#(both the characters per drawing and the drawings themselves)

[cheapshrimpysheep]

True Feelings Chocolate - Freshmen

SUMMARY: It is normal on Valentine's Day for friends or schoolmates to exchange chocolates with each other. However, the quality of the chocolate reveals how the person really sees you. And homemade chocolate is the greatest message of love that someone can receive on this day.

CHARACTERS: Freshmen (Ace Trappola / Deuce Spade / Jack Howl / Epel Felmier / Sebek Zigvolt) x Yuu (Reader)

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Kiss

WORD COUNT: An average of 1.000 words per character.

COMMENTS: The number of words varies depending on how much the character is the type to hide his true feelings.

I also would like to be able to write Epel's accent/dialect, but as English is not my first language this becomes a bit difficult sometimes. When I really want to write something like that I ask Gemini for help.

I hope you enjoy and had Happy Valentine's Day 💝

True Feelings Chocolate - OB Students (Riddle Rosehearts / Leona Kingscholar / Azul Ashengrotto / Jamil Viper / Vil Schoenheit / Idia Shroud / Malleus Draconia) x Yuu (Reader)

REAL WORLD CONTEXT: You may already know this, but Valentine's Day in Japan is different than in Western countries. In Asia (from what I know and have researched) this day is not exclusively related to romantic love but also to friendship or simple connections between schoolmates or work colleagues.

Just like in the West, it is marked by the gifting of chocolate, but the quality of the chocolate differs: If it's a boss or colleague you're not friends with, they're usually cheaper, more common chocolates. The quality and even price of the chocolate increases according to the relationship with the person to whom it is offered. And a chocolate made by the person themselves is the most valuable of all and is usually, from what I understand, almost like a confession of love.

On Valentine's Day, it is women who offer chocolates to men, but in this case, to keep Yuu gender-neutral and make it so that they can also offer chocolates to them, I just kept the chocolates’s logic and excluded the gender thing.

Another thing is that since it is normal to give chocolates to friends as well, it becomes more discreet to give more special chocolates to a certain person and it doesn't draw attention to simply give chocolate to someone.

NOTE: Thaumarks would be the equivalent of US dollars.

Since cherry pie is Ace's favorite food, you decide to make chocolate covered cherries, and you bought a red heart shaped box from Sam's Mystery Shop to put them in.

Meanwile, on one of the nights before Valentine's Day, Ace was alone in Heartslabyul’s kitchen with as few lights on as possible (which includes his phone’s light) and trying to cook without making noise when someone calmly enters and scares him with their presence.

“I think you know how lucky you are that I'm the one who found you and not Riddle.” Trey says with a weird smile.

“T-T-T-Trey-senpai...” Ace smiles awkwardly, that smile he hopes will get him out of trouble. “P-please, I... I-I'm just trying to follow the Valentine's Day rules, y-you know.”

“Following the rules?” Trey raises an eyebrow, looks at the mess on the kitchen table, and then looks back at Ace with a smirk. “Oh, so you’re making the chocolates? I wonder who they are for.”

“Hey, I'm not that obvious!... Am I?” He worries.

“But why didn't you do this during the day? I mean, I know you're trying to keep Deuce and the other students from seeing you, but I’m sure they have schedules that don't always overlap with yours.”

“Yeah, but I also had the problem of buying the ingredients without being seen. And I almost failed a bunch of times.” Ace sighs.

Trey laughs. “Well, you don't have much time until Valentine's Day... Hmm... Would you like my help? Maybe this way you'll finish faster and we can both go to bed.”

Ace is immediately overjoyed and relieved, but then asks him not to tell anyone. Trey promises not to tell anyone if no one catches them in the kitchen at that hour. A big part of the reason he helps Ace is so he doesn't have to deal with that problem the next day.

On Valentine's Day, you were preparing the boxes of chocolate to deliver to the Heartslabyul boys when you heard someone knocking on your door. You open it and see Ace catching his breath and then straightening up to pretend he wasn't tired at all.

“Heeey! Good morning, (Y/N)!” Ace greets you with that cute smile. You ask if he's okay when you see him panting as he speaks. “Y-yeah. It was just a long ru- walk. So... I was passing by and took the opportunity to come and say hi...” He smirks “And take whatever you might have to give me today.”

“You came all this way so early just to try to be the first one to get the chocolates?" you ask.

“He he, another good way to brag to Deuce.” He smiles smugly before returning to that cute smile. “So where are my sweets~?”

You turn around to get the bag of chocolates and take his box to hand it to him. He seems happier not to see any brand on the box, but even so he messes with you.

“Hmm? What's this? Don't tell me you made my chocolates?” He becomes even happier when he sees your reaction. “Well, let's see how they came out!”

He opens the box and finds several small chocolate balls like regular bonbons. He comments that he is a little disappointed, he thought you could do something more interesting. He takes one to taste, bites into it and widens his eyes.

“They are... cherries? Chocolate covered cherries?”

You ask what he was saying about them not being interesting and he laughs as he happily admits he was wrong.

“But they still look kind of boring.” he jokes. “I...” he gets a little flustered “I have something for you too.”

He had the backpack he used for his books with him, he put your box inside and took out another one, another red heart shaped box. He felt a little embarrassed as he looked at the box, that color was was so much flashier than yours.

“Yeah, it is pretty cliché too, but hey, it's also my suit.”

He holds the box with one hand and takes the other to the tip of the heart where there was a protrusion that served as a handle. He pulls it, opening the box like a drawer. The box is empty except for a folded piece of paper. You pick it up, unfold it, and read the message: ‘Sorry, I already ate them all. Should have been quicker!’ and a drawing of a smiley face with its tongue sticking out. Ace laughs at your reaction.

“I'm kidding, I'm kidding.” he defends himself when you playfully hit him on the arm. He closes that drawer and when he opens it again it is full of little chubby hearts made of your favorite chocolate. You reach out to pick one up but stop and look at him suspiciously. “Fine, fine. No more tricks with these chocolates, I promise.” he smiles.

You take out one of the chocolate hearts and bite into it to discover that it has your favorite filling. They were very good... too good. You sigh, feigning (or not) disappointment, and comment that for a moment you thought those were chocolates made by him.

“What?! What do you mean?! Of course I was the one who made them!”

You say they're too good for someone who you know doesn't like to cook or has a knack for it. They're more like sweets that... Trey would make.

“Ah... ugh... Okay, fine, I asked Trey-senpai for help. And... maybe kind of... tried to make him do most of the work... B-but that's because... um... *sigh* You said it yourself, I don't like cooking and I don't have a knack for it. I wanted to make sure your chocolates turned out as good as possible. And what's better than a sweet made by a professional like my Vice-Housewarden?” he smiles hoping that would save him from a scolding.

You may not scold him, but if he sees you upset or sad about it, he will feel really bad for having done that to you.

“Hey, I really tried to make them, I swear. The crooked ones are mine, haha. What happened was that Trey-senpai caught me making them in the kitchen at night and offered to help me. I really wanted to give you something that would show how much I love you, but...” He falls silent and blushes when he realizes what he just said. His instinct is to kinda change the subject. “Y-You know, I could have lost my head if it had been the Housewarden who caught me there and not him! I put my neck on the line for you. That should, at least, be a mitigating factor in this case.”

If you give him a kiss on the cheek to show that you forgive him, he will be stunned for a second, but then he will smile seductively, grab you by the waist and give you a real kiss.

Knowing that Deuce’s favorite food is anything with eggs, you look for recipes with eggs and chocolate. The first results are for chocolate eggs until you come across a recipe for Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies. Maybe you could even shape them into hearts, or better yet, into the shape of the suit of swords.

Meanwhile, Deuce isn't shy about asking Trey for help making your chocolates... okay, maybe a little bit, because it's basically telling him that he has a crush on you, although Trey kind of already knew. The only thing he asks is that they manage to make the chocolates without Ace knowing, so as not to make fun of him. Luckily for him, Cater is also willing to help that cute little freshman of his distracting Ace.

On Valentine's Day, you were putting the boxes of chocolates in a bag to give to the Heartslabyul boys, including the blue heart-shaped box you bought to put Deuce's cookies in, when someone knocks on your door.

“H-hey. G-good morning (Y/N).” Deuce greeted you with a hint of nervousness and shyness when you open the door. “I hope I'm not bothering you, hum, I mean, so soon.”

You reassure him that he never bothers you and that makes him blush a little.

“I'm glad... hum... Since today is Valentine's Day I... I wanted to... give you this.” He takes his hand from behind his back and offers you a quite cute heart-shaped box.

He feels more at ease when he sees that you liked the surprise and happier when you accepted it willingly. You open the box and see several hearts of your favorite chocolate. Many look good, but others are a little crooked. This makes you chuckle.

“Ha ha. Yeah, I know, I'm not very good at shaping them.” he says slightly embarrassed. “P-please try them, tell me what you think. I asked for Trey-senpai's help to make sure I did them the best I could.”

You pick one up and take a bite. It was pretty good, not as good as Trey could make them, but you could tell he had a hand in helping him. Besides that, they had clearly been made by Deuce.

“So, you like it?” He asks with a shy smile even though he can see the way you're smiling. You confirm and his smile widens. “I'm glad!”

You take the opportunity to turn around, pick up the blue heart-shaped box you had puted in the bag and offer it to him. Deuce widens his eyes in surprise.

“Oh? You...? It’s for me?”

Regardless of whether you cutely or sarcastically say yes, he will laugh embarrassedly and flattered, and blush a little if you call him ‘silly’. He picks up the box with a cute smile and is surprised again when he sees cookies shaped like the suit of spades and hearts instead of regular chocolates.

You tell him they are egg yolk chocolate chip cookies and that you made them because you wanted to do something that combines chocolate and his favorite food: eggs. He beams with happiness just hearing you say you made them, and even more so that you made them so thoughtfully.

“They look delicious, I'm sure they taste as good as they look.” he says excitedly to try one, and as soon as he does it you see one of the most sincere and adorable smiles you've ever seen on him.

“THEY'RE GREAT!” he shouts too excitedly and then gets a little embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to say it so loud. It's just... you made these for me. Hmm... is that because... are you following the rules of this day?” he blushes. “You know, about, if the chocolates are handmade it must mean that...”

He's too flustered to finish his sentences, so he'll need you to be the one to take the next step and kiss him on the cheek. If you do, he will look at you in amazement for a second, before smiling broadly, hugging you and giving you a kiss on the cheek as well, but extremely passionately.

You know that Jack’s favorite food is pear compote, so you look for something that combines this and chocolate. The closest thing you can find is chocolate pear cake. Maybe if you cut it into smaller cubes it will be more like classic chocolates than giving him a whole cake. You also bought a yellow box in Sam's Mystery Shop to put them in.

Meanwhile, Jack was making your chocolates in Savanaclaw’s kitchen and would growl menacingly at anyone who messed with him about it, or even tried to. With the sole exception of Ruggie who offered to eat the chocolates that turned out so badly that Jack wouldn't want to offer them to you.

On Valentine's Day, you were preparing the boxes of chocolates to deliver to the Savanaclaw boys, when you heard someone knocking on your door.

“Hey, (Y/N). Hum, good morning.” Jack greets you slightly tense, despite trying to hide it. “Happy Valentine's Day. I... uh...” His impassive expression began to fade as his ears lowered, giving way to a more shy one. “I came here because I wanted to give you this.” He takes his hand from behind his back and hands you a red heart-shaped box with a pink bow. “Sorry if it's too cliché, but, uh, I thought you would like it anyway.” he rubs the back of his neck.

He starts to wag his tail a little when he sees that you enjoyed receiving that gift from him. You open it and find hearts of your favorite chocolate. However, they all have slightly different sizes and shapes, maybe only one or two could have an almost perfect, cymetrical shape of a heart, now all the others... You couldn't contain a little laugh.

“I know, I know.” he says embarrassedly, running a hand over the back of his neck again. “I'm terrible at delicate work. And these chocolates are too small for my hands.”

You pick one up and take a bite out of it. You say it tastes really good and his tail wags a little more as he smiles proudly. You take the opportunity to take his yellow box out of the bag and hand it to him. His tail wags again when he sees the box.

“I shouldn't be surprised that you'd want to give me something today too, should I?” He chuckles. “Thanks.” He picks up the box with a big smile and opens it. “Hmm? They look like little slices of cake.”

You tell him that you wanted to make something with pear compote since it is his favorite, but the most you could find were recipes for chocolate pear cake. So you thought that if you cut them a little smaller it would be the closest thing to regular chocolates.

“You're saying...” His tail begins to lose its shyness and takes up more space when wagging. “That you were the one who made them? And you tried so hard to make something I would like?” His big smile returns. “They look great. Let's see how good a cook you are!”

He takes one of the small slices but doesn't bite into it, as they are small enough for him to put them whole in his mouth, completely confident that it will taste good. And by the smile, the crazy wagging tail and the erect ears, this seems to be the case.

“They taste great too!” He was clearly overjoyed with your ‘chocolates’, but then the tail slowed down, the ears lowered slightly and his shyness returned. “Hey, I... I just wanted to make sure...” He looked away from you and his free hands went back to rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s said that if the chocolates are handmade it must mean...”

He seems to be struggling to continue that sentence and, knowing the Tsundere that he is, you realize that you need to be the one to help him.

“That the person has feelings for the other?” you finish for him. “Or even a crush?”

He finally starts to blush for real, but when he sees your reassuring smile he realizes and is sure that the feeling is mutual. This makes him loosen up, letting his tail wag like it wanted to wag all along, and he... laughs heartily, like you've never seen before. But you were surprised once again when he practically attacked you with a hug.

You have to be careful not to drop the chocolates as he covers your face with kisses, just as he has to be careful not to drop his.

You knew macarons were one of Epel’s favorite foods. So chocolate macarons seemed like a good Valentine's Day chocolate option. However, they are difficult to make and require care and skill, which means you have put a lot of work into making them.

You were going to put them in a lavender box that you bought at Sam's Mystery Shop. But you didn't buy a normal, cute box. Sam ‘just happened’ to have a lavender box in stock with a lineart of two dragons forming a heart, but in a way that reminds you of a cool tattoo rather than a cute drawing.

Meanwhile, in Pomefiore's kitchen, Epel was making his chocolates feeling very tense. Because he wanted to make your chocolates as perfect as possible to prove himself worthy of praise and of you? It could have been, if he hadn't had something, or rather someones, who made him even more tense than that thought.

Epel could feel Rook's watchful gaze, even if he was watching Epel through the window from a tree branch. But that wasn't necessary because he made a deal with Epel: If he let Rook watch him cook without worrying about him interrupting or interfering, Rook would keep any and all other Pomefiore students out of the kitchen until Epel was finished. So he silently watched Epel from the corner... which wasn't exactly a comfortable feeling.

But another person from whom he couldn't hide what he wanted to do in the kitchen was the Housewarden of Pomefiore himself.

“If a Pomefiore student is going to give Valentine's Day chocolates to a crush...” Vil said and Epel tried to deny that last word without much conviction, which made Vil chuckle in amusement. “Fine, to someone they really like, then they will have to be the most beautiful sweets that said student is humanly capable of making. And that's why I'll be evaluating them once they're finished. You don't want to give (Y/N) anything less than your best, do you?”

He reluctantly agreed. This plus Rook's observation only put more pressure on him. However, this is the kind of pressure that motivates Epel even more, which ends up being a good thing.

On Valentine's Day, you're putting the boxes of chocolates in the bag to deliver to the Pomefiore boys, when you hear someone knocking on your door.

“Good morning, (Y/N)!” Epel greets you with that sweet, enthusiastic smile, but then he gets a little shy. “Happy Valentine's Day. I just, uh, came here because I wanted to give you this.”

He takes his hands from behind his back and hands you a beautiful heart-shaped box with a classic design. He is very happy that you liked his gift so much. You pick up the box and open it to find beautiful, plump hearts made from what looks like your favorite chocolate and beautiful, carefully crafted lineart. You comment that it must have been a lot of work to do.

“You have no idea...” he says through gritted teeth and with a smile that tries to hide his frustration. And you ask if he wants to talk about it. “I... How about you try them first?” he diverts the subject momentarily with an awkward smile.

You pick up one of the chocolates and bite into it to discover that it has your favorite filling. And indeed, they taste as good as they look. He turns his back to you and mutters, in an irritated triumph, a few phrases in his dialect. You only catch something about him being right and ‘he’ not knowing what ‘he’ was talking about. And something about diet, maybe. You ask if everything was okay and what he was saying. He turns back to you.

“I was talking about my Housewarden!” He says bluntly. “Vil was like: ‘are you going to make them such high-calorie chocolates?’” he imitates him in an affected voice that would certainly get him into trouble if Vil heard it. “And like ‘Don't you think you made many considering their poor nutrition?’. I was lucky that Rook defended me on many points, saying things like: 'This shows how sweet Monsieur Pommette’s love is’.” He made another eccentric voice to imitate Rook. “And cheesy things like that... And... I may or may not have talked back to Vil because of his criticisms.”

You ask what he did or said.

“At first the criticism was constructive, like whether the chocolates were pretty or not. But then he started criticizing the chocolates because of the calories. You know, stupid ideas because of his diets or something. It even got to the point where he almost told me to do something that I knew you wouldn't like and that's when I told him: ‘THESE CHOCOLATES ARE NOT FOR YOU! AND YOU CAN'T FORCE YOUR TASTES ON OTHERS!’”

He reenacted the way he said that to Vil and you can only imagine how he reacted when he saw Epel yelling at him with that furious face. Then he calmed down again and sighed.

“Right after that he wanted me to apologize. I apologized for the way I spoke, but not for what I said. And do you know what he said to me? ‘And that is exactly the apology you should make to me.’” He imitated Vil again to the point of making that gesture with his index finger next to his chin and put a smug face on. “ ‘What you said is more than correct, now the way you said it needs to be worked on.’ HE WAS PURPOSELY IRRITATING ME TO TEST ME! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?! And Rook even helped by praising the passionate way I expressed myself and yada, yada, yada.”

You can no longer contain your laughter when you imagine that scene. And Epel laughs with you. Oh, you almost forgot! You turn around and go to the bag to get Epel’s box to give to him.

“WOW! IT'S SO COOL!” Epel smiled excitedly when he sees the drawing of dragons on the box.

Then he looked at you and his smile became sweeter, having been reminded that you actually know the real him. He wasted no time in opening the box and he genuinely smiles so cutely when he sees the chocolate macarons. But then you see him pick up one of the macarons and analyze it. You ask if there's something wrong.

“Did you make them?” he asks with a really puzzled look, but soon his eyes widen and the big smile returns as you confirm. “So that's why they are a little crooked and with some cracks. Hahaha.”

You pout at him and notices his cheeks starting to turn pink.

“Hey, I'm not making fun of you." he says, still with a slightly mocking smile. "Macarons are hard to make. And honestly, you did such a good job that I almost thought they were bought." Then he smirked. “But they wouldn't sell macarons in this state.” He laughs at your annoyed reaction. “They look delicious, tho. Let's dig in!”

He tastes the macaron in his hand and once again his eyes widen, accompanied by a huge smile.

“Mmm, that's darn good!” he says in his accent. “But, tell me just one more thing.” he says with a smug smile. “Do you know what it means to give someone chocolates made by yourself today?” You confirm. “That's what I was hoping for!”

And in a surprising movement of grabbing you by the waist with his free hand, he pulls you and kisses your cheek with confidence.

Knowing that Sebek’s favorite food is Salmon carpaccio doesn't help you know exactly what you should do, but knowing that his least favorite food is Black coffee helps you conclude that dark chocolate is not a good option. But with that maybe you can think more about the shape of the chocolates... Does Sam have any dragon molds for sale?

Meanwhile, no Diasomnia’s student approaches the kitchen so that their eardrums wouldn't be ruptured by Sebek's voice. Just the energy of ‘Don't you dare bother me, humans!’ was enough for them to reach the door and immediately turn around. With only 3 exceptions. But luckily for him one of those exceptions wasn't even around at the time. Luckily because he was thinking about making chocolates for Malleus too.

Silver doesn't really get involved in other people's business. At most, he gives a little smile on the corner of his mouth, thinking it's amusing, and leaves him alone.

Lilia, on the other hand, really, really, REALLY wanted to mess with him a little. He couldn't contain his desire to stay in the kitchen and watch him cook, which on the one hand put more pressure on Sebek, but also made him more determined to make everything perfect. Lilia even offered to help him.

“I-It is very generous of you to offer me your precious aid, Lilia-sama.” he said, and he always feels guilty and dishonored for avoiding Lilia's cooking. “But, as honorable as it would be, I will have to decline the offer. For I intend to strive to make the chocolates with the greatest perfection through my solo effort and improving skills.”

He may have saved himself from Lilia 'helping' him make your chocolates, but he couldn't save himself from Lilia's comments insinuating that he (as the youngsters say) ships the two of you. Part of Lilia also wanted to trick him a little bit to make him court you in a weird and funny way, but he held himself back. He wasn't one to abuse Sebek's trust to the point of actually ruining things between you.

On Valentine's Day, you were putting the boxes of chocolates in the bag to deliver to the Diasomnia boys when you heard someone knocking on your door.

“HUMAN!” Sebek shouts with a slight blush of embarrassment on his face and as if he were doing it almost out of obligation. “I'm here to fulfill the chocolate delivery ritual.” He hands you the black heart-shaped box with green lineart that he didn't even bother to hide behind his back. “P-please accept my offering.” he stuttered for an almost imperceptible second.

You pick up the box with a little smile, finding it all funny. You open the box and find hearts made with your favorite chocolate. You pick one up and bite into it, discovering that it also has your favorite filling inside.

“Well, I may conclude that you are perfectly satisfied with my cooking.” He says with a smug smile that tries to hide the real delight he feels at seeing you smile like that. But then he became serious again. “With this, my visit to you comes to its conclusion. Have a good day.”

He immediately turns to start walking to the gate, but you stop him. He turns around alarmed by the way you asked him to wait.

“WHAT IS IT?! Is there something missing?! I knew I should have gotten flowers too!”

And so his composed mask falls, at least for that moment. He really seems worried that he did something wrong and is sorry for whatever mistake he made. However, you can't help but laugh at that drastic change in behavior.

“WHA- NOW YOU ARE MOCKING ME?!” He makes that angry face that is so common of him that it doesn't even worry you anymore. “For what motive did you ask me to detain myself?!”

You turn to grab his box from the bag and hand it to him. It's a green heart-shaped box with a black bow. He almost jumps in surprise.

“You...” he says in a lower voice (which to anyone would be just a regular volume) “You got me chocolates too?”

He picks up your box with a delicacy you've never seen before and a little glint of wonder in his eyes. He opens the box to find chocolates, some milk, others white, shaped like little dragon heads. And with that he made that emotional face that he practically only directed at Malleus or Lilia.

“HOW MAJESTIC! Such a sublime creature recreated in its glory! You... human... are so... CRUEL!”

You ask why he is saying that, worried and above all confused.

“How do you expect me to ruin a work of art such as this? And worst of all through INGESTION?! I CAN NOT! This must be preserved!”

You try to convince him to eat them because if he doesn't they'll spoil. And you even say that you didn't know he would see things that way, you just thought he would like those molds because of, well, Malleus. And you comment that maybe you should have chosen something else because you really want him to taste what you did for him.

“They... they were made by you?” His face contorts into even more emotional pain and indecision.

You say you have the molds and can make more if he wants. This makes his eyes widen, almost filling with tears, and shine with joy and relief.

“THAT WOULD BE SIMPLY WONDERFUL! ... GH!... hu-hum. I mean, I would be very grateful if you did.” he smiles with a slight blush. “Now,” he smirks. “I should uncover the result of your labor.”

He takes one of the chocolates and bites into it. And you can see from his emotional expression that he's trying hard not to start showering you with praise like he does with Malleus.

“I must confess, for a human devoid of any magic or enviable abilities, your cooking is more than satisfactory.”

You look at him with that face of someone asking if that really is the best thing he can say to you. He sighs and blushes a little again.

“Very well. You desire to hear my most genuine opinion, correct?” he smiles, in a rather sweet way. “I truly enjoyed it. I didn't want to inflate your ego, but since you insist, they are some of the best homemade chocolates I've ever had. It is an honor to be worthy of tasting something like this and with the exclusivity of having it made especially for me. Thank you very much, (Y/N).”

You're surprised for a moment that he said your name and not ‘human’. And in the meantime, his posture changes, at first he seems uncertain about something but then he becomes surprisingly confident to the point of smiling smugly at you.

“Well, I assume you are well aware of the rules of  chocolate giving on Valentine's Day. And what implies delivering chocolates made by the offeror to the offeree.”

Seeing your expression of confirmation, he takes your hand, leans in and kisses the back of it. When he looks at you again, in the eyes, you see a shine and affection that you never thought you would see in him.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[arolesbianism]

I caved and made them real. Obverse me losing more and more motivation to draw as I made each of these back to back lol

[eldritchmochi]

it feels like ive done nothing but collect ref and outline art concept over the last like, 36hrs, which is pretty close to exactly true 🫠🫠

[diardri]

Dia's FFXIV Art Reference Notes, A possibly long post

Hello! I made this as a thread on my twitter but I might as well post a version of it here. For the record this will be a thread linking to the resources I use when drawing commissions or fanart, I have not made Any of these and whenever I can I will note the creators and link directly to their resources.

GPose Reference First and foremost, if you're drawing a WOL or ordering a commission of your WOL the most important thing is to take a proper reference GPOSE. I use the method in this post, to make sure I got all the angles. Clean refs are super important when drawing armor/intricate outfits so take care to take simple standing poses like the one in the tweet above. Cool dynamic poses might be fun but they're not really useful for referencing.

Gear/Weapon Reference

If you need good references for a weapon/outfit that you don't have a GPOSE for, I recommend using the attire website

This is a japanese website maintained by @/chiyo_asa on twitter and if you've ever looked up a piece of gear in the lodestone you've almost definitely come across their pictures.

This is a super rough translation in english of the menu of the website. While it is in Japanese it's very easy to navigate and all the pictures in the site are super high quality and very useful for referencing.

This is my number one source for gear references I haven't taken myself

The "mirapuri" button afaik is for glams they made themselves that they want to showcase.

An important note about this site specifically is that I believe it's currently undergoing an overhaul so Some weapons/gearsets might not be completely transferred in yet.

That being said, the majority of sets from dungeons/crafting/alliance raids/job gear sets etc are sorted like so, which makes it super easy to look for.

There IS also a search function but I'm pretty sure it works only for japanese input.

NPC reference sheets

@xivrefsheets Offers really detailed resources of npc models. They also occasionally accept requests on their ko-fi (closed at the time of writing this)

These are super useful and really high quality, especially for some of the boss refs they've done. As someone who doesn't use anamnesis I go back to their refs very often

Convocation of the Fourteen refs

Maintained by @/Igeyorhm on twitter this site has a nice list of Ascian refs per character in addition to some lore bits for each of them. Also some very useful closeups of the Ascian clothes.

Even more NPC and Boss Refs

I believe maintained by @/MlNRATHOUS on twitter, this site has a really nice array of major NPC and boss references in various angles and with colourpicks for skintone and hair which is super useful. I use them a Lot

Lalafell centric refs

Norirow Note is a super cute blog that showcases glam items/ weapons/ chocobo barding and more.

It is NOT meant to be an art reference, however if you play a lala like me, I find their showcases useful when drawing gear on lalas.

Even if you don't use it as an art ref it's a super cute blog that's just fun to go through AND fully translated in english so I recommend just having a fun time reading through it anyway.

Bonus- Au Ra Scales.

I literally found out about this today but @/saficchi on twitter has made a super detailed angled ref sheet for both male and female au ra scales and I love them for it

Bonus 2 electric boogaloo- TextTools

I use this to import 3d models of specific weapons into CSP if I'm drawing them.

I don't know how useful this is for other art software but it's saved my ass from freehanding titania weapons so in the thread it goes

That's the full list of refs I personally use, if there's more that people want to add please feel free to do so in the comments. I hope it helps people out in their creative endeavors!

[strautmaskreplica]

hey kid...

want a free ttrpg?

Dog and background by @b-marsollier

The demo version of A Fool's Errand is available for free on itch!

A Fool's Errand is a tarot-fueled science fantasy roleplaying game about playing the Fool, keeping the gods in check, flirting with godhood yourself, and preventing the next Big Oops.

4-6 Players (including GMs)

Play with a deck of tarot cards in lieu of dice

Session 0 mechanics heavily baked in

~2-4 hours per session

Great for campaigns (4+ sessions)

Modular and replayable with tons of GM support to pick up & play

Interested? A Fool's Errand is funding starting October 22nd. Pre-save so you don't miss it!

The Game

A Fool’s Errand uses tarot cards to tell an expansive science fantasy story over several phases.

First, the group collaborates on the Big Oops - the biggest calamity in this world’s history. Players pinpoint what the world lost when the previous Fools reached their journey’s zenith, and which Major Arcana consorted or clashed with each other along the way.

Then, players create their Fools - Android or Human characters who become intertwined with the Major Arcana gods (including those who had a hand in the Big Oops), and whose journeys are led by unique tarot decks built with choices made in character creation.

Finally, the player’s characters play in the post-calamity, exploring both the waking world, and the Dream & Digital Networks - the surrealistic subconscious realm of Humans & Androids, respectively. Both are places of heightened power and quantum knowledge accessible to the Fools.

Players’ unique decks determine success, failure, and when a Major Arcana can’t help itself but to intervene in the adventure. Characters always have the option to accept the obligations from the Gods, or deny them.

Can they keep the Gods in check, contend with calamity, and spare the world another Big Oops?

Character Creation

Players build their Fools by selecting three motivations, each tied to a different Major Arcana. Included among these choices are the key Major Arcana who involved themselves in the previous Big Oops.

Each Major Arcana has a list of motivations to choose from. These three selected motivations provide a springboard for players to conceptualize their character. The three chosen Major Arcana are then inserted into the player’s play decks.

Players then expand upon their character builds by selecting their Lineage (Human or Android), Archetypes (Influencer, Inquirer, Operator, Outlaw, Protector, and/or Virtuoso), Skills, and Power Trees (a list of abilities themed after the Minor Arcana and branching into either Magic or Tech).

Characters pursue their motivations by exploring both the post-calamitous waking world and the Dream and Digital Networks. All the while, the Major Arcana intervene, planting seeds for players to clarify and satisfy their requests, or “Obligations”. As the Obligation Tracks fill up, the Fools flirt with godhood and draw closer to the advent of their own Big Oops.

Get This Game!

Head here to help us fund a physical print of the game!

[physalian]

“Why doesn’t the villain just kill the heroes?”

Ah, plot armor. If you want to be a real go-getter and think up a more creative way for the heroes to always narrowly escape death out of sheer dumb luck, the villain being too slow on the draw, or the villain simply not thinking of it in the moment, you have to come up with a reason for why the villain doesn’t just kill the hero.

Four examples today.

1. Zhao & Aang

In “The Blue Spirit,” Aang is captured by Zhao, a man normally not above anything to further his agenda, including murder. The Avatar is the largest obstacle in his way, second to the Earth Kingdom, and all he has to do to take Aang off the gameboard is to kill a twelve-year-old. He’s got Aang in chains, not quite powerless but harmless enough, and could do it quickly.

So why doesn’t he? Per Zhao himself, if he kills Aang, the Avatar cycle will continue, born into some random water bender that may take them years to track down. Sure, they’ll be harmless for a few years and the Fire Nation might get lucky and find them easily, perhaps even sway the new one to their side, but what if the waterbending Avatar is born into the Foggy Swamp? Or they end up having to kill them, too, and then have to track down an earthbending Avtar across the entire Earth Kingdom? Does Zhao really want to take that chance when he can just keep Aang alive? Just barely?

Of course not.

Killing the hero in this case might stop the immediate threat, but it will just delay the inevitable, thus it’s in the villain’s best interest to exploit a loophole while likely committing war crimes in the process. He gets to secure a Fire Nation victory and make Aang suffer for the rest of his life.

Ozai doesn't kill Aang until the first chance he gets, which just so happens to be the series finale. And we all know why Aang has a no-kill policy.

2. Sam, Dean & The Angels and Demons

Hahaha it’s the show known for its refusal to kill its heroes. We’re gonna ignore everything past season 5. There’s obviously meta reasons—kill the main characters and you have zero supporting cast that could realistically take over the show.

But in season 4, despite multiple deaths already for both of them, so begins the “if you die we’ll just bring you back” threat, because they’re angels and angels can do that. Similar to Aang, Sam and Dean risk a fate far worse than death if they don’t cooperate with Zachariah’s plans. He happily gives them both a slew of diseases and illnesses to get his way whenever he gets the chance and reminds them both that if they just kill themselves to escape the Apocalypse, he’ll happily revive them. The Demons won't kill Sam and Dean because they're necessary to further their own plans by breaking certain seals on Lucifer's cage, though they're not above breaking bones and killing bystanders.

Fate worse than death is a popular threat, but usually the heroes offing themselves is still a viable, if deeply unpopular, option. Supernatural removes it entirely and for such a simple little detail, it does a lot to make their survivability believable.

3. Batman & Joker

Ahh the age old furious rant by people who don’t understand Batman: If Batman killed his villains they’d stop busting out of Arkham and murdering innocent civilians, Batman has so much blood on his hands—

Babe. Babe, he’s a comic book character. By his very nature, he can’t kill his villains otherwise he’d have no rogues gallery. Comic books are like a giant board of Monopoly, going around in circles and occasionally having a timeout in jail.

But the in universe reason there’s no killing has been essayed about extensively and so has why Joker doesn’t try harder to kill him, but I couldn’t not include these two. Batman does not kill because he is not judge, jury, and executioner of his villains, most of whom have mental health issues and while they certainly know better and their crimes aren’t justified, his villains need actual therapy and help and medication, not death. Even those who he might agree must be stopped and there’s no other way except murder, Batman himself will not be the one to pull the trigger. He must remain a hero, so that no matter who he comes across in the dark alleyways of Gotham, they know he’s not here to kill them, be it criminal or victim.

Joker doesn’t kill Batman for a much simpler reason, and Heath Ledger literally says it: “I won’t kill you because you’re too much fun.” He does not need a more convoluted reason, he enjoys the game, the chase, the tug of war (most versions of him, at least) and to kill Batman would be to end his greatest form of entertainment, and the only person probably in the whole world who is neither afraid of Joker nor dismissive of him as simply a freak.

4. Optimus and Megatron

Optimus Prime and Megatron are very similar to Batman and Joker but with literal eons of history between them. In most serialized Transformers media, as opposed to movies where the plot is more urgent, Megatron both wants to win Optimus over and just can't quite let himself finally win. Who is he without his rival, after all this time?

Optimus is in the same boat, refusing to kill him because he's still holding out hope for Megatron's redemption, that there's a peaceful way to end this war (no matter how much collateral both leaders end up causing). Shit gets real whenever Optimus breaks the unspoken rules of their no-kill rivalry and Megatron gets incredibly pissy about it because he's in love.

—

Suggestions to workshop this plot hole in your own narrative:

The hero staying alive is absolutely paramount to the villain’s plan (in which case, you have to have rock solid reasons for why they keep narrowly escaping capture)

The villain is so confident in their plan that they don’t even consider the hero a proper threat

The villain doesn't really have a bodycount, but if they kill the hero, suddenly all the other powers that be will take them seriously and they'll have a huge mess on their hands

The villain is so full of themselves or so in love with their rival that it’d break their heart to have to kill them just to win

The villain is simply not capable of murder either physically or morally (perhaps because the hero is a child)

Killing the hero would make them a martyr and the villain would end up with a far bigger mess on their hands when the lone hero is replaced with an avenging army

The villain is too proud to simply kill the hero and wants to win fairly in a proper fight on the battlefield and not take the cheap and easy shot

The villain does not have a phyiscal form or real presence in the plot, acting through their minions, and their minions are incompetent

It’s simply not fun if the hero dies/the hero is the only one who understands them and they’d lose far more than they’d gain by killing them

The villain still wants to try and win the hero over and is so dedicated to this path that they regularly sabotage their own plans desperate to change the hero’s mind

The villain firmly believes in a fate worse than death and while the hero’s survival isn’t crucial to the main plan, they want the hero to watch their own failure/become the villain’s minion/ prisoner/ partner by the end

There’s a million examples out there to pull from and I could keep listing them all night. So long as whatever it is doesn’t come out of nowhere or open a plot hole of “why didn’t they just do that earlier?” you can get quite creative.

One last example that’s a personal favorite of mine to implement: In Eternal Night of the Northern Sky there aren’t too many opportunities to ask this question, but when it does arise, Villain A has Hero B as a meat shield, and while Hero B’s love interest, Hero C, is more than happy to shoot through them to incapacitate Villain A, the person they take orders from isn’t so reckless, which later leads to Drama and Issues.

[iknowicanbutwhy]

a question about full cast! when they're.. acting like the rest of the party??? who's who? (as in, 'the FIRST siffrin is odile, the SECOND siffrin is mirabelle,' etc - completely random picks there and not intended as actual guesses) what's up with bonnie-loop?

or is it just Rule Of Funny?

OKAY so I forgot to tag a post, but like, This Post is very relevant to your questions!

GETTING ALL THE WAY UP TO 36 LOOPS IS LIKE. BOTH THE WORST CASE SCENARIO AND AN INCREDIBLY DEMORALIZING EXPERIENCE. It was just too fucking funny not to draw the Universe breaking under the strain of this Black Hole of a person.

Which is to say!! It's said it takes a village to raise a Siffrin but nobody there is playing any particular role at that point. There's no way to tell anyone apart beyond "A Loop" and "The Siffrin," "a New (hopeful) Star" or "an Old (jaded) Star." When you become one of the many, many failures, and the Universe won't let you walk away, you just. That's all that matters anymore. You can't even take yourself seriously, let alone those around you.

BUT!!! Say we keep it to Four Loops, a much more manageable number. I mentioned in the previous post somewhat about how they don't differentiate very well - except for mini-loop, who was fortunate enough to at least look different - until they all decide on what role they're going to take up in their silly little one-person play. They just Don't intrude on each other's lines, on each other's characters, too caught up in their own - unless they're being Siffrin, just to tease him. They're as happy as they can be, having found a way to be.. well, not themselves, per se. But not a group of failed Siffrins. Not all the same doomed narrative. And in a way, they get to experience the people they love again.

When they have the energy to keep up the act, they talk differently, they walk differently, they focus on different things, and it's enough to tell one from the other half the time. And they'll keep going with this until it inevitably gets to them, just how much they're still. Worse versions of someone else.

Oh, but mini-bonnie-loop was made that short both because they worded their wish weird trying to find a loophole (tee hee) and also because the Universe was like. I'm gonna make this really funny. And well if the Universe is making them out like they could replace Siffrin's entire cast, who are they not to follow?

[live-wire-electra]

stex fandom psssspspspspsp come here

lore under the cut 🔥

HI okay so first off if youre reading this. welcome! it is very late and my thoughts will be jumbled

basically… stex hadestown au. rusty and pearl are orpheus and eurydice, i debated dinah and greaseball but dinah has a different part to play here ;)

i don’t really have a solid reason why i chose prusty other than the fact that they are stex’s leading couple. HOWEVER, i drew a lot from pearl’s abandonment of rusty for electra and geeb, and her as eurydice made a lot of sense to me. the whole “i want to do my best in life so i must betray my heart” vibe is so her… pearl i love u

however… hades!electra and persephone!joule have more weight to them :3c electra is of course there because of pearl’s plotline, but i also wanted them to fit with the ‘i conduct the electric city’ thing. electra and hades are both very prideful and kind of control freaks to me (i say ‘kind of’ bc of electra we all know how hades is). i had a bit of trouble with choosing persephone though because i fear i am an electra and components polycule truther

however i wound up choosing joule! initially it was for her line ���electra is hot” and i basically went hot -> warm -> keeping the mortals (trains..) warm. i also think the concept of maybe persephone!joule started out as a genuinely warm gal, more fireplaces and embers, and as electra grew more restricting over her, she became more explosive, putting on firework shows for those who dare to ask. she still runs the speakeasy, but i think she also loves to provide that spark of color and adrenaline for the workers

the featured workers are in fact the components btw :)) and maybe freight as well because i think slick beating up rusty would be funny. cb may be in this as well but i really do not know where i would fit him in 😭 so devastated bc hes my favorite in stex

which brings us to the fates. remember hadestown’s “wherever it was this poor girl went, the fates were close behind”? and pearl always hangs around the coaches! so tassita, belle, and dinah are the fates. lurking, warning, spinning prophecies in hushed voices… golly i love the idea of the usually fun group being so haunting. and like specifically “why the struggle, why the strain?” and also “who are you to lead them/her?” GUYS PLEASE TELL ME YOU SEE MY VISION!!

i have one more character to talk about… and that’s hermes! in his place is momma, naturally! she took rusty in when he was very young, as per the hadestown plotline, and it’s her who gives him the push he needs to talk to pearl. i think she holds power over a lot of the other deified trains, but for all her trying, she just can’t get through to electra. which is why she raises rusty with a strong sense of right and wrong, and the ability to speak up, out, and defend himself. it’s also why she raises him knowing how to take care of someone he loves. she doesn’t want him going down the same path as the doomed electra and joule.

i have been cooking up this au all day guys oh my gosh. im so happy i finally got to draw it 🙏 im incorporating a mix of old and new designs but for the sake of simplicity, the characters themselves are based on the london personalities. i just think leccy and joule having their older designs emphasizes that hades and persephone are older than the others!

thank you so much if you read this far! i appreciate you!! ❤️❤️ if you have anything to say abt this PLEEEEASEEE let me know please please please!!

[hobisfavoritespritecan]

All I Need

NIGEL BANYAI X READER ⚠️ Warnings: None ⚠️

You're wandering the streets of Bucharest at night when you come face-to-face with your "ex" husband, Nigel. There's a rekindling- even if only for a moment- where you realize he might be more intertwined in your life than you'd thought.

Disconcertment washes over your face like a flood when you see him walking forwards, in that haunting but familiar walk you'd grown used to. He was polished, as per usual, adorned with a dog printed button down and a cigarette lax between his teeth. The protruding fold of his shirt would be incomprehensible to passerby who didn't know of his hobbies, but to you, it was the imprint of a gun.

His eyes shifting up from the road he was walking down and meeting yours held you in a trance. There was something to be studied about the man's eyes; so full of agonizing self-inflicted sorrow that shone through the very core of his being and simmered into the rest of the world through his gaze. He was deeply saddened. But it was all under a mask of his he wore to wind through the mindless crowds so that there wasn't anything about his character to be discovered unless he'd wanted you to. His cheekbones shone under the streetlights with their summery glow making waves of blues and pinks and greens with the lights from overhead in the city. He was a Monet painting come to life, a landscape of colors washing away everyone else and drawing you inwards to where he stood, finally stopping amidst a puddle from rain fallen this morning. He was beautiful. But he was also dangerous.

You had finally stopped running from him long ago. That sadness he contained within himself had become ever so apparent throughout your relationship and spilled over into everything else. He tormented himself so deeply that it was only a matter of time before he tormented you.

Never with his touch, no. His touch had always been careful, predetermined. He would never have laid a hand on you that wasn't accepting or invited by the warmth in your features and your verbal acknowledgement. Even after long arguments where you'd fallen asleep on your side of the bed, turned away from him, he would caress you only with his mind.

Instead, his torment was his love. There was too much of it, too little of a mutual understanding of what was wrong and what was right. He had been too suffocating in his eternal vows to protect you and love you. And with this time period in your life- this new one you'd created for yourself- you couldn't suppress your desires of freedom. You'd allowed him to love you and whisk you away with his promises (which he'd kept, of course), but you'd never been able to experience the world, let alone the streets of Bucharest in the way you'd always wanted to- on your own.

But you had loved him. There was no denying that.

And despite all your efforts to push him away; to ask him to take his love and give it to someone more deserving, someone who'd understand his suffocating requests of social isolation and relationship devotion, he was always finding his way back to you. His heart seemed to have a mind of its own which never coincided with the work he performed or the crimes he'd commit.

And here you were, by the famous Hostel off the side streets of tourist-populated areas, staring at one another. Both of you with the impression that the other was a work of art, staring into one another's souls as if they had painted the landscapes themselves. You heard the faint chatter of those nearby; the drunks walking back home from a night out, stumbling over their feet and laughing with their partners holding them up. The children who'd been playing hopscotch despite their parent's wishes at this hour in the night. The sound of the rain from earlier dripping off the rooftops and onto the parked cars below. And through all the commotion, it was just Nigel and you.

He offered something to you that most people would never see in their lifetime from a man like him. A smile.

You sent one back through slightly teary eyes, hoping for a minute he would look into you the way you were looking into him and that he would understand your internal dismay. You'd never loved like you loved him. Ever. And that would be true for the rest of your life. Your relationship had been an amalgamation of every emotion and he brought out sides of you that you'd never prepared yourself to confront. It was beautiful. It was bittersweet. And it was over.

He knew. He knew you'd wanted nothing more than your freedom, which was the one thing he didn't know how to give you. Not even now. He knew it was at the expense of your own happiness, but he couldn't help himself to follow you around Bucharest even if you hadn't caught him in the act of doing so, such as tonight. He wanted to be in your life anyway you would let him and even though the former was preferred, he was okay with learning how to live on the outskirts of your heart while you lived on the very insides of his.

He'd follow you around Bucharest and he'd follow you around the world.

You shifted in your jacket, despite the summer air. Your eyes had gone from his to the subway opening a couple yards away, where you'd initially been heading. There was your apartment waiting for you, where you'd have your own melancholic isolation. It was a hop skip and a jump away from the man who'd been your husband for all the years prior.

An image came into your head just then. One of a faraway place, tucked into the crevices of your mind so far back you'd almost forgotten its existence entirely. A cool night in your city where he'd gone on a walk with you, wearing the same jacket you had on now. You had chopped your hair and dyed it bright orange following the news of your father's death. It was just a silly coping mechanism to you, but Nigel had smiled when he'd walked into your shared apartment and saw the brightly colored hair littering the floor tiles. He'd suggested a walk to get some fresh air, under the rainbow colored lights you'd grown so fond of.

That night, you were looking at the snowflakes falling from above, threatening them with your tongue to catch them in your mouth and have them melt against your lips. They refracted against the colors in the sky, a light magenta touching the clouds as far as the eyes could see. Shimmery eyeshadow caught in the corners of your eyes, making them appear to be even more wet and filled with sorrow than they were. Nigel was here for you though, admiring the way you turned around in the snow, over and over again as if you were the little dancing figurine hidden in a jewelry box.

He'd held you close to him as you cried the eyeshadow in streaks of black down your face, the orange seeming less bright and the snow feeling more cold. You hadn't felt the totality of his admiration for you until this night, where his hug wasn't more than just that. Before his presence became a prison. He smiled at you, one of those toothy grins only he was capable of managing.

And then, he let go. This was the only time he'd done so on his own accord, almost leaving you fighting to be back in his embrace. He turned to the subway, then to you and back to the subway before leaning in with a kiss,

"urmează-mă și te voi săruta."

And then he went racing off into the night towards the never stopping trains ahead. Smiling, you ran after him. Eyes still wet with the tears for your father and hair still orange from the impulsive chop. The wind whipped through it, leaving you with a coldness on the back of your neck you weren't used to. It felt freeing, though. Your first taste of freedom. Running after him, you saw the water from the other side of town, touching the sky and creating more of the pinky-blue color that Bucharest was full of. The snow crunched under your feet as you placed one in front of the other before the soles of your shoes hit the concrete steps leading underground. Nigel was only a few meters away, sliding down the poles in his dog button down he favorited.

And then suddenly you came to a halt as you crashed into him, stopping the chase almost as soon as you'd started it, in the middle of the busy underground station. You'd lost your balance ever so slightly but he held you upright, not letting you fall.

And suddenly your eyes were on his. There was such a beautiful agony within them. There was far more to this man than you'd ever know and his love would have no bounds. He was soft in the way he stared at you, mouth pressed into a smile as he really took you in with everything you were. Nothing was lost in translation as you looked at him, his soul instantly filling your own. Everything was slowing down but the two of you, seemingly lost in time to the rest of the world with the passing trains and people.

"I will never stop looking for you." He whispered softly. voice suddenly laced with concern.

You were confused, looking up at the man you'd known you'd be with for infinity. "I'm right here?" You questioned, wondering what the significance of his words could mean, if they were laced with an underlying hidden message as concealed as the man's identity himself.

He smiled once more. "I will never stop looking for your kind of love." He corrected himself and you felt your insides go fuzzy with a warm and loving feeling.

You smiled from across the street, towards the same junction you'd run down the first time he'd proposed a nighttime walk. This could get you into a lot of trouble, to hint at the idea of a potential rekindling with the man known to be a criminal. The man who'd offered you nothing but love, even if there was a side of toxicity it'd been served with.

It was at that moment that you deeply felt the confines of your freedom without him- and it felt suffocating.

You both locked eyes once again, and he had a look on his features as though he'd been reminiscing about the same memory. It was impossible for him to truly still want something with you after all this time, wouldn't it be? You had pushed him away countless times, over and over. Whenever you'd seen him in public since the official ending of everything, you'd never spared him more of a glance.

Fuck it.

"urmează-mă și te voi săruta." You whispered under your breath, figuring the future would be in whether or not he could read your lips, if he would have remembered that time from so long ago, if he still wanted to be with you. A tear fell from your eye and cascaded down your cheek almost as silently as you'd spoken his phrase, "Find me, and I will kiss you."

Not even a second later, you both sprinted towards the subway.

[theherbologygreenhouse]

hello!

welcome to my hogwarts blog! hp and hogwarts legacy eras!

about me

my name is adan (short for monstera adansonii lol) ! i'm 25, she/her and trying to write more. i just got into hogwarts legacy a few months ago with the influence of my friend (@honeyed-blossom), and have slipped back into my childhood hp obsession.

i have two MC's i'd like to introduce you to! both of them are brown girls with non brown ass names lol

elenora sinclair (goes by nelly/nell or nora) - i made this character when i was growing up in my head. i don't have a picture of her yet!

is in a hogwarts college au

grew up with her brother, alexander, and grandparents in east london. her parents were killed by lucius malfoy (special scene that'll come up)

went to a wizarding primary and secondary school called orrivelle conservatory of magical arts with her brother.

nell's grandmother taught her how to cook. she couldn't cook so much at orrivelle, but at hogwarts each of the common rooms had a kitchen with a fridge stocked with whatever the student wanted.

besties with cho chang. also is friends with fred and george weasley

fully believes the best of everyone, even slytherins. there are only a select few that cannot redeem themselves. she is a hufflepuff.

is on track to be an auror: absolutely killer in her studies. excels in potions so much once she comes to hogwarts, snape advances her one year. ends up being like a student aid for him.

she is the only person who can sass snape

is the love interest of cedric diggory and george weasley

here we have miss maven godfreid, my hogwarts legacy character, our fifth year, potions and herbology, farm girl, ashwinder murdering extraordinaire.

background:

maven and her 2 younger twin siblings nathan and victoria are orphans. they grew up on a farm with a muggle foster family at the age of 7. they were 3. they adopted them after 4 years on the farm

she grew up doing a lot of physical work, so is actually built different by the time she went to hogwarts

nathan and victoria left for hogwarts at 11

she didn't come into magic until 15 (per game canon), but her parents were so supportive when she did! they were so proud of maven, they saw her struggle secretly with her siblings being away for so long.

is 5'10"

went to muggle school and loved math and chemistry

definitely does not have feelings of inadequacy, i think the muscles help...

conjured up an oven in her room of requirement. she misses baking bread.

hums to herself and doesn't even know it. she would hum at home, on the farm, and it continued at hogwarts

excels at potions and herbology (plants and chemistry yanno), ATROCIOUS at charms and DADA

THANK YOU to my irl bestie @honeyed-blossom for drawing my daughter. we're making a meet up between maven and valeria :)

[fivepointsgames]

Heart and Ambition: How to do Statless PbtA

As we discussed in our post yesterday regarding Outlaw Hearts, we're working to evolve and grow our own take of what Powered by the Apocalypse means. The cornerstone of this is encouraging the Play to Find Out element of PbtA design. Part of this is enforcing, promoting, and rewarding Players who play to the narrative hooks and strengths of their characters. This has taken the form of the Heart system that gives Outlaw Hearts its name. The Heart system is a stat-less system that rewards Outlaws, the titular characters of Outlaw Hearts, for being the best Outlaws they can be. Outlaws select a Crew Role and a Playbook at character creation. Both these choices come with a list of Drives, narrative hooks that enshrine the narrative positioning that the Playbooks and Crew Roles embody. The Captain, a Crew Role, for example might select "lead a dangerous charge at the head of the crew". Whenever they would do this in game, they earn a token they can spend to improve their rolls. This token is called Ambition. The mechanic looks something like this at the moment.

Heart and Ambition

Outlaws select two Drives from their Crew Role and two from their Playbook. 

The Outlaw may select one of these four Drives to award 2 Ambition when fulfilled in the scene. This is called their Central Drive. 

All other Drives selected at character creation award 1 Ambition when fulfilled in the scene.

If an Outlaw would gain an Ambition but cannot increase their Pool, they may either restore one Stress or mark Potential. 

An Outlaw may, at the start of the Session, swap out a non-Central Drive for another Drive of their choice they have access to. They may only do this once per Session.

An Outlaw’s Drives from both sources form the basis of an Outlaw’s Heart. An Outlaw may earn other Drives after character creation but cannot exceed 5 Drives at any one time. During play, an Outlaw may have their Heart and their Drives called into question. Depending on their fiction, this may mean that one of their Drives becomes Locked or Affirmed.

Locked Drive: A Locked Drive cannot be fulfilled for the duration listed when it is Locked. An Outlaw may always unlock a Drive by increasing their Stress by 2. If this pushes you over your Maximum Stress, you mark Exhausted instead. 

Affirmed Drive: An Affirmed Drive always rewards an Outlaw an additional 1 Ambition when it is fulfilled the first time in a scene. If the Affirmed Drive is an Outlaw’s Central Drive, they get +3 instead of +2.

Ambition is a form of currency that Outlaws generate by embodying the goals and desires that brought them out into the Cosmos in the first place. Outlaws cannot have more than 5 Ambition at any time in their Pool. 

Outlaws spend Ambition before making moves and earn +1 for each Ambition spent in this way. Expending Ambition speaks volumes on how willing they are to push themselves to succeed, drawing deep on their dreams to see the action through. Outlaws cannot expend more than 4 Ambition on a single roll at any time. 

[allwormdiet]

Gestation 1.5

I wonder if Taylor's night is gonna get any better

This is actually a really good passage for the building tension. Lung's not gonna kill our protagonist in the fifth chapter of the novel but she doesn't know that. She can see her options narrowing down and her chances getting slimmer, she doesn't know there's like, a million plus words more to her story. This could be it, and this really sells it.

Okay actually I'm gonna circle back to something I totally missed in 1.4, which is the mild comedy in Taylor hacking multiple EpiPens in her kit as a teenager with, I'm gonna guess a modest allowance? You can tell this was written by someone who hasn't had to put up with US healthcare, that's minimum like $600 bucks of medicine, and frankly I don't think it's going to be any cheaper when the predominant pharmaceutical company is run by a Nazi.

Sweet of her dad, and also I cannot imagine facing down a hitter like Lung with nothing but a can of pepper spray, Jesus Christ that's stressful. This never comes up in the retellings, Taylor has cast-iron balls to pull this stunt.

Kudos on this, it's such a cool descriptor, and again: huge props to Taylor for staring this down and not running like hell.

Side note, either Lung's eyes are a magnet for violence or else Taylor is compelled to target the eyes. Maybe both. See if it keeps happening with either of them I guess.

Something something Jurassic Park reference, also do we need the reminder that he has an accent

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH IT'S THE CAVALRY BABY

Listen I know I'm a little spoiled here and the bias is showing but I already love these kids, look at em! They decided to swing at Lung for the sake of the girl who'd already pried him off their backs, they didn't need to save her but they did. I can't wait for them all to break my heart one way or another, it's gonna rule.

Grue is real as fuck for his costume, it's so cool.

Also I desperately want to know what the conversation was like for the Undersiders to decide "yeah fuck it let's put up our dukes against the head of the ABB." Who voted in favor of that?

The "but yeah" really sells the underlying youth of the character, btw. Gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a lot of kids who feel like they need to hold themselves like adults (and then don't really know how) in this story.

Squad squad squad squad

Quick and dirty introduction to the team, good enough start as anything, also lmao at Taylor just standing there with jelly legs trying to process this and completely unable to make words happen. Poor girl

"Certainly least" my ass, kid's got style.

Can Tattletale actually stop herself from talking? Not like in a power sense I mean in a needing to be smart way. I assume she can but it's not out of the question that she just cannot put a lid on it. I've known people like that.

Also an effortless display of trust and teamwork. Tattletale says boogie and Bitch is on it immediately.

So the fox parallels just start immediately, okay. Everyone always compares her to a fox, or makes her fursona a fox, or describes a vulpine grin, and I figured that was drawing on the text but I didn't think it came up literally in the first chapter she appears.

There's a couple different emotions I feel at this last paragraph. Per usual I feel bad for Taylor because this truly just has not been her night, she gets like half a W against fucking Lung but gets scared half to death, saved by villains, and then mistaken for a villain as well. Awful way to start a career.

On the other hand, Taylor, honey, you're terrifying and used a bunch of venomous and painful insects in order to break up a gang meeting, you're in all blacks and grays with big ol yellow eyes, your entire aesthetic screams villain, this is at least partly your own fault.

On the third hand, knowing full well how important the Undersiders are gonna be, and how feared Taylor is gonna be as a future villain, it's not hard to look at this like. Well what's so bad about them being villains, and what's so bad about being mistaken for one. Obviously it's a matter of morality and perspective and stuff like that, Taylor seems to only now be dipping her toes into moral flexibility, but the gift/curse of future knowledge means there's something, I dunno, a little sweet about this encounter.

Current Thoughts

Tired. Dragging my hands down my face rn. Last one for tonight.

This was a cool sequence. Rough introduction to the Docks and ABB aside, the fight between Lung and Taylor was super cool, a great feeling of the momentum shifting between the two as Taylor's bugs stop being able to keep up with the fire, the desperate play with the pepper spray, and being just. Fully backed into a corner until she's saved by the cavalry. If this is how the fight scenes keep going for this series then I think I'm in for a fun ride.

Also yaaaaaaaaay the team has been introduced, I can't wait to find out how much of the perception of them I've gotten through fanworks and my own half-baked osmosis is going to contrast with their canon personalities. Grue being all serious and Tattletale being a smirking know-it-all literally described as fox-like feel like solid indicators, if nothing else.

Next chapters tomorrow. It's Armsmaster right after, right? See what he's like.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Halloween/fall prompts

This was originally meant to be a general fall prompt list however a lot of these lean into the halloween stuff a lot- that being said! i hope you all have fun with these!

Rules: 3 prompts per request and 1 character per request, please check which fandoms I currently write for (you can find the list in my pinned!), have fun!

Arts and crafts- do they make decorations to put around? Do they make DIYs to pass the time and celebrate?

Boo- Do they try to scare you during the season?

Costumes- Do they wear a costume? Do they buy it or make it by hand? Do you guys match?

Decoration- do they like decorating with you? Do they have you do all the work or do they help, or do it all themselves? How far do they lean into it?

Excitement- how eager are they to spend halloween with you? How early do they start celebrating?

Fair- are there any themed fairs in town? Do they try to drag you along to check it out or would they rather stay at home?

Give out- are you in charge or handing out candy or do they take over?

Haunted house- you go to a haunted house together! How scared are they? Do they pretend to be brave or do they scream? Or are they unphased?

Jack-o-lantern- you both try your hand at carving pumpkins... how successful will you be?

Monsters- do they have a favorite monster? Does that come into play when you guys choose your costumes or decorations?

November- Spooky season is over! Are they still riding the high or do they move on as soon as its midnight?

Onomatopoeia- Do they like fall leaves? How excited are they to crush dried leaves for that crunch?

Pumpkin patch- you go out to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins together! How fun!

Scary movie- Movie nights are a must! What movies do you watch together? Do you watch them throughout the month or do long binges as it draws closer to the 31st?

Snacks- What are their favorite seasonal snacks? Do they like making them with you? What happens if you surprise them with said snack?

Trick or treat- Are they more likely to give you candy or tricks during the halloween season?

Weather- are they a fan of the fall weather? Or do they prefer another season?

Wrapped up- Would they share a scarf with you? Or do they not care about catching a cold?

Warmth- Your hands are cold! Would they let you put your hands into their pockets to warm yourself up?

[preciouslittletoonette]

I was just thinking about the Wish concept art and the whole worry of "Star being too similar/compared a lot to Genie". I was thinking about all the different ways they could've or even would've like, lessen the comparisons by just changing certain things.

Genie is a zany, verbally loud, fast-talking comedian type wish granter who can immediately summon things with a snap and a point of his finger. He's a cosmically powerful being bound to certain rules and the whims of his master (at least in the first film) along with the restraints the lamp has on him that only allows him to grant three wishes per master. This is the basic layer of what and who Genie is, this is what the least invested audience member would notice.

So with all of this in mind, we can now use this to both deconstruct and reconstruct Star as a character.

Starting with the established thing: Star is verbally mute, that already removes the verbally loud, fast-talking comedian edge Genie is known for. I can even push it and say on a surface level, that's a stark enough of a difference, seeing as Genie's draw was that he was such a zany fast-talker voiced by Robin Williams (RIP King). But I want to go all the way in so I will.

Now for their powers and wish-granting abilities.

Both Star and Genie should be/are cosmically powerful. They are both beings that grant wishes after all. That'll always be something they share as characters. So how do you make it different from each other?

I have a few things in mind. The biggest thing being: what are the limits of their abilities? How do their wish granting powers manifest? What is their attitude and general behavior like when they use magic?

I already mentioned Genie's limits above. I'll get to Star's soon but that's gonna be an entire talk I want to leave for later. For now, I will talk about how do their wish granting powers manifest.

When Genie grants wishes, it's a very instantaneous BOOM in your face kind of deal. He does things dramatically with comedic flair.

I think to make Star different from that, you can draw inspiration from another Disney wish granter that I'm really surprised Disney didn't do more to reference her or the movie she's from: the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio.

So the way Blue Fairy grants wishes for those who haven't seen Pinocchio in forever or haven't seen it at all: the Blue Fairy- rather than instantaneously granting your wish as Genie would- would give you the means and path towards your wish coming true, but in order for your wish to really come true, you yourself gotta have that drive, put in the effort and work towards your wish.

That's how Star's wish magic should work. While, he could still grant impossible, extraordinary wishes like make animals talk and give plants sentience, yeah. But I think it would be interesting along with being meaningful to see Star set up a path for someone's wish to come true. It could spark a small discussion between him and Asha about wishes and how one is to truly go about them. Star gets into the real truth of what his powers are like that basically comes down to:

"My powers will only go as far as the wish maker themselves are willing to go"

Which now brings us to what is Star's limit? Genie is limited by rules of the lamp and the whims of his master. Star has no such thing as he is a free being. He owes no one anything and he's bound to nothing, leaving him with no rules other than the ones he himself placed on himself. So, he's got to be possibly very powerful. And he probably could grant everyone's desires. But he won't/can't. Why?

Because it's your wish. And Star can only go as far as you yourself are willing to go. This isn't a meet half way type of thing either.

This is a "we are travelling to your destination TOGETHER. We are both gonna work on this TOGETHER. You are gonna put the work in from start to finish and I am going to help you get there no matter how long it takes or how much we'll lose along the way".

Because THIS is what classic Disney movies are about!!! THIS IS HOW WISHES WORKED IN THE CLASSIC MOVIES. YOU DIDN'T JUST WISH UPON A STAR AND YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE, YOU HAD TO GO ON JOURNEYS, PUT IN EFFORT AND MAKE SACRIFICES.

Star would be willing to go the mile to make your wish come true, but you got to be the one to lead him there.

Now for the more fun bit that'll lean in more to what Star's personality might be like. Their behavior as they do magic.

Genie is explosive in such a way that he is constantly buzzing with pent up energy that came from years of imprisonment and isolation and his magic reflects that. It is fast and wild and funny to watch.

I like to think Star's is a more relaxed, ethereal version of that. Not so ethereal, you would think of Blue Fairy when you see it though. But Star's magic gets released in a sparkly, dusty way (like pixie dust almost) as opposed to Genie's zap and puff of smoke.

Another way to differentiate Star from Genie, I think Star's gotta have lower energy than what Genie has. Genie's energy comes from years of imprisonment that bubbled and finally exploded once released. Star, I don't think would have that. Star is a star, it is very likely he could see what was happening in the world below but not really be able to interact with humans. Once he gets down to Rosas, he wants to see and touch everything. He's quietly curious with a child-like spark to him, who keeps dusting his magic with something to see what would happen.

Now for Star's shape-shifting, I think comparisons are more likely to happen with characters like Maui or Camilo because they're more recent. I think this one stands fine alone.

One lil detail I would add to Star is in regards as to how he flies. I've always been in love with how Disney went about Peter Pan flying. Sometimes when Peter lands, he does little pirouette spins which are so so so charming. And just in general, sometimes there's something oddly graceful about how Peter flies that I think would work super well for Star.

So this is my conclusion as to how to mitigate the Star & Genie comparisons by just changing bits of pieces of the surface level traits of him a little.

So Genie is as what I said above: a zany, verbally loud, fast-talking comedian type, shape-shifting wish granter who can immediately summon things with a snap and a point of his finger. He's a cosmically powerful being bound to certain rules and the whims of his master (at least in the first film) along with the restraints the lamp has on him that only allows him to grant three wishes per master.

Whereas Star would be: a verbally mute, gentle & curious type wish granter with a very relaxed, dreamy kind of magic meant to reflect his daydreamer tendencies. Star is a free cosmically powerful being with no limits to what his magic can do, with his only condition for his wish granting magic being that the wish maker themself must meet him from start to finish and put forth the effort and drive in order to make the wish come true with the help he has/will provide.

And those are my thoughts :)

[just-a-drawing-bean]

Hi!! I was wondering how you get your animation so smooth, like butter.

Especially on that lineart, I’m always having trouble but your looks very effortless and consistent, what are your secrets?

-thank you

[sorry if asked before, also hi from TikTok! Thank you for the kind words, I admire your work and its always a treat to see it in my dash (^_^)]

Hello! Thank you <3 honestly there’s a few reasons it’s so smooth. (Get ready for the ramble I love talking about animation)

First on the lineart I use Toonboom to animate and it’s a vector based program. That means I can edit a line’s curves once I draw it. I don’t have to erase it to change it. I can grab a point on the line and stretch it where I want. So that’s why the lines themselves are pretty smooth, I have a lot of control over them.

As for the motions themselves people can think that frame rates equates to smoothness and while having a lot of frames and inbetweens can do that, it’s way more about the movement that makes something smooth. I tend to work on twos, threes, and even fours. This means you see a frame at 12 frames per second, 8fps or even 6fps. But it depends on the timing of the motion. When I animate the fps isn’t consistent. Faster motions tend to get a higher fps meaning you see it for a shorter amount of time. While slower subtle movements I tend to put on 8 or 6 fps which means you see them longer. Easing of the timing of the frames as well as easing of the motions themselves leads to smoother animation.

Another key point is that objects travel in arcs, always. Unless they are stopped by something. When I animate, I use onion skin religiously. (Onion skin allows me to see previous or future frames on a low opacity) that way I can check my motions and arcs. here I've marked the path of travel for his hand, hips and head ad he bows.

My method for animation tends to be pose to pose. Meaning I’ll draw all the key frames (the important poses that tell the story) before I fill out the inbetweens. Now inbetweens doesn’t always mean you draw a frame that’s exactly between pose a to pose b. You still have to think about the motion you want to achieve and keep in mind your arcs. Additionally you can add secondary movements or actions to help with believability in actions. Animation is all about performance and exaggeration.

But another technique is to animate frame by frame instead of pose to pose. People tend to use this method for effect such as water flowing, fire, or in my case I used it when I animated the capes. Since the cape drags behind the animation and is influenced by what the character does. I animated the cape after I animated the character. I went frame after frame thinking about how the cape would move both with gravity in play, and being moved by the character’s actions.

Using reference is a big help when animating. I had to act out actions to make sure I got things right when making it. I even got a towel and threw and shook it around to see how it fell.

Another thing about getting it smooth is I use a lot of easing in and out of my motions. If you are about to punch something, you don’t just move your arm towards what you need to punch, you’ll draw it back first to build up the punch. That’s easing into a motion. When you stop moving your arm you’ll either overshoot and draw it back a little if you moved it fast and stopped abruptly or it slows down to a stop. Things don’t stop abruptly. Think about a car. When a car stops you have to slow down considerably, it’s not immediate. So same with your motions. I always ease into a motion when it starts or ease out. It can definitely make the actions more believable and smooth.

Again, because Toonboom allows me such fine control over my lines. to ease in and out of a motion I will copy and paste the last frame and adjust it slightly, continuing the previous motion so that everything settles nicely. This shows only the previous two frames. you can see I didn't draw any new lines (except for the cape) I just adjusted his pose. This helps me stay away from lines being shaky because I didn't redraw them.

This last thing I’ll talk about is more subtle. But follow through and secondary actions are so important. In my animation for example, when sun bends down, his body starts moving a lot faster than his head. Sort of like the body goes first and then his head slightly lags behind. It follows the movement of the body. Another example of a secondary action that follows through would be the movement of the little wings of the cape on their chests.

Ok I lied there's something else. SMEARS, I love smear frames. those are great at making things smooth. Usually smears don't stay in view very long and need to show rapid motion so you can stretch a character or pose or show multiple limbs to make motions appear faster. Here I added a ton of arms to show he was wind-milling them around as he fell, and he has a third foot to show the rapid motion of his leg as it swings upwards. Smears can be fun because you can get away with a lot. Be loose with them! I didn't even draw his face here.

Or this one that's a couple frames before that leads into the fast motion.

Once you learn and practice all these things (and more, there's more principles of animation!) your stuff will get smoother. I don't always think about all of these every time I animate, I've done it for years so its ingrained into me. Sometimes I'll think about it to make sure I'm getting motion right, but usually its just second nature. it just takes practice and getting used to it.

Hope this helps!

You can also try watching animation analysis videos and I recommend looking at old 2d animated Disney movies. Or go frame by frame on any animation you like. I've analyzed so many animations that I love and just absorbed their techniques.

[primomover]

See, we have sweet whiny sub Copia. But give me Bratty and whiny sub Copia, who’s partner is a workaholic, constantly busy. And he’s behind them like a whining puppy begging for attention

oh anon, you have me GOING

(nsfw under the cut! tried to keep as gender neutral as possible!)

-copia loves you. he would tear the stars out of the sky for you. anyone in the ministry with half a mind can see that.

-but you’re both workaholics. difference is, copia knows how to cater to his needs, indulge in himself- and you can only double down and burn the candle at both ends.

-it starts innocently enough; copia bringing you a hot drink, massaging your shoulders. he presses a kiss to your temple and you lean your head back for a moment, but then you remember yourself.

-“tesoro, this is very sweet, but i have to get back to work. these budgets for tour aren’t going to organise themselves.”

-he would pout, pulling your head around to look at him.

-“but amoré-“

-“-no buts, copia. i’ll be done soon, now go to bed.”

-you have a tone in your voice, almost daring him to talk back. he smirks and sits on top of your desk.

-“you dare give your papa orders?”

-and you look at him with that dangerous look in your eyes. he knows he’s pressed the right button.

-“my boy wants to be in charge, hm? big words from someone who was on his knees for me less than 48 hours ago, crying and begging for a taste of me.” you grab his collar and he laughs. this is his favourite part.

-“i just want you to take care of yourself-“

-“no, no, pretty boy. you want attention. be honest with me. you would rather i sacrifice my work so i can touch you, hm?”

-you grab him through his pants, and of course he’s already hard. no surprises there. he whimpers at your touch, nodding as you pull him down onto your lap.

-“use your words, sweetheart.”

-“please. i want you to touch me, per favore. i miss you, i need you to touch me-“

-for being the anxious man he is, he truly does not know when to shut up. you kiss his lips and finally silence him, carefully pulling his pants down to let him out.

-you stroke him gently, using his precome to help your hand glide easier, playing with his tip to earn more of his pretty noises.

-he keeps rutting forward into your hand, needing more of you, more of your touch, more than you have that you can give. he’s needy, and he wants all of you. he’d starve without it.

-“so needy, hm?” you kiss along his jaw, and he is whining. he’s holding onto your shoulders at this point, desperately chasing his release.

-“have you been good, papa? do you deserve to cum?” you tease him and he almost cries at the idea of not being able to finish.

-“per favore, i need it, i need to cum, per favore…” he’s babbling, begging you with all his might. “need you, need you to make me…”

-he can’t finish his thoughts as you speed your hand up, drawing more noises from him. “so fuckin’ pretty, copia. such a good boy. cum for me.”

-now that he has permission, he turns to jelly. he cums all over your hand. when you lift it to him, he laps his own seed up eagerly, wanting to please you in any way he can. his head is so light, needing all your attention.

-and you give it to him. you hum in his ear, pressing gentle butterfly kisses by his ear, occasionally rubbing over his slowly softening cock.

-“ti amo molto, amoré.” his voice is small but there’s no mistaking it. all his brattiness, his neediness- it has purpose. he wants you to feel love, wants you to take care of yourself.

-“i love you too, copia.”

my inbox is open for requests, both sfw and nsfw for any and all ghost characters!