yes he was. Who wouldn’t be? If he’d been at all as reckless as he’d been at Billy’s age, he wouldn’t have thought about it twice for a second, just jumped on the opportunity.

He sighed. He still wanted to be reckless like that. But he’d heard Robin’s words, loud and clear; he was no longer young or invisible to the public eye. Billy was so much younger than him it wouldn’t look good.

But having feelings towards someone who was half your age…whenever he’d come across a similar situation before, he’d always thought the older party was pathetic or promiscuous. Now, being in that same situation, he found that it necessarily wasn’t quite so. He wasn’t desperate or just after younger flesh.

It just seemed that they both had caught each other’s eyes.

Steve’s thoughts were interrupted by his phone beeping, a reminder to be up with everything packed at six am. He sighed and got up to turn the reminder off. No point in spending time on thinking about something that couldn’t happen and besides, he had more important things to think about than some crush. He’d take a shower, put his things together and go to bed.

+ + +

It started to look imminent to Steve that he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight as he reached out to the nightstand to check the time, yet again, and it was 12:45 am.

His thoughts kept making circles around the last few days, the way Billy’s gaze was piercing through the lens and met his eyes every time he lowered his camera. The way Billy had laughed with everyone at the dinner, the way he had looked at him in the corridor. The insistent curl falling over his right eye, the freckles that bloomed on the bridge of his nose and cheeks…

Steve groaned and sat up, wondering what he should do. He didn’t want to do anything he might regret later, but he also couldn’t stare at the ceiling any longer. So, he got up and went to the minibar. He looked at the overpriced small bottles of expensive whiskey sitting on the shelf and contemplated for a moment.

Fuck it, charge me separately.

He grabbed two bottles, took a glass from the table and poured the amber liquid into it, then settled himself on the chair by the table and opened his laptop.

He couldn’t share the photos with half-closed eyes with Gavin, so he might as well go through the photos now. If he didn’t get any sleep tonight, he could sleep on the flight to Dean’s and plow through the day with coffee.

Steve opened the photos one by one, looking at each for a moment and deciding if they made the cut. After checking the eyes and focus, he studied the composition, the direction of the movement and if the angles worked. How the garment was presented, how it flowed with Billy’s movement, or if there was something unexpected in the picture that somehow ruined the shot.

Then he let his eyes rest on Billy’s features, the slight changes in his posture, the way he held his hands, how he walked. What his expression meant, and was it what Steve had been looking for.

He told himself that he was doing this for a reason, but he couldn’t deny that he stopped to look at each closeup a while longer than the others. He hadn’t noticed how blue Billy’s eyes were before, and the amount of lashes surrounding his eyes stunned him. There were a lot of them, and they were long, spreading over his cheeks as he looked down.

Finally, he got to the ones he’d taken by the waterline. One of the first closeups was the one where Billy looked over the sea before he took a pose.

Steve had taken it when he’d seen the authenticity in Billy’s expression. Billy looked as if he was reminiscing about something that truly made him happy. Whatever he had thought of painted his face with joy—and something else, maybe wistfulness? Steve wasn’t sure.

He studied the photo for a while. Technically, it was good, but the clothes weren’t visible at all, so it was useless to Gavin—and to him, too, he couldn’t use it anywhere either.

But without a doubt, it was one of the best shots he’d ever taken.

The thought of maybe Billy liking to have it popped into his mind. If he sent it to him…he was just being nice, nothing more to it. He was taking photos of Billy, and Billy had the right to see all of them if he wanted. Might as well send it, right?

+ + +

Billy wasn’t sure what the time was when he finally opened his eyes and decided not to force the sleep that apparently just wouldn’t come.

Each time he thought about the last few days, his stomach was doing flip-flops. It was so embarrassing. He’d had crushes before, but never had his feelings deepened like this just in a few days. He knew it was because he already had a crush on Steve before and, of course, his infatuated, stupid heart thought that everything Steve did was because he, too, had feelings. But he couldn’t know that.

He needed someone to bring him down to Earth, so he took his phone from the nightstand and looked for Heather’s number. She probably wouldn’t be sleeping, anyway.

Billy: Went to dinner with him Heather: WTF??? Billy: The rest of the crew was there too Heather: Oh. Well, thank fuck! Billy: Ha ha. He’s nice. Heather: Just nice? 😏 Billy: Yes. Nice. Unexpectedly, a bit more than that, actually Heather: Right...

Billy groaned. Why am I doing this to myself? Entertain these thoughts, these feelings. I should just… Billy: I think he might be, you know, interested in me

It took a long time for Heather to reply. When she did, her tone was serious.

Heather: What makes you think that? Did he say it or just hint? Billy: He didn’t actually mention it at all. The dinner was great, and we just had a nice talk when we came back. He’s really nice. Heather: But he’s old! Billy: I KNOW! And I know that we’re just working together. But I just can’t shake the feeling, you know Heather: Are you sure he’s just not trying to get into your pants? Become your sugar daddy? Billy: He’s not like that. Heather: How would you know? Billy: Well, I guess I don’t

The dots indicating her typing vanished.

“Come on, H, answer,” Billy muttered. He turned on his stomach to type better.

Soon she did. Heather: Don’t bite my head off, but I have to ask: are you absolutely positive there’s something going on between you two and it’s not just inside your head? Billy: You tell me. He’s amazing on set. I’ve never connected with a photographer like that. We work so well together. And all the rumors about him are just rumors. Someone made them up just to hurt him. His assistant told me. And she told me about him, too. That he’s great. Down-to-Earth. Normal. And besides, in addition to being gorgeous, he has a great laugh. Heather: Ok, I get your point. But I think that’s just being polite and nice. Like any professional on his level would be. Billy: I know Heather: But you don’t want to think it’s just that? You prefer thinking it’s because he’s interested in you?

Her words were a kick in the gut, even though he knew she was right. He’d been inside his head and daydreaming. That’s all this was. He was projecting his own feelings on Steve. Billy: I guess... Heather: Don’t pout, you know I’m right. Billy: I know, I know Heather: Bee, seriously, don’t do this to yourself. You just get hurt when you find out that it’s nothing. Or worse, you do something and he turns you down—and then you’ve made a fool of yourself. Billy: Yeah, I know that too. Heather: You know that I’m on your side, right? It’s far better that I tell you this now. You know that. Billy: Yeah

Billy was close to tears. She was doing exactly what he wanted her to do—being the voice of reason—but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

Heather: Hey, go to bed. It’s late. Aren’t you working tomorrow? Billy: Yeah, last day. Heather: The romantic island has gotten the better of you. You feel better when you get back home. Billy: I hope so Heather: I know so. Let’s catch up tomorrow. Billy: Yeah. Goodnight. Heather: Goodnight 💜

Billy put the phone back on the nightstand and laid down, covering his eyes with his arm, the tears dripping on his cheeks. Heather was right. He was cooking it all up in his smitten head. Steve was a pro. He wouldn’t fall in love with some random model.

Now that he thought of it, it was a ridiculous idea to start with. He just felt so lonely that he was willing to read any friendly gesture as interest in more than just that. He felt embarrassed, and that made the tears sting even more.

Suddenly, his phone pinged again on the nightstand. First, he decided against looking at it, but after a moment he realized that it just made him imagine why it might’ve pinged. “Fucking Heather,” he muttered as he reached to it and opened it.

To his surprise, it was an email—from Steve.

Hey,

Took this yesterday by the waterline. I can’t use it anywhere and neither can Gavin, but I thought you might like to have it.

See you in the morning.

Steve

The attachment was the photo of him looking at the sea by the waterline. His jaw dropped. No one had taken such an amazing photo of him, maybe ever. His face was relaxed, mouth forming a small smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling just a little. And he could see the memory in his expression—and Steve had caught it.

“Holy shit,” he said quietly. Harrington was a true artist with his camera.

He read the message again, and his eyes locked into the sentence, “I thought you might like to have it.”

I thought you…

I thought of you.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He doesn’t think of you like that, you dumb fuck, he told himself. He was just going through the photos he’d taken yesterday and saw this and��

Billy looked at the time stamp on the email. Sent at 1:43 am and the time was 1:51 am. Steve was working on the photos at this hour?

His hands started shaking. What if Steve was…He shook his head. No, it couldn’t be. Can’t be. Steve’s just…he just can’t sleep. Maybe the wine didn’t fit him and it’s keeping him awake. Or maybe he regularly works at night. Billy wouldn’t know.

But he wanted to thank Steve, anyway. The photo was gorgeous. He could do it in the morning too…but against his better judgment, he pressed the reply-button and typed.

That’s one hell of a photo, thank you. You truly are an artist.

His finger already hovered over Send. He knew he shouldn’t add anything. What he’d written was more than enough.

Thank him, press Send and try to sleep. Forget the delusional imaginations.

But he just had to.

Go to bed.

+ + +

Apparently, Billy couldn’t sleep either, because the email notification popped up just ten minutes after Steve had sent the photo. He rushed to open it, way too eagerly even to his own taste, and chuckled when he read the last sentence.

“Oh, forget that, old man,” he scoffed at himself, muttering. “He’s just being nice. And he’s right, it’s late.”

He closed the laptop, took his drink with him, and walked to the balcony into the cool air.

Moonlight painted everything in a cool blue light. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore calmed him, and he took a sip of his drink.

You’re working together, he reminded himself. It’s natural to connect with people you work with and especially when there’s synergy such as you two have. But that’s it.

He stared at the palm trees and their leaves gently undulating in the sea breeze. He needed to focus. Tomorrow was an important day, and he didn’t need things like this to occupy his mind.

But the thought of Billy just wouldn’t leave his mind.

“You’re old enough to be his father. And if he’s interested in you, it’s just because of what you are,” he muttered, trying to convince himself to stop. “Jesus, the kid has barely started his own life. He doesn’t need you to end it now. And there are takers for him.”

But none of the clear, logical reasons seemed to work.

“You were a grown man already when he was conceived.”

“This is ridiculous. You should know better.”

“You should go after someone who’s your own age, someone who would fit you better.”

But I don’t want someone else. I want him.

He upped his reasoning a notch at the thought.

“Have you even thought about how it would look like, you idiot? You just being only after a pretty ass. And what about Billy? He would look like a gold digger. Or worse, it might look like you’re blackmailing him with something. Or using him just as a trophy.”

“Why would a young, gorgeous man like him even want to be with an old fart like you? Everyone would see it’s not balanced. Knowing who you are and he is still a nobody.”

He shook his head and emptied his drink. It burned his throat. Good, finally an actual feeling and not just some teenage dream.

He returned inside, turned off the lights and went back to bed—and back to staring at the ceiling.

It had been so long since he’d felt like this. The tingle in his stomach, the tightness in his chest, losing sleep…He had thought he would never feel like this again. It had felt so distant, something that was reserved only for young people. Just for the few first times you fall in love. But it clearly wasn’t so.

“Ugh,” he groaned to himself. “Try to fucking sleep.”

If just to see if you can dream of him…

[prime-factorizer]

what is a prime factor

i like your funny numbers but i dont know what they mean :(

First of all, we'll only be talking about positive whole numbers, so no decimals, fractions, complex numbers, etc. This is also just going to be an introduction because this topic is more complicated/nuanced than you might expect, and I don't know/understand a lot of it

With that out of the way prime number is a number that you can't get to by multiplying other numbers: 24 isn't prime because you can write it as 6×4, but 23 is prime because the only way to get to 23 (only using multiplication) is 1×23. If you're interested, I encourage you to try finding a few prime numbers. It can be a fun exercise if you haven't tried it before. I'll put all of the ones less than 100 under the cut

A prime factor is just a prime number that divides another number. You can divide 24 by 3, and 3 is prime, so 3 is a prime factor of 24

Also, if you can get to a number by multiplying other numbers, then it's a composite number. Also also, 0 and 1 are weird so just don't worry about them <3

The thing that makes this blog work though is what's known as the fundamental theorem of arithmetic (ftoa):

Like I said, you can write 24 as 6×4, but you might notice that neither 6 nor 4 are prime. If you rewrite 6 as 2×3 and 4 as 2×2, then you can then write 24 as 2×3×2×2. Now all of the numbers are prime!

But you'll notice you can also write 24 as 8×3, then write 8 as 2×4 to get 2×4×3, then write 4 as 2×2 to get 2×2×2×3. Now that all of the numbers are prime, you'll notice that they're the same as when we started with 6×4 (three 2s and one 3)

What the ftoa says is, no matter how you break down a number like this, you'll always end with the same prime numbers at the end (in this case, three 2s and one 3)

The only thing I do differently from this process is use exponents to make it shorter. In this case, you can rewrite 2×2×2 as 2³. So, when I say 24 is 2³×3, I've "factorized" 24, and 2 and 3 are its prime factors. Of course, I don't usually do this by hand or in my head; I just give the number to a computer and it does it for me (it can be fun to do it yourself though, so sometimes I'll do it in my head for the smaller numbers)

Prime numbers and the ftoa play a pretty big role in math, and there's a ton of unsolved problems related to them, which is why you'll see people make a big deal out of them

Prime numbers under 100 and other notes under the cut:

0 and 1 aren't considered prime or composite. There's probably a more sophisticated answer to why, but I like to justify the decision by saying they ruin the ftoa:

Prime numbers under 100: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 97

0 is divisble by every number, so it's not prime but you also can't factorize it, so it isn't composite. 1 isn't prime because if it was then you could add as many ×1s as you wanted to a factorized number, ruining the uniqueness of its factorization, and, once again, it also can't be composite because you can't factorize it

Also, like I said, this is only an introduction and I don't understand most of the more complicated/nuanced definitions. If you wanna learn about those though, I recommend TheGrayCuber's videos: