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#once i start selling my work i’ll make prints
thewarmvoid · 8 months
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hey if you can help me survive this month I would really appreciate it. I lost a ton of patrons and the change from Twitter to x has neutered all of my reach for sex work so I’m selling 75% less than I usually do and am really scared I won’t be able to afford meds and make rent. If you sign up to my patreon even at the $1.11 tier it helps so much, and you get all the content I’ve written and made and early access to prints and stickers once I start making them. This is my kofi. My cash app is $/abigbrat and if you message me I’ll give my Venmo. Thanks in advance to anyone who sends anything. I’m embarrassed to have to ask but I’m really scared with how everything is going that I’m going to slowly watch everything I’ve earned slip through my fingers because of an entitled billionaires middle age crisis.
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zytes · 4 days
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Question from someone just starting with creating and then posting art to Tumblr, do you think I should be watermarking my pieces?
I’ve always disliked watermarks as they naturally tend to dissuade people from interacting with art in a natural manner; it depends very heavily on the size and placement of the mark, obviously. BUT, often times an artist will overzealously obscure their work with identification and it has a somewhat repulsive effect on the average viewer - a wall has been erected between the viewer and the art, in a sense. Watermarks, to me, exist to prevent very specific situations from unfolding with your work - almost all of those reasons seem to be financially motivated, like preventing strangers from printing your art out at home or reposting without attribution. Situations that could affect your ability to profit off of your work.
Admittedly, much of my perception about this issue was inspired by an article included in the book “Context” by Cory Doctorow, wherein he writes about how he’s benefitted from “thinking like a dandelion”, which is an idea that was inspired by conversation the author had with Neil Gaiman — I’ll try and summarize the parts of the point that are more relevant to visual arts; since portions of the allegory refer more specifically to certain qualities of written media.
He begins with, “Mammals worry about what happens to each and every one of their offspring, but dandelions only care that every crack in every sidewalk has dandelions growing out of it. The former is a good strategy for situations in which reproduction is expensive, but the latter works best when reproduction is practically free — as on the Internet.”
So how do you “think like a dandelion” then?
“Your work needs to be easily copied, to anywhere whence it might find its way into the right hands. That means that the nimble text-file, HTML file, and PDF (the preferred triumvirate of formats) should be distributed without formality — no logins, no e-mail address collections, and with a license that allows your fans to reproduce the work on their own in order to share it with more potential fans. Remember, copying is a cost-center — insisting that all copies must be downloaded from your site and only your site is insisting that you — and only you — will bear the cost of making those copies. Sure, having a single, central repository for your works makes it easier to count copies and figure out where they’re going, but remember: dandelions don’t keep track of their seeds. Once you get past the vanity of knowing exactly how many copies have been made, and find the zen of knowing that the copying will take care of itself, you’ll attain dandelionesque contentment.”
The rest of the allegory more specifically applies to written work, but I’ll link it here for the sake of posterity. Essentially: every wall or pre-requisite that you establish before allowing a fresh set of eyes to fall upon your work actually may deter people from engaging with the work and sharing it with others. Signatures, subtle watermarks that are “baked” into the work, or maybe like.. a well-placed QR code that links people back to you — all of those would be my suggestion for someone who wants to leave a lasting, linking thread between a given work and it’s artist. If the right person sees your art and connects with it, there SHOULD be a way for them to follow that thread back to you and discover more; but if you over-prioritize demonstrating ownership over your work, you’re likely to drive those coveted genuine connections away.
On the other hand, if your primary goal is to sell prints or other products, brazenly watermarking your work will protect your bottom line from the kind of low-level art-scraping that drives all those shady redbubble shops and etsy stores that sell stolen works on cheap t-shirts and hankies. For me, art is a primarily social interest in which I prioritize the sharing of culture and ideas. I don’t want financial factors to take precedence and alter how/why I created something; it feels like I’d have to take much of myself out of my art in order to make it palatable for consumer spaces.
You should determine your priorities and then strive to make art that fulfills those priorities without compromise. I think you’ll find that self-satisfaction manifests readily at different points in the midst of that process.
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blackblobyellowcone · 10 months
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In April I was extremely busy preparing for TCAF, namely putting together a cute little sketchzine with some recent erotic work. You can buy it here!
I wrote up a long post on our Toronto/NYC trip; you can read it here (mirror). I also uploaded a bunch of work from my sketchbook, including some Trixie Mattel drawings and a rare furry commission. 
After getting back from Toronto, I uploaded a timelapse of my marker process here (mirror) and invested in a Canvas Lamp to get better results recording myself drawing. Once I got it set up I was amazed at how easy it was to film myself working, and am making time to stream over at my picarto channel. Be sure to subscribe so you can be notified when I go live! I don’t have a schedule right now as things are still too chaotic, but I’m recording all my streams and will post them for patrons/gumroad subscribers. 
I’ve gotten back into my copic markers in a big way and am having a lot of fun doing master copies in my sketchbook; eventually I want to turn all this footage into a class---but not for a while, as this summer my main focus is to finally finish Hestia chapter 0, and if I can raise the funds, print it for SPX and MICE 2023!
In order to raise money for printing costs, I’ve started a catalog of originals. I’ll be adding more to it over the next few weeks; if a piece doesn’t sell after a week I’ll be listing it on ebay. I’m happy to take layaway, and if there’s anything you want that you don’t see feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected].
Thank you so much for reading, and have a great rest of your day.
Celine
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yourlocalabstraction · 7 months
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HMS Merch Update Log #2
Good day everyone!! I have slight updates about where I am in the process.
Also!!! School is starting in like. 2 days. So I’m very sorry if that slows down production.
Prototypes Have Been Ordered !!
That’s right!! All the art has been finalized, and I have ordered test prints for the charms. I will update you all once they arrive, or if there’s any issues that prevent them from arriving. I’m really nervous about these, I’ll admit. But we ball i guess. This should help me determine what size to make the final batch, and if glitter epoxy is the best choice.
In case you didn’t see the post about this:
We do have official approval from Mr. Jash to sell these!!!! Shoutout to him fr. These literally would not be in the works if he denied me this privilege.
I thought I had more to say, but methinks that’s it!!!!!! As always, if you have any questions, my ask box is open.
Click if you’d like to see my current spot on the roadmap.
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soft5ku11 · 1 year
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SOFT5KU11 COMMISSIONS
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WHAT I WILL NOT DRAW
Massive, immobile sizes
Extreme slob
Excessive sweating for no reason
Piss/shit stuff
Death feedism
Kids (obviously)
Fat Pokemon/animals
Real People (unless its the commissioner)
Mech/detailed machinery
Excessive gore
Vore
Detailed armour
Female weight gain (will draw regular female characters tho!)
You can always ask if i will draw something :)
PROCESS
Evaluations are free. don’t be afraid to ask if I will or won’t do something.
I will only start work after payment. This is to avoid being scammed. Payment will be through PayPal only.
For payment, I will ask you for your email, to which I will send an invoice for the final payment. (I will not accept more payment to add to a pending commission. I will, however, gladly add to a completed one. These additions’ prices will be discussed as and when.
I will provide you with updates via email or Tumblr (Note that email will likely make the process slower so Tumblr DMs are the faster choice).
Once completed, I’ll send you a low-res version for you to OK, and after that I will send the final .PNG file. You may ask for it via Tumblr DM, Email (if file size allows), a Google Drive link, Discord (if file size allows) or you can just have me post it on Tumblr which you can save from the post.
After this, you cannot ask for any more changes.
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS (subject to change if necessary)
I have the right to post any commissioned work on any of my social media, portfolio sites, etc. - I may do as I wish with it.
The commissioner does not own the rights to the art I make. They only own the rights to any original character designs within the work.
The commissioner cannot repost the commission on other sites & claim it as their own work. They can, however freely use it as long as I have been clearly & sufficiently credited.
Any reposts must credit me by username “soft5ku11” on tumblr.
I have the right to sell any commissioned work as prints, stickers, posters, shirt designs, etc. The commissioner does not. This also applies to uploading the work to sites like Redbubble to buy items from the site using the commissioned artwork. The commissioner may, however, ask me to put the work on the site for them.
I have the right to deny a commission for any reason and I do not have to disclose that reason.
I will send invoices via PayPal which must be paid in full before I start working. Commissions are non-refundable unless I, for any reason, feel I cannot fulfil the brief given, In which case I will refund the money I received. (It won’t be a full refund since PayPal takes a small cut which they do not return upon refunding an invoice.)
The commissioner does not have the right to withdraw or request reimbursement through PayPal at any stage unless for reasons listed prior in points 6 and 7.
My art is not to be modified into something else (eg: a character base) without my explicit permission. [If you want a base, commission a base.] 9.5. My art is not to be altered by any AI/program at all after the fact. (Eg: the auto colouring & shading scam.)
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Power Armor Punch Part Forty Eight
Masterlist
Teshteal: Oh- but I’m sorry. It looks as if our store does not carry that selection. *audible overdramatic sigh with a fake apologetic customer service voice* We only sell the finest of filthy dresses- what you’re looking for is too clean. Now excuse me. I have to restock our wares. *tosses the dress aside enthusiastically*
Lucille: What’s taking them so long?
Nick: Not sure. Hope they’re alright.
Gardio: *adjusts his own fedora* What are we to do if they aren’t but rescue them? After all, Linus only left a few minutes ago. Give them some time.
Jasmine: (Softly chuckles as she puts her dress back in her bag. She spots a mini safe under some rubble and picks it up, staring at it curiously. She takes out a bobby pin and a screwdriver, picking the lock easily and removes its contents that includes a ridiculous and overly done feathered ladies hat for some reason. Partly amused she holds it up to Teshteal, tilting her head to one side as the brightly colored feathers flap with the movement)
Teshteal: Oh! *claps* What a nice hat! We should keep it! *quietly to himself* I’d wear it but I have horns. *louder* I wonder how it would look on you? *bouncing excitedly on his feet*
Nick: So I hear you’ve been doing detective work-
Gardio: Free lance. I tend to roam about, rarely ever coming back to Hangman’s Alley.
Lucille: You lived in Hangman’s Alley this entire time?! And we never crossed paths until now?!
Gardio: I prefer not to stay in the Alley… *points at his face* I don’t want anyone getting sick because of my sheer existence.
Jasmine: (Shakes her head at that idea of her wearing it as she closely examines the hat. Might’ve been some sort of prewar fancy luxury brand that probably cost an arm and a leg to but which must’ve been why the owners decided to put it in a safe. Can’t understand why something like this was once so desirable, it’s completely useless now. She holds it out to Teshteal so he can take a look)
Teshteal: *takes it an examines for a moment* It hurts my eyes. *puts it on top of his fedora but doesn’t try to force it past his horns. He looks even sillier now* How do I look?
Gardio: Nick… *sighs regretfully* About what happened before the war- at Cainbridge, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t step in when the department-
Nick: Gardio, that was 200 years ago. You wouldn’t have been able to change much-
Gardio: I could have done something. The best I could do was try to look for Winter myself but then- *purses his cracked lips as he looks up at the sky* I didn’t see the point after the war. I ran. Helped people, yeah, but I couldn’t finish what you started.
Nick: *pauses for a moment as he realizes what he’s talking about* Don’t worry about it. *smirks* Lucille and I put that son of a bitch Winter six feet under. Where he belongs.
Gardio: *surprised look*
Nick: *reaches up and slaps his shoulder* That doesn’t mean I won’t thank you for trying to do right by the original Valentine. You’re a good man, Chapel. *nods* A good man.
Jasmine: (Smiling brightly on the inside but she can’t make herself react physically to Teshteal, and it weighs her down. She reaches into her bag and pulls out the bloodied book and flips to a page, taking out her pen that has cats printed on it) (Writing) “I am not suppose to react to anything at all, sorry. If I do I get mad at myself and feel like I am about to get punished.” (Points to the hat) “It looks ridiculous on its own, but you somehow can pull it off.” (Draws a smiling face by her writing)
Teshteal: *bounces forward and presses the book almost daintily down* We are not supposed to but wouldn’t you love to anyway? Who’s gonna stop you? Not me. Not the dead raiders. *looks over at a mannequin* What are you going to do, mannequin? Suddenly spring to life? Shout if she giggles? What? You will?! I’ll kill you. *smacks it into the wall then runs back to Jas* See? Anyone that says otherwise will get the “mannequin treatment” from yours truly. *jabs his thumb at himself*
Jasmine: (Slowly blinks at Teshteal, reaching down to her sleeve and pulls it up along with some bandages to show him her self harm cuts, then points to her head) (Writing) “They carved themselves in my head, you can’t fight me to stop me.” (Gestures at her side then at her legs that are also littered with cuts, cuts that bring a forbidden relief when inflicted) (Writing) “That was the next step for you I think, to get commands to self punish so they are always in control even when they aren’t there. It starts with breaking you down, then they can build you however they want and you can’t stop them because you’re nothing and worthless.”
Teshteal: I cannot- that’s a bit of problem. Hm. *taps his chin* Perhaps imagine I’m beating them up? *does not know how to help* Or both of us! *grins stupidly. He’s trying his best*
Jasmine: (Shrugs her shoulders, having no idea how to stop these thoughts either. Or the more violent thoughts that occur to “solve problems”, those are the most dangerous to herself and others. There is a way to pacify herself however, although she hates that it can happen. She stares down at her notebook and flips back a few pages, peeling two that are stuck together. The page is shown to be a list of those mentioned commands. On the very top is written “A-001”, her assigned number from the vault that is needed for some of these commands)
Teshteal: *immediately points to Reset, Dismissed, and the Custom Command* Those seem to be the safest ones. *scratches his head* I don’t think I’m a handler, but maybe we can make a custom command word? One not associated with fear? *snaps his fingers* Valentine-! His last name’s perfect for a command and he’s associated with a strong emotion- literally the one that rivals fear itself!
Jasmine: (Writing) “They used the custom command one mostly to get me to eat, although they found out they had to specify how much because I’d only eat one spoonful then stop.” (Freezes, her hands shaking when she remembers what else they made her do with this power. She was helpless against it) (Writing) “Also had me do other things, I hated the custom command.” (If used in the right way maybe these can helpful, especially to Nick if she gets out of control or lost in her head)
Teshteal: I know you hate it but it could be useful to help stop the voices. We can use their tactics against them. *smiles reassuringly at her* We have a way to stop them.
Jasmine: (Puts the tip of her thumb in her mouth while she stares down at the list. Hate is an understatement. It would send shocks of fear through her to hear these spoken directly at her and possibly flashbacks of being punished for not following orders, but in the end is it better than the alternative? She doesn’t know, she’ll have to leave it up to Nick in the end to make the call. Should she show this to him? Show him her assigned number so he can activate the command that render her completely useless and submissive if necessary? Her Dad won’t abuse this power, yet she doesn’t want to…)
Teshteal: We can show this to Detective Valentine and discuss what to do. He seems too kind to use the commands excessively.
Jasmine: (Immediately tears out the page when he says that, tucking the list in her jacket pocket so it’s safe with her and she the one with control over it. She tilts her head at Teshteal when two thoughts comes over her) (Writing) “What’s your assigned number? And where’s Nick if he’s not here?”
Teshteal: *heart beat roars in his ears suddenly and ge stiffens up at the thought of anyone knowing it. Regardless he keeps a chipper tone* I assume still over at Hangman’s Alley. I initially came here to bring you back to the group. *hesitates* Why do you want to know my number? *tail wraps around him and he starts to fidget with it nervously*
Jasmine: (Writing) “You know mine, I’d be lying to say that it doesn’t make me uncomfortable that you know it. I am the one who’s more susceptible to this.” (Looks up and blinks under her mask, realizing that her coding is yelling at her to get the edge on Teshteal and even things out. That’s why she wants to know it) “Fuck….” (Takes a few steps back in horror at herself while she drops the book, crashing into the wall as she starts breathing quickly and grabbing at her arms)
Teshteal: That’s true. *ringing his tail even more nervously* Mine was F-666. The useless ones. The… the cannon-fodder. *suddenly feels a wave of panic wash over him. He slowly backs away, his own coding and instincts telling him he’s so much more vulnerable now that someone now knows his assigned number*
Jasmine: (Horrified that she didn’t even realize her own true ambitions for doing things until it’s too late, until she was getting what she wanted. She presses herself up against the wall as the words “Monster” and “Pathetic” ring in her head over and over again, along with another one that’s getting louder. “Mistake”) (Quietly) “I am sorry…” (She has tears on her face now, not that Teshteal can tell as she slowly slinks to sit on the floor in a dark corner and picks at her arms)
Teshteal: *smells the saline and his eyes widen. Softly, fighting his panic* No, no, no. Don’t cry. *slowly approaches her and kneels. He takes her hands, gently crossing her arms over each other, and starts breathing slow, deep breaths. Softly still* You’re okay… We’re okay…
Jasmine: (When she heard him say not to cry she goes deathly silent and stiff because she’s not suppose to and would receive severe punishment for doing so. But when Teshteal starts comforting her in that sweet and gentle manner she relaxes a bit and lowers her head as the voices in her head attack her, the mask fogging up from her tears. She’s getting hit with berating and judging remarks for how she handled things, scolded for not performing better. On the other side is the same three words that are meant to keep her down and scared)
Teshteal: *keeps comforting her as he sits. He keeps taking deep breaths, hoping she’ll subconsciously start matching them while keeping his own thoughts at bay, too* You didn’t hurt me. That’s good. We’re okay… *puts his forehead against hers* I’m okay…
Jasmine: (Choking on her tears) “What if I hurt you?” (Shy’s away from him out of fear of doing so. She already hurt people who tried to help her. Nick- her own father, included along with Lucille)
Teahteal: So what if you do? *shrugs* I’m Safeguarding you, right now…
Jasmine: (Raises her head when she hears that command he’s doing for her, sniffing back her sobs and she tries to stop trembling so much. She’s suddenly very aware on how much time they are wasting just sitting here waiting for her to stop being such a baby) “You are not suppose to, no one is.” (Pulls back and tries to stand while bracing onto the wall)
Teshteal: *stands and extends a hand to help her* As your sibling and your friend, I’m absolutely supposed to. *determined* They may be in our heads but I’ll be damned if I let them stop me from helping people I care about.
Jasmine: (Stands on her own and just starts walking back to the rooftop without looking at him, hoping deep down that he doesn’t take it personally. She’s gone completely numb to keep herself at bay, to keep herself from crying. Soon she’s rushing up the ladder and jumping from the stores roof to another roof, looking back to see if Teshteal will follow)
Teshteal: *already pocketed the ridiculous hat and it’s following her easily and effortlessly*
Jasmine: (Starts efficiently leaping from rooftop to rooftop, railing to railing, gliding across nimbly like a cat save for the part of constantly walking on all fours, she only does that when it’s easier or needs to stay hidden. Soon she and Teshteal near where she last saw Nick and Lucille, quickly lowering herself so they can’t see her. Or rather so Gardio doesn’t see her)
Teshteal: *whispers* Why are we hiding?
Nick: Alright. I think I need to go find those two. It’s been a while.
Gardio: I probably should have gone with him. Don’t know why I didn’t. The man doesn’t have the best track record of keeping his head low or out of trouble.
Nick: Didn’t he crash his car through a precinct window once?
Gardio: Good lord, don’t remind me, Nick. *chuckles at the memory*
Jasmine: (Peers down, swallowing hard. She pulls back and takes off her mask, quickly wiping it from the inside so she can see better. Her eyes are red and puffy, there’s still fresh tears going down on her face as she puts it back on and tightens her hood. She slowly starts backing away in the direction they just came from)
Teshteal: *takes her hand* Hey. Gardio won’t hurt you. I promise… at least tell Nick what’s going on before you run off. *softly. Pleaful* Please?
Jasmine: (Gestures over the edge to where the trio is standing below and points to her head, shaking it while holding up her trembling hand. Then she points to her heart and shakes her head again to try and signify that she can’t feel anything and has gone numb. She thinks for a long moment before she uses her free hand to make several small slicing motions down her arm, remembering her promise to Nick. She looks over the edge, seriously considering jumping off and scampering to somewhere she deems safe)
Teshteal: *takes hold of her other hand after he sees the sign* Hey, look at me. Neither I nor Nick will let Gardio hurt you. I doubt he ever would seriously try, but neither of us will let it happen. Let’s talk to Nick. Please…? *his pupils are wide with concern as he begs her almost desperately*
Nick: *about to go when he suddenly looks up at the building* Nevermind. You two stay put. I’ve got this. *walks over and climbs up a fire escape on the side. He swings himself over the ledge of the roof* There you two are. *walks over* Talk to me about what…? And when did you start calling me by my first name?
Teshteal: *keeps her hands in his as he addresses Nick* It’s faster to say- sorry. *looks to Jas then Nick* Rosie’s scared of meeting Gardio. She might need a second to get her barings but I’m scared she’s going to run and… *pauses, fear crossing his face for a second* Do something…
Jasmine: (Starts pulling from Teshteals grip while grunting with frustration, twisting her wrists in a furious manner. If she really wanted to she could escape and run free, but she rather not hurt Teshteal while doing so. She’s dangerously close to the edge as she struggles, not that isn’t aware of it she’s actually trying to jump off)
Nick: Thanks for the warning-
Teshteal: Nick. *mouths* A-001 Reset.
Nick: What- That’s-
Teshteal: Just do it. It’ll help.
Nick: *with some hesitation and regret as soon as he says it* A-001 Reset.
Jasmine: (Eyes immediately go wide and get filled with terror as she goes completely limp. She falls to her knees still super close to the edge and puts her hands behind her head while she heaves heavy breaths. Her mind and vision go blinding white, heart thumping in her ears while she “resets”. Essentially, this command was to help them clear their heads if they get overloaded and out of control, helps them rethink their decisions and strategies. For her it was mostly used when she made a grave mistake in combat. So she’s getting slapped with internal corrections on her recent and past mistakes, fearing that she’ll be severely punished)
Nick: *terrified at seeing how frightened and powerless she suddenly becomes* What did you just have me do?
Teshteal: Quick- tell her she’s not in trouble. That’s a crucial step.
Nick: *glares angrily at Teshteal but kneels and gently and calmly starts reassuring her* You haven’t done anything wrong, Rosalinda. You’re okay. Dad’s right here… I didn’t know what it that would do to you or what the situation was. *heart breaks seeing the fear on her face. His voice cracks a little* I’m so sorry. *gently cups her cheek and strokes it with his thumb*
Teshteal: I-
Nick *looks back at him with a glare then quietly goes back to reassuring Jas that she’s safe*
Teshteal: *goes quiet again and wordlessly starts pulling out the trinkets he found around Jas’s house, setting them next to the pair* Please give these to Rosie. I found them at her house… *decides he’s gone too far this time* I’ll be somewhere. *scampers off suddenly*
Jasmine: (Staring off at nothing with her hands still behind her head in surrender, her red teary eyes unfocused. She doesn’t seem to register Nick as her mind continues to flash white for the reset, anticipating a blinding pain to come from either a slap or her jaw roughly grabbed to wake her up from it followed by berating remarks)
Nick: *holds her close, gently lowering her arms so he wrap his around her* Come back to me, doll…
Teshteal: *running like the wind, tears streaking past his ear. He doesn’t know where he’s going but he knows he can’t be there anymore. He messed up. Being alone is what he deserves*
Jasmine: (Can’t stay in reset mode forever and starts slipping back into reality and into the correction stage. She doesn’t move but blinks with slight recognition at her surroundings as her previous actions slowly play out in her head, the slightest mistakes coming into view. It throws her off that she’s not getting hit or forced to do things she doesn’t want to, instead her Dad is here and comforting her. She still feels like she did downtime terribly wrong…)
Nick: *gently petting her hair* It’s okay… I’m sorry.
Teshteal: Stupid. Moron. You don’t deserve anyone. You’re a burden. You’re just an inconvenience. *stops suddenly and just collapses into a ball* No one cares- *the memory of being held in one big strong hug by Gardio burns inside his mind. He wants to go back to that so bad but knows… he knows as soon as he finds out…* You just make things worse…
Jasmine: (Finishes her assessment of herself from the moment she first left to the store until now, biting down on her tongue. She’s currently in a “do whatever the hell you want with me, I don’t care anymore” stage by reflex in order to shield herself. It’ll be awhile until her mind registers that it’s safe to fully return, and that she doesn’t have to go numb anymore for these type of things)
Nick: *decides to carry her on his back back down the fire escape. He arrives at Lucille but notices Gardio’s missing* Where’s your father?
Lucille: Went off to find Teshteal.
Nick: *opens his mouth then shuts it*
Jasmine: (Completely motionless as Nick carries her, not making much of an effort to hold on. She’s like a limp Raggedy Ann doll, anticipating for something to happen to her, waiting for someone to puppet her)
Gardio: *looking everywhere for Teshteal, even asking a few feral ghouls*
Teshteal: *curled up in a hole, waiting to just… Die*
Gardio: *managed to find him* Linus…?
Teshteal: *a jolt of fear causes him to jump* Don’t call me by that name!
Gardio: Oh- sorry… *kneels in front of him and even then he towers over the poor rat of a man* What are you doing?
Teshteal: …Trying to die.
Gardio: By sitting in a hole in a wall? Friend, you’re going to be waiting for a while.
Teshteal: Why did you even bother finding me? I’m a monster. Literally. *smacks his tail against the ground*
Gardio: That makes two of us. *points at his face* That’s no reason to give in.
Teshteal: It is if you hurt someone close to you so easily.
Gardio: I see… but don’t you think that it would hurt them more if you ran away and never apologized for it?
Teshteal: *looks up in surprise. He hadn’t thought of that. He lowers his head, voicing another thought* What if I keep hurting them?
Gardio: If you make steps to improve on yourself, you won’t. Not in the same way, at least…
Teshteal: *sighs sadly* Detective Valentine won’t want me around anyway-
Gardio: You let me worry about Valentine. Worry about the person you hurt first.
Teshteal: *starts to cry again suddenly* I don’t deserve this kindness.
Gardio: You deserve friendship.
Teshteal: No-
Gardio: Don’t fight me on this, officer. That’s an order.
Teshteal: *well now he can’t argue. Orders are orders*
Jasmine: (Closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, counting how long it took her to calm down earlier. Two minutes too long, pathetic)
Teshteal: This might be stupid to ask but can I have a hug?
Gardio: *Picks up the little rat of a man and gives him a big hug* Not a stupid question at all.
Teshteal: *feels a lot safer suddenly. He hugs back*
Jasmine: (Opens her eyes, lifting her head from Nicks shoulder and she looks around like a wide-eyed lost kitten. She’s so terrified, so confused. Her brain doesn’t know know to process anything, it’s stuck in this mode)
Lucille: *just standing near Nick, checking one of her guns for damage*
Jasmine: (There’s a slight haze to her vision and a ringing noise in her ears, almost like her mind is censoring what she sees and hears. Again it’s completely unnecessary now, maybe she can correct it later so the reset is just her clearing her mind and nothing more)
Nick: *worried about her specifically*
Teshteal: You always give the best hugs…
Gardio: *sets Teshteal down on his feet* Are you going to be alright?
Teshteal: *whipes his eyes* I think so.
Jasmine: (Puts her head back down, partly closing her eyes while she take heavy, but steady breaths. She still anticipating the regular abuse she’d normally suffer after a reset. Luckily for everyone, unlike when Lucille slapped her into a similar state she isn’t being drowned in horrific memories, although she still remembers them)
Lucille: *Kind of regrets that, too. Still thinks Jas hates her for all of that*
Gardio: Glad to hear. Now let’s get you back to the others. *adjusts his hat* What do you say, partner?
Teshteal: Yes sir. *salutes him dramatically*
Gardio: *starts walking back towards the group* At ease, we’re not on duty. *cracks a grin* Save the formalities until we’re in uniform.
Teshteal: You are. *referring to his coat as he starts to follow*
Gardio: Hey, you gotta look the part out here in the ruins! Dress for the job you want and all that.
Teshteal: *sticks his tongue out at the old ghoul*
Gardio: *glances back* Still just as immature as ever.
Jasmine: (Tenses suddenly, going completely relaxed while she trembled. She’s not sure why exactly as she’s not currently getting flashbacks, guess it’s just muscle memory)
Nick: *decides to cradle her like a toddler and quietly comfort her*
Lucille: *yawns*
Jasmine: (Raises her head and her little hands hesitantly grab onto his coat. Her eyes get teary again while she feels something jolt in her chest. She didn’t do anything wrong, did she?)
Nick: Ssh… it’s alright, doll. You didn’t do anything wrong. Not this time.
Teshteal: *leading the way this time*
Ferals: *start climbing out at the sound of the two’s footsteps*
Teshteal: *gets into a fighting stance*
Gardio: Let them be. They’re curious about the noise.
Teshteal: They’ll attack-
Gardio: No, I don’t think they will. *looking around at all of them* Go back to sleep you all…
Ferals: *stand and twitch in place, seemingly unsure of what to do*
Gardio: Just keep walking, Teshteal. Don’t make eye contact.
Teshteal: *hard swallow as he straightens up and walks normally down the road*
Gardio: *keeping an eye on the ghouls as they pass through* That’s right. Slow steps. *calmly* We’re friendly…
Jasmine: (Stares off for a bit while her bottom lip trembles, suddenly feeling very clingy to her father and fearful of being separated from him. Ditching all the voices telling her no, she grabs onto Nick as tightly as she can while she wails nonsense into his coat. Aaaaaand here’s that separation anxiety she’s been trying to avoid developing all this time)
Lucille: *jumps* What the-!?
Nick: Whoa-! It’s alright, I’m not going anywhere, kiddo! I’m right here.
Jasmine: (Not sure what the hell came over her that’s making her sob and hold onto her Dad like he’s the last person on earth. She had never been like this with her mother even when she was very small, or with any other adult she was close to after her mom died)
Nick: *sighs and keeps reassuring her he’s not going anywhere*
Teshteal: *Once they’re through and a safe enough distance* How’d you keep them from attacking?
Gardio: Glowing Ones tend to be a bit… odd as nonferal ghouls go. I can kind of tell what they’re thinking usually- don’t know how or why.
Jasmine: (Realizes that she’s not even crying tears all that much, she’s just blubbering incoherent sentences. She shuts her mouth but doesn’t loosen her death grip, closing her eyes to recount again with a clear head. She’s not in trouble, she was told to reset by Nick and not the trainer or the guards. There’s no need to shield herself anymore after a reset or have a panic attack, she can take a rest now…)
Nick: *softly* I’m sorry, Rosie…
Teshteal: *eyes widen* You have super powers!?
Gardio: You have super speed, horns, a tail, and cat eyes. Still out to lunch on how that last one’s even possible.
Teshteal: Touch-ay.
Gardio: You still don’t know how to say Touche…?
Teshteal: It’s a weird word!
Gardio: It is literally two syllables.
Teshteal: Listen, I can only hold so much grammar and pronunciation rules in my head.
Gardio: *rolls his eyes at his lame excuse*
Jasmine: (Ran out of batteries, she’s exhausted from the ordeal. She keeps her tight hold on her Dad while she buries her face in the crook of his neck, dropping into a power nap)
Gardio: Wait… how are you leading me back?
Teshteal: Take a wild fxcking guess.
Gardio: …Oh please don’t tell me you’re guessing.
Teshteal: What? No! Sense of smell. *taps his nose* It’s very accurate!
Gardio: I don’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted.
Teshteal: How did you find me anyway?
Gardio: The power of friendship and “Ghoul to Ghoul communication”.
Teshteal: … Please tell me you’re joking.
Gardio: I’m not. I wish I were.
Jasmine: (Napping quietly and peacefully, some tears still on her cheeks. She’s holding Nick on his promise that he’s not going anywhere, that’s the only reason she can sleep right now)
@lucilleandherrobots
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shatterthefragments · 2 months
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✨ End of Year Questions ✨
Tagged by @ongreenergrasses 💖
I also didn’t think I created much this year, and. To be completely honest, I didn’t really make much new art, and what I did I didn’t really post here. Most of what I’ve done this year is really continue writing snippets of lyrics/verses/poetry in my notes. Hoping to make more time for a lot of things this year!
What is the favourite thing you created?
A sailboat reduction print (lino style but on a literal disposable plate)
Which work are you most proud of?
Honestly, either that same sailboat print or some of the poetry/lyric snippets I’ve written this year. Or the leather medicine pouch (also created for my class final project)
Is there anything you’re proud that you achieved this year?
I’m proud that I created anything at all outside of class requirements (I took one art centred course at the beginning of the year, which my sailboat print was created in)
Did you explore anything new this year?
Not so much for creating, but I did get stickers made of some of my previous work to sell at fairs and whatnot.
Wait no the leather medicine pouch - I haven’t done much leatherwork yet though I really want to create super long lasting functional pieces and textiles is very new to me and is a way of connecting to my grandmothers’ past. And I also joined a sewing/quilting club at school (which doesn’t seem to be running this year but I have no time anyway this semester so that’s fine) (I have not finished the sewing supply bag project we started)
Which work gave you the most difficulty?
Anything finished haha. I am still striving to fully finish and edit and refine some of my lyrics into songs (eventually to try to record and produce with whatever free and/or cheap software I can find).
Also some of the more unusual custom cake requests at work were difficult to do but they worked out.
And textiles can be. Frustrating.
What was your biggest creative challenge this year?
Finding time to create. I definitely took this as a year to go and do things that I. Had to go to. And while I probably could’ve brought a mini sketchbook with me, I didn’t usually.
Which work brought you the most joy?
A birthday card I did for a friend. It’s a pen sketch of their favourite beach (at least the view I got when I took a quick visit and picture of it)
Which of your works do you think people should check out?
…from 2023 nothing is posted unless you’re on my personal instagram or something. (Unless I did post my year of the water rabbit watercolour paintings? In which case - those.)
Otherwise my Creating Awl Together story/series (once I make time to create more for it 😅)
Do you have creative plans for the new year? Is there anything exciting that you’re working on?
Oh always 🥺💖✨
I accidentally made a new years resolution to record one of the songs I’ve written,, but also I want it to be. Better than the literal middle school vent lyrics I’ve written.. so we are. Trying to write some new stuff and upgrade to… mid twenties vent lyrics… (and some like!?! Joyful lyrics too?!?!) (I’m actually excited and terrified and don’t really play any instruments right now and what I played on flute isn’t really necessarily the vibe for what’s in my head?? But it could have a place so I’ll probably play again and if need be I could probably rent a tenor sax for a day or so.) so. Next up is learning (or throwing together) a bit of music production (I am currently gathering royalty free free samples from anywhere I find them more or less)
I really want to draw a lot more this year!!
And paint more again!!
And of some of these drawings I want to transfer them to be lino cut or dry point and do them as prints!!!
I have several quilts I want to make!! I’m going to start really small though to. Learn how to sew them haha 😅 But I hope my first quilt is a lovely sea turtle themed quilt for one of my best friends’ cat. Or a lap quilt for mum. I. Realistically I don’t think I’ll get to this before the end of the year.
I want to paint more ceramic pieces at the paint your own ceramics place (I have. Several pieces that I just need to finish painting)
More cards that I drew on~ I have a bit more energy than last year despite everything it seems right now so I am hoping I can continue to draw on cards for my friends 💖
This shall be the year I finish my dogs out doodle (barefoot ship life!!!)
Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice to share?
To myself: just try. Just try. Just do. It can be whatever. Just create something. Just create anything. Joy, catharsis, one single line. Anything you can.
Given how late I filled this out I’m not tagging anyone 😬
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noonaishere · 1 year
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Ateez - Newark, Nov 27
So we stood out in the rain for like an hour, but someone had a Goncharov poster:
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So it was basically okay.
Actually, we were soaked by the time we got inside, and, it seemed like they let us in late.
My sister went with me and noticed there were a lot of dads there with their kids: “I feel very at one with these dads right now.” *pretending to holler to one that’s a bit away* “Hello there! Do you like to fish? I-- don’t like to fish, it makes me sad.” Me: *laughing*
This was the jacket I spent SO much time on and even learned to screen print for:
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(The big on is the one I screen printed, points if you can figure out what it’s a mashup of. I bought the chain one, and I painted the others with a paint marker and it died while I was working on them -_- Truly, Kim Hongjoong should have blessed my Poscas before I started lol)
(PS: I’m planning on opening an Etsy store and making that the first print to sell)
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(I made the HALA HALA tag under the lacing on the left, and the “1117″ in roman numerals under the star patch, I bought everything else. That “01″ tag actually lights up, idk why I didn’t turn it on for the picture)
Anyway, I wore that and a red plaid shirt underneath as my outerwear, which was good because I wasn’t too cold outside or too warm once we got inside, and both dried off relatively quickly (and having two layers meant it too a while for me to actually start feeling how soaked I was getting. It didn’t rain rain, but we were outside so long that we were soaked by the end of the hour standing there)
I saw the elusive LED people:
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So rare to see one, free in the wild, much less three! Extremely exciting.
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Then we saw the babies perform. Very proud of them. Their songs were good and they were very polished for still being trainees (but I think I read they’re supposed to debut next year, so that makes sense). I think Hunter might end up being my bias.
Then they played like three Ateez songs in a row and everyone sang along, until the music fizzled and cut and the lights went out, and even the Lightinys went out (the 2.0 are so cool) and we got a lore dump in Korean and English presumably (from everything other lore bit I’ve seen) from the viewpoint of the Oppressive Government, or the Android Guardians.
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(Can someone PLEASE hire me to do the localization of their English text? Please? Because, yes, “crack leads to pain”... but that means something a little different in English.)
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(It is, as the kids say, “whack”)
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The the VCR from the World: Movement promos
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(I just really like the lights in this one)
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Then a bunch of very mysterious hooded figures came out. Oooooh, such mystery, very secret.
(Don’t go near the dog park)
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(Trying to creatively crop out this guy’s arm that was SO FAR into my field of vision the whole night that it was not only “not even funny” but also “driving me to violence”)
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(Then they went into a vortex, but I missed it by like a second)
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(Listen... I love red, and I love San.)
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Park Seonghwa is the prettiest man on the planet and I am going to throw myself into the ocean because I can’t deal with it. And Yunho is so handsome that every time his face was on the screen I thought “Wow, he’s so handsome” as if it was the first time I thought it.
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“MAKE SOME NOISEEEEE!!!!” (I love you, San. I’ll make all the noise you want), polar opposite of Yeosang, who just stood there placidly as we screamed.
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Hongjoong, waiting patiently like a stern teacher or something as we all screamed. Wooyoung laughing at us.
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I do not remember what Jongho was saying here. Mingi, like... I love him because his face and height make him look so big and mean but he’s just a big mush of a princess. (Also, this boy’s lips... I better be careful before I start writing smut fic again 👀👀👀)
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(Another shot where I just really loved the lights)
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You can see on the screen that for HALA HALA (my favorite song in the whole catalog, I’m so happy they performed it) they had it go back and forth between being the current footage, and them as Halateez. I’m assuming they filmed it a few days ago or something, but some of coreo was SO spot on I was wondering if they had deepfaked the costumes or something lol.
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Break that spine, Sannie, who needs it!
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I need the VCRs from the concert. For lore purposes.
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Mist. Everyone giving 110%
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More San because I adore him
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It’s my favorite thing when one of them is talking and the others all start holding their own mic up for him. My favorite idiots lolol
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Jongho tried to grill Hongjoong if he knew the name of his first OST (and the Lightinys would have turned blue if he was right), so Wooyoung grilled him back about why he didn’t text him on his birthday. Seonghwa and Yunho enjoying the mess (Yeosang tried to leave because he ALSO didn’t text him but was captured and acted like he didn’t know what was happening lol)
At some point my sister leaned over and was like “Who’s the dramatic one?” “The dramatic one? They’re all on stage performing, they’re all dramatic.” “No, the dramatic one.” Me: thinks. “Do you mean the one doing all the high notes?” “Yeah. He’s dramatic. I like him.”
My sister went from non-fan to Jongho stan lol.
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Me: “See? They’re pirates.” My sister: “Huh”
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Lil starry Cromer action
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I got the very end of the Cyberpunk San Slutty Dance Move, so I’m happy. (I thought I missed it since I was trying to watch it with my eyes and not my phone. It’s a little hard to hold a Lightiny and a phone at the same time.)
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One again: Park Seonghwa is the prettiest man on the planet; once again: I am in the fucking ocean about it. Hongjoong: “Don’t like sexy too much”, also Hongjoong: *flirting*
Hypocrite.
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Okay, but San is LEVITATING in the background? I was too busy looking at Mingi’s body rolls that I didn’t even notice until I uploaded the picture lol, wtf.
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This is my favorite picture I took all night. I sent it to my friend @cant-fight-kyrumption​ and she sent me this:
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And now I can’t unsee it.
(I also, don’t know how I forgot about it, I LOVED those vines lol)
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We were side Cool, and we screamed a bunch and they changed the Lightinys colors lol
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I love him your honor
Had to make a part 2 because tumblr kept shitting itself.
Tagging some peeps: @sayaramarz, @hecalledhimhyung, @moonbinnie0983​, @ositoblancito​, @goldenchunkycat​, @leagreenly​
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apocalypsis-uranium · 2 years
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EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!
I  finished my capstone piece last night at 2AM for my BFA project--
This was the last piece of my 12-piece portfolio I’ve been working on for the past year for university graduation! The next step for me is to work on new pages for Chapter 1, and on May 6th I will officially graduate with a bachelors in illustration!! This has been a long time coming and I’m so excited! 
A few specific things that will be relevant in regards to Apocalypsis:
The STYLE of the comic is going to change!
I went absolutely all out on colors, shading, etc. for the prologue pages due to the fact that they were pieces for my BFA portfolio. From here on out, starting with the first page of Chapter 1, I will be using a simpler style so that I can make pages faster!! This will be most evident in the shading, but I may also simplify backgrounds a bit more, and the style will likely fluctuate while I try to nail down a workflow that allows me to make pages at a decent pace while still keeping a quality I can be proud of. This will NOT affect how I line my characters, or my actual “style” of drawing. Hopefully you all will enjoy it, and I’m still going to do my best, it just won’t be all-out 1000% for every single panel from here on! 
I will still do my absolute best work for Chapter covers, posters, prints, etc
At some point in the semi-near future, I will open a patreon!
I say “semi-near” and am picturing the next two or three months! Obviously after I graduate I’m going to need to get a job asap, but the more support I can have from things I enjoy doing, the more time I can dedicate to them! I don’t expect Apocalypsis to ever become a full-time job, but it would be nice to have something to help support this passion project of mine. :) I’ll be sure to update you guys!
Once I graduate, I will also look into making merch, including posters, prints, stickers, and maybe more!
This will be in a similar vein to the patreon, to help support this passion project, but also just ‘cause I think it would be frikkin cool to have stickers and prints! If you have any ideas or suggestions, merch you’d love to see, feel free to send me an ask and if I like it you never know! This also won’t happen for another few months, but it is absolutely something I plan on doing!
tldr; I’m graduating college, simplifying the comic style, and planning on opening a patreon / selling merch!
Thank you all for the support, and I’m excited to continue to share Apocalypsis with you!!
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moonloredraws · 2 years
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I’ve had some super productive days and managed to get 4 pages sketched and inked in 2 days, so I’ll have plenty of work done this month!
Which means I’ll have the next public poll for the next Aberrant Tendencies comic up next month too since it’ll be 50% done
I have promised to post the full comics once I have two extras as a buffer, so once Comic number 4 starts, I’ll start posting Stellar Jewels to Furaffinity and to Twitter, since those are really the only two places that allow it. Maybe Mastodon too? Anyway, I’m excited! 
Bonus, I’ll have Homecoming finished soon which means that Afternoon Nap, a limited edition book that contains the first 3 AT stories will be ready for Tbubs! Any that I don’t sell at the convention will be put onto my Etsy. I don’t want to make a second printing of the book because I want to make Silken Slumber (the first proper Aberrant Tendencies Book containing the first 6 stories) the main attraction.
Phew, Wow, I’m almost halfway there. I’m almost halfway there to a big chunky smut book!! Can’t wait to make a Kickstarter for it
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hazelparadisebooks · 17 days
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FAQs on Selling Ebooks Online
In this article, I have answered queries related to selling ebooks. I hope you will find it useful.
What formats should my ebook be in?
I mostly stick to PDF now. Before I used to sell using EPUB and KINDLE. But PDF works everywhere. If you are selling on Gumroad or any of your own store then sell in PDF version.
Do I need to have a published physical book to sell an ebook?
No. I sell very less physical books. But that has nothing to do with my ebook sales. Ebooks are digital products that can be distributed and sold online without the need for printing or physical distribution.
How do I price my ebook?
I always check the prices of my competitors. I make sure that my price doesn’t go above it. Your competitors know the best. See the range and choose the one. Read this article — Why I Price My Ebooks Below $9 on Amazon KDP
What type of ebook sells the most?
I have seen that genres like romance, mystery/thriller, business guides, self-help, and health/fitness are popular. But romance sells the most. Like crazy. Write romance only when you like the genre. Romance readers read a lot on average 3 books per month. They know if the writer has spent enough time and energy on their work or not. Read this article — What Kind of Content Sells Best on Amazon Kdp?
Do I need to have technical skills to sell ebooks?
I use Google Docs. Some use another kind of software. but when free is working why to pay? Google Docs allows you to convert the doc version to the PDF one. You can also use Calibre for that. The software is free. Keep formatting simple. Always.
Can you make money selling ebooks?
I have been making money FULL-TIME selling ebooks. I used to write under multiple pen names and on multiple platforms. I have expanded my business on Gumroad. Now I have only two pen names. As I make massive sales from two genres only. Read this article — Earn $100 from writing shorts
How do I receive payments for eBook sales?
I receive using Payoneer and PayPal. It depends on the platform you are using. Most platforms have at least two options for you. So don’t worry. Amazon sends directly to the authors. Draft2Digital has PayPal and Payoneer. Gumroad has PayPal and Stripe.
How do I track the sales of my eBook?
Gumroad has very good analytics. I don’t use anything more than that.
How to sell ebooks without writing them?
Many have asked this question on Google. So I’ll answer it here. I strongly believe in them yourselves if you need returning customers. You’ll make more money in the long run. But in case you cannot then hire a Ghostwriter. You can do that on Fiverr. Avoid AI. Platforms don’t like AI-generated ebooks.
How much money can you make selling ebooks online?
Depends on various factors. I used to write more writing fiction. But now I have shifted my focus to non-fiction. So now I make a full-time income from non-fiction books. check my Gumroad Review. I have crossed $1500 in one of my stores. Gumroad is my side hustle only.
How to sell ebooks for free?
I use Amazon KDP, Draft2Digital, and Gumroad. They are free to use. Read this article — I Sell Ebooks on More Than 9 Platforms
How to market your ebook?
I use Amazon Ads but that’s rare now as I am shifting my focus more towards Gumroad. I use Medium, and Twitter for now. find your audience first and then start promoting your work. Make sure you give free samples before selling your ebooks. works best for me. Read this article — How to increase engagement on your articles
If you are interested in Gumroad Business then you can check out my ebook — Build Once, Sell Forever — How I Create & Sell Digital Products With Gumroad
Read more on my blog.
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robotstrategy · 3 months
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Recalled • Part 1 • 8 - Ariana
Previous • Series Masterlist • Part 1 Masterlist • Next
Ohio, Home of the Akron Awol, this is where Ariana once lived, where she grew up and met Connor, and where she eventually betrayed him after she promised to run away with him. She doesn’t know where Connor is now, all she knows is that he’s successfully stopped unwinding all throughout the United States and that he’s got a new side piece named Risa Ward. She can’t blame him, after all, she left him for a wedding that was wretched by uninvited children, she’s just surprised he left her for a Ward of the State. 
She works as a model now, often modelling for golden jew- elry or Yellow prints, they say the yellow goes well with her sweet violet and gray-streaked eyes. Her eye pigments are out of fashion now, but that doesn’t matter to her, it’s a keepsake to her about how she met the boy who would change the world. 
Though not everything changed about her fashion slave personality, she succumbed to the Van Lifestyle with all the pretty aesthetics it had to offer.
Ariana doesn’t mind though, each day away from Akron makes her happier than before. She never liked how her parents talked about others anyway, Connor was always “That Lassiter Boy.” Miss Peggy from English Class was always “The Stuck Up One.” She could go on and on about all the names, but that doesn’t matter now, it’s in the past. 
The honk of the car beside her in the empty parking lot had startled her, she got out of her van to be met with those bleeding-heart-hippie bumper stickers--PROACTIVE CITIZENS AGAINST UNWINDING, THE WHOLENESS COALITION, all over her next client's car.
“You don’t like them, not many people do, though some are starting to come around.” Ariana looks over to a young adult woman whose outfit screams Pre-Heartland War.
“Well that is one way to show where you stand in all of this, but, hey, wasn’t that company that kept unwinding alive called Proactive Citizenry?” Ariana asked.
“Yeah, that’s probably the only thing on that car that I want to cut off.” She confested. “My name is Valerie by the way, but I’m pretty sure you knew that already.” Ariana nodded, looking back at Valerie’s name on her phone.
“I wanted you to model some outfits for me, they’re mul- tiple toned pieces to resemble rewinds, when they start selling I’ll be sending half the prophets to the Rewind Wards in In- diana.” Valerie told her.
Valerie started rummaging through the pieces before picking out a crop top and something that looked like bell bottoms.
“Here, try this on!” Valerie said excitedly, shoving the clo- thes in Ariana’s face.
After coming back out of her van with the clothes on Ariana looks over to a wall full of street art where Valerie has set up a camera and a tripod.
“You're really going for this colourful vibe aren’t you?” Ariana chuckles.
Valerie looks back at Ariana and laughs. “I sure am.”
Through taking photos and swapping outfits Ariana finds out more about her client. 
“I’ll be honest with you,” Valerie starts. “Unwinding is ab- solutely awful but there’s someone I knew that- I- I can really bring myself to pity him.”
Ariana faces her now, she has a face of disgust, possibly directed at herself. Ariana doesn’t know what this person did. But to not get pity from a girl who had hippie bloody heart bumper stickers, Ariana wanted to know more about this certain someone.
“If it’s not too much to ask of you? Who was it?” Ariana Pried. 
Valerie looked her in the eyes, looked to the ground, and looked back at her again. “It was a guy named Roland Taggart, he was my ex-boyfriend and ran this little gang in my school.” She paused. “Weeks before he was set to be unwound, he had come up to me, mind you we had already broken up, and he put himself on me.” Valerie shuts up and stalls. Ariana can only assume she’s remembering the interaction beat by beat, she puts her hand on Valerie’s shoulder trying to get her out of it.
“Sorry.” Valerie gets out of it. “It’s just, traumatic.”
“I can’t relate to something like that, no one's ever been like that to me, but I can understand how much that could hurt you, for someone to do something that bad that it changes your morality on a subject, that must have been awful,” Ariana says.
After packing up and getting paid Ariana drives off for a little bit. Almost every day she’s somewhere new. “Ha! Guess I’m like Carmen Sandiego but for modelling.” She tells herself. Sitting beside a highway, she’s filled with nostalgia tonight, remembering the times when she and Connor would hang out at the underpass, where she told Connor she would run away with him, where his and her dreams got in the way of reality. Is Connor still mad at her? She did let him go free that night after her parents questioning, it’s been around more than two years since Connor ran away, from all he ever knew. She thinks back to the bumper stickers found on Valerie’s car, she wonders how many unwinds got unwound or escaped death just like Connor. Connor keeps coming back to her mind, “I guess I just can’t erase someone as infamous as you from my mind, huh?” She says aloud. No response, obviously, though, one day she wants to hear him talk again. It doesn’t matter what they talk about, games, books, music, whatever, she just wants to see him, she wants to know he’s okay, wherever he is. 
Looking over to her phone she sees an incoming call from one of her clients, picking it up she’s informed that they have cancelled their appointment.
“Hmm, I guess it’s just me and my delusions for a few days.” She tells herself.
She goes back inside, driving to a safe space to crash.
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ozma914 · 9 months
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My Next Book Is My Last Book: Storm Chaser Is Back!
A few years ago we got the publishing rights back to our Storm Chaser series of books: Storm Chaser, Storm Chaser Shorts, and The Notorious Ian Grant. Our plan was to independently publish all three.
Sales had been flat, and the publisher that bought the publisher that bought the books (!) left their pricing (in my opinion) too high for a little known author. $3.99 is a great Kindle buy for a Steven King novel, but few people had heard of Mark R. Hunter.
(Many of those who did thought I was the CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company. I once got a nasty e-mail from someone who didn't like how I was running my baseball team.)
Well, COVID happened, along with a bunch of other unforeseen problems of various kinds, but here it is!
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 We made a few edits, but basically it's the same story (a little R-rated in a couple of places) at a much lower price: The e-book version is $1.50 instead of $3.99, and the print version $14 instead of $16.99. (Printing costs are killing everyone.) Check it out here:
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Chaser-Mark-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0C7MB95NH
Storm Chaser is a romantic comedy pairing a Californian disaster photographer with an Indiana State Trooper who hates photographers—and Californians. I have a feeling he’ll come around … but meanwhile, who’s causing emergencies in his home area, just in time for her to photograph them?
There are still original editions of the book wandering around out there, with the same character on the cover. It seemed best to make the new cover different, but not too different.
We did get Storm Chaser Shorts, now titled Storm Squalls, out last year.
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It can be found here, https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Squalls-Mark-R-Hunter-ebook/dp/B09YGJ1XR6, also at a lower cost.
I haven't been advertising Storm Squalls because most of the stories take place after the events of Storm Chaser--but now Storm Chaser is officially on the virtual bookshelves, so I can promote the heck out of both in between working on new projects. We're going to get The Notorious Ian Grant back up too, but it might have to wait until autumn.
But wait ... there's more!
Coming Attractions will be FREE on ebook in July, part of the Smashwords July summer/winter sale.
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 Participating authors can be found here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos, starting  July 1st, and my account is at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914. There you'll also find the two fiction anthologies I have stories in, also at the attractive cost of zero.
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 More about that later, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up. Now even the dog knows.
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 He's a little upset I didn't ask his help in editing, though. Don't tell him, but Emily's much better at it.
By the way, my YA novel The No-Campfire Girls is also in the Storm Chaser universe, as it shares some of the same characters.
http://markrhunter.com/ https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"
If we sell a hundred books by the end of summer, I'll recite one of my humor poems online. If we sell a thousand by the end of summer, I promise I WON'T recite poetry online.
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matthewwilliamcharles · 9 months
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A Critical Transmission
What’s up guys?  Well, it’s been a busy year for me.  Back in December of 2022 I released my latest album, “Critical Transmission” on good ole’ fashioned cassette tapes and CD’s!  Of course the music is available on all streaming services, but I’m much more into creating and buying physical media,  playing live music and meeting people in person.  So that’s why I embarked on a pretty impressive run of shows that started back in December of 2022 and went all the way through June of 2023.  It wasn’t a straight run of shows, I did a 4 day tour in December, then a 17 day tour in January & February, followed by 8 days in May and 2 days (with local shows scattered in between) in June. So I basically toured for a duration of a month over this first half of the year.  I’m really stoked on how everything went! I hit up some classic spots and saw some old friends, but mostly I was playing in front of new people.  I got rid of about 100 copies of my new album, a mix of CD’s and cassette tapes.  Not to mention I sold many t-shirts and other merch items, thank you for that!  I know for many musicians that’s chump change, but for me that’s pretty damn good!  There were some spots where people already knew my new songs, which after all these years of playing music still surprises me when it happens.  Feedback on the album was really good, people seemed to be really getting the message that I was putting out there. I feel more and more people are seeing past the two party illusion and starting to focus on our common denominators and not what can divide us.  Obviously, in reality not every show is a banger, and some shows I could tell it really wasn’t my crowd, but you just play on and enjoy yourself the best you can.  I’m thankful for every opportunity.
So I do not foresee me grinding for the rest of the year, but I will be playing live shows and working on a couple videos.  Many of you know that I also have a punk band called Assemble, and I’m working on writing some new stuff for that band and we have a busy schedule coming up, and with all the other things I have going on I’m trying not to overbook myself (like I have for the first 6 months of this year).  For those of you who don’t know Assemble you should check us out https://linktr.ee/assembletheband.  One of the most common remarks that I get on the road is,”You should be fronting a punk band”.  Well, if I didn’t sell you an Assemble record on the road then there you go.
I also write a lot and I try to post my tour blogs.  It’s a lot of work to transcribe everything and sometimes it’s months before I end up posting anything.  When you own a t-shirt shop and play in three bands you end up being hard pressed for time.  But that being said I just started a Substack page!  I have a tumblr (Hello!) that I have used for years, and I have some other blog spots that I have used and gave up on.  I also used to have a newsletter with followers but I haven’t sent that out in years.  I really like how Substack works and I like the layout.   Either way I have many tour journals that need to be edited and posted. In the past I would just post the whole lot at once, but I think I’ll just post them periodically so I can continue to have content.  I also believe that long tour journals can be hard to read, they get boring and redundant.  That being said people have told me that they do enjoy reading them.  Some like to hear about the mundane adventures of the solo touring guy, and others like to see where I played to give them ideas for where to tour and how to tour.
In conclusion, thanks to all who have helped me out over the past months with booking me shows and giving me a place to crash, buying my album, making me food or just being friendly.  It is much appreciated!
Links to my music, screen print shop and other things that I do.  
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lizzardtales · 10 months
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Blog post 29/05/2023
hokay so life got so busy after submission I only get to sit down and do some art work now. I've done a couple doodles and got a new sticker I've made for work! On payday I'm gonna order up some new frog stickers too, I need to make a couple more designs for the froggy stickers too~ I'm leaning mango and cherries or banana.
Today I wanna start doing the Tox Sculpt I've been wanting to do, maybe some doodles too to keep it fresh. I'll be returning to my game making in a couple weeks as I've not had time to just rest. The pain has been pretty bad this month because I've been so active with IRL work and appointments and such. I did get to go to MCM London which is nice, maybe one day I'll run a stall there!! To do that though I need to produce more physical merch and currently I only really have my stickers. Maybe I'll reboot my ETSY shop once I've made a small inventory.
I got a little distracted over lunch and ended up chatting for an hour, time to get into it! Curse you talking with my friends, ADHD and DIY youtube videos. I started by slapping down the bipedal frame with ZSpheres, they always look a little goofy. I had made a frame prior but I was unhappy with it. After I had laid the base Zspheres down, I turned off symmetry and began altering the ZSpheres, allowing me to pose is asymmetrically and start blocking out some features. I was easily able to build the finer hand details by adjusting the "draw size" of the brush! It is a little fiddly and bulbous at this stage, but shaping will come in time. One of my beardies is going nuts today, all I can hear is her surfing whilst I'm working.
The ZSphere skeleton has been made into an Adaptive Skin using dynaMesh Resolution 96 to preserve the finger shapes. I duplicated it and then I Zremeshed it to help lower the poly count, as it is easier to build shape in lower polys, then subdivide for more detail later on. The fingers are still a little warped, but it's the best option without going into insane detail for just the base. It will do! Time to start building up some shapes. I'm going to start with the hand as its the area I'm most concerned about.
I'm also pretty happy to be blogging my process like this, I found it annoying at university as it does cut into my modeling time - however now I'm doing it optionally its helping me understand and think through the process a little more. Plus I don't need to keep several files on my pc or be very academic about it either, I can just jot down my thoughts post and go.
I've thickened the fingers and started shaping the hand, I'm going to block out the body some more before subdividing. It looks chunky and awful like chewed gum, but refinement will come later.
I'm thinking about making more physical merchandise to sell. I might sit down and make like, an inventory goal, review products I have and how they are made - then think of new products and how to make them. Including some good sellers like prints of existing properties, or nerdy merch like different chibi lizards as different DND classes and stuff.
I've reached a point with this sculpt where I've got a good base shape down. I'm going to pause doing this for now and move onto doing some 2D work.
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profitstradingbooks · 11 months
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How to Determine the Value of Books for Resale: A Comprehensive Guide for Book Arbitrage Success
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If there's one thing I've learned during my years in the book arbitrage business, it's that accurately determining the value of books for resale is crucial to your success. When I first started out, I made the rookie mistake of undervaluing some books and overvaluing others, which led to some costly lessons. However, with time, I've honed my skills and developed a reliable process for accurately assessing the value of books for resale. In this blog post, I'll share my personal experiences and insights to help you master the art of valuing books for your own book arbitrage business. We'll explore the factors that contribute to a book's value, the tools and resources you can use to research book values, and the strategies you can employ to maximize your profits. Factors That Affect a Book's Value Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of valuing books, it's important to understand the factors that can affect a book's resale value. Some key factors include: - Demand: The higher the demand for a book, the more valuable it is. Look for popular titles, authors, and genres that have a strong following. - Rarity: Rare books, first editions, or out-of-print titles can command higher prices. But keep in mind that rarity doesn't always equate to high demand. - Condition: Books in excellent or like-new condition generally fetch higher prices than those with visible wear or damage. - Edition: First editions, signed copies, or special editions can hold more value than subsequent printings or standard editions. Tools and Resources for Researching Book Values In order to accurately determine a book's value, you'll need to conduct some research. Thankfully, there are several tools and resources available that can help you in this process: - Amazon: The most obvious resource for book arbitrage sellers, Amazon provides valuable data on a book's sales rank, price history, and customer reviews. Analyze this information to gauge demand and estimate a book's resale value. - BookScouter: A popular tool among book arbitrage sellers, BookScouter aggregates data from multiple online book-buying websites to provide an average buyback price for a specific title. This can give you a good sense of what other sellers are willing to pay for a book. - eBay: A great resource for researching rare or out-of-print books, eBay can give you an idea of the prices that similar titles have sold for in the past. - CamelCamelCamel: A free Amazon price tracker, CamelCamelCamel can provide historical price data for a specific book, helping you determine its value over time. Strategies for Maximizing Profits Once you've done your research and have a better understanding of a book's value, it's time to put that knowledge to work and maximize your profits. Here are some strategies to consider: - Buy Low, Sell High: The key to success in book arbitrage is to buy books at the lowest possible price and sell them at the highest possible price. Always be on the lookout for deals, discounts, or clearance sales where you can source books at a low cost. - Know Your Niche: Some book niches have a higher demand and resale value than others. Focus on niches that you're familiar with or have a personal interest in, as this will give you a better understanding of the market and its trends. - Stay Informed: Keep up to date with book industry news and trends, as well as any changes to Amazon's policies or fees. Staying informed will help you make better decisions and adapt to any changes in the market. - Diversify Your Inventory: Offering a diverse range of books across different genres, authors, and formats will increase your chances of attracting a wider audience and making more sales. Don't be afraid to branch out and experiment with new niches or formats. - Optimize Your Listings: When listing your books on Amazon, make sure to use clear, descriptive titles and include relevant keywords in the product description. High-quality photos and accurate condition descriptions can also help boost your sales and increase customer satisfaction. A Personal Anecdote: Learning the Value of Patience When I first started my book arbitrage journey, I was eager to make quick profits and would often buy books without thoroughly researching their value. One day, I stumbled upon a rare, signed first edition of a popular novel at a local thrift store. Excited by my find, I listed it on Amazon for a high price, hoping for a quick sale. Weeks went by with no offers, and I began to doubt the value of my rare find. Frustrated, I lowered the price significantly, and the book finally sold. However, a few months later, I saw a similar signed first edition sell on eBay for more than double the price I had received for mine. This experience taught me the importance of patience and thorough research when determining a book's value. In conclusion, accurately determining the value of books for resale is an essential skill for anyone looking to succeed in the world of book arbitrage. By understanding the factors that affect a book's value, utilizing the tools and resources available for research, and employing strategies to maximize your profits, you can increase your chances of success and avoid costly mistakes. Remember, patience and persistence are key - just like in my personal anecdote - and with time and experience, you'll become a master at valuing books for resale. Read the full article
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