#i don't spend all that time and effort on my renders

[shadow0-1]

About me | FAQ ish idk

Hewwo, I'm Cam (23, he/they), and this is my pew pew game side blog

Main @vos-videmus | Extract blog @umbra-catervae | Watermark Glossary

Render comms: Open!

* Please don't project your own headcanons/yourself/your own ship onto my (Graves ship) content, it makes me extremely uncomfortable *

A breach of my boundaries will result in a block.

Do NOT use my renders as a base or to trace over for your art. Do NOT use my ship renders as a reference just to swap out my OC.

High Places masterlist

Everything | Comics | Lore centric

Jax Tag | Jax Lore

FAQ under the read more

FAQ

Q: What tools do you use for your renders?

A: I use blender

Q: Can I use your renders as a pfp/banner image?

A: Sure thing, just please credit me (although I would prefer if you didn't use my ship renders as a pfp [via cropping out Jax, etc])

Q: Can we repost your works?

A: No, but the bare minimum you could do is credit me. I’m not comfortable with having my stuff on tik tok, sorry

Q: Do you take render commissions?

A: No, not currently, but maybe sometime further down the line when I get more experienced kjsdbg

Q: Do you take trades?

A: Sure! I won't be making any custom models like OC's (purely as a comfort thing cause I don't wanna butcher them) but I'd be down to do some renders with canon characters, just shoot me a dm

Q: Will you do renders for other cod games?

A: Outside of the MW reboot? Unlikely. I have no interest in the other cod franchises

Q: Can we send in requests for renders?

A: I sometimes take suggestions on twitter, but requests are limited to patreon supporters

Q: Will you do n/fw renders?

A: Suggestive, maybe. Depends on the character/pairing and my mood. But hard no on straight up n*fw. You'll catch me dead before I ever model/pose a pixel penis

Q: Can you make reference renders for the characters?

A: You're welcome to use my renders for gear references, but no I will not make full ref sheets. I don't use models other people make, I extract and texture them myself, which takes a lot of time

Q: Can you share the CoD models?

A: No

[elsa-fogen]

So uhhh quick question what would you do if you wanted to finish something (an art cough cough) but everytime you tried to finish it, your motivation just keeps flicking in and out and made you have a hard time finishing it and almost made you wanna give up and leave it unfinished?

Sorry for the long question but i have SO many unfinished drawings that i want to post so bad but couldn't for sum reason 😭

And you're the only artist so far that i know almost post around every 3-5 days

You don't have to answer this but can you pls give me youtube art tutorials that help you?

So very sorry for disturbing you 😅

i'm not the best person to ask for advice, honestly. Maybe it'll sound too prideful, but i consider myself a really special case. I don't hate myself and my art (mostly), i don't suffer while drawing, and i've never had an "art block" in my life. I've been drawing my whole life, and if you count all days when i didn't draw anything you'll get... well, maybe 2-3 years out of my 24. I think. so, anything i say may not be helpful.

Actually almost everything you see in my blog are just colored sketches, not finished art

woops haha

Maybe that'll work for you too? try to just color your sketches and post them as they are. When i realised that my works don't have to be fully finished, my life become much easier. And i was really surprised to find out how many people can enjoy my comics even if they're just sketches. Of course, comics with cool art and colors will get more attention, but in the end, you won't get any attention if you don't post anything. so i know for a fact that i can't pull out a fully rendered comic, and all i can do - just sketches, and in this case it's better to post at least them then post absolutely nothing. There will be people who enjoy them.

and very often stuff you did for fun has more attention then those things you spend much time and effort (like how my shitty meme got 10k notes out of nowhere)

but when i need to finish something i just make myself do it. Just breaking myself over a knee. And don't start anything else before it's done.

It helps when you have a date when the art should be finished, and consequences if it's not. Yeah.

And EXCUSE YOU, I ACTUALLY POST EVERY DAY! gee, no respect on this hellish site for my hard work /very much J

And i don't watch any art tutorials aha- i watch reactions or game playthroughs, or some blogger ramble about some cartoon while drawing.

so yeah, kinda messy, as all my text posts are... but hope it'll help you. Good luck with your art!

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Vil Schoenheit Bloom Birthday Voice Lines

When Summoned: You of course know what today is, don't you? Come now, entertain me.

Summon Line: I thought I'd give my fans a glimpse of the celebrations here on campus with a little video. Here, help me record it, won't you?

Groooovy!!: Even the ordinary sky makes for a perfect backdrop to showcase my brilliant beauty.

Home: You know I haven't weaved any bewitching charms here.

Home Idle 1: Rook gave me a plethora of aromatic candles. Moreover, they were all handmade and had different scents. Seriously, he really is the type to go to such lengths for something like this.

Home Idle 2: Perhaps the growing number of people who wish me well every year is proof that my beauty continues to improve. It's a good feeling, if that's the case.

Home Idle 3: As a rule, birthdays should be lively events. I do like to spend it in peace time to time, but... It's not terrible to be the center of attention like this.

Home Idle - Login: As I approach each birthday, I make sure to set a goal. So long as I put forth the effort each year, my beauty grows even more.

Home Idle - Groovy: Jade is very professional, no matter the task given to him. He was better at conducting the interview than some of the worst reporters I've encountered.

Home Tap 1: This bracelet Floyd gave me... It's quite tasteful. I rather like the chic design.

Home Tap 2: The Film Research Club members gave me a birthday video message. I enjoyed how I could see their individual personalities shine in the video.

Home Tap 3: Idia gave me a strange candy that inflates when 2 different types of powder are mixed together. I found it to actually be entertaining, since it reminds me of concocting potions.

Home Tap 4: This broom has a bold design, as well as a sense of sophistication. If this was made with me in mind, I should pay my compliments.

Home Tap 5: There were many students who were rendered speechless when they laid eyes on me today. That's enough proof to me that this outfit has even furthered my beauty.

Home Tap - Groovy: Well, look who's more dapper than usual. Did you tidy yourself for me? How thoughtful.

Duo: [VIL]: And how will you celebrate me, Jade? [JADE]: However you wish me to, Vil-san.

Birthday Login Message: [Yuu rushes at Vil and pops party popper] You look so proud of yourself... If you were trying to surprise me, that was an utter failure. I can completely see through you. Your lines were forced, and you didn't even hide the party popper. I'd give you 20 points in terms of quality. If you want to successfully surprise me, it's essential that you can act naturally. I'll give you another chance next year, so make sure to practice.

Requested by @seimeinotaka.

[fras-redacted-shapes]

So I know very little about the process of making art, but I've been seeing you put out so many painterly pieces lately and I was wondering how long they usually take for you? I ask because while I don't know much about the process, I feel like you create them very quickly and it's really impressive to see if that makes sense 😅

it depends on a lot of things, it can be anywhere from two-three hours, start to finish, to between six to twelve. I've timed upwards to 25-40 hours on illustrations.

The trick I relay on is that I don't draw that much, I set up 3D bases to speed up the process (I really don't like drawing). If I didn't have access to face models for these characters, it'd usually add an additional day and several hours of searching references. Or I'd give up altogether because it's very demotivating to have everything else but the faces look decent.

For art that's just characters, a 3D base makes the process crazy fast, like this one.

I spend maybe one hour and half max on the posing Studio DAZ models, then I do a very quick gesture sketch to map body type, clothes, expressions and brushstroke direction to try get rid of some of the stiffness, then clean that sketch once.

Then with REALLY BIG textured brushes I do the base

And from there I paint with colors, zoomed out and still with big brushes, and always an additional window set to greyscale to check values all along the process.

Then one "rendering pass" and then only one detail pass, usually on the hands and faces.

Enabling Color Dynamics on my brush settings gives a lot of color variation without much effort, which gives the illusion of additional detail. Then I do some quick post processing with filters like Smart Sharpening, Emboss and layer modes.

I work on huge files (this one is 7700x10000 px approx) so all the messiness looks extremely neat when resized. For example, this is a 100% crop of the finished painting. This part I "rendered".

These shoes? not so much haha

This painting took maybe about 8-10 hours, across three days, and that's not counting the initial thumbnail, which I try to keep below one hour

hope that helps :D

[partyhorn]

Have u ever posted your comic or animation workflow anywhere? Im super curious on how you tackle the process, especially not using a drawing tablet. I know you have a very simple (and adorable) style so that probably helps in terms of workflow -- Im just curious about the steps you take.

Thank you! With both comics and animation my key thing is to not spend too much time on any particular thing, just draw loose and fast. Honestly the only downside to drawing with a mouse is that I can tell my arm has extremely specific muscle memory regarding it- if my mouse breaks and I get a new one I have to spend a good month or so just letting my hand get used to it again lol. Same with if my setup gets readjusted too much- right now my setup is my mouse on one of those padded mousepads, on top of 2 books, with my elbow resting on my 3DS case (I'll get an actual pillow or something for it eventually lol). But luckily thanks to this I suffer very minimal wrist pain 👍

(...Okay I started to go really in depth in my process here, so sorry if this is way more than what you were asking. Putting it under a readmore just to save space lol)

With MFM in particular, I start by writing out the entire script for the next story arc, which really is just all of the dialogue and vague notes about any important actions. Then I do the paneling with very loose stick-figure like sketches of where the characters are and what they're doing. I prefer having very little planning when it comes to character poses and panel shapes, coming up with those on the fly makes things much more exciting and faster to make. But it's the opposite with dialogue... it needs to be 100% FINAL before I draw a single line lol.

That's part of my script for my most recent chapter, as well as what my extremely loose goofy thumbnail sketching is like. I write the script as one big thing and don't separate it into pages until I actually start drawing- then I go and color change it just to keep track of what dialogue goes on each page

After that, I go back and do the ACTUAL sketch, as well as the lettering (I don't believe this is how it's done professionally. I used to do lettering as the very last step in the process... but then found it hard to cram speech bubbles in the right places lmao.) After that is lineart, coloring, background flat colors, then shading/rendering for all of it. I do each step in batches, as in I sketch out ALL pages of a chapter before moving to lineart, I line ALL pages before starting coloring, etc. I find it way easier to be productive when it's broken up like that, though when I first started the comic I used to draw each page to completion before starting the next (but also, the comic's style was DRASTICALLY simpler back then haha)

(Unfortunately I merged some of the shading to the background flat colors so it's not entirely accurate... oops) FireAlpaca has a sand texture feature that I only found out about last year- adding that to the backgrounds makes them look 10x better with WAY less effort.

With animation, it depends on the project. For simple 5-10 second animation I make for fun, there's very little planning lol. I skip some steps in the process- I'll sketch out the keyframes (and maybe any difficult inbetweens if necessary), line those, then go straight into making linework inbetweens. I'm not a cleanup artist and have no experience in that, so I always find trying to line my rough animation makes everything jittery and wobbly. If I do it with a clean line from the start then I can avoid that and save a lot of time 👍

For my bigger projects (such as the Parvey cartoon and the MFM Kickstarter trailer), I do the whole animatic with final audio first and foremost, with the animatic being almost like the keyframes. I split them up into individual shots, .mp4 files anywhere between 1-30 seconds usually, and animate those one at a time. I'm a huge fan of free to use programs and try to use them as much as I possibly can, here's a list of the ones I use:

FireAlpaca- for the actual drawing part itself (storyboarding/animating/etc). FireAlpaca has a feature that lets you export every frame as it's own drawing, as well as an onion skin mode

Windows Movie Maker- for compiling all of those frames into video format, creating individual shots. If you upload all of your frames and set them to around 0.08 seconds, it equals about 12fps (I usually animate at 0.10 seconds/10fps, its a bit slower but looks nice)

Onlinesequencer.net- for making music. It's the place I've made all of my songs on, like the timeloop song, hyperworkaholic, and the background music for the MFM Kickstarter trailer.

Audacity- for editing audio/music. Also great for recording things directly from your desktop

DaVinci Resolve- for editing and putting together all of the shots into one big video. Can get kind of intensive on the computer during rendering, so watch out.

YouCut (app)- also for editing and compiling shots, I used this one a lot a couple years back but I'm not sure how well it holds up. Doesn't need much phone storage to download but needs a lot to render videos.

MS Paint (yes really)- for typing up text. FireAlpaca has a text option but I don't like it as much as Paint's.

...The only thing I genuinely can't do alone is voice acting. Luckily there's a big voice acting community on Twitter and they're all amazing to work with!

This got... way more in depth than I planned for it to be, so sorry if this is way more than what you were asking lol. But that's my general process when it comes to my art 👍

[elenorasweet]

What gets to me about mainstream AI enthusiasts is that all of them

all of their talking points

can be boiled down to "I hate artists".

It's all either about replacing the very few art jobs that pay (writer, cover artist, voice actor, actor, 3D renderer, graphic designer, ...) in larger industries...

... or it's about creating "art" (patterns, prints, characters, posters, colouring pages, fabric designs, ...) without needing to actually develop any skills or spend any time, and then selling it on etsy, spoonflower, redbubble, etc, thus taking money and attention away from artists...

... or it's about just being able to claim you made a thing and "showing them up", either by showing that you cando what they do with no effort, or more often, by just not saying it's AI and getting the attention and admiration that they get. Or to get clicks and defraud people who think they're buying a real thing, which still involves creating fake art.

And it's fucking everywhere. As a crafter, I've seen hundreds of crochet, knitting, cross-stitch and quilting patterns that are made by AI, and they NEVER say that in the description when selling them. Literally look up "cross-stitch pattern" on etsy and a large percentage of the first page of results is AI.

My sister collects colouring pages for her library branch, and takes great pride in paying artists for them, because she wants to pay people for their work. She literally has to dig through several pages of AI art to find a single real artist right now. Recently, I've seen several cross-stitch and colouring book artists closing shop because they can't compete with AI and it's not worth the time anymore.

And there are legitimate uses for AI that don't involve these things, like people using it to diagnose cancers and rare illnesses and shit. It could be used to reduce people's workloads immensely. It's barely being used for that, though, because what people seem to really want to FOCUS on is this:

"art is easy", and "I could do that too if I had the time/skill", and "artists are cheating us by charging for their work" and "I hate artists".

[utilitycaster]

could you elucidate on why coffeelocks are bad actually? my friend is a bit obsessed with them right now and i’ve never liked the specific build but i’d love to have concrete reasons that aren’t just opinions!

YES. Somewhere in my archives I think I actually did the math on like, how many short rests you have to take for this to pay any dividends, and it was a LOT, but that was during full lockdown iirc and you do not have to do this much work.

The basic gist of coffeelock for those wondering is that warlocks recharge spell slots on a short rest, and sorcerers can convert sorcery points into spell slots and vice versa. The idea is that if you take Pact of the Tome and then Aspect of the Moon as an eldritch invocation, you never have to long rest again and can just farm sorcery points/spell slots for 8 hours each night.

Now: the most obvious issue is that any reasonable DM who hears about this will look at you and say "I don't care if it's technically legal, I think it's annoying and I'm not going to let you do it." But let's assume your DM does not shut it down.

You have infinite spell slots at level 5. You are warlock 3 sorcerer 2. You know 7 spells total, which is what you'd know had you leveled to level 5 in either of these classes, except you also know 6 level 1 spells and 1 level 2 spell, max. Someone who leveled normally would have fireball, or dispel magic, or counterspell, and if they were divine soul they might even have revivify, but not you! This will eventually get slightly better at higher levels but if you're the party's main arcane caster this sucks and if you're in a party with fewer than like, five people, or perhaps a really caster heavy party, you're putting a lot of burden on other people to do the utility early on so that your dumb ass can cast magic missile 20 times a day or whatever.

I don't actually care for sorlock just generally, in the absence of coffeelock bullshit. Yes, it depends on the same main stat, but a bard or paladin combo will actually significantly broaden your repertoire. Sorcerer and Warlock have a LOT of spell overlap, and metamagic is one of those things that is like, super clutch 0.1% of the time and the rest of the time it's like oh ok (though I guess as a coffeelock you're not even really using metamagic! total waste of being a sorcerer, which is the weakest caster already! great job.). Meanwhile, two of the big strengths of warlock are 1. eldritch blast, a cantrip you can already cast infinite times without spell slots, and 2. eldritch invocations, which you have to level in warlock to get. Dipping into sorcerer means fewer invocations. Basically, all multiclassing is a trade off and I feel like this is at most the sum of its parts, certainly not more. I also think it's very tricky to play this in a way that is narratively interesting and makes sense for your character while also abiding by the specific leveling requirements of coffeelock. This isn't an issue in a one-shot but also in a one-shot you simply might not even take a long rest which renders the entire thing useless.

You have to take Pact of the Tome, which means you are spending all this time and effort and build for infinite spell slots but also you have, without any racial bonuses, literally 9 cantrips (ie, at-will spells) at level 5. And none of them are dispel magic, because that is too high for you for at least another 2 levels and that's only if you choose to continue in warlock. Also, actually, until you reach L9 in specifically divine soul sorcerer, you don't have greater restoration as discussed, so yeah your DM can just be like "oh you don't have to sleep but you do still gain exhaustion."

I lied and I did some math. So: you are a L5 coffeelock. let's say you have exhausted all your resources on day 1. You sit down for your little bullshit 8 short rests. You can never have more than two sorcery points, because the PHB page 101 says that you can't exceed the number of sorcery points shown on the table for your level. So every hour you convert one L2 spell slot (recharging) into a L1 spell slot (non-recharging), and repeat this (you can't convert both at once! because then you exceed two sorcery points!) and you end the night with 14 L1 spells and your two L2 warlock spell slots. If you are lucky, you might get like, one short rest if there is a monk or wizard or fighter in the party and they don't hate you so much that they're willing to go without ki points/second winds/arcane recovery, and they might. I guess you just stockpile low level spells indefinitely until you have to sleep finally? if you have a week of downtime do you just. walk around with hundreds of first level spell slots and not think this is the dumbest shit of all time? ooooh look at me i can cast fucking...detect magic for 24 hours straight. can't dispel any of it though!

Leveling up is a bitch too if I recall. You need to level up in sorcerer to get more points so you can eventually convert to higher level spells, and the exchange rate is not generous (like, if you're not sleeping, it's ok, but it's not in your favor as shown with the L2 to L1 conversion) and imo warlock is the superior class, and you're probably not really taking advantage of metamagic anyway so you're barely reaping the benefits of being a sorcerer except for flexible casting. Do you feel good about this? Is this fun for you? Your entire table is watching you count out your spell slots each night and hoping fervently you get audited by the IRS in real life but man you sure showed them by being able to cast chromatic orb a lot!

Also you can't use items that recharge on a long rest, only ones that recharge at dawn. Sucker.

This is all very long because I think coffeelock is an annoying build for people who think they are smart and really aren't, but the gist is that you trade away a great deal of your utility, ability to help the party, and ability to do anything except cast rather low-level spells in comparison to what everyone who made better decisions is doing. Also it's LAUGHABLY easy for the DM to fuck this over for you within the bounds of the rules even if they allowed it. Your patron gets annoyed that you're only leveling in sorcerer. Levels of exhaustion. Your patron, who communicates through dreams, straight up abandons you because you're not picking up their calls. You keep being put in positions where your 75 first level spells won't do shit and a single third level spell would. They taunt you with items that recharge on a long rest.

It's just...well, quantity over quality. Shein haul ass character build.

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Eris' Tax Shelter

This one is both timely and a PSA for anyone wanting to make use of their Legendary Shards prior to the launch of TFS. So I give this to you here. Direct link to Ao3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56339362

ACCESS: RESTRICTED DECRYPTION KEY:0GLVP1A437$IKO-006 REP#: 303-DERELICT-AUDIO AGENT(S): AUN-326 SUBJ: VIP#1316 AND ERI-223 INTERACTIONS - POTENTIAL BRIBERY, ILLEGAL LOBBYING & MANIPULATION OF TAX LAWS

[BEGIN TRANSCRIPT]

"Finally, someone I actually want to check up on me!"

"I am observing some very strange Guardian behaviour on Luna and believe it may fall under your area of expertise, Rat."

"My area of expertise? How so?"

"It seems financially motivated and of questionable legality."

"Ha! This doesn't sound like a conversation we should be having on Vanguard comms. Why don't you come over for lunch?"

"Hmmm... you are probably correct. Will you make... the sticky rice?"

"Sticky rice needs to soak for several hours before I cook it. How about sandwiches for today and you come over for sticky rice lunch tomorrow."

"I enjoy your sandwiches. Unfortunately, I will be on Mars tomorrow."

"I'll bring it to ya. You coming over now or what?"

"I will be there soon."

.

"So, do tell me what Guardian behaviour requires my... what'd you call it? Expertise?"

"They are lined up at my Lectern of Enchantment to purchase Phantasmal Fragments at a rate and volume that is... extreme. I cannot imagine why."

"Oh! I do know all about that, actually."

"You do?"

"So, city administration just passed a law. Tax law. Goes into effect Tuesday. War effort stuff."

"I knew they were doing... something... I had not paid attention to what."

"Course not. Doesn't affect ya on the Moon, but that is, in fact, why it is currently affecting ya on the Moon."

"How does city tax law have any impact on the Moon?"

"It's the fact that it don't that's the impact. You, oh beautiful, three-eyed, former god of vengeance, happen to live in a zone which has never been part of city or Vanguard taxation."

"I am well aware. At one point the Cryptarchy attempted to claim some sort of jurisdiction over Sanctuary on Luna. Thankfully Ikora was able to put a stop to... whatever that bureaucratic ridiculousness was."

"Good thing too. You know those bits of legendary weapons everyone gets from disassembling shit they find lying around?"

"The shards, yes. That's what they are using at the lectern. They are not generating fragments with glimmer."

"Right. Come Tuesday, all legendary shards become property of the city to help with the war. They need the components to help fight off the pyramid forces on the ground, shore up the ADU's, build weapons for civilians, generally help keep shit movin' an' functional."

"This makes sense, although would that not render the shards financially useless?"

"Exactly."

"I can understand why they would spend them now then, but why on the Moon?"

"In addition to bein' outside any city taxation zones, and therefore, not technically by the letter of the law evadin' anything, your Phantasmal Fragments take up very little space, Moondust. And several places will still exchange 'em for glimmer, in particular the Cryptarchy and our friend who likes us ever so much, Rahool."

"Rahool is terrified of me and he loathes you."

"He and I have a uh... complicated relationship. But yeah.  Because the Moon is where it is, legally-speakin' there ain't any laws being broken.  And your fragments are super portable."

"I would assume so. They are ethereal whisps of nightmares manifested from the Ascendent plane. Their corporeal instantiation is minimal. They are barely quantified concretions from the energies of phantoms which only manifest fully under specific circumstances."

"Pieces of ghosts. Not like... Guardian ghost-ghosts, but actual ghost-ghosts."

"That is one way of putting it."

"And ghosts don't take up much room."

"I do not follow."

"They use your table to turn the shards into Phantasmal Fragments and then they can keep the fragments and sell them for glimmer later, rendering the soon-to-be-useless shards, useful, long after they cease to be able to be used."

"Hmmm..."

"People've been calling it 'Eris' tax shelter' on Vannet."

"The Lectern of Enchantment is something I built and utilized to harness the vile magic of the Hive in order to transform the negative energies on the Moon into components which can be used to fight the forces of the Witness. It is not a tax shelter! I must inform Ikora."

"You can do that, sure. But they are still using it as intended. It's just that its current intended use for this specific purpose happens to currently be... profitable."

"Are you using it?"

"Me? Nah. Do I currently have several high-density containment units filled with your Phantasmal Fragments? Yeah. But I've had that for a while. I got components for everything. You've seen what's on my ship. I ain't currently buying any from ya right now, nor am I gettin' anyone to buy 'em for me as a favour, if that's what you're wonderin'. I do enough things of... questionable legality already. Tax evasion is such an easily proveable activity. And since I am not a Guardian, when I'm not on the Moon hangin' out with you, I am, technically, under the jurisdiction of the city and subject to its tax laws as a resident thereof. I run a business outta the tower after all. I got several shipping crates of legendary shards just waitin' to be turned over to city authorities. And all the paperwork for it prepared too. Ol' Drifter's gonna be on record for being among the biggest donors of legendary shards to assist with the Last City's war preparations. Can't do that if I convert 'em."

"Hmmm... You are not an altruist, Rat. Why aren't you using this... tax shelter?"

"I am an altruist on paper, Moondust. That's where it counts."

"Why?"

"Different aspect of city tax law. Thing called tax credits. You donate in certain approved ways, you get a credit to count against taxes you'd otherwise have to pay. Gambit's been making quite a lot of glimmer for me. The more tax credits I get, the less tax I pay. If this goes the way it's movin' now, city's gonna end up owing ol' Drifter quite a lot of cash. They won't be able to pay, of course, so they'll need to work it out with me some other way."

"The entire city is going to owe you favours?"

"Hypothetically, yeah. That's one of the reasons why I may have... hypothetically... suggested it to the council in the first place, yeah."

"Wait... You're on the city council?"

"Not officially. I'm a... what you'd call an unofficial adviser. Very unofficial. In theory, purely in theory, mind you, some of the higher ranking members of city council might, hypothetically, owe me some favours and every once in a while I might ask 'em to vote a certain way or put forth a specific idea. Hypothetically, of course."

"You're manipulating the socio-political structure of the Last City to your own ends."

"If I were, not sayin' I am, mind you, but if I were, I would not be doin' it in a harmful way, nor in any way that could be considered illegal on paper."

"How many city politicians do you own? Hypothetically."

"In theory, enough to swing a vote in my favour if I need one. Definitely enough to offer clemency or a pardon, if yours truly was ever caught doing something that might need to be pardoned. Not that I am in the habit of gettin' caught, mind you, but it's always nice to have a backup plan, just in case."

"So the reason all these Guardians are buying Phantasmal Fragments on the Moon right now is because they are about to become useless due to tax law you helped to put in place?"

"Hypothetically."

"And you did this because you needed to lose money on paper so that you can pay less taxes on your Gambit earnings?"

"Now, don't go spreading that theory around. Lotta people are pretty pissed about the whole devaluing of shards thing, especially Spider. Mithrax won't let him use your tax shelter."

"It isn't my tax shelter!"

"House of Light is hoping to be the number one group donating legendary shards to the war effort. Should give 'em very, very good optics in a very direct and undeniable way. Help 'em out quite a bit, politically, and will definitely soften quite a few people's hearts toward them as a whole. It's exceptionally good PR. Not the best for Spider's finances though. Although, what with all that money that up and disappeared for rebuilding the Eliksni quarter, it is kinda poetic that Spider's about to take a hit in the finance department. Strange, that. Couldn't see that coming. Spider sure is pissed over it. Can't imagine why."

"This has nothing to do with your taxes. You are helping the House of Light."

"Oh, it has everything to do with taxes, and anything pertaining to mine is pure conjecture, but if it does end up also helping the House of Light, why that's just another happy accident. And something it does help, undeniably and un-hypothetically, is the city. It's good for them. They need this."

"Fascinating."

"So... that's why everyone's lined up on Luna buyin' your fragments, Moondust. Eris' tax shelter is the talk of the town right now."

"I see."

"And you could pull in the Vanguard, tell Ikora about it, have her and Zavala put a stop to it, but you know how the Vanguard is with policies and procedures. By the time the bureaucrats and administrators actually manage to agree on something it'll be long past Tuesday. And, to be honest, preparing to go into the Traveler's probably a much higher priority for everyone right now. So what if some guardians end up making a bit of cash? Who does that hurt?"

"Aren't the shards they are spending something that could be used to improve the city's defenses?"

"I don't think you're aware of the scale involved in this one, Moondust. Guardian's don't have a lot of spare room in what they carry around. That's the whole reason why anyone has those legendary shards in the first place. Ya get 'em from disassembling guns and armour. They do that because they got no where else to put 'em. Whereas someone like yours truly or the House of Light, we've been able to stockpile some significant amounts. City's gonna be doing just fine for shards. Trust. What's goin' on over on Luna is just a drop in the ocean compared to what's about to be infused into the city infrastructure. It ain't hurtin' no one, except maybe Spider's pocket book, and he's been lining that with other people's glimmer for a while. 'Bout time he was required to be more... generous for a change."

"As usual, our conversations regarding your areas of influence never cease to be simultaneously both impressive and concerning."

"Any day I can manage to impress you is a good day in my books, Three-Eyes."

"Tsch."

[END TRANSCRIPT]

[goron-king-darunia]

Eggtober 23rd 2023

"Spill my Guts" Omurice

(Clip Studio Paint, Gouache Brush. 15 colors, 30 minutes.) Confession time. The reason my sleep schedule is messed up and the reason my egg is late isn't a mystery. I got Minecraft recently. I am very new to it but it's consuming my free time. I am obsessed with playing, essentially, "Lego" with rules. Yes, there is not much "game" to the cube game. Yes, I love it anyway. I like keeping stupid idiot Squidward-lookalikes employed and alive and making silly little barns and goofy little dirt shacks and then spending way too long making a castle only to go "No, actually, it needs a bigger tower here and oh shit oh fuck, too big oh CRAP." and then dying 101 times mining diorite and then trying to rescue my gear because I am bad at the cube game made for kids.

Confession 2. I prefer Bedrock to Java purely because the render distance makes sense to me and the fog of war thing to prevent the game from trying to render everything in Java makes it very hard for me to grasp where I am. I can navigate my little splattering of world I've explored much better in Bedrock than any world in Java, even with the settings turned all the way up. I am a landmark navigator, maps are only so much help. Confession 3. My need to play Bedrock is the reason my bae's computer got fucky wucky because they tried to join me on PC rather than bedrock for Switch so they could type to talk instead of always having to be in VC and possibly disturb the household and Microsoft is being a little bitch saying "you don't own this game" or "you do own this game but we're not letting you install for some reason" and in an effort to get it to install, they did a software update and got bluescreen bootlocked.

So to sum up: Minecraft has ruined my time management, my sleep schedule, my egg schedule, and my partner's SSD. Minecraft is cursed and yet as soon as I am done posting, I am going to load up Bedrock and work on my silly little ginormous castle.

Hopefully @lady-quen's breadbugs like ketchup! Smacking @quezify with a ping for this egg and also an open invite that if he ever decides to get into games that aren't Peggle, he has an open invitation to hit me up on Minecraft Bedrock. (Invite applies to anyone who knows me on Discord by the way.)

Love the garbage baby cube game. 10/10, would waste my life on that.

[mdhwrites]

Why Are Harem Protagonists So Boring?

"Because it's easier to insert yourse-" Shoo, shoo. You're not useful except from a marketing perspective and we're here to talk about writing, not marketing. Besides, if that's all that's ever said on the subject, we can never improve the problem so again: Shoo.

Now, with that out of the way, let's actually discuss why.

A blank slate is easier for the GIRLS to insert themselves into.

Okay, that's only like half a joke but the principal is actually similar to the appeal to the audience, as well as essentially hedging your narrative bets as a writer. See, a good romance is built on chemistry. On the concept that you like seeing two people together and you think they could make each other happy. As I talked about in my last blog, The Problem with Harem Childhood Love, this is actually such a complex topic that doing it for just two people is an entire genre and enough to support a full length story.

Now extend that to SIX. Worse yet, not three distinct couples but five of these people all have to go "Yes. This one person is the one we want." That is, to put it mildly, fucking hard to sell. After all, to make people feel positive emotions towards any and all of the potential pairings here, you have to put a lot of time, work and effort to flesh out each character and make them have a proper dynamic with the main character that brings out something new in your protagonist so as to keep them feeling fresh.

But what if there was nothing new to pull out? What if the girl essentially dictated the entire dynamic? That simplifies things a great deal and while it makes for a less compelling romance, if the dude is as boring as white bread, he also won't come across as an actually terrible option for any of the girls, thus rendering him fine. Just... fine.

And fine is genuinely a hard bar for this genre to clear sometimes, hello Rent-a-Girlfriend, who's main character is such a creep and asshole who has made up his mind and is stringing these girls along because it makes him feel good, while pushing the one he likes WAY out of her comfort zone, that quite frankly he should just be thrown in the dumpster like the trash that he is. A lot of harem protagonists though are this sort of pervy, skeevy asshole who when asked "You have the ability to do whatever you want for a day, no repercussions," would look back at you as hellfire fills their eyes and sin fills their groins because sadly, there was never an ethical code within them to begin with anyways. THIS sort of harem protagonist is the one that I think can be rightfully accused of just existing purely for audience wish fulfillment and should never exist ever again.

But that doesn't mean fine needs to be the only bar we strive for. We don't need our opinion on the main character to be simply apathy so that we don't mind him getting with the girls he's surrounded by. No, we can strive for better and it actually comes from a very simple question that is a bitch and a half to answer:

"What sort of guy would all of these girls want to be with?"

Now that might seem obvious. That's the basis of all romance stories after all. Why and who someone would want to fall in love with. With two characters, that is indeed how it should be and the backbone of the genre but when you have a roster of 3-5 other romantic partners to cover, finding a unifying factor is actually as much a problem narratively as it is a boon.

Part of the reasons why harems seem to be mostly written from the perspective of the sorts of girls that a guy would like (outside of just assuming guys have a wider interest in partners -_-) is variety. While harems may have their dedes and their tropes, it still is important that each one be able to cover a different flavor of romance, comedy, etc. trope so as to make sure that one character spending time with the MC feels distinctly different from another. This is part of why most even half decent harems have a wide variety of personalities so as to facilitate this flavor of the week appeal.

If they all are supposed to be equally interested in a guy with a real personality though and own, personal beliefs, the easy answer to that is uniformity. If they're all the same except hair color then OF COURSE they'd all be willing to get with him. This is how you get something like Mabuharo where essentially everyone there is some amount of tsundere or yandere, or at least most of them. This can quickly lead to narrative repetition though and boredom with the main cast as there doesn't really feel like there's a real distinction between them.

This can, again, be fixed by actually making someone so complex as to be able to actually appeal to that many different people through different sides of themselves but if not done right, it can just make the character feel inconsistent. Again, good romance writing is a lot harder than people think and this element of it is one of the hardest. Does that mean we're doomed though? Not really.

I'm only going to do one example but let's take a pretty normal, male archtype: Tough guy with a heart of gold. Looks scary but is actually a decent dude. What sorts of girls might be into him, why and how can he quickly woo them in case the story isn't able to be very long?

Shy: He is the protector. Someone who she should be terrified of but as he clearly means her no ill will and can scare of the anxieties of the day by not giving two shits if people look at him funny, she can immediately want to be by his side for that comfort.

Rowdy/Tsundere: Someone she can spar with, verbally and sometimes physically. Someone who's treatment from the world has left him capable of taking some jabs, again, in both regards, while also dishing out his own verbal barbs. She wants to get with him because they are equals.

Genki-girl/Happy: She can see the wearing down of him due to the harsh world and make it her mission to brighten his world so that he remembers how nice people can be and why he's a good person. In return, he can help her with her naivety and expand her understanding of the beauty the world can have by showing her the rougher parts of it that he was forced into, with him reclaiming that joy in the process. In the end, both are happier for having known each other.

Smart girls: He is a project. Someone to make better by refining his rough edges until she learns to appreciate them. While she works on him from a bookworm perspective though, her own care and determination shining through with how much she'll put up with to get his grades up, he helps her where she's lacking in street smarts until they aren't on equal footing in their respective fields but they're a lot closer and have a lot to thank for each other.

The Dark and Brooding One/Kuudere/Potential Yandere: Doesn't find her scary/mysterious and they both actually see the other as a bastion from the assumptions of others. While the boy suffers from his gruff exterior because people dislike him, the girl suffers from people assuming she'd be too mature for childish things or too scary to approach and be friends with. They are kindred spirits that can lean on one another.

There. Five girls, off the top of my head, for just one incredibly basic archtype of dude. These aren't admittedly the most complex girls either but it's a good baseline to then expand and flesh out for a harem that can bring out nominally different things from him while not having to push so far out of the comfort zone of his archtype that you have to dedicate too much time to his character development and so can keep the focus on the girls. It still gives him SOME sort of personality though besides "Nominally okay dude." Heck, I still technically worked backwards from this, coming up with each archtype one by one after choosing what the guy would be like, but the question never changed: Why would these girls fall in love with him?

It's not as hard as you think it has to be, love doesn't have to be that complicated (not in fiction at least), and so please just put in that little bit of extra effort. Your story will be better for it, even if your market share will be a touch smaller.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[thatcrazycrowgirl]

🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹

🌹

🌹

You also get a bouquet of 🌹:) love you!

*happily takes bouquet*

@havatnah, my friend, thank you so much for sending me this a while back, and I'm sorry I didn't have anything presentable to share sooner. But looking through my documents, I did manage to find something decent from my 1888!Syndicate AU idea. It does feature my OC, Magnolia, buuuut despite that, I thought you'd appreciate some soft older!Jacob spending the morning in bed - so here you go! ;) Hope you enjoy this little WIP snippet! <3

A/N: For some context, this takes place post-JTR DLC, dealing with the repercussions of the events of the Autumn of Terror. (I think I wrote this up after watching a few episodes of "Ripper Street".) Features brief (not major) mentions of scars from wounds and a tiny bit of angst mixed with fluff - a word of warning, just in case?

Magnolia sucked on her bottom lip as she continued to look over the countless letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings with exhausted frustration. She hadn't bothered to rise from bed or even get dressed, as the contents of the papers distracted her not long after she woke up. But fortunately, despite the chill of the morning kissing her bare shoulders, the bed was still warm. Lying on her stomach, she crossed her arms and rested her chin on them with a huff.

"It doesn't make any sense!" she exclaimed in a louder whisper than intended.

"What doesn't…?" Jacob's voice, groggy and rendered even deeper than usual, due to just being roused from sleep, asked softly.

"All of this!" she responded immediately without thinking. It then occurred to her that she was no longer the only one awake, and that her outburst may have pulled her lover from his peaceful sleep. She glanced over at him sheepishly. "Oh. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Mmm…don't worry about it, love," he mumbled in return, still blinking the sleep from his hooded eyes. "It's probably time I got up, anyway." He attempted to stretch his muscles, and winced a little at the dull ache that still remained in some parts of his recovering body. Then, with as much effort as he could manage, he rolled over onto his belly and half rested himself upon the young woman's bare back. "Did you sleep well?"

She lifted a hand up and cupped his cheek in acknowledgement, her thumb brushing over one of his sideburns. "Yeah, just fine," she replied, throwing a small smile over her shoulder. "You?"

"Mmm-hmm…" he hummed, the tip of his nose dancing over her warm skin. He then grinned just a little. "You just about wore me out last night," he teased.

Sir Jacob Frye, the man who had barely a reason to smile over the last year, was now teasing - no - flirting again. Who'd have thought he still had it in him?

However, his smile faded when he didn't get much of a response back from his lover, and he looked up to see she was once again engrossed in the myriad of papers and pictures sprawled out in front of her.

He sighed.

He knew realistically that despite the Ripper now being deceased, his memory and the effects of his reign of terror over London wasn't going to immediately fade from the public's recollection. But that didn't stop the tiny, idealistic part of him that remained, even after all that had happened, to hope that he could settle back down to some level of normalcy in his life - including enjoying the company of his sweetheart in bed, without anything relating to the outside world bleeding in.

He pressed a gentle kiss upon her shoulder blade.

"Why don't you put those things aside for the moment?" he tried again, his lips still pressing kisses against her skin. "It's too early."

It was then that Magnolia seemed to finally catch onto Jacob's subtly needy tone, and she glanced over her shoulder once more. Seeing his eyes, when he lifted them to meet hers, she couldn't help feeling a little guilty for letting her borderline-obsessive need to piece things together to interrupt what should be a peaceful morning.

Her own eyes flickered with a hint of sympathy. ""Oh, Jacob…I'm sorry." She then gathered everything in front of her and tossed the pile onto the nightstand, not caring when some papers fell to the floor, before turning over onto her back and wrapping her arms around her lover's neck. "Come here…come here."

She gently pulled Jacob down towards her and met his lips sweetly. She heard him sigh contently into the kiss and she smiled a bit against his mouth. Deepening it, a soft moan escaped her. She wanted to him to know that he was still more important to her than her work. He had to know.

Nevertheless, he still pulled back momentarily. He looked a tad uncertain.

"You know, you don't have to do th–"

His words were silenced with another kiss.

"Trust me; obligation is the furthest thing from my mind," she then told him with a hint of a smile, before touching her forehead to his. "Thanks for bringing me back to the here and now."

A soft and relieved look surfaced in Jacob's eyes, and he brushed the tip of his nose against Magnolia's. "Thanks for being with me here and now," he cooed.

He kissed her once more before shifting his body somewhat to lay his head upon her shoulder. His nose now nuzzled against her neck, as she began to run one of her hands through his messy hair. Her other arm wrapped around his shoulders. Under her hand, she could feel the newly-healing scars on his skin and tried to ignore it. Now wasn't the time to be remembering their origins, just as now wasn't the time to be sorting through the pages that bore the name of the monster who inflicted those wounds. Now needed to be a time of quiet, of respite, of love.

She kissed him again.

[dailybill-cipher]

Not a doodle request, but I'm a young artist trying to get started with commissions for the first time and I wondered if you had any tips or anything I might not have thought of?

I have all the basics like example pieces, i have my terms and conditions all written out, I'm currently looking into different social media platforms and im discussing payment with my mum (i cant take payments myself yet).

Thank you!

Hello, anon! I'm not the best at giving tips and stuff, so I'll just share some common knowledge with you that helped me :)!

- Try not to underprice your work! The reason why my commissions are a bit low is because it's a sketch and I don't really spend too much time on it. But, if you are planning on doing fully rendered pieces, remember to price your artwork that's worth the effort and time!

- Be friendly to your clients! I always try my best to stay friendly and approachable to the clients so they won't be intimidated in messaging me! If you successfully do that, people might come back to commission you again someday!

- Make sure you know your target audience! If you cater to a certain audience and catch their attention, people will definitely commission you! That's the reason I started with Daily Bill commissions instead of regular commissions.

- Last tip: Your commission sheet should be eye-catching to your audience! It should also match the style you're going with so your clients will have an idea on what they'll be getting!

That's all I can type, I can't think more from the top of my head so I suggest you also do some research and try searching for tips!

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

I spent most of today scrolling through AITA posts on Reddit. Which made me wonder - if Reddit had existed in Grima's time, what kind of AITA posts would he make?

I (44m) murdered my boss's (71m) son (41m) so I could sell the whole company out to a rival organization. The new boss (10,192m) said I could have the old boss's daughter (26f) as my reward. Her brother (29m) suspects me, but I forged some documents and got rid of him as well. AITA?

hahahahah he's so messy

Reddit would have SO many opinions and he'd ignore every single one of them.

That said I feel like he'd frame it so he was the sad meow meow of the situation. Like this is Grima, positioning and optics are premium importance so he'd skew the matter a bit to emphasize certain things and leave out other details:

I (44[?]m) have been experiencing a great amount of existential dread over the inevitable end of the world and feel that my king (71m) is not in a position to keep me safe. (oh, and our people, of course.) I have also been working for my king for many years and feel that I have not been appreciated for my efforts nor adequately rewarded. I spend all day supporting him in all he does and I'm still treated like a servant.

Recently, I was approached with a proposition by the neighbouring political power (10,192m) to betray my king BUT it would allow me to ensure that we become a vassal state to the aforementioned existential threat to our existence (??m?) which would reduce the chance of my being horrifically murdered by his henchmen (also our people safe blahblahblah). In addition, the neighbouring political power promised to reward me properly for my efforts and loyalty including, but not limited to, money, power, safety, and the current king's niece (24f).

The catch is that I would have to destabilize my country, poison/witchcraft my king, possibly aide and abet the murder of his son (41m), and exile and/or execute his nephew (28m). Considering the broader political ramifications if I don't take this path (annihilation/abject subjugation at the hands of the aforementioned existential threat), AITA for (possibly) accepting this offer?

replies:

horselordaldburg3: YTA obviously. How is this a question? How is this even something you think you need to ask?? Also, you didn't mention that you're one of the most powerful people in the country with wealth and status given to you by the king! Nor have you mentioned that we have allies and friends to help us in our fight against the Existential Evil. I feel like there are some details that are pertinent to people's review of this and you should include them. Snake.

DernhelmShieldofRohan: fuck you, YTA. Also, ew. I'm repulsed. I hope you choke on hay and die. Sit on a shiv and rotate.

MinasTirith: ESH, I think. Since I suspect you're not wrong on some fronts (if power and wealth are solely dependent on the king and would vanish with his death, that's not really a true repayment for services rendered because it keeps you dependent), however you could grow a spine and develop a sense of moral fortitude and overall decency.

That said, how much is the neighbouring power offering you? In terms of money, lmk and I'll see if I can't beat his price. Niece is not on offer because what the fuck? (see: your need to develop a sense of overall decency).

HornofGondor: Father! You can't buy people's loyalty like that.

MinasTirith: I'm speaking to OP in the language OP understands.

KingoftheMark: slfnsf dfsldkjf sddm

HeirofEorl: dad, get off your tablet. OP - YTA and we're going to have a wee little chat soon.

OP: Can it wait? There are some orcs coming in near the Fords of Isen that you need to see off.

&c &c

[militantinremission]

Is Tyre Nichols' death a watershed moment?

The Nation is supposedly On Hold, awaiting video footage showing how 5 Memphis PD Officers brutally beat 29Yr Old Tyre Nichols. The members of the Memphis PD 'Scorpion Unit' were supposedly stopping Tyre for Reckless Driving, but how did things escalate? The Press says that Tyre initially fled The Scene, & there was an indication that he may have resisted arrest, but nothing suggests that he needed to be pepper sprayed, tased, & beaten severely. The incident took place on Jan. 7th- Tyre died from his injuries on Jan. 10th. The Family of Tyre Nichols have chosen Attorney Benjamin Crump & his Team to represent them.

I don't always agree w/ the methodology of Benjamin Crump. He frames himself like he's the Thurgood Marshall or Johnnie Cochrane of This Generation; I still haven t decided if he is. He spends as much time on his Self Image, as he does on his High Profile Cases. I can rationalize that he needs face time On Camera to boost his ability to serve his clients, but I think he goes a bit too far. Who named Ben Crump: 'The Attorney General Of Black America'? It's framing like This, that leads me to call the man: Benjamin 'Buttah Biscuits'... To be fair, Crump has won some monetary awards for his clients, but we're still waiting to see the Outcome of several Police Trials.

Regardless of my critique of Ben Crump, I agree 100% w/ his Press Conference Commentary. He pointed out how these Officers were fired & arrested on Murder Charges in less than 3 Weeks. Is it because all 5 of the Officers are Black Men? We have seen Black Officers, like Muhammad Noor get convicted for incidents that Non Black Officers get acquitted. Crump is correct, when he says that this should be the blueprint for All Police Involved Incidents. It doesn't matter what Sex, Race or Ethnicity the Officer is, it's pretty clear that this is about Police Culture.

According to a Statement from the Memphis Police Department: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., & Justin Smith have violated multiple Department Policies, including Excessive use of Force, Duty to Intervene, & Duty to Render Aid. While Black America applauds the expedience of the MPD, We also question why it doesn't happen so quickly when the Officer isn't Black. As a Community, We have serious questions for these 5 Men. Some of Us want to 'Check their Paperwork'. Contrary to the National Conversation, Blackfolk don't go after each other like this. Certainly not Black Cops. This is why most of Us are talking about Police Culture.

Tyre's brutal murder, is an example of why Critical Race Theory can be a valuable tool. If We follow the basic model, which is a History of Race Relations in America, We see how Police Departments play an important role of maintaining the Institutionalized Racism in American Society. We're told that Police are here to Protect & Serve, but they leave out how that is limited to Corporate Property & Interests. The Police Force comes out of the Slave Patrols, who 'protected' the interests of Plantation & Business Owners. As German, Scottish, & Irish Immigrants appeared, they were given jobs 'regulating' the Black Population- Free & Enslaved.

As Cities grew & Police Departments were established, the protocol remained the same; Protect Corporate Interests, & regulate the Black Community. This was a National Effort. As cruel as the White (WASP) Officers were, immigrants always tended to take Anti- Black actions further. It's like they were trying to prove to Mainstream Society how much they belonged. Irish, Italian, & now, Hispanic Officers are generally more aggressive w/ Black 'Persons Of Interest'- that's just a fact. Black America has complained about this 'Police Culture' for over 100Yrs, but have just gained ground in recent years. The difference between Justice for Mitrice Richardson & Sandra Bland, compared to Atatiana Jefferson has been encouraging.

Qualified Immunity has been a literal 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card for Police Officers. Recent Police convictions have shown that this may be a thing of the past. Despite a few hard won convictions, the legal road getting there has been a long & drawn out one. Many have accused the various Police Unions, DA Offices, & Judges of collusion. They're collectively kicking The Can down The Road; hopeful that The Public will lose interest & eventually forget the incident in question. The actions taken by the MPD, following the brutality of their Officers is worth noting. Tyre Nichols isn't the 1st Black Man to get beat by a gang of Police Officers; Rodney King (RIP) was beat in front of The World 30Yrs ago.

Some may try to focus on the actions of 'Black' Officers, but this behavior happens against Blackfolk in Every City & w/ Officers of Every Ethnic Group. As I said earlier, it's a Culture. What's different about This Instance, is the fact that ALL of the assailants are Black Officers. The City of Memphis is probably still feeling the reverberations of Breonna Taylor's murder in Louisville; I doubt they want Blackfolk to bring that level of Energy there. Cutting their losses is a no brainer. They will likely face an expensive lawsuit from Benjamin Buttah Biscuits; no sense in adding a Riot to an Embarrassment.

I see The City Of Memphis offering up these 5 Bullies, w/ the hope that it will quell a still simmering undercurrent supporting Independent Police Investigations. Defund The Police rhetoric has quieted, but every new incident brings talk about restricting Police 'Street Crime Units', along w/ the equipment & tactics used. Family Attorney Antonio Romanucci hit the Nail on the Head, when he called Street Crime Units, like the MPD's Scorpion Unit 'Suppression Units'. Those of Us that live in 'Inner Cities' understand the reality of these Units patrolling Our Neighborhoods like Military Troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I don't expect alot of hoopla coming out of Memphis. Blackfolk see tangible results, so we're willing to see what develops. What We do expect, is for future Events (that WILL happen) to move w/ the same expediency. The World will see yet another instance of Police involved Anti- Black Racism in America; i'm pretty sure many have also heard Ben Crump's suggestion about a blueprint. Moving forward, if the Legal System treats Non Black Officers differently than these 5 Officers in Memphis, all the rhetoric that the Department Of Justice can muster will not get the racist stench out of the Courts.

-Just My 2 Cents

[carbo-ships]

Chapter XXXIII

Beginning: Chapter I Previous: Chapter XXXII CW: This chapter includes references to sex (in very broad and general terms).

The tour bus stopped for lunch in a small town in a German valley. It was a beautiful day and a fairly short drive to the next day's venue, so the band decided to take an extended break from the road and spend the rest of the afternoon in town. Aether and the rest of the ghouls had on their old silver masks and changed into casual clothing. Their tails were hidden up the backs of their jackets. They certainly looked odd as they wandered through the outdoor market, but not enough to cause a panic. Ardis had similarly changed out of her uniform and shut off her projections, appearing perfectly human in a pair of skinny jeans and a sleeveless shirt.

The angel followed Aether as they weaved through the bustling streets. It seemed as if the whole town had come to the market to enjoy the pleasant weather and bright sunshine. Locals sold produce and baked goods from stalls that lined the village’s winding paths. "Here," Aether finally said after almost losing sight of her for the umpteenth time, offering her his hand. "I don't want you getting lost in the crowd."

She hesitated, looking at him in surprise. "Are you sure? What if people see?"

Aether smiled behind his mask. "I don't mind if you don't. Besides, I don't imagine we have very many fans in a place like this. I'm unlikely to be recognized."

She grinned at him bashfully before taking his hand in hers. A buzz of excitement shot through her as they continued on their way. They were holding hands – in public! She had to make a conscious effort to keep her halo and wings from appearing.

He glanced at her over his shoulder as he led her through the throng and chuckled when he saw the giddy smile on her face. "We can do this more often if it makes you this happy!"

“Yes, please!” she giggled. They explored the market together, admiring the colorful stalls and wonderful smells. After buying a few snacks, they decided to find some peace and quiet on an isolated hill that overlooked the village.

Once all the townspeople were nothing more than little dots below them, Aether sat down on the grass and removed his mask to enjoy the warm breeze on his face. His tail slipped out from under his hoodie and stretched itself out as he let out a pleased sigh. Ardis followed suit and allowed her halo and wings to light back up. This was nice, she thought to herself. No pretense, no disguises, just the two of them. She wished every day could be like this. She’d never admitted this to anyone, but she often daydreamed about what life would be like if she and Aether were both humans. She liked to imagine it might be like this. Aether used one of his horns as a bottle opener to uncap the foreign soda he’d purchased, making her giggle. "It really is a treat to see you out of uniform,” he said, a grin tugging on his lips as he looked her up and down.

Ardis cocked her head, nibbling at her pastry. “What’s wrong with my uniform?” She’d never heard him comment on it before. In fact, it was hardly worth commenting on, she thought to herself. It was rather plain.

"Nothing’s wrong with it, per se,” he mused, “but if you don't mind me saying so, it does nothing for your curves."

“My curves?” she laughed, giving him a strange look. “What curves? I’m scrawny!”

He chuckled and took a sip of his soda. “You’re certainly petite, principessa, but you do have a nice figure.”

Her cheeks flushed slightly. “Oh. Um, thank you.” She’d never thought about her body very much – at least not regarding whether a man might find it attractive. That had never mattered before.

“You know I like your waist,” he reminded her. “I’ve made that clear on more than one occasion. And seeing you like this… Well, it puts ideas in my head that your superiors would not approve of." A sly smirk appeared on his face, revealing the rather salacious undertone of his confession.

Ardis was rendered speechless for a moment. "I–" Her eyes quickly scanned his face for any indication that he was kidding and found nothing. "Oh. I– Aether, you know that I– There's rules. I can't, um…" Certainly he knew that... Right?

"I know, I know. Don't worry. I'm not suggesting that we do, dolcezza," he assured her quickly, thinking back on how flustered she'd become while kissing him that morning. "I know that would be too much for you. Just know that I would if I could."

She stared at him with wide eyes. She had no idea how to respond.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. I've been prepared to bed you since the day we met. You know that."

"I– But– But that was different! That was your assignment!"

He offered her an embarrassed smile. "It's not like anyone was twisting my arm, tesoro. I was very willing. I’ve told you, you’re cute. I mean, the motivations behind it are different now, but I've always been attracted to you.” His eyes flicked up to her halo and his brow raised. "Is, er… Is that normal?"

"Is– Is what?"

"You've gone pink."

"Huh?" She glanced over her shoulder at her wings to find that their usual yellow hue had been replaced with a burning magenta. She gasped, mortified. She frantically tried to make her wings and halo vanish completely. They flickered erratically for a moment before finally disappearing.

"What does that mean?" Aether asked curiously with a chuckle.

"Nothing!" she said quickly. Truth be told, her projections had never done that before. Not once in all her years. She'd heard rumors that it was possible, but she'd never seen it herself and had certainly never experienced it.

"Did… Did I do that?" His tail began to swing side to side, showing just how delighted the notion made him.

She looked away, embarrassed, and refused to answer. It was clear he had.

His expression turned more sympathetic. "Really? The mere mention of intercourse?"

Ardis could only give him a slight nod. It was a topic she’d never really discussed with anyone, except for that first night in Aether’s bed.

“Oh, cara,” he tutted, “come here." He set down his drink and opened his arms to her, inviting her to cuddle. She immediately accepted his offer, climbing into his lap to hide her face in his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ardis, I didn’t mean to cause you any sort of distress.”

“It’s okay,” she mumbled. “I just… didn’t realize you felt that way.”

He kissed the top of her head. "Of course I do. I confess, I'm flattered that you don’t seem repulsed by the idea," he chuckled softly.

“It’s not something I’ve ever given much thought to,” she admitted.

Aether smiled. “I can tell. But that’s alright. I just thought you ought to know. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that you look particularly lovely today. Is that a bit easier for you to handle?” He felt her nod, and kissed her temple. Her projections hesitantly flickered back to life, still bright pink. He admired them silently, refraining from commenting on them for her sake. The color suited her, he thought to himself – or perhaps he was just proud that he’d made her so flustered. Either way, he secretly hoped to see them like this again. “So when I’m up there on stage, thrusting my hips at you, what’s going through your mind, if not sex? Something makes your cheeks go red.”

She sighed and finally looked up at him. “Just how strong and handsome you are. I’m– I’m not oblivious, of course, I know that’s what you’re miming. But I guess I just… When you do that, all I can think about is how badly I want to sit on your lap and kiss you. My imagination doesn’t make it much farther than that.”

He supposed that didn’t surprise him. The sight of his bare biceps seemed to elicit the same reaction from her as the movement of his hips. It was sweet. “Well,” he chuckled, gently taking her chin in one hand, “you’re already in my lap…”

Next: Chapter XXXIV

[libitinalarvaia]

Kink Talk: Multiple/Forced Orgasm

I wasn't really sure if I could say this was distinctive enough to clarify but I think I will, anyway. Easily one of my biggest kinks is multiple orgasms/forced orgasms. (and over-stimulation by said orgasms/sexual contact) I pair them up together because they're just similar enough to talk about at the same time but not different enough to each have their own entry.

I guess to start, I like orgasm? I mean one could say 'who doesn't?' But some people don't and some people don't care. I do, though, I care about it a lot and like it a lot and it’s not difficult for me to achieve. I've also been capable of orgasm since I was in the single digits, so I've just always sought it out I guess. On top of this I’m what I’ve seen referred to as 'Sensory seeking autistic' maybe.. I tend to be inclined to seek out sensory stuff as opposed to avoid it (with some exception) it’s difficult for me to be overstimulated but it’s very easy for me to be under-stimulated. So for that reason, I’m much more inclined to over-stimulation and have a generally higher threshold for over-stimulation in general.

First and foremost, this ties directly into my submissive preference, which I’ve written about, to reiterate, orgasm renders a lot of my senses just gone and overwhelmed by orgasm itself. To allow someone else to bring me to orgasm is submission, there’s no way I can experience it that isn’t submissive in some capacity.

Multiple orgasm, specifically, is because I like and enjoy that overwhelming pleasure. It’s nice to be able to just.. Not think for a while, to be in a place safe and considerate enough to not think about what I have to do or how much time has passed and just disappear into sensation. It’s scary at first, because I have a baseline inclination to control myself and my senses (a big reason why I suffer insomnia) and be active and ‘available’ at all times. Orgasm, especially multiple orgasms, makes it completely impossible for me to be of ‘use’ at any time, and it’s nice to be in a spot where it’s okay for me to you know, just be ‘unavailable’.

As a sidenote, when I say forced orgasm I don't always specifically mean unconsented. (but my talk about unconsented stuff has also been covered) It can also mean just the aggressive action or the struggle against it despite consenting to it. When a person has consented but is still afraid of relinquishing physical control of their own self to the other. The mental struggle of one’s loss of control and the eventual take over despite their best efforts to stave it off is something important and allegorical to me. If unconsented, well, see the non-con post.

There’s also this nice effect of, someone is willing to do that? For me? Someone is actually willing to spend their time, effort, and planning to give me pleasure. Even if they may get something out of it themselves, it still feels so selfish and I still sometimes feel like I don’t deserve this because I’m not doing or giving anything, but they still want to do it anyway??? Heck the very fact that someone else might actually like or enjoy doing that for me, specifically, That’s just.. So much..

It’s nice, especially in times where I feel like I’ve never done enough that I haven’t worked hard enough that I haven’t given enough, that I deserve not just a small amount of pleasure, but a lot of pleasure. An overwhelming amount of pleasure. That I’m allowed to turn off and just be lost in a sea of overwhelming experience for however long the instigator wants and in that time I don’t have to be responsible for anyone or anything.