#I'm almost certainly going to redesign these

[ariartaccount]

Muaka and Kane-Ra

[mezz-merizing]

gosh the experience of trance is like, literally the best thing ever. nothing tops it!!

it's because it's so varied and diverse. among subjects, among hypnotists, among inductions,no trance ever feels exactly the same, but it always feels heavenly

sometimes the hypnotic sensation intertwines with the sensation of sleep and it's like "mnh,," as you can't stop swaying on your feet... you're trying to have thoughts but it's like trying to swim in syrup- every thought just drifts lazily through your mind and fizzles out, and it would be so easy to just close your eyes and let the last remnants of your consciousness fade out, but you can't! not when those pretty words in such pretty tones are twisting and twirling around your sleepy head, crossing right past your barely-conscious mind and into the depths below to etch themselves into your psyche <3

sometimes it's different, in a way i've talked about before! sometimes instead of deep and consuming sleepiness, it's a crystal clear sort of focus, an unbreaking clarity on one single thing. there's nothing around you but you and them, it's all just a black void, as you sit, with your hands folded in your lap, your eyes wide open and staring, but the mind behind them off, the gates open, begging entry. sometimes it's an engulfing focus that takes you over, that subjugates you, that demands your attention, and seizes it, and never lets go

sometimes it's emptiness. sometimes it's a serene sort of endless blackness that engulfs your mind and your soul, a complete lack of thoughts, a hollowing-out, an erasure. sometimes it's a wiping-away of everything you were and are, just for a time!! it's almost nirvana... you just exist, free of burden and free of thought. and of course, exquisitely programmable, too... an empty bowl like that mind of yours begs and pleads to be filled, and surely the person who did this to you has no shortage of ideas on how to fill it <3

sometimes it's the exact opposite, sometimes it's chaos!! not sleepiness, not focus, not emptiness, but a sort of fullness that you can't even parse, where words and thoughts and phrases and concepts swirl around in your mind, with you standing in the eye, barely-aware, and certainly not comprehending!! and it would be so easy for someone to just slip yet more into that vortex, so when it finally calms and you manage to organize everything back into its neat place in your psyche, all those fun things that drifted in get sorted back in with the rest~

sometimes it's delight in your complete lack of understanding- sometimes your trance just dumbs you sooo far down that all you can do is giggle and smile as your hypnotist tells you what you're to think, and say, and act like <3 sometimes you can't help but feel anything but giggly and happy about how deeply entranced you are, because you're sooo hypnodrunk that all your fuzzed-out mind can feel is pleasurable euphoria!!

and sometimes it's order. the very purest order. when your mind is dismantled and restructured into the perfect machine, when all the chaos is carefully extracted from the equation, and your complex consciousness is reworked into an efficient, effective, purpose-built thing. when your mind is designed. and of course, when your mind is designed by someone, they can redesign it however, and whenever they wish~.

and the really fun part?? the craziest part?? sometimes it's all of those things!! sometimes it's one, sometimes it's some, sometimes it's something completely different, and it's always something nobody's ever quite felt before! the incredible beauty of hypnosis is in its infinity, how you can go deep day after day for year after year and still discover brand new things you had never even conceived of before!!

hypnosis is art!! trance is expression!! and i, for one, think i'm extremely lucky to have fallen accidentally into a kink that has taught me more and brought me more fantastical experiences than any other ever could :3

[ratcate]

I'm here to admit that I may have developed a hyper fixation on your OCs (especially on Zerion and Sir. Valentine) so can you perhaps tell us more about them? (And other OCS)

oh hey!! great selection of characters. Makes me really happy you wanting to know more about them! I love them a lot, but Sir Valentine more, as Zerion's personality and setting is pretty nebulous still. info about them both under read more!

Zerion is some sort of cartoony super villain, heavily inspired in the night of the bald mountain monster interpretation from Fantasia(disney)

(art from 2020)

I think he's a very strong dark mage or something. Right now I have him reduced to a joke. A cartoony villain living his slice of life, but always awaiting action, the smallest spark chaos, to join in, in a world where nothing ever happens. He has his sidekick, Vampina (I think that was her name). A vampire chick who lives in the moment and is Zerion's servant, as long as he provides him with some blood every now and then

(2023)

(2021)

she almost never pulls off that relaxed smile from her face, her brain usually has no thoughts more than "can i eath this?" "I can eat this" Both of them are pretty evil. I remember once i tried to sketch out a first chapter, where they had a visit of income tax department agents, coming to remind Zerion he hadn't paid his taxes, and both Zerion and Vampina made a whole intricate plan on how to get rid of them and torture them, to show the government they're not to be fucked with. Though, all their scare tactics were just confusing, failed magic tricks for the men, now tied to apparent non functioning electric chairs, looking at each other through their sunglasses, stoic faces, while confused to what Zerion is yapping about in his villain monologue, while Vampina eats a stale bread in the BG. ---------------------------------------------------------

I don't have much about Sir Valentine either, but I certainly have drawn him more. For now, His name is Sir Cannon Valentine, but we'll get to that in a bit.

(both from 2020)

This is the first art ever I made of him, and that's a lot of his vibe. (2019)

This MAN, is some warrior who died in his armor but is back by some whack magic, and he's impatient, easily irritated, screams instead of talking, and I've always imagined having him a strong accent. He's here to fight and go headfirst into everything bc he really cannot die.

As of 2024, Sir Valentine is Sir Cannon Valentine (you can still call him the first version), BECAUSE, besides him being reborn and inmortal, angry and ready to fucking obliterate anything in his way, now his body works as a canonball

He went through my manic episode of redesigning many of my characters, after getting a taste of Pizza tower's cartoony characters, and became this. Much more functional, easily drawn, flowy. he just works, i can animate him in a snap of fingers. Still consistenly working to improve his design even more.

I will probs change the story, but this guy is resucitated as a last resort for a war between kingdoms, as a mistake, bc they wanted to revive some other guy, but got mistaken and went to his thomb. This guy revived him, after a ritualistic dance and some lightning

and then he is like "oh wait I fucked up", and Valentine is like "TOO LATE BITCH I'M FREE!!" and blasts away from him, as a cannonball, fueled by his own fire and methane gas from the catacombs he is in lol. This story is very not much constructed, but I love Sir Valentine a lot, and the characters I can surround him with. I see him falling for a bourgeoisie woman, or a princess even, bc all my stories need the romance, I'm nothing without the romance. I am also thinking of including another character of mine, Sayen, as the daughter of this death guy

Sayen previously appeared as a participant in a nsfw comic in my twt alt account lol. I love her and her design very much.

[ananicoleta]

hiii! character ask questions here! 6 and 25 for bugs bunny (*￣︶￣*)

Hiiii! Thanks for the ask! 🫶

6. What is something you have in commom with this character?

Hmm. Not many things actually. Bugs and I aren't really alike if I think about it. I guess I can relate to the fact that he's a simple guy who just wants to live and enjoy a simple life, to just have fun. That's how I am too for the most part. I don't want a luxorious life, I just want a nice one. The difference between my life and Bugs' is that he somehow always manages to get into the most absurd and tangled situations whereas my existence remains pretty uneventful for the most part.😂

(I would also maybe, MAYBE say that, just like Bugs, I get angry whenever I witness an injustice. The reason I am hesitant to say this is because I don't see Bugs as necessarily being justice-driven. He is a nice guy who sometimes feels bad about others and will try to help them, especially if he percieves them as being more helpless than he is. I identify with that. But he is also very quick to get revenge and very ruthless when he does so, sometimes going to far, so I'm kinda meh about this. Bugs, like I said before, just wants to live his life and doesn't go out of his way to bring justice or fight corrupt systems or whatever. I see myself as more of an activist, more outspoken about these issues and more driven to fix them than him.)

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

At first, I really saw Bugs as this untouchable really cool guy, who never took anyone's bullshit, was perfectly capable of defending himself and of making a complete fool out of anyone who crossed him because he was always ten steps ahead of them. At the same time, he wasn't an asshole because he had a strict sense of morality, an intolerance for injustice and corruption and a tendency to help others in need. Basically, in my eyes he was almost perfect, his only flaw in my view being his slightly inflated ego (but I saw that ego as being sort of justified seeing as he was Bugs freaking Bunny).

Now my view of him is much more nuanced. I certainly don't see him as being almost perfect. He is actually, from what I've noticed, deeply flawed.

A lot of Bugs' power rests in his image and the way he crafts it. He is not as untouchable as he claims to be. He actually fears being alone and forgotten. In Space Jam 2 we can see this fear. He can't function without other toons to engage with, without an audience to applaud him, without someone to laugh at his jokes and humour him. He needs that validation because deep down he's actually very afraid and not at all as confident as he seems (this can be a result from his rocky beginning as a character aka the trauma he suffered in the first years of his creation, with him being a copy of Daffy at first, not being liked by the audience, almost being scrapped away and finally, being redesigned and starring in 'A Wild Hare' in 1940 -- which is considered to be his actual debut -- and being a huge hit).

Secondly, Bugs has a really elevated view of himself. At first, I thought that he truly was a "noble" character, but that doesn't really apply to him. He thinks of himself as being a nice guy -- which to an extent he is -- but he is actually much more selfish that he likes to admit and can be very ruthless when he wants too. This can be seen especially in his earlier shorts when he was a literal menace to society. Then in his later cartoons he became calmer, more contained, more calculated. He began thinking about his image more and how he can manipulate it in order to make himself seem the best and the coolest in the room. Not to say that Bugs doesn't have morals, that his values are inconsistent or flighty. He deffinetly has a moral system and he sticks by it. However, he thinks he is a much better person than he is, which makes him feel justified whenever he gets revenge.

Not to mention how emotionally constipated he is. Look at 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action', where this is shown very well. Daffy means the world to him, that's clear, and he would literaly realign the stars for him -- except he can't say that out loud. He has to act like he doesn't car, like he's too cool to care (nit to memtion tbat everything with Daffy is a power game, a competition and he can't risk losing it by being vulerable, open and sincere). He himself doesn't even know/can't articulate what he's feeling because, if we look past his ability to read people very well, then Bugs isn't really good with feelings. (This movie also ephasizes his selfishness once again -- he wants Daffy back because he misses him, but he dpesm't really consider the duck's demands of an improvement)

Wow, I really went off om that last one huh? Go figure. My point: at first, my perception of Bugs was more simple and it reduced him to a seemingly flawless but, at the same time, one-dimentional character. Now, however, I see him for the flawed but not dislikable character that he is: a huge ego but no aspiration for fame or fortune, a well-defined set of morals that he truly believes in but a manipulative and vindictive nature, an unbelievable calmness that restrains the mischiveous soul of a prankster, an almost perfect image that hides a lot of secret fears, insecurities and feelings. He is a very complex character indeed and I love him for it. :)

[thankskenpenders]

I somehow completely forgot today was the day, but today is, in fact, Archie Sonic's 30th anniversary. (TKP also turns 8 in a few days)

Well... maybe today's the day? The main Sonic wikis list November 24th, 1992 as the release date for issue #0 of the original pilot miniseries, while Sonic Retro lists November 4th as the date based on an ancient news group post about comic releases from that week, and Wikipedia lists November 22nd, which was... a Sunday? And of course the cover date is way off and says it was for February 1993. Whatever! It was 30 years ago this month, is the point. So I should say something

While this blog has become sort of a go-to source for learning about the many weird and bad parts of the series, Archie Sonic will always mean a lot to me. It was the first comic book I started actively following as a kid, and it was what really introduced me to the world and characters of Sonic. I might have joined during one of the worst eras of the series, but the expansive mythos that had been built up over the prior decade really grabbed me. I'd pore over Penders' bullshit character bios and take them as gospel. I'd trace over panels to make Shrinky Dinks. For a time I cherished the climactic 10th anniversary issue, #125, as my prized possession, keeping it in my parents' fireproof box meant more for things like, you know, the deed to our house. I fell out of following it in middle school, but it was pretty crucial in shaping my tastes. I can easily trace a direct line from the stuff I'm working on now back to Archie Sonic

It's been almost six years now since the series was canceled. At the time it was hard to believe this was even possible. Archie Sonic was an institution. Everything else came and went, but "those weird Sonic comics with their own continuity that were still using the SatAM characters" were eternal. At this point I've made peace with it, in no small part due to the existence of the IDW series. But even if they're gone and never coming back (continually delayed projects from a certain writer notwithstanding), they're definitely not forgotten. I still see people drawing fanart, sharing individual moments, coming up with AUs to fix things that didn't work, redesigning the cast to fit in with Sega's Sonic. And I'd be remiss not to mention that we just got the first mainline Sonic game ever written by an Archie Sonic writer. A game that has some surprising parallels with certain pre-reboot Archie material, intentional or not. (Given the lawsuits and Sonic Team's disinterest in Archie, I'm guessing "not," but it's certainly there.) The spirit of that series lives on in small ways, even if characters like Sally and Rotor are currently relegated to fanon

Archie Sonic remains one of the largest branches of the franchise, rivaled in scope only by the games themselves. And people are still coming back to it, either as returning readers or as new fans discovering it for the first time. I'm happy to have been a small part of that

[wanderingnork]

hi my name is wanderingnork and I'm here to tell you why the Cloister of Sombre Embrace fight in BG3 SUCKS, and how it could be made better! (No keep reading we die like Cazador.)

This fight actually has the potential to be *incredible.* The encounter area is big, full of interesting terrain, has highly mobile enemies placed in interesting ways. I was excited when I first saw it. Then I actually had to fight it.

And it sucked!

I've now done it three times and every time, I've been equally annoyed. It's a hard fight, but not because it has any actual depth or tactical requirements. It's hard because it's a slog with limited movement and no real chance to use fun or interesting abilities. The entire encounter area goes unused. The terrain is untouched.

Every single guide you'll see on succeeding in this fight advises moving the party back onto the stairs and setting up a killbox. Use those impassable walls and funnel to drag enemies into things like spike growth, wall of fire, grease, guardian of faith, ice storm, etc. and then just whittle them down. And that's exactly the strategy to use, because this fight is designed for that.

Here's a breakdown of how the first round of combat always goes, after playing this fight three times and watching half a dozen playthroughs on youtube.

On her first turn, Viconia will move forward, summon two wolves, and place an enchantment on Shadowheart to make her fight for Shar. The enchantment doesn’t force an action or movement, only encourages it.

All Sharrans will spend their first turn moving, usually with Dash, toward the party.

Some of the Sharrans have “shadow step,” which allows them to cross huge distances. With a Dash + shadow step, the enemy at the very back of the room can reach the front of the room in one turn. She will almost certainly do this.

Sharran Fidelians can cast darkness, which can entirely cover the entry. It also blocks the path of ranged attacks, and dispels spells like cloudkill. There are five of them, and at least two of them if not all of them will cast the spell on their turn.

And...congratulations. The entire fight has been dragged directly into the bottleneck. Now it's a matter of using the killbox, getting rid of those darkness spells, and getting rid of any enemy that shadow steps up into the middle of the party.

Hypothetically, you could try to get out into the encounter area in this fight. Depending on your party setup, you might have some seriously mobile characters who could get past the mob or go high enough in initiative to move before the Sharrans go. But check out those distances noted in the lower right of the map. Unless you're operating with a party full of monks and rogues fully kitted out with scrolls of dimension door and misty step and potions of speed, you're going to get trapped in the corners to the left or right, or run straight forward into a mob at the center which will proceed to dump darkness and bone chills on you while surrounding you and whaling on you until you die, because you can't see enough to hit and you can't heal thanks to bone chill.

Yeah. That was how my first attempt went.

So while it could be fun to try out something mobile, most of us aren't going to respec the whole party just to test that out. The killbox strategy is the sensible option.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

If I ran this encounter as a DM, the Sharrans would behave MUCH differently. Viconia, staying exactly where she is, would still do her enchantment/summon wolf combo, but I would redesign the enchantment to force Shadowheart to move toward Viconia (not provoking opportunity attacks as she does). Viconia maintains sanctuary on herself instead of immediately going on the offensive.

A few novices, weak but good for softening up the party with a couple of attacks, would move in. The rest would close ranks around Viconia to defend her. Let the wolves move in, too. The beefier Sharrans would also close ranks with Viconia to defend their Mother Superior. The Fidelians would maintain distance (yes, including that one located at the very back of the room) to act as artillery--firing off bone chill and strategic darkness.

Now, while there's a mob at the start, it can be handled by a few good attacks. The players have to suck up a little damage, and if they want to disengage will need to endure some opportunity attacks, but it won't crush them in a heartbeat. Mobile characters can take advantage of that mobility to chase down the Fidelians, breaking concentration on darkness spells. Ranged attackers or casters can take advantage of all that terrain to get high ground or escape the pressure of a crowd.

Then, when the tides of battle are swinging in the party's favor, it's time for Viconia to break out her Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical. Send in the Dark Justiciars. Viconia wades into combat herself. Better hope you brought some tanks and you dealt with the Fidelians to get rid of that bone chill effect! Because that last Fidelian from the very back of the room will now emerge from hiding and use her shadow step to get close enough to start firing off darkness and bone chill again to give her allies advantage.

Hard? Yes, this encounter would be absolutely no joke. It would require a lot of thinking and preparation, like dealing with some of the other battles (say, House of Hope, which has a similar mechanic in dealing with the soul pillars). Much more interesting than a fifteen-minute-long killbox? SO MUCH YES.

But that's the limitation of a video game. Unless these enemies are carefully programmed, this is exactly the behavior expected. It's a real shame, because this encounter could be incredibly high-tension and high-stakes, instead of the fight that the internet complains about the most.

[doomed-era]

actually! i dont know how relevant ganon is to gboh (especially because i think this is a bit of a link corruption arc), however. hows he doing. is he still under the castle like in totk, is he just some shadow pig guy with no human form, does it tie into alttp/the downfall timeline in anyway, and i would ask how/if zelda is freed and how everything goes down however thats almost certainly spoilers so. you dont have to answer that snorts. also does he have motives. ganon juice…. i am just a poor victorian child.,.,…….

god you opened a whole can of worms that i'm still honestly trying to think through. you're gonna have to pardon me for stream of consciousness rambling again I really really do not know where I will go with this. talking about it helps me sort out what I want to do though! its just. a lot.

let me start with what I do know is definitely going to happen. zelda getting free and the battle that happens is pretty similar to the canon calamity ganon fight (there isnt a dark beast ganon fight because I do not want to write that); it's only after that when things start getting messy. cracks start appearing everywhere leading down to somewhere deep in the earth, the castle and parts of castle town partially sink into one-- it's still mostly intact, but highly unstable. monsters start behaving really weirdly.

I do really want to have ganon as more than a force of nature, but I'm not sure if the story would really permit that. on one hand, I feel like it would really bolster the themes of gboh to have a proper ganondorf appearance! on the other hand, I really would have to dedicate a lot of time to his character that I'm not sure I have, and I would have to really dig into how much of the calamity was something he was consciously doing and why. I think it would be fun to portray him as someone whose resentment and hubris took over, and attempts to bring people under his sway that cause destruction. picture him if you will asking the divine beasts about going apeshit.

oh wait i got an idea ooopps. I would love to tie it into stuff like oot but I'm just not sure How i'd do that. so ideally i'd be using a very heavily modified version of totk ganondorf bc I think he deserves better + im very very averse to making another "oc that fills the role of ganondorf" as I already have too many (two) and im still struggling with the implications of one. so it would probably be better to include him with his very few personality traits and history then just heavily redesign him and change his history significantly

[egg-emperor]

I can’t imagine your first reaction to seeing 06 eggman? was it a letdown? and how about movie egg? were you not surprised they made him skinny

My opinion on him has changed a lot over the years. I was surprised to see their apparent attempt at making him look as realistic as they could, despite him still standing out hugely against other humans in the game so it felt quite uncanny. I thought he looked very weird and he felt like a stranger to me in it compared to his usual self. The golden nipple cap jacket look is also super bizarre. I remember when my brother and I saw for the first time and giggled about how strange he looked XD

They did unfortunately do him dirty with his in game model, which I think is where a lot of people's problems with the design lie- but I feel it's really only because the poor quality textures on the model and washed out color palette don't help it visually. Because his CG model was always fine to me and the CG overall was pretty and much better looking than in game in general. It was certainly always weird to see him so differently proportionately there too but I never had any really big issues.

Funnily enough, the first Sonic movie actually made me suddenly appreciate the design way more and go back to replay 06 for the first time in a few years just because of how much more he still looks like Eggman than carrey for 99% of it, in many ways. I felt like I took him for granted then and appreciated that they never really strayed that far with the 06 design at all! And when I see him in game now I feel the exact way I do when I see my most beloved classic/modern Egg. 🥰

I wasn't even very happy about 06 Eggman being seemingly slimmed down a little and have always joked about how the man needs to be fed more to live up to his name more even there, I've always had a gripe with him being slimmed down to lose that precious egg shape to any noticable degree lol. But the changes I'd make to his 06 design are minor and I still think he's very handsome now. And something I appreciate most in the design are his pretty blue eyes being visible 💙

It's especially okay with me for how it was a one-off because his usual design and style is just irreplaceable. I still feel that the most realistic his design should ever get is Unleashed's glorious CG with him being cartoony but with realistic details as the perfect balance- but I still love him all the same when seeing him in 06, always in CG and even in-game now since the first Sonic movie made me appreciate what we had as it was a much less drastic redesign in the end.

As for the movie version, I'm just personally not a fan of the movies in general and that includes the Robotnik design. It got mistaken as hate back then so I'm wary to share my thoughts today but I was honestly disappointed when I saw it in the first movie with him just being carrey with a mustache for almost the whole thing. I like my Eggman fat and bald, he's meant to have an egg shaped tum with a head smooth like an egg too! And the later changes still didn't help my opinion.

I still don't like how he's skinny but I also didn't want carrey to wear a fat suit anyway, I would've just preferred for them to cast a fat actor in the first place (and even more preferably for the movie to be CG animated instead) but it's already said and done, I've just accepted that it's not for me. I also just can't see and don't think of jimbotnik as an Eggman in the first place and can still only see carrey, so it doesn't count to me and feels like the movie just has a completely different villain instead.

So I'm personally not a fan of the movie version but it's not the only design I'm like that with, I've actually just always been very picky when it comes to Robotnik/Eggman designs, so it's not surprising that one that started out barely resembling him wasn't my thing. Classic and modern own my heart and 06 is actually probably my third favorite design of them all, I actually like it quite a lot more than the rest! Though my options are limited with the small amount I personally like lol

[nostalgiachan]

Oh hey, I'm doing that thing I said I was going to do where I try to catch up my Tumblr 100 OC posts with my Twitter ones. As always, new images up top, earliest images down below, and detailed info below the cut.

#45: Alriem Nelufera Idea: Moon elf DROOD Story: Dragon Tavern

As with a great many of these character groups, some parties got a lot more fleshing out than others, and the Champions of the Mountain Kingdoms were definitely the least developed of the three; and of the three of them, Systir easily got more development than Alriem or Iros. But Alriem's gotten a little smattering of building, especially with the changes to the Moon Elves, so here we go.

So as stated before, when the races and creatures of the world were seeded, the Moon Elves were the literal self inserts of the actual elves on the moon. As such, they adopted their creators' love of science and knowledge-gathering. They spent many a century exploring the wild and wacky world of science, with horticulture and geology being particularly popular fields; in time, the two even began to intermix, leading the Moon Elves to grow living crystals, among other things. They spread far and wide across their lands, but it wouldn't be long before they ran into the dwarves and humans, who had learned of and coveted their living crystal. Of course, the Moon Elves weren't complete victims, as they in turn coveted the lands of the other two, and they wanted to "peacefully relocate" the other races.

This led to to the creation of two like-minded groups; the Rangers, a more military group who actively patrolled their territory riddling invaders with arrows, and Cultivators, essentially science-druids who had learned to grow weaponry and familiars out of the earth.

And as you do, they all got to fighting with one another. But over the centuries, they realized that 1) none of them were getting what they wanted, and 2) there's some crazies out there called the Steel Empire and they have flying ships so maybe they should try to get along before they come to fuck them up.

And thus, in the spirit of self-defense, the three races came together to form the Mountain Kingdoms, a triumvirate helmed by the leaders of the three races. At first, relations were pretty shaky, but over time, the nations learned to like each other and cooperate, and in all the centuries since, there hasn't been a hint of malice between them - especially since they're all still waiting for the day the Steel Empire tries something funny.

Cut to the present day, and the Mountain Kingdoms have been greeted by a mysterious visitor promising them a power that will almost certainly help defend them against the inevitable invasion and totally won't unleash a raving mad elf who will absolutely destroy the world. And how could they say no to that? So, they put together a small band of champions to be led by Alriem Nelufera, a Cultivator. Like Sydan, she was chosen because she was known to be a capable fighter and a highly intelligent scientist, but was not renowned enough that her presence out in the wider world would cause any sort of stir.

As for the woman herself...she's very much a WIP when it comes to personality. In-game, I set her "mannerism" to "friendly," but I very much drew her more aloof-looking, like she was supposed to be a quiet, delicate sort of flower, so I kept to that. Years later, when I did her first redesign, I thought about giving her tattoos from which she summons her plants/weapons/familiars, as in-game one of your support items is a rune, but there's no real description as to whether the rune is a stone rune or it's a marking on your creature or what. I'm not sure I'm going with that idea anymore, though. I also thought she would summon her clothing out of her tattoos, because Moon Elves are naturalists but the rest of the civilized world doesn't roll like that, but I think I'll drop that one, too.

#46: Systir the Belt-taker Idea: Hot-blooded dragon-riding muscle-man who's also a functioning alcoholic Story: Dragon Tavern

In the early days, Systir was basically Kamina - or at least, my idea of Kamina before I actually watched more than 3 episodes of Gurren Lagann and realized I didn't like Kamina. Tall guy, shirtless, very similar tattoos, dark blue spiky hair, and he would PIERCE THE HEAVENS with his lance. He also had multiple mismatched belts around his waist because ??? When Dragon Tavern added drinking mechanics to the game, I found that Systir had the best overall luck with drinking and not running into any negative effects, so I worked in that he was a pretty hard partying dude.

And then, I actively decided he was an alcoholic. No whoopsie-doodling myself into it, I leaned all the way in. And thus did poor Systir become probably the guy who gets it the hardest out of this whole squad (except possibly Paz).

As for his present-day story, Systir is a member of the Sky Guard, a league of dragon riders and one of the most stalwart defenders among the human forces of the Mountain Kingdoms. While the Sky Guard are quite well-disciplined, they also tend to attract people with big egos and big tempers; every other Sky Guard seems to have something to prove, and when they're not actively defending their home against ne'er-do-wells, they're often challenging each other to winner-take-all jousting duels. Most duelists demand something valuable from their opponent when they win - gold, titles, items of personal importance, the occasional spouse.

But Systir's not like the average Sky Guard. He doesn't feel like he has anything to prove, because he knows he's the best.

He doesn't care to take fancy treasures or status symbols from his vanquished opponents. Instead, he only wants one thing: their belts. To him, nothing is sweeter than to watch the loser have to hobble away with their pants sliding. He even likes to wear the belts around his midsection as trophies, daring anyone to fight him again to win back their belt.

Systir and his bonded dragon, Lentaa, were one of the first choices to join the Champions of the Mountain Kingdoms; sure, he was a hard-drinking loudmouth, but he was unquestionably one of the fastest up-and-comers in the Sky Guard. Besides, Alriem would be handling any diplomacy and Iros would do the quiet jobs, so everything would be fine, right?

As it turns out, no. No, it wouldn't. Because later in the story, when everyone finally converges on the Tower and most have realized that whatever's on the other side is bad news, Systir is the one who says "Fuck that noise, we came here to do a job and we're going to finish that job," and activates the portal. And everyone nearly dies because of that, Systir included.

And boy, oh boy, does he not take the aftermath well. When everyone else decides to stay around the tower to shield it from interlopers and prepare for a proper reckoning with T'akar Duum, Systir instead can't handle the guilt he feels over nearly getting everyone killed and bails, disappearing into the woods with Lentaa to wander the earth and make hooch out of just about anything he can find so he can forget everything that happened; he feels that if he stays around, he's just liable to fuck up again.

Things probably get better for him eventually, but uh...I never got that far.

#47: Iros Idea: Creeping sneakthief WIP Story: Dragon Tavern

Without a doubt, Iros was the least developed of the initial batch of Dragon Tavern characters; the most that was written about him was that he was a meticulous planner who used his naturally sleepy appearance to hide his cunning intellect, but who would also quickly grow agitated if things didn't go exactly according to his plans. Unlike Alriem and Systir, however, I didn't spend nearly as much time over the years reworking his character. Poor dude kinda fell through the cracks...which, during the last however-long I've worked on this one, I might have actually taken to heart and worked into his new character.

While the meticulous planning and quiet cunning will stay, I now picture Iros as much more of an eccentric weirdo than I'd originally made him. As far as he can remember, he had always lived alone, sneaking about back alleys and scrounging to survive. He grew so used to living in the darkness and keeping out of the eye of others that the thought of anyone perceiving him would send him into an immediate state of panic. So imagine his surprise when he got caught stealing from the home of a veteran Infiltrator.

As tends to happen in these sorts of things, the Infiltrator was mighty impressed, taking the youth under her wing and teaching him the finer points of sneaky-beaking while slowly getting him used to the idea of being seen by other people, along with giving him a general education considering he was a feral child; she also happened to give him his name. A few years later, he was hand-picked to join the Champions of the Mountain Kingdoms.

As for where he ends up in the second half of the story, the only thing I particularly remember is that he winds up being one of the worse-off members, ultimately getting his entire jaw ripped off by T'akar Duum and getting a prosthetic fashioned for him by Paz. Whether or not I'll keep this is up in the air (chances are good I won't, though, since the only reason he'd had it at all was because MGS4 had released around that time and I thought Raiden's metal jaw looked cool), but beyond that, he most likely returned to civilization at large, mostly to spread misinformation to any Seekers looking for the Tower's location.

#48: Rinel Acolytus Idea: Leader of the holy choir, smiter of the wicked, raging bigot Story: Dragon Tavern

At last, we have our final squad, the Champions of the Steel Empire. In-game, the Steel Empire was basically Warhammer 40k (God-Emperor, an inquisition, science > magic, kill-all-xenos policy) with the tech level of Warhammer Fantasy (steamcraft, zeppelins, knights on horseback). Thus, they, more than either of the other two regions, have needed to have some reworkings over the years to try to divorce them from the obvious influences while still keeping the general gist of what they are. The primary thing that's changed is the origin and function of the God Emperor, who I've now reimagined as the Eternal Child; long ago, something happened which trapped the young boy in a perpetual state of being ten years old. Whether or not said something also gave him unprecedented magical powers, no one knows and the Eternal Child is not mentally capable of figuring it out. What is known, at least to a very select few, is that the Eternal Child is exactly as much of a Problem™️ as one would expect a permanent ten year old with borderline-uncontrollable magic powers would be.

As such, the Empire actually arose out of a need to a) appease the Child to keep him from nuking their whole society on a whim, especially when the regularly-attacking local wildlife and inhospitable environs already made life difficult, and b) potentially weaponize the Child since if his abilities could be harnessed in some way, it could finally give them the proper foothold to expand their civilization.

Thus came the mythology that the Eternal Child was the god emperor supreme blessed with divine yadda yadda who single-handedly saved their people from destruction and whose power he bestowed upon a chosen few, his Acolytes, to act as his will in the world at large while he was busy personally keeping their region safe. In truth, the Child was a petty brat who for some reason no one knows absolutely hated all magic despite having access to it himself. Thus, the initial banning of magic was twofold; first, to keep anyone from exploring alternate forms of magic and potentially undermining the power and unity of the Empire, and second, simply because the Eternal Child willed it, and his word was ultimately law (when the inner circle couldn't get away with circumventing it for their own desires, of course). Over the millennia, much of the truth was lost, concealed, or altered in so many ways that xenophobia and superstition became baked into society at large.

And that's where we come to Rinel. Rinel is one of those aforementioned Acolytes, who through the power of hymns and a big ol' hammer can channel the Eternal Child's power (which is totally not supplementing her own innate magic, she doesn't have magic, that's witchcraft, shut up) to smite her enemies. And like most good Acolytes, she's in the service of spreading the will of the Child by just about any means necessary. She hates non-humans, she hates witches, she hates magical creatures, she loves the Eternal Child. Simple as. And as such, when the inner circle received word of the Tower, she was chosen to lead the Champions as she had more than proven that her loyalty to the Empire wouldn't waver in the face of the temptations of the outside world.

She's a dour, serious young woman who is absolutely devoted to her mission and duty. So, of course, this tends to cause some wacky shenaniganry when she's paired with an Inquisitor who is more than willing to play a little fast and loose with the "non-humans and magic bad" stance and a perky young engineer, both of whom think she could stand to lighten the fuck up.

And lighten the fuck up, she does, eventually. As she travels, and especially after she meets the other teams, her bigotry is challenged, and ultimately breaks by the time they face down T'akar Duum. The final nail in the coffin for her extremism is that she falls in love with Enkeli, said Inquisitor, and learns he's been possessed by a demonic force that is slowly transforming him. Whereas in the early story, she would've just caved in his skull with her hammer, burnt his corpse, and been done with it, now, she actually wants to try to free him of his curse. After the time skip, much of her time has been spent studying esoteric exorcism rituals and properly studying magic to break her reliance on channeling the Eternal Child - she stops using her channeling because she doesn't know if her connection to the Child would tell the Empire where they were, so she needed another method to dig into her power.

[mx-t4t0]

i finished this a few days ago why do i take so long to post stuff Anyways! late ass christmas gifts! yippee!

Bamp belongs to my friend Yash! (he doesn't really post anywhere so no link)

Check my linktree to see all of my stuff!

Ramblings under the cut

This was a very funny drawing to work on because it's not every day I get to draw Crystal looking absolutely fucking tiny. She's almost 6' tall, so usually she's like, at least the average height in a group if not taller than most. But Bamp is like 9' tall, and i'm pretty sure he's the tallest character in AM rp? So Crystal looks ridiculously small compared to him.

I also used this as an opportunity to redesign Crystal's armor, because it just looked too bland in my opinion. Yes, the tiddy window demons won, but she's wearing chainmail underneath, so it's fine right? I'll also be redesigning her sword, because I found an adoptable creator on deviant art and i?? fucking love the way they design greatswords??? i'm not gonna buy one of their designs because i can't afford any of them, and i'm certainly not gonna steal anything, but i'll be yoinking the way they use negative space in their blades because it fucks severely

next few drawings might be a little more experimental because i really wanna try out the csp brushes i don't usually use. don't know if that means i'm going to change my artstyle too much, but i don't know i might pivot over to a more textured brush for rendering if i like the results

[firedragon1321]

Big rant about my Capsule Zaurus stuff below. Mostly about fanworks, copyright, concept art, and how I use copyrighted material in my stuff.

Before I start the rant- I want to mention that I put a lot of links in here. A few go to my artwork. But most provide extra info and clarification. Some of it is because Capsule Zaurus is a pretty overlooked prototype to Digimon, so not all Digi-fans know what it is. Some of it is because I have been in fandom a long time and I lost track of when people stopped using squick and I don't know what the kids use these days. Feel free to click a link if you're confused about anything.

I want to return to my Capsule Zaurus project because Tomoya (the character in the header) is doing that "character wants attention and occupies your thoughts" thing. I really don't want to focus on fanfic right now (mostly because I'm drowning in WIPs). But I don't know if the project counts as original fic, or to what extent.

For the uninitiated, here is a brief timeline of Capsule Zaurus from conception to today.

Bandai draws concept art for a virtual pet game for boys in 1997

Doesn't use it because it's too similar to Pokemon

Puts it in a drawer

Does NOTHING until 2013

Puts it in an artbook

NEVER mentions it again

Fandom posts translations and then sleeps (you can read all the info in the first two links)

I learn about it almost a year ago at an anime con and get inspired

I draw all this stuff- including some redesigns, but also original Zaurus and human characters

I come up with this batshit insane plot and world to go with the concept art

I find myself in a tangle of mostly original ideas, with vestigial but clear connections to Bandai's work

I'm not sure if it should just go to Ao3 or if I should rework my elements and characters into something else

Bandai's Capsule Zaurus isn't a finalized work. It is concept art. I'm a raccoon digging through the trash and taking things Bandai doesn't even want. But chances are they still hold the copyright for it. Not to mention the name likely comes from Pocket Zaurus, which is published and certainly copyrighted.

Putting the work on Ao3 would be extremely tricky, too. It would have to be tagged as Capsule Zaurus- which is not a fandom at the moment- plus Digimon, plus Original Work. This obtuse collection of fandom tags would likely be confusing, and I doubt anyone would read it.

It doesn't help that the story is T at mildest and M at highest. I don't write E-rated content. But that's what people want over there. I've noticed some authors who write both get a lot more hits on their sexy stuff over their tame or gen work, and good gen writers often go ignored.

So if I don't want my story to rot on Ao3, I'd probably have to remove the Zaurus characters entirely and make it original. This seems counterproductive. But it's the more likely route I'd go to preserve my original stuff. I don't want to do that, since I love Digimon and I like the "what could have been" nature of the concept art. But I really hate filing the serial numbers off of shit without acknowledging it as parody/mentioning the creators which...this isn't.

Below are two examples of me acknowledging parody and playing with copyright. Keep in mind I cut my teeth on 2007-era fanfiction, so people were constantly writing "I do not own this" on their shit.

For my Toon-iverse Saga, I have a Character Who's a Lot Like Tai (Soren, actually- it's more obvious in his backstory). But the back of the book credits Bandai/Toei/everyone I can possibly think of. The books are made of characters like this, and calls back to the source material while doing something unique. You don't need to know the original material to understand the plot, though doing so helps if you're looking for Easter Eggs.

Then, there's Zunru, which is a love letter to and critique of Pokemon. You don't need an in-depth knowledge of Pokemon to understand it (though as with the Toon-iverse Saga, it helps with Easter Egg hunting). The first few chapters even seem like "we live in harmony with these wonderful creatures!". But then the charade falls away, and the story reveals itself to be its own animal. At the end of each of these books, there is a credit to "Satoshi Tajiri, GameFreak, and Associated Parties", indicating that this is parody, I acknowledge the original but this is my own thing, etc., etc. Which is more than Temtem/Palworld did, but that's another story.

These are both instance of fair use, with possibly too much butt-covering spurred on by my fanfiction dot net heritage. They aren't like, say, writing a Twilight fanfiction, changing only the names, publishing it, and deleting the evidence. Which I feel trying to publish Capsule Zaurus as it is right now is pretty close to.

I just don't know what to do for Capsule Zaurus. I don't want to focus on fanfiction right now. But Tomoya is screaming against my skull and banging pots and pans. I'm sure I'll find the solution. It might be as simple as changing a few designs a bit more to make them more unique and not using the word "Zaurus". But that's still filing off the serial numbers.

Dammit, Tomoya.

[the-letter-horror-lover]

His Master, Apprehensive

Ciel removed the scarf as he went inside a room.

It was all white and silver, the sheets and pillows, the rug. The floorboards were a light wood.

The few bits of color were the blue rose wallpaper on the walls and the blue on the pillowcases.

Although he hated to admit, the room was rather pretty.

Quite a few of them were redesigned when Alois became the head of the household.

Ciel laid down and simply thought to himself.

There was a knock at the door.

"...What."

"I'm sorry to bother you, Lord Phantomhive, but is there anything you require?" The Trancy maid stood in the doorway, looking almost scared.

Scared of him...? "No...I'm alright.." He spoke more calmly.

"Please let me know if I can assist." She curtsied and left promptly.

The bluenette messed with the segment of fabric that was previously around his neck. Ugh, how he missed Sebastian so.

Honestly, He could've called to go back home but...Phantomhive couldn't bring himself to do it.

The poor demon was terribly injured....that's all what he cared about at the moment.

The servants carried about their business until it was time for bed, knowing better than to irritate Ciel.

Hannah had knocked once more on the door around nine o' clock.

"...Yes?"

"Nightclothes, my lord." She was holding a neatly folded baby blue nightgown. "Would you prefer a bath before bed?"

"I honestly don't care..." The noble replied, sitting up.

"It would be me preparing it. I know I'm no replacement for your butler..." Oddly, she smiled. A soft, small smile that barely curved her purple lips upwards.

Of course he caught that, even finding himself returning it. "It's alright.." But then, it fell.

"I'll have it ready at once, my lord." She left the room with nightgown in hand.

Did he always come off as "scary" to his servants? Well, Maybe not to Sebastian but, the others? Perhaps they didn't need their master for one day.

He wanted to give them time to recover from that event earlier.

The maid soon came back to fetch him.

Ciel followed after her.

She led him to the bathroom, where a hot bath was running. She gestured for him to sit at the edge.

"...I can undress myself."

"Of course, my lord."

This was awkward..

She turned and messed with towels to give him time to undress.

"...Would it be alright if I bathed myself?"

She glanced at him strangely, but soon wiped the look from her face. "...Certainly."

He just wasn't comfortable with the idea of someone else seeing his body.

"Your clothes will be right here, lord." She bowed and walked to the door.

"Alright."

"Your Sebastian will be returned to you very soon." She said before leaving.

"I hope."

The door was shut and the curtains drawn for Phantomhive. He undressed and proceeded to take a bath.

There were many luxurious soaps, bath salts, lotions, moisturizers, and cleansers near the tub.

And he stuck to the most basic ones.

The linen towels were soft and fluffy.

"Honestly.."

Claude was changing the sheets in every room, while Hannah swept.

Soon he changed into the new clothes.

They were a baby blue color, ironed straight. Long pants and black shoes, a white shirt and blue bow for around his neck.

Ciel felt like a doll doing Alois' bidding and he despised it.

Claude came to check on him. "Are you doing alright, my lord?" He called from outside the door.

"I'm okay.."

"Let me know if I can be of any assistance." He said before walking away.

Ciel soon came out and went back to the room.

He really did look like a little doll, it was just adorable.

There was a visible frown upon his lips.

Alois came to visit him after a little while, sitting on the bed.

The earl was just laying down, making great use of time.

"Hi, Ciel." He smiled at him. "You look very cute."

Dual orbs glanced at him before looking elsewhere. "I don't need compliments from you."

"Surely not."

He went silent.

He slid up to lay beside him, his small hands reaching up to touch and play with his blue-silver locks. "Be good and let me touch you for just a moment, Phantomhive."

"If you don't refrain from giving me orders.." He slightly moved his head.

"Well, that's what you're supposed to do with a dog, isn't it? Pet them, feed them, and tell them what to do, right?" He gave an annoying grin.

"I'm not a dog. Preferably, Not your dog."

"Well, you're here aren't you?" He toyed with the bow around Ciel's neck.

"My plaything, my pet. It's just wonderful. You do look rather adorable in those clothes, Claude did a good job picking them out. Blue really is your color."

He moved his hand away and turned from the blonde.

Alois took his chance to cuddle up against the back of the smaller Earl. He wrapped his arms around him happily, purring.

Ciel was angry, desperately trying to get away. "Let go of me!"

"No, let me love you!" He held on to him tightly.

"I do not want your love."

"Yes you do~." He decided to end his struggling and promptly pinned him down to the bed, on top of him.

"Get. Off."

He just nuzzled his face into his neck. "Noo, Ciel..."

He huffed.

"You're very warm." He enjoyed the feeling of his arms around the small frame of the boy.

"Unhand me." he tried to push him away.

"So stubborn. I'll let go in a little while, just accept it right now."

"Never!"

"Or not..." he snuggled him.

Ciel kept moving.

"You absolutely must find a better way to cover these hickeys." He poked a few of them.

"Leave me alone!" He smacked his hand away.

"So stubborn...fine, if you must be kept in solitude, then I'll leave..."

He had a hint of disappointment in his voice, but moved off of him and out the door without another word.

He placed a hand over his neck.

The next person to check on him was Claude, to prepare him for bed. A sharp knock on the door requested his entrance.

"Who is it now."

"Claude Faustus. I have nightclothes for you, my lord."

He didn't answer.

"Apologies for the bother. If you prefer, I'll just leave them with you."

"I prefer so.."

He opened the door and set the clothes on the edge of the bed, smoothing the sheets and blankets of any wrinkles while he was in there.

The whole time, his eyes refused to even glance at the spider.

The tall demon glanced at the marks on his neck once, but decided not to say anything about it.

"What.."

"It's none of my business. Just that you're so young to have such marks."

He was sitting up with his legs to his chest. Ciel folded his arms and lowered his head.

"It's only a matter of time." He sighed as he placed a white rose in a vase on the bedside table.

"What do you mean..?"

"It's only a matter of time until he convinces you that he is entitled to the very last thing that makes you pure." As he spoke, his voice darkened.

The white, pure color of the rose changed to a dead and withered black.

The golden irises of the spider demon glanced sideways at the boy. "And only at thirteen. Such a shame."

"Don't speak of such foolish things to me, Claude Faustus.

Despite my age, I know a lot of things a thirteen year old should never witness. So stop talking to me as if I'm some child."

"I certainly didn't mean it that way, Lord Phantomhive. I know you're no mere child. I'm aware that my master and yourself are different.

There is still some purity in you, whether you wish to acknowledge it or not. Don't let it be stolen away so easily.

I know that too well. I could go on, but it is not my place to speak of such things, especially not to my superior.

Good night, please place your discarded clothing in this basket and leave it outside the door, since you insist on dressing yourself."

He set a large basket on the floor beside the bed and gave a low bow. "I bid you a well rest, my lord."

"Even if so....you should know by now that isn't an important thing to me."

"Good night, Lord Phantomhive." He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

He sighed and changed his clothes.

Claude sighed and carried on with his business. Fucking Michaelis... He always ruins everything.

After doing the task, the earl laid back down.

The spider yawned. He hoped Ciel would leave soon. He just just another noble to take care of.

He didn't ask for his care.

The next morning, Alois woke him up. He shook his shoulder. "Ciel, wake up."

He was hoping this was a terrible dream. But when he woke up and saw the blonde, his eyebrows narrowed.

He smiled down at the bluenette. "Rise and shine."

"Go away."

"No, we have things to do."

"No we do not."

"If you do not get up, I'm going to lay on top of you again."

"Don't you fucking dare."

"Such a dirty mouth on such a little boy...It's Valentine's Day. Come on, please?"

"Don't call me little either."

"Ciellllllll." He whined quietly.

"Hmpf."

He laid in bed next to him.

Valentine's day was it? How he wished he woke up to his lover..

"Come on, Ciel...Why do you hate me so much?"

"Don't ask a question you know the answer to." He gave a baleful glare.

"Please...can't you just do this one thing for me? You...you already have your love...you don't know how it is..."

His face bared confusion for a moment and went neutral.

"You've always had someone to love you...Whether it's your parents, your cousin, your servants...

You've always been respected and cared for...I...don't even remember my own parents...all I remember is being hated...I lost the only person who ever loved me...

And then when I sell my soul, he doesn't even love me...he doesn't care, I see the way he looks at me.

I could die in a ditch tomorrow and he wouldn't bat an eye, just move on to the next person who needs someone. I'm not stupid...I know he's just hungry..."

"Then why would you make a deal.."

He laughed quietly. "The same reason as you. Revenge."

The mixed matched eyes glanced at icy blue ones. "Pitiful." It was hard to tell if the statement was suppose to be an insult but his mouth turned into an amused smile.

"Whatever...Its clear that I despise you... I don't even know why I bother."

"Hmpf. You say that now but all the stuff you've performed? Oh please, go tell that to a tree."

"At least I'll be able to make eye contact without looking down. I do hate you. You're all I need to get my revenge. I'm so close now."

He frowned at the insult thrown at him. "At least you'll simply adore it, since you have such hatred for little me."

"Hmpf...but right now, I need you to to do this for me. I just have to know."

"Whatever, the sooner I go home the better."

"That's the spirit. Get up and dressed. Quickly and quietly. I'll be outside." He got up and left the room silently.

"Hope you trip, Sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart, save that for your butler."

"Mhm."

He was silent while waiting outside the door.

Ciel got dressed for the time being, soon opening the door.

He had his arms crossed. "Good, now follow me." He took his hand and led him down various hallways.

"Why are you holding my hand."

"I'm leading, shut up,"

"Make me."

"Patience, I will."

"Oh no."

Alois giggled softly while taking him to library, shutting the door after him. "Claude can't know about this, so we're taking an alternate route."

"Alright."

He checked under the rug and pulled up on a metal handle, struggling to get it open. "After you."

The blue earl slowly went inside, avoiding spider webs.

"Careful, there's spiders down there."

"Of course.."

"Claude doesn't like killing them." He shrugged, climbing down after him and restoring the rug and trapdoor. "Plus, it's my symbol, so I keep them around."

"Well now."

"You're not scared, are you?" He chuckled.

"No."

"Lead the way. You should just follow this corridor out." It was narrow and dark, with webs and arachnids all around.

Alois would occasionally pick up one of the eight legged creatures and play with it. He placed a little one in Ciel's hair. "Aww."

"Alois...remove it. Now." The earl froze.

"But it's so cute. Look, it likes you."

The little spider had crawled to the back of his neck.

His muscles tightened and he had an expression of fear.

"Oh calm down, you big baby. It's just a little spider." He held his hand out to the creature and it wandered into his palm. "I'm sorry Ciel is so mean to you, little one."

Ciel rolled his eyes at him and started to walk again.

He placed the spider back on the wall and followed. He would occasionally mess with him, drag fingers across his back like they were spiders.

Due to that, Phantomhive's foot missed a step as he flinched, proceeding to fall.

He reached out for him and barely caught the bluenette by the waist. "...You should be more careful." He held him for a few moments.

The nobleman looked alarmed at the blonde's touch, staring at the other.

He just looked into his darker blue eyes, arms around his waist.

"It wasn't my fault.."

"I apologize."

"Oh really."

"Yes."

He made a small unexplained expression, developing a tiny smile.

"Oh look...there's the door." He slowly let go of his waist.

Ciel gave him a small push back before finishing down the steps.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle, stepping forward to pull a key from inside his vest to unlock the door with.

Phantomhive's arms were crossed loosely.

He pushed open the heavy door with a grunt.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"A place."

He frowned.

"You'll find out when we get there, silly." He led the way quickly.

Ciel followed in a more normal pace.

He walked through the brush surrounding the manor, having to slow down because of it.

While Ciel struggled, moving branches out of the way.

"Do you need some help?"

"No."

"Are you sure."

"....No."

He chuckled and held his arms out to him.

After pausing for a brief second, Ciel went over to him.

"How rude of me to drag you into this and not even provide the courtesy of transportation." He picked up the smaller boy with a considerable amount of effort.

Of course, Phantomhive was taken off guard by that. "Honestly, Trancy."

"Shush. Oh heavens, lay off the cake, Phantomhive."

"I'm not that heavy." He chuckled, folding his arms around Alois' neck.

"Yes you are, you weigh a ton!" He struggled to walk even a few steps with him.

Ciel stuck his tongue out.

He shook his head and trudged forward.

"It's fine. I can walk on my own."

"Too late."

"You sure? Since you complain about my weight."

"Too lateee." He repeated.

"Hmpf."

He carried him to a little clearing surrounded by trees. There was a small pond in the middle.

Here? Why?

He sat him down on a rock near the pond, taking a moment before joining him.

"What's so special about this place?"

"I like it here." He answered, looking at him. "It's peaceful."

"It is.." Ciel agreed.

He touched his hand. "Hey, Ciel?"

"Yeah?" The first thought was to move his hand back but....he didn't.

He held it gently. "I really hate your guts, you know." The words were hateful, but paired with a sweet voice.

The blonde got a little closer and leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Is that so."

"Mhm...a lot...I only did all those things because I wanted you. After I got you, I'd probably feed you to Claude or something."

"Wow."

"Yeah...I just don't understand why he doesn't love me already."

"I don't know."

"Whatever..." he sighed and hugged him.

"Oh...how are you going to hug someone you hate?"

"Hmmm~. I crave affection."

"Wow."

He nuzzled the bluenette.

"I don't understand you."

"It's not often that I make much sense."

"I know that."

It was a few minutes before he spoke again. "Hey, Ciel...?"

"Yes?"

"I might hate you, but I like your company...." he looked up at him.

"Oh."

"You make me feel less lonely."

"Hm."

"I guess I like that."

"Well now."

He reached up and cupped his face.

Ciel looked at him calmly.

"You're not mine yet...not all mine. He knows he's going to get you back..." he sighed. "That demon, what do you see in him?"

"Why are you asking such a question.." As if that was a signal, his hand almost went to cover marks upon the pale neck. But what was the point?

"Because it's not fair." He crossed his arms. "It's bad enough he's entitled to your soul. Now it's your body too. I don't get anything."

"It's not my 'body'."

"Yes it is. Your heart, your skin. Look at this!" He pulled the scarf down with one finger, indicating to the dark marks on his neck. "It's clear that your his...I'm envious."

Ciel went silent as he exhaled, moving the scarf back.

"I just want you to be mine..." Alois covered his face with his hands.

Now he almost had a feeling of remorse.

"Is that too much to ask? Then, you know...Claude can eat me...and it can be over with..."

"Alois..."

"I want it to end. I don't like living like this, Ciel...I feel like I'm on the verge of death every day. I'm not stupid, I know I'm just another meal.

He doesn't care about me, he's just hungry..."

The bluenette moved his hair out of his eyes, not sure how to respond.

"Maybe I'm alone...I guess I'll die that way, too."

"Stop being depressing. Isn't it Valentine's Day?"

"Yes..."

"Lighten up.."

He hugged him again.

Ciel returned the gesture hesitantly.

Then he cupped his face, "I will have you..."

"Love to see you try."

"Or I'll die trying."

"Don't do that.."

He just gazed at him, looking slightly sad.

Phantomhive made the same expression.

He tucked a strand of blue hair behind his ear, not sure what to say.

"Cheer up."

"How can I?"

"I don't know."

"Ciel..." he started.

"Yeah?"

"I hate you." He said affectionately, taking his face in both hands and kissing him.

The nobleman was flabbergasted at the kiss, unsure what to do.

He let go and buried his face in his hands. "...I hate you so much..."

"Alois.." He sounded, reaching up to touch his own lips.

He didn't reply.

"Well, isn't this interesting." Sounded a voice from behind them.

The earl turned at the new speaker.

There was a figure standing there, with no distinct shape. It just looked like a shadow of a person, with no clear outline. "Hello, boys."

"Who the blazes are you??" Alois reached for Ciel's arm.

It had to be a sort of supernatural being. Ciel only looked at the silhouette with little concern.

"Only your best-est friend in the whole wide world. Now relax and tell dear Cupid all your problems."

Alois glanced between Ciel and the figure.

Cupid..? It was hard to believe if that was true but if so, Now there was a God into play.

"Oh come now, don't look so surprised. You did summon me." They smiled.

"Summon you? What the...?"

"Oh, you know. A spontaneous act of passion just at the crack of dawn."

Oh no..

"Well...go away. I don't want you."

"Ouch. That hurts. I sense pain in your heart." The so-called 'God' showed a set of white teeth when he smiled at him sadly.

Phantomhive remained silent.

"Allow me to help." He stepped towards him.

"No! Stay away." He held on to Ciel. "I don't trust him, Ciel..."

"I don't either..."

He muttered something under his breath.

"Well, alright... if you insist that I'm not to be trusted, I have other business to attend to." The God sighed.

"Actually....Hmm, I wonder..." He snapped his fingers and the figure shifted.

Alois looked in shock, but eventually it turned to sadness, tears building in his eyes. "H-How..."

"What's wrong, Alois?"

"I...Luka..." he sobbed into the smaller boy's shirt.

"Ah, so after nine years, it still stings. What about you, Phantomhive? What do you see?"

If Alois could see Luka, then this figure had some sort of glamour illusion... When his eyes was upon the figure all he could see was a silhouette.

What on earth did that mean? Was this an affection test of sorts? "Nothing..."

"Interesting. I would've thought your parents would be a possibility. Or that demon of yours, because let's face it, he's the only one you trust anymore, isn't he?"

Ciel narrowed his dual eyes.

"Such a shame. You see what you want to see instead of the truth, as humans often do. I guess you don't want to see anything.

Possibly because you're afraid, and possibly because you're angry." The figure showed his teeth again.

Alois still wasn't looking at him.

"Tch.."

Claude appeared behind the God, looking angry, and then confused.

"I guess that's my cue to leave, if you're not interested in my services." He said, and then turned to greet the demon. "Oh, hello."

"Phantomhive, do you care to explain what's going on here?"

"...Some figure, claiming to be Cupid.."

He looked between Alois and Cupid. "...Forgive me, but which one? There's two..." he said slowly, sounding confused.

Alois looked up at the demon with tears. "Oh, Claude..."

Cupid chuckled.

Hmm..

The blonde got up and hugged him lovingly.

"I don't understand. What did I do." The butler glanced down at his master, and then Ciel looking troubled.

"Come on, lets go back..."

Ciel moved his gaze to "Cupid", wondering if he'll answer.

"You know, for a demon, you're rather oblivious. It's a simple glamour spell, I'm surprised you didn't catch it." The God sighed.

"I...don't possess any magic." He glanced away, slightly embarrassed.

"I was under the impression that all demons do."

"Then you were mistaken."

"Well."

The figure peered his pure white eyes at him, and then Alois.

"You really are Cupid, then...what business do you have here?"

"Well, these two here summoned me. Very passionate they are."

Claude glared at Ciel. "....Come. We are going back to the manor."

Phantomhive looked back at the demon before moving his gaze somewhere else, rather ashamed of what happened.

Faustus removed Alois. "I said, come. You're both in trouble." His usually calm demeanor switched to annoyance.

The icy eyed boy looked ashamed too, and maybe a little embarrassed.

Phantomhive got down and crossed his arms.

Trancy looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry." He apologized to either Claude or Ciel.

The demon started walking back to the manor. Alois followed.

The earl tagged behind.

Cupid followed behind the nobleman.

The bluenette didn't notice on bit.

Once they reached the manor, Cupid kind of hung around outside. Claude had regained his composure halfway through and allowed Alois to ride on his shoulders.

Ciel didn't enter the manor this time, at least not just yet.

"That one is different... but then again, I haven't seen too many demons in my time. They just usually aren't capable of love."

He glanced around to find the figure before sighing, going back to his room.

Cupid frowned, "Hey, that's rude."

"What am I to say to that?"

"Well, I'm saying your case is rare. In love with a demon? Ciel Phantomhive? What a shocker."

"Tch.."

"And Sebastian Michaelis, at that. He's kinda famous."

Ciel didn't know where Alois, nor his butler went but stayed by himself.

The God sighed and left him by alone for now.

Claude came in and didn't look at Ciel as he dusted.

Nor did he speak to the butler, messing with his hands.

"Your butler will be here to fetch you by tonight." He said simply, lifting a vase to clean under it.

Ciel might've been slightly relieved to hear that.

"His highness is releasing you. For what reason, I couldn't tell you."

"Well now."

He sighed. Why couldn't the bitch just let him eat his soul already.

Phantomhive missed his butler dearly....the day was nearly over.

Claude opened the door to leave the room.

At least it felt that way to him. Stress threatened to raise due to the earlier event.

The demon left him alone, and so did everyone else.

Ciel laid down to further pass time

-There was a knock on the door at about six in the evening.-

"Yes?"

A certain red eyed demon peered in with a smile. "I hope you've been taken care of, master."

He knew that voice from anywhere, shooting upright in bed. "Sebastian!"

"I'm glad you're excited to see me." He smiled and stepped inside.

"Of course." He held his arms out.

The taller picked him up. "You're becoming spoiled. I shouldn't be picking you up so much."

"I've been spoiled."

"That is true."

Something felt a bit wrong to him.

Sebastian sensed his discomfort and cupped his face. "Is something the matter?"

"..It's nothing."

He smiled and kissed him, but almost immediately pulled back. "Ciel..."

"Yes.."

The demon stared at him. "Why do I taste someone else on your lips."

"Something happened today.."

"Explain."

The tone of his remark suddenly brought nervousness to Ciel. "Don't get mad.."

He just set him down on the bed and waited for an explanation.

"Alois wanted me to tag along to a place. Once there, he kept saying how he hated me and.."

Michaelis crossed his arms.

"He kissed me..."

Sebastian looked away. He knew it was coming. He didn't say anything, just sat there.

"And I didn't know what to do.."

He glanced at him with fiery red eyes.

Ciel was looking at the ground, admittedly afraid to even meet the other's gaze. He felt like crying for a moment.

His butler took his wrists and pinned him to the bed, the kisses he gave to his lips very possessive and passionate.

Phantomhive's eyes widen at the actions, returning the smooches the best he was capable of.

He was gripping him rather tightly and bared his fangs when he pulled away.

"I should undress you right here, right now, and have my way with you...I should make him hear you scream my name. You are mine." He looked genuinely angry.

Ciel's features were sad. "I know....I apologize..It happened quickly so I was taken back.."

Despite the anger and sorrow being projected, The demon's words made his pale cheeks turn a dusty pink.

He kissed him again. "Mine. All mine. Not anyone else gets to kiss you like this. No one else gets to touch you like I do."

"Understood.."

Sebastian eventually calmed down and released his wrists, anger fizzing away. He gave him a gentle smooch and got off of him.

Never has the male witnessed the demon like that before.

A sigh came from him. "I'm sorry... Did I hurt you?"

"A little bit.."

He took his hands and kissed each of his wrists. "Forgive me...I forget how fragile you can be."

"It's alright.."

The demon stood and lifted him once more. "Let us return to the manor. It is Valentines Day, after all."

Ciel gave him a warm smile.

He carried him out of the room. Hannah was sweeping, and Claude was currently washing laundry. Who knew where Alois was.

Phantomhive was glad to be back in his butler's arms.

Cupid was sitting on the railway of the steps. Sebastian didn't glance twice at him.

The bluenette's head was upon the other's broad shoulder.

"Oh, you managed to summon a god...yay..." he muttered to himself and walked out.

"It wasn't intentional.."

"You're very good at accidentally summoning things."

"Oh hush."

"Take me for example."

"Even though it was accidental, It was a great one."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Of course."

He walked him out to a carriage. "At least they dressed you decently."

He made a slight chuckle.

"Where Trancy lacks in sanity, he makes up for with fashion sense."

"Pfftt."

"Since it is Valentine's Day, I have events planned. It'll be just the two of us. Is that alright, master?"

"Yes, that's fine."

He smiled and offered him his hand as they rode back towards the manor.

Ciel gladly took the demon's hand.

Sebastian enclosed the much smaller one with both of his. A smile graced his lips.

The corners of Phantomhive's mouth curved up as well.

When they reached the manor, he pulled him into his arms. He carried Ciel to the door.

The bluenette pecked the demon's cheek.

When he opened the door, he revealed extravagant decorations of white roses and pearls all around. "Dinner is ready."

How beautiful it was. It was sweet how he took everything into consideration. "Oh really?"

He nodded and carried him to the dining room. The servants were no where to be found.

But, the demon always did that. Perhaps it was the event of Valentine's day that made it feel special. Maybe even got rid of the others too. So far, Ciel was enjoying it.

The crimson-eyed butler placed him at the head chair and kissed his forehead gently. Then he went to retrieve his food.

My, how have they both developed.

Notes:

Tbh, Sebs scared me when he did that suddenly. omg.

So possessive.

Chapter 8: Swan Arc

Summary:

The young master and his butler share a glancéd night together. Soon the close contact is interrupted by a letter from her Majesty. What on earth happened this time?

Notes:

Helllooo! I am so sorry for the long wait. School is drawing to a close and to celebrate, here is a new chapter that should fill 90% of your satisfaction.

Enjoy! :)

Do any of you have any ideas as if to what this Arc has in store?? Leave a comment to chat about it.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

His Butler, Striking

Sebastian held his hand over his eyes and set a plate of food down in front of him. "Just try to guess what it is."

"Um....I don't know..." He chuckled.

"Open your mouth." He smiled, holding a piece to his mouth.

Ciel did so.

He fed him a piece. "What do you think?" He tried to make something both sweet and savory for dinner, because he knew Ciel was fond of sweet things.

"Give me a hint?"

"Fish."

"Tell me."

He shook his head with a smile. "Maple salmon paired with black rice." Sebastian removed his hand from his eyes.

"It tastes wonderfully." He gave him a smile.

"Thank you, sir." He handed him the fork.

Phantomhive lightly took it from him before quietly eating.

He ran his gloved fingers through his hair before removing his hand.

It was indeedly sweet and savory, Ciel loved it.

The centerpiece of the table was a bouquet of white and cream roses. Sebastian smiled and watched him eat, pleased that he enjoyed the meal.

He loved how his favorite hue of roses were nearly everywhere. The simplest things the demon did made him happy.

The servant stood next to his master. It really was good to see him smile. Once he was done, he took the plate from him and wiped the remains from the corners of his

mouth with a napkin. Before he left to take the plate to the kitchen, he placed a kiss on his cheek.

The dual eyed boy smiled before messing with his fingers.

He brought him out dessert. Or rather, desserts. In each arm, he carried at least three plates. Chocolate cake, eclairs, fluffy, light pastries and dense chocolates adorned

with beautiful garnishes. He laid all of the plates out in front of the earl, smiling proudly.

He was shocked at the arrange of delights. "Sebastian...Here I thought you didn't want me to consume sweets like this.

"Oh, but it's an occasion. Just once won't hurt." He grinned and kissed his cheek. "Go on and enjoy yourself."

Phantomhive grinned back at him happily.

How he loved to see that smile.

"Thank you."

"Of course, my darling master."

Darling? His cheeks tinted pink at the pet name.

He chuckled at the color and kissed each blushing cheek. Adorable. "Go on." He gestured to the sweets.

The blue haired boy looked back at the display before dipping straight into the chocolate cake.

He chuckled. "Of course..."

"Shush." He joked.

"Yes sir."

"I didn't mean it."

He smiled and kissed his cheek.

Ciel took one bite out of it with delight, moving on to the other treats.

The servant kneeled and fed him a bite of vanilla pudding.

Phantomhive made a smile at him as he happily ate it.

"Do you remember my first attempt at making you food?" He chuckled.

"Yes." He laughed as well.

"Utter failure."

"Shame."

"I knew little about human food back then."

"Yes."

[worm-in-a-trenchcoat]

| Monster High | Wolf Family Headcanons

- Clawdeen is terrible at talking to/flirting with other girls. Whenever she tries she gets tongue tied and flustered, or they just think she's complimenting them. Howleen thinks it's hilarious.

- Howleen is the "activist" of the family. Organizing Monster lives matter rallys and pushing for change around the school and community. Her parents are equally proud and worried for her safety (she's definitely been brought home in a cop car at least once).

- Surprisingly, Clawd goes to Howleen first when he begins questioning his sexuality. Him and Clawdeen are closer, but Howleen knows more about this stuff than her.

- Howleen didn't exactly "come out" sexuality wise, they just kinda brought Twyla home one day and introduced her to the family as their partner. Later their parents had a talk with them about it (a good talk, ofc) and that's when they came out as genderfluid as well.

- Clawdeen realized she was gay when she realized she had feelings for Draculaura. That was her true reasoning behind her not wanting Clawd and Draculaura to date, it just took her a while to see it.

- Clawd and Clawdeen have a "twin day" once a month. They pick a day and spend the whole day together hanging out. One time Clawdeen managed to convince Clawd to get his nails done with her (he enjoyed it a lot more than he'd ever admit).

- Howleen brings Twyla over so much she's practically apart of the family. Harriet and Clawrk both *love* her.

- Howleen took Clawd and Clawdeen to their first Pride fest. Since she came out, Howleen usually goes every year with Twyla, but this year Twyla suggested she bring her siblings along.

- Clawd was a bit out of his comfort zone at first (he still hasn't completely figured his sexuality out yet). He totally got his picture taken with a dude dressed as Jesus though.

- He was surprised to see Romulus there with some of his friends. That definitely didn't make his heart start racing and he definitely didn't avoid him the entire time, nope.

- Clawdeen had a blast. She made an outfit specifically for that day and got up early to style her hair and do her makeup. She nearly passed out when a cute girl asked for her number. Now she has a date the following weekend and is officially having her first gay panic.

- Howleen knows that Twyla gets over-stimulated at big events like this, so they usually walk around and look at the booths and bands playing for a bit, then set up a picnic blanket in a quieter spot.

-

This is purely self indulgent and I'm almost certainly going to write a fanfic series around my headcanons, just because. I'm in the process of making the outline, I just gotta find the motivation to actually you know... write it 😅.

I'm also going to redesign the characters. Mattel should hire me, I'm fixing their brand for FREE.

[dirt-eater-nomnom]

Scraptrap's design (and how cool it could be)

I am going to willingly ignore how stupid afton's skeleton looks, but I do have a lot of positive ideas of what this model COULD tell us

And I may be wrong!

But I'll begin with saying that I watched the ooftroop's videos on redesigning this peanut a little bit ago and I adore them. This isn't a redesign, just an analysis, but I highly recommend those videos

Scott made a lot of design choices that I view as funky, but it's for a stylized game and it fits into ffps pretty well.

And whatever the hell remnant is doing to afton's body is pretty fucking insane (I think remnant, if expanded on, could be pretty cool, fight me), what the hell is happening with his muscles? If they are even muscles? Once you get to those feet its impossible to tell the suit apart from his body, they're completely tangled up (is this a retcon for springtrap not having the costume feet? Genuine question) and the head, how he had to use some janky metal to keep the eyes open and the head on, damn.

Also those fucking teeth, this is actually a question I have for all of the animatronics, who the hell approved these designs with these teeth? Who looked at the teeth and said "yeah these look good. Its a good idea to have this many" Like I understand that the endos and animatronics need these so they can stand seperatly as characters in these games, but really guys? For childerns entertainment?

I think these design elements, his muscles being wrapped around the costume frantically, it being held together by, well, scrap, tell us how desperate Afton is. The remnant is not letting him go, and there's fear in the way his muscles are sutering the suit. I'm not sure who's really the engineer of the pizzeria, as I think the story leans towards Emily being the one who built the animatronics, but hes spent his life around engineering concepts since he joined forces with Emily, hell, he has his own line of animatronics, but theres no method or consistency to how he's being held together within the suit. He's having to work on himself, and his work is being rushed, but clearly not by deadlines, by his own fear.

I mean, you can see it in the way his actual mouth is turned down (again, why does his skill have...lips? But I digress), he is in agony (as he should be).

Alright, but the real reason I wanted to make this was for the iconic missing arm. I have a personal headcannon that the books definitely decimate, but I can't read so they're not going to stop me.

So I think Afton is looking to get out of the suit. If he had the choice, he wouldnt be wearing rusting metal and decaying fabric that he has to keep repairing, if he could he would trade in for something much sturdier. But it may be the remnant's fault for trapping him in, he died in that old suit, and now he's forever trapped in it. The remnant keeps him alive, in any way it can, and when he almost certainly suffered crushed bones, it fuzed him into the suit that would outlive and outperform his body. Remnant clearly doesn't perfectly regenerate the human body (cough cough Michael cough cough) but it finds a way to keep the soul able to access and manipulate the physical world.

I like to think Afton had full intentions on getting out of the springlock suit after the fnaf 3 fire destroyed it (or even if it wasnt destroyed, maybe in that case he wanted out of what "killed" him). He starts with his left arm, he takes the suit off, chipping away at the metal. But, his bones are weaker than that old metal, and part of his forearm comes off too (oopsie!). And now he knows getting out of the suit and finding a new body isn't an option, not unless he's able to put himself back together like a jigsaw puzzle, which I dont think is very viable, even for a walking corpse in a rabbit suit.

And then you can extend into the idea a phantom pains, how much did it hurt to sharpen the exposed bone? If he can feel that, can he feel his lost arm too (we're already so deep into supernatural events, why not?)? Does he have any control over his missing hand (maybe thats how burntrap got his hand back)? Idk I like to think too deep into things and this is one of those things.

But just to finish this out,

Its evolving! Just...backwards...

Take note of how burntrap's connections are much more methodical and neat (and how springtrap hasnt had to mess with his body to stay together yet)

Springtrap is by far my favorite design in this series though.

-bonus

I like to think that the feet were always just a piece of metal that you could just wear like shoes. So in my head its entirely possibly that afton's feet are still intact. Feet people, do with this what you will (please for the love of god don't, this manthing has too many simps and fetishes connected to him already god I'm unleasing a beast arent i?)

[flamesmemory]

Psychic Witch, Exercise 8: Psychic Dimmer

So as I mentioned in my last post, I was really worried about this exercise. I've approached this book with the idea that maybe if I start from square one and build up carefully, I'll learn whatever it is that I missed that will let me actually get my senses under control so I can get better at things. And honestly the idea of failing at this type of exercise again was discouraging. But I'm determined to actually finish these one way or another so I went for it. And at the end of it, well, I'm just going to say it up front--

This technique is the holy grail of sensory control.

I've no idea (yet) how it works in the background, and the visualization is pretty simple on the surface, but it works.

After an initial abbreviated test, I decided to find a place where I could safely take down all of my normal shields so that they wouldn't interfere and I'd have a clean slate to do a fair test. I was really curious how just this technique alone would work with my senses.

I used the dimmer switch visualization, rather than the faucet one. When I turned it down, it was immediately obvious that input had decreased. It made my head a little tense so I'm not sure I would want to use it for long periods, but otherwise it wasn't uncomfortable. What was really interesting though was that while other methods of blocking psychic input tend to make the world feel depressingly flat (almost like everything turns black and white instead of color?), this technique did not do that. The world looks almost the same and I can still function, it's just…quieter.

At this point I verified that I could turn the switch back to normal and get back to my normal baseline, which was gratifyingly easy: I didn't feel like I had to finagle a lot of things to get it to work right. There was little adjustment time before everything felt completely normal again. Like I've noticed if I've had things turned down, things stay slightly quieter than normal for a couple minutes, and if I've had things turned up they stay slightly sharper than normal for a couple minutes. But that does fade with no further issues.

After going back to normal, I tried turning the switch up like the instructions recommended to get more information. This was the one that really surprised me. Usually when I get more information, everything gets louder but not more useful--like turning up the volume on a radio and getting more white noise. When I used this technique to increase the volume, it was like everything got sharper instead of louder: the important parts stood out. When I tried to talk to spirits it was so crystal clear I checked that I wasn't just suddenly imagining things. When I tried to look around, what was important both stood out and somehow made more sense so that I knew what needed to be done. This part was so exciting--literally nothing else that I've found has worked this well, and it certainly wasn't a side effect I was expecting from an exercise for turning senses down!

After I was pretty confident that I could use the technique correctly, I went ahead and put up my normal shields and tried it again. As it turns out, using the technique on its own was the right choice, because however my shields normally work did not interface well and gave me a stabbing headache immediately 😂 But this technique works so incredibly well and is so useful that it will definitely be worth redesigning things.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

So I realised a number of my self-inserts don't actually have any visual references yet (which I was trying to collate for my carrd), and

This old model I made for Emily definitely needs overhauling (I'm almost certainly going to redesign her outfit when I make a new reference model on the more accurate base), but it doesn't actually look too bad when given the updated textures, does it?