#I keep drawing characters with the same pose/expression. the 'look to the side with a frown'. 'tis my default.

[reminiscentrainclouds]

Woe. Doobles be upon ye

[toxintouch]

Started out as an elaborate “draw me like one of your French girls” joke and spiraled outta control from there... @lu-dao-writes posted the same scenario in their Kinktober 2024 and they were kind enough to give me their blessing to post my take! Please check out their fics as well!  If this scenario in particular interests you, I rec you this post! :3

Further details below the cut so that the above the cut stays safe for anyone who is just scrolling through!

18+ Content MDNI || VERE x AIS x Reader

PROMPT/KINK(S): Dom!Vere, Dacryphilia (Tears)* + Cockwarming + Size Difference + Consensual Voyeurism. Power Play. (Some feral monsterfucking spice sprinkled v lightly on top.) [*original challenge prompt, randomizer used.]

OTHER INFO: “You” pronouns used for MC/Reader. Unspecified genitalia for both POV Character and Vere but Ais has a dick. Reader is the receiving partner in penetrative sex.

“Hmm, hold that pose,” Vere purrs.

Ais huffs a hot breath into your face as he freezes above you.  His brows furrow, mouth twisting into a determined grimace as he grits his teeth.  His forearms tense hard where they are resting on either side of you, fingers flexing against the silken sheets.

You can feel him pulsing inside of you.  A hot, insistent ache.

You try to relax, try to breathe through it but the lack of movement makes you hyper aware of every inch, the raw feeling of him stretching you open, the way your body twitches so sickly-sweet with the effort.  You inhale a slow, shaking breath, chest trembling, and shut your eyes in an attempt to block out some of the sensations—the clawing need gnawing at your core.

“Eyes open, darling,” Vere corrects you, tone somewhere firmly between scolding and teasing.  “And turn your face back towards Ais.  I’m trying to capture the moment .”  Your heart is pounding in your ears but you can hear Vere’s smooth, sly voice with perfect clarity.  Ais is an overwhelming force but Vere is a magnetic presence; no matter how caught up in each other you and Ais can get, Vere will always command attention without effort.

You turn your chin as requested, only to be caught in Ais’ gaze

(Caught and breathless–the same way you were when he was bullying his thick length into your hole, thrusting sharply and sighing in satisfaction, his fingers still at work massaging and pressing and stroking as he sunk into you inch by inch; he'd prepared you until your entrance was puffy and swollen, sopping with thick, medicinal smelling lube and he still had to take his time.  Fucking you slowly until you could take all of him.  And then, the moment you finally could...)

“Hmm, that's better.  Stay just like that.  Let me see those pretty expressions.”  You hear Vere adjusting his heavy vellum paper.  The glide of quick, clever lines being drawn.

You maintain eye contact with Ais, drunk off his breath, his body, the very essence of him, hovering so close above you, and are utterly unprepared to meet his intensity.  The way he looks at you like he’s seconds from devouring you, barely held in check by the challenge that Vere has laid before him.  Before both of you.

You bite into your lower lip as you shift involuntarily, oversensitive nerves still riding the throbbing of Ais’ dick.  He’s so fucking thick and girthy that he presses at the soft spot inside you without even trying. The angry pulse of him is a gratifying thrum, stoking your aching heat by way of mere burgeoning contact.

His cock gives another strong twitch and your insides clench around him.  He feels so fucking good–you almost think you might be able to come like this, if you can get your body to keep on clenching like that. 

—Almost.

Your next breath comes out as a sob.  There’s a high pitched whine building at the base of your throat and your lashes are wet when you blink.

A monstrous snarl escapes Ais’ lips, one that you can feel even more than you can hear, the vibration of it echoing through your body everywhere you're pressed against him.  The pinnacle between your thighs pulses with it, and your toes curl involuntarily as an errant tear runs down your cheek.  Ais is shaking, sweat dampening his face, his pupils expanding and contracting rapidly, his eyes locked on you as he barely holds himself back.  “Sparrow,” he says, gravel in his tone. 

You say his name in return, your head tipping involuntarily, bearing the softness of your throat, faded marks from both your lovers decorating your skin.  You hear the sheets rip below you, torn into shreds where Ais’ nails have dug into them.

Vere sighs pointedly.  You hear him stop his work, tap his charcoal against the paper as if he’s not entirely satisfied with the scene in front of him.  He pauses for a long time, leaving you both in limbo.

When he moves, it’s to stand.  To saunter over to you both.  You’re pinned beneath Ais, unable to look away, but you can feel Vere’s shadow fall over you just before his hand touches your face, forcing your eyes to his as he catches a crystalline tear with his index finger.

“Shame,” he says, dipping his fingers into his mouth, his tongue lapping up the taste of your tears, lavishing the digits with his tongue.  You whine out a desperate, quiet note just from watching his tongue at work and he basks knowingly in the attention.  “I really thought I could get you both crying.”  He smiles dangerously once his fingers have left his mouth. 

He uses them to drag a wet path down Ais' spine.  “Oh, but the night is still young.  Perhaps I may still think of something that will do the trick...”

18+ Master List | SFW Master List ✦"Kinktober Speedrun & Other Gratuitous (TOUCHSTARVED) Smut" on Ao3

[descendant-of-truth]

Rise of Lyric has by far some of the most consistently expressive character animation of any 3D Sonic game ever, and frankly I think Frontiers should be embarrassed that it isn't at minimum on the same level as it, if not better.

Because here's the thing: RoL still looks awkward at times. Mouth shapes can feel a little weird, the eyebrows don't always seem to know what they're supposed to be doing, little things that give off the impression that it wasn't quite as polished as it wanted to be. But it's still LEAGUES above Frontiers, even with the progress it's made over other mainline games.

And look, I really can't claim to know how the models they're using work because I don't have the ability to mess around with them myself, but at this point I'm starting to wonder if they're just... not particularly stretchy by nature?? Because I can't imagine any other reason for them to be so stiff even when the animators are doing their best.

To prove my point, let's compare a very similar expression and pose of Sonic's from Frontiers and RoL respectively.

In both of these scenes, Sonic is expressing determination to fight in order to save his friends. In Frontiers, this is from the Final Horizon update, right after Amy, Tails, and Knuckles sacrificed their corporeal forms in order to bring Sonic back from corruption. Sonic is currently feeling the weight of that sacrifice full-force, lamenting that they gave up their chance at freedom for him, and uses that pain to push himself forward to really save them this time.

In Rise of Lyric, Sonic is staring down a robot army led by Metal Sonic as the door in front of them closes. He's already ushered Amy, Tails, and Knuckles behind him into a suspicious temple of sorts, but he's prepared to fight in case it doesn't close fast enough. He was told twice not to open the door in the first place, but he was concerned for his friends, and decided to prioritize protecting them over their own desires to keep fighting.

With such similar framing, it's hard not to see how Frontiers' expressions fall short. Both Sonics have their eyes narrowed, the bridge of their eyebrows scrunched down to separate them into two distinct shapes, and they're holding their fists up. But in Frontiers, it's not very clear what emotions he's feeling just by looking at him. Sure, he looks kinda determined if you squint, but at a glance, he looks almost more neutral than anything.

And it just gets worse the more you think about it because by all accounts, he should be having a MORE intense expression than the one in Rise of Lyric! I mean come on, the guy practically died five minutes ago and is gearing himself up for another round of Titan fights. He should be looking exhausted and utterly spent but like he's still gonna keep going somehow.

It got to the point where, halfway through writing this, I decided that it wasn't enough to just talk about what his expression should have looked like, and that I was going to put my money where my mouth was and redraw it myself.

I scrunched his eyes and brows down closer to how they are in the Boom screenshot for the determined look, made him look upwards with his irises instead of staring blankly ahead, and pulled up his lower eyelids to add an edge of desperation to him.

I kept his mouth in the same position, but tried to make it look a little more... angry? by curling it up on one side and showcasing his top teeth more. Finally, I changed the position of his body and arms a bit, to make it look like his whole body was tensing up along with his face.

These are all Extremely Doable in 3D animation - the only part I'm uncertain of is the mouth, since I tend to draw mouths with a very 2D mindset. But on principle, it should not be hard to shape his eyes to match his emotions. That is the absolute bare minimum of what you want your character models to be capable of in a professional setting.

And it's driving me nuts that Frontiers, savior of the Sonic games' credibility among the masses, is still being outclassed by what's considered the "second 06" of the franchise. What is happening over there that this keeps being a problem

[rampantram]

I've been saving this but I can't take it anymore... your art is super cool!! I love the drawing style you have, especially the lines and expressions. Also the dynamic poses and interactions between characters, everything looks so cute but at the same time exciting to keep watching!! I would read a whole manga with your art in it :3

Curious question: what size are your drawings normally? I see that you draw in pencil and many times there is more than one drawing on a single canvas/sheet so I am curious to know approximately the size of your drawings

I hope you don’t mind me using your ask to say this, but…you guys have no idea how much your kindness and positivity has affected me since I started posting my CotL stuff.

I’ve had anxiety since I was a kid, and depression for almost a decade now, and most recently been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD. I’ve had the most lows in my life over the past few years, and my consistency and drive to draw has suffered for it; at most, I’ve posted every other week, but mostly once every couple of months, and even longer than that until now. Being on medication has affected my motivation to draw, and I’ve been on short-term disability for over a month now, trying out new medications and feeling mostly miserable from the side effects.

Despite all that, I’ve wanted truly to finally be consistent with art, interact with people, try new things, and it’s helped so much to have so many people loving the things I’ve come up with. I haven’t been as consistent this last week, and spotty some weeks before that, but you’ve all been so patient despite that, which is part of the reason I want to give you some transparency and vulnerability on my part.

So I apologize if things continue to be a little less than organized or consistent, but I’m going to keep trying my best everyday, because I want to keep bringing you things you enjoy and want to interact with, so…thank you. 🥹

But getting to your question before I really start to tear up…this 9x12 sketchbook by Strathmore (specifically the recycled paper) is what I’ve been using for my sketches for a long while:

And it typically depends on how big or small I think each of the drawings should be, but I do try to keep them on one page if I can just for organizations’s sake.

Also if I know I need to post it from my phone, I try to make things easier for myself by putting things within proximity of each other with my phone’s camera in mind (not the whole page because it’ll be blurry, up and down since that’s easier for me to take a shot with, and so on).

If I’m gonna scan it, that makes things a bit easier, but I do try to condense them enough so I can try and avoid doing two scans of the same page and having to stitch them together (this one below just ended up taking the whole page, and since most scanners - my roommate’s included - usually only scan Letter or A4 size areas, those I end up having to scan on multiple parts and edit them together in Clip Studio Paint).

But of course, it all comes down to what feels right or works with your own method the best (as long as you achieve the outcome you wanted, the tools and method to get there don’t necessarily have to be the “best” or “right” way to do it).

I hope this helps, though, and that you have a brilliant day~✨

[crossovershipsandedits]

Please consider looking to see if characters have a canon orientation (like lesbian or gay man) before posting ships of them.

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day~

To address this ask, I first pose a question myself; Why?

The point of shipping, or really any fan creation, is to show your love and support for media/a character by expressing yourself, your thoughts and your theories/headcanon's through your work. The reason a lot of characters are loveable and popular is because they are fully capable of allowing fans to see themselves in them and see their versions without destroying the canon.

For example; If we look at Zoro from One Piece. As far as we're aware, bro has little to no romantic inclination. And yet his top ship is with another man on the crew, who happens to be woman loving Sanji. But it isn't something that feels wrong or out of place, because the ambiguity is there and their relationship is prebuilt, fans just need to figure out how it moves to romantic. The ability to see past the initial "Oh, Sanji loves women" and see the potential branches for this path. Yes, it's probably canon he legit loves women like that, but it could also be a trauma reaction based on his back story. Or it could ALSO be possible that he's bi/pan/etc

In short; Just because someone is shown a certain way, doesn't mean that's the only option. As fans we have the freedom to conjure up theories and beliefs based on the information presented to us.

Another good example would be Naruto. He's married to a woman, and yet it's still VERY much suggested that he loves Sasuke the same way. There is no "definite" answer. Assuming there is purely because of the canon relationships is a little closed minded in my opinion.

AND, even if it is stated, people change. We weren't born thinking "Oh heck yeah, dong". We develop our tastes as we grow and learn and experience new things. A great example would be Deadpool for this. He starts off in love with a woman (I'm speaking film wise by the way) and continues to love her, but very much over the course of their relationship begins to experiment and opens up that door for himself. Some people need to find the right person that makes them question themselves before they can confirm anything. Or, on the flip side, they need to see a lot of potential and not react lovingly/sexually to them in order to put the pieces together for aro/ace.

Life is a mystery bag of tags and labels that we as humans made to understand things better, and that's ok. Be who you are and love what/who you love. Be YOU

Anyway, I think I went a bit off tangent haha XD All I'm trying to say is, doors aren't entirely shut because of one thing or another. Fans can and will continue to express themselves and their thoughts through their loved characters, and that's ok. It's healthy even! I know people who use characters to test the waters for themselves because it can't hurt the people around them. It's harmless. A bit of fun, if you will.

I will always say this to these kinds of comments, ones where you should ask yourself "why am I bothering to send this?".

It is easier to keep scrolling past something you don't like, then drawing attention to it, and yourself, by commenting something that could hurt or upset an innocent person, and honestly makes you look like a silly grumpy guts :)

Keep sailing guys, gals and non-binary pals!!

[unriding]

posting to cherishing tag if that’s okay!! and i have just a bit of a word dump below 🥺 truly, thank you both from the bottom of my heart!! i promise i will hold this so closely to my heart sob …. i dont ): know where to even begin expressing my gratitude im just -> 🥺 /pos & i hope it’s okay if i make it in one post since my heart is racing! /pos i dont quite have the courage !! T T & i hope it’s ok to tag u both!! ? T T

@spiced-fish i … i really don’t have words! T T this is so beautiful?! i have stared at this for so many days :’) your art is so stunning!! & your way of drawing expressions is so amazing ?! aa the way you made me smile so brightly around him ): and him actually smiling a little bit!! and !! this pose is so cute i’m so ): you really didn’t have to /pos !!! i don’t even know how to begin properly thanking you for such a gift ):

@minnoue you !! you !!! i am grabbing you by the shoulders ( gently ) and shaking you ( very gently ) !! HELLO ): it is me and you !! and our beloveds on our heads !! but i am looking at us because we are so lovely together !!! we must go on shopping dates together :] BUT. aaa! really!!! thank you ): so very much ): i am so soft i am so thankful im!! losing my mind over your kindness sniffle ….. this is so lovely )): !!!!!

and here is a much longer thank you under the cut !!! & i have so much to say about these !! 🥺🤍

FISH!! are you serious ?! /pos i am blown away by your art!! how beautiful! oh how i wish i was an artist so i could give you better compliments 🥺 because this is so amazing im just ? your anatomy (?) like this looks so lovely and natural - like a photo if that makes sense — because you are so skilled omg /pos. and i am losing my mind over how expressive you made us!!! how to capture such strong emotions in your art is something i admire so much … and !!! oh 🥺 for you to make me smile like this !!! so brightly?! and this embrace is so warm … i adore you so much ): truly, thank you! i have been staring at this for so long and yet my reaction stays the exact same !!! every time i look at it, i am just so blown away and so happy i just ): thank you fish!!! for taking the time out of your day to do something like this for me ): i can’t believe you /pos !!! you have such a kind heart ( and an insane skill for art because omg this is so lovely ) also!! side note. the picture in your pinned post made me do a giggle lol you’re so endearing /pos! i also think just your vibes alone are so fun and i love you lots!!! i am still reeling in from your kindness kansjdkdjdk im really a loss for words :’) i just keep staring at it like 🥹🥹 thank you!!! so !!! much!!!! and i hope for 2025 to treat you with lots and lots of kindness 🥺

MIN!! OMG firstly — you are so cute!! i’m looking at your radiant smile in this art and my heart is so happy 🥺 you are so cute !! and perhaps odd of me to say, but i am unfamiliar with the character in your icon — but when i saw this drawing, i instantly recognized him!! i was like “omg — this is the character on min’s blog sjsndjkxx i know this!!” BUT. OH MY GOSH. thank you!!! truly!! ): how kind of you?! and the way you made the highlights of my hair blue!!! it’s such a sweet detail to me — because i love blue !! 🥺🥺 and oh this sparkle in my eye! of course i have sparkles in my eyes when someone as lovely as yourself is in front of me !!! oh min — this calls for a double date!! >:) BUT OH i cannot get over how cute you and that character are !!! you smile so brightly & he looks super excited too — so i just love that kind of energy?! that you two radiate ?! so cute to me !!! and also! i love the colors you use in your art ): it is vibrant and beautiful to me, which fits my impression of you ( vibrant ! beautiful! lovely! all these things!! ) thank you!! for such a kind gift ): seeing your art was such a treat — and seeing moze in your art ( how cute ?! ) is also a huge treat omg!!! i hope 2025 treats you so well! 🤍✨

[purplelordstudios]

Art thingy idk yet

Everything starts with basic shapes, I mark where the shoulders will go after I draw the head, the shoulders determine the angle, for me if the top shoulder line of the triangle is pointed up the shoulder will be slacked, if the line is pointed down then the shoulders will be tensed up, if it’s neither then the shoulders are just relaxed

Unless I’m trying to do more realistic stuff there’s no bones in the character other than the main body, it’s all noodly, depending on the mood the pose will be different, but it’s always usually exaggerated to show more expression and movement. Accessories and clothes ALWAYS come after you make the body, the clothes will go AROUND the body, it’s not apart of the body

If possible try to change the colour for the clothes outline, clothes aren’t skin tight, some are puffy and some are loose, for mine I try to follow gravity, the side of the pants closest to the ground will sag more than the rest, same fore shirts.

Before adding lines to a digital work always try to make the sketch a different colour, otherwise for traditional just erase the lines so they don’t show up when you try to colour, paint, or draw over them.

I try to keep most of my posses fluid and dramatic, only when I’m drawing just what a character would look like will it ever be standing in place.

[chibishortdeath]

General Simon brainrot sketch page :3, as per usual, explanations under a cut. Apologies if my posts tend to be kinda huge and difficult to scroll past, I try to do the cuts to make sure they do the least inconvenience to anyone! (>-< ;)

Just the whole page in full ft. My thumb lol

Expression practice! Simon is feeling the weight of his situation rn alas :(. I’ve always imagined him being panicked the whole game; the overarching entire game timer really gives a pretty good feeling of dread imo. The two doodles at the bottom were attempts at multiple ideas I’ve seen floating around about the curse, but they’re kinda bad in execution looking at them no tbh. But the first one is based on the idea that the curse gives some vampire traits like sharp teeth and would probably lead to proper vampirism if he were to die from it. The second was general attempt at like skull practice and comparing facial features to skull structure, but oh my god the page kept smudging and I tried making it look ok with some random blood on there but it just made it look even sillier 💀.

These next two are based on two random like liminal space images I ran into on Pinterest and I drew them mostly because I suck at backgrounds and idk Simon’s Quest itself is like Castlevania: Liminal Space Edition a lot of the time, so it fits X,,,,D. The first one I really liked the composition of the path on the far side contrasted to the trees. Imagine the water is the purple cursed swamp :3. Hopefully Simon has laurels just standin around in there.

This second liminal space for Simon to be in was this neat nighttime photo of a graveyard! Trees are HARD TO DRAW, especially just in pencil and a solid black background. There’s blood on the ground and stuff cause he was just fighting some monsters, probably those two headed lizard guys. It’s the awkward stillness after clearing out an area of enemies.

The pose for this one is based on the LOL~lots of laugh Miku figure lmao 💀💀💀

Simon is very fun to put in exaggerated poses! Especially cause you have to exaggerate them more to get the same ratio of pose to negative space because muscles and armor. I had no idea how to make metal belt armor thingies sit in a like legs up floating sort of pose like this so they kinda bend a little weird but eh he looks cute otherwise. The other doodles present are one that says “brainrot” which is kinda making fun of my own dedication to an NES character 💀 and also cause haha rot like the curse. Also, teeny tiny Simon with a heart!!! :3

Yippie! Simon posing again! I think the first pose was inspired by this like random old anime style angel figure??? Idk I think she was just an original character figure and the pose was pretty different, I just used the reference mostly for the arm position. Anyway, he’s vibin, just sitting curled up and momentarily comfy. Alas, the horrors persist in the second doodle that was an attempt at showing how the curse kinda deteriorates him but he just kinda ended up having a scarily snatched waist and it looks more stylized than like sick. Also the armor kinda bends around him in a way that makes it look like it shrunk with him which is so dumb lmaooooo (XwX). I’ll have to revisit the concept eventually idk, just look at his face for this one XD. Hahaha tiny doodle based on Larval Rin on the left there, nothing to see here—

The main doodle is just Simon looking into the distance bewildered and holding the whip, standard stuff. There’s also a side profile doodle and an attempt at drawing crying again cause I was getting kinda rusty at both of those things.

Simon Belmont but if he was 2000s anime lol. A fun little style experiment, I might keep this as like another secondary art style. There’s also some doodles of a hanged man skeleton, the eyes of Vlad, a skeleton hand, and a couple little chibi Simon’s of various expressions.

More 2000s anime Simon, but in a more silly way like the art style change for joke sections. One is him just goofily holding up Dracula’s head, but it’s contrasted immediately with a more gritty usual art style doodle of him with harsh shading lol. Get you a man who can do both I guess 💀

I gotta practice more on backgrounds and composition and stuff, probably also get some curse effects consistent augh. Lately I’ve been on and off working on random things or just staring into space tired, getting back to using social media is hard and an exhausting uphill battle unfortunately (_ _ ;). Sometimes I feel like I should probably split these up into multiple posts to make things more visible and to put more focus on specific drawings, but idk I don’t really want to, it just feels weird to me breaking up a doodle page like that, if that makes sense??? Eh idk.

[froggo-tea]

I love how adorably you draw Xero. For me it is difficult to draw him so expressively, so how do you do it?

Waaaa thank u so much!!! Truly one of the best compliments I could ever receive :)

To be completely honest, I’ve been drawing Xero for like 2 years now or like a year and a half. Practicing has made me understand how I want to portray his character and the personality he has (or that I’ve given to him) in a way I don’t really acknowledge it, like, my hands know how to but my mind doesn’t- if that makes any sense lol

I still struggle to draw him from time to time, sometimes I feel like I do the same doodle lol. I guess exaggerating face features and moving them around is my way of doing it. Like I move his eyes a lot, every doodle of him has different eyes. I also add that little “brow” line on top to indicate the feeling better (just that one line can change the way he looks! which is impressive and a ur scary-) Playing around with poses too, even if you are just doing from the chest up twisting the body around helps, not just making him stiff in a straight line, certain poses can reflect someone’s personality! Like the way you stand is different from the way others stand (some out all their weight into just one leg, some have their hands crossed, etc etc) and that can show the way you act.

Sometimes I draw a little fang to show mischief for example! When his eyes are straight it means tiredness but when they are more tilted they look more angry, another example!

Im not a big expert on art and it’s hard for me to explain stuff to others but I hope this helps! We all start drawing something in a way you might not like, but slowly you get good at it! dw you’ll find your way!!

Ngl this made me look through my old doodles, so here’s how much I’ve grown to draw Xero!

These 2 doodle were done in November of 2022. The way I’ve drawn him has changed a lot actually- I hadn’t drawn him that much so these do feel a bit awkward- I hadn’t placed my art style on him yet, I was just using the in-game design.

Here are three others that I had done around 2023. I was getting more used to drawing him, tho I was still improving at drawing! The emotion I give him is expressed through his eyes cause he doesn’t really have a mouth lol- different shapes of eyes can help change what he’s feeling for me so yee.

And these are the last doodles I’ve done for him, literally drew these yesterday. I feel so comfortable drawing him now cause he’s just so funky and silky. His helmet is so hard to get use to drawing tho, I still find it a bit hard to draw his side view but hey I’m trying! (Also I tried redrawing the doodle of Xero on a throne-)

Tbh I’m really happy that you think he looks expressive!!! I always tell myself I gotta add more emotion to him and not letting him have an emotionless face, so I’ve been forcing myself to add more and more feeling slowly lol.

I don’t really know the exact way of adding more expression tho, kinda just guessing why it may look like that. Sometimes, I just do it. So, keep practicing! It’s what every artist tells other artists but it’s true, sadly lmfao.

Thank u again!! As the self-proclaimed #1 Xero hk fan (which lol probably I’m not but I love him to much so I like to think it as that-) I am thankful that you’ve acknowledged my incredible skills at drawing this silly fool.

[floofanflurr]

Hi, have y'all seen the master list of Heart on the Table fanart recently?? We just got some new additions!!!

The absolutely wonderful and amazing @sunsestart made art for Heart on the Table (chapters 8 and 19) and it has DESTROYED ME. Here's a link to the master post. And here's the art for Chapter 8 (tw blood/injury) and Chapter 19.

These link to the image address as they aren't posted online. I am sharing them here with Sun's full permission!

Ramble about their amazing art under the cut:

OKAY SO. Chapter 8 art to start.

This is just GORGEOUS. And heartbreaking. So, so heartbreaking. You got all of the emotions that I wanted to convey in the scene, and I am OBSESSED with how you draw expressions. GOSH the tears in Papyrus's sockets and the way his brow bones and teeth are positioned are just. PAIN. He's so hurt and in shock. Like, I can FEEL his panic and shock and hurt from this.

And the COLORS!??!?! DAMN. Just the spots of red for Frisk's SOUL and the blue for Undyne's spears just really makes it pop and just... ties it together so well. It's so VISCERAL.

AND THE POSING. GOSH Papyrus's right (his right, our left??) hand DESTROYS ME. I cannot look away. Just... how did you convey in just one little hand how terrified he is to touch them? Because holy heck he just screams "I don't know where to touch or what to do without breaking them more."

And Frisk's expression. They're so HURT and gosh just. The shading over their eyes and their injuries... just. YOU GOT THE SPEAR THAT SKIMMED THEIR CHEEK!?!??! THIS IS PAIN. /pos I'M STILL FREAKING OUT OVER THIS.

ALSO THE INJURIES ON THEIR SIDE! IT'S ALSO THE Same one I gave them in story!!! This is brilliant, you are brilliant. Stars, I'm never going to emotionally recover from this. ALSO ALSO I adore the way you weight the lines. And the BLOOD. There's not a lot but it's so well done.

Gosh, I'm going to cry seeing Frisk's little hand in Papyrus's.

Everything about this. I adore. SO much. It's just got pain and tension and heartbreak and disbelief and desperation in every line. HHHHHHHHHH.

AND THE CHAPTER 19 ART!!! GOSH. MY HEART.

(I keep wanting to call it chapter 20 and I have no idea why.)

HHHGH. This whole thing. Just. This small strip of comic has the most palpable tension I've ever seen in a comic. The use of the exclamation marks and ellipses just really really really shows first the shock and then the pause before it all goes to hell.

And DAMN I love the angles and the poses so much. AND THE EXPRESSIONS. Holy heck I love the way you do expressions. Frisk's little smile and wave contrasting with Papyrus's slightly open mouth and brow bone quirked just so to show his shock/worry/distress right before it all hits him.

And then the close up panels on Papyrus and Undyne's faces- just-

HHHHH. The shadows across their eyes and the drops of sweat just. It makes it so that I'm really just. Feeling just as much tension as they probably are. Undyne clearly knows she's in a bit of deep shit, and Papyrus is just... processing. (and is not having a fun time while he takes in the sight in front of him.)

Also just. I love the way you do Undyne's fins. And Frisk's hair. And Undyne and Frisk in general. Also Papyrus's scarf and face and-

Okay I just love how you draw these characters so much. I wish to consume your art. GOSH I love your style.

And I also love how you have Papyrus's hand on the door and his pose. It really helps build the scene and to see that he had JUST opened the door.

Also I love the slight angle on the close up of Undyne since it's so dynamic. This whole thing is incredibly dynamic. It's a series of three still frames, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels almost like a scene from a video. They just flow into each other so well. You are just. So skilled at what you do.

And the line weights and the shadings and just- I will consume. I wish to consume. Entirely.

Thank you so so so much for making these wonderful pieces and allowing me to share them. I will never emotionally recover. The death sounds I made when I first saw them.... (You missed the worst of them when I saw the second one.)

It took me like a solid - 6 minutes(?) after I saw the first piece to stop vibrating and spinning and wheezing enough to type a response.

Also, cuz I saw someone ask this once and now I'm always curious- what was your favorite things about each of these that you made? Like what you did with the pieces. (Only if you want to answer of course!)

Just. Thank you so much. I'm gonna go stare at these some more now, thank you.

[allthecreepsofthecosmos]

Meet Meteor!

Hello again! Today I want to talk about another character from the demo (which you can try out here!). This time, let’s talk about Sally’s friend Meteor!

Here she is! Meteor’s the first character you encounter after Salamander. Her and Starlight contact Sally early on, but you don’t really meet her until part-way through Chapter 1, where she rescues our red-headed heroine from an early demise. I mentioned this when talking about Salamander, but Meteor’s a lot more put together than her. Meteor is precise, experienced, and fully confident in her abilities. In other words, she’s the perfect team leader! Though she doesn’t like being called that, for some reason…

When you first meet Meteor, she seems quite serious. She doesn’t appreciate Sally’s carefree attitude during the mission, and she ESPECIALLY doesn’t appreciate Sally’s nickname for her. “Sally” and “Starry” are cute, but “Metey” doesn’t come off the same way, does it? But that doesn’t mean she’s all business all the time! You get quite a different look at her in the second chapter, where she’s more casual with the other two. She even messes with Sally a bit! You’ll get to see plenty more of this side of Meteor in other parts of the game. I wrote in plenty of downtime to accompany the more dramatic parts, because I feel that it’s such a great chance for you to see these other sides of the cast shine! Meteor may not like all of Sally’s antics, but she’ll stand by her when it comes down to it. Tgirls gotta stick together!

Meteor’s ability is incredibly strong, making things she touches heavier or lighter on the fly! She swings that mace like it’s made of paper one moment, and has it smash down like, well, a meteor the next! She must be really good at keeping her balance. By the way, her name was the last we thought of for the main cast! Originally we had penciled in the name “Mace” for her, but obviously we couldn’t keep it as something so plain. It took Sadie and I a long time to think of something that suited her, and I think it worked out pretty well! The fact that Meteor’s so calm and composed in the heat of battle, combined with her sheer power, makes her a real force to be reckoned with. She’s a real stabilizing force for the team between Salamander’s unpredictability and Starlight’s focus on defense.

Her outfit’s rather eclectic, isn’t it? We wanted clothing that was a combination of something that gave off an air of authority, but also unusual enough to tie into her more playful side. 

And now, here’s a word from our character designer and sprite artist, @alexidv, on Meteor’s design!

"Hi again, this is Alexandra speaking! Last time I talked about working with Crystal and Sadie on designing Salamander and creating a look for the game. With the groundwork thus already laid, along with the excellent reference materials provided by Crystal and Sadie, Meteor was in many ways an easier character to work on. I tried to channel some Revolutionary Girl Utena into her fancy-yet-practical outfit and beautiful hair, making her look dignified, refined, and in control of the situation, compared to the more impulsive Sally and the more deferent Starlight.

Similarly to Salamander, the design did not have to go through many revisions. One change introduced early on compared to the original concept was making her mace look ornate and regal, almost like a scepter, befitting of her image - rather than the initial idea of a spike-ball type of mace.

Meteor was a lot of fun to work on, and she remains one of my favorites to draw when the characters are receiving new sprites. Her often confident and no-nonsense attitude means a different mindset when going into a set of new sprites and figuring out the posing and expression, compared to working on the other Side Future characters, and also makes her fun to read."

That's all for now! Remember you can give the free demo a try here if you're interested. Next time will be another edition of Two Tokyo Tgirls Talk, where we'll be talking about more of what inspired our project! See you!

[assigned-k9]

exaggerating our features in a way that seems like.. characaturey

not rendering textured hair but cleaning up straight hair

not a lot of diversity with your portrayels of black characters, you reuse the same features for them

i recommend varying skin tone with both cool and warm tones

Thank you! Firstly i want to clarify thats NEVER my intention. And i mean, NEVER. Im not sure what i may have done to portray that, and I’ll be more cautious in the future. I do tend to make things in my art like poses and expressions and differing features (eyes, nose, ears, headshape etc.) to make each character distinct from one another, but i’ll be extra careful with it going forward. The second one i dont usually do fully rendered stuff, i have a very messy style but i’ll keep that in mind! I dont recall doing something like that but obviously i forget things easily so thank you for the note :) 3, i dont really draw other characters other than Gus and Mattholomule, and i guess my most recent had an oc of mine, ive had her awhile and i should probably revamp her a bit. So yeah with the very few examples and having those two characters have similar features, i can see how that put you off. Again, i try to make all of my characters look different in shape and personality so I appreciate this heads up! I try my best to change it up with hairstyles and such but it definitely needs work!! Last part is a good tip, i usually stick to a certain colour tone in my art thats a bit on the warmish green side so yeah i’ll try to change that up too ofc. This is the first time someones been honest and brought this criticism up and so i appreciate it, thank you! I’d hate to have been unknowingly doing things wrong and upsetting anyone because thats not my intention. It never was and i only want to improve in my skills in general and get better at things! Again, im sorry that my art made you feel this way. It means a lot that you said something because the thought of my art doing harm in the way it potrays POC is an awful thought and never what I wanted to show in what i do. Thank you anon :)

[scrion7]

MH Wilds Trailer analysis part 2: Movesets

Go read part 1 here for more story and character stuff, and here for the official website. Anyway, now for the FUN part.

The Doshaguma rears up for a big, delayed, probably tracking slam with its forearms. This slam in particular is practically begging to be countered by just about anything.

The hunter draw slashes with his greatsword, backrolls, turns around, then front rolls. The hunter is then hit, resulting in what might be a new falling over animation.

also it looks like hunter expressions got an upgrade. lol.

The Doshaguma bodily throws the corpse of a Ceratonoth at the hunter, Deviljho style, and then Jojo poses. This move was actually in the previous trailer as well, making it seem like something that happens fairly often. It would not surprise me if a charged Ceratonoth inflicts thunderblight if it hits you.

The hunter successfully superman dives the throw. In the background, a Ceratonoth with "big spikes on its back" (Alma the Handler's words, not mine) absorbs a lightning strike, getting staggered in the process.

Next, what is almost assuredly the intro cutscene for the Chatacabra plays. Moving on to the gameplay part:

The Chatacabra rears back, tongue flailing, for a 270 degree attack. This attack has rather short range and could be avoided with smart spacing. It also leaves a trail of saliva on the ground, possibly implying it's a waterblight attack.

The hunter wide sweeps with the greatsword, and gets tripped by the tongue without getting knocked back. The fact that it's a trip attack means certain weapons can just tank through it and keep attacking.

This is almost assuredly the enrage roar of the Chatacabra. The amphibian scrapes its forearms into the ground during this, leaving them covered in Garangolm style rock fists. It probably also works like Golm's enrage, in that knocking off the rock fists causes a special flinch/down.

The hunter is charging up a slash from neutral, and notably doesn't get flinched from the roar. Judging from the Chatacabra's size and place in progression, it probably doesn't need earplugs to block.

The hunter gets hit with a classic charge attack from the frog. This attack probably only occurs when the Chatacabra has its rock gauntlets.

During the time when the hunter is ragdolling (NOT AFTER), the hunter whistles, then is bodily picked up by the Seikret mount. The fact that the whistle occurs after the hunter is hit but before he lays on the ground, this might be a Wirefall-esque quick get up option. It is very possible some harder monsters might have Rise/Sunbreak style juggles require this technique to escape, and I for one can't wait for that.

Meanwhile, froggy boi ends his charge attack, shakes his head, and then launches immediately into an advancing double tongue sweep that kinda reminds me of Magnamalo's double bite. Maybe roll away from the first sweep, then roll forwards to get past the second? Anyway, this move may or may not require rock gauntlets/enrage to come out.

Next, frog man gets jumped on by the resident raptors, which have INCREDIBLY cool jaws that they use to latch on to large monsters to get a unique stun. The hunter here just watches, but this is a prime damage opportunity.

Going back to the bear gang, the pack alpha goes for a jumping bite (that I'm pretty sure is different from the one at the beginning of this post, then does a silent roar. Side note, one of the smaller Doshagumas does this same exact roar in the above image.

The hunter calls his mount, circles around, and then switches weapons from greatsword to heavy bowgun and starts blasting rapid fire ammo, which I thought was a light bowgun exclusive. Side note, firing heavy bowgun while on the Seikret is awesome.

Meanwhile the alpha Doshaguma CANCELS his silent roar into a shoulder charge, without going into an idle stance. Note that the smaller Doshaguma couldn't combo out of the fake roar, and instead went straight to running after the hunter. It's unknown whether this is an alpha exclusive combo, or if the hunter just got too far away from the smaller bear.

Next, the hunter dismounts the Seikret with a cool jumping attack in which he twirls around in the air to land in what looks like a neutral stance. Cool, but the hunter is in the wrong stance to go into a charged attack. You might be able to do a leaping slash (wide sweep after charged attack 2) like after an aerial charged slash in Rise, but I'm not sure.

Meanwhile, the monster kinda just walks forward, then looks back annoyed. Something's up there, as there is no way a regular monster would just. you know. walk past the hunter without doing anything.

And then, the main theme starts blasting, the cool shit starts happening, all with the introduction of what the website calls Focus Mode. Part 3 Here.

[eggdrawsthings]

Hi! Same anon here. I was asking about how to draw such expressive figures like your drawings. I noticed even when you were drawing a character standing still, it still looks so alive and dynamic. My drawings always ended up looking so stiff and out of balance. It's weird. Sorry for the trouble and thank you for your time 🥺🙏

Hey! Sorry about all of that. Again, I don't consider myself as someone worthy to ask advice from lol, but I'll try to mention whatever i can think of from the top of my head, so sorry if it's too random. Also, I actually answer sth similar here regarding my process of drawing poses.

You see, when standing still, we tend to shift to one side and put our weight either on the left or right foot, leaning more forward or backward. You want to have the weight shift happening in your drawing too. It makes the figure looks interesting, just by shifting weight to one side, tilting the shoulder a bit, or even twisting the body a little. I learn this from studying Brian Matyas's drawings. He always shifts the character to one side when he's drawing a relaxed standing pose. Also, notice how the shoulder and the hip are always tilted to the opposite side. That creates rhythm. It makes your body less symmetrical, gives it a sense of flow. thus making it more alive. (a trick when observing real-life people is to look to which side the belt is tilting down)

When your start drawing a pose, draw the action line first. Block out the pose by using boxes or the stick figure technique, whichever you prefer. By simplifying the figure down into line, shape, and form, you can easily see if the proportion of the figure is working or not, without being distracted by details like clothes and hair and stuff. The most common problem I saw is ppl focusing too much on the top half of the body or going into the details too quick, and when they start drawing the lower half, it looks off. Either the legs are too short, the action line is not strong enough, the character looks off balance, etc. So you always want to start by blocking out the pose and checking your proportion. The pose might look stiff at first, but you want to get comfortable with drawing the figure w the correct proportion before trying anything else. This applies to facial structures as well.

Also utilize the curve against straight, complex against simple. This again gives a sense of flow and contrast to the figure.

Draw from life. Bring a sketchbook with you. Draw when you are in the library, on the train, in the park, etc. Use references too. Keep a reference board, either on your phone, computer, or places like Pinterest. If you can't go out, drawing from videos is good too. Here are some studies I did from some pencak silat videos. It's much harder than drawing from life cos you cant really see the form and such, so I'd still recc going outside and draw when u can.

When u r drawing from life or videos, observe how people move, stand, sit, etc. Where is the weight distribution. What is the line of action here. How can you exaggerate it. Break it down into shapes. Draw what you see, not what you think you are seeing. Observation is key.

Flip your canvas, compare it to other masters' art, ask for critics, then fix it. Have fun, but also be critical of your art. If you want to, you can find books about figure drawing by masters like Andrew Loomis or George Bridgman. I love their books. Rmb you don't have to go to school to be good at art.

Again, my advice is very biased cos it's based on my own experience and observation. I don't see your art, so Idk what exactly you are having trouble with. But my ask box is always open so feel free to ask again or send me your stuff if you like. I'll try my best to help ^^

[twopoppies]

would your friend mind sharing more about David‘s character and his performance in mp? Because from what I read he seemed pretty sidelined in comparison to the other two leads and wasn’t given much to do performance wise.

Hi love. Sorry for the slow reply, but my friend just got back to me and this was what they had to say:

With regards to David’s performance, I’ll say the first thing that comes to mind is that he completely captured my attention every time he was on screen. His presence is intense and really striking, I really couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. And imagine achieving that next to someone like Harry who is so used to being in the public eye and (unfortunately) objectified. I look at Harry just about every day here, depending on who reblog what, and I’m still not tired of his face, haha. So of course I wanted to catch every moment, every emotion on his face in each scene. But I can honestly say my eyes just kept going to David when they were together, much like Tom looks to Patrick when he thinks no one is watching.

I really didn’t expect to be so completely drawn in by him, it was the best surprise of the film after seeing the chemistry between the three younger leads.

He was the best pick for Patrick, balancing the wisdom of a man that has experienced tragedy and hardship for being gay with a fun/playful and passionate spirit that was really hopeful for love despite everything he’s been through.

Give the man every award, his eyes and mouth were so expressive. There was a way he held himself, very proud but understanding that even though he wasn’t ashamed of himself he did have to be cautious. I got the sense though that he was so desperate to be free with Tom because the way they make each other happy was probably the best feeling in the world for him.

I LOVED Patrick’s sections in the novel. I felt the same connection to the character in the writing that I did watching David bring him to life. He is not side-lined at all, he honestly embodied that character as heartbreaking as that is to consider.

So while Tom and Marion may have “bigger” moments in the film, I would say Patrick gets a focus that is the most important because he’s the one that faces the dangerous/life threatening consequence of being outed.

Some standout scenes were the drawing scene, he went from holding himself so professionally to make Tom think he actually asked him there for museum business. And then 3 scotches later he’s posing in Tom’s uniform, his body completely relaxed and cracking jokes. His physicality with Patrick was fascinating to watch.

Another standout scene, among many, was the scene when he’s beaten. He’s resigned and doesn’t fight back. His eyes are really haunting there.

[bikkinibottom]

Doodles and Sketches

this one is for you <3 @eudaimmonia

words: 2.3k | percabeth

prompt: getting caught passing notes during class

I’ve been sitting on this for about a year now but I’m finally posting it! it’s barely edited so be warned of any grammar mistakes that I simply don’t care to fix </3

There were about four different things Percy was currently focusing on and none of them was the math lesson being taught at the front of the class. With his bottom lip stuck between the clip on the side of his capped pen, the teen sat reclined in his desk chair trying to get the song Tainted Love out of his head. He had half the mind to not bang his head to the two percussive beats that repeat throughout the song.

Mrs. Dodds turned her back to the class to write down some long equation, and Percy rolled his head to his left to see his best friend in much the same predicament. One leg was crossed over the other, her gaze set dead ahead and her eyes miles away. She was twirling a strand of her curly hair in one of her hands. It was her signature ‘I have succumbed to daydreaming but I still look like I’m paying attention’ pose. Same bro, Percy thought.

He studied the blonde girl for a moment and noticed the notebook void of notes sitting on her desk. One thought spiraled into another before he was reminded of middle school and doodles and comic strips and suddenly a very entertaining idea sprung up into Percy’s mind. He snapped his head back just as Mrs. Dodds turned back around to face the class again. He swears he’s developed a sixth sense to the awful teacher at this point. Who could blame him anyway, the woman had a personal vendetta against him. When he questioned her about it one day, asking “Why are you so obsessed with me?” in his best Regina George impression, it cost him a week’s worth of detention and half his dignity.

He opened his notebook to a clean page and began drawing an old cartoon character that he and Annabeth had once drawn together. Annabeth was good with dialogue and facial expressions while Percy was good at drawing body language and actions. They were quite the pair in middle school, with their comic strips and short stories. All their friends and nearly half the student body eagerly awaited any new material they could draw up.

“One day, we’ll get published and we can be in the Sunday paper, it’ll be so awesome,” he remembers Annabeth telling him, all gap-toothed and wild curls. He believed her too. But then high school came along and they both got super busy and the hype and thoughts of publishers became all too unrealistic and hopeful. They maintained their friendship, of course, but the comics and drawings were a thing of the past for Percy and Annabeth.

He tugged lightly on one of his braids as he finished up the drawing. It was a cartoonish chicken slouched back in a desk with a text bubble saying ‘Man this class-’ and wrote a side note next to the drawing asking Annabeth to fill in the blank. When Mrs. Dodds wasn’t looking, he tossed it over to the distracted blonde who flinched at the movement, grey eyes coming back into focus. She looked at the folded note and then side-eyed the Black teen who pretended not to notice.

Percy watched out of the corner of his eye as she picked up the note and watched her face brighten as the sky does when the sun appears after a storm. She bit her lip to repress a laugh and a smile. She glanced over at him and he caught her eye, a glimmer of nostalgia in the irises of her eyes. Without being obvious, she grabbed her pencil and hunched over the piece of paper, brainstorming what she would fill in the blank with. Percy couldn’t help but bounce one of his legs up and down in eager anticipation, trying his hardest to keep his eyes on the front of the class.

Movement out of the corner of his eye and the swift little Plick! of the note landing on his desk forced Percy to smother a grin, opening the note while his eyes remained on the withering Mrs. Dodds. With her back turned once again, he looked down at the note. In Annabeth’s loopy handwriting, the chicken now said,

‘Man this class makes me want to go turn myself in at KFC’.

A repressed snicker escaped the boy’s mouth and he already felt Mrs. Dodd’s eyes fixated on him before he even looked up. With a small pause and then a sneer, the math teacher turned around and Percy immediately got to work.

He sketched out a chicken holding out a white flag of surrender with its wings, its head ducked in shame, and in front of it was the KFC logo. Satisfied with his work, the teen swiftly tossed the note onto his friend’s desk, keeping his head slightly turned to the side to see her reaction. Upon opening the note discreetly, Annabeth slapped a hand over her mouth while stifling a laugh. She scribbled something onto the note, her eyes trained up on the board, then tossed over the note.

Annabeth wrote, ‘Ever notice how Mrs. Dodds looks like an old leathery chicken?’

Percy wrote back, ‘WHAT’

‘Like. Think bat and chicken and evil.’

‘LMFAO. Like this?’

Percy drew what he interpreted Annabeth envisioned their horrid math teacher as, which bordered on a Greek mythological monster. When he tossed his finished work back to the blonde she pursed her lips so tightly her skin turned white. Turning her head slowly to him a single tear was streaming down her face as she shook silently with laughter. Percy whipped his head away, coughing into his shoulder to cover up his laugh.

Recovering only slightly, Percy noticed Mrs. Dodds glaring at him from her peripheral and he immediately sobered up. A few minutes passed and Percy nearly forgot he was in mid-note conversation with Annabeth when he picked up on her lemony scent as she leaned over to toss the note back to him. Not prepared for what he was about to witness, Percy opened the note quietly, like the calm before a storm. If someone were filming Annabeth and Percy right this moment, it would be titled ‘videos taken seconds before disaster.’

Annabeth wrote, ‘No like this LOL’ and beneath her words was probably one of the funniest drawings he’s ever seen. It was a messy sketch of Mrs. Dodds’ head except her eyes were completely black and she had a forked tongue. Her head was attached to a cartoon rotisserie chicken, her feet were the bone ends of the legs, and protruding from her back were bat-like wings. A speech bubble was above her that said, “Now, honey!”

Losing all sense of self-control, Percy dropped the note onto his desk, putting his head in his hands and shaking silently with laughter. Snickers erupted out of him which he tried to mask as him having a coughing fit. Annabeth let out some kind of squeak at the sight of her friend losing it and turned her entire body away from him as she felt tears streaming down her face from laughter. From an outside perspective, it looked like the two of them were having a stroke. From Mrs. Dodd’s perspective, it looked like two students who were about to be put in detention.

Forcing himself to calm down, Percy wiped a tear from his eye and noticed what could only be the angel of death looming over him. Upon opening his eyes to be met with his untimely fate (A.K.A Mrs. Dodds) Annabeth and Percy have never sobered up so quickly in their lives. Before he could hide the note with all of their drawings on it, the older woman snatched it off of his desk and glared daggers at the teen before inspecting what was on the paper. Percy couldn’t even look at her face so he glanced at Annabeth whose face was completely pale. The class was completely silent. The sounds of the clock ticking were amplified and Percy could feel a droplet of sweat drip down his neck. Glancing up at his horrible math teacher in fear she slowly crumpled the paper in her hands before whispering in the deadliest voice ever,

“Get out of my fucking class.”

Only the sounds of two chairs screeching across the linoleum and backpacks being grabbed in a rush could be heard as the two of them scrambled out of there. Percy was almost out the door when he saw Annabeth get her foot caught in the straps of her backpack nearly falling over. Come on, he mouthed to her in a state of panic. She glared at him as she hopped forward dumbly. Her face seemed to be saying, Don’t you think I’m trying?!

Detangling her feet as she caught up to him at the door, he grabbed her wrist and basically sprinted out into the hall. They didn’t stop running until they turned a corner, slamming against some lockers once they were far away. A janitor was at the end of the hall staring at them in confusion and they both waved at him sheepishly. Turning back towards each other, Annabeth had her hands on her knees while Percy leaned back against the wall with one hand on his head as they both caught their breaths. As if on cue, they broke out into a fit of giggles, Percy practically wheezing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“We’re dead. We’re so dead and I don’t even care,” the blonde laughed beside him, sliding down to the floor.

“Not you tripping over your fucking backpack,” Percy cackled.

“Stop oh my god,” she groaned out, swatting at Percy’s legs. The sound of a pager could be heard down the hall on their left and the two of them looked up to see a security guard walking toward them.

“You two, with me, now. We’re going to 330,” the man said sternly. They didn’t waste any time grabbing their stuff and following the man up to the third floor. Mrs. Dodds must have already called the office on them.

Room 330 was the designated classroom for in-school detentions, meaning if you got kicked out of class this was the place you were sent to. After-school detentions had a different location that was a lot stricter than room 330. Here the teacher just messed around on their phone and students were allowed to be on theirs as well. Situating themselves in the back, Annabeth slid her desk right next to Percy’s and got out a paper and pen. He didn’t say anything as she scribbled away for several minutes and he scrolled through his phone, trying to find a mindless game to play. She’d nudge him periodically and he’d nudge her back until he finally put his phone down to peek at what she was concentrating on so seriously.

“Don’t look yet,” she warned him, turning away and covering the paper with her hands.

“Then quit touching me, noob,” he poked at her. All he got in response was a half-hearted “Mm-hmm”.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, pulling lightly on her curls to watch them bounce back into place. He knew he was one of the only people to have this special privilege so he took advantage of it whenever he could.

About a minute later Annabeth was finally done. She slid the paper over to him with a proud smirk, her face practically beaming and Percy tried not to blush at the sight. Leaning forward to see what was on the paper, Percy looked at a complete recreation of their doodles and sketches from class. He could feel a lopsided grin slowly grow on his face as he stared in shock and endearment at her memory. She even wrote the conversation we had, he observed. The attention to detail made his stomach swoop.

Not trusting whatever word vomit would come out of his mouth, Percy grabbed Annabeth’s pen and decided to add on to the series they created. He showed Annabeth his work and she let out a snicker, grabbing the pen and paper from him and adding on more.

They spent the rest of the class going back and forth, trying to make the other laugh until they got in trouble again. (They were sent to the principal’s office about ten minutes later). Miraculously, but unsurprisingly, Annabeth managed to talk their way out of it. Somehow they only wound up with one after school detention which they served later that day with no issues.

By the time Percy got home that afternoon, he found the doodles they drew together folded up in his backpack. He looked over them again, tracing Annabeth’s loopy handwriting alongside his scribbled handwriting. A smile overtook his face, one that he only made when his friend crossed his mind, and he walked over to his desk. He put the paper in his designated “Annabeth drawer” which began as a collection of their old drawings but soon became a mess of objects associated with her.

Movie stubs, a half used lip balm container, a blue scrunchie, and a yellow hacky sack ball were just some of the few things arranged neatly in the drawer. He delicately placed the paper on top of the older sketches as if it was a valuable artifact. Which in a way it kind of was. Anything belonging to Annabeth Chase was almost as priceless as Annabeth herself.

Turning away from the desk, Percy realized he really needed to get started on his homework or risk falling behind. A certain blonde haired girl popped into his mind as he dialed a number, waiting for them to pick up.

“Wanna help me do my homework?” was the first thing he asked as soon as Annabeth picked up.

“Yeah yeah, I’m already on my way, loser,” he could hear her huff on the other end in a lighthearted tone.

“You’re the best, see you soon,” he smiled into the phone and hung up. He simply ignored the fluttering feeling in his chest as waited for his best friend to arrive.