#without making it memey

[miraiq]

" Heh-- Bebelet. "

@lueurxtactique

[not-poignant]

19 and 20!

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Oh this is... this will be long and it's 12.13am and I don't want to write long, so I'm going to shorthand it:

Started writing as a kid, liked it, pure escapism and needed that shit because real life sucked. Enjoyed reading and though 'I could do that' before anyone told me no. Wrote several novels as a 10 year old before I realised actually you're supposed to learn how to do it first. I still like those stories. Finished my first epic fantasy trilogy by the age of 12/13.

Lots of bumps, including some creative writing at university which killed all my passion to write. The long and short of it is that I could write award-winning short stories and poems, but I hated all of it and judged and edited everything I wrote to the point where I...stopped.

Stopped all writing. For many years. Became pro-artist. Occasionally write very short fanfics that only ever got posted on Livejournal or Schnoogle. Never liked any of it.

Quit art, had a mental breakdown, needed that good good pure escapism again. Read a lot of fanfiction. Made a fandom Tumblr. Watched Rise of the Guardians, went to town on AO3, wrote literally whatever the fuck I wanted even though I was sure people would hate it and hate me. Some folks said 'hey these OCs are alright' and I went 'sure okay.'

Here we are. :)

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

I don't want both. I don't want either. Fuck monogamy, lmao. (For me! Not for anyone else reading this! I am a walking caveat!!!)

I don't want perfection. I don't have a 'most precious WIP.' Stories are easy to come by, and they're all fun. Characters are easy to come by, and you can hurt/comfort nearly all of them. There is no 'dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP' like damn.

I also...don't want eternal happiness. Like Arden, in FFS, I do not believe that the goal of life is eternal happiness. That's literally not the way our brains are built. Emotions are meant to transform. The good news is - that means all the ones that make you feel like shit. The bad news is - that means all the ones that make you feel good. That's why it's so important to learn how to tolerate and sit with all your emotions free from judgement, because the sooner you do that, the more often you'll feel happiness in general.

We're not made, as a species, to feel happy all the time. You ever see people shaking their indoor plants to mimic wind because otherwise they grow all weak and shit and die early because they had no challenges? Yeah.

And yes, I've had challenges, and I'm also not an indoor plant, I just don't believe eternal happiness is the goal here.

Also I'm polyamorous so this whole 'one true love' thing can fuck right off. This question just reads a little like 'u have one true love story and u have one true love person' and folks can live like that but a bitch could never (it's me, I'm bitch)

--

From the Weird Writing Asks meme!

[floorpancakes]

i have no idea how to put this but other than the actual things they end up doing both halves of dough water have a really good resume of skills and personality traits you can imagine them doing all sorts of jobs or hobbies in AU scenarios. mostly i like to imagine them volunteering with animal shelters tho its like free serotonin

[ceruleanpunch]

seeing the hell w*tcher livestream was announced by at least one post with another fucking t*ylor sw*ft reference............. hm

[anlian-aishang]

SNK Men // When You Prank Them With “Cbat” During Sex // Levi, Erwin, Eren, Armin, Jean, Zeke [semi-nsfw, gn!reader]

This is the most niche and memey thing I have ever written, but I couldn’t help myself. Context. Song. 

Levi

Immediately reaches over to your stereo, flicks the off switch, and gets back to how you were before. 

When you switch it back on, Levi stops, rests his hands on your hips, and shoots you a deadpan look. After a few seconds, when silent eye contact communicates your thoughts - your stubbornness, his refusal - he takes a deep breath and pushes himself off of the bed. 

Promptly, he throws his arms through the sleeves of his button-up top, steps back into his underwear, and slings his pants over his forearm. Without even turning to you, he opens the bedroom door, stands in its frame, and leaves, “Let me know when you’re over this phase.”

Erwin

For the first twenty seconds of the song, he considers your music taste a bit eccentric, but tries to be polite.

When the beat drops however, he thinks for a moment, then reconciles that he simply cannot go on with this in the background. He stops fucking and tilts his head slightly, “Can we turn that off?”

You reach your hand to grace his nape, pleading, “It’s a good lovemaking song with good rhythm …I usually bust to this song.”

Erwin bites the inside of his cheek, pondering. He decides to grit his teeth and bear it rather than turning it off, but he clues you into his strategy, “I bet I can make a better rhythm and have you singing along to it.” Before this song is over, his goal is to have the two of you finish before the track can.

Eren

Knits his brows briefly, somewhat thrown off by the tune, but he won’t let it ruin this sex. Determined, his solution is just to fuck you harder. Eren amplifies his vocals past the stereo. The pace of his hips becomes consciously erratic, metal bed frame knocks against the wall, your enamored sighs turn to overstimulated screams. 

Sensations from this intensified sex cause your head to throb and his ears to ring as you share your climax. 

It is only in the comedown that the song starts to get to him, bringing him down from cloud nine and back to his senses. “Seriously, what is this music?”

“Happens to be my favorite!”

Eren brushes his knuckles against your hot cheeks and sighs, pitiful and disappointed, “I’ll make us a playlist.”

Armin

Armin has one second of qualm. After that fleeting moment, he is honestly just grateful that there is some music to drown out his helpless, whiny, regrettably loud voice. 

Somehow, he is always the noisiest participant of your sex. No matter your respective positions, levels of exhaustion, or even the act itself. When you suck him off, you are sure that his cries are intense enough to wake the city. When he goes down on you, it is the same: his needy, satisfied moans continue to drown over yours. Always, Armin’s involuntary volume is greater than that of the rocking bed frame, creaking wooden floor, and his eager partner.

Therefore, even though this song is truly terrible, Armin closes his eyes and sighs in relief. For once, he will not have to cum to the sound of his own pathetic submission.

His indifference, enjoyment even, entices you to see how long you can pull this stunt before he objects. That time never comes, though. Without his ears turning red from embarrassment, his confidence allows him to fuck you harder. This revamped pleasure that he provides you, possible only thanks to Cbat, is too incredible for you to turn down, no matter the song.

Jean

Jean is so captivated by you that he truly doesn’t notice it at first. With you, the one he has been pining after for years, even after all the time that you have been together, he is always caught up in the moment.

The pleasure he feels with you, the way his heart swells, the absolute ecstasy that overtakes his entirety, he keeps his head in the clouds. Eventually, though, those dolphin noises and unsteady beats pierce their way to his consciousness. 

It is a gradual unravel. First, the corner of his mouth twitches. Then, he bites down on his lip. Teetering, a smile gleams and fades repeatedly. Finally, he cannot help himself, but not in the good way - he puts his hand to his forehead, shaking his head and laughing miserably.

“(Y/N)... why?” Jean continues to giggle with absurdity and disappointment: already, he can feel himself getting soft.

“I’m trying to match the rhythm,” you look to him with a feigned, pleading expression, “I wanted to put on a better performance.”

The only thing Jean can do is offer you a pitied look. You’re so goddamn beautiful, and he would never want to make you feel anything less. Jean caresses your cheek in his hand, closes his eyes, and pushes himself to look past the music. In his mind, he plays back memories of your lovely, climaxing voice, and throws himself into blissful ignorance again.

Zeke

Zeke thinks that there is nothing too offensive about the song. Never one for the mainstream, he has always appreciated an unconventional EDM beat. 

Karmic results: though you never intended to play this song - to hear this song - outside of this one prank night, Zeke is inspired to incorporate it into your sex life. In fact, he intends to build a playlist around it. Cbat will begin the foreplay, it will determine the rhythm he thrusts with, and he intends that you both will finish to it.

At the end of tonight’s sex, you look to him, giggling, and ask what he thought of your music choice. At first, when he says that he liked it, you think he is kidding. Then, you are horrified to find that he is not.

It takes you nearly two years to confront him about it, two years of having sex to that song for you to ask him to stop the audio torture. To your dismay, even after the song has left your bedroom playlist, you can still tell that he is moving along with its abysmal harmony - if you could call it harmony. 

This prank was just one instance of a pattern that characterized your relationship: each time that you thought you could outdo Zeke, he responded with an even more powerful and opposing force.

// masterlist //

[bloodsbane]

pet peeve i've developed is when people put SCROLL BACK UP IT'S A PAINTING/ETC. under really impressive art, i think bc it's become almost like a memey thing to put... or like... okay hard to convey this idea, but by putting the caption on the art, it makes the entire post feel framed by the energy of the caption. it's like when you see a perfectly normal base post, but then someone in the reblogs is like WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS or FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT BLAH BLAH BLAH. the post is fine but when it gets the caption, that iteration of the post is recontextualized if only slightly. i guess what im saying is imo those captions, rather than pushing for open admiration of OP's skill with their art form, ultimately detract from the art by reducing the uniqueness and skill being shown into a thoughtless whatever phrase

not only that but they're starting to get unreasonable and condescending. like yes i get it people scroll by art without appreciating it often, but i don't personally enjoy the implication that i'm unable to distinguish a very good but not even photorealistic painting from a real life image

[unironicallytes]

WIP Wednesday, But I'm Too Sick To Do Memey Wordplay About It

Tagged by: @dirty-bosmer @pyre-of-pages

No-Pressure Tagging: @orfeoarte @thegrunkiest @ulanxxxs @yansurnummu @areggo @unrepentant-heliocentrism @miliabyntite @maskedsthings @moriche @thana-topsy (sorry if yall got tagged already!)

Hi everyone I'm dying! The good news is, Ch08 is done. Now it's just me mulling over edits and I'll have it up shortly. So in the meantime, have another piece of the WIP! Last we saw of these scenes, Nettie and Zath were exchanging recruitment stories. Zath has kept good on the deal and is just about finishing up with his here. Through all this, the two appear to have found more things in common with one another.

“Is that how Speaker found you, then?” Antoinetta asked. I was just about to tie off the story’s end and had paused for a sip of water. “You killed that horrible merchant and he found you all the way in Skingrad?” “Ye could say that …” I leaned in close to deliver my final delectable detail. “Speaker Lucien was only a Murderer then, like yerself. See, that Skingrad cheat had made other enemies, folks who'd decided to pray to Mother for their vengeance. So Lucien didn't find me for recruitment, he found me 'cause I’d stolen his Sacrament without knowin’.” Another gasp, this time in total disbelief. “You’re kidding!!” “Heheh, nay, ‘tis all truth! Man himself showed up then and there, right as I killed the pig!”  “And he wasn't mad??” “Oh, he was spittin’ fire like the dragons of yore, lass, he wanted my head for that! I scampered out that window with a volley of poison knives flyin’ past! Would’ve been my end were I not a nimble Grahtoak squirrel. Lucien throws those things faster than a Jaqspur deadeye fires arrows.” My laugh trailed into a wistful, love-struck sigh. So caught up in sharing the memory, I paid no attention to the emotions riding plainly on my sleeve. “Few days later, ‘twas the Gold Coast Speaker who found my camp by the Strid. Apparently, I'd not killed the pig at all in the way the rite-giver wanted, and that wasn’t good business for the Brotherhood. Had no idea ‘till that moment, of course! Gold said I owed a fair bit of compensation, and offered me the chance to pay it with my blades rather than coin or blood. Paid it in full and then some, as ye can see! And that’s that. Rest's history.” I opened my arms with a playful flourish. At Antoinetta's unexpected applause, I threw in a small bow. “Oooh, ye flatter me, lass.” “Because it was wonderful, Silencer!” “Ye think so?” I fished. “Of course! Oh, what fun, I quite enjoyed that! And it’s very interesting to learn how you and Speaker met, too … I didn't realize you'd known him so long. Strange to imagine him at the rank I am now, isn’t it?” She didn’t trail off into a love-struck sigh as much as I had, but it was close enough for me to make another amused note of.

[tewwor]

okay fr though, pausing the ue ue ue sadness just to note out loud how i’ve been at a peak ( or at least close to it ) in dual wielding creative outlets without abandoning one of them after .. like 2 days. i’m baseball coaching myself below but tl;dr — i’m tired of acting like i’m not cringe because now …. i’m SO free yall and i have the backup to prove it ( to myself )

i’m willing to admit that my writing is decent and my character / lore concepts are good. my drawing is fluctuating between 5 different styles, but i literally haven’t drawn in … what, 6 months? a year??? literally ‘completed’ at least 8 things — even if they’re mostly lineart sort of finished sketches in the past 3 weeks. it counts!!! it’s something!!! even if most are memey! what better way to learn skills while making others laugh with you fr

[bananastarion]

To all the people who say Gale is autistic, which is a lot of you, I'd like to collect some examples/theories as to why? Since mostly I see it being said in a memey way without much explanation. And, more specifically, if you believe him being autistic-coded was intentional by Larian or not?

It's honestly interesting to me, as I'm autistic and wonder what people are seeing that makes them clock someone as autistic, or if it's just stereotyping? Even neurotypicals can be a little awkward, or misinterpret others, or have passionate interests, but when does it cross over into 'this person is definitely autistic' for yall?

Or is it just a fun thing where fans are projecting onto the character or want to make up more autistic representation, without really caring about the canon? Or if it really is just a meme? If this is the case, I'm still curious why Gale and not others?

I'm still on the fence about seeing Gale as autistic myself, in some ways I get it and find him relatable, but is that because we're both autistic or is it just a personality thing?

I'm open to hearing what other people think, this isn't gonna be a debate or anything lol I'm just curious!

[skeletoninthemelonland]

I do have another question in regards to Behind the Codes and this one is a bit more to gage your thoughts on the community and how they interact with the story

Does it at all feel aggravating having to somehow twist some of the questions that people have been asking in order to tell the story you’re wanting to get across? Like going through and dubbing most of the artwork, I did notice that some of the questions seem almost inconsequential, yet you somehow found a way to make them fit in perfectly with the story, so do you have any advice on how to handle interaction between audience and creation? Especially seeing as how we are introduced to your little world via the audience’s question, and does it ever feel like people aren’t asking “The right questions?”

(Follow up question: do you often get questions you need to ignore for spoilers/wouldn’t fit into the story you wanna tell, or are just too memey to where you need to place it in a haha funny shit post context?)

This is an interesting one!

I do tend to filter a lot of the asks I receive, since some of them cannot be answered without spoiling important bits. I choose asks that further explore the fictional world of Behind The Codes, rather than choose the asks that are more direct and precise with how they seek explanations from the Vigilant.

I guess the answers come easily when you focus on world building and on each character's role. You get a basic idea of how things should work, and enough creative freedom to mess around with certain events.

I did not expect the right questions from people because I didn't think the story was well-solidified, if that makes sense. It felt like being watched while playing doll house (?) by following a very confusing script.

I did have to ignore a few questions, yes ^^'

[guess-that-ship]

S11 Round 2

The Woods

cw: violence, murder, spoilers

They love each other and they can't stop killing each other. It's never permanent, though they don't always seem to realize that. They just don't have much choice, and anyway, they're doing it to save the world. They're both helpless pawns in a bigger game, but they are also both literal gods. Also, one of them has up to a dozen voices in their head telling them what to do, and how to kill.

Even without knowing what's happening, they both want to escape the game they're trapped in together. They wind up bonding over their odd cat-and-mouse dynamic, connecting with literally the only other being that can understand what they're going through -- even if NOT killing each other might mean the end of the world.

Or maybe not. Maybe they can just escape. Or maybe they can just stay in the same time loop forever, enjoying each other's strange company while occasionally killing each other. That's the funny thing with time loops, they just keep on recurring.

Opposite ends of the repression scale

cw: spoilers

Character A is judgemental, a stereotypical smart kid, and unable to ignore stupidity. Character B is memey, highly aware of pop culture, and has a habit of purposefully making a fool of herself to avoid it happening on accident. These two cannot resist messing with each other. A and B meet through a mutual friend in freshman year, and B immediately begins a daily tradition of messing with and pranking A, for which A retaliates in equal, if more cerebral, measure.

When their mutual friend gets together with her childhood lesbian crush, A and B separately develop their own crushes on each other. However, things aren't straightforward for them. A has never considered the possibility that she could be anything but straight before, and B avoids saying anything because she has previously been rejected and cast out of her old social circle. For these reasons, they dance around admitting anything to each other for years.

They do finally figure things out as adults, and have a very happy life together. A is still stuffy, B is still a goofball, and they still love to rib each other :)

[blackkatmagic]

Hey Kat!

In eastward and moonwhite did Fox mean to call Agen his fiancé or was he just caught up in Agens panic and said the first thing that came to mind to fix the immediate situation?

Also I’m not sure if someone else has asked this but, Fox and Agen, who fell first? And who fell harder?

The fiance part was a ploy to get Agen through the checkpoint without making it a fight, but it was a bit of a Freudian plan to do it that way instead of using literally any other excuse.

Tbh I am not super fond of the way a lot of fandom oversimplifies and smooths down relationships to fit in popular/memey boxes, so I will leave this question up to your own interpretation to answer. I don't see the Fox/Agen in e+m fitting that dynamic, for me personally, but if you do, that's cool.

[13eyond13]

Beyond + 2?

omg good one!

BEYOND + What are they like on social media? (What’s their username, profile pic, etc.)

Ok so on forums about his specific niche interests and in fandoms and whatnot he's extremely condescending about his interests and constantly correcting noobs and gatekeeping the stuff he likes, like this

If he ever had a social media that was all about trying to post thirst traps or selfies or something he'd do shit like this (that nobody would like because all his followers are bots):

If he was on a dating app he'd be saying shit like this:

If he had a blog it would probably be extremely emo with a lot of self-pitying vagueblogging and imagery like this:

ALSO all memey jokes aside, I really do imagine that a younger B would be the type growing up to make up a lot of different personas on social media and catfish other people or troll them a bunch. Sort of in a socially experimental way? Partially because he's straight-up confused about his identity, partially because he's enjoying messing with other people and manipulating them, partially as some odd sort of creative outlet and sincerely lonely attempt to connect to others without actually making himself vulnerable to them.

[headcanon ask meme]

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 25/04/2024

Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 2

Ripped by Half Pixel (@half-pixel)

Requested by Fezaki! (Request Form)

Been a while since I've covered something closer to a "meme medley", hasn't it? It's a bit of a conundrum really, the rips like Memey Hell, Rippin'! Mashin'! High Quality Grand Prix and A love letter to this wonderful community and my amazing friends are some of the most relistenable on the entire channel due to the sheer variety found within them, yet they're simultaneously very hard to write about for the purpose of this blog. I can approach these posts from a lot of different angles, be it the history of a ripper, history of a joke's presence on the channel, the unique sound of a game, a rip's relevance to the lore and goings-on of the channel at that time - all of which provide me with a lot to say, in contrast to simply saying that a rip is just a really good listen. But some of these meme medleys ARE just really good listens, ones that I recommend wholeheartedly of course, but ones that can be rather hard to turn into an interesting read. Still, Fezaki's enthusiasm for Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some in the request form is one I absolutely share, so I'll try my best to do it justice in my coverage. After all, Half Pixel made my darling Everybody's Special Course as far back as Season 1 - he's almost bound to knock it out of the park no matter what!

Then again, I suppose it is wrong of me to present this rip as if it's just like those other meme medleys, it's pretty apparent right from the start that there's something quite special about it. I mean for one, there's the track its arranging: Super Paper Mario is a game that wears its weirdness on its sleeve in every aspect including its music, to where even though Champion of Destruction is actually still playing in 4/4ths time signature, it still sounds incredibly uneasy and chaotic - a lot like The Ultimate Show as heard over in The Ultimate Whip and Nae Nae. Yet with both tracks, through the noise and chaos, a strong melody prevails throughout, which is where Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some makes its second distinction, in having the lead vocals of Childish Gambino's Bonfire be pitch-shifted to said melody. Bonfire is a classic in SiIva mashups, you can hear it as far back in Season 1 with the aforementioned Memey Hell, yet its rarely played with to the extent that it is in this rip. The song headlines the rip for about half of its playtime, with a few other rip sources complimenting it along the way: Space Jam's immediately identifiable drums, a quick Flintstones cue melodyswapped into the song's original backing instrumental, and so on, it's all incredibly seamless, yet all building up to the track's final ace up its sleeve. As the rip builds and builds, as Bonfire's vocals end and we're left with naught but the instrumental - you realize that The Ultimate Show has been playing about 20% slower than its supposed to.

Suddenly, things speed up: Chip tha Ripper's drums playing in the background start feeling louder, the vocals of Space Jam kick in for just a moment, bits of Gangnam Style and We Are Number One and MEGALOVANIA play one after another - It truly feels as if the rip begins spiraling, sort of like we saw back in my rip :) yet with far more buildup and cohesion present before things start to plummet. Yet there's a harmony to the back half's chaos althesame, much like the channel's other meme medleys - it IS an undisputed banger, just one that manages to hit far harder than it has any right to through an incredibly well done lead-in. I can't even call it a bait-and-switch, the transition between its two halves is so incredibly seamless and natural to where I cannot see the rip working nearly as well without the two parts together.

Being part of some of the first-ever rips we'd get to hear for Season 4 Episode 1, I have to wonder if the two-part structure of Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was a move Half Pixel made deliberately for the premiere. I mean, he's no stranger to making incredibly dense rips for the channel, even helping kick off the currently-ongoing Season 8 with Nucleear Pomeranian - but given that Season 4's stated goal was to surprise the audience far more than usual, it almost feels as if Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was Half Pixel's way to lean into that philosophy. Intentional or not, the end result is amazing, it's the kind of rip that just oozes above-and-beyond personality from every corner, and acts as confident reassurance that Half Pixel has STILL got it.

[petewentzisblack1312]

I was gonna ask you this anyway actually bc you know a lot of artists but I just kept forgetting bc adhd is kicking my ass rn but since you wanted asks: do you know of any cool online stores or artists selling stickers? im trying to decorate my new laptop and I bought a few on etsy but I wanna get more

made in a lab to answer this question bc all i do is look for artists that skew cool. i will also give artists that skew cute. some artists are in between these categories, that is, they have a cute artstyle with subject matter that at least at times skews cool. my metric for whats cool and whats cute is pretty much 'based on aesthetics if this were being sold at a basement show in the 90s to 00s would someone get called gay'. if the answer is yes, its cute. if the answer is no, its cool. i dont know if this makes sense but im gonna use this categorizing anyway. i will tag the artists who are on tumblr but otherwise im naming everyone by their instagram handle because thats where i look at art and im on my phone and cant link everyone without losing my sanity

coming back after writing this list i have GOT to put this under a cut

@cursedluver: cute/cool, mostly cool to me, very bright and colourful and his starpions are really fun

ummmheather: cute/cool, mostly cute but shes got some stuff thats silly in a more cool way if that makes sense.

strikegentlyco: cool, they only recently started making stickers so the selection is a bit limited but they do have lots of enamel pins

sheselle: i would say firmly on the cute side of things in aesthetics but i think her sense of humor can be interesting. new to me though. i think you will really love some of her stuff and not really be into others.

@sweatermuppet: cool, lots of queer political stuff

luluvanhoagland: cool but with a soft artstyle so it feels cute.

@sofftpunk: cute/cool, lots of lgbt stuff

thegraveyardrave: mostly cool, they do have a tumblr blog but its specifically for clownposting so i will not tag him

leestrawberrryshop: cute with a cool tilt, mostly white and pink with just lineart but its an interesting scribble/doodle style. memey at times

prettybadco: cool but lately this guys been doing so much i think you should leave fan merch and its not bad but i dont watch i think you should leave and its not what i followed for. the original stuff is pretty neat though

catcoven: medieval. giving this one its own category on the grounds that thats pretty self explanatory and more precise than cool/cute

interrupted by finding a bee in my bedroom while drinking slightly warm tea (house is closed and the windows in my room (also closed) have mosquito nets)

@verdant-succubus: cool but there is body horror and guts and stuff so tread lightly if youre sensitive to that sort of thing.

radhia rahman (knivesmeow): cute but i feel cool when i look at her art

abprallenuk: cool but the colour palletes are strictly pastel

svv.art: very cool

smdefelice: cool. mostly does screenprinting but i am pretty sure they do stickers also. however the shop is currently closed for con prep do i cannot confirm

lilboatboutique: cute/cool has a homesick at space camp sticker which is currently on my water bottle and which i own in 2 variants as an enamel pin.

kerin cunningham: cool. emo. the goat. what else is there to say.

@darbydraws: cool. quite like her stickers although her bread and butter is t shirts. also emo

xraeart: cool. alt streetwear brand so. yknow.

skullingway: cool. theyre one of my favourite artists hands down. not a lot of stickers tho

jordandebney: cool. this guy makes the coolest stickers but most of it is for his subscription box which is fine. theres 2 stickers not behind a paywall

elrosabel: cool stuff, cute style. she kinda like. soft closed. to do polymer clay sculptures. but she might have reopened? i know shes selling stuff under this project again

piratesarrrt: cool but in a soft style. similar subject matter to luluvanhoagland. which is to say weird girl heads.

seankeetonart: cool.

@moonlume: cute. the concepts are cool though

jimibiscuits: cool. this is one of my favourite artists i have. so many of his pins. he doesnt have a ton of stickers though iirc

@8pxl: i am going to invent a category called 'pretty'. i love pixel art and this is my favourite pixel artist ever.

i gotta fuckin stop

go forth and get some stickers

[intellectualbrainrot]

in relation to my post about Jason being a memey little shit

this is a little snippet of the couples counseling fic I've been working on

After dinner Jason had asked Marvin to play some chess with him in his room.

"Can I be white," his son asked sheepishly as he sat down on his bed.

Marvin drew his brows together and shrugged. "Of course." He moved the nightstand to set up the chess board and sat down on Jason's deskchair - the one he'd picked on their outing.

"Thanks." The kid nodded and moved a pawn to e4. "So is the therapy thing working?"

His head shot up from the board, surprised his son started on the topic again. "It-" Jason wouldn't want to hear that things were complicated.

He looked back at the board. After considering possible responses - he'd re-immersed himself in chess strategy just a bit after his not quite recent loss - he decided to mirror Jason's move. Pawn to e5. "I hope so."

Jason hummed, clearly less satisfied with that answer than he'd been with Whizzer's. "Okay." He made his move. King to- King?

Quizzically Marvin stared at the board, unsure what exactly was happening here. He had moved the king, the essential piece of the game. King to e2. What possessed his son to make that massive error?

After what must have been an eternity of confusion Jason spoke up. "Your turn."

He looked up at his son who blinked at him innocently, like he wasn't quite aware that he'd made a mistake of a magnitude reserved for someone who misunderstood the rules of chess to a painful degree, a major hint of fucking checkers, even.

With a sigh, he resigned to making the most logical moves, still confused how his kid could make a move like that after beating him both times he'd stayed over. Pawn to d5. "How's the chess club?"

Maybe it was the other kids' fault that his son had forgotten every single opening principle.

"Its pretty fun, actually," Jason said with a shrug and moved the queen to e1. A decent move considering the trainwreck of an attempt at an opening.

"You said they weren't very nice." Marvin glanced at his son and slid the queen to h5.

"They weren't." Pawn to d3.

Queen to g4 - check. "But they're nice now," he asked.

Jason nodded. "Yeah."

A small smile spread across his face, reassured by the knowledge that his son was starting to connect with his peers.

With that the conversation ended and they kept laying in silence, the only sounds the occasional clacking of the pieces against the board or one another when one of them took a piece.

Despite the out-there opening Marvin ended up losing, too caught up in the shock to properly develop his pieces and thus struggling to hold his own in the long run. He held out his hand for Jason to shake.

"I did it!" Disregarding the outstretched hand Jason jumped up and down in excitement.

While he wanted to be angry - not the most mature reaction, he was well aware - the pure pride on his son's face melted any frustration away. Jason was proud of himself, and he was there to witness it - part of it, even.

"Zoe said I wouldn't win!" The jumping turned into a victory dance and was it adorable.

Marvin grinned widely, laughter bubbling up in his chest which he barely managed to keep at bay. He hadn't seen his son expressing such unbridled excitement in such a long time. It was then that he was hit with the realization of just how much time he'd let pass without seeing his son this joyful.

"Why did Zoe say you couldn't win," he asked, deciding to focus on his son - for the first time in a while. God, how selfish he'd been.

Jason's victory dance came to an abrupt end as he looked at him with a sheepish smile. "She said I can't win with that opening."

Confused, Marvin stared. That was an opening? If it was, it wasn't one he'd ever heard of. "What's the opening called," he asked, hesitantly.

"The bongcloud." His son shrugged.