#Ok this wasn't made in actual MS paint

[fruitcakebro]

I'm sorry.

Ok no I'm not, but still.

[enby-iggy]

Im going to try and explain my gender to the 0 people who are paying attention to this blog, because I deserve to ramble a little bit I think

For context I'm afab. I've pretty much always known I wasn't a man, which is a big part of why it took me so long to question my gender at all. I specifically remember seeing the term transmasc online when I was first discovering queer terms and being like "hmm I wonder if that could be me" and then looking it up and seeing it listed as a synonym for trans man and just being like "oh ok then guess im still cis". I didn't start seriously questioning until like. April of this year I think

I don't know why it took me so long to consider the idea of being nonbinary, but it was actually a conversation with some of my trans friends that made me consider it. I remember saying something like "I may be cis but I'd trade my female body for a completely neutral one in a heartbeat" and one of my friends was like "r u sure ur cis lmao". Silly stuff. My whole thing was like, I want a body that looks like nothing, that I can make look like anything. If I want to wear mens' clothes I don't want boobs that get in the way of that. But I want to be able to wear a dress and not have like, idk body hair and a dick getting in the way of that. And I said stuff to my friends like, I don't rly want hormones but Id wear a binder to look more neutral, Id voice train and get my voice deeper, that makes sense right

My biggest hangup was on pronouns, because I was REALLY proud of being a she/her. But I decided, hey I can't knock they/them until I try it right? So I proposed a they/them test for a week, and never looked back lmao. I went through a phase of absolutely despising she/her for a month or two, but I've since made up with the pronoun set as you can see in my bio. She/her and I are good friends now we've settled our differences <3

Putting the rest under a cut for the sake of my 2 followers' TLs not being flooded because I still have much to say

My gender is very multifaceted, but in the physical realm you could call me transmasc. It took me a while to realize but I hate my boobs (or rather, took me a while to realize that disliking your boobs is not normal lmfao), to the point where I very quickly went from "eh I might get a binder for some outfits" to "I NEED to get top surgery". I'm also not a fan of my hips and ass, never have been but I don't think there's much I can do about that one. I also have solid evidence for vocal dysphoria, in that I can remember a specific time as a kid where I learned that your voice sounds deeper to you than it does to other people because of the way you hear it through your skull. This disappointed me GREATLY because I always prided myself on the idea that I had a boyish voice. I do think I'd like to train my voice lower, if possible. Lastly for physical dysphoria I've always had a thing about my height, but I mostly learned to ignore it since boys LOVE to make fun of girls (and other boys I suppose) for their height. I learned to shut it out and make fun of myself as well as a coping mechanism, because it really did and always has bugged me. But what can I do, I've 5 foot even at 19 years old and it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon.

As for my internal experience of gender...I think this low-quality ms paint chart will explain it best.

Basically my gender exists on two simultaneous sliding scales--one of them a distinctly gendered outside-of-binary gender that I'm choosing to call neutrois, because it's an existing term that works for what I'm talking about. The other gender is a female-aligned gender that is distinct from cisgender femininity but is still feminine in nature, which I am choosing to call femme because I hate the words woman and girl and female in relation to my own gender. I can experience both of these scales at maximum intensity--bigendered as both neutrois and femme at the same time--or minimum intensity--essentially agendered, no distinct experience of gender either way--OR I can be some strange combination of these, such as minimum femme and maximum neutrois or half neutrois and full femme, etc. I've found that the strength of ANY gender fluctuates over longer periods of time, in that I tend to feel low amounts of gender for a period of about two weeks, followed by higher feelings of gender for about two weeks, during which the relation of femme to neutrois fluctuates on a daily basis.

As for labels, the best way I can think to describe this is bigenderflux, and also demigirl (or demifemme, as I prefer to call it). But for obvious reasons I usually just call myself nonbinary. I also like terms like librafemme, describing the property of being both agender and feminine, and juxera, describing the property of being feminine aligned in a way that is different from the way cis women are feminine. But it's...hard to label.

The funny thing about this is that it doesn't really line up with my gender expression much at all. There are days that I'm feeling fully agender or fully neutrois, and am strangely in the mood to wear a dress. Or days that I'm feeling mostly femme and want to present like a boy. So realistically my gender doesn't really have any bearing on anything at all. But I like charting it, because a few months ago if I'd woken up feeling feminine I would have spiraled into a panic about how I must be faking being trans. But this allows me to understand myself and predict how I'll feel so I know that when I feel a certain way, that's normal and part of who I am.

I feel like I had more to say in this post but I guess this is purely a gender summary. Now you know I guess

[mayumiiyuu]

ok i know i just requested something yesterday, BUT I HAVE A REALLY GOOD SONG FIC IDEA - steve harrington x reader and the song is you belong with me by taylor swift where steve’s dating a cheerleader and the reader and him have been best friend’s since forever but the reader has had a huge crush on him, I THINK IT’D BE SO CUTE

s. harrington || you belong with me

A/N: my personal thanks to u and our lord and savior, source of all my inspiration: ms. taylor alison swift

The day you met Steve Harrington was one you couldn’t quite remember, granted the two of you had been in kindergarten then. Your mother loves to recount the story on your birthdays, how he had stolen your favorite crayons and you retaliated by flicking your mashed potatoes at him. Eventually, you both made up and bonded over finger painting, and you both had been inseparable since.

Even through the awkward years of pre pubescent middle school kids to the more intimidating environment that was high school, you both had managed to remain as good friends, best friends, that was, when Steve wasn't out with his other more well known friends.

Of course you saw it coming, even from miles away, as you and Steve first set foot on the High School campus, you knew deep down that he would be swept away by the popular crowd, because even you had to admit that he was charming, the fact that he had perfect hair only ever boosted his reputation.

Passing notes and always spending you lunches together turned into short 'hi's' and 'hello's' as you passed each other by in the hallways, every time Steve and you had managed to snatch some alone time to talk, somehow one of his friends always managed to barge in, dragging Steve away with him.

Despite how dejected you felt whenever he was taken away from you, you let him go each time. It wasn't as if you were together anyway, you and Steve? The king of Hawkins High with some band geek nobody? Not a chance.

After years of being friends with the Steve Harrington, absolute heartthrob of the school, could anyone truly blame you if you told them you'd had a crush on him since the fourth grade?

For years you had buried whatever feelings you had for him deep inside you, locked up in a dungeon of your own creation along with all your dreams of becoming a ballerina or astronaut.

You convinced yourself it was never going to happen, especially now that he was currently dating the captain of the cheerleading team who also happened to be one of your biggest bullies, none other than the queen of hell herself: Heather McNamara.

You told yourself it was natural, predictable even. She was pretty, she was popular, she was actually a really talented cheer leader, and she made him smile--despite how she tormented you, you tried to force down the bile that crawled up your throat whenever you saw his arm slung around her shoulder, the little kisses she would throw him while she did her cheer routines as he played basketball, while you were the one stuck on the bleachers.

Curse the stupid made up hierarchy that was high school.

Although you and Steve seemed to be drifting apart while at school, that wasn't the case at all outside of class. Sometimes, every after school when you didn't have band practice and Steve didn't have whatever sports practice he was into at the time, you would both spend afternoon until night driving around Hawkins, with music turned up and the windows down as you two yelled out the lyrics to your favorite songs.

Those were the moments you liked most, where you could be you, and he could be the Steve you always knew him to be.

Then he'd drive you both home, which was easy, considering the fact that your houses were right next to each other, with his bedroom window only a few feet away from yours. When you were little, to avoid waking any of your parents up, you and Steve would communicate with big pads of paper, chatting through writing way past your bedtime.

You smiled at that memory.

"And then Heather said 'I'll bring my own cassette tapes next time,' like, um, what? Y'know, if she didn't like my music she could've just said that and I would've turned it off, I don't know why she had to be so passive aggressive about it, and her tone was just--"

You furrow your brows and shake your head. "Dude, if that annoyed you so much why don't you just talk to her about it?"

Steve groans. "That's the thing! Whenever I try to talk to her about something that's bothering me that she does, she always twists my words and make it so that I'm the villain! I mean-- that's not fair!"

You huff, giving him an incredulous look. "If it's like that every time you confront her for stuff that she does to make you feel bad, why are you still with her then?"

"Because!" Steve starts, shrugging. "I don't know, I think I might really like her, she could be the one, y'know."

You let out a fake barfing noise. "Gross, keep that sentimentality away from me please."

"You know, I think you'd have a better understanding if you were in the same situation." He says before turning the steering wheel down towards the park you were supposed to be going to.

You scoff, turning in your seat to face him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," Steve inhales before blowing out of his mouth. "You've been single for like, the longest time, (y/n), you sure there aren't any cute band geeks you're hanging out with?"

"As if I'd ever want to be all mushy gushy with someone like that." You roll your eyes for what seemed to be the tenth time during this car ride. "Like 'oh babe how are you, I missed you so much', 'oh baby I missed you too'." You tease, mimicking Steve's deep voice and Heather’s high pitched one as you say those words, right before putting your fingers together and making your hands kiss while imitating kissing noises.

"Hey! Stop that." Steve whines, slapping your hands down as you giggle.

"Now I get why no one wants to date you." He murmurs, but you hear his words perfectly, causing you to punch him square on the bicep.

"Ow! Hey, I was just joking, alright? You're great, (y/n), I'm sure you'll find someone soon."

"Last time I checked, Harrington, I don't need to date anyone simply in order to boost my popularity, okay?" You retaliate, crossing your arms.

"Ouch, (y/n), you make me seem so vain." Steve places a hand over his heart to feign hurt.

You laugh sarcastically before looking at him while batting your lashes. "Glad you noticed."

He rolls his eyes at you, nudging your forehead with his fingers and you laugh.

You'll find someone someday, his words echo in your mind.

But as you watch him laugh and smile with joy as he turns up the volume to his favorite song with the afternoon sun pouring through the car window to illuminate his face in gold, you didn't need to look any further.

Because you had already found someone.

...

It was a typical Tuesday night, your current favorite song blasting through your speakers as you read a book that you needed to understand for class. Unable to even remotely understand the author's words in their 19th century grammar, you let your mind wander as you stared at the page.

Prom was coming soon, and there was no doubt in your mind that Steve would be crowned prom king, along with his snooty little girlfriend.

You sigh, shutting the book. You spot Steve in his room from the view you had into his bedroom window, he was pacing around the room, the phone wire getting caught in his chair before he yanked it out.

You didn't know exactly what was going on, but you saw his animated hand gestures, the frustration on his face as he ran his hand through his hair.

With your eyebrows knitted together, you get off your bed, making your way towards your window. Steve finally slams the phone down, his face tinged with red from all the yelling he had done. He catches your eye, and you give him a concerned look through your window. He quirks his eyebrows, shrugs, and shakes his head.

Swiftly, you grab the big sketchbook that you usually reserved for your art classes, writing a message to him in big black letters with your sharpie.

He looks at you with confusion as you scribble down your message, his eyebrows turning upwards as he realizes what you were doing.

'Are you okay?' It read.

He grabs his own pad of paper, the yellow pad he was supposed to use to take notes in, scrawling his own message in black marker.

'Not really.' He replied.

You shoot him a frown.

'What happened?'

He shakes his head, sighing, before turning the pad of paper towards you, revealing his message.

'We had a fight again :('

The sad face he doodled almost makes you laugh. He was still the same dorky Steve under that popular mask he wore after all.

'Sorry about that'

He comes closer towards his window, opening up the latch to slide the window pane upwards.

"You wanna go for a walk?" He calls out.

You smile, opening up your own window. "Sure."

...

You sneak your way into the kitchen and out the back door, memories of doing the same sneaking out as kids when either of you were grounded replay in your mind.

You carefully unlatch the gate to his backyard, making sure there would be no noise to alert anyone, tiptoeing your way up the back porch until you stood at his own back door, waiting.

"Hey." He greets, eyes not meeting yours.

"Hey," You smile. "Everything okay?"

He makes his way past you, shaking his head while you follow him.

"No, not really."

"What happened?"

"She," He hesitates, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. "She broke up with me."

You feel bad for him, you do, but if that meant him finally being free of a toxic relationship, you couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Oh." Is all you manage to say.

"But I'm gonna get her back." He says with conviction, nodding his head as his eyes looked far away into the horizon, as if he was imagining the ways he would somehow win her back.

You furrow your eyebrows and scoff, which catches his attention and snaps him out of his daydream.

"What?" He says, bewildered and confused by your reaction.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No? I'm serious, I'm gonna win her back, just wait and see."

You roll your eyes, incredulous at his response.

"Why? You don't even like her that much!"

"How could you even know that? You don't know me!" He cries out, emphasizing his words with wild hand gestures.

"That's another thing you're wrong about, Steve, I do know you, and I know that you're making one of the biggest mistakes in your life." You say the last few words with a hint of cynical laughter in your voice.

"Where the hell is this even coming from, (y/n)? I really like this chick, what more is there to it?"

"Oh so you 'really like this chick' but you just so happen to complain about her all the time?"

Steve stammers for a moment. "Love's complicated like that, I don't know, I just know that I need to take her to prom too--"

"Oh so that's it!" You exclaim sarcastically, moving your hands into wild gestures of their own. "Steve, the king of Hawkins High, is afraid to go to prom without a date."

"Yeah, well, at least I actually have the chance to have a date on my arm, not sure I can say the same thing about you, can I?" He seethes.

You squint your eyes at him in disbelief. "You're seriously bringing that up right now?"

He shrugged. "I figured that since you were such an expert about love you'd be in a relationship oh no wait," Steve points at you. "You're not."

You let out a laugh devoid of any joy. "At least I don't go out with people who aren't good for me for the sake of keeping my social status." You reply, words dripping with poison.

"Yeah well, at least people know me. I mean, who even are you at school besides the band geek who follows Steve Harrington around like a lost little puppy?"

You lick your lips, resolve faltering. "Is that really what you think of me?"

Steve sucks in a breath, closing his eyes as he rubs them, then shakes his head. "No, no, (y/n), I--"

"You know what? Fine, I'll stop following you around like a lost puppy. As far as I know, you're on your own, Harrington." You say, anger bubbling in your veins as you stomp away from him.

You don't even notice the look of regret in his eyes as you turn your back.

...

It had been a week since you last stopped talking to Steve, avoiding him at all costs whenever you were at school, closing the curtains to your window to make your one message very clear: Don't talk to me.

Sometimes you wondered what happened to the two of you. You two used to be like two peas in a pod, he told you everything there was to know about him, his entire life story.

Steve felt nothing but guilt as you brushed past him in the hallways, barely even sparing him a glance. He remembers those days where the two of you would sneak out to go on walks, or 'nightly adventures' as you two used to call it growing up. He recounts the moments he'd spend with you, sharing secrets, hopes, and dreams under the stars. He had told you everything there was to him. Steve was stubborn, but he knew you were right; you did know him, down to the very specs of stardust in his bones. He had told you his life story, but he forgot to mention all the chapters you had always been a part of.

...

Prom was only a day away now.

As much as you brushed your friends' invitations off, you couldn't ignore the endless pestering of your mother.

"Oh, come on, (y/n), it's your high school prom! I remember how fun my little proms were, come on, sweetheart, you need some sort of grand moment in your life to commemorate your high school days! Pleaasee." She had begged and pleaded with you.

Finally, after more pestering and nagging, you relented.

So now here you were, walking your way towards the gym after your mother had dropped you off, snapping an endless supply of pictures of you on her polaroid, gushing about how stunning you looked.

Before you left the house, you had caught your reflection in one of the mirrors by the living room, and, as vain as it was, you had to admit that you looked good.

Your hair was meticulously styled courtesy of your mother, makeup brushed on to highlight your best features, that, along with the elegant dress of your favorite color you and your mother had chosen paired with the matching jewelry made you feel the best about your appearance for the longest time.

You walked into the gym, decorated with various balloons and streamers, your mouth widening into a smile as you caught one of your friends from band. You ran over to them as best as you could with the strappy heels you wore, tackling one of them in a hug.

As you laughed and drank punch with your friends, your eyes caught a glimpse of none other than Steve 'the hair' Harrington. He glances towards your direction and you two make eye contact, which you immediately break as you turn to your friends.

"So, you guys see anyone cute yet?" You say.

"Uh, duh, Steve Harrington is literally standing right there." Your friend replies, quirking an eyebrow.

"Actually, he's walking towards us now." Your other friend says as she fixes her hair.

You bite your lip, sure, you weren't mad at him anymore, but you were still a little annoyed. Ever the prideful one, you only looked down at your drink as Steve approached you.

He waved to your friends, sending them a small smile before he turned to you.

"(y/n), can we talk?"

"What's there to talk about?" You casually shift your eyesight to the side, intent on not even making eye contact with him. While he was the pretty one in the friendship, you were most definitely the petty one.

He rolls his eyes at you and sighs. "Look, I know you're probably still annoyed at me, and I'm sorry, but can we please just talk? You and me?"

You close your eyes, letting out a breath, before you look at him. "Fine."

He grins, finally, you were talking to him. He leads you away from your friends and to the dance floor.

You quirk your eyebrow at him. "Steve, where are we--"

"Come on, (y/n), dance with me." He holds out his hand towards you.

Memories of you pining for him for years envelop your heart, and you just couldn't tell him no, not with those sweet, pleading eyes of his.

You take his hand, and as if on cue, a slow song starts to play.

Before you know it, you had your arms wrapped around his neck and his hands at your waist. Your heart thumped against your chest, still, you tried your best to play it cool. After all, the two of you were completely platonic, And, much to your dismay, nothing could ever change that.

"You were right." He says, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"About Heather," He says, looking into your eyes earnestly. "She and I.. we just weren't right for each other."

"Oh, um, okay." Is all you can manage to say as you felt your cheeks flush pink when you caught his gaze flickering towards your lips.

"I've spent my entire life chasing after things, people, because I guess being popular and liked by a lot of people made me feel wanted, loved." He laments, gazing at your features with affection.

You let out a soft chuckle in an attempt to ease your nerves. Throughout your entire life of knowing Steve, you had never been so close to each other like this. "Glad you finally noticed."

He laughed, softly, before he licked his lips. "Guess I was too busy trying to impress the world that I forgot about the one person who I saw as my world."

When he looks at you like that, with that affectionate, kind look in his eyes, how could you ever stop your heart from melting?

"That person's you, by the way." He smiles, clearing up his words.

You squint your eyes at him, despite the smile that graced your lips.

"That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard, Stevie."

He laughs, shaking his head. "It was worth a shot."

"What, did you spend like 30 minutes of your time practicing that line in front of your mirror or?" You teased.

He rolls his eyes playfully at you before leaning his forehead on yours.

"Can't get anything past you, can I?"

You beam at him, eyes crinkling as you smiled. "Never."

He laughs before he kisses you on both cheeks, then on your nose, then your forehead, until he reaches your lips. You practically melt into him as his soft lips move against yours, ever so gently, and you swear you could stay in this moment forever. Despite the sea of people around you, whispering and gossiping about the band geek and the king of Hawkins, all of that faded away as you swayed to the rhythm with Steve, your Steve, who you knew inside out, who knew you down to the tiny specs of stardust in your bones.

And nothing and no one could ever take that away from either of you.

[agena87]

Mila: Don't you take your paintings with you? You could meet someone interested in them. Wolfgang: I have some in the van to show to galleries. And I have pictures of everything in my portfolio, if they want to see more. M: Maybe don't show the most... explicit in Windenburg? Who knows what they would do to you if they learn that... Well... W: That I like cock? M: Schätzchen, please don't speak like that. I was going to say that you're gay. W: Well, you seemed to have difficulties saying the word. I thought you were OK with it? M: I am, you know I am. It's just, you leaving for this place... You know I left it for you kids? For your security. And Windenburg is not safe for people like you; you know they made it illegal. W: I know, Mutty. But, frankly, finding a boyfriend is the last thing on my mind right now. All I want is forgetting about men, actually. M: Just be careful, Liebling. W: I will. (look at his brother and Max joking around while hauling boxes) Hey, losers! Easy with those boxes, this is my painting material! Max: Whatever. L: Don't worry. M: I wish you didn't have to go this far. W: I know, Mutty. But I really need some fresh air. And you'll still have Gunther and Lucas around. And Max, I guess. M: (chuckles) Yes, this kid seems to spend more time here than at their home. W: Yes, I think that...

Malcolm: Hello. Mila: Oh, come in. (to Wolfgang) Liebling, you didn't tell me that your friend was coming to help, I would have prepared something better than sandwiches for lunch. Mal: Don't worry, Ms Munch, it wasn't planned. I just needed to talk to Wolfgang before he left. Mila: Lucas, Max, let's go. (not seeing the two teens around) Where are those kids? W: Probably making out somewhere. Mila: (sighs) You might be right. Well, I'll let you talk alone, you two.

Mila leaves the garage, allowing Malcolm to reach Wolfgang.

W: (refusing to look at Malcolm) I thought we said our goodbyes yesterday. M: We did. But... I... Listen, I know your reasons for wanting to leave, and I know I said you should, but I don't want you to go, Puppy.

W: Mal. Don't do that, please. M: Stay, please. I love you. W: And I love you too, you're one of my best fr... M: No. I'm in love with you. W: I already told you that you aren't. You can't be. Why would you? You're... I'm fucked up, no one, and especially not someone like you, could really love me. M: But... W: Mal. Leave, please. M: You're an idiot, you know? A self-depreciating idiot. W: I know. M: (sighs) OK, I'll leave. But you better not lose my number. I want texts or calls at least three times a week, OK? W: OK. Promise. M: Good. (kisses Wolfgang one last time before leaving)

W: (once alone) Scheiße.

[halcyandaze]

what happened to your deviantart

sadly yeah it's gone now, longer explanation under read more

tldr: AI database scraping is a bitch and man the social media landscape looks pretty bleak rn woof

when deviantart starting pushing the eclipse redesign and got rid of access to the old UI it lost a lot of features and customization options and such that I and many other people enjoyed so it lost a lot of its charm, function, and users. so I stopped using it as much if at all

then when AI generated images started to pop off, the front pages (which always had an issue of always either only showing the same 5 popular artists who were buddy buddy with the site staff or untagged/filtered MS paint sonic inflation or anime foot fetish bases or some crap) became loaded with AI junk instead of, oh y'know, actual art

final straw was when deviantart started making their own AI image generator and made all accounts automatically opt in to having their images possibly used for the AI's database, and if you weren't ok with that, you had to manually go in and find and shut off all those new hidden settings. I felt I couldn't trust deviantart anymore, I liked having my deviantart page still up even if I wasn't active because it was my first social media site where I shared art back when I was 13 years old, a literal whole decade of growth and memories. but I felt I couldn't have that anymore without risking it all being scraped or misused, so I finally deleted a while back. still kind of bummed about it but yeah no deviantart ain't what it used to be

I'm kind of in a similar boat with twitter right now. my posts get no traction, I never see content from the people I signed up to see posts from anymore and instead get nothing but blue checks and scams and ads and bots and AI, you can't even scroll more than 20 minutes without RATE LIMIT EXCEEDED or paying up and joining blue check loser circlejerk club, oh hey did you notice all tweet contents and imbeds prior to 2014 just got nuked off the place of the earth with no warning, they're trying to make their own AI with a database fed by tweets unless you lock up your accounts, but locked accounts are reporting their tweets and activity being seen by people who don't follow them and should have no way to see any of their posts but they show up somehow, anything can get you shadowbanned or blacklisted by The Algorithm, and rumor has it you may have to soon send government ID and sensitive info and images of your face to twitter HQ for verification to squash down the bots (that toooootally didn't get worse after the company got bought by that X obsessed nutjob nah this time he'll totally fix it you guys trust us)

yeah, I totally trust those loser dweebs who completely tanked one of the most popular social media platforms of the past decade in less than 6 months I totally don't see anything bad happening with having my legal government info on the twitter servers

so I'm currently in the process of also deleting my twitters if this shit doesn't improve. if you want to keep up with where I'm most active, go over on my carrd and I keep my links page updated with where I am and what I'm doing on each :]

[anfeycare]

"Fruit 'n' paint" [Warning: Eye contact, eyes]

"The nicest neighbor and maybe even the best painter, as Wally would say, he's the most!" ✨🎨

—————

Now, sharing some of my thoughts that are a bit related to this drawing!

I like to give titles for what I make, and this one's is "Fruit 'n' paint", but I first thought of "Apple 'n' paint" and it works as well. There's not much of a reason for this title, but I like it! ˃▿˂ [cute face laughing with eyes closed]

So, I have a lot of WIPs, but my urge to just draw and finish any thing was even preventing me from being actually able to rest ksjsksjks, then I made this as I would when I'm using MS Paint to draw (wasn't using MS Paint heheh, just using the way I draw on MS Paint). Didn't finish it as fast as I expected (when I checked it said I took approximately a total of 8 hours- o-O ), but was faster than my other WIPs usually take me to finish kskksjsk. And it served its purpose, I needed to make something and I did; then, the last time I slept, I did actually rest, yay! ˃▿˂ [cute face laughing with eyes closed]

I also decided to draw about what I'm currently appreciating a lot, and let some of my feelings for it out kjskksk; I enjoy Welcome Home, I find it somewhat wholesome even if just a bit of it is finished for now, Clown is so creative, I instantly became a fan kjskksk aa- 🥺✨🌈💙 [/genuine]

(When I first joined the fandom, I thought of not showing my Welcome Home fan arts out there while they're still getting used to having fans, but I think it's ok to do so while they're on hiatus, as it won't get to them, so that they probably won't get overwhelmed when they come back... I hope this makes sense! Just sharing some thoughts I had. [And gentle little reminder to be kind to them and other creators!])

[And, though somewhat unrelated, happy autism awareness and acceptance month! Remember to get informed about what you don't know of, listen and take into account what our peers say, and always be respectful and kind! ∞✨]

Have a wonderful day! ✨✨

See ya!

[abandoned-as-mustard]

Wednesday review (spoilers)

That's it??? They just ended it like that???!!

I must say, this show's editing was choppy at times. VERY choppy. I have no idea what time of the year it's supposed to be, but shows don't seem to care nowadays.

Also it wouldn't have KILLED them to make a longer season! 8 episodes really wasn't enough to delve into that. EVERYTHING was just plot plot plot. If this show was made 15 years ago we'd have at least have shenanigans caused by a different set of outcasts every week, character-central episodes, delving into mythology and secret rooms and actually fleshing out the romantic interests, giving them moments that would actually make me feel bad for big reveals and betrayals, and when something really plotty happens (like a small detail) unexpectedly, THAT'S when you can point your finger and go OOOH!!!!! And it would at least be 16 episodes long.

Fun fact: Tyler was hottest when he was threatening Wednesday at the police station 🤭 oh, and covered in blood, too.

As for the relationships themselves: I really appreciated the friendship arc of Wednesday and Enid. No, I don't ship them.

Enid and Ajax: they are cute. He needed more lines. And when is he going to be used to defeat evil? And why didn't his beanie ever ... ya know. Hiss? Little moments that remind us he's got snakes under it.

Wednesday and tyler: where were our little moments??? When Tyler said 'I thought we liked each other', that was news to me. I like them, but at the same time, they hardly saw each other. I did like looking at him, but he really only had one bewildered expression.

Wednesday and Xavier (or *American accent* ex-avier): when she demanded why he liked her and he said 'what's there to like?' after how she treated him, he was never so right. I was expecting more moments to warrant a side of a love triangle, but there was no triangle. There wasn't even a friendship. There was Wednesday and tyler, and Xavier third wheeling like a kicked puppy. He had some good lines, though his delivery was.... a liiiiitle deadpan. But he'll get better, I hope. With some better writing, too.

And the powers: wouldn't have killed them to explain his powers more! So dad's a psychic, how does that translate to making lifelike art??

Also, he looked hottest when he was in paint-stained clothes in his studio 😍 that's probably just the artist in me. I actually really liked his art.

Plot: I spoiled myself on it, so I can't evaluate how well they foreshadowed. My brother watched it before me and he thought he had it 'all figured out' with guessing Xavier as the monster, but to be honest, they were so obvious with those misleading clues, which in itself gives it away. It probably comes down to how many shows you've watched: Tyler was either going to die, or turn out to be a freak.

Weems getting iced so easily? What was with that? Anticlimactic.

But YASS Enid became a wolf!!!

Also, crackstone just.... died? Like that? You're telling me all those randoms gave their body parts so he could spend 5 minutes terrorising a school, and he didn't even get to kill anyone?

And what the hell did Wednesday do with Ms Thornhill?

They were also very heavy-handed with all of their themes. You could tell when Goody Addams (as an unmarried paternal ancestor she shouldn't even have the surname, but that's neither here nor there) chucked out a few lines like 'we lived in harmony with the native folk', when crackstone and co. said things sounding like they were written by someone who was forced to go to catholic school at 12, when Wednesday spouted lines that made it hard to believe she did not spend time on Twitter, etc.

Just, man, I could write fanfic on the mythology that they couldve woven in with the literal vampires, shapeshifters, gorgons, sirens (SIRENS ARE NOT MERMAIDS, TIM BURTON!!! YOU COULDVE GIVEN THEM SICK WINGS AND CLAWS BUT YOU MADE THEM MERMAIDS WHILE BEING TOO COWARD TO CALL THEM THAT!) or the monster-of-the-week episodes we couldve done. :(

So overall TL;DR:

It was OK. Couldve been fleshed out more. Telling me there's another season isn't an excuse.

[elusive---ivory]

Circus Act - 2

Woop woop, part 2. I've been extremely exhausted but here we are.

Part 1

Part 2

Ps: Shout out to my girl, @gloomyladyy for drawing Sandy for me. She looks stunning 💕💕

Soon, it was Monday. Arthur had spent most of the weekend, hanging out with his mother, and writing subtle notes in his journal.

As Arthur got to work, he was greeted with those kind eyes he met last Thursday.

Sandy was setting up her locker, which just so happened to be right next to Arthur's.

"Hey Art, how are you?" Sandy greeted Arthur with a smile. She seemed to have lots of makeup on, and judging by her right eyelid, it was to hide something.

Arthur smiled back, opening his locker. "Good morning, Sandy."

"Morning, Artie. Ms. Cheekbones." Randall walked into the room, making an annoying appearance.

Sandy ignored Randall, pushing past him before walking into a changing room of some sort.

Randall scoffed. "What's her deal?"

Arthur shrugged.

Randall walked over to Arthur, opening up his locker.

"I heard about the other day. Kids are fucking savages." Randall commented.

Arthur sighed, fidgeting with his shoes. "They were just kids. Just leave it be."

"That kind of thinking, they'll just walk all over ya." Randall handed Arthur a brown paper bag.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, opening the bag.

Inside the bag was a gun and about 19 bullets.

Arthur scoffed, thinking it was some sort of prank. When he looked up at Randall, he could see that he was serious.

"Randall, I'm not supposed to have a gun." Arthur hushed, gritting his teeth.

"Relax, Art. You can pay me back. You're my boy. Besides chicks love guns." Randall walked away, pointing at the changing room.

Arthur hid the gun in his bag, and went back to lacing his enormous clown shoes, and promptly placing the shoes directly on his feet. Afterward, Arthur sat at the vanity, painting his face, putting on the mask of his clown persona, Carnival.

Sandy walked out of the changing room, decked in clown gear. Her dress seemed to consist of a red, white, and black color scheme, topped with a silly little hat on her black hair. The makeup she had on seemed to go with her own scheme.

Arthur's jaw laid slightly adjacent as he locked eyes on Sandy's outfit. He was barely finished with his makeup, and she was already dressed.

Sandy walked over to the vanity. "I love your makeup, Arthur. The shades of blue really contrasts with the red."

Arthur blinked for a second. "Thank you. I like your makeup, too."

Those emerald eyes hit her again. Despite feeling anxious from being around all sorts if guys, Sandy felt some comfort around Arthur. He was charming and during. Almost like Dennis, when she first met him. She smile faded.

Sandy cleared her throat. "Anyway, Hoyt wanted to tell you that you should come with me to that old folks home. He says that you could show me the ropes."

Arthur nodded. "Yeah. I could do that."

The old folks home was just down a few blocks from the studio.

"Good afternoon, elders. We have some exciting company today. Meet Ms. Cello, and Carnival." The director of the home introduced Sandy and Arthur, as they got into place.

Sandy got into center. She walked over to what looked to be a very old looking gramophone, and placed a record. The record played Somewhere Over The Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. The old people in the lounge room seemed to smile as Sandy began to dance around them. She did magic tricks, and pulled a handkerchief out of her tiny hat.

Arthur stood in the back, amazed. Sandy was fantastic, wowing the crowd with her tricks. Arthur couldn't compete with that. When it was his turn, Arthur froze up.

He felt a repressed laugh crawled up in the back of his throat. Suddenly, the laughter erupted from Arthur.

The elderly didn't seem amused. Some of the elders were confused or concerned about the man laughing in front of them.

Sandy was also concerned. She had never heard this kind of laughter come from Arthur before. Sandy grabbed Arthur to the side.

Arthur was hunched over, trying to repress his laughter with his hand.

"Arthur? Are you ok?" Sandy asked, placing a hand on his head.

Arthur looked away from her. He was already embarrassed enough.

"Arthur, it's ok. What's wrong?" Sandy tried comforting Arthur, but the home director had kicked them out.

Afterwards, Arthur's laughter subsided and seemed to be more calm. The walk back to Haha's was quiet.

"I have a condition." Arthur broke the silence after a while.

Sandy looked over at him. "Oh, what kind of condition?"

"It's called the pseudobulbar affect. I was diagnosed with it when I was young." Arthur sighed, looking at the ground.

"That's some heavy stuff, Arthur." Sandy walked back over to Arthur.

"You probably don't want to be around me anymore." Arthur's thick eyebrows furrowed. He looked up at Sandy like a hurt puppy.

"Are you joking? Of course, I want to be around you. You're the only guy I can actually talk to." Sandy smiled.

Arthur's face lit up. He seemed surprised at her answer. Arthur was so used to rejection, and Sandy didn't seem to mind him at all. It was such a relief to meet someone kind and considerate.

"Hey, how about, after work, I treat you to a drink or something?" Sandy asked.

Arthur nodded. "Yeah, that would be great."

His usual coworkers never invited him to anything. He was always casted out of their social group. Even with people like Randall and Gary, he felt invisible. It wasn't until Sandy came that someone actually saw him.

Sandy smiled, grabbing onto his arm. "Well, then come on, silly."

An old joint called Martha's was a place where Sandy's cousin, Deliah, worked. Sandy would go every Monday to get discounted drinks from her cousin.

"Sandy!" Dee exclaimed, giving her a tight hug. "Ooh, and who's this?"

Sandy laughed at Dee's suggestive comment. It was nice seeing her out of rehab. Dee had a long history with ketamine. Sandy was proud to see her every Monday working to better herself.

"This is Arthur. My coworker. Arthur, this is my cousin, Dee." Sandy said.

Arthur hesitantly shook Dee's hand.

Arthur looked around at all the people in the bar. Everyone in the bar made him incredibly nervous. He clinged onto Sandy's arm as they walked over towards a booth.

"So, how long have you been working for Hoyt?" Sandy asked, sitting next to Arthur on the velvet booth.

Arthur thought for a second. "A few months. My social worker recommended me the job."

"That's good. You know, my boyfriend tried to convince me not to get the job. He said 'think about how it'd look on him.'" Sandy sneered.

Arthur raised his eyebrow. "Boyfriend? You've never mentioned him before."

"There's a reason for that. He's a dick." Sandy rolled her eyes thinking about Dennis.

Arthur looked down at his drink, barely even taking a sip.

Sandy opened up a pack of cigarettes, and placed one to her lips.

Arthur studied the cigarette pressed against her lips. How she inhaled the smoke, and then letting it out in the air. Sandy seemed peaceful and content. Arthur noticed in the strobe lights of the bar that Sandy had a nasty bruise on her face. From her cheek, all the way up to her eyelid.

Sandy felt Arthur staring at her.

"What happened to your face?" Arthur asked.

Sandy gulped. "I ran into a door." She lied.

Arthur glared. He didn't like liars. Just before Arthur said anything else. Dee walked up to the booth with Dennis.

"Sandy, I'm so sorry. I tried to stop him. I told him that you weren't here." Dee apologized, profusely.

"It's fine, Dee." Sandy distinguished her cigarette, throwing it on the ground. "I have to go, Arthur. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Arthur could tell that she didn't want to leave. Dennis walked up to the booth, grabbing Sandy's arm.

"Go wait in the car, kitten." Dennis growled.

Sandy nodded, turning her head away from Arthur.

"Listen here, buddy. If I ever see you hanging around my girlfriend, again. I'll fucking kill you." Dennis grabbed Arthur by the shirt and threw him on the table. "Understand?"

Arthur nodded. As Dennis walked off, Arthur had the urge to grab the gun from out of his bag.

'She deserves better.' Arthur thought. 'Who does he think he is?'

Taglist: @gloomyladyy @memory-mortis @jokerflecker @joker-flecked-me @princessgeekface

(If you'd like to be tagged, message me/send an ask!! I'm always happy to add people)

The Woman In Velvet Series

[saline-coelacanth]

Ok, I wasn't gonna make a post about this but it's something that's annoyed me for a while.

Just because someone uses MS Paint to make art doesn't mean their art is automatically bad

So I used to make YouTube videos but kinda stopped cause I just didn't feel like making them anymore. I still occasionally make speedpaints though.

For those who don't know, I use MS Paint to make digital art. I know it isn't the most professional art program, but I know how to use it and it works fine for the type of art I draw.

One time, (probably a couple years ago) I made a video tutorial about how to make tinted colors in MS Paint, and I got a comment that said "Just use gimp". So me, being an insecure middle schooler, too the advise and downloaded gimp. The only problem is I couldn't figure out how to use it. So, I just went back to MS Paint cause that's what I was comfortable with.

A couple weeks ago, I made a speedpaint

It was actually a speedpaint of this picture. The only reason I uploaded it was because I wanted to put it on my amino. Today, I got a comment that said "Use gimp instead of MS Paint"

I am sick and tired of people telling me to use gimp, like I don't want to use and that's fine.

Let me use MS Paint!

[recentanimenews]

Scenes from Nagahama, Part 2

Director Hiroshi Nagahama wasn't always a director. Like anyone else in the industry, he had to work his way up. Read on as Ani-Gamers presents transcribed segments from one of his Otakon 2019 panels – Inside the Creation of Mushishi, Flowers of Evil, and Reflections with the Creator Hiroshi Nagahama – wherein the director himself explains what he's contributed to various titles and the crazy circumstances that led to his involvement.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Nagahama: I’m so happy you guys recognize all these titles! Since this was an original title, we had no idea while making it that it would have such a big impact with anime fans. It was directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. This title, there are many things that are unforgettable about it. Shinya Hasegawa, the character designer, was actually a classmate of mine at an animation school. When I was feeling like, “What more can I do at Madhouse,” he contacted me and said, “Hey, Mr. Ikuhara’s making a new title. Why don’t you come onboard with us?”

So he said, “You wanna be an animation director, right? You wanna be the animation director?” First I got the script for the first episode. “Why don’t you create some image boards for what you think this episode will look like?” So I took four images to the meeting with the director, Ikuhara: the forest of battle, the greenhouse with Anthy, outside of the school, and the tower of the student council.

So I met Mr. Ikuhara at the studio, and he’s just sitting back in the sofa. He flips through the boards and says, “Gimme a minute,” walks into the back room, and I could hear him making a phone call. He came back and said, “You’re in charge of the art design.” (General sounds of awe and applause from the audience) I imagine this in my head like a manga panel progression, but it’s true!

“I was told that I was being brought in as a key animation director…”

So Mr. Ikuhara said, “You can do that too!” (Audience laughter) “…but you have to design the entire Utena world.” (More audience laughter)

I was a bit shocked, since I’d never done anything like that, but three of the four boards I created were used, as is, for the series: the forest of battle, the tower of the student council, and the greenhouse. As is! So I guess what I created sort of just fit perfectly with the image Mr. Ikuhara had in his head.

Sexy Commando

I met Mr. Hiroaki Sakurai, director, while working on Utena. He was the director of Di Gi Charot and … Psychic Tsuo’s Tragedy? – it has something to do with ESP? He has candy things on top? Pink hair? That’s Sakurai’s project. I thought it was really funny. He came on as an episode director for Utena. So in the middle of that, he brought me this manga. (Shows slide of Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san, and a few people clap.) You know this one? Is there an American title for this? (Audience member shouts out “Sexy Commando”)

(In English) Sexy Commando?! Sexy Commando. Sexy Commando! (Audience laughter)

So he asks, “Have you ever read that manga?”

(Nagahama chuckles to himself… Sexy Commando)

So I said, “Yeah, of course I read it.”

And he asks, “What’d you think?”

“It was really funny!”

“Then I want you to be the episode director. I’m making it right now.”

And the director was Akitaro Daichi. Of course, I’ve never been an episode director. So just like becoming the concept and art designer for Utena, I was told, “Just do it.” (Audience laughs)

Moderator: You’re one of the luckiest people I’ve ever seen in this industry. The number of opportunities you’ve had are amazing.

Nagahama: I think so too! I live a lucky life it seems.

I said no. I turned it down and said I couldn’t possibly. But Sakurai said to me, “But you thought the manga was good and funny, right?”

I said, “Of course!”

“Then you can do it,” he said.

I kept turning him down, and he says, “So what do I have to offer you, for you to be the episode director?”

Thinking back, I was an idiot, and I was stupid. I said, “I’ll do it if you let me do all the key animation.” (Audience groans) Right?! (In English) I think so.

So it’s only seven and a half minute short stories, but I did all the key animation. Because the manga artist has this particular style with this manga, I had to come up with a new way of creating the animation. Back in those days, you’d do pencil art and then you’d use cels to paint on top of. So there’s this special brushstroke-like pen that lets you draw on cels. I did all the animation with a brush pen on the cel directly. It’s not a pencil; you can’t erase your mistakes. (Audience groans) So the in-between animation, you couldn't really ask a normal animator to do, because it’s done with a brush pen. There was one person who actually agreed to do the in-betweens with a brush pen.

Moderator: I hope you paid them more than 210 yen. (Audience laughter)

Nagahama: I don’t think it was more than 200.

Moderator: Are they a famous director now too?

Nagahama: Their name is Kyuta Sakai. They’re a character designer now. Higurashi no Naku Koroni? They’re amazing. They did all the in-between animation all on their own. (Audience applause) I thought, “I wanna share the words my senpai told me down to them … ‘You’re crazy.’” I really thought so. I really thought everything comes full circle. Because of this, I got to work with Akitaro Daichi on other titles. So the next show I worked on under Mr. Daichi was this show…

Jubei-chan

If you haven’t seen Jubei-Chan The Ninja Girl - Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, you really should check it out. I was the episode director for two of the episodes. Daichi was involved and so was Sakurai. I started to think, “Being an episode director is kinda cool.” So I ended up becoming an episode director for many other titles. Daichi-sensei said, “Hey, I have another show I’m doing. Will you come and help?” [It was] this one. (Shows slide for Fruits Basket (2001)). I was a big fan of the comic.

Daichi comes to me and says, “We’re going to do an animated version of this, but I have no idea how to do it.” The biggest thing was that the manga hadn’t been completed yet, but we had to animate it. So how do we do it was the question at hand. I went to meetings with the original manga artist as well as the director. I was asked if I would do the opening animation for the show. He said, “I trust you, so I’m going to leave the opening credits just to you … and you have two days to do [the storyboards].”

And I said, “Two days?!”

“Yes, two days.” He looked at me directly and said, “If you can’t do it in two days, I’ll do it.”

“I’ll do it!”

I did the storyboards within two days. So I made the opening to this show, flipping through the manga, trying to find the best images to use in it. And the singer who sang the song for Fruits Basket, Ritsuko Okazaki, had the biggest influence on it.

[Note: This is the English dub of the song; Ms. Okazaki's version does not have a legal upload.]

Shortly after that, she passed away. She was a wonderful person. So I still protect everything we created together. She believed that if you put everything you have, all the love, into the thing you’re working on, those feelings will reach someone else. I don’t know if you’ve seen it or not, but the opening to this show doesn’t really feel like an opening. She kept on telling me, “What you’re trying to do and all our feelings will reach the viewer.” And it was an amazing song I think.

So after that one, I went to this! (Shows slide for Jubei-Chan 2)

This one was a title [for which] I was doing the most director-like job. So Daichi says, “Will you be the director to Jubei-Chan 2?” But at this point, I had already decided what my first directorial title was going to be.

“I can’t be the director on Jubei-Chan 2, but I’ll do the job of the director as long as you don’t credit me.”

So he said, “Ok!”

(In English) CRAZY.

Moderator: You have a history of saying yes to things that challenge you and just make you better.

Nagahama: I can’t help not saying yes!

Moderator: You should join con staff. (Laughter from all)

Nagahama: I didn’t think this was gonna go here.

Yoshihiko Umakoshi came on board as the new character designer for Jubei-Chan 2. So basically, two of us controlled the production.

As I said, I already decided what my directorial debut would be. That was this title...

Don't miss the next and final installment of Scenes from Nagahama, where he discusses his directorial debut, Mushi-shi, and his directing work since then!

Scenes from Nagahama, Part 2 originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on September 27, 2019 at 3:33 PM.

By: Ink