#but if you enjoyed it

[the-apocrypha]

DVD Bonus Features: Fanfic Edition!

I have like 6k of cut scenes from my last fic (the fourth dimension) and many of them were not cut because they were bad, but because they weren't working with the overall story. Seems a shame to let them languish on Google docs. So, for anyone who might be interested - here's two scenes that didn't make the final cut!

<<<>>>

The hourglass is broken. 

The glass is intact, of course, as is the intricate brass housing Dream had spent so many hours bending and curving into symmetrical spirals. It is the spring plate that forms one of the bases—designed to depress slowly as the weight of sand gathers, thereby stretching a miniature steel coil beneath such that it begins to draw back a tiny gilt hammer. When the full weight of sand is upon it, the catch releases, and the hammer strikes the chime. 

Dream had left the mechanism skeletonized, proud of both the ingenuity and the beauty of the gears he had crafted. This is what allows him to see, today, that even though the sand piles upon the spring plate, the hammer remains stationary. The plate is not depressing.

He has migrated to the window for better light and turned the hourglass every which way. The symmetry of the hourglass means that an identical mechanism exists on the other side, for convenient comparison, and it is from this that Dream is hypothesizing that the issue is perhaps with the pinion gear. 

He will not know for certain until he attempts correction. 

And herein lies the problem, for in a masterful stroke of arrogance on his own part: 

The glass is intact. 

His only options now to access the mechanism are to melt the glass, or strategically break it apart, and in either case hope for both minimal damage to the contents and an aesthetically pleasing repair following the—

“What’s wrong, dove?” 

Or rather, what Hob actually says is hǒu is th' problem, culver?, because Dream is standing in the kitchen next to an abandoned bowl of muesli, because it is breakfast, because during breakfast they speak Middle English. Hob is before him, coffee in one hand, breakfast sandwich in the other. 

“It’s broken,” Dream replies. Is brokæ.

“It’s nearly eight,” Hob replies, eyebrows up. 

Dream abruptly sets the hourglass down. 

“So you noticed the Astrid Alarm was broken,” Hob says, as Dream swings the freezer door open and starts shifting ice packs and frozen pizzas about. “And then you didn’t set a different alarm. You didn’t eat your breakfast. You didn’t pack your bag.” 

“This is unhelpful.”

Hob goes quiet as Dream frantically stuffs notebooks into his backpack, then a water bottle (too light, probably empty), the peas, headphones, and a sweater from the back of a chair that is likely not his own. Three binder clips go into his pocket. All he needs is—

He turns to find Hob waiting, Dream’s wallet in one hand, sandwich in the other, meat now removed. 

Dream accepts both, and heads for the windowsill. 

“No kiss?” Hob complains.

The broken hourglass, too, goes into his bag. 

Dream doubles back, cups the side of Hob’s face more for the sake of injury prevention than tenderness, and presses a quick kiss of gratitude where it belongs. 

The hand on his wrist stays him. 

Hob’s fingers fall comfortably between the three watch bands that lie there, his thumb over Dream’s pulse point. 

“Tonight, five o’clock,” Hob reminds him. 

Dream holds up his other arm in reply, where a fourth watch glints golden. 

“Ah, perfect,” Hob says, beaming. “Hob Fob to the rescue.” 

It is one of the many great failures of Dream’s life, that this nickname has persisted. 

“Five,” Dream agrees, and pulls his hand free. “You will be wonderful.” 

“Best in my age group,” Hob agrees proudly, and raises his coffee mug just as Dream turns around to make for the door. The mug is a custom job from the internet a few years ago, chipped in both paint and porcelain, but the original black with white lettering can still be read: 

It does not belong to Hob. 

WORLD’S 

LEAST 

PUNCTUAL 

WATCHMAKER 

<<<>>>

(Originally there was an OC named Astrid that Dream would birdwatch with every morning, and Hob had a piano recital in the evening. Obviously these plot points went, and so the breakfast scene had to be rewritten.)

<<<>>>

A watch does not know the time it tells. 

It cannot feel the sun moving across the sky. It does not know the axis of the Earth, nor the ellipsis of its orbit. It does not reach into the fabric of the universe and pluck divine truth from the red-shift coefficient of the galaxies that hurtle through space as afterthought projectiles of the origin of existence. 

A watch begins with a mainspring—or perhaps a quartz crystal, or microscopic solar panels—but traditionally, a mainspring. This is where the potential energy is stored, to be released as the kinetic energy that will drive the gears to turn the escapement, which is what moves the hands of the watch forward, and would do so without rhythm or reason were it not for the staying hands of the balance wheel. 

The balance wheel is the best part of a watch. The most precise. The most expensive, for the precious gems encrusted upon it that almost entirely eliminate the enemy of constancy: friction. It is what decides the length of a second, for it is what checks the urgency of the marching army of gears that say go go go go go and instead says no. It says, stop. For one thousand milliseconds or one million microseconds or one trillion picoseconds, it holds the entire watch in perfect stillness. 

Then the second hand ticks over. The next interval begins. 

On, and on, and on, and on, it goes. 

<<<>>>

A watch does not know the time it tells. It is a mindless contraption, a work of metal and stone and glass, and it grinds inexorably forward with a steady tick, tick, tick, tick, tick that may at first listen sound like the drumbeats of progress. But listen closer. Listen carefully. 

It is not a ticking that you hear. It is one small gear, striking back against the machine, protesting, crying out again and again: wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

(I liked this little meditation on the nature of watches, but it's a few shades off from my central thesis, and in the end was not needed.)

And that's it! Alas, sometimes good pieces must be sacrificed in the name of a greater project.

#dreamling #my writing #sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #idk if anyone will even care about this #but if you enjoyed it #you're welcome

[whiteshipnightjar]

Zoozve, my beloved

#i cannot tell you how much this made me smile just bc it's so full of love #moon #venus #zoozve #long post #sorry about that it's very long but it's very entertaining i hope you enjoy this lil zoozve gem haha #astronomy #astrophysics #space

[sylvies-kablooie]

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

#i often wonder about how many things would be considered classic or high art had they only received the marketing #how many short films that were made for class could have been the most powerful thing you'd ever seen? if you'd seen them? #“you know the greatest films of all time were never made” etc etc #but like. these works of art ARE being made. it's just enjoyed by a smaller audience with equal impact though #i think about this one furry i used to follow on insta who had the coolest worldbuilding ever. it's been years. #thought prompted by that sketch of nimona from ten years ago that was just for a character design #posted to the creator's tumblr and now it's nominated for best animated feature film at the oscars #and by the genuine emotional reaction a fan comic made me feel. how much work had gone into it. how beautiful it was to me. #idk what to tag this but i hope whoever needs to hear it does #writing #writer #fandom #fandom culture #artist

[wheatormeat]

I made a little zine!

You can download and print it yourself for free here

#zine #mini zine #my art #traditional art #original art #i need to clarify the download is for free!! #i enjoy the extra money but you don't have to pay to download it!!!

[the-nefarious-vampire]

as an aroace, im particularly dangerous, because i wont fuck or marry. i only know how to kill.

#aroace #aromantic #asexual #asexuality #ace #aro #im so glad you guys are enjoying this stupid post i made at work #okay i wrote that at 3000 notes but what the FUCK is happening #10000 notes on this no effort fmk post and not one aspec i know irl #dgmw im still very happy that yall are enjoying this post but also like. come hang out with meeeeee :(

[awetfrog]

Do u think gales autism would just make him immune to astarions manipulation tactics

#my art tag? #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #astarion #the “i enjoy our walks in silence” banter got me sorry #astarion in the background when you dont tell an orphan to fuck off or smthng: 🥺

[imperatoralicia]

Just having some drinks at the local saloon.

#stardew valley #spoilers #stardew valley spoilers #stardew valley 1.6 update #drinking mayonnaise #also this was during a green rain day #so folks were already freaked out #i am making things worse on purpose haha #anyway i'm obsessed with the fact that you can drink mayo #and i enjoy that i'm properly shamed for it

[izzenithal]

Percy “Has Been Waiting to Use This Meme as an Excuse” Jackson, and Annabeth “Never Seen a Meme” Chase

#this has probably been done before but #i enjoyed making this silly thing this morning #also is annabeth aware of memes in the show???? annabeth how will you bond with Percy #he definitely has a hyper detailed Minecraft world #anyway #pjo series #pjo tv show #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #annabeth chase #fanart #pjo comic #my art #I’ve been really enjoying the show!! i need to reread there’s so much I’ve forgotten

[emberglowfox]

Keeper -- a short comic about an angel meeting a robotic lighthouse keeper that doesn't know the world has already ended. Made in about 18 hours for a 24-hour 24-page* black and white comic challenge (that I arrived late to, ha.)

*the actual submission does not include the cover, which was created after the fact for this post.

This was a really great learning experience as someone who's... never really made a completed comic. I ended up really attached to the story by the end of the project (possibly due to all-nighter deliriousness lol) and ultimately am very proud of what I made.There are some things I'd still like to change, particularly text placement, but in keeping with the spirit of the challenge I've elected to leave it as is.

#sparks art #comic #angel #robot #my art #my comics #keeper: the angel #keeper: the lighthouse keeper #my ocs #hoogh. this was a grind yall lmao. but i am pleased with it #i hope you enjoy :pray: also keep your fingers crossed for me that this wins the contest #like it. it wont. because i am up against actual SEQA kids that know what theyre doing. and i dont actually mind really #but it would be funny #long post #very long post #sorry #i hope the readmore works

[deoidesign]

sometimes I feel like discord is lacking emojis and so I make them myself. these ones in particular are my favorites

frog, toad, and soup!

Feel free to use them if you'd like!

#discord emoji #my art #digital art #cute emoji #custom emoji #I love these little guys #theyre just so cute GJSLKAJSGKL #I use them all the time #precious babies #and an easter egg.... #the frog and toad look like theyre kissing if you put them next to eachother... #right now they are enjoying a soup #but they are in love...

[nipuni]

A heaven of their own 😊

A step by step process of this will be available at my Patreon on october 1st

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #anthony j crowley #my art #I enjoyed drawing this so much you have no idea #I want to draw this kind of scene forever

[glorious-spoon]

i'm very picky about tv shows, but my pickiness has only an incidental relationship to whether or not a show is "good". it needs to scratch a particular itch in my brain at the right moment. do i know what the right moment is? no. do i know what the itch is? also no. i can be relied upon to get instantly bored of 85% of tv shows and then turn the remaining 15% into a central facet of my personality for 3-5 business months and even i am incapable of predicting which one it'll be ahead of time.

#least favorite genre of people are the ones who are like 'but how do you reconcile enjoying this thing with the fact that it's not good 🤨' #and like idk man aside from the fact that 'good' is not an immutable and universally agreed-upon descriptor #sometimes shit just makes my brain go brrr and i'm not interested in deconstructing it any further

[mickedy]

Does anyone remember the internet when MLP first got popular and people online were insisting They were swearing up and down that the show was for adults, and that it was marketed towards kids but was Definitely For adults, full of mature humor and dark concepts and deep complex characters. and then nowadays you go look up an episode of MLP: FiM and the episode synopsis is something like Pinkie Pie Lost Her Balloon 🎈💔

#Like i swear it felt like a bunch of adults not wanting to admit they liked the little horse show for girls. its OKAY #its a good show you dont have to make up reasons that its good. Enjoy it for what it is 🤷‍♀️

[takemetodragonstone]

#i humbly ask you to rb for a larger sample size 🙏 #(i feel i should specify that for different alphabets i meant like completely different letters ie the roman alphabet and the cyrillic) #hyperspecific poll #polls #i enjoy participating in these so i finally made my own :) #hyperspecific polls

[autumn-may]

Mostly spoiler free summary of my viewing experience

#The boy and the heron #how do you live #studio ghibli #ghibli #in all honesty that movie was legitimately so fantastic and im like changed as a person #Story wise as well! It hits really hard if you know a bit about miyazaki and his legacy. Its a very personal movie i think #And you can feel it in every aspect #The eng dub voice actors were really good as well and the animation was beautiful as always #Also really loved the tone!!! The story really relied a bit on the use of negative space in both sound and pacing and i enjoyed that alot #in conclusion go read a article about miyazaki and his son and then go watch the movie it’s probably going to be one of my favorites #image id in alt

[basketobread]

sometimes when the enemy is at like 1 hp, i like to hit them with some good ol vicious mockery because nothing is funnier to me than actually obliterating someone into the next life with a yo mama joke

#baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 fanart #bg3 art #baldurs gate #tav #bg3 tav #bg3 oc #astarion #bg3 astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x tav #dnd #dnd art #dnd bard #dnd oc #lotus posting #bob the artist #also thank you for the support recently!!!! #im new here so i didnt expect to already have ppl enjoy my art :) very grateful <33