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[tungstenb]

100 days of art, 66/100.

More Mass Effect, because that's where I left my braincells right now.

Ngl I would've loved to push this a bit more - not quite Liara-ish enough, cheaped out on the textures and some of the shading - but honestly I just ran out of time /shrug

Not bad for being half-assed, in any case.

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small town buzz

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Sometimes you spend 100 hours replaying a beloved character from a beloved game and end up spending another 25 or so ish hours making a character sheet so self indulgent ft. My beloved Shep who I put through the wringer the first time around in 2017 but hopefully gave an easier time on our second run.

#mass effect #femshep #favorite #i want to make one of these for petra someday

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#!!!

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BOYGENIUS at the Hollywood Bowl | Oct. 31, 2023 (x)

#i am normal about julien baker

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Customer: (not on record) DMV: LOOKS LIKE BUTCH BITCH Verdict: DENIED

#homophobic.

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🥺👉👈 6, 22, 36, 72 for the writing ask bestie? I'm too stupid to try and give you multiples or a math problem so I ask from the depths of my heart and nosy bitch syndrome also

Thank you very much! I am procrastinating and cringing at the memory of the face my PI made at me at a lab meeting as he watched me eat a burrito like a starving dog. Six is a perfect number.

Fanfic ask game.

6. What's the last line you wrote?

Polishing up a massive Chapter 4. See readmore.

22. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Inspiration strikes infrequently enough that I usually use the existence of a title as justification for writing the fic. It goes like this: string of words comes to me, and if it's sharp and punchy enough I'll use it to skewer juicy ideas like a kabob. Let me cook!!

36. What fic are you proudest of?

SAtS? SAtS. Gotta be SAtS. I worked hard on it. Not sure if it's obvious. Tangentially related but I miss its companionship---it was so well behaved. I've used the sandcastle metaphor before, but outlining and writing for me is like shoveling sand into place so I can build my sandcastle: the menial stuff has to come first, and while it's rewarding in its own right I don't derive much satisfaction from it. I miss the refining and detailing and editing part of SAtS's sand-castle stage. For several years it was there for me when I needed control over something intricate and complicated but not necessarily pretty in the traditional sense.

BODS is recalcitrant: the sand's like not right for a sandcastle and the ocean's waves keep rushing over my progress and reducing it to featureless lumps.

72. What's your favorite writing compliment you've gotten?

I go feral whenever someone tells me what I wrote is haunting or heart-rending or visceral in some way, like, you don't necessarily have to relate but I want people to understand. Love that my comments section is a party of neurodivergence and brainworms.

Anyway, the Ch. 4 excerpt. (Not a line. Multiple lines. Many lines.)

"You're still studying me though," Shepard said, smug.

"Admiring," Liara corrected.

As expected, her gaze drifted downward. But she turned away, reaching for something near the sink, and when she faced Shepard again she held her tub of scar ointment.

"May I?" Liara offered.

"…Yeah." It came out delayed, after some odd hesitation. Shepard faked a small cough. "Yeah, go ahead."

Liara delicately repositioned the meteorite pendant, safe in its waterproof locket, backwards and out of the way. The disc rested coolly on Shepard's back; slight tug of the chain across her throat. She closed her eyes.

Scent of eucalyptus as Liara unscrewed the tub's cap. The medical salve tingled as she massaged a layer of it across the left shoulder, where the topmost edge of the large warp-burn scar began.

Liara didn't have to do this. Would've been downright cruel and unusual to even suggest it — but it wasn't Shepard's idea. All attempts to convince Liara otherwise were countered with But what if I want to?s. Immovable object.

Liara had, at least once a day all this week, taken to the scar with enthusiasm and deft gentleness, memorizing where it was numb, where it was sensitive. Maybe Liara tended to the scar out of a sense of obligation. Shepard never asked no matter how much she wanted to know for sure: where exactly Liara's mind wandered as her fingers followed the rippled texture of the burn; what ice-cold memories surfaced when she stared into the middle distance.

Even unserious words were a gamble when Liara's mind was an intricate web. Shepard kept her mouth shut, wisely. Intimate as it was quiet, the scar-care routine had become a good exercise in keeping their busy minds in check. She couldn't risk mentioning anything that would bring Liara back to Noveria — anything suggesting it was a matriarch with a foot through death's door that'd done this warp-burn number on her.

Armali was Benezia's domain. Her influence lingered on despite Liara's avoidance of the topic; and if Liara refused to talk about her mother's illustrious career on a scenic walk — averting her eyes, drifting toward alternate routes, almost pretending not to notice (or rather hoping that Shepard wouldn't recognize) the series of elegant curlicues of Arlees script that spelled out T'Soni or Benezia on stately buildings' stone placards, the dedications of whimsical art installations, &c — if she couldn't reminisce casually then, then she'd find it super inappropriate and distasteful to utter Benezia's name while tending to the collateral damage of her downfall: Saren's teeth on her spine, her mind not her own… all burnt into Shepard's skin.

It was insane to think about how that was only a couple months ago. But Shepard'd been at Liara's side through all of it.

Hardship had only drawn them closer, emotionally, as their months chasing Saren had proved. But this history they shared made their relationship's foundation a cracked and painful thing.

Liara's fingers slowed then stopped, lingering against the numb skin of her upper chest.

"Will you be upset with me if I use this opportunity to pry?"

"Mmmm." Shepard sucked on her teeth. "Don't you like not need to pry if you can literally swim around in my brains?"

Liara rolled her eyes — probably for multiple reasons, erroneous and poorly translatable use of 'literally' included — as she gathered more ointment onto her fingertips. "Is every corner of an ocean visible upon one dive?"

#LWLS

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Here’s a video so you can hear the water and the thrushes. I took it for you because you couldn’t be there. <3

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Fanfiction Writing Asks

Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

Where do you get your fic ideas?

Do you share your fic ideas, or do you keep them to yourself?

How do you choose which fics to write?

How many wips do you have?  What fandoms/pairings are they for?

What’s the last line you wrote?

Post a snippet from a wip.

Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

Does this word [chosen by asker] appear in your current wip?

Do you work on multiple wips or stick to one fic at a time?

Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

Do you listen to music while you write?  If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

What is your favorite location and position to write in?

What’s your favorite time to write?

Do you write by hand, on your phone, or on your laptop?

Do you have a writing routine?

Do you enjoy research?  Which fic of yours required the most research?

Do you enjoy creating OCs or do you prefer to stick solely to canon characters?

Do you prefer writing AUs or canon fics?

Do you prefer writing chaptered fics or one-shots?

Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process?  How do you come up with titles?

Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest?

How do you choose whose POV to write in?

What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?

What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

What area of writing do you want to improve in?

What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of?

How much do you edit your fics?  Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

Do you use a beta reader/editor?

Do you take fic requests?  Why or why not?

Is there a specific word count that you hold yourself to/enjoy writing the most?

How much of your personal life/experience do you include in your fics?

What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted?

What fic are you proudest of?

What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

What’s your most self-indulgent wip?

What is your favorite world that you’ve created for a fic?

Who’s your favorite character you’ve written?

What’s your favorite title that you’ve come up with?

Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

What is your favorite genre to write?

What genre/trope do you tend to write the most?

If you could only write one type of AU for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Is there a trope that you’ve written before but are now sick of?

Who is your favorite character to write for?  Has this changed since you’ve started writing for that fandom?

What fic of yours would you say is the best introduction to you as a writer?

How would you describe your writing style?

Does what you like to write differ from what you like to read?

What’s the average word count of your fics?

What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

What’s the fandom/pairing distribution of your posted fics?

Have you noticed any patterns in your fics?  Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Are there any fics that you would change or rewrite if given the chance?

How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

Do you have a favorite piece of figurative language you’ve written?

Have you participated in any fic events/writing challenges?  If yes, what were they and did you enjoy them?

In [insert fic], what inspired the idea for the plot?

In [insert fic], what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

In [insert fic], is there a deleted scene/idea you wish you could have included?  Why did it get cut?

What was the hardest part of writing [insert fic]?

If you rewrote [insert fic] now, would you change anything?

If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would happen in it?

What’s a fun fact about [insert fic]?

If a fic was titled [insert made up title], what would this story be about/how would you write it?

Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do?

What are your favorite fics at the moment?

Are you subscribed to any writers on AO3?

Do you spend more time reading or writing?

What’s your favorite writing compliment you’ve gotten?

What do you tend to get complimented on the most about your writing?

Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

Is there a particular fic that readers gravitated towards that you didn’t expect?

How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

Why do you enjoy writing fanfiction?

What motivates you during the writing process?

Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

Free space - asker can come up with any writing or fic-related question they want!

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I made a guy...

#eclipse 2024 #look at his funky little hat

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Eclipse of the Sun in Venice in July 8, 1842 by Ippolito Caffi.

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the worst thing ive probably ever done to a group of other human beings was getting the aux for the big speaker at a party while on ecstasy and putting on an audiobook of dune from where i'd last left off

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Constant mistakes (which I always practice because apparently I like to make my life more difficult): 1) do not work on the subject, separating it from the background and global illumination 2) work out the detail of the linear drawing as much as possible, respecting proportions and perspective (otherwise you will suffer)

Estimated process time - 8 hours 22 minutes

Music: League of Legends, Cailin Russo, Chrissy Costanza — Phoenix (Instrumental)

#mass effect #holy shit this is incredible #favorite

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goes hard

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my non-pixel art

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A brutalist arcade in New Zealand.