#I think this is the most ambitious piece I've done so far

[nerdnag-makes-art]

"Happy New Year, wolves."

[mtkay13]

Affection running deep

(^ me pretending I title my illustrations) More info below! It's a bit personal and fandom related.

So WKX likes to bite. Let's be honest, from what I know, most priest "gong"'s do, so this is more a priest thing than a WKX thing--but if we look at TYK in a vacuum, we can still just say that it's a WKX thing (and, coincidentally, in Qi Ye, a Wuxi thing 🤭) It's pretty delightful, isn't it, to think that ZZS will permanently bear the scar of WKX's deep bite in his wrist... I'm going to use this piece as an opportunity to talk a bit about the permanent mark that TYK and QY have been carving into me for the past year and a half, then.

Funnily enough, although I started sketching and making a few illustrations here and there before, I consider that the infamous bite is my real "entry" in this fandom, when I made the animatic based on the scene in the audio drama. It's to this day my most viewed piece, and is sort of what made me... "known" as an artist in the fandom, I guess.

Although I've always devoted the most energy to personal projects, I'm no stranger to being a dedicated fan, even though this is my first real, "public" fandom experience. And honestly, personal and fandom projects combined, the animatic is the biggest, most ambitious work I had ever done so far for something not work-related. It was exhausting, and I almost succumbed to burnout after I finished it (just because, combined with work, it got too much). Ironically, it's the state I found myself in afterwards that made me enjoy rereading TYK in a way I never had before.

It's hard to say, whether I let TYK's fangs sink in my throat, or if I was the one to latch on and not let go ever since; but my life has certainly been changed by it.

I often forget about the bite scene; about the bite, in general. It's rarely ever one of the scenes that I think about spontaneously--and I rarely think about drawing the bite scar. Maybe because I've always thought it was a more typical scene? Maybe because on the surface I didn't resonate that much with it? And yet, as I'm going through really rough times right now, this new piece is what I chose to draw yesterday. A bit more than a year ago, when work felt like it was completely consuming me, this is the scene I chose to animate. I'm not sure there is a point in diving too deeply in this. Maybe, more than I would have assumed, I resonate with the desperation and hope that this scene carries. I'm glad I got here, in this fandom. It has had its very difficult moments, in many different ways, and I've discovered new sources of anxiety along the way--but at the same time, I've discovered many joys that I had never known before, and I think it's worth it. I'm grateful for those books to be in my life--grateful for Wen Kexing, for Zhou Zishu, and all the other characters, to be in my life. But of course, more than that, I'm incredibly grateful for the people I met, for the people who spend time with me, who cheer on me and let me cheer on them. Thanks everyone, for being there, and helping me form memories of better days that I can always look forward to.

I'm glad I'm here.

[pichongames]

It's time for a new DEV UPDATE! [February 2024]

Let's talk about the upcoming Nintendo Switch port, localization, plushies, and new content coming soon?

It's time for a new development update, we've been working on a lot of stuff behind the scenes so let's talk about some of it, shall we?

The Bunny Graveyard is coming to Nintendo Switch!

If you didn't know already, The Bunny Graveyard is on its way to Nintendo Switch. But this port will not just be any normal port, the game will receive some enhancements and changes both visually and gameplay-wise. Including motion-controls, HD vibration and more!

But do not worry PC users, even though some gameplay features will be exclusive to Switch, any content updates, improvements and future chapters will be released at the same time on all platforms.

More languages!

The Bunny Graveyard: Chapter 1 is currently being translated to more languages, some of these are:

Brazilian Portuguese

French

Russian

Japanese

Simplified Chinese

Korean

...and more!

Boxers Plushie!

You probably heard of this already, but yes! Boxers got himself his very own plushie, which is still available at the time of this writing, however, this is a limited edition plushie so make sure to grab one before they're gone. As of right now, there's still 8 days left, so think about it! You guys absolutely CRUSHED that funding goal by the way, 450 sold so far!

We're definitely making another one... hehe.

This is also our first piece of merchandise and we're open to do more merch stuff in the future! But for now we'll only be choosing things that don't slow us down during development. So, if you got any requests for merch, let us know and we'll look into it!

NEW free content is coming this year...

We are working on a new secret project for the game, it will be released as a free content update at the same time as the Nintendo Switch release. It's a small thing that we wanted to make for a while now, but never got the chance to do due to time constraints. Think of it as the next "4-1-1992" for now.

We'll be releasing a separate trailer for this soon, so stay tuned!

So... how's Chapter 2?

Finally, let's have a quick talk about Chapter 2.

We are still not ready to fully reveal Chapter 2, buuuut we can tell you a little bit about it. It is the most ambitious project we have ever done, we expect it to be about the same length as Chapter 1, but despite the length, this chapter has proven to be quite a challenge to develop... but you know us, we love ourselves a challenge!

The story has been fully written, the gameplay has been finalized, but there's still quite a lot of programming to go, and don't get me started on all the music and animations left. Oh, did I also mention that this chapter will be releasing at the same time on Nintendo Switch and PC? And that it will also release in multiple languages? And that I'm still working on this game mostly by myself?

Yeah, things are not the same as they were back when I was making Chapter 1, The Bunny Graveyard is no longer just a silly lil' indie game, but that's exactly what makes it fun. I seriously can't wait to show you guys what we've been working on, this chapter is going to blow you away. Expect a trailer sometime this year.

You can add Chapter 2 to your Steam wishlist now!

Final Thoughts!

2024 is looking like an awesome year for this game, I'm hoping that this year we can get more people to know about this game. I'm extremely thankful for all of the support that we've been getting lately, it's crazy that I can now FINALLY focus on this game full-time, something that I've been trying to do for a long time now. I'm still processing the fact that this game is coming to the Switch, but it really is! Truly a dream come true. If you got any questions, ask in the comments and I'll try to answer as many as I can! And as always, thank you all!

[lupes-hat]

i've been working on a depiction of a bufflehead in bobbin lace lately. i had some ambitious ideas about what sort of effects i would be able to create. like i'm still proud of what i've done but it doesn't look as cool as i had hoped

this is the reference image:

Picture credit: Mick Thompson

and this is what i have made so far:

i chose rose ground for the wings bc it's a cool looking stitch. problem is, it makes the wings appear spotted, like a loon. i know what stitch to use to make a loon body now though, so that's a positive. originally, i intended to just do cloth stitch all in black to create a solid mass and rose ground for the white body. i changed my mind bc i thought it was too simple and boring. should have followed the plan. oh well

the reflection of the duck in the water i did using cloth stitch; the workers (running vertically) are blue and the passives (horizontally) white. i did this to try to mimic how the rings of tiny waves kind of break up the reflection and create lateral lines in the photo. this might have worked better if i did a far closer weave (idk if there's a proper term for that). this part was supposed to go farther down the duck's body, but the workers broke :( and i had to undo a couple rows to get enough slack to make a knot :(. overall, i'm okay with how this looks, though

and the head. one of the most striking elements of the duck in the photo is its iridescent head. i'm using black workers and colorful passives to try to recreate this. the issue i have with it so far is how solid it is compared to the rose ground of the back. it makes the back seem even more spotty. i'm trying to reserve judgement on how the head looks until i've finished it. hopefully the white patch on the head will make it look more bufflehead-y than loon-y. also, i think i'll try a tally to depict the eye, which i've never done before. i've heard tallies can be difficult to tension, so it's so good i'm doing one for the first time as part of a large project lmao

another problem i've created for myself is that i'm using polyester thread. i heard i can block it by steaming it. hopefully that will hold the shape. i've added an element of danger to this project by not testing this on a smaller piece first

i still have to finish the head, do the body (idk why i left the middle piece until last), and decide if i should fill in the water or leave it empty. i'm treating this an as experiment and a learning experience. my goal is to create a bunch of imperfect bobbin lace, rather than getting stuck on one piece

i think i might make a loon next, since the rose ground seems to work so well. my lace society encourages members to enter at least one lace piece in a state or county fair each year, and i think a loon might be popular among potential judges. since it's for competition, i'll actually have to plan that one out impeccably

[jun-hug]

dream team art school! au

Doodles that inspired me to write a little drabble fic :)

ꕤ • ꕤ • ꕤ

This was Georges biggest project,

okay maybe biggest project this semester... or last 2 months, either way the assignment occupied boys attention for couple last weeks, especially this week. That's why his two best friends were so eager to meet up, it felt like they haven't seen him in so long yet they go to same university. When brunette texted on their group chat asking for a hand with a photoshoot he haven't even blinked an eye before they eagerly agreed.

What's even more exciting, boys haven't seen George's project yet! The oldest kept it a secret to "prevent the leaks" because apart from it being his assignment it was also an entry to one of his most ambitious fashion competitions. The fashion awards of all US fine arts universities. He had high hopes for it.

"Alright I'm almost ready, remember to put the ISO to 200, I borrowed those lights for a reason!” Georges words were a little muffled but still understandable as he worked on setting his design as perfectly as it could get.

"Got it Gogs, come on we don't have a whole day!” they did, their classes finished at 11am today and it was Friday so they were free for the next days. Sapnap was just eager to see the boys creation, after all he put all his heart into it, like he does to all his projects. "Actually we do" Dream interjected, youngest only glared at him knowing damn well he's as impatient considering constant taps on his thigh.

"Yeah Sap idiot, we have all day.. but you're right, it's better if the light from outside is still at it's best." he finally emerged from behind the wardrobe curtain. Okay. The boys were stunned it's not that George usually doesn't look like goddess himself - that's far from truth actually. It's just that this time they're seeing his art mixed with all his grace and beauty. Sapnap manages to whisper little "Oh god" only for Dream to hear, as the tallest boy starts "You-”

The baby blue glowy shirt, ornamented with flowered embroidery makes his face look soft, bringing out his strawberry cheeks and eyes hinted with a bit of peachy shadow. It all contrasts, yet fits without fault with a long, red, mermaid cut skirt. It's flowy, the material decorated with blue beads in the shape of hearts- And oh-

Dream gasps, Sapnap inhales loudly. Fishnets, George is wearing fishnets and the cut in the thigh is so high it shows his left leg fully. good christ, they are so down bad. Sapnap eyes Dream and They can really just see how both of them are fully raspberry blown faces.

They are both hot. red.

And The brunet who's the one and only cause is clearly oblivious to their reaction as he innocently asks "so how does it look?", makes a gesture with hands showing of the sleeves and frills on the skirt.

"I- you, it's well, George, it's so beautiful you look amazing." Dream exhaled eyes still on him, almost not blinking.

"George it truly is gleaming - I mean the colour palette for this one??? Ms Chevreu will loose her shit when she sees this! You actually are so skilled holy smokes” Sapnap added still admiring his friend's piece.

"awe thank you! I hope she looses her shit to be honest that would be funny, she's into reds recently so I think she will" boy snickered, his cheeks visibly tinted, not only from blush he applied couple minutes ago.

"alright!" he clapped his hands "time for shoot!"

Youngest set the light, while dark blond took photos to fill the entire SIM card folder. Taking that George was /very/ photogenic it was easy to catch the best shots, it's almost like he looks perfect in all of them. George is perfect tho, Dream thinks.

"Okay I think we're done, I took pictures from every side I think" Dream announced as George stretched "gods yes please my back is starting to hurt so bad" as to emphasize that he popped his bones ”ew George don't do that” Sapnap made a face.

"what do you mean you are the worst back popper I've met. Hearing only a scoff in response from other boy George's half lidded eyes closed for a little while.

"He's meditating guys!” Dream squeeked in one of his mocking voices, George giggled "he's died!"

"Okay, that's it I'm checking the photos!" Sapnap yanked the camera from the tallest's hands and plopped on one of the puff poufs. "Hey be careful you goose! this camera only cost me 5 and a half months of cafeshop money!” Dream hurried with scolding

George got up slowly and joined the youngest, soon enough all three of them were slumped on floor, brit in the middle looking and commenting on photos. "Hey guys.." brunet started, causing Dream and Sapnap turning to him.

"yeah?" dark brunette asked.

"thank you... for supporting me, like not only this time but at all" he turned his eyes from both pairs of theirs. Then he cupped each cheek and gave it a short kiss.

Boys blushed, all three of them.

"Yeah no problem Gogs, we'll always be your biggest fans" Sapnap breathed out.

"Always" Dream repeated.

And if for the rest of the day boys only watched movies all cuddled up on couch, snacking on anything they found in brunets kitchen, that was on them.

thank you for reading ♡

hugs,

Jun

[cockworkangels]

2023 art compilation: my top 4 fave/memorable art moments of the year :)

X this is the most ambitious art project i have ever taken on lol. the file got so big it broke krita and i never could actually finish working on it 😭 it finished itself. everything with this was such a struggle but technically i got it done even if it didn't turn out exactly like i envisioned!

X making this art piece as a commission for the demine ukraine art raffle fundraiser was overall such a good experience! i just really enjoyed working on this piece :)

X i'm just pretty happy how this one turned out :) especially his beard. tumblr makes the image quality so bd but like if you zoom in on the beard you'll see what i mean. idk this is just the closest to realism that i've gotten so far so i'm taking it as an achievement. i love adding every painstaking little detail i can :)

X idk i don't have a specific reason other than that i think this just looks cute and also the style here looks much more relaxed and simple than what i usually draw. it makes me think that i should try to make more art in this type of style and idk try to make my style more relaxed in general lol

+ an honourable mention to my deanpala art :) i think it's pretty memorable

[mdverse]

md's fun silly little top 10(ish) arts of the 2023!*

*pretend there's a fun cute doodled banner here (i was going to make one earlier and then i forgor)

doing a lil recap of my top 10 15 (it was supposed to be 10 and i could not narrow it down oops) best(? this is subjective as fuck i guess it's more like my personal faves) drawings of the year! *the crowd cheers* (it’s me I’m the crowd)

15: paradise by the dashboard light! i hate to rank her so low bc i spent ages on her but it seems i don't love the result that much anymore so :/ a for effort for me tho this was ambitious

14: cheer girl loml <33 not my best art technically by far but i went way out of my comfort zone for the background and the art style (for no good reason really) (i just wanted to do a comic book thing bc superhero vibes or whatever) (it did not come out the way i was hoping it would bc i think i got too frustrated) and we simply must acknowledge that. atog did things to me that i cannot explain

13: barbie meme brittana! not my best britt but truly sooo fun to work on. there's nothing quite like finding a fun rendering process and then never using it again (i don't even remember how i coloured this but i like it)

12: cowboy barbie brittana <3 they look good, they're about to kiss, cute outfits, pretty sunset, probably went overboard with the rim lighting, what's not to love? a banger, i think

11: i say a little prayer! i think the background is. questionable at best. but this is still really fun! i think i got possessed when i got to the uniforms bc goddamn they look good

10: klaine?? on this blog???? almost unheard of lmao i truly did not think i would like this one as much as i did. i'd consider ranking it higher if i wasn't constantly Unwell over brittana but again, i'm biased, and no one here should be surprised about that

9: pre-wedding kiss my beloved! with how insane i've been over this kiss it could perhaps be higher. i am gnawing on my desk as we speak i'm not even sitting at a desk rn

8: rutherchang x black swan!! ohhh u guys i don't talk about this one enough i think it's so pretty i don't even remember how i did the colours for it but rhgfdkngd?? love her, love pushing the glee x bts agenda, if any of u gifmakers are interested in making a mike chang x black swan lyric gifset i will love u forever

7: colour wheel challenge! busted my whole tiddies and ass for this one fellas. labour of love etc etc i think staring at the bright colours for so long made my eyesight worse and i'm ok with that

6: mistletoe brittana <33 easily the best instalment of this series by a long shot! recency bias (and also just. regular bias) made me rank her much higher originally but technically she is not the most intricate piece so she must sit down here

5: prom queen kurt! dare i say a girlslay on my behalf? i think i dare. every time i see it i think i should do more glosters (glee posters) and then i don't. i could tho they would be really cool (source: dude trust me)

4: churro kiss redraw!!! genuinely Not Sane over this! never have been, never will be! redraws are like crack to me and so is this kiss

3: furtana!! i neglected them for far too long this year but if neglecting them results in art like this i may have to do it again

2: heart kiss <3 if we're being really honest and vulnerable in the chat tonight i think this is technically my best of the brittana kiss screencap redraw things i've done this year? which i did not see coming but i guess practice means refining the process etc etc so. it makes sense ig. mwah to them <3

1: black or white gcv animation <3 it's not what i would call my best drawing (bc it's, yknow, not just one drawing) but it is what i would call the product of a very obsessive thought and some frantic art sessions. objectively it's the coolest thing i've done this year so it deserves the top spot. i'm proud of it i hope to glanimate more next year. also this isn't art but it's a relevant post that i still stand by months later

[ayyy-imma-ninja]

Oh! For the ask game! :D

5. if you make content, what's your favorite piece you've contributed?

oh i've done so much XD

but I think maybe this, even if it's for TSAMS:

so far the most ambitious thing I've made in this fandom, but it was worth it ^w^

[scoundrels-in-love]

3 8 15 18 20 27 45 54 55 56 58 61 for the writer questions thing :3:3:3 <3<3<3

Hi loooove, thank you so much for asking. *cracks knuckles*

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic An idea - ??nfjnidfjgnf??SF?FD?/???? - oh god, there's typo in the published version

It's... unfortunately not too far from genuine truth. Most of my writing is done in parts of daydreaming it up at work, before sleep, babbling to my friends about it and then wallowing when I actually need to put the words I already came up with on 'paper'. Often I overthink little details too much along the way, enough to get stuck.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

I am probably bad writer because I don't really view my stories in these segments, I don't plan the arcs and the build up with conscious awareness of storytelling as a method. I just go with the natural swell of emotions and events. The starting and closing lines are always hard, but that's all I define as beginning or end of story. Yes, I do worry if the closing part is satisfying and tells what I intended to, of course, but there's no strict divides in my head.

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

I am writing about werewolves, plant genitalia and what borders as tentacle porn. Realistic is... Not really an option. Though I try to at least somewhat figure out what is physically potentially possible with their size differences, body builds and so forth. Sidenote, I can be picky about words I use in my smut, some I just don't think I'll end up using.

I don't have much of visual imagination or any interest in geting visual references for this that isn't like, fanart, so it's interesting exercise writing something that actually comes across as smut and could potentially be hot. I think I don't manage to convey it enough, but lot of what structures my smut is how characters feel about it, the specific acts and people involved in them. Or what they want the other characters to feel.

I am glad that several people have said that it's tangible these characters care from each other even on my purely smut writing, that gives me hope I am doing something right.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I used to be borderline physically unable to write a fic until I had a title for it. Same as I needed a name for an OC. As if it was the baseline establishing everything, backbone of it. Over the pauses I've taken in my writing, this has gone away and I often leave the title as the last thing to work on, along with summary. Unless the piece is inspired by a song or poem, then that is one of the first things I do, still.

I almost always use lines from songs, sometimes it's genuinely a hassle these days to find one that fits the fic, the vibe I want to convey. I dream of being the face on your page (I want to hold you forever, I want a taste of the Good Life) took several fucking hours, I was driving myself and my sibling up the wall with it.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

In Trigun, I feel a little limited in setting, because most things will either take place in saloon/bar, in the desert often localized around a car and maybe Meryl's apartment. At least most of the stuff I've written so far, since I've not been ambitious with tackling Ship 3 or many AUs yet. So, the repetition in that is partially from what I'm writing for. I do know I have soft spot of times where one character ends up inviting the other into their space - sometimes as simple as a hug and often, into their apartment, living space. Especially when there are feelings attached to it being potentially theirs or having been theirs. This follows through from previous fandom(s).

Like I joked previously, it seems one of Rainy's fic bingo slots could be 'a character cries' - I've never written crying so often as I do for Trigun, but it doesn't. Entirely feel out of character or misplaced, somehow. There's lot of traumatic events, all the time, that I end up touching in my writing.

Grief, overall, is definitely a theme. Not just people, but possibilities, too. A chance at happiness. At peace. Yearning for something kinder, better, sweeter. For each other. I ironically don't think I've earned my title of 'rated E for Extreme Yearning' in Trigun yet, but it used to be my brand.

I definitely use deliberate repetitions for sentences.

I use words like smithereens, curdle, hoard, abyss, stone/rock in chest and the like quite a bit. Other than that, I'd actually love to hear what my readers have noticed, I am sure there's more than that!

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

I love, love coming up with new ideas, excitedly talking with people about plots, character behaviors, just playing out little snippets among friends. It's by far the best and easiest part for me, I can spend days doing just that.

The writing itself... Oh, that can be torture. Like extracting words one by one by help of world's cruelest dentist. When it goes well, I love it and get a high like I very rarely do, but often, it's just. The Worst.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

I am not a funny person - at least not the sort of funny that translates well into fiction. I have had few funnier stories in previous fandoms, or at least parts that have funny adjacent lines and when people have enjoyed them and said it made them laugh, I treasure that. But it's not a goal I set out to have.

Also not breaking anyone's heart, despite what it seems. I want to provide catharsis, for myself and for reader if possible, and for me that is usually getting to the bottom of the painful and then exploring way back up or at least showing that there is one (eg. think Disconnect). I am not much of one for angst without happy ending, there's so much misery in life, mine included, that never has one, that I want to imagine and create one where I can.

Though if I make a friend cry... It is a notch in my mental post, not going to lie. Makes me feel like I managed to write genuinely.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Plotting, babbling, excited screaming with friends, for sure. Although very specific to fanfiction itself is seeing how to pick apart the world, the characters, transpose them into different situations, AUs, and make them still them. I love working out what makes them tick, what defines them and the relationships they have with each other.

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I really enjoyed writing both Brienne and Jaime from my previous fandom, I found it satisfying when I could manage to create my own brand of Jaime's sarcastic, self-depreciating humor, the way he'd say one thing and mean another and sometimes put so much of him suddenly in it that people couldn't accept it easily. And Brienne was lesson in restraint - I wonder how I would write her now that I've allowed myself to... Well, more openly project my neurodivergency and depression onto characters. Write what I do know, not just reflection of what I think people are like from other people's writing.

Which is something I've been doing with Meryl. She is by no means me, or my self-insert into canon, but in the process of trying to understand her, I ended up allowing myself to give her some likeness to my aspects, to how I see and experience the world. And then it expanded to Vash and Wolfwood as well.

That'd be more physical descriptions of grounding via scratching when crying, Meryl's struggle of spoken words versus written ones, them all being aspec and struggling with understanding/being overwhelmed by emotions and attraction.

But back to who I enjoy writing the most - I really love writing Meryl and Wolfwood, though I always fear I am not getting Wolfwood's inner conflict, all the Christian stuff, right. I feel like he has to be more than I manage to write him as. More fucked up, more intense, more soft at his underbelly, more everything.

This is why Vash is lower on my enjoyment scale, too. I feel like he ought to sound and work more differently, being the hyper aware, hyper capable and at the same time, sometimes so silly, person he is. I enjoy writing him being perceived, but writing his POV can be very stressful for me, especially in situations where his competency and intelligence actually needs to be portrayed convincingly. /side eyes Love lives chapter 2

That aside, no it's not really been swayed by reader's reaction, though it has given me confidence, like when someone says I have given them Meryl centric writing they've been looking for.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Pride is a strong word, but I have ended up feeling close to pride for the way I draw comparisons, create similes, about or through emotions, use of nature metaphors and the like. I think it stems from my native language and the sort of things I grew up reading and listening to, but it is something I don't shy away from in fear of being too flowery. Not anymore. It's just how I write, how I see world and feel things and I don't want to go through process of censoring it.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Brainstorming >>>> writing > outlining/editing

Outlining often makes me trip up over small details that I suddenly feel are as huge as as infinite wall and I generally don't outline more than loosely in my head, I get to meat of writing directly in my thoughts. Editing has habit of tiring me out when I have been struggling with some sentence and rewritten it like 5 times already.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

It's a question I ask myself often. And when I don't have an answer, I fall off the face of earth and cease writing.

I think, in truth, I write, at least past the point of thinking about it in privacy of my own mind, for community, for people. It is not the right reason to write, it has burned me many times when I don't get the engagement I crave or I feel like specific person I had in mind isn't really keen on what I created, but it is mine.

Beyond that, I want to explore feelings, want to find, and if possible, give some catharsis or comfort. Every time someone tells me my writing resonated with them, they felt seen or heard through it, maybe it comforted them, I feel like the effort to write was worth it. So, I guess the short answer is: Feelings. Humanity. Connection. The fictional ones and the ones we create through fiction.

Send me fanfic writer ask?&lt;3

[disasterdrvid]

6, 15, 17

Long time follower first time caller! I've been wary to get excited cause bioware has been playing with my emotions for over a decade at this point. I avoid most news and stuff about DA at this point but I appreciate your takes

Awww thank you so much! I've gone through cycles of wariness and excitement over the years, but tbh what's been coming out lately has me generally hopeful

6. Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have?

I have a canon worldstate and I've had my "canon" Rook locked in since December 2020 when the Game Awards trailer dropped! Iori (last name currently redacted) is a city elf born in southern Orlais who left following the civil war. She wound up in Rivain where she became a Lord of Fortune! (I've had her planned as one since I started writing her concept, well before any factions were confirmed. I just really loved Hollix in "Luck in the Gardens.") I've taken a lot of inspiration for her character from Long John Silver in Black Sails and, more recently, Izutsumi from Dungeon Meshi!

She has an older brother who disappeared after they left their village. Iori thought he went to join the Inquisition but he actually joined the Agents of Fen'Harel. I'm hoping some of Rook's story is open-ended enough that Bioware lets me get away with keeping that aspect because I find their rivalry really interesting--especially with how that plays into her and Solas' relationship.

If you want to see more of her I currently have her tagged on my blog under "#iori dragon age"!

15. Do you have any unpopular opinions about DAV so far?

Not many given that we don't really know much about the story. But I've been pretty vocal that I think the 10 year timeskip is a huge mistake. Trespasser ended with a massive thread of tension hanging over the story, and I genuinely feel that jump cutting to Solas already starting the ritual within the game's prologue feels anticlimactic. Like, Bioware had 10 years to build up this plot point and to me the writing indicated they were going to stretch this a little further into Veilguard. I'd even speculated the better way to handle it would be to treat Solas like Origins treated Loghain, and make his confrontation a late act 2 plot point and then make him a late game companion. Hell, I even wanted them to bring back DA2's structure where the game takes place over multiple years. The technology has caught up where something that ambitious should be at least achievable now.

I also think as time goes on the Game Informer articles are going to get reevaluated. Some of them are a little silly and I think the reporter is highlighting things that are just part and parcel for the series. I get that this is marketing to build hype (probably leading up to GamesCom in August) but just... idk. I think specifically the one about companions and romances rubbed me the wrong way. Companions from previous games also had rich inner lives and romanced each other when not romancing the PC. So yeah I think some of them are a little silly to write whole pieces about like they're brand new ideas.

17. Are you interested in all the lore and speculation or do you focus more on the games and stories themselves?

Sometimes? I don't go out of my way to read meta and speculation since I think speculation just builds hopes for things that were never going to exist in the first place. (Like my bitterness about no multi-year story in Veilguard.) I've done speculation in the past and I even did a bit of speculative fic for Iori. I was wildly off base for a lot but I found it to be a fun exercise to finding her character. I've also posted my own speculation here but that was more for fun than anything serious.

As for lore I have way too much brain space dedicated to this series than a person should 😅 I've been meaning to re-read my copy of World of Thedas vol 2 in preparation for the game. I think lore is a fun thing to learn so I can play around with it for my characters. I'll also say that I've read a majority of the ancillary works (thus far the only ones I haven't read are The Calling and The Missing) because I like seeing the world of DA outside of what the games have established!

Send me DAV hype questions!

[characterdesignillustration]

FINAL REFLECTION

Finally finished. It took a very long time, lots of hours in the polytechnic and at home for a result I feel I can be proud of. If this course has taught me anything it's that character design takes a lot more time and planning than I would've guessed. That'd be something to keep in mind for the future, when planning for a design making sure to allocate more time than I'd think I need to compensate for my overly ambitious projects. My goal with this project was to improve as a designer generally, I didn't really have a defined goal, but I most certainly came out a much better designer, and a much better artist. Those practice exercises with the poses helped me get a good grasp on human anatomy which was something I wanted to learn but never knew how to approach. For this final piece in particular I had an idea in mind with these skeletal owl creatures, I knew I wanted to do something with that, but I needed to create a story for them to exist in. So, Hunter Price was created to serve the setting first rather than the character design, which kind of shows. His design isn't too detailed or overly interesting, but it's more to contrast with the weirdness of the new world he's found himself in. What helped cement his character in my head was when I wrote out a day in his life, just to get a feel for what sort of person he was, that helped me visualize him better. Honestly, the final project came together better than I thought it did, I took risks (coloured outlines, detailed setting design, fisheye perspective (not really a conventional perspective used in film posters)) and they paid off really well and in the future I'll be more open to experimentation/risk with my designs. Though, it's not all positive, I felt like Hunter's head design could've been a lot more solid, especially considering my previous designs in this same course (Leebourne especially) having solid expressions. I guess I was in a rush so it didn't turn out too well, but still, it's passable. I'd definitely spend more time on the character design aspect in the future as my characters generally aren't too unique looking with basic sets of clothing and normal looking facial features, just sort of regular people. But then again, I've always disliked overly complex character designs, just visual noise, but I still could've done better because sometimes the most simplistic designs are the most memorable. But, with the skills I've developed I can finally get onto some personal projects of mine that've been sitting within the vaults of my mind, I finally feel confident in my ability to produce something that's up to my quality standard. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how this course played out, and it was most certainly my favourite course we've done so far.

[frogsandfries]

I've bought sixty grams, about a quarter of a cup, of this color, Miyuki 15-152FR, for what it's worth. I've spent just over twenty-five dollars on this color alone. Also, I think that might be too much of this color, but I haven't even done the second outer piece, never mind the face or the tail.

In other news, I've also started designing a carousel. I'd like it to be functional with the horses going up and down, and two rows of horses. I don't know if that's ambitious or crazy or what. I just hope I can stick with this for a while. My mental health/neuro issues seem to be more powerful than my actual brain when it comes to my projects, but at the same time--

So there was this post on Reddit asking how people got into beading.

When I was extremely little, before I even started preschool, I lived with the woman who gave birth to me, and my first sister. I remember one day, seeing a bead loom in that woman's stuff and just.......I don't know how to describe it, but that may have been the first thing that I remember being...... entranced, fascinated, intrigued, curious, obsessed with. Obviously, I was not allowed or encouraged to interact with the bead loom. Beads slipped into the recesses of my brain for a while, until middle school. I don't know what it was, but I rediscovered beads and I was obsessed, but I was also stymied, frustrated. I couldn't figure out how to do much more than basic peyote stitch and tubes, and my parents were....... actually, now that I think back on it, I think they were actively getting in my way of figuring it out.

Then in college, I caught a whiff that there were people out there who made their own plushies, and I was so intrigued, but I had absolutely no time to figure it out at that time. Later, when I might have had time, I had to remind myself that I absolutely cannot have all the hobbies.

And now, here we are. I'm mashing two hobbies together, and squeezing in some other minor obsessions, like carousels.

Also, it is taking every last drop of willpower not to just bust out and buy this order of beads that has more Catbus brown, just so I can have my dumpster green.

Off on a slight tangent, I can't find the pins I was using to shorten my curtain. I was thinking about just sewing it into place. Either way, I'd really like to get some sound baffling going on in my office. It's far too echo-y for my taste. I think I know where my sewing needles are, but the dog was being crazy earlier.

Oh, speaking of the dog, so I don't know if I've mentioned:

My sister who is married with kids, her husband bought this blue heeler (?) from a backyard "breeder". The dog was for her. I guess he was threatening to kill him, so she gave the dog to our younger sister. Our parents watched the dog for a while, in the most maximally hands-off way possible 🙄

Anyway, he's apparently about a year and a half old. He's completely untrained. His fucking toenails are completely unkempt, so when he jumps on me, personally, I'd rather be climbed by a cat.

He's a fucking working dog.

I would never choose a dog to live in my home. My sister, who's supposed to be caring for the dog, was only even trying for our sister, and she's fucking busy. She has an insane commute, insane work hours, not to mention, a whole house, with utilities, a mortgage, four cats, four guinea pigs, a hedgehogs, an unknown number of rabbits that I guess our parents have also been "watching", and she wants to start a garden this late (?) in the season.

Anyway, she's going to take him to the shelter. I'm sure she feels even more guilty than I do, but it truly is for the best. He needs a family who is as high energy as he is, with either the space, the time or both, to train him and get him moving.

[dzpenumbra]

3/11/23

I finished the stone pieces today. The last one. It... had plenty of flaws. And I'm just sorta letting it have them. I don't like the feeling of... lowering my standards at the end of a series or piece vs. the beginning... but it's not the end of the world. Not something I feel the need to go back in and rework. The set looks great.

I started to set my sights on the next project ahead - the goat skull. I've been doing research on ancient magical symbols for the past few days, from an archaeologist who really seems to know her shit. Through her, I came across this whole library full of magical gems. Apparently it was a big thing. Or maybe it was just... the material that most commonly endured the millennea? And by full of engraved gems, talismans, amulets... I mean... thousands. Like over 5000, a whole online archive. And this researcher I found is very competent as far as symbology goes. I found it really ironic that I found this gallery right as I was finishing my last one in a seven-piece series that was basically symbolizing this time-honored tradition, but in a more... conceptual and abstract form. I had no idea carved/engraved gems were such an important and prevalent thing, you don't really see them anymore.

The idea of carving inscriptions on the stones is a very enticing prospect, assuming I can get my hands on a good tool for that. That's where... today comes in.

As I finished the last stone, and prepped for the skull... I started thinking... "I need a better carving knife." I have these cheap japanese woodcarving knives that have been getting the job done, but I wanted something a bit more serious for this piece. And I had an idea. You know, since I've been sanding pure quartz for the past week... I remembered that I had a quartz shard I had been saving that I was hoping I could fashion into... a blade. It seems pretty well suited for the task, it's just... a bit fractured. I worry about that in the future, especially when I go to sharpen it and then the entire blade just snaps in half. But the shaping process actually went quicker and easier than I expected and it looks pretty promising. I have plenty of hemp to use for a binding, I just need something to fashion a grip for it. Then I have my own custom made quartz knife to carve with. How cool is that?

It might be a bit ambitious, and something I've clearly never taken on before, but I like the idea.

That led me, eventually, to streaming tonight. Session again. And the same two people came by again - the teenager and the middle-aged backseater. It's still good to have someone show some interest in what I'm doing, even if it's just me being background noise. What does suck... is when I share everything above. Start talking about my projects, that I'm really excited about, that I put a lot of effort and thought and passion into. And to ask a lot of direct questions of my audience. And to get fucking crickets as a response. Nothing at all. Like... come on. I am asking them, directly, several times... "would you want to watch an art stream where I'm sanding stones? Would that be entertaining? Would the sound be annoying? Would that be visually boring to you? Give me literally any feedback please." Because, honestly, it kinda feels like it's not going to be visually interesting. I mean, it's like... a process of expedited erosion...

So here's the thing. If the focus is not on visual... like an illustration would be... then the focus would have to be on auditory. Which is really loud. So if I do push-to-talk, I can keep the sanding sound off-mic and just pause while I talk. But then... the primary focus of the stream will be whatever accompanying audio is playing. Which is just asking for a corpo copyright strike. UGH. So... it's tricky. Plus, when I'm wet-sanding with stone slurry all over my hands, the last thing I want to do is touch my mouse or keyboard to unmute my mic. So... if I'm doing stone/bone work streams... they're just gonna get audio. Tough shit. And if it's too much, well... tough shit?

See... the fun thing about streaming by yourself? You don't get a sound check. And you rely on the ears of any random that pops into your chat, which is... unreliable, at best. It sucks. And adding in a loud work sound like that. It's just messy. That's a big part of why I haven't been streaming this project. That and the fact that I like to work on the floor sometimes.

So... I just don't know what to do there. Honest. And it really sucked to have people actually show up, but then say like 2-3 things and then afk for the rest of the 2 hour stream. But I guess it's better than nothing. And I got a 2 person raid from a Session streamer, so that was cool. They didn't even talk to me, but whatever. Ugh, this whole streaming thing is so close to being fun, yet so far away. All because I just... don't have any friends.

Lame.

So yeah, that's kinda where I'm at. But on the flip side, Session is really inspiring me to skate more. And I'm excited to go visit the indoor park near me soon. I can buy a new complete there and just ride as long as I want, then take the bus home or something. And maybe people I meet there would want to hang out for Session streams. Who knows.

I also think I might work on my hoodie more. That seems very stream-friendly. I've been trying to think of things that I'm inspired to do that aren't like... abrasive. The noise of stone carving/polishing, and the concept of bone carving might be off-putting for people. But painting wooden beads and drawing mandalas on my hoodie? That seems pretty universally palatable.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking all of this, and the people who don't like the noise or get weirded out by an animal skull can just fuck off.

I'm really out of it and distracted tonight. I didn't sleep well again, the neighbor's dog was freaking out a bit this morning, after like 4 hours of sleep. I felt bad, I kept planning this note in my head I was going to leave under their door saying "it sounded like your pup had a rough day today. It's not really a bother to me, I'm a former dog owner so it's kinda nostalgic. I'd love to offer my help to like... check in on or watch your dog for you when you're both away or whatever, whatever I can do to help. Sincerely, your really quiet neighbor twice your age who you've never met." I didn't do the note, obviously. I just slept in the comfy chair.

This whole system of sleep a few hours, do yoga, eat some food, then sleep another few hours has actually been working alright. It's not ideal, of course, and I lose all of my daylight. But... yeah. It beats not sleeping.

Since I'm so flighty and antsy, I think I'm just gonna go. But really stoked on the stone set being done. That was a long time in the making, and it's always such a good feeling to complete a long-term project. I just wish literally anyone cared. -_-

[daryascurse]

i loveee the way you write smut and your commandments series is just 😍😍😍 i know its just 3/10 characters and not even done but im already a fan and lovee these types of concepts omggg which other characters do u have planned for the series??? i went crazy for the mei mei one LMAO 💀💀💀😭

🥹 Thank you thank you so much!! I really can't say how happy it makes me to get a message like this. Numbers don't matter; but, I've been feeling a little discouraged because I haven't been getting much feedback via AO3 metrics (kudos, bookmarks, comments, etc.). Again, it totally doesn't matter. But I used to have two separate accounts, one that was actually kinda popular, one of which has some orphaned works from this series before it was a full fleshed series, and the same works I'm reposting now from both accounts (and new works!) don't seem to be getting the same attention as they used to, which kind of makes me doubt if I should have even come back to fic writing. Sorry for a little rant of self-indulged self-pity... thank you so so so much ♡

I love concept works myself so this has been a lot of fun to plan and write! So, there are two more pieces on AO3 that are orphaned that should be put together:

6: Thou Shalt Not Murder- aged-up Megumi

5: Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy - Nanami

As for the rest of them... Honor Thy Father I'm pretty set as Toji because yes, it's an easy option but so is he but it doesn't seem like a bad one to pass up. Thou Shalt Not Worship False Idols, I think it would be fun to do Naoya. Thou Shalt Not Take His Name in Vain, probably aging up Yuji because I think it would be fun to throw in Sukuna cameo references. And last, Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me, I have an idea that is a little ambitious and I'm not sure if I can do it convincingly, so I will bite my tongue on any promises there.

I have to say too that Mei Mei's was the most fun and the most clear to write (so far) in terms of carrying the metaphor, so thank you for the praise!! I wish I could include more characters but I think who've I've chosen is the best fit as far as I could write them. I'd like to play with the idea of doing a Commandment II follow-up sister series where the same concepts are repeated but, maybe multifandom, or another fandom, but that is also something I'm not sure about yet.

[fordtato]

Well. I just finished watching the whole essay and I'm uncontrollably sobbing while writing this. To say I'm impressed with your work is an understatement. It's probably the best piece of gravity-falls-related fanmade piece of media I've ever seen (and I've been in this fandom for a while).

The best thing about this masterpiece, besides AMAZING, detailed and very well-done makeup and scenography, is the substantive background. You didn't just showed some fandom-adapted headcanons, you analysed every piece of evidence, one by one, put them together with those headcanons and fans' opinions, then set against the whole historical background. Wow. You know what you're talking about and it show, oh, boy, it shows. I can just say that I'm far beyond impressed.

The other thing is that I'm thrilled to learn that someone FINALLY has the same view of Ford as I do. I loudly and shamelessly sobbed listening to the conclusion part because YES, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN THINKING, THIS IS ME! When I first watched the show, read the Journal 3 and fell headfirst into the fandom, I was shocked that the general opinion on Ford was that he was self-centered, reckless, arrogant, egoistic and heartless ignorant. I saw him as an over-ambitious science-obsessed nerd with a complete lack of confidence and social skills. His tragic backstory, struggles, the abuse and betrayals he experienced are constantly overlooked, just because he has a mouth too big for his own good and made some big mistakes. Let's not forget that he was MANIPULATED into making most of them in the first place, okay? He felt like the odd one since being a little kid, his dreams were literally crushed (Stan didn't explained anything and came to talking about the silver lining right after - unintentionally - destroying his brother's biggest achievement), he isolated himself and focused work because he thought it was the only way to "make something out of himself," to prove he was more than a freak. Sure, he was selfish. Of course, he was mean, proudful and blinded by "the greater good." Yes, he was cynical and, later, paranoid. He did many reckless things, absolutely. But it didn't came out of nowhere. Life was harsh on him and he learned that he can't trust anyone the hard way. I sympathise with Stanford very much (not for his traumatic past, but for a lot of his personal traits, interests and ways of interacting with exterior world), this is the way I interpret him as a character and you can't imagine how much I'm happy to find someone like me.

Anyway, utting my personal favorites away, you did an awesome job. I learned many new things about the queer history (as I did from Jersey Boy, earlier), I saw an impressive collection of Ford framed pictures, I laughed, hard, many times (your thematic corners were just SO funny), I cried, so I'm satisfied. Thank you. And I'm looking forward to more of your creation. You're amazing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Thank you so much! This was a very very very long project for me, and probably the most difficult fandom thing I've ever worked on.

I have a LOT of thoughts about Ford, and while I used to be upset about the general interpretation of him, I've since just become fascinated by the stark difference between interpretations - and that's where this video stemmed from!

Thank you very much for taking the time to watch this. <3

[daydream-believin]

Flowers Have Feelings

summary: it's valentines and you're making some gifts for your good pal douxie,,, also confessing

warnings: swearing probably, no proofread cause tired

word count: 2659

a/n: i've been struggling with writers block. i guess. i've returned to this only to write like, a paragraph so many times. which is bad cause like cheese designed the bouqeut and this should have been done ages ago. idk idk bon appetit

tags: @yagirlcheesely, is for you

image below: sketch of the bouquet

You jumped out of bed and slammed your alarm. Today was the day. You had to get everything ready today. Tonight would be the presentation. The night you finally do it. The night you confessed to your closest friend and crush, Douxie. Also happened to be Valentine’s day.

Your friends may have told you: “Just be patient. Drop hints. If he likes you, he’ll let you know.” But you weren’t about that passive love life. You liked to grab that strawberry cow by the horns. Subtly was boring and took far too long. You were in love with your friend and you were gonna let him know frankly if it killed you. It probably would, to be honest.

As confident as this makes you sound, you were aware of the possibility of him not liking you back, and that was okay. Sure, your heart would be shattered and you might not be very peachy for, say, a month or six, but you accepted that. At first, you had resigned yourself to just adoring him secretly. But you quickly grew impatient with that. What were you afraid of, really? Him letting you down gently, and ushering you two into an era of awkwardness? Okay so maybe that was worth considering. But not really. You wouldn’t let it come to that. Even if he did turn you down, you weren’t about to let that fact taint your friendship like that. You two were very close, and Douxie wasn’t the kind of guy to suddenly treat you differently after such a thing. Just a few weeks of awkwardness at most before all was forgotten (on his end at least). Only a problem for you. But, boy, it would be really, really nice, and not awkward, if he reciprocated.

You and Douxie were thick as thieves. There wasn’t a thing you hadn’t told each other. Not a secret between a pair of buddies as close as you. Oh, one thing, you know. The fact that you had caught feelings, that was definitely something you had kept secret from him. As eager as you were to do so, you couldn’t just drop a bombshell like that at any old time. That’s why you chose today of all days to confess; a little extra luck from St. Valentine. A little magic to give you a boost, placebo or not. This was going to happen. This was going to work.

You strapped on your helmet, safety first, before heading out on your bike. You cleared your schedule for the day cause you weren’t really sure if everything would work out or not. You could have everything done and ended wrapped up neatly in a few hours, or you could have a complete disaster on your hands, which could take up all your time. Time you would happily give, since you were determined for everything to be perfect. It was also nice to know you didn’t have to come in to work later,, lest you spend the whole night, crying your eyes out. You shuddered at the possibility. You were gonna stop thinking about that now. Yeah, only confidence now.

You may be a teensy bit sleep deprived. Only a teensy bit. You chugged a monster this morning, you’ll be fine. It wasn’t your fault you were up all night researching flower language. There were so many flowers, and those flowers had so many feelings. Eventually though, you managed to settle on a bouquet of roses, daisies, and dandelions. Fern leaves for greenery too. Greenery was important for flower arrangements. It tied the whole thing together. While it wouldn’t be the most on theme color scheme, the yellows, whites, reds, and greens, would mix together prettily. You definitely didn’t have to go as far as this, and you were banking on the fact that Douxie even knew flower language, but it was sweet, it was romantic. And you were going to be romantic about this, dammit.

Daisies, for friendship. It was really important that you communicate just how much you valued Douxie’s friendship and how nothing would change between you two if he were to not return your feelings. Red, red roses, classic romance. There was a reason the blooms were so strongly associated with the valentines holiday itself; no one sees a red rose and thinks of anything other than love and romance. A clear message to your beloved. And well, the dandelions? Cheery, beautiful, resilient, common weeds, never to be approved of, finding the strength to bloom despite assholes like Merlin’s best efforts. Dandelions were Douxie’s favorite flower.

Too bad the florist didn’t even consider them to be anything but said common weed. You had included them in your order when you called it in and you could hear the florist laugh, but muffled as if he put his hand over the receiver, before returning to the phone to inform you that you would have to add them yourself. Pretty rude, if you say so. No matter, hand-picked dandelions would be romantic, anyways. Even if no one else knew about it but you.

You placed the bouquet neatly into the basket of your bike. You’d pick the dandelions to complete it later, right before the big confession, in order to keep them fresh. But as of now, the bouquet peaked out of your basket, the floral fragrance wafting up to your face as you made your way to the next store.

Last week, you had seen such an adorable little box of chocolates. It had chocolates shaped like little skulls, flowers, and ghost cats, and the box had a silly pun about death. Goth chocolate, def. It would have been perfect for the edgy wizard in your life, but alas, it was way too fucking expensive. Like obscenely expensive. But no matter, you’d just steal the idea. How hard could making chocolate be anyway?

You left the grocery store with your haul safe in your skull-patterned reusable shopping bag. Wizard-chic and eco-friendly, it was your favorite bag. The contents of the much-loved bag? Melting chocolates, a jar of marmalade, a jar of raspberry jam, a jar of strawberry jam, and a new roll of wax paper, since you were out. Now you weren’t as ambitious as to make your own jam here. This was a failsafe. There are only so many ways to ruin chocolates if you did not make the chocolate nor the filling yourself. Now just a quick run in the stationary shop on your way home for a cute box, and you were all ready to start your chocolatier career.

 * * *

Douxie was getting antsy. Not many patrons had paid a visit to his bookstore this afternoon. Which was strange for valentine’s. and it left him with nothing but his thoughts to entertain his anxious mind. Doux had a lot to worry about. His band had a gig in a new town, so he wasn’t sure how they would be received. He was waiting on a shipment of books that was supposed to show up days ago. It may have gotten lost. That Lake kid was getting himself into more and more trouble these days and it was starting to become hard to help out without overstepping his vaguely imposed bounds. But most of all, at the very moment, he was worried about you.

You had asked him to meet up for dinner tonight. Okay, pretty normal for a Sunday night. Not that the weekend meant anything to either of you, but you normally set aside Sunday for dinner hangout. So nothing to abnormal. But then. Then, you said, something… Douxie actually can’t recall what you said, per se, just that it was along the lines of “we need to talk.” And that your tone sounded nervous. He did not like that one bit, nope nope. He had spent a great part of the day just revisiting every interaction the two of you had had in the last month or so, desperate to figure out if he did something wrong. But he was coming up blank, for all his efforts. Across the room, the clock ticked on. It would be closing time soon enough, and then he’d no longer have to wonder just what he did wrong, as you would be there to tell him directly. Fuzzbuckets, he couldn’t wait.

* * *

You wiped the goopy chocolate off of your cheek with the back of your hand. So far this wasn’t a total disaster. You had at least seven chocolate skulls filled and drying in the molds. The white chocolate seemed to have melted smoother than the regular chocolate? The regular chocolate ones looked kind of lumpy. You hoped they came out of the molds okay. Not to mention the ones you already messed up. A little mountain of chocolate pieces and jam had started rising from your table top corner.

It had been lots of fun at the start. melting the chocolates with a double boil, planning out which molds would be which flavors. But actually filling those molds? A messy, messy ordeal. You had chocolate and jam all over your kitchen, up to your exposed elbows, and even a little in your hair. But that was okay. You’d clean the kitchen later. With the molds in the freezer to set, your priority now was cleaning yourself up rather than the kitchen.

And you cleaned up nice, if you did say so yourself. You got the chocolate out of your hair, and had on a fresh outfit, taking a little time to put effort into your style. You looked snazzy, but not too fancy. You needed to stay casual. Something that you hoped would make Douxie be like ‘wow they look pretty okay’ but not freak him out with formality. Yeah. This was good.

Your watch beeped. Okay, you needed to get out of here, no more dilly dallying. You pulled the candies you made out of the freezer. Moment of truth. Thank the stars, all of the chocolates came out of the molds smoothly without breaking. You arranged them in the cute circular box you set up earlier and folded the tissue paper over them. They all fit in perfectly. The cheesy valentine card, the most important part, didn’t quite fit on top of the candies, you’d have to put it with the bouquet. You slid the lid onto the box and fastened a bow around it with a blue ribbon. Maybe this was a bit overkill, but Douxie knew how to appreciate the dramatic. He’d love it, you were sure.

Last but not least, you headed to the greenspace across the street from your apartment for the final ingredient in your Douxie wooing, dandelions. You were lucky that the empty lot had recently bloomed an entire garden’s worth of the yellow things. The chilly breeze mussed up your newly-fixed hair as you danced about gathering the tiny flowers, adding to the bouquet until you felt like it was enough. Which took longer than you had hoped. You definitely could have kept adding in more dandelions but your watch beeped once again and you had no choice but to make peace with the level of yellow and book it to the bookstore where you and Douxie were supposed to meet before heading out for the night.

* * *

Hearing the ding of the door chime, Douxie turned around to kindly inform the customer who came in that he wasn’t open, but the words caught in his throat when he was met with your smile. There you were, standing in the shop with a box in one hand and flowers in the other. You looked cute. Really cute. But Douxie chased that thought away. He fumbled with the book he had been re-shelving. It fell out of his hand unceremoniously, landing with a thud.

“Hey,” Doux managed to get out. “What’s all-”

“These are for you!” you shoved the presents into his now empty hands. That courage you had earlier? Gone. Your resolve? Dissolving as we speak. You had to get this over with before you chickened out. He was just so good, okay. And why did you think this was a good idea. Douxie looked down at the gifts in his hands confused, before blushing. If he could have reached a hand behind his head and rubbed the back of his neck he would have.

“I didn’t know we were doing Valentine’s, uh. I feel bad I didn’t get you anything.”

“Oh! Don’t be. I just,, felt like doing something nice for you and uh, special,” Douxie tilted his head. You took the box, freeing up his hand. “These are chocolates I made, like, like you’re supposed to do.” You waltzed over to the counter to place them out of the way. “The bouquet is the real star here, uh, I picked them out very carefully.” You tucked your arms behind your back. “I, uh- I brushed up on flower language, and I hope I got it right.”

Now Douxie may have been a Victorian once upon a time but he had barely any surviving memory of the frilly flower language people socialized through in those days. But thankfully, the blooms in the bouquet in front of him were straight forward enough that he did in fact get the message without taking too much gear turning in that noggin of his. Although, the friendly daisies with the red roses were kind of sending him some mixed signals. He knew what he wanted them to mean, but he could just be misinterpreting. You seemed to notice his hesitation.

“Um, there’s a card too. In the flowers somewhere. That. Probably explains what I’m trying to say a little clearer.” You carded your fingers through your hair. You had anticipated not being able to really speak with your voice, as you barely could now, so you’d written it all out on the card as backup. But damn, that card had everything on it. You maybe got a little carried away. There wasn’t going to be any going back from this.

Douxie dug out the card from amidst the blooms. It was handmade, with a cheesy little drawing on the front complete with a pun. And then he opened it. It was almost solid black with ink. Yeah, you had written that much in there. Both sides. And a little on the back. Wow. Doux tried his best to keep up a poker face while reading it but failed quickly as the first few lines alone left him flushed. It was true, everything was on it. From how much you adored Douxie as a person, to how much you valued his friendship, to how pretty you thought he was, to how you longed for something more, with him? Douxie felt like his hands were getting the card all sweaty.

It was nerve wracking watching him read that card. It seemed like he was finished, since his eyes stopped raking through it, but now he was staring intensely at the words written on the pages, in a trance. He broke focus, looking to the bouquet, back to the card, and then finally settled on you.

“Wow.”

“… is that a good wow?”

Douxie caught you by surprise. He pulled into a hug. “Yeah, a good wow.”

You and Douxie’s first non-platonic hug? Yes please. You didn’t even mind the flowers pressing into your back. Okay so a few rose thorns were poking you but that was fine. Douxie smelled like something you couldn’t name, but it was spicy, and cozy. He let you go sooner than you were ready to, but he grinned at you as he left to rummage through his things in the back for a vase. He turned to you as he proudly displayed them on the store’s counter, right where he could look at them all workday,

“So, where are we going tonight? For our first date?” Doux chuckled, “and, technically, our first Valentine’s day too.”