#Not used to seeing my own art on my dash lol

[mugenloopdalove]

The Devil you Know (and Desperately Wish You Didn't)

Word count: 1405

Summary: The Corner Curios shop was known just as much for its high quality goods and supreme customer service as it was for its rumors. And one rumor-the tales told of a seeing a devil lurking in the shop at night-is far too true, much to the owner's frustratiom.

Notes: This is set in my au where Reya, the woman that Theil used to work for before she turned them away after they confessed their love, is tadpoled, while Theil becomes a more powerful sorcerer and eventually opens a shop in Baldur's Gate. Raphael really wants this bitch's soul bc of their power, so he lurks in their shop and bothers them regularly lol

There was never truly a “quiet” moment in the Corner Curios shop. Brimming with raw unfiltered magic, the legends that the shop itself was alive were more believable every night. Even into the latest hours, when the city was silent and still, it seemed like the shop was still as lively as it was during the day, if not moreso. Rumors had spread all across Baldur’s Gate of seeing a book fly across to another shelf, or a broom moving on its own. Those more skilled in magic claimed you could see how the weave enveloped every inch of the shop. And with the strange, unspeakably powerful sorcerer behind the shop, any one of these rumors could be true.

Even dealings with devils.

There were days where the shop lights stayed on into the strangest hours, but the doors remained magically locked...

“...And it seems that the words creeping in the city’s deepest shadows, the daggers that shoot through the tongues of the snakes and urchins of the alleyways... is that our little legend has made some dealings with the devil on nights just like tonight, when their innocent establishment is shrouded in the secrets of midnight. I’m sure any devil worthy of their soul is rather dashing, wouldn’t you, Theil?”

Leaning against the doorframe of the storage closet, staring down the loiterer with an irritated grin, was the fabled shopkeep seemingly on everyone’s tongue. The tiefling’s face and general mannerisms were as well known as their outstanding customer service and endless selection, but few saw the true face behind Corner Curios.

“Well then, Raphael, my most loyal loiterer,” they replied with a sneer. “Surely you know one.” They stepped towards the table set in the corner of the shop and sat across from the devil, the tension between the two all but visible in their surroundings. The two held a firm gaze, the unspoken challenge handed out. The game had begun.

The silence is broken with the tiniest thunk as a rather large book was sent hurtling right at the back of Raphael’s head, making Theil break out into a fit of childish laughter that seemed to shake the entire store.

“I see your sense of humor is as refined as ever, dear old shopkeep,” Raphael said dryly, picking up the book to examine it. “Ah, The Beginner’s Guide to the Arts. Don’t you think this is a rather childish simplification of things for someone as studied as The Sorcerer Who Would Become A Bard?” There was a heaviness to the title, one that led the tiefling to flick a small flame in his face as he laughed mockingly.

“That was a working title after a month of no sleep.” Theil hissed, cringing over the dumb joke they made after too much wine and not enough rest. “And it’s still better than any of your little ‘contracts,’ dear devil on my shoulder.” They got up to reach for a bottle of wine left on the counter with two golden glasses, as if prepared for the occasion. Too prepared.

The devil’s in the details.

“The daring shopkeep tried all to make the devil they knew all too well into but a distant memory, a speck on their otherwise undoubtedly flawless reputation free of any crime or harm, but their methods, as sad and as simple as the person behind them, are-”

“So are you going to drink the wine? Because if you’re going to keep going like this I might need both glasses.” Theil’s face remained stone cold, in no way humoring the theatrics that had already far outstayed their welcome.

“Do you truly think you can trick me into-”

“Do you think I’d waste vintage wine gifted to me by the friend of my enemy on trying to kill a fly that found his way through the window?” Theil bit back, huffing and taking a purposefully dramatic sip from their glass.

“Ah yes, that wizard you’ve cozied up to. Quite the choice.” Raphael paused before taking a drink of the wine, then stopped to look at it. “Right, it would be beneath you to sully this with poison. Your tastes are finer than that.” He leaned over the table a bit, grinning at Theil with a spark in his eye. “Still... quite the sordid tragedy you’re setting up for a love lost, isn’t it? I knew you weren’t beneath petty underhandedness, but you’ve set up a whole show for me to enjoy, haven’t you dear?”

“It would have been nice to know sooner that you knew the players, Raphael,” Theil looked out at the shop absentmindedly, reflecting on the “heroes” that had found themself tied up with the greatest villain they had known. Everyone wrapped around Reya as if she weren’t the most miserable, selfish, cretin of a person anyone could know. Theil knew full well she was using them all just as she had used Theil in the past. But they were going to get their revenge, one way or another.

As they gazed away, the bothersome devil laughed, as if amused by their frustration. “Now now, I’m not just another pawn you can set, my meddlesome friend. You know as well as I do that even information comes with a price.” A grin spread across Raphael’s face, his more devilish features starting to show as he leaned in even closer to the unamused sorcerer. “So what do you say? Be a good pawn and-”

Theil erupted into a fit of laughter, one so strong that the shop shook hard enough to knock a few books on the other end of the room. They laughed for only a second before their expression returned to the scowl that was ready to chase the devil himself out with a broom. “Your sales pitch is still as appealing as hag water, devil,” they cut back, rising from their seat and sauntering toward the man in front of them. As they moved, the books on the ground magically found their way back in perfect order on the shelf. “I don’t need your help to set the stage, and I’m still making pretty good use of my soul.” They leaned in close to him, smirking as their faces were just about touching, focusing a bit of energy just to remind him of just how much their soul was worth. Of just how much raw magic they held that made it worth so much. The game couldn’t end now, afterall. The winner wouldn’t be crowned today, or tomorrow, or ever. That was the fun of it.

Raphael, for once, was silent, until Theil pulled away with a victorious smirk. “Checkmate, old friend.” Theil said, secure in their victory for this round. “NIce try though, you almost won there. Maybe next time?” They hummed as they walked away, looking through some scrolls to seem busy. “Now, I’ll have to see you off. The show is about to start, and I doubt you can afford the front row seats.”

“I’m almost hurt. If you start having visitors, you won’t need me to warm your lonely nights anymore.” Raphael tried to wrap an arm around Theil, but found himself instantly shoved back by a gust of wind.

“That’s enough, don't you think? Or does the great devil Raphael not have other appointments?” Theil taunted, their temper finally reaching its limit. They tried to hide from it, but in a way they knew it was true- The Devil they knew all too well was the closest thing they had to genuine company, and likely the closest they would ever have.

“I do have far better things to do than humor your childish games any longer. Good luck with the show though, break a leg out there.” The friendly, familiar tone made Theil ready to attack again, but something stopped them. They almost felt empty, and a strange pain was building in their chest, making them almost feel sick.

“You’re wasting time now, devil,’ they said, voice ice cold. “Just get a move on before someone sees you,”

“Very well, I’ll leave you to your miserable farce.” Raphael took a step with a superior grin. “And, Theil darling? Checkmate.”

Before the tiefling could fight back, Raphael was gone, and Corner Curios was silent again.

The shop was still.

The stage was set.

Theil took a breath, letting the negative feelings melt away, and smirk at the knock on their door.

“Let the show begin.”

[politicallyinvolvedpandabear]

Wow, I really love radfems so much. Anyone who, like, gets it. Understands. 

I like consuming entertainment/media a lot, and I especially do it now that I have more free time and want something to enjoy during these trying times, but it just occurred to me why even though I usually like what I watch, it’s been doing nothing for me for the most part. 

It’s the men. It’s because it’s made by men. Not only is the fandom super male-dominated and therefore male (looking up an underage female character and getting unwanted porn of her lmao), I’m so used to the disappointment and whatnot that I forgot what the cause and reason was. 

Basically, when I surround myself with women or see female takes, I feel much happier and connected to others/positive/cheerful. But when I watch something made by a man and can feel it through the sexualization and uncomfortable everything and all of that, then I totally clock out and am disconnected from humanity/others like, “Ok, disappointment. No thanks. No more.” 

I like to check tumblr quite often and sometimes I know outright that it’s because I want to see radfem blogs and regain my sanity, but yeah.... It’s really true that who you surround yourself with can influence you and your mood. Coming to this realization was nice. “It doesn’t have to be this way” <-- me and my lack of expectations for media/others

No one’s perfect, but I certainly feel a lot more love towards radfem/”TERF” blogs than I do anyone else I know (since they’re either male or are sipping the libfem Koolaid and probably wouldn’t get it). 

I hope all of y’all keep it up, being so cool and all. I’ll definitely fight for us! ✊ You’re all great. c: 

[echotoyou]

pizza and packing

pairing: yoongi x reader (no pronouns/gendered language are used for the reader)

summary: you’re moving to a new city and packing up everything you own. It’s a little overwhelming to do by yourself, so thank goodness yoongi knocks on your door to remind you that you’re not alone (plus he brought a smoothie!).

wordcount: 2.4k

what’s inside: fluff, angsty reader quickly followed by comfort, yoongi’s hugs could solve the climate crisis, crying, some overthinking with a dash of spiraling

posted: august 2023 (also on ao3!)

beta read by @theharrowing!!! thank you for SO much i love you an incredible amount 🪿

note: wow this started off as me needing to process some things and then turned into an entire story lol. enjoy!! ALSO this is my first time writing fanfic so please please let me know what you think!!!!!

Moving sucks.

You knew this, theoretically. People always complain that moving is too expensive, too much work, simply too hard. 

But no one warned you about the loneliness. How your home begins to echo as you pull mugs from cabinets and sweaters from drawers, stuffing it all unceremoniously into boxes. The uncomfortable chill that seeps into the newly empty spaces no longer taken up by your rug or TV. Not to forget the bare spots left by taking down the fairy lights circling the ceiling, your wall of photos and art prints, and the whiteboard calendar that still counts down the days to last month’s big celebration. 

Just this morning you cried over a crumpled note found in the back corner of your desk. Rereading your best friend’s well wishes about your new home!, a new start!, a fun adventure! made you realize you couldn’t remember the last time you had deliberately picked up the phone to dial their number.

The doorbell startles you from your thoughts as a rogue tear slips down your cheek. You swipe at it and a quick glance at your phone tells you your fourth take out order of the week isn’t supposed to be here yet. You relax back onto your couch and settle beneath your multicolored crocheted blanket, willing the cheese on your future pizza to melt just a little faster. 

Your stomach grumbles in protest at the thought and you join it, groaning when the doorbell rings a second time. Today’s packing-up-your-apartment uniform consisted of a set of well-loved pjs, with a few holes you are definitely ignoring, and tossing your unshowered hair into a top knot. In other words, you were not in the mood to chat up a solicitor. 

“I’ve already found God! Thank you!” you yell at the door from your fortress of comfort.

A familiar low chuckle paired with a rhythmic knock greets you this time, and recognition makes you roll your eyes and grin. You untangle yourself from your cozy nest of blankets before sprinting over to the door. Flinging it open, you see a familiar sight: Min Yoongi, phone in one hand, thermos in the other, and gummy smirk plastered across his features.

“I thought you were the delivery guy,” you mumble. “Why didn’t you just knock first?”

Yoongi shrugs and holds out the thermos for you to take, “This one is banana peanut butter with kale and…” he stops for a moment, shakes his head and continues, “something else, too, I don’t know. I promise it tastes good though.”

With suspicion only just hiding the smile in your eyes, you open the thermos and take a long gulp, sighing after you swallow. Oof. Had you actually eaten anything today? Yoongi, still in the doorway, laughs out loud, his expression circling between amusement and chagrin as he catches your eye.

“Cherries. It’s got cherries in it. And now your lips are very red.” He chuckles again with a sparkle in his eye and gaze lingering on your mouth for maybe a moment too long.

“Mhm” you wink at him and take an extra swig from the thermos for good measure, turning around to walk into your apartment. You freeze, suddenly seeing the disembodiment of your living room through his eyes and feel him run into your back with a soft ‘oof.’ 

“Um okay so um this doesn’t normally look like this, I–”

“Y/N, you’re moving”

“Yes, I know, but um there’s nowhere to sit and I can’t make you tea or anything, because the pot is packed, and I don’t have any food or snacks to offer, and–” 

Your word vomit dies down as you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder, the slight pressure turning you around to face him. You’re sure he can see the panic in your eyes as he hums a short positive note.

“Do you want me to leave? I wanted to make sure you ate something with greens today and I think I’ve got that checked off the box,” he gestures toward your hands where you’re still clutching his thermos with a death grip. 

With your brain still catapulting headfirst into all of the ways you are currently failing at your people-are-over-must-be-a-perfect-host duties, you purse your lips and sigh, “Yeah, maybe.”

You see something unfamiliar pass across his features, but it morphs so quickly into a sweet smile you can’t decipher it fast enough. 

“Alrighty then.” He nods, “best of luck with the rest of your packing. Let me know if you need anything else, and I’ll see you later.” He turns and walks out the door, down your front steps and disappears around the corner. 

You push the door shut and rest your forehead on the cool wood for a moment, the slight chill relieving you of your hosting concerns when the next set of concerns sidle in. 

Wait, did he want to stay? Better question, did you want company? Being alone for the past three days had been making you feel stir-crazy, but there was still so much to do, and it was exhausting directing other people. But he’s not your normal ‘other people.’ Did he drive away yet? Maybe you can still catch him. Ah shit, did you even thank him for the smoothie? 

Your thoughts tumble and jumble with the force of a second spin cycle – UGH you also still have laundry to do. Pulling yourself from the door, you give up on trying to catch him and head back to the safety of your couch. You sip from his thermos and pull out your phone to text a quick thank you. 

A few minutes later, your phone pings with the notification that your pizza has been delivered. You open the app to double check the photo the driver sent as your doorbell rings. 

You break out into laughter as you pull open the door for a second time and show the grinning man on the other side the photo on your phone: Min fucking Yoongi outside your door holding two pizza boxes with a shit eating grin on his face and giving the camera a thumbs up. 

“Someone order pizza?” 

—

An hour later, you’re not sure who convinced who to stay, but you’ve both been fed and watered with cheesy nonsense and warm conversation. 

Remarkably, he wasn’t bothered by the stacks of boxes and piles of items yet to be packed. The other half of your brain reminds you that he’s seen your apartment – and you – through all levels of disarray, some messes 100% yours, like when laundry day lasts a week and takes over your bedroom, the living room, and somehow the bathroom. Other messes were more of a group effort, when you would join forces to make the biggest mess in your kitchen possible while learning a new cooking technique from your subscription meal kit boxes.

Paper plates thrown into a garbage bag and half a pizza wrapped up for tomorrow’s breakfast later, you plop yourself on your carpet, back leaning against your couch, and sigh. You had been trying your darndest to separate the mountain of boxes in front of you into “give away” and “keep” before Yoongi had knocked on your door the first time, and they had now snuck from the ignorable periphery back into your sight. 

All at once, the previously easy chatter catches in your throat and you feel yourself trail off, whatever you had just been laughing about suddenly dying on your lips. 

“Hey,” a soft voice pierces through the bubble of your thoughts.

“Where did you go, just now?”

You turn to see Yoongi sitting cross legged next to you. He cocks his head at you, his voiced question clear in his soft eyes and slight frown. You avoid his eyes by looking down at your hands in your lap, and realize you are clutching your nearly empty water glass as if it was a life preserver. Raising the cup to your lips, you shrug and gesture loosely at the boxes, the white walls, the furniture marked for people who had messaged you on Facebook Marketplace. 

This room would no longer be yours in less than a week, the items in it in even less time. It was more full than it had ever been and yet you felt the emptiness of each drawer and closet echoing with something akin to grief. 

“Can I touch you?”

You nod, and immediately feel a warm hand touching yours, gently prying the cup from your clutches and setting it aside. He stands and ignores your protests as he tugs you to your feet. He wraps your arms around his waist and encircles your shoulders with his, pulling you into his chest and squeezing gently. You turn your head to the side so your cheek presses against the soft fabric of his shirt. The pressure of his chin sitting on top of your head feels overwhelming and wholly correct at the same time. Tears prick your eyes for the umpteenth time, and the comforting weight of Yoongi’s hug can’t keep them at bay.

“I just…” the words fade as you sniffle. “I just don’t know how to do this and I feel like I’m doing it all kinds of wrong.”

He hums, and his arms squeeze you a little tighter. Melting into the hug, you allow yourself to bury yourself face first in his soft tee and inhale deeply. His gentle scent of freshly laundered clothing with a hint of citrus is all it takes for your breath to turn into shorter, shuddering sobs, wracking your body.

You feel him gently rub the small of your back. Wave after wave of emotion floods your system, ping ponging between frustration and sadness and anger and fear. Each time you let yourself recognize and validate one thought, another sneaks in, bringing a new wave of tears.

One thought in particular stands as a concrete tower above the rest: you had been its architect for the past few months, placing stone after stone higher than the last until it was magnificent in its largess and painful in its stability. Ignoring it had become normal practice until now, when you looked up and realized you had built the tower around yourself.

You were choosing to leave. You chose to move thousands of miles from your family, and now you were choosing again to move hundreds of miles away from the family you had found here. There was no one to blame, no mystical forces of nature to shift the attention to. It was all just you.

A small noise breaks the paralyzing stillness of your thoughts, and you release a breath you didn’t know you were holding. The sound blankets your spiral in a layer of sweet, comforting darkness. You grab at the tuneless melody like a rope and as the rumbling within his chest begins to center you back in your living room, safe in his arms again, you realize he was humming. You squeeze his waist a little tighter and as you release, his humming trickles off.

“If it’s any consolation, no one knows what they’re doing.” He whispers into your hair. “Especially when packing up a home they’ve lived in for a while. This place is stocked with things, yes, but also memories. You’ve grown and changed a whole lot since you moved in.”

“So then why am I leaving?” your voice cracks on the last word as you hiccup it into the void.

He shrugs, “We both know I can’t answer that for you. I do hope that whatever answer you decided on when you started this process is still true, and if it’s not, then this is just one choice. And you can make a new one in the future.”

You ‘hrumph’ back at him and take another deep breath.

Your breathing soon begins to match his small, rhythmic motions, inhaling and exhaling as your brain clears. You pull back from where you had smushed your face on his shirt, grimacing at the snot left on his shirt, and wiggling to escape his embrace in search of a tissue. He seems to have a different idea as his grip strengthens and you look up to see his concerned eyes searching for yours. Suddenly, a cat-like grin breaks out across his features and out of nowhere, the man laughs.

“How could someone look so beautiful after sobbing like the Titanic was sinking?”

You groan, for likely the fiftieth time today, and swat at his chest. With another smirk, he releases you from the hug. You shiver from the immediate loss of body heat and quickly look around the room for something resembling a tissue that had not been packed yet. You hear him clear his throat, and you look back to be met with a tissue dangling right in front of your face. 

“Thank you” your voice sounds small and gravely and you blot your eyes and nose before making eye contact with the spots on his shirt again. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry… your shirt…” your voice fades as you unconsciously reach out toward the stains, your only focus to assess the damage. He gently catches your wrist before your hand hits his chest, and places a butterfly light kiss on your knuckles.

“Don’t worry about it. This is my designated moving t-shirt, eligible for dust, stains, and tears – bonus points if you get all three in one go,” he winks, fluidly moving his hand from your wrist to your fingers, and spins you around in circles until you can’t help but give him a watery grin. Pulling you in for another hug, he gently squeezes you once more before letting go and heading toward the kitchen. You hear the squeak of the faucet before he reappears proudly brandishing your glasses now full of water. 

You accept the glass he holds out and let your eyes scan the pile of things in front of you. The boxes in the corner pull your attention again and you start to feel the overwhelm teeter you back over the edge. Taking a deep breath, you sip at the water and move to sit on the couch, seeking the comfort of your blanket once again.

“Let’s do something easy tonight, okay? No thoughts, just blankets.” 

You nod, and he plugs in the TV that you had moved into a corner for ‘safe keeping’ while you sold the table it stood on. He settles next to you on the couch and you spy a slight knowing smile on his face as he navigates to your favorite show, the one you started over to watch with him, and the one that makes you happy cry every time.

He slides his hand into yours and it doesn’t leave for the entirety of the first, second, or third episode you watch. Neither does he when you fall asleep on his shoulder.

[pinkpinkstarlet]

so this is something I talked about on my old acc but I’m bringing it up here now

ghostflower tangled au!!!

heads up for a really long post lol

@adorefavv @ace-and-sleepdeprived @chessbox @darksidescorner @daydreaming-en-pointe @hoe-bie @i-put-the-wit-in-dimwit @skullghoulz @sp1derw1re @spiderkittens @spidey-bie @thecrowandtherose @the-cat-and-the-birdie @thisismisogynoir @punkeropercyjackson @l0starl @t1r4misuu @zainnbug @urmadiik @tatumis-a @ohara-n-brown

___

so there’s two ways I think this could go:

#1: In Brooklyn of universe-1610, Miles is still a baby, being taken care of and loved by his parents. One night, when Rio tucks him into the crib and leaves the room, Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of universe-928, carefully opens the locked window open and steps inside, making sure to stay silent. He walks over to the crib where Miles is sleeping soundly, unaware of the crime that the man is about to commit. Miguel knows it’s horrible, kidnapping a child for them to never see their true family again, but it’s necessary for the security of the multiverse, no matter how much it hurts. He tries his best not to compare him to his past child, Gabriella, as he slowly picks up the sleeping baby and cradles him gently. However, Miles wakes up as soon as Miguel touches him, and starts crying at the unfamiliar face. Miguel hears Rio and Jeff walking up to the room and quickly dashes towards the open window, only hearing her gasp loudly as he faces the room one last time, eyes glowing a vibrant red as his claws carries the fragile child in his hands. And just before the two horrified parents can do anything, he vanishes.

Jeff and Rio search everywhere, with an ongoing case to search for Miles happening more than a year, but it’s no use. Miguel took Miles to his universe and locked him in a secluded tower within the spider society, raising him as his own from then on. Miguel truly believes that Miles is an anomaly, and that the only way to stop him from getting bitten is by removing him from his home entirely, and he reveals some of that to Miles. But he also lies to him about the world, telling him that’s it’s a dangerous wasteland filled with horrible monsters that have killed most civilization off, and that the only people remaining besides them are selfish and cruel, wicked people that would not hesitate to torture a “fragile” child like Miles. This makes Miles absolutely terrified of the outside world, making him reluctant to leave and even easier for Miguel to handle.

But Miles is secretly still curious about the world. He’s read about it in his limited selection of books, and along with his interest in drawing and arts in general, he wants to at least get a glimpse of the world, hoping that there might still be some beauty in the “wasteland.” Of course Miguel refuses, and his hopes are low, until his 15th birthday. Every year on his birthday, LYLA, the extroverted and sneaky ai assistant of Miguel, would show Miles the lanterns that unbeknownst to him, happen right in his universe by his parents as a way to mourn him. This strengthens his yearning to go outside, without Miguel even knowing it.

Then we have Gwen, a new recruit in the spider society, is exploring the building of the society and finds the secluded tower within a separate part of the building, and gets promptly knocked out with a frying pan by Miles. When she wakes up, the whole conversation between Eugene and Rapunzel in the original film happens between Miles and Gwen, with him being convinced to go outside with her. The whole story plays out like Tangled, except instead of dying, Miguel escapes and retreats to another part of his universe, plotting a way to still “preserve the canon.”

___

Now here’s the second one:

This is much closer to Tangled, with the Morales family being royalty and living in a kingdom very similar to Corona. Rio is pregnant but also extremely ill, and Jeff orders all of the guards (including Aaron, who is the Captain of the Guard here) to search for a possible cure, one of which being the elusive magic golden flower from Tangled. Doctor Olivia “Liv” Octavius used this flower to not only stay young for thousands of years to continue other scientific research of hers, but she also studies the flower for other ways it can benefit herself.

One day, the guard finally find the flower and take it to the castle, feeding it in a soup to Rio. A little after that, she gave birth to Miles, who inherited the same healing powers from the flower through his hair, which was now blonde. Everything seemed happy for the family, until Olivia broke in at night and decided to kidnap the child for her own gain. She keeps Miles in a tower just like in Tangled and uses his powers for her experiments and to stay alive, while acting as his mother. The whole story plays out the same, with Gwen being Eugene and Kingpin and The Spot/Johnathon Ohn being the Stabbington Brothers.

[kingspacebar]

Is there any particular artist, show, game, or movie that inspired ur art style? It’s so pretty ^^

I have so many!!! I definitely can't name every single one but heres a few that have been extremely influential to me!! This took me 2 hours to write i am SO sorry lmao

Puyo Puyo (Specifially Fever, Quest, and Tetris)

CUTESY BRIGHT BRIGHT COLORS!!!!!! Thats everything I love!!!!!! I'm pretty sure I talked about this when I first got into puyo puyo but I for SURE instantly decided that yep Im steering my style in this direction sorryyyyyy!!! I just think its so fun and silly and cute and rahhh it makes me so happy.

Especially for the work I do most often, which is character portraits without backgrounds, I will often look at puyo puyo posing just to get ideas!! (I've drawn Arle's dumbfounded pose 100000000 times becus I love it so much). The puyo puyo anatomy has very noodly arms and legs but with big ass shoes and accessories which is probably my favorite design thing in the world....

I seriously recommend just looking through the Puyo Puyo Nexus wiki for pose ideas (if you want something cute/silly of course) because every single one is just perfect. I am trying to get out of some dumb art habits of my own right now, but hopefully in the future you'll be able to see more goofy poses with sillier effects :3

Muse Dash Again I want you to look at the COLORS. Its so bright and this time you can really tell where I took my shading style from. I dont want my shadows to be dark I want them to be PINK or PURPLE. thank you. For my own art, I really try to make it so the darkest "black" is actually a deep purple or blue, and as I keep making art that dark color keeps getting just a bit lighter haha...

This is also the reason I color my lineart the way I do. I just really want to add as many colors as possible into the image. And if the image looks a bit more pink after that then thats just an extra perk!!

I also need to bring up the animation because they're just so bouncy and alive!!! This is like an instant stunlock for me, I have to look at them, theyre so BOUNCYYY!!!!!! I don't do much animation but every other week I get the sudden urge to try tweening again just to eventually get to the point I can make something similar to these for my own ocs lol

Great Pretender This show has some of the most gorgeous art ive ever seen. All the backgrounds are so bright and colorful. I dont usually draw art with backgrounds anymore sadly, but when I used to I really tried to study these for them. And I hope in the future I can make more art and show how far I've come.

Though I;ve changed to a more chibi style in recent times (thanks puyo puyo), this was still one of the first times I had ever watched a show and said "Oh my god I love this artstyle I need to get better at art" and Its always in my mind for that reason.

Ive definitely stolen lots of elements from the style. Though they've gotten more subtle over the years. I dont really know how to describe it any further but I hope you understand what I mean by looking at these screenshots,,,

[obey-moi]

I wanna imagine that the cards are a real thing in-universe. Like, the brothers, royals, Solomon and Thirteen all get put into a trading card game just because they’re all very popular individuals with their own fanbases Everyone’s card art is a little different from their actuall looks bc the actual people aren’t involved in the art production, so everone gets washboard abs and clear skin. It’d also be considered defamation of any of them are portrayed with a single blemish lol.

Of course Asmo collects ONLY his own cards and MC’s cards, even if some of them look off. “This one’s hair is too brunette but I love the SHINE they put in my lipgloss!” Or something silly like that. They go into a photo album binder where he gets other pieces of fanart.

Leviathan collects SO many card and knows the rules and decimates everyone at the games, but he absolutely refuses to collect his own cards. “Can you imagine if I played my own card as if I were actually cool? Like I had those powers, or l-looked as dashing a-as they portray me?? None of my cards would actually be good?? I’m JuSt An OtAkU??” Never plays the holographics of MC. Those get framed but never displayed. (MC finds them and they do the same to him since they both avoid their own cards. In fact they do a daily dropoff where if there’s an envelope under their door they can usually expect it to be the others’ cards.) He’s also a master of making different decks, like he has a deck for every sin, every person, etc. The Royals+Angels deck and the Envy deck are his favourite ones.

Mammon thrives on the Devildom TCG market. Rare cards go for a ton of Grimm! And also you wanna know why he keeps trying to sell pics of Lucifer, right? He knows one of the official card artists. “This was the outfit this card was based on, yeah? Here’s the followup of him rolling his sleeves and loosening his tie! And I bet you’re gonna love THIS one! Nobody can ever seem to get his angry smile just right until they see it in person, but this picture comes pretty close. Doesn’t it give you shivers? I can start at 1500 grimm. Also, could you tell whoever is making THESE cards to stop whitewashing the GREAT Mammon? Plzkthx :)”

Satan’s not much for card games unless a friend challenges him to a different, more classic game, like rummy or liar. But he does keep the trading cards he likes the most. Art is art, what can he say? They’re also perfect bookmarks. His fave is probably one of MC that captures them perfectly in his vision.

Lucifer thinks the whole TCG is just silly and doesn’t really participate in any of it........... But Priddy Boy’s gotta be ✨Perfect In Everything✨. The man has canonically been stated to be good a video games for the simple need to be good at everything, you think he wouldn’t study strategy and play like it’s chess or smth? That and in his Dad Wallet where he keeps pictures of his brothers (and MC), he keeps his favourite cards of them behind each respectful photo.

Beel doesn’t really collect or know how to play, but Beel has autographed many a card after fangol games, so he can at least understand it’s a collectible item. He tried learning from Leviathan how to play this one time, and it made sense to him for the most part. Card has Life Points, Attack Points, and Special Skills. Beat up opponents' cards and win. Not too different from most other card games. But there are complicated rules to it that he forgets or mixes up. He’d much rather use the cards like dolls and make them “talk” to each other.

Belphie also doesn’t play or collect, but he does enjoy getting his hands on the holographic cards. One day Levi was sent to look for Belphie to tell him it was dinner time. He found the youngest in the attic cutting up the cards into shapes and gluing them back-to-back, hanging them up like a mobile. Levi fainted backward down the stairs and refused to look at Belphie for two months straight.

Solomon really likes these cards! Like Satan he uses them as bookmarks, but specific Sin Colours and People get paired with certain books. Green Satan cards are used on cursed tomes or books about curses, blue Satan cards are used in art history books. Pink Asmo cards are left in Seduction Spell books, while yellow Asmo cards are for books about venoms from creatures. Etc. Makes categorization much easier!

Barbatos doesn’t collect, but he does know how to play. He referees for the Young Lord sometimes whenever Diavolo gets a chance to have fun.

Y’all know ya homeboy DIAVOLO is one of the biggest collectors! He and Levi are both DAUNTING on the “battlefield”, though Dia doesn’t take things so seriously like Levi does sometimes. He’s even commissioned actual paintings of himself and everyone so that those portraits can be made into cards. They’re the rarest ones, there only being one of each person out in the world. As much as Dia would have loved to keep those cards, he likes to watch the chaos of others scrambling desperately try to obtain an Ultra Rare Royal Painted Holographic. Besides, he still has the original paintings! (Also he likes to collect the DevilWendy’s kids meal toy versions of those “cards”, which are actually those plastic “gold” plated cards inside of “”””pokéballs””””. Adorable!)

Some Thirteen cards have special abilities based on real traps of hers. Some of Thirteen’s traps are based on some of the cards. She likes to tape some cards up like stickers to some of said traps as decorations. Or as part of the trap. She once tried to entice Solomon with a card, but Levi fell for it instead and nearly got impaled in a tiger trap she called “Super Duper Rare Double Dare #106”.

Mephistopheles says he doesn’t care about such childish playthings. But once the Diavolo released those Ultra Rare Royal Painted Holographic, and ‘Phisto got highest bidder on the Diavolo card, SUDDENLY he’s become Maximillion Pegasus and his signature deck is the Diavolo deck.

Luke isn’t really one to play, but he does like the art of some of them! He’ll put some in a scrapbook! It’s also another bookmark technique, where certain people’s cards get bookmarked on their favourite recipes. He got the idea from Solomon’s method of bookmarking.

Simeon also doesn’t play but mainly collects. Got a little hooked on it before Raphael moved in and the room was being used for Levi’s spare collection stuff. He was even given many of the Common ones for free (what Simeon did with common cards, Levi didn’t nearly care as much, and trusted him more with cards than he could trust Belphie with holo’s...). He’s collected all the Seven Lords themed ones. It’s a nice, low-key hobby, like stamp collecting. He donates the ones he doesn’t need to MC or Levi.

Raphael neither plays, collects, or knows anything about them really. But he does still have an annoying familiarity with them, thanks to Michael wanting him to buy several packs, nay, BOXES of packs. Michael needs to be the number one Lucifer Card collector. Bro misses his bro... ;(

[divorcedwife]

hello!! i really love your art and your characters, it always makes me so happy when i see them on my dash (thank you for sharing them with us!!!) i was wondering if you had any advice or tips or tricks for making them recognisable/look the same each time you draw them? I’ve just recently gotten into making my own characters but i can never seem to get them quite right each time

thank you so much!! 💕💕 that’s so funny, i was thinking of this right topic right before i went to bed. that actually was one reason why i didn’t really have OCs for the longest time - i don’t like using references so it felt simpler to just always draw new characters

and yeah, i get it! i've been at times very frustrated when drawing them, because what makes a character look and feel like themselves can depend on small details!

for example, oriane's hair. i finally figured out how to make it look like i want (i draw it in three little waves) because i really struggled capturing what i like in her hair style, how fun and carefree it looks. i chose this hairstyle because i wanted something practical enough for her lifestyle as a traveling musician, but cute enough that it's clear she cares about her appearance and washes it a lot

contrast that with em, who has spiky hair she cuts herself very randomly, and does not take care of it at all

so when i draw them, that's something i keep in mind. we don't have any control over our facial features (and character design advice that acts like there are "evil faces" and "kind faces" is, um, not good) but we do have control over our hair, makeup, facial expressions, and body language. these are all important things to think about for your character. i have a lot of fun with that for em and emelin, because they have the exact same face, but everything else is different

generally, when i design a character, i also have a couple things about them that i purposefully make anchor points : a strong nose shape, or eyes, or jawline, something that feels somewhat unique to them. so for oriane, i may draw her nose slightly different every time, but i always pay attention to her eye shape, because that's my favorite part of her design. having something like this really helps me make the character look recognizable without needing to make every line in their face the same every time. this allows for variations and exploring a character's design, while still keeping them recognizable

so yeah, that would be my advice !

giving them some features that are distinct (and making sure not to only give big noses and scars to villains lol)

looking at the art of your character and analyzing it. what's your favorite thing about them? what do you want to communicate about them?

i would also say : it's ok if your character looks different in the process of finding it. sometimes you just need to draw the same character over and over again and that will help you answer these questions along the way

i hope this helps!! good luckkkk and thank you again for your kind words 💕💕💕💕💕💕 means so much to me that people like my girls!! i've figured out so much about them through interactions on there. if they're cool characters, it's also because of people helping me :-)

[despairforme]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[ Oh man this post got long (and surprisingly serious) fjfjfjffjjf I wrote this 2 days ahead of time because I was so excited about it ahahaha --- I'm wishing you all a wonderful 2024!!!!!

2023 was a year of surprising development for me. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or if I'm simply moving into a different mindset. I loved this year! It was awesome, and I'm so happy to see that I've written MORE for Nnoitra this year than I did in 2022 ( even though my overall word-count went down from 290 000 to 280 000 ). I can't say I completed many of my goals ( or any of them LOL ). I had lots of goals for 2023, but I was unable to complete them. The past few months, especially, have brought forth big changes in my creative flow and focus.

I've realized that I need to change my priorities, to better fit my new mindset.

Roleplaying is no longer going to be my main focus. In the past, whenever I've wanted to write, I've always focused on finishing drafts, asks ect. I've mostly written on here, since that's what I prefer. Or, rather - what I used to prefer. This is not to say I don't have muse for Nnoitra, because I always feel inspired for him. What's changed are my priorities. I've come to the conclusion that what's important to me is creating stories. Since Nnoitra's story ( main verse ) has become so stagnant, it feels less important to me. I know I can drive the story on, push it forward and thus find it important once more, but - I don't want to do that. I want to create my own, original stories instead. Becoming a professional writer has always been my dream, and that's simply not possible to do when I'm prioritizing rping. Roleplaying is going to have to take the backseat.

--- That being said, I'm absolutely not quitting! I can't imagine myself not writing for Nnoitra, so I'll be writing on here like before, and I'll even try to be more consistent. An enemy of mine in 2023 has been procrastination. One of my goals for 2024 is to conquer this, so that I can be more efficient with my time. I think that by dedicating less time to roleplay, I'll be more efficient when I do sit down and write for my muses. My activity the past few months have been spotty, so I'd love to get into a better flow.

2024 GOALS:

FOCUS ON PERSONAL PROJECTS. I have a lot of them. Two (three?) book projects, two long OC-centered fanfictions.

WRITE FANDOM PROJECTS. I have a lot of ideas for fanfictions, and I want to make the time to write them. Some are long, some are short. Getting feedback on my stories has always been a great feeling, and fanfiction is the best way to get that serotonin.

CHANGE MY WRITING HABITS. My habits are bad. They lead to a ton of procrastination and wasted time. I want to be more structured when it comes to my writing time (and my time in general, but especially my writing time). I want to stick to schedules, word-count goals, page goals ect. Conquering procrastination is going to be key.

CONSISTENT RP POSTING. Even though I won't be focusing on roleplaying, I still intend to do it regularly and get replies and asks out in a more timely manner. I'll probably set off some time in the evening to get replies done, and have some fun on the dash when others are online. I'll try to be consistent across my blogs, not just on Nnoitra.

CREATE THINGS THAT ARE PHYSICAL. I've come to realize that I love things that translate to the real world. Not just words on a screen, or a digital artwork, but things that you can touch. It's why I've absolutely fallen in love with watercolor painting. I'm going to try to print some of my writing work so that I have physical copies. I'm also going to print my art so that I can hold it in real life.

FIND A SHIP FOR NNOITRA. It's been so long since I wrote a ship for him, and I need it back in my life. I've been looking for a ship for him the whole time, but I need to put more effort in, and let him interact with more characters, as well as continue to develop the relationships he does have ( in case one of them turns romantic? ). I'd love for 2024 to be the year Nnoitra falls in love again.

I am SUPER excited for 2024! I love new years and fresh starts, and I feel so incredibly inspired by the changes in my mindset. I feel like I've been stuck for a good while with rping. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every second of it, and I've learnt so much about writing - and met the most amazing people. It's just that it's time for a change. Time for me to create other kinds of stories. I thought that things were aligned for me to write books last year, but I really didn't have the right mindset - but now I do! I'm hyped!! Hope you're ALL going to have the most amazing 2024 guys!! ]

[niuniente]

Why reblogging in Tumblr matters?

I have seen lately a lot of post of people being offended, angry, disappointed etc. about reblogs. The attitude has been “If you ask me to reblog, then I won’t do it and as a protest, I won’t even like your posts >:( ”

Why reblogging in Tumblr matters isn’t because creative people are bricks (some are). Did you see something cool and nice on your dash which you liked? Great! It was there because someone you follow manually reblogged it to their blog and for you to see.

Tumblr doesn’t bring you stuff through algorithm to see. Tumblr is what I would call an organic scrapbook, where the users create each and everyone’s dashes with whatever content they reblog. This is a manual labor work site lol.

Liking does not make the post visible to anyone following you, which means that less and less people get to enjoy of the same thing you enjoyed of. Like equals a bookmark on your web browser. It’s as visible and influential to outsiders (your followers and the post’s creator) as a browser bookmark.

Does this mean that you have to reblog every fucking thing and squeeze the living shit out of yourself for reblogs’ manual work? No. Of course not. Keep liking posts and saving them for your own private collection for whatever reason but please, always reblog whatever you can and want.

I’ve been in Tumblr since 2011. We reblogged freely whatever the hell we wanted and no one wasn’t that concerned of if they knew the fandom, the series, the character, the person etc. Many had side blogs for specific content, whether their own art, fics, their newest fandom blorbo, aesthetic posts, personal rants etc. This is how Tumblr is made to function. No, you’re not “stealing” anything by reblogging. No, you’re not bothering your followers with reblogs (and if you are, it’s their job to curate their own internet experience and either unfollow you or mute your tag, if you tag your posts). No, you’re not doing anything wrong by reblogging stuff from series you know nothing about but which seems interesting (perhaps someone following you knows about it and can show you the way to a new fandom!)

With this new trend of excessive liking  and shy reblogging - and after the Tumblr purge - my dash is very quiet. I miss so many awesome art work and posts unless I go to manually search them and HOPE that the search function even works properly ( it doesn’t. It shows only a limited amount of posts of the said tag or containing the word I’m using for the search). I miss discovering new blogs to follow through reblogs, new people, new artists and authors, new intriguing art styles, new fandoms...

Please, feed me and my dash with reblogs whenever you can! I want to see what’s out there, what did you discover today? What was wonderful or interesting on your dash? Who had reblogged it or created it? What series and characters are out there I don’t know yet but which could become my next favorite thing because you know about them? Do you know my next blorbo? ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

If we stop reblogging, Tumblr dashes stop operating, too (outside adds and blazes). We, and only we, keep them alive and running. Show me what you have found! <3 I can’t wait to see!

[writingwell]

20 13 fanfic questions

Thanks to @randomfoggytiger for the tag. I didn’t do all of them, just the pertinent ones, and I modified those just to include ffnet as well. 

1. How many works do you have? 26 on AO3 (for my mature rated Spy Castle stuff); fanfiction.net has 278 Castle fics;and about 300ish archived at Gossamer for X-Files.

4. What are your top fics by kudos/reviews? The Return of Vulcan Simmons, Tempest (not a spy work!) on AO3; ffnet would be One Hundred Days of Summer (co-authored with SandianeCarter) and Dash It All.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yeah, I think if you take the time to contact me, you deserve the respect of hearing from me. It might not be a full-blown conversation, but I’ll do what I can with a full-time profession and a writing one as well. Also, suuuuper sorry, just discovered AO3 has an inbox. 300 days ago, some of you messaged me and I am just now seeing those. Lol. 

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I have a spy fic where the two of them are just so at odds, so grieving with and over each other… okay that’s most of them. But I try not to end on angst, as it’s supposed to be the journey not the destination. (Angst is a twisting of the heart, not a place where you stay. According to me.)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Dash series has the ‘happiest’ endings. Not because life is happy, but because they figured out how to create contentment within what they’d been given/dealt in life. And in ways other versions of the Castle characters hadn’t accomplished. They did the work.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Oh definitely. A while back, I turned off comments on tumblr for about a year as I processed and healed from some targeted attacks, and I can say that I came out more certain of myself and my writing. But I was also an adult who had not been forced to weather these attacks as a vulnerable 13 y-o on social media (as so many of you are unfortunately dealing with). I was able to detach, center myself once more, and rise above because I’d grown up IRL, so to speak. I have a faith in something bigger than me which, while it doesn’t look like what it did, has sustained me and given me the confidence to know my worth even as it spurs me to be/do better. 

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind? Oh definitely, lol. It’s on AO3. Usually I like to explore M/F with a third in there for kicks, as the concept of generosity and giving within the sexual relationship/experience is intriguing to me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I objected to the term ‘stolen.’ I’ve had my fics, without my knowledge, posted elsewhere, translated without my knowledge, and changed to other fandom characters to be posted elsewhere. However! I’ve had loads of people ask me too, and I really appreciate being able to go visit them. (Stolen would indicate I somehow own these fanfictions, and I do not, as that would be a legally difficult hill to stand on. I also do not perceive collective fan art in this manner, because the world is all of ours.)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Oh there’s a co-written story that me, carto, and muppet47 started and have NEVER finished. We all know Castle has to go to jail, but we can’t write it.

16. What are your writing strengths? Writing it the first time. Correctly. As in, it comes out the way it should or ought to or how I am seeing it in the moment. I have the right rhythm, I can spell and I have the grammar skills. My first draft is fast and good enough for submission. Of course, I go back and edit, and I have to, but I’m very blessed in not ever going through anything like writer’s block.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Secondary characters. I have a tendency for tunnel vision, where all I want to do is talk about and to and for the main characters. If they have friends or family, I barely include them. I can’t manage to care that they exist. But all of us live in a complex web of relationships and community; no one is alone. My last novel, Taste of Salt, was an concentrated effort to include as many other perspectives as possible, so it was told through the POVs of the two main characters and interspersed with flashback chapters from the POVs of their friends, family, coworkers, chance encounters, medical personnel, kids, support networks… there you go.You have to do the thing that’s hard. Write it out, over and over, keep practicing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Yeah, sometimes it becomes necessary for the character. But please keep it to a minimum (imo) as it detracts from the reader’s understanding and experience of reading. It ought to be rather easy to understand what the person is saying due to context or just the flow of the scene. If you’re writing in English, and you have a character visiting France, then obviously some of that ought to be in French, but after a while, you can indicate that the language is being used while writing it in English. I say this because most of you are fandom writers who are not writing for literary audiences; therefore, don’t ruin everyone’s fun my making it incomprehensible or inaccessible. Please.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? Don’t ask me to choose between my children! I can tell you that Dash holds a special place in my heart due to the amount of readers who said it gave them understanding of their own sensory issues or their child’s autism, etc. Spy gave me one of my greatest friends, carto, who continues to love and support me and my writing. 

I won't tag anyone, because I deleted so many of these questions, but feel free to answer or share or talk with me about them!

[messydiabolical]

@dandenbo asked me for the art asks: 🎠What is a typical 'workflow' for a piece from idea to finished? It turns out to be a long answer so here's its own post, under the cut to save your dash! How I go from screenshot to painting: (This is not intended to be a 'this is how you do it!' kind of guide. I absolutely don't do an optimal route, this is just how I go about painting and what works for me! I've done a workflow for a screenshot to painting as I do a few different things but this is one I could explain somewhat coherently. My comics tend to be created pretty chaotically lol)

1) I take an ungodly amount of screenshots while playing. Also pester friends for their screenshots or stalk the group discord for interesting shots.

2) Go through all those screenshots cursing why I took so many, looking for those great moments that I want to paint. I’m particularly looking for nice poses/captivating moments, dynamic lighting or interesting expressions, and they don’t need to have all 3 as we can fix some of that in the next step. Here’s the screenshot I chose for my Keahi x Thane piece:

It was a cute, soft moment between them and I liked the highlight at the edge of their profiles. 3) Refine the screenshot. I don’t use anything fancy for this. I game on windows PC, so I open up the screenshot with windows photo editor. I crop the image, play around with saturation, exposure, contrast, just basic editing until it looks tastier. For this piece I wanted it to be hyper colourful and vibrant, leaning towards warmer tones.

4) Decide what I will change, then gather references for those changes. In this case I was fortunate that not a lot needed changing. I knew I wanted to move Thane’s eye position to looking at Keahi rather than the way he is slightly off focus, do a more realistic ear with earrings for Keahi, make Thane a little more smiley and lower his eyelid and give Keahi nicer eyelashes. I keep a whole bunch of art guides and tutorials on my PC so I grabbed the necessary ones and sent them to my ipad ready to have on hand for the sketch stage. I have Thane’s character model in XNApose, so I can check things like his eyelid specifically in that (this is actually for a different project but shows you what I mean)

If I was going to change up the lighting/shading I would also gather references for that. For example sometimes i’ll take screenshots of lighting schemes I love from films/tv shows (think the strong teal and orange scheme in Mad Max or the neons of Blade Runner). Or for precise shadows, I can again use XNApose. I also have a little 3d printed Thane head I can shine a torch at and take photos of to get shadow ideas. For humans there’s lots of reference to be found with online searches, I find pinterest more useful than google for this. For specific expressions or body parts, i’ll just take photos of myself (hand poses, smiling from the right angle etc.) My camera roll is an interesting place. I have drawn drell frills on my neck and on my chest before to see how the lines would fold at certain angles. 5) Setting up a canvas I work in procreate. For a piece like this I try to go pretty big, say 5000 x 4000 pixels, then i’ll crop down later as needed. 300 DPI. As I work, I’ll make duplicates and continue on the copy each fresh session. When i’m finished I make a backup save of the PNG and .procreate files on an SSD. I immediately turn the background colour down to a more muted colour to not burn my retinas. If i’m using a textured background like an oil board i’ll insert it, and any overlays like canvas effects. Set up my layers from the start basically for easy toggling throughout. I try to be good and label things to make life easier, it doesn’t always happen though. I don't wear a digital glove or use paper effect screens but I do have a bottle of screen cleaner and a microfibre cloth handy at all times. 6) Sketch. I’m still very much learning to draw. I tried for a long time to do the classic ‘ball for a head, draw the planes/lines etc. It was a constant struggle and never clicked for me, the ball especially always made things much worse, turning a circle into a 3d image in my head just does not happen. I find it better to just start drawing and work things out as I go (I use procreates reference window to see my screenshot). So I’ll have my sketch in one canvas, and i’ll also have a second canvas with the photo ref on it at the same size, and if I feel like something is really wonky and off i’ll test my lines over the photo to see what’s gone wrong, then go back to the sketch and correct the areas that revealed. Sometimes I’ll use the grid feature if i’m getting stuck.  Here's a few of the sketch stages:

Here I tried out the lines on the photo and noticed that Thane’s frills were a little too far to the left, and Keahi’s eyebrow needed to arch down towards the nose.In the next pass I correct these:

Also, and I know i’m gonna get side eye from some people for this but I really could not care less to be honest. On some pieces i’ll just trace the screenshot. Sometime I just want to get to painting, am not in the mood or mindspace for a learning experience, and this is a hobby. It’s my screenshot, no one is getting ripped off. My latest Javik piece was done this way 🤷‍♂️ 6) Painting. I’ll start by blocking in the background and the portrait flats, usually on separate layers. I try to have an idea of the background colour from the start as this can effect the whole piece overall, but sometimes you just gotta change it as you go so having it on a different layer makes this much easier.

The painting itself I’ll lay down wider areas of colours, then start going in and refining bit by bit, I tend to work on one area at a time, and sometimes I’ll get pretty well rendered on a small area before moving on, other times work on a wider area. It really depends on my mood and what i’m vibing with that day. Like you can see here I’ve done some general messy colouring all over Keahi, but done a lot of refinement on the eyeball:

7) Finshing the piece, uploading and testing: When I’m sick of rendering the painting and don’t think I can add anything more to it without gnawing my own wrist off, it is time to finish up! I make sure I toggle all the layers I want on, add a top signature layer (lol I lie I forget this all the damn time). Then i’ll upload the piece to my google drive and open it up on my big 4k monitor on my PC, and on my phone, and see how it looks (my ipad is a 9.7inch air). I find that once off my ipad, it often looks a little less saturated and contrasting as it does in procreate. So I might go back and change the levels if it’s too big a difference until it looks decent across devices (it’ll never look perfect on them all though, just gotta find that happy medium).

8) Posting online I really don’t have any strict steps for this. I know some people go for optimal posting times, and will make multiple copies of their pieces in different sizes to fit better on different sites (damn you instagram and your need for everything to be square). I… do not do any of this lol. I post when I’m done whatever time or day that is. I do tend to reblog/retweet etc before I go to bed, as I live in the UK and that will at least be getting into evening time in US. I reblog my own stuff a fair bit.

[houseofsnarry]

💚 HoS Members’ Recs: Self Rec ❤️

photo source

*Sorry for the repost! In the process of fixing a mistake, I accidentally deleted the original post. This mod and Tumblr are not on good terms right now. lol BUT! We added one more fic and it's a doozy! Check it out! And hopefully there are no more mistakes. *crossing fingers

- Scarlet It's NaNoWriMo! While we are busy creating new fics and art and rec lists and everything under the sun for our fav ship, what about some self-recs? Here are some of our fav Snarry works made by us! As we look forward to accomplishing our goals, we got to give appreciation to the works we've done in the past. <3

Art

🎨 Little Christmas story - @flymetosnarryland (AO3) with a snippet on Tumblr

🎨 Severus in red + Under the Influence Harry - @ofnightsndsongs (AO3)

Choose Your Own Adventure

🌸 What Comes Next (And How to Like It) - @likelightinglass (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 28.6k

A choose your own adventure fic! You are Severus Snape. You survived against all odds, and now it's time to take life into your own hands. What will you do with this gift of a second chance, and how will you find your happy ending? Your happy ending is pretty much always Harry Potter, but there's so many fun ways to get there.

Fanfic

📚 B.R.E.D - Elffaw Rated E, Word Count 5.3k

“You have been summoned here today,” he said, each word crisp and clear, “to partake in a physical examination required by the Ministry itself; in other words, you will be B.R.E.D.”

📚 Certain Dark Things - @liladiurne (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 50.3k

“You want me. I know you do.” I was too worn-out by then to even deny it. In the light of day, with only the summer wind and the cicadas to hear, it didn’t seem necessary to hide it. “It doesn’t matter, Harry. This can never happen.” He stared at me some more, and I did my best not to falter under those shimmering eyes. “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he assured me.“ I know you wouldn’t,” I added, insisting on the conditional. I didn’t like the way he’d spoken as if it had already happened. As if I had already lost. Perhaps I already had. In which Severus takes a trip to Italy, thinking he'll have a quiet time at the Malfoys' villa, but Harry has other plans. Written for prompt #182: AU. Harry never lived with the Dursleys. He was adopted by the reformed Malfoys as an infant. He is secretly in love with his adopted father's best friend, Severus Snape.

📚 Contempt - @danpuff-ao3 (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 20k

Harry hates Snape, and he always will. (He will, won’t he?)

📚 Courting Day - wendymarlowe Rated M, Word Count 42.8k

It's Courting Day: seventh- and eighth-year students get the chance to declare their intentions to formally woo each other. The only way for Harry to avoid being a matrimonial target is to put in a declaration of his own. Surely if he picks someone who would never in a million years accept his suit, he'll escape unscathed...

📚 dream a little dream of me - @dandelionstars (AO3) with art by @acydpop (AO3) Rated T, Word Count 4.6k

While Severus was not a strong enough Seer to receive complete soulmate dreams, unfortunately, he had just enough power to catch fleeting moments of his soulmate. These flashes of intense joy were more of a curse than a blessing. Despair was suffocating when his hopes were dashed again and again like carved crystal, inevitably shattered on the floor. A Snarry Soulmate AU

📚 For I Have Found Salvation - @lumosatnight (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 7.1k

Severus is a priest, and Harry is the parishioner who may just make him break his vows of celibacy.

📚 Harry Potter’s Avada Kedavra Wedding - whythehellnothavefun Rated M, Word Count 11.4k

(From The Book of Terms And Their Definitions, page 101) Avada Kedavra Wedding: noun, informal, see also: Avada Kedavra Marriage An enforced or hurried wedding, due to one member being pregnant or under blackmail, potentially to gain access to another’s vault(s) and/or properties. (See also: Muggle Oxford English Dictionary, shotgun wedding/shotgun marriage)

📚 Invisible String - @givereadersahug (AO3) Rated G, Word Count 3.7k

The first time Harry saw Snape's black eyes — him truly acknowledging Snape's existence beyond him being his mean professor — it was the night after Harry killed Professor Quirrell. He was dreaming, and in his dreams, he was screaming. Harry dreams of Severus over the years.

📚 On the Origins of Dementors - DarkTony Rated G, Word Count 2.6k

Amidst the pages of tomes that now remain unread,there a story, a fable, a legend goes of a man made of misery…

📚 Sir Saisir - @coconutice22 (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 27k

Some things that glitter are gold. Twenty years after defeating Lord Voldemort, Severus has a meet-cute at a, ahem, private members' club.

📚 The Beat of Their Own Drum - @aeternumregina (AO3) Rated M, Word Count 2.4k

Harry sees Snape dancing at a bar, and is instantly enthralled by this new, carefree person who barely seems to resemble his old teacher.

📚 The Way Death Clutches At Life - @tax-onomic (AO3) Rated E, Word Count 7k

Death is permanent, unless it is not.

📚 This is not my beautiful wife - Klari Rated M, Word Count 35.9k

What happened after Harry smashed up Dumbledore’s office? With Sirius dead and his plans to run away from the Wizarding World on hold, Harry is on the edge— literally, and Severus manages to learn rather a lot about him at the top of the Astronomy Tower.

📚 Wish not for a soul that is full of sin - @serenaew (AO3) Rated T, Word Count 4.7k

After all, a flighty soul could not return to the water, or to the earth, as they maintained all life eventually should. (What one did not have, they believed, could not be broken.) Prologue to the merman!Snape, amnesia AU no one asked for.

Discord || Recs Lists

[sgtmickeyslaughter]

Thank you so much @callivich for taking the time and effort for coming up with these questions, and thank you @such-a-barbarian for tagging me also!

This got long lol

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? 

one of my favorite generas of fic is shameless Mickey worship and for that I aways come back to from head to toe and the many things Mickey Milkovich has been called, Unforgiving Touches and the Feeling of Their Bruises. 

also, in no particular order You’re Tough To Love When You Don’t Love Yourself, the broad shouldered beasts series, sincerity is scary.

for something a little smutty go back to sleep has always been a favorite of mine

and as always, my favorite fic of all time Boy In The Box

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? 

i love that gif set of Ian sniffin’ on his husband, also I think there’s one thats a compilation of Mickey’s best smiles through the series, gorgeous.

this beautifully edited (?) gifset I stg this is better quality than the actual show idk how they did that

this gorgeous art/gifset is awesome also!

this one is very important to me but man it hurts

another heartbreaker

everyone say thank you gif makers!!!!

What’s a fanart you love looking at?

I literally just saw this one for the first time, it immediately went to the top of my list!!

Its so beautifully done and captures the tone of the original piece so well while also transforming it into a unique moment and commentary on intimacy in their own relationship, ugh, gorgeous 

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about?

creative mickey! the best thing season 10 gave us was mickey and his notebook. i just know when Ian sees that thing come out post canon a part of him locks up in genuine fear

i don’t really think he gets into art persay, but just being a creative thinker, figuring out how to run their business, decorating their apartment, building ian a garden on their balcony when he gets put on the waitlist for the community garden

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration?

so I had this idea very vaguely floating around in my head for a while, but it wasn’t even remotely formed, let alone developed and then suddenly last weekend the plot just came to me in that beautiful and cruel way inspiration comes and goes, but it will take forever to write because I want the pace to feel very slow and syrupy and a little dream (or nightmare) like.

i dont want to give away the plot but its very southern gothic, slight true crime elements, cults, slight age difference (younger Mickey)… anyways if anyone from the rural south wants to be on call to explain geography and culture to me, hit me up 

i also have an idea for a dirty filthy, nasty smut fic but i would have to post it anonymously i wouldnt be able to look anyone in the (virtual) eyes

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else?

in all seriousness, analyzing Shameless as a show overall is so interesting, understanding each of the characters as case studies in different particular expressions of being raised in poverty, which is what makes it twice as upsetting when someone is like, ‘why would this character do this, thats so stupid’ and the answer is that statically speaking that character was actually very likely to do that because of the circumstances they were born into and the way they’ve been affected by that throughout their life, but okay. I also noticed that a lot of people on here are not from America and I always wonder what their take on the social/political reading of the show, if it feels familiar at all etc.. 

i also remember the first time someone commented under my fic to be like, ‘why are you giving Mickey a pass Ian did this’, and someone else commented underneath that ‘oh well Mickey did that so he’s a bad person etc.’ and it was just so upsetting to me, I dont see a lot of that on my dash but I just personally believe that if you are judging teenagers/young adults who are in the middle of their first major mental health crisis or who have suffered unimaginable abuse and neglect their entire life, you need to recalibrate your empathy levels 

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show?

I love love early seasons (1-3) there is just something so nostalgic about it and as a show that’s when the writing was at its most creative and interestingly paced

also who doesn’t love baby gallavich?

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? 

Ugh Im so sorry I am going to have to add all the lyrics to In Your Love by Tyler Childers, the inspiration for my first fic title because it is the most perfect song to encapsulate the passion between them and the work and sacrifices they put up for each other

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved?

where is mandy? where the fuck is my girl?

also the fact that kevin had a son with v’s mom and just, has no interest in a relationship with him? like that made the story easier for sure but it doesn’t make sense with his character

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough?

guys, there is not a scene in this show that we have not done to death already (affectionate)

and you know what? we’ll do it again!

but just for the sake of it, the “would you take care of me if i was paralyzed” scene, you can see that Mickey is almost idk, hesitant? but that’s because he’s really picturing it and that his yes is genuine and thought out, and ian’s face of wonder when he realizes that he has someone who loves him unconditionally and forever? earth shattering

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale?

listen, i think the laws of television writers being assholes would dictate that they would give a break up (and maybe reconciliation) arc which is my least favorite television trope

but irl? (u know what i mean) i think they do have some hard, stressful times both out of their relationships and in it and realize pretty quickly that they have to work as a team and lean on each other and it only makes them closer

i also think that they simply refuse to sleep without each other, like one night when Ian gets stuck at the gallagher house taking care of sick franny mickey will drive over and sleep in the twin bed with him or if mickey gets wasted on a night out with sandy and debbie and his battery runs out he’ll stumble his ass home instead of going with one of them when they offer even if it takes forever

and ian grows his hair and stubble out to look like it does in the most recent photos (fluffy mullet) and mickey adores it he can’t keep his hands off his husbands head it’s a sensory dream

Thanks again for tagging me!

i’ll tag @stocious @mybrainismelted @sirrudo @solitarycreaturesthey @juliakayyy @jrooc @jezzibelle89 @i-think-you-mean-reduction @iansw0rld

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Welcome to Spider Society, Arachne!

@onmyownside1

——————-

[Transcript: Hey Angel, I could probably say you're heaven-sent, but you probably hear that all the time. It's so good to have another stylish Spider on campus. But the hair can be such a pain - I gave up trying a while ago. Honestly, I haven't a clue how Hobie does it. Me and Pavitr are rocking the 'big-hair, don't-care' train. And I have a better idea! You know, we could really use a lead technician! It sounds silly, but Hobie and the band are always fussing and fumbling with the amps backstage. Totally kills the groove sometimes. You're so good with all the tech stuff, could you come help? You can hang backstage with the fanclub, plus you get a free show outta it! Rad, right?]

"As for the picks, don't ask me how I got them, it's kinda a long story. But there is a catch - that's the * - if you have a pick, you have to stay ready. Hobie might ask you for some info or some help, every once and a while. To help with some 'Anti-Miguel' stuff if you get my drift.'

-- Disco

Thank you so much for submitting! I love hearing about Spiders who stray from the typical power-set! A higher quality PNG of your pick is under the cut, if you'd like to have it. Just something silly I made from a random headcanon lol

[Wanna join the Hobie Brown Fanclub and get your own custom Hobie Brown pick, just for funsies? Send me your spidersona and ask to be in the Hobie Brown fanclub! That's all you have to do]

__________

This is apart of the Spider-Society Welcome Committee:

Welcome to Spider Society!

Have you ever been bitten by a radioactive spider? Are you aware of the multiverse? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to these two highly-specific questions, Welcome Aboard! Miguel’s created the Spider Society Welcome Committee - and Diane ‘Disco-Spider’ is your advisor! Armed with welcome pamphlets, extracurriculars, and the greatest gossip, Disco is here to give every spidersona a warm welcome :) [Just a silly thing I’ve doing as art practice. I’m neurodivergent and love seeing spidersonas, so I do this in my spare time. I’d love to hear about yours if you have one. Submit or tag me in art of yours, send me an ask describing them, or just chat away to Disco - The Spider Society Welcome Committee is here for warm welcomes and rad-worldbuilding. No matter the spidersona, or the material you have :) It’s all love and fun - showing off fun sonas, and a dash of rp]

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I’m so sorry for spamming you but my mind is racing with ideas: you put the Life of Bucky Barnes Bucky NSFW art back on my dash and for the first time I thought… who’s taking the picture, Bucky??

And then I thought… maybe they’re recording a sex tape to fuck each other to later. Maybe Bucky will sit behind Steve with Steve’s limbs immobilized, slooowly stroking Steve’s cock as they watch Steve whimper like a whore on the TV, watch how Bucky sunk his teeth into Steve’s chest and shoulder until Steve cried, watch how Bucky rode Steve until Steve’s eyes rolled back into his head.

And the other possibilities… both of them always having a bit of an exhibitionist streak, but they’re possessive enough that it’s really only with each other. Steve used to have Bucky fuck him from behind in front of a mirror so Steve could frantically sketch them before it got to be too much and he had to bury his face in the sheets. Maybe Bucky saved up for months for a second-hand camera and the chemicals to make their own dark room so he could take pictures of his dick stretching Steve’s rim or Steve’s cock in his mouth.

Oh how wonderful the modern world is when it’s so much easier to satisfy these desires, save pieces of each other to enjoy whenever they want.

related to this

Don't apologize! I'm loving this--I love hearing all your ideas.

Ooh, that's a good thought 👀 I've never had that before either. I must've just filed it away as a timer or tripod or something subconsciously, lol.

I fucking love the idea of that drawing being a screenshot from the middle of their sex tape. Like, goddamn, that is perfect.

And then you added on even more perfection in the form of them using the sex tape for later. Woof.

I am obsessed with the idea of power bottom Bucky that you've insinuated here--he's the one riding Steve until his eyes roll back into his head, overwhelmed, and he's the one sinking his teeth into his pale skin, biting until he's bruised, pink and soft and vulnerable like a ripe peach. Bucky is the one that's making Steve feel so good in the video, and he's the one denying Steve of physical pleasure in the moment.

Because of Bucky, Steve is now restrained in front of the TV, watching himself on the big screen. As much as he can, he's squirming, his dick is hard and leaking, aching to be shoved in the tight, wet space of Bucky's fever-hot body, and he's so fucking turned on that even though Bucky hasn't touched them, his nipples are hard, tight peaks. He's slick with sweat. Hair matted to his forehead. Panting. Eyes glued to the screen. Straining to hear every desperate pant, every whore-ish whimper, every slutty moan, and every filthy word or sentence that spills over from Bucky's mouth like thick, intoxicating liquor.

Yeah, Steve is taking in every pixel of pleasure he received as he gets, right now, absolutely none.

Any pleasure he does think he gets... it's all in his head. Unreal. The memory of how the touches felt. The way his nerves twitched and melted. The fire under his skin. The tightening of his muscles. The loss of thoughts, replaced entirely with nothing but, "Bucky, Bucky, Bucky BuckyBuckyBuckyBuckyBucky--"

So, by the time they've watched for long enough for the big finish of the video to be approaching, Bucky barely has to wrap up Steve's cock and stroke him once, twice, three times before he's shooting off. Hard enough to see stars with a scream ripping from his chest. Fighting the restraints. Unspeakably worn out, replaying every part of the past experience with the details of this moment--immobilized, spread thin, denied, worn down until Bucky could've breathed on his hurting cock and he would've exploded.

It's exhaustion in the most satisfying way 😮‍💨

Your other possibilities are also very, very delicious, but, goddamn, I couldn't help but latch onto the first one. I do love the idea of Bucky having a secret dark room back in the day, too. I wonder if those photos could've ossibly survived... I'm sure that'd jog Bucky's memory in the future if he found them in Steve's possessions in their shared apartment in the new century 👀

Thank you for sharing!

[slutforstabbings]

the NO-SKIP albums: a tag game 🎶💖

rules: share the albums that you can listen to nonstop. those lightning in a bottle-albums that scratch ur brain just right. every single track, an absolute banger. u could not skip one if u tried. no notes. stunning, show-stopping, immaculate. ur no-skip albums. 🔎 bonus & optional (but imo, v fun) rules:1) add a track rec for us to listen to! AND2) share ur favorite line(s) from that track! 👀

Thank you so much for tagging me and inventing this game @ventiswampwater ! <3 I added two extra dimensions that I do not expect anybody else to do, but i tried to focus on my current favorite musical textures, and I only picked bands with less than 1.5 million monthly spotify listeners because you do not need me to tell you how good deftones is lol check below the cut for album info ~

and in the spirit of the boops, i'm tagging a lot more people than i usually do in these games, so feel free to ignore me if you don't want to participate lol @loureedpiss @hersweetrevenge @toxicanonymity @deathwestern @grandmawitch @bbwithaknife @sevvventhson @clemkruckinnie @hall0ween-twn @ghostwriterforghosts @barbie-cock @heartrot666 @ethanhoewke @deanmonlover

Apocalipstick (2017) | Cherry Glazerr indie rock, noise pop | for fans of Veruca Salt, Mitski track rec: Trash People art is love and love is sloppy / nothing is all pure / nothing is all dirty

Neck of the Woods (2012) | Silversun Pickups indie rock, shoegaze | for fans of Smashing Pumpkins, Interpol track rec: Dots and Dashes (enough already) see you in the room next door / your feet float above the floor / dress torn above you knees / like you've owned it for centuries

Glow On (2021) | Turnstile post-hardcore, alternative metal, dream pop | for fans of AFI, Title Fight track rec: Underwater Boi i just need to know i'm / working for the big prize / when i get to heaven will i know?

Comfort to Me (2021) | Amyl and the Sniffers garage punk, hardcore | for fans of Descendents, Adolescents, Distillers track rec: Maggot everything you touch turns to gold / i can't wait for you to touch me

GT Ultra (2017) | Guerilla Toss dance punk, progressive pop | for fans of Le Tigre, Oingo Boingo track rec: Skull Pop will there be a warning? / when the clock stops moving? / will you have just 60 seconds? / will you find it boring?

10,000 Gecs (2023) | 100 Gecs hyperpop, pop punk, nu metal | for fans of ??? they're too unique for this sorry track rec: 757 i got problems with my spending / all these horses in my engine / doing 80 in a 30 / but i'm never in a hurry

Mind Control (2013) | Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats traditional doom metal, heavy psych | for fans of Black Sabbath, heavy Beatles songs track rec: Poison Apple don't you worry baby, you're safe with me / i'm the poison apple in your tree

Soma (2013) | Windhand doom metal, stoner metal | for fans of the sensation of a weighted blanket, but sound track rec: Orchard i'm having trouble with the down time / can't pick myself up off the floor