#art and whatnot to be added later

[lbhslefttiddie]

im so fucking mad. why did i work so hard on this. there isnt even a single gay bitch in this image all i have is latticework and osmanthus studies

[astrxealis]

aster asteatrete what is strike time in gbf</3

I ONLY SAW THIS NOW OH MY GOD but in gmt+8 it would be 7-8 pm and also 10-11 pm 🥺 miiight change it later today (13th) to the last two hours of rise of the beasts tho for farming but depends >_<

[devilishmango]

The Story of Sin [UPDATE 4/27/2024]

Find the demo here. Link to the main post here.

Hey guys! 

Welp, I finished the chapter just in time for this month’s update. 😅 I really liked this chapter, though… Things are starting to not be ok for Sin, mentally, and I always love writing things like that 

In this chapter, you…

Pick up that small creature! [And NOT hurt it!! Good job!! 👏]

Hang out with Murmur for a bit and learn a bit more about yourself

Hurt Murmur’s feelings :( [It’s ok, you can apologize!]

Have another strange dream

Upset Will. :( [It’s ok again! You can apologize… Eventually.]

Hang out with Murmur and Anya for a bit. 

Some things- I’m slowly changing the look of the whole game. Now that some ✨THEMES✨ are settling in, I’m able to actually make the IF look a little prettier. I have some other art I will be adding later, when something in particular happens in the story, so get ready for that as well! [Also, this is random, but I realize that I’ve never mentioned this… The beautiful hand/forehead model for the SoS banner is my lovely little sister. Just wanted to throw that out there! 😂] I am also introducing a secret stat 👀 I’m not entirely sure how I want it to look on the stat page, so right now it’s just a number that will either go up or down depending on some of your choices. So, until I figure out how I want it to look…… Enjoy just a random number on the stats page. 😂

Also! If you are interested in being a beta-tester/proofreader, please send me a message on tumblr. Or, if you don’t have a tumblr, just send me an email. kg.1996@outlook.com Please only message me if you are serious in beta-testing or being a proofreader. I’m not really picky about how much experience you have, but I do want people who would actively be helping me correct things like grammar, bugs, coding errors, etc. Oh! Also, you will need a discord account to be a beta-tester or proofreader. That’s the only requirement!! 

And, since it’s been a hot second and I have a lot more followers now… If you are able to, and like my art/works to the point that you would like extra content, please consider becoming a patron, or buying me a kofi! I know times are tough right now, so it’s totally fine if you can’t donate anything. But even just sharing/liking/commenting/etc. Are other ways you can help support me. But, if you do have a few dollars you can spare a month, I have tiers on patreon ranging from $1-$5- you get extra content that you can request, and early access to updates and whatnot! 

One more thing! I was just able to get this month’s update done, but I definitely think May’s update might not happen. 🥺 Midterms are next week, AND I’ll be going on a small vacation to Portland, OR. for about a week at the start of May… So I may not have enough time to put together the update for next month! I’ll let you guys for sure when the time comes, but I just wanted to let you know now in case it ends up happening! Thank you for being patient and understanding. ☺️

See you all next update! 

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 45,725 52,969 [+7,244]

[choccy-milky]

1. your fic is absolutely amazing. Have been bingeing it and I’m literally obsessed. The way you write just itches my brain in such a good way, literally cannot contain my love and appreciation for your work👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 cheers to you!!! Can’t wait to keep reading

2. As I was reading I found out you also deadass drawing the art to go w/ the fic?? Literally you’re living my dream 😭 plus your art is so so so well done!!!!! It’s added so much joy to my reading experience

Cannot wait to see what else you have in store!!’ Hope you have an amazing, AMAZING day, week, year, etc.!!!! 💞🙌🏻🫶🏻

OMG IM GONNA CRY 😭😭 BAHAHA U SENT THIS AT SUCH A CRAZY MOMENT cuz i just checked my ao3 comments and was down about a rude comment i got, and then i come to tumblr and like, a few mins later/literally AS i was venting about it, u send this BAHAHA your choccy senses were tingling. IM SO GLAD U LIKE IT THO AND THAT YOURE ENJOYING IT (and my drawings, even if youve defs seen spoilers by now BAHHA) hope u have a good day too, u defs brightened mine!! THANK UUUU💖💖💖

@kaviary-blog this looks so funny bc i censored u just to keep it (mostly) spoiler free BUT AW THANK U DAMN IM HONOURED THAT MY FANFIC WAS THE ONE TO MAKE YOU CRY?? IM SO HAPPY HOW INVESTED YOU ARE 😭😭💖💖 im also super happy with that chap and its so satisfying like you said to finally be able to tie of all those threads so IM GLAD IT WAS WORTH IT💖

@lovesicklovermia ONE DAY???? OMG. FIRST TWO DAYS NOW ONE?? ITS JUST GETTING SHORTER AND SHORTER. next thing i know someones gonna be like yeah so i took some highly experimental drug that lets me read at 1000% the pace of a normal person, and i finished ur fic in 2 hours 😍omg loved it!!!😍😍 BAHAHAHA but omg i totally see what u mean, they do HAHA. AND THANK U💖💖 IM GLAD UR LIKING IT💖

YEAH so in my fic fifth years are 16, and by the time things get....explicit....clora and seb are 17. im not against consuming media with teenagers depicted in sexual situations like euphoria or riverdale or w.e else bc i get that its fiction and these are just real things that happen so its fine to write about them, but their canonical ages of 15 was still too young for me and i wanted them to be 17 before it got the E rating (which is why clora and sebs birthdays end up being so close, bc i was RUSHING for them to turn 17 BAHAHHAA)

BAHAHA clora and seb secretly being together is like the most poorly kept secret in my fic, like im sure her parents technically KNOW, but due to old fashioned traditions and whatnot (and it being 1891) seb wants to be able to propose properly and with a proper ring, bc clive is intimidating and he doesnt wanna just be like "yeah so im dating your daughter and weve already fucked and i plan to marry her" LOOL he wants to do things properly and be with her with her dads permission(even tho its a bit late for that HAHA) BUT WE CAN JUST PRETEND. tldr its basically just out of some sense of chivalry on sebs side, a fear of her dad, and wanting to do things right LOL

ALSO WAIT OMG STOPPPPP I WAS LITERALLY JUST ABOUT TO POST THIS BUTI HAVE TO INCLUDE THIS NOW

YOU SAW MY POST AND IMMEDIATELY DREW THIS AS A RESPONSE WHILE IN CLASS?? BAHAHAHA IM ACTUALLY SO TOUCHED RN IM TEARING UP WTF THATS SO SWEET OF YOU WTFFFFFFFFF THANK YOU SO MUCH😭😭😭💖💖 (NOW PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS!!🤬🤬)

[bluebunnysart]

Fanart of my own fanfiction (Chimera Teto x Android Miku)

Good news! When I woke up and looked at my art again today, I liked it, so here's the uncolored version! I trust you tumblr people, so here you go! You may view. This technically means I've drawn UTAU Teto (here) and SynthV Teto, but I really want to color this and take my time doing so, so here are the lines before it turns into something else hahaha 😂😂😂 Read More for the stuff I wanted to write last night but was too tired to (also the art time lapse)

I showed like two WIPs of different ideas on Twitter but none of them were this LOL (just goes to show how much I wanna draw and see of these two specifically) but the reason I decided to go with this is 'cuz that fanfic I wrote in like one day really got me excited and it made me really want to draw them as I was imagining more stuff about them. Here I'll talk about what I had in mind

I love chimera Teto, especially her majestic wings, and what I drew here is basically inspired by that! Teto's basically the only "living, sentient" thing around Miku so far (I dunno how to approach adding more creatures just yet), which makes Miku extra interested in her. But basically Miku likes Teto's wings and tail too and is very fascinated by them.

I had an idea where Miku is just holding or playing with Teto's tail out of nowhere and complimenting the heck out of her, and that was condensed into this piece. It was too crowded on Miku's side to have Teto's tail there as well, but the reason Teto's embarrassed (tsundere is nice, aint it xD) is 'cuz Miku is indeed praising the heck out of her. Calling her cute and saying how cool her wings are and whatnot.

The dialogue kinda goes like, "Your wings are so cool! And I really like how expressive your tail is! I wonder what I would do with a tail. It's so cute! Actually, now that I think about it, all of you is really cute!!" (Teto, embarrassed: "Stop talking now.") wwww

Miku does have a kinda tail actually! It's the chain on top of her skirt. As an android, I was thinking it works as sort of a battery plug or USB or something. I can show off more of that later (since it's really small here lol) but she can use it to receive electricity and recharge herself, I guess~. (Note to self: make it bigger?)

I haven't shown off much of my art style, but most (normal) characters usually don't have pupils. (See: this Teto, who's a living breathing creature.) As a result, I decided to give Miku pupils (kinda robot-like) to make her seem like more of a robot. She also wears the thing (headphones) over her ears, of course, which I can also use to make her seem more robot-like. There's no green flashing of code in her eyes right now but I might draw that sometime too, after my loads of other ideas...

Teto's wings aren't fragile. They're probably firm, hard, and could even be scaly/rough (up to my own whims or the reader's own preference). Her letting Miku touch her (wings) is probably a huge display of trust/confidence. Teto's wings are strong enough to carry her far distances and even allow her to fly in bad weather, I think. It's up to Teto herself how much energy/desire she has to do things like that though.

This is mentioned in the fic too, but Teto probably folds her wings a lot so they don't get in the way. She's kinda like a bird. I think her silhouette against the sun or moon, with full wingspan, is probably majestic (I'm imagining the Batman symbol for some reason lol). I know some people color Teto's wings as purple, but I specified black in my fic to match her tail. ^^

In order for her wings to breathe, there are probably holes in the back of her outfit to accommodate them, but they're only big enough for the wings (ellipses/ovals probably): she either tears/cuts holes into the shirts she wears for her wings or they already fit her wings so there's no problem. I wonder if Teto made her UTAU outfit herself in this setting. xD (A girl has to pass the time SOMEHOW plus she's probably at least a little bit handy when it comes to clothes and stuff (survival).)

If, while I'm coloring, I need to make adjustments to the seating and lineart and all that, I will, but I figured I'd show off what made me stay up 'til 5 AM last night and then get embarrassed to post 'cuz I thought I wasn't finished yet. I woke up and I liked it, so I'm just gonna put it in this here blog. c:

I don't know how to color, so coloring will be a trip 😂

[amerricanartwork]

Quetzalli's Local Group Designs - Shape Language

Since I've developed my off-the-string AU to the point I feel I can start sharing it here, I figured to make that easier I should start working on solidifying my designs for RW's main Local Group. The way I draw them has already gone through lots of change throughout my time in this fandom, but I hope I can be more consistent from now on. And seeing as it seems almost like a rite of passage to draw one's own interpretation of the slugcats/iterators here, now that I've been in this fandom close to a year, I feel like it's about time I take on the challenge too!

I plan to make a series of posts sharing the concept art I make as I design them, so for this post I decided to start with an element I've wanted to tackle for a while: shape language!

Oh, and before I forget, since these designs are technically still WIPs and subject to change, I'd love to hear any feedback on what I've got so far!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ever since I really got into expanding on and developing these characters' personalities and backstories until I had a clear overall picture of who they were, I've been thinking of the way I could use shape language to visually convey those traits, and even show some narrative significance in their journeys. To start, I focused on the main four iterators we see and hear from in-game here, since I was clearest about the looks I wanted for them and I have the most reference for what they look like.

Head Shapes

I started first with their heads, in which I wanted there to be a clear sense of structure similar to a human head, yet still keep that simple, cartoon-y cuteness I enjoy about the in-game iterator visuals. I left in the construction lines as reference for the structure, kept the eyes all blank, and made some notes — largely on the rhythm of the lines, because I love giving things pleasant shapes. You can also see the four shapes I settled on for these iterators below.

Along with refs for the the Local Group, I made this basic iterator head reference for further notes on the head structure. I basically tried to make a cartoon-y Loomis head with most of the facial features removed.

Body and Clothing Shapes

For me, this was the really fun part. I had really clear ideas for how to express their character traits visually that had been floating in my head for weeks, and couldn't wait to show it throughout their figures, and even their poses!

Using the same corresponding shapes, I made a simple, relatively rough silhouette reference sheet that doubles as a height chart, at least until I make a more official one. I also made a version without their robes:

And one with the two layers having a clearer overlap:

Personally, I really like this last one, because I think it really shows the difference between their robes and their actual bodies. Something I really enjoy in character design is when artists use contrast between a character's clothing and true physical body to juxtapose how they present themselves or how other people see them with who they really are or how they truly feel about themselves — and thus allude to what they might be concealing from the rest of their peers or even themselves.

I ended up giving all of the Local Group, including Chasing Wind and Unparalleled Innocence, some kind of important contrast between their public personas and their true selves, so getting to finally draw my ideas for displaying it visually was so satisfying! As to what those contrasting ideas are exactly, I will explain those later...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

That's gonna be it for this first entry!

If I'm being honest, I originally I wasn't as keen on making my own designs for the characters, seeing as I like to try and keep my fan-content relatively similar to the original work, at least in overall features and core themes and whatnot. However, with this AU I've really started to enjoy adding to this world and characters via headcanons, yet always with the challenge of trying to be mostly consistent with the canon and more so explain things that are left vague rather than totally changing what's established.

When it comes to designs, I think I've finally reached a point where I feel confident in my ability to create depictions that are distinct from other artists' drawings of the Local Group and that at least somewhat capture that old cartoon feel, yet still remain visually similar to their in-game looks. And as someone who already enjoys character design, this whole challenge seems like a good way for me to start practicing the deeper elements without being in total darkness from having to create brand new characters.

If you made it all the way to the end of this, thank you so much! I'm so excited to start sharing my ideas for these characters, and I'm eager to share the other ideas I have and see what I come up with next!

[triflesandparsnips]

I'm not seeing enough deep-dive nonsense about the new Good Omens season 2 poster drop on my dash, and by god that means I must be the one to deliver it.

For those who haven't seen it yet, behold:

...there's a lot in here to go a wee bit feral over, if one was so inclined, and lord knows I love an inclination.

The Obvious Stuff

1. There Was Only One Bed Chair

This is the bulk of the commentary I've seen, and tbh, it's pretty great. "I am bored/busy and ignoring you but also what is personal space, never heard of her, we will not be taking questions at this time."

Notably, however, this is the second time we've seen them back to back-- the majority of the poster art we saw for the first season had them side by side. In both cases they're in a position to face some third thing together-- the difference, perhaps, is that side by side might imply equality of situation, while back to back implies implicit trust that the other won't stab you there.

2. The bookshop

Aw, look at them. Look at it. What a glorious little mess. This is them in London. Arizaphale looks pleased with the situation; Crowley looks bored af but he's also squished up on that one dang chair, so there's a "cat sitting next to you because parallel play and mirroring are the Best Interactions" feel to it.

3. Tea and wine

Arizaphale's got a teacup, Crowley's got a wine glass, this is very Them and indicative of their Vibes. Tbh, I think this is just a nice bit of design work, but it's worth calling out.

4. The outside street

The shop across the way is using a Gothic and reads "GIVE ME" before being cut off. No clue what it means, but it probably means something.

5. The tagline

The previous tagline we got was "Something's going down in the Up" (with that grey feather falling between their black and white wings)-- this tagline reads "Everyday it's a-getting closer."

Easiest interpretation is, oho, we're getting closer to the second season, and gosh there will be some Plot in it. And sure, yes, it works for that too, huzzah. But leaving aside the "it" and what that may mean-- "a-getting" is a fascinating word choice. It evokes similar constructions like, say, the somewhat obscure "Sumer is icumen in" (a song about the changing of the seasons and also encouraging a cuckoo to go lay some eggs in other birds nests if u no wat im sayin eyyyyy)-- and the significantly less obscure protest song "The Times They Are A-Changin'", whose ending stanza is:

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'

Gosh.

Now the Real Fun Starts

This poster is a composite image (as so many ads are), composed of different bits and pieces to form a whole impression -- based on fun stuff like relative pixelation and whatnot, you can often tell what portions of an image were there to start with, and what were specifically added in after the fact. How packed this poster is in tiny details -- which is exactly where I would hide fun hints to things -- is generally a cue for me to take a closer look, and I have been, I think, rewarded.

1. The books with legible titles

Zoom in on Aziraphale's book-- he's reading Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. The "two cities" in play are Paris and London, and the book is set before and during the French Revolution.

It's the story of a man who had been previously imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years, and then was released to go live with his daughter -- who he has never met, what with the whole "imprisoned" thing -- in London.

The opening paragraph is:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

The pile of books in the foreground have two visible titles: the topmost one is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (a "novel of manners" that's considered a heavy-hitting romantic classic, and also yes the leads are both prideful and prejudiced and it takes an entire book for them to clear that up) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (a young adult coming-of-age adventure story about a kid who finds himself on an adventure with a bunch of pirates to discover buried treasure).

Of note: A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island also all have note tabs sticking out of them, and are the only books that have them. This is reminiscent of how Arizaphale studied and referenced Agnes Nutter's prophecies.

Some of the books beneath the window technically have titles, but they appear to be about as pixelated as the rest of that section, and so I suspect they're just part of the scenery.

Similarly, most of the books on the background shelves are like that as well, except:

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (A satirical novel set in World War II; Wikipedia briefly explains that "the novel examines the absurdity of war and military life through the experiences of Yossarian and his cohorts, who attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling their service requirements so that they may return home." The book also coined the phrase "catch-22," which is a situation someone can't escape because of paradoxical rules-- in the case of the book, you can't ask to be evaluated for insanity so that you can be exempt from flying dangerous missions, because "anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.")

Iain Banks's The Crow Road (and a first edition, perhaps? I haven't read it, but apparently it's a Scottish family drama about a perfect murder against the backdrop of the 1990s Gulf War. Its opening line is "It was the day my grandmother exploded." The phrase "the crow road" is a euphemism, in the book, for death.)

Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim (Sparknotes says it's "the story of a man named Marlow's struggle to tell and to understand the life story of a man named Jim" -- a young man who goes to sea, makes a terrible and cowardly decision while following his leaders, and then spends the rest of his life haunted by it.)

There's at least one extra, partially obscured title:

It appears to read "THE BODY ------ and ------", which makes me wonder if it's an anthology of murder mystery short stories.

Leaving aside the uncertain book, commonalities between many of these books include:

soldiers, war, and the horrors/absurdities thereof

doubles and parallels

death and murder

a young/inexperienced protagonist thrown in with more experienced/weirder folk

fragmented and out of order narratives, sometimes having to be pieced together from multiple viewpoints

...pirates

2. The strange but noticeable inserts

There are several images that have been inserted into the poster that -- unlike the teacup and wine glass mentioned above -- don't seem to make a lot of contextual sense and are therefore, perhaps, extra information. These include:

a. the three lizard boys

b. the broken smartphone

c. the matchbox with the quote on the side

d. the camera

e. this statuette that seems suspicious

f. this record and scroll that seem out of place

g. the clockface with the missing hand (which may be just for the Aesthetic, but whatever, I'm including it)

What do they mean? No clue. I suspect it will become apparent as we get trailers and/or the actual show.

In Conclusion

Uh.

Look. Design teams can do all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons. All of this could mean absolutely nothing.

But.

Using my magical powers of bullshit deduction, I might look at all this, and that grey feather falling from the earlier poster, and say... well... the war's still ongoing, yeah? So maybe... maybe there needs to be a new angel keeping an eye on things on Earth. Or an eye specifically on Aziraphale and Crowley.

And that would look SUSPICIOUS, right? So this is an angel who's maybe... a little bit Fallen. For the sake of the Mission. Like, they've agreed to sin just a lil bit, just enough to justify being thrown out of Heaven, and they're not actively in Hell because they're, oh, just stopping off, or maybe just going really slowly, or maybe they were sent back up from Hell because they were still "too good" and all that Pureness of Spirit was stinking up the place--

Whatever. Point is, they're on Earth, they're very confused, it sure would be nice if these very Established metaphysical elders could give them a few hints about how to get on. We'd then get to enjoy a Guide to Living a Totally Normal Human Life given by these two disaster dorks, plus whatever nonsense is derived from, idk, various extraneous plot shenanigans, probably involving a Murder and maybe a MacGuffin Maltese Falcon.

And most importantly: this new angel? Wow no they couldn't possibly be a spy because again WOW, what kind of angel would deliberately Fall? Wouldn't that require doing the wrong thing to do a right thing? ...okay maybe, but can it really be wrong if it was done by command? ...well, wait, it surely must be wrong because otherwise the mechanism wouldn't have worked-- but then, wait, which thing was the wrong thing--

And Aziraphale and Crowley would watch this bouncing volley of cognitive dissonance with great interest, also possibly while holding hands.

[life-winners-liveblog]

The making of the teapot is actually quite tedious but fascinating! I wouldn't normally tell anyone about the production process, business confidentiality and whatnot, but you can't leave the Winner's Void, so it's fine.

The teapot itself is made with porcelain that's enchanted to be practically indestructible and decorated using gold and mother of pearl. As for how it makes tea, it's a very complicated process that involves both magic and chemistry.

See, by the laws of magic, science, and the world in general, something cannot come from nothing, there must be something there. Essentially the conservation of material. So the tea doesn't just come from nowhere, I actually have to magically link the teapot to something that already exists, like a large body of water or a celestial object (after checking to make sure it's not particularly important and no living organisms exist, of course. thankfully I've only needed to do that once). The link basically creates a portal which the teapot siphons materials from. This is the first magic part.

Then comes the chemistry part. The materials, whilst being siphoned, go through a process of purification to remove any contamination and germs. Then it goes through another process called transmutation. By definition, that means "the action of changing or the state of being changed into another form". In chemistry or physics, it's the action of one element becoming another element through the exchange of protons and electrons.

And after the transmutation process comes liquidization, which is exactly what it sounds like as the materials become liquid form, which isn't always needed because water is both very common and the most used ingredient as the teapot primarily dispenses drinks. Plus, water is a relatively simple compound consisting of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule- 

*five minutes later*

-then the mixture goes through another process of purification-

*ten minutes later*

-so by holding the handle or any part of the teapot, the teapot connects to the mind of the user and identifies what the user wants the teapot to dispense-

*five minutes later again*

-This all happens within the body of the teapot. And because the production process is extremely tedious, the teapot is so expensive that it exceeds all monetary value by multiple digits and regular currency can't be used to buy it. You're quite lucky I gave this to you for free, really. I've only sold six teapots, and five of them were to gods. In fact, it was actually my second customer who suggested the idea of being able to make complex drinks, so I added three more components that put the drink through the process of-

*twenty minutes later*

-and this part happens in the spout. So that’s how the teapot can make latte art and ice-cream sundaes! There's also a feature that prevents the lid from falling off and spilling anything. And that happens through the process of- Ha, no, I'm kidding. It’s called “not making an actual lid”, it just looks like there is one.

Rae-non

Pearl: I totally know what most of that meant, yep.

[Am I stupid for not understanding?]

Pearl: No! No, of course not Olive, It's just a very very complex thing, It's ok...

[mxnkeydo]

so scarlet (it was maroon) ✧ sokeefe

✧ ship: Sophie x Keefe

✧ what to expect: it all went down went a book went soaring across the classroom but sophie never expects it to end the way it does. acrylic smeared on cheeks, pigment-stained clothes, and a whole keefe sencen later, maybe she never despised him as much as she thought she did.

✧ genre: romance, fluff, humor, sarcasm - enemies to lovers trope, human au, and a love triangle to torment you guys 😈

✧ word count: 2.5K

✧ warnings: slight swearing

✧ link to masterlist

✧ taglist: @swans-chirping-in-the-distance @somerandomhuman080 @foxglove-and-foxfire-lover @carolineforbae @yourtwistedlies (lmk if you want to be added!)

✧ A/N: been a long time since i updated so its probably trashy but here you go!!

***

CHAPTER NINE

In the mornings, Foxfire academy was a hustle of frantic students getting ready for class, their bags like heavy boulders stuffed with binders and papers and whatnot. Amongst all the students, Sophie Foster paced in front of her locker, waiting for a certain someone to show up. And by “someone”, she meant Keefe Sencen.

Keefe was never late. Not once in the time that she knew him was he ever tardy to anything (except for when he ditched classes; then he was absent entirely). So when the bell rang and he still didn’t make an appearance, she sighed and dragged herself to her first class–math. Walking her to AP calculus was a routine–a tradition, even. Afterwards, Keefe would go the same way they came to his physics class in another hallway. Sophie used to insist he didn’t have to go through all that trouble, but now, his absence was jarring. It had her thoughts racing.

He didn’t make it to school late either, which only spiked her worry. Fitz tried to ease her anxiety, but something was wrong, she knew it. She could feel it. After lunch, she walked to art alone, settling in her seat with a frown. The desk next to her would usually be filled with Keefe’s slender figure and he’d be constantly pestering her with sarcastic remarks. Sometimes, she even wished he’d simply just go away. But now that he really was gone, Sophie wished he’d be back again.

Something was wrong, her gut was telling. Something was really wrong.

Art passed by in a blur, and when the final bell rang, Sophie absentmindedly rose from her chair and made her way towards the exit. She was one step away from leaving when–

“Miss Foster? A word.”

Sophie startled and made her way over to Ms. Clarette’s desk, shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets.

“Yes?”

“How are the sessions going?” She asked, resting her chin on his hands.

“Oh. Yeah, they’re–they’re going good. Great, actually.” For the first time, Ms. Clarette smiled genuinely. It turned her into a whole different person from the strict teacher she normally knew.

“Yes, I can see that. Your artwork has been getting better, Sophie. Are you and Mr. Sencen still at each other’s necks?”

Sophie raised her eyebrows, surprised at the question. “Um- no. We’re–we’re good now.” Ms. Clarette smiled as if she’d anticipated that answer.

“Good.” She looked down at the stack of papers on her desk with a red pencil in hand, ready for a long afternoon of grading. “I’m glad. You may leave, Miss Foster.”

Sophie released the breath she’d unknowingly held, sighing deeply as she made her way down the hall. Usually she’d stop for a chat with Linh, maybe admire another one of Dex’s contraptions, but she had no time for that now. She had somewhere to be. 

Exiting the school through the main doors, she turned right instead of the usual left to her house. It wasn’t a long walk to Keefe’s place, but every second she had to wait made her more restless. Another left and a right turn later, she arrived in front of his house. She looked at the dead plants in the front yard, the oval windows on the building, and then–

Sophie’s gaze wandered to the sky, and when she saw a black, hunched figure on the roof, she squinted, blocking out the sun’s glare with her hand. Sitting on the roof somberly was none other than Keefe himself. Sophie thought about calling out, but she’d only succeed in pushing herself farther away from him. Instead, she opened the front door of the house and carefully walked in. The main hall was dusty and lifeless. An antique vase on the kitchen counter held the remains of withered flowers and their rotten stems. Paintings hung on the walls, but they were veiled with white cloths so their contents weren’t visible to any passerby. It was eerily pristine. Ghostly, even. It was as if no one had lived here in a while.

Sophie walked past all of that and climbed the stairs, skipping two steps at a time. She burst into Keefe’s room at the end of the second floor hallway, and was immediately hit with his familiar scent, that same cologne he’d started wearing along with his natural smell of musty books. It was strange when Sophie really thought of it, but it was oddly comforting. His room was more of a mess than usual; scattered books, stray pen and brushes all over his unmade bed, clothes strewn over his cluttered dresser. Sophie could barely even make it to the other side of the room without stepping on anything. She  tiptoed around the bed to avoid kicking or destroying anything on the floor, but–

Spohie hissed quietly as her something sharp dug into her foot, something under the bed. She glanced down at the sharp, blue edge poking out from beneath the satin valance. Snooping was probably not the best idea, Sophie knew that, but her curiosity won her over and she gingerly pulled the object out from under the bed.

It was painting, Sophie soon realized as she marveled at it. A beautiful painting, maybe even more beautiful than the ones hanging in Keefe’s secret art room. But if it was one of his best pieces of art, why was it under the bed? Shouldn’t it be up on the wall somewhere? Sophie ran one hand across the painting, its texture bumpy against her palm. If he closed her eyes, she was sure she could imagine the scene in the painting – the white lilies at the bottom of the canvas, the faint caws of the birds overhead, the meadow of tall grass that would graze her bare legs as she walked. The clouds drifting in the sky, the pink and blue and purple trokes of the sunset. It would be a lazy day, where she would run through the expanse without a care in the world.

There was only one thing that rattled her mind.

Keefe had painted a girl standing in the grass. A girl with blonde tresses and a pink sweater and a white skirt, staring off at the horizon. And was she losing her mind, or was she wearing that same exact outfit when she and Keefe had their first tutoring session? 

She was probably insane. Hell, she was definitely insane.

But…she had quite the reason to believe that it was her. It was her, standing in the field, with a faint smile playing on her lips. In the painting, she was more beautiful than Sophie could ever wish to be.

The thought popped into her mind with no warning.

Do I really look like that to him?

It evaporated as soon as it appeared, but it had Sophie reeling. As much as she wanted to sit down and stare at it for forever, Sophie carefully stuffed it back under Keefe’s bed, her heart beating in her ears like a deafening drum.

The real question here was, how did Keefe get onto the roof? His bedroom had no openings other than the main door. No windows, no chimney–nothing. It was impossible, Sophie had concluded, when she realized there was more to his room than one could see.

She stepped over to the mahogany bookcase, shoving her side against it, praying it would budge. To her luck, it began to move with every push, slowly but surely revealing the same door Keefe had opened for her with a flourish when he first tutored her. She barged in like a woman on a mission, but then stumbled back as she coughed, dust rising all around her. It took a while to clear, and when she could finally see, Sophie studied the room keenly. Everything was just as she remembered; dark, homey, and incredibly messy. But the difference? There was a cold draft coming in through somewhere. Sophie perked up once she felt the wind dance across her skin, raising goosebumps on her arms. Surging forward, she threw open the curtains at the far side of the little room.

The round window was wide open, allowing Sophie to see the colors of the vibrant sunset. She peered down and immediately regretted it, groaning. Her fear of heights was most definitely not helping this situation.

But what if Keefe was in trouble? Based on Cassius’s disappearance and his son’s absence, Sophie could only guess what he was going through. Besides, she saw the way Keefe flinched when he flexed his shoulder a while ago. She could’ve asked, but she hadn’t wanted to pry into personal issues. But if they affected him like this—isolating himself, not responding to any of her concerned texts, maybe it was time she stepped in. 

With a shallow breath, she poked her head out of the window again, this time with caution. Maybe there was a ladder somewhere that she could climb. But as far as Sophie could see, there was no ladder. Only a large, black pole in arm’s length. 

It hit her like a lightning bolt. Of course Keefe had climbed up the pole to the roof, being the daredevil he was. And now she had to do the same.

Gulping, she sat down on the windowsill, trying her best not to look down. Once both hands were planted on the pole, she jumped and wrapped her legs around it, yelping. After letting herself get comfortable, she began to make her way up.

Idon’twannadiepleasedon’tletmedie, Sophie thought frantically, wondering if God could hear her from above. She hugged the pole for dear life as she climbed higher and higher from the ground. About halfway, she almost lost her step and let out a strangled cry as she tried to regain balance. The next half of the climb, she scurried up as fast as she could, deciding to get it all over with.

Finally, finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she neared the edge of the roof. Eagerly, she reached out for it and pulled herself up, grunting.

Sophie clambered up onto the roof, careful not to make any noise. Keefe was on the other end of the roof, and if she didn’t startle him, maybe he’d open up.

It was bound to happen; she took only one step forward but the sole of her sneakers slipped against the shingles. Sophie shrieked, falling forward on her knees. She lay there, panting. Because if she’d fallen just a little more to the left, she would’ve plummeted to her death.

Keefe’s lean figure whipped around at the commotion. Damn it, Sophie, she berated herself, staring at his wild, bloodshot eyes.

“Sophie?” He breathed, a wrinkled appearing between his brows.

“Keefe.”

“Sophie…” Keefe’s voice broke halfway and he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He frantically wiped the tears from his face. “You’re–you’re not supposed to be here.”

“You’ve had quite the influence on me, then.”

Even in his miserable state, he broke into a soft smile. “Guilty.”

Sophie carefully walked to where he was and sat down beside him as he cleared his throat and fiddled with a lock of his hair. “You weren’t at school today,” she said. “You’re always at school. I was worried.”

“I’m in one piece,” he joked lamely. But seeing Sophie’s serious expression he sobered immediately. “No, seriously. I’m okay, just–” He sniffled dramatically. “Allergies.” He winced as the lie fell from his lips, knowing it was a shitty excuse.

“Spring started back in March, Keefe. It’s May now. Don’t you think I would’ve noticed your ‘allergies’ back then?”

No response.

Letting the silence settle around them, Sophie took Keefe’s hand with both of hers. “Talk to me, Keefe. Please?” She nudged his shoulder playfully. Consequently he groaned, clutching his arm. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry,” Sophie let out in one breath.

“It’s fine,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Wait… but I thought it was your left shoulder that hurt?”

At her comment, he turned and gave her a strange look. “What?”

“The last time I saw you. It was your left shoulder, and now it’s your right? What’s going on?”

“You noticed?”

“Of course I did.”

Keefe looked away and at the sun, which was sinking lower and lower every second. Streaks of orange and red were painted on the sky in rough strokes, as if an angry artist had been in a rush to complete his piece. Regardless, it was beautiful. The fading light shone on Keefe’s face, and Sophie’s heart skipped a beat as she studied it. She knew the thought was wrong as soon as it entered her head: sure, he looked like a wreck, but…he also looked good. Handsome, even. Tears glistened on his dark lashes. His lips were parted slightly. But those ice-blue eyes, normally full of life, were now dull. Empty. Vacant. 

“Just so you know, I’m here,” Sophie said gently. “You can talk to me, or not, but I am here.”

“I don’t deserve you,” Keefe breathed. “I don’t deserve any of this.”

“Shut up, you deserve the world.”

Silence again. His eyes widened and then welled up. 

“It’s just hard when you feel so fucking unwanted.”

“Not by me, you aren’t.”

She felt his touch burn through her clothes and into her skin where he’d let his arms rest on her waist, pulling her close. For a moment she held him close too, and he let himself sink into her warmth. And when the floodgates opened, there was no stopping it.

Sophie let this boy, this wonderful, sweet, broken boy, cry into her shoulder. Shh, she wanted to assure him. Everything will be okay. You’re okay. But now was not the time, and she didn’t—couldn’t—make any false promises, especially not to Keefe Sencen, a stranger who had quickly become one of her closest friends.

“I’m sorry,” he said at one point, his voice muffled.

“You don’t have to be,” Sophie had whispered back.

Now, the two of them sat on the roof together, Keefe’s eyes bloodshot, Sophie holding his hand like she’d never let go. Dusk turned to night, and neither of them moved. Vaguely, Sophie thought of how worried her parents—ahem, Grady—would be, but being there for Keefe was important. So she stayed.

Keefe snorted after a while and she shot him a look, wondering what was so funny about this. “Name a more iconic duo than my fear of abandonment and my instinct to self isolate. I’ll wait.” Sophie swatted him on the shoulder disapprovingly and he laughed slightly. “Humor’s my coping mechanism. I can’t help it.”

It went quiet for a minute while Sophie went deep into thought. Her hair fluttered in the chilly winds, and she shivered slightly before answering, “You and me.”

“What?”

“You asked to name a better duo. You and me.”

Keefe really looked at her. And then he shot her his million-dollar smile and— god, Sophie’s knees would have gone weak if she was standing up. He squeezed her hand.

“Yeah. We really are something, aren’t we?”

[modern-inheritance]

Ever wonder why Arya kicks me in the head while I sleep?

This is why!

TW for injuries/scarring and I guess partial nudity below the cut? like it's just a bare back so up to you. It's just a wip and i need to do more reference for skin movement and whatnot and hair position but it's a start!

I added the stitch holes from when Brom stitched up the open wounds after Eragon healed the most life threatening ones. The points where the wounds 'gape' i guess is where the stitches tore despite best efforts. The really massive thing coming down from her shoulder with the lines in it is, well...yeah that entire full thickness layer of skin was just ripped off, so even though there's scar tissue over it, it's thin and it is right overtop the muscle. It's wild as fuck but you can see muscles moving there very plainly. It's also a major source of nerve pain and nerve damage for Arya, so whenever she's rubbing the back of her neck in MIC it's usually because she's uncomfortable, both physically and with whatever situation she's in. Darker patches are burns.

I tried to show the overlap and layering of some of the injuries. Arya's back was, to put it in the bluntest way possible, a hot fucking mess when Eragon and Saphira started healing it the first night. A lot of things were already scarred over from previous torture sessions that Durza just let heal on their own, that massive tear being one of them. So even though Eragon and Saphira healed a lot, not only that first initial night but in a few healing sessions afterwards, there was so much that had already been healing/started to heal/would have been too risky to heal without deep scans to make sure there was no involvement with other stuff.

Whatever was left when Durza was killed by Eragon was bound to Arya's body as a last laugh, causing her to experience every moment in Gil'ead on a sick loop for however long healing or flesh manipulation magic attempts to close/erase the scars. Arya and Glen spend a not insignificant amount of time while in Ellesmera finding workarounds to the curse for if Arya is injured over one of the scars during future battles, eventually landing on using a sort of memory map in their healing spells that heals later injuries up to the exact point that the scars are at now. So while the new injuries can be healed, new damage can be healed all the way up to the surface, anything that was there before will be healed to where it was before the new injury: Same scars, same nerve damage, same muscle damage.

Post war, Saphira brings up to Eragon and then Arya that they could use The Name of Names to unravel Durza's curse and heal her scars. Arya flat out refuses, though she still thanks Saphira for thinking of it. Arya is strongly against using the Name for anything personal, as it could be a slippery slope, but after consulting with and getting permission from Murtagh and Thorn and talking it over with Firnen and Glen, Arya agrees to have the surgical scars on her arms healed (not pictured in this and connected to a particularly nasty bit of torture explained in Piece by Piece) due to them being the most distressing for her.

WOOOOO!

OKAY! I will leave the art part for now and go try to write Iz's reaction to Arya showing her the scars.

Cheers mates!

[ask-andante]

Hi, I've decided to officially end this blog.

It took a lot of time thinking about it (tbh i was even thinking about it before the anon) and discussion with close friends and I think I am done.

This blog was used to help me get through various parts of my life, and it can no longer serve that purpose. It's done its job wonderfully and helped me cope and even make a friend circle after isolating myself for a few years. I never thought I'd ever have an actual friend group, but it's something that was made possible VIA this blog.

It hurts a lot to end it, I won't lie, I'm like actually mourning it rn but I've started to develop a sort of resentment towards the blog and plot askblogs due to Mental Illness and I think I just cannot keep holding onto this blog anymore. So, I decided it's best to let it go before I hate it. I doubt I'll come back to finishing it after posting the plot outline, seeing as it's all out in the open, but you never know.

The doc contains the outline with a header to jump to where this blog left off. I got pretty far in so I feel extra down about tossing in the towel here, but that's just how it is. I've tried many ways to salvage my motivation, lowering art quality being the main one as art is my job now and it's no longer the escape it used to be, but I don't think the workload itself is the issue.

If I move onto future projects, you will likely see me post them on @aibouart , so feel free to check the art blog out and follow if you'd like. I am not abandoning the characters here, I will continue to draw them likely and RP them and whatnot. You can send asks OOC anytime, just know I may not be very active~

Anyways, here's the plot outline. Some things are not included in it despite having been planned because they were either up in the air on their specifics, or were late additions not added in yet (nast stops appearing in the outline some ways into it as they were a new addition to help give Andan another person to have a better dynamic with. They were planned to become friends < 3 )

Thank you for reading and for your patience, as well as everyone's continued support over the years. This blog was great as a form of expression and art, and great to get me socialising. I discovered many things about myself over the course of being here on Tumblr and this blog was one of the starting points~

If you'd like some minor additional content, you can go and read over old memes: @andanteooc

Or the related blog: @andanterelated

The related blog consists of memes I've reblogged tagging relevant characters.

You can feel free to send me asks to talk about the plot outline or anything else. I won't post any spoilers until tomorrow, or I'll just tag them "andante spoilers///" if you were interested in the doc to read at a later date.

Please note it is missing quite a few details as I used to log the combat or speech sections separately before actually putting them in the doc (the og was pasted from a tumblr page). I can answer asks about things that weren't addressed because of its nature, but will not repeat myself if it's been asked haha.

Thank you again. I initially started this blog with a goal in mind and succeeded in it years ago, so I think I can be happy that it went above my original goals.

[0iam0]

Let it go rip

Idk what's happening with him, I haven't really watched beyburst rise but something like this happens and, I just wanted to draw him lol. He likes maths and I used to too. Used to. New art?style cuz I don't have a consistent one.

Also Happy Birthday Ronny I didn't realise his day just went by 5 days ago wtff

I originally just wanted to draw some lineart, after which I just decided to shade it right away. Cuz colouring process is kinda boring. Then I decided to color the shading layer and make it the colour later. Added another layer for shading and it's done :) Added a background in another canvas which isn't as bad as I initially thought. Tis was actually fun asf. I think this was good for testing tones, emotion, expression, shading, lineart, pose, whatnot.

[pikachugirltits]

Magic x Marvel: Idle Speculation

I have a lot of random thoughts about the upcoming Magic the Gathering x Marvel crossover, and I thought it would be neat to just ramble about them in a post, especially so I can hopefully find that post again later when the sets release and see how much I was right about. I'm just gonna bullet point this because this is kind of a stream of consciousness sort of deal:

We know that we're getting multiple "tentpole releases" a.k.a. more than one full set for this particular crossover. I'm thinking at least one is going to be a straight to Modern draftable set similar to the LotR set, but I don't think they're necessarily just doing that for all the sets. I speculate that the other (or one of the others if there's more than two) set is going to be a gimmick draft set, such as 2-Head Giant or Commander draft.

I personally am hoping one of the sets is a Commander draft set, and that our partner variant for the set goes the Stranger Things route and just creates a subset partner variant. I propose the name Team-Up, to represent the ubiquity of team up storylines in comic books. (I actually made an entire post about this but Tumblr's wonderful search function is choosing not to find it on my blog.)

Ooh, if they do go the Commander draft route they can make the Prismatic Piper equivalent a Skrull or something

I really, really want a Squirrel Girl card that makes squirrel tokens that I can jam into my Chatterfang deck. Squirrel Girl is my favorite superhero and I just want her on a card so, so badly.

I think it would be cool to have a Mjolnir equipment that in addition to its other effects also has a bit of trinket text along the lines of "equipped creature is a God in addition to its other types."

Thor and Loki and any other Asgardian that represents an actual god should have the creature type God. It already exists. Like sure, we could make Asgardian a creature type if we wanted to, but that's the coward's route.

I saw someone make a comment on Reddit about adding Hero and Villain as creature types, but I really, really hope that doesn't happen. It runs the risk of making the creature types in the set super repetitive, and we're already gonna see a lot of that from the sheer number of human characters. Sure, we'll have some mutants and aliens and robots to occasionally break things up, but it'll be much worse if the class types among cards aren't varied.

Like seriously, let's use the movie Avengers lineup. What's better...having four Human Hero cards, a God Hero, and whatever we do with the Hulk...or a Human Soldier, Human Scientist, Human Archer, Human Rogue, God Warrior, and whatever we do with the Hulk

Yeah, actually...what are we gonna do with the Hulk and related characters? In a vacuum, I would probably type the Hulk as Mutant Berserker...but for IP reasons I wouldn't be surprised if the Mutant creature type is reserved solely for characters with the X-Gene. I don't have an answer for this, just wondering...

Oh, and since I mentioned the MCU, I do want to say one thing, if they're smart they'll base the sets on the comics and not the MCU. Gives them a lot more material and characters to pull from

Booster fun treatment should lean into this and be comic book themed, but I think they would also be smart to offer some Secret Lair drops featuring alt art versions of the characters based on the MCU...if they're willing to deal with the likeness rights and whatnot.

Multiple tentpole releases does mean multiple commander precons. Some themes I could easily see them basing decks on: the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man/Spider-Verse, Guardians of the Galaxy+other space themed characters, a deck for a bunch of the more mystical Marvel characters probably led by Dr. Strange, S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M., Villains in general (from my memory Marvel doesn't really have a singular Legion of Doom type team up of its iconic villains, but I'm definitely picturing a Villains deck that tosses a bunch of iconic villains together in one deck...you could call it the Masters of Evil as a deep cut though.)

If Gambit gets a card, he should have an ability that lets you discard cards to deal damage to a target to represent Gambit throwing cards at his enemies. (This is the kind of wink at the camera stuff I love in UB products.)

Koi Boy should get a card purely because he's a canon trans man and Magic really needs some trans masc representation.

[asitrita]

For whatever reason I felt like sharing some of my thoughts about spuk today.

I kind of have this hc that Arthur's a really good story teller (probably because i've grown up with tlotr, hp and arthurian legends, plus, you know, the chronicles of narnia, alice in wonderland, peter pan and a lot of fantasy literature for kids and teens), and I like to imagine that, perhaps, back in the day and before all the drama, during the Middle Ages and first decades of the Modern Era, when Spain (and the different Spanish kingdoms) and England had a rather good relationship, when visiting England for whatever diplomatic mission, Antonio would ask Arthur to tell him some stories before bedtime, or during "nap time" after lunch, while laying on a meadow under the shadow of a tree, maybe a oak or old chestnut (so romantic u.u) It is kind of canon, I believe, that Antonio was a huge fan of chivalric themes and medieval heroic epics, like most of Europe at the time, and Spain fed a lot on the chivalric poetry and romance, not only during Medieval times, but also later on. It may seem out of topic, but Spanish conquerors and explorers (which would led to the begining of the Spanish empire), for better or for worse, were greatly inspired by both, classic epic, but also chivalric novels (maybe it is not a coincidence that the literary work that universally mocked the chivalric genre ended up being a Spanish production, Don Quixote). Medieval romance poetry is also a big deal in Spanish literature and folk culture, so it is only fitting he would enjoy fantasy tales and chivalric epic, as well as romance and poetry. The two would complement each other. Arthur would enjoy making up stories, and telling old chivalric romances, adding a little bit of magical and fantastic elements to it (like the magic cauldron tell, or magical swords,and whatnot), that Antonio would very much enjoy, while Antonio would passionately deliver passages from classic works, like The Aeneid, and recite poetry, also around the themes of chivalry and romance, while playing the lute, sometimes singing, rather than merely reciting the verses.

I also have this hc about Arthur being an exceptionally good archer and timidly trying to show off so Antonio notices him. On the other hand, I think Antonio would be skilled in the art of poetry, and be good at languages in general, making him a good rhapsodist. He would also be a pretty skilful musician, and play the lute, the vihuela and be surprisingly good at playing the clavichord (not at all referencing Antonio de Cabezón here). I even imagine during the times of Catalina de Aragon as queen of England he would try to teach Arthur how to improve his fingering and playing technic.

Just a few of my silly hc.

[perfectlovevn]

Perfect Love VN Devlog #8

I gotta say, I'm really proud of my UI right now because it looks very good, though it bothers me that the Endings buttons have a weird hover state. But when I said that I didn't like the Renpy UI apparently I made it my own personal issue and decided to destroy it and remake it. All the Milos on the GUI screens also change depending on route because I can't not make it difficult on myself. I was thinking of making the head UI have a different character for the left side (based on any references, else it would just have Eris's sprite) but I'm not sure if the creators would like that and it would have been a LOT of creators I would have to contact and ask about and it would be even more work for me, so I will decide against it for now. Maybe in the future I'll add it back in. The space under options is also bothering me so I might add a button for extras later on when I get the chance. But as you can see, pretty much everything is animated to a certain degree (even the buttons and whatnot are customized for each ending, sound and visual wise) because I take great care in making things look unique (and dying I guess).

SFX and music are really killing me right now because unlike stuff with UI, art and coding, I'm not nearly as versed in deciding those things which is very ironic because it's probably actually one of the more technically easier things for me- since all I'm doing is rummaging through Creative Commons and other free music/sfx stuff to find things to add and not making it myself. I think I might be too picky. I've started adding animal noises to mark each version of Milo (PreMilo is rabbit sounds, Violence is dog sounds and Manipulation is cat sounds) though it's hard to do them without it sounding too strange or out of place. Rabbit/Bunny sounds especially are kind of hard to find, though I did find a handful of them. I'm really glad in the past I was really obsessed with finding free sounds like this because it's really helping me as of now. Still I don't know what's too much sfx and what's too much music and that's what's really getting me a bit confused on what to do.

Still I underestimated how long it will take me to find/assign the right sfx and music, though I will say it will take me about half-two thirds of the time I did sprites though. After that I should be going to do the Perfect Ending, Main Menu (since you can see there's no pupils or anything), a starting warning screen and POSSIBLY extras since I figured out how to make an extra gallery by looking through through another visual novel's code. Oh, and a custom mouse because I realized I forgot about that.

I'll probably get some people to test it for me when I'm done with the Main Menu and SFX.

[talesofevermore]

Devlog #1 - Up Until Today

Hello! Welcome to the Tales of Evermore Devlog. This blog will be updated semi frequently as the game progresses through development!

First of all, Tales of Evermore (ToE) was originally called Beastrealms and we began developing the concept back in December 2023. As such, there is quite a back log of concept images and whatnot I would like to share!

However, before we get into that - what exactly IS ToE? Tales of Evermore is a mystery dungeon inspired roguelike/lite (I am not having this debate...) RPG game! It features themes of psychological horror, body horror. high fantasy and real world themes. If you've played games like Little Misfortune and Fran Bow then you can expect a similar vibe. Gameplay wise, it plays a lot like the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games but with added slice of life mechanics inspired by the Monster Hunter series.

As of June 2024, ToE is starting to come out of the concept phase and we have started initial development! At the moment we are primarily focusing on the first hour of gameplay as we intend to make this available as a demo.

Currently, Pastry Pup Productions consists of two people, Bonnie and Kai, with the occasional help from freelancers and contractors! These blogs will usually be written by Bonnie - me! I am the main driving force behind the creative aspects of the project, handling the art, sound design, writing and overall game direction and concept. My partner Kai is in charge of the technical aspect of things, which I will not even pretend to understand fully! But without him, there wouldn't be a playable game. If you are interested in us as people I will create a separate post with a Q&A and some little factoids at a later date.

Anyhow! Without further ado, here are some of the concept pieces that have been made so far!

First let's talk about our main character - Merri! Merri is a young dog girl. Her initial design saw her resembling a cocker spaniel, with long floppy ears and yellow fur. This was changed fairly recently as we decided to stick with fairly realistic colours and features for the characters. She still resembles a spaniel to an extent, but with a more muted colour palette. However, as you can see from her sprite strip, she has a curly tail! This is because Kai and I absolutely adore Pomeranians (we have 3!) and we wanted her design to feature something that represents them.

The demo will take place back in time, when Merri is a child, so we've also been working on our concept of her as a young pup!

A lot of the concept work was done in a tiny notebook I would carry with me on my commute to work. I live in Japan so the trains are usually quite busy, which means I have mastered the art of standing and doodling! Overall, Merri is a character who is very near and dear to our hearts. She's the goodest girl who will be the vessel through which many of the themes and plot points are conveyed. We don't want to give too many spoilers here but the story does get fairly dark and touches upon many sensitive topics young women encounter.

Our cast of characters is quite colourful! While we can't guarantee that all the faces you see here will be in the final game, it should give you an idea as to what to expect. These character potraits are quite old and have been scrapped, so even if the character still exists, they will have new art!

Notable characters include Murdoch (the wolf), Cidrich (the deer), Evander (the owl) and Cygnus (the dragon). Again, we don't want to spoil too much in these logs but expect a colourful cast with intertwining and indepth characters. Even our shopkeepers will have character plots and stories for you to explore! My personal favourite so far has to be Beau (the dog) and his relationship with Muirfinn (an otter) and how Merri will ultimately influence where that goes...

Overall we have written plots for our NPCs that involve, sibling rivalry, secret courtships, being haunted by dead wives, father abandonment, being a transgender parent, vampirism, the woes of living longer than mortals, and much much more! ToE is a story driven game and we want players to feel like every character is connected to the world. There will be lots to explore!

Now, what's a good game without interesting enemies? We have been hard at work designing enemies that fit the themes and plot of the game, will also being visually distinct. Again, while we cannot confirm whether all of these ideas and designs will make it in to the final product, it should give you an ideas as to how far we are willing to go to create a lasting impact. It's also probably worth noting now that ToE does include quite scary or unsettling material, similar in tone to Fear and Hunger at times (though sexual organs are not shown, body horror elements may be).

As you can imagine we are quickly approaching the 30 image limit on this post, so that will be it for now! We have also been working on the intro cinematic, tilesets, sprites and UI bits and bobs - but that isn't quite as interesting!

So, sadly that will be it for our introductory devlog! This has been an incredibly brief synopsis of the last few months, and we are super excited to keep you in the loop going forward! We are at the stage now were we've actually started programming the game, so we will have videos and other fun stuff to show you soon!

Thank you so much to the support, please don't be a stranger and we look forward to talking to you more soon!

Lots of Love,

Bonnie and Kai