#bit of a learning curve and i have a really difficult time making any of my paintings actually coherent

[syn4k]

[Image ID in alt text.]

a wizard in her natural element

[3verythingiknowaboutlove]

the limit does not exist!

how spencer helps college!reader understand a little calculus and therefore understand how he loves her.

MDNI | smut word count: 1931 warnings & tags & stuff: fem reader, fingering, oral sex (f receiving), lil bit of overstim hehe, pure unbridled affection, LOVE, FLUFF, hugging, reader cries, this was in fact meant to be written for spence's birthday... sorry about that school is kicking my butt lets just pretend it's october! author's note: this one is for my folks who HATE their calculus class and want spencer reid to give them head instead <3 maybe this can help you romanticize it a bit. i think this is classified as self indulgent…like REALLY self indulgent… hah... anyway i hope you enjoy! let me know your thoughts if u have any, i loveeeee you!! have a great day my hands are shaking posting this smut is so scary!!!!!

You sat in bed, staring down your notebook, eyes narrowed. Limits stared back at you. You were just about at your own limit, if you were being honest. 

Your brain, however sharp and witty it may be, is absolutely not one designed for calculus. A literary analysis essay? Done in half an hour. In depth scientific research project? Easiest months of your life. But there’s something about finding the instantaneous rate of change of a curve at one point in time by finding the slope of a tangent line that hasn't clicked yet. 

A slew of other papers- notes, practice worksheets printed from obscure websites, and formulas- surround you, a sea of unfinished thoughts from the past month of the semester.

You bite on the end of your pen, the little hope you had for a good grade in this class slipping further and further away with each passing moment, like the last ember dying in the remains of a fire.

What you really wanted to be doing was celebrating Spencer’s birthday with him right now. A chocolate cake lay on the kitchen counter and pasta simmers on the stove, but you and your boyfriend had agreed to do a solid hour of work before the celebrations ensued.

You were never particularly strong willed when it came to following through on such agreements.

“Teach me calculus,” you say, a very impressive three minutes later, flopping down on the couch. Your head makes its way to its forever resting spot, Spencer’s lap. He raises his eyebrows slightly, thumb reaching out to trace over the slope of your nose. His eyes flit between you and the file to the side of him. 

“I thought we agreed on an hour.”

“Yeah. But it wouldn’t be a very productive hour if I didn’t know how to do what I have to do. And I missed you.” 

He sighs quietly, closing the file next to him. 

“What do you not understand?” You smile at that, loving how quickly you won.

“Related rates. Like, conceptually.” 

Spencer hums in response.

“It’s October. You’re not even supposed to know related rates yet.”

“Fine. Then let's open presents,” you respond, smiley. His eyebrows get impossibly higher, hand stroking your cheek delicately.

“No. I want our night to be a little more stress free when we celebrate, okay? How about you think about that lovely cake you made for me. What if I decided to squash it so that the diameter would get bigger, going from…let’s say, 20 centimeters to 26 centimeters in 3 seconds, and the height would get smal-”

“That wouldn't be nice. It took me like four hours,” you interrupt, grumbling. He cracks a smile.

“For the sake of the example, let's say I was an awful boyfriend and really wanted to ruin all the hard work you put in for me.”

You roll your eyes.

“Hey,” he says, hand moving down to touch your jaw softly. “Don’t do that. Don’t be difficult. I’m helping you.”

“Sorry. I guess I need you to zoom out a little. I don’t really get why I’m learning this as a whole.” Spencer’s eyes pore into yours, staring down at you adoringly for a small moment as he comes up with an answer.

“Calculus helps us begin to explain the unexplainable by harnessing what we can,” Spencer says simply. “Einstein once said that, ‘Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas,’ which makes it simple in practice, but I actually like to think about it as the opposite philosophically. Trying to find logic in the more poetic ideas.”

You cuddle deeper in his lap.

“Think he would agree with that?” you ask. “I do answer to Einstein before you, unfortunately.” Spencer bends down to kiss your hair.

“I think so. He also had a really nice quote where he remarked that, ‘Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.’ He said, ‘How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.’”

Spencer takes a deep breath.

“Math doesn’t explain how I love you. It can’t. But I love the fact that it tries to. It kinda makes you wanna learn it as best you can.”

You process that for a long second and nod. He keeps talking.

… 

Presents get opened, and cake gets eaten before dinner. Of course.

You’re now in bed, on top of the covers, forcing Spencer to give you a fashion show of the new sweater vest and tie you got him. He turns to you after putting it on, and you beam. 

“I really like it. You look great. Do you like it?” you ask. He nods, smiling back at you.

“I’m gonna wear it to work tomorrow.” 

You beckon for Spencer to come closer, sitting up in bed. Your hands go out to the tie, tugging at the knot softly. He stares down at you until eventually interrupting your motions with a slow kiss, hands cupping your face.

“You’re so pretty,” he mutters.

He pulls away and finishes what you started, folding the tie neatly and setting it in the drawer. Then comes the vest, and soon enough, he’s just in his boxers.

“You’re the pretty one,” you say quietly. “Come to bed.” He crawls on next to you, tugging you into his arms. “Happy birthday, Spence. I love you.” He dips his forehead to your shoulder.

“I love you.”

Before you know it, he’s shifted on top of you, moving down. Fast. You blink, hard, trying to rid your head of the hazy endorphins as you register what he’s doing.

“What? No, I was gonna do that. It’s your birthday. You don’t have to,” you protest.

“But I really, really want to, darling girl,” he murmurs back, kissing your knee and softly pushing it to the side.

You fluster and Spencer just looks at you, fingers tracing shapes on your waist, waiting for you to be ready. 

“Well. Um. Okay. If you insist. I can’t really deny the birthday boy.” Your voice is small, and a little giddy smile grows on your face. Of course Spencer Reid would want to give you head on his birthday. 

He smiles a little against the bare skin of your hip where your top meets your shorts. Then he meets your eyes. 

“You know you can, though, right?” he asks, voice a little more serious. You reach out to touch his hair softly. 

“Yeah. I know.”

Fingers hook your shorts, gently pulling them down. He presses a kiss to your thigh, and then he suddenly looks down at it. 

“Soft,” he murmurs, like he’s making a mental note. He presses another, and another, incrementally going closer and closer to your soaked through underwear. His eyebrows scrunch when he sees the wet spot. “All this from a few kisses?” 

You blush, unable to respond. 

Spencer’s fingers hook a centimeter of your underwear. “These?” he checks.

“Yes, please,” you manage. He tugs them down, silently noticing the slickness of your sex, and exhales shakily.

“How many times on average does it take for a guy to call you pretty on a given day before you get annoyed?” he murmurs, soft smile playing on his face. You smile too, head cloudy from his words, but it immediately drops when his lips press directly against your pulsing clit, kissing it softly.

“Fuck,” you say (Spencer would argue moan) softly (loudly). You let out a content sigh, and he moves to suckle it, actions becoming less and less delicate. 

It’s not harsh, but incessant. Spencer knows what you can take. He knows exactly what you can take. You’re both quiet for a bit, save for your breathy moans. 

“Spencer,” you say softly, ripping you both out of your individually hazy and dirty and distracted minds. “You’re too far away.” He looks up to you, face parallel to your aching core, hair beautifully messy and mouth glistening.

After a second, he grabs your hips, gently pushing you up against the pillows so you’re propped up at a better angle. He then shifts his body up wordlessly so he’s more above you, dipping his head down to give you a soft kiss. You taste yourself, tongue darting out to lick your lips.

His hand takes over where his mouth was, sliding in between your folds with a practiced ease. Spencer looks down at you, eyes wide and flitting between yours, searching for a reaction.

You reach out and wrap your arms around him, holding him close. “Holy shit, I love you,” you murmur.

His fingers lightly graze your clit again before one slides into you. “Angel,” he breathes out, so quietly. “I love you too. This okay? Are you okay?”

You nod feverishly and lift your hips to meet his hand, always in a perpetual state of wanting more, to be closer. Your bodies are melded so close together, barely giving him room to push his hand into you. He doesn’t even bother to ask you to use your words or keep your hips down, like he might on a regular night.

He pulls his head back to watch as he pushes another finger into you, stretching you just a little. “There we go. You always feel like heaven around me.”

Your eyes flit up to his face as he says those words, now having a little more room to observe him. You focus on the slope of his nose and curve of his mouth. 

“You’re so perfect,” you say quietly, adoringly, before you even realize it was true.

You blink at that thought. Spencer Reid is perfect, despite whatever universal odds deeming that impossible.

Those graphs, those formulas, now laying discarded & crumpled on the ground. They click, a little bit. You understand why Albert Einstein wanted to spend his life developing theories of relativity.

This is how Spencer sees you? What he was talking about earlier?

This is how he sees you?

The thought is almost too much.

Spencer sees your face, and not knowing what's going on in your head, slides down his free hand from your cheek to your carotid, feeling your racing pulse. “Take a deep breath for me, okay? You're about to come, huh?”

You inhale and are met with peace. Then your orgasm hits you like a wave. You clench hard around his fingers, and he just watches it happen, fascinated. “Baby,” he coos softly at you.

It wasn’t just your sensitivity he’s currently maximizing on or the little kisses he dips down to leave on your neck that sealed the deal, but the very thought that you could be loved in a way that is so perfectly impossible.

You exhale breathily as Spencer pushes you through the last trails of your climax, fingers not caring one bit that you just had your world tilted on its axis. 

“Spencer. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” you say eventually, overstimulated.

“You’re okay. Did so good.” he murmurs, fingers slipping out of you. 

His thumb brushes your cheek, wiping away a tear you didn't even realize was dripping down.

“Don’t cry, you always cry. It’s my birthday. Don’t cry on my birthday,” he whispers soothingly, affection lacing his voice.

“I’m not.” 

Another one falls. 

You reach and press out that perpetual little slope between his eyebrows with your thumb, gentle, like you might break him. “I’m not crying.”

Spencer lets you lie.

[lj-lephemstar]

Progress Checkup! (Nov. 2024) | Scratchin' Melodii Devlog

​​Hey again guys! Sorry if it's been a bit since the last devlog. With how much I've been up to, it sure feels like it!

Let's get right into it. For starters, the 3rd rival battle of Act 2 is complete! I'll likely be showing a gameplay preview of it sometime soon. This is the first song to use the new framework that I'll be using for all the other stages going forward, which also means I've had to spend the past couple weeks getting the previous songs working with this new system too... Did you know that in the demo builds, if I wanted to change something about the gameplay, I'd have to manually go back and change it for EACH individual song one by one? Well now, imagine all the songs had like a peace treaty to just share one good, clean, and organized system that I can easily tweak and add to as I please. So development is gonna be smoother than ever from here! This is how most games are SUPPOSED to work, but I was a liiittle too stupid to figure out how to do this until recently!

While I was moving Cream Cheese Icing over to this new system, I took the opportunity to make the chart a bit more beginner-friendly! For example, the first line went from this...

To just this!

As you can see, it has less notes, therefore it is less scary for new players. Believe it or not, I actually never intended for Cream Cheese Icing to be so difficult for new players in the first place! Naturally, being too good at my own game can make gauging the difficulty curve a bit tricky at times, but I think I'm figuring it out!​

You may have also noticed that the characters have new UI icons too! I felt like the old ones were too flat and boring, so I did a new take on them, aiming for more dynamic shapes and angles, not to mention how my art style's just kinda grown a bit in general since I last drew the icons. I also ended up leaving out the circles behind them. I was a little worried I was gonna run out of unique colors for all of them at some point, plus SOME of these guys can have really big hair and/or hats that pretty much just cover up the whole circle anyway. (hi rensa)

Speaking of artwork, here's a little look at some of the updated animation I've done for Stir & Mix! (Try to imagine it in not highly-compressed-gif-form. I promise it looks better in-game!)

When working on Stir & Mix related stuff, I can't help but feel a bit of a sense of dread knowing how people may react to it... Honestly, sometimes I kinda wish it never got as popular as it did in 2022. But hey, doing my own thing regardless of what's expected of me is the most Scratchin' Melodii thing I could do!

Speaking of which, Mia learned a ton of new stuff while doing the VOCALOID tuning for the last rival battle we worked on, so we might revisit Stir & Mix's vocals again at some point before release to give it even more style! (By the way, Mia and 2cada are the same person! Sorry if I refer to both names interchangeably! She's been the one doing all the VOCALOID tuning and vocal mixing for the game since 2023.)

Well, I think that's all for now! Here's another friendly reminder that there will NOT be anymore demos of the game. Any new content will be saved for the full game's release. I know I've said it before, but I probably won't stop saying it until people stop getting confused about it LOL. Thanks for reading!! I appreciate you. - LJ

[signanothername]

Do you have any tips on how to study an artist style because I haven't been able to find a video on YouTube to help me☹️💔

Oof yeah Youtube usually just has the “how to find your artstyle” vids (which are all bullshit tbh but I digress)

Ok tbh I barely do art studies, so I would try and explain how I would do an artstyle study myself and hope that helps dhhxhxhx

The thing about an artstyle, is that it’s a bit unique to each person, and not just in terms of one single thing, but everything from how they do their lineart, to coloring, shading, etc

Not only that, but an artstyle changes and grows with the person as they learn more and more about their preferences, no artstyle stays the same forever

Not only that, but depending on the artist’s artstyle, it could be really easy to study cause the artist is consistent with their art, or really difficult cause the artist has no set artstyle and they change constantly

That’s why I’d say the best way to approach it is to study it bit by bit, and not to overwhelm yourself trying to take in how an artist does something all at once during practice

But the biggest thing that I’d say would make you understand another artist’s artstyle is observation

Take multiple artworks from the artist you wanna study and just take them in, observe everything about them

Do they use lineart or are they lineless, if they use lineart are their linestrokes thick or thin, is their lineart clean or is it messy, if it’s messy, how messy? Is the lineart angular or round generally? Or maybe they use both angular and round edges?

Are their lines curved or very straight? Does their line weight change in the same linestroke or does it have the same line weight throughout? Do they tend to do their lines in one single clean stroke, or do they tend to re-emphasize their lines by 2 or 3 more strokes in the same place?

What kinda brush do they seem to use? Is it a very textured brush or is it a very clean inky brush?

How do they color? Do they use bright and saturated colors or do they go for muted and dark colors? Maybe something in between? How do they shade? Do they use cell shading with hard edges, or do they use soft shading, do they blend it in or keep the edges of their colors bold and sharp? Maybe both?

How do they shape certain things? Maybe their artstyle relies heavily on rectangular shapes, maybe their artstyle shapes certain things to be round and others as cubic in the same artwork

And so on

Then after observing as many artworks by eye as you can, go for actual practice

Take a shot at trying to replicate their artstyle, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just as close as you can

Again, try it to take it one step at a time, at first try to focus on the lineart for example and nothing else, just try replicating that, just so you won’t overwhelm yourself with information and end up thinking it’s way harder than it truly is

Hell maybe you aren’t really interested to understand their lineart, maybe you like their coloring, and so just focus on how they color and try coloring the same way they do with your own art

Sometimes you get really stuck with something, or you try and replicate something and you genuinely couldn’t at all, in that case, I would say, if possible, try contacting the artist you’re trying to study the artstyle of, many artists would be happy to help where they can and give you a direct response and instructions to how they do a certain thing in their artstyle (I definitely would)

So, with all that out of the way, Imma give you an example, it’ll be a very quick example without much depth, but just to give you the general idea to use as a basis

(I’ll be using my own artstyle as an example cause idk if other artists would be comfortable with me using their art without permission dggdgdggd)

Again, this is just a very quick example, you can actually take one artwork and study it to every little detail, then work your way up to multiple artworks at a time

Uuuh that’s all I can honestly give, hope it helps, good luck with your artstyle study <3333333

[sequs-art-box]

Sequ, I felt like you're best placed to answer me for this : how do I draw Anger? He's the fourth emotion I gotta draw for my au, but honestly, I'm not very good at drawing square characters, and *I NEED TO DO THE SHORT KING JUSTICE!* Any tips? ^^

You came to the right place! I'll give you every tip I have in drawing Anger.

Now, the first thing you should absolutely do is study him- by that, I mean look at how he moves in the films, video games, etc. Another important thing is to not be afraid to use reference. I'm an animation student, and my professors always ALWAYS recommend reference for WHATEVER you're drawing. Its not cheating, I promise.

One thing I quickly learned when drawing Anger is that he is NOT A RIGID CUBE. He has more of a marshmallow-like structure(?) To him. From an animation standpoint, he isn't stiff. Just like the rest of the emotions, he has squash and stretch qualities like the images below.

A big reason Anger is hard to draw, at least to me, is his weird anatomy. This dude has no neck, he's a cube with short ass arms and legs- a challenge even for the animators who worked on him! That makes it difficult to draw/animate him in certain poses, which means you gotta break some rules.

The hard truth is, if you want to get REALLY good at drawing any character, you have draw them as often as possible. I've been drawing Anger for the past TWO YEARS. There are no shortcuts to this.

Enough rambling, let's draw him now. Please keep in mind that this is my artstyle, and everyone's drawing process is unique- give yourself some time, and I'm sure you'll get it.

For the sake of simplicity, let's draw him in a casual, standing pose.

My first step is to figure out where he is looking. I try to avoid front view perspectives since they're a bit boring- so I'll go with a 3/4 view.

I start- as always with his head. Its a simple, slightly curved square shape.

I then draw the torso, which is the most important part of his body since every limb attaches from this part. Keep his uneven proportions in mind.

After that comes his arms and hands. I use this image form the IO art book to figure out his hands.

His hands are exactly like regular hands, just smaller and chubbier (heh).

I draw the arms first so I can correctly position his legs. Make sure they're not too long.

(Had to put these last 3 steps in one file, damn you tumblr image limit!)

After adding the legs, I detail his head, starting with his eyebrows. From there, I add the eyes, mouth, and finish with his outfit.

I hope my explanations were helpful! If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to send another ask/dm me, I'd be very happy to help ❤️

[yandere-wishes]

Okay so not an ask more of a Headcanon based on observation and the character he is based on, but I see Honest Fellow as someone who would both idolize/emulate and resent the rich. By his design his clothes, while they pay homage to Honest John with the patchwork pantleg and the misding pinky tip on his one glove seem very well-kempt, on top of that his hat and cane are practically emaculate that cane alone couldn't have been cheap though I wouldn't put it passed the sly fox man to have either swindled someone out of it or stole it from them outright. Point is I'm getting wants to be a rich man but hates the rich people vibes.

All of that is set-up for my headcanon that if he ever had a S/O you can bet he would get them jewelry and expensive clothes. Basically just adorn them in finery he had acquired through whatever means (cough, likely stolen or purchased with dirty money, cough) and proudly have them stand by his side. The thought to use them as a pretty little lure to catch even bigger fish might cross his mind, but I doubt he'd ever use them like that. Personally, I feel like he'd be to possessive to do that even if his darling wanted to help like that, after all what if he let's them go off alone and someone tries to take advantage of his poor darling? He doesn't think they're weak or foolish per say but who could protect them better than him? I think he'd have a difficult time even leaving them alone with Gidelle (only 90 percent sure I got that right), of course he trusts Gidelle, well as much as he can truly trust anyone anyway, but he's the brains of the outfit and unless he's personally by his darlings side he won't ever be truly assured something won't go wrong.

Let's say that darling isn't quite so understanding or compliant, his possessive side would certainly get worse. He can't leave them alone for one second qhat if they try and sneak off. Perhaps to save his pride he'd be a bit delusional, they're just a sweet little naive skittish thing that doesn't know any better, possibly they've never known a love as deep and unshakable as his, it's only natural there would be a learning curve for them and who better than he to teach them? I highly doubt he'd ever use physical punishments on his darling, probably doesnt like punishing them as he thinks they are just still learning, but that doesn't mean he won't find other ways to punish them if necessary. I do think if they actively tried to run he wouldn't waste a minute getting something along the lines of a necklace with a chain, something fashionable but functional as a reminder while they're learning, if that reminder isn't enough though he might go for a bejeweled pet collar and leash. If all else fails isolation in a secure location with him as their only source of human, or well beastman, contact would certainly allow them to see how much they needed each other. Whatever he has to do to make them understand it'll all be worth it later once they're settled and he can spoil them like they deserve.

TLDR: Honest Fellow would love to lavish his S/O in (possibly ill-gotten) finery and would actively and proudly show them off on his arm. Everyone can look and admire, but only he is allowed to touch.

This has got to be the most effort anyone has ever put into something they sent in my ask box!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Okay so right off the bat let me say that YES!! This is canon I don't care what anyone says.

I can see him as "wanting what they have" but "not wanting to be them". Essentially he wants the ability to give his darling the best of everything. Yet still ultimately preserving his own "personality". Like you said Fellow hates the rich. They're insufferable, self-absorbed and loathsome, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't crave the glitz and glammer.

Now I can kinda see Fellow only really interacting with his darling at first to use her as bait. Winning her over with expensive gifts and pretty cloths (all from dirty money ofc) and sure darling does start to fall for his tricks. But here's the thing, the moment his darling begins to show the tinest interest in him Fellow FALLS HARDER!! All of a sudden he doesn't want ANYONE near his darling! Just him only him. Sooner or later his darling will start to feel suffocated, she'll be desperate to get away from him. Forsaking the pretty presents and charming "boyfriend" for just a moment of freedom. But Fellow's a sly fox, always one step ahead. He knows how to ensnare his darling before she's even run away.

Overall Fellow will lavish you, treat you like a queen, getting you anything you desire (through underhanded means) but you'll never be allowed to leave him. Forever trapped by his side on the island of pleasure…

Quick question is Fellow meant to be the same age as the third years or is he older??

[blueskittlesart]

I’ve been playing oot lot and I’ve been really enjoying it loads, weird question but I’ve had the thought- Is Gabon’s castle hard? Like I’m only on the spirit temple and then I thought and got stressed/anxious about the final dungeon/final part of the game, I think I might be psyching myself out mainly because I feel like I’m bad at games especially oot and the switch controls can be frustrating plus I panic when there’s a timer and or when im in a lotta pressure. I’ve tried googling it but I don’t know

the dungeon itself isn't super difficult imo, it's basically 6 different rooms mimicking the 6 late-game dungeons, each with a small puzzle which will get you closer to entering the final battle. there are a few ways to make things easier on yourself--do the shadow room early and get the golden gauntlets, and then you can lift up one of the pillars in the final area to get an ability that reduces the damage you take. that makes the final battle WAAAAY way way way easier. you should also practice camera-clipping with no target a little bit before going into ganon's castle, because he becomes untargetable for one phase of the final battle, which can be a really steep learning curve since most of the other battles in the game encourage you to rely on targeting so heavily. if you get a feel for where exactly the camera will clip to when there's nothing to target, that phase will become a lot easier. You're also gonna want to get a good amount of heart containers before battle--it's not IMPOSSIBLE to do with just the base hearts you get from the dungeons, but having a few extras will help you out. and obv you're gonna want a few fairies lined up just in case. there is also a minor timed segment just before the final phase of battle, but if you lose it just puts you back at the start of that segment, not the whole battle, so try not to freak out about it too hard. It's not the easiest boss battle in the franchise by any means, but i don't think it's extremely difficult either. remember that there's no penalty if you have to try it multiple times, and even though i know it's tempting, try not to save between stages within the final battle, because that can lock you into a difficult situation if you're low on hearts or items. as a general rule, if you're trapped into an enclosed space, don't save even if the game lets you. your save should be at a place where you can retreat and make further preparations if you need to. but you'll probably be fine!! you got this :)

[clangenrising]

I hope Ospreymask gets the kittens she's hoping for! I was literally just thinking last night "Bluekit and Yellowkit can't be too far out from apprenticeship, I wonder if the game will give us a new litter or if we'll have an empty nursery for the first time since the Oddletts!"

I think it will be interesting to see Ospreymask as a mom. I really like how you've developed her as a character before her POV and how it's continuing now-- especially because she feels like a divergence from the kit-loving stereotype in the canon series. It's been well established that she loves kids, but that doesn't always translate to being prepared to parent- and right now it sounds like she's got sort of an idealized mindset around pregnancy and raising kids. That combined with the fact that she seems to have some unhealthy responses to loss (don't linger on it and try to find new things to bring you joy as quickly as possible (not that moving on is bad, just that doing it without taking the time to let yourself mourn isn't great)) makes me think she'll experience a bit of a learning curve if she succeeds in having kits! Especially because they won't be kittens forever, they'll grow up into teens and then adults, and will need a different kind of guidance and support from her, something I'm not sure she's fully considered. I can't draw any serious conclusions though, this is the first time we've been in her head so it's too soon to really know for sure. Very excited to see more of her!

Amazing analysis, as always! 50 Risingbucks!

I think that yeah, Ospreymask is probably not ready to be a mother or rather she's not ready for the more difficult aspects of parenting. Being a kitsitter and a parent are two very different things and I don't know if she's prepared for that haha

It'll be nice to have new kittens in the Clan though and at the very least it's guaranteed that her kittens will know they're very, very loved.

[tokusmuts]

A forbidden love, with a new heart's desire!

P/s: This is the story which I was requested...from 2022, sorry @glaremeh for taking that much time to finally have a chance to write it, hope that your friend can still read it somehow!

Characters: Hidden Male Character x Nao Nagasawa

Words count: 4088

Categories: Oneshot, MILF, Riding, Cowgirl and Reverse Cowgirl, Blowjob, Breastfeeding.

Enjoy!

Summer has come; you don't know for anyone, but for yourself, this is a dream time, at least when you are still a student, like now, 18 years old, and have completed all the exams before entering university. learn. This is your last time as a teenager, and not only you but also your whole family want to enjoy this time as much as possible. With your dad rewarding himself with an expedition, you and your mom couldn't stand it, so you also organized a beach trip together. If it was just you and your mom on the trip, it would be very cozy, but that's when you realize your mom will bring her friends along. It was none other than Ms. Nao, who often came to her friend's house to play. Actually, you don't have any problem with her; she's even very nice to you, but she is a single mother. Although it was difficult for her not to bring her child along, you also didn't like that child. If only he had a part of his mother, that would be enough for you to fully enjoy this trip. But it's okay to have Ms. Nao here; at least you don't have to be a reluctant babysitter because there are two adults here to take turns looking after that annoying kid without you. After you have ignored the most annoying obstacle, the convoy has reached the beach. The feeling of wind and sun hitting your face really makes you want this trip to last all summer or even into your freshman year. After checking into the hotel, it was still extremely difficult for two families (or rather, two mothers and two children) to separate, especially given the story of the two parents. Fortunately, Ms. Nao finally ended the story with a closing sentence:

"Change quickly, and let's go to the beach, my friend! Remember to wear your bikini; we must have a lot of pictures then!"

Your mother also seemed interested in this, so she immediately agreed, probably to show it off to your father when she got home. But there's something else on your mind—you're about to see Ms. Nao in a bikini! You often hear that single mothers have amazing bodies, and in fact, your teenage years are the perfect opportunity to start absorbing a little bit of adult culture like this. And you’re starting to think that this trip is going to be even more interesting than you expected.

As you walked towards your rooms, you tried hard not to stare at Ms. Nao's ass swaying enticingly beneath her loose T-shirt and shorts. Once inside the room, you quickly changed into your own swimsuit, trying hard not to think about how close you were going to get to seeing her in hers soon. When everyone was dressed appropriately, you headed down to the beach together. The sun was already high up in the sky, casting its warm rays upon the sandy shoreline, creating a picture-perfect scene. Children ran around happily, building sandcastles, while their parents lounged lazily on colorful umbrellas.

As you settled onto your spot under one such umbrella, you couldn't help but notice how effortlessly Ms. Nao moved, every step seeming almost fluid as she adjusted her sunglasses and spread out her towel next to yours. Her figure was truly breathtaking, accentuated perfectly by her choice of attire: a skimpy orange two-piece suit that highlighted every curve and contour of her toned physique. Your eyes drifted downward involuntarily, taking in the tantalizing glimpse of cleavage. It wasn't easy, though; the sight of Ms. Nao adjusting her bikini straps, exposing more of her tanned skin, made it nearly impossible to focus on anything else.

“Wow, so what I often hear is true then, and it's even better!” - Finally, what you've heard about single mothers is proven at this moment.

You couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement wash over you. Yes, everything you heard about single mothers having amazing bodies was indeed true, and seeing Ms. Nao in person confirmed it beyond any doubt. As you watched her move gracefully across the sand, you found yourself mesmerized by the way her bikini clung to her curves, leaving little to the imagination. Even though your mom was chatting animatedly nearby, your gaze kept drifting back to her friend.

It was clear that Ms. Nao noticed your attention, but instead of being embarrassed or uncomfortable, she seemed to embrace it. She flashed you a knowing smile, winking subtly as she picked up a volleyball and called out, "Come on, kids! Let's play!"

Embarrassment flooded through you at being caught staring, but you forced yourself to join in the game. It was strange, playing volleyball with your mother and her friend, but somehow, it felt right. Ms. Nao's laughter rang out freely, and her athleticism was evident as she dove for the ball and sent spikes flying across the net. Her breasts jiggled slightly within her top, and you could see her nipples hardening under the heat of the sun. Meanwhile, your mom played along, enjoying herself despite her obvious discomfort around Ms. Nao's flirtatious demeanor. However, you couldn't deny that there was something undeniably sexy about watching them both interact. The game continued for hours, and eventually, exhaustion caught up to everyone involved. Finally, they decided to call it quits and head back to their respective rooms to freshen up before lunch. But her body is starting to make you not stand for it anymore. And then, you wonder if you should do something risky or not. The thought of doing something risky crossed your mind, but you hesitated. What if things went wrong? What if Ms. Nao took offense? Despite these doubts, the urge to act on your desires grew stronger. The sun beating down on your skin, the sound of waves crashing against the shore, and the image of Ms. Nao in her bikini played through your thoughts relentlessly.

Finally, after some internal debate, you made up your mind. You approached Ms. Nao as she lay down on her towel, sipping coconut water and letting the sun kiss her bare skin. "Ms. Nao," you began hesitantly, "I just wanted to say... you look amazing today."

Her eyes widened slightly at your sudden boldness, but she recovered quickly. "Thank you," she replied, a hint of amusement in her voice. “And...uh, I got something more to say, but can we talk in a...more private place at, you know, this beach?” - Now that’s the risky thing you had to give it a chance to do.

Ms. Nao raised an eyebrow at your request for privacy, but she seemed intrigued rather than offended. She set down her coconut water and stood up, brushing sand from her bikini bottoms as she did so. "Alright, lead the way," she said with a playful glint in her eye.

You guided her away from the crowded area where families played and laughed, walking along the shoreline until you reached a secluded spot where tall grasses formed natural barriers. The wind carried the distant sound of laughter and splashing water, but it was quiet enough for you to speak without being overheard. Ms. Nao looked at you expectantly, waiting for whatever it was you wanted to discuss.

"Uh, so..." you stammered, feeling nervous under her gaze. "I've been thinking about what I said earlier. About how amazing you look in that bikini..." Your cheeks burned hot with embarrassment, but you pushed forward anyway. "Is there any chance...we could maybe see more?"

To your surprise, Ms. Nao chuckled softly. "You're quite direct, aren't you?" She asked teasingly

“I mean, I've heard many talks about how perfect single mothers are! And you're a single mom also, but through the years, I just saw you as a good guest in my family, especially for me. But today, there's something growing on me through all of our times together, and... Sorry if I was too bold, I cannot think about anything else then!” - you took a deep breath, showing everything you feel right now about her.

Ms. Nao studied your flushed face, taking in your honest confession. She seemed amused by your boldness but also appreciative of your sincerity. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in satisfying your curiosity," she murmured seductively, reaching behind her neck to untie the strings of her top.

With a flick of her wrist, she let the fabric fall away, revealing her incredible breasts - full, firm, and tanned to perfection. Your breath hitched at the sight, and your eyes devoured every detail. She leaned closer, allowing you to gently touch her soft skin. The sensation sent shivers down your spine as you realized what you were doing, yet you couldn't resist the temptation.

"Now, what about the rest?" Ms. Nao purred, unbuttoning her bikini bottoms slowly. As they slid down her hips, revealing her trimmed bush and slender legs, you gasped involuntarily. There was no denying it now: Ms. Nao was the embodiment of feminine beauty and confidence. You felt a surge of desire coursing through your veins, but also fear - this situation was risky and dangerous.

“This is...perfect, but why do you just deny all the men out there? Your body is just undeniable!” - you are stunned by your view right now, and it’s come with a long enough wonder as you ask her directly with trembles.

Ms. Nao smiled sadly, running her fingers through her hair as she stepped back into her bikini bottoms. "Life hasn't exactly been kind to me lately," she admitted softly. "After my divorce, I focused solely on raising my child. Men have come and gone, but none of them were worth my time or energy." She paused, looking directly into your eyes. "Until now."

Something shifted between you then - an understanding, a connection born from shared secrets and mutual attraction. You knew you shouldn't pursue this further, but you couldn't resist the pull either.

"What happens next is up to us," Ms. Nao whispered, stepping closer once more. "Are you sure you want to continue?"

Your heart pounded in your chest, and butterflies danced in your stomach. This was dangerous territory, yet the thrill of danger only fueled your desire. You nodded silently, unable to find words, as you reached for her again.

She sighed, leaning into your touch, her body responding eagerly to your tentative caresses. For a few stolen moments, you explored her lush curves, losing yourself in the warmth of her skin and the scent of saltwater mixed with her sunscreen. Time seemed to slow down as you lost yourself in the sensations, each touch igniting a fire within you both. It was clear that Ms. Nao was enjoying this as much as you were; her breaths became shallow, her moans barely audible above the sound of the waves.

“Ms. Nao...I'm…” “Shhh,...”

She whispered, placing a finger over your lips. "We need to keep this secret, alright? No one can ever know about us, understand?"

You nodded frantically, your mind racing with the implications of what you were doing. You couldn't believe this was actually happening - you were making love to your mom's best friend, right here on the beach!

Slowly, Ms. Nao led you back to your blanket, keeping her hand locked with yours as you walked. Once they were alone, she pulled you close, her lips crashing hungrily against yours. Their tongues tangled together in a passionate dance, their bodies melting into each other's embrace. Her breasts pressed against your chest, and her thigh rubbed against your crotch, causing a visible bulge in your swim trunks.

“This...is...amazing, Ms.Nao!” - You cannot complete your words normally, as she’s now controlling the kiss.

Ms. Nao smiled against your lips, her hands roaming over your back and pulling you even closer. "That's what I like to hear," she murmured, breaking away only long enough to catch her breath. "But remember, we can't let anyone find out about us. We're taking a huge risk here."

Despite the warning, you couldn't help but feel exhilarated by the taboo nature of your affair. Her words only served to heighten your arousal, making your erection strain against your swimsuit. Ms. Nao seemed to sense this, her hands sliding lower to grip your buttocks possessively.

"Let's go somewhere more private," she suggested, guiding you towards the hotel room. "There's so much more I want to show you."

You searched so much just to find this place, a private enough part of the beach, it seems like she still has some certain care of her own. But things are leading you to not move anywhere else anymore. “Please...this place is private enough, as my continuous refrain of not standing up towards you, Ms. Nao.” - you have no choice but to obey the action right away.

Ms. Nao hesitated for a moment, her eyes darkening with desire as she considered your request. "Very well," she whispered hoarsely, leading you behind the tall grasses once again. She pushed you down onto the sand, crawling on top of you and capturing your mouth in another searing kiss.

Your heart raced as she ground her hips against yours, her wetness seeping through your swimsuits and setting your blood ablaze. The feel of her naked body against yours was intoxicating, and you gripped her waist tightly, desperate for more contact.

"Do you want me, boy?" she growled, grinding harder against you. "Tell me how badly you need this."

“Yes, Ms. Nao, I want to make love with you, more than anything else.” - You knew you entered her world now, so following it is the best idea now.

A satisfied moan escaped her throat as she felt your eagerness. "Good boy," she praised, moving her hips in a slow, seductive motion that drove you wild. With a growl, she ripped off your swim trunks, freeing your throbbing member from its confines. Her eyes widened in surprise at the size of your cock, but instead of showing shock or disgust, she leaned forward, her tongue tracing the head of your cockhead.

"Mmmm...you've grown up nicely," she complimented, sucking greedily on the tip of your dick. Her tongue circled the head, teasing your sensitive spot before she engulfed the entire length of your shaft. You groaned loudly, your hips buckling involuntarily against her face.

“Oh my....fuck...you're so good at this, Ms. Nao!” - You cannot lie, and you know you have to express the feelings of her lips on your cock right now.

Ms. Nao grinned around your cock, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just wait until you taste me," she promised, releasing you from her mouth. She positioned herself over your erect penis, positioning the entrance to her pussy against your tip. "Ready?"

You nodded vigorously, your hands trembling as they rested on her hips. This was it - you were about to make love to the woman who had captured your attention since childhood.

With a gentle thrust, Ms. Nao impaled herself on your cock, her pussy enveloping your shaft completely. She cried out in pleasure, her eyes closing tight as she adjusted to your size. Slowly, she began to ride you, her breasts bouncing with each movement. The salty sea air filled your lungs as you both moved in perfect harmony, sweat glistening on both of your bodies.

As she rode you harder and faster, Ms. Nao reached down, massaging her clit rhythmically. Her moans echoed around the deserted beach, punctuating the sound of waves crashing against the shore. Your hands roamed over her body, exploring every inch of her flesh while she rode you relentlessly.

“Oh my, Ms. Nao... your body...is my view now...I cannot ask for something better than this!” - Regardless of the fact that you can't see anything other than her body, you enjoy it even more.

Ms. Nao's face twisted into a mask of ecstasy, her moans turning into pants as she neared her climax. "Look at me," she commanded hoarsely, her eyes locked on yours. "See what you're doing to me."

You complied, drinking in the sight of her riding you passionately. Her tits bounced with every thrust, her face flushed with passion, and her pussy clamped down on your cock in an attempt to milk every last drop of pleasure from the encounter. It was raw, primal, and utterly beautiful - everything you could have ever wished for.

"Cum for me, boy," she demanded, her voice thick with lust. "Make me feel how much you want me."

With those words, you lost control. Your hips bucked violently, driving deeper into her wet heat. She met each thrust with enthusiasm, her nails digging into your shoulders as she came hard, her orgasm shaking her entire frame.

Finally, you followed suit, filling her with your seed as she collapsed onto your chest, panting heavily. Together, you lay there on the sand, basking in the afterglow of your illicit tryst.

“This...this is my first time, Ms. Nao, and it's...amazing.” - A first time of everything, and that’s what a teenager like you should have, but your first time..is a bit different from others.

Ms. Nao propped herself up on her elbows, her breath hitching as she looked down at you. "My first time with someone this young," she mused, tracing her fingers lightly over your chest. "And on a beach, no less. Quite the memory to start with."

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "But don't worry, darling. Our secret is safe with me." She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on your forehead. "We'll have many more adventures like this one, won't we?"

“Uhm…So, can we...get one more round? I just...want to receive all the stimulation that comes from you for a proper cum.” - Now that’s the adventure you want the most.

Ms. Nao giggled softly, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Of course, my little pervert," she teased, rolling onto her side beside you. "I wouldn't dream of disappointing my newest fan."

She reached over and grabbed a bottle of sunscreen lotion from her bag, squirting some onto her palm. "Spread this on me, will you?" She handed it to you, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“Yes, as you wish, Ms. Nao” - You’re still a kid to her, so hearing commands is better than ignoring them, especially when you’re still in this lovemaking time with her.

You applied the sunscreen lotion generously, covering every inch of her body. As you did, Ms. Nao arched her back, purring at the sensation of your touch. When you reached her breasts, she moaned softly, her nipples hardening under your fingertips. She wriggled beneath your caress, clearly aroused by your attentions.

Once you'd finished, she sat up and took over, applying the lotion to your own body. Her hands lingered on your erect nipples, playing with them gently before moving lower. By the time she reached your cock, it was hard and ready once more.

"Perfect timing," she purred, straddling you again. This time, she took control, adjusting her position until she was sitting backward on your lap, facing away from you. Her pussy hovered just above your dick, teasing you cruelly.

"Enter me, baby," she instructed, turning her head to give you an inviting glance. "Fuck me hard."

“Yes, let's enjoy this view together, Ms. Nao!”

With a growl, you thrust forward, pushing inside her tight, wet channel. She gasped loudly, her body tightening around you as you claimed her. Your hands gripped her hips firmly, holding her steady as you picked up the pace. Slapping her ass cheeks rhythmically, you found your rhythm, pounding into her depths with ferocity.

In response, Ms. Nao moaned loudly, encouraging you on. Her breasts swayed enticingly, and her long black hair whipped wildly behind her head. Her moans turned into high-pitched gasps as you continued your relentless assault on her sensitive spots.

"So good, baby," she panted, her nails leaving trails of red marks on your back. "Take what you want."

Seeing her submit to your lustful appetite only served to fuel your desire further. You increased the speed and intensity of your thrusts, driving deeper and harder into her core. Both of you were lost in the primal pleasure of their illegal rendezvous, oblivious to the passing time and the potential consequences of their actions.

“Ms. Nao, I...cannot scream, but....can I...kiss you? I need...something....to replace my screams!” - The temptation is making you lose control again, and you definitely need something to keep this place private.

Without a word, Ms. Nao turned her head slightly, meeting your lips in a searing kiss. Her tongue darted into your mouth, dancing with yours in a frenzied tango. The salty taste of the ocean mingled with the sweetness of her lips, adding an extra dimension to the experience.

Her body shook around yours, her moans becoming more urgent as she neared her climax. "Soon, baby," she breathed against your mouth, her voice shaky. "So fucking soon."

Your own release was imminent, too. You grunted deeply, thrusting faster and harder, needing to feel her come undone around you. Finally, she cried out, her inner walls contracting violently, sending you over the edge.

Together, you collapsed onto the beach, your breathing ragged and your hearts pounding in sync. Despite the danger and secrecy surrounding your tryst, there was a certain freedom in this moment - two souls united by their mutual desires. But, after all of this, one more thing appeared in your head.

“Oh my, Ms. Nao, I cannot ask for anything more than this! But can I ask this?” - Even though you are scared a bit about asking it, you took a deep breath for a request. Ms. Nao chuckled softly, brushing your sweaty hair from your forehead. "What do you want, my little lover?" she asked playfully. "Anything is possible between us now."

“Uhm...basically, I filled you...without condoms, so...will there be a baby created by us?” - you asked with relentless trembles.

Ms. Nao's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly composed herself. "Don't worry," she reassured you, her hand squeezing yours comfortingly. "I'm on birth control. Besides, I haven't been with anyone else since my divorce, so the chances of getting pregnant are quite low."

Adding with a wink, "Plus, isn't having a baby with your mom's best friend... interesting?" She gave you a mischievous grin before leaning forward, capturing your lips in another passionate kiss. Her teases finally defeat you, and she also makes you deny escaping from them. Yet, having a baby with your mom's best friend is the best off-script thing ever, isn’t it?

“So can I...taste your breasts? I don't want just our baby to have them...that is if we actually have a baby together then!” - Yeah, she and your baby are the only things in your head then.

Laughing softly, Ms. Nao rolled onto her back, offering her breasts to you. "Help yourself, my dear," she said teasingly. "You've certainly earned it."

You hesitated for a moment, unsure of yourself. Ms. Nao's eyes encouraged you, however, reminding you of the trust between you two. Gathering your courage, you leaned forward and took one of her nipples into your mouth, gently sucking and swirling your tongue around it. She moaned approvingly, her hands threading through your hair.

Switching sides, you repeated the process, giving equal attention to both breasts. They tasted divine, a mixture of seawater and lotion that made you crave more. Her nipples grew hard under your ministrations, standing proud against her skin.

When you finished, Ms. Nao reached down, stroking your hair affectionately. "Now that's what I call a proper reward," she said, her voice laced with satisfaction. "We'll have to do this again sometime."

“Yes, Ms. Nao...until I really get pregnant with you!” - Again, the baby.

Ms. Nao's laughter rang out across the empty beach, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Well, then," she replied, drawing you closer for another deep kiss. "We'll have to make sure we create a miracle."

After that day, things changed between you and Ms. Nao. There was newfound intimacy and understanding - a bond strengthened by secrets and shared experiences. Even though you knew it was wrong, you couldn't help but cherish these moments, hoping they would last forever.

And maybe, just maybe, someday you'd get your wish - a tiny human born from your illicit affair, filling the world with even more love and chaos.

[bookshelfdreams]

Hey, probably a question you have heard a thousant times. But what is the best way to get into any of the fiber arts? Books? Youtube? Actual people teaching you? (and if so how in the hell do you find them)

I started crochet and knitting but I pretty much can't get out of the basics, I can't managed to finish something that I have started cuz I always get frustrated that it's starting to look bad...

Hi! That's actually a really good question. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on how u look at it) the only way to get any better at fibre crafts, is to keep doing them. Practice really does make perfect. There is no book or video tutorial or in-person teacher that holds the one ultimate secret that will make you Good At Crafts. All of these can be valuable resources if you struggle to understand how to do a specific thing; you can be taught stitches, and how to read charts, and such things. But the only way to really learn is to practice.

This is because there are more skills involved in crafting than just knowing how to do certain stitches. Confidence, patience, frustration tolerance: you can't learn that from tutorials. These are essential skills that you need to build. And the best way to build them, I'm afraid, is to actually finish the damn thing. Even if it has mistakes. Even if it "looks bad". You need to learn how to tolerate imperfections, if you ever want to get anything done.

Now that doesn't mean you should bully yourself. If you get easily bored and frustrated, leave the scarves and sweaters for now, and start small. Potholders, dishcloths, scrubbies or coasters are all projects that finish up quickly and yield usable objects, even when they are not perfect. If you never allow yourself the dopamine rush of Fuck Yeah I Made That, how do you expect yourself to build up the resilience to stick through the parts where it is slow and difficult and makes your fingers hurt?

Here are Ravelry searches for free dishcloth and potholder patterns.

Of course that doesn't mean you should only do those projects. You can do whatever you want. The most important thing is to teach yourself that you can have success, and the only way to do this is to successfully make things.

Also, it should always be fun. If it's not at least a little bit fun, maybe the technique isn't for you. This is also an important skill to develop: To learn when to stick through a bout of frustration, and when to abandon something.

There is a very steep learning curve. But you can and you will get there. I believe in you, and I also believe that what "looks bad" to you is perfectly fine.

[goldtracing]

APH Russia – Headcanons I

I would like to point out that I originally wrote this before 24.02.2022 and didn’t publish this until now due to current event. Now I have decided just to go ahead these are low-budget anime characters that I’m talking about and f anybody who links this to ongoing geopolitical events

Is surprisingly proficient in German and French. Both were court languages of his at the one or the other point in history, his German also being spread amongst the wider populace and influencing Russian. Speaks both languages with a bit of an accent, yet if he puts enough effort in it, his accent can be nearly untraceable.

As for other languages – he is also fluent in Tatar and Mongolian, although in the later he is far better with speaking and listening than writing. This is also the case with all the other languages spoken in his territory. This is due to his past under the khans. As for English and Chinese – with both he tends to be on the very formal side, with his speech precise and usually devoid of slang and abbreviations. It is because he learned much of those two languages from literature or also scientific reports.

When it comes to Russian he can be very eloquent, having a preference for puns and other plays of words. Can and will criticise others for their grammar, although if he is public and in a formal setting, he would be more tactful and quiet about remarking it.

Has a penchant for literature and opera and plays. Visits the theatre regularly and knows all the ballets by heart. Personally keeps a small notebook where he critiques and rates books and performances. Sometimes he sends them in to a newspaper or an online site.

Writes poety in his free time and sends some of them to his sisters or humans that are close to him at the time. Can also recite all of Pushkin’s poems in his sleep.

Aside from that, he has a love for fairy tales. Not the sanitised, censored versions that Disney and the Grimm brother’s have made so popular, rather the cautionary tales as they were actually intended, The brutal versions where people suffer and suffer and suffer.

Else has written multiple essays and the human condition, often taking characters for classics to elaborate on his points. These are texts that near nobody has seen. Ivan has split them up and hidden them on his various properties.  

Has taken formal dance lessons in ballet and the classics. Loves to dance at balls and is surprisingly elegant while doing so for somebody his size. However, he really shies away from dancing tango, salsa and other dances where both partners get really close and even handsy with each other. If at all, he would have to be really close to his dance partner to even contemplate to doing the Latin American dances.

Other than that, he is also good when it comes to folk dances and possess enough stamina to dance dances such as the Barynya for hours. Has the appropriate leg muscles and flexibility.

Surprisingly, (or not) his dancing skills translate into his fighting style. Can go on for hours without taking any enhancements or sleeping, all while remaining smooth and precise in his movements, like they been choreographed and practised time and time again. He can make difficult movement seem easy.

For centuries he favoured combat with a sword. One of his favourite ones was a curved sabre – a kilij – that he stole as a war trophy from Turkey when the latter was the Ottoman empire. Later, he evolved to be a crack shot with the pistole – he got caught up in a lot of duels when they came into fashion. During the WWII, he was part of a tank crew. Due to the tight space of the T-34, he often suffered sore joints and cramps in his muscles. Also developed an especially thick skull during this time, both literally and metaphorically.

Ivan has participated in the making of multiple movies as an advisor. He makes sure that historical films are historically accurate. Seeing that Russia is big on war movies, Ivan has a lot to do.

Additionally, he is quite a patron for the arts. He has multiple oil paintings in his old mansion. Personally, he paints either an impressionist art style or in the vividly coloured art styles that are native to Russia, such as Gzhel, Khokhloma and Zhostovo.

Adding on to that – there is nothing in his homes that is really plain. He has a sense for the aesthetically pleasing and even opulence. The woodwork is carved and whittled, the ceramic adorn with paintings and the metal work ornate. His living surroundings might have been a bit plainer during Soviet times, however I think he would have pulled a few strings that would have allowed him to keep his old possessions.

[angelasscribbles]

All That She Wants DELETED SCENE

Series: All That She Wants

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Word Count: 1,292

Rating: M

Warnings for this chapter: none

A/N: Ok, guys. This was the original chapter 4. I wrote it, decided I hated it then went back and rewrote the version you all read. This would have significantly changed the entire story. The first half is going to read very much the same, but keep going. I promise, this is a very different outcome for the chapter and would have changed the entire story going forward.

Everyone who's read it so far has said they like this version even better. It's grown on me. One day I may write the rest of this. But for now, I thought I'd share in case anyone was interested.

My other stuff: Master List.

The black bullet proof SUV from the royal fleet pulled down the long, twisting driveway toward its destination. The driver glided the vehicle to a stop in front of the entrance to the centuries-old Nevrakis stronghold.

Liam stepped out into the brisk air. Summer in Lythikos was invigorating, the air holding just a slight chill as opposed to the impenetrable cold that took hold of the place in the deep of winter.

There was an explosion of colors in the spring and no oppressive heat to kill the blooms off through the summer. The vibrant pinks and purples of the native flowers would last until the first frost. He had always loved it here in the summer.

He strode confidently to the door, king’s guards falling out of his way as he walked. He rapped on the door sharply several times then waited, a bit impatiently.

The door was opened by the mistress of the house herself. Olivia’s lips parted in quite surprise as she found the king on her doorstep. “Liam! What are you doing here?”

His smile faltered only a little. “Liv. Is that any way to greet your oldest friend?”

The duchess composed herself and invited him in. Once they were alone in a small, private sitting room, she closed the door and turned to him with a critical eye. “I don’t suppose you’re here on official crown business.”

“No.” His shoulders slumped a little. “Come on, Liv. You know why I’m here.”

She studied his face as she composed her answer thoughtfully. “Does your wife know why you’re here?”

“Why does that matter?” He snapped. “I don’t answer to her.”

“Maybe not.” Olivia crossed the room and sat on the loveseat. “But you do see the difficult position it puts me in, right?”

“Liv…” his voice softened as he crossed the room and sat next to her. Taking her hands in his, he continued, “I do know and I’m sorry. I truly am.”

If only he had been allowed to marry who he wanted in the first place, none of them would be in this position.

He had tried to do his best by Riley. He really had. Things had been better in the beginning because she’d had a huge learning curve taking on the role of queen, and then parenthood. Their babies had bonded them to an extent.

But he had never loved her.

Eventually, she had noticed the distance between them. The more she had pushed to get closer to him, the more he had drawn away. He knew it wasn’t fair to her. But he couldn’t help how he felt.

Oliva pulled her hands out of his. “I love you, Liam, as my oldest and dearest friend, you know that, right?”

Liam’s jaw clenched. “I sense a but in there.”

“But…” she sighed inwardly. She sympathized with his predicament. She truly did. She needed to make him understand her position without hurting his feelings.

The control that the crown exerted over the lives of Cordonia’s rulers was exactly why she had never aspired to be queen. That, and she didn’t want children.

Olivia had fallen in love with a man destined for the throne. A man that came with an incredible amount of baggage, rules, and regulations. Rules that dictated what she must do with her womb, rules that dictated how she would live her life, rules that would control forever both the man and whatever woman he married.

It was the reason she had walked away from the love of her life. The reason she had declined the crown for herself. And the reason she understood only too well exactly what the monarchy had taken from Liam.

“…you being here…. No matter what you told or didn’t tell your wife, she’s going to know exactly where you went. She always does. Do you know what it’s like for me to be seen as the other woman? Riley thinks we’re sleeping together, Liam!”

“I…I’m sorry.” He rose from the seat and made his way to the drink cart as his mind spun with solutions. He poured himself a generous helping of Olivia’s finest brandy as he reviewed, and discarded, option after option. “I can’t just abdicate all my responsibilities like Leo did.”

“Liam, that’s not fair!”

“Isn’t it?” He laughed bitterly. “Leo was able to do what he did to be with the love of his life because he had me to dump everything on. I had no one to offload the responsibilities onto.”

Olivia stood, anger marring her features. “Oh, poor baby! Why don’t you just man up, talk to your wife, and add a Cordonian Arrangement to your marriage contract? Why didn’t you do that in the first goddamned place, huh?”

“Because I didn’t think Riley would marry me if I asked for one and I needed to be married, Liv! We’ve been over this before!”

“Right. But Madeleine was offering you the Cordonian Arrangement. You could have had a wife that didn’t give two shits where you were sticking your dick. But you threw that back in her face.”

Liam turned to her in astonishment. “Are you defending the woman that was behind setting Riley up to get rid of her? The woman that was behind calling Hana’s parents to have her recalled from the social season before it even ended?”

Olivia shrugged. “I’m not defending her, Liam. I’m merely pointing out that if you had married Madeleine, rather than Riley, you’d have a wife that would willingly look the other way rather than a wife whose heart you’re breaking every time you—”

“I know I fucked up, okay?” He exploded. “I just couldn’t marry Madeleine after all her cruelty was exposed!”

The fight went out of Olivia at Liam’s obvious pain. “I know. I get that, I do. But you have to stop resenting Leo for doing what you wouldn’t.”

Liam shook his head. “I don’t resent him, Liv, but I am envious of what you two have. I’m glad he abdicated rather than accept you walking out of his life, but I didn’t have that option. I am sorry for putting you in the middle of my shit. I never meant for Riley to think—”

“Well, what else would she think when you keep running off to Lythikos without her?”

“That I’m visiting my brother?”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “The last two times you’ve been here, Leo wasn’t even home.”

“I know and I’m sorry to put you in the middle once again, but I know she’s here staying with you for the annual duchies budget meeting. Please, just tell her I’m here.”

He would have married her in the first place, but her parents had called her home and withdrawn her from the season. He had thought it was a rejection of him. It wasn’t until Madeleine’s role had been revealed that he’d realized the truth.

He would have proposed to her as soon as he’d broken off the engagement with Madeleine, but Hana Lee had left her parent’s home to strike out on her own, discover herself, and have adventures.

The pure joy on her face when she had told him of her plans had been enough for him to leave the ring in his pocket. He had no right to burden her with the responsibilities of the crown.

He had married Riley, produced children, and settled into a happy enough life. Until a year ago, when Hana’s grandmother had passed away, Lorelai had abdicated her role as duchess and Hana had moved to Cordonia to take her place as the Duchess of Aberdine.

The woman he had lost his heart to eight years ago was back in play, and all bets were off the table.

[lottiesmonsters]

Life in Lavender

Oh, these are always so difficult to start. How much do I want to give away, should I tease you a bit...hm. I suppose I should introduce myself, shouldn’t I? I mean you are reading my journals...or a collection of them, I don’t know how this works but somehow you’re reading this and you should know who wrote it.

My name is Lavender, so named as it is my dominating feature. Lavender hair, specifically, billowing in great clouds of tangled awful—if you ask me, but none ever do. My skin is tinted ever so the same. Mostly I am paper-white, or ‘ethereal and pearlescent’ as the cultists who summoned me would say. I do miss them, on occasion…

But this isn’t about them. It’s about me. So let’s talk about me. Gross. Okay, I am...well, I’m not sure, entirely. I came fully formed when summoned, learned as I fed, depending on who I fed upon and have yet to meet anything like me. I’m female, I’m told but only when I wish to be. I can me male as well and anything in between. It depends on what my meal desires, really. Whatever will please them most and net me the grandest feast. Sexual energy is my food, in case that’s unclear. To get needlessly specific, it is the ecstasy. Those delectable, sweat-soaked moments when pleasure is at its height.

Which means I change often, for everyone, and myself have no preference. Everyone is delicious. So long as they desire me and what we do together...I am fed.

It is important to share this personal introduction so that you, whoever you are, will understand why I went where I did. Why I did what I did and why it led...where it did.

Hm, I may not be the right fit for this. Writing is an art of words and my artistic skills are strictly of the flesh. Not to say seduction isn’t an art unto itself, just that I rarely need to employ it. I’ve a scent to me, one of suggestion and lust which targets those attracted to whichever shape I’ve taken. Unfortunately I am but the one size, and general structure...so its thick, horned woman or thick, horned man either one possessing of the others features if desired. No taller, no thinner, no other colors.

Yet that’s been plenty. Few have refused me. In fact, I don’t so much seek as I am sought.

Which leads to why I left the city, actually. So many repeat meals, same flavors again and again. I wanted something new. It's possible that it says something about you when even getting naked and sweaty with dragons isn’t enough excitement.

But I'm not sure what.

I also wanted money…

Do you know how expensive shape-changing clothing is? Let alone lingerie? It’s absurd. I don’t need any other food, or water either but I do sleep and I like to be clean, so I need a bed and a shower. A roof is nice. Somewhere to relax a bonus. All of those cost money. Money I wasn’t making enough of, and I was fucking the landlord! Dragon of a woman, in a literal sense. Fun time, every time, but she decided money was more important than a regular lay and I had to start paying rent.

So here we are.

Or, rather, were...as I am not there anymore. Or here? See, this is already confusing.

We’ll start with how I came to my decision, with the help of my roommate—and sometimes lover, I miss you so, Nori—who introduced me to the city’s Quest Board. Something she does once or twice a week, coming home too tired play with me. She’s an adventurer, you see, often decked out in enchanted leather that hugs every delicious curve of her thick, muscled figure. Great big sword on her back, black hair braided down to a perfectly sculpted a—

Right, I was telling you about the Quest Board.

I didn’t start keeping a proper journal until I was mired in the consequences of my actions, so this will simply be a bit of ‘storytime’.

//taglist\\

Yell to be added/removed

@theprissythumbelina

[celerydays]

What program do you use to make your fanart? Is it on just an average ipad or is there special ones just for art? Your work looks so good! I’m wanting to try digital art but unsure where to start :)

I use the Procreate app for all of my digital art! ✨

It should be available on any iPad 💗 I personally invested for my birthday this past year and I have the 12.9" M2 iPad Pro, but I'll even occasionally use my fiancé's iPad Mini and the Procreate app on there in a pinch since it's so small and portable~

The only real difference is that performance might suffer a bit, the larger an art piece is or how many layers your work has, depending on the iPad. But if you're just starting out, I probably wouldn't find that to be much of an issue!

(More rambling about digital art origins under cut ✨)

There's definitely a learning curve, especially if you're more used to drawing traditionally! It can help to still sketch traditionally (if that's what you're used to) and then upload a photo of your drawing to your tablet to work over digitally (this is personally how I started out and I used to just make little digital doodles by tracing and coloring over my traditional sketches.)

A small doodle from my sketchbook that I traced and colored digitally, from around 2011-2012, I think? Uh, happy Doctor Who day today!

My very first digital art set up was actually a tiny Wacom Bamboo tablet where the drawing space probably wasn't even bigger than my hand, and a super old bootleg version of Photoshop CS2 which was already a version that was 7 years too old for the time (CS5/CS6 was the most updated version by the time I had started on digital art).

Everyone else in my class had the bigger/fancier/professional-grade Wacom Intuos and I remember my professor taking one look at my baby tablet and just going like "how tf are you drawing on that" lmao.

But still! Experimenting and doing little exercises can get you a long way – I would say to approach it with similar exercises you would do as if you were learning to draw traditionally for the first time.

Shade in circles/nail down basic lighting. Gesture drawings. Random scribbles. Just things that help you get used to the feel of digital art!

Test out different textures you can achieve with one brush, then expand it to see how other different types of brushes can behave and add to the experience.

For proof that even just one brush and not the best/most updated tools can work: these are two of my first more "serious" digital art projects I did in college (with my tiny tablet and mega outdated version of Photoshop) and 99% of the rendering was just done with the "soft airbrush" brush.

But even then, we were taught to create our base sketches traditionally and upload them to the program to work over.

Then one day I decided I wanted to just be able to also do all my sketches digitally and just worked on getting used to sketching straight on my digital program. It was then that besides the all-powerful undo-redo buttons, I started to really make use of the transform/canvas flip/liquify features which I don't think I can live without now lol. (Caveat: I'm now a little too dependent on those features so I keep a traditional sketchbook to do silly doodles in occasionally to exercise my hand because sketching traditionally without the buffer of those digital tools is pretty difficult for me now lol.)

That was a little long-winded, I'm so sorry hahaha. I hope something in this rambling could be taken as somewhat helpful for starting out on digital art!! 💗

[pansy-picnics]

Okay but how are the grandparents with the UKD kids? I imagine it’s difficult, especially at first since none of them actually raised newborns/infants themselves?

SUPER LATE ANSWER BUT I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN ASKED SOMETHING ALONG THESE LINES ON INSTA A WHILE AGO. it’s DEFINITELY a learning curve…for the most part they know they can step back and they trust the kids to handle things themselves, but we do know from canon that they can all be a Little overbearing at times…….

i think captain, much like cass turns out to be surprisingly gentle and knows exactly how to handle them just by instinct alone. he was ECSTATIC to hear about rapunzel’s pregnancy for the first time just because, despite not Completely understanding his daughters relationship situation, he DID know that they’d be considered cass’ kids too (although frankly, CASS herself was still kinda coming to terms with this, so his excitement was a little overwhelming for her at first, but she too came around).

he definitely slips up from time to time but for the most part he eases into the role perfectly. now that he’s retired, he’s basically the chillest of all of them tbh. Like i think he got really into fishing so he takes the kids on boat trips and stuff. Normal grandpa things.

Also when cass decided to take in ilmari literally the first thing she thought of was her dad. She stopped to tell him before she even made it back to see rapunzel and eugene….Just to tell him what happened. He apologized but inevitably told her she did the right thing. Lots of tears that night.

frederic and arianna are the most grounded ones, but also the most paranoid. they’re very emotional about having little ones in the house again, especially since they never got to have rapunzel around at that age….it leads them to be VERY comically affectionate LOL. in the days after the twins were first born, 9 times out of 10 if they weren’t with any of their parents they were with fred or ari. they are totally the ones who freak out every time the baby sneezes or something, which is something arianna is constantly teasing frederic about as if she isn’t a Massive Fucking Hypocrite and is just a LITTLE better at holding herself together.

i like to imagine arianna and willow were identical twins, so arianna has an especially close connection to alina and ryder….she worries a lot about them growing distant or resentful of one another like her and willow did. as alina grows up, she reminds her the most of herself…<:]

They also love ilmari so so much and OBVIOUSLY THAT’S A GIVEN but i specifically think ilmari would be obsessed with fred’s stupid fucking egg collection. Autism to autism communication

Edmund….edmund is the deranged one (Probably could’ve figured that one out though). He’s the grandparent who you only see for special occasions and he always brings the most insane gifts that your parents HATE. Somehow they’re even worse than varian’s gifts and he’s practically giving the kids literal explosives. /J Lowkey i think edmund has forgotten how children work a little bit and he scares the shit out of ukd sometimes just by making some Incredibly silly decisions BUT he means incredibly well and the twins LOVE him. Ilmari is a little intimidated by him admittedly, at first just because he’s big and scary, and later when they’re older, just because of how loud and boisterous he is…..But they appreciate him too and he’s very supportive.

as silly as he can be he does know when he needs to quiet down and be gentle and ilmari really likes learning from him and the other brotherhood members about the dark kingdom and their history. ryder especially grows rlly close with him when he’s older since he spends about a year in the dark kingdom and eventually takes over the throne… :3

[nickburn]

UFO 50 - First Impressions

I've played UFO 50 for over 30 hours now and wanted to quickly jot down my first impressions of each game included. From the many reviews I've consumed so far, it seems everyone has a unique experience playing UFO 50, due to the sheer variety and quantity of retro games on offer, and it's somewhat difficult to predict which games will click with a player and which they'll bounce off of immediately. I've technically played each game, but some for only minutes while others for several hours. I've earned gold disks for seeing the end of only a handful of games so far, and I'm not close to getting the cherry achievements (the hardest challenges) of any of them. I expect my opinions about many of the games to change a lot after I've finished them all, a task which I'm positive will take still dozens more hours. Also, I suspect many of the games to take on a different tone, difficulty, and flavor once I've found many more of the cheat codes available and tried playing each game with the cheats active.

Up until I purchased the game, I tried to remain as unspoiled on UFO 50 as possible. I am still largely unaware of the grander meta-narrative about UFO Soft that's included and believe that more easter eggs and secrets have yet to be discovered. I expect these to color my opinions of the game overall as well once I've seen them, but regardless I'm confident in saying that UFO 50 is a must-play for anyone interested in retro games or getting into game design, art, narrative, programming, music, etc. Spelunky 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so I was already primed to enjoy another title by Derek Yu and Eirik Surhke. But still, I'm very impressed with what I've experienced of the game so far and think it deserves a lot of discussion and study. Both Spelunky 2 and UFO 50 seem to have been largely overlooked by the professional games media/podcast machine post-launch and I think that's a huge shame, although a lot of popular YouTubers and smaller podcasts are giving the game its due. So if you're still reading this asking yourself "Is UFO 50 the kind of game for me and worth $25?", rest assured the answer is most likely "yes" and you should go buy it and play it right now. Come back and tell me what you think if you do. That said, let's get into the games...

I originally tried all 50 games in their listed fictional chronological order of release, as I believe was probably intended, and will present them as such here as well:

Barbuta (1982) feels grindy, obtuse, slow, and overly-punishing until you start to make sense of the game's design language and solving its mysteries. As many others have theorized, I think Barbuta was put first in the list primarily to encourage users to try other games and come back to it later. I'll probably have to draw my own map of the layout to finish it, and I'm actually looking forward to that. I really like Barbuta overall, as both a callback to 1980's CGA/EGA graphics PC platformers of yore (none of which I'm very familiar with) as well as a contemporary of games like Animal Well, You Have to Win the Game, and I Wanna Be the Guy.

Bug Hunter (1983) immediately called to mind modern tactical roguelike games for me, primarily Into the Breach. Unlike Barbuta, this game felt easy for me to sink an hour into before moving on, though I've since put twice that much time into Barbuta. It has fun systems, a fairly gentle learning curve compared to many of the other games, and great art and UI that tells you just as much information as you need to make informed decisions.

Ninpek (1983) - I'll be honest and admit I'm not the biggest Contra fan (although I do really like Ninja Gaiden), but I don't think Ninpek's brutal difficulty does its genre of platformer/shooters many favors. That said, I keep coming back to it and find that I do make a lot of progress after I've warmed up a bit. I also appreciate that the game is fairly generous with extra lives and doesn't force a total restart until you've lost them all. It is very easy to get into a death spiral and quickly lose your last few lives though. While it's tough, I think Ninpek will be completable for most players who dedicate a few hours to it; I just don't know how enjoyable those hours will be on average.

Paint Chase (1983) gives me some nagging anxiety in a way that's hard to describe. There are so many things happening on screen at once that it's hard to pay attention to any of them. Trucks and planes barreling down lanes threaten to undo all your hard won progress, right down to the last few seconds of every round. The constantly changing blue and red squares can really mess with your vision too. I think I still enjoy the game, especially the meter that agonizingly ticks up your paint percentage at the end of a stage, determining if you pass or fail. I'm just not itching to finish it any time soon.

Magic Garden (1984) is the kind of game I wish I was naturally better at, but surviving in twitchy, one-hit kill arcade games long enough to rack up impressive high scores has never been my strong suit. Still, it's impossible to ignore this game's charms, and I'll keep coming back to it, even if I never really expect to master it.

Mortol (1984) struck me as one of the zaniest and most interesting game ideas I've ever seen. It's something of a bummer to spend a lot of bodies finishing a stage only to not have enough to finish the next one, but the game is so fun to play that I don't think I'll mind by the end.

Velgress (1984) has been on my mind a lot, distracting me for a few minutes here, a half hour there. It's easy and addicting to play a few runs, in the same way that Downwell or Spelunky are. I'm very confident I'll finish this game after I'm more accustomed with levels 2 and 3 - it's really just a matter of time.

Planet Zoldath (1984) I gave several solid attempts at first but it's not a game I enjoy playing all that much. I like what it's doing as a game idea though, as a procedurally-generated Zelda-like with some off-the-wall writing. The game seems directly influenced by the randomizer trend too, which is a really interesting design space to explore.

Attactics (1984) is one of the only games I really dislike so far, mainly because of its frantic and disorganized nature. I'm not really an auto-battler person, and having to play a Chess-like game with real-time movement just makes me panic and makes the game very hard to learn at first. I'm expecting this one to be a lot more enjoyable after some more practice, but it's very rough at the start.

Devilution (1984) weirdly reminded me of a game in another collection of games: Dungeons & Diagrams from Last Call BBS (2022) by Zachtronics. I enjoy setting up a Rube Goldberg machine of monster attacks and rocket launches and seeing all the dominoes fall at the end, but I can't help feeling there are some missing quality of life features here that could make the game a lot easier to parse.

Kick Club (1984) reminds me of Bubble Bobble, a game I've loved since I was a kid. It's relatively tough as a single-player game, but I imagine it's a lot easier with a Player 2 in coop. I love the sports theming of the enemies and the many different ways you can knock the deadly soccer ball into them.

Avianos (1985) is not nearly as hard to grock as it looks at first, which is something I can't say for a lot of contemporary strategy games. I quickly learned what the different symbols meant and tried to pick the most optimal Ancestor to pray to every round, and I find the core loop really satisfying. Sure, it doesn't have nearly the same depth as a Civilization or a Crusader Kings, but I also dislike having to spend upwards of four hours on a single match of those games.

Mooncat (1985) is meant to be a spiritual sequel to Barbuta, but I don't think I'll end up liking it as much. The gimmicky movement controls are more frustrating than interesting to me right now, and I don't see how even the best level design in the world could help me get past that. I've been wrong before though, for sure, and I want to give the full game a fair shot.

Bushido Ball (1985) is mildly enjoyable but can often be frustrating due to what I suspect is a very quick ramp up in difficulty of the enemy AI. Not only do you need to learn every character's strengths and weaknesses, you also need to react extremely fast or predict where the enemy will hit the ball next, usually long before the ball actually gets there. It's not impossible or completely unrewarding to learn, but I'm not convinced the juice is worth the squeeze with this one.

Block Koala (1985) will probably end up as one of my most-played games of the set, and I'm excited to get back to it. Even the early puzzles are really daunting, though, and I'm not very experienced with sokoban-style games. I'm glad the game comes with an undo button, but it still feels tedious to rewind more than a few steps. There's inherently a lot of trial and error involved in solving a puzzle, which can make individual puzzles take a very long time and make watching your koala slowly navigate through the same areas over and over more annoying than fun or relaxing.

Camouflage (1985) is a cool, logical extension of Frogger with kind of a stealth twist. I wish you didn't need to watch the same long animation of your lizard getting devoured every time you die though. The game is really asking you to go slow and plan your route ahead of time, but it's still easy to mess up and accidentally step into a hungry amphibian's path.

Campanella (1985) is both adorable and challenging as the titular UFO of UFO 50, and I'm still making up my mind about it. Flying the too-tiny UFO around can be physically painful when you have to constantly hold or mash the A button to keep it aloft, and its momentum definitely takes some getting used to. The ship also can only attack nearby objects, making every encounter with an enemy or obstacle a risk. 50 levels seems like a really tall order to complete when any brush with a random wall can end your run. Thankfully, though, it's easy to earn 1UPs in this game and many helpful secrets abound. I've already found one hidden teleporter in the first world that skips you forward a few levels, and I suspect there are others later on. The music, art, and humor of this game are great too, and Campanella is probably one of the more polished games of the set.

Golfaria (1985) is one of those weird game ideas that kind of works despite itself, like Pac Man 2 or the Sonic franchise. I don't love tediously navigating an entire world with limited golf ball physics, but I tend to enjoy golf games and ball-rolling games like Kirby's Dream Course, so I think it'll grow on me.

The Big Bell Race (1985) is Campanella racing and most reminds me of the Top Ride mode from Kirby Air Ride. I'm always down for silly racing games with power-ups like this one, but I still don't understand why the UFOs can only slash and not shoot lasers. This game is probably best played with another player.

Warptank (1985) feels like Blaster Master but with gravity switching and I'm mostly into it. Controlling and aiming the tank upside-down is not always intuitive, but the checkpoints are plentiful and you can retry a section as many times as it takes you to progress.

Waldorf's Journey (1986) is a great idea that's as funny as it is potentially frustrating. I love the idea of a flying walrus in a drug-induced dreamscape, but I don't love trying to land on tiny platforms or watching Waldorf fall to his death due to running out of fish meter. A little more leniency could have gone a long way here, but thankfully Waldorf's dream doesn't last long and focuses more on speed than stamina.

Porgy (1986) is another game that looks more fun than it is to play, due to some tough controls, water physics, overly-aggressive enemies, and punishing stamina mechanics. I keep bouncing off it right after I boot it up and get killed by the shark, but I'm determined to make some real progress.

Onion Delivery (1986) might be someone's favorite game (maybe even yours), but for me it's too annoying to control and too difficult to finish all the deliveries and return home without dying. I really like the cutscenes though and want to see more of the aliens and the story. If you're a Grand Theft Auto 1 & 2 fanatic, this game is probably for you.

Caramel Caramel (1986) might also be on the too-hard side of things for me but I really enjoy playing it. Just don't ask me why this fish-ship thing has a polaroid camera strapped to its face. The camera mechanic is brilliant in gameplay, though, serving the purposes of freezing enemies (making them easier to shoot and blow up in a chain reaction of double points) as well as revealing the many secret caches of orbs hidden in the environment. I don't understand why there are no checkpoints in this game though, when extra lives are so difficult to earn already. The music, art, and gameplay are killer otherwise though, making this one of my favorite games in UFO 50.

Party House (1986) is perhaps the best game in the first half of UFO 50, so it makes sense to put it at the halfway point chronologically. I really enjoy roguelike deckbuilders, and I've never played one with this goofy or charming of a theme. Again, the difficulty is very finely tuned, but you can definitely win scenarios with a little good luck and patient planning. Unwinnable situations still come up, for sure, but it's quick and easy to reset the game and try again if you don't want to play out all 25 days of a scenario.

Hot Foot (1986) calls to mind the Kunio-kun soccer and dodgeball NES games of my youth, but it's neither as ridiculous nor as fun as those. The writing is funny but the bean bags just feel awkward to both dodge and throw, and I haven't gotten a handle on what makes a good team yet. Combine that with some weird NPC AI and needing to manage two characters concurrently and I just don't think this works as a single-player experience. 2-player coop though I could see being pretty fun, so long as you don't chuck too many bean bags at your friend's head (in the game or otherwise).

Divers (1986) I know is one of the longer games included and so I've mostly put off playing it. I do really like the callback to the TMNT NES game's dam level though, and I'm excited to discover the game's secrets.

Rail Heist (1987) is one of the few games I've finished so far and probably one of my favorites. It took about four hours for me to complete all 20 missions (not going for stars or good times) and I was engrossed the whole playthrough. Getting the cowboys to do exactly what you want within your 9-second window can feel a bit random, and it never feels great to be shot from offscreen. But I think Rail Heist is mostly about those panicky moments between certain death and success, teaching you to form a plan and play precisely rather than waste a lot of time, which is what I love about Spelunky too.

Vainger (1987) has a lot to live up to as a Super Metroid clone, but I'm interested to see how its gravity-flipping will be used as more than just a gimmick across the whole game.

Rock On! Island (1987) is the first tower defense game I've played in a long time and one of the best, period. It's hard, it demands a lot of thought and attention, and it will upset you when 10 pterodactyls fly a B-line directly into your base because you didn't think to set up air defenses beforehand. But I really love the core loop of this game and there's something about the theme that feels very nostalgic to me. There are so many interesting decision points along the way to building a winning strategy, with just enough wiggle room for experimentation. There were a lot of NES and SNES games with cavemen-versus-dinosaurs themes too, for some reason, and Rock On! feels very faithful to that tradition.

Pingolf (1987) looks, sounds, and feels great to play but has some truly agonizing level design. I'll often line up a shot and whack the ball, only to watch it ricochet back at me and land further behind than where I started. This can happen very often in the later holes, demanding that you memorize the best routes to win. Getting good enough to win a match of all 18 holes will probably take me a few hours of practice, but I'm not sure I won't be sick of the game by the end of it.

Mortol II (1987) fails to live up to its predecessor's genius for me so far, sadly. The different classes feel stiff and difficult to manuever, and it's very frustrating to lose a man and then have to start over from the beginning yet again, even with 100 of them at your disposal.

Fist Hell (1987) makes a lot of sense and it's fun to play a River City Ransom-style beat-em-up with zombies. It's just very difficult to survive for long. Attempting the game with two players seems ideal.

Overbold (1987) lets you dig your own grave through raising the stakes of each fight with the promise of winning more points. It seems like a false promise, though, for all but the most dedicated of players. Getting killed in one hit here seems overly-mean, and I don't really enjoy this game's brand of Robotron-style slaughter either way.

Campanella 2 (1987) I've heard is the "Spelunky 3" of this collection but I've yet to see how that plays out. I'm not very excited about flying more Campanellas through tiny spaces or moving around as a slow, pixellated astronaut though. At least Isabel can shoot lasers when she gets out of the ship, I guess, similar to Cave Story or Blaster Master. This is yet another game I really wonder about the lack of checkpointing.

Hyper Contender (1988) was surprisingly easy for me and I finished my first run of the game using Elka, which took about 10 minutes including a few deaths. It's very similar to the versus mode in Spelunky 2, and I think it'd be fun to play with friends.

Valbrace (1988) is one of the games I was most looking forward to trying, and so far it's lived up to the hype. It has some of the same navigation issues that many classic dungeon crawlers had, but the automap is pretty helpful and the combat is a lot more engaging than just picking the same old options from a menu.

Rakshasa (1988) feels like Ghouls N' Ghosts or Contra but doesn't seem nearly as hard as those games to me. I really like the death save system turning the game momentarily into something like a shmup. The player's ghost also seems like a callback to Ninpek, and I love when these games are in conversation with each other. You can really see how UFO Soft progressed and developed in a lot of areas throughout the collection.

Star Waspir (1988) is unfortunately too hard for me and maybe needlessly so at first blush. I'm not an expert at shmups but to me this seems to be targeting only the most dedicated and hardcore of arcade grinders who can spell EGG.

Grimstone (1988) is a "Western" Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest clone and I'm super excited to play through it and see how my party develops.

Lords of Diskonia (1988) is what happens when you mix Heroes of Might & Magic with something like marbles or crokinole and it works surprisingly well. There's a lot of strategy and skill involved in how and where you shoot your disks, and sometimes a weaker army can still win the fight through some clever placement and opportunistic bounces. I'm looking forward to playing through the whole campaign.

Night Manor (1988) lives and dies by the quality of its art, atmosphere, scares, and puzzles, and it's mostly successful. I'm really glad there's a puzzle horror game included in the list at all, though, and the fact that it works surprisingly well with a controller with two buttons is remarkable.

Elfazar's Hat (1988) is tough but seems mostly fair so far. I really like this kind of slower-paced shooter and played a lot of Gun.Smoke on the NES growing up. The card pick-ups are a fun sub-objective and keep you exploring the environment.

Pilot Quest (1988) I knew was an idle clicker game going in and so I've mostly left it to its own devices after planting a few seeds at the start. It and the original Planet Zoldath remind me of Pikmin, but the gameplay doesn't seem nearly as fun or interesting so far. It's very cool that the game continues collecting gems even when you're not playing it though.

Mini & Max (1989) really appeals to me as a Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers kind of game with a shrinking mechanic. The opening level seems a bit plain and empty, but I'm hoping it gets more interesting from there. The pixel art and writing so far are top-notch.

Combatants (1989) - or "Combat Ants", if you will - might be the weirdest game on this list, combining the theming and obtuse non-controls of Sim Ant with a hardcore RTS like StarCraft. I'm not sure if it's a joke game with a larger meta-reason for being the way it is or simply just bad, but I'm betting on the former.

Quibble Race (1989) appears to be purely a gambling game, and as such I have basically zero interest in it thus far. On the surface, it reminds me of one too many boring mini-games to want to play it. Maybe it will surprise me though!

Seaside Drive (1989) released the month and year I was born (in the fictional world of UFO 50) and as such I feel some kinship with it. Thankfully, it's got a great, synthwave theme, chill music, and fun gameplay. It plays kind of like Moon Patrol on crack and adds a drifting mechanic, and recalls other nostalgia-fueled indie games like Hotline Miami and Retro City Rampage as well as films like Drive and Point Break.

Campanella 3 (1989) shifts the perspective of the Campanella series from 2D to 3D, in one of the more technologically impressive outings of UFO 50. I mostly enjoy games like Star Fox (when I can survive long enough in them anyway) and I'm looking forward to giving this a real shot.

Cyber Owls (1989) spoofs on the likes of Battle Toads and many, many other NES and SNES team action games, but I'm not convinced it's as good as any of the best of those so far. The gameplay ideas are there but the execution feels a bit lacking, in the case of each individual owl's levels and gameplay.

And that's it! I also wanted to mention the Garden in UFO 50, which acts like a trophy room for your achievements in every game, and I love it. Please don't take anything I've said about the games too seriously, as, again, my opinions are likely to change about many of them. But I hope you've enjoyed reading this if you've made it this far, and maybe I'll end up doing a full(er) review of this game down the line when I've collected a lot more gold disks. Until then, I really hope you go out and play UFO 50 yourself; the devs deserve the support and I know you'll find a game or two you love here.

Cheers, Nick