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lavenderwhore444 · 3 years

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*cracks knuckles* alright let’s get this started so imagine this toga begs shigaraki to go to the beach but we all know shigaraki will say no but little shiggy here has a HUGE crush on u plus he might get to see u in a swimsuit so he says yes ( not toga trying to hug shigaraki, RIP toga 😔) anyways let’s say you usually wear sweat pants and sweaters like baggy stuff, so shigaraki is excited to see what’s under ur clothes ( pervert shigaraki again 😀) when y’all arrive there shigaraki was basically shaking from excitement he was always interested in u but he was too insecure and was afraid you’ll reject him and find him ugly, and plus u were intimidating as hell your always saying what’s on ur mind even if it destroys someone’s self-esteem anyways shigaraki was wearing some shorts and his sweater ( our baby here is insecure don’t worry we’re gonna fix that😏) as shigaraki was sitting he was disappointed since he didn’t see u yet, *turns on the moto moto song* ur coming out of the water like a sea goddess ur hair is wet u were wearing a Bikini( it can be any swimsuit u do u boo) let’s say shigaraki’s jaw dropped he was drooling as u were coming out u noticed ur boss and ran to him ( do u know those moments were the hot chick runs in slow motion that’s how shigaraki saw u) long story short shigaraki was a stuttering mess and was red as a tomato my dude was starring on ur tits the whole time u were talking ( you had a little crush on ur boss ngl u knew shigaraki liked u back so u were the one who told toga about the beach thing u were planning something 👀) shigaraki accidentally pops a boner home boy wanted to cry from embarrassment of course u noticed it and dragged him a a private place where let’s just fuck his brains out until he’s crying from how good it feels as u were dragging shigaraki was thinking ur going to beat him up or something he was terrified until u pushed him against a wall whispered to him what ur gonna do shigaraki almost fainted, as u trying to take off his sweater he started ti cry he thought u might think he’s ugly and make fun of him ( u were lowkey shocked like 😃what now??) So u decided to kiss every part of his body and tell him how beautiful he and eventually he lets u take it off. I’ll let u take the led now loll

( for kinks now I’ll say a lot of body worship kink and a lot of praise kink, I would say the reader is a super soft dom, shigaraki is a super shy and cute sub maybe the reader gives shigaraki a boob job idk do whatever ur comfortable with babe, btw it’s super fluffy)

-🤡

My Pleasure

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My masterlist got a little longer since I updated everything so you can go check it out if you want ig...

If you want to use interactive fics, it's easy and makes reading fics SO much better. First, you download the Google Chrome extension. You'll see it in the top right corner of your screen. Next, you enter your name in the first box. If you want to change something other than y/n, please click on the text that says “want to change something other than y/n?” here, you can change any word you want to a different word. When I talk about your quirk I will use y/q

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Master List

Warnings: Boob job, cunnilingus (oooh fancy word), Shiggy is insecure but dw we fix that, praise kink, use of the nickname “puppy, ” Shigarakis a pervert (not news to us), nipple play ig, body worship, soft dom y/n, sub Shigaraki, he cries :(, I hc that Shigaraki has sh scars on his thighs and they are mentioned

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“Beach!” Toga yelled, “we’re going to the beach!”

She ran up to you and hugged you.

“Y/n we’re going to the beach!” she said, grinning up at you.

“We are, ” you nodded, ruffling her hair.

She ran over to Shigaraki, “come to the beach with us, Shiggy, ”

“No, ” he said, looking back at his game.

“Please, everyone is going, ” she pouted, “even y/n is coming, ”

A vision of you in a bathing suit flashed in front of his eyes. He imagined you putting on sunscreen and laying on your stomach on the beach, accidentally spilling water on your chest and your nipples perking up because of how cold you were out of the water.

“Fine, ” he said.

Toga squealed and hugged him.

“Oh- hey, what the hell?” he said, pushing her off, “don’t do that toga,”

She moved on to her next victim, “Dabi, go to the beach with us!”

“Who’s coming?” he asked, lighting a cigarette.

“I got everyone to go, ” she bragged.

“Wow, kid, everyone? Even y/n?” he asked.

Toga nodded frantically, proud of her achievement.

“God job, I’ll go, ” he smirked, “plus i’ll get to see y/n in a bathing suit, ”

You walked by and flicked his forehead, “eyes to yourself, bacon bits, ”

“God, babe, I love your little pet names for me, ” he teased.

Shigaraki glared at him, but you were already halfway up the stairs.

“Don’t look at me like that, ” he said, looking at Shigaraki, “we’re both going for the same reason, ”

“No, ” he denied, “I’m going because it's summer, and when it’s summer, you go to the beach, ”

Dabi rolled his eyes, “whatever you say, boss, ”

“Shiggy!” Toga yelled, “go get ready. We’re leaving, ”

He stood in his room staring at his swim shorts. He knew he’d have to wear them, and he could just put a shirt on too. He didn’t have to swim. He could just leave the shirt on. It would be fine. He really didn’t have a chance with you, but if you saw him without a shirt, you’d be disgusted. He felt disgusting.

You pulled out a bikini Toga forced you to buy and flopped down on the bed. Shigaraki was coming, which meant you were gonna get to see him without a shirt. You blushed and giggled, already daydreaming about him. Even though it was wrong, even though he was your boss, you just couldn't help it. You were one-hundred percent certain you were going to melt when you saw him. Toga had always said he had a crush on you. Maybe he would finally make a move. That was the plan anyways. The whole reason Toga had bugged everyone to go was by your request.

With your bag packed and swimsuit on under your clothes, you were ready to go. Shigaraki wanted to cry when he looked in the mirror. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe he shouldn't go. He heard a knock on his door.

“Hey, we’re about to leave. Are you ready?” You asked, “if not, I'll wait with you, so you dont have to go down by yourself. I hate being the last person ready. I don't want you to go through that pain, ” you laughed.

“No, I'm ready, ” he said, opening the door. No turning back now.

“Alright, let's go, ” you said, already walking downstairs.

He tried to calm himself as he walked down, trying to stop the grin that wanted to spread across his face. Finally, he thought, what was y/n hiding all this time? He was last to go through the warp gate, upset that you had already runoff. He waited around, nearly sweating to death until he heard Dabi yell.

“C’mon y/n, give us a little spin, ” he yelled.

He saw you blast him with sand using your quirk. He chuckled at Dabi’s predicament. You screamed as Dabi jumped in, splashing you with water. He picked you up in his arms only to throw you back in the water. You came up for air and splashed him again. Your splash war continued for some time, providing Tomura with entertainment until, ultimately, you called it a draw. He watched you and Toga play mermaids for a while before he grew bored and continued with his game, that was until Dabi wolf-whistled and he saw you begin to walk out of the water. You used your quirk again, sending a small tidal wave towards him.

“Youre so mean to me y/n, ” he complained.

“Shut it, patchwork, ” you said.

“Stop you're giving me butterflies, ” he smirked, getting splashed again.

You started walking again, the water slowly getting shallower and revealing more of your body. You were glistening, the sun reflecting off the water on your skin. Your cheeks were red from the sun, and he realized you had put sunscreen on in your room. Damn it. You brushed some wet hair out of your face, and your chest was now entirely on display.

“Fuck, ” he whispered.

He tried to be discrete, and the sun shining directly in your eyes certainly helped him. He stared at your stomach, the next part of your body to reveal itself. All he could think about is tracing little designs on it, laying his head on it, and putting a baby in it. Your thighs were an absolute show stopper. He wanted to suffocate between them. He averted his eyes when he realized you were walking over to him.

“Hey, can I sit here?” you asked, wringing out your hair.

“S-sure, ” he said, trying to focus on your face, which was definitely beautiful but...boobs lol.

“Thanks, ” you said, “I’d rather sit with you than all of them. I love Toga, but she’s a handful, and everyone else is staring at me. Bunch of creeps, ”

“Sorry about them, ” he said, unable to stop his wandering eyes.

“It’s ok. Nothing you can do, Shiggy, ” you said, “oh my god, you’re bright red. Did you forget sunscreen? It’s ok. I've got some, but you’re on the paler side, so you've gotta be careful, Shig, or you’ll burn up, ”

The redness on his face was because you were sitting next to him, nearly naked, but he wasn't going to admit that, especially when he saw you bend over to get sunscreen. He was trying desperately to control himself, but part of him had a mind of its own. He nearly died when you leaned in and put sunscreen on his face, laughing as you put a glob on his nose. He let out a genuine laugh that warmed your heart. You started talking, but honestly, he couldn't listen. You were very expressive when you spoke, and all the movement caused your tits to bounce, mesmerizing him.

He could only half listen, nodding and ‘mhm’ing when appropriate. You noticed quickly and gave him a few minutes to redeem himself but he failed. You grabbed his chin and made his eyes meet yours.

“Tomura Shigaraki, we're you staring at my boobs?” you said, feigning disappointment.

“N-no, I wasn't, ” he said.

You sighed, “lying about it only makes it worse, ”

“I'm sorry, ” he whispered, “I know I shouldn't have. I just...”

You let go of his chin and looked down at his lap.

“Really?” you asked, pointing out his obvious boner.

“Shit, I'm sorry y/n I'm so sorry. I know I'm gross and awful, and I'm just so sorry, ” he said, trying to cover it.

You grabbed his arm and dragged him away to the deserted changing rooms. Originally this beach was supposed to be a hot spot for tourists, but the water park a few miles closer to the city shut it down, leaving the beach in good condition. He braced himself for a slap, a punch, a kick, but he never could've prepared himself for a kiss on the cheek.

“I've been thinking about this for a while, Shigaraki, ” you whispered, “thinking about all the things I'd do to you, all the ways I'd make you feel good. Did you know I can block skin-to-skin quirks? You can touch me, baby, ”

“Y-you're not mad?” he whispered.

“No, I'm not mad, ” you shook your head, “I've always had a little crush on you Shiggy, ”

“Tomura, ” he corrected, “call me Tomura, ”

“Tomura, ” you whispered, “I can't wait to touch you. Fuck, I'm gonna kiss you all over. I can't wait to get between your thighs, baby. We've got all day, ”

He kissed you softly, enjoying your lips. They were sweet and soft in contrast to his dry, chapped ones. He felt so lacking, but the way you were kissing him made him feel like he was floating. You pushed him further against the wall, running your hands through his hair. Your arms hung around his neck, and he wrapped his arms tight around your waist. You kissed each other for a while, no teeth or tongue, just your lips pressed together. Eventually, things began to heat up. You let your tongue try and find its way between his lips and into his mouth. He groaned into your mouth. You tugged his hair, trying to get even closer. Your hands traveled up and down his chest, reaching for the bottom of his shirt.

He grabbed your hands and pulled away.

“No, ” he whispered.

You nodded, “that's ok, you don't have to, Tomura. Did I do something wrong?”

He shook his head, “you’ll make fun of me, ”

“Why would I make fun of you?” you asked, stroking his cheek.

“Because I'm not, ” his voice broke, “I don't- I'm ugly y/n. My body is disgusting you-you won't like me anymore, ”

Your eyes widened, “what?”

“You heard me, ” Tomura said, wiping away tears, “I hate myself, and you would too, ”

“That's bullshit, ” you said, “I think you're beautiful, ”

He scoffed, “you've never even seen me in shorts before now. How would you even know?”

“Because I’ll think you're beautiful no matter what, Tomura Shigaraki, ” you said, “and nothing could ever change that, ”

He shook his head and turned to walk away, but you took his hips and pushed him against the wall. You grabbed his face and kissed him harshly. You kissed his forehead next, the scar on his eye, both of his eyelids, his cheeks, the scar on his lips, and the mole under them.

“You have such a pretty face. You have gorgeous eyes, Tomura. I love kissing you, ” you whispered between kisses.

You kissed away a few stray tears that fell and pressed your forehead to his as he cried.

“Please don't look at me, ” he whispered, pressing his face into your neck.

Seeing him like this broke your heart. You held him as tight as you could, kissing the side of his head. You were going to kill whoever did this to him. You lifted his head and kissed him softly this time. You rubbed your hands up and down his sides. You sunk to your knees and kissed his thighs. Every scar was kissed and stroked lovingly even though your heart broke for him. You moved up his body to his stomach, lifting his shirt even though he tried to pull it down again. You kissed his stomach, soft, light kisses.

He started to relax a bit more, petting your hair instead of trying to pull down his shirt. You moved to his hands next, standing once again. You took his right hand and kissed his knuckles, then the top of his hand, and lastly, his palm. You repeated this on his other hand. You started kissing the scars on his neck, sucking softly. He moaned.

“That feels good y/n, ” he said, moving his hands to your hair.

“I'm gonna make you feel good, baby, don’t worry, ” you mumbled against his skin.

You bit the skin at the juncture of his neck, he groaned and whispered, “yes.” You kissed down to his collar bones, hearing his breathing get faster. This time you practically yanked off his shirt before he had time to stop you.

“So fucking beautiful, ” you said, standing back to admire him.

This time he didn't turn away from you but blushed and shut his eyes. You ran your hands up and down his chest and stomach. Shigaraki whimpered when you tweaked his nipple.

“Good boy, ” you whispered.

He nodded, “I wanna be your good boy. Please, ”

You smiled and brought his lips to yours again. You kissed his cheek and bit his ear softly.

“You're doing all the work, ” he said, “that's not fair. Besides shouldn't I be in charge? That's what it's like in...” he trailed off, embarrassed.

“No, ” you said, “I want to do this for you. I want to be in charge. I want to take care of you, baby. You deserve to relax, ”

He kissed you again, holding you tight to his chest.

“Tomura, ” you said, taking his hands in yours, “I have a question for you, ”

He nodded.

You leaned in and whispered, “how would you like to fuck my tits. You were staring at them all day so why don't you have a little fun with them, ”

He nodded frantically.

“Use your words, puppy, ” you said, scratching his head.

He groaned softly, “yes, please y/n, ”

You guided his hands to your still-clothed chest. He squeezed gently, cheeks growing bright red. You giggled and undid the back of your bikini, letting him see your tits without the thin material over them. He was practically drooling over you, wrapping his lips around your nipple. He sucked and licked them, causing you to moan. Every sound you made was a symphony to his ears, the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard, and he was desperate for more. He moved upwards to litter your neck with hickeys and coax more moans from your beautiful lips.

His long fingers found their way to the strings on the sides of your bikini bottoms. With one tug at the strings, they were around your ankles. It was your turn to blush at the exposure of your body while Tomura’s eyes gleamed. He was on his knees in mere seconds, admiring your sex. You felt self-conscious as he stared at your most intimate area.

“Please, ” he said, looking up at you, “can I taste?”

“Let me do something for you first, ok?” you said, “sit on the bench, ”

He nodded and did as he was told. You kneeled in front of Tomura and took off his pants before pushing your tits together around his cock. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he watched you. You looked up at him as you bounced, moving him between your breasts. He let out a strangled groan and threw his head back.

“That's my good boy, ” you praised, “that's my baby, feels good, yeah?”

He nodded.

“Use your words, puppy, ” you reminded him.

He bit his lip and blushed, still silent, except for his little noises.

“Aww, is someone feeling shy?” you asked.

He nodded and hid his face in his hands though it did little to hide the shy smile on his lips.

“If you want me to keep going, you're going to have to be a good pet for me, Tomura. Be a good boy and speak up, ” you said, pulling his hands away from his face.

“Feels good, ” he whispered.

You decided that was good enough and continued moving him between your boobs. You watched the head of his dick throb and pulse. He began whimpering as his thighs shook. He got louder, whining and moaning desperately.

“I know, baby, I know, ” you said in response to his beautiful noises.

He cried out whimpering.

“Y/n, ” he cried, “I need to cum, ”

“Hold just a little bit longer for me baby, ” you said.

“Can't, ” he cried out, “can't hold it y/n please lemme cum, ”

“Just a little longer, ” you promised, “be my good boy, ”

He whimpered and tensed up in concentration, trying his hardest. He struggled for a while longer begging and crying to cum.

“Go ahead, cum for me, Tomura, ” you said.

He came hard, splattering your chest with his cum. Tomura was left panting and shaking while drool dripped down his chin. His dick twitched a few times more as you let it free from between your boobs. He whined pathetically. You cleaned the sticky mess up as best you could.

“Shh sweetie, I know, I know, ” you said, sitting next to him and pushing hair out of his face.

You pulled him to your chest, watching and listening to him breathe.

“Now, can I taste?” Tomura whispered.

You kissed his forehead, “of course, puppy. Go ahead, ”

He sunk to his knees, spreading your thighs. He groaned when he saw your sloppy cunt drooling for his mouth. He licked a long stripe up your entire cunt, licking over and over. Focused on taste rather than pleasure, finally indulging himself in the delicious juices of your cunt. He grew needier for your moans, trying to find the right places to lick and suck. He found a little bud at the top of your cunt to suckle on and flick his tongue over. Tomura smiled from ear to ear at the sounds coming out of you. Every moan and whimper, every grunt and groan made his heart swell. His fingers once again found their way down, this time finally entering you.

Unpracticed thrusts turned into brushing your g-spot until he realized that curling his fingers was the way to go. Hearing your moans and lewd squelches was a fantastic prize to collect.

“I'm close, Tomura, keep going sweetie, ” you choked out.

You were close, oh god, yes, you were going to cum in his mouth. He ate you out with a passion, desperate for your gorgeous pussy to drip down his chin. Harder, faster thrusts. Stronger licks and desperate slurping. When you finally tensed, he moaned in premature ecstasy, ready for your delicious cum. The vibrations coaxed a gorgeous moan from you. Cum gushed from your pussy and into his waiting mouth, lapping it up like a starved puppy. You tried to shove him away, overstimulation stabbing your cunt. When he finally pulled away, his face was red and coated in your slimy juices, as well as his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He was panting and absolutely blissed out.

He crawled back to you, clinging to your legs.

“Good puppy, ” you praised him, “you did great, Tomura, ”

He grinned, hiding his face in your thigh and giggling. You pulled him up and onto your lap, kissing him on the nose.

“Do you want me to fuck you properly baby?” you asked.

His face fell, “I can't. I'm...I'm not hard. I'm sorry, ” he whispered, tears of embarrassment welling in his eyes.

“Oh, baby, ” you said, stroking his hair, “it's ok, Tomura. It’s ok. Don't worry baby, ”

He sniffled, “ Please don't be mad at me. ‘m sorry. I'm sorry y/n I-I’m a bad boy, ”

“No baby, no, ” you said, wiping away his tears, “you're not a bad boy. You're my good boy, my special boy, ”

He whimpered, bottom lip quivering. You rubbed his back, praising him.

“My good boy, my sweet boy. You did so well for me. Tomura, you're amazing, you're such a perfect boy Tomu, ” you whispered.

He nodded, trying to compose himself.

“Lets go swimming honey, ” you said, stroking his cheek.

He shook his head frantically, “n-no I don't want them to see me, ”

You looked him in his eyes, “you are beautiful. Now come on, we’re both sweaty. Besides, I think they'll be more focused on all the hickeys you gave me, ” you giggled.

He bit his lip.

“C’mon baby, ” you coaxed him, “can you be my good boy?”

He nodded hesitantly, “I'm...a good boy. But-but what if they make fun of me?”

“Then I’ll kill them, ” you smiled, “if they're going to disrespect you, they don't deserve to be in the league anyways, ”

His eyes widened, and a small smile played on his lips. He nodded and stood up, offering a hand to help you up. You accepted, and he pulled you up and to his chest. He held you there, pressing his face into your hair.

“Thank you, ” he whispered.

You kissed him, “my pleasure, ”

#tomura fluff #tomura smut #tenko smut #tomura x reader #mha tomura #tomura imagine #shigaraki tenko #tomura shiragaki #tomurashigaraki #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki fluff #shigaraki smut #mha shigaraki #shigaraki x reader

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not-xpr-art · 3 years

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Art Advice #4 - A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art

Hi all!

This weeks entry into my Art Advice tag, where I offer various advice for artists of any skill level, is about digital art! Now, I am by no means an expert at digital (I’ve been doing it for nearly 8 years at this point and that is almost entirely self taught), but I have picked up a few pointers in that time which will hopefully help anyone just starting out!

(this blogpost is a little over 2000 words long btw)

A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art

I know that the world of digital art has changed drastically in the 8 odd years since I started, but I’d still say that some of the options I started out with will be just as good for anyone who’s starting out now!

As always, I’ll be splitting this into sections to make it easier for you to navigate this post!

Part 1 - Equipment/Hardware

There are a lot of drawing tablet options on the market at the moment, and I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about half of them lol. But I think for a beginner, don’t worry about going for the most expensive option, even if the reviews are really good or your favourite artist uses it, especially if it is way above your budget!

An important thing to know is that there are two types of tablet. One is the plug-in kind. These are essentially a pad which you plug into your laptop or computer and draw on that whilst looking at the screen (they basically work the same way as a plug in mouse works). The other kind is the screen variety, which is a lot more like what most of us know as ‘tablets’ nowadays. And you draw directly onto the screen.

(a plug-in vs on screen tablet, both from Wacom)

Now, as for choosing between these, it is honestly a personal choice. But I’d say if you’re just wanting to try digital and you’re on a budget, a plug-in tablet can be really useful since it gets you used to the mechanics of what digital is like, and they are often significantly cheaper than the screen alternatives. I would say that plug-in tablets are a big learning curve, especially if you’re used to doing traditional stuff, but I do know a lot of professional artists who still use this kind of tablet when doing their work, so if it’s something you can get used to I would definitely consider it! Also, they’re often a lot more portable than some screen tablets! The first one I had was a Huion (a model so old that I can’t even find a link to it now lol), and I also know that Wacom are a well known brand that do some decent plug-in tablet. I’d recommend you do your own research on other brands and options, though!

Screen tablets are often a lot more expensive, but if you’re used to traditional art, they are a lot easier to get a handle of! But I know if you already have something like an iPad, or other general use tablets, then they offer apps that you can use to draw on (as well as things like the Apple pen, or other stylus’). The big difference between using these general tablets and ones specifically designed for drawing is pretty much purely a personal choice. I personally prefer the bigger screen of my XP-Pen tablet, along with a special screen protector that removes the shininess of the tablet screen and makes it feel more like ‘paper’ over when I used a general use tablet it draw. But if you already have an iPad, or something similar, then it’s honestly a really great starting point!

I think it’s important for me to mention that you don’t need fancy equipment to be an artist. The incredible Elicia Donze has revealed countless times how she has very basic equipment but still manages to produce the most stunning artworks! All you really need is some kind of drawing apparatus and a lot of patience lol! Getting good at any kind of art takes a lot of time and effort, but I would definitely say it’s worth it when you’re able to look back at your progress!

Part 2 - Software/Drawing Programs

Much like with the hardware discussion, choosing which program to use is entirely down to personal preference. I personally have never really liked Photoshop purely because it’s really complicated, but I know so many artists swear by it.

I think the main aspect to consider when you’re starting out is whether you want to pay for a program. Software like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint and Procreate are some of the popular ones I hear about a lot of people using, but all require you to purchase or subscribe to them. So if you’re young or on a very tight budget, I’d honestly recommend the free alternative versions of these, such as Krita (Krita is quite a large program, but it has a lot of really awesome features and is very similar to Photoshop!), Gimp (this one is similar to Krita, but has slightly less options, I’d honestly recommend Gimp for anyone who does photo editing though!) or FireAlpaca (this is the one I use, by the way and it’s a pretty simple program, but has a lot of fantastic features and is perfect for how I work!). These don’t have as many features as some of the paid alternatives, but I honestly think all you really need to start digital art is some kind of ‘canvas’ and set of brushes!

Another great free program for beginners I’d recommend is MyPaint, which is great for doodling and just getting used to how digital art feels in comparison to traditional! It also has a bunch of ‘traditional style’ brushes, to make it look like charcoal or watercolour (which I’m sure the paid alternatives have too, but it’s always better when it’s free, I find lol...)

(this is an example of a drawing I did on MyPaint using the ‘charcoal’ effect brush!)

Most of the sites are pretty self explanatory, with sections dedicated to different brushes (I’ll go into the types of brushes later on in this post btw!), adjusting brush size, shape and opacity, a colour wheel, etc. You also have a section dedicated to ‘layers’ (another thing I’ll go into more detail later), and various ‘filters’ and editing options and effects you can add to your work to make it more interesting!

I’d really just recommend playing around with programs until you find your one!

Part 3 - The Pros of Digital Art!

I realise this section should probably earlier in this blog post lol, but I kinda wanted to go into what digital art can achieve in comparison to traditional art, and how beginner artists can utilise this!

I definitely didn’t take advantage of certain aspects of digital art when I first got into it, and they’re things that would have definitely made my life a whole lot easier lol!

Digital art allows you to tweak drawings as you do them. So if you accidentally drew the eye too far to the right, then you can easily move it to the right place. (I usually do this by selecting whichever area is wrong, cutting it out and then pasting it into a new area... And yes, there is probably a better and quick way of doing this but...I haven’t found that way yet lol...). And I honestly think that this has allowed me to look a lot more at a reference image in order to figure out where I’ve gone wrong with a drawing! Whereas with traditional art, I usually spend so long trying to get an eye right, that even if it’s slightly in the wrong place, I don’t want to completely redo that section. Digital allows you to completely rub out sections without leaving indents, which is honestly such a saving grace!

Another pro of digital is the Undo/Ctrl Z function! This means you can easily go back to before you made a major mistake with just a click of Ctrl Z... Though I have to say that this function has honestly ruined traditional art for me... Oh what wouldn’t I give for a real life Ctrl Z... But yeah, this is a great part of digital art and definitely something you will grow to love lol!

Another great thing about digital is that it allows you to flip and turn a canvas as you’re drawing on it. I spent a lot of time trying to turn my tablet around in order to draw certain parts of a piece before I realised you can turn the canvas itself without having to move yourself or your tablet!

Layers are another part of digital that can be super useful, and I have to be honest but I don’t really use them a lot. I know a lot of artists create layers for every section of their artworks (so, one for the linework, one for colouring, a separate one for the background, etc etc...). And there’s something really great about being able to paint without worrying about smudging into a previous section of the painting. This works well for my work since I do a lot of bright backgrounds. I also often create a lot of ‘versions’ of my works, so it’s useful to be able to change the background without affecting the main figure of the piece! (I have to say that I often work in one big layer when I’m doing paintings, just because I like how it feels more like ‘traditional’ art that way, but layers are such a brilliant tool, and definitely something you should play around with!)

The eyedropper tool is another one that is really useful! Although I never colour pick from my reference photos, I know some artists find this useful when they were just starting out (especially if you’re not sure what colour to make shadows or how to mix skin tones, etc etc). The eyedropper basically means you don’t need to mix your colours every time

Part 4 - Just some other things I wish I had known about when I was starting out lol...

This last section is just dedicated to a few things that I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out all those years ago.

First one is fluffy/textured brushes!

I spent most of my art life from 2013 until 2016 using ‘round’ brushes which are notoriously hard to blend with, so I’d recommend either downloading some fluffy/textured brushes (DeviantArt was where I got mine from a few years back, but there are probably other places you can get them for free too!) to your program of choice, since most of the programs I’ve used haven’t had fluffy/textured brushes as pre-set.

I may make another post about how I blend in my artworks if that’s something people would be interested in?

(this is an example of textured brush blending vs round brush blending... I usually opt for round brushes for rougher blending styles and the textured brushes for more smooth and ‘realistic’ blending... for a lot of pieces, though, I use both brushes (the round brushes are good for details!) in the same way that you use different sized brushes for real paintings!)

The next thing I wish I’d discovered earlier is the Brush Stabiliser option. Some programs may do this automatically, but the one I use (FireAlpaca) requires you to manually change the amount of stabilising you have on your brush. This is particularly useful if you want to draw neat lines or straight lines (the stabiliser essentially slows down the ‘ink’ as you’re drawing). I only recently started using the stabiliser, and although I still like having it mostly turned ‘off’ for doing sketchy work, it does make doing line work a lot easier, and also gives pieces a more polished look!

Next advice is to explore all the options you can in whatever program you use!

I feel like with certain programs, you can get overwhelmed by choice and you end up just using a few of the functions. But I’d really recommend just playing around with these programs, trying all the filters and editing options to get used to how the program works. You can often find interesting ways to adjust your artworks this way! In a way I’d recommend this way of working more than finding tutorials made by other people... Unless there’s a specific function you want to learn how to do, just having fun with digital art is a major part of it’s appeal to me!

There are probably a lot of other options I could go into, but this is already over 2000 words long, so I’ll leave it here for now lol! (I may do a part 2 though so... keep a look out for that!)

As always, if you have any questions to things I’ve said here, or are just looking for more advice, don’t hesitate to message me!

And if you like my work on here (art & blog posts) feel free to support me on my Ko-Fi! <3

#art advice #digital art #art advice for beginners #digital art for beginners #artist advice #digital art tips #artists on tumblr #just want to say again that i am not an expert at this at ALL lol #i just want to offer some really basic advice to anyone interested in starting out with digital!

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x-reader-fanfics · 3 years

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Heyyyy :) I saw your last post w dataxreader, and I was wondering if you’d do another? I LOVED it 😍 maybe one where reader and data aren’t in a relationship yet, but he gets super jealous when someone hits on reader, and then mutual feelings come to light? Eeeek thank you, and if u don’t wanna do this one right away I understand cause u just did one, but thank u anyway, and I love your writing ♥️

🖤 Malfunction 💛

Summary: When a new Ensign takes a romantic interest in you, a new light begins to shine on the seemingly simple relationship between you and your closest friend Data.

Requests are open!

~x~

Data had always preferred working with you.

You understood the nuances of his coding and his odd personality in ways no other officer ever had. Where most would have been confused and perhaps even discomforted by his unusual behavior, you had always found it fascinating, even going so far as telling him it was charming.

“I like hearing things from your perspective. You say such wonderful things, Data.” You had laughed, bumping his elbow with your own as you and him worked for hours side by side.

You were his partner, the completing half of his equation. No one else would get the question right. He needed you, and you needed him.

“Good morning, Data.” You smiled warmly, sliding into his side as you began your shifts together as you always had, greeting him the same way you always had before, kind and soft.

“Good morning, (F/N).” He welcomed you back, cordial and quiet.

Mornings were the moments you always shared together, the small smiles and quick touches which insinuated more but never dared to be recognized aloud.

“I barely slept last night.” You sighed deeply, gently resting your head against his shoulder as your eyes fluttered shut. You reminded him of the Renaissance angels he had often seen in ancient Earth paintings. He should do a painting of you.

“Perhaps a visit to Dr. Crusher would be beneficial.” Data commented idly, refusing to move even slightly, hoping it might persuade you to keep your head buried in the crook of his neck for even a millisecond longer.

Touching you was right. Being with you was right. It was unexplainable, but it was akin to answering a complicated question correctly, or finishing a long project. It was what he had been made to do.

“Hey beautiful.” An unknown voice interrupted Data’s rampant thoughts, causing his golden eyes to flicker toward this intruder into you and his peaceful morning.

“Oh. Hey, Brad.” You slightly sighed, bowing your head politely at him before returning to your work.

“A couple of friends and I are having a party tonight at Ten Forward. I’d love for you to be there.” He grinned, his smile all teeth and his eyes shimmering a bit too brightly.

“A party in Ten Forward. I had not heard of this before now.” Data easily inserted himself into the conversation, cocking his head as he stared questioningly at the Ensign.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Brad rubbed his neck awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable around the android. “There’ll be girls there too. If you’re even into that sort of thing…”

Data missed your eyes shooting towards his, a hopeful but anxious look dancing across your face. You had wanted to admit your feelings to your friend for months now, but your anxieties about his own feelings had always held you back. How could he possibly be interested in other people in such a way? He didn’t even have emotions.

“Tell your friends I will be there.” He smiled, over-animatedly winking as he returned to his work, a small but proud smile on his face. He needed to watch over you and make sure this Brad didn’t try anything which might make you uncomfortable. You were his partner to care for, he nodded satisfactorily within his head, as if needing to justify his abnormal behavior to himself.

You could feel your heart shatter. Data wanted to go to Brad’s stupid party? To pick up girls? You were planning on simply turning the man down and having a quiet night in, but now that Data was going…

“Well you can count me in too.” You had to force yourself to smile, fighting the urge to gag at the way Brad licked his lips and winked at your response. He sauntered away like the cat who had caught the canary, your hands itching to strangle him as you twisted back to your work station, a cheesy smile still plastered to your face.

“Are you interested in Brad sexually?” Data asked with a pleasant smile.

Your mouth fell open, your breath flooding out of you as a wild blush stained your cheeks, hot and embarrassing. You didn’t know what to say, you couldn’t even breathe!

“W-Why’s any of that your business!” You half-shouted, darting away before he could pry any deeper.

You couldn’t handle it if Data found out you were in love with him.

Ah. Data mused, each and every one of his circuits freezing on one overly-simple thought. It would appear you loved him.

~x~

You hadn’t spoken to Data all day. You were too ashamed to even consider facing him. Running away in the middle of your shift because of your personal feelings was not something a professional Starfleet officer did.

“If I may be so bold,” A familiar voice began, soft and warm in its cantor, “You are positively ravishing this evening.”

Data stood before you, an out-of-character smirk striking daringly across his face as he took your hand in his, lightly grazing his lips against your knuckles.

“Data!” You gasped, barely able to keep yourself from becoming a melted mess.

“What are we doing talking over here when we could be dancing over there?” He smirked, grabbing your waist as he pulled you by the hand towards the dance floor, a grace to his every step.

“What happened to you Data?” You asked, practically breathless.

“I downloaded some new personalities appropriate for such an event.” He dipped you low, brushing his nose against yours as he started deeply into your eyes. “Are you enjoying me?”

You couldn’t help but laugh then, carefree and dripping with affection.

You loved this man.

“Yes, Data. I always enjoy you.” You grinned, wrapping your arms around his neck right in the middle of the dance floor.

Data felt accomplished. Everything was as it should be. You were always meant to be with him, and no one else. It was just what made sense.

You were his closest friend.

“Data, there’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you, but I’ve never really been able to.” You grasped his hand tighter in yours, unable to remove your eyes from the floor.

“What is it?” He asked, patient and quiet.

“Pardon to interrupt, but I couldn’t let you keep this beauty all to yourself for the whole night.” Brad smiled confidently, bending his face closer to yours as he attempted to slide between you and Data.

Data refused to budge, pulling you closer against his body. He barely stopped himself from shoving the Ensign across the room.

What was going through his systems? The more Brad talked to you the more Data wanted to never see his face again. The closer Brad got to you the closer Data needed to be to you instead, as if to reassure himself of something.

Any smiles you afforded Brad were meant to be his. He didn’t want you to look at anyone but him.

But such thoughts could only be defined as possessiveness. Something Data knew was inappropriate for friendships.

He released you, giving you one last glance before quickly leaving Ten Forward. He couldn’t bear to see his hands on you, to see the love which would pour out of your eyes for the handsome human, something Data could never compare to.

People did not fall in love with androids.

Even as his system screamed at him to correct things, to take you in his arms and kick Brad halfway back to Earth, he refused to listen. With some simple rewiring he could set his head back on straight.

You were his friend. Somewhere along the way his pathways must have set the wrong link down, convincing himself you might be something more.

His feelings for you were nothing more than a malfunction.

You watched as Data stormed away, confused and hurt by his behavior. One moment he looked ready to clock Brad and the next he was almost throwing you at him.

Did he think you wanted the slime bag?

“He’s never not said goodbye to me.” You muttered almost to yourself, staring after your best friend.

“Maybe he just forgot to.” Brad joked, grabbing you by the hips. “Let’s stop talking about that android and start talking about us.”

You scoffed at him, harshly shoving him away as you ran after Data. You were going to tell him no matter what it took, everyone else on this ship be damned.

You eventually found him in Keiko O’Brien’s garden, his face almost forlorn as he gently caressed an orchid in full bloom.

“Data?” You asked quietly, not wishing to startle him even though you knew that was impossible.

He turned his head to yours, almost in disbelief. “Where is Brad?”

“I don’t know, he’s nobody I’m concerned about.” You stated clearly, stepping towards him. He was so tall, the way he gazed down upon you with such genuine confusion causing you to smother a giggle.

“I do not understand, but it is not a topic I wish to hear more about.” He admitted, returning to his flower.

“And why is that?” You asked hopefully, bunching your dress between your fingers.

He glanced back at you, face blank as he simply contemplated himself, the color of your hair and the look on your face enough to push him over the edge.

“Because I am malfunctioning.” He said simply, stock still as he waited for your response.

You took his hand in your own, holding it as gently as a bird as you squeezed it to your chest. “What if I told you I was malfunctioning too?”

His brows furrowed across his face. “Then we must see Dr. Crusher at once!”

Your jaw dropped, disbelief to the point of amusement dancing across your face as you watched the worry on his face slowly seep into bewilderment.

“I’m not talking about my health, Data.” You laughed, sliding your fingers against his scalp as you pressed your body flush to his. “I’m telling you I’m in love with you.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

Before you could react he wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, pressing his lips against yours hard enough to bruise. He wanted you so badly in that moment he had forgotten to restrain himself, pressing against you fervently as he began to kiss the corner of your mouth, sucking and biting his way to your neck.

He couldn’t believe you would say such a thing to him, that you would allow him to do this. It was such a thrilling and new interaction he couldn’t get enough of it.

Without hesitation he pulled your flesh between his teeth, proudly marking you as his as he bruised your neck.

“Data…” You moaned, unable to do anything but limply hold onto him, knowing he would never let you fall.

“My (Y/N).” He whispered happily against your hickey, giving it a quick kiss, before standing back up properly, still refusing to release you from his hold.

Your whole body felt like jelly. Just from a few kisses Data had swooned you off your feet.

“You are so handsome.” You sighed, not knowing anything else to say but exactly what had been on your mind since you had first met the android.

“And you are so beautiful.” He murmured back gently, knowing he would spend the rest of his life saying those words.

#onlyyoudarling #request #data tng #tng #star trek #star trek the next generation #data #data x reader #data tng x reader #im so sorry this took so long #but i finally finished my semester so I have time to write now #I really hope you enjoy it!#thank you so much for enjoying my writing #fanfic #x reader #x reader fanfics #jealousy #fluff

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sango-blep · 3 years

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Hi ma’am sorry to bother but you do the most beautiful art and I think you said you use paint tool sai, I just got it and feel kinda lost, do you have some basic advice on how to use that?

I completely transitioned to clip studio last year but I used Sai for many years.

First "tip" if that's not already the case and if you can somehow afford it, buy the program! I had a pirated version for many years as a baby artist (and I know a lot of people still do) but bought it when I could, it's only one guy making and maintaining it, also one time pay! (it should be somewhere around 40$)

Then, in case you also didn't know that, I'd suggest downloading Paint tool sai2, if you have/buy the normal pts license, you can also activate pts2 with it, no extra cost! I believe it still runs as a "beta", but I used pts2 as my only art program for 2-3 years probably, so it's fully functional and has a whole bunch of new helpful features that pts1 does not have.( fonts, rulers, perspective tools, more layer modes, advanced brush settings and more)

I know that's probably not the kinda advice you were looking for so far, but I'm not sure if there's any general advice I can give you rn (unless you ask me anything specific), it just takes some getting used to like with any new program. Also looking up videos will probably be more helpful than written text.

And on a different note, even though Sai used to be my art program for many many years and I love it dearly, if you have some money you want to spare I'd almost recommend getting clip studio instead at this point. they have a 50% sale every couple months, which makes clip studio a 25$~ one time pay program. For that price it's simply unbeatable and an absolute behemoth of a program compared to sai. It can do so so many different things. Something like sai, which is a small program mainly focused on drawing and has very limited editing options, simply can't keep up anymore.

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snarktheater · 3 years

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Hey, d'you have any French book recs? I'm trying to work on my French, and rn I have downloaded one of my favourite book series' French translations, but I figured maybe books already written in French might work better? Also have you read the Ranger's Apprentice series? 1/2

RA's def flawed - the books' narration does like to point bright arrows at the protagonists' intelligence, and the last few books def have the tone of 'old white man trying to write feminism', although at least he's trying? - and it's aimed more to the younger side of YA, but it is still a very fun series, and I can ignore the flaws fairly easily, at least partly due to nostalgia? This rather long lol but I'm wordy.

I'll start with the second question: no, although every time the series is brought up I have to check the French title and go "oh, right, I've seen these books in stores". But I've never purchased or read them. It sounds like something I probably would have enjoyed as a teen but I just missed the mark, and these days I'm trying to drown myself in queer books, so that probably isn't happening.

As for your first question, geez, I haven’t read a French book in years, so this is gonna skew middle grade/YA, though that may not be so bad if the point is to learn the language. I will also say that as a result, these may read a little outdated.

I'll put it under a cut, even if Tumblr has become really bad with correctly displaying read mores. Sorry, mobile crowd.

It's also likely that old readers of the blog will have seen me talk about most of these. I don't feel like going through old posts.

One last thing: while I was curating this list I took the time to make a Goodreads shelf to keep track of those.

The Ewilan books by Pierre Bottero

(It's a testament to how long ago I read these books that these are not the covers of the edition I own, and I can't even find those on Google. I'm settling for a more recent cover anyway since it'll make it easier to find them, presumably)

There are at least three trilogies (that I know of) set in the same world.

The first trilogy is essentially an isekai (so, French girl lands in parallel fantasy world by accident) with elements of chosen one trope, though I find the execution makes it worth the while anyway.

The second trilogy is a direct sequel, so same protagonist but new threat, and the world gets expanded.

The third one is centered around a supporting characters from the previous books, and the first couple of books in it are more her backstory than a continuation, though the third one concludes both that trilogy and advances the story of the other books as well.

Notably these books have a really fun magic system where the characters "draw" things into existence. It's just stuck with me for some reason.

A bunch of stuff by Erik L'Homme

I have read a lot of this man's books, starting with Le Livre des Etoiles.

They also skew towards the young end of YA, arguably middle grade, I never bothered to figure out where to draw the line. They're coincidentally also using the premise of a parallel world to our own (and yes, connected to France again, the French are just as susceptible of writing about their homeland), but interestingly are set from the point of view of characters native to the parallel world.

It also has a very unique magic system, this one based on a mix of a runic alphabet and sort-of poetry. I'll also say specifically for these books that the characters stuck with me way more than others on this list, which is worth mentioning.

This trilogy is my favorite by Erik L'Homme, but I'll also mention Les Maîtres des brisants, which is a fantasy space opera with a pirate steampunk(?) vibe. I think it's steampunk. I could be mistaken. But it's in that vein. It's also middle grade, in my opinion not as good, but it could just be that it came out when I was older.

Another one is Phaenomen, which was a deliberate attempt at skewing older (though still YA). This one is set in our (then-)modern world and centers a group of teens who happen to have supernatural powers. I guess the best way to describe it is a superhero thriller? If you take "superhero" in the sense of "people with individualized powers", since they don't really do a lot of heroing.

...I really need to brush up on genre terminology, don't I.

The Ji series by Pierre Grimbert

This one is actually adult fantasy, though it definitely falls under "probably outdated". It is very straight, for starters, and I'd have to give it another read to give a more critical reading of how it handles race (it attempts to do it, and is well meaning, but I'm not sure it survives the test of time & scrutiny, basically).

If I haven't lost you already, the premise is this: a few generations ago, a weird man named Nol gathered emissaries from each nation of the world and took them to a trip to the titular Ji island. Nobody knows what went down here, but now in the present day, someone is trying to kill off all descendants from those emissaries, who are as a result forced to team up and figure out what's going on.

I'm not going to spoil past that, though I will say it has (surprise) a really unique magic system! I guess you can start to piece together what my younger self was interested in. Which, admittedly, I still am.

Once again, this one also has a strong cast of characters, helped by rich world building and the premise forcing the characters to come from many different cultures (though, again, I can't vouch for the handling of race because it's been too long).

The first series is complete by itself, though it has two sequel series as well, each focusing on the next generation in these families. Because yes, of course they all pair up and have kids. Like I said: very straight.

A whole lot of books by Jean-Louis Fetjaine

OFetjaine is a historian, and I guess he's really interested in Arthurian mythos especially, because he loves it so much he's written two separate high fantasy retellings of them! I'm not criticizing, mind you, we all need a hobby.

The former, the Elves trilogy (pictures above) is very traditional high fantasy. Elves, dwarves, orcs, a world which is definitely fictionalized with a pan-Celtic vibe to it. The holy grail and excalibur are around, but they're relics possessed by the elves and dwarves with very different powers than usual. Et cetera.

Fetjaine also really loves his elves (as the titles might imply), and while they're not exactly Tolkien elves, there's a similar vibe to them. If you like Tolkien and his elf boner, you'll probably like this too. And conversely, if that turns you off, these books probably also won't work for you.

This series also has a prequel trilogy, centered around the backstory of one of the main characters. I...honestly don't remember too much about it, but I liked it, so, there you go, I guess.

I said Fetjaine did it twice. The other series is the Merlin duology, which, as the title implies, is a retelling of Merlin's story. Note that Merlin is also in the other trilogy, but it's a different Merlin; like I said, completely different continuities and stories.

This one is historical fantasy, so it's set in actual Great Britain, and Fetjaine attempts to connect Arthur to a "real" historical figure...but, you know, Merlin is also half-elf and elves totally exist in Brocéliande, so, you know. History.

Okay, that's probably enough fantasy, let me give some classics too.

L'Arbre des possibles et autres histoires - Bernard Werber

Bernard Werber is a pretty seminal author of French sci-fi and I should probably be embarrassed that the only book of his that I read was for school, but, it is a really good one, so I'll include it anyway.

It's a novella collection, and when I say "sci-fi" I want to make it clear that it's very old school science fiction. It's more Frankenstein or Black Mirror than Star Trek, what we in French call the anticipation genre of science fiction: you take one piece of technology or cultural norm and project it into the future.

It has a pretty wide range of topics and tones, so it's bound to have some better than others. My personal faves were Du pain et des jeux, where football (non-American) has evolved into basically a wargame, and Tel maître, tel lion, where any animal is considered acceptable as a pet, no matter how absurd it is to keep as a pet. They're both on a comedic end, but there's more heartfelt stuff too.

L'Ecume des Jours - Boris Vian

(no cover because I can't find the one I have, and the ones I find are ugly)

This book is surrealist. Like, literally a part of the surrealist movement. It features things such as a lilypad growing inside a woman's lungs (and, as you well know, lilypads double in size every day, wink wink), the protagonist's apartment becoming larger and smaller to go with his mood and current financial situation, and more that I can't even recall at the moment because remembering this book is like trying to remember having an aneurysm.

It is also really, really fun and touching. Oh, and it has a pretty solid movie adaptation, starring Audrey Tautou, who I think an international audience would probably recognize from Amelie or the Da Vinci Code movie.

I don't really know what else to say. It's a really cool read!

Le Roi se meurt - Eugène Ionesco

Ionesco is somewhat famous worldwide so I wasn't even sure to include him here. He's a playwright who wrote in the "Theater of the Absurd" movement, and this play is part of that.

The premise of this play is that the King (of an unnamed land) is dying, and the land is dying with him. I don't really know what else to say. It's theater of the absurd. It kind of has to be experienced (the published version works fine, btw, no need to track down an actual performance, in my humble opinion).

The Plague - Albert Camus

You've probably heard of this one, and if you haven't, let me tell you about a guy called Carlos Maza

youtube

I'm honestly more including this book out of a sense of duty. The other three are books I genuinely liked and happen to be classics. This book was an awful read. But, um. It's kind of relevant now in a way it wasn't (or didn't feel, anyway) back in 2008 or 2009, when I read it. And I don't just mean because of our own plague, since Camus's plague is pretty famously an allegory for fascism, which my teenage self sneered at, and my adult self really regrets every feeling that way.

Okay, finally, some more lighthearted stuff, we gotta talk about the Belgian and French art of bande dessinée. How is it different from comic books or manga? Functionally, it isn't. It really comes down more to what gets published in the Belgian-French industry compared to the American comics industry, which is dominated by superheroes, or the Japanese manga industry, which, while I'm less familiar with it, I know has some big genre trends as well that are completely separate.

The Lanfeust series - Arleston and Tarquin

This is a YA mega-series, and I can't recommend all of it because I've lost track of the franchise's growth. Also note that I say "YA", but in this case it means something very different from an American understanding of YA. These books are pretty full of sex.

No, when I say YA I mean it has that level of maturity, for better or worse. The original series (Lanfeust de Troy) is high fantasy in a world where everyone has an individual magical ability but two characters find out they're gifted with an absolute power to make anything happen, and while it gets dark at times, it's still very lighthearted throughout, and the humor is...well, I think it's best described as teen boy humor. And it has a tendency to objectify its female characters, as you'll quickly parse out from the one cover I used here or if you browse more covers.

But still, it holds a special place in my heart, I guess. And on my shelves.

The sequel series, Lanfeust des Etoiles, turns it into a space opera, and goes a little overboard with the pop culture reference at times, though overall still maintains that balance of serious/at times dark story and lighthearted comedy.

After that the franchise is utter chaos to me, and I've lost track. I know there was another sequel series, which I dropped partway through, and a spinoff that retold part of the original series from the PoV of the main love interest (in the period of time she spent away from the main group). There was a comedy spin-off about the troll species unique to this world, a prequel series, probably more I don't even know exist.

Les Démons d'Alexia

Something I can probably be a little less ashamed of including here.

Some backstory here. The Editions Dupuis are a giant of the Belgian bande dessinée industry, and for many, many years I was subscribed to their weekly magazine. That magazine was (mostly) made up of excerpts from the various books that the éditions were publishing at the time; those that were made of comic strips would usually get a couple pages of individual scripts, while the ongoing narratives got cut into episodes that were a few pages long (out of a typical 48 page count for a single BD album). Among those were this series.

For the first few volumes, I wasn't super into this series, probably because I was a little too young and smack dab in the middle of my "trying to be one of the boys" phase. But around book 3 I got really invested, to the point where I own the second half of the series because I had canceled by subscription by then but still wanted to know more.

Alexia is an exorcist with unusual talents, but little control, who's introduced to a group that specializes in researching paranormal phenomena, solving cases that involve the paranormal, that kinda stuff.

As a result of the premise, the series has a pretty slow start since it has to build up mystery around the source of Alexia's powers, but once it gets going and we get to what is essentially the series' main conflict, it gets really interesting.

Plus, witches. I'm a simple gay who likes strong protagonists and witches.

Murena

There was a point where my mtyhology nerdery led me to look for more stuff about the historical cultures that created them, and so I'd be super into stuff set in ancient Rome (I'd say "or Greece or Egypt" but let's face it, it was almost always Rome).

Murena is a series set just before the start of Emperor Nero's rule. You know, the one who was emperor when Rome burned, and according to urban legend either caused the fire or played the fiddle while it did (note: "fiddle" is a very English saying, it's usually the lyre in other languages). He probably didn't, it probably was propaganda, but he was a) a Roman Emperor, none of whom were particularly stellar guys and b) mean to Christians, who eventually got to rewrite history. So he's got a bad rep.

The series goes for a very historical take on events, albeit fictionalized (the protagonist and main PoV, the titular Lucius Murena, is himself fictional) and attempts to humanize the people involved in those events. Each book also includes some of the sources used to justify how events and characters are depicted, which is a nice touch.

It's also divided in subseries called "cycles" (books 1-4, 5-8 and the ongoing one starts at 9). I stopped after 9, though I think it's mostly a case of not going to bookstores often anymore. Plus it took four years between 9 and 10, and again between 10 and 11. But the first eight books made for a pretty solid story that honestly felt somewhat concluded as is, so it's a good place to start.

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notontherightpath · 2 years

Text

I download a bunch of new brushes only to suddenly fall in love with one that had already been there the whole time

#procreate #sketch #drawing #i literally got all them good brushes just to fall in love with SCRIPT BRUSH

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llomerrynred · 3 years

Photo

what’s this? an actual post?? from me, your friendly resident lurker??? apparently Here’s my newest iteration (unfinished) of my oc, Talysa. ~ details under the cut ~

First image: Made with Artbreeder. I uploaded a screenshot from the character creator in game and tweaked it a whole bunch until I got something I was happy with to use as a base. Second image: Sclera darkened, horns added (from in game screenshot). No polish. Third image: Some polish! I downloaded brushes (or “assets?” “materials?” idk) for the first time (I’m very excited about this, I’m a digital art newbie) which included a lovely freckles brush and one for moles, so you can see those added in this image. I also did some skin blending to smooth things out as Artbreeder often creates weird textures, worked on her eyes, makeup, and added some texture around the base of her horns. Idk what I’m going to do for the ears yet. I’m not proficient enough to draw new ones, the best I can hope for is to manipulate them (I’ll probably use Pixlr for this) and fix up the details in Clip Studio. We’ll see! There are other small changes to be made too before I can call it finished, but yeah, thought I’d actually share something of mine for once. P.S. I love this fandom and seeing everyone’s art & ocs (and, ahem, all things Astarion). Feel free to say hi!

#wip #oc: talysa #artbreeder #clip studio #bg3 #bg3 oc #baldur's gate 3 #my stuff

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aewriting · 4 years

Link

So, I was innocently doing some Duolingo this morning when I started getting flooded with past-tense declarations of love. Which made me think of Malex, naturally. And this quick, cracky, fluffy little fic was born.

Words: 2187

Relationships: Brief Forlex, Endgame Malex

Warning for brief mention of homophobia, Duolingo frustration

***

“What the actual hell?”

“Alex?”

Alex looks up from his phone. Forrest is standing at his kitchen counter, frowning slightly at him. “Everything okay?”

Alex rubs tiredly at his face, puts his phone to the side. “Yeah, fine. It’s just… have you ever used Duolingo?”

Forrest snorts a little. “I mean, yeah, a little bit. Why?”

Alex shakes his head slightly, looks away. “It’s, it’s nothing. Stupid.” He pauses. “I’ve been brushing up on my Spanish. It used to be a lot better, but with being away all these years, not using it…” He shrugs. “Figured I’d download Duolingo, start working through it, you know?”

Forrest’s brow is furrowed. “Don’t you have a bunch of friends that speak Spanish, though? Liz, her cousin?” He smiles a little, then. “Kyle? The doctor?” He raises an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t mind watching you and Dr. Kyle speaking Spanish to each other, you know?”

Alex fixes him with a look. “Yeah, they all speak it, it’s just… I dunno, I want to have at least the basics down before I go to them for help. I feel like once I have a good base again, I’ll ask one of them to do some practice with me.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even know what I want to get out of this, just figured it’s better than, like, mindless scrolling, you know?”

Forrest cocks his head to the side. “Sure.” He’s opening the fridge. “Want anything in your coffee?”

Alex’s mouth twitches a little. This is… far from his first morning after, with Forrest. He’s taken his coffee black. Every time. And yet, every time, Forrest offers him sugar, cream. He can’t decide if he’s just trying to be a good host or if he really doesn’t remember. “I’m good, thanks,” he says politely.

“Okay,” Forrest says with a smile and a wink. He’s in a t-shirt and boxers, barefoot, as he brings the two steaming mugs over to the couch where Alex is sitting. Places Alex’s on the coffee table and sits down next to Alex. Close enough to touch.

“So what did Duo do to piss you off?” he asks, smirking.

Alex laughs a little, rolls his eyes.

“Come on, that’s not the face of a man who’s happy with an owl.”

Alex grabs for his mug, takes a sip. It’s good. They’re good, right? Like, Forrest is nice. And trying. “It’s just, I’m learning tenses now. And I can’t figure out why in the world they choose the verbs they do. Like at a beginning level, you know?”

Forrest is looking amused. “Can you give an example?”

Alex sighs. “Like… love. I swear I have had about five questions all in a row about love. Amor. Did… did you love me? Me amaste? Then, Sí, te amé. Um, mucho.” Alex swallows, suddenly a little uncomfortable. “Like, it’s just, just kind of bullshitty, you know? Like, who needs to say that right away, in Spanish?” He glances around him, holds up his mug. “Like, be useful! Teach me how to say ‘I finished my coffee,’ you know?”

Forrest is looking at him a little oddly, then looks away. Blows on his coffee to cool it. “I have to imagine that a decent percentage of people use an app like that to… I dunno, impress someone? Someone they like?”

Alex looks at him quizzically. “You think?” He shakes his head. “I dunno, I would think it would be more for work. Travel. Even just, like, keeping your brain sharp, you know?”

Forrest eyes him. “I learned German for a guy.”

Alex scoffs. “Of course you did.”

“I mean, it was for a guy and my research,” Forrest says playfully, nudging at Alex with his shoulder.

“Multitasking,” Alex says wryly.

“You know it,” Forrest says with a small smile, which disappears quickly. “You… you ever actually said it to someone?”

Alex looks at him, confused.

“In, in English, I mean,” Forrest clarifies, but Alex is still looking at him blankly. “Ever said I love you?” Forrest swallows, a little nervous. “I mean, this is not a pressure thing – these are early days, I know that. But… but I know you were pretty closed off, when we met. Just made me wonder if you ever had something serious? With someone?”

Alex’s jaw is tight as he responds. “I’ve never said I love you.”

***

“Oh, fuck you, Duo,” Alex mutters, clicking off the phone and putting it face down on the table.

“Who’s Duo?” Rosa asks, suddenly right in front of Alex’s booth. “And what did he do to you?”

Alex laughs at that. “It’s an app. Teaches you different languages. Makes it like a little game.”

Rosa quirks an eyebrow. “And what language are you learning, Alejandro?”

Alex chuckles. “Spanish.”

“Ahhh,” Rosa says, sliding next to him in the booth. “Por qué? Un hombre?” she asks suggestively.

“No!” Alex exclaims. “Why does everyone think that? No, I just wanted to try to get back some of the Spanish I lost over the years. I mean, I’m living in New Mexico now, and I’m embarrassed by how much I’ve forgotten.” Rosa’s just looking at him, eating one of his French fries. “Seriously, why does everyone think I’m doing this for a guy?”

“Um, because you and Forrest broke up, and now you’re back on the market?”

Alex’s mouth drops open. “How did you know that?”

“Small town,” Rosa says, popping another fry in her mouth. “I hear things.”

Alex shakes his head a little. “Well,” he says, eager to change the topic. “I think even Duo thinks I’m doing this for… certain reasons.”

Rosa’s face twists a little. “Okay, who the hell is Duo?”

Alex picks up the phone, unlocks it. Frowns as he looks at the screen.

“’The man has curly hair,’” Rosa reads, grabbing the phone from Alex. “Okay…” she says, giving Alex a sidelong glance.

Alex snatches the phone back from her. “Here,” he says shortly. “You just need to do a few, get them right, then…” He quickly presses some buttons, holds up the phone. “Here. This is Duo. He’s this little green owl, and he’s supposed to, like, encourage you, but sometimes if you go a few days without practicing he just ends up, like, harassing you.”

“Great work! Let’s make this a bit harder!’” Rosa reads with fake enthusiasm as she looks at the screen. “Harder, eh? That how you like it, Alejandro?”

“Rosa,” Alex warns, half-heartedly.

She grabs the phone again. “I wanna do one.”

“You speak Spanish already.”

“Oooh, matching!” she exclaims. “Montar… well that’s easy. To ride.” She sets the phone to the side, fixes Alex with a suggestive look. “Alejandro, seriously, what have you told Duo here?”

“Shut up.”

***

“What the hell?” Alex mutters, rereading the sentence. The screen is a little hard to see in the bright sun.

“Something wrong?” Michael asks, closer than Alex realized. “Besides your brake pads, that is.”

Alex sighs, pockets the phone. “Yeah, about those.”

“It’ll be about an hour still. Want to wait for it?”

Alex glances around the junkyard. No one’s here, the weather’s pleasant. “I’ll wait.”

“Okay,” Michael says, turning and making his way toward Alex’s car. A part of Alex hopes he’ll turn back around and… what? Visit? Shoot the shit? With a sigh, Alex takes the phone out again. “I’ve never had a cat that speaks,” he mutters. “Yo… nunca…he… tenido…”

“You should’ve brought this in earlier.”

Alex clicks off the phone again, rolls his eyes a bit. “Yes. Thank you, Michael.”

Michael raises his hands in faux surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying.” He sighs a little. “Glad you brought it in.” He looks like he’s about to turn around again, but instead he squints at Alex. At the phone. “Who you texting?”

Alex narrows his eyes, looks at Michael. Michael, who seems awkward, suddenly. Alex watches as he runs his hand through his curls, shrugs a little. “Nevermind, none of my – “

“It’s Duolingo,” Alex says.

Michael sticks out his lip a little, and Alex has to look away quickly. “That the app that teaches you different languages?”

“Yeah,” Alex says. “I’ve been trying to improve my Spanish.”

“Ahh,” Michael says, like he knows something Alex doesn’t. “Certainly can’t hurt. ‘Round these parts.”

“What?”

Michael shrugs. “You know. Lots of people here speak it. And you’re here for a while, right? Till you get out?” he says, slight edge of bitterness to his voice, the way there always is whenever Alex’s military service gets mentioned.

“This whole thing just started out of embarrassment, actually,” Alex says, and Michael looks at him, confused. “I knew way more Spanish back in school than I know now. Like, I remember the good stuff – curse words, things like that,” he says with a smile. “But it’s like my brain completely blocked out all the grammar rules.” He shrugs. “But sometimes they put together the most bizarre questions. Like this one,” he says, clicking on the phone and bringing up the half-finished item. “I’ve never had a cat that speaks.”

Michael barks out a laugh. “Who the fuck has?” he asks. Then grins. “Yo nunca he tenido un gato que habla.”

“What?” Alex laughs. “I didn’t know you knew Spanish!”

Michael shrugs. “I’m not, like, fluent, in it.”

“You were able to just translate some nonsense sentence off the top of your head,” Alex says skeptically.

“Okay,” Michael says. “I have a good memory, you know that. Picked up a lot when I was working at Foster Ranch, right out of high school. I definitely know how to tell you to fix a fence, ride a horse, that kind of thing.”

“Montar,” Alex murmurs, remembering his chat with Rosa.

Michael looks at him a little strangely. “Yeah.” He looks for a moment like he might say more, but doesn’t. Exhales loudly and gestures to the car. “Well, I better get back to it,” he says.

“Yeah, of course, don’t want to delay you or anything.”

“Yeah,” Michael says. Grins. “Just give a shout if you get stumped.”

***

(One month later. The Wild Pony.)

“Dúo surfea muy bien.”

“Duo surfs very well,” Michael translates. “Because of fucking course he does.”

“You seriously know a lot of Spanish. You’re not even looking at the screen.” Alex hits continue. Freezes. “I’ll just do this one,” he says hastily, pushing buttons.

“Too tough?”

Alex looks at the screen. Te quiero. “Yeah,” he says with a thin smile. “Too tough.”

***

(Two months later. Crashdown.)

“Podemos usar Internet en cualquier lugar.”

Michael’s eyes narrow. “We can use the Internet anywhere,” he translates. “Easy. Hit me again.”

“Okay,” Alex says, bringing up the next screen and reading the Spanish quickly. “Siempre te he amado.”

He looks at Michael questioningly… Michael, who looks stricken.

“Michael?” Alex asks, frowning.

Michael chuckles a little. “Um, I‘ve always loved you. That’s what it says, siempre te he amado.”

Alex looks down at the little word options at the bottom of the screen. Fuck. That’s definitely the answer, but he doesn’t punch it in. Not yet. Keeps looking at Michael. They… they’ve been dancing around each other, around this, for months. Years, really, if he’s being honest.

“Siempre te he amado,” he repeats quietly. Swallows. “It’s the truth,” he says finally.

“Es la verdad,” Michael mumbles, still looking away. “Next?”

Alex puts the phone down. “No, Michael. No. I mean… I mean, yes, I guess it is la verdad, like that’s the Spanish for it, but… but I was trying to, to say…”

Michael has gone very still now, is just looking at Alex. “What, Alex?” he breathes. “What were you trying to say?”

“I’ve always loved you, Michael. That… that’s the truth.”

“You, you being serious right now, Alex?”

Alex nods his head quickly. “Yes, Michael. This isn’t… isn’t Duolingo Spanish, right now. This is me. And you. God,” he says, feeling the flush creep across his face. “We have enough trouble just being straight with each other in English.”

A slow grin starts spreading across Michael’s face. “If you really think about it, we’ve never been straight with each other.”

And Alex can’t help his own smile, either. “Definitely not.”

“Not at all,” Michael says, sobering a bit.

“We’ve worked so hard,” Alex says softly. “At, at building something between us. Something new. Like, a real friendship.”

“That’s what you said you wanted,” Michael says, a little edge to his voice.

“That and more, Michael,” Alex says. “I want more. If, if you do, too.”

“I do,” Michael says, biting his lip. He looks down at their shared booth, looks back up. “I’ve always loved you, too, Alex. Still do.”

The phone emits a little ding, and Alex looks down.

It’s Duo. Waving.

“Perfect timing,” Michael says wryly. “What does that little fucker want?”

“Wants to tell us ‘Great work!’,” Alex reads. “’Let’s make this a bit harder!’” He laughs a little, at that, looks at Michael, and shrugs. “Ready if you are?” he says, a question in his voice.

Michael smiles at him, big and genuine. “Well if Duo says so, let’s give it a go.”

#my fic #duolingo made me do it #malex #forlex #rosa ortecho #roswell nm

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creativerogues · 4 years

Text

A Great Big Guide to Minis, Grids and Combat (WARNING: REALLY FREAKIN’ LONG!)

Part 1: Minis

Finding the right Miniature for what you want can be a monumental task, and because there's so many types of Mini out there, I'm breaking this section down in the hopes that it'll help...

Metal Minis

I'm just gonna say it right now, Metal Minis are hard to find. Wizards of the Coast don't do them any more: They're chunky and heavy, but also extremely durable.

If you're looking for Metal Minis in your area, you can find a lot of Metal Minis at old Wargaming Stores and Hobby Shops, and often at a pretty great price because they're so old and badly painted because they're from the 80's.

I know people that have bought Solid Lead Minis from Wargames from the 60's and they look pretty great even today (I mean the paint is a little faded and chipped, but still...), which is a testament to just how durable these things are...

Metal Minis are great if you want Minis that are durable and will last for your whole campaign and beyond, and you can easily order and buy Metal Minis online from companies like Reaper Miniatures and their "Metal Fantasy" Collection, and with Services like HeroForge Minis, you can even make your own Metal Minis, albeit a little bit more expensive than your average Mini.

Plastic Minis

Plastic Minis are pretty much the standard for Minis. You can find both painted and unpainted Plastic Minis in almost every D&D Store and you can often buy them in bulk online or buy individual minis in store for great prices.

Wizards of the Coast (The People that make D&D) have their own lines of both Painted and Unpainted Plastic Miniatures available online, and you can often find individual Plastic Miniatures available in your Local D&D Store, online through things like Amazon, eBay or Miniature Market, or just buy them in bulk through places like the Wizards of the Coast Products Page.

And while these Plastic Miniatures are cheaper than the Metal Minis, they sacrifice durability for cost, and these Minis can often break at the worst of times...

But, as the standard for most D&D games, and available almost anywhere, Plastic Miniatures are your best bet for finding 3D Minis to use in your Game.

Paper Minis

Paper Minis are two-sided Minis that go on little stands, and the art for them is absolutely beautiful...

Most of these are extremely cheap, and some even give you the chance to use your own Printer to create dozens of amazing looking D&D Minis.

Most Paper Minis come as Downloadable Content that lets you print everything at home, while some come on Cardstock that you can pop out and place in their stands.

Paper Minis are absolutely perfect for play, and even when bulk-buying the Paper Minis printed on Cardstock, you can get literally hundreds of Paper Minis for almost no significant cost.

And while yeah, they're not exactly "durable", they're great for saving money, and they're still beautiful to look at.

Pre-Painted Minis

Pre-Painted Minis are almost as standard as Plastic Minis, and they often go hand-in-hand.

Wizards of the Coast Minis almost always have some variety of Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures, while their Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures Line of Unpainted Plastic Miniatures are there for those that want to paint their own.

There are well over 2,000+ Individual Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures out there that are available to purchase from pretty much anywhere, and while Pre-Painted Metal Minis are rare, and the paint jobs are often kinda old, they are available...

But I will give a fair warning that Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures can come with faults: Some break in transit, some have bent swords and spears, some are painted so strangely that characters and monsters can have crazy eyes and look a little too silly on close inspection…

But Pre-Painted Plastic Minis are still great to use, pretty cheap to buy, and it's only in rare cases that you'll be unsatisfied with what you get...

Painting Your Own Minis...

Like I've said, the Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures Line of Unpainted Plastic Miniatures are there for the Dungeon Masters that want to paint their own minis.

This line of Minis is Plastic, and come already covered in a Grey Primer and are pretty much ready to paint right out of the box.

However, while the Unpainted Plastic Minis cost just a tad less than the Pre-Painted Plastic Minis, getting into painting Minis can be an expensive hobby, as you often end up buying dozens of different paints, brushes, and more just to paint a single mini.

But don't be dissuaded from doing it, you can find Paints for Minis on the Wizards of the Coast Products Page and Online where available...

Commissions: There are People out there that you can Commission to paint your Minis for you, and most services are pretty cheap, so ask your Local D&D Store if they can paint your Minis for you, or if they hold classes in painting Minis...

Learning to Paint: Painting Minis takes time and patience, but can be very rewarding in the end, and starting out can be just as easy as looking up a tutorial video or signing up for mini painting classes at your Local D&D Store.

And while your first few self-painted Minis might not look great, overtime you'll become a great painter, and can save a bit of cash over time by buying Unpainted Plastic Minis and painting then yourself, so double win!

Where To Find Good Minis...

There are a LOT of places to find Miniatures, from Metal to Plastic to Paper to Painted to Unpainted, so I'll break it down for you.

Metal Minis: Metal Minis are hard to come by, but can be found online being sold as Individual Minis.

Most old Metal Minis come Pre-Painted but might need a new lick of paint, while some are entirely unpainted.

You can find most Metal Minis at your Local D&D Store, as well as online at the usual places of eBay and Amazon.

If you're looking for Custom Metal Minis, I'd suggest taking a look at HeroForge Minis, and while they might be a little expensive to some people, I think having a custom mini that's pretty darn durable is worth the price.

Plastic Minis: You can find Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures in almost every D&D Store and pretty much anywhere online. You can buy in bulk and get full sets of minis, or buy them individually (and normally for a cheaper price) at your Local D&D Store.

I'd recommend places like Miniature Market and Amazon when looking for Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures, and for Unpainted Plastic Minis, not only can you find those Online and in your friendly neighbourhood D&D Store, but there are plenty of great companies out there that produce some absolutely stunning custom minis for you to paint.

Painted & Unpainted Minis: You can find the Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures Line of Unpainted Plastic Miniatures both online and in-store, as well as the Icons of the Realms Line of Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures for those people that want them.

There are also companies out there that do Custom Unpainted Plastic Minis, like Reaper Miniatures or Gale Force 9, and I'll be sure to leave a Comment with as many Links as I can find...

Paper Miniatures: My personal favourite place for Paper Minis is Printable Heroes. They have a whole selection of Free Downloadable Content that you can print off at home.

But, if you're looking for Paper Minis that aren't just D&D, Paizo makes a line of Cardboard Cutout Miniatures called Pathfinder Pawns.

Cheap Alternatives to Minis...

If you unfortunately can’t afford to spend money on Minis, there are plenty of really fun and really cheap alternatives to Minis.

Tokens from other Tabletop and Board Games, Lego Pieces, even a bunch of colourful M&Ms can still be used to show where your heroes and monsters stand…

Part 2: Terrain

I'm going to break this Section down just like the Minis Section, because there's just as many options for creating Dungeons and Maps as there are for Miniatures and Monsters.

Markers, Maps & Gaming Paper

You can buy Markers pretty cheap from pretty much anywhere, and basic blank Maps that you can draw on and erase with relative ease.

And some advice: Check the Markers you're using on your dry-erase or wet-erase maps, because you don't want to draw in permanent marker by accident and suddenly have that one "Permanent Dungeon Room"...

You can find entire rolls of Blank Maps that you can draw on from places like GamingPaper.com and Chessex.com, as well as Online from Amazon (because Amazon is our overlord, provider of all!), and these Maps come with Hexagonal Grids and Square Grids that suit whatever kind of game you want to play.

Flexible Battle Mats

From my own experience, this has been the most common type of terrain I use: They're flat maps, sometimes a variant of vinyl, sometimes just straight up fancy cloth, but they're the most available thing I can find, and have always been available to me through my Local D&D Store as well as Online in the usual places.

I call these "Flexible" because you can fold them and roll them and they won't warp or bend, and none of the Markers I use smudge or stain these maps in anyway compared to the cheaper options that might not last as long.

These maps are often just a single depiction of a generic area: A map of the woods, some mountains, the dock of a port city...

And some can get pretty weird if you look in the right places. I found a Map for a Githyanki Warship floating over an Ocean, and I've used that specific map about 4 times already!

You can find these types of Maps in your Local D&D Store for pretty cheap prices, and since most of them are maps of forests or mountains or underground caverns, they're gonna see a lot of use…

Dungeon Tiles

A lot of Companies produce modular dungeon tiles that are essentially dry-erase boards that clip together, and I personally think these are the coolest!

You can draw a dungeon room on each tile, and slowly piece them together as the Players explore the Dungeon, and really evoke a sense of exploration and "Fog of War".

You can buy these Dungeon Tiles Online, Wizards of the Coast even produces a line of Generic Dungeon Tiles, but I'd recommend Tac-Tiles with their dry-erase Dungeon Tiles, and again, check that the Markers you want to use don't stain or smudge when drawing lines…

3D Terrain

3D Terrain is great for keeping the sense of immersion during combat, and many times has the word of DwarvenForge been spoken to me as something from the sacred texts.

You can buy modular 3D Terrain Tiles from DwarvenForge, yes, but don't forget that there are plenty of other companies that produce 3D Terrain that's just as good.

You can buy Cut-and-Assemble Papercraft Terrain, buy Terrain that's been sculpted using moulds, resin and plaster, you can buy Miniatures from Wizards of the Coast themselves that are pieces of Terrain like Wagons, Carts, Stalactites and Stalagmites, and all of these are relatively cheap compared to buying hundreds of pieces of DwarvenForge.

But trust me when I say DwarvenForge is BADASS, their stuff is practically indestructible, and it lights up, and it even has a square grid on it too!

You can find all sorts of all kinds of 3D Terrain to enhance your experience of D&D, and you can typically find it in the usual places, but I'll put a whole bunch of links in this Post to help guide those that are looking...

Cheap Alternatives: Wrapping Paper

The other side of Wrapping Paper often has a square grid on it that's normally used for measuring and cutting paper, but I've seen and even used the other side of Wrapping Paper as a cheap and disposable alternative to a battle map, and it even comes with it's own square grid that you can draw on!

Yes, it does bleed and smear a lot when you use Markers, but it's so cheap and disposable that I can hardly complain…

And the best part, you can buy rolls and rolls of Wrapping Paper for ridiculously cheap prices and those rolls can last you a long, long time...

Part 3: Status Markers

What are Status Markers? Why do you need them?

Well, Status Markers are colourful little things you place on Minis to show that the Mini is under some sort of condition or spell effect. Status Markers are great for helping Players and the DM remember Spells and Conditions affecting multiple Creatures over multiple rounds of combat.

And these Status Markers can be anything from old plastic milk carton rings to professional 3D Printed Rings with every condition and spell effect accounted for.

If you're looking for professional status markers for your Minis, you can buy them by the butt-load from eBay, Amazon, and my personal favourite, Dakota Irish, who make some beautiful Status Markers designed to fit your D&D Minis, and they come in a variety of colors to suit your style…

Part 4: Initiative Trackers

An Initiative Tracker let's both the DM and the Players visually track the Initiatives of all the DM's Monsters and the Player's Characters.

And you can place all of them directly in front of you and the rest of the group, letting Players know "Hey, I'm up next!" or "Oh sh*t! It's almost that Bad Guy's turn!".

Many a time have I said "It's your go, what do you do?" and their response is "Oh sh*t! It's my go already?"

With this system, both myself and all my Players can see whose turn it is and who is next up...

My personal recommendations for Initiative Trackers are the 25 Piece Dungeon Master Set from Dakota Irish, and the Initiative Trackers by AxenShield that let you write your Party Member's Name or the Name of your Monster on one of the 8 flags, and flip the flag to the opposite side as turns are taken.

Are Initiative Trackers needed for Fun Combat? No.

Are they fancy as heck and help forgetful Players? Definitely.

Part 5: Combat Risers & Combat Pillars

These Combat Risers (also called "Combat Pillars" or “Combat Tiers”) give you the ability to show elevation and create a 3-Dimensional Space for your Miniature Combat.

It also gives you the chance to have combat at different heights with a series of combat stage platforms, and it's great for aerial combat. And trust me I say it makes underwater combats so much easier, just because it lets you accurately represent three dimensional combat on a map.

You can find multi-coloured and clear transparent Combat Risers on Amazon (like everything else here) and from some of the sites and places I've already mentioned, such as the Combat Risers Clear Mithril Set from AxenShield.

Part 6: Spell Effect Miniatures & Spell Effect Overlays

Spell Effect Miniatures

Spell Effect Miniatures are just like Monster and Hero Miniatures. These Spell Effect Miniatures are often Pre-Painted Plastic Miniatures that represent some of the bigger spells like Bigby's Hand or Spiritual Weapon.

Wizards of the Coast have their own line of Spell Effect Miniatures as part of their Icons of the Realms Line of Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures, with a Set for Spells like Wall of Fire and Wall of Ice, as well as a Box Set called "Arcane Fury and Divine Might", which contains several different Spell Effect Miniatures.

And there's more Spell Effect Miniatures to come! With Wizards of the Coast releasing a new Spell Effect Miniatures Box Set called "Mighty Conjurations", with Spell Effect Miniatures for Flaming Sphere, Forcecage, Guardian of Faith and more!

Also releasing in Early 2020 is Halaster's Tumultuous Templates, a set of Wizards of the Coast Branded Spell Templates that represent a bunch of different Spells, from Burning Hands to Moonbeam to everyone's favourite: Fireball.

You can find these Spell Effect Miniatures as Box Sets in your Local D&D Store, as well as online in the usual places like Amazon and eBay.

Spell Effect Templates & Spell Effect Overlays

Spell Effect Overlays let you as a Dungeon Master check the Range of a Spell, whether the Creature is in Line of Sight with the Caster, and help you as a DM (or a Player) remember Spells affecting an area or Spells affecting multiple Creatures over multiple rounds of combat.

My personal favourites are the Spell Effect Overlays from Arcknight, with Spell Effect Overlays for Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Web, Cone of Cold, Burning Hands, Fear, Dragon Breath, Faerie Fire, Moonbeam, Tidal Wave, Wall of Fire, Thunderwave and More, as well Buff Tokens, Inspiration Tokens, Monster Summoning tokens and so much more that I can't even fit here…

Every template comes on a die cut transparent plastic that's printed on both sides: With cool graphics on one side and notes on the spells effects on the other.

But if you're looking for a simpler template, AxenShield provide Spell Effect Templates and Overlays in various colours, with grids etched on to show the range and area of effect for each spell.

And, like always, you can always take a look on Amazon and eBay and everywhere else on the Internet for alternatives...

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