Makin' art

Skip Beat vol. 43

When Kyoko first met Ren, she was too consumed with rage and vengeance to notice anything else. But as her heart has healed and the series has progressed, she slowly realized that Ren is very hot and she has feelings for him. It was incredibly hard for her to finally admit those feelings, but she finally decided that loving someone didn’t make her a bad person. She decided to cherish her feelings for Ren, but it true Kyoko fashion she decided to never share them. It’s obvious to her that Ren is interested in someone, but it never occurs to her that it’s her! So when Ren gives her a token of affection in a romantic way, it triggers all her warm feelings for him.

But it also pisses her right off! Ren is actually being sincerely romantic, but Kyoko thinks he’s just casually bewitching her without realizing it. She decides it was a fatherly gesture that meant well, but part of her can’t forgive him for not realizing the effect he has on people. Especially her!

Kyoko is determined to keep her forbidden desires and delusions about Ren in check so that she can concentrate on her new job. But does she even have a chance if Ren decides to up his game?!

-Editor Pancha

《Food Fantasy》 × 《Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card》

Official collab: Sakura’s Tasty Adventure!

Nyxnoct new year challenge Day 21! (ao3)

Within the first hour of being officially engaged, Noctis can hardly keep his eyes off the new ring on his finger. He keeps slipping it on and off, fascinated by the moon glinting off the black steel’s mirror finish. He strokes a finger along the polished material and lingers at the edges embedded with purple sapphire.

Nyx, on the other hand, can’t keep his fingers out of his own hair rather than Noct’s for once. He rolls his new beads between his fingers. There’s two of them: black, an ancient Galahdian hieroglyph known to represent the unity of two hearts engraved in gold. A vow for the present and a vow for the future, woven delicately into his braids by Noctis to further bind their love in the ways of his homeland.

They lie side by side on the floor of the royal vessel in silence, untouched by the concept of time or a world outside of their own.

When the clock strikes midnight, Nyx spirals into subdued giggles. He’s either drunk or sleep deprived, possibly both, because Nyx does not giggle (or so he claims). Noctis looks his way and struggles to refrain from falling into a similar outburst.

“What?”

“You’re not my boyfriend anymore,” he says with the dopiest grin. “You’re my fiancé.”

“I know.”

“Noct.”

“What?”

“You’re my fiancé.” He turns onto his side and inches forward, cracking Noctis’ composure further.

“I know, babe.”

This time he inches until he’s completely invaded Noct’s personal space, their noses brushing, the rumble of Nyx’s bubbling laughter driving him to the edge of a newfound euphoria.

“You’re my fiancé.” Nyx whispers it this time, punctuating each word as if it were the secret the universe had been missing for far too long. They might have the ring and the beads, but it has yet to sink in for them both. Saying it out loud feels odd and invigorating at the same time.

The STAND BY ME lyric video has been released!

it isn’t really about the content that was promised. i, for one, was pretty apathetic about the DLCs, and i still haven’t played through ep ignis myself. each time a DLC came out last year it’d take me a month or two to get to it, after already having consumed all the spoilers. and i can’t look anybody in the eyes and say xv was a genuinely great game with good plot, solid characters, and fun gameplay. in truth it was none of those things. most of the fans know this and we don’t need people outside of the fandom reminding us, especially now of all times.

but what i love about xv - and what has been a totally new experience for me - is the hype preceding each major DLC release. the fans coming in with theories and art and fic and talking to each other. i know there was toxicity in the fanbase but i’ve never personally come across it. it was just… months of good wholesome fandom interaction that carried us all the way through last year. and after each DLC dropped, there was always some disappointment, but there was more discussion, more art, more ‘fix-it’ AUs. More fandom content. and truly the fandom content is where the best of it was. the fandom feeling was what made xv so special for me. the friends i’ve made, the connections that xv brought me through kupocon, with people in the industry and people in the cast… that’s what my experience of xv was all about.

i’ve said it before that my only other major fandom is VII - and we’re all pretty old now, the ones who’ve been here since the start. i distinctly remember the pace of XV fandom jarring me at the beginning, and i remember feeling resentment at new content- but having gotten used to it, and having greatly anticipated the same kind of similar ride for 2019, the abruptness of the stream announcement was a killer.

but since i’m me - and you know me, i’ve been clinging on to vii for 18yrs now - i’ll be in this fandom forever, until at least something else comes along to monumentally change my life the way vii and xv have.

so i hope, if you’re in a similar boat to i am today, that you’ll let nobody talk down on you or try to diminish your feelings of loss. i’ve likened xv before to a raft keeping me afloat on an ocean still trying to drown me, and i feel like i’ve been tipped back in. but i’ll get back on. it’s far from over despite how it might feel today

I don’t get as much time to interact with other fans online, but I do meet a lot in person at cons, and to just see the joy on other’s faces as we talk about our favorite characters or favorite parts of the game...it just really sticks with me. (Especially other Nyx fans out in the wild, ily so much)