#i work at a digital print store lol

[mosquitinho]

do you actually work at a large smooth whole in the middle of a field I need to know more

yes.... it's just me and my boss trapped in there for 9h per day while clients come in like rain falling down on us. And tjhen when the clients decide to stop falling a helicopter comes to rescue us

[kirby-the-gorb]

[possessedpasm]

Been absolutely obsessed with your vintage inspired designs, i have been staring at them for the past hour just trying to wrap my brain around how you are able to create something SO CONVINCING that im incapable of distinguishing your designs from legitimate works from 70’s indie zines(great work btw) so i have to ask, how do you do it, how long do you spend on an average piece? How the HECK do you make your color halftones identical to news print? I have so many questions!!!

Gee Willikers! Why, Thank you!!

I think the time I invest into submerging myself into the art of that time really helps! I accumulated a library of old print media that I study up and down-- I love it, I love seeing the process in the works, themselves 🥺

So, I tend to take what I learn from that and apply it to the processes that I use to make my art :D I layer the colors separate on different blend modes (which makes it look like printed ink!), shade the canvas like a piece of paper, bleed lines, desaturate and fade colors according to age and wear... And work with the idea that I'm not making digital art per se, but rather working with a digital medium while using traditional techniques!

And I spend about 3-5hrs give or take on single piece! But I've been doing this for abt 2 years now... dang.

This is how I started! ^

And one of my more recent pieces :3 there's a lot more going on, but you can still see similarities

It's super fun when you get into it! Next time you're at an antique store, pick up an old magazine or book. Look through the art and see if you can figure out how they made it (which colors they layered, if they printed it using riso, what tools were used: ink pen, brush, pencil...) I GO NUTS FOR IT IF IT'S NOT PLAIN TO SEE BY NOW LOL

And thanks for askin! :3

[meruz]

📌

hi tumblr my name is meruz im a bg artist who works in animation. i do comic projects and fanart in my free time. my art tag is #meruzart

portfolio / digital store / print store / misc. links (linktr.ee)

📝 FAQ below!

Can I use your art as ______?

8Tracks and Spotify Playlists: Go ahead! please credit me either meruz.tumblr.com twitter@automeruz or ig@automeruz -  AND SEND ME THE PLAYLIST this is not a requirement really but I would love to listen to it.

Social Media Layouts/Icons/Headers: Good by me! but again PLEASE credit me somewhere VISIBLE on the layout. If it’s a twitter or insta header/icon credit my twitter/insta @automeruz and if its tumblr credit my tumblr @meruz​

Phone BGs, Desktop Wallpapers: definitely ok!! Any personal and non-commercial use of this nature, I’m cool with. If you ask me, I may even send you a hi-res version of the file but you have to promise to not scam me and sell it lol…

Instagram Reposts: A lot of artists would say no but I’m gonna say go ahead as long as you credit and tag me in the post, again my ig is @automeruz - if you don’t, and I find it, I will bug you about it in the comments and possibly even report you. Nothing personal, its just standard procedure.

Twitter/Tumblr Re-posts: Don’t?? Just RT or RB it from me?? whats wrong with you? I will report this.

Other site re-posts: I’ll probably say yes but again please credit and for this one PLEASE ask me first. It’s nothing personal really, I just want to know where my work shows up.

Video edits/fancams/comic dubs: Yes! Absolutely go ahead! Credit would be much appreciated but moreover please send me a link I especially love to see this stuff!!

I also reserve all rights to have you take it down if I do not agree with the usage or context, especially association with politics on the webpage/app/etc. 

What do you use to draw?

I have a surface pro 8 at home and I use a 22in cintiq at work. Occasionally… I do personal art at work LOL. I use Photoshop CC almost exclusively except the occasional phone drawing which I’ll do on HeavyPaint or Autodesk Sketchbook (but mostly Heavypaint). What brushes do you use? For painting I use the same horrible brushes I downloaded from deviantart like 14 years ago and I cobbled them together for download here. And for lines ive been using shiyoon kim’s brushes which you can grab here. 

What do you use for plein air paintings? If it’s digital, almost exclusively Heavypaint. Traditional, I use gouache. A mix of Holbein acryla and normal gouache either windsor newton or m. graham.

What kind of sketchbook do you use? I use moleskine cahier XXL sketchbooks! I’ve been using moleskine cahiers for probably over 10 yrs now? they come in packs of 3 for like 30USD (the price went up recently booo but $10 per book is still not bad) for the largest size. I think a lot of people associate moleskine with intimidatingly fancy covers & paper but the cahiers are rly lightweight and flexible. you can bend the xxl into a roll like a newspaper and the covers are a light cardboard so you can draw all over them. I always have trouble with spiral sketchbooks getting fucked up in my backpack because I really throw my stuff around a lot but the binding on the cahiers can take a beating and have never fallen apart on me.

Do you take commissions?

Yes, occasionally. But it changes depending on my workload - please e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com for any inquiries!

Do you have a store?

I have a itch.io here for mostly digital goods.

and I have an INPRNT store here which is print on demand so if there’s anything you’d like to see on there that isn’t just ask and I can generally put it up!

[booburt]

Hi, I've been wondering for the photography AU what general time period it's set in, what type of camera(s) does Koby use (it looks like a canon to me but seems to make polaroids, at least that's the surface level observation I can make from my extremely limited knowledge on cameras), what type of photography he personally enjoys and the type he usually does for work (if he does it as his profession too). What does Koby aim to capture with his images, the casual mundane life of an average person, an unreal, etheral sight in a place the average person can't go, Luffy's luffiness, etc? Also what's the general budget Koby has towards camera equipment (doesn't need to be that exact, just a general "he's broke" or "He spends all his money on lenses" would suffice)? My questions are kinda vague here because I'm going to research more about photography later. Thanks in advance :D Oh yeah and also does Koby travel, if not what's the general landscape of his nearby area. You don't need to answer this since I'll probably make it up but it'd be good to know.

okok i wrote this all in the few free periods i got earlier take what you will ^_^

also a doodle i did ages aaaaago with a bit of slightly illegible info in my awful handwriting (sorry)

actual answer vvv

- its a modern au!! so set like. now!

- koby uses sony cameras primarily but yes he does have a few canons (nikon confuses him)

- he has a seperate polaroid camera!!! he usually prints digitally from sd though

- for type of photography, he started with a passion for ocean and landscape photography, mostly beaches and any scene with water in focus. he also has an interest in portraiture but his love for portraiture only comes to play when he meets luffy. cheese cheese cheeeesyyyy because luffy smiles and hes IMMEDIATELY enamoured. anyway, he starts to study and practice portraiture in depth because of the pretty boy he met in maths class and eventually works up the courage to ask him to model for him. they get super close and eventually start dating; luffy likes how dedicated koby is to his work and how cute he is when he blushes.

-SORDY got carried away with the sappy lovey stuff. koby sells his landscape/wildlife photography at local stores as a side hustle thing haha. but he doesnt really do it professionally, he much prefers to keep it as a hobby / simple income.

- koby aims to capture the beauty of colour! he loves vibrancy when shooting with a softbox or some other source of light he will usually use something to change the hue rather than plain old bw on a simple white bg

- following on he HATES shooting black and white photos unless theyre negatives because idk i think he would think it looks cool. what a guy

- with luffy photography he just likes catching luffys smile or just luffy in general; whipped dud!!! he thinks he is gorgeous

- ahahhhh budget budgettt. lenses are fucking EXPENSIVE!!! he uses a 50mm that helmeppo got him for his birthday one year (rich kid stuff. he knew koby likes photography and searched Best Lense For People Pictures and bought the first one he saw) the 50 is canon as consequence so koby uses canon for loofy pics. he has an 18-55mm he uses as well.

- he is broke yes. koby does have a minimum wage weekend job to pay for living expenses but all in all that boys pockets are empty. luffy is the breadwinner (miss rabbit with the one zillion jobs) he works about 4 different jobs and is happy to pay for anything koby wants despite kobys adamant NOs. like i said he gets helmeppo to pay for a bunch of stuff and helmeppo pays on his dads card LOL.

- koby does travel! mainly by train or boat, not often does he go to an entirely different country but he has previously a few times. when he does go abroad he takes luffy with him!!!! (he looks pretty in the snow. he likes taking pictures of him in snow)

IM SO GLAD SOMEONE LIKES MY AU ENOUGH TO ASK ME THIS MANY QUESTIONS LMAO i had fun answering all of this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cordspaghetti]

do you prefer doing digital art or traditional art? what do you like about them? i love your art a lot its so awesome!!! i hope you have a good day :3

Aw thank you!! that’s such a hard question, I really love both… i do digital way more often because of the convenience but I think at the end of the day I prefer traditional! it’s challenging and rewarding. i love pushing paint around and building physical objects, and a lot of the time when i do digital art i am looking to replicate the qualities of a physical medium in some way, like graphite, ink, oils, or analogue print. collage… with digital i really love how flexible and low-pressure it is. you can kind of think of any type of art and start making it without any preparation once you have your chosen hardware & software, which is pretty cool. and you don’t have to worry about finding physical space to store your work LOL. but yeah traditional art. it’s gooey

[jean-wei]

This autumn is Heat's 5th birthday! I don't really know if many of you guys here have read it (I was fairly inactive here, when the comic came out, way back in 2018. And I was very bad at self-promotion lol) I made this little commemorative faux-polaroid print to celebrate!

Originally published by Peow, I'm now self-publishing a new digital PDF edition of Heat. Both comic & print are in my web shop. The new edition has some additional materials that I've pulled together, including early concepts, random illustrations, and a very cheesy essay on how the comic was made (alongside some process images! thumbnails, pencils, etc.) Heat was my first big comic project. Bit of a trial by fire. I was so green when I made it!

It's been a bit weird, thinking back on Heat. I'm the type to make a thing, put it out, and not really think about it much afterwards. Even in drawing this little print, I was like. Who even are these characters in 5 years? It was strange to age Katy up a little. A bit like drawing fanart of your own work, it doesn't feel like canon.

Anyhow, rambling. I hope you'll give Heat a read, if you haven't before! It's sliding scale, but if you'd like a free PDF, just drop me an email at my store email (weiweiwaywei@gmail.com) and I'll send one along when I can.

[didyoulookforme]

So for postman!Matty I think there is something to explore regarding the time they spend apart (working as a postman and/or tour) and how those reunions go, the type of tension that builds up and needs to be released etc.

yesssssss there’s absolutely a lot of tension and frustration that builds while he’s away :(

in this au, the 1975 is a way smaller band so the boys just tour in a van from city to city, playing to crowds of about 100-300 people at a time. this means that she cannot just join them for tour, unfortunately, as there’s usually limited space. but there are times when she’ll tag for a few cities and help them sell their merch because she is a music nerd and actually loves the material they make. she won’t admit it out loud to him, but she does listen to his stuff in her own time. always a sucker for a musician boyfriend. especially a hot, sexy, slutty one who worships her.

anyway, because she cannot go along with them, there’s definitely lots of sexual frustration pent up, especially for poor matty who cannot get off as much as he’d like to due to not being alone much lol. they will definitely have phone sex if there’s enough time and she also sends him photos as she’s actually a pretty skilled photographer (she comes from a design / art background). she will take rather beautiful images of her naked, or touching and pleasing herself, which just send matty off a cliff every single time because she’s the most perfect girl in his eyes. he definitely has them stored in his phone so he can look at her and not feel too distant. plus have some wank material. there’s also been times when she takes photos of him and them together, so those are the ones she looks at while he’s away. this is no secret as there’s definitely occasions when george or ross go to use matty’s phone and accidentally see the photos because dear mr. postman is not the smartest with digital technology and forgets to swipe away before he turns off the screen. roomie hann doesn’t even blink an eye at it anymore as he’s seen the prints which matty has next to his bed.

but yes, when he finally gets back, he doesn’t even go to his own apartment first because there’s no possible way he can wait another second without having her as he pretty much has a boner the whole day in anticipation. he doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he wants and needs girlie asap. thus, lots of the times it ends up with them on the couch as the bed is just too far away. he could literally cum from just watching and feeling her tits again (thank god) because he loves them so much. matty also spends a WHILE going down on her because tasting her again after several weeks makes him get impossibly turned on that it’s no surprise he’s cum in his pants before. but he doesn’t give a fuck and she finds it incredibly hot that he can just let go and truly be himself around her.

they fuck like bunnies in spring for that whole day as if to make up for lost time. it not a gentle affair, either. it’s sweaty, fast, and messy because we know he has a spit kink. the amount of time he can spend looking at his spit drip down her tits is unreal. one of his favourite sights in this world.

there’s definitely a lot of bruises and red marks left on both of them, and she sometimes cannot help but take photos of his scratched chest, shoulders or inner thighs (and cum on his stomach) once done to add to her collection. and let’s be real, he’s an exhibitionist so he feeds off the attention and knowing that you like him enough to photograph.

needless to say, once he’s back, they spend multiple days together at a time as they’re both so incredibly down and horny for each other that it is sickly sweet <3

[all-hallows-street]

Guess whose financial mistake arrived early...

I will give more in depth looks later (I have to work to afford such questionable purchases), but a quick individual review of what I got:

Neil Demon Plushy

Not a plush toys collector at all; my closest reference is the IKEA shark. He is heavier than he looks, very sturdy (?) if that makes sense. Doesn't seem like he will deform any time soon. The details are adorable and I don't see any glaring defects.

All Saints Street Hoodie

Surprisingly large for me. I was worried they only had one size made for the Chinese market. I'm 1.7m (5 foot 7) tall for reference and this is still a bit too big for me. Will likely get too small for anyone over 6 feet tall. The quality is good! Very soft. Velvet interior. I don't know much about shirt stamping, but since it's not in the fabric I'm guessing the stamp might start to crack after multiple washes.

All Saints Street Vol. 1-3 Collection

Now this is something I can talk about more. The sleeve was unfortunately damaged in shipping and the books have very minor damage in the spine and vol 2 has a minor case of dog ears. The quality of the paper is great! It is color paper, not glossy one you see in comic book issues, but it's thicker than the black and white you see in manga. Would still make sure to have a dehumidifier if your storing place is not dry. I've already experienced book wrapping and it's painful.

Each volume contains around 80 chapters with one extra chapter not on bilibili. They also contain a message from Lingzi and WSJ's editor, plus all character bios even for ones we never got one (Enrique, Eduardo ans Anthony). And if a Weibo post is correct some might have been updated from the ones online (Axel grew 1 cm in the book bio).

Of course later I'll look over everything to see if there are any significan changes to make a note of. Also it came with this lol.

I have the Alice in Wonderland art somewhere, I'll post it later as well.

All Saints Street Anniversary Playing Cards

The playing card decks from the 6th and the 7th anniversary. As you can see I haven't opened the 7th, but I got the 6th a while ago on AliExpress so I expect them to be similar.

This is something else I can review more in depth, coming from a family that loves playing poker. The quality of the prints is beautiful, however I keep them in the box all the time because the quality of the cards itself is not good!

The cards feel like store bought cardboard; good playing cards are made out of cardboard, but this deck doesn't have the same treatment. They are so fragile, even by just handling them to get the face cards I've already made slight damage to the edges. I wouldn't play any game with them, much less shuffle them. I don't even want to imagine how much they will bend. Also the Crystal card came with damage (the small white spot on the edge) from the store. Pain.

Anyways. I'll frame the face cards because they are so pretty and I want to keep them in the best condition... I don't know what I will do with the rest of the 36 cards. Maybe practice magic tricks? Lol. Before all this I've been working on how to scan all the face cards and post them, but it's been more difficult than expected. If you have ever tried to digitize prints you will know. Once I have them, I'll post them alongside high quality scans.

When it comes to my review of PandaBuy... On one hand it was an excellent service and experience. On the other... I don't even want to reveal how much the shipping was. I wouldn't recommend anyone else do it unless you are stupid with your money (like me), even then

I would advice to do your own research. PandaBuy and all agents to buy from China are definitely better when you buy in bulk. My package was 'only' 2kg. Many people buy over 10kg to make it worth it. I'm already committed so if new volumes come out I will buy them, and maybe also get counterfeit Gucci shoes or something since that's what most people use this agents for...

That's all for now. Feel free to reply or send any questions you have.

[mermaidsirennikita]

You mentioned how authors are forced to write differently with trad publishing vs indie , which ones do u mean? I'm curious...

"Forced" probably isn't the right word, but "heavily encouraged" [by the companies signing the checks] is closer.

Here's the thing with traditional publishing right now. You walk into a bookstore or Target or whatever--you may very well find some very high heat books. I've seen Sierra Simone in Target. However, all those titles were originally published independently, and Sierra works with a publisher who essentially strikes a deal where they handle print and get the books into those stores, whereas (from what I can tell) she maintains the digital rights.

Traditional publishing offers some releases that are quite high heat, but like... Tessa Bailey's trad books, for example, aren't touching the upper echelons of indie in terms of heat. Because trad is meant to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, and tbh, trad has been swinging safer in a lot of ways.

Ali Hazelwood's books are praised for being high heat--The Love Hypothesis only has one full sex scene, though it's long. If you've read Ali's fanfiction (... which I have) she writes way dirtier than that. She mentioned on a podcast that when they were shopping TLH, she was encouraged by her agent to trim the sex down to make her MS more appealing to publishers. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

With historical romance, I think there's a little more tension, because trad is very confused about who they're marketing historicals to. Like, some of them still seem to be pointed towards conservative white ladies imo--women who want a very sort of... straight, missionary, wait until the wedding night type of historical. Whereas I think they should be making more of an appeal to a younger gen. Some of them seem to be basically giving up on that, though. But I digress.

ANYWAY.

Authors I can think of right now--Minerva Spencer writes indie historical romance under the pen name S.M. LaViolette. Some of the LaViolette books are straight up erotic historical romance so obviously they're higher heart than her trad books. But even those that aren't are much higher heat than her traditional books. Like Hyacinth for example--not an erotic historical imo, but it has waaaay more sex scenes, and more creativity (hero coming untouched during a whipping scene, butt stuff which you HARDLY EVER see in trad historicals).

Joanna Shupe has published trad and indie HR. I consider her books on the higher heat end of trad historicals. However, if you read her indie novellas, they are higher heat, they're kinkier--all that. Lol never mind her mafia romances which are a very different game. In indie, Joanna did a BIG age gap romance, a virgin auction romance, a scene where the hero licked up his come and the heroine's ~virgin's blood~ after he deflowers her... you're not gonna see that in trad lol.

Eva Leigh also writes on the higher end of the heat scale in trad, but her indie historicals are different--and it isn't just the explicitness or quantity. As with Joanna, it's the kink, too. The creativity. She wrote MFM, age play, etc. You can just go a lot further.

And I mean? I would also say that you can see a big difference in authors that aren't hybrid. Grace Callaway has tons of sex scenes in her historicals, and they're long and creative and she DOES in fact include butt stuff in the books! Nicola Davidson does really fun poly historicals. When Sierra Simone wrote historicals, there was obviously group sex, kinky stuff, etc.

You just see a really big chasm, bigger than I'd say you see with other subgenres, between trad HR and indie HR. And I can only assume that it's because of an industry pressure. With indie, you can do whatever you want. With trad, there's a standard to conform to because before you sell to readers, you're selling to a publisher.

[freyalir-posting]

Crossposting from Twitter~

At SDCC I bought a cel of Rock Holmes from Metropolis. I saw this film when I was about 8, and it's what truly sparked my lifelong passion for art and Tezuka manga. It's amazing being able to own part of a film that's made such a huge impact on my life. I included a screenshot of the sequence it's from above. It's not my exact cel, but you can see the overall scene it contributes to.

I'm going to print a background for it eventually, but for now I'm glad it's preserved safely in a frame. In an age where many animes are colored digitally, painted cels like this are only going to become more rare. Older cels especially will degrade over time if not properly stored...

The Read More below is me rambling on about the the film and Tezuka in general, so click that at your own peril...

I really loved rewatching it with my friend recently too. And then a couple days after that I also made my husband watch it lol. It's great being able to share something that impacted you so much with people you're close to. The film is still as beautiful as I remember it. In addition to art, this film also sparked my fascination with stories of sentient robots/creatures, themes surrounding liminal existence, and what it means to be human (or more accurately personhood). This would thus lead to my love for media like MMX, Kikaider, Devilman, etc.

By chance at SDCC, my friend also found out someone he knew was selling an english edition of the Metropolis manga. It's been out of print for over a decade and is a collector's item at this point, so I went ahead and bought it. Now I own the book the film is based on too...

I also learned recently some of Tezuka's english-translated mangas are actually being published again, including some that never had official english releases before. We were at Barnes & Noble just browsing manga for fun when I spotted Apollo's Song, then several other works. In particular, I'm hoping Black Jack will be getting a special rerelease. While Metropolis was the very first Tezuka film I ever watched, Black Jack was the very first Tezuka manga I ever read. Regardless, I now have a growing collection of Tezuka manga in physical form. For Black Jack, ideally I want to own the volumes with chapters related to Kei Kisaragi and Rock (particularly Nadare for the latter). But on ebay those out-of-print volumes sell anywhere from 80$-130$... One day...

Anyway I've rambled a lot now lol. The last thing I'll say is this big Tezuka binge I've been on has helped keep me motivated while I relearn some foundational art skills. I'm happy I get to share it with some of my closest friends too. Soon, I will become even more powerful...

[allhandsondeck1]

ATTENTION ALL NON KPOP LISTENERS THAT HAVE A KPOP STAN IN YOUR LIFE!!!!! (This is a ramble)

Do you have a friend, partner, sibling, etc. that loves kpop? Is their birthday soon? Do you want to give them a bouquet, but don't know what flower to give them? I HAVE THE PERFECT THING FOR YOU! A BIAS BOUQUET!!!

Okay so along with my sister's birthday being.. literally rn (it's 1 am for me at the time of posting this), it's also right before valentines day! She's my best friend, and my sister, and she deserves a bouquet. She is obsessed with kpop. Like, can hear the first few seconds of a song and name the group, song, album, and who is singing at each moment(she scares me). She has like, a million favorite groups, so I had made a list and broooo.. I didn't even use half of the list, and the list was at least 20 or more members.. AND IT WASNT EVEN ALL OF THEM

So you can tell what my motive for this was, yeah? It's actually hella easy! I didn't take progress shots, because I got school later and didn't have the time to stop and take pictures, but here's what you need!

An editing or art app

Paper/Cardstock

lamination sheets

Wooden skewers

A foam cone

Tape

Tissue paper

Pipe cleaners (optional)

Sticky notes (optional)

Soo to start I went to pinterest and downloaded a few photos of my sister's favorite idols. You don't have to do all of them, you can do one group or just a bunch of photos of their favorite person! Whatever you want. I used the app IBISPAINTX to put them all together in different sizes, so it was easier to print and cut out and they can vary in sizes. Use whatever app or website you think works!

I basically just put them in collages like this.

I emailed them to myself and then printed them out on cardstock paper, just so they were stiffer and would last longer, but if you don't want to/don't have that, regular printer paper will work!

Jm using a digital version, just to show it(also in courtesy of the girl bc its my sister's favorite and I forgot to print her out 😭) but after they are printed, cut your idols out, just the perimeter around it!

Then, this is also optional, but I used lamination sheets over the pictures! Try and fit as many of your idols on the sheets just to save, but be careful, because you want to make sure when you cut them out, they have a small gap on the lamination, just so the lamination doesn't peel off. The lamination will just make the pictures last longer, so your person can keep them after! *the gray represents the lamination!*

Now, I bought a foam cone fromWalmart, but yoh can probably grt it at micheals or any craft store! Mine was a little small, I don't have exact dimensions cause I just guessed, but I think eying it and guessing too will do just fine! I also got some skewers, which can be found anywhere, I just found them in a drawer lol. Next thing is tape!

Youre going to take your idols and your skewers, just tape the back onto the skewer before you stick it into the foam. Now, this part is optional too, but I used some purple pipe cleaners to wrap around the skewers! I just measured the part that was stuck into the foam, then I taped the idol on after I pulled it out,and then I wrapped the pipe cleaners above the line and to the bottom of the picture, and stuck it back in

Another optional thing is to make paper hearts! I found a tutorial on YouTube to make inflatable ones! I used the skewers to poke through the top and then layer purple and pink ones. I made seven so it could start on one color and end in the same color! I made three of these pattern heart things, but you can make as many as you want! (This works well if it's for a romantic partner or for valentines day!)

Finally I just used purple and pink tissue paper to hide the cone, and taped it together to keep it in place! Here's the final product in horrible lighting

I can only name like, 5 people on this bouquet, and then the girl on my demonstration but idk how to spell her name lol

Anyways! There's a good, decently cheap present for your local kpop lover!

[isabellehemlock]

15 Questions & 15 Tags

Thank you @boutiquetraveltravelboutique for tagging me on this one!  I was telling @nalyra-dreaming how I had seen her reply to these and I was like, “OHHH I want to do it” and then planned on it doing once I was back full time and then here I was getting tagged for it while I was away - how lucky am I <3

So here we go!

Are you named after anyone?  Sort of.  Basically, Katharina is a fairly common German name version of Katherine, and my mom does have a Tante Katharina who is turning 90 this year!  But I think it was more “I like the name” vs. being named after them.  However, both my middle names are for my paternal and maternal grandmothers.

When was the last time you cried?  What kind?  I definitely have no problem sharing the “my joy overfloweth” kind of crying at any time - literally got an emote of my bday face from like two years ago being all happy crying at digital gifts and well wishes lol - but the sad, or anxiety kind?  Nah.  I’ll dip before anyone gets to see that.  Let’s blame my Scorpio vibes and not the c-ptsd. 

Do you have kids?  I do!  I have (in my belief system) one child in Heaven from a pregnancy loss and two AMAB kiddos I refer to as my rainbow babies.  I consider them precious gifts that I hope I never take for granted <3   

Do you use sarcasm a lot?  In person, I can easily dip into a Vince Vaughn kind of sarcasm lol (you can even get glimpses via VC chats haha), but online??  My brain reads very literally, I’ll blame the ND codedness, so I use tone indicators and sometimes do ask for them - and happy to provide them if asked, too.  

What's the first thing you notice about people?  Oh!  That’s an interesting question - hm, if given the opportunity (say, a large gathering) I tend to observe how they treat others, especially people who cannot do anything for them - are they kind to the staff?  To the retail worker?  Do they put the cart back?  Do they roll their eyes at someone herp derping and having a (harmless) good time?  Do they snicker and sneer?  Do they speak to people in a kind way? 

When meeting someone directly for the first time, I try to observe what their comfort level is when it comes to personal space and eye contact - everyone is different - so still observing, approaching slowly, smiling, just doing what I can to help create a comfortable safe space before introducing myself with name, and pronouns and (though certainly not implying pressure that they have to share theirs), allowing them to know I’m a safe space if they’d like to share :)  

You can really tell my human services/mediation training is shining through lol  

What's your eye colour?  Blue and green with gold colored central heterochromia 

Scary movies or happy endings?  Both, but if I have to pick one, scary movies!

Any special talents?  Tbf some of it this might have more to do with practice vs talent lol, but essentially, all the art things - writing, drawing, singing, some dancing, etc.  Because of chronic lung disease the last two are obviously impaired, but at my peak health days of my youth I competed in nationals for show choir and was a lyrical soprano - I can still hit the notes on good breathing days :) 

Where were you born?  Fulda, Germany 

What are your hobbies?  Most recently consistent?  Fandom works: writing, digital art, doing fandom events.  I’ve also enjoyed various crafts (mostly paper media, but some mixed media as well).  I’ve gotten compliments on my digital prints via my old etsy store, and made Saint peg dolls, and mini Saint altar shrines - I still make the occasional ones for parishioners as requested.  But yeah, most of my hobbies are digital <3 

Do you have any pets?  Too sensitive to pet dander, ammonia, and all related pet things lol - however my mom and brother have animals upstairs in their apartment (two dogs, and three cats), and my kiddos have two guinea pigs (and I haven’t been able to be in their room for more than five minutes at a time since) lol

What sports do you play/have you played?  I was the sick kid in school lol.  I did have a couple stable years in my mid teens, so I did show choir which involved dancing and singing show tunes haha

How tall are you?  Five feet and five and a HALF inches - the half is very important also Marilyn Monroe was the same height, and as a fellow curvy gal I’m like yesssss

Favourite subject in school? English and History :)

Dream job?  Kindergarten teacher, or an art teacher - but especially anything related to children’s services - I went to school for it and am grateful to have had opportunities to work with children in the past <3

1516 people (though no pressure of course) . . . 

@energievie @timidkoala @cosima-nova @actualmermaid @thirdspin @wrenaspun @werebearbearbar @yourlazyturtle @you-came-back @sunray-sunray @dominicknight @prouvaireafterdark @angelicmousegirl @nicolos @nicelytousled @ongreenergrasses

[erigold13261]

How would Miles' powers for the NSpidRAU work though? Does he drain colors from one spot, then give it to another?

I was thinking he could just make literal paint out of nothing as long as he has energy, kinda like how Yinu can make musical notes out of thin air.

I do like the idea that Mile's powers are kinda like this special pen I saw a while ago (I don't know if it was actually real), but you could place it on a color and it would copy that color exactly and then you could draw. Pretty sure it was a digital pen but now that I say it out loud I think I got pranked by an edited video lol.

But I do like that idea that Miles needs to touch a specific color in order to use it, or at least be near a color (so if he's by a red wall he can use red, or if he's around grass he can use green). I don't think his powers would need to drain colors, but it could be something similar where he needs to hold onto a color and store it so he can use it but it doesn't literally drain the color of whatever he is "draining."

I feel like a lot of people would see his powers and initially think they are illusion powers (especially with Eve's popularity). However, Miles' powers are real and physically alter the world without being illusions. Eve can change the color of something but it will go back to normal when her powers are not longer active. Miles can change the color and it will stay like that forever.

Eve and Pav can change the way reality looks without having to put effort into making it look real because all they have to do is warp it. Miles on the other hand, if he wanted to do something like that, he would have to just be an insanely good artist, otherwise if he tries to use his powers it is just his style of artwork (I like to think of this like those Looney Tunes skits where Wile E Coyote would paint a fake tunnel and Roadrunner would run through it but Coyote would hit the wall. Eve's illusions could literally make that tunnel appear, Pav's would make it look extremely realistic but you might hit a wall if he isn't putting all his effort into it, Miles' would absolutely be a wall just painted really well/realistically).

There's probably some other stuff you can do with Miles' powers. Like he would never need a pencil or pen, just like a stick or even his fingers to write on a piece of paper. He could make different forms of paint and colors, from spray paint to gauche to oils. He probably has some light based powers that connect with his colors and electricity, meaning he could make light out of nothing and then change the color of that light or something.

If you saw my artwork for Neon J's parents, I kinda think Miles' powers would be like. Neon's father can make balls of light in his palm while his wife (Neon's mother) can make pictures of light in the air. Miles has powers similar to this but they are more based in just like standard colors than light based colors. I know that doesn't make sense but to me it does. It's like the difference between RGB and CMYK. One is for print and one is for screens. Neon's family with the light powers they possess would be better off with screens for their art/powers while Miles is better off in person with his art/powers.

I don't know if my rambling made sense, but this is how I would see Miles' powers working. Also like to think, depending on the form that he is placing colors (which doesn't have to be in paint form, it can just be in pure color) then water could be a real enemy for his color powers but that would also be a boost for his electricity powers.

[vvatchword]

Let me tell you a dream of mine: to buy old books and digitize them. Old, out-of-print, rare books. Not necessarily popular or desirable ones, either. A lot of my collection is extremely niche and I doubt they exist online (although I'm going to check).

I was first inspired by the difficult matter of preserving all my old journals. I've been keeping a journal since I was 11, and some of them were kept on shitty old notebook paper that is now falling apart. But then I was inspired by the realization that piracy is a method of data preservation. Corporations have no love or care for records and cannot be trusted. The more redundantly data is stored, the more likely it will survive into the future, and the more likely that the truth of matters great and small can be known.

So: you should know I have a love of history. My job directly involves the preservation of data for a general overview of a very specific topic. And one thing you must always understand about any historic document ever is that people are flawed. They lie. They stretch the truth. They speak to their own ignorance. They are blind to their own biases. They're prejudiced, or they care too much about their own causes, or they have axes to grind. They get involved in long games of Telephone where data can be altered--sometimes dramatically!--and then those mistakes are repeated over and over and over until they become an accepted truth. It is not at all uncommon for works of fiction, like films and books, to become wrapped up in fact!

And it is in no small part that readers also dictate what kinds of information is preserved; history is not only written by the victors, but demanded to fit narratives and instruct morals. Senselessness is feared; the alien, despised. That which is recorded is usually what is considered entertaining or beautiful and god knows what standards those may be. Alas--to understand the truth, we must have as many disparate viewpoints as possible! A situation must be examined from every angle to be best understood.

A great example of this is the infamous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech by Sojourner Truth. Truth's first language was Dutch and she spoke with a Dutch accent, but her speech was flanderized by a writer who wanted her to sound like a stereotypical Southern Black woman. And yet what has survived? What is desirable? People say they want truth when what they really want is entertainment, engaging characters and plots, and peace of mind.

I was also inspired by my research into Native American history. Every piece about any Native society that is written by a European must be viewed with intense scrutiny. It is not uncommon for Native words to be rewritten, omitted, or handwaved. This is not to say that Native voices could not also lie--they, too, are people--but they also intimately knew their own business and were frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted through a combination of racism, entertainment, European and Christian bias, and drastic differences in language, culture, and ideology.

Yet another roadblock has to do with how that data is stored, who is storing it, and how it can be accessed. As y'all know, Napciyunka has been helping me with research into primary documents and the more trustworthy historical texts, as well as a more accurate view into Lakota culture as it actually exists and existed. Now--guess what happens to all that material! It is truly criminal how documentation and artifacts have been robbed with impunity from Native cultures, and part of the problem is that such material might not be immediately available or digitized.

While I may not have access to prime materials in South Dakota, I have access to at least two different large universities and their document collections here, and they often keep oddball material. Who knows what's in there? I haven't searched them yet because I should be working (lol), but in a couple of weeks I'm about to find out how many of their works are digitized. If they are not...

I have a goal.

So there is a company I've kept my eye on since I first saw them on Kickstarter. They're called CZUR (an unfortunate name, really) and they put out document scanners prepared just for bound documents. One of these models is portable. (Granted, anything is portable if you're determined enough.) I deeply desire their ET24Pro, which scans at 24 megapixels: https://shop.czur.com/collections/professional-series/products/etscanner?variant=40313243762736

Could I just... offer my services to these universities? Partially for my own desires, and partially to make these documents available to all?

My parents sometimes offer me cash or a single expensive gift for holidays. What if I just... you know. Got one of these? They're not too far out of my price range. If I just saved $50 per paycheck I could get there pretty fast. Maybe I could donate to Napciyunka while I'm at it (that poor college student life amirite). Depends on what can be done and what is needed.

In any case, it feels great to have forward motivation, and i feel like I've found a special and unexpected passion. Before I got this job, I often felt unmoored and unfocused. I thought a writer was all I was. But working at this job and crafting historical fanfiction (lol) has given me a brand new driving force that deeply moves me.

When I was a child, I would feel such deep rage about the Library of Alexandria. Now I look at myself and think: good god, why can't I add to the swelling library of human knowledge myself?

[bonesandthebees]

hi! :) out of curiosity - do you own physical copies of the fics you have written? or do you just store them digitally?

no I don't own any physical copies though I would like to! I'm just a little too lazy to format all of that myself lol, but I'd love to have physical printed versions of my work. I might get around to it eventually. but until then all of my fics are just stored in my google drive