#trying out these different styles was fun :]

[reallyhatethiswebsite]

read this post by @bitethedevil and ended up writing this idk don't take it too serious

-

Tav's fingers skittered over the red skin of Raphael’s naked back. It was always hot to the touch and smooth, its texture almost like leather. Patches of tiny scales grouped together in different spots, especially around the big joints connecting his wings to his body. Raphael fascinated Tav - not quite in the same way she fascinated him, but they were birds of a feather, so to speak. In fact...

"I've been wondering about something," she said, breaking the sleepy silence that had settled between them some time ago.

"Mm?" Raphael was utterly relaxed, the laziest Tav had ever seen him. On his belly in his (their!) bed, shirtless and shoeless - the scandal! He'd been enjoying her aimless touches. His Majesty, indeed.

"Can you fly?" She ran her palm across the thin membrane of wing she could reach, then the sturdy bone. "You've got these huge wings, but I've never seen you use them." She'd witnessed them fully stretched out once or twice, but otherwise he always kept them folded close to his body. A shame. They were magnificent. Heavy as anything, though - especially when he was dead asleep. Tav had almost been suffocated a few times trying to spoon him, and he refused to sleep in his human glamour just to let her be the big spoon. Waste of magic, he said. Spoilsport.

"What an inane question." Raphael didn't even open his eyes. "Of course I can. My wings are not for show, little mouse. No more so than a bird's are."

"Well..." Tav chose her next words carefully. She'd learned through trial and error how much she could prod her devil and when. Most of the time he was amenable to light teasing, but sometimes, when he was in a good mood like this, she could have some fun. "There are some birds out there who have wings but can't fly, you know. Peacocks, for example. They're kind of like big chickens, if you think about it."

Raphael slowly lifted his head, turned it so he could look at her over his shoulder. Tav bit her tongue in a futile attempt to squash her impish grin. His orange iris burned in the inky depths of his black sclera. A few locks of his hair were free from his usual coiff.

"Big chickens," he repeated flatly.

"Yes," said Tav, her voice strangled by the giggle she was trying to suppress. "How do I know you aren't an infernal peacock?"

"I can fly, you insipid little gibbon," he snapped, but he wasn't angry. She could tell by the twitching at the corners of his lovely mouth. Tav coughed, choked on a laugh.

"I think you should show me."

"Do you."

"For posterity's sake, of course."

"Of course."

Tav waited, watched, moved to make space for Raphael as he sat up, languidly stretching like a big cat. Accidentally whacking her with those wings she was so obsessed with.

"Apologies, dear," he drawled, about as sorry as a horny kobold in a bathhouse. He smiled when she scowled. He stood to his full height, preening as she ogled him. In nothing but a pair of trousers, he truly was a sight. Without warning he beat his mighty wings and took off, soaring across the room to land on the other side, where he nonchalantly poured himself a glass of wine. Tav spluttered in the wake of that massive gust of air. Raphael sipped his wine, staring at her as if to say, "well?"

"Good distance! You looked a little wobbly with your execution, though," Tav said. It wasn't true. He was majestic in flight, but he didn't need to know that. His ego was big enough. She combed her fingers through her rustled hair, grinning when Raphael’s eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps you're right." He put his glass down and sauntered towards her. Tav's heart leapt into her throat, fear and excitement together. "I need a counterweight."

"A what? Hey!" She didn't struggle when he picked her up, shifting her in his arms until he was holding her bridal style. It was a thrill to be held by her devil, and yet. She giggled nervously, her cheeks warm. "What are you doing?"

"Why, showing you that I can fly, of course!" He declared, making a scene of looking around. "But we simply cannot do it here. There's hardly enough space. Hm...ah, perfect."

He walked them to the balcony overlooking the endless landscape of Avernus. Tav sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly aware of what he was about to do. Now she began to try and wriggle free, but his grip was iron.

"Okay, you've proven your point! There's no need for a second flight, your technique was perfect!"

Raphael had no mercy. He smirked down at his little mouse, showing teeth. His eyes alight with dark mischief. "Big chickens, Tav," he said, and leapt off the edge. She shrieked, clung to him like a limpet, feeling and hearing his chuckles as he effortlessly flew them around.

After the intial spike of shock, Tav relaxed, just a little. This wasn't so bad. Raphael was an adept flier, and if she ignored the monumental height she was suspended at, it could almost pass as romantic. Soaring about the hot skies of Hell in the arms of her underworld Prince. Feeling every powerful flap of his wings. His strength. Avernus, from a distance, was beautiful in a devastating way. Unfortunately for Tav, she'd forgotten quite how fiends liked to play.

"Oh dear," Raphael said, stoic. He'd been waiting for her guard to lower. Tav's stomach lurched when she sensed his grasp on her slacken. "I seem to have lost my balance."

"RAPHAEL NO DON'T- AAAAAAHHHH!"

He dropped her. Tav screamed as she plummeted to the ground, terrified and betrayed. Raphael was rapidly becoming a shrinking red blur as she fell. He was probably watching her with sick satisfaction. She cursed him. She cursed herself. Mostly she cursed him. Bastardbastardbastard -

"Fret not, little mouse," he purred, hideously amused. She was in his arms again. "I've got you."

Tav couldn't speak; could only tremble, dig her fingers into him. He laughed the entire flight back to the house, deep and rich and raw. Tav planted herself on stable ground the first moment possible, glaring at him.

"You're horrid," she hissed. Raphael cackled.

"Oh, come now. You didn't truly believe I would allow you to fall to your death, did you? Such little faith. Ah, but how sweet your screams were...I shall be hearing them in my dreams for weeks."

"Horrid," Tav muttered again. She wriggled between the bedsheets and buried herself under the covers. It didn't take long for him to join her, surrounding her with his cloying heat.

"You'll forgive me, won't you?" He murmured sweetly into her ear, raising goosebumps all over her skin. One big clawed hand slipped beneath her shirt to gently rub her stomach just the way she liked. Wordlessly she pressed into his touch.

He played her like a fiddle, always.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 raphael #raphael bg3 #raphael x tav #raphael the cambion #fanfic #cringe

[thecoolsquirrel]

SONA REFERENCE SHEET

I absolutely adore all the artwork of what people think the Ramshackle uniforms would look like but I wanted to a more-I dont want to say realistically- but definitely less fun looking kinda one JSDNJSD

The Notes:

SCHOOL UNIFORM

-Gilbert is pretty small (see this post,I named all the ghosts and made designs for when they where alive <3) so if Yuu was looking for some clothes around Ramshackle,I think there'd be a blazer small enough for them! Though I try to make the shoulder pads to go off a bit more so it would appear more like a male blazer.

-The style of vest and blazer are also different from the uniforms now, the gold outlines around the blazer go all around instead of just on the sides like the present ones do.

-The vest buttons are fabric buttons

-Baggy pants,kinda fit uncomfortably

-No belt! Suspenders instead

-The shoes are also ones they found around Ramshackle that are stuffed with newspapers 🥺🫴my favorite hc

DORM UNIFORM

-Outfit is based on Mickey,Donald,and Goofy in a drawing for the Haunted Mansion (?)

-There's gold buttons to make it seem more 'fancy'

-3 rings,(Pointer,Middle,Index) to symbolize Mickeys gloves

P.E OUTFIT

-Still pondering the idea of Ramshackles dorm logo, so let's just say at the time of the Ghosts,all the T-shirts where just 'NRC', the font is the font from 'Lonesome Ghosts'

-The jumper(?) looks even more prison like lol

-The tag on them is:NRC1-I37

I wanted it to revolve around Lonesome Ghosts somehow and it was very convenient that Yuu would be a first year so I could make it

'1-I37' or 1937 ('I' is the 9th letter in the Alphabet) the year 'Lonesome Ghosts' came out.

----

both the bangs/fringe? mimic 20s waves <3

#this has also been in my drafts since last year #my art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland fanart #twst fanart #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst #twisted wonderland art #twst wonderland #art #yuusona #yuu #twst mc #twst yuu #twst oc #twst ramshackle #ramshackle #ramshackle prefect #twst prefect

[ruvviks]

finally got around making a proper outfit reference sheet for nathan! he likes wearing dark clothes which really emphasizes just how pale he is. he was a STEM developer at MOBIUS for nine years what did you expect </3 click for higher resolution and to get a closer look at all the details! outfits from left to right: his gear for the evil within 2, 1am convenience store trip, his mobius gear, and an improvised outfit for my own fictional the evil within 3 =^)

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree;

@jacobseed, @swordcoasts

#tew #art #art:nathan #nuclearocs #nuclearart #the mobius gear killed me dead on the ground because the official concept art has a ridiculous collar / shoulder pads situation going on #i love his tew2 outfit so much he's had it for so many years now. it basically matches sebastian's outfit since they're going in together #he's got white hair patches all over his body btw!! you can see it in the underwear version it's in his happy trail too heehee #the burn scar on his upper arm / shoulder is from the fight with the harbinger in tew2 and the slash on his waist from the guardian #he basically saved sebastian's life but got mowed down by the giant buzzsaw arm in the process and then he's very dramatic about it #my tew3 is very difficult to explain in tags but it's basically about ruvik coming back and they need to hook the two old devices up #to like a single system to gain access to the STEM environment he's powered back on with himself as core #which means that the two separate environments from the games get mixed together in a very twisted and fragmented environment #i'm trying to write out the story for myself now in video game style so it would actually be fun to play as hypothetical third installment #it'd feature a lot of old enemies but kind of mixed and twisted in the same way as the environment... giving them new abilities etc #it would dive deeper into the sublevels aspect of STEM as they need to travel through different sublevels so there would be #a bunch of new environments to explore as well :^) someone give me access to a bunch of game devs and a budget i'll make it reality

[koolades-world]

Hi hello! Congrats on 2k!! I'd like to request "is that my shirt" and/or "you're so cute it hurts" with Asmo please

thank you! of course i can :)

yet another cute prompt combo! and with asmo? you're a genius

this was my first time writing in a separate program so if the formatting and the way it's written feels a little strange or different that's probably why. i'm still trying to figure things out, so please don't mind that haha. it kind of threw me off but i'll get used to it eventually

enjoy <3

prompt 7 and 29 w/ Asmo

When Asmo said he’d be gone for a long weekend, you assumed you’d be alright. After all, it was just two and half days. You both had your separate lives too. The initial separation was tearful on Asmo’s end, but you thought you’d be fine.

Unfortunately, you were wrong. The first evening alone was strange for sure. You were so used to spending you evening with him and Mammon, chatting about your day while Beel sat quietly in a corner, munching on whatever snack he happened to have at that moment. Mammon was happy to have you all to himself, but it felt wrong without Asmo.

The next morning felt strange too. Since it was a RAD day, you had to go without him. You were so used to doing your vastly different morning routines side by side while the two of you shared your plans for the day. In his absence, he gave you free reign of his room and bathroom in case you needed something. You took him up on his kind offer because fighting for the regular bathroom wasn’t something you wanted to do that early in the morning. The other brothers would gladly share with you, even if they were in the shower, but you didn't want to share our routine with anyone but him.

You didn’t share too many classes with him, but the ones that you did were empty feeling despite everyone else being present. Lunch was a bore too. The evening rolled around again soon enough and by that point, you fully felt the absence and missed him. Of course, you still spent time with the other brothers. But you dearly missed the time you spent with Asmo. You missed the sound of his voice, and his presence in general. His brothers didn’t seem to mind as much as you, probably because he’d done this a million times before. As much as you wished he was having fun on his trip, you couldn’t wait to have him back.

On day two, a Saturday, you found yourself in his room again. The other brothers were busy for the next hour or so, giving you a little free time. You sat on a lounge chair in his room on your D.D.D, doom-scrolling. You saw some of the pictures he posted on Devilgram, and made sure to give him a like and leave a sweet comment. He responded pretty quickly, leaving you with a fuzzy feeling. He told you that he missed you. You sighed. He had only been gone for about two days, and you’d gotten to the point of wallowing in his room. It was a little pathetic. As you sat there, you gaze wandered over to his giant closet. You gave into the urge and got up to explore.

You’d been in Asmo’s closet countless times, but you’d never been in there by yourself. He had countless drawers and shelves full of various accessories. Walking a little further into the closet allowed you to reach the actual clothing. Everything was neatly organized by color and style. A little more walking took you past his fancy, and casual outfits to all the way in the back were he kept his sparse pajama collection. It only took up one rack compared to everything else’s several. You leafed through it and found something you didn’t even know he owned.

You’d never seen him in it and it didn’t even look like a purchase he’d made. It was a large t-shirt and a pair of tiny short that didn’t look as if they’d cover much and didn’t match the shirt at all. It looked a little worn, but ws still in good condition. But the fact that he still had it said something about the meaning behind it. While his other pajamas were more luxurious, something about that pair called to you. You took it off the hanger and brought it back to your room to change into it for bed when the time came.

Just as you’d intended, you wore it that night to bed and it was just as perfect as you’d imagined it would be. It was made of a very soft material, and even smelled like him. While you still missed him, it help soothe you a little. Besides, you’d see him sometime tomorrow afternoon.

None of the brothers seemed to recognize the clothes as Asmo’s. It made things easier for you. You spent the evening with Beel and Belphie, since Mammon happened to be busy, so it was considerably quieter without him there. Still, the three of you had a great night snacking and watching your favorite tv show. You fell asleep later than you usually would because Mammon and Asmo were the ones that insisted you throw in the towel and call it a night. As a result, you woke up considerably later the next day.

After checking the time, you realized Asmo would be home soon. So, you got up and got yourself ready for the day. Preferably, you’d be out of his clothes by the time he got home. No sooner than you’d left his bathroom and was about to get something to eat, you heard the front door open.

“I’m home!” You heard the voice of your favorite demon ring out through the giant, empty foyer. You rushed to meet him there.

“Asmo!” You ran up behind him, trapping him in a hug.

“Mc! You came to greet me! You’re just the best.” He took his sunglasses off and hugged you back ferociously.

“How was your trip?” You didn’t want to let go, but you had to. You wordlessly took one of his bags from him and followed him back to his room.

“It was so much fun! I think you would’ve really enjoyed it. Next time, you have to come. We can share a room <3.” You were glad to have him back.

“Glad to hear you had fun. I missed you.” You set his bag down on the floor.

“I missed you too, my sweetie pookie bear.” You started to laugh at that ridiculous nickname. Soon, both of you were laughing. You hugged him again, jovial to have him back.

While he was hugging you, Asmo came to the realization that you were wearing his clothes. “Is that my shirt? I see you took a stroll through my closet. It looks cute on you.” He would recognize that material anywhere.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind. I put it on because I missed you. It reminded me of you.” You suddenly felt shy and couldn’t meet his eyes. He squealed.

“Ah, you’re so cute it hurts!” He squeezed you, only causing you to grow more sheepish. “I actually got that the first time I spent a night in the human world and needed something to wear. I could’ve just worn something of Solomon’s, but I didn’t feel like we were close enough for that yet. I kept it for the memories, but it seems as if I’m making more with my other favorite human.” He winked at you.

"I’m honored I’ve earned such a title.” You couldn’t deny how elated spending time with him made you. Just being around him was an automatic mood booster for you. You were delighted to hear that he felt the same.

“I have a little unpacking to do, so if you’re up for it, I can tell you all about my trip while I do. But after that, I need you all to myself for the evening. We can get your favorite for dinner.” He pinched your cheeks.

“I can’t say no to you. Tell away.” You perched yourself on the edge of his bed. As he began talking, you listened carefully. He told you everything animatedly, and you couldn’t help but admire how gorgeous he was. You looked forward to your evening with him, and were happy you missed each other equally.

#2k followers special #obey me #obey me! #obey me x reader #obey me asmo #obey me asmodeus #omswd #obey me shall we date #obey me! shall we date? #obey me! shall we date

[genericpuff]

Since you made a post about lore Olympus’ fashion,could you tell us what kind of fashion characters in rekindled usually wear?

For the most part, considering it's a modernized retelling just like LO, I try to focus on the character's personality first and then refine from there.

Currently where Kore is in her character arc, she's very cottage-core in her outfit choices, favoring light springtime colors that compliment her skin tone. She also often wears dresses and skirts both because she thinks they're pretty, and also because it gives her a lot more range of motion, she doesn't like being constricted or too revealing. Even when she wears dresses and skirts that are on the shorter side, she'll still usually be wearing leggings and/or shorts underneath. That said, her fashion choices will change and develop as her character does throughout the story, she has a few different phases that she goes through that start to go outside of her comfort zone, so keep an eye out for that ;)

On the flipside, Hades is often wearing pressed suits and has grown used to wearing the same wardrobe often as, like the rest of his life, he's fallen into a very standardized routine. That said, he also wears his Mortal Realm garb when he's doing his job addressing the mortals, as it's standard protocol to keep all modern amenities away from them (including expensive suits lol) That said, when we see him in more casual settings such as the Olive Branch restaurant, he and his brothers are usually wearing more modern Mediterranean outfits, including colorful button-ups and sandals (though Hades often still sticks to his darker color schemes as it's, again, what he's accustomed to). Like Kore, Hades will also be going through some fashion developments as the story goes on and as he learns to step outside of his own comfort zone. I've got some future suit ideas planned for when the story moves on, I wanna give him some more flair than his default settings from LO 😆 (trust me, that moment when Persephone teased him for wearing nothing but black suits is gonna come back into play eventually LOL)

Artemis and Hermes are both really athletic so their clothing often reflects that, they both like tracksuits and sportswear, though Artemis is seen a few times throughout the series so far wearing Mortal Realm garb because she's someone who's often working in the Mortal Realm.

Hecate is a lot of fun because not only is she a lot more androgynous, but I also get to come up with fun outfits that reflect the witch side of her.

Apollo is a very "slap it on and get on with the day" kinda guy (especially considering he works long shifts with lots of early mornings) so a lot of what he wears are hoodies, t-shirts, cargo shorts, sandals, etc. He doesn't need much to get by and considering he works with Helios, he never really needs to bundle up too much LMAO

Demeter is one of the only gods who's always drawn in Mortal Realm attire as that's where she mainly resides. This largely includes Mycenaean-style garb, such as the chiton and peplos.

I've found this particular site very helpful for providing both inspiration and context to specific outfits where Ancient Greek standards come into play. As for the modern outfits, it's really just about having fun meshing the characters' personalities in with modern fashion styles of Greek fashion. It makes for a lot of outfits that are made up of flowing fabrics with lots of color and movement accessibility.

Just wait until we get to Aphrodite and Ares though. Whooo I have plans for them LOL

#ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything #lore rekindled ama

[fhroggy]

taking a short break from my other projects to try out some different mlp gen styles! I know Twilight has some different appearances in other gens, but I specifically wanted to use her g4 design across the earlier styles : ) I may wind up doing this with more characters in the future since I thought this was a really fun style exercise

all of these were pretty heavily referenced from some official art so that I could teach myself how to emulate the style, and I think G1 is probably my most successful of the three. I do still really like them all, though, and i learned a lot!

#mlp #mlp fim #mlp g4 #my little pony

[p3arlxox]

pulchritudinous

heya ladies i’m really impatient regarding that pole and this has been cooking up for a while so tell me what yall think and i’ll make this a series.

summary— childhood friends to lovers w trans!ellie

warnings— misgendering, cussing (later), light angst (later),

★

One year at the bright age of 9 years old when you were applying makeup on Ellie, she tried sneaking a glance in your mirror, “Don’t look yet! You’ll ruin the amazing look.” she rolled my eyes and followed with, “Well, hurry up! My curfew’s in half an hour and I am not trying to get yelled at by Joel again.”

“Alright alright, don’t rush perfection.” you apply some highlighter and she would feel the bristles tickle her cheekbones making her release a small giggle. Which gave you the right to cock an eyebrow of disappointment at her moving.

You would add what she would call the spray of horror, but you called it setting spray. She could recongnize that weird scent anytime. It was like a pavlovian response. When she would smell it, she would squeeze her eyes shut and stop breathing for a moment. Anyways, moving on from the trauma you had given her…

“And, done!” You said as you put a mirror to her face. Ellie would grab the handle of it and wouldn’t be able to help but smile. The way everything ties together as she look at her features. The brightness under her eyes she never knew she needed, an enhancing berry blush that made her face smaller yet more adult, her lips were bigger and tinted with pink, a black hue on the eyes and an even darker line across my lid making her eyes look elongated and feminine, and finally her eyelashes pointed towards the sky reaching for something empowering. That’s what she felt. Empowered.

But then she looked at her hair, short, this was not the style for her. But why is it not? Her jawline sharp, more stubble than the average 9 year old girl. Ellie questioned so many different about herself as I looked at myself that day. She looked at you “Well hand me a wipe! My mom is gonna kill me if i look like this at home.”

“Oh come on! It would be a fun surprise,” You exclaimed with confidence and promise in your voice. “But, you should go now because next time I have to tell you something really important! And it can’t wait anytime after then,” your voice wavered more than it did in her previous remark. Ellie looked at her with her head slightly tilted toward the right as to question you without saying anything.

“Uh.. would you look at that!” You grabs her phone and shows me the lock screen. A selfie. You and Ellie. It’s 18 ‘till 8 o’clock! You have to go”

Swiftly you open a drawer on your desk and pull out a makeup wipe and hand it to Ellie with an awkward smile. “Oh thanks, Ells,”

“Yup totally! I got you dude,” She wondered why that felt like being stabbed. Hm.

“Okay bye Ellie! Have a good night.”

★

oki it’s short i know stfu. opinions??? i have opinions on trans ellie. i think it’s cute yes but i don’t think i can see ellie as a character being trans within the tlou universe (ive never seen anyone say this) but idk. i feel like it’s kinda belittling towards this independent, strong, woman, to say she had to be amab in order to be as successful as she is. also it’s fr just porn if u try looking for anything trans ellie related. trans people are so fetishized it’s gross. ugh. ew. blegh.

#transgender #lesbian #the last of us #tlou2 #tlou #ellie x reader #fluff #lgbtq #ellie williams #ellie willams x reader

[andypantsx3]

do you have any tips or advice for being more confident about your writing / avoiding the comparison trap on here? /gen

Hello my love!! Oh my gosh, I have a zillion and one thoughts on this subject. Please excuse how disorganized this is but I am so happy to word vom at you lmao.

I think to start with, it depends on what you're comparing: whether it's the work itself or the metrics surrounding it! I will start with the work itself, and move on to talking about metrics if that's cool.

Your Story

In terms of the quality of your work, there are a couple key things to remember!! Firstly, think it's easy to feel like so many tropes and story lines have already been done, why would anyone want to read mine? But you can circumvent this quite intentionally in your writing by thinking about what new thing you can bring to that trope or story line. And make no mistake, there is always something new, whether it's a plot twist, a unique motivator, a different character's perspective, etc.

For example, I've read and loved several merman Shouto fics, and I also wanted to write a merman Shouto fic. In the development of something in the water, I sat down and thought about what things I'd read about merman Shouto before, and how could I add to that, outside of rehashing what I'd already read. I discovered I wanted to expand on mating rituals, spend some time on the cultural differences a human and merman would inevitably have, and linger in the feeling of a tropical island because at the time of the fic's conception it was like, the dead of my winter LOL. And I do think that something in the water has turned out pretty distinct for that effort; as far as I am aware no one has written merman Shouto being wheeled into a tropical bungalow in a wheelbarrow to watch The Little Mermaid lol.

So you can always bring something new to the table! And it will make your work feel standout to you, as well, as you will be very aware of all the things you did that were unique!! You will not feel like you're just rehashing something that has already been done, you will feel like you're adding!

Also in terms of quality, I think it's helpful to look at fic writing like a growth opportunity rather than a permanent, established skill set. The "quality" of your style is not fixed, it something you actively develop by reading, digging into other people's styles, seeing how they make their writing work, and trying out some of those elements for yourself. Maybe someone has a really rich descriptive style that you find beautiful, maybe someone writes dark psychological fics that thrill you; if you spend time looking at the words they are using and how they use them, you can replicate those techniques in your own writing. You can quite literally make your own writing look more like the writing you admire by reverse engineering authors' techniques.

Conversely, writing as a growth opportunity mean you do not have to be perfect. The process of writing is the process of figuring out what works, mechanically. It's not a reflection on you at all. You don't have to write anything "good," you can publish something you had fun with, see what people react positively to in it, and turn around and take those elements forward in your next story, while abandoning the things people maybe did not love or had questions on. And rinse and repeat over and over until you do end up with something you'd term "quality."

To me at least, that thought is a huge relief. Because I can just have fun, let people say what they say, and do something different in my next story if needs must. It's like any skill set, I think. It takes time to hone but no one would call, like, Van Gogh untalented because he once started with rough and heavy pencil sketches, right?

It's the knowledge that I'm building up my future self's skill set that gives me confidence to publish, even if I'm not quite where I want to be currently! And I really hope this helps you the way it does me; the knowledge that you can do anything, write like anyone, but that it's all part of an overarching process to learn to enjoy writing like you!

Which brings me to:

The Metrics

I am just going to say flat out that you should try to ignore metrics as best you can. In my experience, metrics are absolutely no indicator of a work's quality. Some of the work I am proudest of is what anyone would consider a "flop" by note count, whereas I think some of my most trite & banal works would be considered by some metric quite "popular." And I think that way about some of my favorite fics too, one of my absolute fave fics of all time only recently broke 100 kudos on ao3 after being up for years!!

I especially think this is true on tumblr, where a work's packaging and digestibility seem to be the key elements in gaining notes (ao3 does not allow the same level of customization). Fics with elaborate headers, cute & small fonts (I am guilty of loving these), and eye-catching graphics all naturally draw attention more easily in the sea of other fics, so it makes sense why more people would tend to look at those, and subsequently like or reblog them. I also think bullet-pointed headcanons or single/short paragraph works tend to skyrocket in notes here because they're quick and easy; and that makes sense too, right? If it's easier to read of course it's likelier to be read more!

But those things mean absolutely nothing about the quality of the work within. And you can take reassurance from the fact that you too can replicate those elements if note count is what you are truly after here! You can make a video header with any of the premades on Canva! You can try different font arrangements or cool graphics. You can even write a paragraph and tag it with a bunch of different characters for maximum exposure. There is no reason to get jealous, I think, if you can do it too!!

I also think you have to be conscious of different factors at play with authors. Some authors have been around since the inception of the fandom you're in, and naturally will have had more visibility for longer than you, but that also says nothing about the quality of their work. I've been around in the BNHA fandom for four years, and by a mixture of luck and timing ended up getting to publish a lot of my work during the pandemic when more people than ever were getting into BNHA. But does that make me better than some of the newer authors joining the fandom just now? HELL no lol, if anything maybe I could be getting complacent!

And this goes for the size of fandoms and the popularity of certain characters as well!! A Shouto fic is not going to do as well as a Bakugou fic because Bakugou has like, three times the stans. A Shinsou fic is not going to do as well as a Shouto fic because Shouto has like, five times the stans lol. And a Kaiju no. 8 fic is not going to do as well as a JJK fic because the fandom size (and therefore potential audience pool) has a significant discrepancy! Don't gauge your fic's success against someone else's in a different fandom or for a different character (or honestly even at a different point in the source material's storyline because sometimes a character has a moment where they are most popular but that drops off - think BNHA Hawks in 2020/2021 vs now lol).

There is a huge variety of external factors at play that determine your exposure and audience, but absolutely none of those can ever say anything about the quality of your work. So I hope you can try to distance yourself from the need to compare your metrics to anyone else's, because quite frankly they do not mean shit.

TLDR, think the best way to overcome the comparison trap is to write a story you love and feel is unique, something you are proud of. Because no one is ever going to tell a story quite how you would, and therefore no one can ever be compared. & I hope this was helpful and addressed whatever specific area of concern you have!! But let me know if not and I'm happy to discuss more!!

#ask andie

[littleplantfreak]

Bofurin Paintball headcanons 1

I wanted to do everyone but I have work tomorrow and have been staying up waaay to late so here's Sakura, Nirei, Suo, and Sugishita! Loosely based on the paintball pic from the manga.

---

Sakura Haruka

- Has never played before but gets into it almost immediately. Also makes someone shoot him before the game begins so he isn't thrown off by being hit.

-He tries to be a solo player on his own team at first until he realizes he's a crappy shot if only due to inexperience. His communication gets a bit better when he learns to let others make up for his shortcomings.

- Accidentally almost shoots his own teammates about 5 times - 3 out of 5 instances were because Sugishita startled him while he was zero'd in on another opponent. The other two were collateral damage ig //shrugs

- Overall a fun guy to play with and he'd take hits for his partner if they're afraid of getting hit. Will likely tell them to take cover in one of the safer places on base while he runs around.

Nirei Akihiko

-Best on defense and making strategies but will follow Sakura into heavy fire depending on the situation.

-His best bet alone (at least his first couple times playing)  is to hide until they forget he's even there and shoots when they least expect it. He's waited half an hour to get one hit in but he definitely makes it worth it.

- He seriously considers coming more often just to practice at the firing range.

-When he's being chased, everyone in the field can tell where he is from how loud his voice is. You'd think they've got real guns with how afraid of being shot he is. He gets super bummed if someone (usually Sakura) takes a hit for him :(

-Switches up when he brings his partner with him and toughs it out despite him sweating buckets trying to keep them from getting hit. Nirei's so proud when they shoot someone that while he's praising them he gets shot himself.

Suo Hayato

- Super solid shot which leads everyone to believe he's played before but he's redirected  every time someone's asked.

-Big team player and will give advice to people without it coming out like a command which works well if he is stuck with more prickly players.

-Prefers having the high ground even at the price of being more visible. Despite this, he comes out cleanest of everyone.

-If he takes his partner he won't leave their side unless they insist on it. Pulls that super smooth move where he shows them how to hold the gun properly from behind them all while making sure he's touching as much as possible.  

Sugishita Kyotaro

-He's a little heavy with how much paint he ends up using so when he gets someone he gets them.

- Great at giving chase and the intensity in which he's hunting the other players is pretty wild to watch. If left to his own devices he ends up in the middle of the other team's base before the rest of his team has a chance to fan out.

-Once his adrenaline gets pumping he doesn't even know he's been hit until someone points it out which depending on the game style being played sucks for his team.

-Most likely to run out of ammo in enemy territory RIP

-Sugishita plays differently if his partner is with him mostly curbing his recklessness to have his partner follow him while he lets them try for easy shots and taking out any actual threats to their safety. He thinks its cute when they get excited that they've hit someone so he'll just keep pointing weak people out till everyone else is down.

#wind breaker #wind breaker headcanons #sakura haruka #nirei akihiko #suo hayato #sugishita kyotaro #I wanna do the rest of bofurin tomorrow :/// and maybe shishitoren because i wanna write about choji #i just think that little dude is neat #I wasn't gonna do headcanons where they brought their partners but i changed it last minute #i hope the post isnt too long hhh i should just keep putting ym stuff under readmores methinks

[foxufortunes]

So like, I was having a moment thinking about how because exy is not actually central to the narrative of AFTG (again, I've talked before, although maybe deleted it by now, about how AFTG is not a sports drama but a drama contain sports, and this is the difference, not good or bad, just differences in genre) how little weight there is on the games themselves. And this is not me hating it's just musing I muse while writing fanfic. Like way Nora writes matches is fun, but there's not really any weight to them. Correct me if I'm wrong and I've missed, but I've reread the interactions with Ichirou and everything else, and I can't find anything saying there's an actual wager on the finals for Neil or Kevin or Jean. No matter how much we/they hate Riko, it's nothing. Riko doesn't die because he lost, he died because he made a fool of himself trying to kill Neil (and didn't cover up the other stuff well enough). The match was nothing but an excuse for Ichirou. An easy cover up as to why Riko suddenly lost it and ended his life. The game doesn't matter.

And this is a "problem" if you want to call it that (I don't think it's actually a problem unless Nora really did want it to be a straight sports drama, which I don't think she did), throughout in that there's no weight to the matches. This is why a lot of sports dramas plump for single elimination. And, if you want to focus more of the sport, like I sometimes do in my fics, this is where that becomes an issue. Take out the mafia and now the sport has to carry the weight. Now, there's a lot of pros and cons to a lot all the different tournament styles and and single elimination is rarer the more teams you have, single elim often faces readers going "yeah but they're not going to lose because they can't" while the opposite league play like AFTG has the opposite problem of "yeah, why does it matter if they lose?" And that is what happens in AFTG. The games are fun, but there's no weight on most of them. Even the first Ravens game. It doesn't matter. Aside from the Foxes pride, it's not the last game of the season and they needed the points. We don't even know how losing to the Ravens affected their standing in the league. We lost to the Ravens. Ok and? Not even the characters were bothered. There was no narrative weight. And that's what you need to make league play tense. Neil and Kevin and Wymack, and probably Dan, should constantly be aware of who's playing who, and what the ideal loss/win ratio is and what the point difference needs to be. My dad is a fan, and I am not, but he is constantly telling me which teams need to win and how much by to improve his teams standing and prepare them for later in the season. This is casual fan behaviour, Kevin and Neil should be all over that telling us who they need to beat and how much by so we can count what they need to get through. Whether the Foxes were going to make it to the championship or not wasn't a concern for me. It'd be like asking me to be tense about whether they're going to win or lose a match, but during the match no one is describing the match or telling you the score.

#all for the game #aftg #the foxhole court

[eerna]

Wait okay omg I would love to hear your thoughts about the Broadway Mulan Rouge because I also have many feelings about it, most of them disappointment unfortunately lol. It could've been amazing!! But I just!! I don't feel it like I felt it in the movie idk man

Yeah, I am the same... I was SO hyped when I heard that they were turning it into a musical, but in retrospect it is pretty clear it was never gonna be what I wanted it to be :(

THE MUSIC. To me, MR! has this very recognizable music style where it is a jukebox musical, but every song is rewritten and its accompaniment changed so that they all fit together with the soundtrack of the film. It's percussion heavy, it's piano heavy, very jazzy/mid century film music? If you know the songs and try to sing along, you will fail, because they're just that different. That's why it doesn't suffer from the jukebox musical curse, in my opinion. However, BMR! totally removed those stylistic changes and turned them all into pretty standard musical theater arrangements of pop songs, and they all overstay their welcome because they aren't even shortened. NOW it suffers from the jukebox musical curse, bc how am I supposed to take's Christine's "I want" song seriously if it's FIREWORK by KATY PERRY. The worst example of this is what they did to El Tango de Roxanne, the most iconic part of the movie. In MR!, it's a mashup of Roxanne by The Police (representing the Argentinian's tale) and Tanguera by Mariano Mores with original lyrics (representing Christian's angst over Satine). Both songs take turns and overlap, pointing out the parallels, rising in intensity until everyone starts screaming and crying. Absolute insanity. I don't know a single person who wasn't floored by this song when they first saw the scene. In BMR!, it's Christian's solo, which means no parallels, most of the song is Roxanne and the iconic Tanguera melody shows up for like 40 seconds in the beginning and in the end just so they can say they put it into the show. There is no rising tension, there is no overlaps, no development, it's just. There. Like yes you put it into the show, but pretty much all of its symbolism and memorable aspects are gone. And the jukebox issues are stabbing you in the eyes. WHY IS CHRISTIAN SINGING ABOUT A WOMAN NAMED ROXANNE. WHO IS ROXANNE. IT MAKES SENSE IF ROXANNE IS THE NAME OF THE WOMAN FROM THE ARGENTINIAN'S STORY, BUT IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT CHRISTIAN IS THE ONE SINGING ABOUT HER. God.

THE WEIRDNESS. MR!'s aesthetic is super interesting to me because it represents its aura of sex appeal and hedonism through the lenses of grotesque. It would have been super easy to put the sex workers into sexy outfits and glam up their faces and make them sing seductive songs on beautiful stages, but no. Their outfits are eye stabbing, their makeup is garish, and they're screeching and throwing themselves around violently on stages that are dark, kitchy, claustrophobic, and loud, while the camera switches every 2 seconds and your brain feels like it's running on fumes. AND IT IS SO FUN. The club looks SO nasty and SO fun and I wanna go there. However, BMR! doesn't want to alienate anyone, so they did... Exactly what I said. Everyone is universally attractive, the stage is very clean-cut and open, the appeal of the club is played completely straight. This is best shown in the production Christian writes for the club. I know that the play from the movie is not very PC so I totally get why they would change some of it, but... They turned it from a vibrant, oversaturated opera with enormous musical numbers that lends itself perfectly to the big dramatic finale taking place during its premiere into a THREE CHARACTER CHAMBER DRAMA. Like who tf signed off on this change. WHO. LET ME SEE. WHO SAID THAT THE FINALE OF THE ENTIRE STORY WILL BE SET IN A STAGE IMITATION OF A LIVING ROOM. GOD I AM SO UPSET.

THE ROMANCE. MR! works because Christian is a naiive, innocent, idealistic poet with grand ideas of love. THAT'S why Satine falls for him - he is completely different from other men, and he makes her believe love can be more than what she'd been given throughout her life. Also, he's never been in love, so everything feels much more real and intense for him. In BMR! he is a completely different character, an overconfident seductive sexyman. Why would he be any different than all the other men in Satine's life??? Because he can write good??????? She has met many writers before, as we know, so what makes this guy different????? And not only are we less forgiving of his bad actions because he is older and experienced, HE IS SO MUCH WORSE IN THE SHOW. In MR! he sells his typerwriter to buy a ticket for Satine's premiere to go see her one last time and scream at how horrible she is - bad, and horrible to watch. In BMR!, he sells his typewriter to BUY A GUN and goes to Satine's premiere SO HE CAN KILL HER OR HIMSELF ONSTAGE - absolutely insane and horrible and how tf did we get here. AND LET ME REMIND YOU that this version of the story DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE STORY CONTEXT OF EL TANGO DE ROXANNE, in which Roxanne's lover kills her, SO THEY REMOVED THE ONE BIT OF FORESHADOWING THAT COULD HAVE MADE IT MAKE SENSE.

THE REST OF THE WRITING. BMR! tried to give depth to side characters and their relationship with Satine, but that means they totally sidelined that Satine is a deeply unhappy person in a very unhealthy situation. They tried to make it look like she is choosing to marry the Duke (YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION, THE DUKE IS A SEXY SEXY GUY WHO WANTS TO MARRY HER IN THIS VERSION) without any pressure put onto her by the club, but that makes it all so much more boring. MR! is far from a deep analysis of Satine's friendships, but I thought that the little bits and pieces we saw were delightfully complex. Satine is going to become the Duke's mistress because he will sponsor the club, and everyone employed there will live a better life. Ziegler is her father figure, but he is also her pimp who is pushing her into the relationship. He feels sorry for her and obviously cares for her outside of their business relationship, but he is so deep in the "underworld life" that he no longer sees a way out for anyone. But when it becomes apparent that Satine can no longer withstand the pressure, that the life they are all living is something she can't deal with, everyone just. Helps her out. They bail her out of the tower, they threaten the Duke, they stand with her, it's not verbal, it's all in the actions. It's why we can have a grand finale where everyone sings and dances while the Duke is crying in the background. BMR! has the girls telling Satine they care about her and her telling them she will protect them, but they are completely useless in the plot. No one comes for her in the tower, and the play is a THREE PERSON DRAMA so Christian is the only one there to stand with her in the end.

THE PLAY. I already said most of my issues with it but just to point it out once more. There is nothing more annoying to me than a piece of media that's about a piece of media being written, and then that piece of media ends up unseen. Throughout MR! we see the play being written, we see many scenes being added, hear a ton of songs from it, the issue of the plot resolution is a big dramatic point, and the finale of the movie is also the final scene from the play. In BMR! we see one scene, the show's end, that keeps being repeated over and over again.

SATINE'S WHITE DRESS. It deserved its own point bc what the hell is this.

This is already super long, but this show annoys me so much I could legit keep going lol. Everything is worse. Everything is toothless and clawless. It's such wasted potential.

#mountevey #eernask #mr liveblog #i need to turn it into a liveblog tag

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 5: Flip Slip.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 4.5)

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #mdzs au #Yungmang Jiang Training Arc AU #lan wangji #wei wuxian #digital art #Trying out some digital techniques to see if I can get closer to feel/style of my traditional comics. #So far the biggest difference is *colouring* Digital colouring feels...not good. I have complained about this before and I'll complain agai #Before we get into the sad stuff with Yungmeng Jiang in the PD-MDZS comics lets have some lighthearted fun! #Remember that if anything bad happens to these Jiang disciples in the canon comic - they are happy in this AU B'*) #I think one of the funniest things about the teenxian dynamic is how WWX accidently finds things that get LWJ to feel flustered. #My guy wwx goes 'I'm going to lightly bully/tease this nerd 'cause his reactions are funny.' and LWJ goes “My god. He's everything to me.” #Part two of the fun part of this dynamic is that LWJ is ever so lightly self aware enough to LOATHE THIS CRUSH. #Hence why I have been marinating on this 'Accidental Lan headband miscommunication' concept. #This is how LWJ assumes that WWX knows what the band means in this AU. This will be relevant later. #And YES! I am still going to be making comics for this AU. I have so many ideas I simply can't hold onto forever.

[disformer]

They're from a different time

#transformers #optimus prime #megatron #art #maccadam #he's trying out a very different style and having a grand time w it #floating lineart is so inspired and fun

[flambo19]

She is so silly

#genshin impact #genshin #furina #focalors #flambo art #trying smth slightly different with my art style. dunno if itll work out but thats the fun part #so my plan was 'oh ill post this after the livestream to avoid leak spoilers' right? #thats still my plan but uhhh #(its now a week later. now is the time) #posting this right before i go to bed. goodnight :)

[ferronickel]

A bunch of webcomic Ralseis! I've been wanting to do fanart for all of these comics for a while and I've got an upcoming page of my comic that requires a mix of styles/shading, so I thought this would be good practice!

Eldritchrune by @lynxgriffin

Looking Glasses by @ferronickel

The Chara Timeline by @lilybug-02

Reconnecting by @purplebehittindifferent

Twin Runes by @akanemnon

Flat colors under the cut because I think you can see some of the stylistic differences better without shading.

#deltarune #utdr #looking glasses #ralsei #ferrousart #sorry recon!ralsei and tr!ralsei I think you're probably not that short but the composition worked better this way #this was so fun! it was really cool trying to figure out everyone's styles #there are bits of all of them that I really enjoyed getting to play around with #and working out ways for my absurd lighting to work in different styles was a fun challenge #I still need to do proper fanart for some of these comics but at least this is a start #lg!rals looks a bit uncanny next to all these cartoony styles. I'm glad er!ralsei is looming back there to balance things out

[lazylittledragon]

if my stuff starts looking WILDLY different soon it’s because next year i’m planning on stepping out of my comfort zone more and experimenting to try and seriously level up my artussy because i’m stagnating and i hate it

#ramble #it’s not that i hate my art style bc i don’t!!! #i just want to try different things #drawing the blorbos is fun but you don’t really learn anything after a while? other than it helps you draw faster bc muscle memory #and now i’m out of uni i want to keep learning stuff #which means a lot of weird colour palettes and studies #the reason my job portfolio is so bad is because all my stuff looks the SAME