#AND ANOTHER SET OF VISUALS IN MY DRAFTS

[writers-potion]

Storyediting Questions to Ask

As You Read the First Draft:

Are there place that surprised you as you read your first draft? - Why do you suppose that is? - Is there material there you'd like to expand?

What are the character really doing in this story? - Might they have issues you haven't explored fully yet?

Look to the places that drag. - These might be scenes where you have avoided dealing with something deeper. - What are the characters really thinking in these places? - What are their passions, frustrations, and desires?

Imagine alternative plotlines. - How might your plot be different if ti headed off on another tangent from various points in the story? - You don't have to follow them, but they might suggest other streams that can flow into the main plot.

Think About Structure:

Does you story play out naturally in three acts?

Is there an immediate disturbance to the Lead's world?

Does the first doorway of no return occur before the one-fifth mark?

Are the stakes being raised sufficiently?

Does the second doorway of no return put the Lead on the path to the climax?

Does the rhythm of the sotyr match your intent? If this is an action novel, does the plot move relentlessly forward? If this is a character-driven novel, do the scenes delve deeply enough?

Are there strongly motivated characters?

Have coincidence been established?

Is something happeing immediately at the beginning? Did you establish a person in a setting with a problem, onfronted with change or threat?

Is the timeline logical?

Is the story too predictable in terms of sequence? Should it be rearranged?

About Your Lead Character:

Is the character memorable? Compelling? Enough to carry a reader all the way through the plot?

A lead character has to jump off the page. Does yours?

Does this character avoid cliches? Is he capable of surprising us?

What's unique about the character?

Is the character's objective strong enough?

How does the character grow over the course of the story?

How does the character demonstrate inner strength?

About Your Opposition:

Is your oppositing character interesting?

Is he fully realized, not just a cardboard cutout?

Is he justified (at least in his own mind) in his actions?

Is he believable?

Is he strong as or stronger than the Lead?

About Your Story's Adhesive Nature:

Is the conflcit between the Lead and opposition crucial for both?

Why can't they just walk away? What holds them together?

About Your Scene:

Are the big scenes big enough? Surprising enough? Can you make them more original, unanticipated, and draw them out for all they are worth?

Is there enough conflict in the scenes?

What is the least memorable scene? Cut it!

What else can be cut in order to move the story relentlessly forward?

Does the climactic scene come too fast (through a writer fatigue)? Can you make it more, write it for all it's worth?

Does we need a new minor subplot to build up a saggin midsection?

About Your Minor Characters:

What is their purpose in the plot?

Are they unique and colorful?

Polishing Questions:

Are you hooking the reader from the beginning?

Are suspenseful scenes drawn out for the ultimate tension?

Can any information be delayed? This creates tension in the reader, always a good thing.

Are there enough surprises?

Are character-reaction scenes deep and interesting?

Read chapter ending for read-on prompts

Are there places you can replace describing how a character feels with actions?

Do I use visual, sensory-laden words?

For a Dialogue Read-Through:

Dialogue is almost always strengthened by cutting words within the lines.

In dialogue, be fair to both sides. Don't give one character all the good lines.

Greate dialogue surprises the reader and creates tension. View it like a game, where the players are trying to outfox each other.

Can you get more conflict into dialogue, even emong allies?

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[heretherebeturtles-comic]

⭐

ALRIGHT! I told myself I would write this as a reward for finishing today's tasks, so lets go!

Here There Be - Director's Commentary :D!!

Starting with Chapter 1 part 1 (pages 1-4)

First of all, everyone say a big thank you to my friend and editor OurLadyOfCoffee for double checking the spelling and grammar for this comic.

Any mistakes in the writing are my own fault for making last minute changes and not showing her before posting. If she had gotten her hands on this page "missing in all the time in this city" would never have happened ( u_u)... I'll go back and fix the page eventually.

Pages 1 & 2 (and 20) did not exist in the original draft of the chapter. I made it to the lineart/inking stage and the page flow was not working. April's narration felt too cramped and boring. I completely redid the whole 4 page section, and the end the final result is so much better!

Page 1 - Panel 1 had two purposes! One, the establishing shot, introducing our setting. Two, to show that NYC is rebuilding after the Krang. Its been a few months and thanks to cartoon logic, they have made significant progress fixing everything.

I love to experiment with colour as a storytelling device. I use red/orange multiple times at specific points throughout the chapter. It simply morning in NYC or is there something dangerous on the horizon... (figuratively)? The good ol' "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning."

Page 1. Panel 2 has a little 1987 April reference with the lady in the jumpsuit on the right. I was really excited to see a few folks point it out, even if it's not quite the iconic yellow jumpsuit. The colour had to be muted or the bold yellow would pull attention away from April (the focus of the panel).

Hello Junior, what do you have there? Something that won't get context for a while? These panels almost didn't make it into the final cut due to page/panel limits. I was very happy that the added pages gave space for it.

Page 2 - someone sent an ask a while back confused about what April was saying, so to explain the text in a more straightforward way: "the mutants that started out as humans have been going missing, but no one knows how long it has been happening or who has taken them. April has figured out that the non-human based mutations disappeared first."

that orange again, this time over the spots where the now missing mutants used to be :)<. I have no idea if this sort of thing is too subtle or not subtle enough, but it makes me go eheehehee and rub my hands together like an evil mastermind.

Page 3 - I debated whether or not to have them move after the movie. How much structural damage did the Krang do on their way through? What are the chances of the lair being discovered because of this? Would the city be too focused on cleanup elsewhere to bother finding it? Do I really want to design a whole new lair when this one is cool and we barely got to see it? In the end I decided that it was more important to have a familiar visual that the readers can instantly identify as the turtle's home. We'll see if there are consequences for remaining in a potentially compromised lair. :)

Despite only showing two rooms in the page, I spent several hours gathering references and building a layout for the entire station lair. I do not control the hyperfocus, it controls me.

Did you know that there are two different designs for this one archway in the main room? I love seeing stuff like this! If an animation studio with multiple background artists can have small inconsequential inconsistencies like this, then it's completely ok if it happens in my own work. It's relieving in a weird way.

PAGE 3 - panel 5 is another way I tried to show that a few months have passed since the movie. They have put some work into unpacking some of those boxes stacked in the back.

Page 4 - Hello Two Phones Jones <3

The Jones Duo! They both have a little outfit change :D! CJ has a rough edged jean vest calling back to the 1990 movie with 03 colours. Casey has a base outfit colour change to match and a cropped hoodie reminiscent of 1987, in pink ofc.

I do not yet have the skills to show the fight that happened in that shipping yard, so I decided that this comic would begin in the tense quiet after it. This also starts us closer to the actual plot instead of dilly dallying. Maybe I'll eventually make a prelude comic to show what all went down.

Aaand that's pretty much it for April's 03 style narrated opening sequence! This is where the intro theme would start playing~

Thank you for the star, I hope this was interesting! I make so many small decisions per page, it's nice to share some of my thoughts. :)

[cherrycranes]

The Perfect Gift (Chris x Fem!Reader) [+18]

Pairing: Chris O´Doyle x Fem!Reader Summary: It´s christmas eve and you´re stuck at the airport because of the snow. Thankfully, a handsome stranger will make sure that you don´t spend your christmas alone.... Word count: 3,548 Contents: (Minors DNI). Drinking/tipsy sex, tit play, unprotected sex, cream pie, semi public sex. Author's notes: A new collab with @fuckiingloser. The draft of this fic has been in the backburner for over a month now. Also, I´m 90% sure that O´Doyle is a fan-given last name but it´s ok, it´s canon to me. Mandatory "english is not my first language" disclaimer. Pinterest moodboard and a playlist at the end so you can visualize!

The heels of your white tall boots clicked loudly over the near emptiness of the Boston Logan Airport. Luck was seemingly not on your side that night. It was christmas eve of 1977 and the snow storm outside had intended to hold you back for long. Your flight to Chicago had been canceled and no taxis were running this late with the weather. Against your will, you would have to spend your christmas eve and christmas morning on one of those uncomfortable terminal seats until another flight became available. 

Resigned, you walked towards a more secluded part of the dead airport. A small handful of people were asleep in chairs, smoking or reading a book. What at your arrival had been a chaotic, bustling center was now a still image of patience.

You set down your bags, thankfully a few vending machines were nearby. The packaged snacks were a far cry from a christmas dinner, but enough to keep you at ease. Quietly, you settled down on an empty chair and opened a book, the words your only company as you ate from a crinkly little bag.

The story was interesting, you had barely had time to read more than a few pages during your stay in Boston, so your curiosity aided your distraction. Time started to flow as fast as the snow outside fell. The howling wind and sometimes a few distant coughs or murmurs were imperceptible to your rolling imagination. It wasn’t until a masculine irish voice spoke to you, that you got pulled out of your trance.

“Excuse me, miss…” You looked up from the page to see a rather handsome man standing next to you. “Just wondering if this seat is taken?” He asked with a small smirk. You looked around, and confirmed that in your time distracted nothing had changed. The sea of empty seats still surrounded you. Yet, this handsome stranger wanted to sit right next to you…

You smirked back, taking in the sight of him: the shaggy brown hair, the perfect blue eyes, the sexy moustache. He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket, a button up shirt and dark pants. The preview of what you assumed to be a catholic golden medal peeked out from the confines of his shirt. He stood there with a confidence that was difficult to ignore.

“It's not taken…” You spoke with a smile, trying to not blush.

Your eyes discreetly roamed over his frame as he set down his bag and sat right next to you. The man was confident, he didn’t hesitate to face you right away and look over you, his pale blue eyes fixated on your mini skirt and the exposed softness of your legs that ended with your tall boots. Then, when his gaze went back up, he followed the curve of your black turtleneck and your chest, your lack of bra so noticeable it was almost endearing. In the end, he finally admired your beautiful face in all its glory.

“Couldn’t have a pretty thing like you all by yourself on christmas eve... So I figured I'd keep you company for the night…” The handsome stranger said with a cocky smile. 

“How sweet of you…” You replied with a soft little laugh. Any other man who would have tried that on you wouldn’t have seen such cuteness from you, but he was just so good looking and so sincere. The airport atmosphere, while quiet, was not completely empty. And he was right, you could use the company on this lonely christmas eve…

His name was Chris O’Doyle, and your ears hadn’t fooled you, he was as Irish as whiskey. Dublin born and raised and very proud of it. His deep, confident voice made you forget all about your book as you caught all his flirty hints and returned the sentiment. What a shame this was temporary, the snow canceled his flight as well, and just like you, he would wait until the morning for things to get better. The only difference was that you would get on a plane to your home in Chicago and Chris to his home in Dublin. 

“What brought you to Boston?” You asked, prompting a smile out of him.

“Just some business.” Chris said ominously, not giving any more details and no hints present in his body language. “What about you, love?” 

“I was here to see a friend for the week.” You answered simply with a little smile.

“A boyfriend?” He questioned with an eyebrow raised, curiosity and a faint mixture of caution and the foundations of healthy envy breaking a simmer in him.

“No boyfriend…” You laughed a little with a  headshake. “I was visiting a friend who just had a baby, actually.” Chris grinned at your answer, the simmer cooling off.

“Gotta say… I’m shocked that a pretty girl like you isn’t spoken for… But I guess it’s my lucky day…” It was hard to not feel the heat making your cheeks burn and the space between your legs tingle when he said that. Damn him for being so charming, and damn him for having those beautiful attentive pale blue eyes that made you understand why there was a whole song named like that. You crossed your legs in an attempt to snuff out the burning desire you had for this handsome stranger.

“I guess so…” You flirted back, and his smile grew. Goodbye to your attempt to keep your desires in check. 

Chris leaned in a bit closer to you, engulfed in the conversation and anchored to your gaze. In between words, he decided to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear very gently, the warmth brewing between you making you forget about the freezing hell outside. 

The passage of time was imperceptible in his company, the silence of the airport felt even comforting in a way, nobody to interrupt his flirty jokes, his talks about life in Ireland and his full undivided attention towards you. Not hard to believe you had grown infatuated with this handsome Irishman in the course of an hour.

“I was saving this for the plane ride...” Chris murmured, a little secret between the two of you. He reached down into his bag and pulled out a silver flask. “But I figure if we’ve gotta spend the night shacked up in the airport… We could have a little fun, hm? Whaddaya say?” 

His deep voice made everything inside you scream “yes”, but your actions just made you nod calmly with an accepting smirk. You took the flask and took a swig that made your throat burn. You coughed, whatever alcohol that was, it had nothing to do with the fun martinis and beer you were used to. Chris chuckled heartily at the face you made.

“That's real irish whiskey love. Strong stuff.” He announced really late, a laugh still echoing in his words. He took the flask from your hands and downed some of it for himself like it was water. 

Even if it had almost set your throat on fire, you sucked it up, taking turns sharing the flask with him until only one sip remained. Chris, being a gentleman, gave it to you, the last act of chivalry that survived since the whiskey made him progressively more touchy with you. His calloused fingertips brushed against your knee, then his hand gradually rested on it. Soon enough his entire palm laid comfortably over the soft flesh of your thigh, strategically positioned so it covered all your exposed skin and not the fabric of your skirt. But even tipsy and handsy, Chris still listened to you. 

“God, you’re just gorgeous…” he said somewhat out of the blue, making you smile, your face already warm thanks to the whiskey. “Pretty face… Even prettier body…” he added, his voice husky and heavily accented, caressing your ears like velvet and like his hand caressed your thigh. Your pussy immediately clenched at the touch of his rough palm. 

Chris’ attention, for the first time in a while, diverted from your face and found the clock upon the wall. It read 2 minutes after midnight.

“Well, would ya look at that? it’s christmas…” He announced, turning back to look into your eyes. “A pretty girl like you should always get a gift on christmas day…” 

His thumb rubbed slow circles over your thigh. His eyes gleamed, locked on yours.

“...and I think I have just the idea for the perfect present…” He whispered, and with that, his smile turned into a devious smirk. He stood up firmly and held his hand out to you, tempting the devils out of you.

“C'mon.. follow me, love.” Chris smiled just so charmingly, you didn’t think twice. Whiskey and charm were such a powerful tool for you. Happily, you obliged and took his hand, leaving the emptiness of the dead airport until a sign appeared in front of your eyes: Maintenance Closet. 

Chris took a chance and discovered the door was unlocked, a rush of cocky triumph running in his veins. 

“After you, love.” He practically purred to you and you made your way into the small room. Shelves of cleaning products, mops, brooms and a small desk tucked in the corner welcomed you two in between the dim light.

With the door locked behind you, Chris slowly started to back you against the wall, keeping you well placed between his chest and a safety poster hanging there.

“I-I’ve never done anything like this before… Always been a good girl...” You spoke so softly, playing the innocent angel when you knew very well your panties were getting wetter by the second. He smiled as if he could tell, one hand coming up to touch your hip and the other stroking your cheek in delight.

“Well… Being naughty gets you on my nice list...” His whisper was magnetic, imperceptibly so, you didn’t know when you leaned so close to him, to his whiskey lips. “Now let me give you that present I promised you…” 

Without another word his lips crashed against yours, his tongue slipped into your warm mouth like it belonged there and tangled with yours. Your soft hands buried in his curls for some needed leverage, desperation soaking the kiss. You groaned softly when his body pressed harder against you, sandwiching you between his torso and the wall and making you feel his hard cock through his jeans. 

You both knew just how risky this was, whoever worked in this closet would definitely come back at some unknown time, the possibility of it happening while Chris fucked you was just as slim as it was huge. But, in the very end, with your cunt clenching around nothing and his tongue swirling hotly in your mouth, you did not care at all if anyone found you. 

Chris shared the sentiment, his teeth gently nipped at your lower lip and pulled it deliciously before releasing it to whisper in your ear.

“I’m gonna fuck your pretty pussy till you come all over my cock…” He purred, his words going straight to your already aching cunt and making you moan a little. Pleased by your reaction, Chris’ hand pushed up your skirt over your hips and exposed the black lace panties underneath. 

“Mmm, you like that idea, huh?” He asked, moving to look into your eyes with a smirk. The pride of making a beautiful woman like you feel like this with mere words made his chest swell. His thumb found its way right to your clothed clit and gave it an experienced rub. The texture of the lace and the size of his fingertip sent a jolt of electricity to you, and more slick to your needy cunt.

“Fuck- you’re already soaked..” He said with a smirk. “All that because of me?” You nodded eagerly, it was the whole and only truth.

 “All for you…” You whispered back, another roll of his thumb on your clit making you moan. Chris smiled, more than satisfied with your submission. 

“You won’t be needing these anymore.” He whispered, pushing your panties down until they were a puddle on the well cleaned floor. Instinctively, you stepped out of them, and Chris couldn’t resist the temptation of picking them up and shoving them in his pocket like a thief. 

“Now as for your gift to me…” He started. “I need to see these perfect tits I've been trying not to drool over in this tight sweater of yours…” 

His bluntness made you giggle, and your inner christmas spirit made you comply with his request. Slowly, you pulled your black turtleneck up your chest, revealing that his early suspicions were very real: you had no bra on. Pale blue eyes fell from your face to your tits.

“Christ-“ He said breathlessly, his eyes wide. Your pretty tits bounced free for your sweater that now laid on the floor. “No bra… good girl.” He cooed, his large hand coming up to cup one in reverent greed, then his rough fingers grabbed your hard nipple and rolled it, earning a moan from you.

“They’re sensitive…” You whined softly.

“Mmm, I can tell love…” He whispered and did exactly what you imagined he would do: lean down and capture your nipple into his mouth, his tongue swirling over it mercilessly. You gasped and buried your hands in his dark hair, his hand squeezing your other breast softly to balance things out for your sensitive tits. Quite the difficult task, as his moustache tickled the soft skin on your breasts and sent shivers down your spine and into your cunt.

You tugged on his hair, getting a groan from him and an increase in the intensity of his mouth. He sucked your nipple hungrily, letting it go with a loud pop before switching to the other side.

“These tits… Fuckin’ perfect...” He mumbled as his tongue flicked over the sensitive bud. 

“Chris..” You whispered, followed by an exquisite series of moans. He hummed happily hearing you moan his name. 

Swiftly, he catched your nipple between his teeth gently, your eyes fluttering open to meet his in a silent conversation. He bit down ever so gently, the same care as if he bit his own hand. All you could do was moan loudly at the delicious junction of pain and pleasure.

“Chris, please… Need you…” You managed to beg so prettily that he released your nipple from his gentle bite. He stood up again and smirked. 

“I need you too, pretty girl…” He admitted, looking between you two at his painfully hard erection in his pants. “You’ve got me so fuckin hard…  Need to bury my cock in your wet cunt..” He growled at you, his hands yanked down his zipper and he pulled his briefs and pants off in one go. His thick uncut cock sprung free immediately, and you bit your lip at the sight.

“Big…” You whispered mindlessly, your eyes fixated on a drop of precum leaking from the head. 

“We'll make it fit baby… Don’t worry.” He groaned out, using a finger to tilt your face up. Then, he placed a hot searing kiss on your lips, you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him close in response. 

Chris showed off his strength to you when he picked you up effortlessly in one motion, putting your back against the wall and wrapping your legs around his hips. His hands gripped the underside of your thighs and held you up. Breaking the kiss with a wet sound, he looks between you, his eyes devouring your wet pussy before looking back up at your face.

“Are you ready for me?” He purred with a smirk. You bit your lip and nodded so obediently, it was cute.

“Good girl…” He growled, gently pushing you forward and guiding himself into your tight, hot entrance that had been ready for him ever since he said ‘hello’ hours ago… 

As his tip slid into you both moaned in unison, his thick cock stretching you deliciously. Your inner walls throb around him, slowly but surely getting used to his girth. You whimpered, letting your head fall back against the wall. 

“Fuuuuuuck…” Chris groaned loudly. “This cunt’s squeezing me so good… So tight n’ wet for me…” the lust in his voice fanned your neck and sent ripples through you, a few open mouthed kisses and nibbles following suit. He gave you the chance to adjust, more than aware of the sheer size of his cock. You felt him everywhere, almost splitting you apart, only moans came from your lips as a form of coherent sound. All your energies were focused on making his thick cock fit. At this rate, you were convinced that neither of you was going to last long.

Clinging to him, you felt him starting to move his hips, fucking you against the wall with your thighs held up. He had no time to waste, the faint rattle of the safety poster on the wall that your back hit with every thrust served as a reminder of the riskiness of it all. He pistoned his hips harder, desperate for release just like you.

“Fuck-oh-oh my god...” You babbled, he pounded relentlessly. Your cunt throbbed in racing desire against every vein and curve of his cock.

“You fuckin like it, baby?” He purred to you, his hot breath caressing your ear. His hips kept up their rhythm well. “This pussy is like heaven… It’s beggin’ me to come inside...” 

You moaned loudly at the thought, and he groaned when his cock got a tight squeeze from you. 

“Yes.. yes please…” You whimpered so desperately, pathetically but beautifully begging for a perfect stranger’s cum.

“‘Please’ what, love…? You gotta say it… Tell me what you need.” Your handsome stranger commanded between heavy breaths, fucking you hard into the closet wall. In between your blanking brain, you found the correct words in you to beg for the tight pressure in your lower stomach to turn into a needed orgasm.

“Please... Please, come deep.” You moaned, his hips pistoning in you and interrupting your speech. Chris felt his own brain short circuit at that moment, his fingers dug into the flesh of your thighs.

“Fucking hell…  I’m not gonna last long…” He warned, keeping up his rhythm and leaning into your ear. “But this pretty pussy is gonna come first baby…” He then promised, nibbling on your earlobe like it was edible.

This man was pure magic, your pussy knew it. You moaned loudly at his words, not knowing what words were anymore. Your legs wrapped greedily around him and pulled him much closer, squishing your bouncing tits against his chest. A low growl of desire took over his huffs of hot air and he moved his hips harder and faster, going impossibly deep and hitting places barely explored. 

 “Oh my God…” You cried loudly, not even caring who could hear anymore. Chris was hitting all the right spots over and over again, making you melt in his strong arms. “Please…” You whimpered, clinging to him.

“Come for me… Come on my fuckin’ cock, baby…” He urged you desperately, mirroring the way he fucked you. Your eyes fluttered close, feeling overwhelmed with pleasure and finding yourself seconds away from an orgasm. His lips crashed into yours in a hot and messy kiss that just did it for your throbbing cunt.

You felt it. The pressure boiled over and your orgasm hit you hard, nearly senseless. 

“Oh fuck... Chris… I-I’m coming!” You whimpered as best as you could, letting out a series of moans against his lips. Your pussy clenched around him repeatedly, almost possessively, soaking his thick cock in your juices. Your legs around him trembled out of control, only the grip of his strong hands kept you nice and steady against the wall.

“Fuck.. me too.” He groaned loudly, his rhythm slowing down. “This pussy feels so good milking my cock..” 

Like clockwork, you felt him pulse inside you and heard his rough groan of pleasure. His hips finally stopped and he held you there, pinned against the wall, his hot cum dripping down inside you and down his softening cock. 

He rested his forehead against yours so gently, finishing. You panted heavily, reeling from the intensity and danger of what you just did and where you did it… 

“Holy shit..” He whispered after a minute, pulling out of your cunt. Carefully, he set you down on your feet and wobbling legs, the structure of your high boots keeping you steady.

Chris didn’t speak much as he pulled his jeans up and covered his well spent cock. He helped you adjust your miniskirt like a gentleman then put his hand on the wall next to your head like a flirt. The other hand was on your cheek, stroking your soft skin before leaning in to kiss you softly and sweetly. Butterflies in your chest and stomach at the gentleness.

When he pulled back, he looked into your eyes like he was trying to memorize the color of your iris, his thumbs gently brushing over your bottom lip leaving tingles on their wake. With a cheeky smile and a glint of mischief in his pale blue eyes, he spoke:

“How's that for a christmas gift, pretty girl?”

Pinterest moodboard by my dear @fuckiingloser.

Chris playlist made by me with mostly time accurate songs!

[enlightenedfeline]

How to navigate researching things for your writing:

Research can be hard and you can often get swept away and forget what you were even looking for in the first place, in this post I'll share the process I like to use when I need to research something for my writing.

First off I'll start this post by saying that I am as unmotivated as someone can get when it comes to doing research for writing, and as a crime writer I need to research a lot of things.

1- A good start is always to narrow it down to exactly what you want to research, make your questions as specific as possible so you don't fall down a rabbit hole of looking at unnecessary information just to find what you want.

2- If you can't narrow it down or aren't sure specifically what you're looking for, do the opposite of what I stated above, make your question as short and general as possible, so you can get all the possible answers, and when you find the one that relates most closely to the topic you actually wanna research, use the information in it to create a very specific question.

3- Use the FUCK out of reddit, and quora too, although I find that as a crime writer, most of the sketchy information I actually want is on reddit and not anywhere else. Your answer probably isn't on google, especially not now that they're relying on AI, another good website for more history related stuff is ofc the infamous Wikipedia, but I personally haven't had to use it often. But seriously, Reddit, read all the relevant posts you can find because you will probably find the answer you want, and if you don't, asking the question yourself is always an option.

4- Interest and curiousity is good, but it won't help you if you're in the middle of a scene and get carried away. Ground yourself, find what you want and get out, if you read something and you're interested in knowing more, please just bookmark the tab and get back to your scene with your newfound answer.

5- Images are very very helpful in research, especially when describing weapons, just find yourself a labeled image on google and go crazy! Same thing applies to human anatomy, either images or visualizations work when you need them.

6- Sometimes, for more complex topics, you will not find one straight answer, not on reddit, quora, wikipedia, nowhere. You will need to put information together and fill in the gaps yourself, if you're in the middle of writing a scene when this happens do not stop to put the information together! Finish your scene with what information you have, correctness isn't important, set a time to do your research and put your answer together, and when you've finished that go back and edit the scene!

The final piece of advice I will leave you with is to just focus, as I just stated, correctness doesn't matter in the first draft of the scene, you can go back and fix it as many times as your little heart desires, but you absolutely cannot get back the flow you lost because you got distracted.

So focus, if you find what you need right away, great! If you don't, justs set time aside to do it later, what matters first and foremost is to get the information on the page and fix it later.

Maybe some of this advice will help, maybe it won't, either way, I hope this feline has enlightened you!

[knarme-art]

@recom-week

RETURN TO PANDORA MONTH

DAY 1 - MOUNT DESIGN (1.12.2024)

Ikran Series - Ngulya, Kxasi's Ikran

Name meaning - 'gray air' Bonded to - Kxasi of the Kxayltirey people Age / sex - nearing an older adult's prime, female About - Ngulya's psyche has a calming, comforting effect on Kxasi. She enjoys complex tasks that require good memory, making her an ideal companion to Kxasi, who is very ambitious and energetic.

Above: Only minimally shaded, mostly flat color reference missing the glow effects on the bioluminescent markings.

Above: Ngulya's bioluminescence in dim lighting

Above: Ngulya's bioluminescense in night lighting

History of Ngulya's design

Above: February 18th in 2023 - Here you also see Kxasi's old design. The purplish-gray look and orangeish/reddish bioluminescense have been a part of my vision for Ngulya from the very beginning.

Above: March 9nth in 2023 - Here is my first take for a full reference for Ngulya. This is the point where the pale head and neck became iconic traits to the otherwise dark purple design.

I've always been torn between oranges/browns and actual purples for many of the color areas in this design, as you see from that earlier color draft.

Above: This year, I wanted to finally make proper ikran templates for the sake of more comfortable designing of all my ikran characters.

This is an early version of the final template set I created, and two different drafts of Ngulya.

Sadly I never saved these drafts, so these are just badly compressed screenshots from my Bluesky and Twitter accounts.

The one on the right is my last draft before beginning work on the final one, as I started to be happy with the markings.

The orange one on the left of the 2nd image is not Ngulya, but a draft for another ikran entirely.

Above: For a very long time, I could not make the bioluminescent highlight markings fit anywhere into this design, so I almost called it 'done' in this stage.

The color pallette was more brown than purple. It was a really hard decision to tweak the pallette once more, so I could make it all good-looking with the highlight color.

About my thought process...

I create my ikran OC designs entirely via body/emotional/visual synesthesia. This intuitive process doesn't contain conscious thought, but rather letting an 'inner eye' show me things.

This method lets me get ideas I couldn't otherwise get, unlike when combining my old clichés in a calculated manner etc. Instead of such calculated process, instead I succumb to a more dreamlike intuition where my brain can just fire whatever.

For these ikran, I must feel like I am them, to create their appearances. For the same character, like Kxasi, even for a long period of time, I've been getting the same results with this process...

I imagine the na'vi during their 'Iknimaya' (or equivalent), the type of feeling I would have about them as a person, as if they stood in front of me.

Then, I imagine I'm indeed an ikran looking at them, - what kind of a mental and emotional being would I be, to feel particularly drawn to this na'vi? I imagine the feelings.

These feelings inform me of the ikran's whole design, as well as personality.

Kxasi's ikran Ngulya is a character I can understand, put myself into, imagine her feelings and personality/temperament from the inside, and how she'd feel even when connected with Kxasi's consciousness via tsaheylu.

I can also imagine how Kxasi feels connected to her.

Their personalities contrast each other. Kxasi is hot-headed and energetic, while Ngulya is a calming presence. Usually, Ngulya even discourages Kxasi's antagonistic impulses when they're connected.

However, if overwhelmed by the need to protect, Ngulya's mind will be drunken on quite the berserker's adrenaline, - also affecting Kxasi that same way. Their minds will melt into one demonic entity with the sole goal of turning someone into minced meat. This can be triggered by putting their loved ones or personal home etc. in danger.

Ngulya resembles my favorite, now-deceased dog Lola a lot by her personality. Her 'feel' is very much like what Lola was, even though I did not intentionally create her in Lola's image.

She's funny and silly like Lola, obsessive and persistent in tasks like Lola, has basically endless energy to run (fly), hunt and play, - and there is a soft comforting energy to her. She's also fiercely territorial and protective, - just like Lola... I definitely see her as a Pisces, like that dog was, also.

[stereax]

CapFriendly Alternative Sites MegaPost

(Last update: 07/27 - added CapSized.)

As we are all likely aware by now, the Washington Capitals have decided to ruin everyone's lives by purchasing and sunsetting CapFriendly. The site has gone dark as of July 10, 2024.

While the hockey community has experienced a similar loss before, with the death of Matthew Wuest and the subsequent loss of CapGeek, this is a markedly different situation that sets a troubling precedent - namely, that freely usable, public NHL data is now available to the highest bidder, who can then revoke access to the data at a minute's notice. Two things can coexist: we can be happy for the makers of CapFriendly that they are being compensated well for their services while also scorning the Washington Capitals organization for choosing to turn off CapFriendly entirely.

Under the cut, please find a list of free CapFriendly alternatives and other websites that contain NHL data. (In some cases, they are mostly free - however, most/all important information for lay analysis is available for free.) This list is dynamic and taking suggestions, so please feel free to send me any websites you find at @stereax and check the original post for updates!

PART 1: SALARY CAP TRACKERS

PuckPedia: The New CapFriendly

PuckPedia is the closest replacement to CapFriendly currently available. It contains salary cap information for all teams and players, draft pick information, several calculators including a buyout calculator and a pick value calculator, agent information, and more. They also run PuckDoku! The biggest strike against PuckPedia is its lack of simulators (Armchair GM, mock draft, or trade simulators); however, in the wake of the CapFriendly news, PuckPedia shared that an Armchair GM simulator is under active development. 07/05 Update: PuckGM is here! You can also react to prospective PuckGMs (thumbs up, thumbs down, laugh, think emojis).

CapSized: Labor of Love

Referred to me by @nonslipdoormat and billed as a "solo female developer's project" (nonslipdoormat IS said developer!), CapSized is a site that's designed similarly to CapFriendly. It has some features other sites lack, such as trade histories going back to 2003 (with some entries as old as 1964!) and a detailed transactions page again stretching YEARS into the past. The more you poke around, the more cool things you uncover. Its primary purpose is to be a "visual database", but calculators and an NHL GM mode are on the list of future additions. I'll be dead honest, I think this is my favorite cap-checker site because of all the extra utilities. Super excited to see where this project goes!

Referred to me by @reavenedges-lies. A "baby site" that has some of the basics of salary cap info, plus a buyout calculator, qualifying offer calculator, and trade proposal maker. The trade proposal maker is prone to error and seems to only be useful for graphics. It can be a useful site for some, but it would not be my first choice.

CapWages: CapFriendly Lite

Another alternative to PuckPedia that mimics CapFriendly in design and is more intuitive for users going directly from CapFriendly to an alternative site. Like PuckPedia, it now features a GM mode, but the GM mode is in beta and is not fully functional (it only shows contracts currently existing at the NHL level). Nevertheless, for checking salary cap info, it is very good and I recommend it. Also now has a buyout calculator.

CapSpace: Young Gun

BenchWarmers: Greenhorn

Similar to CapSpace but perhaps a little better in the design department. I like how, if you don't have an account, it acts like you're Kyle Dubas and has you watching Toronto and Carolina. Has a few neat stats (like "core four" which shows how much the four most expensive players are making) that I haven't seen easily replicated on other sites, but functionality is rather limited outside of that, which is why it's also not my first choice.

Spotrac: Another Salary Cap Checker

An alternative to PuckPedia for salary cap information. However, it lacks much of the information and functionality of PuckPedia or most other sites listed here.

PART 2: ADVANCED STATS

NaturalStatTrick: The Holy Grail of Stats

NaturalStatTrick, or NatStat for short, is a site that contains just about any stat you can think of for any team or player. It has a learning curve but is generally understood to be the most reliable stat tracker available for free. You can even view stats for individual games on it!

MoneyPuck: DTWoMeter and More

You know it from the Deserve-to-Win-o-Meter or its playoff odds rings, but MoneyPuck has a lot of useful data as well if you do a little browsing. Generally, I've heard that MoneyPuck is less accurate than NatStat, but is easier to use, especially on mobile.

HockeyViz: "If I Ever Sell, I Failed"

Home of the Simple Hockey Charts, HockeyViz has a visual for just about every stat out there. You've almost certainly seen some of them before. Most of them are completely free to the public! They're super useful for visualizing stats as more than "just numbers", allowing you to see exactly WHERE things are happening on the ice.

HockeyStatCards: GameScore Kings

Again, you've probably seen HockeyStatCards's GameScore charts. Using data from NatStat (see above) and an algorithm created by Dom Luszczyszyn, it provides a simple GameScore number that tells you whether a player is having a positive or negative impact on the ice for every game in the NHL.

PART 3: SPECIALIZED SITES

NHL Armchair GM: Building Rosters

This site allows you to Armchair GM a roster. Notably, it has a steeper learning curve than CapFriendly and does not have a forum or other way to easily save and publicize your Armchair GM moves. However, it can be useful to make Armchair GMs and have visuals for them.

NHL Entry Draft: With the First Overall Pick...

This site contains a ton of draft resources, from a mock draft simulator to scouting reports. Definitely a useful site for those who are interested in the entry draft. I've seen a couple of mock draft sites, but this one seems to have by far the easiest and arguably most expansive way to use it.

NHL Injury Viz: Rulers of LTIR

Here, you can explore the relationship between the injuries of players, their cap hits, and how teams did without them. Very useful when you're arguing that a certain player going down doomed the team.

PART 4: MORE TYPES OF DATA

HockeyReference: The Good Old Days

Hockey Reference is best used for surface level data about older players. It has some trivia sections as well, for if you ever wanted to know all players wearing certain jersey numbers, sharing a certain birthday, or hailing from Alaska.

EliteProspects: Every League Imaginable

Want to know the roster of a third-tier league in Quebec? EliteProspects has you covered. Literally every league on the face of the Earth, currently existing and not, EliteProspects has info on. Any player you can possibly name, EliteProspects has their stats from atom hockey all the way to the end of their career.

HockeyDB: Another Spot for Stats

HockeyDB, referred to me by @reavenedges-lies, is another solid site for looking up basic hockey stats. Also has a ton of leagues, similar to EliteProspects. Has a hockey card feature as well that shows you cards featuring the player you've looked up, which is neat!

PART 5: FORUMS

HFBoards: Hockey Forums

Probably the most well-known hockey forum out there. If you want to talk puck on a more forum-like site, similar to CapFriendly's forums, this is the one for you.

PART 6: CAPFRIENDLY ARCHIVES

SergeiFyodorov's CapFriendly FAQ Drive

Curated by @sergeifyodorov. Originally posted here and sent to me by @fellowshipofthegay. Archives of the CapFriendly FAQs!

Got a site that's not listed here? Let me know at @stereax and I'll add it! Remember: While CapFriendly may be going away, hockey analysis is here to stay!

[perpetual-stories]

Eight Strategies for Improving Dialogue in Your Writing

Well, hi! Oh my… wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted! I’ve been very busy and I am genuinely sorry to all my followers, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about this account, but here is one final post for the year!

Hopefully next year I become consistent with it again!

Let’s begin!

One of the best ways to help a reader connect with your writing is by crafting excellent dialogue. Use these tips to learn how to write dialogue that showcases character development, defines your characters’ voices, and hooks readers.

Why Use Dialogue?

Good dialogue performs all sorts of functions in fiction writing. It defines your characters’ voices, establishes their speech patterns, exposes the inner emotions, and showcases their character development. Beyond mere characterization, effective dialogue can also establish the setting and time period of your story and reveal information in a way that doesn’t feel overly expository.

Authors use lines of dialogue to reveal a character’s personality and express their point of view. For instance, an archetypal football coach might speak in short, terse sentences peppered with exclamation points and quotations from famous war generals. By contrast, a nebbish lover with a broken heart might drone on endlessly to his therapist or best friend, speaking in run-on sentences that circle around his true motivations. When an author can reveal character traits through dialogue, it cuts down on exposition and makes a story flow briskly.

Eight Writing Tips for Improving Dialogue

The first time you write dialogue, you may find it quite difficult to replicate the patterns of normal speech. This can be compounded by the concurrent challenges of finding your own voice and telling a great story overall. Even bestselling authors can get stuck on how a particular character says a particular line of dialogue. With practice and hard work, however, lackluster dialogue can be elevated to great dialogue.

Here are some strategies for improving the dialogue in your own work:

Mimic the voices of people in your own life. Perhaps you’ve created a physician character with the same vocal inflections as your mother. Perhaps your hero soldier talks just like your old volleyball coach. If you want to ensure that your dialogue sounds the way real people speak, there’s no better resource than the real life people in your everyday world.

Mix dialogue with narration. Long runs of dialogue can dislodge a reader from the action of a scene. As your characters talk, interpolate some descriptions of their physical postures or other activity taking place in the room. This mimics the real-world experience of listening to someone speaking while simultaneously taking in visual and olfactory stimuli.

Give your main character a secret. Sometimes a line of dialogue is most notable for what it withholds. Even if your audience doesn’t realize it, you can build dynamic three-dimensionality by having your character withhold a key bit of information from their speech. For instance, you may draft a scene in which a museum curator speaks to an artist about how she wants her work displayed—but what the curator isn’t saying out loud is that she’s in love with the artist. You can use that secret to embed layers of tension into the character’s spoken phrases.

Use a layperson character to clarify technical language. When you need dialogue to convey technical information in approachable terms, split the conversation between two people. Have one character be an expert and one character be uninformed. The expert character can speak at a technical level, and the uninformed one can stop them, asking questions for clarification. Your readers will appreciate it.

Use authentic shorthand. Does your character call a gun a “piece” or a “Glock”? Whatever it is, be authentic and consistent in how your characters speak. If they all sound the same, your dialogue needs another pass.

Look to great examples of dialogue for inspiration. If you're looking for a dialogue example in the realm of novels or short stories, consider reading the great books written by Mark Twain, Judy Blume, or Toni Morrison. Within the world of screenwriting, Aaron Sorkin is renowned for his use of dialogue.

Ensure that you’re punctuating your dialogue properly. Remember that question marks and exclamation points go inside quotation marks. Enclose dialogue in double quotation marks and use single quotation marks when a character quotes another character within their dialogue. Knowing how to punctuate dialogue properly can ensure that your reader stays immersed in the story.

Use dialogue tags that are evocative. Repeating the word “said” over and over can make for dull writing and miss out on opportunities for added expressiveness. Consider replacing the word “said” with a more descriptive verb.

[cryptidghostgirl]

Make You Wish Chapter Four -- Vox

Pairing: Alastor x Reader

Warnings: I don't think there are any for this chapter? Correct me if I am wrong.

Word Count: 1,225

Previous Part: Chapter Three -- A Reunion

Master Lists 

Hazbin Hotel Master List 

Make You Wish Master List

A/N I wasn't planning on posting this until tomorrow, but it seems to have some rather excited fans so here is chapter four (and the fourth thing I'm publishing today. We're very done for the day. I am tried and have actual work to do.) Also guys, I'm screaming. I accidentally deleted the whole things right before I was gonna post it. Thankfully I had a draft from when it was almost done save but like, god that sucked.

On the screen was Vox, seated behind a desk.

"Top of the hour and we're discussing a certain has-been how has been spotted cavorting around town after a seven year absence." Vox was saying, a poorly drawn image of Alastor displayed on the screen to his left.

Y/n saw Alastor's ear twitch with irritation.

"Yeah." she sighed, folding her arms across her chest, "Vox has gone kinda crazy since you left. I told you, things got tough."

"Did anybody miss him? Did anybody notice? More on tonight's program." Vox said through the TV, shuffling a stack of papers.

Alastor changed the channel with another flick of his finger.

"Hun, don't worry yourself with it." Y/n advised, "He's still gonna be there tomorrow."

The new channel showed a talk-show set up, Vox-2-Nite, where Vox was both host and guest.

"So, the old Radio Demon is back in town." host Vox was saying to himself as guest.

"Why is he hanging around?" guest Vox asked, taking a sip from a mug that had 'fuck Alastor' written on the side.

"Al." Y/n warned, sensing her friends irritation growing.

"What does that mean for your family?" Host Vox asked before Alastor changed the channel again.

Vox was on the screen again, before a bright red curtain.

"Well, handily, I've got good news." he was saying theatrically, "He's a loser, a fossil, and I don't mean to sound hostel-"

Alastor changed the channel again. This time to one of Vox's mega church broadcasts. Vox stood in the center of the screen wearing a pope's hat with an inverted cross on it.

"But the demon is a coward!" he announced, his words matching the previous channels sentiments perfectly.

"Jesus, V." Y/n asked, eyes wide, "How many channels are you running this on?"

"You can take that as gospel. Pulling my viewers? Impossible. I'm visual, he's barely audible."

"Y/n." Alastor hummed, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

"Yeah?"

"You wont mind if I handle this quickly. We can have our little chat after, I promise. It wont take more than a moment."

"I don't know, Al..." Y/n sighed, crossing her arms and tapping her foot slightly, "This isn't good for you, letting him get under your skin like this."

Alastor changed the channel again. A cooking show appeared and Vox was standing before the oven, singing along to the music playing in the background.

"But he should've stayed away! While he hid in radio, we pivoted to video!"

Vox on screen turned to the oven as he sang, opening it and pulling out a deer's head on a plate. Y/n bristled at the site, her horns growing just the tiniest bit longer, her teeth just the smallest bit sharper.

"And now his medium is getting bloody rare!"

"Al?" Y/n asked sharply.

"Yes, darling?"

"I lied." Y/n turned to face him, "He took this shit musical. Rip him a new one."

"Oh!" Millie exclaimed, excitedly grabbing onto Moxxie's arm, "We're gonna get a show!"

Alastor's grin widened at Y/n's words, if that was even possible. He stuck his hand out to the side, his microphone materializing in his grasp.

"Lucky for me, I've got the best voice this side of the divide on my side." he noted, shooting Y/n a look.

Her eyes flashed red.

"You flatter me."

Alastor brought his microphone to his mouth, suddenly exceedingly calm. The imps present in the room watched in shock as his ears flattened along his head.

"Salutations, good to be back on the air!" he announced into the device, "Yes I know it's been a while since someone with style treated hell to a broadcast. Sinners rejoice!"

Vox's brow furrowed on the TV screen as he inched up close to the camera.

"What a dated voice." Vox shot back, clearly listening to Alastor's broadcast on the set of his cooking show.

"Instead of a clout chasing, mediocre, video podcast." Alastor continued, not showing any sign he had noticed the TV demon's insult, "Is Vox insecure, pursuing allure? Flitting between this fad and that, is nothing working?"

"Ignore his chirping!" Vox commanded from the TV.

Y/n laughed and, turning to face Alastor, realized the man held a hand out to her. With a smile, she took it and he spun her into his arms as he spoke. The music echoed through the office as Alastor raised the volume on the TV once again.

"Every day he's got a new format."

Alastor spun Y/n back out again as the pair began dancing.

"You're looking at the future!" Vox yelled back, "He's the shit that comes before that!"

As Alastor spun Y/n back into his arms, she laid one of her hands on top of his holding the microphone and pulled it closer to her face.

"Is Vox as strong as he purports, or is it based on his support?" she sang in a clear voice, Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie's eyes widening with recognition at the sound, "He'd be powerless without the other Vees."

"That's true!" Alastor noted, pulling the microphone back to himself as Y/n let go of his hand and he spun her back out again.

"It can't be..." Moxxie muttered under his breath.

"Holy shit!" Millie cut him off, excitement creeping into her voice, "There's no way, Y/n is the guest star?"

"The fuck are you two talking about?" Blitzo asked, turning to Millie and Moxxie as they watched the couple continue to dance.

"Well, Sir," Moxxie began, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket, "back before the Radio Demon went missing, he used to bring guests onto the show on occasion. There was one guest he never named during his broadcasts however. She mostly just sang songs and chatted with him but, she sounded an awful lot like Y/n did just now."

"You don't say." Blitzo hummed, his arms crossed as he turned back to Y/n and Alastor, "So much for little miss 'oh, my life has been so boring. You'd probably just fall asleep if I started talking about it!' She is so gonna get it later."

Alastor let go of Y/n's hand and leaned into the microphone, beginning to sing as well, using the music emanating from the TV as a base.

"And here's the sugar on the cream: he asked me to join his team!"

"Hold on!" Vox yelled.

"I said no and now he's pissy, that's the tea!" Alastor finished, ignoring the demon once again.

"You old timey prick!" Vox exclaimed, his face glitching slightly as Y/n wandered back over to Alastor.

She leaned an elbow on his shoulder, tilting her head to the side in amusement as they watched Vox struggle.

"I'll show you suffering!"

"Aww, the TV is buffering." Y/n said, leaning into the microphone, her voice dripping with sickly sweet pity.

"I'll destroy yoo-o-u-u" Vox exclaimed as his technical difficulties seemed to grow worse.

Alastor and Y/n exchanged a wicked pair of smiles as the TV flickered out. Shadows crept from the edges of the room, encircling their feet. Alastor held an arm out to Y/n once again which she took with a smile. In a flash of darkness, they were gone.

"What the fuck was that?" Loona asked, stalking into the room.

----

Next Part -> Chapter Five -- The Conversation

[someuselesslyexpensivecheese]

the people have asked and I have answered; here’s your order sir, enjoy

Genre:Romance

General warnings: none

Disclaimers: N/A

Author’s note: hi this is my first time writing for this fandom and this is also my very first fanfic I’ve shared publicly, hope you enjoy the story, and feel free to give advice or critique my work since I am very new to writing, otherwise enjoy the fic. -♥️

——————————————————-

Standing in front of you is the man you fell in love with all those years ago, in uniform the one you saw him leave with twenty something years ago, now adorned with medals and patches, his head was shaved due to military protocol…the works, he looked tired eye bags under his eyes, he cleared his throat

“Uhm…hey…..long time no see….” He says giving you that half awkward half cheery grin he always gives you whenever he felt you were upset with him, Simon and you stared at each other for what felt like minutes before you broke the silence “yeah….good to see you too….Simon…” you say eyeing him…

“May I come in?…” he asked you look up at him “huh? oh yeah.. sure…” you say and stepped aside to let him in ushering him to the couch. He sat down his eyes roaming around your home, looking at the photos and furniture displayed.

Your eyes wandered with his before you spoke up “I’ll go put on some tea for us” and scuffled off to the kitchen, “make yourself at home, Simon, maybe put on something to watch” you say from the other room, clattering of metal and the sound of running water can be heard from the other room, before the click of the stove.

Meanwhile Ghost’s eyes remain around the living room walls scanning them studying them, his eyes landed on one particular frame, it was your graduation ceremony, it was the one where you got your bachelor’s in visual arts before you decided to change your course and study mechanical engineering.

Simon stood to look at the Photo closer, you looked so young in that Photo, you still looked like the guy who’d sit in the back of the class and doodle your heart away and lose yourself in another world, the boy he knew in high school, the one who gave sixteen year old Simon Riley half his sandwich because he couldn’t finish it all. That was a lie of course…..Simon knew that you knew, he almost always never had lunch, and if he did it was from their school’s shitty cafeteria.

Ghost chuckled at that memory, you came behind him, Simon didn’t notice until you spoke which made him jump “that ones when I got my bachelors in visual arts, kind of regret it now…” you say, Simon sighed nodding “why’d you decide to change course?” He asked sitting down, there was already a cuppa on the coffee table, one for each of you. You also sit down taking your cup, “couldn’t get into the industry…plus it’s hard to make it as an artist out there…” you say looking down at you tea, you tap the edge of your mug before you look at Simon and say.

“So what brings you here?”

Simon stops mid-sip, he turns his head to look at you, he sets his cup down, and then, clasps his hands together like he’s about to confess something.. “uhm..I- uh….well….I came here for you….” He says, “well yes I know that but why?….” You respond.

Simon goes quiet.

____________________________

It was your final day of school and it was being spent outside the building while the rest of your classmates enjoy their time inside celebrating the final day before break and you get a whole month to yourself, you wish you could spend today with Simon…but Simon’s not here is he?….you two had a falling out the week before, he was upset with you…and understandably so, but he didn’t have to shove you to the side three days before and just….leave you….

“I got drafted……signed up for the army…”

You remember those words like it was yesterday….

You were in a phone booth you called his number, and the first thing he says to you isn’t a ‘hello…how are you…’ or ‘maybe we can talk about it another time just give me some space’ no…it was “I got drafted for the army’

“you said we could talk about it face to face, work it out as you always say…” You grumble annoyed, “well what do you want me to do? I can’t just leave now and go back to high school I’m already here” Simon says getting mildly irritated as well “but you could’ve spoken to me about it! It was your idea to speak about our situation! And then you decided to bail on me!” You’re starting to raise your voice.

“Oh yeah, yeah, like I’m the one who decided to put me to worst people you could possibly out me to, and then what? Act like a simple ‘I’m sorry, let’s talk’ will fix everything” Simon sarcastically said.

“For the last time it wasn’t me! And I genuinely thought she was a trusted ally…”

“Trusted?!” Simon almost shouted before he took in a breath “you’re talking about the same girl who taped photos of a first year nude in her bathroom all over the hallways!” Simon yelled this time

“Well I dunno maybe she changed!” You shout into the phone “change my ass just because she was nice to you doesn’t mean she’s ‘change’ that’s your problem…you’re too gullible” Simon replied

You say nothing, you’re completely silent, because you know he’s right, you’re too gullible too trusting…too welcoming of people and now look what happened, someone outed you and your now former boyfriend to the school and now you’re both- well more like, you are now the school’s laughing stock, an outsider, not like you weren’t before being outed, but now you’re even more so.

And Simon left you to deal with the consequences, of your actions…

____________________________

Simon’s eyes flicked to you and then back to his cup before saying “I was hoping maybe we could catch up over dinner sometime…” he says his voice getting quieter with each word, you stay silent for a moment “uhm…I’m not….sure…” you say “I can pay” he retorts “you don’t have to spend a dime…” he says, you still stay quiet thinking about his offer while Simon sits patiently twiddling his thumbs on his lap for your answer, you watch him intently “sure….I’ll go” you say, Simon’s eyes light up “you- you mean it?” He said you nodded “but only one dinner…” you’d say to him, Simon’s smile falters a little “oh, uhm…right of course…just one dinner..” he says.

You nodded…

One dinner, just one and you’ll just..keep your distance from him, it’d be a little weird getting back together with someone whom you used to date in high school, no offense to anyone who made it work, but still, things ended badly with Simon, and without a doubt it was kind of your fault, but Simon left you to the hounds to feed off of while he escaped to the military before anyone could say something about him, lucky bastard…

but now he’s here back in your neighborhood inside your house, staring at you, and the framed pictures on your wall and asking you to go out with him…..just like how he asked you out all those years ago, a little weird to be going back to your ex’s house just to ask them out to dinner.

“are you available tonight by any chance?” Simon asked, “4:30….if you’re up to it” You say, Simon nodded and stood “I’ll see you tonight then?” “see you tonight” you say, and with that the conversation ended, you stood from your arm chair and walked him to the front door opening it for him, he turned to you, he looked like he wanted to say something, you interrupted him by waving to him goodbye he just nodded and waved back.

Guess you’ll be seeing him tonight then….

It was three hours before you have to meet up with Simon, and you decided to go to the store and restock some items you’re running low on, like canned tuna, beans, some corn beef, you were running low on milk too…and sausages, so you made a list and headed out you drove thirty minutes to the nearest grocery store, during your trip your thoughts wander back to tonight, you wonder what you’ll wear, where it’s held….shit you probably should’ve asked where you guys are headed before agreeing to the date…..shit….you might have to ask him call him up maybe, you can do it now…wait no that’ll probably make you sound a little desperate, you’ll just do it later.

__________________________________________________

“Simon where are we even going?” you ask following him it feels like you’ve been walking for hours pretty sure your legs are going to give out but Simon’s still walking and you were getting more anxious and irritated by the second, because its already seven o’clock and black dress shoes aren’t exactly made for walking, and you haven’t even gotten to the restaurant yet your black dress pants are already covered in soot, and dust, great…just great—these were your good pants too: You huff trying to keep up with the man he had always been the faster walker “Simon you said we’d have dinner” you say in between breaths “we are” he says almost smugly although you can’t see it you want to smack him because you two have been walking for an hour to whatever restaurant he seems to have chosen….by god you’re starting to think this date might’ve been a mistake….unless…

You stop on your tracks and Simon turns seeing that you’re no longer tailing behind him “what’s wrong?” he says “Simon what is this about?” You say mildy annoyed “what do you mean?” he says “where are you taking me Simon? is this a joke?” you say stepping back now cautious of your surroundings Simon’s eyes widened “what?…what’re you on about Im not doing anything Im just taking you to the restaurant” he says stepping forward, you take two steps back this time your breath becoming uneven

“Simon what is this about? where are you taking me? are you going to do something? is this some kind of sick prank to pull on me? is this to get back at me for that time—”you ramble almost franticly not letting him speak you kept going until Simon broke your line of thought by shouting “ITS BECAUSE I STILL WANT TO BE WITH YOU OKAY?” he pants before continuing “ITS BECAUSE IM STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU (name) IM NOT TRYING TO TRICK YOU INTO ANYTHING, IM…..Im still attracted to you” he says his voice going quiet, you froze your feet planting to where your standing looking at him taken—a—back by his sudden burst of anger but also, his confession to you, that came out so quickly you didn’t know what to say…

stares at you, really stares at you before stepping forward he raised his hands towards your shoulders, he hesitated pulling them back before placing his left hand on your shoulder “Im sorry….(name) I really am, I shouldn’t have left you like that I should’ve went to you first and, and, spoken to you in person, I should’ve told you about the military—” before Simon could go on he swallowed almost afraid if he said it he might break down crying, and honestly, you just might break down as well,

“Im sorry I left you to deal with it all alone, Im sorry….you didn’t deserve that, you just wanted friends I get it, but I knew she wasn’t I should’ve been more gentle with you, instead of telling you to just to stay away from her” he says, you look at him for a moment, you look at his eyes almost brimming with tears his hand on your shoulder squeezing you tightly, you ket out a sigh, avoiding his gaze “…Im—Im sorry too, Simon….” you say you glance back at him before looking away again “maybe I should’ve heeded your warning, I wouldn’t have been in that situation if I did..” you say slowly reaching over your shoulder to hold his hand “maybe none of this would’ve happened if I just listened to you and let you explain…” you say fully looking up at him again.

Simon takes a breath srunching his eyes and hugging you, your arms land on his back before you fully hug him back as well, you close your eyes sighing resting your head on his shoulder, you feel him chuckle pulling back from the hug looking at you smiling “we were so stupid back then” he says, you scoff before chuckling with him “yeah…we were….” you say you look back up at him you smile, before leaning in for a kiss Simon kisses you back pulling you closer into his arms, You pull away first from the kiss “man…twenty years…look at you Simon..” you say, Simon smiles “can say the same thing about you…say—are we still catching up over dinner or—t?” he says smiling you chuckle before nodding “alright, alright lead the way, Captain, your the boss” you say pulling away from his hug, Simon gave you a small smirk “it’s Lieutenant..first of all” he says you hit his side “yeah, just lead the way will ya?” you say grinning, while walking with him into the night.

you were both late to your reservation, but still I think you both would call it a successful night.

[mclalan]

What art program do you use? sorry if you already answered something like this but im so mesmerized by the techniques you use in your art.

Thank you. No need to apologise; I don't mind answering this question because it's an excuse to walk through my latest image!

The concept for this piece is based on being perceived online through interpretations of posts and artwork, yet how artificial this can be. The relationship the viewer forms is more with the narrative of the work, and any insight into the artist through this feels highly awkward to me, which is precisely what I want to explore with this piece.

In this example, I wanted an attractive sitter to look like someone out of a new romantics music video or like an Enya video, because this genre and era of media is very aesthetically pleasing and nostalgic for me. I hold it as an unobtainable ideal— a hauntology. So, as wonderful as it is, it equally feels shameful and perverse because it's an aesthetic object of desire that I am contriving.

The sitter is holding one of my cartoon characters, Lauren Ipson, the protagonist of my Ersatz world project. A trope in writing is when a character acts as a self-insert of the author, and I'm conscious to try and avoid that with Lauren. I try to write Lauren as dry and sardonic yet also fun, dramatic, and friendly. I don't think of these as personal qualities of my own, but I imagine personal qualities bleeding into fictional characters is inevitable.

Yet Lauren Ipson feels much more alive a character to me compared to any attempt at self-portraiture or self-expression that I've done, which is very little because I'm not interested in constructing a perceivable identity. (I'm aware this text itself can be interpreted as self-expression; however, to me this is just another construct.)

So Is the sitter meant to be me, controlling Lauren? I'm definitely baiting the viewer to think this, and you can interpret it that way if you want, but really I don't think of the sitter as me at all. My intention is to show how it's all a facarde. The sitter is basically just as much a doll, a puppet, a mannequin as Lauren Ipson is, if anything more so.

There's a deliberate irony between Lauren's cartoon rendering and the sitter, who I wanted to render with more detail and evoke a modernist style. I'm inspired by Hans Bellmer and Dorothea Tanning with their work with dolls. However, despite that implied visual hierarchy, the more detailed sitter shares a similar, stilted vector construct to Lauren. They're both born from vector drawing after all. And it's further undermined with the way Lauren the doll looks directly at the viewer, as if she's alive, while the sitter looks to the side with a blank, almost dead-in-the-eyes expression.

Anyway, with that in mind, almost all of my work starts as a thumbnail sketch. Although I often draft digitally and am fine with doing that, I feel more confident doing it freehand on paper. Digital rendering feels more like a refinement process to me. Funnily enough, although I often prefer to sketch with physical materials, I'm anxious of refining or rendering with them.

I like my designs to be very direct and conceivable, so a solid silhouette, pose, negative space etc. I often create a quick digital sketch with this in mind, either by tracing or referencing the thumbnail, although sometimes I skip this step and go straight to the rendered drawing. The aim is to establish a visual guide, dividing the drawing into various shapes for digital airbrush rendering later on.

With this composition, I made a second draft with more attention to details such as the face, hands and feet. Sometimes I'll use photo references if I'm struggling with posing or anatomy. These drafts are often blue because it's easier to render the black linework over a transparent blue sketch.

The chair took some time but was relatively simple to render. It uses the line tool set to magnetic anchor point, following two-point perspective vanishing points. I like two-point perspective because it feels sort of digitally native to me to have these impossibly perfect vertical lines. I also know the horizon line should be at eye level or something, but I just like the idea of the top of the chair to be perfectly horizontal.

Here I'm drawing the final rendered form. I use the stroke tool with it set as smooth as possible. Often I'll redraw lines over and over if it means getting certain curves to look right. Once the lines are drawn, I'll fill them in and remove the stroke, leaving just the solid vector shape. The shade of grey I use is done to simply denote the shape. It does not represent any kind of shading or anything; in fact, when I bring it into Photoshop, all these shapes are set to the same shade, but if I had that here in Animate as I'm drawing, it would be impossible to see what I'm doing. The red background is just for clarity.

Once it's all drawn, I'll make sure every shape is clean, overlapping nicely, and divided into its own layer. A composition can often be comprised of hundreds of separate shapes.

Each shape will be its own layer in Photoshop, which will operate as a clipping mask. The clipping masks act like masking tape or shielded off areas for soft brush opacity rendering, similar to the soft atomised rendering from an airbrush, just done digitally.

I follow very rudimentary painting techniques of simple shading, lighting, and bounce-back highlights. I follow a simplified Grisaille technique, focusing on strong values in greyscale before adding a wash of colour with a color gradient map set to layer style color. Sometimes my values can be a little off, but as long as the values are all consistently acting together, I can correct them with transparent washes or color curves. If the greyscale looks harmonious with all the forms clear, colour will likely work.

Proper digital painters will say this is an amateur process, with results that look mechanical and stiff, as colours in the real world all bounce together off different surfaces, resulting in colour harmonies. However, I don't mind the inharmonious nature of the colours, as I find the values give the composition enough harmony. I'm working digitally, so why go to all the effort to make it not look digital? It's interesting to me to have the red chair look blindingly red, the green skirt look blindingly green.

Colours can look boring without some form of harmony though, so I will add in blue-greens with the darker areas, more turquoise greens towards the highlights.

Skin tones are far more complex, however, as it's something that's more informed by realism. This is why kigurumi dolls with their plastic flesh look so artificial to the eye, because we're familiar with how light passes through flesh and skin and all the subtleties of colour that it picks up. This piece is the first time I've explored flesh tones, as typically I avoid all this by rendering skin as grey porcelain.

I needed to really up the contrast, with shaded areas becoming purples and highlights verging on washed out. Areas with more blood, like feet and cheeks, appear more orange and red. Areas closer to bone and cartilage, like the bridge of the nose, can look almost blue and green. Exploring these colour values and tints in the aim of natural tones was fun to do, and ironic given how blank the face is.

Although in the moment I feel very much like I'm rendering a realistic reality, when I step back, I'm reminded how stylised and unrealistic the painting actually is. It looks kind of insane, like everything is so uniform and overtly saturated. It doesn't feel present in a real space, despite the shadow and form implies one. But I'm not consciously thinking of these things, of style, as I'm working. To me, it's a process of world-building and problem-solving.

[cozyhearthyarnworks]

what's the easiest fiber/method for a beginner to try spinning?

also do you have any recommendations for learning spinning that don't involve acquiring a personal spinning wheel? I am feeling the magnetic pull of yet another craft, but I do not have the space for a spinning wheel

Like anything in any craft, there's a lot of varying opinions on this! I know what was easy for me when I was learning, and I know what the most common recommendations for beginner spinners are, but my most important rule of thumb is that the best way to learn any craft is to do the project/use the materials that motivate you to keep going through the really difficult process of learning something new. So take my advice, sure, but also listen to your heart. Also, I'm answering all of this assuming you'll start with wool, partly because that is the most common recommended starting point, but also because that's most of my personal expertise as a spinner - if you're really interested in other animal or plant fibers, feel free to write back and I can try to look up some more qualified guides than I am! "The easiest fiber" is kind of a three-part question:

Fiber preparation type - this is pretty straightforward, unless you have unique access to other preparations, commercial combed top (sometimes referred to as "roving," although that's technically a slightly different fiber prep) is the most widely available, and generally what most modern spinners will have learned to spin with. It looks like a big smoothish tube of wool, and many places will "braid" it for storage (really a sort of loose crochet-style chain).

Dyed or undyed - in my opinion, this depends mostly on your personal preferences. Bright colors can be especially fun & motivating, as you'll want to keep spinning to get to color changes or just to enjoy the sight, and color variation can make it somewhat easier to visualize twist for beginners. Undyed fiber can sometimes be a little less compacted - the process of dyeing combed top, even when gently handled, introduces just a little more compression and friction than normal storage, and unfortunately some dyers or non-spinning-focused shops don't handle fiber very gently. Go with your heart on this one!

Sheep breed - I'm a big fan of handing beginners something with decent crimp (helps make drafting more intuitive) and more medium staple length. My first yarns that felt genuinely intuitive were with Finn, Manx Loaghtan, and Romney fibers. My sibling learned to spin with a big bag of Corriedale. My spouse, however, really wanted to play with some brightly colored Merino I had on hand, and that worked fine too! If you think you'll be especially sensitive to "scratchiness," a fine wool will be more slippery, but lots of people learn on Merino because it's the most popular. Of the fibers currently in my shop, I'd recommend either the Finn, Polwarth, or Rambouillet, in ascending order based on softness.

As for learning spinning - oh, I have had to restrain myself from burying you in resources :D

Tools:

A lot of people learn to spin with hand spindles! Drop spindles are the most common, but supported spindles are also a great choice, and of the three beginners I've taught in person, one absolutely couldn't get the hang of it until we tried supported spinning.

A lot of online yarn shops will sell decent beginner drop spindles, and there's tons of Etsy stores selling all varieties of spindles (my favorite for beginners is here, and my sibling's is here). There's also DIY tutorials for very low budget options, from "a CD and a pencil" to whittling your own supported spindle from a stick you find.

Wheels have their advantages, don't get me wrong, but humans have been spinning with nothing but increasingly clever sticks and rocks for absolute ages before wheels were invented, and in some ways it forces you to get the mechanics of making yarn down without getting distracted by the mechanics of, well, the machine, which is a whole extra skill set.

Learning resources:

Abby Franquemont's Respect the Spindle and Jillian Moreno's Yarnitecture are my go-to book recommendations for beginners. Both Abby and Jillian have strong online presences with blogs, videos, and I believe some paid courses for beginners, but there's a lot that's free, and I've seen both these books available in a variety of different sized public library systems as well.

The blog Ask The Bellwether hasn't been active in some time, but it was an absolute treasure trove for me as a beginner, and it's worth skimming or digging through!

And if you want some local Tumblr action and support, I'd recommend backreading @milkweedman tutorials (all in the pinned post), and/or joining the Handspinning Community. There's also a lot of action going on in the #spinblr tag!

[mbgwriting]

Describing Setting with Intent

Recently, I saw a post expressing the sentiment somewhere along the lines of I’m a good writer until I have to describe a room and then forget about it. And my first thought was…so don’t describe the room. Just don’t.

I know what you’re thinking. But my reader won’t know what’s in my mind if I don’t describe it! It’s lush and atmospheric! (Or possibly, It’s my story and I want to!)

Listen. Writer to writer. I know. But if your reader is too bored with your description of the setting to get through the page, they’re not going to see your vision at all because they’re not going to finish your story. 

That doesn’t mean that you can’t give them an idea of what they’re looking at, and that doesn’t mean you can’t ever describe the setting! Let’s talk about it. 

-If you’re bored, your reader is bored. First and foremost. This is just something to remember all the time when writing. If you don’t want to write it, if it’s not working, if you think it’s not interesting–that is your writer’s instinct telling you something! Find a way around it instead of slogging through because you think you have to. 

-Sprinkle in your scene imagery. Think of yourself as the salt bae of descriptive information. Instead of info-dumping, only give tidbits of information as they become relevant to your POV character. Your character notices the breeze as it blows their hair into their face. They notice the uneven ground as they stumble on it. And look, on your first draft, maybe you do info-dump! It’s okay! You have the words on the page, that’s what the first draft is for. When I catch myself doing this, it’s as simple as asking where you can flesh out (and spread out) those details in a more interesting way. 

-Remember what your POV character would actually notice. This example isn’t a room description, but the concept applies. I read The Silent Patient this year. The first chapter begins as a journal entry, and it includes a detailed description of the journal…which we are meant to believe the POV character is currently writing in. When was the last time you wrote in your diary and said “yeah this is my pink Hello Kitty notebook and she’s eating an apple on the cover”? Never. You’ve never done that. You know what the notebook you’re writing in looks like. And guess what? As a reader, that information was not essential to me. I know what a journal looks like. So your main character shouldn’t be describing a familiar setting to your reader like they’ve never seen it before. That isn’t to say you can’t get away with a throwaway detail here and there. It means that it should be just that—a throwaway, so small that it’s barely noticeable, but adds to the visual experience. 

-Go beyond the visual. This goes hand-in-hand with imagery. What does your setting sound like? Smell like? What is the lighting like? Is it warm or cold? Does it feel damp? This is especially useful because even in a familiar place, you might overlook visuals but still pick up on other sensory input–like when you walk into your house and notice if it smells like dinner is cooking or if someone forgot to take the garbage out. 

-Use character action to give texture to the room. What the heck does that mean? It’s a really obnoxious way to say the same thing you’ve heard a thousand times. Show, don’t tell. This can be as simple as mentioning that a chair feels rickety as your character sits down, or giving your characters something to do as they have their conversation. Even if they are simply chatting over the dinner table, you can describe the clink of the cutlery during an awkward silence, the way a character watches the condensation trickle down their glass in order to avoid eye contact, the way another character is distracted by the background noise.

-When you do describe a room, do it with intent. There are times when you can actually describe the room. But people don’t need to know the wall color or that the curtains are made from your MC’s grandmother’s favorite dress unless that’s important to the story. The details you give need to hold weight. For example: in my most recent novel, I spent 2-3 sentences describing the meticulous neatness of my character’s bedroom, but only so that his father could come in a page later and find something to criticize about it. At another point I described a room in a different character's house. This time I used a lot of detail, turning the description into a deluge of information—because I was describing a room in a hoarder’s house. I wanted the reader to feel just as overwhelmed by the room as my character did. 

-The setting description should always do double duty. You’ll notice that all of the examples I gave came down to one simple point: if you’re describing something, there needs to be a reason. It needs to tie into characterization, or theme, or plot, or tone. It needs to add value to the overall story. Otherwise, endless setting descriptions are just…a little bit boring.

[donnerpartyofone]

What was the process like for writing the novelization for Splice? Would you consider writing a novelization of an existing work again?

Eek I'm being interviewed! I'M SO FAMOUS. There are a lot of parts to this answer. The shortest answer is that I really just watched SPLICE in tiny sections every single day for a very, very long time. I had a certain version of the script to work from, but it wouldn't contain the exact things that were said and done in front of the camera (no script would), so I just studied the movie. I scanned the sets for objects I could not identify, of which there are a LOT -- things I've never seen before, and things I've seen but couldn't name -- and searched online until I learned to describe things like hay trolleys and circulating baths. To me, the point of a novelization is that it produces an interior and sensorial experience not offered by a screen, so I tried very hard to expand on the material qualities suggested by the movie.

It never once occurred to me to change anything. Apparently this is an expectation of novelizations. I had a writeup in Fangoria that was very kind about my ability to make psychological sense out of the things people do in SPLICE, but that expressed disappointment that I hadn't added scenes or anything. I'm such an inveterate, pathetic sort of rule-follower, I didn't even ask myself about this. I did change one exact thing, regarding the kind of candy that Elsa eats, because it was meaningful and amusing to me to do so, but I don't think anybody will ever get it. I also included just a little bit of material from the script that didn't make it into the movie, because it was completely in line with my psychological interpretation, which was what I was most concerned with.

I never thought of SPLICE as a perfect film, but I had a lot of thoughts about it, and I think my main contribution was to explain what these characters are thinking and feeling as they wade into this life-changing and profoundly icky experience together. That became very personal very quickly and I was a little bit afraid that maybe this would be how everyone would find out how totally insane I actually am, but I'm told that that part worked out pretty good -- by Vincenzo Natali, among other people, who is SO NICE AND SMART AND SUPPORTIVE. Best guy! When I turned in my draft to the publisher I thought there might be a little back and forth, I did not expect them to send the raw document directly to Vincenzo and I was very alarmed when I heard from him before anybody else, but I really had nothing to fear. He's one of my favorite people now.

I would definitely do another novelization. Actually I think I'm uniquely suited to this because I have a good dose of aphantasia. I didn't even know until recently that it's statistically weird to think mostly or exclusively in words and to have a very hard time visualizing, like, almost anything. When I started telling people this about myself I was asked, among other things, "How do you do anything if you can't picture what you're going to do?" And I was like, uh...I don't know. Maybe this is connected to my extreme executive problems and my problems with goal formation and followthrough. I mean I think this is true, now. And I developed this sort of half-joking self-mythology that I have to be watching movies every second of the day because I suffer from an image deficit and I need external infusions. Like even when I used to draw (trauma took that away, long story, but I drew all the time for like half my life), almost everything I ever made was swipes -- and I think they're pretty good, like it's worthy as art. But I guess for me, art has to be made out of something external that I manipulate. All the art I've ever made without a reference point has been maybe technically OK but really lifeless, you can tell something is missing. So I think the novelization process was a lot like how I used to draw, where I had a completely concrete external referent and I would just sort of tour it very extensively until I had created a twin of it out of my interpretations. And the twin is like, the same but different, it's a clone made out of feelings and reactions. I think that's a worthy sort of art object to make.

There's a thing I'm working on now that I'm sure I won't be able to talk about for a long while, but it involves writing things from preexisting sketches and prompts, and that's a little bit the same. I don't have as much to go on, but I can tell what the shape of it could be, I just turn it over like, what if it's like this, what if it's like this, what if it's like this. And I know that what I'm turning out is really made out of tropes and archetypes, it's kind of a collage, but if the collaging is really earnest and you're feeling your way along with reasonable naturalness, it can turn into something. It's not that different from describing experiences you've had, if you really think about it. The following comment is NOT MEANT TO COMPARE MYSELF TO A GENIUS but I had this nice moment of synergy recently when I rewatched Kiyoshi Kurosawa's CURE, which to me seems so forcefully unique, but in interviews he says things like, "Well I just really wanted to make an American horror movie," and talks about how his starting point was not personal at all, he just wanted to play with the established tools and ingredients people use to build a certain kind of product. And I thought, I guess that's what I do -- not as intelligently or deliberately, but I get how you can work in a way that sounds so formal and empty, and have it produce something distinctly personal.

Thanks for your fun question!

*Virginia Madsen voice* Oh yes. I forgot to tell you. BUY MY BOOK!

EDIT: Oh I kind of lied, I changed *just some of* the music that Clive listens to, to something that would be easier to communicate to a reader. Like I wouldn't use the exact band on the soundtrack because it was too obscure and specific, but I would talk instead about his genre choices because they went with what I was trying to say about him as a person. I think all of it was still pretty in line with the sounds, and the Clive, that appear in the film.

[kiinaya]

How To Get Multiple Colors in a Text

warning this is might be long due to my over-explanation!!!

Some time ago I got a comment on my post asking how I got the color fading effect in my text and used non-default text colors, like the title above. I also got a few messages about this.

I swear wanted to respond sooner, but I completely forgot. When I finally got the time to reply, I noticed my response turned into an essay! So, I decided it would be easier to make a post instead, and if you're like me and are a visual learner don't worry I included images!

Also, I have ADHD and over-explain things. I realized that while drafting my reply, it came across as patronizing. So if I sound that way in this post, I assure you it's not my intention; I just tend to explain things in detail because I prefer having things explained to me like that with the smallest details addressed. I tried to make it super simple for those who are new to Tumblr.

Here is the website I used: https://patorjk.com/text-color-fader/

If you got how it works congrats, If not, and you're confused, feel free to read the steps I take when using it!

HOW TO GET THE CODE!

1.) The first step is to enter your text which is done here!

2.) Choose the number of colors you want your text to have. At least 2 colors are needed for your text to have a fade effect. For using just one color without fading, refer to 3.c.

3.a) Choose your colors from the presets which btw automatically change the number of colors used but you could simply change it.

3.b) If you would like to choose your own colors, ignore the presets and simply click on the color to edit the Hex code. Keep in mind that the order of the colors, as shown above, is the same order in which they will appear in the text when the code is generated.

3.c) To use a single color without any fade effect, set the color amount to 2, which is the minimum allowed. Then edit the two colors to have an identical hex code.

4.a) You can choose your Fade type using the below options. For this post, I will be using the horizontal fade type, as it's the one I prefer. I haven't explored the other options much, so feel free to experiment and choose whatever you like!

4.b) For the output code ALWAYS KEEP IT AS HTML when using it on Tumblr. Unless something changes with the website, HTML is the default, so you don't need to worry about making any changes.

5.a) Click the generate button at the bottom of the page to create the code.

5.b) This is how the results will appear with multiple colors and just one color. By default, the background color is set to black, but you can change it to white or another color to test how your text will look. This option can be found at the lower right side of the results, titled "View Against Background." (NOTE: The background color does not affect the code and is not included in the code itself.)

5.c) If you want to edit something, simply press the "create new fade" button at the bottom. Don’t worry; it won't reset anything; it will just take you back to the previous page!

6.) When you are okay with the results copy the code. To do this press the select all at the bottom right of the code. This will just highlight the code so you will need to either press ctrl c, ⌘ c, or whatever you do to copy text on your device!

NOW, HOW TO PUT THE CODE INTO TUMBLR!

7.a) Head over to Tumblr and create a post! Make sure you're editing using HTML by pressing the little setting button on the upper right side of your post.

7.b) Scroll down to the text editor. The default should be rich text. Press the dropdown and choose HTML.

7.c) Paste the code in the HTML editor. Then save it as a draft to make sure it looks good before posting.

8.) Here's how it should look. Be aware that the HTML editor does mess up your image placements a bit when editing, but that's an easy fix. You just edit the draft and drag the images back to where you wanted them, and it won't mess with the code.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM YOU MIGHT FACE

You might get a warning like this when using bulky paragraphs with color-fading text on Tumblr, as it wrongfully considers them to exceed the character limit. This warning doesn't appear for single-colored text. When I switched to a single color, the warning disappeared, allowing me to save my draft. When this warning appears, you will not be able to save your draft at all, which puts you at risk of losing all your work. What I usually do when I get this warning and am unable to save the draft is change the text editor, use HTML, and save the draft from there.

Please be aware of two minor issues with this hack: First, HTML can interfere with your images. If your images are stacked, that's fine; however, if they are side by side, HTML will change them to a stacked format. Second, the "read more" link will be deleted by HTML. While both issues can often be resolved using the rich text editor, you won't be able to fix them in this scenario because the rich text editor won't let you save the draft or post due to incorrectly seeing the character limit.

To work around this issue, I sometimes save the draft as HTML on my computer to bypass character limits. Then, I use the Tumblr app on my phone to adjust the image placement and re-add the “read more” link. This may not always work so just be aware of these potential issues!

That's it! If you have any questions, feel free to comment or message me, I'm kind of new at this too so bear with me!

PS, @angel-dustspo I’m so sorry for the late reply!!

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 138 (Part 2)

Figured I better say whatever else I have to say before the next chapter comes out later this week. I thought I had a half-written post in my drafts but either Tumblr ate it or I hallucinated it so hopefully I don't forget anything I wanted to include. I already discussed elements of this chapter here and here, but there's some parts that didn't fit into those posts.

Let's start with Hilmes shedding his cloak. A moment in which he suddenly became even more attractive. Okay I'm sorry I'm here for actual analysis I swear.

This is the chapter in which for the first time, he acknowledges the truth of his parentage and abandons his long-held claim to the throne. It feels significant to me that here he is very literally casting aside the cloak he was wearing during his attempted coronation.

Ironically, the room in which Team Hilmes have been waiting seems to be the throne room itself, complete with the damaged throne and big banner of Kaykhusraw. His bloodline, staring him in the face. His loss against Arslan still fresh in his memory. This is the setting in which Hilmes finally moves past his need for the throne. No matter what happens from here, it's hard to imagine him actively aiming for it again. The throne of Maryam would be okay, though.

(Well, okay, I guess if Arslan died then things would change but I honestly can't see Arakawa going there for the ending.)

(and it was at this point that I realised my draft post was not saved on Tumblr but in fact in a notepad file so let me go and consult that for what else I was planning on mentioning!)

Supremely fucked up that, having been informed that his actions were based on a lie, undead Kharlan's solution is to kill Hilmes, kill his own son, and then die again himself? Very fucked up, but if, post-Atropatene, Kharlan had survived long enough to discover that Hilmes wasn't the rightful heir after all, I could see him killing himself due to the shame.

Kharlan's pride as a Marzban of Pars is why the insults he endured from the Lusitanians were so hard to bear, and it's also why it doesn't surprise me that he seeks to 'take responsibiity' because it feels like his pride demands it of him. He was wrong, and he seeks to correct that, no matter the cost. And again, it's all based on his loyalty to the royal line, the very same thing that caused him to betray his country in the first place. The undead warriors really are warped versions of their living selves, after all.

Yet while I said I could see him killing himself if he'd lived long enough to find out the truth, I can't see him killing Zandeh too. I just can't believe that he'd raise a weapon to his son like this if he had full control of himself. You can see it's tearing him apart inside.

AND if you look at their combat, I think part of him is desperately holding himself back. He hits Zandeh with the butt of his spear not once, but THREE TIMES (twice after he's already disarmed him). He doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to kill his son, and although the sorcery that holds his body and soul together will not allow him to stop attacking, he's clearly trying to avoid landing a fatal blow for as long as possible. Makes me wonder whether that strike to Zandeh's gorget in their initial clash was a similar sort of thing.

Just thinking about how undead Kharlan is yet another person who wants to kill Hilmes simply for the circumstances of his birth, and I hate that (while also acknowledging that this is no less than Hilmes wished to do to Arslan.)

Zandeh really did answer Kharlan’s question about why he’s still wielding his sword for Hilmes with “because I love him”, didn’t he?

With those moments he mentions, presented visually as flashbacks, we're seeing Hilmes through Zandeh's eyes. And Hilmes is seeing himself through Zandeh's eyes. Zandeh's answer is one of absolute honesty. Hilmes recognised Zandeh's devotion early on, but now he sees the full strength of it, and knows that it goes beyond his bloodline or his claim to the throne.

I've been thinking a lot about the expression on Hilmes's face after Zandeh's speech is over. It's like a look of regret and sorrow, and I think it's not only sympathy for Zandeh having to face his father like this, but also for the fact that a man like this ended up serving someone like him.

We know Hilmes ties his worth to getting the throne (remember him saying that he couldn't face Irina before then?). If he's not only lost in the attempt to do so but truthfully never had the right to it in the first place, I can very much see him not feeling worthy of having someone as loyal and devoted as Zandeh follow him. I think that's what's going on here, and it forms part of the reasoning behind his attempt to send Zandeh away.

He doesn't just instruct him to leave the room. If he simply wanted to spare him from the sight of Kharlan's severed head, that would have been enough.

This part had me reeling, because it's Hilmes acknowedging Arslan's calibre. He knows that Arslan will show understanding where he wouldn't have. He knows Zandeh will be treated well. He knows Arslan is worthy of having such a loyal subject while he no longer feels like he deserves someone like that. He knows Arslan will make a good king.

I think I recall @importantdestinydefendor being really worried Hilmes was going to die in this chapter, and while as a reader I didn't personally feel that it was going to happen, what I will say is that I think it's obvious Hilmes himself was preparing to die. That whole 'give Irina a message from me' thing? Sending Zandeh away to serve someone else? Perhaps he was trying to reconcile his 'cursed' bloodline by bringing it to an end (I joked that what he said to Irina about the Parsian royal line's mythology before was essentially 'wanna continue the royal line with me?' so when he references it here it's clear that he believes the line is going to end with him), or perhaps he feels his life has no point now except this act. At the very least, it's an acknowledgement that he's prepared to give his life to defeat Kharlan.

However, thankfully he's not allowed to do that, because Sam arrives at precisely the right time, and I think this'll give Hilmes a chance to find something he wants to live for that's not the throne of Pars. I do, however, think it dramatically increases the chances that Sam will die.

A Japanese fan said that this scene where Hilmes brushes the blood away from his mouth is really hot, and I don't disagree.

Yet while it's been nice to cheer Hilmes on in his actions again, I do hope he can move past this whole 'cursed blood' thing. It's like he's gone from 'my blood means I'm the rightful king and everyone should kneel for me' to 'my blood is cursed so I'm giving up everything and the only thing I'm good for is doing dirty work like this'. I'm just... worried that while him internalising and embracing his cursed blood here allows him to step in and take over from Zandeh, it speaks to a very negative view of himself that will persist beyond this scene.

This is why I need it to be revealed that not only does Zandeh not care about that, but SAM ALREADY KNEW. He already knew and STILL he stayed by Hilmes's side, still he came back to his side even now. And it goes without saying that Irina doesn't care whether he becomes king or not, so hopefully we'll get a scene where Hilmes finally fucking understand and accepts that, too.

Anyway yeah, I’m pretty much expecting Sam to bite the dust next chapter now. I mean, aside from the long talk that they never got to have, his unfinished business is essentially that he didn’t die when he fought Kharlan before.

Sam and Zandeh both sustained shoulder wounds, but Sam's is bleeding more profusely. Actually, his wounds are starting to echo those he sustained during the fall of Ecbatana. I've been rolling that around in my brain a lot, too.

Next chapter should be interesting, I imagine Team Hilmes are going to hear that Zahhak's back and hopefully that will pave the way for a future teamup with Team Arslan.

I do wonder whether we'll see any more sorcerers around, though. Sam's already recently killed one but there are more still to be dealt with, one of then being Ghundi, the one who Sam fought before when he was impersonating Husrab, and the one who very likely stole Kharlan's head. If any of them are nearby right now, it's likely to be him.

[scmoobly]

Wanna Be Yours | Bucky Barnes

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: Even months after Bucky had rescued you from HYDRA, you still had a separation anxiety that made you paranoid when he wasn't around. And so did Bucky.

Content: [bucky being unable to stay away from you] [Comforting] [minor pining for each other] [alluding to s³x]

Warning: Mild mature themes

A/N: first buck fic😍✋️That I'm posting anyways. Not saying my draft isn't full of horndog shit BUT PLEASE PAY ATTENTION THIS PART IS IMPORTANT. Please watch this bucky edit before reading. It'll give you a visual of this fic. I'll leave the link in the comments as well so it's easier to copy. Okay, enjoy ♡ https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNMdKCFQ/

Not proofread, Sorr :)

"Bucky."

"Hmm." A low grumble echoed from the other end of the call, the familiar rattle of his metal arm easing the anxiety in your chest.

"I miss you."

"I'm working." He responded with the same monotonous effect. He'd been dispatched on a mission nearby, along with Natasha Romanoff only about 20 minutes ago.

She was a glorified babysitter that Steve had assigned to accompany Bucky just in case he got himself in trouble.

As grateful as you were that they'd helped Bucky save you from HYDRA, you weren't that well acquainted with the avengers to know their relationship with each other so the fact that you were left at the tower alone while Bucky was out with someone else just didn't sit well in your stomach.

"I miss you." You repeated mechanically into the phone. It was a habit hard to kill even though it had been months since you'd been freed from the shackles Pierce constricted you in. You were no longer a soldier, but it wasn't like you could just turn off or forget years of torture.

When there was no response, you opted to repeat yourself another time before he interrupted you. "I miss y-" "I know."

You heard a soft sigh from the other line, a few minutes of silence passing before it disconnected with a distorted click.

•

10 minutes later

The door to Buckys bedroom swung open, revealing you sitting in front of it with your legs curled up to your chest, the same inexpressive look in your eyes as they looked up at him.

"How long have you been sitting here?" His brows knotted, and his forehead creased revealing a hint of worry. "Since you left." You answered to which he could only respond with a deep exhale.

Bucky walked closer to you, crouching down to your level before gently sliding a few strands of hair behind your ear, his thumb caressing the skin of your cheek with caution.

Leaning into his touch came much easier to you than most things. Having Bucky close was your only source of comfort after he'd rescued you. His presence grounded you in a whole new world that felt like it was caving in around you.

A world where no one knew who you were but him, and you depended on him to not forget yourself.

"Let's get you to bed." Before you could say anything, Bucky had already hooked his arms around your body, lifting you up with almost zero effort. Your own found their way around his shoulder, eyes glued to his stone cold expression as he moved you nimbly over to the bed and set you down.

"Are you hungry?" He questioned further while reaching for the covers to which you'd responded with a light shake of your head.

"Just missed you." A low hum erupted from the depth of his chest.

Pulling the covers over your legs Bucky sat himself down beside you on the edge of the bed, leaning his back against the headrest before stretching his hand out in your direction, lacing his fingers through your hair.

Forget the Avengers. Your own relationship with Bucky was a mystery, if not anything else. One thing was clear, though. You were definitely not friends. At least you didn't want to be.

The years you'd spent being tortured and trained at HYDRA's base was something only he had the capability to understand. Naturally, your heart ran to him to seek any kind of empathy or comfort, but you'd both been wrung so tight that any sense of emotional sensitivity had been drained from you almost completely.

It took him a long a while, but he'd warmed up to the Avengers, finding his old best friend in Steve, a good companion in Sam, and a supportive team in everyone else.

However, it wasn't so easy for you. Bucky was all you had, and you'd worried your dependence on him in trying to fit back into society would someday become too much of a burden. The vehemence of your affection for him seemed to be concealed by the expressionless look on your face and the thought that he would someday choose to want someone who showered him with love unlike you.

Little to your knowledge, Bucky had his own apprehensions when it came to you. He'd thought being around the Avengers who'd protect you at any cost would make you feel more comfortable and safe. That it would help you open up.

That was the reason he had insisted for you to stay at the tower after the rescue mission. Well. Half of it anyway.

He couldn't stand the thought of you being alone the way he was, holeing up within the dark confines of his room. As hypocritical as it was, he cared too much to see you turn into the version of himself that he'd barely managed to escape.

You deserve to feel the warm flutter of happiness in your body. You, more than him. More than anyone.

That's why he'd rushed back to the tower halfway through his mission after you'd called, leaving Natasha to deal with the aftermath.

He could almost still feel the wind on his face from how harshly he'd revved the engine of the Harley Davidson Street 750.

"Bucky?"

You whisper softly while looking up at him, your doe eyes making him take in a deep breath. "Y-yeah?" He didn't realise how long he'd been staring or how close you'd gotten, your breaths mingling with each other, caressing the others' skin and sending shivers up and down his spine.

Close. Too close.

Too close not to do anything about it.

His metal arm that had been stroking your hair slid down to hook around the back of your neck, the cold vibranium thumb tracing circles on your jaw, and you couldn't help leaning into the touch, sucking in a breath, you closed your eyes in contentment.

"Bucky.." You purred, your cheeks filled with unfamiliar heat. Blushing? Bucky was making you blush.

Meanwhile, Bucky seemed to be awestruck as he blinked in disbelief. "You.. smiled." It was brief, a very small one, but he definitely caught it, and suddenly he couldn't think of anything more beautiful than the sight of it.

He wondered what it would take to see your lips tug upwards just a little more. To hear you laugh if he was lucky enough.

Buckys mind was clouded. Filled with the image of heaven that you'd graced him with, and suddenly he was closer, his lips hovering dangerously close to your own.

"Smile for me, doll."

Your eyes widen when his lips finally pressed against yours, knocking the wind out of you. However, it only took a few seconds for you to melt into the sensation. You had been craving it after all.

Your body began to curl up in an effort to be as close to him as possible, fingers grazing the outline of his stubble. A muffled whine slipped from your lips, causing Bucky to chuckle into the kiss before parting only slightly, an adoring look in his eyes. One you couldn't fathom was meant for you.

"Somehow, that was even better." He cooed, sliding his hand down your arm, the side of your body before resting on your hips, giving it a little squeeze.

"Come here, babydoll." He murmured with a feverish look in his eyes, using both hands to hold onto your hips and move you to straddle his lap. The pet names only served to make your ears burn hotter.

As soon as he'd settled you on top of him, you could feel how tight his pants had grown around him. Your chest heaved up and down as the alien feeling of arousal bubbled in your stomach and in between your thighs, making you squirm and let out little mewls.

"Shh, shh.. calm down, sweets. I have you." It felt like his lips had been taped into a smile. He wanted to ingraine the faces you were making in the deepest part of his thoughts. "I'm right here." He continued, leaning close to leave a trail of wet kisses down your neck, pausing at your shoulder to breathe in your scent before continuing down your collarbone, your arm all the way down to the back of your hand.

"You smell intoxicating. And you taste even better." Your breathe hitches for the millionth time. There was nothing you could think to say in response to his sweet words. Your silence was fine with him, though, because you displayed your innermost feelings on your face, and it was all he needed.

With both hands, he pressed your hips down onto him, eliciting a gasp from you. "Mm. And those delicious sounds you make. You must be an angel given human form because you make me feel like I'm in seventh heaven-" Bucky huffed out the last bit, his own chest heaving in anticipation.

You'd already showed him more emotions in that very second than you had the last few months you'd spent with him, and he was more than eager to explore what more he could pull out of you..