#I'm thinking about making some tutorials soon too

[bubbleggum444]

—❝LO۷ESTⱤUCK FAN❞

𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 damian wayne x fem!reader, youtuber!reader au, fluff, 2k+ wc.

𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑠 now that you've started accepting fan mail, damian jumps at the chance to send you something (though, honestly, he’d send himself if he could). pt 2 of "unexpected crush?!" (@liabiamiakiawia hope you like it 🫶🏻) pt 3.

No. Freaking. Way.

Was this a dream? A hallucination? Some cruel trick of the mind?

There was no way she actually posted her address. But as he blinked at the screen, rereading the words for the hundredth time, the reality hit him like a Batarang to the chest:

"Accepting fan gifts/letters! Address & city number: xxxxx. Can't wait to see what my luvies gift me :)"

His heart stopped. Then restarted at double the speed.

He. Was. Ecstatic.

Well—ecstatic in a very Damian Wayne, son of an assassin and the Dark Knight, kind of way.

A normal person might be pacing, grinning, maybe even screaming into a pillow. But Damian? He just sat there, staring at the screen, his grip tightening on his phone as his brain raced a thousand miles per second.

This was huge. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The only chance he’d ever have to send her something, something meaningful—something that would make her smile.

Immediately, he started skimming through her videos, mind buzzing with possibilities. What did she like? What did she need? What could he give her that would stand out from the rest?

Something perfect. It had to be perfect.

After intense (possibly obsessive) research, he finally settled on three things:

1. A Beauty of Joseon skincare set—not that a face as flawless as hers needed skincare. If anything, the skincare needed her.

2. A cute hairclip set—he remembered her gushing over some in a video. Hers were old, but she hated overconsumption, always mindful of her brand collaborations (another thing about her that made his heart do weird things: her caringness for the planet).

3. Some top-tier Chinese makeup—only the best for her.

His lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he saw the total.Just a casual $1K. Nothing much for a Wayne.

Then again… if she asked, he'd get her the moon and stars. Nothing was ever too much for her. Ever.

By the time he finalized his list, it was nearly noon. And by the time he finished hunting everything down in-store, it was noon.

Now, back in his room, Damian sat cross-legged on his floor, staring at the disaster zone of wrapping paper around him.

He exhaled sharply, frustration bubbling up as he crumpled yet another piece of pink wrapping paper—now a casualty of way too much tape—and chucked it aside.

This was so new to him. He barely ever gave gifts, and even when he did, Alfred was the one who wrapped them.

With a sigh, Damian pulled out his phone and searched, How to wrap gifts (EASY and pretty).

Following the tutorial with painstaking precision, his thoughts started to wander.

It wasn’t like he was an idiot. After a full week of stubborn denial, he’d finally accepted it—he had a crush. A real, actual crush on a girl he’d never even met.

And honestly? That annoyed him. Apparently, there was some illness where people obsessed over their favorite celebrities or internet personalities.

But he wasn’t sick! Sure, there were plenty of things wrong with him—a packaged deal that came with being the son of his parents—but this? This wasn’t an obsession. And he was definitely not a stalker.

He just... really liked this girl.

Pausing mid-task, he set down the half-wrapped package and reached for a pen and paper.

"Dear ___,My name is Damian Wayne. I'm a teen from Gotham..."

Hours passed—writing, re-writing, crumpling papers, fixing the bow on the package that would soon be crossing oceans.

Finally, Damian collapsed onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He sighed.

Please let this work.

Sitting up, he picked up the now perfectly wrapped gift box, his fingers absentmindedly tracing along the frilly bow.

And then, without thinking, he brought the box to his lips, pressing a light kiss against it.

Oh. Oh.

A wave of déjà vu hit him— reminding him of the air-kiss he tried to catch through his laptop screen a week prior.

For a second, he just sat there, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips before he scoffed softly at himself.

Damian Wayne had officially lost. He liked her. Like liked her.

And now, all he could do was hope—pray—that this box, this dumb little package of gifts, would somehow, someway, connect them.

Maybe. Just maybe. Something real would come out of this stupid crush.

"Tch… emotions suck."

He laughed under his breath, though there was no real bite to his words.

Setting the package on his bedside table, he turned off the light and crawled into bed.

Tomorrow, he’d send it.

And then? He’d wait.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

𝑏𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑢𝑚444©

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 <𝟑

[purinfelix]

i like me better when i'm with you - s. jake ᯓ★

💭₊˚⊹ to be young and in love in New York City

summary: the rooftop of your apartment seems like the only safe haven in your busy life as a New York college student - until a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger introduces the possibility of something new ─────── college student reader x jake || not really a college au since he's a dropout lol, sorta angsty sorta just wholesome || w/c: 2.1k

a/n: aka i've been suffering through uni and exams and needed something self-indulgent to remind me there's more to life than readings and tutorials

Things moved fast in the city.

Subways screeched loudly through stations, people seemed to be pushing and bustling past you on the street in every direction - hell, even the rats scurried like they had some place to be. It was hectic, and keeping up with it had been something you'd learnt to deal with since moving to college.

Your workload didn't exactly make it much easier, though, since your to-do list soon became a never-ending carousel of tasks. Complete this assignment, finish this reading, and chase this classmate up on your group project. Your days sped past, and even though you tried to fill every possible second with productivity, you could never shake the feeling that you were falling behind.

Moving to a city like this, you'd think it would've been easy to make friends - and it was, at first. But keeping them seemed the real challenge as, with everything else, they came and went without so much as a care. You'd buddy up with someone for the semester, but only enough for you to have someone to sit next to in lectures or make small talk with in the halls. It never reached beyond that, though, and before you realised it, you were halfway through your second year without so much as a friend to call up for coffee.

It didn't matter, though, you had more than enough things to worry about without the childish concern of having friends. But still, in between missing subways, cramming for exams and struggling to fill your fridge with anything other than energy drinks, it could be a lot to handle alone.

And when it became too much, you'd often find yourself wearily climbing the fire escape of your apartment complex to reach the rooftop. From there, everything looked smaller, less significant, like it wasn't screaming in your face to "do this" and "be there". It was a little pocket of peace that you had managed to forge for yourself in between the worn-out beach chairs and dying plants that had clearly seen better days. And best of all, no one else was ever there to bother you.

At least, not until today.

The top of the stairs creaked with your weight as you pulled yourself up onto the rooftop. As you did, though, you paused, your foot hovering over the last step as you noticed a figure sitting a little in the distance. You might've expected a neighbour, one of the guys who worked in the nearby convenience stores, maybe even a stray cat if you were lucky.

What you weren't expecting was him. He sat on the edge, a daring act you'd not even considered doing, legs swinging calmly as the headphones hanging from around his neck leaked faint music that he nodded along to. His jacket looked worn-in from the rips and holes in it, though the several earrings decorating his lobes shone in the moonlight enough to catch your attention.

Your first reaction was to instantly retreat, but you soon proved unlucky enough to step a little too heavy to make a noise loud enough to catch his attention. His head whipped around almost instantly, though his expression stayed calm as he did, only slightly lifting an eyebrow in amusement.

"Hey," he calls out, and you feel a twist in your stomach once you realise you have no choice but to respond.

"Hi," you chuckle a little awkwardly, "I was just going-"

"No, it's okay, you can stay," he hums, seeing right through your obvious bluff, I mean, I don't own the place or anything."

You bite your bottom lip as you consider his offer, and the thought of your empty apartment, the desk littered with open textbooks and half-scribbled notes, is enough to accept it. Carefully, you pad your way over to him, not really knowing what to do with yourself since you'd never had company up here. You're considering walking over to your usual spot alone, but he doesn't seem to share the same sentiment.

"Didn't mean to steal your spot," came his voice, though he turned back to look out at the skyline as he spoke. "Didn't think anyone actually used this place."

"How'd you even get up here?" you ask.

He nods to the fire escape. "Same as you. Been coming up here at night recently."

"Why?"

He shrugs, calm and cool. "Why not?"

You don't answer, just move a little closer so that you're standing against the ledge beside him. From here, you can make out his features in the soft evening light. He looked about your age, with a soft, boyish energy to him that you could tell from how he spoke to you. As he nodded along to his own music, his dark hair fell over his profile, and as he brought up his hand to brush it away, you noticed several rings adorning it.

"Are you from this building?" His sudden question surprises you, forcing you to clear your throat awkwardly to hide the fact you were obviously staring at him.

"Yeah, the sixth floor." You say curtly, not even pausing to question why you willingly told a complete stranger that.

He nods, thoughtfully, but doesn't respond.

"How about you?" you press.

"Oh, well, my buddy just moved in on the second floor so I'm crashing at his."

There's a beat of awkward silence in which you both just nod in understanding, heads turning back out to the open skyline.

"Are you a student?" you ask before you can stop yourself.

He hangs his head, smirking to himself as if he knew the question was coming. "I was, dropped out a couple years ago."

You glance over. "Why?"

He shrugs, and it's so casual you almost don't notice the slight hurt hiding behind it. "Didn't really see the point in it, I guess. I've never really been good at all that school stuff, anyway."

A soft laugh escapes your lips as you try to match his laid-back tone. "Must be nice, not having to stress out about assignments and deadlines every second of the day."

He casts a sideways glance at you, the corner of his mouth tugging at an amused grin. "You say that like you don't have a choice."

"Well, that's sort of the point of college, is it not?"

"Maybe," he sighs, "or maybe you're just letting it eat you alive because you feel like you have to."

You scoff lightly, though it comes out more defensive than disagreeing. You don't want to admit it, but he's caught you off guard. You've grown so used to being praised for stressing yourself out, to being validated for the effort you were putting in. It always felt like it was your responsibility to be stressed, and this was the first time someone had challenged that.

The wind picks up slightly, brushing your hair across your face, and as it does you let out a sigh - one that feels like an unloading of days, weeks, months of stress.

You see his gaze flicker to yours, and for a minute it just washes over your face, almost as if he's studying you. Then he leans forward, patting the ledge beside him.

"Come sit," he says, his tone gentle, inviting.

You hesitate, eyes jumping between his and where he sits, his legs freely swinging above the empty air and you feel something in your stomach twist. "I'm good here," you say curtly.

"Scared of heights?"

"No," you blurt out a little too quickly. Then, quieter, "just, doesn't look safe."

His expression softens into something bordering on amused, and you're somewhat relieved that he's not judging your childish fear. "It's solid, you're not going to fall."

"That's not convincing."

"Even if you did, I'd catch you," he states - and you feel your heart flutter a little, not because you actually believe him, but because he sounds like he really means it. Still, you can't push yourself to move.

Strangely enough though, his smile only grows as he leans in, catching your eye with a playful glint in them. "Okay new offer: if you fall, I'll jump too."

That earns him a surprised laugh of disbelief. "That's probably the worst deal I've ever heard."

"Maybe," he says, leaning back, "but at least you'd have company on the way down."

You think for a second, chewing on your bottom lip as you study the ledge. Carefully, and as slowly as possible, you swing your legs over and edge ever so slightly until you're beside him. You clutch your hands together, unable to stop them from shaking.

He watches you silently, and you're not sure if his gaze makes you more or less nervous.

"See?" he says. It's so silent up here, and the two of you are so close that he barely has to whisper for you to hear him. "Not so bad."

Nodding slightly, but shakily, you turn to look at him again - now able to fully see how the breeze picks up the edges of his hair, brushing them back, how the moonlight glints on his earrings, and the way his expression is relaxed. For a minute, you consider how strange it is - two years of living in one of the busiest cities in the world, and this chance encounter feels like the most genuine connection you've had.

The quiet stretches out between you two again, but this time it doesn't feel awkward. It feels like letting out a breath you'd been holding onto for years.

Your eyes tilt upwards as you force yourself not to look down and take in how high up you are. From this angle, the skyline is even prettier, the buildings shrinking down as the chaos of the city dulls into a low hum. And for once, you're not thinking about unread emails or that group project you're basically carrying alone.

"Do you come up here often?" you ask, your voice soft.

"Only when I feel like I need some quiet from everything, you know," he sighs, "silence is hard to find in this city."

You laugh softly. "Yeah, sometimes I just need to feel like the world's not spinning out of my control. I get so busy I forget what it's like to just... stop."

He glances sideways at you, raising one eyebrow. "Maybe you should do it more often."

You laugh again, but this time it's low, cynical. "I've got a lecture at eight tomorrow and about a thousand things due, can't really afford to stop when every second passing by feels like a waste."

"Then don't go."

His response is so quick, so casual, that it catches you off guard and all you can do is blink as you let out a soft, "what?"

He shrugs, almost like it's the simplest thing in the world. "Skip it, just once, I'm sure you can afford it. Sleep in, grab coffee with me, and we'll walk around or something. You can tell me all about the annoying people in your class or whatever."

You shake your head but can't help the smile spreading across your face at his offer. "I don't even know your name," you offer as a lame excuse.

"Would that really change much?" he asks teasingly, "I can tell you don't want to go to that lecture anyway." You offer a half shrug, looking away from him, a little embarrassed at how easily he sees through your facade.

"Jake," he says finally, like he's resigning himself to you. He leans back, offering a hand to you, and for a minute, you just stare at it, at him, before shakily reaching out to take it.

"I'm not saying I'll skip," you warn quickly.

He squeezes your hand lightly in reassurance, his smile just growing, "I'm not saying you have to, just think about it."

You nod, feeling the same twist in your stomach again, but this time, it's different. It's not nerves, it's something warmer, something comforting yet exciting - something you almost forgot you could feel.

Silently, but still holding your gaze, he slips back onto the rooftop. He walks backwards, his hands shoved into his pockets, and you turn yourself around to watch him. "Tomorrow, at eight thirty, I'll be waiting by the lamp post on the corner. If you show up, your coffee's on me," he calls out, pointing a finger at you.

"And if I don't?" you challenge.

He shrugs, grinning to himself like he's enjoying this way too much. "Then at least I know where to find you."

With a final gleaming wink, he disappears down the fire escape, leaving you alone on the rooftop once again. It isn't until the wind blows that you realise how warm your face is, or how wide you've been smiling this entire time. Carefully you push yourself off the ledge onto the rooftop, your heart buzzing with a newfound excitement.

Surely skipping one lecture couldn't hurt.

[albanenechi]

links & faq 🌞

Welcome and tysm for stopping by! 🌻🌻

You'll find all my important info condensed into this pinned post, which is all the places you can find me and some frequently asked questions ����

✦ Ko-fi - free brushes, donations, and other downloadable goodies soon 💖

✦ VGen - commissions

✦ linktree - all my socials!

...

Do you accept requests/suggestions?

Yes! These might take a while before they pop up in my socials, but I'm always open for these c:

Do you do bases/poses commissions?

Yes I do comms too! Turnaround time is 2 days up to 2 weeks if I'm busy. Check my VGen link for more info!

How should we credit you when using your bases/pose references?

I require credit in these cases: when my bases are traced, drawn over, or used to do commissions. A tag/mention is enough 😊 If you’re using them just as pose reference there’s no need to credit me since poses are universal, but feel free to tag me if you want! I love seeing your drawings and appreciate it a lot 💖

Do you have tutorials/tips for drawing?

I've made one tutorial so far 😭 it's on my TikTok! Might do more in the future but I'm very slow, bear with me 🥹 Anyways, here's some tips I've shared before:

Doing timed figure drawing/art studies often (Line of action is a great tool for that). Don't think too much about making mistakes while studying, own it and move on; you'll start seeing the basic shapes and capture the movement of the pose more easily as you practice!

Read anatomy books, anatomy for illustrators specifically. Proportions and general shapes of the body are a foundation for everything else. Some authors and books I like: Gottfried Bammes, Michael Mattesi, Michael Hampton, morpho's books.

[wombywoo]

Ok! I've finally decided to put together a (somewhat) comprehensive tutorial on my latest art~

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard, but I always find that this is a crucial starting point in any art piece I intend on making. Especially if you're a detail freak like me and want to make it as realistic as possible 🙃

As such, your web browser should look like this at any given point:

Since this is a historical piece, it means hours upon hours of meaningless research just to see what color the socks are, but...again. that isn't, strictly, necessary 😅

Once I've compiled all my lovely ref pics, I usually dump them into a big-ass collage ⬇️

(I will end up not using half of these, alas :'D)

Another reference search for background material, and getting to showcase our models of choice for this occasion~

When picking a reference for an actor or model, the main thing I keep in mind (besides prettiness 🤭) is lighting and orientation. Because I already kinda know what pose I'm gonna go with for this piece, I can look for specific angles that might fit the criteria. I should mention that I am a reference hound, and my current COD actor ref folder looks like this:

Also keep in mind, if you're using a ref that you need to flip, make sure you adjust accordingly. This especially applies to clothing, as certain things like pants zippers and belt buckles can be quite specific ☝️

Now that we've spent countless hours googling, it's time to start with a rough sketch:

It doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just a basic guideline of where you want the figures to be.

The next step is to define it more, and I know this looks like that 'how to draw an owl' meme, but I promise--getting from the loose sketch above to below is not that difficult.

Things to keep in mind are--don't go too in-depth with the details, because things are still subject to change at this point. In terms of making a suitable anatomically-correct sketch, I would suggest lots of studying. This doesn't even have to be things like figure drawing, I genuinely look at people around me for inspiration all the time. Familiarize yourself with the human form, and things like weight, proportions, posing will seem a little more feasible.

It's also important at this stage to consider your composition. Remember to flip the canvas frequently to make sure you're not leaning to one side too often. I'm sure something can be said for the spiral fibonacci stuff, which I don't really try to do on purpose, but I think keeping things like symmetry and balance in mind is a good start ✌️

Next step is just blocking in the figures. Standard. No fuss 👍

Now onto the background!

It's frankly hilarious how many people thought I was *hand-drawing* these maps and stuff 😂😂 I cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult that would be. So yeah, we're just taking the lazy copy and paste way out 🤙

I almost always prepare my backgrounds first, and this is mostly to get a general color scheme off the bat. For collage work, it's really just a matter of trial and error, sticking this here, slapping this there, etc. I like to futz around with different overlay options until I've found a nice arrangement. Advice for this is just--go nuts 🤷‍♀️

Next, I add a few color adjustments. I tend to make at least 2 colors pop in an art piece, and low and behold, they usually tend to be red and blue ❤️💙There's something about warm/cool vibes, idk man..

Now we move on to coloring the figures. This is just a basic block and fill, not really defining any of the details yet.

Next, we add some cursory values. Sloppy airbrush works fine, it'll look better soon I promise 🙏

And now--rendering!

I know a lot of beginner artists are intimidated by rendering, and I can totally understand why. It's just one of those things you have to commit to 💪

I've decided to show a brief process of rendering our dear Johnny's face here:

Starting off, I usually rely on the trusty airbrush just to get some color values going. Note--I've kept my sketch layer on top, but feel free to turn it on and off as you work, so as to not be too bound to the sketch. For now, it's just a guideline.

This next stage may look like a huge jump, but it's really just adding more to the foundation. I try to think of it like putting on make-up in a way~ Adding contours, accentuating highlights. This is also where I start adding in more saturation, especially around areas such as ears, nose and lips. Still a bit fuzzy at this point, but that's why we keep adding to it 💪

A boy has appeared! See--now I've removed most of the line layer, and it holds up on its own. I'll admit that in order to achieve this realistic style, you'll need lots and lots of practice and skill, which shouldn't be discouraging! Just motivate yourself with the prospect of getting to look at pretty men for countless hours 🙆‍♀️

I'll probably do a more in-depth explanation about rendering at some point, but let's keep this rolling~

Moving forward is just a process of adding to the figures bit by bit. I do lean towards filling in each section from top to bottom, but you can feel free to pop around to certain parts that appeal to you more. I almost always do the faces first though, because if they end up sucking, I feel less guilty about scrapping it 😂 But no--I think he's pretty enough to proceed 😚

They're coming together now 🙆‍♀️ Another helpful tip--make sure you reuse color. By that, I mean--try to incorporate various colors throughout your piece, using the eyedropper tool to keep a consistent palette. I try to put in bits of red and blue where I can

Here they are fully rendered! Notice I've made a few subtle changes from the sketch, like adjusting the belt buckles because I made a mistake 😬 Hence why you shouldn't put too much stock in your initial sketch~

The next step is more of a stylistic choice, but I usually go over everything with an outline, typically in a bright color like green. Occasionally, I can just use my initial line layer, but for this, I've made a brand new, cleaner line 👍

And the final step is adjusting the color and adding some text:

Tada!! It's done!

All in all, this took me the better part of a week, but I have a lot of free time, so yeah ✌️

I hope you appreciated that little walkthrough~ I know people have been asking me how I do my art, but the truth is--I usually have no clue how to explain myself 😅 So have this half-assed tutorial~

As a bonus, here is a cute (cursed) image of Johnny without his mustache:

A baby, a literal infant child !!! who put this wee bairn on the front lines ??! 😭

Anyway! peace out ✌️

[mysteryshoptls]

Ace Trappola Shared Lines

Tutorial: Let's get goin'!

Level Up 1: Woah, that's felt pretty good!

Level Up 2 / Buddy Level Up: Yay, level up ♪

Level Up 3: I gotta surpass all the others even more.

Level Max: Yo, this feels awesome. I bet even helping a certain magicless someone'll be easier at this rate.

Vignette Level Up: Hahah, guess things like this can happen time to time. I always thought your type wasn't really my bag, but maaaybe it is. Not!

Spell Level Up: Think I could take on the Housewarden with this power? ...Ack, what I said stays between us ♪

Friendship Level Up: Looks like a pretty snazzy room, but I bet you’ve just swept all the trash under the furniture! …I’m kidding, I’m not gonna go look for any, so don’t kick me out!

Friendship Level Max: Hey, can I put something in this guest room, too? I bet I’ll be coming around a lot more often, and it’s a pretty big room, so I can have a little space, right?

Uncapped: Ehhh, don'tcha think you're putting too much on my shoulders? ...Well, whatever. Guess I'll just have to keep on doin' my best!

Groovification: I'm gonna keep on showing you how cool I can be, so keep on watching.

Lesson Select 1: Which class are ya taking? Hurry and choose one already. Doesn't matter to me, I can sleep through any one of them.

Lesson Select 2: Look atcha, all excited... Ah, right, fine, I'm coming! You don't need to pull that hard.

Lesson Select 3: Make sure you're keepin' an eye on Grim between classes, too, Prefect. He was gettin' a scolding from the professor for trying to run off again the other day.

Lesson Start: Let's get this done fast.

Lesson Finish: Doneee! Augh, I'm sleepy.

Battle Start: Okay, I’ll get this done fast.

Battle Won: No excuses, it’s my win.

Trouble 1: Whaaat, you’re gonna take their side over me?

Trouble 2: …Yeah, you’re right, I got a little heated there. My bad.

GIFT CALENDAR 2023: “How will you be spending the day?” Today? Well, it’s snowing outside, and I got no club practice, so maybe I’ll check out on my streaming service a movie or show that catches my eye. I can stay warm and cozy in my room, all while munching on some snacks. Don'tcha think we deserve lazy days like this sometimes?

Birthday Login Message 1: Hey, Prefect. Do you know what today is? Today is not an Unbirthday… It’s Ace-kun’s birthday! That means I’m the star. I wonder what I should have you do for me.

Birthday Login Message 2: Hey, Prefect. Don’t you have something to say to me? …The quiz? Aah, the magical history one. I already said I studied for it. …The cafeteria’s new menu? Yeah, that looked so good, didn’t it? I mean, hey! …Oh, what, you did remember. C'mon, aren’t you supposed to say Happy Birthday first thing? Well anyway, thanks!

Birthday Login Message 3: You came to celebrate me? …My birthday is tomorrow, y'know. Aren’t you a bit early? …Pfft, I totally gotcha! I’m just kidding. Did you get all panicky 'cause you thought you got the wrong date? Ahaha, my bad! Thanks for remembering my birthday.

Birthday Login Message 4: Oh, and here you are. You came to celebrate my birthday, right? That’s totally obvious. I wonder what I should ask you to do for my birthday～ …Ah, I feel like eating at a restaurant I’ve never gone to before. Don’t worry, I won’t pick a place that’s way too expensive or anything. Let’s just enjoy ourselves in a restaurant where we don’t need to mind any rules or manners.

Birthday Login Message 5: Oh hey, did you come to celebrate my birthday? Nice timing, we just finished morning basketball practice! My clubmates all wished me a happy birthday, too. Jamil-senpai said it as soon as he saw me, and by some miracle, Floyd-senpai gave me a very normal birthday greeting. I’m sure glad he was in a good mood～ Oh, hey. We should hit the Mystery Shop between classes. …Hm? Why’re you tensin’ up? Huuuh? C'mon, I didn’t say nothing about treating me, now diiid I? Hehe, see you later～

Requested by Anonymous.

[maleyanderecafe]

Predator's Syndrome (Visual Novel)

Created by: @predatorsyndrome

Genre: Romance/Horror

I'll be real with you, when I first played this game I literally missed the entire yandere section and then just decided to wait for an update, but then @clownboymcchucklefuck basically dragged me back in and became a tutorial guide for me, so now we're here! This is a pretty extensive r18 demo with voice acting and secrets and the Predator's syndrome itself is pretty cool- I love the concept of a yandere disease and I wish there were more works that covered this kind of idea.

You don't actually see too much yandere in action if you play the main route of Predator's Syndrome, but rather the alternative/bad endings of the game. So for that reason, I'm going to start out with those then go more in depth with the mainline of the story since it does give insight to what happens in the rest of the main route.

The story starts out with Phos driving out in the rain after work. They see what looks like carlights before swerving and hitting something. They wake up for a bit in what seems like a very long dark tunnel before passing out and waking up in a bedroom. Phos ends up meeting a man called Pierrot who helps them reorient to their surroundings. A doctor named Darsha comes in as well to examine them, explaining that Phos was in a car crash and was carried here by Pierrot to the place they are right now, Venus Grove. Darsha leaves and after a nice talk and painkillers, and Pierrot leaves soon after, leaving Phos to examine the house. Phos can explore the bedroom, the living room, the bathroom and the kitchen. Upon examining the trash can in the kitchen, Phos finds a wet paper band with the name Scaramouche on it. Phos goes to sleep and wakes up better, though they realize that there is no service. Phos resides in the living room waiting for them to wake up. Pierrot fulfills his promise of making breakfast for Phos and the two talk about how Phos is going to have to stay a while because their car is completely totaled and there's no one close enough to fix it. Phos starts to panic, but Pierrot calms them down talking about how nice the town is. He advises going to the tailor (his friend) to get some new clothes and they agree. Darsha comes in to check on Phos along with a teenager named Tartaglia. When trying to be friendly to Tartaglia, they find him to be very volatile and rude towards them, though Pierrot assures them that he's like that to any adults. They both go out to the balcony to leave Tartaglia alone and they meet Rosaura, the tailor who almost drops her box of clothing she was carrying. Pierrot fills Rosaura on Phos' situation and Rosura offers to make the clothes for free. Tartaglia comes to get Pierrot for his doctors appointment and Rosura brings Phos to her shop and starts measuring them for clothes. After some talking and making sure that Rosura doesn't overwork herself, Phos heads out. If they decide to head back to their apartment, they will find Darsha there and she brings them to her doctors office to make them tea. Darsha mentions that the room they were in was decorated according to their preference, leaving Phos very confused. Darsha seems confused as well, calling someone to get more information and Phos picks up the name Scaramouche when she calls. Phos mentions that they found a paper bracelet in the trash to Darsha with that name. After thinking for a bit, Darsha decides to get Phos out of there, revealing a hidden doorway. She tries to get them into it, but Pierrot comes from behind at hits Darsha with her metal teapot. Pierrot tries to grab Phos but Darsha is able to stun him with a stungun. The two duck into the mysterious hallway that Phos remembers in their dreams. Darsha is frustrated, as despite knowing the risks, she allowed something like this to happen and starts explaining to Phos the reason for this place existing, but Phos ends up passing out. Upon waking up, Darsha explains that the town they were in was actually a place to treat the syndrome called Predator's Syndrome, which causes someone to become violently obsessed to a person they're attracted to (basically a yandere disease). We can learn through asking questions through Darsha that Predator's Syndrome is often confused with other similar syndromes, that Scaramouche was the original patient that was supposed to come here, but Pierrot purposefully lied and use the armband to pretend Phos was that patient before trying to get rid of the evidence, that the names are all code names that the patients use for each other and that Phos has no recollection of ever meeting Pierrot before. Phos can also read through some folders found in this room which explain the following :

There are stages to Predator's Syndrome, with younger patients being more aggressive while adults are more manipulative and relaxed. The four stages increase the hallucination and danger that the patients are and in the last stage, they are temporarily stronger, though more sensitive to stress, as well as become much more violent. It seems that the last stage can immediately activate when the patient meets their "prey" (or darling) and there are cases where patients will essentially scratch and bleed themselves to death. Predator's Syndrome seems to be something that has been around for a while, though the origin states about a legend with a goddess trapped inside of a doll. The temple it was in was maintained by two orphaned siblings, and the brother started talking to the doll as a way to ease his loneliness. This causes the goddess to fall in love with the brother, though unfortunately one day, the sister ended up breaking the doll by accident. While they tried to hide it, the goddess ended up invading the brother's dreams, slowly weakening him. After finding out the two siblings were able to trap the goddess back in the doll, which lead to her cursing the sister, stating that any offspring she had will carry a curse. Finally, the last folder seems to be a diary of a Darsha who is taking care of the patients, noting things like giving an artificial ear to Pierrot to replace his missing one or her feelings on making Columbina and Arlecchino roommates.

The two are able to make their escape by going up an elevator and escaping to a nearby gas station outside of the town. There we meet up with two coworkers there, Judy and Toby, who seem pretty rattled seeing the state of the two there. After grabbing the medical kit, we can talk to one of the characters as Darsha uses the phone. After a bit, Phos will go to the bathrooms to splash some water on their face. upon this they start hearing a commotion outside including the sound of gunshots. The door is locked and Phos can either try busting through or giving up. If Phos gives up, they will hear three other gunshots and Pierrot opening the door covered in blood. He tries to reassure Phos who is angrily yelling at him though Pierrot takes them in the end. If they try to break though the doors, they will fail until the last gunshot is heard. After breaking out, they find a trial of blood and the sound of Pierrot muttering. Phos stands there horrified as Pierrot talks to them, stating that he was the one who locked them in the bathroom. Phos starts to freak out when Pierrot comes closer to them with the gun and eventually takes them.

Another ending happens after leaving Rosura's shop and following a sound that leads near the edge of town. There, they find Tartaglia trying to cut a hole in the wired fence to escape. He tries to get them to leave, and if Phos continues to pester him, he will end up killing them. As they die, Tartaglia yells out that this place won't stop him from seeing her. If Phos leaves him alone, Tartaglia will explain that he has someone he needs to meet and that his parents put him there. Tartaglia explains that he knows another way out of the town as he's been monitoring the place and knows that food trucks come in and out and knows that Darsha has a key to get out. Tartaglia assigns Phos to get this key while he distracts her. Phos is able to get into the office and is nearly caught by Darsha, though they manage to escape quickly. The two end up going to the secret passageway and Phos can initiate a conversation with Tartaglia. The most important thing we learn is Tartaglia's crush on a girl in his class, when he was locked in a classroom, she helped give him food and now he's determined to go back and find her. However, upon reaching the elevator, Tartaglia betrays Phos and uses the elevator on his own. Pierrot appears behind them, telling them that he was using them as a scapegoat so that they would get in trouble, and Pierrot forces them back to the town, happy that they will live together forever.

If you play the normal route, instead of going back or going to find Tartaglia, Phos will instead wander into the forest where they find someone following them. Eventually, they will meet another resident named Sandrone who tells them that they're walking the wrong way. We learn that he mostly resides in the forest and once we get back to town, Pierrot comes to pick us up. After doing some grocery shopping, Pierrot heads back and we find Rosura and Sandrone who have gotten some welcoming gifts for Phos where clean up happens afterwards. Upon attempting to sleep, Phos will wake up to a loud noise, like a scream and goes out to try to find the source of it outside. They meet Pierrot outside and tell him about it, though he seems to deny that there were any noises at all. Phos can either go back inside or decide to go on a walk afterwards. Returning back with Pierrot will have him making hot chocolate for Phos where we can learn more about his biological parents, like how his father was a musician or how he learned to be so perceptive over things. If Phos decides to take a walk, they will run into Sandrome who will bring them to an open meadow spot where he will talk about his family. Upon going to sleep, Phos will have a strange dream about going down a path, landing in the middle of the town and seeing a figure looming over them. Upon waking up, they hang out with Rosura who brings Phos to the town's cafe. There, they meet up with another character named Pulcino who discuss about Sandrome for a bit and how he always is able to help people who get lost find their way out. Upon reaching the cafe, the two talk about Phos's injuries and what happened to them during the accident and meets Columbia, the waiter of the cafe. After ordering, Rosura asks Columbia to hangout with them, but she declines as her boss Nella still hasn't arrived. Nella arrives and while talking, Phos gets a headache and Columbia helps loose then bandage on their head. Everyone chats for a while with people and we learned that Pierrot is taking a lot of pictures lately. Upon leaving the cafe, Rosurna and Phos hear Pierrot and another character, Arlecchino arguing, seemingly with Pierrot throwing a rock at Arlecchino, though Phos sees that it was actually Tartaglia who threw it. Afterwards, Phos walks way, where Arlecchino tries to comfort and apologize to Phos after yelling before eventually Sandrome had to take him away. Phos can either go to visit Columbia to help her with orders or with Arlecchino where they see both him and Sandrome chopping wood. Upon going back to the apartment, we can hear Pierrot, Darsha and Tartaglia talking about Tartaglia throwing the rock at Pierrot and Pierrot accepting his apology.

Pierrot and Phos talk about Pierrot's condition of getting hallucinations with Phos worrying about him. The conversation is interrupted by Pierrot's half brother Flavio, the two have a brief conversation and gift giving before leaving. Phos sends Pierrot home to sleep and they have a dream again in the hallway. This time they meet a shadow kid who warns Phos that their choices will have more consequences and tells Phos to check the roof tonight. Upon waking up, everyone is scrambling to find Tartaglia, who has disappeared. After looking around, Phos remembers the dream and goes up to meet with Tartaglia, who is moping, afraid of being adult as it's his birthday soon. They can decide to help him by talking to him or by leaving him be, either way, they eventually are met with Pierrot who talks to him before bringing him inside. We also end up hearing Pierrot, Phos and Flavio talk about someone in town that is kept away from everyone, explaining the scream that they heard a couple of days ago as well as a brief talk from Flavio's dad and Pierrot's stepdad. After a talk with Darsha, Phos heads back to bed.

The next morning, Phos wakes up to find a lady who gives her mail before running of and they find out its the clothes that Rosura made for them. After putting it on, and three days have past, we get to talk with Darsha and the others to plan for Tartaglia's birthday party. They all plan to do their part and hold the party at the church and Phos can decide on who to help. Each route will give more insight into a character and their backstory as they help prepare for part of Tartaglia's birthday, though since Pierrot is the main yandere here, I'll just focus on his route. After quickly getting the music and Pierrot buying Phos an absurd amount of pastries, they end up spotting a black cat with different eye colors. They decide to catch it and get some food to lure it (Phos also realizes that the cat reminds them of Shadow kid). After capturing the cat, Pierrot is able to clean the cut on the cat's ear, which seems to affect him as he himself has also lost an ear. It seemed to have happened in a car accident and Phos empathizes with him. They end up going to Pierrot's place and the two of them cook a meal together after hearing Pho's stomach rumble. The two of them talk for a while with Pierrot naming the cat Eclissi and Pierrot explains the legend of Rebis, a perfect god who was split into pieces, a legend he was obsessed with as a child. He talks about his past and how he was homeschooled and wasn't really able to socialize that much as a result. Pierrot talks about how his parents basically gave him up, basically leading him to be adopted by Flavio's parents. Pierrot gets scolded by Phos for thinking he really was worthless and they are given the opportunity to hug him. Another person named Malvina comes to visit Pierrot, and gets everyone to go to the church to celebrate. After talking to Malvina for a bit we learn that the two were essentially childhood friends, though she gives of the impression of being very distant towards Phos. After talking and meeting up with a bunch of people and the preparations end, Phos is drawn to one of the doors at the church and finds a gift that they decide to give to Tartaglia. The bookshelf nearly falls and Pierrot (or honestly, whoever Phos has the best relationship with) comes to save them and the two have a moment.

So as I said before, I completely missed the yandere endings when I first played the game and was going to just wait for some updates until Gab come in and made me play it. It is very easy to miss the endings if you don't know what you're looking for, and because I am utterly hopeless without a tutorial, that's what happened lol. The way that the story is written is pretty intricate and has a lot of mysteries, with Phos being able to interact with everyone in the town and seeing how they live lives. Most of the characters who have the Predator's Syndrome has some sort of injury, either a missing part of the body (like Pierrot's ear or Rosura's eye) or have scars or other markings on their bodies like burns, foreshadowing the likely more violent tendencies those with the syndrome have as well as the more tough times that they had in their childhood. There's also the mystery of the screaming/encaged person in the town, the dreams that Phos has with the child, how Pierrot knows Phos and what happens if you stay in the town. I like how we're able to learn more about the various inhabitants in town and their lives, seeing how complex their relations are with others.

Anyways, the general premise of the yandere in this one is that it seems to be some sort of syndrome, and implied to be caused by some sort of curse. Having a yandere disease (as best to put it) is always really interesting and I very rarely see it in stories. This means that in theory all of the characters that are kept in the town (besides characters like the doctors and other services) likely are yanderes in one way or another (though to who is beyond me), which means there's probably about eight or so characters that are yanderes with at least four of them being guys and two of them being confirmed to be yanderes (Tartaglia and Pierrot), which means that there's more male yanderes to come, yippee. There's also way more chance to see the type of yanderes that can come from this, with various behaviors such as being more violent like Pierrot or perhaps clingy, protective or delusional. I would love to see what variations of yanderes might come from those who have this syndrome and who their target (or targets) are and how it affects the narrative with Phos. How they will tie this to the legend is also something I'm curious about since it seems to be the place where it first was documented.

Anyways, we see most yandere behaviors from Tartaglia and Pierrot. We'll talk about Tartaglia first before going with Pierrot, since he has less to discuss than Pierrot. Tartaglia is the only teen in the entire town, and he seems to be very abrasive towards adults, generally cursing, swearing and being a bit nervous around them. He is usually paired with Darsha who watches over him, though most of the town seems to care about him and Pierrot acts as sort of an older brother to him at times and they all come together to throw Tartaglia a birthday, though it seems that none of them are really close enough to definitively know what he really likes given that they seem to be guessing in terms of what he might like (with respects to food and decorations). We also do see that much like any teenager, he is afraid of becoming an adult and is suspicious about the town as a whole. In the ending where we escape with him, it is possible to irritate him enough for him to kill Phos, showing he's not against violence given someone irritates him. We also learn that he has a crush on a girl in his class who gave him food when he was locked in a classroom. Based on the interactions we have with him in the tunnel, it seems his abrasive attitude extends to his normal life as well, being rather uncooperative with adults, which makes sense given he also doesn't seem to have the best relationship with his parents, though we do know that he has a big crush on the girl who saved him, given that she's the reason he tries so hard to escape, and knowing that he is one of the people who has the Predator Syndrome, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that he is likely yandere towards this girl. He also does betray Phos in the end by shoving them out of the elevator so that he can escape, so he pretty much has no qualms with getting rid of or betraying anyone who gets in his way of getting back to her. It is kind of interesting to see Tartaglia think fondly of someone because even in the main story, we barely get to see him really that happy, even when Phos is able to talk to him on the rooftop. The soft side clearly shows that this girl is very important to him, even to the point of escaping or even killing someone, due to that yandere behavior.

Pierrot on the other hand is generally really kind to Phos throughout the story. He is the one who takes care of them by cooking food. It's clear that he has feelings of abandonment and self-confidence issues, believing that it was right for his biological parents to abandon him as well as the fact that he doesn't take care of himself like not eating or not telling Phos about his condition of hallucination. I'm not sure if part of this is a kind of manipulation on Pierrots part (though I don't doubt that he was telling the truth about a lot of this) given that he seems to gaslight Phos into believing there was no screaming outside when they did hear it, as well as lying to Darsha about their identity so that they'd stay without question. One of the mysteries the story has is how Pierrot lost his ear (stating that it happened during a car accident but he doesn't seem to remember) and how Pierrot seems to know Phos or has fallen for them. It's possible that the two car accidents, the one that Phos got into as well as Pierrot's own car accident are related somehow, though whether it's because that they are somehow related or if it just made Pierrot sympathize for Phos because of it is kind of unclear. Still, even throughout the main story, we do see Pierrot react unhappily when Phos rejects him in one way or another, such as not holding his hand or otherwise doing something else, though its generally pretty subtle. There's also other things like Pierrot getting into photography or constantly doting on Phos that indicate other things too. In the bad endings, we see more clearly his intentions of Pierrot, especially in the ending where Pierrot chases after them after trying to escape with Darsha, with him trying to kill or incapacitate Darsha by hitting her over the head with a kettle, and eventually killing everyone in the convenience store. It's clear that even in this state, he doesn't really want to hurt Phos and wants to prevent them from seeing him kill the rest of the crew ( which is something he does do successfully). Though that being said, it does show that Pierrot is very good at hiding his intentions since he doesn't seem to show his unstable nature that clearly, at least until Phos realizes that Pierrot has been lying about why they're here. In the other ending, he "saves" Phos after Tartaglia ditches them and then drags them back to the town. While it is obvious that part of this is due to the "syndrome" itself, we do see how Pierrot tries hard to create a situation where the two of them can live rather blissfully together, and how sudden his turn is when they try to leave. It makes me wonder what will happen if Phos does try to leave at some point in the main story given that there are many choices that ask the player if they enjoy living in town or if they want to go back to their normal life.

Overall though, the game is pretty impressively long with a lot of detail to things (including a text file that appears in your folder that seems to indicate some sort of ritual, probably associated to the legend), and gets a good look at the relationship with many of the characters. I am curious to see how everyone's syndrome develops and if there will be many yanderes in this game. It is a decently long game, so please try it out if you are interested.

[lj-lephemstar]

Progress Checkup! (Aug. 2024) | Scratchin' Melodii Devlog

Hello again, strangers! I thought it was about time to add another devlog again! This time I'm trying out a more in-depth approach to this, to somewhat make up for the lack of gameplay previews. Let me know what you think!

For starters, I've revamped the rhythm system 🤯 (like... again! 🤯) Don't freak out, though. Surface level gameplay-wise, it works mostly the same as it did in the last demo, so you won't have to re-learn much. I just needed to redo some things so it'd be easier for me to work with in the long-run while developing the rest of the game. Way less headaches await me now when working on new levels. In the process, I was also able to incorporate some neat new aspects to it and make the core aspects of it better. If you're familiar with older rhythm games, it's now a tad closer to what the dog was doing.

The opponent's icon has been covered up to avoid spoilers. I might be updating all of the character icons soon, actually.

I still plan to revamp the game's tutorial at some point. Something I've noticed is that often, new players don't seem to understand the purpose of the beat dots. Initially, I thought the idea that "on the beat dot = on beat" would come as second nature to new players without need for explanation. However, I hadn't considered that many players are likely to be more familiar with rhythm games that don't even have beat dots in this manner, so they're probably inclined to focus more on getting as close as possible to matching the order of the suggested inputs, and in this game, even at the cost of being off-beat if they aren't keeping up. So, I think the most important thing I need to emphasize when I give a new in-game explanation of the mechanics is the beat dots and really getting new players into the mindset of prioritizing the tempo. I think I should also have the tutorial's gameplay portion try to discretely get the player used to the control scheme to help people who haven't particularly memorized where all of their controller's buttons are without looking. This'll probably result in the tutorial song shown in the demo being replaced in the full game. I do still like its instrumental though, so maybe that will be repurposed for another game feature, at least.

There's probably some guy out there who just REALLY loves Astral Advisory as the tutorial song that will be very upset to hear this. In solidarity with them, I've depicted their enthusiasm with this rather silly image I've created.

As for other levels, now that I've got the updated rhythm system up and running, the 3rd rival battle of act 2 is almost complete. If you didn't like the Pow-Notes in Supastar Tennis, you might not like me very much after this! So far, I think this level has some of the best and most ambitious animation work I've done yet, so I hope you'll look forward to it. Not sure when I'll show a gameplay preview of this level, but I probably will at some point.

Also, I've made a new logo for the game! I'll gradually be phasing this one in to replace the old one, but until the full game releases you'll probably still see the old one hanging around too in some places.

That's all I can talk about for now, but thanks for reading! - LJ

[xoxo-chrmy]

guys these are all concepts okay..... I'm just sharing ideas so don't throw rocks at me or anything!!! 😸😸😸

Tw; some slight blood mentioned and shown, also possible grammar mistakes, and very sloppy drawings bcuz I finished this all last night 😓😓😓

I did wanted this to be a Gritty VHS-glitch horror with some thriller and mystery mixed with late 2000s dating sim aesthetics aaand the fonts being a distressed typewriter font for narration! the cursor could be a literal knife.. and the sound sfx being a static distortion, a faint heartbeats, and some whispers!! I want this slashfic rpg to be the type of Rpg horror game that will probably have two modes to save some ppl's sanity; Normal Mode or Lovesick Mode! Where basically, Normal mode will be quite forgiving and you will be able to rack up bloodlust points of your favorite slashers which means you will rarely get any death screens! And you get to save! Hooray!

And then Lovesick mode will be the harder mode, as it will be completely unforgiving and harder to raise your bloodlust points with your slashers which means it will also equal into more death screens, and maybeee.. you won't be able to save.. (I'm still debating on this) so you practically have to really think carefully about your choices and making the right call while playing Lovesick mode!

i haven't thought much about the mechanics and other stuff bcuz that costs too much brain power but this is my current idea for the inventory system...! That Darkness Meter in the top right is indeed, based off the time in the early Slashfic eps where we had our darkness rising, and I kind of liked that idea and decided to incorporate it here! The Darkness Meter practically acts like a sanity or mental darkness meter, where it rises with terrifying events that happens or other stuff that can cause your sanity to drain, and if you were to have a very high darkness meter, you'd start to get hallucinations (perhaps of shadow people or the slashers attacking you or whatever) and you will begin to get poor choices with your slashers (or other characters) that won't gain you any affection points whatsoever, and maybe it could equal to a death screen if you were to pick the wrong choice of words (to be fair they'd all be bad choices) but anyways!

Those little paper dividers you see on the side of the inventory are supposed to lead you to different options, i have no idea what the First peach colored divider with the paper icon would lead to but the Second blush colored divider with the heart icon would lead to the Slasher Relationship Tracker! The Third glaucous colored divider with the open book icon would lead to the Collectibles you can collect and lastly the Fourth basil colored divider with the question mark icon would obviously lead to a tutorial for all of the gameplay and stuff!! But now it's time to yap about the Slasher Affection Tracker and Collectibles.. sweats

the current concept of mine for the Slasher Affection Tracker.. is to make it look like a document for now! And these documents will all be personalized by their specific Slashers on the page, like Jay as an example would probably have a bunch of stickers on his! But anywho, basically you'd still have the bloodlust or affection meter on the relationship tracker obviously and I incorporated the meter from Slashfic since I had no clue on how to do mine.. and I wanted to add in the Status, a kill or spare status where you can tell how they feel about you, and so you can know if they plan to kill you any time soon! And lastly the Notes part, which is basically notes abt the slashers that will be written down or added with a sticky note whenever your bloodlust with them gets higher! And it's basically a way to get a quick insight on the slasher's personalities and likes or dislikes, or whatever!! It's supposed to help you understand them better so you know what choices to pick if you were to talk to them!

Now unto the Collectibles!! These would be Fun Items you can collect, or Endings you got after each run.. or Entries on the Slashers, aka, their lore! I keep thinking about how I had to write down their lore and replay some episodes just to get a small tidbit of lore, so I had the idea to actually be able to document and save their lore, via a collection of Entries! Each entry would also be personalized by the characters they're about just like the Slasher Affection Tracker, but this time you can track down and collect entries of their lore, backstory or whatever via polaroid pictures or pages or other stuff! (mostly had this idea just to save some slashfic writers) The endings part of the Collectibles could either be; replaying the ending scenes or it's mostly there for collectible purposes.. but yeah this is still a concept

now on to some gameplay mechanics concepts, since I said I wanted some mystery in this rpg version of slashfic..! yeah you can collect these little clues for ideas on your next objective Incase you didn't have any nor have no clue (maybe the tutorial would point out you'd have to collect clues for your next objective) or even collect some lore tid bits for the bloody entries and other such things! you basically be a little detective when you search around cabins or labs or wtv place you may be in to find some lore or clues..

i initially had the first thought to make it where you'd be able to go into first person mode and your knife cursor turns into a magnifying glass or bloody hand cursor and basically you're playing a point and click game when you're investigating whatever you're investigating.. but I don't know if that'd fit so I scrapped it and kept the 3d rpg feel

now! unto the dialogue mechanics that I had in mind! i think it'd be quite fun where during the dialogue, instead of getting some generic choices you have to click on, you'd have a timer suddenly appearing and you'll actually have to hover your knife cursor over to one of them to pick which of the choices seem like they'd get you any blood points or stuff like that!! there's honestly not much going on but i don't have any ideas yet but this is of course just a concept and a messy doodle of my idea but mb chat!

i also think it'd be quite silly where if you were to run into your slashers in the early start or whenever they're mad or whatever.. you could get attacked or chased! Where a Triangular pair of choices would appear and you'll have to Choose with the same knife cursor between: Fight, Flee, or Talk, all while the same timer would begin to count down but suddenly become all glitchy and then have a shorter time limit, which is intended to make you stressed and dreadful!!

Fight = risk of a death screen, but could gain bloodlust points from specific Slashers

Flee = stamina cost, but could could gain bloodlust points from specific Slashers

Talk = high risk but also a high reward (you have to use your knowledge abt them or their emotion to stop them, even gain bloodlust points!)

And if you were to- let's say, get caught while fleeing, get interrupted and attacked while talking or simply losing when fighting: then a Struggle Bar would appear! The struggle bar is a type of mechanic where you need to tap rapidly on the screen/button mash a keyboard button to be able to run away successfully! so this little game mechanic only appears if you're being attacked by one of the slashers and you'd have to rapidly click a button or rapidly tap the screen until the meter turns full so you will be able to momentarily 'overpower' your foe and be able to live!

yeah this is all I have in mind, I guess I could also show my scrapped ideas for the Saves and Endings Collection but yeah that's it!! i might edit this post when I feel like it but anyhow thanks for reading this concept of Slashfic as an Rpg 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😸😸😸😸😸😸

i also ran out of images whoops

[penguinsravioli]

·˚ ༘Crush Confession anthony vaughn x reader

: ̗̀➛⁺ chapter 2 ⁺ previous - next

I’m greeted by my English teacher Miss Obah, otherwise known as Jojo. Everyone scatters to sit down at a table where they know one another. I sit down with the new guy, Malakai Mitchell, and Amerie “Map Bitch” Wadia. Malakai is sitting between the two of us, staring at Amerie.

“What Cunt?” She snaps. “Nice to meet you too” Malaki chuckles. I giggle at his undamaged mood.

He turns to me, I lean my head to the side. “You must be Malakai, I only reckon because you're the only name that was called that I don't know of.” “

Correct, and youuuu?”

“(name)” We shake hands. Ca$h comes in and immediately is bashed by Spider. “Ayyyyy Eshay Eshay Eshaaay” I roll my eyes. Ca$h flips them off, shoving me playfully while passing by. I direct my attention toward Dusty’s group, he whispers something about a gatho . The “cemetery”, it’s a party, a clearing somewhere at the cemetery(obviously).

“Okay. Settle down. Thank you.” She sets down her dog. “Hi everyone, I'm Miss Josephine Obah, but you can call me Jojo.” I put my head on my desk and sigh, getting ready for whatever we’re gonna be doing in here. “Um, I’m an English teacher, so I know some of you..” I look up and she makes eye contact with me. “But I'm sure you're wondering why you're all here” I bet I could guess. “Well, your names were all on the map at the stairwell. The one that’s out of bounds.” BINGO! She then goes on to explain that this class is a special class that's supposed to enlighten us on sex.

A sexual literacy tutorial, as Woodsy calls it.

“S.L.T So weeee’re sluts?” Darren clears up. I snort and hide my mouth with my hands. “That’s enough Come on, everyone…” Jojo sighs. “This class is gonna go back to the basics on sex and--”

“-Because CLEARLY, you all have a lot to learn in that department.” Woodsy, interrupts Jojo. “It’ll happen twice a week, in your own time.” I groan and make a snide look towards Amerie.

“Not until we judge that you've started to respect each other and yourselves.” I think about Missy and Ant. Slamming my head on the desk lightly. “Thanks a lot, map bitch!” Ant throws a paper toward Amerie. Malakai throws his hand up. “Sorry. Um- It’s actually my first day. I don't think I'm supposed to be in here.”

“Legend! Made it to the map before you even started!” Spider comments. I roll my eyes at his voice. Leaning back in my chair. “All right, everybody up!” Woodsy commands. “Okay now, clear these tables to the side please”

I stand still, watching as everyone scrambles to push the tables out of the way for a clearing. “Thank you, Now, I want you all to start walking around the room.” I begin to walk after she beckons us a second time.

“Now, I want you to choose three other people to start shaking hands with.” I shake hands with Malakai first, then Missy, then Dusty. We all stop and Woodsy calls our Spider.

“Spencer, You have genital Crabs” I chuckle.

“Checks out” Darren snips. “Not in real life, thank you, Darren” Spider rolls his eyes. “Put your hand up, Spencer…Now! Hands up, who shook hands with Spencer?” Hands slowly begin to raise, soon enough my hand is raised.

“You all have genital warts!”  “I thought it was crabs?” Malakai says.

“Right, Crabs. Thank you um?”

“Malakai”

“Malakai, Thank you. You all have genital crabs.” I roll my eyes and put my hand down. “Now. What does this highlight the need for?” Ca$h raises his hand.

“Stay away from Spider, he’s chat.” I laugh turning away to hide how funny I find it. “Fuck off, guys!” Spider whines. “No! Condoms” she corrects Ca$h. The bell rings and I quickly make my way to leave. I always try to leave early enough before the hallways get jammed. “Oi!” The fuck does Spider wan’t? “Man bugger off”

“You going to the cemetery?” I halt. “maybe?” “Cool, I’ll make sure to grab condoms in case you and Ant decide to go at it again ” he laughs. “Put a sock in it asshole!” I kick him in his shin and walk off.

“FUCK!” I hear in the distance while I prance along.

Schools over. I have to return home now…should I return home now? Fuck that lets just get it over with. —

 “What’s this I hear about you being on a sex map?”

I stay quiet. The minute I walked inside the house I was berated. My parents were both sitting there like supervillains when the superhero makes their entrance “SPEAK!” My mom yells.

“I messed around a bit, normal teenager stuff….”

“Are you being smart?? You ended up on a SEX map, you know how bad that looks for you?” I hold my facial expression. “You act like I made the map, I just happen to be on it.” They both sigh. “You’re grounded… hand over ALL of your belongings. Think twice if you think you’re getting any of this back any time soon…”

So..I’m probably grounded for like, ever. Glad I have a spare that I bought. Saved up on my money from work to buy myself one. Best part, is when I'm grounded, my parents don’t like to talk to me out of pure disappointment. So it's safe to sneak out during the late , like after 10:30 hours. I’m not gonna sneak out tonight but I seriously do need to figure out what my parents plan on doing Saturday. Probably go out to have some “them” time and think about my actions.

I then begin to hit up Ca$h, through text of course, If I was caught dead calling on this phone I’d be buried.

(NAME)

 You going to the cemetery adlay?

CA$HYYYY

Duh brah, I have to sell

You popping in?

(NAME)

Yeah Nah

Guess who’s groundeddddd… Again, lol

CA$HYYYY

Bloody hell (name) when are you not grounded?

Liked 9:15P.M

I ended up showing up to the party with Ca$h. He and I had been good friends since grade 6. I know about his tough shit and he knows mine. In fact, he was the first person I told that Ant took my card, besides my sister. Who literally freaked upon me dropping.

It had been here a little over 30, and people were coming in quickly. Including Amerie, Darren, and Quinni? Looks like she made new friends. Sick, Sasha is such a bitch anyway. Before me and Missy hooked up, Missy was so broken over her, she deadass was a mess. Malakai makes his way toward Amerie.

“Ooooh I see something blossoming between them Ca$hy Ca$h Caaa$h” He smiles at the nickname. “Oi shut up” we laugh a bit. “Imma go dance bruh , you do your thing though!” I join in with Malakai’s shenanigans.

“You're heaps good at dancing Mal!” “Thanks (nickname)!” It got a little chilly when the sun said goodbye. I was near the front of the clearing too, Totally was a great idea to wear such a skanky-looking outfit then.

“What was it like?” I look up at Spider. “What was what like?” “Getting rooted by Ant of course”. I groan. “Oh my fuck! Do you ever shut up? It’s seriously never that serious lad.” I whisper almost at the end. “Settle down, settle down. Wanna try something?” “With you? Deeply no” I chuckle in disbelief. He rolls his eyes. “Have you ever drank before?” I shook my head. “Nah I don't drink man, It tastes like shit. And I've heard hangovers are a bitch.” I look at the cup in his hand.

“Plus, you probably spiked it.” I drink my soda. “Oi (name)” Here comes the other bug named boy. “I've attracted so many bugs, I must smell” Ant scoffs.

“So funny, look do you at least want to try it once?”

“Absolutely no. If I go back drunk to my parent's house and end up with a hangover the next morning. They're gonna flip even worse than they did last night.” I explain, pulling down the edge of my dress. “Why do you two want me to try it so bad anyway?” Ant looks at Spider and they turn back to me and shrug. “We’ve just never seen you do it.” 

I huff. “persistent little bitches yeah?” Ant smiles, bites his lip, and looks down. I push the cup back toward them. “Nah, still straight man”. Spider scoffs with a smirk and walks back up the hill. leaving us two alone.

“Sooooo…?”

“Soooooooo?” I reply to Ant. “Are we cool? Are wee-”

“Ant we’ve had this discussion already. Let us not push it yeah?” He sucks in his lips. “Yeah..youre right” He begins to turn around, and we see flashlights in the distance. “Shit! Cops are here!” He grabs my hand and we begin running to the clearing. “Cops Cops!”  Everyone begins to thrash and run in opposite directions. Me and Ant are still holding hands when we run to the main entrance of the cemetery.

I struggle to lift myself up the gate and Ant helps. Sasha, then Harper comes next with Dusty right behind her. Dusty comes up from the gate, I look toward Anthony, “Are you coming?”

“Just go Just go!”

As I wait at the bus stop on the street I cannot recognize at the moment, I look down at my feet swinging them.

“I should’ve snagged me a soda..”

“We can go get one at the corner mart” I look up quickly. “SHIT MAN, You fucking scared me you asshole!” Anthony giggles. “Do you want to or not!”

“Piss off man” I laugh as the bus arrives. I walk on, and turn around when I don’t hear Ant’s footsteps behind me. “Are you coming or not?” 

“You told me to piss off!” “I didn't mean literally idiot” I chuckle and grab his wrist.

[ktaerssoi]

Mmmm what about Kate with a partner who’s love language is gift giving, specifically handmade gifts.

Like just imagine Kate being gifted a bouquet of crochet flowers by her partner, I can’t get that image out of my head.

Also do you take anons? can I be 🐹 anon?

handcrafted

kate martin x fem!reader

summary: it was your's and kate's one year anniversary together, and to make it special you made your gift by hand.

(826)

you and kate have had a connection from the moment you met, you guys had ignored it until you finally confessed to her in the pouring rain, a story for another day, but a connection nonetheless.

you guys had made a deal on your six month anniversary that you wouldn't go all out for your one year, so you hadn't. recently, you had been trying to learn how to crochet, seeing some cute crafts that you wanted to make.

one of these crafts, a bouquet of crochet flowers, caught your eye one day while scrolling on Instagram. you looked up a tutorial and quickly got to practicing, thinking that they would make a nice, thoughtful gift for kate.

you had finally gotten the pattern down a few days before you were going to go out. you had made almost a dozen of them, untying and retying them all together until they were to your standards. you felt sort of weird making something so simple for such a big day in your relationship, but at the same time, it felt fitting for you and kate.

-

the day had come, you were woken up by kate bringing you breakfast, more like lunch, in bed.

the two of you had the whole day planned out, you were going to chill at home for a little, maybe hit up the mall, and then go out to dinner at a restaurant you guys had been frequenting more often. you were excited, to say the least, you had gotten ready two hours before you had to leave, wanting to look your best.

you were nervous too, you were starting to get self-conscious about your gift, thinking it was a little babyish. calm down, it'll be fine, it's just kate. you repeated those words in your head until you started to believe them.

you guys were having a great night, the food was great and you were laughing and talking the whole time. you guys had decided to do presents once you got home, feeling like it might be weird to do such a personal thing in a public setting.

you guys were wrapping up at the restaurant, the waiters and waitresses bidding you goodbye, knowing they would see the two of you again soon.

"c'mon y/n, I want to go home! I'm so excited to give you your gift, it's so cool" you smiled as you looked at kate, she was practically jumping off the walls to leave.

"my company isn't enough to keep you here?" you laughed as you walked out the door, watching her face contort to make an argument against your claim. you didn't hear the end of it till you got to the car two minutes later.

your leg was bouncing nervously on the way home, kate had noticed and grabbed your hand halfway there. it calmed you down, even if you didn't want to admit you were stressed in the first place.

you weren't totally sure why you were nervous, maybe it was the fact that you thought kate wouldn't like them, or that you felt like they wouldn't compare to whatever kate gets you.

-

finally, after both of you had changed and taken off your makeup, you were seated on the couch. both of you holding the other's respective gifts. kate had a tiny bag that seemed to hold something fancy. you were scared, to say the least.

you switched bags and to say you were shocked is an understatement. kate had given you a bracelet with what seemed to be hand-polished gems, she had held off on opening hers just to see your reaction.

you jumped into her arms, kissing her face to show your gratitude. "kate, baby, this is so cute, did you make this yourself? i love it so much oh my gosh." you had asked her to help you put it on, not wanting to ever take it off again.

you were sitting on her lap messing with the chain when you realized she hadn't opened your gift yet. "kate!" you gasped, a smile on your face as you reached for the bag, handing it to her. "open it! please? i know its not much but i learned how to make each one individually and it took me actual weeks-" you were cut off by kate kissing your lips, it was a slow kiss, one that expressed just how thankful she was for the present.

"they're amazing babe, im going to go get a vase to put them in." you got up, letting her walk into the kitchen to get a vase. you were still a little shell-shocked about that kiss.

-

the vase of handmade flowers sat on your coffee table for almost two years, only moving when you did. every year since your first anniversary you've added a new flower. every day, it's like walking into a reminder of just how much you two had been through together.

notes: erm chat?? new color?? but also yes, i do take anons! hi 🐹!! anyway chat.. i miss my gf.. YEAH GIRLFRIEND. I TOLD YOU SHE WAS INTO ME. (we've been on one date.) sos chat - kate

kate's gift to you

your gift to kate

[cod-dump]

Braid (teen!Ghost au)

___

It wasn't often that Nik was home alone. Well, alone without any human residents. The fur children flocked to him when it was just him. Riley following his every step, Smokey stalking from a distance, sometime choosing to lay on his lap when he was sitting, and Small Fry insisting sitting on his shoulder to supervise whatever task he was doing.

The boys were out with their own respective friend groups, Gary was spending quality time with Phillip, John was working, and Farah was at her own job. So, Nik was alone, entertaining the animals he brought into the home. He adored them but their clinginess was making it hard for him to work. He could put Small Fry up and Smokey in Kyle's room, but Riley wouldn't be put up quietly. He cries... loudly.

"Children, I need space."

At least Smokey didn't require to have physical contact with him at all times.

"I'm home!"

Riley ran from the room as soon as they heard Farah. Nik sighed and abandoned the radio pieces on the kitchen table, he'll have to deal with that later. He sat back against the chair as Farah walked in.

"Wow. Did you break it again?"

"I did not... it was Piotr."

"I don't think your tech guy would appreciate you blaming him for everything."

"He knows what he did."

Farah snorts before he sits across from him and slumps down. She looked drained, hair falling from it's bun. She was working retail at the moment, getting some pocket money before she fully committed to an university. John and Nik were helping her whenever she allowed it, neither daring to cross her clear boundaries.

"Thought you liked your hair braided?"

"Didn't have the energy for it this morning. Sometimes John will French braid it for me but he was ready to leave when I got up so I didn't ask."

Nik hums, "Maybe I could help..."

"Do you even know how to braid?"

"I could learn. Just need a good tutorial. I'm a visual learner."

Farah huffs with a small smile, "You don't have to do that."

"But I want to."

"... You're going to make me cry, Nik."

"It's just hair!"

The girl stares, Nik knew what John and he did for her meant everything. She lived in their house rent free, Nik helped her get a decent starter car, and they helped her get a job while also helping her get into a good university. She wasn't used to such help, their willingness to do whatever it took to make sure she had a comfortable life.

"Come. I'll find a video and I can practice on the couch. You want pizza?"

Farah quietly nodded and Nik got his phone out to order. He put the order in on the phone, resuming silence after he asked what she wanted and she answered. Nik could see that she indeed wanted to cry so a hug might be a too much for her.

"I... I talked to Hadir yesterday."

"Oh? How is he faring?"

Farah's older brother didn't come around. He didn’t know what the young man was up to or if he needed help, and neither did Farah. He was the one part of her blood family she could talk to and he was never around.

"He's... alive. I keep trying to meet up with him but he won't come around. Nik... could you see if you could find him for me?"

"You want me to find him?"

"I just need to know if he's okay! I'm worried about him."

Nik frowns, "I'll get my guys looking."

"Thank you..."

He really wanted to hug her but he restrained himself.

"I'll put Small Fry up and then we can settle in the living room."

"Okay..."

Farah left first to go change, Nik wishing he could make all her troubles disappear. Sadly, it was unattainable, so he will settle for at least locating her brother and making sure he's alright.

[kusin-tisdag]

Ideas for Legacy-players

So, I'm a game play legacy-player. Meaning that I play legacies and let the game decide what will happen. Therefor I don't have a set plan for my Sims or make them into certain people. However, I have learnt over the years to at least set up certain things. I'm going to make this post to give ideas and tricks to others who play in the same style.

For me, playing a legacy is also about the family, it's history and the context for each generation. It's totally fine to play in other ways, but these are my thoughts on legacies - as a way to tell a whole family's history.

More under the cut because this got long!

Setting up the world

MC Command Center is your friend (here's a good tutorial)! Yes, we have neighborhood stories now, but with MCCC I find that more things happen, but also - you get pop-ups! I have pop-ups for everything that happens, which is important since I also care about my Sims' friends and extended family. (And I love gossip.)

MCCC also let's you control the amount of children your NPC are allowed to have. Since I forgot to fix those settings, I have some Sims with way too many siblings (lesson learned)!

MCCC is also just awesome for the quick "edit household in cas" which is very handy if your Sim is talking to someone with no sense of style. Or wearing broken CC.

When setting up your world, give yourself a moment to think about if you want an empty world or have the premade families in it.

Also, reflect on whether the neighborhoods are close or if they are far apart. The classic "just a loading screen away" or actual travel. For traveling this might be a good mod (I haven't tried it).

I like to keep my NPC in their homeworlds. I use kuttoe's Home Region and Townie Democraphic-mod.

Your generation - and the generation before

I have let generations just be gameplay. Gen 0 of my current one is very much so (and the Vasas was very much that). That's fun to play, but eventually might get.. a bit same same. Now, I try to create more of a story for the Gen that I play. Usually this starts to happen when the heir becomes a teenager. I start to understand who they are and what they might want to do in their 20s. For Una, that was The Strangerville Mystery - which I actually find to be a very good thing to play for a legacy player. So I drop things about their dreams and personality already through their teen years that then lead to their generation.

Take photos! Use the game's cameras and have your Sims photograph each other. I often forget this and I always regret it. Give the heir photos for them to keep, so they can eventually put them up on their walls. This ties them to their heritage - and this is important for me.

Also, think about how to weave in their heritage into their story. Was their parent famous? Has that affected them? Will others talk about their parents or grandparents? No one exists in a vacuum, and neither does your Sims.

I have learned to always move the heir out. I have kept them with their parents before, but it does "muddy" the line between generations and very soon I have too many Sims to focus on - and the heir gets lost. However - if executed well the differences between generations can be highlighted by having them close and interacting. Just take a moment to at least reflect on it.

Inheritance. Sure, monetary. Reflect on how much you want your heir to get help starting out their own life. But also - we all inherit something from our parents. We all take something with us from the generation before. Did they have a happy marriage? Divorce? Single-parent? What fears does your heir's parents have and how do they try to keep your heir safe? This can mean love-advice ("don't date werewolves!") or careers, to lifestyle choices in general. Do they approve? Disapprove? Neutral? Let your heir reflect on these things, at least a little.

Create a community

Already when your Sims are young - give them friends! Sojus guide to clubs is a great tutorial for this. Have these friends follow them through life. I always have my kids get to know children in the neighborhood by having them visit and just ask them to join. Or I add them manually if that's easier.

Then use this mod to add at least some of those kids to your Sims High School-class. (read the instructions!)

Depending on your Sims' story as they become YA/start their gen they might still meet these old friends. Or if they go on their own adventure they might reconnect later in life.

As your Sim starts their own family, add their friends as adults their child will now get to know. Have them over at birthday parties! Make them a part of your Sim child's life too. I always grew up with my mum's friends over for dinner and at my birthday parties. If your Sim's children are at odds with your Sim, these are the adults they could turn to instead.

If you chose to have a Sim who doesn't have a "community" have them reflect on it. If it stands out from your other generations, it should be addressed.

Your Sim

Who are they? How much do you make them into what you want, and how much is their own? This will always be a balance, but usually you'll have an idea about them and who they are as a teen and then I'll try to follow their wants and fears. To follow their lead is usually the best for me - it becomes more fun to follow their whims. Some wants - like breaking up or similar I try to build a story around.

Connect with your Sim. For me, this is done by writing dialogue for them. Some are not comfortable at all with this, but for me it has helped. You do you, but do try different things if you find it hard to connect with them.

For this, I have often found that it's the best if I play a Sim week and then edit. When I edit post I often figure things out about my sims, and how I frame their story.

Age spans. I have changed my age settings so many times (MCCC again!). You can find the ones I have now over here (will be seen fully once Gen 2 starts). Look at other Simmers that you like and see if you can find their age settings. In my game 1 year = 4,2 days and then I just do math and round the numbers.

Falling in love (or not) and family life

Does your Sim already in their teens start dating? Or are they slower to start? This is also depending on how much you play your Sims as teens, or if you still focus more on their parents (probably your current gen). But try to give it a thought, make a conscious choice. A shy Sim might not even dare to make a move while an outgoing might dare more - so use their personalities to help you.

Some marry their childhood best friend. This means you won't have a million dates with different Sims, but you still might want to think on how they keep the spark going. Do they share interests? Can they do more of this?

Some go on multiple dates. Think about how much time and effort you want to put into documenting their trial and errors. Too many posts about different dates that don't lead to anything might not be the funniest to read (or for you to create) (more on this later).

Some get pregnant in their early 20s. Once again, think about how that affects them. Do they want children? (check out this mod!) And having a child while young might affect their other dreams. Have them reflect on this!

And vice versa.

Sometimes, your heir just doesn't seem to be... very legacy oriented. Or maybe this Gen's story is about the tragic death of your heir! Enter - the spare and it’s descendants! Or, if found family is completely fine for you and genetics don't matter, maybe the torch is handed over to a friend's child instead!

And who to choose? I have previously simply chosen my fav. Now I force myself to chose the firstborn. Some use polls to help them!

For legacy players, family is the center of it. But how much? I find this to be a bit difficult to balance. If I have family-oriented Sims they will have many posts about their children but also their parents and siblings. I try to think more when my Sims are not family-oriented and avoid that many posts about every family-member. Because that would change the "feel" or "setting" for my generation. At the same time, I want to get to know my future heir, so their childhood and teen years matter. But maybe let them reflect more on their childhood as they become YA and finish playing your current Generation while you still have them?

Becoming an elder

Very rarely do I play elders. This is a shame, because I do think it's an important life-stage. But since the heir moves out, the previous generation often gets to tend for themselves.

I think playing elders somehow can still be done. I'm planning on having the kind of parents who don't stop meddling in their kid's life, or the heir who just enjoys using their parents money/house/claim to fame for themselves.

I have this mod, and am looking forward to using it more.

If your heir is family oriented, they will most probably want to visit their parents now and then, or have them over for holidays.

Your simblr

So, I guess you're here because you want to post your story. Most of us won't get many followers, so my guide is mostly to make sure I enjoy my own simblr.

Reshade/gshade. It's not the easiest to understand initially, but yes - I strongly recommend it. This can also help distinguish between generations, if you wish for example to give a more "dreamy look" to one gen, a "darker and harsher" to another etc. Do look around and nerd away with this! (1, 2)

When editing: SHARPEN! Resize and sharpen. Look at others, figure out a good picture size and edit. This will help.

Photograph using tab-mode and reshade. And, think about angles! Close ups? Further away? What kind of emotions do different angles create?

Keep the originals, if possible. This has often helped me when I need to make obituaries or for some reason "go back in time". I can then edit the original screenshots, not my edits.

Tag your posts! The amount of time I have forgotten a kid's name but managed to find it because I remember one of their parent's are... plenty. It's also a fun way to see when your Sim met another Sim the last time (especially if it's childhood friends!) Once again - this helps create context and community.

Also tag generations.

Set up some kind of page for your legacy. Have short recaps of each gen, help your readers (and yourself!) to remember what has happened before.

What to post and what to skip: I mentioned it before but multiple dates can get a bit same same. Also homework or running the treadmill (my sims always end up fitness freaks 😅). I usually try to post more the highlights or bigger events, and then use those "everyday"-posts in between. They still add something, and everyday life is still everyday life and a part of your Sim's story.

Poses. Posing might feel very stiff and usually if you have a gameplay-legacy posing Sims will stand out. I mainly use poses for photos that the Sims themselves take. I take posed photos every Winterfest and also at weddings.

In conclusion

Play for you. Play the stories you want. My ideas are mainly a way to remind myself on how to make that happen.

I am a storyteller. When not playing sims or on my day-job, I write. Original fiction, fanfiction, you name it. I love stories and I love characters. I want my Sims to reflect that.

I also do other things to keep me in my current heirs "world". I create pinboards and I follow instagram-accounts that remind me of them. I listen to music that I find capture "their" vibe. This is something I also do when writing, so it makes sense to me.

Not all of your thoughts and ideas or backstory is going to make it into the posts. That's fine. You know, and that's what should matter to you.

And finally: re-read your legacies. You wrote them for you, enjoy them!

And I think that was it! I do use many more mods than I have posted here. I have a resource page, a cc-finds -blog and I also try to link in my posts to any mods that heavily influence something that happens in the story.

Hopefully this was helpful for someone, or at least fun to read!

[tacticalhimbo]

imagine stealing someone's content then crying wolf and saying people are homophobic... for telling you not to steal. could not be me.

anyway here's a convenient web archive link of the exchange (whether or not images load is between y'all and god, my internet is the worst).

as well as my input as the resident queer (joking, but i mean... look at my pfp and url and tell me i'm not qualified-)

like... the hypocrisy. "anyone can make a gif", ok. anybody can edit a screenshot. and yet you say that's art and not gifmaking

newsflash. both are art.

the time it takes you to slap text and glow effects and re-create your mask is equal to (or in some cases, less than) the time it takes to

record/download high quality video footage

upscale it

adjust the speed

adjust the coloring

add individual effects

coordinate the set and time each individual gif to ensure they line up

and render gifsets

especially of the quality we see from people like @alexxmason and @collinnmckinley (whose gifs were stolen)

also...

this is just a false equivalence made by someone who's mad. besides the gifmaking aspect... are you SERIOUSLY saying that writers aren't artists?? aren't creatives who put effort into things??? genuinely fucking confused here, mate.

edit: op blocked me as soon as i commented too, lol.

anyway, going to drop this here since apparently people love stealing shit and think crediting gifs is impossible for some reason

and in case the archive images don't load, this is how the exchange went down when privately asked to delete the reposted gifs. these screencaps were posted by @codcat and come from his instagram, where he reposted the tumblr convo without censoring the url.

meaning that his fans could find people and harass them should they choose to do so.

so much for the whole "not linking to avoid harassment" mentality, huh?

[simpingland]

Hi 👋😊, I think I finally have some ideas

Is it okay that I can send you some more ben plunkett requests? 😌

Can I please send you my first request?

Well the reader (fem pronouns) had a nightmare and he is just comforting her and is just super sweet to her. Please just fluff and maybe friends to lovers.

I thought about these prompts from this prompt list

"Lay your head on my shoulder and try to sleep."

"I'm going to be here when you wake up."

Please? Thank you 🥺😊🫂🫶

Sorry if it's too detailed 🙈

If you have some question or want another scenario, my messages and asks are always open 😌

Study routine// Ben Plunkett x fem!reader.

Summary: exams are on the corner, you and your best friend Ben have an excuse to spend more time together, just to study, right? Right???

Exam time was a bittersweet time for you. Many looked at you strangely when you said it, considering that for others, it was a time that was simply... bitter. But not everyone could understand that for you. This time meant something more. Those were the only weeks where you could spend the whole day locked in your room with Ben Plunkett. Usually, his visits to your house were accompanied by "keep the door open", "it's time to say goodbye, show Ben out the door" or embarrassing interactions between your mother and Ben where they always ended up making fun of you. But during exam time, your parents would let Ben spend the whole day in your room, with the door closed and no distractions. The good grades that followed the end of the school year had reassured your parents, and besides, you couldn't think of a better study partner.

You were going home straight from high school, taking the long way home so you could listen to all the music you couldn't listen to during study hours.

"We should order pizza today," Ben suggested.

"No, we had hamburgers for dinner yesterday, I feel bad for spending weeks feeding myself such greasy food..." You rebutted him. Ben gave you a sideways glance before smiling and denying.

"Stop pretending you don't think it's a dream to have pizza for dinner, breakfast, and snacks."

You smiled too but folded your arms.

"You're not denying me? Too bad, it would have been funny if you had refused only to tell you that I'm already turning to go to the pizzeri."

You let out a laugh, and when you were already ordering at the counter, you took the reins, ordering everything to your liking and knowing that Ben would hold out for whatever you ordered.

"Do you pay by card or cash?" The boy at the counter asked.

"I don't know, ask Ben."

And you stepped back, letting him talk to him. Ben turned to you with a panicked face and moved his lips to tell you voicelessly that he was going to kill you.

"With cash, please."

He put down the bill and put his arm around your neck, playfully shoving you and ruffling your hair as you laughed.

Your parents greeted Ben with their usual cheerfulness, and continued watching TV when they saw that you were ready to start studying. Of course, Ben had offered to give them one of the pizzas you had ordered, which your mother loved, your father accepted, your mother flatly declined, and your father declined almost immediately.

"You're a sweetheart, Ben..." your mother had said, and so you repeated it as soon as you closed the door.

"Of course I am, I bought you pizza."

"If we had salads for dinner, I would have bought them myself."

"Yeah, but you would have made me cry... and no amount of money can heal a broken heart."

"You underestimate the amount of money I would have paid to watch you passive aggressively poke lettuce while crying in a corner."

"You would have thrown money away because you could see me like that during visits to my aunt's house during Christmas."

You laughed and tossed him pen to ask him to start concentrating. You continued the afternoon as you did during studying, introducing and explaining subjects to each other, correcting each other, and in the case of algebra, watching youtube tutorials in silence. Studying with Ben was like a library session, with its silences and repetitions. After a day with him, all the time felt rewarding, and all the learning was useful. You also liked this time because it left you no room to think about the strange feelings your best friend aroused in you, you just enjoyed and studied, the doubts would come later. The pizza was delicious, although it was already cold, and Ben told you about last weekend when he was forced to visit his grandparents. When you went back to studying, the topic you had left to solve was one of the most difficult for you.

"Do you understand it yet?" he asked you after explaining it to you for the fourth time. You nodded, but your eyes glazed over. "Hey, hey, it's okay, I can explain it again..."

"It's just that it's a very important point, and I'm going to fail it..."

"No, you're not going to fail it because I'll make sure you understand it."

You smiled at him and watched him turn a little red. Suddenly moved again by your feelings, you had to look away from him, and you became aware of the whole mess running around the room.

"I'm going to throw away the pizza cartons. Do you want something from the kitchen?" You offered.

"No, but let me help you."

He came downstairs with you, and you were both surprised at the silence in the house. Your parents were chatting quietly in the kitchen, already in their pajamas.

"Wow..." you said, looking at them quizzically, "what time is it?"

"Half past eleven, honey," said your mother.

"Well, I'd better get going then," Ben seemed startled, tossing the empty boxes in the trash and intending to start packing up.

"Ben, wait!" You asked, and he stopped. And not knowing why you had that impulse, you turned to your parents for help. Your mother understood you instantly.

"You don't have to go...stay the night" she offered and you smiled at her gratefully. Ben hesitated, glanced at your father, who nodded in passing, he'd known Ben for a long time now, and looked back at you.

"Sure, if it's no trouble at all," he said at last.

"None. I just think it's a better idea if you don't keep studying. It's important to sleep to retain, " your mother assured him, looked back at you, and winked.

"It doesn't take much convincing to get me to stop studying," Ben joked.

You went back up to your room, set up the mattress with blankets and pillows that Ben had once used from previous sleepovers. Although you didn't remember that the last time he stayed over was a few years ago, and from your bed you saw how the blanket fell short, and his feet were sticking out. You laughed at the image, and he threw a pillow at you.

"Listen to your mother, go to sleep," he scolded.

"I can't...I'm afraid of the giant teenager who has snuck into my room," you told him in a little girl voice, something you knew irritated him.

"I'm more afraid of the farts you might bomb me with at night after pizzas."

Jokingly, you turned off the light, wished each other good night, and promptly fell asleep. Or at least he did. You fell into a terrible nightmare. You were walking along the road that led to the institute, at night and alone. It was cold, and you didn't seem to get anywhere, no matter how far you walked. Suddenly, a car appeared, and as it approached, you noticed that you recognized it, Ben's car. You were glad to see him, and he seemed to see you. He was speeding up to pick you up as soon as possible, and as he was approaching, the car was going too fast, and Ben couldn't stop. He had already left you behind when he disappeared into the darkness, without hearing you call out to him, and you began to scream and cry. Then you noticed shaking, your name, and when you opened your eyes, you saw Ben, illuminated by the little light from the window.

"Hey, hey...easy...wake up, it was just a bad dream..." he whispered to you.

"Ben...thank goodness..." You soothed, hugging him, which surprised him.

"Yes, I'm here. I heard you had a nightmare about me."

"You left me alone on the road, at night..." you told him, releasing him just a little.

"Some asshole I am in your subconscious, aren't I?"

He smiles at you, and you smiled back, somewhat embarrassed that you had woken him up. He wanted to go back to his bed, but your hesitation to let go of his hand made him think you might not want to. He was right. He lay down next to you.

"I hate having nightmares. Whenever I have one, I always have a worse one afterwards."

"You'll have to risk it, you need to rest" he insisted. "Lay your head on my shoulder and try to sleep."

You looked at him with sheepish eyes, afraid to dream about him again. He smiled at you, and some of his confidence rubbed off on you. After all, they were just dreams. You would forget about them in the course of the day. Ben kissed you on the forehead, something he had never done before, before whispering something to you.

"I'm going to be here when you wake up."

You didn't have any nightmares again, in fact, you woke up rested. It was Ben who had a little more trouble waking up. You watched him for a second...yes, you were definitely a little more in love with your best friend than you thought. You had to make a great effort not to think too much about that kiss on your forehead, and you were so nervous about your exams that you didn't notice how flushed Ben was when he remembered he was sleeping in your bed, you next to him. He had memorized the smell of your hair, and feeling your weight on his had lulled him into a sweet sleep he never wanted to wake up from.

Every exam you finished was a reason to get together, always giving each other a hug that attracted the eyes of all the classmates, you reviewed the subjects without being able to avoid being distracted, and Ben loved to review outdoors because the air stirred your hair and he had an excuse to put your hair back in place. You even felt sorry for yourself on the last day of exams, Ben was going to a family meal, and you were back to eating normal food, sleeping alone and spending the evening with people who weren't your best friends. The messages were constant, but never enough. You had just finished reading the approved notes from your email when you heard Ben's car pull up in front of your house. That one subjet that worried you the most, approved. You ran to greet him, shouting your A's into the air, and Ben responded with his in return. He grabbed you as soon as you approached, squeezing you against him, full of joy.

"This deserves a reward," you said.

"Have you missed pizza as your only food as much as I have?

No, you hadn't missed the pizza. You had missed him.

"Of course I have," you lied.

You let him order at his taste that time, which surprised him. You sat at one of the smaller tables, waiting to be served.

"I'm surprised you let me have so much freedom," Ben said, half smiling, half confused.

"Well, it's just that... you've really helped me a lot, what less than letting you choose.

"Helping you with what exactly?"

"Well...studying." You felt the colours rise in your cheeks.

"Just like you helped me study."

"Well... Ben, in general, you help me with everything. You make everything so... fun."

Now he was blushing. He stood closer to you.

"I hope you know that you make everything better too..."

"I'm a little annoying, maybe."

"A little," he joked. "And I like that I'm the one who sees that side of you."

"Really?"

"I really do. I love that you dream about me, even if I'm an asshole in it."

"Don't be silly, it was a nightmare precisely because you left me alone. And I just want you to be with me."

Your tone was much more serious. Your expression made it clear that you meant it, that your gratitude was a confession.

"You know what's funny? I dream about you too. But not when I sleep...I dream awake, imagining what we will say to each other when I pick you up from home, or what we will tell each other when we go out to eat together...I dream of spending the whole day with you and I am content to be with you for a while because it is...wonderful. But no matter how much I dream, nothing is better than being able to hug you and be by your side, even if it's only for five minutes between classes."

That's when you couldn't help but jump in for a kiss, cutting the distance between you two. A tender, long kiss, it felt new and yet so recognizable, like something that should have happened a long time ago. Luckily, it had just happened. You pulled away and watched as Ben smiled, an idea formulating in his head and joked.

"Too bad we have to wait for spring exams to spend the day together again."

You pushed him back with a laugh, but he moved his chair to stand next to you and kiss you again. Everything Ben did justified the fact that the pizzas he ordered were terrible.

A/N: sorry this took fucking forever, I gave up on writing here, I had a crisis over writing smuts. But I felt bad about abandoning this cuz I started writing it with a lot of love and I really like it. I think I'll write on tumblr again. Hope you like it, so sorry for the wait.

[putschki1969]

2025/05/31 Blog post by Wakana 5月最後の日！！〜いつからか、恒例になりました〜

❗This is Fan Club EXCLUSIVE content❗ ❗PERSONAL USE ONLY❗ ❗Do NOT SHARE on other sites❗ ❗Join her FAN CLUB! Check out my detailed TUTORIAL ❗

Last Day of May!! ~Somehow, It's Become a Tradition~

Everyone~😊It's become a monthly tradition to make a blog post to remind you of the submission deadline for my podcast "Wakana's Talk Garden"! ＼＼\٩( 'ω' )و //／／I wonder when it became a tradition😂

Now, the talk theme for this month's podcast is＼(^o^)／ ・Tell me about your favourite anime character!

I talked about it a little last time but there is a question I've been getting frequently and I've been dying to answer it, I just haven't had the chance…So that's what made me decide on this month's topic. The question was basically, "Tell me your favourite Ghibli character! (with different variations)"😊So for example, which character would you be friends with? Or who would you choose to be your lover? These are questions that seem like they would be a lot of fun to think about😂So in order to get an opportunity to talk about this, I wanted to ask about everyone's "favourite character," and made it into a talk theme for my podcast! I'm sure that different generations have watched different anime, and there are probably a lot of new shows that you are currently watching and enjoying✨ Most likely, there will be many characters that I don't even know, so please take this opportunity to talk about your favourite characters to your heart's content!! ＼(^o^)／I would also like to talk about Ghibli to my heart's content!! ☆:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:☆

The deadline is today! I'll be waiting for your submission‼ ︎(((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o))) https://wakana-fc.jp/answers/botanical_oshaberi_22/new

Finally, here are some photos from one of my recent outings📸I posted a couple photos from that day on Instagram the other day, this time there are a few more shots but once again from behind. 😂The reason why I'm so adamant about only showing my back is that we did a location shoot that day for the upcoming fan club magazine newsletter. I wanted everyone to see what I looked like for the first time in the magazine which is why I tried to make these photos as obscure as possible *laughs* All my efforts were in vain because I ended up showing my face anyway but whatever 😂(By the way, these photos are just me taking a leisurely stroll after the location shoot had already finished) The next magazine is still a long way off 😂 (scheduled for August) so please be patient a little while longer‼︎♡

At Manpuku Shokudō. (I just played around with their face panel) The location shoot that day was so much fun!! I can't wait for everyone to see it soon~♪ (in August)

That's all for now! Until next time~☆( '▽')/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

2025/06/10 Blog post by Wakana おしゃべりガーデン第22回目‼︎〜アニメの話は世界を救う‼︎久しぶりに熱く長く語ってしまった回〜

Talk Garden Vol. 22‼️〜Anime Talk Saves the World! It's Been a While Since I've Talked so Passionately〜

The 22nd episode of my podcast "Wakana's Talk Garden" has been uploaded!! ＼＼\٩( 'ω' )و //／／This time, it's almost an hour long��🤣Every time I record it myself, edit it, check it and then finally send it to the staff to have them check it again. This time I felt bad sending it due to the episode's length…I was like, "I'm so sorry that you have to listen to all of that"😂 Everyone, good luck on listing!! 😂There's a reason of course why it's so long, I once again realised that talking about anime is way too much fun＼(^o^)／I just can't stop talking *laughs*.

I really appreciated everyone's love for their favourite characters😍It was fun to look up anime and characters I didn't know and talk about my impressions while looking at pictures♪ And above all (this is a tiny spoiler), I felt very nostalgic about "Future Boy Conan"…!!!!! I used to watch it all the time on Animax Broadcast Japan when I was a kid😊It was my favourite anime…✨I hadn't watched it since I became an adult but the episode with the "grandfather" was so shocking to me that I couldn't bring myself to re-watch it until now😭But this time, after reading everyone's messages, I decided to watch it again after a long time! One episode at a time! I cried so much that I couldn't breathe, especially in the shocking episode with the grandfather😭😭I cried almost the entire time I was watching😂 Conan's straightforward and pure kindness, Jimsy's wild but inherently good nature as well as his broad-mindedness that allows him to accept others. The grandfather's kind, warm gaze and his courage to teach everyone about the old world. I can't help it… just thinking about the grandfather… I can't stop crying (;;) Lana, Captain Dyce, Monsley, and many other fascinating characters appear in the show as well! I'm currently watching episode 5 out of 26! My honest impression is that the story progresses faster than I expected! In my memories, it was a really long anime, and I felt like the story progressed much more slowly😳 I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it and cry my way through it.

Well, I'm going to announce the next talk topic! This time, I chose something based on a question I received in one of your messages: ・Share things that you think have become more difficult to use and inconvenient compared to before

If you think about it, you'll find quite a lot of examples🤔There are more and more stores that are cashless only, and conversely, there are also things that remain to be cash only🤔It's because things are starting to become more convenient but during the transition period, some inconveniences do occur from time to time🙄I'm looking forward to everyone's opinions! The deadline is June 30th! ･:*+.(( °ω° ))/.:+

Finally, here are some more shots with a back-view😂I sutobborny tried to stick to back-shots only *laughs* I like the vibe if the area~ It reminds me of the underground world of Industria in "Future Boy Conan"😂On a side note, I love my Same-chan parasol♡🦈☂️

Also, on that day, I discovered a specific snack and got super excited about it! Does anyone know it? It's called "Choco Q-Suke", a specialty of Aomori! It's a traditional sweet from Hachinohe City, Nanbu Senbei, covered in chocolate!! I received this as a souvenir from a friend a while ago, and I was so impressed by how delicious it was…😍✨I'm so happy that I found it in Tokyo too!! (I bought three packages because each person was allowed to buy three *laughs*) If you have the chance, please try it🍘

Well, that's it for today! Until next time~☆( '▽')/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

Wakana’s Talk Garden #22

»»—— CLICK ME 🎁 CLICK ME ——«« ・Tell me your favourite anime character!

For next month’s episode which is scheduled to air on July 10th, there is the following talk theme: ・Share things that you think have become more difficult to use and inconvenient compared to before

The submission deadline is 06/30.

2025/06/22 Blog post by Wakana 嬉しいお知らせです‼︎〜♪「ジューシーな日」って覚えてください♪〜

Great News‼︎〜♪♪Mark Your Calendars〜 & Instagram Post by Wakana

I have some good news for you today! ＼＼\\٩( 'ω' )و //／／ What could it be??... Well, it's certainly been a while...I'm going to hold a fan club event! ･:*+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+ Hurray! ! ＼(^o^)／💕 The title is『Wakana Botanical Land "Music Party" Vol.3 ~Talk & Live~』 ‼︎＼＼\\٩( 'ω' )و //／／ The date and location are as follows: [Date] October 4, 2025 [Venue] TIAT SKY HALL It's here‼ ︎ This is my first FC event in about a year😊 As for my Music Party, Vol.2 was held back in May 2021, so it's been about four and a half years! (°_°)(°_°) It's been forever since I've had an event where we can all enjoy ourselves like this, I hope I can do lots of fun stuff and I'm already wondering about what I'll sing😆♡ Please come and join me on October 4th! ! ! It's a while away, so I've once again come up with an easy way to remember the date! ! ! ! October 4th is spelled "Juu" and "Shi" so... It's "Juicy Day"! ! ! ! ! ＼＼\\٩( 'ω' )و //／／ JUICY! See you all on a Juicy Day♡

Now here are some more photos from yesterday~📸 I had lunch at a stylish cafe🍴 It's been so long since I've had lunch outside... I'm staring at it with so much joy🍚*laughs* (I had salmon and herb mashed potatoes) The staff member who accompanied me for various activities also said, "I'm so happy to have such a proper lunch~"😌 Right??!!~ I tend to have the same simple meal for lunch every day (rice, miso soup, fried egg, natto), so I'm easily impressed by a meal with so many dishes😭✨ It was a lunch that made me feel grateful and impressed by the deliciousness of the food~✨

And here's the building I posted on Instagram yesterday! To think that a thing with a design like this exists😄 This was an exhibit from the "Wood Exhibition Vol. 9" of Tokyo University😊 There was a person who looked like a student watching nearby, I wish I had listened to what he had to say in detail but It was extremely hot 🫠 and I had to go to another place soon... I only got some info card and left in a hurry. I got permission to take photos and post them on social media, so of course I used that opportunity😊 The smell of wood was really nice, and if it had been a more spring-like weather instead of this scorching heat, I would have been able to stay there for a long time 😂 (it looks like I am fine but I was actually dying from the heat) The exhibit seems to be there until July 1 so if you're interested, please come and visit😊 ♡

Well, that's it for today! ! Until next time~☆( *'▽'*)/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

『Wakana Botanical Land “Music Party Vol.3～Talk & Live～”』

An exclusive fan club event with lots of singing and fun activities will be held in October! ^ ^ Please look forward to it!

『Wakana Botanical Land “Music Party Vol.3～Talk & Live～”』 【Date】2025/10/04 (Sat) 【Venue】TIAT SKY HALL https://www.tiatskyhall.jp/access/

Further details will be announced at a later date!!

Damn it, why can't this be closer to Keiko's Planetarium Live???!!! There's no way I can stay in Japan for this long but I really wanna attend both events!!! T_T

[ghosty-zero]

Silver x Blaze Special (Silvaze)

The snow fell freely all over Station Square, creating a serene white canvas that reflected the soft glow of the street lamps. People clad in warm winter coats bustled about, their breaths puffing out in small clouds as they hurried to their destinations. Teens slid down small bunny slopes on makeshift sleds, their laughter echoing through the crisp air. Despite how cold it was, people were still out in droves enjoying the holiday festivities.

Then there were the three hedgehogs in puffy winter coats far too big for them, Sonic, Shadow, and Silver.

"I'm gonna pelt you so hard with a snowball," Sonic said with a wide grin, rubbing his gloved hands together. He leaned down to scoop up some of the powdery snow into his hand, packing it into a ball.

Shadow scoffed, but a smirk stretched across his muzzle as he followed suit and bent down to gather his own ammo. "You're on, faker."

"Hey, no fair! I don't even know how to make snowballs!" Silver whined, frantically looking around along the ground, as if a tutorial guide would magically appear to explain the process.

"Here, watch us," Sonic said, tossing his finished snowball from hand to hand. "First, you gather the snow into your hand—"

"Like this?" Silver asked, holding out a small pile of white flakes.

"Uh... yeah, I guess?" Sonic raised a brow at the sight of the mound of snow. "Next, you pack it all together to form a ball." He showed off his example, then threw it at Shadow, nailing him in the shoulder.

"You'll pay for that, hedgehog," Shadow growled, his red eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sonic laughed and stuck his tongue out. "Not if you can't catch me!" he teased.

While they bickered, Silver set about making the best snowball he could, taking extra care to follow the instructions Sonic had given him. Once it was as perfect as he thought he could make it, he turned to his friends, holding his creation aloft. "Look! I did it!"

Shadow and Sonic stopped their argument to look at the white hedgehog.

"See? Not so hard," Sonic said with a grin.

"Wonderful." Shadow grumbled before tackling Sonic to the ground and shoving a handful of snow down the back of his coat.

Silver was usually the third wheel of the group, so he just awkwardly watched them wrestle in the snow. He tossed his perfectly made snowball to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey, guys? Uh, shouldn't we be getting back soon? We've been gone for hours," Silver said, fidgeting where he stood.

The two hedgehogs continued their wrestling match, ignoring Silver completely. He huffed. Not an uncommon occurrence. They usually didn't notice when he wasn't around—or when they weren't paying attention to him. It didn't help that he was always so quiet and never really said anything important, but at least they were letting him hang out with them today. Even if they were always picking on him and leaving him out of everything, it was better than being alone.

I'll make a snowman, Silver thought, his tail wagging as he turned away from his friends. He crouched down and started piling up a bunch of snow, then patted it into a ball, humming to himself. He rolled it around and around until it grew to a decent size, then went about shaping it into the correct shape. Once that was finished, he gathered some more snow to create the head, then placed it on top of the base.

"He looks a little lonely, don't you think?" Silver mused aloud, tilting his head as he examined his work. "Yeah...he needs a friend. Everyone needs friends. Don't worry, uh...Gregory! I shall make you a friend!" He patted Gregory on the head, then started rolling another ball, using his telekinesis to make it easier.

As he was working, Sonic and Shadow's wrestling match grew more intense. Sonic pinned Shadow down and held a fistful of snow over his face.

"Say it," Sonic demanded, grinning evilly.

Shadow glared up at him. "Never."

"Oh, yes, you will," Sonic said, lowering his hand dangerously.

"Fine." Shadow's lip curled back. "I'm sorry I put a bunch of snow down your shirt."

"And?"

Shadow growled low in his throat. "And I'm sorry for knocking you down."

"That's more like it!" Sonic snickered. He leaned down and gave Shadow a kiss on the muzzle before he released him and jumped to his feet.

Shadow rolled up a pile of snow into a ball and tossed it at Sonic, nailing him in the side.

Sonic stumbled back a few steps with an indignant yelp. "Hey! You said you were sorry!"

"I lied," Shadow said, crossing his arms.

"Oh, it is on!" Sonic tackled Shadow again, this time pushing his head into the snow as they wrestled some more.

Silver was in his own world, now creating a child for Gregory and Martha to take care of. He patted down the last bit of snow and stepped back. "There! Now you have a family!" Silver smiled to himself, but then he frowned. "But...you still look a little lonely. Maybe a dog? Yes! I can make you a dog!" He set to work again, humming another tune.

A few feet away, Shadow now had Sonic pinned to the ground, growling low in his throat as he glared down at the blue hedgehog. "Victorious."

"You cheated," Sonic said with a pout. "Using your quills against me...that's dirty!"

Shadow smirked. "It worked, didn't it? I win."

"Foul play on the field," Sonic said, sticking his tongue out.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Don't be a sore loser."

"Oh, I'm not!" Sonic grinned. "I'll get you next time!"

Shadow leaned down and stole a kiss from Sonic. "We'll see about that, faker."

Sonic's cheeks turned pink as he laughed. "You bet we will!"

Back to Silver, he had finished the slightly lopsided dog, but had to make a companion for the dog so the dog wouldn't feel left out.

"Don't worry, you won't be lonely anymore, Buster," Silver said, patting the dog on the head. "You have a best friend now! Look! He even has your same colored fur! Aww, you two look so happy together." Silver smiled softly and patted the dog once more, then stepped back. "I wonder if they're a family, too? Buster needs a mother, I suppose. Oh, and a brother! A father, maybe?"

Silver set about making his next character. "I hope you all will be happy together. I'll call you...Frank!" Silver looked over his work, nodding to himself. "A wonderful family."

"Hey, Silver!" Sonic called, walking over to him with Shadow. "Whatcha doin'?"

Silver whirled around. "N-Nothing!"

"What the hell is that?" Shadow tilted his head at the plethora of snowmen and...snow dog.

"Uh..." Silver laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing! It's nothing!"

"Looks like a whole bunch of snow people," Sonic said with a snicker.

"Well...it is. I made them because Greg needed a family," Silver said, pointing to the tallest snowman. "That's Greg. He's the father. And that's Buster, the dog. He's the son. Then there's Frank. He's the brother, and that's Martha. She's the mother." Silver smiled, tail wagging as he looked at his friends. "I need to make Buster's mother and father, though."

"Oh....cute." Sonic said, glancing at Shadow.

Shadow just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Thanks!" Silver said, oblivious to their teasing looks. He set about making Buster's family.

Sonic laughed and leaned closer to Shadow. "At least he's happy."

"I told you I didn't want to invite him."

"It's almost Christmas, Shadow. Of course we're gonna invite him. He's our friend."

Shadow snorted, but said nothing more.

"You two wanna help me make Buster's parents?" Silver asked, looking up at them with a wide grin. "We can be like a family! I can be the dad, and you two can be my sons!"

Shadow and Sonic exchanged looks, both wearing similar expressions of disgust. "I am not about to play house." Shadow shook his head.

Sonic laughed nervously. "Yeah, Silver...we're not gonna do that."

Silver frowned. "But...you guys were playing a few minutes ago."

"That wasn't playing house," Sonic said, giving him an odd look.

"Yes, it was," Silver said, crossing his arms. "You two were being all lovey dovey. Isn't that what a mom and dad do when they have kids?"

Shadow forced down a laugh and simply scoffed instead. "Hardly. If we were playing house, Sonic would be the woman."

"What?! Why am I the woman?" Sonic cried, giving his boyfriend a scandalized look.

"Because you're the girl."

"I'm not a girl!"

"Sure looks like one to me."

"Oh yeah? Well, you act like one!"

Shadow scoffed. "I do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Buster's mother is finished!" Silver announced proudly, patting the female snowman on the head.

Sonic and Shadow stopped their arguing to look over at the white hedgehog. They blinked.

"Oh...nice," Sonic said, nodding in approval. "Very nice."

"It looks like a snowball," Shadow said with a smirk.

"Be nice!" Silver glared at him. "Just because she looks like a snowball doesn't mean she's any less special than the rest of them."

"Are we his only friends?" Shadow whispered to Sonic, who pinched his arm.

Silver ignored them and set about making Buster's father, humming to himself once more. He liked the way the snow felt on his gloves; it was cool and soft and just...perfect. He was so focused on his work he didn't notice when Sonic and Shadow left him again to continue their banter.

When Silver finished Buster's father, he stepped back with a satisfied smile. "A perfect family. But they still look lonely, don't you think?" Silver tapped his chin as he stared at his creations. They all stood in a perfect line, smiling wide with sticks for arms.

Silver gasped. "That's it! A dog for Buster and Frank! I know just what to name you two..." Silver set about creating the last two members of the snow family, a dog for Buster and another dog for Frank.

"And last but not least..." Silver patted down the final dog, then stepped back, grinning. "A perfect family." He smiled warmly at his creations.

"Hey, Silv, we're heading home," Sonic called.

Silver jumped and whirled around to face his friends. "Okay! I'll be right there!" He turned back to the snow family. "Sorry I can't stay longer. It's time for me to go home with my family. You stay with your family, and I'll be back some other time to visit you all, okay?"

"Silver!" Sonic shouted. "Come on!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Silver waved to his snow family before joining his friends.

The trio walked in silence through the snow, passing by the bright Christmas lights strung up on various buildings and houses. The holiday season had officially started, which meant everyone was out in full force to celebrate the holidays. The aggressive shoppers were also out in droves, ready to fight for the best sales and steal all the presents they could get their hands on.

As they walked, Silver stared down at the sidewalk. Sonic and Shadow were bickering back and forth over some argument about something Silver didn't care about.

"Hey, guys?" Silver finally asked, interrupting their squabble.

"What?" Shadow asked, his tone snappy.

Silver shrank away from him, looking back down at the sidewalk. "It's nothing. Nevermind."

"Oh, come on," Sonic said, nudging Silver with his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Uh...can we go see Gregory tomorrow? I just wanna say hi," Silver mumbled, fidgeting with his gloves.

"Uh..." Sonic glanced at Shadow, who sighed and shook his head.

"We don't have time to go play in the snow, Silver," Shadow said, crossing his arms. "We have other things to do."

"I'll go with you tomorrow, Silver." Sonic said, shooting Shadow a look.

"What?" Shadow snapped.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Sonic said with a smile. "I was gonna go shopping for the holidays tomorrow anyway. I'll take you to see Gregory."

"Really?" Silver's eyes widened as he looked at Sonic.

"Sure thing!" Sonic winked at him.

"Sonic..." Shadow growled.

Sonic ignored Shadow and looped arms with Silver. "It's a date! What do ya say? I can make us lunch, and we can go visit your friends."

"That sounds great!" Silver said, grinning wide.

Shadow groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why did I agree to date you?"

"Because you love me?" Sonic gave Shadow an innocent look.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I was probably under the influence."

"The influence of my beauty?" Sonic said with a grin.

Here they go again, Silver thought, pulling his coat tighter around himself as he listened to them bicker. He was used to their banter. It wasn't uncommon for them to argue over everything. Sonic was always so playful and loved to tease, while Shadow was serious and stern. They were like night and day, but somehow, it worked.

They argued all the way home until they finally came to a compromise, which involved going to a fancy restaurant for dinner, which Shadow would pay for and Sonic would just happen to forget his wallet.

Silver was...different. He was powerful in his own right, just...different from Sonic and Shadow. He was quiet and usually kept to himself, rarely ever saying anything important or interesting. He didn't know why Sonic and Shadow let him hang out with them, but he was thankful they did. He didn't have any friends outside of those two, so he clung to them like a lifeline.

Sometimes he wondered if he was ever going to get the chance to be close to someone. He had had a crush on Blaze for so long that he thought maybe...just maybe they would be together one day. But she probably didn't feel the same way about him, and the thought broke his heart.

Silver wasn't the most handsome hedgehog or the smartest or the funniest. He was just...average. He never really fit in anywhere, and everyone seemed to leave him behind. So when Sonic and Shadow offered to include him in their friend group, Silver jumped at the chance. He liked having company that wasn't his plants at home. Thinking of plant, Silver tried to remember if he had watered them before he left.

"Silver, are you coming?" Shadow asked, snapping Silver out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh...yeah, sorry," Silver mumbled, trotting up the steps of the porch.

"Don't worry, we're almost to the door." Sonic ruffled Silver's quills as they went inside.

The warmth of the house washed over them, and Silver sighed contently, his body relaxing. He slid out of his giant jacket, the white fluff around his neck tickling his muzzle.

Sonic and Shadow were already on the couch, arguing over something stupid, as usual. Silver just shook his head and went to sit beside them. He always felt like the third wheel when he hung out with them. They were always doing something fun, and Silver was always on the outside. He wished they would include him more, but he understood they didn't want to be bothered by his annoying habits. Habits he really had no control over, like chewing on things.

They sat there for a while, watching television and ignoring Silver. It was fine, though. It was nothing new. Silver was used to it by now. He just curled up in the corner of the couch, resting his head on the armrest as he stared out the window. Snowflakes fell slowly from the dark sky, landing gently on the ground below. He pretended that his snow family was watching the snow fall, too.

After some time, Silver began to grow restless. He couldn't sit still any longer, and he needed to do something.

"Hey, guys? I'm gonna go read for a bit, okay?" Silver said, standing up and stretching.

"Have fun," Sonic said, waving at him.

Shadow just grunted as a response, slapping Sonic's hand away from the remote.

Silver slipped off to the guest room, where he picked up the book he had been reading earlier that day. He plopped down on the bed and opened it, reading the page he had left off on. The story was about a prince who was cursed to live a life of loneliness, and only true love's kiss could break the spell. It was a silly fairytale, but Silver loved it anyway. He loved happy endings, and the prince had finally gotten his after so many years of waiting.

As he read, his mind wandered to thoughts of Blaze. Would she ever love him? Did she even think of him as anything more than a friend? She never acted like she felt anything toward him, but maybe she was just being shy. She was quiet like him, but in a pretty way. She was calm, elegant, proper, but concealed whatever she felt similar to Shadow.

Silver sighed, shaking his head. He shouldn't get his hopes up. Blaze didn't want anything to do with him, and he knew it. It was silly for him to think otherwise. He just wished she would notice him a little more. He wasn't that bad, was he? He was immature and naive, and completely socially awkward. So what if he made stupid mistakes sometimes? Everyone did!

"Silver!" Sonic's voice sounded from somewhere else in the house. "Come help us pick something out!"

Silver's ears perked up, and he quickly marked his place in his book before running back into the living room.

"We can't decide which one we want," Sonic said, holding up two different movies. One was a comedy and the other was a horror movie.

Shadow glared at Sonic. "I already told you, I don't want to watch that."

"Oh, come on, Shadz. It's not even that scary!" Sonic grinned.

"We're watching this." Shadow snatched the horror movie from Sonic's hand and put it in the player.

"Ugh, fine. Nevermind, Silver. We've decided." Sonic plopped down on the couch beside Shadow with a pout.

Silver laughed nervously before sitting next to them.

The movie started out innocently enough. It was your typical slasher flick, filled with jump scares and fake blood. Silver thought it was funny how they always tried to scare the audience, but he knew none of it was real. He was just amazed by the effort and work that went into the fake deaths, smiling whenever a character fell into a trap or got impaled by a blade or something. His favorite part was when the killer chopped off someone's head. It was so obviously fake that he couldn't stop laughing.

Silver never watched many movies. He preferred books over anything else, and he had a tendency to fall asleep during movies, so he didn't like watching them very much. Books were always more interesting. There was always something new to learn and explore, and he loved it.

The movie ended, and Sonic jumped up and turned off the player.

"I told you it wasn't that scary," he said, grinning at Shadow.

"Not everything has to be about speed," Shadow grumbled. "Sometimes it's okay to slow down and enjoy the scenery."

"You mean, watch people get hacked up?" Sonic laughed.

"Yes. Exactly that," Shadow said with a smirk.

"Well, I think it's time for bed." Sonic stretched and yawned loudly.

"What? But it's only..." Silver glanced at the clock, then frowned. "...it's 11:30. You go to bed early."

Shadow snorted. "I prefer to say it's 2:30 in the morning, not that I care. I don't sleep much, anyway."

"What do you do all night?" Silver asked curiously.

"Sit on the porch and stare at the sky. I enjoy my solitude."

"Oh." Silver nodded slowly, looking down at his hands.

Sonic yawned again. "Come on, Shadow. Time for bed."

Shadow rolled his eyes, but followed Sonic off to the bedroom. They both waved goodnight to Silver before disappearing inside.

Silver wasn't tired, but didn't want to keep Sonic and Shadow up, so he slipped on his jacket and went outside to sit on the porch swing. He wrapped his arms around himself to ward off the cold as he rocked back and forth, staring up at the sky. The snow had stopped falling, leaving a clear view of the stars.

I should go see Gregory...would Sonic be mad if I went without him? Probably not. I could just go out there and make sure everything is okay. He said he would take me tomorrow, anyway. It wouldn't hurt to check. I'm sure everything is fine.

Silver stood up and ran down the steps, his boots crunching on the snow. Fewer people were out on the sidewalk now, most having gone home after enjoying the festivities. Shopfronts were closing for the night, and the last remaining stragglers hurried home with bags of goodies. Silver smiled and waved awkwardly to those who passed, receiving smiles in return.

It didn't take long for him to reach Station Square Park. The snow had been cleared away from the bunny slopes, making room for some kids to play. Silver ignored them and made his way to the other side of the park where Gregory and his family resided. Until he saw what had become of them.

"What...?" Silver stepped back, blinking rapidly as he stared at the mess of snow and twigs that was once his snow family. The snow bodies had collapsed into heaps on the ground, and their heads were nowhere to be seen. "Gregory? Martha? Buster?"

Silver's heart sank, and his eyes stung. He fell to his knees, reaching out to touch one of the piles of snow.

"What happened?" he whispered, shaking his head. "Why did they fall?"

"Some kids kicked them." A female voice spoke, and Silver startled, whipping his head around to see Blaze standing behind him.

"B-Blaze!" Silver jumped to his feet, nearly stumbling in the process. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Late night shopping." Blaze replied flatly. She was dressed in an attractive purple sweater that hugged her curves, along with tight black pants that showed off her legs.

Silver's face flushed as he looked away. "O-Oh...did you see who did this?" he asked quietly, gesturing to the mess behind him.

"No." Blaze shook her head. "I just heard the kids laughing about it. I didn't realize it was yours. I'm sorry. They looked cute."

"Yeah...they were." Silver sighed.

"Are you going to rebuild them?"

"I don't know..." Silver looked back at the pile of snow, his shoulders slumping. "I guess not."

Blaze frowned. "I could help you," she said, taking a step closer to him.

"Really?" Silver's ears perked up.

Blaze nodded. "Yes."

"That...I'd really like that," Silver said with a smile.

"Let's get to work, then." Blaze turned to the mess of snow, kneeling down beside it. "Do you have any ideas on what you want them to look like?"

"Gregory is the father, so he needs to be tall. Buster is the son, so he needs to be shorter than Gregory. Then there's Frank, the brother. He should be around the same height as Buster. As for Martha, she's the mother, and she needs to be shorter than Gregory. And last but not least, there's the dogs. Buster's dog is named Dizzy, while Frank's dog is named Spin."

Blaze nodded as Silver explained, listening carefully. "Okay. So...let's start with the dogs," she said. "You can take care of Dizzy while I work on Spin. Sound good?"

He stared at her, his golden eyes wide. "Y...you don't think it's weird or...dumb or something?"

"Not at all." Blaze smiled at him, and Silver's heart skipped a beat.

"O-Okay." Silver grinned back before turning to Dizzy. "I guess we better get to work."

They set about rebuilding the snow family, working in silence. The only sound came from their breaths puffing out in small clouds as they breathed in the chilly air. Blaze had delicate, steady fingers that worked quickly to form each piece of the body, and Silver found himself enraptured by her. His heart pounded in his chest, and his cheeks grew warm.

When they finished, Blaze stepped back and brushed the snow from her hands. "There." She smiled proudly at their work. "They're perfect."

Silver's tail wagged as he admired the snow family. They were far better than they had been before, and he couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Blaze."

"It was no trouble. I'm glad I could help you." Blaze returned his smile.

Silver's face flushed again. He couldn't stop staring at her.

"I should probably get home," Blaze said, breaking the silence. "It's late, and I have an early day tomorrow."

"Oh...okay. I should get back, too...before Sonic and Shadow notice I'm gone. Thanks again, Blaze. I really appreciate it." Silver rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Blaze nodded. "Goodnight, Silver."

"Night, Blaze." Silver watched her leave before turning back to Gregory and his family.

They were all smiling at him, and Silver's heart swelled with happiness. That happiness gave him an unknown burst of courage that he didn't know he had. Before he could stop himself, he was calling after Blaze.

"Hey, uh...Blaze?" Silver said, taking a step closer to her.

Blaze paused, turning to look at him with a curious expression. "Yes?"

"Um...w-would you maybe...like to...go...somewhere...with just me sometime?" Silver asked nervously, avoiding eye contact with her. He fidgeted with the hem of his jacket, his tail wagging rapidly.

"You mean, like on a date?" Blaze raised a brow, crossing her arms.

"Y-Yeah...sort of. I mean, if you want to. If not, that's totally fine. I understand. Forget I even asked, it was stupid. You probably don't feel that way about me, anyway. It's fine, really. We can just go back to being friends. That's fine. I'm sorry I even mentioned it, I shouldn't have—"

"Silver," Blaze interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

"R-Really?!" Silver blinked, his tail wagging furiously now.

"Yes." Blaze smiled softly. "I have been wanting to ask you for a while now, but...I guess I was afraid you would say no."

Silver laughed nervously. "Yeah, well...so was I." He grinned at her.

Blaze smiled, her amber eyes twinkling in the light of the streetlamp. "Then I guess we both had nothing to worry about."

"Guess so," Silver said with a smile.

"We can discuss the details later. I'll see you tomorrow, Silver. Goodnight." Blaze squeezed his shoulder gently before turning and continuing her walk home.

"Goodnight," Silver breathed, watching her until she disappeared into the night.

He didn't even realize he was purring until he touched his throat. He laughed and shook his head, then turned back to Gregory and his family. "You see? Everything is okay," he said to them. "You guys have nothing to worry about. Just wait until I tell Sonic and Shadow! They're gonna be so happy for me!"

Silver waved goodbye to the snow family before heading home, his heart racing in his chest, his tail wagging and his gentle motor-like purr rumbling through his whole body.