#Gonna continue rendering the next ones in line.

[screwpinecaprice]

Android Connieee created and ko-fi commissioned by TheHorizontalTegu. 🤩

I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out, so cool! (✧o✧)

[simpjaes]

hi i just stalked the crap our of your page and HOLY CRAPTHIS IS MY NEW GUILTY PLEASURE

can i req seeing how enha hyung line would take care of you after railing you soooooo hard????

hyung line + aftercare after very intense sex

warning: uh....painful sex, fainting, dissociation, anal, implied squirting, degradation, idk just a lot of intense sex stuff ig

note: it's a lil messy, i've been running errands all day and am using this to push myself back into the writing brain :D

★ heeseung:

what i wanna say is that depending on the circumstances, he'd probably throw a towel at your head and walk away to shower alone but we all know heeseung is so much more than a careless fuck boy for the most part. in my opinion, if he's got you where he wants you and he's allowed to fuck you as hard as he can, rendering you faint, dizzy, and almost dissociated, he either has some sort of feelings for you, you're someone else's girlfriend and he wants you to like him more, or you're already in a committed relationship lmfao

and you know, you thought that after he managed to pull three orgasms out of you, fucked all three of your holes, and managed to get you all twisted up for him to cum in places he definitely isn't supposed to, you really thought he was done.

but then he chuckles, taking one look at you once his own mind clears from his orgasm and it's like...how could he not just continue to fuck you? you look so pretty already fucked open, lying there with tears in your eyes and shaking?

you'd hear something akin to "you're gonna take a bit more, open those eyes back up for me," and "i can tell you can take it, just keep your eyes on me."

it's kind of pathetic, actually, how you really do just lay there and take it until he says you're finished.

so, yeah, when you're with someone like heeseung, there's always a thought in your head about if he'll even take care of you at all after the fact. at least, the thought is there before he breaks your brain. even if every time before this where he's needed to bring you back, he has without question and with a voice from him that is always so rare to hear.

just kinda hard to imagine someone who fucks you near to the brink of passing out, sometimes actually passing out, finding it within themselves to take care of you as deeply as they fuck you, yknow?

but, time and time again he has to remind you that he's not only capable but willing to make sure you're well taken care of. after all, you do your part in taking it, so he'll do his part in giving you what you need too. only after scooping half the mess with his fingers and feeding it to you, of course.

after that though? he's very much hauling you off for a warm shower and tenderly washing you. very very gentle with his hands, knowing how sensitive your holes are. he'd compliment you, he'd praise you for letting him absolutely destroy that ass, and ultimately, lay you to sleep next to him regardless of what the relationship status is, making sure you're well aware that he's not just using you for pleasure. he's very much appreciative of what you bring to his bedroom, and there's no reason to pretend he isn't.

☆ jay:

i like to think that jay would have you in fucking pain and barely able to stand on your own two feet by the time he allows you to close your legs with deep groans as you try to catch your breath.

honestly, the stamina this man has and actively spends on you could render anyone immobile for at least a week with the way he snaps his hips and holds you down from wiggling away in sensitivity. and man, the things he'd fucking say to you through it. so degrading, so controlling and dismissive, entirely fucking insulting. you're shocked time and time again that even while knowing it's just sex talk, it still hurts your feelings every single time.

then again, he's aware of that. but you're so goddamn pretty when you're crying and moaning, it drives him insane to know you endure it for his pleasure.

you're soaked by the time it's over and done with, he's soaked, and honestly the swollen marks against your ass still burn intensely when he rolls you over on your belly to get a good look at his work.

always with a breathy "aw, baby, i really fucked you up this time, huh?" or a little "took it so well, you still can't even focus your eyes on me, can you?" before rubbing any and every pained mark he left on you.

after his own brain clears of the sex-fog, he'd wrap you up, really warm and tightly in his arms as if his hug would wipe away any of the spit and cum drying between your bodies, as if it could mask all of those insults he flung at you. still, he'd be fluttering hundreds of kisses against your neck and ears, whispering little compliments about how pretty you are when you're barely able to keep your eyes open, about how much he adores you, and how often he wishes you'd believe these words over the silly orgasm-fueled insults.

still whispering, throughout the entire session of his care after the fact. always loving that you let him harm you as long as he's healing you just as good. and he does, truly, with the back rubs and the showers, tons upon tons of sweet kisses. constant praise. he'd put your lotion on you and rub it in thoughtfully, occasionally some medicated cream if his fingernails dug in a little too deep.

always always always holds you against his chest when you drift off to sleep, making sure any pain in your body feels more like love than anything else, and promising time and time again that he'll make sure you always fall asleep knowing he loves you, and that he doesn't at all think you're a fuck-doll, that he wouldn't let his friends have their turn way you.

(i am madly in love with him, pls look away and stop thinking of him now thank u)

★sunghoon:

ah, sunghoon. yeah. sunghoon. this man would leave you a fucking mess of tears and drool, edging you for hours. hell, he edges you for fucking days just because he can. not at all because you've been bad, or a brat, or have managed to make him jealous.

this is one of those days. you could tell he came home with that look in his eye, grabbing your face and practically forcing you to lift on your toes just so he could whisper the planned torture against your tongue.

so, after the second day with you whining, fucking begging to be released from your prison of sensitivity and lust, maybe he gives it to you. maybe he wakes you up from a deep and much needed sleep with fingers harshly pinching your clit.

ah, the pain. that alone was enough to make you cum, and you did. unfortunately, he didn't like that very much so your new torture was to get off as many times as he expected you to.

after about, what, the seventh orgasm? you stopped counting, it was closer to eleven in the afternoon and he'd been giving it to you for hours, all over that little mishap.

an eight orgasm knocked your ass out, exhausted, spread out, fucked senseless. you could barely hold your head up, but he does it for you. first by your hair, but noting the look in your eye indicating that he really needs to stop by this point.

and sunghoon is the type that would stop at that point. something in his brain clicking and forcing him back into that perfect boyfriend persona, where the only thing in the world he wants to do is make you happy.

and he knows it's not that you're not happy right now, it's mostly just the fact that he thinks he broke you're brain and you forgot how to feel anything other than his cock ramming inside of you.

so, he'd remind you time and time again. how his hands can do so much more than choke you, and how his lips can be sweet and less bruising against your temple when you really need it. you'd feel entirely loved when he's taking care of the mess he caused. both physically and mentally for you. needing to bring you back to reality with soft touches and tight holds.

it worked every time, because by the next morning, you'd just be moaning and groaning about how if he hadn't of make you breakfast in bed, you may have very well slashed his tires for the amount of suffering he put you through.

☆ jake:

bro is taking care of you not only after sex, but the entire time during sex. there's not a single moment where he's intentionally trying to hurt you, or forcing you to take more than you can handle.

it just....kind of happens on nights like these. where his hands are clinging, and his throat is begging, and your body can't say no. with his pretty puppy dog eyes asking if he can try anal, with his fingers slamming too deep, with his grip on you so tight you know it'll bruise, with his ability to knock the breath out of you and not give it back until you're nearly blue in the face.

yeah, most of the intense shit is accidental, but god is he taking care of you. always apologizing but continuing, always promising to make it up to you, always feeding into your ego more than his own, reminding you that the pain his body lends only comes from the immense amount of need he has to practically crawl inside of you and live there forever.

it's kind of amazing actually, that someone who starts so gentle can also end with blood in his mouth from bitten lips and swelling bruises all over your body.

he tends to you hand and foot. carrying you where ever you need to go even if just to your closet three feet from the bed, dresses you, undresses you, fixes your hair, does your skin care, all while kissing the bruises and ignoring the fact that he knows he'll never have enough of you, and you're probably always gonna be in pain when he loses his control like that.

[hxney-lemcn]

Toeing the Line — Peter Maximoff x gn! reader

summary: reader and Peter have been toeing the line between friendship and dating for a long time now. What happens when they finally give in?

tw: mention of slavery (roman empire era)

a/n: Peter is my og love. I always fall back to him, happily.

wc: 1.4k

Master List

“I’ll give you it for ten bucks,” I negotiated, a devilish smirk resting on my lips. 

“What?” Scott exclaimed.

“You're right,” I nodded, trying to hold in my laughter. “It’s Boardwalk, I want twenty bucks.”

Peter let out a snort, clearly amused with the situation, Jean and Jubilee also laughing under their breaths.

“This is extortion!” Scott shouted, his furrowed brows hidden behind his sunglasses.

“I’m not forcing you,” I laughed. “If you want Boardwalk I gotta get something out of it since you already have Park Place.”

Scott scowled, Jean managing to giggle out, “You’re actually thinking about it?”

“It’s just Monopoly,” Jubilee laughed. “Don’t spend actual money over it.”

With a huff, Scott fished his wallet out of his jeans pocket. My eyes widened, not believing that he was actually gonna give me money. 

“Ten,” Scott said grumpily, and I could feel his glare from behind his glasses. I looked up in fake thought, tapping my chin with my finger.

Shrugging, I handed him Boardwalk and I got my $10. The other’s groaned.

“I don’t see that being allowed in the rules,” Kurt finally piped up.

“Because it’s not,” Jubilee frowned.

“No matter who wins, (n/n)’s the real winner,” Peter laughed, nudging my side. I smiled back at him proudly. Looking over my cards, I knew I was gonna lose sooner or later, so with a quick decision, I shuffled my properties over to Peter.

“I’m putting my faith in you Pete, don’t let me down.”

Putting a hand to his chest, he stared me straight in the eyes with the most serious look, “I’d never dream of it.”

The game continued on until it was down to two. Scott and Peter. At first it seemed neck to neck, but soon the game was just dragging on. The others started chatting, losing interest, yet Scott and Peter seemed to be as competitive as ever. I laid next to Peter, watching with slight disinterest. 

Finally, against all odds, Peter had rendered Scott bankrupt. “Yes!” Peter shouted, startling the others.

“Damn,” Scott moaned. “I spent ten actual dollars!” Jean rolled her eyes with a fond smile. 

“You gonna buy me dinner now?” Peter joked, raising an eyebrow down at me.

“I suppose I should spoil my gladiator with our spoilers of war,” I joked back with a smile. 

“Barf,” Scott fake gagged. 

Peter stuck his tongue out at him, “You’re just salty you lost.” 

Holding his hand out to me, Peter offered to lift me up. I raised an eyebrow in confusion but he only smiled that dorky smile of his. Once I was fully standing, we were suddenly standing in the shadow of a Wendy’s. Thankfully, I was used to his powers, and the usual sick feeling was dull. 

“Isn’t it kinda early for dinner?” I asked with an amused smile.

Peter shrugged, already striding to the front doors, “Lunch, dinner? All the same, as long as my belly’s full.”

I shook my head in amusement, as he held the door open for me. Paying for our orders, our food arrived quickly, although nothing is ever quick enough for Peter. Our relationship was strange. We weren’t exactly friends, but we weren’t exactly dating either. At least we never confessed, but we seemed to have this mutual understanding about each other's feelings. We seemed to dance around the topic, toeing the line and pushing it further and further. Waiting for the line to finally disappear, for one of us to finally make a big enough move where we couldn’t ignore it any longer. 

It was silly honestly. No reason for such a game when we made our feelings so abundantly clear. Honestly, a part of me just wanted to end it, to kiss him silly and spill all my affection for him. Yet another part of me enjoyed the game, enjoyed the thrill of wondering who would break first. 

“If I’m the gladiator then what does that make you?” Peter questioned aloud after taking a sip from his milkshake. 

“Do you want the historical answer or a sappy one?” I asked with a cheeky smile.

“Hmmm…” Peter pondered. “Give me the historical first, and then the sappy.”

I laughed a little, “Well historically, gladiators were typically slaves so…” I cringed. “I’d be classified as your owner. Which I don’t like the thought of.”

Peter blinked, before a devilish smirk rose onto his lips, “Kinky.” I shoved a french fry into his face, trying to ignore the warmth underneath my skin. Taking a bite of the fry from my hand, he continued, “If that’s the historical one, what could possibly be the sappy reply?”

I looked off the side, eating another fry as I tried to ignore the bubbling warmth simmering within me, “Uhhh, I don’t know,” I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “You’re monarch?”

“One, I don’t think that counts as sappy, more flirty,” Peter counted. “Two, if you’re gonna say somethin’ like that, you gotta do it with confidence, babe.” 

My heart spiked at not only the pet name, but how he said it so nonchalantly. Said it like he knew it was meant for me and had accepted the fact. I rolled my eyes, trying to pretend like he didn’t affect me as much as he did and ate the food in front of me. My skin continued to prickle with warmth as I felt his gaze on me. Glancing up, our eyes met, and I covered my mouth as I chewed.

Once I swallowed, I asked, “What?”

“What?” Peter asked innocently. “Can’t I enjoy the view?” 

I nearly choked on my soda at his reply. Yeah we flirted here and there, but never this much or this heavily. Peter had obviously finished his food already, and I noticed how my fries seemed to shrink. 

“Trying to butter me up Maximoff?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. 

“Just stating the truth,” He shrugged. I rolled my eyes, finishing up the last of my food. “My place or yours?” Peter asked as we headed out.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” I shrugged. “Surprise me.”

Within a second, the colorful room of Peter Maximoff surrounded me. Band posters littered the walls as some dirty clothes laid on the floor. Clothes which vanished from sight once Peter noticed. I watched as he roamed through his cassettes. His silver hair was messy, as usual. His silver jacket and goggles were left on a chair and desk. Which meant he was left in his band tee and black skinny jeans (he wore different jeans after I told him his silver pants needed a break from time to time). 

I smiled as Peter turned around, Queen was playing from the track player. Dramatically, Peter fell onto me, surprisingly gently. 

I let out a dramatic groan, “You're heavy.”

Peter pouted, “Is that any way to speak to your boyfriend?” My eyes widened and I tensed up, I felt Peter tense up as well as he began rambling, trying to pull himself away, “I…uh…sorry. I didn’t…I wasn’t thinking-”

With a pounding heart, I wrapped my arms around his neck, locking him in place above me. Before he could continue rambling, saying something he may actually regret, I pulled him down by the neck, pausing just before our lips could meet.

“C-can I-”

Not letting me finish, Peter closed the gap, our lips meeting in a soft, curious kiss. My eyes closed in bliss as we both became more confident. One of his hands hesitantly moved to my waist, his thumb massaging the skin under my shirt. I panted as we pulled away, Peter’s dark brown eyes held so much affection, causing me to melt. 

“I hope this isn’t too early, but I think I’m in love with you,” Peter whispered out.

I couldn't contain the smile that broke out on my face at his confession, “Well, I know I love you, my boyfriend.”

A cheesy smile broke out on his face too, “I like it when you call me that.”

“Call you what?” I asked, playing with the silver hair at the nape of his neck.

“Yours,” He replied without a beat, leaning down into another kiss. 

“That was so cheesy!” I laughed, slapping his chest, pushing him onto the bed.

“And you love it,” He replied confidently, pulling into me onto his chest.

He was right, I did love it.

[usmsgutterson]

please do something about nikolai, i don't know what exactly. But something hot cuz that man can't get out of my mind

sorry for the writing, English is my second language.

Lucky One- N.L x gn! reader

Okay! You asked for "hot" and I interpreted that as "steamy" because the two mean the same in my head, and I hope that that's okay! If it's not and you want me to rewrite, please feel free to just reach out and let me know!

this is a steamier fic (there is a ton of kissing and it's like, borderline body worship) so I'm gonna ask that minors dni! It's not quite smut but it would've gone that way had the requester asked for it and this has sexual undertones so minors, there's a lot of other content on my blog and a good few Nikolai fics that you're welcome to read if you'd like but please do not interact with this one

Fic type- steamy! Not quite smut but it could be a lead up into smut if I'd gone in that direction with it

Warnings- none

You hummed as Nikolais lips drifted down the scope of your neck, one of your hands tangled in his hair as the morning sun drifted in through the opened curtains. It was one of Nikolais rarer days wherein he could spare a few extra hours in your company, neither of you very content anywhere but in each others arms, lips either moving as you talked or pressing kisses along the scope of the other persons body. 

“I love you,” Nikolai whispered against the skin of your collarbone. “Saints, I love you so much.” 

Your hand carded through his hair with the words, eventually coming to rest at the back of his neck. 

“You are everything to me,” he continued, kissing back up the scope of your neck, along the line of your jaw. He dipped his head back to the space between your neck and shoulder, lips deliciously grazing the spot after a moment. He hummed against the skin and you shuddered, feeling it against the whole of your body. “I do love it when we talk, but I have to admit, my favorite thing has always been rendering you voiceless.” 

“Sorry to disappoint then, love,” you said. “You have yet to do so.”

Nikolai laughed against your skin, kissing the space closest to him and lifting himself up slightly before laying back down on your right, eyes meeting yours.

“Ah,” he said. “I do love it when you bruise my ego.”

“I love you too, Nik,” you said. “You just start kissing me and my ability to speak is rendered useless.”

“Am I really that talented?” Nikolai asked, smirk stretching the right corner of his lips.

You scoffed. “Oh, you know you are, you prick!” 

Nikolai laughed. “Well, perhaps I just needed reassurance,” he said. 

You hummed, and Nikolai pressed a kiss to your cheekbone. “Now, back to kissing you and rendering you voiceless,” he whispered before leaning up and nibbling on your ear gently, kissing the space behind it and down your neck once again, across one collarbone and down one shoulder.

“You are the love of my life,” he said, kissing down the length of your right arm, pressing a kiss to your palm, the back of your hand, your knuckles. “I really can’t say it in many more ways, Y/N. I am so lucky to be your husband and to be here. I want you to know that I know that.” 

He kissed back up your right arm, across your shoulder and your collarbone, only to repeat the process on the left side. When he was done, you were breathless and dazed and all you wanted to do was spend the entirety of the day with him, between your bedsheets and your husband, talking and kissing and letting yourself shiver with the sensual way of his voice.

His lips kissed up the center of your neck, your jaw, and eventually, finally, his lips met your own in an open mouthed kiss that nearly made you melt. 

“I love you,” you whispered. “Don’t call yourself lucky, Nik. I’m clearly the lucky one here. I wonder how I managed it every single day.” 

Nikolai grinned and pressed a quick peck against your lips, head falling next to yours as his eyes fluttered closed.

"Sometimes, I resent my status as king," he said. "I took the morning away, but now I wish that I could spend the day here. I guarantee you my feet would not touch the floor to leave if I did not have to go, but I do."

You hummed. “I know, and I love you for how committed you are to the wellbeing of Ravka. I’m glad we get this morning. In fact, right now, that’s all that really matters to me.” 

Nikolai sighed contentedly. “I’ll ring up for breakfast and we’ll eat together. I'll see if I can get away early, spend my time with you in the light of the moon instead of the sun."

You grinned. "I love the sound of that. Stay with me now, though. The morning isn't over yet, Nik. We still have at least an hour."

Nikolai laughed and pressed another peck to your lips as he hummed a contented hum of his own. Just like that, you were blissful again. Mornings like that were few and far between as things picked up in Ravka, but you were endlessly grateful for them as they came. 

[drasticemotions]

yall im saying fuck it n face revealing cause I still haven’t recovered from my photo op with jared and I just have to share it on a place where I know it’ll be appropriately respected and so I can finally yap about my full experience with j2

so hey dats me

I died dead

I refuse to believe that that is actually me in the photo cause what do you mean?? I was in jarpads arms??

He was so nice I was low-key losing my shit after meeting Jensen, we took the photo with him first (just a normal side hug with me and my sister on each side) and exiting that going straight in line for Jared. I was shaking there was a pause in the line for a bit and then Jensen just appeared next to me??? Walking past and I was just confused Pikachu looking back and forth across the room to my sister and back to Jensen, I didn’t have my phone on me and didn’t know what to do cause he just appeared (all he did was walk past but that’s enough for me).

Anyway I was very much shaking and was so nervous, I felt like I looked like a wreck and didn’t know how the photo was gonna go since ahbl12 was my first con, but guys I shit you not it became my turn and I stared right into this gorgeous man’s eyes said hi…I think I blacked out cause he had his arms slightly opened and I just walked into them, I genuinely don’t remember what happened I think my eyes started watering cause it was such a genuine hug and just looked at the camera and smiled.

I don’t think I could’ve ever asked for a better photo I’m so genuinely happy in that moment and life has been a lot as of late and it felt like that all disappeared, I don’t usually smile with my teeth showing anymore but it just appeared naturally, Jared is such a genuinely great guy and I’m so glad I leaped at the chance of getting the ticket and going.

He was so incredibly nice at the autographs too, Jensen as well but I could tell both of them were absolutely beat they looked so tired, Jensen is intimidating and I was rendered speechless when I got him to sign my Dean funko pop, I was also the only one in line everyone else at that point was waiting in Jared’s line so I felt extremely isolated and awkward 🫣 like what do I do what do I say. Jared I gained some of that courage back and went for it, I was able to thank him for just generally being amazing and how much meeting him meant for me, which I haven’t really told anyone it feels like one of those moments I just had to keep to myself. He put his hand on his heart and I didn’t wanna get in trouble for continuing on so I wished him a good night and left. I don’t know how I got through the day without crying (I am a very emotional person especially when it comes to my fandoms), I cried in the hotel room after lmao

It was really just the best day ever and I’d do it a million times over. I rightfully have that photo on fucking everything, I won’t shut up about this until the next con and even then I still won’t shut up about it. Just meeting the cast and doing something like this, I’ve wanted to do something not even relating to supernatural but just conventions themselves seem like some of the coolest things to be able to attend (America obviously having the better half of that spectrum over Australia but I’ll take what I can get).

I will hopefully be back next year to see Misha and Jensen, if my bank account doesn’t run away from me

[sonic-adventure-3]

progress for today! i unfucked the textues (for realsies this time), made the ribbon (just a transparent texture on a plane), created 4 hand poses (rock, paper, scissors, gun), completely finished segmentation and ordering/naming/grouping bones, and created 2 simple poses!

i think im fr starting to reach the end of this project... in the span of about a week and a half ive gone from having absolutely zero 3d modeling knowledge whatsoever (minus like 1 day of a camp i didnt attend 7 years ago) to having a full ass character i built completely from scratch. wild. it's... humbling, to know i made this. wait, no, i mean the exact opposite of that. its self-aggrandizing. this shit is fucking awesome. i made this? im fucking awesome. i think im a god-like being now. thats how it works right?

anyway. stuff to do next: props (bag, gun), separate the pupils into an object so i can make her look anywhere other than straight ahead, a couple more poses, maybe a simple animation, and learn how to render shit in blender.

i think i'll consider this project finished once i have at least one prop and render some nice looking images and a turnaround gif in blender. but after that, down the line, eventually, i'm gonna muck about. i wanna at least explore rigging and making a walk and skate cycle, maybe a more complex animation. i wanna study how bird beaks are animated and modelled so i can and as for stuff i plan to do in the future unrelated to this project, i wanna model more characters, sonic character and my ocs and humans, i wanna learn blender even though its so scary, i wanna learn rigging and animation, i just wanna do everything. i'm having a lot of fun with 3d as a medium, i hope i continue to have fun and make good art!

[anemicjellyfish]

Okay I have a crippling migraine but I'm gonna try to communicate this as best I can.

Striker. He's a lot of things, but I don't think he's stupid.

He picked up on Blitzø's behavior regarding Stolas in Harvest Moon Festival, and tried convincing Blitzø to join him in taking down those in power.

When he was unsuccessful, he escaped, but not without reminding Blitzø of the power imbalance: "maybe you'll get me next time, Blitzy"

He also overheard everything Blitzø and Fizz said while they were in Crimson's suspended prison cell, including Blitzø's continued insistence that Stolas doesn't care for him outside of sex. As the audience, we've picked up on Blitzø's feelings by now. And if Striker was unsure before, he has to know by this point.

My initial thought when making this post was about Crimson's instructions to Striker: "bring me something of value." Striker sees the plot-convenient fight between Blitzø & Fizz, and captures them both.

Crimson knew about the relationship between Fizzarolli and Asmodeus. It's "the worst kept secret in hell," to just about everyone. Obviously, he's going to go after Asmodeus; that's the big fish.

But I'm spinning myself in circles wondering if Striker ever got the chance to tell Crimson that Blitzø is also of value, and that Crimson could get whatever he wanted from Stolas for Blitzø's safe return. I'm also wondering if Striker would bother to share that information, or choose to keep it to himself to use later.

Now, all of that is rendered almost irrelevant by the end of the episode of course. Blitzø and Fizz escape, Striker is seriously injured, and the fates of Crimson and his mafia guys are undetermined in the collapse/fire at the warehouse.

But... If Crimson survived, he might know of the connection between Blitzø and Stolas. He has a grudge against Blitzø, and he's likely even more desperate than before. Maybe not desperate enough to take on Asmodeus again, but that sad owl might not be as big of a threat. Especially if he can get his hands on Angelic weapons. And especially if the events of later episodes weaken Stolas' ties to the rest of the Goetia.

This is obviously WAY down the line. We already had the trailer for the rest of Season 2, and Crimson seems unlikely to make another appearance.

Striker, on the other hand... maybe?? With Satan in the mix, maybe Striker could show up again. But I'm really thinking this for season 3 or later. Idk. Honestly, I'm just exhausted at this point.

Without wanting to theorize any further, I'm just saying I doubt we've seen the last of Striker. And it does feel like Crimson should have at least one more appearance left before they do away with his character.

[apomaro-mellow]

R&R 3

After stealing a cop car, Eddie and the boys high tailed it to New York. That’s where the next Vecna concert was going to be. Which meant that Steve would be there. They drove nonstop, only pausing to switch drivers/gas up/get snacks. When Eddie was driving they didn’t even stop for the bathroom.

“Piss out the window for all I care.”

“Sounds like you care a whole lot, man”, Crash said. “About Steve.”

“He should! He was literally kidnapped!”, Jeff exclaimed.

“Kidnapped, yeah. I bet he saw all those zeroes and fell right into ‘Lord Vecna’s’ lap”, Eddie sneered.

“You know he’s not like that”, Jeff said. “There’s gotta be another explanation.”

“I don’t know”, Gareth said, opening a bag of chips. “Steve’s a good guy but he does come from luxury. Maybe he misses it.”

“Either way we’re gonna find out”, Eddie pressed down on the gas. 

While they were just passing the New York state line, Steve had already awakened in New York. The power and and speed of air travel and all. He felt disoriented for about three seconds before realizing what had happened. He grabbed what was closest, an ugly looking vase, and smashed it against the head of the suit who had been standing with his back to him.

Steve was about to break for the door when another he didn’t see grabbed him from behind.

“Good little boys should behave.”

“Let go of me! Where am I?! Where’s Creel? That bastard!”

Steve got harshly thrown to the ground as the blinds were opened and the New York skyline was revealed to him. He was in the lair of a beast. His friends were miles away. Steve pushed back the voice that said his father was right.

“Stay put. And maybe we’ll feed you later.” The suit picked up his friend and then left Steve.

He reacted too slowly, only rushing up to the door once it was closed and pounding on it to no avail. He was locked in here. He went over to the window. It was a very, very long way down.

“I can’t just stay here”, he said to himself while, looking at the bed he’d awakened on. The sheets wouldn’t get him far, but it’d be a start, right? He looked around and saw a vent. One that was actually big enough for him to crawl through.

Steve pulled the sofa chair over right under the vent. With a grunt, he opened it and hoisted himself up. Once he was up there, he just started to crawl, hoping that eventually he’d find his way out. The vents had to exit somewhere, after all. While trekking, he heard Henry and paused at an opening. He was shirtless, and sticking out of his back were slimy, writhing tentacles. They slithered around the dark room as Henry spoke. But Steve couldn’t see anyone else in the room.

“I have found the voice. The one that will bring you into this world...I know. I will make him sing. And your coming will be upon us....You must tell me if there is anything...anyone who can stop me.”

Steve bit his lip as he listened in closely. There had to be something that could stop this guy.

Henry rolled his head around. “No one? There is no one?”

Steve could barely make out the devilish smile of triumph on his face. As quietly as he could, he continued to crawl. That couldn’t be true. No one? Well if there was no one, he just had to get ghost. If he wasn’t in the man’s clutches, he couldn’t force Steve to sing and summon whatever demon was possessing him.

It took quite some time, but Steve managed to find a way out. He kicked open the vent and came out in an alleyway. The towering building loomed overhead, as did others. He had to get out of town, find some way back home, back to Eddie and their friends.

There were tons of people on the street on a normal day but it seemed extra congested to Steve. As he went down the sidewalk, his eyes caught a poster in a tattoo shop. It was for Henry-Vecna’s concert. But under the glowering face of the superstar it said ‘And Introducing: Eve’ along with an artist’s rendering of Steve’s face. When had this been done? How long was he out? Steve felt disoriented. He didn’t even really know what day it was anymore.

He kept going, any distance between him and Henry was a good thing.

----------------------

“Let’s ditch the car for now”, Eddie said as he parked it in an alley. “Don’t wanna run into any trouble while we’re here.”

“What? Us? Trouble?”, Gareth grinned cheekily.

“You know it just occurred to me...”, Crash started, “How exactly are we supposed to find Steve?”

Jeff grabbed one of the many Vecna posters that line the buildings. “This says exactly where he’ll be and when.”

“Yeah, but I’m not waiting until showtime”, Eddie said. “Let’s get in the general area. Steve could be out and about right now. Rubbing elbows with New York’s eeeelite.”

“You still think he betrayed us”, Jeff sighed.

“Some people only know how to look out for themselves. Explains why he was so hard-pressed to play his song that night.”

“Eddie, have you ever really listened to Steve’s song?”, Gareth asked.

“I played it with him, didn’t I?”, Eddie stomped away, not wanting to talk about it anymore. It was just a bunch of soft rock lovey-dovey bullshit. And he loves Steve-loved?-but it totally clashed with their usual sound and who the hell was he thinking about when writing it anyway?

Jeff frowned. “Dude, for someone who worships the ground he walks on, you don’t really appreciate what he does for you.”

“Steve!”, Eddie suddenly perked up.

“Yeah, the guy you don’t deserve. That’s who we’ve been talking about.”

“No! Steve! There!” Eddie pointed to where Steve was just ahead, barely visible in the crowd of New Yorkers. Steve gave a shifty look, like he knew he was being followed, and ducked into the nearest building, which happened to be a club.

“Time for us to get some answers”, Eddie said resolutely.

Part 5

[erisluna35ocblog]

Last one for this set! It's my OC Keagan! Now this guy presented another challenge: hands. Because this style is supposed to keep line art to a minimum, I had to rely on shading to get his fingers detailed out. And of course, that spiky hair. It was tricky to figure out how it works. I need to map out his hair flow before I could render uuuugh.

Introducing the reverse world's closest thing to a Ladyblogger, Keagan Gerald Aurelio-Ashworth! Much like Reverse!Alya, he gets an undershave... and that's pretty much it. I guess the gold accessories and the sunglasses could be taken as a stronger referrence to Chloe as being the rich mayor's son has more emphasis in this AU. He's not exactly based on anyone from canon when he's like this, his design is based on making him as opposite to his og design as possible with very mild referrences to akumas and his og akuma form, Scorch, embracing the power the butterfly grants him rather than being averse to it. He's not exactly a reporter, he hangs around the upper echelons of society hence the semi-formal design instead of his og counterpart's more down to earth casual wear. Next to Fiona, he's like the second most altered compared to how he normally looks.

Why is he like this?

The short answer, it's cause the Supreme has his family under their thumb.

It started with a bad deal, his uncle died trying to dig their family out of it, his aunt Lorelei and cousin Leo ran off, and being overprotective with what family he had left, Mayor Julio Aurelio had Keagan locked up in their castle for his safety... And now what's left of the Aurelio-Ashworth Family are stuck under the Supreme's thumb. They're a political puppet and a goldmine rolled into one.

Keagan is not the sort to keep his head down. He's aware of what's happening, try as his family might to hide it from him. He still developed his hacking skills and had eyes and ears everywhere. He knows how fucked they are. For the longest time, Keagan felt so untrusting of everyone new... Never know if one of those people are under the Supreme's influence. He's heard they're eyeing him and his elder sister for their potential in wielding a Miraculous, and he's seen what happens to underage wielders after a while. Their life expectancies aren't that great, but that's why they use kids for it. They're easier to control. Sooner or later, it'll be Keagan's turn. Try as he might to find a way out, he couldn't find any. The most he could do was disrupt whatever dealings he could find - honestly, he doesn't want the same thing that happened to his family happen to anyone else. He was a minor annoyance at best. For the longest time, he felt trapped.

Then one day, his cousin reached out to him through a butterfly that landed on his watch. He wants him to join the Resistance as an insider. Through butterflies, Keagan can relay what he learns of the Supreme and in emergencies, they can either give him the power to transform or call out for a hero to save him. All he has to do is continue to play the fool and keep his ears up. His cousin heard his rep, the hedonistic party prince. While it wasn't a complete lie, he fools around to forget he's in deep shit, it wasn't the quite true either. It was the easiest way for him to be as disruptive as possible. But now, with his cousin as his life line, Keagan went from a minor annoyance to a potential back door for the Resistance. There's finally some hope he can pull him and his family out from under the Supreme's thumb.

Eventually, he met her.

He didn't think much of her at first, just another rich girl from new money. She's pretty fairy tale princess cute, he'd give her that. Her father was desperately trying to climb the social ladder... And was gonna fall for the Supreme's scam. As expected, they were hella annoyed with his interruptions but what else could he do to save them? Keagan knows this isn't necessary, when there's more effective ways to put a middle finger up at the Supreme, but he can't help it. Keagan just had to save them, even if neither of them would see it that way.

The girl was persistent. To Keagan's genuine surprise, she wasn't chasing him cause she's mad at him, she was following him to warn him that the Supreme goons are gonna mess with him for disrupting one too many deals that night. Aww. He's touched. Really. That's why he was covering her head with his jacket so the Supreme wouldn't target her too. He hopes his cousin heard all that and sends someone to save their butts.

That night was also the first night he properly met the Resistance. To his surprise, his aunt Lorelei decided to let the girl be the new Ladybug. If anyone asked him, he wasn't too thrilled about it. This girl had nothing to do with the Supreme nor the Resistance. She could've been free... much like he wished he was. Yet she chose to wear the earrings.

Contrary to his expectations, this is where the girl truly blossomed. The pretty princess turned out to be more of a knight in shining armor. Maybe she could save him.

[starferret]

(Mario Movie spoilers ahead!!)

Before seeing the movie, I had a bunch of ideas of how the plot was gonna play out, and one of those ideas was that one of the bros were going to die during the final battle and get revived by a 1-Up shroom. I remember seeing in one of the many promotional things for the movie, one of them had a render of a 1-Up shroom, so I assumed that’d mean it be in the movie, but it wasn’t. A bit ago I saw a post where they also had expected one of the them to die, but they had a big brain idea. Being something that can literally revive people, surely it must be pretty rare, so how would they obtain the 1-Up shroom?

Lumalee. In Galaxy, Lumalee is a luma that sells you 1-Ups, specifically before bosses or big battles. So imagine with me, if you will (I’m no expert at writing dialogue, so, sorry if it sounds weird or out-of-character) :

Luigi is put in a cage and hung above lava along with the other prisoners. Among the cages, one stood out- a floating blue star person. The star child talks about how it’s impossible to escape and death is inevitable. Luigi is scared, but also determined to reunite with his brother. He talks to the luma, saying that that’s not true and that life is full of opportunities. Lumalee disagrees, saying that death is the goal in life. Luigi says that if they can get out of here, he can prove him otherwise. Lumalee agrees, saying it’d be fun to see his inevitably fail. It squeezes through the bars of its cage (the other prisoners yell out “you could do that this whole time?!”) and joins Luigi in his cage. He didn’t think he get this far- time to quickly come up with a plan. Lumalee hides under Luigi’s hat while he tries to swing the cage around. As he causes a commotion, Kamek comes in, “Lord Bowser requires your presen- oh, you’re already causing more trouble. No matter, Lord Bowser has plans for you”. Lumalee giggles and whispers to Luigi “he’s going to kill you~” as the cage is quickly pulled up, and the scene switches back over to the A-plot.

Next time we switch over to the B-plot, we get another interrogation scene where Bowser tries to get more info about Mario. Luigi is more or less the same mess as he was in the first interrogation scene. Bowser calls him something mean or whatever, and from under Luigi’s hat, Lumalee refutes him with some words of wisdom or something. Bowser is shocked, thinking that Luigi said that, and is like “heh. That brutal honesty, I like it”. Switches back over to the A-plot, and the next time it switches back to the B-plot, we get Luigi wingman scenes (Bowser practicing his pickup line on Luigi dressed up as Peach). Bowser actually starts to like Luigi, and makes him his best man at the wedding. During the wedding scene, once Peach starts to fight back, Luigi joins in and helps her. The rest continues as it does in the movie, until the part where they’re all in Brooklyn. Bowser grabs Luigi and is furious at him for betraying him. Mario yells out “hey! Let go of my brother!” and charges at him. Epic fight scene where Mario eventually gets his ass beat by Bowser. Bowser delivers a finishing blow, sending Mario flying. Bowser smugly turns around and walks away as Luigi rushes to his brother’s side. He’s panicking, he tries to get him to wake up, but nothing…

His heart drops. He hesitantly places his ear against his chest. Nothing… Luigi wails, holding his brother close. Bystanders stare in shock, realizing what’s going on. As he cries, he hears a voice: “hehe. I knew something like this would happen”. Lumalee comes out from under his hat. Luigi yells at them, “now is not the time for your depressing thoughts! My brother is GONE! Can’t you feel a bit of empathy?!” Lumalee’s smile slowly fades, and they look down at Mario. “… Mama used to tell us that life is limited.” Luigi looks over at them. “… that we all served a greater purpose in the end. That despite life coming to an end, they leave their mark on the world… I always wanted to leave my mark. But I never got that chance…” Luigi opens his mouth to speak, but Lumalee interrupts him “Luigi, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I was too focused on my own goals… Thank you for trying to show me what life is about. I hope you two can experience that life.” Lumalee floats down to Mario, glowing a bright light as they sink into his chest. Mario slowly starts to float as a glowing green light surrounds him. Bowser turns around and his eyes widen. [1-UP sound effect]. The brothers reunite once more, as Bowser grows much angrier. Then we get something similar to the movie where they bros get the star and save the day.

Alternatively, Bowser goes through with his “We’ll see how Mario acts when I kill his brother!” line, and attacks Luigi instead. While Mario is freaking out over Luigi’s death, Lumalee floats over holding his hat, saying something like “this isn’t fair… he was so determined to see his brother… Luigi you were supposed to show me what life is about! It’s not fair…” and then does their speech about purpose and sacrifices themself to bring back Luigi.

I doubt Nintendo would allow their poster boy to be killed, even if it’s a bloodless death, but I feel like this could’ve made the movie much more impactful, especially since Luigi and Lumalee barely had any screen time

[phoenix-flamed]

Feeling a bit tapped out with writing, so I'm gonna recharge a bit before I get back to writing ... well, everything.

In the meantime, have a thought dump, aka headcanon.

Why my Elwin chooses to go out into battle with his men.

This decision is counterintuitive for a ruler of a nation, especially one that isn't the Dominant of an Eikon, in the context of this world specifically. The leader needs to remain safe; everyone knows this. Everyone knows that if the leader, the head, the ruling party, falls, it means not only will the chain of command collapse all the way down, at least until another party steps in to take their place -- it also means that in the same regard, the nation over which that ruler reigned will be left momentarily without a leader, and thus be rendered temporarily vulnerable.

In Elwin's case, Joshua, once born, is the rightful heir to the ducal throne. But since Joshua is way too young to assume that position and take on all of the responsibilities that come with it, the next in line should be Anabella, and I'd assume after her it would be either Byron or Clive, with the next after that being the one that's left.

Knowing all of this, why would my Elwin continuously take the risk of putting himself on the front lines?

It's deeper than just a matter of pride and preference to life as a soldier. It's also deeper than simply a case of him choosing to interpret his duty as the head of House Rosfield, the duty to serve the people of Rosaria always, as something that is best upheld through taking up the sword and fighting in their defense. Unlike many of the other members of the High Houses, Elwin doesn't view commoners and Bearers as lesser. He believes that all are equal, and should be treated as equals, and are deserving of just as much respect and compassion as any others.

What this also translates into is a viewpoint that the commoners and Bearers, as well as any nobles who choose to join the ducal army, are not weapons or tools. The other members of the High Houses, the ruling parties of Rosaria, fashion themselves as superior because of their birth status and the luxuries it affords them -- including the luxury of not having to fight their own battles.

It's as Elwin says to Anabella in the game itself: if not for the ordinary men who fight to protect their home, the nobility would have already been slaughtered long ago.

It's a big risk, yes, but Elwin's choices to go out and fight alongside his men can be summarized best with: he isn't content with simply sitting in safety like the other political figures do, while those who are supposedly "lesser" in terms of worth go out and fight and die for the benefit of the nobility.

[skullsfigurepage]

POPUP Parade Oracle!

The Info (taken from Goodsmile’s website)

Sculptor: Design COCO

Paintwork: Yotaro Taniguchi

~170mm tall

Manufacturer: Good Smile Company

Material: Plastic

Release Date: June 2022

Original Price: ¥3,900 / $38.99 USD

A far too long post about the newest Futaba Sakura figure from Goodsmile! (Under the cut)

I got her from a local comic store for 50$ and tax, which ended up being ~6$ cheaper than my other figure from this series since I wasn’t covering shipping. Which was fun. Usually in stores like this I look for P5 figures or other merch unfortunately, since it’s my favorite game.

The place I was at had a ton of Popup Parade figures which was really cool to see, but I honestly didn’t expect to find any of the P5 ones since (at least in my opinion) P5 merchandise is hard to get your hands on after the initial release. It was a nice find since this is one of the few figures of a girl from Persona I feel aren’t super creepy (there are some Bad persona figures out there. Ann’s figures usually get the worst of it 🙁). Although its hard to find any devoid of Creep since the phantom thief designs for the girls are... the way they are (see: Bad).

That being said I think this one has some aspects that are kind of... off. I guess it’s fine for her to look kind of lost in thought, I wish they’d given her a more mischievous face entirely because I plan on displaying her next to my Akechi figure from this line and think it’d be funnier if she looked like she was picking on him. Also I just think they should always make every figure of her have the vibe of :3c. For fun.

Alright so for some far less than stellar photos I took of her!

Overall I think she’s a cool figure! For the most part I like her pose and expression but just wish it was all rendered slightly differently (see my comments about how the p5 girl figures are all a little creepy from earlier). The paint work is nice with no noticeable issues or misprints. Her face is printed very crisply and looks neat, although I wish there was some more blushing since the face is where people look by default.

She works pretty well displayed from any angle, but naturally works best displayed front facing, and easily the worst angle (again, in part because it is Weird to me) is the back. It’s mostly hair, which while sculpted nicely, isn’t super interesting to look at.

I don’t tend to collect boxes, which is good in this case since hers had a price sticker from the store I got her from that seems hard to rip off. It’s a shame though since I think the p5 popup parade boxes do look really nice. (they’re too large for me to keep though lol.)

Final thoughts

I think she’s neat! Gonna be on the lookout for the Joker popup parade figure so she can have her brother with her! (and ig her brother’s miserable boyfriend). Glad I saw her in store and didn’t have to worry about shipping. Ideally the second wave of p5 popup parade figures (Futaba and Makoto) means they’ll make more in the future and I can continue my insane habit of buying Ryuji and Ann’s figures together (they are besties to me).

Do I recommend this figure?

Yeah! Love the Popup Parade figures a lot and think they’re worth the price, especially for the P5 sets, usually p5 figures go for a lot more :,)

Where to buy

As of December 30th 2022 the Goodsmile US shop has her available. When/if she goes out of stock there I might update this, but for now that’s the only place I’d recommend buying this from.

Thank you for reading!

[noddytheornithopod]

Got mixed feelings about the Ahsoka finale. Liked some stuff, but other stuff I'm not so sure on. Spoilers under cut

Okay first thing... the episode felt kinda cheap? Like, I could tell this was on a TV budget, lol. Some episodes have looked pretty good, but for whatever reason this just wasn't working for me?

Maybe I also just am still getting used to seeing animated stuff in live-action. Seeing the green flames finally show up is a relief, but it still felt kind of strange.

My other thing is, I'm not exactly sure I understand what block Sabine has overcome to be able to use the Force properly now? It was kind of jarring to suddenly see her do all this stuff.

Oh yeah, and a lot of this is down to unfortunate circumstances but... Baylan only got one scene? And we only get a slight tease of what he might be after (something Mortis related :v)? Was surprised we barely got any Shin, too.

I did like the zombie troopers even if the action scenes looked a bit cheap. Morgan dying I'm indifferent on, also hey "blade of Talzin." Thrawn explicitly mentions he knew Anakin, and clearly hints he knows of the Vader connection.

Still not sure how I feel about Ahsoka's place in everything, we got Morai finally but Filoni's really teasing the mystery box with her here (and now Baylan, lol). Also, hi Anakin.

I admit I do find the irony of Ezra being the only one to make it back quite amusing. Him making the new lightsabre inspired by Kanan's is pretty cool, too.

It is kind of weird that Sabine only talked about her decision with Ahsoka, though. That conversation resolved that aspect for them thankfully, but to know that Ezra's not gonna know anything until whenever they're together next is... yeah. Who even knows when that will be? If there's a Season 2, I feel like that's gonna not happen for a while, lol.

Oh yeah, some more clarification of the timeline with Mandalore and the Purge. It sounds like it happened at the end of the war, so at least they got to have like 4-5 years of having the upper hand before Gideon and co bombed the fuck out of them.

Maybe it's just me but they felt kind of vague on how much Ezra knew about Thrawn and the Nightsisters? This episode clarified it, but it was hard to tell in his previous appearances.

Am curious as to the specifics of what Morgan went through, and what the sacrifice those Night Troopers made was. It seems like they're not dead, but they do something that renders them subservient to her and makes them undead. IDK how similar Marrok is, he seems kinda different.

Am sure the Thrawn book discourse will continue, but everything's lining up and playing as I expected. He's all in on the Empire, but he's genuine when he says he believes it's for the security of the galaxy. For those of you worried about the Grysk, there's a bone for you. :P

Not sure when "long live the Empire" developed though, cuz if it was post-Endor then wonder how Thrawn got it, maybe it's something they prepared to say if things went to shit, or more weird dream shit is happening, lol.

So... yeah, that's the end of Ahsoka, presumably the first season of at least another. Kind of average in the end for me, I guess. I like more than I don't, but I do have a bit of Filoni fatigue at this point, especially with the amount of mystery boxes, lol.

Okay with Sabine and the Force, upon reflection I realise it's meant to be because Ahsoka showed she trusted her and had faith in her. Definitely think it could've landed better, but I guess I at least get it now.

Also, RIP to learning about where Ahsoka was between Malachor and the end of the Galactic Civil War. IDK what Mr Filoni think, but I personally think it's a pretty important detail to acknowledge, because why wasn't she with the Rebellion then?

[berlinbisque]

The Papier Project

I have made all these renders for my reference. Too numb but here’s the Final selection of the artworks for my room… if I’ll stay alive I’ll continue and take it up as a challenge cuz I felt really bad, everyone around is doing panelling although I’m always the first to bring such elements and ideas over here to India, I felt left out, I have a POP one which is also beautiful I had given a special order for a moulded base (Victorian) and I should feel grateful for now cuz some foreigners do DIY & nothings as good or as bad as it appears especially on internet so we are all struggling with something or the other. I already know what kind of capping rail and mountboard I want next but I really hope I’m able to find such artisans or moulders, I can’t do the 5 layer one because it’s done by highly skilled professionals and they create those beveled lines right then and there while putting up each individual panel, I wish I could write more… I would’ve explained how it is done, most people opt for other easier options these days because it requires a lot of time and like I said skilled hands. But I have something specific in mind so whatever I’m upto… it won’t be that common. I wish I could do a full on bead board which is slightly different than shiplap or grooving but you don’t get all those proper supplies here, in abroad you nowadays get pre-made beadboards which you just have to nail and paint cuz it’s again quite tricky if you are doing it from scratch. That style is mostly for cottages and stuff, for city homes we need something classic anyway, board & batten or Hampton’s is again not on the top of my list because that’s more of a country style, can’t type much right now I’m relying on autocorrect once I’ll get better and I’ll find someone I’ll share all my thoughts in person along with my ideas that is if they’re close or enough trustworthy. Once our living room is done I’ll shift myself there I hope I’ll stabilise till then… I can’t share my new theme. The 1883 one will go on the back wall along with the Bird lithograph (encyclopaedic) and B&B would be in my entrance below the lamp after entering my room from the door… the small Trees collectible will go next to Annabelle and Warm house would be in the biggest 30 x 40 frame on the front wall. My fav Mag Cover will be on the side below my Russian painting which is already there in my room. I’m gonna keep all my American Folk art as it is and the vintage toys 🧸 painting as well, also the water coloured canvas and my “stationary section” which has a masculine office theme - polo jockey 🏇 water coloured boat and iceberg cruise below my frosted golden wall lamp. The 🦌 elk, Victorian frames and Mid Century artworks will also remain where they are. I won’t elaborate much about the next theme but I’ll share a few points once everything’s done. The front collage will have these artworks now and I’ll be adding a bigger frame in the corner next to my lamp… like I said I have a particular theme in mind and if I would have shared that you would’ve understood my logic but I can’t reveal anything until it’s done. Sorry. To give you a small hint, there’s going to be a lot of minimalism, abstract art, neutrality along with in contrast - traditional richness through various colours & patterns. This time there are going to be fewer oil paintings and more of hand drawn sketches or mute shades and light pastels, Japanese or Koreans are still very traditional in a lot of aspects especially when it comes to art; it reflects their heritage style, you’ll find everything from basket weave to oriental gastronomy, all the warp & weft of their culture plus functionality and style in whatever they do - because of smaller spaces and lots of creativity. I would have added a few elements in lighting as well but you don’t get those accordion pleated lamps in India (as of now) they are based on paper lanterns… nonetheless origami is going to be at its core and all other details will be revealed once my room is ready,

I’ll share what all I’ll be doing to make it more interesting and to give it those vibes. I’m merging 2 things together and alhamdullilah I already have all that I need to go with both (again I can’t share all that stuff) and that is exactly why I’m going to do something I’ve always liked… I recently purchased an electronic item (last week or so my grandfather gave each one of us 5k lol so I added my other savings and I got something from the official site but they’ll be shipping it tomorrow…) and luckily even though I was confused I got it in the same shade as the rest of my stuff and it’ll match my next colour scheme.

- Zara Sauleh

[misscaptainbear]

A while back I wrote a blog on how I'd make a soulslike using retro hardware, I'm gonna repost it here :D

Yeah, so the twitter post where I first explained my idea was my most liked/shared post by like a factor of ten. Since there was so much interest, I figured I might as well make a mockup in Unity. Look what you made me do. 

Here’s a link to the build, and the controls are detailed on that page too. For the full effect, I’d also recommend using JoyToKey or a similar program to convert controller inputs to key presses, because I was too lazy to implement key rebinding for a mockup. See the itch.io page for suggested bindings.

Also, if you (yes, you!) want to continue this work, the zip file for the build also contains inspiration art, models, game data, and source code. It’s low polish code and almost nothing is systemic, but maybe it’s a springboard for someone who wants to push this project farther. I’d love to see it. The work that I have the rights to (i.e. everything except the inspirational art) is hereby released in the public domain.

Findings

Animation

The first and most noteworthy thing I’ve discovered while implementing is that there were more animations than I anticipated. Like, I figured there’d be a lot, and there were more than that. As of right now, there are 532 player sprites, each at 100x100 pixels, giving us roughly 6.4 mb of sprite data. (assuming indexed image format and smartly cropping fully alpha 8x8 blocks)

Bruh

One of the things we could to further shrink these is to run-length compress them, and also reuse tiles. I considered writing a python script to go over all 8x8 tiles within all sprites, and saving them in a massive lookup table. Then, it would go through all sprites again, replacing the tiles in the sprite with any similar tiles. This would mean, say, the thigh tile from one animation might be the cloak in a different frame if the pixel colors and shapes were sufficiently similar. However, I decided not to because it doesn’t actually have any savings on modern hardware, only on tile based renderers.

I could have also hand deleted specific entire frames of animations and reused similar enough ones - just by eye - but I also wanted to include all of the animations in the data that I distributed, just for the sake of it all being there for anyone who might need it, for whatever reason. I think these techniques might get the total data down to 50-60%, but that still means a ton of data just for the main characters sprites. 

I could also cut the animations in half by simply making the character designs so that the left-facing animations can be reused for the right-facing animations, but I felt that put a lot of constraints on enemy design and combat readability, so I didn’t pursue that either.

Turns out tons of animation variants work better on skinned 3D models (which is why I’m pitching my next souls game on the Nintendo 64. Hit me up Bandai Namco!) I chose to do one player model with no costume changes and just a boring sword. Any variants like clothing, weapons, or equipping a shield would have completely blown the animation data budget.

Framerate

You’ll also notice the game runs by default at a low framerate, 15 frames per second (The quality can be changed with the - and + keys during runtime if it causes discomfort). I did this for two reasons. One, it made the animations, which run at a consistent 10 frames per second, feel much more in line with the sprite movement and the camera rotation. Plus, it might accurately simulate the game running on actual hardware; making the game run a quarter at SNES framerate might be required for the “high-fidelity graphics” on show here. (Who knows if the hardware would actually allow that without awful artifacts though, ha). But throttling framerate is a tried and true tactic for better visuals. 

Environment

Another thing that surprised me is the amount of reuse on environment assets I was able to get. I was ready to put together a bunch of textures for the walls and floors, but I finished up what I wanted to achieve and found I’d only used 20 64x64 textures. I think the real game would benefit by focusing on unique tilesets to give each zone or level a special feel, and I think that’d be within the budget of a real game.

Environment took about 20 textures total

I also quickly abandoned the differing-heights-of-walls idea I talked about in the first blogpost. The requirements of the way walls are rendered described in the post made certain arrangements of walls impossible, and those were kind of the only level designs I wanted to use. That’s confusing, here’s some drawings to explain what I mean. Basically, having shorter walls in front making a visually tiered level with hedges that obscure the walls behind them just isn’t possible using that technique.

The rendering technique causes gaps where there would be walls behind walls.

While we’re on the topic of environment, I guess I skipped over the way we’d have to z-sort sprites to allow walls to layer correctly over them, and for sprites to draw back to front. That’d be a performance issue too probably. 

Palette and Rendering

One of the big wins I had was the palette I set up, I felt it was super moody and conveyed the tone I was going for. It felt muddy and sad and tired. It had pops of blues and greens, but even then they muted and melancholy. To achieve this look, there were three mechanisms here. First, all the sprites and environment textures were palletized to those colors. Then, in-game, I used a fog effect to fade the world to black. Finally, a post processing shader took any pixels outside the gamut and palletized the final game render, so every pixel displayed is within that palette.

The palletization is most noticeable in gradients, where it slightly changes the tone of colors. In a cool retro way, I think.

To create the sprites, I was kind of forced to do it by rendering 3d models (blender files included in the data!). This was due to time and money. As mentioned previously, I would have loved to dress up in costumes and downscale, pixelate, and rotoscope real pictures, but that costs stuff. Also, I’m sure hand-pixelled sprites would absolutely look more appealing, but like I said above, there were just so many animation sprites. The upside to hand authoring is you can have more control of implied movement during animation, and therefore probably fewer frames. All said, I don’t dislike the rendered results, it has a bit of a Diablo 2 look to it, but I wish I had been able to experiment with different techniques, mostly for fun.

I remember loving to see these render breakdowns in gaming magazines and websites back in the day

I think if I had lower-resolution-better-looking sprites, fewer animations using the techniques described above, and designing levels so as to not have to  z-sort sprites, it just might be able to run on SNES. Just maybe. A commenter mentioned it might actually run on GBA, and I could see it being possible. Shoutout to the most impressive 3D gba game ever.

One final design note I liked: The ducking mechanic was inspired by Super Mario World. I felt that was a nice homage, and there wasn’t enough buttons for more soulslike interactions like parrying, so it felt like it was a good choice with some mechanical depth with the limited inputs I had available. And, this game being simpler is alright by me - we are theoretically in the realm of before King’s Field. 

Summary

So there it is. I said I didn’t have time to implement it, and I did anyway. This is all your fault.

But for real, I really enjoyed tinkering with this, and I’d love to see anything that gets made out of this idea. Hoped you enjoyed reading this!

[vioarry]

Hi, I would really want to learn more about rendering because it's what I struggle with the most. Would give some tips or explain how you do it? If you had some time of course. I love your works and you are genuinely such a good artist. Have a good day!!

Thank you! First of all, if i have to be honest, i don't know exactly how to give a good advice on rendering. For me It becomes almost an unconscious process (or subconscious at least).

When i first try to actually do rendering, it was because i accidentally turned off the lineart layer. And i discovered "oh! It brings such a great effect without the distracting of the lineart, but also add up to have an equivocal result" thats when i thought i was missing out something on what i called "render" at that moment.

So rendering is the final steps to improve ur drawing. Simply, the advice on it is trying to find your weakness (something that you can fix in the finals steps)

My personal advice is to focus on the shapes more than the line art. There are shapes in coloring, shapes in shadowing. Further, what i actually mean is, ignoring ur lineart LOL.

For me when i draw i merge everything in 1 subject into 1 layer, treating it as a canvas, it can be hard at first, but trust me, once you get used to it, its actually the easiest way to draw.

For example i can say if i was working with lineart separate to color, i saw something wrong during the progress: like the hands look off or smth, to fix it i need to fix the lineart and fix the color on different layers, its two separate job(even more). Meanwhile with 1 layer only, it becomes so much easier to resize and replace something.

Obviously i don't recommend "let's merge everything!" Because you shouldn't. There should always be some object that would be easier to draw when its laying on another layer. And it's depending on what you draw. The purpose of working on 1 layer is to make thing easier, if its not, simply don't do it.

My second advice is. Welp, trying to copy. You can try to copy a real life reference, start with small object first can help. When you do that you will realize a lot of thing that could be helpful for your works. (Ex: like reflection of a texture, the logical of a lighting, the deep of a layer. Etc etc)

Last advice. Plsssss useeee reference, fuck anyone who say: "using reference is tracing and cheating!" Fuck them. I studied in an art uni, one of the best in my country and all of my teacher would say the same stuffs:"use reference" don't listen to those who doesnt even know art. (Sorry maybe its rude)

You can't understand everything, you don't know everything. Drawing is the same with writing, when you write, do you often have to do research on certain thing ? Thats reference, so why its cheating when you do the same on art.

Brain can trick you, don't believe it. Sometimes it would say: "blood is red" and in fact, nope, blood is almost a black shade, with a deep red at the edge of it depends on the amount of blood when where it lied down. (Yk like how we see our veins look purple and green under the tone of skin, its bc color changes, layer, color theories) When you realize something is unrealistic, take a reference, comparing, its how to win rendering.

Oh ok final last advice, Brain can really trick you, and it also need rest. I prefer draw straight but its just bc i'm lack of motivation to continue the job the next day.

In fact, if you stare at your renderinf for too long you probably can't recognize the mistake in it. When you draw too much, lets your brain and eyes rest, do something else. Come back the next day and you might see it in a different view and everything will be so much easier. (Its also to avoid burn out too)

Ok i have a lot more to say but i realize i might be rambling a bit too much so it gonna end here sjkwksms. Thank you again for the ask and things ❤✨🙏 hope you will be able to find your way soon! And improve ur drawingggg.