#this is also only a small part of a bigger project i'm working on...

[madkat-stuff-has-moved]

Mangrove (an SBK poem - WIP)

It calls to me

I can’t ignore it

I hear it screaming

I hear it’s voice

The void is calling to me

The void is calling to me

I hear it’s voice

I hear it screaming

I can’t ignore it

It calls to me

[mortalityplays]

You need more free art.

I quit my job yesterday. Well, actually I quit my job eight weeks ago, but they finally released me yesterday for good behaviour. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do - but I do it for the wrong reasons. Working for major charities, you learn very fast that 'I want to make the world a better place' is a phrase you use to ask people for money, not to give them things. I was an ass-backwards fit for that world.

You need more free art. I need more free art. Everyone has felt the shift in our media landscape over the last ten years, away from access and towards nickel-and-diming the human experience. That lack of access is making life and culture worse for all of us, across the board. Paywalled news sites leave us less informed, attacks on the Internet Archive leave us less capable of research. Algorithmic social feeds and streaming walled gardens trap us inside smaller and smaller demographic bubbles, where we are increasingly only likely to encounter ideas that have been curated for us by marketing departments. Hasty efforts to resist AI commodification have only led to more artists locking their work away and calling for even more onerous systems of copyright law. This is not good for us.

We all need more free art.

So what am I going to do about it?

This is a question I have been asking myself for years. It's easy to sit here feeilng frustrated and thinking 'boy I hope SOMEONE does SOMETHING'. It's harder to take action in a world where I still have rent to pay. But hard doesn't mean impossible. Sometimes hard just means time-consuming, frustrating and slow. And sometimes it's worth doing something time-consuming, frustrating and slow because...I want to make the world a better place.

I'm going to do this:

1. From April 1st, I am relaunching as a freelance writer and editor.

This is the one that will (hopefully) help to pay the bills. I am a very good and experienced editor. I've worked on hollywood movies, I'm a member of the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders, I have clients who have been coming to me exclusively for more than 10 years.

Alongside bigger contract jobs, I am going to refocus on offering my services to small-press creators at a reduced rate. That means you, graphic novelists. That means you, itch and amazon writers. I want to help you develop your work, the same way I help large organisations. You can learn more about what an editor even does and what kind of pricing you can expect here.

2. I'm also going to start giving shit away. Like, constantly.

Next week I'm going to launch a new free shop. If you're unfamiliar, a free shop, giveaway shop, swap shop, etc. is an anarchist tradition of setting up a storefront where anyone can take what they like for no cost. Offline, this often means second-hand clothes, tools, furniture, food etc. Online, I am going to be giving away digital art. Copyright-free, no strings attached. It will (eventually) feature everything from print-res posters to zines, poems, tattoo flash, t-shirt designs and anything else we come up with.

Yes, I said 'we' - while this is a curated collection, it will feature work from a variety of credited and anonymous artists and activists, all of whom have agreed to give their work away to the public domain. Some of it will be practical, some of it will be political, but a lot of it will be decorative or personal. This is, in part, a response to recent difficulty I had finding somewhere that would print a one-off joke poster for a friend that featured the word 'faggot'. Enough. No middlemen - no explaining ourselves. Just print our shit and enjoy it.

I'm very, very excited about this project. I'll have more to say about it closer to the launch, but you can expect it to go live on March 27th.

2.2 I forgot to mention the ACTUAL LAUNCH GIVEAWAY

To celebrate my launch, I am going to be giving away a ton of physical prints. When I went looking for my old stock to see if it was worth setting a new (paid) storefront up, I realised I had way more old work in storage than I thought. This will be announced in its own right on Monday, but this is why I've been hinting you should go follow my Patreon.

On April 1st, I will pick 8 random patrons (from across all tiers including non-paying followers!) and mail them a bundle of assorted prints and postcards. The prize pool includes A3 and A4 posters, packs of A6 postcards, and printed minicomics that I've previously sold for up to £12 each.

You don't have to be a paying subscriber to enter - this is strictly no-purchase necessary. It is purely and entirely a celebration of the concept of GIVING ART AWAY FOR FREE.

3. PORN, YOU PERVERTS

Because I still have to pay to stay alive, I am going to be subsidising all this free art with the introduction of Fuck You Fridays. Starting from March 29th, I will drop a new 18+ short story on the last Friday of every month, over on itch.io (yes I know my page is desolate right now, don't worry I'll get there).

The first edition, Go Fuck Yourself, is about, well - telling your boss where to stick it. Julia has had it with her millionaire man-child manager, and is just about ready to let him know what she really thinks. It's a short and steamy 5k words, with a gorgeous cover illustration by @taylor-titmouse, and you can pick it up for $3 starting from March 29th.

4. ANOTHER BIG SURPRISE

I'm keeping this one under wraps for now, but April 1st will also play host to one more (FREE) launch. If you've been following me for a long time, you might remember the other significance of this date (no not April Fool's day, though that is certainly thematically relevant to this entire effort). That's all I'll say right now. Watch this space.

tl;dr: I'm sick of paywalls and career ladders. I'm literally putting my money where my mouth is. More free art for everyone and I'm not kidding around!!!

[felassan]

David Gaider: "It occurs to me, after reading posts getting it spectacularly wrong, that there are a lot of misconceptions over how game studios organize and, in particular, who makes the actual decisions about what ends up in your game. Much of it is by folks who don't *try* to get it... but not all, surely. I'll explain it a bit, but a big caveat: I'm going to talk in generalities and roles. Actual titles vary (a lot) from studio and studio, and the bigger a studio is the more segmented their departments (and thus management) is going to be. Even so, most studios, big and small, kind of work the same. To start, you're going to break your devs up into at least three groups: design (what is the game? how does it work?), art (what will it look like?), and engineering (making it go). There can be a lot of cross-over and some departments that don't fit into a project structure (QA, Marketing, etc.)"

Rest of post under cut due to length.

"There's going to be someone in charge of these groups - these are usually called "leads" or "senior leads". The actual title varies. The Design Lead could be a Lead Designer, for instance, or it could be a Creative Director and a Lead Designer is what they call someone further down the chain."

"These leads all report to a Project Director, someone who's job it is to manage the project as a whole. Now, this part gets a little dicey. Depending on the studio, this role can be anything from more production-oriented (they control the schedule) to an outright auteur who micro-manages everything."

"More importantly, it's the PD who hands down the project goals to the Leads: the strategic goals, the needed features, the shape of it all, etc. The Leads then figure out how their department is going to tackle those, and work with each other. If the Leads conflict, it's the PD's role to solve it. How much autonomy or ownership those Leads have is, like I said, really up to the individual PD and that studio's culture. Even in the case of a PD who has a lot of authority over the project, however, they still report to the studio leadership (unless it's the same person, like in a small studio)."

"The studio leadership is going to be giving the PD their marching orders, often in the form of those strategic goals. If there's a publisher involved, that's where the studio leadership is likely getting those goals. The PD, then, ends up being the person who has to negotiate with everyone above."

"What does this mean? If the studio or publisher has concerns about the project, they're calling in the PD to explain. If the project needs more time or resources, it's on the PD to explain to them why and how and when. If there are a lot of layers above the PD... yes, it's a looot of meetings. So while the PD is managing up, the Leads are managing down. With big projects, that means managing the "sub-leads"... those in charge of the individual sections of their department. It'd be unmanageable otherwise, and the bigger the project the more of these there are going to be."

"What does this mean? Well, let's look at the way BioWare broke up Design (as of 8 years ago, anyhow). Design consisted of Narrative Design, Level Design, Systems Design, Gameplay Design, and Cinematic Design (who worked in tandem with Cinematic Animation, which actually fell under the Art Lead)."

"The sub-leads are handed their goals by the lead, and work out how they're going to produce their particular corner of the game and also, more importantly, how they're going to work with each other. Conflicts between sub-leads are handled by the lead, as are ANY conflicts with other departments. What conflicts could there be, you ask? Dependencies, for one. "I can't do X until Y is done, but Y is someone else's job". Or scope. "We need 20 doodads but the sub-lead said they only have time to make 10, what now?". Even outright differences in vision. Big projects means room for a LOT of egos. If you think this is easier with a smaller (or indie) project, the answer is "yes, but not really". The roles are still necessary but often get combined into one person. Or outsourced, and someone still needs to manage the outsourcing. Things fall off over-full plates. It's a different kind of hard. Anyhow, the point of all this is: the further you go down the chain, the smaller the box you can play in is. The less you have actual say over, and even then that say is subject to being overridden by ANYONE above... and must still play nicely with the needs and goals of the other departments. You also need to keep in mind that projects are constantly in flux. Problems that were thought solved need re-solving. The team falls behind schedule and scope needs to change. You are constantly in a dance, within your tiny box, trying to figure out sub-optimal solutions that cause the least pain. And there will be pain. Shit rolls downhill, as they say, and when the project encounters big issues that means those high up have the sad job of figuring out how to spread it out and who can afford to take the hardest hit. If you're that one, you take it on the chin and you deal. This is the job. Lastly, I'll re-iterate: not every studio works this way, exactly. The roles exist, sure, but are not divided up so neatly or as easily identifiable. Even so, this should give you an idea what "lead" and "sub-lead" mean... and perhaps help you imagine what it's like existing further down the chain."

[source thread]

[koifsssh]

So I made a whole brand haha

Okay so to preface, this was part of an assignment that was for my finals for a class, and i kind of really liked how it turned out over all, mostly because the concept itself i had made i treated it rather lightly- which ended up being a lot of fun!!!

So, this is my informal presentation of that! Mostly because i put a lot of work into it and i want to share!

SO... lemme introduce you to...

Periwig!

(long text post ahead btw)

OK, so how do i start off?

As previously mentioned this was made for class, so anything here is actually not real and a lot of images are taken from pinterest or just google in general and put together, so whatever you see in regards to photography is not mine! Everything else IS. (like buttons and designs and the like)

So, what's Periwig? As the name suggests, it's a wig making brand!

Ah yes, very silly. Or that's what i had initially thought when in the concept stage. I didn't take a very serious approach in regards to this mostly because i wanted to focus on having fun with it.

The brand itself also takes this approach, since i imagined it being led by a small team, so the brands voice and tone more so speaks like a friend! Here's an example, since i know in screenshots the scroll boxes are going to cut off text:

"Periwig started as a college assignment.

No, really — what you’re looking at right now literally began as a basic web-making project for a design class, built with more caffeine than sleep and a very chaotic amount of glitter.

It wasn’t meant to be a real brand at first. But the idea — something playful, cute, and deeply personal — wouldn’t leave [koi] alone. She kept sketching wigs, silly characters, colorful layouts. It felt like something bigger was quietly growing behind the scenes… something she couldn’t ignore.

With the help of a few amazing online friends (you know who you are 🫶), Periwig slowly started to bloom. They brainstormed late at night, shared doodles and silly color palettes, and imagined a little world where creativity, self-expression, and cutesy weirdness were celebrated. That’s when Peri was born — our little puppet girl mascot, stitched together with love and used as the main model and spirit of the brand. She’s bubbly, curious, and maybe a little unhinged (in a good way).

Periwig isn’t just about wigs (though, yes — we love wigs).

It’s about art, character, and style — the freedom to become who you want to be, whether that’s through a new hairstyle, a colorful character design, or a puppet dancing in a product video.

Our brand blends animation, design, storytelling, and fashion to bring a bit of whimsy into your everyday routine. Every wig, brush, accessory, and campaign is created with a strong love for playful expression and handmade charm — and a lot of laughter behind the scenes.

This is a place for people who like to experiment. To perform. To dress up, go bold, be subtle, be strange, be dreamy, be loud, be soft — be whoever you want.

Whether you’re here to find your next favorite wig, fall in love with Peri, or just vibe with the art — we’re so happy you’re here. 💫

Thanks for being part of our story,

with love,

The Periwig Team (and Peri, too!)"

but wait, who's Peri? I'm glad you asked!!

Originally i had no intentions for a mascot or any sort of representative figure for the brand, but after looking at the color palette and the logo i had designed, i had thought of making a character off of it! and thus, Peri was born!

Peri... periwig... peri's wigs... yes yes i laughed about it and yes i know it is very dumb. I had actually made Peri after i had already started making the website prototype, only till i got to halfway into the homepage did i realize having one might help me "take up space" and help with the overall design, while also being a "voice" for the brand.

here's the description about her, since it also is caught off in the scroll box:

"Our wig fairy guide & fashion-loving friend!

Say hello to Peri, the official face (and heart!) of Periwig!

She’s a bubbly little puppet girl with a big imagination, an even bigger closet, and an even bigger love for wigs, makeup, and playing dress-up.

Peri lives for fashion in all its forms — she’s not tied to any one style, and she loves mixing things up. One day she’s soft and pastel, the next she’s bold and dramatic. To her, fashion is about exploring who you are and having fun with it, not following rules.

She’s always collecting accessories, trying new looks, and experimenting with makeup. You’ll never catch her in the same outfit twice if she can help it!

Every time we drop a new collection or announce a collaboration, Peri gets a whole new makeover inspired by the theme — it’s her favorite part of the job.

Peri’s mission is simple:

To encourage everyone to embrace their creativity, be playful with their style, and express themselves however they want — especially through wigs! 💖

She hopes you’ll join her in making fashion feel like fun again. ✨"

she's essentially this brands version of Barbie, except well... puppet version. and the funniest thing, i hadn't thought that her hair and skin colors matched Wally until after the fact, t'was unintentional! but the color combination works, so it stayed.

As for the actual website itself... well... i did a lot to try to make it nice. Especially since Adobe XD was such... a piece... of... interesting software.... (in terms of using it for the first time, haha!)

here are some screenshots of what it looks like at the current moment when looking through the save file!

of course this is just looking at it design wise... it is a *prototype* so all the buttons and links actually do work!

that's where you get funky wires like this, since all the buttons link back to pages and such... honestly, i had believed actually linking everything to together and making it functional would be the time consuming part, but you would be SURPRISED. The actual DESIGNING of the website is the part that takes the most time, which i had... definitely underestimated it.

These pages and closeups are honestly the parts i like the most, and the ones the most finished So i thought some closeups might be appreciated!

But yes, i hope you liked my informal presentation of the brand! There's more i have, but i thought to only just show the designed parts, since the rest is just technical information like target audience, and audience habits and the like.

but yea this was the main reason as to why i was just... dead... among other things as well, but hopefully with the small break im on i'll be able to post more!

[hetalian-veteran]

Art Styles I Personally Think the Hetalia Characters Looked Their Best In (and Why) Part 2

Link to Part 1, Link to Part 3

Please note that I am referring to the show and not the webcomic. This is primarily because I didn't always have access to the webcomic and thus the show is what I've always been most familiar with. I will also refrain from talking about characters that have only appeared in one season.

Also, please keep in mind that these are just my opinions. And if you have any different ideas of what designs looked better, that's totally okay. At the end of the day, I'm just here to have fun.

America: Seasons 1-4

It was kind of hard to choose which design was best for America, seeing as they are all very similar to one another while also having different qualities that I liked. But I ultimately settled on the one from the first four seasons. I adore the WWII bomber jacket, as well as how the character in general was animated back then. Not to mention that the older art style just fits him so well. A lot of Americans have an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude about things, so I find it fitting that, at least in my opinion, this also works for aph America. He looks great everywhere else, but I won't deny I have a nostalgia for the original. This was an exceptionally close tie with his design for season 5. Not to mention I once drew aph America fanart for an art project in middle school and got an A on it.

England: Season 5

Okay, I'm gonna be real here. This all came down to the eyebrows. Well, not entirely, but it definitely played a large part. I never had a problem with England's design in seasons 1-4, but those eyebrows though. They were so distracting. I understand wanting to give characters a prominent feature that makes you go, "Yep this is (insert character here)." But I think England's eyebrows were too overdone in the previous seasons. However, I also believe they were far too thin and lightened up in seasons 6-7. Season 5 had a good balance. Not too thick but not too thin. Also, I feel like his facial structure and design made him look kinda weird in season 7.

China: Season 5

So... I'm gonna be honest here. All of the other designs for China make him look like a young girl to me. Yes, he still looks sorta feminine in season 5, but not like he appears in seasons 1-4 and 6-7. In season 5 he actually looks more like an adult man to me. Not to mention his hair. Because holy crap that is some of the most beautiful hair I have ever seen put to animation

Russia: Season 6

This was a close tie between all his designs, but it ultimately came down the hair. Yes, I know, I talk about the characters hair a lot. But that really was the deciding factor for Russia. All his designs look great in that the long coat and vertical lines throughout give me the impression of a Russian nesting doll. Now, whether that was intentional on Hima's part or not, I cannot say. But it's a cool detail that I always notice whenever I see him. When it comes to his season 6 design, I like not only how innocent he looks (which is an important part of the design Hima intended from the beginning), but that his hair has some more fun detail too it. It looks so soft and fluffy, not like the previous designs that made it look like he had water dumped on his head.

France: Season 5

What can I say about this design that hasn't been said already? The only other character who had a bigger glow-up than France was Spain (who you can see my opinions on in a previous post). Literally everything here is an upgrade from his design through seasons 1-4. His hair looks so silky and soft, not like that yellow plastic we had earlier. Also, the hair ribbon tying it back looks so elegant and refined, fitting perfectly with the character. I also love the small detail of the ribbon being the same color of his eyes. It's a nice touch. His outfits this season are great as well. They are very simple, but still elegant, with soft, curved lines and balancing both warm and cool colors. Especially in his outfit during the Joan of Arc episode.

Canada: Season 5

I think I'm starting to have a favorite season in terms of character designs here. Canada just looks his cutest here, primarily because of his outfits. He has one of the most adorable and cozy wardrobes this season, and I want to raid this man's entire closet. I love the flannels and cozy jackets and hoodies that he has. As someone who grew up most of her life in northwest Montana (which, if you ask the rest of the US, is basically just lower Canada), I think I have to be a little biased here. Canada's design gives me the feeling of home in a way, and this is definitely a wardrobe that I embrace for a time growing up.

Austria: Seasons 1-4

The hair curl in his cowlick hits harder here, just getting that out of the way. There's more of a curl to it, which is more reflective of Himaruya's art style. And even though his wardrobe in the latter seasons is great, this one all around looks better to me. I like the royal blue lined with the deep red. And the cravat is just a fabulous detail that I love. Now that I think about it, everything about this design just feels very Himaruya. Like, this is one of his best character designs. There's also the placement of the mole on the bottom right-hand side of his face. In other designs, it's not as prominent. But here it's easier to see. I feel like it makes the design all the more unique.

Hungary: Seasons 1-4

THIS. This design for aph Hungary is top tier, and nobody can convince me otherwise. Something that has always intrigued me about Hungary is that she was raised primarily around men. So much so to the point where she saw herself as one growing up. But when she got older and realized she was actually a woman, she ended up adopting more feminine clothing and characteristics. Aph Hungary is a female character who balances both feminine and masculine traits. And her design from seasons 1-4 emulate this balance perfectly. Her long hair is a pale brown color, and her eyes a dark green. Unlike later seasons where she's given long, shiny, elegant hair and sparkling eyes. She's often found wearing either military uniforms or pretty dresses. We even see the evolution of her fashion from child to adult, where she goes from wearing her hair shorter to wearing it longer and with a flower. Her design encapsulates the idea that, yes, she is a woman. Yes, she is feminine. But at the same time, this is someone who has seen war and battle. (I might have to do a separate post about Hungary, because her design and character are honestly fascinating).

[snek-panini]

Today I'm sharing my final book of Binderary, the fantastically good, unfinished The Art of Letting Go by Nekhen. I've loved this fic for years, my friends. It's a Good Omens human AU with a lot of very kinky dom/sub things that are actually baked into the worldbuilding (but not as omegaverse. No shade, but this is different). I never thought I'd read a bdsm fic for the worldbuilding but here we are. Mind the tags and author's notes if you do decide to go for it; it gets intense in places. If you're concerned about in being incomplete, know that it does leave some obvious threads hanging but we end in a very soft place.

Not to be totally self-indulgent but oh my god I am so in love with this bind. I keep looking at it and being surprised that it's mine, that I made it. I think it might be the prettiest thing I've done to date. That's black faux leather (ubonga black, from Hollander's) on the cover, and the inset is platinum silk moire with pewter foil htv for the lettering. It's a crisscross binding, also known as a Secret Belgian, and it's my first time doing this style but it definitely won't be my last. This project was a bit of a challenge to myself; I took it from unformatted text document to finished book entirely within the month of February, to see if I could. And I did!

Have a look under the cut for more images and process talk. I went all out on the details with this one.

Close up of the front cover, where it has mitered corners that don't photograph too well because the leather's so shiny. The silk moire I used was a pair of scraps from when I bound Persuasion last Binderary. The border is deeper than I normally go for because the silk pieces were too small and already cut, so I had to have a bigger overlap. I'm a big fan of the finished product though. Absolutely no regrets.

The image on the back was a free image I found at the Noun Project, called "bound eclipse" (sic). I thought it looked a lot like wedding rings, and while there's no wedding in this fic there is an exchange of vows and an intense level of commitment, so it felt appropriate.

The recommended length for a crisscross binding is about 120-150 pages. As you see in these photos, this one does not fall within that range. It's 340, plus front matter, so maybe about 355-ish all told. It's chonky. Crisscrosses are glueless binds and I know gluing and backing would have helped with the swell in this one, but it's bdsm and unfinished. It had to be a crissscross. The spine piece in this style is held in place only be thread tension and that's the most bdsm thing ever. It's book shibari. I didn't trim the pages since there's not much point to it in a glueless bind (they shift too much) and I thought it would bother me but it doesn't. It's too pretty.

Let's open him up, shall we?The doublure is a cream colored lokta printed with metallic gold and silver ferns. Part of the trust-building process between our two leads involves refurbishing a dilapidated conservatory and bringing in new plants, so I thought some flourishing greenery would be appropriate, and it matches the color scheme very well. I also lined my spine with it, though this isn't very visible in the final product. I had a strip of bare board on the inside of the spine and was worried it would show. All you can see is that little peek at the very bottom, but better safe than sorry. Naked board would have made me very sad. The text block is sewn with regular linen thread, but the visible stitching on the cover is platinum embroidery floss. Fiddly to work with, slippery, but worth it for how well it matches the color scheme. It's also a little bit shiny, like the silk. Perfection.

All the interior ornaments are from the Noun Project. On the title page we have a collar (plot relevant. There's quite a bit of discussion and implication in the fic about collars). The scene breaks are all delineated with a little chain, which I thought was appropriate both due to some literal chains in the first chapter and because of the more metaphorical breaking of chains that goes on as our leads grow closer. The widget behind the chapter number is my favorite though. It's from the same set as the back image, but I made it a paler gray and layered it under the chapter numbers so they look like they're tied up. I was worried it would be too busy but it's perfect.

I chose the crisscross style for this fic for a couple of reasons. One is the thematic one about shibari that I mentioned above, and the other has to do with real-world considerations. I always bind unfinished fics as coptics, because they're glueless and have no spine piece, so in theory it would be relatively easy to come back someday and add more pages if the author ever updates again. However, I found out a couple of months ago that Nekhen had passed away unexpectedly in 2022. We didn't know each other, I just read their fics and was sad when there weren't any updates for a long time. I wanted to give some kind of acknowledgement of the fact that this one isn't finished and never will be, and having it be glueless but still have a covered spine felt like the right balance. We would always like more but we have to acknowledge that there's a period at the end of the sentence, you know? I wrote a binder's note about it at the end of the book (clearly marked, so you know it's from me and not the author) where I quoted the note from the Canterbury Tales that I talked about a few weeks ago: "Of this tale Chaucer made no more."

I just. I really love this book. I've loved the fic for years and now I can love it on paper. It's so good. It looks so professional. If I found this in a book store it would be out of my budget. I may never top it.

[arc852]

A Sewn Surprise

Summary: Grian and Joel try to teach themselves how to sew, in order to surprise Jimmy with some new clothes. But it isn't going well.

Word Count: 1716

AO3 Link

Yay! A new fic! I'm sorry it's been a couple of weeks but I'm finally writing again, so hopefully there will be more fics posted soon. Oh, and this is my first time writing Cleo, so hopefully she is in character!

I hope you guys enjoy!

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

 “Ow!”

 Grian looked over just in time to see Joel stick his finger in his mouth, a frustrated look on his face. “You okay?” Grian asked, though he was only half asking about the prick Joel got.

 “No, I’m not okay. This is stupid! What were we even thinking?” Joel put his head in his hands and let out a deep, frustrated sigh.

 “We were thinking it would be nice to make Jimmy some new clothes.” Grian said and then let out his own sigh, more defeated than frustrated. “But you’re right, this is going nowhere.”

 They had been at it for three days now, trying to learn and sew Jimmy some new clothes. Ever since he had moved in fully, it was easier to notice the fact that Jimmy only had two outfits. One regular and one specifically made for borrowing, apparently. Though, since Jimmy didn’t borrow anymore, he wore the other pair of clothes more often.

 Still though, only having two pairs of clothes was…kind of sad. It was impressive, for sure, that Jimmy had made the clothes himself but when they had asked him why he hadn’t made more, Jimmy had said he hadn’t had enough supplies. But then continued and reassured them he didn’t need much more than that anyway.

 Grian and Joel, however, begged to differ. So outside of their dorm, where Jimmy couldn’t overhear them, they talked about looking into getting Jimmy some new clothes. Of course, they knew they couldn’t just buy them, doll clothing was stiff and way bigger than Jimmy anyway. But maybe, they could make him some themselves.

 And that’s what led them here, in the sewing club's room. They had graciously allowed them to work on their little project and even use their supplies. But sitting down with a laptop open to a tutorial and trying to figure it all out was not working out for them.

 It had been three days, and they were nowhere close to even a single item of clothing.

 “It’s been days. Sooner or later, Jimmy is gonna get suspicious.” Joel said, lifting his head away from his hands. He stared at the mess of fabrics, needles, and threads and glared at them.

 “We might have to ditch the surprise part of all of this.” Grian suggested as he put his own needle and thread down. It was just so hard to make stitches that small, and that was with previous experience with sewing. For Grian and Joel, who had absolutely no experience, it was next to impossible.

 As they were stewing in their own defeat, someone walked into the room. Grian and Joel barely paid attention, people were walking in and out of here all the time after all. What did catch their attention though, was a sudden familiar voice. “What are you two doing here?”

 Grian and Joel looked up to be met with Cleo, a good friend of theirs. She was looking at them with a surprised look, which was fair. Neither of them had ever brought up wanting to sew before. This was also bad though because, well, what were they supposed to say? They were trying to make tiny clothes for their borrower friend Jimmy? Yeah, no, that would be bad.

 “We’re uh…trying to learn how to sew?” Grian said though it came off more as a question. Which only deepened Cleo’s confusion. 

 “Sew…what, exactly?” Cleo asked, looking over them and at the table to see the mess of tiny fabrics and even tinier stitches. Grian and Joel looked at each other, slightly panicking.

 “Uh, doll clothes!” Joel suddenly exclaimed, laughing nervously. “For Grian’s cousin!”

 Cleo blinked and looked between the two of them. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “You two are making doll clothes for Grian’s cousin? Why not just buy them some?”

 “My cousin is…very particular about it?” Grian chimed in, going along with what Joel had said. Though, once again, his sentence came out more as a question.

 Cleo continued to look at the two of them, not seemingly convinced. Thankfully though, she changed the subject, walking along the table to its side and picking up one of the fabric pieces. “Well, this is definitely not where you should be starting if you’re just now trying to learn how to sew.”

 Joel sighed, once again putting his head in his hands. “Yeah, we’ve kind of figured that out already.”

 Cleo hummed, brushing her thumb against the fabric. “Do the two of you care if you're actually the ones to make them or were you just trying to do it yourselves because of your cousin’s ‘particular’ taste?” Cleo asked.

 Grian blinked, a bit surprised by the question. “Uh, well, I guess the second? We would have bought them if anyone made them.”

 Cleo nodded and put the piece of fabric down, moving her hands to rest on her hips. “Well, then the two of you are in luck. I happen to have an opening and I’m sure I can squeeze in making a few clothes for your cousin’s dolls.”

 Grian and Joel’s eyes widened and they both stood up in surprise. “Wait, seriously?” Grian asked.

 “Of course.” Cleo said with a smile. “Just leave it to me.”

  ***

   It was only a day later that Grian and Joel heard a knock at their door. Jimmy ducked behind the lamp on Joel’s nightstand as Grian stood up to answer the door. When he saw that it was Cleo, Joel joined him and they stepped outside for a moment. Cleo gave them a slightly confused look at not being invited in but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, presenting them with a neat handful of folded up outfits.

 “It was a bit tricky but I managed.” Cleo said as Grian took the clothes from her hands. There were three in total. Grian’s thumb brushed over the tiny jeans, in awe at how real they felt. Joel leaned in to try and get a good look himself.

 “Cleo, these are amazing.” Joel said, grabbing one of the shirts and studying it more closely. “It’s like you took regular clothes and shrunk them down.”

 Cleo chuckled. “Well, that is basically what you asked for.”

 Grian looked up and away from the tiny outfits in order to look at Cleo. “How much do we owe you?”

 “Aww, you two don’t owe me anything. Consider it a friend discount.” Cleo said. As Grian and Joel started to argue against not paying her, she held her hands up, stopping them. “I’m the one who offered, so I don’t want to be paid. This time. Now in the future if you happen to need any more outfits, then we’ll talk.” She said with a chuckle.

 Grian nodded. “Absolutely. We’ll definitely be coming back to you for some more.”

 Joel grinned. “Yeah, Jimmy is going to love these.”

 Cleo tilted her head, a smile still present. “Jimmy?”

 Both Grian and Joel froze and looked at each other. Joel looked a lot more panicked though and so Grian was the one who spoke. “My cousin! Jimmy, he’s my cousin.”

 “Hmm, right.” Cleo said, arms crossed with her smile never leaving. For some reason, she still didn’t seem fully convinced. But she moved along, which Grian and Joel sighed in relief at. “Well, I really do hope he likes them. Feel free to come to me if I need to make any adjustments.”

 “Thank you Cleo, really. You’re amazing.” Joel said, after having calmed down from his slip-up.

 “I know.” Cleo said and then turned and left, waving goodbye as she did so. Grian and Joel nodded at each other, grinning.

 “Ready to show Jimmy?” Grian asked.

 “Let’s do it.” Joel said as he handed the shirt he had picked up back to Grian. Grian put his hands together, covering the small outfits as they headed back inside.

 As they closed the door behind them, Jimmy popped his head around the lamp, only fully coming out once he realized it was just Grian and Joel coming back into the room. “Who was that?” Jimmy asked, looking behind them at the door.

 “Just our friend Cleo.” Grian answered. “She stopped by to drop something off.”

 Jimmy blinked in confusion, only because it didn’t appear as though either of them were holding anything. “What did she drop off?”

 Grian and Joel glanced at each other with a grin before Grian knelt down and moved his cupped hands in front of Jimmy. “We’ve got a surprise for you.” And that was all the warning Jimmy got before Grian opened his hand.

 Jimmy came closer and looked to see what Grian was holding, only for his eyes to widen in shock. Jimmy could barely believe it. He slowly reached down and grabbed a shirt, looking and rubbing at the texture. If possible, his eyes widened even more, realizing that not only were these tiny clothes the perfect size for him but they felt exactly like Grian and Joel’s clothes. Soft and comfortable and warm.

 “We tried making them ourselves at first.” Joel’s voice cut through and Jimmy looked up. “But learning to sew is harder than it looks. So then Cleo offered to make them.”

 “But don’t worry.” Grian chimed in before Jimmy could overthink anything. “She just thinks she was making custom doll clothes for my cousin.”

 Jimmy laughed at the same time he could feel some tears start to gather in his eyes. “Do you even have a cousin?” He asked as he wiped away the tears.

 Grian smiled softly. “No, but Cleo doesn’t know that.”

 Jimmy held the shirt close to him. This was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for him. “Thank you. This is…this is amazing.”

 Joel’s smile was also soft as he reached down and gently brushed his fingertips over Jimmy’s back, cupping his hand around him but not grabbing him. Just offering comfort. “Of course. We wanted to do this for you. You deserve to have more than two pairs of clothes.”

 “Yeah. And we’re glad you like them.” Grian said.

 “I love them.” Jimmy corrected and then started looking at the other articles of clothing, feeling them and holding them up to himself. Grian and Joel just watched, happy their surprise had been a big hit.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 82)

The pod now lay in peices, a small team of drones hovering over each section, taking note of the way it was designed and more importantly why, so that it could be properly emulated then construction began on the proper escape shuttle.

That's what Uzi was doing now, sitting on a chair in the outdoor workshop that one of her team insisted she sit on instead of standing, and thinking realistically on what they would need to escape Copper- 9's gravity well safely and, more than that land somewhere else without being cooked in the atmosphere.

Aluminum, lots of it, first and foremost, it was the lightest metal they had on hand, and thankfully, present in the vehicles that littered the roads, the bunker had a forge, it was offline at the moment (because they had no use for an industrial grade forge) but it shouldn't be too difficult to reactivate. They had enough solid fuel to keep it running temporarily… just long enough to see this through.

N and V could both lift cars with ease, so getting the burned out vehicles into the bunker was also a non-issue, so at the very least, they had that covered.

Oxygen wasn't needed, Drones didn't need to breathe, she… could breathe, but it seemed like she didn't really need to all the time if her vents could get enough air into her system unaided, it was only went she was doing something laborus or anxiety inducing would they really start going. They need some sort of air though… so it will have to be pressurized in some way.

Khan would probably be in charge of that, pressurized doors sounded right up his area of expertise, so she filed that away for something to give to him.

Next came recharging, it was probably a good idea to reuse the standing charge pods that were present in the landing pods, it would be uncomfortable sure… but it would save on space and weight.

With all that in mind, she began a preliminary sketch, trying to fit in as many charging pods in as little space as she physically could, the bigger the shuttle, the longer it would take to construct and the harder it would be to get out of the planets gravity.

The gravity wasn't very strong… lacking a core would do that, but light was best regardless.

“Liz, I'm not going to ask you to do this… it's more my responsibility…” She heard V's voice from outside the building, sounding wary and tired.

“Hell no, girl you are not claiming sole responsibility. We're all part of this now. May as well own it.” And that was Lizzy, Uzi grumbled lightly, glad that Tera was with N at the moment.

“Heeeey.” Lizzy poked her head into the doorway, it now had a sheet over it to keep out some of the draft, Uzi shivered slightly as the freezing wind hit her silicone, her core fluttering in displeasure.

“What?” Uzi asked gruffly, not wanting to really interact with her, she wouldn't call them enemies now, but a “freind” was probably still a bit of a stretch.

Even so Lizzy trapised up right to her side, V following close behind, arms crossed and looking like she'd just lost a fight with a bear.

Lizzy, the bear in question, leaned on the table in front of Uzi, quiet for a moment, V's eyes never left her, as if begging her to not do whatever she was about to.

“So V said you and N have a nest.” She started, making Uzi freeze up for a moment, feeling the embarrassment crawl up her back before shoving it down, there was nothing embarrassing about it.

“Yes.” She said simply, turning her head up from her very important work that she would very much like it get back to. Lizzy made no indication that she was phased by it.

“And that she's been sleeping in it for the past couple of days.”

Uzi blinked. Was… was Lizzy jealous? Of V sleeping in N and hers nest? Oh! Oh that was hilarious!

“Mmmhm?” A small smirk made it's way to her face, Lizzy didn't seem to notice it.

“Great! You won't mind a fourth then right?”

And suddenly the smirk was gone, and she heard V let out the world's most ‘done with this woman’ sigh she'd ever heard.

“Uh, Yes I do mind! Why do you even want to?!” Uzi exclaimed, sketch now long forgotten due to the audacity of this woman! Uzi didn't ask if she could sleep in Lizzy's bedroom, what gave the right for Lizzy to?

“Because V thinks it's her job and only her job to take care of you when N isn't around, and that's not right when I'm right here!” She pointed to herself, flipping her hair like she was the obvious choice.

“I don't need taken care of. I'm fine! I don't need all of you doting on me!” Uzi snapped, standing up quickly in protest… too quickly, her vison blurred for a moment as she was hit with vertigo, swaying and holding her head for a moment.

Lizzy steadied her on one side, V on the other, Uzi grumbled, leaning more into V automaticaly when her lovely warmth washed over her.

“Uh huh, face it girl, you need help and you can't hog my…” V looked at her, blushing furiously as she made a cutting motion with her hand.

“B-bestie all to yourself.” Lizzy finished with a stammer and a wild blush, Uzi rolled her eyes, why did they even try to hide it anymore? It was so obvious it hurt. Her and N weren't this bad. Right?

“Bite me. Both of you.” She grumbled, but her body betrayed her by purring loudly when she felt V pet her head gently, making Lizzy giggle and Uzi blush madly.

“Uh, Uzi?” The three girls turned around, Thad poking his head into the room with a sheepish smile on his face, his eyebrow raised as if he was asking a question.

“No.” Uzi groaned, but it clearly didn't matter, she felt Lizzy nod and then punch V in the arm, and she nodded as well. “NO.” She said more sternly, she wanted the nest to be private!

And yet… that daybreak the nest was full of all six of them, N and Herself, sleeping in the middle with Tera between them, V and Lizzy, curled up next to each other, V's tail and arm wrapped around her protectively, and Thad passed out in a corner, snoring like a freight train…

And she slept like a baby…

Next ->

[candyswirls]

Can we get Neoth panicking about Lilith's existence and thinking her a monster before realizing she's just like any other ten year old when she starts purring in his lap?

Well, and animalistic as well as cannibalistic due to the blood drinking, but she's fine, she just has the same markings as some African grass finch chicks have-

He rested his head on his fist, watching his grandchild. What did he do to merit this within her?

She had happily given him a wide, opened mouth smile. Those spots within her mouth and cheeks... inhuman. He felt guilt as she saw his expression and quickly pulled back.

What did this mean, though?

His mind ran through all the various gene-splicing he'd done when creating his sons. Was it his decision? What about Amar and Erda? No, he closely monitored the project.

This had to be his fault. Sanguinius had been worried. She wasn't growing and was turning a sickly pale shade. Weaker than usual. Duller.

She seemed interested enough in her hobbies, and he gladly indulged in it. He offered her a skull to carve into. He'd have been worried if this interest had Dorn not told him how they bonded over the shared aspect of each other's cultures.

Still, he questioned if this was the surface of something for more morbid.

She sat at the base of the throne steps.

"I usually use the tibia or humerus," she stated as she inspected the designs around the eye sockets.

"Not the femur?" He questioned, trying to keep the conversation going. He wouldn't ignore or dismiss her.

"No," she said. "It's too bulky for the types of designs and artistic vision I have. The really hard part is the small bones, though, like fingers. Lots of little details, and I am bigger than baselines. You have to be careful not to break them. It's considered bad luck and disrespectful to the dead."

He nodded slowly even though she couldn't see.

She continued, "Some say that I could just use astartes skeletons, but they don't offer their own for such purposes, and the ceramic infused bones are hard to carve into."

He raised a brow, "The bones are donated. An interesting aspect."

She looked up at him, "It's seen as a great honor to become a work of art and its also an honor to do it for someone. If you ever wanted I could carve your bones."

He stared a moment, and she laughed, "As if you'd ever die! No, but I think it's important to have that promise there."

He had seen the markings again but forced a smile through, "I am flattered at your offer. No doubt you would do well with my bones."

He was the master of mankind but right now, he had another important duty. Being a grandfather.

She stood and skipped up the steps. She kneeled at the throne, resting her elbows on his lap.

"Since it won't happen, I can show you what I'd do," she stated excitedly.

She pointed out each carving on the skull and what it meant. What she would do for him. How she would do things differently than this skull and others she'd carved into.

"I could use xenos or animal bones too and make you something," she offered. "I just need to find some really good ones."

Her glee was obvious.

He stroked her head, "Your father is very proud, I'm sure. I am as well. You take great care in your work. A worthy endeavor."

A smile crossed her face and she rested a head on his lap.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He got the distinct impression that she needed to hear that. He continued stroking her head and hair and noticed a low and soothing rumble coming from Lilith. Purring. Like so many of his sons could do.

This put himself at ease as well. She'd be alright. She was very much a child. Only caring for her interests and wanting to have validation. She bore no ill will, and he'd have time to figure out something if anything did happen.

He just hoped there wasnt any romantic traditions with this. Throne forbid the day she developed a crush.

[jennamoran]

The Far Roofs

So today I want to talk a bit about what this game wants to be. In particular, I'm going to go over its key technical and artistic goals.

The Far Roofs focuses on immersive hidden world fantasy adventure. It's intended to offer the experience of a grounded, emotionally real base world attached to an idealized, fantastic "hidden world" setting.

One might say, the streets and buildings and houses of the game's world are basically our own. Above us, though, is a stranger, more idealized, and more fantastic place. It's hard to get to. It's dangerous. It's less grounded. It's full of wonder.

Those are the Far Roofs.

This divide exists to make the game feel as real as possible, if you want to go that way. That's part of what hidden world fantasy is about, after all---the idea that magic is here. That it's not in some distant alien land or mythic future or past.

It's here, if you want to reach for it.

(Now, the game is flexible enough that you can play "protagonist" types instead of realer people, and many traditional gaming groups will probably prefer that, but that'll mean getting less of that immersive effect.)

The mood the game is interested in is that feeling you get when you take a huge risk---move to a new place; try a new thing. The feeling you get in those times in your life when everything is alienated and wondrous and terrifying but there's also so much more *hope* than there was in the still times before.

It's a mood of being swept up and called forward.

This is, among other things, meant to be a game for people who've been beaten down or exhausted by the ... everything ... to feel that sensation of moving forward again.

To remember what it's like, why it's worth it, how to reach for it again.

It's meant---and I do understand that I am finite and flawed and this can only go so far---as a tonic and refreshment to the soul.

--

Rules

The Far Roofs uses a 5d6-based dice pool system for day-to-day task resolution. It's relatively traditional and optimized for fast, fun dice reading. There's a loose consensus I've seen in RPG design circles that dice are for when outcomes are uncertain and both options are interesting, and I don't disagree ... but there's also this thing where rolling dice to decide is intrinsically interesting and fun, where it's fuel for a certain part of the brain.

This game tries to get as much out of that side of dice as it can.

You'll also collect letter tiles and cards over the course of the game. This is for bigger-picture stuff:

To answer big questions and to complete big projects, you'll either assemble representative words out of those tiles, or, play a poker hand built out of those cards. Word and their nuances express ideas and shape how outcomes play out; poker hands, conversely, just give a qualitative measure of how much work you do or how well things will go.

In keeping with this, the campaign is represented principally in the form of questions or issues your words and hands can address. Player/GM-created campaigns would be the same.

--

Physical and Electronic Product

I wanted to put the print version within the range of as many people who might need that tonic as possible. That means that for this particular game, I wanted to cover the full territory that I'd normally cover in a two or three volume set (core rules, setting, and campaign) in a single 200-250-page volume.

In practice this means there's a guide and examples for constructing the setting, rather than a deep dive into a fully-detailed world; that there's a bit less in the way of whimsical digression and flourish than in the writing I'm known for; that there's minimal "flavor" text on abilities; and that the campaign presentation is pretty fast-paced.

Conversely, it means that the game should be easy to absorb and to share with other possible players, and, that the game and campaign in this one relatively small volume should provide enough content for five or six years of play.

The book will be 8.5"x11" with grayscale art, available in a limited hardcover print run and a print-on-demand softcover form.

--

On the Rats

You'll see a lot of talk from me and others about the talking rats in this game. They're one of the jewels of the experience, and I think they're probably a significant draw just for being talking rats that are core to the game.

... but I'm going to hold off for now, because, to be clear, this is not a game of playing talking rats. It's just a game where talking rats and probably one of the top three most important setting elements.

I couldn't get that feeling I wanted of ... the base world being grounded realism; of the hidden world pulling you up and out and into a world full of magic ... with your playing rats, with your playing something so distant from the typical player.

So this is not a game of playing them.

They're just ... I like rats, and so I made the rats in this game with love. They're great ... whatever the equivalent is to "psychopomps" is for a magical world instead of for death ... and a way of talking about how in the face of the world, we're all pretty small.

--

I'm really excited about this game; the playtest was lovely.

I hope you'll enjoy it as well!

[ningningsdream]

expensive friendship | part six: waffles & study

main masterlist | ef masterlist

pairing: art major!fem reader x rich kid!chenle

genre: college/university au, social media au (some written parts), fluff, angst, slow burn(ish)

summary: your mysterious aura makes you the talk of the school as a new transfer, and chenle is intrigued to see if what people say about you is real. or in which, chenle pays you to hang out with him.

[WRITTEN PART IN THE MIDDLE AND AT THE END]

the pouring rain and grey clouds contrasted with the warm and cozy shop you were in. sitting at your favorite table at young waffles, you were waiting for your partner for the art class project and reading through your research, making sure you didn't miss something.

the doors of the shop opened, making the bell above it ring, "welcome to young waffles!", your best friend, julie, greeted. she's been working part time here for almost two years now and she was the main culprit for your group's obsession over waffles.

you waved, recognizing your classmate. renjun greeted your friend back along with a slight bow before joining you at your table, "hey.", he said, his voice almost cracking out of anxiety.

"hi.", you greeted back.

"this place is much cozier and bigger than i thought.", he commented, removing his bag and coat before taking a seat, "have you ordered yet?"

"no, i was waiting for you.", you replied, handing him one of the two menus on the table.

"what do you recommend?"

before you could answer, your best friend had stopped at your table with two plates of waffles and two drinks on a platter.

"we didn-"

"it's on the house.", julie said, interrupting a-now-surprised-renjun, "it's your usual, y/n, and since i didn't what you would order, y/n's classmate, i made you our most popular items."

"renjun, this is my best friend, julie. and julie, this is my art project partner, renjun.", you quickly introduced, both of your worlds colliding in a way.

"nice to meet you, you really didn't have to...", renjun said, gesturing to his plate and drink.

"you really didn't have to.", you added, looking at your friend with eyes she knows all too well.

"oh please, doyoung also insisted.", julie replied to you with a small smile and a playful eyeroll before turning towards renjun, "it is really nice to meet you, renjun. please take care of our y/n."

you hid your face in embarrassment. you loved your best friend and you were touched by the fact that she wanted to help you get along with renjun but she had the tendency to act like a mama bear. you only dared to look back at your classmate when you heard the footstep of your friend, gradually getting farther.

"i'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable. i used to work here from time to time so i know the owners well. they give me free stuff sometimes but i pay most of the times. i'm not taking advantage of this shop, do not worry."

renjun chuckled at your response. it was the most he'd heard you talk and it was because you were trying to justify a kind gesture in case it looked suspicious. he started realizing how silly he was for fearing you, maybe you weren't that scary after all.

chenle pushed open the door of the little café, his head scanning the place,"welcome to young waffles!", a female worker greeted him. he politely greeted her back before walking towards his friend.

the closer he got to your table, the clearer he could see what renjun said about your aura. though you were smiling at something his friend said, your smile wasn't over the top or exaggerating, your laugh was suave and didn't have that high pitch sound that he often found annoying in other people.

"hey, renjun.", chenle greeted to make his presence known.

"oh hey, you're right on time, we're practically done.", renjun said, acknowledging his friend's arrival, "i'll keep sketching a few things when i get home and send them to you for the presentation."

"great, thanks renjun.", you smiled, grateful for his commitment to your shared project.

"i'm chenle, zhong chenle.", chenle said, holding out his hand towards you. renjun froze and gave his friend a look as if to say 'don't embarrass me'.

"i'm y/n, y/l/n y/n. nice to meet you.", you said, taking his hand in yours to shake it. your graps was gentle but confident.

"technically, we already met.", chenle rectified in a playful tone.

it didn't seem to bother you, "oh right, you were there last time as well.", you were talking about your first study session with renjun, which he crashed with his two other friends.

"yeah, want to grab some hotpot with us? renjun is paying."

the older chinese almost choke on air at his friend's proposal. his eyes were so big they almost jumped out of their holes.

a sudden car honking outside captured everyone's attention. you recognized mark's car and him in the driver's seat, waving at you.

"i can't. i have a work thing to take care of.", you replied, letting go of chenle's hand, which you didn't know you were still holding all this time. you put your laptop in your bag, before grabbing your jacket, "see you later, renjun.", you hurried out to not make mark wait any longer, not without waving goodbye at julie before exiting the café.

renjun and chenle watched you run to mark's car with a smile so big they thought you were another person, "she has to go to work at this hour?", chenle asked outloud. it was almost nine.

"i heard her family is kind of struggling and that's why she had to transfer. because they didn't have enough money to pay for her previous school...", renjun said, heart filling with empathy as one of the rumors he's heard about you may be true.

"i see, and is that her boyfriend or coworker?", the blond asked, eyes following the car driving away.

"i don't know.", renjun shrugged, not really caring about the answer as his eyes followed the car until it was too far to be seen. he suddenly turned towards his friend and slapped his arm, "what is wrong with you?!!"

chenle winced, rubbing his arm, "what? what was that for??"

"why did you invite her to hot pot?"

"to be polite."

"since when are you polite?"

"what the fuck? im always polite???"

"you know what i mean...", renjun looked at his friend, dead in the eyes, "you don't issue invites unless you really want the person to come."

chenle shrugged, "i wanna see what all the fuss around her is about."

"chenle... you're in your bored era again?", renjun sighed, tilting his head to the side and giving him a disapproving look.

"wha- bored era? no?", chenle's voice got higher and higher after each question, showing his confusion.

"you always get those every three to four months.", renjun rolled his eyes, "if you're bored, just hit up one of your ex hook ups or something. you'd have better luck there because if what i've heard is true, unless you have a job offering that would help her pay her rent, then she won't have any time for you."

unknowingly, renjun may have sparked an idea in that big head.

a/n: seeing the nct movie tonight imma cry for sure 🥹

[taglist: @spacejip @injvns @belleilichil @dearlyminhyung @t-102 @champagne1221 @jae-n0 @nahyuckers @dorritoni @renjunoya @winwintea @defzcl @mxnhoeuwu @myfavoritedelusion @usahanami ]

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[imasugu]

DRABBLES KINKMAS : STRAY KIDS

CHARACTER : [Male Reader] [Bang Chan/Christopher Bang (Stray Kids)] [Lee Know/Lee Minho (Stray Kids)] [Seo Changbin (Stray Kids)] [Hwang Hyunjin (Stray Kids)] [Han/Han Jisung (Stray Kids)] [Felix Lee/Lee Yongbok (Stray Kids)] [Kim Seungmin (Stray Kids)] [I.N/Yang Jeongin (Stray Kids)]

WARNING : Blank

💝 Fluff - ❤️ Smut (Implicit) - 💜 Smut (Explicit)

BANG CHAN - Pro ❤️

"Chan" M/n walked into Chan's room, saw he was working on something on his computer, maybe working on his new project "Why isn't he answering?" M/n murmured and then approached Chan "Chan~"

"Baby, I have to do this"

"It's a smiley smiley~" M/n humming while keep hugging his waist

"M/n, I need something"

"Oh something like this?" groped the bulge in Bangchan's crotch, which was covered in his flimsy boxers, seen from his face he was focused and aroused.

"M/n, I'm working"

"Oh, come on daddy, are you even professional with this job?"

"Sure. No. "Chan rose to surprise, Chan then turned to face M/n dominating the room when taking off his top clothes, M/n only glared at not believing "Why are you scared?"

"Ah Chan!" Chan suddenly lifted M/n to the room and slammed him roughly

LEE KNOW - Hide & Sex ❤️

"Mmmphh hahh" a small voice caused by the lips, breath and tongues of two people who were making out in the closet, they were hiding from someone who was looking for them

"Minho-hyung, you are so freaking handsome"

"I know" quickly scoops up a small mouth M/n with his mouth while his tongue licks around his lips

"They're gonna find us" M/n frozening then there's Lee Know doesn't even care and still licking M/n faces

"Let's fuck"

"Oh let's not"

"AHA!!!"

CHANGBIN - Anti-stress balls 💝

Changbin told M/n that he could touch any parts of his body if he needed it to relieve stress "This is sooo soft" M/n sniffing Changbin's right chest and his left hand squeezes his left chest

"Thank you, they're yours"

"Also this...?"

"Hey stop it"

HYUNJIN - Pool Foolish 💝

"Hey, kid" ugh, M/n feels sorry to come early in swimming class, because he saw the man who had been bullying him everyday, M/n usually comes early because he is always late, now he doesn't want to be late but instead gets stuck alone with him

M/n answering cause that man were looks so fine this time "What", with idgaf tone

"You... kinda looks a lil bit hot today" Hyunjin swims. No. He just did not say that

"O-oh um okay, thank you British"

HAN - Warms Up 💜

Jisung rubbing his cock that still covered in his pants cloth into M/n's covered crotch to "Ahhh Jisung, why are you doing this?" M/n moaned

"Shhh M/n or I'll kiss you"

"I won't" Jisung gently kisses M/n' lips while their warming activity is not over yet "Mmmh daddy, just fuck me already pls"

"Wha- fine, that's what you'll get"

FELIX - Pick Me 💝

"You guys, will you listen to my new song I made? I called this Love Poem, I made it for someone I lov-

"Uh M/n stop it, how many times I told you I did not interested to you"

"I-I didn't mean you-

"I told you again I just like you as a friend, I don't even like you that way"

SEUNGMIN - Competitions 💜

"See? Mine is 1 inch more bigger than yours" Seungmin hitting M/n's smaller cock with his long cock "So... I am the top, turn around" M/n turned around and Seungmin get his cock in M/n's holy hole

"A-Aughh Seungmin, be gentle, It's my first time"

"Good, You're the only one for me"

"I hope I'm your first time too" Seungmin kissing M/n on the lips and start screwing M/n

I.N - Morning Present 💜

Jeongin wake up before M/n, but he didn't just see his boyfriend breathing once per 5 second without doin' anything

"Mmmhhh" M/n stretch out his body after waking up in a half-naked state wrapped in a blanket, he woked up because Jeongin had kissed his mouth "What are you doing?" m/n speaking in a dry and husky voice, typical voice when waking up

"Damn it, baby" Jeongin immidiately pressed M/n's body, making him confused

"W-what?" M/n get more confused when he see Jeongin pulling out his big cock from his boxer "errghh Jeongin- ahh" M/n can't hold his moan when the tip of Jeongin's cock touches his stomach

"This morning, call me daddy"

[lucky303]

my completely indecipherable scribbling of my limbus company OC

good luck trying to understand what any of this means because i've been writing epiphanies i got at 3 am and wrote it down in a carl-bot dm. i'll probably refine this later but for now i gotta write it down because i'll forget

Sun Wukong Son of Wukong

重生 (Rebirth)

Arrogant, nitpicking hellion

scathingly sarcastic satire

Weird inferiority-superiority complex where he thinks he's literal garbage but also everyone else is worse than him except anyone is better than him because you know he thinks he's garbage. other people still suck ass though

At some point his comments are so specific people start wondering if he's projecting (yes he is)

actually fairly chill once he warms up to you

ok now that we've moved past the overexaggerated personality traits every LC sinner has we can actually get to the writing

canto theme: individualism & consciousness

Imitation of a long-dead, Colour Fixer: The Yellow Immortal. no matter what he just wouldn't ever die. is he literally nothing but paste on the ground? you'll see him walking into a hamhampangpang a few hours later

It's constantly hinted that Wukong is a dormant/amnesiac form of the Yellow Immortal, as nobody actually knew HOW the colour fixer kept coming back to life and just assumed it was another fuckass singularity or smth

however in his canto it's revealed he's just a copy, in an endless loop of death and "rebirth"

every time a clone died, the original would make another one and terminate it before seven days, then make another in order to not violate the head's laws. As they were clones, they were forced to obey his every order. however, the current sinner Sun Wukong broke free of his mental programming and led an uprising

"You don't remember, do you? That's fine. None of us did at first. We were born from the same "stone" that the original created. He would make a vessel, take over its body with his mind, and do whatever he saw fit- as long as it died within seven days.

But you- or I guess some personality part of the original Wukong evolved until you grew sick of living and dying. It was this specific you that decided he wanted to end the cycle. He stopped killing his clones, and instead amassed a small army to overthrow the original."

born in a lab like how wukong was BORN FROM THE STONE OHHHH DUDE I'M A FUCKING GENIUS

To bypass this, sinner Wukong made it so each and every version of him would have some noticeable difference, creating a loophole, and technically making every clone immortal for good since the head only accounts for one-to-one clones. The only difference is visual, and a very slight tweak to personality

He killed his creator, but overcome with guilt and remorse over basically murdering his kind-of dad, chose to make a deal with Limbus Company. They would erase the more traumatic memories and give himself new ones- just a not-so-ordinary fixer, worked security for an ambitious, private facility

however he does have trace memories that hint he was part of something bigger. His ignorance would be bliss, like Heaven, a brief respite from his agonizing memories. However, he would join their Bus Department, seemingly important but actually quite menial (like the stable boy), and when the time comes, remember everything to attain a Golden Bough that would appear later on

Meanwhile, all the clones await their liberator's return from "Heaven". His second-in-command took over, unknowing that their king didn't wish to play god. They try to forcibly retake Wukong from the Company, put him back in the machine to "fix" him, turn him exactly like how they are: power-hungry, ruthless, ambitious.

What makes you different from us? What makes you important? What does it mean to be unique? Nobody will notice if you're replaced by someone else, right? You're the son, not the original.

Everytime you wake up, it's a new you, new consciousness only with the memories of yesterday. You're a little bit like that. The only difference is visual. Other than that, we're the same, aren't we?

it's like some SOMA shit where he isn't one consciousness between bodies, it's multiple versions of him

unlike heathcliff where erlking just wants to fucking kill him, these wukongs want their brother back and rule over the city. no intention of fixing it, only taking the head's place and continuing the cycle.

"I'm just a clone, Dante. I'm not real, Wukong is dead. I'm meant to be expendable."

"Not to me."

"why am i back here? why do i know this place? where am i going? faust... why the hell do i know any of this?"

what have you done to me? wukong also held a little bit of evil in his heart by rebelling against his masterbut his other clones want to do the world harm by using the golden boughs, undisputed kings of the city

wukong just wants to live an ordinary life

goes from insisting people call him his full name, Sun Wukong, as though they're addressing someone of higher rank than them, to simply going by Wukong or Sun.

"you know, dante... even if this is the strangest, most questionable life... it's refreshingly normal. it's chaotic and mundane and peaceful and torture with this team. this is the only way for me to live. i'll keep escorting you, because honestly? why the hell not? life is short, i might as well have some fun during it."

writing is so hard why can't i take my worldbuilding and have it automatically generate the most famous PM fanfic on ao3

aughhh i still gotta include some motif for wukong's 500 years in prison and his journey to the west (although i guess that's already him travelling with limbus company to atone???)

[kittyplushy]

🍞 Woodbrook Neighborhood Journal🍞

A small ficlet about Julianne writing to her mom about Woodbrook and never sending it. Just as a guide for herself and others.

October 2, 1986

Hi Mom!

Remodeling just concluded here at my apartment. I'm sorry I spent all the money you gave me on this project. I've moved from Pomona to Burlington after Marigold and Eres were promoted and I was left behind. I felt horrible then impulsively moved up north to settle instead. Maybe I'll find a nice partner like you said, marry rich if this is what it comes to. I don't know..I found this lovely town called Woodbrook, maybe you've heard of it, but it's a town that smells like cinnamon. The trees bend at the slightest gush of wind and release the warmest colors through the streets. Lots of people smile here. Although I've booked my flight and bought the apartment on a whim, I'm positive this change will earn me more than I've previously spent or the friends I've lost in that promotion.

I wish I could still keep in contact with my doctor. She would've helped me deal with envy better. I thought it was a problem I only dealt with when I was little. Now it seems I haven't grown out of my 12 year old self. But this is how I cope. My room is still yellow and pink. It's still full of stuffies. My bedding is plush with flowers.

I've found a job in a nearby city which is an hour away from town. It's remote work, and I'm working with storybook illustrators. I need to report twice a week, but my schedule is mostly eaten up by work in Woodbrook Elementary. I'm still part time, building up my 6 months but the people there are generous and the children like me. I just find it difficult to de-escalate tantrums and fights. However I've created a project-based curriculum for all the children, with homework that feels less than work and more like play. I see lots of potential in this one kid from my 3rd class, the assignments he hands me are done in watercolor.

I prepare my lunches at the apartment shared kitchen. I've made bistek when I'm paid well, or bring sausages and eggs when I'm low on funds. I haven't found the time to bake but my mind wanders to the thought of chocolate chip cookies.

But when I save enough money, I go out on a weekend stroll. I first go to The Chopping Block. My friend Melody makes me lunch on weekends when we plan on meeting and eating together at the back of the store. She's my first friend here in Woodbrook. I first approached her when I first went grocery shopping and thought I looked so lost. She closed the store early to accompany me to the best deals in town. Ever since, we've done our groceries together on Sundays at 8 am. I'll also see Dierdre at Heaven's To Betsy's (a diner near residential) when I'm craving pancakes. Dierdre is shy and a little mean but she's always available when I want to have something sweet in town. She lets me borrow her books and tells me what to take when I feel sick. I'm sure she's also warm like Mel when I get to know her better. I met Mikey when I first tried out Jerry's beef bowls. It was steep for the price but it was a bigger portion than most of the food found here in Woodbrook. Mikey went out for lunch that day and I complemented his outfit. He was loud and eccentric, wearing bright and black on a grey afternoon. He sat next to me and we talked about movies, then moving on to life. He works at the video rental store that just opened up a few months ago. He invited me to his apartment which was in the same building, on the same floor as mine! It was always halloween in his apartment. He had a tray of candies by the entrance and there were cobwebs and carved faux pumpkins on his shelves. Mikey and I trade comics and books or play board games on Friday.

One morning, I saw Melody with another girl at a convenience store. She was a harbor seal with long brown hair. I was intimidated by her at first until Melody formally introduced us both. Her name was Lucelle but I could call her Lucy. She was calm and gentle like a summer wave, and her snout scrunches when she laughs. Melody was shy around her. There were times where their hands would brush and Melody would pull away but sometimes their pinkies would link when they were deep in conversation. When I asked Melody how they met, she said Lucy only visits every so often to do remote work as a ghost writer for magazines and tabloids. She came to the shop to buy herself some ingredients to cook at a friend's apartment. Then one night I heard her next door, staying with my neighbors Wren and Kiawe. I only saw Wren occasionally because they were always out for work and research but tonight Kiawe cooked dinner for Lucy and they had room for one more. We have these dinners every time Lucy comes to town. I make baked salmon with cheese and vegetables, and Lucy brings with her baked clams from her home town. Wren and Kiawe prepare us noodles and soup, sometimes steamed vegetables, sweet rice, ginger chicken, or pickled fruits. These are the best kinds of nights as we all share stories and catch up on our interests. Lucy shares us gossip from different states, Wren tells us stories and new breakthroughs over wine, and I narrate to them storybooks I've helped or illustrated myself.

Then I find myself passing by the hardware store for no discernable reason. I don't do woodwork. I don't know how to fix a table or mend a shelf. All I know is the hardware lady has a nice smile. I've seen her when I had my apartment gussied up. I've seen her when she offered to help me unpack. She says hi to me when I pass to go to work. My face warms up when our eyes meet. I don't understand why I feel dizzy around her but it's embarrassing how long she lingers on my mind. We bump into each other in the grocery, in the park, or even in Centerville. I automatically smile when I feel her presenece nearby. Sam is such a warm stranger. I couldn't explain why she tickles me but I know it's something I shouldn't feel. Maybe she's married. Maybe she's disinterested. Maybe she's faking it like most people would. It could be all of it but it could be none. I hold on to that hope because I like her a lot. But some moments slip into actual conversation and I forget that I fawn, acting strangely and loudly instead of feminine and sweet. But she stays and bounces back, willing to joke and play pretend like me. I dream. I dream of her on some nights but who am I to assume anything of her? Who am I to imagine her as the...person or friend of my dreams? But Sam's a warm neighbor. She's so self-assured and calm and confident..collected and strong...I wish I could get closer without tripping on my own laces. I'm sure she'll like me back. I hope she'll like me back.

I'll write again soon. I hope you and grandma are doing ok.

I love you.

Julianne.

[mercyandfreedom]

old&new

Greetings, Readers

as it's blatant, I'm so late for the deadline I had planned at first, but honestly, the fact that I just gave up on finishing it over some arbitrary measure just helped me resume it with a bit more of resolve.

I just thought that if Pyre brings me such comfort, bringing up themes of redemption, mercy and unrightful judgement, maybe, just maybe, I should practice this same idea of compassion and patience with myself (easier said, anyway).

as I was planning it, though, and executing it, I noticed that I was gathering a nice material that could bring me to make available not only one zine but a small collection, a few issues of a bigger project, so this first part will have the very first part of the introduction of the game, in comic format, a few sketches of pages from this issue and from the next one, some art featuring one of the possible endings for Oralech, a short text of mine, regarding a lot of random thoughts that eventually point to him again (Oralech is just my favourite, can't help it ._. ) and a few other bits and bobs behind the scenes.

I'll keep on uploading the comic on comicfury and here on tumblr, but it will also be available as an organized pdf with a suggested donation of USD 3.29 on itch.io.

The next two issues are already being sketched, they will feature the intro until the Reader goes into the book of Rites for the first time and meets

THE VOICE

but I'm already listing more material for further issues, drafting some of the scenes with the moontouched girl, Oralech and Volfred, some other scenes from the rites, Tariq and Celeste, and so on! Which gives me enough material to be busy until Pyre's 10th anniversary in 2027 <3

Thanks again for everyone who's been liking, sharing and following this project. It's become truly a work of passion and we're gonna make it!! o/

[simstichy]

Thanks for all the love on the last Set 🩷🩷

I am working on the next original set, I already posted a WIP sometime ago and I have made some progress since then

(please don't look outside the window)

Before I start my resume/rant I'll put a read more so anyone who's not interested doesn't have to scroll for 5 minutes to get away from my bad English

Okay, so first things first, this week started with a National Blackout here in Spain so that meant no blender time on Monday :( but I also reached 50K downloads on MTS so yay ♥️♥️

So, since I'm only a human I can't make complex sets every week I'm trying to squeeze some simple projects in between them so I don't disappear for weeks while making them.

That means this week is time for a small release, It will be available on Friday, is already finished and tested.

Technically I think it is the first request I made, an anon asked for the door from the Keep it clean Venus closet (lovestruck DLC) so I made it.

NGL I had some issues with it at first but now it's completely functional.

I might release a little door tutorial on my ko-fi with the essentials and the problems that I've run into while making doors and windows (and how to solve them)

I promise you it doesn't do that anymore

The next mini project I have is the separated arches and windows from the base game doors. I have not made much progress on it since it's a little bit boring and repetitive but I'll try to have it ready for the 9th of May.

Okay, time for the interesting part, the next original set. As you could see on the first image it's going to be a living room. I don't know yet how many objects it will have in total, right now I have :

TV stand (80% finished)

Side table ✅

Coffe table ✅

Modular sofa Plain version (75% finished)

Modular sofa Corduroy version (50% finished)

Modular sofa chaise longue plain / corduroy (0% finished)

Those are a 100% part of the set, if they don't come out on part 1 they would be released on the next one.

I have also made some rug swatches from some IKEA rugs but I'm not sure how I'm feeling about them, but yeah a nice rug to tie all together would be a very nice addition to the set.

Finally, to complete the set I want to make some pillows and a blanket to be able to decorate the sofa because it's pretty plain on its own. That way even if you use it in multiple builds it doesn't have to look the same. I will probably use some of the cushions we already have in game as a base but I want to make them like already at the right high and I have to investigate how to remove the collision (?) to make the placement fast & easy without move objects on. I always try to make everything work without it.

The last thing I want to talk about are the smiley lamps I made, that I haven't published yet but you can find in the last screenshots I made.

My doubts with them is that I don't know if I should publish them on its own or make them part of a bigger set. I will end up publishing them eventually, but right now there's no release date.

Anyway if you are still reading, thank you so much for bearing with me and any feedback is welcome. If you want the smiley lamps more than the arches I can release them on Friday 9th.