#the characters are in clockwise order

[dw-flagler]

[untimelyambition]

very fond of these little interactions between the cast at the very end of the show as the finale starts

[neo--queen--serenity]

Thank you for the tag, @kyouka-supremacy! ❤️ Based off of these characters, I assume you’re a kind, sweet soul with a sharp, quick mind. You are also creative and enjoy the chance to express yourself be it through art or supporting your friends/loved ones.

No pressure tags: @lanacupcake, @thebaerista, @remycchi, @teddy-after-all, @graymongrel, @skinnyscottishbloke, @fortunatelyuniquepassion, @ancientchaosshit, @ili-here

Anyone else is free to play, if they like!

Making a tag game cause I can

Rules: post 4 fictional characters you relate to and assume something about the person you reblogged from based on their characters

No pressure tag! @sidneyoftheblackwoods @mqstermindswift @stars-and-birds @zenilvar @forever-chained-to-myself @themidnightarcher @skeelly @thepencilsnameissteve @thislove-taylorsversion @thislifeissweeterthanfiction @swiftieannah @a-pessimistic-swiftie @catastrxblues @jellycanon @what-about-wendy and anyone else who wants to join<3

[erinwantstowrite]

THE CIRCLE MYSTERY!!!

in case you're unfamiliar with my page, here is some context for this post:

a few months ago, i wanted to try my hand at a mystery plot, and began looking for a circle mystery plot diagram that i had written down a year or so prior... but i couldn't find it. i SWORE i had it somewhere. i knew that i had left the notebook on my shelf along with all my other notebooks. it was a little black journal that i didn't use very often, but it still had some important notes inside. but it wasn't there on my shelf, or any other shelf in the house. it was like it had vanished, and i started to doubt my memory.

i figured not all was lost. sure, the journal was gone, but someone would be able to help me find this circle diagram.

NO.

no one could figure out what the hell i was talking about, not without lack of trying. many tried to help me, to figure out this mystery with me. "the circle went outwards" i said, but all i could find was the rotating clockwise circle plot diagram that was not mystery specific.

no matter what i did, i couldn't find the original source online. i phrased it in many different ways, but it was a dead end. with no journal, no online source, and no one understanding what i was talking about, the circle mystery formula... remained a mystery. many concluded that i likely made this circle diagram myself and then forgot about it entirely, but that's up in the air.

well, a couple weeks ago, i found the circle mystery plot i was looking for.

it was not the actual physical note, but a picture i had taken before seemingly losing the notebook/journal that it was in. it showed only the circle diagram with a couple of minimal notes on the sides. i have yet to find that journal, it remains missing to this day. one day i might find the physical copy with the notes that were underneath it but alas, at this point in time, i only had the circle to work off of.

but it was enough!!! just having the circle was enough for me to make this beauty, of who i will share with you now:

as you can see, it's not all that complicated. it breaks down only a few simple key elements of figuring out a mystery, not plot wise, but investigation wise. "crime and victim, motive, method, opportunity, and suspects." CVM and MOS is what i call that for short but that might be lame

basically, it's the 5 w's.

that's it.

this whole time, it was the 5 w's "Who, What, Where, When, and Why" (except with terms that would be used in an actual investigation), laid out into a diagram that extends outwards where you put your points on the circle rings to connect. this could also easily be a venn diagram, but i remember liking that it extended outwards and was in a line rather than in groupings.

it's extremely simple, too, so it's been annoying me that i could forget it when i needed it most. that being said, it's in the past, now, and it's here, and now i want to talk about the points

CVM and MOS

crime and victim. this is always where you start.

look, you might start your plot right in the thick of it with a suspect having already been revealed and the entire plot is that your character has to prove why and how they did it. but it's up to you, the writer, to explain how they got to this point. which means you need to know how it works in the original order before being able to write this plot that way.

a crime has been committed- what crime? murder? robbery? this is your first question, or statement. what i mean by that is are you telling your readers "This has happened." or is the plot/character/reader asking "What happened?"

and victim- who was it that was affected? if it's a murder, you have to identify the person that was killed before you can get into anything. if it's another crime like a robbery, then what was stolen? this is the phase where your investigator goes looking into the details of the victim. which means you need to know your victim.

your investigator and you are on the same side here. both of you need to know their daily ins and outs, you need to have character witnesses from friends and family, you need to get a glimpse into who they were when it was just them around. maybe a diary or look at their bedroom to give a statement as to how they were feeling and how they occupied the space they were in. maybe online records, because their activity can give you pieces of the puzzle. even if this is not completely revealed to readers (though in my opinion, this part is very needed in order to have your reader feel for the victim), you as the author need to have that mindset. you need to know who they were and what their life was like even if your investigator never gets around to knowing this.

because it leads directly into your suspect pool.

mystery plots are all about the connections, the drama, the details. your victim is dead, and your investigator is looking into their lives. you could, honestly, play it really well with the victim and the investigator being the main focus. a good example of this is that one episode of Bones where Temperance Brennan is listening to the voice recordings of a murdered woman she starts to see a lot of herself in. Brennan is seeing the bones of this woman and trying to find out what happened to her with all that is left, and she's also listening to her voice, and we don't see a lot of the suspect in this case (for good reason).

((honestly, this might just be me saying you should go watch Bones.))

but, in most cases, your suspects are the main source of entertainment. so you need to know your victim, and by extension, know your suspects.

all of your potential murderers (or whatever plot you're writing) go on the outside ring not because they are last in your investigation, but because you would work inside the suspect pool. kind of a visual aspect to show they're connected to the center, which is your crime/victim (which, again, could be changed for a different type of mystery. this section is just the Big Reason for the mystery to get started. or the Big Question.)

you get your suspects through the character reveal phase of your mystery, though they can also be revealed because of the setting. like in Clue, or in that new show, The Residence (go watch it), where a murder has happened in a house where only a select few people could have done it.

who are the people that had bad blood with this person? who are the ones that have something to gain from that person's death? or, even, who are the people that just wanted to do it?

motive.

if you want your mystery to be solved, you have to have a motive. a reason as to why this happened, even if it was a fit of unplanned rage. this part is crucial not just from an entertainment standpoint in your story, but for later on in a prosecution phase in real life. a jury might find it hard to convict someone if a prosecutor can't give a motive for why they'd do it. in this case, you are the prosecutor and your readers are the jury. if you want your reader to believe that this person could have done it, you have to give a motive.

but it's not the most important part. the most important is the how.

the method of the crime tells a lot about the person that did it. take a look at Criminal Minds, and how they make a profile for the killers. granted, they have more to work with because there are multiple murders. but you can get a basic idea with just the one.

from an investigative standpoint, you have to figure out how something happened to get a clue into the character of the murderer. which of your suspects has the ability not to get sick at the sight of blood? which suspect is smart enough to plan it out? which suspect would have the temper to grab the nearest heavy object as their weapon?

so you look at your crime, you get an idea of the method, and you can eye your suspect pool to match who is the most likely to commit in this way.

and last, opportunity.

this is where an alibi comes in. "I couldn't have done it because I was at my son's birthday party! ask anyone!" sounds pretty good. until you find out the suspect mysteriously was in the bathroom at that party for a couple of hours and came back wearing different clothes.

your suspects have to have the opportunity, or they have to have the alibi. were they there around the time? do they have a key to the house? do they know that the window on the first floor never locks? did they have the time to do it? even if they have something that looked like an opportunity, they might have an alibi.

from there, it's all about putting down your dots. which character has the motive, could pull off the method, and had the opportunity?

however... you could have multiple characters hit the MMO. what happens then?

you could drill these characters in an interrogation (could or could not be in an actual interrogation setting) and get a confession out of one of them, OR you could have your characters go looking for that sweet, sweet key evidence that cinches it all together and ties one of the suspects to the crime. or, maybe in a plot twist, ties both suspects to have committed the crime together.

(in real life, though, having a confession and key evidence is for the best. it makes it hard for a defense team)

this is your standing out point, and would definitely be your last big crescendo for the story. this episode of Brooklynn 99 is honestly the best example (in fiction) i could come up with right now for an interrogation where you get a confession out of someone. oh, and legally blonde! can't forget elle wood's breakthough (if you haven't watched legally blonde and you click that link and get yourself spoiled instead of sitting down and watching the whole thing, i am frowning at you in disappointment right now. shaking my head and everything).

when it comes to both evidence and interrogation... go watch The Residence (Netflix... or pirate). the last episode is brilliant and it's well worth the watch. Detective Cupp was so much fun and it sucks more people aren't talking about it.

i think i should stop yapping now, because that about covers what i came here to write. hopefully this stupid circle helps somebody out

[noneorother]

I broke down the hilarious amount of "Aziraphale tartans" so you don't have to.

I've been slowly going bonkers collecting the amount of times members of the cast/creators and fans of Good Omens over the years have referred to various things as "Aziraphale's tartan". Even on merchandise, I've seen wildly varying opinons about what pattern Aziraphale's tartan actually is. Your resident graphic designer has decided to sit down and just do the damned thing*. Exhibit A) Tartan Origin

Sarah Arnett posted this image to her instagram in 2019, having created "Heaven's dress tartan for the character Aziraphale". However, the only time I've actually seen this pattern used in good omens is in the season 2 announcement poster made by Mickey, and maybe on a pair of socks Aziraphale wears in season 1, (but I'm not convinced).

So here's what that looks like. Note I've rotated the original pattern 90 degrees clockwise in my final pattern (far right) for reasons that will become clear shortly.

Exhibit B) Aziraphale's Bowtie, Thermos, Notebook etc.

This is the tartan that Aziraphale actually wears for most of seasons 1 & 2.** It's a recoloured version of the Exhibit A), and has been rotated 90 degrees on it's bowtie application so that the darker bars run vertical, and not horizontal. The problem is, while the direction of the pattern on his accessories doesn't change, it does on the bowtie. You can see examples of the tartan going right OR left in both season 1 and 2.

Exhibit C) Aziraphale's Brown Bowtie...

This Tartan isn't just a trick of the light. For the first park bench scene in season 1, Aziraphale is wearing a version of his regular bowtie, recoloured in brown and rotated 90 degrees, so that it fits with the direction of the original Exhibit A) Tartan, but not with the direction of the tartan on his Exhibit B) regular bowties. This bowtie was made special, from cloth cut in the opposite direction.

Exhibit D) Aziraphale's Magical Cravat!

Now this is where it starts to get interesting! I haven't seen many people discuss Aziraphale's magician disguise from season 1, but his cravat actually has both Exhibit B) and Exhibit C) tartans to create a contrasting double sided tartan: the outward facing brown, and the hidden, inward facing blue (according to costumer, because of lack of enough brown).

Exhibit E) Saraqael's and Muriel's Tartan

Don't be fooled, Saraqael's and Muriel's tartan may look similar in colour to Aziraphale's, but when you pick it apart, it's got inverse colours, and mildly squished horizontal striping. If you note the orange boxes in each picture, you can see the ratio of the blue stripe to the vertical stripes in each tartan is different, while keeping the overall pattern and ratio in each direction the same. Exhibit E) has a square intersection. It's also usually woven much larger. This tartan also introduces a small sliver of hunter green into the beige/blue/purple palette that's been seen so far.

Exhibit F) Gabriel's Tartan Blanket

Like the others, Gabriel's S2E1 blanket is a variation on the original Heaven's Dress Tartan. It's got very squished horizontal striping though, and is woven even larger than the Saraqael Tartan. Most noticeably though, while it has the same grey vertical striping as Exhibit E) it's now got even more green in it, and the purple is gone almost entirely (save one line).

Exhibit F) Have a bonus Crowlee Tartan from the Season 1 body swap miracle that matches none of these.

It's silver silk though. Can I get a wahoo....?

__________________________________________ *Disclaimer: I am not Scottish, and definitely not an expert in tartan, just a tired graphic designer. If you want tartan expertise, you can go here (although I don't really agree with what they say about the main colour pattern) https://livebloggingmydescentintomadness.tumblr.com/post/189300035060/a-discourse-on-tartan

**In order to deduce colours, I've used high quality BTS footage or photography in neutral lighting whenever possible. Especially in season 2, colour grading and post processing of the final show make colour matching between scenes and/or seasons impossible.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: The Story Circle

The Story Circle by Dan Harmon is a basic narrative structure that writers can use to structure and test their story ideas.

Telling stories is an inherently human thing, but how we structure the narrative separates a good story from a truly great one.

The Dan Harmon Story Circle describes the structure of a story in 3 acts and with 8 plot points, which are called steps.

When you have a protagonist who will progress through these, you have a basic character arc and the bare minimum of a story.

As a narrative structure, it is descriptive, not prescriptive, meaning it doesn’t tell you what to write, but how to tell the story.

The steps outline when the plot points occur and the order in which your hero completes their character development.

These 8 steps are:

You - A character is in their zone of comfort

Need - But they want something

Go! - So they enter an unfamiliar situation

Struggle - To which they have to adapt

Find - In order to get what they want

Suffer - Yet they have to make a sacrifice

Return - Before they return to their familiar situation

Change - Having changed fundamentally

The hero completes these steps in a circle in a clockwise direction, going from noon to midnight.

The top half of the circle and its two-quarters of the whole make up act one and act three, while the bottom half comprises the longer second act.

In their consecutive order, the Story Circle describes the 3 acts:

Act I: The order you know

Act II: Chaos (the upside-down)

Act III: The new order

Working with the Story Circle enables you to think about your main character and to plot from their emotional state.

The steps will automatically make your hero proactive as you focus on their motivation, their actions and the respective consequences.

Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[pigeonpeach]

Cuddles for my Love!

Summary: You are turned into a cat and desperately try to get your lover to notice and help.

Characters included: Diluc, Jean, Itto, Neuvillete

No cw just silly cat times

In a puff of smoke you looked down at your hands finding no more than paws. You were alarmed to say the least! A potion you had ordered, intended to help with some back pain, had instead turned you into a kitty cat! A very cute one yes but still! At least your back doesn’t hurt. But you must inform your lover and request help!

Diluc

“Hm a cat?” Diluc seemed confused as he opened the door to his office to be greeted with a meowing cat. He didn’t recognize it. “Adelinde did suggest getting cats to prevent mice.. or maybe you’re one of the maid’s cats?” He questions as you meow demandingly. You paw at his leg.

“Oh you must be hungry. There aren’t much mice here anyways. I’ll get you something little one.” He knelt down to scratch your ears. Oooh that felt good no! You must focus!

“Oh? Is something wrong little one?” He asked as you meowed excessively. “You must be very hungry.” Quickly he left to go to the kitchen making you follow him while meowing. You realized you had no chance of communicating with him so you decided to try a different way. You spotted a photo of you and Diluc and hopped onto the vanity, you grasped the photo in your kitty mouth and hopped back down. You trotted over to Diluc who was examining some fish Adelinde had been preparing, sneakily carving some off. Your meow was muffled as you lay the picture in front. Then scratch at his leg. He looks down.

“Oh now why would you do that?” He said a bit disappointed. “That’s my favorite photo.” He pouted as you meowed trying to somehow communicate to him your struggles.

“Oh.. did they send you? I got it, you must have been a gift for our anniversary tomorrow. I guess you broke out of your hiding spot.” He smiled. You however were now more annoyed but also concerned because you almost forgot your anniversary was tomorrow. You meowed more but to no avail. He just patted you.

“Such a beautiful cat, you look a bit like them oddly enough. Your eyes are… a similar color?” He seemed to finally take notice. You meowed encouragingly. You batter the photo and tried to point to yourself.

“Hmm… you seem oddly intelligent for a simple cat… if you can understand me then.. spin clockwise.” He said curiously. You did so excited to finally have established communication! You’re closer to telling him!

“Oh! You can? What kind of cat are you then? Um… if you know where my beloved is then roll over.” He instructed. You did so. He seemed intrigued. “Huh. Well then lead me to them.” You quickly trotted over to a mirror as a idea came to you. You batted at your reflection as you looked back up at him. He seemed skeptical but confused. He knelt down to observe you as you bumped your face into his, giving him a kitty kiss. He seemed to understand then.

“Oh.. I’ll bring you to Lisa then, She should know what do from here.”

Jean

You were so miserable, the maids in your shared home simply considered you a cute and needy cat. Saying how pleased Jean would be to have a friendly cat. You had one choice: escape and find Jean. Or Lisa. albedo? Just find Jean first! You know where she is, her office as always. You spotted a window and crawled out onto the roof. You noticed how far up you were as you felt a bit scared. You knew cats could make long jumps.. but you were so sca-

“Kitty!” A excited voice exclaimed. You heard someone landing behind you as you turned to see Amber putting away her wind glider. “Ohhh you must be lost! I’ll take you to the knights, we’ll find your owner don’t worry!” She said. Great! You can hitch a ride on her and get right to Jean

Unfortunately Amber didn’t let you leave the designated library spot. With the diligent maid Noelle watching over to make surd you didn’t run off. You tried to plead with her to let you go, you were so close to Jean! You needed to see her! Worse of all Lisa wasn’t here!

“Oh you must be hungry. Unfortunately I don’t have any snacks on me.” Noelle cooed trying to calm you. You meowed in distress trying to make it to the library door. “No no no you must stay here! Your owner will be coming shortly. Don’t worry you’re safe.”

You begrudgingly sat as you tried to wait for her to not be looking. Meanwhile she stroked your back, it felt really nice though. You relaxed a little. Overtime she started to read the rule books diligently. You tested out her focus by getting up to stretch. She didn’t seem to acknowledge it. You then took a step away, before sprinting at full speed to the door. Immediately Noelle shot up to follow.

“Wait! Did I startle you! I didn’t mean to I’m sorry!” She said worriedly. You looked back to her realizing you couldn’t open the door. You gave her your cutest pleading face. She pondered. “Hmm.. maybe you know where your home is? Is that it?” She asked. You nodded to her surprise. She opened the door as you quickly walked over to jean’s office. She seemed hesitant. “Oh no we can’t disturb her! She’s always busy at work!” She whispered panicked. You let out s loud meow as you scratched at the door. She quickly pulled you away, then the door opened as Jean stood there. Immediately you squirmed away from Noelle to Jean.

“There she is.” You heard the familiar voicd of Lisa behind her. Jean seemed relieved to see you as Noelle seemed worried.

“Don’t worry Noelle you didn’t do anything wrong. Thank you for watching over them. I’ll handle it from here.” She said quickly bringing you into her office. Lisa seemed to be preparing a potion.

“Yes dear, unfortunately I used the wrong ingredient for your potion, but I hope you had some fun as a kitty.” Lisa said patting your head. Jean seemed a bit upset though.

“I’ve been looking for you. Lisa informed me of her mistake but by then you had already ran away.” She held you put letting you dangle. You meowed defensively making her smile. “Its fine now though, you’re here.” She gave you a kiss making you shut up.

She sat you on her desk as Lisa continued brewing the remedy. You immediately used this opportunity to cuddle with your wife who seemed pleased now.

“Next time don’t give the maids such trouble. You had me so worried.”

“Next time? Are you implying you would rather this happen again?” Lisa playfully added.

“No that’s not what I meant.. just I’m glad you’re safe.” She said brushing you lovingly. You meowed in reply, purring contentedly.

Arataki Itto

“HEY GUYS LOOK AT THIS CAT!” Itto proudly displayed you, now a cat like a trophy to his buds. You meowed in annoyance.

“A cat? Where did you get that?” Kuki questioned.

“I don’t know it just walked over to me meowing constantly. I figured the fella must like me!” He said. “Oh you know what? My beautiful partner would love this cat! Do you know where they went Kuki?” He said. She looked at you as you continued meowing.

“I have a idea…” she says. “Hand me the cat.” She said

“Huh? No way its MY kitty! It chose me! See its meowing because its happy!” He says while you meow trying to tell him to listen to Kuki. Unfortunately he doesn’t speak cat.

“You’re holding it wrong, here.” She grabbed you from his arms, holding you properly.

“Hey!” He whined. You meowed again to which she shushed you.

“You idiot, this isn’t a normal cat. Your partner got transformed!” She said annoyed as she examined you.

“Hah?” He said confused.

“I’ll take you to the shrine and have you fixed don’t worry.” She said.

“Huh? I didn’t know they offered neutering at the Grand Narukami Shrine?” You meowed in annoyance. At least Shinobu knew what she was doing.

Neuvillete

“Such a peculiar feline.” He remarked as you rubbed against him. He seemed to analyze you carefully. “Hmm… it appears you’ve been transformed.” He says, you’re surprised he understood so quickly, but you suppose he is used to these things more. He is a dragon after all.

“Sedene?” He called out. The melusine came trotting in as she looked at you confused.

“Oh? What has happened to your beloved? Why they like this?” She asked.

“I’m not sure, but please request the mage Emilie to come here as soon as possible. I’m sure she’d be able to undo this.” He says, gently stroking your fur to help you relax.

“On it. But… I’m not sure where she is. I’ll find out.” She says. “Oh and heres your water, special from Mondstadt’s springs!” She says bringing out a bottle. He smiles.

“Thank you Sedene.” He says as she quickly heads off. He turns to you, scratching your chin.

“I’m sorry dear but I don’t have experience in undoing these kinds of spells. But I assure you I understand your struggle. I ask you simply relax now. There’s nothing you can do right now so just relax. I’ll handle everything.” He said sweetly. You let out meow in agreement, making yourself comfortable on the paper on his desk. He chuckled.

“Sweetheart I need that.” He said trying to pull it out. You didn’t budge, you didn’t know why but this paper was really comfortable. “Dear, I know you can still understand me, please just stand up.” He sighed. Eventually giving up.

“Are you hungry my dear? I don’t think I could bring you your usual foods but I could request some tasty fish.” He said. You meowed to confirm it. You were quite hungry. strangely fish sounded good right now. He smiled as he called for his assistant once more.

The second your fish came you stood to receive it. Neuvillete seizing the opportunity to rearrange your makeshift bed, taking the important documents and replacing them with some unnecessary ones. You happily chowed down. Purring as you enjoyed some tasty fish. You looked back briefly to watch him pretend he did nothing, but you heard him. Still the fish was too tasty and you continued to eat. He pet you lovingly as he continued with his work. Once finished you immediately set your sights on once again taking up his attention, you jumped back onto the desk sitting yourself right on the paper he was working on. He sighed.

“You’re as needy as ever, but I can’t resist that cute little face.” He said giving you a nice chin scratch. “Hopefully Emilie can come soon, otherwise I may never get work done.”

[chemevan]

mar10 day aka mario patrick day!!!

bonus little drawings i made months ago of the whole fob mario cast

[Image ID: 5 drawings of fall out boy. first one is a digital drawing of patrick stump from fall out boy dressed as super mario from the mario series of games. the last 4 ones are in clockwise order: patrick, joe, andy and pete, dressed as mario, luigi, peach and as a dinosaur character, either yoshi or bowser, respectively. patrick has his fist up like mario and is very visibly happy, joe seems proud of himself, andy is shocked and has an exclamation mark on the top of his head, and pete is laughing about something./.End ID]

[tsukikonikushimi]

Page 78 - The Council and The Chem-Barons (1/3)

MASTERLIST

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Concept art and still for the Piltover Council; Mel's notes for her speech in Episode 201; Jayce's Progress Day speech; emblems for members of the Piltover Council; funeral invitation from Episode 201

What I can assume is a letter opener + Sigils/symbols of the council members

Letter with Jinx's doodles saying "Boring" and "Bla bla bla"

More Jinx doodles

THE COUNCIL & THE CHEM-BARONS

BOTH PILTOVER AND ZAUN FEATURE ELITE GROUPS that the more or less run the political show. On the topside, it's Council; in the underground city, it's a cartel of criminal individuals known as the chem-barons. Fortiche really went to town with these characters, who sport some of the most fanciful designs in the entire show. Amusingly, the two groups are like Bizarro versions of each other, further pushing the concept of dualities. This is most obvious in the characters of the Council member and eminent scientist Heimerdinger and his underworld counterpart, leads Smeech. Tellingly, Smeech the Scrap Hackers, which specialize in body modifications of all kinds. The chem-barons have very distinctive visuals, as if Clive Barker had decided to design Victorian narco-gangsters. According to Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Fortiche drew inspiration from various Batman villains. "We wanted them to be a bit cartoonish-not grotesque," he said. "We designed all of them to have goons that are connected to their fantasy." Director Bart Maunoury is an avowed fan of the chembarons, saying that "they are characters I'd love to use again if we ever do other projects in this universe. We don't do comedy much in Arcane, and they brought in a dose of fun and entertainment that was just great. When you see Smeech, with his mechanical arms that unfold every which way, you just want to film him with a short lens that will create crazy angles. Those are the scenes where we allowed ourselves to look toward anime, because it suited the character's design."

CENTER LEFT Emblems for members of the chem-barons

ABOVE Concept art for the chem-barons

(Jinx drew a crown on Silco's head and mustaches on everyone)

Chem-Barons' Emblems (with additional commentary from Jinx: "laaame"). In order (from the Official LoL Wiki): Margot, Finn and Chross

BELOW FROM LEFT Unused explorations for Zaun's vehicles; chem-barons' glass boardroom

Zaun's vehicles

We can see the final version in the background in S1EP4 (starting at 17:03) when Sevika is walking around the undercity towards the Last Drop.

And this is all for today!

Edit (forgot to add): We can assume this was the first sketch for Jinx's wanted poster in front of Mel.

[project-sekai-facts]

what about plushies and aliens and inanimate objects? I'm curious now

there's more than I can fit in one post, but here's some examples

the figurines on the desk in this card represent honami, ichika, shiho, and saki, in that order.

leo/need also quite often have each others instruments as keyrings or some sort of model in each others' cards. shiho's dlf card has their actual instruments instead of miniatures. bonus points to their zodiac signs + colors in honami's card above.

the red shooting stars in this card represent honami in her new role as L/n's leader.

the ORS cards all have VBS-colored gems, and Akito's has the vivids and bad dogs ones paired together.

and there's MMJ colored gemstones in the step by step cards (plus minori & haruka colored bows in minori's card)

the anniversary cards from this year all have references to the other characters in each unit. shiho has the keyrings and mentioned above, airi has colored clovers, toya has lilies with vbs-colored stamen (an's on the left, kohane's on the right, he's holding akito's), nene has mozaic arts with wxs-colored canaries (plus the one she's holding that has green feathers), and ena has paints and paintings (clockwise from the top: mafuyu, kanade, ena, mizuki)

i've seen some people theorising that the aliens tsukasa is holding in this card are meant to represent saki and toya based on the colors, and i think it's pretty likely. also the alien nene has matches emu's species instead of her own unlike the other cards in the set which all have the character interacting with the same species as them. also emu/nene/rui colored aliens + a star alien for tsukasa in emu's card.

the pegasus here possibly represents saki (it might represent himself, but it was the tenma siblings event so i think saki is pretty likely).

much like vbs and mmj, wxs also has gemstones in this card

the lights in rui's star of the story card have a gold star for tsukasa, pink heart for emu, green music notes for nene, and a purple spanner for himself.

really really obvious, but tsukasa and emu robots! also the cat plushie that shows up in a few of rui's cards represents himself (it's a plot point in wonder halloween). oh and bonus tsukasa balloon. there's also wxs colored animal toys in len's amidst a dream card.

the crystal apple pendant in the sayonara persona cards represents mafuyu. kanade is embracing it, ena is reaching out to it, and mizuki is comforting it, referencing their roles in mafuyu's story.

there's n25-colored flowers on the bench next to mafuyu in her our escape for survival card.

and i should've put this in the animals one but i forgot. akito dragonsona.

[utilitycaster]

How would the wizards win, they are knocked out easily and fragile as fuck???

Hi anon,

In the interest of verisimilitude I am running this combat play by play. Assumptions include:

Equipment is that of their last appearance (Echoes of the Solstice for the PCs but before Caleb gives his stone to Luc, and 2x141 for Essek) with the notable exception that no one has any potions

All magical items with charges are fully charged

The wizards have all necessary components for their spells

Caleb’s philosopher’s stone is on him and is set to constitution save proficiency, which is how Caleb usually has it set.

Caleb will not access spells that we have not seen him use previously

Essek gets the high level dunamancy spells though bc we left with him not accessing 9th levels and it seems reasonable he’d have these learned.

Characters are all level 20

The poll this is based on does not explicitly say to the death, so I am counting “at least one of the wizards survives and put Yasha somewhere she is not going to bother them” as a win condition for them.

For the purposes of this exercise I am going to make Essek a chronurgist but swap out the level 2 abilities (Chronal Shift and Temporal Awareness) for Adjust Density since we know he has the latter but “time is his speciality” as I don’t have his actual stat block.

Essek’s CON, WIS, CHA, and STR are unknown as are his HP. I have rolled for them, added his CHA bonus as a drow, and taken an ASI to one other stat. I have also just used the wizard default of 4 HP per level + con bonuses. I rolled (4d6 drop lowest): 16, 8, 14, and 11, which seems like a reasonable spread. I’m giving him 16 CHA (14+2 racial bonus), 16 CON, 8 STR, and 13 (11+2) WIS, which seems reasonable to me. His HP is therefore 6+4*19+3*20=142.

They all start at the corners of a square with sides 30 feet, as there is no 2D configuration of four equidistant points. Same teams are at diagonals from each other (ie, going clockwise, it goes Beau, Caleb, Yasha, Essek.)

In order to stave off any whining: if both wizards roll higher on the dice for initiative than both sentinel babes I will reroll. After that the dice shall tell their story.

Caleb is not allowed to cast Wish to simply win the fight even though that is the obvious answer and not prohibited per the rules of the poll because while that proves my point, actually running through the combat and demonstrating the general case of “wizards beat melee at L20 as a rule” is more fun for me.

Final and most important rule: I am a human person running through combat for four people. Will this be perfectly optimal in every way? No. If there is something egregiously wrong then mention it but if you simply had a different strategy then well, write it out yourself.

Combat below the jump:

Initiative: Caleb rolled 7 (modified to 9), Essek rolled 16 (modified to 19), Yasha rolled 15 (modified to 18), Beau rolled 3 on the d20 and 6 on the d8 from her boots of the vigilant (total of 14).

Round 1

Essek casts Hold Person on Yasha since he cannot cast it on both at once as they are 42.4 feet from each other. She fails with a natural 1. [L2 spell used - Essek]

Yasha rolls again at the end of her turn, and gets a 12, failing.

Beau runs to Essek and attacks him twice, using a ki point to stunning strike him on her first hit and attempting for all hits after until it succeeds. She rolls an 11 and a 14 to hit on the dice, which will hit. Essek rolls a natural 18 on his first con save, succeeding, but a 9 on his second, which fails, dropping his hold on Yasha. Beau just takes flurry of blows for her bonus action, with advantage, rolling a 17 and a 12 respectively at advantage. Total damage to Essek is 14+11+7+7=39 damage. (2 ki used) She can also extract aspects; he is a normal guy.

Caleb shapechanges into an ancient white dragon. He picks up Essek in a talon (object interaction) and flies 35 feet into the air.[L9 spell used - Caleb; concentration]

Round 2

Essek is stunned

Yasha summons her wings. She makes her Frightful Presence save with a natural 18 and flies almost into melee with Dragon!Caleb but that is her action. She rages as a bonus action.

Beau has no abilities nor items that extend more than 30 feet away. She may as well use Empty Body to become invisible and resistant to all damage though! (6 ki used total, 4 this round). She makes her frightful presence save with a 15 on the dice. Essek is no longer stunned.

Dragon!Caleb can get both Yasha and Beau in a cone of cold, DC 22. Yasha saves with a 17 on the dice and total of 27,  Beau rolls a 3 and uses a ki point to reroll, getting a 9+10 which fails. This is a con save, so no evasion. I rolled extremely well (thanks google dice roller thing) and Beau takes 96 cold damage, halved to 48 from Empty Body. Yasha takes 48 cold damage as well, halved due to her saving throw. Caleb rolls a 6 on the d6; this ability recharges. He then flies 80 feet away from Yasha.

Round 3

Essek casts Ravenous Void 30 feet behind Yasha such that he and Caleb are outside of the spell’s 100 foot range. Beau is however also in range, though neither she nor Yasha are within range of the sphere, merely the 100 foot event horizon. [L9 spell used, Essek; concentration].

Yasha must make a strength save, which she makes with a 14 on the die, against Essek’s DC of 20. She moves 25 feet towards Caleb and Essek as she is in difficult terrain (yes, even in the air.) She uses her battle cry ability as a bonus action, granting Beau advantage on attacks and saves.

Beau makes a strength save as well, and makes it with a natural 18. She can activate her maelstrom gloves at this point I suppose, as her action. She also runs from the sphere, along the ground, at half speed (35 feet); she will use step of the wind to dash as a bonus action (70 feet). She is still within the range of the spell this turn.

Caleb can hit Yasha with the cold damage again. She makes her save with a 15 on the dice. I rolled much more poorly this time; she takes 32 damage. His breath weapon does NOT recharge this round as I rolled a 4.

At the end of round 3: Caleb has 333 HP as a dragon and has used one 9th level spell on which he is concentrating. Essek has 103 HP as himself and has used one 2nd level spell and one 9th level spell, the latter on which he is concentrating. Beau has 144 HP and is invisible; she has used 8 of her 20 ki points. Yasha has 148 HP and is currently raging.

Round 4

Essek casts lightning bolt on Yasha at 5th level. She fails her dex save (16+3 = 19, his DC is 20), taking 10d6 lightning damage, or 26 points per my roll. (Yasha is at 122 HP).

Yasha makes a strength save at advantage against Ravenous Void, just making it with a 10, but Essek uses Convergent future to make her fail. Yasha is pulled into the Ravenous Void; Essek takes one level of exhaustion. Yasha takes 5d10 force damage (another 26 points) and is restrained. (Yasha is at 94 HP).

Beau rolls a 15, succeeding with a 21. She successfully runs out of the range of ravening void and stays there. HOWEVER she is now within Dragon!Caleb’s blindsight radius.

Caleb gets directly above Beau and attacks her with his multiattack. He rolls a 9, 17, and 15 on the dice and gets +14 on all three attacks, dealing 2d10+8, 2d8, 2d8+8, and 2d6+8 damage total, all of which will be halved. That added up was a 72 total, halved to 36 for Beau who is now at 108 HP. He rolls a 5 on the d6, recharging his breath weapon. All attacks are made at minimum 10 foot reach, putting him outside the range of Sentinel; he returns to 40 feet above Beau.

Round 5

Yasha is out of range, so, upon realizing what’s going on, Essek casts See Invisibility on himself and can now see Beau, but that is his action.

Yasha takes another 34 damage from the Ravenous Void and makes a strength save at advantage; she makes it and is no longer restrained. She can get 15 feet out of the sphere. (Yasha is at 60 HP)

Beau can I guess run 70 feet away from the wizards.

Caleb uses his breath weapon again on Beau. She rolls a 5 on the dice, which is a failure on the con save. She takes 39 (79 halved) damage. Beau is now at 69 HP (nice). The breath weapon does not recharge this round.

Round 6

Essek casts Gravity Sinkhole where Beau is. She rolls a 4 on the dice and fails her Con save, taking the full 5d10 force damage (27) which isn’t halved by Empty Body. Beau is now at 42 HP.

Yasha succeeds on her saving throw and is now 40 feet out of the sphere, 50 from the center. She needs to make her next two rounds of saves to get out of the range of the spell, but takes no damage this round. She heals herself up 20 points, to 80, as her action.

Beau runs another 70 feet away.

Caleb goes after Beau, who I assume is running at a tangent to the radius of Ravenous Void, and dashes, catching up but is not able to attack.

Round 7

Essek uses momentary stasis on Beau. She rolls a 9 on her Con save, failing with a total of 19; she is incapacitated and has a speed of zero.

Yasha rolls a 3 and a 4 on her next saving throw, failing her strength save, and is pulled back into the center of the sphere, taking 5d10 (33) damage. Yasha is at 47 HP.

Beau is incapacitated.

Caleb makes his multiattack, dealing 57 total, halved to 28. Beau is now at 14 HP.  Caleb’s breath weapon does not return.

Round 8

Essek casts gravity sinkhole again at Beau. She rolls a 19, making her con save, but still takes 5d10 halved. I rolled a 28, halved to 14, precisely knocking her unconscious.

Yasha takes 25 force damage from the center of the sphere and makes her save, moving out from the center of the sphere. Yasha is at 22 HP.

Beau rolls a 2 on her first death save. This however does not matter, because...

Caleb lands and attacks Beau, taking her death saves and killing her. His breath weapon does not return.

Round 9

Essek hangs out in Caleb’s talons, chilling.

Yasha makes her strength save and moves out from the center of the sphere. She is again 50 feet from the center.

Caleb flies to the edge of the radius of Essek’s spell and lands.

Round 10

Essek gets out of Caleb’s talons and stands but is otherwise still chilling.

Yasha makes her strength save and dashes, reaching the wizards but is not able to attack them. She is no longer raging, having taken no damage nor attacked in a round, so she rages again.

Caleb drops Shapechange and casts Disintegrate. Yasha rolls an 11, for a dex save of 14, failing. She is reduced to 0 HP by Disintegrate, which turns her into dust and kills her because she is still dust even though she is raging.

Conclusion: I did to be fair roll like absolute shit for Beau but it was ultimately a game of dragon-and-monk anyway; once they're in the air and she's not and Yasha's unable to come to her aid, she's fucked. The second Beau fails to stunning strike one of the wizards, and Caleb gets a +9 assuming he has all his favorite magic rocks around him against Beau's 18 DC, so this is not out of the question, they can and will either turn into a dragon with a +14 to con saves and also who can fly, or cast "gravity hates you personally" at 9th level.

I would also note that Yasha's 101 damage in one hit in Echoes of the Solstice relies on several buffs from - you guessed it - magic users, as well as a crit. (fun fact! I rolled zero nat 20s during this, which is kind of weird although also I was mostly only rolling saves). Neither she nor Beau can one-shot one of the wizards on their own - even if they're teaming up only on one of them it's going to take 2-3 rounds, and meanwhile the other has, again, cast "fuck you" at 9th level in the meantime.

[ollypopwrites]

OC Character Inspiration

Vanya Ingellvar

tagged by @curiouswisp this one was hard but it was such a fun one to do thank you!!!!

I did this in counter clockwise order lol don’t know why

Appearance:

🦷scarjo — specifically from Lucy (i’m not necessarily a huge fan of hers or this movie? but i liked the look of her in this specific screenshot.)

🦷 body wise i did my best to recreate miranda morris (who is a model), they don’t really let us make our rook’s busty or as thick id like but i do appreciate them letting us make our rook’s different sizes than we normally get. i wanted a midsize baddie rook for emmrich to be obsessed with and lo and behold now im obsessed with her she has a bit more belly than miranda just cuz 🤷‍♀️

🦷 elizabeth bennett from P&P — i know i know it’s typical for an austen fan to pick lizzy i don’t want to hear it lol lizzy is a perfect mix of adhering to tradition and propriety and also finding it sometimes silly and poking fun and i think vanyas the same about mourn watch pomp and circumstance. she understands the gravity of most of it but she is, at heart, not above poking fun. gently. with love.

🦷 Nell Crane from the Haunting of Hill House — spooky ✅ haunted by herself ✅ lowkey sad girl energy ✅ full of love ✅ bringing the family together even when she’s gone ✅ i loved you all completely. and you loved me. the rest is just confetti ✅

🦷 Viktor Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy — stole the name the character had before Eliot transitioned. love the character in every way, no complaints. idk just kinda the vibe? they’re both musicians, both have incredible power, both just needed a chance to see it, a bit awkward (disclaimer i have only seen the show and watched the first two seasons so i don’t know what he’s been up to lately lol)

🦷 Florence Welch - she is simultaneously a fairy princess and a bad ass. i once saw her perform in the pouring rain and it was like a spell was put over the crowd. she is gentle, she is loving, she is tormented, she is mad at god, she is a powerhouse. florence’s music inspired vanya a lot: jenny of oldstones, daffodil, heartlines, queen of peace, which Witch, girls against god, over the love — i had to limit myself to florence songs in her playlist because otherwise it would have just been florence

tagging @silshinobii @sofiemystique @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @starfleetteddybear

[ruanbaijie]

我会保护你，保护你一辈子。无论是你的一辈子，还是我的一辈子。 ARCS OF THE SPIREALM 致命游戏 (2024) [in/sp]

@userdramas event 15 something new: a new show from 2024 @asiandramanet mar creator bingo board ⎈ typography ➻ notes for translations and motifs (spoilers!) used below the cut

Arc 1: 雪村 Snow Village

Quote: 一人不如庙，二人不观井，三人不抱树，独自莫凭栏 One person shall not enter the temple, two people shall not look into the well, three people shall not hug a tree, one shall not lean against the balustrade alone. - the death rules of this door

Motifs: a circle meant to represent the well, split into two to represent (what are assumed to be) the "real world" (top half) and "virtual world" (bottom half). note where rnz is placed

Arc 2: 菲尔夏鸟 Fitcher's Bird

Quote: 小老鼠搬鸡蛋，鸡蛋太大怎么办？一只老鼠地上躺，紧紧抱住大鸡蛋。一只老鼠拉尾巴，拉呀拉呀拉回家。小老鼠搬鸡蛋，鸡蛋太大怎么办？一只老鼠地上跑，紧紧抱住大鸡蛋。一只老鼠拉尾巴，拉呀拉呀拉回家。Little Mouse, carrying an egg, what shall it do if the egg is too big? Little Mouse, lying on the ground, tightly hugging the big egg. Little Mouse, pulling its tail, pulling and pulling and pulling it home. Little Mouse, carrying an egg, what shall it do if the egg is too big? Little Mouse, running on the ground, tightly hugging the big egg. Little Mouse, pulling its tail, pulling and pulling and pulling it home. - the creepy as hell nursery rhyme recited by the three girls

Motifs: broken egg, clock ticking backwards that's formed by the staircase that's rotating clockwise (which I realised was a neat little trick to hint that they were travelling forward in time) and the cut birthday cake

Arc 3: 阿姐鼓 Sister Drum

Quote: 她不见了，找不到她了 She's gone, I can't find her - the words written by the older sister in her diary

Motifs: top view of a Chinese drum, bamboo

Arc 4: 佐子 Zuozi

Quote: 我的腿没有了，你的给我好吗？My leg is gone, can you give me yours? - the death line of this door

Motifs: ripped pieces of paper, handwriting, slowly appearing words

Arc 5: 威福利山疗养院 Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Quote: 已经过了八点了，你们为什么不睡觉？It's already past 8pm, why are you still not asleep? - what the nurse says right before she starts chasing after the players who are outside their rooms

Motifs: room 502, overlapping but non-concentric circles representing a Russian doll

Arc 6: 雨中女郎 Woman in the Rain

Quote: 总不能是你一直保护我们吧 It can't always be you protecting us - what lqs says to convince rnz to let him go into the painting world

Motifs: picture frames shifting from scenes of the players to scenes of the door god and painting world, and back again

Arc 7: 哭儿郎 Crying Baby

Quote: 天惶惶，地惶惶，我家有个哭儿郎，过往恩客念三遍，一觉睡到大天光 Panic in the skies, panic on the earth, I have a crying baby at home, when the kind guest who passes by recites three times, they will sleep till the next morning - the line that will save you in this door. Interesting to note that there's actually a similar line that exists, except one of the changes is instead of 恩客 (ēn kè "kind guest"), it's 君子 (jūn zǐ "gentleman"), and while I translated 恩客 literally as "kind guest" here (what each of the individual characters means), the word itself actually in the past, used to refer to "benefactors" - the customers whom prostitutes fell in love with

Motifs: a lamp with lqs as the flames (vague hint at what rnz always tells lqs) and rnz as the base (note the orientation and negative colours), swirls meant to mimic water as in the book, this door was slightly more strongly related to the river god

Arc 8: 扫晴娘 Rain Doll

Quote: 如果这样，明天还是阴沉下雨的话，我就砍掉你的头 If it's still gloomy and rainy tomorrow, I will chop off your head - the line to recite in this door in order to make it rain

Motifs: umbrellas in the corners, a window (there's this one beautifully framed scene in this arc where they both open the windows of their room at the same time) showing the iconic nanqiu umbrella scene (each of them coloured differently on purpose) vs. the outside of the window with the rain dolls and additional rain overlay layer

Arc 9: 箱妖 Box Demon

Quote: 别看那个箱子，看我 Don't look at that box, look at me - what lqs tells rnz when he gets "hypnotised" to open the box

Motifs: diamonds forming 3d boxes

Full list of scenes used since this gif moves too quickly: rnz waking up from his "hypnosis", rnz and lqs staring at each other after rnz returns from his "death", cyx turning around to look at lqs when they thought rnz was dead, cql being pulled into the box, juxtaposition of rnz (upright) and ybl (upside down) in front of the stained glass windows, one of the box people in the box rnz nearly opened when he was "hypnotised", rnz being full of shit in front of everyone else (as usual)

Arc 10: 无解 Insoluble

Quote: 二人去一人归 Two people go, one person returns - the hint that appears consistently for the 11th door

Motifs: kaleidoscope of the final scene before rnz walks away

I put the two final doors (百鬼夜行 "Night Parade of Hundreds of Ghosts" and the "real" "12th" door) together because I really like how the hint applies for both the 11th door as well as the ending of the show

I also used 无解 "unsolvable" (the original name of the final chapter in the novel) for the name of this arc because of how short and simple it is, but also how it just summarises the 意难平 (idrk how to translate this, but sort of like the bittersweet feelings, being unable to let go of the past) of this arc and the entire show. Just like how there was no way to solve the 11th door with a happy ending for both people (assuming only two people went in lol), there was no way to solve the 12th door and the entire game with a happy ending for both rnz and lqs

However, instead of translating 无解 as "unsolvable", I used "insoluble" instead as it sounds just a little more poetic and is more symmetrical, and also hints at how lqs's memories of and feelings for rnz, whether his whole experience was a dream or otherwise, never dissolved with time 🥲

[roselinbooks]

Headshot Commissions - $10

I am officially opening commissions! Headshots, just $10!

These are a few examples; I am willing to do other things as well (especially dragons and MLP characters)

Purchase yours on my Ko-Fi!

Note: None of these examples were commissioned. I made some fanart and thought it would be fun to make more! The characters, in clockwise order, are Felix from The Devil in the Woods by @earlronove, Peach from Shifting Roots created by @tennelleflowers, Sophie from Ghosts Plague These Halls by @theboarsbride, and Alex from the comic Dirty Paws at @dirtypawscomic. Hope you like them!!

[thesleepyfable]

~ SWTD: Still Here AU Part 28: ~

Someone to Dance With:

Okay. The real last chapter of season 1. Anything between here and season 2 are going to be Still Here 'What if...?' which include other characters if they were infected.

Whilst everyone had turned in for the night, Trots was taking his time putting the chairs away. Simon watched from the porch with a knowing look, forgetting to light his cigarette. He knew what his man was doing. Distracting himself from whatever was on his mind. He hid it well during the darts game and beers he drank, but now it was all he could think about. What also gave it away was how slow he was being. Trots, who wanted things to be tidy and in order as soon as possible, so he wouldn't have to see the mess, had taken five minutes to put away four camping chairs he insisted on doing.

Putting his cigarette back in his pocket, Simon approached.

'Am I still on the naughty list?' He asked.

His hands floated up Trots' arms before resting on his shoulders, followed by him resting his head. Trots sighed and took one of Simon's hands.

'I wish you didn't say that.'

'What? That you dance?' A small nod in response. 'It's nothing to be ashamed of, Johnny. You're a wonderful dancer.'

'I know, but that's not it.' Trots moved to turn and look at Simon. He still held his hand. Simon reached up with the other and gently played with Trots' ear, making him tilt his head. 'It's that I cannae do it anymore.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Fucks sake, Simon,' Trots huffed, yet managed a small laugh. Simon knew he wasn't mad. If he was, everyone in a 10 mile radius would know. 'Look at me. How can I ever dance again?'

'You'll never know until you try.' Moving his hand to stroke his face, Simon took a step back. He moved towards a small radio perched on the top step. Sneaky bugger had brought it outside. He clicked the button and tuned the channel to emit classical music. The one they danced to together for the first time. Trots couldn't lie. It made him feel special.

In his usual dramatics, Simon offered a hand, like Prince Charming at the ball. Trots accepted with a worried smile, not having much hope. Simon didn't hesitate and pulled his lover to his chest. 'We'll start slowly, okay? I'll lead.'

With his left foot, Simon took a step forward, leading them into a simple box step. Trots awkwardly followed, moving back. Simon moved his right foot outwards. Trots followed. A tendril shot out into the snow to keep his balance. A wave of embarrassment came over him. He let go and held his head in his hands, hunching over himself. More tendrils shot out to keep preventing him from falling head first into the snow again.

'No. No. No. I cannae do it.' But Simon was undeterred.

'We only took two steps.'

'You only took two steps.'

'One more try, eh?' No answer. 'Just think about the first time you showed me.' Simon waited for a reaction. After a moment, which included taking a deep breath to clear his mind of anxiety, Trots adjusted himself. His right hand laced with Simon's before resting the other on his shoulder. Simon softly smiled. 'Top man. Here we go.'

Simon repeated his first steps. Trots moved in sync. The tendrils shot out, acting as his legs. The infected man lowered his head but didn't push away. He felt Simon's grasp tighten in support. A sign to not give up. It calmed his breathing.

They continued in a box step twice over before rotating in a counter clockwise motion. Back into a box step, but only performed half of the move. A quarter turn to the left. These moves were slow and basic but stemmed from a core memory...

'Ah. Sorry. Sorry. I should have told ye, I have two left feet.'

'You're doing a lot better than most. We can stop if you want-'

'And end our date early?'

'This is a date?'

'Oh, it's not?'

'Aye. Yes it is. One more try?'

The snow crunched under feet and tendrils. The music, composed with a soft piano and violin, filled their ears. Trots looked up at Simon, where before he would look down to him, his eyes finding comfort. Simon could feel Trots discover his confidence again, taking the lead from him.

A warmth rushed through them, and their minds went back to their first date. A shared memory. Was it The Shape inside Trots doing that?

Their breathing deepend and their hearts raced. The now and then clashed. The warm. The cold. The indoors. The outside. Yet the music was the same.

The sound of snow became their feet dancing on the wooden floor of Trots' living room. The fire glowed, aiding the dim lamps that stood in the corners. The smell of freshly baked bread filled their noses. Their pace quickened. Both straightened their posture. A focused look in Trots' eyes.

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. Cross body lead. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. Hesitation step. A clockwise cross body lead. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3...

The music built to the crescendo.

Trots felt his back slam against the house, but he didn't move away. He pulled Simon towards him. They closed their eyes and kissed. Their hearts continued to race. Simon wrapped his arms around Trots and pulled him closer. Trots ran his hands through Simon's soft hair. Music filled their ears. After so long apart, they didn't want to let go, but time eventually caught up to the pair as the song began to slowly fade out. Simon pulled away first. Their cheeks were pink. Chests and shoulders moved with each breath. Neither had noticed they'd held their breath for so long.

Simon cupped Trots' face. They both moved and rested their foreheads together. Trots wrapped his arms around his lover and moved in for another small kiss.

'See?' Simon sighed. 'You're a wonderful dancer.'

'And you're a wonderful teacher. Thank you.' They shared another moment together, swaying softly on the spot and stroking each other's face. 'Let's go to bed.'

'Tired?' A nod. 'Okay.'

[kam-aesthetics]

More art! I made a couple pictures of Wyll and his cousins (they have names now)! They didn’t spend a lot of time together growing up, but they’d still play and entertain each other.

And of course, there’s nothing like a bit of teasing your baby cousin on his wedding day

So in clockwise order, we have Lucinda, Lucian, and Lucas….because I am very creative with naming characters…

That’s it for now!