#somewhat scrapped designs but i like them enough to have them here

[blazemalefica]

[the-insomniac-emporium]

SWORDTEMBER '24, DAY 11: PATCHWORK

Item ID: E6-2411 Item Name: Sir Teddyson the Brave Category: N/A Origin Point: Unknown Owner: Unknown, Dockworker? Description: A medium plush stuffed animal, worn from many years of being carried around. Traditional Earthen design, somewhat resembling the now-extinct polar bear. This item, referred to as a Teddy Bear, is a common comfort item for human children. Close to the left leg of the bear is a small tag, labeled with the bear’s name: Sir Teddyson the Brave. While many traditional bears do not come with accessories, this item is dressed as an Earthen warrior known as a knight, equipped with armor, a cloak, and detachable sword with shield. Due to the item’s age, it has been previously torn in several places. These spots have been thoroughly repaired with new stitches and, where necessary, scraps of different fabric. The end result is a patchwork of materials that has clearly been adored for several generations. Cataloger’s Notes: If we don’t figure out who this belongs to, I am going to cry. This lil guy has all the markings of something passed down between family members. Who knows how many children have held this thing? How many parents or older siblings have worked to repair the damage, just to ensure a young one will have something to comfort them and keep them company.

-----

Nobody seems to know where the bear came from. It has all the marks of something accidentally left behind by another employee, having been found in the parking lot instead of in the loading bay, but so far no one has inquired about any lost items. As such, it had fallen to Cynthia to catalog the item so they could legally put it into temporary storage. Only a handful of the FPA’s employees are human, and she was the first one in for the day, so she had been deemed the best fit to handle such a “culturally significant” item.

Currently, she’s in a video call with Naomi, trying not to get too emotional while talking about the bear in her hands. To her credit, Naomi is listening intently, occasionally offering up anecdotes about her own childhood plush (a teddy styled like a ronin, whatever that is), and overall being very supportive. They’ve been talking for over an hour now, the time passing without notice, and Cynthia has just about finished her write-up on Sir Teddyson.

During a quiet moment, with Naomi stepping away to talk to her brother about his planned homecoming, the sound of footsteps and voices grows louder from the hallway. A moment later there’s a knock at her office door, and she presses the button to let them in. Immediately the conversation pauses, and a rather frazzled looking dockworker steps inside. He’s a Bophellian, a bipedal species with slanted eyes and a thin layer of fur covering the body, with traditional silver jewelry adorning his pointed ears. In one hand he holds a phone, the other covering the device’s speaker.

“Hi, hello, I’m so, so very sorry to interrupt, but-” the man (Xerro, according to his nametag) says, stopping when his gaze lands on the teddy bear. That’s all it takes for him to visibly relax, a rush of air coming from his lungs. Quickly, he says something into the phone, the speech too fast for Cynthia’s translator to parse. “Again, sorry to interrupt, but my daughter left her Knight Bear here when my wife picked me up yesterday. We spent a couple hours looking for it last night, but I see you’ve found it”

Relief fills Cynthia, and she’s more than ready to hand the bear over (she’s never been introduced to Xerro before, but she’s talked to the other dockworkers enough to hear he’s a beloved coworker). Still, Xerro hangs up the phone after confirming that he found the bear, and proceeds to provide photo evidence of the bear being his daughter’s. Apparently it had been given to her by her birth father, who had passed when she was only a few years old. Since then, her mother had married Xerro, who had been more than happy to raise the little one, regardless of a difference in species.

It was a very cute story, all in all, with some adorable photos (including one where Xerro was dressed up in a homemade knight costume for his daughter’s birthday). By the time he left, Sir Teddyson in hand, Cynthia felt her heart full with joy. Once his footsteps faded, she resumed her call with Naomi and updated her on the conclusion to the story they had become so invested in.

[justafellr]

Here's a dump of my scrapped emotion concepts, I will explain their personalities and the thought process behind their designs 1/2 Jealousy

Jealousy was admittedly a very fun emotion to work with. Jealousy was scrapped in the film since they felt they would be confused with Envy and that being around a bitter and hostile character would be unpleasant to have around. So to remedy this, I researched what Jealousy is, and it is described as "a feeling of fear or anger towards someone/something taking away something/someone that one loves or deeply values. With this in mind I thought "what if I made them a feral animal?" and so I came up with the brilliant idea of my version of Jealousy They are indeed a very feral and unhinged with very limited speech. They are pretty much a guard dog, lashing out whenever they feel what they value is under threat of being taken away, and as a result, is put on a chained leash to control them. When they are not feeling threatened, they act as ur average dog, with a tinge of grumpiness I eventually scrapped them since I though their personality and purpose melded too much with Anger Their design and personality is inspired by many animalistic characters, like Animal, Taz, Kyle, Thumper and Ren Hoek

Greed

Greed was going to be somewhat similar to Jealousy in behavior, but decided to give them peasant/feral homeless/crackhead vibes. They have a very arched poster and very restless and grabby. They are always craving more and is very possessive of what they attain out of an intense need for self satisfaction, security and fulfilment I eventually scrapped them since I feel aspects of their character could blend with Fear, Anxiety and Envy. Speaking of Envy, I initially wanted to make Envy an all encompassing feeling of wanting, yearning and craving more and went with the name Covetousness for the longest time, but I eventually stuck with Envy since it's easier to say, and also accepted that Envy would encompass those feelings overall Suspicion

Suspicion was another fun character to work on. They were of that sentiment, suspicious, paranoid and deeply mistrustful of everyone and everything. They always keep notes of every situation and always gives a side eye out of distrust. This is all an attempt to be prepared and keep tracks as to not make the same mistakes or for self preservation. Because of this, it's obvious why I scrapped them, since those aspects of their character would meld with emotions like Fear and Anxiety Their design is inspired by their concept art if that wasn't obvious enough lol

Adoration/Admiration

Adoration/Admiration was basically beta Amore, without the lovey dovey kind of behavior. Originally there was gonna be Admiration/Adoration and a more romantic and sensual emotion called Eros, but I eventually meshed them together into the character of Amore. Not much else to be said here tbh lol

[dirtyoldmanhole]

@/damoselcastel was kind enough to show me a bunch of the FE:Fates visual works artbook pages the other day!

and because i am continuing to be .... brain rotted (lol) ... grabbed a copy since there was more than a few relevant pages/official artworks, and wanted to have a high res/color corrected version of these pages for art refs to slap on my reference boards! if i'm looking at them every day now for the past three months they better be accurate!!!

anyway! it came TODAY!!! :D :D pakidge

IT WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO COME UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH AAAAA

god dang this thing is THICK, now this is what i call a proper artbook! a little hard to see here but you can see by both the front and the spine that it's a chonker -- the two tellius artbooks combined are thicker but they're also a bit smaller elsewhere.

rest is under the cut b/c it's me promptly going feral :P

(and seeing who's on the spine ahhh!!! honestly that's really cool and super appropriate given his subtle plot/character relevance?! super fucking cool to keep seeing nintendo nod at him in symbolically relevant places, but not too overtly )

SPEAKING OF I SHIT YOU NOT GUESS WHICH SPREAD THIS THING FELL TO FIRST

I SHIT

YOU

NOT--

stone cold, swear to you, straight up didn't intend that but this was literally me irl then:

:')))))))))

(also HE GETS A WHOLE SPREAD???? and a turnaround?!!!!!! even freaking corrin's nohr noble design gets like an EIGHTH of the page

gunter gets treated SO WELL in this artbook i'm on the floor trying not to sob like i'm sixteen again and begging for any zihark scraps

also this is so much more high res than what's on my reference board the nitpicky artist in me is literally crying for joy about FINALLY HAVING A HIGH RES REFERENCEEEEEEEEEEE

also what the fuck the architecture is so cool???????????

THE WORLDBUILDING I AM WILDING

for real tho i remember my first conquest playthrough my jaw was on the FLOOR being genuinely amazed at how cool the worldbuilding was especially on the nohrian side with the gothic vibe and y'all don't know how useful this is going to be to replicate nohrian motifs in all of my drawings/probable comics/doujinshi/etc.

[foams at mouth]

this artbook also covers EVERYTHING

like there's a healthy amount of character work , but there's also enemy designs (always thought fate's enemy designs were unusually kickass, like some of these folks could be outright characters themselves), the architecture stuff above....

my room lines....

OH MY GOD THIS MEANS I HAVE A THIRD SET OF TRANSLATIONS I CAN CROSS REFERENCE TO FUCK YES

sorry for shitty blurriness it's just me vibrating in excitement lmao i'll upload it in the high res chunk

.....

hellooooo sir~~~~

(you knew i was going to be posting that shot >:D )

his possession CGI gets a full fucking page too ajlsjsjkskjhhjshjg

HE GETS TREATED SO GOOD HERE Y'ALL, SO MANY FULL PAGES???????????? is this what it's like to be brain rotted over a major character i will never know the feeling lul

(there's actually at least two other gunter fullbody artworks in here, those have already been scanned/uploaded properly by others so i won't post 'em here unless y'all want em!

and then lastly!

to finish it off, god this cover progress is so cool, kozaki knows what he's doing.

and i'm pretty sure gunter's linework gets changed halfway through, his expression's somewhat different than on the final! and i'll be posting that along with the other high res/cleaned up scans! just need to figure out if my scanner's gonna do a better job than my phone or vice versa.

[tries to stay composed] [fails]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[montyterrible]

Born to Hench, Forced to “Boss!!”

I’m not a Minion hater exactly—no more so than I am, ambiently-like, of anything “mainstream” or “popular.” At the same time, I also don’t tend to engage with any media in a “lol so wacky I’m going INSANE from exposing myself to this!” sort of way either. When I really think about it, you could see the Minions as particularly cynical, like the Disney animal sidekick thing on steroids. They have a simple, pleasant design (emphasizing the body/head, deemphasizing the limbs and fine detail) with room for a smidgeon of individuality/visual flexibility using a satisfyingly limited number of features or elements like eyes, and which makes them more or less Engineered for Marketability as a toy or just plastered on one thing or another. There’s an enormous Minion (I think) sticker around here somewhere that a friend of mine gave me once when I was visiting him that he (I think) got from a cereal box as a “prize.” It’s my understanding that Minion memes were somewhat ubiquitous on Facebook at one point, though I can also easily imagine adults (namely parents) harboring a deep-seated hatred of these things.

Upon initially firing up Minions (2015) and hearing those eminently recognizable chattering voices “singing” the Universal Pictures theme, I thought my fears were going to be confirmed—that this was going to be a very annoying movie for me. I imagined being a parent in one room hearing that tell-tale sound for the umpteenth time coming from a TV in another, and what that might feel like. I didn’t end up following this “lol so wacky I’m going etc.” thread any further, though, because I actually found the Minions (and their movie) pretty easy to like!

On the one hand, yes, they are adorable: visually, but also in terms of personality and thanks to the ambiguity of their emotional and intellectual maturity. The Bob character, in particular, is very child-esque, but all of the Minions are vaguely characterized in this same way, and so it’s easy to feel drawn to them in their extremes of feeling, to want to nurture or at least pet them. “Part child, part dog” may be another intentional element of their design, meant to reach children and parents and childless adults all in some primal way. Ironically, the chattering wasn’t an annoyance, and I think it may actually have made the predictably goofy and usually physical humor I expected from the movie more palatable. Rather than an endless slog of “That was SO awesome!” or other “That just happened!”-adjacent running commentary on every precious goof, you instead get these intervals (sometimes surprisingly long for such a movie) where no coherent sentence is uttered. The Minions speak a winning mix of total gibberish and real language (English, Spanish, etc.), and I’ll be damned if there isn’t a certain… confidence to having that be the medium of communication, visuals aside, of bits and pieces of this movie.

On another hand, I find the very concept of a “Minion” kind of fascinating. The movie starts with an initially wordless sequence showing off Minion evolution—how from their most primitive, water-bound state they’ve always latched onto the largest and most dangerous other creatures without conflict, which is a compulsion that takes them onto the land and forward through history until they gravitate toward humans and then “supervillains” specifically. The Minions are apparently immortal(?) and so, critically, out-live their beloved masters, sometimes apparently killing them by accident. I know I’m late to the Minions party in this regard, but that’s just such a weird and compelling baseline concept. Minions being so “Assigned Henchman at Birth” while also potentially, actually being the superior animal just makes for an interesting hook.

While Minions has a recognizable-enough dramatic plot, I found it kind of oddly… “empowering” to watch. You don’t so much feel tension or stress about the scraps and scrapes the Minions get into, so much as you eagerly wait to see how they’ll easily overcome the inconvenience and defeat their enemies. I’m not joking when I say that the Minions have more in common with Alucard from the manga/anime Hellsing than they do with other protagonists in similar movies. They’re essentially “over-powered.” There are some great, fun bits of action or imagery here, though a favorite might be when the Minions’ boss-turned-enemy, Scarlet Overkill, tries to have them tortured, and this includes a bit where the Minions are gleefully slipping through and playing around with a noose. It’s fleetingly dark, perhaps surprisingly daring.

(Of course, the “3 edgy 5 you” take that I’ve even heard out in the real world about the Minions is “lol Did they work for Hitler? lol” And this movie makes clear that, no, they did not. After serving Napoleon, the Minions were in exile in an icy cave until 1968, thus avoiding the Harry Potter problem of mixing magical beings and the Holocaust.)

I was also just surprised at how twisty the plot of Minions is. I did not expect Bob to pull the mythical Sword from the Stone, or for the spurned, exploded Scarlet to return for one last attempt at the Queen of England’s crown when it felt like the movie was already over. I had a harder time thinking of really distinct swerves than I expected writing this up, but it’s all just kind of inherently Interesting. The way that this world pivots around professional villainy (even if only in secret circles) reminded me a little bit of The Venture Bros. This still isn’t evil evil—It’s easy enough to see the Minions as conventionally likeable if not exactly heroic and Scarlet Overkill as conventionally threatening and villainous, but it’s a fun enough, kid-friendly flirtation that at least sort of eschews predictable plotting.

There are some character designs that rely a bit on fatphobic imagery for their visual identity/comedy potential, but I think the most offensive thing about the movie is its treatment of The Queen, who cutesily throws down with the Minions when they attempt to steal her crown for Scarlet and who is hanging out at a pub arm wrestling after she’s dethroned. Her toothiness might qualify as gentle caricature, but I would have (cruel Leftist that I am) preferred a much meaner treatment. I mean, really, the Minions should be latching onto her, right? What with the whole legacy of colonialism and so forth? Her being a sort of apex thief and whatnot?

I jest—Obviously, that’s far too subversive and cerebral for such a Childish property! The Minions are instead drawn to the biggest cartoon of villainy, which means Scarlet at first but then ultimately a young Gru. Minions almost tells a standalone story using the critters but then has to wrap back around to Despicable Me, which means there’s a heavy Gru emphasis at the very end and during the little credits sequences. I would have preferred that it not do this (and also that Scarlet be an anthropomorphized wolf-woman for the entire movie and not just the “bedtime porry” scene), but I know this isn’t really For me, in the end, and have just accepted that with as good as a shrug. Which is how I’ve felt about the Minions as a property and/or marketing gimmick for years now.

[cattyanon]

He's finally here... Scrapnik Sonic!

(Make sure to read my notes at the end! Or at the very least the last one...)

Undamaged Version

Scrapnik Version

To get something pretty obvious out of the way but that I want to clarify for peace of mind: these are two different drawings so they won't be exactly the same in places. Anyways on to the design notes!

Design Notes

One of my first worries was about the size of certain parts. But then I remembered/realized that these are literally a bunch of scrap parts. They could've been scrapped for any number of reasons. Maybe something just came out wrong.

Now you're probably wondering what's up with that one ear, side of the muzzle, and small rectangular spot on the head. Well heres the final part of Sigma's Theory... It's actually non-robotic parts. That's right, the robotcizing process didn't 100% complete! More info on this in the general notes.

For the drill foot theres actually three things I want to say. First is that Sigma actually filed (ik theres a better word I just can't think of it) down the end of the drill to make it more flat. Second is that the covered up part on the leg is cause two of the ball points were damaged and didn't connect right so they had to improvise. Third is actually the second of my worries. This was about why Sigma would use something like a drill (or wheel) as a makeshift leg and not something more actually flat. But I eventually realized some reasons as to why. It's the fact that parts are limited and that the two sides need to be as even as possible. It might take getting used to but it's better than having to walk somewhat sideways.

The bit of metal on the chest is due to a hole.

While I'm still not entirely happy with the gear it's much better compared to my first attempts...

The thumb is a bit damaged but it still mostly works.

You can probably work out most of the colors yourself but I will say that the lines at the tip of his legs are white. Well technically they're silver and more metallic but whatever.

DOING THE EYES WAS AGONY. But not for reasons you may think. You might've assumed that I just had trouble with drawing the eyes but no no no. It's a fucking design choice I made. I tried to give his eyes a slightly sharper edge to them while still mostly retaining it's original shape. And then I had to do it 3 more times. ;-; I am not going to be applying that to future drawings. Since these are his ref sheets they get special treatment but I'm not subjecting myself to that hell and I reccomend yall do the same. It's not worth it, trust me.

I debated also making a different side view for his face before posting but you guys have waited long enough. I appreciate the patience btw.

Shoutout to @boom-fanfic-a-latta and their friends with helping out with the design process!!! Specifically with the claw hand idea! <3

And finally, the front of the ear. With the scar somewhat visible depending on which version you're doing:

General Notes

If you guessed the reference to be to the makeshift brace Sonic gets in the comic then you've guessed correctly! I just thought it'd be a neat little nod to it...

So some essential about the non-robotic parts. Those parts don't feel pain. At most it'll cause him a feeling of intense pressure and immense discomfort (the amount he feels increases the worse the injury) but that's it. The pressure thing also applies to any form of touch.

Speaking of feeling things, his sense of touch is very lacking. This especially goes for parts that weren't originally a part of him. He can only feel a slight amount of pressure when he touches things. In fact the only reason hes able to feel anything at all is due to some coding that registers the touch. It's why the scrapnik parts are much more lacking in that area. Sigma did try his best though!!!

Sigma is really trying his best with Sonic. That's it, that's number four.

It might be kinda obvious but he has the most trouble adjusting to the drill foot and claw hand the most. Of course that's also on top of everything else. Poor Sonic.

Also did I mention how much he hates all of this? Because he does.

I know I kinda covered this already but he hates that everyone insists hes just some weird Metal Sonic prototype.

Theres definitely some tension between him and Mecha for a while. I'll probably make a post further detailing his relationships with characters on the island.

And for my final note, if you have any design questions or are confused by something I said dont be afraid to ask for clarification!

[crunchchute]

So if William is MXES, does that mean Vanessa and Gregory made some kind of deal with Cassidy to transfer his torture from "play this sensory-overload inducing video game forever" to "be our security system"

yapped a lot so im putting it under the cut. tl;dr i like this idea, but i believe hes been freed from it earlier in the timeline, but im not against this, gonna think about it

i cant give a proper answer here as i dont have enough info from the lore to be content with it BUT i still see MXES as the system somewhat separate from the entity (the rabbit). the entity is inside of the system, but since we only hear the mimic say its something unwanted within the system, its unclear if its actually the system itself or just trapped within, (here its also hard to tell whats the mimic saying and whats helpi's words, as iirc helpi also mentions the entity as something unusual. though you could argue its unknown to the vanni network, because its a new part of the security system) though if the entity was somehow William then i would see more options, first repurposing some "code" from glitchtrap after getting rid of him, if glitchtrap was (or at least partially was) William; or from burntrap, if hes even canon, or something else - but that would be too convoluted) and using him within the system and pretty much trapping him there.

everything is still pretty unclear, i like your take anon, but in my mind he has been freed from the torture before HW, maybe similarly to frights (though the man in the room story is goofy as hell, i like the afternath. canonicity of the books aside, im not even saying the frights are canon, but perhaps can count as a parallel. and although its unused, i really like the beta entity design as a form of William and its a nice connection to the frights story, but sadly scrapped)

well. im not really a theorist, i just think of what sounds most fun to me. if cassidy is involved, guessing that would be connected through princess quest 🤔 could be! *shrugs* i will think about that. i do think Vanessa and Ggy worked with the system, hard to tell if they created it as from HW2 we can see its been in use before Ruin so they would either create it shortly after SB or it was already existing.. then they could use it to trap the last remains of glitchtrap. (or the security system is originally within the preexisting vanni system, and the mxes one is created by them, addinf the nodes?)

it all ties to the glitchmic debate which im TIRED of but i think theres something more going on and we can see a lot from color coding so... glitch is green, then magenta, the mxes system is magenta. mimic is orange. the entity is blue, white, but in the trailer they had the green and magenta glitching... so i still have some questions unanswered. but the entity being William makes me happy so i will think that still :] how he became that is still a mystery however!

sorry anon for making this so long, i know i should have just answered with a "haha yeah" but if i get to talk about william unprompted. im taking every chance 😔 anyway id like to see a cassidy confirmation or something too, like the PQ connection etc but i feel like cassidy moved on from trapping William a long time ago (and thats why hes back perhaps?)

yea i could go on forever and not come to a conclusion pfff

[tehuti88-art]

9/22/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Lance Corporal Citrine Rat. He bullies Reseda Rat throughout the story for some unexplained reason and has a generally poor attitude though his character needs to be developed somewhat. There's already a bit about him in Reseda's Tumblr entry, which is actually posted! (I'm dreadfully behind.) There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding his design, I didn't originally envision him this color, but it makes sense. He looks perpetually cranky.

TUMBLR EDIT: Citrine features in Reseda's entry, here. His inexplicably hostile attitude toward Reseda is based partly on my own repeated experience with bullies both IRL and especially online; most of the times, I had no idea why these people targeted me, and it was just so frustrating never knowing, because how do you get a bully to stop when you don't even know what triggered them in the first place...? The only obvious things I can think of are that I'm an easy mark for effective bullying--I'm painfully sensitive, shy, and emotional--plus I react, which is of course what bullies want most. I still don't and will never understand the mindset that finds it ENJOYABLE to torment others so--I encountered the concept of online trolling early and often (I was aggressively harassed off of the first few forums I joined), and I will simply never get why anyone does it--but I think they like to target me in particular because I'm dramatic and provide them with what they want. And yeah...sometimes, "Just ignore them and they'll go away" does not work. I'm fairly certain one still pops up to passive-aggressively stalk me now and then, YEARS after I communicated with him exactly once (in an inoffensive manner, no less--I expressed mild criticism toward him exactly once as well, after he pulled a very manipulative online stunt which he himself admitted to, but this was in a comment to someone else and was merely along the lines of "I'm never going to trust him again"--that was apparently enough to earn years of harassment, impersonation attempts, being told to kill myself, etc.). I don't even fit the type of person he generally targets, which adds an extra level of frustration and makes me think, "Don't you have ANY other hobbies you can move on to...??"

Reseda experiences this feeling, I'm sure, always wondering WTF is Citrine's problem with him in particular. I think Citrine, being one of the older Trench Rats, sees an inexperienced newbie who is sure to react to his jabs and that's a big reason why he does it. I could just run with this concept that there isn't always a reason behind things, sometimes an a-hole is just an a-hole, BUT!...when have you known me to just let potential background drama like that slide...?

Citrine, alas, hasn't revealed his reasons to me yet. I can reveal what was GOING to be behind his behavior in the first reboot where he initially appeared, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to scrap the idea as too silly. Citrine, originally, was going to have experienced some sort of trauma when younger, which made him especially vulnerable to additional trauma in wartime; something especially bad was going to happen, and his personality was going to fracture. Yep--multiple personalities. I've already utilized this in other storylines--most notably the D Is For Damien/Minot spinoff series with characters such as Det. Max Kristeva, Jay Campion/Jason Rosedale, and Russell Whittaker--though there's also a hint of a more fantastic version of it in the Manitou Island series, with Geezhigo-Quae and the Red Swan (spoilers, I know, sorry!). I feel more comfortable doing it with those characters as it's developed organically in their background and relies on actual psychological principles regarding how the disorder develops in childhood. (Geezhigo-Quae is kind of an outlier here, but as I said, her story has a supernatural element.) Citrine...never really fit this template. His personality was supposed to split in adulthood, which, while I guess it COULD happen, is incredibly outside the norm based on everything I've read. One could argue that his adult experience is merely a continuation of his childhood one, a final break in something that was already fractured, but it just seems way too contrived and unbelievable to me...and also far too much like a shoehorned-in plot device. While I won't rule out trauma in Citrine's past (in almost all of my characters' pasts, honestly), I'm almost certainly ruling out DID.

I also don't think Citrine is just being an a-hole for being an a-hole's sake--he gets along fine with many others, and while I wouldn't call him nice or good natured, he mostly behaves. (This, too, has been my experience with many bullies: They're complete wretches to me, yet okay or even popular with others--another fact that makes me wonder, why me, what did I do, why am I so worthy of contempt? One of my lesser school bullies died in an accident and everyone publicly had nothing but praise for how kind and funny he was, what a great guy, while privately all I could think was, good thing I'm a nobody and no one wants my opinion, he was a total jerk to me! I guess nobody else ever saw that side of him.) It's just Reseda in particular who triggers him. And nope, it isn't Reseda being bi that triggers him, because he targets Reseda before Reseda himself even knows this. Just for some inexplicable reason, Reseda rubs him the wrong way and he feels compelled to act.

I know I already said it's unlikely above, but there really is the possibility that Citrine's behavior simply has no concrete explanation, and even he doesn't know why Reseda irritates him so much. And that in itself could serve as a bigger plot device. I can imagine Reseda finally confronting Citrine, angrily demanding to know what his problem is, and Citrine shooting back, "You want to know what my problem is?--NOTHING! And my problem with you?--NONE! You exist. That's enough! Keep wasting your time trying to figure me out. You can't shove people in boxes! Not everything has a nice clean explanation! And the sooner you realize this, the better!"

Now, a bigger plot device...how? Reseda spends a good deal of time trying to pigeonhole both himself and romantic interest Silver, attempting to figure out what exactly they both are and what they mean to each other. Silver fits no mold that Reseda knows of. Like Citrine, he advises the other Rat to just not think about it too hard, because he doesn't understand it, either. So in a way, Citrine's combative response to Reseda might help him understand that life isn't always so clear and people aren't always so easily labeled or explained. The same as he can't ever fully understand his and Silver's relationship, perhaps he never comes to understand the conflict he has with Citrine.

Citrine's actions toward Reseda do kind of mellow out throughout the story--partly due to their experience being sent to assist in the medical ward as punishment--though I think he still has the same negative feelings, he just isn't so inclined to act on them. He even comments semi-civilly toward Reseda now and then, but I doubt the two ever settle all their differences, they merely learn to grudgingly tolerate each other. I suspect it always wears on Reseda to never understand or manage to set things right (not that he has anything to set right--this, too, I experienced myself when I once asked a guy who was being mean to me online what I'd done wrong and he himself admitted I hadn't done anything, he just didn't like me)--it niggles at him to leave things open ended--but at least they don't continue to get into knock-down-drag-out fights.

ANECDOTE TIME.

This is kind of reminiscent of a personal experience I had regarding three bullies of my own. When I was in junior high, I was placed in some sort of experimental "support group" for troubled students; to this day I don't fully understand how I ended up in it, or what all it was about, though it was an illuminating experience. Also included in this group were three male students with whom I'd had conflicts: Brian/Bryan (I can't remember the spelling), Josh, and Adam. Brian and Josh had actively taunted and mocked me (I remember Brian mocking my awkward walk--I have kind of a swayback, and he made fun of me once by prancing around and fluttering his hands with his butt sticking out, which I found humiliating as I've always been painfully ashamed of my appearance; I can't recall the specifics of what Josh made fun of, but he had an even meaner streak than Brian, who seemed to just find it amusing), whereas Adam didn't mock me like that, but would target me for pranklike behaviors, and would keep at it even if I repeatedly told him to stop, which to me was a sign of malice (e. g., in class he would keep putting his foot up on the metal book holder under my seat, which bothered me inordinately--maybe it was my OCD--and every time I nudged it off he'd put it back up, and he ignored my requests, then my demands for him to remove it--it got to the point where I'd literally be hitting his foot trying to force him to remove it yet he'd still refuse--it was pretty stupid behavior on both our parts, to be honest). Anyway, all four of us ended up in this group, meaning we'd all been identified as troubled students. The group was apparently experimental only, as I said, because it ran its course of a certain period of weeks, then just...ended. Was never renewed or restarted. Which frankly was a shame, because IMO it HAD helped, and I really could've benefited from therapy back then when my social anxiety was just starting to get disruptive. I don't know what the point of it was or why it was never continued--honestly, the whole episode is a weird mystery to me decades later, I wasn't a troublemaker, I got excellent grades and followed all the rules, I was just painfully shy and avoidant and sensitive and would burst into tears at the drop of a hat--who recommended I be placed here, with bullies and problem students, how, and why?--especially considering that authorities had no problem ignoring my issues all the years after that. Anyway though, by the group's end, my relationships with the three bullies had changed:

1. Brian stopped mocking me. We never became friends or anything, but he was friendly the few times we interacted; I even remember him complimenting me to somebody else (something like "Yeah, she's a really talented writer!"), which surprised me, because I figured all he'd ever noticed of me was that which he ridiculed. Turns out he'd seen good things, too.

2. Adam became friendly. Turns out he was a genuinely funny guy (a lot like Gold Rat) and had no spite toward me that I can recall. His annoying behavior that I'd mistaken for malice was probably just his juvenile attempts at jokes. He never repeated this behavior afterward, so I take it he understood how much it had truly bothered me. We were never friend-friends but all our following interactions were positive and we got along well.

3. And Josh...was still a jerk. I specifically recall us both being on a bus and he wanted to switch seats; he asked, but I, likely out of spite (and feeling quite smirky that I had something he wanted), declined his request. He asked a few more times, getting more and more rankled, yet I kept refusing. He finally just started calling me "b*tch"--first insultingly, then like it was my name--he said to someone else, "This b*tch won't switch seats with me!" then to my face: "Could I have your seat, B*tch? Please?" He said it so casually, in such a normal tone, like it was my name. That made the comment even worse, IMO, and of course I still refused. He got angry then, and started kicking/punching the back of my seat. I just ignored him, feeling quite smug for having pissed him off so. So, yeah...Josh and I never became friendly, we were both a-holes to each other. Two out of three ain't bad, I guess.

There was ONE thing I noticed, though: Josh didn't actively target me so much anymore. He was still hostile when we did interact, but he didn't ever come seeking trouble; he mostly avoided me, and of course I avoided him. So, while the bad blood between us was never resolved like it was with Brian and Adam, still, something changed. We decided to just keep out of each other's way. (I believe he moved away not long after.)

END ANECDOTE.

I suspect that the dynamic between Citrine and Reseda plays out similarly. They never become friendly, but they don't keep getting into fights, either. They just learn to work together when they have to, and to otherwise give each other a wide berth.

Citrine isn't a bad person, just difficult under the wrong conditions. I feel he may have a good deal of skills that are indispensable to the Rats, otherwise, why keep such an obstinate person around. He needs some significant character development--he has lots of potential to add to the plot--but as I said, he hasn't shared with me yet. Perhaps by the time I get to writing up his official profile, I'll know more.

[Citrine Rat 2023 [‎Friday, ‎September ‎22, ‎2023, ‏‎12:00:18 AM]]

[willbulmer]

Dreadful pies

References for my own version of a Mind Flayer tadpole from DnD.

Mind Flayer tadpoles enter the brain of the victim and turn them into Mind Flayers after an agonizing week-long period of gestation.

Mind Flayer for reference

I decided to make my one look more like a sea creature than something from outer space, just because I liked the idea of it adapting to alternative climates and environments.

Here I made a very rough version of it out of super sculpey, just to get a feel for how it should look in model form, however I scrapped it pretty quickly as it ended up being too big for my liking.

Here's a smaller version. The tin foil spines in the back are for the bigger fin on the back.

I ended up removing the tin foil spines and the fins and fattened up the entire sculpture, so I would have more to work with.

After doing so, I carved out its mouth and added rows of teeth. I also added eyes and some markings to its head.

Then I got started on adding a plated pattern to the rest of the body, which is another deviation from the original reference.

Part of the way through, I knew it was missing something. So, I added these small tentacles to its head and played around with the positioning and it all of a sudden looked more complete.

After getting the tentacles into a position that I think looks good and would be stable enough to bake, I used some grey super sculpey to create the fins on the lower part of the body. I did this by layering two thin sheets over each other and cutting through them, separating them and then wrapping them around the lower body. I did have to trace over the patterns again, which made them look a little messier, but I think it turned out pretty well.

I started to draw different types of fins, to find on that I liked and thought would fit well with my current design. I was planning on cutting out the ones I liked most and sticking them into the back of my tadpole, due to the difficulty of using super sculpey.

I even traced around a scalpel blade and tried slightly changing the shape of the drawings around it.

I eventually turned back to super sculpey and with some help I managed to get the fins stable enough to work. I also replaced all of the tentacles with the grey sculpey, because they were too soft before.

I'm currently in the middle of drawing my finished model, but the other two were the initial designs of my tadpole.

I baked and painted the tadpole, along with the pie crust. I also painted the bottom of the tin to get more of a blue hue when looking down into the pie. Afterwards, I filled it up with latex thickener to make it look slimy and gross. I did forget to document this process.

After a week, the latex thickener evaporated somewhat and left a shiny coat on the tadpole. This turned out pretty well, because now you can actually see the contents, whereas before it was all obscured by the latex thickener.

[awiola]

Normal update, summer XXIII

RNG said to write the year in roman so here it is.

September is upon us so it's time for an update. I think I'll make them a seasonal[?] thing so there's actually enough to write about.

Let's start with failures ✨

My great, glorious and magnificient sunofes game with scifi elements is postponed indefinitely. I had some ideas but wasn't sure how to continue during certain moments so it's shelved for now. I still find the idea cool, or at least relaxing, so it's going to be finished eventually.

The spooktober idea has changed. Though I suppose that's not considered a failure? I realised that it's too big to create in a month and combining it with mushroom jam would feel kind of forced so it's also temporarily shelved. I'll talk about the new project later.

It came to my attention that most of my web builds don't display properly on mobile and require [not so] minor gui adjustments. I plan to take care of that this year if possible and also finish properly whatever project had some elements missing [like a CG, for example].

That's it for failures, time for other stuff.

Mushroom jam has officially started today.

It lasts three months so there's still time to join even after spooktober and such. As of writing this post, 236 people have joined so maybe we'll get 50 entries if it goes well.

Next year we'll have Insect (Adjacent) jam, lasting probably two months and starting around late summer. The exact date is tbd. Same with the jam's page so no link for now.

Current game stuff

[Apparently tumblr's html does not allow h3, interesting... ]

Other [secret] projects are going more or less as before, though I joined yet another one as a cg artist because I have absolutely no self restraint. It's not for a jam, though, so I can be prety chill with it. Can't really share the details yet but it's about ace teens. Look forward to it[?].

As I mentioned before, the spooktober project has changed. And separated so I'm also making something for mushroom jam later. Mushroom Game is still undecided but there's a strong chance it might be hanahaki inspired. But who knows, it could still change. I have three main contenders, might gain even more...

Spooktober Game is planned to be a surrealist dark comedy scifi [but unfunny cause I'm not funny]. How much it'll fit the genre - who knows. I'll definitely try.

I'm solo devving in case something went wrong; the character designs, however, were done by someone else as I can't decide on the general graphic design. I read a book on that so hopefully it helps me create better ui than before.

Plot wise it's inspired by many things but the structure is more like that of Liar Liar, Lily's day off or Pervert&Yandere. Basically save at every choice. I'll also prepare a handy flowchart for anyone interested as I'm using it to plan stuff anyway and name labels. The whole thing is supposed to be at least somewhat significantly chaotic but as usual, I ended up adding too many grounded[?] elements? Stuff that makes it less surrealist than I planned... I think it might actually change into a time loop story, even... Well, we'll see. I'll get a fun tester to see if it's okay or should be scrapped and rewritten.

Besides that... There's stuff I won't mention yet in case it never happened but I may or may not have some projects prepared for the future~~ But that's for the future.

Over.

[bananna-threads]

The haunted house I'm doing costumes for is located in an old theater, with each room having a unique set design and resident criptid. And the house is home to the Siren (which I chose to model after a coho salmon)! With all those theater seats to weave in between, I thought it would be a neat idea to utilize them as a way to mask the actor's legs and make it appear as though they had a tail, while still making it possible for them to walk throughout the space.

I wanted it to look like a continous line from the hips to the tip of the tail, so that meant having the skirt hem come up at a slight angle. Instead of cutting the hem at an angle, however, I decided to add ruching to one side instead—this way, the gathers in the fabric would more closely resemble the somewhat crinkly nature of the tail. A slit was cut on the opposite side of the skirt to hide where the tail is tied to the leg, just above the knee. The base skirt pattern I used was actually a super simple self-drafted pattern I made using this tutorial for making a pencil skirt from stretch material. Although, I did not give the skirt negative ease in the waist because my fabric did not have 100% stretch (it was closer to 70% when I tested a scrap), and I was afraid the actor wouldn't be able to get it over their hips if I had. I cut the elastic with negative ease instead to compensate, which I think was the right decision because it fits her great!

An iridescent black fabric was used for the fins--not exactly sure what kind, but the drape was similar to charmeuse, making it necessary to baste like crazy before adding all of the boning channels. The edges of the fins were all bound with double-fold bias tape that I made from the same material.

The body of the tail was tricky to figure out—I wanted it to look full, while also being able to move in a serpentine—or I guess fish-like—manner. Which is why I turned, yet again, to my reed boning. At first I made rings and tied strings to them to get a feel for the shape I wanted, trying as best I could to keep the rings hanging vertically

Then I layed them out on paper and traced the shape they made

Yes...I do realize how it looks 😅

This shape was cut twice out of the outer silver spandex fabric, and four times out of tulle. I sewed the silver fabric right sides together, except for the end which I used to sandwich the tail fin by slip stitching it on either side. I caught each small fin in the side seams as well.

I used the tulle to give the tail more structure, and to hide the reed skeleton so that I wouldn't have boning channels visible on the outer tail. Funnily enough, the flattened version looks like a salmon filet!

After adding the bones and sewing the two ends together, it was starting to literally take shape!

I inserted it into the outer shell, pierced a skewer through the center to keep the top fin from flopping over, and lazily hot glued the raw edged inside

After sewing on the straps, I was done!

It's not pictured here, but I also ended up adding two extra fins to each hip on the skirt, which is actually really cute! A clip was sewn to the back at the waist to keep the tail out of the way when your arm gets tired of swaying it from side to side. I have finished the whole costume at this point, and can't wait to share the final photos, so look forward to seeing those!!!

Idk if anyone has read this far, but thanks for being interested enough to get here 😆

Excuse the less than stellar video quality (I filmed this at 2am), but I made a puppet siren tail! This was pretty tricky to figure out, but considering that I didn't have any tutorials to follow, and that I really had to figure things out as I went along, I think it turned out alright! I'm trying to be fine with how wrinkly it looks 😅

[symbio-ratio-art]

This maned wolf line was my second submission into the Subjectively Mazah region contest. I thought it’d be fun to make the line have an underlying theme of mimicry in nature. The Pokemon being mimicked here are Zoura and Arcanine, although the Arcanine mimicry was mostly dropped by the time the design was finished.

Manemic These Pokemon are an example of natural mimicry. Manemic’s silohuette matches that of a Zoura close enough to scare away any predators that want to avoid the ‘Zoroark’ that must be with it. It is unknown when the parent pokemon began the tradition of applying berry juice to cover their cub’s black markings. All the berry farmers of the Mazah region know is that seeing this Pokemon near their farmlands is an omen for a bad harvest.

Kleptlobo Kleptlobo is the bane of all berry farmers’ existences. Despite their canid appearance, these Pokemon are purely herbivores that eat any and all berries they come across. In the past, these Pokemon would stay far away from civilization with many believing the Pokemon was simply a myth. However, thanks to the increase of forests being cut down for farmlands, these Pokemon have become a somewhat common sighting, for better or for worst. Many with a modern mindset view them as pests, an omen for a bad harvest. Those of the more traditional mindset however view them as a good omen due to the loud roaring bark they release when a Persian has been spotted in the area. Kleptlobo cover their manes and tail in the berries they eat and use the mixture as a scent marker. It is said you can tell the health of a Kleptlobo from the scent marking alone.

This line gave me a lot of trouble and looks very different from the first variation I made. It was originally a three stage line opposed to a two stage, and a lot of ideas that I wanted to keep for the line were dropped for simplicity’s sake.  The first stage was based on both Eevee and Zoura while the second was a transition more than anything. The tails also transitioned into hands meant for scent marking and silent communication as they navigated the tall grasses of their environment. The mane of the third form would’ve been like quills, and the ‘quills’ would release a liquid scent marking that could be rubbed onto a surface. The thing that made me start all the way over was the final form.

I was still new to drawing Pokemon at this stage so the final form was more in my style than in the Pokemon one, and I couldn’t get it to translate over right. The intention from the start was for the form to look almost Zoroark-like in body while also having some Arcanine in it. The Arcanine was more prevalent in the remaining sketch of the scrapped third stage with the markings and fur on the legs. 

In the end, it was just too much and I decided to drop it. It wasn’t Pokemon enough for me, and while I’m sure I could’ve gotten it boiled down into an appropriate design eventually, I didn’t think I was qualified enough to do it in time. I’d love to try again one day, because this three stage line had a very different backstory compared to the two stage one that I finished and submitted.

Bonus:

The berry juices Kleptolobo applies to their Manemics has to be reapplied every two weeks due to the cubs licking it off. They don’t enjoy it, but it has to be done.

[sunjaesol]

because your kiss is on my list

alternatively: four times juke snuck up on each other for affection and the one time they didn’t have to | based on the achingly beautiful fanart by @lovelyrugbee

1. 

Luke was being manic again. And not in a cute: “Oh my God, he’s so passionate about music!”-way, but in a: “He might actually tear his eyes out from these infuriating lyrics that aren’t working”-way. Every once in a while, songs didn’t flow out as easily as they usually did. The topic was a bit trickier, or the instrumentals didn’t mesh, or something was just off. Julie wasn’t too stressed about it. They had plenty of time to rework and fix things before the gig in two weeks. 

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t have the same mindset. 

He has been holed up in the studio all day, cramped on the windowsill to the point of submitting himself to a hernia and scrapping writing scrapping scrapping scrapping. The sound was infuriating, Alex being the first to poof out and Reggie following soon after when Ray became far more interesting than a guitarist going haywire. Which was sad, cause her dad was just unloading groceries. 

Alright. She had to do something. Standing at the doors of studio with a somewhat amused expression, she took in as her boyfriend was oblivious to the world and her. In any other situation, he’d notice and compliment the orange dress she was wearing. She thought about calling his name, maybe singing or jamming her fingers on the piano, but then a better idea came. A fun one.

Quietly slipping closer, a mischievous grin crawled on her lips. Thank God she was barefoot, or else her sneakers would’ve squeaked against the cement floors. He still hasn’t noticed her, the pinch between his brow so deep and lost in thought. 

Three, two, one... 

“Ah!”, she cried out like a warrior, snapping her arms around him from behind and snatching the damned songbook from his grasp. Before he could react, she smacked a wet kiss on his cheek and added a “Mwah!” for good measure. 

The startled Luke began chuckling, trying to get his book back, her peppering more kisses on his cheek in retaliation. He had to get out of this funk! Breathe a little! Turning his cheek to look at her, he smirked. “Sneaking kisses now, Jules?”

Julie hummed against his skin, eyes sparkling. Whispering in his ear, she said: “Stop breaking your head over these lyrics and relax. We have time.” 

His smile softened, gaze tracking the way she hugged him and then- “I like the dress you’re wearing.”

Ah, yes. There he was. 

2. 

Julie Molina truly made the afterlife less boring and a whole lot more bearable. Which became really apparent whenever she had an avalanche of homework and couldn’t hang out. Luke loved his boys, but damn did he miss his girlfriend a lot now. If the situation were different (you know, had he not been head over heels in love with her), he’d poof up to her room and annoy her until she came to the studio. Alas, he respected his girlfriend and her interest in getting good grades, so he had to deal with it. 

Bleh. “Dealing with it” was like a curse word to him. 

He hasn’t seen her all day though. She left early for school and didn’t pass by the studio when she got back. All he needed was a quick look and talk and maybe a hug and then he wouldn’t be so antsy. 

(What he’d give to wrestle her into cuddling right now. He was honestly blessed he found a girl who saw all of his need for affection and then gladly gave triple the amount.)

Yup. Screw homework. He had to see her. Without telling the boys, he stood up with a huff and poofed out. The offended “hey!” from Alex he ignored. 

Dropping into Julie’s room, a smile instantly bloomed on his face at the sight of her. She was on her bed, textbooks and notes splayed out in front of her while her curls danced with each breath she took. Even when tired, his girlfriend was pretty as hell. 

“Hey,” he grinned.

She didn’t look up and mumbled: “Hey.” A page turned. “What’re you doing here?”

Luke sat down on the edge of her bed, far enough so her pens wouldn’t roll away. “Haven’t seen you today. I missed you.”

This time she did look up, her weary eyes softening and smiling. “I missed you too. I have homework though, so...” The implication was there: please leave so I can finish. His hope for a hug quickly dwindled.

“Yeah,” he muttered, not ready to go back and get slapped by Alex. “Uh...” His eyes fell on her right hand, slightly more outstretched then the other. It just... laid there. Teasing him. Freaking tantalising him when he knew how good it felt whenever those fingers brushed his cheeks or raked his hair. 

It happened before he thought about it. Crawling onto the mattress, he snatched her hand and pressed soft kisses on the knuckles. Julie caught his gaze again, that smile he loved so much melting into an adoring puff - like she couldn’t believe this idiot was her boyfriend.

He didn’t mind being her idiot.  

3.

Sometimes, Julie was just that more adorable. Like now, with her hair spread around her shoulders and that small smile stuck on her lips and her eyes that seemed impossibly soft today. All for him, only for him. 

Sure, it was probably because they were working on one of their personal songs, but the fact remained that his girlfriend still left him rendered speechless months into dating.

“What if we try it in a lower key?”, Julie proposed, nodding at his guitar. 

The song in question was a song about them. It wasn’t so lovey-dovey that it would turn the guys off, but it was still blatant. Only they would write about ‘the sea glass green of his eyes’ and ‘the smile that put Mona Lisa to shame’. 

He did what she asked, her singing the same verse again. It held more depth now, soulful and lively. The rasp in her tone made it playful and egged him on to join, like it was truly banter between lovers put to music. It was them. It was her. It was-

Luke abruptly stopped playing, pushed his guitar aside and grabbed onto her. She hardly had time to chuckle as he pressed his lips onto her forehead and held her as tight as possible. Warmth filled his chest, that strange sensation of being loved and loving back twice as hard, as she clutched his body. He almost got choked up. Here he was, in the sundrenched studio with the girl he adored playing the music they created together and she was singing it in such a quintessentially ‘them’ way. No one but them would ever truly understand the magic they conjured. How it was only explained through grins melting on skin and the giddy skip in his heartbeat. 

“What’s that for?”, she smiled. 

His hand trailed from her back to her cheeks with an elated shrug. How could he explain to her her ‘Julie-ness’ was dialled up to two hundred without sounding insane? Caressing the skin, he murmured instead: “I guess you’re just irresistible today.”   

Her eyes squeezed shut at his words, like she was embarrassed how much delight it brought her, and pressed her face back in his shoulder. 

Letting that giddy skip in his chest kiss her again, he gently pulled away to sent her a wink. “Let’s finish ‘Wicked Love’, yeah?”

4.

“So, Flynn’s been thinking-”

“Mh-hm.”

“-about a new poster for the gig we’re playing. The old one is a little amateur and she made some new concepts. Wanna see?” Julie held her phone at his face, his hand leaving the strings of his guitar to gently push it back. Falling back on the bed, she frowned. 

“Maybe later, I’m figuring out this progression...” His back bend over his guitar again, only giving her a view of the black muscle tee. 

When Luke told her he wanted to hang out that Saturday afternoon, she had hoped it would be a bit more ‘Julie and Luke’ and not ‘Luke and His Guitar’ - alas, the girlfriend was competing with a piece of wood and some metal. While texting Flynn about graphic design was fun, it was time for Luke to start doing what he promised her.

Then again, she was a sucker for music talk. “Why don’t you try switching up the chords? Start with G instead of C.”

He tried it out, a grin crawling on his cheeks. “Yeah... yeah, that works. Thanks, Jules.”

“So?”, she sang. 

“Hm?”

With a sigh, she grabbed onto the strap of his guitar and gave it a tug. Luke’s neck rolled backwards in surprise, catching her playful smile.  

Chastely pecking his forehead, she said: “Your head is in the clouds.”

The teasing look of his matched hers. “You’re kissing my head right now.”

“Mh-hm,” she mumbled, loving the way his hair had that perpetual scent of apple and something inherently Luke. Kissing the locks, she added: “And you’ll be getting a lot more if you actually start hanging out with me.”

His book and instrument slid off his body just like that as he speared her into hug. Luke collapsed onto her body with the cutest grin and she knew she caught him. Their laughs chimed throughout the house for the rest of the day. 

+5.

Luke poofed onto her bed with a grin, his girlfriend automatically snuggling into his side and finding each other’s lips with ease. For a beat, they’re cherished the quiet passion shared between them. They didn’t need to do a lot to feel loved by the other. 

He pressed his nose into her curls. “How was school?”

“Good,” Julie whispered against his neck. “How was the studio?”

“Chill. Reggie scared a spider.”

She giggled, the sound making his grin widen and hide his face so she wouldn’t see how ridiculously giddy she made him. Turning her head so she’d see him anyway, her nose scrunched. “I know you’re smiling.”

“That’s my line, Molina,” he huffed, the teasing glint shimmering in his eyes. 

A signature brow quirked. “You got that on paper?”

He didn’t miss a second. “I love you.” He didn’t need to ponder or linger or rewrite or scrap or workshop the thought. It wasn’t even a thought. It was a truth and he’d repeat that truth over and over again until the universe knew it too and kept it in their books for centuries to come. He loved her, he loved her, he loved her. 

The smile that came was worth the truth, how her love for him broke through without a moment of hesitation. Now she’d say the same, over and over and over again, so the universe knew they were talking about each other and would always keep their names together in said books. 

Julie kissed him again, long and sweet and as easy as breathing. Her utters were barely audible, but his heart caught it. “I love you too.”

Locked in their embrace, they shared earphones listening to their favourite music until they fell asleep. (How Luke could fall asleep, but only when in her loving touch, he wouldn’t question. Some oddities of the universe were best unsaid.) 

@blush-and-books @unsaid-emily @bluefirewrites @willexx @ourstarscollided @alexjulies

[twistedtangledfate]

Anakin couldn’t stop himself from reacting when Luke mentioned Emperor Palpatine, a visceral hiss escaping from him that he had no chance of holding back even if he wanted to. Sheev Palpatine. He was the only Palpatine that Anakin knew of. So, if it was him, if he was the Emperor, then Master Windu’s suspicions had been correct, his instincts having detected what no one else could see or what no one else wanted to see. There were a great many answers that Anakin had to learn it seemed and Luke could only tell him so much. Obi-Wan was bound to know, if he could bear to relive the pain. Anakin would press him to do so when they arrived at Obi-Wan’s residence, regardless of how difficult it may be because he needed to know so he could go back and change it, right the wrong’s. “It seems there are quite a few things I need to discuss with Ben. I’m surprised he never told you more about who the Jedi really were Luke.” Anakin was sure that Obi-Wan had his reasons but that didn’t mean that his actions had been right. Obi-Wan could make mistakes the same as the rest of them could. “I wouldn’t be so keen to throw your lot in with the Empire Luke. There are other ways to be a pilot if that’s what you want.” Anakin added, not happy at all with the idea of his son becoming part of an Empire that had, at best, accepted the destruction of the Jedi, at worst been part of that destruction. 

“Was it the way I glared at the sand that gave it away?” Anakin asked, the question somewhat rhetorical as he scuffed at the offending sand in question with the toe of his boot. “My wife isn’t from Tatooine and she didn’t expect me to be here today, neither did I to be fair.” The last was added as more of an after thought than anything else. Ending up on Tatooine and in the future wasn’t where Anakin had intended to be. He needed to speak to Obi-Wan and then he needed to find a way to get back to his present and this current world’s past. 

“Well, I can tell you that you look like your father when he was about your age but there’s the kindness of your mother in your expression.” Anakin replied, understanding the difficulty that Luke had expressed because he had never had a father himself. There wasn’t much that Anakin could give Luke without flat out telling him that he was Luke’s father but he could give him that much at least. “If you think that Ben is your family then he’s your family. I understand that. I found more family when I met Ben. Before that, it was just my mother and I.” Anakin explained quietly, taking extra care not to mention the Jedi. 

Luke’s reaction to his robot arm was enough to bring another little smile to Anakin’s face, to distract him from the shock of what he had learned. Luke had only delivered the message and he did not deserve Anakin’s anger, hatred or disgust. He deserved only the best from him. He deserved the father he had been denied. “Don’t knock the old designs. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s good.” 

When Luke brought up the suggestion that he was a warrior, Anakin ran his fingers through his hair, not really able to deny that particular charge. “I’ve been in quite a few fights if that’s what you mean. I wouldn’t recommend it, not till you’ve grown up some more.” He replied with a soft, light chuckle. That was one way of putting it. He was a Jedi Knight but he had also got involved in more scraps and skirmishes and some of them were absolutely not necessary and could have been avoided. 

“I’ve never been bitten before. That’d be a new one on me, although I’m sure Ben would find it funny.”  When Luke asked if Anakin would take his hand, he didn’t hesitate for a single second, taking his hand with a small nod of acceptance. “Ask away kid.” 

Continued from here with @multistoty

Anakin was somewhat detached as the boy spoke, unable to stop himself from examining him almost from head to toe and reaching out through the Force to sense the link between them because it was there. He could feel it in his core, as though there were a part of him that was in the boy, and if the boy was his son then it made sense as to why Anakin was experiencing this feeling. He was drawn up short however when the boy spoke about the Jedi. 

“The Jedi are gone?” He questioned, not quite able to fathom a galaxy without the Jedi in it, without Ahsoka and… Anakin felt a coldness stealing over him, as though the grave were reaching out to caress him. If this boy was indeed his son, and the boy’s parents had both died, then it meant that not only was he dead but so was Padme. Padme. He had failed her. He hadn’t been able to defeat the dreams, to stop them from coming true. He had failed again. 

Anakin clenched his fist, hearing his blood pounding in his ears even as he tried to rally his strength together and not give in to the urge to collapse to the sand, to scream and pound the ground with his fists over and over again. The Force. 

The Force. 

It must have brought him here for a reason, must have brought him here to stop this from happening, to change the future that awaited him but had already been and gone for this boy. He had a chance to save everything he could ever have wished for in the world; his wife, a family, a boy who seemed so much like him from the little that Anakin already knew. 

Anakin needed to know exactly what had happened and the boy had mentioned Kenobi. It could only be Obi-Wan. There was no other way there could be another Kenobi around that wasn’t Obi-Wan. He crouched down, bringing himself down so he was at the boy’s level. 

“I’m not sure exactly how I ended up here but I’ve got a good idea as to why I’m here, thanks to you Luke. Would you be able to take me to Ob- Ben, Ben Kenobi? You can tell me more about your speeder fixing finesse on the way.” Anakin asked, smiling at Luke in a friendly manner. “Ben is an old friend.”

[revvywevvy]

Okay y’know what I’ve been beating around the bush too much when it comes to the Pyrlina lore so I’mma just get this out of my system now since it's been on my mind for so long and I haven’t been able to like- actually properly write anything for it. Y’know… without hating it and scrapping it. No more pussyfooting about I’m just goin for it lol

OH ALSO this is going to be kind of all over the place since I’m just draining a bunch of info I’ve had in my head about this for a while, so its gonna be very rambly. Plus this is gonna completely steamroll the soulcalibur 5 canon and it is fully intentional so if you don’t like people going against canon for shipping purposes then don’t read past the cut.

ALSO UH CW FOR VIOLENCE UNDER THE CUT but its not really in detail so idk do with that what you will-

Okay so for starters, I already wrote Caelina’s backstory a while back when I posted her old design, so if you wanna check out that the post is here. Also please be wary of any trigger warnings I put there before ya read please and thank you! As a tiny side note as well a new add-on to her backstory is just the detail that Caelina’s birth name was Colette, but she goes by Caelina now due to her being a run-away criminal.

Also, for anyone reading this who has no idea what Soulcalibur is or who the characters in SCV are i’m sorry but its literally such a long story I wouldn’t be able to explain everything. So you’re just gonna have to bear with me here LMAO- ig if you wanna read up on everything then uh- here’s the fandom wiki page for SCV go nuts

Now with that out of the way, Caelina and Pyrrha ended up meeting 6 years after that incident. I’d say this happened about… somewhere between Episodes 7 and 8 in the SCV storymode. It ended up being by pure chance, really. Caelina had been able to shake off her criminal status long enough to somewhat reintegrate into society, having been taken in by a couple for a short while. But the husband was murdered by a malfested during a prison break, and Caelina, who was trying to save him, was accused as his murderer and was chased from the town. In a split second decision she ended up fleeing in the same direction that Pyrrha and Tira happened to have been heading. At this point this was the second time Caelina had dealt with this sort of betrayal, first with her hometown against her mother and now here with people whom she’d begun to consider as friends. So she was hurt (physically + mentally) and extremely bitter at the time. (Also her magic became extremely unstable after all of the mental blows, so there’s that too.)

She and her sprites wandered into the battlefield where Pyrrha was passed out after Episode 6’s events, having just missed Tira (and by just missed I mean they hid at the forest’s edge and watched her leave Pyrrha laying there bc if they were seen then uh. Let's be real here, Tira woulda skewered them). Caelina was done with… basically everything (and was being a bit of a dick honestly), so she was going to walk right past Pyrrha and leave her there, too. Her sprites were not happy with that decision at all though, and refused to go any further unless Caelina helped her. Caelina begrudgingly helped get Pyrrha out of that battlefield, but mainly because Anselma had talked some sense into her with a warning that at that rate she’d become like the people she despised.

So with that they all got Pyrrha outta there and away from danger for the time being. When Pyrrha woke up she and Caelina got acquainted, and Caelina helped her out with her wounds. Once that was covered and Pyrrha was fine Caelina planned on leaving, but Pyrrha was terrified about the possibility of going back where she’d come from and didn’t want to be alone. Caelina was awkwardly fumbling around bc she was still reeling from her other experiences and didn’t want to be around other people, but at the same time she also understood how she felt. Not to mention now that a bunch of time had passed and she had some time to cool off over things she felt bad for almost abandoning Pyrrha. Caelina was hesitant but she told Pyrrha that she could come with her if she’d liked, at least until she’d found somewhere safe. 

Pyrrha mentioned that Tira had told her about her having a brother, and that perhaps they should look for him. Caelina agreed upon it, but was semi-concerned because of what she’d seen of Tira earlier. Though before she could mention it they were attacked by watchmen coming from the town Caelina had fled from. Caelina tried to fend them off, and since she was still injured she couldn’t do much and had to rely on her sprites for help. Bc of that they ended up being revealed, but even then Caelina couldn’t do much considering the combined fact that she was hurt and wasn’t very skilled with fighting without the sprites anyway. Pyrrha hesitantly stepped in and fought them off, but bc of Tira’s past advice she ended up killing the watchmen too (minus one who managed to escape), so at that point Pyrrha was fully dragged into Caelina’s business and they were basically stuck together. After all of that was dealt with they made their way to a nearby town and started looking for her brother, Patroklos. So they basically end up going on an adventure together tryna find Patroklos.

Meanwhile Tira comes back to the field with Patroklos in tow only to find Pyrrha’s gone, and ofc she internally freaks out bc ‘oh shit my plans falling apart’. She keeps it together long enough to put together some story about why Pyrrha’s gone to piss off Patroklos further and egg him on. Anyways they fight, Tira loses and runs off again, etc etc. After that both Tira and Patroklos are on the hunt to try and find Pyrrha.

Back to Pyrrha and Caelina, long story short everything ends up turning into this long run of escapades trying to find Patroklos spanning over about 6 months or so. Tira ends up finding Pyrrha and Caelina pretty easily since she has her watchers, and initially she was going to let them be since the plan seemed to still be in play. That is until she realized that Caelina was turning back a bunch of Tira’s mental programming on Pyrrha, so she intervened. Tira ended up causing complete chaos in the city they were in, and she attacked Caelina in hopes of killing her. Pyrrha stopped her bc she wasn’t going to lose her friend so soon. She still cared about Tira though and tried to reason with her, but it didn’t work out. After being beaten by Pyrrha Tira left.

Due to the chaos in that city Schwarzwind looked into it, and due to a whole cacophony of events eventually Patroklos and Pyrrha reunited. Pyrrha was heavily bonded with Caelina at that point and begged for her to stay, and Caelina, who was fond of Pyrrha now, agreed to stick around. At that point it was basically back to being like the regular SCV story with Patroklos leaving Schwarzwind and heading home with Pyrrha, except now the siblings had 4 extra wheels on their bicycle in the form of Caelina and the sprites lol

Patroklos and Caelina did not get along AT ALL. They were basically just tolerating each other for Pyrrha’s sake, but they did bicker quite a bit. Anyways- they all made their way via boat back to the Ottoman Empire, but things went south when they arrived. The whole place was on fire, everything was destroyed, the like. Graf Dumas (Patroklos’ old boss) ends up showing up, revealing himself as Nightmare and attacking Patroklos so he can retrieve Soul Calibur from him and destroy it. Again things are still going as it did in the story mode, so Pyrrha turns malfested trying to protect Patroklos and Caelina from Nightmare. She beats Nightmare, and Patroklos, not able to accept Pyrrha as a malfested, runs off and heads back to Bavaria to rejoin Schwarzwind.

Pyrrha’s devastated by this, but Caelina, fully understanding the pain and abandonment, stays with her and comforts her. Pyrrha ends up getting really emotionally attached with Caelina (and vice versa) after this, and they end up bonding even further through their shared experiences.

A few more months later, Tira comes back again to try and convince Pyrrha to come back to Bavaria with her now that she’s malfested, but she’s having none of it. Pyrrha, at that point, had slowly become bitter over the things Tira did due to now having a healthier reference point towards how situations should typically go. They end up fighting, and Pyrrha, in her rage, ends up steamrolling Tira. She outright refuses to be Soul Edge’s wielder for Tira, and completely explodes at her in the midst of her ranting. Tira ends up getting really pissed about it but leaves, deciding she’ll have to do it herself. After this point Caelina’s magic instability gets worse and its starting to affect her more.

Honestly at this point the details here are a little fuzzy since my brains starting to melt but I’mma keep writing. ANYWAYS a little bit more time passes, and to their surprise Patroklos returns, but he’s not back for good reasons. He’s basically under Soul Calibur’s control and ends up trying to kill Pyrrha for being malfested (though tbh I still haven’t put together the full details on why he’s after Pyrrha and not Nightmare/Tira, probably something along the lines of the malfested trying to take over the Ottoman Empire to spread Soul Edge’s influence more or smth and Pyrrha still being a suitable SE host??)

But yeah during the fight an attack from Soul Calibur ends up reverting a lot of the malfestation effects on Pyrrha (minus the claw arm thats stayin forever baybeeee). Soul Calibur ofc isn’t done there and still controls Patroklos to make him try and kill Pyrrha. Caelina intervenes bc of this but since she’s on the weaker side she’s not as capable of holding him back. Patroklos ends up breaking her nose in the scuffle and goes back to kill Pyrrha. Caelina is extremely stubborn in her attempts and charges Patroklos again. Due to desperation Patroklos was becoming sloppy, and as such he made a wrong move. Caelina ended up accidentally piercing through Patroklos’s arm with her sword, causing him to drop Soul Calibur. She kicked it away from him, and once it was far away the sword’s influence disappeared.

There’s some semblance of a reconciliation, Z.W.E.I (another candidate who is better mentally fortified to wield Soul Calibur) finds the group and ends up taking the sword off his hands. At that point Patroklos is taken off to have his wounds fixed up, and Z.W.E.I takes charge in finding/killing Nightmare. When the two men leave, Pyrrha and Caelina end up together alone again. After all of the close calls and scares that have happened by that point, Pyrrha has somewhat of an emotional boil-over and pours her heart out to Caelina. She babbles out all of her worries and fears regarding what occurred in the past months. In the midst of it all, Caelina blurts out that she doesn’t plan on going anywhere or dying, and that she loves her and is sorry for causing so much concern. Pyrrha is shocked by the sudden confession, but immediately reciprocates.

Anyways more canon steamrolling here but focused on different characters for the sake of wrapping things up, when Z.W.E.I finds Nightmare, he successfully defeats him. Tira appears to try and get Soul Edge for herself but Z.W.E.I defeats her too. When Z.W.E.I goes to take out Soul Edge, Tira gets back up, tries to stop him again, and in the scuffle Soul Edge ends up getting stabbed into Soul Calibur. (Not entirely sure what happens after this, nobody knows if the swords were destroyed or if they became Soul Embrace again. Honestly my brains melting rn LOL)

Anyways back to Pyrrha and Caelina they get together and are very much in love and will spend the rest of their lives together in a homely little cabin the end <3

OK AND NOW IM FINALLY DONE- oh man my brain is imploding on itself rn I just spent the past 3 hours nonstop rambling SFGHSFGHSFGHS

[kawaiichibiart]

I said I would do it. So I did it.

Remember this is my own personal ranking.

Best Design: I wouldn't change a thing about these designs. I think they're some of, if not the absolute, best designs when it comes to the costumes the Miraculous holders wear. 10/10. :)

Good Design: Similar to the Best Design, I genuinely like these costumes. They aren't as good as the tier above, but nothing is really bad about them. Overall, if the best designs are 10/10, these are about an 8/10.

Could Use Some Improvement: Are these designs bad? Not really. If anything, for the most part, I find them either boring or lacking in something. They need some minor changes to make them go from a 5/10 to that 8/10 or even a 10/10.

Could Use a LOT of Improvement: Where the tier above only needed a few things changed to their design, these need a major redesign. They're not pleasing to the eye, they either have too much going on or were on the right track but went the wrong way. I'd place these at a 2/10.

Worst Design: I hate these designs. These are designs I would scrap entirely before starting over. Unlike the two prior tiers, where I feel you could redesign the costume based off what you have, with these three I feel like a completely blank canvas is needed in order to make them better. While I enjoy simplicity, none of these designs are a good simplicity. They're boring, unappealing, 0/10 because I'm feeling nice enough not to go into negative numbers. (At one point Pegabunnybug would have been here and Shadow Moth in the tier above. However, after some thought I ended up changing them around, as I do somewhat think Pegabunnybug was going somewhere and ended up a trainwreck of a design sadly, while Shadow Moth's design as a whole just never appealed to me visually).

Here's the whole tier list:

All in all: The better designs outweigh the bad ones and there are only a handfull that need a few changes.