#and I feel like I’ve improved my designs a bit more

[mossymandibles]

Idk if anyone remembers her, but I’m feeling a revamp for my girl Reya. I haven’t considered her in a minute and I already have a few ideas for her design...

I may include ‘grosser’ aspects. She’s a deep sea leviathan after all.

[monsterbroth]

i woke up early today and am way too energised my brain is like spilling in circles but I still have not the right energy to be coherent or focus on actually doing anything with it

[marypaol]

Strings And Knots

Draco Malfoy x fem!reader

Summary: Reader makes a bracelet for Draco, and, surprisingly to her, it lasts throughout all their years of Hogwarts.

Warnings: Mention of death, war, murder, suffocation, air pollution, destruction, emotional/physical damage, but overall fluff! (Until the end it’s kinda sad but it ends quite well- just a sad mood.)

Note: I know I did the whole Divination thing wrong since they do it for every month but that’s okay. And I really love this one it’s gotta be in top five favorites! Maybe top three!

Masterlist

Request Requirements

One: The Making

Year: First

Her fingers worked carefully on the thread, the rough texture feeling slightly scratchy against her fingertips. Her hands were red and almost dry, twisting them together before pulling the knot up, securing it as it joined the design she was creating.

She wanted it to be perfect, despite her just learning about a week ago, but each day she practiced a bit and she could tell she was slowly improving.

She grumbled when the strings tangled together and she once again separated the colors. She could use magic, her wand sitting on her bed on top of her Charms and Potions book, but she made it her personal mission not to use the wand, for she wanted it to be made by her very hands, that way the finishing product would be much more meaningful; to her and to him.

Her fingers burned and the tips turned red as she tied the finishing knot at the bottom, taking a pair of scissors afterward and snipping the axis thread, the extra string flying off the once was connected bracelet and landing on her robes. This time she did use the wand, pointing them at the strands and made them disappear with a flick of the tip.

-

“Good, you’re here, look what Potter is doing, hanging around that giant again; honestly, how could you tolerate-what are you doing?”

She was half listening, her fingers focusing on tying the bracelet she made around Draco’s wrist. He made a face she didn’t see, taking his arm to his eyes once she was finished.

“What’s this rubbish?” He snarled, eyes looking disgustingly at the thread on his wrist. The girl rolled her eyes, being used to his on-the-daily-attitude.

“It’s not rubbish,” she protested. “It’s a bracelet. A friendship bracelet to be exact.”

Draco still didn’t wipe the disturbed look off his face, looking down at the thread with uncertainty.

“Look, I have one too; just switched colors.” She said, showing her own by pulling up her robe sleeve, hoping to assure him that out of the two of them he wasn’t the only one wearing a bracelet.

He looked at hers, something in his eyes that she couldn’t read. “Well? What does it mean?” He asked, still looking at the strands on his arm.

The girl shrugged even though the meaning of them meant everything to her. “It represents friendship. Ya ever heard of it?” She asked, a teasing glint in her eyes as she looked at him.

He scowled. “Of course I’ve heard of friendship. We are friends, aren’t we?”

She smiled. “Yeah, why do you think I made it for you?”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Well I will admit I like being friends with you but I’m not sure about walking around with this on my wrist.”

The girl looked down at the bracelet she made herself, the strands not seeming so exciting and meaningful anymore, they seemed to be mocking her now, screaming at her that Draco wouldn’t want to wear some silly bracelet.

“Right…” She whispered, chest squeezing. Draco scoffed, leaning over and picking up her chin with his index finger. She looked at him, eyes uncertain and anxious.

“Doesn’t mean I won’t wear it- at least it matches my robes.” He stated, looking down at the green thread and then at the knitted badge of Slytherin on his chest, mouth twitching but she could tell it was his form of smiling. Her lips stretched wide, eyes sparkling. This time his grin broke, but it was small, nice and toothless.

Two: The Sighting

Year: Second

“Snape assigned another essay, I can’t believe it.” She complained with a light scowl in her voice, plopping her books down on the table beside the fireplace, sitting down on the emerald green couch, the surface silky beneath the skin of her hands. Draco grumbled in agreement to her protests, eyes scanning the paper of the Daily Prophet. She always thought it was interesting, him being so young and reading all those kind of grown up things about the Ministry. But it came with an upside: she could always get updates from him about what was currently going on in the Wizarding world. She leaned forward, finger tapping his knee lightly.

“Anything good today?” She asked, neck craning to meet his face behind the stack of papers, moving pictures all around the pages. He shook his head, folding the Prophet up carefully before throwing it onto the table, right next to her textbooks.

“No,” He replied. “And I bet there is, just wait till my father tells me. And that Chamber, he never tells me anything these days.”

It was her turn to agree with a complaint between the two of them.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do, right?” She tried to assure, but Draco wasn’t one for the ‘look on the bright side’ pep talk. She always knew that, but what she also knew was that it was worth a try.

“I wish there was something I could do.” Draco snarled, lips twitching irritably. She smiled lightly, getting off the couch and sitting the floor, pulling her parchment out with a quill and ink bottle.

“How ‘bout that essay, mm?” She hummed, voice smooth and he nodded, still looking like his head wasn’t with her. She watched him as he looked at of the window for a moment, the tallest one in the Common Room, the evening sun providing a warm glow to the space. His hand went to his head, lightly scratching his ear, when she then noticed the worn out thread on his wrist, green and slightly dirty, displaying its age. She smiled. “You’re wearing it.” She noted, and watched as his head snapped to her, eyes moving from the knotted strings to her face.

“Well we are friends, aren’t we?” He replied like it was a silly observation, shrugging half-heartedly but something brewed in her chest as he joined her, getting his things out for the essay they were about to write. It was something her young self wouldn’t be able to recognize, but it was similar to when her mother smiled at her in the morning, or how her father kissed her hair before leaving for work.

Her older self would know, oh yes, and that older mature young lady would call it love.

Three: The Teasing

Year: Third

“No.” Draco’s voice burst out as she hovered a very reactive ingredient over the cauldron, the potion brewing inside just the right temperature for him to add the alligator heart, dropping a few chunks inside. She grimaced in disgust.

“I was joking.” She then insisted.

“No you weren’t.” He instantly said, looking at her as a way to say “try me”.

She snorted, cutting up an herb he gave her. “I wasn’t actually gonna do it.” She tried to convince, yet he wouldn’t take her excuses, shaking his head.

“Yes you would; then we would end up like Seamus.” Draco responded and she chuckled, looking down at the herbs again so she failed to notice the soft smile on his lips.

“Got a friend, Malfoy? Who’s the lucky person?” Pansy’s voice suddenly broke out, and, the two Slytherins turning to her, saw her long skinny finger pointing at Draco’s wrist, a teasing glint on her face. Draco scowled at her, shooting her daggers with his grey eyes.

“Shut up Parkinson.” He spat, and she shut right up, cheeks flushing. “Not like you have any friends, bet you wish you did, don’t you?”

Pansy’s eyes glossed over but neither of them seemed to take care to it, yet the girl felt a small, very small I tell you, peck of empathy.

Pansy dismissed herself from the classroom right then, crying her eyes out.

The girl turned to Draco. “You didn’t have to be so harsh, ya know.” She whispered. She saw him look at her.

“Yeah I did. Surprised she didn’t say anything about yours.” He said softly, nudging her wrist that had the thread on it.

The girl scoffed quietly. “I’m a girl, it’s normal for us to have silly jewelry on.”

Draco’s pale eyebrow shot up. “‘Silly jewelry’?” He quoted. “So our friendship is silly now?”

The girl felt a pinch of regret hit her. She quickly shook her head. “No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

He still had an absence of a frown on his lips, but he believed the reassurance that she provided when she gave him a kind apologetic smile.

“Good.” She heard him mutter, most likely for her to not hear, but she thanked Merlin her ears picked up on it.

Four: The Admiring

Year: Forth

The Divination book was open in front of her, propped up against her bag that was lazily thrown on the table moments prior. The usual presence of Draco wasn’t met, since she was keeping herself busy while he attended Quidditch practice. The sun was still shining, though it was evening and after supper, through the green see-through curtains.

The Professor wanted them to write predictions on how their future would go, and all she came up with was that she would “experience a heart warming moment” and that “something she dearly loved would break”.

Her eyebrows were furrowed tightly, and just when she about decided to start making them up, the Common Room entrance opened, a certain platinum blonde coming into view, broomstick hung over his shoulder. His face was twisted with exhaustion, yet once his eyes met hers she saw a different expression in his eyes, relief perhaps, for she often didn’t know how to read his eyes, despite them being friends for four years.

He blooped down across from her, next to her bag so he was still in sight. His hand was now dug into his hair, eyes fluttering but he still was able to look at her. She stared longer than she should’ve, but the sight was too warming to her chest, watching his tired eyes gaze upon hers with such softness no one would ever be able to see but her.

She had her right arm on the table, flipping through the pages of the book with her other hand.

“Divination?” Draco asked, peering over at the work she had done. She nodded, and at that moment she yawn came over her.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m about to start making it up at this point.”

Draco chuckled, reaching up and lazily rubbing his eye. “Agreed; kinda stupid really.”

She nodded once again, starting to get too tired to talk. She scanned the page that was open in front of her, spotting the sentence “you will witness a break up between two strangers” and thought that was good enough. The other predictions spoke to her but this one didn’t seem to do such, for she was at that point picking random ones out to write down. She was focused on writing, so such so that she didn’t notice Draco lay his arm down, close to her hand but the skin wasn’t close enough to brush. She also didn’t notice his grey eyes moving from his wrist to hers, the matching thread being admired scanned with his eyes.

She looked up them, feeling his finger tips brush her robe sleeve, and she met his eyes.

“What are you looking at?” She asked, eyebrows furrowing only to curve even deeper than before when he quickly responded, a little too quickly.

“Nothing.” He said shortly, taking his arm back. She held a confused expression but didn’t pry on the subject.

“Can we go to bed now?” He asked abruptly, trying to change the topic of conversation. She hummed, packing up her now finished work and putting it in her bag. She stood up, about to grab the bag when Draco beat her to it, his pale hand gripping the strap.

“Thanks.” She muttered, suddenly feeling a small flush appear over her cheeks.

“For what?” He asked, confused, like he didn’t know he just did a kind deed.

She scoffed at how oblivious he was. “For carrying my bag. You don’t have to do that.”

It was his turn to scoff, lips twitching in slight annoyance. “Well we are friends, aren’t we?”

Five: The Breaking

Year: Fifth

The Hogwarts Express seemed to vibrate underneath her, the engine coming to life as it was ready to ride on. Everyone was excited for the upcoming year, happiness flooding their features and chests.

She, however, grew worried when she didn’t have the usual company of her friend, not having seeing him yet. She didn’t spot him in the platform or while she was walking along the hallways of the train, going to their usual compartment. She was thinking he went with his other friends, perhaps he wanted to catch up with them.

But she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, since he always at least met her before each year, in the same seats on the same train in the same compartment. Why was it different this year?

She looked out the window, miraculously thinking maybe he was running along the train’s side, yelling for it to stop so he could catch up. But of course that wouldn’t happen since the boy was always on time, so he must be on the train, just not with her.

The compartment door opened abruptly, causing her head to snap in the direction of the noise. Draco stood there, in a black suit, black tie, and black shoes. He strolled over to the seat and sat across from her, leaning his hands on the table in front of him. This all happened just in time as the train started churning, wheels turning and gaining speed as it headed off to the school.

“Where have you been?” She asked, unable to hide the worry in her voice.

“I was looking for something.” He answered simply, looking a little irritated.

“For what, exactly?” She asked, getting annoyed as well, the irritation brewing in her chest as he once again left her with no answers.

“I was looking for this.” He said sharply. He had slapped something on the table for her to see, the green thread immediately recognizable between his fingers. It was the same as it has always been, dirty as it went through the years but the knots stayed true. The only thing was that the bottom was broken, the knot becoming undone.

“Can’t wear it if it’s broken, right?”

She was half listening, still gazing at the strings that were on the table. She grabbed it gently between her fingers, caressing it like a baby and analyzed the damage.

“It fell off on my way here.” He explained, kind of annoyed that it did such thing at such an inconvenient time.

“I can fix it.” She said quietly, surprised he still possessed it. “I just can’t believe you still have it.”

“What, you don’t have yours?” He asked, looking a little hurt beneath the annoyance that she’s so surprised at that occurrence.

“Of course I do,” she started, and missed his eyes going to her arm to see if it was there, and she was telling the truth. “I just didn’t think you’d-“

Draco groaned, rubbing his head with his hand and looking at the window, grey eyes reflecting the sun’s warmth. “We are friends, aren’t we? Honestly…”

She looked down at the bracelet, the knots worn down and dirty, but the meaning stood true. She didn’t know what it was, but somehow her mind went back to her Forth Year, working on her Divination homework, and writing down “something she dearly loved would break.”

She supposed her made up predictions weren’t made up after all.

Six: The Decision

Year: Sixth

“This is stupid.” Draco’s voice blurted shortly, looking down at the homework in front of him, the essay’s words seeming to combine in his mind, creating an annoying jumble of ink.

“I know, but Slughorn insisted.” She reminded, causing his silver eyes to roll in the back of his head. He quill lazily sat on his hands, twirling it mindlessly out of boredom.

She noticed his robe sleeve rolled up at the action, wrist muscles twitching and moving as his fingers worked the quill.

The bracelet made of thread was not only repaired but still sitting on his wrist as good as ever, the green shining the meaning of it. Just looking at his made the feeling of her own on her skin a lot more noticeable, heart warming at the sight.

“Do you want me to make you a new one?” She asked, and when he turned to her she gestured to the strands that were getting older by the day.

His eyebrows furrowed deeply, displaying large amounts of confusion. “New one? Certainly not.” He replied. “This one’s just fine; don’t know what you’d think that, really.”

She smiled soft but it was unsure. “You sure? Cause I was thinking about making myself a new one.”

Draco scoffed but looked a little frustrated. “Scared of a little dirt?”

“No.” She replied. Draco then nodded towards her wrist.

“Then it stays. Mine’s as old as yours.”

Seven: The Pulling

Year: Seventh

The air was musty, ash seeping the air, suffocating the lungs of beings who breathed it in. Of course no one cared at the moment; the air pollution the last thing on their minds. The living breathing representation of evil was standing in front of them, laughing like what was happening was his dream come true. Because, realistically, it was. Deaths, damage, emotional and physical, destruction, all of it was part of his dream. To end it all and face the boy who lived, and all for what. Just so he can kill the boy who he was trying to murder ever since he was a baby?

It wasn’t that the girl was paying much attention as the living evil spoke, too busy staring at the ground that inc held healthy green grass, grass that her and Draco used to pick at while they complained about classes they had that day. Or any day for that matter. Sometimes his long skinny fingers would dig into her sides, wiggling until he heard the sound of her laughter, something he may never hear again because of the cold voice calling him.

His mother. His father. The living evil.

He stepped forward, ready to leave the cruelty of his peers and the burning stares he just knew where there. His head swam with so many emotions but he didn’t have time to look them through, just focusing on walking to the other side, the other side where evil doings were being performed. The other side that he didn’t have a choice but to be on.

He was gonna go, he really was, despite the soft tug he felt on his wrist, and, looking down, saw her index finger hooked underneath the thread of his bracelet as she pulled, the knots begging him to stay along with the maker of them. He met her eyes despite the emotions crashing his rib cage, threatening to get to his heart, but he held the gaze all the same.

“Stay.” She said softly, eyes swirling, knowing all those years with him weren’t for nothing. She didn’t last all those times with him as a child or teenager just for him to walk away.

“Why.” He muttered back, voice dry as ever so much so that he felt like his throat was filled with sand and he was speaking through the tiny rocks. She answered with a small smile, something so small making him plant his feet on the ground, making him stay away didn’t the living evil on the other side….making him have a choice.

“Well, we are friends, aren’t we?”

[blaithnne]

Local big sister experiences emotions, more at 6

Been wanting to do one of these with Lauren for AGES, but I never got round to it. Then I saw the Lydia and Phinium expression sheets on @littledigits’ website and I felt inspiration like never before.

The funniest struggle I have with Lauren’s design right now is that she nose too big for she got damn face. Literally, Hilda characters noses take up a fairly small portion of their faces, and her’s took up WAY too much, leaving little room for her to make facial expressions. But I struggled to find a fix because when I made the nose smaller it just didn’t look like Lauren anymore, so I took this as an opportunity to work on that!

She still has a larger nose than most characters, starting higher up (like her grandad!) and ending lower down (but not quite as low as before). I also made her eyes a little smaller and with a shape similar to Lydia’s (though you can see in some of these I hadn’t quite landed on that yet and her eyes are a bit too big), which works both as a nod to her parentage and because I think it makes the nose look bigger. This still doesn’t leave as much room for the mouth as most other characters, but that’s okay — Lauren is a very private person who keeps her feelings close to her chest, I think it works for her to have subtler expressions, adds to how guarded she is! Oh and I also updated the shape of her hair slightly, just to make it a bit more style accurate.

These changes are pretty small on their own, but I think combined they work well to make Lauren feel a lot more…alive? Far less stiff, anyway. I think she also has a more unique facial structure now, instead of just “what if Johanna was 90% nose”. She’s still got a big old nose and I love it but now she can emote, yay!

This is really all just concept stuff, I’m hoping to get a new fullbody style-ref for Lauren out soon! Now that I’ve improved the main issues I had with her face in the last ref, now it’s onto the silhouette! I want her to read as more of a strong character (though it comes across decently in her current ref, I wanna push it more without being as exaggerated as Ahlberg, which is. A challenge for me lol), streamline her silhouette, and finally make her taller than Johanna like she’s always meant to have been <3 I made her shorter for so long because I thought it would help her read better as her daughter but you know what? That’s dumb actually, she’s tall.

ANYWAYS, thank you for listening in on the annual Lauren redesign, and to the artists behind the show for posting so much amazing inspiring show stopping concept work for free because it makes my autism worse /pos

[ezlo-x]

“Wow I hope BotW gets a sequel someday…” - my TotK summary <3

It’s been a year, and honestly. I did not complete that game at all. I watched lets plays and cutscenes in youtube and a few playthroughs of my friends. And every time, my regret of buying this game grows ever so slightly. I know I sound mean and harsh but I prommy I got nothing against ppl who actually enjoyed TotK. This is more of my personal experience of how my excitement playing this game completely burned me out less than halfway through the game.

Gameplay

I’ll start with gameplay first, as I have issues with it. Let’s start with the physics of the game itself. Ngl, there was a small worry in the back of my mind when I realized there would be in-game physics and that you have to rely on those said physics. I personally don’t have a good experience with game physics and they usually tend to frustrate me. Which somewhat happened when playing the game. It didn’t happen too often, thankfully, maybe because the zonai parts didn’t tend to last long. Speaking of Zonai parts and builds

I wish building Zonai stuff was a bit more fun. Or at least give us more time to experience our builds. We already have a disadvantage by having a limited amount of batteries that you have to slowly upgrade throughout the game. So, seeing that one of your Zonai pieces starts to flash and disappear is annoying. I understand we can obtain more zonai parts throughout Hyrule, but I wish it lasted long enough. Also, the fact that you can’t really travel a lot in many of the builds, oh how disappointing it was to build a cool Zonai truck with big ass wheels but get frustrated that it couldn’t pass through a few bumps on the road. I feel like the Hoverbike is the best Zonai build of the game.

The Ultrahand is fun when trying to solve puzzles or merge random items. Fusing weapons, on the other hand, is my favorite thing in the game. There’s something really satisfying about fusing a really powerful weapon together. I really don’t mind that the weapons are breakable if that means I have a spot to make a strong weapon. Weapon durability never really bothered me. Both games push you to explore around to look for weapons. I think it would be boring if they weren’t breakable.

The shrines are a big improvement from BotW's shrines. I wished there were more challenging Shrines over the many King Rauru blessings. I can't really say much about the dungeons as I only completed two out of the five. But I think there was a bit to be desired; it's almost a Zelda dungeon.

Sage abilities. I want to speak to the game designer who thought it was a great idea to activate the sage abilities with the same button you click to pick up items on the floor. A total downgrade to the way you’d activate the Champion abilities in BotW.

Rupees. I would like to speak to the game designer who thought it was a great idea that you now have to manually press A to pick up rupees from the floor rather than casually walking in front of it to automatically pick it up. From my previous point, do you know how many times I’ve tried to pick up rupees only for Tulin’s ability to fly them away from me?

The sky islands, ohh boyyy, finding out that they had to reduce the amount of sky islands is disappointing, but I understand in a game design aspect. BUT it is disappointing that the game was advertising itself for the sky islands, only for there to be very few in the final. Like remember back in 2021 when they were advertising SkSw HD, and then i think a year later a totk teaser dropped and Link was falling from the skies? Good times ❤️

The Depths: I enjoyed the Depths a bit more than the Sky Islands. But it does get boring after a while if you’re not there to fight monsters or look for treasure, which is also disappointing. I love the OST descending down a chasm and entering the depths. Also, don’t get me started on how frustrating it is to use Zonai builds there compared to the surface or sky islands.

I think those are all my thoughts on the gameplay. I still have a few more issues with it but I feel like it mixes with the story so lets get that over with

Limitation vs Freedom

My biggest issue with this game is that it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. However, there is still a story attached, and the story still wants to play out linearly. So, we have a game that grants you total freedom on how you want to play this game, but the story is still linear. But even if you decide to experience the story while doing dungeons and shrines. The game doesn't update with the piece of information that you discover.

The Dragon Tears are a really flawed way to experience the story. Zelda's memories are scattered across Hyrule; the number of times I've seen ppl say they accidentally got the tears out of order cause they thought it was similar to BotW's way of getting the memories. Basically, if you happen to be near one memory, you might as well get it cause it'll get annoying to go back and forth. Only to the person's shock, they got a cutscene meeting the Queen and King and then going up the Hebra region as that's the closest memory from the previous one. Just to see Queen Sonia dead on the floor.

What also bothers me is that the game doesn't update when you make a discovery in these memories. For example, I found out that Phantom Ganon can transform into Zelda in the memories and walk up to the NPCs in hopes of a change of dialogue. But getting nothing, walking up to Purah, Tulin, then Yunobo, and seeing no change of dialogue got really tiresome. It's as if the game doesn't believe you're smart enough to connect the dots.

Also, for people who decided to explore and get the Dragon Tear memories before entering any dungeon. There is very little change of dialogue, suddenly the game strangely punishes you by not letting the npcs acknowledge what you just discovered. While it's not an actual in-game punishment, you're stuck with characters asking a million questions that you already know of. Suddenly, the game's freedom to do whatever you want gets put to a halt because you decide to have the freedom to experience the story however you'd like.

NOW I get to move the part that I’ve been waiting (dreading) for!!

Lore

Sheikah Tech…I don’t care how simple the explanation is on why they are gone. It is probably the dumbest explanation I’ve seen. The fact that it wasn’t even questioned in-game and by the developers baffles my mind. How does it vanish in thin air? Their explanation is that the Calamity no longer exists doesn’t make sense to me either. The Sheikah tech has been there for more than 10k years but only in a dormant state. I don’t want to ask any more questions, or I’ll be here all day, but it drives me up a wall how the lore of the Sheikah got shafted to the side for the new stone technology aesthetic. Speaking of which-

Zonai in general. The fact that WE DONT EVEN GET LORE from the Zonais aside from being viewed as gods is sooooo ughhhhh I wish there was more. Why are there two remaining Zonais? (This probably got answered tbh but idc to look) Who’s the ancient hero and how come he looks like a Zonai or just in fact a different race we’ve never seen before?

Draconification…god. I have many thoughts and also many thoughts about the secret stones. It is an idea that I find interesting and could’ve worked for me. If it didn’t contradict itself in many aspects, as in how becoming a dragon, you will lose your sense of self. I think it would be a nice foreshadowing of the fate Zelda could’ve had. I think making the other dragons take a role in that and expand on it would’ve worked. Idk I think instead of implying it, it could’ve been expanded and shown a lot more severity of the situation.

Apparently I don’t got much on lore, but you know what I got much of????

STORY

This one is going to be a FAT one so bear with me. God where do I even begin here, I'm going completely omit the part where the game feels like it’s gaslighting you through the npcs cause I feel like everyone knows that.

My biggest frustration with this game is that it has such interesting story concepts and cinematic moments. But I can’t but feel like these moments were there first, and everything else was built around it. However, whatever suspicion I feel about how they created this story, only to my shock and horror that there isn’t a credited group of people in the credits, only an outside team (company?). Before I continue, I think it’s dumb when people say TLoZ didn’t have much of a story when previous Zelda games had a storyline to follow (OoT, MM, WW, TP, fucking…even Link’s Awakening, and more). So yes, TLoZ does have stories. It’s not just about the dungeons if I'm being honest.

What I find so odd is that Monolith Soft has games such as the Xenoblade games, where the latest game of that series does have a credited team of writers. Hell, BotW had two credited writers. But I won't go far speculating why they decided to hire a company outside the team to write TotK; it is only interesting to me why they did that. Since there really isn't a solid team of writers, I will focus my issues on Fujibayashi as a story writer; after all, he is the director of this game. And I've seen multiple interviews after the game's release where he explains a lot of the game's "lore" and story that should've been easily explained in the game in the first place. I think this will be me sharing my opinions rather than critiques... boy where do I even begin...

Sages—the ancient sages, not counting Mineru, are pointless. I felt no connection seeing the Ancient Sages meet their predecessors. Can't believe Age of Calamity made me feel more strongly about the Champions meeting their predecessors than the ancient sages did. - I also think they really don't share anything important. Maybe the first time, yes, but you could easily remove their cutscenes and just have Mineru explain how everything went down, and nothing will change. - Now, to the present Sages, I can't really say much, sadly. Tulin and Yunobo were the only characters for whom I completed their quests, and I enjoyed their character arcs, especially Yunobo's. If I could pick up TotK again, I would try to do Riju's arc, as it seemed really fun to play from the playthroughs I've seen my friends do. I don't really care for Sidon. Before I dropped the game, I was going through his quest and got really irritated fast for many reasons that I have mentioned here previously.

King Rauru and Queen Sonia – There has never been a character that I've enjoyed where I think they deserved much better than what they were there for. I get it; Sonia was only there as the character to be killed off to move the plot forward, but oh my god...I could've saved her. I wished we could've seen her more involved in the story than just standing by Raruru's side. - King Rauru, my brain turns foggy when I think of this man, and sometimes there are too many words to explain my issues. But to water it down, I feel we centered ourselves too much on these characters who don't even affect the main protagonist to some degree. Sure, King Rauru first appears at the beginning to show you his magic hand abilities. But I guess I was hoping something like how the previous TLoZ games had your companion help you throughout your journey and are the key fact of many things in the story (Midna and KotRL appear in my head when I mention this).

Zelda—sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I think this game would've been 10x better if she had been the protagonist. I know it probably wouldn't make sense because she turns into a dragon by the end but Idc. What frustrates me about Zelda is that she's given very few options. It's a war or nothing. It's becoming a dragon or being stuck in the past forever. I guess that's the tragedy of her story, but instead of me feeling sad, it frustrates me.

Link—Oh god, here we go. Link has a very small role in this, and you can disagree with me. But how is it possible that this is one of the few Links that has little involvement in the story? Link just happened to stumble into a bigger mystery than it already was. Link didn't even prove himself to Ganondorf why he's a threat to him aside from the first cutscene and Rauru.

Ganondorf - .........I hope this is the last time we see Ganondorf in the series. I know that sounds shocking, but if Fujibayashi is going to take the lead in storytelling for future games, I don't want him to make another iteration of Ganondorf. To me, Fujibayashi works better by making completely new Zelda villains. Ghirahim and Kohga are perfect examples. Ganondorf in this game was so underwhelming and disappointing. He never directly confronted himself with either Link or Zelda. Gameplay wise, he's great, but the story? What is he doing here? Literally, it feels like they only brought Ganondorf back because people questioned about Ganondorf back in BotW.

Conclusion

There are many aspects of the game that I enjoy; however, in my case, the bad outweighs the good. That's why this game frustrates me: There was a lot of potential to be seen. There is probably more for me to say that I'm either intentionally leaving out or just forgetting cause there are many things. Happy one year TotK 🎉🎉🎉

[vaesbst]

Malevolence || S.C

╰┈➤ Synopsis; In high school, a student is relentlessly tormented by a popular classmate who takes pleasure in her suffering. Despite the cruelty, she secretly finds a disturbing pleasure in his torment. One early morning, as she sits alone in an empty classroom, the bully arrives unexpectedly, intensifying the tension and leading to a chilling encounter where their hidden desires come to light.

╰┈➤ Paring; Changbin x Reader

╰┈➤ Genre; school au, bully trope, degradation, smut

╰┈➤ Warnings; explicit language, mentions of sadism and masochism, degradation, rough sex, no condom, slight nipple play, mentions of masturbation, implied sexual assault.

Notes; I’ve never written smut before so this was a bit different. Just wanted to remind y’all that english isn’t my first language so I do apologise to any mistakes. Changbin is over 18 in this story so don’t worry. Please do leave me some feedback as they help me improve.

Neither school nor home life had ever been easy for you. Between the constant bullying you were subjected to at school and the unhealthy relationship you had with your dysfunctional family, sometimes you wondered whether there was truly a place out there where you could feel at ease and “normal” for once.

As you sat at your home room’s desk engraved with various swear words and deaths threats that kept accumulating day by day, you trembled in fear due to the impending doom that was going to be making its appearance within the next few hours.There were moments when you found yourself questioning whether you’ve angered some strange supernatural force that was now exacting it’s vengeance by asserting that your life is miserable after being involved with mentioned pending doom, as everything began going down hill for you the second you became Seo Changbin’s prime target.

It was early in the morning so you knew he was not going to be making his appearance anytime soon, but the thought of what new torture mechanism he had come up with for you that day, designed to satisfy his sadistic tendencies, terrified you.

Though lately you’ve had very strange thoughts. At the beginning, when he had just began tormenting you, there was nothing you despised more than seeing his face and his callous smirk staring you down whilst you were licking the boys toilets urinals like he made you to. Or like when he had asked you to stand in rain while he sat in the shade, as he gazed at you intensely with his hand gripping his crotch.

At first you pondered why he had forced you to stand in the rainfall for seemingly no reason, but once you noticed that he wasn’t looking at your face but somewhere slightly below your chin, you had followed his gaze and landed on your chest, therefore realising the true intent behind his strange request leaving you disgusted, attempting to cover yourself with your arms as much as you possibly could but with no avail.

But now, 9 nights out of 10 you’d wake up hyperventilating with your panties drenched in your core’s juices as you’d try stabilising your breath after the very intense dreams you’d have about him and the things he’d make you do at school.

As you were still immersed in your lewd thoughts, the door swung open, the loud bang startling you and bringing an end to your fantasies.

“I knew I’d find you here” said a very familiar voice. Your head snapped towards the entrance to confirm your suspicions about the origins of the voice, and unfortunately there stood the last person you wanted to see right now.

“W-what are you doing here?” your voice wavering in terror, “it’s 6am. School doesn’t start till 8”

Your trembling voice had definitely triggered something within him as his sadistic smirk had made an appearance again “I just thought I’d come in early today to play with my favourite toy before everyone else get here” he says, closing the door in a swift motion and locking it behind him.

You gripped onto your sit in anticipation and slight fear. In a sense, you had become desensitised to his actions due to how often they were happening but the idea that this time there was nobody else around scared you and intrigued you at the same time.

You looked down at your feet, waiting for him to approach you, but strangely that never happened. You were wondering what was taking him so long so you looked back to where he initially had been standing being surprised when you found him sitting on a chair in front of the door, facing you with his legs slightly spread. He was staring at you very intensely.

Noticing your confused expression, he leaned towards you and rested his forearms against his thighs, “you look very appetising right now” he admitted, subtly scanning your body and licking his lips,“shall we play a little game?”

You were dumbfounded. His typical aggressive demeanour seemed to have evaporated today, but you were still on edge nonetheless as you had no idea when or whether it was going to emerge again.

Being that you didn’t want to trigger his anger, you slowly nodded your head and waited for his next move.

He smiled at your shy nod and sat himself back in his original slouched position, legs still spread looking at you suggestively, “crawl to me like the little bitch you are”

Your eyes widen at the sudden request, being slightly taken aback by his tone,but you do what he says regardless. You reluctantly slid off your chair and got down on all fours, and as you began to gradually crawl towards him, you looked at him with hooded eyes as you felt your panties dampening.

Though you’d never admit it out loud, despite the fact that Changbin had dedicated his life towards making you as feel miserable as possible, you did recognise that he was a relatively attractive guy. Maybe you were speaking from a biased position since the recent vulgar dreams you’ve been having about him, or maybe you were just deeply troubled, but you’d be lying if you said that right now he didn’t look sexy, sitting seductively in front of you with his ruffled brunette hair staring you down with his intimidating dark eyes and his tight white short-sleeved shirt accentuating his biceps.

“Fuck~” he hissed, his hand now gravitating towards his clothed bulge squeezing it lightly. You bit your lip to stifle a moan after witnessing his erotic motion. You may have been somewhat enjoying this moment but you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was doing something to you.

You finally reached him and you positioned yourself between his spreaded legs. He grabbed your chin and tilted your head upwards towards his face, “you’re such a pathetic little slut” he sneered and placed his thumb in your mouth “suck on it”

Looking up at him innocently, you took his thumb into your mouth and began sucking messily, saliva coating it. Watching you so intently, Changbin lost all composure, hastily unbuckling his trousers and pulling out his throbbing, red member.

“Get off my thumb you disgusting whore” he venomously spat between pants as he was vigorously jerking his member. The aggressiveness in his tone made you whimper as you began humping the air in search of some friction to relieve the pleasurable tight tension you felt in your core but with no success.

“You’re so needy. I barely touched you yet your moaning like I’ve been fucking you for hours” he chuckled grabbing your throat and squeezing it tightly. “What should I make you do today…”

Changbin’s grip was so tight that you started feeling lightheaded. You felt yourself going in and out of consciousness though, for some strange reason, this restricting yet euphoric feeling made you squeeze your legs together, your sensitive throbbing bud finally feeling some sort of relief.

You needed him to fuck you. You were so overwhelmed and horny that you felt like you were going to combust within any seconds. You were still squeezing your legs together very tightly as you began tearing up and attempted to plead to him “Ch…changbin p…please~”

“Please what? You’re gonna have to elaborate” the grip he had on your throat began to loosen as if to give you a chance to speak. He slowed down his jerking movements and began smearing his excessive amount of precum around his reddened tip, hissing at the ecstatic feeling.

You couldn’t bring yourself to tell him that you wanted him to fuck you senseless and you were unsure whether it was out of shame or the pure anger you still money harboured against him for the past humiliating actions he imposed onto you.

But you didn’t want this moment to end (not like you had a say in the matter) so you chose to let your actions speak for yourself as you grabbed his member and slowly started stroking it.

Changbin gasped both in pleasure and utter surprise as he did not expect such bold movements from you.

He let you stroke his cock for a while as he sat back and observed your little hands struggling grasp his thick member amused, but when you unexpectedly put his entire member in your mouth, Changbin let out a loud moan, bucking his hips further and rubbing and twisting his nipples underneath his white school shirt in search of more pleasure.

“Oh fuck~ Y/N just like that…” he groaned as he grabbed the back of your head and started moving his hips faster. “Y…your mouth is so warm”

Your eyes were tearing up as Changbin was roughly fucking your mouth, his tip reaching your uvula. You choked a couple of times, the vibrations from your coughs sending Changbin into a state of pure bliss as he began thrusting faster “I think i…i’m g- gonna cum soon…” but before he could release his hot creamy load into your mouth he stopped his movements and forcefully pulled your head off of his member.

You looked at him confused at the sudden interruption, especially when he seemed to have been really close to release.

“W-why did you…” but you didn’t have enough time to finish your sentence as he grabbed your arm and pulled you up onto his lap, making you straddle his thighs.

“Sit on it” he firmly stated as he grabbed his throbbing member that was resting against his abdomen, coating it in precum and began lightly stroking it. You did exactly as he said as you aligned his member with your entrance and slowly started lowering your self onto it, your tight moist core engulfing his thick veiny cock until it fully disappeared.

You exhaled as he grabbed your hips and began thrusting up against you in a fast motion. “F-fuck C…changbin” you moaned as you buried your face in his neck, trying your best to meet his thrust but with no avail as your legs felt numb.

“You like that yeah? You fucking slut, I knew you liked everything I used to do to you, you thought I didn’t notice how you’d look at me huh? With want in your eyes you pathetic whore” he grabbed your hair and pulled you off his neck, glaring at you with malice with his signature smirk still plastered on his face.

“Now look at you, bouncing on my cock and screaming my name. Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? I bet you’re gonna recall this moment again tonight when you touch yourself whilst thinking about me you fucking wench” his harsh words stirred something within you, as a familiar warmth began forming in your core and you finished all over his member screaming his name in utter ecstasy.

The grip your folds had against his cock tightens as you came, causing Changbin to release his load shortly after with a low groan.

You both looked at each other panting deeply as you attempted to regain composure. You weren’t sure about what was going to happen next, whether he was going to shout more abuse at you or just nonchalantly push you off of him and leave, so you chose to take the initiative and reluctantly stand up, grimacing at the slimy feeling in your pussy.

Changbin, who was still looking at you in awe decided to stand too, readjusting his trousers and grabbing your wrist, pulling you towards the door

“Where are you taking me?” you asked, attempting to snatch your arm away from his tight grip but failing miserably due to your weakened state and his inhumane strength “I thought that was my punishment for today, what else do you want from me!?” you shouted exasperated, tears forming in your eyes due to frustration by his lack of response and also a sudden feeling of emptiness.

You knew that Changbin would probably keep humiliating and torturing you like he always had, with little to no regards to your feelings or wellbeing, but in a strange way, you wanted something more. After your little session today, you felt closer to him, and the thought of never experiencing that connection with him again made you feel angry and frustrated.

Changbin turned around, noticing the tears in your eyes and stopped dead in his tracks. His features softened as he started caressing your cheeks, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry” he softly cooed “I just wanted to take you to the toilet so I could clean you up, plus it’s still 7 in the morning and class won’t start till 9. I thought that maybe we could grab something to eat together” he smiled, anxiously waiting for your response.

“Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?” he shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his feet “are you coming or not?Because I could just leave you here and go if you don’t want to” he mumbled.

He looked up at you, wondering why it was taking you so long to decide. Since you weren’t in the mood to protest you nodded, deciding to follow him. He smiled at you, grabbed your hand gently and you led you outside of the classroom with your fingers intertwined, both grinning like fools about the occurrences that happened just a few minutes ago.

[whoblewboobear]

There have been a lot of negative posts about how this season turned out bc of the rat grinders exclusively and everyone is entitled to their opinions on the season. But in light of it, I’m gonna throw out some positives about this season 💖

Sophomore year will always hold a special place in my heart because of the Fabian arc but Junior year might be my favorite fantasy high season overall. I loved learning about Ankarna and Cassandra. I thought I’d be bummed out not seeing some of my fave npcs but the downtime mechanic and the stress tokens added sO much. The Porter & Jace reveal was incredible. KRISTEN’S CAMPAIGN ARC!!! Fabian and Mazey!? K2 and all the blimey shenanigans 👏 Everything with Wanda Childa and Ruben and fig’s complicated women podcast was sooooo funny. I genuinely laughed harder this season than I have with any other d20 season I’ve seen.

I feel like with this season they really hit their stride with pacing too. It felt a lot more fluid with how we rolled into combat most of the time. I loved that first party of the year and seeing Adaine become the party wizard. After ep 18 it makes me love the party with the Oisin missing his shots so much more bc he got in that nasty little one liner later. I adored that the rat grinders were essentially a red herring to keep the bad kids looking elsewhere to take the heat off Porter and Jace a bit.

We didn’t see much from all of them, and we didn’t see nearly enough about Lucy, but I really loved the Rat grinders as in school rivals for the bad kids. Ruben was hands down my favorite but goddamn did I also love how much of a girlfailure Kip was. I loved seeing her rage out and I hope we get to see her really go nuts in the finale too. I really really warmed up to Mary Ann last episode with her tugging on Jace’s shirt and saying she didn’t feel good and then seeing her rage when her strawberry got destroyed. She’s so fascinating to meeee. I loved everything with Buddy and Kristen. I wish they had more scenes together. And while I’m talking about the Dawns, that entrance from Bobby Dawn as the new cleric teacher made my skin crawl in the best way. I loved Kristen calling him frumpy and sad on her teacher evaluation too- and holy shit Fig meeting Ankarna for the first time? Ankarna being the inspiration Fig needed to make music again too?

The incredible art from Cait May this season was hands down one of my FAVORITE d20 artist collabs ever. Just overall improved designs for everyone that just make so much more sense for their characters and art for new characters that made me adore them even more. Also holy shit the Porter maxi is genuinely my favorite mini that’s ever been featured on the show. I’m typically not into how the minis look in general, they always look a lil goofy to me but goddamn when they hit, they fuckin HIT.

And speaking of Porter, I really got endeared to him this season. Yeah he turned out evil and always has been a dick to gorgug and is definitely a shit teacher, but before the reveal I loved his training with Fig and Zara. One thing about Fantasy high is that I just love a lot of the teachers. My two faves this season being Terpsichore and Henry! They’re both so dedicated to their students and are such a specific type of teacher that you’ve definitely met before in real life. Like all my favorite math teachers back in school were so much like Henry and that made me love him even more.

Of course my #1 favorite thing about the world of Spyre is the religion aspect and how Brennan and Ally both approach it. That scene with Ally connecting with Yolanda and Lucy to allow them some comfort in the afterlife was so beautiful. Kristen’s talks with Bucky throughout the season were very touching and hit very close to home as someone that grew up in a religious household and doesn’t connect with the divinity I was raised on. Just- wow wow wow. I also really love that despite the breakup, Tracker and Kristen still have really interesting convos about divinity even if they don’t agree.

I loved seeing different dynamics in the bad kids too, I love the huge sibling energy that Fabian and Adaine have and the bond that Kristen and Fig have. I love how interwoven all the bad kids feel as a group. I love the little quirks that they all have, and I loved all the fandom posts about them like the sharing clothes posts and the one about how everyone lets Riz crawl on them to get better vantage points. I love Riz’s wall of text breaking down to gorgug about how much he appreciates him. Him calling gorgug a sweetie almost made me cry. I of course love all the parent/child moments this season. I loved the bad kids finally healing Lydia and seeing how happy it made Ragh. I LOVE Aelwyn and all her cats 🤧 I loved seeing Baron again and I loved how the bad kids got to the funhouse version of mordred through riz’s briefcase. I love seeing Adaine and Sandralynn bond. I loved finding out that Sandralynn and Sklonda go out for drinks and are friends. I just 💖 and goddamn, Ayda’s message to Fig and how Zara helped to surprise Fig with it. I love how Bill and Pok are such proud dads of their boys and I hope they’re doing some bonding over drinks in the after life.

And I cannot end this post without saying that I loved how cinematic this season felt too. It had INCREDIBLE imagery that you could easily visualize. Everyone at the table was in their element this time around from a role playing and a strategic standpoint. Everyone had their moment to shine and something important to do this season that fed back into the main plot. So thank you to Brennan and the intrepid heroes for giving us another killer season. After the season ended I was planning to finish Starstruck and Neverafter but I might just rewatch Junior year all over again just to get it out of my system.

Feel free to add things you loved about Junior year!

[dailyhatsune]

hi! not exactly a request but i do wanna ask, whats your process when you're rendering more paint like art? (if that makes sense, English isnt my first language so apologies hdskhsjdbd) i really love how you use the colors and im curious how you do it :0

i’ve been meaning to answer this one for a while so here’s how i painted miku in today’s post (put under the read more because yeah prepare for a long post

i’d also like to preface this by saying that i never follow a set way of doing things, so in terms of what my personal process is like, these are only broad strokes of what i do! sometimes i’ll combine or skip parts entirely, depending on how i feel. also, this is not a tutorial, just how i do things, so please don’t treat it like one :’D this will read like the ‘how to draw an owl’ picture if you do

first, like every artist, i sketch. more specifically, i’m getting an idea of what i want to paint later on. this could be how a scene is set up or in this case, how a character is posed. here i’m not concerned about details or getting everything perfectly, i’m only planning how the thing will be composed. maybe a lot of canvas size changing, or adjusting what miku’s doing (note how busted miku’s right hand looks from all the transforming!) however, i still have to be concerned with how clear the sketch will be to future me, because the sketch won’t be any good if i can’t read what miku’s doing

after that, i lay down a flat gray under the sketch, mainly focusing on giving miku a clear silhouette. this is also a good time to make adjustments to the composition on the fly if i suddenly feel like something can be improved upon, like shortening miku’s left arm from the sketch!

after painting a flat silhouette, i start shading in grayscale, focusing only on lighting. i usually do it in two passes, one for the lightest and darkest tones i’ll use (not black and white) and then a second for midtones to blend them better with the base gray but i forgot to screenshot the result of the first pass 🗿 nevertheless, here is where i can start adding some amount of details. i’m not including any extra accessories yet, just focusing on the base design of the outfit and the character herself (for anyone wanting to draw characters from That Gacha Game, this is how i personally make the process more bearable for myself.) i still use the dark gray to separate where certain details (like the facial features and fingers) begin and end, mainly to make colouring more bearable later.

now here’s where i get the Good Colours. it’s a cheat lol. i put a gradient map layer over the grayscale painting so that there’s a little bit of color to start. some gradient maps can be applied as is, some need the layer settings adjusted to make it look good. this one, for example, is a (free) gradient map set from the csp assets store that needs you to set the layer opacity to 20% and to set the blending mode to color to achieve this result. in general, i tend to pick which gradient map i want to use based on vibes, or basically whether i want the work to be warmer or cooler, colour-wise. but this does do quite a bit of lifting for the colors in my stuff.

and then, finally, i add the colours. i add flat base colours in an overlay layer. at this stage, i’ve made the character silhouette clear enough that i don’t need to refer to the sketch anymore for what miku looks like. also, the gradient map layer does its magic by making the shading a bit more vibrant than it would’ve been without it. after that i paint over with a new layer to add details like the lace.

and then i put some extra shading on top. basically this is where the ‘better lighting’ happens. again, this isn’t a tutorial, so i’m not here to say what each part of the lighting is, but i’ve labeled which layers do which job. in other works where the lighting within a scene is more defined (from a window, from a small crack in the walls, etc) the glow dodge layer may be more opaque and sharper, but since this isn’t a work with that, the lighting was applied using an airbrush. the linear burn layer is also there to make the whole thing darker so the glow dodge doesn’t end up oversaturating miku. i also usually match the lights to the vibe i want, and use a complementary color for the shadows. so here you can see i have warm colors on the glow dodge layer, but light purple on both the linear burn and multiply layer.

and that’s it for the character—here’s a gif showing how each layer adds to miku! (sorry it’s so toasty)

as for the background, depending on the complexity, it may go through a similar process, or if i can settle with flat image backgrounds, i just go for that. it’s ok to use external image materials. i didn’t have a background in mind for this miku in specific, so i got some default csp materials and threw together something

and that’s about a rough overview of what my process for more finished works looks like! again, art is a fluid process so i never specifically stick to certain steps all the time, and you shouldn’t either. i can probably answer why i’d pick this colour over another in one particular work, but it’s something that kinda has to be learned on a grander scale. i think everyone can already feel what colors work with what atmosphere or what setting, even if they can’t immediately explain why. colors and composition do take some level of experimentation to find what works best!

[b00tyliciousbabe]

my baby daddies - ep. 1

my comeback era xx

arón piper x male reader

summary: inside edition the slutty thoughts i have for mr piper xx

notes: hi ppl, hope y’all missed me. i’m back, after like a year of hibernation, with another imagine! hope you guys are all doing well <3 i will be releasing 2 other series (‘the DILFs’ and a surprise one 🤭) so stay tuned! plus y’all better thank me, I lost this draft not once, but TWICEEEE! happy with this iteration though.

apologies in advance y’all this is gonna be chaotic…and my spanish is very rusty.

you met arón on the set of ‘elite’ because you were in between working with the hair and makeup team whilst designing the costumes. You had familiarised yourself with the entire crew and made loads of friends but from day 1 it was clear that your connection with him was unparalleled. the pinnacle of romantic chemistry. it’s giving one of those moments in the films when the two lovers have their meet cute, staring into each others eyes and the rest of the world is just in their peripheral because at that moment only two people exist - you and him. From then on, the whole crew shipped you guys together, with your work besties ester (who plays carla) and mina (who plays nadia) urging you to make out with him. He too was not exempt from this teasing, and a lot of his fellow male cast mates lowkey pressured him to ask you out. Whilst the premiere was coming up, you began sorting out the final designs for the next season, he ran into the studio wearing nothing but calvin briefs.

“Y/N, you’ve gotta help me.” He said desperately. You were taken aback. You’d never seen someone look so hot while they were needy.

“hey arón, what seems to be the problem?” He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “can’t you see I’m practically naked?” You bit your lips taking in all of him “failing to see the issue here” which garnered a chuckle from him. “please y/n i’m so lost right now, i have no clue what to do” arón began panting which made you panic a lil bit. Placing your hands on his chest, you calmed his beating heartbeat “it’s okay, you know i’ve got you” Pulling one of your personal designs from the rack, you dressed him like he was your ken doll.

“i can do my own buttons you know,” he smiled watching you concentrate and manipulate the fabric to accentuate his features “i know but you wouldn’t be able to execute the vision i had for you in my mind” his eyes softened “you base your designs off me?” you looked up and met his gaze. “i’m not tryna give you a big head or anything, because it’s already quite elliptical, but kinda i guess.” he giggled as you watched his smile make his face look even cuter. “awww you got a lil crush on me,” aròn chuckled as you playfully beat his chest. “i mean, you’re handsome af I’ll give you that,” you felt his chest heaving with passion “why do you ask?” aròn held both your hands stopping you from working. “y/n,” you look up, all doe-eyed, surprised at the lack of distance between your lips. he breathed closer, opening the gates to your mouth as he graced you with a peck that lasted what felt like ages. the rest was history; that night he debuted the two of you as a couple to which was met with so much love.

you are at your gushiest whenever aròn smiles. it just makes you feel so happy seeing him so cute and all. stroking his cheek in the morning staring at him grinning in his sleep - probably dreaming of you.

the art of communication has always been strong in your relationship. your spanish-german bf was trilingual and meeting you pushed him to learn more on the side. your spanish was decent, certainly nothing to be proud but it improved drastically working on the show and being with aron. you were also highly proficient in two other languages and so he was adding to your roster. your relationship with him was a testament to the betterment of both people in a couple, you both pushed each other to try new things.

aron’s love language is definitely physical touch closely followed by gift giving, and so it made sense that he would buy you jewellery (even giving you his own) so he could both adore and adorn you. your favourite present he’s ever given you was the ‘A’ necklace he flaunts in a lot of his insta posts. he just loves seeing it around your neck - he’s yours. he even has an ‘A’ tattoo that now always reminds him of you.

even in the bedroom the necklace pays a huge role:

“my pretty little muñequita, fuck you feel so good.” he praised, railing you painstakingly slowly in missionary. you watched his eyes mirroring your overstimulated expression, as it darkened with his desire for more. you moved to his necklace which swung gracefully with every deep thrust. “ughhh” aròn’s moans got even loader you picked the pendant up and put it in between his teeth to muffle him. the sweat began to drip off his face as he began to imprint his teeth into the crystals, groaning in pleasure. “Nghhhh nghhh nghhh” it was getting too much for him as he dropped it, all red, hot, and bothered, directly into your mouth. You bit it seductively making your bf smile. other times when he’s hitting it from the back in prone bone, your hot bodies are cooled by the ice around his neck providing an amazing sensation when he spurts his warm cum inside you.

aròn is pretty decently hung, a bit on the skinnier side, nothing monstery, but deffo larger than average and it bends to the left. his favourite position is probably missionary; he wants to see the pleasure he’s giving you. the moans, your eyes, your lips, he wants to soak it all up and treasure every single expression you make whilst he’s inside you. you really like cowgirl as you’ve noticed it gets the most laughs and smiles from him, your biggest weakness. aròn loves it as well. the sight of you holding his pecs, bouncing up and down his pole as he grabs your ass sends him into overdrive. “shit mi amor, ughh, fuck, you sure know how to ride my dick.”

his kryptonite is oral. he’s such a whore for that mouth of yours. you guys waited for quite a while to have any nsfw activity because you wanted to establish a deep romantic connection first. so about 6 months into your relationship, you gave him head for the first time and OH MY GOSHHHH. you were coming back from date night, aròn wore an unbuttoned white dress shirt with chains and rings, all styled by you. it was raining and y’all decided to walk around the city and so tour chivalrous boyfriend offered his blazer to stop you from getting cold. you had never been more attracted to him. the way his wet hair laid messy on his head, abs protruded through his drenched shirt, it turned you on. so when you got into his apartment, you grabbed his hand and took him into the bedroom.

“despacio baby” he chuckled. you pushed him onto the bed, straddling and welcoming him with a kiss. you felt him grow beneath your ass, a sign for you to get on your knees. “y/n, wait what are you doing” aròn says as you began to unbuckle his pants. you didn’t hear, your brain too loud with horny thoughts to answer him. “cariño…” he held your hands at his belt. “are you sure you want to do this.” he asked worriedly, knowing how important sex was to you. “i’ve never been more sure of anything in my life” you mirrored his smirk, as he moved his hands, unbuttoning his shirt whilst you pulled his pants to his trousers. His tan cock stood strong, pink tip peaking through his freckled foreskin. he had a light brown bush leading up to his happy trail, urging you to lick down from his abs to his balls. “I’m so hard right now,” you started bobbing up and down and noticed how much of a panter he was. when he was close you started to deepthroat, to which he responded with a loud moan, yanking his dick out of your mouth and giving you the nastiest facial ever.

fucking loved it, as if he couldn’t love you more already…you were such a cockdrunk slut for him.

music plays a huge part of your relationship. when you guys are in the sheets, the symphony that comes from your bedroom is actually next level. oftentimes, aròn catches you humming and singing in the shower, to your embarrassment. “why are you hiding your face, your voice is incredible.” he praises. for his upcoming album, whilst in the studio, you came to check up on your bf bringing your freshly homemade brownies that you knew he loved. you knew aròn had been having a bit of a hard time completing one of the final tracks. as his team listened back to the record your bf was getting frustrated “ughhh it’s shit!” as he growled chucking song sheets across the room. “y/n you’ve got to speak to him, no one else is getting through to him and we are on a tight deadline” the executives who were present at the times warned. “he’ll be ready, i can assure you” you urged everyone else to leave the room. “aròn.” he didn’t answer. your tone softened, “papí…” you moved to him, noticing how tense he was getting. he looked up at you with teary eyes, hurting at how anxious he was getting. you knew what to do. “come on.” he followed u back into the recording booth. the track was playing, and all you did was talk, he spoke about his issues with fame, love, and life, and it was the perfect outro/interlude. you also added background vocals and harmonies into his tracks and the media went wild for it!

[theresattrpgforthat]

I found a goth speakeasy/coffee shop by my school that does a Thursday tabletop night where you can bring and run your own games and I was wondering if you had any recommendations for games you'd feel comfterble running with a table of strangers / mostly strangers? Thank you!!

THEME: Games to Run with Strangers.

Hello friend, fall comes upon us and I finally get around to answering your ask. Thank you so much for your patience! I’d definitely recommend bringing some safety tools to any of these games, since you’re playing them with strangers. That being said, I tried to pick games that were easy to pick up and quick to learn considering you’d probably want each session to be a standalone one.

I often run games with groups of people who don't know each-other beforehand, and I'd recommend allowing silliness to blossom when possible, even if you're running a spooky game. Let’s see what we can find!

Wizardry and Bureaucracy, by Oh Little Moth.

You are a member of the National Parks Service. You and your team would do just about anything to protect your national park. Also, you’re wizards. But all the magic in the world can’t save you from the slog of paperwork you have to endure as a civil servant. Your mission is to preserve your park and all creatures living in it, promote a love of nature and the environment, and also keep park visitors from seeing through the curtain separating the magical from the mundane.

Like most Lasers and Feelings games, this has quite a bit packed into one page. Easy character generation, a standard list of gear, an introduction where you collaboratively design your park, and the classic Lasers and Feelings mechanic that makes you automatically better at one thing and worse at another. The game is also set up to be raucously silly. This game includes the very good piece of GM advice that I adore for improv: ask questions and build on the answers. You don’t have to come up with the entire story yourself! Give your players the chance to tell you how exactly magic interacts with the local National Park.

The Children of Saturn, by Dan John Crowler.

The people of Petrikstein are tormented by a blood craving beast prowling the night. Players take the roles of parish appointed investigators on a mission to find and slay this alleged Vampyr, before it claims even more lives. Will they be able to find out the truth in web of lies, myths, and fear fueled superstitions? Play to find out!

The Children of Saturn is a neat little game that combines the Keys mechanic from John Harper’s Lady Blackbird with the graded 2d6 roll of Powered by the Apocalypse. You can accumulate dice to roll depending on whether the action in question is in line with your character, and failure increases the chances of success the next time you roll. The characters are pre-made to some extent, but the players will be able to make them unique through names, descriptions, and how they decide to role-play. This game also come with a small hex map for your characters to explore - and everything fits on one page! If you want something spooky and quick to prep, this is definitely worth checking out.

2400, by Jason Tocci.

2400 is lo-fi sci-fi. It’s centuries in the future, and it’s a decades-old modem that screams like a dying robot when it connects to the net. It’s a space ship with an FTL drive, artificial gravity, and a flickering display you gotta tap a few times to see the jump coordinates. It’s hacking something together with whatever cheap materials you have on hand, ignoring the rules until you need them, banging out something that might not sound finished, but definitely sounds fun.

The 2400 system is a stripped-down ruleset inspired by the OSR that has been used to create a number of hacks in different settings. Every time I’ve run a 24XX game, the session lasted about 2 hours, so it definitely has the ability to play quick. The original page for 2400 currently has over 20 different settings to choose from, so if one of them really hits off, you could come back with a different setting each week for your friends to play through!

The Great Soul Train Robbery, by Cloven Pine Games.

On the road to hell there was a railway line. An express train to the infernal city of Dis, crewed by furies and carrying treasure and souls to damnation. You’re going to rob it.

The Great Soul Train Robbery is a tabletop roleplaying game for 2–6 players and 1 gamemaster about Desperados robbing the train to Hell. Spin an allegorical Weird Western yarn as your sharpshooters, fiddlers, homesteader widows, and other Desperados attempt a Hellish train heist. Will you claim your prize from the train, or be overcome, damned, or broken by the heist?

This is probably the biggest Honey Heist - inspired game that I’ve seen to date. It’s a solid pitch, with very little background needed in order for your players to grasp what exactly it is they’re doing. If players aren’t sure what kind of character they want to make, all of the options have d6 roll tables to give your group a goal, your train some complications, and your character a name and a special item. There’s quite a few pages of GM advice in this, which is probably a big boon to anyone running the game, as it allows you to construct a more complex train than what you might have created out of the top of your head. I’d probably even just steal the train construction section to use for other similar games!

Hold Your Own, by Sharkbomb Studios.

It's a time and place, not unlike the one that you, the players, grew up in. A dark mirror of the decade of your youth.  You play as a group of friends at the cusp of adolescence and life is hard. You're unpopular and unwanted. All you've got is each other.

But it comes worse: A strange menace threatens to devour everyone you know. And nobody wants to believe you, not the teachers, not the parents. It looks like it's up to you to save your home.

Fans of It and Stranger Things will probably like this game. This game uses small dice pools and four basic stats. You’ll be facing off against an antagonist called the Menace, a threat that the rest of the community believes doesn’t exist. The Menace will always be strong enough to provide a challenge, and as you play, you’ll learn more and more about what it is exactly that you’re fighting against. This is a great game for fans of suspense, and it’s also small enough to learn it within the few hours that you’d have at a coffee shop.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Something is Wrong with the Chickens, by Elliot Davis.

Koboldly Go, by CoffeeSnake Studios.

Faewater, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

The Station, by pidj.

[hapuriainen]

Some comparisons of the “Disney girls if they were the player character in a pokemon game” designs, the earliest being from 2012.

Snow White - hasn’t changed much from the initial idea. For the most recent version aside from the improved colours (which really goes for all of these) I made the pocket a bit more sensible in size and less bland with the logo and changed the sleeves into something a little less costume-y looking. And apparently I had never bothered to check what her eye colour is supposed to be before?

Cinderella - I think the first one is way too tomboyish for Cinderella so it was a good idea to give her a skirt instead. And stop trying to copy the hairstyle as is, how is it supposed to work anyway? The most recent version is supposed to be wearing see-through plastic sneakers which was the closest equivalent of a glass slipper I could think of, but I don’t think you can see that well enough from this far.

Alice - I also like the original idea but it does look a bit too much like a costume. The more recent version is one of my favourites of the set, both with the design and how the art turned out overall.

Tinkerbell - I remember being dissatisfied with the first version (mostly for being boring) and thought I should have given her shorts instead, so here is that now. The top could still use some work though.

Aurora - She feels like she’s incrementally getting towards my ideal design but isn’t there quite yet. I probably should have done more with the half pink-half blue thing.

Eilonwy - not a lot to work with about her, though what is up with the shoes on the middle one?

Ariel - I don’t know what I was thinking with the turtleneck in the middle one, it’s supposed to be a warm weather design. Though to be fair sandals would be a better fit for that, but I like the stockings to represent her tail. Also apparently I got obscenely lazy with the shoes with the most recent one.

Belle - has barely changed at all, I remember being very happy with the initial design. Though now that I think about it the bag probably should use a different shade of blue. I’ve also done an earlier design with the yellow dress, but it’s so monochrome that it’s a bit hard to work with it.

Jasmine - I clearly wasn’t even trying with the first design, it’s just her canon outfit with very minor tweaks and a pokeball, and the second one isn’t any better. But to me Jasmine had one of the biggest glow ups with the most recent design and the art turned out cute as well.

Pocahontas - I really like the pants and would have liked to use them again, but then I thought, “is this problematic”, and ended up not using the tassel fringe thing. Overall she was a huge struggle and I’m not happy with the result at all, Pocahontas’ canon design has a lot of elements to work with, but I tried so many versions of one sleeved/one sleeve off the shoulder/layered tops and they all looked like a dancer or a figure skater. And I also attempted a tunic-like design like Yellow but that just looked like a LoZ oc. So this design is definitely subject to change if I redo everyone again in ten years. At least her face turned out cute..

Esmeralda - Another mess in both attempts, her canon design also has a lot of interesting details but somehow the best I could do with ended up being a schoolgirl? In my defense she was among the last characters I drew for this set and at that point I was just burnt out and ready to move to something else, so it was either this or not being drawn at all. Better luck next time!

Megara - the first attempt is pretty random and lazy and I don’t like it at all, but I do like how the second one turned out. Overall it does skew a bit too young though especially for a character like Megara, but she’s a kid here so maybe it’s ok?

Mulan - she is my favourite Disney heroine so it’s always frustrated me that I had never been able to really get the Poke design to work. But this time it somehow clicked that I could take inspiration from the male protagonists instead. I think the details could still do some workshopping but overall I like the result this time around.

Jane - the first one isn’t a Poketrainer at all, it’s just a jungle explorer anime girl. Though I guess there’s not much change in the second one either...

Kida - this has always been somewhat of a “just throw random ideas in there” kind of design and especially the first one I clearly had no idea what I was doing. In the most recent version I think the decision to move the mark to her hat was the best update, a facial tattoo on the supposed average kid feels kind of strange. 

Giselle - I really like the most recent one, it’s one of the most dynamic poses and I think it has a nice balance of “fine lady” and “going on a Pokemon adventure”. Not sure if any of them are properly recognisable as Giselle though.

Tiana - as you can see I have no idea what to do with her. I don’t know what’s wrong, there’s so much to work with her canon design but nothing ever works out properly. Many of my ideas, like poofy pants (because of the dress shape) also felt too kiddy and so out of character for Tiana who is at the more mature end of Disney princesses. Still, with the most recent attempt there is a lot I like, but somehow it doesn’t quite fit together and I now notice that repeating the flower shape everywhere is pretty awkward. Sorry Tiana! Maybe fourth time is the charm.

Charlotte - the first attempts feel too much like a formal party outfit instead of something for an adventure, so I had to lose the updo at least. The hat is a little silly but I figured it would fit the goofier Charlotte. I do like the bubble skirt (one of the abandoned Tiana ideas) but the top could still use some work.

Rapunzel - very pleased with how the most recent one turned out apart from the hair looking a little too brown, it’s supposed to be just shading and not two-tone hair. 

Merida - I’ve never figured out how to do her hair in Pokemon form and her canon dress is pretty stingy with workable details. I got the idea of using plaid from Sword/Shield, but I noticed everyone and their mother already drew Merida in a plaid shirt so I put it on her shorts instead. But in hindsight maybe I should have just gone with the flow.

Vanellope - her design is really fun to work with and the result is one of my favourites. With the newer version I realised that I tend to use white a lot when I don’t know what to do, which usually is at least inoffensive, but that there could be a more interesting option if I dare to try something else (talking about the socks here).

Anna - quite pleased with how the new version turned out but it could still do with some work, what was I thinking with black boots and almost-black tights? 

Elsa - I really like how the cardigan thing turned out, except for the fact that I realised I had already used practically the same thing for Aurora (but hers is more boring so it’s the one subject to change). Meanwhile the dress is pretty bland. The leggings use the ice type uniform design from Sword/Shield.

Moana - Another victim of the “I have to churn out something” project finale. I think I already had this queued and had to go back to doing at least some fixes because the initial version was somehow even more boring. I think the loose pants idea is very workable but she’ll just need more time and effort.

Raya, Mirabel - they’re too recent to have a comparison but let’s have a few words on them anyway. I just couldn’t get anything out of Raya’s design (though she was one of the last characters  to be drawn and also I really don’t like her movie so I was very much not in a mood to try very hard) so the result ended up pretty boring and definitely waiting for a redesign. As for Mirabel I like her look a lot more and especially the skirt practically designed itself, but this still kinda feels like a first draft. 

[kokiriri]

Hi!

I really like what you draw, I like how you draw your character.

Looking for an art style, I wanted to ask you. How did you find it?

Hope my question doesn't bother you... 😓

Have a nice day!

Hi!!

First of all, thank you for your kind words! I’m really happy that you enjoy my art :)

Great question! I think there’s always a lot of confusion when individuals are trying to discover their own styles (I’m often confused myself) but hopefully by sharing my experiences, it can make things a little more manageable for you.

I really think that my style now is a conglomeration of everything I’ve so far been interested in. And I’ll try to explain what I mean. When I was really little, I would draw things like “The PowerPuff Girls” or other shows like that because their character designs were simple and easy for me to draw. It wasn’t until I was around 10-11 when I started reading some Pokémon manga/comics (called “Pokémon Special” in English) I found at my local library. I really liked the style of these comics, so I would copy the way they drew eyes and such. My art began to get slightly more complex, and I began to move away from drawing simplistic cartoon bodies to more anatomically founded figures. These Pokémon comics are honestly the major foundation of my style.

Here’s some examples of what the comics looked like.⬆️

I was also obsessed with the Megaman EXE television show around the same time, along with this one comic featuring Megaman X. You would probably agree with me that the Pokémon comics and Megaman share a very similar style (at least, in terms of character design and structure.)

For years, I drew exclusively in a style very similar to the images you see above (albeit, I was still pretty young so my drawings weren’t nearly as good.) When I turned 13, I started watching Inuyasha, and again, my style shifted. I was largely inspired by how they drew hair in Inuyasha, especially the poofy bangs Inuyasha and Kagome have (the two characters in the image below.)

I started meshing those kinds of hairstyles with the Pokémon/Megaman styled bodies. Keep in mind that as I was doing this, I was drawing A LOT. Nearly everyday, during class, whatever. Because of that, I started to grasp a better understanding of what character design features I liked best and so on. However, my major flaw that I wish I realized sooner was that I hardly drew from reference. Please please please use photo references or other artworks you enjoy for poses or expressions because it really does improve your art! (Don’t blatantly copy and claim them as your own though, that will earn you a shadow ban from the art world.😵‍💫)

Fast forward to this year. I recently started getting into manga by Adachi Mitsuru because I fell in love with his retro comic style. Some of my favorite works of his are Touch and Cross Game, feel free to check them out! Anyways, I’ve been studying his art and what makes it appealing to me, and I found that I like the simplicity along with great dynamic poses. So I look at those panels that showcase those aspects the best, and try to redraw them! The first few drawings always look terrible, but after a bit, you begin to understand what you were missing the first time, and slowly you improve. Here are some panels from Cross Game to help you get a taste of what the art is like.

For me, it took years to develop my own style, and it will probably be the same for you. It doesn’t come easy, and although it sucks to admit, your art will look bad to you for the first few years after starting to draw. But know that each time you draw, your body memorizes the way it moves whenever you draw an arm, a hand, whatever, and it learns. Because of this, be sure to draw referencing styles that YOU like. That way, your body becomes slowly accustomed to a better way to draw hands that you enjoy, rather than getting stuck and not improving. And don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles! I try to draw out of my comfort zone, and that’s where I feel I learn the most.

I hope this post was helpful and provided good tips. Of course, you shouldn’t feel the need to watch/read all the shows and books I’ve referenced here because at the end of the day, you’re looking to forge your own style, not replicate mine. Find what shows and comics you love, and then ask yourself “Why do I find this appealing? What about the style is speaking to me?” And then draw those aspects/designs you enjoy. Just draw. Things will start to come together after that. :)

Bonne chance!

[artsybug0]

How do you draw eyes and mouth expression and hands I'm a young well not artist yet but I really could use some guidance

[sorry is this is to much I really don't wanna be a nuisance but thank you for your time]

I’m not too great at explaining but I’ll try

I’ve been told that my art style is like western cartoon and anime mixed together. Not everyone’s art style is the same. Mine has more exaggerated features and body proportions.

It depends on the expression. Sometimes I stretch the face, other times I squish it a bit. I usually stretch the face to make a bigger surprised expression. And squish to make them appear cuter or when they’re angry.

Also don’t be afraid to REALLY exaggerate the expression. Break their features a little. Be more cartoon and anime logic.

It also helps to know the human body just enough to know where wrinkles are on the face. Like when you furrow your brows and scrunch up your face wrinkles appear. Adding a little bit of wrinkle to your characters face can add more to their expressions. Along with making the eyes wider and the iris smaller.

I also like to use Millie’s eyes to make her more expressive. I make her pupils hearts when she’s adoring something. Stars when she’s super excited. I make her pupils small black dots when she’s startled, scared, mad, annoyed, and irritated. And when she’s crying I like to make her eyes a bit wobbly looking.

Also looking up references really helps too. I recommend using the app Pinterest. It’s super useful and is what I use for references and designs.

As for hands I don’t really know how to explain it- but getting references is really helpful and don’t be scared to sometimes trace the lines of the hand. It helps you learn the anatomy. I personally make a rough sketch, another sketch, and keep going until I feel like the hand looks good enough. It took me awhile to draw hands like this so don’t worry :) also looking at your own hand also helps sometimes!

Also exaggerating poses a bit or a lot can help make your drawing more expressive too-

As for mouth I kinda just…draw a cat mouth and go from there lol

I think that’s all I can explain right now. I hope it helps at least a little bit! Make sure not to push yourself too much on improving your art and style. Everyone’s art journey is different. Some did art for a short time yet is better than some who has done art for a long time. It also depends on if you actually do some art studies. But drawing just for fun also helps so much. Drawing every day improves your style. Try pushing yourself out of your comfort zone sometimes too. We’re all still learning so don’t be afraid to make a few mistake. Keep up the good work! :)

[lnfours]

hiii do u still take reqs? if so can u write one about intern!reader in stark industries and they bump to each other in the lab being like omg what r u doing here arent u in most of my classes in uni stuff like that and hes surprised that she got to fixed spiderman’s web shooters when he couldnt figure it out himself 😭 just sum cute getting closer and closer stuff :((((( tysmmm 🩷🩷

ANON THIS IS SO CUTE MY HEART IS BURSTING

inbox 💌

you wandered into the lab early that morning, wanting nothing more than just to get ahead on some new projects. what you didn’t expect was someone else sitting in the lab when you walked in. he almost spooked you, almost made you drop your cup of coffee.

“oh, sorry,” he chuckled, “didn’t mean to scare you. i didn’t know anyone else was coming in today.”

you shook your head, eyes moving towards what he was working on on the metal table in front of him, “it’s okay, i don’t mind sharing.”

he smiled softly, but your eyes scanned his familiar features. you pulled your eyebrows together, trying to rack your brain on where you’ve seen the boy before.

“you look familiar,” you said, “do i know you?”

he smiled, “i got to empire state, we have a few classes together.”

you pressed your palm against your forehead, feeling like an idiot, “that’s right! you’re peter, right?”

he nodded, “yeah. you’re y/n y/l/n, right?”

you smiled and nodded. the two of you started to work on your projects, low music playing in the background. the small talk continued about class.

however, you couldn’t help but notice what he was working on. it looked like he was struggling a little bit, cursing under his breath as he dropped the screw driver.

“i don’t have enough caffeine in me for this right now.” he joked and you sent him a small smile.

“need some help?” you wondered and he looked over at you with a soft smile.

“i mean, you’re busy-“

“no, it’s okay, i’m almost done,” you smiled, rolling your chair over to his table, “woah, what’s all this?”

“a new design i’ve been working on for web-shooters,” he said, “this design is supposed to have upgraded cartridges that can hold more web fluid, that way they’re not running out all of the time.”

you nodded, “i’ve seen tony work on something like this before. he said it was for spider-man, i think.”

he let out a shaky breath. should he tell you? no, you’re just a stranger to him.

“yeah, i help spider-man, uhm, design things.”

you nodded, impressed, “that’s cool.”

he nodded back, “yeah, very cool.”

you examined the web shooter, pointing out some of the things he should change to make it work. the two of you began working, he handed you some of the parts as you screwed them in.

after an hour of tinkering, you handed him the upgraded device with a smile, “give that a shot.”

he inserted the newly improved web cartridge. you watched as his fingers moved to press the button in the middle of his palm, the web shooting out and sticking to the wall nearby. you bit down on your bottom lip, shaking your head at the thoughts.

“wow,” he smiled, “that worked! it totally worked! you’re a genius.”

you smiled, “just here to help.”

he offered to help with your designs, some new arrows for clint and kate. the two of you made some more small talk.

“so, when did you start interning?” he asked.

“a couple weeks ago,” you said, twisting the arrowhead onto the shaft, “what about you? how’d you land that spider-man gig?”

he shrugged, “friend of a friend.”

you nodded, “that’s still pretty cool.”

he nodded, watching as you worked. he was in awe of you. he had been ever since you answered one of the hardest questions in class.

“how would you,” he started softly, his nerves getting the best of him as he cleared his throat, “would you like to, uhm, get coffee or something sometime?”

you smiled, “yeah, i’d really like that.”

the two of you looked up as the door to the lab closed, tony smiling as he walked inside.

“spider-boy, i see you’ve met the newest brainiac, y/n.”

your eyes widened a little as peter stiffened, you looked over at him.

“wait, you’re spider-man?”

great. thanks tony.

[pukanavis]

Ryui Shiramitsu SSR Card Story 「Amidst The Pandemonium」 Track 2

Location: Arataka Amulet Store

Momiji: (...I know he told me to do whatever I want but I didn’t think it’d be this hard. I feel like I’ll prick myself if I’m not careful…)

Ryui: …

Momiji: (I’m not sure if I should ask him a question while he’s trying to focus.)

(Speaking of, Ryui-kun has the technique down perfectly. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I just asked him for some tips…)

[Option 1]: Ask him directly.

Momiji: Um, do you have any tips? Ryui: Huh? Why’re you asking. Momiji: I was just admiring your work…I thought you might be able to give me some pointers? Ryui: Pointers? There’s not much to it. We’re not on a time crunch or anything so all I’d recommend is to take it slow. Oh, and don’t panic and knock everything over.

[Option 2]: Try to copy his technique.

Momiji: (Now that I pay closer attention, I can see that he’s holding the elastic between his middle finger and his ring finger.) (Oh, I get it! When you hold it like that it straightens out the end and makes it easier to slide the beads on…!) Ryui: You’re trying to mimic my technique, huh? Not bad. There’s no better hack than just copying what someone else does.

Momiji: Y-Yeah, I’ll try that!

(I was going to attempt to copy Ryui-kun’s technique but it’s pretty hard to get the hang of…)

Ryui: Listen, I’d be out of business if a beginner like you could do a better job than me. It’s basically a given that you're gonna struggle.

Momiji: Urgh, you’re seeing right through me…

(To be fair, chances are that I’m not going to do well on my first try at something…alright, I’m gonna power forward.)

Ryui: Just leave it there when you're done. 

Momiji: You’ve already finished yours…!?

Ryui: ‘Course I have, I’ve racked up way more experience than you.

Momiji: (He was so quick with his hands. The design is stunning too..!)

(He might be harsh with his words but it’s amazing how skilled he is at this type of thing.)

I only have a little bit left to go on mine…!

Ryui: …

Momiji: I-It’s done…!

(It looks like it’s seen better days though…)

Ryui: I mean, you did pretty alright all things considered.

Momiji: You mean it…!?

Ryui: But– you’ve got some improving to do before anything of yours can go up for sale.

Momiji: Yeah, you’re right…

Ryui: Alright, that’s a wrap. I’m firing you now so go ahead and head home.

Momiji: Gotcha! Thanks!

Ryui: …And take this.

Momiji: Aren’t these those luxury raisin cookie sandwiches from Hotel Akura…!?

Ryui: Toi wanted to try them so I picked some up on my way back.

Momiji: Oh, so you want me to give these to Toi for you?

Ryu: Huh? It’s pretty fuckin’ obvious that I’m gonna give them to him! You think I’m giving you a free ticket to see how happy Toi’s gonna be when he gets these?

Momiji: ? Then why’d you give them to me…?

(...Oh, waitーHe didn’t exactly make it easy to understand but did he…get some for me too!?)

Ryui: …That’s your payment for helping out today.

Momiji: Thanks, I appreciate it.

Ryui: Mhm.

Momiji: (Maybe he really is a kind person at heart–just with some bad social skills, that is.)

Momiji: (Let’s see…the next member of the Night Squad that I’ll need to have a word with should be Ryui-kun.)

(I’m guessing I'll be able to find him at Arataka? I’ll stop by and pop my head in.)

Momiji: (Oh, Toi-kun is here too.)

Toi: Ani-sama, thanks a bunch for those raisin cookies! They tasted amazing!

Ryui: That's great to hear. I’m just glad I got to see you smile.

Toi: I’ve been wanting to try out that store for ages but they were always sold out.

Ryui: If you like them then I’ll go back and get you as many as you want.

Toi: Yay! Thank you! Next time you go, I want to come with you so that we can try them together.

Momiji: (Those two are always so sweet to each other…Hey—isn’t that the bracelet I made?)

Toi: Oh, is this amulet a new product you’re selling? You picked a pretty eye-catching spot to display it…

Ryui: Ahh, that's just a little custom-made thing.

Toi: It’s a little different from what you usually make but it has a nice style to it!

Momiji: (Despite his criticisms of my bracelet, he displayed it in the front of the store…is this another show of Ryui-kun's kindness, I wonder?)

Back

[hollysoda]

Okay so I know that totk turned one year old a couple of days ago but I was away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to post something about it. Now I’m home again, I think I wanna just put some thoughts down

Firstly, I still love totk. It was a really fun game and had just as much fun playing through it complete blind as I did playing botw with only a loose knowledge of the game. In fact, I enjoyed it more than botw. Maybe it was because I knew more about Zelda than what I did back in September 2022 when I first played botw, or maybe it was because I could see the improvements they made when it came to dungeons and overall exploration. For at least six months totk was my favourite zelda game. Now, a year on, it isn’t.

I think on reflection totk is a very flawed game. While it is technically genius, story-wise it’s incredibly weak, possibly the weakest in the entire franchise. Here are a few points worth mentioning:

Why bother bringing back Ganondorf if he isn’t going to have any real motive? Is there a reason why he’s fighting with Rauru and seeking his own secret stone, or is he just doing it for funsies? Part of the reason why Wind Waker Ganondorf is so good is because he has a strong and clear motive. Without any motive, totk Ganondorf just feels like an enemy rather than a main antagonist

The main thing that drives forward a story is a theme to take away from it. Breath of the Wild’s theme was exploration and lost memories, Skyward Sword’s theme was loyalty and/or devotion, but it’s hard to tell what totk’s theme is. Sacrifice could be the outstanding one, seeing as both Zelda and Rauru make crucial sacrifices for the sake of Hyrule, but where else is it seen in the story? Totk just tries too many things, and having a clear theme would just help to solidify things

For a game that was supposed to solve the mystery of who the Zonai were it sure did a poor job at doing so. I absolutely adore the Zonai and in my opinion Rauru and Mineru’s designs as some of the coolest in the entire franchise but my god. Their lore is so underdeveloped it hurts. We know the bare minimum about their civilisation and culture. We still don’t know why they died off, why they built the labyrinths (and by extension who the Lord of dragons/owls/boars are), why they have secret stones in the first place, why is the Temple of Time in the sky when it was originally on the ground and most importantly why is draconification a forbidden act. If you’re gonna imply that the three dragons introduced in botw were once people then tell us!! Totk deserved a dlc that could explain all of this and not leave us in the unknown

Saying that the Sheikah technology just “disappeared” is an absolutely awful way of saying “uh yeah we never thought about that”. That’s some god awful world-building and planning on the developers behalf. Even if they just said that after the Calamity it lost its magic and then parts of it were repurposed for new technology, like the Skyview towers, it would be so much more believable. The Divine Beasts should have at least been in the game somewhere, perhaps in the depths. The lack of Sheikah tech makes the game feel so disjointed from botw, and makes totk feel as though it’s only a sequel because it has the same characters in it

The ending of the game just doesn’t sit right with me. Why bother having Mineru beg Zelda not to swallow her secret stone if in the end she would be able to turn back into a human. I understand the developers want a happy ending but at least let there be consequences. Let Zelda’s memory be a bit hazy or give her dragon features like many artists have done and let Link permanently be an amputee

Also the Ancient Hero angers me. I’ve got no problems with him not being a hylian because honestly it makes it wayy more interesting knowing that not every hero was hylian, but just explain why. If he’s some sort of Zonai, why doesn’t he look like Rauru and Mineru? Is he some sort of hybrid or a different breed of Zonai? And why does the tapestry depict him as a hylian if he’s not? Seems like an oversight more than anything

I think I should stop there because this post is getting long but uh TL;DR totk could have been a phenomenal game if they spent more time planning out the storyline and fleshing out lore. I get it, the game was originally botw dlc, but after so many delays we at least deserved a better story.

I do still love this game though Tears of the Dragon goes HARD