#i keep forgetting to like. post art online. oops.

[hazbeen]

drawing cutesy ooc otp things is my therapy

[naumin]

no tall towers: a postmortem

is 'postmortem' too dark a word for it? just talking about the things I learned while organising this project :)

this one's a bit rambly but it's got a little bit of instruction inside. if anyone has any questions get in touch and let's talk BOOKS!

the concept

in april i got the idea that i wanted to organise a laios/marcille fanbook (because i LOVE them and especially because there wasn't a lot of fanwork around). i originally wanted to produce and sell a solo doujin with 1 or 2 pieces of guest art. however when money and multiple people are involved there's the question of how to compensate everyone fairly. i had several ideas of how to do this:

pay contributors a fixed amount e.g. $50 per piece (this is hard when you have no idea how much your book will earn)

pay contributors a % of sales e.g. 10% of all earnings (this is hard because you need to keep track of it for as long as your book is being sold. you may want to limit how long your book is available for for this reason*)

because i didn't want to limit how long the book was available for and to make it as simple as possible for me on the admin side, i decided to make it a free book with open submissions.

*a limited sale period can be good because promoting a project is super exhausting the longer it goes on. 1 month is reasonable imo. but because this is a rare-ish pair for a newly popular series i wanted to keep it online so fans can keep finding it.

communications

i've been in almost 20 books as a contributor, and pretty much all of them create a discord server to handle communications. some are mandatory to join, some let you opt out and receive announcements via email only. depending on the projects some are very chatty and some are extremely quiet.

the main advantages of discord ime are networking (i've made great friends from being on a project together) - which also helps with morale and giving ppl positive feedback to make their works - and for organisers gives the option of instant communication, e.g. if someone asks a question several people are wondering about, you can answer them all in one go.

the disadvantages of discord ime are people muting the server (understandable) and possibly the need for moderation - most people are extremely lovely and civil, i just am a worrier. also, discord can be a time sink... you don't want to be backreading a chat for 30 minutes when you only have 30 minutes to work on your project a day! i get distracted easily so for me that was a no go. what was good is that there is a laimar server (run by @saccharineomens) so i knew people could still chat and support each other. i'm really grateful for that.

so, if you want to avoid discord my experience is you totally can. all you really need:

an info masterdoc on somewhere like google docs or a public blog post/web page - you need to be able to edit it in case you need to add new information (with a time/date marking the change)

a way for people to submit their works like google forms or just your email

a way for people to ask questions, my main tumblr blog worked fine for me. you may want to copy your answers to common questions into your infodoc as they come up

important documents

this is the infodoc I created for this project. one thing is I did forget to specify the orientation for image works (portrait), oops.

one thing I'd really like to see more in collab projects is for organisers to list their experience. we already ask contributors to give so much... what about on the other side u know. I think a lot of people leave it out because they might not think they have any relevant experience. Really try to dig deep and list any type of project you've been in or helped complete... doesn't have to be art or fandom related.. or maybe organise a solo project first to get your feet wet.

for example I used my solo books I made for school/zine fairs. i'm a visual artist and i rarely work with text. so some of them are pure images, then some of the comics have computer lettering, but technically speaking i never formatted large amounts of text in my books so that was something new I was promising people I'd do. but it wasn't scary because I think my previous projects gave me a foundation to try new stuff like that. that's all people need to see to be willing to trust you handling their works ime.

formatting a zine

so I personally used InDesign here, it's one I've worked with before and enjoy. for other pdf projects I've also used Scribus and really like it (I'll be using it for Nerd Sex again this year) and its free!!! I haven't used Scribus to format text yet but for pure image books it's a really simple case of creating your page-size image in your art program and then inserting onto the pdf pages of Scribus lol. really easy.

for previewing, viewing, rearranging etc anything to do with your pdf I really recommend PDF24. also free!!! 5 stars incredible software.

here are the indesign tutorials I used and liked:

How to Add Page Numbers

How to keep Page Numbers on Top

How to Create a Table of Contents

What is Overset Text and How to Fix It <- essential for formatting text onto multiple pages

How to Reduce InDesign File Sizes

if this is all too complex here is the most basic 3-step method to creating a pdf book that applies to using both indesign and scribus or likely any other pdf creation software you can find

create new document. Select facing pages if you'll have double page spreads or think you might print out your book one day

locate the rectangle frame tool (indesign) or image frame (scribus) etc and draw a frame over your page (your whole page or just where you'd like your contents to go)

ctrl+d (indesign) or right click>get image (scribus), find your image and click on it. that's it!

repeat for all the other pages. that's my most basic guide to creating a pdf image-based book where all the pages are the same size.

publishing

publish on whatever platform you think is suitable (itch.io, gumroad, personal site, whatever etc.) and remember to advertise the shit out of it. if it's free keep saying it's free!!! if you feel like a resentful jaded broken record you havent repeated it enough my friend. say it one more time for good measure.

that's my messy postmortem of no tall towers to climb a 112-page free fanthology from 14 fans of laios x marcille including all new fic comics illustrations and recipes available for download and to print-at-home NOW!!! :) <3

[betweenthings2]

hello!!! warning you now that this is going to be the longest thing ever because i’m allergic to being concise but it’s finally time for me to actually send you an ask to gush and discuss your incredible writing. i’ve been interacting with your work on ao3 and tumblr for over a year now and i just lurk and heart everything because i refuse to use tumblr how it’s intended to be used🫣 but it’s time to show my face (even though this is anonymous oops) and say the quality of your writing is genuinely unparalleled to anything else i’ve ever read online and dare i say it comes close to/ overtakes some of the published books i’ve read and loved. you are such a talent it drives me crazy. you’ve quite literally spoiled fanfiction for me because i’ll read something for a different fandom and think “ugh it’s good but it’s not betweenthings2😔😔😔”

i saw you answer an ask a while ago asking what your goal for writing is and you said something along the lines of wanting to move people with your work. when i saw that it made me smile because you’ve achieved it ten times over and im worried you don’t realise it!!! so im going to tell you about my experience reading Roadkill for the first time (side note but in my opinion this is your best and therefore most underrated piece and i would love to talk about it further)

i remember being at a cafe that day by myself having a little drink and sweet treat and getting the email notification that you’d posted something to ao3 and nearly dying from anticipation for the rest of the day because i knew i wouldn’t do the fic justice to just quickly read it in a noisy cafe. it would be a waste of art. so in the evening i lied to my parents that i had plans with friends and wouldn’t be home for dinner and instead walked to the park near my house with a block of chocolate and sat on a park bench in the slightly-chilly-but-still-nice-out australian dusk. trust me i remember it so vividly because it’s like a core memory for me now. i’d been going through a really tough time mentally and felt super disconnected from everything and everyone. when i tell you i read all 35k words in one sitting and wept like a baby. i’m a very emotional girl dont get me wrong but the release that your writing made me feel was something so special that i’d never felt before. the whole piece is so devastating and confronting and just misery but it made me feel so seen and whole and human. if i could describe your writing in one word i think it would be human. everything is always raw and vulnerable and messy but so tender it just makes me insane. i sat in that park and cried for such a long time and even though the whole experience was so heavy and i could feel the grief you manufactured in my gut i left that park feeling lighter and grounded. i think that’s how anyone would feel after witnessing such greatness. (side note but i’ve actually banned myself from re-reading roadkill for the minute because it makes me lose my mind a bit too much but that’s just a further testament to you. can’t wait to get back to my scripture later on)

your other fics on ao3 and perfect as well and i read Second Letter From St Julian, All This Barley Getting By, I Forget A Lot Of Things But I’ll Never Forget You and Me And You vs Them religiously. they are my comfort fics through and through🩷 maybe the hyper fixation has gone too deep for me but when i’m trying to fall asleep i use the plots of your fics to expand on in my head and it’s just the perf combination to lull me to sleep.

now for imo the main event of this ask- i need to tell you the extreme and life threatening brainrot THIS specific line from Of Bouquets And Back Rubs has given me.

"Sorry," Matty apologizes.

George sighs, but doesn't stop. "I'm going to start talking to your therapist if you keep apologizing for things you don't need to apologize for," he says.

what the hell. you can’t just write that and expect my whole world to not revolve around it for the rest of my life. that line ping pongs around my head at all times. at work, in the shower, when i’m on a walk, when i’m laying in bed, it’s literally always on my mind. i don’t know why but i just thought you should know that’s it’s STUCK with me. like i’m truly affected. (if you ever wanted to expand on it you know you have at least one devoted fan of the idea)

hopefully this will be my first of many asks because it’s so nice to finally tell you how deeply in love i am with your words. to hold me accountable i’ll claim the matcha emoji 🍵 if that’s something you do!!!!

i just realised i didn’t tell you how your prompts make me melt but they do and i wouldn’t survive the commute to tafe without them. just little bites of pure literature you spoil us so much.

thanks for giving me something to lurk on and obsess over- it’s been an honour🩷 (also ps i wonder if you can figure out who this is based on the freaky amount of times i heart your posts. someone has to sit me down and explain that this isn’t instagram🤕)

Hi, newly christened Matcha Anon!! =)

I meant to answer this yesterday, but I just kept reading through it and being so incredibly touched and blown away by all of your kind words that I didn't entirely have a response, but I think I do now. I will also be long.

First of all, I am so touched (and a little surprised) that you find my writing to be on par with published novels, so thank you so much, that is such an amazing compliment!!! I can't believe I've spoiled you for fic. I'm getting back into the swing of things now that I'm home, so I'll have more fic for you soon.

I'm also so glad to hear that I've creating something moving. Sometimes I think I take things a little too seriously, particularly writing fic, but I'm thrilled to hear that you find my work moving. This will be stuck in my head forever:

"it would be a waste of art."

Roadkill was a lot to write because it gets so bleak and some of me is in there, but I'm so moved by your experience of reading it and honored that you would share it. That's my goal, generally--to create catharsis. And to see my fanfic called greatness? Oh my god. Oh my god. I have no words other than oh my god and thank you so, so much!!

I'm thrilled to see that Of Bouquets and Backrubs resonated with you, particularly that bit of dialogue. That whole fic was a little bit last minute, to be entirely honest and I was working so hard to make it fluffy, rather than angsty. I might expand on that fic in the future, but I also really like how it ended. Who knows what will happen. I don't.

I'm also so happy that you like the prompts! I think they're really fun to write and very low stakes for me. Apologies for not having a more regular schedule for posting anything, but there's no way I could keep that up for more than a week or two. I would explode.

Thank you so much for all the compliments and reading what I write!!! 💚💚💚

[mitochondria-eve]

Currently in the process of making an outline for my Heather Chandler/Betty Finn fan-fic. I imagine the process will be a bit slow, as I try to figure out how everything will align in a way that works and is faithful to the original plot, but some progress is better than none, I guess? I've got a few ideas in mind but I'm still not sure how I want to approach it. Above all else, it's extremely important to me that the characters feel like themselves, ya' know? Especially Heather, whose voice and mannerisms are difficult to capture, I find. Kim played her in a very particular way that I don't want to drift far from. I don't want Chandler to be all "soft and sweet and misunderstood angel deep down uwu" or anything like that, but I don't want to completely throw out the possibility of her softening a little. I've got a lot of research to do and notes to jot down! It's gotta' be authentic. By the time I'm done making the outline, I'll probably have watched the movie several times over.

Of course, one thing I'm 100% certain of is that the characters, setting, etc. are all going to be based on the film. If you've been following my posts, you probably could've guessed that even if the above paragraph didn't make it clear.

Sorry, musical fans, but my Chandler looks like this, not this. I'll probably sprinkle in some affectionate nudges towards the musical, though, because everybody likes those kinds of cross-references, right? And I guess you could always just imagine it's the musical's versions of the characters in your head. I do the opposite with the musical-based fics I read all the time.

But anyway, if this fic does end up going online, I will encourage folks to watch the movie before reading it. It will help set the stage better, since the musical and movie are so tonally different.

I won't sit here and guarantee anything, because I can't do that. It wouldn't really be fair to anyone because there's always unforeseen circumstances that can affect my willingness to keep playing around with an idea. Who knows how long my current obsession with Heathers will last? Who knows what life will throw at me? I've never even posted my written material online, who's to say I will be comfortable doing so in the end?

But I am genuinely excited to start writing about this ship and exploring its avenues, even if it ends up being only for myself. I don't know how much interest exists for this ship, if any, but I still want to try. When you like an obscure rare-pair, ya' gotta' put in the work to make it happen! If I don't write this, who will? lol

Best I can do for now is try to write to the best of my ability and maybe commission some nice fan-art of the pairing once I get the money because fan-art is fun.

On another note, I actually had a conversation with someone regarding the Heather Chandler/Betty Finn concept a while back and we came up with the name "Chandlinn". I've been referring to the ship as that ever since. I like how it sounds. It's cute and oh, so very!

Another person here replied to my earlier post mentioning "Chanfinn" or "Finndler" and those work too, I suppose. I briefly considered the term "Heatty" until' I was reminded that there are two other characters named Heather, oops! How do you even forget that? It's in the title of the movie!

I promise, I'll do my best to get SOMETHING out into the world. Might take some time, though! Bear with me, please. And again, no promises! It's only fair.

Finally, I'm always open to ideas/suggestions for concepts or plot points, so don't be afraid to mention any if you have them. I don't really have any qualms with what I'm willing to write or talk about, so you won't be judged for having "weird" or "dark" ideas - in fact, I encourage it. The original film is pitch black, why shouldn't some fics be, too? And I already mentioned in my previous post about this that some folks may consider the ship pretty dark/"problematic" by default, since this would be a "bully/bullied" thing (even if we never see the bullying happen on-screen - the worst Heather really does regarding Betty is bring her up in a derogatory way when arguing with Veronica at the Remington party... and drag Veronica away with her when she gets bored of Betty's conversation in the caf). But as I said, I will not judge you over fictional characters, so don't worry.

Suggestions of all kinds are welcome, regardless. Something cute, something dark, something somewhere in the middle - doesn't matter. Throw em' at me if you'd like!

[mud-castle]

Hi mud not to be a downer but recently some un-nice things have happened to me and I was wondering if you had any tips on how to keep motivated when you lose motivation. The specific events have zapped away some of my drive for drawing (and acting) at the moment. And I was hoping if you had any tips on how to get over that. Sorry if this is a bit intrusive. Hope you have a great day!

Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that.

First and foremost, always take care of your needs first. Have you eaten? Drank water? Slept enough? Taken your meds? You come first. Sometimes when you've had a really bad time you don't need to draw, you just need to take time to process, maybe cry, maybe sleep, maybe eat, hang out with friends, etc.

If you're good on these fronts, then I've got some advice, I'm not sure how good it will be, but it's what I usually do.

So, if I had a bad day and/or I'm feeling just sad, I usually draw something simple that makes me happy. Could be flowers, hearts, patterns, eyes, etc. I really like expressions so I usually default to this (school kinda really sucks so my notes just have sketches all over them). It could help you pull up enough motivation to draw what you intended to, it could not, but it usually makes me feel a little better.

If I'm trying to get something specific done, something I do is I just tell myself to at least sketch the guidelines of the pic. It kind of tricks my brain because I hate leaving guidelines as is in case I come back later and forget what/who I'm drawing. So I tell myself to add just a few more details just to flesh it out so I know what to do when I come back later. But now it looks kinda messy, so I erase and remark some parts/ add another layer to clear everything up and oop I'm suddenly making the thing. Going step by step instead of thinking of the whole process at once helps.

If it's for an au or story of some sort, something that really helps me is writing it down. My brain is usually making things seem larger than they need to be, but when I write down what I want to draw it kind of just grounds me. And it also gets me excited to put the words into actual visuals, because my brain has an idea of what I wanted to draw, but the writing specifies what I'm doing.

Changing the media used can also help. Personally, sketching on paper that's not meant to be drawn on (e.g. notebook paper, graphing paper, etc.) is mentally easier than doing digital. I think it's cause when I'm drawing digitally I'm subconsciously expecting it to be fully polished by the time I'm done, but when I turn to like notebook paper, I know it's going to stay a sketch so I'm not too worried about it. And if I really like it, I snap a picture, send it to myself, and pull it up on my art software so I can polish it up.

If the thought of drawing actually just makes me freeze from stress I just don't. It's alright to just not draw sometimes, you're not obligated to. It's hard for me to recognize when I should just stop trying to make myself do it, considering I post online on multiple blogs so there's kind of a feeling of expectation you subconsciously put on yourself. Occasionally I step back and just sort of tell myself "I don't want to draw right now, and that's okay." And taking that stress off your shoulders does wonders.

Same with having a really bad time, and not feeling up to it. Again, always take care of yourself first and foremost. The pencil isn't going anywhere.

It takes time to know when you should push through the lack of motivation to draw, and when you're just doing more harm than good by trying to force yourself Lord knows I'm slow to recognize it in myself.

I really hope this helps, and I hope you feel better soon!

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

Goddamn it Kyra I wasn't even interested in the Lego Lokis before, but now that you've so rudely posted pics of the options I'm probably going to have to buy some. So, couple questions: I'm not familiar with the website you linked to (it doesn't help that I'm on my phone lol) - do you get them from that site or just Aliexpress? I've kind of poked around there but I don't think I've ever actually bought anything - do you have links to those ones you bought or any tips for finding them on the site? (or like. using the site in general without getting scammed or something? Idk much about it other than stuff being low priced lol).

😇😇😇

putting the rest behind a cut because oops this got long

OKAY SO the cool thing about knockoff Lego figures is that a) there are a ton of them, so you can probably find multiple versions of most characters, and b) they're super cheap, so if you do end up getting ripped off, you're probably only out a few bucks. plus if you don't get ripped off, you feel like a genius, because authentic Lego minifigs tend to cost way more than they should (and if you get them online, you probably don't have a good way to know that they're authentic) and here you are getting something just as good or better for way less.

the site I was getting pictures from is HeroBloks, which I only just discovered myself a couple days ago; it looks like mostly it's good for tracking your collection (and learning more about bootleg Lego minifigs in general, maybe--I didn't really realize until now how many different companies there are making Lego-like minifigs) rather than buying, with individual pages including sale links that are only mildly useful. like, the extremely sad TVA Loki has an AliExpress search link that apparently just searches for "blocks," which is the least helpful search term imaginable; the eBay link uses "xinh+xh1745+loki (tva)" as the search term and that's definitely better, although it doesn't actually turn up anything. maybe that one's too new to be widely available yet, I don't know. (I hope that's the case. I need him and his sad little face to come and live with me.)

anyway--eBay is a possible source. searching for "loki minifigure" gets me results for several of the new ones I’ve been seeing, and they all seem to be shipping from Japan or South Korea. the problem is they're all selling for $4.99 plus $7.49 shipping each, which is...more than I want to spend on something I know is a knockoff of some kind when I don't know anything about the quality control and I'm not guaranteed to get what's in the picture. (here's another listing asking $40 total for all 8 figures I bought yesterday, which is actually a better price, and I'd probably end up doing that if I hadn't found them elsewhere, but that's because I have a problem.)

this is why I like AliExpress, because the risks are slightly higher but the prices tend to be much lower, even with shipping prices having gone up a bit over the last couple years. as I understand it, the site is basically just a huge marketplace for tons of different sellers in Asia, like if eBay only allowed fixed-price listings and it was based in China. the vast majority of the site reads like it went through Google Translate, because it probably did. you can find...basically anything there. I have no idea if any of it's authentic. (I also don't know anything about how or where any of the knockoff stuff is made, so...there is that.) I would not, for instance, drop $300 on a Hot Toys Loki from here, even though I absolutely would have the option to do so, for the obvious reason that I'm not going to risk that much money on an item that might be a cheap knockoff or could arrive broken. there is, in general, a solid possibility of breakable things arriving broken, because decent packaging costs more. cheap shipping will be slow (by which I mean like...up to 90 days), and most purchases either won't have tracking at all or won't have accurate tracking, so this is absolutely not a place to buy anything you want to get quickly. you also don't want to just buy something and forget about it, because there are (variable but generous) time limits past which you can't get a refund if you don't receive your items. the site's UI is...mostly functional. you often have to get a little creative with your search terms to find what you want (and sometimes you won’t find what you want through searching, but through looking at related items on the pages of things that aren’t quite what you want or are what you want but aren’t a good price). you will, absolutely, come across a lot of stolen art on things like pins, t-shirts, stickers, and phone cases, which you might not realize until you see something you recognize from a fanartist you like, and obviously that sucks. listing photos are nearly always stock photos, so in many cases they won't tell you anything about the item you're actually getting. you know the Wish app, and all the crazy things people get from that? you can find all the same stuff on AliExpress, at similar levels of quality.

however, if you approach it keeping all that in mind, it can be a great resource. I can't make any guarantees about the site's safety, but to the best of my knowledge it's secure and I've never had any weird charges show up after buying something. it's also my understanding that Alibaba, the parent company, is more or less the Chinese equivalent of Amazon in terms of the amount of business it does, which would probably be pretty tough if customer data were routinely being exposed to thieves, you know? I've also successfully gotten several refunds for items that never arrived, which actually hasn't happened all that often--but knowing that it can happen and that the return period expires, I’ll check back on the site if it seems like it’s been an unusually long time and I’ll make a reminder for myself of the deadline so I can contact the seller in time if necessary.

so the way I shop there is, I don't buy expensive or fragile things in general, because I recognize there's a nonzero chance I'll get a cheap knockoff, or something that was broken in transit because the seller tossed it in a box with no padding and called it good, or sometimes nothing at all. but like eBay, the sellers and items have ratings and reviews from customers, so that helps avoid some risk. items with lots of reviews tend to include at least a few customer photos, which are great for getting a better idea of what the thing you're buying actually looks like. I took a bit of a risk last year buying a Hot Toys (or the equivalent, I actually have no idea) Steve Rogers head for about $20, for instance, but I wasn't super worried about it because the customer photos looked good, the seller I used had a lot of sales and a lot of good ratings, and it was still a lot less than I would've paid for an authentic Hot Toys Steve Rogers head--and in fact he got here just fine and he looked fantastic. I also spent about $20 for a knockoff Iron Studios Loki statue, because in that case it was like...yep I’d love the real thing, nope I’m not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on it, yep I am willing to spend $20 on something that doesn’t look quite as nice but still looks good enough for me in the customer photos. well, and I’ve also bought knockoffs I knew would look bad, because they were cheap and I want all the Lokis and I have enough of an addiction that all the Lokis does in fact sometimes mean “even ones that look really bad” to me.

anyway, uh, Lego-type minifigs. this is an especially good area to go knockoff, because--okay, apparently I can’t link to a page of HeroBloks search results for some reason, but it’s the best resource I’ve found for this type of thing that isn’t just authentic Lego figures. but if you go there and do a search for “loki” you’ll get a bunch of results and you’ll see that they come from like...9 or 10 different brands. Lego specifically has only four Loki options: Avengers Loki in black, Avengers Loki in gray for some reason (which, frankly, looks like a cheap knockoff but isn’t), movie-inaccurate Ragnarok Loki with the blue outfit and the full helmet, an ugly Classic Loki, and a mostly green Loki from I guess the first Thor movie (and then I think they’re going to release a TVA Loki, a Sylvie, and a Throg). all those other results--all those different outfits from every single Loki appearance, and different variations on those outfits, nearly all of them more screen-accurate and/or detailed than the Lego versions--are technically knockoffs. they’re better and you can buy them for way less. (I mean, a lot of them are new so I don’t have them yet, but I do have frost giant Loki, better Ragnarok Loki, better Avengers Loki, opera Loki who actually has another face that’s half-Jotun, and at least one chrome-helmet option, and they all look basically like the photos. so I think I can reasonably expect most of the new ones to look basically like their photos too.) 

for reasons that I don’t understand aside from a vague guess that it’s copyright-related, AliExpress pretty much no longer shows full pictures of Lego-type figures in their listings--instead, you have to pick just based on the heads. this is a problem when lots of heads look very similar to each other! luckily, the listings also typically have the actual serial numbers for each figure, as do the HeroBloks listings, so you can cross-reference them to see what you’re really getting. for instance let’s take this listing because it’s cheap and it offers most of the Loki figures that are currently available. say you’re interested in one of the horn-less Lokis. there are...let’s see, five of them, but you have no idea what they actually look like aside from slightly different facial expressions and maybe weapons. however, the first one listed says XH1359 for its color...and what do you know, 1359 is the serial number for this Loki by a company called Xinh. okay cool, how about the last one? the “color” is listed as WM2182--and yes, HeroBloks has a listing for a Ragnarok Loki from World Minifigures with the serial number 2182. (I just ordered all 8 of the new World Minifigures ones yesterday, so again, I can’t personally guarantee yet that they’ll look as good in person as in the pictures--but I think they probably will, and more importantly they cost a whole dollar each.) and if HeroBloks doesn’t have a particular figure, you can probably find something useful just by googling the serial number.

I specifically bought from this listing yesterday because they currently have a bit of a sale going and a deal for free shipping if you buy 10 figures, and I wanted a couple duplicates, so it worked out to be the cheapest option. the same store has another listing for a bunch more Marvel characters, including a couple more Lokis I already had, so it should be pretty easy to get the free shipping so the figures are less than a dollar each and you’re only risking about $10. if you’d rather try one or two and see how it goes, it looks like this listing is probably the cheapest, with figures currently going for a little over a dollar each once you add shipping (although it’s totally possible shipping is more for me because Alaska).

that’s...probably already way more information than you really wanted, but I hope at least some of it makes sense. feel free to ask other specific questions if they come up--I might not be able to give answers exactly, but I can probably tell you what my experience has been, which is better than nothing.

[much-obliged-timothy]

Dad Tim & Uncle Rhys Part 7

I had an absolutely soul-crushing, exhausting day at work and needed to write something soft. This didn’t come out the way I planned at all, but that about sums up my experience as a writer. I plan to make a master post for these shorts soon! And you can find part one here! 

Rhys had reluctantly accepted that he’d somehow gotten himself dragged into a weird relationship with the Lawrence family.

It was why he was currently making his way to Tim’s house. Tim had invited him over for dinner and drinks. The two did have a little business to discuss, but the whole evening was largely casual.

Rhys had considered refusing, but one look at Phoenix’s excited little face and he knew his fate was sealed. The kid had taken a noticeable liking to him, even as Lorelei tried to steal away his affection for herself. Rhys wished she’d win it already.

Still, he wasn’t as moody as he expected when he knocked on the front door. He’d been in the house only twice before, once when Tim was sick and once to drop off some paperwork for Tim to sign.

Tim answered the door, wiping his hands on a towel as he stepped aside to less Rhys in. “Hey, Rhys. It’s almost ready. Mind keeping an eye on my kid while I switch over the laundry? He keeps getting close to the stove.”

“I knew you invited me here just to babysit,” Rhys said, shaking his head.

“Just go make sure my kid doesn’t cook himself to a crisp for a few minutes,” Tim said, waving him away. “Wine’s on the counter if you want to help yourself.”

Rhys made his way to the kitchen. Phoenix sat on the floor, tattered bear tucked safely into his lap and toy gun in hand. He was firing it off at a paper target hung up on the wall on the other side of the kitchen.

“Boss guy,” he said, looking up at Rhys. Phoenix pointed at the shirt he was wearing, a little Atlas T-shirt Rhys had gifted him. “State a’ the art. I dressed myself.”

His mismatched socks and the plaid shirt he wore unbuttoned over the Atlas one, which also didn’t match, definitely proved that. “So I see. I like your shirt. Where are the glasses?”

Phoenix pointed to one cupboard. “There.” He pointed to another. “And those are the hard day glasses.”

Rhys opened the second cabinet and pulled out a wine glass. “I take it Tim calls it that?”

“Uh-huh. When dad gets a hard day glass, it means I get an extra scoop of ice cream to shut my mouth about it when mom calls,” Phoenix said.

Rhys set the glass down and uncorked the wine. He poured himself a generous helping, then sighed and poured a glass for Tim too to be polite.

He turned back and nearly had a heart attack. “Phoenix!” 

He lurched forward, snagging Phoenix’s shirt as he reached for the heated oven. He yanked the boy back, wrapping an arm around his chest.

“What the hell? That’s hot! That’s very hot! It’s-” He peered at the temperature, “425 degrees hot!”

Phoenix squirmed against him, effortlessly slipping out of Rhys’ hold. “It’s warm. I just wanna warm my hands.”

Tim poked his head in. “Phoenix Lawrence, are you trying to touch the oven again?”

Phoenix held up his hands. “They’re cold. I just wanna warm ‘em, dad.”

“You’re your mother’s son, you absolute headache,” Tim groaned, coming into the room. “Your hands wouldn’t be so cold if you hadn’t left the toy gun outside all damn day. It was freezing out today. That thing is never going to fully unthaw. Give it to me.”

Phoenix handed it over and Tim turned the sink on, letting the water get hot before running it over the toy. Phoenix tried to pull himself up onto the counter to watch, but failed.

Rhys sighed as Phoenix turned to him expectantly. Some part of him was admittedly touched, as Phoenix despised being touched by almost everyone but Tim. It was a sign of trust for him, something he didn’t give away easily after the trauma he’d endured growing up.

Rhys lifted the kid into his arms, letting Phoenix watch. When the gun was returned to him, he smiled wide and squirmed until Rhys set him down. He scooped up his bear and resumed his practice shots, Tim easily maneuvering around him. 

“Hey, uh, I’ve got to ask about the bear,” Rhys said, nodding to it.

“Oh. Right, a few weeks before he was born, I thought…” Tim shrugged helplessly. “I dunno, I just thought he should have some toy or something to comfort him. So I fought my way into one of the gift shops and got him that bear. Everything had Hyperion on it, nothing I could do about that. But he took right to it. Rarely goes anywhere without it, and doesn’t want a replacement. He had a blanket, too, but one of the scavengers destroyed it in a fight when they found my hideout.”

“He tore it,” Phoenix said, looking upset. “And he stabbed dad and dad bled all over it.”

Tim knelt next to Phoenix and ruffled his hair, smiling sadly. “Yea, sorry about that, pal. But we’ll find you another one, someday. If you weren’t so picky…”

“It was my blanket!” Phoenix said.

“I know, I know. Sorry I bleed when I’ve been stabbed in the leg,” Tim said. “I’ll try to keep my blood in my body and off your possessions from now on. Now, help set the table while I get the food. And if you get near that stove again, I’m going to...do...something...uh, something that’s...a stern dad thing to do?”

“That’ll show him,” Rhys said.

“Oh, shut up.” Tim stood up and began to get the food together as Phoenix tried to set the table.

“Tried” was the key word. He was too short to reach most of the tableware, and had to drag a chair around to each cupboard. Rhys finally took pity and helped him, passing down whatever he needed.

When they were done, they gathered at the table, passing plates around and piling them with food. Tim wasn’t the best cook in the world, but he’d taken to it well enough. 

“Hey,” Tim said, kicking Phoenix under the table and nodding to Rhys. “Tell boss guy what you did today.”

“I almost read a whole book by myself,” Phoenix said, eyes wide with pride. 

“He’ll be putting in his application as soon as he can read the questions,” Tim said, but he gave Phoenix a proud smile.

“Uh...where is he? School-wise, I mean,” Rhys said.

“Ahead in some areas, behind in others. We taught him how to read certain signs in the casino, and Ember taught him the alphabet. He’s really good at math, and verbally he’s pretty advanced for his age. It’s just reading and writing he struggles with,” Tim said. “We work at it every night. We do at least two hours of homeschooling a night.”

“You do?” Rhys was surprised to hear that; Tim had his assignments done so fast that he had to be working on them at home.

Tim nodded. “Yea. I bring him practice sheets to do while I work during the day, and we go over them at night and then do some lessons. I’m college educated, remember? I’m no teacher, but I went online to learn how to teach my kid myself. And Ember calls to do lessons with him.”

Rhys had to respect that. Tim could be so flippant sometimes that it was easy to forget how seriously he took raising his son. 

“Hey, um, Tim?” Rhys said. “You’re doing a great job raising him. You’re a good employee and a good dad.”

Tim seemed surprised. “I...thank you, Rhys. Thank you.”

“He’s the best dad!” Phoenix said. “‘Cept he takes forever in the shower.”

“Brat,” Tim said affectionately. 

They ate, Tim and Rhys talking their business. Phoenix was quiet as usual, not interrupting them and instead entertaining himself in a way that wouldn’t distract them.

When they’d finished the meal, Tim brought out ice cream, Phoenix’s face lighting up. Tim handed him a bowl, but he reluctantly shook his head, pointing at Rhys.

“Boss guy first,” he said.

“Me first?” Rhys said.

“Dad said guests are s’posed to get food first,” Phoenix said. He hesitated, then blurted, “But save some for me. Please.”

“I’m not going to eat the whole thing!” Rhys said indignantly. “You’d have to roll me out of here.”

Phoenix watched anxiously as Rhys scooped himself ice cream. He took a generous portion, Phoenix leaning forward a little as if he was going to complain. A look from Tim had him pouting but staying quiet.

Rhys let him sit in his misery for a moment longer before passing the bowl to him. “A thanks for setting the table.”

Phoenix smiled widely, taking the bowl. “Wow! You don’t suck, boss guy!”

“Uh, just say thanks,” Tim said with a sigh. “‘You don’t suck’ isn’t the compliment you think it is.”

“Oh,” Phoenix said. “But he doesn’t suck. Look at all the ice cream he gave me, dad.”

“Yea, we’ll just not tell your mom you ate that much in one night,” Tim said, passing another bowl to Rhys. “Schooling I’m on top of, diet I’m working on.” 

They ate their ice cream, Phoenix babbling on happily about the school lesson Tim had given him today. He was trying to tell Rhys about the story he’d read almost by himself.

When they’d finished eating, they all cleaned the kitchen together and shifted out to the living room. Phoenix sat in Tim’s lap on the couch, clutching a juice box in one hand and his bear in the other. 

“Be right back,” Tim said, nudging Phoenix off himself. “I just have to use the bathroom.”

He disappeared down the hallway. Phoenix sipped at his juice box before looking at Rhys.

“Boss guy, if I learn how to read good, can I help at work?” he said.

“Read well,” Rhys said. “Not ‘read good’. Right, not the point here. Why do you want to help at work?”

“So dad can sleep,” he said. “He gets up real early sometimes to get work done.” He fidgeted with his juice box. “‘Cause of me. ‘Cause he’s busy helping me. I wasn’t s’posed to listen, but I did and I heard mom tell dad he’s gonna work himself to death. I don’t want my dad to die. I wanna help him.” 

“That’s just a figure of speech. He won’t actually work himself to death,” Rhys assured.

But...Phoenix was right. Not only was Tim readjusting to life outside of the casino after fighting for survival daily for seven years, but he was also readjusting to having a busy, demanding job. And on top of that, he was a single father, raising his oops kid who was suffering much of the same trauma as him.

Rhys considered it. Tim rarely missed work, enough so that when he did, Rhys knew it was serious. He came early and stayed late. He left work and schooled Phoenix at home. He really had no free time for himself. His life had become work and parenting. He had no one to watch his son for a day so he could take a break.

Shit. Rhys thought back, realizing how quick he was to dismiss Tim’s obvious signs of exhaustion. The constant coffees, the bags under his eyes, the energy drinks, the way he needed to get up and pace a bit if he sat too long, his occasional quick temper. 

“Phoenix, you’re just a kid. It’s not your job to worry about your dad,” Rhys said. “He’ll be okay.”

“But-” Phoenix started.

“Let me worry about him,” Rhys said. “Do you trust me to make sure he’s okay?”

Phoenix hesitated, clearly torn. His dad was the most important person in his life. He wouldn’t trust Tim’s safety to just anyone.

But Rhys must’ve really won the kid over, because eventually, he nodded. “Yea, okay. But I’m gonna learn how to read so I can help! I promise!”

When Tim returned to the room, Rhys glanced at Phoenix. “Hey, Phoenix, there were some chips in one of the cupboards. Can you get them, please? You can have some. I’m making that call even if your dad says no.”

“Yea, fine, I already let him eat like shit. What’s one more snack?” Tim said, waving Phoenix away.

“Gotta let me, or I’ll tell mom you swore again,” Phoenix said, heading into the kitchen.

“Tim,” Rhys said, leaning forward. “Do you want a day off?”

“Huh? Nah, don’t need one. I’ll fall behind,” Tim said. “And Phoenix likes going to work with me.”

“No, I mean…” Rhys shook his head a little. “I mean from work and from watching Phoenix. Just a day. Or even an evening.”

“What, with my abundance of babysitters?” Tim said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll watch him.” Oh, god, he was regretting it already. But Tim deserved it, so Rhys plowed on ahead. “I’ll take him for a day so you can have some rest. He can come to my office for the day. You can sleep in, or go out or...whatever.” 

“You’d do that?” Tim looked amazed. “You’d really do that for me?”

“Yes,” Rhys said. “You’re kind of a pain in the ass, but you’re my employee and you work harder than anyone else I know. And I guess we’re...kind of...friends?”

Tim sat back. “I...thanks, Rhys.” He looked down at his wine. “Maybe...fuck, maybe if you wouldn’t mind just, you know, just taking him for an hour or two, just…” He sighed. “I’m a shit dad. Just so I can sleep in one morning. That’s all I need to recharge.”

“You just want to sleep in an extra hour or two?” Rhys said. “You don’t want to go out?”

“I’ve got nowhere to go,” Tim said. “My life changed the moment Ember told me she was pregnant. Phoenix is my responsibility, whether he was an accident or not. He’s gotten so much better since we came here, but he still has a long way to go. That’s my job to be by his side through it all, even if it’s exhausting. Honestly, Rhys, I’m not ready for time alone right now. I’m still working through my own shit from the casino. Having him with me keeps me grounded and reminds me why I have to work at getting better. But I could really, really use a little extra sleep one day.” 

Rhys laughed. “Sleep it is. You name the day, and I’ll come pick him up and take him into the office.”

Tim smiled, small but sincere. “Thanks, Rhys. You’re a good friend.”

Rhys was spared answering that as Phoenix came back in, pulling himself up next to Rhys and holding out the bag of chips. Rhys opened it and let Phoenix have a handful.

“Hey, why not read that book to me?” Rhys said.

“Really? You’ll let me?” Phoenix said.

“Well, obviously. You’ve got to get better at reading, right?” Rhys said, winking.

Phoenix beamed. “Dad! Where’s my book? Gotta read for boss guy.”

So they all sat together on the couch, Phoenix in between them. He read painfully slow and struggled often, but he managed through most of the book with little help from Tim and Rhys. They let him pick out another book to try, and Rhys found himself spending the night helping a little boy learn how to read, Phoenix determined even when he screwed up or got stuck. 

And two days later, Rhys picked him up from the house, Tim still fast asleep upstairs. He brought Phoenix to the office, telling the boy to close his eyes and hold his hands out.

When Phoenix opened his eyes, he found himself looking at a soft blanket with the Atlas logo, and “Phoenix Lawrence” stitched into the corner of it.

The smile on his face and the fierce hug he gave Rhys made it all worth it. He was suckered into this family, and as he hugged Phoenix back, he didn’t even mind it anymore.

[mystfanartgal]

Welcome to my Imagination World Blog [Read first before you visit and then ask a question]

You woke up in a little dark area it was hard to see anything but you felt ..something soft?.. like you were laying on something but you got up anyways to try to look around carefully in the dark and you felt something on your hand ...a string...? You pull the string to light the room you were in but you look around this random room but then you realize you see a comfy couch probably you were laying on it?, a bookshelf full of books and games on the shelf, a small long table with drinks, snacks, and a desk along with a computer with a sticky note that says "If you reading this note Welcome you enter to my blog I know you just woke up to my comfy guess room area but worry not there is a door right behind you but unfortunately, it super locked because while you enter a room it will automatically close and if you came here by mistake without thinking just simply say to the door in a calm voice 'Please open the door I didn't mean to come here'. If the door doesn't open I'm sorry to say this you came here for a reason to probably to check out of my blog in curiosity or whats caught your eye to hope you enjoy your stay". But before you took the sticky note out on the computer screen but you hear a sound in the computer camera light-up red it's like it starts to record something but then you see a figure on the computer screen.

???: test test *the camera turn on then you see a person trying to fix the camera in a closer view* hello? do you hear my voice?

you see a girl with long brown hair in a ponytail, wearing sunglasses, and a black sweater

???: ah good it's working but this camera view is a little close?

???: hmm let see *she checks her phone again to fix the right angle camera control*

???: hehe okay oops too far from this view angle

???: hehe *smile*

???: oh well this is good enough of the camera view

[HeavenlyImagination: Well let me introduce myself my name is HeavenlyImagination but call me HeavenlyGal for short if you like or you prefer a different nickname to call me (don't you try to give me a weird nickname) go right ahead.

[HeavenlyImagination]: Okay so this blog is a second account to the post of whatever in here of fandoms I'm into if it is from anime I watch & games I play or other stuff as well

[HeavenlyImagination]: *ahem* anyways as for my main account is for my art blog also yes I'm an artist but at moment I haven't posted anything there lately because of art block & I'll post my art in the summer if you like to check it out of my main account be my guess [LINK HERE].

[HeavenlyImagination]: oh before I forget if your curious here a list of what games I play

she shows you a picture screenshot of a list of apps games on her phone

[HeavenlyImagination]:  so here my app games list I play on my phone I'm really into and also yes I do play other games I sometimes play it on my PlayStation 4 & my switch so yeah anyways let get this started.

[HeavenlyImagination]: So my first list is Touken Ranbu Pocket the Japanese version of this app called QooApp when I discover this Qooapp I think in my high school? Well, I didn't haven't the chance to play the whole thing yet either I only pick the starter sword is Kashuu Kiyomitsu he is my favorite sword sure the rest of the starter swords and other swords bois are the best and the most favorites and I think will try to play it the Japanese version if I get a chance to understand this game whatever I'm doing but I did check touken ranbu fandom wiki has a guide of people how to play the game on my phone. Oh also, I heard there is an English version YES I played it on my computer or my phone I'm level 20, plus leveling up my swords bois I have to be strong when they are in battle. also, I did saw the anime seasons one & two but I do remember they're going to be touken ranbu season 3? ugh man I love touken ranbu so damn much I'm a big fan.

[HeavenlyImagination]: Oh, also I do have a full teir maker lists of my favorite touken ranbu swords and other characters as well if you were wondering who is my favorite characters the most so here you go.

[HeavenlyImagination]: My Second list is Twisted Wonderland Okay, soo when I discover twst from Twitter and Tumblr on an ad or a tweet/post with beautiful fan art or a screenshot it was super random to see from that game even though I haven't a clue what going on in my timeline on the internet and why twst was so popular. And from what I understand Is part of Disney in japan & Aniplex its a villain's world with beautiful hot boys in a boy's school but you might see a very familiar seven Disney villains while playing in the game stories. Yes it got me hook when I download it from last year on June 1st, yes I know it's Japanese version as well but I love playing it so damn much sure can't understand the language but worry not I found someone who translates of twisted wonderland game while playing it to understand of what's going in the game story and leveling up your twst boys in the lessons and battles anyways here the link who they are the translators are [AmiYoshiko]/[OtomeAyui]/[Shel_BB] they are super amazing people check them out and here is my favorite twst boy's list.

[HeavenlyImagination]: My Second list is Obey me! BOI when I download this game on June 1st, 2020 (the same day I download twst) it was very close to Lucifer's Birthday but Oh man this game of obey me! with demons world hmmm I understand people love this game hehe.*Ahem* this too was super random in my timeline as well at Twitter/Tumblr on ad + fanart kinda caught my eye with a confusing face I was making soo this app game is a romance simulation and RPG card mobile game is a series of tasks and to choose how you wish to enjoy your life at Devildom even I thought the part of the task has an ALOT of stories I thought there were 30 stories but then I saw Obey me Twitter keep updating more stories to 50s main stories long or more but right now I'm in chapter 30 I'm sorta behind of the game story chapters but my god leveling up your favorite boys in the dancing battle to the normal and hard mode are super challenging. sooo here is my favorite characters list of obey me demons + angels boys.

[HeavenlyImagination]: My Third list is the Fate/GO app game but I did watch first is Fate/Grand Order & the servent in the anime are very interesting I know there a lot more fate series anime I wish to watch but I only did watch it Fate Grand Order & Fate/Apocrypha that all to understand it to watch but as for the rest of fate series is kinda meh, to be honest. I don't remember when I download the fate/go app game and yeah I play it in the past but I stop in chapter 3 I think but pretty much didn't play much anymore I only did to the login of what new their + new servant even though I didn't get any new servent in the gotcha thing whatever it called to get the new servants.

[HeavenlyImagination]: My Fourth list is the Genshin Impact is a very super POPULAR game of people who LOVE playing this game and the stories oh so good I'm trying my very best to understand the stories while playing the game by leveling up to fight the enemy by leveling up even though I'm so new at it. So when I started download genshin impact last year on Nov 29 when I discover its free download on PlayStation 4 & play store so you could say I play it for a little because I need time to play it slowly reason why well I haven't played it on my PlayStation 4 for the longest while soo yeah I need to update it. And as for the same for playing on mobile, I play it & stop playing it for a little bit. (the other reason why stop playing it I have online classes with homework assignments I have to do soo I'm a little behind on games update) but I love the Genshin characters and their amazing fighting power to fight the enemy and my god some bosses are tough to beat I understand you need ALOT of food while going to a fight with the enemy with lower hp is a no-no.

[HeavenlyImagination]: My Fifth list is Granblue Fantasy soo I saw the anime season 1 but I haven't watched season 2 yet and as for the granblue fantasy mobile game is a little confusing for a bit at the beginning even though I play it while doing how to play tutorial of the story thing. And for the granblue characters with some of them, I'm familiar with, and as for the other granblue characters not so familiar because I'm behind of what news games + animes I haven't seen or saw yet. But I do remember there other granblue fantasy game I might get in the future Granblue Fantasy: Versus on PlayStation 4, I heard it's a popular game I think but I might be wrong though.

[HeavenlyImagination]: All right that all see you the next post I hope enjoy your stay see you all later

*turn of the record camera off*

[x-lulu]

gurl 1-99 I dare you😄

haha no if that's too much just 1, 2, 24, 32, 77, 85, 95

well I finally answered them all babe, took me a week haha 💗

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most? world away by tonight alive, you give love a bad name by bon jovi, amnesia by five seconds of summer, had enough by lower than atlantis, take it out on me by thousand foot krutch, if I could fly by one direction, I just named the first that popped in my head

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? YOU

3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17? a wind came in off the harbour, bringing the smell of the sea

4: What do you think about most? I’m an overthinker with anxiety so yeah I think about everything a lot, so I wouldn’t know what I think about most

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say? just an okay haha

6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on? with, an oversized shirt and underwear

7: What’s your strangest talent? latin maybe?

8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence) I don’t know rock? I’m not really the kind of person that puts a gender in things

9: Ever had a poem or song written about you? uhm I don’t think so, now I feel unimportant haha

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar? I’m more an using a hairbrush as a microphone kind of girl

11: Do you have any strange phobias? probably, I’m scared of a lot of things

12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? don’t think so

13: What’s your religion? officially I’m Christian, I’m a bit searching for what I believe in tho, I do believe in jezus but not like walking on water and coming back from the death, I might believe in the Greek gods and nature gods

14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? enjoying the fresh air, going for a walk/ride and look at cute animals

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? behind

16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? even if you kill me I don’t know what band to say

17: What was the last lie you told? I lied about not being sad

18: Do you believe in karma? I don’t know, sometimes, but like there are people who’ve done terrible things, where is their karma?

19: What does your URL mean? it’s just my nickname, I didn’t want to make it fandom related because I’m a multi fandom and I didn’t want to have to change my url a lot, I also didn’t want to put my real name because I don’t want people to find me who I know in real life haha

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength? my insecurity is my greatest weakness I think, I don’t know my greatest strength... maybe being a person who people feel loved and welcome by? Idk if people feel that way and idk if it’s a strength. If I’m gonna be poetic I have to say my greatest weakness and strength are both that I love someone with my whole heart, when I start loving you, I love you so much, I would do anything for you, but when someone fucks up, I’ll still love them even tho they don’t deserve it, so that comes with a lot of pain so yeah a weakness and a strength

21: Who is your celebrity crush? rudy pankow and dylan obrien

22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping? yes

23: How do you vent your anger? I keep everything to myself till I explode and start screaming

24: Do you have a collection of anything? music records, stones and just memories from places I’ve been to

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? neither? If I’m comfortable I do enjoy video chatting especially in times like these where you can’t speak in real life

26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become? this is hard one, I’ve never been happy with who I am, I do like me better than who I used to be

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love? sound I love is when you’re walking trough the woods just the birds, can’t think of one I hate, I definitely have some they just don’t come to mind rn

28: What’s your biggest “what if”? what if I keep going through and it doesn’t get better

29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens? yes and yes/maybe

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm. my laptop and my pillow

31: Smell the air. What do you smell? flowers

32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to? xanten

33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast? uhm west coast? Idk haha

34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender? harry styles is the first one that pops in my head

35: To you, what is the meaning of life? to find love, can be someone something, experience things that make you happy, enjoy it, learn, better the world

36: Define Art. creating something, it can have a meaning but it also can’t, a lot of people give it a deep meaning, which can be it, I just think art doesn’t always have to be deep are spectacular it can be someone making something because they have so much going in their head and they find peace in creating art and get inspired by their own experience, people also can it just do for fun, there are so many different kind of art and artists, I don’t think it can’t be defined

37: Do you believe in luck? I don’t know

38: What’s the weather like right now? rainy

39: What time is it? 9:54 pm

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? no licence

41: What was the last book you read? a fanfic on Wattpad fight or flight by ffsumth

42: Do you like the smell of gasoline? yes 🙈

43: Do you have any nicknames? lu and lulu obviously, loesje , samantha, pinguïn, polar bear, you called me lulu bear hehe

44: What was the last film you saw? I don’t remember...

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? uhm ive broken a few things, my toes and my arm, but nothing really bad actually

46: Have you ever caught a butterfly? no, I don’t want to, I have seen some really close, they’re beautiful

47: Do you have any obsessions right now? again you haha, but like all the stuff I post on here are my obsessions

48: What’s your sexual orientation? I don’t know, I think straight, but I don’t know for sure

49: Ever had a rumour spread about you? yeah

50: Do you believe in magic? I’m not certain, maybe I do :) I do live by the saying ‘just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist’

51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? sadly yes, like I won’t be mean to you or anything, but I will never ever trust you again, if I’m hurt I’m hurt and sadly I haven’t found a way yet to leave it behind, so I’m feeling a lot of pain and I’m never gonna forget that pain, so yeah...

52: What is your astrological sign? capricorn

53: Do you save money or spend it? uhm both? depends on how I feel and what time of the year it is, I have the bad habit to save it for a few months and then spend a lot of it

54: What’s the last thing you purchased? a apple pen so I can start trying digital art

55: Love or lust? love

56: In a relationship? with you hehe

57: How many relationships have you had? none official relationships, I’m just not lovable okay leave me alone haha

58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue? no oops

59: Where were you yesterday? home, school, therapy

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? a pillow

61: Are you wearing socks right now? no

62: What’s your favourite animal? polar bears

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you? no idea haha, I don’t have one

64: Where is your best friend? at home, like 20min away

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr. this is hard so I’m just gonna name the first five that come in my head @nxsmss @rafej-cambanks @thegreatestofheck @chrlsgillespie @nedleed

66: What is your heritage? I don’t know 🤷‍♀️

67: What were you doing last night at 12AM? sleeping, I had to get up early today

68: What do you think is Satan’s last name? never thought about it

69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off? no

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend? Is it bad to say yes? I mean I hate myself but I do think I’m a good friend

71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do? save the dog obviously!!!!

72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid? I think I would tell people, I’m not sure, but like so have people got the time to say goodbye the way they want to, I would travel the world I think, do everything on my bucket list, maybe some illegal stuff 🙈 (where no one gets hurt tho obviously), I don’t think I would be afraid... I mean I’m suicidal, I’ve literally been connected to death my whole life, if you understand what I mean

73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love. uhm trust I think? If I would have love but don’t have trust I wouldn’t really feel loved anyway, I do really want to experience how it feels like to be loved tho...

74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? the first song that came to mind is love my life by Robbie Williams, I rarely listen to it, but the lyrics really gives a boost of happiness and confidence

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number? 51 54

76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship? loyalty and trust, you don’t have to agree on everything or be interested in the same things, you do have to be there for each other

77: How can I win your heart? YOU ALREADY HAVE

78: Can insanity bring on more creativity? yes I think so

79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far? to get dogs

80: What size shoes do you wear? uhm 38 eu, 4,5 uk and 7 us

81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone? a loving ... I hope to be a loving daughter, friend, wife and mother, someone who was always there for others

82: What is your favourite word? fuck haha, no idk but that is definitely a word I use a lot

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. pain....

84: What is a saying you say a lot? enjoy the little things

85: What’s the last song you listened to? ignorance by paramore

86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours? uhm I do love black, I also like pastels and like a turquoise kind of colour

87: What is your current desktop picture? me and my friend

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be? no one, there are a lot of people who did wrong, the need to be in jail, but I’m not saying someone deserves to die

89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on? what goes on in my head, how I’m feeling

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do? scream probably haha

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power? teleportation, I would travel the world haha

92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again? when I was in Ireland by the cliffs of moher

93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? uhm this is a hard one, maybe seeing my father almost dying? (he is okay btw, we were lucky), I’ve had nightmares and anxiety ever since

94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be? I find this so weird to say for some reason... if I have to give a name it would be harry styles I think, because damn look at that man, but I don’t know, I would rather be friends with him than sleep with him tbh, I know you can do both haha, but idk I’m not like yes I want to sleep with him haha, I think I’ve read too many fanfics about him that I would find it awkward

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? ice land or canada

96: Do you have any relatives in jail? don’t think so, not close ones anyway

97: Have you ever thrown up in the car? no, I got out in time haha

98: Ever been on a plane? yes, when I went on a trip to georgia in west asia

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say? you’re all ignorant assholes haha, no idk what I would say, there are a lot of good people on this world I know, but man there is some fucked up shit, so maybe I would educate some people or it would have something to do with mental health, maybe about loving yourself or that it’s not a sign of weakness and that we should be treated as equals to physical pain, we should be taken seriously... I don’t really know, there are so many things haha

[l-loneybun]

♡ 2019 Art Summary + updates/plans for 2020

(25/01) sorry for the late update,, I meant to post this on the 1st,, but,, stuff happened;; u_u

TLDR: I’m going on hiatus. I’ll also be privating a lot of my posts here if they’re text posts, or art I just don’t like. I really want this blog to look like a proper portfolio for when I come back;; Probably won’t be back until May or even later,, might go fuq off to a new account just to see how well I can do on my own for a bit,, Ty for support + have a nice year~ _______________________________________________________________

*big sigh I have to rewrite a lot of this bc my computer died and I was to stupid to draft this before*

So basically, this year’s art summary is surprisingly better than last year’s. I didn’t really notice since I’ve actually been feelin p shit about my progress until I put this together. Definitely more variation in style compared to 2018 (can’t believe I said that “I got to experiment a lot” that year haha guess I was really grasping). The second half of this is pretty much just me going over my 2019 (not just art), so feel free to stop reading here!! Thanks for all the new support, I hope you all have a good 2020. _______________________________________________________________ This is just me really wanting to vent/express my thoughts somewhere, and I just find tumblr the most comfortable place to do that since it’s sort of more hidden and people don’t really read personal posts!! So here we gooooo

I can’t really remember most of January - April, just that I was really stressed about not finishing a portfolio for one of my classes hgjfkdls,, I also quit my job near the end of April since management changed for the worse;; Little did I know how it’s harder to get a job while unemployed,, (seriously what’s up with that?? I get that many people need to work 2+ jobs,, but I would like to live too;; qxq) So I gave up on looking for work, since I didn’t think anyone would want to hire me if I would be gone for over a month right in the middle of summer.

May - June consisted of trying to generate enough art pieces to meet my 1 piece per 5 days art schedule. I also started to fall out of the FE fandom while really getting in to Sonic again. I’m pretty sure I wanted to draw a lot of Pokemon and Zelda fanart as well,, but I was (and still am) at the point where I hate my human art, and being able to draw Sonic art — which I'm more comfortable with — was just much more appealing;; uxu I feel more familiar with these characters, and so many creative ideas just come to be (other than memes, like my FE stuff).

From August onward, though,, I just feel like things turned for the worse. I had (what I would assume was) my first panic attack during my exchange program. It’s feels so fucking pathetic that this would happen at 20 years old;; I thought I was so much better off compared to middle/high school when it came to keeping my anxiety in check, bu t guess not,, ahhahhahhahah,,,, and it wouldn’t be the only one this year;; :’)

I still wouldn’t have found a job after my return, but would still have enough money to pay off my first semester with some left over. Unfortunately, due to vet bills, I wouldn’t have enough to pay for a full course load for my second semester. This was also due to some poor planning on my part regarding commissions/adopts,, so oop;; I’m only taking one course this sem, so I’m looking for full-time work, but damn ! ! no job ! ! esp sucks since my mom is the only one paying for things atm;; soooo great

ugh;; I don’t want to talk about this anymore,, so I’ll just go onto plans/bucket list for 2020/2021, since I keep forgetting:: _______________________________________________________________

If you didn’t read the TLDR, basically I’m taking a break from all my art accounts and such. Even though I can see a lot of improval from 2018-2019, I’m still disappointed in my lack of anatomy/technical skills in my art, especially since I believe I told myself I would improve last year;; So I’m going to try avoid going online as much as possible since it’s really just too distracting,, I really want to dedicate all the time I have now to improving/adopting new skills, so my bucket list/new year’s resolutions for 2020 will be:

Improving human anatomy/developing a good artstyle for human art

Developing assets for RPG Maker XP games (???) (I actually forgot about the pkmn one I started in 2018 until I looked through my archive. I don’t think I’m actually going to make any playable games, just some nice things to look at.)

Learning how to use Blender + making many plant assets

Creating designs/inventory to sell at an anime convention for 2021

Saving up for a Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless Camera to document Artist Alley experience

Becoming ~ambidextrous~

That’s all I can remember for now, but I’m sure I’m forgetting some,,, um,, thanks if you read this for far?? I don’t really have much more to say;; ,,,,,, bye :x

[votometrash]

Love Choice Review

Okay so I had no idea Masquerade Kiss would be Love Choice, but this title has managed to tempt me into reading it anyway. I can’t say I’m happy about it but there are a lot of things I have to say, since the whole Love Choice (LC) system has been controversial, or just incredibly detested/undesired, ever since its conception. And it does suck since I’ve been wanting Voltage to release more mature titles (and the whole female spy thing was just a plus, I guess). Voltage did a really good job of hyping up this release and I love/hate them for it lmao. But yeah here are my two cents on the LC feature. Sorry for the longass rant in advance. If you only care about my opinion regarding Masquerade Kiss and Kazuomi Shido’s route then you can check out my review later on my blog (if and when I get to it). But I still mention the title here and there in this review since it is the first LC main story that was released.

For most people who have been with Voltage for a long time, LC is probably one of the worst things on the planet, right after the Love 365 app debacle which caused many to lose their stories if they weren’t aware of the transfer dates or not able to transfer their data (technically they’re losing the right/license to access those stories, cause they don’t own them) and all the other customer service horror stories you can think of. Generally, for people who think that converting coins into hearts and not being able to read the story however they want are terrible ideas, they will outright avoid LC titles/stories. Since LC is F2P, it isn’t much different from the other otome/visual novels that have premium options where people have the option to spend money.

But let’s just think about it for a moment.

The appeal of LC is that you can read the stories completely free of charge. Yes, there is a countdown timer which prevents you from reading the next episode immediately and you would have to spend hearts to bypass that. But let’s keep in mind that Voltage Entertainment USA (aka the subsidiary which creates apps catered towards Western audiences) is also doing something similar with the ticket system. Plus they don’t even give you the option to buy routes anymore, which is why we should be thankful that Voltage Inc hasn’t done that with their Japanese apps yet. I just want to make the best of what we are given (and hopefully try to get a little enjoyment out of it), even if LC is terribly implemented.

So just hear me out for a second. A very long second.

If you’re not one of those people who need every single CG and ending AND don’t mind the wait, this post is mainly for you.

PLEASE JUST READ THE DAMN STORY. LIKE READ MASQUERADE KISS RIGHT NOW WHILE THERE IS NO WAIT TIME (until 2/17). It costs you nothing and you will still get a pretty complete experience.  Don’t be stupid and believe that you’re missing out if you don’t get the CG’s. Go look the CG’s up online or something if you have to because I’m sure someone has posted them regardless of whether it’s allowed or not. It has a decent plot that doesn’t make me want to ram my head into a wall from secondhand embarrassment. Sure there are aspects of it that weren’t written well (will be explained in my review later) but it’s still a good story and I don’t regret reading it. It would be a shame to miss out just because you’re too busy hating on the system. If you don’t want to spend your free hearts (or don’t have enough) on CG’s that cost you 20-30 hearts and options that require hearts, just use it towards reading the next couple episodes (for when they go back to subjecting you to wait times). At least you still won’t be using as many hearts. Yeah the CG’s and love choices are hella expensive and they shouldn’t be. It might even feel like you’re being punished for not choosing those choices because in the end you won’t be getting the happy ending. But they’re not NECESSARY. However, if you still want the CG’s/happy endings, just reread it again later when you get enough hearts. I don’t know, that’s not a priority for me so I can wait on unlocking those CG’s. 

From Episode 1 up to the second to last episode, you’re getting the same. exact. content. Let me repeat that. YOU GET THE SAME EXACT CONTENT. The only thing is that you won’t get all of the CG’s or the super happy ending, which are what people are really paying for. Is it really worth it??? Voltage apps don’t have bad endings. They’re either the romantic/passionate alternate endings or it’s happy(or normal)/super happy endings. No endings where it’s game over, you’re dead or oops you screwed up this entire thing. You’re essentially getting the same ending, just a slightly different view of the events. Just more vanilla, if you don’t get the “better” ending. Slightly fewer lines of text, less description. Big whoop. That and well, you don’t get the CG. Too bad. No personal bragging rights for me to put on my metaphorical trophy pedestal. For me, reading the visual novel is the main goal. The art and CG’s are just a plus, a very much appreciate plus. I would care more about the plot because if you are reading a terribly written story, what’s the point in having good art anyways? You look at it for a bit and just move on to something else that isn’t a waste of time.  

And like....come on. If you hate the LC feature, that’s all the more the reason why you should try it. It won’t even hurt you to read the story if you’re adamant on not spending money/converting coins. Even if it’s terribly written, you didn’t pay for it like you would have with a P2P story. No monetary loss there, just lost time and feelings of disappointment. And if you hate waiting or think LC is a waste of time, just think of reading an episode whenever you have time. You don’t have to commit to it. You could speed read an episode in a minute or two and then go on doing whatever else you want to do with your day. It shouldn’t take up that much of your time. And if you forget to, it’s fine. Not something you’ll be too invested in.

They’re not charging you for anything, so suck it up. I’m sure you have other things you can do in the meantime while you wait for the next episode. Your life doesn’t revolve around otome games (unless you’re adopting an unhealthy lifestyle in which case you have more things to be concerned about). Don’t be a whiny bitch about it. And that’s why the hearts system exists... for the impatient people. They WANT you to spend money on their products, since that’s the whole point of running a business. Yes you’re paying for a one-time access when you’re using hearts to read episodes. Yes you have to start over if you want to reread a specific episode. Ultimately it’s up to YOU to choose whether you want to spend money or not for LC stories, but you don’t HAVE to.

Again, I’m emphasizing the word ‘time’ because if you really don’t have time, then seriously just do whatever you’re supposed to be doing jesus christ. Don’t feel like I’m calling you out for not wanting to read LC stories because you don’t have time to wait around for it. I’m not telling you to prioritize LC over Voltage’s other stuff. Just give it a chance if you can afford to do so, because money isn’t the issue here if you can read the story for free. I know people look towards Voltage apps as a way to relax and so that I understand that reading a LC novel would not be a choice if you have limited time. Because why go for LC if you have perfectly good apps that you’ve already paid for and can read whenever you want? I understand. I really do.

In regards to people complaining about Masquerade Kiss being a LC novel, I have a couple things I want to say. Voltage has the right to choose whichever title they want to be LC. Besides, what criteria do you expect them to use in choosing which titles should be LC? It’s not as if they’ll be like “oh let’s choose an okay title to be Love Choice”, just to make customers glad that they don’t have to waste money. That’s not practical. And ideally they wouldn’t want to be writing shitty stories anyway. They need to make money off them or else it’s a waste of all the money and time they invested into producing the title. For the most part, all the newer titles have been decent, if not good. There will be people who love them and people who hate them. So how would you decide the best choice to be LC among all the good titles? And it wouldn’t make sense to make a title both LC and P2P because that would be when people will REALLY start to hate LC, especially when you have to fork out a ridiculous amount of hearts for the CG’s.  Then there will be even more customer complaints yay. Also, if they made it P2P how many coins would they even charge for the whole route, considering how many hearts they have to spend for the CG’s? The CG’s are “free” only if you have enough hearts for those in-game choices that you want to choose, but if you’re paying for them that would mean it’s like $2-$3 per CG. 

Since they announced this feature, it’s here to stay unless they decide to get rid of it (which I doubt). YOU DON’T GET A SAY IN IT. Their company, their products, their choices. They will make whatever choices in which they benefit the most from. Sometimes those choices will align with what customers want. Sometimes they won’t. You don’t like it then you leave. That’s what most people would do anyway. Even if you do leave, there will always be more people getting sucked into the Voltage trap anyways. If you don’t, then you will continue to rot in the sin bin that is Voltage and there goes your money. Sadly, that’s how the world works. 

So yeah if you’re still reading, thanks for reading my very long winded, unpopular (probably) opinion. You’re a trooper. I have respect for you. I’m just here to get this off my chest. Please don’t hate me. 

[j1mmyr]

Oop I seem to have gained some new people! Sorry I’ve not been too active lately XD

UH…a small “get to know me” though I guess!

- My IRL name is Jonny so you may see close people using it but my online name/art name/alter ego is Jimmy sometimes stylized as J!MMY and it comes from a long story inside joke! Sometimes I tack on my last initial (R) depending on the situation

- I’m a guy, my pronouns are he/him/his!

- I’m trans and have been out since 2013! I’m 5-6 years on T (I honestly forget the exact year off the top of my head) and am almost two years post-op! I don’t label myself as a “trans guy” exactly though and usually just say “guy” because frankly trans or cis doesn’t matter because I AM A GUY lol

- I’m an artist first and foremost and draw…well, kink and nsfw mostly XD I have an original comic about two fat BDSM gimps in a cyberpunk world that fall in love…sort of :U It’s complicated. They’re names are Scream and Candy and they’re my main OCs. You can see more of them and my art at my art blog @electropuz or send them asks at @spandexspaceman though that blog isn’t exactly ready yet!

- Other hobbies include writing, RPing, and cosplaying! And sometimes making said cosplay though my skills aren’t great so I usually end up buying cheap cosplay and fixing it up lmao. I also like gaming sometimes and wanna stream myself playing them or do “let’s plays” as a side thing for fun!

- Possible trigger warnings! I am mostly “spiritual” but openly identify as an atheistic Satanist! I also am a heavy drinker and a stoner so it’s hard for me to always tag things like drugs and alcohol! I’m also pro-kink BUT within limits!! I DO NOT support pedophila, incest, and other such things! Just keep all this in mind before following and minors DO NOT INTERACT at all! Btw if you’re a minor and I interact with you first out of accident first just tell me and I will quit right away!

- Otherwise I have three (technically five…long story) awesome cats that I love very much and put before all else! They’re names are Cirice (black, female, we pronounce it Cirrus due to a Ghost video we watched early in the fandom years ago), Dewdrop (cream/light orange, male, named after the unofficial name for Ghost’s lead guitarist), and Mochi (sphynx/hairless, male, named because he looks like he has rice ball skin lmao). The other two cats mentioned are cats I had when I lived with my grandpa and had to leave behind when I moved out! I still visit them frequently and make sure they’re well cared for though! They’re names are Wade (fluffy gray and white, male, named after Deadpool because he’s my hero) and Bruce (white, male, named after Batman to match Wade being Deadpool). All are spayed/neutered and three are shelter rescues!

- My personal triggers are cat deaths, harm, etc. so please tag them if we become mutuals! It’s not that other forms of animal death/abuse aren’t important (they bother me too), they’re just not a full blown trigger. Cats specifically send me into episodes of severe anxiety and depression

- My “just talking” tag is “the rest is all bullshit” so feel free to blacklist that if you’re just here for cats or memes or something!

ANYTHING ELSE?? I guess just ask me! I love to talk and my favorite things are currently the band Ghost, Walt Disney World, Ghostface (both Scream and DBD), and talking about my OCs! Also aside from Ghost my big fandoms are OFF, TF2, Rick and Morty, and MHA! There’s also a handful of nostalgic fandoms (like Homestuck) and various characters I adore, it’s just hard to list them all right now XD

OKAY I THINK THAT’S FINALLY IT!! Welcome to my blog!

[tehflah]

SOOOOOOO I did goto Bronycon 2017. I would’ve made a “Going to Bronycon” post, but the story behind this was that I was kicking myself all week for not making plans to go. And on Thursday, I simply decided “screw it I’m going” and drove up Friday morning! Next year I will plan better haha.

But holy moly am I glad I went! I met up with a lot of great artists and folks I’ve interacted online with over the years. The pictures above are from:

@minimummums - Was nice to meet you in person! You got some smooth lines on the angerbap! Thanks man!

@pich-un - It was fun rooting you on at the 100ft page at the draws meet; it looked great when you were done and so does the sketch you gave me! You’re gonna convince me to keep those bangs on Joy’s hair yet.

@phoenixswift - It was nice to meet you again! Thanks for the cutie patoot Joy!

@whatsapokemon - Wicky’s methods of happiness scares the locals, but adorable just the same! She looks so lively! Thanks whatsa!

@ciy-e - We were dodging each other all weekend, but thankfully met up on the last day! It was nice to meet you! And thank you for the double draws; your style is adorable!

@input-command - It was super nice to meet you! I absolutely adore your daily draw journal @dogstomp . You popped out these smooth inks on this so quick. Seriously, I was still drawing in your book and I think you beat me! Thanks for the arts!

@tallaferroxiv - Also graced my book with the double draws! I need to post more of the filly guide thing here oops. Gosh I still don’t know what to say about the Filly Guide; she’s too gosh darn cute. Totally surprised me when you handed my book back! Wicked being Wicked is so smooooooooth. Also BEEP BEEP! Thanks Talla!

And to all the amazing people who made Bronycon a wonderful experience, whom I was able to bump into (who aren’t already above!):

@malwinters - You helped me meet up with the group on Friday! I was a little lost and confused as to where you were and I saw a group but was walking around awkwardly and too shy to say anything until, TJ I think, shouted my name and I was like IT MEEEEE :V You were awesome to hang out with man!

@askpiratedash - Thanks for coordinating the group a bit when we were out of control. :p Also need to get you back as well on artsssss Sorry we didn’t book trade. I’ll make sure to hit you up first next year!

@princessmuse, @midnightrt, @askscribbly, http://darnelg.tumblr.com/ (@ isn’t working!) - Was nice chatting on Saturday at the Cheesecake Factory!

@goattrain and Vi - YOOOOO It was nice to finally meet you two! <3 (I met the goats! YEEEEE!)

@raeligath, @joeyh3, @dshou, @kawaiipony2 - Didn’t get a whole lot of time to chat with you guys, but I’m still glad we were able to chat some! Thanks for the kind words too kawaii!

@ask-wiggles - I was the idiot on Friday night doing my best wacky-waving-inflatable-tube-man across the way while chanting your naaaaame. I was tired, please forgive. XD

@twistedsketchproductions / @ask-twistedribbon - It was really nice meeting you at your booth! I recognized your style immediately! Super nice artsssss!

Valcron/Dreatos - Had a nice chat with you at your booth!

@rarijackdaily / WhiteDiamonds - Since I had such little time to prepare I had no idea you were there. But then I saw the booth and I had to meet you! I’ve been a super huge fan of your work forever! It was absolutely fabulous to meet you in person!

@dragonbeak - I’d never seen your art before the con, but now I gotta get more familiar with it! Thanks for the chat and the arts!

@bobdude0 - Was super nice to meet the Sweetie Belle super fan! It was really nice to meet you, been a fan of your work for quite a while!

@dawnf1re - It was great to meet you! I love your style and the marefriend blog cracks me up! Thanks for the small chat too!

Running a bit long, but I’m really thankful to who I met... There were so many nice people I shared small chats with that really boosted the whole experience too. Thank you to everyone I met and anyone I might be forgetting for making the whole experience amazing this year! This was easily the best Bronycon... Hek, best convention I’ve been to ever!

~Love you all! <3

[jovianaquarium]

5 things tag

tagged by @lovelyisthenight (thank you so much friend!!!)

5 things you’ll find in my bag: like 25 sketchbooks, earbuds, glasses cleaner that i never use, my phone charger, and probably a dozen unusable pens

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom: way too many stuffed animals, artist pencils/pens e v e r y w h e r e, a million books, a bunch of cups that i keep forgetting to take downstairs, and at lease three (3) posters

5 things I’ve always wanted to do: actually finish something i start to write for once, master multiple languages (french and german are getting there ;;-w-), study abroad, own a norwegian forest cat, and learn how to play the violin

5 things that make me happy: books (namely those by rick riordan), anime, listening to music, drawing, and seeing art of my ocs (even though i literally never post art online oops), 

5 things I’m currently into: astronomy, learning new languages, drawing facial expressions, mob psycho 100, and learning how to draw digitally

5 things on my to-do list: start learning french again (i accidentally gave myself a “vacation”), improve at drawing basic faces/expressions, actually clear my desk for once, post art online, and finish the dozen anime that im watching at the same time

tagging @memesandsatan @hoodie-umbreon @stained-glass-sketchbook @friendbot @i-luv-cats (gl guys!)

[auroral-melody]

What made you decide to publish your art online? I know for me, it was difficult to decide to put my writing out there. So I've always wondered what made you decide to publish your art.

*coughs* four month old ask i’m sorry oops

I guess it was because I was really confident starting out several years ago. I wasn’t very good but I was very vain, and it helped me get some traction. I’ve learned a whole lot since then, and it’s taken me down a notch. I rarely post my sketches; I keep feeling like they’re inadequate and loose when in reality many of them are more lifelike than my finished pieces. I’d like to gain back some of that confidence some day, though I have learned a lot in critiquing myself.

I was also very enthusiastic, and I posted what I wanted regardless of how obscure or strange it was. I suppose I just enjoyed myself, so much, and I wanted to share that.

I think the change in how I’ve grown is that I’ve lost some of the confidence to show things I’ve made that are silly and free. It’s very difficult to publish things if you’re worried about how professional or good they are, but we forget that we started because we wanted to have fun.

Imo, the best advice for improvement is to just forget about perfectionism. Show off the little one-shots and sketches and things you wrote for fun! I think this quote embodies what we gotta learn if we’re going to fully have fun by posting and sharing:

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” - Pablo Picasso

Remember, you’re in this for you. It’s not about how great you are. It’s so much more worthwhile if you had fun doing it.

Hence the kinda obscure stuff on my blog. It’s not about the notes, though it is great to get some sweet sweet validation. Just think how much you could do if you let yourself be messy again.

[val-dudka-design]

How to make money on Instagram

As a freelancer in this gigantic media world you might feel like there are so many other graphic designers that can make work better than you. All the customers are already taken and there is no way someone will make a business with you. And you might be right, BUT, there is always an opportunity for everyone. Competition is good, if you whiling to grow.

When I started looking for my first customers online on websites such as freelancer.com, 99designs or upwork.com  I had a feeling that I would not be able to get a single job with that large amount of freelancers. They were already making good money and having the highest rank and positive reviews. But I wanted so much to do this job so I started exploring. How could I find a client? And here it was an Instagram (you might know other good social media for it, but I'm sharing my experience now).  This is a truly awesome platform  where you can find and meet thousands of new people. Especially it is good when you are trying to find people interested in a graphic design. 

Well, let's go. Here is a list of actions that will help you make money on Instagram.

Post good content. Sounds obvious, right? But it is one of the main keys of finding customers on Instagram. Good content impresses people and they want to see more, and than what? Right, they will ask you to design a logo or banner or something else.

Be live. With this new Instagram Stories thing (which is I think an awesome feature). You can show your creative life, how you make things. All this magic that disappears in 24 hours is a huge plus when you make a right thing. Do not post your selfies every 5 minutes, people get bored quickly and will probably unfollow you. So, yes, show some good stuff.

Make yourself visible. That means make more contacts, post your work everyday or twice a day. Be part of everything going on in your news-feed. Why? Because as more you are active and make more contacts and gain followers there is a chance that some of those people might need your help. I'm not talking about these guys who just opened a hair salon and asked you to make a logo for $50. Those people will never contact you when you give them an estimate for the logo design. And it's okay. It's good to say "no" sometimes. If you do your job really good, you will find a right customer.

Follow companies that you might want to work with. Send them a letter that you EXIST. They might not even look for new people, but they already know about you. Next time when this or another company looks for someone to help with quick projects they will give you call. Trust me.

Follow carefully. Do not follow everyone just because you want to gain your page. It is useless if you have 50 000 kids following you and like your posts. They will never make business with you. Unless you would like to wait another 10-15 years when they grow up. Try to follow groups and people that are somehow related with design and art in general.  Try to get in touch with all local marketing, design companies and print shops. Again, do not push, just let them know that you are a new rock-star and ready to help anyone with any project. 

Unfollow everyone. Oops, sounds strange, right? But yes, unfollow anyone who you do not like or who posts stupid content that you see on your feed. Those people make a disbalance in your own cozy corner. Sometimes people get mad at you because you don't follow them anymore and as a result they unfollow you. It is okay, this is a process of gaining numbers of people who like your page and the stuff you post. Right people will keep following you. Others will go away.

Hashtags. Use hashtags that actually match your post. It is so destructive when you look for cats and a picture shows you a dog, right? So respect your followers - use right hashtags.

Be active. Go through your feed every day, like and comment other people posts. Make them feel special. Let them know you care about the stuff they post. Otherwise why would you follow them, right?

This is my short list of how to make money on Instagram. I hope it will help you find right customers. 

Thank you for reading this and don't forget to follow me on Instagram @valdudka :)