#Like it just doesn't work in anyway shape or form

[backpackingspace]

My whismy vs angsty logic brain are fighting again

[serpentface]

Omg, is there any more about Odonii battlefield performance?

Faiza giving a full battlefield performance, which includes grimacing, sinister looks, letting out terrifying war cries, and banging on her shield with her dagger's pommel. She's wearing a full set of armor, which is functional but highly decorative. A squire will be present somewhere nearby to carry the rest of her weaponry.

As mentioned in the other post, Odonii generally do not actually Participate in fighting. Their perpetual armament and training to correctly Use this armament has predominantly symbolic functions, with their bodies as vessels for state and military empowerment and integrity.

Their normal role on the battlefield is:

a) Spiritual protection for their associated warriors and intimidation of enemies.

Their role is partially to be the ‘guardian lion’ figure in human form, their presence and performance in of itself is considered metaphysically protective. This guardian lion nature is played up and reinforced with their dress and behavior- they wear lion skins over their armor, paint their faces red to obscure human features, perform war cries tailored to sound inhuman (not like lions, just a very shrill and frightening sound). They perform ‘frenzied’ movements that intend to evoke an enraged animal- pacing, banging on their shields, biting their weapons/shields, baring teeth, exaggerated glances that emphasize the whites of their eyes, etc. This can be a disturbing sight- reassuring to their allies who know a frightening spiritual guardian figure is on their side, and demoralizing to an enemy (the latter especially in conjunction with common beliefs that Odonii are witches/shapeshifters)

b) A motivating factor to get the men to fight more bravely.

This is partly out of religious belief (you will probably be a little bolder if you feel reassurance that God is very much present and on your side, via Its priestesses), partly out of esteem for the order (you are highly motivated to perform for their recognition and protect them from harm). In a way, their role on the battlefield is the Least masculinized aspect of their performance- they are in part there to remind men of their mothers, wives, and daughters, who they are supposed to be the protectors of and whose benefit they are ultimately (at least deemed to be) fighting for.

In some cases, this is taken to a (cultural relative) extreme wherein they will expose their breasts towards their own men as a part of battlefield performance, in the form of a supplicatory gesture (bearing the breasts and thumping on the chest with a fist). (The Odomache’s nude body should never be publicly seen under any circumstances, limited and controlled exposure by Odonii Can be appropriate). Breasts are not sexualized in this cultural sphere, but are not treated as neutral body parts either, instead having values of motherly nurturing and feminine vulnerability projected onto them. Odonii showing tits will be a DISTINCT reminder of the ‘vulnerable female’ elements that the men should be protecting, and can be highly motivating (especially in the context of a figure who is otherwise behaviorally ‘masculinized’, it’s jarring and can have useful emotional impact).

c) General spiritual leadership (in connection to a & b).

Weapons dances are an aspect of military training and the kagnoma odo dance is always performed prior to conventional battles, Odonii lead these dances. This has multifacted functions- it is believed to spiritually bless the troops, it is a means of practicing with weaponry/limbering up, it is a psychological rallying point and good for morale, and it may intimidate your enemy who can see it happening from a distance (by displaying readiness/eagerness to battle, good discipline, unity, and physical might). Odonii also perform personalized blessings of soldiers, weapons, and armor.

c) Filling gaps in the command structure or acting as commanders

Odonii are involved in strategic meetings, and ones who receive battlefield roles are very well studied in military tactics. As a matter of technicality, their commands to the body of Imperial Wardi troops do not override those of generals or other ranking soldiers (though they will often be deferred to regardless), but they can fill in gaps in the command structure in case of death of high ranking soldiers or if lines become scattered and communication breaks down.

Additionally, there are two elite warrior orders presided over by the Odonii priesthood (the rest answer directly to the Usoma's court appointed general), with senior Odonii as their commanders and the Odomache as their general. (This is one of many political tension points between the priesthood and monarchy, given that the Odonii have managed to get themselves about 200 high skill, firearm'ed warriors that are separate from the normal military structure, only as loyal to the Usoma as their current general is, and Very beloved among the public so you can't just like, outright kill or disarm this very obvious threat.)

d) A strategic flexing of eastern seaway honorable combat norms

Conventions of honorable warfare have broad commonalities across the eastern seaway peoples, one of which is that noncombatants (by default- women, girls, prepubsecent boys, unarmed elderly men) are not legitimate targets in the normal process of open war (but are fair game in contexts like sieges when a foe has refused to surrender on behalf of their population). Odonii being armed throws a wrinkle into this - they are still effectively ‘noncombatants’ by virtue of being women, but if they actually Engage in fighting they do present a threat that could be justifiably neutralized.

If they do not actually Use their arms they are not legitimate targets, and an enemy concerned with honorable combat will have to work around their presence (or risk social/retaliatory consequences if he does not). They are thus effectively human shields- at the very least introducing an additional layer of difficulties for an opponent to navigate, and sometimes actively putting their bodies between their men and their opponents.

e) as a factor of D, potential mediator figures.

When in conventional battles, Odonii on losing sides are usually expected to allow themselves to be captured without resistance. They stand a very high chance of being taken alive and remaining unharmed due to a combination of factors- baseline honorable warfare practices (which are ABSOLUTELY not always followed, but at least Influence behavior), fears of material consequences in retribution for harming the priestess, fears of spiritual consequences for harming a potentially powerful witch, knowledge that releasing an Odonii unscathed may give the captors a better negotiating position down the line, or knowledge that an Odonii is a very valuable hostage and can make for a good bargaining chip.

Because of this element, captured Odonii are expected to perform mediation roles, negotiate the release of hostages, carry messages from their captors, or bravely tolerate hostage conditions (ideally while gaining intelligence on their captors)

---

Odonii very, very rarely actually participate in combat (and are in fact not Supposed To in the vast majority of circumstances).

They are, however, fairly well equipped for it. Their perpetual armament is symbolic in nature, but its intended function of empowering their bodies and the state by proxy additionally requires them to know how to Use It. They are trained and regularly drill and engage in mock battles in each of their key weapons/defensive combinations (sword, sword and shield, spear, spear and shield, longgun, handgun) and are expected to be adept at their use. Odonii who attend battlefields, while not being directly engaged, are still in very high-stress and dangerous environments and will have to learn to stay calm and collected under duress. All this doesn't mean every Odonii would be a skilled warrior in an actual combat situation (given that most will have no experience fighting someone who is actually trying to Kill Them), but it does mean they have enough technical skill and mental fortitude to stand a decent chance.

The only times where they are SUPPOSED to actively engage is when a battle is deemed as an existential struggle and is being lost (in practice, the main context for this is a siege), or losing against a foe deemed so thoroughly depraved that they won’t even slightly follow wartime conventions. The idea in these situations is that they are most likely already doomed, and that they should die protecting their people in battle.

Wardi history is filled with stories of Odonii fighting and dying in desperate conflicts (particularly against Imperial Bur), but this is at least Partly historical revisionism (there WERE some women in proto-Odonii roles involved in these conflicts, but these retellings project the modern Odonii order onto its multiple progenitor practices).

Odonii are frequently present on battlefields, but there are only two major instances of modern era Odonii participating in battle as full combatants, both involving conflict with Finnerich

---

The fully modern incarnation of the order can be defined as starting in the late period of Burri occupation, in which multiple Wardi city-states and kingdoms allied against a common foe, and the separate progenitors of the Odonii tradition began to coelesce into a single practice. These alliances were mostly dropped after Burri withdrawal, and the immediate post-withdrawal period was a chaotic scrambling to politically stabilize and assert old territorial claims- thus most Wardi states resumed hostile or indifferent relations with one another. (The one exception is that Wardin and Ephennos remained allied, which shortly would become a Big Deal). Forms of early Odonii now existed throughout most of these states, just not united under a single banner.

The city of Godsmouth was blockaded and besieged by Finnerich during this period (taking advantage of its historical rival’s weakness in the political chaos of de-occupation and hoping to capture or at least maim the city), and some of these early Odonii were involved in this conflict and are known to have engaged.

Godsmouth was a rival to its neighboring states more than anything else- there was little reason for others to send aid in the conflict, and it was left to fend for itself. It was and is a heavily fortified city, and thus the siege lasted for months, with the strategy turning to starving the population out rather than the risky maneuver of throwing troops at well-defended gates to force entry. The Finn forces never managed to breach the inner walls, but were very successful at starving the city's population, raiding its farmlands and villages, and destroying its ports and capturing or burning its ships, all with minimal casualties on their side.

The strategy of the siege finally turned to a risky push to breach and capture the city (due to Finnerich’s own dwindling resources and logistical difficulties in restocking due to storms at sea, and news that an allied Wardin and Ephennos had, in an unprecedented move, been persuaded to send reinforcements (in return for Godsmouth's sworn fealty and absorption into their alliance)), and Finn forces succeeded in breaking through the outer walls. This developed into a very dramatic standoff in which the remaining warriors and/or civilians of Godsmouth attempted to fend off the attack long enough for reinforcements to arrive (which would take days by sea).

Odonii are very famously known to have fully engaged in this stretch of the conflict on the front lines, as it represented an existential threat to the city-state (it’s a fortified settlement, if it was captured, reinforcements would not matter). Some of the recountings are distinctly fanciful (describing Odonii and noblemen leading Siege Of Helms Deep style khaitback charges into masses of enemies, or SWEARING that one of them actually did turn into a lion and ripped apart a hundred Finns before she succumbed to her wounds). An At Least Partially True Story With Exaggerated Elements of the final days of the siege describes the Odonii priestess Hibrides Odiboe rallying a group of elderly men into battle by baring her breasts and scratching deep, bleeding wounds into her chest, declaring herself as 'your mothers, your wives, your daughters, and look how I bleed while you hide behind your walls and wait to die.' While accounts have fantastical elements, it is factual that Odonii priestesses fought and died defending the city's inner walls, notably filling command positions left vacant by slain or starved leaders and rallying citizens to the front lines.

The end of the siege was ultimately a pyrrhic victory for Godsmouth- the city was never actually taken but its population was starved and riddled with disease, its farmlands were burned, and its ports were destroyed. Finnerich forces retreated before reinforcements arrived after failing to break through the inner walls in time, but had succeeded in most objectives of severely wounding their historical enemy. It has been a source of collective trauma in Godsmouth since that point (it is now out of living memory, but vivid stories remain of seeing the dead eaten by dogs and the starving eating the dogs that ate the dead, watching family members succumb to disease and starvation, all while hearing the sounds of fighting draw closer and closer with no reason to believe that any help would ever come), but ultimately recontextualized as a victory, a turning point in the arc of modern history. (The Wardin-Ephennos-Godsmouth alliance, which formed in full as a result of this conflict, would become the triple state that conquered the rest of the region and formed Imperial Wardin).

The direct participation of Odonii in this conflict is heavily played up in the narrative as the order in its purest form as sovereignty incarnate, the priestesses bravely fighting for (what would turn out to be) the beginnings of the Imperial Wardi state. The 11 Odonii who died fighting in the siege have been bestowed sainthood and are memorialized in a series of guardian lion statue-shrines overlooking Godsmouth’s ports (in which their ashes and bones are stored).

---

The other instance of modern era Odonii engaging in conflict is significantly less romantic, occurring in the context of the Extremely failed second invasion of Finnerich.

During and after the rout that resulted in the Odomache's capture and killing, it became exceptionally clear to the Imperial Wardi forces that They Were Fucked. The conflict veered with REMARKABLE speed from being an attempt end the state's civil war between the Imperial Wardi-loyalist provincial puppet government and its rebelling northwest population, to a desperate struggle for Wardi forces to get out of Finnerich Alive. At this point it was assumed (fairly accurately) that any defeated party would be summarily executed, so most Odonii present ended up directly engaging in battle. Two are known to have died leading soldiers in a bid to retrieve the Odomache's body, others fought and/or died while defending the retreat.

A few Finn Odonii (women appointed as a local sect of the priesthood after the initial takeover) remained in the capital after the Wardi forces fucked off overseas, and were executed along with the rest of the installed loyalist government and priests (though it's unlikely that they were involved in any fighting, as the provincial government surrendered after the withdrawal).

Odonii veterans of the invading force have not fared well in the aftermath. Most of those who survived the ambush in which the Odomache was captured have ended up committing honorable suicide due to breaking vows in abandoning their leader in retreat, failing to retrieve her body, and/or being assaulted in capture. More have committed (ostensibly ritual, probably emotionally driven) suicide in the years that followed, with the knowledge that their leader's death and defilement and this severing of God's spirit has brought doom upon their land in the form of an unbroken drought and famine, and that they failed to prevent this. The priestess who was captured alive to witness the Odomache's death and released unharmed to report it was the first.

All this has opened some vacancies in the order's leadership, and given things a very somber tone. It is currently in debate as to whether the ones who died on Finn soil (particularly those who died attempting to retrieve their leader's body) should be canonized as saints or if it's a little too soon for all that.

[nyaruelle-designs]

🦄 Mane 6 Redesign! 🦄

Aaaaaa my first redesign post!! I had so much making this and been looking forward to finally share it. (but my hand hurts right now from drawing lolol)

To those new to me: I do this thing where I redesign characters as a challenge (+ have fun being creative with design tweaks (✿◠‿◠)) , I don't dislike any of the OG designs, I just like to give myself something fun to do :'D

Keep reading below for design notes! :D

OK so starting off with species differences:

I make it a point to make each species unique from one another with different tail + ear shape for each kind of pony

in order to explain away how do ponies in this iteration get conveniently matching body markings, I imagine that fillies are born without markings but slowly get them after receiving their cutie mark. the markings slowly leaves changes on the coat/mane as they grow into adulthood :D

also gave all species hoof markings, the shape of the hoof corresponds with the pony's cutie mark

for unicorns– they also have horn markings that correspond with their cutie mark. OH and, horn magic color corresponds with the color of the pony's eyes

for pegasi– the tips of their wings would match with the color of their manes

not mentioned in the images attached but the eye light shape also corresponds with the ponies' cutie mark >_< (fillies just have regular circles until after they get their cutie marks-)

misc feature: ponies may or may not have leg tuffs, like with some ponies you'll see below, some may have fuller leg tuffs that goes all the way around.

Alright now that you know more about the species design notes, I'll get into each ponies' design choices

Pinkie Pie

Starting off with Pinkie, I made her coat fluffy, matching her mane, her mane was shorten a bit and also gave her a white streak in her bangs + added a hair accessory + confetti in her hair from throwing parties (my headcanon is that she doesn't bother to pick them out so she just leaves em there)

she has pebble shaped markings on her face and coat running down her back. In her pink form, those markings are commonly mistaken as large freckles

her desaturated form takes inspo from how she looks as a filly, also her mane shape may or may not have been inspired by the shape of pinata paper strips.

Among all the ponies, Pinkie is also the shortest. I try my best to give each pony a different height, hope that was noticeable haha

Applejack

Next up, Applejack, now for her design (+ most of the mane 6's designs) there isn't too much change. For her, I gave her coat more texture akin to actual patterns from real horses. Similar to pinkie, Applejack's back has pebble-shaped spots (feel free to believe that I intentionally added it there to link AJ + Pinkie as distant relatives haha)

In comparison to pinkie though, I used a lot of sharp lines while drawing AJ, also made her look more muscular / "box" shaped compared to the other ponies. (which fits too as I imagine her farm work made her pretty fit)

As mentioned, AJ's hoof tuffs go all around

Twilight Sparkle

For twilight, I tweaked her colors to be more Purple and included a bit of orange to create a small contrast as I noticed her OG palette was a lot of Purple. (cool colors) + I wanted her palette to resemble more of a twilight color (?)

I also noted that some other people felt that Twilight doesn't match the archetype she was meant to represent so I gave her glasses in an attempt to make her appear more "studious"

Her unicorn form is also shorter compared to her alicorn form. (gave her slightly shorter horn + legs)

Rarity

Okay Rarity's has to be my favourite redesign HAHA. I also have a feeling a lot of you will point out she resembles the last unicorn a lot 🥲 to that, i'm deeply sorryy

Anyway, for Rarity I changed her palette a lot more compared to the others because I wanted her palette to match her name sake 'Rarity', so what better way to set her apart as being a pony with a different mane/tail color!! + heterochromia which means her horn magic is 2 different colors. (that's my headcanon of what might constitute as 'rare' in pony genetics. ALSO off topic but is it just me or has there never been a pony in the show that actually has heterochromia? 🤔 tbh I can't remember)

I also gave her some gem accessories that she wears as a necklace, oh and a matching earring as well

Fluttershy

ah yes, my other favourite design. For Fluttershy, I softened her colors and also added some green

also, among rainbow and twilight, Fluttershy's wings are purposely designed to be fluffier. I imagine as opposed to rainbow who actively trains her wings for athletic flying > sharpens them to become aerodynamic, when fluttershy flies, she takes her time, so they aren't as worn down as RD's.

I imagine Fluttershy uses floral-scented shampoo that she handmakes with flowers from her own garden which attracts the butterflies that rest in her mane

I also purposely designed fluttershy's ears to be down on default, playing into her 'shyness'

Rainbow Dash

last but not least, rainbow underwent a few changes. Firstly you'll notice I shortened her hair + added white streak bangs & side tendrils that cup her face. (now that I'm looking at it, her hair resembles the pony life RD 😭)

Additionally, RD's wings are sharper, more chipped due to active use.

also among the rest of the ponies, Rainbow is also on the shorter side but she's also more lean/fit. I took into consideration her being an athlete (and a flyer at that) would influence her body shape, I feel that in order for her to fly fast, her body shape suited her nicely.

I also gave RD some googles as accessories.

Anyway, congrats on making it to the end! here's a height lineup ref for the mane 6!!

Thanks for reading all my design notes :'D I'll definitely be drawing more. (I definitely wanna draw secondary characters and also the mane 6's families soon)

[theveryworstthing]

7th Headless Haunting: The Invisible Woman

A ghost's appearance can change over time depending on the emotional connection to their former lives. This change is involuntary and inconsistent. For some, their form shifts to mirror the cause of their death, or emphasizes some other lasting trauma. Others shift into a metaphorical representation of how they view themselves. But most just look like their living forms until time makes the details slip away. Because if there's no one left to remember them properly, and they can't really remember themselves, that can trigger a disconnection from their physical past. This disconnect causes the "sheet ghost" effect, as the soul loses the shape of its previous container.

It's a sad thing, catching a glimpse of a soul losing their face. But that's part of the cycle of life and death. Everything changes. Everything fades.

Sometimes that fading is even done on purpose.

Morgan doesn't call herself Morgan anymore because she doesn't want to metaphysically dox herself.

Through the efforts of the most annoying woman she's ever met, she's become one of the most famous ghosts in the south. She did not ask for this, she does not want it, and every day she wonders how she could have possibly been charmed into a barely 3 week relationship by someone she had to politely ask to stop making tictoks in the crystal shop constantly. It was easy to blame grief and depression for the drastic lowering of standards but still. Good lord.

She realized her mistake pretty quickly, but then "Luna's" roommate supposedly kicked her out with no warning and a sick cat named Quartz. And past!Morgan, who vividly remembered how much being homeless sucked, didn't want her out on the street.

(Okay, mostly she didn't want Quartz out on the street. He was goofy and sweet and the knowledge that she liked him way more than her new girlfriend made her feel guilty.)

This was a mistake.

She opened her home to them. Payed for emergency cat surgery. Dealt with arguments over filming in the house and random strangers coming over for "guided group spiritual exploration" sessions that she wasn't allowed to be in the room for because Luna was "working". Scrubbed Luna's essential oil covered bare ass marks off of her kitchen counters. And in return, she got this woman inviting something into her home.

One night while Luna was out with friends, it came into Morgan's bedroom and left her head on the other side of the house.

She never figured out exactly what got her, but the dark twisted shape made sure to find her terrified spirit before it left, and she could feel its irritation as it inspected her. She wasn't the right target. Luna owed a dept that she probably didn't even comprehend to something very pissed off.

All this would have been bad enough, but none of it was really worth being a ghost about. She'd had worse relationships, and since grandma was gone, almost all of her loved ones were dead anyway, so she really should have left.

But what about Quartz?

 She was the one handling all of his post operative care, and after watching Luna forget time after time to feed him or give him his meds or even really pay attention to him when he wasn't serving as a cuddly toy to cry on or an aesthetic set piece for videos, she decided to hang around until he was either stable or dead.

Which is how she found out about the haunted house tours.

Luna had been doing this for a while. It seems that every place she had ever lived was "haunted" and she made sure that the internet knew about all the trials and tribulations of being so spiritually gifted in a world filled with such trauma laden souls. She'd been kicked out of her last place for having a pretend spectral affair with her former roommate's dead best friend, and when she moved it didn't take a day for her to "sense something..." and start secretly profiting off of made up shit about Morgan's grandmother.

But now that Morgan was dead she had a goldmine on her hands. The gory, violent, locked room mystery death of a fairly attractive woman wearing nothing but a low cut night gown was already pretty good, but add in the lesbian romance, Morgan's family history, and the fact that Luna's True Love had recently Saved her from an Abusive Environment and Certain Homelessness? Well, that's money baby.

Morgan's friends, bless 'em, had stopped Luna from livestreaming the funeral, and got as many pictures of her body taken down as they could.

Sadly, the fundraiser to purchase her family home for "spiritual conservation" was successful.

She had no idea that her following was that big.

She really should have checked.

Anyway.

Because of Luna she's spent the last 8 years being stalked by the living. Strangers pay to sleep in her bed and record the ambient noises of her room hoping she'll show up and talk to them. They buy books made of private poetry stolen from her journals. They demonize her dead family members and speculate on horrific abuse that didn't happen because "if you pay attention to how she dressed/read between the lines in her writing, there are clues she had serious daddy issues".

Recently, there was a shitty romance novel published based on her death, implying that whatever killed her was simply mad with lust and wanted to make her his dark bride in hell.

Yes "his". Her proxy was straight in that one.

And way slimmer.

That's a reoccurring thing that she tries not to think about too hard.

But the point is that all this mess keeps her from moving on. She just... can't. She spends all her time trying to sabotage Luna's grift as best she can. She exposes all the little tricks Luna uses during her seances to show she's not talking to anyone. She actively keeps other spirits away from the house just in case any of the ghost hunting gear people haul into her living room actually works (it doesn't but better safe that sorry). She never speaks just in case a recording picks something up and she's thrown away chunks of identifying features like her face and most of her tattoos so that if she is spotted, she's harder to identify.

She's spent years staging the most intensive anti-haunting she possibly can.

Quartz died 6 months ago and walked right past the entrance to the rainbow bridge to settle in her lap, just like old times. He tries to lead her away from the house a lot. Into the sunrise, towards her grandma's loud bright laughter and the bustling sounds of a family reunion in full swing.

She wants to follow him so badly.

She just.

Can't.

[blacktabbygames]

Slay the Princess Concept Art

We shared a bunch of concept art on Twitter today. Sharing it here, too, where you can find it all in one post. Post contains spoilers, so proceed with caution (or just play the game already if you haven't 😉)

Going to start with the first piece of concept art Abby drew for the game.

In the earliest stages of development, we toyed around with the concept of there being multiple "end game" forms of the Princess.

The initial outline, rather than being tied together by an overarching metanarrative, structured a full playthrough as a 5-6 chapter long, self-contained journey down a single route, determined by your decisions in chapter 1. Here's an alternative late-game form:

The idea of deviating end-game forms didn't lost for very long, though. As we explored the game's themes more deeply, it made the most sense for there to be a singular "true" form.

If your reality is shaped by subjectivity and perception, then the "truth" has to be what's left when that subjectivity is swept away. the Shifting Mound's final design feels like that initial truth for the Princess, though there's also another truth if you push back against her and press on into the final cabin.

We really liked this "void" design, and I played around with the idea of it being an intermediary to the final form. The "void" Princess would be what you saw upon encountering the final Princess without understanding your own truth, but once you had that understanding, you would see her as the Shifting Mound, as depicted in the game.

That gave way to the intermediary design of the SM being a sea of disembodied limbs, and we also took parts of both designs and incorporated them into the protagonist (particularly the wings.) You can see the eyes and feathers for this void form in the ending card of the original trailer below:

You can see extremely early concept art for the spectre (top), nightmare (top-right), stranger (left), beast (bottom) and ??? (right) as well!

The eyes became a motif in the Nightmare route (Paranoid's manifestation of the fear of being watched), but I also like to think of them as a part of The Long Quiet's truth. You are space and emptiness, but you're also that which observes those things, and it's your perceptions that give the Shifting Mound shape.

Anyways, on the note of the original original concepts for the game, the Princess was initially going to remain human for several loops before taking on more monstrous forms. Some concepts of that are below. Had to get Abby to tone down some of the more horrifically cartoonish designs because they creeped me out and I didn't want to romance them in a video game.

We had to hold our cards close to our chest in the non-metanarrative early drafts, which is part of why, even in the first demo, the cabin doesn't really change much in chapter 2. More room to subtly play with the concept of transformation over time.

There were a lot of reasons we moved in a different direction for the full release. The branching was unmanageably large to write, and the game felt like a slog to write.

Using an overarching narrative as a framing mechanism in the final version gave us a lot more freedom to explore wildly divergent ideas within routes while still driving the player towards the originally planned finale.

Anyways, now we've got some concept art for individual princesses. There's a lot more than this lying around somewhere, but it's all in sketchbooks, and we'll probably wait until we make an art book to show it off.

First is the tower, who really didn't change much at all. (She got a little thicker, I guess. All of the Princesses did)

Not a lot to say about her, other than the fact that we knew we wanted a set piece where she gets so big that the trees and cabin orbit around her.

The stranger went through many many redesigns over the course of development. Here, she was a "princess skin" filled with a hive of sentient bugs. The script wasn't working for me, though, so instead she became a peak behind the curtains without the necessary context to know her.

A lot of people ask how these earlier drafts of the Stranger route would have played out, and the answer is I can't tell you, because I couldn't figure out something worth writing.

The writing process for individual routes didn't really start with outlines or plot beats. Rather, the routes started from a theme and a relationship dynamic, and I organically found their outcomes by exploring actions within those themes, and then seeing if those passed Abby's editor brain.

Neither of us found actions we wanted to explore with those versions of the Stranger, at least actions that weren't a beat-by-beat retelling of chapter 1, which contained way too much variation to put on a single chapter 2 route.

If each princess examines a relationship formed by perception and first impressions, the Stranger examines one that's fundamentally unknowable. One where you've seen too much, too quickly.

An insect hive-mind pretending to be a person seemed like a good starting point, but it was too difficult to write any interactions that didn't immediately feel knowable, if still strange. So the final version of the Stranger was designed in such a way where her unknowability makes interacting with her on a human level fundamentally impossible, and you don't get to have a real conversation with her unless you satisfy extremely specific criteria.

Anyways next up is the razor's final form. We decided she needed more swords.

Hearts became an accidental motif very quickly in the development process, too. (The fact that it is only strikes to the heart that fell her in the demo was accidental, but it felt poetic so we extended it to the rest of the game.)

So on top of adding more swords, we made her heart visible. This is something we did with the fury as well, as a way of showing their emotional (and physical) vulnerability.

Here's an early version of the Adversary and what would eventually become the Eye of the Needle, back when she was still called the Fury. Originally her hair was going to be fire (as seen on the right), but it didn't feel right in its execution.

She's hit the gym since this concept art. Good for her :)

And we're going to end with the Beast, who at this point was called the Adversary. I think this was before the Witch was added? The Beast was originally designed to be a Questing Beast who lurked in the shadows, where you'd only see glimpses of her, and where each glimpse would make her appear to be a different animal. This was too difficult to execute, though we gave her a more chimera-like appearance in the final game.

This design was from when we still has the Voice of the Obsessed, and the route was going to be a more feral mirror of what eventually became the Adversary, but it felt too thematically similar while being less interesting, so we moved in the direction of making the Beast about consumption as a form of love.

Anyways, that's all we've got for you right now. Hope this was fun!

[xiaowhore]

equivalent exchange.

DRAFT. this fic is incomplete, as i've stated in this post. this has been sitting in the dungeon for a while, and i have no plans to finish them, but i posted these drafts to not let them go to waste. it is up to you if you still want to read them regardless of their incompletion :) i will be writing my original ideas for the fic at the end so you guys will have an idea of what the fic was supposed to be like.

premise. when ayato stumbles upon a drafted resignation letter on your desk, he doubles his efforts to show you the perquisites of staying by his side.

he doesn't want to lose a competent subordinate. that's all there is to it.

note. what's wrong with secretary kim au but it's definitely not the same because i stopped watching at episode 5 and have no idea what happened. anyways i think we were all expecting a ceo!ayato x secretary!reader fic at some point so here it is. (couldn't keep this gender neutral for plot reasons, so feminine pronouns were used.)

Kamisato Ayato considers himself a good boss.

Or as far as things go, he's a decent one. He treats his employees well, takes them to expensive restaurants for company dinners, and discourages overtime so they can head off early for the night. He doesn't care much for formalities, and he gets along with his colleagues fairly well. He's never heard anyone talk behind his back or complain about his attitude at work, and there aren't any rumors spreading about him (if he turns a blind eye to the conspiratorial gossip guessing his relationship status).

But he does have minor faults. Like showing a more mischievous side when work hours are over. Getting Thoma dead drunk during dinners because his half-conscious inebriated talking is a form of amusement, or riling up Itto in drinking games just because it's funny. Then he leaves Sara to clean up the mess for him, since Yae seems to enjoy the comedy sketch as thoroughly as he does and probably won't lift a finger to help even if he asked her to.

As his assistant, you're prone to falling victim to his shenanigans, silly stunts that coax out aggravated eye rolls and sighs of exasperation. Years of experience eventually shaped you up to be entirely immune to April Fools' pranks.

He's in the middle of planning another one when he spots a letter of resignation on your desk.

At first, he thinks it's your rebellious phase arriving a decade late. He always found it odd how you never retaliated against his tricks, and this may just be the long-awaited April Fools' prank of vengeance. If it is, it's particularly mean of you—Ayato does have feelings, you know? Even he would feel hurt if you told him you wanted to leave! You shouldn't take this kind of thing lightly!

Then he remembers you aren't the type to make jokes, April Fools' or otherwise, and it's that moment when he feels (proper) fear.

“[Name] wants to resign?!”

Ayato makes a zipping motion and Thoma's shrieks immediately die down, but the disbelief on his face has yet to wane. His brows scrunch together, brain hard at work in processing this piece of information, though it seems to short-circuit in utter confusion from the sudden blow.

Scandalized, Thoma lowers his head and levels his voice to a hushed whisper, “Are you sure you saw it correctly?”

“I have able eyes. Unfortunately, my optometrist confirmed my perfect vision and assured I saw it just fine.” Woe is he.

“Get them checked again.”

“No matter how much I check, it won't change the results, Thoma.”

“We don't know that for sure, sir!”

“Trust me,” Ayato deadpans, looking off into the distance, “I checked with him thrice.”

Defeated, Thoma leans back to his chair, crossing his arms while deep in thought. “You saw the letter, but she didn't turn it in, did she?”

“She didn't. No e-mail, either.” Ayato taps the table in a mindless rhythm, expression stern but the shape of his lips almost resembling a pout. “Do you have any idea why she'd want to resign?”

Thoma rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Is that a genuine question, sir?”

Ayato's head snaps back to look at his companion. “Why wouldn't it be?”

“...Everyone in the office knows you... tease her for your own amusement.”

“It's my way of showing affection.” The corners of his lips curl up, stretching to a twisted smile as he rests his cheek on his palm. “Isn't she just so adorable when she gets angry?”

“You really do have a rotten personality.”

Ayato waves his hand in a noncommittal response. “We're straying off topic. What should we do next?”

Thoma hums, closed fist beneath his chin. “Since she hasn't turned in the letter yet, that means she must be hesitating. For what reason, we don't know, but it's keeping her here. So before she makes up her mind, we should dissuade her from quitting no matter what.”

Ayato laces his fingers together, brow in an inquisitive arch. “And we do that by?”

Green eyes sparkle with tenacity, clashing with blue irises twinkling in intrigue. “We bribe her, sir. It's time to show off your good points.”

--

“If a woman quits her job, what do you think her reasons could be?”

Ayaka blinks owlishly at her brother, taken aback by the abrupt question. It's a sudden thing to ask, especially odd given how their conversation hasn't led to that topic at all. “Did someone resign? I haven't heard anything of the sort, though.”

Ayato shakes his head, stirring the boba tea in his hands. “It's a hypothetical.”

Which means it's real.

Ah, whatever. At least he didn't go for the “my friend...” excuse.

Ayaka warily cuts a portion of her cake, scrutinizing each microexpression flashing on Ayato's face. It's one of their weekly lunch meetings, squeezed between hectic schedules, and they more or less have a silent agreement to avoid discussions involving work if they could help it. But this time, he brought it up himself.

How peculiar.

“Perhaps she wants to change workplaces? If she's exemplary, she might have been offered a better position or higher pay.”

Ayato nearly scoffs at the suggestion. The company, old-fashioned as it is, can only be inherited by a direct line of descendants. Outsiders can only go so far, and being the secretary for the chief executive officer isn't bad at all. Last time he checked, he's been paying you generously as well—how many figures was it? Six?

“Oh!” Ayaka exclaims, holding up a finger as she seems to have figured out something. “Or maybe she wants to settle down and get married? If her work is keeping her occupied, she'll most likely take time off to find a husband.”

Ayato proceeds to choke on a tapioca pearl.

“Or she got married and wants to be a housewife-”

“That's quite enough, Ayaka.”

Ayato would rather believe the Earth is flat.

--

If Ayato were any less desperate, perhaps he would have rationalized that putting together “give her what she wants to make her stay” and “she wants to get married” is a bad, bad idea.

Unfortunately for him, he is grasping at straws, so it leaves him no choice. Yes. Definitely. There is no other option than this, obviously.

(He does not delve deeper into the reason why he doesn't want you to leave, nor does he dwell any longer on why he was so quick to think he was fine with getting married if it was to you.)

“Don’t you want to get married soon, Ms. [Surname]?”

To clarify, Ayato does not spy on other people's conversations for a hobby, but he's always had impeccable timing. It comes with the job.

He stands by the door, reaching for the doorknob to the break room, but the mention of your name forces him to a halt.

“Why are you asking me that...?” You awkwardly dodge the question, sipping on your coffee. “I suppose I am at that age, though.”

“So you do want to!” The squeal rings with a note of glee, a stark contrast to Ayato's gradually dimming mood. “Wouldn't it be nice to marry a good man? I'm sure even you have thought of it at some point! Are you seeing anyone, then? Anyone you can imagine yourself marrying?”

“No, not yet.”

Before Ayato can even heave a relieved sigh, you follow with, “But my mother is making me go on dates to see people. Said if I didn't bring home a man soon, she'd come all this way to drag me back by my ear and introduce me to her friend's son.”

“Ah, I get that...” Your friend replies emphatically, nodding. “But those kind of meetings hardly go well. And you can't exactly tell your mother's friend you don't find her son attractive, right?”

“Why not just marry Mr. Kamisato, then?” Another one pipes up, to which Ayato gives a mental salute of appreciation. “You spend most of your time together. If you're not married to your job, then you're practically married to him.”

A cackle sends his heart dropping to his stomach.

“Not a chance.”

Can you at least expound why?!

“Huh? Why not? I mean, Mr. Kamisato is on another realm of existence and I can never hope to be on the same level as him, but you look good together!”

Your face pinches to a tight frown. “Look good together? In what way?”

“When you stand side by side, it just looks... right. And like I've mentioned earlier, you spend all your time with him. Why not seal the deal?”

“Mr. Kamisato is reliable, and if you marry him, you're set for life. He's handsome too, and we've all seen his muscles at our company sports day a few months ago!”

“I've never been so thankful for team-building events. Hallelujah.”

Ayato's face burns in embarrassment hearing the dreamy sighs. Even if they think there isn't anyone else listening on them (which is false), shouldn't they exert some restraint at work?

“Please don't lust over my boss,” you assert sternly, voice ice cold. “And we have a strictly professional relationship. So don't get any weird ideas from here on out, alright?”

“Fine. Tell me that again when I'm invited at your wedding, I dare you.”

“I said-”

They wave off your vehement protests at the statement. “Then if you're not into Mr. Kamisato, what do you plan to do?”

Ayato perks up, straining his ears in rapt attention.

“...I'm going on a date this weekend,” you sigh, rubbing circles on your temples. “I'll let you know how it goes.”

Oh no.

--

“-Dinner was nice. We didn't expect the rain shower, but he ran to the convenience store across the street to buy an umbrella because he didn't want me to get wet on the way to the car. He said it would be a waste if my hair got ruined since I-”

Slurp.

“...Styled it for the occasion. Then he drove me home. I found out we liked the same band from the music he played, and we agreed to-”

Sluuurp.

“-Go to their upcoming concert together. Then we somehow also like the same novel that's getting a movie adaption soon, so we also promised to see it-”

Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuurp.

“Could you please refrain from making noise when eating, sir?”

Ayato decidedly does not comply and only slurps his boba tea harder, nearly choking on a tapioca pearl yet again.

As always, you learn to ignore him.

“Concert... and a movie. I'm not sure about the concert, but the film you're talking about is the one coming out in the next two months, right?” Thoma confirms, sweating when Ayato's expression turns visibly grim. “You plan to see him for that long...?”

“Even if dating doesn't work out, we can always become friends, can't we?” You shrug, taking a bite out of your sandwich. “He seems like a nice guy. We get along really well, considering we've only met once. I ended up agreeing to a second date-”

The passive-aggressive slurping persists for the following afternoon.

--

“I've been meaning to ask for a while,” Thoma treads carefully, noticing Ayato's rapid-fire typing—no, striking—on the keyboard, “Ms. [Surname] is good at her job, but you seem really... eager to make her stay, sir.”

Ayato's fingers halt in their movement, and he takes a second to flash his business smile. “Of course. She's a valuable asset, and I'd be foolish to let her go.”

“Yes, I'm well aware, but...” Thoma scratches his cheek, looking off to the side. “You didn't go to such lengths when your former assistants resigned from their post. Or, uh... you fired most of them.”

“Yes,” Ayato simply agrees, still smiling, “she's competent. You don't find anyone like her easily, so it's only natural I'd want her to stay.”

“What do you mean by 'anyone like her,' sir?”

Thoma is awfully talkative today. Ayato might need to feed him something spicy to shut him up.

“Ms. [Surname] is special.” The words smoothly leave his lips. “Does anyone else have the meetings and company events scheduled for the next month memorized? She's the only one I can count on for work matters.”

Thoma's shoulders slump. “Okay, let me get straight to the point. Do you-”

“Mr. Kamisato?”

Thoma nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of your voice, accompanied by the clack of your heels.

“What is it?” The cold smile on his face finally melts to something more genuine, softer around the edges and looking especially radiant. It's welcoming, like your arrival counts as a joyous occasion, and he is exponentially more attentive compared to the way he lent Thoma half his ear (the other preoccupied with a phone call, which he swiftly ends the moment you walk in).

“I came to deliver some files from Ms. Miko... did I interrupt something?” You gesture to Thoma standing idly by the side, dumbfounded from Ayato's inconceivable behavior.

“Not at all. Is there anything else?” Ayato accepts the documents, noticing your hesitance to leave.

“Ah, yes, I will be asking for time off tomorrow.”

That's... rare?

But it's not a hard request. Ayato's own schedule is blank for the most part, since the latest project wrapped up not too long ago, and the workload is lighter than usual. Missing one work day won't do any harm.

“It's fine, but could I ask why?”

You fidget, tentative as you reply, “I was invited... for a trip on a cruise. He insisted I come since his friend bailed on him and the tickets would go to waste.”

The warmth in his eyes freezes over.

“The tickets would go to waste...” Ayato repeats under his breath, mockingly cruel. The tone flies past your head but it hits Thoma full-force, making him sweat profusely.

Distasteful. An utter disgrace of a man. The magnitude of his ignorance is so awe-inspiring, I have to applaud. I must give credit where it is due, and the foolishness of this clown is truly impressive. “The tickets will go to waste,” he says? His money must worth more to him than his dignity. Inviting Ms. [Surname] to a date on a workday with no regard for her schedule is one thing, but making her out to be an afterthought as a substitute for his original travel partner is another. How shameful. This is no way to treat a lady. If Ayaka were to be with a man of his caliber, I would never allow it.

But what he says outloud is of course, “I see. I hope you have fun, then.”

--

Corporate events are, for the most part, adequately entertaining.

Preparing for it is not.

But the worst part isn't even brainstorming themes, or finding an appropriate venue, or planning the logistics, or writing the guest list.

It's choosing what to wear.

Actually, the cause for Ayato's headache isn't even what attire he'll go with. It's yours.

“That looks wonderful,” Yae praises, looking at the picture on your phone. It displays a silver necklace, a tear drop topaz encased in a diamond twist. It pairs well with the dress you bought with Ayaka last week, an elegant fit that accentuated your curves.

However.

“He chose that for you, didn't he?”

The stoic line of Ayato's mouth twitches and his eyes can't help but sweep over your screen, scrutinizing each grainy pixel.

Though he has plenty of insults prepared at his arsenal, he can't find anything to nitpick about. Damn it. It's a good choice.

“You'll look stunning,” Kokomi assures good-naturedly, smiling in delight. Ayato does not doubt that will be the case, but he's sure he would be in a foul mood the entire night if he were to see you adorning it.

He has already retrieved his coffee from the break room so he excuses himself to his office, long strides that lead him out of earshot.

As a result, he doesn't hear the following conversation.

“Why this, though?” Kokomi asks, looking closely at the accessory. “It's a simple design. Doesn't look like something a man would pick from the rest.”

You shake your head. “I just told him I wanted something blue, and I couldn't choose myself because there were too many that caught my eye...”

“Blue?” She echoes, a simple curiosity. “Why blue?”

“...It's a pretty color.”

--

It is an actual coincidence that Ayato runs into you in the middle of shopping.

You're hunched over a display stand showcasing a variety of earrings, deep in thought as you observe each one. You're doing that thing where you scrunch your nose in concentration, a habit Ayato doesn't think you even realize you have.

“Fancy meeting you here, Ms. [Surname].”

(He wonders what face you would've made if he said “You go here often?” instead. Probably some degree of disgust.)

You blink, correcting your posture and nodding in greeting. You don't look particularly thrilled to see him, but at least you're unbothered by the prospect of seeing your boss on a free day. “You're here to shop too, Mr. Kamisato?”

Ayato smiles amicably. “I am. Were you planning to buy earrings?”

“Yes, but...” Your gaze returns to the display, your own smile faltering. “It is a bit difficult to choose.”

He walks over, scanning the variety up and down. “Is it really? You only need to choose a pair that matches your necklace, right?” He focuses on shades of silver, bypassing the vibrant colors of reds and pinks. Not even fifteen seconds later, he picks out a card and holds it out next to your ear. “This one looks nice on you.”

“Huh? Really?” Perhaps surprised by his swiftness, it takes you a moment to react accordingly. You take the card from his hands and flip it over, eyes widening by a fraction. “Oh. It is rather pretty.” Then they widen further as big as saucers. “I can't say the same for the price tag, though.”

“Hm? What price tag?”

He plucks the earrings from your hands, walks to the counter, and pays for it without a second thought.

“M-Mr. Kamisato?”

“Pull up your hair.”

“Eh? Oh, okay.”

You're so caught off guard that you unwittingly do as he says, tucking your hair back obediently and still processing the last two minutes.

His fingers tug at your ear, warmth bleeding to your skin, and by the time you return to reality, he's already putting the earrings on you.

STORY FLOW.

ok i lied i actually can't remember shit about this fic so i will be making up stuff as i go lol

what i do remember clearly is that the resignation notice that ayato found on your desk is years old. you meant to submit it way, way back when ayato was tougher on you, and you weren't as well-adjusted as you are now to the job yet. as stated in the fic, being ayato's secretary is no easy task—he'd fired countless people he thought was incompetent.

you fought a number of times, and you didn't know if you could keep up working for a man you thought was simply incompatible with you (in terms of being colleagues/partners).

but over time, you learned to work together. ayato acknowledged your efforts and hard work, and you knew ayato had been trying to give you less jobs to reduce your workload, but you were going to prove that hou could handle it.

what truly made you appreciate ayato more was when you got stranded at the train station. you dealt with a far company they collaborated with, but work ended later than expected, and you'd missed the last train home. taxis were an option, but youd have to go through several of them to get back. right when you were thinking of checking into a hotel, ayato informed you he was already on his way and drove a couple of hours to get where you were to bring you home.

time continued to pass, and that brings us back to the present. you were on the process of cleaning up your desk and left the old resignation notice out in the open by accident, which led to ayato seeing it.

it is very apparent to the others that you two like each other, but the involved parties themselves are unaware of it. you currently aren't eager to get married, but you were trying to meet people so your parents would stop bugging you about still being single.

anyway, ayato bought those earrings for you. timeskip to the corporate event. you unconsciously picked a blue motif for your outfit because it reminds you of ayato.

when you get there, surprise, surprise. the man you were meeting, kazuha is a bigwig, heir to some other corporation. he actually owned that cruise he invited you to and pretended he didn't because you might be intimidated. ayato didn't think the kazuha he knew and the kazuha you knew were the same person, and now the advantage he had over him was ruled out (i.e being rich). (actually while i was rereading i was surprised i didn't mention that it was kazuha...? istg i was imagining him the whole time i wrote about him)

anyhow, as it became later in the night, ayato wanted to get you home before kazuha could offer to drive you back or worse, spend the night with him. ayato acted drunk so you'd tend to him and accompany him home while his driver was in charge of taking you to his apartment. as you were nagging at him, he compared your interactions with him to yours and kazuha's. you were certainly nicer to that man. smiled at him a lot more, too. did you really like him that much?

if you did, could he let you go?

he was ashamed that he couldn't answer it right away. as if he had any right to whatever you do.

you carried him to bed when you got to his apartment, but when you were preparing to leave, he hugged you from behind. do you like that man? why do you want to leave me? why can't it be me? ayato was just pretending to be drunk, but he felt dizzy now, soaked in your scent. he said things that he wasn't supposed to. things that he couldn't take back. things that would change your relationship forever.

slowly, you took away the hands wrapped around your waist. ayato figured that was a message of rejection.

but then you pushed him back down on the bed and you straddled his lap. his mind was silent for but a few seconds before he started screaming mentally.

i've always wanted you, but i knew it was impossible. you have a fiancee. i'm an ordinary worker. your family won't accept me. ayato's mind was in a daze because your face was so close to his, and all he could see was the red, glossy shade on your lips, but he managed to hear those few sentences.

it doesn't matter. nothing else matters. i can't marry if it's not you. if you accept me, i swear i'll make you happy.

from here on, it could be a happy, fluffy ending where turns out, you were tipsy so you were more honest with him and you fell asleep in the middle of kissing so he took it upon himself to change your dress into something more comfortable and end the night with a forehead kiss...

...or you could continue what you were doing and the first thing ayato takes off is the damned necklace so he could replace it with a smattering of hickeys. your choice ^^

[kuntprodukt]

WHERE YOU START THAT'S WHERE I BEGIN

Leon S. Kennedy x reader | 18+ MDNI. DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT, DUBIOUS CONSENT, reader is captive, SMUT, female reader, age gap, implied alcoholism, BIG stockholm syndrome, toxic relationship, abuse, light physical violence(he hit her only once anyway), light hint of misogyny??, bruises, begging, masturbation(fantasy), vaginal sex, reader has masochistic tendencies i guess, creampie, unprotected sex, dirty talk.

summary: Blonde hair rarely stays the same, but this feels like a clear reminder there is little to nothing remained of the past rookie - innocence is gone with the clear, light wheat color. He wishes it was possible to start everything from scratch - maybe excessive drinking will black him out, memory loss or whatever just to be given a chance to create new him. Probably wouldn't work, everyone would still remember him. And you would still be here. 

notes: i didnt proofread if you see mistakes then you are wrong and ignore them, english isnt my first language. reblogs, asks or comments and any kind of interractions are really appreciated!

tags: @melanchol1cs

“Top ten bruises on my body!”

Your fingers stretch the skin of your thighs, presenting as a group project. You tilt your head to the side, staring back at your reflection in the mirror. Not only a mirror, right now not for you at least. More like a camera, pretending to be one of celebs having an interview - you’ve always watched before getting locked here. You don’t have rights to watch TV unless with Leon, Tarantino shit or similar to his style. You find them boring at this point, at first they are nice with cool shots, but after two movies they become repetitive and even dull. With a clear fetishistic content, the same violence you can find in other films. A naive eye would think Boondock saints is Tarantino’s child, maybe Leon is a victim of that too. Don't tell this to him though, at drinking hours Leon would only roll his eyes at your possible statement or give you a slap - a man knows better than some young woman. Do you know many good female directors? Leon doesn't, unlikely there are anyway.

“First place! This is my favorite” A reddish patch similar to nebulas. The shape isn’t even linear, slowly forming, but even a blind would see it looks like a heart. If he hits it means he loves, right? Your finger traces around it, emphasizing the shape. “It looks like a heart, I love it”

“Heart shaped cause he loves me”

Your fingers slowly trace up to the straps of your dress. You pull them lower, they are loose cause you never bothered to adjust that - no one other than you and Leon will see. There are different sized bruises; some are already blooming on your skin like the prettiest flower, slowly descending to your stomach which is covered with the fabric of your silky dress. “He said my tits are the prettiest, prettier than porn stars’”

Your eyes drift across the reflection of your neck, covered with hickeys - a minute pause to think. Are hickeys bruises? Hickeys do look like bruises, but does the act behind them matter? Do they become less violent when his lips suck on your sensitive skin, breaking vessels to coax them to bloom on your neck?

“What the fuck are you doing?” A new reflection appears behind you, a hoarse voice after no consecutive dry days pulls you to the earth. Leon is back. Leon is back home! His face is confused and tired - not because of your stupid antics, no-no. You are the best part of his life, unlikely Leon will ever admit that, still the thought lives in your mind rent free - maybe coping with the lack of freedom. 

“Nothing!” Your hand creeped to his, pulling closer so it'd lay on your waist. You lean in to kiss his cheek, the stubble grazes your soft lips. Leon doesn't comment on this. “I’ve missed you”

He hums, making a bad choice to let his eyes drift across your skin. Not looking into your face though, his mom has always said they are mirrors of the soul. No way you will catch his guilt. Bruises, hickeys and they look pretty on you - something he’d define as a guilty pleasure to observe. Blooming slowly like it’s a spring season, warm, full of love. Love is the warmth, like the inside of your mouth. And every single proof of his love that covers your flesh is full of turbulent emotions - those violent delights have violent ends. Shamefully or not, this gets him harder every time.

“Would you kiss me better?” Of course you notice him staring at your body. Good fucking job, Leon Scott Kennedy.

It is hard to meet your gaze, he always tries to hold it more than a second. As his mom said once, keeping eye contact is the key to success - a lie, if it was true then he’d have already become the next president. Soberness is not for the weak and he needs a sip, to drink away his building shame. It snakes around his neck like the worst tie in the world before an important meeting, slowly tightening just to add another one - guilt. Whiskey calms down this, then your pussy removes it completely. 2 months have probably passed after bringing you here - against your will, now Leon is not so sure if the idea was a good one. Alcohol never encourages good deeds, but his life goal isn’t to become another Saint, not anymore. His addiction kicks out any hope, pushing him to drown himself in the guilt even more - full of whiskey, full of guilt, there is no space for anything else other than your presence. And kidnapping you only strengthened it furthermore. 

“You don't look wounded” he brushes off, out of habit untapping the flask to bring it closer to his lips. The rich taste of bitter liquor burns any remains of taste buds. Leon knows a lot about injuries, hell, not better than Rebecca - she is a doctor, while he is just an unfortunate government agent with a lot of experience. Maybe too much. Your eyes follow, lingering on the bead of whiskey there while pressing harder into his side. 

He misses your thrashing, biting his hand to silence you while he slips cock inside your pussy, kicking him just just you to end up with your body painted with bruises, forcing you to stare at him - now all you do is cling to him even worse than a leech after a day on the swamps. Staring at him willingly, an idiot struck in love, even dogs don't have that look, like the best thing in the whole world is in front of you. Before he had a reason to be angry, now you are just the proof of his failure in life. Your behavior changed steadily, so naturally it felt surreal to realize, in his mind a young girl with a bright future wouldn't settle on being kidnapped by a 40 years old alcoholic so quickly, crawling to him in the evening to suck his cock. 

You both stand in front of the mirror, but your gaze isn't focused on it - forgot about the glass reflecting your frame and dreamily blinking at him because the world stops on Leon. While all he can see is his washed look, exhaustion doesn't suit anyone, but it is the biggest gift his job has given him that he can't even brush it off. Blonde hair rarely stays the same, but this feels like a clear sign there is nothing remained from the past rookie cop - innocence is gone with the clear, light wheat color. He wishes it was possible to start everything from scratch - maybe excessive drinking will black him out, memory loss or whatever just to be given a chance to create new him. Probably wouldn't work, he is too old and everyone would still remember him. And you would still be here, he’d be forced to remember everything. 

While you had everything, all the time in the world before he got you stuck here. Even now, your appearance didn't get worse, at least in his eyes you are still perfect; the short gown clings to your thighs, emphasizing them as a quick reminder you are his. No way for you to escape because you cling to him even worse than any sugar baby would to a rich man. You like him, his grumpy expression wearing it like a coat, you like and pity him. So much it hurts from the inside - tearing your heart apart, not realizing how humiliating it is to cling to his leg almost every evening just for an ounce of affection. Maybe a little bit crazier, but four walls without alcohol or any other ways to escape are suffocating even for him - no wonder Leon became your favorite person to bother, an unusual way to find escapism. 

“You look like black cat!! I love cats!” and he’d shrug it off, while putting a black cat on his phone wallpaper. It is flattering after all.

You’d try to do everything together too, like a couple while you are not actually. But it warms his heart to find a warm body next to him, rambling into his ears while he drinks his brain out before his fingers would slip under your underwear to part your cunt . And you don't seem to mind his trouble with the boner that whiskey has given him. Together, no matter if one of you is miserable. 

Leon presses you against the mirror, his chest is pressed against your back. Your tits are squeezed against the cold surface, easily can be felt through the thin fabric of the dress, not only this but also his cock strained against his jeans - you can feel it too, he is so close to the point that if you had the urge to escape you wouldn't have any way to exit. His hand crawls up to grip your jaw, forcing this time not to face him directly - but your own and his reflections. It is much easier to handle your gaze like that. He is not drunk enough, nor is he sober enough to drown himself in shame and you are here to center him with your pussy. One believed the sun moved around the earth, for you Leon is the center of your Universe. Not so far away.

“Keep your eyes on me” He shakes your head slightly, your eyes widen before darting at his reflection and teeth sink into your lower lip. “You didn't lie, right?”

You nod, at least try with the lack of movement right now nor you know what he meant. Leon clicks with his tongue. 

“Missed me… have you thought about me?” his hand unbuttons his jeans to free his hard cock, it twitches briefly in the air, he grips it before giving a slow stroke - a soft grunt escapes from his lips, brushing against your ear and you get wetter like on command. Ears are sensitive, after all. “Did you touch yourself while I was out?”

You squeeze your thighs together, a silence is enough to confirm. Leon hit the nail on the head, - of course you did, but there is more for that too; his shirt is one of many comfort items that you snatched two weeks ago, his smell is still there or it is already engraved in your brain like some kind of drug. Burying your nose against the fabric while your fingers play with your slick folds, thinking about him. Even better, imagining him being in front of you, while you are dripping wet, probably leaking on the bed you both sleep on, he’d be watching your fingers part your cunt, exposing those sweet, slick folds to him before your fingers would slide across your clit and the mound of it swallowing your fingers coaxing wet with obscene shlicking sounds as their pace would quicken. 

What Leon doesn't know (or he does?), you like to press on one of your bruises if there are any - that pain feels too good, sweet and only intensifies your crushing orgasm. It was a weird discovery, accidental and now there are two things that can get you off - Leon, of course, and pain from bruises. You have been imagining this over and over, like good food never gets old. Your fantasies come to nothing as his hand shakes your head roughly. Earth is calling, darling.

“Tsk, stop looking so dumb” His voice is loud in your ears, reflections of your figures doesn't try to veil anything - maybe at the edge of high arousal it looks even better in his eyes - gown rose, its folds cling to your hips and hugs your curves in a soft embrace while not hiding different little to medium sized bruises. And your face? Pretty, flushed with teeth sunk into the plush skin of your lip with the eyes full of need and affection - your entire body begs him to fuck you. Again, even dogs don't have this look.

This time your sweet inseparable fingers are not the ones to part your cunt, but his cock. It slides against your folds coaxing out wet noises after every drag - his cock head bumps against your clit, making your flinch and his grip on your jaw gets tighter; don't forget you need to focus on his reflection. Your cunt gushes at every little bump across your aching nub, sick coats his flesh, lubing his length in it before he pushes his cock into you with a grunt - Leon is not really a patient man. You arch into him, like a piece of puzzle made for him - perfectly settled in the curve of your bodies, leaving no free spaces all skin-to-skin. 

Your velvety walls easily swallow his cock, stretching inch by inch at every unevenness of its hard flesh with pleasant pain and letting it slide until his cock got buried deep inside you. His presence, cologne and cock overwhelms you per se - there is no space, if you try to turn, to face Leon and confront him directly, not to stare at his reflection like he isn't here, all your body would have felt would be him. Balls pressed against your flesh, while you can’t help, but tightly clench around him. His cock drags out, your walls cling to the prominent vein of his cock, the one that pulses hard before cumming inside you almost every night. Pulling out until only a tip remains inside, the base of his cock is glistening with your slick, easily slamming it back - relishing how tight and warm your pussy is, the best and most calming feeling for Leon. His hips start pounding into you, falling deep into the pleasure connecting your bodies, more wet and flesh-hitting sounds slip out of you. His hand forces your head to roll back while his free hand rests on your stomach, like the snake keeping hold and not letting any other movement - try and get bit. 

“Feel better than those fingers?” Leon grunts, every man's weakness is their ego - it is hungry for satisfaction and needier than you after denying your orgasm on one of nights. 

“Yes - yes! Much better!” 

“Of course, dummy,” Leon shakes your head again and your eyes are unfocused for a moment - blurred, looking at the tip of your nose as you try to recompose. His hips slam harder against yours, burying his cock deep to the hilt and another squeal.  Amusing. “What can you know about pleasing a woman?”

Leon doesn't know much either. Women lie, even in bed - they fake their orgasms, but he refuses to believe you are the only girl that he was able to make cum. 

His hand brushes slightly across one of the bruises. Fuck, a hint of sweet pain and your body flinches. Your cunt gushes more, feeling the stickiness of your slick cling to your thighs now too, his nose brushes behind your ear before nibbling on the soft cartilage. Your walls clench harder around him with a light moan escaping out of you, the tightness of them almost makes him cum. Your expression tells him everything, hell, even body language is enough to confirm that you get off of that - not sure why, maybe younger girl thing or you just got crazier than before with him. He doesn't even know what’s better, but not like it matters right now cause your little kink is beneficial for Leon. 

Will you cum if he presses intentionally? God, his cock throbs inside you even harder at the thought. Those marks were made by him, in big percentage of situations he was drunk to the point he didn’t even remember them, or maybe too ashamed to confront he messed up, other ones were hickeys - they don't count, those are evidence of him fucking you dumbless. He is not shy to play with you. Now particularly. 

“What? Are you getting off of this?” You can see him in the mirror and hear him. Omnipresent. his voice caresses your ear with his lips, brushing across the sensitive cartilage and your insides flutter. You can bet those veins and other imperfections are imprinted in your pussy after this. “Freak.”

“No, hell! Ugh– Waitt!” You can explain! Or can you? Your words get thrown out of your brain after another thrust, knocking so sweetly your spongy spot. His cock doesn’t stop pounding, grinding its tip inside you every time he buries it deep to the hilt - you can feel it almost into your stomach at this point. That’s for the better anyway, your open mouth would only end up confirming his words. Freak, dumb freak. Mindless cunt. 

His finger presses on the red spot on your side, a light pressure, just a try - an investigation, just to see if it wasn’t an illusion and quickly a moan follows after, even better your pussy flutters, unclenching just to grip harder than you’ve ever been while cumming on his cock. Wow. “Sure”

And you didn’t cum yet. Will you if he presses harder? Your body is in front of him, the mirror doesn’t hide all the blooming colors on your skin. Hickeys don't count, bruises from his biting neither - those born with violence are the ones. To apply pressure on a violet one? They are the most mature. 

His balls slap your skin after every thrust, keeping the rhythm to his taste - rough, quick with the result of leaving you sore and full. And you are sucking in his cock so good, a greedy thing not wanting to feel emptiness again - after all he is the only one that can fill you, fingers aren’t enough without him. His eyes focus on his hand, caressing your curves before finally getting to the sweet bruise on your thigh - heart shaped one, the one you were so excited about because the proof of his affection is in the most popular shape. Marked down on you. He loves you. Pareidolia twisted by Stockholm syndrome, still he likes you cause you too. His finger traces the shape, watching you flinch at the contact with the sensitive patch. It is hard for you to keep attention on that, while his cock drags so sweetly inside you - fits so nice, easing your body with pleasure. Something is missing still, not for too long he presses his finger on your bruise. Now nothing is missing.

Your face twists in pleasure, your teeth sink into the soft plush of your lower lip to the point he can notice light beads of blood forming - clearly would be sore and sensitive to kiss later. Your eyebrows furrow, creating a light cease in between them, the one he usually pokes to ease. If not for Leon, he believes you’d be already wrinkled. This sight is almost better than alcohol, drinking into it as your cunt clenched tight around him - pulsing so sweetly as the hard feeling of orgasm hits you, pleasant shockwaves dumb every bad thought in the head. His cock throbbed, letting a loud groan and finally spurting ropes of cum into you. His sperm fills you, grinding his hips against you as your mind is all focused on the warmth of his cum - settling inside you, while his slowly softening cock tries to prevent the leak - doesn't work well, it drips slowly, sticking to your thighs and now not so warm. 

“You love me, right?” Leon’s voice comes out breathy, brushing against your ear shell. It is a plea to hear your confession, that someone can love him even in the most wrong way. You like him, love him. There are no other words that can explain - in the hell you’d crawl to him, you would not turn to look upon if that meant you would not see him anymore and if he ever dies you would mourn him to your death - you are tearing apart every time you see him, touch him and kiss him. His calloused fingers creep down to your clit, flicking and rubbing it roughly just to prolong your orgasm - to see more those mindless eyes directed to him. Trying to keep the feeling of that warm tightness sucking in his cock. 

“I looove love love you!” Your voice is weak, hoarse from moans and sounds like a mewl. To prove you mean it, to shove out of your chest everything he makes you feel so he’d validate your needs. Leon isn’t deaf or stupid, the clear intention behind them is clear, you are genuine and transparent - more transparent than see through lingeries, he can see your thoughts in that dumb head of yours. And this fed into his ego better than anything. 

Your body drops down as his grip lets go of you. Like a corpse, god, no – wrong thought, Leon. His fingers are wet, sticky with your slick. Everything clings to him, he isn't sure if he sobered up or it is just sweat. Untapping the flask to take a sip. Bitter liquid burns in the back of his throat, slowly reaching his stomach just to heat him up. And whiskey numbs everything, it cradles him in the almost mother-like embrace. Then he’d need you to coddle in your arms like a child, to feel your chest against his face.  “I need to shower”

“... Can I join?” Your head flicks to him, trying to stand up but for his luck you are still recovering from your orgasm. Weak in knees, still full of urge with the need to leech at his side. 

“No” And you beg and cling, reaching to grab his shirt just to loom in front of him, reminding what he has done - to confront his deeds, shame is sticky like oil, damp and cold - he knows this too well, it washes over him with soberness. His ruffled expression covers with sweat, wide pupils cause everything feels like a joke. Crude one. 

“Please, Leon! I’d be good” Your thighs clench around nothing, as his cum oozes out to cling to the inner side of your plush skin. “Don’t leave me here, please, I love yo—“

Loud slap. His hand connects with your cheek. Actually, it is a first - to hit a woman in the face is too much and he can’t fall so low. Your expression dries his sweaty face, confused and surprised. Thank god your grip lessens, he slaps it away too. His wide eyes stare at you - he can’t believe what he has done, well, he can but to face it in a half-clear mind is not his best way. Red mark on your cheek that is going to bloom into something more violet, Leon has never given you flowers, but bruises look like ones enough. 

His hand burns from the slap, still can’t let it fall to his side like nothing happened. And you like this, thriving into this more than he has ever expected you. Your eyes glimpse with more affection, like a stubborn dog not knowing any better. 

What do you even know?

You are the shame that washes down on his frame, you are the guilt tie on his neck. Your entire existence warms him, but at the same time Leon needs to wash you off of him. 

[amomentsescape]

Hi! I saw headcanons with slashers, with a pregnant reader that's clingy on ur account. Would it be possible to write about a pregnant reader that's irritated by their voice, or feels nauseous from their scent? (obv the reader didn't have problems like that before the pregnancy) Ty in advance! Love your headcanons and writing in general! 💞

Slashers with Sick & Pregnant! Reader

Slashers x Reader (Separate)

Includes: Freddy, Michael, Jason, Thomas, Bubba, Brahms, Norman, Billy, Stu, Vincent, Bo & Hannibal

A/N: I saw your other message and made sure to include Hannibal with this!

Freddy Krueger

As mentioned so many times before, he can literally alter his world in any way, shape or form

A certain scent is throwing you off?

No problem, he'll just change it to something that relaxes you

His voice is irritating you?

Then why not make himself sound like that one singer you've been obsessed with recently

He can fully take away your discomfort if you ask

Which is why you've been sleeping so much recently

His world, for the time being, is much better than the real one

Michael Myers

Michael is Michael

He doesn't really care to be honest

He rarely goes out of his way to speak or get all touchy with you anyways

The couple of times he has so far is met with a quiet apology as you pull away

He just looks at you and continues on with whatever he was going to do next

He doesn't take it personally

But if he has a particularly rough night, then sadly for you, there is no denying him

If he wants to sit next to you then nothing is going to stop him

Jason Voorhees

He knows he probably doesn't smell the best, considering his current... state

But every time you make a face or scoot a few feet further away, Jason's head noticeably falls

You've apologized to him probably a million times by now, and you constantly reassure him that it's just the hormones

He believes you, but that bullied little boy is still in his mind sometimes

He's doing his best to be strong for the both of you, but it's tough on him

The only solace is at night when you're already asleep, and he can finally curl up beside you in peace

Thomas Hewitt

He's fairly understanding of it all, and he always waits by the door in the morning to see if you need help with anything

All it took was ONE time when you pulled away early from a hug, and he basically avoided you like the plague for the rest of the day

It's killing him not to be close to you, but he is not willing to over step your boundaries

He'll just act as your personal assistant for the next several months, fetching you anything and everything you could possibly need

He's happy to wait until things can finally go back to normal again

Bubba Sawyer

Poor guy has no idea

You can explain this to him in every way possible, but he still doesn't understand

It's worse too because he's been extra cuddly with you knowing that you have a little one growing inside you

But his giggles have been too pitchy, and no amount of showering seems to remove that bloody aroma off of him

Even his mother has tried to explain to him why you're reacting like this, but all he hears is that you don't want him around

He's quite literally going to be acting like a kicked puppy until your hormones get sorted out

Brahms Heelshire

Yeah, this isn't going to go well

You may be pregnant, but he still needs to be taken care of too

And he's so incredibly observant

So all it takes is one crinkle of the nose or a slight turn of the head, and he's immediately on you about "when you're going to leave him" and "who the other man is"

Even if you get him to listen to what's going on, it won't matter

Nothing will change, he won't let it

You better buy some nose and ear plugs, because Brahms is desperate for your attention

Norman Bates

He understands

He literally bought a dozen books about pregnancy and how to help out as best as one can

All you have to do is mention it once, and he's to work

The smallest sounds are bothering you? He's not uttering a single word and will sound proof the house

A certain scent is making your stomach turn? He will fill the area in anything you can tolerate, so much as to switching his soaps and detergents to better suit your needs

He fully understands everything you and your body are going through in order to carry his child; the least he can do is make you comfortable

Billy Loomis

He isn't exactly the best at empathizing, so he feels like you're probably exaggerating it a bit

These things never once bothered you before, so there's no way they could be now

Takes everything very personally

If you even slightly push him away, he'll make his exit out the door

He always comes back though with a pout and a murmured apology

He has a lot of abandonment issues he's still working out

He isn't too mature with his emotions, but he's trying his best to figure things out

Will eventually do research on his own and see that things are backed by science

Won't stop him from still pouting though

Stu Macher

Apologizes for just being in your presence

Once you explain how you're feeling and what's bothering you, he'll be your biggest supporter...

From the other room

You wake up to warm tea and snacks most mornings since he knows he can be in the same room when you're asleep

Will become a bit deprived of affection after a while though

So he'll sneak into bed with you once you're already asleep and will be out before you wake up the next morning

He explains that it's important for him to spend time with you both

May still give you the occasional hug out of nowhere

He just can't help it

Vincent Sinclair

He's going to 100% respect your wishes, but he's definitely sulking any time your back is turned

He gets it, he knows about the hormones and science of it all, but damn

It hurts him so much to know that something so natural about him can be making you sick like this

He's kept his tinkering to a minimum since the noises have been hurting your head

He's taken to showering multiple times a day too since it's the only thing keeping your nausea at bay

He knows you don't mean harm by it, but this phase is going to feel like an eternity for him

Bo Sinclair

Sympathy isn't exactly in his vocabulary

He won't really do or change anything at first

But if you complain about it for long enough, he'll finally give in

But he isn't really going to do anything that actually benefits you

He'll buy nose and ear plugs for you so that he doesn't have to change anything himself

He still expects you to watch and eat whatever he is feeling though

He's trying to be there for you the best he can, he just hasn't had many experiences of empathy in his life

Hannibal Lecter

He understands and will act ever so maturely about it (like always)

He'll stop wearing his usual cologne and aftershave if it bothers you

Will only cook certain foods around you that you can tolerate

The rest he'll cook privately

If his smooth and suave voice bothers you for some reason, he'll be happy to communicate through gestures and looks

He's willing to adapt to your needs since he knows the severity of pregnancy and hormone changes

He's truly the "ask and you shall receive" type partner

[ourg0dsal]

Random but 10,000 years is crazy. Like actually bonkers. And that's 10,000 years SINCE the end of the world as Jod knew it. 10,000 years is his reign. 10,000 years is the Mesolithic period, before recorded history.(up to the point of this posts creation in the non myriadic year of no lord, 2025 anyways).

And so it's crazy that in the same time period that humans went from using small stone and sticks as tools, to having commercially available VR headsets, that a world fuelled by necromancy has not by themselves recreated Lyctorhood. Especially when their entire society is a reflection of the original lyctors. A necromancer and their cavalier.

And because of this, i think that was on purpose, that Jod hasn't had such a loose and casual hold over the nine houses as he might suggest. Or that his loose and casual personality might convey. That perhaps that issue of the accidental recreation of Lyctorhood has shaped a lot of decisions he has made about how to run the nine houses. I mean think about it, he thinks of the internet as one of the good things he withheld from the nine houses, but again, it's been 10,000 years and not a single person has ever conceptualized an electronic network that could allow the nine houses to communicate freely and share ideas and and work on projects together and learn from the other?

And i think someone probably has, but jod nipped that in the bud, because it wasn't in his vision for the nine houses. And the same for any promising necromancer. It's why the houses specialize in specific forms of necromancy rather than specializing in it as a whole. Because if everyone was learning all forms of necromancy then it really would just take one strong necromancer with an idea. And If the nine houses were able to readily recreate lyctors then Jod and his lyctors wouldn't be needed. Like sure Jod needs to be kept alive to keep dominicus running, it doesn't mean he gets to keep playing god.

The nine houses obtaining the knowledge of lyctorship, would be the downfall of Jod and he knows it. And so he keeps Lyctorhood away from the nine houses, and lies about (his version of) perfect Lyctorhood away from his lyctors. To keep the threat of him losing his power nonexistent.

[badgertracksart]

Portfolio advice, from a lead who hires Concept Artists

(This was originally a twitter thread I wrote before the site self imolated, hense it's strange structure.) I wrote this after a weekend of portfolio reviews - 1. Like a maths exam, please please show your working. I want to see thumbs options, mid options and of course a final design.

2. Arrange your portfolio, I don't want to bounce about between subject matter and pipeline. Your portfolio's narrative should be as strong as your work... 3. Please make worlds that excite the viewer, make them want to go in and explore them, explain to them the interesting parts of the town, or the way the character's hat unfolds. How will this draw the viewer in? 4. As I've said before the majority of your project work is explanatory not mood, make sure your portfolio contains explanatory work. Explained here -

5. A lot of beautiful post apocolyptic paintings, , but 80% of realistic games and film, we just give the environment artists photo ref, they are capable artists in their own right. Different work in stylised where you do need to create rules for how things can be translated. 6. Production art contains call out sheets, material references and flat graphics. This doesn't have to be your final image, but it should support it.

7. Design characters on a swatch(es) of the environment they will be viewed in. Not on white. I make swatch backgrounds from screenshots, it avoids assumptions that damage readability. 8. Reverse of this, put people in your environments, show me the scale.

9. It's not a deal breaker for a review, but if you intend to get a job, please show me your work on a screen larger than a smartphone (print outs probably the cheapest option with the best battery life). 10. Please have your contact details clearly visible, and by that I mean email address, I will not pass your social media contact on, I cannot input your form into my tracking system. EMAIL ADDRESS emblazoned and bake it in, sometimes recruiters do funky stuff to pdfs

11. Your portfolio will never feel done, not to you anyway. You will have learnt from your latest pieces and want to apply it to older work. But we know art is a journey. Send your portfolio anyway. I've been in the industry 10+ years and my portfolio is still not 'finished'. 12. If you are applying to an environment centric Concept Art position then please vary your times of day! Golden hour is cool but show me some happy sunny days, looming overcast days, what about at night? Vary your weather too! Sunny snowy day? Rainy Spring day? Stormy night?

13. If you are applying for a character centric Concept Art role then please ensure your portfolio shows a variety of body types and ethnicities. 14. Designing characters for games? Please show back views and feet (!) Many potfolios contain only front views. This is a problem because:

You haven't shown you are considering the design from all angles.

In many games rear view is the main view.

Stop cropping feet.

15. If you are entry / graduating and looking at Portfolios to compare content and standard of yr own work too, look at hired grad/junior artists as opposed to seniors Seniors and leads often have old or personal work in their portfolio which isnt representative of the day job. 16a. Show clearly the intended use case for your Concept Art. Mention the game type in the description. Are these player character designs for a 3rd person adventure game? Then more back views please. Bonus points for diagetic ways of showing health / equipment / role etc.

16b. Are these designs for an FPS? Then really the player view of the gun needs to sell the player style/ choices, in an FPS your weapons are almost your character. Are these world designs? What's the view distance? For an RTS your shapes need to read from above & a distance. 16c. The lack of clarification means I am judging the design in isolation, which both harms the design (you might be considering the backview of a char as the main adventure character.) Or an NPC, their waist up expressions may be important for conveying exposition and mechanics.

16d. Concept art is not separate from gameplay, great concept art serves the game team before it is a good illustration.

17. Play games. A variety of games. Think about them. IMO to be a good concept artist you need to understand the common language & references used by your peers. Also understand the principles and common language your audience are used to. FPS design rules are v.diff from RTS.

18. There are many skills that are needed in concept art, please show them. For example: Graphic design - logos, liveries, typographic use etc. VFX concepts - Abilities, Ambience, motion concepts. Architectural knowledge - How buildings are built! & more but I'm out of space :O

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hey i was wondering if itd be cool if i drew your abortion road trip lovers? and if it is cool do you have physical descriptions for them or general vibes or can i just make shit up?

lmaooooo @birdy-brained and I came up with whole character concepts for them, there's not a LOT in the way of physical descriptors but these are the vibes as I've been imagining them

Lids (he/him)

pregnant (uh oh)

5 foot nothing on a good day

hoped that T would give him a beard but he's got two (2) chin hairs

likes tattoos but doesn't have any cause he's Scared of needles (does his T in gel form)

pocketknife collection

wears a lot of ripped jeans + Don't Look At Me hoodies

fun patches though

acne

lives in a queer housing co-op from hell

can't drive

ANXIETY!!!!!

works as a 24/7 gas station cashier (hates it but kind of loves it)

Buck (they/them)

the sperm donor (rip)

6 foot two inches+

long hair (either wears it loose or a messy half bun) + mustache + short beard

covered in shitty tattoos; does stick and pokes as a side hustle

playing acoustic guitar in the coffee shop

dresses like a thrift store fucked a ren fair

likes big skirts

smudged eyeliner + chipped nail polish

lives with their former bandmates who tried to be a polycule then broke up and now they're not a band anymore :/

van friend

lethally chill. like, kind of pisses people off with how chill they are? please stand up for yourself, Buck.

has like five side hustles and 0 regular job

they fucked at a house show; they were both there because Lids' housemate's metamour's sister's boyfriend's college roommate was playing and Buck is friends with the college roommate.

anyway you absolutely 100% don't have to draw them like this, it's nowhere in the actual post and you're so free to imagine them however you want!! I strongly encourage that, this is just how the characters have shaped up for me since I first wrote the idea down lmao

also I'm tagging this as "abort mission" because that's what my housemate and I started calling the idea

[all444miles]

— JERSEY LUV

— pairing: e-42 miles x black!fem!reader — genre: suggestive, but fluff. — summary: attractive things Miles does that just make you fold instantly. — a/n: this was js in my drafts n i was like "i should post this" while yall waiting 4 my new fic !! the entire time i was writing this I was losing my absolute SHITTT. 😭 Like, i was dead by the first hc. this might as well be those "what's it like dating miles" type shi but i wanted to make it diff, yk? listen to some kind of fold-worthy song while u read this - anyways, im waffling. enjoy, mls !! part 2 part 3 !

MILES MORALES that does not take your attitude. He loves you, yes, but if you do too much or talk crazy, he's gonna put you in your place. It's nun violent, of course, but he may just grab your neck once or twice.

"Chiquita, watch yo tone wit me." "Drop that attitude f'me." "Miss me with that voice, ma."

MILES MORALES that manspreads. that's it. that's all.

MILES MORALES that's always gonna call you by some kind of nickname. He just loves it, and you do too. Princesa, ma, hermosa, the list goes on and on. One time he called you lil mami (if you're shorter) and you actually lost it.

MILES MORALES that always has his hands on you. Your waist, your thigh, your face, everywhere. He just needs to make sure your there.

MILES MORALES that lives for your kisses and always kisses you. Doesn't matter the place, the time, nothing. If he wants a kiss from you, or wants to give you some, it's gonna happen. Especially when you have lipstick/lipgloss on.

"Mi reina, lemme love on you."

MILES MORALES that drives with one hand because his other always on your thigh. It's like his lil resting spot.

MILES MORALES that'll always let you know he misses you, he'll spam you with "i miss you" texts or voice notes w him going on abt his day when you not around ‹3

MILES MORALES that has social media but only uses it to post you. You the love of his life, why wouldn't he let evb else know that?

MILES MORALES that loves to spoil you. You like that pandora bracelet? It's yours. You have a shein cart? Its on its way. He loves to spoil his girl, its his love language atp.

MILES MORALES that always keeps eye contact with you and make sure you keep contact with him whenever yall talking. dont look away if he say sum that makes you fold, he gon grab your chin and make you face him 🤭

"Nah nah baby, don't turn away. Keep ya eyes on me."

quick @ to my boo @laaailuh

© all444miles 2023. do not plagerize, copy, or repost my work in any way shape or form, without my permission.

likes, reblogs, comments and asks are always appreciated !

[sunderwight]

SV AU where Shen Yuan transmigrates into a dragon.

It's not so bad, at first. He's an extremely magical sort of dragon so he can easily take on a humanoid shape, and he has dominion over an entire mountain, with a magical gate that leads to his palace. Said palace has a fully stocked treasury, a library, garden, etc, with the only real downsides being that the place is kind of huge and very difficult for a neet with limited housekeeping or landscaping skills to keep up with. The original dragon had enslaved a bunch of fairy spirits to do it for him, but since Shen Yuan has moral objections to that, he'd let them all go and they'd run off before he could even think to offer to hire any of them as paid employees instead. Not that he can blame them for being in a hurry to get gone.

He does his best, and generally enjoys being a dragon lazing on his mountain, or wandering the beauty of his palace and investigating the books and scrolls kept there. He doesn't actually seem to need to eat or drink, so that's not really an issue, and nobody looks keen to bother him. But after a few months the dust starts to really pile up, and trying to figure out how to do his own laundry without modern equipment leads to several disasters, and even though he doesn't need to eat he's starting to think it would be quite nice to have a fancy sit-down dinner and enjoy it for its own sake anyway. He has an enchanted larder but his food prep skills aren't up to much.

So, Shen Yuan ventures away from his mountain. He keeps to his human disguise when he's not traveling, and at first tries to hire on some help from a nearby city. But when he explains that he lives on the mountain, he realizes the difficulty, because everyone in the area knows that only the dragon lives there. So they all think he's either a liar or a fraud, or some servant of a nefarious supernatural creature angling to trick and possibly devour them.

Shen Yuan tries approaching another town in his dragon form, to see if anyone will actually deal with him if he's being upfront and honest about the situation, but the townspeople just panic. He returns to his mountain to rethink his strategies, and in the meanwhile the alarmed locals hire a swordsman to go after him. The guy gives him a few very painful cuts before Shen Yuan mostly-accidentally sends him careening into a boulder. One broken arm later the swordsman is gently persuaded that the pay he was offered isn't worth the effort on this job, and leaves.

Discouraged, Shen Yuan decides he's gonna give this one last try. He picks the second closest city, flies up, and is like yes hello, yes I am indeed a dragon, no I'm not trying to burn down your walls, yes it would be excellent if you stopped shooting arrows at me, look they don't even get past the scales? It's kind of silly? Okay, yes, thank you very much. Good. Now, the thing is, I'm looking for some people. I want to take them back to my mountain with me, to my incredibly nice palace, and -- what was that? A princess? No no I don't want a princess, what would I even do with one? If anything I'm looking for the complete opposite of a princess!

Anyway, the locals take this to mean that the dragon is demanding a sacrifice in the form of a pretty boy of no particular pedigree, and Shen Yuan takes this to mean that he's finally made his case clear and they're going to dig up someone who is willing to overlook his being a dragon in exchange for free room and board and fair wages out of his massive treasury.

SY's a bit disheartened when the entire city could only apparently turn up one such person -- an underfed teenage boy who looks at Shen Yuan like, despite the situation, he is still expecting to be eaten at any moment. Poor thing! But at least having one servant means he can potentially get more, especially if it all goes well. The lad can tell others that working for a dragon isn't so bad! Well, provided that he doesn't give up in alarm at the state of the mountain palace.

For his part, Luo Binghe at first thinks he's definitely going to get eaten, and then that this dragon is weirdly nice about planning to eat him, and then that maybe the dragon has other (even less savory!) plans for him, until finally he sees the state of the dragon's laundry and the foot-thick layer of dust in the corners, and gets completely distracted. Mortal terror forgotten, those floors should not be that filthy, Lord Dragon respectfully that isn't how anyone should prepare rice either, but oh Binghe has never seen a kitchen so nice before in his life...!

Anyway, needless to say, it works out just fine.

[callme-holly]

hiii! can u write headcannons for the greasers when you are on your period?

𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 [𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝.]

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - So sorry for my inconsistency when it comes to requests - I'm not working in any particular order but I will get to them all eventually! Anyway hope y'all enjoy and as always asks are still open for requests

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 901 words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - none

Darry Curtis - 

Darry would be so caring towards you, oh my lord.

If you need something, you best believe he is going to get it for you, among many other things. 

If you’re suffering with bad cramps, he will gladly lay with you and hold you for as long as you need him to. 

If the boys are bugging you in any way, shape or form, he is telling them to lay off and keeping you as far away from them as possible. He knows how annoying they can be first hand and the last thing you need right now is them all up in your face. 

He will come home from work during his breaks just to check on you and make sure you have everything you need; heat pad, blankets, snacks, entertainment. 

Sodapop Curtis - 

Much like his brother, Soda is super caring and sweet. 

He will go out and buy you everything you could possibly need; chocolate, medicine, you name it, babe, he’s getting it for you. 

Will take hot baths and showers with you after work. 

This boy will cuddle with you all day if that was what you wanted, hell, he’d take the day off work just to spend time taking care of you. 

If you’ve got cramps, he feels super guilty. He hates seeing you in pain and hates knowing that he can’t help you even more. 

Strongly believes that kisses will “cure” you and will shower you with attention until you’re feeling slightly better. 

Ponyboy Curtis - 

Pony doesn’t know much about periods other than the fact that you can get pretty damn moody. 

He tries his hardest to understand what you’re going through, but eventually he freaks out and has to ask Darry for help. 

If you need him to get you something, he will go into the store with the full intention of buying only the items you requested only to panic and buy almost every single product he could find. 

If you’ve got bad cramps, he’ll do his best to make you feel better. He’ll do whatever you need him to do but, in the end, he’ll just lay down and read to you until you fall asleep. 

Johnny Cade - 

Johnny is the sweetest. 

He gets so concerned about you and hates seeing you in any sort of pain/discomfort. 

If you’re sad, he’s sad. 

You want him to get you something? Medicine, chocolate, blankets? No problem, sweetheart, just sit tight and he’ll get it in no time at all. 

If you’ve particularly irritable, he tends to stay out of the way for a little while. He doesn't wanna upset you and he also doesn’t wanna get yelled at by you. 

He’ll cuddle with you for ages. When I tell you he isn’t letting go until you do, I mean it. 

If you’ve got bad cramps, he’ll lay with you and rub your stomach until they pass. 

He’s also not opposed to running you a warm bath if that’s what helps you.

Dallas Winston - 

When I tell you this boy knows nothing about periods, I mean it. His knowledge is very limited; he knows you get pretty moody and that’s about it. 

He’ll try to stay out of your way the best he can because when you’re on your period you kind of scare him. 

Once you snapped at him for being a pain in the ass and he never tried to bug you again. Instead, he went to find the gang and was like “damn, women can be scary sometimes, man.” 

He definitely showers with you but for all the wrong reasons. 

If your cramps are particularly bad he’ll get you blankets and will sit with you until they pass.

Either that or he’ll panic and call Darry. He does not know how to deal with this shit. 

Is definitely the type of person to say “can’t you just hold it?” 

Steve Randle - 

He’ll either take you to work with him or take the day off so that you’re not alone. 

He’ll let you sit in his lap whilst he rubs your back and presses soft kisses to your lips and forehead.

He’s actually so sweet to you. 

Will gladly feed you chocolate cake (he might steal a few bites too). 

Much like Soda, he has no problem taking hot showers with you if that’s what helps you to relax.

He will bring back whatever you want from the DX, just ask him and he’ll get it for you. 

If your cramps are particularly bad, he’ll just hold you until they pass. His comforting skills aren’t the greatest but he tries his best and we love him for it <333

Two-Bit Mathews - 

He tries to stay out of your way if you’re particularly irritable. He learnt the hard way not to bug you when you’re on your period and he vowed never to tease you again. 

He’ll cuddle up with you on the couch and you two will just watch TV together. 

Much like Steve, he has no problem feeding you chocolate cake, although he might end up eating the vast majority of it. 

Will pepper your face with kisses, claiming that it’s the only cure to your discomfort. 

If your cramps are bad, he’ll get you a heat pack and will do anything in his will to make you feel better. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous your requests may be, he will do it for you. 

𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬!!

[ineffably-queer-book-lover]

Let there be light!

Look at you, you're gorgeous!

Sharing an update on my LEGO Angels Aziraphale and Crowley and their accessories from that iconic moment in history.✨✨✨

If you're interested in some details about the parts I used and the modifications I made...

CROWLEY'S HAIR

I've shared a close-up photo already, but here's a bit more of the 'work in progress':

The huge curl on top of the LEGO hairpiece #13785 seemed to be a great start for Angel!Crowley's hair, so I went with one of these pieces and basically chopped off everything except for that curl. Several layers of Milliput and spray paint turned it into Angel!Crowley. 😉

TORSOS

Both Aziraphale and Crowley got some simple custom printed original LEGO torsos. I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea about designing fabric folds in a way suitable for teeny-tiny LEGO torsos, but I did my best. 🤷

ROBES

Most of the other custom body parts were taken from several of these minifigures:

(Koruit XP-685 Liu Bang)

ARMS

Both of my angels got a pair of these arms for a closer match to their angelic robes. After removing the original print, I added stripes of golden self-adhesive vinyl foil to recreate the (different) borders on their sleeves.

'BOTTOMS'

While Aziraphale got a simple white original LEGO skirt, I used this wonderful taller custom Koruit bottom part for Crowley's robes to add some extra height (nevermind that this "skirt" part is not compatible with original LEGO torsos and the necessary modifications had me swearing quite a bit).

SCROLL

The scroll used to "crank it all up" was also designed by me and custom printed on a 2x3 LEGO tile. I love how it's just the perfect width to be held by Aziraphale!

CROWLEY'S CRANK

You might have seen Crowley's crank in some of my other LEGO Omens pics already, but I'll gladly share its 'secret' with you: it's LEGO piece #15534 in Flat Silver (after cutting off everything that doesn't look like Crowley's crank and sanding it down). It's not perfect and I might create a different crank piece in the future, but I actually love the simplicity of this solution. 😉

WINGS

The wings are still something I am not satisfied with... There simply aren't any solutions available that fit perfectly, so I'll probably keep switching between different wings for my LEGO Omens pictures.

Anyway, in the above photo Aziraphale got a slightly modified version of the relatively new LEGO wings form this minifigure:

The neck part just looked unexpectedly thick with the "regular" LEGO minifigure head sitting on top of it, so I meticulously carved the neck hole out until the head could sink all the way down inside it. Still not perfect, but definitely looking better this way!

For Crowley's wings I used a pair of BrickWarriors custom bird wings:

The shape isn't ideal, especially the rather sharp edges at the top. So I cut those off and sanded the rounded corners down to make the wings look a bit more angelic (I'll probably give Crowley's pair of black wings the same treatment).

✨✨✨✨✨

Feel free to let me know what you think of my angels or if you have any preferences for their wings! 😊

[deerspherestudios]

Okay my curiosity is killing me, I saw that you said when Atom makes something it is no longer apart of him so he can’t just become anything…. But at the same time I’m so curious what would happen if he attempted to make like a human form?? Like would it end up as an entity entirely separate from him, fail as a whole, or would almost be like two atom’s to deal with? (That would probably get jealous of each other LOL)

He can make our favorite creature so theoretically he could make a person but like, if he doesn’t fully understand the behavioral characteristics of a creature, can he really make it?

IM SO SORRY I HOPE I DID THIS RIGHT I REALLY TRIED TO LOOK THROUGH EVERYTHING 🙏🏻 I love your games so so much! thank you so much for what you’ve created. Your work has genuinely changed my life for the better. 🩷

Aaa thank you for the sweet message and support! I was gonna explain it in this ask how Atom's transmutation ability works when it comes to creating living beings but the explanation was already so long I cut it out. I'm glad I get to explain it here!

To start, I always intended Atom to feel a bit eldritch-y, so this is probably the part where that aspect applies. Below is a clumsy explanation so bear with me, but to jump straight into it, this was what I had in mind:

So I've established they can make anything as long as they're familiar with it. If you're wondering how it learns, it's kinda hinted in-game when Atom mentions learning recipes from Kiara the cook after it dissolved her. I wouldn't know how to explain how that happens but chalk it up to being an alien lifeform! Also!! Think Warm Bodies I guess!!

Is it akin to a god if it's able to create life? Uhhh, shrug! I'm just having fun with them so just brush past this detail haha.

Anyways, the point is they can make stuff! This can be living and non-living things, but the caveat is anything 'living' kinda acts,,, off? The creature will look like it's alive but it feels like terribly programmed AI if you observe them long enough, with things like:

forgetting to breathe or blink

doesn't eat, doesn't drink, doesn't excrete anything

making the wrong noise

doesn't move like it's supposed to

flopping 'dead' for a few seconds before 'rebooting'

will dissolve into the rest of the worms when you're not looking (thus becoming a part of Atom again)

Extremely uncanny, extremely uncomfortable to watch. But if you ask Atom to shapeshift into something else, it'd still be a bunch of worms making up that shape.

For the sake of clarity, let's say you want a cat, that cat is gonna be it's own cat, however strange it might act.

If you want an Atom-shaped cat,, it's gonna look like worms.

I'll just use this doodle and hope it gets the idea across because I'm having difficulty explaining it but I hope it makes sense!

Edit: Actually now that I think about it, it's similar to this scenario from one of sanfangzhu's fancomics titled Reshape! Though,,, canonically the end result isn't gonna be that graceful hahaha.