#online classes r always so fun

[dramatic-dolphin]

things my laptop hates: microsoft teams, google drive

things i have to use for schoolwork a lot: microsoft teams, google drive

[astrxealis]

went out w friends today super duper fun i'm really happy but anyway just on here to say it's my break now so i'll be a bit more active i hope, it's my bday soon too, and i got asked my gender today which was p cool 😙🥺💗✨

[natewriteslol]

Creepy Crawlers

Summary: You and your college roommates decided to play a fun game of ouiji board. But what do you do when the devil wishes to make a deal for freedom? Will you be able to reach ends meet and be free from this malignant spirit, or will you be forced to join him amongst the ranks in hell?

Demon!Cater x Reader

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: talk of demons, pain, horror themes

It was a hazy Friday afternoon and you were head over heels excited to head to your apartment after a long day of work. Your roommate, Vil had just finished his classes at his university and you had gotten off of work from the coffee shop. You were both waiting for Kalim to head home from his mother’s house. She always got lonely when her son was gone for too long, so he had been gone for about 3 days, spending quality time with his mother. 

Mesmerized by your phone, you finally snapped out of the trance once you heard the familiar knocking pattern from Kalim, you and Vil welcomed him back home as he energetically started catching you guys up on what he was up too back in his home country. You both had aided in assisting him with all of the baked goods and gifts that he was given by his family. But once he got to unpacking different trinkets his mother gave to him, Kalim had brought out some sort of board? 

You and Vil had glanced at one another before breaking the ice.

“Uh...Kalim, what is that?” your blonde roommate inquired, pointing at the box. It was a deep wine red, with black, bold letters in a slightly curled font.

‘Ouija, Mystifying Oracle: Look into the Unknown for your Answers or Desires.’

You grew anxious, you didn’t know too much about ouija boards, but you sure knew enough to not mess around with them. 

“C’mon guys, why not just try it out? You’re telling me when you were kids you didn’t play around with stuff like this?” Kalim asked, excitedly taking the board out of the box onto your apartment floor. He found the directions, attempting to read the letters that were enscribed in ink on the paper, but they were far too faded to even be legible.

“You have completely different ideas of fun from Y/N and I,” Vil retorted, looking completely turned off from even glancing at the board. Yet as Kalim messed with the board, it caught more of his attention, keeping an eye on the object and not saying a word. Which in the blink of an eye, Vil had negated the dangers of the board by continuing on with, “But... I’m no chicken, I’ll play. What about you, Y/N?”

You felt immense pressure as you couldn’t fumble this. Your two roommates who you're on the brink of reaching friend status want to play a game, you can’t just leave them in the dust and be the one odd one out from a possible bonding experience.

You gave a quick nod and that was all they needed to proceed with the game.

They laid out the ouija board flat on the ground, rubbing off the dust from the red board. It was no cheap looking ouija board you get from Toys R. Us, you observed that from the black letters engraved on the red board with all the letters of the alphabet. Of course the wooden planchet followed the theme as well, a dark red with a petite glass bulb in the middle. 

"I can’t find this thing anywhere on the web” Vil inquired as he scrolled on his phone, scratching his head looking for directions online. 

“Yeah, but that’s what makes this one more unique!” Kalim cheered, excited to start playing, his palms on each side of the board as he talked to the princely blonde in front of him.

It was strange, they almost seem entranced by this game, it wasn't complete obsession but it was certaintly out of the ordinary for both of them. Kalim always was afraid of horror, wanting you to turn off movies when he was in your company and Vil would never make a decision this "stupid". The look in their eyes was just odd, they couldn't rip their eyes away from this thing...

And soon enough, neither would you as soon as your eyes laid on this board you were transfixed on playing.

You laid your fingers on the board, unfortunately becoming the leader for this session after drawing straws with your two roommates. 

“Go on, ask some questions,” Kalim urged with a smile, adjusting his fingers on the board.

“Uhm, what’s your name?” You questioned, awaiting for the chip to start sliding. The letters started moving, making all three of you freak out, you couldn’t tell if they were playing some type of trick on you but you felt extremely afraid regardless. 

C.

D.

“CD?” you asked, confused on what type of name that would be. 

“Maybe, it’s the initials? ,” Vil suggested, staring at the board, trying to gauge some form of sense from it. 

“Whatever, just keep asking questions,” Kalim said, trying to get some more fun energy flowing, which had always been something he excelled at. 

“Okay, let’s ask something only we would know. What is Kalim’s favorite color?”

G.

R.

A.

Y.

“Listen, if you guys want to play a bit on me that’s cool, but I kinda wanted to see if it would work by itself,” Kalim pouted, looking disappointed in you both. 

“Kalim, I thought your favorite color was light blue?” Vil asked quirking up an eyebrow, as they had this conversation only two weeks ago. 

“Yeah but…I changed my mind only a couple of days ago…” Kalim answered, he had never told anyone about his change in opinion. 

“Okay, I guess than put something down only you would know, not anyone else '' Vil suggested, and both of you complied. 

“What is the color of the bag under my bed?”

“Which customer always orders the frappe, carmel drizzle on the side, cinnamon sprinkle on top, with an espresso pump?”

“What did my art teacher assign for homework last night?”

Black striped.

Mrs. Han.

Essay. Da Vinci. 

“No fucking way, are you sure you guys aren’t playing a prank on me? Y/N, I put that bag under my bed two days ago. Did you go snooping?” 

“Vil, I’ve been too tired from work to go and look at what's under your bed. I haven’t set a foot in there since last week when I told you to vacuum,” you answered, completely honest with your hands by your head in defense, almost offended at such accusations.

“I’m the only one besides you who has a good memory, but there’s no way I could remember all that shit. I-I only remember events, not orders,” Kalim said, his voice wavering.

“You weren’t even home to talk about what homework you had assigned last night," Vil looked, a tone of disbelief and shock lining his voice.

It all seemed too real, so you decided to ask something you had never told anyone except for your family. The reason why you even moved from your old complex. 

“Mrs. Jameson...she died, what was her room number?”

1.

2.

3.

All of a sudden, the vintage alarm clock that sat on the quaint stand near your couch struck 12:30am. So did the grandfather clock Kalim thrifted ages ago, both of which you didn’t even know could make noise. 

You both rushed to turn it off so you wouldn’t disrupt anyone in the complex since it was already close to 1 am, the rancorous groan echoed through your apartment, completely snapping you two out of your trance.

You finally pulled the lever on the side that silenced elderly clock. But your peace did not last for long, you soon heard a heavy crash. Sounding as though all of your windows had broken and all the glasses in your cabinets had descended on your kitchen floor. All three of you picked yourselves off of the floor rushing to the kitchen, only to see absolutely nothing. 

You had all attempted to locate a source of the noise, this whole event made you so irritated and frightened that you couldn't pin point a source as to who or what was causing this torment. It couldn't be that this phantom was real, that shit only happens in movies after all.

Except as you searched throughout the room, your eyes noticed something on the ground. The paper was worn out parchment with vermillion ink reading the numbers 123. 

Freaked out from this "coincidence", you quickly dropped it on the floor, the paper then slowly started to singe, becoming only a small particles of black on the ground right before all of you. 

You didn't stick around for long and neither did the two boys, as you all knew you had to get out of this house for if you had stayed who knows what would happen to the three of you.

Which lead you to the nearest burger joint to discuss plans, and possibly how to fix this at 2am. Kalim took responsibility for paying for a baptism from a priest, while Vil pointed out the mistakes your group had made over burgers, nuggets and fries even though he too had participated.

Once the baptism had commenced a couple of days later, Kalim and Vil felt as though the weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. The weird happenings like open cabinets, broken dishes, your computer turning on by itself, the lights flickering on and off had completely stopped.

There was no more evil in your home, yet why were you still haunted? 

It wasn’t complete anxiety, you were never looking over your shoulder to see what was going on, but something just felt off. You were having strange dreams of the same night of playing the ouiji board, except you were all alone. However you just toughed it out, and blamed it on nerves. 

Three months later.

Vil’s courses at his university had gotten a lot more rigorous, he was spending more time at the library to the point it became a second home. While Kalim had been swaddled with work at the art emporium his parent's owned, needing to adopt some responsibility for one of the many family businesses they owned. So for the time being, you were left alone for an extensive amount of time, yet it seemed as if someone were always there, no matter what. 

Just watching...you.

But it was all just nerves, right?

Maybe some creep from an apartment building over was watching you?

But you had absolutely no time to be worrying over things that were all in your head, as you were in a financial pickle to say the least, You were working a shift at the coffee shop, “The Barista’s” . It was an incredibly packed and fast day and you were working front and center, and like always you were understaffed. The order was an online order, which requested a coffee, totally black which was a little out of the regular since but there was no time to pass judgement and it had made your life easier. Who were you to complain?

Once you finished you looked over at the second coworker on your shift and asked her for the order name to put on the cup to call out into the crowd. 

“Oh, um it’s CD? That’s it.”

Your eyes shot open wide, looking at the screen of placed online orders, your eyes scrolling down to the latest one.

Damien- 12:30pm

Amy- 12: 45 pm

Jamie- 1:00pm

Maria- 1:12pm

CD- 1:23pm 

No fucking way. This had to be some sick prank maybe from the guys. You never talked to anyone but them about this, not wanting to spread word or make you look crazy and alongside be made fun of for your ignorant mistake of playing that game period. It seemed as though this force had become upset that you wouldn’t acknowledge their existence enough, becoming insistent and infringing on your life. Afterall, how dare you blame this damage on nerves? 

A man came inside, you felt a shiver down your spine, he was dressed in all black, a button up with black pants and boots to match, adorning black circle sunglasses. It felt like he was concealing something, the way he moved seemed ominous and calculated. 

He smirked once he caught your gaze, you both knew that you were afraid, afraid to call out the two letters on that damn cup.

“Order for…C.D?” 

The man rose up from his seat, ready to grab his coffee that you left on the counter to avoid contact with him. 

“Thank you, Y/N,” he said in a honeyed voice, and right as you instinctively turned around.

There was no trace of him, he had vanished into thin air. 

 Not one customer had called you by name today, not even the sweet old ladies that make sure to call you by it when placing their orders. Whilst getting ready today you had been neglectful of the lack of weight on your chest, quickly realizing why.

You had forgotten to wear your nametag today. 

So how did that complete stranger know your name?

Timeskip

You had gotten off of work at 6:30pm, and your roommates hadn't gotten home yet and probably wouldn't for at least two hours. As you slipped your key into the hole and unlocked your door, you felt an icy breeze hit your face. It was near summer, yet this room managed to be frozen over in temperature. You had turned on the lights, the yellowed lighting bringing you slight ease.

Yet it felt as though there was a presence in the room with you, it was unnerving and unbearable. It had been this way for months, yet it showed no sign of stopping and you grew tired of this never ending feeling. It was isolating that you were the only person within your apartment to feel this way, with Kalim and Vil only giving you a "no" to asking them if they feel anxious. You couldn't stand driving yourself insane so, against all of your best judgement you decided to face your feelings head on. 

“Listen, I know I’m not alone in this house. Show yourself to me, now,” you commanded, yet your voice seemed to betray you. Wavering in tone and assertiveness, exposing your true feelings of being afraid and overwhelmed. The ceiling above you started to creek and moan, almost testing the waters of your nerves.

“I know it’s you…C.D.” 

The ground began to rumble and quiver, the lights once bringing a reassuring light shook alongside it. You grew completely terrified, falling to the floor, catching yourself with your own hands as lightbulbs crackled and hissed as they hit the wooden floors, leaving you in complete darkness.  

The only safe haven that allowed you to see in this abyss of your apartment is right where you were standing. A gray light above your head, only providing a circle of illumination where you stood.  

“You are quite brave, I'll give you that, human.” 

A pure black hand with nails as sharp and long as knives, gripped your wrist from the pool of darkness surrounding you. Screaming, you shook and wriggled your arm fiercely allowing the grip of the hand off of you. Your resistance had made the demon cackle. 

“W-who are you?” you exasperated, clutching onto your wrist wrung with red marks from the struggle. 

“You already know my name, you summoned me after all,” the darkness retorted.

“What...What do you want?!” you asked, trying your best to appear tough, despite shaking from fear.

“Ah, so many questions... but I’m willing to answer. It’s something that all demons from hell crave-,” the demon said, letting the vintage radio Kalim had bought two weeks ago finish. 

“A soul,” the old timey voice sang from the fuzzy speaker making the demon giggle. 

“Isn’t it funny how we can do that? I think it’s a great party trick” the archfiend jested, “hoping” that you would agree. As the creature of darkness joked, the voice began to inch closer and closer. There was no way to run from whoever this thing was.

“Now, mortal I will give you two decisions. One; you may surrender your soul to me your soul. Or you must subject yourself to a long lasting search and you get me my memories,” the shadowed room stated. 

“What happens if I get you your memories?” you asked, most definitely wanting to keep your soul. 

“Well, I am proclaimed innocent, no longer needing to serve the underworld and I am free. You see, my family was cursed by an ancient witch, and every single son within the family is doomed to spend their days in hell. Once you get to hell, you have all of your memory wiped and it is manifested into actual items on Earth,” this spirit C.D explained to you from the shadows. “If you manage to get all seven of these items, we’ll both be free. Fail, I get your soul, I stay in hell.” 

Weighing your options, you realized that they both ended with you losing. But even if you had the slightest chance of winning, you’re going to take it. 

“I...will help you find your memories,” you said hesitantly, making him laugh. 

You could hear the smirk extend on his lips, he was highly entertained with your act of resistance. It was surprising and in a sadistic way, a great form of amusement for him. "Hm...very well then, mortal. Extend your hand, we need to shake on it for it to become an actual done deal,” C.D explained, making his elongated, obsidian stained hand into your circle.

You took his hand into yours, shaking it only for a couple of seconds only for you to feel a painful burn on your wrist where his fingers lay. You were tattooed with the numbers “123” on your wrist with a shade darker of your skintone. 

“What did you do to me?!” you exclaimed, holding your wrist once more, an electrifying pain seeping throughout your arm. 

“You need my vision in order to see the artifacts. And don’t worry too much, only you can see the marking and can make others see it if you wish. It’ll go away once our deal is done,” the demon explained, thinking that it was quite obvious.

“Oh, and it’s also a part of the deal that I have to live in this home so-”

“No fucking way you’re staying here in my house,” you growled angrily, completely exasperated from this ordeal of horror.

“Woah, woah, woah I’m not the one whose soul is on the line here. I don’t need to eat or drink anything so I rarely do it. And again same rules apply, if you want to let Thing One and Thing Two see me then you can. If you want to keep this a secret, then again, you can,” CD snapped back.

“But, why C.D and why this damn number?” you asked, staring down at your wrist.

 There was a silence in the room before C.D answered, “It was my lucky number... supposed to be angel number when I get to heaven. Whenever you see it, just know that I’m around somewhere. And C.D is a nickname, the only thing the devil left me was my name from when I was a human, Cater. Cater Diamond.” 

There was a snap, light had entered your apartment completely. The once popped lightbulbs were restored back to normal, alongside with other disturbed items like picture frames and furniture. There was no sign of the body that belonged to the voice that was speaking to you.

Only once you turned around to see him in his human form sitting on the small black sofa in the corner. Spooked by his presence as you let out a yelp, it made him let out a chuckle. 

“Now, we have a deal, don’t we?” He asked for the final time, making you nod your head. 

The demon lowered his blacked out sunglasses, revealing his amber-colored eyes.

“Excellent. It was good doing business with you, Y/N.” 

~~~

Coming soon- Chapter Two: A New Roommate

Let me know if you want to be in the taglist! This was fun to write and I hope I can create more content for you guys :D<3

[starlightkun]

dr_magic2303 ❧ teaser [renjun]

❧ teaser word count: 960 | full fic: 18.3k ❧ warnings: just cursing for the teaser ❧ genre: fluff, humor, one heavy makeout scene but no actual smut, 0.1 seconds of angst if you can even call it that, academic rivals to lovers, modern magical creatures au, college au, siren reader, human renjun ft. siren ten, same universe as strawberry sunday ❧ extra info: this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!) ❧ author’s note: y’all. get ready for this one. no spoilers but spoilers renjun and reader r both crazy (academically) and nobody should be subjected to them except each other. like they both look at the other and think “i could fix them but whatever the fuck is wrong with them is infinitely funnier to me” but they’re both Wrong. they could not fix each other. anyway as always i had way too much fun writing this that it went over my projected word count and i hope y’all have a lot of fun reading it too <33

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

Pulling your lips into an alluring smirk, you nodded, “You’re right. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that—”

“A fucking what?” He cut you off, his face scrunching up as he blinked at you in confusion.

“Obviously it’s going to be one of us two, since we’re the two best students in the program.”

“Well, yes.” He nodded, seeming to let go of what had presumably been another one of your jumbled human malaphors. You admittedly hadn’t been living among humans for terribly long, and for some reason their idioms just didn’t stick in your brain very well.

“I mean, we not only are dedicated to the field itself and the content we study in class, but the program too. We probably know everybody in it, professors and students, right? Between the two of us?”

Renjun considered this for a moment. “Yeah, probably. We’ve both taken on a lot of SI and tutor opportunities for lower-level classes.”

“Right. So, you know those forums the school has on the online class platform? The general message boards?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m going to need you to sit tight with me on this until I finish talking, okay?” You pointed at him sternly. He nodded slowly. “Good. Back in the fall, about the end of September, I was on the message boards, just browsing around killing time. I was in the Tips & Advice section and saw this post. It was a gryphon who was losing feathers on one specific spot on her wing, and she didn’t know why. The witch she went to didn’t why, nobody could figure it out. I was about to reply asking if it was her left or right, when I saw that somebody else already had. It was her left, and she’s a lefty. The same person replied again, asking if she sleeps with her wings out or not. She sleeps with them out. It turns out she was stress-preening in her sleep. Username: dr_magic2303. A couple weeks later, same message board, Tips & Advice, a human is suddenly producing dark purple goop from his feet but it’s so slippery he can’t even leave to go see a doctor or a witch and he was typing the post from his bathroom. Within an hour, this Dr. Magic is back telling him someone’s put an aether ooze hex on him, and to sit down and scoot on his butt to the kitchen and gather up all these ingredients for a cleansing foot bath. And if he doesn’t have them, then he’ll have to butt-scoot his way to an apothecary or call one who does home deliveries. Now people are posting on there specifically asking Dr. Magic to come heal all their magical aches and pains.”

Renjun stared at you, unblinking. The pen had gone still in his hand.

You breathed in, continuing, “I tracked this Dr. Magic all the way back to their first post in the first week of fall semester of this year. Now, I’ve been trying to figure out who they are on my own, and I’ve made a lot of progress on who they aren’t. But I’m going to lose access to those message boards once we graduate at the end of the semester. I know Dr. Magic has to be an MCS major, there’s no way they would be able to have to breadth, depth, and flexibility of knowledge by just Googling this stuff. And you and me, Renjun, I know we can do this. Not only do we know MCS, but we know the department, the people in it. It has to be us.”

He was still staring at you, mouth slightly agape. Then, his whole demeanor shifted. He dropped his leg so that both his feet were on the ground, and he resumed spinning the pen.

“Okay. I’ll help you.” He nodded thoughtfully. “If you’ll do something for me.”

“Do what?” You straightened up.

“I’ll tell you after we find Dr. Magic.”

You crossed your arms. “No, tell me now or no deal.”

“I tell you after, but you can still say no then if you don’t want to do it.” He bargained.

“That just sounds even more concerning, Renjun. Tell me now or I’ll do it myself.”

“I’m hurt. What happened to ‘it has to be us?’”

“I’m a siren, I know how to sweet talk. Don’t take it personally.” You snorted. “Now, what do you want from me?”

“You’re a siren,” he echoed plainly, as if that were all the explanation you needed.

“And you’re a genius.” You retorted. “Tell me now or I walk out.”

“I... want to experience siren venom. For science.”

Oh, you could kiss him right now, no deal necessary. He was meeting your gaze head-on, a slightly unhinged glint in his eye. Not a hint of fear, just a craving for new experiences, unbridled curiosity. Yeah, he was a bit crazy, you were realizing four years on, and you wanted him.

“You’re insane.”

He leaned back in his seat, putting his hands up in front of him in an ‘I-don’t-care’ gesture, “If you don’t want to find Dr. Magic—”

“I didn’t say no, I said you’re insane,” you corrected him with a grin, dragging your eyes up and down his form as he sat so confidently, negotiating with a siren like it was any average Tuesday for him.

“So do we have a deal?” He set his pen down and held a hand out to you.

“You help me find Dr. Magic, then I’ll spit in your mouth.” You momentarily thought about the disparity in division of labor on that, but decided not to point it out aloud. Easiest handshake of your life. “Deal.”

You wanted to eat him alive.

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[dullahandyke]

yippee yippee yippee yippee eimear con haul!!!!

Hi. It was my birthday recently and I'm bad to shop for so instead of gifts I got money to spend at Kaizokucon. So here's a haul. Under the cut bcos I couldnt fit it nicely in one picture and I wanna ramble

ok we're gonna take it one picture at a time ^_^ the ID in the alt text explains what everything is if u just wanna see what i got without the rambling sure to come with it. links in rambling r to the artists of the fan stuff where i can find em ^_^ only one of them is a direct link to the product tho bcos some ppls shops r down and some ppl dont have all their stuff online. lemons_arent_green youre a real one

Ok the flat stuff!!! black rock shooter poster bcos i already have a figure but i liek her... badass anime girl ily.... was so so sure i saw a reigen keychain but when i went to go get one there weren't any so i got this sticker sheet instead :3 SPEAKING OF KEYCHAINS!!! yippee yippee kaguya i love you youre my special little tiempsy. yue you are a gay anime boy with a cool design. tomoyo ive always felt a kinship with you and its because im a desperate dyke. monokuma is here ig 🙄 i put him on my carabiner and hes fun to stim with. i am not immune to the sdr2 fanboying. also full disclosure ive not watched naruto (its in the spreadsheet) i just thought funko pop sasuke keychain was really really funny. my son who stares into my soul. comparatively i dont have as much to say on the badges!! luka luka fever for real girlie ily. the bandori ones were blind bags and i got himari on my first try <3<3<3<3<3<3 sorry eve i kind of dont care. 🙁 the dr girlies i kinda picked at random based on who i've been vibing w lately.

THE POKEMON DIORAMA!!!! its soooo cool, staff were setting up the trade hall so i was in there all day friday and this shop was one of the first to set up their stands and i was literally staring at it all day... so fucking awesome. the rings n the necklace r from the same shop look at them... im fucking obsessed w the catgirl necklace. literally look at her. i dont thiiink shes supposed to be a specific character but she might be. oh well. cat girl ily. aaaand the arisa stand is actually a little clip for papers n stuff!! she was also a blind box but specifically for popipa so i was gonna b happy w whoever <3

MIIIIKUUUUUU MY PRINCESS MY EVERYTHING!!!!! she was calling to me she beckoned..... shes actually rlly big irl shes the biggest figure i have, replacing my kokoro one... shes the one where i audibly said 'it was my birthday i can buy things' bcos figures spencey... she wasnt too bad actually i just like bitching. 6 euro axel for scale

BOOKS 💥💥💥 i was reading nana a while back and i dropped it but i gotta pick it up again... rlly pretty and awesome... aaaand the summer hikaru died!!! kay if youre seeing this then know you posting abt it convinced me <3 i originally got it bcos i was on door duty in a quiet area and didnt wanna spend my time draining battery life on my phone but after i bought it i realised that that was literally a terrible idea so <3 we'll get around to them soon

FINALLLYYYYYY TSHIRTS!!! the top yellow one was my staff t-shirt, it has 'staff' on the back i was wearing it all weekend and yippee i love it.... emotional bond.... and if this is a safe space can i just say. if kaito was a woman? would. next up FAYE FUCKIN VALENTINEEEE!!! do u remember that post i made going thru all the sellers that were gonna b at the con that started like 'i hate shounen fans. name a woman'? well this is the seller i was talking about but all was forgiven in the name of FAYE ! GODDAMN ! VALENTINE ! ugh i love you girlie. and the last t-shirt was given out free to staff after the closing ceremony!! it was the tenth anniversary of kaizokucon so we got this awesomes design yay.... wore it to classes today hoping somebody would comment on it and nobody did 😌and in the middle i got CLOW CARRRDS BITCHES!!!!!! i saw them and immediately all thought left my fucking brain. i needed them. so important. the seller also recognised the axel in my fanny pack yippee!!!! a few people recognised him over the weekend actually and i was always like yes!! the him

anyway. yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! con con con con con :)

[cactuseri]

saw this and wanted to make my own post real quick bc i’ve gotten some questions abt my art before & now that i feel a bit more secure in my style i thought i’d give a few tips to anyone who wanted that :)

first i have to address how the submission is phrased: i'm sorry & i know no one wants to hear this but “keep practicing” is not a platitude that is always going to be the best advice 😭 the real question is:

how do you make practice fun?

1. challenge yourself in a way you find enjoyable/fulfilling :)

i liked doing things like art prompts from inktobers, and to draw comics of the stories i wrote, but mostly the answer for me was “set random number goal, meet random number goal, inject the validation from completed goal directly into my bloodstream, repeat.”

i worked on things kind of systematically, which just made my brain happy; i spent one summer when i was 14 doing nothing but drawing 10 full bodies a day, all with references of course. did the same throughout the fall with hands, then eyes, then expressions, then clothes, etc etc. it always had to be 10 diff angles and positions.

i did a repeat of this 10-drawings-of-10-angles rule throughout quarantine in 2020. failed all my online classes cuz i was drawing 6-10 hours every day and ignoring my homework but still passed the year in the end 💀 i got the idea from yumeii-art; it's been over 7 years since, so idk if i remember right, but she had given a similar rule of thumb as a response to someone's question about drawing without a reference, i think.

is this the Best path? probably not, idk. and it definitely lead to awkward phases where i was much better at drawing bodies than faces, for example — but it worked for me. i liked breaking things down like that, it felt more manageable.

the other number goal was. in 9th grade i saw this post:

and i was like. y’know what? yeah. i keep feeling bad abt my art, how about i put that feeling on pause until after i’ve filled 14 sketch book. i hope this user knows i owe all my achievements to the phrase “fill 14 sketch book” powering me through years of depression and art block.

so i did fill 14 sketch book!

i met that goal between ages 14 and 19. obv this doesnt include the doodles on my homework, on other random surfaces, or the ~150 digital artworks i’d done in that time, so maybe it was more like 16 sketch book? but that doesnt matter, i had 14 labeled & organized sketchbooks that were full, and i did feel better about my art by then. this was my anime training montage. this was 90% of my improvement. this was the best art advice i’d ever gotten.

so i guess what made art the most fun to me was numbers? which sounds lame but i guess since i’m competitive & love competing against myself the most, it just worked for me.

comparisons, with 2016 on the left and 2020 on the right:

(the new sketches are still rough and lack some detail ofc but i have terrible ADHD and always found it hard to sit down and keep working on a sketch once it was “done enough” — for some reason i dont rlly have the same impatience with digital art & have less of a problem completing pieces on my ipad now) (the point is. 14 sketch book level complete. 1000% worth it)

then my 2021-2024 improvement, when i had bought my own ipad and again spent most days drawing instead of doing my schoolwork (i.. did end up failing that first year of uni):

2. try out different mediums aimlessly!

what i mean is just go ham with some charcoal or whatever you have on hand, without the determination to Make It Good. i can’t say if this helped my actual art get better but what it did do was keep the joy of it alive & i had fun which lead to more practice & therefore improvement. color pencils weirdly were my favorite. hell, my school had us do a project with linoleum printing (is that how u spell it idk) and it gave me months’ worth of art inspo.

i also recently got a gift card for a stationery store and got some nice markers and those also gave me a ton of motivation. markers r good

3. if u do digital art, find ur fave brush; it will be ur familiar ur trusted companion ur lover in a past life

for lineart i mostly use the IGB office pack, favorite ballpoint. you’ll have to buy & download it online tho i think it was like $7? but yea it was worth it. (i did a lot of work with the gesinski ink brush in past years but i think it’s a bit too “sharp” now)

but also go crazy try them all it’s fun!

4. in my opinion it’s fine to do redraws of ur fave artist’s work now and then — as long as u keep it to urself and dont take credit for it

i’ve had ppl ask to use my art as a ref and my answer is always Not Sure Why You’d Want To Bc It’s Not All That, But Yes Of Course. as u can see most of my 2021 work was redrawing panels of the “gangsta.” manga; it didn’t even end up influencing my style much, my style was already based on all the manga shit i drew at 13, but it was the only thing i was motivated enough to draw at the time, and it was valuable practice.

art teachers still stress that the best reference is to draw from life & yeah thats true maybe but idc sometimes ur just not feeling that! so mix it up, whatever works. obviously respect it if an artist says not to reference their work and don’t only reference ur art from one artist but generally i think it’s harmless.

especially when there’s a specific thing an artist does very well that’s hard to find other examples of; personally i was fighting for my life trying to find how to best translate references of dynamic movement into art of dynamic movement. and i think the bnha mangaka does this wonderfully so i often referenced thise action panels as practice. and i think it helped loosen up my art style. (and… i was extremely ridiculously mentally ill about hawks so that…. contributed…. my fave ask to date is still the person who clocked hawks as my old fave character based purely on how i draw eyes 😭😭)

tracing is a diff conversation and my advice there is it is not actually helpful and it's. idk it feels very Against Artist Code. sometimes, and i havent done it in a couple years, but if a piece REALLY isnt working i've done the thing where u trace the general movement of a pose then go from there but i've never posted completed works where i used that method bc it felt wrong. but yeah that's a separate thing that i don't wanna go too deep into

5. another fun thing that motivated me to practice was doing speedpaints!

if you draw on procreate, it's probably set up automatically already. i don't have the storage to record everything, but when i do have it on, the knowledge that i'll have a speedpaint of the finished piece pushes me to put the last necessary touches on it. (if you'd like to see some of my speedpaints i have a few on my instagram)

some more technical advice:

1. flip your canvas flip your canvas flip your goddamn canvas i KNOW it hurts i KNOW it’s like ripping off a bandaid that’s superglued to ur skin i know but YOU HAVE TO FLIP YOUR CANVAS

(when i didn’t have an ipad i’d do this by taking a picture of the drawing on my phone and flipping the image in the photo app)

IT IS THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD AND IM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT I’VE RAGE QUIT SOME PIECES OVER SEEING THE CANVAS FLIPPED BUT LOOK AT THIS ART BEFORE AND AFTER I’D FLIPPED IT AND FIXED HOW WONKY IT WAS: desaturated so tht the colors dont distract so much

like it's the BEST and honestly often the ONLY way you're going to catch things that were off/out of proportion/etc. flipping your canvas gives your brain a "new eye" and it's invaluable.

2. until you have color theory figured out…. i honestly depend on adding layers and setting them to color dodge, divide, multiply, overlay, etc…. i am cheating, perhaps, but it works

3. this is how i draw front-facing noses because it's what a czech woman in an extremely bad mood taught me in a cramped overheated stuffy classroom in germany when i was 12

it was our only meeting but she changed my life. i do not know how common this method is but it's possibly the only thing i can concretely give you a tutorial for. after a few times you won't need to do step 1 anymore

anddd i think that's all the advice i have that wouldn't be a repeat of every other art advice thing you've seen. i do know it boils down to "keep practicing" but again you won't get around that, and i just hope that concretely showing what's motivated me might help motivate someone else.

as an ending note, please take this sentence that motivated me just as much as the 14 sketch book rule: (via graveweaver, author of the webtoon "i'm the grim reaper")

[chososcamgirl]

HEY SIGMA IYA!! DAILY CHECK INNNN HRUUUU???? I HOPE UR SKIBIDI (on the behalf of me) SINDE MY DAY WAS VERY NOT SKIBIDI *growls* SO BASICALLY MY ENGLISH TEACHER IS TARGETING ME.. I CAN JUST FEEL ITTTTTT LIKE SHE IS SO RUDE TO ME AND LITERALLY GETS MAD AT ME FOR THINGS MY ORHER CLASSMATES DO. 👿👿👿🔥🔥‼️🙂‍↕️😭 I TRIED BEING SOOO NICE TO HER BUT IG IM JUST TOO SKIBIDI FOR HER TO HANDEL.. heh… RAHHHH SHE LIKE TELLS ME HOW TETRIBLE MY WRITING IS BUT REFUSES TO HELP ME IMPOROVE LIKE WHATTTTT 👿 IM LIT SO NICE TO HER N IVE NECER EXPRESSED HATRED TORWARDS HER.. BUT SHES AN OP NOW 😡🤬🤧 AND I KEEP BLANKING OUT IN CLASS N STUFF SO I HAD TO MEET WITH THE COUNCIL TO TRY AND SEE IF I HAD ANYTHING GOING ON.. ISK TODAY WAS JUST RLLY SCARY BUT AS THE ALPHA SIGMA I MUST TEMAIN NONCHALANT…. ALSOOO ANOTHER RANDOM BIG FEAR OF MINE IS THAT THESE PERSONAL DAILY YAP SESSIONS OF MINE REVEAL WHO I AM TO AN IRL OR OTHER ONLINE FRIEND… CUS LIKEEE I LOCE TO YAP TO WVERYONE ABT MY LIFE IN DETAIL SO IFFF SOMEONE FINDS THESE IM SOO COOKED BRO 👿 Anywayyyy HOW WAS WORKKK?? ANYTHING FUN HAPPEN??? I LOVE HEWRING U YAP SIGMA POOPOO AND ALSOO IM SOO EXCITED FOR NEW CHAPTERRR IM CUTRENTLY WAITING FOR IT BEFORE I GO TO BED… LOVE YOU POOPOO!!!

- 🐺

HI ALPHA!!! 🐺🐺

IM GOOD!! though im not feeling quite skibidi due to this migraine 💔💔 DUDE im telling u ur english teacher is after u… certified opp i used to have a teacher like that in 4th grade (this teacher was OUT for me like i was such a good student but she HATED me for some reason😭) aw i hope ur okay alpha😓😓 don’t worry that teacher is NOT skibidi at all and in fact a beta trying to get to ur alpha level.. she’s trying to claim ur alpha title so DONT let her do that and remain skibidi and strong…. u r the mysterious nonchalant alpha leader🫵 LMFAOO that’s actually so cute don’t worry i don’t think any of them will find my blog (unless u directly told them otherwise HELP) work was actually so fun and i enjoy it so much actually😭 like it’s really me ?? idk how to explain it but yeah i LOVE everything abt it. ALWAYS LOVE HEARING U YAP UR HEART AWAY ALPHA <333 omg i hope u weren’t waiting up too long bc it got delayed 😣😣 anyways REST WELL!! i look forward to ur daily check in tmr😈

[mangomybeloved]

Tag gameeeeee

I was tagged by @shrikeofficial <3 TYYY FOR TAGGING ME SHRIKEY ILUUU!!

1. Are you named after anyone? For my online name Luna, I named myself after Luna Lovegood from h*rry p*tter (this was WAY back in 2014 before r*wling's terfism came out so :///, so now i just associate it with the moon instead!). If you mean my irl name, I don't think so? I think my parents just liked the name.

2. When was the last time you cried? I think I cried recently while transcribing my mom's old recipe book (it just made me so nostalgic seeing all the old phone numbers in it and lil kids doodles in there and the recipes)

3. Do you have kids? nope!

4. What sports do you play/have you played? I used to do kickboxing last year, though stopped cause I found it too rigorous after a while. I was never really a sports person growing up, though sometimes I wish I had been!

5. Do you use sarcasm? sometimes!!! though not often, I think when I'm feeling snarky, I do!

6. What's the first thing you notice about someone? Hairstyle is a big one for me! I think then clothes and style and often, their smile too!!!

7. Eye color? so dark brown, it's basically black! (at least it says black on my driver's license so)

8. Scary movies or happy endings? I adore both, but I love a happy ending! It's just always so sweet to see the characters and story resolve in a way where everyone's content and thriving!!

9. Any talents? I wouldn't say I'm really good at it, but I've been drawing and writing and trying to sew recently!! i'd like to think i'm very good at baking and cooking!

10. Where were you born? India!

11. Hobbies? drawing, writing, cooking, baking, origami (recently got into this!), sewing (keyword: trying to), reading, talking to my friends and i want to get into photography! (remains to be seen)

12. Any pets? sadly no pets atm! I used to have birds for a bit, and then had a cat for a while, but now sadly, no pets :(. I'm hoping for when I get a stable job and can live on my own, to be able to get a cat someday!

13. Height? 5'2!!!

14. Favorite school subject? LOVED LOVED english class and history, as a kid i'd read the big books for literature and history for fun, cause i was so obsessed with learning anything abt history and reading any story i could get my hands on

15. Dream job? as a kid, it was a librarian tbh!! loved the idea of sorting through books and reccing people's books and getting to be able to give library cards to kids/anyone who wants one! right now, my dream job would be any job that pays well enough that i can do my hobbies and not worry tbh 😭

I tag anyone who wants to do this!! So if you wanna do this tag, feel free to say I @/ed you!

[deathinfeathers]

Guidelines

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my humble RP blog! You can call me Cinna (they/them Pronouns please), your friendly neighborhood autism creature who exclusively writes fucked up pieces of flaming garbage! I am in my mid twenties with a solid fifteen-ish years of writing experience under my belt. If spending the brunt of my mortal existence on tumblr has taught me anything it is the importance of curating your online experience to the best of your ability so we are very much private and selective in this neck of the woods! Before you engage with the characters you will find lurking on this blog, please make sure that you are not a child! All children will be corralled into the pit and made to fight to the death for my own, personal amusement! Thank you!

I am exceptionally mentally ill and will run and hide for weeks on end for literally no reason whatsoever! I am sorry I am hard to get a hold of OOC! Being perceived terrifies me but I love you all the same!

Content warnings

On this blog you may find mentions/implications (but no graphic depictions) of the following:

Child exploitation and grooming, CSA, SA, r*pe, suicide

You may find graphic depictions of the following:

Religous themes, systematic religous brainwashing, child soldiers, internalized misogyny, blood, gore, violence, abuse, fetishization of death and murder, cannibalism, torture, toxic and abusive relationships (work/romantic/familial), substance abuse, sexual themes and settings, sex as a coping mechanism, mental illness, PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks, stockholm syndrome, (fictional) hate speech, death, kidnapping, stalking, body horror, religious abuse and torture, cult-ish themes and settings, hard drug use, suicidal ideation, self harm

This blog is, in a big way, dedicated to the in-depth exploration of many uncomfortable topics. Keep this in mind before you follow.

Roleplay etiquette

This should go without saying but please refrain from godmodding/taking control over my character in our interactions, this includes auto hitting in violent/confrontational situations. No info-modding or meta-gaming, your character should not be able to glean information out of any internal dialog unless they can straight up read minds (in which case I would like to be made aware of this power beforehand). Remember that the muse and her values and behaviors are not a reflection of the writer. I do not agree with or condone 90% of the things that she says and does--her actions are not to be glorified or romanticized, Lute is absolutely meant to be viewed as a villain.

Interactions

Friends/mains will always take priority when it comes to threads--some of you may find this unfair but RP is a hobby and I reserve the right to engage with it In whatever way is most fun and fulfilling for myself. Don't let this discourage you from approaching if you have a plot in mind or sending in memes/starters. I'm happy to run with all sorts of stories and scenarios granted I'm given an idea to work off of. That being said, I am incredibly disorganized so threads have a tendency to slip through the cracks, don't be afraid to (politely) remind me of our interaction when this happens. I will reblog memes somewhat regularly but OOC plotting is my personal preference. I tend to struggle scrounging up enough motivation for threads with no clear direction. Lute is a character who shines the most when she is acting as an obstacle or an uplifting force to the people around her. She thrives poorly in slice-of-life type of scenarios, please keep this in mind.

Fight scenes

As a general rule, I won't write figh scenes with sinner muses. Lute isn't somebody that mortal souls are meant to be able to fight off—as the first lieutenant of the heavenly host she wouldn't be much of a threat if she sat around their power level. This isn't something I see myself budging on unless you have very solid reasoning for why you think your sinner could take her on. Same goes for the hellborn, lower class angels and humans. That being said, if your muse (sinner/human/anyone weaker than Lute) goes out of their way to taunt or harass her she will respond with violence. Keep this in mind before you go pushing her buttons.

Shipping

Ah, shipping, the magical thing which makes the rpc go 'round! Lute is not easy to ship with, like, at all! I wouldn't call her unshippable necessarily but you must be aware that she is an incredibly twisted and broken individual, ergo, any relationship she finds herself being a part of is at major risk of becoming unbalanced and/or toxic. I am very, very, veryveryvery picky with her romantic candidates as a result. Do not try to force ship with her, that is a surefire to be irrevocably crossed off as a potential partner. Lute has a tendency to develop crushes on a very specific type of people--do not take this as a sign that I'm trying to push a ship on you--it's just a character quirk that she has. Shipping will never take priority over the overarching plot of this blog. Again, Lute isn't a character who does well in domestic situations, tension, action and conflict is where it's at for her.

Smut

I will write smut on rare occasions, mostly on sindays. I exclusively write this type of content with longtime mutuals. Feel free to ask me for a link to my NSFW blog.

Drama

As a rule of thumb: don't. If there's a problematic individual you feel I should be made aware of, address the issue with me OOC. That's all I have to say on the matter. I like to keep my space as drama/discourse free as possible.

Blocking

Please hardblock me when you unfollow! I have a very poor memory so it's not unlikely that I might refollow if you fail to do this. If you happen to find yourself blocked by me, rest assured that it is very rarely a personal matter. Chances are I just don't see us vibing or you're somebody that i decided to unfollow for one reason or another. All the same, block evading is not cool if there's a legit reason behind it (and you will be made aware if there is). Please don't do that!

Thank you for reading my guidelines. This list will be expanded upon as I see fit!

[thesorcererspen]

About Me

Hello,

I am TheSorcerer'sPen. Some just call me SP. Either is fine. Writing has always been a passion of mine since childhood. I graduated a few years ago with a degree in writing & rhetoric, but I've never been brave enough to share anything online. My fiance and best friend have both encouraged me to put myself out there more, so I wanted to start by introducing myself to the writing community here.

I am a lover of fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, and crime stories. I am also obsessed with manga/anime, especially HunterxHunter, Naruto, and Jujutsu Kaisen. My favorite book of all time is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Game of Thrones and Dune are both in my top five favorite books of all time. I am not a huge fan of romance stories, but I love stories with well-written romance subplots. Action scenes are fun, but I am here for the great dialogue and character interactions. Internal conflict is seriously underrated.

I am a huge history and mythology buff, so much of my writing is inspired by these two things. I love writing dark fantasy stories and exploring themes of class, power structures, dysfunctional families, friendship, forbidden love, angst, etc. But, really, I just get such great joy from creating my worlds and creating characters that feel alive. My characters become like my imaginary friends.

I want to use this blog to showcase my writing and connect with other writers in the community!

I have two current WIPs listed below.

Traitors of the Nation

Genre: Urban Fantasy

In the nation of Astoria, the cold carves bone deep and its citizens are divided by blood—those with the golden blood type are called the magia, people with super abilities that manifest themselves when the user is thrust into dangerous situations. The noble elite wants to control this power with a class system that ranks its citizens based on the nobility of bloodlines and the usefulness of one’s abilities. Commoners with the golden blood type are forced into labor assignments, and the elite have created a device to suppress the abilities of an individual should they prove to be defiant.

Izan Ashida and Satoshi Nishimura are childhood friends who find themselves on opposite sides. Izan sits among the highest elites, serving as a bounty hunter who does the Crown's bidding, while Satoshi is placed in a lower class and branded a danger to society. War is brewing between the classes, and it has the royal family on edge. Revolution is coming. But when an elite military officer orders Satoshi be executed for treason Izan must confront a past he was desperate to leave behind and decide where his loyalties truly lie.

The Immortals' Gambit

Genre: High Fantasy/Mythos

Casimir Kozak has lived his life in hiding, afraid of being discovered as a cross-blood in a world where humans struggle as mere mortals and the vampiric hemomancers known as the Zegoshi reign as gods. But the nine immortals are not the only thing to fear.

The Watchers, a highly trained military faction of the Zegoshi, are everywhere. They are tasked with maintaining social order and executing any cross-bloods they encounter. Beyond the wall, there are dragons, violent beasts who are enemies to Zegoshi and humans alike. At least, that’s what he had always been told.

Tired of living within the confinements of the wall and wanting to escape his Zegoshi father, he runs away from home on his eighteenth birthday. But his venture outside the wall proves to be lethal when he has an encounter with a dragon, discovering that the beasts have been disguising themselves among humans.

A rogue Zegoshi intervenes, sweeping Casimir into a world of intrigue and danger. Forced into an alliance with an enigmatic young Watcher captain, the trio embarks on a mission to investigate the surging dragon threat in society. But as he begins to delve deeper into this world, he uncovers hidden truths about humanity’s history with the dragons, the true intentions of the gods, and a prophecy that reveals the role he must play in this deadly game of power and politics.

[thisisntapainting]

How the Cogs of Toontown Online Are An Anti Capitalist Metaphor

autism be upon ye

foreword: this was written as a "fuck it, we ball, pick whatever topic you so desire" research paper for a creative writing class, with a pre-determined format to follow. as a result, my writing style may seem off here. hope you enjoy.

READ ON MY WEBSITE HERE

What I Knew and What I Want to Know

While I was both too young and didn’t have the money to fully play the game while it was still under a subscription service, Toontown Online has always been one of my more intense interests, mostly due to the charity that is several private servers that keep the game running, sticking to the original, or branching out into a modernized experience, but for now, sticking to the original game. Toontown Online was a kids’ aimed MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) started by Disney in 2003 and shutting down a decade later, with a pretty lively presence in the genre during this time. The plot was basically that you played as, well, a cartoon anthropomorphic animal, and kept the world cheery and fun against the ongoing invasion of “Cogs”, which are these businessmen robots, heavy emphasis on businessmen, with all the boredom and drab that comes with such. You fight against them using stereotyped cartoon gags, because, well, Cogs can’t take a joke. Rinse and repeat this basic basis with variations of the fighting format all throughout the game as you progress, as well as other stuff to do (grinding gets boring, and Toontown Online was notorious for grinding), and you have what remained successful until it was pushed off to the side for Club Penguin.

I’ve always been much more interested in the Cogs than the toons when it came to this game. Their origins, which elaborated on with a simple flash animation within older installers for the game, are mostly unexplained. And, of course, the unified designs of just average, uncanny office workers with little variation except for head design and suit color dependent on department, are a specific, stylized sort of cool. There’s also probably something to say about my own personal experiences with work and neurodivergency and the want to be one, but that’s not the point.

The point now will turn political – despite the game being aimed at kids who could afford ten dollars a month to play, there are some specifics parts that addle to my now an adult brain, that make it think of the further lore implications, and what it means in the greater scheme of things. What do the Cogs represent? What does the war between the Toons and them mean? Of course, it’s also very easy to compare such a thing to the workforce in our own daily lives, and how big corporations play a role, reaching in, making evil decisions, and yet, giving us no choice but to consume their product. And what would I use any of this information for, to look into the implications of Cogs as a symbolism for real-life capitalism and its evils? Probably just rewording this entire paper into an essay to be posted on my website, but also, for my own fan-writings for the game, because, well, making fan content is fun.

My Search Process

The main treasure chest of information when it comes to Toontown Online nowadays is the Toontown Preservation Project, a website hosting game design documents, concept art, and much more, donated from the developers of Toontown Online while it was still active, such as Bruce Woodside. There’s also, of course, the many still-standing videos and posts on old forums about Toontown Online, as well as the gameplay that remains in private servers (mostly relevant to Toontown Rewritten, which is actually the group that runs the Toontown Preservation Project as well). The documentation is vast, encompassing things never implemented into the game, removed early or in beta testing, but for almost all of the conception, there is no use of the word Cogs to describe the Cogs. Instead, they are called Suits, and no discussion into the robotics parts, either.

However, these are not decisions that made it into the final game, and thus, could mean nothing at all in the long run. What was in the game, however, was Unites, a reward for completing a certain boss that replenished either your gags or your Laff (the toon equivilent of health), which were considered the most useful of boss rewards for obvious reasons. When a Unite was used, your Toon also shouts “Toons of the World,” and then a slightly varied prose based on the type of Unite. In addition, if you went a little bit out of your way, you could get a Speedchat (pre-picked) phrase of just “Toons of the world, Unite!”.

While if you had any clue of the book or the man behind it, you probably could’ve seen this coming, but there is something to be said of Toontown Online’s central themes and including a rip from “Workers of the world, unite” (Marx), which is straight from The Communist Manifesto. While it has never been confirmed, nor probably ever will, if the recycling from such a fundamental source of socialist theory was on purpose or merely a coincidence, it sure does work for my point here.

In addition, take into account the setting of the game, and how Toontown’s economy seems to hinge upon a plethora of small businesses, there is the obvious comparison one could make to themes of anti-monopolization. Toontown is defending itself against what the fate of plenty of smaller towns has become, which is depending on one or two companies to carry the entire area in terms of business, and while the Toon’s shops all serve all sorts of purposes (but being boiled down in gameplay to just throwing quests at you), the Cogs only have one overbearing one, so at least there’s one major reason to keep them out of sticking their stick into the ground.

What I Have Learned

What I can gather from all of this is actually pretty interesting into the accidental symbolism the Cogs have become over the years, as, in my own eyes, the unavoidable evils of a society that hinges on capitalism and the selfishness of product become more obvious. They are a stereotype, sure, but also a stripped-down truth to the place of most workers in the eyes of company – in the truest form of the word – just another cog in the machine. The robotism of Cogs can also be taken as a symbol of automation, as more of the bottom-line, repetitive work becomes shelved out by machinery and AI to replace humans, at the cost of jobs for those who do not have a specialization in anything at all, or who’s specialization has become the menial labor needed for these, such as factory work.

There’s little variation compared to the colorful forms of toonery you play as, having to fit into these molds, and perhaps, business stereotypes as the Cog types are most often named after. There is no deviation. You serve a purpose, serve it well, and that’s all there is to it. That’s your life purpose. Have fun doing that until you die.

I’m also not the only one who’s attempted to co-relate their own life to the satire situation of Cogs. During the research part, I was stumbling over some less than reliable sources of social media, and plenty of older Toontown Online players had ended up in office positions themselves, and mentioned how, in a way, they had become what they once fought against. Sometimes, this was more obviously aligned with the office positions shown in-game, with one user stating “When I was having an early 20s life crisis when the song Suit and Jacket by Judah and the Lion came out and I have a vivid memory of standing in the shower hating working at a bank and being pushed to ‘sell’ checking accounts and that’s when I had the sleeper memory of toontown cogs awaken in me” (goddessbotanic). In the system of modern life, where one has to almost kill themselves, emotionally or otherwise, just to be able to keep up with the frivalities of modern life, to keep a roof on their head, the best you can do is try and keep your tooniness alive, though only at the side.

What This Means to Me, and How I’ll Use It

I’ve always cared about little silly niche topics to try and explore like this. Though there is probably no true intention to any of the evidence brought upon the table except for really in-line coincidences, it all seems to add up to a more mature way of seeing a game I’ve cared about since my first years using a computer. I’m all too big on nostalgia – most of my best memories of technology were with the early 2010s net, which encompasses the later years of Toontown Online, as well as the earlier years of some of my other favorite games, as well as an era of content that wasn’t as dopamine-trapping and headache-causing as the modern internet feeds. Something like this is a bright, fresh light, and makes it all too easy to keep caring about Toontown Online.

Fortunately, I am not trying to embrace a grave. The spirit of Toontown Online still lives on in the form of private servers that keep the game running and available to play, and, in both spite of what made Toontown Online shut down in the first place and to avoid copyright troubles, entirely for free. The two most popular are Toontown Rewritten, which keeps to the base game for the most part for nostalgia reasons, and Toontown Corporate Clash, which adds new content and quality of life changes to change Toontown and modernize it into an all-new, exciting experience. I’ve invested a lot more hours than I would like to admit on a few renditions of these servers, but time having fun is not time wasted, despite what the Cogs think.

Works Cited

Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. The Communist Manifesto. London ; Chicago, Ill. :Pluto Press, 1996.

“r/Toontown - Ever Realise We Grew up to Be the Cogs?” Reddit, Dec. 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/Toontown/comments/zmwjtm/ever_realise_we_grew_up_to_be_the_cogs/.

Luthin, Stefanie. “The Unique Anti-Capitalist Journey of Toontown Online.” VGA Gallery, VGA Gallery, 24 Mar. 2022, https://vgagallery.org/vga-zine/toontown-anti-capitalism.

Woodside, Bruce. “Toontown Preservation Project.” Finalized Suit Turnaround -- Toontown Preservation Project, Toontown Rewritten, 28 Aug. 2022, https://toontown.online/Finalized- Suit-Turnaround-4393ef3db89341638e8a55242b79ee0a

Toontown Preservation Project, Toontown Rewritten, https://toontown.online/

[waveymind]

Tips from a (former) GIS Undergraduate Student to other GIS students

Reuploaded since reddit mods haven't got back to my message and reddit's spam filter is removing it no matter where i post it...

I have graduated from college (wooo!) and wanted to share advice that helped me out. I hope you find it useful!

Volunteer to boost your resume or if you lack GIS work experience

When I first started my GIS major, I wanted to get work experience alongside my classes. The thing was I began my degree when Covid started, so landing a GIS internship when most organizations were laying off people was not realistic.

I knew I needed something on my resume so I decided volunteering was the best way to go.

I googled ‘GIS volunteer opportunities’, saw a listing through United Nation’s volunteer portal, and got something pretty quickly. It was an online position that I did on my own time for 6 months. It was very fun! I highly recommend any Geography student do some type of GIS volunteer work before you graduate.

As of writing this post, I checked the website and it looks like the UN doesn’t have any positions listed but there is a website dedicated to GIS volunteer positions:

https://www.giscorps.org/become-a-volunteer/

Also, every job interview I had has always asked me about this volunteer role lol.

Speaking of jobs….

Make a GIS Portfolio

Start a portfolio NOW. Add anything you created from your courses to it! A GIS portfolio makes you stand out from the competition when applying to internships/jobs, and may even be required for some job applications.

This is a VERY detailed video about what it should include (Yes it’s an hour long but the information is worth it!! ).

Network

You have heard it a MILLION times but network!! Connect with your local GIS organization and try to attend a conference. If you can’t for whatever reason, search for online GIS organizations and see if you can join their online zoom meetings.

Learn to Code

I have run into Python, R, Javascript, and HTML/CSS during my undergraduate work and various internships/jobs. Be ahead of the curve and learn it on your own. I would HIGHLY recommend Python if you want to start with a language and don’t have a course at your university. Just start with a basic ‘intro to python’ video and then complete python gis tutorials.

Make a separate account for GIS stuff

Just to keep things organized and in one place, I recommend you make a separate email for GIS. For some of my courses I was required to sign up for GIS software/sites and I wanted to have access long after graduation so I made a separate account for it.

Example email: nameGIS@email.com

Take Advantage of (Online) Communities

Being in GIS forums/groupchats/servers/etc has helped me so much! From feedback with assignments to how to market myself when looking for a job, joining groups is beneficial.

I LOVEEE the GIS Discord server and highly recommend you join.

(Link to server https://disboard.org/server/769917190182404127 )

Keep Learning!

This is the most important thing I want you to leave with. GIS is constantly evolving and in order to be on top, you need to be up to date on new technology and software updates etc.

Personally, I would be learning new stuff during semester breaks and take advantage of the free courses Esri MOOC has.

[docholligay]

Reference post

OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED TO GET TO SHARE THIS WITH SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT IT!!

So, like basically all languages, except those with too small a speaker base, English has variants. That’s not a technical term, I’m sidestepping technical terms for simplicity’s sake, but it’s a really good catch-all. Basically, English is spoken in different ways in different places. This is not news to you.

In a handful of English variants, there’s a feature called the intrusive r*, where an r is inserted where a word ends in certain vowels. This is EXTREMELY EXTREMELY common in many English (as in the place, not the language) and Welsh variants of English, though you also see a slightly different form of it in some Massachusetts accents, and the Northeast, though, rapidly dying off. So, and I am about to GREATLY oversimplify for the sake of explaining it to someone who does not care about masturbatory linguistic nonsense the word ‘idea’ in this spot would be pronounced ‘idear’, and thus, rhyme with ‘cheer’

It’s one of my favorite features of English English** (lol) actually, I just think it sounds neat! Delights me whenever I hear it. But as I am American, and I come from a STRONGLY rhotic (r-pronouncing, basically--most places that do this are from places where the English spoken has a lower level of rhoticity, and my joke on doing the Montana accent is “hit the r like it owes you money”:) area of the US, I get to hear it like once a month casually, so it doesn’t come naturally to me to think of it.

I can’t do it, because truthfully, the sound isn’t QUITE “an r at the end” it’s softer and just a touch, and I can’t find an example of it I LIKE online, because it’s a lot of fucking 10 minute nerd videos instead of just an example that’s not me rudely pulling a clip from a video of a friend talking. But listen when you’re watching the BBC or something! A lot of times Hollywood movies don’t have it because we have punished the intrusive r to within an inch of it’s life here in the US, because here in the US it is STRONGLY associated with the lower classes if the rest of the accent is American.

Or, you can listen to Margaret Thatcher’s speeches, which of course has the downside of listening to Margaret Thatcher’s speeches.

*If we want to get nuts, there’s also a LINKING r, which I always joke is the one time a year English people pronounce the letter, and they are similar but not the same, and so not relevant here, and why am I even writing this asterisk I’m sorry this is really fun for me. 

**In my private time I love to get nuts about the 87,292 varieties of English reportedly spoken in like 50 square kilitermetre (celcius) but I think most reasonable people can agree here that it’s not necessary in the same way me getting into the weeds about American English Variants wouldn’t be necessary to go “We use different word order in this phrase”

[riverkidian]

Levi has always been a soft spoken, shy, nervous and nerdy/geeky boy who preferred the company of his six, same age grouped, female cousins to that of the rest of his cousins and other children. The female cousins preferring Levi’s company as well to that of their obnoxious and violent brothers.

They’ve done everything together from the time they were born till the present. Played, shopped, cooked, baked, took self defense classes, constructed and built, (the silverstien clan had a delicatessen and construction company and all the children helped out) they helped him invent, they read comics, had sleepovers, danced, played music, sang, were In plays. They did it all together as a group because they genuinely enjoyed one anothers company (and because their parents collectively forced the kids to have a well rounded education in the arts).

His cousins, who he affectionately refers to as “A group of hyenas.” Or “The yeens.”are extremely protective of him since hes been bullied and beaten relentlessly by their brothers since childhood. But the abuses were in house too with their uncle (Levi’s father) verbally accosting him any chance he got. Why? For the crime of being “Soft.” (Levi not learning till much later that was his dads way of trying to protect him and make him tough enough to deal with the real world.) So the yeens who adored him became his protectors and he theirs.

Once when Levi was around eight years old, his father fed up with his sons seeming inability to be manly took him aside, dressed him in girls clothing and stood him in front of the mirror saying something along the lines of “Since you want to be soft like a girl you should dress like one too. See what an ugly girl you make? You would never make it in the world like this. This is why you need to toughen up and be a man.” His father didn’t know anything about fashion so the hair, makeup and dress he styled his son in did indeed make him an ugly “girl”.

It devastated Levi. The boy who already at his young age had a poor view of his own looks thought he was hideous. Breaking into heavy sobs he ran to his cousins, showing them how hideous he was. The yeens argued that he was cute, despite the horrible way he was dressed. When Levi was finally calmed down and they were able to get ahold of him, they tore the hideous clothes off and dressed him in their cutest and frilliest clothes, his hair done in a micro side pony with those charm hairbands (you know the ones with the plastic or wood charms that hurt like a bitch if they snapped you in the skull) and some light makeup. They put him back in front of the mirror and showed him how cute he REALLY was and how if he WERE a girl he’d be a very cute one. His view of himself changed, if only a little bit. But It was there he learned of his love of crossdressing. He liked being cute with his cousins and when they all went out dressed up he often got compliments he never did in his usual dress. (That eventually changes when he starts dressing better)

As he grew older he kept up with the crossdressing in secret. Putting on a feminine voice to keep his identity secret when he went out with his cousins or alone. Even inventing a wearable voice changer in the style of a choker he could swap out with various outfits to save his vocal cords the strain.

The Yeens being the only ones in the know about his continued crossdressing and online show Levy’s Space. Levi made it a family friendly two hour long variety show seven days a week with weekday ratings never reaching passed tv-g/pg and weekends being reserved for teens/adults with a more mature nature never passing tv-14/R. He baked, cooked, danced, sang, read stories, played games watched movies and did makeup, nail and hair and outfit tutorials. Talked to the audience and generally made it as fun and friendly as he could while in the Levy persona.

Thanks to Levy, Levi eventually becomes confident in his own masculinity without it turning toxic. The other men in his family eventually follow suit, learning to become more relaxed and accepting of themselves and some even (like his father) trying to express themselves in more adventurous ways.

[inkofamethyst]

September 9, 2023

Love being able to put current on shuffle and just cruise, no skips. I truly do have impeccable taste in music :P

Okay, recap time.

Tuesday was day one. Went in at 9 (way before anyone else, it seems) and chilled in my office (did a pre-class assignment) until class. Class starts. Class was good! Very small, about half grad students, half undergrad. Reviewed syllabus. Left. Signed a card from my lab for advisor's birthday. Went to the department lunch, it was very good. Left lunch early for a mini-party with my lab. As other people left lunch, they joined and it became a slightly bigger mini-party. Was chatting and sipping champagne (it did not taste good but I liked the fizz) up until a buzz in my pocket alerted me that there was ten minutes until my next class started (honestly this was the craziest thing of this week for me). Ran to next class (made it with time to spare). Class was good! Slightly larger, mostly undergrads. Covered some main ideas. Left. Met up with some older grad students for a department orientation of sorts. Meeting was good! Went home, made chef boyardee, slept. (Was mistaken for an undergrad three times on this day.)

Wednesday. One class midday, so I didn't go in nearly as early (that's going to be my class lab day though so it'll become my earliest day next week and onward). Class was good! Much larger, all undergrads. Had lunch with a cohortmate. Did some readings. Went to an open choir rehearsal. Rehearsal was good! Did a bit more researching and saw that the choir might require a bit more time this sem than I'd like to commit, so I'm not going to audition this sem/year. And that's okay (I also researched the mt club and it's not really what I'm looking for either.. while I want to have fun, there is an level of rigor that I appreciate). Cereal for dinner. Went to an online intro to grad school thing through this professional org I'm in. It kinda sucked. I didn't hear anything that I hadn't already heard elsewhere. But. Getting face time with more senior folk in the org is worth it I guess.

Thursday. Class. Ate lunch outside. Class. Worked on readings. Home. Made oven-fried chicken and jerk-spiced pasta with alfredo sauce!! It was a chaotic first time cooking but the result was great (esp for my first time making oven-fried chicken, definitely one for the book)! Enough for four meals plus some excess chicken which I already have plans for. Meals are certainly being prepped!

Friday. Morning meeting. Midday class. Went back to apartment for lunch. Back to department for social hour (talked to some cool people!) followed by departmental migration to multi-department shindig. Excellent food. Migrated with some first years to the grad student involvement fair. It was fair-ly wimpy (ha) but I got a free mug out of it. Back to apartment to put down mug. Back to student center for grad student party. Lots of fun! Met other black women from various departments who seem like a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll see them around. The music was... okay. I don't listen to a lot of pop of my own volition, but this was "old" pop from my middle school years. It just felt a little stale especially since my sister and photo-friend have gotten me into Beyonce's Renaissance this summer. Side note: it's really telling how small the black population here is by the fact that the dj played bollywood music (which was fantastic and really the only fun dance music they played imo) but no other cultural music. Just a very "safe" party. (super side note, I'm really going to have to get used to the fact that the undergraduate experience here is always going to have a bigger production than the graduate student experience (this was evident yesterday when walking next to/through the undergrad party to get to the grad one) but this doesn't mean that I can't sometimes profit from the undergrad experience if I'm in the right place at the right time (I know the reason for the difference, but))

All in all, despite the devastating heat and humidity (I don't have central air, so I'm trying to make do with a box fan), I'm doing okay. Pretty great, actually. This week was just classes, and I'm good at Doing Classes, so that's made the transition a bit easier. I will slowly start to adopt more and more responsibilities as time goes on, I'm sure.

My main gripe is that after two weeks I still don't have a single free tee shirt.

Today I'm thankful that I met all of those girls yesterday. Now I just have to work on building those relationships.

[user138656388]

high school experience was like a test for the real world idk 🤷🏻‍♀️. It was hard at some time but i just let time go by and let it be .9th was covid year n man it was fun but sooo hard at the same time 🤦🏻‍♀️. I would be asleep not really playing attention to class . i would be eatinggg so much it was unhealthy .There would be sometime i would come to school n it was so different then it was back then , i had a hard time adjusting to online. Overtime it good better tho . 10th grade was alr i was okay . My mental health was slightly not good i was always having good day and bad days. it got worser in 11th that when i felt sooo mentally unstable. i can’t really rmb 11th but it was fun bc i had got my first job but at the same time i was so drained . my dad thought it would be best for me to stop working for a bit so i stop and began to focus on myself more and began eating more again . now i’m in 12 and tbh this is the most peace i felt i’m 17 btw now and i’m scared to turn 18 😭😭😞 but i’m wayyy better now and high school was okay