#and Sprite is like y'know what? that is obvious

[softquietsteadylove]

Gosh your hospital AU is crazy sweet! Would you do another one? Just loved the idea and their dynamic!

Thena looks up from her charts, finding a protein bar wiggling its way into her view.

"Delivery for a Miss--no, Doctor Thena?"

Thena smiles, no matter how much she doesn't feel like it. Because Gil can always get her to smile, even after she's pulled an 18 hour shift to cover for absentee residents, handled some truly uncooperative patients and just wants to sleep face down on the floor.

"How you holdin' up?" he whispers, sitting himself next to her on the on-call bunk bed. He slips his hands back into his hoodie pockets as she accepts and unwraps the snack (white chocolate and cranberry: her favourite).

"Better now," she promises, sighing as she chews. She flaps around the paper copies of her charts that need signing off on, "I miss Ajak."

The nurse who did indeed keep things running smoothly had only gotten off shift an hour and a half ago.

"These are all done, though, right?" he guessed, peeking at them in her tight little fist. "You're just signing off on discharges?"

"Yeah," she sighed, sagging on the bed even heavier. "I'm just about done. Just this last little stretch always kills me."

"Yeah, last run is always the hardest," Gil sympathises, and she knows he knows exactly what they mean by it. He pulls the papers from her hand before she can abuse them further.

"How was your day?" Thena asks, although she pauses in her chewing just to yawn.

"Pretty quiet, actually," he smiles, although really he's making sure she finishes the whole protein bar. "Kingo spent most the run making tiktoks, so..."

Thena gulps down her bite and laughs. Gil feels at least a little bit better at hearing the magical sound.

"I know you're dying to get home, but maybe a little power nap wouldn't hurt before you get behind the wheel of any sort of vehicle."

"I know, I know," she groans, taking another bite of power bar as he takes her stethoscope from around her neck and even pulls out her ponytail for her. She moans even louder as he massages her head, relieving the tension that has become subconsciously ingrained into her at this point.

Gil pulls her to lean against him, wrapping his arm around her and trying to, as subtly as possible, get his other arm out of the sleeve so he can secure it entirely over her shoulders as a blanket. "They need to assign more interns to this place."

Thena shrugs, already leaning quite heavily on him as the warmth of him permeates her tired bones and the smell of him on his hoodie lulls her into relaxation. "They don't come down here to learn trauma care, they come here when they need extra cash."

Gil just rolls his eyes. Thena works herself to the bone, seeing everyone from people who have very normal reasons to come in and just can't make it to clinics because of their work schedules, to very real and urgent traumatic emergencies. And she and Ajak get so little thanks for it.

Thena is actively and visibly drifting off, turning her face into his bicep as she makes her self more comfortable against him. "What about you? When are you off?"

Gil is technically off duty now, also supposed to be heading home. But he's here because he asked Ajak if Thena was heading out too, only to learn that she was fulfilling the last of her 18 hours. And he would be damned if he trusted her to take proper care of herself when she was exhausted.

And he certainly wasn't going to let anyone else take care of her in his place, either.

"Gil?" Thena asks again, although she wraps both of her arms around his one, as if he's her own personal teddy bear.

"I'm off too," he whispers, leaning his head against hers as she dozes off against him, sitting up and wrapped in his work hoodie over her scrubs.

But she's sleeping, and it's all he wanted when he came in here.

The door opens and one of the interns - either very early or extremely late - pokes their head in. "Um, is Doctor Thena-"

"Get out," Gil glares at them, utterly remorseless for the harsh treatment. His eyes burn a hole in them, "quietly."

They do so, pulling the door closed for him as quietly as humanly possible.

The trauma surgeon from upstairs will be coming down any minute to take over for her anyway. And Gil is ready to sit up with Thena for as long as she stays asleep. He'll carry her to her car and drive her home if he has to.

Although part of him wants to stay here and let her hold onto his arm like this forever.

Thena mumbles in her sleep, and Gil smiles. She denies it every time he brings it up to her, but she's a sleep talker--mumbles out anything from patient charts to what she wants to eat when she wakes up. It's an oddly cute habit for the Goddess of War to have, which is why she denies it so vehemently.

Gil kisses her forehead, "go home?"

"Home," she sighs in agreement, still holding onto him. She's very deserving of her next 24 hours off, he thinks.

She won't like it--she'll be mortified if she thinks about the interns seeing it. But Gil knows what has to be done. He tries to pull his arm out of her grasp, only for her to whine at him faintly. He laughs under his breath. "I'm gonna take you home, honey."

Gil manages to extract his arm so he can pick her up bridal style, bundling her up in his arms so he can grab her backpack on the way. He does take a route that's not out the main entrance to the ER, for the sake of Thena's pride.

He carries her out the ambulance bay doors, heading for his car to drive her home. The paramedics getting ready for their first run of the day wave to him. He nods his head, and they seem to understand that he has cargo far too precious to risk waking.

[telekinetic-electronica]

Indigo Park: Salem is Important

I've already done a post on why I think Lloyd is important. I go over how I think he's the first mascot and the OG face for the Indigo brand. Not to mention, drawing a parallel to Mickey and Oswald. You can read it here.

There is also this picture at the beginning of Rambley's Railroad can suggest that Lloyd is giving the deed to the park to Rambley. I.e. transferring ownership to him, as seen here.

We also see Lloyd as a statue that's very similar to the style of the Rambley and Isaac statue we see when entering the park. I haven't seen this mention with people, but I think the biggest case for the other important mascot is Salem.

(Lloyd's statue in his maze)

Anything regarding to Salem is a mystery. Salem's part in Rambley's Railroad is completely destroyed. There's splats of blood, Rambley glitches out, Salem's cutout is ripped in half, and hints that Rambley's Railroad used to be Lloyd's Limos, in the backrooms.

(Salem's section destroyed in Rambley's Railroad)

(Lloyd's Limos in the backrooms)

Any important lore drop for Indigo Park, Salem is somehow connected. In the video game portion, where it's revealed Salem was the one who was corrupting the squirrels, then goes ahead and corrupts Mollie.

This is hinting to something big, something that possibly happened to the mascots at the park. Rambley did say, in a way, the mascots are like their cartoony selves. Via when he tells Ed the truth and in the credits song. Something either corrupted them or it could be symbolic to how trauma changes you. Within the same game, if you drop near the first half off of it, we see Mollie's sprite in a cage.

I mention trauma is because I think it's obvious that Mollie and the other living mascots were physically and emotionally abused by the staff and the on-goers at the park. Mollie can repeat things that were said back to her.

"I wanna play with the birdie!" "Don't touch that thing, son." "It barely hurts at all..." "Get up, you stupid freak." "Get back in your cage, bird." "The customer is always right." Mollie and Lloyd are conscious beings who were tossed around and mistreated from the employees to the people visiting the park. They treated them like they were just props, things. The parent calls Mollie a THING. The employees called Mollie a "stupid freak" and for her to get back in her cage. As shown in the video game. They were treated like rag dolls and if they didn't do want the employees wanted, they would get beat or screamed at, or left to rot in cages. It just makes the line "It barely hurts at all!" more dark.

It barely hurts at all.

She's convincing herself that the abuse she is going through is fine or that she's used to it. Or an employee saying the abuse she is going through isn't hurting her. It barely hurts at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Indigo Park's underlying horror is mistreating people as just tensions of the park to sell a fantasy towards parent for a quick buck, instead of, y'know, treating them like people.

Not to mention, Salem uses potions. Magic. A possible hint to how the mascots were brought to life. They aren't robots or anything, but they're conscious, living beings. Now, let's take a look at Salem's intro card. It was censored before chapter 1 was released, but I believe it is important.

Note of some important things here. They are a major trouble maker, super quick, and cunning. Interesting. Personally, in a speculation of mine is that Salem was the first one to act out and think what the employees and on-goers at the park treating them and the other mascots were wrong. Anytime something of lore is dropped or something of importance, Salem is involved. Salem is important.

Either or not they're an ally or enemy to Rambley and Ed, we'll see. Heck, Salem doesn't have any merch minus a keychain. So, whenever Salem is on the screen pay attention. Isn't it odd that Rambley NEVER mentions Salem? Like, the dude mentions Lloyd and he hates his guts. Interesting.

[grapefaygodude69]

watch me become national geographic reporter about sober dude cuz,,, dont have a reason but head canons are fun :o)

other sprites i remade [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

down there's the sprite edits cuz i made these vvv

AUTISTIC YAPPING DONT MIND THATR ... SORY MY ENGLISH IS BAD???

ALSO SH MENTION TW IG \\\\\

the fact that he was sober for example would have been in the past but has never been seen by anyone other than his moirial once but thats a long story,,, how to get him to calm down and get back on the slime is to just pap him until he stops hissing and give it to him and he'll just eventually want to take it again. the thing with karkat is the example of gamzee naturally being an asshole and using his strength against people instead of like in his stoned state barely using it or teasing people by lifting them up,,, my point is karkat almost got choked to death because of gamzee being sober around him, he just attacks anyone around no matter what. the state of being sober for the clown is kind of very overwhelming and gets transelated in violence or whatever something like that for no apparent reason even if its the kind of wholesome thing about him, after that incident with karkat, he got high again it took him like idk maybe 4 months to stop saying sorry for hurting karkat like that because he didn't meant to and its silyyyyyy how he's basically more "sober" (as in more calm) and nice when he's high and more voilent and whatever when he's actually sober.

the other thing is that sopor itself is kind of like alcohol in the sense of how it can effect people differently, gamzee gets high but also very tipsy from it so he needs to sit down most of the time and not move much or he might just break something falling over he isnt much of an active guy but he isnt lazy y'know but being addicted to it gives him extreme withdrawal symptoms which also can be another thing that fuels the violent behavior. but that's all pre sgrub, but post sgrub the meteor shenanigans go on with multiple murders because of the obvious he's pissed and his boyfriend got impaled yadda yadda… gamzee never does recover from the constant need for sopor but learns to put his anger into more productive things that i dont have an idea for but ehhhhuhuhhhhhyh yeahs that's it bye :o)

day 150

[danieyells]

I saw transformed Lyca and knew you would have something to say hshhshs

IS IT SO OBVIOUS THAT I, THE LITTLE MANTHING WITH AN ANTHRO GOAT FROM A POPULAR FURRY/GEIKOMI MOBILE GAME AS THEIR ICON, WHO CALLS THEMSELF A POKEMON, WHO LIKES AN INFINITE ASSORTMENT OF KINKS AND MONSTROSITIES, AM A FURRY? I mean i also made a post about giving him a knot and answered several asks about him raping the pc as a werewolf in rut but like ASIDE FROM THAT HEY WAS IT THAT OBVIOUS?

I really do wish he could stay like that. Or he'd get a dedicated half-wolf sprite. . .oh god and Ed said that's not even his final form? He gets even less human if he's exposed to full moonlight for even longer??? Please????? When can we see it????? I want him to go absolutely feral

Y'know what else I have something to say about?

That Rui is keeping fucking horny tentacles in the bar cellar(and the pc's reaction is "oops we can't put that on google play/the app store!")

Also that Ed was just kind of vibing down there only really mentioning the humidity

and Taiga just kinda sent his underlings down there and Ed let it happen lol.

(I'm sure if there's actually tentacle rape down there Ed made sure the plants behaved themselves. Or he was having fun and got dressed once he heard Taiga up there.)

JUST. . .AS A MONSTERFUCKER I GOT FED A BIT WITH OBSCUARY. JUST A LITTLE. VAMPIRES AND KEMOMIMI DON'T REALLY COUNT AS MONSTERS WHEN THEY'RE MOSTLY HUMAN LIKE ED AND LYCA BUT. WE GOT A LITTLE TASTE OF MONSTERS.

[linversearts]

like someone already said, there's a handy option to use a masc body type with fem facial features in the sims. i don't know why the other anon decided to immediately get argumentative over their own misinterpretation. nobody is being attacked here

having a noticeable chest wouldn't make mhin any less non-binary. obviously. that's not what was ever implied here but i feel like missing the point should've been expected on the "piss on the poor" website lol (/j). there isn't just one way to be genderqueer, and characters like mhin already get very little representation as it is - both of these statements can and do co-exist

androgynous non-binary people are often automatically watered down to "woman lite", be it intentionally or not, and to put it simply it sucks constantly seeing that everywhere. and it sucks even more to see someone plugging their ears and going "omg it doesn't matter, live your life, do whatever you want" to anyone they don't immediately agree with, y'know?

as far as we're concerned, mhin's flat. their sprite shows as much, but the vere sketches make that especially obvious even with the shirt. anything else is a headcanon, and it'd be a different thing entirely if they were shown using a binder like you said, but they're not! 'cause they don't have to be. amab non-binary folks exist, intersex non-binary folks exist, and afab non-binary folks who are naturally flat-chested also exist

this is less so about your own personal video game playthrough and more so about any accidental internalised biases, you feel me? yeah, it's just the sims. yeah, it's also a little weird when trans characters are put into boxes that don't fit them. if mhin was just a feminine cis dude - who looked the exact same as they do now - would it still make sense to give them a fem preset?

i dunno. i feel like i'm rambling and over-explaining myself now, so please feel free to read this in your own time and not answer it publicly if you want. but all of this seems like a really simple fix - you were cool with the initial ask, someone suggested an easy way to fix it, and all of this could've ended at that. i know tone can be hard to read over text so i genuinely hope this isn't coming across as snappy

Hi again!

And I think I see what you mean now. Less about the game, and more about internalized biases. Perhaps I did/do have an accidental internalized bias, and I will definitely try to work on it. So thank you for the clarification!

And it did come across as a little snappy, but I understand why. This is very clearly a topic that is close to you (therefore you’re passionate about it!), and it’s important in general! So no hard feelings :)

[howlonomy]

Two things:

One: Thank you so much for being very enthusiastic about my work! I always see a few things that seem "off" to me, or that I think look "bad". But every time you always respond with either "Oh it looks great!" or "Yeah, it is pretty hard" and it always makes me feel much more confident in myself and motivates me to draw even more!

Two: Here's the next two drawings from my set of seven

Y'know, funny how I talked about the first point becaaaaaause yeah. This time it's the eyes for both, and also the little feather fluff around her neck. BUT I'm choosing to say that my inability to draw the same thing twice perfectly, thus making the fluff in the Geno fight much sharper, is ACTUALLY an artistic choice since at that point I had damaged her a lot, so I... ruffled a few feathers. Also I don't know if it's obvious, but I did kinda trace over the actual battle sprite for the head because I don't think I can do perspective quite that good yet (I also did that for the hair right on top of Ceroba's head, I've been sort of blending your design and the actual fight design together in these so far, it is very likely to happen again)

...I just realized I forgot about her eyebrows in the Pacifist fight... You know what? I'm claiming that to ALSO be an artistic choice since she isn't pissed off at Clover in that one.

Anyways enjoy! The next two should be interesting (another pair)

DAMMIT I FORGOT HER TAIL IN PACIFIST! AND THIS TIME I DON'T HAVE AN EXCUSE I CAN MAKE! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I ALSO REALIZED I FORGOT IT WHEN I FIRST DREW HER WITH CHUJIN!

I will be mulling over this for quite some time

WAHOO YIPPE!!!!! MY GIRLRLLL MARTLET <333

AND ITS OK i think tracing is a good artistic tool!! and dont worry i am Contantly forgetting aspects of my own design when i draw them ABDJSK its bound to happen all the time!! and perspective (especially with the big ass beak i gave martlet) is so. hard. i dont even know how to draw it most of the time GDJCND i tend to avoid 3/4/front facing martlet as much as i can LMAO

BUT THESE LOOK SO GOOD IM SO HAPPY U DREW BOTH FIGHTS AAWUUGH MARTLET!!!!…!!!

[janederscore]

some additional postmortem thoughts bc i'm thinking about it: this jam really emphasized to me how important the concepting phase is for anything that's getting animated - and like, specifically, building in a lot of iteration time to figure out what exactly you're doing before you start doing it.

the shotgun was sort of a mess from start to finish for a lot of reasons but a nonzero amount of that was having kind of a loose visual for it to start with and never really taking the time to sit down and feel it out all the way. like i think had i given it a lot more thought i probably would have tried to avoid the little robot arm concept altogether and instead build something that more directly resembled an alofs mechanism.

i think its one of those things where its really easy to gloss over the mechanical function of an object or character and operate on a "sprite first, fudge later" methodology, but like. it truly does save an enormous amount of time when you know more or less exactly how a thing will move when you are moving it. that sounds extremely obvious saying it out loud but like it's not as intuitive as you'd think, especially when you have other time concerns that make the concepting phase feel almost frivolous compared to Just Getting In There With Your Hands, y'know

[saturdays--sun]

hi again koda !! inspired by ur last post , what r ur thoughts on each of inigo's feh units , art wise? id love to hear !! @catake

hi again clara!! :]

i !! love all of them !! they're all so so cute and he looks so pretty in all of them, i just wanna [grabs his face n kisses him so sweetly] <3

but!! just going down the line—

dancing duelist / laslow

i know it's literally just his fates design, but i really like it!! he looks very soft in it, in a way; something about it makes me want to squish his face and give him a little kiss on the nose. <3

i also love the little references that are in this one!! the dancing rings are a part of his regular fates design, too, but it's nice to be able to actually see them since you can't really in the regular game. less so about the art / design, but i just think it's super sweet that he wears such an obvious memento of olivia and then passes another onto soleil

my ABSOLUTE favorite detail of it is his sword, though. specifically in his low health sprite because—

it reads like a reference to his A support with owain in awakening and it KILLS me. they really gave him the "200 Girls' Names Carved Into The Metal" sword. he's such a loser, i love him

festival flower

[through tears] HE'S BUNNY,,,,

out of all of them, his bunny / spring alt is definitely my favorite, he's just!! SO cute!! and i really like the art style of this one, he looks very pretty in it <3

he wears the tall / thigh high boots in just about every outfit he's been put in, but i just. really like the boots they put him in for this alt. also the gloves. and the bunny ears <3

his entire outfit looks super good, though!! the colors are really soft and go well together; i think it suits him, especially with all the flowers they stuck on him. it's probably also really stereotypical of me to say, but i also just... think he looks very nice in a suit. or, something suit-adjacent. u///u

ALSO !!!!!!

HE BLEP !!!!!!!

indigo dancer

oh, i have So Many feelings about this one.

Lore Wise, it just. makes me so happy, y'know? because he's finally a dancer!! just like his mom!! just like he's always wanted to be!!

design wise, i think this one really suits him, too! there's something about it that just kinda feels natural, in a way; like, even though he's only ever dressed as your typical mercenary before, the dancer outfit doesn't look weird on him at all.

speaking of— i love that his dancer outfit is very reminiscent of olivia's while also feeling very Inigo. the white / dark blue / black color scheme looks really good on him! and so does the turtleneck part of his top, too. that. also looks very good on him. >///>

not only that, but also.

a,, arms,,,,

at the risk of sounding like a Touch Starved Victorian Maiden, i also just. really like seeing his arms. i think he should pick me up. or something. m-maybe.

in conclusion: each one is a 10/10 and i love them all very very much <3 i'm also begging on my hands and knees hoping for another inigo alt soon orz

[awiola]

Normal update, winter XXIV

BUT IT'S NOT WINTER ANYMORE HA! Happy after-equinox to y'all. I planned to write the update in march and it's still technically march but, like, y'know, it's the first day of spring so it feels kind of late, ig? Not that it really matters here and I drew Morana on fire so all is good.

This is not completely [un]related but I'm trying to complete the 'draw sth for 100 days straight' challenge and rn it's going okay though I have to admit I'm being a lazy ass. But hey, a bad sketch a day is still a drawing. Not sure if that's the reason I wasn't able to complete my easter sketch dump but knowing me it wouldn't be finished anyway so whatever ig. AND YES, I WILL DRAW FATHER DAKI ON TIME. I planned to do it when I was drawing Agatha for thug in PE's style but oh well... You'll see both ot these pics on the first of april.

Also, like, in case anyone was interested, I finally decided to learn how to adult and might open comms this year? I tell myself I'll open them since, like, 2020 so yeah. Maybe. I think I will, tho.

Current game stuff

Mushroom game... Yeah... It exists and I technically haven't dropped it but yeah... Yeah... Tbh I even hid the link from my page but it's still public and all... But yeah... It goes into the "finally finish it in 2024, you stupid fuck" list - which, incidentally, is a mouthful so from now on it's gonna be "24 >:C" - together with Enmity and all.

Remember the golem game? Yeah, we don't see its non human form but I did technically draw it. Humanoids are, like, so last decade. It's called Sorcerer's golem and because I was not the lead, we managed to nicely finish it on time ✨ [Unrelated but I wonder what happened to the old unicode emotes, I need to look into it]. There's not really a lot I have to say here, tbh. It's short, it's wholesome, I'm totally not gonna go almost fully lineless again. I almost died and it was only two sprites. Never again proceeds to do that again later anyway.

Some time after, or maybe during, I can't really remember, I heard of Queer Vampire Jam and ofc had to join because I wouldn't be me if I managed to stop myself from joining yet another jam. It just so happened I both felt like shit and read something from my SF gods at the time so I commited this open ended 3k long story and it's, like, really obvious how I felt and what I was reading but then I decided to go yolo and publish it anyway, especially since I got an editor and made laby draw for me. Just had to publish it at that point. Enough about that, though - let's see what is it all about. Vani vani, because Tas tatum was deemed too lame of a name is a story about a [queer obviously] vampire who's kinda dead inside and it shows. I did say it was obvious I felt like shit. I'm not sure if it ended up being too edgy or not... I mean, I made it really obvious it's, like gestures vaguely y'know? I don't wanna spell it out but, like, the theme and everything there was so obvious I'll be disappointed in you if you didn't get it based on the pun title [the other two layers of puns there aren't as obvious] and the page/thumbnail. Unless, of course, you never heard about it at all which might be the case for people from other continents, I wouldn't know. I realise that doesn't say a lot about the contents but I mean, it's more of a progress update, I'm not actually trying to market anything here lol So whatever. It might be the only game ever where I put a whole nsfw scene of a sexual nature... Or it might just be the beginning of my unsexy h scene adventures. I even asked others how to make it as unsexy as possible and I hope I succeed. Going into gore or kink migh be sexy for some but boredom? Probably to no one who actually reads it. And, as is the case with my other personal games, not a lot of people read them. So I think I succeed at that. It's just the beginning of my SF adventures, though. Be prepared.

Now for the thing that might interest the potential reader the most because I saw the statistics and I bet all the follows are alse due to that - Impostor Syndrome. I know the page is pretty much silent but we are working on this. The common route received a lot of notes to make it longer, more cohesive, funnier and possibly better for all the gremlins that wanted a troll mode. Or at least that was the plan. Route wise we had something but after some consideration, it had to be basically scrapped. I won't go into all the details here as for why, but the rewriting of the outline is proceeding. Slowly cause it's kinda hard to find the best time to talk when you have multiple people from different timezones to consider but I think it's looking good. There's a sliiight possibility it might be a bit less vanilla than, like, your typical sfw otome but I don't think any vanilla lover would think it's too much or anything. Not nearly kinky enough for that. I think labelling it as having a soft dom MC might even be false advertising. Maybe. Hell if I know, I suck at tags. But yeah, it's proceeding. Obviously it won't be out during winter but I do think it will be finished this year. Most likely.

From other game stuff... I might have a monster type project made with Ameena for you. Or I might not. The designs are done but is anything gonna come out of them? We'll see. Leaving the possibility open.

I helped Doibats [who I helped with Cool Days before] with some art. This time it's an rpg, currently still in development. The cool art direction is still there so I think it would be worth a play when it's out. I think I'm more of a guest artist than an actual member of the team, though lol But yeah, check it out when it's done, I'll link it then.

Yet another game where I didn't do much - The Villainess Just Wants To Eat!! had its full, official release 🎉 Congrats to the team [check out their gui, btw]. I was mostly helping with this or that due to the usual jam team stuff that happens but yeah. Syd wrote afterstories for the charas, too. They're technically linked on the game's page, too, but you can read them on her tumblr, too.

I kind of forgot to mention, which also ties with my next point, but she hosted the Ossan jam again which I planned to join with my nano project about Wedding crashers but I overestimated my ability to write energetic chaos so... umm... Well, it's not dropped and while it won't get done in time for nano, I think I'll manage before Ossan jam ends. It started as a loose idea that kinda parodied romcoms and then the protag became an AAA battery but also aplatonic and then I got some concepts from tea[? - dunno how they want to be called 'officially' and this one seemed safe but?] and yeah. I'm trying to work on this, though. Even though I feel so stupid attempting to write an anthropologist. Should've stuck to writing mostly what you know like with Vani vani, eehhh... Wish me luck o3o

The last thing, or two, probably, is more of a... forecast? I happened to help with the editing of a certain 18+ otome game but I'm not on the team or anything so I can't really tell you more since I don't know how much should I reveal to the potential player but from what I've seen, the development goes well since they started making it for nano and might actually be finished before Otome jam ends so I'll link it then.

The other thing is that in an unspecified future I might have a yet another AAA battery protagonist, this time replacing the MC of an otome isekai story. I'm not sure how much I'll help with [maybe just editing, maybe we'd become a two person team, who knows] but it has a hight possibility of being developed eventually. No set dates or anything, though.

Pariiish noootiiiceees

Remember Tentacle jam and Insect [adjacent] jam? They're still happening, I'm just being lazy setting the pages up. The working date is from around the middle of august to the middle of october due to all the other jams happening at the time. I think it's the final date, though. It's come to my attention there's also the Monstrous Desires jam that also shares the timeframe almost perfectly so, y'know, why not make a game that lets you join all three of them? Just a thought.

---

My god, this thing became so long. Like half the length of my typical personal project orz I had to add all the Ps and BRs manually. Damn you, html shakes fist

Over.

[sam-glade]

Ok, wow, the suggestions are brilliant! I now want to come up with Knacks channelled through them that aren't excessively scary or combat-oriented, just small things you can do every day.

...I need more ridiculous superpowers...

#There are so many#christmas tree bauble#frying pan (purely for comedy moments)#your comfort blankie#at this point#your glasses case or pencil case#your options are limitless#just went through my own handbag and found one of those little sachets of ketchup you get.#I'd totally pick that as a way to smuggle illegal magic into places you're not supposed to &lt;;.<#“What are you gonna do officer? Arrest me for carrying a condiment? I have *rights” y'know!“ - @mrbexwrites

Oh gosh making sure the bauble doesn't break deserves a story on its own. But like, the ketchup packet? That's perfect. Especially with Knacked people being under constant suspicion and often harassed by the authorities. And a Knack to go with it: infinite ketchup. It will pop out of existence in a day or so, but that's enough time to use it as a condiment.

@moonluringfrost: plastic spider. Ok, we can go with real OR illusory spiders to scare people, but... I'm imagining a self-sufficient Knacked commune off the grid, a little cottagecore/witch-esque place, where the spiders help around the kitchen a bit like soot sprites in Spirited Away. HOW can I make spiders look friendly? Still, I like the idea of the off-the-grid commune.

@aziz-reads: a worn teddy bear. Hmm... that's a tough one. Animating all sorts of plushie toys is a little obvious. Seeing through the eyes of any plushie or doll in sight? Ok, this is straying into the creepy territory...

@pheita: hair pins. How about shaping them according to your will, like the wire ties you twist to close freezer bags?

@i-can-even-burn-salad: nail clippers. Ok, I can see this allowing you to snip something small (like, up to 0.5 cm in diameter), at a distance. ... wait, damn. I was meant to find simple utility powers, not combat abilities.

@another-white-void: table. I said portable, but... I like the idea of creating 3D images/illusions above it, like in the control room in Hunger Games. What if you went into showbusiness and did that on stage? Not useful, but preeeetty!

It occurred to me that in The Truth Teller any item you can carry with you can be an Implement through which you channel your powers. A kitchen whisk? A whistle?

What's the most ridiculous thing you can think of?

[shooks-stupid-stuff]

AHAHA IT'S FINALLY DONE-

so hi yes @m-chromatic made a template for what if your oc was a secret boss and ofc i had to do it with The Funny One (aka sakomi)

and uh

piracy :]

full design/doodles/me rambling about this concept bc i really like it beneath the cut-

fuck i just realized i forgot her collar on the 'how they met the knight' drawing goddammit-

it's FINE that one's shitposty anyways-

ok so anyways. yeah so what's going on here huh? piracy. piracy is going on.

now to be CLEAR: sakomi is a lightner so like. she's not supposed to be a PIRACY WEBSITE or anything, no. she's a pirate, she DOES the pirating herself. don't ask how that works just accept it it makes sense i swear-

so like, i dunno i kinda just was thinking of designs and went 'yeah i should give her an eyepatch' and then i remembered piracy existed and it just worked (especially bc sakomi is based off of me and i pirate stuff all the time-)

oh yeah before i forget, initial design doodles + explanations on that-

god man i thought that citra joke was so funny when i thought of it.

it's really not.

uhhh anyways, so! design process woooo-

so, sakomi's og design takes a lot of inspiration in the outfit department from rudolf fire emblem (my beloved), so like. ofc i took more inspiration from fire emblem civbchjvb-

specifically with the scarf-bow-cape thing, which is inspired by generic adventurer class outfit from fire emblem fates (because that design slaps so fucking hard) as well as the hat and boots (the boots to a much lesser degree). other than that just y'know, a slightly torn up pirate coat and eyepatch for the pirate aesthetic, and gloves with colored fingertips bc they're c o o l (yes they aren't fingerless gloves).

and the in-universe explanation for why/how she has video game clothes is: she pirated them.

this is ADVANCED PIRACY (but more on that in a sec)

already explained the dumb joke one, so uh other doodle. so like, remember those anti-piracy psas that would play before movies? like, the one's that were edited to say you wouldn't download a car. so like. what if that but more fucked up-

like the eyepatch is not just for show (she accidentally poked her eye out with a ds cartridge, what a dumbass) but what if she tried to pirate a new eye

yeah it didn't work- (it did for her leg though so no more perpetual leg wound but still that's Fucked Up)

again, don't ask how this works it's just a cool idea and i like it (also she can threaten to pirate people's organs and that's just funny)

but yeah she probably participates in whatever black market cyber world has (it probably has one let's be real)

ok so now: i will uhh actually explain the stuff on the template one by one

before:

so sakomi's whole deal is that she's a lightner who's been trapped in the dark world for like 2 years and as such just basically lives there now. she has a small shop that is also her house (the curtain separates the two) and uh. yeah she doesn't get many customers, and being fucking TERRIBLE socially if she doesn't already know someone doesn't help. but she gets by (somehow). she's incredibly lonely, essentially being the odd man out in every way possible, but she gets by. i'll go into more detail on this in a later section though, so for now i'll stop.

after:

man oh man she's a criminal now-

jokes aside, she's still a shopkeeper, just for less than legal things now. some stuff is even free (but it's download only, physical media is still way cheaper than official releases though) but some of the pirated items are a bit lesser quality than the originals. you get what you pay for, i suppose lol.

obvious melee joke is obvious

additional sprites:

well (shitty) overworld sprite aside, w e a p o n s

she has a fucking gun oh god oh fu-

and a cool sword (also stolen from fire emblem, will elaborate in a bit). yeah she fights with them idk what else to say, no way in hell i'm coming up with like actual bullet patterns (yet)

item drops:

YES OK THIS I HAVE STUFF TO SAY ABOUT AHAHA

ok so first the scarf:

i kinda already explained the design, but the effect. not only is it a touhou reference (kinda) but also it reflects sakomi's feelings of loneliness and isolation. when you're all alone and feeling own in a sea of people who are all talking with others, it often can feel like your invisible (same when the few friends you do have ignore you in favor of other friends they like better; and yes, i'm speaking from experience). and since in dr certain attacks will target certain party members, it would make sense to translate this into an in battle effect that makes the character with it equipped less likely to get targeted. other than that it's inspired by the koishi card from touhou 18, except instead of making it impossible to die by touching an enemy it just makes your hitbox smaller cjvhcbj-

and next, the sword:

SO WHO HERE LIKES FIRE EMBLEM-

ok this one is simple. in fe there's a sword called the killing edge (yes i looked up synonyms for both words lmao) and it increases crit rate. so i made a bootleg (pirated) version of that, and since crits don't exist in dr it just makes the sweet spot for attacks a bit bigger (the little bar you hit for max damage). it's design is based off of the fire emblem awakening version of the killing edge (since it's my fave character of that game's signature weapon). not much else to it i just like my dumb anime tactical rpg lol-

how'd she meet the knight:

ok i know i made this one shitposty but i do have a legit thing for it lol

also no, i don't think the knight is gaster. fucking sue me.

aaaaaanyways. so imagine being sakomi in this situation.

-you've been missing for 2 years so your family/few friends think you're dead and you doubt you'll see them again because your stuck in some computer dimension

-you have terrible social anxiety and can't even bring yourself to talk to people unless it's strictly business

-you feel like you're annoying and no one actually likes you because you tend to ramble about interests a whole lot

-you hate that you snap at people when your irritated, regardless of if they actually irritated you or not

-you feel isolated and cripplingly lonely

-you have no friends or life to speak of as of now

-you have no customers and barely can scrounge up enough money to afford to live

-half the time you struggle to find the motivation to even do anything anymore

and really, there's more but i think you get the picture. she ain't doing to great.

now she suddenly gets a regular customer, one that engages her in conversation and actually seems interested in her incessant rambling. one that feels like a friend. and she latches onto that, HARD. that momentary escape from feeling like a lonely, pathetic piece of garbage. it gets to the point where she only has the motivation to do stuff in hope that they'll return to her shop and talk to her; the point where she starts to think of this person as her best friend (borderline idolizing them subconsciously), and feeling like their attention is what makes it worth doing anything, getting depressed when they don't show up for a day.

but one day, they just stop showing up. gone with no explanation. she sees them talking to someone else one day, but they don't acknowledge that she's there.

it's devastating, being tossed aside by someone you thought of as a good friend. and she kinda just.... snaps. one things leads to another, and yeah.

well that was depressing, anyways, moving on to-

angst square:

-goddammit.

ok well this is less angsty, just kinda more depressing. at this point, the idea of friends kinda... makes sakomi irate. what, so she can be tossed aside again? yeah, no. never gonna happen. she doesn't feel joy from relationships with others anymore, and she doesn't feel sorrow about her past struggles with it. she just feels rage about the whole subject. she feels she doesn't need anyone, when really she needs someone now more than ever. but y'know. she's a bit too far gone to realize that, i guess.

ok, god i have written a fucking lot, but god this was fun to do. if i do any more with it i will 100% ignore the depressing shit, but i did want to address it here because it really reflects a lot of shit that i've been going through lately friendship-wise. it's hard, it really is, and there is no feeling worse than the feeling of crippling loneliness your left with when a friend fucking ignores you in favor of talking to someone they like more (especially when you're sitting with them and REALLY just being ignored). but ah, i'll just leave it as that. honestly working on this has helped me feel a whole lot better about all that stuff, and also gave me my art mojo back so hey! win-win.

if you actually read all of this, then thanks :]

[ancient-day]

i know we talk about our ships literally all the time but you have the best thots so! your favorite p3 ship and your least favorite p5 ship for your ask game?

Ashe out here asking the Tough Questions, but I'll do my best!

[ Kotone/Shinjiro ]

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Shinji's always been one of my favorite (if not my favorite) P3 characters, so just having the option was pretty predictable for me to get attached, but then the SL itself was just. So sweet? She can go all ten ranks without romancing him, and even if it's obvious he's developing FeelingsTM, they're not the focus. Kotone helps him be the person he wants to be, and he looks out for her and supports her the best he can. It was kinda no question to do the silly "Lovers" rank with those two after maxing out because it just made sense (plus, I love to get my heart crushed by the inevitable tragedy. clearly.).

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The mutual support is a huge reason why I got attached (I think about Shinji's smiling sprite asking her about her day and genuinely enjoying listening to her and asking her to keep going), so that plus the potential. I remember when I played P3P that I turned down every Christmas invitation because in my heart, Kotone went to visit Shinji in the hospital often and would let herself be vulnerable in those moments alone with him, even if he couldn't answer.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not sure if it's unpopular, but I really don't like when I see them depicted as like... Tragic Man and Manic Pixie Dream Girl or whatever 'cause I definitely don't see 'em that way. Or if he's always like NO FUN ALLOWED 'cause yeah he's a worrier and would express that she shouldn't go run off and do reckless shit, but I think he'd hate to be controlling, y'know?

P5 is a lil more complicated 'cause I have four ships blocked because I dislike them all for essentially the same reasons, but I'll just talk about one of 'em 'cause it has both that common reason plus other issues.

[ Goro/Sumi ]

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

Classic clash of headcanon immediately since I hc Goro as gay, but their dynamic/potential does nothing for me in general. Usually I'm not a fan of m/f ships with the whole "grumpy man/sweet girl" dynamic, and I just can't see either of them going for it. Sumi ships for me are rough because I know she's only a year or two under the characters, which ordinarily really wouldn't be an issue at all, but because she spent almost a whole year of her life pretending to be someone else and only very recently returned to herself, she... comes off as much younger than she is. I just don't think they have that kind of chemistry, and I think it'd do more harm to them both than good.

What would have made you like it?

Not really sure there's anything that would've made me like them, but maybe I could understand it more if they had more going for them than "Goro didn't want her to die." (I completely understand shipping things based on potential, so I get it, but for me personally I tend to need some real Stand Out Moments)

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I think they're both great characters who could certainly relate to each other! I really, really love the idea of them being friends, and I think they could easily bond over similar feelings of wishing they were someone else/feelings of inferiority. I wish Royal had given them more time to get to know each other as their real selves in the third semester because it would've greatly benefited them both. If only we got a 3rd semester update scene of the trio at the cafe, now with all masks dropped and able to be more honest with each other, but alas.

[dangan-meme-palace]

I realy like your analysis on the kaito-maki-shuichi relationship. So i was wondering who in your opinion has the best relationship dynamic within the cast?

Aaaa thanks! I'm more or less pleased with how it came out :D probably could be shorter though haha

-tech

As for the best dynamic... hmm.

Judging based on what I mentioned in the previous post about strengths being highlighted and weaknesses being dealt with in one way or another and believable emotional bonds that help each other, I'd have to say...

Kokichi and Gonta

For sure, it's gotta be them.

Narratively:

They are canonly a dynamic duo, working together and using their different strengths to help one another in areas the other is lacking in. It feels like they can both truly shine when they cooperate, and that's exactly how it should be.

It's very nice to see them work together because they both bring something different to the table that truly helps the other, and not always in ways you would expect at first glance. The brain and brawn thing is expected, but the extent to which they compliment each other is unparalleled by any other dynamic in the game.

Kokichi -> Gonta

Admittedly, Kokichi does less for Gonta narratively than Gonta does for Kokichi, but to be fair I would expect someone like Kokichi to be the one others help shine, not the other way around. Kokichi, as the Ultimate Leader, is more like the protagonist while Gonta is the supporting character.

For the most part though, Kokichi's narrative role relating to Gonta is to show us that Gonta isn't the happy-go-lucky himbo the rest of the cast thinks he is, allowing us to see that Gonta has depth, specifically that Gonta's morals are definitely different than what one would normally expect from someone with his personality.

The rest is something that relates more to their emotional bond, but for now I'll just say that Kokichi allows us to see Gonta's insecurities, flaws, and dedication to his friends (both the cast and Kokichi) and this improves Gonta's character immensely.

Gonta -> Kokichi

Gonta, as a character, shows us just how human Kokichi can be, especially during chapter 4 but also in little moments throughout the game as well. Whether it be lashing out at the others, being soft (like, so, so soft) with Gonta, his cooperation skills, or the depths of his sadness and loyalty, Gonta drags these reactions out of Kokichi one by one like it's his job, which it is! Narratively, Gonta's job is to allow us to see glimpses of what goes on in Kokichi's heart, something incredibly rare and precious to me.

Gonta also really allows Kokichi's ability to strategize and lead people to shine. Like, really shine. Chapter 4 was the best showcase of Kokichi's talent of leading people, but that's because he had Gonta following him. Any captain needs a crew and any Ultimate Leader needs helpful and supportive followers that believe in him. This goes alongside Kokichi's major weakness throughout the game.

Kokichi's biggest weakness is that he's placed himself into an antagonistic position. Seems smart, until you realize that hes the Ultimate Leader and he just alienated himself from literally everyone, losing any potential bonds/followers he could have made. He shot himself in the foot by forsaking some leadership options when he's the Ultimate Leader. It's the thing he's best at, but he put limits on himself anyway to protect everyone from Monokuma's attempts to break them apart.

He can still get the group to do what he wants, but it takes a considerable amount of effort on his behalf in order to do so. Gonta makes up for that by being the follower that Kokichi desperately needs. Gonta believes in Kokichi enough to go along with both of his plans, to the extent that he still goes along with them even they involve kidnapping and killing the other characters.

There's also the fact that Gonta's dedication to the others might've helped Kokichi decide to keep helping everyone, but I'll get more into that in a bit.

Emotionally:

This dynamic also makes a lot of sense from an emotional perspective. You can actually see why these two outcast characters would want to come together and hang out with each other, and why they view the other so positively: they are each other's ideals.

Kokichi -> Gonta

When Gonta needed a friend and someone to take him seriously/not dismiss him, Kokichi was there to hang out with him, seriously listen to him, and explain things to him that he didn't get the first time. Where the other kids were scared of him due to his size and talent, Kokichi had the confidence to ignore Gonta's natural intimidation and the kindness to hang out with Gonta, despite being so scared of bugs he literally foams at the mouth when they touch him.

Kokichi still regarded Gonta as a friend after that incident though, when most people (justifiably) would've held a grudge and cut him off. Gonta has some very obvious rage issues and reacts pretty impulsively to the things that upset him, but Kokichi is very patient with others, and almost forgiving to a fault at times, so he's willing to stick with Gonta and try and work through their problems instead of abandoning him. This would no doubt be something that Gonta desperately wanted from a friend, seeing as he's very self conscious about appearing as scary.

He loyally sticks by Gonta and readily offers advice, support, explanations, patience, etc... I mean the list goes on. I really do think that his relationship with Gonta is a showcase of how Kokichi would act around someone he really likes, like I'm talking about this being the basis for how I think Kokichi would act around DICE levels of emotional intimacy. I think this is Kokichi at his best, friendship wise. Especially because even during events that take place outside of the main story we never see Kokichi act this way around anyone else, even with the people I would also consider to be his friends (mainly Miu, but also sorta with Kiibo as well.)

They didn't know each other for long, but if you really look at it, it's plain to see that Kokichi really valued Gonta as a friend. I mean, I dont think someone who yells about wanting to live during his FTEs with Kaede would willingly offer to give his life for (no discernable goal) for just anyone y'know? Plus, throughout the game, he uses some of his friendliest and softest sprites during his conversations with Gonta. Even visually you can see their bond.

It's a very subtle relationship when compared to some of the more overt pairs throughout the game (aside from some key moments in chapter 4) but it's there, and honestly I can think of very few characters that share this close of a bond in the whole series game.

They actually kinda seem similar to Aoi and Sakura in a way, but somehow they compliment each other more... damn.

Gonta -> Kokichi

Likewise, Gonta also became Kokichi's friend and didn't seem to mind the lying at all, something that means a lot to Kokichi based on his Harmonious Heart Events, because it means that Gonta doesn't want to be friends with someone different, he wants Kokichi, lies and all. This is Kokichi's #1 wish.

I think that meant more to Kokichi than anything else, because this is his way of life. He leads with lies, he plays with lies, and he protects himself with lies too. He wants to keep lying and Gonta not being bothered by that is literally the exact thing that Kokichi yearns for in the best ending for his HHE.

Gonta also caught on to the times that Kokichi was extending olive branches and accepted him. It's subtle, but Kokichi did try and befriend people as long as he could do it without having to change himself and Gonta was one of the people that responded to that positively. Gonta readily befriended Kokichi, probably understanding first-hand what it's like to be an outcast because of misunderstandings and personality traits.

This is why Gonta's death (especially since Kokichi felt like he was fully responsible for it, despite what Gonta said) was so traumatic for Kokichi and why he reacts so negatively to it, he lost someone he never thought he would ever meet in the first place. More than a few of his dialogue lines have him imply that he's used to being hated for how he chooses to live his life and that he expects this kind of treatment from people, so finally finding someone who won't hate him for that and then losing that friend so quickly with his own plan had to have hurt immensely.

Going off that, Gonta is the one to convince Kokichi to remain friends with everyone and try his best for them despite how they treat him, and he also desperately begs for the others to do the same thing for Kokichi. He knew he was leaving Kokichi alone, and he wanted to try and protect him.

While the other members of the cast don't seem to remember this or care much about it after the whole "I'm the mastermind" bit, we do see Kokichi trying to protect the group after chapter 4 by trying getting rid of the motive to leave (therefore "ending" the killing game by making sure no one plays it) and by trying to remove Kaito, who has shown himself to be a harmful influence.

I think Gonta's words really got through to Kokichi, and while it did unfortunately lead to Kokichi dying for everyone's sake, Kokichi might not have tried to save everyone if it hadn't been for Gonta's last wishes. Why would Kokichi want to help people that actively hate him and bully him if not for the pleading of his greatest friend in the game telling him to keep protecting them.

In a sense, Kokichi during chapter 5 fulfills Gonta's original wish to be useful and protect everyone even at the cost of himself, with Kokichi doing exactly that.

Interested?

If you asked me for moments that I feel showcase their bond nicely so you can get a feel of it for yourself, I'd point you towards the dialogue they share during the 4th trial investigation and their meeting before the Insect Meet and Greet was very nice (you'll have to read between the lines for the former though!) If you want to see what I'm talking about, I would definitely recommend rewatching those. The moments prior to Gonta's execution are also always a good look at how much they meant to each other.

If you're really interested, I'd also recommend watching through their bonus content (LHEs, FTEs, HHEs, etc) and thinking about how their desires are reflected in each other, it's interesting to think about at the very least.

TL;DR?

Overall, they have an amazing, yet unsung, dynamic between the two of them and I would like to see more people recognize it. It's very brief and doesn't have a lot of story time, but it feels more meaningful than any of the "main" dynamics in the game with 10x the screentime. It has substance to it. It's satisfying and gratifying to watch.

It also makes fucking sense, unlike a particular dynamic that takes up a majority of the fucking story for nOTHING–

[jaeminlore]

If The Moon Tells You Something | Taeyong

summary: if the moon tells you something, believe it.

words: 4.1k+

category: jack frost au, rise of the guardians references and easter eggs, taeyong is a cutie, also inspired by my ocs raven, bc i love him

Fairy lights are strung across your headboard. They keep slipping off of the left corner, though, because your window is wide open. Winter hasn't been kind to your university's campus at all. Snow has been pelting the ground since the early morning.

Wind howls through the open window, rattling the pane and sending your thin, white curtains to billow out.

"This is ridiculous," you mutter. You head toward the pane and struggle to push it down, wondering why your house has to be so old; so finicky in extreme weather. Soon, your upper body is shivering from you leaning outside to brush away some of the heavy snow that had accumulated around the pane.

You can see the edge of your roof from your uncomfortable stretching. Snow falls onto your face as if it had been kicked off, so you wonder if there's an owl or a squirrel trying to make a small home for the night.

Instead, a boy peaks over. He smiles.

You shriek and back into your room, scraping your back on the wooden pane. "Ow," you bemoan quietly.

Hesitantly, you peak back out and are startled once again to see that the boy has — assumedly — jumped down to the awning just under your window. "Hello!" He greets, as if he is nothing but a casual passerby on the streets.

His dark locks are covered in white frost, and his lips are a blueish-purple. His eyelashes seem to be completely covered with icy snow. When he blinks at you, some of the melted ice trails from his eyelashes down his pale cheeks.

To you, he looks ethereal. Almost too beautiful to be human. It unnerves you, even more than him showing up unannounced in the middle of the night. "What— Who are you?"

He smiles, teeth sparkling. The air turns white when he talks. "I'm Taeyong."

You furrow your brows. "Are you trying to be Jack Frost or something? Because I'm pretty sure he doesn't scare people just before they're going to sleep!"

Taeyong is sitting cross-legged beneath your window. His elbows are perched on the sill and his chin is rested upon his palms. "Jack Frost is just a pseudonym. Like John Doe. I've been out all night doing icicle runs."

"What are icicle runs?"

"It's where I run across everyone's roof and leave icicles in my wake. It's a vital part of winter, you know." He says it so seriously, and his brown eyes glint with nothing but sincerity.

"So the legends are real?" you manage to breathe out, teeth beginning to chatter.

He laughs, and it sounds to be the warmest thing about him. "Am I going to start nipping at your nose? Maybe." He reaches out and pokes your nose.

You scrunch up your face as the chilliness spreads throughout your body. "Why don't you go bother someone else?"

Taeyong pauses. He looks almost sad. "Not many people can see me, you know? Usually just children. Really smart children who believe in myths adults struggle so hard to understand. Maybe the belief has never outgrown you."

You blink. "Maybe not."

"So I'm bothering you for now." The corners of his eyes crinkle.

You think of your assignment. An art piece on something you strongly believe in. Something abstract and realistic at the same time. Something that makes people think. Something that makes people believe what you do.

Usually, you'd be up to your chest in anxiety over such a large project, especially with it being due over winter break. However, you're snowed in this winter break, with no flights going in or out for a few days. You and your family decided it would be smart to refund the tickets and try for spring break instead.

The thought of spending the holidays alone, without your family, breaks your heart.

All this to say that you're nearly done with your project, since there's nothing better to do besides wallow around in your dorm or snoop through your absent roommates secret candy stash.

You're a bit at odds right now, wondering if the boy in front of you is real, or merely a fatigue-induced mirage crafted up from your extensive research on mythical legends and other things the majority of people tend to believe — at least to an extent.

"I'm real," the boy says. He drops into your dorm, and as soon as his bare feet hit the linoleum, a thin sheet of ice ripples across your floor, breaking apart like lightening bolts. It almost looks as if your floor is now a frozen lake, cracking to reveal the cold depths beneath. "At least, to you."

"So you're just a figment of my imagination?" You rubs your eyes. Once, twice. Then you blink. "You're still here."

"I'm not a figment of anything," he laughs. His eyes crinkle at the sides and there's a certain purity that seems to escape him in that moment. "I'm a guardian. I'm real. But only people who believe can see me."

"I didn't know I believed that much," you mumble to yourself.

A chill creeps down your spine, making you jolt in shock. You spin around, and Taeyong is just behind you, his pointer finger pressed between your shoulder blades.

"This is crazy," he whispers, more to himself than to you. "Not many people believe in Jack Frost, you know. Especially not adults."

"I'm barely an adult," you compensate. "I'm a college student. It's not like I have no wonder left in me."

Taeyong cocks his head to the side. Then he grins. His lip draw upwards into a wide, joyful expression. His eyebrows knit together, and you notice very briefly, that his eyes shine a certain hue of blue in the light. "Wonder. What a wonderful thing, huh?"

"I suppose."

Taeyong leaps back outside, and that's when you notice he isn't standing on anything. He's flying; floating in mid air with no foothold or handle anywhere.

You rush to the window and lean out, eyelids squinted as you try to catch a glimpse of him before the wind takes him away.

For a moment, you notice that he now has a staff in his hand. A long, hooked staff that resembles a gnarled tree branch of some sort. He holds it up, points it at the sky, and then he's gone.

And in his place, snowflakes fall.

-

"Do you believe in Jack Frost?" You ask your professor the next day. You're sitting with the old man outside on one of the many picnic tables around the campus. He's enjoying his own peaceful lunch break.

You, however, have nothing to do, and this is his last day of work until after winter break is over. You're beginning to think last night was just a strange dream, and you need someone to back you up. Therefore, your art professor.

He's one of those jolly old men who look like a mix between a mad scientist and Santa Claus. Professor Joyce, for instance, has a short white beard and bushy eyebrows that just nearly cover his friendly brown eyes. Currently, he is wearing khaki shorts and hiking boots, leaving his calves exposed to the harsh incoming winter. He's munching on carrot sticks, pondering your question with a ruddy smile. "Why? Has someone nipped at your nose?"

"Not exactly," you say, struggling to laugh at the joke that has him in mild stitches. "It's just... he's in Christmas songs, and he has like, ten movies named after him. I just wonder where the legend came from, and if it's real."

"I suppose all legends are real as long as there is belief. Who is to say that what exists in your head is not just as real as what is right in front of you? The entire system of belief begins with faith; the ability to believe what isn't seen."

"Yes, but say you did see something. Something most people don't believe in. How do you know that it wasn't a dream?"

"What did you see?" Professor Joyce narrows his eyes at you.

"Nothing," you speak quickly. "Nothing. I'm sure of it."

You wish him happy holidays, and let the man finish his lunch in peace. On your walk back to the dorm, you realize just how empty the campus is once students begin to return home. Only a few classes are left before break officially begins tomorrow, and only a few people are staying over break.

You wish you had followed your roommates lead and took your flight a week early. Lots of students had done that, after reading the weather reports and deciding it was smarter to simply miss a few classes rather than miss their entire winter break.

But no, you were dumb enough to think the storm would simply cease rather than get worse. Now you're stuck on campus looking like a fool, while only a few others mill around, matching your dismal mood.

You walk up the steps to your dorm building. The steps are coated in a thin sheen of ice, and the moment your sneaker sole steps on the last step, you slip and fall backwards. You close your eyes and brace for the impact of steps against your back, when you fall into someone's arms instead. Someone's very thin, cold arms.

"Woah there, better watch your step."

You jolt, jump out of the boy's arms and turn around. "Taeyong?" Hesitantly, you reach out and touch his hoodie-clad chest, surprised to feel solid muscle beneath it. You had half-expected your hand to fall right through.

"Questioning your beliefs again?" His voice is quiet; there's small smile on his face that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm real, y'know."

You ignore him and continue to head towards your dorm. However, instead of taking the hint, Taeyong walks alongside you, steps spritely. Once you reach your door and stop, taking out your keycard, he stops too, and leans against his staff, simply watching you. "How interesting," he murmurs.

You avoid his gaze and push into your room. "What?"

"You don't want to believe in me, yet you do. That's not usually how it works."

"I don't believe in Jack Frost," you say. You notice the way the light dims behind his kind eyes, and for a moment you wish you could take it back. "But you're here. You're in front of me, and I can't say you aren't real, because it's obvious you are."

Taeyong raises his eyebrows. "I suppose. But I'm only visible to you because you believed beforehand. So you're lying to me."

"I'm not," you say. "I don't believe in fairytales."

"Hmm," Taeyong hums. He skips towards your desk and finds your laptop, open to your last researching topic before you went to take a walk. "The Legend of Jack Frost. You believe in me."

His sing-song voice irritates you only mildly. "I don't," you insist. "I'm studying you. It's for... its for an art project."

"An art project," Taeyong settles his arms across his chest. "So I'm your muse then."

"No," you say.

"Of a sorts."

"Of a sorts," you grit out. "But I was just looking you up after last night. I wasn't planning on you returning."

"And why not?" Taeyong pouts, leaning against his staff again. "You're the only one who believes in me for, like, miles. I want to hang out with you."

"Well, I have work to do, so if you're staying, stay quietly."

"I will!" Taeyong leaps onto your roommates bed and crosses his legs. Frost trails across the mattress and up the headboard. It creeps up the wall and covers the poster of your roommate's celebrity crush. "I promise."

"Okay." You resolve that even if he is just a figment of your imagination, you should still work on your project. You pull up your design page and begin brainstorming. There are many things you believe in, but none strong enough to convince others to believe as well. Nothing comes to mind, so you sit in front of your laptop screen, chewing on the end of your stylus.

You shiver.

"Sorry," Taeyong finally speaks up. "That's the unfortunate side of being my friend: it's always cold."

You grab your blanket off of your bed and wrap it around your shoulders, eyeing the small man as he sits still, just as you asked. He looks preoccupied, touching each polaroid on your roommate's wall and turning it to frost. You wonder briefly how much lasting damage that will have on the picture. But, then again, if he isn't real, then the pictures are fine. "Who said we were friends?"

"Aren't we?" Taeyong smiles lazily. "You believe in me, and I'm starting to believe in you. That's what friends do."

"You're "starting" to believe in me?" You make air quotes. "Why wouldn't you believe in me? I'm a human. I'm real."

"I'm real," Taeyong says simply. "I'm immortal, but I'm real."

"You're not in my history book," you say.

"You're not in mine," Taeyong sticks his tongue out childishly. "But I'm in that book."

He points to the shelf on your wall. There's a book there, one given to you by your great aunt, a long time ago. It's a book passed down through generations, with legends from different cultures. Saint Nicholas, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, The Boogeyman, The Tooth Fairy, and of course, Jack Frost. Other myths like yetis and leprechauns and the fae... anything children tend to believe in.

Anything you believe in. Or, used to believe in. Things that seem so childish when spoken aloud. Because you can't go out for drinks and discuss fairy circles. You can't leave cookies out for Santa when your roommate will laugh at you for it. You can't hide a tooth under your pillow out of fear that one morning it might still be there.

"That's from when I was a child," you say. "It's more for nostalgia than anything else."

Taeyong hums and drifts over to it, leaving a chill in his wake. He grasps the book and opens it up, He begins to leaf through it. "Usually, one who doesn't believe doesn't write notes on the things they don't believe in."

You feel your neck heat up as Taeyong trails his finger down your notes. "Why, just last year, you stuck your wisdom teeth beneath your pillow. Why would you do that if you don't believe?"

"I–" You take time to answer. "I'm not supposed to–"

"Not supposed to believe? Not supposed to have fun?" Taeyong looks concerned, closing the book and leaning in close. His face is just in front of yours, and his breath is cold against your cheeks. "Why not?"

You shrug and look away. "I don't know. It's different when you become an adult. People look at you weird if you believe in stuff like that."

"What about angels and demons and ghosts and gods?" Taeyong says, "Don't adults believe in them?"

"Those are different." You sit at your desk and put your head in your hands. "Those aren't just debate topics. They bring hope of an afterlife; of something more meaningful than life itself."

"And we don't?" Taeyong sits on your desk and closes your laptop. He leans onto his palm and circles the rim of your mug. "We don't bring hope?"

"Not to adults. Not when you start thinking about what life really means."

"What about to you?" Taeyong asks. His eyes are blown out, brown in color, but that familiar icy blue returns, creeping into his irises. He finally blinks, and frost drifts down his cheeks. "Do we bring hope to you?"

You suck in a breath and stare at him. "Yes. You do."

-

Taeyong doesn't return for two days, and you truly start to think he's found someone else who believes much more than you. You imagine that your heart, or soul, or wherever the belief is stored, is rather dim compared to the schoolchildren across town.

You stay on your bed, tossing a stress ball into the air and catching it, over and over again. The wind howls outside, rattling your window into opening, but you're too sad to close it. Christmas Eve is only a week away, and all flights in and out are still cancelled. The snow isn't letting up either, so you don't even want to risk walking out of your dorm.

You sigh and close your eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this," you whisper into the empty room. "But Jack Frost, if you're near, could you come visit me?"

The wind whistles louder, and your window slams shut.

You jolt up, eyeing the window. "What the–"

"You called?" Taeyong is the in your doorway, leaning on his staff. He has a sort of shit-eating grin on his face. "I knew it wouldn't take long before you missed me."

You avoid his eyes and pick at the hem of your sweater sleeves. "I'm just... lonely here. That's all. I don't miss you, per se."

"I think you missed me." Taeyong says. His eyes shine with mirth and just as the room gets colder, you feel warmth flood your veins.

You don't deny it. "Come distract me from my project. I'm too upset to do anything productive."

You fall back down onto your bed, scooting sideways until your shoulder is pressing against the wall.

Taeyong lays down beside you. He conjures up a snowball, and begins to throw it up in the air, in the same speed that you throw your stress ball. "Distract you, huh?"

"Yeah. Anything."

"Hmm, should I tell you about me? How I came to be?"

"Yes, please," you set the stress ball down and turn on your side. You focus on Taeyong's side profile: his sharp jawline and the boyish slope of his nose. His eyelashes are still covered in frost, in an ethereal way that makes you think of snowflakes against a windowpane.

"My name is Jack Frost. How do I know that? The moon told me so. But that was all he ever told me. And that was a long, long time ago..."

-

Taeyong leaves after his story, but he comes around every so often after that, if just to tell you hello and ask about your project. You're still stumped, but it's easier to feel creative when he's around, so you mostly doodle sketches of him.

He continues his story every night, adding on as he remembers. You illustrate his stories, drawing rough sketches of the way he describes the elves and the easter bunny.

With each night your wonder grows, and you end up begging him to stay, if just to finish the story sooner.

Taeyong finally does finish it, the day before Christmas Eve, and you've hung onto every word. "So Pitch was defeated?"

"Yeah," Taeyong says. "I mean, as long as there is fear, he'll exist. But as long as there is belief, so will we."

He smiles at you, and you wonder if he's always been this handsome.

-

Christmas Eve is spent FaceTiming your family, and leaving them hints about what you've bought them. You even watch a movie with them through the screen, and you feel a lot better than you did before. They reassure you that Christmas in Springtime is most definitely a thing, and not something they made up on the spot.

You feel a bit better about spending Christmas alone.

Well, not alone. Realistically, all the other students who got snowed in will more than likely gather in the cafeteria tomorrow for cold pizza and a small gift exchange with the professors that also stayed over.

But you'll feel alone. No one you know is snowed in, and you've still got your project to complete.

You know exactly what you want to believe in now, even if your professor or peers might laugh at you.

With the radio playing a low hum of holiday music, you begin to sketch a rough outline of your project onto your tablet screen.

Your window rattles again.

You smile to yourself. "Come in, Taeyong."

You feel him before you see him by the cold frost that creeps across the windowpane and over to your feet, uncovered by your blanket. You shiver, and Taeyong finally makes himself known.

He stands beside your chair, watching you work. "It's me," His voice brightens. He leans down until his chest brushes against your shoulder.

Warmth spreads through your body just as quickly as the cold chill his skin brings. His chilly breath brushes against the shell of your ear, and you do your best not to let it distract you as you show him your project. "Yeah."

"Why?" Taeyong's voice has a sudden softness to it you haven't heard before.

"Because..." You trail off, wondering if its appropriate to tell an immortal guardian that you have a crush on him. It most certainly is, but Taeyong's eyes are a beautiful mix of brown and blue, and his eyelashes are a pretty cream color, mesmerizing as they fall against his opaque skin. "Because you're what I believe in most."

With Taeyong so close, you can hear his breath catch in his throat. "You admitted it," he whispers. "Like, properly."

"No sense telling myself any different," you conclude.

Taeyong doesn't answer; doesn't move, so you turn your head to check his reaction.

You heart lurches in your chest when you realize hes already looking at you. Your nose bumps against his. A chill spreads across your face, opposing Taeyong's cheeks, now rosy with a sort of frost bitten warmth one receives after coming into the house after a long day of playing in the snow.

You focus on his eyes. The reflection of the fairy lights behind the two of you flicker in his eyes, along with an emotion you can't name.

It disappears just as quickly, and it's replaced by a sort of serene glow. His gaze drifts down your face, landing on your lips. You bite your bottom lip nervously, and he watches action.

His hand, on your shoulder suddenly, like he's just decided he needs to steady himself. "I've never felt this warm before," he whispers.

"Does it hurt?" your lips brush against his, and there’s a jolt down your spine from how cold his lips are.

"Not really," he says, eyes closing. "It's nice. It makes me feel close to you. I want to be close to you."

His voice gets softer as he continues; the vulnerability fills your heart with affection.

"Taeyong," you hum, "you can kiss me."

Something like an expression of thanks escapes Taeyong's lips in the form of a sigh. He kisses you, lips cold and chapped against your smooth ones.

His hand stays on your shoulder, but it drifts slowly towards your neck. His nimble fingers play against the seam of your collar, and every time he accidentally grazes you skin, he pushes closer. Closer, until his chest is flushed against yours and your desk chair rolls back, breaking the two of you apart in a fit of laughter.

"Taeyong." You stand up and rest your palm against his chest. "Come here."

Taeyong nods, eyes on you the entire time while you turn him and push him towards the bed. He sits on the end almost obediently and looks up at you, eyes starry and wide.

You move your body between his spread legs and cup his face. You let the pad of your thumb brush across his jaw, cold and smooth. "You're really pretty," you say.

Taeyong blinks up at you. His lips, pale and purple, curl up into a smile. His eyebrows furrow, like he's unsure. "Really?"

You want to tell him that he's a snowflake personified. He's the sunlight on a patch of snow and the way a child lights up when a snowball in thrown. He's the cheer of a snow day and the cold nip at your shoulders when you open the front door.

You can't say it, not right now, so you bend down and kiss him again, allowing your mouth to melt against his.

His cold fingers grip the bottom of your shirt. He tugs you down: closer, closer, closer until the two of you are lying down, legs tangled together.

Taeyong stops to lean his forehead against yours, breath chalky in the warm air of the dorm. "I think I can hold off the snow long enough for you to fly over."

"What?" you sit up. "Taeyong, really? You'd do that?"

Taeyong nods, still lying down. He's smiling up at you, like you're something magnificent in a light he's never seen before. In reality you are just you, and there's a painting of him in the background, more beautiful then he's ever perceived himself to be. "As long as you promise to come back, where I — and a few extra weeks of winter — will be waiting."

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Galarian Meowth and Perrserker

Okay, change of plans. Since it is now mid-January; two whole months after the dang games have come out and we STILL don't have good and high-quality official artwork, I'm gonna have to make due with the middling quality scans we have at the moment. Especially since SwSh are now getting DLC updates that are introducing even more new Pokemon. Though I'm gonna wait on the DLC to come out before I go over those.

I had also said something about the reviews having a little more “oomph” this time around. That's sadly not gonna be happening like I thought it was. I WAS gonna go full-on animation critic since animations have become such a big deal to Pokemon lately and judge all the noteworthy animations the Pokemon have, but sadly all the sprite resources I usually use don't have such things uploaded as of yet. And I can't find them out in the wild cause good luck googling “Sword and Shield/Gen 8 Animations” without just finding a giant wall of that goddang gif of Scorbunny using Double Kick. But it might be something I might come back to in the future, anyways. I'll still point out some nice animations if I happen to have decent gifs of them.

I will also be putting a bit more effort into analyzing these designs either way. Especially when we get to the completely new Pokemon. Doing a personal project that involves designing a LOT of my own monsters has seen me pay a lot more attention to smaller details and such. With me for the most part getting more in-depth about the designs of these things, I'm gonna move to a thrice-a-week schedule. Once on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

FINAL BIT: The order of operations here. We'll be touching on Galarian forms first (obviously), including their new regional evolutions. After we're done with them, we'll hit on the Gigantamax forms of pre-existing Pokemon, and then once we've reviewed Gigantamax Melmetal, we can finally move onto Gen 8 itself with Grookey.

ANYWAY

Galarian Meowth:

Ahhh, feels good to just review a single Pokemon again. Today we're starting our Galarian adventures with none other than the new batch of regional variants! Would you get a load of that cat!! It's quite a step up from Meowth's Alolan counterpart, which was little more than a recolor. This crazy new spin on our old friend sports what is reasonable to assume a big fluffy coat over its body. But if you were to turn this Pokemon to its backside...

Nah, that's no fluff. It's a stinkin BEARD. Talk about a facelift! Indeed, a lot of the regional variants this time around feel a lot more differing from their original selves. Alolan Regionals definitely suffered from a little too many of them just boiling down to being a different color with some extra bits added on here and there. Galar opts to be a bit more adventurous with the concept. Meowth's whole attitude shifted here! Easily my favorite part about it are those big yellow eyes and that wide, toothy grin that makes it look like a mini-Totoro.

So, what type is the bearded, gray-tinged Meowth then? None other than Steel, OBVIOUSLY. Nah, that one caught me off guard when I first found out about it. It's definitely a type that makes more sense after it evolves, but it could still at least make sense for a Meowth given the emphasis on the coin on its forehead. Though the Pokedex states that the way Galarian Meowth came to be was Meowth sailing the seas on boats hardened its fur, turning it into the Steel type. I know Pokedex states some pretty sketch pseudoscience but even THAT seems like a hilarious stretch.

So like, is a regional variant of Meowth going to become a new tradition in the same vein as every generation having a Pika-clone? I can't say I'd mind it, honestly. While Meowth is from Gen 1 and Gamefreak is notorious with shouting out Gen 1 all the time, I feel like Meowth has just enough of a downplayed popularity that it doesn't feel overly egregious to do this as say, booting out Venusaur and Blastoise but Charizard not only returns but gets a whole new dang form to go with it. I just hope it won't mean no more new feline Pokemon, or that other feline Pokemon are being bullied out of getting their own regional variants. Just saying, Glameow and Purrloin could REALLY use a fresh coat of paint.

But either way, it'd help bolster the number of cat species represented in Pokemon as a whole too. There's countless domestic cat breeds that could all see some fun interpretations if you just took those animals and turned them into a different shape of Meowth. Meowth on its own is just a solid cat design, y'know?

863: Perrserker

Galarian Meowth, shock of all shocks, doesn't actually evolve into a Galarian Persian at all, but instead becomes an entirely new Pokemon, Perrserker! And do I adore this concept. The idea of giving past generations Pokemon new evolutions (neverminding Sylveon) hasn't been seen since Gen 4 over a decade ago. Regional evolutions is a really neat way to bring the idea back! And in a way that grants so much more room to still be able to create future iterations. It feels like every Pokemon that has an original form that's much nicer than its evolution now has a second chance at getting a better evolution to its name.

But even so, wow this Pokemon in particular feels. Weird. Weirder than all the other Regional Evos this gen. After years on top of years on top of years of knowing Meowth evolves into Persian, not only do we get a new split evolution. But said split evolution rather than looking ANYTHING like Persian at all elects to be Bigger Meowth. The other Galarian form that turns into a split-evo, Yamask into Runerigus, you COULD reasonably mistake Runerigas for just being Galarian Cofagrigus. Which only makes Perrserker look even funnier to me from a metacontextual level. Is that just me? Might be, I dunno.

Admittedly Perrserker had to grow on me. My main turn-off was the fact that it very clearly has lost its ears, and replaced them with a metal helmet with stereotypical viking horns. It's so unsubtle they even just up and call it a “Viking Pokemon” in its classification. (Though note, vikings never actually wore helmets with horns on them due to how hilariously impracticable they are in battle. But pop culture is a powerful beast, so horned helmets be the signifier for vikings.)

And to solidify its design together, it has retractable claws, but when the claws are extended they become sword-like and merge into one. AND of course, Perrserker gets its name from Berserker, a class of viking with a particular bloodlust caused by a lack of empathy and a drunken rage. Clearly shown in how its attack animations feature its eyes rolling into the back of its head. One last little detail bringing it all together is how it has tufts of fur on its arms and legs, not unlike viking warriors who wore fur this way for obvious keep-warm reasons.

In the end, it's A LOT to get used to, and the lack of ears still puts me off somewhat. If it were me making a viking version of Meowth like this, I'd probably put ear holes ON said horns or something, but whatever. I'll probably just get used to it. But I do like the design in the end. Its face is great and is yet another Pokemon  that is unfairly called “ugly” even though that's the point of some of these things. Not all animals are pretty, cute, or cool! Some are just downright unappealing looking and that's fine.

I do also like that it's a Pokemon with a more lowkey color scheme. Not that I think the majority of Pokemon being bright and colorful is a bad thing but color schemes like these definitely feel like a minority these days.

A solid pair, overall! Certainly takes a lot of unsuspected turns, but I like that direction when approaching regional variants. It’s like a whole new flavor of Meowth!

Personal Score: 8/10

[dangan-imagines]

SDR2 girls finding their S/O asleep in the tub

I’m really sorry for not posting last week guys, and woohoo! Almost to 700 followers! 

-Mod Rantaro

Sonia Nevermind

• You two had just finished watching a horror movie, and it was pretty late

• And you were already pretty tired, so I mean, what better way to unwind than a warm bath, though you didn’t tell the blonde-haired female

• But, you just didn’t have the energy, and passed out before you could even get undressed

• And after a short while, Sonia noticed, worriedly calling out your name and searching the whole house for you 

• And after about a half hour of turning the house upside-down, she noticed the bathroom light on, quickly barging in

• Only to find her S/O on the floor, out cold

• She didn’t mind changing you into your pajamas, after all, it was her duty as your girlfriend to make sure you went to bed in the appropriate attire

• And afterwards, she just carried you back to bed

• The next morning though, you woke up confused as hell

Peko Pekoyama

• Peko being Peko, she was extremely overprotective when it came to you

• So of course she grew quite upset when you asked to use the bathroom during your pet-sitting lesson with her how else would she learn to become more approachable

• Only to disappear for what seemed to be a little over an hour

• Mother Mode Activated

• She searched everywhere for you, inside the house, outside the house

• She even had to visit Hanamura to make sure he didn’t kidnap you or something

• She had checked the bathroom beforehand but it was only a quick scan through it, so of course she went back to check it a bit

• And was very surprised to find a snoring S/O in the tub

• She tried to wake you, but eventually just gave up and gave you a piggy back ride back to bed

Chiaki Nanami

• You two were tying to pull an all-night Super Smash Bros. competition

• And after 30 rounds with a final score of 2:28 (I’m sure the outcome was obvious) with you only winning due to the two times she fell asleep during a match

• You decided to make some snacks for yourselves

• That is until you felt the 5 gallons of Sprite you drank earlier come back to haunt you

• Though it was difficult with how tired you were, you still somehow managed to make it

• Meanwhile Chiaki was dozing off again, trying to get some sleep before you came back and shook her awake, and almost peed herself when she heard a loud thud coming from the bathroom

• Getting up with a start, she cautiously tiptoed while trying to remember the Luigi’s Mansion tutorial just in case

• And carefully opened the door to see you slumped over in a heap, covered in the shower curtain

• Without question, she just casually slid in next to you, and before falling asleep, pumped her fist in the air

• “Another flawless victory.”

Hiyoko Saionji

• You’ve spent the last few weeks helping Hiyoko practice for her upcoming performance

• And although it wasn’t easy, she seemed to be very grateful for your help, which was honestly the only thing keeping you going

• Of course you hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep either, between her dance routines and struggling to find kimonos

• So the day of her performance came, and you were putting on her makeup

• “Tch, you should just stay home and sleep. You don’t have to go if you’re that tired!”

• “Haha, then who would be there to cheer you on? Plus you wouldn’t want Mahiru taking pictures of you with smudged make up, right~?“

• But after a few minutes of bickering, you agreed to take a nap before you left

• Honestly though, as soon as she left the room, you passed out in the tub

• And she returned minutes later, scoffing at your sleeping state

• With a little smile on her face

• Unfortunately though she had to haul you into the car via shopping cart to avoid being late

Mikan Tsumiki

• It was two in the morning

• And you were helping Mikan with her new nurse job

• Helping her with things like unloading medicine, and tending to the sick patients

• Luckily though she only tripped once, while walking into a patient’s room

• Apologizing profusely afterwards, hoping she hadn’t embarrassed you

• Though honestly​ you enjoyed the view

• As it grew later, you became more and more tired, unlike your timid girlfriend, having much experience with such late hours

• But seeing you so tired made her feel bad, so she apologized a few times before suggesting you rest in one of the empty rooms

• Of course you declined though, you couldn’t leave her by herself

• Eventually you gave in to your sleepiness, however you sorta kinda ended up mistaking the bathroom for a room, sliding into the bathtub, passing out immediately

• And after her shift ended, she came to wake you up

• Only you weren’t there, causing her to let out a small squeak, searching every room of every floor, until she saw the third floor’s bathroom light on, with the door wide open

• To reveal you inside, feet hanging out, drooling slightly

• “A-Ah, S/O? Y-You shouldn’t be sleeping in there, it’s full of germs!”

• Eventually though she got tired of trying to wake you up, and just dragged you out of the tub and onto a bed, occasionally coming back to check on you

Mahiru Koizumi

• The red-head was out for the day, at a photography job of some sort

• While you were at home, mindlessly scrolling through an app on your phone

• She would call every few hours, making sure you were okay

• Until at one point in the day, you had stopped answering

• At first she wasn’t too concerned

• You were probably watching TV or something, and your phone wasn’t within grabbing range, or it was on silent

• But after a few more hours, she grew worried

• Since number one, who the heck watches TV for that long, and two, if it was on silent, you should’ve seen that you’d missed calls from me right?

• So she impatiently waited for her shift to end before racing home, knocking on the door, but to no answer

• Eventually she became anxious, hurriedly unlocking the door, and yelling out your name

• And almost having a heart attack when she heard rustling coming from inside the bathroom

• Throwing the door open, she was relieved to find her S/O, angrily muttering due to the sudden harsh light

• She couldn’t even bring herself to scold you, though her overly-tight hugs were punishment enough along with the photos she took of you during your nap

Akane Owari

• She had challenged you to an eating contest earlier in the week at the local All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

• But honestly, you didn’t expect it to get this out of hand

• Ten minutes into the contest half of the food containers were empty, mainly because of Akane smh and the manager was begging you to stop your out of control girlfriend

• After aggressive pulling and shouting, you managed to get her away from the food

• And of course you had to pay for the ‘damage’ done before going back home

• Upon arriving however, you immediately grew tired due to the massive amount of food you consumed

• And of course nausea, resulting in Akane having to carry you inside, gently placing you down in the bathtub with ease

• Before leaving to get a bit of medicine to help with your nausea

• To her surprise though, when you came bavk you were fast asleep

• So, not wanting to disturb you, she kinda just left you there

Ibuki Mioda

• You were watching the young musician play, enthusiastically listening to her newest song, getting your ears blasted out before the noise complaints came in “Shovel Penetrates the Dirt”

• Clapping every time she sang a verse, earning a bow from her each time in turn

• Of course this went on for hours, seeing as the energetic girl never got tired

• So you excused yourself before you became deaf to the bathroom

• Before deciding to take a bath, because after all, you were sweating quite a bit in that garage

• So you turned the water on, and watched it fill up before getting in, dosing off a bit due to the warmth

• Before Ibuki’s music rang throughout the halls again

• Y'know what, you didn’t sleep at all