#tried to make the colours a little more cohesive

[themoon-andtosaturn]

miami n3

[kozachenko]

Shortly after that Zanmu drawing, I went on an art spree and made small little drawings of a majority of the current playable characters in Touhou (I've been procrastinating on drawing Aya and Ran) and finally gave myself refernce points for how to draw all these characters going forward! Also, don't mind the change in background colour, that's just me changing the background so the values are actually visible lol.

Artist's Notes;

So the first one I started with was Reimu, and the inspiration for her pose came from this pose reference on Pinterest of a girl doing ribbon dancing, and I thought "Damn, that's very Reimu-coded" and did a quick little Reimu drawing from that.

This was also the drawing where I finally learned what makes a Reimu drawing feel like Reimu. It's the shirt, it's literally just the shirt. I decided to try making Reimu's shirt have a stronger square shape and oh my god it's like I discovered some kind of secret sauce because it just feels so much more like Reimu. I also gave Reimu a tabard and loose pants because I felt like that also fit her very well and also tied in some element's of Yukari's design into hers. I also made her bow look more like a very geometric butterfly as a bit of a tie in to "Diochromatic Lotus Butterfly" and also because I think butterfly symbolism fits her a lot. I also left the hands unfinished because they are not the focus of this piece, Reimu is, I don't wanna cry over how I can't get the hands right and then never get to the actually fun parts of the drawing. Previously, I did some design experimentation with Reimu where I added a little ornament on her obi that was inspired by Yuna's design from Final Fantasy 10 (I can't remember if I ever posted that one lol, also FFX is so good you guys I love it so much) and I like it, I think it adds some fun assymetry to her design that I think makes it look neat. I also gave her some more traditional Japanese shoes (I don't know the name of them so please correct me if you know) since I've seen other artists doing it and I love that look so I added that to this drawing as well.

I also really like how Marisa turned out, I experimented a bit with her body type and outfit, though I didn't really go too off-model with her compared to Reimu. I liked the longer sleeves on her and I gave her a big bow on the back of her apron since I thought it looked cute. I couldn't find a spot for the bow on her hat that looked good so sadly that isn't present in this version of her :( I do like how her face turned out though, since I've also been experimenting with how differently stylized I can make faces in my art. I will always love mangas like Hunter X Hunter that can put two extremely differently stylized characters on the same panel and make it look cohesive, it's why I love the style so much.

I think the crulest irony is not being able to draw your favourite character well while you're hyperfixating on them, but then only being able to draw them how you picture them once they're no longer your favourite, and that happened with Sakuya here. I was initially gonna give her the flashiest eyeshadow known to man but when I removed the layer wih the eyeshadow rendering on it I ended up liking it more without it, so now she's just got some nice bottom lashes. I tried giving her more of an hourglass shape for her body type, mainly to differentiate her more from Reimu and Marisa, and I focused on making as many points in her drawing as sharp as I can. I also gave her some white gloves because I like the idea of Sakuya having fancy gloves, it fits her. To me, Sakuya has always been the most high femme of the main Touhou characters. Maybe this is just because she was my gay awakening, maybe it's just influence from the fandom, but it just kind of makes sense to me. Much like Marisa, I also emphasized the bow ribbons for extra oomph with the silhouette and when I added the red bows and looked at the overall design, I fixed the lack of red anywhere else by just... covering her in blood... I mean she does work for two vampires and she's exactly the sanest person in Gensokyo so please pardon my indulgence in edginess it couldn't be helped.

Youmu was really fun to do but also kinda challenging. In my mind I wanted to make her feel different compared to everyone else I've drawn so far, short enough to be somewhat accurate to canon, but not too childish looking since she never really acts all that childish in cannon and it wouldn't make sense for her to look like a child. I also had to make her look fast and speedy without her looking like Sakuya and potentially avoiding same body syndrome with Aya, who's whole gimmick is speed. In the end, I think her drawing is my favourite, mainly because of the shapes and silhouette. I also really like how I golden-ratioed myon. I also took a few liberties with her outfit and decided to give it some layers to add visual interest. I also like how the cuts in the clothing add more triangles, which adds to the shape language. For her face, I was wondering what to do with her eyes until I decided to just go for the simple, glowing, circular eyes she has in the final product. I was also listening to a bunch of Gorrilaz albums while drawing these (Demon Days is my favourite album btw, idk how basic of a take that is though) and my brain 100% was subconsciously influenced by some elements of the art style (it's so good omg). I also like the shade of green I gave her, though I am a certified green lover so I am 100% biased.

Reisen is where I let myself get a little weird with it, because as you can see, I turned her into an anthropomorphic bunny because she is a weird moon rabbit god dammit, why should she look normal? I was more excited about drawing her IN design than her modern design so that's why she's dressed like that, but I do have a sketch of her in my sketchbook of her modern design. I also had fun rendering her velvet suit jacket. This also helped me tie in some of the reds in her eye and ear, which is also a nice bonus. I also gave her pure white fur to create more visual contrast. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how she turned out, though I wish I didn't shade the legs too much because it's kinda blending with the skirt colour....welp, ya win some ya lose some I guess.

Sanae is also relatively on-model compared to everyone else here, though I did try to make some changes to her outfit to make her feel different from Reimu. First of all, I made her big sleeves (IDK the proper Japanese term for them, if there is one, so again if you know please correct me on this) more open than Reimu's, as well as making them more pointy to give her a different silhouette. I also tried out a new rendering style on her eyes that I also applied to Cirno (we'll get to her in a moment) to also make her face feel different from Reimu's. I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to do with her body type so she just kinda got the "basic slim girl" look in her drawing. I'm not too big a fan of the frills I added to her skirt though, I don't really think she needs them. I'm glad I gave Reimu pants and a tabard instead of a normal skirt because that does help to make the two of them feel different. I also kept her little frog hair clip the same shade of blue as her dress, mainly to economize my colour usage and limit the palette into something a little more tight-nit. I do like how her little hair snake looks though, it's cute lol.

And finally, we have Cirno. I have been a firm believer of "long sleeve Cirno is best Cirno" ever since I saw the art of her in PMiSS because she's an ice fairy, I think it would make sense for her to want to keep herself warm, same reason she has little socks too. Now that I look at it more, her colours are pretty similar to her design in Great Fairy Wars, and honestly I like that, I think keeping her colour palette simple is a good idea so I'm happy about that. I mainly wanted to focus on rendering her wings though, mainly because rendering ice and crystals is fun even though I have done zero studies of them! I also wanted to experiment with rendering her eyes in a similar way to Sanae's, and I like how they turned out! I don't know if I'll continue with this style in the future but it will probably stick around because to me, any stylistically different way of doing eyes is another facial feature I can use to bend the rules of same face syndrome.

While I'm on the topic, I want to mention that the reason Hunter X Hunter's art works so well is because everything is kinda rendered the same. It showed me that if you do everything else consistently in your style (i.e. rendering, lineart, shading), stylizing each character's faces differently will be a lot easier, at least that's how I see it. IDK if I'm ever gonna do drawings of Aya and Ran in this style since I gotta think about them more as well as stop procrastinating lol.

[deerspherestudios]

I've been struggling with how to write this out, but the ask box closing gave me an excuse to sit down and make an official attempt at it. Apologies if it's long but I don't think I can compact it without missing some points I wanted to ramble about

I downloaded and played Astronought back in November. I love all its little details, and of course Atom itself.

From the purposefully misspelled title (nought like not/nothing instead of naut like nautical), to how utterly charming Atom is (their general mannerisms, and their laugh… sounds like chittering……), this game is something that has stuck itself in my head

After getting my first ending (route?) it was too late to play a second one & I ended up in the files (wanting to get more of them and this was the easiest way. also curiosity), and THE FILE NAMES? I'M SANE. ABOUT THE FILE NAMES. (Finding out my favorite CG was named "whipped" was very funny, because YEAH. IT TRULY IS, ISN'T IT.) The music that was ALREADY my favorite present in the game AND REALIZING IT'S NAMED "IT SIGHS AND YEARNS AND BEGS TO RETURN" IN THE FILES? YOU REALLY HAD TO DO THAT TO ME, HUH. Very fitting, I applaud you for tugging my heartstrings. At first the SFX named "your favorite" confused me. Until it hit me that it's the lights changing to your favorite colour. ITS THE. AGUHHH. I thought that was a very neat detail and I enjoyed figuring that one out. There's a lot of names in there that I had fun looking over, even if they weren't really meant to be looked at by the average player (?) The game's backgrounds are very well done, too. All of them feel very cohesive :]

Now, onto Atom themselves. Your honour, the worms have unfortunately charmed me. NOT TO MENTION THEY'RE JUST SO FASCINATING? ALL THEIR LITTLE QUIRKS AND EVERY LITTLE FACT. I have a great many questions that I've managed to forget while typing this but I'll try to write them down next time I remember them. However. I love how inhuman they truly are. Their diet is different (THEY can eat kibble, why can't you), their morals are different (murder is okay if it's in retaliation, etc. etc.) HOW THEY CAN GAIN INFORMATION BY EFFECTIVELY CONSUMING SOMEONE? THEY CAN CHANGE THEMSELVES TO BE DIFFERENT MATTERS???? The fact they may as well be buzzing at any form of affection you offer them (They pause when you offer to shake their hand and practically vibrate when you pat them on the shoulder) while still usually being restrained enough to avoid possible issues (it's noted the worms have an odd texture in game, and they don't immediately jump you and instead gingerly wrap a single worm around your finger) is,. oughg I LOVE THE REASON THEY CALL YOU LUNA NOVA, TOO. IT'S ADORABLE Even when they're being a bit more fucked up I still adore them. I got the softer route at first (couldn't say no to them, even if it was a bit illogical in the current situation), and even when I went back for the other route (and by god is that likely a different impression) it just made me MORE interested in it. I could go on.

I went into playing the game knowing the twist, I will admit, but the scene of the reveal was still quite impactful! (possibly quite literally. Atom did take a blunt force hit there) Not to mention how enthralled I got in the escape pod section. It delivered on the tense atmosphere quite well! Each scene was a good build up to the true reveal of what they are and writing this out makes me want to play it again I won't lie to you

Speaking of that general section, Moon Waltz. I got curious and I ended up screenshotting the lyrics it mentions (because I couldn't tear myself away from that moment to look it up right then) and afterwards looking it up (I found it very fitting for it to mention THAT lyric of all of them. think I said something similar out loud). I ended up listening to the song and got it stuck in my head for nearly 3 weeks straight. It's still one of my favorites to this day :]

Even when I tried getting to bed I was still kept up by writing down little ideas I had for them. I do not think I've ever had a game revive my spark of creativity as fast as Astronought did. I still have a lot of those ideas to get to and I honestly hope I do.

Hopefully this wasn't too much, I'm still getting used to telling creators that I love their work and am a bit new to this, but in summary: This game is incredibly charming and has wormed (HAH) its way into my heart. thank you for creating Astronought, and I wish you well on your future game endeavours o/

Aaaa I don't wanan be self indulgent on main but waaaaa aghaaa,

Working on Astronought last year was meant to be a break from writing MO. I think I manifested something when writing for Atom, they're such a goofy obsessive goober with absurd sci-fi logic almost to the point of comical sometimes and I just had fun with it!!

To think someone noticed all the silly little details that were just meant for me to see when it comes to the file names and references and even the title when I was working on it means so much!! This one is definitely a message I'll come back to over and over, especially for a short one-shot game.

Thank you so much <3<3<3!

[voidmetal-alloy]

All my RM redesigns so far yay

Some design notes under the cut

Gemini: Pretty basic, changed his palette slightly to make him a bit more icy/crystal looking, semi inspired by his stage, included some references to the star sign symbol.

Nitro: Went off some of his concept art and added some details based off a motorbike racer suit.

Burner: Again, similar, a lot of my designs for this au are to make the characters easier for me to draw whilst staying identifiable, the little metre on his chest is based on an Australian bush fire warning sign.

Centaur: One of the most heavily altered, I based his palette off oxidised Ancient Greek armour and changed his shape a bit to reflect that aesthetic more.

Star: Gave him some shooting star details, not much else except for making his chest armour a little bit smaller.

Pharaoh: Gave him some malachite details.

Shadow: His armour looks the most like clothing out of all the robot masters due to the way Wily’s alterations worked, he only has four fingers on each hand and is the only robot master with visible skin that isn’t a natural colour (not counting characters like Nitro and Guts)

Toad: Probably the most different of all of the designs so far, I have her warm toned colours and bumps on her armour to make her more toad rather than frog like, the eyes on her helmet are actually floodlights.

Top: His pose and proportions are based on a ballet dancer, the panels on his arms are boosters to make him spin faster, his eyes are a spiral instead of a complete oval.

Splash: Mostly just some little alterations to make her a bite more cohesive in my style, her tail ends with a small rudder to help her move faster in the water.

Chill: Honestly I just wanted to incorporate some of the cool stuff from his concept art so I started from there and worked my way out.

Clown: Went with more of a jester vibe for him because it was hard to find proper clown references, tried to go with a cuter sort of look to take away from some of the creepiness he’s associated with.

And finally, Magnet, who had to have his own background because the grey I used for everyone else didn’t work for him and I’m too tired to go back and change it:

I swapped his red for white to give a bit more balance to his red and blue accents, and tried to give him a very professional, put together look with the magnet on his neck mimicking a collar and sort of making him look like he’s wearing a doctor coat or a button up.

Oki that’s most of the stuff I wanted to mention I’m sure I forgot some but ah well thank you for reading my rambling

[catcherwrites]

The people voted for Corvus and Soren to be the next of my Arc 3 redesigns, and so it was done! I apologise for taking so long, things irl have picked up so I didn’t have as much time to spend on our guys.

Check out the more in-depth story and design choices below

Corvus

Story Choices

Following the events of Arc 2, Corvus, Soren, and Terry travelled with Pyrrah to find King Harrow but were unsuccessful for several months. Returning to Evrkynd empty-handed, King Ezran and Queen Amaya summoned Corvus, informing him that Amaya was stepping down as General of the Standing Battalion and wanted to name Corvus as her replacement. He was deeply honoured to be trusted with the responsibility and accepted the position, believing that he’d still have enough freedom to spend time how he wished. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple, and while Terry continued the search for Harrow with his new ally (who I’m keeping secret for now), and Soren returned to his Head Crownguard duties, Corvus was thrown into the proverbial deep end. Stuck coordinating recruitment and training, patrolling the borders, and going on aid missions, Corvus could only return to Katolis once a month for a few days. And while the distance had left his relationship with Soren…awkward, the Crownguard’s schedule was always suspiciously free during his visits (“Well, I have nothing on right now, so I guess we can go for that hike…”).

Design Choices

Designing Corvus was a fun challenge! I tried to communicate his promotion in the Standing Battalion without making him completely unrecognisable. However, because his Arc 1 and 2 designs outfits look like he cobbled together the most practical pieces of armour, they lack the cohesiveness one would expect from a leader – which meant I had to depart from his usual style. To bridge the gap between Tracker-Corvus, Crownguard-Corvus, and General-Corvus, I decided to take inspiration from his initial concept art and blended that with elements of the Standing Battalion uniform and Corvus’ old designs. His scarf, of course, had to stay – but you may notice it’s been stitched up, a strip of the scarf being a gift from Corvus to Soren before he left the Crownguard.

Soren

Story Choices

Soren’s been through quite a lot in Arc 2, dealing with the reopening, mending, and re-reopening of old wounds. He, Terry, and Corvus were sent to look for Harrow, but after a few months, they returned to Katolis defeated. When Corvus privately confessed he’d been transferred back to the Standing Battalion, Soren was happy and supported him through the adjustment period. Though Soren can’t quite explain why, he grew more bitter as the years went by – though he’s done very well to not show it. During the daytime, Soren trained King Ezran in swordplay, improved his poetry, and did his best to keep everyone safe and happy. In the dead of night, however, Soren would slip through the city streets and secretly meet the spies he’d sent to look for Claudia. No one else was allowed to know he was seeking her out alone, not until Soren himself could decide what he would do with Claudia when she was found.

Design Choices

It wasn’t easy to develop an Arc 3 design for Soren! His silhouette was fine, but I went through about 5-6 different colour schemes and 3-4 different cape designs, and I spent so long toggling layers to see which combination worked best. Soren’s armour is a blend of Arcs, but the cape design has completely changed to reflect his elevated rank. His hair is longer and tied back with braided cloth from both Corvus’ scarf and Soren’s cape, and he’s clean-shaven again. I wanted to show that while he’s matured a lot – Soren’s regressed a little since S7. Post-Arc 1 and post-Arc 2 share a lot of similar traumas (Viren dying, Claudia escaping) – but this time, he lacked the same support system. On a more upbeat note, that scar across his face? Hat had grown too big for Soren’s head and dug in to avoid falling. Now Soren only lets Hat rest up there when he has the downtime for it.

[manonssunset]

That clip of Lara saying she's gonna get a full sleeve on her arm keeps putting thoughts in my head about her meeting a tattoo artist reader who she ends up going to almost every time she wants new ink.

They'll spend a lot of time together planning the design she wants. As they get more comfortable with each other, a lot of that planning happens after they've gone out to eat on totally platonic, definitely professional, lowkey flirty '''friend''' dates.

When they finally get into the sessions, on Lara's request, reader does house visits for her (which they usually never do).

The tension between them slowly builds session after session. Reader is especially attentive and caring with her, and they try to stay as professional as possible. Meanwhile Lara is just--- trying to breathe and resist jumping their bones every time she feels reader's hands against her skin.

The last session somehow ends up being less than professionally intimate, with Lara on reader's lap as they finish the upper section of the tattoo by her shoulder/collarbone. Reader's barely put the machine and supplies aside before they're making out with each other. The reader becomes Lara's personal tattoo artists and something more, and they lived gayly ever after- amen ✋🏾

(Hi!! Hope you're having a great day- I love what I've seen on your blog so far and also the colour palette is veryyy pretty 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️)

(I know you said to drop some thoughts in your inbox, but I didn't expect myself to write this much. I'll probably ask if you could do a longer story in the future but for now it would be nice to see your own thoughts on it--if you're up for it, I think I just needed to let my gay thoughts out frrrrr thank you for the opportunity✨️)

- ✨️

OMG I LOVE THIS

I often think about lara getting a full sleeve too. the idea of a tattoo tour is always in the back of my mind, maybe I will write about it someday...

anyway, back to your ask, lara would definitely be the type to initiate those "platonic" dates, asking reader to design the tattoos together while grabbing coffee.

reader and lara would totally forget the original purpose of these hangouts and end up talking about their lives and interests for hours. not to mention the number of flirty remarks exchanged, with lara always praising reader's ability to draw while flipping through their sketches.

when lara asks reader to tattoo her in her living room, reader feels a bit taken aback by the request but accepts anyway, having developed a soft spot for lara.

these sessions are filled with tension as reader tries to keep things professional, avoiding touching lara too intimately, while lara's breath is just so unsteady, biting her lips to suppress the little gasps she lets out every time their hands brush against her overly sensitive skin.

by the final session, all the tension that had built up until now finally erupts when lara, after reader finishes the tattoo on her shoulder, makes a bold move. she straddles and kisses reader, pulling their face closer by the neck, while reader places their hands on her thighs, slowly making their way to cup and squeeze her ass. 😳😳

you didn't include it in the ask, but I can already visualize how beautifully the tension build-up could evolve into something intimate and steamy, oof... 🫣

btw I'm so happy that someone appreciates the aesthetic and the visuals of my blog. I really put effort into making the pictures and the colors look nice and cohesive, so knowing that at least someone likes them is really heartwarming, thank you anon 😭😭.

also, I actually really enjoy longer thoughts so don't feel limited, write as much as you want, and feel free to share all of your gay thoughts, I will gladly read them and share what I think.

[kate-bot]

OKAY SO I've gotten two asks about my Noisette cosplay AND THANK YOU SM FOR THE KIND WORDS !!!!!!!! It was sm fun to make this cos, so I will gladly explain everything I did in hopes that it might help someone else!! also both anons please share your cosplays with me when theyre done i would love to see them....

I've tried to link everything where I can, where I got stuff etc... I only rarely cosplay (although I am thinking of going as the noise in May Comiccon) and this was my biggest ever project so!! It's very trial-and-error! But without further ado

KATES EXTENSIVE(ish) GUIDE TO COSPLAYING NOISETTE FROM THE HIT GAME PIZZA TOWER!!!!!!! (warning its kinda long)

THE HAT

Okay i’m gonna be real my mum helped me so much she basically did all the sewing for me. Sewing is the fucking bane of my existence I hate doing it so much so we planned it out together and she basically executed it. Props to her for that she’s so real… She also wrote down what she did!! So i’ll just paste and colour that in for you to read!!

“The black material (seen in the above image) was originally a beanie hat that was picked apart to use as a template…

This was game changing basically. We had experimented with making the hat from scratch but it was far too difficult and we were both too stupid so we just unstitched a pre-existing hat and stole the template. The hat we cut up was one we had lying around for years so i cannot tell you where to get one from, but any beanie that is stitched together will work i guess! So I would recommend finding a hat that fits you snugly and doing the same thing!

…and the wool fabric that was utilised gave the finished product was stiff enough to be structurally sound.

I just got this from my local fabric shop, I would recommend wool over something like felt because it’s super sturdy and I was pulling on my mask a LOT.

Once sewn together, I attached a stiff card facemask to the front to help provide some structure, and to locate where the eye holes should be cut.

I think this picture shows it pretty well, my mum was able to curve the shape of the fabric to fit a pre-existing mask- we got ours from Hobbycraft, just one of those stringed white template masks yknow. We cut off the string, made the eyeholes a little bigger and just stuck it straight on!! I should mention this was pretty much all done with a sewing machine as well!

After that, we made two ears from a paper pattern, stuffed them and put some wire inside to allow them to be positioned, before sewing them onto this headband, which was then sewn into the hat. The bottom of each ear was also stitched to the crown to give it some additional stability and to secure the headband correctly in position (having fitted it on the wearer).

Yeah it was actually less of a mask and more of a headband!! That was what gave it most of the support and meant the ears would stay up, I’m not sure how it would work without it!! The ears were the only part that I could actually help with LMAO i just freehanded a little template, stuffed it, and then put in some modelling wire to make them able to be posed :)

Then it was a lot of hand sewing, and glueing the eyeholes to the mask to create a cohesive look.

AND YEAH that’s pretty much all it was! I also attached some little felt eyelashes to add to it as well. Honestly I could never come up with a step-by-step guide for the process because it was such a trial and error thing (i’d made two test-hats before we even came up with the method) but it was so fun!!

I would 100% recommend if you want the ears to stay UP to stuff them AS MUCH AS U CAN and/or put wire in them!! :) I also made some cute little bows to clip into my wig in the same fabric to make it more cohesive!! I also put a bow (and a bunny tail heheh) on the back of the dress too!!

THE DRESS

Super simple! I just found one online (okay for some reason the link has been taken off of the website, but just look up "overall dress" on google shopping and you will 100% find something super cute)- I made sure to buy the dress first, and then take it to the fabric shop to try and colourmatch the mask fabric as best as I could. Then it was just buying some big ol buttons off eBay and sewing them on!! (I could actually do that bit by myself, I'm bad at sewing but im not THAT bad)

EVERYTHING ELSE

Cute patterned knee-high socks cuz shes cute like that. Leg warmers, I think I got them both off of Amazon... Converse I got from Depop and I had wanted to buy a pair anyway so I was super stoked to get them cheap!! I chose converse over a pair of high-heels or Mary Janes just for comfort reasons, I was walking around loads at the con so... Everything else apart from the shirt was from Amazon or just. Somewhere online(I have no idea where to get fancy white gloves LOL) and the shirt was from Depop as well! I liked how frilly it was, re: Noisette is cute like that!!

oh yeah and the wig. I hate wigs it was awful. I have no idea how to style them. underneath the hat was the most awful bowl cut ever I just. It wasn't my best moment. Dont ask me about wigs please .

Also I should mention I got this bag for the cosplay (which I now use all the time cuz its so cute) because i needed space to store shit and I wanted something on-brand with her cafe... this isnt the exact link I used but I just got it off of ebay :P

PROPS

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of WIP pictures of my props but they were pretty simple to make!! The coffee cup was literally just spraypainting over a reusable coffee cup and using POSCA pen to draw on the front! Fun fact the cup says "To Peppino" because originally my boyfriend was gonna go with me as Peppino before the Cruetly Squad brainrot got to him so. YEA

And the tip jar was also pretty simple, I just painted on the lid a plastic jar (can't be glass, not allowed at ComicCon) and cut out a bit of vinyl to work as the sign. The cobweb was just hot-glued 3D printer filament, and the spider was made with foam modelling clay (literally the best thing ever if you're making small models like that) and i stuck him to the lid of the jar with Kandi string so he'd bounce around :]

AND I THINK THATS IT!! i may as well post a pic of the full cosplay since I dont think many people would have made it this far.... But I think it turned out pretty cool!! I got recognised a few times as well which was amazing!! (cropped out my bf cuz idk if he wants his face on tumblr gfhhfg)

SO YEAH!!!! if anyone has any questions please let me know.. but GOOD LUCK IN UR COSPLAY MAKING FRIENDS!!!! :D

[aurenflare]

my 2024 art summary 🫶🫶

for me, this year was the first time that i really tried out digital art, which has definitely been a journey! i think i’ll always feel more confident with traditional art (and there are a couple months where i didn’t do digital art at all! april has a sketch bc i was SOO busy that month, and october has a fun little marker piece) but it’s so interesting to explore digital!

i think i’ve really started to get the hang of it, especially in my november and december pieces — but i also think i’m going to make an effort to get back into posting traditional art. my alcohol markers are rotting over here …

anyways because i’m actually incapable of not babbling here’s a little explanation for each month

january, february, and march: all drawings i did for a mental-health oriented small business in my area — basically each one represents a different cognitive function. these were literally my first rendered digital art pieces ever but yk … there are 6 in all but these i feel are the best ones lol

april: i had ZERO time on my hands due to aps but luckily i was still sketching! my style has evolved a bit since then but what hasn’t changed is my love for coloured pencil sketches ILY COLOURED PENCIL SKETCHES

may & june: these are a couple of oc ref sheets that i was intending to use for artfight! except i never finished the full set and so never participated in artfight. next year i swear. this was also from my phase where i used the crosshatching pattern brush for every single background ever

july: so this was actually a design for a screenprint! the stippling made me and my art teacher miserable in the end but u know it’s about the experience … this was also inspired by kiki’s delivery service my 3rd favourite ghibli movie … i love u kiki

august: this is a wip that i will never ever finish (and i actually posted it on tumblr here over a month after abandoning it 😭) but it’s also the only kotlc thing i’ve drawn in like a year and a half (at least until the unravelled release) and i think it’s cute

september: listen i Love Laufey and every september 8th she does a little fan celebration called a very laufey day! so this was inspired by that, specifically the song “dreamer” — there are a lot of little details that reference various aspects of the lyrics or official video! super fun to draw and one of the digital pieces that i’m the proudest of 🤭

october: okay this one was sooo fun because i hadn’t touched my alcohol markers in a longggg while … it was inspired loosely by the inktober prompt “nomad”

november: this was a piece for one of my school’s publications, and was loads of fun to draw! one of the digital pieces that i’m proudest of tbh simply because there’s so much going on but it still feels fairly cohesive

december: this was my kotlc secret santa gift and also the first fully polished kotlc piece i had done in a VERYY long time — so while i was deathly sick while creating it (literally i was and still am On My Deathbed) it was super nostalgic and fun :)

if u made it to the end of this I LOVE U. why did u read all this u mean more to me than i could ever possibly articulate. have an amazing day u icon 🫶🫶

[sweetjulieapples]

Dear Commander - Chapter 23: From Ferelden, With Love

Cullen x Trevelyan

AO3 MASTERLIST

The Inquisitor and Cullen are on opposite sides of Ferelden but still on each other's minds.

Full chapter below:

Sera stopped me at first. I was making my way to the old tavern where I had a bedroll ready. In hindsight, I should have ran. Maybe then I could string together some semblance of a cohesive thought.

Maybe if we had just stood still, things would be different. But she followed me as I walked down the steps and in her jumble of curses and pessimism, she made some sense. I listened, that’s what the Inquisitor should do, right? She's scared like the rest of us. She just expresses it in a much more colourful way.

Then I heard his voice. Firm and authoritative. It was far too late in the darkness of the courtyard but he was working by candlelight. I sometimes worry that he pushes himself too far.

I tried to avoid him, to resist the temptation to approach, but Sera would not stop talking. Over and over. She must have found a dozen or so creative ways to say the name Corypheus without actually saying it. I shouldn't blame her, this is my mess and mine alone.

Then he looked up and it was too late to turn back. Sera left and I was standing there alone with no excuse. He appeared startled for a moment, then he looked away, throwing himself back into whatever it was that seemed a far greater priority than a decent night’s sleep. I was already there, his scouts looking at me as though I deserved his attention, looking back to him for some response. I didn’t know what to say, I just stood there like an idiot and then he just started telling me things. He didn’t say ‘hello’ or anything; instead, he rattled off all the things that he’s done and all the ways he’s keeping Skyhold secure. It felt so strange, almost dehumanizing. As though I am no more than an authoritative figure that expects military summaries in place of normal conversation. I froze, I didn’t know how to respond to that. So I laughed, because if I’m laughing, then nobody can be laughing at me. But I should never have poked fun at him for taking his role so seriously. It was shamefully unbecoming of me but I didn’t know what else to do. He clearly hadn’t been taking breaks or time for himself, but I said it anyway—the silly question: ‘Do you ever sleep?’ Of course he sleeps, at some point…at least I hope.

I hope he knows that I was joking and that I actually do believe he sleeps, because he didn’t say anything about it. He just turned back to what he was doing and attempted to justify his caution, saying that he couldn’t let anything happen. He was taking it so seriously that, for a moment, I could have sworn I saw him begin to shake. He was leaning all his weight into that little makeshift desk, it was starting to worry me. He turned to face me and he gave me the most piercing look that left me breathless. “We will not run from here, Inquisitor.” - is what he said and he meant every word.

Then it dawned on me that perhaps this is how he rests. He said it with so much pride. He doesn’t seem the type to sit by and let things happen. Maybe he’s more at ease planning and taking control than he could ever be if he were tucked up in bed.

I love really admire that about him. He's honorable and hard-working. The fact that he’s handsome is a nice bonus. Ugh, it hurts to even admit that. And that's the problem.

I find myself thinking of him all the time, far more than I did before. I feel like I’m starting to lose my mind. Even now as I sit here writing this, I wonder if he’s on his way back to Skyhold. I don’t doubt that I’ll receive word soon. For once, a mission report that I’d take joy in reading.

Oh, but my mind keeps wandering back to that night in the courtyard. I tried to keep my wits about me, to maintain composure and act in an appropriate manner. When he looks at me like that and speaks in that softer voice, my brain just stops. I tried to tell him that I appreciate all his hard work, offer my gratitude for rescuing me in the avalanche, and, more importantly, that I’m glad he survived—but I couldn’t find the words. I stumbled over my thoughts, cowering mid-sentence into some meaningless, vague statement that implied he was no more important to me than a random villager.

He looked away and whatever progress I thought we were making vanished just like that. It was so incredibly awkward that I just wanted to run away. I might have rolled my eyes at some point, I don’t even know. Then he stopped me. He touched me, grabbed my arm to stop me from walking away and promised that he wouldn’t allow the events at Haven to happen again.

“You have my word.”

He promised and it felt like that promise was just for me. The way he spoke, the intensity in his eyes - all for me.

Not because I’m The Inquisitor or The Herald of Andraste, but because I am me.

What if I’m wrong? If I let myself believe this…

“Inquisitor!”

The officer’s voice startled Juliette, making her flinch and drop her quill. Her heart raced as she took a deep breath, pressing her hand over her chest to calm her nerves. She had become a little too lost in thought, for a moment forgetting the attention that her duty demanded.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” she called, slamming the journal shut, the ink likely smearing before it had a chance to dry. She tucked it securely into her bedroll, her hands trembling slightly as she wondered how likely it would be that someone could happen upon it.

With one last glance at the journal, she stepped outside of her tent, greeted by the persistent drizzle of rain and the unmistakable stench of the bog that clung to the air. A crack of thunder rumbled above, as if to remind her that nothing—least of all her secrets—were safe here.

She scrunched her face in a dramatic manner just in case anyone had missed how much she hated this place. The dampness clung to her skin, the ever-present gloom made the world feel suffocating, even during the day. How anyone could call this home was beyond her understanding. The few days spent in the Fallow Mire were already far too many.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of a group approaching their camp -several scouts in Inquisition armor, one in particular that she had been eager to speak with.

“Harding!” Juliette called enthusiastically, weaving her way past the smoldering campfire. A few of the officers shot her curious glances as they rested, weary from the trip.

“Inquisitor,” Harding replied with a slight nod as Juliette approached. The rain pelted against her face, soaking her hair and cloak, but she barely flinched, her focus entirely on the Inquisitor. The other scouts moved ahead, sensing the need for privacy.

“What is it?” Juliette asked in a gasp, catching her breath from her sudden dash across the camp. “Did you find them?”

Harding’s expression darkened. “Not yet, Inquisitor. But we did find one who had escaped.” She passed Juliette a note with a regretful look. “Aubrey. He was a good man.” “Was?” Juliette asked, her voice wavering in sorrow as she pulled the note underneath her scarf to protect it. She motioned towards the tents with a tilt of her head, eager to get out of the rain.

As they reached the annex, where a loosely propped canvas offered little more than minimal shelter, Juliette unfurled the thin sheet of paper. She skimmed it swiftly, her attention flickering between the text and Harding’s words.

“We found his body in a cave. He likely passed away from his injuries.”

“Maker rest his soul,” Juliette replied, bowing her head in respect. “I’ll see that Aubrey is honored for his bravery.”

Harding gave a short nod. “He tried to warn you not to come here, but his letter never made it out of The Mire.”

Juliette glanced up from the letter, brow furrowed in confusion. “The Avvar want to challenge me to win favour with their gods…” Her voice trailed off, rising at the end as if she were still trying to make sense of it. “Because I’m the Herald of Andraste. That’s it? They think this will somehow disprove Andraste’s existence and... what?” She pressed her palm to her forehead, shaking her head. “This makes no sense.”

“Personally, I think their leader’s just a boastful little prick that wants to brag he killed you,” Harding said bluntly. ”Well,” Juliette said with a mirthless chuckle. “That’s fame for you.”

“They’re holed up in a castle called Hargrave Keep—what’s left of it, anyway. We’ll lead the way once you’re ready to depart.”

“Thank you, Harding,” Juliette said, casting a quick glance over her shoulder. “We need to move soon, once we’ve resupplied.”

“Getting to the troops won’t be easy. You’ll have to fight your way through undead,” Harding said, gesturing towards the murky water. Juliette shuddered at the thought. “Wait—you're not squeamish about undead, are you?” Harding teased.

“No, no, not at all,” Juliette replied, her voice dripping with mock enthusiasm. “Right at the top of my list of favourite monsters.”

“You’ll want to stay out of the water, then,” Harding said.

“If you can even call it water,” Juliette replied, wrinkling her nose. “It’s quite the smell.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Harding chuckled.

“I’ll make sure to let Josephine know that you need a raise once we’re back at Skyhold.”

“I might just hold you to that” Harding smiled. “Maker willing, The Inquisition’s people are still alive.”

“I am not letting the Avvar butcher our people,” Juliette said with determination.

“I appreciate it,” Harding smiled, nodding respectfully as she began to walk away.

Juliette hesitated, wrestling with the decision to bring up the operation at Denerim Palace. Her fingers tightened around the fabric of her scarf as she stepped back into the rain.

“Harding, wait!” she called, quickly closing the distance with a few quick steps.

Harding turned, watching curiously. “Yes?”

Juliette smiled awkwardly, tugging her scarf tighter over her head to shield herself from the rain. “You wouldn’t happen to know how far it is from Skyhold to Denerim, would you?”

“That depends,” Harding said, her voice wavering slightly, as though she could sense there was more to the question. “Are you talking distance measured or days traveled?”

“Days traveled. For a small army,” Juliette replied, tilting her head slightly, her thoughts already drifting elsewhere.

Harding considered this, squinting as though she could already see the journey laid out before them. “Maybe two weeks, horseback,” she shrugged. “It would depend on injuries, how many times they’d stop for supplies, that sort of thing.”

“Two weeks,” Juliette whispered to herself, nodding as she stared into the distance. He departed four days before me, seven for the mountain trail, another three for Redcliffe…

“Uh…is everything all right, Inquisitor?” Harding asked cautiously.

Juliette blinked and forced a smile. “Oh, yes,” she said, straightening her posture. “I just… like to keep track of where our people are, and what they’re… doing. It doesn’t matter.” Juliette began to quickly walk away, her head lowered and eyes focused on her feet. “We should hurry along,” Juliette added, her voice slightly more urgent now. “We have a big day ahead of ourselves.”

“Yes, Inquisitor,” Harding replied, though her gaze lingered on Juliette for a moment, still puzzled.

The next day they made steady progress as the Inquisition scouts moved farther ahead through the marshy bog of the Fallow Mire. Nearing Hargrave Keep, The Inquisitor and her party took a moment to rest after defeating a horde of undead. The scouts, seizing the moment of rest, moved ahead to assess the path before them.

The distant rumble of thunder filled the air and sparse rain drops made heavy splashing noises as they fell in the nearby lake. There was an eerie sense of calm while they waited for the scouts , until Cole decided to speak.

“Juliette?” His voice held a certain innocence, as if her title didn’t matter at all.

"Inquisitor," Cassandra snapped, her tone sharp enough to make him flinch.

"No, it’s fine," Juliette said, stepping closer to him. Her voice softened. "He can call me Juliette. I rather like it—it makes me feel like a person again."

Cassandra folded her arms tightly, her eyes narrowing as she watched Cole, as if measuring every word he spoke. Cole blinked up at Juliette, rising from his crouch. His oversized hat wobbled as he moved.

“But you are a person,” he said, sounding baffled.

Juliette sighed, her boot kicking at the dirt beneath her. "Sometimes... it doesn’t feel that way." She met his eyes with a forced smile. "Did you have a question, Cole?”

"Why do you hide your words underneath your pillow?"

“Oh!” Dorian gasped dramatically, his eyes lighting up as he swiftly crossed the space to Juliette. “Did I hear that correctly? Our lovely lady Inquisitor has a secret journal?” He grinned widely, clearly enjoying the moment as he waited for her reaction. Juliette sighed, shaking her head as she lowered it, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Dorian leaned in closer, trying to get a better look at her expression, his teasing grin only widening. “I packed so lightly for this trip, you know. I was hoping we’d stumble across something interesting for me to read.”

Juliette glared up at him, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t suppose there’s much point in hiding it now that Cole has announced it to the entire party,” she mumbled, rubbing her temples in frustration.

“But why, Juliette?” Cole asked, his voice genuinely curious. “You understand the meaning of the words, but you don’t know what they mean.”

She dropped her head into her hands, groaning. “Please don’t say anything else that will embarrass me, Cole.”

With a tilt of his head he replied, “But how will I know that it embarrasses you if I don’t say it?”

“He’s got you there,” Dorian chimed in, highly amused by the situation.

Juliette scoffed, walking briskly towards the water’s edge. “I’ll burn the book as soon as we return to camp,” she muttered, half to herself.

“Pages burn, yet words remain,” Cole spoke solemnly, his gaze lingering on her.

Juliette crossed her arms and shot Dorian one last, pointed glare. “Let’s just move on, shall we?”

Cassandra stood opposite Cole, her distrusting stare intense. “If you are to fight alongside us, Cole, I expect you to follow orders. The Inquisitor believes you wish to help…”

Juliette wandered ahead, hugging herself tightly as the rain began to fall a little heavier. She looked up at the sky, black clouds stirring above as though they were there to taunt her too. She rolled her eyes when she heard footsteps approaching.

“Dear diary,” Dorian said in a mocking tone. “Too many Templars. Too little time.”

Juliette sighed. “Maker give me strength.”

Inquisitor, Our forces were able to prov  

Cullen’s quill slipped, smudging ink across the carefully written words. With a heavy sigh, he crumpled the parchment and tossed it aside, starting over.

Inquisitor, Our

Again, the ink smeared beneath his trembling hand. He clenched his jaw and exhaled through his teeth, snatching another piece of fresh vellum.

This can’t keep happening. I’m wasting resources, he thought, frustration tightening his chest. His gaze lingered on his fingers, as though he could somehow will them to cooperate.

He paused, staring at the blank page, his hand shaking as it hovered over the ink. With a sharp exhale, Cullen removed his gloves, hoping that could give him a better grip and steady his erratic movements. One hand carefully spread the vellum over the crate that he used as a makeshift desk, while the other gripped the quill tightly. Holding his breath, he lowered the quill to the page.

Inquisitor, Our forces were able to provide assistance to Queen Anora

The first stroke was unsteady, the ink bleeding into the vellum before he could finish the letter. His brow furrowed as he concentrated, but each new letter came out shaky and crooked. His grip on the quill tightened, knuckles turning white, but the tremors only worsened.

Every movement was deliberate, yet his hand refused to obey. The letters began to lose their form, sliding and shifting into scribbles. His handwriting, normally precise and carefully penned, now appeared a jagged mess, almost as disorderly as his thoughts.

Frustration consumed him as he shoved the quill aside with a growl. He snatched the ink pot and hurled it at a pile of crates, splattering ink into the air, the faint scent of the dye lingering. He stood for a moment, chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath.

Nearby soldiers, alerted by the noise, glanced over in surprise. Cullen clenched his fists, turning away and forcing his shoulders back, trying his best to appear composed despite the fury raging inside him.

He hated this.

If I cannot complete a task as simple as writing a letter, how am I to command an army? What use am I like this?

Each breath came ragged, and he felt as though his head were spinning. The withdrawals hadn’t been this bad in months. He walked over to a barrel and slowly splashed cool water against his face, the shock of the cold momentarily pulling him from the fog in his mind.

He leaned against the barrel, tightly closing his eyes. It’s been days. How much longer until it passes? He took a slow, deep breath. I vowed to be better than this. To give more. His hands still trembled, and there wasn’t a muscle in his body free from aching. The Inquisition, the soldiers… Juliette — I can’t let them down.

He stood there for a while, gathering what little strength he had left. The soldiers would be waiting, the new recruits among them. He couldn’t afford to let them see him like this.

With a long, steadying breath, he rolled his shoulders, wiped his face dry with the back of his hand, and turned towards the camp. Each step felt heavy, but he pushed forward, determined not to break.

The sun was bright. It’s always too bright. Cullen squinted, shielding his eyes with a hand as he walked to the edge of the perimeter where messengers were stationed.

“Any word from the Fallow Mire?” Cullen asked as he approached.

“Still nothing, Ser,” the messenger replied, a formality to his voice.

“When you do hear something, anything at all, I'd like to be notified immediately,” Cullen instructed.

“Yes, Commander,” the messenger nodded. “Would you like us to send a message to The Inquisitor?”

"No," Cullen said sharply, turning to walk away. "I’m sure they’re just busy." He forced the words out through clenched teeth, the sunlight magnifying his headache, while his mind raced anew.

They should have been there by now. Each day without an update brought on more worry, more stress. With the constant travel, the steady influx of new recruits, and the lingering grip of withdrawal, Cullen barely had room to breathe, let alone manage the mounting stress of The Inquisitor’s whereabouts.

He gritted his teeth, his ink stained fingers twitching as the possibilities swirled in his mind, each scenario worse than the last. He couldn’t grasp one before another took its place—what if she was in danger? What if they had failed? If only he could write to her—just one letter, one reply to ease his mind.

Cullen turned back to the messenger, drawing in a sharp breath before speaking. “Perhaps write to the scouts. Harding should be able to inform us of their progress. She may know if the soldiers have been located…and if the Inquisitor has safely arrived.”

“Right away, Commander,” the messenger nodded with a fist raised to his chest. He scurried away, leaving Cullen alone with his thoughts—but only for a moment.

“Commander!” an officer called out, approaching at a brisk pace, a serious expression on his face. Cullen exhaled sharply, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his patience before turning to face the officer.

“The bandits have been cleared, Commander. Giving ‘em swords... wasn’t such a bad call after all.”

Cullen raised an eyebrow. “The Sutherland lad that turned up at Skyhold?”

“That’s the one. Drove the bandits off, our patrols are clear,” the officer said proudly.

“He may have potential yet,” Cullen replied, folding his arms. His gaze drifted over the barren plains surrounding their camp, the dry earth stretching endlessly beneath the pale sky.

The officer stood at attention, waiting, but a silence fell between them as Cullen stared ahead in contemplation. The officer relaxed slightly, his gaze following Cullen’s before he spoke again. “Hard to believe this was all green once,” he muttered, sadness in his voice.

Cullen looked across, his arms still folded tightly. There was a moment of silence before he spoke. “You’re from Lothering?”

The officer’s eyes narrowed slightly, and for a moment, he seemed lost in the past. “Until the Blight,” he said quietly. “My family and I were lucky to make it out.” He pointed towards the west, his hand lingering on the air. “The village is out that way. Or what’s left of it, anyway.”

“I suppose Honnleath is much the same,” Cullen said quietly.

The officer nodded slowly, his gaze now distant. “Just a name on a map these days.” He sighed heavily. “I best keep moving. More recruits will arrive soon.”

“Well, with luck they'll know which end to grip a sword by,” Cullen muttered sarcastically. The officer chuckled, walking back into the camp.

Once more alone with his thoughts, Cullen looked over at the dry, empty fields that were once thriving farmlands. He often found himself wondering just how damaged his childhood home had become. Did it still stand, left abandoned all these years? He couldn’t help but think of his family. Memories of warm August afternoons by the lake. He could almost hear his siblings laughter as they tried to throw each other in the water. What he’d give to go back to those days. Simpler, happier times. It had been seventeen years since he left to join the Templar order. Most of his life spent away from home. It felt like another lifetime ago. Cullen looked down at his sword, the Inquisition emblem glistening on the hilt. His siblings had likely heard of Haven, everyone in Denerim seemed to know after all. No doubt he’d return to Skyhold with an angry letter from his sister waiting. He didn’t feel ready to face his past, nor consider a future beyond this. He drew in a long, deep breath, the cool air filling his lungs. His hand rested against the pommel of the sword and the tremors eased. A habit he’d grown into over time, a strange sense of comfort. He had a duty now, and no matter the cost, he would not falter.

Juliette slowly pulled herself to her feet. The ringing in her ears was almost suffocating, a harsh, high-pitched sound that blurred her thoughts. Her vision swirled, three green glowing palms waved before her face, splattered in blood. Her blood, she realized, her stomach twisting. She coughed, the wind knocked from her chest, and forced herself to stay upright. Cassandra’s battle raged nearby, her sword flashing as she clashed with three Avvar warriors. The sound of steel meeting steel was accompanied by Cassandra’s grunts, each strike an explosion of power, but it was the crackling buzz of electricity nearby that seized Juliette’s attention.

Dorian stood just out of her reach, his hands crackling with magic. The Avvar warrior nearest to him was writhing on the ground, his body spasming from the brutal electrical shocks coursing through him. His sadistic laughter rang out, a sickening chill. Hand of Korth, he called himself, taking pleasure in his own suffering, each crackling surge of magic seeming to delight him. It was as though each strike against him was a moment of defiance against Andraste. Juliette shuddered at the thought. He could stay there, writhing in agony, a little longer.

Juliette raised her hands to the sky, the staff in her grip flaring with searing flames. With a wave, she conjured a barrier of fire that encircled the battlefield, flames crackling and swirling in a wall of blazing heat. Cassandra retreated, her enemies igniting in the inferno. Their screams echoed in the air, but Juliette's focus quickly shifted.

Her heart skipped a beat as her gaze fell on Cole, motionless on the ground, his daggers still tightly clutched in his hands.

“Hold on, Cole!” she yelled, racing towards him. As she kneeled before his limp body, a wave of confusion washed over Juliette. Does he heal? Will a potion... Her heart raced, her thoughts clouded with panic. “Cole!” she screamed, her voice cracking. “I don’t know how to heal you!”

With trembling hands, she pulled a vial of healing potion from her belt, her fingers fumbling as she tore the cork from the bottle. She held it under his nose, her breath frantic. Can he drink?

“Cassandra!” Dorian yelled, just seconds before the deafening crash of the overhang collapsing echoed through the air. Juliette scrambled to her feet, the healing vial slipping from her fingers and shattering against the ground. She froze, her eyes wide in horror as she watched Dorian rush to clear the rubble from where Cassandra lay trapped beneath. Did…did my fire do that?

Juliette struggled for breath, screaming out “Is she all ri—”

“Finish him!” Dorian shouted, fierce urgency in his voice with a glare over his shoulder. Juliette’s eyes darted to the Avvar, that so-called Hand of Korth crawling towards her with a twisted grin. She grabbed her staff, her breath quick and ragged. Too close, too close for fire. What do I do?

She stepped backwards, desperate to create some distance, to find enough space for her fire to rage without consuming her as well. Before she could react, he grabbed her ankle, yanking her to the ground. Her staff clattered against the stone as it fell beside her. A frightened squeal escaped her as the Avvar dragged her across the rough stone, his cruel laughter echoing in her ears as he muttered, “Weak. Weak is Andratse’s Herald.” Juliette snatched for her staff, her fingertips barely gripping it as she fumbled it into place. She raised it, hoping to smash it against his face, but his reflexes were too fast. In an instant, he grabbed the staff and bent the iron in half, a terrifying display of strength.

He laughed, shaking his head. Before Juliette could defend herself, his hands were wrapped around her neck, squeezing and choking while she clawed at his fingers, feeling herself slip away.

Suddenly, his grip loosened. A vacant expression crossed his face, followed by a slicing sound as he collapsed forward, falling beside her. Juliette sat there, eyes wide in shock, her breath shallow. Her fingers trembled as they instinctively moved to her neck, feeling the bruises forming beneath her skin. Cole stood before her, expressionless, blood-soaked daggers gripped tightly in his hands.

The walk back to camp was tense, the silence broken only by the steady rainfall, occasional thunder, and the distant groans of the undead. The Mire had mostly been cleared of danger by now, thanks to the closure of rifts and a reduced Avvar presence.

"Cassandra’s angry," Dorian observed loudly.

"I’m not angry—" she tried to object, but Dorian cut her off.

"Juliette’s angry." There was a pause, and the Inquisitor didn’t say a word.

"Tell me, Cole. What’s on your mind?" Dorian asked, his voice carrying a teasing lilt that went unnoticed by Cole.

"Relieved. Safe now. The Herald came for us, I knew she would!" Cole responded, his voice full of praise, mirroring the gratitude of the rescued soldiers.

"Yes, yes, she always takes all the credit," Dorian muttered sarcastically.

Juliette groaned, her boots thudding against the muddy ground as she stomped ahead, finally reaching the camp.

The Inquisition’s presence had nearly doubled in size during their absence. More soldiers, scouts, and officers swarmed the campsite, some planning, others preparing, and a few resting.

“What’s going on?” Juliette asked, her expression unusually stern as she moved into the center of the camp.

“Inquisitor!” an officer greeted her, bowing slightly. “Reinforcements were sent from Skyhold, your worship.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice laced with confusion. “There’s no need. We’re clearing out of here.”

“Commander Cullen sent us,” he explained cautiously, sensing her irritation.

“Well, it’s a little too late for that,” she snapped, throwing her ruined staff to the ground with a sharp clang and placing her hand on her hips. Her frustration flared as she let out a heavy sigh, her gaze shifting back to the officer. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t… I’m just—” She faltered for a moment, stress getting the better of her. “Apologies, but you need to leave.”

Her eyes scanned the camp, and with a raised voice, she added, “You all need to leave. We’ve found the soldiers. Let’s just get out of this horrid bog of a—” She scoffed, shaking her head in frustration. Without another word, she beelined for her tent, the urgency of her steps mirroring her desire to escape the watchful eyes of the Inquisition. Dorian strolled into the camp, one arm supporting Cassandra as she limped beside him. Juliette glanced over her shoulder. That must be driving her crazy. Maker, she must hate me right now.

“This arrived for you, Inquisitor!” The requisition officer stepped in front of Juliette, holding a burlap-wrapped package.

“What is that?” Juliette asked, her expression softening slightly as she looked at the package with a flicker of curiosity.

“The soldiers brought this down from the Commander,” she explained. Juliette hesitated for a moment before extending her hand, taking the package with a quiet sigh, unsure of what to expect. Her breath caught for a split second, a fleeting warmth in her chest. She quickly masked the reaction, hiding the heat creeping along her cheeks, forcing her face to remain neutral. That was until she heard Dorians voice, in which she hung her head with a defeated sigh.

“A gift?” Dorian asked dramatically, stepping closer to Juliette. “From Commander Cullen?” he whispered, but his voice was far too loud, carrying more than Juliette would have liked.

Juliette clenched her jaw, her fingers tightening around the package. “Thank you,” she said curtly to the officer, her voice strained as she dismissed her with a stiff nod.

“Whatever could it be?” Dorian wondered aloud, his tone far too gleeful for Juliette’s liking. She ignored him, ripping open the package with growing impatience.

“Flowers?” Dorian suggested with a dramatic tilt of his head.

“Flowers?” Juliette echoed, her nose scrunching at the absurdity of it.

“Jewelry? …Ah, a book.” He paused, looking at the item in her hands with a theatrical sigh. “How predictably dull.”

“Would you stop?” Juliette snapped. “You’ve been particularly irritating today.”

“Oh, I’ve hit a nerve,” Dorian teased, his hands raised defensively. “Don’t drop a building on me!” Juliette scowled, brushing past him with a sharp movement, her steps quick as she neared her tent. “You could at least tell me what the book is?”

“You wanted something to read?” she snapped, spinning back to face him. “Take it!” She threw the book at him and stormed off.

Dorian caught the book easily, an amused grin spreading across his face. “Tale of The Champion?” he read aloud. “I don’t think I’ll bother… Oh, a note.”

“What?” Cassandra shrieked from across the camp. With a limp she hobbled over quickly, anger flaring in her eyes. Juliette stepped forward and snatched the note that fell from the book from Dorian’s hands. She glanced down at the paper, skimming the words as Cassandra’s voice grew louder with fury.

“That bastard! I knew it!”

“What?” Juliette said, confused. “What did Cullen —”

“Not Cullen, Varric!” Cassandra snarled, her grip tightening on the book as she ripped it from Dorian’s hands, her gaze fiery.

Juliette looked back down at the note.

Inquisitor, Varric is up to something and if Leliana’s suspicions are correct, you should know what you’re in for. While I can’t say that the story is true in it’s entirety, the events mentioned are accurate where it matters. Ignore any mention of me, he was exaggerating I’ve marked the sections that are relevant. If Hawke is indeed making his way to Skyhold, then this may give you some insight, if not a fair warning. Cullen

Juliette looked up, meeting Dorian’s watchful gaze and Cassandra’s piercing stare. "Well," Juliette said, her voice uncertain, unsure of what else to say.

Cullen sat by the fire at the camp on the outskirts of Redcliffe. The soft crackle of the fire was a welcoming sound among the loud bustle of the camp. He held Juliette’s letter, his hands far steadier today.

Cullen, There’s nothing like some light reading amid the ambience of torrential rain, suffocating darkness and the persistent groaning of undead. I beg you, never send me here again. Not that the mission was a complete waste of time, however. I’m happy to report that we have managed to free our soldiers. All but one are accounted for and are in good health, a little shaken, but I consider it a victory. Interestingly, not all the Avvar were hostile - just the few dozen that wanted me dead. The challenger has been dealt with. There is no reason for The Inquisition to return here. Please don’t send any more of us here. With love, from the most miserable bog of Southern Ferelden, Inquisitor Trevelyan p.s Your attitude sounded foul, but Varric’s description of your hair was glorious.

Cullen let out an exasperated sigh. “I should have just tore out the pages,” he mumbled to himself. His eyes wandered back over her handwriting. With love. She’s being dramatically sarcastic. A small smirk tugged at his lips. I tried to warn her not to go there, he thought, his fingers tracing the edges of the letter. He could almost hear her voice, that mix of dry humor and underlying defiance. I’m certain she’ll have plenty to say once we’re both back at Skyhold.

[magebunkshelf]

Let's go! We're back with a new audio and a massive channel branding overhaul! Big update post!

It's been a long time coming but we're back with part 5 of the Vampire Hunter series! This is beginning a sort of new stage or arc for the channel and the stories within Mitch's World, but I won't say much if you haven't listened yet. I hope you caught up on part 4 first! And... well, another important audio.

There's also an exclusive bonus audio that follows on immediately after that's up for supporters! It's a romance scene between David and Bats - however I'm calling it non-canon, or at least semi-canon. Not everyone ships these characters, and I tend to leave that up to interpretation. If you ship them, you can consider the bonus audio canon if you like, but if you don't, you can skip it completely. That being said, there's an extended 6 minute preview for the bonus audio that's freely available on YouTube. The extended preview is a sort of epilogue to Part 5 and is entirely canon, cutting off just before anything semi-canon happens. The full 28 minute bonus is available on Ko-fi, Patreon, and for YouTube Members.

Also what do you think of the new thumbnails? We've been cooking these for a long time, and I'm so so excited to get to show them to you! The channel design has barely changed since the very first audio and it's been in severe need of a shake-up for a long time, so huge thanks to Daysprite for the push I needed to dig into it! All major audios will be getting new thumbnails in the new style with much better series-based colour coordination, a tweaked font and MUCH more interesting designs, and some of the major series also now have Smash-style series emblems! These are so cool! The actual YouTube titles haven't changed at all so you should still be able to find your favourite audios, I tried to keep things familiar enough for long-time listeners. A MASSIVE thanks to Capital M for making the new emblems, and Obsidian Lantern who made the new Raccoon series emblem! And of course to all three other members of Reedmace for giving so so much feedback over the last few months This rebrand would not have been possible without M, Day and Obi, thank you all!! ^ ^

You'll notice not all of the audios have their rebrand emblems yet. A few series aren't quite ready yet but will be updated in the future, while a small handful of videos such as the compilations won't be receiving rebrands. And of course when you click through it'll still show all the old branding in the video itself, hopefully that's not too jarring - in future videos we'll be seeing a more cohesive brand throughout just like in Vampire Hunter 5! Please give us a little more time to get the last of the series done. I'll also be overhauling the lore wiki soon to match!

Speaking of emblems, what do the letters in the top left mean? These are special continuity-identifying logos - MW for Mitch's World, and S-C for Self-Contained, or audios which are completely separate from other series. These logos will help you identify which universe an audio takes place in just at a glance! This info has been available on the lore wiki but I wanted to have it available in the thumbnails as well. BTW Rancher & Knight and Wounded Elf have specially-coloured S-C logos since those two share a universe.

Also, Respawn. Just... Respawn. As sort of my main original story, I wanted to give that one something special. <3

Oh, one final update, I've opened a Patreon page, patreon.com/MageBunkshelf - This is pretty much just an alternative to Ko-fi for anyone who prefers one platform over another, so if you're already a supporter there won't be anything you're missing out on. We now have three supporter-exclusive audios available (check the channel front page for the exclusives playlist!), all of which are available to members via Patreon, Ko-fi and YouTube Memberships, whichever works best for you! If you'd like to support the channel, help fund future artwork for audios, and get access to the three exclusive audios + name in the credits:

* Ko-fi has both monthly or one-time donations - either will give you access! * Patreon has a flat monthly subscription, or buy a single audio outright. Just don't use the mobile app or the app store will charge you extra, ALWAYS use Patreon in a web browser. * YouTube Membership is a flat monthly subscription and also gives you the raccoon heart badge next to your username & the Mitch emotes!

And to the supporters, I definitely haven't forgotten the audios you voted on - both are in the works!

It's been far too long since the last audio and I'm very sorry for the delay, the entire project of making two large audios and building the channel-wide rebrand took way longer than I'd initially planned. Thank you so much for your patience. We're back, the next audio has already been recorded, and we're jumping right back into it! Next time - something new, and something sci-fi! Catch you next time everyone!

-Mage

[aurora567]

Pandora's Gift Ch. 24

Warning: this story will contain mature content such as but not limited to sex, cursing, blood, violence, breeding kink, A/B/O themes ect.

Summary: The smut is done and Sakaki returns to her sanity and the realization of what she and Bakugou had done together. Sorry for the wait, chapter 25 should be out on regular time.

Word count: 3441

Last Chapter Next Chapter

The next number of days passed for the two in a mix of lust filled haze and a few cohesive moments where they tried to refuel their body’s with the meals Sasara had brought and drinking lots of water. Slowly blinking her dark eyes open the bright light that slipped around the edges of her curtain felt blinding from the midday sun. Squeezing her right hand alone nearly had her whine as pain shot through her arm and even seemed to go to the tip of her finger. Every muscle in her entire body ached. Was it her or her bed sheets that smelled completely rancid? Probably both seeing as neither had been washed in the last six or so days. That thought along nearly made her gag. She tried to shift her body and at least roll over. But a strong arm still wrapped around her waist kept her stuck in place as she laid on her left side.

Barely being able to turn her head enough to look over her shoulder she was treated with the sight of a still sleeping Bakugou Katsuki who had his body firmly pressed up against hers as the two spooned among the filth of her bedsheets. Well that explained why she still felt hotter than normal. Even outside of his rut the man was like a furnace with the heat he was giving off as he slept.

Of course removing said arm from her body and then herself from his body was not going to be an easy feat. His arm was solid like rock, and it seemed when she tried to lightly pry it off of her that only caused the arm to clamp and lock down in place as if she had been trying to remove it from its socket or something. With an unhappy huff she left the arm be for now. Her own arm felt like jello while trying to remove his. How the hell did he still have so much strength after what they had done? Like she could barely lift her arm up without the muscles shaking under the strain.

With a sigh she relaxed back against the warm body slowly taking deep breaths as she even felt her ribs ache a little. Damn what the fuck did they all do to make her body hurt so bad? She didn’t even hurt like this after Miruko whipped her ass in a spar. Then again a quick glance down at herself would quickly reveal the dark bruises that completely covered most of her body. Some bruises she almost couldn’t tell where one ended and another started; they just looked like extremely large bruises. Hell there was even a dental mark on her one inner thigh that she could see every dental mark on her skin. Hell she didn’t even think the cops could take a more perfect dental imprint than the one that sat where she could see it. How he had not broken the skin was amazing as she eyes up the dark coloured mark.

She was unaware a number of similar bite marks littered a number of spots on her body. The one on her thigh was simply the only one she could visibly see from her current position laying tucked into Bakugou’s chest being held like she was some five year old's best Teddy. Licking her dry lips she tried to exactly remember the last couple of days. Of course she remembered doing the patrol with Bakugou while he was being weird and clinging to her. Which now made sense that he had been able to smell her heat in her even with her scent patches on they couldn’t keep her scent completely covered. She remembers them getting back to the office in time for lunch, but then what?

Her nose scrunched up as she remembers being in a vehicle. Who’s vehicle? She didn’t have a clue. But seeing how Bakugou was with her she had a feeling it was most likely his or someone from the agency who just simply handed over their keys to the angry blonde when he needed them. She remembers them entering her building together. She had told him something as she walked to the elevator. Must have been where to find her spare keys. Her face grew warm as she remembered trying to crawl up the side of the blonde to be able to bury her nose into the scent gland on his neck. Fuck! that was embarrassing. She had thrown herself and clung to the angry blonde.

Yet he still didn’t just leave her and run. He could have thrown her into her building and ran for it. He didn’t have to even attempt to get her to her apartment. So why take the risk? He had to have been struggling to keep himself in check while she was in a full blown heat. Her only saving grace was she didn’t recall begging, at least not till they made it to her apartment. A sly smirk tugged at her lips as she recalled the man trying to pry her off but all she had to do was use his first name and whatever self control he had seemed to snap. She had tested that a few times during the week. Any time she had used his first name it seemed the blonde lost himself to his lust. Was it really that attractive to hear his name come from her lips? Then again one particular moment popped in her head. When exactly he had done it she couldn’t remember exactly. But she could remember being face down and ass up. With him balls deep into her body and that deep voice of his a little hoarse growled her first name into her ear and she had cum right then and there. Fuck even remembering the moment had her body reacted in a way she did not expected as her walls tightened around nothing and an ache reminded her of how abused her poor pussy was. And yet that didn’t stop her from being turned on by the memory.

A low growl filled her ears as it seemed the marble Greek god that was sleeping behind her was able to pick up the change in her scent enough that it actually woke him. After all, she had stopped trying to escape his iron grip a little while ago.

“Your insatiable,” was the deep growl that breathed against her ear before teeth were nipping at her earlobe.

“Ha don’t get yourself so worked up. I am way to fucking sore to do anything at this moment,” she said back her tongue once again quick and sharp showing that she was back to her typical self.

“Oh? But you would if you were not so sore, is what you're saying?” Was he teasing or flirty? Actually it seemed he was doing both. Which left her unsure how to react. She expected him to blow up at her sharp tone.

“Down boy. I don’t need you trying to hump my leg or anything,” she said, smirking at her smart ass remark.

“Ha that’s funny coming from the woman who was ass up begging for it like a bitch in heat,” he was quick to return the snarky comment which had her roll over to face him as she glared at him. Okay he was right she had been that way a number of times during their time together. And did she regret it? Nope she truly couldn’t. But she would not tell him that.

“You're lucky I am far too sore to hit you for that comment,” she said, trying to glare at the blonde who had gone and propped an arm up under his head as he looked over at her.

“You couldn’t do anything even if you wanted to,” ah the dun timed were over as the two seemed about ready to be at each other’s throats.

“Careful you might find yourself naked standing in my hall if you keep this up,” she growled her top lip pulling back to growl at him. Which in turn just had him chuckle.

“You’re a lot less threatening after you’ve been moaning my name the last few days,” he said, smirking at her as he watched her face grow pink at his teasing.

“I am not!” She sounded more like a child throwing a tantrum as she struggled not to shutter and just turn all sorts of different colour's. Of course that only makes the blonde burst out laughing even harder as he watched the dark haired woman pout.

“When do our shifts start up?” She asked simply trying to quickly change the subject not wanting to be teased anymore or reminded of the events from the last few days. Flashes of memories already bombarded her mind as she looked up into those crimson eyes. He was right; she couldn’t remember screaming his name, her back arching off the bed and him thrusting into her with a relentless speed and power. Explained why her entire body hurt so much.

“No way in hell am I making tomorrow mornings shift. What day is it even?” He asked her to roll over and crawl from her bed to hunt for his pants that were still laid on the floor from the first day. Letting him hunt for his phone she slowly pushed herself to sit up. The muscles in her arms, shoulders and even ribs seemed to scream at her for the most simple of actions. She really wanted out of bed and into a nice hot bath so badly. So much so she didn’t even care if she kicked Bakugou out first. She didn’t even notice Bakugou grab his phone and curse when the thing refused to come to life. It was the fact he was standing there glaring at the device that she realized what happened.

“I have a charger by my bed here. You can plug your phone into it,” she said simply assuming they had the same brand of phone that would use the same charger. The only answer she really got was a barely audible grunt before she watched him still naked as the day he was born stroll over towards her bed.

She couldn’t pull her eyes away taking in the sight. This was a memory she wanted to have and be able to enjoy for her next heat when she expected she would be alone. After all this did not mean anything. Her heat had triggered his own rut. That was the only reason they ended up together in her bed. Or at least that’s what she kept telling herself over and over again as she ate up the view of him before her.

“Take a photo, it will last longer,” of course that was the smart ass remark she received from the cocky blonde. And yet she truly would have if she could reach over quickly and grab her phone but she had a feeling he wouldn’t actually let her take a photo. So instead she opted to exhale deeply through her nose as she rolled her eyes.

“You wish. I don’t need a photo of you,” she said with a roll of her eyes. She swung her legs over the side of her bed wanting nothing more than to go for that bath that kept occupying her mind as well. Her legs moved easily enough to swing over so that she didn’t hesitate to push herself up trying to stand. Of course her legs were having none of that and instantly buckled giving out beneath her. Her eyes closed and she tried to prepare for the pain of crashing into the floor of her bedroom. Of course she never meets the floor Bakugou is too fast, easily scooping her up and holding her to his chest as he starts to chuckle. The vibration in his chest gave it away even before he actually made a sound. Of course she glared up at him as he started to laugh at her.

“If you wanted to be carried all you had to do was ask,” He teased, which earned him a light slap to the chest with the back of your hand. Which only seems to make him laugh more seeing how irritated she is as he carries her to the small bathroom she has in her apartment.

“Geez your place is tiny,” He groaned as he placed her down on the little counter space she had. Only to realize as he turned around she didn't have a bathtub, only a shower. “Fuck you don't even have a tub in this dump.”

“I don’t need a bathtub. The public baths are fine to use and the shower works just fine,” She said simply with a pout as he complained about her little apartment that she had called home since leaving UA. Of course Bakugou was scowling at her as she sat there watching him cross his arms over his chest, seeming fuming over the fact she did not live in a better place.

“And how the fuck do you plan to use this shower in your current shape if I wasn’t here?” He barked back at her.

“Well typically this isn’t an issue!” She barked back though her answer seemed to shock him a little as she watched an eyebrow arch. An unasked question of what exactly she meant seemed to cross the man’s face.

“I have not spent my heat with someone since UA. I have not had to be worried about being fucked so good I couldn’t stand,” she growled feeling her face growing hotter as blood rushed to her face making more than just her cheeks turn red. Now she got to watch both his eyebrows shoot up, surprised to hear her say that.

“Never? You have never spent a heat with someone? No boyfriend?“ he asked, truly skeptical to hear that. Even he had spent a few ruts with someone.

“No, I focused too much on work to date. And I wasn’t about to bring some stranger home,” she bit back the fact she did spend one heat right after school with an old classmate but that was the last time. She also didn’t want to tell the blonde that. She could not image he would take hearing she use to fuck a classmate. And one he would know too.

“Really?” He asked the smirk on his face growing now as that cocky personality of his returned and it seemed learning this little bit of information was now just stroking that enormous ego he had.

“Alright alright let’s just get fucking cleaned up now,” she said sliding off the counter carefully holding onto it for dear life as if she may fall without it. Then again she didn’t trust her legs to hold her up so she prepared just in case. Luckily this time her legs held her up before she carefully stapled away from the counter and walked up to her shower quickly starting to turn the water on wanting to get the temperature right.

“Oh come on. Your gonna tell me you have not fucked anyone since highschool?” He asked, completely teasing her.

“I never said that. I’ve had sex. But I do not typically spend my heat with someone. Two different matters,” she said quickly, correcting him not wanting him to think she was some lame idiot who couldn’t get some.

“Really? It’s sex either way,” he said still teasing her which was not allowing her face to stop feeling warm even as she tried to escape him as she stepped into the shower only for him to follow after her.

His body quickly pushed up against hers which had her pinned against the cold wall looking up at him with her dark brown wide eyes. Her body was sore as hell and yet she still found herself gasping softly as her pussy clamped down around nothing which nearly made her whimper.

“Katsuki,” she said breathlessly, which seemed to only make his nostrils flare and his pupils blow up.

“Careful or I won’t be able to keep myself from fucking you once again,” he growled into her ear.

“That’s fine,” she said, still sounding breathless as she looked up into those crimson eyes. Of course her reply drew a growl from the blonde as he leaned into her. The feeling of his already hard dick pressing into her stomach was the sign she got that that blonde was at least trying to hold himself back a little struggling to hold onto his self control. Yeah fuck self control her own was flying out the back door.

He groaned softly as he shifted his hips and felt his bare cock moving against her lower stomach. A shiver ran up her back at the sound of Bakugou making the soft groan. Her hands slide up his chest and over his shoulders. Running her fingers along the back of his neck she slipped them into his soft blonde hair. It looked even a little more wild than normal yet it was still rather soft as she combed her fingers through it before grabbing a fist full of the blonde locks. Which had a growl come from the blonde as his hands moved to cup her ass cheeks lifting her effortlessly off the ground. Her legs wrapped around his waist as his hands held her up, keeping her pinned between his chest and the shower wall as the warm water soaked the two of them. When she did not get what she wanted right away she once again tugged at Bakugou’s hair earning her an even deeper growl from him.

“Damn it,” He growled into her ear when she tugged at his hair. His teeth nipped at her ear and she couldn’t hold back the whine when she still didn’t get what she wanted from him.

“Katsuki,” she whined as he nipped teasingly at her ear. That got her what she wanted as he growled again, his hands shifting her hips down a little so he could tease her folds as the tip of his cock glanced against her clit. But she didn’t even get to whine or beg for more before he gave a rough thrust of his hips sending himself deep into her body.

Sakaki’s head rolled back as her eyes closed and she let out a loud moan as her nails softly dug into Bakugou’s scalp as his hips quickly started a rough and brutal pace on her still sore body. But now the pain in her body was non-existent as pleasure coursed through her body. Her legs tightened their grip around his tiny waist as her back arched off the wall each thrust earning a moan or cry of pleasure from the dark haired woman. Which seemed to spur Katsuki on as his pace continued. A few low growls of curses flowed from the man's lips. Though with the sound of the shower and falling water it was hard to make out every word that slipped his lips.

“So close,” Sakaki moaned breathlessly as the knot in her stomach felt like it was about to snap. Her legs shook and she was happy his strong hands were holding her up as there was no way her legs were going to hold her up now.

“Fuck! Cum for me,” was the deep growl that filled her ear before his lips ghosted along her neck and over her shoulders. As the tension in her body snapped she cried out in pleasure as her walls fluttered around him. Pain shot through her shoulder as teeth sunk into her shoulder as she listened to Bakugou groan against her skin as his own pleasure took over and he came.

Panting filled the bathroom with the sound of the shower as Bakugou let go of her shoulder and ran his hot tongue over the teeth marks and bruise that was already forming from the new mark he had left on her even though her shoulders back and even collar bone were already littered in a number of bite marks and hickey’s. Carefully he lifted her off of him and gently placed her down on her feet not letting go as his hands sat on her hips ensuring that her legs wouldn't completely give out as she struggled to stand once again.

“We better shower quickly before the water run’s cold,” Bakugou said, smirking as he held her up before she reached over for her loofah and body wash, simply rolling her eyes at the blonde's proud looking smirk.

Next Chapter

[timetraveltasting]

ROMAN HONEY-GLAZED MUSHROOMS (1st c.)

It's been a crazy busy week at work, and as a result, this week's Tasting History recipe is on the easier side: Roman Honey-Glazed Mushrooms. This recipe comes from the 1st-century De Re Coquinaria of Apicius, one of the best (and few) sources for Roman recipes. This dish could have been, among others, one in which it would be possible to poison, due to it's strong flavour and dark colour. According to historical sources, Emperor Claudius died in 54 AD after a double-poisoning. He supposedly ate some of his favourite mushooms (perhaps this recipe, perhaps not), which were poisoned by his food taster, and then a poison-tipped feather was put down his throat by his physician to induce vomiting. Nearly all historians implicate his final wife, the power-hungry Agrippina. It was the norm for emperors to hire food tasters, as the threat of poison was always a fear for the powerful and remained so for thousands of years. Even Hitler had several food tasters, women who were forced to perform this job at his Wolf's Lair in Poland. Luckily, since I cooked this dish myself, I don't have to worry about anyone poisoning my Roman Honey-Glazed Mushrooms. See Max’s video on how to make this dish here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from his website.

My experience making it:

I made a couple changes to Max's recipe out of necessity. Firstly, I halved the recipe. Then, I used normal black pepper instead of long pepper, and fish sauce instead of garum. Lastly, I was really excited that I actually found lovage at the grocery store, but once I opened it, it turned out it was powdered instead of in leaf format. I decided to proceed with the recipe regardless, but lessen the amount of lovage in order to accommodate for its powdered form.

Because the recipe was quite straight-forward and didn't look like it would take too long, I decided to make it while also cooking the sides I would put with it: salmon and veggie rice with bread and butter on the side. For the Roman Honey-Glazed Mushrooms, I first measured out the ingredients and whisked together the honey, fish sauce, and pepper. It created a black sludge that looked absolutely terrible. I cut the small, little mushrooms in half while heating the olive oil in the pan, then threw them in. The mushrooms absorbed the olive oil in no time, so I did have to add a little more in order to make sure they were coated like the recipe says. After a few minutes of tossing them in the oil, I added in the black sludge mixture and turned the heat down a bit, stirring to ensure all mushrooms were covered. I had to cook the mushrooms a bit longer than 5 minutes in order for most of the liquid to evaporate and a nice glaze to form. When the mushrooms were done, the dark colour of the glaze made them look as if they had been cooked in, well... look at the photo and judge for yourself. It ain't pretty. Still, I had hope it would taste better than it looked! I plated the mushooms up with the bread and salmon and veggie rice. Not the most cohesive dinner, but after a long week, it would do.

My experience tasting it:

I tried my first half of mushroom with a little hesitance, based on how it looked. Turns out I had no reason to be hesitant whatsoever - it was very tasty! The fish sauce added a nice saltiness, the lovage a freshness (despite my powdered version), and the pepper a bit of spice. I thought the honey would make the mushrooms overly sweet, like some of the other historical dishes I've made using the ingredient, but I think the honey mainly functioned to make the proper glaze texture, with just a bit of sweetness to balance the other flavours. Like Max, I actually don't normally like mushrooms much. I love their flavour, but find their texture icky. Somehow, the flavours of this dish come together so well that they completely overcome any ick I get from the texture, which, I should add, is the usual texture of cooked mushrooms. It is quite the feat that this recipe has me not only tolerating mushrooms, but wanting to finish all of them! My husband, a huge fan of mushrooms, loved the dish also, and we have decided to incorporate this recipe into our weekday dinner repertoire. It is easy, quick, requires few ingredients, and we both enjoy it. Slam dunk! If you end up making this dish, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!

Roman Honey-Glazed Mushrooms original recipe (1st c.)

Sourced from the De Re Coquinaria of Apicius (1st c.).

Another Method for Mushrooms. Place the chopped stalks in a clean pan, adding pepper, lovage, and a little honey. Mix with garum. Add a little oil.

Modern Recipe

Based on the recipe from De Re Coquinaria of Apicius (1st c.) and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon garum or fish sauce

1/2 lb (225 g) small mushrooms, whatever kind you like

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground long pepper or black pepper

2-3 tablespoons minced fresh lovage or celery leaves

Method:

Whisk the honey and garum together, then whisk in the pepper.

Cut the stems off of the mushrooms (don't throw them away!) and slice each mushroom cap in half.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan (you want it large enough so that the mushrooms can be in a single layer) over medium-high heat.

Add the mushroom caps and stems and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes, making sure that they all get coated with oil.

Add the honey mixture and stir to evenly coat the mushrooms. Sprinkle in the lovage. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and you're left with a lovely glaze, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve them forth, no royal food taster required.

[latalpavolante]

Single Mom's Cozy Apartment

Yeah, I know, another Single Mom build... This time it's a cozy apartment for a young woman and her daughter, who both have sort of a creative streak and love bright, warm colours.

Two Bedrooms - One Bathroom

Apartment: Honeydew Houses, First Floor

Price: ca. § 32,887

Packs: CottageLiving | EcoLifestyle | DiscoverUniversity | CatsAndDogs | CityLiving | GetTogether | GetToWork | Werewolves | Parenthood | Vampires | Paranormal | LaundryDay | BasementTreasures | EverydayClutter

noCC

MoveObjectsOn cheat required

Playtested

The empty version of the apartment building is available on the Sims 4 gallery! I will share the furnished version as soon as all the apartments are finished!

UPDATE 23/12/24: The complete build including this apartment is now available on the gallery. You can also find the tray files linked in this post.

Gallery ID: LaTalpaVolante

You can watch the speed build on my YouTube channel:

Under the cut you can read another way too long backstory for the sims living in this apartment:

Jeannie got pregnant when she was only 17. Although she obviously hadn't planned to be a mom just yet, she decided to keep the baby. Her boyfriend of that time and father of her child however really wasn't interested in being a dad at that young age, and her family, who she already had a difficult relationship with, didn't react well either and instead held it against her that she'd acted too careless and had herself to blame for this situation. So most of the time, Jeannie had to get around on her own.

When her daughter Elsa was a toddler, Jeannie could convince her family to help her move to a better part of the town, and this is how she got the apartment at the old townhouse at Honeydew Fields. Although now she's even more struggling to make ends meet, she feels it's a much better place for Elsa to grow up.

Elsa means everything to her and she'd do anything to ensure she has a good childhood, even if it means working in two jobs and doing double shifts. With the money she saved over the years and her creativity and resourcefulness, she managed to turn their apartment into a cozy, cheerful home. It's a mix of cheap IKEA furniture, second-hand finds and self-built stuff, but Jeannie seems to have a talent for making the best out of what she has to work with; she revamped and customized some of the furniture and combined everything in a way that makes the small space look quite cohesive, and not necessarily like it was furnished on a budget. Also Barty Jenkins, the caretaker, has a soft spot for her and tries to help her where he can.

Elsa, who is about seven years old now, loves her mom a lot and really looks up to her. They share the same interest in creative activities and often spend time together doing diy projects, drawing and crafting. Overall, she's a cheerful and lively child, although lately she feels her mom has changed a little, as she's often distracted and not as light-hearted as she always seemed to be.

Jeannie in fact tries to hide her struggles from Elsa, and doesn't want her to know about their financial problems and to give her anything to worry about. But she can't deny she's been feeling very tired and exhausted lately, and she can't even remember when was the last time she did anything just for herself, if there ever was a time when being overwhelmed wasn't the default state.

So for how much longer will she be able to hide her feelings from her daughter? Should she hide them in the first place? And is there any chance that life will ever get easier for her, and more hopeful?

(Yeah, I kind of feel I should make separate posts for these backstories because they are really getting out of hand... But thank you so much if you read until here!)

[snowblub]

Using the skritchy and fast technique, we come out with this, although skritchy, their lines are always connected in the end, I assume that's so colouring is easier

This is in traditional.

And this is digital, please don't mind the obvious quality difference.

Now, thirdly, We've got anatomy, in the face,the eyes are angled rectangles, the nose is simply a line, with a little shading to make it more fufilled so the brain fills in the details by itself (? The nose is just an impression basically). The mouth depends on the expression but a semi constant is a little line to make the impression of the lower lip. The ears reminds me of hanako-kun just with thinner lines. I think the chest looks like a pentagon, 3d pentagon lessgoo. Extremities are just straight line/rectangles that get details later. Hand are just, nice, but all I can do is claws.

Hair, is skritchy lines, but long, and have baby long lines in them.

Eyes sometimes get definition by erasing an outline around them in colourless pieces.

Here is an example of how I tried to copy it.

Fourthly, we've got shading, I'm going to talk about the colourless type, there's two types here, block shading and cross hatch, I personally like crosshatching so that is what I'm going to focus on, first, before the hatching begins, sometimes theres a line that goes along the thing getting shaded, I believe that is so it looks neater and cleaner, and it is, I found myself having fun doing that same.

...

And at last, since I believe that that drawing was too small, here is a drawing of what I liked about @dadofdisappointment 's and what I know in a (hopefully) cohesive portrait of my persona.

And a digital portrait of a random character because I really wanted to do that solid colour background too

Man, I really liked doing this, this was so fun.

[sergeifyodorov]

your wish is my command! for @puckpocketed

I. Connor Bedard

Each of the players being the suit they were was intentional. The four suits are typically associated with one of the four elements: clubs/fire, diamonds/earth, hearts/water, and spades/air. I didn't try and match those with the teams, just the boys! The sharks may be water but Macklin is an Earth Boy.

Connor being fire was an easy choice - the element of will, passion and creativity. He was also the only player I didn't use a specific image reference for; I watch the Hawks sometimes, so I've seen enough of his face I don't feel like I need a single specific reference to work off, just a general one.

His glove and stick are (mostly) accurate! I tried to put at least a little effort into getting the equipment right - I hate drawing gloves and helmets and stuff, so I thought I'd try and put a little more effort in.

This is my favourite little detail - if you look at the full card, the star halo is accompanied by a thin white outline of a similar star around the Hawks' logo. Combined with the blue pattern, laid out this makes the flag of Chicago.

The pattern on the blue stripes is directly copied from this edition of the Jack of Clubs.

II. Macklin Celebrini

I wanted to make the lines and overlapping centres different between each card. Celebrini was the second one I did after Bedard, so making them look in opposite directions was an easy way to separate them visually.

Diamonds are the suit of Earth, which usually corresponds to the realm of the material and physical - I chose Mack because of the way his upbringing is almost "engineered" and his familial involvement in the industry. All of these suit-player connections were decided ahead of time, so I knew Michkov was Hearts by now. Red and orange kind of look iffy with each other, but they're close enough that you could replace both of them with orange - the Flyers orange and the colour of the eye and stick in the Sharks logo.

This part of the wave in the background was inspired by wood block cuts, specifically the prints in Ursula K Le Guin's original A Wizard of Earthsea book. I love wood blocks!

These were used as reference images for the pose and his face.

III. Matvei Michkov

Matvei's looking in the same direction as Macklin, so I wanted to make his pose stand out in a few ways. First, he has both hands up; second, his stick is in the other hand, and third and most importantly he's wearing the Flyers' away uniform, instead of the home kit that everyone else wears. This is also because the Flyers are one of the few teams for me whose away kits are as good or better than their home ones.

The suit of Hearts is the suit of water - emotion, fluidity, and love. Philly is the City of Brotherly Love, after all, and Matvei is one of those hyper-fluid players offensively. I was debating between making him Fire and Bedard Water, but ultimately I chose Hearts so he and Macklin could both have orange suits instead of one red and one orange - it just looks more cohesive as a set that way.

These were the images I used as references. The left hand is angled up higher in order to fit it on the card. Matvei wears black-palmed gloves and black wristguards, and rolls his sleeves up all the way.

The background decal is meant to look like a distorted Flyer wing, and the halo mimics the squiggle from this Jack of Hearts' diagonal sashes.

IV. Lane Hutson

Lane! He's the only one facing forward, which I honestly hated doing and kind of regret - his face is actually pretty asymmetrical looking at it head-on and the art style I used for the cards is a lot more simplistic and almost cartoony than I usually do, which combined with "first time I'm ever drawing this guy" into a perfect storm of Hell. I'm still a fan of the rest of the card, though!

Lane was the suit of Spades and the suit of Air - intellect, insight and foresight. Defencemen are supposed to be the "thinkers" on the ice, given that they can see the whole play ahead of them and are supposed to be interacting with it.

Mostly used this one as reference.

The flowers in the background are poppies - you can see why I usually stick to drawing people - which have been associated with the Canadiens for a long time. The association with poppies come with the poem In Flanders Fields, a war poem and a piece of Canadian art so iconic that most of us go "yeah, we were supposed to have this mostly memorized in like fifth grade." It was written the year before the Habs' first Cup, and they've used a line from it as a motto all this time.

Hope that breakdown satisfied ^-^ Or you can take up a quarrel with me otherwise

The Next Generation

The jack, traditionally the lowest face card, has often been promoted to a higher or the highest position in the traditional ranking of cards, where the ace or king generally occupied the first rank.

[meganbarkerportfolio]

A collection of horses! I've always really liked My Little Pony, but thought the newer direction, while cute, really doesn't make them look much like actual horses. I decided my project would be to create a line of redesigns from Friendship Is Magic that could reasonably be sold as toys. Horses are incredibly hard to draw, especially their anatomy, so I studied up and did my best. I tried to find a middle ground between realism and oversimplification in this retro-moominish hybrid horse design. I also gave each type of horse their own traits, and added jewels to their marks because I remembered that on the toys a cousin used to have as a child. The pegasus ponies have longer wings and cloud-puff hair, as well as skinnier legs and fluffier ears. Their species marking is a cloud. The unicorn (and alicorn) ponies have regular legs, but their tails are more similar to a zebra in how the hair only begins lower down. Their species marking is a star. The earth ponies are built stockier, with thicker legs and chest fluff. Their species marking is a splatter. It was fun to try and tie in all these cohesive design elements to characters who are very different in personality, but I think I succeeded well enough. If I were to try it again, I might like to rebalance a few colours to make them feel more cohesive standing next to each other.