#old art is old but it was still a fun piece nonetheless

[cosmicraelum]

I just think they're neat

[guess-my-next-obsession]

Hey! I love your writing. Could I please request a fluff piece when Iris is till a baby and Joel is on dad duty? Idk just something really fluffy where he just enjoys being a dad and also Sarah helping?

Dad Duty

pairing: elementary!joel miller x f!reader

rating: F (no outbreak au, talks of diapers and poop because infants are a mess, elementary!joel being the best dad/husband in the world, talks of being drunk/alcohol consumption)

wc: <1k

a/n: sorry for the delayed wait on this, anon! i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless 🫶🏼

series masterlist | joel masterlist

“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” you asked, standing by the front door in a “going out” outfit for the first time since your daughter had been born six months ago. “I can cancel.”

Joel shook his head sternly as he and Sarah sat on the couch, Iris fast asleep in his arms.

“It’s your best friend’s birthday,” he said. “I won’t hear the end of it from her if she suspects you cancelled all because you don’t think I can handle a six-month old.”

“Of course I think you can handle it,” you said, offering him a sweet smile as you grabbed your purse. “I just feel guilty—“

“Baby,” he sighed, tilting his head at you. “Iris ain’t gonna remember you goin’ out one time when she was six months old.”

“I know, but—“

“No buts,” he said. “Get your fine ass out there, and take a couple shots for me while you’re at it.”

“Besides,” Sarah chimed in, pulling your eyes to hers. “I’m here as backup. Go have fun for once.”

Letting out a deep exhale, you nodded, agreeing to bury your guilt over leaving your daughter behind for the first time. “Fine. But if you need me—“

“Baby,” Joel chuckled. “We got it. Go get hammered.”

Walking over to him, you leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I love you.”

“Love you more,” he said, tilting your chin so that he could steal a quick peck on your lips, careful not to smudge your lipstick. “Go on now before they start honkin’ and wake baby girl up.”

“Alright,” you said, walking over to the door. “Sarah, don’t let your dad try to cook anything. I’d hate to come back to ashes.”

“Already on it.”

“Sarah!” Joel called from the upstairs nursery, Iris on the changing table in front of him making the biggest and grossest mess he’d ever encountered in his tenure as a father. “We got any more wipes?”

Sarah was already laughing when she walked in, carrying a new pack of wipes in hand before she witnessed the scene in front of her and started to gag.

“I’m never having a kid,” she said, covering her nose with her t-shirt.

“This ain’t the usual,” Joel said, shaking his head as he tried his best to clean up his very wiggly daughter. “Stay still, baby girl. It’s—Jesus, Iris. How’d it get in your hair?”

“I’m not even sure a bath will fix this,” Sarah said, looking disgusted. “I think we have to take her back and get a brand new baby.”

“Your mom would notice,” he said. “Otherwise, ain’t too bad an idea.”

After a thorough cleaning that left Joel scarred, Iris was set down in her activity chair down in the living room, her favorite nonsensical cartoon on while Sarah helped Joel cook some mac and cheese for dinner, her babbles filing the home.

“And to think she thought the house would catch on fire if I tried to cook,” he said, smiling at the thought of you.

“Well, in fairness it has almost happened before,” she said, earning an offended look from her father. “You don’t remember the fork in the microwave incident?”

“Shit,” he cursed, shaking his head. “You’re right. But in my defense, someone left it in my takeout box.”

“Yeah, you.” Joel chuckled, amused by her wit. “But to pad your stats, we can lie and say you made dinner tonight.”

“No, she’d expect me to start cookin’ then,” he said. “I may have pulled a miracle tonight, but my battin’ average ain’t great. Do you want to take the chance of house burnin’ down?”

“Good point.”

“Exactly. You’re takin’ the credit for this work of art.” Joel pointed at the pot of artificial cheese goodness. “How in the world am I hungry after cleaning up Iris’s shi—“

“Dad,” she winced. “I just got the image out of my mind.”

“If I gotta remember it, you do too, baby girl.”

It was midnight by the time you stumbled in, waving your best friend and her designated driver-slash-husband goodbye as you cracked the front door open before heading inside. To your surprise, Joel was still awake and rocking Iris to sleep in his arms, though judging by the heavy blink of his eyelids, he was barely hanging on.

“Hey baby,” he said with a smile as you stumbled your way over to the couch as quietly and gracefully as you could to sit down beside him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “How was it?”

“I’m drunk,” you confessed, your voice raspy from singing along to the club’s music. “And hungry.”

“Well, lucky for you, Sarah made dinner,” he said, standing up with Iris and setting her down in her rocker before holding his hand out for you. “Come on, you drunkard.”

“How were the girls?” you asked, clasping your hand in his as he guided you to the kitchen table to have a seat while he warmed up tonight’s leftovers.

“A piece of cake,” he said, shooting you a smile from over his shoulder. “Iris had one very messy diaper incident, but besides that, she was an angel. Just like her mom.”

“Hey, I won’t be having any messy diaper incidents for another fifty years or so,” you joked, earning another grin. “You gonna love me when I’m wearing a diaper?”

“Baby, I’m older than you,” he reminded. “If you’re wearin’ a diaper, so am I.”

“Oh, I can’t wait,” you mused with a wide, drunken grin. “You can save your payback for then, have Iris see how it feels.”

“I like the way you think, baby,” he chuckled. “But I love her too much to make her go through what I went through earlier. I think I’m gonna need therapy after that.”

You stood up, finding your way over to him to wrap your arms around his waist and hug his back, too in love with him not to touch him.

“Thank you for tonight. I didn’t know how much I needed it,” you said, humming as Joel’s hand lowered from the pot on the stove to run over your forearm wrapped around his middle. “How about next weekend I watch the girls so you can have a night out?”

“Maybe one of these days we’ll both get to go out,” he chuckled. “Until then, I’m good stayin’ at home with my girls.”

[hlvr-online]

Loading (New) Introduction...100%

Welcome, to Half Life VR Online, fellow player!

Hello players! This blog has been on hiatus for quite some time due to me (Mod John) and my partner, Mod Ben, being hyperfixated elsewhere. We still technically are- but since the big excitement about hlrvai 2's trailer has stirred up attention and my personal feelings regarding the fanbase i've decided to try and return to this blog. My partner won't be able to help me as much as when we started this blog due to various reasons, but i still consider this blog to be OUR blog nonetheless because i really valued making this AU together- so updates will be slow.

As a recap for what the AU and blog is about: As you can see, this is a Hlvrai Au ask blog run by two mods where you follow Gordon Freeman, a video game streamer who has recently bought a recreation of his long time favorite game, and old classic, Half Life, but now as an Full Virtual Reality MMO created by a dying game company. However, something bugs out and now Gordon finds himself rushing to win the game with his strange party of other players caught in this situation like him.

You are a watcher of his streams, and can interact with them and influence what he or his party does simply by sending in asks!

You must escape HLVRO! Hopefully, all in one piece...

I have also Updated the reference sheets for characters that are important as of right now to fit the current art style:

Fun Mod Note: You can ask the players to use their skills and they might actually do it!~

[stickbug-made-entirely-of-spite]

Hello friends! ^-^

Here's some more old art of mine, although it's fairy recent compared to other stuff I've made lol

I honestly find hands to be so much fun to draw, especially when they're the main focus of the piece :]

As it turns out, I did like this piece a lot more as a sketch, but I still like the way it turned out in the end so I'm not too mad about it ^-^

I doubt it'll come as a surprise to anyone when I say that the long nails were an afterthought, I personally think they turned out lookng pretty out of place :']

Nonetheless, I still really like this one! The hands turned out really well in my opinion, and I had a lot of fun making it which is all that matters ^-^

Boring stuff aside, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

Yours truly, Stickbug 🪲

[antihibikase-archive]

Blight / Blur : Gym Guides' Characterizations

Sequel to this post!

Gentleman Clyde ( Castelia / Aspertia ) - a middle-aged man who once traveled Unova seeking unique pieces of art; eventually enjoys the art of Pokemon battling itself, even if he can't battle himself. Overenthusiastic and kind of like an embarrassing grandpa, but he helps Cheren and Hilda run the newly opened Aspertia Gym. Was previously a museum curator for Burgh's old gym. Considered the "boss" of all the gym guides.

Waitress Tia ( Striaton ) - a family friend of the Striaton Triplets, who shows interest in helping them run the family business. She's older than them and has more experience, so she handles everything but the battles, including ensuring the food they put out is top-notch. She continues working in Striaton Restaurant even after it stops being a gym, and manages the battles between the triplets and their patrons.

Scientist Satomi ( Nacrene ) - an old student of Lenora's, who has taken to working in her museum to continue her studies- and eventually gets hired to be its guide. Was academic rivals with Fennel and Audrea during their college days, but has mellowed out since. She's often the one helping Bianca around the museum whenever she visits. She still continues to work there even after it stops being a gym.

Harlequin Jack ( Castelia ) - initially just one of Burgh's gym trainers, he replaces Clyde two years later after Clyde is assigned to help out Cheren in Aspertia. Kind of a "quirky" clown, with him being easily exasperated and more down-to-earth than his colleagues, even being somewhat terrified of Castelia Gym's new interior. Nonetheless, he shows promise and dedication to his new role.

Lady Colette ( Nimbasa ) - initially just a fan of Elesa's, and later becomes the Elesa fan of all time, being the one who runs her fanclub and has the biggest fan account for her. She insists on giving all gym challengers a tour of the old gym in the sequel. Her family actually owns the business that constructed both the old gym's rollercoaster and the Rondez View Ferris Wheel, and ponders about letting her family tear it down when its such an important part to Nimbasa's image.

Clerk Katie ( Driftveil ) - the sole office lady in the Drifveil Gym, she eventually decides to stop being a gym trainer after having way too many near-death accidents in its gym- but she finds it fun, so Clay just had her moved upstairs. Knowledgeable about all of Driftveil, and handles most of its affairs when Clay isn't around, which also includes regulating and keeping watch over the house that the old members of Team Plasma are living in.

Pilot Chase ( Mistralton ) - one of the pilots who works at Mistralton Airport, and considered Skyla's best gym trainer. Just a simple everyman who lives in Mistralton City with his family, but he's entrusted to conduct aerial patrols aboard his Unfezant from time to time. He convinces Skyla to change her gym challenge upon receiving way too many complaints about how dangerous it is- and tries to justify why the new gym's fans are much safer than the old one's canons.

Black Belt Thomas ( Icirrus ) - a pupil of Brycen, who says he comes all the way from the Fighting Dojo at Kanto. He's quite disappointed when Brycen retires, but is also surprised to find out his co-star is Sabrina, the gym leader who overtook Black Belt Koichi's gym. He spends his days living quietly in Icirrus, but often helps clean the entrance to Dragonspiral Tower; as well as keep trespassers out.

Veteran Kim and Veteran Ron ( Opelucid ) - a battle couple who were a pair of ace trainers in their youth; Kim decided she wanted to become stronger following her lost to N in BW, so she traveled the world while Ron stayed behind in Unova to take her place. Ron, comically, dislikes N as a result, but has nothing but respect for his wife's wishes. Rumors surround them, saying that they used to be a pair of crimestoppers in their youth.. though this isn't confirmed. Kim is more serious and focused, while Ron is more upbeat and silly.

Guitarist Billy Jo ( Virbank ) - a childhood friend of Roxie's, who she shares the dream of playing in a band with. She held onto their dream even when Roxie focused temporarily on her Pokemon journey, and helped her file for a gym in Virbank when the spot was opened. As she grew up with Roxie, she also grew up helping her raise Rosa, and knows both Nate and Hugh as a result. Admires Hilda.

Ace Trainer Santino (Humilau) - an ace trainer from Hoenn, who travels all over the world with his partner Walrein. He hasn't been in Unova for too long, but, coming from Hoenn, he knows about the seas and water-type Pokemon fairly well, making him perfect to be the gym's guide. He's pleasantly surprised to find a lot of Unova's league members (Cheren, Grimsley, Shauntal, Skyla, and Nate) are Hoennian like him. Unfortunately, he was also there during the whole Emerald plot in Hoenn, so seeing Team Plasma play around with the elements reminds him of home.

[mollish-art]

'Ello, me again lol

This time I'm after art tips because I really want to get better at art and yours is so amazing.

Awwww thank you so much!!

I've been drawing digitally ever since 2015, and am entirely self-taught. I never went to art school, and I learned most of the techniques that I use now just from watching hours and hours worth of speedpaints from my favorite artists while in high school!

With regards to things like anatomy and more fundamental stuff, I learned a lot by watching Aaron Blaise's tutorials. He sells them on his website and quite often does really good deals (I purchased a toooon of them for like $10 total during the pandemic). For those that don't know of his work, he is a professional artist and animator who has done a ton of stuff for Disney (he animated for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and directed Brother Bear!)

As for my own personal advice when it comes to improving art, I learned the most by drawing fanart. So, SO much fanart. In high school, I pretty much only drew dragons. The one exception was the little bit of Homestuck fanart I did - that was the one thing that pushed me to start practicing humanoids more often.

The best way to get better at art is simply to just do it A LOT. A LOOOOOT. And the best way to do a lot of art without hating the process? Find a piece of media you really like and draw fanart for it!

My fanart was shiiiiiiiiiiiiit for the first few years. Truly. But nonetheless, I still drew nearly every day, and posted almost all of it to my deviantArt account at the time. I got a ton of constructive critiques as well as encouragement from other artists at the time, and that really helped to keep me motivated!

As I got better, I started to branch out into doing commissions. Doing paid work really motivated me to take my time when drawing things that were outside of my comfort zone (like landscapes, for example), and I always put in a ton more effort and detail into my commissions than my personal work or fanart. It helped me to grow my skills a TON.

But yeah! I started out just by looking at the work of other artists I admired and took inspiration from their artstyles, then just drew a bunch of fanart, and, most importantly, KEPT GOING.

The worst thing you can do as an artist is to constantly compare yourself to others like it's some kind of competition, or to see someone's work and say "I'll never draw like that". All that does is de-motivate you. Instead, what I grew to start doing, is to compare my art where it is right now to my OWN art from previous months/years.

I have kept ALL of my old art up on my deviantArt page (yes, even that really bad Homestuck fanart from 2015) as a reminder of how far I've come, as well as a reminder to other aspiring artists that we all start somewhere. The most important thing is to just get started and to have fun with your work! Do art because you enjoy it. Draw cringy shit. Draw ship art. Draw your ancient sparkledog OC from 2012. Just do it! You'll be happier for it :)

[flashhwing]

❓Unusual OC Associations ❓

I was tagged by @ammoniteflesh (thank you!) and this looks like fun!

I'll tag @transprincecaspian @v-arbellanaris @vrokroa @villainanders @vowofemnity @fjorests-of-wildemount @glossolali @mollymauktealeef @marymauk (yeah i'm hitting the whole netherdeep party lemme snoop on ya pcs)

imma go overboard and do two dragon age ocs and one dnd pc

starting with

Juice

Seasoning: garlic

Weather: overcast

Colour: purple

Sky: when it's like full cloud cover but still somehow as bright as if it were sunny. just a bright white sky

Magic Power: pyrokinesis. or healing. depends on who/when you ask

House Plant: fern

Weapon: fire

Subject: math

Social Media: he's taking a break for his mental health :)

Make-up Product: e y e l i n e r

Candy: baklava

Fear: that his past cannot be justified

Ice cube shape: cube

Method of long distance travel: ideally? teleportation. realistically? walking. in a modern au? motorcycle

Art style:

Mythological creature: ghost

Piece of stationary: mechanical pencil, but like the fancy ones with the twist up eraser and the clicky bit on the side

3 emojis: 👻🔥🧃

Celestial body: moon

Fabian Tabris

Seasoning: lemongrass

Weather: sunny

Colour: green

Sky: the deep sky blue of a cloudless afternoon

Magic Power: poison

House Plant: roses (in a vase)

Weapon: daggers

Subject: science (specifically chemistry)

Social Media: he really should log off of twitter. he really should

Make-up Product: none (old, poorly thought out tattoos)

Candy: sour gummy worms

Fear: stagnating. boredom. loss of personal freedom

Ice cube shape: idk man whatever shape they come in!

Method of long distance travel: walking, unforch

Art style:

Mythological creature: griffon (i know, grey warden association, cheating, shhhhh)

Piece of stationary: classic no2 pencils

3 emojis: 🌹🔪💔

Celestial body: sun

Emmeline "Emmy" Cousland

Seasoning: black pepper

Weather: blizzard

Colour: grey-ish blue

Sky: a clear night sky, where the stars are nonetheless only partially visible due to nearby cities

Magic Power: blood magic

House Plant: i don't know much about house plants but something beautiful and leafy that requires a lot of upkeep

Weapon: magic (with daggers as a backup)

Subject: history

Social Media: she keeps a presence on all major social medias and somehow manages to not make a fool of herself on any of them (except for tumblr, which is made for fools)

Make-up Product: lipstick (dark)

Candy: york mint patties

Fear: being forgotten

Ice cube shape: spherical

Method of long distance travel: horseback

Art style:

Mythological creature: basilisk

Piece of stationary: fountain pen

3 emojis: 🍷🤫🐶

Celestial body: moon

[eddie-van-munson]

A Hell of a Goodbye (Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson) 

*With Vampire/Kas!Eddie* 

***********

Summary: After hunting Kas down, Steve sits with him as he dies. In a final attempt to taunt his killer, the vampire recalls some of Eddie's last memories.

Warnings: Angst, Mentions of Homophobia from Steve's Old Friends (Use of the Word f*g), Cursing, Spicy Kisses, Series Typical Violence/Wounds, Mentions of Blood, Character Death (Kas/Eddie).

A/N: This is an alternate version of Just a Pinch that I wrote for @spookyheadxeddie!! I didn’t originally plan on posting this bc I don’t write much for Steddie? But what the hell, It turned out pretty good. This is inspired by THIS piece of art by user "Beezzaz" on Instagram! Give them a follow!

***********

“Pretty-Boy Harrington…” 

Steve immediately lifted his gun, whipping around in search of the owner of the voice. The Upside Down floated around him like snow, obscuring his view through the trees. He startled at the sound of a branch falling behind him and quickly turned towards the sound, firing into the clearing. The voice laughed at the scene, sending a flash of anger through his chest. He called out, cheeks flushing red, “What, you’re just going to hide from me now? Come on out and get me, asshole! I’m ready!” 

Again the voice chuckled. It was weak this time, and Steve’s brow furrowed. “I’m right here, Stevie. Keep your shirt on.”

Steve turned again, his heart thudding painfully in his chest when finally caught sight of the voice’s owner. Eddie. Or, Kas, rather…but in the form of Eddie nonetheless. Those pretty brown curls were unmistakable. 

One of the worst things about Eddie's death was that Dustin saw what the bats did to him. As much as the kid would try to remember his friend as the loud, wild, fun person Eddie had been in life, it would be impossible to ever think of him again without immediately remembering the way Eddie had clinged to him weakly, choking on his own blood as his eyes slowly went empty…

That's why Steve had been so adamant about hunting Kas alone. Dustin had begged to come with him, and while Steve had no doubt in his mind that Dustin wanted vengeance just as much as he did, this thing could so easily play with a person's mind. 

This monster was using Eddie as a vessel. He looked like him. He sounded like him. He had access to Eddie's thoughts and memories. 

It was Steve's way of protecting Eddie's memory, perhaps…making Dustin stay behind. Even though the kid was smart enough to know this thing wasn't his friend anymore, some things couldn't be unseen. 

And seeing Kas now, Steve was glad he'd made him stay. 

Eddie's body was crumpled and beaten, slumped limply against one of the jagged boulders that sat just inside the mouth of Skull Rock. Steve felt an odd sense of pity when he saw the creature… Kas had come here to die. 

Kas laughed weakly, flashing his blood stained grin, as Steve lowered his gun. "You finally found me." He croaked as Steve walked over to him. "It's pretty rude of you, Harrington. I have to say. Making me wait around for you…Thank Christ you're finally here to finish me off."

Steve swallowed thickly, trying not to let his emotions get to him. He sat on the boulder beside Eddie's body. "Are you in pain?" 

Kas chuckled through a cough, cooing to him tauntingly. "Aw…King Steve still cares? That's sweet." 

Steve kept his face unbothered, knowing it was just trying to get under his skin. He trailed his eyes over Eddie's body. It'd been in bad shape before from the bats, but now it was nothing short of mangled. Steve felt a wave of guilt, knowing that he was the one who'd caused the majority of the damage. This isn't Eddie, he reminded himself. It's just his body. Eddie would want this thing dead, too.

"I care about Eddie. I don't…I don't want him to hurt." Steve's throat tightened. Why? Why was he getting choked up over this? 

Mischief split the vampire's face as he stared with red eyes, "Oh sweetheart...I am Eddie, now."

Steve gave a humorless laugh, shaking his head, "You're not Eddie." 

There was a long silence before Kas finally spoke again, "I didn't think you'd open the door, you know." 

Steve's blood ran cold when he realized what he meant. Nausea dripped into his stomach. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"When I knocked on your door. At the Wheelers." His eyes were starting to look heavy. "I didn't think you'd answer." 

Steve swallowed thickly, trying to keep his words steady. "Get out of his head." 

"I hadn't been kissed in so long." He grinned, "Could you tell? I felt like maybe I was too eager, you know? A little needy, maybe. But I just…" He shrugged. "I got excited." 

Steve's nose smarted. He hadn't let himself think about it since Eddie's death. 

He'd been exhausted. He was dirty and hungry and tired as he laid in the Wheeler's guest bed, but still, he couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he was faced with the possibility that the next day would be his last. 

Nancy and Robin shared a room down the hall. Eddie had taken Mike's room, even though he'd been too tall for the tiny twin mattress. Steve took the guest bed, which was fitted in the Wheeler's finest, and least comfortable, linens. 

When he'd first heard the knock, he'd figured it was Nancy. He was so tired that he almost didn't bother to answer it. Needless to say, he hadn't expected to find Eddie on the other side, looking unusually small in one of Ted Wheeler's old sleep shirts. His hair was pulled back, and he was fidgeting with the tie of his pajama pants, nervously. 

Steve didn't say anything. He knew what was wrong by looking at the stiffness of Eddie's muscles, alone. He was scared too.

They sat side by side on the edge of the bed for a long time, whispering back and forth with sleepy eyes. 

"Harrington?" Eddie hummed, laying back on the bed. Steve followed suit, tucking a pillow under his head, and hummed in response. Eddie went silent for a minute, "Do you like boys?" 

Steve's ears were hot and pink as he stuttered, his brain fighting for an answer. Oh god. Oh god this is embarrassing. Finally he sighed, covering his face in his hands. "I dont know."

He waited for Eddie to laugh. To tease him or call him a fag the way Carol or Tommy might have. But he only felt the bed shift as Eddie propped himself up on his elbow beside him. Gentle fingers wrapped around Steve's wrist, guiding his hands away from his eyes. Eddie smiled at him reassuringly. "I do." 

"Y-You what?" Steve's voice was soft now, as he tried not to get lost in those big brown eyes.

"I like boys." 

Steve's cheeks went red. Eddie wouldn't have been surprised if his friend was blushing all the way down to his belly, now.  "You do?" 

Eddie nodded. His rough hand reached forward slowly, grazing Steve's jaw with his thumb. "You wanna find out if you do too?"

His eyes fell to Steve's lips for a moment, and Steve had to wonder if his heartbeat was audible, at this point.

He hadn't ever thought about what it would be like to kiss Eddie Munson. Well, maybe he had, because he definitely hadn't expected his lips to be so soft. 

Steve had kissed girls hundreds of times, but never in his life had he ever been kissed. He hadn't known there was a difference until right then. Timidly, his hands laced in Eddie's curls, drawing a groan from deep in his friend's chest. Eddie's hand snuck beneath Steve's shirt, squeezing his bare hip once before moving trailing down to pull one of his thighs over his waist. He moaned softly in response, and a low whine escaped the back of Eddie's throat. "Fuck…"

Maybe it was the fact that neither of them knew if they'd live another day. Maybe this had been building for a long time. Either way, it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to Steve in that moment was that Eddie tasted like cigarettes and candy, and his hands were warm when they were snaked beneath the back of his shirt. 

"Stevie…" Eddie grinned against him, nipping gently at his lower lip. "I think you like boys." 

He woke up the next morning to the feeling of Eddie's curls tickling the crook of his neck, his soft breaths fanning against his Adam's Apple.

The marks from Steve's kisses were still painted on his skin when he died the next day. They were visible even now as he sat beside the body of his friend. 

"Do you regret it?" Kas spoke, fading quickly. "What we did?" 

"No." Steve sighed, putting his gun away before he stood, brushing off his jeans. "I regret that we didn't do it sooner..." 

He pulled his vest more snuggly around him as he started back through the woods. That thing would be dead before long. Steve knew it. He didn't want to watch it happen. 

"Steve?" The voice was weak now as it called out to him. 

Steve bit his lower lip, "Yeah? What is it?" 

Kas took a labored breath. "I wish it…I wish it could've lasted longer, you know?" He choked, blood trickling down his cheek from the corner of his mouth.  

Steve nodded, "Me too." 

"I'll tell you what though, Stevie…" The creature grinned, flashing his fangs one last time before it finally succumbed. "It was a hell of goodbye." 

***********

@solgaleo-in-pisces

@eddielives1986

@steeldaisies

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

tagged by @howdydowdy (thankss!!! <3)

fave colour: green

currently reading: don't actually have a currently reading so I'm gonna do 'last book' instead lol: persuasion by jane austen! I started it at the beginning of the year, stopped reading it, and then picked it back up a few weeks ago pfft... really enjoyed it though!

last song: according to spotify it was moonlight by seohyun lol though over the last couple days I've mostly been listening to muse's new album lol

last series: I think it was stranger things season 4 vol 2??? I honestly haven't watched a lot of series recently, mainly been watching films... speaking of films...

last movie: see how they run (watched it at my local cinema a few days ago) it was alright, definitely not as a good as the trailer suggested but still fun nonetheless lol

currently working on: in terms of art I'm still desperately trying to piece together a big artwork reflecting the last 2 years of my life but... I'm struggling lol (which feels strangely fitting given that has been my perpetual mood for the 2 years pfft...) in terms of writing though I'm still working on my gay fantasy story, and also trying to think of a cool premise for a short horror story??? idk, I feel like simultaneously my brain has too much and too little in it all at once pfft...

share 10 different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order, then tag 10 people 🎥🎬📺

• merlin (from merlin)

• jim jimenez (from our flag means death)

• meng yao (from the untamed)

• martha jones (from doctor who)

• castiel (from supernatural)

• yusuf al-kaysani (from the old guard)

• anne elliot (from persuasion (the BOOK VERSION!!))

• nadia vulvokov (from russian doll)

• porsche pachara kittisawat (from kinnporsche)

• robin buckley (from stranger things)

tagging (yes I'm actually tagging people whaaaat????)

@abnerskrill @zelvuska @sylvasa @dollopheadsandclotpoles @micamicster @asimplestrawberry @reddoll123 @platypusplayhere @all-or-nothing-baby @snackles-and-plaidalecki (no pressure to do this btw lol also anyone I haven't tagged, feel free to do this if you see it & just say I tagged you lol...)

[actionsurges]

2 4 42 69 for dnd questions

thank you!! gunna do this with my dread domain pcs : )

Do they consider themselves an optimist? Pessimist? Realist? What are they like in actuality?

OPHELIA isn't really quite sure what she considers herself. She tries very hard to be a pessimist / realist but really at the core, she's an optimist and that's why it hurts so much to live in barovia where any hope gets repeatedly crushed. it's hard to live with hope and a tender heart.

ARTORIAS is an realist leaning optimist. he thinks things can get better, but he knows that his situation is dire and that it will take a lot of luck, a lot of work, and a lot of numbers to really start making a difference.

If your character was a work of art, how would you describe them?

OPHELIA is a watercolor painting. The paint bleeds and blurs outside of the lines, and it's messy. But that's part of what makes it beautiful.

ARTORIAS is an old bronze heroic statue dug up from under layers of rumble. There are scratches and dents, but he's still in one piece.

Is there something your character isn’t very good at, but enjoys doing nonetheless?

OPHELIA was like. alright at cooking, but then she became a vampire and part of my particular brand of flavor for her being a vampire is that the primary reason she doesn't eat regular people food is a) no nutritional value and b) it just tastes like nothing. it's completely bland. she can still taste extreme sweet/spice/sour (she loves chocolates & grandma candies and spicy foods lol even if it provides nothing to fueling her body). so. she can't really taste food anymore for the most part. but she wants to be a lesbian malewife So Badly and i know for a fact that she def tries to cook post-campaign for luce and ireena and one of them HAS to be in the kitchen taste testing as she goes bc it will either be way too bland or way too intense. she's got the technical skill sort of but she's lacking a critical component 😭

ARTORIAS is bad at like, having social fun. He has a hard time relaxing in general and can do like, quiet personal relaxation but has a hard time with just hanging out in a group or being silly or dancing. which i think he could stand to learn and to be honest, a lot of the people around him also need that little bit of lightheartedness in their lives.

Journey or Destination?

OPHELIA values the destination. The journey and the act of change is really important to her but she's always wanted just a quiet peaceful life with people she loves, and she craves that sense of home.

ARTORIAS i think is also a destination kind of guy but solely in the way of he's got so many aspirations and so much he is working towards that he's not going to be satisfied until he gets there.

[gamebunny-advance]

Grab Bag Doodles

I haven't been doodling too much lately. Mostly everything I've drawn I've finished or it's a part of a bigger project that I don't want to post. So... yeah. Kinda had to scramble for some stuff, but nonetheless I hope you'll enjoy me rambling for a bit.

1) Kun3h0 Head Logo. I made this an alternate graphic to take the place of the word logo if need be. I think it's pretty cute.

2-3) Kun3h0 Doodles. She takin' a sippy. Yeah, I kinda wrote myself into a corner saying that Kun3h0's mouth is a screen (to explain why it's white when she opens her mouth), but I'm gonna say it just slides out of the way when she needs to refill her coolant tanks or otherwise needs to access the inside of her head.

4-5) Nekoko Base Tests. So one project I was working on was preparing a new base for HONK because the Yomi project is just not working out for me. I chose an old OC, Nekoko, for the test because she's one of the only OCs I have that kinda suits the "traditional" anime character mold. But I dunno how far I'm gonna take this because I started questioning what the utility of a blank PNGtuber base even is. If you're already capable of drawing, which you need to be able to do to use the base, then there is zero reason to use the base XP. The only way I can see this being actually useful is if I add a bunch of premade parts to it and essentially turn it into a character creator, which is a lot of work. I dunno, maybe I'll still put it together, but I do honestly believe that this has been a futile project from the very beginning.

6) I'm Your Number 1 Fan, Sketch. The original sketch for that piece. It was supposed to be slightly animated and a little more sinister in nature, with all the artists getting crossed off one-by-one and the background getting a little darker every time. I think it's still a cool idea, but a lack of thumbnailing really bit me in the butt: Kliff's pose was already locked in, but by the time I started adding all the artist portraits, I realized that his hand was gonna get covered, so it became way too busy in that area, so I just replaced the idea with the Kliff emojis. Maybe I'll come back to this idea thematically, though.

7) The Troll Slaiyers. Some stupid ass bullshit that I'm probably not gonna finish because I just cannot bring myself to put serious effort into memes. All the portrait art is traced from in-game talksprites. None of the colors are color picked to give it a shittier quality.

8) ???. Hey, for making it this far, here's a secret sketch! No, the image isn't broken, I pixelated it on purpose because it's a part of a "secret" project. Well, it's not my secret, and I'm not even sure if it's supposed to be a secret (I guess I could have just asked XP), but this character belongs to someone else, and I don't want to post anything about it until it becomes public. Originally, it started as a potential test for the PNGtuber base I was working on. I did several different characters to see how well the proportions translated to characters of other styles. I even did a Kun3h0 test, but she seems weird without her really long legs XP. Anyway, I did this one because their proportions are a little more different (having shorter limbs and a very different head shape) and I just started sketching more ideas for it because I think they're a very fun character. Hopefully that project will become public someday, so I can share more of the art and doodles I've done for it, but till then, I guess this is okay.

[stardewjournal]

Today in “I should stop procrastinating and making some time for this project”... Some development ! I didn’t release Willy in the previous update because I wanted to make the lily-thingie on his head, but I was thoroughly unhappy with the results. But it was still way too simple, so I ended up making him barefoot. 

Next up I decided to go to the simpler edits instead of going for the romance candidates. First I went for the old mariner and decided to make him a cecaelia. Not only that, but to be roughly similar to the mermaid we see in the show during the Night Market and Ginger Island on rainy days. At first, I tried to make her a little pirate-like but it didn’t look so nice, so I just had her with a slit-cut long skirt to “hide” the tentacles. I actually managed to change the lines so she wouldn’t be called “old mariner” or have an accent. The lines might still change but I’m roughly happy.

And lastly, Mr Q. I had two ideas: either for him to draw inspiration from the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland or a mysterious man in a kitsune mask. I went for the later, I’m still working in the art for the portrait. I also gave him hakama and hair to make him more visually interesting.

I also decided to toy with the bastet Maru for shits and giggles. Because of the limitations I need to be very careful of how I use my space. It was a fun exercise nonetheless. If I’d develop it, the later would have paws for hands instead, kind like of Felicia from Darkstalkers although the former concept was also fun to toy with.

I’m still going for a cyborg idea. I want to make a head piece roughly like Demi from Phantasy Star IV with a visor similar to the cyborgs from Disgaea.I might also use the general gist of the latter for the body too.

[alligator-dreaming]

06-15-2023: Where Do I Begin

Had a very surreal dream. A redux I had of one from long ago

I was in a museum with two other people, an Angry Woman and Another Man. We were here for an exhibition. I wandered off to look at one section with the Angry Woman. The halls were so big and full of art. Everywhere you turned there was another section of the museum, enormous halls hidden in impossible places

I looked at a painting and was overcome with embarrassment, remembering that the last time I had come to this place with these people I had made moves on the Angry Woman, who hadn’t taken kindly to it. We moved on to a giant art piece that covered an entire wing. On the walls were factoids about the Cold War. Fifties-style mannequins slid across the floor in constant motion, but despite being on rails they always homed in on us

The Angry Woman was aloof and moving quickly. It was obvious she wanted to ditch me, but I was freaked out by this place and didn’t want to go alone. Nonetheless, we were separated. I wandered, and the museum shifted to a hotel, tall ceilings, chandeliers and soft lighting.

I was looking for more art and spotted something at the top of a spiral staircase on a small balcony section. It was a decorative coffee table, and as soon as I saw it I heard a sing-song voice from afar. I climbed the stairs to the balcony and inspected the table. The voice got closer, and soon I could see that it was the voice of the hotel’s owner. There was something weird about his head, like it was low-poly or something.

With his sing-song voice, he told me that the balcony section was strictly off-limits because his wife (the coffee table) lived up there. He talked in a very old-timey 1800s kind of way. He pulled out a shotgun and shot me through the hand, still talking in that old-timey musical voice. I finally was able to get back down without being shot again by smashing a chair from upstairs over his head.

I continued on through the hotel searching for more art. I found it. The next “exhibit” was through a set of doors not far from the balcony. It was two old men sitting across from each other and arguing. When I came in, they looked up and began talking over each other to me. One of the men’s names was Hieronymous. The Angry Woman and the Another Man rejoined me, but they started talking over each other too. The Angry Woman said she ordered a shirt in the mail, but what she got was a footrest. Nobody was coherent. It was a flood of sound and it was too much and I had a panic attack

The Angry Woman saw that I was freaking out and was ticked off. She said if it was too hard to understand, then say so. I told Hieronymous that I would listen to him after listening to the other old man first, and he was disappointed but quieted down. While listening to the other Old Man’s story, a hooded figure ran at me and attacked me with a sickle. I blocked their attack with a copy of the footrest the Angry Woman got in the mail and drove them away, having disarmed them.

As the conversation rattled on, the Angry Woman walked away. As she continued down the passage away from us, she ended up on a beach at dusk. It was quiet. Soft music played from somewhere. The Angry Woman turned around and saw another woman sitting between the sand and the sea. She was The Ocean. They began to talk about why the Angry Woman was angry in a place like this. The Angry Woman said it was smelly on the beach, and the Ocean said something about the multitudes hidden out of sight under the sand, that the ocean, with millions of years, revealed to the world

At this point I woke up, but I was so tired that I drifted off again and the dream didn’t end. Now it was from the Angry Woman’s past, when she visited the mall with her mother.

They parked on the green section. The Angry Woman (the Angry Girl, I guess) wandered away from her mother to have fun at the mall, but when she was done her mom didn’t come to pick her up. She waited for an hour and her mother didn’t come

She heard a call on the mall PA system that there had been an accident in the green section of the parking lot. She ran past a Chinese food truck and saw an ambulance. Her mother had been hit by a car and declared dead on site. She ran up to the paramedics zipping her mom in a body bag. The ambulance driver turned to her and said, with the weariest voice I ever heard, “What’re you doing here, kid?”

She watched as they took her dead mother away. The food truck began dumping duck sauce into the street in that Wes Anderson way where the world will continue to be strange even in times of personal tragedy

Then I woke up with El Sonidito stuck in my head

[otterpopyt]

Heck I'm doing my own art challenge but I'll do a monthly challenge of just posting old art! Especially since I know there's still a bunch for me to share here.

So here's Repostober #1. My very first Patreon commission is still one of my favorites to this day. Such a fun piece to put together, and partially completed via livestream nonetheless!

[discover-czechia]

Prague: The City of 100 Spires

Looking at the photo, it’s easy to see why Prague has been affectionately nicknamed “The City of 100 Spires.” However, the name does have actual origins. I couldn’t find an exact date which is lame, but the internet tells me that at the beginning of the 19th century Bernardo Bolzano, an incredibly influential mathematician, counted 103 towers in Prague, which earned the town its nickname, in native Czech, “stověžatá’ (google translate will tell you it means centipede, but doing a little digging will show you it’s a shorthand for the hundred spire city). Recent counts (including all steeples and towers, everything spire-esc) put counts well over 500, but the name stuck, and the skyline is gorgeous nonetheless.

Cool Monuments

Just gonna touch on each one briefly -

Astronomical clock

The astronomical clock was built in 1410 in Prague on the front side of the Old Town Hall tower. 

Genius clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň built the clock with a fully functioning (though not fully mechnized, pieces were still manual at the time) astrolabe. Small adjustments were made over the years, In 1490 the calendar plate was added, and in 1566 the clock was fully mechanized. Over the next several hundred years the astronomical clock would see several different states of disrepair as the country underwent all kinds of changes, but in recent history (21st century), the clock has been repaired and maintained to be the beauty you see below

Charles Bridge

This bridge crosses the Vltava in Prague and connects Old Town with Lesser Town. It was built in 1357, to replace another bridge that had collapsed during a flood.

Old Town

Old Town is a popular tourist “must-do” while in Prague. There’s good reason for this as it holds some really neat sights, such as the astronomical clock which sits in Old Town Square

In the above photo you can also see the Church of our Lady Before Tyn, which is a beautiful building, like much of Prague

The so-called Powder Tower, which is a tall, gothic-style building that was used to store gunpowder.

Museums in Prague

First up, I’ll highlight the National Museum (Národní muzeum) which is the largest museum in Czechia. The museum was built to serve several functions - both educational and scientific. The museum is currently divided into five sections:

Museum of Natural History

Museum of History

Czech Museum of Music

Thimble Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures

Library of National Museum

But beyond that, the museum offers rotating exhibits, and much more.

Next is the Museum of Communism, which, according to its website “provides a suggestive view of the following aspects of life in Communist-era Czechoslovakia: daily life, politics, history, sports, economics, education, art (specifically Socialist Realism), propaganda in the media, the People’s Militias, the army, the police (including the secret police, the StB), censorship, and courts and other institutes of repression, including show trials and political labor camps during the Stalinist era. It focuses in particular on the totalitarian regime that ruled the country from the February putsch in 1948 until the Velvet Revolution in 1989”. As far as I could tell, the museum is held in fairly high regard. I even did some poking around on reddit, and no one seemed to have too many major complaints, more questions. The museum is owned by an American businessman, so take that as you will. Either way, here’s a picture

Last but certainly not least, I found a museum, it calls itself small - but I’m not convinced. The so-called Hygiene Museum is in Prague, as the section header would suggest, and is home to about 2,000 different types of toilets. This includes chamber pots, toilet seats, bowls, pots of all shapes and sizes, you have full toilets, and even just some straight up chairs. I’ll attach a couple pictures below, trust me, it’s worth it

Fun facts

There are many fun facts to choose from. Like a lot. A weird amount. But here are a couple of selections I made:

Prague is a hot-spot for filming movies

Due mostly to how drop-dead gorgeous it is, Prague has been a choice location for many big name movies. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s relatively cheap to shoot there, as the production costs appear to be at least equal to, if not less than a lot of the other major European cities (it helps that Prague can pass for a lot of those cities too). The government appears to generally support filming, and these combined factors mean there are lots of skilled and experienced crew people just waiting for their next job. Some of the films shot in Prague that you may recognize are

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Casino Royale (2006)

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Mozart in Prague

In the mid-1780s, Vienna had given Mozart a lukewarm reaction at best, and so in early 1787, he traveled to Prague where he had aristocratic friends and a much more receptive crowd. On this first visit to Prague, he was treated like a celebrity, and his music received high praise. He would leave the city only to return later that same year, where he would have the first showing of his opera Don Giovanni, which would do incredibly well.

Everyone’s Favourite Vocab Word: Defenestration

On May 23, 1618, two Bohemian imperial officials by the name of William Slavata and Jaroslav Martinic (and their secretary) were thrown out the windows out of a council room. As with many conflicts in this time, religion was the cause, as the Catholics were making decisions that the Protestants were not happy with, hence the uprising and defenestration. This would end up being one of the catalysts for the 30s years war, though none of the three pushed from the window suffered more than minor injuries.

As a side note this was actually the second defenestration of Prague, the first happened in 1419, the second is just more widely known.

[favoniuscodex]

can we have the birthday boy being presented w a cake

pairing: childe x gn!reader

a/n: this one is for the biggest childe simp i know... @kaeya-kisser

----------

"did you like dinner?" you ask sheepishly as you and childe clean up the dishes left over from the previous meal. childe glances over at you almost incredulously, as if he's shocked by such a question. it's your first time celebrating your lover's birthday with him as he had spent the last one in the middle of snezhnaya and you worried as to how to make it a "fun" experience, especially without his friends or family to assist in your little celebration.

"of course i liked dinner," childe says, nearly dumbfounded by your question. "you went to the effort of learning a traditional snezhnayan dish. i can already hear my mom telling me to marry you."

"oh," you say, feeling warmth rise to your face as you look away from him. the fact that childe is able to say such things so casually never fails to leave your heart racing. your lover lets out a chuckle at your embarrassed expression and gently reaches over to place a kiss to your temple.

"there's one more present," you say and childe's expression lights up, eyes widening slightly.

"you've already spoiled me so much," he whines playfully. "i'm beginning to think that you're the best present of all."

you dry your hands on the dish towel next to the two of you as he speaks, all while briefly considering throwing the piece of cloth at him for such charming words. childe understands that sweet affections are difficult for you to convey, but the way he's able to just... croon all of his with ease never fails to leave you a flustered mess (and the asshole knows this, never failing to take advantage of it.)

you let out a hum at his words. "of course i'm the best present of all, i'm me," you huff petulantly, but the sly smirk on childe's face lets you know that he can see directly through your false bravado. you ignore his cocky grin and move to the fridge before pulling out the last surprise you have left for him: a birthday cake. the cake is covered in blue buttercream frosting. in a darker shade of blue and grey rests a nice image of a narwhal on top, wearing a red and pink party hat.

you hadn't trusted yourself to do such nice frosting art by yourself, so you turned to the local liyuean bakers, who were more than happy to bake the cake with the amount of mora you nearly threw at them in return. as you turn to face childe, holding the cake carefully in your hands, you watch as his expression lights up at the sight of the cake before a wholehearted grin appears on his face at the sight of the decorations on top.

"put the cake down," he says urgently, causing you to look at him with confusion. nonetheless, you heed his orders, setting the cake carefully on the table next to you. the second it is out of your hands, you feel childe's strong arms wrap around you in a nearly bone crushing hug. before you can giggle at his actions, childe leans in even closer and presses his lips against yours. the kiss is rather harsh as his mouth explores yours almost desperately. the harbinger holds you close and, as his hands begin to roam, you realize it’s up to you to break the kiss before childe forgets about the cake.

childe looks at you with flush cheeks and a pout, doing his best to give you pleasing eyes. however, you don’t give in, instead brushing him off with a light smirk.

“i have to sing you happy birthday!” you exclaim, pulling away to find some birthday candles in the cabinet. childe reluctantly lets you go, yet he can’t bring himself to pout as you stick three candles in the cake and light them.

“i’m turning three?” he jokes, only for you to nod in response.

“yup! my favorite three-year-old and his little narwhal cake,” you tease, only for the wholly adult harbinger to look at you with narrowed eyes.

“hey,” childe huffs defiantly. “narwhals are cool.”

“yeah, duh. i’m not gonna let a dumb animal be on your birthday cake.” you agree with a roll of your eyes. childe laughs softly at your dramatic expression and you clear your throat.

“it’s time for me to sing you happy birthday. laugh at me and i’ll destroy you.” you say, giving him the single warning. however, childe’s eyes light up at the glint of a challenge.

“oh? i wasn’t planning on laughing, but if that means you’ll spar with me...” he begins, glancing at you expectantly.

“no, i’ll just shove your pretty face in the cake,” you grumble, only for childe’s eyebrows to raise.

“oh, you think i’m pretty?” he teases, only for you to look at him blankly.

“sure,” you say and the harbinger feigns indignation at your words. “anyways, here we go. happy birthday to you...”

as you hum the soft tune, childe looks at you with the most awestruck expression and, as soon as you finish, the man peppers kisses all along the side of your face.

“you’re so cute!” childe coos as he feels the flaming heat of your flustered face beneath his lips. “even cuter than mr. narwhal!”

“yeah, yeah. anyways,” you say, changing the subject despite childe’s arms still lingering. “it’s time to cut mr. narwhal open and serve the cake.”

childe’s expression drops and you lean over and press a kiss to his cheek.

“happy birthday, childe!” you say with a giggle as childe stares at the narwhal cake decoration with sad eyes. eh, maybe he’ll get over the destruction and consumption of his new friend by the time his next birthday rolls around... hopefully.