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purplejabberwock · 1 year

Note

Hi! For the game if it's still open: 3, 33 and 53??

Game questions from here.

3. on a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

I'm not wholly certain how to answer this question, but honestly, that really depends on the story. Lampverse is secondarily a romance, after all (it is firstly a whatever-FGO-is, genrewise, but romance is 100% something that's front and centre). Dead Men Walking is much less romantic, but there's instances of it between specific characters.

I wouldn't write a romance on its own mainly because I find far too many things about a given universe too interesting to ignore just for pushing heads together to say 'now kiss'. That's not to say I won't be pushing heads together, but I generally like to have something else alongside it. Lamp is probably about as romantic as I've ever gotten, and the porn exists squarely alongside dealing with apocali.

So, it's a sliding scale. I'm not going to put it into a story that doesn't need it, but in a story that's as much about a relationship between two characters as it is about saving the world, yeah, it's gonna go in there.

33. do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Characters, always, because most of the time my plots are 'but I want to see what happens to these people in this circumstance'. Dead Men Walking is all about 'what happens if these people lived'. Lampverse is very literally 'uh nope that person deserves a different ending (and also to get kisses)'.

Don't get me wrong, plots come swiftly on the heels, but plots are nothing without the characters in them. Characters lead.

53. when writing, do you have an outline? and do you stick to it?

This depends on what you mean by 'outline'. As above, I often start with a certain context I want to see a character in, and follow that through. I usually figure out early on how things are going to end, on a rough scale, and aim toward that.

Everything in-between? Nope. I might figure stuff out along the way, before it happens, but I never write it down, because I'm also not going to stick to whatever I think will happen. A too-strict adherence to outlines stifles creativity. It keeps you in a specific box and with a specific set of assumptions, and before you know it you're butting your head against 'writer's block' (read: the wall of your guideline) wondering what went wrong.

Stories want to sprawl and go many places. That's not always going to be where you think it's going to go, or it's going to take longer than you wanted and thought it would, and as soon as they try to do that, you're fighting your own outline. Having an outline might feel reassuring, but in reality it's signalling a lack of self-trust. There's a point when it's a good idea to let go of them just to see what you can come up with in the dark.

When I outline, it's to outline what I've just written so I know where to springboard from later, especially for longfics where I may need to reference ten chapters ago. I never, ever outline before I write. If I'm not expecting to stick to it anyway, it's energy I can better spend actually writing.

#question games: answered

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ac-liveblogs · 2 years

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The Snowy Past, Act I

Well, I for one love this whole “Paimon randomly decides she wants something and an event just happens to kick off” model. It’s not jarring at all.

Even I admit this is nitpicky, but we’re seriously trying to work out how to preserve food in a world where people have ice powers.

“Albedo is NOT the kind of person that would just ignore you if he’s in a bad mood!” yeah, he’s ACTUALLY the type to just walk away and leave you without warning if you annoy him

Wow, it has been awhile since we last saw Amber in any decent capacity. I think she cameo’d briefly in Eula’s quest, but she hasn’t done anything substantial since the prologue, I think.

omg, teucer, where’s your hat

Eula is not the one to lecture someone about being too formal when speaking to others. It’s... strange that she’s showing some self awareness about it now given that she was unable to do so in her quest, even if she gives a decent enough justification for it. Also, the Lawrence stuff... really happened far too long ago for me to be able to take it seriously. It also comes across as strange when the rookie adventurer partnered up with her seriously has no idea who she is and is totally fine teaming up.

I’d also like to make a crack about Fischl ditching an event because she had something else to do again... and man we forgot about Albedo quick!

Albedo is kiiiind of a bitch these days. Which, I will be honest, is a massive improvement. But Paimon makes it impossible to have a natural-sounding conversation between her voice acting and her clunky, forceful dialogue completing overtaking the Traveller’s role in any conversation. That Paimon gets the bulk of dialogue with people that are pretty ambivalent about her but supposedly extremely close with you is not to this game’s benefit. I couldn’t tell you what your dynamic with Albedo is supposed to be, really. Also, we sure forgot about Amber quick!

and man does this game condecend to you sometimes. is it really searching for footprints if the map tells you where to look AND there’s an arrow pointing at them...

You know, I’d thought Paimon’s completely random insistence on the Traveller learning to paint was just extremely clunky dialogue, it was actually extremely clunky foreshadowing!

god, what do the fatui even do in their spare time. the hell are these guys getting paid for.

Wow, Albedo just sprung his backstory on you out of NOWHERE. It wasn’t even relevant to anything that was happening, he just decided to dump it on you and didn’t even tell you why it mattered that you know. Issue being that you’ve met Albedo a grand total of four times in this game, and you didn’t spent a lot of time with him except the first, and suddenly you’re the only one he trusts with this amazing info about himself, apropos of nothing? When I predicted that MHY wouldn’t even bother trying to work backstory info into the game in an interesting way bc it was already revealed in stories, I wasn’t expecting to be so dead on.

“Let’s meet back up in a couple of days!” is turning into a bad joke. We have an imposter on the loose attacking children. You want to compare in a few days? Even if I didn’t work in childcare, I would be losing my shit trying to apprehend this jackass.

Honestly, I appreciate that Genshin is trying harder to write event narratives, but they’re still not any good at it. Or consistent characterisation. Or exciting storylines. I can’t help but feel that Albedo has a lot of potential that’s being squandered in this game, and I know if he were written more competently I’d absolutely adore him, but Genshin makes him about as interesting as toast.

The worst part of this game is that there’s solid ideas here, but they clearly can’t stick the execution. I guess I should just be glad they’re not pulling a Xiao/Lantern Rite scenario and we’re actually addressing any of this stuff at all.

Also:

god the event shops suck in this game!!! fgo seriously spoils me. at the very least can they implement infinite currency farming????

#ac plays genshin impact #this game quite likes the albedo and aether duo huh #shame aether's a nothing character and they don't hang out much #its annoying bc this ship could ALSO be good #i'm still surprised kaebedo does better ao3 numbers #like. based on what

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writer-and-artist27 · 3 years

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Blanket of Meaning

Note: I was listening to Eternity Blue by Sachi, the song used for the ending of Part 1 of FGO, and ended up coming up with this. And considering how friends have been helping me regain my energy, this is my little ode to one of my newest ones, as an extra honor to this story that went up earlier this month, I feel.

A gift for @partialdignity.

I don’t know when you’ll see this, Carim, but just know I did this because I wanted to and because I appreciate you. Thankie for sticking around these past few months. :)

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Vy wasn’t surprised to find Rem fast asleep against Arjuna’s shoulder. The amount of farming the duo did for QP was (for once) a lot more than anyone had expected. It was all the more surprising considering the sudden pile of gold that Rem suddenly brought back to Chaldea once the QP was all collected — was that a part of the bonding process or something? Vy could’ve sworn Arjuna didn’t have any pockets to hold that much gold. So, even with all that in mind, Vy almost expected her fellow Master to fall asleep after a hearty dinner of homemade curry rice courtesy of Tama Cat and Archer EMIYA.

Still, looking at Rem’s sleeping face had Vy pause for a moment. Arjuna’s eyes were equally relaxed and closed as his head lulled against Rem’s, but knowing his status as a Servant, he could wake up at any time if there was even a sign of danger.

Vy considered for a single second.

She took the only hairband she had off her wrist, a dull blue no thanks to the number of missions it had accompanied her on since Fuyuki, reaching back to tie up her long hair into a quick ponytail. Even with a few strands out of place from a messy brushing, Vy didn’t mind. She then ran out of the room as quietly as possible, glancing around the hallways before finding the cupboard she wanted.

1, 2, 3—

Vy did her best to jump up onto the nearest ledge, opening the topmost cupboard to reveal extra blankets hidden inside. Glancing over, she immediately picked the fluffiest-looking one, pulling it into her arms to hold as she slowly climbed back down to floor-level. An equally quick yet quiet dash back was all it took to return to the room Rem was in, and sure enough, Rem was still asleep.

For once in their shared lives together as Chaldean Masters, Rem actually looked relaxed and happy with Arjuna, napping away without a care for anyone else in the world.

Even if we're not that close...

Vy let herself smile just a bit as she chose to tiptoe towards the other Master in the room, carefully unfolding the blanket the entire time. Gently draping both Rem and Arjuna in it was a bit harder than intended no thanks to the small couch they had chosen to sleep on and the length of the blanket intended to be only for a single bed, but Vy settled for having the comforter reach their waists before lurching back to give them space.

I'd like to be there for you too.

“Congrats on a new bond, Chị Rem,” Vy whispered softly. “Be Vy will do her best to take things from here. Get some good rest with Anh Arjuna tonight."

Without waiting for a response, Vy tiptoed backwards to reach the doorway, staring at Rem for a few seconds longer before scurrying out.

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

“Vy,” Tamamo Cat said in quiet consideration over a pot of tea, “you didn’t have to help us with the dishes tonight, woof. You went farming just as much as Master did today, woof.”

“As much as the cat over there really needs to change her dialogue choices,” Robin Hood sardonically added with a brief glance at Vy over his shoulder drying dishes with a towel, “she has a point, little sparrow. We Servants could’ve cleaned up by ourselves tonight, more so since you helped us cook too.”

Vy rocked her head back and forth for a moment, pretending to think on it before brushing some stray hairs away from her neck and holding the sponge in her right hand a bit tighter. “Nah,” she opted for simply. “Could’ve, but nah.”

“Nah?” Cat echoed with a small bounce in her step, a furry ear flicking in Vy’s direction. “What’s this ‘nah’, Vy? You’re acting suspicious, woof!”

“Just that,” Vy added with a small shrug, giggling. “Nah!”

Tamamo Cat gave her an open mouth of disbelief — one that was enough to show a peek of fang.

On the other side of the kitchen “island,” Robin scoffed under his breath, putting down the newest dry dish in a coffee cup against a counter before strolling over. Vy did her best to stay still once he eventually loomed over her head, and sure enough, calloused hands were tugging at her ponytail. “This coming from the girl who needs a better hairbrush?” he said sarcastically, but the tugging at her hair said otherwise.

Vy waited about a minute or two for Robin to finish cleaning up her hair, and once the hair tie snapped itself into place (was it new? Vy couldn’t tell, but it was definitely tight and snug), she leaned back on the heels of her boots to beam up at the May King.

“Hairbrush or not, what’s wrong with doing something for a friend, Big Robin?” Vy giggled, leaning back a bit more to bump the top of her head against his apron-clad chest. “The least I can do is wash dishes for a friend to rest easier!”

Tamamo Cat took a step back at that, just as Robin blinked down at her before averting his gaze, a hand covering his mouth.

…Huh? With a turn of her foot, Vy looked at both Servants with a confused face. “O-Or what, is there something wrong with spontaneous acts of kindness? Rem’s done a lot here too, so I thought the least I could do is wash dishes and help around the kitchen so she could eat and sleep well—”

Tamamo Cat simply raised one paw to purr a happy, “No~!” just as Robin Hood wordlessly reached over to pull Vy into a tight hug, cutting off her ramble session. The entire thing was enough to throw Vy off guard, a high-pitched (and honestly quite clumsy) squeak leaving her lips, but she still returned Robin’s hug via a hesitant pat on his back, blinking up at him from past all the faceful of green apron.

“…Big Robin?”

Robin stayed quiet, his fingers merely cradling the back of her head as he tightened the hug.

Vy tried one more pat, this time with a bit more strength. “Robin?”

“Silly sparrow,” he said finally. “You silly little sparrow.”

With nothing else in mind, Vy gently bonked her head against his shoulder after a moment, a giggle leaving her lips. “Still yours, right?”

Robin laughed too. “Damn straight.”

“Let’s get back to the dishes?”

Robin pulled back at Vy asking the question, rolling his eyes. “Always work with you.”

“I don’t hear a ‘no’! And besides, we have to finish this before mi amiga wakes up! Tomorrow we’re having pho and we still need to simmer the chicken!”

The entire time, it looked like Tamamo Cat was beaming too. Vy let herself take a little pride in that. Just a little.

#gift #writing #rem #mastersona vy #arjuna #robin hood #tamamo cat #long post #fate grand order #short story #drabble #kinda #passing days #partialdignity #for you friend :)#unedited

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coe-lilium · 5 years

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Hey Lilium! Thanks for your answer, it was really informative! I’ve got myself a litte tablet atm which is really working for me. I meant to ask about character design too- what advice could you give on that?

I’m glad it was helpful!

Here’s my experience with chara des then, bearing in mind that I’ve yet to finalize a single original charades and all I’ve done till now are redesigns, which -for me, at least?- are a lot easier since they give you a guideline, even if just to say “I’m doing the opposite”.

1. Find a main theme for the project/piece

2. Research-research-research

3. Bear in mind that you’re creating/altering something for you to like

4, bonus. once you’re done, consider the audience you’ll show -or not- your work to.

1. the main theme/idea for all my redesigns is “I love Fate, but I also love history and die a little every time a Fate design has nothing to do with the character period/culture/history. I wonder what they’ll look like with accurate clothes?”. I’m still running with it, but it needed some adjustments along the way.

The very first attempt, Martha, was as historically accurate I could manage, which… wasn’t a lot. “low class jewish woman of the 1st century aC” was a little too specific and google gave me little to work on and I had to resort to religious depictions. I’m still happy with her, but now I can see that in my wish to make her as historically plausible as possible I ended up with a design too accurate, to the point of being, well, bland. Bland and sticking out like a sore thumb if put next to any other Fate character. If and when I’ll revamp her, I’ll add details and be careful to include something to convey her personality.

So, 1:1 with history was out, next best thing I had was mixing history and the “Fate”/anime aesthetic. Not for every character, mind (Nitocris looks quite fine in clothes taken straight out of a Egyptian parietal painting), but now that I’ve tried, I’ve settled down for “how they’ll look like with evident historical and cultural inspirations?”, which is what I’ve done for Boudica, Jeanne and Bradamante, what I’ll keep doing for the next pieces and also for the original Servants I’m planning.

Speaking of originals Servants, since I’m having troubles explaining things in general, I’ll use one of them as an example for the next point.

*under the cut for length*

2. Let’s say I want to design another lady from the Orlando Innamorato/Furioso, Marfisa, as a potential Servant.

As a first step I collect info from the source material.

She’s of noble origins, mixed race, “pagan”/muslim (it’s complicated), possibly either north African or Arabian, queen of 7 countries by the time she’s 18, devout, proud, brave, honourable and incredibly skilled as a warrior, has no magic aids or objects but win on sheer ability alone. Twin of Ruggiero (Brad’s fiancee), friend of Astolfo and Bradamante. Had an armor she cared a lot for and went to great lengths to get back when it got stolen.

(me being me, I also went to academia.edu, found articles/PhD on her and read them to better understand the character, but there’s few chara I’m willing to research to this length for a redesign).

Considering Servants are summoned at their peaks, physically I’ll have her look in her late teens/early twenties, brown skin and with a hijab (which will require some research by itself).

Onto deciding the clothes/armor now:

- the “official” time period of her life should be that of historical Charlemagne rule and life, but the works in which she features have no claims of historicity whatsoever and were published in 1483 and 1516.

- comes from the same material as the Paladins and thus should -imo- looks like she somehow belongs with them even if she’s in their enemy camp and from a different culture.

- as they are now, the Paladins common (?) aesthetic seems to be, sorry can’t contain the snark, “random fantasy isekai reject”, with Astolfo being the best designed by miles and Charles looking fine in his alt armored skin, the rest being a disaster. This point has the highest chance not to get contemplated in the final design bc I loathe it. Being less snarky, the few positive design details point to their inspiration being rooted more in 1500 than 800 AC fashion, so I’ll keep that in mind.

So, she’s got no reason to being accurate with a single period (or culture) but could should instead integrate bits from many places and eras. Influences from easily accessible media is welcome, both to mirror the Paladins LN influences and bc the og poems were incredibly successful and printed in spades and read in courts and less noble houses alike.

Now that I have my guidelines it’s finally time to hunt for visual references.

Looking for historical islamic countries armor is a obligatory step bc I personally have no idea how they looked like and if I find how they were assembled and what colors were used it will be helpful to build my own ver and know how things attach. The period and place doesn’t count, I simply go for what I like more and think this particular chara would wear. Your mileage my vary, but for me history is always the first step to start from, bc if you use only popular media or artistic depictions there’s the chance to make mistakes easily corrected when looking at how the real stuff worked and also to get more… repetitive?

Then I look for how the character’s being depicted before in art of all periods. In this case all I found was a white lady in european armor, completely useless, but usually there’s a lot more and for other characters this “spot” is where I spend most of my researching time after the historical one.

Then I look for… video games with historical settings that fit my criteria (remember, popular media). Find something I like and keep digging into a particular game and -if lucky enough- in the deviantart pages of the artists responsible for that or that other design.

After I’ve collected a lot of different refs I go here on tumblr or on DA or in dedicated sites to find nice palettes and after I’ve got different options for these as well, rejoice!, research time is finally over!

Now’s time to mix all the influences and draw :D

3. Not a lot to say here, just that if you’re not working under commission then you’re doing this for fun and mostly for yourself, so put in the things you like. You like implausible fantasy/jrpg/videogame/cartoon aesthetic more than IRL/ historical aesthetic? Dang, go for it.

My mindset got a lot better when I embraced the fact I wasn’t redesigning these characters to “make them objectively better”, there was no “mission”: I was doing this to please myself and my own tastes, and that was enough.

4. For example, I know I could cover all the Fate ladies in armor for no other reason than I like ladies in armor and find at least neutral reactions on this blog or my DA page, but you’ll never see me post my works in the fgo reddit, even those I’m more proud of, because I know that subreddit and I have no intention to submit myself to a river of mocking, accuses of puritanism and muh censorship!!.

I suppose this suggestion’s useless if you want to always widen your audience and/or are looking for employment in the field and need all the recognition you can get, but as I have no intention of doing either I get to decide where to show my stuff and to avoid places where it’s likely the reactions will make me feel miserable. No one needs that noise in their life for a hobby, fuck that.

Last but not for relevance, as a cautionary tale? Spite/anger at something can be one hell of a motivation to start working, but it’s not enough to let you finish a project unless you start enjoy what you’re creating down the road.

In case of og chara it shouldn’t be any spite, but as soon as you get tired of your work, stop, put it on hiatus and go concentrate on something else. We’re doing this because it makes us happy, it’s no good to let it drag and become a chore.

#paragon-arthur #answer #drawing tips #???#i guess??#man i've never taken classes on this take with massive grain of salt bc it's only how i work

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delicioussshame · 6 years

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FGO fusion, part 6 (end)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

He can’t believe he’s resorting to avoiding his own Servant, and yet, here he is. He stops going to the common areas of Chaldea as much as possible. If he can’t, he sticks to Mash’s side. If not, he hangs around his lancers. Hopefully it will be enough to keep his annoying archer away.

He has to find a better solution. This whole dance of meeting-catastrophe-avoidance has to stop, for good. Tetsuya has to set Aomine straight. He’ll use another command spell if he has to. He’d probably be the only Master in history to use one to order their Servant not to hit on them. Maybe he could make it a mass order to all his Servants. That’d be nice. He doesn’t think it’s possible, but it would sure be useful.

Anyway. Enough is enough. He’s going to set his Servant straight and that’ll be that. End of story.

He’ll still summon Aomine in another room. He just feels like the absence of a bed nearby might help.

The spike of mana preceding the appearance of a Servant shouldn’t concur with dread pooling at the bottom of his stomach. Or maybe it’s something else.

Aomine’s shifting eyes betray Tetsuya might not be the only one feeling awkward.

Good.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Aomine.” Tetsuya just stares him down with his best neutral expression, which is pretty impressive if he says so himself.

“You want something?”

…Maybe not the best opening. “I just wanted to clear the air between us and put it all behind.”

“No need. You made yourself pretty clear already.”

Is he angry at him? Tetsuya takes a deep breath before answering. “Then we’re in agreement. No more putting your hands on me.”

“No we’re not, but I’m not going to force you. I don’t get why you won’t even give me a chance, is all.”

Tetsuya gives him a slightly disbelieving look. “Surely you’re kidding. You’re not a spirit of older times. You must be familiar with the idea of unhealthy relationships. Trying to replace your dead lover with their identical counterpart is the definition of that.”

Aomine outright laughs at him. The nerve. “Like I have time to waste on that. I’m a dead heroic spirit from a destroyed world. You’re one of the very few surviving humans trying to save the world despite the fact that it’s probably pointless. What do you even have to lose? I already lost Tetsu once, it’s not like this could be worse than being without him.”

That’s terrible logic. Tetsuya can only stare. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Bitter, bitter laugh. “Been there, done that.”

Well. Tetsuya guesses that’s true. “That doesn’t make it a good idea.”

“Nothing about our lives is a good idea. We’re still living them anyway. Might as well make them as nice as they can be, and for me that means being with Tetsu, in any way I can be. Who gets a second chance like this and wastes it? Not me, that’s all. Plus, I’m not blind. It’s not like you’re not attracted to me.” As if he needed to prove his point, one of his hands reaches out to brush that spot he’s teased before, and the simple touch elicits a shudder and a flashback: soft lips warming up his skin, leaving a small mark that took days to fade. “Come on, be honest. Tell me you don’t want me. Not that we shouldn’t, not that it’s not a good idea, not that you’d be an irresponsible Master. Tell me your truth, and I’ll accept it.”

Tetsuya opens his mouth, but no sounds escape it.

He just… knows too much. He remembers the dreams. He remembers all of Aomine’s jagged edges, always on the verge of breaking apart when he so much as thinks of his old lover. He remembers how the other Tetsuya felt during those few moments he allowed them.

Even if it wasn’t meant for him, he still can’t forget Aomine kissing him, his hands holding on to his body like if he kept grounding him he could keep what was his there indefinitely. There’s even a perverse part of him that wonders how it would be, to be with someone who already knows all of your weaknesses better than you know yourself.

He can’t think of anyone that wouldn’t want a chance at a relationship like this. Even if heartbreak, one way or the other, is inevitable. Either he wins, and Aomine fades out like all his other Servants once their use has passed, or he loses and they all die.

It’s so much easier to use common sense to wipe all of that away. Tetsuya has duties to his family, to other magus, to the rest of the world. He can’t forget it all because someone is trying to seduce him.

But Aomine is right. It would be lying.

In this end, he can’t answer him. “Can’t you just accept I would rather abstain?”

Aomine grins at him. “Nope. Also, that word choice.”

Tetsuya rolls his eyes before he thinks about it. This, this natural chemistry like they’ve been together since birth, isn’t helping either.

“Look, just let me kiss you once. Just once.” One of those huge, warm hands settles on his cheek. Their eyes meet; their gazes lock. “Please.”

This look again, full of longing, stealing his breath away. No one has ever craved him before.

He nods.

It feels just as loving as it did the first time. It’s overpowering, warm, passionate, terrifying, disturbing, terrible, perfect. The hand still resting on his face is trembling, or maybe he’s the one shaking like a leaf in the wind. He wants him to stop. He wants it to continue always.

Aomine pulls back, leaving Tetsuya dazed for a few moments. He didn’t expect him to stop after one kiss, not really. Maybe it shows on his face. “I said I wasn’t gonna force you, didn’t I?”

He did. Maybe he shouldn’t doubt him next time.

“So?”

So? So what?

Oh.

Right. He has to answer him now. Right. “I…” His mind draws a complete blank. All he can focus on is the look in Aomine’s eyes, resolution battling with hope. Can he really crush that faint hope? Any heroic spirit would deserve better than this. And let’s not forget he wants this too. He does, damn them both.

“I reserve the right to end our contract if this fails. You must be aware that I already shouldn’t allow myself this much distraction.” He really needs to work on saving humanity, after all.

“Like I would give you any reason to. I’m not losing you again.”

Under Aomine’s gaze, Tetsuya can feel chills travelling down his spine.

#KnB #AoKuro

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