#and a classic RPG style AU

[raymoo--hackery]

I'm so fucking seishin pilled rn and I might be fucking insane but this song feels so seishincore to me

The lyrics feel like they might be too vague tho but every time I listen to this I see a whole fucking seishin animation in my brain cells like oooogh oooooogh like some ddc isc angst mayhaps liiikee grrrrr grrrrrrrr these two drive me fucking insane

[tlonista]

A whole mess of Astarion hurt/comfort fanfic recs

OK fine I've read so much Astarion hurt/comfort-adjacent fic that I should really put together an incomplete rec list. Be warned that with Astarion's canon backstory there's a lot of abuse and assault references of varying explicitness, so check the AO3 tags. I'm also limiting myself to one fic per author because otherwise I'd end up with several pages of Asidian and FlowerCitti. In case you're wondering, my personal contribution to the field is Seducere.

Ongoing Fics:

innocence died screaming by FlowerCitti

Comprehensive pre- and in-canon Astarion character study. Contains possibly the most heartwrenching post-Astarion-locked-tomb-era turn I've ever read. Very good.

Another Path by Asidian

A sweet Wyllstarion monster hunter x monster no-tadpole AU in which Astarion gets captured/rescued by Wyll straight out of a year in a coffin and navigates basic human kindness for the first time in a couple centuries.

Seen by ayvaines

Modern Bloodweave AU where Cazador is Astarion's cruel, controlling boyfriend and Gale is the kind D&D GM who's hosting them both in a game. As makes sense for a modern AU, it's a more-understated-than-canon take on Astarion coming to terms with the fact that he's in an abusive relationship, working out his feelings about Cazador through tabletop roleplaying, including some clever scenes dealing with the bleed of intense RPG sessions.

Heartbeats by LadyRagnelle

Canon-divergent Durgestarion fic where Astarion was recaptured by his siblings, memory-wiped, and then rescued by a team of companions he no longer remembers. A lot of well-executed (and sometimes surprisingly funny) angst around Astarion, charlatan that he is, trying to pretend he hasn't forgotten absolutely everything including how to be a non-level-1 rogue and have friends.

The stars began to burn by peregrinefeathers

Gale is trapped in fantasy nullspace and gets Astarion free of Cazador's clutches, after which they navigate an odd-couple relationship while trying to kill Cazador and pull Gale back into the physical world. Another classic "Astarion learns what human decency is" no-tadpole AU.

Memoir by IzzyIzGay

An Interview with the Vampire-style fic in which Astarion tells Gale about his time under Cazador, playing with that series' trademark unreliable narration and an unusually literal version of Cazador's creepy family dynamic.

Starved by neo7v

A modern non-magical Bloodweave AU featuring Astarion and the lonely degradation of a precarious service industry job! Only a few chapters so far, but seriously, it takes the "vampiric starvation" theme in a direction that's very mundane and miserable and compelling and it's one of my favorite recently started fics.

Unexpected Guests by Erandir

Another "get loved and cared for, sucker" no-tadpole AU featuring a non-Tav druid OC taking care of a lost Astarion who's escaped Baldur's Gate. Astarion and druids, the perfect foil.

Through The Night Dark And Drear by JJJSchmidt

Astarion is accidentally bargained off to an archfey by Cazador and taken to the palace of infuriatingly confusing fair folk magic! There's still a lot of story left to be uncovered, but I love the worldbuilding and fairy-tale premise.

snare by parsnipit

A Halstarion fic where Astarion never got tadpoled and the gang ends up rescuing him from Cazador, post-game, with his compulsions very much intact. Which leads naturally to hissing wet cat Astarion reluctantly learning to trust Halsin while they plot to take down Cazador.

One-Shots:

Quick Step by starkraving

starkraving's another person who could have made up a big chunk of this list, and this character study plays really well on the classic "how the hell does Astarion know how to be a rogue anyway" fandom conversation. My favorite entry in a good and growing series of Astarion-centered fics.

Gifts by Feena_c

Astarion gets caught by Cazador before the confrontation at the palace. Impeccable "Cazador doesn't realize Astarion didn't just come back to Baldur's Gate, he came back loved" vibe, as Cazador tries to break Astarion by taking away the gifts the tadpole gang gave him along the way.

What is Affection but the Absence of Cruelty by Aztec24

One of my favorite tropes is "Astarion tortures himself by obsessively imagining how awful these perfectly nice people will be to him," and this very much delivers. Featuring a rare two-Tavs-plus-Astarion throuple!

The Mimic by ForsakenFlyingCircus

This is really hurt-no-comfort, but I'm including it because it's a good super sad take on dehumanization with an awful Tav confirming all the worst things Astarion thinks about himself and the world, touching on the whole problem of sentient monsters in D&D.

Peel the scars from off my back by WitchyBee

A Spawn Family fic in the aftermath of Astarion getting Cazador's contract on his back - lots of antagonistic but grudgingly caring sibling interaction and Astarion being satisfyingly ambivalent about it all.

Complete Multi-Chapter Fic:

Just A Taste by NightmareGiraffe

The tadpole gang gets imprisoned at Moonrise Towers and Astarion accepts an offer from Araj Oblodra in exchange for their freedom. A very dark yet totally in-character elaboration on the canon blood merchant encounter, plus a cool dragonborn Tav.

The Accountant’s Guide to Taking Down an Evil Vampire Lord (and maybe bagging Astarion while you are at it) by Cinnamontails

A charming f!OC-who-isn't-Tav/Astarion longfic that combines hurt/comfort with het romance novel conventions, which I feel like is rarely pulled off.

And I know there's a ton I missed here -- god this fandom is big.

[dreemurr-skelememer]

@olisa-iwannasleep replied to your post “Kia plz.... I want to hear the Dreamtale rant...”:

By "undertale style" do you mean it should have undeltale-ish structure? Like, ruins, hotland, etc? I agree that it should be more diverse, bc of how different the monsters can be, but as far as I know, Dreamtale isn't an AU. It's a separate place, but still a piece of the multiverse, like doodle sphere, anti-void, omega timeline, those kinda places. So it could be more interesting, but it shouldn't follow the underground structure, I would say

yes but also no! i could go in-depth more about it by drawing out the actual map i have drafted in my mind, but what i basically meant is that instead of just having the tree and the village, there could be more potential in setting up a proper map with structure. for example, the omega timeline (if i remember right, it's been like 7 years since i did a thorough research on its functions) has different areas in it as well.

the center of the au could be the tree, and surrounding the tree could be different areas. it offers more areas of story potential and helps logicize how their world works and how they would go about doing daily tasks, their culture, what they're doing there and for what, how, and why. world building is such a forgotten part of writing and i'm not saying i'm GOOD at it, but it's really important!

the classic undertale (and other classic-centric AU) structures are too linear, and it's built that way for story reasons and RPG reasons. so it won't be literally like undertale

i was talking more about in terms of how undertale and the underground as a whole is a well-made place. the world building was presented so well that it felt like a real place that could be found and explored.

if you are going to make an AU that is somewhat realistic (villages existing in dreamtale), you need to consider where the places are and why they're there and how they're there. it's definitely a part of the in-between (as i'd call it, just non-classic-centric) but it's still bound within realistic expectations such as having a village with residents just living their lives and not anything meta related (reiterating)

how do the villagers get food? do they hunt in a forest or do they farm in a field? how do they get water? is there a river or a lake nearby?

the first chapter of dreamtale is way too vague to work with so creating places that seem insignificant can help writers and artists so much. i've read so many dreamtale fics where there's conflicting and varying versions of where the tree, the village, and their area is. sometimes they're surrounded by a forest, sometimes they're next to a river, sometimes there's a beach nearby. it's really interesting.

[thedenofravenpuff]

I need to ramble a bit cuz today's SAMS episode reminded me HEAVILY of an AU I worked on last year but only managed half a chapter for a never published fic.

Solstice, a creature I called a FNAF-punk for a while, a cyborg created from a human with the DCA parts from the pizzaplex in a post apocalyptic world.

In the setting the world is a classic ruin after a big event, the cities are in shambles, humanity survived extinction, still facing dangers through wandering animatronics.

The idea was one day the Afton Virus went into overdrive and had EVERY animatronic set loose upon humanity, infecting machines and computers. Their sole purpose? Kill humans in most tortuous ways to harvest Remnant as energy source. Chaos and destruction of society ensues.

People try to rebuild but have to stay vary of the world around them, as surviving animatronics may to still wander about, searching for Remnant to keep themselves going. No big factories to keep spitting them out, as they turn out to avoid the places of their "birth" due to the instinct to "escape", like Circus Baby & Co. in Sister Location. They rather avoid the places of imprisonment, yet humans also avoid those places in fear of encountering new animatronics to hunt them.

Humans surviving on scavenging and raiders in classic fallout style, just trying to live and move on.

Solstice lives in what's left of the pizzaplex, a rare specimen of cyborg that hasn't given into the Afton Virus as it usually affects cyborgs too. Known as Punks among humans, they are seen as bad as freaks, aka animatronics. Instead of using Remnant to power herself Solstice has relied on the generators still going in the pizzaplex to power her parts, which has helped keeping her sanity for the most part. Though her mind often blends with the programs and memories of the DCA she's merged with. It has kept them alive longer than a human with its injuries would have naturally. Though they lack the memories of when/how/why they got turned into a cyborg.

The idea was she joined a party of surviving humans to finally leave the pizzaplex and try find a way to use her abilities for good. While her human companions start learning the truth of what went off with the animatronics, and the constant threat of insanity looming over Solstice despite its best effort to stay friendly and helpful. Phew, there, off my chest for now

Just an old concept I never get to use for anything for real.

Enjoy!

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[dragimal]

Fave Long Fics

good ol' @arahir is asking for everyone's fave long fics, so here are mine!

sorry if the rambling is a bit long, I just want to express my love <3

🌟: denotes a fic that belongs in the literary equivalent of the Louvre-- a stunning piece of writing even outside of its contribution to the fandom

JJBA

🌟 scheherazade -- shylittleghost; Josuke/Okuyasu-centric, but multiple POVs; canon-compliant prequel/sequel to part 4, necessary to read/watch part 4 to understand

this is one of those fics that not only elevates the original work in several ways, but it's a stunning piece of writing as a whole. the flow and tone of the piece is so unique and difficult to describe, with a fitting balance between mystery/horror and deadpan humor, and uses the narrating voice to play with the 4th wall in a really fun and satisfying way. oh, and one of the last chapters is a little RPG game, adding a bit little multimedia twist <3

BEASTARS

🌟 Mongrels and Strays series (mainly Mongrels and Lockjaw)-- HassouToby; technically Mongrels' primary ships are Legosi/Haru and Louis/Juno, but it's more genfic with multiple POVs. Lockjaw is Pina/Riz-centric; canon divergence from ch 156 of the manga, so it's necessary to read at least that far to understand

I have a complicated love/hate relationship with Beastars, but this fic honestly retroactively makes Beastars a better experience, imo. it not only enhances the source material, but engages and challenges its implications in ways that I frankly think Beastars itself failed to, introducing a new final antagonist, new thematic tension, and new challenges for the main characters to face. more than anything though, Mongrels feels like what the end of Beastars should have been. this fic isn’t afraid to up the stakes and have actual consequences, making the central conflict feel like a real threat to both individual characters and society as a whole. this fic is intense and brutal, and it’s not afraid to make the characters you love hurt

Homestuck

🌟 Detective Pony -- sonnetstuck; Dirk-centric(??); it's an extension of a one-off joke in the comic, but it's not necessary to know HS to read it (but it's def more satisfying if you're at least familiar with the Alpha kids)

does this fic even need to be stated, for any HS fan? this is a classic of classics, the best rec any HS fan could give. a fic that starts off with a goofy joke from the original comic (a Pony Pals kid's book that Dirk has edited with silly commentary), which gradually snowballs into a much deeper story. a stunning piece of writing, I rank it among the best works of metafiction literature of all time. this fic does an incredible job of imitating Hussie's writing style (specifically Dirk's voice) and the multi-media presentation of HS, it almost feels like it popped straight out of the comic

Endangered -- Mortior; Dirk/Hal, Dirk-centric; robot-apocalypse AU, not necessary to know anything about HS

rly fun au, and one of my fave whump fics, for any whump fans out there. it's also one of my favorite depictions of an AI personality, like the approach to relationships and perceptions feels believable

The Magnus Archives

🌟 Two Ships Passing -- pyrites; Gerry Keay/Jon Sims-centric; a canon-divergent au starting before canon which slightly shifts the flow of the original story, so it's not strictly necessary to be familiar with TMA, but it helps

I must admit I never got around to finishing this one after it finished updating (😭), but trust me when I say this fic is stunning. some scenes still grip me 'round the throat to this day even just thinking about them. and the additional lore/background-building for certain characters is so so fitting and satisfying, it adds so much depth

To The Moon and Back series (main fic is Banned Book Week) -- verboseDescription; several different POVs, though BBB is Gerry/Tim-centric; the main fic diverges from canon after season 3, so I suppose knowledge up to that point is fine

another one I need to get around to finishing someday (idk why I dropped off a bunch of TMA fics specifically...), but this one introduces some interesting new character dynamics, and additional lore-building for many of the characters that adds fun new depth. also a few OCs whom I simply adore <3

What Belongs to the Sea -- TwoDrunkenCelestials, WhyNotFly; starts Elias/Jon, with Jon/Martin endgame, Jon-centric; "Jon is a selkie" au, and the fic implies/explains the rest of canon well enough to read without being familiar with TMA imo

this fic approaches canon worldbuilding from the direction of a different species, giving a unique new perspective on established truths of the setting. I also love the way Jon's character is so different, but still fundamentally the same kinda guy-- "fuck around and find out"-ass man lmao. not to mention Elias' fucked-up dynamic with Jon is ramped up here in a really delicious way, it rly puts their canon dynamic into perspective

Danny Phantom

🌟 Phantom of Truth / Shadow of a Doubt -- HaiJu; Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton-centric; "what if" scenario divergence from an unspecific point in canon, would prolly be best to be familiar with the show but u can prolly get away with some wiki skimming

this one's a classic, and one of the big contributors to the "dissection/vivisection" genre of whump in the DP fandom, haha. it's such an intimate analysis of Danny's relationship with his mom, and it refuses to pull punches on Danny's situation and resulting trauma. I think it also does an excellent job challenging Maddie's perception/ethics in genuine and fundamental ways

Rise of the Guardians (movie)

🌟 Shadows and Light series -- not_poignant; Jack Frost/Pitch Black, Jack-centric; canon-compliant sequel to the movie (can't speak for book canon), u can prolly get away with reading a wiki summary if u don't wanna watch the movie

one of my fave fics for a decade now, I absolutely LOVE what this fic does for ROTG worldbuilding. so much thought is put into the politics of the fae community, and how magic functions both practically and thematically. and it introduces a ton of cool fae ocs, many of which now have their own stories, as the author has used their fae world here in other original stories as well (would also recommend!!). and the relationship between Pitch/Jack is excellent of course, with a lot of interesting BDSM elements to their dynamic (a common trend in this author's other writing as well)

Mob Psycho 100

🌟 A Breach of Trust -- Phantomrose96; Ritsu, Mob, & Reigen-centric, but multiple other POVs as well; diverges from canon before the start of the canon story, so knowing MP100 isn't necessary

this is a really fun "what if Reigen and Mob didn't meet when they were supposed to?" canon-divergent au. it pushes basically every character to their worst, most self-destructive ends, and it makes me want to throttle some of them (affectionate <3). the fic isn't done yet (as of posting this), but it promises to end satisfyingly-- it just has to put everyone through the wringer first lmao

Welcome to Night Vale

🌟 run, run, fast as you-- -- (orphaned); Cecil/Carlos, Carlos-centric; compliant with early NV lore, mostly diverges in some of Carlos' background and motivations moving to Night Vale. familiarity with s1 would be useful, but not strictly necessary

really really stunning fic, I love the additional lore-building for Carlos and Cecil here, so much is added to their characters. since this is such an old fic, some of the lore here ends up being retroactively false, as the podcast introduced different lore later on. but I almost wish some of the lore here was canon b/c it's just that good (like Cecil's whole thing with the orphanage, and how the orphanage even functions OUGH!)

The Devil Went Down To Georgia (you heard that right, the country song)

🌟 The Devil Went Down to Georgia (And Then Went Down on Johnny) series -- notbecauseofvictories; Johnny/The Devil, Johnny-centric; I guess a modern take on canon, kinda treated like an original story tbh, but like. you can also just listen to the song beforehand

the author clearly has a deep knowledge and passion for music-- especially country music-- and it rly shines through in this fic. the celebration of music and community and country culture here is just. idk, it's like being invited to the table, somehow, I love it. this whole fic is poetry and it makes me ache

Portal

Blue Sky -- wafflestories; Wheatley/Chell-centric; canon-compliant sequel to the second game, necessary to know the games to understand

I must admit it's been several years since I've read this one, so my memory of it isn't quite as strong. but I remember it being a very loving rehabilitation of Wheatley and Chell's relationship, and I believe it's considered a classic by the ship's fans.

How To Train Your Dragon (movie)

I Hear Him Scream -- Rift-Raft; Toothless & Hiccup-centric; diverges from canon at the point when Hiccup downs Toothless with the net at the beginning of the movie, so watching the movie isn't super necessary, tho I imagine most of us have seen it (as we should!!)

I don't know that I would call this one particularly well-written-- it can get kinda awkward and jarring at points, and the end of the story kinda goes off the rails for me. but the premise and worldbuilding make up for it, imo. but I admit I love xenofiction, so I love seeing the deep lore about dragon culture/society this fic presents

Kekkai Sensen

Fleißiger Junge -- TheLennyBunny; Klaus/Leo, Leo-centric; demon/angel au, not necessary to know KKSS

I really love the demon/angel worldbuilding in this one, with a delicious twist of horror that's so fitting to canon /chef's kiss/. and the way Leo's family is characterized (with several OC characters) is so so fun and charming. good eating for the starving Klaus/Leo fans out there 😭

RWBY

🌟 Teaching Qrow -- ByronNightshade; Qrow-centric; a canon-compliant prequel to the canon story, a bit of knowledge about the setting and Qrow's backstory are kinda necessary

I fucking love what this fic does for Qrow's character, it treats him with way more nuance and understanding than canon ever has (tho tbf, most Qrow fans do, lol). and all the additional OCs and building on the subtle implications of RWBY lore... AUGH it's good

My Hero Academia

Hero Class Civil Warfare -- RogueDruid; genfic with multiple POVs; "what if" scenario divergence from an unspecific point in canon, prolly necessary to at least be familiar with the world/characters to a point

really fun "what if this class exercise got got a bit too intense, haha~" au. it introduces a ton of fun new dynamics between the characters, and lets Izuku shine as a badass, chessmaster "villain"

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

Imaginary Truths -- Mythril; Kim Dokja/Yoo Joonghyuk-centric; actor au, not necessary to know ORV

this fic does an excellent job translating the canon relationships/dynamics to this setting, and keeps the core of the story/themes intact in rly interesting ways.

new game (+) -- illusionedwhite; Kim Dokja/Yoo Joonghyuk, Yoo Joonghyuk-centric; role-reversal au, and since it starts from the beginning where where canon would have started, I guess it's not technically necessary to read ORV first? but ORV provides more context

this fic is rly careful about the particular way Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk switch roles-- it's very much about their story roles. their core characters/themes remain intact, they're just interpreted through a new lens here. this is for the fans that read ORV and thought, "what if I want to read ORV again, but slightly to the left?"

Genshin Impact

🌟 Begin Anew, O Lost Child -- DarthPeezy; Childe/Zhongli/Guizhong, Childe-centric; a time-travel au that diverges from canon at the battle with Osial in the Liyue chapter, so familiarity up to that point is necessary

there's something about circularity and connection, here. about reaching across expanses of time to connect with those you love, and those you lost. about the horror of fate, and the hope for a future in spite of it. idk, this fic did something to me

we were lovers -- ThirteenSocks; Kazuha/his unnamed friend, Kazuha-centric; "Kazuha loses his vision" au, with a few twists. this fic doesn't really touch canon involving the traveler, but familiarity with Inazuma is necessary, so at least up through that chapter in-game.

what else can I say except this fic is beautiful-- it has the same melodic quality that I associate with Kazuha himself, so it feels perfectly appropriate.

To Be or Not To Be (Human With You) -- lilbittofmatcha; Aether/Scaramouche, Aether-centric; diverges after the end of the whole Sumeru chapter, familiarity up to that point is necessary

I really really love Traveler fics that acknowledge that the Traveler is essentially an otherworldy alien being, and was perhaps even godlike(??) before landing in Teyvat. I especially love Aether's characterization here, and the obvious comparisons to be made with Scara's situation

Sinking Ships in Liyue Harbor -- whereherbonesareburied; Diluc/Kaeya, Diluc-centric; a "what if Kaeya left" divergence from canon sometime after the events of the Mondstadt chapter. it's necessary to be familiar with Kaeya and Diluc's relationship, so reading up on their lore is best, though familiarity up through the Liyue chapter will help with this one

something about the pacing and framing of this fic really charms me. like, Diluc's journey to find Kaeya is kinda framed as a series meetings with several new people, like snapshots from a photo album? it's fun to see so many different, brief impressions of characters through his eyes

Osomatsu-san

Dissociation Disease -- PyrrhicFiend; Karamatsu-centric; technically features multiple AUs, but the core story is show canon. not strictly necessary to be familiar with the show

a fic I never ended up finishing (someday..), but I remember it being incredibly trippy and bizarre in the best of ways. though it may not be the best fic to read dealing with dissociation themself, because it grapples a lot with warped perception and hallucinations

🌟 Frater, Ave Atque Vale -- (orphaned); Karamatsu/Osomatsu, Osomatsu-centric; fantasy AU, not necessary to know the show

this one's perhaps on the razor's edge of not being long enough for this list, but I'm counting it anyways. there's something about 'brief' writing styles that often captures me, like parsing a scene down to its bare essentials makes the tone/emotion land more powerfully. this fic is probably my favorite example of this style

Voltron: VLD

The Rites of Courtship -- calibratingentropy; Keith/Thace, Keith-centric; canon-divergence from the end of s1 ep12, and it's kinda necessary to be familiar at least to that point, though u might be able to skim the wiki

a rarepair I never woulda considered if a friend hadn't recced this fic to me way back, haha. this fic features some of my favorite alien worldbuilding, with a lot of thought and care put into Galran culture and biology, I think about it a lot as a specevo creator myself

The Favored Champion -- sugarapplesweet; Sendak/Shiro, Shiro-centric; canon-divergence before canon, while Shiro is still a coliseum fighter

real fucked-up Stockholm Syndrome abusive relationship, Shiro goes thru the wringer </3. I love the way the relationship with the Lions is depicted here too, the chapter where Shiro basically screams at the Black Lion grips me by the throat. another great example of cool Galra worldbuilding too, not as heavy on the bio side as the last one but fun to see either way!

Tokyo Mew Mew

The Deal -- RizuOnceAgain; Ichigo/Quiche, Ichigo-centric; canon-divergent from an unspecified(?) point in canon, and I um. I've never watched TMM and know very little beyond TMM's basic premise and main characters? so take that as you will

I don't often read fics from things I'm not familiar with, but I trust my friend's recs with my life, and this one did not disappoint. I can't speak on how faithful it is to the original, but Ichigo/Quiche's dynamic here makes me go crazy nutso bonkers!! it has me banging on the walls and chewing furniture, oh my god!! it almost makes me wanna watch the show even tho I know I won't like it nearly as much as this fic 😭.

[deejadabbles]

🛍☕️🍿 for the f/o ask game

Asdffghjklkj thank you bestie I couldn't decide which of my f/o's to do so I did a different one for each ask <3

questions are from this ask game, which is super fun.

🛍 [SHOPPING DATE] If you could have one item of your F/O’s in real life, what would you want? Or, if you do have an item of theirs irl, tell us about it!

~Yugi Mutou~

I wanna make a joke about having a puzzle with a hot ghost trapped inside XD I do have that adorable millennium puzzle necklace you gave me tho, so I think that counts <3

other than that, I think I'd love some of the clothes in his wardrobe, man's got style~

☕️ [CAFE DATE] If you and your F/O ran a small business together, what would you sell?

~Jason Todd~

Owning a bookstore with Jason would be amazing. Since I grew up with parents who owned their own businesses, I've personally never felt a calling to that (mainly because I know firsthand how much of a struggle it is) but if owning a store meant a calmer safer life for Jason I'd do it. A bookstore would be perfect since Jason's a bookworm and we'd both be good at recommending things to customers. It could also be a good creative outlet, finding new ways to display stuff, and decorating the store, sounds amazing <3 and not to mention being able to sell my own books in the store, AND I've been getting into learning bookbinding lately, so I could make my own one-of-a-kind special editions of classics and sell them like works of art *u*

🍿 [MOVIE NIGHT] Describe/create an AU centering around you and your F/O!

~Kurt Wagner~

I've been reading lots of fantasy books lately so I can't help picturing a D and D/generic Fantasy AU with him! Kurt would 100% be a rogue. His charisma would be off the charts, so maybe he'd be a dual class as a bard/rogue. Anyway, he'd be the charming rogue who steals from rich, tyrannical men and charms their wives while doing it. I tend to play a rogue when I play RPGs but my real, actual personality probably aligns with a sorceress more closely. So in that case, this is what I'm picturing:

The charming rogue sneaks into a tower, intent on swiping a book of spells filled with invisibility incantations, charm speak, and sleeping potions, perfect resources for a man in his line of work. Only, the rogue is surprised when he's discovered- caught by the lovely sorceress of the tower- he never expected a magic user to be so paranoid, where had she learned such advanced security spells? He is even more surprised when the enchantress isn't even all that perturbed by his intrusion. In fact, she's impressed by his skills and offers him a deal: if he helps her on a quest she's about to embark on, she will give him the book and even teach him the basics in spell casting. Since it's that, or be thrown in her dungeon, he of course agrees. But,, this is Kurt Wager, dashing swashbuckler of all the realms we're talking about, so he makes his own deal with himself; he's intent on charming the sorceress and winning her heart by the journey's end~

.

Oh my goodness that was so fun! Thank you again, Abella, this really made my day brighter ^3^

[robo-milky]

I really love your art style! Also your IB AU is pretty interesting. I know you can't answer this but I love horror RPGs too and I have a few recommendations:

Literally any Uri games (The Crooked Man, Paranoiac, ect.)

END ROLL (It's unconventional psychological horror, is my opinion on the game. It's not listed as horror afaik???)

Re:Kinder is a classic

{Ask Game}

[silent-lily]

i saw your reblog! GOOD LUCK PLAYING OMORI MAN !!!! hope you have fun!!! i know we haven't interacted all that much but still, as a mutual, don't hesitate to scream at me about this game if you ever feel the need to do so! also beware of spoilers! this game will indeed fuck you up but don't we all love to be fucked up by a particularly good storyline sometimes !!!!

also if i may ask, what's your favorite silent hill game? and should they be played in their particular order, or is it ok to just pick any part of the series and enjoy the ride from there? i remember watching a silent hill 3 stream a while ago and absolutely loving that game, never played the others though; i would love to get deeper into the series and that's why i decided to ask you about that :P

HEYYYYY!!!! Thank you, I don't know how far I am in the game but I am certainly having fun! RPG Maker games have always been one of my faves, so Omori just took its rightful place amongst the other well-known gems :) I usually just scroll through Tumblr, reblogging stuff /w comments in the tags but if the need arises - I will gladly scream at you haha. I love love LOVE games that may fuck you up a bit (or not a bit) - psychological horror is one of my faves.

Okay, now THAT is a question I love to hear, as well as the second one. Long-long talk ahead, so I'll put it under the cut for convenience.

My faves are the games that are considered "Classic Silent Hill quadrilogy". Yes, all of the four - even though, if I'm perfectly honest, SH1 and SH3 are THE Faves actually, mostly because of the "Fucked Up Cultist Bullshit" parts of the series and the familial connection of the protags (in SH1 we play as the father, in SH3 we play as his grown-up daughter) who I love dearly. Also Alessa, the one who brought The Fog World and The Otherworld to life.

Many people consider Silent Hill 2 a good part to get into the series (as in to see what the series is all about, its main themes and its "psychological horror" style), and I agree! BUT - if you want to know the actual origins of all fucked-up stuff of that small town you better go with the first part, Silent Hill (1999) (or even another part about which I'll talk in a bit). There's no actual PC version of it out there but there are hacked PSOne versions which can be easily emulated.

Now, SH1 and SH3 are directly connected via story and characters, SH2 and SH4 are mostly standalones BUT connected together via some plot details. So I advise to follow this order of playing because it goes along with the canonical chronology of events:

Silent Hill 1 -> Silent Hill 3 -> Silent Hill 2 -> Silent Hill 4: The Room

(also for the love of everything DO NOT PLAY THE HD COLLECTION VERSIONS OF SH2-3; they're horrible and glitchy as PC ports and the voice acting was changed and it's WORSE than the original; look for Enhanced Editions)

All games that came after these four are considered of, well, lower quality and not as well-thought through. Which is true BUT: - Silent Hill Origins may also be good to look into because it's a prequel to the first game but better to just watch a playthrough in my opinion before going to the first part (I had too much of a hard time emulating it and... eeeehhh I didn't really like the gameplay even if it tried to be like in the "classic" ones); - Silent Hill Homecoming can be looked into as well even though it's the most hated one of all the Silent Hill games, story-wise and gameplay-wise. For me, I actually found some interesting details in it that I liked (again, mainly The Fucked-up Cultist Bullshit) so I don't hate it as much as any other SH fan. Again, though, better just watch the playthrough - the game, even if it has a port for PCs, is awfully broken and HARD to play by yourself.

There are also in the Main Series: Silent Hill Shattered Memories (a reimagining of the first game minus The Cult Stuff) which is... not that important to everything in the Main Storyline, it's basically an AU; and Silent Hill Downpour that can look kinda plain and boring after everything else because it copies plenty of the tropes that were in the previous games. They may be ignored (but in the end it's up to you of course - you may look into them as well).

So yeah, here we go! The games can be divided into two types basically (with SH Shattered Memories as an outsider):

Shit happens because of The Local Cult, involving innocent bystanders (chronologically - SH Origins -> SH1 -> SH3 -> SH4 The Room -> SH Homecoming);

Shit happens because people with heavy burden get trapped in their own nightmares and inner demons brought to life (SH2 and SH Downpour).

Tl;dr What's the best order to PLAY: SH1 (emulated on ePSXe) -> SH3 (Enhanced Edition) -> SH2 (Enhanced Edition) -> SH4 The Room (Enhanced Edition or GOG Ver.)

What's the best order to WATCH AS A PLAYTHROUGH for the story: SH Origins -> SH1 -> SH3 -> SH2 as a small breaker but it's needed -> SH4 The Room -> SH Homecoming

That's all! Oof sorry for THAT many words but... yeah Silent Hill series has been my love and passion for 15+ years so I LOVE to share things about it! Feel free to ask more stuff too! :)

(it would certainly be more noticeable how much inspiration was drawn from these games into creating Omniphobia after watching through all of them haha)

[wachtelspinat]

on the top of your head, do you have any specific roadrat fics/authors you like at the moment? :) your amazing art singlehandedly brought me back to overwatch after several years away from it, i'd love to hear if you have any recs if you feel like sharing!

Alrighty then :^) 

(and thank you !)

There is more... there is so much more out there and this is just the tip of the iceberg... each and every one of these writers is absolutely worth checking out. I cannot count the amount of amazing fics I’ve read until now but I tried to put a little collection together of my favorites so far (and still going! Like I said there’s so much more out there). Hope nobody feels left out, like I said, it’s just a smol collection of my faves :’’/

The more story-driven ones !

A place to stand. by orphan - Just... pure gold, I think this is my absolute fave. Also it got Drag!Rat !

We've Golden Soil and Wealth For Toil by yungdreams - A short one but damn, good flow, good flow.

Mission Failure by piggybackride (mssileas) - Also short but the way piggybackride depicts their relationship... *chef kiss. Also funny ! 

Better by SenkoWakimarin - Bittersweet and ugly crying, a punch right in the heart.

Fifty-Fifty by theunknownfate - You ever wanted an ENTIRE ROADRAT BOOK?! Well here it is. Long and good story.

In the Bones of Our Beast by Salazar101 - One of the very first I’ve read back in 2016. Still like it a lot, esp. the ending.

Bringin' Home the Rain by Trashocalypse - Really digged Roadie’s backstory here.

Crooked Teeth by Cap_Chameleon - Demon!Rat and Priest!Hoggy AU that really got under my skin, loved the build-up.

Google Maps Australia by Cauilflower, youjokebut - “Modern!AU”? They’re not junkers in this one ! I reeeeaaaally loved that fic. The author has such a fantastic way to describe inner thoughts, this fic left me reeling for days, it was amazing.

Gaining Experience by ArmsShanks - Also Modern!AU, they get to know each other over an online RPG game, very relatable and sweet.

Fall by Neroro - The build-up was so nice and the ending just hit me right in the stomach.

Tea on the Run by Thyme_Basalt - Just a lot of big fun

our land abounds by ideals (orphan_account) - Hmmmmmmgood shit. That’s what I’m here for. This writing style and so. Much. Info. In such a bit of writing, loving it.

____________________________________________

And for everyone who wants the nasty stuff to be the center of things... 

the student always learns by yearofmeteors - Hmm. HMMMMM. I know that is not everyone’s fave dynamic but I personally live for this. This is the good shit right here. And the way this writer explores this is just pure gold.

Crown Junkers by ahimsabitches for SenkoWakimarin - 50/50 with lots of jewels.

Breathe by SenkoWakimarin - Just nice. They got a lot of nice ones.

His Money's Worth by piggybackride (mssileas) - Modern!AU that keeps on giving.

Arizona Summer by Froggyflan - Hot and nice.

rodeo by Eyesore - A classic.

Pit Stop by malignantParadigm - Another classic.

The Face by Scrunchles - Couldn’t really decide what to pick from Scrunchles... they got too many good ones. But this really stuck with me.

🐭 🧡 🐷

[woodaba]

Pillars of Eternity's Beautiful Disquiet

in the first dungeon of pillars of eternity, there's a moment that really stuck with me. you encounter a xaurip - a classic fantasy racism beastman that trades in aesthetics uncomfortably pulled from indigenous american stereotypes. it indicates that you go no further, that you do not follow it down a path into it's territory. there's no option to convince it to step aside and let you past: you either respect it's wishes, turn around and find another path, or you walk forward and kill it as an enemy. it's a moment with, i think genuine nuance, where the agency of the xaurip is respected, a moment that actually asks the player to respect the culture of this people or defy it, preventing them from taking a empowering middle road where they can do whatever they want if they have high enough numbers.

anyway, in the very next area you immediately encounter a bunch of them that attack on sight and that you have no recourse but to slaughter.

this moment is pillars of eternity in microcosm. on every level of it's construction, it is a game that feels simultaneously genuinely aware of the fraught nature of many of the images it is evoking and the things it is doing, aware of the stain left by games of this ilk in the past, and also resignedly committed to doing those things anyway without the brazen dumb confidence of a game like divinity: original sin 2. progressive and regressive, inventive and derivative, evolutionary and counter-evolutionary, pillars of eternity is the fascinating attempt to harken back to bioware's baldur's gate and the crpgs of it's era made by a game that doesn't wholly see the value in going back there.

i won't speculate on director je sawyer's intent any more than the man has directly said himself, as he has shown real discomfort towards people suggesting his opinions on certain games, but i know from my mercifully brief visits to the fascist haven that is the rpgcodex forums that sawyer is a quite strong critic of how the classic infinity engine games actually played, and despite my fondness for RPGs of that style, i find myself very much on his side. there's a reason these games struggle to find new fans that aren't just going to turn the games down to the lowest difficulty to sidestep most of the actual playing of it as much as possible: advanced dungeons and dragons is not, by any metric, an elegant or intuitive system at the best of times, and while real-time with pause was an elegant solution to just how long combat in d&d can go on for (larian's proud statements that BG3 has an authentic, turn-based translation of 5E rules should absolutely terrify any prospective players), it only raises the barrier to entry for those not already au fe with ad&d's eccentricities.

pillars of eternity feels utterly unique in that it is a real-time with pause CRPG based on rules that were designed for a video game, and not for a very different medium, and as a result it is...actually good and fun. the rules and statistics are far clearer, the resource game is far more sensical, and the pace of encounters is such that individual moves are less frequent but far more impactful, maintaining the weighty impact turns have in a traditional turn-based game at a speed far more under your own control. experientially, pillars of eternity feels closer to FF12 than it does baldur's gate, with a sliding scale of playstyles ranging from making each move with care and precision, to writing full AI scripts for each member of the party and letting battles play out automatically at hyperspeed.

when i play games in this genre, i usually keep the difficulty low and drop it even lower if i encounter friction. but with pillars, i kept the difficulty on normal the entire way through because I genuinely enjoyed the gameplay and tactical puzzles it presented. it helped me to see, for the first time, why someone might prefer rtwp over turn-based, and when i started a pillars of eternity 2 playthrough shortly after playing this, i decided to stick to real-time rather than playing the game's new turn-based mode, because i became genuinely enamoured with this system.

pillars of eternity is in the unique position of being a baldur's gate homage that doesn't feel like it holds any particular reverence or great love for baldur's gate, and makes good on that position by well and truly killing bg's darlings where the system design is concerned. this isn't exactly uncharted territory for obsidian: but despite it's progressive approach to it's combat, it feels much more burdened by it's legacy than either kotor 2 or neverwinter nights 2, neither as caustic as the former nor as quietly confident as the latter. it sits uncomfortably among many of the things it does, inherited and otherwise.

to demonstrate: this is, in many ways, a d&d-ass setting. it's a roughly-medieval setting in a temperate forested coastal region, and yet the dyrwood is not medieval france/britain like the sword coast is, it's far closer to colonial canada both in terms of regional politics and technology. you have humans, you have elves, you have dwarves, and things that are kinda like gnomes but with the serial numbers filed off, you have the godlike, which are a twist on the aasimar/tieflings of d&d, each with their own gygaxian race science bonuses to stats, but aside from the aforementioned fantasy racism with the beastmen, these fantasy races matter less in the actual story than national identities and cultures, which makes one question why the race science stuff is even here. even stepping into the mechanical dimension, most of the classes are reasonably interesting interpretations of classic stock d&d archetypes like fighter, wizard, paladin, etc, but the two unique classes, chanter and cipher, are so obviously the design highlights and work in a way that would be incredibly difficult in a tabletop game but are beautiful in a video game. they eagerly invite the question of what this game would look like if it wasn't obligated to include the d&d obligations within it.

while i can't speak for every member of the development team, i know that for je sawyer, pillars of eternity was not necessarily a game he wanted to make - at least not in the way that it ended up being made. elements like the traditional fantasy setting, the real-time with pause gameplay, and even the presence of elves, were all things that were there to fulfil the demands of a kickstarter promising a baldur's gate throwback from a company that had fallen on difficult times. these things that feel like obligations feel like that because they are obligations: concessions to appeal to expectations and desires forged by nostalgia for a game that obsidian didn't actually make. these aren't the only visible compromises that mark the game - "compromise" being perhaps a generous word to describe the game's obnoxious kickstarter scars - but it is this tug of war between the parts of itself that wish to remain within the walls of baldur's gate, and the parts that cry out for escape, that ultimately defines pillars of eternity.

while maddening dreams and an epidemic of children born without souls is what drives the plot of pillars of eternity, the story is really in the conversations between tradition and very colonialist notions of progress, and the very opinionated characters you converse with along the way. likeable characters will hold quietly conservative worldviews that feel natural for them, people will say the right things for the wrong reasons, or the wrong things for the right reasons. friendly characters will have beliefs that are extremely distasteful to you but are so deeply held that there is no way to use the power granted to you by being the player character to dissuade them from their belief system with a few honeyed words. this is not a game where each element works towards a clear thematic conclusion, one that confidently knows what is right and what is wrong when discussing the things it brings up. it is a messy world filled with ugliness and argument and contradiction, and no clear definitive statement on its themes. it has a perspective, but it is not one held with immense confidence. it is a perspective mired with doubts and second-guessing that feels very conscious and deliberate. in particular, the final hour of the game has a twist that recontextualises the nature of the setting, but it's noticeable just how much of the cast, both in this game and in the sequel. find this not to be a redefining moment of their lives, but simply something they have to let sit in their gut like a millstone. it lets them see with new light things they once valued, but they feel unable to simply cast those things aside.

i have a particular distaste for critiques in geek circles narrow their focus on what a work is saying to only the series or genre the work finds itself in, and ignoring whatever resonance it might have to the world outside the fiction, subconsciously because the author has little experience of that world. and yet, it's difficult to read pillars of eternity without looking at it's relationship to baldur's gate and it's ilk, especially given how it kickstarted (lol) the late 2010s CRPG revival that led to breakout hits like divinity: original sin 2 and disco elysium. it walks in the meadows of the past with an uneasy rhythm, constantly expressing it's discomfort with being there but never quite being able to find the way out. even at the end of the game, there is delightfully scarce resolution to the weighty philosophical questions raised by the final act - the immediate crisis dealt with, certainly, but the game ends on a world that has raised questions rather than answered them, and while you may have your own thoughts and perspectives, there is no great victory of ideologies to be found, no grand, world-defining choice about what to do with the wisdom of the past. it's a game that simply ends with you emerging back into a world that is materially largely unchanged but colored so different by the new perspective you have on it. it is a game that is deliriously inconclusive.

one could word that as a criticism - and indeed, a strict formalist lens would probably find it as such - but honestly, it's what i find delightful and resonant about pillars of eternity. i'm someone who thinks generally very poorly about d&d as a game, but my intermittently weekly d&d games with my friends that have been going on since the first lockdown have made some incredible a world and story and cast that i find myself hugely invested in. despite my disdain for a lot of the recurring cliches and tropes of the genre, some of my favorite stories are fantasy stories. and despite my active distaste for a lot of the decisions pillars either makes or is stuck with, and indeed for some of the creative minds involved in it's production (chr*s avell*ne's characters were substantially rewritten after his departure from obsidian to such an extent that neither he nor je sawyer recognize them as "his characters" but whoever was behind durance specifically is doing such a conscious avellone impression that i would be remiss not to note that his presence is certainly felt) i still enjoy it immensely regardless.

frequently, engagement with art is a negotiation with the parts about it that speak to us and the parts that fail to do so, where we may be able to excuse or enjoy parts that others find to sink the entire work for them, and it's unexpectedly moving to find a game that was so visibly having that conversation with itself as i played it, and rang so true for the relationship i have with the things that inspired it.

it's a game that embodies the sticky and troubling way all the games and stories of its ilk sit in my mind and expresses them emotively through a story that, in fits and starts, writes quite powerfully on the unique pains and sensation of memory and tradition and progress. it's a game that feels all the more true, all the more real, for its contradictions, compromises, and conversations capped off with trailing ellipses, leading down two roads to an uncertain future and a depressingly familiar past.

[joonie-beanie]

The Demon Brothers + College AU + (Cliche?) First Meetings

So an anon sent me the above ask, and it may have gotten a little out of hand ;;;

I also kind of switched it up and made it college instead. Hopefully the meetings I came up with are still somewhat cliche! Or, at the very least, cute lol

Lucifer:

You’re running late for class on the first day of the semester and he holds the elevator door open for you when he sees the desperate look on your face, and how you’re making a dash for the closing doors.

“Thank you,” you breathe out as you try to get ahold of yourself, hoping that the tall, handsome male beside you doesn’t see or hear the way you’re struggling for air. (It’s 8am, okay? Your body isn’t ready to be running so early.)

“Which floor do you need?” he asks, smiling politely. You respond “four”, and he hums to himself while hitting the button.

When he doesn’t press a different button, you assume he’s heading to the same floor.

“Thanks, by the way,” you say, flashing him a small smile. “You really saved my ass.”

“No thanks needed,” he responds, gaze shifting to look at the small screen above the door. The second floor moves past with a quiet beep. Silence falls for a couple of seconds.

“May I ask what class you’re heading to?”

“Ah, it’s a psychology lab,” you respond, laughing to yourself after a beat. You pull your phone from your pocket, trying to find the screenshot you’d taken of your schedule. “I signed up for this one because Rate My Professor said the TA is hot.”

“Oh? Is that so?” You’re not paying attention, so you don’t see the smirk that tugs at his lips.

The next moment, the elevator stops and the two of you step out together. You exit first, flashing the male one last smile before you turn your attention to your phone, double checking the room number. Lucifer brushes past you without saying a word, and you don’t realize that you’re headed in the same direction until you glance up, and find him holding the classroom door open for you.

“After you,” he says, and while you’re confused, you dip your head in thanks and make your way in. Since you’re one of the last ones in the classroom, you get stuck sitting in the front row.

As you unpack your things, Lucifer steps to the head of the room and sets his computer bag down onto the desk.

“Good morning, class,” he says, his gaze shifting to you when you look up and see that it’s him who is speaking--a vibrant blush rising to your face as you recall what you’d told him in the elevator.

“My name is Lucifer, and I will be the TA for this lab.”

Mammon:

You’re in the large, open eating area at the campus student union when he bumps into you.

Instantly, the greasy, cheesy pizza on your tray jumps up and lands on the front of your shirt. You freeze in shock, wide eyes glancing down as the personal pizza slides down your chest before flopping back onto the tray.

“Oi, watch where you’re going,” a voice says behind you, and you slowly turn around to face the apparently dumbass man who doesn’t even have the sensibility to apologize to you.

Despite that fact that he sounds pompous, you can’t deny that his styled white hair, and pierced ears are kind of charming.

“You backed into me,” you tell him, attempting to keep your calm. You almost lose it when you see his eyes rake down to your chest, staring at the likely un-washable stain on the fabric. He stares much too long, and you’re just about to curse at him when he speaks up again.

“Uhhh...,” he raises a hand to sheepishly rub at his neck, and when you look closely, you see that a blush has spread across his face. “Y-ya know what, maybe it is my fault...can I, um, buy ya another pizza?”

You blink, surprised at the sudden turn around in his attitude.

“That would be nice,” you say honestly, and suddenly he’s smiling, hopping back into the pizza line, which is right beside where the two of you had collided.

“I-If ya want, I’ll lend you my jacket because of, ya know, your shirt,” he says, motioning to your obviously ruined top. You cock an eyebrow at him. 

“You’d give a stranger your jacket?”

 “Well...I’m kind of hoping that you’ll have lunch with me, and we won’t be strangers for long,” he mumbles, gaze shying away. “Or, ya know, that I can get your number at least.”

“You’re really pushing it,” you tell him with a laugh, and you can see his feathers ruffle. He’s obviously embarrassed at you calling out his flirting. “But...maybe we can eat lunch together. Since you’re paying.”

He blinks, shocked at your words, but soon breaks into a smile. Self-satisfied, he continues grinning stupidly even as the cashier calls him up. However, when he pulls out his wallet, swipes his card, and it comes back denied...

“Uhh...can you pay this time? I PROMISE I’ll pay you back.”

You sigh, and debate throttling him.

Levi:

You sit next to him in a lecture hall, and can’t help but notice that the background on his laptop is Sailor Moon. 

When you reach down to dig a notebook out of your bag, you also see the number of anime and video game pins decorating the front of his backpack.

While you don’t tend to talk to strangers, you can’t help but say something.

“Hey, um,” you start, catching his attention. He freezes, amber eyes shifting to look at you--wide with surprise. You smile, doing your best to come off as casual, and friendly. “I noticed all the pins on your backpack. Do you like anime? I started watching Demon Slayer the other week, and I’m in love with it.”

“I...you...,” his surprise shifts to wonder as he regards you. The slightest blush rises on his cheeks. “You watch anime???”

“Yeah,” you laugh. “Is that so weird?”

“N-no, I guess not,” he mumbles, his hands fiddling with the cuffs of his hoodie. You wonder if you’ve made a mistake by talking to him, since he seems so shy--

“Do you play video games too??” he breaks you out of your thoughts as he scoots forward, eyes sparkling. He’s whispering hurriedly, eyes briefly straying to glance at the time on his laptop. “I recently started playing Doki Doki Literature club, and it’s crazy. I love RPG games, and Indie games too--like IB, and Mad Father. Witches House is also good. Of course, I’ll give pretty much any video game a chance, but--”

At that moment, the professor steps up and addresses the class. Levi’s words cut off, and his blush deepens as he suddenly realizes that he’d gone on a mini fanboy rant. However, you just smile at him, hoping that you come off reassuring, and turn to your notebook.

During the lecture, you’re too busy taking notes to notice the way he sneaks glances your way. And when the class finally ends, and you move to repack your belongings, you look up to find him staring at you.

“Is something on your mind?” you ask him. 

“I...um...I-I was wondering if I could get your contact info. You know...f-for class stuff, and maybe, if..if you wanted to, we could also talk more about anime…?”

“Sure!” you say, and he blinks, apparently shocked by your willingness. The two of you proceed to exchange emails and phone numbers, and by the time you arrive at your next class 15 minutes later, 6 new text messages (about anime, video games, and the like) from Levi are lighting up your phone screen.

Satan:

He’s volunteering at the library when you approach him, desperate for help finding a textbook you need to scan for a class. You’ve looked everywhere, but still can’t find it.

“You do realize that this code is indicating that this textbook is online, right? Not physically in the library?” he asks you, a bit of amusement swimming in his eyes when he hands your phone back to you--the screen open to an email your professor had sent a few days before.

You feel heat rise on your cheeks. “Ah, nope. Did not realize...”

“It happens often, actually. I’m sorry for teasing, I shouldn’t have” he says, smiling at you. “If you want, you can come around the desk, and I’ll show you how to access the textbook online. That way, you won’t be confused next time.”

“Thank you,” you sigh, scooting your way around the desk. Satan pulls up a spare chair beside him, and your knee accidentally knocks against his as you take a seat. 

“Here, you just have to search for it in the library portal,” he says, and you attentively watch as he guides you through the online website. However, when he starts going off into a spiel on all of the other cool resources and books available to students online, your attention strays.

You notice the copy of Jane Eyre open on the desk beside the computer. 

“Are you reading a book that’s assigned in high school AP Lit?”

He blinks in confusion, but immediately goes on the defense when he notices where you’re looking.

“Hey, Jane Eyre is a classic. And the help desk is far too slow some days. I need something to keep me busy.”

“Hmm, I guess that’s fair,” you respond, smiling. You move to grab your bag--pressing to your feet. “I can’t blame you either, considering I actually enjoyed reading it once upon a time. The Great Gatsby was probably my next favorite.”

“Personally, out of all the high school literature, I enjoyed Fahrenheit 451,” he responds, grinning when he sees the disgruntled look on your face at hearing the name of the book.

“Really?? I still have no idea what it was about.”

He’s quiet for a moment. You turn to look at him, and find him regarding you with interest. 

Satan smiles.

“Can I buy you a coffee?”

Asmo:

Asmo is working a booth about safe sex in the student union when you approach, hoping to get free condoms (or maybe even donate to support the organization, considering it’s a good cause).

“Well, hello there, gorgeous,” he says, smiling at you as you survey the goodies and pamphlets laid out on the table. He comes off as a little flirty, but mostly friendly, and well intentioned. “Are you here to buy one of our prettily shaped chocolates?”

He motions to the cup full of vagina-shaped chocolates on a stick. Your eyebrows raise. Huh.

“Well, that’s not why I stopped, but I may need to buy one now,” you laugh, making him smile. Asmo leans forward onto his elbows, his eyes twinkling up at you.

“Are you here for the condoms then? If so, feel free to take a handful. We have a ton prepared. People on this campus fuck like bunnies, honestly.”

You laugh. “Oh? Well, good on you guys for protecting all of the precious, needy students.”

He nods sagely, moving to gather you a few of the wrapped condoms, along with some educational reading material. “Can’t have a bunch of students getting diseases, or pregnant. Sex should be fun and safe. Always! And if it’s not both, then find someone else to fuck.” 

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” you say, smiling as he hands you your free goodies. Your eyes stray back to the vagina chocolates. “How much for one of those?”

“5 dollars,” he says, reaching over to grab one. “Pricey, I know, but the money goes to a good cause.”

“I don’t doubt it,” you laugh, pulling a 5 from your wallet. The two of you exchange items, and you pocket the chocolate. You flash him one last smile, intending to walk away, but he pipes up before you get too far.

“By the way, we’re having a class on BDSM safety tonight~” You pause at his words, turning to face him, and he grins at the look of interest plain on your face. “In case you’re interested.”

“Are you...implying something?” you ask, posing a hand on your hip as you turn to face him. He cocks his head to the side innocently.

“I would never~ But you’ve left a good impression in the two minutes we’ve known each other, and I’m the one teaching the class, so~ I’d be thrilled to see you there.”

You raise an eyebrow, surprised, but amused as well. “Maybe I’ll see you tonight.”

With that, you turn on your heel and head to class. But you definitely end up attending the class that night.

Beel:

You meet during a 1-credit, weekend Yoga class. He puts his mat down next to yours, and you can’t help but stare at his biceps, and triceps, and...wow he’s really built.

Aside from that, though, he looks pretty concerned.

“Have you never done yoga before?” you ask him, smiling politely. Having caught his attention, he turns to look at you--the same adorable frown pulling at his lips.

“No...I like to work out, but I’ve never done yoga...I’m not very flexible.” You watch him as he demonstrations by sticking his legs out and trying to touch his toes. His fingertips only reach halfway down his calves.

“It’s okay!” you tell him. “I’m pretty new to yoga too! And this is just an intro course, so I wouldn’t worry. Most of the grade comes from knowing technical terms, and I’ve heard this instructor is really nice.”

At that, he finally smiles--relieved to hear you say so.

“I’m Beel, by the way,” he says.

“Y/N,” you respond, but before the two of you get the chance to talk more, the instructor arrives. You then spend the next few hours smiling to yourself as you watch Beel struggle to get into poses. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind that you’re getting humor out of his situation.

“Did you not eat today?” you ask him when lunch finally rolls around, flopping back against your mat. He shakes his head, rummaging around in his bag. You can hear his stomach growling.

“I had an extra large breakfast since I knew I would be burning calories, but I’m starving now…” He pulls an entire sub from his bag, and when you catch a peek at the inside, you realize that the entire backpack is stuffed with only food. Holy shit.

But...you suppose he does need to eat a lot, if he works out a lot.

“I’m gonna grab a soda, and I’ll be back,” you say quietly, assuming that you’ll be eating lunch together, since he’s already turning to face your mat. 

“Okay,” he says with a smile, and you smile back at him, excited to get to know him more. However, before you can even get a step away,  you’re tripping over your backpack

The world spins, and you hold your arms in front of you--expecting to eat shit--but you don’t meet the floor. Two arms curl beneath you and your body rolls--your ass landing between folded legs.

You blink in surprise, blushing when you glance up and find that it’s none other than Beel who is holding you. Concern is written on his face. He doesn’t seem the least bit concerned that you’re currently occupying his lap.

“Are you okay?” he asks, not moving to release you, and oh boy you think your heart may beat straight out of your chest.

Belphie:

You meet him in the library computer lab at 11:48pm, on the last day of finals.

You trudge into the computer lab, bordering on going blind. You’ve spent the last 6 hours writing out your term paper, and had felt pretty fucking proud when you’d finished with a whole 30 minutes to spare, but just as you’d gone to submit the paper online, your apartment wi-fi had cut out

Of course.

So, you pop a squat at one of the many computers--not even realizing that someone else is in the lab until you hear a quiet snore.

Immediately, you’re pausing, standing to glance around the room. A few computers down, sitting parallel to you, is a dark haired male, with his head down on the keyboard.

Honestly, you debate not waking him. He probably needs the rest, but as a fellow student, and considering it’s the last day of finals? You can’t just leave him be in good conscience.

“Hey, uh, dude?” you call out, glancing at him from over the row of computers. He doesn’t stir. “Heyyyy~ It’s almost midnight,” you say a bit louder. “I don’t know if you’re writing something, but you better submit it.”

Finally, he stirs.

“Aw, fuck,” you hear him grumble, and he lifts his head up--his tired gaze turning to look at you. He sighs. “Thanks. You probably just saved my ass.”

“No worries,” you respond, laughing a little. You sit back down in your seat, and put in your credentials....only for the computer to indicate that you’ve put in the wrong password.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” you say, deadpanning, and try another password. Then another, and another. None of them work, and you don’t have enough time left to change it.

“I’m gonna fucking jump off the roof,” you deadpan, holding your face in your hands. Belphie chuckles.

“Something wrong?”

“I guess I don’t know my computer password, so I can’t log in and submit my paper.” You say, glancing up. This time, it’s Belphie who is glancing over the row of monitors at you, eyebrow raised.

“You can come use mine. I just submitted my paper. Just log into the school site with your ID.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” you sigh, and Belphie scoots his chair over as you walk around the aisle to meet him. Again, he laughs.

“Eye for an eye.”

“That’s...you use that phrase with enemies,” you tell him, unable to help the smile that spreads across your face. He blinks, and then groans.

“Fuck, you’re right. I’m still asleep. Just...forget I said that.”

“Actually, I think I’ll remember it forever,” you respond, and he grins, his eyes shifting to look at the keyboard as you type out your password.

“Okay, OppaiLover69 exclamation point.”

You feel your cheeks heat up, and when you see the shit-eating look at his face, you debate throwing hands. He’s lucky he’s cute.

[blitz-and-hearth]

do you play any video games? additionally, do you have any game-related headcanons for MCGA characters?

Of course I do! I'm mostly into single player stuff though, multiplayer kinda stresses me out however I've got a weak spot for both Wizards101 and Pirates101, as well as Splatoon. Pokemon is deffo my bread and butter, I love it so much, especially the mystery dungeon games. Also love fantasy RPGs and like business/town builder management ones. Right now I've actually been low-key rping Blitzen in Fantasy life for 3ds since it's the only RPG I've found where you can be a tailor as a class, very fun he's level 50 now. As for headcanons I could name a bunch of aus but I think I'll list what I think characters favorite types of games are

Magnus- The Sims, he likes making all his friends as Sims and just having fun with it, low-key embarrassed about it. Also likes classic Fantasy games like Zelda and rpgs. Probably also farming games, mainly ones where you can make friends with the villagers/characters, so pretty much mainly Stardew valley and Harvest Moon games.

Alex- Horror games! Alex is a horror queer no question. She loves horror games, horror movies too but we're talking about games RN, so I think she'd have a huuuge collection of them. That's sort of her main bag, but I think she also has a smaller collection of games similar to Magnus' tastes, farming, life Sims, and a few "friendship saves the day" focused rpgs. Magnus is the only one who knows about that though and sometimes when Alex is having a rough mental health day they'll play them together

Sam- Tycoon management/builder games for sure, probably also has a weak spot for any games focused on flying like flight sims. Also low-key think she'd like romance games but that's the type of secret that might get you beheaded if you find out

Blitzen- I don't think he's much of a video game player, very picky about what he plays. Probably crafting/art focused games he can relax and make art for fun without too much effort. Deffo likes Animal crossing but pretty much all he does is making extremely complex pixel designs on it. Also Minecraft, though he only plays on creative to make those fucking insanely huge and realistic cities/buildings that have to take days if not months to make

Hearthstone- You fucking know he's a sucker for Rpgs, no question. I think he'd be one of the most dedicated gamers of the group. Motherfucker canonly went to a renaissance fair and definitely watches LOTR he's a big old nerd. Any fantasy rpg he can get his hands on he's gonna play until he beats the whole thing and gets all the achievements and unlockables. I'd guess he also really likes pokemon too, but that one is more of a comfort/relaxing game for him and he doesn't go quite as hard core with it.

TJ- Dude is canonly a gamer since Magnus hears him playing some kinda shooting game through his door, seems to be really into those shoot em ups and fighting games which makes a lot of sense. Call of duty shoota man, Grand stealing cars, Smash your bros, all those multiple shooting games that people seem to love but I can't fucking stand at all

Halfborn- alright so I know Halfborn is shockingly modern for just how old he is, but I think tech is a bit harder to keep up with so he's definitely into old retro shit. Pac Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong classic, all those pixel arcade games. Maybe eventually he'll get into newer more complex stuff but for now he's pretty happy with those. Though! I bet he does have some of those educational and brain teaser puzzle games for the DS my parents used to try to get me to play in a failed attempt to make me smarter

Mallory- Mallory is another who doesn't really play many video games, but I'd like to think miss hot head has a gulity pleasure of Japanese style romantic visual novels, which she thinks no one knows about but she's not great at hiding it lol

Also in general I think they have a game/movie night every week to just hanging out as a family. They had to stop any competitive games though because TJ and Hearthstone once almost killed each other. They both just get way too into it so now competitive is banned, strictly multiplayer co-op games only lol

[onelastfic]

Future AU Facts

Nenet is actually really bad at school. Between her missions for Hera, god training, and just plain lack of motivation for school, if it wasn’t for Cindy and JJ’s help she’d probably been held back multiple times. Nenet would drop out but her mom and dad say school is good for her.

Nico is a notoriously bad athlete. He just doesn’t like playing sports, though he does like sport analytics. For this reason, Dylan and Nico are known as The Baller and The Scholar.

It was actually Basteta’s idea to make Astro the kids’ godfather. While she will NEVER admit it to him, she knows that if something were to ever happen to her or Junji, he’d stop at nothing to keep their kids safe. She’s actually told her kids that if something goes wrong on Earth then they should head to Mewni for safety.

Mei actually has quite a collection of disguises and wigs. While her siblings can use magic for disguises, Mei prefers to dress up in classic thespian style. She wants to have an outfit for ANY occasion.

Learning from Stanton, Nico actually has numerous journals he’s filled about his studying of Earth magic. In particular, Nico has this one journal where he keeps the stats for all the Titans he’s met. It started out as way to record the different traits of Titans but he writes it in way similar to a rpg character sheet.

Mei’s name was actually picked out by Dai Tai. Basteta went into labor while Junji was away on guardian dragon business and Dai Tai went to the hospital with her instead. Dai Tai picked the name Mei because she thought she was such a beautiful baby girl. Mei’s been close with her Auntie D ever since.

When Nico was born, Nenet didn’t want to hold him or touch him, thinking she’d hurt him since he wasn’t a Titan. It wasn’t until Astro talked to her about what it means to be a big sibling did she actually start taking her role as a big sister seriously.

Nenet had a pretty big crush on Bruce when they were young. She considers him her first love and was devastated when he vanished. When he disappeared, it was the first and last time Dylan and Nico ever saw Nenet cry.

Nenet has two scars on her back where her wings came in. It was actually a very painful experience when she awakened her god form. She doesn’t like to talk about it.

King Ra actually wants Nenet to come live in the gods realm with the rest of the Egyptian Pantheon. He thinks that Nenet would do better being among her own kind.

JJ is actually the new head of the Supernatural Department in Vanguard League. Damien appointed him to the position and JJ was actually really anxious about accepting the post. He didn’t think he’d be cut out to lead. Luckily, he has his coordinators/hype-men, Dylan and Nico.

Junji and Nenet have season passes to Townsville stadium. It’s for when they have daddy-daughter days, which usually involves Junji taking Nenet to baseball games. Nenet is the only one who likes baseball in the family, so they always bonded over that. Junji was actually the coach of Nenet’s softball teams when she was younger.

[ladybuvelle]

// Ok, so when it comes to the Arcade AU I feel a kind of sideline investment in it since I roleplay Sona - she was the first one in the line, and her Arcade skin is ‘technically’ a Legendary. Made before Legendaries became what they are now. Unfortunate. Though that aside I don’t really RP that verse mostly because we A) don’t know a lot about it despite all the skins? and B) there isn’t a lot of interest to be honest. You’ll see people get jazzed about PROJECT or Star Guardian, but not so much Arcade.

But anyway, for the most part that kinda leaves Arcade in this benign area. It’s inoffensive but it also isn’t exactly exciting. There’s no real ‘lore’ for it, there hasn’t been a special game mode, and I think the most we’ve ever gotten for it in-game was a map skin/special minions. And tons of side stuff like icons and the like. Again, benign.

However, I had really enjoyed the Arcade line originally because it was a line that, to me, was all about references. More so than any other skin line, it really feels acceptable and even welcome to see skins that reference other popular game titles, genres, or characters out there in pop culture. Sona for instance is blatantly about DDR-style games. Then came Hecarim being both a Robot Unicorn Attack reference and having some Guitar Hero elements. Again, nice! Miss Fortune is styled after classic shooting gallery games, Riven is a classic action/RPG character. And Veigar (the ACTUAL Legendary in the damn line) is a smattering of all SORTS of references; the Konami code, Glover, Tetris, he quotes certain phrases (”Would you kindly?”). Great stuff.

... but then you have champs like Ahri that don’t seem to have a real motif? Her outfit only suggests she’s a generic, brightly colored gamer-girl. They could have done something with her, like, suggest she’s from a dating sim or maybe a visual novel-style game (since those are growing in popularity in the west now), but no. She’s just a fox girl with no real reason or rhyme. I believe it’s suggested, like Ezreal, she’s actually from the ‘real world’ and was sucked into the games, so she’s meant to be a real person. But... isn’t that kind of boring...? Especially since they never did anything with that ‘lore’. She just exists.

Corki was a great choice at that time, and I felt he was the best of that ‘generation’ if you will because, again, it makes so much sense. He’s already got the Star Fox references built in!

And now we come to today. Caitlyn and Kai’sa. While the designs are... ok, I think they’re just that. Just ‘ok’. Caitlyn and Kai’sa look like they’re wearing clothes similar to Riven and Ahri. There’s not much about their outfits that are telling to any specific game genre or title. Sure, they have some references (Kai’sa looks like she’s dual wielding laser swords from Halo), but otherwise... meh? I would have liked to see more creativity with the outfits, honestly. For example; I’ve said for years that an Arcade Master Yi would be cool if you gave him a VR headset for his goggles, and that would also be relevant to current gaming trends. Visually it would tell you what it’s all about and not just be a generic skin design. When I look at Caitlyn and Kai’sa (and Ahri) I just see women in non-specific colorful outfits. It’s just a style more than a ‘theme’.

I guess if you’re into that that’s great? But part of me does kinda side-eye it because, you know. “E-girl” being a dirty word. Women have a hard time as it is in gaming, especially on platforms like League of Legends. I don’t mean to get political, and certainly women can wear whatever the hell they want and don’t need a reason or purpose behind it, but at the same time it’s things like this that make me sweat wondering what other people think of them. You know?

I haven’t commented on the Battle Bosses other than Veigar because frankly, I feel it’s hard to REALLY go wrong with a ‘boss’ character. It’s hard to go right, admittedly, since I think Battle Boss Blitzcrank may be one of the most boring skins in the line, but it can be done well too like with Malzahar (references to Tempest, of all things). With that in mind if they want to make Yasuo a battle boss, I kiiiind of wish they doubled down on it in some way? His outfit just makes him look like some guy. Some bro. In a cool jacket. Looks like he hangs out with Academy Darius.

So that’s just my two cents. Not everything has to be made with my tastes in mind! But I do wish there was more to chew on with this AU.

[edelwary]

when you were first getting into art, what and how did you draw? (like did you just doodle ur masterpieces on pieces of paper and posted-notes or did you have a proper sketchbook) how did you find motivation? bc ive been trying to draw but I always get unmotivated and stop while still wanting to get better just by doing nothing.

REALLY LONG, LOTS OF ADVICES FOR ARTISTS : 

TL;DR ; skip to the HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW part bc i have a megaton of shit to say lol + The MOTIVATION part 

mmh… I’ll get into details with this one tbh bc it’s a long ass process ahah : 

I live by the sea ; when i was youung i used to draw TONS of boat, but like, dollhouse boats, you could see the insides and stuff ; i loved to add tiny details and stuff, and imbricate everything together !

around 8 or 9 yo, i went to the public library with school and discovered the wonderful world of mangas ! I basically… Copy pasted an entire Mermaid Melody tome x) 

For about 2 years i alternated between reading mangas and trying to copy them ! Then i just kept drawing in the margins of my schoolwork for about… 5 years ! I have a Fuck Ton of sketchbooks of that time, it was… The start. Lol. Never say it’s bad because it’s never bad, just not there yet !!

Around my 13 yo, i went every saturday, for two years, under a bookstore ; there was a cave, and drawing classes ; that teacher was mean and harsh and stuff, but like… Not really. He would take away my eraser for the class, force me to use pencil, to draw something else (bulky boys instead of magical girls). 

I’ve learned a lot, more in terms of How To LEARN to draw than to draw itself, but i still progressed a LOT !! 

Then i kept drawing by myself for a year and i really worked hard on it ; about hours a day, trying watercolors and stuff ; i have a real problem with colors in traditionnal art, but i’m much better with lines (i should scan some RAD stuff i made in the weekend, yall ive never done anything this good i stg i dont know why i always forget im so much better on paper) 

This gets us to my sweet 16 ; i have to year of advance, bc i got ‘’’promoted’’’ idk how to say it ; anyways, i entered my (current) animation school for the first year at 16; vERY IMPRESSIVE AND TERRIFYING. 

And i learned. A fuckmegaton. Of shit there. 

Now i’m going for my third year there and i can make photorealistic marmora blades and cyberkpunk decors if i want to and that’s rad, but here is

 HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW : 

I have one HYPER important advice, and i’m keeping it to heart since i’m like, 11 : Have. Sketchbooks. Please !!! It’s very important. Here’s why : 

You keep everything with you in one place. You have 1 sketchbook, it’s basically easy to take every where (a A5, or A4 are pretty easy to carry, i have like, 12 of those, and around 8 of A3) 

You keep track of what you’ve done. It’s super important, bc first you can cry of laughter at your old stuff bc its cute but not so good, and second, you can just be like ‘holy mama’ and see how much you’ve improved

It’s very important to be organized. I WORK in art, and trust me, if there’s something that i’ve learned this year through tears and missing files and bugs : Be. Impeccable. Now if it’s for fun, go a little loose, and just have a folder for art on your computer, and a sketchbook, no need to stress, but the better you try to keep a record of where is what, the better you’ll see whats wrong

Notebooks are friends !! You can draw, write, glue stuff, make notes, lists, everything !!! I have my life in those. It’s more important to me than any of my phones. 

Be proud of it. Like, not everything, duh ! But try to tell yourself than it’s like a RPG ; even if it’s only 2 xp here and there, one day you’ll beat level 40, and that’s super important : art is. Fuckin. Long.

I cant stress it enough. It’s soooo long !!! SO LONG !! it’s years. It’s like karate and fishing and ANYTHING. To be good at it, it takes time, but it WILL COME if you keep trying. There’s no secret passage. 

You’re gonna me it, believe in me who believes in you. 

Use. References. 

Coming from a little shit who’s got a really good visual memory, that can sound like bs, but i stg everything is always AT LEAST twice as good if you’ve used a visual support. 

I’m not saying COPY EVRYTHING (even though thats a good training) I’m saying, if you really want to do that asian tiger, please have at least two or three pictures of it nearby. Take photos of your hands, and stuff ! 

Make it harder. 

No eraser. 

Paint. 

I draw all my backgrounds on my sketchbook with INDIAN INK; no returns, no refunds. 

Ink, Ink, INK !! Don’t allow mistakes.

And if you make mistakes :

New page, restart

It’s okay

It’s for you

I once started back again a whole EXAM bc it was bad, i got one of my best grades 

You’ll improve and be more assured if you know you just have to DO IT. Trust me. It’s VISIBLE; if you can erase, you fidget and hesitate and ‘’kbeujebez hahhaaa idkkidsd’’ ; stop ; do it, and if you don’t like it ? Try again, there’s no time limit

Draw as large as you can 

There’s no interesting story here, it just helps. Bigger movement of the hand, more place for details, breathing lines

Thin lineart helps

Thinner. Make it even thinner

Break the rules, but not the ones that structure your art 

Big lineart ? Why not

Unfinished lines, vaporeous colors ? Pretty

Cubism is actually based on extensive and intense practice of classical art, it’s not wibbly wooblly ; the anatomy is more correct than you think 

Structure and composition are important, but so is movement and life ; choose your fighter ; mine is fluidity and fun, i’m like, a rogue/archer in drawing. Some people are dwarf fighter. That’s amazing and great. 

Don’t be afraid to do nothing

Pages and pages of my sketchbooks are actually just lance facing right and smiling, you know… 

Sometimes it just doesnt work : two ways :

Take a break, Kiki’s delivery service style

Keep trying, break your art until it obeys and comes back

Take breaks. Breath. 

Don’t compare. I do it, it doesn’t help at all. You’ll make it ; and if you compare, keep in mind that everyone’s different

I’m not gonna lie, it’s NOT easy, it’s even hard 

But I really, really think it’s worth it 

MOTIVATION :

My main bitch 

I’m always pumped for art because i can LITTERALLY NOT do anything else ; i love reading and writing and stuff but at the end of the day i just want !!! to draw !!!! aaaaaa-

Fall in love with it, and with the possibilities ; i have stories to tell, tell me yours ! Do your best, one day it WILL work

Actual advices : 

I have an inspiration blog where i just reblogs stuff i like to draw them later

Find a picture, copy it. Do it again. Change the characters (i have 2 ocs and Lance and Keith as default characters) in the pic. 

Like an artstyle ? Break it to its very core, analyse it, copy it, redo it, trace it and ABSORB it. Don’t copy/past, LEARN from your heroes.

Do what you like. I have 86578 pieces of voltron, this is not a coincidence. I have ENDLESS ideas for this show, wtf. 

Try new things. Buy indian ink im begging you. It’s so cool. 

Have a game with yourself, or a challenge. STICK TO IT. 

Study. When you’re bored, usually it’s because you’re stagnating. Make it harder or do hands until you cry. 

Love your backgrounds; make backgrounds, study trees, and tokyo streets, and venice’s bridges. Decor is just as cool as characters, if not more

Mess a little with everything. My roomate more than one found me stained from head to toes trying to DO STUFF 

Draw outfits. Draw what you want but can’t afford 

MAKE YOUR LIFE A COMIC. Remember those sketchbooks ? Make a comic a week/month/every full moon, whatever, and draw your life (mine’s the roomates au lol) 

Prompts blogs are cool too 

Make fanart of a fic you liked ; you have the characters and the pose already, you just have to illustrate ; double bonus, you probably will make a writer’s day, if not year !

That little movie that plays when you listen to your favorite song ? DRAW IT

Your favorite scene in your favorite movie ? Redraw each shot. On post it. Plus it looks awesome afterwards to have the infamous TREX scene of Jurassic Parks in post it

Get bored. That’s inevitable. Dance, scream, get back to it. Walk, draw everything you see. 

Make a paper google map street view : Take a walk : every 50 meters, draw what is in front of you. 

Snapchats your friends. Draw their snapchats when they answer 

Draw maps. Invent places. Invent bikes, and hovercrafts, and monsters. Make your everyday inventory. Make your life a video game, and do the concept arts of it. 

FETCH your inspiration. I have approx. 20 artbooks, full of drawings and concept arts of my fave movies/games ; take what you like and add it to the story you have since you’re 8. We all have one. 

Ask for it ; your sis, your mom, me even ! If you dont have ideas, someone will have them. 

WELL i’m gonna stop there, even though i got like, 9864567 more to say, but with this you should be fine ! Anon, i’m rooting for you ! we all start somewhere, just hold on!!!! 

[meicheesecake]

Cool games I’ve played in 2018!

Everyone I know is doing one of these so I’m gonna jump in the bandwagon because I crave attention.

Where They Cremate The Roadkill, Amorous (fuck these)

I have only played 9 really good games this year so I’ll dedicate this spot for two games I absolutely fucking hated.

Where They Cremate The Roadkill had potential. John Clowder (fuck this guy btw) is known for being a pedophile and also making games with wonderful surrealist visuals and narratives, and those are the only good points about this game. The music was unremarkable, and the gameplay. Oh, the gameplay. Instead of going with the good old turn-based RPG approach, WTCTRK tries to go for beat em up gameplay. In the RPG Maker engine. 90% of this post is going to be about the things wrong with this game if I keep going, so I’mma stop right here.

I haven’t played Amorous a lot, I quit right away when it was revealed that the character I wanted to date was the main character’s step brother. Also I later found Jason Afex produced this game, so yeah. Don’t play these.

Dark Souls 3

Not my first Dark Souls experience, but definitely the best I’ve had! Dark Souls 3 is definitely a bit easier than the predecessors, which is a good thing for me since I absolutely suck at video games. That doesn’t mean I had an easy time going through the game (at least not on my first 2 runs), it just means I had a good experience doing so.

Also, despite getting the game way past the initial peak, I was able to have a lot of fun online experiences! From jolly cooperation with @assassinasha and random people to invasions and fight clubs, it was all around enjoyable. The Dark Souls community can get kind of toxic on the internet, but the people in the game itself were very helpful and respectful!

New Dangan Ronpa v3

Danganronpa, except this time one of my faves stayed alive. Not a lot to comment besides that.

Iconoclasts

Almost ten years in the making, this game was worth every cent. The gameplay pacing got a little messy at times, with the focus constantly shifting between combat and puzzles, but it was polished enough to stand out among other metroidvanias. The plot is definitely the best part of this game, dealing with various subjects from religion to philosophy. It’s on Switch now, so if you’re lookign for some cool indie games then try this!

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

I’ve seen a lot of people saying they didn’t like this very much, and I can agree with them to an extent. The singleplayer progression is loose, they throw a lot at you before you even properly get to throw a monster, and some of the weapon changes are less than good (I don’t like the gunlance heat system). Though in my opinion it’s by far the MH game with the biggest amount of content, and it’s pretty straightforward. The large variety of monsters, different fighting styles and hunter arts definitely spice up the characteristically grindy MH gameplay.

Breath of the Wild

I’m a slut for “do whatever the fuck you want with a side of plot” games, and Breath of the Wild was definitely the best one I’ve played so far. The sandbox aspects combined with the classic dungeon design and interesting plot made for a really enjoyable experience. And I still haven’t finished it! The absurd amount of things to do and places to explore definitely feels overwhelming at first, but as the game comes to a close and you acquire your definitive equipment set (guardian set for me), exploring becomes the most fun part of the game in my opinion. Suck that, Skyrim.

Octopath Traveller

It’s an RPG, basically. If you ever want to have a raw, plain RPG experience without the pains of old-school RPG design,, play this. It’s got all the cheesiness, memorable main characters, barebones-yet-exciting plot and turn-based combat you could ever want. It gets a little repetitive due to the nature of the game, that each character has their individual story they have to go through, so long play sessions  might burn you out pretty quickly.

Sonic Forces

Sometimes all you need after a long and stressful day is to hear Sonic call your fursona “partner” and “buddy”. Besides that, it’s a pretty mediocre game.

Deltarune

I didn’t expect this game to come out at all, and yet it felt like something I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m really glad Toby went for more of an AU game than a proper sequel or prequel, because Undertale already feels pretty complete as it already is. It’s just the first chapter, but I already love the characters, music and revamped gameplay

Lisa series (Lisa the First, Lisa the Painful, Lisa the Joyul)

I cannot for the life of me pick a favorite game, but if I absolutely had to it would be a LISA game. Simple yet open and intriguing plot, classic turn-based RPG gameplay with a variety of different party members and synergies between them as the main selling point, amazing music, good character design and visuals that go from old-school to surrealist. I absolutely loved these games.