#Thank you for your wonderful ask Anon!

[batbabydamian]

Hey, I started reading Robin son of Batman because of your recommendation (I literally have a print of your post on my phone to not forget lol). Honestly? One of the best things I ever read!!!

Thank you for opening my eyes! Damian has been one of my favorite characters for over a year, but I didn't read/watch much of him because of school, life (and probably an executive dysfunction in the mix).

Maya is incredible. I loved her.

I haven't finished all the issues yet, but do you have any other recommendations?

WAH this makes me so happy, i'm glad you still gave it a shot even with how busy life is!! ;v;

i’d love to give reccs, and i’ll try to go a beginner friendly route! tbh you can pick up whatever here, but since you've read R:SOB i’d immediately follow up with Batman and Robin (2011) #1-8! this first arc is what’s referred to in Maya’s introduction, and it's just. so good.

Main Books

Batman and Robin (2009)

Dick as Batman with Damian as his Robin!

#20-22 Tree of Blood: Dark Knight vs White Knight arc is done by Tomasi and Gleason, the team for the next Batman and Robin series

*Batman and Robin (2011)

Bruce and Damian figuring out their relationship as both Batman & Robin and father & son

imo you can enjoy the ride and read straight through this but i’ll add context to avoid as much confusion as possible since there’s the occasional tie-in or offscreen events, like Damian’s death nbd

Batman Incorporated (2012) #1-10

events leading to Damian's death - affects Batman and Robin (2011) from issue #18

kind of a tough read especially with how Talia's written, but a lot of iconic bits like Batcow, Damian's vegetarian declaration, Alfred the cat, "We Were the Best, Richard."

Robin (2021)

another self-discovery adventure, particularly after Alfred’s death and a fallout with Bruce (and questionable writing choices from his last Teen Titans run)

Batman and Robin (2023)

currently ongoing! after a number of events, Bruce and Damian are back as a duo

Damian Dynamics!

Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7, 10-12

arc where Damian meets one of his first Gotham friends, Colin Wilkes

Batgirl (2009) #5-7, #17

Steph and Damian dynamic! "the bad cop, worse cop" dysfunctional duo

Red Robin (2009) #13-14

early Tim and Damian dynamic that of course includes fighting haha. funny enough, accidentally my first intro to Damian LOL

Teen Titans (2003) #89-92

Dick!Batman has Damian join the Teen Titans. Start of Damian and Rose Wilson dynamic that’s extended in Robin (2021)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Damian meets Cass and has a brief team up

Gotham Academy (2015) #7

Damian meets Maps Mizoguchi! they have a few other meetings, but outside of that the series itself is a great read!

Robin War Event (2015)

Robin War (2015) #1, Grayson (2014) #15, Detective Comics (2011) #47, We Are Robin (2015) #7, Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #7, Robin War (2015) #2

Duke and Damian dynamic! not exactly beginner friendly but these are the main issues in order for the event! you can also read the TPB version for everything including Tie-Ins

Nightwing (2016) #16-20, #42, #43

#16-20 Nightwing and Robin arc!

#42 Dick on a mission to save Damian! the one appearance of "Wiggles" the dragon

#43 Dick, Roy, and Damian team-up

New Talent Showcase 2018 "Catwoman: Pedigree"

Selina, Damian, and Alfred the cat

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra's Al Ghul (2018)

Selina, Damian, and Cheese Viking - Damian's fav game shown in Nightwing: Rebirth (2016)

Monkey Prince (2022) #1-4

Marcus Sun Shugel-Shen's main comic, but Damian features as a fun dynamic here before they're in more serious circumstances in Batman VS Robin (2022)/Lazarus Planet event

Superman (2016) #10 - 11

the beginning of the Super Sons! featuring Maya!

Super Sons (2017)

solitary arcs but there’s a few event tie-in issues later

Adventures of the Super Sons (2018)

literally more Super Sons adventures lol galactic shenanigans yeehaw

Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) 

Super Sons time shenanigans feat. the Justice League

Robin 80th Anniversary (2020)

"Boy Wonders" - brief Damian feature as Tim considers his next step in life

"My Best Friend" - Jon's thoughts on Damian and their dynamic

"Bat and Mouse" - refers to Damian's unfortunate Teen Titans (2016) run at the time of release which follows up with Teen Titans Annual #2 where Damian briefly gives up Robin

Extra Comics!

Superman/Batman (2003) #77

Kara and Damian in a Halloween team-up! also the appearance of "Li'l Matches" lol

DCU Halloween Special '09 "Cavity Search"

Damian out on a solo mission for Halloween night. Immediately after is Tim's Red Robin story "Then and Now: Our Father's Sins" which is more somber in contrast but also a good read!

DCU Halloween Special 2010 "Robin the Vampire Slayer"

a Dick!Batman and Robin story featuring the vampire Andrew Bennett

Cursed Comics Cavalcade (2018) "The Devil You Know"

Halloween themed comic with a sweet short story of Damian alongside Solomon Grundy

DC's Terrors Through Time (2022)

"Trick or Treat" a Super Sons Halloween story

"The Haunting of Wayne Manor" Damian and Deadman story - in the end, Boston kinda refers to Nezha's possession of Damian in Batman VS Robin (2022) which was happening at the time of this release

Batman: Li'l Gotham (2013)

lighthearted series that instantly makes me smile with the silliness and Dustin Nguyen’s art i love this dearly

Secret Origins (2014) #4 "A Boy's Life"

a retelling of Damian's origin story

Detective Comics (2016) #1001-1005

Batman and Robin vs the Arkham Knight (unrelated to the game)

Truth & Justice (2021) #6/#16 - 18 Digital First version

cute story of Damian’s birthday! Juni Ba’s art is so fun!!

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021) “Special Delivery”

short story about Damian! and poisoned pizzas. completely forgot the artist Sami Basri drew Rebirth Damian here before catboy Damian lol Cass’s story “Sounds” is also cute! Marcus makes his first appearance in "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes"

DC VS Vampires (2021)

Damian makes appearances throughout this elseworlds book, but the one-shot DC VS Vampires: Hunters (2022) is vampire Damian-centric!

Batman: Black and White (2021) #5

“Father & Son Outing” short story written and drawn by Jorge Jimenez!

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #20-23

#20 “My Son” Talia and Bruce focus

#20 - 23 “The Murder Club” 4 Parts

Tiny Titans (2008) #33, #39, #45, #47

a few appearances but SO CUTE, LOOK AT HIM

*Batman and Robin (2011) reading guide

i'm mostly trying to avoid the "what did i just walk in on?" kinda feeling when i first started reading comics LOL i'll list the comics where events take place, but you don't necessarily have to read them to go through this book since things are usually explained as quickly as possible in the first page or so

#0 Someday Never Comes

Talia and baby Damian before he grows up to meet Bruce

#1-8 Born to Kill

just an incredibly solid arc for Bruce and Damian!

#9 Court of Owls Tie-In Issue

Damian VS a Court of Owls Talon. While Bruce is occupied with a home invasion of Talons, Alfred makes a call for allies to protect targeted Gotham public figures from Talons. During Batman (2011) #1-11

#10-12 Terminus

Damian challenges the previous Robins sans Steph

Batman Incorporated (2012) is occurring at this time where Talia has placed a bounty on Damian and there's small mentions of that

#13-14 Eclipsed/Devoured

mostly solitary arc! end of it leads into the Death of the Family event

#15-16 Death of the Family Tie-In Issues

Damian and Joker face-off... Alfred's been kidnapped by the Joker, and Damian goes looking for him. During Batman (2011) #13-17

#17 Life is but a Dream - Death of the Family Epilogue

a sort of subconscious check-in through the dreams of Damian, Alfred, and Bruce. Nightwing (2011) #17 features Damian encouraging Dick after Death of the Family events

#18 Undone "Requiem"

Bruce dealing with Damian's death from Batman Incorporated #8

other reactions to Damian's death: Dick in Nightwing (2011) #18, Tim in Teen Titans (2011) #18

#19-23 Denial, Rage, The Bargain, Despair, Acceptance

Bruce through the stages of grief with some batfam appearances in each. also introduces Carrie Kelley into continuity as Damian's acting tutor.

Batman (2011) #19-20 also addresses Bruce's loss

#23.1-23.4

these could be skipped - villain stories, also related to Forever Evil event.

#24-28 The Big Burn

optional Batman and Two-Face/Harvey Dent arc, #23.1 is part of this story!

Damian's resurrection and return

#29-32 The Hunt for Robin

Ras took Talia and Damian's bodies from their graves, and Bruce goes after him.

-> Robin Rises: Omega

continues events from #32. if you don't want to jump to this, basically, Glorious Godfrey and a bunch of parademons from Apokolips are here for a chaos shard which Ra's put in Damian's sarcophagus. at some point, Bruce gets a hold of the shard where he sees a vision that leads him to believe Damian can be resurrected. Godfrey ends up taking the shard, along with Damian's body since it was emitting the same energy.

#33-37 Robin Rises

Bruce hellbent on retrieving Damian from Apokolips and reviving him

-> Robin Rises: Alpha

necessary to read and continues events from #37! Damian's back with a bang lol

#38-40 Superpower

Damian adjusting to having superpowers and being alive again

Annual #1 2013 Batman Impossible

sweet (and funny) one-shot of Damian sending Bruce on a meaningful scavenger hunt around the world while Damian gets to be the cutest Batman for a bit

Annual #2 2014 Batman and Robin: Week One

one-shot takes place during Damian's absence. after Bruce and Alfred find a mystery gift left for Dick, Dick recounts a story he had told Damian from his Robin days.

Annual #3 2015 Moonshot

one-shot Batman and Robin adventure on the moon!

...and of course after Batman and Robin (2011), Damian's story continues in his first solo Robin: Son of Batman (2015)!

#damian wayne #ask #sorry for R:SOB promo again but i need this title attached to Damian's name as much as B&R 2009/2011😭 #thank you for the ask anon!! really am so happy you were able to find the time to read RSOB and enjoy it!! i genuinely cheered 😭 #i hope some of these comics give you many emotions and/or a smile!! <3 #if anyone would like to correct something or include some Damian comics please feel free to comment or add to the post!! #sorry if the reading guide is an intimidating wall of text hhh after i finished it i was like...this does not look beginner friendly LOL 😭 #Damian's Teen Titans run is beginner friendly but it's so frustrating to read his character being regressed especially after RSOB #ig i would only recc the first 5 issues just for Mara asdsfg #super/bat 77 comic rlly made me wonder how Williamson could've made Damian sound so stiff now compared to his first time writing him?? rip. #also i love how there's so many Halloween stories here lol #maybe?? i'll do a guide for Damian's intro since those were the most confusing for me when i really got into his comics #i think his most recent appearances are a bit easier to figure out on your own but i don't mind doing a guide for that too if needed! #OOF tags got long lol i may be a bit nervous posting this bc i'd like ppl to read more Damian but worried i may have goofed somewhere #but hopefully this is helpful to anyone curious about peeking at his comics!!

[daenystheedreamer]

Do u want to talk about cannibalism in asoiaf

i luuurve the way cannibalism is portrayed in asoiaf. it makes me a bit crazy.... the way stannis, a man shown to be the epitome of justice and law, kept men imprisoned just in case they ran out of food. wartime murder, rape, civilian casualties, etc are portrayed as bad but almost necessary/unstoppable symptoms of war, yet cannibalism is this one taboo they still keep.

it is DEEPLY linked to the old gods, it's this primal, ancient horror, next to/linked to guest right and kinslaying. bran eating jojenpaste/coldhands' shady game, the warg starks (inc. robb!) all probably eating people while skinchanging, arya maybe eating human at THOBAW.

i like the way its often class based. king's landing's poor are fed and fuelled by literally eating each other THAT is the true naked face of feudalism. while the red keep has a constant revolving door of huge feasts, arya is eating the brown of flea bottom.

i love the ouroboros of it all, the endless cycle. a lot of it is also linked to the riverlands! frey pies, nymeria, robb and greywind, vargo hoat, the historical mention of danelle lothston.

checking the AWOIAF page for cannibalism (which yes, exists), the amethyst empress myth is linked with it. i'm not much of a GEOTD theoriser but hmm much to consider, especially it's links to azor ahai and nissa nissa.

in summary i think its a great narrative device and metaphor. i think grrm uses it very well! i hope we get 6/6 on starklings eating people (skagosi are rumoured to eat people come on rickon just one finger eat one finger bro come on everyone else is doing it...)

#THREE acronyms on this post. i wonder what the average is... #asoiaf #ask #anonymous #anon thank you for letting me talk my shit. love u. youre my everything. kissing you on the temples.<3

[theloveinc]

OKAY hear me out but touya WITH a job getting ready at your cute vanity and pink room. struggling to put up his cargo pants/ slacks with the belt, while running over to get his coat off of the fuzzy pink chair in the corner. he's forced to fix his hair and check if his face looks the least presentable in your mirror filled with polaroids before he goes out and it's SO funny to watch him do that omg. i'm gonna die

(pt. i!)

WAHHH mismatched socks, the elastic of his calvin kleins (that u bought him) peeking out at his backside; he nearly trips over his work bag that's waiting for him on the floor and practically slides right into your full-length mirror--you're really rooting for him and even though he wouldnt say it, he'd try to strangle himself if he lost his job for being late just one too many times--because he's rushing to get out the door.

you can hear him from the kitchen where you're putting together lunches (not for him specifically, but because you already make something for yourself, you might as well...you're welcome, touya), AND YES IT'S SO HARD not to laugh when the door bursts open and he's looking like a little fool with his black and white hair actually combed down and smudges around his eyes from trying + failing to get your eyeliner off of him.

(also, did he use your hairspray that was sitting on your vanity? maybe. okay, yes. though it's no surprise he knows where everything you own is lmfao)

he stills refuses to let you put things in a lunch box, but no way in HELL he's not shoving the wrapped sandwich and bento full of fruit into his bag before !!! kissing you goodbye!!!

it's truly like a dream come true 'coz even though part of him feels like a DOG having to work for the man, making you happy is what MAKES HIM HAPPY and being able to fill your (and now! his) room with more cute and pink things is his new favorite hobby...

(and even though he blushes like hell doing it, the next lunch date he's picking you up from, he's paying the whole table's bill in CASH and not taking no for an answer. makes him feel the best he has in a while. even though he's still eating everyone's leftovers lmao.)

slay the house down HOUSTON I'M DECEASED!!!!

#dabi #sorry my grammar went oUT THE DOOR WITH THIS #HE (YOUR IDEAS ANON) MAKE ME INSNANNANANENENENSNSNANANNENEN #also him in big doc martens I AM ASDJFLKAJDHFJKADHSFNJKADHJN #i fiend.... for him....... #and i love u anon thank u for this blessing #also i wonder what he does for work i've been trying to think!! #i def think it's something funny like the dmv or post office or something #bUT IDK MAYBE it's something else entirely!! #this dabi universe is everything to me #also if u have ur little kitten nibbles too <3 and he finally can afford to buy it expensive food #WAH #he's so ... boywife like truly his friends( shiggy toga twice mags all of them) are all . 'okay when did YOU get married? #and he's like shut up . but then asks if he can invite them over for dinner sometime akljdfladjfa #yes now that u pay rent boi #MWAH #caitie things #anon #gen

[skyafied]

hi there! i really liked your heavy redraws and saw you were asking for suggestions so may I ask for a little red Oktoberfest smooch or general fluff? pretty please 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Oh yes yes you absolutely may!! Thank you so much for the request and kind words, I’m so glad you liked them!!! I am shaking you and spinning around rn!! 💥

As for the Red Oktoberfest fluff-

I think they both express love in their own way!! I love old men yaoi!!! I also managed to dig up this very old WIP, maybe I’ll get around to finishing it sometime :’D

#eden art #ask #they are!! so dear to me!!!! #tysm for the ask anon #hope you’re having a wonderful day!! enjoy your gay men!!! #I had to rush this a little so I’m sorry if it’s a bit wonky haha #you guys seemed to really like these past few posts!! thank you all!!! #oh yeah and also suggestions are still open for just tf2 stuff in general :’) #request as much as you’d like and I’ll do my best to respond in a timely manner!! #tf2 #team fortress 2 #heavy tf2 #medic tf2 #archimedes tf2 #red oktoberfest #heavymedic

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

I dunno if anyone's asked this already, so I'm writing it anonymously

How do you think the bachelorettes or bachelors would react if they found out you turned their kids into birds?

Oh wow...

Ok, let me take a quick look at my masterlist... Nope, I don't see such a question, so it will be a new headcanon 😀

I also have a large number of bachelors asks, so to be fair I'll make this one about bachelorettes. I hope you don't mind dear anon, since you asked "or" (I'm not lazy, I'm trying to be fair!) Anyway, thanks for ask 👋

⚠️ Warning: angst, mention of blood, mention of violence, loss of children, nervous breakdown

Leah:

"You did not do anything bad to our children. You wouldn't dare. You did NOT do that to OUR CHILDREN!!!!" If Leah had one of her sculptor's tools at hand, she would immediately turn into a deadly weapon. That even an easel will strike a man just as hard as a sword if it is in the hands of a furious and in tears mother who has just lost her children. Somebody's blood will be spilled on the floor...

Penny:

When Penny heard about what the Farmer had done to their children, she just dropped to her knees. She stared glassy-eyed at the man she thought was the love of her life, not understanding why this had happened. Hysterical, she would crouch in a corner and scream loudly. To Penny, her family, her spouse, her children, is the treasure of her life, and what happened made Penny's mind wobble.

"Mother..." *hic* "Mooootheer..."

Haley:

Screaming and throwing things. Haley can't control her emotions. And who can blame her for reacting this way when the one she married essentially killed their precious children? Not even death, but a fate worse than death, to wander like the damned, in the body of a short-lived bird, at the hand of their own parent... Screaming and throwing things. Haley wished she wasn't so helpless right now... That she could get her kids back, that she could punch her (already ex) spouse with all her might, that she... She...

Screaming and throwing things... What else could she do...?

Abigail:

Abigail, in utter shock, heard clearly her inner voice, which kept saying one word: run. And she ran. Without stopping, she ran to the forest, to the tower, to that strange wizard man. Abigail run because she needed help. She needs help to get her children back. She needs help to find out what happened to her husband. Because what stood before her in their house is not even a human being, it cannot be...

Emily:

"Turn into pigeons? Oh, you bought pigeon costumes for our little ones? That's very nice of you, I remember they wanted animal costumes." Only Emily's smile slid lower and lower every second as her spouse stood before her, not saying a word. "Honey..." Her voice broke. "Please tell me you bought costumes for them. Please...Tell me what you bought..." She could say no more, and her spouse's blank and indifferent stare made the situation even more tense.

"Yoba, help me...."

Maru:

But that's... It defies all logic. Dark magic? What do they mean "turn into pigeons"? What are they talking about? Where... are her children? Maru thinks her spouse has a fever. She wants to stay calm, not show aggression, and just ask what happened and where the children are. But another part of her, her instinct for self-preservation, is screaming that she needs to run to safety. Run home to her parents and stepbrother. Run for help. Why can't she stop shaking...?

#here we go more angst #i really can't imagine how all girls must feel when they realized what happened to their kids #it's truly a horror #but anyway yay another headcanon #i wonder if you are the same anon who always asks about some sad HD #I don't mind of course! I actually like writing it as much as i like write fluff and humor #so here's your glass dear anon. enjoy #thanks for asking! #stardew valley #sdv #sdv headcanons #sdv emily #sdv haley #sdv leah #sdv abigail #sdv maru #sdv penny

[bruciemilf]

Miguel gives Battinson the greatest aftercare that he does after plastering and making Bruce incoherent to the world around him that isn’t Spiderman 2099.

Please! In my head it's like...Miguel panting heavily in Bruce's neck, exhaustion unfamiliar but very tasty on his tongue. He's covering Bruce almost completely, heavy, boneless, and sweaty and so perfectly sore. Bruce is panting too, little soft gasps of satisfaction in Miguel's ear, numb arms hugging and clinging.

Bruce, softest bitch in the whole wide world, kisses Miguel's nose and expects NOT to be railed again? That's his fault.

#THEMMMM #bruce can tire superman out what do we EXPECT #thank you so much anons youre feeding me my spiderbat addiction QUICKLY djjd #ik they keep clark UPPPP lmao #hes wondering if bruce is getting chased or fighting something but NO hes just getting the best dick of his life #now imagine Miguel's rough raspy voice 'stop. listenin. boyscout' growling possessively HELLOOOO? #spiderbat #asks #bruce x miguel #GRRRR

[ivytea]

Hi, I enjoy your art a lot.

I used to make art but I've not been able to recently.

Is there anything that inspires you a lot? Or makes you feel the I want to draw/make this feeling?

Thank you in advance 🩷

hi! I was thinking over your message this week because this is something i struggle with a lot, so various media/things have worked at various times, but here are some things that have given me this feeling in the past: movies/tv: - kingdom of dreams and madness, song of the sea, from up on poppy hill, grand budapest hotel, phantom thread, the night is short walk on girl, urasawa naoki's manben books: invisible cities (italo calvino), piranesi (susanna clarke) underland (robert macfarlane). - skip & loafer, blue period, witch hat atelier - also various folklore and mythology collections other: visiting libraries or museums/digital collections online, keeping an eye out for unusual events/shows in your area, lectures/videos & interesting concepts (animals/architecture/culture, whatever), going on walks, & making cursed little crafts. - recently I got a little handheld microscope and while idk if it really counts as "inspo" it's been really special to be able to look at things up close, and makes you look at your everyday surroundings differently afterwards I just want to add that it's easy to be stuck in a cycle feeling so unhappy with yourself for being unable to make things like you used to. try not to worry too much, and pursue your interests without pressure of finding inspiration, the drive to create will follow. I hope you will encounter surprising and fun moments that fill you with joy!

#asks #anon #thank you for your message!! hope one of these can be a little helpful for you :^) #SORRY keep trotting out the same 4-5 movies sldkfjsldkfjslf #i just love media that can show you how strange and wonderful different interpretations of this world can be #if anyone has recommendations please feel free to suggest also!!! would love to find new things.......inspo hivemind

[justinegreenpie]

was your sso costume Jennifer from Jennifer's body???

yes!!!

#here is your forehead kiss sweet anon :* !! #i love jennifers body so much and I got so hyped when I found that jacket in the data base #i wonder if somebody at sse is a jennifer fan too #star stable #star stable online #sso #jennifers body #thank you for the anon ask!

[total-feminism-takes]

Not a take but I wanna say this is one of the best take blogs I’ve ever seen, excluding very few instances anons are quite mature and very supportive of each other with next to no infighting from what I’ve seen and it’s nice to see in the echo chamber of negativity that is the total drama fandom normally

It’s gotten me to change my opinion (albeit slightly) of Courtney and have more meaningful conversations in the fandom without some rat in my ear telling me “it’s just a kids show it’s not that deep”

Keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully other take blogs’ anons will follow suit 👍

-📺

Tv anon thank you 😊

From all the mod here we really appreciate you guys! 🥳

- 🧡

#total feminism takes #total drama #mod emma #tv anon #anons thank you for all of your guys wonderful takes #thanks for loving our blog #and thank you to everyone who had send in a ask #we will try our best and hardest to fight the misogyny 🫡

[thedevillionaire]

You are snzblr elite to me. Your writing is from out of this world and you seem like such a cool, intelligent person. Receiving a like or reblog from you is like winning the snzblr Oscars

💞💞💞Oh, wow. That's just...just awesome, truly. Thank you so much, anon. I'm insanely flattered. But I love that me liking and/or reblogging your content brings that kind of happiness, because I can absolutely promise that if I've liked/reblogged your content, the pleasure has also been very much mine as well. 😏

#anon asks #what an amazing and sweet thing to say! #i'm sending a whole bunch of aetherhugs your way anon #thank you so much for this wonderful ask xxx

[bonefall]

You saying the clanmew day 1 & 2 passed already and saying it was June something I’m over here like: ??? I’m still in may??? Like where are you so I know when the clanmew day is. (According to where I live)

June 3rd is going to be our next Clanmew Day! I always make sure to announce when the next one will be at the end.

We track the lunar cycle of Guatemala City specifically, because @troutfur follows it for a few personal rituals! Any lunar tracker app could tell you when the next day will be. Normally I base everything off the modeled regions in the UK, but because Trout's so integral to this project we base it off his moon.

So the next couple of Clanmew Days in 2023 will be;

June 3rd (full moon)

June 17th (new moon)

July 3rd (full moon)

July 17th (new moon)

Funny coincidence that the next couple are on the same dates across two months, but the moon's funny like that.

#Clanmew #I have quite a few things queued up now #Including a guide on deer #I wonder what the best way to answer anons is for when I do something like that... #Deer Anon whoever you are that's what's happened to your ask #You got a whole guide on the 4 true deer in the region and a guide to a Clan cat's schema of ''deer'' #Thank u for telling me that velvet is full of estradiol that's going in the revamped HRT guide #Clan cats also think that horses and sheep are deer btw but I'm going to be making a section on barns at some point #Some Clanmew expansion packs are probably going to end up looking like clan culture entries

[sportsthoughts]

Sorry if I missed this lore drop previously, but how'd you get into the Pens? I love your gifs and positivity that you bring to the lb!

Buckle up anon. I thought about one line answering this but I enjoy the phrase 'lore drop' so much I think you deserve the deep dive. It'll take a while to get to the pens but you asked for lore so...

I have been sportsthoughts on tumblr since 2015 ish - maybe slightly earlier - and this has always been a sportsblr/sports rpf-y type blog in various iterations.

This blog was originally used for liveblogging UK Premier League and La Liga football matches. I have always been a huge football fan (my childhood team is Arsenal - north London forever ❤️ etc etc) and when I moved away to university at 18 none of my new friends were into sports and I really missed watching games with my family.

Finding other likeminded fans online who were also watching games and liveblogging them was such a beautiful experience and I have amazing memories of 2015-2018ish when I was a very active football blog, spent a lot of the time in the Arsenal/FC Barcelona communities here and had some beautiful trips to Barca.

I do have a sideblog where I still dabble in that space but in truth I very rarely liveblog football anymore because nowadays it's returned to being something I watch with friends and family so I'm not on my phone during games.

Here's where the pens come in - sort of. I've scrolled back through my AO3 bookmarks and can see in 2015 I also got into sports RPF for the first time. There are some incredible football RPF fics out there (let me know if you'd like some recs!). Somehow - probably through raiding people's bookmarks - in early 2015 I ended up reading a Sid/Geno fic called And Never Been Kissed and I was absolutely hooked. At the time of reading this I had:

1. Never watched a game of hockey in my life (side note, I don't think I can understate how little hockey coverage there is in the UK. Even the most ardent sports fan would probably not be able to name a single NHL player or team. Not even Sid! Not even Gretzky!)

2. I had no idea, nor any desire to look up who these people actually were. It was just like reading really well written original fiction.

For the next 7 years I thoroughly enjoyed hockey RPF and created (in my mind) entire personalities and appearances for Sid and Geno, along with all the other 'characters I came across regularly in hockey fic. Sid, I got pretty close to the mark. Geno, not so much. One day I will try and find some reference pictures for what I thought they looked like because it’s quite hilarious. When I re-read fics I love from during that time I laugh because I remember my Sid and Geno and how different they were from reality.

So, hockey was sort of in my life from 2015 but exclusively in the form of fics. I would scroll through the actual hockey bits of works because I didn’t understand the rules and why every single fic was an AU where professional sports people were allowed to fight each other mid game.

At this point I’d left university, and because I no longer liveblogged football games, I found I really missed sports fandom. Another sport I grew up watching and loving was Formula 1 so when lockdown hit in March 2020 I started liveblogging F1 races to pass the time (and still do sometimes - now over on @vroomlive). I loved/still love F1blr, but it didn't quite fill my fandom itch because:

1. We joke about it, but F1 is a deeply unserious sport run by a dire organisation (Liberty Media). They change the rules every week and it's managed badly to the point of being comical. There have been a few major cock ups over the years (including the 2021 championship literally being taken away from the rightful winner and given to someone else. To put this in hockey terms: imagine a completely valid goal being overruled in the last 5 minutes of the Stanley Cup final and then the ref deciding to give the other team a 5 on 3 powerplay Just Because) all of this is quite disheartening for long term fans - and has resulted in quite a fractured and angsty fandom.

2. There are only about 20 F1 races a year - so it's just not a sport that's on regularly. I love sports, and I want to watch sports all the time - so a sport that only gave me content every third weekend or so just wasn't really enough for me.

At this point, when I was feeling rather sports fandom bankrupt, the wonderful work of Sid/Geno writers and the influence of the tumblr dashboard converged. I worked this out by scouring my AO3 bookmarks - in April 2021 I read a Sid/Geno fic called Game Plan that I fell head over heels for. I’m still not quite sure what about this fic grasped me so deeply but I started reading a lot more hockey RPF.

Around the same time an F1 blog I followed started posting about Mat Barzal All. The. Time. I had no interest in this man and did not know he was a hockey player but over the course of about a year I became vaguely exposed to hockey content on Tumblr through that blog, and at some point in early 2022, saw Sid on my dash for the first time. I don’t remember the exact post but I remember seeing the name, doing a double take and thinking oh Shit! That’s Sidney Crosby from fanfiction! I was flabbergasted because in my mind Sid was in his early 20s tops, so seeing this early thirties, bearded, fat bottomed man on my dash and realising that that was Sid was such a shock. 

My hockey lurker era lasted from mid 2022 to early 2023 and I spent a lot of time, um, lurking. That sounds so creepy. I suppose I had never thought about actively joining a fandom before because my fandom engagement (one direction > football > f1) had all happened really organically so actually choosing to join a space as an adult was quite an interesting process.

By summer of 2023 my husband’s job changed again meaning he works away from home most weeknights and suddenly my late nights were extremely free because I’d hang out with friends and then go home at 10/11 to an empty house which I hated. I really found myself wanting to make fandom friends and have an at home hobby I could do late at night before going to bed so taking on a sport that happened 12am-2am (timezones!) seemed like a good fit. 

Alongside this on a totally separate track was my longstanding interest in fandom - most of my professional work/research is pretty standard psychotherapy stuff but I’ve done a little bit of work over the last few years looking at sex therapy (not as sexy as it sounds) and I have a real interest in the role that fandom and especially shipping/fic plays in shaping and expressing sexuality. It’s a bit of a back burner research topic for now but I suppose over the years researching fic and expressions of sexuality via fandom and shipping has just made me fall in love with fandom itself a little bit.

Plus having lurked around the edges of hockeyblr for a while I was just like, yeah, I really want in on this, this seems like an awesome community. The reason why I chose the pens was pretty straightforward - I felt like I knew Sid and Geno and after exploring the real life hockey, I, like most of us, was quite struck by who Sid is as a person and was just completely enchanted. Another side note - hilariously, when my husband first saw a picture of Sid last year he immediately said “Oh, he looks like me!” - do with that information what you wish. 

I really eagerly awaited the start of the 2023 season and without sounding too soppy, had already fallen in love with you guys before I ever watched a live hockey game. Every fandom has its difficult corners (pensblr included!) but I can honestly say - especially after the chaos of spending my teenage years knee deep in 1D fandom and my early and mid twenties in various parts of sportsblr - being part of this space has been the most lovely, fun, friendly, lighthearted, positive and beautiful fandom experience I’ve ever had. I feel like it’s the goldilocks zone of all the previous fandoms I’ve been in and I love it.

So yeah! That is the extremely long winded answer to your question, anon. I hope this is the ‘lore drop’ you were looking for lol

TLDR: I stumbled my way through sportsblr until I accidentally ended up here and I’m never leaving.

#ask luce #this has been a very interesting reflective exercise so thanks for the question anon! #also if you recognise some of this it’s because I’ve ripped chunks of this out of dms I’ve sent people recently because time efficiency #I’m also nosy and now want to know all of your tumblr journeys so I might even turn this into a tag game lmk #anyway thus concludes my blog history. feels appropriate at this point to say thank you to the lovely friends I’ve met here #you’re all wonderful wonderful people and I love sharing this little hobby with you 💘

[storytellering]

if it's okay, would you mind sharing your art process? your style is SO gorgeous dude. keep it up spardacest nation!!!

Thank you so much anon, and of course! I kinda posted about it on twitter a while ago, but for anyone not also on there, here's a paraphrasing of what I said there! (under a cut bc it's gonna get a bit long)

(speedpaint video from procreate mostly bc like I also said in that post, it's one of the few pieces I've done entirely on procreate and thus entirely recorded kdfjhdk I usually don't do the sketching + painting parts on there but every now and then I get lazy and want to get it all done quick in one program lol! It's not as good as it would look if I were using krita to render (which is what I normally use) but it gets the idea across decently of what it is that I do)

The short version of my process is: sketch, clean up sketch for lineart, then flat colors, then paint over the flats (i make the flats my shadows and paint on the light), then a multiply layer for skin details (like lips, eyebags, etc), then an overlay layer for skin transparency details (red over the ears/nose/fingertips etc), then i do hair over the lineart, then a multiply layer with the contact shadows in a light beige/grey/neutral tone on top of everything else, and then i unify layers, paint over the details, and color correct the HELL out of it The longer version is: SO, first of all, I will say, my entire process for a finished/fully redered piece is pretty scattered and uses a lot of different apps, because after many years of trying out different drawing apps I found that I just worked better when I could incorporate the parts I liked best from each individual one rather than having to adapt to another app entirely! In total, what I use is: autodesk sketchbook and procreate for the first half I do on my ipad, then krita and photoshop on my computer when I'm actually rendering (but any photo editing app instead of ps will do, I'm just used to photoshop bc that's what I learned as my first drawing app WAAAY back in the day lol), and then meitu on my phone for color filters (also any phone editing app with filters in it will do), AND also optional just for references: blender and daz3d on computer + magicposer on my phone The actual step by step of what I do: First of all, if I want to do a detailed, well rendered piece I will start by getting my references ready. That means either just grabbing a screenshot from the game if it's like, a simple portrait, or a photo reference, taking a picture of myself in the right pose/lighting, and if it's something more complex I will recreate the scene in Daz3D to simulate a realistic lighting, OR even just blender (i have the game models for the dmc characters downloaded, so I can just pop them in, pose them and change the lighting to get a realistic idea of what shadows their faces will cast in that specific angle/lighting.) Note: references are pretty essential to me, and there's nothing to be ashamed about for using them! Personally I don't struggle a lot with the drawing/sketching part of art, but my tiny little pea brain cannot fathom how to make an object 3D in my mind, and how to visualize shadows realistically... thus the reliance on 3D programs to do that for me, and then all I have to do is draw what I'm seeing lol. My art improved significantly ever since I started making 3D refs so I could get /exactly/ what I needed - there's still a lot of leeway you need to learn though, because as realistic as the lighting will be in a rendering program, you'll never really get a fully natural looking image, as far as stuff like the body stretching/squishing/pulling when it's in movement, facial expressions, folds in clothing/fabric, etc... so really it's more a guide than something meant to be followed 1:1.

Then, once I'm confident I know exactly what I'm gonna draw/have the idea in my head, I start sketching it in sketchbook. Not really getting very in depth, just blocking out rough shapes - I like sketchbook and to be on my ipad for that because it feels very reminiscent of traditional sketching on paper to me, which while I'm not super confident on my traditional art abilities, I do get the most natural/fluid/non-stiff figures out that way. Then when I think I have the general idea ready, I export the sketch layer as a png and import it into procreate - which is where I kinda start picking at the sketch and polishing it like i'm carving it out haha. Lots of liquify tool, flipping the canvas to check if it's even, blending out some of the lineart to help out with the rendering later, and then polishing up what was once the sketch into serviceable lineart. I usually reimport it back into sketchbook at this stage - while I like procreate for drawing I don't love the brushes I can use for lineart there, and so I usually only draw the "base" naked figure in there - when I'm in sketchbook I use a hard pencil to refine the details, then on a separate layer add all the things "on top" like hair, clothing, etc - usually I can get it pretty easily in one go, and once I'm satisfied I erase the naked body under the clothes and unify the lineart layers. Then I will just do the flats with a hard brush, turning the lineart layer into an overlay layer and coloring things in with the shadow colors. At this point, I export the file as a psd and import it on my computer - I give it a once over in photoshop first to see if there needs to be any adjusting (like whether any layer that has an effect needs to have a different effect, if all the colors look right since the ipad screen isn't the most faithful, if i wanna change the background color, etc), and once I think it's ready enough, I open it up in krita, where I do the actual bulk of the painting/rendering (as to why specifically krita: it's because I've gotten very comfortable with the brush/painting brush dynamics there and cannot seem to get as good results anywhere else, it's just the goldilocks spot of a brush for me haha.) If anyone's curious, here's the brushes I usually use for painting:

The one in the middle is my go to painting brush, left one for tinier/more refined details, right one for blending out soft shadows (though I learned the hard way to not overuse it, or it will look like I went ham with an airbrush tool lol). (I don't change any of the settings on these brushes, so if you wanna try out the exact ones I use! Just fresh off how they come out the app haha) I paint on the lights on top of the shadows, and just focus on that for the time being - once I'm done with the basic painting, I'll make a separate multiply layer for details like lip color, eye waterlines, makeup if there is any, eyebags, etc, and then adjust the opacity until it feels right - then I'll make an overlay layer with skin translucency details (like, when you hold your hands in front of a light and see the tips of your fingers become bright orange - many parts of your body are always a bit translucent to the blood underneath, specifically parts where the skin is thin like noses, cheeks, joints, knuckles, etc, and I found it makes the character look a lot more alive to add that subtle coloring in) - then usually I do hair on a separate layer on top of the lineart (because that way I can add small flyaways, more details, etc, and just use the lineart as a guide) After that, I'll usually make a multiply layer on top of everything where I'll add contact shadows in a neutral color (usually pretty pale, it'll be darker anyway since it's multiply), and once I feel like I've rendered everything out properly, I save the psd and re-open it on photoshop.

In photoshop, I'll mess around with the layers a little bit more (changing hue/saturation, opacity, etc), fuck around with the background to make it look pleasing, and once I'm happy with it, I'll unify the layers and start color correcting - usually by duplicating the unified layer and messing with the curve/hsl of the image and then changing the opacity of that edited layer until it's as strong or muted as I want it to be - then I also edit the RGB curves individually and adjust the opacity of that also (because I just really like how it ends up looking if I give a bit of a red/warm tint to the shadows lol), and at that point often I will reimport the finished image into procreate for some finalizing touches! Like, blending out shadows that came out too harshly, painting over anything that came out not the way I wanted it, redefining the lineart if it got messy during painting, and adding any extra small detail that might have gotten lost like catchlights, hair shines, hair flyaways, tears, etc. I also do one last round of flipping the canvas and liquify if needed! At this point, I export the finished image both to my computer and my phone - on my phone I open it up on the photo editing app, and add a bunch of different color filters - I don't hesitate from going completely balls to the walls here, and just kinda applying as many filters as will make an image look pleasing to my eye. Once I think it looks good, I'll export the edited image to my computer - and then open both the version without filters and the one with them on photoshop, and use the filtered version as an opacity layer, and adjust it until it doesn't look as crazy anymore lol. One last step I recently started incorporating was also changing the image to grayscale after I'm done, and doing one last round of curves in greyscale to make sure the values look right, and nothing is getting too lost because the values are too similar (because i know i get a bit swept up in getting repulsed by harsh contrasting lighting and can end up washing out all of rendering if I don't check myself kjdfgk) AND that's it! Yes it's a pretty long and chaotic process, but it's coming from years of trial and error and realizing I can just let myself fo whatever makes me happier with the results, and I don't have to stay constrained to one program if I don't like every tool it has to offer/don't have to accept the final image fresh off the painting app as the "finished" image with no adjustments allowed after, lol. I don't find it takes a lot more time than if I didn't do it this way, but YMMV. Hope this was helpful and sorry for taking so long to explain! I just wanted to give a thorough explanation dfhdkhkx

#asks #sorry i know its a bit chaos hfdgd #but i hope its helpful anon! thanks for asking #also for anyone wondering #no i am not paying for ps lmao #fuck adobe #it is always morally correct to pirate adobe products people #if you have an alternative photo editing app you like best youre welcome to use it #but if youre too used to photoshop. everything is free on the internet if you know where to look #i also wouldnt recommend meitu bc it feels like a pretty sketchy app all things considered #im just too lazy to care to change my go to app but i would look for a different phone app #p sure theres billions that let you add funky color filters instead #actually i think you could use photoshop camera raw filters for that too #its just way too intensive of a process for my tiny potato computer and it feels a lot faster + seamless on phone

[warriorstale001]

Nightmare: why can't Dream see that I am still the same person? I don't need fixing! I am fine!

Dream: now has a hole in his skull thanks to Nightmare, was trapped in stone for 500 years so never had that time to yah know deal with those events.

Well Nightmare in OSDiff is trying to prove to Dream that he is very much not the same skeleton he grew up with in Dreamtale actually, by showing Dream that he no longer cares about him, is very happy without him and can hurt him without regret…

Turns out all of that is pretty much untrue though…

Basically Nightmare is in a whole lot of denial and it's going to take him seeing how much he's damaged his brother to get him to let go of a couple centuries worth of resentment and plans to punish him.

The image below should show you where exactly Nightmare's plan went wrong tho haha ^^:

Dream definitely doesn't deserve any of the suffering he goes through though... But things will get better in time.

#one small difference #osdiff #osd au #OSDiff meme #ask #ask answered #anon ask #thank you for your ask! #have a wonderful day #Can you tell I have loads of memes in my head for this fic haha #nightmare sans #dream sans #fanfic #writing #ao3 fanfic

[ssreeder]

I just finished reading Fourth Wing which is a 632 page book in about 12 hours and so I went "I wonder how long LIAB would be page wise???? So, I put the word count of the whole series into a calculator site.

It states currently, your fic is equivalent to a 2,809 page book. Congrats on essentially writing five 562 page novels. I just thought youd like know! :D

-Scroll Anon

#stop it #don’t do things like this to me #two years and five 562 page novels later and I still am not at the end #it makes me cringe #I just wrote a ‘short katara pov’ and 5k later I’m like WHYYYYYY DO I WRITE LIKE THIS?!?! #first chapter of LIAB - 7k #most recent chapter of ITF 24k #the thing is I send them to people before posting! #I BEG THEM TO TELL ME WHERE CAN I CUT?!?! #they tell me no where :( #I Guess this is my life #it’s funny you sent this scroll anon #because I just picked up poppy war from the liab ray #library** #and I was like DAMN GURL THIIICCKKK #& there was a 30 second thing where I thought (I wonder how thick of a book -) #& of course here you are #to tell me #thanks scroll anon #I’ll respond to your other ask #about the boys sneaking around #<3 #scroll anon #liab #ITF #RIA #ask #love you scrolly :)

[its-the-ratdawg]

I hereby knight you number one Hannibal confessions confessee ⚔🛡 (you're my favorite)

OH. MY. GOD

#OH MY GOD #I CANT EVEN THANK EITHER OF MY PARENTS FOR THIS #wait I guess in a way I sort of can #look you said be feral and I was just OBEYING #there are anons I haven't even taken credit for. and probably never will #and I'm STILL YOUR FAVORITE?????????? #now I kind of wonder if there are other unhinged asks that you know are me.. #anyways #I want to thank my maaäm #and my daaæd #hhrhheeggegegeg #if you know you know #I'm so fucking honored #I'm in SHOCK REALLY???? ME?????????