#Advantages Of Using Tools

[justaz]

Stumbled across anti-luke castellan posts on tiktok and scrolled through the comments and have been reminded of how vile a person he really is in canon. Like I already don’t like him but posts like that help me remember that I HATE HIMMMM

[meltedmush]

how long does it take you to draw your sketches/doodles? also do you have any tips to draw faster? 🙇‍♀️

I generally take 30 - 60 minutes a sketch,,,, but honestly really depends on how detailed it is.

Like a Chibi will be done in 20 - 25 minutes (Counting in the extra time I spend on minute details like a perfectionist 😭)

I for some reason really like spending egregious amounts of time on random objects too??? Unless it’s the in the background, I’ll spend 40 minutes refining it.

Random characters that are fully colored and rendered with take like 80 minutes.

The comics take usually take an hour or two per page. (If I decide to cross hatch it, my entire day will be gone with 4 pages… so I’ve been trying to find shortcuts. But not without sacrificing the quality for time lol)

I don’t think there’s any trick or magic to drawing faster. It’s really about weaponizing your artistic knowledge, and finding what’s comfortable or convenient for you!

There was a period of time where I would spend 11 or 12 hours on an illustration, and it wASS UGLYYYYY. (Some of these artworks are still available on my tumblr,,, but it’s SO LONG AGO, AND IT WAS MY 1ST OR 2ND YEAR GETTING INTO DIGITAL ART)

Overtime I learned what worked best for me, and practiced till I felt more comfortable with what I was drawing. Eventually I managed to shorten the time to 4 hours or less! Ambition was my biggest enemy but at the same time my biggest motivator. (And it still is LMFAO) 😭

EDIT (bit more to my way too long tangent): ALSO??? BRO DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR MESSY SKETCH AS LINEART OR DRAW ON TOP OF IT. I’VE DONE IT FOR YEARS NOW AND IT ADDS SUCH A GOOD EXTRA BIT OF TEXTURE,, AT THIS POINT I DON’T EVEN USE LINE-ART ANY MORE UNLESS IT’S A COMMISSION,, (IT’LL ADD LIKE AN 2-4 HOURS TO MY WORK)

[esmiara]

What do you mean Chuuya's official character song (Darkness My Sorrow) indirectly refers a few times to Dazai and tells he holds the key to the bird cage that is his world. Wha- why is official content always the gayest and gives the most amazing symbolism??

[honestlyvan]

Speaking of justifying changes to the litcheral canon because they appeal to me more, I tend to think of both Kevesi and Agnians as bleeding actual blood, but also sort of bleeding sparkly ether particles at the same time.

Essentially, all living beings are composed of ether, but without being constantly circulated as a part of some being's vital functions -- if it's just sitting there as a static lump -- ether doesn't really have strong bonds that would hold it together. What happens is that the Flame Clocks generate such an insane etheric low pressure zone that all ether-based life forms that aren't actively sustaining themselves start to actively deteriorate, rather than slowly dissolving like they would on Bionis or Alrest.

It's a bit like how the boiling point of water is dramatically reduced in a low-pressure environment -- an active Flame Clock is basically a localised ether vacuum, so anything that is in the process of decomposing into ether will do so almost instantly. This is also why an empty Flame Clock will instantly kill anyone bonded to it -- consuming the ether the people tending to it consist of.

In a bit of seredipity this also means that most Kingdom soldiers aren't truly aware of the level of gore and gristle involved in fighting, especially because healing magic effectively injects ether back into where a void is forming from the decomposition process. They very rarely see blood unless they're very far away from their Flame Clock.

[inksandpensblog]

inks, i get it now. a long time ago u were talking about how the sticks are not actually humans and how interesting it would be for a fic to explore the non-human and purely internet aspects of them rather than treating them as Digital Humans, Basically, and now im trying to do the same thing for cybertonians and explore the alien biology aspects of them but every fic ive read seems to want to treat them like cars

That’s rough, buddy.

I’m not familiar with cybertronians outside of a vague awareness that it’s what Transformers are, so I can’t really say any different than those fics because I legit don’t know enough about them to make informed statements, but oof I feel your pain. I imagine that it’s easy to simplify them down to just being glorified self-aware shifting car-robots (and even easier to imagine any human characters trying to do that in-universe), as far as how they work and their literal body mechanics, and it must be frustrating to see their potential go unexplored. If you wanna get into specific points feel free to educate me, if it’s anything like my gripe over the stick-fics then I’d love to be able to better commiserate with you.

[iwanthermidnightz]

Universal Music Group (UMG) says it will pull its entire music catalog from TikTok when its contract with the service expires on Wednesday (Jan. 31), accusing the platform of “trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” according to a new open letter.

In the letter, released Tuesday (Jan. 30) and addressed to UMG artists and songwriters, the company states that it’s particularly concerned about the rates that TikTok is offering to pay for its catalog. Other points of contention include the amount of content on TikTok that infringes its artists’ and songwriters’ works without providing “meaningful solutions” to help them combat it, the level of hate and harassment on the platform and TikTok’s stances on artificial intelligence (AI).

[greatfairymia]

Glowering still at this thankless pest, Ghirahim continues. “Be grateful for the help the world provides you. Are you not at war?” 

-

This dim, helpless hero — whether by intentional design or simple fact — is ever willing to relinquish himself to the aid of others, deserving or not. He had done so more than a dozen times on their journey thus far; assisting people who scorned him for his tactics, his slowness, and his silence. Assisting them though they were thankless.   

-

Ghirahim huffs out an indignant ha and sets a hand on one hip, the other twisting through the air as he speaks. “Your insistence on aiding every unfortunate fool we come across has allowed for your capture.”   

-

If he begins to make a habit of looming over Link’s shoulder each time a stranger demands his help, baring his teeth in silent warning… that is for Ghirahim alone to know.

[yaksinhats]

idk I think dark urge Arthur is really funny bcs he’s 1000x more afraid of his amnesia than his urges. he’s like yeah yeah I’m killing people whatever whatever honestly who isn’t - BUT DONT YOU DARE TELL ANYONE I DONT KNOW WHO I AM

[the2ndsanctuary]

Children are everything and they're so vulnerable you have to be nice to them no matter what you have to hold kindness for the most misbehaving child I'm so serious

[t1meslayer]

hey! i’ve been reading a handful of ur fanfics (which r rlly gud btw!) and i was wondering how you were able to resize and edit the text like this

and also like this

i’d be rlly interested to know because i’m unsure if it’s even possible through normal means on ao3!

Hey hey! I'm very glad you're enjoying my work <3

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me a read!!!

The text editing stuff is actually a basic function on AO3, you can do it too! When you're looking at the text editing/posting page, you'll see at the top that you can utilize "plain text with limited HTML"

Clicking the question mark icon there shows you all of the HTML functions that are available, with a basic explanation for how to apply them in your text:

The TL;DR is when you've picked one you want, you can start that section of text with the HTML signifier in diamond brackets <like this>, and then end that section with diamond brackets using a forward slash </like this>

(Be sure to include the ending set of brackets otherwise you'll accidentally make the entire rest of your story in italics or somethin - not speaking from experience I swear)

However, I found a "story" posted in 2015 that was particularly helpful with visualizing the major elements. It's called "A Complete Guide to 'Limited HTML' on AO3" by CodenameCarrot. In particular, this highlighted stuff like being able to do sub- and superscript text using <sub> and <sup> that I used (I think) to great effect in my Pokemon Scarvi piece "Paradiso" - where a lot of my experimentation happened under the guise of nightmare bs.

The way I made text look almost like the "Chat" option here on Tumblr was through "Special Types of Text."

They all produce the same result when published on AO3, but I personally use <tt>.

I've also been messing with image embedding like the text message thread in "Peaks and Caverns" and my Author's Notes in "Stone-Cold Lovers (ch. 3)," there should be more of that coming in pieces that I'm writing now! I learned a good practice for how to do so from the 2014 piece "Super Awesome Learning How to Embed Place" by leftennant.

Tbh I've been a bit surprised at how many people have asked me about this text editing stuff in my comments, because it's one of the first things I noticed is available compared to, say, fanfiction.net. I like that you can use the basic tools of the service to tailor your stores to a vision in even small ways, so I've even been testing things like pseudo-graphic design like recreating RIAA record plaques using just HTML features on my Splatoon fic "By Moonlight":

Hopefully these explainer pieces can help you out with it too!! They're the only things I currently have bookmarked on my AO3 'cause I refer back to them so often.

[my-memed-tw-adventures]

Book 3 — Chapter 34

*stares at watch again* HOW THE FUCK

God I’m back at this shit what is time

Anyway, let’s be sad together

—

AHHHH BABY NO

Why are children so mean man

—

“Hopeless in studies” my ass boi. You were literally just dealing study guides that helped students get 100%s on tests. I think you have to be smart to create stuff like that

Now if only you didn’t scam people

—

Games are fun Azul! They don’t have to be productive. Tho I guess little bitch children like that do absolutely ruin the fun of any game huh

Fuck those kids for making Azul this way. Now I have to deal with his trauma as an underpaid therapist

—

How does writing with ink in the water even work??? Also he must be braining very good because I can barely focus on writing with my two limbs. Imagine writing 5 things at once. Couldn’t be me

—

Awwwww little Azul meeting little Jade and Floyd! They all sound so cute!

Also what bullshit was Azul saying about not being able to assert himself. He like immediately threatened the twins when they tried to touch his stuff

I love that it sounds like Jade and Floyd just decided to keep Azul and he had no choice in the matter lol

—

Oh yeah. Azul saying he’s hopeless in studies when he’s able to do magic like Ursula. He better quit selling himself short here

I love that Jade and Floyd know it’s him. I mean, it’s pretty obvious but still. And they just basically call him out on it

—

Oh boi he’s lost it

Azul, holding into middle school revenge plots and grudges isn’t good for you man. I think we did you a favour with the contract destroying. You need a fresh start bro

—

Azul, honey, as your severely under-appreciated and underpaid therapist, observing your bullies for moons on end is not healthy. Please find a better coping mechanism than holding issues over their heads and hoping no one like us comes along to fuck it

This man needs help with his control issues from someone who actually knows what they’re doing. Aka not me. Get a real school therapist Crowley

—

AZUL THIS ISN’T HOW IT WORKS

I get it but sir not like this. He’s too dependent on the scrolls as a part of his identity to realize he’s smart and capable and no longer at the bullies’ mercy. He’s not that same little octopus, not cause of the scrolls but because he grew as a person (mostly, he’s still a baby dumbass like everyone else at the school)

Also him thinking he’s invincible because he has the scrolls. He’s kinda dumb there because he like knew he wasn’t

Masterlist

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

2 + 3 + 12 + 33!!!!

had to fish around to find that ask game again!!!!! also hiiiii better late than never :))) :}}}}} <3 i need to tell u smth abt kleo i have Thoughts (not big thoughts this sounds as if its big it isnt i just reconsidered my initial statement that u might not like iiiiit)

2. anything that you'd like to write but feel that youre unable to??

oh yes!!! so much!!!!! even the things im writing bring me constantly into a situation of hair-tearing-out crying-clawing-screaming hitting-head-against-the-wall. i flip-flop between thinking i cant even write what im writing and thinking that im kinda decent. hhhhh. anyway!!!!!

i want to write a solid longfic with extensive worldbuilding. it doesnt matter the genre, just solid and rich worldbuilding where the writing stays consistent and steady until the end is already good. but if i could specifiy, i yearn for it to be a canon compliant/canon divergence/canon era fic with a unique take on canon. i want to write canon era fics in general, but im always hesitant to. i know what happens when i fall into a research hole, it fires up my anxiety. and i want to write scifi or a cool space opera. and i want to be able to write novel fic (of tyk) and not want to die during the process. all these things feel impossible to me :]]]]]]]]

3. how would u describe ur writing style?

i had to think about this for a bit!!!! because my writing style is unfortunately directly connected to my mental stability which is not always. stable. huehe. hmmmm i think my style (given that im doing good!) leans very hard into economical but evocative storytelling; like, i mean the rhythm of oral storytelling. stream of consciousness. prose poetry. poetry slam. i want the words to explode in your mouth and i want it to paint a very clear image in your head. i want people to hear me telling the story! even if the reader (or listener!) cant be there to experience it for themselves, at least i can tell them about it! thats probably because my first experience with story as a concept comes from audio dramas and generally someone reading something to me. thats honestly still the medium i prefer, tbh.

12. if you write in more than one language, whats the difference?

TvvvvvvT

currently i dont write in more than one language, if u dont count non-fictional handwriting bc i write all my notes in my native language. but i still remember how it used to be to write creatively in german. like im always whining about how difficult it is to cast the same image in english as in german; i just dont have that fine motor control over english as i have over german. i can easily switch between gears in german but english still ,, befuddles me pfft. its most noticable when im mucking around drafting and spend more time thinking about fun stuff like correct grammar and correct sentence structure and which word means what in english, than about the story and the characters. it takes so much energy and effort to think about and of all of this, there is barely any space left for the story that im trying to tell. which is def a major drawback for me and one of the reasons that ive been considering to start writing in german again. even though i have uh some baggage there that i dont really want to face. language is so connected to identity and culture. and thats another reason why english is difficult; i know english, aside from school, mostly from usamerican books or from online interactions with usamericans or people talking usamerican. so that has ofc heavily influenced my own english. like, i set all my stories in germany for reasons, but its stupidly hard to draw up the cultural markers because the language itself that im using is already coming with cultural influences from another country. its really strange and confusing, and i would find it fascinating and interesting if it wasnt so frustrating. sometimes it feels like there is a veil between me and what im trying to say, and also as if my thought patterns dont work as they would because the language that should just be a tool to tell a story is already so dominant. thats def smth i hope to change in the future

33. give your writing a compliment!

hmmm. its very earnest. reading my own stuff, even old stuff, i can tell what sort of struggles made it hard to get smth specific onto the page. and sometimes what ends up on the page is not what was supposed to be there in the first place. but its earnest and i can see that. its always the best i can do in that moment, and its always a piece of me because i give so much of myself during the process. thats not always a good thing but its how i am. im glad the earnestness, the sincerity, the love, the faith, the hope, is so visible to the bare eye.

yet another writing ask

[kumomist]

GENDER LOCKED POWERS AND HAVING TO ACCEPT THAT YOU HAVE A POWER DUE TO THE SEX YOU WERE BORN AS BUT IDENTIFYING AS A GENDER OPPOSING THAT

[littlest-arsonist]

i know pokémon fans have been joking about this for years but to be honest it never really hit me how funny silver taking chikorita is until i saw it in game for myself

[infizero]

oh i love a good "terrible guy in his final moments calling out for the people who he only used and was horrible to"

[rutadales]

the fun thing abt nfoe is it's taking the two characters who were left behind the most, grabbing there hands and saying, "but what if, this time, someone had stayed." what if they had someone who would have stayed. who would have helped, and loved, and cared. who would have put them first. what changes then