#like I already know just look at all the incredible artists and writers that makes the universe what it should’ve been

[insertdisc5]

📚 A List Of Useful Websites When Making An RPG 📚

My timeloop RPG In Stars and Time is done! Which means I can clear all my ISAT gamedev related bookmarks. But I figured I would show them here, in case they can be useful to someone. These range from "useful to write a story/characters/world" to "these are SUPER rpgmaker focused and will help with the terrible math that comes with making a game".

This is what I used to make my RPG game, but it could be useful for writers, game devs of all genres, DMs, artists, what have you. YIPPEE

Writing (Names)

Behind The Name - Why don't you have this bookmarked already. Search for names and their meanings from all over the world!

Medieval Names Archive - Medieval names. Useful. For ME

City and Town Name Generator - Create "fake" names for cities, generated from datasets from any country you desire! I used those for the couple city names in ISAT. I say "fake" in quotes because some of them do end up being actual city names, especially for french generated ones. Don't forget to double check you're not 1. just taking a real city name or 2. using a word that's like, Very Bad, especially if you don't know the country you're taking inspiration from! Don't want to end up with Poopaville, USA

Writing (Words)

Onym - A website full of websites that are full of words. And by that I mean dictionaries, thesauruses, translators, glossaries, ways to mix up words, and way more. HIGHLY recommend checking this website out!!!

Moby Thesaurus - My thesaurus of choice!

Rhyme Zone - Find words that rhyme with others. Perfect for poets, lyricists, punmasters.

In Different Languages - Search for a word, have it translated in MANY different languages in one page.

ASSETS

In general, I will say: just look up what you want on itch.io. There are SO MANY assets for you to buy on itch.io. You want a font? You want a background? You want a sound effect? You want a plugin? A pixel base? An attack animation? A cool UI?!?!?! JUST GO ON ITCH.IO!!!!!!

Visual Assets (General)

Creative Market - Shop for all kinds of assets, from fonts to mockups to templates to brushes to WHATEVER YOU WANT

Velvetyne - Cool and weird fonts

Chevy Ray's Pixel Fonts - They're good fonts.

Contrast Checker - Stop making your text white when your background is lime green no one can read that shit babe!!!!!!

Visual Assets (Game Focused)

Interface In Game - Screenshots of UI (User Interfaces) from SO MANY GAMES. Shows you everything and you can just look at what every single menu in a game looks like. You can also sort them by game genre! GREAT reference!

Game UI Database - Same as above!

Sound Assets

Zapsplat, Freesound - There are many sound effect websites out there but those are the ones I saved. Royalty free!

Shapeforms - Paid packs for music and sounds and stuff.

Other

CloudConvert - Convert files into other files. MAKE THAT .AVI A .MOV

EZGifs - Make those gifs bigger. Smaller. Optimize them. Take a video and make it a gif. The Sky Is The Limit

Marketing

Press Kitty - Did not end up needing this- this will help with creating a press kit! Useful for ANY indie dev. Yes, even if you're making a tiny game, you should have a press kit. You never know!!!

presskit() - Same as above, but a different one.

Itch.io Page Image Guide and Templates - Make your project pages on itch.io look nice.

MOOMANiBE's IGF post - If you're making indie games, you might wanna try and submit your game to the Independent Game Festival at some point. Here are some tips on how, and why you should.

Game Design (General)

An insightful thread where game developers discuss hidden mechanics designed to make games feel more interesting - Title says it all. Check those comments too.

Game Design (RPGs)

Yanfly "Let's Make a Game" Comics - INCREDIBLY useful tips on how to make RPGs, going from dungeons to towns to enemy stats!!!!

Attack Patterns - A nice post on enemy attack patterns, and what attacks you should give your enemies to make them challenging (but not TOO challenging!) A very good starting point.

How To Balance An RPG - Twitter thread on how to balance player stats VS enemy stats.

Nobody Cares About It But It’s The Only Thing That Matters: Pacing And Level Design In JRPGs - a Good Post.

Game Design (Visual Novels)

Feniks Renpy Tutorials - They're good tutorials.

I played over 100 visual novels in one month and here’s my advice to devs. - General VN advice. Also highly recommend this whole blog for help on marketing your games.

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

#reference #tutorial #writing #rpgmaker #renpy #video games #game design #i had this in my drafts for a while so you get it now. sorry its so long #long post

[maxwellatoms]

as a person on the inside of the animation industry, are there signs that we might be heading to another dark age of animation like the 1980s (e.g. animation is regulated to just glorified toy commercials or dark fantasy movies)?

"Kid Vid" regulations mean you can't advertise for stuff kids might buy from within a show anymore. Generally, you can't even have (say) Yogi Bear wearing a shirt with his best friend BooBoo's face on it as a gag, because "what if someone made that shirt one day?" Then it would be a retroactive ad, I guess? I'm not schooled in reverse-time law like studio lawyers, so I can't really say. Still, it's almost impossible to get even a fictional product into a kid's show these days, so I think the 1980s will probably stay in their timeline. At least in that way.

I do think a bit of a "Dark Age" is upon us, though. Maybe just a small one. Just a wee little snip of a Dark Age is all.

As far as I can glean, there are going to be precious few animated shows coming out over the next couple of years because not much was picked up during the pandemic. There are only a few things being developed here and there, and I'd wager that those properties "win" simply by existing in a competition-free environment. It takes a long time to produce animation, so almost anything greenlit right now is looking at a full year for turnaround. If you talk to people in the industry right now about jobs, they use words like "wastelend" and "ramen noodles".

Then you've got A.I., of course. The other night I was having dinner with a friend and I found myself in the A.I. conversation I always imagined myself having one day-- the one where we're talking with some immediacy about what the rest of our futures look like as artists, because we know they're not going to look the same ever again. It was pretty cool in a William Gibson sort of way, but I honestly didn't expect to be having that conversation for another decade. Turns out A.I. is becoming a problem right now.

I've already talked about the "art theft" angle, and that's not the problem I'm speaking about here. The problem I'm talking about is the "what do I do when what I do becomes trivial?" problem. If anyone can make a TV show or movie in a week or a day using AI assistance, who determines what gets seen? Networks, I'd imagine, would become redundant. You don't need to fork over $15 a month for Netflix if you can make Netflix-quality content yourself. And if you can't make anything decent even with A.I. assistance, surely someone on the internet can. There would be an incredible glut of content to choose from, so again... who decides what gets seen? An algorithm, probably. Who owns the algorithm?

Peak Dark Age will be the time period when the networks realize that they're going to die, and sink all of their resources into forcing their own survival on the rest of us. I imagine massive layoffs (you don't need multiple writers or artists or support staff when you've got the right tools.) Studios will want to own the tools (of course) and/or suppress the use of those tools by anyone who might want to cut into their profits. Expect to see "A.I. is just too dangerous for the public to utilize, so it needs to be left in the capable hands of corporations". Expect to see customizable Batmans, the ability to put your mom in any Star Wars, and the serialized fever-dreams of billionaires.

I think that's the next 5-10 years. And while that's happening, the tools will keep getting better and better until literally anyone can sit down, ask for an Oscar-worthy part-rom-com/part action movie starring a twenty-five year old Steve McQueen and and eighty year old Daniel Radcliffe rescuing Air Bud from the Death Star, and then watch the resulting film with some degree of satisfaction. There'll come a point when content of any visual, auditory, and written complexity can be generated on-the-fly, and the traditional limits of budgets and schedules will just be gone.

It's easy to spin off into fantasy and try to guess exactly what's coming. I could probably spin on that all day. But what I know is that the future of the animation industry won't look anything like what I've become accustomed to. And maybe that's okay because what I've become accustomed to looks nothing like the industry I started in. Things change, and you roll with the punches. Thanks to the self-fulfilling dystopian prophecy we find ourselves in, just about everyone on the planet is finding themselves rolling with the punches coming from the Powerful Greedy. That's less a "me problem" and more a planet-wide problem we should probably all sit down and hash out, like, yesterday.

My immediate problem as an artist (and yours if you're an artist too) is figuring out how to get your ideas seen in a world where the amount of entertainment content is exploding exponentially. Especially if you're the sort of artist who needs to eat and live somewhere.

So yeah, I think there's going to be just a little peppering of Dark Age coming up. But in every time of change, there are opportunities. Hey, I'm down for an animated Dark Fantasy movie. Let's do this!

#animation dark age #a.i. art #animation #the future #maxwell atoms

[spaceofentropy]

It's almost the end of January, which means that February is impending, which means HARRINGROVE BIGBANG! I'm so excited to read all the great things my fellow writers and the artists they collaborated with have created! You can already see some previews back at @bigbangharringrove, where the mods have posted them and are gonna add more during the next few days.

I'm also very excited because soon I'll be able to unleash on the unsuspecting world you, dear fellow Harringrove fans, my fic, An affinity for dead things, and the lovely @raven-cl and @bigolemantiddies will be able to show you the gorgeous pieces my story inspired them. I'm so proud of what we created, I can't wait to show them to you in their full glory!

In the mean time, why not two or three little sneak peeks?

Let's start with some light and summer, by @raven-cl...

... and then some spooky stuff, courtesy of @bigolemantiddies!

And then, a little excerpt from my fic, what say you?

A lot of people have something they’re good at. Will has drawing and Jonathan has photography. Nancy is damn good at investigating stuff and making Steve feel like an idiot. Dustin built that big radio contraption they used to contact Suzie last month. Max has killing people with just one withering look. Steve Harrington has a knack for dead things. Not exactly the kind of talent one boasts about in résumés or college applications. Not exactly the kind of thing that’s super useful in your everyday life. A bit more useful when you’re busy grave robbing. Steve slams the spade down vertically into the ground and leans against the wooden handle while he tries to catch his breath. It hasn’t rained in days, but the night air is still humid, heavy in his chest. The skeleton on the other side of the hole keeps on digging, Steve stopping is no reason for it to do the same. The upside of an animated skeleton is that it knows no fatigue for as long as the magic holds, and the magic Steve poured into Jason The Lab Skeleton is holding incredibly tight so far. The downside of an animated skeleton is that it’s lousy company and won’t sympathize with you when you feel like your arms are giving up. Jesus Christ, digging six feet down is way harder than the movies make it out to be! "Taking you from the science lab was the best stupid idea I ever had, huh, Jason?" Steve says in a series of panting breaths. The skeleton just goes on with its assigned task, the movements of its spade mechanical, repetitive. A couple of feet away, the boar skeleton and the dog skeleton are digging with much more animation and enthusiasm, even if they’re not much help, not with how deep the hole already is. But they’re having the time of their un-lives, right now, so Steve doesn’t dissuade them from digging and enthusiastically spraying dirt around. It’s family night. Sort of. Fun for everyone.

#harringrovebbpreview2023 #harringrove bigbang #an affinity for dead things #my fic #harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #now with ART! #LOOK AT THEM! #AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?! #folks... I'm so proud of what the three of us did #I can't wait to show you and I'm not just saying! #look at the skeleton babies! <3

[commando-rogers]

I know little ol me does not get much traction on this site and I’ve been reblogging PLENTY about the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, but I keep seeing people confused about this online and irl so I just want to say:

As of now, the unions have NOT asked us to stop watching content. You can (and should!) keep watching and streaming your favorite shows and movies.

Now, I’m not a member of either union (though I hope to join SAG in the coming years if I get lucky, and maybe WGA is in my future if I get off my butt and write!) so I am not an authority on this, nor do I have all of the information. I could be mistaken on some of this, so those with more knowledge feel free to correct me! But I do know for a fact that the unions have not asked us to boycott watching shows.

The purpose of these strikes is to stop providing LABOR to the AMPTP (the gross weird mafia-like conglomeration of studios such as Netflix, Warner Bros, the like), not to stop watching.

Part of the issue with the proposed contracts from studios is the fairness of residuals (money paid to a writer/actor when their work is aired on TV, released on DVD, sold to a network, etc.). If already-aired shows and movies continue doing well, these workers keep getting paid (at least a little, they’re not getting paid for their jobs while striking but the studios cannot withhold residuals). (Of course, it’s messier with streaming services, which is another thing being advocated for in these contracts.)

So keep streaming movies and shows! Keep tuning in on TV if any of you still have cable! Go see Barbenheimer or anything you’d like to see at the theater! Support the art! This is a labor strike, not a consumer boycott. Not only might it help with residuals, but it shows the studios that there is still a demand for content. People are still watching their movies and shows, they still want to pay their subscriptions, and the studios are proverbially shooting themselves in the knee by withholding future content. That’s why this strike will work, that’s why WGA and SAG-AFTRA refuse to back down until their demands are met.

ESPECIALLY with shows that are coming out! Good Omens is one of my favorite shows, and season 2 drops on July 28th. Neil Gaiman, the writer, is very active on tumblr if you’d like to go check out his blog, and he’s being incredibly gracious and helpful answering questions about the strike. And he said the BEST thing we can do for the show is WATCH it. Watch in one sitting! Watch it on loop! We need to demonstrate demand, or the studios will cancel shows, which means artists out of work.

Of course, should the unions come out with a statement and ask us to stop watching, do it. However, that is not currently their wish, nor is it a rule of the strike.

(A note: if you’re like me and hoping to become an actor or writer in the future, this is NOT the time to get your big break. Studios are gonna come looking for nonunion talent to keep productions going. They are exploiting us and our desperation. If you scab and perform labor for a struck company during this strike, you WILL be blacklisted from ever joining the union in the future. Aspiring actors, that featured background gig is not worth kissing your hopes of a SAG card goodbye. Same goes for writers. You may see some SAG work continuing, that is being done under special agreements with the union, for SPECIFIC exceptions. Do your research on every casting call. Do not scab, these union members are fighting for OUR futures in this industry! The worst thing you can do is hurt them and throw your future away.)

Check out the WGA’s website and SAG-AFTRA’s website for more info on strike rules, and things you can do to help. If you want to make a financial difference, the best thing you can do is donate to strike funds. Go to this link and under Strike Assistance you’ll see a number of funds that are being used to help pay writers while out of work, AND to help pay the crew members who are also out of work because of the strike! Worker solidarity! Here is a link to emergency funds for SAG-AFTRA members.

If you’re in NYC or LA, stop by the picket lines! Even non-members are welcome to march, and a great way to help is to show up and hand out water bottles, food, anything you’re willing to donate and help make the picketers’ day just a little easier. And here’s a link to the LA chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. They have information on strike funds, as well as a fund specifically to help buy snacks for picketers! It’s summer, and both NYC and LA are miserable to be marching in the sun all day.

The other way the unions say we can help is by speaking up and voicing your support on social media. An anonymous studio exec told Dateline “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” They said the quiet part out loud. You can look up the salaries of these studio execs. It’s tens and hundreds of millions. Then go look up what each union is asking for in their contracts. It’s a drop in the studios’ bucket, but they’re refusing to budge, and they’re showing their complete lack of humanity.

tl;dr: you can and should keep watching shows and movies during the strikes, unless we are told otherwise by the unions. There are other great ways to help! These unions are a huge driving force of American economy, and hopefully these strikes will help garner support for a larger labor movement for all workers to get fair pay.

Thanks for tuning in to my accidentally very lengthy post. But I hope this helps clear up confusion. Share this info with your friends, and voice your support loudly! And for the love of god DO NOT CROSS PICKET LINES!

#sag aftra #writers guild of america #sag aftra strike #wga strike #support the wga #wga solidarity #wga strong #writers strike #actors strike #sag aftra strong #sag aftra solidarity

[cleolinda]

Weekend links

My posts

1) From earlier this week: “My ~longform posts are going somewhere else. Dreamwidth? Definitely previewed on Patreon and backed up there. Here’s an unlocked post about it. tl;dr: I know tech bros already scraped everything, but if you tell me you’re going to do it, I’m not gonna hand it to you. Maybe it’s a token effort, but there it is.” Of course I’ll still post links to new writing here. 

2) Some people have March Madness. I now have the Hot & Vintage Movie Women tournament. 

One of the best parts of the tournament (you may remember that Toshiro Mifune won the male matchup) is people reblogging and submitting pictures, further bio information, and personal anecdotes--that sense of the Tumblr collective scrapping for the pure love of their blorbos. I love Edwige Fenech’s eyes and her iconic eyeliner, and I had to step in when she went up against powerhouse Julie Andrews with only one small picture. No, I’m not letting Edwige go out like that. She won’t win, but the people must make their choice knowingly. 

I also posted some pictures for Lady Tsen Mei, because I’d actually never heard of her and was curious. Also, because she’s going up against Musidora and that’s not an easy row to hoe, either. If you see matchups like that, where hotvintagepoll didn’t receive much to post about an actress--appealing to the people with a good picspam in the reblogs is where the fun comes in. 

Bear in mind that running the tournament is an INCREDIBLE amount of work; this was Friday alone. Like, I don’t know the person who’s running this, but it couldn’t be me. They’re working with what they were sent, and here’s how we can be the propaganda we want to see in the world. I will jump in as necessary when Ava Gardner, Gene Tierney, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, and (on my mom’s behalf) Julie Christie show up. But there’s 512 contenders, and it’s going to be a hard fight. 

(I am now reblogging the polls at only one an hour, and when I fall behind, that just means that people who missed them can catch up. Each poll lasts a week, after all.)

Reblogs of interest

You are invited to the assassination of Julius Caesar! If you joined Tumblr during the various internet shakeups last year, you may not be aware that the Ides of March is a major Tumblr holiday. You need to be. 

People have always been people: an immensely long collection that may make you cry. 

Respect for the Welsh language

The “Fool in a Field” theory of life in the universe

A helpful guide to some common birds here in the western US

The Forbidden Colors

“You get to drive away”: A Tale

I was not ready for this development in the Fairy vs Walrus debate

(Did William Butler Yeats believe in fairies? An anecdote from my grad school days)

(”While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a slapping”)

Video

“Recently I’ve been interested in what I’d like to call the historical lesbian wardrobe”

“This is the snake I’ve been looking for my entire life”

Angry kitten scolds water, slaps it for good measure

Cat plays theremin

A speedy boi who doesn’t need a bike to jump

The most relaxed tiger

The sacred texts

Yes, THAT Stinky Bastard Man

Personal tags of the week

I want to be clear that AI has incredible scientific uses and could be used voluntarily by writers and artists for their own experimental projects. That is... not what this AI tag is about. 

Speaking of AI: truly, the Willy Wonka Experience debacle has been a DashCon for the 2020s. 

#weekend links #odds and ends #linkspam

[rainbowbarnacle]

So I finished playing Pentiment

and I am lying here face down weeping into a pillow. It broke my heart and then it mended it again. Definitely up there as one of the best stories I've ever wandered through in a videogame.

You start out as an artist in the 1500s trying to finish your masterpiece while doing illustration work for the local abbey to make money, and when a sudden murder occurs you're left to try and solve it, but this is just Act 1. There is so much to see and do and read about in this game, it stretches onto this unspeakably detailed journey centered around this town and its people and its history.

I went in without knowing a thing about it other than what I saw in the trailer, and I. had. a. blast. Along with getting to explore various settings in this town, there are a sprinkling of fun mini games that shake things up just enough to keep you from feeling like you're doing nothing but roaming from place to place and reading all the dialogue and flavor text.

The plot goes places you would never guess in a million years, and every new twist and turn just reveals EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE THINGS. There are dialogue lines that will stick in your brain and parts that will make you laugh and parts that will make you cry and parts that will just wrap you up in everything it is to live in this town--its people, its culture, its holidays, its food, its art, its landmarks, how things change, how things stay the same, you will love it all so much as the game goes on. All that aside, the entire concept of a game being a story in a manuscript and all the gameplay occurring inside the little illustrations? That was such a visual stroke of genius, just seeing that drew me in right away. The art style is lovely and the music is lovely and the background noises are wonderful and immersive and I feel like you could spend hours just looking and listening to all of it.

And there's enough of the "book" in there that you don't forget it's a book. When you enter different areas, it interprets this through page turnings. Instead of the usual "bidibidibidibi" sounds you get with videogame dialogue, it's scribbly pen noises or print machine clunking. Characters have different fonts and sometimes the font changes in mid-sentence, and sometimes for violent emphasis there's a SCRAWLING sound like the writer is carving the words into the page with the pen. Sometimes in even worse situations there's even ink splattered among the words.

There is an option to see the text instantly, (as well as a nice accessibility option where the fonts are easier to read if it's too detailed to make out) but I found myself liking seeing the words written out for me with an invisible pen, especially since there are little moments where stuff gets crossed out and rewritten or the writer corrects little spelling mistakes. There's also a ton of replay value--you decide things like what topics your character studied in school, what personality they have, what languages they know, what types of books your character reads, and what skills they have--and throughout the game you can make choices and have special skills depending on what you pick. (Alas, this is not a game that lets you create your own character entirely like you would in, say, FFXIV or Baldur's Gate 3; I'm being a little vague for spoilery purposes, but you'll have fun figuring out what you want to do. I'm already looking forward to seeing what happens in Playthrough 2 when I do things way differently. :D)

It's been an hour since I wrapped up my first playthrough and I'm still reeling at everything. What an incredible, incredible game.

So in short: thank you so, so much @mercurialmalcontent for getting me this for Christmas. <3<3<3

#domestic blifs #pentiment

[baejax-the-great]

ao3 exists, plus it doesnt even matter what terms i search for on tumblr 100% of the time theres fanfiction. literally you can search any words on this website and some kpop guy/ reader fanfics flood the results every single fucking time. plus some of us are not here for fandoms??? your circus/clown analogy is stupid

So I'm incredibly allergic to shrimp-- to the point where if I ate a single shrimp I would die, to the point where I don't really consider shrimp food anymore--and it's the weirdest thing, yesterday i went to Target to buy hair conditioner, and they were selling shrimp. Don't they know it wasn't what I was looking for and I can't eat it anyway? Why would they do this? Totally fucked up of those shrimp catchers to try to poison me like that.

But analogies clearly aren't your thing, so let me break this down for you.

AO3 does indeed exist, but your suggestion that fanfic live there and ONLY there is akin to saying that imgur exists, so nobody should be posting images, whether they be photos or art, on any other website. Twitter exists (sort of), so really nobody should be posting shit posts or hot takes that are fewer than 140 characters or whatever.

Not everyone uses AO3. There is no law saying that if you write fanfic, you must post it on AO3 and nowhere else. There will never be a law that says that, because that's not how the internet works. Tumblr, one of the few social media sites that allows longform blogging, is in fact a great alternative to AO3 for one-shots. It's a little trickier for multi-chapter posts, but I've seen people make it work.

AO3 is not social media. People can't DM there, send asks, make friends, bump their post to the top of the feed (unless they are an asshole who is about to get blocked by half of fandom for pulling that move). Do you like social media? I mean you're here, on tumblr, bothering a total stranger, so you must see some value to it. Guess what--fanfic authors also enjoy being on social media and sharing what they've been up to, including their WIPs.

Things you aren't looking for being part of your searches is literally just life on the internet at all times forever. Earlier this month I was looking for a reference of draped fabric for drawing purposes. I googled 'chiton drawing' (chitons like the ancient Greeks used to wear), and all I got were drawings of molluscs of the genus 'chiton.' Alright, I did a google search for "toga drawing" and learned that there is an anime girl named Toga and people very much enjoy drawing her. Were the artists of the molluscs or the anime girl to blame for me having to slog through a bunch of irrelevant pictures to find one that could help me with my drawing? No. They correctly labeled what they were doing. That's just life.

Seeing fanfic in the tag doesn't harm you. At all. It doesn't matter if you find it cringe, or it's a ship you don't like, or it's xReader. For like ten seconds you looked at words you didn't particularly like, and then you moved on. How is that different from literally any other post on tumblr? I see bad takes and essays I don't care about on this site all the time. It's called scrolling. Again, this will be the case for every website on the internet forever. Are you telling me you read every tweet in your feed? Every reddit post? Sometimes you see irrelevant stuff. I guarantee some of my mutuals have already deemed this long ass post irrelevant and are scrolling on by. What makes fiction that much more abhorrent to you than the rest of the nonsense?

If you really hate seeing fanfic, tumblr has content blocking and tag blocking. You can block the phrase "x Reader." You can block the tag "fanfic." You can block all sorts of things, and if that doesn't work, you can just block the writers whose existence annoys you.

Sorry man, you personally not liking fandom and not using tumblr for it has really no bearing on what everyone else is doing. Like it or not, tumblr is a hub of fandom, and fanfic authors are going to be a part of every fandom on this green earth. Just because you came to the circus in order to admire the pretty fabric used on the tents doesn't mean the performers are in the wrong for doing their thing.

#ao3 #get a load of this clown #tumblr #surprised it took me this long to get a braindead take in my inbox about this #this really feels like genZ bullshit where they see one thing they don't like online and become karens of the internet #honey other people exist doing things that have nothing to do with you #and occasionally you will see them and the only correct response is to move on with your life #by all means anon call up tumblr and explain to them that people are posting fanfic on their website and you just don't care for that

[romance-club-daily]

A little bit late, but I'm gonna jump in on the recent "RC uses AI art" bandwagon. I understand where you're coming from — I'm an aspiring translator and even before the whole AI craze I had no idea how tf I'm gonna look for a job once I'd graduate, but now the situation's even more dire. That being said, I think we really really REALLY shouldn't jump to conclusions about in this case because

do we actually have any proof that it's AI generated art besides "it looks like that"? Because AI... doesn't really have a "style", it's literally gonna look like the art you feed to it/what it finds on the web. I've already seen at least one instance of artists being told that their art is actually AI generated just because it looks similiar. CGs in all stories are usually more realistic-looking, imo, and showcase the biggest differences between different artists' styles. All of this is speculation is conjecture, but like, so is the whole thing about RC using AI art in the first place. So I'll just move on to more solid argument

just last month, on August 4th, RC announced an open call for hiring artists. I guess this vacancy was targeted at CIS countries since as far as I'm aware they didn't crosspost it to Facebook or Twitter or anywhere besides VK and Telegram channel. On 28th they stopped accepting applications from artists and are, most likely, currently continuing the tryouts. My point is: what kind of company would resort to using free AI and then go and hire real humans you actually have to pay? It just doesn't make sense

Here is my translation of these posts about the whole hiring business and screenshots. I'll send you links via another submission or ask because I'm afraid tumblr might nuke this one

translation, if anyone knows russian and thinks I made a mistake of some sort feel free to correct me, after all there's a lot of artist argot I'm not too sure about:

august 4th:

2D artist vacancy

Friends, we announce that we started hiring artists to Romance Club team. ❤

We're YSI, an independent game development sudio from Moldova, that creates interactive visual novels. We're looking for people who may become a part of our big family.

If you're a talented character and/or game locations 2D artist (or you're just great at drawing), then you're exactly who we're looking for!

✅ What do we want from the applicants?

- creativity and rich imagination;

- to be professionaly versed in 2D graphics softwares (experience with Adobe Photoshop is necessary);

- to be able to draw by hand using a graphic tablet;

- your portfolio is necessary.

❗All of the applicants will be given a test assignment❗

✅ Why you should choose Romance Club:

- friendly young team as well as modern office in the capital of Moldova;

- to work with experienced professionals in informal and inspiring environment;

- opportunity to realize your own creative ideas;

- exciting long-term projects;

- fair wage + bonuses;

- possible career development;

- game dev is cool!

If you're interested, send us your portfolio at jobs @ yourstoryinteractive. com and briefly tell us about your skills

August 28th:

2D artist vacancy, applications closed

Friends, we finished the hiring process for artists❗

Huge thanks to those who sent us their resume. Everyone turned out to be incredibly talented and interesting.

✅ Candidates that received an e-mail from us move on to the next stage of tryouts

Our apologies for not being able to reply to everyone personally. We received a great deal of applications and, unfortunately, couldn't possibly contact everybody.

Thank you for showing interest in Romance Club and working for our company!

With all due respect,

Your Story Interactive

As a side note, it is possible that some of the artists may use AI without their hire-ups and writers and so on even knowing that — unlikely, I don't have any proof of that, but it's a possibility. But I feel that the only thing we're doing here is treading muddy waters of conspiracy theories. I'm repeating myself, but it just seems unlikely that there's actually any AI involved when the company in question just started hiring new artists. You may argue that they had to use AI for the most recent update because of the staff shortage but once again: let's not dive into conspiracy theories. Okay, I took longer than I needed to, but I rest my case

_____________________________________________________________

I agree with you on some points, it could be the artist using it without the company knowing and it is a possibility (although I think would be naive of them). But I believe that hiring artists and using AI is something that can happen simultaneously, in the beginning. One thing may not have to do with the other either. That said, it has caught our attention because the style has changed drastically from one update to the next and is very similar to how AI-generated images look. The public used to complain that the characters didn't have realistic poses and out of nowhere they change some to something ultra-realistic (without being able to see a real evolution until reaching this point), almost like a painting which happens to be very similar to how the AI works with images. It's something to be suspicious of, we shouldn't straight accuse them, but being suspicious and sharing our distrust is valid, given that many companies have recently been doing this. And if an employee is using AI and they know about it, It has to be approved by someone at the company, and it carries the company name. I don't think they're that naive (an artist's style changes suddenly and no one wonders why).

Since when they see that using AI is cheaper (or costs almost nothing) and it's fast, they have to make a decision, ethical or not.

Let's see what will happen, but I hope for a good outcome! I love RC stories and would be shame if they go for this path.

And of course, this is absolutely my opinion on this, you can agree or not and that's ok for me.

#submission #romance club #romance club game #ask answered #ask anon #ask anonymous

[holdmytesseract]

A Shoulder to Lean On

Tom Hiddleston x fem!Reader

Request:

"You are one of my favorite writers and I saw you reopened your requests.

I was wondering if you could write a hiddles romance one were he falls for a tall lady about his height but is kinda shy and is extra fluffy (aka overweight) with mental health issues?

No worries if not!" - Requested by a nonny! 😄

Summary: You are a make-up artist, hired to work on the set of 'The Night Manager', where you meet Tom. You clicked immediately. One day, he decides to ask you out, what triggers something dark inside you...

Warnings: angst, fluff, mental health issues, mentions of abuse, swear words

Word Count: 1,5k

a/n: Thank you for requesting and especially for your kind words! It means the world to me! 😊❤ This turned out quite a bit darker than I intended to do, but yeah... I hope you don't mind! 😊🙈 I was struggling with that request a bit, honestly, but I hope I did you proud! 😊

Tagging: @lokisgoodgirl @lovingchoices14 @evelyn-kingsley @jennyggggrrr @acefeather2002 @lulubelle814 @vbecker10 @fictive-sl0th @lady-rose-moon @muddyorbs @kimanne723

If you want to be added to my Tom taglist, please let me know! 😄

MASTERLIST

It started off as normal co-workers. Colleagues. Nothing more. Hence, actually not even direct colleagues... More like... acquaintances through work. You never thought that it was possible to turn into something more...

You were a make-up artist and finally landed a big job. You got hired for a series called 'The Night Manager'. It was a big project with a lot of big names. Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki. Just to name a few. But the biggest star on set was for you (and probably for a lot of other people as well) - without a doubt, Tom Hiddleston. You were looking forward to this, since you got that job. You secretly admired him and maybe, just maybe, he was your celebrity crush. You had never met him in person before, but you heard from other make-up artist colleagues that he was a dream to work with. Not that you didn't kind of know that already. Tom was a perfect example of a gentleman. You noticed that immediately on the day you finally met him. He was being utterly polite and kind. You liked working with him and being his make-up artist.

After a month on set you literally became his personal make-up artist. So, you got to spend with him several hours each day. You enjoyed it, just as Tom did. It seemed like you guys clicked from the beginning. The chemistry was amazing.

In the third month of filming, Tom decided to make a move. If he trusted the feeling inside his heart and the butterflies in his stomach, he had - without a doubt, positively fallen in love with you. You were an incredible woman in his eyes. So beautiful and kind. A ray of sunshine. His ray of sunshine.

What you didn't anticipate was that Tom could look after you... "Y/N?" His quiet, utterly gentle voice urged suddenly to your ears, causing you to flinch and hug yourself even more. You felt the movement beside you, as he sat down on the little stair as well. You flinched again, when you felt the weight of his big hand on your shoulder blade. "Are you okay? I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to scare you. D-Did I do something wrong?" Those words caused you to lift your head slightly; just enough to peek into his worried baby blues. Never... Never ever before asked you a man that question or was concerned about you. He had never been concerned about you. You quickly squeezed your eyes shut, trying to get those horrific memories locked behind that door again. Tom noticed immediately that something was indeed wrong, when he saw how troubled you became; how your breath quickened and how you started to shake like a leaf in the wind. In that moment, all Tom wanted was to somehow comfort you, make whatever was bothering you so much go away. So, he slowly wrapped an arm around your shoulders. When you didn't flinch this time and neither pulled away, he pulled you gently closer. That was all you needed in that moment. A shoulder to lean on; to cry on. Hesitatingly, you rested your head on the man's shoulder and cuddled closer against his warm body. Tom wrapped his other arm around you as well and just held you close. "It's okay, darling." He whispered in that deep, soothing voice, as you cried against his shoulder. "I'm here."

It was already dark outside, when Tom was on the verge of leaving your make-up trailer. The day had been a long one for all parties... "Thank you, Y/N." The man said and stood up from the chair. You just helped him remove his make-up - the fake blood, bruises and bandages. You smiled shyly at his words. He always did that. "It's my job, Tom." You'd always answer, whereupon he would reply every day: "Which doesn't mean I can't say thank you." You'd just give him another small smile and then you'd always say goodbye to each other and Tom would leave. Well... Not today...

There was a moment of silence between the two of you, as Tom looked down at his hands, fumbling with the hem of his green sweatshirt. Usually, he would wish you a good night now, but it didn't come. Instead, he said something completely different. Something that threw you completely off track. "I, uh, I know it's late and we have a long day behind us, but..." Tom looked up at you again, his beautiful oceanic orbs meeting yours. "I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me? If you want? We could go to the Chinese restaurant down the street, or grab a pizza. Whatever you like." A soft smile graced his lips, while you just stared at him. Had he just asked you out? On a date? Tom freaking Hiddleston had just asked you to have dinner with him. No. No, this couldn't be true. He couldn't mean this. He couldn't. A man like him and a woman like you? No, no, absolutely not. You felt those dark thoughts creeping up inside you. They consumed you, feasted upon your fears and doubts. And suddenly you felt like you couldn't breathe. You needed to get away from here. From him. "S-Sorry." You managed to stutter out, before you literally fled out of the trailer. "Y/N?" You heard Tom calling after you; audibly worried. "Are you okay?" But you didn't answer him and just continued to run. As soon as you reached your trailer, you broke down on the steps, crying. Silent tears were rolling down your cheeks and disappearing in the soft fabric of your blouse. You just hoped nobody saw you like this.

Tom held you, until you calmed down; your breathing returning to normal. Slowly, you pulled away from the comforting hug and wiped away the last stray tears. "T-Thank you." "Of course." He gave you a compassionate smile. "Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to, of course." You thought for a moment about his words. Usually, you were very reserved about this topic; about this part of your life, but then again... You felt like you could trust him - with your life. You felt so safe with Tom. A feeling you didn't have in a long time with a man. So, you took a deep breath and nodded softly. "I-It's... I..." Another deep breath. "My ex-boyfriend... He... He was abusive towards me. Physically and psychologically." Tom's eyes widened at your words. "H-He used me, beat me... Fucked with my mind..." You fumbled nervously with your hands. "It took me over a year to get away from him, a-and two years to get over the trauma. Although, I never got entirely over it. My mental health is damaged. Sometimes something triggers all the memories and well... I end up like this." You gestured towards your red and puffy eyes. Tom was shocked, of course and utterly disgusted by that man. How could someone do this to another human being? He asked himself. The man didn't want to dig deeper in your past, because he didn't want to put you through this. You've been through enough. He didn't need to trigger your memories again. "I-I'm so sorry, Y/N. If I had known, I wouldn't have-" You quickly shook your head, interrupting him. "No, no, this isn't your fault. It's actually mine. Ever since that, I lost trust in men. Whoever tried to get closer to me, I pushed him away. You couldn't know. It's okay, Tom, really." You gave him a small smile, which he returned. He understood now. Why you acted that way. There was just one question in his mind. One thing that he wanted to know. "Why, Y/N? Why was he doing this to you?" You shrugged your shoulder with a sniffle. "Because I'm kind. He... used my kindness. My heart of gold - like my mum used to say. I was – am, easy prey." You snorted out a laugh, shaking your head. "He never loved me. To him, I was the epitome of unattractiveness. A tall, fat bitch - that was the last thing he said to me, before I managed to break free from his grasp." Tom shook his head, couldn't believe what his ears just heard. "No." He shook his head and reached for your hand, gently taking it in his. "You're not, Y/N. You're the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon." Your eyes met his once again, frowning. "R-Really? Y-You don't care that I'm..." You looked insecurely down your body. "Not in the slightest. To me, you are beautiful - from the inside and the outside." You felt how your cheeks reddened; a few butterflies swirling through your belly. You didn't manage to answer something, except for the nervous giggle which left your lips. Tom found it utterly cute and smiled once again at you, before he gave your hand a soft squeeze. "My offer to take you out for dinner still stands. Whenever you feel ready, tell me. I'll be waiting right here for you. I'm not going anywhere." After those words, you were pretty sure, that Tom must be the kindest and sweetest man on earth. "Thank you."

#tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston x you #tom hiddleston x y/n #tom hiddleston one shot #tom hiddleston fic #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston angst

[magnorious]

On so-called "ace-erasure" in the Hazbin Fandom

I feel compelled to say something, as a proud ace, regarding the maelstrom of hate and bullying surrounding a fandom I just dipped my toe into, but it concerns the broader concept of fanfic and fanart as a whole.

Y’all. It’s a cartoon. They’re not real people, they’re not based on real people, they exist to be entertainment and to make you smile and sing along and root for their success.

It’s funny how you can look at any straight, cis male in a movie or TV show – whether he be in a happy, healthy straight relationship or otherwise, and the fandom drags his sexuality through the woodchipper in the name of fanfiction.

Oh but there’s queerbating, they’re totally gay even if the writers refuse to admit it. Oh but it’s just for fun. Oh but it’s just wish-fulfillment, it’s not doing any harm. They’re just fictional characters.

Excuse after excuse after excuse for raunchy art and sordid storytelling that can boil over into hating on not only the female characters in these men’s lives, but their female actors.

And yet.

God forbid you drag an ace’s sexuality through the mud for the same exact harmless, wish-fulfilling reasons. Or anyone who isn’t cisgender and straight.

Oh but it’s queer-erasure. It's different because there's already not enough of us and we have to fight for what we have.

No. It’s not. Because you’re not the writer. It’s not your show. So long as the person who made the character proudly defends them and respectfully depicts them, then it’s not erasing anything. Otherwise the thousands upon thousands of wailing fans would have turned some of the most iconic men of fiction into proud gay icons simply by wishing it so.

The whole point of fanfic is being able to see situations, circumstances, and relationships in a what-if scenario. Yes we know this character is straight, or gay, or bi, or pan, or ace or aro, but what if they weren’t for just a few thousand words? Yes we know this is how it happened on screen, but what if it happened a little differently?

It’s supposed to be fun.

I love ace representation. There’s not enough of it and there needs to be more. I want to be able to say See! We exist! Look at us go! with the rest of you.

I also respect shippers doing whatever they damn well please because no matter what they say or do, I can re-watch the show and still see my ace on screen unblemished (as can all the straight viewers who cling to their straight heroes).

Is the motto of fanfic not “don’t like, don’t read?” The amount of nasty comments on incredible art is insane. Don’t like? Don’t look. You’re the one with egg on your face wasting your time and effort typing out and posting that nasty comment. You don’t like it? Scroll on past. Ignore the art and deprive it of the attention the artist posted it for because it’s fanart of fictional characters.

Is this post going to make a difference? No. Am I inviting my own slew of nasty time-wasting comments? Yes. But as an ace who saw an ace and does actually appreciate (if not agree with) the potential in all these what-if scenarios in the right, specific circumstances, I’m fervently siding with those artists who just wanted to draw something pretty and share it with the world.

It’s entertainment. It’s just for fun. Do you really, seriously want this fandom to be looked on from a distance as “oh yeah the violent, bullying nerds that take a cartoon musical way too seriously”? Instead of, I don’t know, “Hey, I want to watch this cool show and peruse some awesome fan content because I can’t get enough of what little we were given, look at how many wonderful options there are.”

#ace pride #acespec #hazbin hotel #alastor

[bartxnhood]

complete | m.c

michael clifford x reader

summary: you surprise michael after his long tour, all he’s been wanting is you.

warnings: none

a/n: time for some mikey appreciation, i love him sm and i rarely see anyone writing for him :( this is also my application to become ur fave 5sos writer lmao. enjoy ! feedback is appreciated <3

Copyright © 2022 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

as the tour officially came to an end and the guys went back home, it was days in the studio for michael writing and creating melodies for the guys. he loves it, sure. it’s his passion after all. making music people can enjoy no matter how high or low one is feeling, seeing fans across the world sing and dance along to their music is what kept him going. but it was draining. incredibly draining. sometimes he’d forget to sleep, it would be seven in the evening then the next time he looked at the clock it was already five in the morning. he would even forget to eat as well. but he missed you most of all, he was gone for months and all he wanted was to feel your soft touch and the sound of your voice.

you missed michael too, his dorky jokes whenever the two of you hung out. getting to hear snippets of their upcoming songs or projects. he was your soulmate, you hated being away but also it was the price of dating a very well-known artist. when you got the news your boyfriend and best friends were back you had cleared it with everyone that you’d surprise your boyfriend. you brought some of his favorite foods and a few sweet treats to congratulate him on the successful tour.

knock knock

michaels head lifted from the computer, he looked at the door and raised his eyebrows. he wasn’t expecting anyone. especially not at the studio. he pushed himself away from the desk and walked over, opening the door and revealing you. you had a wide grin and multiple bags in hand. “hi!” you cheered, michael chuckled in disbelief he stood to the side letting you come in. similarly to him, you were in a hoodie and sweatpants. “what are you doing here?” he asked, shutting the door quietly following you. you sat down the bags of food and turned to your boyfriend who looked awful. not in like an ugly way, but like ‘oh my god you look dead, why haven’t you slept’ type of way.

your grin went to a frown almost immediately. “babe, your eyes” the faux blonde shook his head, “i’m okay” he tried to assure you but it only made you worry even more. you wrapped your arms around his tall figure, holding him tightly. to michael this is all he wanted, taking in your scent again. he closed his eyes feeling at peace for the first time since returning home. when you pulled away he felt his heart skink a bit. he wanted to hold you longer.

“what did you bring?” his eyes flickered to the bags then back to you. “well” you started, bending down and fishing out a few products. “i have some of your favorites and a few sweets so we can celebrate your successful tour” the grin on your face made him smile. he nodded and led you over to his sofa where the two of you would sit and eat a little of everything while michael told you stories of tour life.

it was getting later in the night now, you two had been talking for hours. just missing each other. you stood up from the cushion and started cleaning up all the trash decorating the sofa. michael watched, you could be doing the most absurd thing and he would still think you were the most beautiful person on the planet.

gently he reached out for your arm, “could you hug me again? i think i need it” you turned to look at him, giving him a nod. “you didn’t have to ask.” you crawled back onto the sofa and held michael. “i missed you so much” he breathed, his arms resting on your torso. you smiled, kissing his forehead. “i know. but get some rest, yeah? you deserve it”

within minutes, he was fast asleep in your arms. soft snores escaping his lips. this was all he needed, you and your touch.

#5 second of summer imagines #5sos smut #5sos imagine #5sos fan fiction #5 seconds of summer fanfic #micheal clifford #michael clifford x reader #michael clifford fanfic #michael clifford imagine #michael clifford x y/n #michael clifford blurb #michael clifford fluff #michael clifford fic #michael clifford angst #michael clifford fan fiction #5sos x reader #5sos angst #5sos fluff #5sos fanfic #5sos fan fic

[teratron]

Wonder Woman Reviews: Historia: The Amazons #3

By Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Nicola Scott (artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer), Annette Kwok (colorist).

---

Incredible.

It's very fitting this book had a tribute to the tragically late-George Perez in the previous issue because now having read the concluding part of this story, it's the same kind of mythic reinterpretation of Wonder Woman's world that Perez's 80s reboot of the character was. Something DC often tries to poorly with the character, or when they don't just shoe-horn the character back into bog-standard superhero tropes.

While this isn't really a story about Wonder Woman herself, DeConnick definitely joins the great tier of Wonder Woman creators for a variety of reasons but probably first and foremost being her depiction of Hippolyta here.

As I've said in previous reviews, Hippolyta isn't a character many writers try to go deep on outside of a select few (Perez, Jimenez, Simone to name some), and even then it's rarer to see a story about her that isn't ultimately about her relationship with Diana. But other than she's almost always just "Wonder Woman's Mom" and the imposing Queen of the Amazons.

So while this story has retreaded some similar ground before, it's quite refreshing to have a story where Hippolyta is largely the central focus and allowed to stand as a character on her own. And that includes having her questionable decisions that we and in-universe characters are given reasons to doubt, as we see at the end of book. And unlike previous times this has been done, it comes off as a questionable decision that character actually would make and not just character assassination like making her bang Zeus.

Another bit of praise DeConnick deserves praise in this series for is her handling the pantheon. Unlike previous depictions of them in DC's comics, these depictions of the pantheon don't sway to hard in the direction of HBO/CW rejects or the more traditional togas and robes speaking in faux-Shakespeare. They actually look and speak as if the way you'd assume deities would but have some bits of dialogue here and there that don't make them to stuffy to a modern reader.

The scene between Ares and Hera would probably be my favorite "Olympus scene" in the issue. Shows a side of the two (one of which is traditionally the Big Bad of Wonder Woman media) that we don't often see in modern depictions of the Greek pantheon. Though any scene with Artemis is also pretty great.

Much like Jimenez, Scott was a fan favorite Wonder Woman artist for many prior to this book so I was interested when I saw her name attached to this book how this stuff would compare to her prior work on the character in Rucka's run. And unsurprisingly, this was as much of a level up for her as it was for Jimenez when he did the first issue. A certain scene with Heracles was masterfully well done and it'd like be my favorite scene in the book for both her and DeConnick if it wasn't for the ending.

After 10 years, Wonder Woman's true origin finally gets the lovingly rendered modern depiction it deserves. I know this isn't the first instance DC's done the clay origin since making Diana another offspring of Zeus but it's always to nice to not only see it get used but also treated with the respect it deserves in such a high profile project. Especially as DC otherwise blows on with the Daddy Zeus origin. This is just one page but the whole sequence probably surpasses George Perez's depiction of the event back in Gods and Mortals.

I've become fairly uninterested in the direction of DC's comics as of late, especially with the direction of Wonder Woman given what they've already announced. So this makes appreciate this book all the more as just great standalone WW-verse story without being shackled to the rest of the DC Universe. I can only hope the series has done well enough so far to greenlight the sequels.

#wonder woman #hippolyta #dc comcis #wonder woman historia #greek myth retellings #reviews #spoilers

[ladysomething]

I love everything that you’ve written for F1 so far (you are just the most incredible writer, I could read all of the fics you’ve written a million times and never get bored) but you’ve truly outdone yourself with Where You Go, I Go!!!! I literally read chapter 2 like 4 times last week and I’ve just been counting down the days until I could read chapter 3 (but I pinky promise I do not mean that in a “write faster” kind of way, I mean it in a “I was excited that I audibly squealed when I saw you posted today” kind of way). And ABO is something that I hardly ever read. But you just do it SO well. I LOVE the world you’ve built. And this fic is just SO incredible. I wasn’t sure how you could top the first two chapters, but eek CHAPTER THREE. The way that Charles going into pre-heat prevented any questions about Max and his intentions from getting answered (the tension is buildingggg) and Pierre showing up and Charles getting claimed, oh my god every scene was incredible and I am SO EXCITED to find out where this is going, because I genuinely don’t know what to expect!!! Thank you so, so much for sharing this fic with us!!!

I am a different anon than before, but I was very interested in reading your response about if you found writing long fic to be daunting. Like prev anon, I am a numbers girl, so learning a little about your writing process/philosophy was super interesting!! I have another question if you don’t mind me asking- how do you decide on your posting schedule?! Although I would literally read this whole fic in one sitting, I do love the 1+ weeks between updates because I love getting excited for a new chapter and looking forward to it, but you said in the ask that you were already writing ch6, so I’m curious what made you pick the schedule you did!!

thanks again for sharing this fic with us, we are truly all so lucky to read it!!

ahhh!!!

well firstly I can't take the entire credit for this fic. @saiyanwitcher reached out to me after I wrote Give Me That Fire and offered to beta for me. As we were getting to know each other, she asked if I'd ever consider writing an Omegaverse fic, and I said yes, and here we are. But if there is any reason why this fic is better than the others, it's all because of her! She has spent so many hours brainstorming with me, proofreading, and pulling me back from the edge when I said "I want to do THIS" and she said "girl what" (she didn't really, everything I propose she says "alright, lets figure out how we can make that work").

I'm so delighted to hear you loved chapter 3! this whole fic is sooo different to anything I've ever written, but I LOVE exploring new themes and topics and ideas in fic - you'll never really catch me doing the same thing twice. pushing boundaries is what I love about fic, but it doesn't always pay off, so I'm SO happy to hear that people are loving this fic as much as they are.

as for your question ... which, firstly, like most artists I am extremely self involved, so talking about myself is like my fave thing to do lmao. I will answer literally ANY question you could ask.

but, posting schedule. after many years of trial and error while posting long fics, the thing I've found that works for me is that I need to have a fairly sizeable amount of the story in the can before I start posting. I usually like 5-6 chapters, but, more importantly, I want to know that I have the feel of the story before I start to post, because once I post I can't go back and change things. at about that 5-6 chapter mark, I know that I'm deep enough into a story that the plot is right, the characters are right, and the tone I'm using is right, and then I feel comfortable starting to release it out into the world.

from there, I post a chapter only when I finish a chapter. so I finished chap 6 on Tuesday, and then I worked on chap 3 on Wednesday, gave it to @saiyanwitcher to beta on Wednesday evening, and then by this morning she'd done a final check and I was okay to post.

my own personal goal is to write one chapter a week, with Wednesday being the day I'm always aiming towards. so this week I was actually a little later than my "schedule" because ch 6 was giving me a headache and it took longer to write than I wanted.

at this point, I know roughly how long it takes me to write one chapter for this story (a week), but I also know some of these chapters are harder to write than others so I HAVE to give myself some extra leeway (hence the maximum of 2 weeks).

I hope that kind of explained my thought process and as I said, I'm so happy to answer any questions!

#where you go i go #anon ask #lestappen fic

[gabessquishytum]

Ok so we may have an issue… the idea of that hysterical literature au has wormed its way into my brain and I think I maybe have a completely new kink? Unfortunate, as there’s like… not too much content like that, but god does it something special for me. anyways, Ive been thinking:

What if Dream’s never revealed his face or anything else about himself, he’s incredibly well known but also incredibly secretive. He reaches out to Hob’s agent. (And then watches through more of hob’s content, falling a bit more for hob’s easy smile and kind demeanor every time.)

On Hob’s side of things he’s just finished this project with a book he adores, he’s gone back and read through Dream’s book twice after filming, checked out what he could from the local library, and ordered the rest. He’s just so so enamored with the prose (and maybe a bit with the secretive writer). The video was a smash hit, and he’s been inundated with requests for more already. Then his agent calls, tells him that the author of the book reached out. Hob completely didn’t expect that, he’s gained a fairly devoted following, but he isn’t a Big Name or anything. He’s a bit worried at first, Was Dream upset? Did he want to sue or have it taken down? And then he gets told that dream would like to talk about doing more things with his books together? hob nearly faints in response. His agent (Matthew? Jessamy? Lucienne? Death? I’m partial to death maybe) has to make sure he’s not dead or in shock. He spends damn near a whole day just processing this information, and then responds with only slightly curbed enthusiasm. The two exchange words and ideas, both crushing helplessly on the other and consistently (and a bit guiltily) masturbating to each other’s body of works. there’s so much potential for feelings, smut, pining, a bit of mental anguish, and a healthy dose of shenanigans along the way

This could end any number of ways!

Maybe at some point Dream sees Hob in the pasta aisle of the grocery store, or at a favorite small local restaurant. He immediately leaves or hides or runs away, blushing furiously, but not before Hob sees him.

Maybe one of them writes up an overly indulgent never-to-be-sent email draft expressing their feelings. Only to have it accidentally send. Maybe they meet at a fancy event and hook up.

Maybe there’s meddling on the part of their respective agents.

who knows!

Love,

💍 anon

AMAZING!!!!! Just. Omg. This au is SO good and I’m so pleased you’ve expanded on it here!! I’m obsessed.

Just. All the feelings that must be going on!!! Hob is half in love with Dream just through reading his books, and even though they’ve never met he’s just absolutely captivated by him. As they exchange emails, Hob just can’t work out why Dream is being so cool and nice to him, and enthusiastic about the project!!! Hob adores his career and is very proud of what he’s achieved, but he expects that someone like Dream would look down on his life choices and be rather judgemental. But Dream is polite, interested, always keen to take Hob’s point of view when they work together. Hob is still doing other shoots but he’s constantly thinking about Dream, his books, his way with words. It’s an obsession at this point.

Dream is in the exact same mental state!!! Hob is constantly sending him drafts of their collaborative project to get his opinion on the quality of the reading, the amount of build-up towards each climax, even his outfit! Poor Dream is trying to offer a professional, artistic opinion but he can’t even think about it properly until he’s wrung himself dry of orgasms. He’s a complete disaster and all he wants to do is write about Hob… so he does. He makes Hob into the protagonist in his latest novella, about a man who is driven to ecstasy when he hears the music of a certain composer. It’s… a thinly viewed depiction of real life.

And when Dream finishes the draft, he sends it off to Matthew for a read-through. Or at least he means to send it to Matthew. Instead, it ends up attached to his latest email to Hob, and he doesn’t realise until it’s too late.

Does Hob work out that Dream has written this new story about him? Unfortunately he’s a little bit oblivious… until he records himself reading it just like he’s done with the other stories, and he suddenly gets a very pleasant bolt of post-nut clarity and finally realises that maybe he does have a shot with Dream after all <3

#💍 anon #dreamling #the sandman #nsft #hysterical literature au

[artzychic27]

Hey Artzy, do you have any tips on how to write an OC without making them a Mary Sue?

I guess, just don’t make them overly perfect and “can do no wrong.” There’s nothing wrong with seemingly perfect characters like how I wrote Aurore, becuase she feels pressured by her parents to be perfect. Now, if you take away the bit about her parents, make her incredibly self righteous, give her all of these natural talents without any sort of practice, have everyone fawning over her, and let her always be in the right about everything and everyone who says she’s wrong is a piece of shit, then she becomes a Mary Sue

Like a certain someone…

Here are the Science Kids for example, OCs, and the canon ones I fleshed out

Aurore: Straight A’s and definitely getting into her top school, but how will she tell her parents she’s a lesbian and can’t keep being their “golden child” right before she cuts all ties with them and goes to live with her brother?

Denise: An enby with a physique body builders would kill for, yet they feel overworked by their parents simply because they’re the strongest in the family and the elder twin

Simon: Tech Wiz often commissioned to create promo videos for upcoming events, still not completely over their parents abuse and still has mental and physical scars

Reshma: Beautiful, modest rich girl with a love for magical girl anime and anime in general, BUT! She has difficulties knowing if potential love interests truly love her and not her status or looks. Also, has some difficulties trusting older men due to incidents at galas

Jean: Plucky theater kid with a flare for dramatics and has an amazing boyfriend. Who would have guessed that this guy still blames himself for his mom leaving?

Ismael: Cool skateboarder, loves magic tricks, and always seem so cool under pressure. His personality is just a mask to cover up the fact that he’s emotionally drained due to the torment his mother puts him through when he gets home and that his dad wasn’t able to get custody of him after the divorce

Mireille: Pleasant shy girl with a meek demeanor everyone seems to love? Throw in a bastard dad who keeps trying to push her into the spotlight despite the fact that she is painfully shy!

Cosette: On their way to become Paris’ next top makeup artist! How fun! Oh, what’s this? Their “perfect” older siblings are total assholes and this stems from the fact that their mother is emotionally distant and hasn’t once complimented or shown physical affection to any of her own children? And now they put on this cool “I’m here for it” persona and crack jokes to mask their tears?… Wow

Lacey: Let’s see… Incredibly athletic, cute yet badass… Dead parents. Has to take care of both her grandparents and younger brothers. Fears the day her grandparents will die as she does not feel mentally and emotionally ready to take care of her brothers all on her own and refuses to let people in and hell her so she does parkour and all sorts of other activities to null the pain

Marc: Talented writer with legs for days and a cute boyfriend. My, what could possibly be his flaw? Oh! I know! A bad case of anxiety, and depending on the universe, he’s still terrified of Lucien and believe he’s the one at fault for their relationship taking a toxic turn! Boom!

Zoé: Rich mom, rich dad. But, what’s this? The mom is a complete bitch (Which we already know) and is always pressuring her into looking and acting “like her daughter,” even going so far as to bleach her hair at a young age, forcing her to compete in beauty pageants, and the constant verbal abuse regarding her looks. The dad’s cool, though. He misses her dearly

See, no one’s perfect. Not all of them get straight A’s, and not all of them have parents who are super well off due to a thriving business or some shit, and not all of them have parents who are totally accepting of their genders and sexualities. They have to be human, and humans have flaws

#oc #writing an oc #ask me stuff #answered ask #Mary sue

[sitp-recs]

Our fandom icon @bluebutter-art is celebrating her birthday today and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to once again scream about this fantastic human and unbelievably talented artist. I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone how gifted Blue is, and how she has created 90% of my all-time favourite Drarry artworks at this point - her depictions speak so deeply to my soul that they’ve easily become my personal headcanon for these characters, not only in terms of appearance, mannerisms, posture and gadgets, but also storytelling-wise. To me Blue is just like a fic writer in the sense she’s able to come up with these rich, vibrant, aesthetically gorgeous and tender love stories, and that’s without including a single line of dialogue if she so desires. Her work has such emotional depth and resonance it feels like I’m reading a 30k fic with exciting plots, charming characters, witty flirting and the gentlest, sexiest get together. It’s just so impressive - and quite unbelievable to think we’re this lucky to have someone like her in our fandom. I don’t know how Blue gets to tug at my poor heartstrings every.single.time with poignant character arcs, witty expressions and compelling physique 🥵

Beyond her undeniable skill, Blue is also joyful, enthusiastic and supportive presence in the fandom. She shares unconditional love for fic, creators and friends, and it’s always the best company to exchange fic recs and indulgent praise for Harry’s thighs or Draco’s hair these idiots in love. Blue darling, I’m so happy we got to become friends, I couldn’t be more excited about your return to the fandom. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible universes and work with us, I know I’m not alone when I tell you what a big role model and fandom legend you are. We are so lucky to have you around! I hope you have an incredibly day full of special moments, and I hope this little reclist will make you smile today 💜💙

6 Faves from 2021:

Dragontamers Drarry

I can’t even with soft tattooed boyfriends living in the wild and wow, that sunset is beyond perfection!!!! I wanna know all about Harry and Draco, and the life they built together out there, but at the same time I feel like Blue already told me their story with zero words, the talent! Love the vibes, the gorgeous lighting, the sense of comfort I get seeing them in their own little universe and doing what they love.

Far from the Tree | fic by aideomai

SPOILER ALERT: This art is as epic and breathtaking as the fic itself, Blue captured perfectly the satisfying sense of thrill that big reveal moment provides. BAMF swordsman Draco walking the walk of purpose is everything we deserve and I can almost taste Harry’s nosebleed watching that brilliant, god-like man confidently arriving to save the day. Absolutely brilliant!

Game On | fic by @pennygalleon

Perfect art for a perfect fic! I could cry at the delicious pub vibes, the look of challenge on their faces combined with the subtle interest in their body language, and the touching feet!!! Every time I look at this I feel so happy my chest expands. This masterpiece radiates SEXUAL TENSION in such a charming and witty way, once again Blue nails the fic vibes, and btw can’t rec this fic enough. Rivals to lovers ftw!

Ice Cream at Midnight

My favourite display of domesticity ever, this has been my personal Drarry headcanon since Blue posted it. Absolutely obsessed with the contrast in their tastes, the unimpressed expressions, Draco’s sexy glasses and delicate bony feet, Harry’s iconic killing thighs (maybe even literally?? who knows, not me but I’d love to 🤭). Nothing was ever the same after this magnificent Harry came to life, jfc I’m so hot for him

Slytherin Draco

Excuse me, why so handsome sir?? This breathtaking Slytherin Draco makes me swoon, he looks so regal and confident and THAT BESPOKE OUTFIT is so lush!!! I can’t believe the level of detail too, that look is so well crafted and thought out! The jewelry, the gloves, the rings!!! 🤯 my god, this Draco could step on my face and I’d thank him lol yes sir pls do come in and ruin my life. Anyone else getting Astolat vibes out of this art?

Sunkissed (Ron/Harry) | fic by @static-abyss

The softest Rarry art you’ll see today! Blue captured the tenderness and certainty of that scene so well, I love how deeply in love and content they look together, their smiles as if sharing a secret we’re not supposed to hear. Just peak romance, and for a rare pair I came to love thanks to this beautiful, gentle fic! Highly recommend if you haven’t read it yet.

5 Faves from 2022:

Auror Husbands

Everything I had to say about this art was written here. This is one of the best, most thoughtful and exciting gifts I’ve ever gotten and it made me salivate over Harry’s arms and thighs FOR DAYS. I couldn’t write a single thought for days and had to wax poetry throw 195258 different scenarios I came up with into Blue’s DMs instead, so embarrassing. I’m a hoe for one (1) man 😔

BAMF girlfriends at the Gala (Ginny/Pansy)

My god, they look so incredibly hot AND powerful together, I can’t even make a coherent comment. Just so.. obsessed with Ginny’s athletic physique and those sinful dresses and the easy intimacy they share! Where’s this action fic with badass girlfriends attending a gala undercover and saving the day??? @teacup-tai tell me you’ve seen this

Draco’s 42

The ultimate established relationship art! I’m so weak for domesticity it’s not even funny and this art explores soft intimacy in a whole new level, ugh it makes my heart ache. Draco in reading glasses, an ode to Turn in his hands, that perfect aristocratic nose and the soft content smile on his face are truly a sight to behold. I fell immediately, utterly in love with this and didn’t think twice before asking for Blue’s permission to use it as a banner for my Valentines Day recs.

Harry & James

This one hits right in the feels, father & son artworks always get me emotional af and this is such a beautiful homage to Harry and James. I love that Blue initially wanted to leave their identities in the open but went for that lovely Hedwig tattoo in the end, which hits in the solar plexus as much as the rest of it, so impossibly tender. Also…. That glorious light hitting his profile??? Superb

Surface Texture (Harry/Teddy) | fic by @the-starryknight

First of all, this fic is exquisite. I have a major soft spot for it (one of the very best Harry/Teddy shorts out there, go read it ASAP) so I felt personally attacked spoiled when I saw that Blue had created art for it. Early Christmas!!! The way she (again) captured the quiet, sexy, intimate vibes leaves me speechless over and over. Her serene and focused artist Teddy and confident model Harry in quiet display have me drooling, you can almost taste the low key tension between them and keep wondering when they’re about to snap 🔥

4 NSFW:

Almost Like Home | Full Version (fic by @thesleepiesthufflepuff)

I think this was the very first nsfw art of Blue’s I saw and I still remember being 100% obliterated by the beautiful and sensual intimacy of it. The scenario, the atmosphere, the look of utter abandonment on Harry’s face, the soft hand touching! It’s so very hot and tender, and a perfect way to illustrate this incredibly gentle fic with friends with benefits and pining!Draco, my jam. Once again the morning light just takes my breath away, it’s so ethereal!

Golden Hour

When I tell you I legit gasped out loud seeing this jaw-dropping bondage art, holy shit! Harry and Draco both look so powerful from different perspectives, the unflinching gaze and confident stance are killing me. I cannot handle the amount of BDE displayed here. Draco’s bulge smirk and tattoo are 🔥 and Harry’s sculpted like a greek god I mean, how’s that even possible? Would give anything to learn more about this universe and their lives in it!

I just know his bum

This comic is simply iconic, so funny and deliciously hot! I found that take on the glory hole trope really sweet, and Draco’s gorgeous tattoo is such a sight! Also, Ron’s and Hermione’s confused reaction at the end cackles me up, this is hilarious! Such a great way to explore identity porn, it could go many ways from there and I love that world of possibilities too.

No Better Love

Forget aftercare, Harry accioing a glass of water for Draco mid-sex is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen and the kind of smut tenderness I’m talking about 😔🙌 they both look so so gorgeous and in love I can’t look away, my heart bursts with warmth. Draco has never looked this good - sweating body and sweet fond smile riding Harry like a god, ugh that’s so very hot I’m combusting. You’re all welcome!!

3 Old(er) Gems:

Interrogation / Tumblr

Oh my, this Harry can lock me in a room anytime please and thank 🥵 I’m obsessed with his edgy, menacing look here. Talk about BDE, baby! And did you notice that hairy arm, the sexy tattoo, the shiny wedding ring?? That’s Auror Potter-Malfoy for you 🤌🏼

Sun and Moon (Atlas)

This gorgeous and poetic art isn’t as well known or loved as other Blue works and I decided to include it here as I’m sure it went off peoples radar. The ying yang aesthetics are striking, I love the detailed outfits, the vibrant colors and beautiful textures, their delicate intertwined hands! As a side note this art was based off a song that I love from this amazing album by Sleeping at Last, double kudos for that!

Wine Night

Still one of my personal favourites, I’m so soft for this brand of slice-of-life domesticity! Harry’s fond smile watching the people he loves the most together in the same room is a gorgeous portrayal of those moments of soft realization when we’re hit by the thought “god, I’m so lucky I get to be around these people”. This art captures perfectly the magic of those moments in time, and my heart is full and warm, right there with Harry’s.

2 Comics:

so rest your weary heart with me | Full Version

This is my all-time favorite Drarry comic alongside a series from Dustmouth, and hands down my favorite piece from last year’s Sudsfest. It’s still hard to talk about (or even look at) it without getting all choked up. Within just a few lovely, meaningful panels, Blue delivers the most touching, deeply emotionally packed love story. This is a triumph, a poignant journey about grief and healing, quietly devastating but still full of hope and warmth. If you haven’t checked it yet what are you even doing with your fandom life?

Sometimes it’s Now or Never

This is one of the comics I revisit the most, I adore it so so much. Auror Harry trusting Draco to patch him up after a raid is THE ULTIMATE TROPE and Blue executes it so perfectly. The storytelling is complete and effective, you can feel the trust and tenderness between these characters without needing further background on their relationship. The amount of time I spent looking at those kissing panels, mesmerized at Harry’s silent resolve and Draco’s sweet tenderness as he yields into the kiss… *sigh* peak romance!

1 Portrait:

Silver Trio

The hottest trio you’ll ever see today! I adore the perfect Super Rich Kids aesthetics and the attention to detail here - the earrings, the flawless hairstyle, the A+ cheekbones and unblinking stare, the smooth and hard lines of beautiful, aristocratic and distinctive faces! They look like the ultimate high society models and I’m 👏🏻 here 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 it 👏🏻

Bonus:

Happy Pride Art!

Couldn’t leave this one behind I mean, look at them!!!! They look so proud and happy and comfortable in their own skin it makes me wanna cry every time I see this art. The level of comfort and joy this brings me it’s unparalleled and have I mentioned those badass outfits, Ginny’s hot muscles and *le gasp* Harry’s thighs?? Enough said, RIP me. Happy Pride my friends! 🏳️‍🌈

#happy birthday Blue!!! 💜💙 #art reclist