i think it's bad that people of any age feel pressure to find a romantic partner. i think giggly "who's your crush" questions at age 9 are weird. i think young people getting into bad relationships because "it's what everyone does" is shit. i think that marriage should not be emphasised as the pinnacle of a relationship and frankly i think that marriage should not be expected at all from romantic relationships. i think that there needs to be more embracing of qprs and friendships and simply not getting a romantic partner. i think it's weird that half the time when you do something nice for someone people wonder if you're flirting. i think that people can and do care deeply about each other without needing to subscribe to the mainstream ideas of love. i think that there should be less of an emphasis on "love" in general. i think the idea of what is "romantic" versus "platonic" is different for everyone and therefore doesn't really have a use except to evoke vague ideas about social customs
⟢ PICK THREE DETAILS MAXIMUM! your reader doesn't need to know every piece of furniture. Give them the broken clock on the mantle, the smell of cigarettes embedded in the couch, the water stain on the ceiling shaped like Italy. Their brain will fill in the rest. You're not writing an insurance inventory!!!
⟢ Use the senses people forget. Everyone does sight and sound, but what about: the metallic taste of fear, the way humidity makes your clothes stick, the phantom itch of being watched, that gross feeling when you touch something unexpectedly wet. GET WEIRD WITH IT
⟢ MOTION IN YOUR DESCRIPTIONS!! (Please?) don't just tell me the curtains are blue, tell me they're "shuddering in the AC blast" or "hanging limp like they've given up." Static description is a sleep aid. Make things MOVE
⟢ Your narrator's voice should COLOR everything! A depressed character won't describe the sunset as "beautiful mauve and amber streaking across the sky," they'll think "the sun's dying again, doing its whole performance art thing with the clouds"
⟢ Stop with the mirror descriptions! :( "She looked in the mirror and saw her auburn hair and green eyes" NO. Banned. Forbidden. Find literally any other way. Have another character notice. Show through action. Slip details in naturally. The mirror thing is lazy and we all know it
⟢ Similes and metaphors: COMMIT OR DON'T DO IT! "like" is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. "Her anger was like a storm" is BORING. "Her anger rolled in with the methodical inevitability of a hurricane, and he was standing in a trailer park in Florida" now we're TALKING
Dudes healthcare is so fake. My ADHD meds are $940 without insurance. But they gave me a website of "coupons" which straight up looks like a scam website, and I got it today for $60! Just a coupon from a random website and it was $900 cheaper. America, I am confusion!! America explain!!
as a pharmacy technician i can share with you some websites that give you those "coupons" for your meds!
goodrx is the most well known one, but if i'm trying to find the cheapest price for a patient i compare it to scriptcycle, and use whichever is offering the best price. you just type in the medication (PLEASE make sure you're getting the right drug, dosage, and quantity) and your zip code and they will spit out some offers for you
some pharmacies may have their own discount card to compare to as well!
if you are getting a name brand medication, you can also look at the manufacturer's website to see if they offer any evouchers for you to use too
Japanese is an incredibly fun and rewarding language (if you’ve ever wanted to learn it for ANY reason, most importantly including the “silly” reasons) but the fearmongering and capitalist intervention involved in the language learning process have given it a reputation as an “impossible task” for English speakers, leading to confusion and dkn learners and weird pessimist attitudes about the whole thing. In this thread I will explain how to effectively learn and retain Japanese. This is a tried, tested and true method; probably 99% of all people who try to learn Japanese give up, but everyone I’ve met who has tried and stuck with this has been at or above N3-N4 after 6 months or less including me
You can teach yourself Japanese for free if you have a little free time every day and a computer
1. Drill yourself on hiragana and katakana. These are the phonetic building blocks of Japanese, think of them as equivalent to english letters. This site is a good resource in general. Once you have a solid grasp on this, DO NOT LINGER HERE; move to step 2. You will master kana later.
2. Download Anki. This is a flashcard service. They have a paid app if you’re willing to invest for it, but if not, they have a mobile website (create an account and sync it with your computer).
This is the deck you’re going to download. Import it to Anki and do this every day. I have learned the hard way (twice) that skipping this is bad. If you become overwhelmed, you can change the number of new cards and reviews by clicking the cog next to the name of the deck!
3. Cure Dolly (Youtube, grammar) + transcript. She has kind of a posh accent, you might want to turn subtitles on. Watch a few videos when you feel like it but most importantly set up 4 and 5 as soon as possible
4. Yomitan (must have) is a browser extension that functions as a pop-up dictionary. you need to install dictionaries for it to work. here are some dictionaries you can use with yomitan and explanations of what they do
5. READ. DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET STUCK BEFORE THIS STEP. JUST READ!!!! Most people who fail to learn Japanese do so because they are afraid of not being ready to move on, which is counterproductive. Just read. When you were a child did you spend years on vocab and grammar before reading? No I bet you did not. Pick something to read and learn what you don’t already know by reading in Japanese.
Jiten.moe has a list of novels and visual novels that you can read on your computer sorted by difficulty. So does jpdb. There’s also this document. There’s also this document. Hey look this website is cool too
For visual novels: download LunaHook. It “hooks” to your VN and allows you to use Yomitan on words you don’t know. Turn off the translation feature, it does nothing to help you learn
For literary texts: ttsu e-reader supports epub and htmlz files.
You can also learn Japanese by watching anime, but it’s a little more convoluted and requires a lot more patience.
For manga, utilize Mangatan, but I don’t recommend this right out the gate because when you’re first learning sentence structure you’ll want something with complete sentences.
Set your computer up for mining vocab before you start reading. Once you finish your kaishi deck, you can drill your mining cards (I didn’t do mine until after finishing kaishi because it was too much).
Most importantly: reading is going to be hard at first. It is going to piss you off. You need to muscle through with this because this is where the bulk of your learning will happen. After a while you will just feel like reading because you love reading! Try not to pick something too hard for your first read, but if you’re interested in the story you might be able to muscle through something a little tougher.
Remember to consult yomitan and cure dolly where needed, that’s what it’s there for. As you can see I am quite normal about the Japanese language, so if you have any other questions or need help with anything else feel free to shoot me an ask and I will get back to you promptly. Japanese is not your enemy and it is not impossible. It is your friend
Ao3 does not need a 1-5 star rating system, you just want to bring down authors writing for FREE
Ao3 does not need automatic censorship, it is an archive, therefore anything can be posted
Writing or reading about something illegal does not mean the author nor the reader condones it, if that were true, you could never read a story involving anything negative
Purity culture is ruining fan culture and you all are fucking annoying
Please draw your oc x canon please be unashamedly loud about it please post it without embarrassment please make dramatic emotional edits of them please indulge yourself
As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.
Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.
📺Here is my list:
Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)
Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)
Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)
BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)
Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)
Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)
Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)
Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)
SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)
Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)
The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)
Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)
Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)
Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)
Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)
Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)
Pikat (art advice and critiques)
Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)
Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)
Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)
Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.
📚Here is my list:
The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.
"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.
"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.
"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.
"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.
"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.
"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.
"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.
"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.
Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.
📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.
For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.
💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.
Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )
Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)
Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)
PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)
Krita (Free)
mypaint (free)
FireAlpaca (free)
Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)
Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)
IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)
Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)
NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.
So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.
I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.
Hope this was helpful and have a great day.
"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"
Boosting this in case any of the programs and books suggested are useful.
All the photos on this tumblr ad the animal photo reference site I run is another resource available for artists to use!
As long as you’re not using AI to create your art, you can reference / trace / draw / recombine / make any sort of art you want, with any of the photos, for free.
There's also MORPHO, a really good book series on anatomy by Michel Lauricella, with very clear explanations and sketches!
And for pose references, there's @adorkastock who shares a ton of them for free, with different models and props, and her website is amazing <3 you can also buy pose packs from her.
I'd probably try drawing my vore ideas sometimes if I wasnt fucking terrified someone would recognize my art style at some point; I already get nervous someone could somehow recognize my writing style
This one is of an au I've been thinking of with Jing Yuan as a pirate and a lion hybrid and my sona Darling as a mermaid.
G/t and implied digestion + reformation
Proof read but only briefly so might have some errors
There were a few things in particular that brought Jing Yuan comfort. Captaining a ship on the high seas could be stressful; he had to make sure the crew all worked together, that they could navigate the storms that washed over them and emerge on the other side of the clouds strong as ever. With so much responsibility on his shoulders managing one of the illustrious ships of the Hexafleet, those creature comforts were all the more important.
There was tea; a warm cup brewed in the ship's kitchen and sipped while looking out across the foggy sea.
There was starchess. A simple but stimulating game to play with his companions aboard the ship or find new challengers at the various ports they stopped at.
There was his lion, Mimi, whose mane he loved to bury his face in and doze off on.
And, perhaps chief amongst them, was his closest companion.
Within his quarters was an elaborate fish tank. It spanned nearly an entire wall, its interior adorned with the most luscious salt water plants and the best decor he could find. Nice as it was, the color palette and styling was very much not in line with the aesthetic of the rest of his room, far more feminine and softer around the edges; it stuck out like a sore thumb. But that's because it wasn't really for him.
Stepping into the room, Jing Yuan's eyes immediately searched for the small figure fluttering about in the tanks waters. The occupant wasn't hard to spot, and his tail flicks with anticipation behind him when he does see her; soft pink tail shimmering in the afternoon light, matching the hair that flowed in her wake in a delicate cloud. She seemed to be rearranging some of the stones he'd recently found for her at the bottom of the tank, trying to find the best way to show off their sparkle.
Indeed, this tank wasn't for some mere pet, but for the mermaid that had stolen his heart. A fond smile came to his face just from watching her in her element.
Darling didn't notice him immediately, too focused on her rocks. It wasn't until he stepped closer and cast a shadow across the tank that she looked up. Then, her face lit up and she shot to the surface. “Jing Yuan! You're back!”
Jing Yuan chuckled, crouching down to get a better look at her. Darling was rather small, perhaps only just as long as his hand from the tip of his fingers to his wrist. As a mermaid, she could adjust her size under the right conditions, but when traveling on the Loufu with his crew it was simply easier for her to remain small.
“My apologies,” He said to her, reaching a hand down to rub against the side of her face, Darling reciprocating with an affectionate nuzzle of her own. “My duties have been keeping me busy today and, quite honestly, will likely continue to for the rest of the day. I've only just been able to carve out a bit of time to come see you.”
Darling pouts. It's moments like this that Jing Yuan feels bad for bringing her aboard. She tells him she loves the crew, loves the thrill of traveling with his band of pirates places she could never swim to on her own, but on the ship she doesn't have the same freedoms the sea offers her. She can only be out in the air for so long, and while she has multiple tanks to spend time in across the ship, she is largely reliant on the assistance of the humans on the crew to get her from tank to tank and interrupt the self imposed confinement. So when the crew is busy, when he himself spends his day rushing to and fro, there is no one to give attention to his precious water locked companion.
“My apologies.” His voice is a low murmur, rumbling in his chest.
Darling looks up at him curiously. “What are you sorry for?”
“That I do not have more time to devote to you.” He shifts his hand, gingerly cupping her small face between his thumb and pointer finger, mindful his claws don't touch her; her cheeks squish under his touch and despite himself he can't help but think of how adorable she looks.
She pouts, shaking out of his grasp and propping her hands up on his finger. Water splashes back into the tank below Darling as she pushes herself partway out of the water, balanced on his hand. “Don't be sorry. You have so much resting on your shoulders as captain. And at the end of the day, no matter how busy you are, you always come back to me. That's all I need.” She leans down, placing a gentle kiss on his scarred hand.
Jing Yuan smiles, feeling some of the weight he held in his chest disappear at the contact.
“Besides,” She continues. “Not like I'm totally bored without you. Remember how I told you just yesterday Qingque was teaching me how to play one of her tile games? And today, I've spent the past little while rearranging some stuff in my tank. Did you see what I did with those rocks you brought me from the shore? Look!” She slips off of his hand, swimming to her rock formation and gesturing proudly to it; a small burst of bubbles escapes her smiling mouth.
He laughs, louder now. “Yes, yes, I saw. Look at you, our resident designer proves her capabilities once again.”
Darling reappears at the surface of the water. She purses her lips, shooting a small stream of water out at him that soaks his cheek. “So stop feeling bad! As long as you keep your promise to stay beside me, I’m content no matter how busy you are.”
Jing Yuan wipes his face, shaking his head. “Alright, you win. I can never withstand your arguments, can I?”
Darling lets out a giggle, smiling proudly. “Nope!”
He's quiet for a moment, bringing his hand down once again to the surface of the water. This time his palm is flat, inviting Darling to sit upon it. She does so, and once she's settled he raises her towards him. He keeps his palm close to his chest, where he feels he can best keep her safe and secure.
“So when do you have to return to work?” She asks.
He hums. “Fairly soon, sadly. I only earned a few minutes to myself.”
Despite her earlier words, he sees the hint of disappointment in her eyes. But still, she smiles. “Well, best make the most of it.” Darling's eyebrows furrow, a thought coming to her. “Hang on, it's lunch time, have you had a chance to eat today?”
His ears lay flat against his head and Jing Yuan doesn't meet her gaze. “It has been a few hours since I last ate, now that I think about it.”
Darling jabs her finger into his palm, which he barely feels but senses the irritation behind it. “Jing Yuan! You know how important nutrition is! I'd rather you visit the kitchen than me if it means you're eating properly.”
He raises his other hand, trying to placate her. “I know, and I apologize. I've just had you on my mind all day, how could I resist running to your side the moment I was free.”
She crosses her arms. “Don't try and flirt your way out of this, Yuan.”
“Ah, you caught on to my scheme.” He sighs. With this talk of food, his stomach is reminded of its hunger despite how hard he tried pushing it aside. It twists, groaning in discontent. Jing Yuan places a hand over it, grimacing.
Darling takes notice. “See, just listen to that poor tummy!” She points her miniscule finger towards the cabin door. “Go to the mess hall and get some food right now.”
He huffs, contemplating her demand. It wouldn't be hard to get something there, but at this point he doesn't have much time to eat something substantial, especially considering the time that'd take to prepare. Snacking on whatever he can grab from the pantry doesn't sound very satisfying right now either. Waiting until dinner might be easier, but his stomach certainly doesn't appreciate the idea.
Darling's tail flicks and shifts against his palm, and suddenly his sensitive nose is really focused on the scent of the sea. And beneath that, what he knows as the scent of fresh sea food.
Jing Yuan grins to himself, looking back at Darling. “Perhaps,” He mutters. “I can have my cake and eat it too.”
Darling tilts her head. “You want cake for lunch? That's not very balanced.”
His tail curls and flicks slowly, eyes dilating. He sees the same behavior whenever he watches Mimi take notice of a rat, muscles coiling and ready to capture her prey. “No, I mean,” He lifts his hand higher, getting a better look at her. “I wish to spend more time with you, you wish for me to eat a proper lunch. I think we both know there's a simple solution to both issues.” He emphasizes his words, polished teeth clicking together.
Darling's eyes instinctively go to his lips and she blushes. “Um-”
“Such a shy little thing, aren't you?” His voice is teasing, leaning forward so his lips brush her body. He can really smell her now with how close she is. It makes his mouth water, stomach nearly screaming at him to be given it's sea food prize. “No matter how many times we do this, I never get tired of your reactions.”
Darling squirms under his touch, but the gentle strength of his hand is firm as it keeps her in place. “H-hang on! I haven't even agreed to a-anything!”
He looks down at her, golden eyes smoldering. “Do you oppose?”
She blushes harder, the color of her face nearly a perfect match to her bright tail. “I didn't… specifically say that.”
Jing Yuan grins. This was all part of a little game he enjoyed playing with her. Watching her get embarrassed, squirming in his grasp before she relented. It satisfied some long buried instinct in him, the need to hunt. The desire to play with his food.
If she ever did truly cross into being uncomfortable, not wanting to play along, then he'd place her back in her tank no problem. But he knew she liked his teasing just as much as he did.
“Then,” His hand suddenly moves and she yells, flipped upside down and dangled above the ground so far below her. Her tail is pinched between his fingers. “You wouldn't mind letting me indulge? When I have such a busy day ahead of me, there really isn't a better way to keep me motivated than being rewarded with my favorite meal.”
She looks away, struggling against her inability to truly escape his eyes right now. “Usually rewards come at the end of a long day, not the middle.”
“But a full stomach is enough to keep me going through all my tasks, and I can look forward to relaxing in bed at the end of the day knowing my favorite little mermaid was the one giving me the energy I needed.”
Darling grumbles under her breath, but she's stopped squirming in his grasp. This is the part of the hunt where he knows he's won, her reluctance fizzling out. “At least I'd already finished my rock formation.”
Jing Yuan looks truly smug now, lifting her higher. “You always treat me so well, my Darling.”
His lips part below her, giving her a moment to take in the sight of his tongue poking out of his mouth like a red carpet. His sharp canines guard the entrance, designed for tearing apart meat. Perfect for biting into little morsels like her. Darling knows they would never dare, though. As dangerous as the mouth of a lion can be, she's never been treated with anything but affection by it.
His warm breath washes over her, encasing her as she is lowered into his maw. His soft tongue greets her first, sliding across the top half of her body. She feels more than hears him sigh in relief when he tastes her.
She's eased deeper into his mouth, darkness wrapping around her. The only light came from behind her, but the steady stream of it was cut off when he closed his lips around her hips. Her tail was left dangling outside of his mouth, flopping uselessly in the air. Darling whimpers as she's shifted around by his tongue. He's tasting her, sucking on her body like it's some kind of candy.
Jing Yuan leans back against his desk, moaning around his treat. This is one of the parts he enjoys most; the weight of her on his tongue is solid, her taste flooding his mouth and overcoming all his other senses. He swallows around her, a rush of saliva flowing down his throat and taking some of her flavor with it. His stomach groans, feeling teased by the hint of what's to come. Her hands try to find purchase on his tongue, but for the most part she lays still. She's used to his antics by now and knows she can't really do much beyond let him get his fill before making the final move.
He stands there for a moment, keeping her in place with the press of his teeth while he rolls his tongue in his mouth. Every inch of her top half meets the press of his tongue. No part goes unsampled.
He gets so lost in his tasting, he ignores the firm knock at his door. He doesn't hear the quiet but exasperated sigh on the other side, either. He only pays heed to the fact there's somebody there when the door bursts open, and his chief navigator Fu Xuan forces him to acknowledge her.
He feels like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar, eyes flying open to make contact with Fu Xuan's. Darling's tail remains outside his lips, limply hanging in place.
Fu Xuan folds her arms. “What are you doing?” As if the answer isn't obvious, she just wants him to explain himself.
Quickly, he jerks his chin up, tongue curling and slurping the rest of Darling between his lips. A muffled squeal accompanying his actions, he swallows heavily; an obvious bulge travels down his throat. Only he knows the moment she hits his stomach, her subtle weight falling into place.
Jing Yuan hides his lips behind his fingers politely. “Having lunch.” He muffles a belch with his hand, not wanting to appear crass.
Fu Xuan just sighs. She's as used to Darling is with his antics, but is much less fond of them. “Right.” Her tone is clipped, wanting to move along. “If you're done with that, you're needed at the helm. Are you ready? Or do you need a moment to settle your stomach?”
He knows, as much as he'd like to take the opportunity to avoid his duties, the offer isn't sincere. “I'll be there momentarily, don't worry. My stomach won't be any issue now that it's been fed.”
Fu Xuan takes her leave and Jing Yuan sighs. He lays his palm flat to his abs once the door is closed. Darling is small enough that his stomach remains mostly flat, though looking closely there's a slight bulge in his firm muscles. And when he presses his palm a little harder on his abdomen, he can better feel the squirming within. He'll never get enough of the sensation, her slick tail twisting and wriggling against his stomach walls as they pulse against her. Even as she tries to get comfortable, it is already seeking to coax her into submission. He rubs his hand in slow circles on top of her and feels her squirming slow. “That's right,” He murmurs, voice low and soothing. “Get comfortable. I didn't mean to be so rough with you, but it's ok. I've got you, my Darling.”
Her movements stop after a moment, and all he feels is the vibration of his stomach grumbling. It's rather pleased as well, easily accepting the meal it's been given and becoming active. He pats it, satisfaction coursing through him. “Alright, little fish, let's get going. We've got work to do.”
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