Tumgik
#steal my art and you die that's the rules
atropaanimus · 2 years
Text
The fangs? I kept them after centuries of political infiltration with vampires.
Tumblr media
                                                       Call it a masquerade, if you will.
3 notes · View notes
luvwestwood · 5 months
Text
"Working Overtime" - Toji Fushiguro
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
4,469 words.
warnings. nsfw (18+), toji is your boss, escort reader, thigh riding, p in v, spitting, toji rails you on a balcony, exhibitionism?, toji fucks you on a pile of money, mention of size difference, hair pulling, eye contact, oral sex (f receiving), creampie, praising, light aftercare
notes. corporate girlie by day, escorting by night. out of all people, who knew your own boss had to be tonights client? (ok but wealthy toji is such a refreshing experience from broke homeless smelly ass toji.)
art used is by @/yunonoai
Tumblr media
Being able to say you work under Mr. Fushiguro meant that you were gifted of some kind. Just having the privilege to do so puts you on top of others in society.
Toji Fushiguro himself possessed a different category of wealth. Any high-rise building you walk into in the whole of New York, you could be 99.9% sure that he owns it.
Five star hotels, bars of any kind, and award-winning Michelin restaurants. Oh, you name it. This was his world and we were just living in it.
On the other hand, the Fushiguro company's pay was decent. Working conditions were way above standard. It was a luxury to work in his office, but knowing you, it just wasn't enough.
You needed more than that. Which is why you took up escorting, suggested by your best-friend one night while the two of you were intoxicated by liquor. She told you that you had the looks, the bod, and a personality anyone would die for. And lastly, you were captivating - you could have anything your way.
At first you took it as a joke. Thinking she was just being a lick ass. But surprisingly you had tried it out not long after the idea was proposed, and you ended up making almost double your annual net salary in just four months. This night job was a secret that only you and your best-friend knows about.
Of course, you worked on the weekends. Choosing to work Monday to Thursday would’ve been self sabotage.
You had more than enough money to buy whatever you want, send your mom on holiday, and you were always on top of rent. Your corporate job was just something to get through the day with rather than rotting at home.
Tumblr media
During shifts, you and the other escorts would hang around in the night club changing rooms. Most of the girls were also strippers in the same club, but that wasn’t really your thing. So you just stayed with escorting. Your manager would just assign each of you clients, unless someone has personally booked you in.
Speaking of which, a voice came from the door frame. “Star, you have a client tonight. 9PM.” Star wasn’t your real name, it was just a fake one that you used while you escorted. It was safer, and most of the other girls did the same.
You look at Geto, your boss, in the reflection of the vanity mirror. Busy polishing up your eyeliner, you try your best not to poke yourself in the eye. “Name? And did he obey my no-home rule?”
As an escort, you did have some rules for your own service. You figured you’ve been doing this for quite a reasonable amount of time, so you made a personal rule where you’d refuse to go to a clients house. For safety reasons.
“Goes by the name.. uh… Eznin? And he did indeed. Seems like he booked in for the Ritz Carlton on 25 West. Think he’s a first time client too.” He reads the details off his tablet.
Of course, it just had to be one of Fushiguros hotels. You literally couldn’t escape that man.
The other girls in the room purred, “Aren’t you lucky.. Seems like he has money, don’t ya think?” Meimei takes a puff of her cigarette, looking at you in the mirror aswell for a response. “Maybe check for an expensive watch? I’d take it if I were you.”
“Not funny, Meimei.” She was known for stealing from her clients, you never knew how she got away with it. It even got so bad to the point that she sp¡ked a client, taking his wallet afterwards.
Getting up from the chair, you made your way behind the dressing divider, shimmying your robe off to slide on a dark blue lingerie set. Over it, you wore a simple black dress. I mean, you could never go wrong with a little black dress.
Throwing on some matching strappy heels, you stuffed your purse with some condoms and lube. And a plan B, of course.
“Your rides sorted,” Geto stood back from the door frame. “I’ll text you any further details.”
“Copy,” after spritzing on some perfume, you made your way out of the club.
An all-black SUV was waiting for you outside the entrance. Your favourite driver, Todo was standing beside the car door, smiling as you approached him.
“Hi, Todo.” You smiled as he held the door open.
“You look wonderful miss.” Todo smiles back before closing the door, walking around to the drivers side.
The car drives on, and as you were securing a secret mic in your purse, (for safety reasons but the client never knows) Todo speaks.
“Ah- Miss, not sure if I should disclose this information but your client tonight is.. very wealthy.” His leather covered hands clutch onto the wheel. “I’d be more demanding if I were you, make the most of it.”
Breaking out into a laugh, you stop fiddling with your bag, to look at him in the rear view mirror. “..Is that so?”
“Yeah… thought I might let you know.” He grins, bringing the car to a stop. Todo quickly scurries out of the vehicle before you could, opening the door for you.
“Thanks for the ride, Todo.” You slipped a $20 bill in his hand. “I’ll text you when I’m finished.”
He nods, getting back into the car as you made your way inside of the hotel.
Checking your phone for updates, Geto sent you a text with all the details around five minutes ago.
Eznin Caln 30 years old, Net worth- $307,473,297 Floor number 43, he’ll let you in.
You walked over to the elevators, luckily one was already open. Taking a look at the buttons panel, you looked for a 43. Noticing it was the last highest button, you raised an eyebrow before pressing it.
Clutching onto the straps of your purse, the doors closed. You could only look at yourself in the metal reflection, taking a few deep breaths. Of course, you made sure to send a text back to Geto to let him know you were at the hotel.
Although you were decently experienced in this job, you’d still get nervous each time you were about to meet your clients.
Setting down the fly aways in your hair, the elevator came to a halt.
*Ding!*
The metal doors opened before your eyes. Hesitant, you walked inside, the bottom of your heels tapping against the wooden floors.
“..Hello?” You peeked inside the other rooms in the penthouse, one being a mini office that seemed like someone was just there, the other being a bedroom with big windows and a balcony, overlooking the city.
A deep voice spoke behind you. “Can I help you?”
You gasp, clutching onto your chest as you turned around. “I’m so sorr- Mr. Fushiguro?!”
Your eyes widened, and his mouth wide open. He was only in a towel wrapped around his waist, his dark hair wet from a fresh shower. You couldn’t help but ogle the drops of water that decorated his muscular body.
“…Are you.. the escort?”
Unable to form words, you swallowed your spit before speaking. “I.. I am.” You tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, looking down at the ground.
“Alright, make yourself comfortable.” He eyed you up and down, a mini towel in his hand to dry his hair. “Sorry you have to see me like this, excuse me while I put some clothes on.”
Is he not going to question anything?..
Your breath hitched, God, did he know I was eyeing him? “Okay..”
He turned around to go back to the bathroom, but looked over his shoulder as he was doing so. “Just call me Toji, we’re outside of work.”
You watched as Toji continued to walk away, “Well.. I’m basically working, aren’t I.” you muttered under your breath, making sure he doesn’t hear.
Looking around, you remembered that he owned this hotel. I should’ve known when I was going to the 43rd floor, he doesn’t let anyone in here.
You walked over to his bedroom, it was bigger than your own apartment. The sheets were neatly made, and a bottle of Malbec sat on a table near the window.
Placing your purse on small sofa, you removed your jacket, neatly folding it over the arm rest aswell.
You made your way to his closet, in search for a white robe. There was a robe on the hanger beside his freshly dry cleaned suits. You took it out, tracing your fingers over “The Ritz-Carlton” that was embroidered onto the front in cursive.
Sliding your dress off, you covered yourself in the robe, only the dark blue lingerie set underneath. Afterwards you tied a knot around your waist with the belt. Kicking off your heels, you placed them inside the closet, along with your dress that was neatly folded.
Although you were an escort, you made sure to clean up after yourself. You hated leaving a mess around, so you respected your clients by making sure to leave the place clean.
You could hear Toji walk into the bedroom. Closing the doors of the closet, you turned to him, and he was already busy getting the wine bottle open with a corkscrew.
Taking a seat on the armchair in front of him, causing you to be at crotch level with Toji. You watched as his arms flex each time he handled the bottle.
You noticed Toji was in a more relaxed outfit. He wore a dark grey cotton longsleeve that sculpted over his muscles like paint, with bottoms in a matching colour and fabric.
“Toji,” you called out his name.
The pouring of the wine stopped, his fingers gently pushing the glass towards you. “Hmm?”
Taking the glass by the stem, you twisted it between your fingers. “Do you regularly hire escorts?”
Toji walked over to the edge of the bed, sitting down. He sighed, looking at the city view in front of him. “No,” taking a sip, he continued. “This is my first time, actually.”
You did the same, but taking a tinier sip. You didn’t want to be tipsy while carrying out your service. It was too dangerous. “..Oh.”
Looking back at Toji, he was busy staring at the red liquid swirling around in the glass. “I dont even really know how they work.”
As you were about to take another sip, you paused. Your eyes looked at him over the rim of the glass, before placing it back down on the table.
“You can just do whatever you want with me, really.” You crossed your legs, exposing the bare skin on your thigh to him.
"I see," he nods, slightly leaning back onto the bed, using his hands for support.
"So, you made up your mind yet?" you got up from the arm chair, making your way to Toji who was on the bed. "What you wanna do?" You stood yourself between his legs, as he tried his best to hold himself back from pulling on the knot that was holding your entire robe together.
Toji's hands rested on your hips on top the robe, dangerously close to your ass. He made sure to bring you closer to him, almost pressing your chest to his face at this point. "I don't know," His free hand tugged on the knot of the belt, slowly unraveling it until the robe slid off your body. "Maybe you, if that's an option."
He could feel his cock strain against his pants as he took in the sight of you in nothing but lingerie, it felt like he was opening a present on his birthday. Blue was his favorite color.
You choked on your words at his response, he sure did have a way with his words. "I don't usually allow that, but maybe I'll let it slide tonight."
Toji caressed your wet lip with his thumb, gradually sliding it inside of your mouth as you sucked on it gently. He stops and moves you to the side by the waist, getting up from the bed.
Confused, you stay standing in front of the bed, watching Toji as he grabs something from the drawer. He eventually makes his way back onto the bed, but this time, leaning his head back against the head-board.
Toji takes out his wallet, pulling a $20 bill out and placing it on the nightstand beside him. "..Crawl over to me."
Your lashes flutter as you watched him place the bill on the night stand, you could only obey what he asked you to do. 'I'm just doing my job.. this doesn't mean anything. He will forget about this.' You constantly chanted this in your thoughts, completely disregarding the fact that he was your boss.
You crawled onto the bed, and slowly to him. Toji's eyes watched you closely making sure to tell you, "Stop," as you were just about to crawl onto his lap.
He takes out another $20 bill from his wallet, this time, two. Toji gently raised his knee, just enough for it to rub against your warm cunt that was covered by the lace panties. "Ride my leg, until I tell you to stop."
Aroused, which you are not meant to be, you couldn't help but sink yourself down onto his leg. Part of you wanted this, but you did at good job at not showing it.
You slowly started to move your hips back and forth on his lower thigh, placing both of your hands down in front of you for support. Toji's hardened cock begging to come out as he watched you closely.
If you were to lift up his top, you’d be able to see his leaking top peeking out of his waistband. The straps of your bra slowly fell down off your shoulders. Toji could almost groan at this lewd sight in front of him.
"Good girl," He did his best to hold himself back from holding onto your hips, "Keep going."
A spot on the fabric of his pants turned into a darker grey than before, your slick making its way through your panties. Nothing can be done.
Breathy moans started to crawl out of your throat, Toji noticing as you started to grind on his leg harder and slightly faster. "Stop."
You whimpered quietly as Toji retracted his leg from underneath you, observing the newly made wet spot on his pants. "Look at this mess you made all over me.."
Speechless, and breathless, you fell back onto your heels in front of Toji, he took another bill out, but this time $50.
"..I want that bra off." He slaps the bill onto the growing pile on the nightstand, followed by another 50. But he doesn't take his eyes off you. "And the panties. They're kinda annoying me now."
Doing exactly as he said, Toji's hand rested on his crotch, aching to palm himself through his pants. You slowly, but teasingly unclasped your bra, Toji clearing his throat by the time your tits were finally on display to him.
Followed by your soaked underwear, which at this point was no use. They managed to fly across the bedroom, hanging off a small statue that was on top of a console table.
He just wanted to wrap his mouth around each of them, or even motorboat your titties.
Toji propped himself up in a less relaxed position. "Lie down on your back, legs spread."
Your last sight was him before you fell back on to the bed, your head nearly hanging off the edge. Toji noticed your nipples hardened as soon as your skin made contact with the cold satin sheets. You felt the weight of the bed shift around, as Toji grabbed both of your legs by the thighs, positioning his head between them.
Squirming about, Toji peppered kisses on your inner thighs, his large hand wrapped around one of them. Wasting no time, he went straight to sucking and softly biting on your folds, using his tongue to lap at your bud until it was swollen. Moaning into your pussy, he softly massaged the flesh of your thigh, the vibrations from his grunts adding more to your stimulation.
Busy sucking away, wet noises from his tongue and the slick of your dripping pussy echoing throughout the bedroom. His hand reached behind him, then slowly went back over his shoulder. It was a $100 bill, tucked between his index and middle finger.
You were too busy hanging your head off the edge of the bed in pleasure, grabbing the sheets beside you and wrinkling them as Toji devoured you like he hasn't eaten for weeks.
The paper bill fell onto your stomach, tickling you slightly. You could feel Toji spit onto your pussy, the saliva trickling down almost into your hole before he slurped it back up, sticking his fingers in there instead. You felt them slide into you with ease, Toji swirling his warm tongue around on your clit.
"O-oh God.. To..ji." You managed to choke out a moan, your manicured hands clawing at his hair and eventually messing it up.
Letting go of your thigh, he used his now free hand to fondle with your breasts eagerly, twisting your nipples between his fingertips before giving them a slap.
One last lick on your clit, Toji removed his head between your legs, this time his whole body kneeling between them. You sneakily push up against him, his bulge through his pants grazing against your bare cunt.
Using your strength to lift your head from the edge of the bed, you watched as he took off his shirt, letting it fall onto the floor. Its neckline was soaked from eating you out earlier, but we don't talk about that.
Panting, his hands frantically rummage through his wallet. You noticed it was still bulky, as if the previous cash he pulled out didn't make any difference to the amount he had now.
Toji pulled out $1000 all in 20 bills, your eyes widening, wondering if he was serious.
"Please.. let me fuck you." Toji also sat back on his heels, $1000 in his hands as you were underneath him, fully naked. He just wanted to indulge himself in you, and if he could, he'd make this night last forever.
You slowly nodded, honestly begging to having his cock inside of you too. Before you knew it, your vision was filled with the $1000 raining down onto your body, and by your sides on the bed. He quickly pulled his bottoms down to his knees, before realising they were too annoying. He proceeds to fully kick them off.
Toji glances around the room for a condom, before you stopped him. "..Is it okay if we don't use one? ..I want to feel every inch of you."
You read his mind. "Anything you want, gorgeous."
His large hands shuffled through the pile of cash that was over your body, making sure that he could still see your tits and your beautiful face.
One hand grabbed onto your waist, and the other was used to align the tip of his cock with your hole. As soon as he slightly pushed the tip in, both of his hands were on your waist now.
Toji carefully slid in, making sure you take every inch of him. He closes his eyes in pleasure as he feels your plush walls clench around him, Tojis grip on your waist intensifying.
And, god was he big. In both cock, and Toji in general, he could destroy you if he decided to use full stength tonight.
"Y-you're too.. big," Toji not even halfway, you cry out, only wrinkling the sheets more to the point they weren't tucked into the frame hotel-style anymore.
You could feel both of his thumbs caress the soft skin of your sides as he cooed, "I know baby, I know," Toji let out a grunt as he tried to move in and out of you.
The difference of size between you and Toji made you throb, at this point he could just use his hands to fuck you on his cock back and forth like a doll in his grasp.
Toji starts to pant as he picked up the pace of his ruts, your tits bouncing, only adding to the pornographic sight in front of him.
Covering your face with your hands, you moan into them, the feeling of being full with Tojis cock was driving you mad. You could feel one hand let go of your waist, bringing it to your wrist to pull it away from covering your face.
The rustling of the cash beneath you and the sound of skin slapping echoed out into the living room from the bedroom. "Look at me when I fuck you," Toji says sternly, causing you to whimper in agitation as you did your best to keep your eyes on his.
"To..Toji.." You moan out, choking on your words as your hand grabbed onto his that was wrapped around on your waist.
"Come on doll, say my name." Turning feral, Toji pounds into you like a fleshlight. Voice shaking as you try to moan out his name, and by tomorrow you wouldn't be surprised if you lost your voice.
He comes to a halt, completely. Toji slides his cock out of you, a creamy white ring formed at the base. You whine before he hushes you. "Y'know what," He picks you up, cradling you in his arms.
You switch positions, instead you lock your legs around his waist, as the two of you made your way to the balcony door of the bedroom. Is he..
*click!*
Toji slid the glass door open, the two of you stepping out into the balcony. It wasn't cold, and you could see the still busy city carrying on with life underneath the hotel.
Suddenly, Toji peeled your legs off his waist, making you face the railing, and the city in front of you. You gasp as he roughly positioned your body, placing one leg up onto the rail, your two hands clutching onto the cold metal.
He slides into you again, but this time not allowing you to adjust. Toji immediately goes in with brutal force, your ass ripping against his pelvis as he drilled into you. On the balcony. For anyone to watch.
Toji spits again, his saliva falling onto your asshole and soon enough drips onto his cock that was continuously pounding in and out of you.
Your moans broke out into a giggle due to the ticklish feeling, Toji couldn’t help but smile at your reaction.
Both hands on your waist, Toji groans in pleasure and praises you non-stop for taking him like a good girl. His hand wrapped around your lower stomach as he felt you give in, your legs unable to support yourself. "You're doing so good for me," he whispers in to your ear, only to leave a trail of wet kisses down your back afterwards,
You moan continuously, for sure, everyone below could hear. Your hand made its way to Toji's nape, bringing him closer to you as he repeatedly fucked into your sweet spot.
"I’d do anything to be able to see a view like this one for the rest of my life," his left hand made its way down to your clit, lazily rubbing circles.
This just did it for you, lowly moaning, you let go of Tojis neck. Leaning forward, you rest your chin on the metal rail ontop of your same hands that were grabbing onto it. But a certain someone didn't let you do that.
Toji immediately grabbed you by your hair, pulling you back against his chest, taking your leg off the rail. You felt him interlock his hands around your inner elbow, suddenly fucking into you upwards as you grab onto his bicep for support.
"G-o-d Toji, please just f-u-ck your c-um into me." The enunciation of your words came out in bits, as Toji drilled up into you at a brutal pace.
He grinned against your necks skin, leaning further to plant kisses on your jaw."You want me to fill you with my cum, huh?"
You frantically nod, but that wasn't enough of an answer for a man like Toji.
"Oh baby, use your words." He purred into your ear, holding his orgasm to make sure you get it when you deserve it.
"I need it- I need it so ba-ad." You whimpered out, squeezing onto his bicep. "Please, Toji."
He whined, balls tightening as he heard you beg for him. You already drove him crazy, and that only drove him crazier. With one deep thrust, his movements come to a halt, allowing his warm, thick seed to fill you up completely.
Toji placed more kisses onto your back and your neck, making sure to never lose grip of you in case you go all jelly. Followed by him, slowly pulling his cock out of you, his load dripping out of your hole and onto the balcony flooring.
He stuck two of his fingers back into you, slowly fucking the load inside of you to make sure it stays inside. With his cum covered fingers, he slid the two of them past your lips and into your mouth. You sucked on them, humming as it covered your taste buds, and eventually swallowing.
Toji slapped your ass, and you yelped, giving him a glare. He chuckled before picking you back up bridal style, carrying you back inside the penthouse.
He gently and carefully placed you on the bed, quickly cleaning a bit of the mess you two made around the room.
"How about I go run us a nice bath, hmm?"
Fiddling with your thumbs, you watched as Toji neatly fold the pile of money together alongside the one on the night stand. Of course, it’s still yours. "That sounds good," You smiled as he walked over to give you a peck on the forehead.
Tumblr media
The dripping of water from the bath tap rang throughout the room, Toji leaning back against you as the two of you were in the tub. You squeezed a sponge over his abs, the hot water dripping down his skin as he closed his eyes.
"..Toji," you called out his name, and he hums back in response.
You gently rubbed the sponge up and down his arm, "Would you say this counts as me working overtime for you?"
He smiles, opening his eyes to look up at you. "I'll add another $500 bonus and a shopping spree if you ride me in this tub."
You scoff, letting go of the sponge as you sulk against the marble of the tub. "I'm literally stuffed with your cum. I think you had enough, thank you very much."
Toji only laughs, "Aren't you forgetting you got an asshole and that throat of yours? We can easily squeeze in three more rounds."
Tumblr media
⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⤳ © luvwestwood ‘24. all works are owned by me, and originally come from my own head. please do not re-post on a third party platform without my permission!
⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⤳ as always, thank you for the love on each and every one of my posts. 🎀🩷
Tumblr media
1K notes · View notes
anonymous-dentist · 3 months
Text
I think that Bobby would’ve absolutely despised Pepito from beyond the grave (Roier is HIS dad, hello???) But, when he saw Pepito go down in that dungeon just the same way he did months and months ago, Bobby couldn’t help but sit by Pepito’s side and hold his hand as he briefly entered the afterlife:
“Stop crying,” Bobby tells him.
(Pepito is technically older than Bobby ever got to be, but, like, fuck that.)
Pepito, dead and waiting to respawn, keeps crying. Like a baby. Ew.
He gets onto his feet and runs to Roier’s corpse and shakes it to no avail; after all, Roier is dead and respawned, and Pepito is a ghost. Ghosts can’t do much.
Bobby rolls his eyes and goes to yank Pepito to his feet. And then he starts swearing as Pepito stands, turns, and pulls Bobby into a hug.
“Ew, no, get off!” Bobby protests, pushing at Pepito’s shoulders.
But Pepito doesn’t.
“I’m sorry,” Pepito sobs, confusing the hell out of poor Bobby.
Bobby frowns. “What? No, shut up.”
Pepito shakes his head. “I already stole Apa Roier. Now I stole your death!! I’m a Bad Pepito.”
Vaguely, Bobby remembers hearing Roier tell Pepito way in the beginning that Pepito would die just like Bobby did. He was always looking at Bobby’s statue, and at Bobby’s art, while standing in Bobby’s Castle.
Bobby wrinkles his nose. “Literally shut up. You didn’t ‘steal’ Apa from me, I’m still his son, okay?”
Pepito whimpers. “Okay…”
“And you didn’t ‘steal my death’ or whatever, that’s stupid. You died. I don’t think you wanted to, so you didn’t mean to die this way. So there.”
He sticks his tongue out. Pepito considers just for a moment before tightening his hug and smiling and sticking his glasses into Bobby’s chest, the bastard.
“You’re soooo smart!” Pepito says.
Bobby pauses. First time he’s ever been called smart. When he was alive, almost everybody just thought he was an annoying troublemaker, which he was. But… smart?
Bobby smiles to himself- careful not to let Pepito see- and he finally returns Pepito’s hug.
“Take care of Apa for me,” Bobby tells him. “He’ll need a hug when he comes back.”
(Of course, Bobby is referring to his Apa being in Rat Prison, but Pepito can’t know that. Ghost Rules and stuff.)
Pepito nods, and then he finally respawns.
Good riddance!
…But maybe Bobby doesn’t hate him.
166 notes · View notes
duckprintspress · 9 months
Text
Pre-Orders Now Open for “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley!
Tumblr media
Pre-orders for Adrian Harley’s debut sapphic fantasy novel Many Drops Make a Stream are now open!
A memory-stealing cult. The ever-watchful City of Eyes. Making small talk. Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…
Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.
Many Drops Make a Stream, Adrian Harley’s debut novel, is the stand-alone first book in a series of related fantasy-mystery-heists featuring the shapeshifter Droplet and the friends and found family who work alongside her to fight the corrupt powers-that-be. Many Drops Make a Stream is rated general (adult) audiences and features shapeshifting shenanigans, a nascent f/f quarrelers-to-lovers pre-relationship, a wonderful extended cast of family and pseudo-family, necromancy and blood magic and spellwork (oh my!), and one (1) very angry goose.
For this campaign, we’re offering:
Many Drops Make a Stream e-book (ePub and PDF formats)
Many Drops Make a Stream digest-sized trade paperback book (bonus: every single print book comes with a bookplate signed by Adrian Harley!)
Droplet!Dux Die-Cut Sticker
Many Drops Make a Stream Cover Art Print
Shapeshifting Droplet Enamel Pin
Patron-exclusive extra wooden coaster (for people who support Duck Prints Press at the $10/month and $25/month level on Patreon and back this campaign)
Better yet, you can get a discount by picking one of three bundles:
Many Drops Make a Stream E-Book + Merchandise
Many Drops Make a Stream E-Book + Print Book
Many Drops Make a Stream E-Book + Print Book + Merchandise
You can learn all about the book, the author, the campaign, and our offerings by visiting the pre-order page NOW!
Want a chance to win a trade paperback copy of Many Drops Make a Stream? Help us spread the word about this campaign by liking and signal boosting our posts on any of our platforms that including “sharing” functionality (such as Tumblr, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook), and you can get up to 4 entries per platform where you share!*
Campaign backers will also get bonuses based on the number of signal boosts our posts receive! All the social media links for sharing are on the linked pre-order page, so help us tell the world about the awesome book, and who knows – you might win a copy! (But only if we fund, ’cause we can’t afford to print the book if we don’t fund, so help us make sure people who want to buy The Awesome learn that The Awesome exists!)
*sweepstakes rules and conditions
189 notes · View notes
dreamchaserguild · 8 months
Text
We recently backed a project on Kickstarter and I wanted to ramble about that.
(This is not paid promotion and I have no association with the team making this project. This is just me gushing about something I think is cool.)
I grew up playing Heroscape. This game was my childhood. If you don't know what Heroscape is, here you go:
Tumblr media
It was a simple tactical minis tabletop battle game where you make a team of different heroes with their own unique abilities. But what really sold this game was the landscape you could build yourself.
I used to have a table that sat out on our front porch that was filled with Herocape stuff as I constructed and deconstructed and reconstructed my maps.
And I didn't just have the starter set you see above. (Above is actually several starter sets. You don't get quite that many pieces from one box. I'm guessing it's three starter sets since there are six ruins, and Heroscape only came with two.) No. I had the ice set, the volcano set, the castle set, a Marvel set. The second starter set with swampy environment.
Heroscape was an amazing part of my childhood. Then Hasbro let it die.
They tried to revive it in the form of Arena of the Planeswalkers, a knock-off with a flat cardboard battlefield. But it got cancelled after two expansions. They're going to try again, but I have no faith that they'll stick with the Heroscape revival.
Which brings us to SOURCE.
SOURCE is a hex system made by indie-developers who themselves were Heroscape fans and inspired by Heroscape. Rather than connecting at the sides like Heroscape, the SOURCE tiles are held together by edges as you can see here. (I sure hope they don't mind me lifting the images from their kickstarter.)
Tumblr media
A disadvantage to this is that you lose some of the modularity in being able to build in any shape you want. The advantage though is that it allows for terrain to easily be added and removed throughout gameplay.
(They're also working on special grip mats for those who just really want to build in any shape they want without being confined to shapes of the edges.)
And in my opinion, the detail looks way better than Heroscape ever did. Just compare the lava tiles above to Heroscape's:
Tumblr media
There's no contest.
The SOURCE hexes aren't just the same thing in different colors. They're actual works of art.
And I'm not saying this to put Heroscape down. Like I said, it was my childhood and was fantastic for its time.
The game on the Kickstarter, Timestrike, is very similar to Heroscape. But with so much more stacked onto Heroscape's foundation.
Characters have move, range, attack and defense like Heroscape. You have the six-sided dice where three sides are swords and two are shields. Only now there is a special lucky sword and a lucky shield. These aren't relevant for most characters, but some characters will have abilities where they'll gain some bonus on lucky rolls.
If that's not enough, there's also a Contest mechanic where you can push another player's figure. This is great if someone is on a ledge and you want to cause them fall damage, or if you just want to steal the high ground from them to increase your attack.
You can also mine materials, build roads with the materials you mined, and go fishing for buffs. (Literally. You can stand near water and try to fish. If you succeed, you take a card from the fishing deck.)
There are wild monsters you can try to tame. There are even large figures you can mount and ride. See this guy:
Tumblr media
That's a base on his back for you to place a smaller miniature on and ride him around!
The game is centered around not just beating each other, but also fighting a boss called a Sentience with space for three figures on its back.
Tumblr media
(Note: the Gorilla Brute is not part of this first set, and will likely come with a future expansion.)
The sentience takes full advantage of the destructible terrain, leveling any space he lands on.
And they're tossing in solo and co-op rules for people who don't want to fight each other and just want to fight the boss alone, or to team up to fight the boss.
Oh! And it comes with STACKABLE WALLS!
Tumblr media
That's a small thing, but it's a cool thing. (Okay, this is technically a stretch goal for $200,000 that they haven't put on the official Kickstarter, but $200K feels likely to me.)
The creators also seem genuinely committed to making this a reality and keeping it going for a long time, with talk of several expansions in the pipeline, introducing more playable characters, more rideable Brutes, and more bosses which will each have their own abilities and their own solo/co-op modes.
And possibly boats.
Tumblr media
That's a picture of a prototype boat that can fit three figures and will NOT be included in this Kickstarter. But it is planned for a future expansion.
I don't know if the boats will come to fruition. I don't know if they'll look like that when they are released or if they'll look completely different by then since that would be a long way off.
But I appreciate knowing that there are plans to make this a long-term investment. I'm not worried that the creators will give up on SOURCE and Timestrike like Hasbro did Heroscape and Arena of the Planeswalkers.
And it's not just Timestrike. The SOURCE terrain can be purchased on its own and the SOURCE system is intended to be used for a variety of games by different creators. And it's already naturally compatible with Heroscape, Arena of the Planeswalkers, Battletech and other hex-based games.
I am incredibly excited and hopeful for the future of this project!
Here's the Kickstarter for anyone who wants to see more of this.
And here's a video review going over the Timestrike rules and how it plays:
youtube
95 notes · View notes
fantasy-relax · 5 months
Text
Others MC after gaining knowledge of the loop without memories of the past routes but keeping the new ones if the loop restarts. : Having a panic attack about existence *did anything matter? Did my chooses have no weight? What about the other versions of me? I'm the original or just another countless version lost in time? *
Trying to found a way out of the loop.
My shithead Mc : haha nice, *make a list of things to do, some are just things that never have time to do other are either are dangerous or inmoral*
Having the time of their life.
The list (NSFW included)
Beat the shit out the Stans with a bat
Go to parties with Angie
Try skating with Dani
Take Elena to a party with angie/ beat the shit out of all the annoying patrons.
Try Cinder unholy creation of drink
Tell alcina that she is an humongous bitch with the maternal abilities of a coconut.
Burn alcina secret artsy room. (Blame someone else if possible if not laugh at her face and square up)
Kidnap Bela and Cassandra so they and Dani could have a sister day.(Threaten to burn down the theater and the student council)
Tell Cassandra how a bitch she have been with her sisters.
Make Bela ditch her student council responsibilities. (kidnapping is in the table)
Try every single club
Steal a car
Steal all the technology that you always wanted.
Vandalism in all the walls of the school
Be gentleman with Cassandra and court her. Show support and help her to sleep more.
Kill the Stans the fuckers deserve it
Tell alcina that good parents keep their children away from dangerous cults, you stupid bitch. Burn alcina art room again
Help Bela so she can rest more.
Help Bela get back her heart what the fuck is going on here?
Hang out with Daniela and tell her that she is amazing and deserving of love.
Help Daniela break her curse, again what the fuck is wrong with alcina.
Pass time with alcina to know what the fuck is wrong with her.
WHAT THE FUCK ALCINA.
Kidnap that annoying pink head bitch and Burn alcina art room, with her inside.
Give some gifts to Daniela as apology for fucking her Mom in the past loop.
Hang out more with Angie to recover sanity.
Flirt with Angie aunt.
Beat the shit out of the annoying patrons of the flower shop.
Discover the killer. Okay, what the fuck is going on this school.
Flirt with donna, she kill you to protect Angie so try to forgive her.
Date donna, she is cute. Do your best to make her happy. Forgive her
Fuck her brains out, make her your precious doll. Now you can forgive her.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THE HEADMISTRESS DOING
Investigate Miranda
Be patient
Tear up her clothes, throw all the shit in her desk and Fuck her hard on the motherfucking desk until she is crying and then fuck her more. Run away from the scene
High Five mia in your way out.
Hide and hang out with Mia. Dumb ways to die so many dumb ways to die.
Avoid the headmistress.
See if you can convince (NSFW) :
Bela of fucking in the study council room. Treat her like a horny whore hiding behind the miss perfect mask. Praise her too. Make her cockwarm while she is working, edging her and the fuck her until she is overstimulated.
Donna of fucking In the front of her flower shop. Put her above the counter were anyone could see her come like a dirty whore, under the counter eating her out while she try to tell the clients that whatever they want will be deliver it tomorrow.
Run away from the school. TO THE HELL WITH EVERYTHING
Use Miranda as a fuck doll/ cumslut because she is the cause of everything. She wants you? Fine let's see if she can handle it.
Make know to all the student body that their headmistress is just a whore. Shame her, forget all about the rules for bdsm, forget about your morals. Be the worst version of you every time she triggers the loop.
Go to cat café.
Convince Daniela of burning down her mother art room. It will be cathartic. Angie can tag in too.
76 notes · View notes
Text
tuesday again 10/10/2023
by dry volume, this post is 80% talking about gallery walls. tl;dr : do not buy or hang up things you do not like in a vague attempt to make your house look more grownup ONLY put up things you love, mat your art to give it visual room to breathe.
listening
had a playlist of the james bond theme songs on while i was deep cleaning my kitchen and the line "YOU GOT TO GIVE THE OTHER FELLA HELL!!! " from SPECIFICALLY the guns 'n roses cover of live and let die (even though the playlist had the correct mccartney version) has been THOROUGHLY stuck in my brain for forty eight hours.
youtube
-
reading
academic transphobia to follow:
an anti-reading section, for once. Retraction Watch (site that tracks academic paper retractions and major academic beef like when someone is stripped of tenure for fraud, formerly my beloved) published an op-ed by an anthropologist TERF who is Big Mad she got called out by her professional association for trying to submit a conference talk that amounted to hate speech against her trans colleagues in the name of the stupid fucking largely disproven sexing skeletons thing. the comments have devolved into the professor sock puppeting anyone who goes "hey RW why did you platform this?"
would be very interested to hear from RW about how a retracted conference talk has the same impact on the scientific community as a retracted paper, but we'll fucking see. i think RW provides an important service to the scientific community (they are the most indepth and thorough tracker of retractions, more so than the actual publishers) but this is a fucking weird move
-
watching
rewatched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988, dir. Zemeckis) for fic research. GOD this movie is fucking good. it performs a minor animation miracle every thirty seconds.
Tumblr media
-
playing
nothing to report
-
making
by popular demand (four people), some thoughts about gallery walls. some discourse on the method, if you will. i went with a gallery wall bc i like the look and i had an extremely large blank wall to fill bc this apartment is slightly too big for me. the string lights remind me very much of my dorm rooms but cool lamps have been few and far between down here.
Tumblr media
how to get art (and why/caveats)
i honestly don't have a ton of direct collecting advice here other than "have you tried going to a lot of thrift stores". i cheat bc both my parents were architects who collected art, everyone in my family dabbles in fine art, and my sister has her bachelors in art history. so i am awash in paper, constantly. i grew up with a set of flatfiles and a closet full of spare frames. i recognize most people do not grow up like this.
with that caveat out of the way, how do i actually get my art? usually one piece at a time over a very long period of time. there's a postcard on my gallery wall i got in 2009. this is a game you will be playing for the rest of your life as you discover things you like and your tastes evolve.
it is VITAL that you love every piece on your walls. no filler ikea canvases unless you actually like them. the instant you start thinking "oh i need a landscape to look Grownup" you have to strangle that thought in the cradle. there are no rules, especially in art. put whatever the fuck you want up on your walls with no regard for the public's taste.
i feel like "i should buy and put up more art" is something that often falls into a vague Grownup Improvement Goal (like budgeting) bc it is an Grownup Improvement Goal and not bc they actually want to buy and put up more art. fortunately for everyone, you do not have to buy or put up Morally or Socially Improving art that will impress some vague category of grownups, bc we don't fucking live in victorian times.
most importantly you do not need to spend much (or in some cases any) money to put things on your walls. getting the effect you want (fancy washi tape, matching frames) may take some money, but using the printer at work and stealing some scotch tape is free.
how to get art (actual advice this time)
i feel a little silly typing this all out but i really like reading other chewsdayposters' processes, and it is really helpful for me a lot of the time to have someone say: actually there is this complete other way of doing something you have never considered bc u did not grow up with it
i ask you: do you have a stack of sentimental papers somewhere in your home? congrats you have some frameable items. a thing does not need to be Fine Art to be in a frame to go on the wall and make you happy. tape up a birthday card. put a quilt up on your wall. pushpin a label from a jar of pickled herring bc it reminds you of your grandma. frame a beloved tshirt. this is a martha stewart ass statement but things that are not traditional paper art on your walls will add variety and whimsy to your home.
other places for art that are not thrift/estate/yard sales:
i do believe that making your own art, including a $3 paint-by-numbers kit, will fix something in your brain. it's very similar to how i personally have to go stand with my feet in a body of water twice a year or THE SLUDGE smothers my brain
your favorite weird indie bands are almost certainly selling posters on bandcamp even if they're not currently on tour
i like the artists' co-op justseeds for art that deals with "social, environmental, and political engagement" like my beloved "fuck space tourism" poster
start a "good lines" or equivalent "art i like" tag on here and buy prints when u have the money. even if artists here don't have a shop open or don't have the specific piece u want as a print, ask if u can throw them an appropriate amount of money on venmo or something and get it printed locally or online. ive had good luck with vistaprint and they have rolling sales
do you like a piece of art in the public domain, like something from a museum? print it out. put it in a frame. no it's not as nice as a professional print but it's free if you do it at work and now it's on your wall
fuck around on wikimedia commons and the internet archive. i particularly love pulp magazine covers and little illustrative insets for out of date astronomy books
non- and semi-consumable supplies
if u put $25 into supplies u can use for many many other projects (i assume you probably have some of the following list), you can make any frame nice and save approximately a gajillion dollars.
good utility knife and extra blades
hammer
tape measure
level (comes with most command hook packs, you can also use your phone)
stepstool, sturdy chair, or patient tall person
assorted nails (you can buy a little tackle box with assorted nails from most big box stores)
little squeezy tube of DryDex spackle ($5) and putty knife or honestly old credit card to fill in nail holes when you move out
OR command strips and hooks
matboard that is white on one side and black on the other (~$8 at big box craft stores). you can use this to cut your own mats and/or replace a kind of weird back on an otherwise good frame
most printer paper these days is acid free. steal some from your workplace.
assorted small brushes
little thing of acrylic paint in whatever color you want your frames to be (~$1.50 ea). you can also spray paint your frames for a different finish but i don't have the space or patience in this apartment
sandpaper or sacrificial emery board
i would further recommend a little set of letter size desktop drawers/mini flatfiles like this to keep all the small stuff you want to frame in one place. i have sentimental art i don't want to frame in one drawer and things i do want to frame in the other. this has been very good for my brain bc it's all safely and flatly contained out of sight, and it's easy to flick through a stack of things i already love when i need one more small thing or one warmer thing to fill a gap
Tumblr media
frames
the good news for us is that frames and art are a fucking bitch to move and people frequently give them away. your local discount and thrift stores are going to be fucking awash in small frames 8.5"x11" and under for under $3 each. when you are thrifting or estate saling or yard saling or generally gallivanting about on a weekend, pay little attention to any art actually in a frame. is the frame in okay shape? can you repaint it without too much trouble? will it clean up all right? does it have the glass? can you insert the glass from a different frame into the one you actually want without any thrift store employees noticing?
for weird sizes above 8.5x11 and outside poster size that cannot be easily found at thrift stores, the big box craft stores here in america have roughly quarterly frame sales and frequent coupons. do NOT get your shit professionally framed at michaels bc they upcharge by about 3x compared to other local framers (both on the east coast and here in tx).
i went through two periods of seriously buying frames (last year of high school and the year i moved into the original lair, when/where i thought i was going to stay for a few years) and ive swapped in out and between those dozen or so total. once you have built up a little stock of frames that fit the general sizes of art you tend to collect, ur pretty good for a while. the only new "frame" i bought for my gallery wall was a little floating shelf.
mats
the absolute biggest fucking thing u can do to make your art look nicer is mat that bitch, which gives it room to breathe. if your art does not have a built in border or a lot of white space (see 9, 12, and 13 in the gallery wall below, as well as 8 which has a ton of negative space with the car door), you need a frame bigger than your art. you can google the suggested proportions yourself or decide with your heart.
i am a big fan of a very slapdash floating mat, which means cutting a piece of printer paper to size or flipping around the paper that tells you what size the frame is and slapping your art right on top of that, sometimes with a lick of gluestick to keep it in place. generally a floating mat means a sort of 3D matting technique but we don't have time for that. do not do this printer paper technique long-term with a particularly beloved or expensive piece of art.
u can also buy pre-cut mats at Michaels or Joann’s for not too too many dollars, or cut your own with the acid-free matboard ($10 for a poster board sized piece) and a new utility knife blade and a steady hand. or, if you're lucky, it comes with the frame.
gallery wall specific advice
there aren't any rules. actual galleries and museums tend to put the center of a piece or group of pieces at 57" from the floor. you may want to fuck around with that depending on your own height, the space you have, and the pieces you own.
a gallery wall does not need to be 24 pieces like this one. it can be any number.
this is the first one i have done mostly by myself and it is the most color-restricted one i have ever put up. it is also the one with the most successful repeating motif (circles). usually i grab the art i want most to go together and send pics to my art historian sister who will then arrange it for me and say shit like “do you have another small blue thing for the top left” or “do you have two pieces that are warmer and larger” or "different frame for the middle left"
look at a lot of other gallery walls. personally i like the ones that have non-framed and non-square things in them. ideally mine would have photographs and taxidermy in it for maximum weirdness. but u cannot go wrong with a grid, or all horizontal pieces, or all vertical pieces. for a full wall puzzle piece like this, u do not generally want an american southwest four corners meeting situation. stagger it. lay everything out on the floor and move it around eighteen times (this is the worst part). the gallery wall as a whole does not have to be perfectly aligned to the ceiling or the back of your couch or what have you. it can be sort of an organic blob shape along the top and bottom edges.
my wall
this soothing blue and green wall with wood tone pops has pieces from almost half my life. it skews later in college/recent acquisitions, as i sharpened my taste for limited-number prints and had a car to go to thrift stores with, but that’s just how this specific wall came together
Tumblr media
the list below should tell you what each piece is, how much i paid for it (and the cost of the frame if applicable), and when i got it. this wall has most of the Nice Art in my collection that is signed/numbered/in some way slightly fancier bc it is the wall i stare at when on my couch.
embroidered Scorpio constellation hoop, birthday gift from my sister (free, came with hoop, i used some makerspace felt and batting to properly back and finish it much later so free with my tuition), nov 2016
numbered and signed print of an italianate cityscape, $5 and came with the frame and mat from an estate sale, i put a new back on it with scrap matboard so the back of the print wasn't just naked, fall 2021
signed print of a new england landscape, came with the frame and the mat but is stained right over the signature :( $2.50 from salvation army, one of the last things i bought in spring 2023 before i moved
signed original multimedia on board collage by my sister from her like second ever gallery show, $69 in winter 2022 for the art, the frame was from a free pile i gave a new acid free back with scrap matboard. that was such a good free pile i got a huge pile of frames from that
magazine page (idk which one either) i saved in high school (i graduated in 2013) or very early college, frame was from a free pile by the side of the road in summer 2021 and repainted with some white acrylic paint. it is float matted with printer paper. maybe a dollar for the paint? i definitely did not buy the magazine
this is an out of print poster by one of my favorite living artists (Josh McPhee) so i emailed him and asked if i could get it printed myself if i threw him $25 and he said yes. i think it cost $22 to get it printed professionally, the frame is basics by studio decor ($20 for a 2-pack) (i spent so much money and time on this one bc i wanted a very specific look for a very specific space in my kitchen in the old apartment), feb 22
signed numbered woodcut by Roger Peet ($20 in august 2020), another studiobasics frame that was i think $8 in summer 2022. float matted with acid free matboard and not printer paper.
gigantic fuckoff unsigned unlabeled poster i bought bc she reminds me of the Barnes & Noble murals, $10 at goodwill (came with the frame, half off) sep 2023
star chart from the US Naval Observatory that was on a free shelf at Amherst College when i was taking a class there in fall 2018, another studiobasics frame (idk when i bought this one) so under $10. float mount on acid free printer paper.
plaster frog mirror from an estate sale in spring 2021, i do not remember how much i paid for it but it was not more than $5
Tumblr media
oh goddamnit this is a new block so of course it restarted the numbering. fatal off by a power of ten error, very typical for astronomy. poster from a show i went to in college spring 2015, do not remember when i bought this sub-$10 studiobasics frame either, float mount on acid free printer paper.
signed poster from my roommate-at-the-time’s cousin’s band in fall 2014 (i can’t actually find the receipt but i did find an email from her cousin letting me know he shipped me and my roommate’s orders together lol) let’s say $20, another sub-$10 studiobasics frame of mysterious provenance.
moon map out of an old science book in high school, let’s be generous and say $10 for both the book and the frame (another studiobasics)
numbered but unsigned new year’s print from a local-ish print shop in massachusetts, $12 at savers with the frame, fall 2022
cover of a very fragile vintage paperback copy of raymond c/handler’s The Long G/oodbye i acquired in high school (could not have been more than a dollar or two), with a frame and mat that came in an ikea multipack my dad bought me in high school bc i had a set of l/ackadaisy miniposters i wanted to hang, looks like the closest modern equivalent is the EDSBRUCK, a single will run you about $12 today
postcard inherited from my grandpa’s collection of loose paraphernalia in 2010 (free but at what cost etc), frame is a studiobasics that come in a pack of 6 for $20 (less if you have a coupon) so let’s round down a smidge and say $3. don’t remember when i bought this frame either, it is matted with real matboard bc the postcard and the back of the frame are so thin
“my heart is a fish” cross stitch (a reference to the imperial radch trilogy of books) i made this and did not date it but i know i blogged about it on here at some point between 2014-2018, i remember having to buy five colors of thread but owned the hoop already, again back and finished it properly much later with maskerspace batting and felt, let’s say $5 not counting my time
postcard from @believerindaydreams last winter in another studiobasics frame and float mounted with acid free matboard.
tiny moon mirror from salvation army in early spring 2015, under $5
CD mirror from Vapor95 ($125? preorder in fall 2021), came with velcro command strips which was very nice of them
a $300 original multimedia collage (the first one my sister ever made, when she was in middle school) i bought in spring 2021 from her first show, sitting on a $5 acrylic shelf from five below i bought last month
22-24 are national geographic maps, 50c each at an estate sale last month, had to buy $7 worth of binder clips and pushpins to put them up bc i don’t fucking know what box they’re in and didn’t have time to rip the whole closet of boxes im ignoring apart
a slightly longer tl;dr: do not buy or hang up things you do not like in a vague attempt to make your house look more grownup ONLY put up things you love, thrift and repaint your frames if possible but you can get very cheap studiobasics ones if you want them all to match, acid-free mat your art for preservation and to give it room to breathe, keep a little drawer or box of stuff you love and might want to frame
70 notes · View notes
gunterfan1992 · 9 months
Text
Episode Review: "Destiny"/"The Winter King" (Fionna & Cake, Eps. 5–6)
Tumblr media
Airdate: September 14, 2023
Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang
Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Jacob Winkler, Sonja von Marensdorff
Directed by: Ryann Shannon (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)
One of my favorite moments from Adventure Time comes at the very end of season four's "The Lich" when we are introduced to "Farmworld" for the first time. When the episode aired, this reveal was positively huge, adding as it did a brand new reality to the already complex world of Ooo. The show would go on to expand our understanding of Farmworld in the season five premiere "Finn the Human"/"Jake the Dog" and the season seven episode "Crossover," but even with all those episodes, I never could shake the feeling that there was so much more the series could have done with Farmworld. You can thus imagine my surprise when I learned that Fionna and Cake of all people would be journeying to this strangely normal alternate dimension!
"Destiny" picks up with Fionna, Cake, and Simon landing in Farmworld, roughly 10 or so years after the events of "Crossover." Following the destruction of the Farmworld crown, things returned to their (post-apocalyptic) normalcy, and Ice-Finn (or, as the people in Farmworld call him, "The Snow Man") has grown into a strapping Man-Finn who is busy raising three children (his wife, it seems, has died). One of Finn's kids, Jay, overhears Fionna, Cake, and Simon asking around about the Farmworld crown, and so he steals them away to meet his father. Once Man-Finn discovers what it is Simon and Co. seek, however, he bids them to leave. Going against his father's wishes, Jay sneaks Fionna, Cake, and Simon to the crater where the Farmworld Bomb had detonated, where they all discover the charred remnants of the crown. At this point, Jay reveals that previously when visiting the crater, he had discovered one of the crown's jewels. The final act of the episode is a sees Fionna, Cake, Simon, Man-Finn, and Jay square off against the Destiny Gang and Scarab, who we learn has been trailing our heroes this whole time. After securing the jewel from Big D's turncoat daughter, Simon fuses it with Prismo's remote, zapping himself, Fionna and Cake to another reality just as Scarab stabs(?!) Man-Finn in the head.
First and foremost, I must stress that "Destiny" feels very much like an episode of the "original" Adventure Time. This is likely a result of the Farmworld setting: as a world, it is overflowing with an absurdist energy and out-there characters (e.g., Big D!) that I intimately associate with the adventures of Finn and Jake. And let me know emphatically state: This is not a bad thing. Not at all. I love how the producers have been able to weave the Adventure Time "feel" into something new. It is like meeting an old friend after a long time apart (only for that old friend to get stabbed in the head by a space-god).
OK, but seriously… did Farmworld Finn die? I hope note. If he did, that would mean that Jay's actions were directly responsible for his father getting killed. That's pretty dark. And considering all the bad dads in the Oooniverse, it would be nice if one of the good ones was allowed to live a (relatively) happy life.
Tumblr media
Airdate: September 14, 2023
Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang
Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jim Campbell, Lucyola Langi, Nicole Rodriguez
Directed by: Steve Wolfhard (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)
After zapping away from Farmworld, Simon, Fionna, and Cake teleport to a reality ruled by the "Ice Prince"—an alt-universe Simon Petrikov who has somehow managed to avoid the madness that plagued Ice King. Simon quickly tells his fellow Petrikov the group's goals, and the Ice Prince gallantly agrees to help them by duplicating his own crown. Things are going swimmingly until the evil "Candy Queen" swoops in and snatches away both Simon and the Ice Prince. Fionna, Cake, and Ice Prince's guards dart to their rescue, brutally (but humorously) massacring dozens of hideously mutated candy citizens. Fionna and Cake rescue Simon and the Ice Prince, but once Fionna and Ice Prince share a kiss, the awful truth is revealed: Ice Prince is not some gentleman who overcame the madness of the crown through sheer will. No, he was a self-centered "wad" who used magic to deflect his madness onto the poor Candy Queen… who, as we quickly learn, is just an alternate universe version of Princess Bubblegum. Thanks to fairy tale logic, Fionna's kiss breaks Ice Prince's magic spell, which causes his crown to lose power. He subsequently crumbles to dust and everything he has created melts away.
So far, of the episodes we've gotten, I think "The Winter King" has been my favorite, largely because of the way it explores Simon's psychological character.
One thing that made Ice King’s story so tragic was how Simon, in his original form, was fundamentally a good person, buried deep within the mind of an outwardly "evil" wizard. "The Winter King" neatly conveys the opposite of this situation by showing us an Alt-Simon who, while outwardly "good," had long ago squandered his sense of morality for selfish gain. Not to get too analytical, but all of the good/bad talk reminds me of what the psychologist Carl Jung called the "Shadow." Put in simplest terms, the Shadow is a part of the unconscious human psyche in which repressed, rejected, or unrecognized aspects of the Self are contained, far from the light of conscious thought. The Shadow tends to seal away attributes of the Self that we wish to downplay or dismiss, making it "the home of the suppressed monsters of our inner world," in which "the energy of [our] dark side" bubbles (to quote Christopher Vogler). Furthermore, the Shadow exists as the inverse of our conscious Ego (meaning that, as Jung put it, "when one tries desperately to be good and wonderful and perfect, then all the more the shadow develops a definite will to be black and evil and destructive"). And because it is unconscious, the Shadow eludes easy detection. Nevertheless, its contents can often be ascertained by keeping an eye out for psychological “projection,” wherein a person denies their own foibles and instead recognizes those defects in others.
Now consider this topic in relation to "The Winter King." Let us start with Ice King, a hyperbolically crazy and "evil" wizard. I would argue that Ice King is a textbook of Simon's Shadow made manifest: He is everything that Simon consciously does not want to be brought to the surface in its entirety. The tragedy of Simon is that, while he doesn't often talk about it, he knows deep down that Ice King, while corrupted and warped by the crown, was an aspect of himself. In fact, this entire series feels very much like Simon’s journey to fully recognize his own Shadow.* And the fact that he starting to do this despite it being a painful process is, in my opinion, the clearest evidence of his ethical/moral character. Conversely, Alt-Simon is not like this. When presented with his Shadow, he does not choose to begin the painful recognition process. Instead, he projects it onto an innocent person; he builds up an elaborate "nice king" persona while literally condemning someone for his own sins. It is important to note that psychological projection is a pretty normal occurrence and thus not a surefire marker of "evil" or anything like that. What makes this instance of projection so bad is that Alt-Simon does this fully aware that it will cause someone to suffer for crimes they did not commit. Alt-Simon is like the "pious" archbishop who burns the "evil witches" at the stake all because he cannot come to terms with his own inner demons.
Now that is messed up!
But you know what isn't messed up? The voice acting in this episode. I do not say this to be hyperbolic: "The Winter King" may very well be Hynden Walch's finest performance to date. Her take on the Candy Queen is truly horrifying in a decidedly blursed way. So fundamentally different is her performance that at first I thought it was someone else! Also stealing the spotlight in this episode is Brian David Gilbert, erstwhile writer for Polygon and maker of many a wacky YouTube video. Gilbert's Ice Prince exudes the perfect amount of over-the-top flamboyance and faux chivalry. Both Walch and Gilbert get a song apiece in this episode, and both do a stellar job. (As an aside, have we ever had a true-blue PB song? Does the Candy Queen's song count?)
Oh, and as a quick aside: "The Winter King" features a few short scenes set in Fionna's non-magical world that follow Marshall Lee and Gary Prince as the latter tries to bake something that will earn him greater renown. Going into these scenes, I thought I would have found them a bit dull, but they were quite endearing. It's obvious that these scenes are a way for us to explore how Marceline and Bubblegum got to know one another, but from the parallax angle of a genderbent world, and I am here for it!
Final "Destiny" Grade: A
Tumblr media
Final "The Winter King Grade": A
Tumblr media
* My Prediction: Simon will attempt to become the Ice King, only to realize that a full-on transformation is not just necessary but ultimately dangerous. Recognizing one's Shadow does not mean you become synonymous with; it simply means that you know it's there.
61 notes · View notes
Text
Mynk OC Order Done! | #01 of #??
Tumblr media
So this the first order of the shop on ToyHouse I finished.
Some smol Info:
This is Gjzeerriahh (I'm not gonna pronounce this name like at all bcs if I do ill probably have a stroke & die-) & they are the Isle's Palace Chef, & yes they are bald. They are a hybrid of the 2 main Mynk Tribes of the Shivering Isles but is more leaning towards to the Dementia Mynks than the Mania Mynks but still have some elements of them (Like the Blobs of lights around them).
Also did you know the gloves & weird leggings/socks is actually what they wear for work?
|| 327 (Spirit Age) | Agender, They/Them | 8'1 ft tall | AroAce | A Hybrid of the 2 main Isle Tribes (Basically a Outsider) ||
Theres technically a full-body version but idk- I mean unless you wanna see it then.... Click read more? (Again this is for a Order & if your the person who ordered this from TH I suggest u not saving the full body image to the file)
Tumblr media
Yes this is the full body. This will not be put on TH. (I AINT GONNA BE MURKED ON THERE EVEN THOUGH NIPS ON A VERY MASCULINE CHARACTER IS FINE!)
So.. I hope my friend who ordered this on TH is happy with the design bcs I really don't color with muted colors + I don't really draw my character designs bald so this was mostly a experiment for me. ANYWAYS IMMA GO & WORK ON MOR ORDERS NOW!
Credits:
Character was created & designed by me.
Art: Mine.
Program: IbisPaint x
Bubs' TOS: Plz don't repost/steal, trace, or recolor my art WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! If you do, I'll take yur femur and pelvis.. SO, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! (The PNS on my blog's pinned post clearly means "Please No Steal" plz follow that rule.) If you do post my art on anything like yur blog or somewhere else (With my permission) PLEASE CREDIT ME!
14 notes · View notes
deadal1enx3 · 6 days
Text
Hier kommt die Sonne!!!
Tumblr media
I'm really, really happy how this turned out!
I really love the sun, and the song too! I made very small details, like his nails or rings even!
I put on Ai disturbance because fuck ai and the ppl who use ai art to claim it like it's their own work🖕>:l
Now, this was made in 16 hours, and I was dying
Sun rules the solar system,
Have a good day, night, evening, afternoon, morning<33
Reblogs are appreciated ^-^
Psst... This is for ppl who want to save it, and if you want to post it somewhere else, please pit credit there for me<33
Tumblr media
I don't give a fuck if Ai steals my art style, this is original style and I love it<3
Love to everyone<33
10 notes · View notes
mywitchcultblr · 2 years
Text
NSFW and the importance of AO3
My biggest concern if Twitter really die is nsfw artist and sex workers. Us NSFW artist has been betrayed time and time again by many platform who used to welcome us then spit us out once the platform is big enough or to bow down to advertisers.
TikTok censorship is beyond ridiculous
Pinterest wouldn't even allow topless art of a woman
Instagram too not that friendly to nsfw artist
Tumblr banned porn post 2018 and wouldn't hesitate to delete your blog
I'm not sure about pillowfort i heard it's allow nsfw but not as free as twitter? Correct me if I'm wrong tho i never use it
Facebook? Nah i wouldn't even bother.
There's Pixiv but it's not accessible for all people
Mastodon is still new and frankly many said that it has a steep learning curve
DeviantArt turned it's back both to both nsfw and sfw artist with their censorship (literally i see more and more artist who have to censor tits, cock, asshole and even pussy) and also their bullshit piece of shit AI generation + stealing from artist for their generator
Sites like Rule 34 and Hentai site are there but they are not really platform to grow your audience as an artist + too many art thief
Patreon I heard implementing more censorship? It's not social media but many artist using it
Poipiku is a Japanese platform and not all people are native Japan speaker
The fucking dystopian corporations like apple and Google ( and purity culture both in fandom and non fandom) keep sanitizing the internet and wiped out nsfw content for profit (it's not for protecting children or blah blah blah it's all for ads) kicking out all nsfw content creators from all platform they touch, forcing us to wander with no home to express ourselves. NSFW artist still have some wiggle room to thrive but I think sex workers have it harder to thrive on a more mainstream platform...
I know there's many sites for sex workers like for camgirl or whatever but mainstream sites that once more accepting of nsfw has been kicking down sex workers down to the curb again and again and again
If Twitter let's say goes down suddenly or gradually goes down and maybe banning nsfw... Artist will lost the last mainstream global platform that allow them to grow an audience as an nsfw artist
This for fandom nsfw artist who are not using site like poipiku and pixiv it left us with only AO3 to store our art
Yes you can post art to AO3 just tag it as art, literally it is the best safe haven for writing + art with it's mission to protect people creation, they even have lawyer and stuff to protect your rights + AO3 is super nsfw friendly literally you can upload anything that is legal within the USA law (that's a lot of things, thank God it's not based on my country Indonesia law or you wouldn't even see gay people kissing)
But AO3 is primarily used for fanfic + it's not a social media and shouldn't ever be a social media, it is an archive to preserve fanwork. It is fanwork library of Alexandria. The downside because it's not a social media and thus doesn't have features like chatting, algorithm and stuff is that it's harder for you to grow like in other social media. Let's say Twitter really gone if i want to post a series of comic/manga
Then i have to post the sfw/censored pages to Tumblr + post the nsfw page to AO3 it'll be a hassle for both me and my readers but it's possible
Still such a hassle and it'll be easier to just post to Twitter or when Tumblr still allowed nsfw
Also original artist will find it harder to gain audience faster on Tumblr and AO3 because both website are primarily for fandom. Like i can draw a sketch of let's say Anakin Skywalker and it'll get more traction than a fully rendered piece of original artwork
I mean it's possible but if you want to get traction easily as an original artist your art have to be godlike to be noticed amongst seas of fanart that the general public sees as more favorable... I mean you can try to build audience with doing fanwork and once you got big you can post more OG art
Still... It's easier to grow as an original artist on Twitter than on Tumblr or other platform...
Look yeah it's fun to see Twitter on fire but if it's really gone it'll be a disaster for nsfw creators/artist especially those who are making money from it to keep the roof above their head. I hope Twitter doesn't die tbh (I only made acc to see nsfw art, if Tumblr didn't ban porn i wouldn't even bother to use it or too many social media) also this situation brought back the reminder of AO3 importance as the safest and biggest archive especially for nsfw writers and fan artist that keep losing places to post their work, express themselves and earn a living
196 notes · View notes
homoeroticbetrayal · 1 year
Text
Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 2
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Round 2 Directory
Context:
Bill Cipher/Ford Pines
Summary by Anonymous Contributor
Pre-betrayal: Ford built a house featuring several stained glass windows of Bill. Had an entire room dedicated to art of Bill that he found. Entire house is full of objects with Bill's likeness on them. Called him "his muse." Agreed to let Bill possess his body, and I quote, "until the end of time." Bill told Ford he was the specialest smartest person of the century and that they were going to change the world together.
Post-betrayal: After revealing his apocalyptic plans that he used Ford for, Bill told Ford "It'd be fun to watch you try to stop me! Cute, even!". Ford then spent thirty years inventing and building a special kind of gun capable of killing Bill. With bill-shaped crosshairs. Ford wrote many many pages in his journal about Bill, including lines like "I was seduced by flattery" and "MY MUSE WAS A MONSTER" in big letters surrounded by frenzied scribbling. Bill calls him by cutesy nicknames, including "Fordsy." During the apocalypse, Bill serenades Ford on the piano, asks him multiple times to join him and rule the world together, and then puts a chained collar around his neck.
Homura/Madoka
Summary by Anonymous Contributor
This is the story of 3 betrayals :
1. Madoka and Homura meet and become best friends. Madoka believes in love and justice and helping people as a magical girl. But she gets killed. So Homura, loving her and believing in her cause, becomes a magical girl in order to time travel and save Madoka. Eventually, however, they find out they were being tricked all along, and none of what they thought they were fighting for is real. And this is BETRAYAL NUMBER 1: They've agreed to give up and just die/become monsters Together, when suddenly Madoka sacrifices herself to save Homura. As she is dying in Homura's arms she tells her she has a selfish goal: "you can travel in time, right ? Go back in time and warn me, stop me from getting tricked and becoming a magical girl."
2. So Homura goes back in time and tries to warn Madoka and their friends, but no one believes her. She can't save Madoka from her fate. So she time travels, again and again and again, trying desperately to save Madoka and failing every time, and becoming more and more estranged from her with every timeline. By the time we get to the timeline we know, she's done it so many times that she's become a stranger to Madoka, but Homura has become cold and hardened. It doesn't matter if Madoka doesn't love her anymore, all that matters is saving her. In the end, Homura's time travel has tied the strings of fate around Madoka so much, that Madoka bcomes the most powerful magical girl of all time and is able to essentially become a god, and rewrite the rules of the universe. She's created a better world, but at the cost of erasing her own human existence. Now no one will remember her except for Homura. As they are hugging naked in the cosmos, saying goodbye as the universe rewrites itself, Homura expresses how devastated she is by this turn of events. Madoka has saved her from the time loop she was in, but has sacrificed herself, and thereby Homura has failed to keep her promise of saving her. This is BETRAYAL NUMBER 2: Homura now has to live without Madoka, and all hope of keeping her promise to save her is lost.
3. And so we arrive at BETRAYAL NUMBER 3, the one they're most famous for : Homura tricks Madoka, and steals her godhood. Homura becomes the devil and undoes everything Madoka has fought for just to save Madoka and let her have a human existence, because she loves her that much. It's the ultimate betrayal because she destroys everything Madoka sacrificed herself for, she refuses to let her make the world better because selfishly, she loves Madoka so much she wants her to be able to exist.
140 notes · View notes
kuzcosources · 1 year
Text
The Menu (2022) Sentence Starters!
dark content present!
‘Babe, please don’t smoke. It’ll kill your palette.’
‘Jesus. This is like prom.’
‘Yeah? I didn’t go to prom.’
‘None of the cool girls like you didn’t say yes.’
‘We have reached the base camp of Mount Bullshit.’
‘Here, we are family.’
‘We mustn’t disturb the Lord High Emperor of Sustenance.’
‘I strongly feel the need to punch her in the cunt. Like an uppercut. Right to the cunt.’
‘You really know your stuff, _____.’
‘So what’s with this food obsession?’
‘Um. Hey. Are you—crying?’
‘You sound so douche-y.’
‘It’s fun watching you in this place. You’re just so _____ about it all.’
‘I know what a concept is, _____.’
‘Call me the girl next door, but maybe some rules you should give a fuck about.’
‘You will eat less than you desire and more than you deserve.’
‘You haven’t touched your food.’
‘He’s a prick.’
‘We are not so smart when we are young.’
‘It was, as you can imagine, a memorable taco night.’
‘I’m sorry, but _____ never reveals his recipes.’
‘Did you just snap at me?’
‘I take my work very seriously, and you are not eating. That wounds me.’
‘I’ll ask again. Who. Are. You.’
‘Watch your mouth, sweetheart. Or I’ll smack the taste right out of it. Okay?’
‘Dude chill, it’s a fucking taco.’
‘With which hand will you “handle” this, _____ Left or right?’
‘We’re not actors. We’re real people.’
‘Fuck yourself.’
‘You are a fucking maniac.’
‘Do you enjoy providing your services?’
‘Come with me. I would like to show you something.'
'We're going to die tonight, _____.'
'Want to join me inside? It's getting chilly.'
'You got bread? This is so fucking reverse sexist.'
'I've been stealing money from you.'
'You are why the mystery has been drained from our art.'
'I know how to be alive. I like life. And I happen to be excited for what's next in mine.'
'I like beating men like you.'
'It seemed funny three hours ago.'
'You cook with obsession, not love.'
'It's everything wrong with us and yet we associate it with innocence.'
'We must embrace the flame. We must be cleansed. Like martyrs or heretics we can be subsumed and made anew.'
72 notes · View notes
sofoulandfairaday · 11 months
Note
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your hc posts, do you have any for Our Lord (Voldemort) and Saviour?
I don't know who you are, so I cannot give you credit, but Our Lord Voldemort and Saviour is not only now mineTM but also the title of a future fic. I will make it the title of a future fic. It's possibly the best thing I've ever heard.
A bit of a kleptomaniac (I think this is canon, actually). He wills himself to stop, but the urge to take take take still remains strong in him. He steals at Wools, he steals at Hogwarts from the purses of boys too rich to notice, he steals ancient artefacts around the world in his travels, he steals other people's wives (yes, yours, Rod).
He wasn't well-liked initially at Hogwarts (poor mudbloods usually aren't) and graduated as the most popular boy in Slytherin. He managed to master the perfect, intoxicating, charismatic personality that allowed him to rule his first followers by both fear and love; he would shed the latter when he switched to Death Eaters.
Inferiority Complex the size of the sun (this is also canon); the same can be said for his Superiority Complex.
He doesn't really believe in pureblood superiority. Of course, he despises Muggles and Mudbloods, but he doesn't do it for blood, he does what he does for power. Anyone who says differently fundamentally misunderstands his character. There is no one in his life he doesn't see as a tool or a pawn. He is fond of people but it will never be unconditional. This is also a dealbreaker in reading about him: when he does something that goes against his best interests for someone else it immediately screams OOC.
Following this point, my headcanon is that he murdered most of his former classmates. They all die suspiciously young, and the closer they were to him, the earlier they were offed. This is what happened to Rodolphus and Rabastan's father (they were none the wiser), Evan Rosier's uncle (he wasn't either), Orion Black (who already had one foot in the grave after Reggie's death) and many many more.
The wizard closest to him in his later years (the beginning of the First Wizarding War) and right-hand man was Antonin Dolohov, the only one who was there for part of his travels and who he met in Eastern Europe. He was already Lord Voldemort then.
This title was later snatched by Bellatrix Black Lestrange, the only true Dark Arts protégée he ever had.
However, he did enjoy teaching. He had various pupils, during the years, to whom he taught something of his own. Especially during the last years of the First War, he grew close to his younger recruits. Whereas his old classmates could never fully unsee the Tom Riddle behind Lord Voldemort, his younger Death Eaters (Severus Snape, Barty Crouch) were desperate for his approval, fierce, and brilliant. (The same qualities he had found in Bellatrix some years prior.) This is why they became his favourites. People who, like him, were hungry and misunderstood and had a rawness that his pampered, aristocratic “friends” had never possessed.
Where did he go during his travels? Where didn't he go during his travels. Anything written by @ meanwhiletimely's Vagaries and Vagrants is canon to me, but also: Italy, Egypt, Russia, Greece, Persia, Germany, and many more. He wreaked havoc everywhere (I have a cute little story in the works). He fled before they could get to him, but he is effectively banned from a dozen countries.
I, for one, am not a believer in the Lestranges' divorce in a hypothetical Voldemort!wins AU. He wouldn't marry Bellatrix ever, he also wouldn't want her to divorce Rodolphus, because having Madame Lestrange is far more appealing to him than having Miss Black. With the former, he is taking away what is someone else's. It's just better that way.
Is he straight, gay, bi? Ace? I used to see him as ace, actually. But then someone pointed out to me this enlightening quote: “Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.” And I thought bingo. So I would say bi, leaning towards women, because he was raised in a Muggle possibly Christian orphanage in the 1930s. Homosexuality only became legal in the UK in 1967. But he would do anything and I mean anything to get what he wants, so... He's def done it before.
Also: Religious Trauma. Was definitely dragged kicking and screaming to a priest for an exorcism, maybe more than once.
Alphard Black liked him, then was turned off by the fact that he was very clearly EvilTM. Also, he did have sex with his cousin Lucretia or, as Walburga put it, defiled her with his Halfblood touch.
Very Thin. Also, less and less attractive every year. He used to look like a Greek god pre-Horcrux, but I don't see him wanting to be that at forty. He's vain, but not in that sense. He hates his Muggle father's Muggle face. Also covered in scars (some from the physical punishments at the orphanage, some from his experiments with dark magic). Actually carless with his body, which is only a mere vessel for the soul anyway.
This is getting a little long, and I do have an exam tomorrow so I'll leave it at that, but I will probably do a part 2. Now that I'm re-reading it is all sounds pretty vague.
27 notes · View notes
plulp · 10 months
Text
and thats a wrap everyone!!!!!!!! thank you everybody who participated in the spulpal (special pulp) project!!!!!!
i appreciate each and every one of you and i really really didnt expect that many requests. i thought id get 10 MAX. not even 10. maybe closer to like 4 or 5. i didnt expect (or want) to gain almost double the amount of followers i had when i started either 😰 but thank you to everyone who followed anyways
thank you to everyone who read the initial spulpal post and followed the rules as well! i appreciate it a lot and it made my life at least 20% easier while drawing your pcs.
if you have received a spulpal drawing i give you my express permission to steal my art and identity. claim it as yours. throw it in the trash. do whatever you want with it as long as i cant see. if i look at these anymore i think ill die.
i really dont think ill do this for a long time but if i do i will absolutely definitely limit it way earlier.
thank you to everyone who sent a pc in and everyone who follows me!!!
i knows its silly that im acting like i have 1 million billion followers but i really am grateful all of you have been so nice to me :)
i will (finally) be working on other things now, so sorry to everyone who blocked the tag! its done now. dont worry.
18 notes · View notes
flightyquinn · 6 months
Text
AI Haters, Please Read to the End
I see people celebrating every time something bad happens in the AI art world, and that makes me very sad. Because I am partially colorblind, and have ADHD, clinical depression, and other health issues that I'm less comfortable talking about. Because I can't work, and rely on family for housing and government assistance to afford essentials. For someone like me, the barrier to entry on art is high. I'm never going to own a drawing tablet, I can't get professional lessons, my focus sucks to the point where it's hard to follow tutorials no matter how much I want to, and even if all of that could be sorted, my own eyes are against me.
But I still have ideas. I still have pictures in my head that want to get out. Characters that want faces, scenes that want to be expressed, and the like. I'm still creative. I just can't properly express that creativity. Nor can I pay someone else to express it for me. However, I can tell an AI what I'm trying to depict. I can tweak the settings, make small changes, spend hours on end generating and re-generating, tweaking and re-tweaking, and making small edits that are within my power to do, until I have a picture that satisfies my need to bring the thing in my head to life. That's not "stealing". It's not pushing a button and letting the computer do the work for me. That's me having my own ideas, and trying to use the tools at my disposal to turn them into something that other people can see.
Plus, there's one other thing I can do. This is a picture I generated with AI that I'm actually quite proud of.
Tumblr media
And do you know why? Because it started as this.
Tumblr media
I fed my terrible MSPaint rough as hell doodle into an AI, and told it what the picture was supposed to be. And I tried again, and again, and again, until I was able to refine the result into something that I was happy with - which took a whole lot more than just pressing the button again, let me tell you.
This is my idea, from start to finish, and my shitty art became something that actually looks halfway decent. Yeah, I'm aware of the wonkiness and AI jank. I know the jawline's weird, his eyes don't match, and there's something up with his ear. It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than what I could do on my own.
Look, when it comes to stopping the commercialization of AI art, I'm right there with you guys. Fuck corporations that want to replace their whole art department. Fuck people who want to impersonate other artists, or take commissions to turn someone's description of what they want into a prompt. Hell, fuck the people who take the first result they're given without trying to refine it at all!
However, I don't want AI to die. AI is an accessibility option. AI is a tool that lets me go from saying for years, "I wish I could have art of my first D&D character, I have so many fond memories of him." to having that one picture. It lets me stop stealing every time I want a character portrait for a new TTRPG that I'm starting up. Because you know what? I don't have the ability to be a "real artist", and I never will. There's too many barriers for entry.
...and my situation is mild compared to what some people have to deal with. Sure, there are people who find ways to make traditional art despite disabilities, but that's an exception. It could be the rule. Why shouldn't it be?
As far as "theft" goes, I have yet to hear one explanation of why it's okay to use references, but not AI, that didn't boil down to "it's different when we do it". And what about collage? Is a collage art, or is it "theft?" What about sculptural works that use reclaimed objects? They didn't create that. They just decided how it would be arranged. Hell, what about pieces like "The Fountain" for that matter? That's a big problem I have with all this hate. If you applied the same standards to other things as to AI, then there's a lot of things that currently are art we'd have to say aren't any more.
If you have a problem with AI, why not work to make it better, instead of trying to deprive people who rely on it for self-expression of a creative outlet?
9 notes · View notes