#or at least updating one consistent project

[lucy-the-cat]

Apparently Newblood Queen's two year anniversary was yesterday and I did not notice until this morning

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

NEXT

The very beginning of my billford comic! YAAAY!!!

Ford, the local loner, being called out for being a loner. Rip.

...

I literally put this on Patreon a MONTH ago. I procrastinated on sharing this here for a while, not on purpose, but because stuff kept coming up. First prepping for the con, doing the con, and now, post-con depression 🫠 BUT I'm doing better now! And I'm excited to share this!

Long term plan for this comic... it's gonna be pre-portal incident, friends to lovers billford. Sorta like my take on massively reading between the lines of book of bill + journal 3. I've got a lot outlined, and as of right now, I'm working at a snails pace. And to be honest, I'm kinda just flying by the seat of my pants. Idk where this is gonna go. (don't even have a friggin name for this thing yet!! AAAH!!!!) As ever, I'm always working on the commissions I have lined up, as well as my animation project. So this is just one more thing I'm chipping away at when I want to, for fun. So this isn't on a schedule or anything, although I'd like to be consistent with it! One thing I know for sure, I'm putting updates on patreon first, and leaving them there for at least one week before sharing them elsewhere. (Shameless Patreon plug!!!!!!!!)

Ok enough ramblin' from me :') BYE BYE TIME TO POST THE NEXT BIT

[theteablogger]

You may have already noted this, but Andy's claims on twitter about being able to understand what his sparrow is saying (and thus sparrow language in general) seem to be ramping up in unbelievability- apparently yesterday the bird was able to communicate that it didn't want its conversation with other sparrows recorded and shared. Andy makes mention of several of his followers who have apparently been having FaceTime calls with the bird. There's at least 5-6 of Andy's followers who consistently comment on the bird updates and show no credulity, expressing how much they want to be able to communicate with the bird like Andy does. It's probably not the biggest deal, but the whole thing has just been giving me an odd vibe. Feels like Andy once again making friends/followers by demonstrating abilities and knowledge no one else has.

Yes, his allegedly deep connection with sparrows has been getting weird for quite a while. He says he can understand some of their language, enough to relay things that the flock outside his house is talking about and things that Nuggie communicates to him. On top of that, Andy has written about things like Nuggie watching movies and musicals and following every emotional beat, to the point of showing the characters his malformed feet to offer encouragement when they're lacking confidence. Andy is anthropomorphizing the hell out of that little bird. Meanwhile, his followers praise him for knowing sparrows better than ornithologists do.

I've lived with a parrot before, for many years, and I bonded very closely with him. I agree that birds are much smarter and more emotionally complex than most people realize. But they're not humans. Their thoughts and feelings are not exactly like ours and we have no way to know exactly what's going on in their heads. Projecting onto them can lead to misunderstandings of their behavior and needs. Andy seems to be taking good care of Nuggie, from what I can tell--bearing in mind that we only have his word for it--but that doesn't mean he's right about everything.

Here's the thread you mentioned:

Here's Andy in November, writing about Nuggie's "phone flock":

Here's a thread from October, featuring Andy's musings on sparrow language. Friendly reminder that he is neither an ornithologist nor a linguist.

Note that at the end, he specifies that he's not Dr. Doolittle and doesn't speak or 100% understand sparrows' language...but he's still claiming a level of understanding that no one else has.

And here's Andy in August, wishing that he could communicate effectively with Nuggie and then having an actual conversation with him:

Those are some awfully complex ideas for a member of a non-human species to understand and respond to appropriately.

I'm not trying to suggest that Andy is forming another cult based around his bird, but like you said, Anon, it's notable that he is once again positioning himself as someone who has a special ability that no one else has. He's also repeating an old pattern in making himself the sole conduit to communicate with someone who holds a great deal of emotional significance for people. Back in the day, it was any of 160+ "others", and later, the DAYDverse/Harry Potter characters; now, it's a rescued sparrow with a disability, whom a lot of people apparently find inspiring.

[polarmoon]

🪐 oasis springs aerospace is hiring!

OASIS SPRINGS AEROSPACE (OSA) is an aerospace startup located in oasis springs, arizona. we are seeking to form a small, diverse team of new graduates with backgrounds in physics, biology, and computer science. if you are interested in aerospace mechanics, astrobiology, or astrophysics, apply today!

this is a public call for sims to join my occult legacy save!

i'm looking for 7 sims to become christopher's coworkers + more sims to populate oasis springs.

submissions will be open until june 15th.

🌴 more info under the cut!

📝 guidelines

young adult human sims only!

i am looking for sims that are engineers, biologists, and computer programmers that would be interested in working in aerospace. you can get creative, but try to stay within those niches!

please write a small biography about your sim! it will help me select who i think will be best for the job. you don't have go super in depth, but their bio will help me select the final sims :)

you don't need to set your sim up with degrees or skills or anything if you don't want to! i can do all of that in game myself.

💌 how to apply

simply make a post introducing your sim and tag me in the post! feel free to send me an ask telling me you posted one, just in case tumblr eats the notification.

i will contact you via askbox after the post goes up and we'll organize a private download, so make sure your ask is open! i will be downloading every sim that is submitted.

i will reblog every submission under the tag #deanOSA

⭐ selection process

the deadline for submissions is june 15th, 2025. sorry for the short window - i'm really excited to play asap lol. i'll be selecting the sims and posting about them sometime before june 21st, 2025!

i will be selecting 7 sims to be christopher's coworkers for the duration of the generation. using the club feature, these sims will act as his coworkers, and will ultimately become his and percy's primary social circle.

i am ideally looking for at least two sims from each category (engineering, biology, computer science). i want to create a well balanced team for this project, but if i don't get enough submissions for each category, i'll just cope :P

the sims will be chosen based on... vibes? i might rng if i'm stuck between who to pick. ultimately though i want to pick whoever fits best with christopher and the vibe i have for the team.

don't worry though! all sims submitted will be added to my save and live in oasis springs for the whole generation! because i use kuttoe's home regions mod, they will be the only sims populating the town, and so they'll be the sims interacting with my sims most often. they will also essentially be re-populating my save since i recently culled a bunch of random townies lol

i will absolutely be posting updates if anything interesting happens with submitted sims :) and who knows, maybe a future dean will marry a descendent or something!

🧬 sim creation info

i have all packs, so there's no pack restrictions on what you can use to dress up your sims!

your sims should have one outfit per category. don't worry about their main outfit being work appropriate - i'll be giving each sim an additional work outfit. if i need to add or change anything, i'll make sure to keep their aesthetic consistent!

cc is okay, but keep it to a moderate amount. mm preferred, hair + clothes are okay, but don't go buckwild on accessories or anything like that (unless it's important for their backstory or identity, like necessary scars, medical equipment, identifying features, etc)

if i choose not to use any of the cc given with the sim, i will change the item to something consistent in style that i already have in my game. (for example, a green t-shirt will be swapped out for a different green t-shirt)

please don't use custom body presets! custom face presets and sliders are okay, but just know that they might get messed up if i ever need to make tweaks.

feel free to use skin details and makeup, but the sims will have my defaults, and i might change up some skin details and makeup to fit in with my game better. i'll still retain their general look though! i might just go with stuff i have in my game instead of new stuff that i wouldn't normally use.

you can either link the cc they use in the post, or include them in the dl with their tray files. i don't mind either way.

that should be everything!! if you have any questions feel free to ask me. no judgements if you need clarification on anything i mentioned here :) i know it's a lot lol!

🚀🌴☄️👽🛰️🌻

taglist of people who replied to my initial interest check: @nervousgnome @girlwithnojobcom @peachiyuu @simbugge @cozylattesims @simswoon @thecutestgf @panicsimss @gerbits @moontaart @iliketodissectsims @pixelblooming @spectermansion @alxandergoth (if you no longer have interest in applying, no worries! just wanted to tag everyone that replied to my interest check just in case they didn't catch this post in time for the deadline. <3)

(the lot in these pictures that i will be using this generation is "astronaut eco pod" by teaboat on the gallery, edited a bit!)

[coraltinyrose]

FANFIC DATA [15 Minutes to Save Him]

Most of the images I made for the story. Keep scrolling for close-ups and some new sketches.

FANFICTION DATA (4-june-2025) 🕙Title: 15 Minutes to Save Him 🕙Genre: Romance (F/M) 🕙Style: Canon rewrite 🕙Main pairing: Ranma x Akane 🕙Length: +20K words 🕙Ranking: Teen and up 🕙Where to read: ·AO3 - Fanfic with embedded fanart [Read here] ·Tumblr - I will share one fan art or so + a text excerpt for every chapter released. So it works as notifications. ·(Maybe FF.net - Fanfic with text only [account]) Summary: Ranma makes life plans right after the battle in China, but his daydreams crumble when darkness swallows him. Meanwhile, Akane witnesses his decline and is undeterred by his new, closed-off behavior. She'll uncover the root of his change and help him, even if it takes a counterintuitive approach! But will their secret 15-minute deal work? And can she keep taming her hopes of reciprocated love? ------ Progress update (4-June-2025) The fanfic started its release on AO3! See the cover and get further updates in this new tumblr post. Progress update (29-May-2025) New art at end of post. Fanfic edits/beta ongoing. Progress update (18-May-2025) Beta checks are ongoing, which made me start rereading the manga (focusing on specific parts) to improve a particular character's arc. I'm happy I can follow it in Japanese decently well! Level up~ New art added to this post.

Progress update (13-May-2025) -Cover art and some other sketches done -Publishing system decided -Beta reading pending

Progress update (8-May-2025) Drawing art while waiting for beta reading. Cover WIP added at the end of this post~

Progress update (2-May-2025)

The first chapters are as polished as my current skills allow, and they’ve already had some beta reading—kyaa~ (TYSM! @luna12-ranma-akane-otp ). The rest of the fic is also pretty far along, totaling 18k words.

Again, don’t expect regular updates from me, but know that things are happening behind the scenes.

Progress update (27-Apr-2025) The project is progressing nicely, but that means fewer posts as I keep editing the fanfic (not drawing art). Don't worry if you see me post less in the next days/weeks. I added a new sketch at the end of this post's close-ups!

Progress update (24-Apr-2025)

My amazing pro writer friend read the first draft and gave me super useful and sweet feedback. I'm so motivated to improve the story and release it ♡ RELEASE TIMELINE

I have a lot to rewrite and, as this is a for-fun project, there's no set date. But I can say this: I'm the type of creator who finishes projects to keep things consistent, start to end, and then releases them into parts. That lets people savor each installment and perhaps speculate with others on what will happen next.

Yes, I'm evil, not giving it all at once. But at least early readers have security that there is a (hopefully) satisfying ending coming ^^ Then, even if I could start publishing the fanfic once the texts are fully finished, I also want time to do art accompanying the story (like this post's images). So I'm considering whether I...

A) wait to release until I have all texts + images = regular release schedule but longer wait B) just release when I have the text and do images on the go = irregular releases, but we start earlier Probably I'll go with a mix of both, having a buffer of images before the start. Which, in a way, I already have.

What is your preference as a writer or reader?

Publish all at once, "chaos" irregular but release as soon as you have it, monthly, weekly, daily,...

----- *Characters by Takahashi Rumiko

[genericpuff]

Life update! This is frankly one I've been trying to avoid but at this point it's kiiinda super necessary ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴

DISCLAIMER: VERY LONG POST AHEAD. A LOT OF IT IS ME TALKING ABOUT LIFE SHIT OBV. I RAMBLE A LOT AS I TEND TO DO. I'VE BOLDED THE IMPORTANT SHIT SO THAT HOPEFULLY IT'LL MAKE IT EASIER TO PARSE THRU. PLS FORGIVE ME ;-;

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

First things first, I quit my job! Or rather, I put in my resignation letter with my current shop, with two weeks notice. Not something I had to do, I just felt it was the least I could do to go out on decent terms (and it means I can honor the appointments I still have booked and use the time to notify all my clients).

There were several reasons for leaving but ultimately it was a personal decision that will - hopefully - allow me to build a better environment for myself within the larger tattooing industry. I've learned through too much trial and error with all the shops (of which there have been 3) I've worked in that I don't particularly enjoy working in one single shop under one single shop owner. It's often counter-intuitive with my ADHD and anxiety, and it's kind of hard to address my mental health problems when I'm still in an environment that exacerbates them.

Of course, this wasn't an "all or nothing" decision because I frankly wasn't giving up a whole lot by leaving. The tattooing industry has been going through some hard times, between The Great Depression 2: Electric Boogaloo and the oversaturation of shops that exist everywhere now (seriously, everyone and their mom nowadays is a tattoo artist). Not only is the industry changing and being forced to adapt, I too have to change and adapt, not just to maintain my place in this industry, but to align it more with what I need within it, rather than trying to force myself to align with what other people often project (and believe me, some of the people in this industry do a LOOOT of projecting, tattoo artists ruined the tattoo industry fr LOL)

So it's scary, but it's necessary. I'm still gonna be tattooing, but I'm doing it on my own terms now. Instead of locking myself down to a single shop environment waiting for the work to come to me, I'm going where the work is, through guest-spotting and expos and whatever other collaborative opportunities I can find, something that I was a lot more restricted in doing with single shop environments.

Also I'm just like, tired of being broke from not getting more consistent work and the shop splits cutting all my generated income in half LOL There's a reason so many artists - even established folks who have been tattooing for decades - are going private nowadays or opting instead for booth rent shops over the 50/50 splits. I could go on for ages about this but I'd rather spare you all the details because they frankly don't matter here and I don't want to dwell.

Buuut making this decision is, ultimately, to address both my exacerbated anxiety from working in a shop environment, and my financial issues from said environment not benefiting me. Especially now that-

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

-my roommate is moving out in April! I'm very excited but also very terrified. This will be the first time my husband and I have ever been able to live alone since we started living together some 6-7 years ago. Yeah. As much as I'm a social person, at home I'm a hermit and introvert, and I'm frankly just sick of people who I'm not romantically committed to constantly being around. Even when they're sweet people (which my roommate mostly is) it's still like living around a sinkhole. Sure, it's pretty simple to just walk around the sinkhole and place all your furniture around it and mind where it is at all times, but it sure would be nice if the sinkhole just wasn't there to begin with, y'know?

There are so many things I've been wanting to do and simply can't on account of living with a roommate, projects that I want to pursue, spaces that I want to create for both myself and others. Knowing that she's leaving in April has almost made me even more anxious and impatient, because now I'm actually thinking about all the things that will improve and become available to me just with one less person in the house and I'm DYING for it to finally be reality. I can finally have an actual dedicated workspace area that isn't just a corner of a small den, we can separate our leisure space from our work space, we can decorate the whole place how we want it, we don't have to worry about being intruded upon during our conversations, we'll have so much more counter space in the bathroom and kitchen, we don't have to pray that she's not in the bathroom every time we need to use it because that inevitably means we either have to wait an hour or go piss in the corner toilet shoved next to the washing machines, we can put the doors that originally separated the living room from the kitchen and hallway back up because she had removed them to make space for her 15437281 bookshelves. Much of what I'm describing isn't anything that was her 'fault', it was just the circumstances of living with a roommate which I'm just so excited for my husband and I to get away from.

But of course, her leaving means we now gotta make up for what she would normally cover in bills each month (the biggest of which is obviously rent). And with how dire the tattooing scene has become, leaving my shop to pursue other ventures - even if it costs me more time and money and energy on the forefront to do so - felt like a necessary change, because staying there certainly wasn't gonna accomplish anything, either. The shop kind of felt like a sinkhole in and of itself as well, a bottomless pit of unrewarded effort and stress, weighing down on my subconscious every day. While many of these feelings were largely personal, they weren't helped by the nature of that environment being what it was.

Part of my ongoing treatment for my ADHD is accepting and reminding myself that it is a disorder and that I need to allow myself to walk the path of least resistance, rather than force myself to conform to what I think I "should" be able to do out of the instilled belief that if I can't, I'm "failing". Rather, I need to actually build an environment for myself that doesn't work against me. It's not that I'm failing completely on my own, it's a failure of the systems and environments that I've forced myself to exist in for years. What I'm trying to do is going "against the norm", sure, but for someone with ADHD, going against the norm is necessary because the norm isn't built for me.

Going solo with my tattooing and freelance work might end up not panning out, but I won't know until I try, and for now, it sure beats the path of resistance that I've been drudging through with what's now amounted to very little. Going solo means my time is my time again, as is my work and rewards. As scary as it was to hand in that letter of resignation, I've removed myself from the path that was hindering me and set myself on another that promises, at the very least, change. Whether or not it ends up being beneficial or productive change, well, that's something I'll be finding out as I walk it. At least now I can walk it with my head held high and my hopes renewed.

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

It goes without saying that this year has been a rough one so far, and we're only at the end of March. I'm sure most people can tell that I'm not really as "present" as I used to be, especially when it comes to the constant delays in Rekindled updates and lack of posting outside of that. I've been in a state of limbo, where everything and nothing is happening at the same time, waiting for the moment when I could finally make progress (and as I described above, much of that has been tied to my roommate finally leaving). With the move-out date right around the corner, and my resignation handed in, it feels like I can finally start removing things from my plate to make it more manageable, and rearranging everything to include the things I want rather than the tasteless, unfulfilling garbage I've been choking down.

But that leads me to one of the things that will be getting removed from that metaphorical plate.

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

Anyone with ADHD and RSD knows that it's hard to be selfish, even when the situation calls for it. But sometimes you have to be, for the sake of establishing and respecting your own boundaries and care.

So, in a little act of selfishness for the sake of self-care: Episode 70 will be going up as soon as it's available, I'm hoping by next weekend at the latest. After that, Episode 71 will also be going out as soon as it's available, hopefully within 2-3 weeks time as has been needed over the past few months. This will hopefully line up with my resignation from my shop.

Following Episode 71, Rekindled will be taking a mid-season hiatus.

I know this kind of sucks considering all the delays we've already endured, but it's precisely because of those frequent delays as of late that a hiatus is sorely needed. It not only gives me time to rebuild a buffer of some kind, but largely to focus on cleaning up that aforementioned plate of bullshit that Gorgon Ramses himself would throw at a wall.

I'm aiming for the hiatus to last between 2-3 months. During this time, I'm hoping that I'll find enough stability in my real life to dedicate time and care to it again. The reality is that a free-time hobbyist project like this does require free time. And that free time is hard to justify when it's all the time on account of lack of consistent paid work. To put it simply, if I don't have a roof over my head, I can't keep doing what I do here. Rest assured, it's not that dire yet, but it would be if I stayed on the same path. Projects like these are at their best when they can just be done in one's free time, for fun, without the stress of mounting bills and other responsibilities piled on top. That pile's been getting pretty high for me lately and now even Rekindled hasn't been safe from it - while the art and story has continued to elevate itself with each new episode, the turnaround time has lengthened and the stress of Real Life™️ outside of it has affected my own enjoyment in making it.

I love making Rekindled. But if I want to keep loving it, I have to put it aside for a bit so I can cultivate a better environment in which to create it in. Ultimately the suffering and spite isn't what makes Rekindled great, it's joy and care. And neither of those things can be committed to it when everything else around me feels like it's been burned down.

I do still have my own doubts with this decision. Going on long-term hiatuses has always been difficult for me, largely when it comes to getting out of them (fans of my original work are all too familiar with this). But I know the circumstances here aren't the same, and that they won't repeat themselves if I don't allow them to. I have far better tools to combat burnout now than I did even just a year or two ago, but one of those tools is drawing boundaries and knowing when to step away.

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

This was obviously a VERY long post and I realize with the Rekindled hiatus announcement near the ass end, a lot of people will surely be wondering where tf Episode 70 is LMAO but I'm sure I'll get asks in my inbox about it anyways that I can respond to, and when we actually go on mid-season hiatus, it'll be mentioned properly in the episode itself with a link to this post.

With my roommate moving out soon and my shop resignation now turned in, I feel like now I at least have the mental room to start breathing again, rather than gasping for air. And that will, in the long run, also allow me to create even more cool shit for both myself and all of you :> I do have plans, both for Rekindled after its hiatus and other projects (wink wink), that I now feel like I can start really getting off the ground with the shackles of my living situation and work environment finally loosening. And I do hope that, whenever those plans start to materialize, y'all enjoy what I have in store! It'll take some patience, and a lot of work, but it's work that I'm hoping will pay off in all the best ways ┬┴┬┴┤･ω･)ﾉ

Thank you all for your patience, kindness, and support. I know I've been saying this a lot lately with each episode delay, but I am really grateful to get to create what I do for you all. And I wanna keep doing it. I just can't do it without filling in that pesky sinkhole first (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و

[moomine]

backwash IV | daisuke

author's note: finals season is over so you can safely expect more consistent updates B) if you want to be part of a taglist for future updates feel free to reply or dm me!! (cover image credit)

summary: (daisuke x f!reader) While reading the book Daisuke let you borrow, Jimmy interrupts your break with a message from Curly. You get a quick piloting lesson from Curly before catching up with Daisuke.

word count: 2,239

warnings: jimmy... all characters are 18+

now playing: Daft Punk - "Something About Us"

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

EMPLOYEE STATEMENT 062—

There’s really nothing like the song the Tulpar sings. Jimmy said it sounded like she was taking a shit, but I couldn’t disagree more. She groans as she moves through space, like the kind of low rumble as you successfully lift something heavy. There’s pride in the sound that she makes. She’s old, she’s resilient. There’s something so inspiring about being onboard this tired girl. I don’t know how to put it, so I’m not going to waste your time trying, but I will say I’m starting to like it here.

DAY SIXTY-ONE—

Anya wrote furiously at her desk, her head hung low as she scribbled notes into a crisp, new journal. She hummed quietly to herself—a familiar song but one you couldn’t quite place. It was nice background noise regardless. Your feet dangled before you, swaying as you sprawled out on one of the cots along the far wall of the medical bay. The delicate pages of a well-worn book were soft beneath the pads of your fingertips. You brought your index finger and your thumb to your mouth and swiped them along your tongue, turning the page over to the next. The story was gripping, to say the least. You had barely moved since your break started ten minutes ago, and Anya found your reactions incredibly amusing each time she raised her head to take a glance at you.

Daisuke had lent you a book he had brought onboard. It was new, one his mom had gotten him so he’d have something other than his Gameboy to occupy him during his free time. Project Hail Mary. Weirdly fitting and slightly worrying considering his internship in space. There was a subtle irony about giving her son a sci-fi adventure to keep him company at night. You had just started, but you couldn’t stop reading. Maybe it was the story itself, or the new found desire to have something you could talk about with Daisuke, but whatever it was kept you reading during your spare time.

The medical bay door wheezed open, but you were too immersed and unbothered to check who it was. Anya shuffled in her seat, sitting up straight as she peered up questioningly at the new addition. They cleared their throat and ignored her entirely.

“Oi, [Name],” Jimmy’s grating voice sounded from the door. You barely lifted your head, earning an irritated noise from the man in question. “Curly needs you. Said he’s got something he wants you to take care of.”

Reluctantly, you closed the book and set it aside on the cot. Annoyance riddled your face as you slowly sat up, coming to your feet with a huff. “What kind of something?”

“The kind of something where you remember I’m also your superior, got it? Now, c’mon. We don’t have all day, it’s kind of urgent,” he replied as he turned on his heels and started walking away.

You rolled your eyes, giving Anya a look that said ‘Can you believe this guy?’, to which she giggled and shrugged her shoulders. Jimmy continued to walk away, presumably toward the cockpit as you scrambled to catch up with him. You followed him down the stairs, finally reaching his side. He barely turned to face you, doing what little he could to acknowledge your presence.

“How old are you again?” Jimmy asked, an uncomfortable smirk spreading across his thin lips.

You furrowed your brows. “Twenty. Why?”

“That’s a relief. I thought you were younger,” he started, still walking at a pace you found difficult to keep up with. “Guess you’re just a little immature for your age, huh?”

“Excuse me?” You stopped in your tracks in complete disbelief.

“Oh c’mon, babe. Y’know I don’t mean anything by it.” Jimmy finally turned to face you, shit-eating grin tugging his sharp features into a sickeningly satisfied expression. “We shouldn’t stall any longer. Curly’s waiting, remember?”

He kept walking, leaving you with no choice but to follow. It was of great interest to him to remind you exactly who was in charge on the Tulpar. After you reported to Curly, at the end of the day, you then also had to report to him. 

Jimmy opened the door to the cockpit entrance, motioning for you to take the lead now. Something made you uneasy about having him walk behind you, but you did as he suggested, walking toward the main room with a cautious step. As the door slid open, Curly greeted you with an enthusiastic smile. He sat leisurely in the co-pilot’s seat, legs spread with his elbows propped against his knees. His chin rested along his intertwined fingers as he leaned forward.

“Hey, [Name]! How was your break?” Curly asked, patting the captain’s chair for you to sit.

Jimmy opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it when the captain shot him a dismissive look. Instead, he took a seat in the extra chair in the back, grumbling something under his breath.

“Good. Not long enough,” you said with a timid smile of your own.

“They never are, are they?” Curly laughed. “This will be fun for you, I promise. I’ve got a test for you, if you’re up for it.”

Your interest piqued as you watched him wink, nodding toward the various monitors before the two of you. You followed his direction, gaze fixing on the green screens. The forest of tech was straining on the eyes, but you couldn’t look away when you noticed exactly what he was talking about. On the main rudimentary map, a small asteroid moved closer to the Tulpar, venturing slowly onto the grid. 

“I knew you’d catch on quick. It’s an easy fix, you know that. Just have to steer the ship out of the way. Simple, right?” the captain proposed, his tone encouraging and confident. “Normally we’ve got autopilot engaged, so we don’t have to worry about little guys like this, but the case is different when larger orbital bodies present themselves. Since this one is so small, I thought we could put your piloting skills to the test. If you’re going to be like me, you’ll need to have manual steering down. Think you can handle it?”

You looked back to Curly, practically beaming at the prospect of steering the ship all on your own. “Seriously? Yeah, I can handle it!”

“Curly,” Jimmy croaked, grabbing the attention of both of you. “You really think this is a good idea? She’s never done this before. One wrong move and we could all lose some credits.”

“It’s a matter of left or right, Jim. If you can do it, she can do it. Stop having such little faith in our apprentice,” Curly replied sternly.

You swallowed a lump in your throat, looking back to the screens as the ship steadily approached the asteroid. A warning flared on the screen, announcing the impending possibility of impact. The captain shifted in his seat as he faced you once again, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t listen to him. Jimmy’s got a one track mind. We’ve both got faith in you.”

You nodded. Curly disengaged autopilot and ushered you to take hold of the steering controls. All you had to do was keep the ship steady as you passed the asteroid. Simple. Your fingers grazed the handles of the steering device with a nervous rumble in your chest.

An orbital body has been detected 20 AU ahead of the vessel.

Please make a manual correction 0.5° rightwards to avoid impact with unknown mass.

Carefully, you pushed the device to the right as instructed, approximately 0.5° as suggested by the console. The alerts dismissed themselves as your grip on the handles tightened. You kept hold of the ship, gently taking it past the orbital body.

“Nicely done! Smooth as butter,” Curly cheered, raising a hand for you to high-five him.

You quickly let go of the device, accidently knocking it to the left as you slapped your hand against his. The Tulpar rocked for a moment before the autopilot engaged once again and settled its position. You winced, causing the captain to laugh.

“That’s my fault. Don’t sweat it, nothing happened other than a little ‘turbulence’.” He raised his index and middle fingers, curling them as he gestured air quotes.

You grinned weakly, a touch of adrenaline making your leg bounce. Slowly, you stood up once more so Curly could have his chair back.

“I’d say you earned the rest of the day off. What do you think?” Curly suggested, relaxing in the captain’s seat as Jimmy took the co-pilot’s.

“But-” Jimmy started with his mouth agape.

“The day’s almost over, Jim. We don’t have enough work for three people either. Let the girl rest.”

“Thank you, Captain,” you replied.

“No need to thank me. Good work today,” The captain patted you on the back before he ushered you away, sending you off to relax.

“You’re too soft on her,” Jimmy mumbled as he turned to Curly, not even waiting for you to leave the room.

You didn’t care to hear what else the co-pilot had to say, his words venomous and laced with envy. The door slid open and you stepped out into the entry hall to the cockpit.

“She’s a highly capable pilot, Jim. What are you suggesting?” You heard Curly retort as the door shut abruptly. A proud smirk twisted on your face. You, a capable pilot. It had a nice ring to it.

Once in the hallway, you gradually made your way back to the medical bay. You could picture the book resting on the cot, practically calling out to you as its nonexistent voice beckoned you back to the sanctuary of Anya’s office. As you passed Utility, you noticed Daisuke pacing back and forth in front of the closed door. His brown eyes landed on you in an instant, almost like he was waiting for you. One of his typical wide, lopsided smiles stretch wide across the entirety of his face—the small gap between his two front teeth dark in contrast to his pearly whites.

“There you are! I went to Anya’s but you weren’t there. She said you were doing somethin’ important in the cockpit,” he exclaimed as he approached you. “Did you feel that earlier? It was like the whole ship was totally shoved or something. Nearly knocked me on my ass on my way here.”

“That was the ‘something important’ I was doing. Get this, I got to steer the ship,” you responded, voice in a higher pitch due to your lingering excitement.

“That was you? If that’s how you fly a space freighter, I can’t imagine how you drive,” Daisuke teased, playfully nudging you with his shoulder.

You snickered as the two of you walked toward the medical bay together now—Daisuke making sure to walk at your pace. “You have no room to talk. You don’t know the first thing about piloting, do you?”

“Nope, and that’s exactly how I plan to keep it. I promise you nobody wants me behind the steering wheel of one of these things,” he joked, his eyes fixed on you as you two rounded the corner.

“It’s not quite a steering wheel,” you corrected.

“My point exactly.” Daisuke chuckled softly. “So, how are you liking the book so far?”

He was clearly antsy to talk to you about it. Swansea had been reprimanding him all day, trying to keep the poor guy’s focus on the task at hand. Not that that was a new struggle for the two; Daisuke had trouble keeping his attention on one thing at a time.

“It’s really good! I haven’t gotten too far though. Duty calls and all that.”

Daisuke basically jumped as you spoke. “Yeah? It’s, like, one of my favorite books now.”

“I can see why,” you said, amused by his excitement.

Before you knew it, the door to the medical bay stood right in front of you. Daisuke stopped walking, standing still at your side as both of you paused. It seemed like his smile wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. You bet that his cheeks probably hurt with that goofy thing stuck on his full lips.

“I wish I could chill out with you guys, but Swansea only let me go for ten minutes.” That wasn’t entirely a lie. In reality, Daisuke told Swansea he had to go to the bathroom. Technically, he should have been back five or so minutes ago, but he was pretty confident he could push ten. “I’ll leave you to read. No rush, but hurry up so we can talk about it!”

“That sounds a lot like rushing,” you teased, reaching for the door handle.

Just as your fingers made contact with the cool plastic, Daisuke's hand brushed against yours as he attempted to get the door for you. The touch was brief, but the warmth of his skin against yours made your heart skip a beat. You looked up at him only to find his wide eyes were already trained on yours. Breathing a laugh out of your nose, you pulled the handle and opened the door. The two of you mumbled awkward apologies to one another as you stepped through the doorway.

“I’ll see you later,” he said with a swallow, smiling sheepishly before walking backwards down the hall again.

You held his eye contact with your own semi-flustered expression. “Yeah, you too!”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

previous part: here

next part: here

pookies (taglist): @xcryptk33p3rx @freakyydaisukee @sanctuaryofsmartiess @st4rrysblog @academiq @c4t-n1pp @iiveraii @lunachuu @llamapie69 @pennydew @berryboo

[auchrauch]

A (not so) detailed post about the current project I'm working on

Bringing here a slightly more extended version of my post from bluesky.

Please be nice because I might have one more thing to share with TGCF fandom.

I want to make a short visual novel featuring hualian in post-canon. Emphasis on "want to" because with a project of this scale I can't guarantee that it'll end up as a fully finished thing.

The original idea behind me starting this was simply "hualian having a wholesome day", though the mood slightly shifted towards something a bit more melancholic after I picked up a poem after which I named the game. (The poem's "Spring morning" by Meng Haoran). There is no continious heavy plot, just various SFW and NSFW routes which aren't connected between themselves (or are they?)

I tried to include different dynamics, so you can expect to see the classics (Top HC/Bottom XL) as well as versatile hualian (these routes can be hidden if someone doesn't fancy it). I also should mention that my understanding of characters and their dynamic can differ from what's considered the "norm" in the fandom, but I refuse to slap OOC label on my work because that's how I perceived these characters while reading the book and I'll be sticking to it. Oh, and I'm also following the revised version so there could be offhand mentions of events from the new extra or other small details like that.

I'm planning to release the final SFW version of the game for free (if it'll be finished at all), though I'm still not sure if I should hide NSFW version behind a paywall. Maybe I'll make one-time purchase posts for intermediate beta-builds too, so people can have a glimpse of what is in the works. Ideally I'd like to have at least some monetary support while working on this project, but providing consistent updates and materials in the patreon format wouldn't work for me, since, aside from commissions to pay my rent, the other project I'm involved with as an artist already takes a lot of my time.

So I can't give any dates and promises and will be simply working on this at my own pace.

So far, I have a complete (not proofread and not fully edited) script for all the routes as well as a working base for the game in renpy. I'm also almost done with UI and I made a couple of backgrounds, but that's nothing compared to how many more of them I still need. (You'll be subjected to looking at the picture attached to the post over and over again at the every start of the game).

For the next step, I'll probably focus on one route at a time and start filling them with visual assets.

I also can't decide whether I should stick to British or American English because:

1) This stupid gaijin can't differentiate between the two anyway.

2) I already started using "arse" yet I lost all the "u"s from my "ou"s and now I don't know which to change.

I'd like to hear which one people prefer more.

If you want to help in some way—I'm having trouble with sound design part as I'm locked out of purchasing anything from international sites/commissioning someone from overseas, and I don't want to risk commissioning assets for a NSFW lgbt game from anyone local since it' simply not a safe move. If you know any good resources that distribute sfx/sounds/music under a free flexible license please share! I'm using GDC royalty free archives but this obviously doesn't cover all my needs.

Idk what else to say here. Send help? Prayers for my sanity? Donations so I can pay my rent??? God, what am I even doing.

Here's the assortment of some early wips I already shared elsewhere:

[zachiefluff]

King of the Hill Quotes As Comics Season One

I'm back with more King of the Hill quotes as comic panels!

This year I decided to challenge myself to do draw a picture with a quote from every episode in the series. Shouldn't be too hard, as I've drawn at least thirty of these already.

I don't have a set deadline to finish this project (If I even finish it) but expect sporadic updates here on Tumblr, but there will be more consistent updates on my Instagram (Same username). I'm hoping to post a pic from this series every Wednesday!

[shaunamilfman]

Being Jackieshauna's Controversially Young GF

pairing: jackie taylor x r / shauna shipman x r note: yes, i will always manage to make it about jackieshauna.

Jackie definitely brings a “we saw you from across the club and loved your vibe” energy to the party, and you’re just kind of glancing at Shauna glaring at you over her shoulder. like, does her ass know that? Shauna’s all for it, but the glower takes breaks for no one.

Shauna loudly refers to you as their daughter at least once to embarrass Jackie. preferably right after she’s kissed you in the grocery store. Jackie tells her off for the whole drive back, but Shauna's ass does not care. hands at ten and two on the wheel and the smuggest fucking look on her face. loses the attitude when Jackie starts throwing blankets on the couch, but it’s over for her at that point.

Jackie’s introducing you to all her friends without shame, and Shauna’s just daring someone to say something.

You start to wonder if Shauna’s main reason for dating you is all the opportunities it gives her to embarrass Jackie. One of their friends asks where you met, and Shauna says something like, “Jackie stole her from the cradle.” Jackie’s over there doing a spittake as she nearly chokes on her wine. she just loves to make Jackie squirm.

Now, if someone else makes a comment about it? Jackie’s going to have to drag her out of there or blood’s going to be spilled.

Jackie insists on making you watch the "classics," but it’s mostly just beaches over and over again. she refuses to move on. Shauna’s three glasses of wine in before the movie even starts. she’s seen it so many times she can recite it line by line.

Shauna throws Star Wars in there, but it’s mostly just because she knows Jackie's sick and tired of watching it. Shauna's got to get revenge somehow.

Shauna comes up behind you and just stands there, glaring at anyone that tries to approach you. God forbid you mention having to meet someone at the library for a project. you’ve never heard a more terrifying “Oh?” in your entire life. she’s dropping you off in her little minivan like your a child. talking about “I’ll be back in two hours.”

Jackie consistently tries to match your schedule to stay up with you, but it's always lights out for her at 10 PM sharp, no matter how hard she tries. she’s so competitive with it though, so sometimes the two of you just have to pretend you’re going to sleep so that Jackie won’t be an absolute nightmare in the morning. she wakes up once to find you in the living room doing something else after you've “gone to sleep” and won’t speak to you for at least a day.

Shauna likes to teach you how to cook (spices who? ), but Jackie always hovers around giving bad advice. They end up bickering about it every time, and the food gets burned. Shauna’s so frustrated she can barely look at Jackie, and Jackie’s ass is skipping over to the takeout menu drawer.

Jackie and Shauna have separate bank accounts just so Jackie can make Shauna pay for dates still. It’s the small things.

Shauna’s more self-conscious about initiating PDA, given that she’s a lot more aware of the age difference in a way. Jackie’s always the one to initiate it first; whether it’s holding your hand or practically climbing on top of you, trust that Jackie does not care.

Jackie’s way too invested in any of your friend group gossip. she’s expecting daily updates. Shauna “doesn’t care” and yet still knows every detail. interesting.

Any argument Jackie is losing, she pulls the “listen to your elders” card. It’s the only time you’re ever allowed to acknowledge that she’s older than you, unless it’s to call her a milf. she’s partial to that, no matter how much she pretends not to.

Shauna tries to give you advice that you barely listen to because her life is a train wreck. Let's be honest, she pulled Jackie by accident. Who else was going to match her freak?

Jackie’s embarrassedly knowledgeable about slang for her age. you’re not sure what's worse: Shauna purposely using it wrong to embarrass you, or Jackie using it correctly at her advanced age.

Every gift you’ve ever received from the two of them has been one that Jackie bought and put Shauna’s name down on. It’s not to say that Shauna can’t get thoughtful gifts, but if it’s from the both of them, it’s really just from Jackie. Jackie thinks you don’t notice, but she always overexaggerates Shauna’s bad handwriting when signing the card. it goes from being slightly unreadable to looking like a five-year-old wrote it.

Jackie tries too hard with your friends and always comes off as the like “cool mom” type. she’s out here offering snacks. shauna’s making it awkward by asking one with a Nirvana shirt to name five songs.

[turquoisedata]

Basically you could sum up this entire post with "turquoise is being weird again"

Anyway so there are like 3 fics with deliberate Nine Inch Nails references and like 3 others with accidental NIN references and at least one with a who the hell knows if this is deliberate or not. And I'm pretty sure no one needs a "list of fics with both accidental and non-accidental NIN references" but I genuinely can't close the damn tabs till i make this post apparently so here we are.

(And I mean no one NEEDED a list of fics in which there is glitter and that seemed to go down pretty well so who knows, maybe the Venn diagram of NIN and GO and fucking weird brains is bigger than i think (it's certainly already bigger than Good Omens x Power BI which I think consists entirely of me and @hakunahistata))

Anyway without further ado (also I can't find lots of the authors on Tumblr please feel free to tag and I'll update)

Fics with deliberate/explicit (!) NIN references

Closer to god by hundred_eyes [M]

"In the background Crowley and Aziraphale met on the tops of buses, and in art galleries, and at concerts, compared notes, and smiled."

Aziraphale and Crowley go to a Nine Inch Nails gig.

Amazing. 🖤

May Wedding by Anna_bird [E]

THIS IS THE FIRST DAY

OF MY LAST DAYS

(headbanging)

Love it. Why didn't I make the DJ play Wish at my wedding? 🖤

Aziraphale's First Orgasm by the biggestnope [E]

He tried to regain his powers of speech. “I want to feel you from the inside. I want to – to make you mine.”

Closer my beloved 🥹

(probably) accidental NIN references

The Garden Project, @snae-b [E]

Oh fuck. Crowley feels like an animal.

Feels like a Closer reference. 🔥

Friday I'm In Love IneffableCrankShaft, NooRose93 [E]

“Besides, it will warm you up from the inside.”

Not deliberate but possibly accidental! 🖤

snake break @ineffabildaddy [T]

After locking his bedroom door from the inside, he had turned the lights out, plugged in his black noise machine, and closed his eyes.

Black Noise is an instrumental track and I love it 🖤

I'm sure I had another but I can't find it now

Anyway so if you have any others please have at it you will make my day 🥹🖤😎

And I have finally closed all the tabs 😇

[yukirayu]

Slow Damage Timeline

After countless edits and reviews, I wish to share with you a project of mine: the Slow Damage timeline, which pinpoints (or approximates) how old a character is when a certain event in their life occurred.

Note: The link is in the image description (though I'll also share the direct link here, to be safe). 😉

The remarks below are also found in the spreadsheet, but I'll go ahead and share them here, just in case.

Remarks:

Some of the characters’ ages are confirmed, while others are left for us to guess. The latter half has their final ages (deceased or alive) colored red as a distinguisher, and I did the same for the latest year that the visual novel is likely to currently take place in.

The general age ranges of the characters when they'd attend school, regardless of the level of education, are merely an approximation, especially at university-level and onwards. I did some research on the education system in Japan (and China, for one case), but the answers vary from source to source, especially when I try to narrow it down to a specific course, so I'm just going with what seems most probable depending on each character's history (as well as personality).

What I've said in #2 also applies to the years in which each event is likely to have taken place. I can't guarantee that it's 100% accurate, but what I can at least say is that it's a close guess (in other words, it may have even happened 5 years earlier or later).

Try as I might, I couldn't include every single character because even as I gleaned through the VN and the artbook over and over, there's too little that we know about them. A few examples are Inada and the unnamed vampire.

As much as I wish I could, I never got around to playing Clean Dishes (the fact that it's a mobile game restricted to Japan being the primary reason). Anything I know of it is from the summaries and (currently ongoing) translations given about the story. but it is at least certain that the entire plot of the spinoff (including its epilogue and its own sequel drama CD) happen before the events of the main game, since a certain trio is still working for the Takasato Group, and Towa is still living in the clinic (as well as working there).

I have to stress that about 70% of the timeline's contents consists of educated guesses. The education aside (especially for some characters), the events in each person's timeline is confirmed to have occurred; the hard part is pinpointing the when for at least half of those events, given that the VN left only hints or even none at all.

I've updated this spreadsheet with all the information I could gather (and will still update it in the future whenever needed), but I am only one person so there still might be something that I missed. If you know anything that has yet to be here or requires some revisiting, DM me about it. Of course, please be civilized in your approach.

Extra: Also found in the spreadsheet is the status of each character per route, whether they're dead, alive, or if their fate is uncertain, especially when taking what happens in each route into account.

[masquayla-the-splendid]

Bolts4Brains Update: 1/21/25

Okay so I might need some help. (Dw it's just input, you're not drawing.)

Every time I approach an Ennard shot, I lose my sparkle after like 2 sketches.

This is the objective:

I have to draw that.

So I didn't animate them in SFM, I just posed him and pieced them together in screenshots. It was mainly for the first half, because I couldn't figure out the camera angle of which he talks to the eyes.

Now, I'm not looking to draw these characters biblically accurate. More like I'm drawing them on-model, but with some tweaks to make them cartoon friendly, like how I colored Baby's eye-plates blue, moved her brows to the rim, and simplified her shoulder plate ruffle things. Or how I just made Funtime Foxy's eyes all yellow.

I sketch Ennard way more often than a full drawing, and I have to be consistent for this project. So I figured I'd just pull up the 3D frames and trace over his shapes. Yknow, like a guide. Well he still wasn't turning out right, so I thought maybe it's because I'm drawing too big? He takes up a lot of space in these shots.

So I return to paper and eyeball them instead, at a much smaller scale than my laptop. Just to see if it's the method or me.

Well some of them turned out alright, but I think you can tell he was burning me out a little. Like I said, I have to be consistent. That's how animation goes. I know how to draw him, I know the shapes he's made of, but it's Ennard. They've got a lot going on to keep up with.

So here's my predicament. When making a Fnaf user friendly, I'll riff off of other cartoons if I need pointers, like the ones mentioned previously. I cannot think of anything from the 80s all the way to the early 2000s that shares even a sliver of resemblance to Ennard. If I look on the robot side, it's too heavy on the machine aspect. If I look on the clown side, it's too much clown, not a lot of uncanny.

Is there any character in the 2D moving picture medium that at least shares their sghetti-ness?

[roomwithanopenfire]

Stats Sunday

(no banner today bc my laptop sometimes does this weird thing where it won't let me upload files and i don't feel like restarting it rn)

Hi! Thanks to @brilla-brilla-estrellita for the tag!

April has been a weird month for writing, but sharing my graphs and stuff is always fun for me (and hopefully you) even though I didn't work on like ANY of my preexisiting wips last month. As always, this post is long, expect stats, graphs, and musings under the cut. (No snippets today tho)

I posted zero fics in April which is understandable given that I have been SO busy lately with school and stuff.

Total words written for April: 22725 (this is the most words i've written in any month this year so far....)

Days I met my writing goal (200 words): 11

Days I didn't write or edit anything: 18 (this month has def been the worst month in terms of consistency bahaha)

Day I wrote the most: Apr 18th with 5957 words (this is the highest daily word count of the year, very abnormal for me, i went insane for a couple of days)

Number of Fics worked on: 1 fic plus one scrapped idea (LITERALLY ONLY 1 FIC AND IT'S NOT ANY OF MY WIPS)

Daily Average: 757 words (but this is a lie, most days i wrote 0 words lol. check out my graph)

I feel like this does not showcase enough how insane i felt on the 18th. Check out this quick graph i made of my daily WC for the whole year...

the spike is insaneee. Let's see my not-very-exciting pie graph i've created and see what i've been working on

No familar wips here. not either of the COBBs that I should be finishing (last years and this years 😭), or the COSW fic that I promise i'll finish eventually, but just 1000 words of a scrapped project and like 20k+ worth of a shiny new idea. The document is titled GET OUT OF MY HEAD because I was just going to write the scenes that were stuck in my head, but, like, it's still in my head and is getting more and more complex and complicated, but i haven't been writing it as much the past few days and i miss the writing demon that was inside of me, come back. channel more words through me please. let me write 6k in a day again, i miss you.

And this fic is not even for a fandom i've written for before, this is uncharted territory. i'm sure that just by glancing at my blog you can guess which new fandom this is for loll. we'll see how far i get on this wip. i've been writing scenes out of order as they come to me, but now i'm losing some steam so i have to decide if i actually want to put the work into making this something. And I think I do. Despite orginally writting it to get it out of my head, it is still very much in there. Taking up space.

And some life update news, the month of April has been pretty good to me. I got a year older, finally figured out my summer job, and i am getting an A in all my classes (at least, most likely. I still have one final left that I could bomb, but it's open-note so i'm not too worried). I have one week left at school, and then I'm home for the summer. (Which I have a whole ton of mixed feelings about. I love being home, but I also feel so much more me when I'm at school. But I'm excited to be making money again omggg.) also just yesterday the girl i have a crush on asked me out so eeeeee. very exciting

tags and hellos

@alexalexinii @aristocratic-otter @argumentativeantitheticalg @artsyunderstudy @arthurkko

@blackberrysummerblog @best--dress @bookishbroadwayandblind @bookish-bogwitch @the-beard-of-edward-teach

@cccloudsss @confused-bi-queer @cutestkilla @drowninginships @facewithoutheart

@emeryhall @fiend-for-culture @hushed-chorus @iamamythologicalcreature @ileadacharmedlife

@theimpossibledemon @jyae23 @larkral @lovelyladzzzz @lovelettersto-mars

@m1ndwinder @monbons @nausikaaa @noblecorgi @orange-peony

@prettygoododds @raenestee @rimeswithpurple @run-for-chamo-miles @rbkzz

@shrekgogurt @simonscones @skeedelvee @supercutedinosaurs @sweetronancer

@talentpiper11 @thewholelemon @valeffelees @youarenevertooold @you-remind-me-of-the-babe 

please let me know if you'd rather not be tagged in just stats with no writing. or if you'd rather not be tagged at all. no hard feelings if you'd rather not get the notif <3

[goldenshrikecomic]

FAQ

Please read these before sending asks! It's also good to check the tags listed on the pinned post to see if it's already answered. Where can I read GS? On Comicfury or DeviantArt. Two pages ahead on both Patreon and Ko-fi.

Who works on this comic? Only me, ratt/doeprince. You can call me either, I usually refer to myself as doeprince when it's more official, otherwise ratt or some secret third thing. I'm an amateur artist and I draw these comics for fun without much ambition to gain greatness. I want to make enough money to be able to keep working on more comics, and buy trinkets.

How can I support what you do? Why thank you for asking! All my income comes from making comics, so the support on either Patreon or Ko-fi is literally making my comic endeavours possible.

Do you have other projects? I work on some secondary comics. Jet and Harley and Honey are currently updating, Corpse is finished. You can find my other art on doe-prince.

How long will Golden Shrike be? I don't know how many pages. I hope it's less than 1000.

What programs do you use? SAI for lineart, CSP for coloring and bubbles, PS for text and backgrounds. Hoooow do you draw the antlers from different perspectives? I've made 3D models for each recurring antlered character.

Is GS going to have physical merch? Will it be printed? Consider this a no, but I won't say never.

Does GS have a map, official wiki or dub or something like that? No. There's a fan wiki out there full of inaccurate information so take everything in there with tons of grains of salt. There's no map. The dub on YT is separate from me, I've had no hand in it.

Can I make a fan character? Can they interact with yours? You can absolutely make a fan character! I just ask you not to make them interact with mine, at least not in any kind of heavy way. It's a slippery slope and I've seen people treat my characters very rudely to make them suit their needs.

Can I make fanart/writing? Yes! All sfw and well-meaning works are welcome. Just tag me so I can see them! Why are the borders black and sometimes white? White borders means it's a flashback.

Deer don't do that!!!!! Or birds!! Or plants! The moon shouldn't be that shape right now. Everything in GS is fictional for this very reason. I shall not be shackled by the chains of realism when there's entire new worlds in my fingertips. I aim to make things believeable in its context, not realistic. Are other animals sentient, can they talk? Sure they are and can, but not outside their own species. A frog can't hold a conversation with a deer, but a deer and antelope could possibly make it work. There's exceptions though.

How old are main characters? They're fawns right? No they are not, they'd all be in their early 20s if they were humans.

What does sire mean? It keeps popping up in different contexts. You can liken this term to 'father', as in your dad but also something like a priest. The priest isn't your dad but "father forgive me for I've sinned". So sire is a) respected stag, b) very formal way to address your father. Dame is the female counterpart. Why are the does so small compared to stags.... are you a freak... do you just hate women..... Listen when I started GS I had been dwelling in a place where monster deer characters had insane size differences and it became some kind of norm to me and of course it found its way into my comic. Now I just have to keep drawing those tiny women to keep up the consistency. I've created bigger ladies nowadays because I too think it's a little silly now.

Please please will this character ever get a mate? Will this pairing be canon? Will you please make this pairing canon? I won't spoil any pairings, I think it'd be the most boring thing to do to my own work! I'll only confirm the ones already established in the comic.

Is this a speck of ember? Is it snow? What is that floating thing, is it relevant to the plot? IT'S JUST MY DUST BRUSH LEAVE ME ALONE.

[peptorising]

Not your normal update: Local Numbers enthusiast brings you some statistics about dragon breed population numbers. Because i felt like it and it was fun.

*These numbers are not 100% accurate as the numbers update consistently as I am collecting the data.

My prediction going into this was that, for the most part, older and more common breeds would have higher populations. "Older" ended up being fairly accurate; rarity did not seem to have much of an effect.

Highest Modern Breed Pop. All: 1 - Guardian (11.7% of the entire site's dragons - way more than I would've expected!) 2 - Skydancer (9.7% of total) 3 - Imperial (9.6% of total) NE (Non-exalted): 1 - Imperial (11% of all non-exalted dragons) 2 - Guardian, Skydancer (9.4% of NE; I don't feel like checking which is marginally higher, so they both get to go here) 3 - Fae (7.8% of NE)

Lowest Modern Breed Pop. All: 1 - Fathom (0.3% of total) 2 - Obelisk (1.6% of total) 3 - Bogsneak (2.1% of total) NE: 1 - Fathom (0.9% of NE) 2 - Snapper (1.8% of NE) 3 - Obelisk (2.4% of NE)

I really wasn't expecting Imperials to make top 3. Or Skydancers, for that matter. But the lowest population sizes make sense - for the All category, those are the three most recently added Modern breeds. Clearly, Skydancers were added close enough to launch that it didn't seem to affect their numbers at all. And oh, Snappers... you poor things.

Ancient breeds have much smaller proportions for the same reason as above: they're all "new" (relative to launch breeds).

Highest Ancient Breed Pop. All: 1 - Gaoler (2.2% of total) 2 - Veilspun (1.7% of total) 3 - Banescale (1.5% of total) NE: The order is the same; percentages of non-exalted dragons are 2.7%, 2.4%, and 2% respectively. Aberrations are tied with Banescales.

I didn't bother to do a "lowest population" list for Ancients. If I ordered them from greatest to least, it would be almost identical to the release order; Banescale and Aberration are swapped, as well as Aether and Undertide. Sandsurge & Veilspun breed changes costing gems does not seem to have affected population like I thought it would, although Sandsurge and Auraboa are very close.

Aside from population numbers, I also looked at exalt rate. Originally I was curious if a breed getting exalted more meant people liked them less and therefore didn't want to keep them around as often. Here's how that went.

Highest Modern Breed Exalt% 1 - Ridgeback (84.8% of all Ridgebacks on site are exalted) 2 - Snapper (84.62%) 3 - Tundra (84.06%)

Lowest Modern Breed Exalt% 1 - Fathom (44.29%) 2 - Obelisk (70.44%) 3 - Wildclaw (72.24%)

Sitewide Exalt%, for comparison Modern: 80.86% Ancient: 68.82% All: 79.72%

Once again, the newest breeds have the lowest percentage exalted, followed by both Rare breeds (Coatl is #4). Unlike their total population, Bogsneaks' exalt rate seems to have stabilized completely. The highest ones… well, I see people call all of those ones ugly a lot, so I guess high exalt rate is a decent metric of "who does no one like."

Ancient breed exalt rates are what you'd expect - they follow the release date thing pretty well. I won't post the rankings, but I will note that the Everlux exalt rate is only around 21%. As it turns out, recency also causes exalt rate to be significantly lower.

There is one more metric I was curious about. Given that...

population & exalt rate increase at currently unknown rates over time

ancient breeds' values for these are all significantly lower than most modern breeds

...I was wondering...

what are the (approximate) rates of population and exalt rate growth

how long would it take for an ancient breed to reach the same level as the moderns?

I can't apply these projections to Modern breeds, since their growth rates are probably different, but I wish I could. I would love to know, theoretically, when I could expect Fathoms to reach 2 million+ total population.

Anyway, all I did was compare the population (ALL only) to "days since release" for all Ancient breeds and then made a couple graphs.

The population growth is approximately linear with a growth rate of about 1020 dragons per day. To reach the average population of a current Modern breed (5 million+), it would take… 15.45 years (5,638 days). But modern breeds have such a large range of population sizes, I don't really feel like an average is great to compare to.

Exalt rate growth rate is more logarithmic. I can't get as accurate of a reading on this one, but it looks like it would take around 6.44 years (2,350 days) for an Ancient breed's exalt rate to reach the Modern average. Gaolers, you're almost there!

Anyway, wow, I did this for three hours. I love numbers. And dragons.