Art dump

If you want to contact me, here's my email: [email protected]

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE💥

Update 18. Returning to New Lumiere.

Important news first!

⚠️Khloq Art will be streaming A Life To Dream: Verstave visual novel on her twitch and @hairyecballium and @shinpm are joining for Q&A session. If you have any questions you want answered, here is form

Please, remember that we will be answering only project-related questions.⚠️

Now to the dev log itself.

Well, hello there. We survived this adventure and what a rollercoaster it was! It started as an idea "hey, guys, you expressed interest in trying game development, want to make something simple based on little text game we did ages ago in the Verstave channel?" and ended in something cool.

First, I would like to thank entire team for the tremendous amount of work you've put into the project. It's been an honour to work with you and dare I say, I am proud of a unhinged family we became over the span of development. Some thing went wrong, most of the things went right and in the end we ended up with a decent result.

Speaking of the latter. Some of the feature are done, but had issues with integration and did not make it into final game. This is out next update along with adjusting sprite heights, fixing bugs and cutting out dev notes that sneaked into the end product.

Second, there is a lot of unused material that will be used for expansion. However, we will not be starting anything in the next 2-3 months for sure. It's been a blast and I think vast majority including me would do it again in a heartbeat again, but we need a break and enjoy our personal projects, I bet the team wants to cook for themselves for some time.

However! If you are interested in joining the team after those 2-3 months for expansion or some other possible project (I don't know, girls are kinda hot, Simon is still somewhere in Drafts, and Shin is shaking me asking for Dream Papa dating sim) please, hit me up of leave your expression of interest in Google form.

And now? Now we rest and hydrate.

Thank to everyone who supported us! ❤️❤️❤️

Links:

Expression of interest form

A Life To Dream bug form

A Life To Dream questions

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We made it!

The Dome Works is delighted to present to you: A Life to Dream — A free Verstave Visual Novel. Explore an alternate reality where Verso decides differently at the Stone Wave Cliffs and Gustave survives to see Expedition 33 through to the end.

The visual novel features 11 story acts, multiple routes and endings (some featuring NSFW content, which is why the visual novel is rated 18+), gorgeous art created by our wonderful artists, music and environmental audio, and of course, a list of future updates with more content that is already in the works.

All 23 members of the Dome Works crew wish Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a belated happy first birthday, and we thank Sandfall for creating such a brilliant game that has touched our hearts and inspired us to create this fan project. We thank you with all our hearts ❤️❤️❤️

Download here

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💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE💥

Update 17. Waving from the Monolith

You thought we perished? But we are alive, working and we have some news.

So, what exactly happened?

A bit of a sad update — we won't be able to release on Sunday, and this is rather upsetting for us since we already moved the release date for extra day.

However, the reality is that life hits us and technical delays happen. The choice was between releasing half-baked game and what it meant to be from the beginning, which is not broken and with mini-games. We opted for the latter and decided to give our technical team another week

Please, accept this teaser with the release date in the end of the video and wait for more updates soon!

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥 VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update 16. There is always a party before fighting final boss

Week 14 is done and it's been absolute chaos. Today we will talk more about it and what plans we have for the release... and after.

So, what exactly happened?

1. First of all, congratulations to our Writers who are finally free and can go home, taking care of personal projects... or straight into another project jail because we all know how it is. They still have access to a Very Secret Stash OF Stickers aka Smiling Ciabatta, Dickso, Bonsoir Whoresoir and Grumpy Grandi, but they are free. Round of applause for them! 👏👏👏

2. Remember, how we mentioned that we have girls? Well, look at out beautiful Lune. She isn't romanceable and angry most of the time, but she is truly a sight to behold.

3. At some point Painters found out that painted Alicia is present in chapters and panicked a little because we did not have sprite for her. In entirety of 20 minutes Maelle sprite was repurposed for Alicia, outfit, hair and mask painted over, confirmed that she isn't actually talking and only present, so she was quickly Gommaged. I am sorry, Alicia, we'll see you next life. But at least she left a funny video behind.

4. More background were made. The one you can see is sky above Continent and it was made by Aza

5. UI for the game is almost finished, and you can see screenshot of main menu with save system in here. Background in main menu changes based on where player saved.

6. ... now to the chaos and the party. At some point it was noticed that there is... a difference in genitalia description and its depiction in art. Very obviously it was resolved very quickly but this is a starting point of expedition party. It was a wild hour... two... three with language learning, jokes and funny pics. Listen, it's hard to explain, just enjoy view of double Renoirs watching... cats.

7. There has been a massive backend update in how game functions. And as I was writing this it turned out that tumblr allows only one video per post so we can't show off new functions without gommaging poor Alicia. Again

8. Sound designers are pushing ambient and music, so it is going to be fun week.

9. Overall we are close to finish line and it is rather stressful time. Is there a possibility of release been delayed? A small one, but we are doing our best to deliver on time.

Now, to the sad news: while there is a system for customization as you seen in previous dev logs, it won't be present on release. The reason for it is simple: the priority were characters while outfits are just flavour feature and our love to dress up characters. There will be a switch to swimsuits at certain point but it will be scripted event. Additionally, having multiple outfits meant compositing for all locations in case players will decide to switch outfits and considering choice. The secondary system needs more time, assets and logic than we have, so it won't be present on release.

And let's not pretend that glorious Monoco's fur rendering is easy.

Next devlog most likely will be last if all goes well. If not, you will know. If we are successful... Merry Christmas!

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Yooo, it's our beloved @hairyecballium 's birthday today! Happy birthday, pookie!🥳🎉🎉🎉 I am crunching over our visual novel but I couldn't leave you without a little gift 🎁. Fellow Verstavlings, go check her fic "Juxtaposition", you won't regret it, trust me🤌 And to give you some visuals, here's an illustration for the fight scene between Writer Gustave and Painter Verso do yall know where else those tentacles have be-[gunshots]

Link to the fic

Meeting you was one of the best things that happened to me in this fandom. I can't even describe how many times you inspired me and other people to create marvelous artworks, without you our server wouldn't be the same and I thank fate that we found each other. Never change, bestie🥹❤️❤️❤️

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE💥

Update 15. That was rather late, but we were overrun by nevrons

Week 12 has passed, and part of week 13 too. It was a busy and chaotic time due to few complications that were resolved fast and efficient, but still made team worry a bit. But do not worry, fellow expeditioners, we have brought you MORE content and devlog!

So, what exactly happened?

1. Art assets and writing finalised and there will be no more new tasks. One by one Painters and Writers are escaping project jail and returning to their personal projects. It's been an honour, friends. Now go and keep destroying fandom with your masterpieces, you beautiful creatures.

2. Lead Writer currently is going over all the writing and is reviewing it.

3. There might be a little party in programmer dungeons, and by party I mean brooding together in front of monitors and putting all together.

4. Today in art showcase we have Continent map by @shinpm , Papa Renoir by her, Lutza and @thunderstyled because we love him very much. Flying Cemetery and Monoco's Station by Masken, Grandis and game icon by Aza, Visage Island and Monolith by @reinarandraw . Finally, shot from Monoco slap mini-game, art by Shin, Pumpkin and Reina, programming by Hazelninja24

5. Additionally we have more answers for your questions!

"How do you animate the art?"

We don't. It was an idea but unfortunately it was for high scope. Perhaps, we can do update in a future but it's not guaranteed.

"I understand there is a friendship and 18+ route. But is there a mode where you can just romance without the 18+ content, like in the game?"

At this time, we will not be pursuing the game’s “fade to black” style of romance. The goal of this VN was to, in part, have a 18+ visual novel. Currently our non-explicit routes will be available through the non-sexual route and the “Clair” mode of the game where explicit content will be censored.

"Have you integrated an existing branching narrative / visual novel system such as inkle or yarnspinner, or have you made your own for the project?"

We are using Inky, which allows a lot of flexibility for setting up dialogue and visuals. We felt like re-inventing the wheel would be waste of already short time.

"Can I romance Lune?"

We all know who is the real commander of expedition and she is not interested in anything but nevrons and saving the world.

"Can I join?"

I'm afraid at this point it's too late in development. But look for future updates, who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Next week is the last devlog in which we will answer your question ask in this form. The week after that we will hopefully announce release state and date of it

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Look at our bad boiiiiii making a come back thanks to our beloved @endless-nights33 ☺️❤️

I know I haven't posted much apart from Verstave visual novel dev logs lately but I crawled out of my project jail to bring endless-nights33's vision to life😄

Also, while I'm at it, I see a lot of new people, people who are curious about what we're doing so it's time to remind people that we have the

✨️CLAIR OBSCUR NSFW DISCORD SERVER✨️

where we cook the finest shit, including the upcoming visual novel🤌😄. If you wanna join the party, feel free to reach out to me and I'll give you the invite. The conditions are the same as usual:

1. Be 18+

2. Be a certified freak, lmao

That's it for today, folks, crawling back to my project jail🫩

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE💥

Update 14. Something is coming

Weeks 10 and 11 passed by and the devlog was missed, for which we apologise. The team is grinding hard and over past week a significant amount of art assets was pushed.

So, what exactly happened?

1. You asked for more art to see, so here they are. Behold, double Verstave, Gustave and Renoir in glasses (there has been a rebellion in Painter's ranks), Old Lumiere background and Lune sprite from mini-game with her.

2. Due to Painters' rebellion (and perhaps a bribe), winter outfit for Gustave now comes with glasses. It's perfectly logical, glasses do help with protection from elements. Please, believe us. Please, ignore Sciel's nipless boobs on screenshot.

3. Programmers arose from their dens and now walk around the living and retrieving assets to put into game and working in mini-games. Here in video you can see greyboxing for Monoco Smack mini-game update

4. SFX and music are currently in works. It would include team-made covers, recordings of music boxes and recorded nature sounds. What a sacrifice Musicians had to make, to go outside and touched snow and water!

5. Writers are now submitting their parts for first reviews and soon the text will be in engine for good.

6. There are minor UI improvements and changing based on save background in main menu in works.

Next week we hope to show more videos and answer questions, which you can still ask in this form

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update 13. Taking break to enjoy uselessness of today to gather energy for usefulness of tomorrow.

It is end of week 9 and it was a rather chill week. Today we have not a lot of updates, but still something was done.

So, what exactly happened?

1. Painters are still painting like they want to bring Verso to life. Here we have 2 beautiful backgrounds by Azaroth and there is more!

2. Some of the Writers are fully done with their writing and even facial expressions for sprites appearing on screen. Give them round of applause for breaking out of project jail and been extremely talented and efficient!

3. Programmers had a difficult encounter with Unity Pixelates Everything problem and won the battle.

4. Today we have @hairyecballium , @shinpm and Hazelninja24 here to answer questions asked through this form.

You can still ask questions through it, don't be shy😉

1.Can there please be a BTS section where we get to see baguette man dialogue? I'm so down bad for behind the scenes things. Sneak something in. Like Maxence's Dance if you cannot add baguette man in.

Hazelninja24: I reckon we could do a Director's Cut sort of thing after the game is released providing alternate non-canon prompts that take you on a "Director's Dream" or something where you go through the dialogue then come back to the same place you left? Ie you have three choices: Regular butter, chili and garlic, and lets say Cream Cheese. If you choose the cream cheese option then you go down a dialogue tree that brings you back to the same decision without affecting anything.

2. How did you come up with idea for Verstave visual novel?

Shin: We needed Verstave in this game. And something else.

HairyEcballium: A while back, in October, we ran Interactive Romance/Friendship with Gustave in the New Lumiere serve. It was a very short text game, where I would prepare daily dialogue for Verstave channel, and people would pick what they want to answer. At some point there was a personal quest with a boss fight with Chromatic Noir, which Shin dominated and this is why she was the one to choose something else for how exactly romance will be locked. During this game I had an idea to make it into actual game, but either time was wrong, or I was feeling unsure if fandom would be interested, something else would come up. And then in December I told J about this idea that lived rent-free in my head and she said I should try at least. So, I set up form to gauge interest and... well, let's just say I did not expect so many talented people to be interested and work so well together. And here we are, writing devlogs and working on mid-scope now.

3. Do you use AI for art?

Shin: The only AI we use is Adorable Ingénieur, which means "adorable engineer" and it's Gustave. And his arm for prostate overcharge.

4. Do you plan other games like this? For Scielune or any other ships?

HairyEcballium: I am not opposed to idea. In fact, I love Scielune as much as Verstave, and would love to make something for them, and I'm sure a lot of people would be interested too. However, this is a big, time-consuming project and it does require a lot of energy and planning. It's not a no, it's "we will need time to chill after it".

Shin: Alanoir. HairyEcballium told me.

HairyEcballium: Or maybe Simon harem game. He breaks free and goes on romance spree. Listen, there will be discussions at least, okay?

5. When can we play?

HairyEcballium: If everything will continue to go as well as now, it would be on 25th of April.

6. Can you show more art in posts?

HairyEcballium: I suppose, we could. When compiling devlogs I'm deliberately choosing to show something new but not too-spoilery or wow-ish, so player can play and experience it properly. But yes, I don't see a problem in dropping more art, let's do it.

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update 12. On our way to the Monolith

It is end of week 8 and oh do we have things to tell.

First of all, when the project idea was proposed there were no expectations of something so special and high-quality. There was no expectation that even minimal scope would be achieved in such a short time, but we had to try and create something new and interesting. And now look at us, it’s barely half-way through development and we already working on medium scope goals.

Second, starting from the next week we are starting to answer questions about development in devlogs. All you need to do is to type in your question, department you asking your question and we’ll do our best to answer them.

You can send questions via this form

So, what exactly happened?

- Artists are working on delivering bunch of backgrounds. Here is an example made by Masken and this is what they would look like. You could have seen it in prototype of menu, but it has been improved since.

- Art team has been cooking non-stop, and this is why we will have 3 extra characters - Lune, Sciel and Monoco. We present the latter, with “facial” expressions in a form of lineart (for now) by Lutza

- I know, you’ve been waiting a while to see what the boys look like. Please, have Verso, collective baby made by Lutza, Nyoom, Clovergreen and Will. Be shocked how good he looks peeled.

- There is also an early version of what background and sprite would look like in game. The shot is subject to change, so beware that it might not the final version.

- Programming team, especially our hero Silrenis also worked without stopping on putting existing features together and backend optimisation. Please, give video a round of applause and try not to think about Renoir buttering his ass.

- Writers are still mysteriously scheming and putting facial expressions in their chapters for programmers to implement. The usual Writer stuff, you know?

And that’s it for now. We’ll see you the next week!

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💥 VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update #11. Sudden rush

As majority of assets are massive spoilers, you get to see only so much, but it is worth it. Our team put together the main story after Writers shenanigans and it is all shades of sad, happy, angsty and romantic. And friendly, of course, don't forget that friendship is no less valuable.

Week 7 is concluded.

So, what exactly happened?

- Exhibition 1, UI, settings and sound manager. There is also Clair (family friendly) and Obscur (not so much) mode, and in the first case you can avoid flashing someone with naked butts. Unfortunately, there are no way to censor text. Unless you choose to be friends, of course.

- Exhibition 2, sneak peek of Monoco smack mini-game. remember how we said there is going to be second, different style for mini-games? And here we go, kid Verso scribbles-inspired art style.

- Exhibition 3, a contraband of Writer's prologue draft with static cutscene frame. In order to befriend and romance Gustave we had to save him, and Verso was so kind to assist Maelle in carrying his future friend/boyfriend to safety.

And that's it for now. Watch closely for further updates, our boys are putting on make up and their best smiles.

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💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update 10. Catching up and speeding up.

We were busy loving each other week. Happy belated Valentine's, continuer à baiser, expeditioners! ❤️

And this week we were very productive.

Week 5 and 6 are concluded. Who could have believed that we would be almost half through development AND not behind schedule? Not me for sure, but I am happy to see so much progress being made.

So, what exactly happened?

- Alpha build is in a process. It is scheduled for Saturday, but because is released on Friday it's not done, but in the process. What is alpha build? It's an ugly, half-baked build that has functional game loop and showcases mechanics. So, no pretty art yet, only protosprite Verso in corset and with hot face.

- By the way, customization feature has been added to the game, so boys now can have different hair and outfit. Shout out to Silrenis for implementing it!

- If you want to see what sprites in game will look like, let me introduce you Verstave Team Maelle. She is a collective baby of Lutza, Izzy and Nyoom and she is very excited about her two brothers getting together

- And here is another specimen: a prologue cutscene frame by yours truly. As you can see, wild Renoir is slowly approaching unaware Gustave and Maelle, who are engaged in family friendly activity of throwing rocks. Luckily, no less wild Verso taken strategic point and observes situation below him.

- And behold again, here is a current version of VN main menu! Structure and UI design by Pumpkin and awesome background by Masken

- Writers are cooking. A lot. Trust me, there is A LOT of text and revisions. Majority of writing is either done or at the editing stage, the story is in a process of being mapped with relationship points, so the main mode is strong and stable.

And with that, we'll see you next week!

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We did it🥹 Big shout out to everyone who participated and helped us to bring this idea to life, I still can't believe that so many people joined us, I love yall to bits, thank you very very much😭💘❣️💕💗

Here's our board filled with an incredible amount of love and appreciation for the people who made our favorite game. Please open it to see wonderful artworks and read touching little stories from all around the world

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE💥

Update 9. Monoco, we are sorry

Week 4 is concluded, and it's been a wild ride on Esquie and fighting the final boss of being adults. Weeks like this happen, but we won and brought you news about Monoco and his involvement in expedition... and Gustave's equipment.

It's complicated.

So, what exactly happened?

- Let's start by saying that we are working on what we call Monoco smack game. Our beloved feet lover rides Esquie from Visages to Sirene island and smacks flying nevrons with a bell. He is very determined to smack as many as possible and perhaps beat mini-boss. Our cartographer Shin even charted path for him, look at this gif!

... factually it's Dino Run game with extra steps and Monoco.

- We are also proud to announce that Gustave is fully equipped to walk Monoco's Station and Frozen Hearts with winter outfit, carefully put together by yours truly and Lutza. You better not be asking what they did to Monoco to convince him to give some of his glorious fur for Gustave. It's a lot as you can see.

- Expedition now magically travels via Unity Teleportation picto. The scholar behind this technology is qkat and she is bright and fast. Lune, you better be careful.

- Writers are now full threat and shadowy geniuses. How canon! The story is finalised, the character development is present, the river scene still present.

- Swimsuits are ready. With a very distinct difference in certain areas. As we said, we are trying to stay true to canon as possible and there is important difference in swimsuits😏

Stay tuned for the next update! And be ready for a wave of beta-testing soon. The development is going great so far so we may need more beta testers soon

[j-likes-to-draw]

💥VERSTAVE VISUAL NOVEL UPDATE 💥

Update 8. Something is coming...

It's now been three weeks since we started, and expedition has cooked. With focus on VN mode and massive progress on sprites we are slightly ahead of scheduled development and it makes us happy.

So, what exactly happened?

- In addition to base VN mechanics there is now save system, relationship value system (friendship, romance, kink), gallery, unlockable cutscenes for gallery systems. I warn you to be ready for screenshot with protoasset of Verstave kissing scene pencil scribble. You don't ask for programmer art unless you want to live with unharmed sanity.

- Main menu and buttons mockup from Pumpkin who managed to learn UI design and come up with a solid idea of using Parisian metro as source of inspiration. No, I hate to disappoint you folks, this design is not final and the title of VN is not Prostate Overcharge.

- Speaking of the VN title. After short session of funnies the collective ultimately decided that the VN title would be... yes, you guessed it right, "A Life to Dream". Another good option was Une Vie à Baiser but perfection is enemy of good, so we decided to pick the first as a nod to fandom.

- Minimal scope of characters has been achieved. While still at lineart stage, we have Gustave, Verso and Maelle with 4 facial expressions each as well as layers to customise hair, beards and outfits. But look at our baby Maelle by Lutza

- Our brave Writers are working on their respective levels and Diari even wrote very wholesome and funny conclusion for friendship! No showcase though, since it is a spoiler. You have to wait until release I'm afraid.

- As sound design at this point is not a primary goal, we haven't touch it. However, MuseScore Studio is downloaded, Freesound bookmarked and we will attempt to sound design. God help us, he knows we need all the prayers.

And as a side note I'd like to mention that team is impressive and very eager to learn and collaborate. It is a genuine pleasure to work with those people and learn from all of them🥰❤️

[j-likes-to-draw]

Commission for a friend, Clair Obscur🌓 × Lies of P crossover🦋

Gustave in the workshop master outfit and Renoir in the Alchemist outfit

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🔔ATTENTION EXPEDITIONERS! Valentine's day fandom wide event is nigh!🔔

Our Cupid Verso already went into a shrimp mode in his heavenly office and is ready to gather all your love to deliver it to the dev team. However, he needs our help to sort everything out!

❤️So what is this all about? ❤️ My bestie @hairyecballium and I were looking for an easy and fun way to express our love and appreciation to the dev team and I think we found it. We're going to create a biiiigggg board with your Valentine's day cards where you can tell the devs just how much you love them.

❤️How is this gonna work exactly?❤️

We gonna use kudoboard, this site allows to create a sort of online postbox. Looks something like this:

Everyone with a link can go there and leave a postcard. When it's time, I'll post this board online and tag the official Clair Obscur acc on Twitter. It's very easy, won't take you a lot of time and everyone can share a little bit of their love. And we gonna need a lot of yall's love to bring this project to life❤️

❤️Okay, I'm hooked, what do I do now? ❤️

Fill this interest form and we will reach out to you soon. We offer 2 options there, you can either deliver your postcard yourself or you can use our Cupid services. Let me explain. This event was born in our nsfw Clair Obscur server so that's where we all are coordinating. HOWEVER this particular project is absolutely sfw and is not server specific. That's why we are offering 2 options:

Use our Cupid services. This is an option for those who want to participate but discord is not their thing. In this case choose this option in the interest form, let us know how to contact you and we will personally reach out to you to grab your postcard.

Deliver your message yourself. This is an option for those who cum after who wants to join our discord server. Due to the nsfw nature of our server, you must be 18+ and not afraid of spoilers (+being a fellow freak is a huge bonus).

F.A.Q.

What do I write in the postcard?

Anything to express your love to dev team, really. Here are some ideas for you

- Writers can obviously write but you can get creative here, maybe write a whole ass poem or some funny jokes, insert fandom memes and so on.

- Artist can attach their Valentine's day art, I know many of you are going to draw something for the occasion anyway(not porn though, leave the porn for us🤭)

- Writers and collaborate with artists and create truly unique Valentine's day cards.

- Remember you can attach audios, gifs and videos. I know a lot of people like doing edits, for example, so you can attach yours to the postcard.

What's the deadline?

We are going to start filling in the board about 2-3 days prior to Valentine's day. So you have plenty of time to cook something small and cute

Will the devs even notice it?

Hopefully? I mean, the official Clair Obscur acc retweeted quite a lot of my pics so there's a solid chance they won't miss it. However, I might need yall's help to signal boost it

Are we going to mention our discord server when we post the board?

This one is for those who already joined our server. No, absolutely not. The project originates from the nsfw server, yes, but it's just a place we are coordinating in. This project is for everyone and I'll post the board on the behalf of the whole fandom in general, not on the behalf of our nsfw server. I'm not gonna shove the name of the server where Gustave gets bred like 50 times a day in dev's faces, lmao

That's it, don't be shy, everyone is welcome😊❤️. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me or to @hairyecballium