#the original was a piece I did years ago on DA

[cbmagus49]

🎄Happy Holidays everybody ^^🎄

[disconnectedkat]

On Judging Older Rep By Today's Standards

This wall of text inspired by this take that bioware are pussies for not having an all-pan romance cast until Veilguard. This idea that all past representation is mediocre or bad because today's is better is very irksome. I'm irked.

To begin, a little history:

Bioware has been including queer romance in their games since the early 2000s. First in 2004, when they released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This game had a character you could recruit named Juhani. Juhani would become the first LGBTQ+ Star Wars character. She could be romanced by a female player character, though it basically amounted to a couple lines of dialogue. Why so little? Because it was 2004 and they practically had to sneak even that much in.

In 2007, Mass Effect 1 released. This game had arguably the 'safest' queer rep, an attractive woman kissing and having a fade-to-black implied sex scene with another attractive (alien) woman. A while later a mainstream media outlet (Fox News, you may have heard of them) ran a hit piece on the game. They ran the usual stuff, degenerate porn simulator, think of the children, etc. This was a big deal, as having a mainstream, large and popular (unfortunately) news channel targeting your game is not great for several reasons.

Keep in mind this was the, again, arguably the safest queer rep you could go for, and it still received that level of attack.

In 2009 Dragon Age: Origins released. Not much to say here, some time had passed and DA managed to avoid the targeted hate that Mass Effect received, despite having a bisexual man and woman as romantic options.

Mass Effect 2 is believed to have suffered the most from the Fox News debacle. Jack was originally planned as a pansexual character, and while I don't recall if the devs have stated exactly why that was cut, the obvious guess is they feared another round of attacks.

Alrighty, history recap over. Now to address the issue:

"They should've done it years ago." Well, they actually did with DA2 and it received a good amount of flak. Because that was 2010, and this is 2024. Representation is a social thing. It changes and grows as we do. In 2004 Juhani, with a minimal amount of actual content, became the first LGBT Star Wars character. You do what you can and try to push the envelope a little more each time. People struggled and fought for all that old rep you see as not good enough by today's standards.

"They bowed to the bigots because of money." Games, and all media, take money to create. They then need to make money to create more. There would be no Veilguard without the successes of previous games. And unfortunately, in the past that sometimes meant choosing your battles. Frustration is understandable, but misplaced.

None of this is to say that Bioware, (or any company or media, this post is just focusing on them) is beyond reproach as long as they're trying. There will always be things to criticise, and areas to improve, of course. But that isn't what I'm seeing here.

This to me is indicative of a common sentiment I've been seeing far too often in queer and leftist spaces recently, people judging older rep by today's standards and decrying it and it's creators without understanding the history.

[fountainpenguin]

Short Version: I don't even know how to begin explaining this, so take these 'fic doodles with no context.

Wish Fixers, my chronically unhelpful beloved...

Long Version (City Lights AU #ridspoilers beyond the above implication. Mentions of death and trauma; it gets pretty dark)

Nalooksthrough, I tag you below because I cited your co-dependent toxic friendship comic and said it was cool- If you don't want to click, that's all the tag was :)

So I started outlining my Dale backstory 'fic (Lemonade and Papercuts) since I am the most predictable person alive and of COURSE I can't resist 7 years of trauma and intimacy anxiety <3. But planning a 'fic like this requires many pieces and many questions.

First and most obvious- How did Vicky lure in Dale? From previous planning, I've already decided that since they're the same age (maybe one year off), they probably knew each other in school or activities.

Ex: Squirrely Scouts & Cream Puffs... Not unreasonable- Throughout the series, many kids participate and the organizations seem to have a big following in Dimmsdale. Vicky's sister Tootie is in the Cream Puffs and Vicky is seen bossing them around in the Season 0 episode "Scout's Honor" ("Oh Yeah! Cartoons"). There's a comic by the same name depicting Remy in Squirrely Scouts (after "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary" but before he gets his memories back in "Remy Rides Again" and I always thought it was cute). I mean, look at him:

Pictures courtesy of the FOP Wiki

It's not unreasonable that Dale - who's also rich - might've gotten into that (especially since Doug is big on the cowboy theming and of all the rich parents, he's probably the one most okay with his son playing in dirt). Something scout-related could be an option even if Dale and Vicky went to different schools.

A friendship that gets increasingly toxic until it spirals into full-on abuse sounds really interesting (and @nalooksthrough portrayed this idea beautifully imo in THIS comic I can't stop thinking about).

Sounds fun to write, so let's go with that. What's next?

Hey, remember when 7 years ago, I headcanon'd H.P. as Dale's godfather because of this doodle in Da Rules that specifically refers to Pixie godparents and depicts a fluffy-haired kid in a purple shirt?

I recently found out I still had Dale listed as a godchild of H.P. on his full character profile on my fanfic sideblog. I was waffling over whether to retcon that (since I hadn't yet done anything with it), but I started brainstorming whether I COULD do anything with it.

I've always written Wish Fixers in 'fic [e.g. Origin of the Pixies] as a therapy business run by H.P.'s dad (which H.P. bought off him out of spite despite not being licensed for therapy) but, like...

Does Jorgen know H.P. isn't licensed? I can't see why he would... As far as he knows, H.P. owns and runs the place- especially given my lore that Wish Fixers has been in his family for many generations. Sounds qualified to me!

In "School's Out! The Musical" (episode that Da Rules screenshot is from), we learn Pixies are at the back of the line for godparent work, even under creatures like unicorns (Hence the Musical's plot requiring them to remove magical creatures from earth before they could assign themselves to Flappy Bob).

I said in a recent liveblog post that I'd always imagined this was a punishment given to them due to H.P. absolutely failing as godfather to Dale- Thus, the origin of the doodle on the page for that rule. But... I never decided what happened.

See, Dale SEEMS like a guy who would qualify for a fairy. He was probably pretty miserable under Vicky's 7 years of torture and he's still holding onto that trauma in his adulthood.

DID he have a fairy?

I'm just saying, we know from S4's "Wish Fixers" that H.P. is legally(?) allowed to make contracts that swap a fairy godparent with a pixie one if godkids choose to sign of their own free will... Hmm... I'm connecting dots I don't think I like... (I am lying).

I mean?? Dale clearly did not get out of the pit due to magical interference. If I'm committing to the doodle being Dale and reflecting an actual godfather-godson dynamic between him and H.P., then something sure went wrong there. I can't NOT make Dale suffer...

What on earth could've made Dale sign a contract for something a fairy couldn't give him? We know from "Nectar of the Odds" canon that he wished to see his dad, and thanks to previous liveblogs, I DO already have a headcanon of Dale being extremely desperate for his dad's love... Hmm... I can work with that.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer the question of how Vicky secured lemons for 7 years for Dale (and other kids) to work with. Here are some lemon tree facts:

- Lemon trees bear fruit after only a few years - They can bear fruit multiple times a year (depending on variety) - A single lemon tree can produce 1,500 lemons in one growing season - Dimmsdale is in California - a state known for lemon orchards.

That feels likely... An orchard of even a few trees can keep you going for a while.

But lemonade doesn't sell for much compared to other things Vicky could've set a kidnapped child up to do (Ex: In "Microphony," she has kids doing a bunch of other tasks like answering phones for her babysitting service, painting houses, and washing cars).

So... WHY lemonade? What is going on that makes this the thing Vicky has Dale do for 7 years?

And who owns the orchard? I need Vicky to obtain lemons without being stopped for 7 years.

Is it a Dimmadome orchard? Maybe, but several episodes imply Vicky's not familiar with the Dimmadomes - and she probably would have turned Dale in for cash reward if given the chance - so those are two things I need to keep in mind.

Does the orchard belong to her family? That's a possibility- Vicky is shown drinking lemonade after "Nectar of the Odds." She definitely could've bought it - It can't be too expensive unless prices were jacked up after she lost her cheap labor - but it's a drink she's seen with in multiple episodes. She definitely likes it.

And we know from "Timmy's 2D House of Horror" that Vicky's parents are terrified of her. It's not likely they'd stop her from taking lemons from the family orchard.

One problem... If Dale goes missing when he's about 9 (Closer to 7 or 8 in my planned timeline), Vicky is also 9 or younger. Are her parents scared of her when she's that small and inexperienced in the ways of the world?

In "The Switch Glitch," she's 5 and seems mild and sweet until 10-year-old Timmy mistreats her- She clearly didn't have memories of Timmy, implying she totally regressed to how she acted when she really was 5. Worth pointing out she goes off the deep end and chains up Cosmo and Wanda, so... she IS mean even at age 5. But also, she's 5. She wears the same purple hair bow in "Switch Glitch" (at 5) that she does when Timmy drains the meanness out of her in "Vicky Loses Her Icky," which is interesting.

So that begs the question... Can I turn my Dale backstory 'fic into a double story of Dale abuse AND Vicky going from a pretty innocent child to Totally Messed Up? Keeping in mind that according to Vicky in A New Wish, Vicky IS the one responsible for abusing him and he "spent 7 years' worth of Saturdays in a factory underneath a lemonade stand."

If that's the way I want to play it... Something happened to send Dale and Vicky down the dual victim-and-abuser path, destinies intertwined. And for some reason, Vicky stuck with the lemonade theme.

Dale just says he spent his Saturdays "in a factory underneath a lemonade stand." It's not out of the question he and Vicky made more lemon products than just lemonade, especially given Vicky's love for money (and those 600 lbs of lemons one tree can produce in a year). We can assume they changed locations a few times or someone would've found the trapdoor on Timmy's lawn. Plus when Dale started his abuse, Vicky hadn't started babysitting Timmy, whom she only met when he was 8.

So, I've set Dale up to be lured in by Vicky because they were friends. I like the idea of things gradually getting worse as Vicky slowly morphs from a friend into a very cruel person. If Vicky was bullying him, what stopped him from just... leaving?

Vicky's transformation was probably subtle if he stayed for so long..... I also pointed out in a recent post that Doug's underground milk empire where he uses hypnotized people for labor bears a striking amount of similarities with Vicky's lemonade stand, even down to the general vibes of "trapdoor entrance" (although it's implied there's another entrance in small building).

And if we want to be technical about things... We don't know if Doug and Dale pressed charges against Vicky. She clearly continues to babysit Timmy and other kids after "Nectar of the Odds" (Season 2).

In Season 4 ("Channel Chasers"), Doug remarks that Timmy's parents should've guessed Vicky was evil because of the Chip Skylark song "Icky Vicky," but he doesn't mention Vicky kidnapping his son. That's.... sus. He even offers to buy a car from her in Season 3's "Engine Blocked" (after Dale's escape).

Why would such a powerful guy let all of that slide? Did they just not have enough proof? Did Vicky wipe the place clean? Did Dale "not want to make a big deal about it" because he was so exhausted and grateful, he just didn't want to think about it or struggle with the legal system? Was he covering for her?? Was he scared to speak up?

... Did Dale not tell his dad the whole truth about where he was?

What if Dale was - in some vague and early concept way - in on the lemonade scheme from the beginning, back when he and Vicky were friends and she wasn't so cruel? Maybe she turned on him and sentenced him to the pit before long?

Why the underground-ness of it? Why the lemonade, which probably doesn't turn much profit... as lemonade. Unless you have unrestrained access to tons of lemons that you can turn into multiple products - Dale DID call it a factory - and no one is stopping you from accessing them...

... but how do you set up a situation where kids have access to a whole lemon orchard - presumably carefully maintained - and the adults don't take it away from them (Because... surely they would've found Dale and multiple other kids if they strayed close).

And Dale didn't leave. He does in "Nectar of the Odds" - apparently of his own volition - but not before. Was he kept there mentally as well as physically?

We KNOW Vicky can't be monitoring him 24/7 because "Nectar of the Odds" is the only episode depicting her paying attention to him, while others show her doing many other things in many other places (though it's worth noting Dale says in that episode that "Vicky's kept him locked up for so long").

Did he stay so long because it was the perceived better fate up until he miraculously crossed paths with his dad (via fairy magic) and took the risk? Would he have gone back in?

Maybe it wasn't supposed to get this out of hand. Dale and Vicky were young when this started... Somewhere between 7 and 9 (given that Dale was kept there for 7 years and Vicky is 16 when he escaped and he tells 9-year-old Dev this happened when he was Dev's age).

Maybe there was an accident. Something not just Vicky, but even Dale felt the need to cover up, especially in regards to the orchard and the fact that it needs to be Vicky's consistent source of lemons (and not something she lost out on before Dale's escape... an illusion of ownership maintained. Kids can't own the orchard, but what if they fooled people into believing it wasn't owned by kids?)

Hmm... some kind of accident that got two mostly innocent kids into huge trouble, thus setting up a horribly intertwined fate where if one of these toxic co-dependent friends backs out and squeals, even the squealer might suffer worse compared to trucking along on the cruel existing path.

tl;dr - if Vicky and Dale accidentally killed the orchard owner but they were kids and terrified to tell an adult lest they go to jail for life so they hid the body in the basement (or like ?? threw it to the coyotes or hyenas that inexplicably lurk on the fringes of Dimmsdale??) and are trying desperately to wipe their hands of this by pretending the lemon orchard is still operational so no one investigates until they can figure out a plan, and then Vicky hardens herself as a trauma response and manipulates Dale into believing it was solely his fault and she'll pin him with murder charges if he gets cold feet and turns her in, and he's miserable and gets a fairy (then loses his fairy via Pixie contract through Wish Fixers, presumably in an attempt to negotiate a way to protect himself from Vicky and somehow not gaining the ire of his father) and then H.P. (lawyer and unlicensed yet de facto therapist pulled two ways) is suddenly Dale's godfather and trying to comprehend what the flip is going on between misery and manslaughter while he's also juggling Gary, Betty, and Flappy Bob at the same time in preparation for the Musical because we know he spent 37 years on that plan...

... Would that be one messed-up yet hyperspecifically canon-compliant 'fic or what?

These thoughts have been haunting me all weekend and I HAD to get my "I'm not that kind of lawyer or therapist" joke out of my system, so there's your context. #Sorry. Is this the direction the actual 'fic will go? ... It's not the direction I really had in mind, but ?? It's off the wall and therefore I must shake it in my teeth. I can't not write Dale backstory this horrific. what. hey.

[transforming]

The Vitruvian Vault

Maximilien was wearing a tux that fit tightly around his built frame, and his handsome face made everyone’s heads turn and gawk at him.  His charming smile made everyone watching swoon. What they didn’t know was that he wasn’t really that handsome, or muscular, or attractive, and that he wouldn’t be this if he never found the Vitruvian Vault.

Three months ago, Max was on the metro when he saw an envelope fall from another man’s pocket. He didn’t seem to notice that it fell, as he didn’t look back, and the doors were closing anyway, so Max looked around and carefully swooped it up and put it in his satchel.

Getting off at Seneca, he walked to his cramped studio apartment (which came with no bathroom, just a toilet and a sink) and rummaged through his satchel and slid the envelope into his hands. Opening it, he found an empty piece of paper and something else - a remote of sorts. It was a flat piece of plastic with a light at the end, with a singular button, emblazoned with a copy of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

“One button with the Vitruvian Man?” he asked, curious. He looked at his small flat screen, aimed the remote to it, and pressed it. 

Nothing.

“So not a TV remote, I guess,” he said dejected, and accidentally pressed the button as the remote aimed at the front door. The wooden door glowed and Max gawked as atom by atom, it transformed into a metal one.

“Woah, what the–” his voice trailed off as the door shifted and morphed into metal. Max carefully approached it and turned the handle.

On the other side was not the corridor of his apartment floor, but a huge warehouse full of human-sized pods. The room was super bright, and as Max stepped in, he heard a voice from somewhere:

“Welcome to the Vitruvian Vault, Mr. Lopez,” it said in a flat, almost robotic tone. “Please close the door behind you.”

Max did as was told. He walked down the steps and took a close look at the pods. Each one had a screen, with pictures of beautiful people of all ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations.

“Wh-what is this place?” he asked to… well, no one.

Steam hissed from an area of the warehouse, and a humanoid robot was walking towards him. Max was frightened - it’s like seeing the robot inside the Terminator, about to kill him. Instead though, the android pressed a button on the screen of a pod, and it opened to reveal a handsome young man. 

“Mr. Lopez-”

“M-Max,” he stammered.

“Max, call me Marwan. I’ll be your guide to the Vault.”

“So wait, this… this Vault thing, it houses bodysuits?”

“Not just bodysuits… well, it stores copies of bodies, but the ways you can use them are endless,” Marwan chuckled.

He led Max to an empty white room.

“This is where we scan you so the bodies can be calibrated to your… physical size? Yes, that’s it.”

Marwan positioned Max in the center of the room, and an oculus opened above. Lasers aimed all over his clothed body as the Vault’s AI measured every area of Max’s body (including package, which did not enthuse the ladies and gents), while also assessing the types of bodies Max would like. It took about ten minutes until the oculus shut itself.

He sighed, “So what now?”

“We pick out bodies we think you’d like,” Marwan smiled as he led his ‘master’ back out into the warehouse. 

“Okay, so… here we have about ten specific bodies we think you–”

“H-him…” Max stammered, staring at a pod.

“Oh, this guy. Well, he’s of French origin, so you’ll be able to speak French very sexily in this vessel. I mean, you could speak anything sexily in–” Marwan said, interrupted by Max.

“What are the ways?” he asked.

The screen flashed five options:

Bodysuit

Avatar

Body swap

Permanent merge

“Which option would you like to take, Max?” Marwan asked, walking over to look into the pod.

“I choose…”

A year later…

Weird enough, he’s still a robot, and they’re both trying to find a way to make him human, but sometimes, it never mattered anymore. They love each other.

“Je suis Max,” he mumbled. He chuckled. He was indeed sexy, the very definition of pulchritude. The Vitruvian Vault gave him a new lease on life, and now, it was someone else’s turn. Luckily enough, he got to explore the whole vault to understand how it works, seeing all the bodies.

He dropped the envelope and walked away, smirking, knowing whoever picks it up will have a real adventure.

And that person is you. What do you plan to do with the Vault?

[theluckywizard]

An Embellishment of Lore (tag game)

I think as Fanfic writers, we often add lore to our stories. It is natural for us to build upon the pillars set for us. But what about the foundations, gravel and grit? What was a piece of Lore you added to Dragon Age that wasn't pre-existing?

Thank you for the tag @moonlightheretic 🥰

I think I added the most original lore for my ~6,500 word companion/standalone fic Thirst which is a Cullen POV fic that digs into the experiences Cullen has between DA:2 Act 3 and the intervening time between Meredith's fall and joining the Inquisition. In particular, I had a Samson who was reinstated on Cullen's own recommendation and then wrote in a schism of the Kirkwall Order when lyrium supply was heavily impacted by templar-mage warring where Samson takes a huge number away to Corypheus. It also explains Cullen's scar! I also dug into Meredith's madness and how she'd been taking an insane dose of lyrium at that point (red lyrium idol/sword notwithstanding). I know Templar HCs are a hot potato in fandom, but I found it fascinating to dig into. The bureaucracy of it all, the feeling of being unable to make changes to institutions even as corruption becomes more obvious. I will caveat "original" with "I'm sure others have had these ideas before in the scheme of the last decade of fic writing" so I won't claim to be breaking ground with them, but I really had an incredible time thinking about how things might have been for Cullen as he rises in the ranks and is responsible for more and more of that particular nightmare. In canon, I believe Samson took the templars after Cullen had left for the Inquisition, but I felt this way it created a lot more tension and drama between.

Excerpt under the cut 👇

Cullen and Samson shortly before Samson leaves:

Later that evening Cullen winds down shaving at his dressing table, squinting at himself in the small, tarnished mirror that had come with his Order-issued kit a decade before. He pauses in the weak candlelight to trace a finger over the circles under his eyes, the lines that have been there for years. But Cullen has been subjecting himself to the same rationing as those in his ranks and this week’s thirst and sleeplessness wears heavily across his face. Twenty seven years old looks more like forty today. He scrapes the blade over the stretched skin under his nose as he mulls over the tense atmosphere in the mess earlier. Something is shifting. It’s just a feeling at the moment but it’s time to gather hard evidence.

A shadowy figure appears behind him in the mirror so quietly, so suddenly that the blade slips, slicing across his lip. 

He whips around with a curse, backing into his table so violently that everything on top of it rattles. Samson takes up too much space in this modest room.

“Maker’s breath— What are you doing here?” he demands, clutching his mouth while blood drips through his fingers, his eyes fixing upon his sword across the room.

“Aw, no need for the curses, golden boy. Just here for a little chat.”

His eyes are rimmed with a greasy red like someone had thrown a fistful of lye at his face and he stands tall in a way that prickles at Cullen’s skin. He quickly parses that Samson wouldn’t be rationing this week, not that it would have stopped the man from finding the substance elsewhere. Man to man it wouldn’t be a contest with Samson’s blood singing and Cullen suffering in near abstention.

Samson reaches into his pocket and shakes out a rumpled handkerchief and hands it to Cullen. Cullen can feel the depth of the cut and is in no position to refuse it. He takes it and presses it to his lip. 

“How did you get past the guards?”

Samson crosses his arms and then steps over to lean against his door frame. “You can get anything for the right price. Thought I taught you that.”

Lyrium. Of course.

“The men are thirsty,” he continues. “You could’ve gone to the Carta months ago.”

“I’m not smuggling it,” says Cullen. “The Order must be above reproach.”

Samson snorts. “Above reproach? Try leashed like a pack of starving dogs. The Chantry’s old game playing out to the logical end.”

Cullen has no answer for him.

Samson chuckles, searching the ceiling, his lips curling into an unsettling smile. “Remember the days sneaking hits behind the armory? Or remember— remember that one time in Lowtown with that one bird Cinnamon—”

Cullen would prefer to forget. “What are you doing here, Samson?”

“Easy does it. Easy. I’m here to make an offer.”

“You?”

“Cut the leash. Get out from the Chantry’s thumb once and for all.”

Cullen gapes at him from under the handkerchief. “Quit lyrium?” 

Samson laughs, a rich, knowing thing deep in his throat. “Nah. There’s no going back. I’ve been there. Only forward.”

“Forward? To where?” demands Cullen. He feels the room clenching down upon him, the air growing thin. “We’re needed here.”

Kirkwall flagged without a viscount, without its Champion, Garrett Hawke who had vanished with his sister Bethany when the violence had grown too thick. It fell to him and Guard Captain Vallen to hold it all together.

“Something greater, kid. We deserve better. Me and you and all the rest. We could be great.”

“I don’t— speak plainly, Samson.”

“Aren’t you tired of being a lapdog?” Samson gestures at Cullen’s face. “I can see how tired you are. If you ask me you’re fighting the wrong battle.”

“I have a responsibility to the Order. How I feel doesn’t matter,” says Cullen with shallow breaths, paralyzed against his dressing table. He swallows a dry mouthful of nothing, feeling it all caving in on him. “Whatever you’re up to— I could use you here. I know some part of you cares. There are some things greater than our own need.”

“You’re something else, kid, you know that?”

“You’ve mentioned it before.”

“Whatever happens now is on you,” says Samson. “Always been a bit too fanciful. Going to bite you in the arse some day.”

And then he is gone.

Read Thirst here!

Tagging @crackinglamb, @samseabxrn, @the-rebel-archivist, @leggywillow, @melisusthewee, @hekaerges, @oxygenforthewicked, @warpedlegacy, @monocytogenes, @nirikeehan, @delicatefade AND YOU IF YOU ARE READING THIS 🥰

[cloveroctobers]

TOMMY MILLER — spring prompts 🦋

A/N: originally this was supposed to be for Joel — and I jumped on the Pedro train a little late my apologies but I can’t lie and say I’m not a bigger whore/softie for Tommy / Gabriel (this goes for the game version too!) so :) here goes nothing and if we flop, this never existed lmao! Only trying my best to write fluff for the upcoming spring season so let’s cheers to that! Happy first day of spring people!

WARNINGS: age adjustments for this piece + age-gap. Mostly following the live action ages according to their wiki except for Ellie! I aged her up some as this takes place before the events of part ii 😥 Joel is still 56, Tommy is 50, Ellie is 17, and “she” is 35…and would be a year older than Sarah. I know some might find that weird and usually I don’t write storylines around a age-gap but here we are! Tommy and “she” met during the time of the virus. So don’t drag me too much if you’re on the offense, thanks.

GIF SEARCH DONE BY GOOGLE & RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO: @loregifs

Using prompts from this list and numbers: 2.) listening to the birds when they wake up + 6.) new beginnings + 12.) rolling down the window of the car. + 28.) adopting puppy/kitten.

⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆

He’s still asleep while she’s on the balcony, hunched over the banister watching the town gradually come to life to start their daily routines. Being part of the main committee had its benefits, meaning one would start the day whenever they wished, which allowed her more time to just enjoy the little moments.

The air is touching spring, allowing livelihood to begin sprouting again. She breathes in the brisk air, pacing herself as the air still clings to the biting of its bitter sister while whipping by, reminding her that her asthma would not be leaving for the season just yet. The tree to the right of the house has lost one of its branches, which now lays on the roof of the house, due to the last winter storm which pushed its way through Wyoming with a foot of snow two weeks ago.

She’s not going to ask Tommy again to remove it, she’ll take it upon herself to get it down with some others later. She’s aware that he’s got a lot on his plate with Joel and Ellie back in town…along with this weighing secret Joel’s keeping from Ellie.

A sigh escapes her lips, eyes closing as she feels the brightness of the sun starting to rise behind the foggy skies. She knows if she keeps them closed a little longer, she’ll receive a morning song with the sunrise. The sun is a nice contrast against the cool but dry air in Jackson but it always brings a sense of peace.

The chirping is just enough for a small smile to split onto the corners of her lips and she listens, enjoying the sweet song the birds sing. She was never much of a bird person due to her grandmother having all sorts back in her hometown in Connecticut. She was raised mostly by her grandmother in a town that lacked diversity, since her parents prioritized work rather than spend time with her and her little brother. Sure she understood this now in her adulthood that her parents faced many challenges in their work field but as a child, of course you just wanted your parents around.

To care.

And whenever they were around, she gave them hell about it until her younger brother quickly became upset. He was on the spectrum and sensitive but just wanted everyone to get along. He loved talking about clouds and had dreams of venturing off to Iceland one day. She was thankful he got to experience it before the world officially went to shit.

Now here she stood listening to birds sing, despite being pecked, chased, and shit on by birds for what felt like her whole life and the sun was shining beneath the gray. Perhaps that was symbolism for new journeys along the way—if she bothered to look deeper at this but now was not the time for overthinking.

She did that enough on a daily basis.

“Hey, you didn’t wake me for the sunrise?” A Texas drawl called out from behind.

She turns slightly, facing the screen door to see Tommy with his head poking out beneath the door, dark hair frizzy, and slits in his eyes. He’s not much of a morning person out of the two of them and will usually need five to twenty minutes more before getting up.

He needed the sleep.

She steps to him then, wrapped in her blanket and getting a better view of the freckles that always appear sprinkled on his face whenever the light hits his skin.

“It’s okay,” she softly says, “there’s always tomorrow.”

He hums as his brown eyes peeks over her head and sniffs at the air, “c’mon in, baby. Who knows how long you’ve been out here and I don’t want anything to start acting up on you and I’m not nearby.”

“I’m fine,” she argues, making a show as she deeply inhales and puffs out a breath as she exhales, fighting back a cough, “airs not too bad.”

Tommy gives her a look, alerting her that he doesn’t believe any of the words she’s saying to him. He knows she can get lost in nature for hours, making him think it reminds her of her old home.

He suggests, “Let’s go for a morning drive for a bit before we really start the day, huh?”

“I’d like that.” She smiles at the man who mirrors it back, “we haven’t done that in awhile.”

The pair lived in the most active part of Jackson, right in the heart of the western town where most of the houses were almost on top of each other. There wasn’t much that got pass this part of Jackson and it only made sense since she and Tommy helped keep this town running. Surely she preferred the more secluded parts, which is what she was grew up with but to be married to someone so extroverted changed that.

“Yeah, we sure haven’t. Let me get dressed.” Tommy says with a nudge of his head, inviting her back into their home.

She nods at him, glancing over her shoulder in the doorway as he exits, sending another smile to the birds before closing the door.

Tommy’s driving in the pale yellow Camaro he picked up from his last scouting trip, it’s his new toy that she teases him about since he’s kicked her Chevy SUV to the curb. She’s laying with her arm resting against the door, cheek pressed into her balled up arm, with her black faux fur blanket still wrapped around her and Tommy’s got one hand resting on her thigh.

He’s shuffling between keeping his hands on the steering wheel, steering with his knees and twisting his arm all kinds of ways to get a cassette into the radio slot. The dirt road is empty and full of green hills along with loops that remind her of the path that leads to Ellie and Dina’s home. This part of Jackson feels familiar and like what she’s used to but she knows she doesn’t have to feel alone.

A soft beat begins to play through the car just as she’s rolling down the window. Tommy lightly shakes his head at his wife, who welcomes some of the air through the crack and receives that there seems to be something on her mind. Lately it seems like he’s been so busy with not only the community but rebuilding his relationship with Joel and his additional niece Ellie—although they’ve been back for about two years now, it did not go unnoticed that there’s been something on his wife’s mind.

Surely he was going to get to the bottom of it on this drive.

“What do you know about this?” Tommy quizzed, taking his hand off her thigh briefly to twist the volume knob, before placing his warmth back on her sweats.

She snorts as she listens to the lyrics of the 80s jam, a little shocked it wasn’t Pixies or some rock song this time. However she believed Tommy always picked songs that fit the mood.

…In time you will see

That love won't let you down

You said that you loved me

Said hurt only came to pass me

It sounded so convincing

That I gave it half a chance

And learned the ways of love, my baby

There is so much love inside me

And all that I have

I give my all to you

All, all my love, baby.

She joked, “Did this one play at your prom, old man?”

Tommy scoffed, “i was nine when this came out in 1982 so nice try but even then, I knew good music when I daggone hear it.”

There was a fifteen year age gap between her and Tommy but that’s never been a issue given the circumstances of life now and probably wouldn’t be much of a issue if things were different. However she couldn’t be certain if the infection didn’t cross the globe if their paths would even align. She had southern roots thanks to her maternal and paternal grandparents yet she’s only ever visited Georgia to see her paternal grandparents, cousins, and friends she’s made out there.

Georgia was a long way from Texas.

“Look at you listening to love songs at just a little baby…I’m starting to not believe the whole never been in love until I met you line.” She sat up then, head resting against the headrest while playfully peeking at Tommy, ready to get him riled up.

Tommy shook his head, “I told you before, pre-Tommy was a whole ‘nother person, all about fun moments and keeping those memories strictly as that…temporary. I didn’t like to be attached although I knew I was very capable of loving someone.”

His past relationships did not matter to her. It never did because a new life was happening now, with her and their relationship most likely wouldn’t exist because they lived on different sides of the map. She trusted him to be a good partner and she equally wanted to be the same. The love or lust before was not a factor on both ends because Jackson was about redemption and growing forward.

If they couldn’t see that with each other then there was no need to continue on with this commitment. However she liked sparking this compassion from Tommy just for a sense of not only laughs but perhaps a bit of reassurance?

“I love you.” She slipped a hand around the back of his neck, lightly caressing the warm skin beneath his jacket.

Tommy glanced over at her then, pure light in his dark eyes as a smile quirked up beneath his facial hair, “I love you too…with all of this love.”

“Oh gosh, the corny is killing me. Make it stop!” She gagged at Tommy’s singing while he laughed at her, putting the car in park.

It was his turn to face her, gripping her jaw to place a kiss on her temple. Soon she unbuckled herself from the seat so she could sit in Tommy’s lap who welcomed her with open arms. Together they sat, his arms locked around her waist and her head tucked in between his neck and shoulder.

To be held by the one you love, what more could she ask for?

She could fall back to sleep in the comfort of Tommy’s arms just then. The prickle of his beard against her brow bone, the firmness of his hands secured around her frame, his steady breathing, her light grip from underneath his bicep, and his scent of white musk and eucalyptus was enough for her this morning.

Sometimes people just need to be held by the right person.

Tommy was ready for her to fall asleep. It’s not like it was uncommon for her to rest against him and as much as she claimed he needed rest, he wanted her to take care of herself just like she took care of him. The flutter of her eyelashes fought against the closing of her lids that it made Tommy grin, silently encouraging her to just let go but one thing about his baby, she was a fighter which provided a nice contrast against her dainty appearance.

Her glossy grayish-brown eyes popped back open, eyes gazing out at the scenery while Tommy quickly shifted his eyes elsewhere so he wouldn’t get called out for staring. He followed her line of sight and immediately wanted to reach for what was in the backseat.

“What’s that?” She asked, sitting up as she put more strain on one eye than the other.

It was confirmed by one of the new nurses that she was losing her sight in one eye quite quickly. It was mostly caused by a injury with a clicker that sent her through a glass window face-first but blindness was also hereditary on her mother’s side. Who truly knows what life continues to throw at you? In whatever way, it was not something she dwelled on.

Tommy nodded as he pulled his shotgun up and over the console, “uh huh, I see it.”

She was out the door before he could get the safety off and that sent his heart rate spiking.

Her feet stomped over the rising grass, ignoring Tommy’s hushed calls as she slowly approached the animal. It had height to it, straggly mixture of grey and black hair with a heavy bone structure.

“Honey, I don’t know what’re you’re thinkin’ but you can’t just run up on dogs like that! We don’t even know if it’s infected.” Tommy stated as he took stealthy steps behind the braided woman.

She slipped a hand into her pocket, holding the  thermometer up in the air to silently answer the man’s question who couldn’t help but to deeply scowl.

Squatting down she kept some distance between her and the dog who put it’s head down, sniffing in her direction. Her hand slipped into another pocket, reaching for something green before she lightly tossed it in the dog’s direction. Carefully the dog stepped forward to bite into the green bean, allowing her to slowly get closer to aim the thermometer and get a temperature reading.

“He’s clear.”

Tommy still circled around, gun slightly lowered but not completely as he watched her smile at the dog.

“It’s still a ugly lookin’ thing.”

She scolded Tommy, “don’t talk about him like that! He actually might think you’re the ugly one here.”

‘That’s not possible.’ Tommy thought to himself.

Rubbing his back, she cooed at the animal, “he didn’t mean it boy, he’s just being mean because I didn’t signal that I was coming to introduce myself to you.”

Tommy couldn’t help but to shake his head in disapproval, taking a moment to survey the area to make sure the unattractive animal didn’t lead any unwanted attention. When he turned back, she was still petting him, this time the dog was licking at her hands and seemed to be enjoying his pets as he sat.

“…this isn’t your first time meeting?” Tommy guessed.

She sighed, “no. Joel’s grumpy ass scared him off last time with the horses when we patrolled. You have no idea how bad I wanted to kick his ass…at least you’re being better about this…besides the whole verbal bullying you just afflicted on him.”

“I wasn’t bullyin’,” Tommy started, “I just wanted you to be careful.”

“Yeah and you took it out on someone who didn’t deserve it.”

Tommy sighed, “I—I never took you as a dog person anyway. I would have thought cats.”

“Are you gonna get me a cat for my birthday?”

“Probably not, honey. They’re kinda creepy.”

‘Creepier than people turning into walking funguses? I think the fuck not!’ She thought.

“Then we’re taking him home!” She beamed as she rubbed behind his ears, “hear that?! We’re gonna get you home, bathe you, feed you, and you’ll fit in with the rest back at home, I’m sure of it. And if you don’t, you’ll stay with us.”

“The hell he will.”

The sharp look she sent the curly haired man was enough to get him to clear his throat and almost straighten up. It’s not like Tommy didn’t care for dogs, hell, he was thinking of getting one before Sarah came into the picture—not that he was comparing his niece to a got damn dog! Fuck, he knew she was probably sending him a mean mug from up above right now. It’s just that the loneliness he faced at his own townhome in Austin was erased when life granted him with a niece.

Sarah was his just as she was his brother’s.

Now his wife wanted to bring a dog (as if they didn’t have enough in the community) into their life and it seemed like she already had a connection with it, that Joel didn’t tell him about at all! He could also argue that his own wife didn’t tell him she was forming a bond elsewhere.

The laughter that sounded from her as she got to her feet, facing him with a smile that reached her shining eyes made his heart swell.

Happiness was all he wanted her to have. He was happy if she was happy and he felt himself breaking.

“What if it’s got fleas?”

“Hello…veterinarian school?”

Which was true, she knew what to do and since the community was well-off to take care of everyone and everything, She had what she needed if any of the animals got sick.

“Right…Dr. Dolittle here.”

“Was that a jab, Tommy?” She pointed at the man who immediately shook his head in defense.

“Not really.” He shrugged his shoulders innocently before continuing, “I’m not afraid to say I was in the theaters when that one came out for Sarah…although I love a good comedy family film.”

That’s funny, that’s when she knew she wanted to work with animals after seeing that film. Unfortunately she couldn’t hear the actual voices of the animals she worked with but she still knew how to communicate with them. She can only imagine tommy taking the time to spend with his niece and that brought a smile to her lips.

“So you’ll love him?”

“…I can try?”

She patted the dog’s back, “see it only took some convincing. We just have to find you a name and it’ll have to flow nicely with your sibling.”

A frown dug in between Tommy’s brows at the end of her sentence. It slipped so easily from her lips that Tommy was unsure if he heard her right. She was getting ready to turn and head back to the car with the dog in at her side but Tommy steps towards them.

“What was that?”

“Hm?” She took her attention away from the dog who began wagging it’s tail.

“That last part of the sentence. About the dog having the same sound as it’s..sibling? Meaning what? the other dogs?” Tommy pried.

She tapped on her chin then, pretending to think about it, “I’m thinking Silas for him and Milo, Tyrus, or Linus for this one.”

Tommy watched with wide eyes as a hand rested against her clothed belly.

“A-Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Maybe…what’re you thinking?”

“You’re pregnant, honey?”

“Uh huh. You’ve got two extra babies now.”

Tommy wanted to curl into a ball of happiness hearing this news. He never thought he would be a dad way back then and he certainly didn’t think now…especially with the way things were and she hasn’t had much of a cycle in years. Of course there were discussions of what ifs but it’s not like they were deliberately trying.

His put the safety on and slung the gun around to his back. He exhaled, his hands raised in air before gripping at his hair in astonishment.

“We’re gonna be somebody’s mommy and daddy?”

“Damn straight.”

“Hell yeah we are!” Tommy grinned as he reached forward to lift her up by the waist, gently spinning her in the air before he quickly put her back on her feet, “shit, are you having any nausea? did I just cause it?”

“No love, we’re okay. Just fatigue sometimes. I’m about thirteen weeks according to Rosita’s ultrasound.” She breathed with a smile, flicking her hair back.

“Thirteen weeks?! Holy shit! He’s gonna be here in no time…wait Linus? There’s no way we’re naming our kid Linus—that’s out.”

“Okay let’s talk about it,” she laughed, “walk with me.”

“It’s clear we have a lot to talk about!” Tommy slipped an arm around her waist, peeking down at her baggy clothing as they made their way back to the car.

He halted as she started to give him the details and glanced back at the dog who had its head down but stayed put. He whistled at the animal with a nudge of head, “c’mon, dog! You’re comin’ with us.”

“Silas.” She whispered up at Tommy.

Tommy corrected himself, “Silas! Let’s go home.”

Silas perked up and trotted after the couple, hopping into the backseat as Tommy intently focused on her, their hands clasped together as he held them to his lips, ready for their new beginning.

⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ ༘⋆ ⋆

Continue along with my spring anthology prompts here.

[jeydindraws]

A Valentine's Day piece I did! ^w^ This is actually a redraw of a DA Valentine's Day challenge. I participated in 2 or 3 years ago

This was the original drawing I did and what I did was trace the heart the challenge gave (this was before I had my tablet) us and worked from there. Obviously, I put it too high and I had to cut the drawing short 😂 I do still like it tho and the redraw is huge

[mysticsparklewings]

Mystic's Museletter - Long Time, No Type!

This blog entry was originally posted to Ko-fi and DeviantArt and may also be read in full in either of those places.

Hey there Sparklers; It's been a while, hasn't it? 😅

So I suppose I should start with an apology, because I am sincerely sorry that it's been almost a year now since I was doing my regular "Monthly Museletter/Round-Up" Posts [on dA & Ko-fi, doing them here on Tumblr is entirely new], and it's also been a few months now since I was posting art...really at all, let alone regularly.

And because of that, if it wasn't already obvious, this isn't even going to be quite like my former "regular" long-form posts. It's going to be long, which itself isn't unusual, but because of how much there is to cover, I'm going to try and divide this all up into mostly self-contained sections, and have a list of those sections (marked by headers of the same title) beneath this paragraph so you can jump/scroll around and read "the interesting bits" at your leisure:

Overview of Where I've Been

DeviantArt's Changes

Other Things I've Been Doing - Part 1: Ohuhu Again! - Part 2: Social Sites & Dolls - Part 3: Everything Else

Peeks At Actual Art Things I've Done

Wrap Up

Overview of Where I've Been

So what happened? Well, the Monthly blog posts were just a victim of my executive dysfunction—I got in my head about how long they usually take to put together and when I'd miss one or put it off too long, naturally that would mean the next one would take even longer to catch up and it just spiraled downward from there.

Clearly, if I want to continue with those going forward, I need to make some changes to how they work so I can actually do them. At the moment though I don't have any concrete plans, but I have some general ideas that relate more to the next section.

Okay, but what about Artwork? I was on a pretty good roll there, especially with Winx Art, and then...Crickets.

This one I can't even fully explain myself. At first, I know I was largely bogged down by the fact that I just kept missing self-imposed deadlines to have certain pieces finished by, and my motivation to post art was majorly crippled by some Changes DeviantArt Made, but I feel like those two reasons alone don't cover everything.

My personal life has also been a bit of a roller coaster these past few months, but that is somewhat "normal" for me, so I don't feel right blaming it on that, either.

My best guess is those things combined with my usual Post-Inktober Funk™ and made a kind of "Seasonal Burnout," sort of like Seasonal Depression (as is fairly common for a lot of people to experience around the holidays and winter months). I've had plenty of creative ideas and was even able to do some other creative things I'll touch on more in a bit, but the motivation to actually draw was just...not there.

The other reason I chalk this up as "Seasonal" is because as the weather has finally, slowly started to warm up, I have noticed some internal changes with myself...Nothing major has happened yet, but I feel more squarely pointed back in a "Drawing Direction," if that makes any sense.

I think the last piece of the puzzle to get me at least sort of back on track is related to those Changes I mentioned DeviantArt made. So let's talk a bit about that...

DeviantArt's Changes

Towards the end of October—Naturally, my busiest month!—All of a sudden, I could no longer edit Deviation descriptions directly in Sta.sh, which I'm sure some of you Sparklers are familiar with.

This matters because I found writing & editing descriptions in Sta.sh much more convenient than typing them directly on the Submission Page. Mostly for formatting reasons, but also as a hangover from many years ago when I lost a a few descriptions that were written only on the Submission Page, which didn't (doesn't?) auto-save consistently like Sta.sh did.

So. That wasn't good, but I figured out that I could still edit existing Text documents that I had in Sta.sh, so I took to writing the descriptions in an old one of those and would copy & paste it into the final Art description later. But eventually, that method stopped working too. (I think around mid-November, but I'm not 100% sure.)

As of right now, you cannot edit any text of any kind in Sta.sh anymore. You either handle it directly (on the Submission Page for Artwork, or using dA's on-site text editor for written work), or you don't bother.

Now, I'll wholeheartedly agree that on paper this doesn't sound like a big deal. And it really probably shouldn't be. But nevertheless, to cut an overly long explanation short: It is/was for me. It felt like one of the last few threads tying me here, to DeviantArt, snapped.

Again, to cut an overly long explanation short, emotionally, that really hurt. I have more or less been mourning the loss of the DeviantArt I first joined back in 2011 as a result. 😞

And to cut one more explanation short: I've been thinking for a while now that it might be in my best interest to start up a more proper dedicated blog for my long art descriptions, and this blow to the way I write said descriptions on dA really solidifies that. I still have to figure out exactly where said blog will be—possibly here on Tumblr* which is why I'm posting this here now—but I have pretty much made up my mind that it does need to exist, one way or another.

(*I'd stick it over on Ko-fi, but as it currently stands Ko-fi doesn't have great organization or archive functions for older blog posts; If it's not recent it's difficult to find, and that just won't work with the blog-ish flow I know I'd need, among other small issues with Ko-fi's formatting.)

With all that said...I don't really want to say there's still a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for dA because that doesn't really feel accurate, but that's the closest expression I have.

Very recently, DeviantArt announced a new overhaul coming to the Submission Page, and while I have extremely mixed feelings about it (because I strongly suspect this is exactly why Sta.sh has been crippled)...I don't hate it. There are things I like about it, I'm mainly just bitter and fearful about Sta.sh's future.

But I also haven't fully put this "Studio" thing to the test yet—That requires actually submitting art. So, perhaps there is yet more hope than I think...

Other Things I've Been Doing

To that end, you're probably wondering about those "other creative things" I've been able to do I mentioned earlier, and also if there is any "proper" artwork to show for these past couple of months.

I'll go ahead and spoil that yes, even though there isn't much of it, I do have some "proper" artwork things I can show you, but I think (as this section title implies) it'll be better to address those other creative things I've been doing first.

Part 1: Ohuhu Again!

Probably the most interesting to you Sparklers will be the revelation that I'm in very early stages of working on a kind of "Buying Guide" for the Ohuhu Honolulu Markers.

I'm sure some of you Sparklers are familiar with my Ohuhu Chart and the unofficial "ongoing saga" of keeping that thing up-to-date. Some newer Sparkles may also have originally heard of the chart and/or me from the Ohuhu SubReddit, because I've spent quite a bit of time over there helping people figure out the best way to get all 363 of the Honolulu colors...since unfortunately, Ohuhu has made that process kind of confusing. 😅

Very similar to my chart sorting out confusion over how many colors there are in the first place, I want to make some kind of fixed resource I can point people to that would hopefully help clear up a lot of that said confusion.

I don't want to get to specific on the details of the "final" guide at this point since it is so early; Rather I want to just tell you Sparklers the actual work I've been doing to make it happen, and that all boils down primarily to three things:

Collecting and Organizing some text-based information (mostly in the form of Spreadsheets), and I was already doing a fair bit of this before I decided to even attempt making a Buying Guide

Fixing up my marker storage. I keep my Honolulus in their original bags for space-related reasons, but I've been meaning to make dividers for the bags to make everything more stable, and Spare-Cartoonist6276's Honeycomb method was the final push to do that I needed to actually do it. The only real downside has been that it just takes a while to construct each honeycomb section (and I'm not even bothering with the pretty color-matching cardstock). Fortunately, at time of writing I only have 2 sections left to go out of the original 11!

Swatching & Attempting to sort every color in a "Proper" Color Order. This is also something I've been meaning to try anyway and how useful it would be became pretty undeniable as I started thinking about how this Buying Guide is going to work. I'm in Stage 1 for this process—As I finish a honeycomb section, I swatch the markers in that section, so when the honeycombs are done, the swatches for colors I actually own will also be done. This is also different from my usual swatching because I made very basic little cards with holes punched in them so hopefully comparing colors and physically arranging them is as easy as possible. This swatching has been a long time coming though and is also taking a little bit longer because...I don't actually own every Honolulu color! I'm missing about 35, all of which belong to the "Pesky 43" that only come in certain sets. And with other expenses and trying to save up for a new website (yep, that Ko‑fi Goal is still active, folks!), I just haven't been able to justify dropping $130+ on yet more markers to fix that problem.

However, after some poking around and discussion in the wider Ohuhu Community, a Reddit User by the name of JayZedHorse very kindly reached out and offered to send me physical swatches of the missing colors! They are en route to me as I type!

There are still many small ways in which this isn't a completely perfect solution, but it is still a very solid step in the right direction and I am eagerly counting down the days until I have those swatches in hand!

So at the moment I have the small goal of being finished with the Honeycombs and my own swatches before the swatches JayZed sent me arrive; That way I should be able to jump pretty straight into the comparisons and start on color arrangement. But, fortunately, even if I can't be finished with the honeycombs by then, it won't be the end of the world. Both things will get done either way, it'll just take a little longer.

But that is about all I have to say about this Buying Guide that I think you Sparklers would be interested in, for now, so on to the next subject...

Part 2: Social Sites & Dolls

I'll start by saying there are two Social Media sites I've been semi-active on and so people that either follow me in those places or frequent the same communities I do will probably already have a few ideas of the other ways I've been flexing my creative muscles lately. [...And Members of the Sparklers' Club Discord Server will also have seen a fair bit of the same posted directly in there!]

As I sort of mentioned with the Ohuhu section above, I've been spending quite a bit of time on Reddit. It's not my favorite place on the internet, but I do like that I've been able to have long-ish form discussions about things over there that I would be pretty hard-pressed to cleanly fit inside of art posts. That's where most of my writing muscles have been getting their exercise.

The other one, and probably a little more interesting to you Sparklers, is BlueSky, one of the half a dozen "Twitter Replacements" that's been floating around.

To be fair, there were points where I thought either Mastodon or Threads were going to be my "Twitter Replacement" of choice, but ultimately neither ended up sticking with me and I'm not really sure why. It's possible the same will eventually be true for BlueSky as well, but so far even without fresh art to post it's been jiving decently enough with me.

I've mostly been posting Doll Photos over there; Literally the month after I lost the will to keep up with the monthly blog posts entirely, my interest in Fashion Dolls was finally renewed after a probably 5-6 year hiatus with one Karla Choupette.

I'll spare you Sparklers the nitty-gritty details (especially since I think I may be able to delve into them more appropriately in the future 😉), but suffice to say after falling in love with Karla and Monster High finally producing dolls I actually like again that I've been having a bit of a "Doll Love Renaissance" and I have taken probably a gross and shocking amount of photos of small plastic ladies over the course of the last year.

I don't know what it is about BlueSky that's made me genuinely want to share over there—It certainly isn't a massive following or massive amounts of engagement—but there is something, and it's pretty nice when previously I had to really talk myself into sharing anything that wasn't directly art-related over on Twitter.

Aside from just letting you Sparklers know I'm active on BlueSky at all, this is also relevant because I've taken to fairly regularly making things for the dolls—Mostly tiny crochet clothes, but a few other accessories too, like a belt I recently made to cover up uneven stitching on one doll's dress. And sometimes I re-paint details on certain dolls as well, but nothing super dramatic like some Doll Customizers do!

I would eventually like to compile photos of all (or at least most) of the things I've made for the dolls and maybe actually post them at least over on Ko-fi, and maybe here on DeviantArt too, since I am pretty proud of a lot of them and I think they'd be mildly interesting to my audience. But there are no concrete plans for that at the moment, just wishful thinking.

One related thing I do have slightly more concrete plans for though is the release of a Crochet Pattern—I got a little tired of the lack of pants options for the Rainbow High dolls, especially non-skinny ones, so I did some research and muddled together a pattern for some fitted bell-bottoms. I think the pattern itself is pretty much ready-to-go for sharing, but I did want to make one last test pair of the pants first (this will be the third pair in total) just to make sure one of my yarn recommendations works as well as I think it will.

The pattern will 100% be posted in the Ko‑fi Shop when the time comes, I'm just not completely sure if I'll be attempting to post it (or example photos at least) to DeviantArt as well, but...probably. We'll see!

Part 3: Everything Else

There is one more "not proper art" thing I've been slowly chipping away at that I think you Sparklers will find interesting.

...To be fair, there are some other much smaller things that I've shared with the Sparklers' Club on Discord that would also fit in this category, but they're not as interesting and would normally be saved for the "From the Archives" section in a Monthly Round-Up, so I'd feel out of place discussing them here.

Anyway. I've started the maybe-minorly-insane project of maintaining a Wiki for my Winx Club OCs: "The Mystix Dimension."

I've been keeping a running Google Doc with information about said OCs over the past couple of years as I've been doing major redevelopment on them, but I was getting tired of the limited ways to organize everything in that format.

After a lot of research that ultimately ended up going nowhere, I opted for the format I know best. I spent quite a bit of time making pages for my most-used Winx OCs on the Winx Fanon Wiki back in the day, but in the present I wanted the freedom to mess with the Wiki's code to both make it look more like the "official" Winx Club Wiki and also tailor it more to my own specific needs.

The "Mystix Wiki" is still very Under Construction with a lot of stuff missing, but it is slowly but surely getting there and most of the "bones" are in place.

So if you Sparklers are curious about my Winx OCs specifically, you can pop over there and have a look around—Of the information there, there's already a nice sampling that's pretty different from what long-time Sparklers may remember of my OCs from the earlier DeviantArt days when I was posting about them super regularly. 😉

A side effect of the Wiki that I semi-expected though is that it has made me realize how little I've actually drawn of my OCs even though they've been pretty consistently on the back of my mind for months. So I think pretty soon there are going to be more new Winx drawings in the works as I continue to fill out the Wiki. 😆

And speaking of drawings in the works...

Peeks At Actual Art Things I've Done

Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I definitely don't have a lot in the way of Work-In-Progress (WIP) Drawings, but I do have some that I started on before this unintentional hiatus. While I'd normally save some or even most of the WIPs for a Monthly Round-Up instead, given the circumstances I think it only makes sense to go ahead and share them with you Sparklers here and now.

We'll start with a few that should be recognizable as "updates" from the WIP Palooza that I posted back in August:

Firstly, and this will most likely be the next finished piece I actually post, I did finally polish off that sketch of Karla Choupette in the Winx Club art style. (And this is what I meant earlier when I mentioned I might be able to elaborate on my Doll Renaissance feelings later—The description for this piece would be a good place to do that!)

...I'm not showing the completely finished version here because I would like there to be some surprise when it goes public, and also even after all this time I'm still not 100% on the background I chose. So it could still change before the final post.

But Karla herself I'm happy with. I have no idea if I'll ever draw any more Rainbow/Shadow High characters in the Winx Style, but the door is open if I decide I want to.

Next we have...heh, My Winxsona in the Fan Transformation Formalix, better known as "Winxsona Winter Week 7". Incredibly, unbelievably late for "Winxsona Winter" at this point. But nevertheless, I started on the final two pieces for the series and I do want to finish them!

This one isn't fully finished like Karla, but it isn't too far off. It mainly needs shading and a background...And if I had no clue what to do for a background for Karla, then I have like -5 clues what to do for this one. 😅 I'll figure something out, though!

Likewise, I also have the "finished" sketch for "Winxsona WInter Week 8," or: My Winxsona in the Fan Transformation Dimentix.

Mystic Stars and Above on my Ko-fi already saw this WIP back in July, but this is much further along than you Sparklers saw in the WIP Palooza; At that time I had the concept sketch for the outfit and the wings done, and the pose, but I hadn't drawn the outfit on the pose yet.

The Dimentix wings are also ready for coloring (and the Mystic Stars & Above saw this one already too), but they won't be colored until after I get the flat colors down for the outfit/main image so I have a better idea of what colors should go where:

Again, no clue for the background on the finished Dimentix piece, but push-come-to-shove, I can skip a proper background and just recreate the..."wallpaper" effects that were used for the original Dimentix images made by FlorainBloom back in the day.

That leaves us with the two final WIPs I have to share, but for my Winx-loving Sparklers, I think they'll be the most exciting...

Yes, over a year later, I'm picking up the "series" that technically began with Light that Burns the Sky! 😁

Originally, I wasn't sure "Dark Enchantix" (or, my preferred name that I way overthought: "Incantix") would even be a series, but the response to Bloom and Stella was so positive [the Time Lapse has over 20,000 views on YouTube!!] and I did enjoy the concept so much...Yeah, it only feels right to give the rest of the Winx the same treatment. 😄

​As you can see, I've managed to come pretty far. Tecna and Flora have most of their shading done, so next for them is getting their wings in order, then the background (and I plan to use basically the same background that Bloom and Stella got for everyone, so that shouldn't take too much work). And Layla and Musa are pretty far along too...However, I have gone back and forth a bit on Layla's blues and Musa's golds/yellows.

Once again, I'll spare you the nitty-gritty for now, but was one of the challenges for my "Incantix Vision" from the beginning and is the smaller part of why these two drawings have been delayed so much. [...Y'know aside from the other things we talked about at the beginning of this journal.]

The other thing is that I lost my mojo for these two pieces specifically because I had hoped I'd get them finished by the end of the year to submit to a Winx Club fan project, and clearly that didn't happen. (I did go ahead and submit Bloom & Stella since they were finished, though!)

However, that fan project recently re-opened submissions through the end of May this year, so naturally I'm feeling a bit of an itch to see if I get can them both finished by then, even if it's just the still images and the Time Lapses (which only make sense to make since the first one did so well) have to wait a bit longer.

...Considering it's nearly the end of April now and I'd like to get at least 1-2 other things posted before I jump back into Incantix, and all the other circumstances, I obviously have my doubts about whether or not that will happen. But, who knows, maybe telling you Sparklers about it at this stage will be the extra encouragement I need.

At the very least, you Sparklers now know those finished pieces are coming eventually even if it isn't in May, and that was the main point in sharing the WIPs anyhow.

Wrap Up

​So. Now you Sparklers know where the heck I've been and some of what I've been up to in my time away.

I really didn't mean to more or less up and disappear and I am not happy that I have so little to show for my absence...But there's no time machine to go back and un-do it all, so for better or worse it is what it is.

I am, however, writing this blog post in the hopes that it'll be the "permission" I need to give myself to at least attempt to get back into an art posting rhythm.

As I touched on in the previous section, I do have a vague plan for my next finished piece to post, but it felt kind of wrong to just randomly go back to posting art like the past 4-5 months didn't happen with no explanation, especially over on Ko-fi. So here we are.

And...Beyond that, I really don't know how to end this. It feels a bit cheap to leave on my previous usual blog post send-off when this one is so different in nature...But I also don't consider myself as very good at ending these things in the first place. 😅

I should say though before I go—I really, sincerely do appreciate you Sparklers that have stuck by me in one way or another while I went radio silent. Every like, comment, whatever—I've still seen them all while I was away, and those are the little things that keep bringing me back when I do hit rough patches like this. Knowing that at the end of the day the art things I do matter to someone out there. It means more than I can put into words. So thank you, Sparklers, for just being there.

​Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before I can share some new things with you Sparklers to make it really worth your while. But, until then, as always...

Take Care and Sparkle On ✨

~Mystic~

[mrs-gauche]

So, on the new cinematic that was published yesterday, without going into a deep analysis here (because people have already done an amazing job at dissecting every piece of visual/symbolism, like the Golden/Black City, what appears to be the origin of the Blight, the recurring symbols in the seven semi-circle spheres/Evanuris imagery in Trespasser etc etc), I just want to write down some of my general thoughts that I had already put in the tags under the video, but there are also a few things I'd like to add. 🙂

Ok, so generally speaking, this cinematic is basically a recap for anyone who hasn’t played Trespasser/ is new to the series / doesn’t remember every single detail from a game that came out almost a decade ago. I always wondered how they were going to (re-)introduce new people to the lore and the big revelations that were sadly concealed in a DLC and after giving it some thought, I’m actually very pleased with the way they’re doing it. 😁

So in regards to Solas, this is everything you need to know before going into the game. (Though I still try to look at this from the perspective of someone who’s only played the DAI base game and therefore only knows the after credits scene with Solas and Flemeth.. So you would still be kinda lost about as to how Varric even knows about all this stuff with the creation of the Veil/what Solas plans to do and all that, so.. I would hope this still gets addressed in some form, especially if fan speculations turn out true and there will be a ten year timeskip since Inquisition, so regardless of Trespasser, in any case, it would be nice to learn what the Inquisition has been up to these past ten years. lol)

So for anyone who is now like "Ugh, another trailer about Solas?? Don't we had enough???", I get it, I really do, but I also need you to understand that this is *not* another trailer, it's an in-game cinematic, probably part of the very beginning of the game and I feel like people tend to forget that the majority of players will NOT be people like us, who have been sitting here analyzing every single frame and syllable of new content under a microscope for the past eight years. 😂

Most people who've played Inquisition maybe once or twice a decade ago will maybe have a vague memory of who Solas or the Dread Wolf are and what his story is. Of course we know all this stuff, but that's the point, it's supposed to be a recap of everything you need to know before going into the game.

Though I can understand why you would be frustrated that they chose to show this as yet another part of marketing that's solely centered around him. (Heck, even I as a fan of his character am honestly surprised how much focus there is 😂) But even though BioWare’s blog post ended with the phrase "close out this year with a little treat", the fact that this was now a general "reintroduction" to the lore, gives me a little hope that they might not wait another couple of months now to show something new, since this is still fresh in people's minds. They're building momentum and I would hope they would use this to kick off the marketing for a wider audience (and the Game Awards are by far the biggest platform to show something).

That being said, let’s talk about the visuals for a second!

Simply put, they’re drop dead gorgeous! As expected from the great Nick Thornborrow, who also did Solas’ frescoes in DAI (and who sadly left BioWare some time ago). The art style and the way it’s presented/animated reminds me a lot of DAO’s intro or those transitional scenes between acts in DA2 or even those little animation bits from the Keep (which were also narrated by Varric!). So it’s definitely true to the DA formula/getting back to the roots even. lol

So even for those of us who knew about all this stuff, it was still amazing to see it visualized and summed up in such a beautful way. And additionally, it contained hints and symbolism that seem to confirm everything I’ve been thinking for the past seven years. lol (Again, not getting into details here, because people have already done a far better job than I could do to explain all that. 😂) I loved how the visuals transitioned seemlessly into the each other with gorgeously smooth animation! I also love how you’re getting almost blinded by the way it’s portraying the destruction of the Veil. lol Like, it get’s all dark and quiet for a second and then BOOM, spotlight ON lmao, I was instantly reminded of Sandal’s prophecy in DA2, when he’s like “The shadows will part and the skies will open wide, when he rises”.

But we also need to talk about the music and the sound design, because GOSH, this was so GOOD!

I would highly recommend listening to this thing with head phones, because WOW, there are so many different little components build into this one minute track, it’s amazing!! I looove how the music starts off with this anticipation and a single violin and then shifts into this more ominous melody supported by these faint “marching to war” drums when the visuals transition from sun to moon/Solas to Fen’Harel, like the music perfectly encapsulates this feeling of ambiguity, like he’s neither a villain or a hero, and it’s up to you what to believe.

Then there’s that beautiful wolf howling in the back right as Varric says “Dread Wolf”, before the music gets more sinister, followed by this big booming “shutting the gate” sound when the Veil is formed and whatever you call that sound of magic as the gods are sealed away and this creepy whispering as the shadows are slowly spreading from the Black City and consuming everything, when it gets all quiet. And then, if you’re wearing head phones, you get knocked off your feet by that enormous explosion sound as the Veil is shattered, like you can practically FEEL the impact of this wold-altering magic in your bones. lol And then the music culminates in this grand dramatic orchestral piece that is SO reminiscent of Inquisition’s main theme??

And as the title is shown and the music breaks up, there’s that simple melody again played by this traditional string instrument (I’m no expert, but it reminds of like, ancient greek?) that was also in the 2020 teaser trailer!

Like, huge props to whoever did the sound design and I can’t wait to find out who does the score! <333

Lastly, can we talk about how Varric’s talking in the PAST tense, when saying “But now, he wanted to tear down that Veil, and destroy the world”??

It almost sounds like whatever Solas wanted to do, something happened, but as always, it didn’t go the way he intended and now we have to deal with the consequences? lol It sounds like that line was cut off too soon there, like Varric was going to add something like "But now he wanted to tear down that Veil and destroy the world.... but he f*cked up spectacularly (again) and now we have to clean up his mess." 😂

So are we maybe already playing in a post-Veil world right from the start? I hope not, because I would have loved to actually SEE how Solas tore down that Veil? 😂 It makes me think that maybe this narration isn't the final version and it will end up being different in the game, like this was edited for marketing purposes/to avoid spoilers? lol

Also, again like in the 2020 teaser trailer, I wonder who Varric is even talking to? Who is "we"? And why are WE "the only ones who can stop him"? What is it about "us" that's able to stop him?

Also, I've seen people saying he's holding a wand in that last visual? 😂

Guys, for seven years I've been trying to mentally (and emotionally) prepare myself that Solas (like all returning characters in any BioWare game) is going to look significantly different in a sequel that’s released a decade from the previous one, and my biggest fear remains that he's gonna look like Voldemort with a nose, so I can't say I'm overly thrilled at the prospect of seeing him walking around with a damn wand. 😂

Though I’m curious if it’s like some other people are saying and it could also be a weapon/blade like the one that was produced by the red lyrium idol in Tevinter Nights/the Blue Wraith comics? 👀

(But to be completely honest, my main takeaway from this whole thing was actually “OMG, they kept the CAPE for Solas’ ancient elven armor design from the early concept art???” lmaoo I was sure they got rid of it after seeing the 2020 teaser trailer. lol I’m sorry, but for those who don’t know me, I’m the biggest sucker for capes and coats in character design 😂 Give me ALL the capes! All of them!! Edna Mode hates me. lol)

Anyway, this is all I’ve got for the moment, I’m super thrilled! Even though I totally get everyone who desperately wants to see something other than Solas lol, if only to finally get a sense of confirmation after such a long time that there’s a game that’s actually.. real and playable, you know. 😂 Though tbh, I think I’ll only be able to fully realize this the moment we get an actual cinematic trailer with in-game footage and stuff. lol Fingers crossed (and clown wig ready) for the Game Awards! 😁

[airadam]

Episode 182 : The People's Music

"I never did a dance for a dollar..."

- Buckshot

This month we don't shift into high gear in terms of tempo at any point, topping out at around 90, so those of you experiencing actual summer don't overheat! We've got some absolutely fire new releases in the mix alongside some versions that you might never have heard, plus some deep album cuts. We start things off with just such a track - if you don't own the album, I'd be willing to bet you've never heard it...never let it be said this is a show that leans on the obvious records!

Still a few tickets left to see Phat Kat at The Hip Hop Chip Shop on August 4th, plus me playing a special Detroit warmup set!

Mastodon : @airadam@mastodon.me.uk

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Above The Law ft. Kokane : Rain Be For Rain Bo

RIP KMG, who passed away twelve years ago this month. In a season where we maybe haven't had the sunshine we expected, this seemed like an appropriate choice - a downtempo but funky piece from the well-respected LP "Uncle Sam's Curse", Above The Law's third. Cold 187um not only produced the track but also provides the scene-setting first verse, while his cousin Kokane is on the hook, and KMG's second verse builds on the perfect setup. A lot of people were not ready to digest this LP fully when it came out, but if you have time to take a front-to-back listen, especially if you appreciate the West Coast sound, then do - you'll be rewarded.

Tavaras Jordan : Change, Pt. 2 (The Last Thing)

A beautifully smooth instrumental from this talented Hip-Hop and R&B producer out of North Carolina, taken from his short - but very sweet - 2019 "Manifest Destiny" album. Anything with this man's name on is worth a listen!

GZA : Animal Planet

The streets are a jungle, and nature is gangster. Another in GZA's series of themed tracks that started with "Labels" on "Liquid Swords", this grand-sounding Bink and Tyquan Walker-produced cut from "Legend Of The Liquid Sword" allows the Genius to demonstrate once again how he can build a concept track like few others. 

Jay-Z ft. Damian Marley : Bam

One of my good friends always plays this track before job interviews, because these people have to "know who they F'in with", to quote Jay-Z! This collaboration with Damian Marley from the "4:44" LP is one of my personal highlights of that release, and the producer No I.D. goes straight to a reggae classic to provide the raw material, the mighty "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy. 

Black Moon : General Feva

The "Rise Of Da Moon" album, Black Moon's first after a sixteen-year layoff, seemed to go under-appreciated by many, but I for one was very pleased to see the Brooklyn legends release that LP in 2019. Da Beatminerz on production of course, for some slow, loping boom-bap that is a little dark for summer perhaps, but perfect for this slide towards some sandpaper-type roughness.

Cut Beetlez x Bronx Slang : I'm Not Chillin

If the last track was raw, this is the cow still wandering around in the field! Finland's Cut Beetlez production team linked up with the always-NY Bronx Slang for a brand new EP, from which this is the title cut. As soon as Jerry Beeks told me it was out I had it in my headphones and even after repeated listens, I knew this was the track to go with right here! The sonics snarl, thump, and grind, and yet you can hear every word from the MCs, who just seem to keep getting better with time and can give you the business regardless of the pace of the track.

[J-Zone] Al-Shid : Fight Club (Instrumental)

He may be a full-time and high-quality drummer now, but I'll always remember the originality J-Zone brought to Hip-Hop production for so many years. There's no-one who sounded quite like him, and this instrumental of a track from Al-Shid's debut single is a great example - some might say quirky, but in terms of quality, very serious.

Conductor Williams & Boldy James : Flying Trapeze Act

Too many people think that street rap and lyrical creativity can't go together, but this song from the "Across The Tracks" LP by Kansas City producer Conductor Williams and Detroit's Boldy James, thankfully still with us after a serious accident, have both in spades. The Conductor's track clearly treats its original sample in a pretty extreme fashion (you can hear the warbling which the processing likely introduced) but then adds the subtlest of kick-snare to quietly drive it along, and the vocals left in just add extra soulful flavour beneath Boldy's voice. As he moves between straight description, metaphor, and simile - especially the last punchy one in the hook that gives the track its title - Boldy James puts in excellent work.

El Michels Affair ft. Raekwon : The PJs (Instrumental/Vocal)

I needed to lead with the instrumental just to provide a nice bridge in, but it's always a pleasure to hear the brilliant El Michels Affair play! This is a re-recording of the track "The PJs" from Pete Rock's 2008 LP "NY's Finest" - no Masta Killa this time, but Raekwon returns to do his verses over with some small changes. El Michels Affair, in turn, base their instrumental performance around the way Pete Rock worked the original sample, but with some subtle flourishes. "The PJs...From Afar" is a 12" single well worth adding to your collection.

Da Beatminerz ft. Black Moon : Anti

Black Moon again, because why not? This time we go with their appearance on the new Da Beatminerz project "Stifled Creativity" (bearing in mind that Evil Dee of Da Beatminerz is also an actual member of the group) for one of the highlights of the LP. Over a slow, reflective, almost funereal take on the groove best known from Souls of Mischief's "93 'Til Infinity", Buckshot speaks on his journey as an independent artist and label owner (Duck Down) in a straightforward manner while maintaining that trademark flow. To maintain a thirty-plus year independent career through the changes in the industry is quite a feat - salute.

O.C. : This Is Me

This is a track I've always enjoyed, but which I think escaped a lot of people's notice. A selection from the overlooked "Smoke And Mirrors" LP, O.C.'s fifth, it's a track where he speaks on his career-long determination to follow his own path and ignore the trends - in fact, it's spiritually very close to the Beatminerz/Black Moon track that precedes it here. Mike Loe takes a late-70s soul sample, turns the speed up a touch and provides an excellent musical backdrop for the lyrics.

MF DOOM : Dead Bent (Original 12" Instrumental)

If you know the "Operation Doomsday" LP but not this, it would sound like an overstatement to say that the version of "Dead Bent" on the album is a "refined" version of anything, as rough-and-ready as the whole release is, but you can hear that this original is even more beautifully unpolished. Self-produced by the late great DOOM, you can find this not only on the original 12" mentioned in the title, but also on some later reissued versions of the album, containing alternate versions, B-sides, and instrumentals - essential for the DOOM fan.

Dubbul O & Cutterz : Stay Gold

Stellar new release out of Manchester, with this familiar duo (and half of Voodoo Black) headlining their new "Stay Gold" EP with this title track. If you've lost someone close, this one will hit you hard, with Dubbul O's deeply personal lyrics coming through strong over Cutterz' production which is somehow both optimistic and moody at the same time. Definitely check for that five-track EP.

Mecca:83, Phat Kat, and Guilty Simpson : Don't Stop

Exclusive! *Sounds airhorn* Manchester's own Mecca:83 blessed me with a copy of this as-yet unreleased track, with his warm and bumping production backing up two giants of the Detroit scene, Phat Kat and Guilty Simpson. Two cities famous for their industries come together for a great musical union!

Dilated People : The Main Event

I'll be honest - of the three tracks on the classic underground "Work The Angles" 12" single, this is the one I play the least, but the Alchemist-produced middle track on the release (also on 2000's "The Platform" LP) definitely deserves respect. Rakaa Iriscience steps all the way back here and makes space for Evidence to get busy on both verses. The samples of some of the Hip-Hop greats for the hook rounds off the whole package nicely.

Nas & Statik Selektah : Dead Presidence

(That's not my spelling, it's what they printed on the labels of "The Prophecy EP"!) Jay-Z and Ski famously sampled the "presidents that represent me" line from Nas' "The World Is Yours" for "Dead Presidents" on the classic "Reasonable Doubt", but on this track Statik Selektah reverses the game and blends the vocals from the Nas track with Ski's instrumental, and while the original is a flawless cut, these two pieces do fit together beautifully as well.

Marco Polo : Ps & Qs (Remix Instrumental)

MPC magic from Marco Polo, from his entry in the "Baker's Dozen" producer series, with clean drums, a live-sounding bass, and guitar licks placed to perfection.

Camp Lo ft. Jungle Brown : Hold On

I've always loved the way this track ends, and as such thought it needed to be played in a position where that portion can be heard uninterrupted. It's not just the closing track here but also the finisher on the 2009 "Stone And Rob : Caught On Tape" album. Jungle Brown is one of the few MCs to make repeated features with the Lo, and he does his thing alongside the legendary Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede while also co-producing it with Apple Juice Kid. If you're a fan of the group, definitely seek out this release as there are some absolute heaters on there, including the back-to-back of "On Smash" and "89 of Crime".

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[zero83skofijourney]

My fear . . .

Working on over coming another fear: Selling custom works.

I have soooo many ideas I would love to make and post for sale. I'm sure something would be most loved and bought. However, there's that fear that someone will see the love it's been getting, steal it, and then turn around and say I stole it.

Now the thing is, this is a common fear among some artists. To the point it holds people back from ever posting original art work and all they ever post is fanart. Which they think is safe but we all see that's not always true as even though you hold the IP for the creation of that art, you do not hold the IP for the characters you used. Time and time again I've seen people's fan art used by the companies who own the said characters. They just take it, edit something small or don't edit anything at all and claim it as their own. It's hard to go up against a company. Some succeed while others fail.

Now, I may not have gone up against a company, but I have gone up against other people. I will share one experience: (Mind you, this was some years ago. Those mods who dealt with this no longer are apart of the site but names will not be stated)

I had bought an adoptable on DeviantArt. The rules where once you bought it you owned it. They cared nothing for the creations they created. You could use the same art piece they done in commercial work, OCs, etc. The character was now your own.

A friend wanted the one I bought in the worse way. They didn't have any money to their name as at the time they were homeless, living on what little they got from SS, and had been trying to get into a low income home but needed a job first. So, it was just $2 in points and I bought it for them. In all rights, according to this adoptable's rules, I owned this character now. It was mine. As if, I, myself, had created it.

My friend wanted me to create fanart of it, so I did. I posted it, did a little blurb about the reason behind the character, that I was giving it as a gift, etc. They were over the moon and the fact that he made them happy made me happy! However, it was short lived.

I was contacted by some random person claiming the character was owned by them. I looked on their DA page and saw nothing linking to the character. I replied to them, "'Where is the character on your DA page, I see nothing stating it's your's'." They linked me to their scraps. There was my art along with the character I had bought. They claimed I had stole their art as well.

Now this was the first time this has ever happened to me. I was both terrified and angry. I went to DA's staff about it. I explained what was going on, showed the proof I had bought the character from this person here, I showed the Paypal payment, the art from the program I had did which showed the 100+ layers, and the reply from my friend asking for them to make them fan art of the character. I even showed the time stamps of the art of me posting it almost 3 days before them.

You would believe that this is more then enough proof to show that my art was my own, I owned this character, and I did the fan art of the character for my friend. However, this did not fly with the staff.

I was warned, my account had a warning added to it, my art was then blocked and put into storage, and I was not allowed to remove it from storage. I explained that I am not in the art thief! All what I showed was my own, that's my proof! They didn't believe me. At all! I argued with them. And yes, my temper got the best of me…I was not very good at controlling it when I was younger.

This person claimed something else of mine as well, a custom piece of my own creation. Same thing, I went to DA staff about it, showed my poof in my art program, and I even had a video showing proof I had drew it! Nope, didn't fly. I was on Warning #2. One more warning and I was banned from the site and my account deleted. That was it. I left the site. I put all my art in storage and left.

Come to find out the person who was stealing art, claimed it as their own, then turning around and selling it for a profit was cousins to the staff member. They were allowing them to do this. It was rather a semi-big thing at the time. Granted not many knew about this. The only way I found out about it was a different staff member messaged me, explaining everything, and said the art thief was banned from the site and the staff member removed from their post. The warnings on my account were lifted and I was allowed to repost my storage locked art.

At this time, the damage was already done. My faith in staff was lost and I never returned. I didn't trust any of them. It was because of that all is what started my fear of posting anything original.

I still have that fear. I'm not sure if it will ever go away. Again, I have sooo many cute and neat ideas I would love to post and sell. Because heaven only knows that I could really use the money right now! But that fear is waaaay stronger.

However, I am trying with the help of a friend. She creates the character and all I do is the art. Would you like to see it? https://ko-fi.com/zero_83/shop

[empressxmachina]

An Intimate Inquiry for You?

Hey y'all! I'd like some input on a thing I’ve found myself working on for a bit.

TL;DR I'm making a thing that I'm unsure is even allowed anywhere. 🙃

How did I get here?

On my life, it started as one thing, and then I went too far to quit now. But I don't know what to do about it when I'm done because while I think at least someone other than me would appreciate it, I don't know if I can show it off. So, I think I'm in my "smutty girl season/Summer" era at the moment. I got in the trenches of the size-fic side internet fiction. I won't say I was deep in it or anything because I know of worse/harder stuff, especially on other sites, yet I still found some content I definitely shouldn't have been mainlining during and after work. However, I did and got inspired to make something. It's another photo collage/manipulation/whatever-you-want-to-call-it that I'm talking about here, but just so you know, certain saucy content in progress of mine that you have already be introduced to is in the drafts, just to wet your palate (and blue ball you further 😁).

Being a manipulation, it obviously uses the visages of real life people, and doing so limits visibility and general appropriateness of content. While my content up to this point can be considered borderline NSFW, this particular piece I'm constructing, while arguable to not be outside most maturity limits due to cropping and debatable (lack of) motion in the framing, it is absolutely possible to be considered adult to higher degrees from context clues alone, especially because it contains real people, even if they're vaguely nameless and/or nonconsenting via being in free/open stock images. Thus, by being adult, I am discouraged and disallowed to post it to my usual places.

Well, I think so. Am I wrong? Is there a loophole?

Where is "here?"

Let's just say there's a gentleman with three legs and a tiny tree-hugger. I hope I don't have to say more for you to get the gist of how they could combine, but know that no holes are visible, it's basically impossible to tell if the obelisk of the hour is up or down - it's not even a real pole; I'm just good like that to make one - and surely you understand that it's the "hugging" of it that makes things problematic. (Happy early HaGD, lmao?) It's a sexual situation, yes, but an "act?" 🤷🏽‍♀️

As it stands,

There's a chance it could just be considered "artistic" nudity or some conceptual shit and be totally allowed everywhere, but I'd need second, third, and fourth opinions to convince myself. Then again, if I'm questioning myself so much, then isn't that telling enough?

I know I can put this on Daddy's Dollhouse, and I likely will; it's like that's the point of the forum or something.

I'm 90% sure that DA, Tumblr, and my site-blog on WordPress are no-go's unless it's censored, which is totally valid. (I don't know if I'd want to risk using Stash, either, even if others use it to point to WIPs and "wetter" visuals.) Considering that Ms. Tree-Lover is actually hugging a tree in the original stock image, it's not like it'd be a hard, lol, adjustment back.

Wattpad could be feasible, especially given the texts there - No judgment; we love a wholesome hellscape. - but is there too much "action" for it to be allowed? No sé.

The actual hellscape that is Twitter's policies, especially recently with the Muskrat's mayhem, leave me unsure, though I think it'd be fine under a "Sensitive Media" flagged account. I don't know if I'd want to put my public account under such a flag given how many of my retweets are SFW, but the idea of minors interacting with me currently is already a YIKES. Yet, it's not like I use Twitter more than semimonthly, or I'm a largely public figure. (Plus, I did post a sausage a few years ago, but that was a few years ago, and y'all better not be snitches about it.) Would it be worth making a new account there with the flag like many creators do for what could be only one post for forever? Still, it could also inspire to just make more adult stuff, too, and I do have a few ideas in mind, so I'm not totally against it. Hmm... 🤔

Where to go from here?

Aside from using DD as my primary post-place of choice, I'm unsure of which options, if any, are open to mine, whether for now or the future. Any insights y'all have, I would truly appreciate them. If you've read up to this point, thank you, and take care! 💜

P.S.

If you recommend any works (preferably size-fics because fucking duh, but $20 is $20, and good content is good content) that could extend my smutty girl season to a smutty girl solar revolution, let a bitch know! I only just recently found the glory that is GiantObsession on Wattpad, and I've been eating good and well. (I think I'm into oral-oriented scenarios more than I thought I was, or is it just their style? Wat dat mouf do?) But I'm open to most subject matter. Most; don't be weird.

P.P.S.

I'm still collecting content for my Music List, by the way. I have, like, 20 or so things I should have already added by now, but it's 20 things to add, so I CBA. Maybe I'll update the list here with all the unadded links whenever/if I upload my problem-in-progress somewhere else to repent and rebalance my karma.

[jessicasperspective]

Indian tribal folk art- wall paintings

Hello there! Art of the form of communication and journaling even before the invention of words or numbers. Art ages all the way to Neanderthal man, Indian folk arts speak about the way of living and explains of aspect of people’s lives and status.

In this blog, I’d like to share my senses of various tribal wall folk arts that I’ve gained the knowledge from the art researcher Mr.Soujit Das.

Pithora

Pithora origins from the state of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. A salient feature of the pithora painting is the featuring of seven horses dedicated to their god ‘Pithora baba’. The name Pithora means 'god of the tribe’.

The purpose of this painting is to offer god the important necessity of people’s life I.e, grains in order to get blessed with flourishing wealth. These painting can be found in the walls of the hall as it considered to be a sacred part of the house.

The process of painting is considered to be sacred as well because they work has a guide to the household as they are painted only during special occasions like wedding and birth giving.

According to a tribal myth, rain began to fall shortly after a devotee made a vow to appease Pithora deva long ago when our planet was experiencing a drought. Then he organised the painting of Pithora devas on his house's walls. Since then, the painting has been started once desires are granted or challenges are overcome.

To know more about Pithora art use the link below.

Madhubani

Madhubani belongs to the tribal community of Mithila. This is considered to be some of the most political art forms around Indian as the way of art describes their social status.

Like every other folk art Madhubani also uses the colour from nature painted with wooden twigs and fingers. As one can see, Madhubani is believed to be given birth along with Sita from the mythology. It is also believed that Mithila painters are commissioned to paint at weddings of people holding higher statuses during the wedding season like Sita’s father Kinda Janak did during her wedding.

Only the people of high class were allowed to use colour in their painting and people from outskirts and under privileged were only allowed to draw in black and whites.

Only in recent years we’ve started appreciating this particular art.

Gond

Gond art belongs to the Gond/Kond tribes of India. It means green mountains. Gond people were the believers of nature and they appreciated every single thing the nature had to offer the mankind.

The colours used in these paintings are highly vibrant and contrasting as a visual element. They used all organic colours sourced from the nature like plant leaves, sap, charcoal and cow dung.

Gond art also depicted people’s dream and their living. In Gond, we can see trees everywhere especially Mahua- tree of life which they also worshiped

The evident of piece of art Gond offered was the amount of fantasy characters they portrayed in their paintings like animals and beasts

To learn more about Gond art:

I would like to conclude this blog with these brief introduction of wall paintings from Indian tribal regions. Thank you for reading my blog.

[brighth0pe]

Back into the fight between two of the ady slate horrors Gogeet and Latel it seems this vicious fight has gone on the deep end with the boy no longer hiding the cute persona any longer and finally he sheds away all the bits and pieces of his jiangshi entire as well as the flesh and skin of his body revealing his true self towards his former ally. All the pure innocence now replaced by his original personality sadism, sociopathic tendencies and zero remorse. His attire is now different than it was before, now dressed in a black as night dress and a hat that is eerily similar to Yukari Yakumo as well as that scar around his face which shows it isn't his first time getting himself killed in the past.

Latel wanted to experience first hand that he is rebirth as one with both horror and dragon blood and he will give his wish. The now feminine male laughed at his struggle, he finally gets to 'play' with him once again in this moment just like old times.

" Oh Latel, you finally manage to stick it in me... But you put it in the WRONG hole.... So what's the plan then? I mean look at you burning up through the heart of that fighting spirit as you were in your previous life as makai knight and you're going to fight against me much longer. So where do you go from here? Continue your endless arrogance and showing off like a child? "

Woth a growl Latel wipes the blood off his lips gritting his teeth despite he and him have suffered fatal injuries from their fight but he sees him finally into his true form as well as that powerful aura that have appear around him which fuels his sadism as well as his newfound power but he still remain on his guard preparing to fight him again.

" Bastard, What game sort of game are you playing? ANSWER ME DAMN YOU! "

Gogeet chuckled as he clapped both of his hands, as it reminded him of the others the makai knights who had once helped the other horrors in myth. He sees that just like humans he and the other horrors are of no difference so he'll humor him once more in speaking his mind.

" Game? What game am I playing? Really? Ohoho nooo, noo... "

" This game is all yours, I'm just better at playing it you foolish child. You're an absolute dip shit who can't accept the reality that we all live in. Back then I have explained thousands of years of years ago that you and I are the same.

Yet here you are, after all we did together and all because you wanted this, you broken my old wretched heart asshole. "

But then he remembered a CERTAIN name he gave him back then, a name that he has hated for years.

" Oh! I remember the time when I use to call you, hmm what is that name I have given you, oh that's right it was- "

" DON' T YOU FUCKING DA- "

" LOLLY LETTY! OOOOOH! How many years has it been?! "

" FUCK YOU! That name was never clever and unique you insolent brat! "

" Aww lolly letty doesn't like his nickname? Aww lolly letty is being a sad lad..~ "

" Ahh! But if only we have the opportunity to avoid it all the sexual tension and bloodshed! "

[three--rings]

I can’t tell you how exciting this is.  My first Real Leather Book!  A fic I’ve had in mind to bind since I first encountered the concept!  And it came out good!

So first, a little about the fic.  It’s The Seduction of the Desert Prince by @killabeezish​ (killa), elynross, and Rachael Sabotini.  It’s a Highlander the Series Duncan Macleod/Methos AU set in the 18th century Arabian desert.  It was first posted in 1997 and finally completed SIXTEEN YEARS LATER in 2014.

I originally read this fic back in the day, when it was unfinished, and was thrilled to discover a few years ago that it had not only been reposted to AO3 but had been completed at long last.  So consider this binding a bit of a love letter to three incredibly influential authors of one of my favorite old fandoms and a thanks for doing the unheard of and returning to actually finish an old WIP.

So, first let’s talk typesetting. 

(So much detail under here you guys.)

This was a really fun project because the text was easy to set and I got to go nuts with illustration.  One of the questions about binding this fic is that the fic includes photo manips of the characters along with the story, made by Killa back in the day.  There’s something incredibly nostalgic about these images for me, taking me back to late 90s fandom.  But they’re also pretty low res and small by today’s standards.  And I had no intention of printing any of this book in color, since I don’t have a color printer.  Instead of leaving out these historical fandom artifacts, I decided to convert them to black and white.  Originally I wanted to try to convert them to black and white sketches but that turned out to be really easier said than done.  Because of the nature of the images, there really wasn’t enough detail for most apps to work.  So I did the best I could with each image.

In addition to the photo manips I found a lot of other black and white images appropriate to the setting and included them.  There are So Many illustrations in this book, guys.  IDK why, it felt right. 

Then the binding.  I wanted it to feel appropriate to the time period, as much as possible.  I offered the author’s copies but they declined (at least the two who replied.)  Which meant I could afford to try out leather.  I did it a bit on the cheap, buying a piece with unknown provenance, unknown processing.  And it was a LEARNING experience, but, ended up being not that big a deal.

Sewing with traditional cords was more challenging, using a jury rigged sewing frame.  I used jute twine rather than expensive linen but it seems to have worked okay.  I knew it was okay if it felt a bit handmade and rugged, because I was going for old-fashioned. The boards are tied on with the cords, and I was afraid the cords would be really prominent under the leather but once I put it in the press to dry, it came out super smooth! The book is rounded and backed, which went better than ever before thanks to tips from other Renegade Bindery folks.  The headbands are hand-sewed with embroidery thread. 

I slightly skived the leather with my new knife.  The only problem I had with the leather was really that I cut too much off the edge and had to glue a strip back on to avoid a gap when I pasted down the endpages.

Basically, if you want to try working with leather, my advice is don’t be scared, go slow, watch DAS’s Flexible Leather Binding series a few times, but honestly it’s not that scary. 

Speaking of endpages, I made them from silk fabric that I had.  Blame @spockandawe​ for saying the words “fabric endpages” in my hearing.  And I didn’t have appropriate endpaper for this project, but I do have lots of fabric stash.  I couldn’t find any good online tutorial for them, so I totally made up the process, basically doing it just like made endpapers, with the fabric pasted to paper on one half.  I ended up keeping my waste paper and gluing that down as well to potentially combat the pull of leather, since I didn’t do any prepping of the boards with paper for that purpose. 

The title is just printed on text paper and pasted on. I made the indent by cutting it out of one 1mm thick board and gluing that to another 1mm board. Then just covered the whole thing with leather.

Oh and one other new technique is that I used an electric sander to make the top and bottom edges smooth (mostly).  I wanted the curved edge to have the stairstep signatures, but to make it feel more cohesive I took a sander to my raw edges otherwise.  I used paper in grits of 100, 220, and 600 until the edges were silky smooth.  I will say, however, that once I started fanning the pages to take pictures little bits of paper popped out which you can see in some of the photos.  But from now on I’m best friends with my palm sander.  No guillotine or chisel trimming for me!  (Thank you to Cactus who talked me through this at Havencon.)

Note: I will always make a copy for any author who asks. Though if you want leather I might ask for supply money.

[baejax-the-great]

get to know people better meme

I was tagged by @johaeryslavellan and I think @hanarinhightown (like a million years ago).

Favorite colour: It shifts around but jewel tones generally. Green or purple more often than not.

Favorite food: Korean dumpling soup. Forgive my attempted spelling here--dukk mandu guk. Honestly dumplings of all kind make me happy, but that soup has become my comfort food.

Song stuck in your head: Saint Simon by the Shins. This song used to be stuck in my head all. the. time. Haven’t thought about it years. La da dum dum.

Last thing you googled: “what do they call high school in England.” I learned that the term “high school” came from Scotland originally, which is just... very random. Like no, high school did not make its way south to England, where they call it ‘secondary school,’ something that confused my American brain because we split school into three sections, instead it crossed the ocean and became the dominant term in the US. As an American Scot (aka not really a Scot at all), uhh, yay? I guess?

Time: 8:55am

Dream Trip: Morocco. Turkey. Mongolia. I have a lot of dreams. Honestly I’d find something to be excited about for pretty much anywhere in the world.

Last book you read: I just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which was terrible. Hilarious once you learn the author is an ecofascist accessory to murder, though.

Last book you enjoyed reading: I’m currently reading Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin and I’m loving it. (Note: now my most recently googled thing is how to spell her name.)

Last book you hated reading: I feel like I’ve become a hater in my old age. I tried to read “The Silence of the Girls” but it was really bad. I also didn’t enjoy “The Buried Giant” and I thought I was going to =/ 

Favourite thing to cook/bake: Onion flatbread. It’s delicious. It’s a little fancy. It makes me happy.

Favourite craft to do in your spare time: Is writing a craft? is pruning plants a craft?

Most niche dislike: Man, I so easily fall into being a hater. Here, recently I’ve gotten really into the houseplant reddit, and I can say I just don’t get the obsession with variegated monstera plants. Monstera are fun because they grow huge and provide greenery. The thai constellations and albo grow slowly, don’t get as big, and are just kinda ugly. I don’t get it. 

Opinion on circuses now and in history: I was in a circus back in college (thus the username, lol). As long as there aren’t animals involved, circuses are fun, creative, impressive, entertaining... Who doesn’t want to see the limits of human flexibility? A lot of circus arts also don’t necessarily have competitions attached to them like other sports do, which I think is great for creativity, cooperation, and community.

Do you have a sense of direction and if not what is the worst way you ever got lost: I do have a pretty good sense of direction. I’ve traveled solo a lot. The most lost I ever was probably was in Italy, where people were super unfriendly and signage was nil. But the most upset I got while traveling wasn’t because I was lost, but rather because my train was late. I was in a small city in China, and my train didn’t get in until around midnight. Everything shuts down in small cities around 10pm, and when I got to my hostel, they had locked the door. They had a sign out to call them, but nobody answered. I called repeatedly and then just broke down crying, like, ugly sobbing, certain I wasn’t going to have anywhere to sleep that night. I ended up sitting on the steps of a church because there was a streetlight overhead (and churches were like... not a common thing there, it was so weird) and pulling out my book, hoping to just chill until dawn. LUCKILY a local took pity on me and did some sort of magic to make the hostel people open up the door. They weren’t even asleep? They just weren’t answering their phone. So around 1am I got a bed.

tagging: @little-piece-of-tamlin @thiefylilelf @annalyia @userachilles @disaster-zagreus @juliafied @vimlos @togepies

Do it if it’s fun, ignore it if it’s not