#i should pixel art again sometime

[crabsnpersimmons]

Do you sketch in pencil or do you just go straight to pen?

thanks for the question! it depends on what i'm drawing!

if i'm just doodling without any plans, i may go straight in with a pen. it's a habit i developed from my school days because i didn't like the feeling of pencil on paper. these are examples of when i just went straight in with pen:

the first two i drew with felt tip pen and ballpoint pen respectively and left the sketch as the lineart. the third one, i sketched with a ballpoint pen, liked it, and decided to clean it up with white out and add cleaner lineart on top.

now, if i know i'm going to draw something complicated or something i know want to clean up later, i'll usually start with a coloured pencil sketch and then... decide if it's a lines first day or colours first day. you'll usually notice some stray sketch lines because i honestly don't care to clean them all up perfectly. Some examples here:

usually, i do lines first because that's what i'm used to. also because getting the lines done gets me closer to a finished drawing (a bad habit of mine is stopping once the lines are done). but recently, i've been being too precious about doing lines, so i decided to switch things up and colour first, which has been helping me to not overthink my lines too much.

#ask the crab #crab art #traditional art #bright colours #basically i just do whatever #i change things up often because like #that's how i beat my art block #by switching things up and catching it off guard #haHA YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD RUIN MY DAY #I'LL COLOUR FIRST THEN #I'VE LEARNED A WHOLE NEW ART MEDIUM TAKE THAT ART BLOCK #ART BLOCK IS DEAD #I PIXEL ART NOW #i should pixel art again sometime

[ekuns]

pixel vtubers

#these are old now but i thought maybe i should put them here anyway ! #laimu #limealicious #rosemi lovelock #nijisanji en #rii doodles #i wanna do more pixel art again sometime soon...

[c00kietin]

….you draw on magma?

And you draw so good…on magma?

…how do I call myself an artist when someone like you exists…

-K

KRANG. DO NOT SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF. I LOVE YOUR ART SO MUCH AND YOU KNOW THAT. LOADS OF US, LOVE YOUR ART, BELIEVE ME. THERE'S A REASON WHY WE HEART YOUR POSTS!!! hugs and headpats for u friend u are an amazing artist okie? <333

I only draw on Magma because it has the best options for me; I prefer drawing on my school laptop because it has a stylus, but I can't download any app like Procreate, etc. The two drawing apps I do have are Fresh Paint and Microsoft Paint, both of which I find hard to work with. There's also 3d paint, but ya know-

So, I find Magma and Pixilart the best to work with :>

#I should do pixel art again sometime- #asks #talking #sorry for all the words lol

[okiedokrie]

High Infidelity

Summary: There are many different ways that you could kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough. So what happens when you find someone who was all too willing to give you thee attention you craved, you said you'd only dip your toes into the idea, and yet, you find yourself already drowning. The novel you've been writing has been in progress for the better half of two years now, your writer's block beating you up, and your husband hasn't shown you any sympathy. Maybe a visit to the art exhibit from this new artist would jog your creativity, but what happens when this new artist offers you more than just relief from your writer's block?

Characters/Pairing(s): Xu Minghao (The8) x F!Reader

Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff

AUs/Trope info: Non-idol!AU, Aged-Up!AU, Right Person (not) Too Late

Word Count: 10.6k

Warnings: Infidelity, very inappropriate conversations with a married woman, afab!reader, wears dresses, lmk if i miss something!! (Smut warnings under the cut)

Rating: 18+

A/N: banner and dividers by @daemour!! tysm!! This is also a rewrite/reupload of my own fic, "High Infidelity" on @pyeonghongrie, yes I reskinned my own fic.

A/N 2: Thanks to @nebulousbrainsoup, @kwanisms, @the-boy-meets-evil, @wooahaeproductions, and @gongiz for beta-reading!

Smut Warnings: tipsy sex (not drunk), vaginal sex, unprotected sex, creampie, nipple stimulation, masturbation, lmk if i missed anything!

The rain soaked into your skin—cold and icy—piercing you painfully. All your personal belongings were strewn all around you, and your soon-to-be ex-husband was angrily slamming the door shut, but you couldn't help but feel relieved.

After all, you were finally free.

"I'm right here, honey, I love you." He whispers into your skin, slowly unbuttoning your shirt, one button at a time. He kisses your skin every time new skin is revealed to both of you, he kisses your skin so delicately as if you'd break at the slightest touch-

"Y/N, you still haven't dealt with the dishes yet." Your husband, Haru, said monotonously just as you were starting to gain momentum in your writing.

You groan, the interruption making you lose focus and motivation to write. You stare at the last word on your document, gaze burning into each pixel as if hoping that this piece would write itself.

Unfortunately, life said, "Fuck you."

With another groan, you rub and pinch the bridge of your nose, a headache starting to settle in as your husband returns to work as if he didn't just cause you a serious inconvenience.

Standing from your comfortable computer chair, you take calm and even strides toward your kitchen, where only a handful of dishes are left in the sink.

And this little shit didn't even bother washing like, what? 8 dishes? He has to be kidding me, men.

You thought to yourself, your inner monologue only making you more irritated. But you wash them in silence, thinking of ways to calm down and clear your head so you have a clean slate to work with to get inspired again.

I think I should visit the gallery again, there's this new artist that I've been following. He's getting pretty popular, maybe I could draw inspiration from his work?

You think maybe this is the best idea you've had since you put bacon bits on mac & cheese.

Taking the time to visit this gorgeous gallery was the correct move.

Xu Minghao is a passionate man, you can see his dedication to his craft in all the pieces in this gallery. He was a mixed media artist, sometimes his work was pops of color on a canvas, others were sculptures made of clay, made with the most delicate of hands, and others were more niche, like the stained glass piece in another part of the gallery.

One thing about Minghao's work is that his subjects are also subjects of passion.

Paintings of a man's devotion to worshiping his lover's skin, a stained glass recreation of The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and his latest masterpiece, simply titled "Passion", a sculpture of a woman in the throes of pleasure, with her lover holding her close to him, no gap between their skin, eternally locked in a passionate embrace.

As a romance writer, this is exactly what you need.

You take in this sculpture, the light of the gallery display emphasizing the delicate attention to detail this piece had, you know the man who made this takes pride in this, his work, skills, and dedication finally being realized.

You stare in awe at this piece for a little over 20 minutes, the more you look at it, the more entranced you become of the mastery of this craft.

You feel a presence beside you, a man around 5'11", slightly muscular build, in a turtleneck with glasses sitting delicately on his nose. He has a peculiar hairstyle, a mullet to be exact, and the most gorgeous face you've ever laid your eyes on.

"I see you like this piece in particular," He started, hands in his trouser pockets while smiling fondly at the piece, "'Passion' was a difficult piece for me to finish, ironically enough, I got bored of it quite easily." He continues, turning to face you.

"I'm Minghao, by the way, Xu Minghao. If you haven't already figured it out." He takes a hand out of his pocket, extending it towards you.

"Oh, I'm Y/N, Park Y/N. It's a pleasure to meet you, Minghao. Your exhibit is astounding, I love your dedication to your work." You take his hand to shake it,

He chuckles at the compliment, "Oh please, save your praise, I know that name from anywhere. I love your latest work, that book was what inspired this entire collection, to begin with."

You gawk at him, oh my god, he reads smut. My smut.

"Oh my, what an honor! I'm glad you also enjoy my work." You receive the compliment gracefully, "Although, I do want to hear more about why you got bored of this piece in particular, such a wonder to the arts community, surely you aren't downplaying your work?"

He smiles, perfect teeth on display, you swear you’ve never looked at a man like this in your life. You were down bad for his smile.

"I'm not saying I think it's bad, I just got bored of the creative process." He explains, "Although I do want to continue adding to this collection, perhaps we can go and get drinks together? Exchange ideas?" he offers.

You ponder on this for a bit. Going out to drinks with a budding friend wouldn't hurt, right?

"Could I give you my number? Let's set aside a day to chat. I have to get home to my husband before it gets too late."

A smirk came into his face, something dark about a seemingly insignificant change in his expression, “Of course, I look forward to our time together.”

The mug in your hands warmed your palms, and your focus was fixated on the man in front of you. He talked about another piece of his, titled “Longing”; it was heavily inspired by his desire to find someone who shares the same passion as him, the longing to hold someone in a way that nobody else could, intimacy in its purest form.

“It sounds a bit pathetic, I’m known for my work in the art of passion and, to put it simply, sex; but I haven’t been able to find the company of a lover myself. Perhaps that’s just the consequence of being a hopeless romantic. Then again, you wouldn’t know the feeling of being lonely, I assume.” He said calmly, a small chuckle ending his tangent.

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” You look into the mug in your hands, your reflection swirling in the tea. Your face looks back at you, eyes sunken in and sad, “To put it nicely… my husband robs me of solitude, but fails to offer me company.” You shouldn’t be talking about Haru like this. Your husband works many hours, tirelessly providing you with the house and connections for you to pursue a career in writing. But that wasn’t the reason why your anxiety was swirling in your stomach.

Looking back up at Minghao, the same dark expression sits on his face, a minuscule smirk, barely there even if you squint, “Well, we’re friends now, aren’t we? I could keep you company.”

That. That was a quality of his that you noticed fairly early on. You can never read his true intentions, suggestive prose with just enough deniability to gracefully reject him without the conversation becoming inappropriate.

But your anxiety wasn’t caused by that, no, it was caused by the fact that you didn’t want to reject him.

“I’d like that, Maybe we could head to a bar and get drinks there too? My husband won’t be back for a few months because of a business trip in a few weeks. I could use the company.” You say, looking at him through your lashes; he knows his effect on you, and the mental gymnastics that both of you play over the table was just appropriate enough that to anyone listening, it’s just two friends agreeing to get drinks sometime in the future.

But to both of you, well, only the two of you know what’ll happen once the sun goes down.

“Of course, my schedule is free for the rest of the month. Be sure to think of me if you need company.” He offers you a soft smile, directly contrasting how intensely he’s making eye contact with you. The way he’s looking into your eyes makes you feel vulnerable like he’s directly using them as windows into your head. You’re half-convinced he could read your mind, if he could, he’s a master at hiding it.

You haven’t learned much about him, but from what you do know, you can never take his words at surface level, much less his actions. The way he’s leaning over the table, elbows on the surface, and his shoulders relaxed. His closing the distance, even if just by a hair, and the way his posture suggested the epitome of familiarity, shook you to your core.

His presence is almost suffocating, his dominance over your mind silencing whatever protest his suggestions may have created. You nod dumbly, “Of course, be warned though, I think of you a lot.” This causes his smile to relax into a smirk, the kind that could pass off as a smile if you don’t think too hard about it.

“I’m glad to hear that. I think about you a lot too.” He says picking up his cup of tea, “So much that a collection was born from the thought of you.” He takes a sip from the cup in his hands, eyes meeting yours over the rim of the cup, the way he holds eye contact with you always makes goosebumps litter your skin, the cup hiding the growing smirk on his face, silently enjoying his effect on you.

“Ah, speaking of the collection,” He started again, after setting the cup down, “Would you do me the honor of visiting my studio sometime? I’ll text you the address right now, you can come by at any time if you’re interested.” Taking his phone out from his pocket, feeling your phone vibrate in your pocket, you pick it up. The small device, usually light, feels like a heavy weight on your palm.

Opening your messages, you see that Minghao already sent the address, a building about 20 minutes from the cafe you’re in right now. “Lovely, could I trouble you to pick me up when I decide to visit?” You ask,

“Of course,” He replies, a gentle smile stretches across his face, “I’d love nothing more than to see you more often.”

The first time you entered Minghao’s studio, it felt like a dream. The studio wasn’t small by any means, the place was neat, neater than what you imagined any artist studio would look like. “Make yourself at home, I’ll brew some tea for us,” Minghao said as he took both your coats. Hanging the heavy fabrics on his coat rack, he gently guides you to the couches with a hand on your back, the light touch helping to ground you in this new environment.

He shoots you a quick smile before turning his back to you, setting his electric kettle to boil the water at the perfect temperature for tea. He rummages through his extensive tea set collection, settling on a simple white ceramic set with wooden handles. His eyes meet yours briefly, taking note of how you watch his every movement with care and curiosity, the way you were fascinated with the way his hand veins jumped every time he set a piece of the tea set down.

The kettle finishes boiling, he finally sets it down next to the tea set. “I want to introduce you to this teacake that my friend from home sent me,” He pulls out a teacake about the size of his head from the drawer under the table, wrapped in a slightly stained paper. He carefully unwraps it to show you the rich brown of the aged tea leaves, “This is a 15-year-old aged pu’er, I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, so I’d like to try this with you.”

“What an honor, I read from a recent interview that you were waiting for a good day to taste that right?” You ask, trying to gauge his reaction, if he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it,

“Of course, making a new friend is a special occasion, isn’t it? I’d consider that a good day.” He replies cooly, taking a tea knife and carving out a piece of tea to steep for a second, you watch as he delicately handles the porcelain set, the control in his movements reminding you of his mastery in sculpting, “You know, making tea is much like cultivating a new relationship,” he starts as he stands up to take the kettle off the stand.

“You carefully carve out your leaves, boil your water to the perfect temperature to bloom them, and steep the leaves a few seconds at a time.” You see him pour the water over the tea leaves, dried blades blooming like flowers under the delicate stream. “Each steep of tea is different, starting from the bloom until the flavor develops; and only then will you appreciate the true complexities of what tea has to offer.”

A small smile grows on your face as you watch him pour the first bloom onto his tea pets, “If my assessment is correct, you’re trying to correlate the developing flavors of tea with how our relationship is progressing?” He nods, confirming your hypothesis, “Then, I’ll ask you a question, which steep are we on?” you say with a cheeky smile.

Minhao grins at this, eyes almost disappearing with how wide his smile was, “Literally? The second steep.” He says as he pours more water over the leaves, you let out a chuckle at his little joke, “Figuratively? The fifth.”

You tilt your head a bit, “The fifth? I didn’t realize we were already at that stage.” you say as you accept his offer of a teacup.

He chuckles, “Well, I don’t just share my most expensive teas with anyone, so I might as well share it with one of the most brilliant minds I know.” he said while bringing the cup to his lips, sipping the drink carefully while making eye contact with you over the rim, winking playfully.

You raise your cup as well, the rising steam not being the only reason for your flushed face, you grin against the rim of your cup, savoring the rich and deep aroma of the high-quality tea.

After a while of banter and small talk, you finish your tea, setting down your cup gently on his expensive-feeling coffee table, he stands from his seat, “Could I show you something?” he said, holding his hand out to you. You place your palm on his, the warmth from his hand seeping into your skin. The touch was negligible, simple, even, but the contact with his skin sent electricity through you, like a violent jolt of excitement.

Minghao notices this and smirks, feeling pride swell up in his chest as he pulls you up from the couch, leading you to the other side of the room with a hand on the small of your back. He finally stops in front of a large canvas, laid across what looks like a bare-bones bed frame. You turn to him, curiosity growing on the expression of your face.

“What’s this? This looks fairly new, the paint on the frame still seems wet.” You ask, eyes raking over the splotches of color seemingly placed without much thought or care, it looked like the aftermath of a messy and angry paint spill.

“It is new,” Minghao starts, “I’m trying a new technique where I release frustrations by getting whatever paint catches my eye and throwing cups of it without much thought.” He shrugs, nothing particularly of note, but you do notice the amount of emotion that is in the piece.

“It’s not an elegant piece, but for a collection centered around passion I find it missing raw emotion.” He runs his hand through his face, frustration taking over his features, something you noticed early on was his emotions were closely tied to whatever art was around him, it seems as though the frustration in this one was affecting him at this moment.

“Yes, the human form and sex are great subjects, but pure, raw emotion is hard to capture.” He mumbled, eyebrows furrowing. “So, that’s why I invited you here. Tell me, as someone who’s written longing, despair, and everything in between. How does this make you feel?”

You pause and take in his words, turning back to the canvas and trying to soak in the colors, the shapes, and the emotion behind this piece. Yes, frustration is here. Yes, anger is here. But how does it make you feel?

“It makes me feel like I’m missing out on something.” You say simply, your stomach sinking just thinking about what that might entail. Minghao has a genuine look of shock for the first time since you’ve met him. His head tilted to give his attention to you fully.

“Really? Interesting. That’s the first time I heard that about this piece specifically.” He said with a lopsided grin, seemingly getting a new stroke of genius with your answer. He looks back at the canvas too, shoulders shaking from his restricted laughs. Your answer seemed to entertain him a lot. That much you can figure out, but you can never be sure what goes on in the mind of Xu Minghao.

Just then, your phone starts to ring, you only know one person who would call you at this hour—your Husband. You watch as the expression on Minghao’s face falls, face contorting into something short of a scowl for a split second before settling on his usual cool neutral expression. It was so quick that you barely missed the change, it happened so quickly that you decided it was all in your imagination as you ran to answer the phone.

You pick up the phone, “Hi honey-” You were cut off by your husband speaking,

“Get home, it’s getting late and you haven’t started dinner yet.” He said simply, before promptly dropping the call.

You stand there, the line going dead as you try to hold back tears. You take a deep breath, too afraid to show your face to Minghao in case tears were about to fall from your face. Grabbing your coat, you turn to face the door.

“Thank you for inviting me over, I have to get home now,” you said, your voice a little shaky, as you roughly opened the door.

You were out of his sight as Minghao stood alone in his studio, pondering. As silence took over the space, a dark smirk on his face.

'How long before you break?' he wonders.

The next time you and Minghao meet, you’re sitting on a park bench watching the autumn leaves dance to the silent song in the wind. You’re pulled out of your thoughts when you hear leaves crunch beside you, seeing the tail of Minghao’s long coat swaying in the wind.

He sees you, a smile spreading across his face, his long hair almost covering his face. His fast-paced walking makes the leaves crunch under his weight rhythmically. You think that he looks beautiful under the soft brightness of the autumn morning, only ever seeing him in the harsh rays of high noon or the constant humming of fluorescent lights.

You feel the heat radiating off his body through your and his coats as he sits next to you on the park bench. “Beautiful morning, the view is exquisite.” He says, looking directly at you. You giggle at this, he’s always been such a charmer ever since you met him. You peel the notebook from your lap, “I’m no artist, but the park is too gorgeous this time of year to not at least try to capture on paper.” you say as you open it to show him a relatively crude sketch of the scenery.

“Oh? This feels like a threat to my career.” He says with a chuckle, “But, genuinely, this is an amazing sketch. Are you sure you aren’t an artist?” You think you could get used to how relaxed you were around Minghao, conversations with him flowed so easily, it reminds you of the times your husband used to be invested in you as a person. Perhaps it was easier to compare the thrill of meeting a new person with feeling the start of a romantic spark, it was a dangerous game to play with him.

“No, I’m not, but I can appreciate a masterpiece when I see one.” You say, this time looking at him. He notices this and laughs at the fact that his joke is being used against him. He closes the notebook, handing it to you to put in your tote bag.

“The weather is perfect for a walk, care to join me?” He said, offering his hand for you to take. You accept the offer, the warmth of his palm being something to ground you on such a dreamy morning. Leaves crunch under both your weights in synch, your hand moves from his to hold onto his arm, and you try not to notice the lean muscle of it or the steady and secure way he guides you through the path.

You breathe in the autumn chill, enjoying the comfortable silence that followed the quiet whistle of the wind. “Your book,” Minghao said, his silky voice cutting through the silence effortlessly, “The one that inspired the collection, I’ve been following your publisher’s updates on the series, and I was wondering if you'd be able to share your progress on the second book?”

“Ah, about that.” You grimace, and you shake your head, quelling the urge to complain about your husband’s lack of sympathy for your predicament. “Maybe I’ll tell you another time, it’s not something I can talk about at the moment.”

Before you can correct the old man, Minghao speaks up, “Of course, could I take three of these?” He said, pointing at the basket of Jonquils.

He hums, luckily, Minghao was never the type to pry, “I get it, ever the tortured poet you are.” he said in a joking tone, you let out a chortle at this, agreeing that you may or may not be one.

Both of you are stopped by a flower vendor, “You both are a lovely pair,” The old man starts, as he turns to Minghao, he asks, “Could I interest you in some flowers? I’m sure your lady would appreciate them.” He smiles.

“Of course, you’re in luck too, these are the last off-season flowers I had in my greenhouse.” the old man said as his nimble fingers wrapped the flowers in some yellow tissue paper.

“I'm really lucky indeed.” He agreed while looking at you, your cheeks warming up at the implication. Minghao accepts the flowers and happily pays for them, gracefully handing the bundle to you.

Holding onto the stems, your fingertips graze over the delicate petals of the bright yellow flowers. “Thank you Minghao, they're beautiful.”

He smiles at the way you look at the flowers fondly, simply adoring the way your face lit up; literally, the yellow from the flowers reflected off your face and gave it a yellow hue.

“Shall we continue to walk?” He asks, offering his arm for you to hold again, you hold onto it, the flowers in your other hand. And you let the silence take over again.

Before you knew it, you've spent the entire day laughing and talking with Minghao, only stopping at several vendors for food and other trinkets, feeding the ducks berries, and watching the fish in the pond.

But the day has to end at some point.

You regretfully leave Minghao at the train station, waving goodbye through the glass of the train doors as you watch his figure get smaller and smaller.

Arriving home, you try to find a vase to put your flowers in, setting it down on the kitchen counter, your husband walks in and sees them.

“They're ugly, don't put them anywhere where I could see them.”

He said coldly, you try your best not to scoff at him, still searching for a vacant vase.

Finally finding one, you decide to place the flower vase on the windowsill of your office, the bright flowers contrasting everything else in the room, the dark and neutral furniture your husband got for you.

You jolt, realizing you're comparing your husband to another man.

You expected guilt to eat you up at the realization, but really, you couldn't find a reason to keep defending Haru.

“Could you come over to the studio later tonight? I don't think I should be alone.”

This text from Minghao worried you a bit, you've been spending a lot of time with him recently, you met him 6 more times after he got you flowers at the park, and you never noticed that he could deal with something so sinister.

Of course, you agree to come, your closest confidant in your adult life needs you right now. You wait for your husband to fall asleep in his office, again, before you leave the house, walking to the end of the block before calling a cab.

Arriving at his studio, you already knew the code, punching in the numbers 150526 on the smart lock, the studio opens with a click.

You take cautious steps into the studio, seeing the silhouette of a man on the couch, his back towards the door, nursing what you assume is a wine glass in his hand.

He turns his head to face the door, “You came.” He said, with relief in his voice, a little slurred from the alcohol you assume.

“You called.” You replied. Shrugging off your coat to hang, you join him on the couch. He looked a lot more disheveled compared to the usual clean and put-together Minghao that you know.

His hair is slicked back, some pieces of hair falling onto his face, his tie loosened, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his collarbones and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. And glasses resting lowly on his nose.

You look at his face, and you notice dark circles around his eyes.

“Drink, and stay with me. Please.” He asks, no, almost begs you. You don't have the heart to decline. He pours you your glass and you both toast your glasses together.

You take the normal sip and he downs the rest of his, taking in a deep breath as if to steady himself. “Y/N, there's something I need to tell you.”

Your stomach drops at this, anxiety filling the pit of it as you nervously wait for the rest of what he has to say.

“I think I'm in love with-” he pauses, “someone I shouldn't be in love with.” He finishes, leaning forward to pour himself another glass of wine.

Your face falls only slightly, a minuscule change in expression that neither you nor Minghao catch. You cross your hands over your lap as soon as you realize your silence.

“Why can't you be in love with them?” You ask. Your head tilts as you take another sip of your wine. He hums, a smile graces his lips, but it doesn't seem to reach his eyes.

“They refuse to be vulnerable with me, opening up throughout our time together then closing back in the next time I see them.” He says with some fondness, “Also, they're married to someone else.”

“You probably should've led with that.” You mumble lowly, “I see, I know that all too well, wanting someone you can't have, someone so close yet so far. It's suffocating, especially when you haven't felt like yourself in so long, and then this person comes around and gives color back to your sad, gray, life. It's cruel, actually.”

You realize you've been rambling, turning to meet Minghao's eyes, you notice an emotion swirling behind them, something bittersweet, a realization that may change the course of your relationship.

“Anyway, how did you end up falling for them in the first place?” You ask in an attempt to bring the conversation back to him,

“Well, at first it was just a cure for boredom, I saw how receptive they were to my advances and I thought their marriage served as a fun, harmless challenge for me. But I got to know them, spend time with them, I got to witness the color come back into their face and I couldn't help but find it beautiful. That fact that I did that, bring color back into their face, slowly becoming someone again. The moment I saw their face light up with a simple gift I knew I was down, down bad.”

You hum, thinking the person Minghao was talking about is one of the luckiest people in the world right now. To be loved by him was like witnessing Orpheus’ choiceless grief that drove him to save his lover from the underworld, it was like feeling the devotee's dread-filled need to turn around, it was like experiencing the immediate forgiveness of Eurydice.

You wanted to be loved by him.

You both continue to chat and drink, and it isn't long before the two of you finish your second bottle of wine, Minghao offers to pay for your cab home, and he decides he's going to sleep in his studio.

You reflect on the events of that night as you slip into the cold covers of your marital bed, your husband’s side tidy as it was for the past month.

You run your hand over the pristine and cold sheet, imagining someone else filling its space on your bed, as he does your heart.

Minghao added a new piece to his collection, his gallery is still a work in progress and you walk through familiar doors. The very same statue you were entranced by still sits by the entrance, and you see a very familiar figure standing in front of it.

“I feel like this already happened before.” You said cheekily, he snorts at this, handing you a paper bag with tissue paper peeking from the top.

“Maybe this happened before in a dream, maybe we were destined to meet under the judgemental fluorescent lights.” He jokes as you feel the weight of the bag on your fingers.

“What's in the bag, Hao?” You ask cautiously, mischief flashing on his face before he fully turns his body to you, giving you his full attention.

“It's something you might like, maybe.” He said, his confidence faltering toward the end of his sentence. Tucking his hands into his trouser pockets, he eagerly waits for you to open the semi-heavy bag.

You carefully move the paper to the side of the bag, seeing white porcelain peaking back at you, you whip your head with with your face showing an expression of surprise. Minghao smiles, enjoying your reaction to his gift.

“You got me a tea set? That's so thoughtful, thank you.” You say with a smile, inspecting the frog patterns in the glaze.

“You mentioned your husband is leaving for a business trip soon, so I figured you'd like a set so we can have tea at your place. I'll even bring you a teacake to keep.” He said as he pulled a hand out of his trousers, fixing a stray hair that fell from your up-do.

“It's perfect, thank you.” You said, looking up at him, a smile still on your face.

“Do you want to walk around the gallery with me? I added a few pieces since then, and I'd like to talk about them.” he said, offering his arm. You wrap another hand around him, the familiarity of his arm under your palm giving you a sense of calm.

You spent the rest of the day walking around the gallery and chatting, other gallery-goers openly gawked at Minghao. It was obvious, really, the artist is here in the flesh, and he's gorgeous.

Minghao stopped to entertain other guests too, seeing him in his element made pride swell in your chest. His work, and by extension him, is finally being recognized by more people in the community. His hard work and dedication paid off handsomely.

Stopping in front of a mural, you noticed it was a replica of a really old painting. A painting of Ares and Aphrodite getting caught by Hephestus.

“Oof, poor bastards.” You joke, Minghao found this funny too, chuckling with you.

“It’s almost comical how this painting compelled me. I don't know what drove me to recreate the thing as a whole mural, but we both know I'm a little crazy.” He says with a playful groan, you try to hold back a loud laugh by giggling into your palm.

“Well, dear Xu Minghao, everyone knows crazy people are geniuses.” squeezing his arm, you check out the side of his face. His side profile was so sharp and soft at the same time, the dichotomy of his features was an easy subject to study. He's a gorgeous man, too gorgeous for his own good you think.

You both sat down on the bench in front of the mural to chat, and before you knew it, enough time has passed that the gallery was about to close.

Minghao calls a cab for you, and you arrive home in-tact, but not safe.

“Y/n, where have you been running off to these past few weeks?” Your husband questioned you as soon as you entered your home. Your mood instantly dropped, feeling the weight of your actions all at once.

“I'm hanging out with a friend, and it's really not that deep. It's not like I've neglected house work at all. So you should have a reason to care.” You snap back, a little too much for such a simple query. Your husband rises from his seat, cupping your face with a gentle hand for the first time in a long time.

“You’re my wife, of course it's my concern.” He said, just as he was about to make you fall for him again, he said, “We haven't been intimate in a long time, I'm leaving in a few days, so I want to make love to you before I go.”

Ah, there it was. He only ever shows affection for you when he's asking for sex nowadays.

You nod, what followed was unfulfilling and unsatisfying sex. Missionary, a few pumps just to get him off, and he didn't even kiss you.

And obviously, he didn't make you cum.

Your husband is fast asleep in your bed for the first time in months, and yet you can't find it in yourself to be happy about it.

You take out your trusty friend, egg.

The jolts to life with steady vibrations as you press the toy to your clit, relaxing into the sheets as you imagine a pair of calloused hands roaming the plane of your skin.

Controlled pressure and technique only a sculptor could have, his hair falling over his face, and his eyes holding you gaze as if you gave him everything he could ever want by simply existing.

He looks at you like you hung each star in the sky just for him, just so he could watch your skin bathed in moonlight, twinkling like the most precious diamond he could ever have.

This man isn't your husband, It was Minghao.

Your orgasm came unexpectedly, the realization that you were fantasizing about him snapped you back into reality so violently that you ruined your own orgasm.

You huff as you tuck the toy back into its drawer, pulling up the covers to try and sleep off the guilt.

Your husband left for his business trip a few days ago, and you made preparations for your first guest in a while. You finally set up the tea set when you heard a knock at your door, springing up, you head towards the door to look through the peephole, you see Minghao dressed a little more casually, a cap on his head and a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

You swiftly unlock the door for him, he smiles upon seeing you, tipping his cap, he says, “Good evening, it's a pleasure to finally be invited into your home.” You greet him back, stepping to the side to let him enter. As he does, he takes his cap off to let his hair fall onto his face again.

He offers you the flowers and you take them, “I'll go find a vase for these, make yourself at home, dinner is still cooking in the oven.” You said as you turned back to find another vase.

After finding one and setting the flowers in your office again, you find Minghao setting a record on your turntable, a slow tune plays through the air, instantly making the room feel calmer and homey.

“I didn't pin you as the type to have such an extensive vinyl collection, you have good taste too.” He said, swaying to the music by shifting his weight from one leg to another.

“I didn't feel the need to mention it considering I haven't touched those in a while. My husband hates them.” You say solemnly.

“Well, he isn't here now. Let's enjoy the music,” he said, holding his hand out for you to take, “Dance with me?”

You smile as you take his hand, he suddenly pulls you towards him and you land on his chest, his arms wrapping around you securely as you sway to the calm of the music.

You think to yourself, This is nice, this is safe. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be married to Minghao instead.

You turn your head and press your ear to his chest, hear him breathe slowly, his heart beating rhythmically. This is the first time you were ever this close to him, practically holding him in a loving embrace.

His woody cologne almost distracts you, so seductive and masculine and you almost reach up to cup his face, to kiss him. Before you realize that he isn't your husband.

You're both snapped out of your little bubble when the oven dings, signaling that dinner is ready. You break away from him, already missing his warmth as you set the dining table, one that hasn't been used in a while.

You eat dinner with him, talking about your days and how work has been. It's a welcome change of pace from your husband’s tolerance of your presence. You didn't have to beg Minghao for footnotes on his life, you didn't feel like you're taking up too much of his space or time.

It's safe, secure. It feels like you're being celebrated for existing.

You dwell on this feeling long after Minghao heads home, your stomach and heart full. As you slip into the covers you wonder what it'll feel like to hold him under them, for him to kiss the crown of your head and whisper the three words you desperately wanted to hear again.

You fall asleep with the fantasy that when you wake up, he'll be right next to you.

Minghao invited you downtown this time, various pop-up stores of luxury brands recently opened and he just secured a sale of a really expensive painting; so of course, what better way to spend that money than taking a shopping trip with his closest friend.

“This would look amazing on you.” He said while taking out a dress, it's a color that compliments your hair and skin wonderfully. Minghao always knew how to dress.

“Oh, I'm inclined to agree, but I'm not willing to look at the price tag for that one.” You joke, shrugging as you follow him around the store.

“Nonsense, I'm offering to pay.” He said, turning his nose up. “I'm getting this for you, I'll ask the salesperson for more sizes so you can try them on.” He said, turning to the salesperson doing just that.

The salesperson nods enthusiastically, bringing the dresses to the dressing rooms and ushering you in despite your protests. Minghao only smiles in amusement as the curtain hides your figure, he sits on the bench near the dressing rooms in silence, scrolling through Instagram on his phone.

He hears the curtains roll open, it only takes a moment of him looking at you in the dress to take his breath away. It fits you perfectly, hugging your body deliciously. Minghao almost drops his phone onto his lap, his grip loosening, star-struck by your beauty.

“How does it look?” You ask, awkwardly fiddling with the expensive fabric of the dress, feeling a little too expensive to be on your body.

Minghao wordlessly stands from the bench, looking a little dazed, he turns to the salesperson and tells them, “We're getting the dress.” As he walks toward the cashier almost in a trance.

You're a little taken aback by his reaction, but nonetheless you change back into your regular clothes. As soon as you walk out of the dressing room Minghao Pushes you back in with more dresses.

“Please try these on.” He says, not having the strength to look you in the eyes. You comply.

It took you hours of trying on dresses and accessories to the point that you almost bought the store out. Minghao couldn't get enough of the mini-fashion show you were putting on for him, and it's not like the salespeople are complaining either.

You walk out of the first store with multiple bags in hand, you thought that was enough shopping for the whole year maybe, but no, Minghao pulls you into another store, and another, and another, all leaving with bags (multiple) of clothes.

It got so bad to the point that Minghao had to leave your bags in his car so you could free up your hands to buy more stuff.

You stopped trying to fathom the amount of money Minghao was spending on you, yes, he did buy items for himself too, but he looked much more satisfied to provide for you rather than procuring items for himself.

The car ride back home was filled with way too many ‘are you sure's and ‘you really didn't have to's. But Minghao was insistent on you keeping all the items he got for you.

“I'm being serious, you're a gorgeous woman, you deserve to be spoiled like a queen.” he said, turning to you while waiting at a red light, “You need to visit my studio in the clothes I got you, you'll fit right in with my paintings.” He smiles.

Your face flushes at his compliments, a bright and happy smile stretching across your face. You couldn't remember the last time you were this happy with someone. To find joy in the company of another felt liberating, you felt like you deserved this.

Minghao drops you off at your place with your new clothes, helping you get them into your living room like a true gentleman.

“I'll see you next time, Y/n.” He said stopping at your doorstep, annd leaning down to press a kiss on the crown of your head, he took note of what your shampoo smelled like and left. Leaving you awestruck in your doorway as you watch his car drive off.

This studio has become so familiar to you, like a second home almost. Punching in the code was muscle memory at this point, the smell of drying paint and clay becoming a calming scent.

You smooth over the front of your dress, one that Minghao got you, as you enter his studio again. Shrugging off your heavier coat, the beginning of winter creeps closer as the trees lose the last of their leaves.

Minghao just got out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on his paint-stained shirt and apron. He looks at you, the dress, the way it fits on you. And he smiles widely.

“Hey there gorgeous, what are you doing all the way there? You should be over there with the rest of the art.” He says cheekily.

You giggle as you enter the space more, stopping in front of him taking his extended hand and following it, giving him a twirl.

He simply adores the way the fabric flows and shapes around your curves and contours, your skin practically glowing with life.

He fights the urge to kiss you, succeeding for now.

He guides you onto the couch, a turntable sitting next to his stone tea tray on the coffee table. ”Oh? This is new.” You said when you noticed it.

“Oh that? I got it for when you come over. I got a few records too, if you'd like to make yourself comfortable while I brew us some tea.” He said, untying his apron to hang on an easel, turning his back to you and he started preparing tea like before.

His movements and practiced, you'd guess this tea ceremony is second nature to him, considering he always talks about it. This scene is safe, familiar, it's comfortable.

He does this whole song and dance again, you've seen him do this over and over again but you can't seem to get sick of it. It's like you're giving yourself excuses just to keep seeing him.

But they don't feel like excuses, not at all, they're just more reasons why you feel deeply, and so quickly for Minghao.

Again, the both of you talk about everything and anything under the sun, him walking you through all his latest pieces, him plans for new ones creativity vibrating through ever cell in his body.

You imagine him talking so passionately about the future, maybe even a future with you.

Before you could realize what you were doing, you’re holding onto Minghao’s shoulders for support,

and you lean up to kiss him.

Minghao fights the urge to kiss back, he fails.

His hands come up to cup the back of your head tilting his head to deepen the kiss, pouring all his emotions into the simple, gesture of affection.

Your head was spinning, dizzy from his cologne and the wind getting knocked from your lungs as soon as your lips met his. It was electrifying, finally feeling the warmth of his body pressed so close, yet so far from yours.

Oh, you wanted him, so, so badly.

He pulls away first, heaving from the intensity of the kiss, eyes in a daze. Meeting your eyes again, he couldn’t help but lean in for another kiss.

This time he's really pressing into you seemingly drunk off of the feeling of his lips meeting yours. He's just a man at the end of the day, a weak, weak man in the face of paradise.

He came back to his senses once he felt the cool metal of your wedding ring on his neck. Jolting back, he pushed your shoulders back, creating a significant distance between the two of you.

“I, I think you should leave.” He said turning to hide in his studio bathroom to collect his thoughts.

You stood there puzzled, did he not feel the same way you did? But why did he kiss you, twice? Something isn't adding up.

But moreover, you can't ignore the painful sting this rejection gave you. You wanted him, did he not want you? What was the point of trying so hard to make you fall for him when he just decided to back down when he finally had you?

You gather your belongings and leave the studio, the door clicking to lock behind you. The ride back was suffocating, it felt like you left a part of yourself in that studio with Minghao. And you fear that this may be the last time you see him.

You haven’t spoken to Minghao in the weeks following the kiss, your nerves on fire every time you remember how his pillow lips felt so right on yours.

You're standing in front of the mural. The one where Hephestus caught Aphrodite, his wife, and Hephestus, her lover, having an affair and having sex on their marital bed.

It's funny, looking at this mural. You spent your last weeks wandering his gallery, searching for his shadow, but he always seems to evade you so easily. He's marked you like a bloodstain on a pristine white dress, lingering like fog on a cold autumn day.

Winter is still young, yet you feel cold. So, so cold.

As if your most desperate prayers were heard, Minghao practically materializes next to you.

“Hi. I'm sorry I wasn't able to speak to you for the past few weeks. I'm a coward, a fool to run from you.” He said, both of you looking at the mural and not at each other.

Silence follows, you couldn't look at him, you couldn't speak to him. “Y/n I-”

“This isn't the place to talk about this.” You said coldly.

Minghao flinches a bit, not used to how icy your voice was. It usually greets him so warmly, so lovingly.

“Let's go out to drink, there's a bar that's walking distance from here, if you'd like go go with me. I have too many things to say to you, too many thoughts left unsaid. You deserve to hear them, at least.” He said, remorseful.

You really couldn't find it in yourself to stay mad at him. So you agree to walk with him.

The walk to the bar is silent, unlike your previous walks. You're so far from him, you even refused to hold onto his arm like you usually do.

It's early winter yet Minghao is sweating bullets, he's almost vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass. His nerves are all over the place, he's acting so out of character, nothing like the calm, cool, collected Minghao you've come to know over the past few months.

He takes a deep breathe before you both enter the bar.

A few drinks in and you’re already tipsy, “You know- hic- my husband is being a dick to me.” You drunkenly slurred, “This novel I’ve been writing for over two years now is fucking me in the ass- I- I want to finish it so desperately but all he does is sucks the soul out of me. He’s a giant pain in the ass-!”

Minghao snorts at this, loudly talking over the music of the bar, “Your husband is a fucking dick! Your work is amazing. If I were him, I would do anything to help you get rid of that writer’s block, you know, inspire you.” He tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

“You’d do that?” You ask, clinging onto his arm, “Thank youuuu hao bear~ you’re the best-!” You giggle into his arm, your weight pressing against his side. You’ve only known him for three months at this point, but his ideas and influence on your work improved your writing and motivation drastically.

“Hao bear? That’s new, you’ve only known me for- what? 3 months? You’re already calling me nicknames!” He holds the back of your head gently, pressing his forehead onto yours, “I should give you a nickname too… Starlight, how does that sound?” At this point, you tune out every other sound other than the sound of his voice and the pounding of your heart.

This man had you in a chokehold the moment you met him, you were fucking doomed from the start.

“Starlight? Yeah, I like it more than a little bit.” You say softly, your words almost getting lost in the noise of the bar.

“Let’s move to somewhere quieter, yeah? Tell me more about your work. We can head to my place to settle down for a bit.” There it is, the same dark, barely there smirk that plagues your stomach with butterflies.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Arriving at Minghao’s place, you take a quick look around his apartment. Everywhere you look is a pop of color, bold splotches of vibrant hues making the place look like it was pulled straight out of the 80s, “Hao, your place is amazing, the furniture brings me so much joy~” You giggle a bit, sitting down at the plush red velvet couch shaped like a seashell.

“Thanks! Most of the furniture is thrifted from retro thrift stores, I like this style more. It brings so much personality to the space.” He passionately talks about them, “Do you want anything to drink? I have water, juice, and beer here.” He says, rummaging through his fridge.

“Oh, just water, please.” You say you have a feeling that you need to at least sober up for whatever the night brings.

He takes two glasses of water and places them down on the coffee table. It’s the only piece in the entire house that is a neutral color, a fine hardwood. You couldn’t tell what it was at a glance, not that it was important anyway.

“So, let’s talk about this book that you’ve been struggling to write now. Could you tell me what it’s about?” He asks, taking a swig of his water, you stare at his side profile while he does, sharp yet delicate features, his Adam’s apple bobbing from his drink.

Bro’s so majestic.

“Well, it’s about an artist who’s losing passion for his work, told from the perspective of his lover. It’s a spicy romance, with, in my opinion, a correct amount of sex scenes-”

“Give me a percentage of how much of it is smut.” Minghao interrupts you,

“Like… 75 percent?” He snorts at this, “Anyway, I’ve been stuck on the last spicy scene of the book, the climax, pun not intended,” You take a swig of your water, “I mean, it’s not like I don’t have experience writing that sort of thing, or lack experience in sex either, but my sex life’s been such a drag with my husband being gone for long periods and-”

Minghao interrupts you again, “And he doesn’t fuck you right, does he?”

The forwardness of his words made you freeze, you contemplated whether to reject him here, to tell him it wasn’t appropriate to talk about this with you, especially about your husband. You know how Minghao looks at you. It wasn’t a secret to anyone that he wanted you, but he never acted in any inappropriate way. He never makes you uncomfortable.

This was no exception. The swirling in your stomach wasn’t because of unease, no, this was because of arousal.

“No, no he doesn’t.”

He leans in, kissing you. This time he's not rushing, no more pushing and pulling, no more things left unsaid. He wants you, he'll have you. That was a promise.

He lifts you from the couch, lips never parting as he carries you to his bedroom, peeling each other's clothes, bumping into walls and furniture. But you couldn't care less, you were lost in each other's embrace and you can't think of another place you'd rather be.

Half-naked on Minghao’s bed, who, need you be reminded, was not your husband.

His hands roamed your sides, the heat from his palms warming your skin, causing it to flush, his soft, plump lips pressing feather-light kisses to your neck. You could feel his breath behind your ear, his hair tickling your cheek.

“How would your husband feel if he knew what you were doing with me right now?” He asks, clearly getting off on the fact that you were in his bed, getting ready to fuck him, a man who wasn’t your husband.

“I hope he’d be disappointed, but at this point, I think he forgot about me.” You say with a chuckle at the end, trying not to ruin the mood.

Minghao gently pulls away from you from that, “What?” he asks quietly, the word almost getting drowned out by the hum of the air conditioning, “Sorry, I know this was supposed to be a taboo, forbidden relationship thing but… I’m angry at him.” He says, avoiding your eyes.

“I know I’ve only known you for a few months, but I never felt this way before. It fucking kills me to think that a woman like you would be forgotten, for what exactly? Work?” He said anger gradually filling his voice. His hand reaches for your face when your eyes meet, thumbs pressing down on your cheekbone. The controlled and purposeful movement reminds you just how pliable you are under his touch. He sculpted you into what he wanted you to be; beautiful, strong, unashamed.

You gently cup his face, still hovering above you, “Kiss me, Minghao.”

And he did.

His lips met yours in a searing embrace, just the force of his passion against yours was dizzying, fiery desire clashing to make fireworks behind the eyelids that fluttered close. You never felt this type of longing from your husband, never felt his devotion being kissed through your lips like Minghao’s tongue was exploring it.

At that moment, you knew you were gone.

Minghao pulled away from you, hazy eyes meeting yours as the string of saliva that connected your mouths broke. At that moment, Minghao was stuck in a trance, his lips coming to meet yours over and over like he couldn’t stop tasting your lips even if he tried. A sweet ambrosia, too saccharine to stop. He’s become addicted to your lips molding onto his like sickly sweet honey sticking to his lips.

Out of breath, he grabs hold of your waist, rolling over to get you on top of him. He reaches behind you, unclasping the hooks of your bra and letting your breasts fall free from it. He cups both of them while you sit up, grinding on his hardening cock through his boxers, he groans at this, reflexively squeezing your boobs.

Placing both of your hands on his pecs, you also give them a gentle squeeze. Minghao notices this and his gaze darkens, passing his thumbs over your hardening nipples. Your pussy clenches onto nothing at this, a soft gasp leaves you as you started to grind harder against Minghao.

His nails started to dig into your hips, his own desperately grinding up against you for more friction. Soft moans leave him as he throws his head back against the pillows, eyes fluttering close just so he could focus on the sensations of your clothed cunt grinding against his cock through his boxers.

“God, get off of me before I cum in my underwear like a teenager.” He says with a playful groan, lifting your hips off from his crotch.

“Right, you still need to cum inside of me.” You say back playfully, his eyes darkened at this.

“Fuck, you make me want to keep you forever,” taking one of your hands and placing a kiss on your palm.

He lifts his hips only enough to get his boxers off, shimmying them off to somewhere on the floor near his bed. You also take this time to take your underwear off, secretly hiding it under his pillow when you lean down to kiss him again.

When you both pulled away, another string of saliva connected you two. You took two fingers to swipe at the liquid, bringing it down to rub your clit while you lowered yourself down to grind on his bare cock now.

Minghao hisses, “Fuck, I can feel how wet and warm you are, sweet christ.” he breathes out a shaky breath as you grind your bare wetness on his cock, lubricating the shaft for later. You moan at the contact, body slightly shaking from the friction of the tip of his cock hitting your clit occasionally.

“God, Minghao, fuck I need you inside me.” You desperately whine out. You lifted your hips up to finally hold his hard cock to align it with your pussy, slowly sinking on the thick girth. You throw your head back at the satisfying stretch his dick was making you feel.

“Fuck, you feel so good, so tight and warm,” He moans, he’s not shy about letting you know how good it feels with how vocal he’s being, he takes your right hand and holds it tightly, pressing it against his chest. You could feel his racing heartbeat under his skin, “Let me keep you forever, please, don’t make me beg, run away with me.”

You openly gape at him from this, You’d be a fool to accept this, especially since you’ve only known him for a fraction of the time you knew your husband, but god dammit.

“Take me with you, anywhere you want to go. I’m yours, please take me.” You say desperately. You’ve never been wanted this badly before, and god, you wanted more, for the rest of time.

Minghao abruptly thrusts up into you from this, tightly clenching your hand in his, still pressing on top of his racing heart under the skin. You cry out in pleasure, somehow the sensation of his heart under your palm elevates your pleasure, making you go dizzy at the thought that you’re doing this to him, and only you.

You come close to your climax embarrassingly quick, the sensation of his cock rubbing your velvet walls so perfectly made your head spin. Your ears are ringing so loudly that it almost drowns out your sounds of pleasure, and the sound of skin slapping against skin.

Minghao isn’t far from you either, the same dizzying effect taking hold of his mind too. He’s so close to finishing that he could almost taste it, his moans and whines of your name leaving his lips like a mantra, a prayer, even.

“Minghao I’m gonna cum-!” you say frantically, pressing your forehead onto his as he meets your lips with his for the nth time. You swallow the moans he spills into your mouth as you both climax at the same time. His heart still beating frantically under your palm.

“Did you mean that?” You ask breathlessly, “When you said you wanted me forever, did you mean it?” you couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Exactly, I meant it word for word. Let me replace the ring on your finger with mine.” He smiles at you.

In the end, he did replace the ring on your finger with his, much more extravagant, and elaborate. Your husband wasn’t surprised at your sudden request for a divorce, since your marriage was already failing before you met Minghao.

Still, time was the ultimate truthteller.

Your husband found out about your High Infidelity around the middle of your divorce proceedings, and in a rage, he threw you and all your belongings out onto the driveway. In the middle of winter rain.

The rain soaked into your skin, cold and icy piercing you painfully. All your personal belongings were strewn all around you, and your soon-to-be ex-husband was angrily slamming the door shut, but you couldn't help but feel relieved.

After all, you were finally free.

You finished your book, it received critical acclaim and it was a New York Times Best-Seller.

And you got to marry Minghao, the love of your life. Who you were happily married to until the both of you grew old.

FIN.

#kvanity #k labels #kwritersworldnet #hiraya m #okiedokrie #high infidelity #seventeen #svt #seventeen smut #seventeen x reader #svt smut #the8 x y/n #the8 x reader #seventeen the8 #the8 x you #the8 #minghao x reader #xu minghao smut #minghao smut #xu minghao #minghao

[buwheal]

no because what the FUCK dude!!!!! these are warmups. Because i have to start storyboarding. But.... i think. maybe. the nature of the pixel art style in the askbox is making the way i draw him in the askbox more rigid and flat. And also in general. (aha cutting this off below because i started rambling a bit X-P)

I dont play around with the lines and shapes usually because when i do the lines looked all gross because of the pixel style, and i swear to god its infecting the way i draw him normally. I DONT WANT him to look rigid!!! Hes blocky yeah and hes been puppetified but i save the rigid hollow look for NEO... thats on purpose. I dont want him to look like that regularly though :-( I want his shapes and i keep accidentally making them stiff and boring in an attempt at consistency.. but i can be consistent without that. And i know that. Because i literally have been. His teeth especially kick my ass, theyre sometimes way too disporportionally big or too tapered... and i dont ever like,, play with the shapes they can do. i dont have to follow realistic logic because hes not real obv. I can use cartoon logic for him especially because hes that type of guy. You guys probably have no clue what im talking about lmfao it probably looks the same. Ggrrrgghhhhrghh. I am genuinely contemplating switching it up to either a larger canvas size again or just.. not making spam himself pixely. I still do like the pixel look because i wanted it to mimic the shop sprites and i think thats also a really unique feature of the askbox but... idfk. I should attempt it again first though, before i do something like that. Who knows, maybe ill figure it out lol. i probably will find a solution though.

#world is fucked and Spamton is hard asf to draw #teehee hes so cute.. maybe ill let him have a little cheeks. Still no tongue but maybe no inner cheek was too much... let the guy eat witho #without it spilling everywhere lmfao. #wagh// #also ew need to touchup my pfp he looks freakkkyyy

[pyeonghongrie]

High Infidelity

Summary: The novel you've been writing has been in progress for the better half of two years now, your writer's block beating you up, and your husband hasn't shown you any sympathy. Maybe a visit to the art exhibit from this new artist would jog your creativity, but what happens when this new artist offers you more than just relief from your writer's block?

Characters/Pairing(s): Artist!Aged-Up!Hongjoong x Writer!Aged-Up!Fem!Reader

Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff

AUs/Trope info: Non-Idol!AU, Aged-Up!AU, Right Person Too Late

Word Count: 3247

Warnings: Infidelity, very inappropriate conversations with a married woman, tipsy sex (not drunk), vaginal sex, unprotected sex, creampie, nipple stimulation, afab!reader

Rating: 18+

A/N: I'll be using the name "Haru" for Y/N's Husband because my friends don't want me to write a different ATEEZ member getting cheated on, so my friend @/stardragongalaxy volunteered as tribute 😂

"I'm right here, honey, I love you." He whispers into your skin, slowly unbuttoning your shirt, one button at a time. He kisses your skin every time new skin is revealed to both of you, he kisses your skin so delicately as if you'd break at the slightest touch-

"Y/N, you still haven't dealt with the dishes yet." Your husband, Haru, said monotonously just as you were starting to gain momentum in your writing.

You groan, the interruption making you lose focus and motivation to write. You stare at the last word on your document, gaze burning into each individual pixel as if hoping that this piece would write itself.

Unfortunately, life said "Fuck you."

With another groan, you rub and pinch the bridge of your nose, a headache starting to settle in as your Husband returned to working as if he didn't just cause you a grave inconvenience.

Standing from your comfortable computer chair, you take calm and even strides towards your kitchen, where only a handful of dishes were left in the sink.

And this little shit didn't even bother washing like, what? 8 dishes? he has to be kidding me, men.

You thought to yourself, your inner monologue only making yourself more irritated. But you wash them in silence, thinking of ways to at least calm down and clear your head so you have a clean slate to work with to get inspired again.

I think I should visit the gallery again, there's this new artist that I've been following, he's getting pretty popular, maybe I could draw inspiration from his work?

You think maybe this is the best idea you've had since you but bacon bits on mac & cheese.

Taking the time to visit this gorgeous gallery was definitely the correct move.

Kim Hongjoong is a passionate man, you can see the dedication to his craft in all the pieces in this gallery. He was a mixed media artist, sometimes his work was pops of color on a canvas, others are sculptures made of clay, made with the most delicate of hands, others are more niche, like the stained glass piece in another part of the gallery.

One thing about Hongjoong's work is that his subjects are also subjects of passion.

Paintings of a man's devotion to worshiping his lover's skin, a stained glass recreation of The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and his latest masterpiece,

Simply titled "Passion", a sculpture of a woman in the throws of pleasure, with her lover holding her close to him, no gap between their skin, eternally locked in a passionate embrace.

As a romance writer, this is exactly what you needed.

You take in this sculpture, the light of the gallery display emphasizing the delicate attention to detail this piece had, you know the man who made this takes pride in this, his work, skills, and dedication finally being realized.

You stare in awe at this piece for a little over 20 minutes, the more you look at it, the more entranced you become of the mastery of this craft.

You feel a presence beside you, a man around 5'9", slightly muscular build, in a turtleneck with glasses sitting delicately on his nose. He has peculiar split-dyed hair, and the most gorgeous face you've ever laid your eyes on.

"I see you like this piece in particular," He started, hands in his trouser pockets while smiling fondly at the piece, "'Passion' was a difficult piece for me to finish, ironically enough, I got bored of it quite easily." He continues, turning to face you.

"I'm Hongjoong, by the way, Kim Hongjoong. If you haven't already figured it out." He takes a hand out of his pocket, extending it towards you.

"Oh, I'm Y/N, Park Y/N. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hongjoong. Your exhibit is astounding, I love your dedication to your work." You take his hand to shake it,

He chuckles at the compliment, "Oh please, save your praise, I know that name from anywhere. I love your latest work, that book was what inspired this entire collection to begin with."

You gawk at him, oh my god, he reads smut. My smut.

"Oh my, what an honor! I'm glad you also enjoy my work." You receive the compliment gracefully, " Although, I do want to hear more about why you got bored of this piece in particular, such a wonder to the arts community, surely you aren't downplaying your own work?"

He smiles, perfect teeth on display, you swear you never looked at a man like this in your life, you were absolutely down bad for his teeth.

"I'm not saying I think it's bad, I just got bored of the creative process." He explains, "although, I do want to continue adding to this collection, perhaps we can go and get drinks together? Exchange ideas?" he offers.

You ponder on this for a bit, going out to drinks with a budding friend wouldn't hurt, right?

"Could I give you my number? Let's set aside a day to chat. I have to get home to my husband before it gets too late."

A smirk came into his face, something dark about a seemingly insignificant change in his expression, “Of course, I look forward to our time together.”

The mug in your hands was warming your palms, and your focus was fixated on the man in front of you, he talked about another piece of his, titled “Longing”; it was heavily inspired by his desire to find someone who shares the same passion as him, the longing to hold someone in a way that nobody else could, intimacy in it’s purest form.

“It sounds a bit pathetic, I’m known for my work in the art of passion and, to put it simply, sex; but I haven’t been able to find the company of a lover myself. Perhaps that’s just the consequence of being a hopeless romantic, then again, you wouldn’t know the feeling of being lonely in romantics, I assume.” He said calmly, a small giggle ending his tangent.

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” You look into the mug in your hands, your reflection swirling in the tea, your face looks back at you, eyes sunken in and sad, “To put it nicely… my husband robs me of solitude, but fails to offer me company.” You shouldn’t be talking about Haru like this, Your husband works many hours, tirelessly providing you with the house and connections for you to pursue a career in writing. But that wasn’t the reason why your anxiety was swirling in your stomach.

Looking back up at Hongjoong, the same dark expression sits on his face, a minuscule smirk, barely there even if you squint, “Well, we’re friends now, aren’t we? I could keep you company.”

That. That was a quality of him that you noticed fairly early on, you can never read his true intentions, suggestive prose with just enough deniability to gracefully reject him without the conversation becoming inappropriate.

But your anxiety wasn’t caused by that, no, it was caused by the fact that you didn’t want to reject him.

“I’d like that, Maybe we could head to a bar and get drinks there too? My husband won’t be back for a few months because of a business trip. I could use the company.” You say, looking at him through your lashes, he knows his effect on you, and the mental gymnastics that both of you play over the table was just appropriate enough that to anyone listening, it’s just two friends agreeing to get drinks later in the day.

But to both of you, well, only the two of you know what’ll happen once the sun goes down.

A few drinks in and you’re already tipsy, “You know- hic- my husband is being a dick to me.” You drunkenly slurred, “This novel I’ve been writing for over two years now is fucking me in the ass- I- I want to finish it so desperately but all he does is sucks the soul out of me. He’s a giant pain in the ass-!”

Hongjoong giggles at this, loudly talking over the music of the bar, “Your husband is a dick! Your work is amazing, If I were him, I would do anything to help you get rid of that writer’s block, you know, give you inspiration.” tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

“You’d do that?” You ask, clinging onto his arm, “Thank youuuu Joongie bug~ you’re the best-!” You giggle into his arm, your weight pressing against his side, you’ve only known him for three months at this point, but his ideas and influence on your work improved your writing and motivation drastically.

“Joongie bug? That’s new, you’ve only known me for- what? 3 months? You’re already calling me nicknames!” He holds the back of your head gently, pressing his forehead onto yours, “I should give you a nickname too… Starlight, how does that sound?” At this point, you tune out every other sound other than the sound of his voice and the pounding of your heart.

This man had you in a chokehold the moment you met him, you were fucking doomed from the start.

“Starlight? Yeah, I like it more than a little bit.” You say softly, your words almost getting lost in the noise of the bar.

“Let’s move to somewhere quieter, yeah? Tell me more about your work, we can head to my place to settle down for a bit.” There it is, the same dark, barely there smirk that plagues your stomach with butterflies.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Arriving at Hongjoong’s place, you take a quick look around his apartment, everywhere you look is a pop of color, bold splotches of vibrant hues made the place look like it was pulled straight out of the 80s, “Joongie, your place is amazing, the furniture brings me so much joy~” You giggle a bit, sitting down at the plush red velvet couch shaped like a seashell.

“Thanks! Most of the furniture is thrifted from retro thrift stores, I like this style more. It brings so much personality to the space.” He gleefully talks about them, “Do you want anything to drink? I have water, juice, and beer here.” He says, rummaging through his fridge.

“Oh, just water, please.” You say, you have a feeling that you needed to at least sober up for whatever the night brings.

He takes two glasses of water and places them down on the coffee table, It’s the only piece in the entire house that is a neutral color, a fine hardwood. You couldn’t tell what it was at a glance, not that it was important anyway.

“So, let’s talk about this book that you’ve been struggling to write now. Could you tell me what it’s about?” He asks, taking a swig of his water, you stare at his side profile while he does, sharp yet delicate features, his Adam’s apple bobbing from his drink.

Bro’s so majestic.

“Well, it’s about an artist who’s losing passion for his work, told from the perspective of his lover. It’s a spicy romance, with, in my opinion, a correct amount of sex scenes-” 

“Give me a percentage of how much of it is smut.” Hongjoong Interrupts you,

“Like… 75 percent?” He snorts at this, “Anyway, I’ve been stuck on the last spicy scene of the book, the climax, pun not intended,” You take a swig of your water, “I mean, it’s not like I don’t have experience writing that sort of thing, or lack experience in sex either, but my sex life’s been such a drag with my husband being gone for long periods of time and-”

Hongjoong interrupts you again, “And he doesn’t fuck you right, does he?”

The forwardness of his words made you freeze, you contemplated whether to reject him here, to tell him it wasn’t appropriate to talk about this with you, especially about your husband. You know how Hongjoong looks at you, It wasn’t a secret to anyone that he wants you, but he never acts in any way that is appropriate, he never makes you uncomfortable.

This was no exception, the swirling in your stomach wasn’t because of unease, no, this was because of arousal.

“No, no he doesn’t.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

This, being half-naked on Hongjoong’s bed, who, need I remind you, was not your husband.

His hands roamed your sides, the heat from his palms warming your skin, causing it to flush, his soft, plump lips pressing feather-light kisses to your neck, You could feel his breath behind your ear, his hair tickling your cheek.

“How would your husband feel if he knew what you were doing with me right now?” He asks, clearly getting off of the fact that you were in his bed, getting ready to fuck him, a man who wasn’t your husband.

“I hope he’d be disappointed, but at this point, I think he forgot about me.” You say with a chuckle at the end, trying not to ruin the mood.

Hongjoong gently pulls away from you from that, “What?” he asks quietly, the word almost getting drowned out by the hum of the air conditioning, “Sorry, I know this was supposed to be a taboo, forbidden relationship thing but… I’m angry at him.” He says, avoiding your eyes.

“I know I’ve only known you for a few months, but I never felt this way before, it fucking kills me to think that a woman like you would be forgotten, for what exactly? Work?” He said anger gradually filling his voice.

You gently cup his face, still hovering above you, “Kiss me, Hongjoong.” 

And he did.

His lips met yours in a searing embrace, just the force of his passion against yours was dizzying, fiery desire clashing to make fireworks behind the eyelids that fluttered close, You never felt this type of longing from your husband, never felt his devotion being kissed through your lips like Hongjoong’s tongue was exploring it.

At that moment, you knew you were gone.

Hongjoong pulled away from you, hazy eyes meeting yours as the string of saliva that connected your mouths broke, at that moment, Hongjoong was stuck in a  trance, his lips coming to meet yours over and over, like he couldn’t stop tasting your lips even if he tried.

Out of breath, he grabs a hold of your waist, rolling over to get you on top of him, he reaches behind you, unclasping the hooks of your bra and letting your breasts fall free from it, he cups both of them while you sit up, grinding on his hardening cock through his boxers, he groans at this, reflexively squeezing your boobs.

Placing both of our hands on his pecs, you also give them a gentle squeeze, Hongjoong notices this and giggles, passing his thumbs over your hardening nipples. Your pussy clenches onto nothing at this, a soft gasp left you as you started to grind harder against Hongjoong.

His nails started to dig into your hips, his hip desperately grinding up against you for more friction, soft moans leave him as he throws his head back against the pillows, eyes fluttering close just so he could focus on the sensations of your clothed cunt grinding against his cock through his boxers.

“God, get off of me before I cum in my underwear like a teenager.” He says with a playful groan, lifting your hips off from his crotch.

“Right, you still need to cum inside of me.” You say back playfully, his eyes darkened at this,

“Fuck, you make me want to keep you forever, taking one of your hands and placing a kiss to your palm. 

He lifts his hips up only enough to get his boxers off, shimmying it off to somewhere on the floor near his bed. You also take this time to take your underwear off, secretly hiding it under his pillow when you leaned down to kiss him again.

When you both pulled away, another string of saliva connected you two, you took two fingers to swipe at the liquid, bringing it down to rub your clit while you lowered yourself down to grind on his bare cock now.

Hongjoong hisses, “Fuck, I can feel how wet and warm you are, sweet christ.” he breathes out a shaky breath as you grind your bare wetness on his cock, lubricating the shaft for later. You moan at the contact, body slightly shaking from the friction of the tip of his cock hitting your clit occasionally.

“God, Hongjoong, fuck I need you inside me.” You desperately whine out. You lifted your hips p to finally hold his hard cock to align it with your pussy, slowly sinking down on the thick girth, you throw your head back at the satisfying stretch his dick was making you feel.

“Fuck, you feel so good, so tight and warm,” He moans out, he’s definitely not shy about letting you know how good it feels with how vocal he’s being, he takes your right hand and holds it tightly, pressing it against his chest. You could feel his racing heartbeat under his skin, “Let me keep you forever, please, don’t make me beg, run away with me.”

You openly gape at him from this, You’d be a fool to accept this, especially since you’ve only known him for a fraction of the time you knew your husband, but god dammit.

“Take me with you, anywhere you want to go, I’m yours, please take me.” You say desperately, you’ve never been wanted this badly before, and god, you wanted more, for the rest of time.

Hongjoong abruptly thrusts up into you from this, tightly clenching your hand in his, still pressing on top of his racing heart under the skin, You cry out in pleasure, somehow the sensation of his heart under your palm elevates your pleasure, making you go dizzy at the thought that you’re doing this to him, and only you.

You come close to your climax embarrassingly quick, the sensation of his cock rubbing your velvet walls so perfectly made your head spin, your ears are ringing so loudly that it almost drowns out your sounds of pleasure, and the sound of skin slapping against skin.

Hongjoong isn’t far from you either, the same dizzying effect taking hold of his mind too, he’s too close to finishing that he could almost taste it, his moans and whines of your name leaving his lips like a mantra, a prayer, even.

“Hongjoong I’m gonna cum-!” you say frantically, pressing your forehead onto his as he meets your lips with his for the nth time, you swallow the moans he spills into your mouth as you both climax at the same time. His heart still beating frantically under your palm.

“Did you really mean that?” You ask breathlessly, “When you said you wanted me forever, did you mean it?” you couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Exactly, I meant it word for word, Let me replace the ring on your finger with mine.” He smiles at you.

In the end, he did replace the ring on your finger his his, much more extravagant, and elaborate. Your husband wasn’t surprised at your sudden request for a divorce, since your marriage was already failing before you met Hongjoong.

In the end, he didn't have to know about your High Infidelity.

Tags: @kwanisms, @yoonguurt, @lemonhongjoong, @shinestarhwaa, @stardragongalaxy, @wooyoungmybelovedhusband, @anyamaris, @dimpledsatan, @haosweater, @starlitmark, @seongwin, @midnxght-sky, @nebulousbookshelf, @piratequeen-queenofgames, @northerngalxy, @yourfatherlucifer, @twisted-tales-of-all, @seumiley, @hwasangelbaby

Network Tags: @cultofdionysusnet, @kflixnet

Strikethrough: Couldn't tag

#cultofdionysusnet #kvanity #kwritersworldnet #kflixnet #k-lables #Hiraya-M #pyeonghongrie #High Infidelity #arousal august #ateez #ateez fanfic #ateez imagines #ateez x reader #ateez hongjoong #hongjoong x reader #hongjoong #ateez scenarios #ateez smut #hongjoong x reader angst #hongjoong smut #hongjoong angst #kim hongjoong x reader #kim hongjoong #hongjoong x reader smut #hongjoong ateez #hongjoong aged-up au

[mspandorasart]

Thoughts about Undertale Yellow

Greetings, I just returned from binging through Undertale Yellow, True Pacifist Route specifically, and am seeking a place to let out some thoughts (and steam). It's the first time I'm doing this type of "review" on my blog, but since my thoughts on it are quite strong, I thought, "hey, why the heck not"? Spoilers for the game and its ending ahead, fellas. Buckle up.

First off, let me begin by stating that, for the most part, I had a blast playing through it. The music is amazing, the boss themes real bangers, the environmental ones great as well. My favorite track was the OST that played in the Dunes: a really catchy western vibe with Flowey's theme in it as well, an earworm that filled me with Determination while running through the sandy fields. Then we have a beautiful pixel art style, gorgeous sceneries, great gameplay with challenging and fun boss fights (side note: although I couldn't fully appreciate Ceroba's fight since it had a couple pretty much unavoidable attacks. Or is it just skill issue on my part? Anyway, that part annoyed me more than it should have. Moving on, lmao.)

Furthermore, the game also has charming characters! They are the ones that kept me going and really ignited my interest. Not gonna lie, it took me until the town in the Dunes to become really invested in the game. Martlet is charming and cute, sure, but North Star and his gang, no, that guy specifically sold it for me. Charismatic, funny, very expressive sprites (well, all facial sprites are quite colorful, but it took me until North Star to appreciate/notice just how many there are for each character) and an interesting internal conflict with wanting to entertain others so they forget about the pain of being stuck underground, but at the same time being so absorbed in his persona that he temporarily acts like a douche towards his pals and forgets who he truly is. He also features my favorite joke in the game when he proudly proposes to the salesman that "he wants to buy a gun for the child". Freaking hilarious, love him, huehehue.

Story-wise, I was pleasantly surprised and taken aback by the dark twists of Ceroba and her husband Chujin. And I appreciated how the flashbacks got intigrated within her final boss fight. I don't know about you, but my biggest motivation to play RPGs are not just the gameplay, it's mainly the characters and the story. If the gameplay is amazing but the characters/plot boring, then I lose interest quickly. To me, the real rewards of a tough battle are story progression and seeing just what the characters will do next. Therefore, I greatly enjoyed the breaks between Ceroba's phases in which we saw parts of her backstory. They even made me cry!

...Although, to be honest, I don't exactly understand why we had that insight into her mind in the first place. Why did we survive so many hits to the point of 0.00001 HP? Where's that coming from all of a sudden? Why did time stop at some point like Za Warudo? Maybe that random plot armor (that happened the first time and never again) is explained in another route, but anyway, moving on-

This review-style blog entry only exists because of the True Pacifist ending. I'll be blunt, I hate it. Why?

So it ends with Clover sacrificing their soul for the monsters so they can eventually break free. Which is fine on its own. Clover is for the most part a blank slate of a character, only driven by their desire to seek the lost humans, that's basically it. Maybe it would have made a bit more sense for Clover to see an actual physical proof of their demise before they give up on them completely, but eh. I'm also wondering whether they are really okay with potentially another, possibly innocent human falling down sometime in the future only to get killed by the monsters. But oh well.

(You know, now that I think about it, I actually am a bit salty about Clover's decision to sacrifice themselves, lmao. Would've been kinda cool if it was up to the player, have another ending split.)

Anyways, the issue I'm having is how our cast of supporting characters, Martlet, North Star aka Starlo and Ceroba react to Clover's decision. They are shocked first, but... agree surprisingly quickly?? What?? Excuse me, the entire hassle we went through to get to this point was to stop Ceroba from taking Clover's soul. Now with Clover volunteering to sacrifice themselves, the gang is cool with it??

Of course they don't agree immediately, but are easily swayed within a few arguments back and forth. Man, what friends you are, guys. The reason I'm having this pet peeve in the first place is because we as the human, who has known these guys for just a day, did a lot for them, alright? They all tried to kill us at one point, but we took the beating, the hard battles, forgave them and were there for them during their internal conflicts. We were a pretty decent friend, if I may say so.

Especially with Ceroba! We did a lot to change her mind and path of self-destruction! Yet our so-called friends don't put in the same amount of effort when it comes to convincing us otherwise- or heck, use force if you must- get Clover away from there, lmao. Wouldn't it have been an interesting act of redemption on Ceroba's part, by the way, if she tried to stop us? Being touched by our mercy and refusal to give up on her, she does the same for us?

I suppose the reason I am so baffled by all this is because of Clover being a blank slate, the player character really felt like me, like I was going through the journey and not like I was controlling another character. It felt like my decision to spare them all, to talk to them and wanting to get to know them better. So the group of characters I have really grown to like giving up on me within about a minute of back-and-forth just felt... wow. Thanks, guys.

If I compare it to Undertale's True Pacifist in which every important supporting character gathers up after the confrontation with Asgore, all agreeing with the decision of me, the player, staying in the Underground with them, then oh boy, it really stings. Just would've been a cool, wholesome sign of friendship if Martlet, Starlo and Ceroba decided that "nah, even for the surface, we won't give up on Clover". By the way, in this game, we don't even really get to see why the monsters want to return to the surface so badly. They keep saying they want to, but what are the reasons exactly? More freedom, I suppose. Yet by expanding the Underground with the Dunes, the Mines, the Factory, and some of Snowdin, the Ruins and New Home, their habitat seemed so much larger than in the OG game- What I wanna say is, their desperation should've been shown way more instead of told, so the player can understand the monsters' aspiration better.

The thing is, it's a shockingly easy issue to fix if you really want "the canon ending" with Clover ending up dead and their soul taken: have Clover still have their moment of doubt and realization, remembering what the monsters told them throughout their journey. Then they go to Asgore with their gang, hoping to convince him. It doesn't work out, so Asgore starts a fight. During the battle, Clover realizes it's useless to fight back, it's better to have their soul taken for the monsters, so they allow Asgore to kill them. Their friends are not powerful enough to stop him. There ya have it.

Siiiiigh. Is it just me, being annoyed by that ending? As a whole, the finale felt a little... rushed? Was New Home always meant to be so empty? Is it to build up atmosphere? Yet there were two silly NPCs in the first screen of New Home, making me assume that maybe, there was another plan originally? (If it has been stated in a devlog or any other comment by the creators, then I apologize, I haven't read those fully.)

Anyways, if I didn't care about the game, this rant wouldn't even exist in the first place. I was really invested in the game until the ending just left me... kinda sad, not gonna lie. It will take me a while to process it all.

If you got this far, then thanks for reading. Am I the only one feeling this miffed about the ending? I might go back and edit this post if I find out there are things to be corrected. Buuuut as of now, happy holidays!

#undertale #undertale yellow #undertale yellow spoilers #undertale fangame

[pourablecat]

8. (Yet another) Tiffany Aching

"She put the mirror down on the rickety table by the bed, stood in the middle of the threadbare rug, shut her eyes, and said: 'See me.'" - A Hat Full Of Sky

She's twirly! The pose reference came from Kiki's Delivery Service, and I took a lot of pixel art style reference from Princess Maker 2, again. The Spriter's Resource is a total treasure trove. If I have the time and ability I'm going to try to scrap together an animation from this.

It's probably not in Tiffany's personality to get incandescently happy often, and she definitely is not at the beginning of A Hat Full of Sky, but I do hope she has some moments of incandescent happiness, sometimes. The story starts out so much like Kiki's delivery service although, of course, Kiki and Tiffany are completely different people with completely different problems to deal with.

And oh, so much for consistency. Didn't I last draw her with short hair? I should really keep track. Lately, I've begun to imagine her green dress in A Hat Full of Sky as a sort of breezy spring pinafore, just a bit like some school uniforms here in Hong Kong. Not too shabby, but also not so delicate you can't roll up your sleeves and get right to work.

#discworld #discworld fanart #gnu terry prachett #tiffany aching #a hat full of sky #not the vimes maker project #but #princess maker 2 #ghibli #kiki's delivery service #as reference #I tried drawing another version with her invisible hat #but the pixels defied all attempts and it's getting late #maybe later #her dad is too stoic for these shenanigans #and granny aching is too dead :( #maybe rob anybody would be watching?

[somethingwittyandweird]

What's your favorite game you played this year?

You've activated my “review of my year in gaming” trap card! I was already going to make this post in some form or another, you've just given me the perfect launching point. So, the first thing you should know about asking me for favorites: I never give just one. How could I, when it's been such a banger year of games? (Heads up, this one's going to go long.)

I loved Tears of the Kingdom to death, and it took home my most hours played on Switch. It is a shining example of what devs can do with an extra few months to polish a game. There were so many remarkable moments that testified to how much care and ideas the devs were able to put in. I loved how it used the time since the first game to develop familiar places and characters, adding depth (no pun intended) and also making sure every familiar location had some new twist. The story was a much stronger followup to BotW, and I think this overall has my new favorite ending sequence of anything in the series (I'd love to make a full post sometime about how the final Ganondorf battles just keep getting more spectacular with each new title). I am so, so, so, so normal about this incarnation of Princess Zelda. 

Also in my favorites this year is Fire Emblem Engage, which hit at just the right time to scratch my strategy itch. As a long time FE fan it’s not a surprise I enjoyed this one- though it lost the political intrigue of its predecessor in favor of a more traditional/tropey story, I still had a lot of fun with all its gimmicks and gameplay innovations. Also it is hands-down the most visually appealing game in the franchise, a title previously held by the series’ GBA entries which are masterworks from the peak era of beautiful sprite art. From the incredible crit animations to the spectacle of super attacks to the battle maps which are so beautifully detailed that the game lets you free roam around them after a battle just to appreciate them better. 

I finished the Link’s Awakening remake this year! It was a charming trip back to an older era of Zelda design philosophy and I found it fascinating to compare the ways where the classic puzzles and challenges differ from what the game would be like if it were made today, as well as the places where modern technology allowed for better QoL changes that weren’t in the original. I really enjoyed the music as well, which I find to be a standout among the series still.

Here at the end of the year, I have to give a shout out to Sea of Stars. It has everything you want in an indie darling- very pretty pixel art, very nice music, turn-based battles with timed hits I joke, but Sea of Stars does a great job balancing evoking/paying homage to icons like Chrono Trigger and bringing new gameplay to the JRPG formula. I like its pared-down take on JRPG combat which revamps skills/mana into a much more dynamic resource that’s constantly being spent and regenerated, and I’m a known sucker for character combo attacks which this game has in spades. The later parts of its story are told with a lot of heart, and again I am a known sucker for certain character archetypes. Surprisingly also, I think the movement and exploration is absolutely a standout- not something that’s typically emphasized in the genre. But this game constantly has you hopping across stepping stones, balancing on tightropes, climbing walls and ledges… the emphasis on interesting traversal and verticality is a strength few games like it can boast. 

Before my final pick, I’m including a special section for all the games I didn't play myself but watched my friends play and still want to praise: Hi-Fi Rush, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Mario Bros Wonder, Pizza Tower, the Minish Cap Switch rerelease, and more all came out this year and all of them have brought killer music, excellent gameplay, and stunning visuals that I’ve enjoyed to no end. Anyone considering to pick up any of them would find a quality product without a doubt.

With all that said: I think ultimately it has to be Tunic in the end. Underneath its premise of a Zelda/Souls-like adventure game there is a wealth of secrets that goes as far down as you have the courage to delve. It’s a game built to evoke nostalgia for games that you didn’t understand yet, posing as a game that you watched an older sibling play or a game you could only find a poorly-translated foreign copy of. It obscures everything and teaches you its secrets through context, exploration, and discovering in-game pages of the manual (remember manuals?). It’s a game made for lovers of secrets and puzzles, full of hidden paths and trophies that reward inquisitiveness and observation (and taking paper notes). It was when I saw that it not only has a conlang, but that it gives you the hints you need to fully translate it, that I knew I had to get it myself. It spurred me to screenshot every in-game piece of menu text, then spend evenings cross-referencing it to identify phonemes and construct a key.

The rush I got on completing that key is one of two moments I knew this game was absolutely special. The second standout moment is when the game teaches you its hugest secret, and then invites you to prove your mastery of it by presenting you a huge, multi-part puzzle. But, Tunic does the same thing that one of my other all-time favorites, Outer Wilds, does so well: powerups via knowledge, “unlocking” abilities that you always had, you just didn’t know that you did. The pieces to this puzzle are hidden in plain sight; it’s only when the game tells you what you’re looking for that your understanding shifts, everything clicks, and your eyes are opened to the path you have to follow. I don’t say it lightly, but I consider Tunic to be a one-of-a-kind title, and one that delivers completely on its unique vision. 

In case that brick of text doesn’t make it clear, I love this game. 

I love all of these games.

It's a fine time to be alive.

#i talk a lot tag #skysometric #loz #totk #sea of stars #fire emblem #fe17 #link's awakening #thank you so so much for giving me this space to make this post #sorry-not-sorry about the wall of text jumpscare #i mean everything i said sincerely and honestly still have more to say about some of these #that i'll save for another time #long post

[frostbite-the-bat]

how do you do the “cut out of a piece of cardstock or paper or something” effect

i'm gonna do an image guide, if that's okay!

i use these texture overlays - i've been planning to make a post that credits all these sorts of assets i use that i can link in my pinned post, but i keep forgetting...

so, well, i'll credit them now! and you can get them yourself, too! they're quite handy. it's a name your price thing, so you can download it for free, or be kind and donate to the creator!

-> Natural Materials Vol. 1 by TOMB of NULL

guzma art guide underneath all this, it does get a little long, but it should cover my whole process for getting this effect!

you download the thing above and unzip it, and get some handy files to open in basically any art program that can handle PSD files. there's other material packs, but i only use this one! and out of these, i really only ever use the ones i lined with blue. (CARDBOARD and WATERCOLOR-PAPER)

the idea is, that you draw a drawing and paste it within these folders. however, i don't do it this way, as you can see! it's a very different result. as an example, i'm gonna use the non-textured version of my old icon .

you can do this and get a nice effect, especially if you use more fitting colors for this sort of style, but again, this isn't what i do! i actually copy specific layers and paste THOSE into my actual pieces. (specifically "LOWLIGHT" and "HIGHLIGHT" from "WATERCOLOR-PAPER")

i paste LOWLIGHT first, and set it to MULTIPLY. then, i paste HIGHLIGHT on top of it, and i set it to SCREEN.

then, i lock the layers for both and either paint over or bucket-tool fill them with a different color that fits my piece more. i adjust the opacity of each layer. i don't get the color first try always, i spend some time to play around with it - but for demonstration i stuck with what i picked at the moment.

but that isn't all! i sometimes use "LOWLIGHT" from "CARDBOARD" as well, set on top of both of these layers, but instead set to OVERLAY. due to some scratches in the texture i don't like, i may move the position slightly. unless you draw really big, the texture will cover up your whole pieces and allow for some movement. if not, re-sizing is okay!

but i don't use that one always - what i use MOST of the time, and what i've done before i began using any paper overlays - were dot/halftone overlays! i either use these ones below, that are a specific, same size. (i resize for canvases all the time, that doesn't matter.)

...or i also use another method! it requires krita.

you open up krita, and paste your whole piece into it. (what i do, is flatten my current piece, copy it, then undo to get all my layers back. then i paste the image into krita)

once i'm there, i go to FILTERS -> ARTISTIC -> HALFTONE. i adjust as i think it looks good, and then copy that.

then, i paste that back into sai. however! it may be off by a few pixels! zoom in and move it slightly left or right - turn the opacity down slightly to help you figure it out. once you do that, set that layer to OVERLAY. you can play with the opacity - or even do fun things! it makes it look better, so hang on a minute!

the "fun things" i mentioned is going over to LAYER and selecting "CONVERT LUMINACE TO TRANSPARENCY". in this case, it makes the white transparent and removes it, while it keeps the halftone! then i can change it's colors to be more fitting to my piece. (like we did with the texture layers!)

i used a purple overlay - so it makes the picture feel more purple and it ties the colors together a little bit more, without the use of an layer on top that's just one color set to OVERLAY or MULTIPLY to give it a different color hint. i usually do that, but set to super low opacity. but not always!

a lot of these are just done by "feeling it" and trial-and-error! just messing around and seeing what looks nice, after all, these are usually my final details i add to a piece once it's done to give it a more finished, uniform look. plus, the texture looks nice, and it's great to make more flat colored pieces just POP OUT !!

and of course, i use either the image half-tone overlay or the krita method depending on just what i think looks good. i don't really have a specific method!

and sometimes, i add different overlays on top and mix and match - sometimes from actual scanned paper textures! i've downloaded some from this google drive i'm going to link below. i use them rarely, but it's worth the credit, too.

-> PAPER TEXTURES GOOGLE DRIVE (not mines!) (unfortunately, i lost the tumblr post i got these from.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

few other things i tend to do, also: i tend to add extra saturation once a piece is done. i like bright colors.

i also tend to copy the original drawing underneath all these effect layers, and paste it over all these other layers. i set it to OVERLAY and set it to low opacity. (or rarely, without the layer effect!) it helps gets a bit of the "original" feel out, while brightening/saturating the colors out a bit... i always play with the opacity here a bit.

and so, here's the layers again + the final piece!

admittedly, this was supposed to be a softer looking piece from the get-go, so saturating it may make it look a bit goofy when the flag in the background has been made brighter previously... but it makes the characters stand out! still looks nice! i'd definitely tweak this a bit, but it's definitely the kind of result you may be looking for!

i did use sai as an example, but if you use krita, medibang paint, fire alpaca, csp or photoshop... this all should work there as well! i've done this in ibis paint as well - using textures from the app itself! using what you learned here could help you figure that out for your own.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

well, i hope this was helpful and somewhat comprehensive! if anything's a bit messy here, i can admit i made this while in a call, so that may be why. feel free to ask follow-up questions! thanks for reading!!!

#[answered] #art ref #art guide #tutorial #<- incase this would help anyone else #long post

[insertdisc5]

2022, can't show much of you

Once again, some months don't have anything to show because they're spoilers. SORRY!!!! I PROMISE I DREW SOME AMAZING STUFF BUT I CAN'T SHOW IT!!!

And wow I really only drew two things that weren't in black and white. What am I gonna do when it's time for me to go back to color

Alright. What did I do this year, art wise. um

I finished the beta of In Stars and Time! Gonna be honest, I didn't think I was gonna do it. In Stars and Time has been such a Project, and for the longest time I just couldn't see the finish line. But now I do! It's getting closer!!! I couldn't be prouder of what I've made and I can't wait for everyone to experience it. Don't forget to wishlist In Stars and Time on Steam, coming to PC and Nintendo Switch in 2023 wink wink nudge nudge ✨

Which means I did a lot of illustrations and pixel art. I've gotten so much better at pixel art??? Sometimes I look at the sprites I did for the prologue and I'm like, oof??? I could do this so much better and faster now. Pixel art is fun. And also, Clip Studio Paint still rules really hard.

In other big news this year, In Stars and Time got selected for the Tokyo Game Show?!?!? What the hell?!?!? I got to go to Japan and show off my game!!! That was such a validating (AND STRESSFUL) experience \o/

I also started doing clay figures more! I am not good at it!!! I like what I did but I am not good at it!!! I should take some classes so I can learn how to make them smoother and learn how to paint 3D objects!!! I like doing it though so I will learn!!! I think it's fine to make art things that you know you could be better at!!! I think it's fine to learn things!!!!!!!

2023, let's have some fun!

✨ 2014 and 2015 and 2016 and 2017 and 2018 and 2019 and 2020 and 2021✨

#art summary #summary of art #art improvement #long post #art tag #not a lot to say/show this year. but i gotta do the art summary anyway. it's tradition

[razberrypuck]

JRWI EP 100 LIVEBLOG UNDER THE CUT FOR EXTRA SPOILER PROTECTION

"the journey begins, for the 100th time" "you bet your tiddies it does" JWJFJEJTJH

ohh they're having a good time something's gonna go horribly wrong

earl bbeg real

wetma gills

"words hard. me tired. me drunk." jay I love you jsjfjejf

enza gonna help jay make a new body for alphonze 👀

drey disconnected w/the group?

"the longer you're down there, the more it twists you" ohh that's not good. instantly worried about arlin.

"if arlin's still down there, it's because it couldn't." "that man had a big ol' heart, even that giant body couldn't fit it." DREYYYYYY

"Sometimes I think I should dive in there alone. But I know I'm not strong enough without them" CHIP. CHIP YOURE GONNA KILL ME.

chip and drey are gonna KILL me augh

"we're gonna go down there, and we're gonna bust him out. whatever happens happens. we'll survive. we always do." RRGHHDHHDG

AW GILLION JSHFJJEJGJFJF

"sometimes its good to be bad jay give me the word" LMAOOOOO

GILLION SOUNDS LIKE HES GONNA START CRYING BRO JSHFJDJ

QUEEN KSHFJDJDUW

WOOO DOWNTIME❗️❗️❗️

HES MAILING CASPIAN'S PRESENTS!!!!!!!!

"happy birdday! you can nae nae, but now you can... ;)" JSJFJDJG GILL

" 'Well, for you...' he gets lost in your eyes for a second" JWJFJSJGJEJJTJ

NAT 20 ON RIZZING RIZZ RIZZ

"EVERYONE now has cannons and healing potions except for ME!!!!!!!!" gill in his spoiled brat arc

NEW TITLE GILLION TIDESTRIDER RIZZ REVEREND

"We are so, so unbelievably wanted" "they WANT us"

TWO CANNONS AND ONE BALLISTA HELL YES????

ohh I love enza

forgot abt cliff hangar

IS HE RIZZING UP CLIFF???????

"To know the books, you need to have read the books, where the FUCK are the books, Jay???????"

GILL TRYING TO RIZZ UP CLIFF NOW

HES PLAYING ALONG??? JAY TRIED TO GIVE HIM THE GOLD AND HE STOPPED HER??????????

"A world that's turned it's back / it's seas be turned to black / the black sea is all that's left / history be put to rest / the survivors will rewrite it / fight on, fight on until united / hope our wrongs be righted / flee the black sea at last / free from it at last

why are gill and chip so down to flirt with people today jsjfjsjd

CAPTAIN FIVE O' CLOCK SHADOW JSIFJDJJF

CAPTAIN HENDRIX. TIEFLING. REGAL BUT RELAXED. IF THIS MFER ISNT NIKLAUS HES GOTTA BE RELATED TO HIM RIGHT

FINN TIDESTRIDER FINN TIDESTRIDER FINN TIDESTRIDER

the island of frozen roses ooh

ohhhh he just wrote about their journeys. ik its like obvious but that means so much to be actually.

OHHHHHHH OLLIES ROOM OH MY GODDDDDDD

OH FUCK OFF HES GIVING HIM ARLIN'S COIN OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

BIZLY YOURE GOING TO KILL ME IM GOING TO DIE BIZLY THIS IS SO NICE

"even when you are old and decrepit, you will always be our small boy, who we keep on the ship, and in our hearts" thank you gill

chip don't grill her about this now godddd.

CAPTAIN SHADOWBEARD IS OLLIES DAD

bellamy. oh bellamy. im so sorry.

captain shadowbeard was the last pirate lord that went missing ohhh my god. it was a year ago. and when ollie went missing months later. oh my god this poor woman.

"You guys are gonna get attacked tonight" grizz ik you're joking but I don't fucking trust you at all

ALPHOZE ALPHONZE ALPHONZE

DANGER INCOMING???

THEY JUST LEFT THE ISLAND

KIRA I LOVE YOU BUT NO

JAY YOURE GONNA BOARD THEIR SHIP????

THERE HE IS. FUCK OFF JAYSON GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY

Gillion what are you planning 👀

"jay who did you see" "oh just my father and kira you know" "oh"

THE SWORD IS IN HIS FUCKING CHEST STILL LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

DREY PANICKING LMAO

FUCK OFF JAYSON FUCK OFF JAYSON FUCK OFF JAYSON FUCK OFF JAYSON FUCK OFF JAYSON

YOOOOOOOOOO GILLION CLUTCH??????

GILLION CLUTCH GILLION CLUTCH

JAYSON YOU CHEATING BASTARD

HELLO PIXEL ART THIS IS SO COOL?????????

CHIP DONT LEAVE THEM????

DONT FUCKING LAUGH LIKE THAT GRIZZ

gillion less clutch than expected.........

alphonze is gonna die again bro they JUST got him back! AND the boat!

Gillion absorb elements pog

QUEEN JSHFJDJFJFH LOVE YOU

thank you alphonze we love you alphonze <3

USING THE WHALEBONE SWORD TO CAST SPELLS ON JAYSON????

jayson I hate you smile

TRAP HIM IN THE FUCKING MIRROR JAY GET HIS ASS

GET HIS ASS JAY GET HIS ASS

"You could be found innocent, by the way" "not for what I'm about to do :)"

MOTHER MOON JSJFJDJ

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT GILL ISNT SCARED OF JAYSON ANYMORE❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️

GILLION CLUTCH ONCE AGAIN

MOTHEFUCKER HAS LEGENDARY ACTIONS I FORGOT

HE STOLE JAY'S BRAND BRO

"DAMN looks like you're as good a shot as you are a PARENT" "your quips only seal your fate" "damn, were you already burning?" gillion tidestrider I love you

"Your fighting is meaningless, for your gods have fallen" HELLO JAYSON WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???? IM NOT MOVING ON FROM THIS DID THE ARTIFICIAL LEVIATHAN PLAN WORK??????? ARE YOU JUST PSYCHING GILL OUT?????????????

YOOOOO GRYFFON MVP FOURTH CAPTAIN

"If they miss, I will roll to hit gillion"

CANNON #1 HITS JAYSON FUCK YES QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!

EARL FUCKING WHIFS IT

gets harpooned in the ass and stabbed further in the chest sjfjeh

gill is so fucking funny engaging w/jayson lmao

"she's a BIRD are you PROUD OF HER YET? she has WINGS and they're COOLER THAN YOURS and they generate more LIFT" gill hyping up jay to her dad my beloved

makes eye contact with a fucking wizard. drops disguise and said "aight you handle these monkeys I got shit to do"

isn't the whole crew on the ship? or does grizz just mean on top deck

gryffon I love you

RETURN OF 5 FT GILL

HOLY SHIT?????? 10 FT TALL THUNDER GOD GILLION

YOU MOTHEFUCKER???????

NAT 20 DEX SAVE FROM GILLION HOLY SHIT HE DESERVES THIS❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️ GILLION ON THAT KING SHIT TODAY

ANOTHER SHIP????

MARSHALL JOHN THE GRANDBERRY PIRATES MY FUCKING BELOVED

"IF YOU KILLED MY GODS HOW IS MARSHALL JOHN RIGHT HERE?!"

PROPHETIC SCREW UP STRIKES ONCE AGAIN

CASPIAAAAAAN

"YO IS THIS GUY FUCKING BOTHERING YOU?!" LOVE YOU LIZZIE

"I can deal with that later. But right now, you're attacking my friends. And I can tell you have no intention to spare them. So I'll give you the same treatment back. So you're gonna attack me, or...I'm gonna take you down." JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAYYYYYY

APPLY HUNTERS MARK BY PUNCHING HIM IN HIS UGLY ASS FUCKING FACE GET HIS ASS GET HIS ASS GET HIS ASS

"I thought you said next time you saw me, I wouldn't be your daughter anymore." "Now that I've seen how much you've changed, I mean it" go fuck yourself jayson <3

GRYFFON WAIT GRYFFON ARE YOU OKAY GRYFFON IF YOU DIE I WILL LOSE MY MIND

GILLION HEAL YOURSELF FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

GRIZZ IF YOU FUCKING KILL GILL AGAIN ISTG

GILLION HEAL YOURSELF

"if Jay's still fighting, I am too."

"Nice try, but Ollie's mom was way more pissed 😎"

lizzie??? did you??? did you actually kill ava or are you surprised???

GILL GOING CRAZY WITH THE NAT 20s

"It's okay I can dodge it!" the mentality of the episode

JSJFJSJF HE ABANDONS SHIP WITH THE WIZARD HES TAKING THE WIZARD HES A FRIEND

I fully believe lizzie didn't kill ava actually. don't believe jayson at all fuck this guy

If Gryffon is dead. If Gryffon is dead.

GILLION. GILLION ASKING JAY IF SHE CAN DO THIS. GILLION SUPPORTING JAY THIS WHOLE EP. RRRRIVHFGR IM GONNA DIE

gillion: just let me know where you need me. And I'll be there.

jay: right now you're right where you need to be. thank you.

gillion: aye aye, captain.

MARSHALL JOHN SOLOS

john and gill immediately going bro mode jsjfjsj

don't make me feel bad for jayson. I won't do it. piece of shit.

GILLION. IF YOU DIE.

GOES DOWN PROTECTING JAY GILLION YOURE GONNA KILL ME.

THE NAVY HAS GRYFFON

THANK YOU JAY THANK YOU JAY THANK YOU JAY

"You keep saying that people took me away from you. No one took me away from you, dad. You haven't had me for a long time. You lost me. You lost me in the lies, the training, your obsession with your work, it was all you cared about. Things change, dad. After ava died, you weren't there. You weren't there for me or for mom. And when I tell you we hurt, we struggled, I say we hurt and struggled so goddamn much. And I'm sure you did too, but you made it so goddamn clear where your priorities lied with the family. And in my grieving, you were the only one who wasn't there. Jayson Ferin, you are someone I've known my entire life. You've known me longer than I can remember, and maybe I've made decisions that you don't agree with, but they are my decisions, and I would've hoped that in the years you've known me, that you would give me even a modicum of trust, a modicum of what I saw in you my entire goddamn childhood. And now, you stand here in front of me again, you're making the same mistakes... You don't get to just take me back, you need to earn it. And the way it stands, you're on a fast track to lose both me, and your wife. You are the strongest man I've ever known but you are a fucking pathetic father. So come on. Go ahead, finish it, do your fucking job, if that's where your priorities still lay, as they always have."

persuasion with advantage and dm inspiration. so deserved holy shit jay. i am. speechless.

"For the first time in my life, since I became a pirate, I was able to feel free."

get the fuck OUT of here jayson go AWAY

jayson I'd ask why you don't fucking ask may yourself but I don't want you anywhere near her :)

thank fucking god hes gone.

"that's my boy right there, that's my BOY, I'm on your ass, I'm like glue on something that glues on" "this is the beginning of something, this is the beginning of a whirlwind of whoopass on kira I'm telling you now" bizly has the right idea get the panda man back

gill still didn't get the whalebone sword back ✌️😔

#jrwi riptide #jrwi spoilers #riptide spoilers #jrwilb #jrwi ep 100

[flickering-nightfall]

Hey! I came from youtube (the Hey Ya duck dance vid) and first of all, I LOVE your style, it's so adorable and smooth! I'm not super aware of rainworld lore, but your stuff makes me want to get into it! If you don't mind me asking, what program do you use to draw/animate?

Heya from the other side! I'd say if you want to avoid RW spoilers make sure to blacklist the rw spoilers/dp spoilers tags from me, but that's like 90% of my stuff on here lol

I use Toonboom Advanced (unfortunately) (it's way too expensive) (and swatches have their uses but I really miss my color wheel)

Like look at what I have to deal with.

I want to try TVPaint instead (they have permanent licenses!!! I hate subscriptions), but I can't afford to invest in that right now. I've tried Photoshop, Krita and CSP too. Photoshop is okay but definitely far more finicky - I'll have to give it a shot again sometime. Krita, same hat, but I have less experience with it than Photoshop. CSP animation is way different from everything else I've tried and I couldn't get into it. I also used to use Flash, but mostly for interactive comics rather than animation. (They're all dead now outside of .swf files, RIP Flash.) I prefer bitmaps/pixels over vectors but man, vectors are useful sometimes...

For non-animations I use Paint Tool Sai 2. It's got its limitations, but it feels the most natural to me. When I need fancier text or actual art brushes for background stuff, I switch to CSP, or Photoshop for filters/special effects. (I don't think I've used those two for anything I've posted so far except for Pebbles' motion-blurred "YOU ROTTEN SISTER YOUR BUTT IS CRUSHING ME" though)

Anyways, thanks so much! I should get back to animating now that you mention it... progress has been slow on the SRS and Spearmaster vid. I've been distracted by a lot of stuff lately.

#text #asks #deadmanplayer

[okiedokrie]

High Infidelity (TEASER)

Summary: There are many different ways that you could kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough. So what happens when you find someone who was all too willing to give you thee attention you craved, you said you'd only dip your toes into the idea, and yet, you find yourself already drowning. The novel you've been writing has been in progress for the better half of two years now, your writer's block beating you up, and your husband hasn't shown you any sympathy. Maybe a visit to the art exhibit from this new artist would jog your creativity, but what happens when this new artist offers you more than just relief from your writer's block?

Characters/Pairing(s): Xu Minghao (The8) x F!Reader

Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff

AUs/Trope info: Non-idol!AU, Aged-Up!AU, Right Person (not) Too Late

Word Count: 882 for this teaser (estimated 8-10k final fic)

Warnings: Infidelity, very inappropriate conversations with a married woman, tipsy sex (not drunk), minghao smokes, smut warnings in actual fic

Rating: 18+

A/N: banner and dividers by @daesukiii!! tysm!! This is also a rewrite/reupload of my own fic, "High Infidelity" on @pyeonghongrie, yes I reskinned my own fic.

FULL FIC HERE

The rain soaked into your skin, cold and icy piercing you painfully. All your personal belongings were strewn all around you, your soon ex-husband angrily slamming the door shut, but you can't feel but be relieved.

After all, you were finally free.

"I'm right here, honey, I love you." He whispers into your skin, slowly unbuttoning your shirt, one button at a time. He kisses your skin every time new skin is revealed to both of you, he kisses your skin so delicately as if you'd break at the slightest touch-

"Y/N, you still haven't dealt with the dishes yet." Your husband, Haru, said monotonously just as you were starting to gain momentum in your writing.

You groan, the interruption making you lose focus and motivation to write. You stare at the last word on your document, gaze burning into each pixel as if hoping that this piece would write itself. 

Unfortunately, life said, "Fuck you."

With another groan, you rub and pinch the bridge of your nose, a headache starting to settle in as your husband returns to work as if he didn't just cause you a serious inconvenience.

Standing from your comfortable computer chair, you take calm and even strides toward your kitchen, where only a handful of dishes are left in the sink.

And this little shit didn't even bother washing like, what? 8 dishes? he has to be kidding me, men.

You thought to yourself, your inner monologue only making yourself more irritated. But you wash them in silence, thinking of ways to calm down and clear your head so you have a clean slate to work with to get inspired again.

I think I should visit the gallery again, there's this new artist that I've been following. He's getting pretty popular, maybe I could draw inspiration from his work?

You think maybe this is the best idea you've had since you put bacon bits on mac & cheese. 

Taking the time to visit this gorgeous gallery was the correct move. 

Xu Minghao is a passionate man, you can see his dedication to his craft in all the pieces in this gallery. He was a mixed media artist, sometimes his work was pops of color on a canvas, others were sculptures made of clay, made with the most delicate of hands, and others were more niche, like the stained glass piece in another part of the gallery.

One thing about Minghao's work is that his subjects are also subjects of passion.

Paintings of a man's devotion to worshiping his lover's skin, a stained glass recreation of The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and his latest masterpiece, simply titled "Passion", a sculpture of a woman in the throws of pleasure, with her lover holding her close to him, no gap between their skin, eternally locked in a passionate embrace.

As a romance writer, this is exactly what you need.

You take in this sculpture, the light of the gallery display emphasizing the delicate attention to detail this piece had, you know the man who made this takes pride in this, his work, skills, and dedication finally being realized.

You stare in awe at this piece for a little over 20 minutes, the more you look at it, the more entranced you become of the mastery of this craft.

You feel a presence beside you, a man around 5'11", slightly muscular build, in a turtleneck with glasses sitting delicately on his nose. He has a peculiar hairstyle, a mullet to be exact, and the most gorgeous face you've ever laid your eyes on.

"I see you like this piece in particular," He started, hands in his trouser pockets while smiling fondly at the piece, "'Passion' was a difficult piece for me to finish, ironically enough, I got bored of it quite easily." He continues, turning to face you.

"I'm Minghao, by the way, Xu Minghao. If you haven't already figured it out." He takes a hand out of his pocket, extending it towards you.

"Oh, I'm Y/N, Park Y/N. It's a pleasure to meet you, Minghao. Your exhibit is astounding, I love your dedication to your work." You take his hand to shake it,

He chuckles at the compliment, "Oh please, save your praise, I know that name from anywhere. I love your latest work, that book was what inspired this entire collection, to begin with."

You gawk at him, oh my god, he reads smut. My smut.

"Oh my, what an honor! I'm glad you also enjoy my work." You receive the compliment gracefully, "Although, I do want to hear more about why you got bored of this piece in particular, such a wonder to the arts community, surely you aren't downplaying your work?"

He smiles, perfect teeth on display, you swear you never looked at a man like this in your life. You were down bad for his smile.

"I'm not saying I think it's bad, I just got bored of the creative process." He explains, "Although I do want to continue adding to this collection, perhaps we can go and get drinks together? Exchange ideas?" he offers.

You ponder on this for a bit. Going out to drinks with a budding friend wouldn't hurt, right?

"Could I give you my number? Let's set aside a day to chat. I have to get home to my husband before it gets too late."

A smirk came into his face, something dark about a seemingly insignificant change in his expression, “Of course, I look forward to our time together.”

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#okiedokrie #High Infidelity #seventeen #svt #svt smut #seventeen smut #seventeen the8 #the8 #the8 x reader #the8 x you #the8 x y/n #xu minghao #xu minghao smut #xu minghao x reader #minghao #minghao x reader #minghao x reader smut #minghao smut #seventeen x reader #seventeen x reader smut #seventeen minghao

[awnowimsad]

Hi I know you're aroace and aroallo blinkies are about a year old but can you please make an oriented aroace one or at least tell me how I can make one on my android phone?

Hi!! thanks for asking! even tho I haven't posted blinkies in a while it's no problem at all! I made these, I hope you like them! <3

I included the original ones and 3x upscaled ones. Also blank templates if you want to put custom text in them.

Also! I can't really make a proper tutorial rn, but if you or anyone else want to make blinkies on an android I'll still explain how I made it! I actually make blinkies on my pc, but everything can be done on android, too. (under a cut because wrote a bit much)

First you'd need a digital art app that supports layers (so most of them.) I use ibisPaint x which works fine. (though if you want to use it for blinkies or anything like pixel art you should go to the settings and disable "interpolation on zoom-in"!)

Make a canvas that is 150 x 20 px, and then make your background. In this case that was four 5px tall stripes.

Then for the actual blinking part! blinkie patterns are varied ofc but often for the simple ones I'll just copy them from a different blinkie. This one uses a simple pattern based on the pride blinkies from blinkies.cafe. I just changed it so the bottom "stripe" wasn't aligned with the top one, because then the blinkie would be asymmetrical, I prefer it this way.

For the flowing colors animation, you'll need as many frames as there are colors, so 4 in this case. Make the first frame on one layer then make the following frames, each on its own layer, however you want - by drawing them again or copying the previous one and editing it, whatever.

Then save each frame of the blinkie as a .png and plop them all in order in Ezgif gif maker. Change the delay time to 10 (or something like 8 or 12 depending on how you want it). And voila, a blinkie template.

The text! I'll confess for these ones I just made blinkies.cafe blinkies and removed the background. My art program of choice does NOT like pixel text so sometimes it's easier that way.

Anyway! The text! Write something on your canvas, either by hand lettering or with the text option. ibispaint x has some pixel fonts built in you can use.

You can save the individual frames with the text on it, but then you'd have to do it all again if you wanted different text. I prefer making the blank template like I explained.

So you should make the text look how you'd like it to look in the blinkie, and then save the text as a .png with a transparent background. Then go to Ezgif again and use the overlay tool to add your text! And it's done! Hooray!

Of course, if you wanted to add stuff like animated text it'd be more comlicated, but in general this works.

#blinkies #oriented aroace #webcore #stuff I made #eyestrain #flashing #fun fact! I accidentally deleted my response halfway through writing this so I had to rewrite the thing

[ask-summer-epos]

DANGLING MANE 2.0!! (SOMEONE SHOULD TELL HER NOT TO LET HER HAIR DOWN!!)

I decided I wanted to try it again, this time i put more effort into the art! plus now it definitely in the sky!! plus now it’s yellow ends so it probably will be easier, same as last time you can add your oc and continue the image,

you can draw your oc interacting with the mane or just however you think they'll react to it! be creative! : also canvas 3508 pixels wide! 

remember! try to look at the notes page first before reblogging so it continues the path!! and have fun. if you have any questions just ask, and if someone already has done your idea don’t worry! sometimes people just have the same reaction!