#like 10 posts to 1 regular one or something

[lieutenantselnia]

I'm currently unsure whether I should be happy or stressed about the fact that there are only like 5 more weeks until the end of the semester - on one hand the summer holidays can't arrive fast enough so I can rest and have free time again but on the other hand there's still so much to finish within that time frame and ugh I'm just tired😵‍💫

At least today (or more like yesterday by the time I post this) I had a fun day, I went to a wildlife park with friends (a trip we've had planned since a couple weeks already), I'm sure I haven't been to the place in like a decade but it was really fun! I didn't think to take a lot of pictures of the animals, but here's a plush trout I got at the souvenir shop🐟

[h1biscusgal]

The hypnagogic state : how to reach it.

The hypnagogic state is a state where we naturally go into before sleeping, a sweet spot moment before sleeping and still being awake, a state where it is so powerful to be able to shift, get in the void, or basically do anything.

Now it requires NOTHING, it only requires one small thing that might sound tricky.

Staying awake long enough for it to come by on it's own, and actually on average it takes 10-5 mins from each person to enter it aware.

The steps:

Lay flat on your back (not needed, but many results come from laying on the back)

Do. Not. Care, just go with what you usually do to fall asleep, but one thing? You're not falling asleep, you're watching your body fall asleep, that sweet spot where your body is about to fall asleep? That's hypnagogia

Actually don't move, it may give your mind signs you're still not sleeping, now just lay there and try not to sleep while focusing on the blackness behind your eyelids.

You will start seeing flashing images or swirly things or even just flashing lights and imagery, this is the hypnagogia and you managed to reach it in just 10 mins of pretending to be asleep (acc it takes me 4)

Bam, that's the sweet spot, now affirm slowly for the void, or just sense your surroundings for shifting or maybe you can try your shifting method here! This state cannot argue back, you'll be immediately shifting in no time, and slipping in the void is so easy from it.

So really the whole steps is just "lay down, don't move, watch your eyelids, color seen? Hypnagogia reached, method or void procedure done, bam."

I managed to find a post on Reddit on how to keep your body awake, you can try 2 or 3 of them to keep yourself entertained, FULL CREDITS TO THE ONE WHO POSTED IT ON REDDIT (calaie_iscoolio):

"1. Looking in the darkness behind your eyelids

Basically what it says, when you close your eyes, just focus on the darkness until hypnagogic imagery begins to happen i.e. colors, shapes, literally anything that will show. When images begin to show up, do not interact or acknowledge what you are seeing, you can look at it, but don't try to control it and just let the images flow until you feel that the state is induced enough to where it won't disappear because you are "too" awake/aware.

2. "Forearm Up" Method

Another technique that basically helps with people who tend to fall asleep to quickly, basically lay down on your back like usual, lift your hand up in the air where your elbow is resting on your mattress, keep it there and as it slowly falls down that's where you'll begin to fall asleep, it'll drop and basically awake you back up.

I had also seen a shifter mention that they prefer to lay on their stomach and lifting their foot up in the air and basically do the same thing. This technique basically just wakes you back up.

3. Thomas Edison Method

Very similar to the "Forearm Up" Method, basically what Edison had done was he had held a steel ball in his hand, and when he began to fall asleep, the ball will drop and alert Edison awake, another technique to help with people to struggle to stay awake.

4. Imagine Constant Motion

Basically imagining something whether that be an animal or an object constantly moving like a horse galloping, a dogs tail wagging side to side, etc. (Pretty simple, for people who find it much easier to visualize).

5. Tire your body through out the day

During the day, you could do any tasks that would just tire your body out that leads up to your attempt to induce the state, it'll make it much easier for you to get into the state and induce it since your body is already tired enough to relax.

6. Repeating "hypnagogia"

This will mean you have you just repeat the words "hypnagogia" to yourself till you get tired enough and then hypnagogic imagery will eventually appear.

7. Counting

Basically just like regular shifting methods, you could focus on counting up to how much you want to until you begin to get the hypnagogic hallucinations, to keep yourself from falling asleep you could give yourself simple math questions just so it's enough to focus to answer it.

8. Imagining Randomness

Imagine literally anything that isn't related at all, i.e. horse, roof, apple, pen, desk, etc. Visualize and filter through random objects or animals that have no correlation and that will induce the hypnagogic imagery, randomness is key.

9. Focus on breathing

Similar to any shifting method, basically focusing on your breaths is another technique to induce the state. Literally just anything to keep your awareness occupied rather than letting your mind just shut down to go to sleep.

10. Sounds

Listening to anything in your environment, whether that be things happening outside, if it's raining listen to the rain, or if you've got headphones on listen to the music and focus that, keep your focus on the music so you don't fall asleep.

11. "Playing" a song in your head

Not necessarily listening to the song, but imagining the song playing in your head, whether that be your favorite song, if you know how it sounds like, imagine it playing and once you've entered the state, it will naturally play and you'll end up actually hearing the song.

12. Heartbeat

Basically just focus on your heartbeat. Listen to the amount of beats.

These are all the various of techniques you could use, you don't have to stick to one and can basicaally try them out, see which one you feel like works for you and go from there. A tip is also you could pick like 4 or 5 out of these 12 and just filter through the techniques if you can't just stick to one since you get uninterested quickly. (I get bored easily, do I normally do 8, 9, 7 and 4 just so I don't lose interest.)"

Good luck y'all!

[dotcie]

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats  🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?  🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis 🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?  🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis 🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?  🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before 🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?  🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings 🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? 🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now 📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?  🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character 🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? 🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? 🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh  🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? 🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate 🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? 🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately  🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?  🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing 🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? 🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them 🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them 🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

[urlocal-limitesshbic]

*.˗ˏˋ Use DEILD to enter the void in secondsˎ˗.*

~featuring a lucid dreamer’s unintended success story I found on YouTube~

Incoming Topics..

*PART 1 <RECAP: What is Deild? >*

*PART 2 < The success story >*

*PART 3 < How to use DEILD for the Void >*

*PART I < What is the DEILD method? > *

If you haven’t read my original post on DEILD I have linked it down below towards the end of this one. I recommend checking it out for an in depth tutorial on the method, but I’ll give a quick explanation here as well-

To put it simply, it is a technique that is traditionally used to get fast and easy lucid dreams. Upon waking you lie still and keep your eyes closed, tricking your body into thinking that you never woke up and then within seconds the dream reforms except now you’re aware in it! You can also create a new dream or you might enter a false awakening which becomes a lucid dream. This method works SO QUICKLY it’s seriously like a LD method shortcut!

I’ve heard of lucid dreamers talking about the void before but after watching a YouTubers video about a lucid dream he had, I realized he actually used the DEILD technique to go straight to the void in SECONDS, unintentionally! Which is something I hadn’t thought about doing before-merging the lucid dream technique WITH 👏🏼 THE VOID 👏🏼 TECHNIQUES!! 👏🏼 So for those of you attempting to enter the void state from a lucid dream, this can be used as a SHORTCUT on top of a SHORTCUT! 🙌🏼 Yes ma’ammmm y’all seriously need to come try this one out because when I say SECONDS I’m talking secondsss-no more waiting 20 minutes for your left brain to turn off, no more long breath work exercises or reality checks or hours of lying still, affirming, no more battling with creating portals-the void can be EFFORTLESS and induced in under a minute.

*PART 2 < The lucid dreamer’s success story> *

There’s this lucid dreamer on YouTube called TIGER123 who posts about lucid dreaming techniques and his own lucid dream experiences- he actually has a video tutorial on DEILD as well (which is linked in my OG DEILD post)

So, I was at work looking for something to watch and saw he posted a new video about a lucid dream he had recently. Well, I can tell you wasn’t expecting him to literally open the video by talking about how he woke up from a regular dream, realized it was the perfect opportunity to perform DEILD and get lucid, and then. AS HE’S PERFORMING DEILD. He enters the void! Just like that. While he was in the void he visualized the dream scene he wanted to be in and he said he was there within 10 seconds. Aka he instantly manifested entering the exact lucid dream he wanted to be in, from the void state.

This is someone who doesn’t believe in shifting or astral projection, wasn’t trying to enter the void, thinks the void is just an unformed lucid dream space that can be used to form a new lucid dream, doesn’t know you can manifest from that state and yet STILL got in and STILL manifested. Since he viewed the void as a place he can form a new lucid dream thats what he did. He still manifested instantly, he just MANIFESTED going from the VS to being in a lucid dream. This should just go to show you guys how REAL the void state is, because someone who doesn’t even know about it and wasn’t trying to get in STILL did it. (SO CAN YOU btw)

The void isn’t a concept created on tumblr. Lucid dreamers have experienced it for years, meditators experience it, yogis, followers of Neville Goddard and multiple religious practices do too; It’s just called by different names and defined differently, but all the experiences describe the same thing. So if tumblr success stories aren’t trustworthy enough to you, or motivating enough-expand your research and find hundreds of stories similar to this one-lucid dreamers thinking it’s just an unformed dream and yogis thinking it’s just a really relaxing deep meditative state etc…

*PART 3< How To Use DEILD to enter the VS> *

I linked the video at the bottom, he doesn’t really talk about the void much or deild because the video is about the actual contents of the dream he had, but the part he does talk about it is right at the beginning, the first 30 seconds or so, if you’re curious in checking it out but this is pretty much what he said about it, written out-

“First I was in a space dream and then I woke up and kind of realized I had just woken up from a dream and was able to stay still and kind of reenter into it and fall back asleep and I ended up in the void. You know that like complete blackness where it’s really easy to reform the dream and since I was there I figured I would just try to go to the beach because when I’m in this void state I can really go anywhere I want. I just reformed the beach and I ended up on the exact beach I was imagining in like 10 seconds.”

So boom. Thats’s it thats ALL. That simple. So here’s the exact steps to do if you want to enter the void through DEILD too and be the next success story:

Before bed: affirm “I will remember to stay still upon awakening. I will effortlessly enter the void using DEILD” or some variation of this (optional)

Visualize yourself waking up, staying still, and entering the void state (optional)

Go to sleep, with the calm certainty that this will work.

Wake up. Keep your eyes closed and lie still

You can keep a blank mind and wait, trusting that your subconscious will induce the void automatically, since you already set the intention the night before

5a. Or right after waking, with your eyes closed you can begin affirming that you are pure consciousnes and imagine yourself already in the void, or imagine yourself sinking gently down into the void state until you are truly there. This method is so effective you should be in the state within a minute or less.

And remember, the void state can’t be forced, just like sleep can’t be forced. All you can do is create the right conditions for it to occur naturally. It’s okay if you don’t get it right away. Focus on trust, not control. Avoid over analyzing whether it’s working while you’re performing the technique, just allow it to flow and happen. You saw he just literally lied still waiting for the dream to form and then he was in. It’s that effortless. Give it a go and report back in the comments 🫶🏼 Happy enteringgg

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Hey there! I saw in one of another post of yours that you dealt with hoarding, any tips for de-hoarding the house?

Oh boy, do I have a lot. Here's what has helped me, a hoarder who lived several years at Level 4 (squalor, utilities shut off frequently):

Always be kind to yourself. Hoarding is a disorder and for me it was triggered by accumulated trauma. It will take a while to dig out, and you will likely have to wrestle with hoarding urges all your life.

Mindset tips:

Space is more valuable than stuff. Clear pathways, room to sit & sleep, prepare food, work on crafts -- it is *valuable*

Your home is not an optimization problem for storage. Again, space and clean surfaces are necessary! Not having paralysis of choice is valuable!

Cultivate awareness of when you aquire things and devise ways to break out of a buying pattern - put the phone away, go for a walk, etc.

Make some short-term rules: nothing comes in before two things go out. Only buy things you know you will use in the next month. Etc.

Kill sunk-cost-fallacy. The real value is peace of mind, not the potential of an object.

Decluttering tips

Clean out trash, first. Just get the obvious garbage out so you have space to work in.

Get some bankers boxes or bins. Create a group for sale/donate. Put some "keep" boxes in each room.

Start with 1 room to declutter. Again - trash, first. Then, go through objects in that room, putting in the group sale/donate boxes, or directly into the "keep" box for the room that object should live in. Don't worry about *where* in the room the "keep" items go in -- they go in the box, for now.

Try to get the decluttered room to a point where you can move furniture for a deep clean. And try to avoid putting anything in this room that doesn't belong there. You are focusing on 1 room at a time to fix.

Assess your decluttered room for how it might encourage hoarding. Again, is there not enough space? Do you need to take out or rearrange furniture to encourage living/working surfaces?

Don't be in a rush to sort through any of your boxes. Focus on reclaiming space.

Go through the boxes after you've had time to decompress. Some time should have passed and you now can look at your items more neutrally.

For your possessions, ask: does this spark joy? Do I have something similar already? Why am I holding onto it? Is the potential worth the time and space to hang onto it? If it is sentimental, is there a better way to use or display it? If it is broken or a crafting item, will I really fix/use it?

Get in the habit of giving objects a permanent home. Label shelves, bins, whatever else you need to.

Maintenance tips:

Avoid buying things when you're overly emotional

Designate landing pads for items. They don't have to be in the traditional places -- if you take your shoes off in the kitchen, then buy a boot tray and put it in there. Always put your wallet in the same space. Etc.

If daily clutter overtakes surfaces in your home, consider catch-all baskets. I have some in high traffic areas, like the dining room, staircase, and living room. Go through the baskets on a regular basis to weed out junk and put items away where they live.

Be honest with how much time you have to enjoy your possessions. Will you read that many books? Wear all those clothes? Make all those crafting kits? Are you spending more time aquiring vs enjoying?

Regularly assess your belongings and see what you can let go. If you are not sure yet, put items in a box and see if you can live without for several months. Date the box, and be brutal about dealing with it in the time frame you decide upon.

Get into a chore routine. Sometimes, chores are easier if the cleaning supplies are right there. I have an upstairs vacuum and a downstairs vacuum for this very reason.

A 10 minute "reset" at the end of the day goes really far, especially if you are a crafter.

Find something more benign to collect, if you are a magpie. I collect public domain stuff in digital format, video game items, etc. I'd rather be a hoarder in Skyrim than IRL.

I also "collect" experiences now -- I am currently seeing how many different trails I can hike. Maybe you would like something like birdwatching, to sate your hoarding urges. Redirection can go a long way.

I can go more into specifics, but these are always on my mind when I think about controlling one's hoarding. I hope it helps!

[cy-cyborg]

Tips for Writing and Drawing Amputees: Bandaged Stumps

When writing and drawing amputee characters, unless your character only just lost their limb, they don't need to wear a bandage over their stumps.

to be clear, eda's depiction in the show was fine, since she'd only just lost her arm and went (presumably) without any medical attention, but because the show didn't have much time to show her afterwards, I've noticed a tendency of the fandom to draw her wearing the bandage permanently, so that's why I'm picking on her for my example lol.

It's a bit of a trope at this point, and I think it comes from one of a few different places:

Amputees do wear bandages on their stumps, but usually only for the first 6-12 weeks post-amputation, sometimes longer if the amputation was a result of a burn. It's possible people saw this though and assumed it was permanent.

Most amputees wear a sock made of either cotton or silicone under their prosthetics to provide them with some extra padding. These socks, called liners, often stick out from the top of the prosthetic socket and could possibly be mistaken for a bandage from a distance.

Some amputees will wear compression garments for a few months to a few years after their amputations which could also be mistaken for a bandage from a distance. These garments are designed to stop swelling and reduce phantom pain, but they aren't bandages.

Stumps get cold easier because their circulation typically isn't as good as the rest of the body, so some amputees will wear socks over them even if they aren't wearing a prosthetic to keep warm, which again could be mistaken for a bandage from a distance.

This one is funny, but in my experience unfortunately, it's the most common: people think the end of an amputee's stump is just a perpetual open wound that never heals. Meaning to avoid "gore" it needs to be covered. I've met fully grown adults who believed this until I showed up to work/uni without my prosthetics or socks on.

People are uncomfortable with seeing an uncovered stump and so put bandages over it to avoid confronting their biases.

Some combination of these points.

But yeah, unless your amputee has only just lost their limb in the last few weeks, they don't need a bandage.

The ironic thing too, is that for most amputees, bandaging a stump is nearly impossible. I've been in and out of hospital since I was 1 year old and only ever met 3 nurses and no doctors/surgeons who could successfully bandage my stump in a way that the bandage would even stay on. This is because stumps are usually tapered in shape (meaning they are wider at the top, closer to the body, and thinner at the bottom), so gravity will pull the bandage off 9 times out of 10.

On a final note: it's ok to show your amputee's stump, it's not gore, there's no blood, it just looks like a regular limb that just stops early. In fact, if you are writing/creating anything for kids or that is likely to be seen by kids, I encourage you to show your amputee's stumps at least once. I used to work on a disability awareness program for kids, and I lost count of the amount of times kids were terrified of me, because they all expected my leg to be bloody and gory. For a lot of kids, I was their first real-life exposure to an amputee, meaning they'd never even heard of people like me, or they had seen an amputee on TV, but because the show went out of its way to avoid showing the person's stump, they assumed it must have been because there was "something scary at the end" that they weren't supposed to see (kids are surprisingly perceptive, they will pick up on stuff like that without you realising). And scared kids aren't good at articulating why they're scared, and would often say really mean or hurtful things to me. I knew not to take it personally and learned how to handle those situations, but not everyone is used to dealing with kids. For a new amputee (or anyone who's less confident in their disability), the kinds of things those kids would say could be absolutely confidence destroying. I never blame the kids, it's not their fault, but the whole situation could have been avoided if they had seen people like us before they had the chance to hear the wrong info. Good representation like this can be the difference between a kid crying, making throw-up sounds and calling an amputee "disgusting monsters" (all things I've had kids do/say) and them just being like "oh ok, cool."

[kasugabee666]

⭐OPEN⭐ slots DCA BJD

2 slots open. Take it in the comments under the post🫡

Hello everyone🌙 and I am here for those who asked about dolls: blank ones are open for painting and everything that you want to do yourself ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Q: What if I want a small modification? A: better check with me, will I be able to do it

Q: what if it is another part of the body with a large modification? (instead of the usual foot - paws) A: it is quite possible to add something from the finished one, but again it is better to clarify

Q: what if I want a doll with painting, clothes and faces with hands? A: if someone is interested in the comments for such a slot, then there will be 3rd slot for the full image. I warn you in advance that this will not be done quickly, after all, I only have one pair of hands

Q: Are there any goodies as niceties?😶‍🌫️ A: additional stickers, cards and all sorts of things? I like that🌚

Q: Can I get in line if I didn't manage to get a slot? A: Technically, it's possible. But since I'm also a human being and we don't control the events around us… Easier: yes, there are 2 more places, but be prepared that I can curl up into a snail

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What is included in the your friend doll:

35 cm doll (excluding rays) with one pair of arms and legs of your choice. And head

certificate

mini care instructions

From the goodies as a gift to the doll:

sticker pack A5 (sun or moon of your choice)

postcard (sun or moon of your choice)

2 small stickers of the Sun and Moon

more small gifts as a secret

Prices

Cost of one doll: $170 (white plastic) Excluding delivery

Extra pair of arms/legs: $10

Extra face (and moon back head): $7

Extra head (and eclipse/sun back head): $10

Where to write after booking: in private messages, after I respond in the comments. You can poke me in discord or twitter, but more often I am on tumblr The doll will be made: 1-2 months

Installments are possible, no problem 🔮Payment via PayPal🔮 Work starts upon full payment🧙 I do not ship to some countries (so it is better to check. Unfortunately I cannot ship to Europe) If you are from the USA, then I can╰(*°▽°*)╯

Doll's example If I have any more questions, you can ask them in Ask or under this post. I just don't know what else to add to the post hah😅

The answer is for those who probably wanted to get Eclipse with four arms. I am not yet ready to self-liquidate from this reality, so for now I am still working on a trial version of this doll. Although If anyone is willing to wait, it will be a little more expensive than a regular doll (after all, there are still additional limbs)

[polyamships]

The Polyamships discord server (invite here) is happy to invite you to Polyartober. Inspired by Inktober, but for polyamory, Polyartober brings you 31 daily prompts (+ 10 alt prompts) for October to get you in the creative flow to make more art.

Polyartober rules

1) Make a drawing* of your polyam ship (it doesn’t have to be in ink. Stick figures welcome. Not all characters have to be in the drawing, but the subject of the drawing must be polyam in nature) 2) Post it** 3) Hashtag it with #polyartober and #polyartober24. You can also mention us @polyamships to make sure we see it. 4) Repeat

*So you want to write instead of draw? We created this event focused on artists, but if you feel inspired, please go ahead and create something else: writing, gifs, moodboards, meta, etc. The most important rule is to make it polyam and have fun!

**Please post your work mentioning the fandom and characters somewhere in the post so we can tag it appropriately. Use the character’s name as it appears in canon (this may mean Lastname Firstname for some fandoms) - if they only have a 1 word name please put the fandom in brackets after it e.g. Parker (Leverage).

Feel free to combine this event with any other events that allow it such as whumptober, lyrical titles bingo, ficathons, etc. for an extra challenge.

Please note that since we’ll be running this month-long event, there won’t be a PolyamShippingDay prompt on the 14th October. We’ll be back in November with our regular PSD posting :)

Now we're also on X/Twitter @ polyamships - our X/Twitter Polyartober2024 thread

AO3 COLLECTION (for both art and/or fics)

List of prompts in plain text under the cut.

Prompts

Lovers

Birthday

Dungeon

Bed

Date

Game

Wound

Morning

Comic

Kiss

Shadow

Breakfast

Portrait

Fire

Tentacles

Shower/bath

Shotgunning

Black and White

Extra

Flowers

Luck

Knife

Water

Rope

Autumn

Road trip

Golden

Drinks

Marks

Angst

Costumes

Alt prompts

You don’t like one of the prompts? Feel free to use one of our Multiamory March prompts which you can find here.

You’ve already done all the Multiamory March prompts? Wow, you’re amazing! Here you have 10 extra prompts to get you going:

Murder mystery

Survivor’s guilt

Buddy system

In sickness and in health

Lap dance

Falling asleep

Chosen soulmates

Sensory deprivation

Dancing together

Last night

[bippot]

Adrian Chase - Peacemaker Masterlist

+ Jake Martin - The Crew and Jeffrey Steinberg - Hidden Signal: Evergreen

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

Taglist: @kpopgirlbtssvt, @adriansboyfriend, @10ava01, @n1ghtw1ngslvr

1) Savage I Tumblr I AO3 I

Adrian makes a fool of himself in front of a pretty girl, but hey, when doesn’t he? She’s weird, funny, and treats him gently, which obviously makes him obsessed with her, and much to his surprise, she seems to like having him around too. Together, they try to carve out a peaceful life, yet her less than perfect family messes up their harmony.

2) Cowboy & Piggy I Tumblr I AO3 I

No, Adrian had not been crushing on his colleague. That’s just, like, not true in the slightest. It’s not as if the moment she became available, he said something he could never take back.

3) Calendar Girl I Tumblr 1 I 2 I 3 I AO3 I

When his buddy goes missing, Adrian spends all of his time and energy trying to get her back to him. Because they’re friends, obviously.

4) Hercules and Megara I Tumblr I AO3 I

Childhood friends have a habit of drifting apart. Usually, it’s a natural thing. Adrian never wanted to separate from his best friend, but he thought he had to.

5.a) Squirtle Pyjamas I Tumblr I AO3 I

She knows how to calm Adrian down. And wears his clothes. And teases him relentlessly. And knows exactly what to do to rile him up. And knows his deepest secret. But, no, nothing can happen between them. He must resist the temptation to do something about it.

5.b) A Kid? I Tumblr I AO3 I

In preparation for Allison’s wedding, Adrian becomes the babysitter of her kid for a day and his girlfriend realises how good at the whole thing he is. The idea of marriage and kids suddenly seeps into Adrian’s brain and he can’t seem to shake them away.

6) Spot Over By The Fire Station I Tumblr I AO3 I

After his manager forces him to go to the emergency room for a concussion, Adrian meets an old friend, and she looks worse for wear. He knows he can help with that.

7) Hopelessly Devoted I Tumblr I AO3 I

They broke up a while ago, and Adrian still isn’t over it. Chris takes him on a night out, and they get trashed. Adrian never imagined that he’d get up in front of people and serenade his ex, but he did.

8) My Favourite Girl I Tumblr I AO3 I

Telekinetic powers can be beneficial sometimes. Other times? Yeah, not so much. After a mission gone wrong, it might be that her gifts are godsent. Adrian, however, knows she is godsent, especially with boobs like that.

9) Sweltering I Tumblr I AO3 I

It’s way too hot in Evergreen for Adrian to even hide his attraction to Y/N. He tries. And fails miserably. Especially when the guy who delivers her hot tub is so swoon-worthy.

10) Wednesdays I Tumblr I AO3 I

While Peacemaker was in prison, Vigilante made another friend, and she had a much lovelier voice than Chris did, and after a takedown, Adrian can’t quite get his thoughts off her.

11) What You Deserve I Tumblr I AO3 I

Vigilante has had a long night and just wants to see his favourite girl then go to sleep. Is that too much to ask for?

12) Big Strong Guy I Tumblr I AO3 I

No. Adrian is fine with scary movies. He’s fine, okay? That’s impossible; he doesn’t have goosebumps. You’re seeing things. Must be, because a big, strong guy who doesn’t get scared of shit like that.

13) Lucky Number 14 I Tumblr I AO3 I

A work outing let’s some things come to light, yet Adrian isn’t there to hear it.

14) Last In Line I Tumblr I AO3 I

Getting kidnapped is becoming more of a regular thing for Adrian. Yet he knows this one. And she definitely knows him.

15) The Things You Do For Pussy I Tumblr I AO3 I

Living together means that Adrian’s secret identity isn’t really a secret to her, so she loves to make thirsty comments about Vigilante whenever she can, and it’s not as if Adrian feels something more than friendship for his roommate, right?

16) Waller’s Way I Tumblr I AO3 I

When the new government-issued 11th Street Kid arrives, the team soon finds out why Waller picked her. They don’t really know how Adrian pissed off their boss so much, but he sure isn’t happy with their new colleague.

17) Clingy I Tumblr I AO3 I

The Vigilante mobile breaks down, and Adrian needs a hand, transport-wise and socially, it seems. Once his coworker gives him a hand, it sets him off, and there is no going back to the platonic relationship they had before. A relationship that needs to have clear boundaries because Adrian is known to get far too excited to interact with her at any chance he gets.

18) Beautiful Things I Tumblr I AO3 I

Since Vigilante no longer has to work his shitty busboy job and that leaves his schedule wide open for the rest of the day, he soon finds himself frequenting a quaint coffee shop, not only because the drinks there are good, but because he’s grown fond of the woman working there.

19) The Distraction I Tumblr I AO3 I

Every now and then, Peacemaker has a solo mission. Whenever these happen, Vigilante has to be distracted so he doesn’t make the solo into a duo. The only person that is capable of that is the girl that Adrian hates… No, that can’t be right. He doesn’t hate her, not really. Quite the opposite, actually.

20) The Monarch Hotel I Tumblr I AO3 I

How many times does Vigilante need to get injured before Harcourt finally gives in and hires a medic to help out with the squad’s injuries? Far too many times, that’s how many. When it’s uncovered that a fancy hotel is linked to not only what’s left of the legion of butterflies but also a string of weird deaths and missing persons reports, the only two for the job are lovesick Adrian and the newbie. Will they both make it out of paradise alive?

21) Peacemaker Jr I Tumblr I AO3 I

Peacemaker scrubbed all mention of his kid from his file. But when the butterflies find out about her, he must admit to his team that he needs their skills to find her. Then, Chris really needs Adrian’s help to keep her safe, but he’s concerned that his buddy is going to get far too familiar with his daughter. And maybe those fears are warranted.

22) On The Road I Tumblr I AO3 I

Peacemaker’s mother fled with her unborn child when Chris was a teenager, and he’d always wanted to find his family again. After annoying Waller, he must send his friends out to help save his family, and Adrian finds out that he is more than willing to throw himself into danger to ensure that Peace’s sister is unharmed.

23) Slumber Party I Tumblr I AO3 I

Had Vigilante intended to find the missing mayor’s daughter? No, but he wasn’t going to admit that. He’d completed the 11th Street Kids’ mission entirely by himself and found himself caring for the kidnapped girl.

24) Damsel I Tumblr I AO3 I

Vigilante notices a girl and her not-so-nice boyfriend arguing, and just as the hero is about to reprimand the bad boyfriend, she does something unexpected. When she finds him a week later, they come to learn that they mesh together quite well. Will that chemistry remain when she knows who’s under the visor?

25) Bacon and Bloodshed I Tumblr I AO3 I

When Vigilante came across a crying girl covered in blood, he didn’t expect to have breakfast with her the next morning.

26) Reunited and it Feels So Good I Tumblr I AO3 I

After months apart under witness protection, Y/N and Adrian reunite following the defeat of the Butterflies. Both have changed—Adrian’s lost his curls, Y/N’s sporting new tattoos and a mullet—but their connection is stronger than ever.

1) Joyride I Tumblr I AO3 I

There are three things Jake loves to do at work. None of which are work. One: eating. Two: flirting with his girlfriend. Three: annoying Kevin. At first, he only thought he’d only get to do two of those three options.

2) Part Of The Crew I Tumblr I AO3 I

Kevin’s niece shakes up Jake’s little peanut head in the best way possible. For the first time in his life, he’s nervous to even flirt with a girl because, like, what if he fucks up? That would suck.

3) 95 I Tumblr I AO3 I

A wardrobe mix-up causes Jake’s secret relationship to come to light. Then, when they happen to match one part of their outfit one day, a formal complaint is filed against them.

4) Subconsciously I Tumblr I AO3 I

Jake has never watched the Fast and Furious films, so why can he quote them?

5) On the Same Paige I Tumblr I AO3 I

Jake is preppy and charismatic and dumb and talkative, which is the complete opposite of Beth’s niece. Why do they work so well together then?

1) A Dog On A Leash I Tumblr I AO3 I

Thanks to his attempt at total domination over the population of Evergreen spectacularly failing, Jeffrey was forced to be confined in his room. The only interaction he gets is annoying David whenever he brings his meals in. That is, until another face appears. A familiar face. A face of someone he presumed had perished in the apocalypse.

[lhswon]

CRAZY TIPS = CRAZY FEELINGS

ᯓᡣ𐭩 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: yandere!lee heeseung x tsundere!fem!reader

ᯓᡣ𐭩 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: non!idol, enemies (one sided) to lovers troupe, kinda slow burn, teeth-rotting fluff, heeseung is a softie, you and enha are in the same age for the sake of the plot

ᯓᡣ𐭩 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: cursing, mild sexualizing, drinking, mention of cigarette (lmk if i missed any!)

ᯓᡣ𐭩 𝙖/𝙣: ding dong! as promised, i will continue this au but forgive me for the delay as i couldn't post the chap 1 last night since my migraine was killing me. anyways, enjoy the chapter :D

chapter 1

after surviving a hectic day at the university, you went straight at home to take some rest before your 10 pm shift at the nightclub. you washed up, ate dinner, and changed to your working clothes which is a red v-neck polo shirt and a black skirt. you also wore your black stockings and black boots to finish the look.

after changing, you went in front of the mirror to do a simple make up and tie your hair into a high pony while you left some strands on your face. feeling confident with how you look, you took your black padded jacket resting on the edge of your bed and wore it as you reached for your sling bag. with all the things you needed, you finally left your home to work a yet again, tiring shift at the nightclub.

"i can guarantee you, i'll have more tips than you!" the moment you entered the staff room, you heard red's voice. she seems to be having a conversation with your other co-workers.

"oh yeah? i'll bet that i'll have more." the other girl answered. when you peeked behind the curtain, it was red and jia.

"what's up, girls." you greeted them. red and jia's face lit up when they saw you.

"oh well, since you're here. i'll just bet that you'll be the one who will gain the most tips tonight." jia shrugged, immediately accepting her defeat.

"how are you so sure?" you raised an eyebrow at her while you take off your jacket.

"i just heard that Mr. Baek will be here tonight." jia said.

Mr. Baek is one of the VIPs, he would often go here and tip you a crazy amount of money. it's like Mr. Baek favors you. some of your co-workers are jealous of you because of the hefty amount of money he would tip whenever you're on shift but you will never not notice his intentions behind those crazy tipping. scanning every inch of your body, throwing you those flirty looks, grazing his skin onto yours, it's just disgusting. but life's tough, sometimes you just gotta let other people do the things they want if it somehow benefits you too.

after your short conversation with red and jia, the three of you helped clean the counter since the club was about to open. the moment it did, a small group of men went straight to the counter where you and your friends were standing. you sighed as you flash your brightest smile.

oh, this will be a long night for you.

a few hours passed and it was already late. when you looked at your wrist watch, it was already 1 am. your shift ends at 2:30 so you still have an hour and half. you were just cleaning the counter when red nudged you and pouted her lips towards the main door. it was Mr. Baek together with his men in black which gained a few looks from the other customers.

you finished your small task before he could arrive at the counter, when you catched his eyes, he smiled at you flirtingly.

"hello, dear." you nodded and slightly bowed your head, acknowledging his presence.

"good evening, Mr. Baek." you greeted. he hummed in response.

"i'll be here in a short time, i'll just meet a someone important. just give me your finest whiskey right now and put it in my tab." he said, leaning on the counter to get closer to you.

"duly noted, sir. would that be all?" you asked while tapping something on the screen.

"that would be all, sweetheart." he said. you almost threw up at the pet name he called you.

"alright sir, i'll just have someone serve you the drinks." you gave him a small smile before bowing. he left after that to sit at his regular space. you then instructed one of the servers to serve the bottle Mr. Baek ordered.

a few minutes passed and you saw Mr. Baek leaving together with his men. he went straight to the counter to close his tab.

"here's your tip." he handed you a one banded stack of money after paying his bill. you don't know how much was it but you took it like you always do.

"thank you Mr. Baek, i hope you had a pleasant stay." you bowed to thank him. he chuckled at your politeness.

"seeing you here is already pleasant, dear." he said. you almost scoff at his remarks but you stayed silent. he bid his last good bye for the rest of the staffs who are in shift before leaving the club.

"that's a lot." red whistled, looking at the banded money in your hand. you shrugged before shoving it in your pocket.

time flies so fast and it was already 2 am, just 30 minutes more and you'll finally end your shift. the counter's pretty much chilling right now when people are just vibing and drunk dancing at the platform. you were just looking around when a tall gorgeous man approached the counter. he was wearing a black button down polo and black pants, his aura screaming power and confidence. some girls he would pass by would stare at him with lust, making you scoff.

"hi." you couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at heeseung when he approached you at the counter. you sighed and calmed yourself down before giving him a fake smile.

"good evening sir, how may i help you?" you asked. he scanned your whole face before giving you a small smile.

"one glass of rum, please." he ordered. you nodded and tapped the screen. he waited patiently as your colleague make his order.

he sat at one of the high stool just beside the counter, the proximity making you awkward and uncomfortable, specially about what happened last night at the parking lot.

oh wait, is he mad that's why he's here? is he going to confront you? maybe you ruined their moment last night?

you were just overthinking every possible reason why he's here tonight when jia and red approached you. you never even realized that heeseung finally got his drink.

"who's that hottie?" jia whispered. they were both looking at heeseung like he was some prey. he might've been noticed your friends' staring when he turned his gaze at your direction.

you quickly looked away and gulped. there's just something about his stares that makes you just want to melt on the spot. no wonder a lot of woman wants him. one look and you're wrapped around his hands.

a few minutes passed and heeseung went back in front of you to pay his bill. he pulled out the exact amount for his bill but you were caught off guard when he pulled out a much bigger banded stack of money than what Mr. Baek gave you a while ago.

"here's your tip." he lightly shoved the stack towards you. before leaving the counter without looking at you. your mind went blank while looking at his leaving figure, mouth slightly agape from shock.

just when you couldn't see heeseung anymore, you took the money and ran towards where he left. jia and red screaming your name as you hurriedly followed him. you went to the parking lot and there you saw him leaning on a sports car, cigarette in between his lips. he was about to light the cigarette when he noticed you approaching him. he took the cigarette away from his lips when you arrived in front of him.

on the other hand, you were panting, cheeks red from running trying to catch up to him. without saying anything, you extended the arm that was holding the money he gave you.

"i can't take this." you said, you urged him to take it but he just looked at you with amusement. not taking any of your actions seriously.

"what? did the other person tipped you more?" he asked smirking. you looked at him dumbfounded.

is he talking about Mr. Baek? he saw him?

"what is wrong with you? just take your money!" you shoved your hand to his chest.

"you would take an old man's tip and not mine?" he sounded so offended which irritated you even more. his sly smile is not even helping with the situation right now.

"Mr. Baek is a regular of mine!" you defended yourself. he chuckled at your irritated face.

"i'll be your regular then, starting today." he said and shrugged before he opened the door of his sports car, not even minding your extended arms.

"no! i don't need your money!" you were fuming at him, voice slightly raising.

he didn't even bother looking at you and just closed the door of his car in front of you. he just rolled down his window to flash you his sweetest smile.

"look for me tomorrow at the university." he said before starting his engine and pulled his windows up.

what the fuck?!

"sir- heeseung!" you shouted when his car drove away from you.

just what the fuck is his problem?!

chapter 2 here

[komaedalovemail]

komaedas have you tried straw.page?

(i hope you don't mind if i make a big ollllle webdev post off this!)

i have never tried straw.page but it looks similar to carrd and other WYSIWYG editors (which is unappealing to me, since i know html/css/js and want full control of the code. and can't hide secrets in code comments.....)

my 2 cents as a web designer is if you're looking to learn web design or host long-term web projects, WYSIWYG editors suck doodooass. you don't learn the basics of coding, someone else does it for you! however, if you're just looking to quickly host images, links to your other social medias, write text entries/blogposts, WYSIWYG can be nice.

toyhouse, tumblr, deviantart, a lot of sites implement WYSIWYG for their post editors as well, but then you can run into issues relying on their main site features for things like the search system, user profiles, comments, etc. but it can be nice to just login to your account and host your information in one place, especially on a platform that's geared towards that specific type of information. (toyhouse is a better example of this, since you have a lot of control of how your profile/character pages look, even without a premium account) carrd can be nice if you just want to say "here's where to find me on other sites," for example. but sometimes you want a full website!

---------------------------------------

neocities hosting

currently, i host my website on neocities, but i would say the web2.0sphere has sucked some doodooass right now and i'm fiending for something better than it. it's a static web host, e.g. you can upload text, image, audio, and client-side (mostly javascript and css) files, and html pages. for the past few years, neocities' servers have gotten slower and slower and had total blackouts with no notices about why it's happening... and i'm realizing they host a lot of crypto sites that have crypto miners that eat up a ton of server resources. i don't think they're doing anything to limit bot or crypto mining activity and regular users are taking a hit.

↑ page 1 on neocitie's most viewed sites we find this site. this site has a crypto miner on it, just so i'm not making up claims without proof here. there is also a very populated #crypto tag on neocities (has porn in it tho so be warned...).

---------------------------------------

dynamic/server-side web hosting

$5/mo for neocities premium seems cheap until you realize... The Beautiful World of Server-side Web Hosting!

client-side AKA static web hosting (neocities, geocities) means you can upload images, audio, video, and other files that do not interact with the server where the website is hosted, like html, css, and javascript. the user reading your webpage does not send any information to the server like a username, password, their favourite colour, etc. - any variables handled by scripts like javascript will be forgotten when the page is reloaded, since there's no way to save it to the web server. server-side AKA dynamic web hosting can utilize any script like php, ruby, python, or perl, and has an SQL database to store variables like the aforementioned that would have previously had nowhere to be stored.

there are many places in 2024 you can host a website for free, including: infinityfree (i use this for my test websites :B has tons of subdomains to choose from) [unlimited sites, 5gb/unlimited storage], googiehost [1 site, 1gb/1mb storage], freehostia [5 sites/1 database, 250mb storage], freehosting [1 site, 10gb/unlimited storage]

if you want more features like extra websites, more storage, a dedicated e-mail, PHP configuration, etc, you can look into paying a lil shmoney for web hosting: there's hostinger (this is my promocode so i get. shmoney. if you. um. 🗿🗿🗿) [$2.40-3.99+/mo, 100 sites/300 databases, 100gb storage, 25k visits/mo], a2hosting [$1.75-12.99+/mo, 1 site/5 databases, 10gb/1gb storage], and cloudways [$10-11+/mo, 25gb/1gb]. i'm seeing people say to stay away from godaddy and hostgator. before you purchase a plan, look up coupons, too! (i usually renew my plan ahead of time when hostinger runs good sales/coupons LOL)

here's a big webhost comparison chart from r/HostingHostel circa jan 2024.

---------------------------------------

domain names

most of the free website hosts will give you a subdomain like yoursite.has-a-cool-website-69.org, and usually paid hosts expect you to bring your own domain name. i got my domain on namecheap (enticing registration prices, mid renewal prices), there's also porkbun, cloudflare, namesilo, and amazon route 53. don't use godaddy or squarespace. make sure you double check the promo price vs. the actual renewal price and don't get charged $120/mo when you thought it was $4/mo during a promo, certain TLDs (endings like .com, .org, .cool, etc) cost more and have a base price (.car costs $2,300?!?). look up coupons before you purchase these as well!

namecheap and porkbun offer something called "handshake domains," DO NOT BUY THESE. 🤣🤣🤣 they're usually cheaper and offer more appealing, hyper-specific endings like .iloveu, .8888, .catgirl, .dookie, .gethigh, .♥, .❣, and .✟. I WISH WE COULD HAVE THEM but they're literally unusable. in order to access a page using a handshake domain, you need to download a handshake resolver. every time the user connects to the site, they have to provide proof of work. aside from it being incredibly wasteful, you LITERALLY cannot just type in the URL and go to your own website, you need to download a handshake resolver, meaning everyday internet users cannot access your site.

---------------------------------------

hosting a static site on a dynamic webhost

you can host a static (html/css/js only) website on a dynamic web server without having to learn PHP and SQL! if you're coming from somewhere like neocities, the only thing you need to do is configure your website's properties. your hosting service will probably have tutorials to follow for this, and possibly already did some steps for you. you need to point the nameserver to your domain, install an SSL certificate, and connect to your site using FTP for future uploads. FTP is a faster, alternative way to upload files to your website instead of your webhost's file upload system; programs like WinSCP or FileZilla can upload using FTP for you.

if you wanna learn PHP and SQL and really get into webdev, i wrote a forum post at Mysidia Adoptables here, tho it's sorted geared at the mysidia script library itself (Mysidia Adoptables is a free virtual pet site script, tiny community. go check it out!)

---------------------------------------

file storage & backups

a problem i have run into a lot in my past like, 20 years of internet usage (/OLD) is that a site that is free, has a small community, and maybe sounds too good/cheap to be true, has a higher chance of going under. sometimes this happens to bigger sites like tinypic, photobucket, and imageshack, but for every site like that, there's like a million of baby sites that died with people's files. host your files/websites on a well-known site, or at least back it up and expect it to go under!

i used to host my images on something called "imgjoe" during the tinypic/imageshack era, it lasted about 3 years, and i lost everything hosted on there. more recently, komaedalovemail had its webpages hosted here on tumblr, and tumblr changed its UI so custom pages don't allow javascript, which prevented any new pages from being edited/added. another test site i made a couple years ago on hostinger's site called 000webhost went under/became a part of hostinger's paid-only plans, so i had to look very quickly for a new host or i'd lose my test site.

if you're broke like me, looking into physical file storage can be expensive. anything related to computers has gone through baaaaad inflation due to crypto, which again, I Freaquing Hate, and is killing mother nature. STOP MINING CRYPTO this is gonna be you in 1 year

...um i digress. ANYWAYS, you can archive your websites, which'll save your static assets on The Internet Archive (which could use your lovely donations right now btw), and/or archive.today (also taking donations). having a webhost service with lots of storage and automatic backups can be nice if you're worried about file loss or corruption, or just don't have enough storage on your computer at home!

if you're buying physical storage, be it hard drive, solid state drive, USB stick, whatever... get an actual brand like Western Digital or Seagate and don't fall for those cheap ones on Amazon that claim to have 8,000GB for $40 or you're going to spend 13 days in windows command prompt trying to repair the disk and thenthe power is gong to go out in your shit ass neighvborhood and you have to run it tagain and then Windows 10 tryes to update and itresets the /chkdsk agin while you're awayfrom town nad you're goig to start crytypting and kts just hnot going tot br the same aever agai nikt jus not ggiog to be the saeme

---------------------------------------

further webhosting options

there are other Advanced options when it comes to web hosting. for example, you can physically own and run your own webserver, e.g. with a computer or a raspberry pi. r/selfhosted might be a good place if you're looking into that!

if you know or are learning PHP, SQL, and other server-side languages, you can host a webserver on your computer using something like XAMPP (Apache, MariaDB, PHP, & Perl) with minimal storage space (the latest version takes up a little under 1gb on my computer rn). then, you can test your website without needing an internet connection or worrying about finding a hosting plan that can support your project until you've set everything up!

there's also many PHP frameworks which can be useful for beginners and wizards of the web alike. WordPress is one which you're no doubt familiar with for creating blog posts, and Bluehost is a decent hosting service tailored to WordPress specifically. there's full frameworks like Laravel, CakePHP, and Slim, which will usually handle security, user authentication, web routing, and database interactions that you can build off of. Laravel in particular is noob-friendly imo, and is used by a large populace, and it has many tutorials, example sites built with it, and specific app frameworks.

---------------------------------------

addendum: storing sensitive data

if you decide to host a server-side website, you'll most likely have a login/out functionality (user authentication), and have to store things like usernames, passwords, and e-mails. PLEASE don't launch your website until you're sure your site security is up to snuff!

when trying to check if your data is hackable... It's time to get into the Mind of a Hacker. OWASP has some good cheat sheets that list some of the bigger security concerns and how to mitigate them as a site owner, and you can look up filtered security issues on the Exploit Database.

this is kind of its own topic if you're coding a PHP website from scratch; most frameworks securely store sensitive data for you already. if you're writing your own PHP framework, refer to php.net's security articles and this guide on writing an .htaccess file.

---------------------------------------

but. i be on that phone... :(

ok one thing i see about straw.page that seems nice is that it advertises the ability to make webpages from your phone. WYSIWYG editors in general are more capable of this. i only started looking into this yesterday, but there ARE source code editor apps for mobile devices! if you have a webhosting plan, you can download/upload assets/code from your phone and whatnot and code on the go. i downloaded Runecode for iphone. it might suck ass to keep typing those brackets.... we'll see..... but sometimes you're stuck in the car and you're like damn i wanna code my site GRRRR I WANNA CODE MY SITE!!!

↑ code written in Runecode, then uploaded to Hostinger. Runecode didn't tell me i forgot a semicolon but Hostinger did... i guess you can code from your webhost's file uploader on mobile but i don't trust them since they tend not to autosave or prompt you before closing, and if the wifi dies idk what happens to your code.

---------------------------------------

ANYWAYS! HAPPY WEBSITE BUILDING~! HOPE THIS HELPS~!~!~!

-Mod 12 @eeyes

[steelheart-redux]

Steelheart Redux: Year 1 Retrospective

I meant to post this yesterday but forgot. Oops. Anyway, June 1st marked the official first full year of Steelheart Redux! For me, at least. While the comic didn’t go public until September, those who have been here since the start remember that I uploaded all of chapter 1 at once. That work started in June, so I consider that the comic’s effective birthday.

With that disclaimer out of the way: what a year it’s been! In 365 days, I drew 153 comic pages. That’s about 0.4 pages a day— a little shy of a page every other day. Granted, those numbers aren’t an even spread. I made all of chapter 1 in three months (68 pages) and then had to take a break for a while because of wrist strain (wonder how THAT happened…) and then the amount of backlog I had fluctuated wildly for a while. Some days I have more time and motivation than others. It happens.

Quite honestly, I’m mainly happy that I’ve stuck with the project. My worst fear was that I’d get a month or two into Actually Doing The Thing, then get bored, demotivated, and give up. Luckily, my brain has allowed me to stick with Redux with a level of consistency that is frankly unforeseen from me, and I’m just as motivated as I was a year ago, if not more, thanks to people's interest. I’ve said it before, but the reception to the story already regularly blows me away. I went into this with the expectation that it would take years for the comic to gain any real traction, if it ever happened at all. But here we are, a year in, with tens, if not hundreds of regular readers across multiple platforms. It’s an honor I don’t take lightly, and as I’ve said, I’m so, so grateful for the trust and support.

Looking back, the comic started on wobbly feet. That’s something I knew even at the time and had to make my peace with. Steelheart Redux is my first original story project, first long-form comic (first colored comic longer than a few pages, tbh), and first time I've ever really left the title of "fanartist" behind for longer than a month or so. I knew I was entering uncharted waters and that whatever I made, I'd later come to see as 'bad', or at least, not executed as well as it could have been. Unfortunately, the only way to get that experience and improve is to do it bad. So I did it bad!

STRUGGLES:

Chapter 1 is way too long. Not in terms of content, but in terms of page count. For some reason, I was utterly allergic to the idea of putting more than four panels on a page. While I do like the pacing of it, and the sort of slow ease-in to the world and the setting, I made way more work for myself than I needed to. I definitely could have cut at least 10 pages by compressing things without seriously hurting the pacing, and it would have saved me a lot of trouble. Figuring out how to "trim the fat" and get to where I'm going as fast as possible without making things feel rushed is still something I'm working on, but I'm a lot more intentional about things now that I know it can cost me time and physical strain. You can see the font size slowly shrinking throughout the comic's run as I pack more in, lol. Honestly, it kind of works.

I have various other nitpicks. I'm sparing myself from the general "I don't like how I drew that"s in terms of anatomy and such, as those are just an inescapable result of improving as an artist and not worth getting in the weeds over. I will raise my eyebrows over some lighting choices-- I went out of my way to plan out a way to make the nighttime section of early chapter 2 read as "night, but not dark", and then the entire bit was annoyingly dark as hell. Trying to get the purple DRACO to visually stand out from the concrete there was obnoxiously difficult. I don't think it's bad-- I like the 'scribble background' gimmick I came up with to save myself from having to do backgrounds there, for one thing-- but I don't think it would have killed me to brighten up that section a bit. Something to keep in mind for later.

Speaking of backgrounds. Maybe it's too early to say, but at least right now, changing the background style was a game changer. That was one of the largest time sinks of early pages, adding 2-3 hours to every page that had at least one or two backgrounds. They were doable, but tedious, and as time went on, I found myself enjoying them less and less, instead of more and more as I'd hoped. You can see details start to disappear as a result, as backgrounds stopped being a "fun worldbuilding element" and "visual element of the page" and became just "something I had to draw to get the page done". Changing the style to a much looser one has brought the fun back, and made it much easier to pack in all the details I actually enjoy drawing without getting bogged down in "is the perspective exactly right". I've written posts before about making things easier for yourself if you're doing a long-form project; this is honestly my best example.

GROWTH:

I feel like, looking back, I can see myself become a lot more confident with drawing various things. Steelheart Redux is filled-- intentionally and not-- with things I'm bad at drawing, which has forced me to improve at those things sheerly through unavoidable repetition. Mainly, this includes backgrounds, mechs (still can't get me to draw cars though LOL), full bodies, and profiles.

It's also interesting to see the way I draw characters change. Going into the comic, I'd already been drawing Arthur for years, but making pages forced me to really lock in his design and get comfortable with drawing it. While it's not too different in terms of content, it has a different 'feel' now. This, too, I know is inevitable, and honestly something I look forward to.

I've become a lot more confident in doing these things, which makes making pages less intimidating and lets me experiment more with layouts and angles I might have otherwise been afraid to try. It's nice! It shows in a lot of the end of chapter 2, which is one of my favorite parts of the chapter. I was worried about hitting those emotional beats, because they're setting up for a lot and really needed to feel meaningful, but I think I landed them alright. My character writing is still something I worry a bit about-- there's a lot of subtlety to these guys and this story I worry I won't be able to get across in a more visual story-- but that's something for me to increasingly focus on going forward.

Away from the comic, I've also improved a lot as a 3D modeler. My robot rigs have improved, and I have much better human bases to work off. I can also slam out a layout for a scene much faster, which is a nice time boost to my workflow.

Overall, despite the hurdles and rough edges of some of the early stuff, I'm incredibly proud of everything I've produced. This is the first time I've ever put my heart, body, and soul so thoroughly into a project like this, and I'd like to think it shows.

While we're still in somewhat of the early stage of the comic's story, I'm hoping I've made a solid foundation for myself. I'm so excited for what's to come, and hoping I can execute it even better, year by year.

[seilnakyle]

if you know any, could you give us some fun facts about selina's character?

Yes always always! I’ll try to give some that most people wouldn’t know;

“Catwoman”, created in 1940, would be a recurring Batman and Detective Comics character for 10 whole years before we would learn her name was Selina Kyle! We first see her name put to ink in the year 1950 in Batman #62 where Bill Finger gives her the first Catwoman origin,

THEN five years later, we find out this is actually a lie in Brave and The Bold #197, the issue where Golden Age Batcat get married

A couple more fun facts abt Golden age Selina, her parents were never named, but we know her father ran a pet shop, (something golden age Selina would also do)

She had two siblings and neither of them were Maggie, the first is her brother Karl Kyle “Cat King” whom we meet in Batman #69

And the second is her sister Felicia Kyle who we see very briefly in Brave and the Bold #176

Selina once wrote a book that apparently did pretty well! Batman #197

Selina uses a whip as her main weapon for a few reasons, one of them is because you have to be trained to use it effectively, and so it can’t be turned against her. Another more dark reason, is because she used to get regular belt whippings from the teachers at Seagate

Catwoman (1993) #0

Otto is one of Selina’s most curious cats, he appears in Batman Year one, climbing all over Selina for attention, and then going to check out the explosions across the street! He gets himself in a situation as cats are known to do, and is almost shot, but Bruce protects him and punishes the one who tried hurt him. Otto runs back to mama afterwards, and I can imagine Batman’s kindness towards the kitty peaked Selina’s interest….

The fun fact part? Years later in Legends of the Dark Knight (2012) #48, Damian Wayne saves the same cat! 🖤

One of Selina’s alter egos or aliases is “Elva Barr” which she first uses in Batman #15

And post crisis in Batman Incorporated (2011) #1 she uses it as an alias for public dates with Bruce, which I soo think should get brought back!!

Selina (and Bruce) like Jazz 🎷

Catwoman (2002) #32

[cosmerelists]

I Assign Cosmere Characters A Random Animal As Their Pet

I'm using the random generator from this post. I've already created a list of Cosmere characters (it's just the main characters I always do, ha ha), and then I'll randomly assign them a pet and see how they fair! For the record, these results are not altered at all!

[For the purposes of this post, we're gonna pretend that any animal that comes up would make a good and ethical pet, okay? Please don't actually try to adopt a bear.]

1. Kaladin: A dromedary (a type of camel)

Kaladin: [stares at the camel] Camel: [stares at Kaladin] Kaladin: T-This is just a bigger, meaner horse! Kaladin: I can tell just from one glance into its eyes that that hump is full of SPITE Camel: [spits at Kaladin] Kaladin: I KNEW IT

2. Vin: A mustang (a type of horse)

Vin: Yes, yes, you think you're soooo pretty and fast, don't you? Vin: I'm faster, you know. Probably. With enough metal. Vin: So just don't you getting to big for your horse britches! Elend: Wow! What a beautiful horse! Vin: Don't you start!

3. Shallan: A monkey

Shallan: What a cute little monkey you are! Shallan: With the little outfit Adolin sewed for you, and the paintbrush I gave you! Shallan: A regular little monkey artist! Pattern: [buzzing] I keep telling you, Shallan, this creature wants to be like that one person I saw when you were looking for the herald! It wants to be paint with its p- Shallan (loudly): We'll just use regular paint, thank you!

4. Tress: A mandrill (largest monkey in the world)

Tress: Wow, you have such a pretty face, ma'am! Tress: And a large girl like you won't need to fear any mean ol' cat, will you! Charlie: I feel strangely inadequate. Tress: I-I didn't mean it that way!

5. Dalinar: A bear

Dalinar: You and I are a lot alike, bear. Dalinar: We are both large and intimidating, and we can hurt a lot of people if we get violent. Dalinar: ... Dalinar: Also, apparently Navani really likes to cuddle with both of us. Navani: He's soooo soft!

6. Painter: A bighorn (a type of sheep)

Painter: I like him. Painter: He's got a noble bearing. You can tell with those big horns and steely gaze, he's probably king of his herd or something. Painter: So please stop stacking chopsticks on his head. Yumi: Come on, he LOVES his chopstick-tower-hat! Bighorn: [making happy sheep noises] Painter: I-I just think his gravitas is taking a hit.

7. Leshwi: A burro (a type of donkey)

Lewshi: I'll admit, I was really hoping for an animal that could fly. Venli: Surely anything can fly if you lash it to the sky. Leshwi: I tried that. Leshwi: Apparently donkeys don't like to fly.

8. Adolin: A basilisk (a type of lizard)

Shallan: So...why the little cape on your lizard friend? Adolin: He runs across water! It's cool, but I thought it would look even cooler if he was wearing a cape while he did it! Shallan: Where do you find enough water for that? Adolin: Well...he's mostly been running across a bathtub. Shallan: Ah, so he REALLY needs the coolness factor of a cape... Adolin: Yeah, I think it'll really help his self-esteem.

9. Steris: A sheep

Wax: Hey Steris. Steris: Hello, Wax. Wax: I can't help but notice that where yesterday was one sheep, today there are fifteen sheep. Steris: I read that they feel better in herds! Wax: You always go all in--I love that about you. Wax: ... Steris: ... Wax: So we're sheep farmers now? Steris: A little bit, yeah.

10. Navani: A ferret

Sibling: NAVANI YOUR FERRET IS RUNNING THROUGH MY TUNNELS AGAIN Navani: It loves you! Sibling: IT'S LIKE THAT LIFT CHILD ALL OVER AGAIN

11. Siri: A budgerigar (bird)

Siri: This little guy is perfect for me! Siri: Colorful, small, sweet! Siri: I'm teaching it to talk! Budgie: Let's destroy evil! Siri: ... Siri: Uncle Vasher was here again, wasn't he?

12. Kelsier: A duckbill platypus (yes, really)

Kelsier: Everyone, meet the newest member of our team! Dockson: Uh...what is that? Vin: It looks like a bunch of different animals stuck together. Breeze: Rather unsightly, really. Ham: You, uh, doing okay, Kel? Kelsier: You're all such doubters. But watch what happens when I do THIS! [Puts a fedora on the platypus] Vin: ...Why do I suddenly feel like he's going to make a great spy? Kelsier: Trust me, this is gonna be great!

[brehaaorgana]

ADHD money/budgeting system I'm currently using for my benefit is going well (I've been using it for like half a year now?), and I wanna recommend it.

You Need a Budget is EXCELLENT. 10/10 do recommend. Uhhh rambling about it and my generic disclaimers + gushing extensively under the cut but TL;DR I think it's great for ADHD ppl, I've used it for 6+ months now and I find it super SUPER helpful. also weirdly fun.

DISCLAIMERS:

Budgeting helps you understand/know your money, it can't make money appear where there is none.

Everyone should learn to budget even if you don't have much money (especially then)

This is NOT a magic trick solution. Just like everything else, it is an assistive tool. This is one of those adult things we can't simply opt out of without negative consequences, though.

My advice is based on something I am currently able to do. That is, I can spend an amount of money on this specific thing that works well for me. If you have no extra money to spend then previously I was tracking things in a notebook. So you can still do this.

I believe Dave Ramsey is a fundie fraud/hack and no one should listen to him about money.

DID YOU KNOW THEY CANCELLED MINT???

Okay? OKAY.

Ahem.

You Need a Budget is EXCELLENT.

It is called YNAB for short. The first 34 days are your free trial, and that is my referral link. If anyone uses it and then signs up for a subscription, we both get a month free. Also you can share a subscription with up to six people (account owner can see everything but individuals can pick and choose what they share amongst each other) so like...idk your whole polycule can be on one account. Or your kids. Whatever.

If you are a student, it's free for a year. If you aren't, a subscription is $99 for a year (paid all at once) or $14.99 monthly, which is equivalent to paying Amazon prime. Go cancel Prime and get this instead tbh.

They got a whole article just on ynab and ADHD. They also have like...a big variety of ways to access their info? They have a book, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, blog posts, q&A's, free live workshops you can join (you can request live captioning), emails they can send (if you want) a wiki, and so on. They got workshops on all kinds of topics!!

So whatever ends up working for your brain. It also has a matching app.

If you lost Mint this year they have a gajillion things for moving from Mint.

Also they have a "got five minutes?" Page which has a slider so you can decide how much attention/time you have before going on lol:

They only have 4 rules of the budget, they're simple and practical, and it doesn't get judgey or like...mean about your spending.

1. Give every dollar a job 2. Embrace your true expenses 3. Roll with the punches 4. Age your money.

THEN THEY BREAK THESE DOWN INTO SMALL STEPS FOR YOU! They even have a printable! Also these rules are great because there's built in expectations that things WILL HAPPEN and it's NOT all or nothing with a fear of total collapse into failure. Reality and The Plan don't always align, especially if you have ADHD. So it's directing our energy towards the true expenses and not clinging to The Plan!! over reality.

You can automate a lot of shit (you can sync with your bank accounts just like mint, but also automate tagging the categories of regular expenses/transactions). And if for whatever reason you accidentally do something that makes the budget look weird or wrong:

A) you can usually fix it somehow OR b) they have like, a button you can press that gives you a clean slate and archives the previous version of the budget for you.

So if you forget for a few weeks or months, or accidentally input something wildly wrong, or just don't want to look at a really terrible month anymore and feel like you need a fresh start you can usually either fix it or start fresh which is really nice.

The app also (for whatever reason) scratches my itch to have things like...have incentives or little game-like goals in a way mint never did? I don't know why. Filling up the bars or putting money into the categories to cover my expenses is satisfying lmao. You can also make a big wish expense category for all the fun shit you want, and fund it whenever you can and then you can see the little bar go up and that's fun.

Anyways I've been using it for like 6+ months now and I think it's really helped me when I use it.

[mirai-e-jump]

Animage April 2025 Issue ft. Fuyuno Mio Interview (translation below)

Publication: March 10, 2025

Aiming to become Number One

Tono Hoeru, an "outcast" with no family or friends, made a "ring contract" with the Giant God Tega Sword and became GozyuWolf, a red bodied wolf warrior. In order to become number one, Hoeru throws himself into fierce battles against the evil army Buraidan and Ring Warriors, who like himself, have signed contracts with Tega Sword.

"No.1 Sentai Gozyuger," the most recent production in the Super Sentai series, has been gaining a great deal of attention since it started airing in February, as one of its biggest appeals is that it features wildly unconventional characters. Beginning with Hoeru, who's a bad tempered and quick to pick fights kind of person, the five members who Engage (transform) into Gozyugers all have extremely strong personalities. Their competition won't be a straightforward one, as surprising developments will await them in each and every battle.

Unlike the other warriors, who are trying to collect all the Sentai Rings in order to make their dreams and wishes come true, Hoeru's aim is to find his true wish in the midst of battle. What will the battles against the Ring Warriors bring about for Hoeru? The "competition for the rings," which will seriously shake up the viewers emotions, has only just begun!

-Hoeru is a surprisingly cute guy?-

"What was your impression when you learned about the details of this production?"

Fuyuno: Its motif is that all the strongest animals have gathered, so I thought they were unconventional heroes. Hoeru is a wolf, with the other members being a lion, an eagle, and a tyrannosaurus, and while only the unicorn is a mythical creature, they're all motifs worthy of being the main characters, don't you think? Even the name "Number One Sentai" is extremely impactful and straightforward, and I felt that it sounded cool from the first time I heard it.

"Please tell us what you remember from the audition."

Fuyuno: I remember one of the judges at the final audition said to me, "Think of us as children and get us excited." I'm really bad at making things lively, in part because I'm shy, and it was difficult for me to become positive, but I summoned up all my courage and got through it. I remember talking with Rikuo's Hideharu-kun on my way home from the final audition. I was incredibly happy when I found out at our meeting that we had both been chosen.

"What kind of character do you consider Tono Hoeru to be?"

Fuyuno: Hoeru has a foul mouth and isn't very sociable, which tends to give off the impression that he's unapproachable, but he has a kind side to him, and I think he's a surprisingly cute character.

"What do you think is similar and different between you and Hoeru?"

Fuyuno: We may be mostly similar (laughs). I too am often told that I'm unfriendly when first meeting someone, and we share the same clumsy traits. In the episodes that'll soon air, there were moments that made me think, "Something like this has happened to me too," so it was very easy for me to put my feelings into my performance. Hoeru grows bean sprouts in his room, and there are many other scenes that show his high level of self sufficiency, meanwhile, I'm not good at doing housework, so I think that's where Hoeru and I are different.

"Please tell us what you think is important when acting."

Fuyuno: To bring out the humanity that Hoeru has, I'm careful trying to take in the atmosphere of the scene and react accordingly to everyone's performance. Also, Hoeru possesses the mental strength to stand up to strong opponents, even if they're in large groups. I also try to have false confidence in myself on a regular basis.

"How do you communicate with GozyuWolf's Suit Actor Asai Kosuke-san?"

Fuyuno: Asai-san and I will talk about the performance, but now we're also having conversations about private matters. His actions are really cool, and during post recording sessions, I'm conscious of the strength of my voice so that it matches the wild movements of Asai-san's performance.

"What's been your most memorable interaction with Main Director Tasaki Ryuta-san?"

Fuyuno: During script reading, Director Tasaki taught me that an actor must express their emotions into a cup, and to let those emotions out as if it were water overflowing. I was told that I have a big cup, and that I should always prepare my emotions before going to the set so that they can overflow properly. Also, he wrote the words "capture the nature of the role" in my notebook. That motivated me to read the script more carefully, and to focus my mind on understanding Hoeru's character as I play the role.

"How's the teamwork among all the cast members?"

Fuyuno: Everyone performs properly in front of the cameras, but outside of that, we have fun talking and occasionally go out to eat together, so I think our teamwork is really good. In the very beginning, I was trying really hard to talk with them, thinking that I had to keep up with the conversation, but they're all such nice people, that we quickly became close and developed a relationship where I could relax and be myself. Aside from the main members, my first time filming together with Aoi's Yuda Koki-kun was memorable. I felt so at ease when he rushed over to me saying, "Hoeru!" Thanks to the fact that I was able to perform with those emotions, I showed off a really relaxed expression, so I think the scene turned out to be a very good one.

"Finally, please tell us some future highlights."

Fuyuno: I hope that you'll pay attention to the human drama of each of the five members. Each and every one of them has something they've been through and are still struggling with, which will be revealed over time, so please look forward to it.