#as much as i absolutely love the idea of sharing my thoughts about certain characters with others who get it and will appreciate it

[quimichi]

↳ ❝ [THINGS THEY SAY DURING 'IT'] ¡! ❞ @ - Part 1.

TW: MDNI - NSFW, sexual themes obviously lol

SUMMARY: Title :)

CHARACTERS: Aether Albedo Al-Haitham Ayato Baizhu Capitano Childe Cyno Dainsleif Diluc Dottore Freminet & Gorou x F!Reader

WORD COUNT: 1.044

A/N: idk just a random new idea, watch me get more and more unserious with every character you pass

Aether

❝Agh-...shit...❞ - he holds back his sounds as he moans and curses into his hand

❝ Mh-no, like that, yeah...move like that...good❞ - he bites his lip as his lust drowned eyes stare up at you, holding your thighs tight for stability

❝Slower?...okay❞ - speeds up with a slight laugh, stopping seconds later to slow down again

Albedo

❝This spot? Yeah?...knew it...❞ - it's rare for you to see him smug, but that smirk he will give you when he finds out his guess was right is something else

❝Hold still for me...yes?❞ - he pushes your thighs apart, settling down comfortably between them as he dives in

❝Some interesting sounds you make...❞ - and he will carve them into his mind. When you're away he will remember them, will miss them, miss you and everything about you

Al-Haitham

❝Keep quite...❞ - there's no harshness in his words, just slight desperation as he breaths those words in your ear as he fucks you on the couch in his shared house with Kaveh, while he is asleep in his room

❝Tell me what you want...come on, you can do it. Speak up.❞ - sometimes the way he talks to you is infuriating, like he's talking to a stupid child. It not only embarrasses you when he speaks so teasingly, it makes you angry, frustrated, and maybe a bit turned on

❝If you can't watch your hands i won't watch my teeth.❞ - you tugged on his precious hair, so he can't help but tease you even more as he eats you out

Ayato

❝Mmm...yeah...❞ - he's rather quite, Ayato hums more, right in your ear with such a disgusting smirk because he knows any sound he does will drive you wild

❝Don't overestimate yourself, hm?❞ - he always says the same as you sink down on him. He knows exactly that his tip just puts too much pressure on your cervix. He might tease you, but he doesn't want to hurt you

❝I got you...don't worry, i got you...❞ - while you come down from your high...did he came himself? No, but it's okay. You're his number 1 priority

Baizhu

❝So...warm...❞ - no matter how many times you two have sex, your warmth will always overwhelm him

❝Shh...you don't know who might come in.❞ - he doesn't take many risks but god he can't hold himself back when you help him out in Bubu Pharmacy

❝I'll take care of it...don't worry.❞ - look, he's a doctor, a people pleaser and helper, ofc he only takes care of you and not of himself

Capitano

❝Take it slow, theres no rush.❞ - says the big guy with the prettiest cock and he doesn't even know it

❝Do you need a break? No?...heh...alright then...❞ - proceeds to rearrange your guts

❝What did i tell you?❞ - he means please, tell him please, ask nicely with manners like he taught you

Childe

❝Naww, someones needy huh? It went riiight in, with no problem.❞ - I bet you can practically hear and see the smug look on this abominations face

❝Look baby i don't wanna hurt you, yeah? You need to tell me when i go too hard.❞ - just a little nice check in for him. He wants to make sure you know you are always free to tell him off, he doesn't want to force himself on and in you

❝Good? Hah-ah-...yeah...thought so...❞ - sometimes the smugness will flatter, especially once he's close...you don't know who enjoys it more, him or you

Cyno

❝You hear that?...Thats you...❞ - he pumps his fingers in and out of you, slow and fast, changing pace. But no matter how fast or slow, he absolutely loves when you're as wet as you can get

❝Are you certain that you really want th-! Ouch why'd you slap me-❞ - he always asks the same, over and over again, it's nice that he keeps asking for your consent but at this point it annoys you like...bro you already been between my legs for like 30mins I had enough time thinking about it

❝Where?...ah-quick tell me-❞ - whenever he doesn't wear a condom and realistically...I don't think condoms exist in genshin lol

Dainsleif

❝So desperate...it's almost cute.❞ - he knows it's basically a long distance relationship considering he's almost never there. That's what makes it even "better" for him when you two see each other. He can't help but tease

❝Calm down, we're not in a rush.❞ - basically the first, same vibe, call me lazy lol

❝Still...gh-taking it so well...❞ - uhhh yeah we have a theme here

Diluc

❝You look cold...i could warm you up...❞ - sometimes him being smooth works, sometimes not, and sometimes he just sounds like a cheaper version of himself (Batman)...or sometimes he does what Kaeya says-

❝Where's the 'please'?❞ - he's so well mannered it's scary, so he expects the same for you too. Say please and thank you

❝Maybe if you would've behaved like I told you to, we wouldn't be here right now.❞ - he says it so calm as he fucks you against the cold stone wall behind Angels share in the middle of the night where any drunken idiot could see...or the patrols...that are very much sober (hopefully???)

Dottore

❝Hm? This? Oh, thats just for documentation.❞ - he records your voice...he literally studies your reactions and change in voice.

❝I won't tell you again, hold still.❞ - he isn't scared of tying you up at all so either hold still or be held still

❝...hm...you're too quite...❞ - he literally wants the Tsaritsa to hear like???

Freminet

❝Ngh-h-hey-calm down or else-!❞ - WE LOBE SUB BOYS, I WANNA HEAR YOU SCREAM, WE LOVE SUB BOYS

❝This is...new...yeah...❞ - he's a explorer but he also wants to be explored sksksksksk

❝So-warm-!❞ - uhm...self explanatory. When he enters you it's warm lol

Gorou

❝Wdym I'm in heat AGAIN?!❞ - he can't help but not be horny like?? Have you seen yourself??

❝Agh-...i tried to br gentle but you just-❞ - no self control, smh

❝Right there? See...told you i won't forget.❞ - he's eating you out, and still remembers your most sensitive spots like it's craved in his mind...because it is

[kwamiwayzz]

Class of '09 - Jeckole Starter Fic Recs

I saw a post on Twitter earlier asking for fic recommendations for Class of '09 and thought this would be an easy place to start. Disclaimer, most of the ones here are Jeckole since it's pretty much all I read.

Notes are my own thoughts and feelings and don't completely give a full overview of the plot, if at all. You'll just have to check them out yourself ;)

drinking lightning by strictlypudding - If you were a newcomer in the Co09 fandom and wanted to search for the most Kudos'ed fic out of all of them, this would be the first to pop up and I can see why. It's a pretty good starter fic for anyone getting into Jeckole's dynamic and the author's prose when I first read it was top notch.

We're too hot to be best friends without sexual tension by Memeframe - This is a series of Jeckole fics compiled of 8 one/two-shots that follow Nicole and Jecka from high school up to adulthood. When I first read this, I had a fun time and thought the author captured that Co09 flavor when writing Jecka and Nicole's dynamic together.

(more below)

Fuck Life, Fuck the Universe, and Fuck Everything by Progman - I might be biased when giving my thoughts on this because I read it during a time when this VN threw me back to a time I do not like to revisit, but this fic slow-roasted me while I was marinating in my depression and I love the banter and dialogue wrote not just with Nicole and Jecka, but also among the other characters as well. This fic explores more of the growing codependent nature between Nicole and Jecka as well as do a deep dive on Nicole's depression. I also really liked the slow burn of how her being on meds made her slightly less fucked up, but still emphasized that it didn't completely fix her.

Inscriptions by Kayleen756894 - Similar to the one above by Progman, Inscriptions by Kayleen absolutely fucking decimated me then put me back together. As others have mentioned in her comments of this fic, it feels like a crescendo that just keeps getting better and better. For those people who really love the take on Nicole's character not actually being a sociopath and more of someone who's suffers from extreme depression, this is definitely the fic for you.

Jeckole by Anonymous - This is a series of one-shots (some related, some not) that are about Jecka and Nicole in various settings. Currently, there are about 6 works in it, and I unfortunately don't know who the author is since they left themselves as anonymous, but I love the way each one is written. For someone who's looking for more light-hearted, easy-going Jeckole one-shots, this could be a good place to start too.

Youth Without Youth by WorthlessPlant - Another Jeckole series, but by AO3 user, WorthlessPlant. I had fun reading these when I needed something light-hearted. There's only 2 works in it, but it follows a scenario where Nicole and Jecka adopt a kitten and raise it together.

Astraphobia by Doodlenova - Oh, if I remember correctly, this was probably the very first Jeckole fic I read when first getting into Co09. I really love this fic and it's take on how the gunshot from the mall cop in Re-Up affected both of them (through a simple thunderstorm). There aren't too many fics out there that take into account how Nicole would be functioning after getting shot in the leg, so this was a nice treat along with Jecka coping with the aftermath of watching her friend nearly die.

Shared Values by Progman - This was written after Flip Side, so you might get an idea of what's going on and how the direction will be steered the farther you read. It starts off slow, almost angsty, but once it gets to a certain part, the vibes and energy just amps up and goes back to that usual Co09 snappy dialogue and humor that I, personally, thought could've fit in the actual game.

Nothing But Poison by VeezChaos - If you love angst and no happy endings for Jeckole, this is the fic for you. I had to emphasize that in the beginning for anyone looking for more fluffy, leaning more on the happy-ending side of things. But I personally thought this fic was written well when exploring the descent of Jecka's mental state after Nicole takes her own life.

So Long, Goodbye by SCP_Stella_Eva - I really liked the scenario for this one, especially since there aren't many fics out there that really go over Nicole's feelings and relationship with her dad before he killed himself. Despite taking place while both Jecka and Nicole are both adults, the dialogue between them still maintains some of that flavor of their younger selves.

And that's it so far. I've read way more than this, but the list would've been way too long, and I did specify this was more of a starter fic-rec list. I haven't read some well-known ones yet like MentalCrit09's Nicole-Divergent series since I'm still catching up on Progman's series. I have read Nothing's New by eklpx but since it was Explicit, I was planning on making a separate fic rec list that only has NSFW works (whenever I'm not lazy lol).

Anyway, hope this helps for those just getting into the fandom :0

[merakiui]

hello i would like to ask your thoughts on playful land's writing 👀👀👀

mostly cause i rarely think when i read (brain off kind of activity for me) but i do think it interesting to hear people critique writing or plots

Hi hiii!! >w< thank you for your interest in my thoughts!! I'd like to preface this by saying that I adore Playful Land. The aesthetics, Fellow and Gidel, the horror potential, etc!! Now having finished the event, I am left with thoughts!!! It's difficult to put everything into an orderly list because my brain is very scrambled egg, so I'll just ramble. Please forgive me. ( ‘ ﹋ ‘ ; )

Most of Playful Land's potential plot holes or ooc moments are patched up once you factor in Fellow's magic (specifically his UM). It gives it a crutch to lean on if and when you begin to think too deeply about the characters in the plot. Like, for example, why Leona or Vil or any character known for being more level-headed and reasonable and not nearly as easy to sway are so quick to change their tune.

Questions like that one are then answered with "it was probably Fellow's magic" or "Fellow's flattery works wonders because NRC students love being praised." But even for someone like Jack, who is clever enough to recognize a scam, who was very suspicious during book three's events and even more so after coming face to face with Azul..... perhaps the stakes would have been even higher if the cast was just comprised of the characters who fall prey to those schemes more easily instead of the logical types (Leona, Vil, Jack, Trey, etc).

Just,,,, they literally go to school with smarmy, smooth-talker scammer Azul Ashengrotto who speaks in too-good-to-be-true terms much like what Fellow does. How did they not put more thought into how suspicious it is that this strange man shows up, offers tickets to an amusement park FOR FREE, and then continues to lick their boots with compliments even while they're there at the park...... T_T

But the magic of an amusement park is that you sort of lose track of time when you're there and you get so wrapped up in everything, so perhaps that's also at play here (and the excitement and wonder of it all considering the park is so elusive). The fun and whimsy blind you to everything else, and with Fellow's magic supposedly at play..... it's a recipe for the perfect veil over logical thought. Maybe if not for Fellow's magic nudging certain characters into forgetting their worries and just having fun the entire event wouldn't have unfolded in the way it does.

But back to the plot!!! It's really good and horrifying as the students are captured and turned into puppets. Deliciously so. Fellow is very set in his goals and with those moments MC shares with Gidel (like talking to him about school in a way that makes him falter, so much so Fellow has to step in to dissuade the mere idea of school) it almost seems like it's setting up a betrayal on Gidel's end (I was genuinely hoping for something like this,,, I will not lie LOL). I think that would have been fascinating to see. A cruel kick in the stomach to Fellow and what he stands for if Gidel somehow helped the NRC students or got in the way of Fellow's plans.

I do think it's interesting commentary on the privilege and magic of this world. How these institutions favor those with money or powerful magic (or both). How you're set for life if you have either. If not for Fellow having second thoughts about why he's even doing this in the first place and him having realized he's sick of answering to his rich boss, the NRC students wouldn't have been freed. And even if Fellow did succeed in trafficking them, not only is it a scandal for NRC (one Crowley absolutely cannot afford) if a group of students go missing, everyone is going to notice international celebrity Vil Schoenheit is unaccounted for or that the Kalim Al-Asim is gone or even Prince Leona Kingscholar. ;;;;;

Also,,, the way the event wraps up. How there really isn't much punishment or legal consequence dealt to Fellow and Gidel. They sort of just,,, get to escape it by hopping back onto the destroyed park-boat. They still committed crimes and have done so multiple times in the past. They are (most likely wanted) criminals. Are none of the NRC students going to report them? Why didn't they just grab the two of them and hold them there? How are Fellow and Gidel going to survive out at sea with a ship that is hardly staying afloat!!! It leaves you with more questions. Also also,,, I'm assuming the other park-goers were returned safely to land as well??? Where were they during the final showdown with Fellow and afterwards when everyone is released from the puppet magic and the park is destroyed?? They sort of fade into obscurity and aren't mentioned again.

I think if I was kidnapped, turned into a puppet, and nearly sold off (and also taunted endlessly by a certain fox) I would have quite the mean grudge against him. orz why do the NRC students just let the two of them get away...... >_< at the very least, the way they handled the clean-up with Rollo was smooth-ish because he's given the choice to live as a liar and a bad person or come clean about everything. But even then I have thoughts on that and that's an entirely different event.....

I am very fond of the concept, though!!! A traveling amusement park (that's actually a front for the evil that goes on behind the curtains) on a boat is so cool. And the idea that no one really knows what happens to you afterwards because all they ever see online are pictures of you having fun, oblivious to the scheme beneath the glitz and glamour. It's so very terrifying. But once you begin to apply logic to various areas of the plot and the characters it starts to unravel.

Or,,, at least,, those are the humble thoughts in my brain. Please take them with a grain of salt. OTL maybe they're mostly nonsense and I might have missed some critiques I wanted to write,,, regardless, I am still a big fan of Playful Land and Fellow could do despicable things to me. ^3^

[9haharharley1]

Sorry if this seems kinda out of the blue, but I've recently delved through the Rise of the Guardians Fandom Wiki to look at all the concept art (a fair bit of which isn't included in the Art Book) and I couldn't help but overhear your desire for cosmic/abyssal horror. If you want to keep it with Pitch, might I suggest taking a look at the wonderful concept art from Simon Rodgers? This was made sometime during the concept stages of Rise of the Guardians' development when the characters were much closer to their book counterparts. I'm certain you've seen the "Eldritch Pitch" image before—Simon made that!

The last image seems to suggest that the Nightmare Galleon's crash to Earth was responsible for the formation of Pitch's Lair, creating a warped and toxic environment for him to fester. It reminds me of Christian Scheurer's take on the Nightmare Galleon: something much more fitting for a sci-fi setting than magical fantasy, but really cool nonetheless.

And of course, we can't forget about Shane Prigmore's contributions when the movie was still in development before Peter Ramsey took it in the direction we know and love today. The image of a colossal nightmarish Pitch absolutely dwarfing a human town is breathtaking.

Anyways, I just thought this concept art was really neat and it was the perfect opportunity to share it with another Rise of the Guardians/Guardians of Childhood fan (even if I'm just blabbing excitedly to one of my top favorite fanfic authors). If nothing else, I hope you wow in awe as I did seeing it!

God yes, I love eldritch Pitch so much! I have the rotg movie art book, and some of the Nightmare Pitch (like the ones above) are just so stunning and breathtaking!

I have had ideas for a fic retelling the movie with a Pitch who never left his Nightmare roots, an actual Nightmare terror the Guardians actually fear and almost respect for all the horror he brings, and a Jack who doesn't remember his past comes in and jokes about rumors of the Boogieman (because who would take that seriously, amiright?). Only for the Guardians to be like, no, you don't understand. And when Jack finally meets Pitch, he can't help but feel the same cold wash of terror from him because he knows Pitch is hiding something and later sees him for the eldritch horror he truly is.

Im a sucker for cosmic horror and Guardians of Childhood barely scratched the surface of possibilities for Pitch

[within-your-eyes-if]

FAQs

Welcome to the FAQs post for Within Your Eyes. More may be added in the future!

Do you take NSFW Asks?

Yes! [Though at the moment, Asks are closed]

Will there be more poly routes?

Right now, the polyamorous routes I’ve included felt "right" to me. While I'm open to the idea of introducing more, I want to ensure that each route is well-developed and fulfilling. Therefore, I’m carefully considering any additional paths. My main focus right now is enhancing gameplay elements and keeping a manageable workload. Future updates might bring new possibilities, but for now, my energy is dedicated to enhancing the current experiences.

How many NSFW scenes will there be?

I let the story guide me a lot on certain things, letting it unfold organically, including NSFW moments. While I do follow a detailed timeline for the story, it's flexible enough to accommodate new ideas, including unplanned NSFW scenes. So, the exact number isn't predetermined — there could be quite a few, depending on how the story unfolds.

You should do __________!!

I receive a variety of suggestions for many aspects of the game. To streamline this process, I've set up a dedicated Feedback form. Please note that while I'm open to hearing your ideas, especially about technical aspects, there are limits to the changes I can implement. I encourage you to read the guidelines carefully before submitting!

Why can't the MC be a virgin?

Initially, I thought the MC's virginity could be an implicit aspect of their background, but I now recognize its significance to some players. While my story isn't purely NSFW, I can see the appeal for having this option, and I'm actively working on incorporating it — this includes adjusting existing scenes. I apologize for any oversight and appreciate your patience!

You said you've been working on this world for so long, why isn't it done?

Bringing a world that's been growing in my imagination for over a decade into an interactive format like Twine has been quite an endeavor. Initially, I envisioned a linear story with three main characters across three stories. However, as I started adapting it to an interactive, choice-driven narrative, I realized these characters wouldn't work as I had intended. This realization led to the introduction of a new character—our beloved Warden—and a shift in the storyline that hadn't been part of the original plan. These adaptations have opened up possibilities that have significantly enhanced my world. It’s taken time, yes, but the depth it's brought has been absolutely worth it!

"Who is ???" or "I already know who ??? is!"

While I love your curiosity and detective work (looking at you, code divers), I must tread carefully here. There’s definitely more than meets the eye. What you think you know is just another piece of a much larger puzzle. Regardless, I hope it will be worth the wait!

I love your story, thank you for sharing!

I promise I see you, and words cannot convey how much I appreciate and adore every message I've received. I keep them to uplift me on the hard days. I may not be able to answer them all, but know I cherish every one! Thank you for being a part of this journey ♥

[bunni-v1]

Hi!!! just wanted to let you know that i absolutely adore all of your headcanons, and that you’re SUCH an amazing writer! I can tell that you put a lot of care into characterization and how a character would react in certain scenarios, and you do such a good job with it all it’s crazy!!!! Like no joke you’re one of the very few writers on here that i’ve genuinely thought wow WOWWW THEY JUST GET ITTTTT

i’d love to hear more about your oc (s) if you’re ok with sharing!! i’m always reluctant to write or share any oc related stuff tbh thus it’s so amazing whenever someone i admire shares their oc content :)

OK ONE MORE THING YOUR CRK HCS ARE SOOO AMAZING WAHHHH this game is filled with food related things but i have been starved of content so the headcanons are to me like drinking fresh spring water after being lost in a desert for days 😭😭

Well, thank you I'm very flattered! I won't say the same lines again, but I really do appreciate the kind words from everyone. They make my day seeing them in my askbox and make difficult things feel much easier you know? It seems like the cookie run fandom is particularly dry writing wise, so I'm glad I can offer y'all something to drink for now.

Since you asked, I'll elaborate a little more on Mimi, specifically her relationship with the Beasts (pre and post corruption lol)

Pre-Corruption

Her relationship with Shadow Milk Cookie is the most important one here. While she is technically considered beneath him, he treats her as if she were his equal. With the amount of time she spends beside him, it's really no wonder how they fell in love with one another. (Yeah, I know, shut up lemme be a loser). Her sweet and innocent outlook on life helps him relax from work, and his more logical grounded way of thinking helps her to keep herself grounded in reality. They complete one another, and despite Strawberry Shortcake being magicless, he treats her as if she is the god of the two of them. Watching his descent into deceit was the hardest on her, reasonably so. While he was never outwardly unkind to her, she saw the way he changed into a cookie she didn't recognize, right up until he sent her away to try and spare her of that pain.

Eternal Sugar Cookie is her best friend within the Heroes. Their sweet and friendly personalities mix well, and they're always giggling about something when they're together. The two of them spend her time in Eternal Sugar's domain going about, picking flowers, dancing around, spending time with the citizens, and much more. Eternal Sugar Cookie was the main reason Shmilk and Shortcake got together, subtly nudging both of them in the right direction until finally they confessed. She's Strawberry's biggest cheerleader, pushing her to have fun and do what she likes, rather than aimlessly listening to what the Heroes say. Strawberry Shortcake was not around to see Eternal Sugar's fall, but when the news reached her in the spire she was inconsolable for weeks.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookie seemingly does not fit in within Mystic Flower Cookies' borders, but she is welcomed with open arms regardless. Mystic Flower and her subjects quietly welcome the burst of life that Strawberry Shortcake brings to the normally calm and quiet environment. While they aren't as close as the previous two, they still care for each other quite a bit. Mystic Flower always offers Shortcake a place to rest and recuperate when she is feeling overwhelmed by her duties. They spend most of their time together meditating or silently enjoying tea and sweet treats. Mystic Flower's fall was the least traumatic for Shortcake, being more subtle and not changing her behavior toward Shortcake as much as the others. She did offer to return her to the flower but allowed her to be free when she expressed her discontent at the idea.

Shortcake and Burning Spice Cookies relationship is that akin to siblings. They tend to bicker and argue about meaningless things, but they don't dislike the other, they just show affection differently. It was Burning Spice who taught her how to defend herself from those who might mean her harm, it was he who insisted she stand up for herself when others pushed her too far, and it was he who ensured her peace of mind personally when she came to visit. (He also swore up and down that Shmilk would have hell to pay if he ever hurt her.) Furthermore, she is a beloved figure by his subjects, worshipped alongside him due to his soft spot for the sweet cookie. She was there when the clutches of Destruction overwhelmed him, he nearly crumbled her, only sparing her because of his former attachment to her.

She and Silent Salt Cookie never quite clicked the way the others did with her. She was too opposite of them, so light and bright where they were dark and stoic. They were a seasoned warrior, and she was a happy-go-lucky girl. Still, they respected each other enough. She kept them comforted through night terrors, and they ensured she stayed happy and safe within their borders. A symbiotic relationship formed between them, a silent understanding they mutually came to. They did not let her see them falling, sending her away and refusing her entry. When she heard of the news of them falling, she found herself grateful for their care of her yet again. She regretted not getting closer to them, but she figured they liked the relationship as it was, or else they would've done more.

Post Corruption

Shadow Milk Cookie kept a close eye on his most beloved little dolly. When she went to the witches he nearly lost himself to rage and fear, only placated by the knowledge that she too was searching for answers. She was searching for him, just like he asked, so how could he be angry with her? No, he was pleased with her and how sweet she was, and he was proud when she found her own footing. Seeing her grieve was hard on his heart, unable to reach out and wipe those tears away. Oh, and when he finally can free himself, finally sees her again it's like heaven on earthbread.

Mimi finds herself taken aback by his new appearance and demeanor. He's so... lighthearted. Nothing he does is serious, but his devotion to her has remained the same since the fall. She can't help the ache of longing for him, all these years she had spent waiting for him. To see him and hold him and love him again... but was he the same cookie anymore? Could she learn to love him as he is, even with the atrocities he's caused? He was determined to make her, at the least. While she can't bring herself to condone what he's done, she does fall for him again. His charm wins her over in the end, but even still she misses who he used to be. It's a point of contention between them, Shadow Milk feels she doesn't appreciate who he is, and she just wants to reminisce on the past.

Eternal Sugar only wishes she could see her sweet little Strawberry the way Shadow Milk could. She can hear her sobs when she visits the tree, but she can't see her. She can't comfort her cute little friend like she wants to. It tears her apart, she vows that the second she can, she'll cradle her in her arms and take a nice long nap. Just the two of them! They make up for lost time, and she'll even forgive her for leaving her all alone all those years ago! A new life together, even if she has to fight with Shadow Milk for her attention sometimes.

The sugary sweetness of Eternal Sugar is almost too much for Mimi to handle. It's not as though she's entirely different, but she's more obsessive and seems to see Mimi as a possession. She does her best to avoid her former best friend because of this, not comfortable with the possessiveness she displays. Not to mention Shadow Milk doesn't seem to like leaving them alone for long. Still, she is happy to have her friend back and will humor her occasionally, so long as she knows she can easily get away from the newly obsessive cookie.

Mystic Flower, in her own way, worries about Strawberries' newfound obsession with finding herself, as Shadow Milk puts it. She is a good cookie, fine as she is, searching for answers constantly is useless. If she feels she needs to be remade, Mystic Flower would be happy to return her to the flower until she feels satisfied with her own constitution. Still, she cannot stop her friend, and so she quietly waits and listens to what Shadow Milk says about her. When she gets out, she allows 'Mimi' to seek her out, and welcomes her with open arms. They return to a mostly normal schedule, though Mystic Flower seems to look down on her quite a bit for her morals and beliefs, she cannot do anything to her unless she wants to start issues within the beasts.

While Mimi appreciates Mystic Flower's return to the norm, it's hard to ignore the tension. She is aware that the beasts find her little journey of self-actualization to be silly at best and stupid at worst, no one makes it more apparent than Mystic Flower. She constantly brings up her own beliefs around Mimi, as if to convince her to change her mind. She does not, and as such they remain stagnant in any development.

Burning Spice got quite an earful about his near destruction of her from the other beasts. Still, he finds her to be boring. Her weeping is boring, her journey is boring, and her new life is boring. There's nothing about her that he finds interesting, and as such he doesn't seek her out. When she does come to him, he finds himself pleasantly surprised at her newfound spunk and wit. While she doesn't fight him physically, she pokes at him like she used to. Jabs and jokes at his expense make him surprisingly happy, and he nearly recalls why he liked her so much in the first place.

Meanwhile, Mimi is terrified of him still. The trauma from his attack the day he fell stuck with her, but she refuses to be swayed by her fear. While they do not get along as well as they did, she still cares for him. She tries her best to be lighthearted and playful, to keep herself in high spirits, and it seems to work in keeping him pleased with her. She can only hope that one day they may return to their old friendship.

Finally, Silent Salt Cookie does not want to find interest in Strawberry Shortcake anymore. They do not listen to any stories Shadow Milk has to tell, and they do their best to remain uninformed of her wellbeing. It's not as though they suddenly no longer care, it's that they still have the tendency to protect her. Keeping her away from their thoughts is the best way to keep her protected. They only wish that the others would realize the same, but alas they cannot stop their more invested friends from worrying over her.

Again Mimi has to seek them out, and while they are not welcoming, they don't push her away either. They allow her to do as she pleases and ensure her safety while they're around. She does not insist that they reconnect with her, merely visiting them to see that they are well. It's likely the most normal interaction she has with any of the bests, with little to no change to how things used to be. If she feels overwhelmed by anyone, Silent Salt is who she seeks. Not because they will comfort her, but because they will let her be.

[zaebucca]

About scale, process, palette and canvas: a few considerations on pixel art as a medium

User moredogproblems answered an interesting and legitimate question by another, DiscountEarly125, regarding my work and canvas size. He also perfectly isolated two central concepts of pixel art, which are scale and process. Canvas size, which was the theme of DiscountEarly125's specific request, is more of a dependent variable to those two aforementioned concepts, rather than a starting point. I hope the following considerations I shared may help or prompt some other ideas, but this is what I could come up with 15-ish years of experience with pixel art (and a few more years of art and media studies). I was quite in the mood of writing down these few thoughts that have been floating for a while. I apologize as this may also result in a confusing wall of text, but it is all part of a my work and research, and I would love to polish all the material, hopefully with some thoughts, insights from other colleagues, as well as pictures and materials!

A. Scale and canvas size It is true that the bigger the canvas, the more distance one may visually create from pixel art, but I personally think this is to be possibly considered a matter of perceiving pixels, rather than a fundative problem of the medium. In fact I concur with the idea of "process makes the medium" rather than identifying pixel art as how (evidently) pixeled the result feels. The general picture, or the sum of pixels, though, is a really important matter to the medium nonetheless! Pixels themselves work in relation one with another, so it's their overall result that gives context and makes the subject recognizable. This relationship between pixels links back to all the art fundamentals that each artist is taught, from color theory to shape and composition - and so on. So, the canvas size debate usually boils down to a matter of scale or necessity of your subjects. As long as the dimension (canvas) of your subject (as in: a drawing of an apple, a character sprite, a mockup environment) allows you to operate, control and keep an eye on the quantity (number/area of pixels together) and quality (color, shaping of multiple pixels, texturing obtained through color and shapes) of isolated single pixels or pixeled areas, you're in the pixel art universe. The other way around to define the matter of scaling: in order to be operating pixel art fundamentals and techniques, your subject has to be on a scale that allows you to apply principles of pixel art within the space of your canvas and your personal style. These very same principles, or basics, can be applied with different results and extent to bigger and smaller canvases alike, each with their own specific difficulties and variables. It is important to adapt your scale when learning, and trying classic canvases per subject like "16x16px" (standard tile or character sprite unit, tied to older consoles and screen ratios, it's a bit complicated there) is always a nice idea - they also tend to be industry benchmarks and necessities so in case you'd like to consider a professional output, that's very useful.

Scale also applies to the array of colors, and there lies the concept of palette: a number of single hexadecimal hues we are using for each single pixel. Any single pixel can have one hexadecimal color only.

Consequentially it is absolutely true that either a huge canvas or a palette too broad may prevent a viewer from perceiving immediately the "nature" of your medium, namely seeing square pixels, recognizing a certain amount of color - or more thoroughly recognizing that you made some choices for each subject on a pixel level. What could possibly happen on a huge canvas (without zooming in) is that you can't really grasp the pixels, but just the "overall picture" - and that may not differ too much from digital, raster art, which is of course also based on pixels. Therein appearently lies a sort of threshold that is really hard to pin down for us pixel artists, as it depends on screen size, visualization methods, distance, filters and lots of other inherently subjective parts.

This kinda is my case sometimes: I make big environments (possibly too big, and too detailed in each part I tell myself) that are a sum of many lesser parts: both tilesets and sprites that relate (but not strictly adhere) to a basic space unit that is 16x16pixels. You can indeed consider scale in a broader sense as a subdivision or magnification issue, much alike squinting your eyes to focus on a picture's overall contrast or, conversely, analyzing its fundamental parts with a magnifying glass, and then a microscope - an analogy as follows:

a. the picture as a whole is like a colorful rock that you can analyze by magnifying its grain. b. the characters, geographical elements and textures, works like the different substances that compose the rock and give its visible characteristics grain and complexity, c. single pixels constitute the very atoms of those previously recognized substances.

I mean "atom" in the traditional, classical meaning of indivisible, fundative object. That's a "quantized" part of information, which for pixel art is ultimately color (or a binary value, like yes/no black/white). If you were, for example, to crop some parts of my work - let's say 160x144 pixels (a gameboy screen resolution in pixels) you would see the substances that are characters and elements of nature, and when you zoom in again, every atom becomes visible as a single entity of color. There are 29 different type of "atoms" in Ruin Valley as in different, singularly hexadecimal colors that work together in different combinations and shapes to create different substances and characters. 18 of them are used for the different qualities of the environment, and 11 more for extra hues for characters and other elements to pop out a bit.

It's really interesting to see how many pixel artists push this "threshold" of pixel art canvases to the extremely small or the extremely big, whereas, notably, palettes are less open to growth: it is indeed my opinion that pixel art tends to quantize color (quality) over than dimension (quantity). Palettes, notably, do not grow exponentially, but tend to a lower, fixed, controlled amount of individual values instead. This usually gives the artist the true possibility and toolkit through which is possible to think about/with pixels. In other words: color (or its absence) is the founding unit and identity of pixel art as a digital medium.

B. Pixels as process or pixels as objective? Pixels themselves (as strange as that may sound!) are not to be considered an objective of pixel art, I think, but the founding matter of its research as a medium instead. I think that making pixel art is not just devoting oneself to show those jagged, squarey areas or blunt edges that we all know and love: this is just one of the possible aesthetics that pixel art conveys or adopts - especially on small canvases. Pixel art is not about denouncing itself as pixels, but, rather, embracing the square, atomic unit to build an ensemble that conveys a content or a style. That's the important part of the discourse that emancipated pixel art into being a medium, and not just an aesthetic choice or style of representation. Again: process makes this medium. Speaking of that, I consider pixel art as part of a broader family of "quantized art", namely media that operate on/with "indivisible, founding bricks and unities" that can assume a certain quality (color, mainly) within a certain quantity (palette, canvas size) and in relation to its surroundings to describe something. This puts pixel art, with its specifics and with a certain degree of semplification, among other mediums such as cross-stitch, bead art, construction sets, textile art (on a warp and weft basis), (micro-)mosaics and others.

A classic threshold example of process vs objective: oekaki art. Oekaki art - which I love and also happen to make from time to time - doesn't really work or "think" specifically on a pixel base: it doesn't place pixels per se, but uses pixel-based areas and textures on bigger canvases with a certain degree of freedom, like one would normally do with brushes on raster digital art programs (adobe ps, gimp, clip studio and so on) in order to convey an aesthetic with fewer colors and a certain line style and texturing. That way, oekaki uses and knows pixels in a deep way, but doesn't see them primarily in a quantized way. As a result the "overall picture" shows pixels to a certain extent, and it's possible to recognize distinct pixels for each part, but the objective is not an analysis and use of pixel and quantized information, but the use of an aesthetic based upon accessibility of resources, their control and a certain rendering style.

A huge part of pixel art is its absolute accessibility: everyone with a fairly outdated computer or screen and a basic drawing program can study the medium. To be fair, it's indeed considering accessiblity that I highly support an inclusive approach to the term "pixel art" and I think traditional oekaki is a close, beautiful relative that builds upon the rules and techniques of pixel art and pixel rendering, yet keeping its identity as its very own medium - somehow like a dress may be built around/upon textile design. Anyway, boundaries are meant to be crossed and I think there definitely are lots of oekaki and pixel-based art that meet traditional pixel art mid-way - or further. I also think the "is it pixel art?" discourse possibly ensuing - and generally speaking any media belonging purist ontology - is a treacherous, slippery terrain leading to excesses, and this is not my focus today, neither am I able to tackle that subject extensively at the moment.

C. Conclusions and a few good exercises Everything above may be farfetched or too complicated as a starting point. I tried to write all down as orderly as possible. The point of this (possibly discouraging) analysis and the reasoning between scale and process is that (pixel) art is about trying different canvases, and reasoning on one's subject and objective, rather than limiting oneself to presets sizes or styles. It's important to choose something that resonates with us and, in doing so, thinking about other, more interesting limitations: that's the discourse about quantity of space and quality in color. Limiting is the best possible exercise and one I wholeheartedly encourage: by doing so we are progressively delving deeper on the basics, as we learn the fundamental relationships between shapes and colors that we can achieve through pixels. A few good exercises that I too implemented in my own workflow come to mind: 1. Trying different canvases (or sizes) for the same subject (sprite, character art, illustration or so on). This helps a lot finding a comfortable size to apply pixel techniques, as well as getting a hold over fundamentals such as aliasing, linework, conventional representation and so on. 2. Trying different palettes for the same subject, both by varying colors themselves (therefore learning about values and contrast and readability, as well as atmosphere and mood!) or singular hues and their components, in order to discover possible relationship between them. Have fun! 3. Reducing the width of the palette progressively for the same subject: reducing the number of singular colors forces a reasoning on shapes, rapresentation. You may go from 1-bit art (just black/white) to 3 colors, 4, 8 and so on. We'll not talk about transparency as a singular color there, but if you happen to be interested in retro art, transparency counts to the palette size. This exercise is very useful in rendering, and possibly tricky. And definitely fun. :') 4. Choosing an objective and usage of our work: for example trying to learn about old pixel art limitations for games, in order to reason within specifics. Get inspired by traditional games (spriters-resource is your best friend here, in case you have a specific retrogame you're thinking of)! I will probably talk about limitations and style on another post. 5. Four eyes (and other multiples) are better than two: try to talk with people and friends and other artists you trust and feel comfortable with to get their point of view. This can be scary, I know, especially at the beginning. You're not forced to, of course, but if you do (in a safespace) there's lots you can learn about concepts such as readability, subject recognition, rendering and composition. Our eyes and brains get accustomed to something, and pixel art being a rather analytic medium made of synergies, subtle changes, limitations and conventions is especially tricky on the artist's eyes on the long term. Either way, the important thing about pixel art is understanding that this medium is about recognizing and enjoying the process rather than the eventual aesthetic and in order to do so the best choice is to start simple, small, with few colors and techniques at a time! Have fun and hit me up with your progress and considerations. :')

[dandysworld-meh-imagines]

What if the toons plan a secret party for toon!reader for being with them everyday and it ends with a group hug and kiss from each toon (no toodles, pebbles, or coal)

Gardenview Preparing A Secret Party for The Reader!

I feel like I prepared for a party by organizing my shared room, phew! I don't know about the kiss part (I don't know how to exactly write it??) but you can imagine it instead! If I did your request wrong, reach out to me! Here you go, dear! Thank you for requesting! <3

-Anna

-You were always there for everyone especially in the early days of you arriving at Gardenview. You just loved hanging out with them! You would watch with how they interacted with the kids and gave them smiles and made sure they had a fun time. You grew to get to know everyone and also start liking them all, they were all unique and cool in their own ways! Hell, even Shrimpo, he just gave you a laugh or two when he kept growling at you.

-You quickly grew to be friends and close especially with the more friendly toons. Others took a bit but they did warm up and while others found it kinda hard to be around you, they did slowly grew to like you and not mind you so much. Of course, Shrimpo was Shrimpo but hey! It wasn't that bad, honestly. You liked learning about everyone and being by their side, every single day. It felt like that was your thing, really. To just be there for the others and support them or even hang out with each of them.

-Many of them appreciated how much nice you have made them feel.. they wanted to do something for you! While toons don't really have birthdays, they went with the day where you became a part of Gardenview instead! Because you really did make their lives better, even if you just greet them every single day, they feel nice! It was an idea from some toons who discussed the anniversary of you arriving here, they felt like celebrating you! It quickly grew to the idea of a well deserved party only for you.

-And thus, word quickly spread around, no one wanted to imply that they are doing something for you. You would greet them and watch them as they seemed a bit off which naturally, you asked if they are okay and if they want to talk to you about it. You found it odd if they pretended that everything is okay but didn't want to push further into it. You were in your thoughts, overthinking when a certain star of the show caught your attention in front of you, a bright and cheery smile as he offered to walk with you somewhere.

-Oh? Well, this was certainly a rare chance! Dandy was known to have the attention of everyone and was constantly busy, he was the most popular character, after all! Happily, you accepted and he lead you to a secret area which you haven't ever explored yourself. He offered a walk and a talk as he saw you deep in thought which yeah! Makes sense, Dandy did give some good advice here and there, especially in the episodes. You talked, concerned as you mentioned how everyone acted so weird to you today, did you do something? But Dandy, confident as ever, told you that it's all going to be okay in the end, everyone is friends here, after all!

-On the other hand, this was a plan which Dandy was in as well, leading you away from the loud and cheery Gardenview as everyone hurried without feeling anxious that you will be coming soon. Everyone agreed to work on certain things. Sprout, Boxten, Cosmo and some others were in charge of making you the perfect cake on this special day and preparing food together! Others were preparing gifts days or even weeks ago and were checking if they were ready to be given away. Others helped with the decorations with Vee being in charge of everything looking absolutely perfect. She did always host the most impressive gameshows so she knew the best, analyzing and checking if everything looked correct and perfect.

-Only when one toon came to look for you two, claiming they really wanted to show you two something they found was when you and Dandy made your way to the location where the party was held. Dandy was smiling to himself as he accompanied you and your eyes light up as so many toons yelled a big old "Surprise!!" at you! Pretty much everyone was there and they watched as you were so shocked and looked around, what is this?? What's going on?! Huh??

-Dandy watched your reaction and tried to calm you down, telling you that he just HAD to drag you away from everyone so they can do this for you! There was never anything wrong you did to them, they just wanted to surprise you good and it worked! You smiled and laughed softly as you looked at everything around. Lots of snacks, juice bottles, lovely and impressive decorations and the most impressive cake you have seen in your life! You watched as Sprout felt quite smug about it, happy it came out so well and you're seeing it now!

-You couldn't help it and just hug everyone who did all of this, you found it so sweet! Many happily returned your hug, others hesitated a little but still returned it, Shrimpo was Shrimpo and some even gave in when normally, they are not the biggest fan of physical affection, though for you, they gave in. Your hugs were tight and quick and many just smiled as you went to hug everyone who happened to be there, thanking everyone one by one. At one point it just turned into a pretty big group hug! The toons just felt like joining as they saw others going in for hugs, it looked fun so why not?

-The party was so much fun and everyone seemed to be having fun, Shrimpo stayed grumpy but didn't really yell, just staying in the corner with arms crossed. You were so happy through it all and everyone was super glad that you adored the surprise party as they put so much effort in to show you how much you mean to them. The food and everything was good and as the party started to finish and everyone slowly went to bed, you just had a big smile on your face as you felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

Thank you for reading! <3

[rubiminions]

As a Hispanic person who moved to the us when they were 8years old , I can understand what it’s like to grow up a chubby brown kid who can never quite fit. You’re not Spanish enough, or American enough. You get bullied constantly and you have trouble fitting in, even at home. It’s one of the reasons Guillermo is one of my favorite characters, it’s also one of the reasons I understand why he yearned for vampirism so much. He felt unlovable, and as though he had to change himself in order to be worthy of admiration. I’m sure we all do at times. He hated himself so much, that when his young, prepubescent brain saw a hot, Spanish vampire be praised, he jumped at the idea of being like him.

He never wanted to be a vampire, he wanted to be loved and needed and admired and thought of as powerful. He wanted to be what he felt vampirism stood for. It makes sense that he never thought too deeply into the reality of it, because he wasn’t interested in reality. At some point, however, it became less about being admired by others, and more about being admired by a certain someone. The problem is, when you don’t love yourself, and don’t think anyone can love you, it’s hard to see when somebody does.

Guillermo’s story line throughout the show has been about coming to terms with himself, and learning that he can be loved, just as he is.

First he came to terms with the reality of vampirism, and the improbability of him ever attaining it

Then he came to terms with his own culture, and his ancestry

Once he gained some confidence in himself and his skills, he had to come to terms with his humanity

Then, finally, he came to terms with his friendships and the idea of family

That is why this week’s episode is so important. He’s spent this entire season pushing the vampires away because he convinced himself that their relationship was transactional and that his role was over when he couldn’t complete that transaction (much to the displeasure of the vampires) , but this week, he embraced them. He called them his friends. He invited them all to what he thought was his accomplishment, and they all came, because they care. He finally sees that they care. Then, the one who he loves most. The queen bi*ch himself. Finally told him what he needed to hear the entire time. That he was loved just as he was. That he was a warrior. He was strong, and wanted, and admired. F*ck vampirism, he was perfect. To Nandor, he is loved, regardless of what form he takes.

The guide told Nandor (in her rejection ) that he was all about the conquest, and once he had gotten what he wanted he no longer wanted it. That makes absolute sense. He is a warrior. All he knows is war. His name is Nandor the fu*king relentless, because he never relents. Until Guillermo tells him to. Nandor loves Guillermo so much he relented for him. To Nandor, Guillermo is no conquest. No. Guillermo is a warrior as well. To Nandor, Guillermo is a conqueror, someone to share his battles with. He finally found a conquest he never has to win. He found the perfect match he spent 6 seasons looking for, and he told him as such. To Nandor, Guillermo is like the sun, it burns, but all you do when you are cursed to live eternity in darkness is yearn for the sun, and Guillermo finally knows.

[sp00kymulderr]

Thank you for tagging me @kedsandtubesocks @schnarfer @almostfoxglove @guiltyasdave @chronically-ghosted & @arcanefox207 to post my favourites of my own work this year ❤️

FOR MY FAVOURITES FROM OTHER WRITERS/ARTISTS THIS YEAR CLICK HERE

I will be honest I wasn’t going to do this, but I suppose we can be nice to ourselves as a treat 😅 I think it’s a lovely idea and absolutely everyone should be allowed to feel proud of their creativity and expression. It’s not always easy, we really are our own worst critics aren’t we? But celebrating ourselves is important.

It’s been a very up and down year for me as a person and a creator. I want to write all the time, but most of the time my brain doesn’t allow that. I’ve thought about deleting. I’ve thought about giving up writing. But I haven’t, and I’m still here, and I thank my gorgeous friends and the absolutely incredible people in this fandom for that for being so loving and encouraging 💕

Anyway let me stop blathering on, here’s some of the things I’ve enjoyed making this year!

🩵The Dieter Bravo Brainrot club is without a doubt the best thing I’ve been involved in this year. Me and @chronically-ghosted launched our dedicated Dieter discord server in January and now I don’t know where I’d be without it. It was just a silly little idea me and Taylor both had separately at seemingly the same time, and now it’s a whole thing. I’ve run writing challenges, we’ve had numerous watch parties, silly games, and now a gift exchange! And it’s never felt like anything but joy. We are feral, we are fun, we are encouraging and we lift each other up. And did I mention feral? I love having a dedicated space to talk about That Man, I love the ideas that pop up in there, the art and thoughts that are shared. I love running that place and I love everyone who is part of that community - thank you all for making my year 🩷

🩵Lover boy - Joel Miller x transmasc reader - Lover boy is my pride and joy, and truly the thing I’ve written I think i personally connect with the most. I was scared of posting the first fic tbh, but I’m so glad I did. It’s a chance for me to explore things that mean a lot to me. And I just love how in love they are. It’s only a few short pieces for now, but I have so much more planned for these two.

🩵After - Dave York x Carol York x Reader - This little story came to me after rereading one of my favourite poems. I loved the ache of it, the sweetness of the melancholy and the warmth of the post-threesome glow. I really love this short piece, I find myself coming back to it a lot.

🩵lost, found - Dieter Bravo x reader - Dieter and angst just makes sense, and this was born of my own angst which I guess is why it’s stuck with me since writing it. I think Dieter is an easy character to project certain feelings on to, and I have a lot of headcanons about his early life and his queerness especially. Also this story features my favourite polycule and one day I’m gonna write all about them.

🩵inhale, exhale - Joel Miller x reader - I’ve written a lot of Joel this year, more than any other character. Can’t help it, he’s fantastic to write. This is a little angsty, a little smutty, with a slice of the horrors of the qz too. I remember it just flowing from me while I wrote it and I’m really happy with the finished piece.

🩵Closer to light - Javi P x reader - Idk I just think this is insanely hot if I do say so myself.

Tagging some others to share their own 2024 favourites and celebrate their work! @covetyou @seventeenpins @perotovar @qveerthe0ry @sin-djarin

@luxurychristmaspudding @for-a-longlongtime @strang3lov3 @missredherring @ozarkthedog (And if you’ve already done this, tag me in yours ❤️ I wanna see!)

[doink-boink]

Finally drew my interpretation of Zach's parents!

Have had these fellows in the works for a good while!

Really had to lock in when doing the writing here lol - my handwriting is normally a weird hyper mix between cursive and print. But messier. Hopefully its legible! Enjoy some more yapping about these guys below the cut >:D

Must mention this is within my own AU! My interpretation of Zach specifically is a trans man. So uh! No way in hell Arthur is supportive in that regard. He is a miserable man whose only concern is furthering the family business and his public image.

Really looked to both Moral Orel and Bojack Horseman as inspiration for how these two would be. Did not intend for Arthur to share a name with the character he is inspired by lol - but uhm! He specifically is like Arthur Puppington when Clay was a kid: Distant, cold, though not physically abusive. Emotionally? Oh brother, you bet.

Regarding Kim and Arthur's relationship, that was really dead in the water. Kim is a self published author, or rather, an ASPIRING self published author. She mostly writes crime novellas/dramas, though needed some outsider input regarding the legal side of her stories. So, of course, she decides to reach out to the biggest law firm in the area.

It is initially a short and sweet interaction: "I ask you questions, you give me answers and insight when you can." However, she grows to enjoy Arthur's company, falling for him quickly. VERY rushed marriage ensues! Good god! (Of course not ASAP, within a few months time of dating/correspondence) Not too certain as of right now where Zach comes into the mix, but definitely in that honeymoon stage of a relationship where you don't quite know the person yet to really gauge if things will work out or not.

I mean, things absolutely do NOT work out in the end, but they don't know that yet. Arthur I feel is the type to want a family ASAP. Need that sweet sweet heir to the company. Will accept nothing less than a son. Sucks for him, doesn't end up coming to fruition until much later! AFAB child, disappointment on Arthur's behalf, compassion on Kim's. Like a night and day difference - even after Zach does eventually transition (his mother is deceased by this point) his father refuses to accept it until he dies. By until I mean: "You still are not my son." *flatline*

Kim was there for Zach until the day she died, which would probably be around late middle school to early highschool? In that age range. Old enough to have fond and in depth memories. Which! Arthur is the one who discovers what had happened. Busy writing a novel when wham, sudden cardiac arrest - alone, as she tended to keep to herself. Entire family dynamic changes from then onward, though the abusive aspects of it were ever present. Arthur is generally unsupportive of Zach's endeavors, frustrated that he is going into science and robotics as opposed to law. (Though I do think he'd have been trained or prepped for a career as a lawyer throughout his teens-adolescence)

Zach is the closest to his mother, with most of his fashion sense coming from her. Gotta love the turtleneck sweater! @novazentryx came up with the idea that he inherited his early black sweater from Tazzy Chris from her after it shrunk in the wash, loved that so y'know what! This totally applies here. Not only did he inherit the sweater, but also her V-necklace! (Which, if you have seen Zoey, is where she gets it from! As well as she looks strikingly similar to Kim. On that front I think that was a surprise from Aviva, knowing how close he was to her)

Spitballing with this one, but I think it would be interesting if Zach had assisted in pitching ideas for Kim's stories! What aspects of it I do not know, but maybe names for the characters. Mayhaps that is where he gets ZACH from? Don't ask what his deadname is, haven't thought of that and would prefer not to lol

I think that concludes my rambling! Do not really have anything else that is coming to mind at the moment, so feel free to ask questions or leave suggestions about these two! I will more than likely respond ^^ (To asks or replies) Thank you for humoring me and reading all of this if you're here lol, I really appreciate it!!

[enatopiaa]

[This is not a request, i judt had this idea and wanted to share with someone :DD]

Penacony 2.2 story spoiler!

OKAY, thinking about my aventurine yuu idea, I just couldn't stop thinking about my other faves as students in NRC, and a bit of expanding Aventurine's character. Pretty much, certain characters and what dorm I think they would be in, and some get an Unique Magic :DD

Aventurine - Like I said, I highly believe he matches Octavinelle. Shady dorm for a shady guy? Great combo. He would 100% befriend the Octotrio, and probably entrust one of them with his past. He also doesn't wear his uniform right, pretty much just the buttonedup shirt and a bow tie, no jacket. His Unique Magic: "All or Nothing" (Really creative if you ask me), has a 50/50 percentage chance of working. What does it do? Pretty much, by chance, can either completely ignore a spell/curse, or make it even worse/more powerful. Would you like to try your luck ;)

Dr Ratio - Veritas is a fun one but there is something that couldn't escape me. He is 100% Scarabia, why? Scarabia is home to some of the most intellectual students AND is academic rival to Octavinelle, if you catch my drift >:)). No Unique Magic, Aven would annoy the hell out of him bc of this.

Sunday - (My baby man :(( pls be playable) Heartslabyul. Is there a more perfect dorm for a man like Sunday? He would know every single one of the 810 rules from head to toe and follow them diligently, even punish those who don't. Riddle enjoys his company due to it. Unique Magic? "Satisfaction", allows him to manipulate and distort people's memories and emotions, making them perfects mannequins. (Was probably banned from using this Magic due to how dangerous it can be...) [Probably collapsed nentally after Riddle's Overblot, almost overblotting himself]

Argenti - I'd like to say Pomefiore bc beauty and all that, but then I had a funny thought... Savanaclaw. Imagine, seeing this pretty student, almost a real life prince, picture perfect, wearing the Savanaclaw's uniform, priceless. As a Knight, Argenti has incredible physical abilities and he is not afraid to use and get dirty, so Savanaclaw matches him kinda well. Him and Rook would be absolute menaces with each other, Vil would 100% try to make a deal with Leona to change his dorm. No Unique Magic :((

Last but not least, my baby son, Misha - His dorm? 100% Diasomnia. Despite his youthful appearance (Unlike Lilia, he is actually "young"), he has an impressive magic control and abilities, surprising even his classmates. A 1st Year. Unique Magic? Yes, and I'm in a bit of doubt between two. One based on his technique where he is able to stop time in a small "dimension" he creates, or, being able to bring whatever people dream about into reality (although, as an illusion).

THIS WAS LONG I'M SO SORRY 😭

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH OMG i loved misha’s the most (totally not favoritism) BUT YOURE SO RIGHTT OMYG

also Dr.Ratio!Yuu is so funny to me like just imagine him wearing that mask that he wears in hsr around the campus as he gets judgemental stares CACKLINGHH

[lotusloong]

Hi, me again. I'm just curious, when/why did you first get into Monkey King? I'd been aware of him for while (I kinda knew who he was, where he came from, that he inspired certain other characters like Goku in DBZ and Saiyuki and stuff) but only started learning more about him recently after I watched Monkey King: Hero is Back and fell in love. I watched an entire playthrough of Black Myth Wukong and, even though I had no idea what was happening storywise, absolutely loved every minute of it! Since then, I've gotten more familiar with the characters and story of Journey to the West, and devoured the three live-action movies, the Netflix movie, Monkey King: Reborn, New Gods: Nezha Reborn, and the Lego Monkie Kid series. I can't get enough of this guy! He's such a lovable little gremlin. I think my fav versions are Hero is Back Wukong and the Destined One.

...Okay now I'm going back to hide in my corner for realsies this time lol (sorry I'm shy)

I am so happy to get asks like this, thank you for fighting thru your shyness to send them!! Fair warning, I do get rambly (I'm an AuDHD writer, it's very hard for me to turn off my info dumping lolol) 

First off again, I really really do appreciate getting asks like this!! I put my writing and silly ideas up because I want to interact with other fans!! Sadly within the past few years interaction with fan works has depleted, and so it does make it a struggle to keep up with the creative process. (I've honestly been feeling like I'm speaking into the void sometimes when I post my Wukong stuff. The thing that keeps me going and writing is the few individuals who consistently interact with me with their own ideas and comments. Other people's ideas fuel my ideas, so if you or anyone else has a thought they want to share I will love to hear it and respond to it.) With that said, on to my past!!!

Now, I've always been a massive fan of mythology, and I hyperfixated on Greek myth for years (like, this year is my 16th anniversary kind of hyperfixation). And I always told myself that at some point I would branch off into other mythologies. 

I had always felt a connection with Daoism and Buddism because a lot of the philosophies made sense to me. I'm a zoologist, part of my job is teaching people at my city's science museum about nature and animals. A lot of Daoist philosophies are based on the ebb and flow of nature, but I just never found anything that actually hooked me to get me obsessed with it. It was more like a passing appreciation for what it represents and the ideals it holds. 

Now complete subject change, I love FromSoft souls games. Up until Wukong, I would write for other fandoms, and get a couple fics in before moving on (and even then it's not a lot. Wukong just…does something to my brain to get me writing) but I adore FromSoft games. I love the combat (I don't think I'm like…competitively good but I can beat the bosses and I have some decent skill) and I especially love the lore. Those games are so rich in lore, I adore it!! About gods and monsters and magic practices, all amazing! 

And back in February, a YouTuber I watch for mythology content did a whole video on Black Myth Wukong, explaining the lore of the different bosses. I was bored and hadn't heard anything about the game before, so I clicked it. 

I had my mind fucking blown.

That intro to the game? Sucked me in like nothing else. I didn't even get 5 minutes into the video before I was exiting out and looking up how much the game cost and everything I could to learn about it. 

Who was this sexy demon guy in gold armor flying on a cloud with this gorgeous music playing in the background? Holy shit this sexy demon guy is challenging a celestial army, he's so badass! Who is he!?!

I stayed up all night learning everything I could about Journey to the West. I bought the books that same night, I bought the game and started playing, I started looking up movies and shows, everything. 

And then it hit me, “oh wait, I know who the Monkey King is! I heard that name before!!” And I realized how many things this god had influenced! Characters from all different types of shows and movies and games, all with nods to this story!!

I think my first real moment of being aware of Wukong was actually from the game Persona 5, funny enough. I was never big on anime (believe me, I've tried. Never could get into it) but I did like the Persona 5 game, I liked the art style and story telling. Now for those who haven't played this game, there is a character named Ryuji, who is my fav character.

Ryuji is a brash ball of sunshine who's labeled as a delinquent and constantly looked down upon by the adults in his life because he tried to do the right thing and got fucked over by an adult who was supposed to help him, but instead abused him. He has a Persona (his personality/heart given magical form, essentially) that started out as a pirate based on Captain Kidd. When you level his friendship up enough, his Persona evolves into - you guessed it - Sun Wukong. A pretty funky looking design but I thought it was still fun and kooky and it was the Persona of my fav character from the game, so I was going to like it no matter what. That is technically my first introduction to Sun Wukong 🤣🤣🤣

Since I've gotten Black Myth Wukong and the OG Books, I've been devouring content for Wukong wherever I can get it. I haven't watched the live action movies yet, but I've been watching the 1986 show 💖💖 I want to watch Havoc on Heaven but haven't found a decent quality with Chinese VAs and English translations sadly…

But I've watched all the other animated movies I believe, and I haven't caught up on Lego Monkie Kid (I have…mixed opinions on it) but I just love Wukong in any form!! I have been asked before what my fav version is and I'm gonna give the same answer I did then, I like all of them for different reasons. They all have their charm and flaws and funny moments that make me fall in love with them 💖💖💖

I really really hope to see more of him in the future, especially Hero is Back!! Nezha and Nezha 2 are the highest grossing movies, could you imagine if the same director and writing team did another movie focusing on Dasheng!?! I would die!! Not to mention whispers of Black Myth dlc this year!!! I want all the content I can get on our beloved monkey husband, I love him so much 💖🐒💖🐒💖🐒

[fushiglow]

Hi! I'm such a huge fan of your fics; you write Satoru and Suguru really beautifully, as individuals and as a unit.

I absolutely devoured JJK (anime and manga) in the span of like three weeks a couple of months ago. I've been completely obsessed ever since. I really love your meta - I totally agree with you about Gojo really caring about people, and your analysis of 236. (I also really loved 236, even though I was devastated by it. Like, sobbing while lying facedown on the floor for a full 45 minutes level of devastated lol.) I really struggled with Nanami's airport comments on Gojo, and I liked how you interpreted those comments and the airport scene overall.

In my stages of grief of processing Gojo's death - probably around the bargaining stage - I kept thinking about whether he would've lived if Geto hadn't defected from JuJutsu society. Obviously it would've been a totally different narrative, but it's still something I can't let go of. I'd be super interested to know your thoughts on that - whether there would've been a different outcome of the Shinjuku showdown if Geto had been there. (I mean, I know canonically Gojo would've fully been satisfied in his life and ending if Geto had been there, but would he have won?)

(I also understand the narrative decision to kill Gojo and think it actually makes a lot of sense, doesn't mean I can't still go through the stages of grief lol.)

Sorry for the novel of an ask - love your writing and meta!

Oh my gosh, thank you so much and don't ever apologise for sending such a lovely ask! This made my day — and super nice to see your name in my inbox again too ♥️

Really glad you enjoyed the analysis of 236 too; that chapter is incredibly dear to me. God, I could literally write an essay on 236 alone. I think it's genius on multiple levels. It really inspired me as a writer, too. That meta level commentary that spans characters and readers is something I've consciously tried to emulate as a result of that chapter!

So, I have definitely given this some thought before and it's my firm belief that Gojō would have defeated Sukuna if Getō were at his side (I think you can argue he "won" the ideological fight. It was a fight of many against one, and the many couldn't have won without Gojō!).

I don't necessarily mean physically at his side fighting alongside him, because I think as soon as Gojō had his "enlightenment" moment, he did become someone who fights best alone. However, I've already shared some thoughts about how "the strongest" was perhaps never actually about raw physical strength for Gojō but about state of mind. He felt stronger with Getō at his side, and that's the only reason I feel this certain about my answer.

Of course, all "what if?" scenarios are pointless to pursue beyond being an intriguing thought exercise. Everything would have been different if Getō was still around, but I love cataloguing each and every one of them. Whether Gojō would be a less experienced fighter in any meaningful way, whether the students could have reached the heights that they did without that specific version of Gojō teaching them — and yes, whether "The Strongest Duo" fighting side by side would actually have made defeating Sukuna (even with the Ten Shadows) look like a piece of cake.

So, my answer is mostly narrative informed. I think throughout the entirety of JJK, Gege was trying to hammer home the idea of strength in numbers by contrasting Gojō Satoru's (and Sukuna's) solitude with that of his students — thanks to his efforts to protect their youth and ensure they didn't suffer the same fate he and his classmates did.

I hope that answers your question, and thank you for asking! It's been a long time since I've received any JJK based asks like this and it's always such a treat to me. God, I love this series so much...

[ashensgrotto]

The Sea's Sacrifice (Part 2)

Characters: Azul Ashengrotto / Jade Leech / Floyd Leech x Fem!Reader

Total Word Count: 14.7k+

Part 1 Part 2 (You Are Here) Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Synopsis: A potential job as a marine biologist’s assistant leaves (Y/N) feeling something fishy going on behind the scene…

Author’s Notes: Original Idea came from @merakiui ’s annonymous ask with a short story / headcannon -> https://www.tumblr.com/merakiui/684490143936167936/ooohhh-i-love-those-writing-ideas-you-had-for-sea?source=share

and I absolutely love this concept and wanted to take it a step further. I don’t write yandere nor fanfiction as much as I did a few years ago. However, I do hope I do this piece justice; I will have links to the next part once it is completed and ready for viewing.

Also, this is a work of fiction. I disagree with anyone that justifies the following behaviors which are represented in this fic (if I think of more, I will add them as I go):

rape/non-consent/dub-consent, possessive/controlling/dominating behaviors, and manipulation

Come my love be one with the sea

Rule with me for eternity

Drown all dreams so mercilessly

And leave their souls to me

***

You don’t see the twins for the remainder of the day.

When you make mention of the encounter in passing to Crewel that evening, the man only smiles - and not in a warm way whatsoever.

“It would seem that our puppy here has peaked their interest,” the eccentric man grinned, an unsettling look on his face as he bares his teeth, “It’s interesting how Floyd has taken the first step, though - I thought for certain Jade would’ve been the one to approach you first.”

“Floyd? Jade?” you arch a brow at the black and white cloaked professor, “Those things have names?”

“They are not things, pup,” Crewel taps his cigarette case against the palm of his hand before pulling one out and lighting it up, “To answer your question, yes, the mers do have names. While you were waiting for them to make their first appearance with you, Trein and I have been working on cracking their communication code. All three speak in chirps, clicks, and coos - though their growls are both intriguing and nerve-wrecking. We believe, based on how quickly they chirp or click, they are either warning each other of danger, food, or saying each other’s names.”

“And how did you figure out their names?”

“It’s a mere guess - but the sound waves we see on our monitors follow a similar pattern as the sound waves in the air following the pronunciation of the names ‘ Jade ’ and ‘Floyd. ’ We’ve also hidden cameras in the enclosure and have heard them speak in our language during playback sessions after certain incidents - such as the attacks on our coworkers.” 

“And part of my job is to see how much of our language they know and potentially teach them more?”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to know how much they know or teach them,” Crewel chuckled, “one can’t be too careful with so much knowledge after all.”

‘Knowledge was power,’ you recalled someone telling you once long ago, ‘and too much power could either destroy you or save you.’

“Regardless,” Crewel continued, “I, personally, think it would be interesting to see exactly how much they know about us land dwellers. It would allow us to know if they are watching us and, if so, where we should look to find more - maybe even see how they live and coexist with each other, what parts of the ocean they are likely to hide out in… maybe even see how they mate!”

You sputter, “M-mate?!”

“Of course it’s perfectly natural for animals to go through mating seasons,” Crewel answered with a shrug, “For scientific purposes, it would be interesting to see if they mate like their animal forms or if they follow the human side of romantic courtship.”

‘I’m beginning to think you and the rest of this group are a bunch of perverts,’ you thought to yourself, grinding your teeth together, “And what are you going to do about… that particular question?”

“I think that is enough questions for the day,” Crewel raised his arms above his head, a popping noise indicating a cracked back as he let out a yawn, “Come, puppy. Both of us need rest - we’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”

***

You didn’t see the twins when you first came in the following morning, nor even after depositing your stuff beside the coat rack and your lunch into the freezer. 

At first, you thought maybe they didn’t exist and you had dreamt up the encounter; but the memory of Crewel’s grin and comment about interacting with ‘Floyd’ kept replaying in your mind as you prepared the merfolks’ breakfast. As you leaned down to dump the second bucket into the pool, a sudden splash of water soaked you from head to toe - forcing you to drop your bucket and fall back on the concrete flooring, sputtering as giggles and clicking noises filled the room.  You brushed your damp hair and salted water away from your eyes as they fell on a familiar figure leaning over the edge of the pool.

Skin the color of seaweed shone under the dimmed fluorescent lights while a set of heterochromic eyes gleamed in delight at your surprise. A grin spread across the mer’s features, revealing a set of shark-like teeth that flashed in satisfaction, the dark teal strand falling in front of his features. 

You huff, grunting as you slowly stand and arch a brow at the creature, “Was that really necessary?”

The creature only beamed wider, clearly pleased with your reaction.

“Honestly, you scared me - nearly gave me a heart attack.”

The creature clicked a few times before pushing himself away and swimming around close to the edge, watching as you grab the last bucket and bring it to the edge.

“No more surprises, ok?” you eye the creature as you reach in and pull out a squid that was about the size of your palm - much larger than a fry, but too small for an adult - offering it to him, “I give you this, you won’t splash me again, deal?”

The moray mer chirps, moving his head in a nod and shifting his body slightly before you toss the squid in his direction. He catches it mid-air like a dog with a tennis ball, the squid dangling out of his mouth as he beams at you. You watch him carefully as you dump the contents into the water and he begins his meal. He starts with the tentacles, pulling them apart and gnawing on them while his webbed hands dug into the mantle of the miniature sea beast - strings of muscle, blood, and ink staining his features before crunching of bone echoes around.  

“Geez, take it easy,” you grumble, “no one is going to take it from you.”

The mer stops and regards you with a look that means, ���Shut up, I’m trying to enjoy my meal.’

You return the buckets to the side of the freezer before grabbing your notebook and take a seat at the pool’s edge, opening it and beginning to jot down notes.

6:05 am: One of the mers has made an appearance this morning. Based on what I was told by Professor Crewel last night, I believe this one is Floyd - one of the twin morays. It’s hard to differentiate between the two of them, but if I had to venture a guess - Floyd is far more playful than his brother -

Nails clicked against the edge of the pool, forcing you to look up to see Floyd leaning over the edge, studying the word on the notebook. He shifted his gaze from the words before looking at you and back again. 

“What’s up?” 

Floyd chirped at you, crossing his arms and resting his chin on them, eyes watching your every movement as he continued to click and coo.

He stayed like this for the next several hours, clicks and chirps echoing in the room as you shifted between taking notes and partially listening to him. You figured he was telling you something, but since you didn’t understand him, you could only nod and hum in his direction as if you did understand. 

“Hungry,” he says eventually, the word throwing you off guard for a moment.

“Did you just.. Say ‘hungry’?” you asked, blink incredulously.

“Hungry,” Floyd said again, a grin spreading across his features, his eyes narrowing as he eyed you like a piece of shrimp.

“Alright, one moment Floyd,” you move to stand, only for your ankle to be caught by a webbed grip.

You turn, confused to see a look of surprise on the mer’s face.

“Name?” Floyd inquires.

“Are you asking if I know your name?” when the mer nods, you smile, “I was told your name. But, excuse me, I never introduced myself - I’m (Y/N). I’ve been tasked as your keeper.”

It was a white lie - a big one at that - but you weren’t sure if Floyd understood what ‘keeper’ meant nor if he understood that the three of them were under observation. However, you did want to be cautious in the event that in the case Floyd and the others did understand what was going on around them, you wouldn't be seen as a threat.

Floyd spoke your name softly, tasting the words on his tongue before grinning, baring sharp teeth as he shouted, “(Y/N)!” 

You couldn’t help but giggle a bit, murmuring behind a hand that covered your mouth, “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

Next thing you knew, Floyd launched himself from the edge of the pool and disappeared into the murky water, leaving you curious as to what he was up to. However, if he intended to splash you again, you weren’t going to stick around to find out.

You stood, stretching your back and legs before moving towards the freezer, with the intention of pulling out the three buckets for lunch when Floyd’s voice came again, “(Y/N)! (Y/N)!”

You turned with bucket in hand as Floyd approached the edge, his brother in tow - though he stayed at least a foot away from the edge, but keeping a close eye on you and his twin. You reach the edge a squat down, offering a smile to the second moray mer and a hand outstretched in a non-threatening manner. 

“Hello. You must be Jade, right?”

‘Jade’ lifts his head, allowing you to see his full face and neck, the water lapping at his shoulders, as surprise etched across his features. He blinks slowly, moving a little bit closer before his voice, soft and deep, speaks.

“Know name?”

‘So, Jade knows a few more words than Floyd,’ you think to yourself before nodding, “Yeah, I know your name. I told Floyd that I was told both of your names - I was assigned as your keeper for the time being.”

“Keeper?” Jade askes, head cocking to the side like a dog would.

“Yes, I’m in charge of taking care of you during the day. I’ll be here most of the time, except at night when I have to leave. But I’ll be here to feed you in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and spend time with you guys during the in between hours.”

The twins looked at each other, both clicking and chirping - eyes shifting between your crouched figure and themselves. The looks they shared during these few moments made you feel a bit uneasy, like they were sizing you up for a meal; it reminded you of the lewd glances you received from drunks at the bars you used to work when you first started working, hands sliding up your uniforms before one of the bartenders would step in and smack them away, reminding them the girls were not for touching. It made you shudder, goose pimples rising along your arms.

Jade seemed to notice, clicking softly at his brother as his features relaxed, heterochromia eyes softening on your figure.

“Hungry,” Jade’s voice brought you back, “We… are… hungry.”

***

It only took about a week for Jade to eventually warm up to you, the three of you getting along - even with Floyd’s continued antics.

From what you observed, Jade was the eldest of the two moray twins - he was courteous to you and most of the staff that had on more than one occasion popped in to check on you during your sessions with the two and often kept Floyd from getting too much out of hand; although he seemed to be the one that would antagonize his younger brother with a few clicks and chirps in his direction before Floyd would splash you with water or attempt to pull you in for a swim. Regardless, Jade was always there to pull his brother back while Floyd shrieked in mer - their native tongue that you supplied in your notes, thrashing about while the eldest cooed in delight at how quickly Floyd could be worked up. 

Jade was also very intelligent, often poking at the books you had brought along with you and chirping with curiosity. Unlike his brother, who had the attention span of a three-year-old, Jade listened intently to each word and pronounced them back to you with a few stutters here and there before saying the word like he was born to speak. He couldn’t form coherent sentences without the occasional click or chirp, but then again - speaking your native tongue was like you learning to speak his, it would take time and practice before he could reach that point. 

The easiest words for Jade are your name, the word ‘pearl,’ and greetings. He always glowers when the time comes for you to leave before grumbling in the water, bubbles appearing around his face as he sinks under the surface with only the top of his head and eyes peering out from beneath the enclosure’s water surface. Floyd had picked up on this and began copying his brother, both of them looking like angry puffer fish each time you leave the enclosure and lock the door behind you.

Trein stops you one evening on your way out, a black and white cat in his arms, “How are things going, little keeper?”

“I think I’m making progress,” you answer, holding out your filled up notebook from the first month to him, “Crewel requested I give you this at the end of the first month.”

“I should hope so,” Trein took the notebook, shifting the lazy cat in his arms around to flip through the pages, “I saw that you’ve become quite comfortable around the twins - Floyd nearly drowned you in the pool the other day, yes?”

“Almost, though I think he was just playing around,” you answer, “he’s like a little kid - so energetic.”

“Perhaps… How's the research on our cecaelia?”

“The cecaelia?”

Trein raised one brow as the cat harrumphed at you, “Did you forget there are three of them?”

“I suppose I did,” you gulp before shrugging sheepishly.

“Do not forget that there is more than just the twins in that enclosure,” Trein warned, closing the notebook with a loud snap in one hand, “The sea is as dangerous as its mysteries that lurk beneath its surface. The twins may be comfortable around you, but the cecaelia is something no one has ever seen, much less interacted with. If it were to pull you under the waters tomorrow, we’d never know what happened, and I doubt the twins would do much to save you either.”

“I won’t let anything happen,” you answer with a strong resolve, brows creasing inward, “besides, if Crewel’s hunch is correct, I might be able to get the twins to persuade the mer out if I play my cards right.”

“You better. Remember, you only have two months left. I’d like to see some progress before the end of next month.”

***

As was expected, the twins were no help at all.

Each day for the next week, you attempted to discuss the octomer with the twins - you figured if you could get more information about the mer in question, you might be able to indicate something about him in your notes. Unfortunately, the twins couldn't completely understand you - even when you drew out a picture of what appeared to be an octopus and tapped a finger against the drawing. They did, thankfully, seem to understand you were curious about the third member of their trio, with Floyd chirping "Octo-chan" a few times before disappearing under the water.

The only piece of information you could gather was a word, spoken by Jade when you first asked about the mer.

Azul.

But, azul was a color - blue, to be precise. What does "azul" have to do with an octopus? You contemplated this for several hours after the twins left you to your devices one morning. They had greeted you in their usual fashion before taking their leave and disappearing under the water. It had been about two weeks since Jade had spoken the word and even when you asked about it, the clicking and chirping that came from both mers had you scratching your head in confusion. 

Maybe "Azul" wasn't a color, but a name? Or code? 

You scratch the back of your neck as you look at the chart you've drawn out - hoping that you might get some answers. "Okay, let's see," you push the notebook forward and roll to lay on your stomach as the bottom end of the pen traces through the drawn lines and words, "Floyd and Jade are twins - that much is straightforward - and are literal polar opposites of each other. Other than looks, both of them are connected by the octomer who may or may not be named Azul. However, how are the three of them connected? How did they meet?"

You circle the question before moving on to the next part, "As for Azul - he doesn't seem fond of humans as the morays seem to be his protectors. We know he is an octopus, based on eyewitnesses during their capture - however, we don't know much else about him."

You tap your pen against the notepad before flipping through the other notebook that sat beside you, rereading all of the notes you had gathered during the course of the week when discussing the octomer to the morays. You shifted to a kneeling position, your body getting tired of laying flat on your stomach when you felt a pair of eyes watching you.

You turn your head toward the pool, eyes nearly popping out as a head dunks itself low, the top mop of white and lavender shaded hair falling across a set of unfamiliar sea blue eyes.

Dove gray skin glowed in the dimmed fluorescent lighting as the sea blue eyes peered at you curiously, pupils horizontal slits that expanded and constricted as the two of you locked eyes with each other. When he raised his head, the water revealed several long strands of silver that rested about chin length on the left side of his face - the rest of the starlight colored hair cut short with water dripping from the tips and creating little pointed tips on the ends. Full lips were slightly parted with surprise, a little beauty mark resting just below his bottom lip and nearly blocked by the long strand. Unlike Floyd and Jade, his ears matched that of a human - rounded and uncut by earrings many humans wore. Below him, you could only see blackness - a darkness that cut through the murky waters of the pool as multiple limbs shifted in the water.

Overall, the octomer was stunning.

You took a deep breath and smiled softly at him, holding out a hand to him, “Hello. It’s nice to finally meet you. Are you Azul?”

The octomer looks around cautiously before returning his gaze to you with a slow nod.

“You have a beautiful name, Azul. I’m (Y/N) - though I’m sure the twins told you about me.”

Azul nods, slowly reaching a hand out towards yours open one.

“(Y/N)?” the voice of Crewel comes from the entrance of the enclosure.

Startled, Azul disappears under the waves as the twins appear, a heavy wave of water dousing the two of you - causing the two of you to sputter in surprise. Jade growls at Crewel, snapping his jaws in a threatening manner while Floyd leans over the edge of the pool, getting into a protective stance in front of you and snarling at the professor before shifting his gaze at you with worry.

The only thing you can think of as you watch the scene before you unfold is, ‘Did I manage to become a part of Jade and Floyd’s group? If so, what happens now?’

[elderwisp]

hi! Im so sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I've looked for answers for this before so I'm just not sure,,

i absolutely adore your sims and your story! Its completely inspired me to create a story w/ my sims as well! the only thing is I'm quite overwhelmed with it all and I don't know where to start :(

do you have any tips? Whats your process? there's so many things to use and I'm just curious what you use! Thanks in advance and no pressure to answer if this is the wrong place :))<33

HAI :D OMG EXCITING <3 no worries! my inbox is always open for assistance and i'd love to help! here's a bunch of tips ranging from writing to technical to artsy stuff:

the start:

⟡ i should preface this story did not begin as one typically would which is say following the example of how to write a novel in a year. my writing style for this project started out with my interest in the characters created. my desire to wanting to know why certain oc's acted the way they did and that's where it all began. what started out as short stories of certain individuals reworked into something much more authentic. this was the hook for me so you gotta find that one sliver of interest and run with it. you can most certainly utilize tools like character sheets, pinboards, storyboards to assist you but i find that if i'm not connected to the story, it's difficult to use them

⟡ with that being said LOL invest the time in fleshing out your character because when you understand how they work, when you believe in them, the easier it'll be in creating scenes and writing dialogue. for me, it's almost intuitive writing for characters to the point where i will easily check myself and rewrite a scene because it didn't align with a certain character

⟡ while the influence of your own ideals/experiences eventually bleed into an oc, it's important to identify that, otherwise a cast of diverse characters eventually feel the same. this was something i struggled with for years which is why i could never really begin until now!

⟡ it's good to ask yourself what sort of story do you want to create. the best question is is it plot driven or character driven? what sort of tone do you want to set? do you want to blend them? i think there's a huge stress on just doing things for fun and not taking things seriously but i do want to challenge others to consider what that might look like for others. sometimes people like to create grand posts or fun slice of life posts and neither is more valid than the other. it's truly up to the author

technical stuff:

⟡ i'm gonna be honest with you, i'm not as organized as i once was in how i go about plotting things however! in the beginning, i would utilize sticky notes with ideas written on them and then shuffle around how i wanted things to play out. now i use a dingy little notebook LMAO but i've heard good things about milanote! as for dialogue, i do use google docs but i do think they're under fire for using your things for ai training or somethin O_O

⟡ i do use photoshop to edit my photos and that usually looks like cropping, color/contrast enhancing and sharpening. i do add dialogue last because when i sharpen it all together, the font looks cwispy! there's this mini tut by @/stinkrascal on how to format the text so it's all even if that's the style you're going for! anyways it changed my LIFE lmao! right here are some free alternatives. also this is an older post in which i shared my process and it includes some tips and tricks with photoshop (you can also see how i used to format text lmaooo)

⟡ knowledge is power. if i find myself really struggling with certain aspects, like maybe the logistics of a character, i'll set aside some time to learn from certain authors, commentators or directors. even if it's a short clip of seeing how they approach something as simple as their thought process behind how a scene supported a character to something as small as the significance of Isha's hat from Arcane

misc writing tips:

⟡ ooh! because tessellate is such a large group of characters, it can be challenging to structuring a plot. so i started off by slowly introducing characters rather than all at once. i also break up character plots into arcs but with that comes filler episodes to help space out big moments. i like to utilize filler episodes as bite sized pieces that introduces the readers to newer characters while also allowing there to be breaks in between. those filler posts highlight certain events, ways of living, etc that might influence how things play out in the future. a good example is kai, we're nearing the end of his arc but all of those little moments in between really helped shaped how things played out!

⟡ when i think of conflict, i think of it a lot like a boiling pot. it starts out at a neutral temperature (your foundation), before bubbles begin to form (minor annoyances between characters), steam hissing (the lead up) to an eventual lid popping off (the conflict). the build up is the most important part to the pay off!

⟡ my best piece of advice for darker themes is really understand the topic and stray away from stereotypes as it diminishes a lot of depth in certain subjects as well as does more harm than good. recognize that at the end of the day a weakness does not define a person as they are a person through and through. approach it with compassion rather than judgement.

⟡ i know i know everyone says to read your dialogue out loud and that is incredibly important however while doing that, think about the flow too. as a writer, because we are goal oriented, sometimes dialogue can be turned into what will progress the plot which makes things feel a bit unnatural and sometimes lacking the proper flow. remember to consider the personality of a character. how is a line delivered through a character who is brash versus one who is a bit more reclusive? also! here's a great video about the stiff dialogue in veilguard that shows what unnatural dialogue can sound like.

⟡ remember, comparison is the thief of joy. it's easy to get caught up in recognition and likes. there was a time where i consistently got 3-5 readers and that was it. there are moments now where certain posts are incredibly inconsistent in engagement and sure, it can be disheartening but then i think about the handful of individuals that consistently comment, the specific asks about how a certain post made them feel seen and interact and i remember why it's i chose to write. it isn't the recognition i seek, it's the connection. it's important to have that one thing that gives you the strength to continue because truthfully, things can be inconsistent and that's okay.

the artsy stuff:

⟡ i am a huge fan of cinema, animation and photography. i think consuming a lot of media and art has helped train my eye especially if i feel as if my screenshots are becoming repetitive. it's good to see how different directors go about framing dialogue. comic panels are amazing as well since artists find new unique ways of captivating an audience through levels like coloring, framing, posing and such! it's honestly why i introduced some vertical shots to black out bars in story posts because of that unique angle! remember, media is meant to inspire you! after watching the latest season of Arcane (haven't finished it yet tho) it genuinely relit a fire under my ass LMAO

⟡ different angles, lighting and positioning can help elevate a story. the aesthetics of a story can really add another layer of depth however it's important to remember that it is a supporting role, not the entire role

⟡ i do use my own reshade and i've formatted it to have similarities of a film camera as well as my preference of color correcting. i lean heavier towards contrast, colors and shadows however i always encourage for people to look into what supports their vision the best! the lightroom shader by quint and pd80's contrast/brightness/saturation shader help with color grading in game as they do have sliders that tweak certain colors. the sepia shader is great for adding a cinematic tint but it can conflict with relight and the way the lights are presented. relight of course can add those shadows in lighting. i'll sometimes have two presets, one for up close shots to further shots because sometimes zooming out can create inconsistencies in your preset as things might look to muggy or like a disco ball LOL (ps what helps with that is adjusting bloom if used and messing around with shadows/midtones/highlights/saturation with that lightroom shader)

last but not least, a story is a labor of love, it's a tool in which authors can utilize the pen to their own manner whether it's to communicate ideas or to simply tell a tale. don't be afraid to dive deep into the layers of your story and remember each piece can be important factor but it's entirely up to you as to where you want that focus to be. it does take a lot of courage to start but i truly believe if it's something you cherish, it'll always be worth it!

i do wish you the best of luck! thank you for trusting me enough to give you some tips and tricks! i tried to lean more into the more finite details as i felt like this is what truly helped me throughout the years! <3 also here is a complimentary meme i made: