#luckily I learned a lot this time with the textures

[chiquititaosita]

girl dad! geto x mom! reader

-literally cannot I MEAN CANNOT!!! Mimiko and Nanako LOVE THE BABY! Like not even joking they think of her as a baby doll.

- geto puts his little princess in braids and cute hairstyles because of post partum depression. He takes charge sometimes

-“what do I do? Why is it crying?” He asked a little worried. While baby girl yuikiko is throwing herself back and closing her fists as a newborn. She’s so hungry. The nurse explains everything to him. He takes it with a grain of salt.

-takes care of you during pregnancy and your postpartum journey

-the first diaper change is hilarious. “Oh my god!-“ hello covers his mouth gagging looking away as the baby laughs. Because she has a full poopy diaper.

-the twins just laugh, when geto struggles changing yukikos diaper. “Ah little flower is going to give me a hard time.” He mumbles.

-he doesn’t understand what breast milk is until you were legit breastfeeding. “Wait can I try some?” Mother fucker inhaled that shit because it was pleasing to the tongue. puts it in his protein shake 😭

-if you feel insecure about your new mom body he’s not going to be the type of husband that says “fuck get over it.”

-he keeps on admiring your body, like when y’all had y’all’s first time together. “I have so much more respect for you now [y/n]..” he’ll whisper

-one time you came home from work watching the twins, the baby and Suguru all fall asleep, luckily the baby was alive and breathing well. Even sleeping in the portable bassinet around the house.

-is so proud that yukikos first word is mama but when he hears dada he goes feral crying. It’s giving “I’m not crying you are!”

- he is willing to teach his girls his techniques in order to defend themselves when geto is not present.

- now he calls y’all’s daughter a monkey “y/n! this damn monkey baby is putting things it’s in mouth!”

-(when the baby learns to pull hair he regrets it) “okay okay I’m sorry it’s a her my bad!!” 💀

- like fr though he loves your daughter even when she eats her food in nothing but a diaper and strapped in a high chair because she’s exploring taste and texture

-“I’m gonna protect you from everything that’ll potentially and will put you in danger on your mama.”

- one time he let gojo babysit it did not end well (he lost her by almost sealing her with another curse because he wasn’t watching her while she was crawling around) 😭😭

- the baby is very much a daddy’s girl so whatever baby girl wants baby girl gets

-also he holds your hand while holding the baby when she gets her ears pierced. (He shedded more tears than the baby) then the baby was fine after she was given a bottle of milk.

-“she’s fine?”

-the baby tries to hit Suguru for no damn reason ON PURPOSE (when she’s a bit older and can move her arms during that development)

-“OW SHE BIT ME!” the twins will laugh

-the twins will try to feed the baby baby food but wanna watch the baby feed herself.

-“ why is yukiko eating her foot?”

-“ask y/n”

-“why is yukiko eating her foot?”

-“I think she discovered it”

-he’s there for every milestone and trying to record it.

-lots of pictures and videos of the baby with the girls and you.

-when the baby is tired and screaming crying, and you’re not there singing to her. Suguru discovered his singing soothes the baby (regardless if it sounds bad on purpose or not) or if he sings bad lmao

-and geto would never want anything to change because he loves his little family

[kinkandkreep]

TokRev Boyos Dad-canons:

Baji-boo:

Learned how to be a dad from observing his mom be a mom

I think the consensus is that Ryoko is a major contributing factor for Baji ranking number 1 out of the best boyfriends to have in TokRev

I would venture a guess and say that though Baji was influenced by his mother’s parenting, he knows that she didn’t do a perfect job, as with any parent, and he intends to make up for where she might have stumbled

Now, I’ma keep it trill wit y’all, I ain’t read Letter from Keisuke Baji and don’t know much about it 😭

BUT from what I’ve gathered, we do see more of Baji and his mother’s interactions

I think overall, Baji is a very chill dad

He’s one who never really gave deep thought about the prospect of having kids, but figured that if it happened, it happened

Initially, Keisuke does have some insecurity concerning whether he could be an adequate father or not

But once the time actually arrives, he’s very self assured and confident in his ability to be a great parent

Contrary to popular belief, Keisuke isn’t stupid stupid, he’s just book dumb

He’s got good common sense and reasoning skills, and he’s very well aware that both pregnant women and babies are fragile 

So, he acts accordingly 

Keisuke tries his best to be gentle during your pregnancy and after 

He insists upon doing practically everything for you 

He doesn’t like to dwell on it, but he frets a lot during the whole process

Everything is liable to harm you and your baby and the thought makes him simultaneously furious and so anxious he can at times visibly vibrate from feeling both emotions

You do a fair amount of damage control during and after your pregnancy, even though you’re technically the one meant to be hormonal and sensitive

Keisuke, perhaps surprisingly, doesn’t really cry when you give birth

His eyes more so water really hard but no tears fall

He’s actually really supportive and calm throughout the birthing process (which he insisted on being present for) and once your little bundle of joy has been safely and successfully brought into the world, he’s immediately overtaken with such a sense of happiness and fulfillment and the urge to protect that he’s slightly taken aback

Rather randomly, he looks great in all the hospital pictures taken the day your baby is born 🙃

I could honestly see Keisuke having either a boy or a girl in about equal measure, so I’ll let you decide what the two of you have

Either way, he adores his child

He’s kinda like Mikey, in that he can be firm but also very accommodating with his kid(s)

Is somewhat familiar with Cocomelon and prays your child never has to be 🙃 (mostly for his own sanity)

Bubble Guppies is his stuff though

Coos at your child all the time

Like everytime he sees them he’s just overwhelmed with this desire to make cute noises at them 😂

Would beat anybody up who tried to make fun of him for it though *coughMIKEYcough*

Takes care of the majority of baby related and household duties for quite some time after you’ve given birth

He just wants to be helpful, you’ll let ‘im won’t you? 🥺

He tries not to coddle you though, since he knows you’re not like, bedridden, just recovering

His favorite baby cartoon is probably Paw Patrol and his favorite pup is, perhaps predictably, Chase (though he does also have a soft spot for Zuma) 

MATCHING. OUTFITS. 

Keisuke loves to match outfits with his baby

And like he’s not normally a fashion focused guy, like Mitsuya, but when it comes to coordinating with his little “mini me,” he really goes all out 

Of course, who would Keisuke be if he didn’t let your child(ren) play with his long, luscious locks?

A terrible father, that’s who 😤

I can see Keisuke’s baby or babies all having hair like his, and this makes for some…interesting wash days

Especially if you got temperamental 4C hair, like me

And then combine that with how thick Baji’s hair is too???

Girl, my arms hurt and I’m ti’ed just thinkin’ about it 😂

Luckily, whatever texture your hair is, Baji doesn’t mind being the one to handle wash days, once you’ve shown him the proper hair care techniques

Loves to go on outings and do different activities to engage your little one

Keisuke knows he wasn’t the most academically gifted, so he does everything in his power to make sure that your child is mentally stimulated from a young age to hopefully encourage a greater academic ability 

All that being said, Baji is a superb dad, and he believes wholeheartedly that fatherhood has changed him for the better 🙂

Draken here

[mechanical-sunchild]

{Can't draw so I'm going to write it!}

Therian HRT Diary, Day One:

"I was nervous that the doctor would turn me down on account of the endangered status of my desired species. He assured me that if they could do dragons they would have no problem finding a way to do Leontopithecus rosalia as well. The consulation when really well. I expected as much. I've already done HormoneRT, what's a little HumanRT as well? He assured me that the two things would not react badly with each other and my prescription will be ready for me tomorrow!"

Therian HRT Diary, 1 month:

"I'm definately a lot more hairy that I was before and even my bald spots have filled in! Yessssss. The colour has almost completely changed too, becoming the lovely orange colour I always wanted it to be. The texture has changed too. It's hard to describe but it's definately more fur-like than hair-like now, so much thicker than I'm used to and a little itchy. That's fine though because my nails are thicker, longer and stronger too!"

Therian HRT Diary, 3 months:

"I have fur covering my entire body now, shorter and darker on my face of course. I'm starting to get a lot of pains in my joints, but I'm already kind of used to that having chronic pain. What's even better is that my canines are nice and long and sharp! I feel stronger and can climb a lot better than before. My tail is starting to come in and that hurts like Hell..."

Therian HRT Diary, 6 months:

"I can't wait for tail grown and bone changes to end, ahhhh...I don't regret the HRT but Goooood. I'm moving slower because it hurts too much. I'm lucky I won't actually shrink in size, I guess. That would have really started to hurt. My fingers are done though, I think. They're much longer and stronger. My thumb is technically still opposable as it hasn't change much but it's no longer in proportion to the other fingers which means I've had to learn to grasp and hold things like pencils in whole new ways. My tail is small, but cute and just as furry as the rest of me. Yeah, I think it's worth the pain."

Therian HRT Diary, 8 months:

"Still growing the tail...well, it is going to be pretty long when it's done. I can now run on all fours just as well as on two legs, if not faster and easier. It's good to be able to stand still so I can reach things though! Cravings for insects are off the charts. I asked the doctor about it and he said I should still eat food for humans, but can absolutely eat any insects a golden lion tamarin would too. Neat! I've had a lot of fun figuring out all the new flexibility in my body, but the aches are still there so I won't push it too far. My eyes have started to darken in colour too and I no longer have much of a visible eyebrow. Weird thing to change so late but I'm not complaining! My nose is finally changing shape too. I was worried it wouldn't and the human nose was starting to look really odd! My ears are growing in size, even though I can barely see them behind all this fur!"

Therian HRT Diary, 12 months:

"I think I'm finally done! My tail is longer enough to sweep the floor unless I choose to move it now. My body no longer aches as my new bone structure has settled, my facial features have done changing and I feel full of energy all the time! I'm spending a lot of my days in trees I could only have dreamed of climbing before the Therian HRT, and even met a couple more monkeys (not my species though :( ) and a bird this way! My move to a therian-friendly village took longer than I thought it would, luckily during this time I wasn't in a very conservative area. I did get a lot of looks though and a little bit of harassment. Things are much better here and they even welcome those who haven't had the therian HRT so my partner can live with me. I'm at the end of a cul-de-sac, my neighbours to the left are a seal and a aphid (what an unusual pair /pos), and my neighbours to the right are a squirrel, a mongoose and a rose-bush. I'd only heard of plant-based Therian HRT before so it was really cool seeing this mix of animal and plant to create something new. So far everyone is really accepting and just as curious to see a primate amongst their midst! I've never been happier : ) "

[bryce-bucher]

Midwest Lost Post #5

Stepfather:

For the past month I've been pretty busy, so I've mainly just been focusing on working on Midwest Lost whenever I have a chance. In this time I finally got the character model for the stepfather mostly complete and in the game. In this fight he is "unwinding" after work so he's ditched his pants and put on a bathrobe, but he was too dejected to change out of his work shirt. He's an abusive guy with a messy life, and he often takes his anger out on whoever he thinks he can have power over. Unlucky for the protagonist, this often means he's the target of his rage. Luckily for the protagonist, he has a big ass sword.

The Face:

For a while now I've been pretty concerned on how I am going to handle face textures in this game. I need the characters to be expressive for the various cinematics and for certain emotional beats to hit properly, but creating proper detailed faces is a bit of a wild west territory for me. Because of this, I decided to try an experiment. Recently I've been trying to learn how to paint properly using a VR painting tool called Vermillion, It's proven to be a really powerful and relaxing way to paint, so I was wondering if it would be feasible for me to paint character textures in it. At my current skill level I honestly thought it wouldn't work out at all, but surprisingly it did!

As you can see here, I spent a good 4-5 hours painting this face texture in VR. It looked pretty horrible until like the last 40 minutes of the process or so. I guess that's how its supposed to go, but it really surprised me that it came together at all.

After I got that base texture completed, I exported it and touched it up a bit to better fit the model. I then added a pair of eyes and eyebrows on top of the texture in Affinity Photo. They are a lot more cartoony / simplistic than the base texture so that I can change them out and create new expressions easily. I was honestly unsure if that would clash too hard with the painted face, but I think it looks pretty good. This was a really fun process, and It's got me excited for the amount of opportunities it has afforded me. Character creation is my favorite, but until now I really never thought I'd be able to paint the more detailed organic aspects of certain characters / animals. Oh yeah I also painted his knees in the same way lol, but I think going into detail about that would be redundant.

Heavy Attacks:

The last major thing I did recently was finally implement some heavy attacks. Rather than have separate inputs for light and heavy attacks, the attack button causes a light or heavy attack to occur based on whether or not you are currently holding the stance/strafe button. The heavy attacks I decided on are meant to be able to close in a considerable gap between you and the enemy, so that you can get in there more easily after slowly strafing around. Alternatively, you can just use heavy attacks whenever as long as you just press the strafe and attack buttons at the same time, so really they are for whenever you feel as though you can afford the wind up and cooldown of the animations. But yeah, as you can see in the gif above, the heavy attacks currently take the form of a two swing combo where you can lunge forward with the sword pointing outwards and then follow it up by swinging it back over your head and slamming it down. I think they are pretty satisfying to use as of now, but I might consider extending the combo in the future.

Conclusion:

That is all 4 today. I really want to get more work done on all of these games. I'm really tired of being stuck in the same debug scene in all of them. Hopefully this year I can dedicate more time to all this, and maybe I can make a second scene for one of them lol. Next time I post one of these it will probably be midwest lost again, but if not I'll be working on J(a)SON next. A big part of me being busy this month is that I'm actually attending GDC alongside Quinn K. If any of u mutuals out there want to meetup at GDC lmk.

[object-vault-9]

Character Spotlight 1: EMF Meter's History

OOC: I was trying to plan more art or a narrative approach, but with the chaos upcoming in the next weeks in comic and my art program deleting the pens and textures I was using for this several times.... I'd like to go back and refine it better ! Its a little vague and weird in places but I didn't want to put off EMF stuff too much longer Anyway here's a summary of EMF's time at the vault, for people who missed his short duration here, plus his back story! Like always he's open for questions Under the cut since this was really long and wordy

The 18th week after opening the vault, EMF Meter was found with a severe head wound. He was discovered by Red Ball and Push Pin, and brought back to the vault to be cared for by Mousetrap. He wasn't able to determine what happened to him. Week 22 is when he regained consciousness. The exposed portion of his circuitry were still not healing over even as he started to recover. He was back on his feet by Week 24, though still suffered frequent headaches. He reported starting to see and hear things around the vault, but struggled to describe what exactly it was. His original electric field detecting capabilities became less effective, and he got a lot of false positives that messed with his perception. Being a very deeply spiritual person, he interpreted many of these things to be ghosts, and later, possibly demons. Especially after learning of the many losses the vault suffered recently, and prior to its opening. His time in the vault he always came off as quiet and secretive. He was really close with Mousetrap and no one else, and he didn't bring up his past much. He offered to help around the clinic, and to Mousetrap's surprise he was a trained doctor, and familiar with a lot of the pre-war techniques passed down from the vault. The clinic was extremely busy at the time, and some of the vault dwellers injuries were dire, especially Timer's infected leg after she had fallen from a cliff. With supplies dwindling, on week 30 EMF took off on his own to scavenge supplies from the boarded off hospital. To enter the building he climbed to the roof, but slipped on his way back down, surviving the fall but shattering the plastic casing making up his back. Having not told anyone where he had gone, it took the vault a while to locate him after his disappearance was noticed. He luckily made it back to the vault alive and in one piece. He survived a few more weeks due to Mousetrap's careful medical attention, but he wasn't able to make a recovery this time. On his death bed he urged Mousetrap not to blame herself. But how did he get here?

Many miles away from the vault, Emerald City, named after the fantastical city in The Wizard of Oz, is the one of the most stable settlements in the commonwealth. Known to many as simply the 'Walled City", it is notoriously difficult to get in and out of. Though well defended from bandits and wasteland threats, the city is rampant with deep rooted corruption. EMF Meter was born and raised there, and trained as a doctor. If he had stayed he'd have become an affluent figure, but he was really unhappy. The corruption that poisoned the city was prevalent in his family too, leading to both his success and his depression. Leaving behind his old life, he left the city. His journey led him to a church and cemetery. A huge, old world cathedral, barely damaged, and holding up well with its heavy stone foundation. As a doctor he was able to provide help for them that no one had been able to before. And without any survival skills, he felt he had lucked out finding a more genuine community out here, where he could really make a difference. While he provided the community with medical care, they guided him spiritually, with a strange religion unlike any of the beliefs held by objects pre-war. On the first day he was encouraged to throw everything he owned, besides the things he needed for his job, into the hole in the wooden flooring of the church. Freeing himself from its hold on him. He did so readily, believing fate had led him there. Even after leaving, he still believed deeply in things like fate, and more abstractly, demons.

He spent several years there, where he saw the group take in many more lost souls like him. Though he noticed, that as many people as they took in, the population size remained somewhat stagnant. A lot of his friends would leave without telling him. At night, the foundation of the building would groan, giving him nightmares. He was usually advised against using his electric field detection while there. When he did use it, like when assessing the health of other gadget objects like him, he'd pick up weird readings under the building. Despite being told not to approach the hole without another convert, one night he couldn't ignore it any longer. Layers upon layers of items filled up the floor of the cavernous basement under the floorboards of the cathedral. The bones and flesh of hunted animals, the possessions of the community, and...corpses. The whole church was built on a den of an enormous mutated creature, obscured by shadows. The whole church had been occupied solely to keep it dormant, at the expense of the resources, possession and even the lives of the people around it. The people who benefitted most were the high priests that took him in...and people like EMF who could provide rarer services. EMF's skills gave him a value the other passerbyers couldn't afford. He left that night.

EMF Meter was not a man built for survival in the wasteland. Generations of almost stable city life, even if the city was nothing like a modern one, and then further years where he was taken care of at the castle, he struggled a lot with finding food and fighting off beasts. He suffered a severe injury, and fell into a near coma. When he came to, he was a lot quieter and more solemn of a man. He was suspicious of the vault's intentions, and stayed mostly close to his fellow doctor and the person who remained by his side all that time, Mousetrap. For a final fun fact, in game they shared a mutual crush

[itneedsmoregays]

The long ask game for steff:

Appearance: 5,8,10

Objects: 1,7,9

Food and Drink: 4,12,16

Weather and Nature: 2,5,11

Community and Relationships: 4,8,10

Mind, Body and Soul: 2,20,22

Hobbies and Activities: 3,7,9,18

(Sorry this is long.)

Whoa, mama. Alright, here we go!

Appearence

5: What are your character's opinion on scars? She doesn't typically mind them.

8: Does your character have a physical trait that they're known for? Her ponytail and glasses.

10: If your character could splurge on a particular garment, what would it be? If she had endless cash, she'd go on a massive shoes/summer dress shopping spree.

Objects

1: Is there an item your character doesn't like to leave without with? Her earphones.

7: Does your character ever spend more than they have? No, her moms taught her to be responsible with her money.

9: Does your character prefer to give or receive gifts? She doesn't really have a preference, but she loves thinking of present ideas.

Food and Drink

4: How big is your character's appetite? Generally mild.

12: Which mealtime is your character's favourite? A tie between breakfast when she gets to make herself a plate of pancakes, and dinner when her moms have cooked something for them all.

16: Is there a food texture your character doesn't like? Anything goopy like pudding or jello.

Weather and Nature

2: Has your character had a meaningful interaction with an animal? I mean... does meeting her girlfriend for the first time count? Seeing how they're anthropomorphic animals? XD

5: Has your character ever had an animal phase? I suppose if this were a human AU, Steff would probably LOVE anything small and fuzzy like cats or bunnies.

11: What part of nature would your character resonate with? Either water or the sky.

Community and Relationships

4: Is your character upfront about their feelings? After keeping her crush on Ash a secret for so long, she's now much more open about her feelings. She's also an avid proponent of platonically saying "I love you" to her friends.

8: How likely is it for your character to initiate a friendship? Quite likely, Steff's always very polite when it comes to meeting new people. She only stops if the person doesn't make an effort to try to be nice (looking at you, Mike).

10: Is there a habit your character has that they learned from someone else? Thanks to being close to Ash since high school, and since becoming her girlfriend, Steff can dish out a sarcastic remark once in a blue moon. It surprises even herself. XD

Mind, Body and Soul

2: Are there particular sounds your character is fond of? Her grandma's singing voice on her old VHS tapes.

20: Is there a fear your character wants to learn to overcome? She tried to brave her fear of horror movies once but that didn't work. Luckily, Ash assured her that they weren't going to share the same interests and that was perfectly fine. Provided she can anticipate them, so she doesn't spray gas when she gets startled, she does want to try conquering her fear of loud noises one day.

22: Does your character have a high pain tolerance? Nope.

Hobbies and Activities

3: What is a talent your character wishes they had? She sometimes wishes she could hit the whistle notes that Meena can.

7: What is a talent that your character is proud of? Her singing voice.

9: What is a topic your character would be excited to talk about? Anything regarding baking, hot drinks and music, especially old music facts that her grandma passed down to her.

18: What is a topic your character wouldn't want to talk about? Middle school. She blocked out a lot of memories from 8 to 13 after her grandma died. The only positive thing she remembers from that period of time was figuring out she was pan.

[asksuccubussides]

What if you were an asexual succubus, wouldn't that be fucked up or what

Chapter 20

Masterpost of Chapters

Janus was barely able to move. The entire journey to the stranger's house he had spent bordering on catatonic to the point that he hadn't even had the wherebouts to scream at the fact that they were. He let himself be taken to an old house deep in the woods and followed along as the stranger calling himself Patton set him down on a chair in the living room. With his face towards the kitchen he watched as the other stranger carried the half lucid and still bleeding Remus past the living room and into the kitchen.

Remus was laid down on the kitchen island before the stranger took the entire roll of papertowels and used it to start cleaning up the blood, not only from the gnarly cut on Remus' palm, but especially the blood still sipping out from where the sharp stick had latched itself through his lower arm. His chest heaved up and down while his lips moved though no sound came.

Patton got a chair and sat down right in front of Janus which in turn shielded him from seeing Remus. The older man handed him a blanket since the only thing he was wearing was his morningrobe before he laid his hand on top of Janus'. When he spoke his voice had the same smooth texture as honey.

"Kiddo are you alright? You havent said anything in a while, I need to know if you're injured as well"

Janus let up into a high pitched laugh "Im great. Never been better. Feeling bloody fucking fantastic. I love not having a clue what the The hell is going on"

"I assure you that you're not imagining things. Feel my hand" He tapped his thumb against Janus hand "That feels real doesnt it?"

"Honey" The other man said which made Patton turn to look at him "You have the more recent medical degree, I think you should handle this"

"Of course" He gave Janus' hand a squeeze "Wait here Kiddo. Deep breathes. Your friend will be okay"

As soon as Patton moved away Janus curdled up in the chair and held the blanket tightly around himself. The older demon throughly washed his hands in the sink while his tail took down the first aid kit sitting atop of the fridge. He set out disinfectant and lined up a needle and thread while Logan dabbed a cold towel against Remus' forehead.

Remus lightly tugged at Logan shirt with his left hand before doing a pointing motion towards Patton. Logan took it as a question and answered "Yes that is indeed my husband"

He handspelled but since only Patton had only learned sign language enough to know how to spell his name Logan to translate what Remus was signing.

"He says hes happy to finally meet my- Remus im not using that word. Happy to meet my...partner. He's heard a lot about you" the demon managed a toothy grin "I suppose I'm relieved youre in a stable enough state to still be your obtuse self"

Patton snickered "I'm glad to meet you as well, I've heard quite a few things about you too. Dont worry, unlike Logan I renewed my medical deegree a few oh I dunno 10 years ago"

"Indeed, my Patton has always had more of a knack for caring for living beings"

With the mention of That name Remus whole demeanor changed. His eyes turned wide and his toothy smile turned into him gnashing his teeth as he took the bottle of disinfectant and threw it at Patton's head.

Luckily the bottle was made of plastic and therefore only bounced off of his head but Remus followed it by trashing around in an attempt to scratch at Patton with his still functional hand. Patton backed away at the same time that Logan pulled his arms around Remus' waist in an attempt to stop him.

"Moving will make your injuries worse you nincompoop!"

Remus continued to trash his legs around in an attempt to kick Patton in the face. When that didnt work he handspelled something which Logan didnt translate, he just grimaced.

"I think I can guess what he's spelling" Patton said "It's Traitor isn't it"

--

It was cramped and hard to breathe when Virgil woke up. A headache made his brain feel like it had been stuffed with cotton and his sight was still blurry when he opened them but at least he could tell that he wasn't in Heaven, which meant Janus wasn't dead yet. The smell of pasta floated through the air which made him question where the hell he was. A question which was quickly answered when he kicked his foot against the closed door and it opened to reveal that he had been locked in the closet in his apartment. On the other side sat Roman with an entire pot of newly cooked pasta.

Before he even had the chance to speak the demon had already pulled out a kitchen knife to hold against his neck. Specifically Virgil's kitchen knife from his kitchen which made it even ruder somehow. With her other hand she kept eating the pasta. Virgil gulped and as he did he noticed how dry his mouth was, he wondered how long he had been asleep. He shook his wrists and legs around since they had gone a bit numb from the lack of movement but they werent hurting.

"Where's Janus?" Virgil asked.

Roman sat the fork of pasta aside and took out a notepad instead, Virgil recognized it as being the one he and Janus used to write grocery lists. It hit him that the pasta was probably his as well, oh this bitch owed him pasta money now too. A message had been prewritten on the first page.

'My brother took the human and fled. You are the humans Angel. You can feel where he is. Take me to him'

"Remus could talk to me despite the weird no speaking thing or whatever you demons call it. I think you can too"

Roman put the notebook against the floor so that she could write while still holding up the knife 'I dont like how my voice sounds right now'

"I've never heard your voice. Got nothing to compare it to"

The demon chewed on his lips while pointing the pen to his first message again.

"No talking then? Aight. word of advice dude, I'm his Guardian angel. I'm not bringing someone who wants him dead right to him"

He waited with the knife held against him while Roman quickly scribbled down 'Reasons why Mr. I looooveeee hiimmm should help me: I don't have anything against your human. I just want me and my brother to go back to how we used to be. If we can avoid shedding your humans blood I will happily do it. I just want to know where my brother is'

"....and I'm guessing you're going to keep me here unless I help you?"

Roman nodded.

Virgil let out a long sigh "...I guess...I don't really want Remus to die either....Having his blood on my hands would feel shitty as fuuuccckk. And the quicker I get to Jannie the quicker I can protect him. That dumbass sod brother of yours is probably gonna kill him by accident if not intentionally! So like...I see your point..or something"

Roman continued to hold the knife towards him but extended his other hand which Virgil hesitantly shook.

--

Logan grabbed Remus' head and forced him to look at Janus "See that? He's still alive, Because of you! You are just as much of a traitor as Patton is, now can you calm down before you give yourself acute blood loss"

Remus' horns still pulsated a deep red but he let himself be set down on the kitchen table again. "Unless we sedate you this is going to uhm hurt quite a bit" Patton explained.

"I do not think he is on a level of trust to want to be sedated near us right now, Besides he is enough of a masochist to want to stay awake. Arent you?" Logan asked to which the demon nodded "See"

Patton only mumbled "Oh dear" under his breathe before he began applying the disinfectant. The younger demon kicked his legs around but now out of pain and clenched his teeth together with such force that his mouth started to taste like iron. Logan had to hold down his arms to make sure Patton didn't accidentally cut wrong.

The demon stared up into the ceiling as he felt the piece of sharp wood be cut out of where it had latched through his skin and muscles. Suddenly he felt a soft kiss against his cheek and glanced over to see Janus, still dazed and confused, standing beside him. Neither of them said anything but Remus could tell that his human was scared but Janus could just as much tell that his boyfriend was in pain and needed him. So the human stayed by his side for the next horrid hour.

--

It had become clear as soon as Virgil came out from the closest that he had been passed out for at least an hour because the kitchen was absolutely trashed. All of the cabinets were open and every stoveplate had some sort of pot on it with one of them bubbling over.

"I thought succubi only ate through like..uhm...well...you know" Virgil said while glancing to Roman "Can you live off of human food as well?"

'Its eating cotton. Fills you up but doesnt help you survive' The demon wrote in response.

"I guess I'm supposed to stop you from seducing any humans but uhh to be honest I've never been this far away from Jannie. I can feel him" He put his hand over his heart "But it's faded so it might take a while until I got like a precise location. In case you want to...eat..or something"

Roman looked at him and moved one eyebrow up while swaying the knife between his fingers. As if he was asking Virgil how stupid he thought he was. 'Im not turning my back just so you can run away and leave me as well'

He grabbed Virgil by the collar of his hoodie and dragged him along into the apartment's bathroom. For a minute Virgil stood there arms fallen limp to his sides from surprise while Roman saw his own reflection in the mirror for the first time in over 2 months. Just a glimpse of her expression made the angel look away for the rest of it to respect her privacy.

'Havent showered in long time. You find the humans location while I do' She wrote in the notepad.

"Don't use too much water or it'll leak" He turned to leave the room but the demon caught him by the hoodie. With his tail he pointed to a spot on the floor and in repressed horror Virgil realized he meant that he was supposed to stay in the room.

The angel had to cram his wings in between the toilet and the sink to fit as far into the corner as he could while the demon closed the door. She visibly put the knife on the soap racket right next to the shampoo as a silent threat not to run. Since nudity was so normalized for succubi she didn't even think of it as a neceserily sexual thing. The only time she felt uncomfortable being nude was around Remus and even then it was only because of the connotations other demons put on their relationship. Therefore without a second thought before she took her clothes off but quickly turned around when she heard a slam.

Virgil's wings had extended from shock which had knocked every item off of the sink. He quickly leant over to pick the toothbrushes and soapcup up but it was too late to hide his lust from slipping into the succubi's mouth.

The succbi's stark green eyes stared down at him which only made his cheeks flush more. She leant down so both her feet and hands were on the floor and moved closer to him making her shoulderblades stick up from the her back like sharp wings. Virgil wanted to look away but his body didn't move as he saw her lick her lips and move up against him.

She reached out her hand to which Virgil drew in a sharp breathe but all she did was lay her finger against his cheek but it was enough to make every hair on his body stand on it's end. He told himself this was only because she was a succubi.

Suddenly Roman faltered and nearly kneeled over as his cheeks turned a sickly pale color. He quickly turned around in the small bathroom and leant into the shower in case he threw up but he covered his mouth with his hand and forced himself to force the sick down again, knowing he needed it to survive.

Virgil's knees were weak and shaking "Sorry. Did I- is it because I'm an Angel? Does my Lust make you sick?"

The demon turned his head so his face was hidden behind his long dark curls "It's not you" He forced out in his hoarse voice.

"okay.....Uhm just so you know if you felt any lust from me it was just actually shock because I'm actually not into- I mean I'm- I like- I'm an Angel I don't feel lust- I'm celbate- If anything I'm very super straight so uhmm" Virgil let his wings extend in front of him to hide the demon from his sight and it was only then he said "For the record I think your voice is ten times preferable over your brother's shrill annoying dumb stupid- well...your voice is better than his is what I'm saying"

Maybe as accepted he didn't get a response, at least not a verbal one, instead only he only heard as the showerhead turned on.

--

Once the operation was over Patton opened the door from the kitchen into the entrance hall where a huge fluffy dog had been waiting the entire time. Obviously they hadn't wanted to risk fur getting into any injuries.

"That's Nico the third. She's friendly but she is a hellhound so don't be alarmed if her spits is a bit acid-y" Patton warned while moving to the living room to tidy up the big comfy couch in the middle of it. The dog followed him close behind with her tail wagging.

It was only know that the guests had time to take the building in. It was a two story house built from wood out in the forest. On the way there it looked like the nearest town was about half an hour away by car, though less by the birdway. The roof stood a bit crooked from decades of wear and tear but the chimney still hung on. Vines and moss crawled up on the outside of the walls which only made it blend in even more among the trees with the stonebuilt fence around the home being the only thing dividing it from the wilderness.

Aside from a tiny entrance to put shoes off in the kitchen had been the first room they entered but the living room that also acted as a dining room took up rest of the first floor. The fireplace began to crackle as soon as the hellhound spit on the logs and the warmth spread to the sofa set in the middle of the room. The walls were adorned with bookshelves which were equally filled with actual books as with cheap knick knacks from scummy giftshops all around the world. Though the tourist memoribilia was placed as if it was high art.

There was hardly a space on the floor not covered in soft rugs and barely any wallspace along the staircase leading up to the second floor that wasn't adorned with photos of Logan and Patton together, sometimes along with a third or fourth person but most often alone.

Janus let his boyfriend lean against him since he was still woozy from the patching up. He sunk down into the soft couch and made grabby hands for Jan with his still functioning left hand, his right arm had been put in a sling.

(Logan had been close to putting the dogcone onto Remus to stop him from biting at his bandagaes)

Along with the sling his left palm had been wrapped in thick bandages, he had a patch on the side of his face from the crash and about a dozen bandaids littered around on his body. The human had made it out with only scrapes on his knees and a shallow cut on his head from the crash. His body would probably be bruised in the morning but nothing serious.

Janus had to be careful to not hurt his boyfriend as he sat down beside him and Remus immediately moved to curl up against his chest. Janus quietly wiped a loose eyelash away from his cheek.

"You want anything kiddos? Tea or cookies or?"

"I actually haven't eaten today so whatever food you have would be appreciated" The human replied.

Patton smiled and clasped his hands together "Of course. I think we have some bread and uhm breakfasty stuff" He sent a look to Logan as if saying Told you so for keeping human food in the house.

While Patton went out to the kitchen Janus turned his head to Logan "I'm still not really sure what's happening but what I do know is that I have a roommate and we left him behind at my apartment together with that demented- That- With Remus' unwell brother and I think we have to go and save him"

Logan looked to Remus who signed that Virgil was definitely not in any danger, though he did not sign that it was because he was an Angel. That information he was still keeping to himself.

"He is fine" Logan replied dryly.

"No you don't get it. He was unconcious and dragged into-"

"He is fine" He repeated. His gaze stayed at Janus for a moment before he changed into his reading glasses and picked up the days newspaper.

Soon after Patton came back in with a plate full of sandwiches and put them down on the coffee table in front of Janus along with handing him an oversized t-shirt with the text "I CLIMBED MOUNT TSURUGI!" written on the front.

"I thought you might like a change of clothing"

Janus quickly draped the blanket over himself as he put the t-shirt on before dragging his destroyed robe across his shoulders. While Patton dragged the lightblue armchair (unlike Logan's darkblue) over so he could look the human directly in the eyes.

"I understand you're confused-"

Just as Patton had started his speech Logan interrupted with "He asked about his roomate. Remus says he will be fine"

"Oh! Oh of course. If we get the notion that your friend is in danger I swear on my husbands life that we will rush over to protect him! Does that reassure you?"

"...I guess" He glanced for his boyfriend to say something but to his confusion Remus was silent. He started to eat the sandwhiches which were surprisingly delicious.

"Good. Well then were was I...Right...So I am terribly sorry that your life has been disrupted in the way it has but truth the told you are surronded by non-humans and you have been for quite some time"

The silence that came down upon the room was defeaning. It was silent enough for Nico to let out a woof in an attempt to cheer everyone up. She jumped up on the couch and nudged her snoot against Janus just as he let out a shrill laugh.

"Fucking hell. You- You are the fuckers who have convinced Roman about that non human shit! You're in a cult!- Darling" He looked to Remus "Darling we have to leave. Now"

His boyfriend didn't respond, he only looked down to the floor.

"Dear why aren't you answering me? Say something!?"

"I am aware that we are all accustomed to keeping our attributes hidden among humans but I suggest we show Janus them in case it helps" Logan butted in to which his husband nodded.

All at once the three demons let their horns became visible along with their tails. A part of Remus was relieved that his boyfriend could finally see all of him, but instead Janus looked horrified. He stood up from the couch and took a few steps away.

"Did- Did you put something in the food? Am I hallucinating? Did you Bloody Drug me!? You did didn't you!?" Janus' chest began to rise quicker and quicker "Did you do something to Virgil as well!? To Remus? Darling Are they forcing you to stay quiet?"

"Please calm down and liste-"

"Oh honey Don't try me with the Calm down bullshit. I'm feeling real bloody calm right now matter of fact. I'm basically at a spa retreat!"

Patton stood up and was about to say something when Remus waved his tail to tell him to shut up. The younger succubi went with slow steps up to his boyfriend and bowed down slightly so that his glowing red horns were right against Janus' chest. He pressed his horns slightly closer so that the human could feel the pulse from the horns spreading in through the fabric of his robe and down under his skin to pulse along with his heart.

Tears simmered up along the edges of Janus' eyes and Remus used the tip of his tail to wipe them away.

"Oh god this is real" Janus croaked out "Oh god oh god. What are you?"

Remus cupped his cheeks and met his tearfilled eyes "I'm your boyfriend"

Janus' hands shook but he reached out towards his boyfriend's tail and as he got close Remus let his tail gently wrap around his human's hand. Though through tears Jan let out a quiet chuckle "It feels sort of like a snake"

"I can hang off of it like a monkey! I can show you! Uh..maybe later though" He motioned back to the older demons "These are kind of a big Demon deal. Wanna go back to the couch now?"

"Only if you hold me"

"I can do that yeah"

Remus wrapped his tail around his human's shoulders and lead him back to the couch. Nico gladly licked Janus' palms once he sat back down.

"What are you?" Janus repeated to the older succubi.

The older couple looked to each other and Patton tilted his head slightly to which Logan nodded.

"Kiddo Your species, humans that is, usually call us Demons or more specifically Succubi-"

"Incubi actually" Logan corrected "Since all of us here are currently 'male' but I have always found that to be a rather silly notion. We do not have a different name between female and male humans after all. They are all humans. Nor did we historically have a firm set on gender until humans introduced the idea to us"

"Yes thanks honey, we can go more into the history lesson later. But bringing in that demon name always confuses your kind since I assume you're thinking that we're.."

"Satanic?" Janus filled in.

"...Something like that. Which" Patton laughed "Unless Remus is here to tell us about some drastic changes happening in Hell, we have never followed any sort of Satan nor any religious rules. I think it's better to think of us, Demons and Angels, as...hmm...perhaps Aliens?.....Or maybe another Monkey species?....Basically we are a separate species with similarities to humans, we've just happened to exists for far longer and have developed to feed off of your kind to survive-"

"Wait you what?"

"We're getting to that. Just look at my tail" Patton stood up and turned around to show that his pants had been tailored to allow a hole through which his fluffy goat-like tail came through "I'm old enough to have been made before our species evolved to have the sort of more human like tail Remus has! The farther you go in our species' history the less human like we look since we have evolved to attact your kind! You should see the demons and angels who haven't had to evolve to appease humans! They look weeeiirdd- or is that mean to say"

"I would describe our species' relationship as moreso parasitic than symbiotic but it is interesting how our species have taken the words Humans have made for us" Logan said "Sadly what we originally called our species have been lost to time....I believe the Angels higher up still uses the human name don't they?" He looked to his husband.

"You mean God? I assume so yeah"

Janus choked on his sandwich and Remus had to smack him on his back to get him to spit it back out.

"You- You eat us? Do you harvest us?" Janus asked.

Patton's face went red from horror "NONONO! We are not cannibals!-"

Logan stared at Remus "Most of us at least"

"We are succubi! We feed off of your lust! The Greed demons feed off of your greed and so forth and the Managers.....Well....We've never asked! Not sure what they feed off of!"

"Don't ask us how the feeding works. I still have not gotten a proper chance to dissect a succubi body and do research on the topic"

"Some Managers- Those are the highers up for demons- spout on about sin but that is just malarky they have gotten from the humans to make their poor succubi underlings work harder. We have feed off of both very experienced humans and virgins and fed just the same!"

"And for that we have done proper research" Logan filled in to which Patton hid his mouth behind his hands to snicker.

Janus nodded along "I am most definitely following along. Not confusing in the slightest. Not like I have a milion question. Not at allll.....You menioned Hell....Is that....A place? Is heaven...a place? Do we- My parents died when I was young, Can I meet them? I don't care where they are"

The older succubi looked to each other and Patton's smile quickly faded "...Oh kiddo...I'm sorry....Like I said we are not religious....Humans...They die far faster than us and when they do..." He looked to his husband again "...All they do is disappear....Most humans at least...I know of some humans who have been so afflicted by non human forces that they have turned non-human after death but those cases are rare. Hell is called Hell in the same way Australia is called Australia. It's just the place where we live. Think of it as a separate planet or perhaps a spaceship and when we go through the doors to Hell we simply take the staircase down to our planet. Humans can go there yes, while they're alive and if a demon is with them. I remember my Manager telling us stories about humans going to Hell for Sins but I don't think there's any truth in it. Remus do you know if it's real?"

'I have heard screams. I thought they were human. Never seen any. I dont know the fuck about half the shit youre spouting...but I dont trust any shit the managers say either' Logan translated what he was signing for the rest of them.

"Okay so you live among humans and Remus met me and fell in love- as anyone would- and this pissed his brother off because what? Are we seen as lesser than you?" Janus tried to put it together "Does your brother just hate humans?"

Remus started to sink down into the couch while his face went pale. Patton and Logan looked at each other again and Logan tilted his head to show he was taking this one "Not quite. If Remus has been telling me the truth he broke one of the rules set by his manager-"

Janus noticed the shift in tone "What rule? What did you do?"

"He devoured a part of a human"

'The human survived!!!!' Remus added. 'Stop making it sound like I killed someone! if I did I would be bragging way more!'

"Yes the human survived but lost a limb" As Logan said it Patton looked queasy and reached out to hold his husband's hand.

Remus got the urge to throw the plate right at the traitors face. How dare he look disgusted at his measly actions when he had eaten an Angel! Or Demon! Or HUman! Or whatever he now had done! But he stayed quiet and let Logan continue.

"And because of that...well...It has always been that if a demon breaks a rule they get sent to Heaven to presumebly be killed by the Angels and vice versa if an Angel breaks one. ever since my husband Patton here broke many a rules they created this system where if a Demon breaks a rule they get punished before being sent to Heaven in an attempt to make them weak and less likely to fight back. Remus here, along with his brother, got their voice taken away. He can't talk to demons"

Janus didn't know how to respond. All he could do was reach out and lay his hand against his boyfriend's arm.

"...I'm glad Remus escaped to Earth then if his manager or whatever was treating him- treating you like that" Janus said while letting his thumb rub circles against his boyfriend's skin.

"Oh that's not all" Logan continued.

"There's more?"

"Yes, you see instead of sending Remus to die his manager decided to give him a chance to reedem himself mayhaps....Or it could have just been to make him suffer more before being executed. We are not sure why. If I can make a reasonable guess I think His manager is a sadist. To reedem himself he had to seduce and kill a specific human..." At his words Janus felt his chest turn dark and cold "That human being you"

"Wha- Why-" Janus turned to Remus who tried to hide his face behind his hair "Are- Were you dating me because- Because your-"

"Now listen" Patton interrupted "We're not sure why you specifically were chosen" Remus felt sick. He had to tell them it was because of Virgil prolonging Janus' lifespan for over 20 years but he feared bringing that up right now would just give Janus even more of a breakdown. "But maybe we talk it through we can figure it-"

"YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Janus looked to his boyfriend "Did you only get close to me because you were told to?"

Remus didn't know how to get across that it had only started in that way but then turned into genuine emotions without it sounding like total horseshit.

"Did you!?"

The demon hung his head down as he nodded.

Janus let out the most heartwrenching sound Remus had ever heard. It was a painful whine forcefully surpressed into a whimper before Janus pressed his hand over his mouth to stop himself.

The human blared at the demons surronding him, all of them with their sharp horns and extra limbs. Each one of them taller than him and despite the older succubi's age clearly still stronger than him. He felt his lungs become compressed down until he choked on his own tongue but that only made him hiss.

He smashed the plate that had been holding the sandiwches against the table and grabbed the sharpest shard he saw before backing away from the couch. All at once the three demons stood up and moved towards him.

Their eyes suddenly seemed so inhumane, so like a predator staring down it's prey. With his trembling hands he held out the shard towards them and waved it around to threaten but it didn't stop any of the demons.

In a desperate bid Janus instead moved the shard up against his own flesh, up against the vein on his neck, and the demons near him froze right where they stood.

--

A sharp gasp came out from Virgil as he stood up from the bathroom floor "Roman! I got it! I feel where he is! There was a pang of him in danger and I can feel where it came from!" He pushed the shower curtain aside and looked down at the demon who was sitting knee deep in water. Somehow she had found cucumbers to put over her eyes "What are you doing?"

"Soaking" Roman croaked out.

"Dude I think we should be buying bus tickets..like Now"

"I haven't gotten to shampooing my hair yet"

"You've been in there for half an hour How have you not!"

Roman ate the cucumber slices before getting up to which Virgil quickly covered his eyes with his wings while waving his hand around to grab ahold of the nearest towel "A diva needs an hour at least" She replied while taking the towel.

"I guess you don't have water bills in Hell. I'm in and out in under five"

The demon squinted his eyes at him "Maybe you really are straight"

"Dude it's a strategic thing! Where are you most likely to be murdered and where are you the most vulnerable? The shower! The less time in there the less you are likely to die!"

For the first time Virgil got to see Roman smile as she let up into a snort. Her face looked a lot fuller when she smiled as the fat on her cheeks bundled up under her eyes. But it only lasted for a second before she turned to put her clothes back on. The angel felt his face turn hot.

"I'll get you a hoodie. We should be as unnoticeable as possible" He said as he turned to leave the bathroom.

Roman just let out a humm in agreement and it wasn't until he had put on his corset acting as a shirt and shorts that he realized he had let the angel out of his reach. A lump of anxiety filled his throat as he threw the door open and got ready to chase after the damn angel, but instead he caught Virgil rummaging around in the drawer next to his bed.

"I got like 4 identical of these ones so you don't have to thank me. Actually please don't. Being thanked is awkward as he- very awkward" Virgil said as he handed the demon a black hoodie similar to the one he was wearing.

The demon took it wthout saying a word and noticed it smelled like pizza. Virgil must have seen his nose wrinkling because he hurried to explain.

"I wear it while working. I'm a nightguard at a uh resturant place thingie" He took out his phone "We should probably go to the bus station by the way. I'm just gonna grab my headphones because it's going to take a few hours"

--

"I think all of you are WILDLY underestimating how close I am to killing everyone in this room right now!" Janus yelled.

"Even the dog!?"

"EVEN THE DOG! So stay back!"

Logan shrugged before sitting back down in his armchair since clearly getting closer wasn't making the situation any better. He tugged at his husband's hand to do the same but Remus stayed standing with his hands hung aimleesly in the air towards Janus.

"You BETTER be taking the piss on me with saying that Remus- that You were looking to KILL me!?"

His eyes darted between the three demons to catch any falter of expression, any sign that they had been joking. They had to have been joking. He meet eyes with Remus and as he watched who he thought had been his boyfriend mouth the word 'Sorry' his whole body turned cold.

"That time when I had a nightmare about you- you choking me, that wasn't a dream. Was it? It was real wasn't it?"

Remus nodded.

Janus gasped for breathe and his sight became tinged with tears which he desperately tried to force back. His chin wrinkled and throat ached from holding it back but he couldn't break down now, he had to wait until he was safe.

"You were the ones who brought me into this non-human business and I am just soooo interested in adding even more problems to my life" Janus waved the shard towards them "Not like I have enough just with my job and surviving and not getting tricked by another brain decifient rat! So I am going to leave and all of you can do whatever you now want on your own!"

"You can't leave" Logan responded in a calm voice.

"You can't tell me what I can do"

"What my husband is trying to convey is that it's not safe for you to leave" Patton interrupted "As far as we know Remus' brother is still looking to kill you and there could be other demons, or non humans, looking for you as well. If you stay within our home we can protect you at least"

Janus took a long wavering breathe and pushed back the urge to cry "Fine, But I do not want to see any of your ugly faces right now"

"Of course kiddo-"

"No one gave you, you dodgy cracker muppet, the right to call me that"

"Of course..There are three bedrooms on the second floor. Pick whatever one. All of them have locks. Just tell us if you need anything, whether that's more human food or a hug"

Patton tried to send him a bright smile but the human just backed towards the staircase without letting his eyes go off the demons. Nico trailed along with him and let out quiet roos to comfort him but Janus didn't pay her any mind. After he had disappeared up the stairs Remus continued to listen to his foosteps until the sound of a door getting slammed shut rang through the house.

The demon burrowed down into the couch and felt all of his energy slip through his fingers. An unbearable weight laid down upon him making it so that all he could do was watch as the older demons had a hushed conversation before continuing to go about their day. Even blinking was exhausting as he watched Logan read through the rest of his newspaper and Patton clean up the shattered remains of the plate.

It was so strange seeing him. A living breathing person. A Patton. The Patton. Kneeling down on the ground to pick up the larger shards before carrying them to the trashcan.

He had the sort of build that made people assume he had played rugby in highschool. He was on the shorter side but stout and broadshouldered with his long greying hair flowing down in a thick braid to his waist. His beard had it's own tiny braid ending in a tiny blue bow. He wore glasses just like Logan but it was clear that his didn't have any lenses and were just there for accesories. He looked like he would give great hugs.

He didn't look....like a Patton. He didn't look blood thirsty or ready to stab his own kind in the back but Remus supposed that he didn't look like that either...or...well...on second thought he probably did look a bit feral at least.

Somewhere along the way Remus fell asleep and when he woke up again the blinds in the windows had been shut and the lights in the rooms had been turned on, though they were dim. The tv was on but on a quiet volume and the demon couple were sitting in each of their airchair with Logan's tail hanging over the edge of his chair like a bridge to intertwine with Patton's arm.

Remus turned to scratch at his bandages which notified the couple that he was awake. Logan leant his head back almost in relief at finally being able to turn the volume up while Patton waved at the younger demon.

"Are you feeling alright kiddo? Injuries aren't leaking are they? No puss or blood?"

He shook his head.

"Good! We don't want to put too much strain on your body right now so how about you get a good long night's sleep and we will sort out your voice thing tomorrow? We'll get it back in no time" Patton cracked his knuckles as he said so.

Remus hadn't been aware getting his voice back was an option so all he did was nod.

"Great! You feeling pekish by the way?-"

"I am not touching that man until he has been given a dozen vaccinations and gone through a pest control" Logan interrupted.

Patton rolled his eyes "Honey I was going to suggest that I know some good local humans who are very nice in case he- well in case you need to feed. I'm guessing your Janus friend isn't in the mood"

The demon did a thumbs up to show that he wasn't hungry.

"He is also strikingly asexual" Logan added again.

Remus mimicked an offended gasp before doing a sucking dick motion.

"Yes yes you are a sex champion" Logan replied in the most dry tone imaginable "I am aware"

--

"We could have flown there"

Virgil took off his headphones to look at Roman who sat in the busseat right next to him "Huh?"

"We could have flown there" Roman repeated.

"Is that what you broke your vow of silence for, and interrupted my Gerard Way for"

They were sitting in the back of a bus with Roman having forced Virgil to sit closest to the window so that he couldn't run away. The angel sat with his legs cramped up against the back of the seat in front of him like a teenager on their way to school and had been deep in his headphones for the past hours which had left the demon to stew on nothing but thoughts.

"I have wings too yknow, they're just retractable. We could have. It would have been quicker. But you think I'm too weak to fly that far"

"Maybe I was just too lazy to fly. I'm 65% marsupial actually and marsupials are lazy..I think"

"I'm not weak!" Roman continued having not listened to him "I'm just a bit..frail for the moment. It just means I need an epic training montage. Ugh. I feel...Do you know the little mermaid?"

"...Personally or.."

"The movie"

"I've lived on earth for forever. so yeah"

"I feel like one of those sickly people groaning in Ursual's cave"

"Okay I don't know it in That much detail. The nightmare before christmas is more of my style for animated movies"

"Oohohoh so you're the owner of the dvd I saw in your apartment. I thought it was the humans"

Virgil crossed his arms and tilted his head so his cheek squished up against his shoulder "Jannie scrunched up money from selling gum on the playground to buy it for my birthday. Sally is like my favorite..ever"

Roman watched the way the angel's eyes perked up slightly while his thumbs played at the loose threads at the ends of his hoodie. His hoodie had the same lovingly made patchwork pattern as Sally's. A twang of guilt picked at his heart.

"..Sorry about undressing so suddenly before. As a succubi, with a pseudo nudist brother I might add, nudity is quite common for me so I sometimes forget it can make others flustered. I'll warn you beforehand next time"

Virgil's head shot up and he had a wide eyed rose cheeked stare "No- uhm- it was- like fine. Didn't bother me since y'know..Im like into- uhm I mean- not into anything- Just straight or like nothing at all"

The demon let up into a bubbly laugh "Sure, Jan"

"No uhm Jan is my human's name. I'm Virgil"

"I know. It's a reference to earth media"

"Oh" His face flushed even more "Right. 'Course" He fiddled with his thumbs for a while before mumbling out "I dont think you look like those sad Ursula creatures by the way. I think you look..uhm...like....regular...fine"

"So someone does know the movie!"

"Ursula is a camp icon! It has one of the best Disney villain songs! Sometimes I rewatch it okay!? Nothing wrong with that!"

"It's my favorite movie"

"Huh...oh..uhm good choice. Solid. Classic"

Roman sent him a smile before his expression suddenly sombered and he turned to look out the window on the other side of the bus. He had surprised himself by how easily it being his favorite film had slipped out after everything he used to like had seemed so gray these past months. Even now he had spent the busride staring out at the tiny human houses zooming by and the fully bloomed trees questioning where the beauty he had seen was but for a moment, when he had talked to Virgil, it had come as naturally as breathing.

"We have to get off. We're 'sposed to change to a train here" The angel interrupted her pondering.

As they stepped off the bus (and Virgil had an anxiety spike over wondering how best to thank the bus driver) the demon swirled her tail around his arm to make sure he didn't run off. The angel meanwhile sunk several centimetres down by somehow making his posture worse and hid his face with his hood as they entered the crowd of people waiting at the centrail station. The two of them hid away in a corner for a while before Roman asked

"Should we get something to eat so you can bite that instead of biting your lips to the bone?"

"But then I'd have to talk to the cashier" Virgil's voice was barely above a whisper.

"With my infinite charm I can do that you simpleton. Don't tell me your brain is made out of patchwork as well"

"Fuck off"

"I could easiy win a fuck off over you"

Virgil rolled his eyes but let himself be dragged along to the nearest food court in the station and stayed close to Roman while she ordered large fries for the angel, since fries were biteable and could take a while to eat so he thought it would be good stress relief. He got himself some overnightoats as well before continuing to drag the angel along to a table near the corner. He let Virgil sit on the inside of the table so he could keep watch over the humans while Roman sat with his back turned.

"There's like an hour until our train comes...in case you want to like...Ugh" Virgil massaged his knuckles against his forehead "Being around you is such an anxiety inducing dilemma"

"Because I'm the type of beauty you can only find in a fairytale?"

"Because I obviously shouldn't like encourage you to make humans sin but also I'm a fucking guardian angel and everything in me yells at me to like make you not like pass out from not eating"

Roman looked offended "What makes you think I don't????"

"Dude your hand is shaking just from holding that spoon" Virgil scratched at his face "I've never been away from Jannie like this. I don't- I don't know what to do if I'm not protecting him. Like I was made to guard him and now he's not here. And I like failed...Yeah I'm sounding cringe as fuck right about now"

Roman laughed "It sounds like you've attached yourself to guard me in lieu of the human like some gay couple of penguins adopting an orphan penguin in place of their own"

"Bro please" Virgil's cheeks had turner red again, it was nearly more more to see him flushed than not at this point "you are not in the slightest as cute as a baby penguin or my Jannie. Besides you're a demon. You don't need proteting"

Her laughed soured a little as she leant her chin on her hand "Yeah..Guess I don't"

Virgil forced his head down to stare at his fries because every time he looked at Roman with his slender fingers and long neck he understood why he was a succubi. He glanced up and caught the demon licking spilled oats off of his pinky finger before quickly looking down again.

"By the way I don't think you and Remus look that similar. You look alike but like...as twins do. He literally has a porno mustache. I don't get how your uhh boss or whoever that was couldn't call you by your name. Is all upper managment in he- your home like that?"

Though Roman looked at him while he spoke it seemed more as if she was staring right through him "..yeahh" The word seemed a bit forced.

"Shit...The only time I would even go to Heaven much less meet upper managment is if my human died and they called to assign me a new one. I was close to becoming an anxiety puddle just from being near that guy for 5 minutes, I would definitely spontaneously combust if I had him as a boss-"

"Can we talk about something else now" Roman suddenly cut him off with the spoon still in his hand now shaking so hard he nearly dropped it "What do you think a sequel to Nightmare before Christmas would look like? Have you thought about it? I find it a very interesting creative excersise"

"Pff" Virgil leant his arms on the table to make himself more comfortable "Of course I've thought about it! Obviously!"

"Spill it then Soury Claus!"

"Sure sure. If you insist. So basically I think-"

--

Patton draped a blanket over Remus' body and smiled at the sound of his snores before he ventured up to the second floor of the house. The upper floor was divided into three bedrooms. One bedroom for when Patton wanted some alone time, one for Logan's alone time which the human had currently locked himself in and the shared masterbedroom which the demons used most of the time. They called it bedrooms but since neither of them actually needed sleep the rooms were more similar to hobby rooms. The beds acted as a pleasant alternative to a couch much more than actual beds.

Upon walkng into the master bedroom he saw his husband standing by the window to catch the last light from the day's sun to check the dirt on his glasses. Patton went up behind him and bapped his knuckles against his spine as a form of massage. Logan leant into it and tilted his head to smooch at his husband's forehead.

"It doesn't fit together" Logan mumbled "If what you have told me about the upper managment of demons is correct it doesn't make sense for them to simply pick a human at random. There must be a reason for it. I think there is something Remus is keeping from us"

"He's sleeping right now. Asking him can be another thing for tomorrow. Gosh soon I'm going to need to write a list about everything we have to do tomorrow- We haven't even taken Nico out for her evening walk! My brain is all over the place!"

"He doesn't need sleep. He needs to give us answers"

"He's been through enough for today" Patton moved his hands up to massage his husband's shoulders "You wanna know what I think?"

"As always, yes"

"I think you should check up on Janus. Have a talk human to human"

"Honey it's been a long time since I was human"

[showrunnerihardlyknowher]

Might sound absolutely insane but I can’t get this out of my head, what does Jacob do about basic hygiene? Like I’m sure Edix takes it upon himself to groom him or something fucked up but like. What about his teeth? What would happen if he got a cavity? Fingernails? They’ve gotta be LONG and painful. Hair? Im a curly girlie and cannot imagine being separated from my emotional support hairbrush. I am so stressed for this man that it’s coming out in motherly form. What happens when his shoes/ socks wear out and he’s freezing? Or when his body shuts down from lack of protein/ only eating fruit? I want to make this man a hat and a pair of wool socks and a giant fluffy blanket :( maybe I’m reading too far into everything but I am INVESTED, sorry this is so long, thanks for writing and including so much detail!!

[leans back in my comically oversized office chair and steeples fingers]

Venandi don't actually groom each other/themselves as a means of literal bathing, it's mostly just an expression of affection (like how real cats will lick another one on the head when they cuddle), so don't worry, Edix isn't washing Jacob with his spit or anything. He gets a nice sink bath every couple of days.

The more the Venandi learn about humans during their studies, the better Edix is able to take care of Jacob. It's pretty obvious there's tons of similarities between their species, but y'know, you can't always assume with aliens, whatever he uses for mouthwash might cause his pet to vomit blood. Jacob actually takes it upon himself to chew on mint leaves in the beginning because he can't stand having a gross mouth after so long, and rinsing with water. It seems to be working fine for him, so Edix let's him continue. If he gets a cavity...sucks to suck, I guess.

Jacob already bites his fingernails as a nervous habit so there's no issue with them being too long, and even if they were, they're too tiny for Edix to do anything about them. Just let 'em break naturally. Jacob tries to brush his hair to the best of his abilities with his fingers until he gets something similar to a pick comb from Ylva since its what she uses for Mibao's textured hair, which is better than nothing.

Technically in their current story, Jacob isn't wearing any of his original clothes anymore aside from his jacket. He now wears a specially made full body suit thanks to Venandi textile technology after Ylva gave him a bath when he was first given his medicine. If that outfit gets worn out for whatever reason, another one can be printed off for him in no time.

Yeah, unfortunately, Jacob is just straight up vegetarian at this point because no fucking way is he eating any meat he can't identify as coming from earth, and that still has yet to be determined WHICH earth animal it came from. Luckily, he does slightly broaden his range to a few foreign fruits that looks appealing enough and/or are shoved into his mouth by Mibao, which contain some of the vitamins and minerals he's otherwise missing. It's not a whole lot and he's fairly underweight even for his stature as a result, but it's better than being starved entirely. Kinda. Definitely anemic and vitamin D deficient.

Poor boy only deserves the best and continually gets the worst ): Someone take this baby back home to his mama and let him have one good day. Not me though, I don't write fluff, sorry (:

[nightingaletrash]

Hey friend! I hope you're doing well. After admiring it from afar for a long time, I bought the Dragon Age games on mega sale. Do you have any suggestions for mods I should use to play? Thank you!

okay so, first off, welcome to hell I hope you enjoy your stay because there is no being normal about Dragon Age once you're in deep enough <3

second off

how much time and disk space do you have? because I use *a lot* of mods

First off, there is a learning curve to modding Dragon Age. DAO is deceptive in how easy it is to mod because for many mods, the installation is as simple as 'drop file in the override file' but there are some caveats based on how the engine works and it pays to understand what files are what, and what they do. DA2 is an almost identical process but tends to be much less finicky in practice, and DAI is infamous for being trickier by comparison due to the fact you have to use the Frosty Mod Manager, but you don't necessarily need to know the different types of files like you do with the other two.

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask, I'm happy to share whatever I know ^^

So starting with DAO, here are some mods I'd recommend:

Unofficial Remaster - what it says on the tin, this mod includes higher resolution textures and introduces some updated models to create consistency with the later entries in the series. There used to be a lot more involved, including other mods that help increase cohesion between games but a lot of that was cut because people bugged the mod author too much about it.

Natural Lighting - makes the character creator less dark ^^

Female Proportion Fixes - there are three versions of this mod, one for humans, dwarves and elves respectively because the originals are pretty damn bad. Humans come with two variations, Sensual and Seductress - you only need to choose one.

Elf Update - this is entirely optional, as it essentially swaps the elven designs with the less-human elf designs used in DA2. Elf Update comes with its own version of the proportions fix, so if you chose to use this, you don't need Elf Proportion Fix.

Neutral Female Armours - does away with the atrocious boobplates that plague Origin's ladies. Luckily, a similar mod wasn't needed for DA2 and DAI because Bioware largely got their shit together. There is a compatibility patch for the proportion fix mods - those files need to overwrite the corresponding files in this mod. The Unofficial Remaster also includes some retextures for this mod as an optional file.

Extra Dog Slot - because the Dog is a very good boy and deserves to come along on quests without taking up a companion slot.

Dragon Age Redesigned - again this is optional, as I use this mod solely for non-companion NPCs, as bioware's originals sometimes look a bit odd. If used with Elf Update you'd need to delete all of the elf headmorphs included in this mod to avoid getting the wrong heads showing up. There's three options to choose between, Lore, Balanced, and Aesthetic.

Goblet De-Gobbler - tackles a pretty well-known bug with modded armours and rectifies some little inconsistencies with a particular sequence.

Thedosian Grey Wardens OR Grey Wardens of Ferelden - DA2 and DAI gave Wardens a uniform, yet there's none whatsoever in Origins. Which is odd because everyone seems to recognise you as a Warden on sight. Thedosian Wardens uses the Inquisition armour models while GWOF uses the DA2 model so it comes down to personal preference. Personally I'm a Thedosian fan and use it and it's related mods - searching Thedosian on the Origins nexus will bring them all up. It's pretty much everything you need for GWOF is pretty much included in the mod however. There are also some good retextures for both available by VagranDreamer.

Origin Unique Grey Warden Armour - adds some GWOF style armour with some unique flavour. These are included in Vagran Dreamer's retexture series.

Thedosian Wardens Arsenal - new Warden themed weapons. GWOF does include weaponry as well, but this stuff is my preference. It also contains scripts that allow it to replace all NPC Warden loadouts with this weaponry

Complete Bi Overhaul - because it could be gayer. Also includes some optional files to either stop certain male NPCs hitting on a female Warden or to get them to hit on a male Warden.

There really are so many more that I could like like character creation mods and NPC morphs I use, but I don't want to overwhelm you with info. I literally use too many mods XD

For DA2, here's my top hits:

Kirkwall Expanded - a really cool mod that adds new little quests to the game, a bounty board, and just livens up the city.

Automatic Chargen - opens the CC in the transitions between the acts (this game is divided into three acts with time skips between them), so if you want to mess with the idea of your character changing over the years, this mod is 10/10

NEW Import Vault Fixes and Editable Vault - essentially a bug fixer oriented around the content imported from your Origins save, and adds the ability to tweak the worldstate in game

Sapphim's Dialogue Mini Mods - a collection of little mods that alter some conversations to tone down some unnecessary sexism and to let the game be a lil bit gayer (and shut Gamlen's damn mouth)

Wardens of Weisshaupt - puts all Warden characters in Warden gear, and gives you a choice between shiny Inquisition ported armours like Thedosian Wardens or the original DA2 models ^^

Again there are dozens more mods I could recommend in regards to armour, headmoprhs, companion gear etc but those largely come down to preference so it's best to find what you like for yourself ^^

Then there's DAI. Keep in mind that for a long time, the go-to mod manager was DAIMM. Mods from that period are DAI.mod files; nowadays most people use Frosty Mod Manager and a lot of mods are made with Frosty, as its more powerful. Some dai.mods do work with Frosty, but it can be hit and miss.

Complete War Table Operations Without Waiting - For Frosty - DAI's war table operations take real time to complete, which is terribly impractical if you actually want to just clear them out and get them done. This mod changes the waiting time so the operations are completed automatically or have a very short wait time

Less Shards Please - An Oculara Rebalance - you might have heard of the tedious shard side quest; this mod makes it significantly less tedious.

Party Banter Tweaks - Inquisition's banter is unfortunately kinda buggy, so this mod gives you a better chance of hearing your companions talk to each other! There's a lot of great convos you don't wanna miss ^^

Enhanced Character Creator - adds even more sliders and options to CC, as well as a hair slot unique to the Inquisitor that some modders use so that Inky's hairstyle isn't shared with random NPCs. It can be a lot to take in, but once you have a grasp of it, you can really customise your character extensively

Dialogue Wheel Overhaul - completely changes the way the game’s dialogue wheel works to make it more cohesive, universal, and functional

Modded Hair in DLCs - what it says on the tin; the DAI DLCs are a bit finnicky with hair mods, and this is one of the ways around it

And as usual, there's loads more I could add but if I did, this post would need links for potentially hundreds of mods lmao

sorry this took me a while, I may have overwhelmed myself a bit because I literally use hundreds of mods in these games, and I didn't want to overload you with mods and information. If you need any help, let me know because there's a lot to know. Origins can be deceptively tricky thanks to the engine and its the one that has caused me the most headaches lol

[alln64games]

Super Mario 64

JP release: 23rd June 1996

NA release: 29th September 1996

PAL release: 1st March 1997

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

N64 Magazine Score: 96%

Starting off with a bang, one of the Nintendo 64’s launch titles just happens to be a revolutionary game that’s one of the best games on the system. It didn’t just show the world how platform games could work in 3D, but it set the standard for movement in 3D as well. Despite it’s legendary status, Nintendo have never given us the port that this game deserves. Super Mario 64 doesn’t need a full remake, just a little bit of sprucing, widescreen and an updated camera.

Luckily, fans of the game have done this themselves by fully recreating the game’s engine on PC, with lots of options to set it up the way you want. There’s some much more graphically impressive options than what I chose, but I wanted it to look similar to the original game, with just crisper textures and some of the 2D objects replaced with 3D ones.

The movement of Mario still feels amazing all these years later. His move set is brilliant with all of his moves (minus the special hats) available form the get-go, it’s just a case of learning it and figuring out the best way do move. Most people will start off ding taller jumps by doing the backflip, but then transition to the quick turn jump to get up to the tall platforms. Even now, it’s an absolute joy to control.

The camera from the original game is the main part of the game that now feels clunky. It was pretty amazing when the game came out, but it’s one aspect of games that has improved over time. Luckily, the version I played lets you turn on a more modern analogue camera, which (along with widescreen) is really all Super Mario 64 needs to feel modern.

The levels are small, but it’s a style that really suits the game. They’re packed full of secrets, with six stars to find in each one (plus an extra star for collecting 100 coins). Once you collect a star, you’re thrown out of the level, which does mean you have to re-do parts of levels multiple times, but there are sometimes changed to the level depending on which star you collect. There is a mod that lets you remain in levels, but I feel like this alters the game too much, and is itself fiddly as you need to work out when you need to manually leave the level.

Each level has a very distinct feel to it and I enjoyed every level in the game, with the exception of two of the water levels. While some have generic themes (lava, water and ice), the levels are still built in unique ways, and even matching themes (like the two snow levels) don’t feel like a reuse due to the level design.

Other than a couple of stars that include the wing, metal and invisible caps, you can also complete levels before moving on, or just do a couple of stars and try somewhere else. You only need 70 out of 120 stars to complete the game (far fewer if you choose to do glitches), but it’s enjoyable collecting them all.

To unlock different sections of the castle (and access more levels), you need to complete Bowser’s levels. There are three in total (the last one being to save Peach) and these are much more linear platform challenges, which creates a nice change of pace. At the end of these you have to face off against Bowser, grabbing his tail and spinning him to throw him into bombs, and I’m still absolutely dreadful at aiming my throws.

The final section of the game has some outstanding levels.

Wet-Dry World is the third water level of the game, but this one stands out much more due to the mechanic of raising and lowering the water levels. There are different ways to move upwards depending on the water level, and you’ll need to make use of these to collect all the stars.

Tiny-Huge Island has you using pipes to swap between a giant Mario and a mini Mario. You get to see cute tiny goombas or have to fight ones that are much larger than Mario. It’s not Mario’s size that actually changes, but the level itself. It’s an absolutely adorable level full of joy.

Tick Tock Clock is actually a lot smaller than I remember, but is focused on well timed jumps. The unique aspect of this level is that the level entrance is itself a clockface, and where the minute hand points alters the speed of the objects in the level, or even stops them completely. I have quite strong memories of trying to figure out what was happening when this happened as a kid.

The final main level, Rainbow Ride, is more linear than most levels, with different segments connected via magic carpets. You’ll need to jump off the carpets to avoid obstacles, but if you take too long, the carpets will vanish. This level requires you to have learnt how to master Mario’s moveset.

Super Mario 64 is still an absolute joy to play, especially so with an updated camera. I think a full remake would alter the game too much, as the level design and movement is integral to its identity. It just needs a bit of sprucing up, and I really hope we get an official version that does this at some point.

This was an amazing start for the Nintendo 64. Not only was this game integral to the development of 3D games as a whole, but the gameplay and levels still hold up today. Games keep trying to be bigger and better, but smaller and varies levels are also a great approach.

“The best game ever?” Possibly, but then it’s so far ahead of anything that comparisons seem meaningless.

- Zy Nicholson, N64 Magazine #1

---

Remake or Remaster?

As the fan-made PC version shows, Super Mario 64 still holds up really well and just needs some basic improvements. A remastered Super Mario 64 would be perfect.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of Super Mario 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

Other versions

2004: Super Mario 64 DS. This version featured altered levels, more stars and extra playable characters. The extra content was well received, but forcing previous stars to certain characters was frustrating. The controls also don’t work very well on the DS. The touch screen minigames were a brand new addition and were well liked.

[inconsistentlywrittensoul]

Halloween:

"This Whole Episode Smacks Of Gender" I holler as I smash Janus' statue on the ground and turn Buffy back into an actual character

Xander's plotline seems to recognise the problem with his masculine insecurities, but resolves itself by satisfying those insecurities rather than overcoming them. Luckily, this is a problem that will never appear again in the series.

Willow dying and becoming a ghost really feels like it should be forshadowing for something later in the series. Like, if she died at some point, we'd look back at this episode and be like 'Ah, the seeds were being planted even back then.' But nope - it forshadows nothing, she's just a sexy ghost for the episode.

I have to interpret Giles' face when he hears the costume shop is Ethan's as less "Oh, fuck" and more "Oh, for fuck's sake." Like, he legitimately can't believe he's still dealing with this asshole.

Also, he really didn't need to beat Ethan up to find out how to end the curse. I mean, "smash the statue"? You always have to smash the statue! Or the staff, or maybe the orb. He really could have worked it out on his own - I think he just wanted to give Ethan a bit of a kicking.

I'm a little mixed on the Ripper retcon. It comes out of nowhere, 'this man of tweed was actually a cool badass with a mysterious past' feels like a cheap way to add darkness to the character, and Giles' more interesting moments of darkness always come more from his position as a Watcher than in conflict with it. However, the show never leans too hard on the whole 'Ripper' thing, so rather than overtaking his character it just adds texture to it, something that is very needed as we move out of Season 1 and characters are growing depth beyond their initial archetypes. So I do think it's a good thing, but I'm glad it isn't taken further and ultimately remains a fairly minor part of the character.

Buffy. you're really just going to let Spike just run away? Not even gonna try to chase after him? I know he's a recurring character who can't die here, but you need to at least pretend that you don't know that. Still, I do think it's interesting that Spike already seems to be defined by his willingness to just hit the bricks the moment things aren't going his way. As much as he's supposed to be the current Big Bad, he's already being presented as a bit pathetic - he can be dangerous, sure, but in a pragmatic, human way, rather that a terrifying intimidating force that Big Bads tend to represent.

Finally, Angel seduces Buffy by calling other women 'simpering morons', and insisting that she's Not Like them. It's not great from a feminist perspecive, but looking at it from a character perspective this really feels like Liam coming out - and that makes sense! He's spent most of his ensouled unlife avoiding people, not really growing as a person or learning how to be better. He's only started being a person again since he came to Sunnydale, and he's not good at it - so he falls back on old habits, as Liam or even as Angelus, especially when he's trying not to seem like the awkward, barely functional weirdo he actually is inside. I'm think I'm enjoying his character a lot more on this rewatch now I see through his cool badass loner exterior to the dear little rat boy underneath.

(It is weird how invested Willow is in their relationship though - it's like Xander is with Riley. And I'm pretty sure she's barely spent any time with him. Buffy's friends are just really weird about her love life.)

[jadejetts]

just got these zurg figures as a late christmas present!! :D now. i know what ur thinking. "why would you get a used one with a detached tube" because 1. the one disney currently sells strangely omits the "i am your father" lines from the sound chip, 2. it came with a couple of figures from 1999 which are awesome in their own right, 3. i wanna mod him anyway!! ive got a few things planned to make him more movie accurate- i'll put it under a read more here!

so, what i've got lined up is: - accurate mouth lights by chickenhaunt!! this is the one mod i'm doing For Sure. tl;dr its just one yellow light in the mouth normally, this'll give him that sliding effect from the film back - ball joints for the arms and wrists! i haven't seen anyone do this with zurg? but there's tons of people who've done it for buzz and i assume it'll be roughly the same process if not easier since there's no electronics in zurg's arms - something that nobody has either figured out or has shown off publicly- Making the gun actually fire. (absolutely getting help from my dad on this one if he's free, this is uncharted territory and will be much more of an experimental process than the others) i've also got a few more mods that are more of a Maybe than an absolutely, because they're harder in their own ways: - an accurate Z emblem! not only is there no case of a full scale zurg with an accurate emblem as far as i know, there also isn't a model or texture in any game that i could've used to make a model to print for, since either they're the inaccurate jagged emblem or so low resolution it's hard to make out and reconstruct from- luckily, this image of a lego piece with an accurate emblem has a good enough resolution to maybe build a model out of- the 'hard' part comes with actually making the emblem, as it's transparent plastic. we do have a 3d printer at home, but it's not the best by any means?? and i haven't fully looked into if transparent filament is any good or not, or if our 3d printer can print at the size needed and not look rounded or blobby - zurg vision!! this is something people have done before (even the mouth lights guy did it), but i feel it's much harder of a mod to pull off than any of the others since it's right where a screw would be, and there isn't much documentation on how either of the people who did this mod pulled it off - more articulation in the head! this one i'll need to learn more about how this toy's neck area is built to figure out, but hopefully the end product will be a head that can tilt in just about every position except rotating backwards - adjustable shoulder pads! like the zurg sold by revoltech :] no idea how feasible this would be, since i've never seen this mod idea done or even brought up - a transparent red backpack button with light! once again, transparent plastic, but this time hollow and housing an electronic light, which that second part is a bit of a challenge to hide for something that isn't already wired up to the toy itself - accurate hands?? this figure does the common pointer-finger and three-finger molds that a lot of toys use, so i'd like to see if i could maybe print something out that could be way better (and not as loose!!!!) - forearm chrome paint???? i have zero experience with painting stuff at all, so no idea if this'll go through- but it'd be how itd look in the films!!

and a couple of bonus mod ideas, just for my own satisfaction: - a better speaker?? dunno if the audio stored in the toy would benefit from this, but if it does, it'll be all the better for it - cleaning up youtube audio of zurg's lines in astro blasters, and maybe adding them to the sound chip thingy????? i have no idea how sound works in these toys, so maybe adding new sounds is impossible- but it'd be neat if that weren't the case!!

either way!! this'll be the first time i've ever done something like this- i'm probably just gonna set up the mouth lights and move on, but it's nice to have a list of to-dos in case i do feel up for more

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Battle (GBA)

Easily the best Sonic-themed arena fighter/RPG on the GBA.

As one of the more notable and novel spinoffs in the Sonic series I was interested to play Battle. 1996's Sonic the Fighters was a Virtua Fighter-style traditional 3D fighting game [which I bounced off hard], whereas in 2003 Sonic Team looked to Capcom's Power Stone for a more free-roaming arena fighter with a simple control scheme. The main surprise for me with this one though was its heavy story focus.

Sonic is chilling out in Emerald City, you know that place that he's always lived in with all his friends, that city that has existed before and will continue to exist. Anyway he meets some robot who he names Emerl, a learning machine that takes on the traits of others. Emerl bounces between his friends, getting into trouble with Eggman and growing all the way. Yada yada yada, ancient superweapon, the destruction of the planet, etc etc. It's a plot rich with incident, full of roadblocks and cheap excuses for fights, where the strength is in the little character moments along the way.

Some characters come off better than others. Emerl has a fun dynamic with Knuckles while he still has a childlike mindset, and there are nice bits with Cream and Rouge. Shadow really shines as Emerl's final mentor and arguably the heart of the whole story despite his scarce screentime, managing to not come off as an utterly boring character to me for the first time ever (now granted I haven't played his game or SA2). Amy on the other hand is at the peak of her "weirdo stalker" characterisation that it seems she was stuck in for, what, at least 15 years? The way she's written is godawful, a real embarrassment. So it's highs and lows, aka your typical Sonic product.

Another high is the art design. The Sonic Advance-style sprites have a lot of personality and animation to them, which helps convey the fight moves. The map is lovely isometric pixel art, while battles play out in little arenas modelled in full 3D with some nice varied textures. Sure the layouts are very simple, with just two levels of elevation and mostly cube-shaped platforms around but they manage some variety within that. You'll see the character portraits a lot during dialogue, so luckily they're fantastic, with a distinctive style that pops despite some slight GBA crunchiness.

The events play out over the course of eight character-centric plotlines that follow each other chronologically. There's a fair bit of repetition and what often feels like padding to stretch this into an 8-hour game over the course of all the campaigns. Don't expect any to tell a complete story, but each shapes Emerl in some way. This plays into the game design too, as Emerl is a customisable character. You'll play as him a bit less than half the time, so it's important to update his moveset with new actions won from your battles. Unfortunately Emerl's skill points increase slowly, and new moves are randomly dropped, to encourage link cable trading and grinding on optional battles or story replays. With the uneven difficulty this can create some unpleasant scenarios, but I got by using emulator features and some potent cheese strats.

So we come to the battle gameplay. I really like the platform fighter-esque simplicity of the control scheme, with complexity arising from the free movement in the arenas and strategising with your special moves. Aside from basic attacks, air attacks, and two directional strong attacks, which aren't hugely different between characters, you have your special moves on R. Each time you spawn in, you pick between projectile, power, and trap for your specials: one for grounded use, one for air use, and one that your character will automatically block against for the duration of that life. In this way you can choose your favourite variation, or react to an opponent's style or their guard choice.

It's an ingenious little system, but the battling is let down by ruthless AI and a dodgy camera. Like in a belt-scrolling beat-em-up, depth perception can be an issue as you often whiff attacks if you're not lined up just right, and opponents can escape offscreen. Try to engage them with normal attacks and you (or at least I) will be relentlessly countered and full-comboed to oblivion. Luckily, there are many ways to manipulate the engine and your foes, and finding the right one becomes a new kind of gameplay, if not the intended way to play.

For example, Rouge can maintain repeated airdrop combos, and with the right timing and spacing other characters can infinitely knock an opponent into a wall with a strong attack, then hit them again on the rebound. Emerl's basic ground shot can easily be repeated on any enemy even if they are blocking shots for cheap kills. The L button briefly blocks, then turns into a heal that also charges a special meter which when full turns specials into one-hit KO moves; any character with a fast charge (Knuckles, Cream, Emerl when properly equipped) can frequently get distance, charge up an OHKO, nail one or even two approaching enemies, rinse and repeat. Even spamming projectiles and traps can get you through in the right circumstances.

And that's why I love this system. It's broken, but you can work the jank in your favour and find many ways to exploit the game. It feels good! At first I was very frustrated but with a few pointers from friends and some goblin ingenuity I relished mastering this new style of play. The enemy's not fighting fair so why should I? Mwa ha ha!

It's worth noting that there's a few extra characters that are fought in the story that you can unlock for "free battle" or multiplayer, like a Gamma that isn't actually Gamma for lore reasons, or the slow but powerful Chaos. There's also a handful of minigames, but sadly most are locked to link cable play only. They look kinda cool but I'll never know. All I got was a lazy Knuckles-themed reskin of Windows 95 classic Minesweeper. Wahey.

Sonic Battle fits right in with some other Sonic games I've played recently: a heady mix of coolness, stupidity, great artistic choices, utter jank, some truly wrongheaded decisions, and gameplay that's a mess. In this case an endearing mess, so it comes out as a win. It's an easy must-play for Sonic fans. Especially for the story that feeds into Advance 3, Shadow the Hedgehog, and apparently Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. And speaking of, I wonder what's next on my checklist...?

[korolife]

Blog No.002🍋　24年5月4日

「Working on My Very First Miniature Kit!」

Hi, this is a behind-the-scenes on my experience in making the Corner of Happiness: Taste of Life DIY miniature kit!

It was from a couple of years ago, we found a stall selling miniature craft kits while strolling around the mall. My sister bought me the very same model I've been eyeing on my online shopping cart as a birthday present.

Me and my sister both love miniatures since we were very young, but making them from scratch require a lot of time, materials, and tools we don't really have (especially if you don't want them to look crudely made). Luckily, now with a Do-it-yourself kit, that wasn't going to be much of an issue! ...or so I'd hoped as a miniature newbie.

These are all the other variants of this series. I really dig the pink bunny aesthetics they're going for, though it's not as apparent on this one.

The kit also included custom wooden parts, wires, beads, and a tool kit necessary for the build. It also comes with an acrylic glass for dust-free casing!

Most of the parts were made from a print-out glossy paper with all the items' photo-real textures; some of which are just to be pasted onto a harder material like wood shaped similarly to the object, but most of them are just the paper itself.

I guess doing it this way cuts costs for manufacturing, but it was very challenging to work with, in my opinion. You'll see what I mean in a bit.

And here's a preview of the instruction booklet's contents.

I thought it was worded weirdly at parts, but still understandable enough with plenty of visuals to go with it.

Starting with the base/foundation of the model before anything else seemed to be the best option... though I was very, very tempted to skip to work on the food items. I don't know why, but miniature food just gets me really giddy.

But, gotta hold backーcan't make food without the oven and all.

I then worked my way through the biggest parts and set them down permanently with the paste provided in the kit.

...but I probably shouldn't have glued the kitchen island in place before placing the handles...aiyah one of them is really crooked-

I'm not familiar with wirings, so setting up the LED lights made me panic a little. But somehow, it all worked out! I'm confident that if an idiot like me can get through this, so can anyone!!

And now I present to you: The Paper Struggles™

+ and a "It's so fakken small" compilation.

The booklet is a lie lol that knife .jpg is 5x bigger than what you've got to work with-

I remember both bread toasts being squished from the tweezers... thankfully tiny enough for anyone to really see, but there's definitely a shtload of dents on there...

The wire handles for the mug was such a struggle lol it kept falling off no matter what, so I just kept adding glue and just... held on to it with pressure against the bead for what felt like eternity until it dried completely.

I also remember struggling with the semi-origami flowers quite a bit, but I think the trauma of it all made my brain forget to take photos-

Next up are the wires. I never really considered it before this kit, but they can actually have a lot of use when it comes to making miniature furnitures and accessories.

This was unfortunately before I got into making earrings, so I didn't have the right tools (pliers) to straighten them out. The very thin tweezers that came with the kit didn't help that much, so I just had to use my fingers.

The results... are as wobbly as the hands that created them lol I've learned my lesson...

that incomplete circle pains me so

And here we have my favorite partーthe food! All the tiniest of detailing, the garnishing, the arrangements... it just makes me so happy, I really don't understand why.

The original instructions only intended the oranges to be on the chopping board, but not in this household!!!

Oh, and the oranges were sliced up polymer clay rolls that I know are popularly used as nail art? Me and my sister used to sell polymer clay accessories back in the day and it felt very nostalgic seeing those tubes again.

And here we have the finished model! ☆

I made a few changes from the original intended 'look' + added a couple of my own beads from my hoard material collection from childhood I planned on using for when we started making miniatures... and the time for use was most certainly now!

Aaand here's a bird's eye view before completing with the dust-free acrylic glass encasing top lid.

～ CONCLUSION ～

Overall, I thought it was really fun, despite the unforeseeable challenges along the way. Even as a newbie with little to no experience working on actual builds + with only the enthusiasm and love for miniatures to desperately cling to when the damn wires wouldn't stick on their corresponding surfaces properly... it seemed to turn out pretty OK!! I expected a whole lot more screaming and dying inside lol If you're interested in getting it, I think simply searching up "Corner of Happiness" or "Taste of Life DIY miniature kit" should get you some results on your preferred online shopping platform! ※NOTE: I do have to stress to make sure to check (either through other user reviews or the listing's description) if the seller is including a tool kit in your purchase. A lot of the items included in this kit you can probably find at home, but not a lot of people are so crafty to just have them lying aroundーespecially if you're a complete newbie with crafts/miniatures! You'll have a hard time trying to wing it without tools. ※also, they might just skimp on you by not including them, but still have you pay for the full price lol it's definitely worth considering when purchasing.

I know a lot of parents may see these kits to buy for their kids, but unless ➀ they're also helping out the kid in the process or ➁ if the kid in question has no interest or patience for these kind of things, I think it's best not to buy them DIY kits like these if you don't want to risk wasting money. But that's just my opinion, as a broke adult who's always wanted one of these haha

The amount of care, effort, and attention to make sure everything is sturdy enough and visually clean can be very drainingー but if you're willingーanyone can do it!

And of course, a final very cool look on LED lights turned on at night.

This project was done around 2022年. I've done one more miniature kit since then that was way more complex, but that's a whole 'nother journal entry for another day...

For now, here's a mini update of how this Taste of Life is hangin' after two years have passed:

please don't mind Mr. Gamma side-eyeing you in the BG-

The batteries for the LED unfortunately need replacing and one of the wire chairs kind of died a bit, but it's still alive + currently displayed and part of my makeshift not-all-Shounen Jump Manga corner! I might make a separate blog about that too...

But until thenーthanks for reading ( ´ ꒳ ` )⸝ see you in the next one!★

[fourseasonsfigs]

Breaking Dawn

You're invited to a party with the world's cutest creature of the night!

The inspiration for this fig is of course Gong Jun's delightful vampire-themed photoshoot from November 28, 2023:

And of course, because how could we resist, the video:

His slow blink is so beautiful they had to show it twice.

I'm zooming in and cropping the second picture so you can see a close up of the crown.

Alright, on to the fig!

And what a fig it is. He is fabulous. He has both the most adorable face and he's gorgeously detailed. A jewel in my collection indeed! I was a little worried about him arriving safely because he's so ornate, but there was no problem at all.

If you zoom in you can see the same style of script on this invite as from the one Gong Jun is holding in the photoshoot. This invitation says, You're invited to my party.

The fig maker rendered his suit in this beautiful glossy paint - it looks even better in real life. The little stars almost seem to sparkle.

Look at how beautiful that crown is. I am delighted by it!

This is actually a pretty good shot of the quasi-sparkly effect from the star design in the glossy paint. The contrast of the textures is really nice for this fig.

Ok, maybe this is this the best shot yet of the true glossiness of the paint! The light changed a little while photographing, so it's now pouring in through my upstairs window. This is much closer to how it looks in real life.

The quill is very delicate. You might wonder how I know that. Well, the same way I seem to learn a lot of things - the hard way. In picking up this figure to take back to my display shelf, I placed my thumb right on the quill and it snapped right off. I almost had a heart attack!

Luckily, it was a fairly straightforward, if extremely fiddly fix. The hardest part was just making sure such a tiny piece went back on straight and in the correct way, and then staying very very still with the glue and tweezers for long enough to make sure the glue bond took. But eventually it I got it, and it looks as good as new.

I really like the choice by the fig maker not to make his eyes too bright red - this is subtle and perfect.

Back around to the front! I wanted to get a pic of our little vampire prince at night with a dark background for you. Unfortunately, my phone didn't seem to want to focus well in the low light, but that's ok, it gives him a slightly dreamy appearance. His crown looks gorgeous.

Back to the harsh light of day for the bottoms-up and top-down pics! This is the best view yet of the tiny script on his invitation.

As you can see, this cape is shorter than his outfit, so it's not one of those that will help stabilize the fig. I didn't even waste time with this fig trying to get him to stand for pictures - I immediately glued him on a base. I wasn't going to take any chances with him toppling over and breaking that beautiful crown.

Speaking of the crown, here you go. The silver paint there around the front star really does look like pearls in real life. If you scroll back up to the night time pic you can see how it normally looks either night or day.

I love this fig! I know I say each fig is my favorite, but he's definitely on the top of the list.

That's the cutest little vampire lair I've ever seen in my life!

The back of the fig card with the name, Breaking Dawn. As you can see, I did not come up with this name - I personally had him down a little more generically on my spreadsheet as "Vampire Jun", but turns out that's not quite accurate.

As a bonus, the fig maker threw in some cute little transparent cards, in the style of Gong Jun's Instagram page. I love them, they're so cute! The top one, from his runway walk on Paris Fashion Week, is my favorite.

Material: Resin

Fig Count: (+1) 525

Scene Count: 38

Rating: We'll RSVP to this party for sure!

[link to the Master Post Index]

[quaddmgd]

Yes it can! Got something cool to show ya.

So on a Tuesday night I was kinda stuck in the workroom, running rendering tasks, so I figured I can at least pop in a CP77 disc into the One S I have lying around. I had to make some preparations for my future Corpo AU shots and I've never played the last gen version before, so I was already excited to try it out.

I did all I wanted in about 15 minutes and decided to quickly shoot some pictures to see how they stack up against Series X (apart from lower resolution of course). Halcyon suggested that I start Nocturne Op55N1 to get some pics with Hanako. I decided to ship Corpo!Crystal with her after all (now you know). What the hell, I'm stuck here anyway, right?

So let's see what we can achieve with the most vanilla photo mode experience possible and the right mindset - in Cyberpunk 2077 v1.61 on Xbox One S.

I was wondering if I can get any shippy saturday material with such a limited set of tools. I got Crystal as close to Hanako as possible, then tried out (mostly unfitting) poses that I'd deviously cut to make them look convincing enough, similarly to my previous vanilla photo mode ventures (I have yet to post some of my favorites).

It worked well enough, even with the barrier around Hanako stopping me from getting them really close together. I created tension between them, simply by having Crystal "Eavesdrop (Left)", "Distracted Girlfriend" or "C'mere, Gonkbrain" towards Hanako.

But come on.... they had to kiss somehow.

I focused on poses that: a) have Crystal lean in any direction b) have an up/down slider to compensate for the height loss from leaning

Leaning poses made it possible to bring them even closer to each other, but it wasn't enough. No matter which one I chose, her barrier was impossible to break... or so I thought.

See, the counter is seemingly inaccessible, but jumping on any stool makes it easy to get on. Collision system tries really hard to push you off of it but, with some luck, switching photo mode on and off can stop it from happening*, let you stay on top and move freely. Now I was back using poses with up/down sliders and I quickly settled on "Off to the Races" as the one most likely to make them kiss. Luckily, the minimum slider value was IDEAL to get Crystal's lips on the same level as Hanako's. The only issue was with moving C left/right/close/far, as her collision remained in the same place she spawned - on the bar top. At this point sliders were useless, so I had to go back to gameplay to correct her position. After some trial and error I set her perfectly. Now a quick rotation towards Hanako and voila! Now they kiss! * - if your V spawns with the default starting pose - "Tabula Rasa", "What Can I Get Ya?" or "Night City Strut" - then it's a good sign

And how does it look from the outside perspective?

Yes, that's a lot of steps and time spent on a small photo shoot. The lighting is what it is, their eyes are open, Johnny The Parasite stands exactly where I'd want to place the camera, but it's still cute and it proves that creativity can get you places with vanilla photo mode. And final results can look really good, even on a base Xbox One.

Of course, photo editing software like GIMP can get you even better results. I use it to change aspect ratio of my pics, patch up any lighting/texture bugs, and sometimes for basic color correction. For the sake of clarity, I didn't use it for shots in this post. Just know it's there and it's easy to learn.

I couldn't decide whether it should be a blog post or a tutorial, so it's a blog post that goes step by step through my thought process, I guess. I might do some vanilla VP tutorials in the future, if the demand is there, but right now my job doesn't even let me finish my Legacy of Kain: Defiance playthrough, so I can't promise anything!