#back on figuring out how to commit to posting when i'm not on a schedule AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

[insertsomthinawesome]

-Slides in on skateboard and falls over- So i heard we were discussing the possibility of Touch starved Vash- Poor Roberto is so confused, he hasn’t the slightest clue 😭 Vash probably said he had sand in his eyeeeeeee

-No Romance Included-

#Trigun Stampede #Vash the Stampede #Roberto de Niro #Vash Trigun Stampede #Roberto Trigun Stampede #isa's fanart #insertsomthinawesome #February2023 #i meant to have this done so long ago smh #back on figuring out how to commit to posting when i'm not on a schedule AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA #HOPE TO FIGURE IT OUT SOMEDAY o7

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential spoilers for Stranger Things 5!

To recap, Alex received this dm on 13/2/23, seemingly confirming mileven breakup

She received this message on that day, which states that mileven are still together and happy. However it’s also instantly debunkable bc they’re absolutely not going to do the Hopper-Mike feud bs again. That is beyond clear.

On this past Tuesday, 20/2/23, she received a second message outright stating Mileven breakup.

Finally, on Wednesday, 21/2/23, she received this message full of pretty plausible statements, with mileven breakup included as fact. Interesting.

This person claims it’s all fake, with no rationale or alt info - what, is Will not important now?

Worth noting: Millie is currently doing promo for Damsels, so she’ll be out of commission re: filming for a few weeks. Early March is probably when she’ll come back, but Finn will be be busy with his Ghosbusters 2 promo.

Two conclusions:

1.) there will be no mileven scenes filmed for a few weeks. Filming schedules are very tightly planned to accommodate other actor commitments, so it doesn’t seem like this posed a massive issue. Hm.

2,) Millie will likely be doing any scenes she has with Sadie and Caleb, aka Max and Lucas, when she gets back. As this message says.

This person is probably just smart and well-informed enough to figure this out, but it’s interesting.

There has been some very intriguing activity on a stranger things set a few days ago - red UD ligthing, castle Byers.., and Will Byers. Will’s plotline for season 5 seriously looks like everything us Will stans have been dreaming of in terms of plot relevance, emotional catharsis, etc. This pic dropped yesterday, and the spoiler acc seems to have confirmed it’s Will:

Lastly,this also dropped today:

(Credit to @1987byler on twt)

Very strange framework, here. If the goal is to set up Will being rejected gently by Mike, but understood and accepted, why not focus on that? Why not have Vecna say ‘you’re afraid he’ll be disgusted by you. You’re afraid he’ll see you as the disgusting, broken boy you are’ or something like that? Elsewhere in the game, it’s being reported by players that Will is being taunted about how his friends are all ignoring him, and how Max fits into the group better than he does. This is canonically a sore spot for him - not so much the Max part, but the general point. So why not emphasise his fear of Mike’s rejection, rather than his hurt at Mike picking El over him?

Maybe because, if this is carried into s5 and we get scenes of Vecna taunting Will about Mike choosing El, it’ll be certain that Mike will indeed pick Will. Maybe this is a means of hinting that?

(Side note: at this point in the time line, El was really just a concept to Will. The one time he met her, it was for barely a minute as a delirious, dying child. By s4, it’s very clear that they’re close and loving. I’ll hear no critique of him for apparently not wanting her to come back - it’s very obviously Vecna twisting things, as he did with Max in s4 to make it seem like she actively wanted to murder Billy.)

Also worth noting: the best Mike can say about the girl he supposedly loved at first sight, after a whole week with her, is that she’s ‘cool’, ‘different’, ‘awesome’. Very lacklustre. Compare to how Lucas would describe the comatose max to a newcomer in s4.

Finally: Will quite literally utilises a never-seen memory of Mike and him in Castle Byers as his happy menory, his safe place. You know,like the Snow Ball and those other memories of good times with Lucas that Max clung to in s4?

Credit to @will80sbyers

This post by @nebulousfishgills reports Vecna saying that Will is ‘the key’, manipulating Will’s memories, and directly saying “You’ll finally matter to someone, Will.” Byler kind of has to be endgame, right? For this to make any sense as a narrative? ‘We can still be friends’ won’t cut it, not if, as the messages Alex is getting make out, Will is still so achingly in love post-time jump that he’s staying by Mike’s hospital bed after everyone else leaves and kissing his forehead (a). Not if they’re still emphasising that Mike is his safe place, his home, his light, in (technically) pre-season five promotional material.

All of this is… interesting, to say the least.

I’ll leave off by sharing the posts made by the wonderful @solgmorell on the set leak (x) and the VR byler stuff (x, y).

(a)

ETA: two of the previous dms Alex has gotten state that Will struggles with his friendships with the other party member this season due to being closeted. This game touches heavily on Will’s feeling disconnected from his friends, at least partly bc of his sexuality…. One is above, the other is here:

#byler #mike wheeler #el and mike #stranger things season 5 leaks #st5 leaks #look away if you want to stay a spoiler Virgin #will byers #is slaying #noah schnapp

[blorbologist]

heyooo I just started writing fan fic and I really have no idea what I'm doing haha, can you explain how you draft and edit and write you long fics? i don't know what to do besides just starting at the beginning and writing to the end. (also sending this to multiple writiers so I can get lots of opinions)

Hi anon! I’m really flattered you’ve reached out <33

An amorphous list of advice from someone who has written over 300k words in under a year:

Make sure to note all your ideas for the fic down. You will not remember your plot twist thought up on the walk home in a few hours - *write it down!* It could be gushing to a friend about it or a notepad or whatever - and then make sure to compile it wherever you’re keeping your ideas for that fic. 

Be kind to yourself! Sometimes it takes weeks or months to write a scene the way you want it - maybe you aren’t inspired, maybe you can’t get it to Work, maybe, maybe - don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s art. There is no timeline. 

Likewise, if you’re new: I’d really recommend against a longfic! Do some oneshots first - seeing a work to completion and posting it will really help your confidence. A longfic is a long commitment, and if you end up changing plans or abandoning it it can be very discouraging for you to have that incomplete work be one of your first. It’s like training for a marathon :D

Get a bullet point list if you can of scenes you want to do or information/things that need to happen for those scenes to make sense. Even if you don’t have the details - I have the note ‘they find Tary in hell, because he overheard them and thought it was an adventurous place to be’ in my main fic doc. I didn’t know *how* they were going to meet him, or under what context, and figured that out as I wrote. You don’t need to break it up by chapter, just timeline. 

Speaking of timeline, here’s a neat trick: muse is a fickle thing, you don’t *have* to trudge through content you don’t want to write to get to the good stuff. I usually prefer to - I like having the full emotional context for scenes clear in my head - but when writer’s block gets me I’ll often jump to self indulgent writing something fun I’ve wanted to get to. You can always go back and edit things and add in a scene later, so long as you haven’t posted yet…

… which is why I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend having a buffer when you can, or at least letting a chapter sit overnight while you sleep on it. I get the urge to post something you just made, hot off the press, but you would not believe the number of typos or inconsistencies I find after reading things over with fresh eyes. This is true for both oneshots and longfics - the chapters y’all are seeing for Two for joy were mostly complete around November during NaNoWriMo! It also means you have room to go back and edit things - if you stumble on a cool plot twist you can foreshadow it more effectively, or if a character arc changed in ways you didn’t expect you can lay more groundwork for it. It’s less stressful knowing that if gradschool goes to hell I’ve got… hang on… 13 weeks of wiggle room while still keeping to my schedule. And even if it did run out - this is free content, people would understand if I went on hiatus for a bit. You have all the time in the world - use it!

BUT, in a similar vein, feedback and encouragement are super important to keeping your muse up. Which is why I strongly recommend having a friend or two in fandom you can bombard with snippets and spoilers and ideas! One for sorrow / Two for joy would likely have sputtered and fizzled out without @rightpastnowhere, @katia-dreamer, @burr-ell, @essayofthoughts, @romeoandjulietyouwish - and the fandom community I found early on that were so excited for the fic! Engage with your commenters, they can make for really great friends, betas and/or tormented souls when you offhand chuck your most evil plot twists at them >:D 

Remember that fanfic is supposed to be fun. You’re having fun. You’re writing, for free. I’ve mostly written for Critical Role as a fandom, but I promise you it’s not as scary as you might think it is. I haven’t gotten a single nasty comment or anon yet, despite, uhhhh, breaking up my OTP and piling angst galore on people (and making Vax trans). By in large, it's a supportive space - but don't be afraid to curate it to your needs. Writing is for you and whatever you want to get out of it: validation for your ideas/HCs/skill, new friendships and a sense of community, improving your own skill, self-indulgent things you want to see in fiction, working through trauma, hella hot porn, etc. We’re all allowed to look to fic for different things, If it stops being what you need, if it feels like work, like a chore? You can drop it. 

Hope this was of some help!

#writing fanfic #cr fanfic #fanfic #tumblr writers #my writing #idk what to tag this and I gotta scram KJNGTKTRHNT BYEEE

[assiconicillnesschronic]

Things have been entirely too exciting around here lately. Cat got sick, diagnosed with cancer and passed. Husband had kidney stones and two e.r visits and general medical red tape to deal with. Son is in finals along with some professor drama. It's been alot and not only have I hit a wall but I've stumbled back up and run into the wall as hard as possible an extra few times. Imagine Wylie Coyote antics.

As mentioned with my son needing a Lyft a few posts back I can't always drive safely. I especially can't drive safely when woken up suddenly in the night. It takes me awhile each morning to figure out what's normal sleepy waking up grogginess vs. brain fog, will nausea go away after I wake up, eat and medicate or if it is just going to be one of those days where I'm sick all day etc. I also have a few pills I need to take in a certain order, some with food, some without and one can't be taken within an hour of coffee or I yak. One of the fastest ways to invoke a migraine, pain, nausea etc is to get off schedule so even when I can help during an emergency I can't always commit to the whole thing.

As such we racked up 120.87 in Lyft fees this week. I am adding that to my medical cost as before I got this sick of course I drove my husband to the E.R when needed. I used to be able to wake up at three am and if it was an emergency the natural adrenaline of "oh shit emergency" would get me wherever I needed to go, whenever I needed to get there.

There are more cost but they are hard to calculate. We spent more in food and household supplies this month. Some of this was to accommodate me. My food is pricey to begin with and when I get any kind of pre-made or convenience food it's just so much money. I'll leave those cost off for now but at some point I'll try to figure out how much extra we spend on food because of me.

Total out of pocket medical spend for 2024 $2,779.19

I did have a wellness visit somewhere in there and that didn't cost me anything. At least it shouldn't. I'll update if I get any surprise bills. My wellness visit went pretty well considering. My A1c is a little up which was disappointing because I work so hard to keep it down but everything else looked same or better and my e.k.g was normal! I don't think I've ever had a normal e.k.g so that was exciting.

#fibromyalgia #chronic fatigue #healthcarecosts #chronic pain #chronically ill #spoonie #health insurance #ekg

[thescarletwitchsapprentice]

♡ Yandere Alphabet ♡ Wanda Maximoff. Because why not?

*Not my GIF, did I mention how much I love this GIF?

Author’s Note: So I saw someone do this on tumblr, but I can’t find it now, so I’m gonna make one for her.

I’m also gonna use second-person pronouns because why not?

Should I also do one for Anya? I’m probably gonna do one for Anya.

Also guess who got her first policy warning on ao3 because I advertized my Fiverr thing. (I deleted those sections of the one that got a complaint) And I'm now scared that I might've posted more advertising shit that I don't remember.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Wanda loves affection from you. She craves it. It'd be a lot of domestic and cute things from cuddles to homemade meals and even setting up a bubble bath and massages for you when you're stressed. She falls in love HARDCORE, so prepare for major intensity-grade affection.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Wanda doesn’t need to get messy with those who she believes are trying to take you away from her. She has her magic. 

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Not a shred of cruelty. She loves you, practically worships you, to an extreme extent. If you’re her beloved, chances are you’ll never be able to leave her. (Though I’ve seen from the notes that you wouldn’t necessarily complain)

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

Probably read your mind or control you if you weren’t being good. (Though I know some of you are likely down bad for that, I see you Wanda simps. No shame, but don’t lie.)

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

I think it would be pretty difficult for her to not be vulnerable around you. Unless you piss her off, then she would harden up until she’s convinced that you’ve come back around.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Wanda would probably be a mixture of amusement, confusion, and hurt. She thinks it’s cute that you think you can win, confused as to why, and hurt because you’re fighting back.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

Absolutely not. She goes all in in terms of love, that’s kind of who she is; it’s no game, it’s a commitment. She’d feel hurt, even angry, if you’d tried to escape. But at the same time, she’s the freaking Scarlet Witch, a supernatural being who holds the magic of an elder god. Chances are you won’t be escaping any time soon.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Probably fear projections. Oh, and what goes on in MoM. (except I know some of y’all are definitely into that. Don’t lie to me.)

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

Ideally, a suburban town house with friendly neighbors and a family. Basically WandaVision without the whole “accidentally-mind-controlling-the-entire-town” thing. But she wouldn’t mind if you wanted to live by the ocean or the forest or what-have-you. She really just wants somewhere cozy to start a family with you.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

She can definitely get jealous, but it’s usually not a problem because she can use a bit of magic to fix it right up.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

She’d be very lovey-dovey, I think. Doting and affectionate, practically worshipping you.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

She’d likely start by figuring out your schedule/where you’d go. Then move up to talking to you more. Giving you little gifts. Introducing you to sitcoms she loves.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

In public, she’s very quiet and aloof, preferring to be on her own mostly. But when it’s just the two of you, she’s a cuddle bug, head over heels in love for you.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

Fear Projections, sending nightmares, emotional manipulation. Though she feels horrible about it and means every apology.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Right away? Probably just not letting you go certain places, maybe restraining you. (which I know some of you are into, don’t lie. No shame, but don’t lie)

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Initially she’s very patient, I think. But if they kept pushing her too far, it’d get bad.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Ummm.....I think we’ve all seen where that’s led to. Both in WandaVision and for those who’ve seen it, not gonna spoil much, MoM.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

She’d probably feel guilty deep down, but I think she’d justify it as that she deserves to be happy for once.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

*Insert basically every instance of trauma from her life from the death of her parents to the shit that happens in MoM.*

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

That’d be hell to her. She hates seeing you upset and would do almost anything to make you happy. Almost being the key word.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

Being a witch is pretty different. Also I don’t think she’d necessarily kill anyone, unless....if you know, you know.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

I would say her loving and trusting nature with those she loves and cares about. But when she catches you, (yes when, not if) she’ll trust you less.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

She wouldn’t mean to. At her core, she’s a sweetheart who just wants to love and be loved. But she has pretty intense magic, so it could happen on accident. And it would be a stab in the heart to her.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

Oh, you have no idea the lengths she’d go to win you over. She’d practically treat you like a god(dess), especially if you did the same to her. 

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

She can definitely be patient. She doesn’t like to rush right into things, as much as she knows that you two are destined for each other. She likes to take her time getting to know you, likely by reading your mind without your consent.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

I doubt she would break you intentionally. But she might do it on accident because of her intense magic. She’d feel bad, but....perhaps she can use this to mold you into her perfect beloved. One who would depend on her and her alone.

#yandere alphabet #yandere wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff #avengers yandere #marvel yandere #avengers #marvel

[summerwritesfics]

🩷Under The Desk

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 1143 Words Rating: Explicit 🔞 Warnings: Secret Sex Acts, Cock Warming, Oral Sex, Rouge Oral Sex, Shibari/Kinbaku

Mortal Kombat Oneshots Masterlist

Notes: Alright, so I’ve actually had this sat around complete waiting for release for a few months now lol. Like well before SubScorp week LOL. So, here’s the thing. I’m working on a fanfic project due to be posted in October (oh I wonder what it could possibly be), and tbh it’s taking up the majority of my writing atm. I don’t like leaving such huge gaps between fics, so for the first time ever I’ve set up a bit of a schedule. So, until October I am hoping that I’ll be able to post twice a week :) I do have set days I’m aiming for but I’m not publicly saying in case things go tits up and I am unable to commit on time. October will be the aforementioned project and then beyond that I’m going back to not having a schedule at least for now lmao.So yeah, hope you’ll enjoy these little bits and pieces until then :)

“As you can see Grandmaster, everything went well on the latest mission.”

Hanzo hummed to himself, glancing through the paperwork on his desk, “I can see that, you appear to have kept a detailed account of everything that happened.” Hanzo returned to the front page, it would take a while to get through it all, but he figured he'd be able to get it done in an half an hour. “I have to write up my own report to appease special forces, but these will make that so much easier.”

That'd take him another half hour. An hour of paper work was nothing. Especially when Hanzo had a little something to make the task a little less arduous.

As if to emphasise that point, he felt a tongue swirl around the head of his cock.

His breathing hitched, and he preyed to god that his subordinate didn't notice. However the double take the man did made it obvious he failed.

“Are you alright Grandmaster?” He asked, and Hanzo had to think quickly to avoid any further awkwardness.

“I'm fine, I merely went a little too hard with training and it's left me sore,” he claimed, keeping his voice as even as silky smooth as possible. Thankfully the clansman seemed to accept this as an answer. “Regardless, I had better get on with this work, unless there is anything else you need, you are dismissed.”

“I believe I have said everything I need to,” he agreed, before bowing politely to Hanzo. “I shall leave you to your work, Grandmaster.”

Hanzo nodded, watching as the man quickly left the room. He sighed in relief, leaning back in his chair and letting himself relax. A tongue lapping against his shaft reminded him of why he'd been momentarily on edge and he looked down. Brown eyes met blue, as Hanzo glared at the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, naked and bound in red rope, forced on his knees, lips clamped around Hanzo’s cock.

Kuai acknowledged Hanzo’s attention with a gentle suck, leaving Hanzo groaning.

“You did that on purpose,” Hanzo accused, and god it was infuriating how Kuai could look so smug even with his mouth stuffed with cock. Hanzo reached both his hands to the back of Kuai’s head. “We shall see if you’re still so arrogant after I fuck your throat.”

Before Kuai could do anything to react, Hanzo tightened his grip on Kuai’s short hair and forced him down. Hanzo felt his cock hit the back of Kuai’s throat, the sudden intrusion causing him to gag slightly. Hanzo chuckled triumphantly. Kuai rarely gagged, he was practically a pro at deep throating, so getting any reaction out of him was an achievement. He pulled Kuai back up, checking to make sure he seemed okay, before he went any further.

When Kuai didn’t seem too fussed by it, Hanzo pushed Kuai down again, feeling the mans tongue run down his cock. He huffed as he felt Kuai’s throat yield to his intrusion this time. Holding Kuai there for a minute, Hanzo enjoyed the way Kuai’s tongue lapped against his length.

He began a rhythm, jerking Kuai’s head up and down his cock, occasionally thrusting to meet half way. It was gentle at first, letting Kuai Liang taste every inch of the cock in his mouth. Hanzo could feel himself slowly smeering his precum along Kuai’s tongue, feeling him swallow every now and then when it got too much.

Hanzo growled as he began to pick up speed, he began to thrust with more purpose, powerful and rough. Kuai gave up on trying to keep up with sucking, seemingly resigned to letting Hanzo use his face as a fleshlight. Kuai still kept his lips tight around Hanzo.

“Yes, that’s it, take it,” Hanzo whispered lowly, as he felt Kuai choke slightly. He suddenly stopped, forcing Kuai to keep his cock deep in his throat. “Not so smug now are you?” He questioned, feeling Kuai desperately swallow around his cock. He didn’t struggle against Hanzo’s grasp though. Just looked up with watery eyes. “I’m going to use you, and then I’m going to cum on your pretty little face, do you understand me?”

Kuai purred around his cock, even as tears rolled down his cheeks from closing his eyes. Still, Hanzo resumed his assault, hips snapping upwards, his pelvis hitting Kuai’s face. Saliva filled Kuai’s mouth, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. His face was red, eyes screwed shut as he tried to just ride out Hanzo’s movements. Hanzo concentrated on his own pleasure. How tight Kuai’s mouth clung to him, how his tongue felt along his length, how well his throat took such rough treatment.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Hanzo commented between breaths, giving a particularly hard thrust. “You love being my perfect little cock warmer don’t you?” Kuai gurgled in reply, Hanzo groaning in satisfaction at the vibrations. He was close.

He removed Kuai from his cock completely, a line of saliva linking his cock and Kuai’s mouth. With one hand, he kept a tight grip on Kuai’s hair, while his other reached for his cock. He jerked along his length, forcing Kuai’s face in line just as he reached climax. Kuai closed his eyes as his Hanzo’s cum hit his face. Hanzo stroked a few more times, not stopping until his essence was painting Kuai’s face. Pushing his cock against Kuai’s lips, the man instinctively licking the tip of Hanzo’s cock, tongue dancing around the slit to clean Hanzo up.

“Such a good boy, knowing his place between my legs,” Hanzo commented, finally releasing Kuai’s head and stroking his hair instead.

Kuai kissed tip of Hanzo’s cock as he looked at him, eyes half lidded from both pride and desire. God, Hanzo wanted nothing more than to drag him to the bed and fuck him senseless, but then he remembered why they were in this particular position to begin with. Shit, my paperwork.

“I need to finish my work now,” he stated, stroking Kuai’s cheek scooping up some of his cum on his finger. He pushed the finger against Kuai’s lips, and he opened up and licked it clean. “You’re going to stay there, keeping my cock nice and hard, and once I’m done I’ll give you a reward for being such a good slut for me, alright?”

As he pulled his finger free with a wet pop, Kuai gave a husky reply of, “yes Master~”

Hanzo gave a fond smile, before guiding his cock back into Kuai’s open and waiting mouth. The younger man gave a gentle suck, but otherwise stayed completely still.

“Good boy,” Hanzo reiterated, gently ruffling Kuai’s hair, before turning his attention back to the pile of work on his desk.

Paperwork really was tedious, but at least he knew how to make it a little more interesting.

#mortal kombat #subscorp #kuai liang #sub zero #hanzo hasashi #scorpion #🩷mortal kombat oneshots

[four-loose-screws]

Comeback, Take 2!

Let's try returning to my normal posting schedule again!

First, the context.

So early on in 2022, I realized that I was going to have to significantly slow my translations pace, as I was getting married, and I like to be way over-the-top handmade in everything I do. The time I had to put into every detail was immense.

I thought that I would be able return to a more consistent posting pace once the wedding was over, but then I made the very much hasty decision to sign up for the December Japanese proficiency exam, and finally tackle the highest level. I was almost immediately filled with complex feelings when I learned that preparations were going to take a whole lot more time in the day than just a quick review of vocab and grammar I've studied before.

THEN Christmas is a thing! So I had about 2 weeks to panic and rush and get gifts out to the side of the family that gives gifts to EVERYONE - I even gift exchange with great aunts and uncles I haven't seen since I was but a wee kiddo playing Pokemon, Sonic, and Harvest Moon 8 hours a day, who had no idea how ambitious I would become (FE didn't come into my radar until I was a teen).

So in the end, my return was put off almost exactly 1 year, but I'm ready to try again!

Now it's 2023 and I'm ready for a well-deserved reset! 2022 was not a miserable year for me by any means, I was busy with good things. But I was way over-worked, and I'm ready to shove that life in the garbage bin for way more translating, naps, and mindless exploring of Pokemon Violet's Paldea! At least for a couple more weeks until Engage, and the Story of Seasons remake drop. :) (I'll be importing the JP version of A Wonderful Life at the end of the month, normally I wouldn't mind waiting for the NA release, but SoS games are one of the few on the Switch that are region locked.)

I apologize dearly to everyone who sent an ask/message/etc. to me over the past many months, that has gone entirely ignored. Everyone who sends comments my way is always *super* fantastic and supportive of me having to take breaks (Hugs to you all!), but I'm always so bummed when I can't keep up. It's what I want to do, and when I can't do it, it's just super poopy.

My blog goals for the beginning of the year are about what someone who has been following my translations for a long time might expect: 1) stay on pace with the FE7 novel translation, 2) get caught back up and finished with the FE4 manga translation, and 3) get all my asks/messages/etc. caught up on before making any new commitments!

Best of luck to everyone and their goals for the new year! Be real and kind with yourself, and you can accomplish them in time. :) Everything just takes time, and it takes forever to figure out your personal style for achieving accomplishments.

I have many things I'd like to learn this year, but the only one I'm committing to is getting better at reading Japanese. I realized that translating novels does NOT help one bit at improving my skills in reading for enjoyment or everyday life! ...You might think that's strange at first glance, but translating is... slow. Methodical. Aiming for careful interpretation of every sentence and word. That does not help with gaining reading speed and comprehension on par with native speakers AT ALL. So I really need to improve, especially in case I didn't pass the Japanese exam and need to go for a round 2 this December!

Cheers to a new year of much more relaxation! 🥳🎉

#fire emblem #translation #translations #blog update #here's to 2023!

[staceymcgillicuddy]

Hi, lil ask about the I'd Build A Plane fic- I'm curious about Chrissy's backstory! She's definitely more uninhibited and actualised, what do you think happened to her in the years since HS? Formative experiences? Dating/love life?

Short answer, yes, all of the above! I think she had a big, ridiculous blowout with her mom at some point in the six months post-graduation, and that spurred her into getting out of Hawkins. At first, she was in Indianapolis, and that's where she started coming into her own. I think she made some friends at work, and that brought her out of her shell and helped her realize how insular Hawkins was. I don't know that she ever had a big "AHA" moment regarding her mother's abuse, but I do think that getting out of the harmful environment allowed her to try things, and fail, and figure out what she likes and doesn't like. I think she probably still very much has a disordered eating mindset--I don't think she's ever gotten actual help for her ED--but without her mom around, she came up with some coping mechanisms on her own. (In contrast, my Chrissy in Soul tripled down on the control and anxiety, poor little bean.)

I also think that being around a lot of other women, with very different life experiences, was formative for her. From roommates to fellow flight attendants, she's met a bevy of worldly, interesting ladies and has modeled herself on the ones she found inspiring. I always headcanon Chrissy as genuinely valuing female friendships, mostly because they were what she had when her mother was being an asshole, and that doesn't change as she grows up. She's been a bridesmaid at least ten times, and she's got two different ride-or-die besties who have her back.

Dating-wise, I think it has been a fairly standard set of dudes, but that in her early twenties she dated a guy who took a woman's pleasure seriously (hello, Eddie proxy) and showed her that sex can be fun, instead of just the "thing you do on the third date" which opened her up to some exploration around what she likes and doesn't like. Enough that she can articulate some of it to Eddie, even that first time, because she's fairly comfortable with her wants and desires. She likes sex, likes the fact that she knows her mom would disapprove, but has a hard time with commitment. She's had a couple of boyfriends, but nothing that lasted longer than six months, which she blames on her travel schedule. I do think that the travel thing will be the biggest issue with her and Eddie moving forward in that particular universe.

Thank you for this ask, @notquitecogent! It's kind of making me want to write a sequel! But I shouldn't! Because I have other shit to write! :D

#bsc diaries #notquitecogent #if she lived in space man i'd build a plane #my fic

[sarah-sandwich]

hey Sarah!! wish you a nice day there🌸

i just felt the strongest need to say how grateful i am for your autobiography piece from a previous ask!! first off, i had no idea you got where you are now (in terms of mindset) fairly recently, and thanks to our lil spidey guy :p

and then, as an artist myself, i found so many similarities between your story and my personal… the ✨frustration✨, starting a bazillion projects and finishing none of them, aiming for the result (and diving into depression headfirst if it didn’t meet my expectations, which if we’re honest never happened ajshaiiksjk), pushing too hard and at the same time not committing to getting educated on things that matter and therefore preventing myself from becoming actually good at what i’m doing.. oh boy what a precious time :”)

and this thing hit home so much :D

it wasn’t that long ago that i found my joy in the process itself and realized that the way i treated things my whole life was, firstly, unrealistic, and secondly, hurtful for me first of all. and it’s like, 🌈the world got brighter?🌈

it made regulating my work schedule waayy easier. oh and it helps with burnouts so much! it was a huge problem for me too, back in the day, i never knew when to start or stop or what’s going on in general :D but when i started to treat the process itself as valuable and serious, it became only natural that i should put my mind to creating a healthy and balanced environment for myself. which now allows me to take long breaks and not rush anything if it feels like i should take time with it, or i went a little overboard and now need a good recharge. it’s so cool to see my experiences reflect in someone else’s! it’s like a little moment of oh, so it does make sense :DD

okay i’m probably rambling too much here. i guess you unlocked some kind of rambling chakra in me. which is incredible tbh :D what if it actually helps some folks out there who are going through same experiences as we once did🐣

thank you thank you a billion times for everything Sarah!! for your work, for your journey, just for you❤️ lots of love!!

*please excuse any dumb mistakes if you see them, english is not my native thing and sometimes it plays tricks on me :’D*

omg thank you for sending this I'm 🥺🥺🥺😭 Literally at a loss for words! I've been sitting here forever trying to figure out what to say after a whole day of sitting on this and rereading it and getting overwhelmed (in a good way lol)

You're so right about how validating it is to know another creative walked the same path as you especially one whose work you are familiar with and adore (im talking about you to be clear--you're an incredible artist)

Creatives supporting creatives 💜💜💜 I'm a pit of emotion

"when i started to treat the process itself as valuable and serious, it became only natural that i should put my mind to creating a healthy and balanced environment for myself. which now allows me to take long breaks and not rush anything if it feels like i should take time with it, or i went a little overboard and now need a good recharge."

Yes!! All of that! It makes a huge difference! Now my time spent doing the purely mental tasks (the plotting and the day dreaming) has just as much value as when I'm putting down words because it's all part of the process and the process is valuable. It also helps separate the creative process from the sharing process. My happiness and self worth don't rely so heavily on getting feedback because I've already gotten my feel-goods out of making the thing. Anything else is still very much wanted, but if I don't get it I'm not going to stop writing altogether. I might turn my efforts elsewhere but my value as a writer isn't diminished because audience reaction isn't the reason I'm writing.

Thank you thank you for taking the time to write this out and send it to me! I feel so seen and cherished <333

in case you missed it, here's the post we're talking about

#rainy day post

[usedpidemo]

Update - (out of time)

Hi everyone, it's pi the shiny collector here.

I wish I didn't have to make this announcement/update, but man have things been terrible for me lately.

Let's just cut right to the point: I start college next week. On Monday.

The worst part about this is that this was told to me literally last Tuesday. Six months of planning have been completely wiped clean.

Since college is a very important and time-sensitive issue for me, I figured I needed to let you know, because it's going to affect this blog moving forward.

I had plans to write until September, when my actual classes was supposed to start, but it looks like those will be scrapped entirely. So much pressure to succeed and do well has been placed on my back, considering how much of a bum and passive person I am (hell, even in a hobby like this, I'm very lazy).

It's not even a want, more like a need, to commit full time to studying, so I might need to drop some things along the way. One of those is writing. Lots of it is fun, but in my really drained and weary mental state, it feels like a liability to continue this.

I really wish I had more time, but with little preparation, it looks like I'm going into the fire at a disadvantage. I'll need to fight tooth and nail this next part of life head-on.

There's things I've considered about this blog and you guys: Should I keep my stories up for reading or deactivate? Looking back at my work, I doubt I've published anything memorable or of great quality compared to other better, more proficient writers. You seriously deserve better as a reader, and I think my work belongs in the bargain bin, not on the shelf. I don't know. I just have very flimsy confidence and some hate asks lately have been getting to my head. I'll let you guys decide whether you want me to keep things up for now.

And as for my schedule: Expect a very huge slowdown. Normally it only takes one week or 10 days for a new fic from me, but depending on how stressful things are, it might take two-three weeks instead. Who knows, maybe I only post twice a month at random. And when it comes to worst, I'm not afraid to call for an indefinite hiatus.

To those who have been following for some time or whether you just discovered me, I sincerely cannot thank you enough. It's always a humbling experience that there's readers who genuinely like whatever shit I push out and even ask for sequels/other idols to be written. I don't deserve this level of success that belongs to someone of greater quality. They might be the only words that I can express my gratitude to you all—thank you.

Here have a comfy pic of the crew sleeping because had to read through all of that:

TLDR: College starts next week, schedule's going to be very slow(ish), maybe I might pull down my stuff so I don't get distracted? Idk.

#update

[kpopfanfictrash]

Hey Shanna, I just love your blog and your writing! I am particularly impressed by how productive you are. I am also an INTJ but I am so inefficient and have a hard time unblocking myself when writing - always needing to be in a good mind space or having lots of time to write. Time is not something I have a lot of these days (two young kids and a full time job). How do you find time to write so prolifically and have it be such high quality to boot?! How do you balance that with work and exercise and your social commitment and chores and so on? Any advice is welcomed and much appreciated! - your enthusiastic but inefficient reader

PS. The way you write tension in particular is *chefskiss*

HELLO, fellow INTJ anon! I am so glad to hear you're enjoying my writing and thank you for reaching out!

Hmmm. I have many thoughts on the above. LOL honestly, it's often difficult for me to break out of the mindset that productivity = success. It's important to take a step back and remind yourself you're only human and there are only so many hours in each day. Ultimately, any words you write (whether it be 5,000, 500, or 5) are more words on the page than when you started.

That said, I think it's also important to remember that time to yourself should also be a priority. I'm going to caveat the following with the fact that I don't have children, so I am in no way facing the same time constraints as you, but: you're still a person outside of your commitments to other people. Sometimes, taking time for yourself is the best way to set an example for other people in your life.

What I do when I'm feeling overwhelmed/overburdened with commitments is to make a schedule. I know, it sounds silly but it helps me to visualize my competing priorities and figure out where I need to be and when. I'll plan out my upcoming week, including time for meal prep, working out, work, seeing my family, dinners with friends, etc. In the space I have free time, I'll schedule time to write.

One other thing I'll mention is I don't really believe in the idea of motivation before writing. There have been very few days when I woke up, thought, "this is the perfect time to write," sat at my desk and had the words flow. I don't know if that's ever happened to me. It's more like, I delay as long as I can, then sigh and force myself to sit at the computer. I eke out two sentences. They're terrible. I check Tumblr. I browse Twitter. I force myself to return to the page. I write another two sentences. Twitter, again. I once more force myself back to the document. One sentence becomes five, turns into twenty and somewhere around the second page, I actually start writing. It's never easy, and sometimes I just have to force myself to start.

Which leads me to my last thought! My readers only see the final version I post. Let me assure you, that isn't the first version lol. The first version contained all the terrible sentences mentioned above; I edit around 3-4 times before posting. All that to say: try not to compare your first version with someone else's final version. Writing fast doesn't always mean quality writing (in fact, it's usually the opposite). Also, the concept of "fast" is relative. I have people telling me I write quickly and then I have people commenting on chapters a week later asking for the next part. However long it takes you to write is the right speed. You're doing the best you can with the time you have and as long as you enjoy the process, you're doing just fine!

Wishing you all the best, and I hope there was something helpful in the above!

#asks #on writing

[traincat]

I feel like I've read a ton, but I'm honestly still pretty new to comics rn. That being said... What is one more day? Ik we don't like it and it happened a while ago, but that's about it [,=

Time for Spider-Man History With Traincat: Highly Controversial Storylines! And that feeling is totally normal with comics with huge canons -- you can read a ton and still have some fairly big blindspots in your understanding of the total picture. That being said, this is kind of a big one, both in terms of Spider-Man history/canon and in terms of how Spider-Man fandom functions. I would say probably no other storyline has had quite as much impact on how the fandom views and interacts with the source material as One More Day/Brand New Day. It's been the Wild West out here ever since it happened. (Which was in 2007, so like, yes, fairly long ago, especially when you look at how Spider-Man canon has evolved since, but in the grand scheme of things, also kind of recent. One More Day is not old enough to rent a car.)

So when people talk about Spider-Man's One More Day, they're usually actually talking about two related arcs: One More Day and Brand New Day. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be covering both. For the sake of transparency, I am going to admit that I think One More Day, as a self-contained story, is good, actually. This is controversial! I admit that! But I stand by my stupid opinions on this blog, for some reason. I think One More Day when you examine it on its own, by which I mean you ignore the decade and a half worth of canon that came after it, as a Spider-Man story and as a PeterMJ-centric story holds up under scrutiny and that people who don't like it don't like complicated love stories and might actually throw their own mothers under buses. No offense to the OMD haters. Little bit of offense to the OMD haters. Brand New Day, which is the continuation of One More Day, on the other hand -- largely bad. Very largely bad.

But let's backtrack. One More Day is a four issue crossover storyline that takes place directly after Civil War, during which Iron Man and Captain America got divorced and divvied up the superhero community and Spider-Man made some startlingly bad decisions and made a fugitive out of himself and his family in a manner that got Aunt May shot, and Spider-Man: Back in Black (Amazing Spider-Man #539–543) which examines Peter's actions immediately after Aunt May is shot and ends with him humiliating the Kingpin in front of an entire prison. One More Day consists of Amazing Spider-Man #544 -> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 -> Sensational Spider-Man v2 #41 -> Amazing Spider-Man #545. In One More Day, Aunt May is dying, all of Peter's efforts to save her have thus far failed, and, consumed by guilt, he is rapidly running out of time. Approached by Mephisto, a literal demon from hell, Peter is offered a deal: Aunt May will live -- and Peter's identity, which was previously revealed to the world at large during Civil War, will once again be hidden from the memories of all but a select few -- if Peter trades him his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane struggle with this, but eventually both agree to the deal. The clock strikes twelve, the deal is done, and Peter and Mary Jane's marriage fades into history.

(ASM #545) A reasonably simple premise for a story that caused so many problems -- most, I would argue, not actually the original story's fault. So obviously, this was an unpopular move -- Peter and Mary Jane had for a long time been a fan favorite Marvel couple, and in a fictional universe where most relationships are doomed as soon as they begin, the enduring Spider-Marriage was sacred ground. And then, with a snap of its fingers, it was gone: Peter wakes up in Aunt May's house, no longer married, with Mary Jane out of the picture. (She would not return to the book on any sort of consistent basis for over 50 issues.) In the wake of One More Day began Brand New Day, which is basically what it sounds like: a promised "brand new day" of "exciting" Spider-Man content and a publishing schedule where Amazing Spider-Man came out three times a month. (Which sounds good on paper but I think in practice caused more problems than it created good storylines.) Peter, newly single again, had new love interests! And also Harry Osborn was alive again for some reason! I generally like Harry's post-BND stories so that part's fine with me.

But overall? Brand New Day is a mess. It knows it wants to tread new and exciting ground with Peter -- tell new stories! ensnare new readers! make them fork out for a book three times a month. -- but it doesn't know what those stories should be. Readers who were invested in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship -- a major facet of Spider-Man comics for decades at that point -- felt rightfully betrayed that the marriage could be so easily traded in and that Mary Jane herself, perhaps the second most important figure in Spider-Man comics after Peter, could be tossed aside. From a personal point of view, I think Brand New Day fails in large part because it abandons what has always made Spider-Man such a compelling series, and that's the mix of Peter's personal life with his vigilante life. BND sees Peter with new friends, new jobs, new love interests, etc -- it is very much a brand new day! But it isn't a better day compared to the stories that came before it. I do like some post-BND stories, especially American Son (ASM #595-599) and Grim Hunt (ASM #634-637), but compared to pre-BND where I think the majority of canon is good, it's a very lacking body of work that is hurt by the way it divorced itself from the PeterMJ marriage as Spider-Man's central relationship.

"But Traincat, I thought you said you liked One More Day?" Yeaaaaah. I do. This is why I keep saying I like One More Day on its own merits, and not on the merits of the stories it opened the doors for. I like a good romantic tragedy in fiction, and the way Peter and Mary Jane's final scene in One More Day plays out is beautiful. I like the idea of Peter caught in this impossible situation, being asked to choose between two women he loves more than his own life. A really common criticism I see leveled against One More Day is that Peter should have chosen his relationship with Mary Jane over May's life, which is -- okay, I think it's weird that people keep insisting on this, not in the least because by asking Peter to sacrifice his aunt's life they're essentially demanding he commit a callous, out of character act in order to further his own interests. It's also weird because the thing is, Peter already chose Mary Jane over May -- that's what gets them into this situation. It's literally in the scene where May is shot:

(ASM #538) When the gun goes off, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, and he covers Mary Jane, leaving May in the path of the bullet. He does choose Mary Jane over May, regardless of whether he realized what he was doing. And that's why he can't make that choice a second time. His actions in One More Day do make sense for him as a character, whether or not any individual reader likes them, and Mary Jane's actions make sense, too -- after all, she's the one who ultimately tells Mephisto that they agree to the deal when Peter can't bring himself to voice it.

A lot of people also like to nitpick One More Day by going, well, why could (x) or (y) with life saving powers save Aunt May which is like -- yeah, I guess, but if we're going to ask that about this specific comic book near death setup, you kind of have to do it with every single one, and I'm not going to stake every single moment of comic book drama on whether or not that gold kid from the X-Men was busy at the time. Comics are soap operas in flimsy paper form: serialized longform storytelling that relies heavily on melodrama. Sometimes you have to go with things. Sometimes you sell your marriage to the devil. Stuff happens. That in and of itself doesn't make One More Day a bad story -- and while some people blame the Spider-Marriage's dissolution entirely on One More Day, I think that's a little shortsighted when you look at the history of Spider-Man since the turn of the century. It's clear -- and Marvel themselves have been perhaps a little too open about this -- that Marvel in the past few decades has had trouble with the direction they want to take Spider-Man. They WANTED Spider-Man to appeal to a distinctly youthful audience that they didn't think they were actually reaching -- understandable, considering that Marvel nearly went bankrupt around 2000 and was saved by Ultimate Spider-Man, an out of main continuity series which retold Spider-Man from the beginning and focused heavily on Peter as a teen -- but the problem was Spider-Man in the main continuity was at that point in canon a happily married man who was pushing the dreaded 30 whether or not they wanted to admit that. This is also why Marvel has continually pivoted away from Spider-Man having kids, because they feared that making him a dad would age him too much and make him unrelatable to their coveted audience of Teens. (This is also why almost every new Spider-Man property, especially the live action movies, perpetually stick him back into high school, despite that occupying a very small slice of 616 canon.) So around the year 2000, they started trying things in relation to the Spider-Marriage, which was viewed as a major problem -- after all, what's more adult than being married and liking your wife. First, they had Mary Jane presumed dead. Then, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate. Then, when Mary Jane and Peter had only recently gotten back together, One More Day struck. If One More Day specifically hadn't gone the way it had, it's pretty clear that the Spider-Marriage was going to go one way or another -- it's a little bit of a shame it happened when it did, because OMD is the end of J Michael Straczynski's run, and JMS wrote a really beautiful Peter and MJ relationship. But Marvel as a company and especially editor in chief at the time Joe Quesada viewed Peter and Mary Jane's relationship as a major problem in how they wanted to portray Spider-Man and thought that striking the relationship from the books would allow them more freedom in their portrayal of him as younger and more relatable to their Desired Audience of people who I guess really wanted to see Peter sleep with characters who weren't Mary Jane.

(ASM #546. Younger! Fresher! Less attached! Kissing random women in the club!)

The problem with One More Day has always been in the follow through -- from the content of Brand New Day to the pacing of events to the fact that Marvel withheld key information for such a long time that it allowed misinformation to thrive. After all, what does it MEAN to trade Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to the devil? It altered the events of canon in Peter and the majority of other characters' memories so that the marriage didn't exist, but it left people wondering -- did the relationship as they remembered it existed? How much of Spider-Man canon was altered? And the answers didn't come for over 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. One Moment In Time or OMIT (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641), which revealed that while Peter and Mary Jane never got married in the altered canon they did continue their long committed relationship up until just after Civil War, was published in 2010, so essentially readers were hung out to dry without answers for three years. That's a long time to string people along, but not as long as it took Marvel to confirm that the popular fan theory that Mary Jane retained her memories of the original timeline as part of her own deal with Mephisto was also true, which happened this year. I would say, at least from my perspective, a lot of the frustration doesn't come from the individual One More Day storyline so much as how Marvel has continually dragged out the aftermath, using the promise of a Spider-Marriage return to keep fans on the hook. Which is why One More Day continually comes up in discussion of current Spider-Man, because Spencer's run has relied very heavily on imagery from that period with a serious question of whether or not there actually was going to be payoff, something which is still up in the air.

This has been Spider-Man History With Traincat, brought to you by anonymice like you.

#traincat talks comics #long post #*replies

[dollyshaw]

The Thing About Rain: An Adrienette Story (Part 1)

In which our heroes are introduced.

To say it rained that day would be an understatement.

From the moment Marinette Dupain-Cheng woke up, water poured from the sky, creating an unforgiving fog that prevented even the sharpest eyes from seeing so much as their hand in front of their face.

Marinette was no stranger to rain. It had never bothered her before, as many of her favorite memories came from the rain.

It was the rain that brought her the love of her life, though he may not know his status to her. It had hardly been seven years since Marinette stood outside her college waiting for the rain to subside, and in his innate kindness, supermodel and fellow-classmate, Adrien Agreste stopped to give Marinette his umbrella. He would go on to regard that encounter as a simple act of kindness to a friend. She would regard that moment as the moment she fell head-over heels in love with her classmate.

It was rain that set the scenes in many of her encounters with her best-friend and superhero partner, Chat Noir. She fondly remembered late night patrols with her leather-clad kitty, racing the rooftops of Paris as the rain wet her face. When she needed a happy memory, she thought back on how Chat Noir would vault from a balcony to a puddle claiming that he would make the bigger splash. The years may have passed and opponents may have become more fierce, but she and Chat Noir, no matter how old they'd become, would always have their rain patrols.

To say the least, Marinette enjoyed the rain.

This rain, however, felt different. Ominous, even. Marinette, though being the holder of the Miraculous known for luck, was never superstitious. This storm, for whatever reason, put her on edge.

"Something is strange, Marinette." her kwami, Tikki, called her out of her trance at her bedroom window.

"I feel it too, Tikki. Do you think I should transform? Go and find Chat?"

"I'm not sure that it's not just a feeling. You don't want to risk anything if you don't have to. Besides, if Chat is anything like his kwami, he's not even noticed that it's raining yet."

Marinette laughed at her tiny friend. Tikki was right, Chat did tend to be a little aloof.

"You're right, Tikki. Come on, we can't be late for our first day at House of Gabriel." Marinette concluded, making her way into her closet to get ready for internship with famous fashion designer (and father of the love of her life) Gabriel Agreste.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adrien didn't mind the rain. He didn't particularly like it, but he never minded it. Most of the work he did was inside, so it never really interfered with his carefully calculated schedule.

He sighed as he ran over his schedule for the day in his head.

6 a.m.: Running (accompanied by Gorilla)

7 a.m.: Shower and Dress

8 a.m.: Breakfast with Father (which was usually subject to change seeing as his father was almost never seen in person anymore.)

9-11 a.m.: Photoshoot

12 p.m.: Lunch

1-3 p.m.: Photoshoot

4 p.m.: Fencing (he used to take lessons, but upon him turning 18, Monsieur D'Argencourt offered him a position as an assistant coach, much to his father's approval.)

5 p.m.: Dinner with Father (again, usually subject to change.)

6 p.m-9 p.m.: Free Time

It was roughly the same schedule as every single day from the past ten years of his life. There were few things that changed as he got older, such as the removal of school once he graduated and the addition of free time at night where he was permitted to socialize with friends, accompanied by the Gorilla, of course.

Much to Adrien's dismay, Gabriel made up his mind shortly into his last year of school that he would not need to attend University and that all the further education he needed to take over the company when Gabriel retired would be best taught by him and Nathalie.

Regardless, most nights when his father thought he was asleep, Adrien would call upon the tiny God of Destruction housed in the silver ring upon his finger. Clad in skin tight leather as black as night, he would pounce from his bedroom window across the roofs of Paris to meet with his Lady.

Oh, his Lady. What a Lady she was. The memories he shared with her were his favorite memories of the rain.

His most treasured memories were observed by the way the rain clung to her red and black spotted suit in droplets and the way it made her navy blue hair shine against the lights of Paris. He treasured the way her blue bell eyes would squint when she laughed at him as he pounced from puddle to puddle along the cobblestone streets. Her voice would ring out "Silly Kitty" with a giggle. He'd place a kiss to her gloved hand before they departed with a "M'lady" and then watch as she swung away through the sheets of rain.

Tonight, he decided, would be no different.

He carefully combed through his blonde hair as he listened to the hard beating of todays rain outside of his bedroom window.

"Mon Dieu, it's pouring les chats et les chiens out there!" his kwami snarked as he flew into the bathroom and took residence beside Adrien's hairbrush on the counter.

"I hope Marinette and Tik--- Marinette and her TOTALLY AWESOME SELF get to the office okay." Plagg commented.

"Marinette?" Adrien questioned, "What does Marinette have to do at the office?"

"You forgot didn't you?" Plagg retorted, unamused. Adrien felt a blush creep to his ears. "Personally, I would have thought the beginning of your so called 'best friends' apprenticeship at your father's studio would have been at the top of your reminders today."

"Of course! How could I forget?" Adrien lamented.

"I'm not sure she's only been talking about it for three months."

"Plagg, take a look at the schedule. Do you think if we leave now we'll have enough time to pick up a coffee and a croissant from the Bakery as a 'Welcome'?" Adrien asked as he knotted the laces on his loafers.

"You'd be cutting it close, but a certain feline I know would make it with time to spare." Plagg suggested with a sly and knowing smirk.

"Plagg," Adrien grinned, knowing all-too-well what Plagg was implying, "Claws Out!"

Then he lept out of the window into the downpour, racing to the nearest bakery to retrieve treats for his best friend on her first day of her dream job.

In his rush and excitement to find the perfect Croissant, Adrien didn't notice the figure standing at his bedroom door waiting to remind him of his commitment to Paris Fashion week in the next few days. He didn't notice the figure that watched his entire encounter with his tiny God and then his entire transformation. He didn't notice, and probably wouldn't have known if he did, that this figure was the same that had been transforming heartbroken and angry citizens of Paris to retrieve the same silver ring that he'd noticed on his son's finger so many years ago but never had any proof that it was what he was looking for. He didn't notice that his father, Gabriel Agreste, more villianously known as ShadowMoth, had seen him transform.

Maybe he should have paid a little more attention to the rain.

#adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #marinette #marichat #miraculous fanfic #ladybug #chat noir

[hard--mode]

How do you find the time and energy to get the comics done? Do you power through in one long sitting or do you do it bit by bit? I'm trying to develop an Undertale comic but its completely hypothetical atm.

lmao at the fact that I haven’t been able to get anything done for this in probably a year or more now

I can’t say much for time and energy since I started this back when all I did every moment of my life was draw and lately I just barely keep up with work so I can hardly think of attempting to do stuff like this. Finding a good work/life balance and healthy sources of motivation is a personal journey that requires trial and error.

As for what advice I can give...

For me to start a comic, I usually have a direction I want to go with it first. Like I literally don’t commit to making something as big as a comic unless I have some inkling of how it will end, because I don’t wanna do it forever. The result is that I usually have enough ideas to make a script with before I get started, so step one is to make a script or at minimum a rough outline that I’ll finish as necessary

after that, I start by doing chapters as super rough little thumbnail sketches where I lay out the panels and draw stick figure poses. I do these whole chapters at a time. I think I did like the first 3 chapters of this at once in this manner. But it’s quick work if you know what you want to do already.

then things tend to slow down, because the process of making real sketches at full size takes a lot more time, and then even more so again to line and color everything. Unless I’m really on a roll, this part I mostly do tiny bit by tiny bit, because lineart or colors can get tedious sometimes, especially the more pages there are to put out. And making comics isn’t my job (doing other art is my job) so I try very hard to not overexert myself lest I hurt myself in some way, because getting burnt out or injured is the best way to kill any ability you had to make the comic in the first place!

If you’re concerned about being able to post something on a regular basis, I recommend making a bunch of pages for backlog so you’ll be working on things much later in the story by the time the first pages post, so when inevitably you fall behind schedule, you’ve still got some space. It’s also very common for people to have long posting breaks between chapters to recoup the buffer

hope that helps! :3

#not a comic #asks #baguettemilk

[growingforthefuture]

Monday August 31st

Somebody please dear god remind me to take pictures and update my blog! It's been so long since I made a proper post.

Things are going very well in our backyard.

The eggplant is slowly getting bigger, and we harvested our first watermelon.

Quite the haul for a days picking! Now I gotta figure out how to use it all..

The forest is still a forest! Cucurbits abound and swallow the earth whole. Several cantaloupe and an as yet undisclosed trophy of pumpkins.

The other beds are doing well. They are largely dominated by tomatillos because they have had good luck.

So.. thats why this variety is called 'Marketmore'. This is one of many harvests from a 5 foot planted line that has become a 10 foot wide circle of cucumber dominance.

A freak success story. At the top of my trellis, a cantaloupe vine reaches for ever greater heights, climbing onto the nearby willow branches. When I saw this I was like wtf what are you doing. Charmed.

And finally last weeks bread, one of my more picturesque creations. Baking my own bread every week has become a responsibility with the right amount of weight, it keeps me grounded and reminds me that I'm doing what I can to shortcircuit industrial supply chains.

We've started school here. None of us want to go. But in better news it means my school job is back so I have a reliable income outside of my farm packing job. We've all been struggling to adjust to the new schedules. Notably, we are having trouble getting our roommate to contribute around the house. She's unemployed and taking far fewer classes than my girlfriend or I, but we can't get her to water the garden reliably or clean up after our communal meals. It is difficult, and managing that situation has been causing me a lot of stress. It's hard when you want to operate as a community but one person sees themself and their opinions as superior. After a while it makes you consider setting out on your own, but did you really ascribe to your purported ideals of community? If I can't build community in my own home how can I build communities that are strong enough to replace government? These questions remain.

I lost it a bit at the end but I hope you enjoyed the update! Journaling helps me but I can't seem to commit to it..

Keep growing

#gardenblr #growing #solarpunk #journal