#i ran out of ideas and used an art idea generator

[lochlot-moved]

kitty tub

[donuts4evry1]

Yamamoto, Ranko

It took a little while, but here is Yamamoto Ranko (山本 卵孝)! He’s the “Player” of the game and simultaneously the least and most fun character I’ve created for this game, lmao. He’s an Egg Yolk jelly!! :D As of now, he uses He/Him pronouns but that could change :)

(This is also probably the crappiest editing I’ve done yet- but these kinds of jellies have a lot of tentacles haha. I’m definitely reediting him on photoshop later)

Etymology, fun facts, and human forms will be under the cut as always!

Yamamoto uses the kanji 山 (yama) “mountain” and 本 (moto) “origin”- commonly transcribed as “base of the mountain” Rankou uses the kanji 卵 (ran) “egg” and 孝(kou) “filial piety”

He’s the bassist for the school’s idol group, as well as the leader.

How does a jellyfish play the bass? Idk how can a bird shoot a gun tell me that and we’re even (basically, suspend your disbelief this is for funsies lmao)

He is a 3rd year student, in the same class as Chiaki.

He likes crabs, and occasionally lets one ride on his bell every now and then

Despite dating being restricted at the school, Ranko seems to have dated around a lot (even with jellies from other schools!).

Human notes:

He wears a high ponytail for performances and other idol-related appearances and the (*cough cough*) dead mom ponytail for most other times

The star on his cheek is just face paint. He likes to change up the colours every time he reapplies it.

At school, he’ll usually just wear the black jacket around the waist. It’s barely permissible by the teachers, but they don’t do anything about it.

i think I’ll make the hair a lil more orange-y yellow than highlighter yellow, the highlighter yellow doesn’t invoke enough “egg” imo

[occultopossum]

Ok, ran a test run of glaze, so have an informative post about the process. Since there is a lot of 'Just glaze all your art!' being thrown around a lot right now, then not giving much information where to find it/how to use it. You can find glaze here (https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/) Was about 2.6GB to download the program Then about 4.8GB to extract the zip, for an idea of it's size/space requirements. Got it running from the application in the extract folder.

The general layout of glaze which it is simple/easy to use interface, at lowest they estimate 20 minutes, but from my test run it takes *significantly* longer, which it does disclose that on the bottom left. In terms of CPU, yes it is very intensive, I have an average laptop with 'average specs' (i.e I can run a fair few games, but nothing like 'top graphics) I ran glaze at the lowest settings, default and faster My memory Cpu usage while using glaze was at Cpu 50-60% / Memory at 70-80% * Before I ran glaze it was running 11% cpu and 42% memory (I had discord open in the background the whole time but closed out of much else, so if you do run to much you may experience a crash)

*As glaze did reach the half way point the cpu and memory usage slowly lowered Now here's the time frame it took to glaze one picture of mine that was 5.05MB

The process takes *much* longer the settings indicate (used fastest setting which was estimated to be 20 minutes), so I spent approx (9:30pm to 1:00 am running glaze) The final result

This is what some of the warping looks like (which you can see it in some of the examples on glazes website)

I've already posted this art before unglazed so used it as an example. The unglazed version is the left, and glazed is the right. I do imagine you'll get less warping at the higher settings but likely that'll be much more intensive in time and resources. In short, glaze I'm so glad this tool is there for artists, but it is *really* not feasible solution/catch all for everyone to go back and glaze every piece of art/or glaze every piece of art going forward. Between the time it takes and how intensive it is, it's likely not accessible for everyone.

Where I feel this tool is best suited (and likely intended) is more art industry settings, examples like 'I'm posting art for a industry client and/or my professional portfolio' type scenarios.

Just wanted to give a more detailed experience of using glaze. I've seen there was sign ups for people to make accounts to use glaze for a faster experience, but as far as I've seen on their site/other posts it's closed at the moment.

[mochippyyy]

Ven and Vel getting jobs xD

Dancer AU!! (technically Veneer isn't a dancer in this but my explanation will be on the bottom! TLDR it was just cool so yippee [there's lore!!!!!!!])

Also! sorry@imadumdumjewel for the late reply!

If you guys req anything, I'll get to it, just may be a tad late...

Anywho! I ran a lil poll on Twitter to decide on the types of jobs they would have so here we go:

So I actually forgot to put dancer Vel/artist Ven because I kinda thought Ven would kinda fit the thing but after I finished this art I was pretty happy I didn't put it on there lol.

I honestly think that the other job options seemed pretty interesting, but no one really suggested any other jobs, and almost everyone was enthralled with the idea of dancer Ven & Vel.

For Veneer:

At first, my friend and I were planning this, but nothing really felt right to us. I did suggest Ballerino, but it didn't feel like something Veneer would do without Velvet, because they kinda come in pairs. Gymnast was also a suggestion, but after a couple minutes, it was swiftly discarded because I didn't want to draw Veneer's toes.

Anywho, while searching for other options, ice skating appeared, and my friend suggested an interesting idea as to

Lore time:

When Veneer was young, his parents pushed him towards traditionally male hobbies, such as sports and more sports. When his dad saw a flyer for an ice hockey team, he signed him up immediately. However, some mischievous kid had taped a different number to the hockey flyer, so Veneer's father ended up signing him up for figure skating instead.

At first, Veneer thought he was out of place, after all, the ratio of boys to girls was significant and he found himself to be the only one in that class. He didn't enjoy it much and regretted that he didn't join Velvet in her breakdancing course. However, as he unwillingly went to classes, he slowly started gaining a love for the sport and noticed how beautiful it was.

That led him to go down into professional figure skating and join competitions, eventually leading him to go down in history. For Velvet

My friend suggested swapping traditionally male and female dance styles, which led to the eventual conclusion: breakdancing. Velvet is a strong-willed character who would definitely try to get her way (as shown in the trailer of the movie) and take the classes that she liked.

Lore time:

When Veneer got signed up to do ice hockey, Velvet felt like she didn't have to deal with her little brother all day, and felt that she had a lot of time to herself. At first, she found a lot of things to do every day, running to places, going to parties, and just generally having fun.

At this point, Veneer was still unwilling to go to figure skating classes, (turns out Velvet was the mischievous kid who changed the number on the ice hockey flyer into a figure skating course phone number) but since his father had already paid for a year, he had to go anyways. Velvet would purposely use this to upset Veneer when she didn't get what she wanted, but then would accidentally make Veneer cry, resulting in her getting lectured by her parents, and Velvet holding back tears as she apologized to Veneer (she was totes in the fault here tho).

She realized that the more free time she had, the more her parents would lecture her. She decided right then and there that she would sign up for a class. She spent days, scrolling her phone and watching videos of different skills to decide what she wanted to do. However, nothing caught her eye.

Then, one day, she saw a kid do a flip, and slip and fall miserably. First, she took a video and laughed, and then thought to herself, "Hey, I could do that waaaayyyyy better. That kid's a failure!" And so she threw herself into learning it, but unsurprisingly, she fell flat on her face.

She was unhappy with this result, so she immediately went to her parents and asked them to sign her up for a breakdancing course. However, she had a tendency to give up when things got annoying/hard, so her parents turned her away each time. However, both the nonstop pestering and the fact that she no longer was bullying Veneer (because she was too busy following her parents around and throwing tantrums), they finally gave in.

From then on, she started breakdancing classes, and Veneer was upset because now his sister got to do something she liked, but Veneer was stuck in ice skating hell. He was very unhappy for some time, but then decided, "If she's gonna be happy, I gotta be happier. I gotta upstage her". So, he took to ice skating and started focusing all his efforts on it.

Velvet, seeing her twin brother become increasingly devoted to learning the trade she had forced him into while she had just started to get bored of breakdancing, felt a spark of competition and decided to practice harder.

Her parents were really impressed. Periodt. Now they are famous both nationally (Veneer) and on the streets (Velvet, for breakdancing, not giving up). YIPPEE

THE END

[simp4bsdcharacters]

Chuuya Dating Hcs!! (SFW)

Augh I love my boy A-5158 sm

Confession!!

Chuuya was not sure at all how to confess to you

Poor boy just came up at your house/apartment and said « Would you go out with me » with a bunch of your favourite flowers and some chocolate

Chuuya’s look just screamed « accept me »

Hear me out when I say this

Chuuya Nakahara did not scream 🤯🤯

He didn’t want to scare you off for what could be your first date with him <3

When you said yes, he was extremely happy, just concealing it

And yeah, that’s pretty much how you and Chuuya started dating

Dates!!

Chuuya would be the type to take things nice and slow

So you guys’s first date was probably just cuddling on your couch while watching TV

As I said, NICE AND SLOW

If you guys are into first-date sex, it’s not for you that he’ll (politely) decline but for himself

Chuuya doesn’t feel ready 💀

(Tell Dazai about this)

When his trust in you evolves, he’ll feel ready to have sex

But not for now 😌

General hcs!!

If you work at the ADA, Chuuya WILL find Dazai and ask him about how you’re doing when you aren’t answering the phone

If Dazai refuses to tell him anything my dude will fucking fight in the middle of the streets for info 🥴

Call him a stalker he’ll be proud of it

If you’re in the PM and going on a mission alone he’s going to say, I quote « But [Y/N], if you get injured while I’m not here I could never forgive myself!! » just so he can stay with you ❤️❤️

Chuuya would grab your hand on any mission you guys are on, at a random moment

’’CHUUYA, LET GO OF MY HAND HE’S CATCHING UP TO US WITH A KNIFE!!’’

‘’NEVER!!!!’’

Onto the first kiss because it wouldn’t dating hcs if no first kiss 😒

Ahem-

A W K W A R D

VERY VERY VERYYYY AWKWARD

Chuuya will NOT lean into the kiss, you will

He will NOT kiss back until you elbow him

Chuuya gets embarrassed for the slightest shit that could happen what would you expect from him ☹️

Call Chuuya your ChuuChuu Train

He will blush and tell you to stfu but he actually like it when you call him that

Its comforting him smh 🤷‍���️

He doesn’t know how to express his love for you, so most of the time, it’s just lewd physical touches like groping your ass at a random moment or smth

But Chuuya does help you around the house sometimes

He won’t admit it but it’s because he likes doing the laundry to see what you wear throughout the week

Listen guys Chuuya Nakahara is actually a good cook guys 😔😔

and he mastered the art of cleaning as well for unknown reasons

He’s proud of himself when he achieved something for you, he likes to prove his love

I ran out of ideas (help) anyway byee~

[modelbus]

HII!! I REALLY LIKE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH!! I just read your wilbur soot fic "Radar Detector" and I really LOVED it. I was hoping you could do another wilbur soot songfic cause theyre so good😭 (preferably lover by taylor swift or just any taylor swift song that you'd like.

THATS ALL!! MWA I LOVE UR WRITING!!🫶

I'm so excited to do another song fic you have no idea. Also, a confession: I'm a closet Swiftie...

Pairing: CC!Wilbur x Gn!Reader

Lover

We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January And this is our place, we make the rules

The tree in the living room was the first thing you saw when you opened your eyes. In your tiredness, all the colorful lights were out of focus and created a mesh of blob colors. It was pretty, in the way that abstract art flows together.

"We really should take that down." Wilbur says from behind you, and you realize that the general warmth around you is him. The arm over your waist, holding you to him and the couch? Him.

"We can leave it up." You answer, yawning. "I like it."

"It's not Christmastime anymore, love." He smiles into your shoulder, making you smile too.

Something about him generates happiness. In your hazy vision, spotted with colorful christmas lights, you can't imagine anything better.

"So? This is our flat."

He laughs. "Point taken."

We could let our friends crash in the living room This is our place, we make the call.

"You're fine, right?" You ask Tommy, giving him a pointed look.

For once in his life, the boy knows how to be subtle and nods. "Yeah, yeah, I'm great."

"We have more blankets if you want them!" Wilbur announces, strolling in with his arms full of blankets. He dumps them all on top of Tommy, eyebrows creased with worry. "You sure you don't mind staying on the couch?"

He nods, rolling his eyes. "I used to sleep on your floor, Wil."

"That was different! And I gave you an air mattress that time!"

"Which is practically the floor. I'm a big man, I can take the fucking couch."

Wilbur turns to you, as if you'll take his side. You may be dating him, but that doesn't mean you're agreeing with him.

"He'll be fine, Wilbur." You assure him.

Tommy was only staying for the night, anyway. One of his vlogs ran late, leaving him here way after dark. And Wilbur wouldn't stand for letting him head home at this time of night. Honestly, you found their brother thing endearing. And it made Wilbur happy, which made you happy.

Besides, Tommy was a good kid. A nightmare at times, but good in heart. Mostly.

Wilbur gives a regretful look at your couch (which is actually pretty nice) before sighing. "Fine, fine. We'll be just down the hall if something happens, so just... wake us. Yeah?"

"Wilbur!" Tommy groans. "Fuck off! I can sleep on your couch!"

"I know! I'm just making sure!"

"Go fucking cuddle or something." Tommy huffs, settling under all the blankets and turning his back to Wilbur.

You laugh softly, flicking off the lights. "C'mon love. Good night, Tommy."

"Night." Wilbur echoes your words, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and guiding you so you don't run into a wall on your way to the bedroom. "He'll be fine, right?"

"Of course he will." You say, leaning up to give him a quick kiss. "Now it's our turn to get some rest. Go do your night routine, or whatever."

"Will do." Wilbur agrees, quietly heading off toward the bathroom.

With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover.

You ran your thumb over the inside of his palm, prompting Wilbur to squeeze your fingers in return. The callouses on his fingers are rough against your skin, but you don't mind. They're testaments to his love for music, to his commitment to it.

You love them simply because they're a part of him.

"I promised to teach you guitar one day." Wilbur reminds you, voice soft.

"And I still want to learn." You assure him, a smile gracing your face. "Maybe one day I'll get callouses like yours." You add in as a tease.

"No guitar string scars though." He raises your hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to your fingertips. It makes you laugh. "I'll teach you how to play guitar safely."

"What, and you don't play safely?"

He nudges you, because you know the answer to that. You've seen too many broken picks and snapped guitar strings. There's a faint scar on his palm where a snapped string cut him, even.

"You'll be so bad at guitar." Wilbur says with a grin. "I can't wait to love you for it."

"Hey!"

Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover.

"I'm dying." Wilbur announces, draping himself over the back of your chair dramatically. "I've been shot. I'm dying."

You can't help but roll your eyes, laughing. "Wil, it was a Nerf dart."

"Tell my friends and family I love them." He wails, squeezing onto your hand. "I'll miss you."

"You aren't dying."

"Oh goodbye world! I yearn to feel the sun upon my face, but alas, I die in the cold night!"

"Oh Wilbur!" Tommy crows, darting around a corner with a raised Nerf gun.

Wilbur shouts, hands going for his own Nerf gun, finding nothing. In response, Tommy's smile widens into something evil as he holds up a second Nerf gun.

"Who's the bitch boy?" He asks, eyes wide with delight.

You burst into loud laughter as Wilbur runs from the room, sliding on the wooden floors in his socks.

And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover.

Hand on the back of the chair, Wilbur pulls it away from the cloth-covered table for you. You can’t help your grateful smile, sinking into it without a second thought. The wedding you two were at was busy, and you had been on your feet for literal hours. He was a godsend at this moment, and judging by his grin he knew it.

“Water?” You ask, holding up a bottle of water for him. You had originally left his side to grab some, knowing he was thirsty but wouldn’t ask for a water.

“Thank you.” Wilbur says, taking it from you. He presses a kiss to your head before pushing in your chair and sitting down at the one next to you, which has his suit jacket thrown over the back. “Almost payment enough for saving your chair?”

“Almost?” The laugh you let out isn’t dignified in the slightest, but his eyes sparkle like it’s the best sound he’s ever heard.

“I had to fight a guy off with my fists to keep it.”

“Bullshit.”

“You’ll never know if it is or isn’t.” He teases, taking a sip of the water. “But I deserve better payment.”

With a roll of your eyes, you lean forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. He cups your cheek, catching your face before you can pull away, just to prolong the kiss for a moment more before he lets go.

“Happy?” You ask, raising your eyebrows.

“The happiest.”

[melodiousmonsters]

I'm just going to start talking about my celestials each month to give you all some low effort and fun(for me) content. Also doing full illustrations of them as well, with some design notes at the end.

My interpretation of loodvigg, named Fhobia Denta Latrostratous (they're one of the three celstials with a full name at the moment) is a fair bit different from other's interpretations of it for extremely personal reasons. They're a tad bit strange, and creepy looking, but overall they are a compassionate (in their own strange way, like almost everything about them) and creative individual that's held as a role model for all shadowkind. They also have a lavender colored ring around their pupils so their eyes aren't fully pink, which is the main difference from the cannon loodvigg, along with the subtly different feathers, lower body, markings on the abdomen, and scales on the arms.

They are generally unexpressive (tonealy, the main way monsters express their emotions) yet VERY emotional. Over the years they gradually became more in control of their emotions due to sheer life experience, but they are still a little more irrational and driven by emotion than most of the other celestials.

They hate being touched, loud sudden/repetitive noises, math, people or things that get too into the meaning of art and other stuff like that, and the texture of a few things like fish meat or coarse fabrics. There are very few things they have a neutral opinion on, one of which is the taste of blood by itself.

They love keeping up their appearance in most situations, for example, their hair isn't naturally like that, they use their saliva like hair jell and specifically style it to look like that, also they would be absolutely rancid smelling and filthy with their diet of fresh meat and preferred locals of wet warm caves. They spend a lot of time cleaning themselves, which is extremely rare for monsters. They also like eating more than your average monster, they eat like a toddler because of how preoccupied with eating they get, collecting/making taxidermy and other oddities, and all critters, especially invertebrates though.

They are majorly interested in biological sciences, specifically preservation and taxonomy. They gave the celestials and dof era monsters/critters their scientific names(no I don't have scientific names for the celestials yet, I've kinda ran out of ideas for scientific names tbh). They happen to spend a lot of their time in a very large cave network with a lot of different types of caves that make good enclosures for keeping critters to study.

They care a lot about the other celestials as they are siblings and gets very angry if something bad happens to them, only if they feel it's undeserved, their empathy is a bit wacky and  inconsistent.

Also most shadow monsters tend to share in its odd mannerisms, sometimes the behaviors show up in completely non shadow affiliated monsters and no one knows why.

Disclaimer (I think that's the right word), yes you guessed right, Fhobia and the large majority of the shadow monsters are autistic, the term isn't used in universe as the monsters don't have a word for autism as they aren't that into psychology and "the way that monster is" has worked in place of a proper word historically, monsters aren't into categorizing others.

as for design notes and process here it is! all the stuff in red boxes are final.

[what-the-flux]

At long last, I can post the finished art! I had been sitting on it for some weeks, waiting for the inspiration to hit to write a short piece to accompany it. Definitely recommend full viewing.

oOo ----------------------------------------------------- oOo

Glittering motes of dust hung suspended in waning late afternoon light shining through the skylights. The upper levels of the City-Beneath-The-Cube were lighter and airier than outsiders realized, but the walls, planters and walkways of planed and etched stone that went down many stories made the whole of the place feel like some kind of precision-wrought canyon dotted with workshops, passages and arcades where the locals and laborers bustled.

(continued under the cut)

Lorr still knew this place well, despite the many years separating his former life and younger self from his current one. It hadn’t changed much, the smells and the noise were the same but he noted that there were new, more effective safety railings in the Public Commons and that the local favorite dive, Pi’s had updated their signage (finally).

The bounty hunter rubbed a hand across his face, closing his eyes momentarily as he let his ears take over, picking up all the sounds surrounding him. He would need to move further away from the Commons to better filter the urban background static. Lorr had just sent out his hawk Deputy to scope out the area in case they got lucky and found their mark momentarily out in the open. Both he and Deputy were already familiar with her, so that wouldn’t be difficult. Problem was, it also meant she’d immediately recognize the hawk for who he was and what it meant as well. A part of Lorr secretly hoped she’d get tipped off early.

Why did I agree to this? It wasn’t the money, not this time. Am I trying to make a point? She nearly got us killed and then ran for it. But I know her. Knew her. I can’t just erase all this history just because of one incident, one indiscretion can I? Maybe this is how I have to get through to her.

He sighed inwardly and braced against his spear as he rose from a crouch, the movement preternaturally smooth and deliberate, like a predatory animal. He looked down from his high vantage as he faced the section of the Undercube that was known to the denizens as the Plexus. It was a network of tunnels, access ‘ports, antechambers, quarries and dwellings that confounded natural senses of direction. Less public-facing, much more closed in and easier to hide. Or lose a pursuer.

The slim asura made his way down the ledge he was using to survey, walking along a catwalk only just wide enough to admit a mid-sized labor golem at most. His ears twitched and he sniffed, feeling the minute air currents of a service tunnel cleverly tucked behind a cleft in the worked stone. Still not certain this was were his mark had proceeded but knowing it would get him into the center of the Plexus quicker, he decided to go for it anyway. Forced to stow his spear in such close quarters, he kept a hand on his dagger as he stalked forward into the passage, the inside only dimly lit by a track of dim yellow quartz-lights along the floor.

Infrared imaging on his monocle made it easy for him to get an idea of the topography of the inner workings of the maze of service tunnels he found himself in, but he was careful to not rely on it solely. He stopped every so often, using his eyes and ears but also a generous amount of intuition to pick the correct course. Chambers became somewhat larger and more spacious as he passed golem foundries, making his way steadily downward. He was becoming more aware that he knew where he was going, it was like retracing steps from his childhood back to the colorful yet rundown living warrens and slums that he grew up in.

She wouldn’t go all the way back there, would she? Lorr was starting to think it wasn’t just him that was trying to make some kind of point.

The smells and noise were subtly changing and it wasn’t long before he found himself in the center of the Plexus. Part bazaar, part manufactory, it acted as the working class nerve center and was a riot of activity, industrial clamor and smells.

He was certain of where he was going now. He didn’t know why exactly she came all the way down here where they had all met in the early days before the nonsense with the Whispers and fighting dragons happened, but he was determined to find where this chase ended. He’d get answers, and if it meant having to fail his mission and come back to his current boss empty handed, then so be it.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for wanting to spend a night out with a guy?

I'm twenty, study in university and still live with my parents. I've been planning to move out since I was eighteen, but they told me to keep living at home and not get a job so I could focus on studying while they take care of me financially. This arrangement has worked mostly well in the past years save for a few small conflicts, but it's escalated in the past 3-4 months.

The issue is my time schedule. I have a very active social life, am active in the local art scene, do political work and a lot of extracurricular stuff for university (I'm a straight A student, I might add!). Because of this, and because I'm a natural night owl, I usually come home late several days a week (between 10pm and 2am) and stay out all day for most of the week. This means I can't do a lot of chores, and usually there's a lot of housework because my mum has a bit of a cleaning anxiety and wants to make sure everything is spotless 24/7.

Enter this guy, I'll call him Tim. I met him at a festival last summer and we became long distance friends. Tim has visited me for a day several times before, but this weekend he offered to come over for two days and we agreed to spend the night stargazing together without sleeping. I loved the idea and immediately said yes. It was gonna be just us, a couple energy drinks, and some bench in the city center, and I was really looking forward to it.

The thing is, my mum does not like Tim. Like, at all. She thinks he seems very sleazy and generally distrusts him because he feels "too nice" for her. Mind you, he's just a somewhat shady looking guy who is generally pretty anxious he might make a bad impression, so he overperforms the whole "respectable member of society" act a bit around new people. I've introduced him to my friend group and even the more sceptical people absolutely love him and think he's a very sweet, helpful person. In basically every stressful situation I've ever seen him in he's been deescalating, protective and helpful, and he has on several occasions been my first source of comfort when things went to hell.

Today I told my mum in an offhanded comment that I won't come home between Sunday and Monday and the situation escalated completely. She was crying, accusing me of ruining her month, saying I didn't care about this family, it got ugly. The main point she had was that I was staying out all night with someone who's a total stranger to her and she doesn't trust him at all. In the end we compromised that Tim and I would spend the night awake, but not in the city, at home.

I feel really humiliated by this whole situation and honestly, kind of betrayed, because I was promised stuff like this wouldn't happen, and it just hits in a much safer situation than ones I've been in before (I used to get blackout drunk and sleep at parties a lot.). I'm a legal adult, have been for years now and it's so disappointing that my parents still treat me like a child sometimes and are so judgy towards my friends too. At the same time, I'm wondering whether I've acted wrong too by not telling her about this earlier and not taking her concerns that seriously. I forget sometimes that I talk to Tim every day for hours, but my parents only briefly ran into him once, so of course their view of him is skewed.

PS: I should add that when I told him about this, he immediately apologized, asked if I needed anything or wanted to change the plan and decided to dig out the least offensive outfit he could find so he'd make a good impression on my parents. So he's definitely trying his best.

[storyofmychoices]

The Princess of Parnassus and The Trophy Husband

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 1 + Beyond] [Mal’s Orphanage]

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 2 AU]

Pairings: Mal Volari x Daenarya (F!OC), with mentions of Iliana

Book: Blades of Light and Shadow 2 (post finale)

Word Count: ~1,000

Rating/Warnings: General, no warnings (for maybe the first time ever)

Synopsis: Daenarya and Mal enjoy a much needed relaxing afternoon while contemplating what comes next.

Thank you to the absolutely amazing @cashweasel for this perfect art. I've been holding onto it for months now waiting for a story worthy of it. Once this idea popped into my head, it felt like the right time. (A second version of the art can be found below the story)

A moment of peace, 

finally.

That's what they deserved.

No more danger, no more life-altering choices, no more world-ending destruction. No more dealing with the aftermath.

The Realm had been saved, again—technically two realms this time.

More portals had been opened to allow for easier crossing between both realms. New guidance and orders were established. All was progressing toward a new future.

And, in a brief lull between it all, Iliana was born—their greatest gift. 

Daenarya drew in a deep breath, savoring the gentle caress of the breeze as it wove through her hair. She hadn't seen rest since... well, since before all of it. Before her daughter. Before the new agreement between sides. Before the war between the realms. Before she had been taken. Before the Dreadlord. Before she'd met her found family. Before Kade had been taken. Before Mal Volari strutted into her life. How long ago that seemed.

So much had changed. So much was still changing, but one thing that hadn't changed in quite a while was him and how she felt about him.

The afternoon sun bathed the field in its soft, golden embrace, illuminating the sea of windflowers gently swaying. Above them, the air filled with the melodic song of birds flitting amongst the grasses. Daenarya smiled at the beautiful symphony around her. 

Her nimble fingers wove delicate blooms together, putting the final touches on the crown she was crafting for Mal, mirroring his efforts for her.

"A crown fitting for a princess," Mal teased, showcasing his completed creation. It was a brilliant assortment of wildflower blossoms expertly entwined into an elegant crown. 

"I'm not sure about the princess part—" she shook her head playfully. "—but it's beautiful."

"May I?" He held it out to her. 

"Of course." She dipped her head forward, allowing him to place the beautiful display upon her head. A gentle smile spread across her features as she let her hand linger over his for a moment. 

"Shall I send word that you are ready to reclaim the Parnassus name and embrace your kingdom?" Mal inquired, his gaze fixed on her, his smile matching that of her own. 

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Daenarya rolled her eyes. She ran her fingers through the silky grass beside her, her thoughts wandering for a moment. "We don't even know how directly I'm related. I'm sure there are many other descendants equally entitled by blood, if not more so."

"None of them are as qualified though," Mal interrupted. "Kit, you've saved the damn realm, twice, and ensured a truce between Light and Shadows. Gods know if anyone deserved it, it'd be you."

She reached over, tracing the lines of his jaw before cradling his face. "I'm not starting a monarchy, Mal." 

He pouted beneath her tender touch. "You're really going to take this from me?"

She couldn't stifle her laughter. "Take what from you?"

"My chance to be a trophy husband!" He declared proudly with a mischievous grin. "You're letting all of this go to waste." He gestured over his particularly exquisite features. 

"Husband?" Her brow piqued at the word.

"I just mean—" His confidence faltered a moment, his fingers running sheepishly through his long hair. "You're right, this isn't about me... it's about you and if you'll use Parnassus as your surname now that you know about it, kingdom or not."

"I don't think it's right for me." Her thoughtful eyes met his, contemplating the weight of such a decision. "I've never had a last name before... I wasn't important enough to need one. I'm just Daenarya of Riverbend."

"You're so much more than that," Mal marveled. "You might be the most important person in all the realms."

"Might be?" She teased.

"Well, I like to think I helped a little," Mal insisted. "Even Elfboy did something, but don't tell him I said that."

"What about for you?"

"What about me?"

"How important am I?"

"Fishing for a compliment?" His gaze narrowed on her.

She chewed her lower lip, shrugging lightly, "mayyybeee."

He chuckled softly, "Kit... Daenarya, you're the most important person to me. I never dreamed I could find someone like you. Someone who—" He shook his head, his smile spreading wide. "Someone who I'd gladly risk my life for, over and over again, with no promise of treasure or reward, except that of keeping you safe and experiencing all life has to offer with you." 

Daenarya leaned forward, quieting his words with a kiss. "I love you, Mal Volari."

"I love you so damn much…Daenarya of Riverbend, or whatever name you choose," he offered as she rested her forehead against his, savoring their closeness.

"I know," she whispered. "So…I might have an idea for a last name."

"Really?" He pulled back slightly, curious to hear what she was thinking. 

A glint of amusement danced in her eyes. "What about…Volari?"

Mal's brow furrowed for a moment, confusion flickering across his features.

"I thought we might share it, you and I." Daenarya watched him closely, waiting for him to understand. “Iliana, too.”

Realization dawned upon Mal as her words sank in. "Are you proposing to me?"

"So what if I am?" 

"Shouldn't I be the one proposing?" Mal teased lightly, though his heart pounded with anticipation.

Daenarya's laughter echoed across the serene landscape. "No, I think this is right for us."

"I don't know, Kit," he attempted to feign indecision, his fingers stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I always imagined when I got proposed to it would be this big grand gesture, and there would be a massive diamond involved." 

"No diamond, Mal the Magnificent, but perhaps I can offer you another token of my appreciation." Daenarya shifted beside him, holding out the flower crown she had created for him. "Mal Volari, the Magnificent one, would you do me the honor of becoming my trophy husband, kingdom or no kingdom?"

He couldn't stop his joyous laughter. "With an offer that good, how could I say no?" 

Daenarya no sooner placed the crown on his head than he pulled her into his arms, showering her with all the love and affection she deserved. There was no one he would rather spend forever with than her—Daenarya of Riverbend, soon to be Daenarya Volari. (But had she asked, he'd be Mal of Riverbend or whatever name she chose because being with her was the only constant he ever needed.)

I had this silly little idea and I hope you enjoy it. I figured since Mal is struggling to propose to Daenarya in my "Prime" aka book one universe, I thought it would be Daenarya proposing in this one.

Oh, and one more thing before you go.... the lovely Lou was amazing enough to give me 2 versions of this art. I initially asked for Short Haired Mal since Book Two would be introducing him, but I got cold feet and wanted my long-haired Mal, too, so Lou allowed me both versions. Though, if ever there was a good looking short haired Mal this is the one 😍

[hoodharlow]

No Purple

AN: shout out to @killatravtramp for letting me use her idea 🥰🥰🥰 also well see more of Genesis when I post the actual teacher one shot

Request? No but I did use V's idea

Warnings: general smut lol

Word Count: 1.8k words

Genesis sighed and walked over to the water station. The two moms in charge of making sure there was water at all times were gossiping with the other two volunteers at the orange slices table. She opened another pack of the mini water bottles and placed them on the table. She took a deep breath then went back to her station. She made note of the moms that weren't doing what they signed up for, so they could help with the take down at the end of the fun-run. 

The elementary school she worked at was organizing a fun-run to collect money for a school wide field trip to the caverns at the end of the year. Genesis had no idea how but she got roped by Dr. Reed, the principal, and helped organize the entire thing. She spent the last month calling places for donations for the fun-run, designing t-shirts for each of the grades, making volunteer schedules and all that on top of her actual work. She got lucky and Jack's parents were able to make the t-shirts as a donation. Jack offered pay for the field trip himself, but Genesis turned him down. He also tried to donate to her class specifically, but she said no. 

Genesis sat back at her table and counted up the tallies for the fourth grade class. She took out her iPad and pulled up the spreadsheet she had for the fun-run and went through each student's paper. She heard a commotion, but paid no mind to it. She wanted to finish the tallies so the students that got per lap donations could take their forms home to collect their donations. 

A to-go container was set next to her, making Genesis look up from her iPad. 

"Hey," Jack said, bending down to give her a chaste kiss. 

"No purple." Martín, a student from Genesis's class, said as he walked past the table to get to his friends.

The school was having a free day where students could go to the library to read, go to specific classrooms to do arts & crafts or play games and watch movies. The final option was to just hang outside in the fourth and fifth grade play area. Where the fun-run was taking place. 

Genesis covered Jack's hand before he flipped off the five year old. "Leave, Lizbeth's kid alone." She whispered to him. 

Lizbeth was one of Genesis and Jack's friends from high school. She was the first (and only) to have a kid out of their friend group and ever since Martín was born, Jack has had some sort of one sided beef with the kid. 

"If purple is between a guy and a girl, what about gay and nonbinary people?" Jack asked her. 

"Nonbinary people are yellow and I'm not too sure about gay couples." She answered him. She locked her iPad and turned to him. "Why are you here?"

That morning he picked her up from her apartment and drove her to school. He went to deliver the t-shirts Genesis ordered. He told her he couldn't stay because he was going to be at the studio the rest of the morning. 

"Damn, I can't see my girl." He scoffed. 

Genesis smiled shyly. After her cousin's wedding they decided to give dating a chance. Jack had a few weeks off and they've been spending as much time together before he had to go on the road again. When they told their friends and family they all let out a collective finally. 

"I also brought pizza for everyone." Jack pointed toward the new canopy set up. There were piles upon piles of pizza boxes on the tables. He brought his hand down and patted her take-out box. "And I got your boujie ass flats." 

"I'm not boujie." She frowned. 

"Don't deny it, it's one of the many things I love about you." He said. 

"You're annoying," Genesis rolled her eyes at him. 

She went back to her work with the tallies then she moved on to making certificates to those that ran the most laps. By then it was time to take down the fun-run. 

"You got sunscreen?" Jack asked.

"In my Harry Styles tote." She pointed at the chair next to him. 

"Why don't you use my tote?" 

"Because yours doesn't have bunnies." 

Jack rolled his eyes. He lathered some on his face and made sure to get the back of his neck. He put back the sunscreen and went to go help take down the canopies. 

Genesis watched as Jack talked with Dr. Reed. Another person he had beef with. Apparently when he was in fifth grade he went to the school where she worked and when he tried out for the school's annual talent show, Dr. Reed, who was Miss Fox at the time, stopped his performance of Fergalicious and told him he couldn't perform at the talent show. He called her one of his original haters.

At some point Jack took off his jacket and tied it around his waist, showing off his arms in the tight white tee he wore under. It got Genesis worked up. And the way he wore his baseball cap backwards wasn't helping her at all. She thought back to the times he would crash frat parties when he was in town and wore his hats like that. There was something about how curls curved over his hat that made her feral. She took a generous sip from her Hydro Flask as he took off his hat to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Jack shook his head, fluffing his curls, and put his hat back. 

After everything was taken down, all the teachers took their students back to their classrooms. There was about fifteen minutes left before school was over. 

Jack joined Genesis and sat in the back of her class. He entertained himself by organizing the large crayons in their designated colors. He occasionally looked over to Genesis. She had her class sitting in a large rug as they went around the circle, talking about what they did during the day. He smiled to himself watching how she was in her element. He knew she was one of the few people meant for teaching. 

The bell finally rang. 

"Alright, have a good weekend and if you got your envelope back please bring it on Monday." She told the students as they got their backpacks. "Also, everyone tell Jack thank you for the pizza and t-shirts." 

"Thank you Jack." The class said in unison. 

"Pay up." Martín told Jack. He pointed at his paper. "I did this many."

"You did six laps?" Jack asked as he pulled out his wallet. 

At a kickback Martín went around the group asking for donations. A few just gave him twenty bucks but Jack told him he'd pay him a hundred for each lap. 

"Yeah, pay up." The five year old said in a sassy tone.

"Here." Jack said, placing a thousand dollars in the envelope. 

"Miss Ramos, I finished." Martín said, handing Genesis back his envelope. 

Genesis frowned at Jack. "Seriously." 

"He asked me." Jack said defensively. 

"Of course he did."

*

When they finally pulled up to Jack's house, all bets were off. Genesis climbed over her seat and straddled Jack. She claimed his mouth and began rutting her hips against his. 

"G, wait until I turn off the car." Jack laughed. He turned off the ignition and pulled out the key. "Where were we?"

They went back to making out. At some point, Jack had to pull away and led them inside. He picked up the back of her thighs and carried her upstairs. He gently set her down on his bed and began removing his clothes. Genesis followed suit. 

"Keep the hat." She said, pushing down her brown cargo pants. 

"Yes ma'am." He grinned, sitting against the headboard.

He knew that hat had some sort of effect on her and wore backwards to get her attention. Even before they started dating, she would sit on his lap and play with the ends of his curls.

Genesis straddled him and cupped his cheek, kissing him. She stood on her knees over Jack’s cock. He held her hips and guided her down his cock. Both let out a satisfied moan. Jack gave her hips a few squeezes, letting her know she could move. Genesis held the back of his neck and leaned back on one hand, slowly riding him.

She gently tugged on his curls as she moved her waist. One she was used to him, he lifted his hips to meet her thrusts. She was a moaning mess for him. He pulled her closer to him. Their lips moaning into each other. One of her hands gripped his bicep while the other traveled down to her clit. She rubbed herself. 

“Come on, G, let go for me.” He encouraged her. 

With that Genesis came. She repeated Jack’s name over and over until her high faded. 

"I can take another." She said breathlessly. 

She knew Jack hadn't come yet. He nodded and pulled his length out of her and positioned her so that only her ass was in the air for him, so she wouldn't be on all fours. He knelt in front of her and aligned himself to her entrance, slowly pushing himself in her once more. His hands gripped her waist as he slowly rocked into her. 

As the minutes passed, his thrusts got rougher, and Genesis couldn’t hold back. She begged Jack to keep fucking her at that irritatingly slow and rough pace she loved. He leaned over, his chest against her back. His lips kissed all over her neck as he continued to fuck Genesis. She rocked back against him, lazily meeting his thrusts.

"That’s it, G." He groaned in her ear. 

Jack shifted his hips as he thrusted into her. The new angle hit her in that spot that made her beg for him. She caught sight of Jack in the mirror doors of his closet and nearly came undone by just looking at him. The way his curls clung to his hat. How he tightly gripped her hips as he roughly thrusted into her. How his KY necklace moved erratically with every movement. It made her egged her on. 

Genesis pushed back her hips rougher to meet his thrusts. He gripped her hips with one hand while the other went back down to her clit. Jack worked his fingers roughly as he pushed his hips into Genesis. He buried his face in her neck, kissing her sweet spot. Her quiet praises filled the room, egging him on. She quietly whimpered his name, lazily meeting his thrusts before her orgasm took over. Jack’s orgasm followed soon after, pushing himself deep inside. 

Jack pulled out and laid on his side. Genesis pulled off his hat and ran her fingers over his drenched curls. 

"How was that?" He asked, hovering over her body. 

"An A." She giggled. 

"Only an A? Let me do some extra credit for an A+ then." He mumbled against her neck. 

"You're never gonna quit with the teacher puns are you?" Genesis asked him. 

Jack placed her thighs over his shoulders. He looked up at her and grinned mischievously "No, I'm only getting started."

Taglist: @cherry4everrr @heavyhitterheaux  ​ @carma-fanficaddict  ​ @youngharleezy  @youngharleezyxo  ​ @babyharleezy  ​ @that-90s-girllll  ​ @alinaharlow  @harlowcomehome  @nattinatalia  @webinurcloset  @gassyandsassy1  @jackharloww  @awhore4moree  @noescapricho-essentimiento  @a-moment-captured  @neon-lights-and-glitter  @purecinnamonextract  @whywontyoulovemecami @camificrecs

[bluginkgo]

"Nice Corpse House My Guy" Remastered Behind Scenes!

The most glaring and obviously annoying thing that's evident in this comic- if you even wanna call it that- are the god forsaken BACKGROUNDS. There was a lot of experimentation going on for backgrounds here. Because the first couple pictures, THAT is what I used to draw backgrounds as. Trees are sticks and grass is flat. I realized that wasn't gonna cut it. I didn't like it at all. So I started experimenting and boy was it messy. It finally sorta settled on the style by the end of the comic. I'm still unhappy with it, but it'll have to do for now.

Here's a small comparison

One thing that I ran into was how I was gonna show that N was in his "killer mode." I could have placed the X's over the pupils, but found it unnatural looking in my style. So instead, it was settled to a concentrated light in the pupils.

Best seen between these two. The second N snaps out of it, the X/light in his pupils disappears, and the normal light returns to his eyes, which is similar to Uzi's.

Another thing I started slowly including was Uzi's little tooth on her beak.

The jutting out portion on her beak is a personal touch. Although it doesn't really matter, I included it to separate her from the rest of the "worker drones." Seen as she's an absolute solver host and has a solver form, something was going to creep up in her crow design, hence the little teeth. Doll would have them too, given I draw her in the form I've been thinking about.

Another thing I ran into, was WHAT WAS UZI GONNA TAKE N DOWN WITH?! This is a bird vs. a dog! No way was a bird gonna decommission a whole dog! Then this scene came up in my recent rewatch of Murder Drones.

And it clicked. Loooong long time ago, I had a very specific hyperfixation: birds. One thing I learned that some pigeons do, was they're capable of doing a somersault. And in mid-air, too!

I was finally set. The SICK AS HELL RAILGUN was downgraded to a simple piece of shiny glass/pebble that attracted Uzi- and crows love shiny things. And the same pebble will be used to launch at N's sensor that made him trip over. Because I was also not going to draw N doggo losing his head. I love gorey and bloody shows and art- hence why I watched Murder Drones- but I honestly had no idea how to recreate that, and I suck at drawing gore in general, I mean, did you SEE the crow N was chewing on? That was my best try honestly.

Here are some progress shots and how the layers worked in the scene where N is bonked with a stick.

As per usual, start with a sketch, this is actually 2nd sketch. The first is much rougher, just some circles and random shapes to outline his body form.

Then, this is all outlined and rendered. Along with some additions like the stick and the little rock.

The background was the hardest, aside from some weird angles I picked to draw Uzi and N at. I suck at backgrounds, like I've mentioned many times before. So, this needed a lot of testing and experimenting. Most of this works because I found some cool brushes to use. But aside from that, I honestly still don't like how it looks. It's slightly better than my stick trees and flat grass though, I guess.

Put it all together, add a black layer to simulate nighttime, put some lights to show moonlight through trees and voila, you've got an N doggo that got bonked by a stick! I see this project/comic mostly as practice and testing. Background testing mostly, and some brushes. The background/brush testing actually spilled over into another post of the solver Uzi I made a bit back. I'd say I was pretty happy how it turned out, but brush wise, I was going to test around a little more.

NUzi comic 'Sleep' is my next project. Uhhh, don't ask me when I'm gonna have it out, I have no idea. I'm guessing sometime end of Jan and beginning of Feb. But that might be delayed seeing as Murder Drones ep7 should be out sometime soon too, so I'll need to go crazy about that for a bit and then I'll go back to my usual thing ^_^ 'Sleep' will take place still between the Pilot and Heartbeat.

P.S. I have all 26 pages story boarded... good god what happened to the 'mini' part of the comic 😭

Anyways, why are you still here?! Have a cookie ^_^ you made it! Have a nice day now, bye bye <3

[tangibletechnomancy]

How To Use AI To Fake A Scandal For Fun, Profit, and Clout

Or, I Just Saw People I Know To Be Reasonable Fall For A Fake "Ripoff" And Now I'm Going To Gently Demonstrate What Really Happened

So, we all know what people say about AI. It's just an automatic collage machine, it's stealing your data (as if the rest of the mainstream internet isn't - seriously, we should be using that knee-jerk disgust response to demand better internet privacy laws rather than try to beef up copyright so that compliance has to come at the beginning rather than the end of the process and you can be sued on suspicion of referencing, but I digress...), it can't create anything novel, some people go so far as to claim it's not even synthesizing anything, but just acting as a search engine and returning something run through a filter and "proving" it by "searching" for their own art and "finding" it.

And those are blatant lies.

The thing is, the reason AI is such a breakthrough - and the reason we memed with it so hard when DALL-E Mini and DALL-E 2 first dropped - is because it CAN create novel output. Because it CAN visualize the absurd ideas that no one has ever posted to the internet before. In fact, it would be a bigger breakthrough in computer science if we DID come up with an automatic collage machine - something that knows where to cut out a part of one image and paste it onto another, then smooth out the lighting and colors to make them fairly consistent, to make it look like what we would recognize as an image we're asking for? That would make the denoising algorithm on steroids that a diffusion model is look like child's play.

But, unlike the posts that claim that they're just acting as a collage maker at best and a search engine at worst, I'm not going to ask you to take my word for it (and stick a pin in this point, we'll come back to it later). I'm going to ask you to go to Simple Stable (or Craiyon, or the Karlo demo, if Google Colab feels too complicated for you - or if you like, do all of the above) and throw in a shitpost prompt or two. Ask for a velociraptor carousel pony ridden by a bunny. Ask for Godzilla fighting a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. Ask for an oil painting of a capybara wearing an ornate princess gown. Shitpost with it like we did before these myths took hold.

Now take your favorite result(s) and reverse image search them. Did you get anything remotely similar to your generated image? Probably not!

So then, how did someone end up getting a near perfect recreation of their work? Was that just some kind of wacky, one-in-a-million coincidence?

Well - oh no, look at that, I asked it for a simplistic character drawing and it happened to me too, it just returned a drawing of mine that I never even uploaded, and it's the worst drawing I've done since the fifth grade even just to embarrass me! Oh no, what happened, did they change things right under my nose, has digital surveillance gotten even WORSE?? Look, see, here's the original on the left, compare it to the output on the right - scary!! They're training on the contents of your computer in real time now, aaaagh!!

Except, of course, for the fact that the entire paragraph above was a lie and I did this on purpose in a way no one could possibly recreate from a text prompt, even with a perfect description.

How?

See, some models have this nifty little function called img2img. It can be used for anything from guiding the composition of your final image with a roughly drawn layout, to turning a building into a dragon...to post-processing of a hand-drawn image, to blatantly fucking lying about how AI works.

I took 5 minutes out of my day to crudely draw a character. I uploaded the image to this post. I saved the post as a draft. I stuck the image URL in the init_image field in Simple Stable, cranked the init strength up to 0.8, cleared all text prompts, and ran it. It did exactly what I told it to and tried to lightly refine the image I gave it.

If you see someone claiming that an AI stole their image with this kind of "proof", and the image they're comparing is not ITSELF a parody of an extremely well-known piece such as the Mona Lisa, or just so extremely generic that the level of similarity could be a coincidence (you/your favorite artist do/es not own the rule of thirds or basic fantasy creatures, just to name one family of example I've seen), this is what happened.

So from here you must realize that it is deeply insidious that posts that make these claims usually imply or even outright state that you should NOT try to recreate this but instead just take their word for it, stressing ~DON'T FEED THE MACHINE~. It's always some claim about "ohhh, the more you use them, the more they learn, I made a SACRIFICE so you don't have to" - but txt2img functions can't use your interaction to learn jack shit. There's no new information in a text prompt for them TO learn. Most img2img models can't learn from your input either, for that matter! I still recommend being careful about corporate img2img toys - we know that Facebook, for instance, is happy to try and beef up facial recognition for the WORST possible reasons - but if you're worried about your privacy and data harvesting, any given txt2img model is one of the least worrying things on the internet today.

So do be careful with your privacy online, and PLEASE use your very understandable knee-jerk horror response to how much extremely personal content can be found in training databases as a call to DEMAND better privacy laws ("do not track" should not be just for show ffs) and compliance with security protocols in fields that deal with very private information (COMMON CRAWL DOESN'T GO FAR OUT OF ITS WAY, IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET ANY MEDICAL IMAGES THE PATIENTS DIDN'T SHARE THEMSELVES HOLY SHIT, SOME HOSPITAL WORKERS AND/OR MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPERS BETTER BE GETTING FIRED AND/OR SUED) - but don't just believe a convenient and easy-to-disprove lie because it aligns with that feeling.

[notanerdyprude]

richie headcanons because by GOD do i love this

appearance

• richie is TALL. lanky mf. he was shorter that pete in middle school and then shot up to 6’3 in highschool.

• richie constantly dyes his hair. paul hates it, mainly because of the mess he makes of it. its partially a stress thing partially him wanting to make it gleamingly obvious that hes queer.

• has like an Okay sense of fashion, mainly thanks to ruth. he took the idea of layering stuff and RAN with it.

• always has a shit ton of pins and badges, some anime themed, some themed with other stuff.

• paints his nails sometimes. he tried nail art and it turned out shit but he liked it anyways.

personality

• this. man. is. a. BITCH. if max wasn’t the coolest guy in school richie would be such a cunt to him. well, more than he already is “i didnt mean to walk through YOUR hallway 😒”

• very blunt, he will tell his friends what he believes without sugar-coating it.

• richie is his friends number one hype man if he actually believes in them. in the audience of every school show screaming at the top of his lungs when the tech crew get thanked.

general

• gay, trans man. he/him pronouns user

• plays the drums! yes this is because i play the drums get out of my house.

• LOVES photography, will take photos of pretty scenery whenever he gets the chance. paul got him a proper camera for his 18th and he nearly cried.

• listens to 80’s rock/indie rock

• blur fan. not elaborating.

• will order boba tea or coffee that is 90% milk + sugar whenever the nerdy prudes get drinks.

• HUGE sweet tooth.

• theatre kid, the only reason he doesnt do the school musicals is that he thinks theyre all shit.

• works after school in a bookstore, spends most of his time studying or drawing.

• had a massive among us phase. he refuses to speak of it.

relationships

• paul is his uncle, emma is basically his cool wine aunt. she helps him dye his hair most of the time, and they gossip together.

• him and ruth are basically brother and sister, attatched at the hip, basically have twin telepathy. richie is the ultimate wingman.

• had a crush on pete in middle school that he got over. he still hasnt told pete about it.

• stephanie: kys

richie: you first whore

stephanie: do u want chilis

richie: yes

• (no one dies/everyone lives au) max and him have a frenemy type thing going on. after max DIDNT fall at waylon place, richie saw that max was less god more human, and felt more comfortable arguing back with max. they both prefer this, it makes class more fun.

• once made grace cry with the shit he said about his anime crushes in a groupchat

richie: i wanna #### him and ### his ####

grace: I hope I get to watch God offer you His divine judgement when you reach the gates of hell so I can laugh as you are banished from the Kingdom of Heaven.

[wordsnstuff]

Hiya! Just wondering, what unusual and unique ways have helped you get out of a writer's creative block?

Let's talk *briefly* about writer's block.

Yes, this will be long, but I think it will help you.

It's been a long time since I was in a regular posting schedule for this blog, and that is upsetting to me (and many of you, I'm aware). For a significant chunk of that time, I considered writer's block to be the primary reason for this, but looking back on the nearly three years I've spent attempting over and over to return to the schedule and routine I once maintained, I have accepted that writer's block was never the problem. Not the way I thought.

I have, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, always thought of writer's block as if it's a tangible condition or something that happens to you, like a cold. That conclusion always prompted me to seek a solution (for instance, motivational content or exterior inspiration or anything that would enhance my capacity for self discipline). Because I thought of it as something that just developed naturally, I focused very little on the root of the issue and consequently it never seemed to improve.

For most of us, the past three years have ranged from severely abnormal to deeply traumatic, and though a lot of mythology around the process of art and inspiration tells us that conflict and pain inform a good portion of creativity, I have to admit that none of what the world has been through recently has made me want to write. When you and everyone you know have been in a survival mindset for several years, the seemingly trivial pleasure of creating fiction or sharing content about the process feels overwhelming. Every time I've returned to this space that I created long before experiencing any of this turmoil, especially because this turmoil occurred during the dawn of my adulthood, it has felt like a silly attempt at denial.

My writer's block, and I'm sure many others', was not simply a case of burnout or lack of inspiration. It's not that I had been pushing myself too hard without allowing for reasonable time for rest and recharging my mind, or that I simply ran out of ideas or reasons to want to continue. Even when you have the deepest of passion for a craft, you will always be human and therefore always affected by your environment and the events in your life. When you find yourself unable to put the pen to the paper, instead of asking what you can do to change that, ask why you're struggling in the first place. Focus on the cause, not the effect.

For me, a lot of my difficulty with writing has come from my environment and the mindset it has put me in. I am currently in university, so whether I like it or not, I have to write here and there and pull myself together to be able to do that. Every time I do so, I wonder why I can't enforce that same authority on myself for my personal projects, and it's because, for a long while, my environment has not been conducive to that effort. I haven't had the control over my schedule and responsibilities that I used to have, and finding a balance between these responsibilities and my personal goals has has a learning curve. All of these circumstances, for better or worse, have affected my mental state and my ability to write.

I did not have the freedom or even the energy to put in practice the exercises that helped me before, and as a result I haven't been writing. Coming out of that struggle hasn't been a matter of waiting for things to change or get better, it's been putting my energy toward a new process of trial and error. Since accepting that my new reality is here to stay, the priority has been finding new ways to work around it and specifically, work with it. This acceptance can require a lot of difficult reflection, and this can reach beyond your desire to write and into your desire to live a good life in general. It can feel silly or humiliating or patronizing to approach this reflection from the very bottom of things, and this includes the basics.

It may seem silly to consider the basics when the problem feels so extreme, but when you're consistently forgetting the casual maintenance of your mind and body, you will consistently find yourself failing to accomplish much beyond the bare minimum. If you struggle with mental health, this will be even more evident. Basic things like hydration, diet, sleep, movement, interaction, and joy will always be the most effective place to start when addressing why you cannot write. Once you have verified that these needs are met, then the presence of a deeper problem will reveal itself, but you'll never know if that's the case unless you check the other boxes.

So, you've checked the basics and they're all fine but you're still experiencing writer's block. Have you made time in your daily schedule for intentional rest? Are you coming home at the end of a long day and jumping straight into writing or keeping up with your duties at home or simply falling in front of a screen for a few hours? None of these things are rest. Distracting yourself with noise or housekeeping is not rest, and when it's all you do after a full day of other responsibilities, you haven't truly spent a moment with yourself finding fulfilling joy or relaxation. Yes, they can be compelling and very difficult habits within your routine to let go of, especially if you struggle to function without something occupying the back of your mind, but rest is extremely important to the creative process. If you like to scroll online a little bit or watch an episode of your comfort show after you get home to unwind, that's great. But in order to truly take advantage of your free time, try to optimize it by being intentional about the way you're experiencing it. Try not to fall into a routine of distraction because that isn't rest and it won't satisfy any of your needs.

Have you incorporated things into your routine that will contribute to your motivation to write? I don't mean you should put Stephen King quotes as your desktop screensaver or watch videos of people writing to make you want to participate. Those things help some people and that's great, but consuming things that make you think or bring you pleasure like books and well written movies or shows or music or podcasts can be just as impactful as anything else you do for your creative process. It's not just about what you do, it's about how others inspire you, and it's one thing to say you love books and reading and learning, and it's another to actually do them every day like you would wash your face or brush your teeth.

Whether you write as a hobby or an aspiration or a job, the creative process remains the same. It's important to remain consistent with the things you do to maintain your ability to write as much as it is to remain consistent with your actual writing routine. As a general rule of thumb, writer's block doesn't come from nowhere. If you want to alleviate it, you have to target the root of the problem or it will continue appearing on the surface. There is no one-size-fits-all cure to it and there are no "top ten wacky ways I solved years of executive dysfunction with the right chrome extension or tea flavor or candle scent or by typing upside down". This is internal work you will need to do, but it starts with trusting yourself. It is never too late to return to your passion. You will build it back up like a muscle, but you have to heal first.

I sincerely hope this helps,

Kate

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[countessqin]

A flower, little swallow bird and lion

Characters : Jing Yuan × fem!reader (romantically; wife-husband relations), Yanqing × fem!reader (familiar; mother-son relations).

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[Author Notes]

- Firstly, hi everyone, I'm alive, just kind of busy with bunch of things in life and a bit lazy/burned out to write.

- Secondly, I was having this idea for God knows how long, so my apologies if it does not make sence at some point.

- Thirdly, maybe a little OOC, and kind of self-ship? (or how it is properly called?).

Anyway, just some cute idea of birthday celebration/preparation of gifts. We don't have official birthdays for hsr charecters so this is purely my headcanon.

PS. It is a bit connected with another piece that I wrote "A family of three" so, if you are interested, you can read it here (^-^)/♡

Also you can find masterlist with all my hsr writtings here (^▪︎^)/♡

Apologies for typos and mistakes! Thank you for reading!

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Small intro: - Name : [Name] - Age : ??? - Occupation : the advisor of the Luofu region - Status : married - Path : [choose any you like] - Element : [which you like]

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- You were sitting in your study, analyzing documents from Sky-Faring Commission as well as reports from your colleagues-advisors of other 5 Xianzhou ships. Sky-Faring Commision with Madam Yukong as its head was and is the main body which regulates trade within Xianzhou Luofu, between the Luofu and other Xianzhou regions, and between Xianzhou and other ships, planets, alliances, stations and so on. Now, there was a proposition to ally and trade with "Trade Alliance of North" and you, as one of Advisors, will lead the diplomatic mission, so yeah, you had more than a mountain of documents to read and review.

- You were busy reading reports, when you heard door to your study open. Blonde head peaked out of the door.

"Yanqing, dear, come on in,- you said with warm smile, while putting documents aside. Boy smiled and ran to you."

It's been a few years, like what 50? from the day you and your husband, the General Jing Yuan, decided to adopt Yanqing. For outlander 50 years is half of their life, but for a long-lived person as you are, it was like 1-2 years. You still remember day, your husband brought home a small 4 year old boy. Now Yanqing was 6.

Yanqing run to you with a big smile:

"Mommy! It is dad's birthday next week, right?"

"Yes, yes you are",- you answered while hugging boy. He looked at you with serious face,- "Mom, I want to make dad a giant surprise!,- he said while his eyes were beaming with excitement. You looked at him, feeling warmth inside your chest.

- Yanqing, even though he was still young, always respected both you and Jing Yuan, and always spoke with some kind of determination, when he was having some ideas. Like that he will be as good at sword and martial arts as Jing Yuan or as good at calligraphy as you. And these words weren't just something silly, that every child said. Yanqing indeed was trying his best every time and was getting progress quite quickly. Of course when he did lose or make mistakes he was getting sad as every child would, but his childish determination and idea of being strong as Jing Yuan and being able to protect his loved ones someday was strong so he was trying his best.

"Okay Yanqing, what do you want to prepare for dad?"

"I want to give him the best sword in the world!,- boy said,- mom, can we buy dad a new sword from Artisanship Commission? Or even some rare one from another Xianzhou Ship? I can... I can earn money if it will cost too expensive! I... I will sell one of my swords, if there will be need! And if mom will agree one of her, from her collection. But I will buy you another one when I will grew up! Or when I will be as great warrior as dad!,- boy said while taking a bag from his pocket,- here is all my pocket money that i didn't spend and saved, we can use it!"

- You smiled and patted Yanqing's head. Your son was very considerate and so cute. He was ready to sell his favorite sword and spend his money to buy gift for Jing Yuan. You are raising him in right direction. To be kind, and not stingy. To be ready to help close ones.

"Haha, no need Yanqing, Mom has enough money, you can keep yours,- you said while standing up,- let's go to Artisanship Commission and see, what they can recommend. If you won't find good sword for dad, I will ask my friend from another Xianzhou ship about good swords, okay?"

"But what if mommy will spend all dad's and her money?"

"Then let's buy a sword with mom's money, and cake and other things with yours, deal?,- you asked blonde boy. He pounded, thinking and then nodded,- yes mom, let's do it this way! Now let's go while dad is busy, or else he will find out about our surprise and gift!"

- When you arrived to Artisanship Commissiom you met Master Gongshu and explained him what you were looking for. Yanqing's eyes were sparking with joy from the sight of all different swords, bows, spears, but mostly swords.

- After an hours of choosing, boy saw sword that "spoke to him". After asking Master Gongshu about this sword, he said that it was new one and was just finished this morning. A rare metal, was used to carve it's blade, the gold and a fine wood were used for it details and handle. Yanqing asked you and Master Gongshu whether you can buy it or not. Then as if stricked by lightning he asked if there is a possibility to carve something on sword's blade.

"What do you want to write, Yanqing?,- you asked while Master Gongshu was preparing instruments. Blonde boy thought for a moment and said,- can we carve [name of your favorite flower], little swallow bird and Mimi's head? So we would always accompany dad! Even if he won't use it, he will look at it and fell less homesick when he is not at the Luofu"

- You smiled at your son and looked at Master Gongshu. He, in his turn sketched his head in a deep thought. After that, he asked you to wait a few seconds, and he excused himself. Yanqing was worried that he somehow offended Master from Artisanship Commission, but you quickly reassured him that it was not the case.

- Master Gongshu returned with another young man, who introduced himself as Master Ling. He was the person who knew the methods of carving on blades. After telling him Yanqing's idea, he handled you a paper for you to draw sketch of [name of your favorite flower], swallow bird and lion. Yanqing was a bit scared to draw, because he understood that you can erase things on paper, but not on sword. But he wanted to draw it himself. After you proposed your help he agreed, after all you have an amazing skills in both calligraphy and ink art paintings.

- After few minutes [name of your favorite flower], lion and little swallow bird were finished and your son was beaming with excitement to see your art of blade. Master Ling told you that he will need a few days to finish work. (Drawing on blade required being careful, not to break the blade itself and for it to remain useful in future, and for art, quotes etc. to look beautiful).

- The rest of the week was busy for all your family. Meetings of 6 Advisors from all Xianzhou ships, as well as meetings between 6 Generals of Xianzhou ships. Mountains of paperwork for both you and Jing Yuan. Calligraphy lessons with Yanqing, sword and martial art lesson with Yanqing, other lessons that Yanqing had.

As a long lived person you sometimes thought that your life is kind of routine and boring. And you were grateful and thankful to your husband and Aeons that few years ago Jing Yuan brought home Yanqing and you decided to adopt him.

- June 21st. You woke up and carefully not to wake up person next to you, you got up. Jing Yuan was peacefully sleeping, but when he felt that you were missing he in his sleep furrowed his brows. You chuckled and gently kissed his forehead before going to the main hall of your estate.

- You carefully wrapped gift that you just finished yesterday. Then you felt someone tugging your pajama. You looked down and saw Yanqing standing there with drawing in his hand.

"Mom, dad is still sleeping?,- he asked,- should we wake him up?"

- After his words you looked at clock on the wall, it indeed was 10 a.m. Well it is weekend so that's why everyone were at home and you and Jing Yuan weren't hurrying to work.

- After you nodded you took all your presents and went to your shared with Jing Yuan bedroom. Yanqing happily run there and the pocked Jing Yuan's arm. After that, General lazily opened his eyes and looked at person who woke him up. Seeing Yanqing before him, small smile appeared on General's face.

"Happy birthday dad!,- Yanqing said while handing to Jing Yuan drawing of three of you,- this is for you!"

- Jing Yuan smiled and sat on the bed, while taking drawing from Yanqing.

"Thank you Yanqing,- he said while hugging small boy. Then he looked at drawing. There were three of you, standing in your estate garden, happily smiling. Of course it was not "ideal piece" by some famous artist, some lines were crooked, but General liked it with all his heart."

"It's not all presents!,- Yanqing exclaimed,- wait.. where is it?...???. Oh here,- he said taking carefully packed box,- Here dad! This surprise me and Mom bought you!"

- Jing Yuan with surprise looked at boy and then at you. You just smiled and asked him to open the box. Jing Yuan listened to you and soon saw a beautiful sword, with gold accesories. When he unleashed sword a big smile appeared on his face.

"Look dad, it is [name of your favorite flower], a little swallow bird and Mimi. [flower name] stands for mom, swallow bird is me, and Mimi for Mimi! When you will be abroad and miss home you always will have us with you,- Yanqing said while looking at Jing Yuan"

- Jing Yuan sat there surprised and speechless and then he carefully sheathed sword and putted it away. After that, he stood up and hugged both you and Yanqing.

"Thank you, both of you,- the General said.

You patted his back, - Happy birthday honey!

Happy birthday dad!"

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[NOTES]:

- Fun fact, [Name] did not spend her son's money on cake she putted it away then to hide it in one of the closets, so Yanqing would find them, and think that it is another allowance he saved but forgot about. Oh, and Jing Yuan did not know about this sword until his birthday. [Name] paid for it from her own account. Oi and Jing Yuan have this drawing that Yanqing did on his office table at the Seat of Divine Foresight! Even tho Yanqing is now 14, and asks General to put it  away (he is a bit  embarrassed of his childhood drawing) Jing Yuan still keeps it there, because it is very dear to him. And sword with flower, little swallow bird and Mimi is placed at the best place of his collection of weapons. He, in fact did take it with him, when he is not at the Luofu (even though he sometimes did not admit it).

- Why Yanqing is swallow bird (martin)? Because Yanqing's atk, E skill before battle and ult animations have birds in it, so I decided to make it like this.

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