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brucebocchi · 5 months

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Ranking every new anime I watched in 2023, Pt. 3: #10-6

hey, i just started a ko-fi for my writing and possible other creative outlets. this post will also be available there, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i'm currently between jobs. the tumblr version of part 1 can be found here and part 2 here.

I didn't mean to drag this out quite so much, but I ended up writing a TON for the top 10, so for the sake of everyone's attention spans (and so I can buy some time to finish my top two) I broke it up into two more posts.

ALSO! I've embedded a link to each show's OP in the title of each entry. I wanted to give more of a visual element to each show outside of the header images, plus there have been some incredible OPs this year. I've gone back and edited them into the prior posts as well.

10. Trigun Stampede

It’s funny, I had fond memories of watching Trigun on Adult Swim in my adolescence, to the point where I used to count it among my all-time favorite anime for a while, but I didn't realize until this year that I hadn't actually sat down and watched it from beginning to end. It’s honestly a very uneven watch, and it’s clearly split into two parts: The first, a dieselpunk western revolving around a mysterious goofball with a big-ass gun and a bounty on his head, and the second a slightly more somber revenge quest as he is forced to survive his way past a rogues gallery while vowing not to take any lives. Still, it was a hit among western anime fans for a reason, and it was formative to me even back when I thought anime was kinda cringe.

Trigun Stampede is far from a faithful reinterpretation of Yasuhiro Nightow’s manga nor of the original Madhouse production. Meryl Stryfe is no longer a jaded veteran insurance adjuster but a much younger muckraking journalist. She’s no longer tailed by the gentle giantess Milly Thompson, but rather following her senpai, the gruff, bleary-eyed Roberto De Niro (the names in Trigun have always rocked). Nicholas D. Wolfwood isn’t an affable priest with a dark past; he’s all dark past now. And Vash the Stampede, now rocking a fuckboy undercut, is less of a mercurial wisecracker with a soft side and more of a reluctant gunman freaking it in a sensitive style.

Stampede wastes no time differentiating itself from any previous version of Trigun. Vash’s history is no longer a mystery waiting to be uncovered; it’s a driving factor of the plot as his brother Knives seeks revenge on humankind for their use and exploitation of “plants,” an alien race to which the two seem to be connected, as an energy source. This was always an element of the original anime that I felt went unexplored, so it was fascinating to see Stampede dive right in. It’s a great introduction to the story for people who haven’t seen the original, and full of unexpected turns for existing fans. It’s still built on the bones of Trigun as we know it, but it is very much its own thing.

People made a lot of hay about Vash’s new appearance, but I think it works. The huge pleather trench coat, spiky flat-top, and tiny glasses remain an iconic 90s design, but I believe the 90s is where it belongs. This take on Vash is just as capable but much more self-effacing, tortured, and averse to violence. This is a younger Vash, and it’s clear that his history with Knives is a much fresher wound, rather than the dull, nagging ache in the original. This is a gentler (but no less talented) Vash, so I think the softboy look suits him this time around.

I also spent most of the season quietly insisting to myself that the original version of Meryl is much better (and cuter) than the Stampede variant, and I still stand by that, but the updated version definitely grew on me. I mean, just look at that hat. But it’s clear from the jump that Stampede’s first season is very early in this version of the Trigun story (you may notice that the bounty on Vash’s head is much, much less than the famous 60 billion double-dollars), and Meryl has some growing to do (and presumably a whole lot of professional frustration) before she becomes something like the one we knew and loved around the turn of the 21st Century.

I’m still yet to watch Beastars, but it’s immediately apparent why Studio Orange was entrusted with the Trigun IP. This show looks incredible. This is some of the best CG animation I’ve ever seen outside of a Pixar or Spider-Verse movie. Characters are amazingly expressive and oscillate between naturalistic, weighty movement and cartoony flailing. Action scenes are inventive and dynamic and stand up to even the wildest sakuga. And yet, it still looks like an anime. It still retains the classic 24fps look and even occasionally trades in the CGI for hand-drawn animation for effect. We are long past the botched Berserk revival: This is what CGI anime should look like.

It’s plainly obvious that Trigun has always carried influences from landmark western media like Mad Max and Dune (not to mention Fist of the North Star, but that one always wore its Mad Max influence on its sleeve), so it’s been an unexpected delight to see those influences take a new shape now that both franchises have seen major updates since the last iteration of Trigun went off the air. For all of the alien technology and technicolor glowing lights, Trigun takes place entirely in a desert setting, and it’s impossible to see these chase scenes and not immediately think of Fury Road, or halfway expect to see Villanueve’s take on the Fremen popping out of the dust clouds.

Stampede is a very welcome entry to a franchise long believed to be well and truly over, and the more eyeballs on Trigun, the better. It’s evident by the end of this season that this take on the story is only just beginning, and it has already taken unexpected departures from the story as we already knew it. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here, but that’s mostly because we have confirmation that Milly will be in the next season. It can’t get here quickly enough.

9. Insomniacs After School

I watched and read a frankly absurd amount of romance-centric anime and manga this year, especially of the slice-of-life variety, to the point where even by the early summer I thought I'd had my fill. I'm overjoyed to say that Insomniacs After School proved me dead wrong.

What a treat this was. It's a simple enough premise: A boy with insomnia is sent on an errand to his high school’s abandoned observatory, where he finds a classmate sleeping because she suffers from insomnia as well. They quickly find out that the observatory is a perfectly quiet environment for the both of them, and that they actually get restful sleep around one another. In order to get away with making use of the area, they resurrect the school’s astronomy club and find a genuine love for astrophotography and, you guessed it, one another.

You couldn’t have picked a more apt studio to adapt this work than Liden Films. Call of the Night made a splash last year for its saturated, vibey nightscapes, and Insomniacs’ gorgeous astral visuals carry that mantle. The nighttime backdrops of the quiet suburbs, wide-open beaches, and lush countryside are nothing short of stunning, and Isaki’s adolescent wonder at the world’s hidden beauties reminded me, and I do not say this lightly, of something Miyazaki would’ve animated.

On a couple of occasions this year, I’ve been able to step back from an anime, take a breath, and simply say “That was beautiful.” Insomniacs gave me one such occasion. Even putting the visuals aside, the story itself is lovely and would have made this the feel-good anime of the year, if not for the next entry on this ranking. I would have more to say, but Insomniacs After School speaks for itself. Give it a shot.

8. Skip and Loafer

There are so many standalone adjectives I could use to describe this one, and most of them are ones that would normally make me want to impulsively run the other way like “comfy,” “feel-good,” “wholesome,” what have you, but I think the most comprehensively I can boil it down to a single word is “lovely.” Everything about it just gives you the warm fuzzies, and almost makes me think that the “I want more stories with no conflict” dorks might actually be onto something.

It’s a simple one: Mitsumi, a dorky teenage go-getter with her entire life planned out, moves to Tokyo from her no-horse beach town to attend one of the country’s best prep schools, but much like everyone who played the first two hours of Persona 5, she quickly gets lost in Shibuya’s subway station on the first day of school. She runs into Sousuke Shima, a laid-back boy from the same school who’s also running late, because that’s, like, what he does, and manages to wrangle him into running to school with her.

Mitsumi quickly draws attention from her classmates, not only from delivering a speech as the incoming class representative (and subsequently barfing all over her teacher), but because she inadvertently made fast friends with the hottest, most popular first-year in the school. This attracts the attention of social climbers and jealous hangers-on, but Mitsumi hardly notices. She’s used to knowing everyone in her school back home, so she wastes no time reaching out and seeing what’s up with anyone who’ll give her the time of day.

A lot of Skip and Loafer revolves around the roles for which we think we’re destined in a controlled social environment like high school, and how easily the preconceptions you have of other people can be shattered if you just get to, like, talk to them for 20 seconds. Mitsumi’s friend group quickly fills itself out with people who wouldn’t give each other so much as a passing glance at first, but come together so naturally that you almost can’t believe they weren’t friends already.

Shima, for his part, also struggles with those preconceptions; for as laid-back as he seems on the surface, he’s a habitual people pleaser and is constantly playing a role. He’s so caught up in the performance that he doesn’t quite know what’s going on half the time or how he really feels about most things. Mitsumi is so naturally magnetic, though, that he does seem to genuinely enjoy his time with her, and vice versa. You can see where this is headed, if the gorgeously-animated dances they do together in the OP weren’t enough of a tell.

Everything about Skip and Loafer is just downright pleasant. Character models are simple and sketchy, the color palette is awash in pastels and neutral tones, and the soundtrack is peppy and whimsical. It’s a warm hug of a series, and at no point does it feel cloying or manipulative. High school slice-of-life is pretty bloated as a genre, and I watched a ton of those this year, but there’s just something so charming and magnetic about Skip and Loafer that instills in me a sort of false nostalgia for the ideal high school experience I never had.

Also: Nao-chan. Exceptional trans representation. We do not get enough of that in anime and she is a breath of fresh fucking air. I would die for her.

7. The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

And now for something much less wholesome.

I really don’t seek out harem anime. Tenchi Muyo was formative to me as a tween, and a rewatch last year ended up being a major catalyst in getting me back into anime, but despite it being widely considered the second-ever harem anime, it hasn’t left much of a legacy in the ones that followed. Harem anime from the 00s onward has largely been formulaic wish-fulfillment slop that runs itself in circles as a perpetual money-making machine rather than developing any sort of plot (see: Hina, Love and Girlfriend, Rent-a-). I know I covered Girlfriend Girlfriend earlier, and while that’s nothing like Tenchi either, it does scratch an ever-present itch for stupid, madcap, relentless anime bullshit.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, [...] Really Love You, meanwhile, sees that itch and takes a fucking chainsaw to it. To say everything about it is over-the-top would be an understatement: The top is Hyakkano’s floor. This show gives you everything you could ever want in a harem comedy, but to the extreme: It is your dad making you smoke the whole carton. It is Hell’s donut machine, and you are Homer Simpson. Satire is often at its best when it pushes the boundaries of absurdity, and 100 Girlfriends revels in that push like a horny bulldozer. This is not genre subversion, it’s genre explosion.

The headcount isn’t the only wildly outsized element of this series; every single member of the titular harem, each a tick on the checklist of every -dere archetype you can imagine, pushes the slider of each of their character tropes so far to the right it’s breaking the track. The deredere is a ball of deranged horniness, the tsundere betrays her intentions so compulsively that she’s functionally incapable of lying, and the kuudere is so robotically devoted to pure efficiency that it’s salient to mention that her name is literally pronounced “Nano A.I.” If you can think of an anime girl archetype, she is in this (or will be in future seasons), and she is the apotheosis.

And yet, this show still bothers to make each one of them an actual character. Harem anime has such a low bar to clear on that front, yet most entries in the genre still bang their dicks against it. Hyakkano's titular girlfriends, at least the ones introduced in the first season, are actual characters with actual backgrounds, actual motivations, actual growth, and actual reasons to like the protagonist beside the premise. They’re all founded on stock anime tropes, to be sure, but the original manga’s author actually put in the work to give them, you know, personalities. And above almost all else, they actually like each other too! This isn’t exactly a full-on polycule (though two of the girls are prone to making out with each other on occasion), but for as deeply weird as this family unit is on paper, they actually come across as a group of people who love and care for each other rather than everyone cattily jockeying for the same position.

And not for nothing, but Rentaro is easily one of the best harem protagonists I’ve ever seen, and again, this is coming from a Tenchi Muyo fan. I do enjoy Naoya’s over-the-top earnestness in Girlfriend Girlfriend, but Rentaro is the gigachad version. He is exceedingly patient, kind, and understanding of each of these girls’ unique quirks and qualities and quickly grows to learn to manage them in conflict and help them work through their insecurities, and he loves them back in kind and puts in the work to make equal time for each of them. He doesn’t want to “fix” these girls; he sees them for who they are and proactively does everything in his power to accommodate them. He's like if Tadano from Komi Can’t Communicate actually got the harem he deserved. Putting aside the fact that he’s, y’know, 100-timing his girlfriends, he comes across as just a really good partner.

I also want to be clear: For its rampant, fanservice-laden anime bullshit, this show is genuinely hilarious. It’s not some kind of “how did this shit even get made” trainwreck; it is a comedy first and foremost, and the comedy hits exactly as intended. The comic pacing is buckwild, the visual gags are so rampant that they’re almost difficult to keep up with, and the translators, at least in the version I watched, did an outstanding job of localizing the constant wordplay. It’s also so unapologetic in its horniness that you can’t help but admire it a bit; 100 Girlfriends knows exactly what it’s about, and it dares you to say something.

There’s a very good chance this won’t be for you. 100 Girlfriends is constantly pushing the boundaries of good taste, but never in an offensive way and never truly at its characters’ expense. Geoff Thew calls it the “most 'harem' harem anime,” but I'd argue that it’s the most "anime" anime: It is every trope you’ve ever seen in romcom anime cranked up to a thousand and smushed up against your nose. This shit hits like Panera lemonade. It is peak trash. If you have a tolerance for anime bullshit, this show may very well test that, but I still cannot recommend it enough.

6. Heavenly Delusion

Didn’t think I’d be getting into more than one post-apocalyptic anime this year, but I’d seen this one recommended so many times that I felt this list would be incomplete if I didn’t watch it. Don’t ask me about Pluto.

Heavenly Delusion (Hulu lists it under its Japanese title, Tengoku Daimakyo, for some reason) splits its runtime between two different stories: The first, a pair of young travelers making their way across a ruined Japan in search of nebulous goals neither is sure even exist; the second surrounding a group of adolescents in an unnervingly idyllic walled garden in some sort of school setting. The narrative flips between these two sporadically, rarely ever showing its hand in how they are even remotely connected.

On the post-apocalypse side, we follow Maru and his bodyguard-for-hire, Kiruko, as they trek across the country to deliver Maru to someplace called “Heaven,” while at the same time, Kiruko is in search of a pair of men from their youth. They are often beset by bandits, cults, and most crucially, horrifying monsters called “Man-Eaters,” which Maru has the unique ability to kill. On the school side, we see a group of gender-ambiguous kids in an enclosed space, constantly monitored and kept in a very controlled environment. Everything feels.. wrong. Nobody seems entirely human. There is a lingering and seemingly taboo curiosity about what lies outside the walls. I hesitate to say any more.

There is phenomenal human drama in here, and sparks so many conversations about transhumanism and human nature, gender, trauma, community, all things I’m not smart enough to really dive into. But to even address these topics here is to give the game away, and Heavenly Delusion is a story better left unspoiled, even if, a full season in, I’m still not 100% sure what’s going on.

This show is gorgeous in ways I’m still struggling to articulate. The character designs, animation, lighting, and cinematography are so immaculate that I repeatedly had to remind myself that I wasn't watching a movie. Heavenly Delusion looks like a grungy Shinkai film: Character models are immaculately realized and fluidly animated, the light and shadow effects are some of the best I’ve ever seen in TV animation, and action sequences are visceral and unpredictable. Maybe all I needed to say is that it was made by much of the same Production IG staff in charge of Psycho-Pass.

I want to say as little about what happens as possible, because the mystery is the main draw of Heavenly Delusion, but I feel the need to warn that there is a very dark and sour turn near the end of the season in the form of some strongly implied sexual violence. It was thematically unnecessary, and once that side of things is resolved, everyone just kinda… moves past it. It doesn’t ruin the show, I still recommend it heartily, but be forewarned. I found it upsetting, but more in the “did this REALLY need to be in there?” sense. The mounting tension and slowly-unfolding existential horror in this series are otherwise expertly woven into the narrative, and this part landed with a wet thud.

This is a much longer story than most of the season would have you believe, and it ends with far more questions than answers. One side of the story leaves off with an open end, and the other with a massive cliffhanger, which left me a little cold but with interest piqued for the next season. For what it is right now, though, Heavenly Delusion is a nearly perfect, endlessly thought-provoking mystery and one of the most gorgeously ugly things I’ve seen this year.

#anime reviews

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poptimus-prime · 1 year

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Flash Commissions: Medical Bill Edition

Hello all!

So, in February, I had to go to the ER for a serious acute illness (I'm healed, don't worry!)

My insurance denied covering the bill for a test, despite telling me they would cover EVERYTHING for this ER visit, leaving me on the hook for almost 900 dollars.

We love the American healthcare system.

Anyways, this means I am opening up some fast, cheap commissions earlier than expected because while I will try to fight my insurance, I don't have this kind of money, and I can't just. Decide to not pay the bill because I do not want that to go to collections.

Anyways! If you can't commission me (because we're all going through it, I know,) reblogging so more people can see this is enough.

All inquiries can be taken through my DMs on this account. I have samples to give directly upon request, but this blog has a lot of art and writing samples. All payments are taken through my Ko-Fi over here. I will expect full payment upfront for these, but I am willing to negotiate.

See below the cut for pricing and other information, such as fandoms, the wills and won't, and disclaimers.

These commissions at these prices will be open until I have enough to comfortably pay my medical bill, and then may stay open depending on what happens in the future.

Thank you

Daphnis

Visual Art (Limited due to time/energy constraints)

Digital icon (simplified designs where applicable with lineart, color, and shading): $15 USD per icon, $12 per icon if you buy 2 or more.

Digital sketches (simplified designs where applicable with flat color):

Bust: $10 USD

Half body: $15 USD

Full body: $20 USD

Additional character fees apply and will be 50% of the base cost per character, rounded down to the nearest dollar if necessary.

Writing

A flat rate of $10 USD per 1000 words up to 5000 words, and then $8 USD for each additional 1000 words.

Fandoms I feel comfortable drawing and/or writing in:

Transformers (I will draw for any continuity; check my pinned post for continuities I can currently write)

Sonic the Hedgehog (both games and live-action movies)

MLP: FiM (Writing up to the Season 5 finale, but will draw for anything in the series.)

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (Writing only up to before Rebooted, but drawing for anything in the series)

Will do:

Mild gore (robot or organic; bleeding and flesh wounds)

OCs or Self-Inserts (with proper references for art and sufficient character bios for writing)

Self-ship, Canon x OC, OC x OC, and Canon x Canon (with stipulations that it's not. A minor and an adult, or a ship that otherwise squicks me. Inquire in DMs.)

Furries

Humans

Mecha

Will not do:

NSFW

Offensive/hateful content

Excessive gore (exposed organs, bones, etc., Broken limbs. Stuff like that.)

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to reject any commission for any reason. I will not take your money if I think I will end up changing my mind about doing it or have too many commissions in the queue. In the case of the latter, I may start a waitlist.

#daphnis.docx #Emergency commissions #commission information #macadam #Sonic the Hedgehog #MLP G4 #Ninjago #On my knees begging actually

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broodlords · 2 years

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DANG WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! i can draw for you! more info + transcriptions under the cut 🕺

slots are 2/5 at the minute. you can check my blog description to see whether or not comms are full! the maximum amount of characters i’ll do is 2 and prices will vary depending on what sort of style you’re looking for. dm me for my discord or shoot me an email at [email protected]

i’m not in the US so keep timezones in mind! i’ll be posting commissions online with credit unless you specify otherwise, if you want more examples of art just let me know payment is half upfront and half upon completion!

WILL DRAW: Original characters, fanart, armour, furries, monster designs NO porn, hateful content, complex backgrounds

All prices are GBP (£). Subject to change depending on complexity. Sketch: - Bust: £10 - Torso: £15 - Full body: £25 Lineart: - Bust: £15 - Torso: £25 - Full body: £50 Flat colours: - Bust: £20 - Torso: £35 - Full body: £60 Complex colours (shading in any style you’d like!) - Bust: £30 - Torso: £50 - Full: £75

Cool? Cool!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. Contact me! Either on Discord (ask over dms) or email ([email protected]) with your request. Be extremely clear here. Send me all the references and information you can- pieces about your character, poses, everything you want to see. If possible (and if you don’t want a transparent background), tell me what size image you’re looking for! Whether it’s cropped as a portrait or in a square frame is up to you. I take payment through Ko-fi and will send my link to you!

2. I send over some sketches! As an update to prove that the commission is underway and for more discussion. If you’re unhappy with the positioning or have changed your mind about something, I can make large changes here. I’ll continue updating you from this point.

3. I send the nearly complete image! Again, as proof that things are underway. I can only make minor changes at this stage. I can’t re-work the image, you can only ask for slight adjustments. The image will be watermarked and at a lower quality.

4. The final image is sent over! And you send me the rest of the money! If you don’t want it posted on social media, or if you don’t want to be credited, this is your chance to say so.

A FEW OTHER THINGS!

I can turn down a commission for any reason. If what you want me to draw makes me uncomfortable, I won’t be taking your commission. This includes drawing things like SP characters.

You’re welcome to use the art as an icon, but if it’s just an icon you’re looking for, please specify! It can be used for social media, livestreams, anything free.

That being said, this art is not for commercial use. It isn’t to be monetised.

Reference sheets will cost more depending on complexity (and if you’d like the same character at different angles or in different outfits), but I’m open to discussing them! If you want a reference sheet for a character, be as specific as you can when we’re discussing things!

I’m a lot more comfortable drawing monsters and weird beasts than humans. If you want a monster design, you’re welcome to be loose with the description. So long as you give me something to work with!

When I say provide information for your request, send it! If it’s an OC, this means reference sheets, quirks about their character- please don’t assume that I’ll guess everything right. Picrew examples or sketches you’ve done are incredibly helpful.

I have a spreadsheet for tracking commissions. I’ll send it right at the beginning so you know what your status is!

That should be everything! Thank you for taking the time to read this!

#slashing art #illustration #commissions #artists on tumblr #very much ok 2 rb

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dragonsblood366 · 7 months

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I finally finished my TOS :)

Here's some older art I've done too.

Listed below, in case you're interested.

Payments go through PayPal, Venmo, Ko-fi, or Cashapp.

Prices set in USD.

Half payment is required upfront for payments larger than 15$, and for 15$ or less full payment is required upfront. (Or after the initial sketch unless it's a sketch comm)

Payment plans can be negotiated for larger orders (ask)

I hold the right at any point in time to stop working on a commission for any reason. The reason may be given to you; along with a refund.

(Refunds will be provided if I cannot finish a commission. Half refunds will be given if I have already completed part of the work.)

You may not receive refunds for finished work.

If a custom is not to your liking, a refund may be provided upon the acceptance that I will be keeping and selling that design. You would be giving all rights of that character back to me.

When you purchase a design from me the price is only personal use, if you'd like commercial use, we can discuss pricing.

During the art process, you will be updated on each stage. You may make any amount of changes on the sketch stage, however when I move onto flat color you can only change color. (Unless I messed up on a certain part of your character)

Auction TOS will be provided in every auction.

You may not claim my art as your own.

You may not remove my watermark.

You may move my watermark on characters, but you may not remove it or hide it.

You may not tamper with the watermark on a completed piece.

Comms take priority over trades.

NSFW can only be ordered by 18+ (id verification req.)

You may not use AI on my art or turn them into NFTs.

You may repost/use the artwork where you like so long as you give credit.

You may not trace or heavily inspire off of my art and/or designs.

Unless previously discussed, if payment is not received within 24 hours upon sketch completion, the commission will be cancelled. (Again, full payment required upfront for 15$ or less)

If a commission is cancelled and a full refund is given, I have full rights to use any progress I've made in any way I see fit.

Please notify me when your payment is sent.

When commissioning, please provide as much reference as possible and include important details wherever possible.

You will be notified when I begin your commission.

TAT should be no longer than two weeks. If for any reason a commission is delayed, you will be notified. If a commission is not completed within 1 month upon starting your comm, you will get a full refund.

When confirming a stage, all progress will be paused until you respond.

Your commission will automatically be used as an example. If you do not want this, you must tell me when ordering.

WILL DO:

Anthros

Ferals

Humanoids

Suggestive/light NSFW

Heavy NSFW

Gore

Any Species (the more refs the better)

Etc.

WON'T DO:

Mecha (ask)

Underage content in NSFW or suggestive situations

Some NSFW concepts (ask)

Any form of hateful media

#tos #art #anthro #digital art #furry fandom #dragonsblood366

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lilhawkeye3 · 4 years

Note

I don't know if they thought curly hair was too complicated to animate or something, but for some reason, ALL the clones in TCW have straight hair. It comes off as a simple stylistic choice with the standard crew cut, but then you have characters like Tup and Hunter. And since Trace Martez exists, we know they CAN texture curly hair now, and it doesn't look like it was all that complicated either. I guess in the case of Tup and Hunter we have to chalk it up to mutation in-universe.

Alright. Here’s an image of Trace and Rafa Martez.

I’m gonna say this kindly as a curly haired individual: I would not say Trace has textured curly hair in the show. She has a textured hairstyle meant to represent curls.

Rafa has some waves in her hair that do end in a little curl, and while in real life I would say she probably has one of the “B” classifications for curly hair and appears to have a stronger curl pattern than Temuera Morrison. That said, the animation is still fairly blocky and only represents her having curls.

This gif even shows it: Trace’s hair just... doesn’t move. It’s completely fixed. At least Rafa’s has a bit of sway and bounce at the bottom ringlet.

My honest opinion? The actual animation program itself is not designed to handle curls. What we see with both Martez ladies is that the CG part of their hair is very blocky, but the “texture” comes more from the hand-painted look.

This is something Filoni pushed from the start: CG animation was the new thing in 2005 and George Lucas wanted to use it for the show, but Filoni was a hand-drawing artist. He worked on Avatar the Last Airbender, for example. The way he could keep that feel with Clone Wars was to paint each “panel.” Thus, you had a merging of the two. Here’s a segment of a direct quote from Filoni, taken from this article.

“I wanted it to look like a painting— you see a textured, hand painted style on every character. I have texture artists who literally paint every character right down to their eyeball, because I wanted that human touch on everything.” -Dave Filoni

I actually looked into what program they used (at least for the earlier seasons). In 2008, it was produced by a company called Autodesk, and here is the announcement of them using the software. In the announcement, it mentions that one of Autodesk’s first (and main) developments is AutoCAD, and that their programs are meant to simulate real-world developments. Yeah... AutoCAD is an engineering/architechtural program. It’s very formulated and rigid because so are the materials it needs to simulate.

Here’s an example of a plant designed using a more recent version of AutoCAD (from the Autodesk website). Even with basic colors, it’s clear to see how its older versions would be best for a show full of armored troopers, ships, destroyers, walkers... pretty much every part of Star Wars except for the people, tbh.

The program, and thus any later ones developed off of it, was not equipped to program curly hair. It’s not in their coding.

The other problem is Lucasfilm was outsourcing the animating for most scenes to a team in Asia (as per the linked announcement). That’s not cheap. When you introduce a character like Tup, who is a smaller supporting character, it’s far easier to just use the already developed clone CG model and have his hair tied back so it lays flat. It’s logistically not worth figuring out curls for him.

Hell, look even at Anakin or Obi-Wan’s hair in the first seasons (just search gifs on tumblr tbh). It moves together in chunks, if at all. The last season does have more improvement, but by then 1) it’s ten years later, so animation programs have evolved significantly, and 2) they’re at Disney.

I may hate on Disney for a lot of things, but Disney and Pixar have pioneered so much for digital animation, including hair actually (i.e. Tangled & The Incredibles). And... it’s Disney. They’ve got some of the best technology out there, even if it’s just for a TV show.

But, back to the clones. Take a look at any of the Sideshow collectible figures available for the clone troopers from the show. Even the short haired troopers have wavy definition to their hair, and for Tup it’s pretty clear he has a curl texture, just that it’s been tightly combed back into a bun.

To help, here’s a trio of images: the left is Temuera Morrison around when he was in Star Wars. The top right is the Showtime collectible of ARC Trooper Fives. The bottom right is Fives in the show. It’s clear they attempted Temuera’s curl texture on the figurine. If you look closely at Fives’ hair from the show still, it still attempts to show that but flat painted on the CG hair panel.

And here’s the clearest image I could find of Tup’s hair. Again, they tried to show his texture with the flat hand-painting.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They tried. Kind of. It just doesn’t translate well.

So, to sum it all up: the clones don’t have pin-straight hair. The animation makes it look that way because it is limited in its coding. But for the more realistic versions of the troopers, they’re shown to have some hair texture.

I don’t think they were being purposefully ignorant or racist by keeping the clones’ hair straighter. The style of animation chosen really was just not equipped to handle any type of curly hair pattern.

[For those of you wondering why they chose it though, one of the main reasons for the style was because they wanted motion capture for battle scenes. And y’know... after seeing the Ahsoka vs Maul fight in the final season... yeah, valid decision on that end.]

That said, something that was within the animation team’s control that we should be angry about is how they lightened/whitewashed the clones and Boba Fett in the series.

But that’s some tea for another time... ☕️🦅

If you like my research essays, consider donating to my Ko-Fi (18+ art gift included as thanks EDIT: this post was made in Sept 2020 and the gift is no longer available). If you want to be tagged in future Tea Times, fill out this form here!

#star wars the clone wars #tea time with hawk #animation style #clone troopers #trace martez #rafa martez #temuera morrison #arc trooper fives #clone trooper tup #dave filoni #autocad #tcw #thanks for coming to my ted talk #motion capture #thank you anon!

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dessarious · 4 years

Text

What Makes a Family? Pt8

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“How exactly is a billionaire businessman connected to the al Ghuls, and what does that have to do with my birth mother?” Marinette decided to take advantage of Alfred’s shock. She knew better than to think he’d just answer her question but she’d be able to get a lot of information from his reaction while he was off balance.

“How does a teenager from Paris even know who they are?” Deflection. Fairly standard move.

“I asked first.” She had to hide a smile at the eyeroll that produced. Finding his buttons was proving to be quite amusing.

“Master Bruce has business interests all over the world.” She just gave him a flat look. More deflection.

“No, that’s not it.” Alfred blinked at her for a moment. She’d admit he was very good at half truths, but not enough to fool her.

“I assure you Miss, Wayne Enterprises has ventures all over the world.”

“That may be true but it’s not how he’s connected to the League. Wait… Taila can’t be my mother. There’s no way she could have written that note given that the woman has no empathy.” After what happened that would be a literal nightmare. But there was also no reason for Talia to want to protect her from the League so it couldn’t be her… right?

“No, Talia isn’t your mother.” There was a slight emphasis on the word ‘your’ that most people would have missed. He wasn’t kidding when he said things were complicated.As far as she knew Talia only had one child. A child she claimed was fathered by some American superhero. What was his name? Dixon? No, Daren? No that wasn’t it. She’d gone on and on about her precious…

“Damian.” She didn’t mean to say it out loud but seeing Alfred’s expression she was glad she did. But if Bruce was Damian’s father as well, and Talia wasn’t just being grandiose, that meant he was a hero? “Where exactly does my father live?” She’d done her homework on other heroes in case she needed help or one of them ended up in Paris. Maybe she could narrow down the possibilities by location.

“Gotham, Miss.” Marinette heard a sound leave her throat that she couldn’t identify. Judging by Alfred’s expression he hadn’t heard anything like it before either.

“My father is Batman?” Alfred wasn’t able to hide his shock, but she wasn’t certain it was because she was right. At the same time all the pieces fit. Not to mention Tikki had told her that as a true chosen, fate and chance were always working overtime around her.

“Marinette, that is an interesting fancy. Just because a man lives in the same city as a notable vigilante doesn’t mean they’re the same person.” Alfred’s tone was a bit huffy and Marinette laughed out loud, earning her a glare.

“You have tells Grandpa Alfie. Using my name without prompting is definitely one of them. Don’t worry, the secret is safe with me.” She suddenly found herself on the receiving end of an extremely intense stare. It was a lot like the look her Maman gave her that made it feel like she could see everything Marinette had ever done wrong. When she was younger that stare made her start confessing to everything, even things she hadn’t done. By the time she became Ladybug she was able to hold it in though she couldn’t control her expressions. She honestly didn't know how she’d kept it secret for so long. Now though, she could simply sit there calmly and wait as Alfred seemed to weigh and measure every aspect of her life. She felt sorry for all her siblings who must be on the receiving end of this inspection on a regular basis.

“I would like to know how you came to that conclusion, why you think you can be trusted with such information if it were in fact true, and how you know about the League of Assassins.” The poor man sounded so tired. She could only imagine what he went through on a daily basis if she was right about her father. The only solid thought that went through her head was ‘give to get’ and as she examined her instincts she knew he could be trusted. Not to mention that at this point she’d had too many slip ups to avoid at least a partial explanation. Fate and chance once again conspiring to set her on a certain path. As much as she hated her hand being forced like this it wasn’t fair to take it out on her new found family.

“It’s complicated.” She giggled at the flat look he shot her as she echoed his own words back at him. “I have a lot more pieces of the puzzle than you’re aware of for starters so nothing you said or did would have outed him by itself. My conclusion is actually tied to how I know about the League of Assassins and that is a story that I need you to promise not to share, with anyone, unless you ask me first. No one knows the whole of it besides me because I don’t want to risk any Akuma’s or worse. But I trust you to keep it to yourself, given that you’re obviously experienced at keeping secrets.”

“I have a feeling you are as well.” She could only offer him a tired smile at that observation. If only he knew. His look softened considerably. “You have my word that nothing you say will be shared without your permission. Unless it’s a matter of life and death.” She let out a thoughtful hum before replying.

“That’s fair I suppose. Granted the whole life or death thing can be a bit subjective. I suppose I should start at the beginning, though I’m not sure I know where that is anymore. Remember how I said our heroes and villains are using Magical Artifacts to get their powers?”

“I do Miss.” She rolled her eyes, more in annoyance at herself than anything.

“You’re just going to refuse to use my name at all now that I called you on your tell aren’t you?” There was that almost smile again.

“I don’t know what you mean Miss.”

“Of course you don’t. Anyway, those Artifacts are highly coveted by certain groups. One of those groups is the League of Assassins. Given how little information gets out of Paris intact I’m still not sure how they found out the Miraculous were in circulation, but Ra’s and Talia came to Paris, about two years ago I believe, to try and take them.” That had started the worst week of her life, even if some of the lasting effects were some of the best things in her life currently. That week she’d found out that Adrien was Chat. That was the week Paris had been destroyed over a dozen times as she fought and Akumatized Ra’s al Ghul almost by herself. That was the week she’d given Chloe, Luka, and Kagami their Miraculous permanently. That was the week she’d seen everyone and everything she’d ever loved ripped apart. She still had nightmares that featured the lifeless stares of everyone she cared about. Yes she’d fixed it in the end, just like always, but unlike everyone else she didn’t have the luxury of forgetting. Suddenly she felt gentle hands on her own.

“You remind me so much of your father. You both carry burdens and refuse to share them. You both seem to think that the world is on your shoulders, and yours alone. You both have people all around you who would help, if only you’d let them.” His tone was an odd mixture of concern and censure.

“You’d be a good match for Wayzz. A calm and steadying presence full of wisdom yet willing to do whatever is necessary to protect those you care about.” She was just as surprised by the words as he was but she knew she was right. “But that is another complicated matter and I still owe you a proper explanation for the first round of confusion I sprang on you.”

AO3 Beginning Previous Next

Ko-Fi

@moonystars14 @ladybug-182 @elmokingkong @smolplantmum @jessigurl-design @trippingovermyfeet @its-salty-bug @whydoexamsexist @scorchdragon88 @alenee13 @lil-1254s-blog @sturchling @random-fandoms7 @fandom-writer642 @chylou34 @thewitchwhowaited @junarvion @laurcad123 @hakoirii @aestheticnpoetic @aegyobutpsycho2 @sassakitty @swiftie-miraculer13 @miraculous-simmer7 @peachedpocky @misslenamooney @shamefullove @user00000003 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @galla02006

#bio dad bruce wayne #marinette dupain cheng #Alfred Pennyworth #maribat

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sylveradrake · 4 years

Text

Pixel art commissions are open!

Active Slots:

[ ayealiskomori: four 200px dolls (sketched) ]

[ charlieltweets: one 150px doll (sketched) ]

[ cupiddissolvi: two 250 pixel dolls ]

[ Open ]

Reserved Slots:

[ Open ]

Frequently Asked Questions (Please Read!):

[ ? ] Are these all the options you have for commissions? [ A ] These are primarily just examples of things I've done consistently in the past! If you have a more 'custom' idea, we can certainly discuss it! I've been doing pixel art for over four years, so I have some decent experience, but like every artist I have limits to my current abilities. You can see both my Tumblr and DeviantArt galleries for more examples, including the options for the line styles, animations, and shading! [ ? ] What ARE all those options under the examples? [ A ] Hard lines means the piece will have "hard", solid black lines between each "section" of the piece: the outline, and between all the different colors, etc. Lineless means that rather than having that solid black line, I use a slightly darker shade of each color to outline them, like the full body dragon! This gives it a softer, 'lineless' look. Cell shading means that there's just one color used to shade, rather than a blend. The Kakashi doll on the far left has cell shading: just one color in a hard shape. Smooth shading means what it sounds like: a few colors are blended from dark to light to make the shadows smoother! I do a few very basic animations for certain dolls or icons when requested. Typically this refers to a one-pixel "bob", and a blink cycle. I can also have a doll open its mouth and bring up a small speech bubble if you'd like them to say something! Please bear in mind that animation takes additional time and effort, and though not required, additional support is appreciated for animated pieces! [ ? ] Why are there things you refuse to draw? [ A ] For the most part, it's simply a matter of preference. For others, it's a matter of ability. Some things are just a bit too complex for me to feel I can pull it off in a fashion consistent with the rest of my work, and therefore being worth your money! Hence a limit on complex poses and the number of characters per shot, or complex designs, like mecha. Other things like the ship limitations are just personal preferences that make me uncomfortable. The NSFW ban is mostly due to most hosting sites not liking to host mature artwork...and also a matter of both my ability, and personal preference. [ ? ] What constitutes NSFW? [ A ] For me, this includes any nudity that shows genitals - nipples and / or breasts are fine. This also includes anything sexual, including any and all fetishes, even if genitals are not shown. I also do not do heavy gore. I may expand this umbrella term if anything not already covered comes up! [ ? ] I can't afford a commission, but I'd like to help! What can I do? [ A ] You can share this comm sheet and / or my art with your friends! Getting the word out might mean finding someone able and willing to order a comm, which of course is a big help! [ ? ] Do you do requests? [ A ] Unfortunately, not at the moment. If you'd like me to draw something for you and the comms are open, you're more than welcome to order something! While I do do personal art for myself and for friends, I can't make free art for everyone. In the future I may do something akin to raffles, but for now, we're starting with the commissions! [ ? ] Can I donate without ordering a commission? [ A ] You most certainly can, and it's very much appreciated, and would be a huge help! Of course it is NOT an expectation: no one has to donate if they can't or don't want to. But if you just want to throw some general support in to help me keep creating, you're more than welcome, and I'd appreciate it tremendously [ ? ] Do you accept DeviantArt points? [ A ] I do not. To put it bluntly, DA points can't pay my bills. I have nothing I need that DA points can buy, so I only work with money. Sorry! [ ? ] Do you do anything like art trades? [ A ] For the moment, no - but I might in the future! I'm open to the possibility, but for now (and for this post's purpose), I'm working on commissions! If I ever open up art trades, I'll be sure to make another about it! [ ? ] How is best to contact you? [ A ] Any of the above listed social media! Here on DA, please send a note with a subject line about commissions. On Tumblr, you can send an ask (off anon) which I will reply to privately. You can also send an IM! Email also works: just include commissions in the subject line. I do my best to check all of these sites a few times a day, but there may be times where I'm limited. I'll try to post ahead of time so you know why I'm not responding promptly! Otherwise, it could take me about a day to get back to you. Please be patient! I have other responsibilities. I may also take hiatuses if I feel the need. If I go more than a few days without responding and haven't given any warning, there's probably something keeping me from my messages, and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I'm able! [ ? ] What's your policy on refunds? [ A ] So long as I haven't finished flat coloring your piece, you can get a full refund, of course! But once the piece is lined AND colored, I've put in a good bit of work, so I'm afraid I won't be able to refund you. As stated on the sheet, you can ask for an update on the piece any time! And I will send you the cleaned sketch once it's finished to see if there's anything you'd like changed. Though please bear in mind some things can differ between sketching and lining, especially when shrinking down to pixel. A sketch is a general outline, not the full product! [ ? ] Are there any other circumstances where you might refuse a commission? [ A ] Honestly it depends. I hope not to encounter any other reasons beyond my general rules, but I DO retain the right to say no to any commission for any reason, which I don't have to disclose. If I do say no, please respect that decision. It's never anything personal. [ ? ] Where does the art go once it's finished? [ A ] Any commissioned art, by default, will be posted to my DeviantArt, my Tumblr, and on Ko-fi! I'll also send you a copy / link through whatever means you contacted me with. If you'd like your art to be private, you need only ask. I will then only send YOU the art, and it will NOT be posted anywhere else. I can also post the art anonymously if you’d like it posted, but your name not attached to it. [ ? ] How can I use my commission(s)? [ A ] Any way you like UNLESS it's commercial - in other words, if you make any money using the artwork. Please also do not trade or sell the artwork. Otherwise, feel free to use it for any personal use you'd like! You can also repost the art so long as you provide a link to my original post. If your comm wasn't publicly posted, a link back to any of my social media will suffice! Just always be sure to use proper credit so people know where the art came from! That way they can find my pages, and maybe get a commission of their own! [ ? ] Do you do fanart? [ A ] I do! My commissions are all one-off, unique jobs, and I'm hardly about to impact any IP markets. So long as it's a large fandom (no Disney, though - that's one I won't touch), and my art wouldn't greatly impact the profits and livelihood of other creators, I can do fanart. But I DO prefer to do original art! It's great to work with new designs, and help give original characters more art for them! Gimme OCs to draw! [ ? ] Can you design a character for me, like a custom adoptable? [ A ] I can! Just bear in mind that I'll need as many details as possible to make something that fits your vision! I'll also need to work with you more than typical to be sure we get it as accurate as possible, so be prepared for a lot of communication until we get it looking as you want! [ ? ] Can you do gifts - in other words, can I order art for another person? [ A ] I do, and you certainly can! Just be sure to let me know who the gift is for, so I can tag them! If they don't have any of the social media I use, you can just give me a name or screen name to post with it. A gift will just cost you the same as any art you'd order for yourself! Also please do be sure you have permission to commission art of characters owned by another person! [ ? ] What do you mean by 'item'? [ A ] Each individual pixel piece! One lone pixel doll of 150 pixels would be four dollars! But if you want two dolls interacting, it's four dollars EACH. So eight dollars. That's because I still have to sketch, ink, color, shade, and possibly animate EACH doll! Twice the effort means twice the price.

#commissions #pixel art #pixel doll #pixel icon #pixel cursor

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buttsonthebeach · 5 years

Note

*whispering* solavellan sex on the Normandy

ANON. I don’t even know if you’re still out there, I’m pretty sure you sent this like a year ago, but I want you to know that I have been working on this prompt ever since you sent it!!!

Fun fact #1: I have never played any of the original Mass Effect games.

Fun fact #2: I had so much reading about them and watching videos and concocting headcanons that I accidentally put more energy into that than into smut?

(I’m sorryyyy I hope it was worth the wait if you are still out there)

@dadrunkwriting

My Ko-Fi || My Commissions (Slots currently open as of 10/4/19)

Pairing: Solavellan

Rating: Mature/Explicit (it’s right on that line - sexual content but not a lot and not the most explicit I have ever done)

********************

Solas was fairly certain that the new soldier Commander Shepard had brought on board the Normandy SR-2 was doomed to be just like all the others - more brawn than brain, all muscle and no substance. He tried not to let it matter to him too much. He was here to take advantage of Cerberus’s technology and resources to further his own research into biotics. Everything else was window dressing.

In the case of the new soldier, the window dressing simply happened to be rather striking.

She had skin like mahogany, and red, tightly curled hair worn in a flat top hair cut, and eyes like steel. Her name was Ellana Lavellan, and she was the first person to pull him out of the tight cocoon of his lab - really, out of the tight cocoon he’d woven around himself - in years.

“You know, I was under the impression that our doctor was a salarian,” she said when she first wandered in one day.

“I am neither a doctor nor a salarian, as you can see,” he said, gesturing at the insignia that designated him as a scientist. “You are thinking of Mordin Solus. His quarters are next door. My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions.”

She laughed, and it was a surprisingly musical laugh. He wasn’t sure why he expected all soldiers to be gunmetal and grim looks. She was off duty, and in a tank top that bared her toned arms. He took in her pointed ears. He’d known from her name, of course, that they shared at least a race in common. It had been many centuries since their people were considered a separate but lesser species on the planet called Thedas, but there was still a twinge of happy recognition at the sight of her. Every other member of this crew whose ancestors hailed from Thedas was human. There might be some commonality between them, at least, if they were both elves.

Then again, as she sauntered around the lab, her head cocked in curiosity, he saw the tattoo marking the upper part of her back. Three long, arched branches that likely continued all the way down to her hips. She was likely of Dalish descent then. Or, worse, one of the people who got such tattoos and had no idea what they meant.

Solas ducked his head, returning to the readout on his omnitool.

“Well, you have to admit it is confusing. Solus, Solas. What are you doing?”

She was leaning on his workstation. She smelled like gun oil. Usually people backed away by this point, put off by his arch manner. Why hadn’t she?

“Testing this new implant for Commander Shepard,” he said.

“Interesting. You’ll have to explain how it works to me, sometime. When are you off duty?”

That was how she did it in the end, how she drew him out - she was relentless. Like a hunter on a trail with everything to lose. Except she, like him, had nothing to lose. Her parents were long dead - victims of the same slaver raid on Mindoir that had taken Shepard’s own parents, apparently that was how they knew each other - and she had struggled to find a place for herself since then. She’d been in the Alliance military (another connection with their esteemed commander, who Solas had to admit was growing on him too) but left that life behind, hoping for a new start, only to be drawn back into danger once more. The Illusive Man had given Solas no reason to believe that the Normandy SR-2 would be an easy mission, but he was still surprised by the level of violence they encountered - by the bruises and blood he saw on Ellana whenever she passed his lab on her way to Mordin’s, needing healing.

“I thought you were a sniper,” he chided her after one particularly bad episode. He was holding her left wrist, examining a burn that radiated up the inside of her left arm.

“I am,” she said. “And I thought you were a scientist, and not a doctor.”

He had not asked to take her hand, to examine her. He dropped it. But she just reached out and touched his hand - a touch that burned, that brought back memories, that made him remember just how long it had been since he had been touched. He shivered and he knew Ellana saw it. Solas had been living under masks for years now. He knew she saw through them all.

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I promise.”

He only had the privilege of watching Ellana fight once. Shepard was a formidable biotic herself, and rarely brought other biotics on her missions. But when they went in pursuit of someone called Archangel, she said she wanted the backup.

“I’d also like a measure of stealth,” Shepard went on. “And Jack is, well -”

“Not subtle?” Solas said, dryly.

“Very diplomatic. We’ll bring Lavellan, too.”

Solas tried to ignore the little thrill that ran through him at the thought. He wasn’t successful.

She was a wonder with her rifle. Swift, silent, precise, powerful. She made shots he would have thought impossible, covered him and Shepard with an instinctive ease and tactical awareness. He watched her when he could. He may have even been staring.

“See something you like, Solas?” She asked.

Precise as one of her bullets, blunt as a mallet, and her smile was so sly, and Shepard was distracted by the turian that turned out to be Archangel. Garrus Vakarian, no doubt, if Solas’s research was to be believed.

“Watching you was - impressive. You move differently than any other soldier I have seen. Almost as if it is a dance.”

Ellana slung her rifle over her back and leaned against a wall, her grey eyes alight.

“Are you implying that I am graceful?”

“I am declaring it.” The words slipped out before he could consider them, and that was the danger, wasn’t it, of stepping outside his cocoon, his lab, his routine?

“I was equally impressed by you,” Ellana said. “Your biotics - it’s like it’s totally natural for you.”

He shrugged, pretended he was not complimented, that her words did not light him up from the inside out. “Elves generally take to it better than other Thedosians. Have you read any of the theories that our people were once like asari, with similarly long lives and control over our nervous systems that produced effects so startling they were once called magic?”

Ellana looked away, rubbing the back of her neck. “I was too busy being a dumb grunt to read stuff like that. But I’ve heard of it a little. Maybe you could explain more sometime?”

“Of course.”

It was soft and easy after that, except for when it wasn’t, when they talked about her Dalish heritage, her fierce belief that there was something important about sticking to traditions, even if there was little basis in fact for them.

“Of course my tattoos aren’t what made me an adult,” she retorted one day. “But getting them made me feel connected to something bigger than myself. Is that really so bad?”

“But the implications that they were once -”

“Oh, fuck the implications, Solas. I’m tired of the implications. I live here, and now, and I was just trying to share something about myself with someone who I thought cared about me without it turning into a big fucking deal.”

Her voice rang against the metal walls of his lab. She appeared almost immediately ashamed of her anger. He’d noticed that about her too. That was his job. To notice things, gather intel, play the Illusive Man’s game long enough to figure out if it was true, if biotics were inherent to his race, if they could perhaps be made inherent once again, raising the status of all Thedosians in the Council’s eyes…

But so much of what he had been noticing lately was her.

“I am sorry,” he said. He reached out and touched her hand. He’d been getting used to that. Little touches.

Ellana Lavellan kissed him then, full on the lips, without even the slightest warning, and he was sitting on a stool and though she was a slight woman this made her a little taller than him, and he tilted his head back, let himself fall into the kiss, wrapped his arms around her and felt her warmth and life and just how much he wanted this. Wanted a life that was not just secrets and watching and never partaking.

Ellana pulled back, looked down at him.

“I hope that was okay,” she said. “You’re not going to report me to the commander for sexual harassment, are you?”

Solas kissed her again, hungrier this time, fingers digging into her muscles, the solid reality of her. The realest thing he’d felt in years.

“So you are tired of the implications, then?” he asked when they parted.

“Like I said,” Ellana grinned, sliding into his lap, straddling him. “Fuck the implications.”

Solas could not help himself, of course. He had to tell her that there were considerations. Well, fuck the considerations too, she’d said jokingly, but she respected his boundaries nonetheless. Because there were considerations. He knew more than even Shepard did. He knew that the supposedly disabled Collector ship they were headed to was a trap. He tried to tell Ellana not to go on that mission. To convince Shepard to bring Garrus instead.

“Don’t go soft on me. Besides - I have to beat Vakarian’s high score,” she said, and kissed him.

He knew that to the Illusive Man, all the people on this ship were merely pawns at play in a larger game. He had guessed at what that larger game might be. He had willingly chosen to be a bigger pawn in that game, to do the things the Illusive Man asked of him as long as he could continue his research. And he knew Ellana now - knew that she would not take any of this lightly, that she had a soldier’s sense of loyalty and honor, old-fashioned as the tattoos on her back.

And he knew that he wanted her in all the ways one person could want another. He knew with increasing clarity as time went on that he wanted her more than he wanted anything else.

But to turn his back now -

The formless shadow of what lay beyond the Omega-4 Relay loomed larger and larger, and in its shadow things grew clearer and clearer. Clear as Ellana’s grey eyes, clear as her perception of the world. They might not come back from this mission. And the Illusive Man would not care, not even if he lost one of his foremost biotics researchers, one of his best spies. And Solas’s work would not care if he was not there to finish it. He looked out at the vastness of space outside the Normandy and that thought grew clearer and clearer.

No one would care except for her.

So he went to her the night before they would make their last stand. Her room was small and cramped and her bed was even more small but she was alive in it, alive in her body, already stripped down to her simple training bra and standard issued underwear when he arrived and yet beautiful as any ancient nebula he’d ever seen.

“Are you sure?” she asked him, finding the buttons on his lab coat, undressing him, her eyes bright in the dark.

“I have never been more sure of anything than I am of you,” he said.

So he stripped off all the things that made her a warrior - the training bra, the briefs, the dog tags - and he stripped off all the things that made him a scientist, a spy - the lab coat and the gloves and every single mask - and he loved her. She was warm and firm beneath him and he slid between her thighs - lingered there a long time, just rocking back and forth, just kissing her, just feeling her, the silky drag of skin on skin - and there, in the darkness of space, he loved her, and she loved him. She rolled him over and took her turn on top, not pushing him inside her yet, not even asking him to touch her, to ease her own wet ache. She just felt, explored, touched.

And then when she did take him in her hand raise herself up, and sink back down on him, taking him within her - when she did lace both of her hands with his and pin them over his head as she rode him, as she kissed him - then she was so impossibly real, so impossibly alive, that Solas forgot of the possibility of death. There was only her, them, the light of distant stars, of his own biotics flaring.

“I love you,” she said, and from another woman’s lips it would have felt false to hear those words said when they were still joined, still making love. But this was Ellana, and Solas had watched her, and he knew she was nothing if not sincere.

“I love you,” he said, surrendering, bucking his hips up into her. “I love you, I love you -”

There were people walking down the hall outside - Taylor, Lawson, Tali, Thane, all on their way to some distraction or another, all of them waiting out the end like they were. They tried to fall silent, to move to a different position, each time they passed, and they wound up on the cold metal floor, cocooned in blankets, Solas on top of her this time, looking down at her, mesmerized, angling himself to make it good for her, so he would rub against her in all the right places, so he could watch her when she came, and she squirmed a hand between them to make it happen because she was nothing if not self-sufficient, but he did get to watch her, to feel her from the inside out as she came. Then he was gone too, wave after sweet wave, and it was all too much and too good.

“Hey,” she said in the aftermath, touching his cheek, drawing him back. “It’s okay, you know. It’s gonna be okay.”

He kissed her hand, pretended she was right, that the Omega-4 Relay was not on their horizon now. It was easier than it ever had been. The pretending. She made it easy, lying there in his arms in the nest they’d made on the floor. It was going to be okay. They would make it through the relay and what came after. They’d walk away from Cerberus, the Illusive Man, Shepard, together. They’d see what the world was like without all of those things, without masks. Together.

Solas slept, and waited for tomorrow.

#beach writes #mass effect au #ellana lavellan #da drunk writing circle

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threshasketch · 5 years

Photo

Hey, thank you for checking out my art commission post!

Commissions and Patreon and Ko-Fi are my only source of income right now, and every dollar helps me pay the rent, keep the lights and internet on, and (very important!) keep coffee pot full. ♥

First, a very important announcement:

Commission prices and guidelines have been revised as of 2/6/2020. All previous versions of my art commission guidelines are outdated, and will not be honored*.

*I want to make the changes here as fairly as possible, so anybody who contacted me about a commission before 2/6/2020 will still get the old prices for that commission, even if I haven’t responded to you yet. All commissions I am contacted about on or after this date will adhere to the new guidelines and pricing.

Why The Changes?

It’s become an annual thing for me to review and update my art commission guidelines, because after a year I can see that some items never get ordered and some prices are too low for the amount of time I’m spending working on them.

The prices haven’t changed much this year, and anything that has gone up, it’s because I’ve been doing commissions that involved those things and took me much longer than I thought they would. Price changes are not done to gouge anybody, but to try and be fair to myself for how hard I’m working.

As ever, I’m so grateful to everyone who has ever helped support me and my work – sincerely, thank you! ♥

Without further ado, onward, to the art!

Commission Guidelines

YES:

OCs

Child characters

Ship art (poly ships welcome!)

Specific poses by request

Pics with multiple characters

Characters from shows/comics/anime/manga/etc

Characters in outfits you send me a ref of (armor, a toga, fashionista ensemble, pink panties, you name it – talk to me)

Tasteful nudity (think pin-up style, coyly placed vases, that kind of thing)

Giant/tiny art

Different body types (I LOVE drawing different body types)

Backgrounds (not too complicated please)

Wings, horns, other non-human traits (♥)

NO:

Underage characters in romantic/sexual situations

Furries (nothing against these, I’m just not great at drawing them)

Mecha (see above)

Explicit sex/kink stuff (sorry…I’m sure there are others who will draw this for you out there)

Graphic violence

Non-con

Anti-something art/hate

RPF, aka Real Person Fiction (same thought as explicit stuff)

Closely copying or editing somebody else’s artwork for you

Drawing Styles

Coloring Styles

Pricing Info:

First pick a drawing style:

Chibi line art: $20

Non-chibi line art: $30 (complicated poses/details may be more)

Then add a coloring/shading style:

Flat grays: $10

Flat colors: $15

Gray shading: $20

Color shading: $25

Digital painting: $40 (may be more depending on how realistic/complicated)

Add any extras:

Additional character: $10 per chibi character, $15 per non-chibi character, $25 per digital painting character

Simple background: $10

Detailed background: $20

Add ‘em up and you have your price! If you want a dot chibi couple pic with flat colors, for example, you’re looking at about $45. A non-chibi couple line art? Also $45.

Specialty Projects

Tattoo design: Standard commission prices for characters, style, etc, additional $50 for extra time and care making super high res, smooth line artwork in a one-of-a-kind custom design for you. I have designed several tattoos already. ♥ Tell me the planned tattoo location and I’ll shape the art to fit and display nicely.

(Tattoo belongs to @vibraniumarm , photo and ink work by Diaz Tattoo.)

Fanfic illustrations/covers: Minimum $50 per piece (Will vary based on number of characters/details, art and coloring style desired, etc. I’m an experienced big bang artist. Please check out my Supernatural Bang Master Post for 2018 for examples of fic covers I have done with links to the full art master posts below each cover.)

More examples from my own fics:

Commission Conditions

Commissions provided in digital form only. I post commissioned art on my art blog and on Twitter with the name of who commissioned it – if you don’t want to be tagged by name or need to hold off the posting (say, for surprise birthday present art), please let me know. High-res file copies of commissioned art are provided on request, no extra charge. Payment is required before I begin to work.

I retain the copyright to my work. Under no conditions are you to sell it, print it to sell, repost it without credit to me as the artist, or claim it as your own work.

Revisions will be done within reason if you aren’t absolutely happy with the work (but that’s what I’m aiming for on the first try. ♥) If in doubt, please message me and we’ll work it out!

Payment Info

All prices are in US dollars, and I accept payments through PayPal. All I need is your PayPal email address, and I’ll send you an invoice of what commission item(s) we discussed, the price, the date and other important information in minutes. Once the invoice arrives, you can use PayPal to pay it in a few clicks.

I switched to invoices because it helps me track my earnings/tax info, as well as being a proof of a commission agreement between us. It protects everybody involved. ♥

How to Contact Me:

If you’re interested in an art commission, you can contact me any of these ways:

Send me an email at [email protected] with the subject line “Threshasketch Art Commission”

Toss me a Tumblr ask / messenger message

Send me a direct message on my Twitter

I’m usually around and will get back to you as quick as I can. Actual art-making turnaround time is pretty speedy, but really depends on whether the commission is complicated or simple.

I usually have a queue of commissions lined up, and I work on them in the order they were paid for. Please expect several weeks at the minimum for me to reach your place in the queue and create your art. Let me know if you have a specific time frame you need me to work within, and I’ll be sure I can meet that requirement before taking the commission on!

Think This Post Is Long Enough? Cripes.

If you’d just like to support my work and don’t have a specific art request in mind (fhdsfkdhdsk), you could buy me a Ko-Fi as a tip or become a Patron on Patreon as a monthly type of thing. (If you’re already a Patron, bless you and I love you to pieces!)

Congrats, you made it to the bottom of the post! Thank you for your interest in my art, hope the rest of your day is awesome! ♥♥♥

#signal boost #appreciated #art commissions #threshasketch #threshie #chibi #cute #fanfic covers #tattoos #tumblr #twitter #patreon #ko-fi #threshasketch art commissions 2020 #commissions open

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sugarless-suki-writes · 6 years

Text

Here Comes A Thought

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Pairing: LadyNoir, MariChat Rating: T+ Word Count: 6,782

Read on Ao3||FF

Support me on Ko-Fi!

Warning: Implied/Mentioned Self-Harm

Summary: Ladybug isn’t acting like her usual self, seeming to be caught up in her thoughts, and it’s affecting her fighting.

Here comes a thought that might alarm me What someone said and how it harmed me Something I did that failed to be charming Things that I said are suddenly swarming

“Ladybug, focus!”

Ladybug snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at Chat. They were fighting an akuma. She needed to help her partner. Her mind wouldn’t stop racing. She hung back for a moment, trying to focus on the problem at hand and shove everything else into the back of her mind. Chat was fending off the akuma with his baton, being careful not to hurt the girl. Ladybug soon joined her partner in trying to fend off her attacks and try to corral her somewhere where she wouldn’t hurt anyone.

They weren’t quite sure what she could do... they just knew that she was the Truth Seeker and that already made them want to get this over with as quickly as possible. They didn’t want to risk their identities being found out, and that’s why Chat’s patience was a bit lost during this battle. They continued to push her back, dodging her attacks the best they could, Ladybug taking a few more hits than normal. Chat’s concern for her was growing and it was making him lose his focus. He cursed as he narrowly avoided another attack from the akuma. Getting a bit fed up with this, Chat ran over to Ladybug, snatching her up and quickly running for shelter. The heroine in his arms protested and wriggled in his grasp, but he ignored her. When they finally found cover, he let his partner go and she looked up at him, letting out a huff and puffing her cheeks in anger.

“What did you do that for?” she snapped. Chat ignored her question, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. This unsettled Ladybug and her anger quickly dissipated.

“What’s wrong, Ladybug?” he asked, his voice soft as he spoke in a soothing and gentle tone. Despite his effort, she couldn’t help the panic that rose up in her as memories from earlier in the day surfaced. Chat watched as fear and sadness filled her eyes, but was quickly replaced by anxiousness.

“N-Nothing! Everything is okay. I’m fine!” she answered, unable to look him in the eyes. He frowned at her forced grin and her awkward demeanor, but before he could comment on it, the duo was interrupted.

“Liar!” the akuma screeched. The two jumped apart then, Chat readying himself while Ladybug looked on in shock. Before they could blink, the akuma had snatched Ladybug up in her ribbons and pulled her close. The heroine struggled against her binds, but it seemed to be of no use. Once she was close, Truth Seeker reached her hands out, clasping them around Ladybug’s head. “Now, let’s see the truth!” Ladybug’s eyes went wide and she tried her best to free herself, but the akuma kept her still and then when she blinked she was back at school.

She was standing in front of the school with Alya at her side, her friend’s hand placed reassuringly on her shoulder as her own hands were clenched at her sides, avoiding the urge to grip at the hem of the dress she had just finished making last night. It was a tea-length dress that was baby blue in color with a black satin sash tied around her waist and formed a bow in the back. The dress was sleeveless with an illusion neckline, the sheer white fabric having small polka dots for that nice aesthetic aspect of the dress. She had on a pair of pantyhose, not wanting tights to possibly distract from the dress, and a pair of simple black flats. Her hair was let down and was expertly curled, thanks to Alya. As for makeup, she had on a soft pink lipstick and the wings of her eyeliner were so sharp they could kill a man. The confidence boost she had gained once she had gotten all dolled up was thrown out the window as soon as she and Alya set foot on school property, but Alya was doing her best to remedy that.

“You look great, sug’. You’re gonna knock ‘em dead.” she said, giving her friend’s shoulder a squeeze. Marinette gave a small nod and a nervous smile. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess.” she replied with a nervous chuckle. Alya gave her a reassuring smile and a pat on the back. The two then walked into the school and went to their classroom. Marinette had never worn one of her creations to school, and she was trying to tell herself that that was the reason why she was so nervous, but she knew deep down what the real reason was. Adrien. He was constantly surrounded by high end fashion, and while she took pride in her pieces, she was always afraid that if she wore them around him he might silently judge her work. If he saw her as a bad designer, he could possibly hate her, and make it so she never got anywhere in the fashion industry. Of course she knew that he would never do that... but her mind always asked her ‘what if?’ and it drove her insane. Her thoughts had always taken a situation way out of hand, but this was a whole other level.

She did her best to clear her mind of the thoughts and focused on the positives. She had put a lot of hard work into this dress and spent the better part of the week working on it and it turned out amazingly. She was proud of what she created, and she should be able to show off her work without worry. She continued the train of happy and positive thoughts as they entered the classroom and caused a few heads to turn. Her fellow classmates complimented her on the dress and began to ask her questions. Slowly, Marinette’s confidence came crawling back through the window it had jumped out of. Soon, the heroine was restored to her former self and was laughing and joking along with her classmates and just generally feeling good about herself.

“Ugh, what’s that?” Marinette’s heart dropped at the sound of the familiar snarky voice that came from behind her. She turned and looked down at Chloé, who was standing next to her desk with Sabrina close behind her. The blonde’s lip was curled up in disgust as she gave the seamstress a once over, and once she was done she let out a haughty scoff. Alya bristled at Marinette’s side, ready to defend her friend from whatever storm Chloé was brewing.

“What do you want?” the brunette asked, voice low and threatening. Chloé’s gaze shifted over to Alya and she raised an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t want anything. I’m actually here to give.” she said, a smirk crossing her features. She made her way up the steps until she came face to face with Marinette, whose face was blank as she braced for the impact of Chloé's insults. What she didn’t expect, was a complete breakdown of her dress. She tore into her, even going as far as to point out the few flaws she had made in the stitching and what she would’ve done to make it look better. Her critique went on for what felt like hours to Marinette, but she barely heard any of it. She was trying to keep herself calm and not fly off the handle like she’s been tempted to so many times before. However, all the progress she had made was soon ruined with one simple sentence.

“If you made this and wore it to try and get Adrien’s attention then you can just forget it.” Now snapped out of her own thoughts, she gave Chloé her full attention, and the blonde seemed to notice this as her smirk widened. “I mean seriously Marinette, if he hasn’t seen you as more of a friend by now, then he never will. And this dress is so poorly made with just the worst materials, he’s only going to think less of you! It’s just so frumpy and you look like a kid!” Chloé laughed then, and whatever she said next, Marinette couldn’t hear over the screaming session going on in her mind. She could feel Alya tense beside her and she could only assume that the brunette was coming to her defense, but she wasn’t sure. Her mind kept replaying the words Chloé had said over and over again in her mind as she tried to process their meaning. She could feel herself breaking down, but she couldn’t cry. She refused to. Not this time.

God she’s just.... she’s such a.....

The sound of the slap reverberated through the room and silenced everyone and everything at the same time, except for the word that slipped past Marinette’s lips. “Bitch!” she snarled out. A fire was lit inside her and she was filled with all the rage she had been holding back for years. “I don’t care what you think about this dress, this wasn’t for you. It wasn’t for anyone except for myself! I spent the better part of the month designing and crafting this dress! I put my heart and soul into it just like I do with every piece I make. And at least I can actually sew and I don’t have to rely on hired help to make my projects!” After that, everything became a blur as she tore Chloé a new one, dragging out all of her known insecurities and tearing her down where she stood. All Marinette saw was red and her ears were ringing. As she relieved all her stress onto Chloé, she could feel a weight being lifted off her shoulders and she felt liberated.

Until she felt a hand on her shoulder and her name yelled at her by a familiar voice.

She came out of the murky waters of rage and turned her head and saw green. Adrien stood in front of her, eyebrows furrowed together and a concerned look in his eyes. Her eyes widened and she turned to look back at Chloé. The blonde was crying, and it wasn’t her usual fake tears. The weight that had been lifted came crashing right back down, except it was even heavier now as she looked around and saw that everyone had moved away from her slightly and looked on in concern, even Alya. No one was looking her in the eyes and she could feel the tears welling up and they quickly blurred her vision.

She couldn’t cry.

She wouldn’t.

She didn’t deserve to..

Marinette tore away from Adrien’s light grasp and fled the room. She ran until the school was behind her and she was back at the bakery. She ignored her mother’s questions and brushed past her, going up the stairs to the house and then entering her room. Once there, she allowed the tears to fall, not able to hold them back anymore. She collapsed to the floor, curling up in a ball as the sobs wracked her body and clawed her throat as they escaped her lips. She could feel a small hand caressing her cheek and could faintly hear a soft voice cooing to her, but she couldn’t make out what it was saying. All she could hear were her thoughts, screaming and tearing into her, drowning her. As her crying continued, her breaths came quicker and shorter and her chest felt tight. She could barely breathe and the buildup of mucus in her nose made it difficult to swallow as she tried to soothe her dry throat before coughing and continuing to cry. Her fit went on for what felt like hours before she finally began to calm down. She opened her eyes, blinking away the last of the tears and clearing her vision to see a concerned Tikki, holding out a few tissues for her.

She gave the kwami a weak smile and took the tissues, rasping out a thank you, and blew her nose. She let out a disgusted groan when she pulled the tissue away from her nose, grossed out by how much snot there was. She used up the tissues given to her and then tossed them into a nearby trashcan. She then slowly picked herself up off the floor and dragged her feet over to her lounge chair, collapsing into it and curling up into a ball. Tikki followed, a small frown on her face. “Marinette.. what happened?” she asked, voice soft and soothing. Marinette just shrugged, nuzzling into one of the pillows.

“I don’t know... I just.... I was just over it. She’s been terrible to me for so long and that was just the last straw... I put so much work into this dress! Sure there’s a few mistakes here and there, but I was going to go back over them later. Just... she couldn’t let me have this? What did I ever do to her to deserve this?” Tears began to spring in her eyes again and Tikki was quick to wipe them away, not wanting her chosen to have another attack.

“I don’t know Marinette... but your dress is beautiful, and so are all of your other creations! You’re a talented seamstress and you should just try to ignore what Chloé says to you. I know it’s difficult.. but if you weren’t talented then she wouldn’t copy your designs, now would she?” the kwami replied with a wink, hoping that might cheer her up. It seemed to work, as Marinette gave her a soft smile and a bit of a chuckle.

“Yeah.. I think you’re right Tikki...” she mumbled. Tikki smile and papped Marinette’s cheek lovingly.

“Let’s go get something to drink.. I’m sure you’re thirsty.” Marinette just gave a nod and slowly got up from her chair, rolling her shoulders and feeling some joints pop as she did so, including a few more when she stood up. She went over to the trap door in her room and went down into the house, walking over to the kitchen and getting a glass of water and a few cookies for Tikki. She was about to make her way up to her room when she heard the door open and turned to see Sabine. Her mother quickly approached her and Marinette had just enough time to set her glass and cookies down before her mother enveloped her in a hug.

“Whenever you feel up to it, talk to me. You know I’m always here for you, dear.” she whispered. Marinette smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she hugged her mother back tightly.

“I know Mama.. thank you.” They hugged for a few more moments before Sabine pulled away, smiling softly at her daughter and pressing a kiss to her cheek before patting her head lovingly and leaving to get back to work. Marinette felt a warmth in her chest and then turned to pick up her water and cookies and made her way back up to her room. She went over to her desk then and set everything down before sitting down in her chair. Tikki joined her and sat down on the desk, taking a cookie and nibbling at it. Marinette did the same, taking a few sips of water now and then to help soothe her dry throat. Eventually, the cookies were gone and Tikki had gone up to the bed to take a nap, not before checking to make sure Marinette would be okay without her. The heroine had reassured the kwami she’d be fine and that was when Tikki went to bed. Now, Marinette was laying on her lounge chair, hugging a pillow to her chest and staring at the wall. She had thought she would be fine, since she had felt better just moments before.. but now that she was left alone, her thoughts came back with a vengeance.

She could feel tears welling in her eyes as her mind began to berate her for her actions earlier. It was wrong of her to act the way she did and say all those terrible things... She had just been so fed up with all of Chloé’s shit... but that was no excuse. It was still a shitty thing to do, and even Chloé didn’t deserve to be treated that way. She buried her face in the pillow then, hoping to hide the sound of her sniffles and weak whines from the sleeping kwami. She didn’t want to bother her any more than she already had. She stayed like this for a few moments until she felt her phone vibrate next to her. She sniffled and reluctantly pulled away from the pillow before she sat up and reached for her phone. The bright screen burned her tired eyes at first, but once they adjusted she read the notification she had received.

Ladyblog is live!

She tapped on it and was sent to the webpage in her browser and saw that Alya was currently in the midst of watching Chat Noir fighting off an akuma. Letting out a sigh, she closed out of the webpage and set down her phone. She didn’t want to do anything.. she just wanted to wallow in self pity.. but she had a job to do. Marinette got off of the chair and went up to her bed and woke Tikki up. “We gotta go, Tikki.” Once the kwami was up and ready, she transformed and hopped out of her trap door and left to join Chat Noir.

---

“Liar!” Everything had happened so fast and Chat felt helpless as he watched his lady get captured by the akuma. He readied his staff, looking for any sign of weakness. Then, Truth Seeker reached for her hat and tapped the emblem on the front, which acted like a projector, putting a blank screen onto a nearby wall. She then reached out and clasped her hands around Ladybug’s head. “Now, let’s see the truth!”

Chat Noir looked over at what was put up on the wall and he felt the color drain from his face. He watched as the events from earlier that morning played out before him, but from Marinette’s perspective. He managed to tear his eyes away from the projection to look over at his partner, who was limp in the Akuma’s grasp. He tightened his grip on his staff as he tried to think of a plan of attack, something that wouldn’t harm his friend. He only had about half a plan when Truth Seeker laughed and ended the projection. “The truth has been shown. Now.. for my payment.” She then removed her hands from Ladybug’s head and took her earrings.

Ladybug’s transformation fell away and revealed a shaking Marinette. Satisfied, the akuma dropped the girl from her hold and Chat leaped into action. He caught Marinette before she could hit the ground and carried her off to a secluded area. He hated to leave her miraculous in the hands of an akuma, but he had no choice. He had to make sure she was okay before he went out there to get her earrings back. So, he set her down gently onto the ground and frowned at the state she was in. She was clearly holding back sobs as her body shook and her hand was clasped tightly over her mouth. Tears were streaming down her face and her nose was just beginning to run despite her sniffs that attempted to keep the mucus in.

“Marinette-”

“I-I was terrible!” she sobbed. “It was wrong of me to do that. It’s been eating at me this whole time! I can’t… I-I can’t…” Marinette continued to blubber on, unable to describe what it was she was feeling. Chat watched her with a frown on his face. Seeing things from her perspective really set the situation straight. No one had really wanted to talk about it, and now he understood why. Both parties involved were in the wrong here.

Chat let out a bit of a sigh and wrapped his arms around Mariette’s shuddering frame. He pulled her close, resting her head on his chest and running his claws through her hair. “It’s okay, Marinette. You can apologize to her later. And I’m sure she will apologize to you as well.” he whispered.

“She won’t. Even if she did, I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve anything! I was awful! I was so cruel and that was wrong of me.” she cried, pushing on Chat’s chest in an attempt to get away from him. His grip on her only tightened. “I’ve lost all my friends because of this. They all hate me, I know they do!”

“That’s not true.”

“How can you be so sure?!” Marinette finally looked at him then and the sight ripped his heart in half. Her lively blue eyes were now dull and brimming with tears and her face was red and blotchy. She managed to push herself away from him then, his grip having loosened at seeing how distraught she was. She started to walk away from him but didn’t get very far. Her legs were too wobbly, and she collapsed not too far from her partner. He watched helplessly as she curled up into a ball, bending over and resting her forehead on her knees and running her hands through her hair. Heart-wrenching sobs escaped her, her body shaking from the force of them. He listened as she mumbled about how worthless she was and how she deserved what was coming to her.

He knew he had to put a stop to this… He moved over to her then, pulling her hands off of her head, frowning slightly as he realized she had been digging her nails into her scalp. Chat made sure to be gentle as he took her hands in one of his and placed the other one on her back, rubbing soothing circles. He sat there quietly and let her cry. Neither of them were sure how long they had been there, but Marinette eventually ran out of tears. It took a few moments before she slowly started to sit up, Chat removing his hand from her back and releasing her hands from his grip. She wiped away the remnants of her tears with the palms of her hands, but she wasn’t really sure what to do about her nose until she saw Chat produce and handkerchief.

She gave him a small, weak smile before taking it and using it to clean her nose. “I’ll wash it and give it back to you later..” she whispered, her voice raspy. Chat simply nodded and the two sat in silence for a couple moments. Eventually, Chat brought a hand up and lightly ran his claws through her hair.

“Princess?” Even though his voice was soft, Marinette was set on edge, not sure what to expect from her partner.

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to see you place any more blame on yourself for this, okay?” Marinette moved to speak, but Chat was quick to put a claw to her lips. “I’m not saying you didn’t do anything wrong, but you’re not the only one to blame, okay?” Marinette wanted to debate with him on this, tell him just how at fault she was, but she knew that would get them nowhere. So, she kept her lips shut and pushed her worries far into the recesses of her mind and simply nodded at him. “Good. Now, I’m going to go get your Miraculous, okay? Will you be alright, or should I stay with you longer?” he asked.

“Go.. I’ll be fine. I won’t move.”

Chat hesitated a moment, not sure if he should trust his lady or not. However, there was an akuma on the loose, and no Ladybug to fix everything. He let out a sigh and gave her a weak smile. He ran his claws through her hair one last time, letting them linger for a moment before he took off. Marinette would be lying if she said she hadn’t been left breathless by the contact. She watched as her partner took off and continued to sit there several moments afterwards, starstruck. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, shifting between the mess she had gotten herself into earlier, and now this interaction with Chat Noir. God she was such a teenager…

She shook her head, trying to snap out of it. She had other things to worry about, like making sure she found a good place to hide. Papillion knew her identity now, and while it likely didn’t matter right now, seeing as how she didn’t have her miraculous, she didn’t want to take that risk. They didn’t know what he wanted, and so it would be better to be overly cautious. Letting out a sigh, she pressed her hands onto the ground and pushed herself up off the floor. She took in her surroundings, looking for a place to hide. She was in a warehouse and in a loft-like area of it. Marinette looked around for a while and eventually found a small closet. She quickly walked over to it and went inside, closing the door behind her. She wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea to be alone in the dark, but she didn’t really have any other choice.

Now alone and in the dark, her thoughts started to creep back up on her. Marinette curled up into a ball, wrapping her arms around herself. She did her best to take in slow, deep breaths. She hated feeling so alone.. She hasn’t felt like this in a long time, not since she got Tikki. Now her kwami was gone, all because of her. She could feel tears starting to well in her eyes and she let out a curse under her breath. Her nails dug into the skin of her arms, forming crescent-shaped marks. She didn’t want to be alone… she couldn’t be alone… not now….

Hurry Chaton…

---

Chat Noir wasn’t sure how long he had been gone, but if he had to guess it’d be in the ballpark of 20-40 minutes. He had managed to capture the akuma, trapping it in a jar that he had found. Honestly, he was surprised it had worked. It wasn’t long before he made it back to the warehouse that Marinette was in. As he slipped in through a window, the sound of his miraculous beeping set him a bit on edge. He bit his lip as he looked around for her and getting worried when he didn’t see her right away. “Princess?” he called out.

He hopped through the window and started to look around when he heard a door open. He turned around and watched as Marinette stepped out of a closet. Her face was red, and her eyes looked puffy. She quickly wrapped her hands around her upper arms and he could’ve sworn he saw something red and irritated there. His grip on her earrings tightened slightly as concern flooded him. He took a moment to calm himself before he approached her. As soon as he was in front of her, he held out his hand and offered her earrings to her. “I got them for you. Might wanna hurry and transform, I’ve brought the akuma just for you, my lady.” he said with a wink.

Marinette smiled weakly and took the earrings and put them in. Tikki flew out of them and instantly flew to her chosen’s face. “Marinette! Are you okay?” she asked, her tiny hands pressed against her cheek.

“I’m alright Tikki, we’ll talk later.” she whispered. The kwami was skeptical, but she would hear her out later. “Tikki, transform me.” Even though Chat now knew that his classmate was his partner/crush, it was still a shock to see her transform into Ladybug right before him. “Where’s the akuma?” she asked. Chat snapped out of his trance at her question. He smiled as he showed her the jar the butterfly was trapped in. Ladybug giggled and brought a hand up to pinch his cheek. “Good job, Chaton.”

“Anything for you, my lady.” he replied with an extravagant bow. She giggled more and watched as her partner straightened himself out and opened the jar. She pulled out her yoyo as the akuma flew out. She caught it silently, purifying it in her yoyo before releasing it with a small wave. Chat’s concern only grew.

“Well, I guess all I have to do now is bring out my lucky charm to fix everything…” she said. Chat gave a simple nod and watched as she summoned it. A first aid kit popped out and he watched as she stiffened.

“I wonder why it would make a first aid kit..” he said, bringing a hand to his chin. His miraculous beeped again and it made the two of them jump.

Ladybug smiled nervously, shrugging her shoulders. “Who knows? Maybe it’s just something that happens at the end of a battle? I dunno. Not like it matters anyway! Miraculous Ladybug!” She tossed the kit into the air and watched as her magic spread throughout Paris. Once it was done, she moved to take off, not even turning to give her partner a goodbye. However, she was stopped when Chat grabbed her wrist.

“Ladybug… are you going to be alright?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing together.

She bit her lip, hands turning into fists. “Yes, Chaton. I’ll be fine.” She turned her head then to flash him a smile, keeping her eyes closed as she was too scared to look at him. “I promise.” She felt bad for lying to him, to his face, but she couldn’t have him worry about her.

“Marinette….” he mumbled. Her eyes snapped open at that and she snatched her hand away from him and out of his grasp.

“Don’t.”

Chat’s miraculous gave out another beep and with that, Ladybug broke out into a run and quickly flung her yoyo out the open window. Once it caught on a nearby structure, she hopped out and made her way home. Chat watched her leave, a frown on his face. She may think she can get away from him, but he knows who she is now. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was okay. Filled with determination, he made his way out of the warehouse as well and went home so he could have Plagg rest up before he went out later.

---

Marinette was resting on her bed, legs crossed and holding a pillow close to her chest. Tikki was asleep already. The two had had a fairly long talk and the kwami was worried about her. However, Marinette did her best to calm the guardian down. She really didn’t want anyone to worry about her.. She rubbed her upper arms slightly, lost in thought. Her fingers brushed over the scratch marks there, some of them starting to scab already. Her frown deepened. She hadn’t realized she had been clawing at her arms while she was panicking in the closet while waiting for Chat. She was ashamed of herself for it… She buried her face in her pillow, fighting back more tears. She was so sick of crying. When would it stop?

A knock came from the trapdoor above her and it made her jump. She sat there for a few moments, looking up at it and paled. Bright green eyes were looking down at her. She then grew flustered as she fumbled around for a few moments, trying to find either a blanket or a jacket. She found a thin hoodie she had laying on her bed and slipped that on. She then motioned for Chat to open up the door for her, which he seemed to happily oblige. She started to climb through, but she felt his gloved hand push hers down. She was confused until she saw him start to crawl through. Marinette stepped away from the hatch then and gave Chat enough room to climb through.

He slipped through the opening with ease, plopping down onto her bed and smiling at her. “Hello, purrincess.”

“What are you doing here?” she hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. Chat’s expression wavered for a moment, but he was quick to fix himself and put on a smile for her. He sat down on the bed and Marinette looked at him skeptically before sitting down as well.

“Is it a crime for me to check in on my partner?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Marinette grumbled to herself for a moment, picking her pillow up and hugging it to her chest again. “I told you I would be fine. You don’t need to be here Chat.”

He frowned a bit at that. He let out a sigh and moved closer to her. She froze, eyes wide and clutching the pillow closer to her chest. Chat hated how scared she looked. He made sure to move slow, giving her enough time and space to push him away if she so desired. Soon, his arm was wrapped around her shoulders and she didn’t seem to mind too terribly. She was still stiff, but as Chat slid his hand down to rub her back, she slowly started to relax. She removed a hand from the pillow, digging the heel of her hand into her eye to wipe away the tears that were forming.

“I’m here because I want to be, Marinette. I want to be here for you, and help you, but I know that it’s all at your own pace. I’m not going to force you into anything. You can talk if you want to, if not… at least let me be here with you.” he whispered, running a hand down her arm and squeezing her close. Marinette winced and Chat was quick to pull away, eyes wide. “Are you okay?” he asked, worry clear in his face and voice.

“Y-yeah… I’m fine.” she mumbled, bringing a hand up to her arm and rubbing it lightly, resisting the urge to hiss.

“What happened? Did you get hurt?” he asked, slightly panicked.

Marinette curled up into herself more, partially hiding her face in the pillow. Chat waited patiently for her, slowly bringing his hand back to rub along her back. “I… don’t wanna talk about it right now.” she whispered.

“That’s fine.” he replied. She looked up at him then and he smiled at her. She smiled weakly back and leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.

“Thank you, Chat.”

He smiled, wrapping his arm loosely around her waist. “Of course, anytime.”

The two then just sat there, comfortably. Marinette had been wary at first about letting him come in, but she was glad she had let him in. Sitting and being cuddled was exactly what she needed right now. A smile slowly stretched across her face as she nuzzled into her partner. He smiled down at her, being mindful of her arms now that he knew she was injured. He rested his head on top of hers and let out a sigh of content. After a few moments, though, a thought came to his mind.

“Hey, Marinette?”

“Hmm?”

“So… since I know you’re Ladybug, should I reveal myself to you as well?” he asked.

Marinette mulled this over for a moment. He knew who she was now, so should she know? She let out a sigh and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, kitty. It’s bad enough Papillion knows who I am. If I were to get captured and knew who you were well…”

“Yeah, I see where you’re going with this.” he mumbled, a frown on his face.

She shifted in his hold then, turning to face him. She placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a soft smile. “It’s okay, Chaton.” she said, brushing her thumb across his cheek. A light blush dusted his cheeks and he averted his eyes. She giggled a bit and then turned back around to lean back into him. “Just be sure you don’t use my name in the heat of battle. The citizens still don’t know, and I’d like to have some privacy.”

He laughed a bit as well. “Of course, my lady.”

With that, the two continued to cuddle in silence. It was warm and Marinette felt comforted. After such a long, rough day, this felt really nice. Of course, a part of her felt like she didn’t deserve it, but she knew that was just some issues she had. She had a lot of stuff she needed to work through, it seemed. She tried not to dwell on anything bad for now. She wanted to enjoy this peace while she could, she was sick of crying.

Once his miraculous started to beep, they said their goodbyes and Marinette was left to sleep in peace. Chat watched her for a couple moments before he took off, making his way home. He was still worried about Mari, but he would see how things went down tomorrow, he supposed.

---

Marinette stood nervously in front of the school. She tightened her grip on her back, trying to keep herself from shaking like a leaf. Tikki poked her head out of her purse and beamed up at her chosen. “It’ll be alright, Marinette! Just go in there, explain what happened and apologized. If she doesn’t forgive you, don’t worry about it! At least you let everyone know what was going on.”

She nodded and thanked her kwami. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it. Working up what confidence she could, she made her way into the school and eventually reached the classroom. She took a moment to build herself up again before entering the classroom. Everyone turned to look at her and she froze, face paling. She started to tremble in fear, thoughts already swirling around in her head. Mari shook her head, forcing the thoughts down. She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked over to where Chloé was sitting.

The blonde’s eyes shifted to look at Marinette’s approaching form, then she returned to looking at her nails as she filed them. Marinette stood by her classmate nervously, clutching at the hem of her shirt and twisting it nervously. Chloé let out a sigh, setting her file down and turning to fully look at the seamstress. “What do you want now?”

“You see… I.. I don’t know what came over me yesterday. It was wrong of me to say all those horrible things to you. It was an awful thing to do, and I sincerely apologize for slapping you as well. I let my anger get the best of me, and that’s no excuse. I’m very sorry, Chloé.”

Chloé looked up at Marinette in slight shock. A small smile crossed her features, but she was quick to hide it. She rolled her eyes at Marinette and turned back to face the front of the class. She picked up her nail file and started working on her nails again. “Yeah, whatever.” she muttered, waving her hand in her classic “go away” motion.

Marinette stood there for a couple seconds, a small frown on her face. She hadn’t expected Chloé to forgive her, in fact, she didn’t really want to be forgiven. She knew what she did was awful but this complete dismissal? Normally she’d be angry but now… now she just felt hurt. She let out a sigh and turned to go back to her desk.

“I’m sorry too, Marinette.” The seamstress whirled around, a look of shock on her face. Chloé’s cheeks were stained pink as she pretended to inspect her nails. “I didn’t mean anything I said about your dress. It looked very lovely on you.”

Marinette beamed. “I accept your apology.. and thank you. Maybe I can make you one.” she offered.

Chloé looked up at her, surprised at the gesture. She quickly schooled her face and sneered, rolling her eyes. “Ugh, as if I’d wanna have a matching dress with you.”

Marinette simply giggled and rolled her eyes. “Alright Chloé.”

The seamstress then went over to her desk and was greeted by a proud looking Alya. The future reporter pulled her best friend into a hug. “I’m proud of you Marinette.” she whispered, giving her a squeeze.

Marinette did her best not to wince at the squeeze and simply smiled at her best friend. “Thanks, I’m proud of me too..” She looked down at the desk in front of her and her grin widened at the approving looks form Nino and Adrien as well. Seems like things were going to be alright.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfic #ml fanfic #ml fic #marichat #LadyNoir #one shot #songfic

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squidprincessosaka · 6 years

Text

Commissions, Game Development and other curiosities

Whats Happening

Now that Inktober has concluded, I want to take a break from drawing squids. 31 days of Callie and Marie was fun, but I have other stuff to look forward too. You might forget it sometimes but I’m actually mainly into game development and not into art. This art gig is basically just a hobby I’ve had for as long as I can remember. This semester I have a game to design for an assignment and I plan to turn it into a playable prototype at the very least, so that is where a lot of my attention is gonna go. I will try to post relevant stuff and I hope you will enjoy it as much as you enjoyed my Callie x Marie stuff over Inktober. There is also gonna be the Global Gamejam coming up in January and I will definetly take part in it. I’m already excited. I will try to draw more Callie x Marie stuff since thats what it seems like everyone that follows my blog enjoys, though I don’t wanna draw it exclusively. In other news, I want to try to draw more digitally. Since I already do a lot digitally, I feel like cutting out the middle man (which would be my physical drawings) could be a good step... ‘specially since its way easier to color stuff if I did the drawing digitally in the first place. Either way, I hope you will keep following my artblog.

Commissions

After being freed of the shackles of Inktober (and believe me, it was pretty tough), I now have some more time on my hands... so I thought this is as good opportunity to formally open my commision box. So as is proper form, I’m gonna list the ‘terms’, as it were. Keep in mind that I have never done a thing like that and have no idea how this stuff works, so the prices listed are purely what I feel could be the right prices. You can see them as a minimum price of sorts? I don’t know. You can tip me any time you want regardless. I wanna handle transactions over my Ko-Fi Account since that is the easiest way for me.

What I can do:

Short Comics/Manga

Character Artwork

Icons

Animations

Pixelart

Lettering for Manga/Comic translation (May require the translation though, if I don’t speak the language I can’t translate it)

Stuff that I won’t do:

Explicit Sex Stuff (Including but not limited to full frontal nudity)

Full Furry Stuff (kemonomimi are fine, maybe some mild furry elements)

Realistic Art (because I’m plain bad at it)

Extreme gore (A bit of blood for the purpose of a fightscene or something is fine)

Prices (All prices follow the Ko-Fi Pricing model, so 3$/Coffee)

You can request everything as digital or traditional art. Traditional Art pieces can be requested to be colored digitally or traditionally!

Headshot (2 Characters): B/W 3$, Flat-Color 6$

Half-body/Bust (per Character): B/W 6$, Flat-Color 9$

Full-body (per Character): B/W 9$, Flat-Color 12$

Chibi (3 Characters): B/W 6$, Flat-Color 9$

Background: Simple 3$, Complex 6+$

Simple Shading: +3$ per Character

Characters interacting in a major way: +3$ and upwards (really depends)

Mangas: Depends

Special Requests (like imitation of an other artists style): Also depends

Tipping: Whatever you like

Please Understand that I don’t have anything against furries, I just kind of wanna stay away from the furry fanbase since I had some bad experiences with some bad eggs in that fanbase. Sorry about that.

Please also Understand that I charge extra for characters interacting since I have plenty of experience with it and while two characters standing next to each other or just holding hands or have some mild face touching or something like that is really simple. Kissing, Hugging, Cuddling or even sleeping with each other are way more complicated and can take me hours upon hours more to draw properly. We can talk about anything though.

Please also Understand that with simple backgrounds, I don’t mean a blurb of color in the background. You get that stuff for free if you ask for a colored artwork. I mean something like a flat wall where I don’t have to go into perspective much. It can also mean a stylized background with logos of whatever in the background. Complex Backgrounds are things where I have to take perspective into consideration. These backgrounds can scale up in price depending on how complicated they are. Like, drawing a character leaning against a concreate wall is something completely different from drawing a whole cityscape.

And don’t forget: You can always tip me if you feel like it.

I’m almost always broke (such is the college lifestyle I suppose) and I’m always happy about every little cent extra I can get. Even if you don’t want to commision anything, I really apprechiate any and all donations I get. If you do want to give me a coffee and don’t want to commission anything, that is fine too.

You can find my Ko-Fi account here: ko-fi.com/akikoosaka

Thank you for your support

#art blog stuff #art commisions #commisions open #commision info #commission info #commissions open #commision #commission

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scribbly-z-raid · 6 years

Photo

I have a student debt of over $180,000 in student debt (yikes) and I’m poor! So I’m opening commissions to provide some relief for my wallet.

This time around, I’ll only have 5 commission slots and 3 waitlist slots. If they’re all full then you’ll have to wait a bit for the list to clear up. Check out my commission page for slot availability (at the bottom of the page) and other commission-relevant information. You can see past commissions I’ve drawn for other people here. As for reserving a commission slot, you can do that either through a note on dA, an ask or fanmail on tumblr, or through my email listed on the commission info image ([email protected]). For actual commission details and such, please send that over to me in an email with all relevant information (in bullet point format cause I’m dumb) and reference images. I will regularly send you updates about the commission through email, too.

I also have a Ko-Fi, so if you wanna donate a couple of bucks then feel free to! (Note: I won’t use the money donated to actually buy coffee)

A huge block of text of prices, general commission info, and terms of condition under cut

Base Prices:

Chibi: $15 Example of different chibi styles here!

Sketch:

bust: $20

waist up: $25

full body: $30

Colored Sketch:

bust: $35

waist up: $40

full body: $45

Line Art/Black & White/Flat Colors:

bust: $50

waist up: $55

full body: $60

Cel-shade

bust: $65

waist up: $70

full body: $75

General

I have 5 slots open for commissions, 3 slots for waitlist

1 character = 1 commission slot

Multiple commissions can be ordered as long as there’s a slot available

I do not accept R-18/NSFW commissions anymore

However, I am willing to accept commissions that involves artistic nudity/mildly suggestive content as long as the characters depicted in it are 18 years or older

I reserve a right to decline a commission order based on subject matter/content

I reserve the right to cancel a commission in case of unforeseen circumstances. If a payment was made there will be a full refund

I retain rights to the use of the commissioned image, such as using it as an example for a future commission post or as a portfolio piece

The commissioner will get the full-size, high resolution digital image of the commissioned work through email (I will need an email to send the image) while I will post a watermarked, shrunken down, low resolution version of the commissioned work on my various art sites

You have the right to use your commission for personal and commercial use

Contact

You can contact me to reserve a commission slot through email ([email protected]), a note through dA, or through an ask or fanmail on tumblr

Details for the commission should be sent to me through email

If you want me to draw an OC or something, links to visual references or attached images in emails of your characters would be nice

If you only have a text description of your OC, please share that information with me through bullet point format rather than paragraph/essay format. It makes digesting the information easier and helps me find what I need to know right away (I’m really dumb and simple-minded)

Payment

I accept payment through Paypal only (Paypal address: [email protected], that’s z(the # one)[email protected])

I will also send you an invoice to your email connected to paypal, so I will need that

IMPORTANT: If for some reason I cannot send you an invoice, when making a payment on Paypal make sure to select “no address needed” since these are digital goods

Prices are in US dollars

Base prices listed are per character

Final price will depend on how detail the character(s) designs are and the complexity of the background

Simple backgrounds (e.g. solid color or shape) are free, more detailed backgrounds cost extra

There is a 15% discount on total price for multiple commission orders!

Once an order has been submitted and payment has been made no changes can be made to the specifics of the order

I will do minor changes to a finished commission piece for free, but any major changes will require more payment

It’s not required, but I do accept tips!

Process

Commissions must be paid in full before I start working on it

I have 2 jobs so turnover rate will take at least 2 weeks or more. Sorry :(

I will regularly send updates and progress shots about your commission through email

#commission #z art

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granpris · 7 years

Text

Please listen for once.

Hello, I'm Granpris. I'm known as the current leader of Team Switched and the TS:Underswap project on Gamejolt. For several days drama has been going on on Tumblr, Gamejolt and wherever.

I'm quite sick of it having it cause me to become very ill recently and stressed, my team alike, due to the amount of false accusations and attacks directed towards me and my team.

I'm here today to debunk several popular claims and accusations that have been made towards our team, and hopefully end this mess. Please do not see this as an attack. I simply want to debunk some claims, as I’ve previously stated, and get my thoughts out there.

Before moving on to read my own post i highly recommend checking out the following posts as well for they also contain vital information and are a bit less opinionated than mine:

http://megaderping.tumblr.com/post/165903415711/regarding-the-drama-over-team-switched https://emeraldheck.tumblr.com/post/165910458062/hey-everyone-i-know-this-isnt-what-you-would https://gamejolt.com/games/undertale-underswap/160094/devlog/the-sans-dillema-jiagyb7p https://gamejolt.com/games/primus-underfell-official/249907/devlog/regarding-the-recent-team-switched-drama-mc9frvdb

- "You have/had a GoFundMe and have been scamming us for a year!"

No.

Back when the team was first founded, some members expressed wanting to put up a crowdfunding for the game, one having made a private page for it even. However, this was taken down, as it went against fangame policies. The same person later tried to get funding through Steam gifts, as receiving money directly wasn't allowed. However, none of this was ever shared with the team, and this member was booted off of the team. This project is free, and will always be free, no matter what. If we had a GoFundMe, Ko-fi, Kickstarter or anything of the sort, we would have likely been taken down ages ago, and we would have been called out for this way earlier. Long time fans can confirm we have not had any form of a crowdfunder.

- "This isn't Underswap! You're falsely advertising your game!"

Also no.

Underswap is a community owned AU now, meaning it has no set-in-stone owner and thus, everyone can do with it what they want. Not everyone has to stick with what has been introduced, and this was the case even before the original creators abandoned the AU.

The original creators had always encouraged different interpretations of the AU, even ones where personalities do not swap like with our project (As is clearly evident here). (I recommend right about now checking out Megaderping/Dorked’s post i linked earlier if you haven’t for it adds to what follows after this sentence.)

And that's what it is! AN INTERPRETATION! I think this is something a lot of people misunderstand; it isn't meant to replace Underswap, or Blueberry, or Carrot, or anyone! This is just how we would've tackled the Underswap AU, using the base concept of characters having their roles swapped. If you don't like it, that's totally fine! If you don't like our designs, that's fine too! However, what isn't fine is making hate art, rant posts, and launching attacks and campaigns at us, all because we do not obey your every whim and make what YOU think our game should be, rather than allowing us to have the creative freedom this fandom has been given as well.

We have been very transparent about our project for well over a year now, having stated numerous times what our intentions are. We aren't doing personality swaps, we aren't going to have Sans be a sugar rushed childlike character wanting to be in the Royal Guard, nor will we have Papyrus be a lazy, honey chugging smoker, we won't have any of that. It isn't true to the characters so many of you and us fell in love with, and robs them of their character. We find it more interesting working with characters who retain their personalities in different scenarios rather than personality swapped characters who you can expect to just respond and act the same way towards situations as the character who had the role prior would have.

I find it honestly quite offensive when people tell us this is not Underswap, and that we aren't doing things how they were meant to be, when looking at Underswap's current state in hands of the fandom, that's exactly what's been done to it now. Underswap used to have a canon, and it was disrespected with people misrepresenting the AU and its characters, primarily Sans; he was made into a super smol, star eyed, sometimes if not permanently cat mouthed character with a personality nowhere close to either Sans' or Papyrus'. There is nothing to their character besides just being and acting cute.

If you are looking at this from, let's say, a fanartist's perspective, that doesn't matter much. It's just a cute character you enjoy, right? Which is perfectly fine! However, try looking at Blueberry from the perspective of a writer, or a developer... you can not work with this. It's a flat, 1 dimensional character. They have barely any personality, and as previously stated, they're just meant to be cute. They aren't relatable or appealing at all. This is simply not something we want to work with.

I've gone on long enough here, so I'll end it off with something my co-worker and friend Kalin had to say:

We are trying to focus on making a game that tells the main story of Underswap. But let's just pretend all the unique art and music doesn't exist for a second. If we truly did it like that, we'd be telling the exact same story but all the names are switched and some objects and phrases would be switched around as well. Anything we could salvage out of that would be violating copyright of the original work, which Toby has explicitly stated before to not dis-encourage people from buying UNDERTALE, which would not only rob Toby of money, but also generally just be really disrespectful.

If you wanted Underswap to go the way it did, it would've been shut down by now.

Blueberry is only really meant to work in really short comic form or fan art. Our Sans, on the other hand, is written with more long-term stuff in mind; with the original Sans' character being placed in a different scenario, the outcome of the story can be different. Think of it like this: Would you rather have a game where you can predict everything that's going to happen, as in, Blueberry acting exactly like Papyrus, or would you rather play a game where you don't know what is going to happen?

- "One of your members used a ableist term to describe Blueberry and insult us!"

Yes, this member used an ableist term to describe Blueberry, and they are terribly sorry for it. However, he should not be the one getting hate. He showed me the message he was going to reply with containing the slur before he posted it, and I didn't point out the slur. If you have to be mad at someone, be mad at me. Do not get mad at them, and do not put my entire team in the same boat.

I, too, am sorry, for I approved the message knowing the term was used in it. It was unprofessional of me and I should have pointed it out when I could. I'm sorry for anyone offended by this.

HOWEVER.

It was never used to insult real people. The member used it to describe the current representation of Underswap or otherwise known as Blueberry Sans. No real person was meant to be targeted with the word.

- "You've been very rude to fans and have been bashing the fandom!"

Yes, this is somewhat true.

There have been occasions where some members have been kind of rude, and while I do not speak for them besides myself, we are sorry for our behaviour to some people. Working on a game for over one and a half years without any form of income and scraping for time to work on it, combined with other factors such as bad personal lives and impatient fans pushing for a demo/full release, may cause us to lash out sometimes. We're only human, after all.

As for bashing the fandom, this is also true to a degree.

Some of us, including myself, have been making several remarks towards the fandom and some of the people in it. I apologize for my part in that at least, for I can not speak for any of the others. I'm not going to try and justify my actions when it comes to this too much, but most of this originates from some things like Blueberry Sans that I've seen in the fandom and have a strong disliking towards. Yes, I apologize to the people I've possibly offended, but I shall not apologize for the bashing of any fictional AU characters and such. I am allowed an opinion on these things, and while I can be rude and extreme with this at times, which again I do apologize for to a degree, it is, nonetheless, an opinion. One of our members recently has gone a bit wild mocking several people and bothering them. I was not there when this happened as i was paying attention to our Tumblr at all times. Know, however, i do not approve what they did. I told them to stop and i hope that nothing more comes from this. I’m sorry for the long LONG post but I’ve been stressing out, throwing up, breaking down and whatnot because of this situation and needed to get my word out there. I just pray this drama can just end already because it’s not necessary at all and frankly quite petty.

#underswap #notmyswap!sans #underswap sans #blueberry #undertale #undertale au #drama

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dessarious · 4 years

Text

What Makes a Family? Pt11

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Marinette woke up on the floor sandwiched between Luka and Kagami. She was about to just go back to sleep when she noticed it was dark outside. That was a problem… why was that a problem? Chat. She bolted upright.

“It’s only nine sweetheart.” Her Papa’s voice came from the kitchen and when she looked over he, her Maman, and Alfred were sitting around the counter. All of them looked worried and tense. Marinette got up slowly so as not to wake her partners and as soon as she was out from between them they scooted together. She just smiled fondly at them before going over to the adults.

“Everything will be fine. Where’s Chloe?” Her Maman glared at her while her Papa let out a frustrated sigh.

“Miss Chloe went back to the hotel to see about rooms for everyone. Also, Master Bruce’s finance wishes to come meet you as well if that is acceptable.”

“Of course, but I may not be able to spend much time with them at first. I have a feeling that things are going to progress rapidly once my true Black Cat has the Miraculous.” They were all frowning at her now.

“And how exactly are you planning on taking it from Chat Noir in the first place?” Her Maman’s tone had an edge to it and she was speaking through clenched teeth. Her parents hated her doing anything dangerous and it was times like this she was honestly sorry they knew who she was.

“I told him to meet me somewhere there will be cover. I’m bringing Chloe so she can stun him. I also wanted to ask if you would be willing to come Grandpa Alfie. It will mean you’ll have to use a Miraculous but it would help misdirect Chat as to who is actually in charge.” Her parents exploded immediately while Alfred just frowned at her in thought. This was exactly why she couldn’t let them take part in things like this. “Please don’t yell, you’ll wake the others.”

“And why does he get to go rather than one of us?” The fury in her Maman’s tone sent a chill down her spine but she didn’t let them see it.

“For starters, he’s not attached to me yet. You two are too close to me, not to mention that as my parents it’s completely against your nature to follow orders from me. I can’t risk you moving too soon. Also Grandpa Alfie doesn't know me well enough to give away my identity unless he calls me by name. I love you both, but you have no filter when it comes to protecting me. He also has military experience that could be useful and given Master Fu’s age before he died, Chat will be far more likely to assume he is the Guardian. That misdirection could be vital in keeping everyone safe.” They didn’t look happy, but they did stop arguing.

“How did you know I was in the military?” She blinked at Alfred in confusion for a moment before letting out a yawn. She really hoped there wasn’t another Akuma in the next few days.

“You didn’t tell me?” He shook his head and she shrugged. “Must be the way you carry yourself then.”

“I also didn’t tell you that Miss Cassandra goes by Cass but when you asked me to contact them that’s what you called her.” Marinette rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she considered that.

“I suppose I made the logical leap. I mean what else would she go by? That or I was just too tired to get the full name out.” Alfred just gave a thoughtful hum but she could tell he thought it was more than that. And maybe it was. Things like this had happened before but she’d never paid much attention to them. It simply made sense to her and she really didn’t understand why it didn’t to everyone else.

“I would like to know a bit more about these Miraculous before I agree to using one.” Oh right. She hadn’t been able to explain had she?

“Tikki will probably be able to explain it better at the moment. I tend to over simplify and forget important things when I’m tired.” Her parents were fighting back grins and Alfred just looked confused.

“Who’s Tikki?” She metally facepalmed but before she could apologize the Kwami in question flew out to introduce themselves.

“I’m Tikki, Kwami of Creation. I give Marinette her powers as Ladybug. It’s very nice to meet you.” The poor man just blinked at them, obviously unsure how to proceed. Tikki was studying him and gave an approving hum. “You’re right Mari, he and Wayzz will suit each other and it will help Chat make the Guardian connection you want as well.”

“So I assume each Miraculous is powered by a Kwami?” Tikki just beamed at him. They liked talking to people who could grasp things quickly.

“Yes. Each grants the powers of their aspect. Mari is planning on having you use the Turtle Miraculous which houses Wayzz, Kwami of Protection. His most notable power is the ability to create shields.” Alfred seemed to be debating his next question. She wasn’t certain if he was trying to decide what was more important, or trying to find a way to word it so it didn’t sound offensive.

“Exactly how much control do your users have?” He sounded cautious and she could understand why if that was something he was worried about.

“The Kwami have to obey their holders. When transformed you’re in complete control. Depending on how attuned a person is with the Miraculous your Kwami may be able to subconsciously communicate with you but they can’t control you. Tikki and I are a perfect match so they can actually talk to me while I’m transformed.” That had come in handy too many times to count, but it also meant Marinette got to hear the Kwami giggle anytime a particularly random Lucky Charm showed up. They absolutely refused to help with those.

“So they’re basically slaves.” Alfred’s tone was oddly flat and Marinette could only sigh.

“In a way yes, which is why Hawkmoth even exists. It’s not ideal, but the Kwami themselves don’t mind for the most part and any time I’ve suggested destroying the Miraculous or coming up with a way to give them more autonomy they all act horrified.” Tikki just gave her a stern look.

“Because we agreed to this existence for a reason. Balance must be maintained and this is the best way to do that overall.” This was one of those agree to disagree problems. She would defer to Tikki’s judgement though, given that they were a god older than the universe as they knew it.

“I would still like a more detailed explanation, but given the current time restraint I believe it will have to wait. If you feel you need me there I will go.” Marinette gave him a tired smile.

“Thank you. If everything goes to plan you won’t even have to do anything except make sure Chat sees you after Chloe stuns him. He should jump to all the wrong conclusions on his own.” He frowned at her.

“And if things don’t go to plan?” She tilted her head in thought. It wasn’t a question she was used to simply because her team had learned to just deal with problems.

“Then we improvise. My luck works better without detailed planning so I try not to overthink things in advance.” Now he was just looking at her like she’d lost her mind. This was going to be interesting.

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Ko-Fi

Tag List

#maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #marinette dupain cheng #Alfred Pennyworth #sabine cheng #tom dupain #tikki

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