#idk if it works yet gonna try a few more options

[colonel-chicken]

Hurik ! I don't draw her nearly enough - she's supposed to be the Main Character™ of my big story, but I keep focusing on other assholes instead. Sorry girl ! I'm trying new things with her design, mostly with her crest.

[ame-to-ame]

there are things that you don't do for a year or more and pick up just right where you left off and these days i fear loving you might be one of them

[loverboydotcom]

instagram recommending me a reel for a peach frosé recipe what the fuck literally most felixcore cocktail of all time. literally just frozen peaches and rosé blended together. me when i said i'd be productive but now i'm falling down a peach flavoured cocktail rabbit hole

[wombywoo]

Ok! I've finally decided to put together a (somewhat) comprehensive tutorial on my latest art~

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard, but I always find that this is a crucial starting point in any art piece I intend on making. Especially if you're a detail freak like me and want to make it as realistic as possible 🙃

As such, your web browser should look like this at any given point:

Since this is a historical piece, it means hours upon hours of meaningless research just to see what color the socks are, but...again. that isn't, strictly, necessary 😅

Once I've compiled all my lovely ref pics, I usually dump them into a big-ass collage ⬇️

(I will end up not using half of these, alas :'D)

Another reference search for background material, and getting to showcase our models of choice for this occasion~

When picking a reference for an actor or model, the main thing I keep in mind (besides prettiness 🤭) is lighting and orientation. Because I already kinda know what pose I'm gonna go with for this piece, I can look for specific angles that might fit the criteria. I should mention that I am a reference hound, and my current COD actor ref folder looks like this:

Also keep in mind, if you're using a ref that you need to flip, make sure you adjust accordingly. This especially applies to clothing, as certain things like pants zippers and belt buckles can be quite specific ☝️

Now that we've spent countless hours googling, it's time to start with a rough sketch:

It doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just a basic guideline of where you want the figures to be.

The next step is to define it more, and I know this looks like that 'how to draw an owl' meme, but I promise--getting from the loose sketch above to below is not that difficult.

Things to keep in mind are--don't go too in-depth with the details, because things are still subject to change at this point. In terms of making a suitable anatomically-correct sketch, I would suggest lots of studying. This doesn't even have to be things like figure drawing, I genuinely look at people around me for inspiration all the time. Familiarize yourself with the human form, and things like weight, proportions, posing will seem a little more feasible.

It's also important at this stage to consider your composition. Remember to flip the canvas frequently to make sure you're not leaning to one side too often. I'm sure something can be said for the spiral fibonacci stuff, which I don't really try to do on purpose, but I think keeping things like symmetry and balance in mind is a good start ✌️

Next step is just blocking in the figures. Standard. No fuss 👍

Now onto the background!

It's frankly hilarious how many people thought I was *hand-drawing* these maps and stuff 😂😂 I cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult that would be. So yeah, we're just taking the lazy copy and paste way out 🤙

I almost always prepare my backgrounds first, and this is mostly to get a general color scheme off the bat. For collage work, it's really just a matter of trial and error, sticking this here, slapping this there, etc. I like to futz around with different overlay options until I've found a nice arrangement. Advice for this is just--go nuts 🤷‍♀️

Next, I add a few color adjustments. I tend to make at least 2 colors pop in an art piece, and low and behold, they usually tend to be red and blue ❤️💙There's something about warm/cool vibes, idk man..

Now we move on to coloring the figures. This is just a basic block and fill, not really defining any of the details yet.

Next, we add some cursory values. Sloppy airbrush works fine, it'll look better soon I promise 🙏

And now--rendering!

I know a lot of beginner artists are intimidated by rendering, and I can totally understand why. It's just one of those things you have to commit to 💪

I've decided to show a brief process of rendering our dear Johnny's face here:

Starting off, I usually rely on the trusty airbrush just to get some color values going. Note--I've kept my sketch layer on top, but feel free to turn it on and off as you work, so as to not be too bound to the sketch. For now, it's just a guideline.

This next stage may look like a huge jump, but it's really just adding more to the foundation. I try to think of it like putting on make-up in a way~ Adding contours, accentuating highlights. This is also where I start adding in more saturation, especially around areas such as ears, nose and lips. Still a bit fuzzy at this point, but that's why we keep adding to it 💪

A boy has appeared! See--now I've removed most of the line layer, and it holds up on its own. I'll admit that in order to achieve this realistic style, you'll need lots and lots of practice and skill, which shouldn't be discouraging! Just motivate yourself with the prospect of getting to look at pretty men for countless hours 🙆‍♀️

I'll probably do a more in-depth explanation about rendering at some point, but let's keep this rolling~

Moving forward is just a process of adding to the figures bit by bit. I do lean towards filling in each section from top to bottom, but you can feel free to pop around to certain parts that appeal to you more. I almost always do the faces first though, because if they end up sucking, I feel less guilty about scrapping it 😂 But no--I think he's pretty enough to proceed 😚

They're coming together now 🙆‍♀️ Another helpful tip--make sure you reuse color. By that, I mean--try to incorporate various colors throughout your piece, using the eyedropper tool to keep a consistent palette. I try to put in bits of red and blue where I can

Here they are fully rendered! Notice I've made a few subtle changes from the sketch, like adjusting the belt buckles because I made a mistake 😬 Hence why you shouldn't put too much stock in your initial sketch~

The next step is more of a stylistic choice, but I usually go over everything with an outline, typically in a bright color like green. Occasionally, I can just use my initial line layer, but for this, I've made a brand new, cleaner line 👍

And the final step is adjusting the color and adding some text:

Tada!! It's done!

All in all, this took me the better part of a week, but I have a lot of free time, so yeah ✌️

I hope you appreciated that little walkthrough~ I know people have been asking me how I do my art, but the truth is--I usually have no clue how to explain myself 😅 So have this half-assed tutorial~

As a bonus, here is a cute (cursed) image of Johnny without his mustache:

A baby, a literal infant child !!! who put this wee bairn on the front lines ??! 😭

Anyway! peace out ✌️

[blkkizzat]

I've been a virgin all my life like im talking no masturbation either.

So i tried fingering since my friends said it worked for them and it hurts like a bitch like seriously how do people feel pleasured from this?!?! 🥶

so masturbation on a larger level is self-care so make it apart of a self-care routine... now i usually just take a clit vibe and bust one out (sometimes just to sleep cause insomnia a BITCH lol) but i have a whole routine if i wanna use my fingers or a dildo, etc.

more below~ hjdscdkjfhvskdj not me explaining in detail how i masturbate... lol oh well let's go...

ok so first. set the mood for yourself, especially if you want vaginal penetration it's all about being relaxed enough for it to be enjoyable.

so take a bath, put some nice smelling lotion on, get in your fav undies or if you feel better nude thats fine too. light a candle. grab some lube. if you partake in marijuana, shrooms or alcohol (wine goes straight to my puss) this is an option too, but NOT NECESSARY. but if that is apart of your self care already then include it.

put on some soothing sounds. if you dont have a fav then tantric frequency music works, actually i would suggest this because it will be less distracting and the frequency allows you to connect to your body more.

next take your time. idk if you ever really took the time to explore your body. just touch yourself. but not anywhere sexual so leave your kitty and tiddies alone for a while. you know how in winter if your car been outside you gotta warm it up before you can drive it? its like that.

pleasure is a total body experience, so get your entire body sensitive first. you can make yourself wet without even touching your coochie. dont rush. slow down and really identify how various touch feels. (you can even apply lotion if you want too or body oils if you like)

just close your eyes and trace your body with touch, press, poke, pull, tug, stroke, etc, with various amounts of pressure (feather touch to rough) on various parts. just find what feels good and do that. concentrate on the music and try to find a rhythm. finally when you get to the point you find yourself aching and rubbing legs together then you can start touching more obviously erogenous zones like tiddies and vag. this is important to wait though (the longer you do this the more sensitive you will be, i sometimes do it for 20-30 min of just exploring touch) because the longer you wait to touch the more sensitive and better it will feel.

start with touching your vulva/coochie lips, softly, do what feels good and dont rush. tease around the clit and entrance, but dont touch or penetrate yet. then once ive done that a while thats when you can start touching your clit. sometimes thats more than enough and you will just cum from that and if you dont want to go further dont force it.

its completely normal for initial penetration to hurt or be uncomfortable. even for non virgins if you have done it in a long time you are gonna tighten back up. lube comes in handy make sure to lather the area and fingers good. so its all about now what feels good but since everything is gonna be uncomfortable at first i would just put a finger in there and just be still. dont move it. just get used to it being in there, almost like you're cockwarming your finger fhkjhsdfjkhsdjk. but i do this when i move up dildo sizes and its uncomfortable. i will literally just leave it in there for a while. sometimes ill then disengage and do other things like be on my phone, grab my switch and play somethin hkfgfsdjkhfdshj. but the point is you are just allowing your body to adjust lol. then take it out, theres been times where i havent felt anything pleasurable to until i took it out and then my coochie is like "wait bitch we were comfy and full" and then i start craving it back in. thats when you can experiment with a little motion. or start rubbing at your clit to help. dont do too much too fast and honestly its probably going to take a few tries for you to really feel comfortable with it but the more you do it, the less you need to do to work yourself open and you will be comfortable with what your body needs.

the key is just finding what your body needs to feel good. also you might get emotional or overwhelmed or even cry. not from pleasure but if you've never really masturbated or really explored than your sacral/root chakra is probably a bit blocked. when you release that it can be a bit overwhelming sense thats a huge center for emotions. if you don't know much about it you can learn about it here and here more.

good luck babes!

[vro0m]

Brocedes hasnt been brocedes all year. Its just a lot more ovi now. We got a certified nico lewis situation at merc. Toto picking the wrong guy once again. Whats new?

Okay first of all I wanna say this can't be a Nico - Lewis situation. There will never be a Nico - Lewis situation again. But I guess what you mean is there's an open, direct rivalry at Merc again. Which. Yeah sure. That's usually what happens. I'm not surprised it's happening, we mentioned it before.

(long post)

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Toto picking the wrong guy once again'. If you mean in the context of hiring George, I disagree because George is a very good driver. If you mean in the race, I highly doubt Toto is the one making the strategy calls in the middle of things. At the very most, the strategists tell him the options and he might green-light one of them.

They've been having strategy issues for a while now. That's also something we've talked about before. If anything, I'd say the issue lies with the strategy team rather than Toto or George. We've said the bad calls were hidden by the good car performance before but also I do think it's gotten worse. Back when it was announced that Vowles was leaving, I said not directly replacing him was bullshit. They claimed the rest of the department would just divide Vowles' workload between themselves. Toto said they'd been doing it already during the '22 season (when did the strategy issues ramp up? idk). What I said at the time was "someone is going to have to make the final decision on strategy" and "otherwise it's not gonna work". It might just not be working.

One thing I'll give credit to George for is that he's trying things. Hasn't there been a convo in the last few weeks with people (including me iirc) saying Merc is too conservative with the strategy? That they need to stop acting like they're at the front, defending rather than behind, chasing? Also isn't it kinda boring when the team doesn't give the car that's qualified behind a chance and only uses it to support the other? (Also with his quali performances lately, wouldn't that do more harm to Lewis than George?) I guess it's just the way being a fan goes, but I feel like every race weekend I see fans of either driver defending what or complaining about what they were complaining about or defending the previous race, depending on who they're rooting for the most. It's okay when it's their blorbo only (which again : just being a fan).

Anyway props to George for being a driver, and asking for more. That's his job. Sometimes it annoys me ngl. Sometimes I feel like he's acting too entitled during the races. But as I also said before, it's not particularly unexpected from a young driver. Lewis was really not that different in his days lol. They all have a chip on their shoulder and they are all essentially starving egotistical cunts. The older ones might just have learnt to hide it slightly better through the years. Slightly. Is Lewis being more of a team player? On track, probably so, props to him for that. Don't know how long it's gonna last in these conditions though, given that he's also a starving egotistical cunt. Off track, he's complaining very loudly and unsubtly about not being prioritised by the team in a not-so-great way imo. I'm repeating myself yet again but it's not as easy as just saying here's what needs fixing with the car, then claiming they're not listening to him when it doesn't suddenly work. Merc is truly fumbling with the development, and patience is not Lewis' greatest virtue lol. He's clearly getting frustrated with the performance, understandably so. I'm simultaneously pretty sure that's true for the whole team, not just him. So him saying they're not doing their best and voluntarily just not doing what he wants is probably not helping.

I do think that the team is gonna have to find a way to make it work between them two on track before they take each other out or straight up disobey team orders out of hunger or frustration. But well. Do I have to link the essay again? (Sorry for bringing it up 10 times a week.) It's not that easy managing intra-team rivalries and I see some people claiming they should pick a n°1 driver but how? Right now, Lewis and George are on par in quali (8-8). George has less points for sure but you also gotta take into account that he's had four terrible races in the year, not always by his fault (although sometimes yes). Outside of these four races, their results are very similar. This is not a Max-Perez type of gap by far. Lewis is most probably not gonna stay for 10 more years despite what he sometimes likes to pretend, George might. I'm still rooting for Lewis first and everybody else second but if you look at this realistically, it's not as simple as saying to George "look we're betting on you for the future, someday, but until Lewis retires you'll always be a second thought to us. But you know, still stay with us and take it lying down. Toodles!" He's completely right about it, but it's easier for Lewis to say "we're fighting for the team not for driver points" when he's the one ahead in the standings. Because what? You always always have to do better than your teammate. (Again, sorry for bringing it up constantly.)

In some way the issue with both of them is impatience. Lewis is impatient to have a good car again and he's starting to somewhat take it out on the team which isn't ideal. For all they looove saying we win and we lose together, that's not a supportive behavior claiming publicly they're just not listening to him. George is impatient to get track position and to beat his team-mate and he's rushing the racing too much, making rookie mistakes in the process (see Singapore) and demanding sometimes more than his due during races.

So yeah I think they need to rein them both in — one off track, one on track — but also without rejecting all new ideas and all questioning, both when it comes to the car and when it comes to the race strategy. It's not gonna be easy, but it's definitely gonna be very interesting.

[elvenbeard]

3 hours into update 2.0.0....

I love it xD But also, I'm a little bit overwhelmed, but UUUURGGGHHH there are some real gems in there already 😩

So, I didn't start a new playthrough for time reasons and went right in with my post-ending save. There was some initial fuckery with my wardrobe outfits that seems fixed now though after unequipping everything and remaking the outfits xD Custom tattoo and scar mods work just fine though and I might test these next few days what other mods do :D I'm really happy about the tattoos though at least :3

Some Bugs

Also, someone desperately needs to send the NCPD some funds cause....

That vehicle doesn't look like it should be allowed in traffic (this happened twice, and I was cackling xDD honestly just a really funny little bug that's probably gonna get fixed somewhere down the line xD)

But yes... Man the new skills and perks and cyberware and EVERYTHING is so fucking cool, but also so fucking overwhelming when you're already level 42+ and have everything at your disposal all at once xD But I was so excited to see all the different new Kiroshi options and how cyberware is tied to skills like... damn. And the strongest quickhacks really need a fuckton of RAM... as they should. And I still need a fuckton of practise in terms of using them, but I'm really excited to get the hang of it all somewhere down the line :D

They didn't forget about the LIs!!!

But then this:

When I read this in the patch notes, I was so fucking excited xD Hell yeah, a good reason to go to the apartment apart from sorting through my inventory xD Some more Johnny interactions!

AND. A DREAM COME TRUE WITH ONE OF THE DIALOGUES!!!

I was always a bit sad that Johnny had no comments whatsoever on V's relationship with Kerry, when he did with some of the other LIs, so this already made my evening xDD and one of the big perks of jumping in with my post-ending save to already get to see and hear this now :DDD Not gonna spoil what he says but... yes XDD It fits, I figured. And I hope the other LIs get something similar because it's glorious xD

Vehicles and Radio

In regards to vehicle handling... I can definitely feel a difference with my go-to bike! Like, it still has its weaknesses, but also feels a lot more stable in other regards, less flimsy and "heavier" like they described it in the patch notes. I love it a lot. I didn't try vehicle combat yet, although I did get randomly attacked in the badlands by some NPCs once, which was very fun XD I almost had a heart-attack, but it did feel like something that could happen. Sadly didn't manage to get my revenge in time, but next time!!

I like the new radio stations, but didn't hear every song yet... but also, and I think some others already said that, they don't really add much new in terms of sound and genres. Nothing that isn't already there in some shape or form. But still nice to have something new to add to the rotation.

Leveldesign

And as I was driving around, I randomly stumbled right into Dogtown :DDD well, not quite but, damn, that was an impressive moment:

The faction of the guards was labelled as "Test" though xDD Close but, not quite... Figure that's also a little bug though.

Overall... I fucking love how they integrated it into Pacifica o.o It's insanely impressive, huge and rundown and maaaaaan.... I cannot wait to explore behind the walls!!

Also, random little thing... I feel like the clouds looked nicer? But that could be me not paying much attention/ rain being rare-ish in Night City.

Not Dogtown but North Oak, obviously. But... idk o.o The light shining through like that looked so fucking cool and realistic, but I really dont know if maybe this wasn't already part of the Pathtracing update and I just never noticed it like this before XD

And lastly... I discovered whose nooks they added to the Columbarium. Right in the feels.

Cannot wait to discover more little details as I go but URGH yeah. The tiny little Kerry convo already made it worth it for me XDD And Viktor <3 And the Autofixer shop is so cool! And aaahhh I cannot wait to see what's gonna come with PL :333

[theslay3d]

I saw u were asking for requests! can you write something for jason grace? maybe nico or percy is reader's brother and when they get together they're the biggest fan of them?

Jason Grace x Child of Poseidon!reader

Gender: Neutral

Warnings: none

Word count: 659

A/N ok so idk if i really like this(my writing is not slaying today) but i hope you enjoy!!

You were looking for Jason. Which wasn't uncommon as he was your…friend? Yeah sure. You liked Jason a lot but either he hit his head so many times that he couldn't tell if you were flirting or just being nice or he just didn't like you back. You were hoping for the first option. 

As of now you were asking around camp for him. Maybe he was in the woods? You've already checked his cabin and other places he usually is. 

You were still looking around when you saw Percy. You sped up and walked up to him. “Do you know where Jason is?” You asked. 

“Wow no hello for your brother? Why should I even tell you? You locked me in the bathroom for an hour this morning” Percy raised his eyebrows at you. Well you did lock him in there but really it was Chiron's fault for putting a lock on the outside. 

“That sounds like a personal problem Percy now do you know where Jason is or no?” 

He wrinkled his nose but pointed behind you. “He's over there maybe if you had good eyes like me you could see him” 

You rolled your eyes and slapped his head and left. “Hey!” He yelled out after you but you continued walking.

“Heyyy” You smiled as you finally made it to Jason. 

He smiled back and said “Hey!” 

“Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere i even had to ask…Percy” 

He laughed and said “In the woods i was bored and Leo said he would be there yet he forgot to tell me that he decided to not go” 

“Ohh” 

“Anyway, why were you looking for me?” Jason tilted his head a little. Cute you thought but snapped out of the thought and replied. 

“I was also bored and wanted to know if you wanted to watch a movie?” Not that camp had tvs but you did have a protector which could work. 

“Sure! My cabin?” Jason suggested as you both went ahead and started to walk there. “Yep your cabin has the best walls for a projector” 

You both made it there and started to set up. Jason laid out blankets while you set up a projector and pulled up a movie(also author here um how the fuck do projectors work? Im so dumb anyway let's pretend)

Finally you and Jason leaned back into the pillows he set up and the movie started. Jason turned to look at you halfway through so you also turned your head. “What?” You whispered even though you didn't have to.

Jason shook his head but still stared. After a few seconds he leaned in and kissed you. What!? Your thoughts scrambled but you kissed back. 

You broke apart and Jason said “Ive liked you for a long time now” 

“Finally! I've been flirting with you for months!” You said and threw your arms up.  

“You have?” 

“Yes!” 

You both laughed and leaned back into the pillows. “Oh what am i gonna tell Percy?” You thought aloud. 

“Maybe let him figure it out?” 

“Yeah your right that seems smart” 

The next day you and Jason spent even more time together which led Percy to get suspicious. Not that you and Jason knew but he was following you both the whole day and trying to see if something happened. 

Percy eventually got tired and what about to leave from the bushes he was behind when you and Jason kissed.

“Finally!! I had so many bets placed on you! I win” Percy yelled as he jumped out of the bush. 

You and Jason both jumped and turned around. “Percy!” 

“What?! I did have many bets!” He shrugged. 

You rolled your eyes and moved to go drag him back to your cabin when he said “Grace if you hurt them i will hurt you! But i'm also very happy for you both” 

You laughed and continued to drag him back. 

[lucy-sky]

Skulls and Roses (tattoo master!Griff x f!Reader)

Filthy Friday prompts: porn without plot (or with minor plot idk); hookup; rough

Getting your tattoo dedicated to your ex replaced by a new one can be extremely liberating.

Warnings: casual sex (protected!) - I don’t need to explain you that having sex with someone you don’t really know can be dangerous, right? Please be careful in real life :)

Words: 1936; gif by me (from an older gifset when I didn’t use the watermark)

AO3 link if you prefer reading there

“Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart, customer’s always right… but why not simply remove that shit?”

“Because I don’t want to just get rid of it. I want to have something beautiful instead,” you explain, turning the pages of the album filled with tattoo design options. “And please, don’t call me sweetheart. Ever.”

The story is as old as the world. You were in love, he was an asshole. You thought it’s gonna last, but it didn’t. The love is gone, and the only reminder of a man who broke your heart are these stupid fancy letters - his initials, tattooed on your forearm. At first you wanted to leave this evidence of your stupidity as a warning to not repeat your mistakes again, but you simply couldn’t bear seeing them any longer. You want to move on after all. That’s what brought you here, to a place down the street called “Griff’s Tattoos”.

“Alright, alright easy there,” the master raises his hands at your aggressive tone. “Told ya, the customer’s always right. But you see, I ain’t got no… butterflies, or flowers, or unicorns or something like that in here, I’m afraid.”

“Who says I want butterflies or unicorns?” you huffed, rolling your eyes. “I might not look super hardcore, but you don’t know me, mister…”

“It’s Griff, you can just call me that,” the man gestures at the “Griff’s Tattoos” sign on the wall. “And yeah, you’re right, I don’t-”

“Hey, how about that?” you interrupted him as you finally found something of your taste.

“Really? You want that?” Griff raises his eyebrows as you point at the picture. There’s a skull with three red roses, seemingly growing out of it.

“Yeah, I think this one is great. The skull means that the old love is dead, and the roses mean that something beautiful can still grow in its place,” you reply with a shrug.

“Okay, uh… That makes sense, I guess. Didn’t think of any of this while drawing it though,” he lets out a chuckle.

“You could think of a meaning for some of your tattoo designs to sell them to the customers.”

“Yeah, maybe. My own tattoos don’t have much meaning at all, I just make up different stories ‘bout ‘em to impress the girls,” he laughs.

“Nice,” you sigh under your breath, trying not to roll your eyes again. Yet another asshole in your life, apparently. Thank god you’re only his customer, and nothing more than that.

“So, if you made up your mind, let’s get to it,” he smiles, gesturing at his workplace.

“Yep, let’s get to it.”

Maybe that Griff really is an asshole, who knows? But in fact, he manages to make you laugh a few times while he’s working, and you really appreciate that. Conversation distracts you from the pain, plus this man… You have to admit there’s something attractive about him, despite anything. You watch his focused face while he’s working, the crease of his eyebrows, and in a way he looks quite intimidating, but when he smiles, he suddenly looks so different. As if his features soften, and those wrinkles at the corners of his eyes are kind of… Cute? And his gruff voice and deep dark eyes… Damn, you can’t be serious, thinking of him like that. On the other hand - you’re a single woman now, free from a long and actually pretty toxic relationship. You don’t have to jump into another one, but a bit of flirting never hurt nobody. Flirting makes you feel confident, and for the first time in what feels like ages you’re simply enjoying it without feeling any sort of guilt. And honestly? You love this feeling.

“There ya go,” he says proudly when the work is finished. “You like it?”

“Yeah, that’s… Really good!” your reply is honest - you really think the new tattoo is great. The goddamn initials are now perfectly covered with a fresh layer of ink, and even if the tattoo is a bit too bigger than you intended to get at first, you still are satisfied. “I love it.”

“Good to know,” Griff nods, his fingers brushing against your arm with unexpected gentleness. “Did my best to save the girl in trouble.”

“Please!” you scoff, “I think you’re flattering yourself.”

“Modesty’s not my thing,” he grins. “Can I uh… Ask you a personal question?”

“Try it.”

“What happened to you and that guy?” He gestures at the tattoo. “I mean if that’s a guy, ‘cause it could be a girl too, I-”

“That’s a guy. And well, there’s nothing much to talk about, really. I was dumb enough to think he’s the love of my life, and then I found out the dickhead’s been cheating on me for months. Which is actually pretty funny, ‘cause he’s always been extremely jealous and made me feel guilty every time I looked at another man.”

You’re not quite sure why you told it to him. Apparently sometimes it’s just easier to tell something this personal to a stranger.

“Damn. That’s fucked up.”

“Fuck him. His ego is way bigger than his dick, to be honest, so I don’t regret it’s over,” you shrug.

“You know what? If I were him, I’d definitely treat you way better.”

For some reason the way Griff says it, and the way his dark eyes look at you cause a slight shiver run down your spine.

“Oh yeah?” you say, and it comes out a bit more flirty than you intended.

“Yeah. My ego’s big, but no one ever complained about my dick either,” he smirks. Unconsciously, you lower your gaze to his crotch at these words, and instantly hate yourself for that because he obviously noticed, you can tell it from the way his grin got wider.

“See something you like,” he winks, and you hate yourself once again, because even at this moment you find him attractive, with all his stupid tattoos, and smile, and beard, smug face and mischievous eyes.

“Look, Griff. I wanna make it clear for you, okay? I’m not looking for a relationship. I’ve had enough for now.”

He steps closer, invading your space, leaning towards you, his lips impossibly close to your ear as he speaks, so close you can feel the warmth of his breathing.

“Who’s talking about relationships, sweetheart? It’s just that… If you want me to make you forget ‘bout that son of bitch for a while, I’m happy to oblige.”

Oh gosh, the audacity this man has!..

“I told you not to call me sweetheart, remember?” you say as you turn your face to meet his gaze, and then, all of a sudden, following some strange impulse, you press your lips to his.

Griff is quick to respond to your actions, kissing you back with furious determination. Your kiss was timid, but his tongue invades your mouth with no shame at all, his hand reaching to the back of your head to pull you closer, it skims to the side of your neck and frames your jaw as he kisses you, humming against your mouth, and you probably lost your mind, because you don’t push him away. Instead, your own tongue darts to meet his. Matching his wild energy, you nip on his bottom lip, earning a low groan from him, your fingers sinking into his hair to give it a tug.

It’s crazy. Totally fucking insane. You don’t even know this man.

“Fine,” you hear yourself saying, chest heaving as you’re trying to catch a breath. “Make me forget.”

“Customer’s always right,” Griff chuckles, his hands roaming down your body, kneading your butt as he kisses you once again with the same fire and passion. “Just wait a second.”

He pulls back and walks towards the door. He turns over the “open” sign, changing it into a “closed” one, and returns to you.

“Don’t want anyone to disturb us”, he explains, seizing your hips and urging you to sit on the desk behind you. “Still wanna do it, darlin’?”

“I might change my mind if you ask too many questions.”

“Got it.”

He buries his face into your neck, kissing, sucking and nibbling at the tender flesh there, big warm hands sliding up your thighs and under the skirt of your dress. You let out a quiet moan when he reaches your already embarrassingly damp underwear.

“Shit, you sound so good. Can you moan a lil louder for me?” He murmurs into your neck, his fingers pressing harder between your thighs, causing your hips to buck in anticipation.

“Want me to moan - make me.”

You have no idea where you got this boldness from, but that’s the new you, and fuck it - you’re actually enjoying yourself.

Griff doesn’t need to be told twice. He swiftly tugs your panties down your legs, cursing at your shoelaces as he unties and pulls off your boots to get the underwear out of the way. Once he manages to do it, he pushes your legs open and dips his fingers between your slick folds. You whimper, gripping onto his shoulders, as he curls them inside of you, touching exactly the right spot over and over. It feels amazing, mind blowing, but you still need more.

“You got condoms, do you?” you ask breathlessly.

“Who do you think I am, swee- darlin’?” he grins, reaching to fish it out of his back pocket. At this point you don’t even give a shit what he calls you any longer. With shaky fingers you undo his jeans as he opens the wrapper with his teeth and throws it away.

He enters you with a hard thrust of his hips, setting a pretty rough pace, but that’s exactly what you want. He promised to make you forget, and he keeps his promise, fucking you as if he wants fuck any single thought out of your brain until your head is empty and light. Your moans and gasps and his grunts and muffled curses become louder and louder as you’re both getting closer to climax. You come first, throwing your head back as your walls flutter and clench around him, your whole body shuddering as pleasure hits you wave after delicious wave. Griff manages to catch your mouth in a messy, sloppy kiss before he follows you, groaning like a wild animal. Then he stays still for a while, panting, face buried into the crook of your neck.

Getting down from your high, you let your fingers caress the back of his neck absentmindedly, enjoying that pleasant post-orgasmic buzz coursing through your body. How can sex with someone you barely know feel so good? You always thought really good sex must involve feelings. Not that you want to repeat this experience, but right now, at this stage of your life it didn’t feel dirty or embarrassing. It felt kinda liberating.

“You okay?” Griff asks hoarsely as he pulls away and reaches somewhere behind you to grab a roll of paper towels.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you nod.

Your hand is already on the doorknob when Griff stops you.

“Wait, almost forgot,” he tears a page out of his album and hands it to you. “Here. I don’t repeat the tattoos, so…”

“Oh. Course,” you smile as you take the paper and look at the skull with roses once again. “Alright. Thanks again, um… Good night!”

“Night,” he says simply. “Come over if you need some more ink, or… You know.”

“I don’t think so,” you reply honestly. “But who knows, maybe one day I’ll change my mind.”

He nods with a soft yet smug chuckle on his face.

“Customer’s always right.”

Thank you for reading!

Tattoo inspo

[arcplaysgames]

btw i had a few asks about "hey wat u gonna play next" and that's still a ways off but here are my thoughts

MegaTen Options:

Digital Devil Saga (post-apocalyptic cyberpunk hinduism, okay)

Shin Megami Tensei IV (I played about 25 hours of it, loved it, then dropped it, am still interested)

SMT Strange Journey Redux (for the Vibe)

Persona 2 Duology (I have played a bit and I don't think it'll make a good liveblog is my problem, will prob play it on my own)

SMT Soul Hackers (supposed to be one of the more fun ones)

SMT III Nocturne (it's supposed to be the best one)

Non-Atlus Options:

AI: The Somnium Files (Fucking Weirdass Shit from the writer of The Nonary Games, so it should be fun but might be gruesome)

The Caligula Effect 2 (apparently 1 is trash but 2 hits some of the Persona vibes)

Yakuza Kiwami (like Persona 2 idk if it makes a good liveblog. i bet Like A Dragon does tho)

a Danganronpa? I know nothing about these actually, i couldn't tell you anything about any of them with a gun to my head

Dramatical Murder

13 Sentinels (is this on fucking PC yet, what the fuck is taking so goddamn long, THIS IS THE ONE IF IT WOULD JUST COME TO FUCKING PC) (I might literally try running it in Yuzu)

i have considered just left-turning into otome/datesim games but i have such lofty standards for writing quality bc i'm a fucking snob so idk what to even try. i still wish I didn't hate the art style of Ladykiller In A Bind.

speaking of the Nonary Games, maybe I should restart Virtue's Last Reward, that game was fucking BATSHIT

what makes a good liveblog i think:

character-driven

dense and/or weird story

gameplay-to-story ratio is weighted towards story

i would say romanceable characters but of the three games i played i only romanced someone in one of them lol i'm stubborn

i really like the Persona/Bioware trope where you can work on relationships with specific characters

recs welcome

[pacifistcowboy]

so i’ve made some sol-dimension versions of the characters from sonic’s dimension, in the same way that blaze is a sol-dimension version of sonic (and sorta knuckles) and marine is a sol-dimension version of tails. these two are the sol versions of shadow and amy!

i haven’t quite decided on the colours for sol-shadow, so i have a few designs for her. any opinions on which colours are best would be appreciated!! i can mix and match different parts of these designs, since i explored different things in each.

i’ll explain a bit more about them below

sol-shadow is a cat with cryokinesis, which is ice powers! and since the sol-dimension versions seem to have opposite personalities but still have the same core values n kinda ‘roles’ as their original counterparts, sol-shadow is friendly, upbeat, and social. all she wants is to belong somewhere and constantly wants to do things with people and never alone. in order for her to still have an anti-hero vibe, i’ll probably have it that she’s willing to do anything for someone if she thinks they’ll be her friend for it. she trusts people too easily and tends to unintentionally be a bit too lighthearted and playful in most situations. sol-shadow also struggles a lot with her identity and knowing if she’s a good person or a bad guy due to her dramatic backstory that i had to give her ‘cause that’s a big part of og-shadow’s character, but i’ll talk about that after i talk about sol-amy, ‘cause it’s gonna be a lotta words.

i haven’t settled on a name yet but so far the options are: glacier, frost, crystal, and floe

sol-amy is a bobcat (not too sure if that’ll change or not) with a giant sword instead of a giant hammer!! he’s got a crush on blaze, since that’s og-amy’s ‘role’ with sonic, but since his personality’s the opposite of og-amy, he pretends he doesn’t like blaze, or anyone, or anything. he tries way too hard to be a mean, uncaring recluse, yet everyone can tell it’s a façade and that he truly loves and cares so very much for people and the world and everything. he acts like he’s forced to work as a team and help save the day, but literally nobody forces him to hang around or help. his grumpy, complaining, pessimistic persona stems from the fact that he’s actually a really anxious person who’s scared of being close to people and failing to save the things he cares about.

possible names i have for him are: sabre, ash, thorn, spike, aster, and fern

onto sol-shadow’s backstory which i’m still working out n kinda experimenting: many many years ago, the sol empire was overthrown by sol-shadow’s family. they either inherently had cryokinesis, or sol-shadow’s parents were rejected by the sol emeralds when trying to harness them and as an unintentional consequence both sol-shadow and her older brother were born with cryokinesis. sol-shadow’s parents ruled but they were apathetic towards the citizens and power-hungry. they were loving towards their children and sol-shadow’s a bit naïve, so she didn’t see how awful they were. but sol-shadow’s older brother, pierce, did, and he was against their cruelty and secretly helped plan a revolution for the citizens. when the uprising began, pierce escaped with sol-shadow and lead her into a deep cave or something hidden like that. he told her to stay there and that he was going to go back to help, and once the fight was over he would come back to her. sol-shadow refused to let him go alone, so pierce froze her to keep her from getting into danger. when pierce went back to the palace, he ended up getting killed by someone working for their parents. the revolution was a success, and the citizens chose to put blaze’s family back on the throne.

so sol-shadow was stuck frozen in a cave (or maybe not a cave idk) for many many years until someone finds her during blaze’s time, and thaws her. and once she wakes up, all sol-shadow knows is that her family was attacked by the citizens, and that she wants to find her brother, which is gonna lead to a lot of misunderstandings and self-reflection and discovery.

any criticisms or input n such is appreciated! this is an interesting but tricky concept to make :)

[cognitosclowns]

ALRIGHT I know part 2 just released, but any theories for part 3?

OHOHO HELL YEAH >:) these may be a bit sporadic and out of order, a catastrophic amount of sillies, perhaps some hooliganism, etc, etc, y'all know the drill by now <3

[IJ part 2 spoilers, ofc]

Same cold open as always (in front of the whitehouse, etc) except this time its RON >:)

he MENTIONED being a huge conspiracy nut in college - considering he's most likely gonna remember elements of Reagan's script, I 100% believe he's gonna slip back into that.

WE GET A GIGI BACKSTORY EPISODE!!! Otherwise I will just start biting people

ok this is just a plea to the IJ writers BUT STILL

JUST,,, PLEASE </3 I want Gigi lore. Her character is delightful, and there's so much potential for interesting backstory. They've set up all these little threads [her working her whole life to get where she is but still being unsatisfied, 'I could get used to being unremarkable', feeling ignored] now I just want them to elaborate on them.

I might be biased bc I love Gigi to death but COME ON, IT FEELS LIKE SHE'S GETTING SHELVED SO MUCH!! I'm so glad she got to do more this season, esp w/ Reagan, but I'm yearning for lore

tldr. Give me a Gigi episode or give me death.

Air Bud (AB) and Alpha-Beta (AB). Can you see where I'm going with this can you see the wires crossing

I'm sorry but I need the silly robot man to get jealous of the team paying more attention to Air Bud than him.

I can picture it so vividly like a vision from an angry god just

'Of course we're a team! we've even got loveable non-human sidekick who grew beyond his original purpose, gained human traits, and became all the better for it!'

-haha, well, I wouldn't exactly describe myself as a side-'

'Air Bud :D'

'I beg your fucking pardon, Mister Hand?'

in short I need smb to offhandedly refer to Air Bud as AB, and watch this man have a cyberstroke from pure jealousy.

speaking of my favorite man,

ALRIGHT,,,, I DO KINDA REALLY WANT TAMIKO DATE 2.0,,,,,,,

I don't really ship them but the potential here is too powerful. I need to experience more of Whatever The Fuck Happens To AB's Mind When He Sees A MILF

Tell me it wouldn't be delightful to see this clown try and ask Tamiko on a proper date. Tell me that wouldn't be magical to witness. It'll be an absolute car crash and I pray the writers give it to us.

also because if (lets be honest, when) he gets rejected, his dramatic, self-pitying crywank moment is going to be. so good. Teenager sulking in their bedroom watching rom-coms and crying about how 'that was just like me and Tamiko 🥺🥺🥺' levels of pathetic. I know it in my heart of hearts. I physically can't wait.

I think overall I just want this man in situations. bad situations. bad not good situations where he will act both bad and not good <3

THE ROBES,,, UH,,,, HRM,,

*GESTURES VAGUELY* THERE'S SO MANY OPTIONS IDK YET GIVE ME A FEW MONTHS TO STRATEGIZE

They could be anything from aliens, to time travelers, to 4th dimensional beings, robots, clones, ghosts, Just Some Guys (tm), to all of the above in some hodgepodge fruitcake situation.

I will however say that,, at least half of what the Robes told Reagan was probably bullshit. The stuff about all catastrophes having meaning? Not buying it, there's smth up here.

[ALSO,, I'm 90% sure that season 2/part 3 is gonna be the start to an actual Longterm Overarching Plot, which the Robes will no doubt be involved in. Please Please Please, this show is already delightful, and a broader plot would just. *italian hand kiss*]

MISC SHIT, MOSTLY JUST HOPES AND DREAMS:

JRand prison moments. homoerotic prison escape. two bisexual men pressed into a dirt tunnel, who knows what might occur in the heat of passion etc, etc

GLENN CHARACTER ARC!!! We're getting little hints at it,,,, he's tried shrooms,, he's growing closer to the team,,, the bisexual arc is right around the corner for this man I can FEEL IT.

I think we might see Atlantis? We've been getting more stuff about them, and since we've covered pretty much all other Already Mentioned Funky Locations, I think that's gonna be the Big Travel Episode next season!!

BEACH EPISODE!! PLEASE GOD!!! Either combined w/ the above, or separate

[Also, shamefully, I'll admit,,,, I kinda want a musical episode. I have no excuse I just think it'd be so delightful. Please Once-More-With-Feeling, Guy-Who-Didnt-Like-Musicals these bitches Shion, I know you have the power.]

A deep-dive into Andre's psyche. SO many things have been brought up, and I hope they really go in on them. He's coping in 1000 different ways and I don't think a single one of them is good for him.

HM. okie this is getting rambly - I'll probably add more within the next few months as these episodes congeal in my brain, but for now, tysm for the ask!!!

[transgenderer]

It would be so easy to win at morality. All I would have to do is empty out my savings account and send $ to givedirectly (it would take a few days bc of transaction limits) then wander around aimlessly fasting until until I died. It wouldn't take long - 3 weeks without food is enough to die, probably less if I walk a long distance every day. Yet I don't. I'm not afraid of hurting my loved ones and I don't want to live. Yet I'm still posting instead of winning. Why is this?

well. okay so if we are adopting this stance, and to be clear i dont endorse adopting this stance, 1) unless you have a LOT of money (like, thru inheritance or something) and very little earning potential, you could probably net donate more money by staying alive, having a job, and spending as little as possible on yourself and donating the rest to givedirectly or whatever. which is actually really hard! part of why winning at morality is hard, 2) wandering around fasting aimlessly for weeks would be a crazy way to kill yourself. good chance you would get forcibly institutionalized. 3) your happiness (and that of your loved ones!) goes into the great moral integral in the sky! if you make them sad, or yourself sad, by your choices, that's bad to the calculator! ergo, i think its pretty unlikely killing yourself would be winning at morality!

i mean, to be clear, there are lots of reasons you shouldnt kill yourself. but "killing myself would be the most moral option" is a thought ive often had myself (especially when i was like 14), and man it just does not make any sense in any non-stupid moral system. its trying to justify your desire to kill yourself with ethics. if youre gonna be suicidal, say it from your chest, yknow. anyway i always feel like such a square encouraging people not to kill themselves but man. are you on antidepressants? antidepressants might be placebo but they made me personally way less into wanting to kill myself. if you are, have they done the wacky treatments? go for the wacky treatments. electroconvulsive works, its crazy that it works. but it does. anyway if youve done all that idk, move to another country, join a convent, write an album of shitty songs

the best anti-suicide advice is ive heard is that if you want to kill yourself, do something crazy instead. its not like you have anything to lose. and i think what you will realize, or what i realized, is that its not that i wanted to kill myself, i just wanted to be happy. which is less cool seeming than wanting to kill yourself unfortunately. but anyway. uh. personally i cannot reccommend eating a bunch of delicious food enough. worst case you get fat i guess. food is so good and delicious food can be very cheap. get some fast food you really like. eat candy, eat chocolate, eat cake. get a little pleasure in. speaking of i need to eat something.

[fantomette22]

What are your headcanons dynamics in Byrgen class? Who was the smartest? Who was the president in the class. Who skipped classes? Who hated each other? Who was teacher's pet? Who allowed to copy their homework. I'm running out of questions but please do free form and share everything

OH!!! 👀 a question About the Byrgenwerth squad ?! For real!!!! Oh thank you!! I sure wanna talk about them quite a lot!

When I first got into bloodborne the first stories I imagined were about Byrgenwerth and all this little gang! Or like my friend Crow would call them… Willem’s lil troop (of future mass murderers and mentally ill people). My first multi chap fic about bloodborne that I’m trying to write is focus on the Byrgenwerth era too! So it would probably be more develop here in the very long run (writing is hard  Maria is not even at Byrgenwerth yet lmao💀) but I will still try to answer and put what I can think off here! 

I did talk about a few characters individually too so it could give a few infos but let’s go class dynamics!

But first here’s the list of who I imagined was at Byrgenwerth at that time.

As students: Caryll, Maria, Ludwig, Rom, Micolash, Damian (above class from them) & Charles (Cainhurst oc, above class) oh and the future forgotten madman and his escort.

Laurence is their theology and physiology teacher but he had a few class a few years earlier alongside Gehrman XD 

Gehrman, Dores & Liam : groundskeeper, graveyard and mr gatekeeper (the guy with the password). Ok Dores is super scary but if she likes you it's really good👍

Patches is a janitor who will eventually become a scholar after our favs students graduated. (He shouldn't be here in the first place XD)

and of course there’s Willem the provost, the headmaster.

The other characters I won’t cited are either not around to not born yet. Or not relevant for now.

I think Byrgenwerth is kinda an university so even if they have many classes not just in an amphitheater with hundred of students they can have classes with 20-40 students but it’s never the same ones depending the subject teach and the options of everyone. Yet there’s a few class when they can all be together x) so I don’t think they would had a class president? Idk I didn’t thought about it they probably had a representative. I guess Ludwig could make a great representative of the students? Idk

Ok so for the homework I did this meme a while ago XD

For the rest let’s start with Gehrman and Laurence who had a few classes together. Not lying I see Laurence trying to stay serious in front of the teachers (because he kinda live with Willem since a few years) but being absolutely a clown class actually XD  don’t listen all the time, skipped class, party hard and all at the beginning! Still he helped Gehrman when he had difficulties and he helped Laurence back by providing emotional support when he didn’t feel well. 

But hey he graduated become a teacher and is doing a doctorate so hey believed in your dreams XD

Now for the others. Smartest, I would say Caryll I think. A gifted child who skip at least one year (before Byrgen). They have an ability to understand things that is quite remarquable and really surprising. I mean they translated the runes! People have no idea how that make sense to them. Lil guy of the group everyone loved him. If your mean to them everyone is gonna kick your ass.

Poor Rom on the contrary is no really smart 😢 still she work really hard and try helped by her friends! + she have tons of knowledge on insects. Not useful all the times but when smn have a bug in room they always call Rom to help them XD

Those two could be the teacher pets too (Micolash tries too XD). Like I said everyone loves Caryll and Rom is basically Willem’s daughter in my headcanon.

Maria is also quite smart in a lot of subject (thanks Cainhurst eduction and her grand curiosity). She didn’t really had friends at the beginning, for some reason people didn’t like her and she hate to stay with the rich kids from cainhurst & other noble family (except like 1 or 2) that changed thankfully.

For Ludwig I think he would be average in most of the class yet maybe really good in a precise field.

Mico probably think he’s smarter than everyone XD sometime.

Damian he’s kinda the most normal students ever who’s tired of everything else the other get in trouble with..

About Charles now, an oc I created (but fit in the lore it’s a secret shhh) he have ties with Cainhurst and know Maria, Annalise and all since little. He’s in an upper class (he’s older like Damian) kinda the cool popular guy who tried not to cause to much trouble but still a little. Do a lot of party with the « cool annoying kids » you know u_u still he’s better than them XD from Maria saying. Always been here if she needed help.

Omg Caryll Maria and Ludwig dynamic can be resumed like this :

Laurence : why when something happened it’s always you 3.

They got in trouble with eldritch entities while trying to train to go tomb prospecting it’s not their fault! XD

See those drawings too.

They were supposed to train with Dores & Gehrman to go tomb prospecting and… It end well I swear XD

About the. Future forgotten madman & escort this 2 are always together and get into troubles quite often.

Other dynamics :

Gehrman is like the big brother of the group. I don’t wanna hear other wise. That made him really anxious but at least he had a purpose and smt else to do with his life ❤️ babysit 7 crazy scholars is hard yes. But he’s crazier actually so idk what’s worse really.

Also he’s supposed to guard the campus at night but can’t bring himself to be to angry at students who don’t respect the rules XD he did lecture for 2-5mins future forgotten madman & escort because they came back from the forest and climb a wall or smt XD but hey Caryll is allowed to stare at the lake at like 2am because they can’t sleep no problem XD Gehrman do the same to so smt they talk a bit!

Caryll & Rom : they share a braincells. Either they don’t understand what the hell is going on or they’re enlightened with knowledge.

Rom & Caryll & Maria really get along well! The more calm little group too (Yes the 3 boys= Ludwig Mico & Damian are more messy and loud for exemple)

Maria & Ludwig : ok so this one is funny, I hc Ludwig is coming from a rich family. And I was inspired by a few fics where they had class together and Ludwig wonder if she can stand him or not but actually she sit next to him because well she do stand him XD 

I imagined not long ago how they become friend kinda! You see they had prospector training & a few class together but don’t really talk a lot. Then they got invited to the cool kids party in Yharnam; Problem : because of some « incidents » in the pthumerians labyrinth there’s a curfew at Byrgenwerth. So they need to came back not too late. «Yeah we’ll call a carriage for the ones who got back ! » they didn’t call a carriage.

So you got Maria and Ludwig who decided to return at Byrgenwerth in the middle of the night and having a lil walk in the forest. They don’t really have the choice and it’s better to not go alone so they do the route together. It’s a bit awkward at first but they begin to talk and all. They got along well. They arrived late of course. Ludwig thought Gehrman was going to freaking yell at them or smt (he didn’t know him well and the groundskeeper is intimidating at first) but no, he just told them to be more careful or they could get into trouble x) 

Yeah thankfully Maria was already friend with him XD kinda become friends the same way he became friends with Laurence but anyway… (he tried to plant flowers heh asks her opinion on it and she explain a few stuff in botany XD) also they just casually went hunting in the woods on day XD yes prospector training ahaha

To get back to Ludwig and Maria, on their 2nd year at Byrgenwerth she bring her horse and she allowed Ludwig to pass some time with him go and ride and all. Ludwig show her an old picture of the pony he had when he was a kid. On group project either they get to excited and fail XD but succeed the 2nd time generally.

Mico & Rom and Damian : almost inseparable. The 2 boys kinda assign themself at her best friends/bodyguard or smt XD

And you can be sure Mico & Maria would argue a lot if they had a chemical exercice to do together or smt.

And what about them all together as a group dynamic hm? Well either they're genius or a mess XD yep they end up in danger. Again. During prom night!!! Gasp :O

And in last, sometimes there’s free (class) conferences held by Willem or other teachers and they can all assist to it! Yes even Gehrman and Laurence. It’s quite fun x) Quite a mess but fun.

Hope you enjoy! I probably forgot a few things but I hope it will do for now. It’s hm more focus on and the students first & beginning of the 2nd years/5 at Byrgenwerth of the students too. Sorry for the lil delay too last days were a bit busy!

[noblechaton]

so. the ml movie huh. hm (big ol post with spoilers under this cut btw)

so after almost 10 years of being on this bug and cat train they finally get a big ol expensive movie and I think it was. fine? maybe? there's a lot going on here and while I don't think I can call it good and mean it I don't think it was the worst thing ever. a 6? out of 10 feels kinda right for me. got a lot to say here fwiw so buckle in if ya wanna read it all lol

main issue I feel is obviously them trying to adapt 5 seasons, each of which was dozens of hours at least, and a near decade of storytelling into a movie that doesn't even hit two hours. no idea why - I imagine the money ran out tbh - but running through the entire thrust of the series in ~1h40m movie just. was never gonna work man. feel like there had to be better options out there, like just adapting Origins with some episodes from S1 thrown in between them getting their miraculous and Hawkmoth revealing himself or something. idk. I ain't a writer

but then also I felt despite the short runtime that it sorta dragged on at times? like it got stuck spinning wheels here and there. Marinette constantly needing her confidence boosted even after being Ladybug for so long was weird. it's so strange bc they flashed through a dozen akuma - some of which looked kinda cool btw, be neat if they made the jump to the show - and yet it felt like there'd been no progress made? like the flow of time in the movie just. didn't work. a lot of stuff just sort of happens at you and you gotta hang onto whatever ya like and hope it doesn't just vanish in the river of events

voice acting in English was like. pretty solid honestly. maybe the best performances I'd heard from that side of the dub tho I have no idea what they were thinking with the singing voice for Marinette at least. couldn't really tell if Adrien's was still Bryce (I don't think it was but it wasn't as jarring) and I know Keith sang for Gabe's songs but whoever they got for Marinette just. wasn't even close to Marinette's normal speaking voice and it's super distracting. really weird choice. no shade on the singer tho she was solid imo just like. no connection to Marinette's normal voice really took me out of it

also the songs were kind of nonsensical most of the time and there's way too many of them. some are kinda good - Gabe's, Chat's and tbh I kinda liked the one over the credits to name a few - but like. they were not good enough for there to be what felt like 6-7 different songs in a movie that doesn't even crack 2 hours lmao

they made a ton of changes in terms of the story and general world and I actually kind of liked some of them - Ladybug learning to swing through the yoyo (which had a neat redesign) and doing so using that Ladybug vision was cool, I appreciate that we get a reveal and how it's done even if the end card was brutal, the miraculous seeking them out felt more like nice compared to just having the weight of the world dropped on them by some ancient man lol - but then there's others I didn't. Ladybug just never uses the cure until the end? I guess? she also doesn't purify the first akuma I don't think and like. nothing happens? Adrien's just sorta out and about? going to the school already? he gets a really understated intro imo. Gabriel sort of doesn't get an ending. I'd assume he's in jail? we get almost none of Adrien's perspective on getting the ring which is really weird

and that sorta extends into my feeling that somehow we did not get enough Gabriel in this. really weird saying that after having enough of that bum for the last 4 years of my life but his motives are carried hard by my knowledge of the show, and even then they're not really shown enough - he's not shown enough, and I don't feel Adrien is either. neither is the school setting or side characters, heck I'd say Adrinette gets kinda shafted overall since most of the development they get is in a montage sequence. there's a lot chopped out of this for the sake of a brevity that doesn't feel all that brief?

there's some good stuff in here for sure. the animation is undeniably pretty and slick even if some models are kinda wack. most of the action was fun and cool, the final sequence with Chat running up the tower and such was neat. I loved the Ladynoir something fierce honestly, the bantering and the sparring and the getting closer and closer. missed them being like that a lot tbh, someone on staff clearly did too. couple of jokes got me too like the opener with Chloe getting a single drop of coffee on her shirt lmao

but then there's a lot of stuff that really didn't work for me. Plagg being reduced to a fucking fart joke kind of made me mad lmao. them being super inconsistent with their powers was so weird. no lucky charm?? WHAT?? did I miss something?? no side character getting any focus beyond Alya was disappointing too and even Alya just dips out of the story after a while. breaking out into song once every like 15 minutes got old kinda quick too regardless of song quality (tho it was funny that Marinette seemed aware of the fact that she'd just participated in a musical number at one point lol)

Fu opens the movie with some really weird monologue and basically dips after the first akuma and they just. never find him again? he plays zero role beyond that point? Adrinette's first meeting is kinda cute in an understated sort of way but it's also sort of nothing and doesn't feel like a lingering thing for long afterwards - it ain't no umbrella scene dude. also Chat Noir seemingly drops the "my mom died btw" thing on Ladybug like she'd know that and she just sort of goes "Ah. Sorry, Chat." and that was. super fucking weird lmao

like I said. there's a lot going on - tho I gotta say for sure the writing was not consistently good. there were moments, flashes, Ladynoir is the strongest thing in the movie imo but there's so many fucking craters in terms of quality that it makes me so happy we get what we do in the show

on the whole I felt the movie was somehow way too condensed and yet too long at the same time. it felt like it was made by someone who really likes the surface details of the series but not the whole thing and like that's fine but I wouldn't say it was a good representation of the show. like the things I like about the movie are kind of all things I've liked about the show, and I like them more so because of that but also like I can't say the movie was good just bc I like the show lol

shallow is a good word for it I think. a flashy, expensive hour or so with little more beneath the surface which I feel sorta betrays the show it's based on where it's cutesy on the surface but has more going on under it. which like this feels very much made for the younger demographic and those that aren't into the show, like sort of an ad for someone's ideal version series even if it sorta strays really far from the show itself. as if someone perhaps in charge of this movie was clinging to what elements of their flagship series that they thought were keeping their company afloat and foolishly believed they could do it better than the creator or any other actual writer. wonder who that could be. anyway

as an adaptation of the show I don't think it was good overall and as a movie on its own it was like. fine. imo. wouldn't sway people into picking the series up but definitely not the worst movie ever made. super safe and super shallow, really messy with a few bright spots thrown in. a cluttered Ladynoir reveal fic where the Ladynoir bits are good and the rest is not. etc.

I like it but mostly bc I love the show - I would not introduce someone to the series with this and might not even urge casual fans to watch it either tbh. real mixed bag imo

also what happened to the "Awakening" subtitle? I kinda liked it and it's just gone. weird

[shopwitchvamp]

I absolutely love your designs! I have a few questions: what made you decide to use the printing process you do?

As someone who currently has designs on Redbubble and is not always content with the quality, I'm not sure what printing places are best.

Thank you!! Hmm, well mainly it was a combination of necessity and chance. I started out making my first skirts through ArtsCow longggg ago, because a friend had made some and it seemed like a fun thing to try. Back then my main thing was selling crocheted amigurumi plushies at conventions and on Etsy, and I'd gotten tendonitis more than once from the ridiculous amount of constant crocheting I'd do.. so I was looking for some more options of things I could add to my lineup that I didn't have to pain(literally)stakingly make individually by hand. I was already designing some things that could then just be printed, like buttons, art prints, zipper bags, etc. but at that time no one was really doing skirts. Eventually we all started gradually dropping the handmade stuff we were making in favor of skirts and other clothing, so the same friend that got us all started with ArtsCow found a manufacturer that we could work with directly. A lot has changed since then (like we didn't even have pockets until a couple years in!), but I still work with that same manu. As for why the process itself, it's because it allows for a relatively low minimum per size/design, a wide range of sizes, and as many designs as I want to make. I know a lot of people think my clothes are expensive, but *relatively* it also allows for affordable clothes. This is also why we don't have natural fiber skirts yet. The printing process for our clothes requires synthetic fabrics, and even if we figure out a different option for getting designs onto natural fabrics it'd bring up a bunch of issues like high cost, high minimums, and not being as size accomodating. Side note with that, but it's likely that whatever I end up doing to make natural fiber skirts happen- it's going to involve me circling back around to a more handmade process and taking on a lot of the work myself. I really want to make bleach-dyed cotton skirts, but I'm gonna have to do it all myself.. and because of that + the cost of plain fabric in the first place, who even knows how high the final price is gonna need to be. Back to your ask tho, yeah I've also used Redbubble and it's not always the greatest. I'd say give ArtsCow a try if you want to design some skirts or w/e clothing. It's been a long time so idk for sure how their quality is these days, but for me it was a great starting point!