#this was from april i promise my art looks better now

[crescentpaws]

was told to post this here so. yeah.

where my fintan x bronte enjoyers at yoooooo (i’m delusional)

[morggo]

It comes with a heavy heart to announce this. Starting April I'm no longer operating as a business and therefore will no longer accept any art related work and I need to cease my patron, ko-fi, and shop. I need to focus on me and my family's survival during this time.

The debt I've accrued since starting this business is becoming out of control and there is little incoming earnings from my art that justify maintaining it as a business. I pay nearly $700/mo on debts, my part time job pays roughly $1200/mo, and my art job pays anywhere from $300-800/mo, the higher end being a really good month. ECCC was a good time but I'm now left with just enough to get me through early April. My rent is $1700/mo. I haven't accounted for things like food. My partner is basically bed ridden and we may look into disability benefits for her soon. The math does not make sense and I have fallen behind on payments, because I am focusing purely on survival since the start of 2023. Since roughly September of 2023 I have been the only person with an income, and it has been very, very hard. I simply cannot operate like this anymore and making art feels absurd when everything around me that I've worked hard to maintain simply no longer works. There were promises of better opportunities that simply did not work out. The reality of it is, I have failed and my efforts have become too burdensome.

I will be completing any open work. I will try to fulfill any remaining rewards for Patreon and Ko-Fi. I will be mailing out remaining Kickstarter rewards when I have the income to do so. Everything in my shop must go. Considering the dire need to pay off debts I won't be hosting discounts. Recurring payments in Patreon and Ko-fi are halted as of today, March 20th. I am planning to have everything said and done by the middle of May.

I'm working on getting another job to control payments.

I'm going to still be making art, on my own time, as well as contributing to a personal project by some friends and myself. Maybe I can talk about that soon.

Thank you for your support over the years. Anywhere from liking, sharing, buying prints and my art. Thank you, and I'm sorry.

My shop is here: https://ko-fi.com/mxmorgan/shop

[alittlebitofeverthang]

This is my OC Adrianna Gardner and this is her story and abilities and what not if she were in the game. *I also wouldn’t mind other artists and stuff Doug. Drawings of my character of making fan art if you guys want to. Just let me know or tag me. I’d love to see your guys ideas if you’re up for them.*

Age: 23

Birthday: April 28th

Height: 5’6 ½

Weight: about 145

Her small intro:

Adrianna desperately needing an escape finally got the opportunity and traveled around Texas looking for peace. However, all she found was terror and a warm welcome to a family with dark twisted ideals. Can her years of surviving keep her alive long enough to see another Texas sunrise?

Her ability Willpower:

Who needs a bone scrape when you have Will and adrenaline? When there is a chase Adrianna can defend herself. Clicking the ability button will start a close encounter mini game. No bonescrap needed. She’ll save herself with a swift punch.

~side note: depending on leveling up you can make the ability to win the mini game easier. For the last tier if you choose she can immediately win the mini game.~

Stats

Endurance: 32 strength: 40 stealth: 25 proficiency: 15 toughness: 45

Cosmetics would be different colors but I just drew the basic outfits.

Her lore:

Adrianna’s beginnings weren’t the best. For the first eight years of her life she did her best to avoid her family, the fighting, yelling, and physical altercations however sometimes even if she tired she still was in the crossfire or prey upon without reason. Eventually at the age of eight someone picked up on the chaos at home. Soon enough, she was moving around home to home, some families better than others. Finally at the age of 14 she found a forever family, she was so excited but tried to remind herself that things weren’t always what they seem. To her dismay she was right. For the next few years she remained trapped in a home no different than her first. After a particularly horrible night she decided to escape for sure. Packing up she went hitchhiking all over Texas looking for a place of peace to settle down. After being dropped off by a trucker she began to travel again by foot and met another hitchhiker. Although odd, he took her to a gas station where there was food, water, and promise of a break from the blistering heat.

Some voice lines

Match start

“Where am I? This place is…awful.”

Idle

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that guy.”

“These people are screwed up.”

“I should have known better.”

Encounter start:

“I’m not losing to you!”

See corpse : *gasps and gags* “Don’t look, just don’t look.”

*gasp* “no, oh no. Oh this is bad. This is so bad.”

Sees enemy

*gasp* “No, no, no. Please just go away.”

“You better not come over here.”

Use ability

“You’re not gonna win this!”

Ability win

“How did that taste!”

“Enjoy that!”

Trap disarm assistant

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Don’t move I got ya.”

“Take a deep breath. This is going to hurt.”

“Hold on to me. I got you.”

Collect bonescrap

“Is this real bone?” *pause* “it doesn’t matter now, I think I can use this.”

Collect tool

“How can I use this?”

“I can use this for something.”

Doors open successfully

“Yes, I got it.”

Exit enter

“I have to get out of here! I need to get help!”

Hit enemy

“That is what you get!”

“Hope you like how that feels!”

See another survivor

“Who are you? Are you alright?”

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Let’s get out of here alright?”

Low health

“No, no please, not like this.”

“This hurts, so bad.”

Lose enemy

“It’s quiet. They must not be around. This is my chance.”

Noise check fail

*gasp* “no, please don’t let them hear that.”

Trigger trap

“Ah! Please someone Help me!”

Trap mini game

“Come on, come you have to hurry Adrian!”

[weregreatatcrime]

Oh my GODS I forgot about my old Karai adopted by Nomura AU. Holy shit this is amazing I found my old art of it and I'm giggling

Basically it was an AU where Trollhunters happened and Nomura is out here like "I don't know what to do with a CHILD" so she goes in search of a human to help her raise her new baby, since, you know, humans are better at being kind and nurturing and shit. But Nomura is a strong independent changeling who don't need no man, or woman, and she's not interested in getting in a partnership. All she needs is someone to help take care of her daughter familiar. So she fucks around and is like "You know, I don't need to be as careful as I used to be. If I have a grudge, I can just.... act on it. Hee hee."

And you see Nomura can't just get ANYONE to help with Zelda, she has to have someone who can protect Zelda just as well as SHE could. And Nomura is a busy spy assassin who is helping clean up the remnants of the Janus Order around the planet, so she needs someone who is independent and can either look after Zelda alone for a while or just move somewhere new with her when the need arises. So through a LONG stream of candidates Nomura settles on fucking. Karai.

She has some beef with Oroku Saki, what kind idk and changelings are p petty but Shredder’s a dick, so, probably something valid. Nomura's grand idea is to expose the child kidnapper for who he is to his "daughter". She manages to track down enough proof and force his hand enough that Karai actually believes it. Karai, now knowing she's Miwa, is devastated. Because Shredder is a dick but he was still her dad?

And Nomura saunters over like "I gotta deal for you kiddo! Help me raise my daughter and I'll help you look and see if there's anything left of your real father. No promises though, he went missing like, ten years ago. But I'll try! And as you can see, I'm very very good at finding hidden stuff :)" and well Miwa’s gotta try

Nomura kidnaps Shredder’s daughter while flipping him the bird and then Miwa helps raise Zelda for a few years. She actually really likes Zelda, she's a clever little terror, and Nomura is a cool "mom" even if they have an entirely transactional relationship. Miwa is just her fake daughter to help raise Zelda, they have fake papers and everything... but..... you know......... this is kinda nice. She never had a mom before, so even a fake one is cool

Nomura over here, having a panic attack when she realizes that she genuinely likes and adores this little bloodthirsty kunoichi and then eventually just straight up "Listen I like you, little viper, let me adopt you?? For reals please???" And they're a little happy family

And then Nomura gets a hot tip on the Hamatos in New York so the Nomura family gets to move to a little apartment there in search of Miwa’s real family, and Hilarity and Identity Shenanigans Ensue. Miwa ends up going to April and Casey's school. Zelda's daycare gets caught mid Kraang crossfire. Miwa sees Foot ninja and goes feral (being adopted by a changeling doesn't do a lot for your sense of morals). At SOME point, Zelda goes from cute toddler to tiny terror monster on a bad guy while Miwa just watches on from the sidelines with pride.

In the hero side of things the turtles find a new ally in a masked kunoichi who goes by Karai. She doesn't tell them anything about her except for the fact that if the Shredder hates them, she's on their side. She uses this to try learning about their family because they claim HAMATO as a name, surely they must know something about what happened to Hamato Yoshi.......

[madaraservingcunt]

I wanna start creating too but I'm afraid i will suckkkk :((((

Wanna hear a little secret?

Here's how I started digital art when I first got my iPad back in April. This took me like one hour, and I was super disappointed in myself. I almodt felt like giving up, but I knew I was being really hard on myself. I looked up tutorials on how to handle the pen and started looking up anatomy lessons to figure out why things looked so stiff...

So then I did this. It looked better, but I knew there was room for improvement. So, I watched more videos on perspective and hands...

Then I got this. I was finally content with the sketch, so I went ahead and inked it!

I nearly quit because I compared myself to artists on here who have been refining their craft for years and years. But its not fair to myself to compare my beginnings to their ends. Eventually, I had to accept that I'm learning art because I find joy in creativity, not because I want to be better than someone.

This was my second week of having the iPad. I spent dozens of hours practicing. Not everyone has the funds or the leisure to spend that long learning digital art, but if you are scared about sucking when you first start even on paper and pencil, I promise you, everyone has been there.

AND NOW I CAN COLOR STUFF! I haven't posted anything yet because I've just been busy with life stuff. BUT when I post and get 0 notes, I won't care because I got to learn and grow as an artist in the process of making it. PLUS I can go back and see how much progress I've made!

I could get sad my art doesn't get a lot of notes or recognition, but I don't create stuff so I can get likes and reblogs. If I ever started really basing my artistic worth on whether or not I got a certain amount of attention on it, I would quit.

There are some memes or AMVs I spent half an hour or more on that get a couple of likes, maybe one reblog. Then there is shit that took me five seconds to make while I'm in the shower that gets over a thousand notes. I'm kind of going on a spiel now, but my point is you have to suck before you get good, and tumblr notes do not equate your worth.

For example: @sovereignantag1 and @pompie-artworks are STUNNING artists who I look up. They have such unique styles, but they haven't gotten thousand notes posts (yet!) I literally find myself staring at their work so I can get inspired, and if I could give them 100k notes, I would.

Good luck anon!! Please make your sucky art and share with me so I can enjoy your content!!!! Cause at the end of the day, remember we all just love seeing pictures/memes/videos of our man Madara. Who cares how "good" it looks? It's beautiful because it came from you! And I love that people share and create art.

OKAY MY SPEECH IS DONE

I will end it with this:

This artist is someone I admire and look up to, and HE thought he sucked at art and did end up quitting for over a decade. Check out this video, this is what got me out of my slump when I wanted to give up.

[celestiall0tus]

I've waited for this moment and it's finally here. The new Year is fast approaching and it's the first year I've done the 13 card spread to see how the coming year will be. I know there's an actual name for this, but I don't know it and honestly don't remember if I have this right, but here we go.

Spread: 13 card

Question: What does 2024 look like?

So, this is a very spicy reading. There are a fuck ton of cards I don't ever see unless something drastic is happening (looking at the tower, justice, and the devil) So, here's my very shoehorned breakdown.

The spread and year starts with nine of cups, a peaceful start to the year with a period of contentment that will be hit with absolute mother fucking chaos in February to hopefully resolve by or in March.

I'm still puzzling over justice and it's meaning for April as in the upright it is a card of fairness, law, cause and effect, as well as a search for truth. So, I honestly have no idea, but feel it corresponds to the chaos and change in February

Six of pentacles for may warns me of giving too much of myself, to look out for people who'd take advantage of me (as most think they can do until they fuck around and find out) while followed by reversed 8 of cups which warns June may be a time I'm adrift and need to follow my heart on where I need to head next.

Now July has some concern. See, five of pentacles upright is a terrifying card. This is the first time I've seen it and it often is interpreted as financial lose and poverty. That is honestly fucking horrifying, but I suppose a silver lining is August brings the promise of 4 of pentacles, which can be interpreted as finding wealth. It means other things too, but choosing this context given the previous month with 5 of pentacles. (I'll get more into some of these later)

Mother of cups, or better known as Queen of cups, I have no fucking clue for September. I know the card is often interpreted as a feminine card with supportive, intuitive, etc meanings, but I've no clue what it could mean. Best crack I could take is that I may be more in touch with my intuitive and creative side, but I've no real clue.

Coming towards the end with October and reversed 7 of wands. This is a card of exhaustion and basically burnout. I've seen this card before when I'm nearing burnout phases and need to take a step back.

Fucking November with the damn devil. So, I don't get this card too often, but am aware it's not a good card. So, I really have no idea what it could be forewarning, but I'm honestly terrified. Especially when followed by 5 of cups. A card, when upright, can mean failure, sorrow, regret, stuck, needing to let go and basically saying you need to forgive and move on. I feel this two are also linked like The Tower and reversed Strength, but that don't make it any easier.

So, what about the overall outcome? That reversed 9 of pentacles? Well, this is another card I don't see too often. From what I gathered, it is a card that warns of reckless spending, failure, over investing in work, over indulgence, lack of stability, etc.

This is a major warning for the year to come. I can't speak for whatever may come of my social relationships, but it's painfully obvious this will be a year of financial strain where I need to watch my spending. Further more, there is the warning of over investing in work. I'm slowly getting better at managing the balance between my writing/art and self care. However, I'm looking into new day jobs because fuck where I work now. So, that could be what it's talking about. Maybe not. The one thing I know for sure is I need to take this year slow and steady.

[partyinthemysterymachine]

I notice how you draw Harry and James is pretty different from how they look in game. I was curious how you decided their looks. It's interesting to hear about that sort of thing if you don't mind answering. Thanks

hi anon!! :3 thanks for the ask!! i will do my best to explain myself LOL but no promises it'll make any sense >:3c!

so let's go on a fun lil' art journey, anon. grab a granola bar and some gatorade, and c'mon!!!

well first and foremost: i am a NOTORIOUS "i do what i want"-er. going off the beaten path to the beat of my own drum is my favorite thing to do!

.. that said!! as i've mentioned before, actor Josh Charles was my first PB/"cast" for Harry Mason.

and my very first piece of silent hill fanart (march 10, 2018) really reflects that, LOL

incredibly, and almost a full year later to the date, i drew and posted this on march 4, 2019. now THIS is actually the closest canon-Harry i've ever drawn. (this was also around the start of the SH RP i was doing with a friend, which then spawned GOOMT lol.)

april 25, 2019. first color piece for any SH art and my first "real" time drawing james. this is also the last time you'll see him with his bangs on the "correct" side LOL.

april 30, 2019. the SH RP is still going on, and this is where i'm starting to get a better handle on what i want them to look like. Harry also gets a maroon sweater. he's also notably thinner here, and still has a lot of Josh Charles vibes.

sept 22, 2019. james sunderland thinnest browns edition. the bangs will be drawn on the right from now on.

(the only reason why they're on the right is because i forgot which way his hair actually parted. oops.)

the RP has ended. the first chapter of GOOMT is written a tumblr post and subsequently posted to tumblr october 3, 2019. i write/pst chapters 1 - 4 in the following days, then draw them again:

james's jacket is still short (but at least he has eyebrows!!); harry is still thin(ner). he's also got more of a canon-harry super low cut sweatervest.

ch 5, 6 is written/posted to tumblr. i draw and post this on october 27, 2019. please clap for my art journey LMAO

you'll also notice hte presence of A Knife. this is actually Angela's knife. shhh. ;)

still figuring out what they look like in goomt here tbh.

stuff from the following week. more figuring out! DRASTICALLY different Harry, too! still very Josh Charles-y, but starting to take on his own look as well. (note his greys!!)

i like DILFs. i like dad bods. he was intended to be a little soft around the middle.

it's not until January 2020 that i draw these idiots again:

very different nose for james lmao.

this is actually my first full body for both in awhile.

(i'm redoing this :3)

also more "accurate" debut of Harry's jacket!! this jacket was ALWAYS intended to look/be bigger on him. i can't really explain why because i don't know, other than it felt right.

at this point i've figured out how i want Harry to look. his design elements are very simple, because i'm EXTREMELY self-indulgent and i really. REALLY like:

widow's peaks

big thick eyebrows

noses. big beak noses

old men

grey hair

(you can actually find this sort of pattern across my various OCs that you'll never find evidence of on my blog anymore haha except for Zach good luck tho. >:3c)

January then gets very busy in the art department for these guys.

Harry finally gets more of a pudge and starts to "look" like himself. James also starts to "look" like himself.

a note on james's bangs: i uhhhhhhh. Stylistically, i have a thing for drawing Big Hair and Tall Bangs. this is seen in my version of Jonathan Crane. but also my hair used to do the exact same bangs so are you really surprised.

(bonus pieces of abandoned James GOOMT character sheet from 2001. i might have the files somewhere if you guys want to see What Almost Was LMAO)

more from January 2020. rubs chin.

it isn't until the end of Janurary/beginning of February that Harry finally Gets Fatter.

i'd been very unused to drawing fat people until Harry, and had been struggling up until here with actually drawing a more accurate representation of his body type to the one i saw in my head!

the reason why i made him fat is because it made sense to me that he was. people change, and being a single father changed him a lot. (and also i recognize that the only reason why the Dead Harry model was lean in sh3 was because it was a recycled Dead James model and they were Legit not going to actually put too much thought into it otherwise lmfao)

march 2020. still getting used to drawing Harry's body type!! also: even tho James's jacket is Longer in my head, i'm still trying to draw it the game-canon length.

idk why.

August 2020, James long jacket hours!!! and Harry really getting his look.

and FINALLY, one of my FAVORITES i've ever done of these two!!:

james's jacket is short here (only bc i was a Dumbass and forgot to make it longer i think?? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ who's to say), but this is also the color debut for the backpack!!

(bonus Sept 16 2020 YOUNG HARRY CONCEPT from when he pierced his ears in the 90s thinking Jodi was going to find him soooo handsome. he sure is he cute huh)

BONUS MATERIAL:

attempted to re-do their character sheets back in 2021. this did not go as planned, and i was having a very hard year doing ANY personal art, so. gestures.

(sorry i had to put them up here like this it's just a screenshot of the two files in preview bc i'm Totally Incompetent when it comes to computers lmfao)

this is where we are now!! now as these are just sketches for their Newest character sheets, Harry is a liiittle different in the actual file and is is literally just a screenshot of what i've already posted like mentioned above lmao.

what it comes down to is this:

FOR JAMES

i actually just forgor what he looked like and didn't ref my art to what he looked like in-game. simple as that! LOL

in the initial RP, James was played by my friend, while i grabbed the reins to Harry, so i naturally preserved some of the base features of what my friend decided for James (lean, Super Sad And Wet, pale af). i slapped on the caterpillar brows (this is also a thing i'm historically known for in character design), did some tweaks, and also let James evolve himself as i became a better artist.

longer coat because Aesthetics that's why LOL. i don't like the short jacket he wears in game-canon and i needed GOOMT james to put his hands in his pockets like how i drew him above. Reasons.

he's also so pale because [REDACTED] and much thinner than his in-game model because he did Not take care of himself very well in those three years during Mary's illness. (it's also in his genetics: Frank is lean, too (however much taller than James, rip dude 😔))

FOR HARRY

switch from blue to maroon: i like maroon/burgundy. (i realize later that the color he wears is more on the side of burgundy but y'all i hate the color spectrum and it can definitely also be called maroon so it's maroon LOL) i also just thought it looked better on him. the only other reason i can think of as to why i changed it was because.. people change. this is a new era in his life. i kept it a (more modest, sh1 harry you whore <3) v-neck sweater as a nod to his game-canon but just.. changed it to maroon. probably just a designator.

he's fat because of reasons detailed above (fatherhood, life on the road, settling down, etc). and also because he's hot and he deserves that. self-indulgent.

hair, nose, elf ears: self-indulgent.

for Harry especially there are a lot of aspects about him that "almost were" but got cut out of his development for one reason or another an really he's better off that way. i really really don't like to force development or force a "look".

the main reason i guess above all else is that Harry looks so different than his game canon is because he's not that Harry anymore. and in sh3, you never see the guy's face: him dead. i can't even recall if i'd seen the dead Harry model in full before trying to hammer out what GOOMT Harry looked like. young GOOMT Harry would look a lot closer to what his game model looks like, tho. i can tell you that much :3 (one day i'll draw a Younger Harry but don't expect it anytime soon unless the inspiration REALLY strikes lmfao)

a lot of their changes are just not that deep, honestly. my vision for them comes from forgetting which way the bangs go (looks James), developign them in my head over time, The Vibes™️, and The Indulgences™️. i'm a creature of habit for sure in the character design department LOL but my world my puddle we play in it.

i should go to bed now!! but if you have any questions about something else or anything about their designs in particular PLS let me know!! i realy REALLY love this question and wanted to answer it RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY (even tho it's been two hours since and I NEED TO GO TO BEEED DGLDFDFGDGFSKGDFDKGSDFGKH O O O P S ) SO i hope you enjoyed that little trip down memory lane (and my art tag archive LOL) and you have a good safe healthy and cool day :3c!!

[grcndiose]

[ luke pasqualino, he/him , cismale ] — was that ALONZO DE LUCA? the TWENTY EIGHT year old is a HIRE ARM / BODYGUARD, how exciting to see them this season! rumors have it they are COURAGEOUS and JOCULAR, but i’ve heard they are SELF-SERVING and MERCILESS as well — maybe that’s why they’ve been called the OPPORTUNIST . I have even heard that HE USED TO BE IN A NOTORIOUS GANG OF MERCENARIES  —only time will tell.

THREADS | MIRROR | MUSINGS | WC | PINTEREST

gonna try to keep it somewhat short for my sake lol refer to the bottom for a summary <3

🗡️ BASICS 

nicknames  — lonnie, onzo

mbti  — istp

zodiac — aries 

sexuality — pansexual

d.o.b  — april 3rd 

p.o.b  — some whorehouse in italy

🗡️ FAMILY

father : unknown  

mother : giana de luca ( deceased )  

siblings : domenico de luca ( younger brother  // deceased ),  allegra de luca ( younger sister )

🗡️ STORY

its not often that someone grows up and chooses to become a mercenary. that line of work tends to come from having no other option at all and for alonzo that was very much the case. his mother was a sex worker, father was absent. that didn’t leave alonzo or his siblings with many options for their future. 

he wasn’t smart enough to become a scholar, wasn’t noble enough to become a soldier, wasn’t talented enough to become a creative. the one thing that alonzo was good at… was fighting. 

taught himself, actually. from fists to sticks to actual blades. that’s the thing about not having a fancy tutor – all the skills he gained came from real-life or death situations.

he and his brother were in their teens when they left home, off to find less-than-desirable ways to make money. that’s where his rumor comes in. 

alonzo made his way to britain for a fresh start a few years ago. the only contact he has is his sister. thankfully she was the one de luca sibling to have any actual brains, so instead of committing to a hard life of crime and murder with her siblings she decided to use her pretty looks to marry a wealthy merchant. alonzo and allegra still communicate via letters.

🗡️ RUMOR HAS IT

anyone looking for intel on him would come to find out just how dirty his past is. that mercenary group he ran with did everything from mugging to assassinations. he only quit that lifestyle when his younger brother got caught up in a complication and ended up losing his life because of it.

🗡️ PERSONALITY

a smug son of a bitch — knows that he’s good at what he does. and he’s pretty? how could he not have an ego lol.

not a man of honor and he doesn’t pretend to be. what alonzo lacks in manners he more than makes up in prowess. actions speak louder than words.

that doesn't mean he isn't able to talk his way out of situations if need be. now that he's working with upper society instead of against them, alonzo knows the importance of being 'agreeable' enough

doesn’t believe in doing things out of the kindness of his heart. always has to have some sort of motive, the most common one being money lol. want to order him around? you better throw some coins his way.

he isn’t the type to go out of his way to stir shit either though. he’s way past his petty thievery and crime-committing ways. instead of robbing a noble blind, now he just has to promise to protect them. 

a man ( derogatory ) so he says and thinks some out-of-pocket shit.

streets smart not books smart. doesn’t know how to read or appreciate the fine arts. 

loves to whore around when he isn’t on duty lol

🗡️ PLOTS

gold  — his current employer! would love for this to become a best friend type of deal! that the two speak very candidly with one another behind closed doors. maybe they even give him a lil training on how to speak to high society lol

steel  —  someone who had hired alonzo for a job before. maybe it was a one-off job, maybe it was something the employer would very much like to keep under wraps, maybe they went their separate ways after their relationship took a less professional note? something spicy ! 

iron  — someone he offended. someone who hates his guts and thinks that he is just the most vulgar man to walk the planet.

cobalt — working-class friends! people he feels comfortable talking shit about the upper class with. if they are business owners maybe he hangs around their establishment when he should be running errands and shit lol

titanium — someone treat him like the lil homewrecking slag he is and put him in an affair pls and thank you

IN SUMMARY : alonzo is just a man who is very aware of where he stands in the world — with the crooks and bastards of the ninety-nine percent. not a man of much depth, believes it's a dog-eat-dog world and only the most vicious ones make it out. has very little respect for the upper class but will do anything they ask of him… for the right price. 

inspired by ➔ bronn ( game of thrones ), reggie mantle ( riverdale ), noah puckerman ( glee ), ryuk ( death note ), flynn ryder ( tangled ), hector barbossa ( pirates of the caribbean )

[katapotato55]

update on blog and other things

Link to alt blog for my art: https://worldsworstblogadventures.tumblr.com/

hey friends and porn bots who are following me for some reason how have ya been ? let me cut to the chase I have mental heath issues and i am getting therapy. shits been hard in my life right now but rest assured things are slowly improving. some of you may notice that i am a sad bitchy little ball of anger that gets mad easily. This is true and i am getting help for that. anyways: I deleted some of my older posts nothing insane just posts that were bitter and salty and not a lot of people even read. I want to be a better person and live a happier life rather than being that one chronically online freak that thinks the government is planting sleeper agents off to destroy society or whatever people are on about right now. My "if you send me hate i am either going to ignore or send you boring links to insurance company websites" rule still applies because i very much do not want to validate terrorists or the mentally insane. thank you. on a related topic, I don't want to make any promises, but at the moment I am working on a webcomic. Nothing to do with the april fools day post, that was just a joke. This is a passion project I spent years on and now that i have experience making comics and good art, I want to make something of my own. Do not expect serious updates or anything huge from this comic, I am only one person and this is an unfunded project. I look forward to your support.

[cupidsbower]

Debrief on the novel, The End of Happiness

A few days ago, I posted my Venom novel, The End of Happiness. It's been a pretty wild journey, so I wanted to decant it all from my brain. The EddieVenom BigBag came across my feed on Tumblr, right at the end of the sign up period in mid-March this year. The minimum word count was 10,000, and that seemed a bit of a stretch goal given all the real life stuff I had on, but doable. I had to make a quick decision, and so I kind of went -- I'm doing Health Stuff and it's getting me down, and I have that idea about the Symbiote Emperor kicking around, and it would be awesome to get some art! So I signed up, planning to write 10,000 words of silly space opera and get a bit of art, and finally explore the idea of the Symbiotes having names alluding to something other than murder and mayhem. Nice! I couldn't start writing straight away, as I had another project I needed to finish first -- The Star Trek story I wrote for Space Swap in April: When sorrows come. I'd already been writing that for a while, so I hammered out the end, and was kind of amazed it ended up being 6,000 words long. As soon as I posted it, I started work on Happiness, at last. The BigBang rule was that 80% of the work had to be completed, with an outline, by the check-in, in order to be assigned an artist. I managed to get around 8,000 words done, I think, and then put together the outline for the rest -- cool, cool, another 4 scenes, so it'll come in at 12,000 words. THAT'S FINE, I hammered out some more words and just squeaked by on the 80% rule. Phew. And then I put Happiness aside for a bit so I could made my VidUKon premiiere, Mind Fight. I needed a break from writing, and it was so worth it. I cackled the entire time I was making that vid. It still makes me laugh now. By the time I'd done that, I was put in contact with my artist, and I got so lucky, because ifer put their hand up for my story. Win!!!! That really put a spring in my step! I wrote another chunk of words off the back of my excitement for art, and realised I STILL had three of the four scenes in my outline to write. Hmmm. Maybe it was going to come in at 14,000 words. The project was starting to be a bit more than I'd planned on, but I could still do it. EVERYTHING WAS FINE. By this point it was June, and I had promised to run a mid-year Venom fest, so I put together Venom: Let There Be Chocolate, created the Ao3 community, set up the rules, advertised it a bit, etc etc.  And then realised - belatedly - that I needed to create something for my own fest - because the first year of a fest never has many entries. I cracked my knuckles and hammered out As the Asteroid Turns in about three weeks, which wasn't bad as it came in at 7,500 words. I'm super pleased with it too - it's another story I'd had in mind for a while and it was fun to get it written. I also used it to try out some of the techniques I wanted to use in Happiness, like Galactic Universal Sign Language, so even though it was a detour, I still felt like I was making progress. Through all of this, ifer was a trouper! Put up with my shenanigans and half written first draft with holes in it everywhere, and was full of enthusiasm for all the aliens. I hammered out the "turning point" scene so ifer could illustrate it -- the one with Eddie and Venom in the underground pool. I thought... Nearly done! and was so pleased with myself. LOL. Then I woke up in the middle of the night realising there was a scene missing, and went back and filled it in... and as a consequence realised that there was a whole B plot I needed to make the A plot work. FINE, EVERYTHING IS STILL UNDER CONTROL. Then I wrote the actual turning point scene -- the one between Eddie and Xan after the pool, which kind of came out of nowhere. My story-brain just does that sometimes and I've learned to go with it. It always makes the story better. ANYWAY, AT LEAST NOW I KNEW WHAT MY OWN STORY WAS ABOUT. Everything was FINE! Don't look at me like that! I was a little worried, to be fair. The draft was at 20,000 words and I still had 3 of the 4 scenes in my outline to write. But I figured things were properly on track now, and it would be a straight run to the end. And then. *internally screams* THEN... I realised I needed a C plot, to make the A and B plots work. Friends, at that point I was NOT FINE. The fic was officially out of control. It was not a fun little novella coming in at 10,000 words. It was a freaking full-blown novel. I'd be lucky if it came in at 30,000 words. I had birthed a monster, and poor ifer had done all that art, and I had to finish the fucking thing by the deadline because I could not let them down! I panicked a bit, read a bunch of Witcher fic to take my mind off things for a while, got sidetracked by my actual job and had to do a bunch of marking. And then realised the deadline was HORRIFYINGLY CLOSE. I was at around 28,000 words and still had two of the four scenes in my outline to write. I knuckled down and wrote 11,000 words in a week. NOTHING WAS FINE, EVERYTHING WAS TERRIBLE. But I had finally, at last, written all the scenes in my outline. Thank fuck for that. ifer swooped in and did the first pass beta and I submitted the darn thing for final check-in. For those of you paying attention, you'll realised there is still a pretty big discrepancy in my numbers. The actual word count of the novel is 46,000 words, not the 40,000 submitted for final check-in. Because, you see, I asked the wonderful maharetr to beta during the gap between submission and the posting deadline. This was a very good decision, as she looked at the final third - written in that whirlwind at the end - and immediately started whipping it into shape, which was sorely needed. The rough bits got smoothed, the jumps in logic were made sensible, the missing emotional beats were added. A few thousand words were added in the process. Great. Good. Things were once again fine. And then... I said, hey, maharetr, do you think there's a hole in this one place? Yes, maharetr agreed, there really was a hole where I had suspected there was a hole. Bugger fuck shit. I mean, no worries, 300 words would fill that hole. Piece of cake. LOLOLOLOLOL. The best part of a chapter and 3,000ish words later, the hole was finally filled, and the novel had gone up a rating from Mature to Explicit. Also, I had officially written some of the kinkiest sex of my entire fanfic career. A notable achievement to be sure. With that done, there was only one writing task left -- the epilogue wasn't quite right. The final changes to that were made on 6 October, literally the day before I had to post the fic. Thank you so much, maharetr, for holding my hand through that final terrible writing session. All the hugs in the world. It took me two days to get the post ready on the Ao3, with all the images, fake links, and other formatting. I was doing that in parallel with making final changes. I finished getting the draft ready at around 3am on the 7th October and pressed post. Then I collapsed into bed and slept like the dead. And here we are. Seven months later, a lot tireder, having written a 10,000 word novella in 46,000 words. FOR FUN. Don't forget that bit. I did it FOR FUN. It was a lot of work, but I'm super proud of my kinky romance-in-space novel. I know it's blowing my own trumpet, but my god it is really fricken good. You should definitely go read it. ;)

[If you’d prefer to talk over on Dreamwidth, this post is also there: https://cupidsbow.dreamwidth.org/467690.html]

[brown-little-robin]

tumblr year in review—but only the interesting parts!

I posted 4,072 times in 2022. That's 3,137 more posts than 2021! (yeah, because I joined tumblr in August 2021. Looks like my posting actually slowed down this year!

595 posts created (15%)

3,477 posts reblogged (85%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@swinging-stars-from-satellites

@lovesodeepandwideandwell

@thatfriendlyanon

@bluesidedown

@called-kept

many other very beloved friends!

I tagged 3,787 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#art - 193 posts (I've mostly stopped using that tag now. It was too broad... as you can tell :P)

#aesthetic - 147 posts (sounds about right)

#batfam - 144 posts (y u p)

#strange redemption intertextuality - 140 posts (NICE. finding these quotes is one of the most fun parts of tumblr to me.)

#yes - 110 posts (listen, I just REALLY AGREE with a lot of things!)

#on living softly - 101 posts (huh! neat!)

#mob-blogging - 99 posts (I didn't think I posted THAT much mob, but okay!)

#ahahahaha - 91 posts (yeah I like laughing in tag form)

#tim drake - 90 posts (blorbo <3<3<3)

#god's beasts - 87 posts (YEAH BABY. CREATURES)

My Top Posts in 2022:

Humans are essentially homesick for heaven. (I still stand by that, even though having a post I wrote in a feverish sort of haze going everywhere was kind of anxiety-inducing.)

Throgmorten drawing (hims grumpy :3)

HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH explanation (very sweet! I love that it got reblogged a lot)

Jason Todd and Tim Drake comparison (cool! I liked that!)

"Every writer should have readers who never point out flaws about their work". (Hnnn. Some sad things happened with that post. Oh well, I still stand by that idea!)

#5

I say this with the sincerest belief: every writer should have someone who never points out flaws about their work, ever, and that they trust to never do that, ever.

Writers should also have people who do point out flaws about their work, of course, because that’s how their work can get better.

But!! For the emotional ability of writers to keep writing, to believe that their writing is worth doing, it is essential to have safe-haven readers. People we can take writing to and know they’ll remind us why we write.

Readers and commenters can fill different needs: improving writing, and ensuring writing.

189 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

#4

Jason is too OPEN. Tim is too GUARDED. They have the same emotions (YOU ARE FAMILY I LOVE YOU I AM HURT AND LONELY) but they deal with them in two ways:

Jason: he’s an open book, a bleeding heart, a scream of defiance & pain & rage. He takes all his giant emotions and pours them out in a river in front of his loved ones’ feet and DEMANDS answers. He burns his bridges before others can burn them because he is saying LOOK AT THIS, IT’S RUINED, RIGHT? IT’S RUINED, RIGHT? —not realizing that, if he hadn’t set the bridges on fire, they would have still been there—broken, maybe, damaged, but still there, still fixable.

Tim: he’s a closed book, a chained-up heart, a locked jaw, a stifled scream. He takes his emotions and tells them river, run in your proper course and do not leave that course; don’t you dare flood. He lets his bridges rot because if he says “this bridge is getting worn down” too often, he will be acknowledging that something is wrong with him. What if his loved ones tell him that he’s at fault for letting their bridges fall into disrepair again? What if, even worse, they decide that the bridge is an eyesore and decide to remove it altogether? No, no, no, better to isolate himself on his island and just keep the structure of the bridges intact enough for him to survive. No need to call attention to their state of decay.

213 notes - Posted September 22, 2022

#3

If I tell you “HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY” this is what I mean, btw. I’m not drunk, I promise. (image description under the cut)

[begin image description. A page from Winnie the Pooh. It has an illustration of Owl biting a pencil. It says:

“Can you read, Pooh?” he asked, a little anxiously. “There’s a notice about knocking and ringing outside my door, which Christopher Robin wrote. Could you read it?”

“Christopher Robin told me what it said, and then I could.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what this says, and then you’ll be able to.”

So Owl wrote... and this is what he wrote:

HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA

BTHUTHDY.

end image description.]

222 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

#2

Throgmorten, the Asheth Temple Cat and thoroughly cranky beast. Look out, or he’ll tear strips off you!

295 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Humans are essentially homesick for heaven and lonely for God. Or vice versa. We want a person so big that we can sink into them like a bedroom and a bedroom so lovely it embraces us like a friend.

477 notes - Posted June 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[galactic-pirates]

Fandom, Creation and Me

With it being NaNo tomorrow I am doing update posts, and planning posts, and basically sorting everything out. It's also something I do at the end of/start of every year. It's part cleaning house, part goal setting.

This has been a funny year with moving house dominating all of it. I was just going to update my art goals, only to discover I didn't make my customary end of December post because that was during the madness. Then I remembered I didn't think I updated here either. I checked the archive and I did say I'd finally moved on September 13th but as to my fandom plans not a whisper. So I'm going to talk about it now!

Mid-April I made a post in which I said:

SO! My mission, should I choose to accept it bwahaha is to write EVERY SINGLE fanfic idea on my list (that I still want to write when I get to it) before the end of the year. Deadline December 31st. After that the slate is wiped clean. 

This started to go off the rails when I stopped writing in the summer. Some people write more when they are stressed as an escape. I wish I could say I was one of them but alas I unfortunately do my best turtle impression instead and basically very little gets done.

When I moved into my house that was a fresh start in the biggest way possible. I want - no I need - to make the most of that. I had to think about what serves me, and ultimately I decided to make my clean break then. So yeah, no more fanfic from me.

I have a few WIPs on my HD but thankfully due to my policy these days of not posting until stories are complete, that doesn't matter. I do feel... I wanted those ideas to be brought to life as I do like them, but I had to make a choice about what was best for me, and wistful thoughts about what could have been aren't going to change my mind.

So am I quitting fandom?

No.

I'm still co-mod of Saffi Prompts and I intend to help with that if it comes out of hiatus. I'm still running Saffi Bingo, in as much as I sent out the cards months ago but nothing seems to have happened. I'm helping put together the 13th anniversary event for Bering and Wells next April.

I also just signed up for a Leverage Bingo Card because you see while my fanfic days are over, my fanart days are not.

I want to get into art in a big, big way. I feel like fanfic helped me a lot with my writing journey. Fanfic helped me see projects through from beginning to end, helped me produce on a schedule, helped me keep up the practice when my mental health wouldn't permit me to write other things. I owe fanfic a lot. It's my hope that fanart might fulfil the same function in terms of getting me started.

Now I know I've promised I would do art in the past and then haven't done it. For years I have made it a goal to do 1 piece a month and I've never got close. I think the best I ever did was at the start of 2021 when I think I made it to April before I stopped.

That was before though, and the start of my writing journey was a similar tale. I went through a time when I wrote once a year - for NaNo - and didn't write at all the rest of the time. It's unthinkable now but that's how it was. So just because I didn't draw on the regular in the past, despite saying I would, doesn't mean I will always fail at that.

TLDR

No more fanfic from me. Expect fanart - eventually. I want to work through some art courses I have first before I go back to trying to draw what I imagine. Hopefully this will mean when I attempt those imagined pieces they will be better, and not as cringeworthy when I look back later as to how I ever dared post them on the internet.

P.S. What about gifsets?

Nearly forgot about that. Fandom Friday will not be returning. I don't have the time. However, I'm not ruling out making sets when/if I feel inspired to do so.

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 059: The Prophecy of Madame Web (ASM 207-212)

This time:

We meet the protagonist of the biggest superhero movie of the last decade.

Also: a lot of Peter Parker thirst.

Let's gooo!

Hey, our little guy changed!

That's nice to see. We also get a promising first page:

So Peter's on a date with Debby Whitman. Debby?

Oh, right. Debra!

So they're at a show where Mesmero hypnotized a member of the audience. Peter investigates nude-feet-style, just like ages ago when he was on a date with Gwen. He ends up putting out a fire, discreetly... or so he thinks. Mesmero noticed his web, and announces to the audience that he thinks SM is here and he has something to discuss with him.

Peter quickly gets rid of his date and talks to Mesmero, who offers him weekly money in exchange for a 15 minutes appearance. Spidey says, "sure!".

Except that Mesmero's reputation is currently awful, and criticism in a newspaper makes him go berserk. That is, he hypnotizes a guy to jump from a bridge.

Meanwhile, Jameson's back at the Bugle! Wouldn't want too many changes in ASM, would we now?

At first, Spidey thinks of catching our guy with his web, but he remembers what happened with Gwen (nice!) and catches him more graciously. Our critic gives free tickets to a show to Spidey as thanks, and Peter soon invites Debra to make amends.

When later, Spidey goes back to Mesmero to talk, he quickly gets zapped with electrified bills... and misses his appointment with Debra. Poor girl. It's not even fun to watch her be disappointed again and again, she's just a chew toy for the universe to step on.

Spidey's forced to do a circus number, but soon KOs out villain.

In the readers' letters, let's just say people are NOT fans of our Miss April Maye. Stern says this might even be a fake name... who could have predicted this, oh my?

#208 has a nice first page, and... Romita Jr worked on the layouts! Alright, mister...

In a research lab, a scientist is a jerk to his janitor twin brother. And when he starts his big machine, it explodes in his face. His selfless brother tries to save him and gets absorbed instead.

At the Daily Globe, Donald Trump arrives.

I'm fascinated by Peter's outfit. I kind of love it... but also kind of hate it. Nice hair, though.

Bushkin also introduces Peter to his new colleague and fellow photographer, Lance Bannon. I expected Eddie Brock, but maybe later.

To get in a better mood, Peter goes to the hospital to pay a visit to Anna Watson with Aunt May. She says they just missed MJ!

Oh, the open belt...! Sir!

The ruckus is of course caused by our new villain, Fusion (the two brothers!), and when she sees the two super-powered beings by the window, May says Spidey isn't as bad as the media say. Character development, yay!

Fusion escapes Spidey's grasp, and it's clear that the two brothers aren't of the same mind concerning their current state. When peter comes back to the hospital room and says he went to talk to a nurse he knows, May says "My Peter's getting interested in girls, Anna". First of all, that's uncalled for, but also, damn May, are you still thinking that your Peter might be gay? (He's bisexual, you're not completely off the mark.)

Thanks to some cops, Spidey quickly finds back Fusion. Twice during this issue does he feel ridiculized by the crowds laughing at him. I feel like it never happened before... Is this element going somewhere? It certainly feels uncharacteristic.

Anyway, he separates the two brothers with the help of the janitor one, and... the issue ends here. They still have their power. That's not an ending. *sigh*

Oh, great shading!!! And Kraven too! By that point, I assume he won't shoot lasers out of his nipples, but a small part of myself still hopes...

We start with Kraven saying to his girlfriend Calypso that THIS TIME, FOR SURE, he'll get rid of our hero... Sure.

Loving the art, even though Peter doesn't necessarily look very much like himself in that third panel, but the clothes!!!! The clothes, people!!!!! Jesus. Is that really a summer outfit though?

Debra's worried about her old uncle working at the docks, and when she asks Peter if with his connections, he could do something to check on him, he rebuffs her. She's understandably saddened, and he ends up going anyway, as Spidey naturally.

Gorgeous middle panels. Also, Kraven's heart skips when he sees Spidey. Not very heterosexual of him. Calypso wants to see her man be a man, so she frees up some animals who cause chaos in the city. Kraven saves the ones he can catch, and Spidey helps too.

And suddenly...

Well well well...

What do we have here...

Didn't expect to see a near naked lady on there but good for her!

Calypso wants violence and tries hard to convince Kraven that Spidey's the one who opened the locks.

I'm loving the eagerness to show skin around here, I'm telling you. Also love how Bushkin looks in the first panel.

Fascinating panels, because Peter looks extremely different in the middle panel, but oh lord is he gorgeous in the other two. And also: a professor having a relationship with a female student? Oh, we almost got that a few issues ago! How interesting.

Spider-Woman has a cameo, where she ponders on how she almost sent Dockery in jail, but since it's Spidey's territory, she can't do anything.

... No but seriously, Peter's gorgeous...

Ahem. Kraven barges in the Daily Globe and activates a Spider-Tracer he conveniently has. Spidey has to show up tonight for a one-on-one battle!

They fight in a museum, while Calypso laughs gleefully in the shadows.

Very subtle there, Spidey. Oh well!

So far I'm really into "the grotesque 80s art". Beats those 90s covers where Spidey's web looks like iron. Anyway, hi Bell! You're going too fast for me but whatever. Someone appreciates the detail and the shading! It's a really strong issue. I also liked Kraven there.

Anyway, issue #210!

It's time to meet the star of 2024's masterpiece "Madame Web".

Well, Debra's definitely gotten used to Peter's repeated abandonments. You deserve better, girl! At least she doesn't seem so sad anymore. More... resigned. I mean, I would probably accept anything if my boyfriend was Peter Parker too... except maybe when he wears that outfit. I'm not sold on that one.

At the Globe, armed people attack the head office and kidnapp Ms. Clayton. Pursuing them, Spidey finds that same paper of Madame Web.

Hey, that page has really nice composition.

Anyway, of course, what welcomes Spidey is... a vision.

Madame Web quickly informs Spidey that to find Ms. Clayton, he'll have to find one Belinda Bell. Turns out Belinda was impersonating Ms. Clayton in a complex plan for Dockery to get the Daily Globe!

Spidey quickly saves both the actress and the real Ms. Clayton, and catches Dockery.

I wish I was that newspaper.

And that ending is absolutely hilarious...

In #211, we see none other than Namor!

And this is a gorgeous first page, I have to say.

So Namor has his typical war against human waste. As for Peter?

Oh. Oh YES. Absolutely. Thank you. It is... glorious. I hereby declare this issue to be a 10 out of 10.

So Spidey goes out and thinks he could finally check on Debra Whitman's uncle. Turns out the latter is getting attacked at this very moment by his crew, who refuse to deliver a scientist and a machine to the ocean.

The next day, at ESU, Debra tells Peter she's worried even more about her uncle, because he decided to navigate the boat himself, since nobody else wants to do it. I'm happy to at least see her be a bit more developed. I'm starting to like her, even!

Gorgeous. I absolutely love his outfit even though I dislike jeans, but it works so well here! The colors...!

He decides to go see May to get in a better mood. There, his aunt is... teaching curling to the residents! Why not. And she nudges Peter to go help Debra's uncle.

Namor appears when they're at sea, and a fight breaks out.

They get over it and Namor even helps them, how nice!

Time for #212!

More than 14 hours have passed since the last issue, and they're naturally still on the boat. Debra's uncle (continued storyline, woohoo!) mentions Murphy's Law, which is funny because I watched Interstellar for the first time like two days ago.

An accident with crates occur, and one man falls under the sea. Spidey saves him, but the man can't seem to dry...

No matter. Peter gets back safely on land and catches Jameson's call. Work for him! Great. He also calls Debbie!

Great set of panel. I like that it seems to give actual weight to their relationship.

We have a scene with our wet guy at a bar and I might have felt sympathy for him for a second, but then he showed his misogynistic side and it was over.

Hydro-Man (presumably, given the cover of the issue) discovered he can become water and morph it, he becomes angry and starts searching through the whole city for Spider-Man. Sure.

MORE IMPORTANTLY.

Oh, that red shirt will be the death of me!

Of course, Peter quickly asks Debra to stay out of this, because of course he does. She accepts it.

There's a fun countdown, we always love countdowns.

Spidey finds Hydro-Man, but he instantly gets "splooshed" through the window. He resorts to ask Jonah to print a challenge in his newspaper, to make the duel easier to organize.

They fight, and we get a very nice ending.

In the comments, our dear Bell Lectar says she sees Peter as this leech that will dry up every resource the ladies in his life have and leave them to die (or miraculously escape unscathed), which is definitely an interesting reading I don't completely disagree with. That's thanks to how the magazine was created, misogyny, and probably some other stuff.

I quickly checked the next issue and there's... assuredly... good food in there.

By the time I make the next post though, and I will, because otherwise I'd hit the pictures limit in this post, and also it's almost 4am and I should definitely go to sleep sometime soon, I'll have forgotten about that, so to Future!Bliss: I love you, I cherish you and I wish you a happy rediscovery.

So the next time, we check out ASM 213, Annual 14 and What If 24!

It should be fun!

[tdcloud]

DVerse Lore - Luminaries and Charlatans (blog#17)

I feel like I’ve reached May in a dead sprint, racing towards a finish line only I know exists. Good lord, was April a busy month! Even without conventions to eat up my weekends, so much had to happen in what felt like such a short month. But we’re here now, enjoying May and all it brings. Let’s get down to things and on to our next author blog.

I’ll start off things again with some updates: This year’s October Novella Event poll is still up and will be ending in just a few days, so if you haven’t voted yet, get to it! It may come down to the wire on what will end up winning, so if you haven’t read over last month’s blog post that goes into depth on each of these options, take a look, cast your vote, and be sure to pledge to Patreon if you haven’t yet to join us for the main event. The more, the merrier, and the support really does help make my birth month awesome.

Secondly, at the tail end of this month I’ll be setting out for Colossalcon in Sandusky, OH and tabling at the usual Thursday Craft Fair sale. I’ve only got half a table and I’ll be selling some of Sun’s new A Little Rain Oracle Deck bundles, some of her beautiful art in the form of mini prints, as well as my usual assortment of books. Given the size of table constraints, I don’t intend on bringing my full collection. If you are lacking copies of Deluge, Petrichor, or Apricity from The Tempest Series, please email me through my contact form on my website or DM me on any of my socials to reserve a copy before the convention. I’ll essentially be holding it behind the table for you to pick up/meet up with you later in the weekend to deliver it by hand. Payment will need to be upfront, but you’ll at least be sure to complete your collection at my normal con rates now that I’m beginning to phase out older titles from my convention rotation.

Thirdly, this is the month that my new Patreon serialized story begins! Aubade is a Norse fantasy about a male magic user forced to help a kingdom dying of plague under the hand of a Jarl struggling to keep his head above water. I’ve spoken about it at length in previous blog entries, so if it sounded like a good time then, now’s your cue to pledge to join us as I release a new chapter for this work every month for the next year or so. There’s going to be a lot of really beautiful art included in the updates of this book as well! It’s going to be a very emotional, bittersweet experience, but I think one that’s worth experiencing. Chapter one launches 5/15!

I’m sure there are more things to update you all on, but those are the main things for the moment. I’m hopeful that starting next month I’ll be able to get something akin to a timeline in order for when to expect Infaust. No promises—just cross your fingers for me!

For this month’s blog, I figured we’d cycle back around to the DVerse clans and finish up that aspect of things. We’ve only got two clans left: the high-blood Luminaries and the doomed Charlatans. Both are almost diametrically opposed when it comes to inherent blood and status privilege, but there’s still something almost cosmically similar in terms of power. While Luminaries are the top of the food chain from their claim to worldly power structures, Charlatans are the epitome of what makes a vampire better than a human—even if vampiric society doesn’t see it that way or grant them deference for it. 

These two make for great foils to one another for that reason. Let’s kick things off with the Luminaries, shall we?

Where to start? Luminaries are the highest of highs and experience some pretty low lows as well. They’re really the quintessential movie vampire—the eloquent, rich, highborn Draculas with the lavish homes, opulent clothing, and expensive tastes. They’re charming, well-spoken, wealthy elites who occupy high positions in government, politics, and corporations in modernity and dictated laws and societal progress in antiquity. But behind those shiny, polished exteriors, they’re utterly depraved. Luminaries are frightening not only for the power and prestige they wield, but for the deplorable habits they indulge in. They’re marked by a lack of self-control, self-restraint, and are instant gratification personified. 

You see this sort of behavior echoed throughout the bloodline and throughout history as well. They’ve always occupied high positions within the vampiric hierarchy, their claims to the land and gentry too strong to break in death. Their desire to rule and govern, however, waned and waxed over time. We’ve discussed Marcu’s ascent to power in previous blog posts, so I won’t bore you with rehashing old history. Just know that prior to the Dark Ages, Luminaries tended to hold absolute control over their territories—usually the land they personally owned—and after consolidation happened with Marcu’s rise, they gave over a lot of the active day-to-day reins to Marcu in favor of enjoying themselves without worrying about who was flying the plane, so to speak. So long as Marcu kowtowed and let them do as they pleased, they had no problem lending him their names as legitimizing factors to keep the Triarii in power and fronting the bulk of the managerial aspects a position like that demands. After The Fall, Luminaries took back control entirely, using the sudden end of their extended vampiric Spring Break Vamps Gone Wild party as an excuse to reassert that only nobility had the right to rule and the skills to maintain order.

As far as origin stories, I’m sure one exists—sorting through the chaff of generations upon generations of ego-stroking hearsay, though, would make it hard to suss out, even for the most dedicated Loremaster. Luminaries have existed for as long as the nobility and aristocracy have. They maintain strict control over their own narratives and genealogies for their own purposes, and the topic of lineage is especially important when it comes to deciding matters of inheritance, fledgling stock, and territory disputes. They are simultaneously the most hands off yet high maintenance clan out there, fixated on the tiniest things so long as it satisfies some part of their egos. Great power and influence comes at a cost, as you can see, and that price tends to be inner control.

Luminaries are prone to fixations. These can be on specific people, ideas, or actions. A lot of this is rooted in the old folktales that the way to deter a vampire is to throw a handful of rice or beans or grain on your doorstep at sunset. Any vampire intent on getting in will feel compelled to count every single grain before coming inside, and if you’ve thrown down enough, the morning dawn will catch the vampire before they’ve finished their task. Luminaries have racing thoughts and low attention spans if they aren’t adequately engaged. They’re worse than amoral children when they feel “bored” and have little regard for those they view as expendable entertainment. 

It takes a lot of effort for a Luminary to rise above the bad habits of their bloodline. Age can help. Going into the blood with good habits already instilled is even better, but as many Luminaries (especially Old World-leaning ones) are raised as humans knowing or aspiring towards becoming a vampire within the clan, good habits can be hard to learn in an environment that already caters to excess, indulgence, and a lack of accountability. More and more Luminaries are learning to at least contain these impulses behind closed doors, and as New World Luminaries become more prevalent, better self-control has slowly begun to enter the bloodline, one new self-made fledgling at a time.

That’s one of my favorite things to play with when it comes to this bloodline: New World vs Old World traditions. Luminaries are THE clan based on tradition. Very, very rarely will there ever be someone of low status brought into the Luminary fold. If it happens, it’s almost always illegal poaching—one of the few crimes even other Luminaries will view as something that demands punishment. The same way a royal would never dare marry a peasant, a Luminary would never bring someone of low status into the fold. But that begs the question: we don’t have landed gentry the way we did in the past, so where do Luminaries find new stock?

This is where genealogies come into play, and where Loremasters make the bulk of their living. In the Old World, Luminaries took their stock from any established lines of succession grounded and rooted to the land. When America rose to power, New World Luminaries sprung up from the families who became barons and kings in their own rights—enterprise, Capitalists, and self-made scions. Self-made families have become the common stock in modernity, and as we’ve experienced in Apotheosis, rising through the ranks of Capitalism can draw prospective Luminary eyes towards you long before you’ve realized there’s anything lurking in the dark. 

We’ll get into a lot of the minutiae of Luminary lines of succession, bloodlines, and fledgling stock in the next duology of books since that’s a main conflict connecting the two standalones. It’s pretty cool stuff, honestly, and I hope you’re eager to see just how tangled these webs get when you’ve got familial bloodlines up against vampiric blood ties competing for the same things. 

As for the clan-specific traits, Luminaries do have several beyond just the finances and social clout.

Enhanced compulsion, mesmerization, and presence. They can draw every eye to them just by entering a room and end every conversation in an area at will

Low self-control/impulse control

If Nicciave have OCD/Anxiety disorders, Luminaries have ADHD

Easily forged fixations with obsessive personalities

Strong defenses against vampiric compulsions from others (practically impossible to compel or mesmerize a Luminary unless you’re another Luminary, and even then it’ll be dicey)

Again, age and pre-vampiric habit formation is a big determinate in how deplorable a Luminary’s behavior will be. In Apotheosis, we see an almost four hundred year old Elijah behave fairly well. He’s got his quirks, but he’s composed, contained, and respectful. He wasn’t always like that, and he’ll explain that in his own words within the story itself, and that’s pretty indicative of most Luminary experiences—at least, it is for those who have the desire to change and improve for the better. Many don’t. Many don’t see anything wrong with how they behave. After all, they’re the elite. It’s their right to live freely, kill freely, and indulge in every vice to excess. We’ll see the full spectrum as we go.

What do you guys think? Is it worth being at the top of the pecking order when your self-control is the cost? I think no matter the clan, there’s always a trade off for the perks. It’s important to give things balance, and at the root of it all, no matter how sexy or cool we find vampires, they’re still creatures damned to live forever and consume blood to survive. Any connections they’re able to form come at a risk and for every impressive, super human power, there’s a cost. 

Charlatans, especially, display that in spades. Charlatans are fascinating characters. No matter who they are, what their ability is, or how ungodly powerful they are, they’re always just… so pitiful, or conversely, fucking terrifying to behold. A lot of how I built these different clans was in terms of how things might exist if the DVerse were closer in nature to something like VtM. How would each clan work as a tabletop rpg character class? Is everything balanced? What are the downsides to each clan? Is any one clan too overpowered so as to break the game?

If anyone was going to break a game, it’d be a Charlatan. Any gamer knows that if someone or some weapon is too overpowered, it’s going to be nerfed in an update, and boy howdy, are Charlatans OP but also nerfed out the ass. From their very earliest days, they were on the outs with every other clan. Unlike many bloodlines, there is a known root for them. Their original name from before they became blacklisted pariahs during Marcu’s Dark Age was Children of Lycus. Lycus is, as you can likely infer, the progenitor of this clan. He is immeasurably old, for sure the oldest vampire I’ve got in this universe (or as my editor says, Lycus went to school with the dinosaurs). On my grand whiteboard timeline of characters, his sticky note takes up occupancy at the far leftmost edge of the board, so far left that he’d be on the wall if this whiteboard didn’t take up the entire length of my office as it is. He’s just that old.

There’s so much about Charlatans tied up with this one singular character. Not many bloodlines can say the same. Most don’t know who their sire was, let alone the progenitor of their entire clan. While a lot don’t know Lycus’s name these days, those of his bloodline—the few, at least, who have managed to stumble upon another Charlatan old and kind enough to take a moment to speak with them about such things—just might. There’s a marked lack of cohesion and clan bond with Charlys (as I like to call them). What roots they’re able to find, be it through physical connection to other Charlys or merely just the notion of genealogy or shared clan history, they grasp it with both hands. Stories of the halcyon days of their bloodline, of Lycus and his students… It’s a balm during the darkest, loneliest nights. It’s a dream of better, long-gone days, and for those who have nothing, sometimes less than nothing, it’s something. Painful as it is, it’s something. 

So, who was Lycus? Lycus was an artist. A creative. A seeker and appreciator of beauty in all the myriad forms it comes in, as well as the hands of those who create it. A philosophe, aesthete, and mentor, Lycus traveled Europe in pursuit of the things he valued most in the world: creations that stirred his dormant heart. When he found the people responsible for such creations, he’d offer them the gift, or merely offer to join them or they him as they mutually taught one another new skills or means of appreciation. If he fledged, his fledglings received more than just immortality and an indelible connection to him. Every Charlatan has a unique blood gift: Lycus’s gift was that mutability. Through it he made artists, and through it, he made monsters, too.

At its core, Charlatans are based on the premise of mutability. Their blood is inherently unstable, the powers it yields forming from the core of the recipient to become a gift or curse depending on what self-preservation or instinct determined they needed most at the moment of inception. Every gift, no matter the presentation, has a spectrum to it. At its most innocuous, it may seem to be nothing more than a cheap parlor trick, but when pressed… There’s no such thing as a harmless Charlatan, and that, my friends, is the crux of what makes them so damnably sad.

Lycus had no desire for power or prestige. He never wanted to rule. He just wanted to create. His fledglings, however, didn’t always share his pacifism—or if they did, they did so in ways that screamed “armed neutrality” but with the armament in question being a nuclear bomb. It scared people, and scared people lash out. When Marcu instigated his massive cullings, it stood to reason that Charlatans would be one of the first to go, and with them, the recognition of them as a bloodline. The name change happened, almost akin to a damnatio memoriae. Lycus exchanged his life for the protection and further subjugation of his remaining kin, and the rest, as it’s said, is history.

Life for Charlatans hasn’t changed much between the Dark Ages and modernity. They’re few in number, are prevented from congregating in cities, and are loners by forced necessity, never design. If they sire, they do so while on the run or out of desperation. Very few Charlatans have any sort of relationship with their sire. It’s simply too dangerous for two Charlatans to be near each other for any length of time, and because of that, they tend to have a high rate of fledgling mortality. Most are forced to masquerade as other bloodlines in order to fly under the radar, but others… Well, there’s a reason why other bloodlines fear Charlatans and their gifts so much. 

We’re going to experience a lot of the Charlatan struggle firsthand in the Mortigena book as we go through the motions with Cesare, Lycus’s final fledgling before his execution. In many ways, Cesare is the prototypical pitiful Charlatan. He was an artist who attracted Lycus’s attention, trained under him, loved him, and had everything taken from him by Marcu and his cullings. His own blood gift, the ability to sense when someone is lying, was then weaponized politically by Marcu and his cohort as he was forced to exist as a political prisoner/tool. Stripped of his clan emblem, ties, and ability to be around his kin, Cesare lived in hell. If he tried to fight back, what few remaining Charlatans in the city would be culled in response, and if he tried to kill himself, the same would likely also happen. 

Lycus’s blood is mutable. It’s chaotic. With Cesare as his last, it almost seems poetic that Lycus’s first fledgling would be the root of the terrible reputation the clan has for being dangerous, volatile, and worth so much outright fear and loathing. Those of you who read my ao3 oneshot about Charon, another Charlatan, may remember his burning curiosity over someone named Mercurio. Mercurio is one of the most terrifying and fascinating vampires I’ve made for this universe, and while I think it’s a shame he’ll never show himself in canon, it’s for the best of everyone involved that he doesn’t. He’s the nuclear bomb that’s got everyone worried about fallout becoming reality, and while I think it’s awful how Charly’s are persecuted… The fact that Mercurio exists, the way he exists… It makes sense to be that wary of this bloodline. It makes perfect sense, and honestly, if I were a vampire and lived in this world, I’d be wary as fuck, too. 

If there’s a vampire capable of doing what Mercurio can do, you’d bet your ass I’d want nothing to do with the whole bloodline, too. I think my character profile listing on him says it best, so I’ll just cut and paste here:

Lycus’s first fledgling. Ancient but so fey that the years don’t touch him at all. Capable of subsuming the will of his fledglings and controlling them like puppets on a string. Only able to maintain this hold while they are within his radius. If a Flower in his garden leaves, they’ll snap and exist in a hollow state. Is capable of performing this ability on others outside his immediate blood-family, but not as quickly. Feared by every vampire with a self-preservation instinct and therefore single-handedly changed the CoL’s reputation as one to be reviled and feared. Has no desire to turn his attention to dominating the world at large; that’s the only thing keeping the rest of vampiric life from ending as we know it.

Is able to independently control his Flower’s blood gifts which makes him the most powerful man on the planet, easily

Doesn’t cavort in public often, but when the mood strikes he’ll show up at gatherings to see the sights and hear different voices. Most ignore him outright, afraid to make eye contact in case he looks back. If you attract his attention, you’re already lost

Charming and incredibly insincere—but what we think of as insincerity is his absolute truth for as long as it remains interesting to him. He’s a man of absolutes that change at the drop of a hat.  

There’s only one known Flower to have left his garden. Chartreuse (Char) was left behind at the manor of a Luminary who took a shine to Mercurio’s gentle clown. Char behaved normally for a few days before the tenuous connection to Mercurio went silent, and, when left alone with their own thoughts for the first time in ages, found they could no longer function. They snapped. Blind as they were in life, they did what they knew how to do; they made those around them laugh, and laugh, and laugh. By morning, the whole manor was dead, their throats shredded and lungs pulverized from laughing themselves to oblivion. At the center of it all was Char, nonverbal and listening desperately for some shred of Mercurio’s influence to come back to them.

He’s the sole reason Charlys have as terrible a reputation as they’ve got, but really, just like with the story of Chartreuse, any Charly is capable of some pretty insane things when their blood gift reaches the maximum setting on the dial. Things like that aren’t typically consciously activated—they’re stress responses, sort of akin to a mother lifting a car off her trapped child. But due to his proximity to Lycus, his age, and the fact that his personality already has few safety restraints to begin with, his blood gift isn’t easily controlled. 

If you haven’t read my ao3 oneshot yet, I suggest popping over there and checking it out. Charon is a very interesting Charlatan, one we’ll encounter more of in future books, but he gives a good overview of the sort of reputation Charlys have as a whole. His own blood gift offers him more protection than many other Charlys can boast. It makes him cocky, but he’s protected. Most Charlys would kill to have the same sort of freedom he’s got to flaunt it as openly as he does.

What sort of gifts are common, though? Well, almost every Charly has a unique gift. They’re very fun to create, these powers, but also very difficult at the same time. As I said before, the gifts are a spectrum. Most will only ever operate them at their lower-end settings, but they have to have the capacity to be cranked to eleven and wreak some real, earth-shattering levels of damage if properly targeted. Cesare’s bottom-end ability is serving as a lie detector. Charon’s power, something he can control fairly well given his practice and confidence, is akin to a love-potion or roofie-aura. No one can harbor ill feelings towards him, wish him harm, or do anything but adore him, even love him, when he’s turned it on. I’ve got one Charly with something sort of similar, but his gift lowers inhibitions, more like playing with adrenaline and self-control until the logic center of the brain goes silent and lets sloppier impulses out to play. Another has a vocally-induced compulsion ability that’s far, far stronger than the usual vampire mesmerization. While vampire mesmerization is a soft, velvety urge to do what will make the vampire happy, Blair’s hurts if you refuse it. A vocal iron maiden that won’t ease off until you do as you’re told, and the commands they can give… Boy howdy, let’s just say don’t back Blair into a corner. You won’t be the same afterwards.

As you can see, a lot of these gifts are largely defensive in nature until they’re weaponized. They tie into the characters’ needs, many of them centered around the sort of defenses they needed most when they were turned/in the process of dying or are off-shoots of honed skills they already had in life that manifested more thoroughly after the fact. It’s a fun game to build a Charlatan, so if you guys want, definitely spitball one for yourself and leave them in a comment! I’d love to see what y’all come up with.

Now it’s time for questions! Everything comes from Instagram, Twitter, and private messages this go around.

What’s your favorite and/or most memorable con experience?

Okay, so for starters, favorite and memorable are very two different things when it comes to convention experiences and I love that you made that distinction. I don’t think I’ve talked much about it on here yet, but I’ve had a lot of really questionable moments when tabling. If you sell any sort of nsfw content, you open yourself up to people who have zero boundaries, zero understanding of proper ways to engage with other human beings, and just outright awful moments of people saying the most out of pocket shit to you when you did not ask. In that regard, the most negatively memorable experience I’ve probably had is every time my mother has tagged along to a con with me to help me sell and a stranger saying something completely out of line to me with her within earshot. No one wants to explain to their mother what “futanari” is. Seriously. 

Let this be a reminder right now that the person seated behind a convention table is working a job. If you wouldn’t say it to your waitress, accountant, or cashier, why the hell would you say it to a tabling artist/author? 

I could go on for 5k words alone on all the cursed ass experiences I’ve had while tabling, ranging from homophobic assholes to offensive comments to people seriously not understanding that just because I’m talking about my smut works doesn’t mean I want to hear about all the graphic ways they have sex with their partners. I live and operate largely in the midwest. The good definitely outweighs the bad in terms of my usual reception, but boy howdy do the bad experiences stick in my head a hell of a lot longer than the good ones, no matter how good those good ones get.

Anyway—on the other side of things, I’ve had so many wonderful experiences as well. My favorite moments have got to be when someone stops by my table and they’re cosplaying from a fandom I’ve written fanfiction for, and upon me mentioning that, they learn that I’m actually the author of their favorite fic in the fandom. That’s happened several times with HxH and DBH and I never tire of finding fans like that. One actually pulled out their phone to show me the mock cover they’d made in a college class for one of my fanfictions! It was so sweet and made my entire convention. 

My favorite con experience from when I wasn’t tabling would be during my first ever Youmacon meet-and-greet. Someone showed up cosplaying Khouri ;-; I just about cried.

How do you work through writer’s block?

I get this question quite a lot when I’m out and about. Usually writer’s block hits me when I’m bored with whatever project I’m working on. That boredom manifests via different avenues. Sometimes it hits me when the section I’m on is very low action or worse—a dreaded travel scene. I fucking HATE writing travel scenes. Other times, I’ll get bad writer’s block when the project I’m working on doesn’t align with the current mood I’m in. When I’m writing something soft, gentle, and rom-com, I will inevitably get hit with crippling writer’s block because all I want to do instead is write insane survival horror. That disconnect will lock me up and keep me from proceeding on anything because while something is on the to-do list, it has to be worked on. I can’t move on until it’s done, so if I’m not making progress on it it’ll back up every other project until I do.

Now, all of that is to say that I’m self aware about what trips me up. The best way to get out of writer’s block is to know how you write, how you work, and to know yourself. Identify what is causing the block, and then you’ll have an easier time getting out of it. If you’re bored, work on something else, skip ahead to a more entertaining section, or look at your outline and revamp it to make it exciting. Find someone to talk to about the section you’re stuck on and I guarantee you’ll feel a lot more invigorated afterwards since you’ve likely just talked your way through the issue. If you’re like me and stuck with a to-do list of things that have to be worked on at certain points in the month… It’s harder then, because you have to commit to your schedule and finish things regardless of what you actually want to do. When I’m feeling bored or locked up on something that HAS TO BE DONE, HAS TO!!! I’ll do my best to muscle through it despite my lack of interest. Finished is always better than perfect, and knowing that you can come back to it in the editing phase and fix it will usually give just enough motivation to get over the hump and over the finish line, even if it’s like pulling teeth every step of the way.

Time, though, is always the best answer. It’s a luxury I don’t always have these days, but if I don’t feel like working on something, leaving it until I do will almost always be the correct answer. There’s always other things I could be working on even if I’m not writing. I could be editing something else, working on cover mock-ups, updating my website, or even handling the physical aspects of my business by adding labels onto my purchase bags, signing all of my book copies to speed up things at conventions, or just organizing the office space so I don’t get overrun with my own product. 

So… long story short, I just try to focus on other things and work through shit if necessary to meet deadlines. My patrons and editor are used to me tacking on disclaimers about how certain chapters were more difficult than others and to prepare their expectations accordingly, but it’s always going to sound worse to me than it does to them, and when I go back to edit it three months later, it’ll likely not be that bad to me at that point either. Occupational hazards, I guess. I’m such an old hand at this entire process that I just roll with it when it happens.

What kind of things do you do to replenish your creativity? Ie: where do you go for inspiration, how do you sort it/save it, and what kind of stuff makes you want to create?

Lots of banger questions this month! When I need to replenish my creativity the number one thing I tend to do is consume other people’s work. I read books, watch movies, anime, shows, or go down a research rabbit hole to plumb the depths for more concepts, philosophies, or interesting dynamics that might add depth to shape whatever project I’m currently working on or wanting to flesh out. 

It may surprise you guys to learn that I have to be careful about timing my intake of external content. I can become so easily inspired by good stories and art that it can completely distract me from my current projects and lead to additional ips thrown onto my already overflowing stack. But other times, I really need to just let loose and consume freely. I’ll pick up books that I’ve heard mention of or have been meaning to read over the years, find manga or doujin with interesting premises that might promise some inspiration, or pull up a new tv show on netflix recommended by a friend. Inspiration can be found anywhere, to be honest, and all I really need from it is something that gets my mind buzzing with new thoughts and different ideas than the stuff I come up with organically in my own little echo chamber. 

As for where I save stuff, I’m a big proponent of buying things that serve as massive sources of inspiration for me, so if there are manga, doujins, or books that fit that, I’ll buy them and keep them on hand. If I can’t get physical copies, I save the links and create folders on my desktop to house them instead. I use my Tumblr likes as a repository of inspiration bait as well, and on there you can find decade’s old comics that have stuck with me after all this time, snapshots of long-passed zines that lit a fire in my brain, and long chains of obscure word glossaries that serve as reference for future book titles. 

As for what kinds of stuff make me want to create… It can literally be anything. I can watch a bad movie with a decent premise (or even a bad premise) and come out of it with a new book idea of how I’d execute it better. Fanfiction can lead to the same exact thing, and even partial themes from an existing piece of media can spawn a huge series concept behind my eyes. I’ve even gotten inspired by terrible indie horror games that had concepts buried within their shoddily executed foundations that made me want to do it better, make it worse, make it gayer. 

For example, I watched my favorite youtuber/streamer John Wolfe play a terrible indie horror game called Dinner with Strangers. Long story short, you’re trying to escape a murderous dinner party after learning that you are a clone of your “father’s” dead wife who was created solely to become his new bride. It’s terrible, shlocky, and broken af, but while discussing the concept of how entirely stupid it is to clone your dead wife and then raise the clone from infancy to become your bride (like the pseudo-incest vibes aside, why the hell would you want to marry someone you literally saw in diapers/who will never be your lost wife as her personality came from her own upbringing and such and this wife-daughter won’t ever have that same experience), came up with a better concept of how to be a possessive yandere bastard in the wake of losing your true love. It involves dimension-hopping and stealing from an alternative version of yourself. Never intended to write a story like that before watching John’s thirty minute let’s play and bitching to my editor about how bad it was, but there you go. That’s how my brain works and as I’ve said before, I’ve written books for stupider reasons.

I’m also hugely inspired by academia and the scholarship behind different tropes and concepts. I’m a huge fan of exploring how things affect readers and why certain concepts and ideas are so effective in terms of scaring or resonating with an audience. A lot of my current work has to do with horror and always has, to some extent, but as I begin writing more and more outright horror-based concepts, I’ve been delving more and more into the rich scholarship of horror as a genre and driving force behind the human psyche. I absolutely love deconstructing tropes within the genre to explore them at their base levels. Ossuary and Reliquary are really deeply inspired by that research and just my general interest in the horror genre at large, and, on the flipside, something like Courtly Love also comes from my fascination with chivalry as a philosophy and romantic device alongside the codified records we have of the edicts of courtly love as recorded by troubadours and courtiers throughout the middle ages. 

I always say academia still has me in a strangle grip and I mean that in the most loving way possible. I love scholarship and basing my own work on those foundations, and I’m just as likely to find inspiration in a thesis paper as I am something like Hannibal or (more recently) Trigun. So… yeah. I get inspired by horror, history, subverted tropes, the subversive and transgressive, and roving thoughts that follow the conclusion of an external piece of media or a random daydream amounting to “How could I make this worse? How could I make this gay? How could I make this better?” and things in that vein. 

If you guys are curious at all about what inspired certain works of mine, that’d probably make for a fun blog in the future, too. Chime off in the comments if there’s anything specific you’ve wanted to know the thought process behind, be it a scene, character, or story (book or fanfic alike). I’m excited to see what’s stuck with you guys and whether you’ve ever been inspired by my work the way I’m inspired by other people’s stuff!

But that’s enough for right now. -leans back in my chair with a groan- I’ve got a bit of a buffer made up now that I’ve finished rewriting the first eight chapters of Aubade, so for the next eight or so months I’ll be putting the pedal to the metal on Hiraeth, largely, and in another month or so to the winner of the October poll, too. I’m really hopeful that Hiraeth’s first draft will be completed before we hit September. The second it is, expect to see me screaming that to the rooftops on every social media I’ve got. 

Please send me all the good luck you’ve got to spare as well as some prayers that I survive the crunch of these next few months—I’m going to be pulling double duty once more as I try to power through the five remaining chapters as quickly as I can. If you see me at Colossalcon this month or Jafax the second weekend of June, tell me in person as well. I’ll need it, and I always appreciate knowing people are excited for what’s yet to come.

Until next time,

T.D. Cloud

[aranysziv]

M: Like twins... the monstera and me :D D: Yes, but one of the two is my favourite just now... ;) M: ... I hope you have a good choice then! :D D: Always, haha M: So... let's talk about the serious things... Murals? :) D: Yeah. Are there any murals here too? M: Not that nice you make... :) Anyway, yes, but just a few D: Looking forward to see them... M: Yeah. I can show you my favourite one, wait. This, you see!!! The girl just reads the book, and the shadows behind her like... like the characters of the story, but not really are there with her. The boy and the girl. The book is about love for sure! And the shadows, they almost kiss!!! Aww, I love it every time I see it :) D: It's very nice, you also have an excellent choice :D Do you live here, in Budapest? M: Yes. And you? Where did you came from? D: North of Italy... in the middle of nowhere, haha M: Hmm.. I can speak only one sentence in Italian! D: ? M: Sei tutto per me :) D: Haha, and you know what that means? :D M: Yes... You don't know me yet, but I'm a realllllllly romantic girl - if it still exists nowadays... D: The old fashioned romantic? M: The old fashioned romantic, exactly! What else? :D

D: I think it's a very nice thing nowadays :) M: Well, yes, but sometimes it isn't so easy. But I guess this is why it is so nice, haha... :) so... did you grow up there? The North of Italy? D: Yes, I was born and raised there. But I would like to paint around the world one day M: I think the world will be a much better place with all your paintings all over :) I would give you all the walls in Budapest, if I could. I like your goal! D: Oooo... it is a beautiful compliment! I'm out of the blue completely, my heart just stopped for a minute! M: I mean it! :) I saw them, your art, and I just think wao... that's incredible. How did you became an artist? You're not that older than me. D: I will be 34 in April. I started painting at a very young age, then I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, where I am a professor now. M: That's so cool. Do you like teaching? D: I love it. But I have other projects as well, like this. If we finish here, I just go back to my studio and start drawing again. M: Can I see it? D: Unfortunately, no... it's top secret. M: I don't tell anyone, I promise! :) But I'm really curious because I saw just the murals you make, not that drawings D: Well, I'm only doing studies on nudes M: Oh... I... I didn't know, sorry D: There is nothing to apologize for. Maybe one day you will see the result :) M: I hope so :) D: It's not easy. I've been thinking about this idea for a very long time, but it's really hard to put it into practice, you know M: Why? D: It is also difficult to explain as well as to draw... :D M: Haha, don't stress, no problem. D: You know, you're just one of a kind who can give me inspiration. M: Really? Why? :D I didn't do anything. D: Yeah, but still, haha. You have a very nice body, I would be blind if I can't see it, and you just have a strange but very good sparkle in your eyes. Your aura or I don't really know, but there's something in you what is special. This conversation is just so easy with you, not like with the others.

M: Ahhh... no... no... You're such an Italian man... That is exactly the famous Italian awareness of life, haha :D Not in a hard mode, but you just keep complimenting me and making me so shy. I don't wanna be a stereotyped girl, but you are all these things: you love cooking, eating and of course, I heard you before!!! The AMORE... that's all about, YOU said it, the love - I understand it. And all, everything about like... yeah, that the French called "joie de vivre" :D

D: Maybe you're right. But don't forget: you complimented me too. And I mean every word I said. Every sentence, haha :D M: You're such an idiot. But... thank you so much. It means a lot to me, really. So... I give you inspiration. But we just met! :DDD D: I know :D It sounds silly, but you're driving me crazy! :D M: By this time? :D D: Yes, haha M: I think it's probably my record. I don't know what to say... :D I'm just smiling like a dork. It's very difficult to be your muse at this point. And how many minutes have we been talking? :D

ebben a pillanatban jöttek vissza a többiek. de minden így kezdődött. vagy nagyjából így. meg akartam ezt őrizni magamnak. egy idő után mindenki felejt, még én is. de most még úgy emlékszem ezekre a szavakra, mintha csak tegnap történtek volna. és még mindig mosolyt csalnak az arcomra. néha ennyi is elég.

[kisaxiii]

I posted 13,261 times in 2022

18 posts created (0%)

13,243 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thehobbits

@coolerhope

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I tagged 854 of my posts in 2022

#critical role - 283 posts

#art - 22 posts

#post 2/2 - 22 posts

#post 1/2 - 21 posts

#kisa rambles - 13 posts

#ocs - 12 posts

#miraculous ladybug - 12 posts

#spoilers - 11 posts

#pokemon - 9 posts

#tlovm - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#molly would fight percy and ash and would also try to fuck them. he’s probably flirt with cad but that’s it because he’d respect him as ace

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

No context spoiler for Critical Roll Campaign 3 episode 27

7 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

#4

SONIC SPOILERS DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN IT

Me watching Sonic 2 having seen no spoilers: I can’t wait for the post credit scene. Either we’re gonna see shadow or rouge the bat and either way everyone will loose their collective minds

End of the movie: happens

Me:

14 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

#3

I have a theory about Bruno and the “prophecies” from “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

So we know from the end of the movie that Peppa’s “Prophecy” wasn’t a prophecy, it was just Bruno trying (and failing) to reassure his sister on her wedding day. My theory is that none of the “Prophecies” in the song were actual prophecies.

I saw a Tiktok that said they think the gifts came with more than just the outright obvious gift but more subtle gifts as well. Like Camilo’s shapeshifting also allows him to properly pretend to be someone else, automatically knowing their habits and small things someone wouldn’t notice without having to observe someone. Or Delores having super hearing but also having the ability to fine tune and focus on specific things as well as tune others out and understand everything she is hearing and know what it is (what’s that whirring sound? Oh it’s a fly that’s about 2.4 miles away.) as well as Isabella having a vast knowledge of botany, knowing everything about any plant she grows.

But this is about Bruno, not the rest of the family, so what I think his “extra gift” is is perception. Yes, he can create actual prophecies for anything but I think there are certain things he can just look at, run the math in his head, and be able to give you an accurate prediction without having to go through the whole process. After all, look at his room, it’s clearly set up for a que line, meaning people were lining up to get a prophecy from him, and I can’t imagine how draining it would be to have to do the entire shebang for every person in line. I think most people came in with a question, and he was able to logically give them the outcome after a little questioning, similar to how a fortune teller might but his are more accurate.

We already know that’s kind of what Peppa’s wedding day was, so we can apply this to the other lines as well. “He told me my fish would die, the next day? DEAD!” Her fish was probably sick or not looking too good, so she asked Bruno if he thought the fish would get better, and Bruno, upon observing the fish, probably told her something like “I don’t think your fish will live to see tomorrow unless you get it to a vet.” And all she heard was the first part, and assumed it was hopeless to try and save her fish.

“He told me I’d grow a gut, and just like he said!” This one’s open to a bit more interpretation on how the interaction went, but possibly He approached Bruno while eating and Bruno made a joke saying “You keep eating like that and you’ll have a gut in no time”. Thus making the guy think he was given a prophecy when he did indeed get fat.

“He said that all my hair would disappear now look at my head!” I think this one is honestly just male pattern baldness. Like I think he asked Bruno if his hair would stay or go, and Bruno, knowing his family had a history of MPB, told him it would probably go away, and sure enough, it did.

“He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine. He told me that my powers would grow like the grapes that thrive on the vine!” Isabella’s is a bit more vague than the others, so I think she, as a small child, kept pestering her uncle for a prophecy, and to satisfy her, he told her “one day you will have the life you always dreamed” knowing she was especially favored by Abuela and therefore most likely to get anything and everything she wanted. She probably prodded more, asking about what powers she would get, and he was able to accurately guess similar to how Mirabel predicted Antonio’s gift (she gave him a stuffed animal and said “I know you like animals”). He saw she liked flowers and plants, and told her (in a cryptic way adults do when talking to a kid and trying to be mysterious and fun) “Your power will grow like the grapes that thrive on a vine”

“He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach; betrothed to another!” I actually think Delores’ prophecy was given to her later in life, after Bruno had “left”. We already know she knew he was there the whole time based on her earlier line in the song “I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling” and the end of the movie when she confirmed she did indeed know he was there. We also know he was watching his family from inside the walls and keeping watch over them. When Mariano started coming around, I think Bruno noticed Delores’ feeling for him, but also noticed that Abuela was thinking he would be a perfect match for Isabella, and said as much out loud. Maybe not with the intention of telling Delores, but she heard nonetheless, and gave up even trying.

So yeah, I don’t think any of the predictions in the song were actual prophecies as much as self-fulfilling prophecies, where he told someone how something was likely to go, and they made it go that way by thinking it WAS a prophecy.

28 notes - Posted January 4, 2022

#2

Fucking Brutal, Tiki.

52 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I am genuinely shocked I have t seen a gif set of the chase scene where Scanlan get’s tentacled lmao. That scene had me crying laughing I can’t believe they put that in the show

55 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

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