#I did the texture repaint

[some-awtter]

yall fw my new vrc avatar?

[99kahoy]

mayor iceburg in mixed media—front, back, and sides of the canvas

[korpuskat]

Metal in Flesh

[Ao3 Mirror] Pairing: Ramattra/Reader (GN, has a vagina) Rating: E WC: 4.4k Warnings: None, it's pure smut & fluff. A special thank you to @statuetochka for indulging my silly ideas & drawing his hands so much. ===

He tastes like his machine oil. Freshly cleaned, not a trace of dirt between his purple-painted joints. It’s hard not to flex your tongue against him, to explore the little creases in his plates that tease the side of your tongue.

But the hand on your jaw and the precarious placement of his fingers- two under your tongue, his thumb on top, keep you still. He’s exploring. Though it’s not your tongue itself that he’s examining. He drags his thumb down, making the object of his obsession spin- a particularly strange feeling that is still novel even after so long healed.

It’s only taken him a few months into your relationship to notice- or at least to ask about it.

“…Why?” Is the particularly succinct question he comes up with.

“Becath aylikith”

Ramattra’s gaze lifts ever so slightly, from your pinned tongue to your face. Reluctantly, he lets go. You push saliva over your tongue, wetting it before you try speaking again.

“I said, because I like it. I like how it looks.”

“Aesthetics?” Ramattra tips his head, looks down to your lips. You obligingly open your mouth again and present the jeweled rod again. This time, he just looks at it, rather than trapping the muscle for investigation. “I would think that should hurt rather badly just for aesthetics.”

“It did.” You confirm. “When I first got it, it hurt a lot, I couldn’t even eat the first day. But it’s all healed now. Doesn’t hurt at all.” To prove it, you catch the bead on your top lip and pull your tongue sideways, making the entire piercing rotate again. “Besides, you’re in no place to judge; I know you also changed stuff on yourself for how it looked.”

He scoffs, “That is hardly the same. Repainting my enamel coat isn’t remotely painful, nor did it impair such a basic, important function as eating.” He touches the purple plate at the back of one hand with the other. It’s more subconscious than anything, but you still watch his hands with that same fascination. “Besides, my modifications aren’t exclusively aesthetics.”

You grin widely. That kind of stubbornness, the mild disdain in his vocoder… It’s so easy to goad him. “Neither is mine! It has a very good use, actually.”

Ramattra’s head actually bobs as he modulates a disbelieving noise, “Really? Exactly what functional purpose does a metal rod in your mouth serve?”

Excitement washes over you and you don’t bother trying to hide it. “I can show you! I’ve kind of been meaning to for a while, actually, but you keep insisting I don’t have to.” This alone makes his head twitch to the side, perplexed, intrigued. You reach for his hand, and he happily allows you to take it and bring it back to your face, much too curious.

Here, you pause and stare up at the dark slits for his optics. His huge fingers caress over your cheek, cool and firm against your skin as you gently kiss the circular rubber pad of his palm. Ramattra hums softly- which breaks into a stuttered, staticked mess of a noise as you lick that rubber pad. He can feel it, you’re almost sure given the twitching of his fingers against your cheek. Those pads are sensitive, meant for traction and precision- you know he must feel the warmth, the softness of your tongue completely surrounding the hard point of the piercing’s ball. Even with your spit, the metal drags against rubber, catching on the textured ridges.

“You--” His voice cuts out, glitches sharply as though gasping. It’s a rare treat to see him worked up, indulging his own desires, so you bask in the roughened sound of his voice and the dull hum of his ventilation system ramping up. “I should have known it would be that...”

You grin again, then kiss his palm innocently, as though you don’t feel the warmth that’s now radiating from him. “I did want to use it sooner. You’re too selfless for your own good.” You pull on his arm and he allows you, lets you trail kisses up the smooth plate of his forearm. “Can try it now, though.”

His nod is sharp, firm enough to jostle the endcaps of his mane. “Yes, perhaps I would… enjoy that.”

You snicker, but don’t comment on the breathy tone his voice takes, already dysregulated from a single lick, don’t comment on how quickly he sits on the bed that he’d gotten for your sake nor the speed with which he releases the latches on his pelvic plate. Air rushes from his vents again, almost like a sigh as his cock bobs freely.

You might never get used to it, knowing that he made something so obscene just for you… The thrill of it- of all of him- rushes through you, makes your belly heat. But you set that aside for now, instead pushing the golden joints of his legs apart and lowering yourself down to your knees. Which only makes your growing desire ever worse.

Like this you’re so very, very aware of how big he is. Built for war, he dwarfs you in every way. Beside you, his thin, bird-like legs are almost up to your shoulder, just barely giving you enough room to comfortably lay your arms on his thighs. Looking up at him… He sits so stiffly, one hand curled into the previously pristine sheets, the other is curled across the lowest part of faceplate as though obscuring his mouth. Shy, maybe, you think. Would make sense- he doesn’t particularly enjoy receiving one-sided attention. So, you smile up at him, rub your hands soothingly across his canvas-covered thighs and hope that soothes him.

Finally, you let your eyes wander back down his body. Slowly, you ease your hands in from his legs until they brush the base of his cock, where the silicone meets his inner frame. Without any lubricant it’s a dry, sticking feeling, but it’s still enough for you to hear the hum of his fans pitch up in anticipation.

He’s been so patient, so nice to finally let you try this, so you only tease him a little more. You straighten up and stare up at his faceplace, hands moving firmly onto his cock as though you’re going to take him into your mouth immediately. He tenses, waits the sudden onslaught of your mouth around him-- and finds instead your soft lips laying against the smooth head, pressing a delicate kiss to the silicone. Ramattra’s legs twitch,, a little whiny noise coming from somewhere inside him-

And you lower your head down, dragging the tip of your tongue from the base of his cock all the way up. His ventilation kicks and a staticked gasp slips from his vocoder. With only the tip, not yet letting him feel the jewelry, you lick at him, you flick your tongue against the soft ridge at the head of his cock until you think you might break him.

Ramattra hisses your name, somewhere between a plea and a threat. Desire surges in your core again, but you think he's been patient enough. Slowly, deliberately letting him watch as you move- you open your mouth and ease his tip past your lips.

Immediately, Ramattra groans, both hands twisting into his sheets as he processes your warm, soft mouth on his cock. He's big enough that even just his tip makes your jaw twinge in annoyance, but you relax your muscles and urge him further in. His body bursts with heat, already struggling to keep up with the hot air that’s soaking his processors- but that's not quite the reaction you were expecting. So you press your tongue firmly against the underside of his tip- though you aren't sure if Ramattra's cock is particularly sensitive here too- and drag the piercing over the ridge.

A high-pitched noise spits from his vocoder, almost a yelp as his whole body flinches. You'd almost worry you hurt him, that the metal was too rough on the silicone, except for the rough, rolling gasp that comes after. For Ramattra it's a distinct feeling- your mouth all soft and inviting and one firm bead of resistance that pushes back against him, that emphasizes each stroke of your tongue along his cock. It's addicting, one tiny piece of metal in all of that plush flesh. His hand lifts- nearly burying itself in your hair unbidden, but he kills the impulse- tries desperately to be still for you.

You gently bob your head, working up to a slow rhythm. With each motion you keep your tongue moving, sweeping across the silicone. Each time you move down, you try to take in more of him, slowly inching his cock deeper until he's prodding at the back of your throat. The first touch makes you gag, your mouth tightening around him as spit floods your mouth- and Ramattra's hips jump, momentarily fucking you mouth- and he moans.

You clit throbs at the single rough thrust, at the absolutely musical noise from his speakers- his need completely betrayed with the strain on his synth, the first touches of static to his voice. A desperate whimper escapes you just knowing that you're the one making him feel like that and Ramattra sucks in air in turn, his fists curled so tightly you can hear his actuators whining.

Even just listening to his pleasure, knowing you’re the one causing it-- it's all too much. You take him in deep again, sucking his cock with purpose, but you slip one hand between your legs. Trying to keep your focus on him is nearly impossible when you can hardly think with how badly you need to be touched. You shove your pants down and the first touch on your clit is near ecstasy. Sucking his cock, hearing his appreciation alone has left you swollen and soaked, trembling with pleasure as you moan shamelessly around his cock. You circle your clit and shiver, the pace of your tongue on him stuttering-

And this time, Ramattra doesn’t stop the impulse. Ramattra's fingers curl into your hair. You expect him to push you down, that his self control is broken, that he'll fuck your throat and-

he pulls you up. Your scalp stings softly, but you can only mewl in confusion, in desire- how must you look to him? Your own spit covering his cock, eyes glazed over in lust, one hand working yourself with a desperation- and Ramattra catches your arm with his other hand. You whimper, a mindless plea of no, please don't stop- as he pulls again, draws you up, up off the floor-

And you think for a moment he's going to fuck you, to get you in his lap-

“Come here.” His voice is almost unintelligible, harsh with static. He doesn’t even let you comply, dragging your body onto the bed with him as he lays back. Your head spins, too clouded to understand what he wants- which is fine, because he moves you exactly how he's thinking. He pulls you on top of him, legs spread wide over his broad chest and then spins you around so you're looking at his cock again.

That's all the prompting you need. Still spit-slicked, you take him into your mouth again. The new angle is different, unusual- his cock arcs down towards your tongue, making it easier to take him deeper-- and making the press of your piercing into him all the more intense. Ramattra makes some noise behind you- and you would try to squeeze your hand beneath yourself to keep rubbing, but with your belly pressed to his, it’s too tight a fit. The metal of his chest would dig into your wrist too much. But your clit aches, too needy to be ignored. Desperate, you rut your hips against his chest, hoping to find any friction at all against his hard bands of armor-

And Ramattra's big hands land on your hips.

He pulls you back- back as far as he can without dislodging your mouth from his cock. You want to ask, can't seem to understand what he's doing- until each thumb slips between your legs. You moan softly, try to question what he’s doing, but if he hears you, he makes no response. Ramattra parts your folds, revealing your pussy. Warm air washes over your sex- another rush of his ventilation- and you whimper, twisting in his hands at the embarrassment of him looking at you so closely.

You don't expect the press of cool metal directly to your clit.

The temperature makes you jolt away from him, but his hands keep you still, keep your clit trapped right against his faceplate as Ramattra moans. All crackling and ruined, his voice is vibration right against your clit- and you finally understand. You bob your head again, determined to keep those noises coming from his synth.

You sink down on him, taking as much as you can. Ramattra purrs against your pussy, a low rumble that makes your hips twitch, rutting back against his face, your clit rubbing delightfully on the divot between his faceplate and jaw. It’s so primal, needy-- and Ramattra’s grasp on your hips shifts, pulling you towards him again, urging you to keep going. You’re so close already it’s hard to hold any rhythm, but he helps, pushing his mouth against you each time you come up on his cock- and each time your piercing catches the tip he moans, a bolt of static pleasure rumbling directly into your clit.

You can’t help it. You dig your nails into the coverings on his thighs, try desperately to focus on him, on making him cum- but the sound of him, the taste of his cock, and the incessant buzzing of his moans against your pussy are too much. Your rhythm breaks entirely as he pushes you over the edge. Your own noises are muffled, lost to the silicone in your throat. Metal hands keep your thighs spread as they twitch and try to close around him, forcing you to feel as he moans, praises you indistinctly through your orgasm- the words lost against the overwhelming feeling of the continued vibration of your clit.

You can’t think, the pleasure too sharp, too strong- you try to squirm away, to get any relief, but his grasp shifts, one arm now wrapped around your waist to keep you still. The other presses to the back of your head. His hips lift- and he as fucks your mouth desperately.

Ramattra moans, all static-garbled and needy, still rumbling against your pussy. And still you work your piercing against him, match his careful pace with hard licks of your tongue- and each panting, growing moan you can feel him getting closer, every Ah, ah, ah- buzzing harder into your clit as acute pain- a raw overstimulation that only builds into whimpering, twitching second wave that makes your whole body tremble in his hands-

And it’s your hips throat twitching around him again that makes him gasp- the rushed intake of air and firm press of his face against your pussy in a long, droning note as he overloads entirely. His hips thrust up into your mouth one more time before steam rushes from his vents, fills the room with hot air and every joint in his body goes lax.

For a long time you lay there, shivering and boneless. His arms are a pleasant, heavy weight across your back, a good counterpoint to the weak shudders your body gives from time to time. Your clit and throat ache, but it’s a monumental task to move yourself just enough to no longer be choking on his dick or have your over sensitive clit pressed to his firm metal. It takes three tries on your shaking arms before you can manage it.

You lay there, limp and much too tired to try to extricate yourself further from the heft of him. Instead, you close your eyes and enjoy the silence, letting your body relax and cool off until the soft harmony of Ramatta’s internals returns. First, the hum of his processors, then the fans of his ventilation resume, much quieter than they had been before- then his lights return. Positioned as you are, you don’t see his array’s lights, but you do watch as the indicator lights in his cock turn from a yellow- muddied by the purple tinting in the silicone- to green, to finally red.

Ramattra’s fingers twitch on your back, and you laugh slightly as he mimics clearing his throat. He gently lifts your hips and helps you roll off of him, but with a limp waving request of your hand, he then helps you to turn around and lean against his broad chest, half on top of him again.

If you had any energy left at all, you’d be embarrassed- or perhaps aroused again- at the sight of his faceplate; he’s soaked. Everything between his optics down to the tip of his chin is coated in your wetness.

And yet when he speaks, “I apologize I was… overly enthusiastic.” It’s all contrition. One hand touches the side of your neck, a silent voicing of fear of injury.

Instead, you press your face to his hand and he meets you halfway, stroking along your cheekbone with unspoken reverence. “But you liked it?” While his voice has been perfectly reset, yours is still rough, rasping from the strain on your throat.

“I…” He starts- and immediately his fans hum louder again. Your lips barely crack into a knowing smile before he admits it, “Yes. It was… enjoyable.”

“See, more than just aesthetics.” You say, melting onto his chest more, idly stroking at the long pistons mimicking collar bones.

“I suppose I have to agree. You can hardly see it to begin with.”

“Maybe you should give me a piercing you can see, then.” You say it offhanded, a little joke-

“What? I couldn’t.” Ramattra shoots back immediately, “I have no experience with that.”

And his rejection only makes the idea more appealing, more real. “No, wait, think about it! You could research how to do it and where. Your hands wouldn’t shake, you’d be able to center it better-- I bet you could even design it yourself…” You grin and look up at the dark slits for his optics, half pleading. “Come on, at least you’d be saving me money and a trip out.”

Ramattra’s hands on you stop moving, but he doesn’t pull away. So completely motionless, you know he’s processing it, mulling the idea over. “You… want me to pierce you?”

“Well. Yeah, I guess? I mean I like piercings and I think you’d do a good job… and…” You blush softly, finally averting your gaze from his as though this is somehow more intimate than sucking his cock until he overloaded and cumming on his face twice. “Maybe I kinda… like the idea of having jewelry that you made, that you put there…”

His design on your body. It’s not just intimate; it’s possessive. A silent, private mark of your relationship… If you weren’t not so thoroughly spent, it might bring another wave of heat between your legs. He must have come to the same conclusion, because something shudders in Ramattra’s chest.

“I see.” He says coolly, as though you don’t feel the streams of hot air that again slip from his vents. “Then, I will look into it.”

In all, it takes Ramattra three days. Three days before he’s guiding you into his workshop and lifting you up onto his desk. The thrill of how easily he picks you up- big hands cradling your rib cage as he sets you onto the metal surface- always makes you a little giddy. Even more so is the little purple velvet box that sits nearby. You reach for it-

And Ramattra snatches the box up with a tut, “No peeking.”

“Fine.” You sigh exaggeratedly, watching as he skims over the tools he’s acquired in the last half week. A bottle of antiseptic, forceps, a marker-- and your eyes wander to a small package of needles. Your stomach tightens a little just seeing them, so you look at him instead, distracting yourself as Ramattra finishes his preparations. “Where did you decide?”

He doesn’t answer immediately, instead gently putting one finger under your chin and turning your head away. His other hand drifts over your ear- and eventually catches the little flap in front of your ear canal between thumb and forefinger. “Here.” His hands abandon you, turning back to his tools and grabbing the marker. “It is called the tragus.”

You hum in acknowledgement, but otherwise keep still as he focuses on your ear. Carefully, methodically- Ramattra touches the tip of the marker to your skin.

He draws your chin back towards him, examining the dot he’s made from the front before retrieving and handing you a mirror. “This is… acceptable?” He prompts as you look at your reflection. You could almost laugh; the ink of the marker is perfectly centered- likely is, mathematically. You knew he’d be good at this.

“Yeah, it looks perfect.” You look at the mark a moment more, picturing jewelry in its spot. It is… a strange location. “Why’d you pick this one?”

Ramattra pauses, his turn towards his tools a little too intentional. “If you wish to remove it later, any scarring should not be too disruptive.”

Something tightens in your chest. You reach out to him, gently touch his forearm. His head only slightly turns back towards you, just enough for you to see the corner of one slit. “I’m not going anywhere.” You say it, squeeze his arm again and hope he’ll internalize it this time. His only response is a small hum, an acknowledgement of the words, if not their meaning. So, you redirect him. “Can I see the jewelry now?”

Again, Ramattra hesitates, but caves with a halting, “Yes, I suppose so.” He holds the box a second too long- so tiny in his big hands- but offering it to you.

You don’t even hide your ecstatic grin as you take it- too excited at the possibilities. His designs are always so sleek, but you don’t know what he would choose for you to wear. You crack open the box- and the first thing you recognize is the color. Purple- the exact shade as his accents, as his jaw. But it’s not just his paint- you hold the tiny box closer and squint. It’s almost an inverted teardrop shape, but not quite. There is a silver dot embedded in the lower half, the point that would be sharp is clipped, a notch taken out of the wider top… You look at it for a moment longer- and your excitement melts into something warmer, recognition.

“It’s your chest plate…” You murmur and reach for him again. Only the lower half is visible under his tan cowl, but Ramattra stands still, lets you lift the soft fabric to reveal his own inverted teardrop- the purple latch right in the center of his chest.

“There’s more…” His voice falters, rasping through a whisper, strained with the same feeling that’s twisting in your throat.

You look back to the jewelry, unsure how there could be more meaning lain into it- but you take it from the little velvet cushions that hold it in place- and understand. The back of it is green with tiny golden lines etched into it. A circuit board. You brow pinches for a moment, dragging a nail over the back- feeling the protective coating over the circuits. It’s too small, too clipped to be functional. Just decorative, symbolic?

“When I…” He starts and stops, stepping closer to you- laying one hand on the outside of your thigh. “When I installed…. that I also had to replace and redesign some chips that were in my hips for functionality. I… kept the originals.”

“This is… you?” You murmur, tracing the tiny golden threads again. An actual chip from his body… “Or, was part of you?”

Ramattra nods stiffly, watches as you examine the tiny thing. “It’s… acceptable?”

“Yeah.” You sniffle, “I love it, Rama…” then hurriedly put the jewelry back in its box and shove it back towards him. You rub at your watering eyes and force out a tight, “Hurry up and pierce me before I cry.”

Ramattra nods again, shifting easily into his practiced movements. He swaps your ear with antiseptic and dips the piercing into the bottle, laying it on a sheet to dry as he picks up his tools. You focus on his faceplate and stare up at him as he steps in front of you. He waits there a moment- soaks in your gaze before touching your chin and urging you to turn your head just as he had earlier.

You close your eyes, don’t look as he clamps the forceps down.

“Breathe.” His voice rumbles, so close to your ear. You shiver, but obey- taking in the cool air of his workspace, the scent of his oil, relax into the warm proximity of him-

And as you exhale he pierces you. Hot pain washes over the whole side of your head. You clench your teeth, try not to flinch as he moves quickly, replacing pieces with a smoothness that you should’ve expected from him.

“Good,” He praises, still low and quiet and so close to you- and finally he pushes his design into the backing.

Ramattra steps away, but you grab at him- hands landing on the silver handles at his hips. He stops, turns towards you- and the tears you’d managed to suppress before being stabbed boil over.

“Does it hurt? I-”

You’re crying before you can even wrap your arms around him.And realizing you’re crying into his cowl- your face pressed right up against the exact plate he used as a design makes you weep harder. But he steps right up against the table and shushes you, strokes your back with an affection no one else has even seen in him.

“I love you,” You manage between shoulder-racking sobs- and something inside Ramattra shudders.

So quickly he adjusts, no longer holding you to his broad chest, but near doubling over, half lifting you off the table to press his faceplate into your shoulder. He buries himself in the warmth of your body- and shudders again as your grasp scrabbles over his back, no longer cinched around his tiny waist, but sliding up under his cowl, grabbing at the long bars of armor and holding yourself up against him.

“I love you so much,” You murmur to him, half broken by sniffles- and he squeezes your ribs in turn.

[hiimgin]

Spontaneous repaints of old artwork

Hey, my hearties! How are you? I hope you're doing well.

I recently came across my art straight out of 2019 and its redraw from 2021. So I had a thought: what if I redrew it again? For the sake of seeing my growth over the years.

As you can understand, I did that. So, let's start in order!

1. 2019. This was the second year I started drawing relatively seriously. I was trying to copy Sonic's style a bit back then, I don't know why. It doesn't look like it, I know. Just a fun fact.

2. 2021. This is where I already got my first ipad. It's gotten better, though the textures, lights and shadows need work. A lot of work. But overall it's not too bad.

3. 2024. And here it is! This year's redraw!

I've definitely grown in skill, I'm not going to lie. Yes, there is room for growth, but I have come a long way and I am proud of myself

That's all for now. Sorry for such a spontaneous post, I just had to share this.

Peace, everyone!

Bye.

@whyoneartheven

[prismaticpichu]

Zack decides to bake some cookies for his BEST FRIENDS <3, but he reads the recipe wrong and does a teaspoon of sugar and 2 cups of salt.

How, uh, does that go?

🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂

Shshshsshh 🤣❤️ I actually needed some salt for my scrambled eggs, funny enough!! *showers crystals onto breakfast* <333

Ahhhhh, Zack… that is SUCH a thing the pup would do 🤣💙 I imagine it going something like:

~

“Orddeeerrrr up!”

The resulting boom of wood hitting drywall could’ve very well been compared to a grenade being thrown through the door, at least when taking into account how the sheer magnitude of their visitor’s entrance sent both Genesis and Angeal tumbling off the couch and onto the floor in a startled, yelping mass.

Not Sephiroth, though.

He just more or less glanced up from his book, sitting in the plushiest chair in the SOLDIER First Class Lounge.

“Hello, Fair,” he nodded, smiling nonchalantly as his two friends peeled themselves from off the cold hard floor, straightening. “What brings you here?”

“Yes—good question, Sephiroth.” Genesis dusted himself off, trying to ignore the potential damage to his ribcage, mako-lit eyes snapping toward the puppy—then Angeal. “Angeal, chum... how did your student get in here?”

Angeal pulled himself up, cracking his back, looking somewhat sheepish. “I... well, I did give him a key,” he admitted, and it sounded as if he was starting to regret it.

“Oh, I forgot the key!” Zack kicked the door shut behind him, leaving the implications hidden behind his nonchalant smil—

“So you kicked the door open?” Genesis saw right through the grin, an he didn’t like it.

“Sure did.”

“Why?”

“Well, you wouldn’t let me in if I knocked.”

Genesis huffed, his eyes floating back toward Angeal with a certain woodenness, opening his mouth again to speak:

“Gen, don’t start,” Angeal sighed.

“Oh, I’m starting,” Genesis folded his arms, the familiar embers sparking in his gaze. “I don’t understand—this is the First Class common room. Why would you ever even tell the kid where this room was to begin with? I mean, really, we deal with the younglings every day; do you know how many of his little friends he’s probably told by now? Before we know it, this place will be infested with them—”

“He brought cookies,” Sephiroth pointed out.

“Like, for Minerva’s sake...—wait, cookies?” Genesis repeated, pulling his head out his metaphorical hind to see Zack had indeed pulled out a small baggie of chocolate chip cookies from his pocket, and his eyes widened. “Those aren’t for us... are they?”

“‘Course they are!” Zack proudly chirped, peeling open the baggie to pull three fresh-baked sweets out. “Wanted to make something sweet tor ShinRa’s sweetest SOLDIERs. Made ‘em myself.”

Genesis’s eyes widened further, the embers suddenly smothered as he gestured for Zack to enter. “Well, what are you standing by the door for? Come in, come in! We’d love to have you here!”

His own eyes gleaming, Zack bounded into the heart of the lounge where all three Firsts were situated, dishing out the delicious treats to each of his wonderful heroes.

“Much obliged!” Genesis thanked, graciously accepting the offered the cookie.

“Thank you,” Sephiroth nodded with a faint smile, offering Zack a secret hair-ruffle before the boy skipped over to his mentor.

“Thanks, pup,” Angeal chuckled warmly, studying the cookie as one would a fine gemstone. “You really made these yourself?”

“You bet!” Zack beamed. “Right in my kitchen.”

“And these aren’t just ‘Tonberry House’ dough you put in the oven?” his mentor smirked.

“Nope, nope! Made ‘em from scratch, right down to the eggs and sugar!”

Not that they needed to know of the mess he had so kindly dubbed, “the egg-plosion.”

He could always just repaint the walls.

“Well,” Angeal’s smirk softened into another warm grin, reining Zack back to the present as he brought the cookie to his lips. “They look wonderful, pup. Good texture, good chocolate chip-cookie ratio~”

“Indeed...” Genesis hummed, then happily took the liberty of taking the first bite—

“Enjoy...!”

—”OH!”

And, in an instant, Genesis dropped the cookie as if it were a steaming hot potato—which, all things considered, it probably could have been, given just how... how...

How malevolently SALTY the things were!

The flood of ungodly flavor surged into his mouth like a salted ocean of chocolate and dough, any semblance of sweetness engulfed in the thirsty saltiness, and Genesis found himself overcoming his extreme mysophobia as he grabbed Sephiroth’s water bottle and took a generous swig; then, as he continued to chug the liquid, he found the water bottle seized from his mouth as Angeal chugged the water for himself, bombarded with the same horrid assault on his senses, unintentionally catalyzing a desperate tug-of-war over the magical remedy, each managing to take a rapid sip before it was rapidly tugged away, and this pathetic display continued until nary a single bead of water was left in the silver vessel, completely drained like hungry dogs lapping at a puddle.

Only then, as the two SOLDIERs stood there panting, did the world come back into focus.

...What.

In.

Minerva’s.

MUFFIN—

Genesis’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at the spiky-haired First, who had sucessfully been, like the poor water bottle, drained off any color on his face.

“...ZACKARY—” he started again.

“I... uh...”

“You put... SALT in the COOKIES?”

“...You know, now that i’m thinking about it... I may have grabbed the wrong—”

“What kinda moronic JOKE was that?!”

“...Sugar does kinda look like salt...”

“Do I LOOK like I’m laughing?!”

“...They are both crystaline...”

“DO I?”

“...Should I start running?”

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU.”

And the chase ensued, a blur of red leather hounding a poor, good-hearted SOLDIER out the door, down the hallway, and probably all through the building:

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SORRY...!”

“Genesis...!” Angeal shouted—coughed—already smelling the flames, and he took off after his friend in fear of his dear student’s life. “Don’t you dare...!”

Meanwhile, Sephiroth remained in the First Class lounge, quite relaxed in his chair, and quite enjoying himself as he casually finished the salt-showered cookie in his hand.

He shrugged.

“I like it.”

And little he know that, his water bottle, sitting completely drained on the floor, had just inadvertently his spread anti-degradation DNA through the bodies of his two closest friends.

The world was saved.

[new-holocene]

ode to abandoned projects

normally i dedicate my public facing social media accounts solely to sharing my finished artwork, but I figure some reflection on the past few years of my development as an artist would be worthwhile. I was initially trying to find an old gmod map I made (I didn't find it), and in the process I found a number of screenshots of WIPs spanning the past 7 years. for many of these projects, they were abandoned because I got too busy with school/university.

from march 2017. made in unity. I don't remember the specifics of this project. I think I was trying to make a short narrative walking sim.

from december 2017. I wanted to make a short smw romhack. I remember drawing level designs on a spare piece of paper after finishing a secondary school exam early. one day I'll make a romhack, one day...

from may 2018. I had just replayed marble blast ultra after finding it had a PC port. shortly after I found all the textures were just in the game files and could be modified easily. myself and an old friend wanted to make a 'games repainted'-esque mod. I claim full credit for every marble game since that's included a 🤔marble skin.

from march 2020. a mockup of a piece I was calling 'alignment chart' for the first time I had ever applied for a bursary. this used a mixture of generative art pieces i made in processing and graphic design. this piece is interesting to look back on because it marked the development of my art style for the first time, and the psuedo-cuneiform generator ended up being a recurring feature of my art. my application was rejected because i did not read the terms and conditions to realise it wasn't open to university students - and I was still studying computer science at the time.

from may 2020. I was aiming to participate in the low res game jam but never got to finish due to university work taking up my time. I never fleshed out the mechanics of the game, but the goal was to take care of the tree in the center of the map. it doesn't look like much, but I really pushed myself (or rather, tortured myself) by not using a game engine and writing this in C++ with raylib instead.

from april 2020. this was going to be a browser based demake of five nights at freddy's (a game I've never played and have no interest in) titled "five years at yanderedev's". I figured that it felt too close to participating in lolcowing someone and that it was in bad spirits, so I scrapped it.

from september 2020. a mockup of my homepage sharpfourth.net. I kept the logo and general layout for whats on the site currently, but didn't include the scanner warped images.

from october 2020. I wanted to make a walking sim in the quake engine, but once again, university work got in the way. however, this got me familiar with the basics of using trenchbroom (a map editor for quake), which came in very, very handy for later projects.

from october 2021. myself and some close friends had planned to make a zine detailing how to do DIY feminising HRT in Ireland (and maybe the UK). we never got around to writing it (partly because we feared potential legal repercussions for disseminating medical advice lol), but this marked a further development of my art style.

from october 2021. I had hoped to make a first person RPG in godot. once again scrapped because I got too busy with uni. I spent ages trying to implement a wonky movement system that could be exploited, being inspired by bhopping from source or strafe jumping from quake. the dialogue system was the last thing I worked on. I used trenchbroom again - this time with qodot - for making the prototype map. while making this demo, I realised the potential use of godot and trenchbroom in visual art, something i would revisit during my first gallery residency.

from march 2022. this might be the most unassuming piece in this collection, but it marks a significant turning point in my life. I was tasked with making diagrams for a group project in uni, but given that I was facing extreme burnout and apathy towards the course, I instead "doodled" with the elements of the diagram. this spiraled into me writing my zine/short-story EATARTHU, which I then used to apply for a gallery residency. I was fortunate enough to get the residency, and I dropped out of college to pursue art.

as discouraging as it might be to constantly start and abandon projects, it's important to stop and remember that ever single abandoned game or drawing or album or whatever marked a chance for you to learn and develop as an artist. one day you might very well finish a project, and it'll reflect a bit of every single abandoned one of its precursors.

[the-enzyme]

I promise I didn't ask myself, " can I make a hyper-cutesy-looking-doll, hyper-creepy-looking, or what!" Lol! I always wanted to try my hand at repainting one of the Lol OMG dolls, particularly the male ones. When I got my Rocker Boi back when the doll released a few years ago, I thought he would be perfect for me to try. I got two, so I could keep one in box (he comes with Punk Girl). Sadly, he is a plastic shade of sun-burned red IRL. So, I kept putting that repaint off. I did make a mockup, and even planned on replacing his default body with the Mattel BTS body (I own too many, and don't really need any of them now! Lol!). His default body is too tiny for my taste, I would rather have a taller broader version of it, but there's nothing of the sort, that I know of. I am not a fan of the BTS body either, but that's probably the palest mass-produced body I own too many of, that I don't have to import and already have a million of them. So, I'll be keeping this dude on that body for a while.

My mockup for this repaint/mod has tinier eyes, and chipmunk cheeks. I don't know why I did that with the cheeks, there's no way in hell I can do that to this sculpt. I do want him to have much smaller eyes though. But I had to fill in the sculpted eyes with my old rusty Aves Apoxie Sculpt a million years ago, when I got this doll, because the LoL OMG eyes are massive!! And they are literally sculpted to be deeply carved onto the head. I had a huge pain in the lower back sanding all of that as flat as possible, without making the sculpt completely flat or ruin it in the way. I still need to mod/flatten it a bit further (the eye area), but I didn't have to add any filler as I had feared. The first time I modified him, and repainted him, I feared I had done a sh1tty job because my Apoxie was so old. However, I lucky didn't had to do any additional, additive mods. Just needed to sand a million years more! And I'll probably need to sand even further to get the tiny eyes I want, next time!

That will be the next time I am feeling energetic! I layered the paint way too thin at first, to match the much paler BTS body, so I kind of shot myself on the foot doing that. I do appreciate texture on realistic HS, but not on hyper-sylized ones as much. At least, not bumpy texture. I don't mind painted/faux/pigmented on texture on stylized heads, but I kind of mind this kind of thick texture from too many layers of paint (love it on 1:6 realistic-ish heads, but not on melon-headed anime-ish ones). It was my mistake, however. The next time I'll probably try to get myself a can of white acrylic spray paint first, or go thicker on my initial paint layers, for the color matching aspect. He's a vampire, so I don't want texture of any kind of him, I just want him to look dead-pasty-white-kind-of-pale, and I'll probably rebody him by then. I quite like him for now, I wish there was no texture to speak of, but live and learn I always say! (;

[goatskickin]

Hi! How to make such high-quality repaints of clothes?

That 's so nice of you anon! 😊 I steal things.

LOL. kind of I enjoy retexturing converted TS3 and TS4 meshes, because often, they will have a nice white/light base texture to work with.

Like this!^

Using a white base texture like this, I'll simply layer that a few times (Multiply 100%, Soft Light 22%, Overlay 22%, possibly one more 50% layer of Multiply if it's a dark color I'm looking to make) and then put in my desired color or pattern underneath those layers. Got no qualms against using good textures if they are available!

Also, lots of long time gone CC creators had clothes with textures that are really nice.

This Lilisims sweater I use all of the time, for example. As long as it's not TOU breaking, it's okay to use textures which are already available.

I can do some handpainting, like I did with my how to boob tutorial. But that's not too hard. I can't do anything like Shelley @executables-sims can do! I've been meaning to follow their tut for ages but have not made the time.

Other than that - I am just winging it. I've got no digital art training. I just do whatever!

[sara-paints]

Next model slated for repainting is this guy! I wanted to get some good "before" pics, since I forgot to do that with my last Lord conversion repaint.

Not gonna lie, I'm actually pretty proud of the paint job I did all those years ago. I really don't hate this model and I love the little conversions I've done. This will be a little tricky...

Like the Lokhust Destroyers I just finished, I definitely want to keep the coolers the same, but make them look less flat with the airbrush. As you can see, I actually tried to add some texture to the flat purple area by making it look like wailing souls... I'm not sure what my intent was there, but it was 15 years ago and I was trying something new.

The guardsman he's about to skewer? 🍡 That guy I'm probably just going to mask off and save as is. The more I look at him, the less I think I'll gain from repainting him.

The base will most likely be switched out as well. B as much as I love the bisected guard under him, the base doesn't fit my other bases, so I'll be swapping it out for this one that I did a while ago :

It fits the rest of the army, it still features a dead enemy, and it's coincidentally the same size.

Let me know what you guys think!

[hancyan]

hello! in your sunset valley world, did you repaint the terrain in CAW?

Hello. Thank you for your question. I changed the road textures in CAW, painted the port area, and added color to make the terrain uneven in the areas I changed, but the terrain paint was originally in CAW. Did that answer your question?

[jbry]

The Mandalorian Collection

This is all the things I have made from the Disney+ show The Mandalorian. Everything was painted by me using brushes or an airbrush.

Mando's blaster is 3D printed from Thingiverse (link below).

The two Mandos are 1/12 scale Bandai kits. The Mando painted in the early season 1 style was really messed up by me. This used to be a silver Mando that I repainted and metallic paint does not like being primed over, hence the weird texture on his armor.

The Kuill and Blurrg were 3D printed. The files are fantastic but my type of printer, the plastic I used, and my figure painting skills were not up to the level I wanted. (Link below)

The ground for both displays were made by me out of insulation foam, sealed and painted. The drawer was designed and printed by me.

The Razor Crest is a 1/72 scale model from amt. I have to be honest, it was not a good build, but maybe working primarily with Bandai kits has spoiled me. I did paint the cockpit but the satin finish I used for the ship caused a fogging effect on the windows.

[gamebunny-advance]

Kun3h0 Accessories DLC + Patch Notes v.1.0.1

Added:

GAB accessory

Karrot-98 accessory

Changed:

Updated top.

Fixed hair bug. (Hair would easily slip off model.)

Minor improvements.

(More pics and notes under the cut.)

So I finally finished up Kun3h0's accessories and fixed up her top.

So, we've got her GAB and her drill, the Karrot-98.

GAB started out as this little dino thing that I just cut up and sculpted onto.

The original plan was to sculpt onto the original arms after I cut off the wings, but they kept bumping into the head, so I opted to completely resculpt them.

Now they can still turn their head, but that's the only point of articulation. I really should have sanded it more, you can really see the texture still in the clay, but such as it is.

The collar isn't the most elegant thing in the world, but at least it's there~ It's also disappointing that I couldn't get the edges of her screen completely straight and even, but it is what it is.

Overall, I think it's a decent recreation of the original design, even if the purples aren't quite right.

I should take a pic of them next to my other GAB recreations so y'all can really see the difference in scale. I believe this is the smallest GAB I've made so far, and also the only one that has the big heart-shaped tail~

Next is the Karrot-98, Kun3h0's magical drill. I don't have any "before" pictures, but it's made from another accessory that came with the doll, a little clay, and a piping tip that I had lying around + extras.

I don't have a set design for the Karrot yet, so I just kinda painted it with colors I already mixed. When Kun3h0's holding it, it does kinda get lost in the pinks of her outfit, but by itself I think it looks fine. If I come up with a better color scheme for it, then maybe I'll repaint it.

Next, I completely re-did her top. This time, I doused all the fabric in fray-check first to keep it from pulling apart while I was sewing it together, and I completely redid the sleeves. Originally, I had painted the arm guards onto the sleeves because I didn't think of any other way to do it. This time I tried making them with craft foam to better replicate that they're supposed to be two different materials. I'd say it was mostly successful.

Since it's kind of a pain to slip the sleeve into the guards, I don't have any pics of the top without them on, but the sleeves are more form fitting, so the top looks more like a proper tracksuit without the guards on. It's a slightly better look than the original IMO, but it's still not perfect: the guards are basically like a Miku sleeve, so you can still see into them even though the only opening is supposed to be through the cuff (which are barely visible in this pic, but they can stick out for a more accurate look.)

I would show the new top next to the old one, but I kinda destroyed the old one trying to test ideas for this new one XP (in fact, the collar IS from the old one, I just ripped it off and reapplied it to this one).

Lastly, I fixed her wig a little bit.

I don't have pics of it, but I just stuck some velcro to her scalp and the inside of the wig, so now it should stop slipping off while still being removable.

I'm just against completely gluing it down because I still have a lot of yarn left from this project, so I would eventually like to make her some alternate hairstyle wigs just to use up the yarn.

Now I feel pretty confident in saying that she's actually "done." There are a few places that I could touch up with paint, but as for "making" anything else for this doll, I did everything I really wanted to do.

Admittedly, Kun3h0 is one of my most self-indulgent designs (as though everything I make isn't in some way self-indulgent), so to have a physical object which embodies so much of what I like, truly satisfies me. We'll see if I still feel that way about her a week from now, but at the moment, she is the culmination of almost every creative skill I have, and I'm very pleased with the results of that effort, more so than possibly anything else I've ever made~ <3

I may post more pics of her when I can actually dedicate some time to making a proper scene and/or backdrop. There's a lot of little details that I like that I haven't really taken pics of. I dunno if I have the courage to do it, but it'd be cool to take some pics in an actual arcade with her~

[trojanteapot]

Cosplay Fixin' Time: Infinity Train

So a while back I made posts about some props I'd created for my Simon Laurent cosplay. There was the harpoon pack, and the boots.

Pictured: An embarrassing idiot cosplaying an embarrassing idiot.

So at the time I was a cheapass, and just used whatever I could find that was left over from a bunch of other stuff, or the cheapest materials from my local craft store, even stuff from the dollar store!

I'm not really going to make any huge modifications, but after wearing it a few times there were some signs of wear and tear. I'm going to show you how I fixed it, and suggestions for substitute materials you can use so that yours will be sturdier and less prone to breaking!

NOTE: These tips are going to involve TOXIC SUBSTANCES. But for safety reasons, I will also give substitutions for non-toxic replacements.

The Boots

The first thing I found out was that after a weekend of walking around in them, the toe caps had large cracks in them!

[I forgot to take pics of the cracks, but you can see from the images below how extensive they were. ]

This is because I had used Model Magic to fill in the gaps initially, instead of a stronger air dry clay. So in order to fix it, I knew what I needed to do.

First I glued down the cracks with superglue so it's nice and solid, and won't crack more. Then, I used... Milliput!

It comes in a variety of colours: white, black, turquoise blue, sad puke-brown, I went with the last one because it was on sale.

This is an epoxy putty, which means that it has two parts you need to mix equal portions of together in order for it to cure. Otherwise it stays malleable.

Now, because it is an EPOXY PUTTY, it is therefore TOXIC, and you must wear gloves while handling it!!!! But once it dries, it takes on a hard, smooth, plastic-like texture! And it isn't brittle and flaky like Model Magic.

For a non-toxic substitute, you could go with traditional air dry clays, but just not Model Magic, or anything as light and fluffy. I would recommend something like Paperclay.

I've used Paperclay before to make stuff like horns, and even details on Pearl's staff! It definitely dries into more of a clay texture than Milliput though. (Yes I have cosplayed Pearl from Steven Universe before. No, I will not be posting pictures. They are embarrassing.)

Here's how the boots looked after the Milliput dried, and I sanded and repainted the boots. Pretty good! Well okay I know that it still looks like blobs of stuff but hey, for me, pretty good is it'll look good in photos, not in extreme closeups.

Another thing I did for the paint was that I noticed glossy Mod Podge is kind of sticky even when dry? So I sprayed everything with Mr. Super Clear Gloss Varnish.

This sealant is HIGHLY TOXIC so I had to spray it in a well-ventilated area with a vapour respirator!!!! No joke, you need to be extremely cautious with spray sealants. But the result was amazing. The glossy parts of the boots are smooth and slick and not weirdly sticky!!!

Non-toxic alternative: Liquitex Gloss Varnish should also work. I used that on the repaint of the harpoon pack's front panel.

Also, you may be wondering, did I add the extra strap that Simon has on his boots? No. Because it looks uggo. And I want my boots to look nice, and not uggo.

But if you want to, just do this:

graphic-design-is-my-passion.jpeg

The Harpoon Pack

The first thing I did was improve the hinges:

Hey guess what nuts and bolts are really sturdy who knew? Yeah the hinge still works and yes my old backpack is still inside.

Next were more drastic changes. What I realized was that my initial design had stressed out the front panel way too much, and it was just two flimsy pieces of 2mm thick craft foam held together with snap buttons!

This is the face of sadness...

So I needed to do 2 things:

Make the front panel sturdier

Redo the backpack straps to better resemble how the harpoon pack straps are worn in the show.

Panels

For the first part it was very simple: buy thicker craft foam, stick the old panels onto the new panels.

I even did a fancy new paint job because the old one was honestly, not it. I painted the Apex logo on too thick at first. But now, it is sized correctly!!!

The Backpack Straps

This took me a while to figure out, but it's not too hard once you get the hang of it.

What you'll need:

3 backpack snap buckles

2 to 4 ladder locks for strap length adjustment (depending on if your original backpack has ladder locks included on its shoulder straps)

Utility strap/Webbing rope (you can buy them in brown if you want a more show-accurate look. I had some black just lying around at home so i went with that.)

Now let's take a closer look at how it all comes together:

So I undid the utility straps from the bottom of my backpack. This may require a seam ripper if the ends of the straps were sewn in place. This left me with 4 separate pieces connected to my backpack: two shoulder straps, and two waist straps.

I used this tutorial to learn the proper way to thread ladder locks.

I placed one set of plastic buckles on the waist straps so they can clip together. Then, to make sure that the straps are adjustable and well-fitted to my tiny-ass torso, I also threaded the ladder locks into the waist straps.

You need to cut out two new strips of webbing rope in order to both thread in the buckles and the ladder locks.

After that, it gets trickier.

Thread one half of the buckle closure through a piece of webbing that wraps around the waist strap. Do this on both sides.

Then, on your shoulder straps, if you already have a ladder lock, thread a long piece of new webbing through the bottom hole. Attach the other half of the plastic buckle to it, but make sure it's through the BOTTOM HOLE of your buckle.

Then, take the other end of the long webbing, and thread it through the SECOND HOLE on the TOP of your plastic buckle! This is to ensure that the top straps remain adjustable.

The layout should look a bit like this:

It's not perfect, but it's much better than before.

[tsukishiro-himari]

「Memorandum a few years ago」

I was crying involuntarily.

But I've opened up the future

by pushing forward.

That's why I won't run away.

Repaint despair with a new color.

Last night I waited for hours to rent a car,

but there was a problem with the rental.

So I walked to the motel under the

cold sky and finally got there at 1:00 am.

When I found out dinner was cold rice,

my tears welled up.

Having warm rice to eat every night is

so wonderful…

Singing from "my living heart” in

all black while surrounded

by sparkling idols makes me

so nervous but when my song resonates

with your heart I cry with happiness.

I will continue to fight as the one and

only Isiliel.

sometimes m＆m's inside

American chocolate bars…

chocolate in chocolate aaaaa(*o*)

I've been receiving messages

from Mexico fans for a long time

asking me to liveperformance here as well.

And I'm contacting the eventer and

working so that I can go to the near future.

I will sing to the whole world with

Mexico's "Day of the Dead" livestream.

Your words are our future!

It's difficult to continue.

But I want to continue to love.

I'm overwhelmed by life’s difficulties

and can get lost in myself.

Alone in a place where the ground was

shifting and a cold strong wind blowed,

I really felt that.

But I will always keep standing.

That’s Isiliel.

To everyone I’ve met on this path,

the greatest love and gratitude.

From today, I will head to the east coast

for the end of the tour.

I still don't know the meaning of

"it's risky to travel by car",

but the 14 hours x 3 days death relay

will start.

But anyway, I'll do my best positively

so that I can proceed while

enjoying various things!

I think.

" Wonderful memories become

treasures and strength in our heart."

Many of my expressions were influenced

by Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Yesterday Evangelion was broadcast in

my background, and I became

a part of the story and roared

with "散華一体" for the first time.

As a personal impression,

if "Myrkur" is a music

that reminds me of the texture of

dead trees in the deep forest,

"Nightwish" is

a profound velvet-like music,

and I really like both of them so much.

I could cry…

#himaplaying

I finally arrived at Chicago, the final place

of Isiliel's 1st WORLD TOUR!!

There have been various changes

in the environment,

but I will calm my mind and

do my best to send my song. GANBARU!!

#moonbowrising

Sometimes, I get attacked

by anxiety before going on stage.

But yesterday, I said to myself,

"First of all, having fun

is the most important thing.

And to work hard.

That's enough, it's definitely okay."

What I was able to say to myself

was a big growth for me.

I did it. my first time Jollibee is so good……

It was a so hard schedule,

but a lot of new things were born

among them.

Thank you for spreading Isiliel together!

I'm a metal baby now,

but I want to grow more and send music

that will keep you alive in the future.

Don't forget our treasure. See you again!

Pinky promise♡

[reversemoon255]

Digimon Xros Figures Cyberdramon

I know this is not a very liked redesign, especially since Ryo's Cyberdramon is so beloved, but this figure actually made me really appreciate what they were trying to do. Mine has been heavily repainted, but the original version where all the purple was still silver made me realize the transparent parts with tech greeble underneath are in the same locations. They're actually surprisingly similar on a closer inspection. If the heads were closer, I think more people would have given the new one a chance. It probably also would have helped if they were more heavily featured in the show, since Cyberdramon had significantly less air time than every other character featured in the Xros Figure line. I think Cyber Launcher only appeared in the anime once...

The Good: This is a fairly posable figure, with joints all down the torso, legs, and tail, balls in the arms, and a bit of movement in the wings and head. And Cyber Launcher is actually a bit more versatile than the other combinations, able to free stand on its own, so it can be used by any Digimon, or other toy you might have lying around.

The Bad: While Cyberdramon has a lot of joints, the lack of specifically a neck joint (due to transformation) makes it hard for it to look particularly dynamic while posing. The tail, also, can only move up-and-down. While it tried, it doesn't reach the same level of individuality that Beelzebemon manages.

Also, combining into MetalGreymon + Cyber Launcher doesn't feel great. In order to plug its neck vent into the chest and have MetalGreymon bite the spear, you're almost forced to flex the spear. If you're careful it's not bad, but I could definitely see kids bending that thing permanently or not having the patience to get it right.

The Details: Cyberdramon required to heaviest amount of work to get it screen accurate of any of the figures I've handled so far. Knowing that toy production takes several months, it makes me wonder how down to the wire the changes to its designs were before the show started? We know some Digimon, like ZekeGreymon, went through last minute changes as well.

Anyway, from top to bottem, I repainted the silver areas on Cyberdramon purple, and dotted them with pink to match the jelly-like texture of the official art. On the face and parts of the tail, I also added a red lining, as those are present throughout Cyberdramon's design, but too difficult to implement everywhere. I also color matched and repainted its cheeks and knees the same blue as the rest of the figure.

I painted the wings red to brighten them up, and added red to the inside of the palms. A lot of elements to the stomach and pelvis were incorrect, so I adjusted those with silver. I painted the tail's teeth, interior cannon, backs of the legs, and heels silver, and dotted their cannons with black. And finally, though I did this first (and can be seen on the unpainted Cyberdramon), I panel lined the deeper details to bring them out more.

Overall, while this isn't the greatest figure, it does serve its purpose, and I had a lot of fun improving its screen accuracy. I've actually managed to snag all but one of the Xros Figures at this point, and I'm pretty sure you can guess who I'm missing...

[patchedrabbit]

There's a Hole that You Fill.

Pairing: Gregor Samsa (Limbus Company)/M!Fixer!Reader Warnings: Vague and brief mention of violence, Emetophobia (in picture, not fic) Commissioned by @wizardofwoof Previous | Next

One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from agitated dreams, he found his room transformed around his bed into a monstrous vermin.

That is, to say, it was unfamiliar. And if he followed Faust’s explanation correctly, that entailed a shift in his psyche. So despite the metal walls appearing softer than usual, and the messages on the walls rearranged into something more reassuring, there was the kicker of not knowing what had changed, even when he knew something was off.

And the butterflies kicking in his stomach were getting awfully annoying too.

“Gregor, babe~ what’s that far-away stare for? You don’t wanna make poor Dante turn back the clock more than they have to, do you?” Gregor huffs at the woman mocking him as he slashes at one of the Rats who thought it’d be a good idea to bash on Mephistopheles. “As if— that’s the last of them, anyway. C’mon.” The Sinner hides the embarrassing expression growing on his face by pretending to clean his glasses (is that a spec of blood? Must scrub even harder!), though he never knew Rodion to be a quitter. “You can’t keep dodging the question forever… what’s on your mind?” “Nothing much. My room just changed.” “Changed how? Like someone reorganized it or…” Gregor sighs and throws his coat over his shoulder, and uses his hand to properly push Rodion away. “If that was it you wouldn’t be bugging me so bad.” Rodion stifles a smirk at that specific wording — she purposefully isn’t hiding it very well and it’s driving Gregor crazy — and leans on his head with her arm. “Why don’t you show me around then, hmm?” “Maybe if it’ll get you to shut up,” he mumbles. “What was that?” “Huh- oh, uh, nothing, sure.”

Once steel hard walls now appear to have the texture of lace, with a light pink to match. Words that once read no more have now been covered with paint, taking on the form of hearts and stars and all sorts of other shapes. Curiously, it looked different than the blood once coating the room, the red more vibrant and childlike than the rich scarlet from before. The only thing that seemed to have avoided the repaint was the ashtray residing on the counter next to Gregor’s bed. “Still haven’t given up that smoking habit? But this place seems like you’ve had a little feel-good arc, no?” “I’ll give it up once you give up your gambling,” Gregor replies, although he’s too occupied moseying to his bed and collapsing onto it to think about what he’s saying. Still, Rodion chuckles with a, “touché,” and leans by the entrance. “Is it that Fixer from the other day?” “Was — ”

“What was he from… was it Zwei?” “Yeah, I think, but—” “A little birdie told me that we got a contract that says they’ll be working with us again~” Gregor places his hand over his face and makes an exasperated sigh, pulling at his skin as he drags it downwards. He turns his head to look at Rodion, and she has the most shit-eating grin on her face. “I don’t know what makes you assume all that.” “It’s really easy to tell when you get attached, hun,” she tilts her head and places her hands on her hips, almost disapprovingly. “It is?” “Oh. Oh, Greg. “You’re fucked.”

Even as Vergilius is giving some kind of instruction, Gregor still finds himself distracted; though, it’s not like the other Sinners aren’t consistently distracted as well. He only snaps back to attention when asked if they understood… which they obviously did not. But that would be Dante’s problem, and besides, Gregor was one of the more composed fighters out of the bunch.

When they’re forced off the bus to meet up with the Zwei Fixers (something about another unusual Abnormality breakout, supposedly there’d be a Golden Bough trade-off that Gregor was certain wouldn’t go over smoothly), he finds himself stuck in one place and just staring intently, searching for someone in particular. He jumps when there’s a voice behind him. “Gregor! I heard help was hired for this mission, but I didn’t imagine it’d be you guys again!” Good God, he practically melts. But he knows better than to be caught unaware, shaking off the after-effects, and glances over his shoulder.

“Hey, bud, didn’t know you’d be here. They got you working to the bone, huh?” “Well, with the casualties from last time, we’re going to be lacking units for a while… but it’s not all bad.”

He lost his religion a long time ago, but he finds himself praying that that sort of naivety won’t get you killed. Still, it was heartwarming to see you in good spirits.

You offer a hand to him, and he stands awkwardly for a moment, unsure. Were you expecting… a handshake? He barely catches you shaking your head before grabbing his hand and dragging him along, to catch up with the rest of the group. He thinks he hears you say it's safer if we stick together, right?

It's hard to make out over the pounding in his ears.

The battles were a bit of a blur. That sorta thing happens when it's the same thing over and over; a repetition he wasn't so fond of. He was the least fond of the fact the only fight he remembered was when he got caught off guard and almost shred to bits — if you hadn't stepped in and swept the opponent away with your blade, that is. You had said the slogan then, "We're the Zwei, 'Your Shield,'" and despite how cheesy it was and how he couldn't even be certain it was directed towards him (he swore by the look in your eyes that it was, and even if he misinterpreted that, he prayed it was still true), Gregor had mouthed something in response.

He didn't say goodbye to you when the company and the association had gone their  ways, though he knew you wouldn't mind. You were far too nice to him for that.

"Geg? I'm hearing some banging, and not the good kind," Rodion spoke with a singsong voice, intruding into Gregor's room, unannounced and unwanted. It had changed again. "What's wrong?"

"...I said 'I love you.' He didn't even hear."

The taller Sinner sat by Gregor's bed, crossing her arms and sighing. "You'll just have to try again then, won't you?"

He opens his eyes slowly, sending her a glare, when her intentions finally hit him. He laughed and smothered the cigarette in his mouth in the ashtray to his right.

"Guess you're right."