#I HAVE HOWEVER HAD TO FIX MY FORMATTING THREE TIMES

[kisakis-boyfriend]

Kinktober Day 6: Cockbulge

Pairings: Inui x reader

Warnings: Male!reader, top/dom!reader, demon!reader, sub/bottom!Inui, sorcerer!Inui, size difference, teratophilia, overstimulation, mind-breaking, dacryphilia, blood from neck biting briefly

Genre/Format: Smut; Oneshot

Prompt List by: sakuyaserenitykira 🧡

Author's Note: This ended up being very different from my original concept (and also way longer than intended) but I hope you enjoy what it turned out to be! :D

Keep an eye out for this AU in a future kinktober installment 🤫

Please check my blog title to verify whether requests are closed or not! Thank you!

Inui was well aware of the dangers that this particular ritual held. Sure, any summoning ritual could go awry and become trouble quickly, but this spell was especially fickle. One tiny mistake or missed detail and he could summon something unwanted, possibly some eldritch creature that would destroy every known universe, but to him, the risks were worth it

He had spent so much time meticulously studying the circle that he'd need to draw, which materials you needed to place around said circle, offerings you were supposed to make, and even studying another language to learn how to pronounce the incantation correctly. Everything should be fine, it would all go perfectly and he would get what he wanted with no problems...

...He said to himself, sweating profusely as his arms carrying the backpack full of spellcasting materials trembled... Nevertheless, he marched onwards, deeper into the dark forest where you were supposed to carry out the ritual

Inui found the spot that he needed, a small clearing in the woods where the grass was noticeably softer and the breeze seemed calmer, where the only red flowers grew within the entire forest. This was where he began prepping for the ritual, casting the intricate circle with dried herbs, flowers, and crystals. Fixing several candles around the pattern and lighting them before stepping away to pull out his book of incantations, reading over the lines and practicing in his head. He waited about an hour, just as the instructions mentioned, before standing up and facing the circle. Taking a deep breath, he began the chant, repeating it three times as he walked around the summoning circle

He then put his book away and returned to the circle, stripping off his robes before laying down in the center, announcing his offering to the demon, “In return for your arrival and services, I have brought an offering of... myself. My flesh, my mind, and my soul are yours to do with as you please. Now, come forth!”

Tonight, Inui was uncharacteristically impatient. Normally he had no problems waiting for summoned creatures to appear, or waiting for spells to take effect. Tonight's spell, however, was very special. The being that he was desperately attempting to summon was a demon of lust, not an incubus or succubus, mind you. This was supposed to be leagues above those kinds of demons. And He was rumored to only appear before men that He found exceptionally attractive, which is what made this ritual difficult to find. Most of the sorcerers that committed to this summoning had no results, the demon refusing to come forth for anyone within the last 300 years, give or take...

Many people regarded this spell as nothing more than a hoax, claiming that it had probably become lost in translation somewhere and that was the reason it never worked. Some of the world's most handsome and skilled sorcerers attempted the summoning with no luck, so the magical realms deemed the spell to be fraudulent, because who wouldn't find these men attractive? That's what they all said, anyways. But Inui was tempted by the promises that this spell makes. Promises of "pleasure unlike anything this Earth could ever provide." And, "A love that no other could provide." These were loose translations of course, but Inui was tempted nonetheless. Hoping that if he was the one to finally summon the demon after all of these years, the other sorcerers would have to acknowledge his work, no longer able to poke fun at him or disregard his magic

He had other motivations for this summoning as well. The prospect of demon sex was very tempting...and since it was this demon's specialty, why not dedicate an entire year to studying the ancient books to bring this fantasy to life?

-

Inui's mind wandered as he awaited the creature's arrival. He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze glide through his hair and brush against his bare skin, his mind conjuring up scenes of what he imagined the demon would do to him. If it has claws, would it use those to scratch his delicate skin, drawing blood and licking it up with it's long tongue? If it has sharp teeth, surely it would sink them into Inui's tender flesh, marking him as it's human toy. And what about it's size, surely the demon would want to shove it's monster cock deep inside of him?

Inui began to squirm, his skin felt impossibly hot, as if he was on fire. His back arched as a single moan slipped out of him, rubbing his thighs together as his cock began hardening from the lewd thoughts. Suddenly, his hips burned, not in a painful way though, in a way that caused him to moan out once again

“My, aren't you an adorable little thing~ ” A low voice purred into Inui's ear, impossibly hot breath hitting his neck as a shiver crawled up his spine. His eyes snapped open to find a large creature hovering over his body, it's hands firmly gripping his hips and haunting yellow eyes boring into his, visibly glowing in the darkness of the forest

Inui wanted to say something, but the words died in the back of his throat, only able to gasp and pant as the demon loomed over his comparably small frame. “What's wrong, little one? Too stunned to speak?” A small noise escaped from Inui involuntarily, unable to process that this was actually happening. “Oh, darling, I hope you're not afraid of me now?”

Inui shook his head, not wanting the demon to leave him. “Good, good. ” It chuckled, brushing it's slender fingers against his cheek, trailing it's touch down the human's neck, smiling when Inui arched his back again, squeaking out some cute response and tilting his head up to expose his neck further

-

You slowly licked your lips, leaning down and grazing your sharp fangs against Inui's sensitive flesh, causing him to flinch and gasp. Gently kissing his neck, your hands traveling to his stomach and trailing your fingers downwards, stopping at the base of his dick. Inui whined in response, raising his hips up a bit to chase the addictive touch. Desperately wishing you would wrap those hands around his cock and–

“Already excited, are we?” Purring, you tapped his fully erect cock, eliciting a tiny noise from Inui. “Such a horny little thing, I haven't even touched it yet. Are you desperate for this kind of attention, sweet thing? Is that why you summoned me? ” You teased, baring your fangs and growling, just as hungry with lust as the sorcerer was. Depraved from worthy offerings for centuries now

“Take m-me...please...” Inui whispered. Spreading his thighs for you. You cocked an eyebrow at the request, the sorcerer's tone was meek, but you could sense the sincerity behind his words. Humming, you brushed a hand through Inui's hair, and he leaned into the touch, looking up at you through pretty blond lashes

“This is what you want, human? Once we start, I will not stop until you are marked with my seal. Are you certain that you can handle this? ”

Inui swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before his answer, “Yes. I want this, I want y-you...all of you. ” This greatly pleased you, a toothy smile spreading across your face as your slender tail swished from behind

“Very good~ Then let us begin, cutie~ ” You positioned yourself so that your face was hovering over Inui's cock, using your long, forked tongue to wet the member while your hands held the human's thighs apart. Inui moaned loudly when you swallowed his entire length at once, your mouth now flush with his pelvis. He instinctually grabbed your hair, tightening his fist as you bobbed your head up and down, sucking on the tip harshly. Teeth grazing against the bottom of his cock and causing Inui to keen, throwing his head back against the ground and letting out a high-pitched moan

Precum hit the back of your throat, coating your tongue and drawing out a moan when you tasted the familiar salty flavour. You couldn't help but moan around Inui's thick cock, the vibrations causing his dick to twitch inside of your mouth. Which only egged you on more, now bobbing your head faster, wrapping your long tongue around his shaft. Inui was losing his mind, vision blurry as it felt like he was getting a handjob and a blowjob at the same time

He cried out your name, his back arching impossibly high off of the ground, “G-gonna– Aaahhh—!!! ” Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as the sorcerer's load poured down your throat, greedily swallowing every last drop. You slowly let his cock slide out of your mouth, releasing it with a wet pop sound, tongue lolling out and a bit of cum sticking to it

Already spent, Inui panted heavily. But you were far from finished with this new toy, licking your lips and immediately sticking your tongue into the human's hole, eliciting a scream from him. “Oh– Oooohh fffuuuck~ ”

You continued to lick and slurp Inui's ass, working your tongue deeper inside of him and shoving it against his prostate, making him shout out broken moans. Sobbing as his ass was stretched just from that thick tongue

Retracting your tongue, you quickly replaced the wet muscle with two fingers, pumping them in and out of Inui's wet hole. His head felt fuzzy again as his ass was stretched further, it already felt as if he was at his limit, his arm draped over his eyes and chest heaving. You wrapped your other hand around Inui's dick, giving it a few pumps before rubbing over his slit with your thumb. The poor human hissed, biting his lip and clawing at your arms, his dick still sensitive from the previous orgasm

This did not deter you, however. If anything it only made you move faster and push your fingers in deeper, once again hitting Inui's prostate and leaving your fingers pressed against it. Ripping yet another orgasm out of him as your hand milked more cum from his cock, the thick fluid leaking all down your fingers

Inui slumped against the ground, almost hyperventilating from the overwhelming pleasure. With his strength rapidly leaving him, his hands fell onto the ground, releasing their grip on your large arms. You rubbed your hands over the expanse of Inui's chest, cooing sweet praises into your human's ear. “You're doing so well, sweetie. Releasing all of this lovely fluid just for me~” Inui could feel the rumbling in your chest as you spoke, voice low and gravelly. “But we're just getting started~ ”

Inui's eyes opened in bewilderment. He knew that this would require way more stamina than usual, human sex. What he did not expect was how every single touch from your clawed, calloused hands seemed to drain that stamina immediately and light every last nerve on fire at the same time. It was as if your touch injected him with lust, keeping him constantly horny enough to keep going even if he could no longer hold himself up

The familiar sound of clothing hitting the ground brought his attention back to you, having just removed your trousers. Which allowed your cock to spring free of it's constraints. Inui's mind appeared to go blank at the sight, drool falling from the corners of his mouth as he stared at your fully erect length. Most humans would say something along the lines of, “No way in hell is that thing going to fit!” But Inui Seishu was not most humans. Inui was, to put it crudely, a cockslut and a size king. Always craving the things that would stretch him open enough to shut off his mind, only able to moan and take inch after inch deeper into his body

These thoughts were not unknown to you, as every last kink and preference became known as soon as they laid down in the enchanted circle. Which is exactly why you chose him. Inui would be capable of taking everything that you could give him; he craved an experience such as this one, and you were more than happy to give it to him

As if your body had its own gravitational force, Inui inches closer towards it, beckoning you to slide into his tight hole. So you grabbed his waist, impossibly tiny within your grasp, and lined your demonic dick up with his ass. He gulped, glassy eyes trained on your cock as the tip disappeared inside of him, the stretch already burning in the most delicious way

“Shh, breathe for me, lovely. There's still so much more that needs to go in.” Those soothing words echoed in Inui's mind as another inch slid past that ring of muscles. His eyes rolling into the back of his head and mouth falling open in a silent moan. You soothed the human as best as you could, sliding in further and further until your dick had disappeared entirely. “Ooohh fuuucckk yeeesss~ ” You hissed, panting as his tight walls convulsed around your cock, his hips jerking upwards as cum painted his chest white

A devilish grin spread across your face, slowly thrusting into Inui's twitching body. He came just from feeling you bottom out inside of him. Such a good little pet for you.

A familiar tightening in your core caused you to speed up, chasing your first release of the night while your human was already on his third. Yet, you could sense the passion inside of him, he craved more. And more is exactly what you would give him. Slamming your hips against his roughly, you growled praises against Inui's neck, nipping him with your fangs and flooding his insides with searing hot cum

Still partially recovering from his earlier orgasm, Inui arched his back high off of the ground, wailing as you fucked him and filled him. His body going completely limp in your hands, breathing erratically and making the cutest fucked out noises

You took a second to catch your breath and revel in the sight before you. There was a large bulge in Inui's stomach where he was stretched around your cock, his insides pushed aside to make room for the impossibly large intrusion. His blond hair clung to his forehead, beads of sweat sliding down his skin from the intensity of it all. Your hand brushed some of the wet hair away, nails scratching against his scalp and pulling a soft whine from him

You couldn't stop the smile growing on your features, it'd been far too long since you had felt this way towards a human. Especially one that intentionally offered himself unto you like this one did. Hungry lips met Inui's soft ones, moving together harmoniously as your eyes fluttered closed, enjoying this moment before you gave him another orgasm

Inui moaned into the kiss when he felt your fingers brush against his nipples, playing with them so you could hear more pretty noises from your sweet human, humping into his wet hole as you did so. Inui gasped as your hips snapped into him harshly, pinching his nipples simultaneously. Your thrusts began to speed up again, causing him to throw his head back in total bliss, fucking him at just the right pace

The temptation to mark your cute pet up was far too strong, leaning down to press an open-mouthed kiss to his sensitive neck. Nibbling on the soft flesh as you fucked your previous load deep into his gut, thrusting faster and faster so that you could add more cum to the mess already within his walls, making the bulge in his stomach even larger. Inui whined loudly, tangling his hand in your hair and tugging at the roots, begging for you to cum in him again, “Please– Ah!! More...cum in me more... Fill me with your cock until I can't think of anything else– F-fuuck—!! ”

Cum flooded his insides once again, dick twitching as his gummy walls squeezed it all out of you, your hips surely hitting him hard enough to leave a bruise later on. Blood trickled down Inui's neck as your fangs pierced his delicate skin. Tears ran down his cheeks from the combined intensity of everything

Inui's dick became hard yet again, still glistening from his previous orgasms. “Sweet thing, will you cum with me this time? ” You cooed, wrapping a hand around his length. Slowly pumping it as you peered into his gorgeous green eyes. “Just give me one more, then you can rest. Can you do that, darling? ” Inui nodded languidly, his hips rolling into your fist on their own

You smiled at him in response, taking a deep breath before thrusting into him again. The reaction from him was immediate; his hips jerked forward, head turning to the side as a loud moan erupted from him, hands grasping at your wrist that was gliding up and down his member. But you continued on, cock reaching the deepest places inside of him, rearranging his guts completely as his body molded to your length

Inui clenched around your dick, his fourth climax just within reach, crying out your name while your thrusting became sloppy. One hand continued to jerk him off, twisting your wrist as you stroked upwards and eliciting high-pitched screams from him, while your other hand rubbed at the bulge in his stomach. Effectively jerking yourself off through his body, almost using him as a fleshlight

The way his mind just shut off was instantly noticeable. Inui's eyes became vacant, unable to look away from your lustful gaze. Little “Ah! Ah! Ah! ” noises escaping him with each rhythmic thrust, no longer capable of forming words as he becomes your dumb little doll. Arms and legs completely limp, the only thing really moving is his hips as they thrust into your hand, chasing yet another orgasm even though his mind is unresponsive to the overstimulation

“I really did fuck you stupid, didn't I, little one?” No response, unless you count the slightest change in the pitch of the human's moans as anything. “So good for me. Mm, cum with me now, let us complete this pact~ ”

With that, you fucked into Inui roughly, snapping your hips into his and vigorously pumping his cock. Biting your bottom lip as you grow closer to your release and finally cumming within Inui's tight ass as he squeezes you once more, his own release following only a second behind yours. His body twitched and writhed under your grasp as a glowing red seal was burned onto his stomach, the large mark spanning from just above his bellybutton to right above the base of his dick. The same mark as your summoning circle, a mark of ownership. Telling all manner of demons and other creatures that this one belongs to you

Caressing the newly etched seal, a wave of possessiveness washed over your features for a moment. Your darling human was fast asleep, exhaustion finally taking over after so much excitement. His soft features became illuminated by the moonlight and you couldn't help but smile fondly

You slowly and carefully pulled out of him, so as not to hurt him or rouse him from slumber. Soothing your hands over his body and kissing his pale cheek before lying down next to his side. You pulled him against your chest and spooned his small body, wrapping your tail around his leg. Placing a kiss on the top of his head, you whispered a few more praises and loving words into Inui's ear before drifting off with him

Reblogs are extremely appreciated <3

Tagging: @anxious-chick @steadybreadbluebird @6kabuki

[discord-lurking]

Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 1)

Prologue

Greek tragedies are typically formatted in three or more acts interspersed with choral interludes, beginning with a prologue, and ending with an exodus. In these, protagonists often meet their downfall due to their fatal flaw, or hamartia: the ways in which the protagonists are their own undoing. Our own human failings are the things that bring us the most pain.

When considering a three-act Greek tragedy structure for this, my first thought was to use the Oresteia as a framing device, a trilogy of plays written by Aeschylus about Agamemnon's family in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Upon reflection, though, the themes of the Oresteia (revenge vs. justice, perpetuating a cycle of violence, honor and punishment) didn't quite fit the story I was trying to tell.

No, this is a classic tale of hubris: excessive pride and its ultimate downfall.

After all, what position could come with more power than that of wiki moderator for a Dungeons and Dragons podcast series?

Act One: The Beginning of the End

The D&Dads wiki has historically been... unhelpful, at best. (Source: Myself.) Trouble had been brewing for a long time.

Forum posts from spring 2022 began noting issues cropping up around the wiki. First, it was a complaint about anonymous users "disrupting" the wiki (specifically on Jodie-related pages) while also fixing mistakes in articles.

I'm unsure what specific "disruptions" were meant, but the proposal to ban anonymous users didn't garner much traction.

March 21st, 2022:

After little activity for months (only one forum post, related to infoboxes), wiki user TwoRatner had a radical proposition: wiki migration.

December 17th, 2022:

TwoRatner suggested an alternate platform that would have different editing options, then made a potentially-prophetic statement: the wiki might be cursed.

This warning went unheeded.

December 27th, 2022:

Ten days after the migration suggestion, TwoRatner came back to ask if there were any recent changes. This went unanswered for months until new user Penguinwithafancytophat reported adding art to character pages (including Glenn, a main season 1 character since the start of the podcast in 2019, who incredibly might not have had any official art on his wiki page before March of 2023).

Spring of 2023 seemed to bring along a revival of the wiki, with new editors coming in, engaging with the forum, and attempting to make suggestions on how to improve wiki organization.

March 31st, 2023:

May 27th, 2023:

July 17th, 2023:

October 2nd, 2023:

Interestingly, the only administrator seen to be interacting with these enthusiastic new editors? Gaycowboyrats. Let's put a pin in that.

Enter: the drama.

It started out simple enough- a forum posts for administrators to discuss changes that needed to be made.

November 3rd, 2023:

76 replies.

Seventy. Six. Replies. Each deeply interesting in its own way.

However, this is a Tumblr post, not an Hbomberguy video essay, so I'll keep it brief.

The discussion started out as one might expect a wiki admin discussion to start:

Mods discussed blocks, deleting stub pages, spam, etc. Standard wiki business.

The first reply to ping my interest:

Removing cast pages from a wiki about their work seemed like an odd decision, in my non-wiki-editor opinion, but the last line is what really stuck out: "Besides, I hate the idea of someone vandalizing the pages to defame them."

Several questions arose for me:

Was this a known problem? Were people constantly vandalizing cast pages?

Would a vandalized fandom wiki page really defame somebody?

Isn't the point of wiki editing to remove vandalization on articles?

The administrators began to stand out to me as deeply invested in a very specific sense of wiki justice.

Users TwoRatner, Brazil86, and TheOneTrueGod41 agreed with Honic's take.

Another thing to ping my interest: these users seemed to share a similar odd, slightly stilted, writing style. Almost Tommy Wiseau-esque.

Brazil86 expressed optimism about users engaging with wiki pages, something that would begin to set them apart from other administrators.

As I read, themes began to emerge: wiki justice, and incongruous one-liners.

Quoth Honic Washington: "I just found a wave of nonsense fish. My backyard is full of them. Hey, TOTG41, do you like jazz? I like jazz."

Truly, modern poetry.

Administrator Marth8204 suggested giving people more time. More time for what? Unclear. It seems a plan was afoot.

TwoRatner came in with a hot take: "I feel like we need a community more right now, than adding links that people can search for in the search bar."

Brazil86 agreed: Changing the navigation was less important than getting people editing and making friends.

Another theme began to emerge: wiki community as more important than wiki functionality.

Gaycowboyrats had some (incredibly reasonable) objections to this, pointing out that the wiki was a resource for many visitors who might not participate- something that is generally true of wikis as a form of content.

Honic Washington responded to this, the signs of wiki-related stress beginning to show.

Honic posts a long rant about the thankless task of moderating a wiki, which goes largely unacknowledged.

Notable TwoRatner quotes:

"You can't crack open a few omelets without punching a few egg-rolls."

"Now Freddie will get more money. What do you all say? I think I helped quite a bit."

Another theme emerges: discontent in the wiki moderator ranks.

Honic reaches full Joker mode. Again, this goes largely unacknowledged.

Honic: "I am leader. I am a painter! Keep your rules. Keep your status. Keep your friends."

"Keep your status"- words that will reverberate throughout the rest of this tale.

The final theme? Wiki moderator status, and the maintenance of it.

After Honic's bomb drop, conversation about regular wiki moderation continued, with mods considering the addition of a bot to make edits.

Admin Discussion Zone, first started by Honic Washington, ends not with a bang but with a whimper.

Over nearly a year of forum posts, patterns emerged.

Firstly- users attempting to engage in the wiki, wiki administrators not engaging with these new users, then wiki administrators bemoaning the lack of user engagement.

The notable exception was Gaycowboyrats, the only wiki administrator to engage with new users in the forums. Gaycowboyrats, the administrator whose (incredibly reasonable) suggestions ended with Honic Washington's villain-esque monologues and denouement as a moderator.

Secondly- administrators putting forth large-scale, drastic solutions to real or perceived wiki problems. This includes Cheesoid4 wanting to ban anonymous users, TwoRatner suggesting site migration, Honic deleting cast pages to prevent vandalism, and more to come.

Thirdly- wiki administrators seeming to share similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs. Interestingly, this mainly seems to include the wiki administrators who agree with each other.

Funny how that happens.

Chorus

Stay tuned for Part 2, where the forum drama really starts to heat up.

[copperbadge]

Amateur Translation Programs

So I had a lot of imaginative and informative responses to my post about looking for an amateur translation program -- something where I could load in a foreign language and it would insert a box where I could add a translation every-other-line. The idea was that this way I could practice translation with more advanced texts, and texts I chose, and thus move away from Duolingo, which at this point is good for drilling and daily practice but not for more advanced learning.

I didn't find precisely what was needed but I did get some inspiration for further explanation, and I also learned that adding the term "glossing" (thank you @thewalrus-said) into my searches helped a great deal in terms of weeding out programs that were either "Let this AI translate for you" or just endless promotional links for Babbel and Duolingo and such. I thought I'd collect up the suggestions and post them here; at the end I'm including my best swing at designing what I wanted, and why it doesn't work yet.

Suggestion one, from many people, was various ways to generate a page that is simply fixed Italian text with space underneath each line to add in a translation. This is pretty simple as a process and there are sites that will do it for you, such as this one that @ame-kage suggested. However, most of these don't allow for movement in the Italian text, and many produce a PDF which you would need to print out in order to write on unless you're willing to open it in Acrobat (and deal with Acrobat). A good solution for some but not what I'm looking for purely because I'm trying to make this super frictionless so that (knowing myself as I do) I will actually do it.

I did find this version interesting, suggested by @drivemetogeek: Have one word doc saved as your "template" doc and set the line spacing as 2.0 or higher. Select your text from source and paste it into the template doc as text-only. Ctrl a, ctrl c to select all and copy, then open a new document and "paste special" as picture. Right click and set the "wrap text" as behind text. Now you have a document where you can, basically, type over the existing text because it's the background of the page. This seems like the most frictionless version, because you could set up a bunch of them ahead of time. If you wanted to move between desktop and mobile, however, you'd need to ensure that the pasted image was fairly narrow so that you don't have to sideways-scroll.

Relatedly, people suggested generating a document that is simply the Italian text with empty space beneath it for typing in of the translation. This can be done either semi-automated, using a macro or a language like Python, or find-and-replace on, say, the stops at the ends of sentences. It basically outputs the same as above but with a more digitally accessible format, without any more effort than above. If you were to do this in Google Sheets you could also fix the column width so that it didn't do anything weird when you opened it on your phone. But it is still very friction-y, and does not allow for easy shifting of the Italian as needed. There's high probability of the translation breaking weirdly across the page. Still a top option in terms of simplicity and access.

@smokeandholograms suggested another variation illustrated here where essentially you're converting the text to a series of tables, with each paragraph a row, and an empty cell next to it for the translation. I might play around more with this one eventually, since I think I could possibly make it a three-column and put the Italian in one, the translation in the next, and the auto-translate to let me know where I might be slipping in the third. (Not that I trust auto-translate but comparing a hand translation to an auto translation can be useful in terms of working out when I've messed up the way a tense or mood is read. I tend to read indirect verbs as automatically imperative because I'm a weirdo.)

@wynjara linked to an add-in for Word specifically designed for translators, known as TransTools; this appears to employ a macro to do the same thing, though it does have a format where you can place the translation next to each sentence directly rather than in a separate cell. The full suite of tools is only $45 which is reasonable for my budget, but for what I need I think I could also just create the macro.

Using LaTeX as a tool specially designed for glossing was an option on offer, but I don't know enough about LaTeX to figure out the pros of this one, which is in itself the major con -- there's a learning curve that I think varies widely by person but for me is unfortunately a wall. It came out of a discussion on Reddit about trying to find something like what I want; also in that discussion is a link to a code generator that allows you to…do something…to the initial language, but it's not entirely clear to me (I'm sure it's clear to people who understand coding) what you would then do with it that would allow it to be output in the way I'm hoping for. Like, I could turn a paragraph of text into HTML, I understand that far, but any Italian I find is already on a website.

Moving more into apps that might work, Redditors on the LaTeX discussion suggested SIL Fieldworks, which is a professional language tech tool. Fieldworks isn't a program I'd previously encountered but much as with the ones I had, it looks like the learning curve is fairly steep and it is definitely overkill generally for what I need, though it might also harbor within it the thing I want. It is free, so I may download and play around with it.

@brightwanderer suggested using note-taking or "whiteboard" apps such as Freeform or Nebo; these are generally a kind of "infinite canvas" in which you can drop objects, text boxes, or handwriting. I don't know that Freeform would be measurably different to just using Word and a macro, since I'd still have to input/format all the text and then be stuck with the same "fixed text" setup -- and it's also iOS only -- but for some folks it might be more helpful. Nebo is a similar infinite-canvas with unfortunately the same issues, though on the plus it's available for Android, which is where most of my mobile property resides.

@bloodbright suggested that I was looking for a CAT tool, a professional translation tool mainly used by translators working in the field. This was a concept I'd encountered, but I hadn't found a good starting place. They suggested Smartcat and OmegaT. Smartcat bills itself as an AI translation platform and is HARD pushing the "don't translate it yourself, hire a translator or let AI do it" angle, so it's difficult to tell what it offers in terms of actual tools for translators, and it's also cagey about pricing, so I can't really evaluate it. OmegaT is free and gives off big "some weirdo homebrewed this in their basement" vibe (which I am here for) but I also recognized it from screengrabs that were the reason I veered away from professional-grade software: it looked too complex. Realistically, the major downside of OmegaT is that I don't think I can put it on my phone. One thing I did find interesting is that once you translate a portion of the text, the original language goes away, though I assume you can turn that off if needed. I do kind of like that because it means my distractable brain is looking at Less Stuff.

So where did I end up?

Well, it looked like I was going to have to try a homebrew myself. I had the idea of trying some of the initial suggestions but in reverse -- designing a document where every other line was a single-cell table fixed to the page. You could paste in the Italian, which would wrap around the cells, and then enter the English in the cells.

You can fix a table in place in Google Docs -- you click on the table, then under Table > Style select Wrap Text, Both Sides, and Fix On Page. Getting the whole page set up is a little labor intensive but once you did that, you could just save it as a template and make a duplicate of it each time. And this actually works….on desktop.

Unfortunately, if you open it in the mobile Docs app, the app can't handle the fixed tables and automatically moves them all to after the text that's been pasted in. I tried redesigning it so that it's a table within a table -- one for the Italian, then within that a series of them for the English -- but when you nest a table in Google Docs, it doesn't let you fix the second table in place. And you are also still dealing with the wrap issue, although you can resize the page and add a large right-hand margin as a kludge of a fix for that.

You can build this same kind of document in Word, so I tried building one in Word and then uploading it to Drive, but when you open the Word file in Docs (or in Microsoft Word for Android), it still strips the fixed positioning -- there's just some functionality missing from both apps that doesn't allow them to handle fixed-position tables.

So, the design is sound, just not the final execution. If I could program an app, I could probably remedy the issues with it -- it's simply a series of text boxes nested inside one another with different formatting. I would imagine that's relatively basic to set up, although given that neither Docs nor Word can handle fixed tables in mobile, perhaps I've stumbled on a much bigger problem that everyone is ignoring because nobody actually needs or wants fixed tables in mobile. :D

Experimentation is ongoing, anyway. I might simply have to resign myself to the fact that my translation study is going to have to be in front of a computer, which might be for the best anyway when I inevitably want to compare my translation to an auto-translate to see where I might have read something wrong.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Poll analysis part 3

Well I haven't done one of these in a while because I've been focusing on the nicknames and funny tags post But we are definitely due for another one because I've definitely noticed a change and behavior. Plus we've had a lot more and fandoms requested so that might be a contributing factor.

Let's start with the unhinged trio. Think we're due for a lineup change there. It used to be JJK, Black Butler and Dorohedoro. However the latter two only go crazy over a certain character.

Jujutsu Kaisen definitely still deserves its spot There's a reason I picked them to be the first fandom to get a Nicknames and funny tags post in fact they need an update Desperately because you guys are still up to your same old unhinged antics. I've just been busy with other fandoms (one piece) that say even more outrageous crap in the comments

Now One Piece I think you guys took that nickname and funny tag post as a challenge to be as unhinged and creative with your tags as possible because every time I think you all can't possibly get any worse. Someone puts a tag that's even crazier and now I have to update that post with more tags and new characters again.

Now the third spot of the unhinged trio should probably go to Trigun because you guys can't stop talking about Wolfwood's slutty Catholic titties and Vash's snatched little slutty waist. Plus someone has sent a match up request of their weapons no less than three times even though the rules plainly state no weapons so I think we definitely qualify for unhedged trio territory.

My Hero Academia You guys only showed up for the bunny girl and I get it. She's hot. Or to crap on endeavor, that's about it.

Attack on Titan. I finally have found proof of life. The fandom might be in a coma, but at least there's a pulse I thought that fandom was dead but someone or group of people is sending in quite a few requests for that fandom.

And now on to Naruto my problem child fandom. I am not kidding You're the fandom that refuses us to send in photos, but will throw a tantrum if it's not the photo from the correct era of the anime even though I have no clue what you're talking about. Normally when people don't like the photo with any other fandom a dozen better photos of the character will randomly appear in my inbox. Not with the Naruto fandom. I get 10 hate messages saying it's from the wrong era of the anime and I should know that. But does anyone send me a better photo from the correct era of the anime? No. Well actually that's not entirely true the a few times this fandom has sent in replacement photos it's from when in the anime I know the characters are still 14 I've done way too much research into when in canon characters turn 16 and what particular character design/outfit marks that in the timeline for this particular show because of how much I feel like I can't trust this particular fandom as a whole to follow rules. So, remember people I can't read your mind and you are the only fandom that wants to throw a fit over photos like this. Plus the few times I have tried to address the issues with the photos and try to fix the problem you guys want to get combative and very aggressive in the comments. Plus I swear you all are allergic to rules because at least 70% to 80% of requests relating to your fandom have some sort of issue. Whether it's trying to bend the rules or just outright breaking them to massive formatting problems. No other fandom causes me this many headaches. So please for the sake of my sanity do better

Sorry about that. I needed to rant about my problem child fandom maybe now they will start behaving.

When it comes to formatting there is a group of about three people that made requests either everyday or every 2 to 3 days and it was the max amount of request/matchups they could do in a single day according to the rules. They did this the entire time the box was open so they had their formatting down to a science. So basically any fandom that these people requested a lot of had really good track records for formatting and not trying to blatantly break the rules. So One Piece, JoJo's, Attack on Titan and Avatar/Korra all have very good track records right now

But with most fandoms they do a pretty good job of following the rules. No one is as bad as Naruto. Now there are some common issues and major incidents I've had so I'll go ahead and list them below

The common issues are just forgetting to put the name of the show or spelling, but Google can normally figure that out so that's not a major problem or people submitting a character that is video game only and not part of the anime adaptation. Persona, pokémon and Tekken are The worst offenders when it comes to this. Other major issues that come up frequently are with character ages? But it's normally with characters that look like they're adults. So I really don't hold that against people. I'm just guessing that people didn't realize they're actually teenagers but hopefully that will not be as much of a problem but since I dropped the age down to 16.

Now recent issues I've had to address were formatting issues where it was bad enough that I couldn't make it out due to dyslexia. Trigun has tried to submit weapons no less than three times even though that is blatantly against the rules. Like I mentioned earlier Naruto likes to submit photos from when the characters are 12 to 14 that doesn't fit the rules especially when photos are available from the correct age range that do follow the rules. So those are the ones I use no matter how many times they throw temper tantrums. Dungeon Meshi has submitted a 14-year-old and Soul Eater submitted a 13-year-old and said they were 16 in the request. So they lied. Luckily someone told me so I was able to delete those polls quite quickly, but now I can't trust anyone. So if you ever wonder why it takes so long for me to empty out the request box this is why

Oh but good news, no one has submitted a request since I've closed the box I basically consider that a miracle because the last two times there have been people that have not cared that the box is closed. So let's keep it that way please. I don't mind questions, just no requests. The box is closed I still have like 150 more individual messages that have multiple poll requests on them to get through before I open it again

Well that's going to be all for this post again. And I hope at least someone found this entertaining or informative or at least something. There will probably be another one of these in the future

[rist-ix]

I have a question for you what do you think of the quote unquote age gap between Bloom and Valtor?

I had to do alot of research to understand Bloom age when I started to like this ship better than Mr cheater. So here's a brief information dump:

Bloom is 16 in the first episode and its confirm her bday is December 10 (we don't know the the exact year when each girl was born only the fact Stella is the oldest by that logic Bloom is the second youngest out of the group) when we get to season 3 it is confirmed that the girls is in their 3rd semester so that makes Bloom 19 at point. Valtor's age we do not know however I'm going to say at most early 20s from what we know Valtor working with a younger Griffin before he got Popsicled.

Here comes the tricky part. In s4 the girls just finished their semester and graduated making them 20-21. Up until s5 where Nicklodeon had to reboot their age making them 16 again. Flashforward to s8 and that makes Bloom age 19 if you are following the reboot or 23 if you do not follow the reboot. Since we don't know how long Valtor been frozen his mental age is up for debate.

For me personally I don't see Sparxshipping as an Edward and Bella situation as Edward was aging naturally during his years while Valtor was frozen and couldn't age naturally but only mentally.

Okay okay first of all! Your Bloom math checks out and I just realized that I for some reason always thought Bloom is 18 in s3. Which is still possible, I think, I just dont know why I assumed that. Actually no, it works, if she is 16 in s1 she is 17 in s2 and 18 in s3, but we dont know a lot about how the school years work in Magix so I'm gonna jot her down as 18-19 for the remainder of this post.

Still dont know how I passed math btw.

Anyway. Valtor's age is where the real mystery is at. We've got two possibilities in my opinion.

1. He's pulling the ageless immortal card.

My personal go-to for fics and discussions. Love me some 300 year old mommy issues. He has too much practice being a messy bitch, there's no fixing this man folks.

Evidence: There's a flashback showing him with Griffin as a tween: she looks MUCH younger, he looks exactly the same. Unless he also stole the secret magic of the world's most potent anti aging cream, or Griffin's proximity to Faragonda just aged her by three more decades, he does not age.

2. He is the age he looks.

Which, in my humble opinion, would not put him anywhere near twenty. That is a grown man. He's not college age, unless you count college professors under that word. Even if I were good at guessing ages the very stylized art style would throw me for a loop, but im gonna say 40s, give or take. Look at Avalon, look at Codatorta, look at King Radius if u must. That is the age range we're looking at.

Evidence: I dont have any. We're ballin'. I guess it's never explicitly stated he's immortal, which you'd think would be big enough of a deal to mention. If u got something feel free to let me know.

That being said, the Winx Club Wiki page for the canon timeline (ha, good one) puts the time of Valtor's creation in a rough time frame from "Over 17 years before season 1" to "Under 100 years before season 6". So he could technically be anywhere from 17-97, though I'm not sure the upper limit is as reliable as the lower one, given the check-list format of the website. So make of that what you will.

Now that we've got the question of age out of the way, lets get to the age gap. I have no idea what the situation in twilight was to be honest, so I cant compare that.

Realistically, there's at least a decade between Bloom and Valtor. Possibly two decades and change. And that is just from visible age, we can add a few centuries on top of that if we're sticking with the immortal bit. I'm gonna be gonest, I dont think being frozen for 17 years will make a whole lot of difference here.

If you find that icky, which is fair, you can always change that for fics tho! Either turn him into a twenty year old or put Bloom in her milf-era, the options are endless. Personally, I think the age difference is half the fun though, and also the least of their issues. When you're off making out with the objectively worst person in history, wether he's too old for her isnt gonna rank very high on people's list of concerns.

[papabirdurskeks]

"Precursor" Anatomy

Well, once again I spent some months working here and there on some new headcanons no one asked for BUT here they are!

Some random anatomy headcanons on the Witness's People! To expand upon my previous posts!

-Be warned, this will be a LONG post-

The bones:

To start, we go to the basics, aka the main structure of it all, the skeleton. When looking at the skeleton of a "Precursor" (if one is able to), one will note that is it humanoid in shape save for a few differences here and there. They stand upright on two feet and have a single set of arms and legs akin to that of a human. But when looking for those differences, one will see a few of them. The skeleton is almost a gray blue in color, the teeth just slightly lighter while the base of the skull and parts of the neck are darker as shown in this basic viewing of the skull.

The skeleton's coloration comes from the fact that becomes stained overtime with the individual's blood, which is noted to be a rich, deep blue in color and highly potent in smell. This potent blood can be extremely dangerous to other species, toxic even as it was a primary defense against animals that would try to prey on them. While now they are apex predators of their homeworld, they keep this trait as they evolve to keep others at bay to try and do them harm.

This is why it's also always hard to find a full skeleton to study as most individuals are cremated upon death to avoid the toxic blood from pooling out and aerating into public spaces.

The eye sockets are also large and hollow to house the large eyes they possess as it both aids them from bright and almost blinding lights as well as being able to see in near pitch-black darkness. The top of the skull is lined with hard, boney crests that protect their heads from heavy blunt force damage, adding an extra layer of protection to the brain. Yet, the base of the skull almost appears hallowed and riddled with grooves, looking rather brittle to the touch. Yet, despite its brittle appearance, the bone is just as strong as the rest of the skeleton. This hallowed out base allows for the brain and extensive nervous system to fix itself comfortably about the individual's body; the grooves offering an opening for the growing nerve tendrils that sprout as they age.

The teeth on the skull suggest an omnivorous diet among the people, with the frontal teeth bearing sharper for grasping and shredding flesh and plant material while the back helps to grind down the tougher parts of said meals. However, their jaw strength is comparable to a human's, loosing strength over time as they no longer eat their meals raw as they had much earlier times. Yet, the still are sharp and tough enough to garner damage to any foolish individual to stick their hands or fingers in their mouths.

The skull is held up by a thin yet long neck, lined with nerve pikes at the bases to keep that connection with their extensive nervous system. These nerve pikes are extremely sensitive when they are connected to the nervous tissue, allowing a proper means of reaction time when situations go astray. Along the bottom of the jaw is also an extended piece of cartilage-like bone that lines itself along the neck for extra mobility and flexibility of said neck while also giving it the needed support to keep the head up.

Hands and Feet:

Next in connection to the skeleton is that of the hands and feet. While they do the same things any other creatures would do for them and bear similar characteristics to humans, they also harbor their differences as well.

All "Precursors" are born with the simple hand structure just like humans, four fingers and an opposable thumb on each to help them grip and hold items with ease. Yet, these hands also hold a few unique traits different from that of humans. Their feet are also quite different in structure as well, being partly digitigrade in formation as they walk solely on their toes and front of their feet. Each foot is lined with three large, clawed toes.

Yet, upon birth, infants are born without their trademark "claws" on both hands and feet.

Instead, the tips of their fingers and toes are lined with an extra layer of thick skin covering these "claws" as it keeps them from damaging their parent during the birthing process. These "claws" do not grow out until the infant reaches about 4-5 months in age, in which they soon begin to experience a "peeling process". This process is extremely painful for the infant, akin to teething if one could put it, as the skin begins to break apart and pull back to reveal the "claw" beneath it. These "claws" are actually the bones of the tips of their fingers and toes, sharpened out and hardened over time to give them their trademark defenses dating back to the earliest days of their ancestors.

Along with the fingers and toes, a "heel spike" will also form in the back of the foot at the base of the ankle. This provides an extra means of defense for the individual as they grow older with age.

And once they reach adulthood, these claws will be the most important and deadliest pieces of personal weaponry for the people against any threat they come across.

Fully formed claws will be completely pitch-black in color and hardened like stone, unable to break easily despite it being bone. These claws allow for easier grasp of objects and surfaces alike alongside their defenses. At the wrist there is also a small spike that forms as an individual gets older. While not as prominent as the heel spike, this little spike adds an extra means of defense IF one is able to land a blow on their foe, stunning them enough to make them step back if hit hard enough. Again, this is an old evolutionary call back to the earliest days of their ancestors.

Each hand and foot is lined with dark lines that resemble stripes. These stripes are actually nerves beneath the skin that line along the rest of their bodies, giving them a bit of extra feeling in their fingers and toes when touching with the skin itself or when picking up vibrations through the bone; allowing the body to react when signals are sent to the brain to alert it of what is going on.

"Hair" and Emotive Responses:

And in speaking of their nervous system, now is a good time to take a look at the tendrils on their heads that often resembles hair to outside species.

When looking at the "hair" on their heads, one would find that this is not hair but in fact tendrils connected to the base of their skull and back of the neck. These tendrils serve as an extension of their nervous system in being able to read their surroundings as well as emote themselves more discreetly. Each tendril is connected to an ultra-sensitive nerve spike that also connects directly to the brain, which in turn feeds the brain the proper information when receiving signals of its surroundings. And as an individual grows older with age, the nerve spikes grow along the tendrils to give them more time and means to better understand their surroundings.

This in turn also allows for an individual to regulate their emotive reactions, keeping emotions discreet to outsiders who may often see them as "cold" or apathetic.

However, this is more of a misunderstanding when it comes to communication between different species. As the "Precursors" have evolved to be discreet over time, they found different ways to express themselves that only those within their own species would easily understand. This reasoning for this silence communication can be found in this post here.

Yet, sometimes there are other indicators that can show to others when one is feeling expressive in their emotions. In times of happiness or joy, tendrils tend to wave about in an almost shy sort of way, the ends twisting about themselves as if they were tickled by their happiness. Others express their joy or affections to one another by entwining their tendrils with another, bonding with said person in a deeply emotional moment that can be shared between them. When angered or stressed, their skin dulls and their tendrils twitch as if they were the rattles of a snake's tail. And in times of extreme sadness or stress, their tendrils will curl close to their breast or twitch about manically as if trying to seek some semblance of self-comfort in their ordeal.

The natural markings on their bodies also tend to darken in their stress as well, indicating that they are not feeling well in the situation they are in. The same of their tendrils as they darken with color in high times of stress. Black tears will usually accompany an individual who is under extreme pressures of emotion, appearing almost ink like as it runs down their long features.

It is unknown as to why their tears are black, but some speculate that it was once an old defense mechanism in the early days of their evolution that helped keep predators at bay in which they would actually spray these "tears" at the faces of said threat to temporarily blind them and give them time to escape. Others speculate it is because they have become emotionally discreet that the tears can blend into their natural markings to give them less of an emotive appearance.

Body Markings:

And lastly come that of the markings on the body. While most of the markings are explained here and here, there is some additional info to be put about them when looking at the "Precursors".

One will note that the majority of the species almost looks to have the striped variety placed upon their being, lining the very same extensive nervous system that keeps them connected to their natural surroundings. But sometimes, there are few that are born with traits that go back to their ancestral roots and stay with them even long after these genes have not been seen in many.

When most "Precursors" are born, they harbor particular markings on the face around the eyes and nose that usually indicate their age. However, some adults keep these markings even well beyond the time of childhood. As adults back in their earlier days of their ancestors used to carry this trait as it kept their eyes and noses further protected from the intensity of the sun(s), the traits were eventually lost over time during the Golden Age Era when life was seemingly better off. But as time goes on and evolution takes it course, this trait seems to have made a comeback among some families.

Freckles are also another trait that is less commonly seen, doting the very stripes of their bodies to give them a unique speckled look. The variety of both traits depends entirely on the genetic makeup of an individual and will look vastly different from person to person.

Yet, as previously stated, markings do play a crucial role in communication between the species. And when one falls ill or is close to death, others will note that their markings are hardly to be seen, giving them an entirely ghostly appearance of pale skin. This usually indicates that their systems are failing them and are in dire need of medical attention or at the peak of death. Others who harbor severe depression also go through this, essentially pushing their systems into a state of unwillingness to live.

If noticed in time, others can be able to aid them and bring them back to health, offering a variety of comforts to make their last moments easier to go in peace or help them get better; a trait that is once again, predated back to the times of their earliest ancestors.

---

Okay, this is all I have for the moment but I am sure along the way I will have more. Sorry I had to keep a lot of the sketches basic but with my new job, I don't get as much time to do things when I want to. BUT, I do hope this helps in getting across some of the ideas I've had lingering about and why I do the things I do with my art and headcanons!

Just remember, these are purely headcanons and are to be as such especially for my stories! Its all meant in good fun! c:

[poweroftwelve]

Welcome to Power of Twelve!

Power of Twelve began over five years ago as a rewrite of the Power of Three and Omen of the Stars series of the Warrior Cats books. Over that time it has garnered hundreds of fans who engaged with the work and continued to delve deeper into its concept. It was a simple question.

What if every clan had cats with the power of the stars in their paws?

What began as something small became something so much bigger. The scope of Power of Twelve was daunting, and yet fueled by a passion and love for these characters, my goal is to bring that story to life in a format that brings art and writing together to help it shine.

My name is Knot, and I'm a 23 year old cis woman who uses she/her pronouns. I have been reading Warrior Cats since I was 9 years old, and this is my dream and goal - to share the story of Power of Twelve through every arc.

My main blog is @notwarriorswiki where I do art and chat about cats. You can also find spoilers for this AU/Rewrite there. My main blog is @kestrelwing where I do my reblogs and replies. It's a lot of different fandoms there, not just Warrior Cats.

As a quick note:

I am never bothered by "Like Spam". Like as much as you want. It's engagement and that makes me happy!

I love Asks, so don't be afraid to send them. Feel free to use the Anon function, as I get it can be a bit daunting. I'll try to answer as many asks as I can.

I love seeing tags and replies in a post, whether that be reblogs or general chatter. That's never a bother.

Changes within this rewrite include:

Fixing the Family Tree in many areas to avoid pairings that are a bit too related for comfort.

Expanding on the familial bonds between cats. For instance, Graystripe and Willowpelt will interact as mother/son, and therefore also Graystripe and Darkstripe will interact as brothers.

Expanding clan culture, differentiating the clans, and showcasing new roles cats can aspire to be within their clan.

Greater focus on character arcs, and changing much of the narratives themes to address problematic elements.

Large overhaul of the plot, especially in Po3/OotS.

As time goes on, a Master Post will be made compiling information to make things more accessible for newcomers. However, if you've never heard of Power of Twelve before now, you're just fine. This series will be designed so that anyone, Warrior Cats fan or not, can jump in and read along without background knowledge.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy Power of Twelve.

[sanjoongie]

Outlaws with Benefits

My Submission for Outlaw: The Project hosted by @ssaboala 🐎 Pairing: Outlaw! Yeosang x Named Outlaw! Reader (f) Aurora

🐎 Genre: Futuristic Western au, coworkers with benefits trope, toxic love

🐎 Word Count: 4,592

🐎 Warnings: gunshot wounds, washing and fixing a wound, descriptions of intense pain, mentions of alcohol, nipple play, begging, finger sucking, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), penetrative sex without a barrier, f and m orgasm

🐎 Summary: when you and Yeosang get separated from the other outlaws during a job-gone-wrong to steal some new hover bikes, the two of you find somewhere to hide while it all blows over. But when you sustain an injury and Yeosang helps you strip, one thing leads to another...

🐎 Rated:18+ MDNI, smut with no plot :)

🐎 Dedication: @flurrys-creativity for giving me this wonderful idea. @mejuii & @downtoamagicalland doing the best beta-ing a beta can do 💖

You felt like your heart was beating a thousand miles per minute but if you didn't love the feeling you never would have become an outlaw. Running from the law, stealing what you needed, living your own life that you dictated, that was how you wanted to live. Even if that meant a few failed attempts at stealing.

That was the predicament you were in currently. The group of outlaws that you were with were talented, be that in sneaking into corporate run warehouses or hacking an electric run lock, but they were also very cocky and also sometimes dumb.

"Did you really have to stop to flirt and brag to the barmaid that we were going to steal the bikes?" San shouted over the rush of the wind, his helmet having been cracked during your flight.

Wooyoung got a smug look on his face as his eyes scanned the horizon for objects to avoid as you raced away from the marshalls. "She sucked my dick good though."

Hongjoong grabbed his favorite goat bobblehead that he had sentimentally attached to his bike and chucked it at Wooyoung's head. The younger ducked and stuck his tongue out at the elder from underneath his helmet, however. 

"Are you saying we lost our bikes because you wanted to get your dick wet?" Yeosang bellowed into the comms. 

Mingi was busy listening to his "I shot the Sheriff" running-away-from-the-law inspired playlist and almost veered into your bike. You smacked him on the shoulder before he bashfully veered back into his lane.

"They're getting closer," Jongho warned, always remaining the level headed one.

"I think we should split up," Seonghwa suggested, eyes moving to the screen that his rear camera fed into.

"The last time we split up I was in jail for three days before you sprung me out!" Yunho protested.

Wooyoung winked in Yunho's direction. "That's because you're so pretty, they wouldn't let us take you back!"

Hongjoong cursed under his breath. "Cut the shit, we're splitting up," he commanded, agreeing with Seonghwa. "Wooyoung, Seonghwa, and San head to the Wave safehouse. Yeosang, Aurora, and Mingi, I want you to circle back to the warehouse and see how they doubled up security. Jongho and Yunho, you're with me. I want to plan our next step. Now--"

The marshals were so close that one actually managed to hit you, your skin burning as the laser revolver barely skimmed you. "Fuck," You cursed and severely veered to the right as a result of clamping your hand over your wound.

Yeosang, who was closest to you in the formation, broke off to follow you, as per the rules when someone got injured. "I got Aurora!"

"I bet you got her," San murmured under his breath.

"Mingi, you--" Hongjoong was cut off once again as comms were cut off. The damn marshalls had a scrambler. 

Yeosang pulled up level with your bike so you could meet his eyes through the helmet. The comms may be dead but there were still hand signals, that you two often used while surveillancing a potential target. He motioned that you two would lose the marshalls and he knew a place the two of you could tuck yourselves into. You nodded and took Yeosang's lead.

The damn marshals were stubborn and stuck to you two like flies to a horse's ass, but with some tricky maneuvering, perhaps an incredibly cool jump that shot you two over a canyon, and some quick thinking, you two managed to shake the marshals. 

Yeosang had found a junkyard, one he had gone to previous to the mission to steal the bikes. He had needed an outdated horn sound that would pull the guards away in a distraction, and much to San's delight, was the music to the dukes of hazzard, an old country classic. The plan would have worked, if not for Wooyoung's dumb ass bragging.

The junkyard was typically filled with hover vehicles of all proclivities. But the best part was that Yeosang had discovered the perfect hidey hole. It wasn't much, a simple transport truck with the unfortunate company name Uranus' Chocolate. It was big enough to hold you, Yeosang and your two bikes and inconspicuous enough that no one would think you two had hid there.

Once everything was tucked away and Yeosang had closed the doors as best as he could, the light stripes that were at the bottom corners of the container flickered on. You leaned heavily back against the side of the container and slid your back until your butt met the ground. You tried to lift your arm but hissed at the pain. Lazer wounds were a bitch. You wouldn't bleed out but without any nanomeds, you weren't likely to build back up the muscles you needed to actually ride your bike.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Yeosang reassured you, "We can leave your bike and double."

You winced. You did not want to leave your beloved bike behind. Sure, you had planned on trading it in for the newer class hoverbike but you hadn't planned on ditching your old one completely. It had gotten you through a lot of jobs with it.

Yeosang rolled his eyes and sat down beside you, on your injured arm's side. "We'll come back for it, obviously. God, you're so sentimental."

"Sorry I can't turn off my emotions like you," You scoffed. 

Yeosang's eyes scanned your wound. "You should take off your shirt."

You made a face of bewilderment. "I gotta pay for a shot for San, damn he was right."

"We should at least wrap up your wound," Yeosang ignored your barbed comment, "You still keep your flask on you?"

"Oh!" You reached into the inside of your vest pocket and pulled out the small heart shaped flask. "Of course I've got Snow."

Yeosang's face pulled into a look of mild disgust. "Can't believe you named your flask after a video game character."

"Listen, Snow is hot, okay and he was in love. Don't shit talk Snow!"

Yeosang made a 'give me' motion to take the flask. "You strip and we'll wash your wound first."

You didn't have anything under your button up shirt and vest. Had you used up all your courage fleeing the marshals or could you--Yeosang lifted an eyebrow in question and you decided fuck it. You unbuttoned your vest and then threw that to the floor. Next was your button down, undone a lot slower. You watched as Yeosang's eyes followed your fingers trail and eyes widened a fraction when he saw no underclothes. His eyes shot to the ceiling out of decency. Interesting. 

However, you were having trouble with your sleeve on your injured arm. Your whimpers of pain trickled out of your mouth unbidden and you hated appearing weak before a man who was notorious for never folding under pressure.

"I can help." Yeosang offered. When you didn't answer him and cursed again, he changed his statement. "Let me help."

His fingers gently folded your shirt down your arm, careful to pull upwards so the fabric wouldn't touch your wound and then you were naked from the waist up. You were about to reach down and grab your vest, at least that would cover you up decently and keep your arms out, but Yeosang's previously gentle fingers dug into the flesh of your arm and stopped you.

"Wash it, first. Then you can cover those drool worthy tits of yours," Yeosang insisted.

Your mouth moved to a flat line. "Get a good eyeful, did you?" You used your free arm to cover your tits instead.

Yeosang's eyes didn't leave your wound as he carefully tipped the flask over it. You cried out pitifully as the pain was indescribable. "You're the one that didn't ask me to look away."

"Oh, a blatant invitation, was it? What's next, your dick slips into my cunt because it just so happened to be in the way?" You snapped.

"Aurora," Yeosang scolded you, "You're in pain and you're naked, I get it. Snap at me if you want but do not pretend that my dick would slip into your cunt."

Your face screwed up incredulously. "Excuse you? Was that some kind of humble brag that your dick is big?"

Yeosang tsked at you and poured more of the alcohol over your wound. You turned your head away, willing yourself to not get sick from the pain. The last thing you needed was to throw up on Yeosang while you were at it. 

Yeosang took advantage of your focus that had turned away from him and ripped a strip of your discarded shirt off, but not before tucking your flask into his back pocket. He tied it tightly around your arm while he replied. "That wasn't a humble brag."

"Are you done now, Doctor?" You demanded tonelessly.

"We'll get some nanomeds when we get back to the city. In the meantime, you and I both know that you're not getting that vest on without my help."

"I'd rather sit here for the next eight hours with my arm over my boobs than let you put your hands on me again," You spat, still feeling raw from the pain of your arm, that continued to pang and remind you of its presence. 

"Suit yourself. I like a little cleavage while I wait out a storm." Yeosang settled back against the container's side easily.

You sighed heavily. You really didn't want to sit with your arm over your boobs for eight hours. "Can you keep your eyes to yourself?" You relented.

"Well that's sad, considering how pretty they are," Yeosang lamented, "But I can."

"Then please…?" You let your words hang in the air, the implication obvious you wanted help.

"...please, what?" Yeosang looked like he had no idea what you were talking about.

You, somehow, managed to set aside your pride. "Please, help me put my vest on."

Yeosang tilted his head like he was waiting for you to finish a sentence that clearly had a period at the end of it. It was your turn to roll your eyes. "Yeosang. Please."

"Of course," He agreed and stood up again. 

He bent over to pick up your vest and held it carefully so that nothing touched the wound that he had finished dress and cover. Next was the tough part. He tipped his eyes upwards again, but this time a faint smile pulled his lips upwards. 

"Get that smile off your face, Kang Yeosang," You barked.

Yeosang moved behind you with a quiet chuckle. You let go of your boobs and turned your arm behind you so that you could put it through the other arm of the vest. When nothing happened. "Yeosang!"

"Sorry, got distracted by your ass back here. It looks nice on a bike from behind but this way it looks smackable."

You will yourself to not lose your cool again. Yeosang helped you slip the rest of the vest on and then you were doing up the buttons as quickly as you could. "I'll be taking Snow back, thank you."

You held your hand out, waiting for your flask but it never came. Instead, Yeosang pulled it out from his back pocket, tipped his head back and shot the rest of it down his throat. You couldn't even protest, you were so flabbergasted at his actions. Only then did Yeosang deposit back to you your flask, wiping his lips with his thumb.

"I fuck better when I've taken a shot," He informed you nonchalantly.

"I'm the one in pain, Yeosang, what the hell?" You pressed. You were going to ignore that comment when you already knew the difference. 

“The alcohol isn’t going to help with the pain,” He educated you, “What you do need is a distraction and I’m going to give it to you. I’ve been doing good so far, baiting you and keeping your focus on me and your anger instead of your pain.”

Shit. He had a point. A damn good one at that. Besides, what else were you going to do while you waited for the heat of the law to cool down?

“Yeosang…”

“Remember our first stakeout?” Yeosang interrupted you.

You sighed heavily. “We said we’d never talk about that again.”

Your first stakeout with this outlaw group, when you were freshly wanted, had been so exciting that you had fucked Yeosang in victory. The two of you had been in an office building across from the instrument factory that manufactured a particular violin that was going to be the perfect vessel for some hacking codes to get into a rich, high society individuals safe. Yeosang was assigned with you for surveillance and lookout. Neither of you had shed many clothes, Yeosang had simply held your legs over his arms and fucked you up against the window of the highrise.

You had been so embarrassed afterwards, shame creeping up your neck for fucking someone you were supposed to work with, on your first job nonetheless! So you had sworn Yeosang to secrecy and never spoke of it again. 

Except… there had been another job, the biggest heist your outlaw group had pulled off. The take had been so much money that Hongjoong had rented out an entire whorehouse so that everyone could drink and fuck to their hearts content. You had been about to go into a pretty whore's room, New had been his name, but when you opened the door, Yeosang was leaning against the headboard of the bed, arms crossed behind his head. You were buzzed and full of yourself, that you had made an offhand comment that you had paid for a whore's services so you had better received a whore's fuck. Yeosang had taken that as a challenge and ensured that you couldn't walk that day.

And so began the back and forth situationship with Kang Yeosang. Sometimes you fucked, sometimes you ignored each other's presence, sometimes you fought like cat and dogs. It was… strained at best. 

Hence the state of affairs currently.

"There's nothing wrong with distracting yourself with me," Yeosang made his case, "In fact, I'm probably the best one to distract you. If I recall, you get quite dumb with my dick inside of you."

You winced for what felt like the hundredth time today. You couldn't argue with anything Yeosang had been saying. And did you truly want to sit here and wallow in pain and snap at Yeosang or would you rather get fucked dumb by him?

You licked your lips. "You realize this is toxic and stupid of us, right?"

Yeosang shrugged, once again showing just how well he could keep his emotions separated from the situation. "Fuck it. We are outlaws, after all. Don't you have to be a little stupid and toxic to enjoy this life?"

"Well aren't you a wealth of wisdom," You muttered under your breath.

"Aurora," Yeosang said with that no nonsense tone he used on you during missions.

"Alright!" You shouted at him but also at yourself. "Still wish I had some alcohol though."

"C'mere," Yeosang said softly and wrapped his arms around your waist.

This close, you had nothing else to do but study Yeosang's features. His golden eyes were doing the same, white liner around his eyes, glimmering with the reflective ability to keep the sun from blinding him during surveillance. Your eyes moved across the planes of his face, tracing the gold chain that covered a scar he had gotten during shootout when the marshals had found the Hala Safehouse. His hair was getting long, despite Hongjoong offering to cut it for him. You suspected it was because one drunken night you had told him if he dared cut it you would use the same scissors on his pretty face and give him a new scar.

"Open your mouth," Yeosang commanded next. You did and immediately put his thumb in your mouth, easy with his fingerless gloves."Suck, don't lick," He ordered next and you did that. You hollowed out your cheeks and focused your spit to swirl around Yeosang's digit. With his other hand, he easily undid the button to your vest. He used the wet digit to swirl around your nipple, while the other groped your other breast, squeezing and massaging it to his hearts delight.

"Swear to god you have the prettiest tits I have ever seen," Yeosang swore quietly, eyes glued to your chest. His mouth fell open, almost muscle instinct, as if he wanted to put one of your nipples in his mouth. 

He made you suck his other thumb and he did the same thing to your other breasts, neglecting nothing. You could feel the heat of your lust pool in your pants. The idea popped into Yeosang's head just as you wished you had been smarter about your outfit today. "You don't have any underwear on, do you?"

You pressed your lips together and looked away. "Yeaahhhhh," You stretched out the word. 

Yeosang groaned, his head falling back slowly. "Why do you do this to me?"

"It wasn't for you," You whispered.

Yeosang turned your head back to him. "Say that again."

You felt that shame that always burned through you when Yeosang made you set aside your pride for him. "I thought you were going to fuck me on your new bike, sue me."

"Well, we didn't get the new bikes," Yeosang quirked one eyebrow, a habit that only made the wetness between your legs gush, "But I can do it on my current one."

You whined and it wasn't because of your pain anymore. "These ones lean like the old motorbikes--Yeosang, think this through!"

The outlaw began to press you backwards towards his bike. "Turn around, hands on the seat."

You swallowed but there was no moisture in your mouth. You did as you were told and that's when Yeosang's hands snaked around your body and played with your nipples. You watched as he pinched and pulled and made you moan with the way he handled your breasts. 

He did eventually abandon your tits for your ass, which tended to be his preference. "We're going to go back out there and get those new bikes, darlin', and then I'm going to fuck you on it, just like you wanted. You can hold the handlebars and push this sweet ass out--" Yeosang accentuated his comment about your ass by smacking it gently, "And I'll fuck you like I was picturing when we were fleeing the marshals."

"Yeosang," You pouted.

"I'll take care of you, darlin', don't worry," Yeosang assured you.

Then the bastard took a grip of your ass and ripped a hole in your pants with the force of pulling the soft, worn leather apart. Before you could even protest, or worry about riding a bike after this, Yeosang was crouched on the balls of his feet, face so close to your heat that you could feel his breath on the wet flesh there. Your legs almost buckled when his tongue found your cunt. He took long, measured licks, from clit to hole. His rough tongue would slide along your clit, swirl in your hole and then repeat. Soon enough you were rocking back onto his tongue, looking for more stimulation. Yeosang gave it to you. With his tongue stuck out past his lips and looking to touch his chin, he curled his tongue and moved his face up and down to make you come with quickly, like he knew how to do after having access to your body so many times. You came undone for him so damn quickly, that shame was back again. Why were you so down bad for this man?

"Good," Yeosang said in a raspy voice. "You know how wet you have to be for me, right? Do you think you're prepped? You want me to finger you into another orgasm?"

The image of Yeosang fucking you with his ring and middle finger, scissoring you for his length flashed across your mind. "Puh-please," You stuttered. 

"Please what, darlin'?" Yeosang posed.

"Please prep me, Yeosang. Fuck me with your fingers, I need something inside of me."

Yeosang chuckled. "Why does the begging always sound prettier from your lips?"

You stiffened at the implication that Yeosang was comparing you to others. You almost snarled before Yeosang cupped you from behind, having discarded his glove, and inserted his middle finger into you first. Your fingers dug into the leather seat of Yeosang's powered down hoverbike. "Yeo-Yeo!"

"Does that feel good, darlin'? You like when I fuck you with my fingers, don't you? Love when I stretch this puss for my dick, right? Remember when your tiny puss barely took my dick? You whimpered and cried through the whole thing as I stretched you. Your poor abused pussy really got fucked that night, huh? All those tears because you had never felt so fucking full before, had you?" 

Your nipples tightened at Yeosang's words. "Mo-more please."

"Oh, eager for my dick that you want two fingers already?" Yeosang questioned. "Want my dick that badly? I bet you compare my dick to all others, don't you? Nobody fills you like I do. No one fucks you like I do. No one makes you come like I do."

Yeosang introduced another finger and it had you squirming with the sensation. He steadied you with a hand on your hip as he spread his fingers to push your warm walls back. Even if you enjoyed the sensation of his two fingers inside of you, it was nothing like his cock. Yeosang's cock was curved for her pleasure, and even when he fucked you from behind, the curve still managed to push along your gspot and give you amazing pleasure.

"You already came once, can you come again for me, darlin'?" Yeosang asked you.

"Please, Yeo, wanna come again," You whimpered. 

He leaned over your body and you shivered when the cold metal of his long jacket pressed against the bare skin of your back that was left from your vest. "Then come," He said simply.

Your entire body shuddered as another orgasm hit you, again, seeming too soon for something that took other men a lot longer to coax from you. Was it the familiarity of your body or was it because Yeosang really was that good?

You were panting and felt sweat cooling all over your body. Yeosang really was keeping your distracted. "See how well I know your body? Should let me fuck you all the time. Should just move your stuff into my room. Should fuck you in front of Sannie so that he knows that this body is mine."

The next image of Yeosang wretching your head backwards, holding you in place as he fucked you as you braced against a chair that San was in ripped through your imagination. That sounded a little too good. The true problem was, Yeosang's fingers were still inside of you, so he felt you clench down at the thought.

Yeosang chuckled again. "Oh darlin'," He sighed, "Just admit it. I know you well."

"I suppose you do," You said, closed lipped.

The head of Yeosang's dick prodded at your beyond drenched folds. He rubbed against them, acquiring your wetness over the head and then he started to push. Even accommodating his head was always an ordeal. Still, Yeosang was patient, reading your every sigh and whimper. Once his head was in, however, the rest of his shaft pushed in easily. The tease against your g spot was close to overstim but not painful. 

Yeosang pulled your shoulders back so that your back was against his t-shirt clad chest. "Rest your arms. Let me do the work."

His fingers circled your waist, and began to fuck up into your pussy. The sharp upper angle he seemed to be able to do with his hips had your eyes rolling into the back of your head almost immediately. The repetition of a slow pull out and a sharp upper thrust into your cunt had your brain zoning out. You didn't feel any pain, all you could feel was how your cunt was feeling good enough to leave earth behind. 

Curse words fell from your lips, followed by a crescendo of 'yeah yeah yeah's as Yeosang's thick cock fucked you dumb. Eventually, the soft swaying of your tits drew his hands back, cupping one of your breasts and playing with the nipple almost absent mindedly as he snapped his hips forward again and again. 

"Yeo, Yeosa-sang," You managed to groan as thrusts almost interrupted your air flow.

"Gonna come again? You're so greedy for my dick, Aurora. Just admit it. I'm perfect for you. Stop denying it and trying to keep it hidden from the others. They don't care who you fuck so why should they care if it's me? Be my outlaw, darlin'."

You nodded swiftly, words lost, and this time Yeosang didn't insist you use them. He damn well knew that you were beyond the point of anything other than screaming his name. 

This time, using your tits to hold onto, he shifted his angle and somehow hit that spot inside of you in a way that urged you instantly through your third orgasm of the day. Your throat was raw from screaming his name. The minute your orgasm was complete, you felt all energy leave your body. 

You leaned down against the bike seat, your good arm curled under you, as Yeosang fucked you through your orgasm to chase his own. His hands held your ass cheeks apart so he could watch his dick disappear inside of you, and soon he was gone too, fucking through his orgasm, allowing for all his cum to spurt inside of you. His deep groan as he did so was enough to make you clench down on him one final time. 

Yeosang practically had to carry you bridal style where he collapsed against the side of the container, cradling you to his chest. You snuggled your head into his chest and he placed his chin on top of your head. "You better fucking remember that you're mine now," He practically growled.

"That's all I'm going to be able to think about when they heal my arm wound, Yeosang," You said serenely, completely content in your post-sex state.

"You should get a little gold chain like mine," Yeosang suggested. You swore you heard a pout in his tone but you must have been too tired to be picking that up correctly.

"That's the worst proposal I've ever heard," You joked, "Matching chain scar cover ups?"

"Mine," Yeosang insisted.

The two of you fell asleep in the container, nothing waking you up until San, Wooyoung and Hongjoong found you at dawn. Yeosang's long coat covered you both and San clucked his tongue in annoyance.

"How fucking hard is it to get two dumb ass lovers together?" San complained.

"Apparently, really hard," Wooyoung muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"Think they realized it?" Hongjoong wondered, a soft smile pulling his lips at the sight of you two sleeping together.

"Nah," San said, waving a hand to dismiss you and Yeosang, "They'll be happy with some new bikes and be none the wiser."

Wooyoung banged on the side of the container to wake you and Yeosang abruptly. "Wake up, lovebirds, I want a new bike!" He yelled.

Hongjoong looked at the sky like he was looking for a higher power to help him with his gang.

[freesia-writes]

Tech, Phee, and a Fix-It Fic

Took this post from @ashyybees-art and ran with it, though it totally got away from me. It should have been wayyyy shorter and more simple. But, alas, here we are. Also... this was really hard to write cause I'm not a huge fan of Phee just yet. :/ Sorry. Prolly cause I was elbows deep in my own Tech/OC fanfic when she came onto the scene. But it's a lil somethin to hold us over with a happy headcanon until we get further news in season three. <3

Words: 2k SPOILERS for the season 2 TBB finale! -=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Phee had always told herself she would be independent. Capable. Self-sufficient. Strong. She didn't need anyone but enjoyed the company of others… a little too much, recently. The squad of "deviant" clones had left a lasting impression in her life that she hadn't quite been able to shake, especially the demeanor and appeal of one bespectacled crew member in particular. 

So when she put a tracking beacon on the Marauder, she told herself it was for practicality, for protection. She wasn't one of those clingy sorts who got too attached and fawned over someone; she was a clever and skilled woman who thought of backups and contingency plans for herself and those she… loved? It wasn't something she would utilize unless she absolutely had to; better to have it in place and not need it than to wish she had. 

Something felt different the night they left. Omega, typically delighted to share anything and everything with her, had been uncharacteristically cryptic about their covert mission. She'd made an attempt to get a clue from Tech, but he was even more shifty than usual, and eye contact was enough of a struggle to get from him, let alone a straight answer. She couldn't tell if he was distant because of stress or anticipation, or perhaps she had done something to offend him? Perhaps he had changed his mind from the warmth and interest he had shown when they first arrived on Pabu?

Regardless, she had responded to his nervous little goggle adjustment with the typical flutter of the heart and a small smile. She knew him to be incredibly proficient, unassumingly strong, and incomparably intelligent. So they parted with a casual farewell, and she anticipated the next time they would see each other. Perhaps he would share what had been weighing so heavily on him for this particular mission. 

She couldn't sleep that night, alternating between tossing and turning with anxious hypotheticals and drifting into periods of sleep that were punctuated with disturbing nightmares. This was unusual, and in the wee hours of the morning she gave up, heading to the balcony of her home to watch the sunrise. It wasn't an obsession, or a need to have him in her sight the whole time… just an undeniable sense of foreboding. She doubted he would react favorably to her shadowing him, but perhaps if he didn't know… 

Breakfast found her equally unsuccessful in focusing on anything else. The nagging feeling had only grown, to the point that it was becoming unbearable. She hit her limit. An hour later she was prepped and in her ship, activating the tracking beacon. She'd just take a look, a quick fly-by, to assuage the unrelenting plague of worry. 

It wasn't her first time having to sneak past Imperial ships, and she transmitted a trusty clearance code that hadn't failed her yet. As she descended, the radar's beeps came more quickly. She dropped into the atmosphere and her eyes were met with towering rock formations poking above the clouds; it was impossible to tell how far below the planet floor was. Her heart leapt in her chest -- there was the Marauder! It was neatly folded against one of the cliffs, perched on a perfectly-sized ledge. No sign of light or activity, however, so she took a gentle loop to see where they may have gone. 

Sudden alarms notified her of the approach of incoming craft, and she peeled away to avoid being seen, diving down toward the forest canopy. Her ship was small and easy to navigate, and she lowered it into a small clearing as a handful of Imperial fighters shot overhead. She whipped out her electrobinoculars, following their path, and the scene that met her eyes made her stomach drop to her feet. Blaster bolts flew between skyrail cars, and the ships pelted them with shots on a fly by before arcing through the air to come around for another run. She spotted Hunter's red bandana leaning out the window of one of the cars as he sent a few shots at the opposite car, and then a swinging figure caught her attention. 

She gasped aloud. Tech. Dangling far below the cars by a single wire, attempting to climb but moving too slowly as the fighters approached yet again. Her mind raced. What could she do? She wouldn't be able to launch fast enough before they came by again, and even if she did, she would likely be shot down, outnumbered as she was. Before she had the chance to think of any other options, a single blaster bolt fired from Tech's suspended form, breaking the skyrail coupling, and he began to free fall, along with an entire car following above him. 

Simultaneous fear and focus kicked into high gear. She plotted his trajectory, fighting down the waves of nausea that broke upon her, and began to sprint into the forest. The trees and rocks seemed to reach miles into the sky above her, a sickening realization, and she picked up the pace, gasping for air but refusing to slow down. 

Crashing through a wall of bushes that scraped along her arms, she let out a cry as she saw his crumpled form ahead, unmistakable with the white armor and colorful accents. His backpack, cracked in half, dangled from a sharp branch above, and his helmet had splintered, scattering shards across the clearing. Collapsing to her knees next to him, she gently rolled him onto his back, taking a sharp inhale at the horror she saw. His fall had been broken only by tree branches, each one leaving a mark as it hit him with full force. One had whipped across his head, shattering his goggles, which dangled from one ear, and horribly disfiguring his face. Dirt mixed with blood and bone, and she fought to maintain consciousness. She didn't know how extensive the damage was, but she had to get him somewhere, anywhere, and fast. 

***

Shapes and shadows, muffled sounds… Waves of pain… Dreams of light, always ending in darkness. Weightlessness and water began to form in his mind. The rhythmic sound of mechanical breathing. But all was dark.

Suddenly, weight returned. He was being moved; the ground was shifting below him. He was lying on his back, as far as he could tell, but movement was nearly impossible. Everything felt so heavy, as if he were made of the thinnest glass and could shatter at a moment's notice. And the darkness, the murkiness. He thought his eyes were open but there was nothing but shadows, appearing from nowhere and startling him, taking form and then melting away. 

The whirring sound of servos grew nearer, accompanied by a robotic voice, "CT-9902, can you hear me?"

It took a few swallows to remedy a dry mouth despite the recent emergence from water, and his voice cracked as he spoke, "I can."

"I am your assigned 2-1B medical droid. You have sustained heavy damage."

"Diag… diagnostic report," he breathed, fighting a rising sense of panic at the unresponsiveness of his vision. He tentatively attempted to move fingers and toes, shifting his weight to and fro, but he could see nothing but vague patches of dark and darker. As the droid recounted his injuries, his claustrophobia grew. It was irrational. It served no purpose. But the inability to snap out of it, to look around at his surroundings, felt suffocating. Focusing on the droid's analysis as a way to ground himself, he calculated the possibilities of his future. 

It wasn't a fruitful endeavor, nor did it have its usual soothing effect. He had always been one to successfully employ mind over matter, logic over emotion. But the sensation of being trapped within his own body was a novel one that was proving to be insurmountable as of yet. The droid finished its debriefing, machinery indicating some kind of movement, and the pit in his stomach grew heavier.

"Where am I?" he asked with a gravelly voice.

But there was no reply. 

Time stretched into eternity, and his ability to analyze and predict was significantly less sharp than he was used to. His nose was assaulted with the sterile scents of a medical bay and his ears picked up every beep, whoosh, and whir. His mouth felt dry and metallic, and the sensations throughout his body were a myriad of pain, awareness, and comfort. But his vision was gone. Almost entirely. He assessed the likelihood of what had happened, slowly bringing a hand to a heavily-bandaged face. His eyes were not covered, however, confirming his fears.

Solitude usually didn't bother him, but he found himself yearning for his brothers. The factual analysis of his situation did nothing to improve his mental state. He needed answers, and patience was not a prominent strength of someone who had been able to make things happen quickly and effectively his whole life.

"Well… You've certainly looked better," came a familiar voice, breaking him out of his morose reverie. It was not a voice he had expected, but it was an improvement to the circumstances nonetheless.

"Phee," he said quietly, "What happened?"

He felt a weight on the side of the bed, accompanied by a shifting shadow overhead, then the gentle, warm touch of a hand to his bare cheek that made him flinch involuntarily. A quiet sound of sympathy came from her, and the hand disappeared.

"You decided to go flying without a jet pack," Phee answered, "And the local landscape seemed to have an issue with that. Particularly the trees. And the ground."

"It was necessary," he replied, still struggling to speak more than a short sentence at a time. "My vision is impaired?"

"Your whole body is impaired," she said, attempting to keep it light, though the gravity was betrayed by the emotion in her voice. "You're lucky to be alive. But yes, for now."

Tech let out a small sigh, resting his head back on the pillow in defeat, "That is not ideal."

"You being alive is all that matters. You hear me?" she said with empathetic conviction.

"I do," he answered, resigned to the fact that a satisfactory response would require more stamina than he could afford. Phee rose to her feet.

"Good. Now you work on healing so we can get out of here."

***

The process was painstakingly slow, even with the miracles of bacta and medical droids, but finally the day arrived that they would be able to return to Pabu. Tech managed to shower and prepare on his own, feeling along the walls and fumbling about for each step. The whoosh of the door notified him of someone's arrival, and the identity was quickly confirmed by that euphonic voice.

"What are you wearing?" Phee asked as she saw him. He was wearing the medical bay defaults, which looked similar to his blacks, but had folded and tied an extra shirt around his eyes like a bandana. She wanted to laugh and cry simultaneously. "I think Hunter has already claimed that particular fashion statement."

"It is likely that the appearance of my face is disconcerting, considering the damage from the fall. I did not want to be the cause of any detestation."

"Detestation! Listen to you. Come here, Brown Eyes," she invited, drawing close. "I'm taking this off, alright?"

"You may have to select an alternative term of endearment," he said as she gently pushed the makeshift bandana up and off his head. His face had indeed healed, but the rich brown eyes that had so captivated her were covered in a thick layer of milky white, and moved unseeingly in her general direction. Scar tissue tracked from his temple on one side to his ear on the other, creating a knotted texture on his previously sharp profile. He dropped his chin a bit, in a posture of shame, and her heart broke.

She dropped the folded shirt on the nearby bed, reaching for his hands with her own. His startle reflex had diminished only slightly; it would take a while to get used to a world of shifting shadows. She traced her hands up his arms, feeling him stiffen slightly at the touch, then up to his cheeks, cupping his face with as much tenderness as she could convey. She gazed into those eyes, wishing he could see the emotion on her face as she did.

"You're not gonna get off the hook that easy," she said, gently brushing his cheekbones with her thumbs. "Besides, Brown Eyes, the phenotypic eye color for all clones is brown, you know, even if you can't see them," she said with a grin that could be heard in her voice.

And for the first time since the accident, a small smile curved the corner of his lips as well.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Requested Tags: @32rotations @cocolinagoodnight @thenonsensebatch

If you enjoyed it, feel free to check out other works on Wattpad or Ao3. :) Got a full-length Tech fic, a short cute "first date" with Gregor, a short-ish rivalry of Tech/Crosshair fighting over you, and an ongoing full-length canon-aligned backstory on Howzer. :D

HANG IN THERE TIL SEASON 3! Much love!

[satancopilotsmytardis]

How do you go about writing your fan fictions? I personally kind of just go for it, but I end up loosing the flow and it gets all jumbled up and doesn’t really make any sense.I’ve noticed in a few of your sneak-peaks sometimes your writing is written like a script, or they are random short snippets.

I’m hoping to fix the flow of my writing, and not loose motivation as quickly.

I also usually just start writing. For the most part what I publish is almost exactly what I wrote for my rough draft with just some grammar/spelling edited (if I remember to bother with it before just throwing it up, or if I'm not practically falling asleep before I publish it).

The screenshots that are snippets are taken from scenes that are already fully written, then I just decide on a paragraph or two that I think get the idea across most clearly. The screenshots of writing that looks like it's formatted like a script are probably specifically from my Data Leak WIP, where I'm showing text messages from the characters! That's a way to represent those texts stylistically, and not how I typically write/draft.

When you guys see anything with bullet points, that's my outlining process. Normally that happens after I've already written a chunk of the story and determine I need some of those notes to make sure I don't forget about elements that I was foreshadowing just in case I step away for a while. For example, here is the chapter summary/outline for chapter 3 of Dalliance:

I knew this one was going on the WIP rotation so I wrote down everything I remembered wanted to be in that scene so I had a play-by-play when I got back to it. If you struggle with maintaining motivation for projects, then outlining with a full chapter summary can help ensure that you remember where you wanted to go in case you take a step back for a while.

But if I know I'm doing something in a bigger chunk I don't bother with that and only make short notes. For the Pet!Shifter Dabi story, this is all I have for my outline:

It's just the bare minimum of notes, but they act as anchor points for my story. These are three scenes that I want to hit, anything around these scenes can change or be adapted, even these scenes themselves can be adjusted, it all just depends on what the narrative is doing once I get deeper into the writing. If you're struggling with your flow becoming incoherent, then setting anchor points in a loose outline can help with this. You can always look at the point you are aiming on getting to, look at your current trajectory and adjust accordingly. Sometimes you might notice that the original plan isn't working anymore, that's okay too, as long as you can replace the point you were originally going to with one that is as concrete/makes just as much sense, then making that change can help your story grow.

As far as losing motivation goes, it really, genuinely does help to share your work with a few people/online who motivate you to keep going. I know that when I was in college I was writing at a similar rate as I am now because I was working on my degree. However, once I left, I slowed down a lot until I finally started posting again over the last year. If you have other writer friends then sharing with them can be a great way to keep going!

And for anyone wondering why I'm working in Comic Sans: No joke, writing in Comic Sans can genuinely help you to write faster/not be as precious with your work. And I'm writing on green with gray text because it helps me with my eyestrain after spending so much time on my computer for writing and work!

I hope this can help, but everyone writes in very different ways, and it really, genuinely can take a while to figure out what works best for you! Good luck, you've got this!

[transgenderer]

A description of three visitors to Kamigamo Shrine:

Mr. N., from a suburb of southern Kyoto, comes regularly in the morning on the fifteenth of every month to petition the kami. A rather tall man of sturdy proportions, twenty-five to thirty years of age, he is always immaculately dressed in a double-breasted suit, with slicked-back hair and shoes shined to a sparkle. Bypassing the font for cleansing one’s hands and mouth, his first station is the middle of the Tower Gate entrance, where he plants his feet wide apart and enacts the kashiwade with sweeping ges- tures that indicate an affection for sumo wrestling. Then, he ascends the stairs and finds two stones in front of the Middle Gate, positioning his feet in a manner not unlike a baseball player stepping up to the plate to bat. Legs wide apart, he flexes his knees, rolls his shoulders, and clears his throat before fixing his gaze in the direction of the inner sanctuary. Pulling a folded piece of paper from a suit pocket, he opens the first of many folds and begins his own invocational prayer, modeled on the norito prayer format given by a Shinto chief priest while seated before the altar. At first the words are slow and distinct: “O great kami, hear the petition of N., from X, who addresses you in awe and gratitude.” However, soon after the pro- logue, the speed doubles, then triples, until Mr. N. is ripping along like a Buddhist priest during a rite to say the nenbutsu a million times. Even with this speed, his petition usually takes ten minutes to deliver. The at- tendant of the upper amulet counter adjacent to the Middle Gate says that Mr. N. is always on time, always stands in the same place, and always leaves without acknowledging anyone. His monetary offering to the shrine is discreetly slipped into the wooden coffer at the beginning of his petitioning and never placed in an envelope that might give away the identity of its donor.

Mr. H., a man in his late fifties, makes the trip from Yokohama to Kyoto once a month between the first and the fifth (the bullet train both ways costs around 23,000 yen or, as of this writing, around U.S. $210) to pay respects to the power of Wake Ikazuchi. Unlike Mr. N., he is quite open about his motives for making this journey:

I believe this kami to be great and fearful, largely because I was granted a vision at Koyama [the shrine’s sacred mountain] shortly before the terrible typhoon of 1991. It was a beautiful day in early August, still and hot, but not sticky like it usually is, and I had gone to the mountain as is my custom. Suddenly, even though there was no wind, the thick growth of trees and vegetation on the southern face of the mountain became agitated, as if moved by a great wind. However, there was no wind at that moment— so how did it happen? The very next day, typhoon nineteen hit Japan— eventually extending from Kyushu to northern Honshu— causing damage like we haven’t had from a single typhoon in years. The kami of thunder and lightning gave me a message, and I’ve been trying to ready myself for the next one ever since. I do misogi [purification by flowing water] daily and have formed a group of people in Yokohama to talk, study, and experience this austerity so that we might be closer to the spiritual world

He performs the kashiwade not once but three times in succession. On completion of his worship, Mr. H. always makes it a point to visit the priests at the administration building and keep them up-to-date on his group’s activities.

Mrs. S., age seventy-plus from Otsu city, struggles up the steps to the Middle Gate twice a month, then sits on the stone seiza style (with legs tucked under the buttocks as the knees and shins support and carry one’s body weight). There, hands held together in the Buddhist-style gassho, she mutters a prayer of some five minutes while gently swaying back and forth. I am told that she is not the only woman who sometimes kneels on the stone, but for a man to do it would be “very unusual” or, in the words of another priest, “out of the question.” One day, on her way back to the bridge over the river, she picked up little red berries on the path beside the Mitarashi stream, bowed to the hillside the berry bush grows on, then found a suitable spot to kneel beside the gently flowing water. She cradled the berries in one hand and, beginning what seemed to be a prayer, methodically tossed them one by one into the stream. Despite the soft morning rain, she did not wear a jacket or carry an umbrella. When the berries were all gone, she bowed to the stream, walked across the bridge to the second torii, turned and bowed once again in the direction of the inner sanctuary, and slowly ambled away.

Enduring Identities, Nelson

[mp721]

The New LGBTA Wiki Still Has Issues

(Alternate title: Two-Thousand Words of Writing On the Current State of the LGBTA Wiki That I Wrote At 2am and Edited the Next Day)

Intro:

As of a few months ago, the LGBTA Wiki is being hosted on a new platform (link). While the Miraheze site is still up and will be for the foreseeable future, users are being encouraged to use the new site. The reason for the change was the massive amount of resource-less pages, misinformation, incorrectly formatted pages, etc. on the old wiki.

Though this seems like a good thing, the new wiki still has some massive issues as of writing. Since the site has only been up for a few months, there is a chance that they will be fixed, but I sincerely doubt they will be.

My primary issues with the new wiki are as follows: Lack of resources, lack of credit, redefinitions of terms, renaming terms, excluding names for terms, lack of histories, conflation of terms, only acknowledging one version of terms that have been coined multiple times.

Since I’ll be expanding on all of these points (and with examples), this is going to be a very long post. So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Before I can get into the details of many of these issues, I have to explain something about the formatting of the new wiki. The majority of pages on it are massive umbrella terms for a given term that then list every term that the moderator of the wiki has deemed to go under it listed in an information table under a subheading. While I personally do not like this choice, I have a hard time finding anything inherently wrong with it on it’s face, so it isn’t a part of my big complaints. It does, however, contribute to a number of the serious issues I do have with this wiki. 

As another quick addition, I will not be discussing every single instance where a certain issue shows up. It’s easier and quicker for everyone if I just use a few examples, often the most egregious, to illustrate a larger point. I’m sure if anyone were to go look, there are far more examples of what I’m talking about than I list here, and I encourage anyone interested for whatever reason to go check that our for themselves. With that out of the way, on to the issues.

Issue 1: Lack of resources

A number of the information tables listing subterms do not link to the post or any images showing where a term and flag were made. This can be seen on the Bigender page (link), the Xenogender page (link), and the prefixes and suffixes page (link). This is a problem for a few reasons. The primary one is that it makes it incredibly difficult to verify any information. While this should not be a problem, the majority of term archival wikis have had information in some form, so easy fact-checking is one hundred percent necessary. It, along with one of the other issues I’ll discuss in a minute, makes it hard to find where information comes from, meaning it’s harder to find whether it’s reliable in the first place, which source they’re drawing from for terms that have been coined multiple times, who is responsible for coinig what, and when and where terms originated.

Issue 2: Lack of credit.

In addition to not providing links for information, a concerningly large amount of terms also do not credit who coined them or where they were coined. This can be seen on the same pages linked in the last point. In fact, only three terms listed on any one of those pages provide links and, only by extension, credit. Those are the -corian, -comfic, and -coric boxes on the prefixes and suffixes page. While a number of terms listed in that page specifically were not explicitly coined and, arguably, don’t require credit, some do. As do all of the terms on the other linked pages:

-cenic is listed with no credit, link, or definition, despite very clearly having a coining, coining post, and definition. Several terms, including Abigender, Libragender, Xenosoft, and Xenogenderfluid are also completely creditless and sourceless.

This, alongside the lack of provided links, also makes it harder for individuals to find who coined a term in order to figure out whether or not they’re comfortable using a term or flag created vy any given coiner or flagmaker. Even putting aside the issue of whether or not pages should have banners discussing possible problematic views and actions by coiners, it should not be difficult for anyone to find that information for themselves. Especially not when it’s so easy to include information that makes that easy to find and research different individuals.

Issue 3: Redefinitions

This doesn’t require as much explanation. Though, I will give a few examples just to substantiate my point:

-corian(link) is listed as being related to core aesthetics. Not core suffixed aesthetics, as it’s defined, rather it seems to mean central, primary, embodying, etc.

The listed definition for Xenosoft(link) excludes the part of the definition that mentions soft xeninity, rather than just exclusively a soft Xenogender. While this seems minor, it is possible to identify as xenine but not Xenogender and vice versa, just as male with masculine and female with feminine, and excluding that part of the definition excludes a wide range of Xenosoft experiences.

Libragender(link) while also being conflated with Abigender and Bxgender, more on this later, is defined as identifying with two genders, as well as a connection to genderlessness. While some may experience being Libragender in this way, that is not the original definition. It is, instead, defined as being primarily Agender with a connection to something else.

The listed definition for Werewolfcorian(link) excludes the connection to escapism, the vibe and aesthetic of werewolves, the specific phases of the moon this gender is especially connected to, and attributes the connection to the sinister atmosphere of werewolves specifically to just a connection to general sinister atmospheres. There are also other changes to the definition.

Issue 4: Renaming Terms

I’ve only immediately recognized one instance of this in my limited searching through the wiki, but it’s still an issue and I genuinely doubt that it won’t happen in the future.

The first coining of the term Xenofluid was renamed to Xenogenderfluid in its information box(link), despite the fact that it was not coined as or ever referred to as that in its coining post. There isn’t a chance that it’s actually a different term being refered to here, unless it’s another conflation issue, since the Xenofluid flag is shown as the flag for this term.

Issue 5: Excluding Names For Terms

This is a fairly limited issue, as far as I’m aware, but it’s also completely avoidable and, in my opinion, inexcusable for a wiki. The first coining of the term Panxenic/Panxenogender(link) is listed exclusively as Panxenogender(link), despite that being the secondary name. While there could be the excuse made of the new formatting only using singular names for subterms, that falls apart for two reasons. 

The first is that wiki formatting should be designed around the best way to archive and display information. The information that is displayed should not be edited to fit wiki formatting.

Secondly, that isn’t even true. There are examples of multiple names being listed for terms, including Xenby/Xenbie, which is on the same page, and the Abigender/Libragender/Bxgender box on the Bigender page(link). I’ll be getting back to that whole thing in a minute.

Issue 6: Lack of Histories

In addition to the other issues that seem to be brought about by the new formatting, none of the terms listed in information tables that I have seen give coining dates or dates for the creation of flags. Not a single one. If nothing else, this is an issue because there is literally no reason not to list coining dates, or the closest that can be found for terms where the original sources are deleted. There is no excuse for it not to be there. It is impossible to find the information necessary to give the name, flag, and definition of a term and not have easy access to the date it was coined on. This is a massive, completely unnecessary oversight and I cannot conceive of why this information has been left out.

Issue 7: Conflation of Terms

For anyone not in the know, the conflation of terms is a term that seems to have been coined by the mods of Gender-Archival/Genderpedia that typically refers to taking one or more parts of a term including its name, part or all of its definition, and/or its flag, and attributing that to another term. This often also involves not giving any credit to the originator of said name, definition, etc. This, alongside many of my other issues, was all over older versions of the wiki and shows up in full force here, too. It also goes hand in hand with completely ignoring other versions of certain terms, something I’ll get to later.

A prime example of this also appears on the previously mentioned Bigender page. The page completely folds Libragender, Abigender, and Bxgender into the same term, with the same basic definition. While Bxgender is an alternate name for the specific version of Abigender(link) that is referenced there, based on the flag featured anyway, it is also its own term, coined separately from any version of Abigender(link).

For full transparency, this is the only example of this issue that I found in my limited search. However, it, on its own, is still a problem. If nothing else, because this exact same misinformation, in conflating Abigender and Bxgender, was on the old Wiki. So there is absolutely no reason to trust that a lot of the old misinformation will be fixed in the move. Which, given that fixing misinformation alongside other things was the primary reason for the move, is painfully disheartening.

Issue 8: Lack of Acknowledgement of Certain Terms

To establish how this can even be an issue in the first place, I do have to establish something else, first. While I’m sure the majority of those aware of this wiki are also aware of recoining, I’d like to give foundation, just in case. Recoining is the name for when multiple terms have been coined under the same name. The most prolific one I’m aware of is Zombiegender(link) though there are several other examples(link). I’ve seen a few different opinions on how archives should handle recoined terms, but I’ve always been of the opinion that they should all be listed in some form or another, for the sake of transparency and avoiding confusion, if nothing else. I’m a fan of the way Genderpedia does it, suffixing each page with the ‘place’ in which it was coined in which it was coined, for example, Zombiegender(1), Zombiegender(2), and so on and so on. But there are other ways that it could be done. Something I’d like to hope that most can agree on is that you can’t just not acknowledging recoins for a variety of reasons, including clarity, transparency, and having an accurate account of coining history.

The new LGBTA Wikis does not use any of the options for acknowledging multiple coinings of terms. It seems that the current strategy is to just choose one version of a term to list as the real one, I guess, and then never acknowledge that any others exist. Some examples of this are Seasonalgender, Summergender, Autumngender, Wintergender, and Springgender(link); Abigender; and Monstergender(link).

Outro: 

While I do have some other, more minor, issues with the wiki, I don’t feel the need to list or expand on them here. 

A number of members of this community have given this wiki chance after chance after chance to get their stuff together and actually be something resembling a good resource. But, as much as it really sucks to say this, I do not believe that it’s possible at this point. This wiki has changed hands and platform multiple times and it continues to have issues. While a number of these issues have gotten better, new ones have popped up and others have gotten worse. Callout posts, coiner boycotts, new leadership. None of it seems to be enough to fix this wiki.

I obviously can’t tell anyone who or what to support or what to think, but I would seriously caution everyone to at the very least check everything you see on any any version of this wiki, if not outright avoiding it. It has shown us time and time again that misinformation will be proudly, often sourcelessly, displayed with no disclaimers or corrections made by anyone.

I gave up on expecting anything better from this wiki back when I realized that edits and pages spreading misinformation were being aloud to go public by moderation despite lack of sources, incorrect definitions, and some other issues. But this completely destroyed any hope I had that maybe it could be good at any point in the future.

This new version might, so far, have less misinformation than any other version of the wiki, but that almost makes the existing misinformation even more insidious. Readers are less likely to register misinformation as such if its surrounded by correct information. This wiki is a goldmine for that kind of stuff. If I didn’t have the knowledge I did on a lot of these terms and my existing skepticism of the wiki, I would’ve been fooled by a lot of what I listed here. I can’t imagine how much worse it would be for someone who is new to the community. Who doesn’t just know all the names for Panxenic or what the actual, full definition of Werewolfcorian is.

I’m not sure how to end this post, because there isn’t much else to say that I haven’t already, here and all over my blog. This whole situation is just incredibly frustrating and disheartening and kind of bewildering to me. Chance after chance, platform after platform, it feels like none of it mattered. There’s still misinformation, there’s still term conflation, there’s still a complete lack of sourcing in some cases. The LGBTA Wiki still cannot be trusted. And I cannot conceive of that changing any time soon.

[powertripblog]

Comics, USA Style

Did you know that the United States of America doesn't really have any interest in standardization? You probably did, but sometimes it smacks you in a really annoying way.

Case in point, I have been doing research into comic page sizes to get an idea of what I should follow for Powertrip once I am properly drawing the comic. This might seem like a pretty pointless thing to do for a webcomic, and it really is in the digital realm. However, in the very unlikely circumstance that this comic ends up both popular, and with a significant demand to be printed out physically for people, doing this comic page work in advance could potentially save me hundreds of hours in having to manually fix every page to be printable. So it's not a massive deal technically, but just a concern worth noting if you are ever getting into drawing comics for no one on the internet.

Anyways, the first place I started was simply by looking up "US Comic Page Size". I was aware going into this that US comics are not printed at the same size that other regions are. I want my comic to be as close as possible to something you'd find on a shelf in a comic book store in format, so I need to match them. The weird thing is though, when I was looking up comic page sizes, there was NO consistency. Every single site and template I found had slightly differing measurements. It wasn't even something dumb like a rounding error, these sites all just fundamentally disagreed with each other on the exact size of a comic page. It didn't help that they were giving the size of a PRINTED comic page, which as I found out is not the same as what artists work with when drawing a comic. It's like some really stupid version of House Of Leaves about a comic page that measures bigger on the inside than the outside or something.

So here is the actual deal. When drawing a US comic page, artists will generally start out with an 11 inch by 17 inch piece of paper. In the physical realm they use a heavy, high quality piece of paper called a Bristol Board. As I mentioned before this size is not what you will see on an actual printed comic page. When going to print, the page size is actually quite a bit smaller, roughly around 6 inches by 10 inches (that is rounded up by the way the actual size has like 4 decimals on every number).

Now the second thing to note is how the paper will be cut when going to print. Even though the comic page is reduced in size, there are further cuts made to the paper before it prints. There are three areas on a comic page where this cutting business occurs, those being the Safe Area, the Trim Line, and the Bleed Line. The Safe Area makes up the largest part of the page, and is where most of your art will go. This area will never be cut out by a printer. The Trim Line is where the printer will generally trim your comic. Something to note is that different printers can vary in how they cut this area slightly, so the Trim Line is not an exact point, but a small area instead. Finally, the Bleed Line is where the page WILL be cut off. This area exists for the times you draw full page art. If your art needs to go to the end of the page, you will want to draw it all the way up to the end of the Bleed Line. The Bleed Line is also a small area that extends to the edge of the page, but the distinction from the Trim Line is important.

So with all this knowledge in mind now, we know what we need for our comic. The only thing left is the measurements themselves. Remember this is a US comic, so that means we get to deal with Imperial measurements! So, starting from the edges of the page, the Bleed Line will be 1/2 inch on the sides, and 13/16th inch on the top and bottom (like I said, Imperial). The Trim Line will be 5/8th inch on the sides, and 1 inch on the top and bottom. Finally, the Safe Area begins at 1 inch on the sides, and 1 and 3/8th inch on the top and bottom.

Cool, we got our measurements all measured. The only thing left to mention is that if you are wanting to print out a comic page ever, check your DPI. This is a big deal, and CANNOT BE CHANGED once you start drawing a page for the first time. DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, as in how many dots a printer will spend in ink on every inch of your drawing. 72 DPI tends to be the default in most art programs, and while this is fine for online publishing printing it out is going to leave your comic looking like soup. 300 DPI is the minimum recommended for printing, and most printing companies consider 600 DPI to be the requirement for a high-quality print. I personally am choosing to work in 600 DPI, but depending on how much hard drive space you have this may not be realistic for you to do. Large DPI images will make for large file sizes, and while I am lucky to have a fat 8 TB hard drive, some may not even have 1 TB to work with.

Basically, the moral of the story for all of this is to do your own research. Looking into all this comic page stuff taught me quite a bit about the needs and expectations of physical releases, and will help to standardize my own comic pages going forward.

Oh right, before I forget. The reason I have kept mentioning US Comic sizes is because different regions of the world tend to use different sizes. Europe uses the standard A4 paper for their comics. Manga in Japan are also a different size. I didn't do research into these different sized papers because they weren't relevant to what I am looking for, but if you are in these regions or trying to imitate their comics then it would definitely help you out to look into it!

Anyways, thanks for reading all of this technical, boring rambling. I will go back to more vague concept art for my comic Powertrip after this post now.

[melishade]

After finishing the story and watching the visuals of aot, did it gave more ideas to work on?

Honestly, not really.

So for some context, I was a manga reader for AoT, and I specifically was in order to get more ideas for Attack on Prime. When the manga chapter for Assassin's Bullet came out, and Eren started laughing like a maniac over Sasha's death, I knew how I wanted to end the story, and I knew that the Rumbling was going to be activated. That is what spawned the creation of cm186: one of the first of many documents I had for AOP. (There was another that I had on a flash drive but the flash drive got busted and it costed too much to repair it and it devastates me to this day. Back up your files on different formats writers). cm186 was a lot of the brainstorming and rough drafts of that final battle and the aftermath of that battle.

Now I had an idea for an ending, it was just a matter of filling in the in between. How to get to that point. I continued reading AoT and continued writing for that 4 year gap that Isayama ignored. The Paths chapters dropped; that became some free ass real estate. And then AoT dropped the final chapter, and the final chapter wasn't something that I was particularly happy with. And I've stated in my author's notes of other chapters as to why that was the case.

Before and after the AoT manga ended, I was still writing, brainstorming, outline, analyzing, all that stuff for Attack on Prime. Even as I was writing chapters, I had written concept idea and scenes for future chapters that were either scrapped or changed via dialogue and action. Even now, as I've reached the climax: Guren No Yumiya, I still have to go back to previous chapters and fix certain things because I either don't like the direction I've taken, or the big scenes that happen in certain battles don't feel as impactful, so I have to add stuff.

Aot's anime ending remained mostly the same. I like the fact that they fixed Armin and Eren's conversation, which was one of the major problems that I had with the manga; however, there are still a lot of problems that I have with AoT's ending which would have benefited from an extra few chapters. Such as:

-Ymir's relationship with King Fritz, -Mikasa's role in the story, and the fact that she still holds onto Eren and thinks of him fondly when he killed 80% of all humanity (Also she kissed his decapitated head. That's still pretty gross.) -Also the whole Eren causing his mom's death because it's been shown in the show that abnormal titan can ignore a few individual people if they see a large host of people (i.e. Rod Reiss' titan) -We don't really see the fruits of the Alliance's labor post Rumbling. -Everyone looking at Eren rather fondly. This is kinda fixed in the anime, but it rubs me the wrong way in the manga. -The lack of time we really spend with the warriors and warrior cadets which causes their character development to be a little lackluster. I guess I'm thinking in the context of "I've known them for so little time compared to the main cast of three season"

There's a lot I could talk about, but I'm certain there are others who can explain it far better than I can. But AOP is essentially me addressing what I didn't like with AoT. Aot's anime ending did nothing to change that.

[dduane]

Been thinking about the 'everything' sale. However, the page reads the package was updated on March 25, 2021, so over a year ago. Though there have been updates to some of the items since then. Are the updated items included? Also, a couple of the prices are listed wrong as well (just a small thing I noticed). It's hard for me to make a decision on such things with an older date and incorrect listings.

Hey, this is belated, but I wanted to thank you for catching this and letting me know about it.

(a) The product page (and of course the underlying product "package") was updated a number of times since last March, but for some reason the note on the page about when this had happened, hadn't been. My bad: so apologies for that. The most recent update was July 29 2022, and the product page now reflects this.

(b) All the items in the package are always the most current ones. (I went through all the single-format packages on the 29th to doublecheck this.)

(c) Re the differences in listed prices: it's not entirely clear to me whether we're discussing the prices on the product page or differences between those and the prices listed on the individual products' pages. In any event, I checked both and found one listing (I think it was the one for Interim Errantry 2: On Ordeal) which had been recently repriced due to the addition of new material (Owl Be Home For Christmas). Unfortunately the repricing was done in only two of the three places in the store where that has to be done, and as a result the store's two discount systems got in a fight with each other and didn't correctly report IE2′s price or correctly discount it. As far as I can tell, that problem’s been fixed now. If that was the disparity you spotted, my apologies again.

Meanwhile: we're about to do the Whole Store For $44 sale again today (in honor of @crossingscon), so a post will go up about that a little later in the day.

Thanks for the inquiry! And for your understanding. :)

[digitalgate02]

WELL, WELCOME TO THIS POST WHERE I JUST RE-WRITE THIS AU SETTING FOR SOME REASON -- PART ONE!!

As you might be aware, i’ve commented about this setting before and its sad story. Long answer can be seen here: part 1 • part 2 The short answer is: this was an AU stuff i made back in 2012 as i felt disappointed with Hunters finale. But deep down i did not intend (and still not) it to be a “fix-it” story, but more an AU setting. Like XW anime and XW manga are.

I was also into Super Sentai that time and recently watched Gokaiger (with bad subs, sadly) and keep this in mind.

The rest of the post will be in a “read more” format to prevent one of my friends who didn’t watch Hunters yet to see the spoilers of the actual canon. But keep it in mind this is an AU and nothing else.

The Setting:

XW is one of my favorite Digimon series. And since it aired in 2010 to 2011 (then got extended by Hunters, running from 2011 to 2012 in a short run of 25 episodes) ... I’m playing with the famous “the story takes place in the same year it aired” rule here. XW events are from 2010. Hunters is stated to be a whole year later, so basically 2011.

This AU also goes by it. It takes place in a parallel universe being kinda  “canon divergent” from XW. It also mixes XW manga (more soon).

Taiki and Yuu form a basketball group with Tagiru, who was one of the witnesses of Bagramon vs Shoutmon X7 SM battle. This battle, however, had effects not only in Taiki’s world but also other worlds. More about this later.

Tagiru sees Taiki as a savior and someone he wants so much to surpass and become a legend too. But the thing is... Tagiru lacks something. He extremely respects Taiki, but at the same time he wants to show his potential. He wants to be cool too! So beating a strong rival seems cool, no? Though, Taiki is only his mentor, at least in his mind. Their bonds are not that strong but we’re getting there... Tagiru will stop seeing Taiki as his “mentor who i must surpass someday” later.

In the meantime, something happens in the Digital World, and this place, DigiQuartz, is created. The cause of this is unknown, but Shoutmon starts investigating it. However, the villain here has big plans to care than the Digimon King’s researching for this weird connection to the human/real world.

Shoutmon’s Digital World is a little peculiar by the way. In a special area there’s a big mural telling stories of a group of heroes from other worlds, each children in this place had been the main piece of their battles for the peace of their worlds. Such legends and tales were spread through the Digital World. They’re called by “Legendary Heroes” and although their names were never revealed, the digimon from that world codenamed each of them by those stories:

The Winged Courage. Codename: Sun

The Golden Heart. Codename: Heart

The Galant Dreamer. Codename: Knight

The Fiery Warrior. Codename: Warrior

The Banchou Savior. Codename: Fighter

The Red General. Codename: King

Shoutmon and everyone knew Taiki was recently added to that mural and the Xros Heart’s stories were told. But the remaining five’s identities were unknown. However, the mural had them depicted by how they looked when they saved their respective worlds. No one knows who or what made that mural, it only existed there for a long time ago.

BUT, only three residents of Shoutmon’s DW were fully aware who those legends are -- One of them being a parasitic digimon called Quartzmon.

The Story’s Prologue:

Quartzmon actually created the DigiQuartz space, and started kidnapping digimon to try invade the other worlds and fuse them into one. The key is having the power of the Six legends in hands. A mysterious old man wielding a fancy Xros Loader attempts to screw those plans, by selecting children to capture the digimon inside the DigiQuartz and send them back to the Digital World.

But, one of those kids was corrupted by Quartzmon, who took the child’s body and mind. With this, Quartzmon managed to invade Taiki’s world. Without a body, Quartzmon is unable to do much, because it consumes a lot of his power, but having a vessel means... He could open a dimensional gate without burning all of his stamina.

The ol’ man learned about this too late. And then, Quartzmon had gathered a few servants -- some children too -- and manipulated their minds. His plans have started. Desperately, the strange elder tried to recruit help from the Legends, but one by one they were disappearing with no trace. Well, except for one.

Daisuke’s (bizarre) advent:

In Taichi’s world, circa 2010... Taichi and Daisuke were some of the witnesses to catch something weird happening in the horizon, more like at the Rainbow Bridge area. Koushiro asked them to go there and investigate it, but all the senpai-kouhai duo had seen was a normal and functional bridge. No scratches or the big monsters they all had witnessed for a couple of seconds.

A year later of this peculiar event, Taichi vanished without traces. The group had a meeting to discuss and investigate it, Hikari feared he had been sent to the Dark Ocean world, and some wondered if he had disappeared somewhere in the Digital World. Since most of the older six were too busy to help search for him, the mission ended up in the hands of the 02 group.

Everything was fine UNTIL the weird day Daisuke walked into a weird area and forced to fight for his life... Against Apollomon -- one of the Death Generals. During that battle, he couldn’t evolve V-mon at all!! Suddenly all his devices had stopped to work, and the D-3 wasn’t working. His phone (unlike Kizuna, this one is a regular model from 2010) and D-terminal were also malfunctioning. Out of the frustration, he and V-mon had no option but try to escape.

Except... This place wasn’t his Digital World anymore. It was actually.. The DigiQuartz.

Once V-mon got tired of running and decided to fight back... Daisuke’s D-3 turned into a new digivice -- A Xros Loader with the same color of his original D-3 -- but with no idea how to use it and much more questions about this odd battle, V-mon couldn’t win at all. And He’s badly injured by Apollomon.

Then, a human (?!) voice of some old man whispered to Daisuke use that device to recover V-mon’s data and body. And with no hesitation and in total despair... Daisuke does what was told and saves V-mon from death.

Two shadows then manages to get rid of the rampageous Apollomon, and then he meets... the mysterious old man with a Clockmon partner. This man explains things to Daisuke of course, and mentions that Taichi is in this world.

“Wait what!? This world!?”

Daisuke then realizes he ended up crossing the space-time barrier and walked into another world.

The Digimon Hunting Game Arc:

That man kept recruiting children to rescue digimon in the meanwhile, as he worked so hard to protect at least Taiki and Daisuke from this enemy’s hands. Under the pretext of a hunting game, all children around Japan were playing it.

But one particular child was having strange dreams and wasn’t involved with the hunting... yet. This kid was Tagiru, who you heard previously about. Said dreams were about five shadows with strong digimon wanting him to stop the hunt. Then, he and his digimon were saved by someone with a hood on, and face couldn’t be seen either. Said mysterious person knew his name, and was saying something BUT...

... He never managed to see the end of that dream. The dream was always interrupted by something -- alarm clock, or someone/something waking him up.

One day Tagiru accidentally bumps on one of those hunters (Ren) and follows him to the DigiQuartz, where he watches a trio (Ryouma-Airu-Ren) capture a digimon... After this tiny digimon pulled him with his elastic tail to a hidden spot.

Said digimon was Gumdramon, and he immediately clicks with Tagiru. They became friends, but the problem is... Tagiru has no Xros Loader for this, right? It’s only when the trio had vanished that the old man pops in and takes both Tagiru and Gumdramon to his special area. Then, there... A Xros Loader is given to Tagiru. His burning ambition led the device to associate it with the crimson color.

Thus, Tagiru and Gumdramon tries to hunt down digimon. In the heat of their first battle, Gumdramon is almost hurt and Tagiru risks his life to take him out of the MetalTyrannomon’s range. He takes the injured Gumdramon to a safe spot. There, they unlock their Super Evolution.

Gumdramon evolves into Arresterdramon and fights back. They clear the game and hunt their first digimon. At the end of it... Taiki and Yuu appear, with their respective devices. It’s when Tagiru plays dumb about not knowing that. Shoutmon’s voice then makes Gumdramon pretty alarmed and frightened, and the trio of boys learn about the tiny wild dragon being related to Shoutmon.

The other two learns about the hunting game, but Taiki mentions have met an old man telling him to not take part of it. However, he wouldn’t sit there and watch. Once he and Shoutmon are reunited, they take part on leading Tagiru through solving cases of digimon messing with the human world.

And later Yuu gets Damemon back, and since the rule does not apply to him... He joins the game with Tagiru. This new Xros Heart trio start their operations, as some shadows watched them from distance.

The Mysterious Hunter Named Lance:

A good time later, Tagiru and co. end up meeting a new employee at Sudou family’s conbini -- yes, the family of Tagiru & Yuu’s classmate, Sudou Miho. The 19-20 year old boy who’s pretty familiar to those who know him, but to those kids he was just a stranger. Lance Goldheart is not a Japanese name of course, but they just assumed it was some nickname or ALIAS name.

And yes, it is an alias... For a special person. This name was definitely picked by the ol’ man to help a very hopeless Daisuke to not get caught by the enemy. Also to not be hunt by the greedy digimon who would like to beat a legendary hero to get popular and induce fear on weaklings. Or to be added to some bizarre collection from the famous collector called SuperStarmon.

Why “Lance Goldheart”? Easy. It’s a hint for Taiki & Shoutmon, soon or later they would notice it. And then they would make an alliance to save the other kidnapped heroes. Hence “Lance” = the lancer -- Daisuke’s role here, and Goldheart = “Golden Heart” & “Heart” -- Daisuke’s legendary title and codename.

However, Daisuke himself was ultra against the digimon hunting (because he was not aware of the real reason for it... yet ) and decides to start capturing digimon to keep them safe and to protect them and innocent people affected by it. Then “Mysterious Hunter” has born. V-mon couldn’t evolve and fight, so he stayed inside the Xros Loader. BUT, and mysteriously (lol) the Digimentals of Courage and Friendship were temporarily turned into “artificial digimon”, which means they’re not actually real digimon. So yeah, Daisuke could fight all again alongside Fladramon & Lighdramon, or digixros them with V-mon... But the latter he wasn’t aware of it yet. He still did not understand that digivice.

By Mysterious Hunter, he wears a scarf as face mask and his shades on, with this hood on as well. No one knew it was him since... No one who knew him absurdly well was around -- not even the ol’ man or Quartzmon are totally aware of WHO Daisuke truly is. No quirks, personality, etc. Just his story and appearance. That’s all.

Tagiru accidentally finds Hunter during a chase, in which Hunter catches the digimon. Since the dreams never had clear about the person’s face, Tagiru only recognizes him by his clothes. And then the poor Tagiru starts panicking about the dreaming being a prelude to his fall.

MEANWHILE, Taiki, Tagiru and Yuu get along with Lance. He’s a nice and wise (?!) dude after all. But they don’t suspect of Lance actually watching them (and against his will) for that ol’ man (also something Daisuke only agreed to do because he saw something in those kids that reminded him and his friends)

Though when Mysterious Hunter had met Tagiru & co. officially... he was kinda abrasive. Rough around the edges, and Tagiru definitely was hating him so harder and much while Hunter was definitely finding Tagiru shallow and annoying (yet, he still would fight for that kid. Like a good parent figure)

Things start getting more and more heated between those four when...

[STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO FOLKS!!]

[Part 2 is here!!]