#i just don't have any base things to edit that apply for this

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

#tumblr #[tumblr] #third party sharing #openai #midjourney #chatgpt #ai art #ai #fyi #psa #anti-FUD #artists on tumblr #writers on tumblr #illustrators on tumblr #tumblr update #oh tumblr #hellsite (derogatory) #“opt out” no longer looks like a word #but still #opt out my friends #please #also if you want to leave tumblr i don't blame you but please remember to hit that opt-out button before you go

[aurorasulphur]

Disclaimer: none of these answers are official, and may not work for your particular use case. If there is a specific feature that an unofficial app had that you don't know how to replicate on the AO3, let me know in the notes and we might can crowdsource a solution.

A lot of people used the Archive Reader app to access stories on Archive of Our Own, and have been upset that the app is now charging to read longer than an hour a day. AO3 (and its parent organization, the OTW) has made it extremely clear in recent days that this app is unofficial and that there *is* no official app. They encourage people to use the website.

However, there are MANY reasons you might want an app, and in a bunch of those cases, there are ways to do those things without having to provide your login information to a random person running an app. Here is a round-up of solutions to the most common reasons I've seen people give for wanting an app instead of the plain AO3 website.

These solutions are based on the following assumptions:

You know what Archive of Our Own is

You often or primarily access it through a mobile device running iOS or Android

You understand what a browser is

You understand what a browser bookmark is

You understand what a site skin is

Edits:

Edited to clarify that you must be logged in to use custom site skins

Edited to add more tips and tricks from the reblogs

Edited to add new entry about notifications/emails

Edited to add new entry about reading statistics and the tracking thereof

I need a widget on my phone's homescreen, not just a browser bookmark.

You can do this with any website, not just AO3! Instructions here: https://www.howtogeek.com/196087/how-to-add-websites-to-the-home-screen-on-any-smartphone-or-tablet/

I need Dark Mode.

AO3 has a default site skin for Dark Mode, it's just called Reversi. Find it here, or at the bottom of any page on the website. https://archiveofourown.org/skins/929/

If you'd like Dark Mode on your whole browser (and you're on Android), sorrelchestnut has advice here: https://www.tumblr.com/sorrelchestnut/737869282153775104/if-you-want-dark-mode-and-dont-want-to-mess

I need to be able to read stories when I don't have internet.

Every work on the AO3 has a download button, so you can click on that and download the story for offline reading in the ereader app of your choice. More info on how to do that is in the AO3 FAQs: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/downloading-fanworks?language_id=en#accesslater

I need to be able to change the text size of the website itself.

If you have an AO3 account (and you should!!) you can do this with a personalized site skin! There is a simple tutorial here: https://www.tumblr.com/ao3skin/667284237718798336/i-have-a-request-if-you-dont-mind-could-you

I need to be able to change the text size in downloaded stories.

My personal recommendation: Don't download in PDF format. All the other formats you can download in can scale the text size up and down, assuming you open the work in the correct app. For me, I download works in EPUB format and read them on the built-in Books app on my iPhone. I hear good things about Moon Reader on Android as well.

I need to be able to replace Y/N in fics with an actual name.

ElectricAlice has a bookmarklet for that here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34796935

I need to be able to save specific tags and not have to search them up every time.

If you have an AO3 account (which you definitely should) then you can favorite up to 20 tags which will appear on the landing page. The AO3 FAQ explains how that works: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/tags?language_id=en#favtag

I need to be able to save specific filters and be able to apply them to any tag.

Reisling's beautiful bookmarklet has you covered: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33825019

I need to be able to permanently hide certain tags.

The best option is adding this to your site skin. (Must be logged in.) Instructions here: https://www.tumblr.com/ao3css/719667033634160640/how-to-permanently-filter-out-certain-tags-on-ao3

I also hear things about the AO3 Enhancements extension (just for Android/desktop, sorry iOS folks): https://www.tumblr.com/emotionalsupportrats/686787582579851265/browser-extension-everyone-on-ao3-should-know

I need it to save my place on the page and not reload.

This is really mostly a browser error--Firefox on iOS does this to me A LOT. Your best bet is to download the work and read it in an ereader app. A lot of people also will make an ao3 bookmark and write in the notes section which part they were at, but that assumes you aren't falling asleep while reading. (Which is the main reason I have this issue, lol.) For more info on bookmarks, see the FAQ: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/bookmarks?language_id=en#whatisbookmark

I need it to keep track of which stories I've already read/opened/kudos'd.

If you have an account (which you should) then the "My History" page keeps track of every fic you've ever clicked on. No, it isn't searchable or sortable, but it does exist. For fics you've kudos'd, I have yet to find a solution for iOS. For desktop or Android, you can use this excellent userscript: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/5835-ao3-kudosed-and-seen-history

@the-sleepy-archivist and @inkandarsenic have a solution for iOS here to use userscripts: https://www.tumblr.com/the-sleepy-archivist/737895174683885568/this-is-a-great-guide-one-thing-i-can-help-with and https://www.tumblr.com/inkandarsenic/737827438571192320/the-user-scripts-will-also-work-on-ios-there-are

I need an app because the website's search is terrible.

(I genuinely don't understand this one but I have seen it multiple times so on the list it goes!!) The search bar at the top of the screen is a keyword search. If you'd rather search within a specific field (like title or tag) then you'll want to click on the word "search" at the top of the screen and select Work Search or Tag Search. To search users, use People Search. To search Bookmarks, use Bookmark Search. (If this is you, please tell me what the heck you mean by "search is bad" and how an app helped with this.)

I need to be able to sort stories by date posted/number of bookmarks/alphabetical/etc.

You can do this using the filters sidebar. Pick a tag you want to filter on (like a fandom, character, or relationship) and then click on the "Filters" button. The sidebar will pop out and you can sort and filter on a boggling array of specifics. A good filtering guide: https://www.tumblr.com/saurons-pr-department/718665516093472768/if-there-is-something-you-dont-want-to-see-in

I need to be able to mark stories to read later.

AO3 has this feature built in! If you have an account (which you should) there is a "Mark for Later" option on every work.

Edit: Thispersonishuman reminded me that History and Mark For Later can be disabled, so if you're not seeing the Mark for Later option, check your settings.

I need to be able to listen to stories using text-to-speech.

Microsoft Edge web browser has a built in text to speech function. Supposedly it works on both iOS and Android, but I have not personally tested that. iOS also has a native accessibility feature in settings for text to speech that will work on the Books app, so I assume Android has a similar functionality. A bunch of people in the reblogs have more in-depth Android recommendations here: https://www.tumblr.com/protect-namine/737957194510794752/seconding-voice-aloud-on-android-for-tts-my, https://www.tumblr.com/smallercommand/737884523093704704/i-use-voice-for-tts-on-android-its-got-some, and https://www.tumblr.com/doitninetimes/737869463749263360/for-text-to-speech-on-android-you-can-also-check

I need to have in-app notifications for updates/I can't ever find story updates in among the rest of my emails/checking my email stresses me out.

Set up a separate email address using a free service like gmail, and use that email address JUST for AO3. Then the only emails in that inbox will be your story updates. I use Apple's Mail application for all my inboxes, but it's very easy to use the Gmail app instead, and you could log in to JUST the ao3 email and set it to notify for every email.

(Also as a general PSA: don't use your work, school, or military email as your AO3 email. Just don't.)

I want statistics like how many hours I spent reading, how many words I read, what my most read tags were, stuff like that.

So we've finally hit something that isn't easy and that requires a hell of a lot of manual work. Short version: AO3 does not track this data because they don't want to. (Mostly due to privacy concerns.) The lack of this tracking is a feature, not a bug. You can crunch these numbers yourself, but it will take a hell of a lot more effort, and it's something I personally found is not worth the effort the couple of times I have tried to crunch those numbers. If you are willing to download your history to an actual computer (not a tablet or chromebook) using Calibre, you can get a rough idea of your most popular tags via their tag browser, but it won't play nice with typos synned to a Common Tag (Canonical Tag/filterable tag) like ao3 does. (If anyone has used an app that gave you stats on this, please let me know in reblogs/replies/via ask how that worked because I am very curious.)

I need an app because <other reason>.

The AO3 Unofficial Browser Tools FAQ might cover your use case: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/unofficial-browser-tools?language_id=en If not, give a shout and we'll see what other tumblr users suggest!

#ao3 #archive of our own #ao3 app #ao3 tips #if you want official answers please use the contact forms on the ao3 or otw websites #standard disclaimer that while i am an otw volunteer i do not speak for the organization #my opinions are my own and do not represent anyone else

[countessqin]

Some voicelines about our dear [Name] as a playable character of Honkai Star Rail! - Xianzhou Luofu

Character : Jing Yuan × fem!reader romantically (lovers, husband-wife relations); Yanqing × fem!reader platonically (mother-son relations); Fu Xuan x fem!reader, Qingque x fem!reader, Tingyun x fem!reader, Sushang x fem!reader, Luocha x fem!reader, Yukong x fem!reader - platonically (friends)

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[Author Note]

I did voicelines OF our dear [Name] about the Xianzhou Luofu characters and about Astral Express family, so I decided to make voicelines ABOUT our dear [Name]. My apologies for any typos and/or mistakes, I'll edit them a bit later.

It is based on my impressions of characters and is purely my headcanons and so on. It includes Yukong, whom we saw at the beginning of Luofu story, Luocha, whom we saw at Dan Heng's part of story (both of them didn't quite open their personalities) so if they are a bit OOC, it's because I don't know their personalities as good as I want, but I tried my best!

PS. I still have exams and this writing was in my drafts for a month, so if it doesn't make any sense at some point, my apologies!

Thank you for reading!

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Small intro: - Name : [Name] - Age : ??? - Occupation : the advisor of the Luofu region - Status : ??? - Path : The Hunt - Element : [which you like]

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Yanqing

[About [Name]]

- Oh, you mean Lady [Name]? She is amazing strategist I must say! She has a huge collection of the of different antiques and swords, and even allows me to take some of them for practice! Oh and she is good at martial arts, I remember when I was younger, we were having small tournaments and she was just as skilled as the General! Mom... I mean Lady [Name] is very kind, so if you will have any questions or troubles you can ask her for assistance

Bonus [About family of three]

- M? Oh you want to know about my family? Well... Lady [Name] and General Jing Yuan took me in and raised me together. I have huge respect and gratitude towards them both... I-I don't remember my biological parents, but I heard that they were wonderful people. What I think about Lady [Name] and Master? Mom and dad, they...*warm smile* they are the best, one of the best parents a person could dream about

Jing Yuan

[About [Name]]

- Ah... advisor of the Luofu. Lady [Name] have a unique character, she can be both calm as a lake, swift as the coursing river yet fierce like a fire. A wonderful person for such position as the advisor of the whole region. Mn? What do I think of her as a person? Ha-ha, she is very kind, caring lady, always thinks about others that about herself and prioritizes others before herself. What is my relationship with her? Haha, take a guess...

Bonus [About a family of three]

- Advisor [Name] and I decided to take care of Yanqing after both of his parents died because of mara. We both never had a child of our own, but we still decided to try and give Yanqing everything he need and now, the Luofu have such a good lieutenant. [Name] and Yanqing always got along together, she was teaching him calligraphy and history while I was teaching him sword art and martial arts... ahhh what I wonderful memories...

Tingyun

[About [Name]]

- M what it is benefactor? What do I think of Advisor [Name]? Wonderful and hardworking lady. To be honest, I rarely see her not busy with her tasks... poor thing

Sushang

[About [Name]]

- Oh Advisor [Name]... well if I can say that our General-Lady of Yaoqing is more hardworking than the General of Luofu, I can't say the same about our Advisor in Xianzhou Yaoqing. Lady [Name] is much more competent than the advisor of Yaoqing, well at least in my opinion

Luocha

[About [Name]]

- I didn't personally met Advisor of the Luofu, but I heard that she is pretty reliable and hardworking. From what I heard, she was chosen out of 10 people what applied for position. They were given a task to solve and write an essay to explain why they solved case this way... and her one was the most logical and considerate

Yukong

[About [Name]]

- Lady [Name] is an amazing ally, advisor and friend. She loves to fly, but ... unfortunately she can't control Starskiff, be a pilot. No, that does not mean she is incompetent in this way, she is just too scared that one wrong move will result in catastrophe

Fu Xuan

[About [Name]]

- Position of Advisor of the region is equal to being the General of a region. One is diplomat, while other is a warrior. They both equally important. But, I think the work of an advisor is more complicated than being a General. I want the position of a General, but of an Advisor... no, thank you... I think Lady [Name] is the best person for such position

#honkai star rail #hsr #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #honkai star rail yanqing #honkai star rail jing yuan #honkai star rail sushang #honkai star rail yukong #honkai star rail luocha #honkai star rail fu xuan #honkai star rail tingyun #qin's stories~

[writingquestionsanswered]

"Probably one of my biggest writing-related takeaways of 2023 was the brain science behind being overwhelmed by writing. So often, we put so much pressure on ourselves to meet goals, and get so frustrated with ourselves when we fail, that we end up making writing time something that fills us with anxiety. So our brains perceive that activity as a threat, which makes us want to avoid it."

I'd love to learn more about this cause it's my biggest problem when it comes to writing. The avoidance of the task, but it also manifests also as feeling overwhelmed by writing a long story/novel.

Some Brain Science Behind Avoidance

I encountered this idea of fear-based avoidance in a few workshops and summits over the past year, but I have to give a shout out to author/coach Monica Hay whose "Overcome Writer's Resistance Bootcamp" explained it the best. I can't find my notes so I'm going from memory here, but the gist of it was that our brains are hard-wired to avoid things that make us feel fearful or uneasy. This is an evolutionary throwback to when those instinctual feelings helped us steer clear from danger. As I remember Monica putting it, "Don't go that way, there are cheetahs there that will eat us."

So... how does this apply to avoidance of writing?

When we heap unreasonable goals and deadlines on ourselves, and berate ourselves for falling short of them, we inadvertently turn writing into a stressful activity. So, when we sit down to write, our brain picks up on that stress and says, "Don't go that way, cheetahs will eat us," and your gut instinct tells you to avoid this stressful activity at all cost. And then it becomes kind of a vicious cycle because you feel even worse because you're avoiding writing, and that makes you feel more overwhelmed and makes writing more stressful, and well... you can see the problem.

The solution? De-stress the writing process for yourself as much as you can. Start by de-stressing yourself when you sit down to write... take a relaxing walk first, do some yoga or a meditation exercise, or try some grounding techniques. See if you can do some things to make your writing environment more relaxing and inviting. Put on some soft lighting and relaxing music, use your favorite method to lightly scent the air, grab your favorite drink and snack. Then, just try to move the needle forward in any way you can.

My suggestions: try editing a sentence. Maybe see if you can add a paragraph or two. Don't think about deadlines or word count or what others are doing. Just focus on adding something to the page, even if it's changing a word or adding a sentence. Don't push yourself. Congratulate yourself on whatever progress you made. Ultimately, if you do this every day, the stress should start to melt away and writing becomes an activity that your brain no longer tells you to avoid.

Another suggestion: try to avoid setting arbitrary deadlines, or if you have to set a deadline, take a look at your schedule/calendar and be really honest about how much time you actually have to write. Because so often what happens is we say, "I want to finish this 80k word draft in eight weeks..." but the reality is we're not going to write all 56 of those days. In fact, when we take an honest look...

-3 days per week for days with both class and work = 32 days -5 days for a cruise next month = 27 days -1 day for bestie's birthday celebration = 26 days -Sundays because that's hiking day = 18 days Suddenly, that eight weeks is actually only 18 days... and that's not even taking account things that come up unexpectedly. But, let's say you do get to write all 18 days, and let's say you know you can commit three hours a day to writing but you'll probably take two ten-minute brakes... so 48 hours worth of writing. But here's the problem: you know on a good hour, you're probably only going to write 1200 words. And guess what: 1200 words per hour over 48 hours is only 57,600 words... far short of your 80k goal... and that's assuming you get to write all 18 days and hit 1200 words every hour you write. In other words... you've set yourself an impossible deadline, and when you fall short of it without understanding why, you're going to be disappointed in yourself. And that's why it's so, so important to be honest about the time you have and how much you can reasonably accomplish within that time. Also: just don't be hard on yourself. It will never make you write faster, more, or better.

I hope you can use this to overcome your own resistance to writing! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[eddiediaaz]

hello your gifs are really wonderful!~ <3 do you have any tutorials to follow or tips for black and white gifs? i can't get the black and white gifs i generate to look okay. thank you so much for whatever you can provide!

thank you!! i don't really have a tutorial for this, but i do pretty much always follow the same steps for my black and white gifs: i use a black and white method first (there are 2 main methods that i use), and then i add contrast and brightening layers (that's when we go from a dull b&w to a nice b&w)

BLACK AND WHITE

this will be your base black and white layer. i use either a gradient map layer, or a black & white layer, whatever looks best for the specific gif. the black & white layer offers more flexibility to change each color tone directly in one layer: playing with the red and yellow sliders will help make skintones darker or lighter as needed, same with other colors present in the gif. the gradient map layer usually gives a more contrasted look, and you can play with the gradient slider to make the gif brighter, but you'll have to use a selective color layer under the gradient map to edit each color as needed (especially reds and yellows, it's usually what i do).

it's possible to achieve similar results with both base black and white methods, it just depends on your preferences and the base gif itself really. (more under the cut)

EXPOSURE & BRIGHTNESS

once you're satisfied with the black and white look so far, you can adjust the gif's brightness with your preferred method. just make sure the brightening layers are UNDER the b&w layer. i usually do a combination of these layers: exposure, curves, levels. when using gradient map i'll also use a selective color layer to edit the reds/yellows (and sometimes blacks) a little to balance the skintone(s). i always prefer brightening a gif after applying the black and white effect, while keeping these layers under the b&w layer.

CONTRAST & FINAL TOUCH

at this point, you could stop there or you may want to add more contrast on top of everything if you need, or even reduce the contrast, or go back and edit each color channel. also make sure the black and white effect didn't affect someone's skintone: sometimes it makes a skintone too dark or too pale compared to something in color.

for the gradient map method, i've added a brightness/contrast layer on top of the gradient map and brightening layers. i've also went back to the selective color layer below the gradient map to play with the white sliders so the curtains are not just bright white without any details to them when contrast is added.

for the black & white method it's quite similar, on top of the black & white layer i have: brightness/contrast and another black & white layer with its blend mode set to soft light and its opacity set to 20% (a neat trick to introduce subtle contrast). i've also added a selective color layer under the black & white to add some deepness to the black values by playing with the black slider of the blacks tab, as well as reducing the bright whiteness in the curtains.

SHARPENING

one last thing to keep in mind: your sharpening method may need to be tweaked a little when using black and white. sometimes it enhances details, so your usual sharpening would be too strong, and sometimes it's the opposite. just make sure you aren't over sharpening and you're good to go.

i hope that helped a little!

#alie replies #Anonymous #tutorial #photoshop #*ps help #resource #allresources #completeresources

[fernsnailz]

Not sure how much meat this question has to it but if back in 2006 you were the one that spearheaded the shadow the hedgehog game, how would you have done it?

i'd want ShTH 2005 to keep the same core energy its final form ended up with, but tbh there's a lot i would have done differently lol. here's my 3 step plan for how i would have directed it previously/would direct any sort of reboot or remaster

1. TIMELOOP!!!!!!

i'm not the first person to come up with this idea and i won't be the last to talk about it, but the gist of this point is that ShTH's story makes WAY more sense when you treat it like a timeloop. you finished a story path and end up back in westopolis? great job, you're at the beginning of the timeloop again. it's a smart way to make this wack story a little more cohesive.

i would LOVE to further utilize the timeloop concept for this game because it could be a very simple addition to add flavor OR it be the core of the game's story and gameplay. small things like shadow going "hey wait, have i seen this before?" when he's going through westopolis for the third time can hint at the narrative, and once shadow realizes he's in a loop he's motivated to find EVERY path in search of the full truth. every new story path could be treated as a new game+ as shadow starts to consistently remember more from previous timeloops, carrying over certain weapons, abilities, and memories from his previous experiences.

one really cool idea i saw a while ago on here (edit: FOUND IT! i'm talking about this post) is someone's ShTH timeloop pitch where after a few resets, silver starts to show up and tells shadow to stop messing with the timeline. this continues, and eventually silver becomes a final boss of some of the paths. this idea has never left my mind since i saw it and i need to find the person that came up with it they mean so much to me

i have more timeloop thoughts but i will move on for now

2. simplify or rework the morality system and levels

this is my big gameplay critique - there is A Lot to do in ShTH and very little of it is consistently fun. i have grievances with the morality system i talked about a while ago, the gist of my opinion boiling down to "the system removes agency from shadow and the story doesn't fit within the morals you choose anyway." i'd either MASSIVELY rework the morality system to make it feel worthwhile or just throw the whole thing away. unfortunately i don't have many pitches for what to replace it with since i haven't played that many games with branching stories - maybe the story paths you go down are based on BIG story decisions shadow makes during boss battles or in cutscenes (?) like choosing which boss to fight, which characters to save, what moves or weapons to use, stuff like that. i just want the stuff that leads to branching stories to be more impactful and a little simpler.

this also applies to the levels, of which there are... a lot. and maybe there should be less? i think it would be smart to cut down or combine some of the levels, then really flesh out the ones that matter. and given the non-linear nature of ShTH, i think a version with levels more focused on exploration and combat would fit the game better than the linear mission-based gameplay of the original.

3. MORE GUN

listen man. they advertised this as the sonic game with guns and in my opinion i think they could've done better. i mostly just want a more fleshed out weapons system with upgrades, a little customization, better controls, etc. just put the merchant from resident evil 4 in there and have him accept rings and i would be happy

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

those are the big points i would personally stick to, but i do have smaller points i would consider as well, including:

make black doom seem competent

explain who the chaotix are working for and fit it into the story

no more "kill this many enemies to progress" missions. please

super shadow can have a gun now

#I LOVE YOU SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG 2005 TIMELOOP YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME #sonic loreposting #fernasks #long post

[stormblessed95]

Hi Stormblessed (dope name btw),

Don't know if this is the best place for this essay or the right time but I need to word-vomit this out, or I'm gonna be a JK-style spaced out zombie all day.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a big part of the fandom tends to mis-characterize the members based on edits, fanfics and out-of-context clips. Something probably mostly to do with how social media platforms have been pushing for these short videos over the last few years. Why watch 300 hours of original content (some of which is behind a paywall) if you can get the gist of it (you think) from TikToks?

My particular point has to do with how that allows for the narrative (aka made up shit) especially around Jimin to grow. All of the members get that treatment, the maknaes worse due to their popularity, but due to how a big part of Army are also tkk shippers, Jimin is the one who's portrayal often skews more negative. The others' perceptions just are neutral or fantastical in a sense that they're more like badly written male leads. Don't get me wrong, solos throwing around bs is nothing singular to him but no one gets accused (said completely seriously btw) of sleeping his way into BTS or the release of his album.

After I saw this vitriol for the first time I had to actually sit down because wtf.

And then I started wondering why that is, and came to the conclusion that it is:

(Internalized) misogyny and sexism

Blatant homophobia

Jimin is the member the most obviously in tune of his femininity. He hasn't subscribed to gender norms for a decade at least, and once his hyper-masculine-esque persona from the debut days was dismissed, he ventured further. (That isn't to dismiss the growth they all have shown in that area.)

But antis, akgaes, Solos and shippers take that femininity and apply every stereotype and misogynistic idea to JM.

Traits they f.e. hate:

He is openly flirty with many people (members especially)

He is very physical, and touch is arguably one of his love languages and go-to way of comforting smn

He is pretty af and knows it

He's sensual and sexy and knows it

He's cute

He's sweet (aka a good fucking human)

But why does that make "them" hate him so much?

Because they have been taught that these traits in women (like themselves) are bad. What makes it worse, however, is that the men around JM all know these things to be true, acknowledge them as true and compliment him on them. In the case of JK (since this is about Jikook at the end of the day):

He loves flirty JM despite sometimes not knowing how to handle him (ehem the 'shameless convo'). He flirts back (fe the whole live where he was in bed begging for JM to come over)

Tkkers and such love pulling the "JK hates it" card. Which is nonsense, considering how he seeks JM's comfort when he's down (esp during concerts), actively cuddles JM (In The Soop) and never uses all his big muscles to shove JM but rather to just carry him around. Compare that to the jokingly disgusted face Yoongi pulls when Tae tries to hold his hand, and it becomes glaringly obvious that no one who says the members dislike touching each other has a leg to stand on. Calling it harassment goes so far beyond any line of sanity...

JK - like all of BTS - acknowledges that Jimin's beauty is simply out of this world. They are regularly stunned by his appearance

Just gonna point to JK's reaction to Filter, Blood Sweat & Tears, Black Swan, and Set Me Free pt 2 here. JK calls JM sexy so often it's hilarious

* inserts clip of absolutely WHIPPED JK after JM cutely punches him during that performance of Boy With Luv *. Also we know that "cute" his JK's type as he himself admitted.

Jimin has been Jungkook's comfort person for so long, and with such depth that he dedicated a whole trip and video to him. They care for each other so deeply that the only logical conclusion was to go to the military together.

Aka: he is all that they hate in the girls/women in their normal life so they can't do nothing but tear him down. They envy how comfortable he seems in his own skin, how easily he goes from sexy to cute, how loved he is by those around him. On top of that is how gay people are still perceived and treated by a lot of countries around the world. No matter what they say, being an army and shipping men doesn't make you automatically an ally and non-homophobic.

They treat Jimin like they would most likely treat the lgtbqia+ people in real life: something to be careful of, someone dishonest and slutty.

They conflate everything they hate about themselves and gay people and * boom * out come frankly terrifying tweets, fanfics and shit.

Contrast that with how these very same people fetishize the relationship between Tae and Jungkook - either viewing them like men who watch p_rn involving two women, or a self-insert with how little character they have - and that's the state of the army shipping community. They could be Barbie dolls getting smashed together and you wouldn't know the difference.

I'm not saying Jikookers are better in that, but the language they tend to use is incredibly different.

---

That was a lot.

To end on a sweet note: I saw a quote on Twitter "If you want to find out what someone fears losing, look at what they photograph."

And...well. that just screams Jikook

Hi! Thank you, I like my name too 🥰

And yeah, basically I agree. I think there is more to it as well, but that a lot of it could be boiled down to all this. And yeah, jikookers are just as guilty of this too, but not always in the same way. Sometimes in a way that is more fetishizing but is just as harmful. Take it from someone who has seen it all in my inbox from people who feel safe on anon 😂😂

Thanks for sharing! And your quote at the end is SOOOOO cute!

#jikook #kookmin #Jikook antis

[truth-bound]

To the new players on Splatoon 3!

For any battle type:

Always remember to booyah back! this means at the start of the round when a player on your team presses booyah, say booyah too! it lets old players know youre communicative and pay attention to your teammates. Its friendly. Its polite. Its honestly gonna make the whole game more enjoyable if you can use the little bit of communication there is.

theres no in game chat function so booyah and this way are the best way to let your team know what's up! booyah when your teammate did something cool! its a morale booster

plan your specials around your teammates. is your special better for support or slaying? check to see if there is already a cooler up if u have it, cus the effects do not stack. and in salmon run specials can be what saves the whole team!!

check your map! not only does it show the current ink coverage, it also shows enemy players if they have taken damage even without being marked. you can jump back to spawn if things seem dangerous and you can jump to teammates. keep in mind that teammates might not be in a safe position for you to land in. anyone can see where you will land and can try to jump kill you. knowing the map itself for good jump points and seeing if the teammate is in a well inked area helps.

Ink spawn. Always. Dont think it applies to X mode? It does. Even in anarchy battles (which splat 2 players might still call ranked out of habit) you should ink spawn. Why? multiple reasons! It keeps your base safer than not. helps maneuverability in getting back in. It helps build your special, which can be incredibly useful for a push. generally speaking, an inked base is a happy base. EDIT: I dont mean ink spawn immediately for anarchy battle, the first push is critical! Use the spawn for free specials to push when you're behind! And dont be thorough in anarchy battle either, prioritize the objective over turf inked unless you have a very good reason otherwise. the movement is also more for a path back to spawn than anything. having escape routes is important.

For turf war:

Inking ground takes priority over killing. Yes if they are dead they cant ink but the respawn time is pretty fast, about 5 to 7 seconds. Also, inking builds special. it is the only way you build special. kills do not build your special. Inked ground both gives a tiny amount of damage to the enemy when they step on it, AND gives you more coverage, AND gives you quicker escape options, AND is the deciding factor of winning the game.

Walls do not count towards points. Only ground. Inking walls isnt useless though, but don't think that inking them all will help you win, its more for maneuverability.

Last second bombs can decide a match. If you have a sub to throw and there is roughly one or two seconds left on the clock, throw it no hesitation. after the match time is over, it will still pause for a second to allow all subs and specials that were out at the last second to explode.

Hide in ink. This should be self explanatory. You aren't as visible if you are submerged in ink and you are faster in ink than walking. if you hide while an enemy player is nearby, and they dont think to check whatever puddle youre in, you could get a sneak attack. another point to focus on inking!

For salmon run:

Learn to squid party! its just jumping and changing in and out of squid to inkling (or octopus to octoling) form very fast so u kinda look like a blob. it might be frowned upon to squid party in other modes but this is totally fine and encouraged!

Pay attention to your teammates positions. Dead teammates cannot help more than sit there and hold a single egg. throw a bomb or shoot at them to revive them. they take priority over eggs in most cases.

Use this way liberally. This way points towards where youre looking. Use it to say hey theres a boss here.

LISTEN TO TEAMMATES. if someone says help or this way go to them. its worth it. they know what theyre doing. usually.

Losing on wave 3 doesnt lower pay grade. It sucks to lose but wave 3 sucks slightly less to lose on.

thats all for now! have fun and i hope you enjoy my favorite game series of all time ever. woomy!

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #inkling #octoling #splat3n

[necromancy-enthusiast]

Traditional Chinese Translation of Homestuck Analysis-Beta Troll Typing Quirks

That's right, there's a full traditional Chinese translation of Homestuck. You can find it, along with links to other translations, here. If you want to jump to Hivebent when all the beta trolls are officially introduced so you can see this for yourself, here's a link to the first page.

But first, I'll give as succinct of a rundown of the elements of the Chinese language that are relevant as I can. The Chinese writing system doesn't have an alphabet, instead words all have unique characters. So a lot of the trolls' quirks just can't be 'transliterated', because they have something to do with spelling. Similarly, Chinese characters don't have upper or lower cases.

There are multiple ways to type Chinese on an electronic device, but the most common is using a Latin script keyboard. You type out the pinyin of a Chinese character (which is the system mostly commonly used to romanize Mandarin Chinese nowadays) and some suggestions for characters with pinyin romanizations spelled that way pop up in a little window, and then you pick the one that you want.

Chinese also has A LOT of homophones because instead of making a wider variety of noises like English, Chinese opted to differentiate words partially based on the tone they're spoken in. This is absolutely fantastic for puns and wordplay, English could never hope to be anywhere near Chinese's level in that regard. This comes into play with some of the trolls' typing quirks.

And just to clarify, sometimes I say 'Chinese' and sometimes I say 'Mandarin', that's because Mandarin is the official dialect in both mainland China and Taiwan and now the mostly widely spoken one in the world. It isn't mutually intelligible with most other Chinese dialects (this is part of why some people argue that Chinese isn't a single language but a language family). However, written Chinese can generally be understood regardless of the dialect you speak, even if people speaking in different dialects often have different ways of saying the same thing, like greetings and whatnot. When I say Chinese I mean things that broadly apply to written Chinese or the Chinese language/language family as a whole, when I say Mandarin I mean things specific to the Mandarin dialect. I think that about covers it. This post is already getting a bit long so I'll put everything else under a cut. Here's the breakdown:

Aradia: Replaces characters with the Arabic numeral for zero 0. I looked it up and apparently the Chinese character for zero also carry connotations of negation or mean things like 'nought' or 'no', which seems to fit with at least most of the instances she uses it in. Apparently this character can also have some link to death and dead spirits, which would fit given how she's a ghost at the beginning of the story.

Tavros: Uses the character 呃 a lot, which can be used like 'uh' or 'eh'. Uses 嗯 which can be used like 'hmm' or 'uh' as well, or like a general mumbling/light groaning sound, but with less frequency. Still, types haltingly, and uses commas, a lot, like in English, without any periods, Since Chinese doesn't have upper or lower cases, Tavros cANT DO THAT THING HE DOES IN ENGLISH, WHERE HE TYPES IN ALL CAPS OTHER THAN, THE FIRST LETTER OF SENTENCES, sO UNFORTUNATELY, there isn't a lot else to say here.

Sollux: Still refers to the others by their nicknames like KK and AA. He uses reduplication more often than most of the others, which is when you repeat part of a word or even a whole word for various reasons, often to stress your point. He also replaces characters that are pronounced as 'shi' in Mandarin with the Chinese character for 4, which is pronounced as 'si' and written as 四. I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be reminiscent of his lisp. EDIT: AS @autumntides reminded me, in at least Mandarin and Cantonese four is a homophone with death, and thus it carries the stigma of death and unluckiness. This fits in well with Sollux's mage of doom class and everything related to it, like Vriska mind controlling him to kill Aradia and him dying during the vast glub because he didn't make it into the game in time before Feferi revived him. I still think it's also the lisp, though.

Karkat: He doesn't type in a larger font size then the others so he doesn't really have any typing quirks, at least none I've been able to ascertain, but he's just as imaginative with his cursing. It can be pretty rough for me to parse and equally rough to translate into English in a way that doesn't sound really awkward, but one of my favorites is 'Rotten bloated corpse of God Almighty! Goddammit, what the fuck does your pockmarked think stem want?'

Nepeta: Uses onomatopoeias that equate to 'cat sounds' like meow and roar, as well as a good bit of reduplication. Still uses asterisk marks and speaks in the third person to indicate when she's role-playing.

Kanaya: Doesn't use punctuation. That's it, since she can't capitalize things like she does in English. I really wish I could say more but that's all I can see. She's still verbose, though.

Terezi: Replaces words that are homophones or near homophones with the numbers 1, 3, and 4 in Mandarin with their Arabic numerals, presumably to resemble how she types in leetspeak in English.

Vriska: Still types out characters 8 times occasionally, but rather than letters (since the Chinese writing system doesn't have an alphabet) it's the whole 'word' like 月月月月月月月月. Replaces words that are homophones (or almost homophones) with 'eight' in Mandarin with the Chinese character for 8 八. I'm pretty sure it's meant to signify that she's dragging the word out rather than repeating it, like when she does thiiiiiiiis in English.

Equius: Still uses % like X's, but he just types it and then types out the word. Again, I don't know exactly what kind of keyboard he's using, but if he's using a Latin script keyboard, he's just typing things like %xuan but when he's finished typing it looks like this %選.

Gamzee: Types out every other character in a slightly smaller font size then the default, he's the only one that changes his font size to resemble his English typing quirk. I'm guessing/hoping they have a set up where he can just as easily change font size as Latin script keyboards can change between lower and uppercase by hitting a certain button, but who knows. He uses ta ma de 他媽的 a lot, which is pretty much the Chinese equivalent of 'motherfucker/motherfucking', and cao 操, which is just 'fuck' but the verb.

Eridan: Still refers to the others by their nicknames like Fef and Kan. A lot of reduplication. A LOT of it, way more than Sollux or Nepeta even. I think this is supposed to be reminiscent of how he doubles his Vs and Ws in English rather then symbolizing true grammatical reduplication, though. It also seems to be that his specific flavor of reduplication is like Vriska's, it's meant to signify he's dragging the sound of a word out rather than repeating it. He also types ~ right after reduplication, seemingly to resemble the waves on the ocean and that he's sort of saying it in a 'wavy' manner, like how in English the comic remarks that he has a 'really weird kinda wavy sounding accent'. Honestly it's annoying to look at, and other Chinese speakers have told me the same thing when they saw how he types. Maybe that was intentional?...

Feferi: She does the same thing as Equius does with X but uses ) ( in front of words whose pinyin romanization starts with H. Uses 'gulu' in the place of 'glub' as transliteration. Replaces characters like those for 'is' 是 and 'have' 有 for characters that have that character in it but also have the character for fish 魚 like 鯷 and 鮪. Also occasionally uses ------ before characters, I think it's meant to symbolize that she's saying something excitedly.

And there you have it. This was rough and took a lot of time, but it was fun if at times deeply frustrating. I may do more of these posts comparing the Chinese translation to the original English, I'm particularly interested in the alpha trolls, but who knows. If you enjoyed this I'd greatly appreciate you sharing it :)

#homestuck #karkat vantas #gamzee makara #vriska serket #terezi pyrope #sollux captor #aradia megido #nepeta leijon #equius zahhak #feferi peixes #eridan ampora #tavros nitram #kanaya maryam #Chinese #chinese homestuck

[isa-ghost]

Any specifically avian related qphil headcanons? I love that Phil being a bit more birdy is canon in the qsmp but whenever we get lore about it its angst

/I don't know why I'm asking if you have any, I know you got them /

*cupping my hands together and holding them out*

/give em here/

/pretty pleasee/

Oh fuck yeah man. I have an angel OC based off Phil, I've got PLENTY of avian headcanons >:)

Previous Headcanon Sets (x8)

MORE: Avian Edition

I've stated it in a prev set I think, but if you put this man in water his wings will sometimes involuntarily flap like he's in a birdbath. It's somewhat of a stim, bird brain just goes "you gotta."

I've also stated before that when he's stressed, his wings will flap kinda like the way someone might nervously shake out their hands.

Another restate, sometimes his laughs and startled yelps sound almost like squawks. Also his hiccups. It's very rare, but whenever it happens, he gets teased for it. Especially by Etoiles.

Another restate, sometimes his echolalia is his bird brain mimicking a sound he heard if it scratches an itch.

Yknow what just skim the previous headcanon sets I linked bc I talk so much about his wings & what he does with them & how he communicates using them. All those apply here.

Obligatory mirror and windows struggles mention.

Obligatory molting & preening struggles when stressed mention.

We've all seen the way he perches above everyone. It's probably his most prominent/noticeable avian trait.

Apparently camomile calms birds down. If this fool liked hot drinks, he'd have another way to settle his anxiety.

His obsession with noodles got him accused by Tubbo of enjoying them bc bird brain likes worms. He was NOT pleased. Almost gagged.

As long as you're careful around his wings, he LOVES back rubs. (It's bc the dumbass mf slept in that damn chair too much so now his back riots)

DO NOT THE WINGS. Petting them is one thing, he loves when Tallulah hugs them, he thinks it's cute. But omg do not dig your fingers into his feathers. They're very sensitive. And that could mean tickling OR pain.

However if you gently do it, his wings will spread a little and his feathers poof up, which is kinda funny. It's like how if you touch a cat's foot the right way, their toes will spread out to present The Beans(tm). Blessed.

He likes to gift his shedded feathers to people he trusts. Chayanne, Tallulah & Missa each have one. Although he's extremely close with Etoiles and Fit, he feels too awkward to give one to them yet. Feels a little too intimate.

Gift giving in general is a HUGE part of his love language though. Crow brain must give shiny things to people he loves yesyes.

Bird zoomies!! Wings poof up, he starts hopping all over the place like a big dork. He'd fly all over too, if he could.

Bobs his head to music. Those videos of pet birds dancing? That's Phil babey!!

Another one of his fave bits is pretending to understand and have a full-on conversation with birds. Loves pretending to gossip with them right in front of the person he & the bird(s) are "gossiping" about. However the crows he DOES understand & gossip with.

When he can fly, he's an expert at dive-bombing targets like a bird of prey. It's TERRIFYING. And very attractive depending on who you are (*cough* Missa *cough*)

Tallulah once tried to test if throwing a blanket over his head would make him fall asleep like how if you put a blanket over a bird's cage they'll think it's night time and go to bed. It didn't work. He was very confused.

Birds whenever they're happy to see you will stretch their wings out like "Hello yes!" Phil do happy wing stretches when he see the kids :D

His hearing and eyesight are fucking amazing. The only reason he's able to be snuck up on is bc he hyperfocuses on things or the things that sneak up on him are super fast.

Rare Isa Fluffy Headcanon: He make blanket nests.

When stressed or overwhelmed, he'll wrap his wings around himself or raise them to shield his head. He doesn't do this so much after his wings were clipped & injured. They hurt too much.

100% will spread his wings all the way out (when they aren't hurting a lot) to look more threatening towards enemies. They almost autopilot do it when he's angry, but if they hurt too much they'll stop. He's pissed they don't look as threatening after The Federation clipped his wings

#qsmp #qsmp philza #q!philza #philza #qphil headcanons

[sweaterweatherever]

Hiii, its my first time requesting for anyone. But you are so amazing, so i was thinking maybe a ajax x reader smut Where ajax maybe had a bad day and is not really feeling himself, so whilst he is doing something (maybe homework or sum), reader is under the table iykwim. Just vanilla-ish and not deepthroating? You dont have to but i would really appriciate it since nobody has done it<3

Personal statement (Ajax Petropolus x Reader)

Pairing: Ajax Petropolus x GN Reader

A/N: Remember how last thing I posted I went heavy with the world building? Yeah, this is not it. Been both on holiday and doing stuff for school, so posting will be limited.

Warnings: Cursing. Oral sex (Male receiving) Aged up characters.

Requested: Yes! Hope you like it and I don't traumatize you for life about requesting stuff. It's short, but only because of what it is.

Ajax was sitting on his desk chair, head in his hands. He had a look of total frustration on his face.

“What’s wrong?” You asked him, slipping inside his dorm. These days, you barely bothered with discretion, both of you being seniors already. It was nothing like when you first got together, still kids, worried about any of your classmates seeing and thinking you were having sex during your fumbling make out session. God, you missed those days, your troubles had been so trivial. From now on, it would only get worse, you knew.

“Personal statement, that’s what’s wrong.” He complained, handing you the printed application that he was editing. “I think I didn’t stick enough to the prompt, and I have to turn it in next week.” The page was filled with annotations and circles in red ink, Ajax handwriting cramping the document so much it was barely legible.

“Babe. Chill. Breathe.” You said, trying to make sense of the prompt. “Tell me what this is supposed to be about.”

“I have to describe, in like, a thousand words, why I would be a good fit for the college. Also, who I am.” Ajax groaned, slumping forward on the desk. You sat on the edge of the table, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. You rubbed a few circles there. “What if they think I’m not good enough?”

“What?” You were being confused because, first, this was Ajax you were talking about. The nicest boy on earth. Second, weren’t you just talking about who he was. “Babe, you are giving me whiplash with the logic jump there.”

“Just… Just, you know…” He peered up at you from beneath his lashes, looking so damn adorable, you wanted to kiss him silly. You abstained only because he was in desperate need of assurance.

“I don’t, actually.” And you really didn’t. You knew he had insecurities, who didn’t? But you didn’t think college applications would be the detonator. Everyone made shit up for theirs, it was a given.

“Look, Xavier has the whole artist thing going on. Wednesday has her novels and she plays the cello. You are you. Fuck, even Tyler can whip up something interesting about himself, with the whole being from a discriminated species even for outcasts.” He rubbed at his eyes, the tell-tale sign he was getting a headache from all the stress. “How do I compete with that?”

“You don’t.” You stated, firmly. Ajax looked at you, betrayal in his eyes. Underneath it, there was a hurt expression. Realizing you had been too blunt, you took his face in your hands and brushed at his cheek gently. “Our friends aren’t your competition. Xavier is going to a fancy art college. Wednesday is going to an Ivy League, and we all know it. Tyler is… Wherever he is applying. And we are both applying to the same college, yes, but different majors and on different first options too. You have to worry about the college being your dream college, and not whipping up some model application based on things that aren’t you.” You kissed the crease between his eyes, softly.

“Yeah, but wanting it badly won’t get me in… I’m not enough.”

“You are more than enough. The SAT scores you have are great. I read your essay for this college too, you bombed it. It more than makes out for any perceived defects you think this has.” You waved the statement in the air. “I love you. You are more than enough.”

“Yeah, but you are…” Ajax starts, and you really don’t want him to finish the sentence. An insecure Ajax is hard to talk down, but a stressed one gets… Too in his head. You hate to see him hurting. How could you help him get out of his head?

“Your partner?” You got off the desk, an idea suddenly striking you. “You think I'm biased?”

“Kinda.” Ajax grabbed at your hands, pulling you closer.

“But being yours doesn’t make me do anything I don’t want. And you know, I’m honest. Always. Brutally so.” And it was true, too. You were famous in your friend group for running your mouth and lacking a brain to mouth filter. It had been the way you and Ajax had gotten together, too. If it weren’t for your straightforwardness, the poor guy would have never noticed you liked him.

“Yeah, but…”

“Do I look obligated to you?” You asked, getting more on his face, until you were almost sitting in his lap.

“No, but you…” You pushed his chair away from the desk. “What are you doing?” Ajax eyed you, suspicious.

“I always do what I want.” You insisted. “And right now, I want to shut you up. If you consent, of course. Because consent is sexy.” You grimaced at your own words. No brain to mouth filter indeed. Way to make a blowjob sound unsexy.

“… I…” Ajax stared at you, confused puppy look on his face.

“A blowjob. That’s what I mean.” You parted his legs for him, and Ajax let you move him like a rag doll, completely limp on your grasp. He was too dumbfounded by your words to say anything. “Yes or no?” You tapped his leg, insistently. “I bet orgasms are good for stress, too.”

“Are you really trying to sweeten the deal when it includes a blowjob?” Ajax smiled a little, seemingly shaking off the daze he was in. You couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yes or no?” You squeezed at his knee.

“Yes.” Ajax pulled you in for a kiss, still muttering against your lips. “I’m an idiot, but not idiot enough to refuse a blowjob from my gorgeous partner.”

“Those SAT scores say the opposite.” You responded, dropping to your knees beneath his desk. There was something dirty about it, sucking your boyfriend off while he was sitting on his desk, doing important work. Maybe some day you could try that too, when he wasn’t as in his head as today.

“Grades don’t measure intelligence.” Ajax said, breath hitching slightly at having your face so close to his crotch.

“Yeah, that right there? Makes you fucking smart.” You caressed his thighs, slowly, trying to get him riled up. “Only smart people say shit like that.”

“Dirty mouth.” He cautioned.

“About to get dirtier, babe.” You popped the button of his pants. Ajax laughed. Instead of helping him get out of them, you ran your hands lightly against his stomach, nails scratching at his sides, until he was squirming. “Good?”

“Good.” Ajax leaned down, almost doubling over himself, to press a kiss to your forehead. Your hands went lower, slowly making your way to his hips, and the waistband of his boxers. It was going to get messy, you betted. Ajax always got a little brain-dead with blowjobs, reaction time pretty slow, and you weren’t about to ruin your clothes. So, you take your shirt off.

“I want you so badly.” You say, slowly palming him through his boxers. His eyes roam your body, but he seems content to let you do as you please. Ajax is slowly getting harder under your touch, breath hitching. “Should I jerk you off first, or just use my mouth?”

“Mouth, please.” Ajax covers his face with his arm, throwing his head back on the chair. He already looks wrecked and you have barely touched him. You love how embarrassed he gets, asking for what he wants. You hope one day you manage to fuck that out of him, but you enjoy him like this for now. His happy trail is very sparse, so you take advantage and lick your way down from it, thighs clenching at the way he squirms under you.

You pull him out and stroke him a couple of times, just to get him hard enough to suck him off. Ajax has a pretty cock, perfect size to make your jaw hurt just right. You kissed a path from his thighs to it, working out the courage to get started. Ajax’s thighs trembled under your hands, impatient.

“Come on, don’t tease.” He pleads, and you finally, finally, put your mouth on him, licking a stripe down the shaft. Safe sex is good, but it’s much harder to give a blowjob to someone wearing a condom, the slide isn’t that great and flavored lube is not a sacrifice you are willing to do today. Ajax keeps himself very neat down there, and he showers frequently, so it’s not that much of a hardship.

His erection is getting harder, tip flushed a pretty pink. A tiny bead of pre-cum is starting to form there, so you lick at it, grimacing a little at the salty taste. You haven’t done this in a while, and you had forgotten how he tastes. Even salty, it beats the flavored lube. It’s Ajax. That already makes it way better.

“Want me to get a condom?” Ajax asks, brushing your hair out of your face. It seems like he has been watching you the whole time. He’s got good blowjob etiquette, you have taught him well. He never pulls at your hair or head. Ajax is all gentle touches and soft skin, the only times he pulls your hair is when you ask him too.

“Nope. Just, saltier than I remembered.” You wrap your lips around the tip, being careful to not drag your teeth too much. You aid yourself with your tongue, drawing nonsensical patterns on the underside of his cock. Ajax moans, and you sneak a quick glance at him to find him with his eyes closed, head thrown back. You hollow your cheeks, making his hips nearly buck up. And nearly because he is too sweet to thrust into your mouth.

“Fuck… Fuck, like that.” Ajax says, looking down at you. Your eyes meet, and you snicker at his fucked out look. His hand comes to brush at your cheek affectionately. You take more of him in your mouth, licking at the head at the same time. Just before you start gagging, you warp your hand around what you can’t fit on your mouth.

“Love you.” Ajax brushes your hair out of your hair again, tucking it behind your ears. You start to bob your head up and down, aiding yourself with your hand. You squeeze at the underside of his cock, and supporting yourself on his thigh, you let your hand go to his balls. Ajax will strongly deny it later, but at that, he gives a small scream, back arching and cock nearly choking you. You remove your hand immediately, pushing at his hips with a frown. Only when he sits back down, you keep going.

“Shit, sorry.” He says, but he doesn’t sound very coherent. You repeat the motion, curious about what other curse words you can pull from him. “Too good.”

You scratch lightly at his thighs, a wave of hot, urgent arousal on your stomach. You want him to fall apart under you, badly. Your jaw aches, but you don’t pay it attention, choosing instead to go faster, with both your hand and mouth. You open your legs more, so you don’t need to hold on his thigh so as not to fall forward and fondle his balls again, lightly scratching with your nails. Ajax gets impossibly harder, and you know he is close.

“Close.” He says, tapping your shoulder. You give him a look that screams, no shit Sherlock, and keep at it, staring him directly in the eyes and jerking him faster with your hand, mouth tightening as much as you can. He looks at you, and Ajax fucking whimpers. Seeing you on your knees, shirtless, and staring up at him like you want to ruin him, makes it for him. His hips jerk and he comes on your mouth with a moan, face scrunching prettily. You pull away at the last second, letting it drip down your chin and neck. Ajax moans again and pulls you to your feet.

“Let me return the favor?” He asks, as he kisses you, uncaring of the mess between the two of you. It sticks to his skin, his shirt.

“Sure. As long as you don’t look at that statement until tomorrow.”

“What statement?” Ajax asks, kissing you again. You laugh against his mouth as he starts tugging you towards the bed.

#my writing #wednesday 2022 #ajax petropolus x reader #ajax petropolus smut #ajax petropulus x you #ajax x you #ajax petropulus x y/n #ajax petropolis x reader #ajax x reader #ajax petropolus #ajax petropolus imagine #ajax petropolus x gn reader #ajax petropolis x you #ajax petropolis smut #ajax petropulus imagines #ajax petropulus smut #ajax petropulus x reader

[skeletinmoss]

Tutorial for @mimssides

How I draw with alcohol markers. Beginner edition

First off all I want to specify: this is based on my experience only, so take it with caution. This is also my first tutorial ever.

1) Have an underpaper.

Unless you use some really thick paper, markers will bleed on your next page or table ( depending if you're drawing in a sketchbook or not). I recommend to have one list of some decent paper under the page you're drawing on. Decent means thicker than office paper, can be watercolor paper, it usually perfect for it. It's reusable and over the years mine two look like this:

( you can see there's a lot of stuff going on there)

2) Always, and I mean ALWAYS erase your sketch.

If you're doing a quick try out of color combinations you can skip this step, because you don't need the aesthetic or anything. I'm not sure how useful this tip is for colored pencils ( cuz I never sketch with those), but with regular graphite pencil it's very much important. Graphite smudges your markers, and not only that. It also gets trapped if you go over it with a marker, meaning you wouldn't be able to erase it and it's going to leave you with gray smudges all over. Truly awful.

3) Have your pallets on the same paper you draw on. Or simply - have pallets!

Colors can show differently on different paper, that's why it's important to do color swatches once you buy your markers. They are designed for specific paper, and on your paper they can look a lot darker or really pale. I recommend testing colors before you buy them, it's usually an option in the most craft stores. If you're buying a set just take 30 minutes to do all the swatches and naming them. It also helps visually to see what colors you have.

(I have a lot, but you don't need as much, there's like 60 colors I use usually and the rest are on rare occasions. Build a set you're comfortable with)

4) Make sure your materials all work together.

We already talked about graphite swatches, not the worst thing that can happen to you. Mainly you need to make sure how your materials work together, how they lay on top of each other. Make sure your lineart won't react to your markers, there's special waterproof liners and those are the best for markers ( mine are Pigma Micron from Sakura). See how your pens and liners act before and after you apply markers.

Decide which is better to use before and which after markers

5) No black.

I don't use black in any of my drawings. All you see is different shades of gray. It looks much more pleasant with the rest of the colors and it allows for my lineart to be visible underneath. Sometimes even those grays are too dark and I need to add more shades or white lineart to fix it

6) How to shade.

This is a very subjective thing to talk about. You can shade how you want. I will talk about two ways I shade.

1. Same marker. Markers dry. And when they do you can go over them another time. Usually that makes a darker shade of the same color and it's a pretty safe way to do the shading if you don't know which colors can go together. It doesn't work as well on the light colors and difference can be barely noticeable. It's a nice way to get soft shading

2. The pure chaos. Just kidding... Different color marker. It's hard to explain, and yo always need to test what works for you. If you want sharper shade you need to grab a different color, can be from the same hue ( for yellow - orange, for red - burgundy) or something a little more spicy. You can add different hues to your colors with different shades ( your black with red shades is suddenly looks burgundy, or purple, or blue). Experiment! Fail! Find out which combinations work and which don't!

If color seems a little darker than you expect you can go over it with original color, which might lighten it up. This tip doesn't always work

7) How to do gradients.

1. Choose your colors beforehand, see how well they work together. It's easy to do a gradient from red to pink, but not so much from orange to blue. You might need to choose lighter colors, because if you want smooth transition from one color to another you will need to go over them a couple of times and that will darken them.

2. Add a middle color. Not every gradient needs a middle color, but with it you can make your gradient much smoother, it will be more noticeable the bigger aria you cover. The more middle colors you have the more harder gradients you can do

( without and with a middle color)

3. Act quickly. Markers dry relatively quickly so you need to add colors one after the other, you can't go away before you're done.

4. Blend with the lighter color. You can also start with this color as a base but that doesn't work for all color combinations. Lighter color will go in top a darker and flow into it making it lighter and transition smoother. ( example: you go from red to purple to cyan, you will need to start with red, then purple going over red to soften it, and finally the lightest cyan going over purple and maybe even a little red). You always put darkest first and go over it.

There's other methods of doing the gradients. They are very similar actually, but for second one you will need a blender. For the first one grab two markers you want to use ( more if you're feeling risky) turn one of the markers upside down and touch their tips. Now use your understanding of gravity. Color from the top marker will go into the bottom one. The longer you wait the longer the gradient will be. Usually I don't need to wait longer than 3 seconds.

And you can do the same with a blender

8) How to use a blender.

Blender is a marker with no color. Usually it's named B000 (I recommend buying a blender with brush tip). There are many ways to use it.

Gradients: you can use two markers technique with a blender making gradient fade on one end, or you can mix colors inside the blender.

Fixing mistakes: blender will make a white show through your color, you can use it to get rid of the wrong color. But it doesn't work without some problems. Of course darker colors will likely stay, even if much lighter, and your previous color will try to flee ( likely to other sides, if you're lucky it will go on your underpaper)

That's all I have for you today. Experiment and learn something new. Hope that helps

#traditional art #art advice #tutorial #art tutorial #long post

[autismagolor]

⚙️~MAGOMARCH 2023~⚙️

yes. you're reading this right. in light of return to dreamland deluxe coming soon, I MADE A MAGOLOR BASED DRAWING CHALLENGE!! it works like all those other month-themed drawing challenges; every day you draw something based on the corresponding prompt! only required thing is that you put magolor in all of these because well. its Magomarch whod you expect to draw /lh

some prompts require a bit more info! i highly suggest you check this section as it can provide context to any prompts you're confused about!

FREE PROMPTS: every Sunday/Magolor Day of March is a free prompt! this is where you can draw whatever you want (as long as it involves magolor ofc)!

DIFFERENT SPECIES: i felt this one was obvious but just in case, this prompt just has you reimagine magolor as a non halcandran species! just be sure he's recognizable dhsdhsdh

CONCEPT: draw one or more of magolor's many concept designs! he's got quite a lot of em! if i find some good images of them i'll be sure to edit this post and put them here but for now you gotta find em yourself sorry HSDHSDH

GIJINKA/CANON: ok this one's fun, and also depends on whether you draw magolor as a gijinka more often than his canon form or vice versa! if you draw him as a gijinka more often, challenge yourself and try to draw him as he canonically looks (stylization is more than ok and is encouraged! i love stylized magolors)! the inverse ofc applies to people who draw his canon form more. you can also draw both at once if you want!

ALT. UNIVERSE draw magolor as he would appear in any sort of AU! this can be an AU of your own creation or even someone else's (if they're ok with it)! you don't have to make an AU solely for this challenge if you have one already.

if anyone else needs a prompt explained, i'll put it here in this list!

-------------------- ok whew that was a lot of reading sorry HSDH i hope this challenge gets some traction! i've been thinking abt it for a while and figured now was as good a time as ever to post it! if you happen to wanna take on this challenge, good luck!!!

DONT FORGET TO TAG YOUR PROMPT ART WITH #MAGOMARCH !!

#kirby #magolor #magomarch #magomarch 2023 #kirby fanart #prompt list #art challenge

[h-c-u]

No longer a secret pt 3

Summary: The one where InternetTM has ideas and the relationship officially goes public.

Pairing: Toto Wolff x fem!reader

W/C: 4k

Rating: PG, age gap

TWs: none

A/N: I didn't expect the characters to grow this much, but I guess we're in it, guys, gals and pals. Also, below you can find a link to a playlist I listen to while writing all of this softness. The songs on it don't apply to either of the characters, just put me in a good mood for fluff. Also-Also - I don't have a clear plan for a part 4, so it might be few days before I'll write it.

Taglist: @crimeshowjunkie, @omgsuperstarg

Series Masterlist | Masterlist | List of tags | Playlist for the series

You hated waking up early, especially alone in bed, but there had to be some cons of being with a man like Toto. Although it was more of a personal preference, than a true inconvenience. And during most mornings out of season, you had him all to yourself...

But today he was most likely either in some early meeting, or still in the gym, and you had your own meeting in about 30 minutes, so it was time to get up and get ready. 

You've just finished making a quick breakfast and a second coffee for your guest when there was a knock at the door. 

Mr. Zane, or Mark - as he insisted you should call him - was definitely worth whatever Toto was paying him because he was able to find a discrepancy in your contract that not only could void it after 30 days of you not being assigned a "full-length uninterrupted interview", based solely on the word uninterrupted, you could also sue the network based on precedence you wouldn't be able to repeat under any threats.

He already drafted a proper resignation letter mentioning all the legal things, and next to that, there was a letter from his firm stating that a failure to comply would result in legal action. You only wanted to add one condition to the things he prepared - you wanted to be the one to announce your departure from the network first; on your personal social media and without naming specific reasons.

He quickly edited the file to include that condition, and passed the tablet to you to sign, and just like that - everything was taken care of. And as a bonus, he checked a statement you quickly prepared, just to make sure the wording was ok, and after a few tweaks, you had it ready to post as soon as you got a reply from the HR department. And Mark assured you that they should confirm everything when the message will be marked as read since everything was effective immediately. 

A twenty-minute meeting saved you a full month of additional work, and with that, you were officially free. And unemployed. You would just have to return all the network-issued gear and vacate the room they paid for as soon as possible, which shouldn't be an issue, since the majority of your things were already here. You also no longer could use your press pass and network ID, but that wasn't going to be a problem, since you had no desire to do so. Sure, it was a dick move to leave your colleagues in the middle of the season, especially when there was supposed to be coverage tomorrow on track. But your resignation was a great opportunity for someone to put to good use. 

To your surprise, you got the notification that your Network acknowledges your resignation and accept the terms before Mark left the suite, and you had to make sure three times that it was indeed real because it still felt like a dream. After he finished the coffee, he congratulated you on your freedom, and just like that - he was gone, leaving you alone with your thoughts, and you immediately went into damage control mode, making call after call to your friends in the network, letting them know that you're no longer with the company; you didn’t want them to find out from a company-wide email, or worse - your social media. To those you couldn't reach, you wrote a message, and since all of you were basically in the same camp, there was no one who was bitter or angry; your friends fully supported your decision. Sure, there were a few less-than-appropriate comments, but all were in good faith.

Toto came back from the gym while you were still on the phone, and gave you a quick kiss on the top of your head in passing, because he didn't want to hug you when he was still sweaty, and before he disappeared in the bathroom, you mouthed "It's done, thank you...", and you could almost feel the pride radiating off of him, even though you basically didn't do anything. A question on the other side of the line made you turn around and focus on the reply.

When he came out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his hips you couldn't help but stare a bit, and Toto just smiled when he caught you, came closer, and wrapped his arms around you, while you put your right hand on his shoulder blade, pulling him closer, so you could rest your cheek on his chest. His skin was so warm after the shower, that you could just melt into it, but you knew you couldn't stay like that long, because he had to get ready, and you had to continue the call session. Well, you technically didn't have to, but you wanted to explain whatever you could in person. 

You eventually let go of him, still deep in a conversation with your friend from the weather department, who just asked about your plans for t   future. You started telling her a rough idea of the project, and while Toto was getting dressed, you went to the kitchen to make him a coffee and take the breakfast out of the fridge, so he wouldn't miss it. You knew you didn't have to do that, but you enjoyed doing small things like that for him, and he did the same for you.

It looked like he would have a virtual meeting first because he took out his laptop, so you left him at the kitchen island and quietly closed the door to the bedroom, from where you continued your calls. You honestly thought that it would take less time, and after the sixth call, everything became so repetitive, that you honestly started to regret that you didn't make a group chat and let them know by a meme that you quit. 

But you eventually finished, and it was almost 11. It's not like you had something else to do today since you were officially free, but that feeling of guilt for not doing anything specific was present in the back of your brain, so you sighed and came into the other room, trying to figure out if Toto was still in the meeting, and when you heard your own voice coming from his laptop, you realized that he definitely wasn't. 

You lowered the barstool he was sitting on so you could take a look over his shoulder to see what he was watching, and the sudden movement down made him laugh. You hugged him from behind and rested your chin on his shoulder, because for once you could do that without abysmally tall high heels. He was watching your interview with Lewis from yesterday, and you came just in time to see him walking into a frame and putting his jacket over your shoulders. 

- My hero... - you laughed, and you pressed a tender kiss to his cheek. You stayed like that until the video ended, and after it did, you reached under his arm and scrolled down to see the comments, and you immediately started shaking, trying to contain laughter.

- "Y/N is so strong because I simply would have fainted if he did that to me..." - you read out loud the latest one, and he took over scrolling, so you wouldn't have to strain your wrist. - Oh, Mr. Wolff, please catch me in your strong arms if I faint...? - you couldn't help yourself and he shook his head with disbelief.

- It will be hard for me to catch you if you're behind me... - he laughed, and pulled you in front of him, basically switching your positions, so you leaned on him and intertwined your fingers with his on your stomach. 

- This one is funny... "Y/N is definitely in a secret relationship with Lewis Hamilton. In this essay I will...". - he read out loud, and you couldn't help but laugh. A quick look in the top right corner told you that you were still logged into your account on his computer, so you hit reply and commented "Where is the essay, OP...?", and he laughed even harder. 

- I like this one "A single mom who works two jobs, and one o  the jobs is definitely making sure his favorite son won't get sick", it's a reference to a song... - you added and you could feel him smiling, while you typed, but you hesitated before you hit send. - Are we ok with that...? - you made sure, even though it wasn't anything specific, just a slight suggestion. "Ok, but like are we sure-sure he's single?" 

- Are you ok with that...? - he flipped the question, and instead of replying you just sent the comment, and you could feel him pulling you closer, so you basically sat on his lap now. - Do I want to know what that means? - he pointed at one of the comments that read "Where is that fan cam of Toto to "big boy" because I suddenly need it to survive.", and you laughed again.

- I don't think I've ever seen this specific one, but people take clips of other people, in this case, you, and put them together to different songs. I suspect in this case they refer to you looking very hot, Neshama Sheli. - he couldn't help but laugh. 

- I don't think I'd like to see that... I would be much more interested in seeing fan cams of you, Schatzi. - you shook your head and wrinkled your nose, when he pressed a quick kiss to your temple, while you continued scrolling, and while there were a lot of comments about pet race, Toto's gesture was the second thing people talked about the most, and you both laughed from one more "I volunteer as a headset!", referring to the fact that there were times when he didn't treat his headsets the best. 

Only after you saw a comment where someone said that they can't wait for your next interview with Lewis, you realized something. 

- Shit, I forgot to post the official information about my resignation. - you immediately grabbed your phone and posted the prepared statement across all your social media. 

- By the way, I requested a Mercedes pass for you till the end of the season, so you could still come and go to the tracks as you want. - he said when you finally closed his laptop and turned around so you were facing each other. 

- Thank you. - this time you had to lean a bit to kiss him, and you would have lied if you said that you didn't enjoy it. 

- Is there anything else I can do for you, love? - he asked, pressing his forehead to yours. 

- Actually... - you took a deep breath - I want to get in front of the possible rumors, and I want to announce, well... us. - a giant smile bloomed on his face while he pulled you for another kiss. 

- No more hiding...? - he asked more as a formality, but he also wanted to make sure that you were 100% ok with sharing that part of your life.

- No more hiding. - you confirmed, your voice surprisingly confident.

- Then what are you waiting for? - you couldn't help but laugh. 

- It's a whole process... You know business and management, I know journalism, but more important - I know social media, and I know exactly how quickly the information and wild theories will spread in this community. – this whole endeavor would require some finesse, and you honestly debated if you shouldn’t leak your relationship to a few drama channels yourself to avoid ripping the Band-Aid yourself, but it would be much messier that way.

- I understand. What do you need me to do...? - he asked and leaned back on the stool a bit, so he could look at you better. 

- Take a selfie with me... I was thinking about posting it with information that I will go live and answer questions for about 30 minutes to dispel any craziness that will definitely come up sooner or later. - you explained your plan. All of it still seemed so surreal...

- Sounds good. Is that all you need? - he asked again, closing his knees a bit, and squeezing you between them.

- I mean, I still need to get the rest of my stuff from the other hotel, but I'll do that later today. - you sighed. You had more things to do, but this one had a deadline 

- I'll drive you. - he said as if it was the most obvious thing, and it wasn't even a question.

- Toto, you have a race to think of... And I am perfectly capable of doing that myself. - you tried to steer his mind away from taking care of you, but he didn't budge.

- I know... But consider this - I want to. - well, how could you argue with such sound logic? - Do you have any ideas for the photo?

- Not really, but I don't want it super staged, so I guess... just smile...? - he placed a quick kiss on the tip of your nose, and you turned around, sat on his lap, and turned the camera on the two of you, while he leaned a bit forward and rested his chin on your shoulder. You quickly took a few pictures in a row, while he placed another kiss on your cheek and you couldn't help but smile. And when you started lowering your phone, you felt the vibrations in his pocket, but it was to be expected. He chose to ignore them in favor of another few seconds this close to you. - Answer your phone, Meu Tudão... - and with a heavy sigh he did, while you stood up from his lap and started to choose the best of the photos. And the one when he kissed your cheek and you smiled was just perfect. 

You quickly cropped it so the proportions would fit the layout of the website, and made the picture a bit brighter, but that was it. The description only read "30 min live AMA at noon, get ready". You turned the screen in Toto's direction, so he could take a look, and he gave you thumbs up and a huge smile, and that was enough for you to post it. 

Not even a minute passed and the notifications started blowing up your phone to the point that you had to turn them off for this specific app in fear of it crashing every few seconds. 

You still had at least 10 minutes till the live, so you got something to drink from the fridge, because you suspected that 30 minutes of talking might make you a bit parched. You also carefully chose the place you wanted to stream from. Definitely not in front of the window because of the light, and you didn't want to share the view, so you opted for a couch set on the wall perpendicularly to the floor-length windows. You also made sure that there weren't any personal items in the frame, just in case. 

Toto was still on the phone, but as soon as you started your live, he moved to the bedroom, because the things he was talking about weren't exactly public. 

- Hi everyone... Oh, wow... There are a lot of people here... Jeez... - you looked at a quickly growing count indicating how many people were currently watching you, and the number was significant; you knew that neither of you was exactly anonymous, but it still exceeded expectations. - Ok, I'm gonna give everyone one more minute to join in and then I'll start answering questions... - you explained and leaned back a bit, but still made sure that the angle was good. You slowed down the chat, just so you'd be able to read anything. - How am I...? I'm great! Nervous as hell, but I'm actually great. - you didn't want to be quiet for that minute, so you decided to answer a few general questions. - Where am I...? I'm currently at the Ritz-Carlton... - You saw that the number of viewers started to stabilize, so you knew it was time.

- Ok, time for some serious questions and serious answers. As usual, I won't engage with anything vulgar or inappropriate, so make sure to keep your questions clean. But first some general info, so we're on the same page... - you took a deep breath because it would be the first time you shared that information out of your own free will. - Yes, me and Toto Wolff are together. We've been together for just over a year now... - you couldn't help but smile when you saw the flood of reactions in the chat, and you tried to catch as many questions as you could. - Did anyone know? No, not until yesterday. We decided to keep it private because of my career. Is someone blackmailing me to share that information...? - you couldn't help but laugh. - No, no... I'm doing it out of my own free will, no blackmail involved. - you took a moment to get to another question. - Did my departure from the network was because of our relationship? No, it's not. I keep my work life separated from my private life and there was no influence either way. - another quick break to catch up and read the question. - Why did I quit my job? I didn't quit my job. It was a mutual departure because our priorities no longer lined up and continuing that partnership wouldn't be good for either me or them. - you stuck to the things Mark approved earlier today. - Why am I sharing this now? Since I no longer will be working around the track, there was no reason to keep it secret. - you noticed that Toto left the bedroom, the phone still in his hand, but he was no longer on a call. You didn't ask him to join you, and you were prepared to do the AMA alone, but he sat next to you and wrapped his arm around you, and the chat exploded again. - Say hi to everyone... There are over 20k people watching us now... - you almost instinctively leaned into him. 

- Hello everyone! And wow! 20k just for us? That's impressive! - he leaned forward a bit, so the angle would be better. 

- Do you want to answer a few questions, Ya Amar? - he smiled, and you could see on the screen that he wasn't looking at the camera, only at you, and that warmed your heart. 

- Sure, why not... - he chuckled quietly. 

- So how did we meet? - you relayed one of the questions that popped up in the chat with a smile because the mere memory of that afternoon was more than enough to put you in good mood. 

- Well, believe it or not, it was nowhere near the track. She actually yelled at me, because I accidentally destroyed the flowerbed in front of a small B&B she was staying at, and that was enough for me to know then and there... - he smiled when you looked at him, and you couldn't help but blush a bit. 

- And I did that fully knowing who he was because the older couple put so much work into maintaining that flowerbed and he just... run over it! - you built on top of his story. 

- In my defense, I did that to avoid hitting a squirrel! - now both of you were laughing, and it took you a second to remember that you should be answering more questions. 

- Where was our first date? - you read the question out loud, and you were preparing to answer it when Toto cut you off.

- Oh, that's easy... Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin, and it lasted what... 10, 11 hours? - he replied and pulled you closer.

- Yup, it's a very big museum, and we were there since it opened till it closed, and we still didn't see everything. And after that, we went to a park and just sat on the grass and talked. It was perfect. - you added. You didn't want to share more details like - a much too expensive, very poor-quality dinner you sneaked onto the roof of the brewery on the museum grounds... Or the cheap strawberry champagne with glitter, which you chose only because you thought he would never buy or drink it, and which later exploded in his hands before he even managed to open it, soaking both of you in a pink, sugary, sticky residue; fortunately, neither of you got hurt then.

- Indeed... It was perfect because it was with you... - he leaned a bit and pressed his forehead to your temple, and you looked at the chat again in search of another question.

- Do we live together? Come on guys, that's too personal. What did we do for our first anniversary...? We spent a whole week on a cabin cruiser in Greece, just the two of us... - you could feel his hand gently stroking your back. - Ok, we're over the 30min mark here, so one last question and we're done. Make it a good one, guys... Ok, ok... - you took a moment to actually choose the question. - What are our favorite things about each other...? For me, it's your smile. - you replied, more to him, than to the chat. - I know it's cheesy, but it represents so many things... It makes me feel safe and cared for, it tells me that there is nothing to worry about, and no matter what - everything will be all right. And even when I'm having the worst day of my life, when I see you smile, it all disappears, because you give me the strength to get through everything. - you said and he pulled you in for a quick kiss. 

- For me, it's also easy... You make me want to be a better person in every area of my life. You push me to do things I wouldn't even consider before I met you by forcing me to look at things from different perspectives. You have this way of listening to my problems, that makes me realize exactly how to deal with them, doesn't matter if it's about work or about something private... And you make me want to be a better man for you, a partner you could be proud of. - this time you were the one who pulled him into a kiss, not caring how many people were watching you, although currently, they were watching more of the ceiling than the two of you. 

- Ok guys... Thank you so much for watching, that's going to be it for today... - you centered the camera on you and Toto again. - Take care, everyone! - and with that, you ended the live. 

- That went well. - he said, pulling you closer, and you leaned into his body. 

- Actually, better than I expected. But I guess we'll see what the articles will say in a few hours. 

- Do you think there will be articles...? 

- Oh, there definitely will be articles... And I can guarantee that at least one of them will be titled something like "Austrian billionaire and his latest, much younger fling" or "A principal and his student". People on my side of the media are vultures... - you couldn't stop the sigh that came out of your chest, but even though you knew that people would take the one thing about your relationship and run with it till the end of Earth, you honestly didn't care. Not when Toto's arms were tightly wrapped around you. - Oh, and an honest heads up - you and your team will definitely be asked about me during media hour... - you closed your eyes, letting yourself relax a little. 

- Do you care about how we will be perceived? - he asked with that pure childish honesty in his voice. 

- 6 months ago, I honestly wouldn't be able to sleep because of it... But now...? - you smiled and looked up just so you could see his face. - Now I truly don't give a fuck. - he couldn't stop the light chuckle that made his chest vibrate under you. - And I pity people whose lives are so boring that the only entertainment they can come up with is making up lies about two people who clearly love each other... - you leaned back again, savoring this moment, because you could just feel that it will and soon. After all - it was still racing season, and even though positions for tomorrow were already assigned, Toto still had a lot to do before the race. 

Part 4

A/N 2: Please don’t feel obligated/pressured to reblog, because I write mostly for myself. A comment would be appreciated though :) Love, G.

#my writing #Toto Wolff fanfiction #Toto Wolff x reader #🖤 #📏 #No Longer a Secret by G.

[packet-of-staples]

Hey hey hey! I've said this on twitter but I'll explain my rules regarding how people can use my Art here. I can go into a little more detail.

Alright so this is mainly in regards to like comic dubs and profile pictures and the like so here we go.

What you can do!! And I also encourage :]:

- Make comic dubs of my works! So long as you clearly credit and link me that's absolutely fine!! Also make sure to tag me in some way so I can watch it too!!! I would love to see them.

- Use my Artwork as your profile picture! Seeing my Art in people's pfps literally makes me squeal and kick my legs with joy. As long as you credit me in your bio you are free to do so! (I suppose this also extends to banners? Go ahead! Same rules apply)

- Now this is the only time I'll say this, and this is the only context I'll allow it. You may edit my work ONLY if it is to be used for a profile picture. You can add hearts or flags or text to my work ONLY if you use it as your pfp, that's it. Otherwise just the pfp rules apply.

- Oh!! I thought of something else! If you want to use my art in edits or.. are they called fancams now? Whatever, you can! So long as you credit me in someway in the video itself.

- Oh yes! If you want to draw my designs for anything go right ahead! This could be my Outertale Mew Mew, DR Asriel, Knight Papyrus etc. I would love to see your silly drawings! Make sure to tag me so I can see :]!!

Alright so now onto the things I dont want done with my art:

- Reposting it to other social media sites. You know those instagram accounts that mass repost artwork? Yeah, I hate those and I dont want my work reposted. I seriously believe those accounts do not help artists and if I see my Art reposted I will ask you to take it down.

- Editing my work. With the exclusion of the pfp rule or if I have explicitly said it can be edited, do not edit my work in any way. Especially if it's being changed to be nsfw or offensive in anyway. Idk if people do this but I thought I'd cover my bases. Dont do this.

- I think this should go without saying, and I doubt there are any actual techbros on here but again, covering my bases. Do not use my work for NFTs or AI Art. Just don't do it. Nuff said.

Alright I think that's it. Please consider these boundaries if you're going to use my work 🙏. Thank you and I give you all a little kiss.

#I'll pin this so people can find it easily #I've made this post cause a hand full of people asked about dubbing and I thought I'd make a blanket statement so people didn't need to ask #Anyways have fun!!! #i may add more if there are any other boundries I think are important

[putschki1969]

Hello Puts!

I don't think I have seen you share your thoughts about Keiko's latest single. I personally really enjoy this release and I am curious how you feel about it?

Ugh, yeah, you got me there🫣I've been uncharacteristically quiet about Keiko's 「夕闇のうた」. Quite frankly, I've just not had enough positive things to say to warrant a proper review😭. As most of you probably know, I do not get any pleasure from lingering on stuff I don't particularly like, I simply move on and prefer to focus on things I actually enjoy. But hey, since you asked, I might as well write up a few things that have been going through my mind.

Disclaimer: Needless to say, this is all just my personal opinion. I am by no means an expert on music or singing, I am just a fan who is very invested in my girls but due to having a very specific taste, not everything works for me but of course that doesn't mean that it won't work for anyone else.

Let's start with the single's A-Side 「夕闇のうた/Yūyami no Uta」. It's not like I hate the song or anything, objectively it's a decent track, I just can't really get into it. There are some songs and melodies that immediately resonate with me, others grow on me over time and then there are some I need to hear performed live to properly appreciate them. In this case, none of these options apply unfortunately. We got our very first snippet way back at the end of November and to be honest, that didn't do much for me which already kinda tempered my excitement. Ever since then the song has had time to marinate but I haven't been able to warm up to it. Even the live performance at last year's Kaji Fes didn't have a noteworthy effect on me. My last hope was hearing the full studio version but my reaction was once again rather lukewarm. The visuals of the PV helped a bit to get me into a good mood for the song but ultimately, I was pretty much underwhelmed. And the worst thing is, I struggle to pinpoint what exactly is bothering me about the song. One thing I am definitely not a fan of is the overly rushed and repetitive drum-beat in the verses, for some reason I feel like it clashes a bit with Keiko's singing and cheapens the overall vibe of the song but that could just be my personal impression. I prefer a good build-up to a chorus and I don't think we are getting it here. Speaking of the chorus, the structure of the chorus doesn't work for me or maybe it's the melody (lack thereof?) that doesn't appeal to me? Not sure exactly but it's not giving me what I would have liked. The first part starting with "inori" is pretty generic and then we get a sort of crescendo for "utau/fureru" which feels oddly out of place, especially when it transitions right into the scat singing. Maybe there is too much different stuff going on or it's all happening too fast but it doesn't have the impact on me which it probably should have. I am usually a big fan of Keiko's scat singing, I mean, her yay- yay-yay part in YK's "vanity" or Kalafina's "Door" regularly gives me an eargasm so why the hell does it leave me so unimpressed in "Yūyami no Uta"???!!! I guess it's more of a combination of the melodic arrangement and the accompanying scatting which makes songs like "vanity" or "Door" so much more epic for me....? As for the bridge, it's okay I suppose. In her interviews, Keiko has mentioned multiple times how her progress as a vocalist has made it possible to tackle all these high parts and that just a few years ago, Yuki Kajiura would have assigned Yuriko Kaida or one of her other chorus singers to sing those sections. Keiko's higher registers are a hit and miss for me, sometimes they work, other times not so much. Here she sounds perfectly fine and I fully understand why YK would feel confident to let Keiko handle this on her own. But again, the whole part is just meh and by now I am convinced that it is because the song doesn't have a sufficiently nice melody to provide a good base for Keiko's singing.

I want to continue with 「夕闇のうた Special Edit ver.」 because I honestly feel like we have been robbed of something really good here. Whoever decided to bypass this in favour of the normal version should really start questioning their life choices. I am not saying that this version is perfect (we don't even get all that much to form an opinion on it) but from what I hear, it is superior in many ways and would have worked better as an ending (edit: apparently, it has actually been used as ED on the 3rd ep). That gorgeous strings intro alone takes the song to a whole new level, making it so much more melodic. And the somewhat obtrusive drums feel way more toned down here since they are introduced at a later point of the song to create more of a proper build-up towards the chorus. The chorus itself is pretty much the same from what I can tell but I wonder what the bridge and the remainder of the verses would have sounded like in this style. The ending verse of the song also works a lot better for this special edit, wish they had included all of it starting from "itoshii" and then concluded it with another strings section.

Now all that's left to talk about is the single's B-Side, 「燈命/Tōmei」. This song is a big no-go for me so I'll keep it short. The composition, arrangement and lyrics were all done by Saku who has previously worked with Keiko on "Ray" (Lantana), "Sakura wo Goran" (dew) and "YOUR" (CUTLERY). He was only in charge of the arrangement for"Sakura wo Goran" but out of those three songs, "Tōmei" feels closest to this one in terms of vibe and overall blandness. I've come to enjoy "YOUR" quite a bit (even if I am not so happy with some of Keiko's higher notes) and "Ray" is decent too but my entire body outright rejects songs like "Sakura wo Goran" and "Tōmei". Sorry🙈I don't even know what else to say. I listened to it and immediately was like, nope, next one please.

Phew, this turned out longer than expected. I feel shabby for going on and on about all the stuff I didn't like but oh well, what's done is done. Moving on...

#kalafina #keiko #reply #review #夕闇のうた #yūyami no uta #燈命 #Tōmei