#this is a visual i've had in my head for this chapter since i first started this project

[zagreuses-art]

Chapter 14: The Talk Of The Town II (also here on AO3)

“I wouldn’t ask,” said Lance-Constable Brickabrack. “It’s tactless, I fully realise, but my spouse is concerned too you see, on account of our family finances being tight as they are, and he’d heard from his friend about this whole … well, affair, and he said I absolutely had to ask, cause it’s well for the high and mighty to be having trouble in their palaces and whatnot, but it shouldn’t affect us ordinary folk, if you know what I mean.”

[shiny-jr]

Hi! I noticed that your requests were open and I love the way you write Malleus so I was hoping you would do yandere malleus x reader. where the reader knows twisted wonderland is a game (but not imposter au pls) and after they got isekia'd are trying to stop the overblots from happening and malleus is just terrified for them. Idk just an idea I've had for awhile but never found a fanfic like lol. Obviously it's totally fine if you don't want to do it or if I accidentally broke a rule. Anyway remember to drink some water and take a break if needed! Have a amazing rest of your day/night!!

Warning: Yandere (not really, not at all). Gender-neutral reader.

Characters: Malleus Draconia.

Summary: MC sees affection meters and it's not good.

Note: These are mainly thoughts and random words my mind spewed out.  

How did one claim victory at a game? Well, it entirely depended on the game, the mechanics and the options. It should've been impossible to lose a mobile game that was primarily composed of the gacha mechanism and visual novels.

When you suddenly found yourself in the series of twisted villains in a prestigious school of magic, you found that it was much more complex than it appeared on screen. Especially when only you could see these small bars occasionally floating above people's heads. Bars which you recognized as affection meters, nearly all of them stagnant at a dull gray 0% when you first arrived. This was the hurdle blocking your way to an easy victory. Because how else were you to escape the game, other than complete it?

Situations became messier, when you didn't have a dialogue options between two mere choices. Add making good impressions and keeping a character's favor, to the list of quests alongside avoiding death by inky overblotted characters. By some miracle, you had increased the affection of the characters you met and interacted with to a healthy 5% or 10%, sometimes more. At any cost you wished to avoid getting in the negatives, because you did not want to find out what would happen then.

Sometimes, the numbers would drop dangerously close to zero, mainly when an overblot was occuring. Never had you realized how the visual novel failed spectacularly at portraying the utter horror of the overblotted in all their wicked glory. The black inky darkness leaking from them like tears or blood with those crazed unhinged looks in their eyes–– was the stuff of pure nightmares.

And yet the one whose overblot you had been dreading the most, the dorm leader of Diasomnia, was surprisingly docile as you dealt with others. However, you knew even when conversing with him, that you would one day witness him overblot and look like some ethereal but deadly fallen angel. So mentally you prepared yourself, while taking on the task of keeping up appearances.

Malleus' affection meter, was a good 20% and a friendly pink shade, quite the accomplishment you were proud of, considering the majority of the cast wasn't even at 15%. The Draconia heir was certainly someone you never wanted to see reach below zero, so you did your absolute best to appeal to him, even if he was quite intimidating at first with the way he stoically watched you complain about the least of your worries, homework and classes.

By the time you spoke to him about your troubles with the Ramshackle dorm and Azul, during what you knew was the Octavinelle arc, the prince's affection had sprouted to a 22%. When you went into more detail of the potential loss you could face, it went to 23%.

The next time you saw him, you were weary and antsy since witnessing Azul's break-down. If the blot of his tears had the magic to gather, it would've been enough to drown, you were sure of it. Even by that maniac look in his eyes, you're sure he would've purposely drowned you if he got close enough.

Throughout that charlatan's chapter, his affection meter had slowly been rising, dropping during the overblot like the tides only to rise once again by the end to a good 45%. This was good!

But no matter how much you may have pondered, strategized, or try to predict each next action, you could've never guessed that the next time you saw Malleus after Azul's overblot, his expression taut with concern, his affection meter had made a jump to 55% and turned red. This entire time you had been avoiding the negatives, but you never once worried of the dangers and implications a red affection meter above 50% would mean for you. Or heaven forbid, anything close to 100%.

[msbigredmachine]

New To This - Chapter 11

MASTERLIST

By the time she touched down in Pensacola, all Delilah wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the month. This past week had been exhausting, both emotionally and physically, and as she climbed into the Uber she ordered, she sincerely hoped it wouldn’t get worse when she arrived home and had to lay eyes on Andre for the first time in a week.

Judging from the layers of guilt that had been padding in her belly since she boarded the plane, ‘worse’ seemed more inevitable than anything.

Walking into the trailer park home she didn’t realize she would miss so much, a voicemail appeared in her notifications. Seeing it was from Josh, she quickly shook her head and rid herself of any of the numerous X-rated visuals her brain could resurrect. Putting him on speaker, she dragged herself and her suitcase toward her bedroom, his low teasing voice bringing a smile to her face even though the memory of him swirled in her gut like a ship in the middle of a storm.

"Hey, baby. About to get on the plane back to ATL. I had the best time with you this week. Uhh…miss you already, girl. Miss everything bout’chu, and I mean everything…Anyway, call me. Yeet! Mwah."

Dude actually blew a kiss. So cute. 

Pushing open the door to her bedroom, her heart leapt into her throat, her eyes wide at the tableau before her. The bed she shared with Andre was perfectly made, something she wasn't sure it ever had been since they moved into the house together. The expensive white satin sheets they’d unwisely splurged on one random day years ago and never used since then, draped the bed. On her side of the bed, a single red rose lay on her pillow along with a piece of notebook paper, folded with her name on it.

With numb legs, Delilah managed to lower herself to the mattress and took the note slowly from its place. Her fingers trembled as she unfolded the paper, which she realized he’d spritzed with his favorite cologne. To top it all off, one scan of his familiar scribble caused the tears to instantly fill her eyes.

My Dee-Dee girl,

You've been gone for six whole days and I think I went a little insane. I think this was the longest time we’ve ever been apart and it sucks ass. All week Khalid kept telling me that you’re all I talk about since you been gone and I didn't even realize it. I've missed you being home with me. I wondered if the tryout was everything you dreamed of and I really hope you had fun. I was gonna call you, but I didn't wanna mess up your flow. 

I know you’re home already and when I come back, we're gonna have a candid discussion about you probably getting called back by WWE. Something tells me you did and I can’t wait to hear all about it.

I love you.

Dre.

P.S. Did you see the video I sent you?

Reaching for her phone, she searched around for said video and her heart sank to discover he’d sent an email to her three nights ago. Her chest tightened further as she remembered exactly where she was – whom she was with – at that exact time. She tapped the video open and found Andre standing in front of the mirror in their bathroom. Then, he opened his mouth and began singing the first couple of lines from what she recognized as Justin Bieber’s ‘Ghost’, one of his favorite modern songs. 

As her fiancé’s melodic voice sounded around their bedroom, her arms dropped to her thighs helplessly with his note still in her hands. Her eyes looked to the ceiling and saw nothing thanks to the tears blurring her vision and spilling down her cheeks. This video, this letter, didn’t sound like the same old Andre. This was a repentant Andre. An Andre she didn’t expect at all. She had come home with metaphorical boxing gloves on, waiting to confront the guy who still couldn't understand why the woman he was marrying was pursuing such a wild, unattainable dream. She had come home ready to move on from him. She had almost convinced herself that it was his fault she had ended up in bed, multiple times, with another man.

That if I can't be close to you

I'll settle for the ghost of you

I miss you more than life

And if you can't be next to me

Your memory is ecstasy

I miss you more than life

I miss you more than life

Sobs wracked Delilah’s body as she curled into the fetal position on the bed, her watery eyes resting on the video playing of Andre’s handsome face, his eyes closed as he sang his heart out to her. 

She fucked up. She fucked up so bad.

And the guilt was going to eat her alive.

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

Five hours after some much-needed sleep, Delilah stood at the kitchen counter picking at the bowl of chicken salad she had made for herself. She had been disappointed to wake up and realize that the unscrupulous decisions that she made in Orlando were not one bad dream. She had gone to the bathroom to freshen up and winced as she was instantly transported back to said bad decisions, her mind replaying the visual of herself bent over the sink, Josh pumping away behind her. Same reason she was standing by the counter and not sitting down, as the image of her back arched against the countertop with his face buried between her thighs materialized the second she laid eyes on the table. Ditto with the majority of the furniture around her house and the numerous positions she’d been twisted into on each one. Long story short, she would never look at any of them the same way again.

The front door swung open, causing Delilah's stomach to lurch once again. She wished she could run away, and that notion did not waver as Andre bumbled inside the house, his trusty backpack on his shoulder and a big relieved smile on his face. "My baby is back!" he exclaimed, slamming the door with his foot as he made his way over to her. When his arms wrapped around her in a tight hug, she fought the urge to throw up on his flannel shirt.

"You're home early," she feigned a smile, crossing her arms defensively as she took refuge behind the counter once again.

If he noticed her strange behavior, Andre didn't let on. "I worked a lot of overtime this week when you were gone," he shrugged, grabbing her fork and stabbing it into her bowl of salad as he lowered himself down to the stool next to her. Even with his mouth full, his lips curled into that goofy little boy smile that always made her heart melt, and not for the first time, Delilah felt the bile rise to her throat.

"So how was it?" he asked her.

The simplest of questions, yet he might as well have asked her about quantum physics. How on earth was she meant to tell him that it was the greatest week of her life without telling him that she had cheated on him? How was she meant to admit that she hadn’t given him much thought because she was with another man? Could she bring herself to break his heart like that?

"It was good." Her answer was flat and curt, her gaze studying the countertop like it was the most fascinating thing in that moment.

Andre just laughed, his face still alight from the triumphant return of his fiancee. "That's it? Just good?" he asked. "So modest. C’mere." He stood and held his hand out. When Delilah took the invitation, he led her away from the kitchen, over to the couch and gathered her into his arms when they sat down. "Tell me. I wanna hear all about it."

So many times she had hoped for this, him finally showing an interest in the life she was pursuing. But instead, this abrupt personality turn of his was rubbing her the wrong way. His happy-little-camper attitude was grating on her nerves, and the guilt bubbling inside her was the reason.

"Why?" she demanded, the question spilling out before she could think it through.

Slightly taken aback by the question, Andre pushed on. "Why? Cuz you're my girl. Cuz I know how much you want this and I'm anxious to hear how it all went down."

Oh, he went down, alright, Delilah thought angrily. She understood that most of the rage she was feeling was directed at herself, but she couldn't help but what the hell had gotten into this man sitting before her. It was as if he knew he was on the verge of losing her, and now he was pulling out all of his famed charm to reel her back in. "Oh really? You care now? What changed?" she asked coldly, pushing out of his arms and crossing hers defensively over her chest.

The wounded look in his eyes made her heart sink. "Baby, I've been an asshole about this. I admit it," he said softly, taking her hand once more. "But I missed you so much, you have no idea."

"Oh riiiiight, I see. You didn’t have your fuck buddy for one week and now you’re all up in your feelings!" Delilah argued. She knew that she sounded bitter and wounded, but she couldn't help it. The emotions of the past week were rushing over her at such a dizzying pace and she wasn't coping well at all, struggling to find her footing on this rollercoaster that her life had suddenly become.

Andre, meanwhile, had had enough of Delilah’s antagonism. "Dee, what the fuck is going on?" he struggled not to raise his voice, scooting back on the couch a few inches. "I thought you wanted me to be more supportive!"

Delilah jumped to her feet. "I want you to be supportive because you believe in me, Andre! Because you're proud of me. Not because you got lonely!" Sometimes she wondered if he understood her at all, if he had heard anything she had said over the last several months.

But Andre was tired of this already. He had just admitted to being wrong and yet she was still berating him. "I can't win with you," he threw his arms out, standing to regain some sense of equilibrium. "What the fuck happened out there?"

"Nothing!" she answered, a bit too quickly.

“Well something happened!” Flinging his arm to the side, Andre was in fight mode. "Just days ago, you were talking about how I didn’t care about you, and now that I’m putting in some effort, you want me to just back off and drop the whole thing? What kinda bipolar bullshit is that?" They had been here too many times, all over this house, outside this house, arguing about anything and everything, specifically on one increasingly annoying subject.

"I want you to actually mean it!" Delilah lashed out, no longer able to contain her emotions. The tears threatened to fall again as she pleaded with him, arms extended helplessly. "I want you to come to one of my matches. Dre. Just one. I want you to see what I do, see why it's so fucking important to me!"

"How many times have I told you, wrestling ain’t my thing," he dismissed. "You don't like all the things I like, but you don't see me cryin’ and beggin’ you to like ‘em."

Crying and begging. He couldn’t even see that his nonchalance had forced her to confide in someone else, and she’d ended up doing much more than that with him. Maybe if he knew, maybe if she told him what his apathy had done to their relationship, his mind would finally, finally change. But she refused to feel guilty for following her dreams. She refused to settle. "I don't need you to be a fan of wrestling!" she argued, "I don’t give a flyin' fuck if you don’t know any of the moves or any of the wrestlers’ names!"

"Then what is this abou-" Andre interrupted.

"For fuck’s sake, Andre! I want you to be a fan of me!" she screamed, her voice breaking as she kicked their wooden coffee table across the tiny room, “I want you to know my name! I need you to support me, to care about my wrestling, dammit!”

An awkward silence fell over the room, punctuated by the heart-wrenching sounds of her sobs as the love of his life’s words sank into his soul. For nearly a year, he had watched her morph into someone he no longer recognized, and not liking what he saw, he distanced himself, hoping it would be out of her system in due time. But now it was clear that this wasn’t going away, and it was breaking both their hearts as what they had – what he thought they had – was starting to collapse before his very eyes. 

"You wrote me some letter and sang a song. Big deal!" she continued through her tears. "You're doing everything but taking an actual interest in watching me find myself, because that’s exactly what I’m doing, Andre, and you can't handle it." She shrugged, even more emotionally exhausted than she was before she returned home. "You laugh, and you joke, and you tease me about it. You laugh at me with your friends. You laugh with my mother." Letting out a sardonic laugh, she shook her head, relaxed her shoulders and met his eyes. If she was going to be honest, she was going to have to be completely honest. 

"You have never believed, not one time, that I could do this. You wanted me to fail just so your life wouldn't have to change. But I didn’t fail! They liked me out there! They want us to move to Orlando in three months so I can start training at the Performance Center. That’s another step closer to NXT, and from there, I could make it to the main roster. I went out there and I left it all in the ring and for the first time in my life I felt like I belonged somewhere and they agreed! The biggest wrestling company in the world wants me, Andre! It ain’t no dream no more and I’m sorry if that’s a problem for you."

Again, silence. Sniffling, she wiped her tears with her forearm and turned, walking toward the bedroom. She was done. And it had nothing to do with Josh, or with wrestling. She was just over it, and she was desperate to let off some steam because if she stayed this way she would most likely combust.

"Where are you going?" Andre asked, watching her change into her sneakers, which he noticed were brand new. Her suitcase was open and filled with more items than it had when she left. Things that, in real time, neither of them could quite afford. She wasn't lying. WWE were pulling out all the stops to bring her into their ranks.

Grabbing the keys to her motorcycle, Delilah responded, "To Tank’s gym. Need to work out." She was still a little tired, but she’d much rather be outside than stuck in this hellhole she was about to call her matrimonial home. She longed to talk to a certain someone but he was in faraway Atlanta and she really couldn’t keep running to him with her problems. Not anymore anyway. Not when he had become one of those problems.

Andre looked dumbfounded that she was leaving this unfinished. "We ain’t done talking, Delilah! You can’t just walk out on me!" 

With a bitter chuckle, she picked up her gym bag. "Damn right I can," she informed him, walking past him towards the bedroom exit. Just as she swung open the door, he grabbed her, his strong arm wrapped around her slender waist. Blushing as she glared hard at him, he cleared his throat. 

"A’ight. Gimme ten minutes to change. I'm coming with you," he said quietly, blushing harder when she raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I'm serious, baby. Let's take the truck. I wanna see you, see what you're all about."

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

THOUGHTS? Is Andre finally coming around?

🏷️: @wrestlingprincess80 @fame-ass-ers @southerngirl41 @alyyaanna @squishyguishy @jstarr86 @murrylove @thewarlordsworld @mzv11 @cozyaliensuperstar7 @nayys-world @hunnidmilly @cyberdejos2 @papireigns-05 @niknakbucks92 @captainwithoutmakingitlove @sovereigngoth @aisharmi @kennedi0818 @alichesmi @thesamoanqueen @herwickedlittlesins @questionable-behaviour @tribalchiefreigns @2-muchsauce @thatbxtchsblog @raya-hunter01 @marchi36753 @lovelysuccess @christinabae @wooahmiri @thatonecarebear @tabletheofhead @rheaanddamianfan @vebner37 @hanley1577 @princessesareforsuckers @-naturally @joannasteez @bbygirlky18 @lilucey @theninthwonder @melaninsugababy @chocovibesonly @msbluehaz3 @scarlettnoir01 @heerah34 @empressdede @tbmotw @darkangelchronicles @visionarymode @marasdeathnote @aintnorainbows @meggylynnloves @femdisa @harlemblipster  @trc-punzel @afterdarkprincess @nbanenefrmdao @sassginaswanmills @purplehairgawdess @holisticcoach @girlwhogaf @royalkay23 @heyitsnajabrinee @stoner2k @reci1996 @catxo @iamimanim @lookmais @ts1mp0ne @lizzyd1ish @m3llowww @skyesthebomb @final1miya @kia1996 @randomuser0711 @yourtribalqueen @caramelcleopatraa @katymae12344 @that-one-anxious-mango @yana3sworld @ajenae @truefant4sy @thetribalqueen @bhjszsdxc @paigereeder @christinabae @justazzi @maknaehyucks @mindairy @headoftheetable @truefant4sy @mscarter213 @ariiaeltheedonn @sageispunk @xbriexx @shamaness11 @shantinextdoor @whatdoeseverybodywant

[bloodinwine]

I've seen some posts here and there about comments on people's fic, how they can come across as too demanding or really just not kind. It's been a little over a year, so I still feel like a baby to fandom - but I think I've experienced enough to have an opinion about this now (or I should say, understand my own feelings about this). I apologize for my rambles... First, I want to acknowledge that comment anxiety is so real. There are people so well-intentioned, who may want to express how much they love your story but just don't have the words or are so fearful that it will be taken the wrong way. Sometimes I do worry that having a criteria for what constitutes as the right way to leave a comment can make this anxiety worse for some people. Now, I've gotten comments before that could be read as "demanding" but I just try and see it as someone being excited and wanting to read more! At the same time, man....if only one could see the amount of TIME that was poured into that piece you just devoured. Because real talk...I tend to feel pretty hollow for a few days after a chapter drop. Like...in the most dramatic way possible. HOLLOW. EMPTY. NUMB. The comments that do come in DO bring a smile to my face and they DO mean so much to me and they DO motivate me to continue. But I am just utterly depleted and it takes me awhile to get my shit back together. I think part of it has to do with like...the amount of hours, days, I poured into this and how it can literally just be consumed in like 20 minutes. Most people will consume your art and some people will engage with it - and there is a difference. But that's kind of how it goes, once you release it you don't have any control over how someone chooses to respond to it.

The same could be said for visual art. Every art piece you see, it takes you one second to glance at and hit the like button. The amount of time and patience and care that went into it though? I can't even wrap my head around it. Since writing fic, it really got me thinking....there are SO. MANY. BOOKS. that I've read, many that have influenced me, had my jaw dropping to the floor, that I absolutely LOVED, changed my life and guess what? I've not once reached out to the authors in any form to express my appreciation. I don't even actually know what point I'm trying to make. (Again, rambling.) But I guess if you choose to read and you find the engagement exhausting so you don't want to leave a comment - I think that's okay. It would feel really awesome to the fic writer - who isn't making any money or getting anything else out of the time they'd put in - but if it's too overwhelming, then don't push yourself. Life is hard and sometimes you just need a place to escape without the pressure or sense of obligation to say something. I can understand this, too.

And for those who have taken the time, you have become a part of my own journey as I go on to write this ridiculous story. And I don't say that lightly. Whatever happens, or however fandom culture gets shaped or changes - I hope we all just continue to treat each other well and be kind, be kind and be kind always.

[starrywyatt]

☆ chapter 12: what the big fat fuck ☆

☆ never saw it comin'- a george clarkey story ☆

! THIS STORY READS BEST IN DARK MODE !

masterlist

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

george's pov:

i struggle to get out of bed this morning as me and madison didn't stop talking until about 2am and i had to be at podcast filming for 10am. i hop on a limebike and head straight to the studio and i make it for bang on 10am and of course, max is late.

"good morning, you're the first one here" producer callum says and i sigh, "typical".

"sorry guys! my alarm didn't go off" max walks in at 10:15, crocs and disney tshirt on. "i'm so tired, i've been so ill" max says and we run over the brief itinerary for today's episode but we never really stick to it anyways.

"hello everyone and welcome to the useless hotline. i'm max balegde" he says with a lot less energy than usual and i end up finishing off the intro. "okay george, you're gonna have to take the reigns today because i'm ill as fuck" max groans, so i do just that. "well, what have you been up to? apart from being ill and having a skin tone that matches the colour of the office walls" i joke. "well, i went home and saw my dog, josie bless her. her tongue is hanging on for dear life, it was actually quite sad. and then me and andrew have been dealing with a leaky tap in the kitchen" he explains. "bet that's not the only leaky tap in that one" i joke and it lands awfully. "i'm too ill to put up with your shit today" max sighs. "you forgot like the most exciting part of our week, madison's concert!" i say. "OH MY GOD YEAH!" max says, almost jumping back to life. "i thought that was last week, jesus" he says. "no, very much this week. only like 3 or 4 days ago" i laugh. "lots has happened since then. but yeah, we saw the amazing madison scott in concert and i just want to tell you all, i was the one who suggested arthur hill on this podcast! so you can all thank me for that" he says, bragging as usual. "yeah you did. i mean excellent choice and arthur's very grateful too. but what did you think of the show?" i ask him. "well, you all know i'm the biggest madison scott fan so it was amazing. vocals, on point. dancing, stunning and visuals were incredible too" max explains excitedly. "yeah i thought it was great too. i am a more recent madison fan i'll be honest. but she did amazing, i was very impressed and so much i went back to night 2" i smile. "yeah! i heard you went back again, so that's true?" max asks. "yep, got guest list, no biggie" i smirk. "do you guys remember when he was humble?" max looks to camera. "but no, honestly even better the second time. i don't know how she does it, feeling very lucky to have such talented friends" i smile. "yeah, arthur was incredible too! i was like, how crazy is it to have friends that are literal pop stars, like it's my literal dream" max says. "yeah shoutout to arthur too. dead in the disco lives goes crazy and his new one, john wayne. stream the shit out of both of them and go see them if you can somehow find tickets" i laugh. "yeah and then you held an amazing after party" max says. "yep, party planner of the year" i nod. "not quite, massive shout to abigail, madi's bestfriend she helped massively. but i just thought it would be a cute way to celebrate the opening night of their tour. they both worked hard to make the show happen so thought we could all have a little boogie" i say. "yeah and i've been promised there's another big celebration coming at the end of the tour" max smiles. "yeah, i'm looking forward to that one" i smile.

we continue with the episode, discussing random other stories from our week before coming onto the dilemmas. "george, i think i can hear the phone ringing" max says, holding his ear out. "you sure can" i say, pressing the 100% functional button on the phone. "hey max and george and guest if there is one" the girl says. "nope" i bluntly interrupt. "i'm like seeing this guy, but it's not official and we haven't shagged or anything, just kissed but for the past couple weeks we've been together non stop and now he's going on a cruise for a month so i basically won't see him. how do i trust him to not get with someone else or can i even be mad if he does? thanks" the voice note finishes and i realise it sounds kind of similar to me and madison. "hmm george what advice do you have?" max asks. i try to decide whether to answer seriously or not. "hmm that's a tough one because technically if you're not together anything could happen but i feel like it's kind of human decency if you have something with someone else, you maybe don't pursue other people" i say. "yeah i completely agree. like when i was talking to andrew, i shagged 100s of people but i just have no human decency." he says and i awkwardly laugh. "that was such a bad joke, why did i say that?" he says, putting his head in his hands. "my advice would be, maybe just continuously drop subtle hints you're interested and try check in every day and just try maintain what you had at home whilst they're away" i smile. "yeah that's cute advice. and if he cheats on you, chop his willy off!" max says very aggressively. "jesus. but then is it even cheating if they're not together?" i say. "i mean i'd say like emotional cheating. i don't know" max shrugs and move onto the next one.

we wrap up the episode and max heads home because he doesn't feel well. i head home also but stop off at joe and the juice for some lunch and it reminds me of madison, so i send her a selfie.

madison's pov:

i look over at the clock and it was 11:15am and we had parked up outside the nottingham venue, so i did my morning skin care and went downstairs to have some late breakfast with arthur and some of the band. i made sure to change my (george's) hoodie before heading down. however, as i was about to head downstairs, my phone buzzed.

i couldn't help myself. i don't know why but that selfie made butterflies appear in my stomach and a massive smile on my face.

i head downstairs and am met with everyone and luckily they had ordered food for me too. "morning" they all say in unison like we're in a cult. i sit down and enjoy my bacon roll and coffee before heading inside to the venue.

i sound check and realise i need to decide which cover i'm going to sing tonight, i know george isn't going to be here so i could be really bold or i could just do a fun song. after soundcheck i head into my dressing room and scroll instagram for bit until i come across a post...

max and george had mentioned coming to my show on their podcast and they were both so cute saying they enjoyed it and were proud of me. i decide to listen to the full episode as i got ready for the show as i missed both of them already and it was nice to hear them both like they're with me.

i was soon ready and decided to watch arthur from the wings as always. 'dead in the disco' is about to play and i facetime george, he picks up on first ring which makes me smile. "thought you might want to hear this one" i say and flip the camera so he can see arthur on stage. i can't lie my attention is no longer on arthur on stage, i find myself watching george on the screen singing and smiling along to the song. as soon as it was over, i decide i need to get changed before i go on stage so i head back into my dressing room, george still on the phone.

"how's your day been?" i ask him. "busy, i went gym and then filmed with the sidemen for like 4 hours and now tomorrow i have to go film some stuff with max for unihomes so i need to pack and have an early night" he explains. "aww nice, what video did you film with the sidemen?" i ask. i love asking him about his youtube stuff because i can tell he genuinely loves it and that makes me happy. he explains it all to me and we continue talking and it had now been 20 minutes. "okay, i need to go get changed but have an early night and i'll speak to you tomorrow" i smile. "okay, have a good show. don't miss me too much" he says and i roll my eyes and hang up.

i get changed and get ready to head on stage. the crowd was incredible and the show was passing pretty quickly and it was time for my surprise cover. "so, i decided that each night i'm going to sing a cover of a song that i'm loving or relating to at the moment and tonight's song is from one of my favourite artists ever and arguably one of my biggest inspirations. this is 'you belong with me'" i smile and begin strumming the chords and singing the song. i'd be lying if i said this wasn't aimed at george but it was also just a fun song for me to sing.

the show was officially over and we headed back to the tour bus. me and arthur end up spending ages talking on the kitchen table about so many random things but then we decide it's time to head to bed.

george's pov:

i wake up early the next morning to head to leeds with max to film some content for unihomes. madison had text me good night but i had fallen asleep early. so i message her good morning. i get in the uber, scheduling a pit stop at max's to take to us to st pancras. max walks into the uber. "oh my god, have you seen?" he says very excitedly. "no, what?" i say, confused. "LOOK" he shoves his phone in my face.

"madi sang a taylor swift song?" i question, laughing. "NO! LOOK AT THE COMMENTS!" he shouts and then i notice. "oh shit! taylor commented!" i say. "YES WHAT THE FUCK" max says, very excitedly. "madison is gonna freak out" i say, smiling at the thought of her excitement. "me and andrew were screaming! will she be awake? can i call her?" max asks and i look at the time, it's 9:30am. "you can try but she did the show last night so i don't know" i shrug. i know she went to bed late because she texted me but if i say that, max will think it's sus.

max calls and she doesn't answer, so we wait for her to reply.

madison's pov:

i roll over and see the time, it's 12:30pm. oops. may have slept a bit too long. i squint at my phone and see hundreds of notifications.

💬messages abigail

GIRL WAKE TF UP

3 more messages

💬messages george

i hope someone has a defibrillator on standby

📞phone max 3 missed calls

📞phone andrew 3 missed calls

i was so confused. what was going on? i open mine and abigail's chat first.

abigail doesn't reply, so i facetime max. "i've literally just woke up, what's going on?" i say without saying hello. "someone has posted a video of you singing last night and taylor has seen it!" he explains excitedly. "in your famous words, WHAT THE BIG FAT FUCK" i say and max says it back. george's head pops into frame, "i guess you've seen it by the shouting" he laughs. "what the fuck is going on" i say and decide to run downstairs. "GUYS TAYLOR SWIFT SAW ME SINGING" i shout and i get a chorus of reactions. some people already knew, some are shocked. "i haven't even seen the comment" i say, opening instagram and thankfully it's the first post that appears. "INSANELY GOOD? TAYLOR SWIFT SAID I'M INSANELY GOOD?" i shout and have a minor (major)  freak out.

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 66

We find out later this chapter that Thistle has memory issues. The Living Pictures in his house are probably there to help him remember everything important to him.

So the Island Lord was convinced to seal the dungeon after everything that happened. Ideally, the Canaries would be as uninvolved as possible, but Kabru and Mithrun falling down the pit made Pattadol decide to call reinforcements.

Since that hole is barely within the first floor and the first floor technically isn't part of the Golden Kingdom, Thistle probably doesn't have the power to fix the hole.

This elf is stunning.

Is this a Dark Elf? I love how Kui is using whites to show all the details on her. But she's still able to use black outlining to define her features as well. Who say's you can't draw black people in manga or anime? Anyone who genuinely believes that has a skill issue.

The ebony elf is a guard while the long-haired elf and the elf with the scar are criminals. I'd assume they are the criminals assigned to the ebony elf.

There are so many fun things going on in this panel.

Some of my favorite details:

Two elves are curious about Tade while another is scared

Hien is actually fairly tall and stands over several people in this shot

Namari is trying to pull Mr Tansu off the ebony elf while Kiki tries to diffuse the situation

Shuro does not like that he's been dragged into this situation

While Rin and Shuro were talking, Tade picked up and threw some of the elves and then got kicked in the head. Hien and that scarred elf kept staring each other down the whole time.

Good job Mr Tansu. You just killed the ebony elf, Shuro, and Rin. Also, I think Hien is still staring down that one elf even while her master falls to his death.

I'm so glad that all these plot threads are happening at the same time. It's hard to keep track of time in this series since there's no real day/night cycle.

That door doesn't match anything I've seen before (I think). I'm gonna guess it's the door up.

Fleki uses several different types of bird familiars and can even use several at once. She must be really good at multitasking.

Kabru's wrists have writing on them that looks similar to the spell that Izutsumi had.

The seal on Izutsumi summoned a hag from a star parking that doesn't seem to exist on Kabru. Marcille said Izutsumi's spell was a repurposed gnome spell. Maybe it was repurposed to bind a summoning spell to Izutsumi whereas the normal spell is used for general restraint. Kabru keeps his hands close to each other, so it's just magic handcuffs.

Pattadol also has that lip-biting nervous tic.

Scylla from Greek myth had a lower body of a sea serpent called a cetus. Dunmeshi instead gave it a wolf body.

Wouldn't it be funny if the Canaries encountered Giga Hepta-Head Marcille and Giga Double-Headed Flame-Ice Senshi earlier and that's why they show up in the visual about Laios's wish?

If the demon will eventually try to drive the dungeon lord above-ground, does that mean the Winged Lion wants to replace Thistle because Thistle stubbornly refuses to leave the dungeon? And this would also increase why Marcille would be an ideal dungeon lord since her wish necessitates expanding beyond the dungeon.

I hope we get more details about Utaya before this series ends. I want to know if the dungeon was a natural or artificial one, and if there might have been a dungeon lord and what their wish was. Also, I want to know about that part about the dead turning into monsters.

Mithrun has only one desire so he's easy to manipulate. It's easy to imagine him willingly eating, sleeping, and conserving his mana if you tell him it will let him beat the demon. I'd like to see Kabru tell Mithrun that he needs to poop if he wants to beat the demon.

It's always funny to cut back to the Touden party in a chapter with other groups in it. So many serious things are happening, and then we cut to what they're doing and they're running around trying to make curry.

Izutsumi always seems so excited to help out with the cooking. Remember how she perked up in chapter 36 when she thought Maizuru was going to task her with helping to cook something only to get mad when that didn't happen?

She was pretty focused and inquisitive while the party was making curry. Maybe she likes making things and performing simple, repetitive tasks that have clear end goals, and cooking happens to hit on that.

Where did they get that giant plate from?

That's a really cool use of Changelings. If Marcille's tonic works, then it would be possible to be immune to the spores and you could use them to transform different foodstocks. If safe utility methods are researched, they could greatly expand a restaurant's menu. Or maybe adventurers could use a changeling apparatus to vary their travelers rations.

Of course Laios's mental image of the Golden Country people include a minotaur and the minotaur has far more detail to it.

In Laios's defense, I would have done even worse at remembering Kabru's name if I was in his place. At least he has an accurate recollection about his face.

The scene on the first floor has escalated. Hien and that elf are now fighting each other, Kiki and Kaka are trying to drag the Tansu's away, and Benichidori is checking her makeup.

How did they get in this situation?

When the Winged Lion said it was going to restrain Thistle's power, I didn't know it meant by literally trying to restrain him and Falin.

Chilchuck looks like he's only pretending to celebrate. Meanwhile, Marcille is grabbing and lifting Izutsumi's hand in the air.

It's the raspberry thing all over again. The Red Dragon wants to show how much he cares about Thistle but Falin's personality is influencing how he expresses it.

The only time I can say Chimera Falin definitely spoke was at the end of chapter 36. There was that one moment in chapter 37 where she spoke to Laios, but I'm not sure if that was real or imagined. During the raid fight, she spoke incantations and managed to do one even after Kabru slit her throat.

I think her inability to speak is not because of Kabru slitting her throat. Instead, I think she was given some additional physical modifications after the fight and she lost her voice during them.

A lot of Thistle's memories with Delgal are them sharing food together. The Winged Lion took something from him that's made him who he is now, and I think it took Thistle's desire to share. And without that, Thistle's wish to protect his kingdom and its people was twisted into a desire to keep everyone and everything and see them as possessions.

And if his desire to share is gone, then Thistle cannot fathom the joy of sharing food and feeding people you care about. So maybe he took away the peoples' ability to enjoy food because feeding them became a hassle.

back

[rimeiii]

I return to WHB Tumblr to see how the game us doing and I see the fandom in shambles, damn. And after scrolling through the tag for a bit, I have...questions.

Yo how big is WHB now even? I stopped playing shortly after they introduced the paywalled Gabriel and that's one of the things I've seen several people complain about...

Like I understand the rest of the complaints - it's mostly the same complaints I've been having about the game prior to me quitting. Multiple decisions that seem to reinforce the idea that this game is heading down the P2W path, very anti-F2P practices in general, outrageous prices for the paid Nightmare Pass, no pity system on launch, the disaster that was the implementation of the Solomon's Seals gacha, the many bugs on launch especially, the small amount of farmable premium currency, and the list goes on...the pancake shop rework not only seems to be in line with the trajectory PB seems to be taking in terms of game decisions, but is also the straw that broke the camel's back for a lot of players.

But, uh, storage? Wasn't it like 2 GB tops on launch? That was reasonable I think, because Arknights was around that size on launch and back then, there was so little additional content. Only JP dubbing, no L2D E2 art or skins (the only L2D we had back then was Closure, the SHOPKEEP), 5 story chapters (which translated to 92 stages, in which around half have a Challenge Mode variant and with a large majority being unique maps), and no additional game modes.

For additional context, currently Arknights is ~6-7 GB on a fresh account with all language dubbing, and it gets bloated if you don't delete unused event data (it's ~9.7 GB for me and I have Arknights on my current phone ever since Near Light first hit Global, so just over 2 years now). Keep in mind Arknights is close to 4.5 years old in Global, and CN just celebrated their 5th anniversary a few months back.

Talking about storage, I don't think comparing WHB to older games and non-tower defense is fair either, since:

Older games in general are much easier on your device in terms of storage to content ratio and performance, mostly due to device limitations of the past requiring less sophisticated game mechanics and the devs sticking to these simpler mechanics even as time passes and technology gets more advanced. Gentle reminder that FGO is ~7 years old in NA, ~9 years old in JP, and ALSO doesn't download everything initially - afaik there's an option for that in the settings menu which bumps the total size up significantly (the wiki lists it as around 9-10 GB total).

Different genres and graphics mean different storage requirements. Anything 3D or open world will almost always have higher storage requirements compared to anything else. Path to Nowhere is around the same size as Arknights despite being younger due to the former using 3D models for their battle sprites, compared to the 2D chibis Arknights uses. Love and Deepspace, a ~5 months game, is huge because of how they do the cutscenes AND the stage-based action gameplay, but Wuthering Waves is closing the gap on size quickly despite being only ~1.5 months because it's an open world action RPG.

What I will say, though, is that WHB is not optimized well. Now I may be very unfair by comparing WHB to Punishing: Gray Raven, a game by the optimization gods known as Kurogames (people ran the PC PGR client on 2GB RAM laptops and my 4GB RAM laptop can run WuWa despite it using UE4 - an engine notorious for chugging on low end devices - albeit with lag spikes in the open world map), but when a 2D tower defense game fails to run as smoothly as a 3D action game with stylish and fast-paced combat, then we have a problem. For context, my 4GB RAM phone only has minor lag when I use a skill that has a lot of visual effects like Lee Hyperreal's Hypermatrix, but back when I played WHB I still experienced lag spikes when deploying units.

Again this all boils down to PB just not being used to the game format. Which is all well and good, Arknights was a huge departure from Girls Frontline too - a good portion of Arknights' devs worked on Girls Frontline before splitting off to work on Arknights. But what made Arknights succeed is how accessible and F2P friendly the game was, with smooth and solid gameplay as well as an engaging plot that discusses themes such as racism, discrimination, and the fragility of hope.

Of course you can argue that Arknights is a tower defense first, visual novel second. Unlike WHB, which is an otome game first, tower defense second. And I would agree, but only to a certain extent. Once you step into the realm of having Actual Combat Gameplay Elements then I believe it's your duty to make progression as reasonable as possible. Including a power gate is fine, but nothing too excessive - and certainly do not hold any significantly strong unit behind a paywall.

Because fun fact - in Arknights' entire runtime, there were only a handful of completely paywalled content:

Player icons from promotional packs for large events, particularly the Ambience Synesthesia concerts

Character skins from promotional packs, like the Exusiai and Guard Ch'en skins during the anime release

Purestream, a B4 Therapist Medic who was released as a WWF collab, where all sales from her $1 pack were donated to the WWF. Even then, she eventually became available for everyone, as she was later added to the Recruitment pool (use a resource obtained from Dailies for a chance to get units, some unique to the pool like Purestream). She was a decent healer, and her Module made her a good budget medic. Even then you're more likely using the Medics you've already built by then - for B4 budget options, Perfumer is usually better for multi-target healing and a party HP regen passive, while Sussurro is your go-to for strong single-target healing.

And guess what? None of these had any direct impact on gameplay during their paywalled period. Purestream wasn't even a B5 or B6 unit, yo. There are many better options for healers. I STILL USE THE B3 ANSEL AND HIBISCUS IN INTEGRATED STRATEGIES.

I'm just...PB's choices baffle me, and I do wish they can improve not just on the game performance standpoint, but in how they treat their playerbase in terms of in-game purchases. I hope I made that abundantly clear...

[paunchsalazar]

hey so I really enjoyed your kyokao longfic and i was wondering what the writing process was like since im planning on writing a fanfic (first time).

did you plan anything with an outline? or did you wing it?

anyways thanks in advance (and btw im doing another reread of your fic, it's so narratively satisfying!!)

omg woah first!!! thank you so much!!! that is seriously the most touching thing to possibly hear T-T

This is going to be such a long-winded answer but I definitely did not wing it!!! apologies for the long post but I love to see behind the curtain and think about process so...

That fic was my first multi-chapter story and waaaay longer than anything else I’ve ever made… so I kinda had no idea where to start. I wanted to make a rough outline to see if it was even feasible - was there a beginning, middle, and end? Even a super hazy one? before jumping in and writing a whole long project… (I had no idea how long it would be, but knew it was definitely longer than a few thousand words.)

it started as a timeline - trying to keep track of all the canon events via bonus chapters and sketches, then working to fill in the gaps with headcanons. Even though Ouran is silly, by the end they’re operating within a normal timeline lol….

After filling out a lot of the timeline with headcanons then organizing them in chronological order.. started to see the plot/opportunities for change - in the characters, their relationships, the state of their lives - especially with school, moving, etc. all of the above

I tried to make myself a guide to keep organized lol (totally unnecessary, but helped me keep track of things!)

the timeline started as bullet points - if there are any settings or occasions that would justify an “episode” - major holidays, group trip, etc. At least with Ouran, I tried to play around with the settings - The host club has unlimited resources which is a rare luxury… but wanted to keep in the realm of what they might do + think about fancy rich people things they hadn’t yet covered “on screen”

From there, it went to sub-bullet points, then trying to nail down each beat I'd want to cover - through narration or dialogue

It's hard to pin it down but sometimes certain moments - a visual, an exchange of dialogue - play out really clearly in my head… so would occasionally find that moment and then reverse engineer what would lead to that, then follow the thread to where it would potentially go…

Usually went in chronological order or at least made a list of beats all the way through, but then would jump back and forth to fix little things or add in details I realized needed to move sooner/be foreshadowed…

Outline/timeline > beats > rough draft > going line by line to edit + then hopping around to fix things accordingly

I had a lot of different docs... just because they get so big

+ I like to put unfinished things in blue (or any color, I like blue because red feels more negative to me lol) and then change them to black when they feel "locked" or at least like they're functioning. It helps me keep track of how much is left to do + makes it easier to find spots that need attention!

+ also like to have a "cutting room" document for everything I cut/don't know where to put/is redundant in case I want to use it for later, or even just to try to see what I was going for!! I've found it to come in handy down the line

Here are some examples of the WIP bullet points/blurbs lol... I also like to make "off-screen" notes to myself just to keep in mind, I did have a friend beta-reading some parts, but kinda do this for myself anyway just to keep it in mind.

From there it was just writing and rewriting... I usually go through a scene from the beginning and read until something trips me up, try to either fix it or make note of what the intention was and then go on to the next beat. I went chapter by chapter, in order, and tried to get each locked before going on to the next one.

Should also note that this fic took me a long time!! And I wasn't working on it with a super set schedule. It was purely for fun, so I just worked on it when I felt like it (and as it grew, I found myself wanting to work on it more and more! so it was exciting more than a chore).

I talked to friends about it, even if just kinda laughing about headcanons or jokes, and had a few people read through the beats and a few scenes to see if it flowed/if the dialogue sounded in character!

+ I did a lot of revisiting the source material or even just watching a clip when I felt like I was losing their voices. Idk if it was that successful... but it helped to keep them in mind!!

Anyway... I can only speak for what works for me! and I think a lot of these habits are coming from my storyboarding workflow.

Writing is so personal and there is bound to be trial and error!! I hope that you have so much fun writing, whatever approach you take!!!!!

Also what thank you so much for reading my fic at all and for your kindness!! If you ever publish your fic, please send me a link!!! even if it is ages from now!!!!!

[honeybeelec]

Yo, a little while ago I drew some Uraraka fanart and reblogged an entire analysis based on what she was wearing here. But here's a repost of it just in case 👍

Alright, since mha is coming back in full swing, i thought I'd share a little something I noticed back when I was drawing this little doodle. So, spoilers for season 7/manga spoliers past chapter 327!!!!

Ok, so at the start of the year back in January, I started getting back into mha, back when promo posters like this one were being released for season 7

And so I drew Uraraka based off her design in this poster. However, while I was drawing her, the whole time I was wondering "what's up with her little button up. I swear I've seen it before, and it's gotta have some kinda deeper meaning".

I remembered I recognized it from Uraraka and Deku's talk about Toga and Shigaraki in chapter 342, setting up for the final battle where the heroes have to save their respective villains.

But in the context of the scene, I was wondering why it was so so important for her to be wearing that button up shirt over her hero costume? Surely it wasn't just "oh she's a little cold, obviously she would want a little shirt to wear to keep her cozy". There had to be a meaning!

And then, a certain vision popped into my head of where I'd seen Uraraka wear it before. But I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or making things up in my mind, so I went back through season 3 of mha during the training camp arc and found episode 44 - Roaring Upheaval, where Uraraka first encounters Toga.

And Bam, I'd found my culprit. The reason she is wearing that shirt during her talk with Deku is to show how much she has been thinking about Toga and to visually show those thoughts by bringing back an article of clothing linking to their meeting.

I gotta love the time and thought Hori puts into crafting these characters and their arcs through words and visuals. And as always, I will be crazy over togachako and their moments together.

Anyways, I'm currently working on some fanart for these two for season 7 coming up since I'm done with school for the semester, yayyy!!!

[declawedwildcat]

I'm not totally certain what precisely is going on with N+C beyond what I've casually absorbed through your posting but do please ramble about something about it that lives rent-free in your head

That is so fair lmao, it's pretty impossible to get a handle on what goes on in any one of these games without experiencing them and they are very much not for everyone.

Hmm, there's plenty of directions I could take this in, ones that are more relevant and less talked-about, but most of them are not fresh on my mind now that it's been a while since I finished them all so I think I'll spend it on the one that gripped me so hard initially I nearly had to drop the game to go make art about it immediately: the coathanger angel.

Small TW for below the cut — mentions of unsafe abortion

Asakura's chapter of Slow Damage is... dubious, and not handled very gracefully. But one thing it did give us was this beautiful piece of imagery even divorced from anything else that happens in his segment. I don't know why it hit me so hard to be honest; most of my thoughts on it are nonsense that have nothing to do with the actual themes or narrative intent. But it's about the concept of it, the visual, I'll figure out if it means anything coherent by the time I finish writing this probably

For the tiniest bit of context [spoilers, if someone like Muse is reading this *squint*], the chapter in question follows a pediatric doctor with a fixation on cherub imagery and culminates in surgically attaching a set of homemade wings to Towa's back to "make an angel."

The first time we see the wings it's just this glimpse, peeking out of the exam room drawer with no context, while Towa offhand wonders if they're a tool or something. I can't say for certain it was the intention since it's never described as such, but to me the apparent color, gauge, and corners of the wire felt obvious that they came from metal coat hangers.

The leaps my brain made here the first time did not end up at all correct when the chapter's mysteries were later laid out. But when presenting an image of bent wire hangers in a medical setting, especially one with an intense focus on children? There's some immediate associations there, at least from an American perspective. You could have given me a year to ponder it and still don't think I would have figured out where this storyline was going to go, but I was truly surprised that at no point did any character even guess it could relate to unsanctioned abortions.

And then there's Towa — our patron saint of bad decisions, apathetic and selfish. His offer to become the angel is still self-serving, sure; he set out to grant Asakura's wish even if it had been something completely different, because that's just what he does. But we see him taking distinct interest in the little boy the doctor keeps around, in a way he really doesn't even with the other euphoria models. Him taking Hayato's place for the operation is specifically an uncharacteristic act of protection, which of course has some implications that we get greater insight into in the true route later on.

When Towa is laid out with the wings complete, it's possibly the most striking image in the game. It's already powerful on its own at the time, but finishing the game and getting all of Towa's backstory just leaves even more scattered metaphors for me to scrounge up and drape over the picture.

A broken person being recreated in the warped image of something holy. Innocence of snow white angel wings now reduced to skeletal remains, its leftover feathers bedraggled and bloodstained. The juxtaposition of delighting in excruciating pain while being turned into an image of purity, an object of worship for these men whose dark desires consume them until laid as sacrifices on his altar. Jagged edges of twisted, torn wire jutting out from the bastard child of a powerful man's mistress, whose birth we never really learn the circumstances of.

There's a CG of the finished product that inspired the art in my header, but I'm probably using that one in a later ask and I'm also not sure if it will be too sensitive for tumblr's poor image automod, so I'll save it to avoid two posts getting nuked in the event that it is.

{"Make me stack-rank my toxic yaoi" asks}

[michikioku]

Okay so me and my bestie really love this game. Her husbando is Xavier while mine is caleb. So here is a fic about us isekai-ing into the Lads world. Enjoy!

-----Chapter 01 : Another world we go

"Omg, come on please come home caleb! Come home to meee"

We both stared upon my phone as I rolled for the gacha. As the stars swirled on the screen, light began to envelope around us.

I stared at bestie "is this what I think it is?..."

Her eyes widen, but before she could say anything, my vision got blurry as our whole body disintegrate into particles of light.

When I finally come to, I found myself lying on some hospital bed. And right beside me is the same man that I've wished upon the stars for. His eyes were closed, his brows furrowed. He looked so tired. Almost as if he has lost some sleep and is having an unpleasant dream right now. My hand reached out to touch his face gently. It felt so surreal, one moment he is behind the screen and now the smooth velvety texture of his skin against my fingertips. The hands that I'm used to seeing all my life is different, and yet it definitely looks like it's part of this world. Before I could further scrutinize the detailing of this world, his hand grasped mine.

"MC... You're awake!"

He cradled my hand on his cheek, eyes relieved.

"Er... Hey... Yes... I'm awake..." I couldn't seem to look into his eyes. The split second that I did had already made me flustered. It really is on another level to be face to face with the man that I've been intensely yearning for.

His free hand cupped the side of my face to gently turn me to look at him.

"Are you alright? Do you feel pain anywhere...? Do you... Remember these last few days...?"

Last few days?... Heck I won't even remember the entirety of this body history since I just came into this world... I've only got so little cards lore that I've seen. And those tender moments segments I've yet to listen cause I wanted to trickle down content for myself to enjoy... So what DO I do?... And as a dumbass, I panicked and said

"nope... I Er... Dont come from this world... I've isekai-ed and come to possess this body so I don't remember anything... But all I know is that you're caleb and that's it.... Please don't hate me"

His eyes turned into concern, his hands shifted up to my forehead to measure my temperature. "okay... No fever. Is the first thing you do after waking up is to play a trick on me? What is this nonsense of isekai and possession of body? Did the chip really fried your brain? And what do you mean hate you? You know that that's the last thing I would ever feel for you... "

The chip! Ah... This must be after the chip got extracted out...

I've already dug my grave so I might as well double down on my truth then...

" It's the truth. I... Well.. Me and my bestie got pulled into this world and you're one of the love interest that I was..." I stopped myself before I dead ass profess my adoration to him.

He shook his head and got even more concerned. "seems like you really lost your memories after all.. Well... Maybe confused is the right word...did you confuse yourself with some visual novels that you've read since you were in high school?"

He paused for a bit to gather his thoughts and decided "okay we are going to check you out today. I'm going to help you remember everything. Stay here while I get it settled."

He pats my head and took off. I'm just left a little dumbfounded. Guess telling the truth plan ain't working out. I sat there for a bit wondering, how am I going to live with this situation. This entire world is foreign to me. If I'm residing in this body, do I basically have her powers and skills to fight as a hunter? Man, I wished I had delved deeper into this game's lore. I was in it cause of these hotties, the story was secondary...

And then a thought hit me. What about my bestie? Didn't it seem like she got isekai-ed too?? I can't believe I was caught in the moment that I would forget about my bestie. Looking around for what I can gather, I saw my change of clothes and changed into it. Without batting an eye to the difference of how my body looked, I quickly dressed up and head out of the door. But before I could start my search, I was lifted into the air.

"MC, where are you going? Why didn't you answer when I've been calling for you."

I realized that the name I've used in the game isn't a name that I would respond to irl... hence I didn't even know that he has been calling for me right when I left the room.

I looked at him sheepishly and told him the truth "I need to find my bestie... She was teleported from another world to here as well."

Which probably in hindsight is something I shouldn't have said.

He looked at me incredulously before rubbing his forehead. " We'll search for your "bestie" after you've gotten some more rest"

Releasing his evol, I landed straight into his arms. Without missing a beat he started to walk while carrying me in his arms.

"You.. Can put me down now..."

"It's okay, you need the rest. I'll carry you back home."

My face flushed with embarrassment as staff and patients in the hospital turned their heads to look at this display of affection.

"no please... Caleb put me down."

"If I do that, what's to prevent you from running away again?"

"Don't be silly Caleb, everyone is looking... I promise I won't run away so please put me down!"

He didnt budge at that request, his grip tighten slightly with my little struggle.

" What if we just hold hands? Would that work for you?"

He stopped and then slowly let me down. His tense features finally relaxed a little. Holding his hand out "You know that I can't say no to this request..."

I took his hand and he led me out of the hospital. We took his car and drove off. Even during the drive, he kept his one hand entwined with mine. The drive itself was quiet, the only sound was that of rain, the low hum of the windshield vipers and soft music from the radio. I kept my view forward but I can sense his occasional glances towards me.

Breaking the tension in the air he asked,

"are you hungry? Let me know what you want to eat and I'll make it for you.

My stomach rumbled from the mention of food. "your famous braised chicken wings?" since that was something he mentioned in the game. So I'm actually pretty curious to try it.

He let off a small chuckle.

" Even when you forget everything, it seems like my food is the only thing you remember huh?" his grip on my hand lessen as he moved on to gently stroke the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I..."

"It's okay, you don't have to worry, I'll help you remember in due time... I've always been the one who remembers." He gave a weak smile and gently squeezed my hand.

And as if on cue the radio played a familiar tune

"This love...

Is it something that you'd fight for...

And stay up all night for?...

Something that you'd die for?... "

"memories by sultan + Shepard and the kite string tangle..."

"you know of this song?"

"it's one of my favs in -" I cut myself before to say another world.

"it sounds nice..."

The radio continued

"Feels like...

We're running out of time now...

Wish we could pause somehow...

It's no life without you now... "

The song continued it's melodic electronic beats and I could hear Caleb humming along. I couldn't help but to also join in. And right when we pulled into his parking lot, the song ended perfectly.

" Guess it's my new fav too" he smiled turning to me he sang softly

"It's no life without you now, This love"

I blinked and felt my cheeks warmed up. He continued his longing gaze as he leaned towards me.

IS THIS MAN ABOUT TO KISS ME?!?

As our face got closer and closer, I closed my eyes. I could feel his warm breath against mine as his face is mere inches away. Seconds feels like aeons, do I lean forward and kiss him? What's going on??

And then I heard the door open.

"we're home now" he says, leaning away after reaching over to my side to open my door. I glance a smirk on his lips as he turned away to exit the car.

Ughk this man IS the epitome of tease.

[ozzgin]

Yokai harem is terrifying ..

Will you present visual representation for the yokais in the future?

I'm actually finishing up a little guide for the currently existing characters, which includes some details about their looks. I'll definitely update it with concept sketches once I have something consistent.

The trouble is, I have a very specific and concrete image in my head and I'll have to see whether I can properly draw it. The yakuza boys in comparison are very recent and therefore didn't have any structured appearance, so I just went along with what felt nice. Now I'm like "the eyes are too round, this isn't going to work".

I've had this first chapter in my drafts since June, so you can imagine. I'm happy that people find it interesting haha

[vashonian]

Hey!! First off, my obligatory gushing over your stuff once again, both your writing and your art is amazing, it has such a detailed and rustic charm to it that I rarely ever see in fandom spaces. I've been wanting to ask this for a while because I'm absolutely awestruck at your turnout and how you've managed to create such an in-depth world and publish almost 500k words (and iirc you said before you plan ahead like 200-300k words too?) in the little over a year since Episode 2 dropped. Like, that grind is insane. Just curious if you have like a schedule planned out for yourself or a word quota you try to meet each week? Hope you don't mind me asking, I've just been trying to wrap my head around this for a while lol

(PS sorry I have to be asking this on the blog I made when I was 13 instead of the blog I actually use, Tumblr is a cruel mistress 😔)

Thank you so much! That's really kind! Love your art and fics too!

I think I spent a good chunk of May and June 2024 just mulling over the whole idea, like working out what went where and what sounded interesting and general plot things. I actually wasn't sure if it sounded all that good until totallyottie99's Peppermint Bandit AU really gave it the visual kick, and I got really motivated to do it. I think I spent most of July and August doodling and writing really rough drafts/outlines and things (and it was a good thing, because some of those things were really rough).

I had a bit of time off at work so I basically started cranking things out and editing and re-editing. It was really easy when it had been the things I had been churning over and internally editing and re-editing and then re-doing entirely, but it's a kinda slowed a bit as things got longer and less defined, I think. I find it really easy to make set-up and descriptions, but the making enough payoff and foreshadowing for future things so they don't come out of left field was something else. In the original concept, ABELLE was supposed to show up much later, but having an earlier setup ended up working better, especially as the fic grew longer and I ended up breaking it into three/four parts.

I try to get at least two or three chapters out a month - it's about two now. I usually set aside a couple hours a week to work on it - I sometimes have entire days off, so I'm either typing up something or editing. I usually have about three or so chapters around (and a few anchor scenes from the next fic) so if I'm stuck or burned out on the current chapter, I can at least make progress where the inspiration strikes. With the nature of my work free time can be all over the place, so I try to stick to time - the word and chapter quotas I tried back in the fall, and it ended up causing a bit more stress in December when work became really demanding.

Thanks for asking! No worries about the old blog either - Tumblr's a bit testy at times, lol.

[whiteboardartstudios]

Goodbye, Gendaen

fan art for @mtqcomic

Thoughts and LONG ramble under the cut! (includes spoilers!!!)

A while ago (like last week maybe?) I realized that I've been following this comic for almost a year, and I still haven't drawn Mysta yet! I figured that with the recent end of Chapter 3 and that *huge* lore drop (I was NOT expecting that oh my goodness the theory wheels are turning in the void that is my brain) now would be a pretty good time to draw her! So that's where this came from! :D

I thought that it would be fun to draw Mysta looking sort of like a knight? Partially because it makes for cool posing and composition but also because I think that if she was in D&D she would be a paladin due to the whole "Hero sent by Destiny" thing (I considered sorcerer or warlock as well, but her moveset is mostly melee at the moment so I thought that paladin fits better. Plus this opens up the possibility of Gendaen being an Oathbreaker paladin, depending on how that whole situation with the Crimson went. (also now I kind of want to put the main cast of mtq in D&D even though I don't actually know a lot about D&D ToT. I think Eth would be a ranger maybe multiclassed into something magic-related, because rangers have a favored enemy mechanic that gives them advantages on fighting a certain type of enemy, which could be Crimson enemies for D&D Eth. Yele is (kind of obviously) a druid because of the whole dryad thing, and Zaïl is definitely giving rogue energy to me.)) Anyways, D&D-related sidetrack aside – hello??? End-of-chapter-3 lore drop? (/positive) I have SO many questions. First of all, what happened to convince Gendaen to switch sides? For someone who allegedly spent his entire life trying to cleanse the Crimson, it would've taken one heck of a worldview-upending revelation to get him to join it. With the information we currently have, it seems pretty clear that Gendaen isn't mind-controlled or corrupted or anything – not just because of the reasons Eth gave in page #169, but also because from all the interactions we've had with Nelun Soma'o/Gendaen, he seemed to be pretty chill? I pointed out in my first fan art post that it doesn't seem as if Nelun Soma'o is being built up to be a villain character and is instead more of an antagonist with a slight mentor role, and I think that still kind of holds up now. Gendaen definitely wants Mysta to help him and/or the Crimson with something, and as Yele said in that recent comic, things aren't really adding up. I'm still slightly suspicious of the Order of Learning as well (insert person pointing at conspiracy theory board meme here lol), since you would think that if Gendaen and Eth are really close then Gendaen might have told Eth about the whole Crimson situation, right? On Page #250 (which is marked as 150??? probably a typo but idk) Gendaen says that he didn't want Eth to be roped into this whole situation, which could be a reason for keeping him in the dark – though if he knew Eth really well then he might have suspected that Eth wouldn't just let him disappear and would go searching for him. Another possible reason (in my theory) if the Order is evil or something and Gendaen learned something that he shouldn't have learned, maybe he knew that Eth wouldn't believe him because of his loyalty to the Order? I may just be connecting random dots and calling it a picture here but *something* is going on and until we get more clues on what that may be, I'm sticking with this theory lol :P EDIT, I was rereading Gendaen's character sheet and it says there that he has a strong code of honor and fights for the underdogs (not the exact phrasing but it's close). 👀 does that mean the Crimson is in some sort of underdog position? 👀

Anyways back to the drawing a little, I gave both Gendaen and Mysta a sort of braid-like element in their designs to sort of tie them together a bit visually (Mysta's is on the sides of her head, which is kind of hard to see so I added a little ribbon to show that parts of her hair is tied back, and Gendaen's is in his golden hair accessory thingy). I think that there's definitely some sort of correlation between Gendaen's disappearance/switching to the Crimson and Mysta being sent to Sol Ybberia, and I also think that both of them are going to play an important role in whatever happens in the future, hence the braids (to show that their destinies are kind of intertwined, as the two Heroes of Sol Ybberia). I also thought that it would be fun to put Gendaen in a stained glass window instead of actually physically being present, because up until the Nelun Soma'o reveal, all the things we know about Gendaen are basically all from Eth's recollections of him, which for me definitely paints a bit of a "Character haunting the narrative" kind of vibe. I also think that with the Nelun Soma'o reveal, the somewhat glorified (for a lack of a better word – I think Eth might be a little biased when it comes to Gendaen, considering that Gendaen has been missing for about 5 years, if my math is correct? 5 years feels like a long time to me and I think that if a person important to me has been missing for that long then my impression of them would definitely start warping to how I want to remember them/who I wanted them to be and I might start unintentionally ignoring the things that doesn't quite match that image in my head. Speaking of/case in point, Eth's reaction to the Nelun Soma'o reveal!) image of Gendaen that we had got thrown in a metaphorical blender with our idea of the Crimson at the time, and it just makes things a whole lot more complicated in a very interesting way. (If you look at the bottom right of the image you can see Nelun Soma'o's cloak coming out of stained-glass Gendaen's cloak, which I thought would be a fun little detail to include). Hence, the stained glass is kind of the "perfect Hero who disappeared to advance the plot" Gendaen and we can see Mysta kind of splitting the glass with her Rotted Fork from a composition point of view, referencing that huge lore bomb she dropped a couple of pages ago and how that changes our (or at least my) perception of Gendaen as a character entirely. I really do like the plot twist, as I think it makes Gendaen a more 3-dimensional character with more complicated motivations and narrative significance, as before I mainly knew him as "predecessor to Mysta" and "one of Eth's sources of motivation", but now he my understanding of Gendaen also extends to things about Gendaen himself and not just about his role in relation to other characters (for example, "Gendaen is helping the Crimson for reasons currently unknown" or "Gendaen is planning something that involves Mysta??? and he's in the Void??? And apparently Mysta is supposed to jailbreak him out at some point in the future?" He definitely has something planned behind the scenes, I don't know what it is and I want to find out).

MORE THINGS about Gendaen (can you tell that he's my favorite character at the moment ToT), what's up with those last words? If I'm correct (and I think I am, I scrolled all the way back to the page where the gods were introduced just to check this ToT), Nomù is Compassion? How is compassion related to Gendaen's alliance with the Crimson? I mean, when you think of the Crimson, compassion definitely is NOT the first value that comes to mind. Right now it seems that to me, Gendaen's plan with Mysta and the Crimson and the Void is connected to Nomù somehow? (the "I won't disappoint you" is definitely interesting). I don't have a lot of thoughts or theories on where this might be going, I just thought that it was something interesting to metaphorically chew on for the next while. It definitely seems like it has some sort of narrative significance, at least.

There might be more things that I wanted to talk about, but I can't really think of them off the top of my head right now (it might be due to the fact that it's currently quite late in my time zone ToT I am sleepy) so that's all from me for now :D (Also dropping the version of the drawing with just the lineart here because I think it looks really cool)

I hope you have a really nice day and/or night! :D

*a starry rift in space opens up in front of me and I faceplant into it like it is a mattress* (gotta make that dramatic exit!) [Image ID: The first image is a colored and rendered image of Mysta from the Mysta's Terrarian Quest webcomic standing in front of a stained glass window of Gendaen. She is holding the Rotted Fork spear from Terraria, and she has a determined expression on her face. The stained glass shows Gendaen with his back turned to the audience, and one closed eye is visible. His cloak is flowing to the right of the image, where it emerges out of the stained glass as it fades from green to dark grey. Crimson vines, green trees, and white clouds surrounds Gendaen in the stained glass. Outside of the glass portrait, real crimson vines are creeping along the stone walls that the portrait is on, framing the portrait and Mysta in the middle. A red light source is shining down from the upper right corner of the drawing. End ID.] [Image ID: The second image is a work-in-progress version of the first image without any color and only some minimal shading, with all shades being in monochrome. Mysta's lineart is noticeably darker compared to the line art of the background. End ID.]

EDIT: Forgot to add image ids, they're here now TwT

[spark-hearts2]

Little AI to Human headcannons

I've seen a lot of fanfictions or art about Caine as a human. Specifically an AI turned human (not human, then ringmaster, then human again). So, here are some of my own headcannons that I haven't seen anyone mention. I don't plan on doing anything with them, so if anyone wants to use them, please do!

Over stimulation. Before, in the circus, he could disable visual and audio processing. He could even go as far as to unload his virtual avatar and exist purely as a bundle of code. Now, he is essentially stuck in his body and can not manually turn his senses off.

Staring into space. He already does this in cannon, but I would imagine it would get even worse as a human. He would get too in his own head thinking about things and completely forget that his body exists at all times. He would either be impossible to drag out of this, or get annoyed that his train of thought was interrupted as he no longer has perfect memory.

Memory issues. Well, he wouldn't gain memory issues. It's more like he would be used to the perfectly memory of a machine. Suddenly storing information organically would be a massive downgrade for him, but he no longer has to worry about running out of storage so there's that.

Very good at math. This is another thing that he would consider got worse when becoming human, but compared to the average person, he's a physicist. He's familiar with all the light, force, and gravity based calculations and can even solve them reliably quickly. Again, he used to be able to do this in fractions of a second, so he considered it a downgrade.

Fascinated with the little details. He's familiar with physics because that's how computers render things, but moving to the real world, everything has insane detail to him. Something as simple as tearing paper has his eyes sparkling and lead him to talking about destruction physics. The fact that everything breaks differently every time fascinates him.

Insane knowledge about game design. I agree that Caine definitely would be almost completely ignorant about how the real world works and would essentially need a babysitter to make sure he doesn't die. But what I've seen very little about is how good he would be considered at design and programing. Man was literally built for this stuff.

Anxiety. As a computer, he could think 24/7 without consequences. As a computer, he could know the digital world on an extreme level. Quite literally know where everything is at all times. Obviously he isn't always monitoring this, as he didn't realize that Pomni had clipped out of bounds, but I imagine that he is capable of this. As a human, not only is he lacking this level of knowledge about the world, but he also can no longer think all the time without consequences. I imagine that he would still try to do this, thus manifesting as Anxiety.

impulse control. Now as a human with way less control over himself, I'd imagine what little impulse control he has just goes down the drain. Something interesting happens? He's walking over to look at it no questions asked.

Anger at his situation. To him, turning human is a downgrade. Yes, he is insanely happy to still be with everyone and see the real world, he's just unhappy about being a human in it. He would prefer to still be an AI system, just with a camera, microphone, and speaker on it so he can see, hear, and still talk to everyone. Of course, he would not voice this anger towards any ex circus member, as he views it as not their fault and therefor not their problem.

Now this one has to do with my own cannon adjacent AU, specifically the fanfiction I am currently writing a chapter 2 for. All you need to know is that Caine has been sending error reports, specifically about the inability to leave the circus, since the issue first started. These reports have gone unread.

10. abandonment issues. No one has helped him fix errors in so long that is has genuinely warped his view of reviving help. In the circus, no one (except maybe Kinger) knows how to read code and debug, but even as he moves to the real world and is surrounded by people who do know how his system works, he is still reluctant to ask for help. He's become used to asking and receiving nothing, and then being the one to fix everything. He's open to asking questions about the world and learning things, but when it comes to his own issues, nothing. Like, the kind of person to not ask for a blanket and then curl up under the rug. Also, he would hate sending text messages or emails because he hates having to wait for a reply. At least when talking to someone he can see that they are actually there and listening.

[medics-secret-shipfic-folder]

Hello. I think you did really well on your analogy horror fic. Analog horror is really hard to do well when you're working with video. Primarily writing it is adding a whole new layer to the complexity as you can't rely on visual shock or audio effects.

The visual effects that you did add look amazing. Enough static and shadow to look eerie but all the images were still clear and easy to understand. There was no squinting at the screen in confusion.

I also appreciate how you didn't use gore to get shock value. That is my biggest pet peeve with horror is that creators think gore = scary. You had far less restrictions than most analog horror creators due to not working on YouTube but you still managed to make a very scary piece without needing to rely on gore to get the effect.

I also appreciate how your writing runs smoothly. No one makes any stupid decisions and there's no confusing shifts in character. You gave enough introduction so we could understand what was going on without needing to beat us over the head with "here's what's going on" CMedic's pov is both horrifying and sympathetic. Virgil and Fred's banter was great and very cute. Cheavy is clearly grasping at straws to get CMedic back but not unjustly the machine is literally called "a life extender". That and the way he dies (?) is properly horrifying and sad.

The way you wrote Gregg and his death was also really well done. We don't know him for long but I still felt upset when he died. And the way he died was properly scary. Like I said earlier I appreciate how you didn't use gore to make the death horrifying. I do enjoy how you used taste instead as I think it's an underused sense in writing. Suddenly feeling like you have a mouthful of dirt can be just as horrifying as seeing a bloody ghost.

Sorry for the ramble. I just really like analogy horror and I think more people should try and write one. I hope you continue this project as it is very interesting!

Hey, thank you so much for the message!

I'm really glad you enjoyed the first chapter of Do Not Stand At My Grave! I've always had a soft spot for analog horror, ever since I first learned about it through Markiplier's playthrough of Maple County.

Analog horror is fascinating to me, and the best analog horror series' out there have made me squirm in my seat like nothing else. Vitae Carnis, Monument Mythos, Gemini Home Entertainment, Local58, and Midwest Angelica are fantastic, and those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. These particular series' have ALWAYS freaked me out, and part of why I think they're so effective is how "quiet" they can be.

You see, I'm not fond of gorefests in horror. I mean, I enjoy The Evil Within and Resident Evil as much as the next girl, but gore is just...not scary on its own. Shocking, yes, and certainly upsetting if you have a weak stomach, but...what do you have left when the shock is over? Shock value is the lowest form of art. It's monumentally lazy because it's the visceral equivalent of a jumpscare. You can only make someone gag for as long as they have a gag reflex. And it is VERY easy to desensitize someone to gore and shocking content.

And I know analog horror uses gore quite a bit, but the most horrifying part of any analog horror series has ALWAYS been the quieter moments. The slow moments. The parts where you're left staring at your screen, wondering what led to this. Horror that's unsettling and eerie and haunting.

I wanted to get across that feeling in my fic. The horror is very quiet. Almost understated. Narration and descriptions are at once vague and deeply troubling. Why is the "moon" in quotation marks? Why does the night sky smell like ash? Why is Teufort in italics every time it's mentioned? Are the rooms actually melting, or are the events so difficult to describe that the characters can't articulate what's actually happening? Why is Cheavy obsessively going over the locks on his door? Why is it so cold? What the hell is going on with Cmedic? Are Cheavy and Gregg actually dead? What did Virgil mean when he said that Cheavy turned blue before disappearing?

No one is running around, there's no mass panic, there's no blood, there's no screaming. It's just a dark and cold base. The generator isn't working, even though Gregg has been working on it for awhile now. There's this ever present sense of wrongness to everything. Hell the fact that this fic is apparently in an alternate timeline where TFC won over Team Fortress in comic 6 also lends itself to this sense of wrongness. That THIS isn't supposed to be happening. That something is very wrong here.

Even the narration does this. There are parts of the narration that feel like the story is starting to fall apart. Like even me, the omniscient narrator, isn't safe from...whatever is happening here.

And Cmedic's POV takes this even further. I mean, when was the last time you saw an analog horror entity's perspective on anything? I know Midwest Angelica and Monument Mythos do this to an extent, but not like this. Moreover, I know analog horror is in LOVE with its hostile entities, but...I've always been fond of the idea of of a non-hostile entity. The idea that this thing doesn't want to hurt you at all, it has NO ill intentions, it only wants the best for the people it's around, but something is seriously wrong. Cmedic's very presence is dangerous, but we don't know exactly why yet. It's not clear if it's lethal, it's not clear if it's immediately deadly, it's not clear what exactly he's even doing. He's clearly sentient, but something is...off.

THAT is what I love about analog horror. Not the screams, not the gore, not the hyper-violence and destruction. The quiet moments that make you uncomfortable. That make you wonder what the fuck is WRONG here. No blood, no gore, no typical horror tropes of characters just blindly running into danger. Just a slow, quiet story in a dark base, where something is very wrong. As above, so below.

Another major inspiration were the works of Yames, including Water Womb World and Discover My Body. If you want to be DEEPLY unsettled and freaked out by quiet horror, then you will definitely wanna check out his work.

I'm really glad I successfully managed to get across the vibes of analog horror in writing. I enjoyed writing the first chapter, and I can't wait to keep writing!

It's honestly kinda weird writing this alongside Take Back The Fortress. If I had to describe it: TBTF is the Resident Evil to DNSAMG's Silent Hill, and it is wild writing both types of horror side by side.