#the new artists seem to be doing a decent job

[turndecassette2]

opinion on berserk

not going to judge the series on like a moral level or wether it's feminist/misogynist or w/e. but I love the monster designs & there's a lot you can read into the griffith/casca/guts character dynamic, from what I remember. guess they could have done more w post-eclipse casca (like having her regress or close herself off like that feels like a cop-out almost from doing a more in-depth take on how a person would react to what she went through) irrc the art peaked around the time griffith fought the kushan emperor then sort of got a bit stiff, sometimes wonder if the author felt obliged to finish the story but could no longer vibe with it fully. though it's been a while since I read it.

overall positive though? it was the first piece of media I sought out on the basis of 'IT GETS SUPER DARK YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT' and I think I read it all as shitty scans online, during the summer, back when I lived in a small shed-like building near some railroad tracks in sundbyberg. then watched the anime later on & both the old one & the 4°c one have some good qualities to them

[caulo]

@nnoiffu replied to your post “funniest thing about being medicated for ADHD is...”:

moving from art to business was the best decision i ever made and now im an analyst and i would not trade it for anything

yeah i feel like you get me lol especially because i know you and i share very similar views of both our capitalist hellscape + value in art ( creating, and receiving; visual, written, or otherwise )

​i am having a lovely time drawing daily again, focusing on improving fundamentals again and revisiting projects/ideas i've had for years. tomorrow i am hosting a three hour figure drawing session in an art discord, and i'm really excited about it. i am actually struggling to play video games, because i am just more interested in drawing all the time, and it feels great.

and honestly one of the last things i want to do right now is try to take all that, and the enjoyment i'm getting out of it, and adjust it to the current environment of professional art - one of the og hustle cultures lol.

[silassinclair]

Like Looking into a Mirror

(PolyLostBoys x Fem!ArtistReader)

Summary: Being a vampire has it's ups and downs. But one of the biggest downs was that you couldn't see yourself. Whether it be in photographs or reflections. This means that neither of the boys have seen what they themselves look like since they were turned. So when a shy little artist introduces herself to the boys with a painting of all of them they realize they not only know what they look like but also have found their mate.

Santa Carla is a city of opportunity. A place flourishing with job opportunity and people buzzling about everywhere. But for yourself, a struggling artist, it was the opposite. Running away from home was supposed to be your fresh start, a way to get away from it all and live your life to the fullest. To paint to your heart's desire. But it was nothing like that.

There were no places for you to work and use your artistry to the fullest. The only place you found where you could work was the library. Reading itself was an art but not exactly your forte, but it was close enough and payed decently.

It was 8 at night. The sun set and the amusement park alive with people. By the beach wall you sat with a miniature canvas, paints, and brushes. Every night you'd come to the boardwalk and paint it's colorful passerby's. Unlike your old small town people here dressed unique. So many colors and style subcultures.

Scanning the crowd you hunted for your new inspiration. Person or people to replicate onto your canvas. Your direction was pulled to the sounds of purring engines. To your left under a streetlamp by the very wall you were sitting on, four men looking your age parked their bikes. Their fashion stood out amongst anyone you have ever seen on the boardwalk.

A bleached platinum blonde. His mullet stood sharp, almost as sharp as his eyes. A tall brunet with no shirt under his long coat. His long hair rested on his back. A natural blonde with wild hair and a just as wild personality. And finally the short one with long blonde curls and a face that could combat a cherub's.

Everything about them was perfect. You studied them for minutes and looked away when you felt their curious gazes turn to you. Having all their features down to memory you painted away. You painted all of them standing together standing in their own way. Straight and confident, collected and cool, laid back, goofy.

As you painted each of the men's features you smiled to yourself. This may have been one of your best works yet. When you finished the piece in an hour or two you would definitely give it to them as a gift. Usually you would give the paintings you made of people to them to see their reactions. Every time they were always very grateful and happy, seeing them smile is the reason why art is your passion.

You really hope they would appreciate it though, since they are your temporary muse of inspiration and these four seem pretty intimidating.

.

.

"Yeah man I'm telling you she kept looking at us. But when I would look at her she'd look away and start writing shit on her canvas or whatever." Paul said while nudging David. He didn't care when his friend told him that the girl to their right kept sneaking glances at them.

Girls stare at him and his vampiric brothers all the time. What can he say? He knows him and his brothers are hotter than hell so who wouldn't stare?

"What Paul, you wanna talk to her or something? Just go talk to the chick like what you always do." David said with an eyeroll and a freshly lit cigarette hanging from his lips.

Paul bashfully looked down and scratched his neck. "Dude I dunno.. she doesn't seem too interested. Probably looking at us because we dress weird?"

Now David was confused. Was his flirt machine of a brother.. shy? A sly grin curled onto the platinum blondes lips. He looked to Dwayne and Marko and those two seemed to catch on quick about Paul's little crush.

Putting his arm around his blonde brother David said, "Do you perhaps like this girl Pauly?"

Paul growled and shoved him off making Marko and Dwayne holler in laughter.

"Dude you're fucking whipped! Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Marko laughed and held his chest. Paul hit him upside the head with his palm.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Dwayne's laughing reduced to small chuckles. He looked over at the girl who Paul seemed so flustered over. She was wearing a long frilly black skirt and a sage green blouse. Her hair styled uniquely and anklets and bracelets adorned their respected limbs.

"Hm.." Dwayne hummed, "I get what you mean Paul."

Paul shot his taller brother a glare. "Yeah. Should have at least checked her out before makin' fun o' me."

Marko looked over to see what all the fuss was over. His eyes widened a fraction when he saw the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. And she was painting too, something he adored doing.

Sensing someone looking at her Y/n looked up and four pairs of eyes were on her. The eyes of the subjects she was painting at the moment. Feeling like she had been caught doing something wrong, she looked back down at her canvas in a flash and finished up the final finishing touches.

"She was totally checking us out." Paul said smirking, well his insecurity flew out the window.

"Dude she's cute as hell man. How'd we not see her around before? And why didn't you tell us Pauly!" Marko grabbed his terror twin by the shoulders and shook him back and forth.

David snapped his fingers and the two instantly stopped with their rough housing. "We're all going to approach her. Perhaps we will have a meal tonight boys, or more."

Deadly smiles grew on the pack's faces. Time to do what they knew best. Lure and capture.

.

.

You stood up when you finally finished the painting. The four of them painted in their signature clothing. All standing together. Two of them smiling and two not. Honestly, you were scared to give this painting to them. What if they didn't like it? Or what if they thought you were some kind of weird stalker?

Walking to the group of the four bikers they all seemed to perk up at your sudden presence.

"What a surprise, we were just about to walk over to you babydoll." The curly haired one said. Your grip on the canvas tightened. Seeming to notice the tallest and only brunet of the group asked,

"What's that you got there sweetheart?"

Ignoring the soaring feeling in your stomach you avoided eye contact with the group and quietly muttered your explanation, "U-Uhm I'm an artist and stuff... It's a hobby and stuff and I paint people on the board walk all the time. And when I saw a-all you four I couldn't help but notice how uniquely dressed you all are. So I painted all of you!"

Looking up at the group finally with a crooked smile on your face you showed them your work and flipped your canvas around revealing your work.

All four of them brought their faces close to the canvas, the two wild blondes started to push and shove and what seemed like the leader of the group punched both of their arms.

"You really did this?" The platinum blonde said. He looked into your eyes, a mixed emotion behind his. His gloved finger pointed at himself painted realistically.

"That's me?"

You nodded and handed the painting to him which he gently accepted.

"Of course that's you silly. I painted the four of y-you. Hope you all like it!"

The four boys looked up at you gratefully. It was sudden but the brunette pulled you into a hug. He didn't seem like the touchy type and it surprised you with his sudden action.

"Thank you sweetheart. My brothers and I appreciate this... a lot. A lot more than you may think." He released you from his chilling yet warm embrace.

"No need to thank me.."

"Dwayne."

"Dwayne, I do this to make people like you and your brother happy. It's what I love about art ya'know?"

He smiled and introduced each of his brothers. David, Paul, and Marko.

"I am truly grateful for this kitten. Say, you wanna ride with us? You know where Hudson's Bluff is right?"

Nodding you let him continue.

"Wanna hang out with us four for the night? Promise we won't let you be bored for even a minute." His black gloved hand twirled a lock of your h/c hair around his finger.

Shyly moving away you muster up the courage to agree and go with him. He asked who you wanted to ride with and Paul seemed to be the most eager to get you to ride with him, so you gave in and got on the back of his bike.

"Hold on doll!" He revved his engine while his brother did the same. Hooting and hollering they sped down the sandy beach taking you to their cave.

"This is just the beginning!" Paul yelled over the sound of the engines. Not understanding him well you tightened your embrace around his torso and leaned in closer.

"You're gonna love us I promise!" Now that one you heard.

this was lowkey dogpiss but my head hurts so oopsie daisy

[ender-girl-13]

Thoughts on Palworld

Leave it to the internet to miss the entire point of people disliking Palworld. It's not because they are taking money from Pokémon. It not because they think Pokémon but with guns is stupid. IT'S ABOUT ARTISTIC INTEGRITY AND ORIGINALITY! Some of the Pals are just blatant rip-off's/fusions of existing Pokémon. If people try to steal Pokémon's designs and actually sell that as a commercial product that may give the impression that it's ok to steal others art and encourage it! If all of the Pals they made were original I would love to play it!

P.S

Apparently the accusations of them ripping Pokémon models was false. (Sorry about that) But they did basically do the 3D modeling version of tracing which is still bad. Also I've watched more videos on this game and it is very POSSIBLE they have stolen fan Fakemon designs and changed them up a little which is still shitty of them.

Again I will reiterate I would love this game and it's success if it wasn't so creatively bankrupt and plagiarized.

Here are some alternative Pokémon-esce games to play!

Cassette Beasts - Try to find you way out of this land and transform into and fuse Beasts!

TemTem - Very cute art style and can play online with other people! Also has a Nuzlocke/Randomlocke Mode.

Ooblets - Have card dance battles with other Ooblets and have them help you on your farm. You can also run your own shop!

Coromon - You're a newly minted Battle Researcher and your job gets attacked on your first day of work! Track down the invaders and discover the rising threat around Velua! Has different difficultly modes and customization.

Monster Sanctuary - A Monster Taming Metroidvania Sidescroller

Here are some Pokémon fan games to try!

Reborn - Has decent difficulty/One of the most difficult fan games I've come across. Has new Pokémon Forms

Uranium - Original Region and Pokémon

Insurgence - Has an option for a slightly darker twist on the traditional Pokémon story. Has new Pokémon/Forms

Xenoverse - Haven't play or watched it but looks very promising. Originally in Spanish but has a English translation as well.

Phoenix Rising - Still in development and only has one episode. Has new Pokémon Forms and amazing art and visuals

Red Adventures - From what I've seen it seems to be a game version of The Pokémon Adventures Manga

Castaway - Your plane crashes and you are left to discover the secrets of a mysterious island.

Mewyou - A game where you play as Mew!

Axis - You are teleported from our world to the Pokémon world/You're still human

Ethereal Gates - Still only a Demo at the moment/Unsure if they are still making it

I will add more to this list if asked!

[dreamingofep]

A Blue Velvet Crush

(Elvis/Austin!Elvis × reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

TW: Cussing, teasing, SMUTTT, fingering

Rating: Explicit/Mature (NSFW, 18+, so minors Do NOT Interact)

Word Count: 5.4K

A/N: Hello everyone! This picture of Elvis lives rent free in my head and I knew when I first saw it, I had to write something for it.

If you've never seen some of this performance, I'd recommend watching! I'll make another post with the youtube link!

Thank you again❤️

Sorry for any spelling mistakes or goofs.

Mississippi, September 26th, 1956

Traffic was backed up for miles and the buzz in the air was electrifying. You couldn’t hide your nerves though. You weren’t even supposed to be here today but by the grace of God, you got thrown in the ring and had to cover today’s most important story. Elvis Presley was back in his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi to perform a charity concert. His rise to fame seemed to happen overnight and everyone was dying to see him in person. 

You were just an intern at the Tupelo Mirror and your supervisor that was running the Elvis story got sick this morning. Eric called you at the crack of dawn, frantic that no one was going to be there to take pictures. You had only been at the newspaper for a month and a half, you didn’t want to overstep your role and be too forward, but you mentioned that you have photography experience. You ran your college photography club and were majoring in journalism. You know you can take some decent shots of him. You try to sell yourself, affirming you can do this! The whole reason you were working for the newspaper was to get a better shot of getting a job at a newspaper company after you graduated. You thought this would be the perfect way to gain the experience. And if you got some good pictures of Elvis Presley? That could change your whole life. 

You did have a fondness of the man but like, who didn’t at your age? He was the new cool guy who was causing havoc wherever he went. He was talented and had this luring sense about him. You hadn’t ever seen him in person, but based on the few televised appearances he’s made, he was beyond incredible. You knew he had a talent that no one had ever had. Your parents would always make a fuss if you were watching him and tried to make you feel bad for it. 

“No Christian boy should be moving like that! It’s abhorrent.” Your parents used to say. 

You’d just roll your eyes and grumble under your breath. Your parents didn’t understand that he was something young people could love and be fully immersed in without having to act all prim and proper about it. There was no other artist that would make you feel the way Elvis made his audiences feel. He was passionate and he felt the music to his very soul. It showed so easily he didn’t have to say he loved what he was doing. 

And now you were going to be feet away from Elvis, taking his picture and maybe even getting the chance to ask him a few questions. The cars started moving forward more and before you could get through the gates, a police officer stopped you. You rummaged through your satchel and pulled out your press pass. He quickly nodded and directed you to the portion of the lot where other photographers and press reporters were gathered. You quickly find a spot and throw your car in park. You throw your satchel over your head and grab your camera out of its bag. It wasn’t the most high-end camera but it took nice pictures. You double-checked the camera had enough film and quickly made a beeline to the stage. 

There were thousands of people here already and the buzz in the air was electric. You saw girls jumping up and down giddy that they were about to see Elvis live. You had some of the men standing next to them with a bored expression on their faces like they didn’t want to be there. You had to play it cool though. You had your press badge on and the last thing you needed was for someone to see you acting giddy when you had to be professional today. 

There was a corralled section for the press behind ropes that gave you a bit better access on the side of the stage but it was still very crowded. Not only that, but it was all men here and they were all significantly taller than you. You couldn’t see a damn thing from this area and became worried you weren’t going to be able to get one good photograph of this entire thing!

You try to push and shove your way closer to the front but just get these condescending looks toward you and don’t budge an inch for you. You didn’t expect anything less honestly, the industry was made up of men and wasn’t exactly kind to women entering the workplace. You shake it off, not letting it get to you too much. 

The audience starts screaming as the band takes their place on stage. It’s a small band with just a drummer, bassist, and guitar player. They’re all smiles when they hear the crowd go wild for them. Your eyes are focused on the side of the stage though. You want to get the first glimpse of him when he gets on this stage. 

The audience continues to grow antsy and an announcer hops on stage. He steps in front of the microphone at center stage and taps it with his finger. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I know you all are very excited to have one of our very own from Tupelo be here today. I need you to give a warm welcome to Elvis Presley.”

The crowd erupts at his name and everyone bursts out in insane excitement. You keep your eyes on the side of the stage and you raise the camera to your face, getting ready for the first shot. 

The audience gets louder and you feel the hair on your arms rise. There you see him. He’s dressed in a velvety blue long-sleeve and loose black slacks with his perfect white oxfords. His hair was greased back and looked shiny. He had his guitar on and made his way to the microphone. From this angle, he looked so tall, his legs easily gliding him across the stage. 

He carried this nervous energy about him tho. He puts his hand in his pocket and grabs the microphone with the other hand. 

Click. 

He starts Heartbreak Hotel and drives the place insane. Everyone is screaming and some girls are even crying. His voice rings out flawlessly and once he starts singing, there’s no stopping him. He can’t seem to stand still. Whether it’s the music moving him or the nerves, he is shaking and moving, making the crowd even more insane.

There are times when the screams overpower his voice coming through the microphone. He has an amused look on his face the whole time though. Especially when he swings his hips and makes the girls go bezerk. You catch yourself blushing at those moves, how he can move his hips so easily as he makes these in-passion faces. He made you feel something you’ve never felt before. It was bad, it was lust driving you to keep looking at what he was going to do next. You wanted him to move more to see just how those hips would move in other circumstances…

Click.

Fucking focus.

He wasn’t afraid to get close to his fans. It looked like he really loved them. You could tell he moved his leg just to get them going and have them look there. Or how he’d say a certain word and prolong it all sensually, it drove the place nuts. Even just the way he held the microphone and dragged it along beside him. He commanded that stage by doing the smallest things. Elvis walks slowly to the edge of the stage where dozens of fans reach out their hands for him. He gets close and reaches out his hand too, still singing and never missing a beat.

Click.

You get the side profile of him but you think it’s going to be a great picture when it develops. What you really want is a perfect picture of his face straight onto the camera. That would be a great way to solidify that you are a great photographer and can do this professionally.

Elvis finishes his set and gets rushed off stage into the building behind the arena. You follow the crowd that’s trying to get to him, hoping you can get another picture of him that’s even better than the ones you took. The other photographers aren’t paying any attention to you and push and shove their way through. You huff annoyed, hoping you can get in there before they close the doors. 

You find a spot on the side but all the men in here are so much taller and crowding Elvis. You slump by the door, frustrated that you might have ruined your big chance to prove yourself at the newspaper as you haven’t gotten a single shot of his face straight on. You wanted to the perfect shot and it seems your opportunity was wasted. 

“Alright everyone it’s time to leave. Elvis won’t be answering any more questions,” a man bellows. Most of the men try to protest but they slowly start to funnel out of the door. You continue to get pushed aside until you’re almost behind the door. You don’t move from behind there because, for a brief second, a devious idea pops into your head. 

Just stay here long enough for everyone to leave and ask for a picture when he’s alone.

Your heart pounds away at just the thought of being alone with Elvis but you had to try it. The worst he could say was no and get out. 

The last few remaining men shuffle out of the room and Elvis yells out that he’ll be right out. The door shuts closed, making your little hiding spot be exposed in plain sight. 

Elvis had his back to the door so he didn’t see you right away. You sighed in relief for that but had to work up the courage to say something to him.

What exactly should you say in this situation? ‘Hi I snuck in your dressing room even though I was told to get out, can I take a few pictures of you for the newspaper?’

You cringed just thinking about it. You took a few deep breaths and straightened out your dress.

“Umm, excuse me, Elvis?” You say sheepishly.

He turns around quickly at the sound of your voice and stares wide-eyed at you. He doesn’t say anything right away and neither do you because seeing him this close and in person is too much.

He is beautiful, in every shape and form, he is beautiful. You’ve never seen such a handsome-looking man before in your life and have no words. Logical thinking went out the window with him and he looks at you with the same expression on his face. You haven’t said more than four words to him but you want him. You want him to look at you and touch you and never stop. Your core flutters at that scandalous thought.

“You scared me there honey. H-how’d you get in here?” He asks with a mischievous grin forming on his face.

“W-w-well I uhhh. Well, I work for the newspaper and I was wondering if I could take a few more pictures of you?” You ask nervously. A long silence fills the room and you are about to turn on your heels and run for the door when he gives you another cheeky smile.

“Sure, I don’t mind at all. What was your name lil’ darlin’?” He asks smoothly.

Lil’ darlin’.

Jesus Christ I’m not going to make it out of here alive with all his charm suffocating me.

“Oh gosh Elvis, thank you so much. This truly means so much to me. And my name is y/n.” You tell him in a hurry. You make sure your camera is on and ready before you look back up at him watching you intently.

“Y/n… that’s very pretty…Where’d you want me, honey?” He coos.

Your heart pounds in your ears and you can’t register anything he just said. All you can do is look at him in shock and can’t believe you’re alone with him. You know how many thousands of girls would kill for a moment like this? And the question he just asked?! Ooh, the sheer audaciousness he has. He knows he's irresistable.

I'd love you to cover me in kisses with those pillowy soft lips...

“Huh?” You say in a daze.

“Where did you wanna take my picture honey? You’re the photographer and all,” he teases. You feel the heat rise to your cheeks and you nervously look down at your camera.

“Oh yeah… sorry… I’ve never really done this,” you admit. His eyebrows shoot up surprised, “First time? Wow, that’s somethin’ for a little lady coming here and coverin’ a story on a day like this. The whole town is making a huge fuss over me, I don’t think deserve it, but it’s very special either way. I’ll make sure to give you the best pictures,” he winks. It feels like your heart just about stopped by that one minuscule movement.

Stop that. Stop that right now!

You sweetly smile up at him and move further into the room, trying to see what angle and lighting would be best. The wall behind him was blue and you thought that would be a perfect backdrop to accentuate the velvet shirt he was wearing and his piercing blue eyes.

“Umm, let’s try with you stand there. I think that would be a nice background,” you say.

He casually takes a few steps back and puts his hands in his pockets.

“Like this?” He asks. You raise the camera to your face, make sure the frame is straight, and push the button.

Click.

He looked good without even trying. He had this golden aura about him. Like he shined from within. He was remarkable and you know that without saying much else to him. Even if you didn’t like him already, you can see the appeal. He was so easy to love. So easy to be around. Everything about him was inviting and warm. You don’t know how you were going to peel yourself away from him…

“Okay, how about one smiling?” You ask. He nods his head and gives you this cute cheeky smile.

Click.

God help me I can’t breathe with this man around looking this good.

“How are they comin’ out honey?” He asks, his southern inflection on honey making you feel like the actual word.

“Oh, just fine. I think they’re going to be amazing when printed,” you try to say casually.

“Oh good… what are you doin’ working for the newspaper?” He asks, fixing the sides of his hair with a comb.

Click.

“I don’t work for the newspaper, not yet at least. I’m just an intern. I’m a student at the University of Mississippi studying journalism and thought it would help to work there for a bit so when I graduate in two years, I can hopefully get a job at a newspaper,” you explain.

He intently looks at you, interested in everything you have to say, “That’s wonderful honey. I think that’s great you’re pursuing that. I don’t doubt for a second you won’t get a job anywhere you apply for,” he says sweetly. You can’t help but blush at his nice words and fiddle with your camera.

“Thank you, Elvis,” you say quietly. He walks over to the sofa that’s up against the wall and casually takes a seat.

He stretches out one arm along the back of the couch and the other rests on the arm of it. His legs were spread open and your eyes can’t help but stare at them. They were so long and he exuded sensuality, it nearly made you dizzy. He sees how you’re looking at him, intrigued with the man that so many found attractive.

You raise the camera to your eye once again as he looks down the lens intensely.

Click.

You felt like screaming like those girls were earlier. You’ve never felt so attracted to someone’s presence. It kind of scared you in a way. 

He moves on the sofa slightly, bringing his hand to his mouth and giving you this luring, sultry gaze.

Oh lord, I’m a dead woman…

Click.

He doesn’t change this pose after the flash goes off, he continues to sit there with his eyes drinking you in. Your body can’t take this, the tension in the room is palpable and you are seriously considering running out now since you have plenty of good shots. Elvis slowly starts to lower his hand from his mouth and you see he was biting his lip behind it this whole time. He slowly drags his teeth across it before letting it go with a pop.

“Anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?” He asks softly.

You can’t hide your flushed cheeks anymore and lower the camera from your face to see if he’s being serious. His eyes look heavy and somber, but he cracks a little grin to lighten the mood.

“Oh, no… not something I normally hear,” you say insecurely.

“That’s a shame darlin’, you really are. You have the most gorgeous smile, beautiful eyes, and the longest legs I’ve ever seen,” he gushes. 

I’m dead. I’ve gone to heaven and died. This can’t be happening!

“Well thank you very much. I could say the same for you,” you say coyly.

His eyebrows raise at the blunt remark and chuckles softly to himself. He lowers his hand off the back of the sofa and places it on the empty space beside him, looking at it, then looking back up at you. He doesn’t need to say another word, he pulls you in without trying.

You carefully place your camera on the table and take your bag off your shoulder. You make your way to sit beside him as your heart gallops like a racing horse.

He turns his body a bit to face you more and being this close to him is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. You have to hold your breath or he might notice how nervous you are.

“No guy back home telling’ you how pretty you are hmm?” He says, tucking back stands of hair behind your ear. All you can do is shake your head no. His fingertips barely graze the lobe of your ear but it makes you feel weak anyway. The arousal dripping from your core is not helping the situation and not letting you think clearly.

“Oh, well I’m sorry men are so blind over there. I think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he quips, giving you a cheeky smile. “The most pretty eyes, the most pretty nose, the most pretty pink lips I’ve ever seen,” he coos, leaning in closer until you can feel his breath on your lips.

You can’t take it anymore and lean in, devouring his lips with yours. You let out a deep breath as your mouth touched his, his lips feeling softer than you could have ever possibly imagined. He was so gentle with his kiss, making sure he wasn’t overstepping your boundaries. But you didn’t care about that. You screamed for more from him. More kisses, more long heated stares, more everything. 

You boldly, place your hand on his bicep, pulling yourself closer to him. He responds to your touch and you can tell he likes it. His crushed velvet shirt felt nice underneath your fingertips and felt his toned arms. He places his hand on your cheek, pulling you in with more urgency. You feel breathless, loving the way his skin makes yours feel like it’s on fire.

Elvis softly pulls away, not before biting your bottom lip and letting a sigh slip out of his mouth.

“Those lips darlin’, I could kiss them all day,” he mutters, his eyes heavy with lust.

“What’s stopping you?” You whimper. He grins and pulls you in once more.

You can’t believe any of this is real. The way he is kissing you should not feel so good and yet it does. You put both of your hands on his chest, pulling him closer to you by the collar of his shirt. His hands start to roam along your back, feeling the curve of it and how well this dress fits you. Every inch of you wants his hands placed lower. Right at the spot that is yearning for friction from those perfect hands.

He starts to drag one of his hands to your hip, squeezing there then down the top of your thigh. Need coursed through you and you couldn’t help but open your legs a tad bit. You’re not sure if he noticed, but he let out a pleased hum as he kissed you with more intensity.  

You needed to feel him. You needed to feel how soft his skin would be when it’s pressed against yours. Your hand sneaks into his shirt and feel the coarse little chest hairs he had there. You were right, his skin felt perfect and it only made you crave more. You snake your hand lower and onto the top of his thigh. You make the same movements he’s doing to you and you feel his body melt at your touch. 

You move your hand a bit lower and go to caress the inside part of his thigh and you freeze.

“Oh…” you moan into his mouth.

What you felt underneath your fingertips made you cry in need of him. Dear God, he was blessed in more ways than one. He was so much longer than you expected and it made your heart leap out of your chest. His cock was warm and fully hard in his pants as your fingertips slowly start to rub against him. You pull away from his lips and have to look at what your hand is feeling. 

You were going to die and see the pearly gates if you tried to have that inside of you. But God you didn’t care, you wanted him so bad. You’ve never wanted a man like this in your entire life. Looking up at Elvis, he looks calm and collected, still giving you a heated stare. He looks down at your hand, then back up to you with an innocent look about him. 

“You like what you feel baby?” He asks low. You take a deep breath before answering him.

“Y-yes. Yes, I do…” you say softly, your hand moving along him more. He lets out a pleased groan and adjusts his hips slightly, liking the feeling of your touch on him.

“Do you want more? Do you want to feel what it’s like inside of you?” He coos, leaning in for a soft kiss that leaves you dizzy. Your breathing felt erratic and the ache you had in your core only worsened.

“Yes please Elvis… please,” you beg. He smirks at you and kisses your neck, sending a shock of electricity through you. 

“Can I see what you’re wearin’ underneath this pretty dress honey?” He asks you. You nod your head and his fingers find the zipper of your dress easily. He slowly pulls it down and pulls down the fabric off the front of your body. You help him slip you out of your dress and sit there with your white bra and panties left on. He lets out a pleased little groan as he sees you sitting there, trembling with need. He gently touches your exposed skin, leaving little goosebumps behind. He touches your breasts gently, biting his lip as both of his hands cup them and start to play with your nipples through the fabric of your bra. You can’t help but lean into his touch loving every second of this.

He places a soft kiss on top of your breast as he reaches around and unclips your bra. He quickly puts one of your nipples in his mouth and sucks on it, groaning as he does so. Your back arches into his mouth, craving so much more from him. His other hand roams your body but only focuses on the top half of you. Your core was dripping with arousal and aching to be touched by those long fingers. You guide one hand between your legs and have him put pressure there.

You gasp instantly, his touch feeling better than you could have imagined but also realize you’ve soaked through your panties. He takes his mouth off of you and pulls away to look down at his hand.

“Fuck honey, how long have you been soaked like this?” He grumbles, his two fingers sliding up and down through your covered folds and creating the most delicious friction.

“Since I saw you moving on that stage,” you admit weakly.

He chuckles softly, “Oh honey, why didn’t you tell me sooner… this pussy just weepin’ for me?” He asks as his fingers slide the elastic of your panties to the side and expose your leaking core to him.

“Yes,” you moan. He nods his head and slowly pushes a finger inside of you. You both groan together, filling you so nicely. Your hips rock into his hand, needing everything he can give you. 

You throw your head back as he adds another finger inside of you.

“Elvis,” you moan, your chest heaving for more. He watches you intently, liking how on edge you are for him. His fingers twist and curl inside of you and you gasp for air. He likes what he’s doing and can’t get enough got you either.

“You feel so nice and wet baby. Can I give you my cock now?” He asks.

“Please, I want you Elvis, please give it to me,” you beg, reaching for his belt and unfastening it. He pulls down your panties and you lift your hips to help him get them off. You then work on the button of his pants and slide down the zipper. He lifts his hips up too to take them off and you watch as his cock comes out. Oh God, you were weak by just looking at it. His pink tip was peeking out from his foreskin and clear precum started to dribble down his length. His hand wraps around his length and spreads some of that slickness around the tip of him, moving his hand up and down slowly. You look back into his intense eyes and don’t know what to say.

“You want to ride me, honey?” He asks. The look on your face must have shown the apprehension you had thinking about taking him like that. He rubs his thumb along your cheek and smirks at you.

“It’ll feel so good baby. You’re so wet for me, you’re going to cover my cock in your sweet honey and make us feel so good,” he groans as you watch him swirl his thumb around the tip of his cock. A pent-up moan escapes your lips and quickly straddle his hips, needing him more than ever.

He rubs his length through your folds, covering him in your arousal and making you both moan with the sensation. You hold onto his shoulders and press kisses to his cheek. You feel him line himself up to your entrance and hold your hips. Elvis looks up at you with need and his eyes are begging you to have him. You felt the heat of him pressed there against your entrance and you can’t wait any longer. You start to sink down on his impressive length, moaning as you take the first few inches. He felt so good, filling you so completely and stretching out your tight entrance. He throws his head back onto the couch and groans as you take him, squeezing your hips tightly.

The sounds he makes when he’s getting pleased goes straight to your head. You love the way he groans as you move slowly on him. You never knew you could be so attracted to the sound of a man getting pleased. You take more of him inside you and cry out his name, overwhelmed it can be feeling this good. 

“You feel so good, honey. You like how my cock feels inside you?” He groans into your ear. You gasp as his hips move up into you, stuffing more of his length inside of you.

“Yes, oh fuck yes,” you cry out.

You move faster on him, wanting more of him and feeling your walls fluttering each second. His eyes watch how your breasts bounce as you’re riding him, drunk at the very sight of you. You close your eyes, overwhelmed with all the sensations he’s giving you and those eyes only make it worse and worse. 

Your hips grind at the base of his cock and you both whimper. Your clit rubs at the base of him and you feel your walls start to clench around him. You ride him harder, chasing the high of your orgasm. You look back into his eyes, desperate for him to help you.

“E-Elvis… oh please,” you beg.

“Come darlin’, I wanna feel you come for me,” he groans as he snaps his hips into you, causing his cock to get deeper inside you.

You whimper in agony, not being able to hold on much longer. His hands are back on your hips and help you move more. Your breathing is ragged and your vision is blurry, you thrust a few more times on him and you feel your body shudder hard. Your walls squeeze around his length and cry out his name like he’s your saving grace. He groans with you, loving how good you feel around him. He helps you rock your hips into him more, making you come more than you ever have in your life. Your head feels dizzy and your body feels like it’s floating. You never knew a man could make you feel this good.

You keep riding him and don’t want to stop. He was still making these sinful sounds that sent a pulse straight to your pussy as you hear him getting pleased by you. He bites his lower lip as he stares at you, beaded sweat gathering at his temples and his breathing becoming more frantic.

“Ah, honey you feel so damn good. I need to come now,” he says gruffly. He picks you up off of him and has you stand in between his open legs. He grabs his cock in his hand once more and starts to jerk himself off, staring at you with need. You wanted to touch him again, feel the warmth of his length fill your hand. You boldly get on your knees and take his hand off of himself. You wrap your small hand around him and his eyes roll back in his head. Your wetness covered his length and made it easy to move your hand on him. You angle his length toward your chest and he bucks his forward and falls apart. His seed comes out in thick, hot, spurts and lands on your chest. He groans loudly and cusses under his breath with each stroke of your hand. 

“Oh yes honey, yes,” he moans.

He’s trying to calm down and regain his normal breathing but your thumb continues to tease his extra sensitive head. He groans in agony, loving and hating how you’re playing with him.

“God honey I-I-I ain’t never felt so good,” he sighs. “Come here,” he says opening his arms to you. 

You get up and sit on his thigh, your spilling arousal making a mess on him. You wince when you feel the wetness spread on him and look up at him with an innocent smile.

“Sucha messy lil’ girl hmm?” He teases.

“Mhmm, you’re quite messy too,” you quip, looking down at your chest with him covering it.

He laughs amused, “Well, you felt too good what can I say,” he says cutely, placing a soft kiss on your lips.

“I had to say thank you in some way for letting me take some pictures of you,” you say shyly.

“Oh, you didn’t need to, but I’m so thankful you did,” he winks.

You kiss each other more, reveling in this moment together, not wanting it to end so soon. But you knew he had other places to be, you couldn’t keep him in here forever.

“I don’t want to keep you from your day. The whole town is so happy you’re here,” you smile.

“Thanks, honey. It’s nice to be celebrated in sucha nice way,” he says caressing your face, “but this might have been my favorite thing I got today.” He says cutely.

“And what’s that?” You ask smartly.

“You, my new favorite reporter.”

*

*

*

Tagging:

@powerofelvis @burninlovebutler

@neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @loving-elvis @theresalwaysep

@prompted-wordsmith@sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog.@myradiaz@tacozebra051

@thatbanditqueen

@18|kpeters @flwrs4aust @emma181873

@austinswhitewolf @eliseinmemphis

@everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything @ohjustpeachy

@elvisalltheway101 @austinsmutler @kingdomforapony

@generoustreemystic @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121

@jaqueline19997

@returntopresley. @iloveelvis @rjmartin11 @that-hotdog @louisejoy86 @misspresley @cattcb @annapresley8

@arrolyn1114 @raginginkedslut @epthedream69

@mh777ep1938 @50sexyshadesfashionista

@oldhOllywOod @hooked-on-elvis @livelovedilfs

[heilos]

Hello! My name is Moriah and I am a junior in high school. I was wondering if I might be able to get your insight on a few questions I have?

I am in my final years of high school and am starting to think about college but I have no idea what I want to pursue. I know I love art, so for a long time I have been thinking about getting an art major or going to an art school.

I’m reaching out because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR ART and I think you are a very talented artist! I have been in love with your art for so long and I am curious and wondering how you are able to fit drawing into your life?

1.) If you went to college for art, what was it like? Do you think going to school for art or having an art major is worth it?

2.) how can I fit art into my everyday life? I’m sure you have work and other things to do in your life so how do you balance it out? (I just want to know how you can draw as much as you do!)

3.) do you do art as a full-time career or part-time career? is it an alright source of income? If it is a part-time career, how do you balance work, personal life, and art?

Thank you so much! And sorry if these questions might seem personal. I just want to know how other artist manage to draw and create their work and still have an adult life. Thanks again, and thank you for being a huge inspiration in my life to create the art I love! Your art means so much to me!❤️❤️ ❤️

Hi Moriah! Thank you so much for your patience since it took me a bit to answer this. I'll do my best to be as honest as possible. 1) I think going to college can be beneficial even if I wish i'd done things differently. In hindsight I would have definitely taken more time to really look through all available options instead of gunning straight for the most "prestigious" looking colleges since the idea of having a big name school on your resume was pretty prevalent when I was growing up. I went to Savannah College of Art and Design or SCAD for short and while I don't regret the friends I made there, I do regret not understanding just how much an institution like that ended up costing in loans compared to what I got out of it education wise. It always hurts my heart to see other kids get chained to huge amounts of student loan debt that could have been avoided. And even then you don't necessarily need a college degree for every type of art job. Your portfolio is what really matters more to prospective work places if you're looking at a career related to art. I would also keep in mind that the field is very competitive depending on what your goals are. Do you want to get into animation? game design? illustration? comics? prop design, character design or environment design? ect ect. Always try and give yourself the best advantage you can with researched knowledge of what you might be getting yourself into. Also there is no rush to go immediately into college even if you're dead set on wanting to attend one. Please give yourself as much time as you need to really make that decision and, if you have the option, don't feel pressured into thinking you HAVE to make that choice immediately out of high school. 2) I do get quite a bit of production art done on my days off mostly since I'm very experienced in working on group projects like Mystery Skulls Animated. When you're doing art and production work with other people, there's a different mindset in that others are relying on you to keep decently productive so that you're not holding up the pipeline if you're dedicated to seeing a project through to completion. Now when it comes to purely fun art on the side, I've actually only recently started balancing my time out better with work to sketch since the draw back of working on a group project like this for so long is a certain level of burn out. I had about a 2-3 year period where I couldn't get myself to draw much of anything even if I was excited about something like a new game or animated series and it's taken awhile to come to terms with the time lost since my body and head needed that time to recover and that's something i'm much more ok with now. I'm not the absolute best on advice for time management unfortunately, but seeking out projects that might interest you and lets you collaborate with other artists is definitely one way to keep yourself excited and engaged when wanting to make art. Just know and/or learn your limits and you'll be better about not getting too burned out when trying to find that decent balance of art time and other life activities. 3) I actually don't do art full time even if that was originally the plan back in college. I personally found out that I didn't want to turn it into a job the closer graduation came, but that varies completely from person to person and plenty of up and coming artists have found fulfillment in having art be their job too. I used to make prints for conventions so that was a partial income source for a little bit, but again for me it got tiring and I ended up getting a different more physical job to supplement my income while still being able to have enough time to stick around with my friend group on our music video projects. And again there's no shame in taking some time in trying to figure out if you want to make art your job and coming to a different conclusion. Sometimes the things we plan when we're younger take a wildly different turn out of left field and education or job aspirations are very much included in that.

[mask131]

What Oz could have been: The Great and Powerful

I first heard about the original script for Disney's "Oz The Great and Powerful" through a fan art of Theodora by the brilliant artist hwilki65 over at DeviantArt. The fan-art in question is gone now, but do not hesitate to go check the artist's gallery over at DeviantArt, he is one of the most thorough Oz artists of the Internet with tons of clever and beautiful takes on the Ozian world.

Everybody remembers Disney's "Oz The Great and Powerful", right? This Disney movie that attempted to be a prequel to the MGM movie, and yet couldn't really because Disney didn't have the rights? This VERY divise 2013 movie which was a big flop in terms of Oz adaptation? You remember, this thing which took a very cool concept of prequel, a lot of beautiful visuals and impressive visual effects and just... drowned it in cliche plot points, wasted opportunities and the most insufferable characters you ever met?

Yeah, this movie.

In his description for his fan-art, hwilki65 evoked the original scenario for the movie. His fan-art was of the "original" Theodora, not the one from the movie - and while the final product might seem like a simple cash-grab attempting at reclaiming the MGM heritage, these early drafts proved that the movie ACTUALLY started out as much more faithful to the Oz books and more sincere in its attempt at reconciliating the various Oz heritages into something new.

Of course, the idea of a better original version of the movie, that eventually was butchered into the story we can see today, was very intriguing. So I checked out the original script for the movie (but not after YEARS of searching it around, because it wasn't disponible online at first). And OH MY! The original scenario is indeed very different from the final movie, and quite better in term of overall quality! I did a full breakdown of this script back at my Oz side-blog (@witchesoz ), but to give you a taste of what we lost, and to encourage you to go seek this original scenario, here are some key points different from the final movie:

Oscar, the Wizard of Oz. In the movie? A selfish, greedy, womanizing jerk who starts out as the villain of the story, and his evolution arc is basically just him learning to be a decent human being. In the original script? He was such a positive character - in fact I will dare say he was a saner and cleaner version of Jack Sparrow. He was this kind-hearted, goofy, extravagant stage magician VERY good at his job (he was also a ventriloquist like in the novel, AND an escape artist/contortionist), but unfortunately unappreciated by the folks of 1900s USA, so he was forced to do snake-oil selling just to survive. He wasn't motived by greed or lust, but by his day-dreaming and ambition at being the greatest magician of all time, acclaimed by the masses - and the reason he played into "Yes I'm the Wizard of the prophecy" wasn't because of some girls or riches, but simply because Oz was the first place where his magic tricks actually impressed someone.

Remember this little winged monkey fella that Oscar saves the life of in Oz, and so the monkey swears a "life debt" to the wizard and becomes his funny sidekick? In the original script it was the reverse situation. Oscar was helped by a winged monkey, and thanked the talking animal for saving his life, swearing he had a "life debt" TO THE WINGED MONKEY, not the reverse.

In the final movie, when Oscar is in the tornado, he just whimpers and begs for his life. In the original script? He underwent a King Lear-like monologue, insulting the winds and defying the storm, insulting the tornado and daring it to kill him.

Theodora... Oh, Theodora! The character was originally designed as the very opposite of what she ended up as. She wasn't a shy, naive, nice girl - she was this strong, confident, majestic witch. Oscar didn't manipulate her like a teenage girl: she was the one who manipulated Oscar like a puppet by pretending to be a good witch and forcing him into the role of The Wizard of Oz. Yes I say "by pretending" to be a good a witch. Because originally, Theodora was a wicked witch FROM the start. She knew and was in league with her sister's evil plan. The only difference between the two is that Theodora, as the younger and less experimented sister, still had some humanity left in her - feelings of kindness and human decency that the wizard managed to "wake up" by just... being nice to her and treating her like a regular human being. There was the whole "I give you the music box" scene, but it was the reverse? In the original draft Oscar didn't lie, he just gave her a random music box as a gift for helping him in Oz, just out of kindness without expecting anything in return ; and that DID touch Theodora because indeed, since she is a wicked witch, she never had such a genuine gift out of pure kindness.

Originally we would have the backstory of the Cowardly Lion. Theodora, wishing to "test" if the Wizard truly had powers or not, secretely turned a rabbit into a lion, and had it attack Oscar while he was alone and presumably defenseless... Only for the Wizard to shoot it with a gun, causing in this rabbit-lion the fear of humanity.

Originally the servants of the Wicked Witches were the various terrible tribes of the novel "The Emerald City of Oz", monstrous outsiders the Witch sisters had Oz invaded with. The Growleywogs, the Whimsies, the Nomes (well rather the Gnomes)...

In the movie Theodora "turn to evil" is literaly just "Oh, a guy cheated on me, I'm heartbroken, let me nomnom on some evil". In the original draft? SO MUCH BETTER! Evanora, noticing Oscar had rekindled the last piece of goodness in her sister, first tries to convince Oscar he should kill Theodora because she is "in league with the wicked witch". When Oscar refuses to commit murder, Evanora tries to convince Theodora Oscar was trying to kill her... But Theodora doesn't buy it and, even though the Wizard knows she is a Wicked Witch, she still helps him escape Evanora in return for the kindness he showed her. And afterward, Evanora spends many, many scenes abusing her sister, at first verbally, psychologically, finally physically, to convince her to give up on the last of her humanity and enter a deeper, more monstrous stage of wickedness. Theodora does end up burning her skin due to the tears - but they're the tears her sisters make her shed with her torture. And Theodora resists' Evanora poisonous words, only to give up when Glinda causes a siege on the Emerald City and the Witches must prepare themselves to directly confront and fight Oscar.

And can we speak about Glinda? She was SO MUCH closer to the Glinda of the books! She was this majestic, beautiful and powerful warlord-witch living in a grand palace in the south, all on her own (because, since she is a witch, she literaly needs no servant). As soon as she saw Oscar, she cut through his bullshit and shoot down his dream of grandeur, because she knows what real magic is (all Witches do, but the Wicked Witches played along to better manipulate Oscar). She gathers an ACTUAL army of thousand of people to besiege the Emerald City ; and during the war she uses so much more her powers, bu unleashing blinding mists and huge snowstorms, and literaly stopping or unleashing the winds. Oh yes, and all possible romance between Oscar and her is also clearly made impossible when it is revealed that Witches cannot kiss humans - else humans DIE (which also puts Theodora's loneliness under a new light).

Oh yes, and in the original draft, Oscar's development was actually him going from this ambitious daydreamer who only wished for a fantasy land to escape to, where he would be a great and acclaimed wizard... to him actually being fed up with Oz where everybody wants to kill or manipulate him, and dreaming to return to Kansas to settle down with those he truly love, and live there a mundane, quiet, normal life, as a regular man... Something he ends up being forced to give up, because he is needed to prevent the Wicked Witches from overtaking Oz, and so he literaly is trapped within his own dream and forced to give up what he realized too lat was what he wanted all along...

Seriously, the original draft for the movie was SO INSANELY COOL. It was still a rough draft and it had pacing problems, and some cheesy stuff that definitively needed to be cut, and also some weird phrasing that made it sound somehow racist sometimes? But outside of that, the characters and plot were truly so much better than what we got!

[destinationtoast]

"Entertainment" and modern AI-fandom interactions

There's a 1985* sci-fi short story I once read by M.A. Foster called “Entertainment” that predicts what will happen in an increasingly AI-generated art world.  I can't find any excerpts or summaries of it online, but what I recall is:

In the future, humans can prompt machines to create any art -- e.g., "What would a collaboration between early-era Peter Gabriel and late-era Beethoven look like, with a music video directed by Werner Herzog?"  (That's a made up example, but someone originally gave me the story because Peter Gabriel and early Genesis are actually referred to in the text, and I was at the height of my fandom. XD )  An AI then comes up with a bunch of different examples, and the human who gave the prompt chooses the one(s) they like best.  They then release the creation to the broader world, and people make micropayments to stream it.  Everyone competes for attention, hoping to go viral or at least make a decent living.

(There's a dystopian aspect, where if you don't make enough money and your balance drops below zero, you disappear back into the human factory to get remade.  Also, people don't have sex in person -- they pay each other for the rights to their likeness, and they have sex with simulated versions of one another.  All of which is rather interesting, but not as directly relevant to the point I'm making here.)

M.A. Foster did an impressive job foreseeing a bunch of aspects of modern AI and online culture (especially keeping in mind that there was no Web or social media or digital streaming or online micropayments at the time this was written).   And it’s becoming easy to imagine that we may reach a point where many of the story’s predictions about art come true, as well.  

Currently, you can give increasingly complex prompts and get AIs to respond with something that makes sense and seems like a valid reply. Newer AIs often create text and images that are both exciting and terrifying due to what feels like a sudden potential to blend in with or replace human output.  Fandom, along with everyone else, is unnerved.  After all, will we still need fan creators in a world where we can prompt AIs to do this?

(source)

Or this?

(source)

Or when AI can even take the prompt “Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr kissing next to a conflagration” and output this?

(source)

Okay, there’s definitely still some funkiness going on there with some body parts; cherik fanartists can still obviously do better, for the moment.  And more generally, AI output is still frequently goofy, full of embellishments and fabrications, literally tasteless, and/or flat-out wrong – but we can see so many promises of how good it will get.  And we can imagine how AI output will increasingly be incorporated into transformative fandom and shipping culture.  

But all of the above examples illustrate another thing that M.A. Foster got right: If you want AI to produce something really interesting and compelling, it's important to have a human come up with a good prompt and then select the best output. 

This isn’t new; for years, we have been living in an increasingly curatorial world.  For instance, with stock photos of nearly everything, and digitized versions available of much of the world's art and photography, and endless hours of new YouTube & TikTok videos uploaded to the web every passing minute, it's much easier these days to create new images or videos or other visual works without being an artist.  But building a compelling visual work based on others' images -- a mood board, edit, collage, fanvid, etc. -- still benefits enormously from being driven by a human with a particular sense of style and particular goals in mind.  And the more that any human wants to see something that is different from the most common or most popular images that already exist, the more likely they are either going to have to create it themselves – or at least push the AI really hard in that direction via increasingly specific prompts and feedback.  (None of these roles are unique to online culture, either – art commissioners have historically prompted things, and art collectors and museums have curated them -- but these days we all have access to a much wider world of online works, and we all curate our own tumblrs and pinterest boards and so forth, even if we don't explicitly create curatorial works for fandom.)

The thing I found most unrealistic about "Entertainment" was that people weren’t tempted to try their own hand at creating art; it was a purely remix + curation culture.  In reality, even if AIs get really excellent at creation, so good that their fic and art are as good as your favorite fan creators’ work, I don't think they're ever going to suppress our own creative urges.  We live in a world where there are already 313 Dean/Castiel high school AU hurt/comfort fics – and yet people were still inspired to write/update two more this week.  People are not going to stop creating new fanworks just because the AIs are increasingly able to join in and create more.  And, for some time yet, humans are still going to lead the way in creating new canons with compelling stories and characters, which machines will then learn from and remix.  (That is another thing that human artists have also always done -- drawing inspiration from and remixing one another's art -- and something that fandom in particular is pretty great at.)

TL;DR human contributions to fandom will still be very important for fandom for the foreseeable future.  Even if the internet -- and now AI -- have helped us shift from spending more time as solo creators to also having increasingly active roles as prompters and curators.  

---

This post was partly inspired by @fansplaining 's latest discussion of AI & recent fandom panic, "Artificial Fandom Intelligence", as well as @cfiesler 's post, "Elon Musk did not create an AI trained on your fanfiction." They also addressed other issues that fans are worried about, like the idea of AIs and their creators getting credit and/or monetary reward for new fanworks trained on existing human-generated fanworks. If you've read other good meta about any aspect of fandom & AI, I'd love pointers -- please feel free to share in the notes!

*At least, it was collected in a 1985 anthology called Owl Time; I’m not sure when/where it was originally published.

[nova--spark]

Decepticons becoming human you say?! Well I have some head cannons for you!!! (Don't have to use them but ill offer them up incase you want to turn the decepticons human)

Megatron had came along many strange things in his journeys but one thing he didn't expect was to find an exiled cybertronian sorceress. He had been able to sympathize with Quintessas plight since he too was in (self imposed) exile. It seemed like they'd get along well until Quintessa revealed what she did to Team Prime. Megatron, ever the diplomat, immediately demanded she change them back. But instead she decided to turn Megatron, and all who were once associated with him, human. She also exiled them all to earth. Though they didn't all wind up in the exact same place. They all ended up around Jasper (She sent them there to cause Team Prime even more grief)

Megatron ended up in the middle of the city, he was disoriented and only vaguely remembered what happened. A kind couple took him in and it turns out that couple had a child who talked about her social studies teacher Mrs. Pax. After a bit more prodding he found out Mrs. Elita Pax had a librarian husband named Mr. Orion Pax. Megatron immediately took that as an opportunity to fuck with his oldest friend and rival. He took up a job at the same school under and alias (you can pick out their human names). And for weeks it drove Optimus and Elita crazy since this new teacher looks and acts so much like Megatron but it’s not like they can just go up and ask him. At the moment they only had proof of Knockout turning human, not every former decepticon. So it’s possible this is just some human who has an uncanny resemblance to Megatron. Smokescreen spends a lot of time spying on the new teacher trying to get proof of his real identity. The kids love Megatron and he’s surprisingly patient with them. Despite only choosing this career path to fuck with his old friends he ends up growing protective of his students.

Knockout had already been on earth when the change occurred so imagine his horror when one day he was just human. Some of the autobots (Wheeljack and Bulkhead) took this moment to tease Knockout about his predicament since he laughed at them. Given Knockouts previous profession you think he’d end up in the medbay with Jack, June, and Ratchet. But with his lack of medical license he can really only work as an assistant which isn’t his style. He ended up finding his true calling when Miko introduced him to makeup. Part of me wants to make him an influencer but if you don’t want that he could just be a makeup artist. His makeup is more on the avante garde side (which is to be expected from an alien). But it’s popular none the less.

StarScream was not only sent to earth but Quintessa also managed to wake him from his coma. He woke up right outside the base HangerE was located in. He was surrounded by guards questioning what this weird looking human was doing here and if they needed to call an ambulance. Miko came out to see what was going on and as soon as StarScream saw her he immediately ran off. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that the weird looking guy was StarScream and that all of the decepticons have been turned human. (Also giving Op and Lita proof that Megatron was the new teacher at their school). StarScream spent a decent amount of time evading the government and Team Prime but is eventually caught by Team Bee and dragged back to Jasper where Team Prime gives him two choices. Help them find a way to reverse this or spend the rest of his time as a human in a jail cell. StarScream used to be a scientist (at least he was in G1, not as sure about Prime and TFwiki was uncertain) so his knowledge could be useful.

Soundwave was pulled from his other dimensional prison and found himself in a body that was incapable of speech. He wandered around Jasper until he found Megatron who brought him to the human autobots. He now spends his time helping on the tech side of things while learning sign language from Raf and Bee.

Shockwave woke up on the outskirts of Jasper. Back on Cybertron, Knockout has tried to contact him for help finding a way to reverse what had happened to Team Prime. He had ignored his messages, deeming it not his problem. But now it was his problem. And the most logical course of action was to regroup with Team Prime and try to find a cure for this. Team Prime was hesitant to take him in but Knockout argued his knowledge surpassed his, Ratchet, and Starscream’s knowledge combined and it would be foolish to turn him away, especially when he was offering his help willingly. So he ends up working with StarScream under a very close supervision. And funnily enough him and StarScream actually started getting closer. Neither would call the other a friend (they’re both far too prideful for that) but they start gaining a begrudging respect for eachother

Arachnid probably deserves her own post but needless to say, she managed to get off the moon. And now that she’s back on earth in her new human form she’s not just coming for Jack but all of the kids. They’ll make good trophies for when she returns to Cybertron 😈

This is a fantastic idea, i will be using it, and a great way to remind

Mortal Machines =/= Reborn Spark Prequel

They happen in separate timelines because shenanigans reasons!

Enjoy folks, because this will in fact be h i l a r i o u s now.

And to make it easy

Megatron: Steel Gray hair with the faintest golden touches and left completely down, deep violet eyes, tanned skin marred in scars, stands at 6ft 9

Knockout: Slicked back red hair, immaculate pale skin, well dressed and made up with make up to compliment his scarlet red eyes, stands at 5ft 10

StarScream: Black and grey hair, with faint red streaking, a handful of scars with pale skin and crimson red eyes, standing at 5ft 11

Soundwave: Dark ebony skin, and his face unknown as he wears a mask a majority of the time, but was spotted in one instance to have lavender eyes, he wears his dark indigo hair in braids and stands at roughly 6ft 4

Shockwave: Dark skin, and deep red eyes, he has only one that functions, the other scarred and blind. His hair is not very long, but is pulled back neatly. He stands at an imposing 6ft 6

Airachnid: 5ft 5, lightly tanned skin near black hair with the lightest hints of royal purple and gold, magenta eyes, flawless make up and the eerie sense that she is more than just a human. One could even say they've noted fangs in her smile.

[jfleamont]

purely off vibes I’m going for the Band AU

But I’d love to hear about Friends to lovers canon divergent AU as well

Hi Maya! Band AU? Say no more! Okay, this one's fun! I haven't written much so I can't really share a snippet at the moment, but I've outlined the plot so I'm gonna share that (or parts of it at least).

First year of uni, they have seen each other because they both perform at the local pub (Lily with Snape, James with Sirius, Remus and Peter) but they officially meet at a Halloween party and things don't go well: James is a bit of a music snob to her on purpose because she's friends with Snape and thinks she deserves it. She obviously gets annoyed and they don't speak to each other for the rest of the year.

It's second year, months after her big argument with Snape and James and Lily meet again but this time at a house party with karaoke. He sings, Lily watches for a bit but then retreats to the balcony. After the song he walks outside to smoke and meets Lily there. He asks where Snape is, she simply says they're not friends anymore; their conversation is somewhat civil, but still brief. Some time passes, and Lily and Remus are studying at the student union while James appears out of nowhere. She's a bit cold to him (not really, she's just focused on studying), then James asks Remus if he wants to go to the cinema and Lily can come too. It's an olive branch, and she'd take it, but tells them that she has a date. In the following weeks they meet at more open mic nights, and afterwards Lily starts hanging out with the Marauders more. By December, James and Lily are sort of friendly but the band is having trouble finding a new bassist since Peter suddenly left (he's from another uni and hates commuting) so she tells them she can fill in for him just this time, but by mid January she's played with them a few times already and they ask her to join the band; they start performing more seriously from then on, and write music together, then spend their summer playing gigs (very small ones, in dingy bars in remote towns all over England, Scotland and Wales).

There's a time jump (I still haven't decided whether their undergrad degree is 3 or 4 years) and now they're months away from graduation. James and Lily are just friends, but they secretly have feelings for each other: they're afraid of being rejected, and on top of that they don't want to jeopardise everything and risk making things awkward because the band means too much to both of them. The band has a decent following, they even record some songs in the studio and release them independently. They receive a couple of offers from labels and they end up signing shortly after graduation. Some of them get a summer job, but they also start working on their album; they start touring as supporting acts for other artists in the following year, get more radio play, perform at a few festivals... and then it's time to release their first album, and when one of their songs goes viral, things change pretty quickly.

If this seems like spoiling the entire plot... don't worry. This is just the first half (not even that, probably just the first of three acts) of the story, and I'm sure this will be a beast to write with all the research I'm going to have to do. I'm scared honestly!

Sorry for the late reply, I meant to post this yesterday but it turns out that you can't edit a post on the mobile app if you started writing in on your laptop :/

[rewordthis]

The struggles of art, are not for everyone.

It’s really not, indeed.

You have to like the process first and foremost.

If when putting the tip of the pencil down onto paper your main thoughts are how you’re bad, how you won’t have any progress, or hope you’ll be as good as those famous artists you follow on here or Twitter, then you’re really doing it wrong.

I’ve been drawing for forever and I still don’t seem to make anything better than before but having an old drawing around always puts things into perspective. I draw because it gives me peace of mind. If it just gives you anxiety then sure, it’s not for you.

And in the end, what I love the most about it is the sensation of my pencil-tip scratching that blank void that a sheet of paper is. Not the prospect of earning likes, a following, or money from it. I have tons of art that’ll never see the light of day for many reasons, that I’m so hang up on the fact that I made it. I was in my best condition when I made those pieces, in the right headspace, I was whole. The muses guided my hands these times, God smiled down on me.

What can I say? I’m a girl of simple things.

But the whole debate about whether AI is a medium for creation or easy theft, has soured my mood.

I do NOT consider AI art when its main ‘reference’ is straight up stealing and plagiarising someone’s sweat and tears. Before feeding it your favourite artist’s (or writer’s) work to mince and chew it up like it’s nothing in order to vomit a halfassed attempt at creation on your part remember this, the artists and writers the works of you used, are real people. They breathe, they eat, they cry. They pour TIME into their works. Time that you do NOT respect. They put feelings into their works. Feelings that you do NOT respect. For some of them, it’s also their main income. Income that you DEVALUE by stealing what is considered a unique trait of their trade!

You will NEVER learn anything nor get better at anything other than stealing that way. Because you haven’t known the value of hard work. The value of putting a chip of your soul into what you make. The value of living inside every work you’ve ever CREATED. You never lost sleep, food, or a piece of your sanity trying to make something from scratch. Trying to make it work. Trying to give birth to something unique.

What pitiful existences really, are those who can’t value someone else’s soul enough to respect it…

Anyway… this is getting heavy for me so I’m not going to rant over this anymore. I just want to say that I’m going to release some basic everyday steps for those who really want to learn drawing to follow on their own. Art takes time. Great writing takes time. It also takes for someone to be happy each time for what they were capable of creating.

That said, let me be clear that these mini exercises aren’t gonna clinch you a job at mappa, nor are they going to teach you proportions or whatever else those tutorials promise you, they’re specific to making you understand how 3D and observation works in order for you to be able to pick the elements you need every time you make a new piece. That’s all!

Progress isn’t jumping from 3yo art to fucking Rembrandt. It’ll suck ass before it even looks remotely decent!

Make sure to have that☝️printed and posted on your wall. That’s an order! *flexes whip*

Ok, I’m kidding, but seriously that’s your only motto from now on if you want to get better.

And now let’s prepare the ground for your exercises.

What you’ll need first is either a normal pencil or a 2mm one. No 0,5’s or whatever… in general NO mechanical pencils. Personally I’d recommend starting with a wooden pencil, though.

A good eraser that doesn’t smudge. It doesn’t matter what colour or brand as long as it erases the graphite well and without too much mess. Remember, NO SMUGES! *Forgot to say, a charcoal eraser will be a good friend, if it’s affordable. (Sorry for forgetting that.)

Now, hardness:

Find your typical hand writing pressure in the table below.

Generally the harder you press, the more difficult to erase. So bigger pressure (aka black marks, scratches etc) is 5.

5 4 3 2 1

2H H HB B 2B

How it works:

If you’re 3 you’ll need:

H: tracing

HB: outline

2B: shading

If you’re a 5 you’ll need:

2H: tracing

H or HB: outline

B: shading

If you’re 1 you’ll need:

HB: tracing

HB or B: outline

2B: shading

If you are 2 or 4 you’ll have to go through trial and error. Sorry. Just keep in mind that depending on where you lean; extremes or average (3), you follow the guidelines above.

For example, I am a hard 5 (if not 5,5 lol) so at some point I resorted working with just 2H and HB. I only ever use B when I need something to be black— which admittedly happens rarely. It’s only a few times you’ll need to depict actual black.

> You generally need a tracing pencil that won’t leave too dark visible marks behind when erased. People 5 and 4 will have to be a little careful though and not scratch the paper but that will come with practice.

> Your outline has to be enough to ‘stain’ the paper so you won’t lose your main sketch. It’s also correction time. Yey!

> Your shading shouldn’t smudge because you’re going to use layers. Yes. Even in traditional art you darken in layers, typically in as light moves as possible and in varying angles until you get the shade you want but that’s for later.

I personally don’t have any specific papers to propose to you (bitch you’re using basic photo-printing A4 papers wth lol). You’ll just need a hard surface, especially my 5 and 4 palls.

Ok, that’s it for today, folks.

Let me also slap a disclaimer here: I am NOT a professional art tutor. I just love art. 🤗

[batwynn]

A semi-official announcement :

TLDR: I will no longer be participating in the ‘professional’ comic industry, but I will continue to make comics and art stuff as usual elsewhere. I may also delete my website after this last payment cycle ends because the cost does not seem worth it.

The long of it:

I’m done. I don’t want anything to do with the ‘professional’ comic industry, and I’ll be removing myself from the industry spaces. Yeah, it was my dream to work in comics for a large part of my life. I literally drew them since as long as I could pick up a pen. I loved to read them (and still do). I think a ton of people who work in comics are super cool and decent people, and I’m really glad to know some of them personally.

But no longer want to work there. Ever.

There’s really, genuinely, nothing more eye opening than watching the comic industry from the sideline for the past 20 years—more intimately for the past 10. Because that’s how you see how truly fucking horrible it is. How unkind people are, how abused other people are, how easily the scammers get away with stealing everyone’s money, how an entire group of misogynist racists still get good jobs and thrive, how the same four people get selected for major jobs and hey are they all white cis men?, how even the awards ceremonies will always choose the well-known names of famous people dabbling in comics over people’s actual years of amazing work, how most creators don’t get paid for months-years-ever, how every minority creator works until their fingers bleed and still don’t get any respect, how women creators are STILL treated like they don’t belong, how there’s a new story of a rapist/sexual harasser at comic-cons and in meeting rooms every single day, how the big companies all dipped into NFTs and AI art here and there while not hiring actual artists, etc etc etc.

It’s just… gross. It’s bad. And after years of putting in work, money, and time into it, I just don’t think I want to be a part of it anymore. I hate that it was all a waste, and I hate that this foolish kid-dream of mine has been thoroughly crushed, but I can’t even stand looking in from the sidelines anymore. It’s like watching multiple car crashes, constantly.

What this means for you:

I will continue to make comics! I’m not going to stop creating. I am going to stop applying for professional comics jobs, leave the comics discord/groups/etc., and possibly delete my website when the pay cycle comes around again. (That depends on how many people prefer to read my stuff there or who actually look at my portfolio for illustration stuff.)

So, really. Nothing is going to change much for y’all in regards to what you’ll see from me. In fact, it means I’ll have more time to dedicate to working on stuff for you, rather than wasting time on applying for jobs and gigs I don’t even want anymore. 🤗

So. I’m going to go cry a little bit, do some hurricane prep, and I’ll (probably) be back after the storm!

[ystrike1]

I'm Dating A Psychopath - By NoSleepAreWe (8.5/10)

This is an independently published series, and the team behind it is not messing around. The artist behind it has a reputation already and a Patreon and experience+++. This has the potential to go mainstream because it's a crime drama. It's not a romance. Obsession and disturbing themes will be involved, and the author has specifically warned the audience. They seem to know that their art has lured in romance lovers, but that's not what is happening here.

This is not fluff.

Finn is weird.

She's an unpleasant, unsociable girl that doesn't like to look people in the eye. She's pretty enough, and she has a decent job but she's introverted in an unhealthy way. When people do try to speak to her she gets annoyed.

Unpleasant female characters are a thing for me. When I see one I expect good or higher quality writing. Why? Well in most webtoons of this nature the female characters tend to fall into achetypes. Finn doesn't fit into one. She makes people uncomfortable. She's not a cute girl or a sweet older sister or a broke college student. She doesn't fit in...but not in the usual way. Finn cannot be fixed with a makeover or a date. You'll get it if you read it.

Finn is really into serial killer documentaries. She can also take insults like a champ. The two women in front of her are NOT malicious. They are NOT stereotype fueled bullies. They're two friends who sometimes eat lunch with the quiet Finn. Finn is the outlier. The woman with no close friends. The women whisper about how Finn doesn't listen when people talk, but it's not in a mean way. They don't know how to deal with her. They're all adults so they just quietly eat and stop trying to talk to Finn.

Finn sometimes does feel...regret about her weirdness. She wishes she could grin easily like everyone. She practices smiling in a window, and that's when we see her stalker. His name is Isaac, and he's her co-worker. He's popular and handsome and brand new in the office. She isn't interested in him or anyone, so she doesn't even greet him. This scene is a little off, but I didn't think he was stalking her at first. He might not be. Isaac wants to "play games" with Finn. That doesn't mean he's interested in her personally. That just means she's a fun target.

There's been a sting of violent murders. The cops know it's a serial killer. Finn boldly confronts Isaac when he follows her home, and he has a lineup of excuses ready. Isaac is very good at acting normal. He also tries to use romance as a tool to get close to Finn

Isaac insists he's not following her. He has proof. His new apartment is in her building. He starts talking about destiny and how unlikely and romantic their meeting is. Finn just wants to go inside and ignore him, but he keeps talking. Finn says destiny is nonsense, and Isaac changes course. He praises her for her logical thinking. He says he was lying, and that she's right. This isn't destiny. He's stalking her, and he knows alot about her. Then, before she leaves he says he's just kidding.

There's alot of arrogance lurking inside Isaac. I don't think he's the wealthy genius type, so he has to blend in and have a job. He can't do anything drastic, but it seems like he wants to. I don't know if he's the serial killer. He is connected to Finn though. Finn was traumatized by a killer, who has resurfaced. Her obsession with studying killers is a way to cope. In my opinion being arrogant is much worse than being awkward, but...society doesn't work that way. Finn won't be able to expose Isaac easily, because she's weird and he's popular.

Finn is in contact with the detective on the case. Scott is like an uncle to her. He's a frazzled man who has seen alot of shit, but he's very kind. Finn visits him at the station because that's where she feels safe.

Finn dreams about getting beaten sometimes.

Is the killer on the loose her father?

We don't know.

Finn doesn't know Isaac, so there's no clear connection between them. The beginning is just snapshots from Finn's perspective, and she doesn't know anything.

She's afraid.

Isaac is extremely bold, arrogant and manipulative. He told Finn's manager that he wanted to ask Finn out. Finn's manager is a nosy, kind thirty something that thinks a date will fix Finn. Isaac uses that. The manager accidentally/casually??? reveals Finn's address. She's a sucker for love stories. She is the reason why Finn has a dangerous neighbor.

Isaac even tells that manager about his I'm-your-stalker "prank". This is where dread seriously sets in. The manager smacks his arm and tells him he won't get a date with creepy jokes.

That confirms it.

He can do what he wants for the time being. He does things like this as a test. I'm certain of it. He wants to know what he can get away with. A weird person like Finn would get whispers if she made a stalker joke. Stalking is not a joke, but apparently it's a silly mistake if you're sweet enough.

If you're handsome enough.

If you can blend in well enough.

[stopscammingartists]

[hopefully this ask is anon] was there ever even any sort of rent agreement between opa and jolly?

regardless if there was and 18 is "adult", it seems seems really obvious to me that jolly couldn't even pay it and the gaping age gap there between 19 and 37, plus the older person playing the victim, when they are irresponsible to even "take in" the younger person, is something else. was he expecting jolly to act 37?

i'm really baffled that guy ever had a wife and child [which he chose glip's discord, etc over] because he can't even understand basics at his big age and make mature choices himself?

i had a whole rant [but I'm tired and condensing it] about how these guys are carrying on like they are these big saviours, saving people from "abusers" and taking them in, like what they were drawing up trying to rope rina into, when it's actually more like, really transparent, alterior motive, escapism online crap to prop up thier weird rp cult or get whatever from these young people. rina for example turned out to be a decent artist, as were others and i have no doubt that plays a part in how "useful" someone is to them.

they really should not be offering that kind of "support" to anyone like that, they clearly aren't really people who can offer it in the first place and are likely to turn on those same people they acted like needed to be "saved"? like, c'mon now.

According to Jolly when they initially moved in with him it was a "hey pay what you can until you get on your feet" sorta deal, with the 800$ figure coming in later.....despite Jolly working job that would in no way be able to afford 800$ a month and not remotely be considered 'on their feet' yet.

Dude I'm gonna be real, I think Opa just wanted a barely legal sexual partner and got impatient of Jolly not reciprocating. Opa and Jolly where doing sexual roleplays before they moved in together, and Opa showed Jolly his junk within a week of them moving in together. The dude had a goal in mind.

You're spot on about the savior complex thing. When they help someone with an abusive situation, it seems to always include an ulterior motive.

Jolly was in an abusive situation. Opa 'helped' them by putting them in a different abusive situation by having them move in with him across different states. With the ulterior motive of gaining control over Jolly and potentially gaining a barely-legal sexual partner as well. Jolly had no family in their new home, no one in their corner locally who could help them who wasn't Flora. Opa had complete control over them.

Rina was in a situation Glip considered to be abusive. Glip wanted to 'help' her by putting them in what would be a different abusive situation by having her move in with them across the country. With the ulterior motive of gaining control over Rina and getting cheap art from her for their webcomic. Rina would have had no family in their new home, no one in her corner locally who could help her who wasn't Flora. Glip would have had complete control over her.

It's even more transparent when small scale like with Vinnie, @duskittycat put it best.

'We can't be in contact if you're apparently dating Jolly, I need to state plainly you are putting yourself in a position to be exploited....You're worthy of care from people who will not exploit you.'

This is such an unhelpful and manipulative sentiment.

They fluff up their language with pretty words about 'caring' and 'feelings', but at the end of the day - this is just a forced 'Them or Us' gambit. Vinnie cannot be friends with Glip / Woz / Ko'nai / Gabby / Opa if Vinnie is also separately courting Jolly. It doesn't matter if Vinnie doesn't mention Jolly around them. It's not about anything Vinnie actually did to them.

It's about the fact they can't control Vinnie. It's a hail-mary to try to regain that control. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[strongermonster]

maybe it's because i work in a books department and i'm over-exposed to this/inundated with Generic Best Sellers, and maybe it's also because it's not my favourite genre, but fiction (as in just fiction, not sci-fi fiction, historical fiction, romance fiction, etc etc. just plain ol' fiction) is such a fucking bland category.

so much is like

"melani cartier-dubois was a sassy sexy 38 year old living her dream life on high street with a perfect 6 figure husband and darling children, but she's dissatisfied with her middle class (LOL) life and wants more!! here's a story about her divorcing some mostly faceless guy who doesn't really show up in the book, bc he takes his job as new york AND london's top pediatric heart surgeon for rare birds more seriously than he does her very stereotypical mixed-race knitting and candle making wine club. also they have a child with a name like Chase or Frankie or Collagen, who is not the gender you're thinking of, and also short for something insane, who also is also basically a blip in the radar of the tenuous plot of this book. at several points she expresses dissatisfaction with the state of her body, but in between us being reminding how Hot And Tight it is."

it's like coming of age stories but for decently-off white women in their mid 30s deciding that they didn't actually want marriage and kids bc it's not as fun as the last generation made it seem, and making it hip and cool to ruin your family for ~sexii gurrrrl freedom.~ oprah winfrey says that reading this made her heart cum and we cut down 10 forest to churn out copies of this book.

"here is Plain Sam, who is sooo plain and normal and Just Like You! but has an inexplicable prodigious talent for [insert artistic endeavour] that they have never once practiced, or seem to know much about, or even really care about. sam just wrote/painted/directed their 29th global hit by doing something random while sexily depressed. uh oh! here comes Zora Borealis, the quirky person who's life is in shambles and wears so, so many scarves or whatever accessory, but they're happy about that for some reason. they have a brief but passionate friendship/affair that is stated to have "changed sam's life forever", except for reasons that make 0 sense, sam and zora part ways near the end of the book, and sam goes back to being a depressed person who lives off royalties and spends all their time wistfully sighing as they reminisce over The Zora Days, while doing sweet dick all" new york times best-seller list 8 weeks running. no one has ever seen or heard of this author before, or will again.

"here are some 16 year old's who are really, really cool because they're doing some really quirky things literally no other 16 year olds would ever do, because they're just sooo cool. they live in the middle of nowhere, and also their parents are very loving and liberal but never home. while doing their really quirky things together, something heterosexual happens. they learn the sheer magic of basic human connection. somehow no one points out that these children are being neglected. there might be a horse or a dolphin involved? it's got a title like 'friendship with honeybees' or 'knowing the wheatgrass' which comes up approximately 0 times during the book. gets a movie deal within 8 months.

[opalleaf-art]

thoughts on artist using ads for boosting their art...

Been using the Blaze feature on tumblr to help advertise my art. I can see it being a very helpful asset to artists trying to sell commission work. Tumblr seems to like blazed art a lot.

I’ve bought ads for my work on several platforms - especially when I was a college student trying to market my work while being confused by the algorithm and it def helps. The algorithm still confuses me.

My job pays well enough I don’t have to survive on art anymore, but I still want to showcase my art to a wider audience ( and who knows, I have dreams ok). Blaze is by far the cheapest bang for your buck!

Furaffinity $125 - x6 months, good to gain a passive audience and build up a commission base. Niche audience. Furry pixel art is my most successful service on that platform. It’s cheaper in the long run but only if you have 125 to drop.

Twitter - “boosting” an art post is based on a slider of preference. When I really, REALLY want to show off a piece- I pay 25 usd per day x1 or 2 days ( so either 50 usd/2 days or 75 usd/3days). Before Elon Musk broke the website, a decent artpiece could have minimum of 500-1.5k likes/rts and 40-100 followers. I don’t recommend using twitter anymore due to it’s current state and that boosting your art on there is fucking INSANELY expensive to do. It’s not worth it and over priced. Raffles, and posting not on the weekend and doing art shares is the best way IMO.

Each post of blazed art I average between 150-300 notes but more importantly on average I get about 15 new followers at minimum per post. Usually the blaze post kicks the post into people’s radars and it just slowburns for a few weeks on other people’s dash. I feel like I also get a lot of active people to follow and followers/artmutual so it satisfying to be able to interact with people.

If you’re algorithm dumb like me ( seriously, how do you do it?) I highly recommend using the blaze feature, esp on commission posts to help further signal boost your services. It’s most def a useful asset and tool for the working artist :)