#i really want to do some more polished art for this show but right now

[cream-and-tea]

[ID in alt]

our paige.

[em-b-sides]

I think about that tiktok trend where you like paint your partners eye color on your nails or make a bracelet or something with the color a lot actually

[genericpuff]

I'm sorry, but this should come as a shock to absolutely no one.

Just a little bit of 'insider info' (and by 'insider' I mean I was a part of the beta testing crew a few years ago) Webtoons has been messing with AI tools for years. You can literally play test that very same AI tool that I beta-tested here:

Mind you, this is just an AI Painter, similar to the Clip Studio Colorize tool, but it goes to show where WT's priorities are headed. I should mention, btw, that this tool is incredibly useless for anyone not creating a Korean-style webtoon, like you can deadass tell it was trained exclusively on the imports because it can't handle any skin tone outside of white (trying to use darker colors just translates as "shadows" to the program, meaning it'll just cast some fugly ass shadows over a white-toned character no matter how hard you try) and you just know the AI wouldn't know what to do with itself if you gave it an art style that didn't exactly match with the provided samples lmao

And let's be real, can we really expect the company that regularly exploits, underpays, and overworks its creators to give a damn about the ethical concerns of AI? They're gonna take the path of least resistance to make the most money possible.

So the fact that we're now seeing AI comics popping up on Webtoons left and right - and now, an actual "Webtoon AI" branding label - should come as zero shock to anyone. Webtoons is about quantity over quality and so AI is the natural progression of that.

So yeah, if you were looking for any sign to check out other platforms outside of Webtoons, this is it. Here are some of my own recommendations:

ComicFury - Independently run, zero ads, zero subscription costs (though I def recommend supporting them on Patreon if you're able), full control over site appearance, optional hosting for only the cost of the domain name, and best of all, strictly anti-AI. Not allowed, not even with proper labelling or disclosure. Full offense to the tech bro hacks, eat shit.

GlobalComix - Very polished hosting site that offers loads of monetization tools for creators without any exclusive contracts or subscriptions needed. They do offer a subscription program, but that's purely for reading the comics on the site that are exclusively behind paywalls. Not strictly anti-AI but does require in their ToS that AI comics be properly labelled and disclosed, whether they're made partially or fully with AI, to ensure transparency for readers who want to avoid AI comics.

Neocities - If you want to create your own site the good ole' fashioned way (i.e. HTML / CSS) this is the place. Independently run, offers a subscription plan for people who want more storage and bandwidth but it only costs $5/month so it's very inexpensive, and even without that subscription cost you won't have to deal with ads or corporate management bullshit.

Be safe out there pals, don't be afraid to set out into the unknown if it means protecting your work and keeping your control as a creator. Know your rights, know your power.

[aaroleswapau]

Do you have any swap!franziska art? Wanna see more of her design

i unfortunately don't have any polished art of her bc i think when i drew this, my swap au hyperfixation was starting to wane, whoops! these are just some very quick sketches of what i wanted her new thing in the swap au to be.

(i will be putting old art of her old design if you want to see it under read more pftt [unfortunately not a lot of them bc i wasn't vibing with the old role i gave her so i wasn't drawing her a lot 😔])

oki doks, now time for a lore dump!!!!! (copy-pasting what i wrote on the bird app a long time ago):

ok, so the thing is, i gave a bit of redd white's role to mvk. my reasoning for that is since he's the one who killed gregory (who has mia's role), he'd have to take on that role too. when characters don't have any like, "exact" foils for their roles to be swapped with, i either make them stay the same or hobble some roles together. mvk's case was the latter.

so mvk runs a private eye that's connected to the prosecutor's office (he's corrupt bc have you seen that guy) and franziska happens to be working there.

mvk also happens to be one the people responsible for covering up the details about mia's death.

i wanted to change franziska's job from my first version of her bc she doesn't really have a connection to the supernatural, so i just gave her a job that works closely in the covering crimes too.

but yeah, fran has to meet gregory, and then she gets framed by redd white

and she's furious about it, of course! that fool works under her father, how dare he put the blame on her!

with how fran is supposedly cooperating with gregory, i think mvk would've really wanted her to catch the fall even with how much he cares about his daughter. he's an 'end justifies the means' kind of guy.

i don't think fran realizes until swap!jfa that it was her father who purposely tried to frame her and the one who ordered to kill gregory.

i think she'd feel really torn by that and the guilt with how miles defended her before knowing all that would've ate her up (the fact that gregory is dead, no spirit channeling or anything makes this more fucked up for them i think agfhhjh)

however, i still haven't figured out why franziska would agree to talk to gregory if he's investigating mia's death, and i'm not quite sure why gregory would've been investigating mia's death in the first place bc unlike mia in the regular verse, he'd have no connections to her case at least

(that would probably require some aai duology knowledge that i do not have right now ASKSKS)

my brain isn't fully working right now so i can't fully ramble on about her design, but i did think it was important to make her dress eccentric; and i know that everyone dresses eccentric in aa, but particularly that one point in turnabout sisters where april may should've remembered maya bc she dressed weird? i wanted the same for franziska ASKSKS roast her old-timey gothic looking ass!!!!!

and from my recent drawing of her, i think if i were to draw like, a polished ref for her, i would like to show the fact that her make-up is severe. again, 'eccentric' or whatever pftt

i originally had her be like a witch, some sort of seer who could communicate with the dead through her crystal ball. scrapped that and changed it bc it was just not digging my dudes asdghd a shame tho bc i'm rather fond of her big-ass veil witch hat thingy

[doukeshi-kun]

imagine visiting stalker!Kolya before a show, staying with him inside his campervan. Could it be painting his nails, trying makeup on him or just playing with his hair as reader and him cuddle?

I love domestic scenarios ☹️🤍 (plus, I developed an obsession for stalker!Kolya)

𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧!𝙣𝙞𝙠𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙞 + 𝙘𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙨

replies ⨳ nikolai is supposed to be obsessed with us, not the other way around ( ಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ) btw thanks for pulling me out of writers block lmao enjoy this short drabble gshdjsh

notes ⨳ stalker!nikolai series

contents ⨳ fluff, obsessive thoughts, fem!reader

Nikolai is nervous.

His brain is short-circuited and he cannot stop staring at you. He has around five more hours before he has to leave for a show, though he still has some paperwork to review. And yet here he is, on the bed, with his girl lying against his body, carefully painting baby blue nail polish on his nails.

He found out—through... interesting method—about your sudden interest in nail arts. He even bought a complete set of manicures for you, intended to surprise you with the set once he visited you. But you came to visit him instead, and thus he decided to just give you straight away.

“Do you want a small flower?” your question snaps him out as he glances at his blue nails. Your hand is holding his, checking whether his thumbnail is dried or not. Nikolai swallows hard. His skin flares when he realises how close you two are, how he could smell you, how he could feel you. His finger twitches when he sees your skin is touching his.

Too much. Too much. You're too much.

Even after so many months, you're still too much for his poor heart.

“I-I do,” Nikolai says, smiling softly at you. You turn your face towards him and he almost gasps by how close your faces are—I could kiss you right now. I really want to kiss you. Please, I really want to kiss you. May I, love? I'll be good. Just a kiss, please, little dove.

“You okay? You seem to be... out of it,” you ask, reaching for a small packet of nail ornaments.

“Can I kiss you?”

You raise your eyebrow. It's rare for Nikolai to ask permission to kiss. He doesn't even ask permission to invade your house while you're sleeping and yet here he is, with puppy eyes, baby blue nails and a beige sweater, asking if he can kiss you. You nod slowly and Nikolai giggles happily before he leans forward, kissing your lips. shortly.

“Haha! I'm happy!” he exclaims before he kisses you again. You cannot help for a smile crook on your lips at his childish reaction.

“Ooh! You smile! How adorable!” Nikolai cups your face with his hands, pulling both your cheeks together so that they pucker your lips. “I'm gonna fucking eat you, I swear to God,” he whispers.

Whatever he means by 'eat' —whether literally or sexually, you do not really want to know.

“F-Funny....” you mutter before you tap his arm. “Let me go or you won't get a flower on your thumb,” and Nikolai is quick to obey you, pulling his hands away and offering his painted thumbnail. You glance at him for a second—noticing his gaze is darkened. You decide to ignore it for now. You may have an idea of what Nikolai might be thinking, but he is one unexpected guy. Everything he does seems spontaneous even when he has planned for it long beforehand.

As you're sticking the daisy charm on his nail carefully, your phone rings. You reach it and Nikolai leans forward, trying to listen to your conversation just because he can. You shoo him, pushing him by his chest to give yourself a personal space because he is invading almost every one of your spaces. Pouting, Nikolai huffs and stays on his spot as you answer the phone.

But Nikolai is not giving up. He leans just slightly, enough to see the name on the screen. A common name for men. And he finds his heart races faster when he hears a faint masculine voice talking to you on the other side. Nikolai frowns—well, this enthusiasm doesn't seem nice.

He could barely hear what's the man babbling about, so he depends on your facial expression to figure out what's happening. He could hear muffled, jumbled words like 'work', 'rejected', 'apply', 'coffee', 'out', 'free time', 'help', 'together'—

No.

“That would be wonderful. Thanks. Yeah! Okay, see you there. Thank you so much.”

You end the call, finally looking at Nikolai who is now quiet. You sigh, knowing he probably listened to chunks of your conversation with the hiring man. “Kolya...” you call softly as you scoot closer again to him. Your hands tangle themselves in his fluffy hair, caressing his soft white strands.

“You goin' on a date?” Nikolai pouts.

“It's for work, Kolya... He'd help me to secure another position I've applied for. It's not a date.” you explain carefully. It's not that your current job at the cafe is bad, but you need a more stable financial source. Though Nikolai has offered to take care of you fully, you still want to work for yourself.

"Hm~ I know." Nikolai leans closer, exhaling softly at the way your hand caresses his head. He finds himself getting more possessive and easy to get jealous when it comes to you. He needs more time to think rationally when it comes to keeping you around with him.

“I trust you. You won't—” he hugs you tighter, closer. “—leave me, right?”

Your bodies are embracing one another. You bury your face in his chest as your hands caress his hair and face and neck and shoulder and chest.

“Don't you leave me,” he warns. He makes a large step forward and grabs your arm tightly. “You do not leave me. I love you so much. I love you to the Hell and Heaven. I will not let you leave. We are meant to be together, love, we are meant to be! I need you in my life. I need you, to be my freedom. You and I, we complete each other, little dove.” his mouth is forming a deranged smile as he begins to get impatient.

A distant memory rushes past your mind. You stay still before a soft nudge of his knee against your stabbed thigh pulls you out of that lane of memory. You tug on him tighter and look up at him. You hold his face, kissing his lips slowly, once again making sure of yourself. He moans lowly and smirks against your lips. His hand holds the back of your head as he returns your kiss.

Words aren't enough to describe your declaration to him. It's enough to just—I won't leave you.

©doukeshi-kun 2023 — do not copy, plagiarize and repost my works to any platform, more @/cherikolya

if you like my works, consider buy me a ko-fi!

[bluecollarmcandtf]

Am I Acting Weird?

Walking home, I just can't shake the feeling that something is off, but I can't figure out what! I asked Coach about it before leaving practice, but he just laughed. He said I was weird not to appreciate the effort I've put into football lately.

He's right. I've been busting my ass, but that's exactly what I'm talking about!

I've never given a damn about improving my rank or even showing up to conditioning! I just wanted to hang out with my buds and mess around with the cheerleaders.

But now, it's like none of that matters! I've skipped the last three parties to bulk up at the gym! I haven't been able to drink anything other than protein shakes, and my meals are always loaded with meat. It's like I can't control myself anymore! Why can't I just take a night off and drink beers with the rest of the boys?

I let out a long groan of frustration and trudge upstairs. My younger sibling Max laying on the couch while the TV blares his favorite show.

Max is the weird one! He's like 18, and all he does is play videogames and sit around all day.

I quickly strip off my sweaty football uniform and toss it into the corner of my bedroom. My muscles are already tired and aching from yesterday's practice, so I can't imagine how sore I'll be feeling when I wake up for tomorrow's early morning workout; something I only recently started doing everyday.

Like every other night, I pull my usual at-home clothes on; a stiff white shirt, black apron, and bowtie. This outfit might seem weird, but it feels nice, especially when I tie everything up extra tight. Max showed me how. Sure, it's not comfortable at all, and I look like a waiter more than anything, but that doesn't bother me.

My little brother is annoying as hell, but he's usually right. Me and dad used to tease him all the time, but we've come around since then.

Now that I'm finally at home and suited up, I can feel my shoulders relax. Whatever was bothering me before can wait. I pull some shiny black shoes on, slip a pair of white gloves over my hands, and carefully step back downstairs. It's important that I make as little noise as possible when I'm home. I wouldn't want to disturb anybody.

"Hey, big bro," Max calls from the couch, "Your home."

"Yes, Max," I answer, taking my usual position next to the couch.

This is where I stand when I'm in the living room anymore. It's just where I feel most comfortable, and it's right next to a little cart of useful supplies. I grab a towel and sling it over my shoulder. It's always a good idea to have one on me when I'm at home. Never know when I'm going to need it.

"My shoes could use a polish while we chat," Max adds, flipping through the channels.

"You got it, Max."

See, the towel does come in handy. I quickly fetch a container of shoe polish on my little cart and kneel by his feet. I've been polishing Max's shoes for a few weeks now, so I've gotten pretty good at it. He doesn't really appreciate the art of it, but I guess it's just something that I'm into.

"How's football? You the best player yet?" Max asks nonchalantly from above.

"No, Max. I've gotten a lot bigger lately, but the quarterback is still a lot more muscular and skilled."

He rolls his eyes and adds, "Give it time I guess. You're going to keep at it until your a professional player like the ones on TV."

I stop buffing his sneaker for a second and glance up at him. His attention is now completely fixated on an NFL videogame.

"Max, that's just it," I admit, "Lately I've been working out and bulking up like I'm some pro-athlete, but I'm not. I don't think I even want to be! That life just seems so grueling."

Max pauses his game and looks down at me solemnly.

I avert my gaze and add, "It's just weird that lately I've put so much work into something I don't want."

"You think that's weird?" he dryly raises an eyebrow.

I just shake my head and turn my attention back to my brother's sneaker. It's going to need a lot more polish before it shines.

The door opens and our father arrives home.

"Hey, boy," he dismissively calls when he sees me on the floor. Then he notices my brother lounging on the couch.

"Max," he says with a bit more emphasis, dipping his head a little.

"Dad, I'm really hungry right now, so could you get a move on with dinner?" Max answers.

"Of course, Max."

Our father immediately drops his keys and briefcase and shuffles into the kitchen. I've always admired him. He played football in college too, so we've always bonded over sports.

But lately, he only seems interested in his work. I rarely see him because he always stays late and picks up night shifts at the office. It's done wonders for his career, so I guess that's good. He's been given a few raises recently for all the extra effort he's put in, but I can tell it's taking a bit of a toll on the guy.

"Big bro, just look at Dad," Max explains to me, "He doesn't complain about anything being weird, does he? He just keeps his mouth shut and goes to work. Be more like him."

I don't speak as I switch to shining his other sneaker. Max is probably right. If Dad can power through long hours in the office to bring home a decent salary, then I can surely shut up and dedicate myself to a career in football.

It doesn't take long for our father to return to the living room.

"The food is almost ready, but here are some drinks while you wait, Max," he says.

Our dad seems minorly annoyed by the starched clothing he has on, but that suit is his typical home outfit. It looks even more stiff and uncomfortable than my get up, but I guess he's willing to put up with it.

Max stands before I can finish at his feet and grabs a glass from our father.

"Whoops, here you can finish them," he says after a swig of wine, kicking the shoes off in my direction, "And then take care of the laundry in my room."

"Sure thing, Max," I answer, but he's already turned his attention to dad.

"Is your wallet in your briefcase?" he asks, "I'm taking a few friends out tonight."

"It is, Max, and the car keys are next to it. The car is low on gas. Should I take it to a station before you go out?"

"Yeah," Max adds between sips, "Take care of that while I eat."

"Of course, Max."

"Oh, and Dad."

"Yes, Max?"

"Start making double portions for big bro's meals. He needs to bulk up faster if he's going to usurp the current quarterback."

I pretend not to hear, and finish up my work with Max's shoes. Maybe my new focus on football hasn't been that strange after all. It's not really the life I thought I'd be pursuing, but it's kind of nice being bigger and more athletic than I used to be. It's not really weird if I think about it. Maybe I can even get a few more reps in after I finish Max's laundry.

I hope he has a good time out with his friends tonight. It's weird, but I don't really know what else I'd spend my time doing.

[felassan]

Snippets from shinobi602, cut for length.

Comment made after the character trailer, before the gameplay reveal:

"I know I sound like a broken record at this point but I'd really wait for the gameplay footage before writing it off. I agree that the tone of the trailer isn't how I would have personally revealed the game lol. But it's definitely a mature story...(with classic DA humor of course) I think people will come around when they see it in motion." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

"I just got a sneak peak at the gameplay being shown on Tuesday. A small sample, but enough to get a good taste. It feels like a much better Inquisition to me. Absolutely not Fortnite or Overwatch." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

User: "Maybe this gameplay showcase is going to show us all the character creator options, the RPG mechanics and skill trees, the expansive dialogue choices you can make, the minute to minute gameplay and how the world works." Shinobi: "You won't get all of that. But it's a solid chunk. This is just the first step in a long several months ahead. They have to save stuff for more beats down the road too or else you run out of gas lol." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

User: "Very excited to see a glimpse into that for the gameplay reveal, hoping the game's beginning is as memorable as the other entries" Shinobi: "It is a massive boost in quality for the series. I'm not talking art style or anything, but just in terms of sheer quality and technical fidelity. Really hard to keep my tongue bitten lol, but I'm excited to see what everyone thinks tomorrow." [source]

Comment made after the gameplay reveal was teased:

"Yup, that's what it looks like, but there's so much more goodness. Looks amazing imo." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

"it feels like the ME2 of Dragon Age." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

"Oh just wait. The hair tech is phenomenal in this. Even I was thinking "aye is this a Bioware game!?" lol." [source]

Comment made before the gameplay reveal:

"They look different but to be honest the more you see them, the more you get used to it. I love the way Harding looks now. It's more stylized, but also a huge boost in technical fidelity in Frostbite." [source]

Comment made after the gameplay reveal, before the press who saw the demos at SGF shared about what they saw:

"Pretty much every person I've talked to across a dozen different media outlets, ~95%'ish, has walked out of the private demo sessions with glowing praise." [source]

-

"I don't mean there aren't any open ended areas to explore. But it's a tight game, with a focus on not wasting the player's time with bloat. They took a lot of that feedback from Inquisition." [source] [re: the game not being open world in design]

-

One preview from a large outlet basically boils down to 'Bioware is back'. [source]

-

"I'm optimistic. From conversations I've had, they are genuinely serious in trying to make a Bioware classic here. They do not want a repeat of Andromeda or Anthem. I can only go based off what I've heard obviously - haven't played it. We all have our opinions on the combat, but they learned a lot of hard lessons since Inquisition, taken a lot of feedback to heart, and want this to feel like that tight, structured high quality experience we used to get from them. Andromeda and Anthem came in hot at launch. I felt some warning signs before those came out, but here? Right now they're just polishing. It's all polish from here to release. I'm really hoping this is the start of their return to form. That team's been through a lot, I hope it works out for the best." [source]

-

User: "I think there certainly is a decent contingent of legitimate dissatisfaction or concern around the game, but I'm not sure that that's an overwhelming segment, but I do think it's something BioWare in EA should not and cannot ignore." Shinobi: "They've definitely taken notice. There's a lot more to show between now and launch." [source]

-

"One thing I'm particularly happy about and can't get over is how much better the hair rendering is. It might be a small thing to some but it looks incredible. It's in another stratosphere compared to DAI." [source]

-

"Everyone in the previews was gushing about how robust the CC is in Veilguard so there might be a decent chance to make some wild Qunari designs." [source]

On the Next Mass Effect:

"ME will look very, very good. Don't worry." [source]

[patchofgrey]

Some one-shots to write out my head cannons for them. Nejiten Head cannon explanations: part one More Nejiten fanfictions by me: ffdotnet | A03

(art by me...main account: @rikustarlight)

Head cannon: Their first kiss was an impulsive mistake. --

It was almost lunch time. They had been training since well before the sun began to rise and hadn’t stopped since. He was actually surprised that she was willing to wake up as early as they did; she liked her sleep. And yet, she was ready when he tapped at her window, fully dressed and wide awake. Granted, he was a bit surprised when she approached him about a new training time, and was especially surprised when she shared that she wanted to develop a new move with him. This new training schedule had been implemented for the past four weeks and they both seemed to be better off for it. It gave them time to just experiment without Gai and Lee around, it was quiet, and they would really take their time. Tenten was full of determination to have something unique before they retook their chunnin exams. He hummed to himself as he looked at her from a tall wooden post in the middle of the field. His stomach rumbled a bit. She was looking at him from her spot on the ground, expectantly with her cheeks puffed up and her hands on her hips.

“Tenten, maybe we should take a break.” He called to her from a tree. “We’ve been at this for a few hours now. I know you’re tired.”

The bunhead shook her head and turned her back to him. “I almost have it, Neji. Just one more time…” 

“You said that the last time,” the Hyuga murmured. “This is also unlike you. You take your breaks very seriously.”

“Neji, c’mon! I want to get this right!” She whined as she twisted herself to him. “I want a technique that’s unique to me just like how you and Lee have one. I’m so close to getting it right…just one more time!”

“Then, I do have lunch plans with Shikamaru. He should be here shortly.”

“I know, I know! Just please, Neji?”

A sigh escaped his lips. Ever since he started training with his uncle and cousin, he’s missed out on a few of their own training sessions. Sometimes, Neji would bring Tenten to the estate to watch or to (rarely) join in. Hiashi knew that the bunhead had assisted his nephew in his training; he had no issue with having her around.

It was a break from their routine, and he did feel bad for just dropping her to train at the Hyuga estate. Neji owed Tenten big time for helping him develop his rotation for the second fight round of the chunnin exams. However, he did try his best to spend time with her. Whenever he could, he’d stop by her house with sweets; usually as an apology for skipping out on their usual schedule. When they went on missions together, he would always try to buy her something or help her search for something worth bringing back home…like a scroll or some interesting weapons they would come across. He wanted to show his appreciation for her friendship and partnership. She’d smile at him whenever he brought her something. That smile made his chest swell and brighten his mood. Tenten wasn’t materialistic, but it was the best Neji could do for the time being. He would also help her polish and sharpen her blades, and help her around the house if her parents were out. Sometimes, she would get mad at him. He was too helpful; she could do most things herself, but Neji insisted or he would just do it. Balancing his new responsibilities and his friendship was difficult. Tenten was his closest friend after all. 

“Yo!” A voice called from behind Neji.

The pair looked over and saw Shikamaru heading their way. The shadow manipulator nodded at Tenten before turning to Neji and inquiring about their lunch plans. They were going to go one last round, hopefully seeing some improvement. Shikamaru hummed and watched as Tenten reached for her scrolls. He knew she had been working with Neji for a few weeks on this; the Hyuga had shared it with him over a few games of Go. The Nara would ask about her progress and offer some tips to the Hyuga to further assist her. Neji had also expressed that he was worried that his teammate felt some type of way because she did not have a “fancy technique” or a kekkei genkai. She had become obsessed with the idea that she needed something extra and not seeing that she was great how she currently was; she had skills he and Lee struggled in. Tenten was queen of the ninja fundamentals with her perfect aim and adaptability to manage any situation. He didn’t like that Tenten thought she wasn’t good enough. Shikamaru was rather curious as to why the Hyuga made it a priority to ensure Tenten’s wellbeing; sure they’re best friends and teammates but the way he doted in her was a bit…overbearing and protective. As if he felt somewhat responsible to keep Tenten happy. 

“I’ll be over there,” Shikamaru pointed to a nearby tree. “Let me know when you’re ready.” 

Tenten faced Neji fully, determination and exhaustion in her face. They were both tired and hungry. She wanted to finally get this right and see her hard work pay off. Her hands started to weave signs and she channeled her chakra to her fingers. Neji dropped into a defensive stance and she summoned twin blades. 

The Nara watched curiously as they clashed. They moved with such speed and flow it was if they were dancing. He could see why Neji had asked him for advice; it was hard to train with Tenten because they knew almost everything about each other and they had synced up perfectly due to their training. He watched as Tenten’s hands flowed blue, her chakra pouring into her swords. She was in control of this spar, provoking Neji’s next moves, just as Gai-sensei had taught them. The Hyuga swung his own kunai and the bunhead launched herself over him. Mid-jump, Neji watched as she launched her blades at him, her chakra still attached by string like connections. 

Dancing twin blades!

Shikamaru hummed in amusement as Tenten manipulated her blades and attacked Neji with her taijutsu at the same time. Her movements were swift and held rhythm; there was a tempo she was keeping in order to control the fight and since Tenten was able to adjust herself to Neji’s tempo, she was still in control of the situation. This would be quite the drag on the battlefield…she could take out multiple enemies at once with this…and use it as a diversion. The Nara’s dark eyes attempted to track their movements, but he gave up after a while due to the speed in which they were moving. He expected nothing less from Team Gai and their outer worldly speed and stamina. A hum escaped the chunnin’s  throat as he watched Tenten’s chakra rope entangle around Neji; his evasion was no match for Tenten. Her blades whipped back into her hands and she paused. Both panted heavily as they stood still. This technique was very taijutsu dependent and ever since Tenten was humiliated by Temari, she was determined to get better so it would never happen again. Neji had encouraged her to continue to work on her taijutsu; she wasn’t lacking with it, she just needed to incorporate it more into her weapons handling so she could fight in close combat. 

“I…did it.”

Neji let out a hum as the chakra strings faded. Tenten had a lot of chakra which surprised him a bit when they first started sparring. She had way more than he did, and she was continuing to develop it further. Her ability to create solid chakra strings was more of a puppeteer specialty, however, she was able to control the flow as she fought. That form of multitasking was hard to maintain, especially since Neji would be in her face trying to crack her concentration. This with her perfect aim…this is some ANBU shit she’s working on… Shikamaru thought with a smirk. Impressive. 

“Holy shit, I finally did it!” Tenten exclaimed brightly.

Straightening himself, the Hyuga congratulated her on her victory. The bunhead gave a yelp and jumped at her triumph; she had finally perfected her form and technique to her liking. Neji’s face was soft as he called to her. 

“Your hard work paid off, Tenten.” He offered a small smile. “You officially have a technique unique to-mmf!”

Neji’s eyes grew wide as Tenten ran over to him. He felt warmth on his face and his mouth was unable to move. Her arms had flung around his neck and the Hyuga felt something luscious against his own lips. Time had stopped for what seemed to be forever. He could hear Shikamaru give a small gasp of surprise; Neji had forgotten for a split second the Nara was even there. The sweet sent of Tenten’s citrus shampoo filled his nostrils as they embraced. This is…his body froze. She’s… The bunhead’s puckered lips gave a light pop as she removed herself from him. A dazzling smile had spread on her face as she continued to hold him. The Hyuga remained stunned, his brain registering that she had indeed just kissed him. 

“Neji, you’re the best!” She chirped. “I can’t thank you enough for this!”

She released him and took a step back with her smile remaining on her face. Neji’s lips remained slightly ajar as he looked at her in wonder. It took a cough from Shikamaru for the prodigy to snap out of whatever shock he was in. His cheeks were hot and it had tracked to his ears. He felt no embarrassment as he smiled back at her. In a way, the kiss felt right. 

“Of course.” He said. “Anything for you, Tenten.”

Suddenly, Tenten’s eyes grew wide and her cheeks puffed up. It’s possible she had just registered what she had done and now her blush was creeping up her neck. 

“I’ll-uh- get going then. Since Shikamaru is here and you guys have plans…see you later?” The bunhead couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Hn.” The Hyuga nodded and watched as she waved at them before making her way out of the training fields.

Shikamaru whistled, which caused the Hyuga to snap his attention to his friend. The Nara had a wide grin on his face.

“What?” Neji cocked an eyebrow. 

Shikamaru’s eyebrows shot to his forehead. “Dude, you still expect me to believe the two of you are just friends after seeing that?”

The blush was still present on Neji’s face as he rolled his eyes and prompted them to go have their lunch. Shikamaru had accused Neji of having some kind of crush on the bunhead for some time now and this was just too good to back up that assumption. The Nara was not going to let this go, especially since he had the delight of seeing the Hyuga genius in a completely different light of embarrassment. He was going to revel in this moment.

Tenten looked at herself in the mirror. She had just showered after eating her lunch and was trying to process what she had just done to Neji at the training grounds. Did she really just kiss him? She definitely did. Her lips pursed together as she recalled her actions. It wasn’t anything in malice, granted Neji would’ve pushed her off if he was offended by it. Wait, he didn’t push me off. A small gasp was heard.  Maybe he was too surprised to react? In a way she did just technically jump him. But, she pressed her whole mouth on his and kissed him. Running a hand through her damp hair, she sucked her teeth. There was a potential that she could’ve just ruined her friendship with him and now their dynamic would be awkward. And to top it off, it was in front of someone else. Part of her was relieved that it was Shikamaru and not Lee or Gai. They would’ve made such a big deal about it. She could practically hear their declarations of youth and further embarrassment. 

“If he never talks to me again…I totally get it. What the hell was I thinking?” 

That’s it, she wasn’t thinking. She had the intention of grabbing him for a hug, something that was normal for them especially when alone. She hadn't even realized she had kissed him until after she saw his face. I hope he doesn’t hate me after that, mused as she brushed her hair. He did say he would see her later…so, it’s possible he wasn’t mad at her. A bit of guilt washed over her; Neji was a very private person but he was very open about his thoughts to her. Hopefully, he would come to see her later and she could apologize. It was completely out of line for her to do so…he’d forgive her, right? 

After a few minutes, Tenten had finished brushing her hair. She changed into her civilian clothing and sat on her floor. A distraction is what she needed in the meantime. If he didn’t come, she would take herself to his apartment and apologize; it was only right, she thought as she looked through her scrolls. 

Tap tap

Her eyes shot to her balcony. Neji stood in his own civilian clothes, a white T-shirt with dark grey shorts. His curse mark was covered by bandages and his hair was released from the confines of his usual low ponytail. In his hands was a small box. Sweets, she blinked. So, he’s not mad at me. Standing, she opened her balcony door and stepped aside to let him in. The Hyuga took off his shoes and eyed the scrolls littered on her bedroom floor in curiosity, concluding she was probably working on her seals. His gaze traveled back to her and realized her hair was down; she had just finished showering. Her hair curled slightly at the ends as it was evident that she had just brushed it. Neji had only seen Tenten’s hair down once before, during a mission where they had to disguise themselves to gather information. Noticing that she had caught him looking at her, he cleared his throat.

“I got you some red bean buns.” He held up the box. “You liked them last time we tried this desert place…”

“O-oh, thanks! I’ll make us some tea.” Tenten took the box from him and set it on her coffee table. 

Neji hummed as she hustled downstairs and was quick to heat some water. The Hyuga looked around her room. This wasn’t the first time he had been in her apartment. Gai had made it a point to go to each of their houses and introduce himself as their Sensei once they had become gennin. Her room was usually kept neat except for the occasional bundle of opened scrolls where she studied and worked on creating her seals. By her vanity was their team picture they took after passing Gai’s requirements and not being sent back to the academy. A small smile reached his face as he looked at the photo. His team photo was on his bookshelf in his room next to a picture of himself and his father. 

“Okay, tea and buns…” the door had opened and Tenten emerged with a tray.

They sat at the coffee table in silence. The bunhead had full intentions of apologizing…but how does she bring up the topic to him? She could just blurt out her apology, but then the mood would be awkward. Well, it’s kind of awkward right now… she thought to herself as she sipped her tea. 

“How was lunch with Shikamaru?” She asked after a moment of pondering her first point of conversation.

“It was…interesting.” He replied. “We went to get ramen, played Go for a bit…spoke about a few things.”

“Oh? Like what?” She cocked an eyebrow.

His ivory eyes met hers and held their stare for a moment. Her face was showing pure curiosity, and her lips-those incredibly soft and warm lips- were slightly protruding into a slight pout as she waited for him to elaborate.  

“W-well…” he felt his cheeks get warm. “About earlier.”

Tenten’s eyes got wide and her own cheeks flushed a bright red. “Neji, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me! I just got caught up in the moment and I didn’t mean to offend you if I did-“

Neji gave a chuckle which caused Tenten to purse her lips together. “Tenten, it’s alright. I was just surprised. I know it was an accident.”

Something lingered in the air as he said the word accident. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the word itself, but that is what that kiss was; an accident. Then, something dawned on Tenten that horrified her; she never recalled Neji ever mentioning that he had a girlfriend or an interest in other people. That means…

“Was that…” she murmured with big eyes. “Did I take your first kiss?”

A hesitant nod. Tenten gave a loud yelp at this before apologizing again, her blush faded at the horror she just committed. She kissed him unprompted and took his first kiss. She was a shit friend and was so besides herself. Why was he being so nice to her if she took his first kiss? The weapons specialist had just taken something that could not be given back! And he was sitting right in front of her and not angry with her? 

“Tenten.” His calm voice snapped her from her internal self deprecating monologue. 

A frown was on her lips as she looked at him. 

“Was that your first kiss, as well?”

Now that was a question that she didn’t think she’d have to answer. The heat of her shame sprouted once more and she nodded sheepishly. At this, Neji looked at her with surprise. 

“W-why?” She mustered up the question.

A cough. “Well, I just would’ve assumed that you have had your first kiss already by how you…”

She looked at him expectantly. Why did he pause? What was he about to say? 

“You did it so…”

Tenten leaned in, the anticipation was killing her and she was getting restless with  how awkward he was getting.  

“So…what?” She pushed.

His lips parted, then swiftly closed with a smack. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was trying to say, in fact he was struggling to piece a coherent sentence together where he wouldn’t try to seem as though he was insulting her or sounded like an absolute boob. Her kiss had warmth that sent a shiver down his spine in delight, the cushions of her lips were a perfect fit against his when she smashed them against him. He had assumed that she had experience kissing someone. If he recalled correctly, Tenten was one of the cuter girls in their academy years and she was approached by many of the boys. That means she’s probably never had a relationship yet either… the Hyuga thought. To be fair, they barely had time for such things. Now, boys probably avoided her due to the fact that they were always together; Shikamaru was fully convinced at one point that they had been dating. The way Neji would dote on Tenten was seen as more than just friends. But that’s what it was; Neji values Tenten’s friendship with him and he wanted to show his appreciation through doing things for her and making sure she’s happy. What was wrong with that? He was repaying her, in a way, for all the times she was there for him. He could see why Shikamaru thought they were dating. Neji genuinely cares for Tenten and made it a personal goal to keep track of her well being since she was so hard on herself. 

He sighed mentally as he thought about the conversation he had with the shadow manipulator. The Nara had teased him for a while before they actually spoke about it; how Neji felt about what had just happened. He knew he’d have to approach Tenten about it, it was in their best interest to talk about the kiss. Shikamaru pointed out that Tenten had seemed the most comfortable with Neji, and since they knew everything about each other, this situation can be easily resolved. But what did that mean exactly? How did Neji want to resolve this if he didn’t see this as a problem? His mind lingered back to the sensation of her lips against his and he scratched the back of his head.

“Neji! Out with it!” Tenten groaned. “I did it so…what?”

“I…nevermind. It’s nothing…”

Her brown eyes rolled. Typical, she thought as she took a bite of her bun.

“Can we agree to not say or mention it again?” The weapons mistress spoke after a moment. “Just…forget about it?”

Oh, he looked at her in slight surprise. Neji rubbed his thumb against his tea cup, uncertain if he wanted to even forget about it. 

“Tenten.”

Her eyes got wide as she watched him slowly lean closer to her. His ivory eyes were gentle as his face got closer to hers.

 “Do you really want to forget about it?” He whispered a bit solemnly. 

Chewing on her bottom lip, she shook her head. Her curls bounced slightly and she couldn’t meet his gaze. He took that as a no, but wanted to hear it from her mouth. Neji continued to gaze at her, watching as she fell into deep thought. Over thinking again…his eyebrows arched in concern. An idea sprouted in his mind as he looked at her.

“Look at me, Tenten.” The byakugan user commanded gently. 

And she did. Her eyes met his and she suddenly felt small. Her embarrassment was very apparent and he could tell that she did not want to forget about the kiss. It was smart since it could lead to further distractions. But something in Neji’s chest told him to not let this go. His hands slowly raised, his fingers gently grazing against her cheeks. Swiftly, the prodigy pressed his lips against hers as he cupped her face in his hands. Warm and soft. His lips molded perfectly with hers. Tenten’s body jumped slightly at the sudden action, but she did not pull away. The two of them sat there, fully embracing each other. Neji wasn’t sure how to break it off…not that he really wanted to. And yet he needed to breathe and unfortunately he did remove his lips from hers, his forehead leaning against hers. 

“Neji…wha-“ her eyes were half lidded and her lips were pink.

A smile spread across his face. “Now, we’re even.”

[reel-fear]

Whelp, Lone Wolf looks like it's gonna be continuing the trends I've disliked abt recent Bendy releases pretty well. Here are some of the things I noticed in the trailer and my thoughts about it in general. Yes they are mostly negative. They will also be in order of when these things show up in the trailer and some with timestamps & pictures.

So Bertrum is back! So so glad to see him and Bendyland return, I'm pretty willing to bet none of the BATDR cast will ever be seen again considering how forgettable most of them are, so I wouldn't hold my breath on that. I also however wouldn't hold my breath on seeing too many returning batim staff either considering how many of them are related to controversy now.

Bertie mentions it seems like something else has captured Joey's imagination and he's not as interested in Bendyland. I hope this is something like the machine or something and not Yet Another random Joey motivation thing/project to add to the timeline. Like Joey wanted to appease gods, become immortal, get money, get a family and Also do something else? Please just keep him consistent for two games in a row I'm begging.

Fun thing while watching the trailer watch how the video goes from having grey borders to weird black line borders and then none at all a few times. Our very polished and not at all rushed trailer folks.

Boris is using his batim model instead of the kinda weird one he had in BATDR which he shared with Tom. I'm glad for that though it is also a little strange he didn't get a newer one for a release all about him.

Why why why, are we going sci-fi now with all the machines and stuff? The ink machine was only really relevant in BATIM as the thing that brought these rubberhose monsters to life, there was no hint of all this... Nonsense in that game and I preferred it that way! Why do we have to also be like FNAF and lose that interesting aesthetic we started out with to become more like other more generic horror games? Why why why is Gent now the main focus I don't even think Gent was properly mentioned in BATIM?? Idk, I just thought the interesting personal drama of the hell-ish studio and the tortured residents in it was enough to carry the franchise, I didn't need an evil sci-fi company in the mix. I know BATDR already hinted at this direction but that doesn't mean this isn't still a massive leap from that game. We got shows of subtle but yes more advanced tech here and now we just outright have what look like turrents in the 1930s animation studio. Whyyyyy...

This animation looks bad. I'm allowed to finally say that right? Like the fluid simulation looks bad, the ink looks all chunky and low res, I mean it looks like the shit you see in that animated Food Fight movie. What is with the red? Why are we so eager to break the iconic pallete and art style THAT MADE THE GAMES UNIQUE. If I wanted to see a sci-fi adventure with blood and gore, I'D GO PLAY THE HUNDREDS OF OTHER GAMES THAT DO THAT BETTER!!! Don't remind me of better games I could be playing Mike! Why does Boris have a weird, anime ink, demonic power animation?? What is that???

Why are those things alive now, wasn't the bendy animatronic not doing anything enough of a disappointment? Why are we deciding only now to do something with them when most people are probably now gonna just be confused. Why are the machines alive? Did the ink machine do that? Did gent do that? Did the evil sci-fi company really see a boris themed animatronic and go 'ah yes the perfect evil killing machine for our evil motives'?? I have so many questions.

Also that thing was not designed by Lacie. At least the Bendy animatronic was designed in a way to be eerie but you could see how kids would find it appealing same way the Bendy cut outs were unnerving but also cute enough to pass as something kids would love. This is just. Childlish edgy design without considering that these were supposed to be designed with kids in mind. I wouldn't be so hard on this franchise for that if it wasn't something that was better IN PREVIOUS GAMES, like I mentioned with the bendy animatronic and such. Esp since it now has more competition with things like poppy playtime. I'm begging you guys if ur pc can handle Unreal Engine 5 please buy that instead of this garbage.

Also it seem this was the actual animatronic Tom stole the arm of since its design fits the redesign his robot arm got for dark revival. I don't really care too much about that but it is cool.

Now however for the scariest thing of all! Bendy's declining level of polish and increasingly rushed products! You've heard of the uncanny and weird expression Henry made in the cage trailer!

You've heard of the graphic novel being published with an obvious coloring mistake!

Now get ready for the ink demon's hooves stuttering and twitching like it were a poorly made physics object in the trailer for a game! [using a gif from the steam page since it shows it off really well]

I mean I shouldn't have to say anything more right? Like that's just inexcusable. We've reached modern Pokemon levels of not giving a fuck how bad our trailers look and still expecting people to buy it.

Now I'm gonna go into some stuff on the steam page for the game and then I'll get into some more general points:

Why does this franchise have such a hard time animating faces and humanoid characters? What is this Malice expression-

Also hints to the Boris is a person/Buddy thing? Are we keeping that? Is there just a separate version of Buddy for the games without any of the compelling parts of him in his book? Or is this now being used to reference something else?

Sammy shown off uh- touching a Banjo in a way that resembles playing it? Uh guys, could we not have given this trailer and steam page more time to clean these up a bit why are his movements so slow-

"Bendy: Lone Wolf™ will tests your ability to survive against ever increasing odds. Monsters and obstacles emerge from every direction as you journey into the rubberhose halls of the world's most evil animation studio. Every day is a challenge." Lmao rubberhose? Animation? I forgot those were parts of the franchise, after all you sucked them all out of the ink demon a while ago.

One of the gifs which I didn't feature has a jumpscare/flashing lights, I hope it will have a warning for those since Secrets Of The Machine still doesn't. I also don't know why we're keeping the jumpscares since most people rightfully made fun of how bad they were in the og game but. Idk taking feedback has never been good with this team.

Overall everything just kinda, sucks. the polish is gone from even the trailers. The art style becomes less of a factor with each game and the lore is so hard to keep track of even for die-hard fans. The comments on the trailers seem almost purely positive so far so that doesn't give me much hope they'll ever learn though... The top comment is a quote from DCTL too which is hilarious. Also Boris still has NO facial animations, even in his own game he'll never be an interesting character, why am I supposed to care abt saving him in BATIM again?

I'll be playing and checking it out more but probably only because I'm getting it for free since I had dark survival. Besides that yeah I wouldn't waste my money on it. I'll probably rip the assets to look at though. Can we please make some more critical comments on the youtube upload? I don't want people buying this garbage.

Anyways yeah just wanted to say all this, I'm gonna be working on more positive posts soon I promise and they will be Bendy related! Not the canon-stuff but the fanmade stuff so stay tuned! Bye!!

[mossfeathers]

Writing and art for day 16 of lifetober: Deal

Fic takes place in an AU by my friend Rose in which the rage crystal Scar gives Tango has a few strings attached. If you guys like this, I have more written I can polish up + post!! Word count: 1.3k TW/CW: Possession, panic attack (implied), swearing, villain Scar (not really a cw just a heads up)

“Tango, Tango, Tango, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you here,” Scar said, voice low, not quite a growl but still menacing enough and grinning with the sort of happiness that wouldn’t end well for anyone else. His pale grey hair was long and a few of the more wild strands draped over his face, breaking apart the cutting gaze of his bright yellow eyes staring right through Tango.

‘Well not really, mister crystal-butt-man. Me and my crew back there were just coming by for a bit of enchanting-magic-funtimes and you were all ‘Ooh only Tango can come in’ and shooed my guys away. Jerkface.” Tango leaned back in the ornate wooden chair Scar had pulled up for him in front of the amethyst pedestal the enchanter usually sat upon, twirling the emerald-green crystal he had bought from Scar just a few days prior boredly in his ash-tinted fingertips. “But I’ll bite. Whaddya want, Scar?” Scar’s such a pain sometimes, honestly, Tango thought to himself. Always asking for this or that and another and never giving anyone the time of day, favoring selling you a clock over sympathy. Tango really wished he wasn’t stuck with him in the wizard hut, but it’d be rude to leave and he’d rather not tick off the one guy who had a knack for tracking down the enchanter.

“I’m so glad you ask! It’s all got to do with that little crystal you got there. It’s been working, right?” Scar said, leaning forward in his chair with a sick smile, crossing his hands under his chin. 

“Yeah?” He stopped fidgeting with the crystal and now let it dangle limply from a thin brown string looped on his fingers

Scar’s grin widened. “Excellent! Oh, I’m so glad to hear it! The custom rage crystal, if I remember correctly. Well, not to go full ‘Villain-Scar’ mode here, but I may have… let’s say neglected to mention a bit of fine print on that fine piece of merchandise. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t feel like explaining it so I’m just going to show you. Besides, I think you’d get the point more if you just saw it in action,” Scar said as he stood up from his own chair, grabbing the wooden cane leaning on it, bejeweled with an intricate laying of crystals and engravings of cats. Tango grimaced and laughed awkwardly, not quite sure what else to do.

“Hey buddy, you feelin’ ok?” Tango barely managed to get the words out before Scar had closed the distance between them, looming over him with unnerving authority.

“Ok Tango, I’m going to need you to stay very calm, alright? Ok?” Tango nodded along slowly, a pit of concern growing in his stomach. “Great! Now, I need you to go get me a diamond from Joel’s cave. I trust you know where that is, right? Bye!” Scar spoke quickly and excitedly, words bouncing with anticipation and playful malice.

Tango’s face dropped. He tucked the crystal into his pocket and made his way down the ladder and out of the wizard’s hut without a sound. This, in theory, was against his will, but his mind was just blank, like someone had smudged out all his thoughts as one cleans off a whiteboard after using it in school. There wasn’t a will left to defy, the only thing in his mind the faint ringing of an order, carried out dutifully by his body. His hair flickered weakly, fire somehow managing to glow less than it should. To someone who knew Tango, they wouldn’t have thought him to be himself, lacking a certain swing in his step so signature to himself. Once he reached the edge of the mountain, his dull eyes hardly glanced down as he walked off, stumbling off jagged edges and drops, scraping knees and elbows until he reached the front of Joel’s cave. By some miracle, he wasn’t home, and Tango dragged himself through the entrance and started to rummage around through a few chests, getting nicked by a spare sword left unsheathed in the wreckage, until he pulled out a diamond, sharp edges seeming to glow in the miserable afternoon’s light that flooded the cavern. His eyes sparked with something akin to recognition, and hardly a second later he was heaving himself up the cliff-face.

He stumbled through the door, breathless with a straight face, to Scar’s awaiting smile leaning against the wall next to the ladder going up to the enchanter, idly twirling his hair between his fingers. Scar extended his hand, Tango dropped the diamond in, and promptly collapsed; a puppet with its strings cut. His hair exploded upwards, flames licking the roof of the shop floor and body small as he took in heaving, gasping breaths. He was shaking, but more importantly he was back. His thoughts flooded back in, horrified and scared and screaming, desperate cries to get back into his own head swirling with relieved terror at release back into his mind, the flood of sudden information and emotion making him sick to his stomach. After a long, anguished moment, he looked up at Scar with furrowed brows, rage boiling over alongside tears out of bright red eyes.

“What the fuck have you done,” he growled, furious and terrified and helpless all at once as he stared with the most intense hatred he’d ever felt at Scar, stronger than Bdubs, stronger than the games themselves. His gold eyes just smirked down at him, glinting with the sort of mischievous malice he’d now learned to fear. Tango made a move towards the dagger he kept hidden in his back pocket, wanting nothing more than to bring him down to his knees, make him feel even a fraction of the anguish he felt rushing through his body, make him hurt.

“Oh, can you stop that?” Scar laughed, and Tango felt his hand freeze in place, that same complicit nothing washing over him in a wave of pure white nothing. “Would you mind getting up too? I don’t want the floor getting damaged, that stuff’s not cheap!” He stood up.

Tango was still shaking. Badly, in fact; he could hardly stand. But Scar had said he needed to stand, so he would. Scar hadn’t stopped smiling the whole time, as if this was just a joke, just a prank. Just a prank. The fact Scar hardly cared, didn’t think what he was doing, whatever he was doing, was a terrible thing made Tango want to tear him apart with his bare hands, limb from bloody limb. It filled him with such violent, earth-shattering rage Tango forgot about the crystal sitting in his pocket. It filled him with so much rage while he couldn’t do anything but listen when Scar started to speak again.

“So! Whaddya think? I’m proud of myself for that one, I mean who else would have come up with putting a control spell on a crystal? Genius, right? It’s really quite easy, to quote Mumbo. You’ve got questions, I’m sure, but I’m not quite qualified to answer them. I’m just your local wizard, after all. I cast the magic, not a clue how it works.” Scar sighed, a slight shrug in his shoulders. “I can try though.”

“Just tell me what the hell you’ve done to me.” Tango’s eyes were bright with fury, and he could hardly spit out the words through his throat thick with anger, voice cracking as he did so. “Now.”

“Were you even listening? Gosh, it’s a control spell, Tango. Simple, too. I just… say what I need you to do, and you listen! All tied to that little crystal you got in your pocket there. Rather convenient for me, you’re like my little helper! I really am sorry for not mentioning it beforehand, I just needed you to take the deal. Think of this as a good thing! We’re very lonely here in the wizard hut after all, and I do believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” Tango didn’t do anything but bore into Scar’s soul with his burning eyes. “I apologize for any discomfort, can’t do anything about that I’m afraid. Oh, and don’t mention this to your little crew, okay?”

Tango just stared at Scar, and he only walked out when Scar said he could.

[vanillabeenflower]

My Reimaginings for the HB/HH Rings + Hellborns

My ideas for a redesign of the setting and its inhabitants to have it make a little more sense! I'll put all this under the cut so it won't be too long on the dashboard:

Okay! So, I've noticed QUITE a few slight discrepancies between some of the rings. I wanted to share how I would do it, based on some critiques I've seen. This is in no way anything negative, I just want to share how I would do it. With that in mind, know that I tend to be a bit blunt with my criticism but know that it's out of me thinking that it would be the obvious option, personally, and not out of any rudeness.

The Flaws

I want you to know that I in no way know anything about demonology, but I do know a bit about Dante's Divine Comedy and the emotions associated with colors. I'm going to go down the list in the show's order, one by one, and then give my versions at the end.

First is the Pride Ring, where the main cast of both shows reside. Now, I want to point this out: why are ALL of the sinners only confined to this ring? That doesn't even make sense from a biblical retelling perspective. Didn't the entire journey through Inferno show that there were sinners on every level of Hell?

Anyway, first off, I really don't see this as the Pride Ring. I expected this to be the Wrath Ring, which is what I thought until I saw the actual Wrath Ring. There's this thing called "color psychology", which is the study of how colors influence emotions or give clues to the atmosphere of someplace. Historically, purple has always meant royalty and wealth, since it was the most expensive color to dye your clothes in. I think that would be a more fitting color for the Pride Ring. As for the design, It's cool, but doesn't say Pride. It says New York, which I think would be the opposite of Pride.

Next is the Wrath Ring, which looks great. I have no actual criticism of the ring's design itself since it fits really well. I like the volcanic elements and the fiery sunset sky, and the fact that it's where many hell beasts/animals reside makes sense. Also, it is mainly rural and has fire-related weather (flaming tornadoes) which also makes sense. I have no fixes for this. Good work!

The Gluttony Ring is the same way. I appreciate the fact that the sky has hexagonal shapes in it (not shown above) and that it's mainly plant life since the actual Beelzebub is an insect, and most people associate insects with being outside. There are a few things I'd change, like pushing the plant aspects a bit and having the buildings look more like various insect nests, not just beehives, maybe a few dens or plant-inspired buildings (I really like how Zootopia's world is built because it was made with the builders in mind: animals. Since they use organic structures in real life for their homes, they made some buildings have a curvature that fit their "ancestor" instincts, it even extended to their cars at one point. I highly recommend reading The Art of Zootopia to see their creative process with a bit more polished language).

Okay, why did they make the Greed Ring green?? Everyone knows that green is the universal color of Envy, so why is it here? I get that making it green works much better than any other color, and I agree, it does look better, and it's the same color of money, but I have an alternate idea. Make the Greed Ring yellow.

This might not sound like a good choice, but here's my reasoning. I love that the Greed Ring is a polluted, overly industrial cityscape, that fits amazingly. But if you look at real-life smog-filled cities, what color are they?

Yellow. Or at least a dirty, dark yellow-brown. So what I'm saying is that you don't even need to make it a bright yellow, making it a dark yellow-brown would really show how filthy the Greed Ring is. Also yellow is the color of gold so it also makes sense symbolically.

I have my gripes with the Lust Ring. Why is it dark blue?? The color symbolism was right there, pink and red are the most associated colors with lust!

However, I do like the fact that it's always night in the Lust Ring, it's very symbolic of the "nightlife" aspect of the emotion. I just don't know why they chose a normal sky color over something else.

I am a sucker for good color combinations, but I don't really think making the night sky dark blue made sense. It doesn't even have to be a drastic change, just shift the night sky's color to the warmer side a bit. If the ring does have a day and night cycle, and I'm just stupid, make the day go from hot pink to light pink from top to bottom, then have the night sky go from red/magenta to hot pink, with white stars (or just make the sky a lighter version of those two options). It would look mega pretty!!

The Envy Ring is one we haven't seen yet, but I wonder what we'll get since we already used up our green card with the Greed Ring. Someone I was talking about this with said that since the Envy Ring is ruled over by Leviathan, the ring will be ocean-themed and blue, like the ocean. I like that idea since sea blue is, in fact, a real color (and I also think that those 2 twins from the Mammon episode are from there, because of the way they acted and since they are fish-themed), and the theme fits. But the problem is. Sea green is a real color too.

Wait, this was the Sloth Ring?? I assumed this was part of the Lust Ring because of the colors, and because I was holding onto some hope of the color psychology making sense!

But. I LOVE this ring. The more pastel color of the ring actually relaxed my eyes a bit, which I think was the intention. I love the floating islands and the waterfalls, it all gives off a very relaxing atmosphere. My only design change would be to change the sky to a color like baby blue since blue as a color is actually scientifically proven to reduce feelings of stress and anger.

My Rendition

Now that we have all that out of the way, here's my version of how I would've done things.

I would match the colors of the rings to their corresponding color. I would arrange them in the way that they are in the show, but we'd risk that cool rainbow gem order up top. But if we want to arrange them in rainbow order, they'd be inaccurate to the order of the rings in Inferno (I think??), so you can choose which order you'd like, I'm just doing this for myself. Also I realize that they aren't really based on the nine levels of Hell, but the 7 Deadly Sins, which is fine by me, I find that making more sense.

Red = Wrath (an obvious choice, since red signifies strength, danger, and actually stimulates energy in real life)

Orange = Gluttony (it just makes more sense than yellow, plus if we're assuming the bee motif, it's the actual color of refined honey)

Yellow = Greed (color of gold and matches the smoggy city it's depicted as)

Green = Envy (another obvious choice, plus since Leviathan rules over this ring, it would match the ocean aesthetic as sea green)

Baby Blue = Sloth (soft blues actually cause a relaxed response in the brain)

Purple = Pride (color of royalty, also associated with arrogance and wealth)

Pink/Hot Pink = Lust (OBVIOUS CHOICE)

The Hellborns

Now my headcanons on what the overall citizens of each ring would be. I actually have an idea for slight species dimorphism for all the imps in each ring but I'll have to design that another day. I want my rainbow imps dammit

The Wrath Ring would have the highest imp concentration, with any other demon species being the lowest here. Imps who are born here are red in color, about the same shades of red that we see in all imps in-show.

The inhabitants of the Gluttony Ring should be bug/insect demons since the ruler of the ring is literally an insect. Imps born here are shades of orange.

The Greed Ring would have those shark demons seen in Exes & Oohs, but someone I was chatting with said it would make more sense for all the aquatic demons to be in the Envy Ring, so I don't know. Imps here are born in shades of yellow.

The Envy Ring would have mainly fish/aquatic-themed demons. Imps born here are shades of green.

The Sloth Ring should make the demons there have more themes of ungulates or ruminant animals like goats, sheep, and pigs because Baphomet is not a demon species. Imps born here are shades of blue.

The Pride Ring is where demon royalty mainly resides. Imps are rarely born here and if they are, they're usually born into servitude. Imps born in this ring are purple.

The Lust Ring is where incubi and succubi live (like Verosika). Imps born here are shades of pink.

For Hellhounds, I think they should be found in all rings rather than mainly in the Gluttony Ring. Even though the reason that's where they are is because Cerberus apparently guards this ring is very clever, it doesn't make that much sense. I also think they should all be grayscale and have their eyes correspond to the color of which ring they were born in (I love achromatic color schemes with one bright color to add color to it).

Anyway, those are my thoughts! I hope you enjoyed this interpretation of mine!

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog 36 | 11.26.23 ๋࣭⭑

:rises from the dead: I'm.... BAAAAACK!!!!!!

Long time, no talk (kinda) everyone! I hope you've been happy, healthy, and well since we last saw each other and that the wind-down for the year is being kind to you all <3

We have a lot to catch up on, so let's do just that ^^ This is.... so long. I'm really sorry in advance tbh---I thought I hadn't done much because break, but there's quite a bit to show.

It's been a while since a formal update on the routes, so I'll start by telling you all where they officially stand. Before I do, it might be helpful to tell you all how I define percentage completion in my head. Basically, when I finish the draft of a route, I consider it 70% complete. This means I could ship it as is. I wouldn't be happy with the product, but it's playable and makes enough sense---just not the best quality.

When Wudgey finishes their edits, a route is 80%-85% complete, meaning I could ship it as is. I think it'd be pretty good actually and players would be happy. Beyond this point, I am just making fine tuning edits to incorporate more player interaction, polishing the flow of things, etc.

After that, there's basically only Elm and Vi's edits left. When Elm finishes, a route is 95% complete. Again, I think at this point, it's good. Like edits from this point onwards are purely for polishing purpose. After Vi, it's 98% complete. Then the last review comes back to Elm and I for it to be 100% complete. Right now, this is where the routes stand:

Kayn: 98% Complete

Fenir: 95% Complete

Druk: 80% Complete

Etza: 60% Complete (Still working on their draft!)

Do Not ask me about Kuna'a or Aisa LFMASOEIDJ

So most of the routes are actually looking pretty good! They're just getting bounced around to different editors at this point, but the changes made for most of them are basically small. Fenir and Kayn especially could be shipped as is in my eyes if I really wanted to.

Art recently has mostly been focused on commissions. Vui actually is almost done with ALL of the BGs for Alaris!! Isn't that crazy?? In about a year, he was able to create almost 25 BGs with daytime variations!!! He's a phenomenal artist, and I couldn't be happier to be working with him. It's also a bit bittersweet (and alarming??) to know that part of development is already close to ending! q.q

The most exciting art update I have is that we got the GUI assets finished and I've started coding them into the game!! AAAA!! These were the final updated assets I needed, and seeing the fully revamped demo come to life has been so.... Emotional HAHA! It's crazy to see how far Alaris has come from when I was first making it with my little fingies and throwing things together like paper mache. I'm incredibly in love with how all the assets look together, and I couldn't be more grateful for the artists who helped me update the assets!

Updated History Log. Please say you like the dividers between entries---I'm most proud of those

I'm still making my way through coding everything, but here's a couple screen previews so you all can see how things now look in the game!!

First off, is the Dialogue/Choice Screen. You can see that we have a brand new dialogue box (She's Stunning) and Choice Screen! I'm hoping to add some sfx for the choices when you hover over them, and sfx for the new UI in general so there's more user feedback when you click and hover on things. But for now, enjoy this preview of the new dialogue box, choice screen, and the new personality indicators!

Updated Dialogue/Choice Screen: You can't see it as well in GIF format, but the BG also has particles floating around, so there's a tiny bit of animation going on in some of the BGs as well!!

Next, we have the Free Time Screen. I actually posted this on Twitter recently but I don't think I posted it on Tumblr! ISN'T SHE STUNNING... ESPECIALLY WITH THE NEW BGS.... I'm especially happy with the text animations that show up at the bottom when you hover over the different choices! I was inspired by a couple other devs (specifically GUI god, @siyo-koy, and renpy animation master @just-a-carrot) to start incorporating animation style elements into my GUI. And I really like how it adds a little ~something~ to the feel of everything ^^

Updated Free Time Screen: begging someone to say they like the text animation so I feel validated for finangling with it

Finally, for our last preview, we have the Save Screen! While it looks new obviously with the new assets, I also did a lot of backend coding revamping for how it actually functions since my coding experience is a bit better now compared to when I was first fighting for my life figuring out save/load screens. The biggest change for you all is that there are now chapter markers so save slots will tell you what chapter that save file is from! And instead of screenshots, it's now a custom icon inside that shows the chapter card. I think it'll make the save screen look more cohesive now and hopefully more intuitive as well!!

Updated Save Screen: With a sprinkle of updated Chapter Card screen preview

That was long. Are any of us surprised, considering I had two months' worth of devlogs piled inside of me, begging to burst from the seams?

Anyways. Only two miscellaneous updates. One is that all soundtracks have been completed for Alaris! Peter finished the last of them recently, and they're all beautiful!!! For ppl who love piano soundtracks... :holds hand in piano lover solidarity:

Other update is that I finally fixed that godforsaken sprite bug that was associated with the energy vision feature from the demo!!! FINALLY!!! AFTER.... SO LONG. Extremely huge thanks to @robobarbie for taking time out of their day to do that; everyone please say thank you!!!!! OGs know how long that bug was bothering me!!!! Robo also gave me a pretty new rain code, so I'm showing you how both look in the new demo so you can appreciate them with me!!

Last miscellaneous update is more on a.... logistical development level?? Basically, now that I have new GUI assets to code, that means I can get a beta build of the routes currently written out. I was feeling really overwhelmed by that idea because most of this year has been focused on writing and making assets, not really coding. Knowing that I can Code and get Playable Builds out to people was stressful because I have to divvy up my time a bit more.

After an extremely insightful talk with beloved and admired Esh of @steamberrystudio I decided I'm probably going to be shifting how development goes from here on out. Instead of focusing head low on getting as many words written for the remaining routes everyday, I'm going to be making smaller but consistent progress and spend the rest of my time coding so that I can have more of a continuous cycle of production going on (e.g., writing a bit, making playable builds, gathering playtester feedback, etc. instead of doing each stage in blocked, sequential order).

I'm mainly telling you all this because it means writing updates will probably seem slower from this point on, but I think production overall will be more efficient because of it! This is also exciting news for playtesters and/or early access backers/patrons because it means you'll have playable content in the near future for content outside of just the demo :')

have u all heard of wudgeous of herotome. of course u have. they r all i talk about at this point

No market research because I've actually been addicted to BG3 LFMAOLSDJF. Actually, I'm taking some inspiration from it for the personality mechanic but eh.

On a more important note, @herotome demo is coming out December 2nd!!!! PLAY IT WITH ME. Wudgey is my editor, so you might think I'm biased but I'M NOT!!! I WAS A FAN OF HEROTOME BEFORE WUDGEY EVEN WORKED W ME!!! They have an exception eye for detail and player experience, and they are actually one of the devs that inspired me to even get into game development.

I just know the demo is going to blow everyone's socks off. OG Herotome prologue build fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Please mark December 2nd on your calendar---you will not regret it.

This was so unbelievably long, but I hope it's appreciated since there was no real devlog update for a hot minute. As always, Thank you all for your patience and continued support. With the year ending soon, I'm getting wrapped up in my feels in usual Crescence fashion. I am a Cancer so no one is surprised.

Next month will probably be more of an end-of-year devlog rather than the usual format. I know the devlogs of late have been all over the place, but once we get into the new year, it will be back to business as usual! Hope you all have a wonderful end to your year; I'll talk to you soon! <3

[elwenyere]

Those Who Can't Do - Patrick/Tashi/Art (520w)

Author's Note: Thinking about her (Tashi Duncan Donaldson).

...

“I want you to be my coach,” Patrick says, and it’s infuriating: the way he can still shatter her.

“I want you to be my coach,” he says, like the last words he’d said before walking out hadn’t been “I’m definitely not your student.” Like he hadn’t shoved her tennis back in her face just hours before she lost it. And as he keeps talking - about Art, of fucking course, and about what Tashi could bring out of Patrick to match what’s good in Art - she tries to decide whether it hurts more to imagine he remembers or that he doesn’t. 

She slaps him.

“How fucking dare you?” she asks, by which she means: I offered you this when I could still fucking play - when it actually meant something.

Later, in the car, when she gives him her conditions, he turns the question back on her.

“How could you do this to him?” he asks, like Art hasn’t done this to her as well - like they both haven’t: wanting her, always needing her to show them what their bodies can do.

“I’m actually being so nice right now,” she says. “Taking such good care of my little white boys.”

And they depend too much on her toughness to understand it, but it’s true. She’d seen it the first night they’d met: the way they each want to be the one in her place. The way Art wants the posters and the polish and the power - wants to feel sure of her, sure through her, sure like her. The way Patrick wants to be the one who Art wants. 

That’s why she’s here to make this shitty deal in the first place: to keep Art from feeling like he’s lost her, to keep Patrick from losing Art, even if it means giving up the only thing she has left to want for herself. Some good fucking tennis.

If either of them could pull their heads out of their asses for a goddamn second, they’d see Tashi is the one who can never stand in Tashi’s place. They’d see she’s given both of them more of Tashi Duncan than she’ll ever have again.

“I miss watching you play,” Patrick says, his lips still damp with spit against her hair. “You were so beautiful.”

And she knows: she knows she was. She remembers what it felt like to command the court. No coaching, no coaxing, no cajoling misshapen wants out of other people’s confusion because her body was its own source of pleasure and protection. 

She remembers her game and how it made her feel untouchable: a shield against every white bitch who thought Tashi Duncan should really know her place. You only got in because Stanford wants the advertising. He doesn’t love you. I’m not your fucking groupie. But with a racket in her hand, no one could say shit to her. She was so good she was ungraspable, imperceptible except as a force of speed and power.

She knows she’ll never feel that way again. She’s never been able to forgive Art for watching it happen - or Patrick for looking away.

[kamikotorayama391]

Kamiko's commissions (summer 2023)

HELLO~ BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES~ I'm opening some comm slots. How many? I don't really know. When I have enough for me to work in 2-3 maybe 4 weeks, I'll close it. If you want to commission me something, text me in DM or my Discord (torayama_kamiko or Kamiko391#0846)

I draw: - fandom-based characters (anime and manga, animation, TV series, books, comics, and so on); - original characters; - fan characters; - animals, anthro; - blood, some wounds

I DON'T draw: - any politics-themed art: - fetish art (any kind of it); - ecchi/hentai; - NSFW (if you still really want to - +50% to the price tag); - Mecha (I’m bad at it) - pony.

General requirements:

A detailed description of the desired result (poses, expressions, and so on). I will write if further explanations are needed.

3 or 4 character references. I might need more (We’ll specify when placing an order)

If the background (if it will be) is a certain place – 1-2 background references

If there are any time limits – warn me in advance

If you do not live by Moscow time, please, tell me your current time and what time is the most convenient for you to talk

Additional characters: 1-3 additional characters +50% 4-6 additional characters +100%

About work time - depends on the complexity of the commission. If there is a deadline, please let me know in advance. The set time may change for various reasons; in case of an unexpected situation, I will notify.

Working process:

1) After placing an order, I start working on a quick sketch that will roughly show what the result will be. Once the sketch is approved, a 50% prepayment is made.

2) In the process of working on the commission, I will send the results of each stage

3) Before finishing the artwork, I send you the commission in reduced quality and with a watermark. If you are satisfied with the result, you pay the rest of the price. As soon as the money arrives, I send the result in high quality.

If you decide to cancel the commission, I keep 30% of the total cost with me as a refund for the work already done. The rest will be returned to you (even if it may be difficult for me, since, uh, I don’t have an international wallet right now….)

The finished artwork may be posted on my blog as a way of self-promotion as an artist. If you’d rather keep it private, please, notify me in advance.

All prices are in USD

Payment method: via Boosty (more information in this video ) Payment in USD is available now, so you don't need to ask me to re-count the sum in my currency

Some rules to avoid copyright conflicts: 1) If something does not suit you in the commission, don't be shy to tell me so that I can definitely fix it in no time. Until the result satisfies you by 85-100 percent, and the full payment has not been made, I will polish and change the drawing to suit your wishes. 2) Do not request me to redo someone else's work if you are not satisfied with the result provided to you by your other artist. I don't want any conflicts with other creators, I just want to do my job in peace and do what I love. In case of any copyright problems, I will be the first one who has to deal up with the mess, not you. So please don’t. 3) I allow to use my art as references or even a base for your work, but try to avoid direct copying or tracing. Wait at least a month before trying something of this. Try not to use any commissioned artworks for these purposes (if it's not a commissioned reference image or a reference list of course).

[aqua-the-smiter]

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦୨୧✦•······················•✦•······················•✦ ℑ𝔯𝔬𝔫 ℌ𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 Ferrus Manus x female oc (Argena Seeva) Other parts in the reblogs Ferrus, in a bid to one up his pain-in-the-ass brother Fulgrim, takes up drawing. Gets some reference help from his long suffering friend and senechal, Argena. Part of my AU I have cleverly called the Primarch Wife AU. Happy endings, the boys get the help they need, Big E is a good dad and, most importantly, everybody gets a wife. Because big husband and small wife makes brain go brr

Sexual content/NSFW after the cut - Very lewd-but-not-lewd touching, Ferrus jacking off to his future wife while trying to get work done, idiots in love. @thevoidscreams @pringles-plaguehaus ✦•······················•✦•······················•✦୨୧✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊ “Gena?” Ferrus asked, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. “I have a…strange favor to ask of you.” Argena put down the loop of silver she’d been polishing and turned around on her stool to face him as she heard him out. Throne, he even looked uncomfortable, and she wondered what exactly he needed that he was looking so hot under the collar. Ferrus Manus was many things, but wavering was not one of them. Actually he was kind of cute like that. She mentally slapped herself almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind. HE. IS. YOUR. BOSS. She’d been with him for over a year and half at this point. It felt like it should have been longer. Falling into the role of his senechal had been so easy after a while. Especially after they’d started spending more time simply enjoying each other’s company. He was a surprisingly layered man once he opened up enough to show it. And, she heavily suspected, a lonely one too. So they’d gotten close more easily than she would have first thought. It even showed in the way he addressed her. Gena, a more tender nickname than her given. “Does it have anything to do with your ongoing attempts to one up your brother?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It does, yes. Look, I can’t help it. Fulgrim has been driving me mad recently, so I want to pay him back in kind.” “I know, I know. And if you pull it off you’ll make him absolutely seethe.” “It” in question was Ferrus putting a serious effort into learning how to draw. He could already, but it was an entirely different kind. Technical drawings, machine blueprints, weapon schematics. Nothing really artistic, although it could be counted as a form of art in its own right if you asked her. Watching him work was hypnotic, the movement of the pencil or stylus in his metal hands impossibly graceful. Elegant even. But most people didn’t see it that way. Resident artsy fuck, Fulgrim, certainly didn’t. Constantly making little jabs and jokes at his best friend’s inability to produce anything else than purely practical drawings. Finally, Ferrus had enough and announced to her in private that he was going to produce a piece of actual art better than anything Fulgrim could do (and he wasn’t as good as everyone thought he was, including himself) out of pure brotherly spite. The early results were rough, but promising. Argena herself had quite a bit of skill, picked up from her goldsmithing hobby, and he’d come to her with practice sketches, rudimentary shapes and simple three dimensional objects. It took him a while, but he was definitely getting it. His talent for technical drawings was beginning to shine through with the clean linework. In short, it seemed he might actually do it. “That is the goal.” He said, just a little smug. “So what do you need me for, pray tell my lord?” She prompted. The Primarch seemed to steel himself for a moment. “Well…I feel I’m ready to move on to…organic materials now. I can only draw my own tools so much before I cease to learn any more from the exercise. I was going to ask if I could study you. Your anatomy, I mean.” And it already sounded like that would involve less clothes than she started with that day. “...Study my anatomy? How so? Moreover, why?”

“Feel up your body. Your muscles, skeletal structure, general build. How everything connects and moves together. I find that I learn best when I am up to the elbows in it so to speak, so being able to touch it would be the best thing. You are the only person I feel comfortable coming to with this. It is, ultimately, quite a petty thing I’m after. You have been very understanding of me. More than I thought would be possible.” Ferrus paused for a moment, wondering if what he had to say next was even a good idea before deciding he’d take that chance. “Also, you are objectively a very beautiful woman. Whatever someone’s personal tastes may be, nobody could look at you and deny it. And subjectively, I think you are a beautiful woman. For those reasons you’d make the best subject for what I’m trying to accomplish. If the goal of art is to create something pleasing to the eye, something that captures the beauty of the world and the enthusiasm of the creator in a still image, you would be a perfect basis. Not like the mess of colors and lines Fulgrim throws on his canvases.” He spoke so frankly. Ferrus was always a very no-nonsense type of person, but to have that direct, blunt nature used in such a glowing description of her was something else entirely. Because you knew for a fact when he said something, he meant it. It made her feel very warm inside. “And this is purely for research, right?” She asked tentatively. “Purely objective.” He swore. “And I won’t go any farther than you want or touch you anywhere you don’t want to be touched. I’ll fill in any gaps in my knowledge with an anatomy book. Just tell me where to stop, and I will.” Somehow a Primarch who’d grown up in the wilderness eating sand had a better concept of boundaries than many people. “Well...I trust you, so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.” She said after a moment, rubbing her upper arm. “I’m willing. Let’s do it.” He gave her one of his rare smiles (that seemed to be becoming less rare nowadays come to think of it), genuinely grateful. It made her feel more at ease with the agreement. Who knows, it might even be fun. ₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

[stvenzz]

★ marc spector x gn!reader ☆ notes: fluff

a slow night in with your boyfriend, marc.

marc had a curious look on his face, his eyes boring into his nails on the pillow. “okay, i love you, but you have to stop fidgeting. you’re gonna smudge ‘em.” you say. marc chuckles lowly, leaning back. “are you sure that’s my colour?” he asks tentatively, peering at the nail polish on the coffee table. “don’t worry, it’s perfect. you’ll look amazing.” you chuckle, gingerly painting on a layer of maroon on his nails.

the sound of rain pattering on the roof had already melted into background noise, as all you could focus on was painting the prettiest pattern on marc’s nails. all week, marc’s been busy with doing his hero-duties while you slaved behind a desk, typing up reports for your nightmare boss. this was the only night you could actually spend time with him – and the first thing you thought when you saw those cuticles? red wine and red nails, please.

marc looked at you, his eyes full of wonder and admiration. “you’re really cute. you know, when you’re all focused and stuff.” he says, a small smirk on his face. “ugh, shut up. i’m gonna chop your fingers off.” you threaten, and marc guffaws. “wow, terrifying.” marc laughs, before he leans in and kisses your forehead.

you pull back, obviously startled, and marc raises an eyebrow. “jeez, you hate me that much?!” he laughs, before leaning in and kissing your cheeks. “you’re proving my point, you know that? you’re adorable.” your cheeks burned with embarrassment as you quickly looked down, continuing on with slathering on another layer of nail polish while you tried to keep yourself from smiling like a fool. “you’re a fucking twat, you know that? god, i hate you.” you muttered. “mmhm. yeah. sure you do.”

it was silent after that, but in a good way. just you and marc, enjoying each other’s presence. “there we go! your nails look… exquisite.” you exclaimed, finally finished. the finished result was a dark red colour, with a prominent star shape on his middle fingers. “oh yeah, they’re quite the showstopper. great job.” marc says, observing his nails for himself. “your nails are literally a work of art. please, compliment me more.” you bat your eyelashes at him, and marc brings up one of your hands to his lips.

“my one and only, your hands are a work of art. to this day, i will never understand how i managed to find someone that has your level of… nail… painting… talent. michelangelo quivers in fear, honey." he giggles, kissing each one of your knuckles.

“isn’t michelangelo dead?”

“steven told me to say that.” with that, you giggle and topple over into his arms, tucking your head into the crook of his neck. for some reason, marc always smells like a warm bath. woody and moist - just right. you breathe in his scent – you pray that it’ll rub off on you, and that you could bring his smell with you anywhere you go. “are you sniffing me?” marc mutters, and you gasp dramatically, smacking his chest. “fuck you! i was actually gonna fall asleep, but since you’re rude -”

you make a show of yourself dramatically standing up but before you do, marc pulls you down, hard. now your legs are on either side of his hips, and you’re sitting right on top of his lap, closer than you did before. slowly, his hands snake around your waist, and you suddenly realize the position you’re in. even after a year or so of dating marc, you’ll never get used to the way he handles you with the utmost confidence. he throws you around like a ragdoll - which you don’t oppose to, by the way.

“okay, okay. sniff me as much as you want.” marc says, giving you a light kiss on your neck. “jake wants a manicure too.” marc says, landing a kiss on your jaw. “he wants black… with tulips on them.” your brain immediately makes a scenario in your head of jake punching someone with shiny, floral nails. they’d be covered in blood and somehow, the thought makes you salivate. a suspicious smile makes its way to your face, and marc laughs. “what are you thinking, hm?”

your eyes flash towards the vase of tulips sitting on steven’s study table. the tulips themselves stand out against the heap of monochrome books steven owns, giving the desk a bright pop. the note that came along with it from jake is still tied around the vase gingerly, the words te quiero inscribed in messy, scribbled writing. “jake’s such a stupid sappy romantic. i fucking hate him.” a smile etched its way onto your face, and marc smiles.

“hey, screw jake. i’m the star of the show right now.” marc says, pressing a kiss on your collarbone. “are you going back to work any time soon?” you ask, and marc freezes, just for a second, before smiling. “no.” he bats his eyelashes at you, his eyes wide and pleading. on the outside, his expression is simple, joyful, but on the inside, you know he’s begging for you to believe him, begging for you to, just this once, lie to yourself.

“i love you.” you lean in, and marc gives you a small squeeze.

“i love you too.”

★☆ a/n: HELPP i gagged writing this!! i HATE love! (i want a partner so bad)