#so just a bit of shape language yknow

[minnows-wc-blog]

First arc design challenge!!

[averlym]

miscellany (again),, tags in the last image by @pyrotechnicarus

[ludolka]

Okay well now I need more on dog Joel behaviour he's such a loser I love him

Hmm, I can give you a bit of an insight into his behavior, kinda expending on the list I wrote the last time. He’s our loser wet dog of a man <3

He sniffs around a lot, he uses scent as his main source of getting directions. He also sniffs Grian each time they meet to see who he’s been around, whose scent he has, where he has been and all that

He chews on things a lot. It’s kind of a self soothing thing at times. He usually chews on the end hoop of his collar or on his clothes. He also likes chewing on Grian, but usually it’s more of nibbling than actual biting, not strong enough to break skin. He also actually bites him sometimes, but that’s for different situations

Talking about biting and breaking skin, whenever he comes down his bloodlust induced high and Grian’s still there and hasn’t gotten away, he sometimes gets guilty and cleans up the wounds by licking them. Yknow how dog saliva’s antibacterial and a disinfectant and they lick their wounds. He also likes to lick off tears. This is all just him showing care and affection and remorse, this is his way of taking care of Grian after bloodying him up

He loves playing tough guy who hates everything, but his tail gives him away every time. He hates it lmao. It’s hard to intimidate his prey when his tail is wagging like crazy

He loves head, ear and belly scratches. He will whine. He’s very touch starved, he never really got a lot of affection in his life, so it’s hard for him to let anyone near enough to let them pet him for a while, but he absolutely loves it

Piggybacking off of that, his love language is physical love. I think most dogs are like that anyways, very physically affectionate

He’s very possessive and territorial like most dogs are. But he isn’t as social as most dogs are, he’s rather lonely by himself. And even though he wouldn’t admit it even to himself, he sees Grian as part of his pack

He has awful table manners, he mostly eats with his hands and just tears his food (usually meat) with his teeth

He’s very energetic and in great shape, even with him being on the chunkier side. He regularly jogs miles just around his neighborhood or on trails in the forest. He gets pretty restless and irritated when he has to stay still for a long time

Uhhh that’s all I can think of rn, but everyone feel free to add to the list ✌🏻

[streamafterlaughter]

Fundamental Differing

Chapter XXVI: So Soft, You Make Me Hard

masterlist | playlist | prev. | pin

summary: it finally starts to feel like a vacation

tags: SMUT minors DO NOT INTERACT! unprotected p in v, vulgar language, adult content, slight angst, mostly fluff, weed and cigarette usage.

a/n: hey........ remember this one? lol. hope y'all still have a little interest bc it's ALMOST OVER! just a few more chapters to go of the Fundamental Differing universe, such as bittersweet feeling. Hope you enjoy!

taglist (closed): @children-of-the-grave @five-bi-five @wiildflower-xxx @beebeerockknot @champagne-glamour @xxgothwhorexx @therensistance @chonkzombie @brxkenartt @sidthedollface2 @bibieddiesgf @gaysludge @eddiesguitarskills @lilpotatobean2 @poisonedluv @kellsck @m-chmcl-rmnc

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-- Your POV

It had barely taken a week for the tabloids to run the story: Rockstars can be Softies Too! Corroded Coffin frontman spotted snuggling up to Death Dance Approximately vocalist. Sources close to the star say they’ve been close since the beginning of their joint tour. 

You snort as you toss the Newsweek paper on your kitchen table for Eddie to see. The picture, of course, was staged by you and Eddie: Him in Ozzy-esque sunglasses, hair tied back, in regular clothing wrapped around you, an iced coffee in his free hand. You’re in jeans and Corroded Coffin t-shirt, snuggled into Eddie’s embrace as you sip on your own drink, a toothy smile on your face. You’d called Ralphie, a paparazzo in Boston that you’d grown close to, to break the story. He was more than happy to do it, knowing these photos would likely pay his rent for the foreseeable future.

“Think they’ll buy it?” Eddie muses, sipping his coffee.

“What’s to buy? It’s true. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but that’s just Hollywood.” You shrug, flipping the pancake on the griddle. “Chocolate chips?”

Eddie nods, rising from his seat to wrap his arms around your waist. “I need this tour to be over. I prefer waking up in a stationary bed.”

“Mmm,” You make a sound of agreement, resting your head on his as comfortably as you can without leaving the stove. “Only a couple more weeks and we’re home free.”

“Where is home, exactly?”

You don’t miss a beat. “Wherever, as long as it’s with you.”

He snorts. “Such a sap.”

“Huh, wonder who made me this way.” You giggle, poking his cheek. “You think we can put this whole thing to bed now?” You study the magazine article, rolling your eyes at their word choice: scruffy, angsty, disheveled. 

“Maybe, but there’s something else I wanna put to bed instead.” He waggles his eyebrows at you. Pretending not to squirm at his flirting, you rise from your seat at the table, clearing his empty plate and your own. 

“Though I am absolutely picking up what you’re putting down, I have shit to do today.”

He pouts, batting his big, brown eyes at you. “What could possibly be more important?”

–

“This fuckin’ sucks.” Eddie kicks the gravel from the sidewalk outside the mechanic. “I didn’t even know you still had a car.”

You shrug. “I like to keep my life outside of being a rockstar pretty normal. Unfortunately that includes taking my dad’s car in for routine maintenance.”

“I coulda taken a look for him, yknow?”

“Psh, right. Ask the rockstar to change the oil in my dad’s camaro.” “My life is not too glamorous to do my favorite person a favor.” There’s no humor in his tone, he genuinely wouldn’t mind getting his hands dirty for you. 

“While I appreciate that, my dad would never let anyone besides Theo and himself touch that thing. You know how many times I begged him to let me take it out?”

Eddie snorts. “I remember. And the one time he finally let you, it came back with the tiniest scratch and he’d grounded you for a month.”

“Theo was the one to fix it, and the one to talk him out of a harsher punishment.”

“And despite already being eighteen, you didn’t go out at all that entire month.”

You frown, because he’s right. “God, I’m such a fake punk!”

“Yeah. Total poser.” He shoves your shoulder playfully.

“Well, she’s all set, kid.” Theo strolls up to where you and Eddie are talking, wiping his hands on a stained rag.

“Thanks, Theo.” You fork a handful of cash in his direction. 

“No biggie. Anything for the biggest Boston rockstah I know. And I know a few, ya know, Steven Tyla…” He definitely doesn’t know Steven Tyler, but you’d seen him at a couple parties. 

“Yeah, for sure.” 

“Before ya go, though. Would yas mind signin’ somethin’ for my kids? They’a huge fans. Daughta can’t get enough o’ya.”

“‘Course, sir!” Eddie beams at the recognition, and your heart skips. He really is still living a dream. You nod in agreement, and Theo pulls out a receipt book that he hands you, along with the pen behind his ear. You sign the top corner, 

Thanks for listening, hope to see ya at the gig! and scribble your signature before passing it to Eddie. You peek over his shoulder and watch him scribble,

Keep rock n roll alive! and his big, blocky EDDIE. “How old are your kids?” Eddie looks up, meeting Theo’s eyes. 

“Eighteen and twenty.”

“Do they wanna come see us? We have a show here in about a month.” 

“Seriously?” Theo’s eyes light up, and you can't help but be awed by Eddie’s gesture. 

“You can too, if you want! I dunno if you listen to that type of music, but…”

“You can't tell my kids, but I'm actually a really big fan of both you guys’ stuff.” He lights up as he says it, and it makes you teary. You’re not sure you’ll ever get used to this part, the effect you can have on other, real people. 

“Your secret’s safe with us, man.” Eddie offers out his hand, which Theo shakes enthusiastically. “We’ll see ya!”

—

Eddie’s POV

“That was a really nice thing to offer.” You nudge him, approaching the door to your parents’ house. 

Eddie shrugs off his vest and lays it over the arm of your couch. “Least I could do. We should probably let Steve know to add three to the guest list. You get his kids’ names?”

“Shit. No, but I can ask my dad.”

He nods, still standing awkwardly in the middle of your living room. “Well, uh. What else did you need to do today?” He can’t see what else needs to be done. You’d gone grocery shopping yesterday, and your parents’ place is pretty set for the week. He remembers trailing behind you: dressed in sinfully short shorts and white tank top while he managed to sweat in the freezer section, even if only in a tank top himself.

 The house is clean— with the help of your parents, but mostly because you’ve been anxiously cleaning since this morning. He had tried to help, but ultimately had to excuse himself when you bent over the kitchen counter to wipe it down. 

He wants to touch you. It’s driving him fucking crazy, he hasn’t been able to. He’s starting to feel like maybe you’re avoiding him, though you’ve given no indication that you’re not interested in having sex with him again. His brain is just telling him that. He hopes. 

Even right now, in a sundress and sneakers, he wishes he could bring himself to take you to the alley behind the mechanic’s. But neither of you have made a move. Eddie’s not even sure he’s entitled to. Everything has been on your terms, and he hasn’t had a problem with it. He owes you that, right?

You glance at your watch and shrug. “Dad’s doing an overnight, and my mom’s away on some business trip as of this morning.” 

“Are you implying what I think you are?” He focuses on the wall behind you to keep his pants from tightening.

“Horror movie marathon? Like old times?” If it weren’t for the hope in your voice, he’d accuse you of being cruel.

So he meets your eyes again and stretches his smile as wide as it’ll go. “Of course, sweetheart.”

—

You’re trying to kill him. You must be trying to fucking kill him.

“Whipped cream?” You offer out the can with a mouthful, a bit of cream landing on his cheek. Fighting the urge to use your outstretched arm to pull you into him, Eddie opens his mouth without breaking eye contact. Two can play this fuckin’ game, he thinks. Unfortunately the giggle that slips through your lips makes his knees wobble. 

“So, I have plenty of movies to choose from. Never brought ‘em when I moved out, guess they kept them all safe for me.” You glide over to the crates of tapes next to your television, neatly organized with their titles facing outward. “You in the mood for something really scary first, or something more along the lines of a horror-comedy?”

He’s in the mood for you, truthfully. The short cotton shorts and camisole you’re wearing aren’t helping that, either. “Ed?”

“Hm? Oh, uh, either one’s fine.” 

You raise an eyebrow at him, and through his flushing cheeks he manages to smile back. Through gritted teeth, albeit. 

“You’re being weird.”

“Am not. What about Possession?” An attempt to dodge the subject. 

You seem to let the subject slide, plucking the tape from its case. “Possession it is.” 

The TV yawns to life, and you place the tape into the player, making sure it's been rewound before pressing play. 

“You gonna sit with me, or are you gonna keep being weird?” He rolls his eyes, collapsing on the opposite side of where you are. “Got it.” 

Half of the movie is spent like that, Eddie resisting the nagging voice in the back of his head, begging him to tug you by your ankle onto his lap. You seem blissfully unaware of his internal crisis, munching on microwave popcorn as the TV illuminates the frightened expression on your pretty face. You retreat under the blanket when the scene before you gets to be too much, and for some reason it springs Eddie into action. He crawls from his side of the couch slowly, doing his best not to spook you, and curls his body into your blanket covered form.

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

“Whatcha doin’?”

“Protecting you from the scary movie.”

“My knight in shining armor.” Your body shakes with laughter, and he joins you. When you stop, you start flailing under the blanket, causing Eddie to release you so you can shove the cloth off your head. You inhale the fresh air deeply before once again descending into a fit of giggles.

“I think we’re safe now.” Eddie looks around dramatically, curly flying on either side of his face. 

“Thanks for rescuing me.” You crane your neck up to reach his cheek, placing a tender kiss against his hot skin. “However shall I repay such a noble act?”

Eddie groans under the heat of your breath against his cheek. “You’re killin’ me, doll.”

“Oh?”

“Gonna make me bust in my pants like a fuckin’ teenager.”

–

Your POV

His words propel you into action, quickly moving to straddle his lap, clad only in a pair of gray sweatpants. You can feel his length underneath you, twitching when you make the gentlest of contact. “And here I thought you didn’t wanna fuck me.” 

“What?” Eddie halts the beginning of your movement, grasping your hips to keep you in place. “What god awful crime could I have committed in the last week to make you think such a terrible thing?” He looks at you with a pout, his eyes dark with want, or maybe hurt. 

“It’s what you didn’t do, actually. I was walkin’ around the house in my underwear, Ed! And don’t even get me started on the shorts I wore to the grocery store.”

“You don’t have to remind me.” His breath is labored, like he’s just run a marathon. You grind your hips forward experimentally, and he whimpers in response. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Jus’ wasn’t sure it was the ri- fuck– right time, y’know?” Your grinding has become more consistent, still slow as the clothed tip of his cock prods teasingly against your throbbing clit.

“Mmm, such a gentleman all of a sudden?” You tease, making sure each word is barely audible, said so closely that each of your breaths tickles the fine hairs of his ear canal. “Where’s the spoiled rockstar that takes whatever he wants, whenever he wants, hm?” You’re being mean, but Eddie squirming and panting underneath you spurs you on. “You just gonna let me tease you like that while you mope because you can't touch me? Because it would be, what? Wrong? You’ve never cared about that shit before.”

“Didn’t wanna ruin anything, didn’t want you gettin’ the idea that I–” He stops short.

“Finish your sentence.” It’s a command. You don’t usually take the dominant role over Eddie in these situations, but you don’t hate the way it’s making you feel.

“Didn’t want you thinkin’ I oh- only wanted sex..” His voice is raspy with want, with need, for you, and you’ve never been good at denying him of it.

“But you do, right? You want sex?”

“I want your trust first.” His eyes bore into you as he says it. 

“Eddie,” You sigh, breaking character to caress his sweaty, flushed face. “You have my trust.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I would’ve kicked you out by now if you didn’t.” Eddie throws his head back to laugh, but it comes out strangled when you grind down on his lap again. “So, now that that’s out of the way…” Before you can finish the thought, Eddie lurches forward, one hand to the back of your neck as the other wraps around your waist, bringing your body closer to his as your lips meet. Your tongue slips sweetly into his waiting mouth, coaxing a groan from his throat that you feel between your legs. 

The movie playing behind you is long forgotten, now white noise as Eddie slips the strap of your tank top down your arm, calloused fingers gliding over your soft skin. Despite your earlier candidness, he’s being slow. Gentle. Almost cautious. In a way, it feels like revenge for the way you’d been teasing him, and you can’t help but relish the way it works you up. 

Eddie finally breaks your kiss, giving you time to breathe while he sloppily mouths your throat, eagerly adding teeth when you roll your hips forward again. His hands have a mind of their own, tugging at the fabric of your tank top until it's bunched at your waist, exposing your chest to the warmth of Eddie’s hot, panting breaths. At this point you’re practically riding his lap, begging for friction as he takes his time with you, like he’s memorizing every inch. 

“Ed, please,” Your voice is strained, broken and shameless.

“What do you need, baby?” He coos, sending you into a tizzy. 

“Need you to touch me.”

“I am touchin’ you, sweetheart.” He runs his finger down your arm with a feather light touch, barely registering over the way your entire body is vibrating. 

“You know what I mean.” You’re pouting, getting desperate. “Thought you wanted to.”

“Hey,” His eyes darken as he stills the rocking of your hips with firm hands. “I want to. But what’s the rush, huh? We’ve got so much time now. All night, even.” His voice holds an air of mischief, and you’re putty in his hands. 

“You gonna tease me like this all night? You don’t have the willpower.” You wriggle in his grasp for emphasis, and he muffles his groan with gritted teeth. You cross your arms over your bare chest, huffing smugly. “At least take your shirt off?”

–

Eddie’s POV

He can’t resist the way you ask, pleading with him to give you something. Eagerly he complies, yanking his shirt over his head and tossing it lacklusterly aside somewhere in your living room. “Get that later.” He laughs breathily, and you lunge at him. Before he can adjust to your weight, your teeth have sunken into his neck, contrasting with the plush of your lips placing wet kisses along the column of his throat. Your tongue soothes over the sore marks your teeth have left indented in his skin, branding him as yours. He finds himself excited for the next time he’ll go out in public, wearing the hickies you’ve given him like designer accessories. 

“You wanna go upstairs?” You mumble the question between placing chaste kisses on his shoulder. 

“I dunno, I’m kinda set on the idea of you riding me on the couch.” 

“Eddie, this is my parents’ house.”

“I’ll buy them a new couch.” Before you can argue, he pulls you forward by the neck, his lips slotting into your like puzzle pieces. You seem to give in, letting him win the argument. He can get a couch here by tomorrow if he has to.

–

Your POV

You readjust, sliding the tank top and your shorts quickly from your body, tossing them over the arm of the sofa before claiming your former position, this time with less layers between your throbbing clit and the tip of his leaking cock. 

Before you can work him up too much more, Eddie’s hands are sliding down your form, stopping to lightly twist and pinch at your nipples, chuckling at the way you whine and mewl for him. Replacing one hand with his mouth, Eddie then slips his free fingers to the waistband of your panties, snapping them once and causing you to jump before dipping lower to gather your slick before rubbing agonizing circles on your clit. 

“Jesus, angel, you’re fuckin’ soaked.” His pupils are blown as you’re sure your own are, looking at you with a lovely mixture of lust and love. 

“What can I say, you do it f’me.” You aren’t trying to be sexy, it’s the truth. Eddie doesn’t have to do much to turn you on.

“Feeling’s mutual, doll. Gettin’ me all hot ‘n bothered.” His breath is labored as he speaks, and you can feel his heart racing as you press yourself further into his chest. “Need to be inside you, love. Don’t think I can take much more teasing.” You can’t resist his desperation. You move quickly, letting him shove his sweatpants, now with a damp spot staining the crotch, and his boxers to the ground. His cock springs free from the confines and slaps against his stomach, precum dampening the coarse hair of his happy trail. You lick your lips absentmindedly, and before you can drop to your knees in front of him, Eddie grabs your wrist, pulling you back into his lap. 

“Wait, Ed I’m still– oh, f-fuck.” Eddie drags the tip of his dick against the damp cloth of your panties, causing a sensation that ripples through your core. 

“You gonna say somethin’?” He’s taken control, stroking himself against your hole, fabric doing nothing to cease the waves of pleasure crashing through you. “Use your words, baby.” He’s chiding, condescending as you can only whine in response, the heat between your legs seemingly cutting off the communication between your brain and your tongue. “Tell me what you want, can’t read your mind.”

“Need you to fuck me, baby, please.” The words fall out without decorum, desperate and high pitched like you’re being tortured. 

“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Such a good job.” Relief floods your senses when he pulls your panties to the side, sliding himself easily into your drenched hole. You both moan at the feeling, your walls clenching around his thick cock, his grip a vice on either side of you, not yet ready to let you move. You can only shake your head, too cock drunk to form a coherent sentence. Usually, he’d scold you for not speaking, make it harder for you to get off, but you can tell he’s just as desperate to fuck you, possibly even more than you are. “Need you to move.” He tries to keep his voice even, but you can hear it’s close to breaking, begging. You obey, rocking your hips, rolling forward, each movement accompanied by his own, the head of his dick pressing against the sweet spot inside you each time.

“Feels so good, darlin’, takin’ me s- so well.” He knows you value his praise, regardless of how difficult it is to give it between labored breaths. 

“Missed you, Ed.” You sigh the words, brain too fuzzy to muster up the strength to properly speak to him. 

“I missed you, baby.” Eddie’s head falls into the crook of your neck, kissing the marks he’d previously left on your throat while you continue to ride him. “Not gonna last much longer. Need you to cum for me. Please, I need you to cum.” His fingers find your clit without struggle, like he’s memorized the map of your body. He makes tight, quick circles on your clit as he continues thrusting inside of you, and your walls clench more tightly around him as you feel your orgasm climbing. Finally, as Eddie has pulled your face into his, crashing your lips together as his hand and hips stay moving, you fall apart on top of him, legs shaking on either side of his lap as he watches you ride it out, mesmerized by the look of you; sweaty, panting, bouncing on top of him. You’re still shuddering when Eddie lets go, head buried in your neck as his thrusts lose rhythm and grow eager, no longer worried about getting you off. His noises are guttural, coming from the deep recesses of his body. He spills his load inside you, his cum painting your walls as he mutters sweet nothings: “Fuck, shit, you’re perfect, missed this pussy so much, like it’s made for me, ‘s all mine, mine, mine…”

When he’s emptied himself, body heaving with each breath, Eddie lifts you off of his lap, both of you wincing as he slowly pulls out. “Shit!” You fall into a fit of giggles as your bare butt falls onto the couch next to him, suddenly shy about being naked in front of him. He joins you, cackling as you wipe the sweat from your brow with an exaggerated “Phew!” 

“Why weren’t we doin’ that all week?” He says through laughter, and you shrug. 

“Probably because other people live here?”

“Ugh, what a bummer.” He reaches over to the cigarette pack on the side table. “You wanna smoke?”

[cactusringed]

pspspsps if you have any lore you'd want to share about language/culture/historical stuff from your au i'd love to hear about it

Giggles. I love conlangs however I haven't actually made the conlangs, but I have thought about the languages. Tbh the One Cadavían word I've made - khasoph - is actually me stealing from the conlang I DO have lol for one of my original universes

Because of this I imagine Cadavían prononciation to be pretty similar that conlang that I made which itself takes inspiration from Arabic, though their writing wouldn't be the same. I imagine their earliest form of writing - before they had papers and inks etc - was cuneiform marks on clay. So their current method of writing has those angular shapes, probably with a bit more flow both from outside influence and from the invention of like. Writing with inks lol. And because it makes sense for a language with pretty consistent pronunciation, their writing system is a syllabary. With Cadavía being so large, there are also a lot of dialects that can vary quite a lot to the point where some parts of Cadavía would barely be able to understand other parts (the way Norway can be, to take an irl example)

Obliviate is actually rather simple in its writing - it's got two forms of writing basically, so you have old obliviate and simplified obliviate. With such a very small population with very little means, poverty and lack of education (because the regular people have to focus on agriculture) was a huge problem, thus much like Korea did they purposefully simplified their writing to be very very easy to write, read, and learn. This was done somewhat recently to the point where older people might stick to old obliviate, which can make it difficult for younger people if they're trying to communicate. The words themselves aren't different but the writing is so it's a whole thing, basically. The language is very flat in its pronunciation and tones, with little variation, and it's difficult NOT to be very formal with it.

Celesti is quite the opposite when it comes to prononciation and tones - it's a tonal language (like Chinese is) that in general has a very sing-songy feeling to it. As revealed in the latest ethubs chapter, Bdubs himself is of low-class origin, from a little farming village, so the way he speaks would be of a different type of dialect and accent as those from the capital do. He actually has to force himself to speak """"""properly"""""" when he's speaking to officials, but is quick to revert to his more familiar way of speaking when safe to do so. It can be difficult for Celesti native speakers to speak other languages, especially something flat like Obliviate, because it's so different in sound to their language. Ends up giving them a pretty strong and recognizable accent.

Methyskan is, I've decided semi recently, the lingua franca - ie, the 'International language'. You know, the way English is nowadays. Methysko is powerful enough - especially since its made itself the centre of trades - that they can just make everyone learn their language. Methysko does have an alphabet, and there are two versions: ancient Methyskan and Methyskan. Ancient Methyskan is just the old version of Methyskan before language reforms, and it's spoken in prayers and written in old books. The regular folks wouldn't really know it, but royals would. Unfortunately for everyone that has to learn it, Methyskan is pretty fucking complicated lol.

Mezalean is somewhat similar to Methyskan - they have a shared ancestor and thus basically the difference between Mezalean and Methyskan would be like the difference between French and Italian, yknow. They can't necessarily understand each other when they speak but they can pick up a good amt of words and the grammar will be similar. However it has been a looooong time since they shared ancestors, like before ancient Methyskan was a thing, so when I specifically picked French and Italian as the languages to compare them to it was purposeful since the differences between the two are bigger than the differences between, say, Spanish and Portuguese, yknow.

Oh also Methyskan and mezalean don't have gendered pronouns or words 😁 but they do have formal and informal "you" pronouns. You can't pry those for me. I'm keeping stuff pertaining to the ocean empire a secret until we meet them, but I will offer a little sneak peek and say; they might have more than two gendered pronouns :D

[dynamite124]

Yknow Ive thought about it and while Kaiden and Taliesin would NEVER get along, I do think they're both actually really similar. Like, right from the outset they start their adventures with the DB because they feel a debt to them for saving their lives. They both have a sense of honor and even respect towards individuals they feel meet their standards but can be prickly or downright rude to people who don't meet those standards. Loyalty, hard work, and even honesty are virtues they both highly value. They also both develop a dragonborn shaped soft spot in their hearts and would follow the DB to hell and back again and are 100% ride or die with you all the way.

I dunno I just think its neat how they both share traits but from completely opposite direction and have enough differences between the to really highlight the contrast (despite taliesins history with the thalmor he still values and is loyal to the aldemeri people and to an extent still shares their values while Kaiden is completely disconnected from his culture/history and so has more or less adopted the culture of the nords as something to respect, etc)

Sometimes I like to think Taliesin and Kaidan do have their similarities, but their stance on other sides of the coin does cause some conflicts. Kaidan being raised as a Nord and understanding their culture better than his Akaviri side, and Taliesin with his loyalties to his Altmeri heritage and culture, but still having that stigma of being aligned with the Thalmor for over 100 years. Yeah, I see these two butting heads a lot.

Just like a traditional Nord and traditional Altmer would.

Taliesin isn't going to apologize for Kaidan's scars, and Kaidan probably isn't going to trust Taliesin due to his history with the Thalmor.

The player/Dragonborn would be the glue that keeps the party together despite these conflicts. And some things can only be conveyed through battle.

Yes, Taliesin would respect Kaidan for his strength and loyalties, protecting the Dragonborn would be the catalyst for spawning that through in Taliesin's mind. Taliesin would sympathize with Kaidan's want and desire to further his education. And he would never use the death of his mother as a means to upset Kaidan. A bit of a silent understanding that I think only Kaidan and Taliesin would share.

But there's still that stigma the two share. Maybe they may never become friends, or maybe this tension is just their own language to mend the bridge to becoming something that may resemble a friendship or just and understanding between the two.

There's a lot to be explored. It's a shame we may not find out with Liv as the writer for Kaidan.

Something open to interpretation to those who have a better understanding to what makes Kaidan tic.

[doubleedgemode]

I guess I cannot shut up about the homunculus, huh? I call this one:

The Head(ache) Skeleton Key

Get it cause I'm gonna get a headache if I overthink this

So, I'm thinking about that old concept art ishiwatari made that had a.b.a's beta design, which, wasn't really that different, aside from her top having an x mark, her holding a sorta small ax and chewing on either a key shaped lollipop or a key (later concept art which I assume is after her design started to simmer shows the first option, but as we don't know if those are related, we can only speculate) but the big difference was... Paracelsus! He was a carbon copy of A.B.A's head key (no, before you ask, they didn't give her finalized key a skeleton design to homage betacelsus, both para and her key were supposed to be the same!) albeit with more detail.

Maybe this lore wasn't planned yet but... Yknow how in Strive interviews we learn Paracelsus taking on a key form was related to him trying to hold A.B.A's attention?

What if beta paracelsus straight up shapeshifted exactly into her head key as a stronger way to gain her trust? Let's be real, being born with that skeleton key, I theorize it's one of A.B.A's most consistent things about her enviroment. Whatever shit happens she has a skeleton shaped key in her noggin, always. (Though it seems to have changed a bit in strive, of course! But you could argue before all that the key was kept in place.. classic a.b.a's head key is rusty, I wonder if her creator just didn't care about her getting tetanus or it just actually deteriorated by not being well-kept :( )

That'd make paracelsus' shapeshifting more insidious... But of course we don't even know if betacelsus was even alive or just an idk demonic looking cool (inanimate?) Weapon. It's what I ASSUME to be very early concept art, not in the final product and, hell, if I understood well the strive interviews, the implication was that para's shapeshifting into a key isn't complete, so the "yeah by xx era he has perfectly shapeshifted into her skeleton key but upscaled" wouldn't work.

You thought the post was over? Nope! You get a buy one get 1 extra rambling free offer!

Part of me ponders if the skeleton key thing is a reference to.. actual skeleton keys! I'll paste their wikipedia definition so you know why that name:

A skeleton key (also known as a passkey[1]) is a type of master key in which the serrated edge has been removed in such a way that it can open numerous locks,[2] most commonly the warded lock. The term derives from the fact that the key has been reduced to its essential parts.[2]

As far as I've been able to find, japanese says a word translated as master key for master keys, but I haven't been able to find if the skeleton type is a thing in japanese or if it even shares the naming. However, I don't understand japanese (it was by translator) so please take my pondering about the existance of skeleton keys in said language with a mountain of salt.

But, even if that wasn't a term in japanese, whose to say the team didn't pull inspiration from an english term? Thought not the same situation, afaik, they've already chosen a bunch of terms from different languages for some gg topics. Maybe they didn't but it would be a fun coincidence!

A big part of me thinks maybe this isn't this deep and they just went with a beautiful (esp betacelsus with all the spine details) skeleton design cause.. Well, they are creepy which fits A.B.A's vibe pretty well, lol

[acaciapines]

Please tell us abt the parallels :o

YEAH OKAY SO!!!!

in this au (and as i write ralsei in my canon always lol) the biggest thing that puts pressure on ralsei's life is the prophecy--it says a human, a monster, and a prince from the dark, and because it is a prophecy, and it is fate, is HAS to be true, and ralsei, as a darkner, a group of people who literally exist below the lightners, is charged with bringing this prophecy into fruition. she has spent her entire life ALONE, with nothing but this prophecy for comfort, saying that one day, ONE DAY, she'll get through this and she'll have friends. but yknow, that weighs on a person! its heavy and terrible and she has contorted herself to fit what fate tells her she must be.

and then for noelle, the big thing putting pressure on her? her dead siblings (dess and kris. kris isnt technically her sibling but yknow for ease of language thats what i use. also we know they arent dead but noelle and the rest dont). with their deaths means noelle is now the baby of the family, a family that is shaped by this great gaping grief noelle cannot comprehend, because when dess and kris died she was young enough she barely remembers them beyond like, maybe half-formed memories but she isnt sure if those are real or just what people have told her. shes expected to be grieving her dead siblings but really she just sort of. hates them a little bit. for going off and dying and now her mom and toriel are super overprotective of her, and she knows its her fault asriel never left to go to college and hasnt even left hometown, and its just. its rough.

so both noelle and ralsei have these Huge things that have defined their lives that neither of them want, but. too bad! WHICH LEADS TO EVEN MORE PARALLELS. slash foils lol.

because when it comes to the prophecy? noelle isnt supposed to be in it!!! while this au is sort of a roleswap in that noelle takes kris's place its not a roleswap in Any Other Way, which means, yeah, the prophecy is still supposed to be a human. and noelle, uh, isnt that! but she goes around and helps close dark worlds and is part of the delta warriors anyways, which is, for ralsei, this like, really scary point.

cause ralsei? adores noelle!! thats her best friend!!! ralsei doesnt know if she has a crush on noelle or wants to be noelle! noelle just does what she WANTS. she bucks against the pressures her family puts on her. she dives into the dark despite the fact that this world was never made for her. shes TRANS. shes a GIRL, and she can just DO THAT, and ralsei looks at her, and just. wants. in every sense of the word.

because noelle has all these things put on her like ralsei does--but noelle gets to slip out of them. noelle gets to be a person.

and ralsei, non-person, darkner: she doesnt.

she never will.

[hopetune]

hc + 🚶‍♂️

thematic headcanons (accepting!) | hc + 🚶‍♂️ for a habit-themed headcanon

idk if i have literal worms in my brain or what but, i shit you not, i had to look up the definition of a habit just to make sure i'm getting this right WAHAHAHA since in my head habits look more like fidgets or stims (which are technically habits but are kind of like a subset of it yknow) so the definition i'm operating on is that a habit is a repeating pattern of behavior that someone does, whether or not they are aware of it. so if this starts to trend more towards discussing robin's behavior in general, it's because i kinda treat them like the same thing......... anyways!

for the most part, a lot of robin's habits keep her very disciplined and organized, especially when she's engaging with people as a singer. she's very professional! since her line of work demands so much from her, she can't afford to get sick or waste time, and so she's curated a lifestyle over the years that helps her stay in the best shape she can be in. if you're familiar with how k-pop idols train, i think the life she's led over the last few years is very close to that. she's grown used to the grit. she's the type to wake up early every morning, to have a consistent gym routine, to warm up her voice everyday, drink bitter tea and medicine to keep her throat healthy. she also has a tendency to use very polite language and speech, something that, more than being necessary as a public figure, i feel has been drilled into her since she was a child (it's that oak family hospitality, as they say!) overall, her behavior has been constructed around this idea of being careful about how she presents herself and how she treats her body, since these are the most important aspects of her as a performer. though i would say that even outside of being a performer, robin's values this sort of self-discipline a lot. it reminds her of what she is capable of doing, and encourages her to keep improving herself. insert a bird metaphor here.

and that's exactly the thing i want to highlight most: robin's habits, especially the ones that help her maintain this lifestyle, are created consciously. and i honestly think that's a large part of how robin navigates the world: with consciousness. she's aware of the cost of her dream. she knows the sort of discipline she needs to be a performer, but more than that, she doesn't want to fall into bad habits or have vices since she knows that'll drive her away from her dream. her voice lines emphasize the importance of not slacking off, of persevering. she also talks about how she'll always demand more from herself. every time she wakes up early, or goes to the gym, or warms up her voice, or drinks bitter teas, she's making the active decision to do so because she doesn't want to lose this lifestyle she's curated. this sort of lifestyle can seem a bit suffocating, and i don't doubt that early on in her career robin felt this way, but i think there's a sort of freedom to be found in all this, in choosing to be the best version of yourself that you can be.

of course she still indulges in things (she enjoys shopping, enjoys sweets) so i don't mean to imply she's cut off from all sources of joy. honestly, i think it's because she's so strict in other aspects of her life that she is able to freely partake in these things. she's learned that she won't betray herself even when she has her bit of fun. as for if others will let her have that fun... that's another story.

[agandar]

nwos ramblings time

first of all WOOHOO YAHOO WAHA NEW TRAILER YIPPEE!!!

second of all. 2025. puts head in hands it's fine it's cool im patient it's not that long <- exploding

third. actual trailer thoughts.

it looks GREAT i REALLY LIKE IT

i really adore the artstyle they've used for the 3d models, they aren't as jarring as the old ones (which i didnt like at first but they grew on me) and still look real nice and stylized - a little nit picky but sometimes the mouths look? odd?? but like eh whatever. the noses too sometimes but again. eh whatever.

i will say though. i like the artstyle but. laytons new model. im kinda. iffy on it. at least right now it's prolly gonna be the old 3d models situation again where i gotta adjust then i can appreciate them in their own way but as of the moment. im kinda. hmmmm. i'll need to see them more in action too of course but right now he just feels. off. at times it looks fine and then others it looks odd. there's the outfit change, sure, which i wasnt the greatest fan of but i hardly hate it - i just prefer his big ol thick coat and sweater. that's fine, that isnt the problem, but he just. his whole shape language just feels! off! that man is a cylinder!! rounded squares!! reassuring and reliable!! in this he kinda looks like a triangle! maybe it's just the one idle pose cus we didnt see much STILL. part of what i liked about him is that this man is a TUBE. he is the cardboard tube that cain killed his brother with. now though he's looking less tube and more rolled up carpet with a rubber band on. but then again who knows these are just my initial gut reactions! maybe layton just decided he wanted to go to the club in which case slay king go for it also his head just looks like a touch too big but maybe that's also just my brain imagining things

also. luke's model. perfect no notes fantastic bowtie

the 3d cutscenes looked really nice which im pleasantly surprised by BUT i really hope they wont be used to like. replace 2d cutscenes. i dont imagine they will since they're a staple of the series but still.

kinda hope it stays like what we saw in the trailer where it's just layton's musings and lukes thoughts on things, maybe interspersed a bit throughout the gameplay where they need to be like 'look he picked up a thing here's a quick shot of it!' just yknow complimentary stuff and little moments. then again though i'd love for them to prove me wrong i just still have miracle mask cutscene ptsd

either way i like them so far and i hope this might mean we get a few more cutscenes where we can just see layton and luke interacting with stuff more. and also give us more swordfighting because i mean. layton swordfighting. it's the first time we've seen him in ages i'd be there trying to shove as many layton swordfights in as possible, finally give him a sword to just have on him at all times so that every single cutscene there's always the potential he'll just whip it out

the 2d art we have seen FANTASTIC i LOVE IT it's GREAT and the environments (or environment we've only seen like one) is DELIGHTFUL im so glad to see that good ol layton architecture im so excited to see more, ive always adored how environments and backgrounds are stylized also LITTLE LUKE AND LITTLE LAYTON SURVEYING THE SCENE!! THEY ARE JUST. IN THE CORNER. THEY ARE LOOKING!! it's a really small detail but it's GREAT i really hope it wont be just the one area

i also really like the hud we've seen so far, it looks clean without being obstructive or distracting - was a bit worried how they'd make it work on switch but so far it looks good still a bit worried about the memo just cus i know i will be playing mostly docked and memo functions with joysticks are. eck. but like hey im the one thats gonna opt out of using a stylus so that's on me, hopefully we can just stamp some stuff like circles and numbers maybe and that'll be enough

lastly though THE MUSIC!!! YEAHHH LAYTON MUSIC!!! layton music is always good this is no exception, absolutely looking forward to eventually having this new puzzle music ingrained in my mind after staring at a puzzle for 4 hours really been liking what we've been hearing so far it's got the good ol Layton Rhythm and the signature accordion but with a new twist i like, more brass instruments it sounds like man i cannot WAIT to hear what the title theme will sound like they always manage to pop off with the main theme

ok well anyway. managed to write a small opinion piece of a 3 minute trailer so that goes to show the grip this has on me. maybe this will finally spur me into finally doing art like ive been meaning to for uhhh checks watch. over. a year now. uhhhh anyway i think i've been writing this in snippets over the course of like an hour as i thought of more things to add but i dont have anything more at the moment so i am going to let this post go now to live in the wilderness. be free

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

what are your influences/inspirations for your art!! like, stylistically or thematically!

visual art, stylistically:

the Borderlands artstyle obviously. cel shading and outlines my fucking beloved. I am so fucking sad that gbx themselves is kinda toning down on it and that they didn't implement the crosshatch shader they put in teasers for bl3. come the fuck on

the Psychonauts artstyle. even if I do no longer draw in the hyperdeformed style I took from that game I still often deform characters and exagerrate their main features in order to make them more distinct. it also kinda made me addicted to shape language lolmao

Team Fortress 2. I am fucking serious btw. blame that one youtube video on its artstyle. it's been a formative experience for me when I watched it and it stuck itself in my brain. it made me appreciate blockiness/solidity/stockiness in art, as well as teaching me how to limit color palettes and how to draw attention to the important parts of the character by using color contrast.

as for actual artists and not. Video Games. I have been eyeing cubists and futurists recently (even went to a gallery with some of Picasso's earlier works) but it's nothing too substantial as of rn

visual art, thematically:

most of what I draw is characters & fanart so. yeah .

however one thing I've been enjoying recently is redrawing paintings or old photos. usually replacing the ppl in them with my fave old man yaoi. maybe it's cringe but they are a very "love in every time" sort of couple to me so :shrug:

literary art, stylistically:

positivist writing, particularly Lalka by Bolesław Prus. perhaps it's because I consider myself academically inclined, perhaps it's because naturalistic descriptions pander to my Biology Autism, perhaps it's bc of smth else idk

impressionism except not really bc im autistic and thus sensory descriptions come to me naturally

Terry. Pratchett. comparisons in my fics are often snappy(tm) as all fuck because they're, well, Borderlands fics, and to me a Borderlands novel should be Discworld-like. also because Discworld itself slaps

the work of Alexis Kennedy: the guy who wrote a lot of Fallen London, Cultist Simulator and also the Horizon Signal dlc for Stellaris. which is all shit im into. and good lird . its hard to describe you have to read this stuff for yourself

literary art, thematically:

again see the visual art section but largely my fics if they aren't self indulgent fluff are just. taken from my brain tee em because I cover topics or angles that the rest of the fandom wouldn't even think of

Alexis Kennedy again bc he writes gothic/cosmic horror. especially the latter. hoo doggy

other things that in general inspire me:

Darkest Dungeon. both the artstyle and the story have been big influences on me even tho I only played the game once and know everything abt it by watching youtube and bingereading wikis

the legacy of H. P. "Racist" Lovecraft. I guess. what can I say I am a sucker (haha) for those tentacles. except I do everything he ever did sexier and cooler and also he can go roll in his grave

legends, folklore, mythology and occultism. Hellenic of course since that's a big part of Borderlands symbolism but I ain't a coward I throw all that shit in there. slavic (creator bias lollll), norse, japanese, a bit of voudoun, biblical tradition, alchemy, tarot, et cetera. of course I usually don't talk about all the symbols that go into my Everything bc there's a crapton and everyone is entitled to their own interpretations but. yknow! and thats not even accounting for my love of assigning complex motifs to things

[legendfinder]

compare daniel mullins games to a christmas carol

This question was sent on October 10th, 2023. I meant to answer it during, yknow, Christmas. Well, you can guess what happened. But no matter! Here we are, exactly 1 month later. Pretend today is Christmas, ok?

One of the reasons why I think I put off answering this for so long is because I felt like I had to somehow match the quality of my earlier answer about Jacob Geller's archival video. Needless to say, I'm not going to do that. I'm too tired for that. I'll keep this short.

Of course, inevitable spoilers for Pony Island & The Hex & Inscryption.

The order I experienced Daniel Mullins' games was Pony Island, then Inscryption, then The Hex, and the feeling of having all those different things melge around in my brain for a while... It made me realize, after the fact, that it felt almost like a self-reflection of sorts. A strange bittersweet intervention, if you may. I felt like I was visited by the ghosts of *my* past, present, and future.

Pony Island was a game I watched Markiplier play years ago. I was still in middle school at the time, and... It left quite an impact on me. Perhaps younger me didn't quite realize how that game specifically left a mark on him, but that game had all the hallmarks of what I'd later internalize into my own personality. I love things that aren't as they seem on the surface; I love when it's possible to break something beyond what it's intended, to give yourself more agency than you should. I love content shifts, both in aesthetic and gameplay. The programming puzzles were just a cherry on top, as I had a big passion especially for block-based programming languages like Scratch. It was a perfect game for me, and probably shaped a good chunk of my ideas going forward. That game is the ghost of my past.

Then came Inscryption, which I only beat a few months ago. It was... Strange, seeing the KamWerks videos, after having created a similar experience myself for the Moon ARG not too long ago. Just like Pony Island, the familiar hallmarks returned; a game going deeper than it advertises, a game that seems to "break", a game that shifts its tone and form several times over. Except this time, it didn't necessarily seem to shape me as much as Pony Island; I played the game specifically because these hallmarks would be there. This type of game *is* what I already was, and I loved it for that. And, er, the robot was also the cherry on top. Just saying. The game is a ghost of my present self.

Before I talk about the Hex, there's something about Inscryption I noticed only because it reminded me of my own creative process. See, the game to me felt like Daniel Mullins wanted to make a card game, went "hm. how many ways can I make a card game?" and just accepted every answer. It was as if he had some sort of bucket labeled CARD GAME IDEAS that he just dropped any sort of shit into, and managed to make a coherent game out of that. That is... Exactly what I do, too. I create categories of buckets and let them gradually fill up over time, stringing them into coherent objects at a later point once it feels fully formed, although by that point it'll also have gathered a whole heck of a lot of extra bits. It isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, but... Y'know. It felt surreal.

Lastly... The Hex. The Hex is a game that wasn't fully on my radar, and I only decided to play it because of its ties to Inscryption (that's important, keep that in mind). Remember those Mullinsisms I mentioned before? Deep games, breaking things, content shifts? This game is that, in full fucking force. This wasn't just one bucket, no no no; This feels like an entire fucking brewery of different ideas. How many things can I make for an RPG? A tactics game? A fighting game? A fucking top-down shooter?? It's absurd how rapidfire this game is. I feel like every single emotion a human can experience is in there somewhere. I'm probably in there somewhere. Well, I am, in a sense.

The one thing that led me to create this connection between Daniel Mullins and a christmas carol (yes, I asked callie to ask me this question, fuck you) was... The ending of The Hex. The very, very, self-indulgent and meta ending of The Hex. The ending that also features Daniel Mullins (or "Lionel Snill", which, come on. That is literally just Daniel Mullins' name distorted) getting strangled by his own game. Consumed by it, literally, but also figuratively. The game, by virtue of this ending, has partly become a commentary on his journey to try and make a suitable follow-up to Pony Island.

I am a very self-indulgent person. Like I said in the last answered ask, I have a google drive of everything I ever made. I hold a lot of what I make up to a weird museum-like pedestal, and because of that I also tend to reference a lot of my earlier works in future ones. Remember those connections between Inscryption and The Hex? It's not enough for the games to be purely standalone experiences, they must also exist in a larger shared universe. Almost everything I made now exists in the Elemental Realm somewhere. A larger shared universe inhabited by self-inserts of varying degrees (there's something to be said about how everything in a story universe is a self-insert in a sense, but that's another post entirely). A place where every single idea I can ever have is crammed into one giant overarching narrative. I assign past ideas to new situations, often on a whim, just to see how they'd feel there.

To best understand my works now, it's better to understand me as a person.

...

One of the main antagonists of the Elemental Realm is a trickster clown with murky ambitions, although the true villain ends up being the author self-insert.

..

The Elemental Realm will end with a character escaping the universe and confronting the authors directly.

.

The Hex is the ghost of my future, and I don't know how I feel about that.

==============================================

Oh, did I say I was gonna make this post short? My bad.

There's a few nuances I wish I could hammer out but uhhhh brain fog. I'm making a lot of assumptions about Daniel Mullins' intentions for the sake of narrative; it's not like Lionel is *actually* a 100% Daniel Mullins self-insert, or that Mullins is actually just dumping every idea he has into one game. There are just little details that viscerally remind me of the way I'm personally going about things, and that's mainly what I wanted to make the post about.

Anywho, there's 2 minutes left until christmas is over. Signing off.

[fetabathwater]

🖊🖊🖊‼️‼️

OK SO IVE HAD EXAM PREP SO IVE BEEN STEWING THIS IN MY MIND BUT LIKE. EVE!! COURIER SIX!!!

ok so eve. fnv oc. i have never rly had a solid idea of an fnv protag in my mind like generally they were always the same vague shape of a person with maybe like. slightly different hair lol and then on my last playthru idk like smth clicked and i love fnv's vague sort of allusions to shit and also like i just looked i do not remember on my oc page putting this down

"so, i'm out in new reno right, and there's like this huge guy coming at me. and y'know me i start going at him. he's in my way, y'know? except he raises his fist, doesn't play the game. so i'm like nah nah c'maaaaahn i'm just a little girl. i'm just a little girl! it's my birthday, man, c'mon!!! i'm a little birthday girl! and fucking-and fucking it worked. it fucking worked. every time, man, every time." LMAO

but like yeah so i never hammered out any particular details until the last time and actually noting down specific phrases and stuff plus referring to the random bg notes by the wiki yknow and its like,

so eve is from vault 11, and the survivor of it at the end. after surviving an initial lottery system to then end up fighting other people in the vault, some who were family or otherwise, once eve takes out the other four, she just leaves the mojave for a long ass time. kind of tying in that she just happened to be given the chip, begrudgingly bringing her back, eve is kind of multiskilled, jack of all trades pre-benny incident, and a lot of it is working backwards/forwards in getting back to where she was. a lot of her work with the chip is literally just delivering it PLEASE do not talk to me dont even look at me. i am a mailman on a mission. i hate this stupid lil package.

she's also more mad about being shot in the head with a double tap - and surviving - than literally all the other bullshit she survived as well. like you didnt even do a good JOB, benny!!!!

outside of the mojave she was like a bodyguard for hire and worked on caravans as guards and gambled, drank, did an awful lot of walking. picked up a bits and pieces of language to be somewhat able to talk. really fascinated by knowledge, as she didnt get that chance due to the vault 11 meltdown. still doesn't really sleep. good fucking shot. aware of the legion and NCR prior to the events of the game, prefers to give the brotherhood a wide berth, but ultimately avoided most interaction with them - NCR made the most use of guns for hire at the very least. arguably.

in the vault, with all the fighting, and then finding out the reality of what happened if they said no, definitely contributed to eve being a lil more than disillusioned too. was mute for quite some time during and then following the vault, really only started talking consistently again a few months prior to goodsprings, and prefers to sign. recovering addict. even she knows its weird of her to like. get involved in shit going on in like primm and novac when really she just wants to drop the chip off and go back to like. new reno. hell she's willing to cross to the commonwealth. its like a vagued out interest dragging her in.

honestly uncomfortable around computers just because of the last message from the vault, and the video that played out. like fully expects some vault tec bullshit to come back after her. bobble heads are her enemy, and if house didnt want them, she'd be using them for target practice.

she's a lil angry thing repressed ball of mentats and metal. she flirted with her own brain. and that's okay. luckiest sonofabitch in the mojave.

[gludgenbell]

What's your opinion on Genshin Impact characters design?

Very complicated outfits with a lot of little details are hard to draw and I struggle a bit with most of the characters for this reason but at least the big shapes are identifiable

Uhm I wish the cast looked more diverse in skin but also their designs - I'm not sure how to elaborate on it like

I wish there was more shape language and unique silhouettes? Of course they're all unique but some characters kinda follow a basis? Yknow?

I hope that made some form of sense

Also I'm happy to see we're getting more men, and I'm hoping that eventually we get a child-sized male character because that would be adorable

But because a few of the heights are gendered (tall female vs tall male at different standard heights; maybe the real young child heights are gendered?) I can understand if that's not gonna happen anytime soon

Making a new model might be an issue n all

Lastly, I wish some npcs looked more interesting but I understand that they're npcs and so... the mindset might be "What's the reason?"

My mind says different characters of different classes can dress different but that's minor and I don't really care its just a thing I think of for fun

[lunar-wandering]

Shadowheart AU

If not obvious this is a Shadowpeach centric AU. It’s mainly a comedy but the way I’m gonna lay this out is gonna make it feel like an angst AU at first purely because it makes the punchline funnier that way.

Anyways, so;

Macaque just straight up doesn’t speak for the first half of this AU, aka, all of the canon show thus far. He covers his mouth with his scarf, and does mumble sometimes, but it’s too quiet for anyone to hear.

Wukong, knowing that the Macaque that he knew would absolutely never shut up, is under the impression that this one is an imposter, aka someone pretending to be his dead friend. Macaque can’t tell him that this is not the case, as he refuses to speak.

Macaque does have a method of communication though. He uses note cards.

Wukong, in episode 9: there's no way that's the real Macaque, the Macaque I know would've NOT shut up while doing all this awful stuff Macaque: (pauses in the middle of being about to throw an attack, digs through his pockets, pulls out a piece of paper and yeets it at Wukong's face) Wukong: gAH- Wukong, peeling off the paper and looking at it: .... -(The paper says "You're a dumbass")- Wukong: ....did you fucking have this prewritten??? -(another piece of paper smacks Wukong in the face- this one having ‘YES’ written on it)-

Macaque has a heart shaped clip on his scarf, Wukong has a heart shaped clip in his hair. (Pictures of the designs will be at the bottom of this post)

Macaque’s clip turns blue when Lady Bone Demon partially possesses him, and when he’s freed by the Samadhi fire it turns grey and breaks in half, causing his scarf to come loose from around his shoulders, so he has to cling to it to prevent it from falling.

Wukong's clip shatters when he's possessed. His hair, normally kept in a braid in this AU, also ends up loose. (He continues to wear it mostly loose afterwards). When he's freed, Macaque rebraids that tiny bit and takes out one half of his heart clip thingy, and uses it in replacement of the one Wukong lost. The half a heart in Wukong's hair turns purple and the one Macaque puts back on his scarf turns golden pink.

Wukong was too tired to protest the action in the moment/was lost in thought over the idea of his old friend being alive and decided to indulge in the illusion for a bit, and then later he just... can't seem to want to get rid of the heart clip. He stares at it like "this isn't from the real Macaque, it's from an imposter" but still just, has this part of him that so desperately wants to believe in the illusion so he just... leaves it.

Post Lady Bone Demon's defeat, Wukong begrudgingly lets Macaque hang around even though he's still under the impression that he's, yknow, not the real Macaque. Even so though, he did help out, and MK is weirdly deciding to let him hang around, so Wukong lets him stay.

Wukong finds out Macaque is the real Macaque after seeing him sitting on Flower Fruit Mountain with his glamours down, playing with the monkeys like he used to. He promptly leaves for like, 4 days to process this revelation.

He also kicks a tree half way across the mountain during this time.

Okay. Time to reveal the main plot point. The reason Macaque doesn’t talk. Drumroll please.

Macaque is cursed to end every sentence with “I love you”.

Obviously since this is Macaque and he wouldn’t want to be caught dead saying “I love you” in ANY context, he decided to just shut up entirely.

This of course leads to scenes earlier in the AU such as;

Wukong: how dare you. how dare you impersonate him. do you know how much he meant to me? He was my world. Macaque, under his breath: tch, says the one that killed me- I love you Wukong, genuinely didn’t hear: w h a t?? Macaque, too flustered to do anything else: (punches Wukong in the face)

What’s REALLY fun about this AU is that in this AU specifically. Wukong’s love language is words. So after Macaque’s curse get’s revealed they’re both just dying 24/7.

It’s hysterical really. Like;

Wukong: i swapped your coffee with decaf mint flavoured tea Macaque: i fucking hate you, i love you Wukong: getting mixed messages but i love you too-

And then there's twenty seconds of silence and then Macaque has his head on the kitchen counter and is clinging trying to use it to keep himself from fully melting into the shadows and Wukong is putting his hands over his face and quickly walking away because he said "i love you too" on IMPULSE.

Wukong is the LAST PERSON to find out about the curse by the way. Everyone else found out about it because Macaque slipped up and said “Thank you, I love you.” when someone handed him something, and although the others thought nothing of it at first, Macaque immediately tried to backpedal and stumble his way out of what he just said, and since he has to end every sentence with “I love you” he basically ends up outing himself.

The way Wukong does find out about the curse is something in and of itself though.

Y’see, Macaque wanted to apologize to Wukong. For obvious reasons. He'd already done so for the others through doing requested favours and stuff and writing apologies to them but he had NO IDEA how he should start trying to apologize to Wukong.

So he goes to Sandy for advice, and, well, as it happens, Wukong happened to be secretly chilling on top of one of the crates on Sandy’s boat when this occurred.

Macaque: ........how do i tell Wukong I'm sorry -I love you? Sandy: well telling him you're sorry will probably take a while, you've had a long history with him and theres a lot to make up for, starting with smaller actions and favours first might work. Now though, telling him you love him would take quite a bit longer- Macaque: thATS NOT WHAT I MEANT THAT WAS THE CURSE AND YOU KNOW IT- I LOVE YOU Sandy, patting Macaque on the head: mhm yep i love you too lil monkey

Wukong falls off the crate he was sitting on and down into the water, but neither Sandy nor Macaque notices.

Wukong tries to just ignore it at first. Macaque starts doing small chores and favours around Flower Fruit Mountain and Wukong tries his absolute best to pretend that this is normal.

Eventually this accumulates to Wukong forcing Macaque to verbally apologize to him on his doorstep, except this backfires horribly because hearing the first “I love you” being technically directed at him absolutely murders him on the spot. Macaque doesn’t even notice Wukong break over it because he himself gets so flustered after two sentences that he instinctively teleports away.

Them actually talking through their issues actually takes at least a week because they both keep getting distracted by Macaque’s curse and have to take hour long breaks after only a couple minutes of conversation.

There’s a couple more things other than that but I think I’ll stop this post here by saying that when they kiss each other they leave behind little heart shaped marks on each others faces.

Oh. One last thing actually.

Once they get back together, Wukong calls Macaque “his Shadowheart” in this AU.

Anyways here’s the low quality design notes I have for this AU.

[forecast0ctopus]

how do you use references when you draw fanart or figure out how to draw irl characters?? it's just that i've been looking through your art and i feel like you ability to capture a character's idk essence, in vibes + appearence, are just unmatched! they're all so dynamic and like them i just <33

aaa thanks so much!! im glad to hear that since i honestly dont watch a ton of live action? i generally have done a lot more fanart for animated things so thats nice to hear haha anyways though!! i have far too many words that may or may not make sense to say so i'll put how i use references and figure out live action characters below

the main rule i like to keep in my head is that i am drawing the character, not the actor, if that makes sense?

this is all taking arthur as an example, to show what kinds of things i look for!! if i were talking about merlin any other live action character like. bobby briggs or something all the details would be super different haha a way i like to familiarize myself with a live action character at first is tracing which i must preface by saying TRACING ISNT BAD!! its a tool and it just needs to be used correctly. tracing is a great way to figure out a method to drawing things, so its really valuable in studying. im not gonna address using tracing in finished artwork rn bc thats where it gets a little dicey and i would talk about it too much.

i dont really need to do this for arthur anymore but it was a fun exercise lmao

sorry the images are so crunchy i always forget i work on small canvases, anyways in capturing a likeness i like to emphasize and exaggerate a little which features make the character most recognizable to me.

he's got a sharp nose which is bumped at the bridge and a little bit upturned at the bottom. when he's smiling his eyes crinkle a lot and his cheek muscle becomes more pronounced and connects into the corner of his mouth

very square jaw. his brows are thicker near the center and don't have much of an arch. his cheeks are hollowed with neutral expression and the muscles on the sides of his mouth (depressor anguli oris, if i remember correctly lol) are obvious when the corners of his mouth are downturned

the corners of his mouth fold in a lot when he bares his teeth if hes angry or agitated, its a different type of fold when hes relaxed or smiling

his masseter is rather pronounced when he's talking or agitated, and i usually connect the line of it to the line that goes down from the inner corner of his eye. i forget what the word for it is rn but its different from eyebags (though i do like to draw eyebags)

but none of these details work if whatever hes doing in the drawing isnt in character, yknow? like he could look like arthur but he wouldnt really feel like arthur if hes not acting like arthur. idk it s hard for me to put to words im sure u get what i mean enough

body shape and language are also super important to think about, these are some things i keep in mind with arthur - hes shredded but not like marvel movie dehydrated shredded (good for him) - hes very broad and his shoulders slope down because of his trapezius muscles - he takes up a lot of space! he hardly ever curls up or sits with his feet up in his chair. even when hes sleeping hes pretty sprawled out - his "closed off" body language is crossing his arms or raising his left hand to twist his index finger ring with his thumb (worried/thinking gesture) - he moves with a lot of purpose usually and isnt often clumsy (unlike merlin lmao) - he moves his shoulders a lot when he walks (see top left image)

honestly think body language is just as important as facial features if not more, for the purpose of creating personality and character

i probably sound like i think way too much about this stuff which i. i kind of do but not in so many words i dont need this many words when its all in my brain. but yeah thats how i figure out how to draw a live action character i guess? anyways this was kind of a mess haha