bubblegumrabbitwriting

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Blink Dev Blog and Sneak Peek

Hello!

Just wanted to post a dev blog to get back on top of things, though I don't have much exciting news.

Writing has been going well and at a steady pace for the next update. I don't have a set date yet, but I'm trying to aim for the end of August/mid-September time for the release.

A bit more of a choice-light update from the last one, with a lot of the text being influenced a lot more by your choices throughout the first chapter. That does make it slightly easier to write, as there is less branching in actions that require completely different text, but just from the full plan of the chapter there are still quite a few different branches for injury level and then for how much the professor knows about the MC's past.

It is making the sequencing of scenes hard to write, as certain scenes happen at different points depending on different variables, but it's getting there.

And there's not much more than that; I'm going to answer a couple of asks, then I might go quiet on the ask front for a while while just focusing on writing.

Again thanks everyone sending in ask and being intrested in the project, I have put a sneak peak below for one of the branches depending on injury level.

Thanks all! 💖

As soon as you hear the lock re-engage behind you, your body starts to give, with a subtle shaking of the legs and a buildup of fluid in your throat. Your body might have been able to fool itself while you still had the sweet release of adrenaline running through you, but now all you have is the slow breakdown of your flesh.

You rush to the sink in the kitchen, a fine trail of crimson following you as you rip away your mask and grip onto the ceramic.

Then before you know it, your throat expels its sticky, clogged contents as you cough up a darkened red mixture that clings to the white in gory chunks.

Even when you add running water into the mix, trying to wash away the evidence of the night. It just keeps crashing into you in consistent waves of spit blood and twisting pain that digs deep into you.

By the end the flood of your life essence stops, slowly running down the drain with the last of your energy as the dried blood stuck to you slowly drips with the water covering your face as you breathe deep only to be hit with the same scent of iron.

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Regarding Steam, Adult Content Bans, and Making an 18+ Game

Hey guys;

There’s been a major shift in the gaming scene recently that could have some very serious consequences for queer creators and the adult content they make and unfortunately, TCM is (what I fear) a pretty prime target.  I know no one likes reading long blog posts but please at least skim the following write up. A lot's going on and frankly, I'm very, very anxious for TCM. Bear with me, the situation is complex.

What Happened:

Steam, the largest videogame marketplace in the world, caved to pressure from payment processors like Mastercard and Visa to delist games and effectively censor content that goes against the TOS of the payment processor.  This is incredibly shitty.

Visa and Mastercard now have direct say in what content is “objectionable” on the world’s largest gaming marketplace.  They are the entities that get to decide what art is “degenerate” and what art is suitable for their advertisers.

Adult content has long been a target of Mastercard, which has been constantly putting pressure on companies like Etsy, OnlyFans, Patreon, Pornhub, Fansly, and more for multiple years now to deplatform and censor not only real-life content featuring real people, but also overtly fictional and drawn content as well.

LGBT+ art is a prime target for being slandered as deviant; we’ve seen it throughout our history, and this is only becoming more evident as queer sex workers, content creators, and artists are getting financially deplatformed all across the internet.

Several ultraconservative groups are behind the pressure on Mastercard, including swerf and terf clubs.

This goes beyond region or payment method.  It doesn’t matter how you pay for Steam games; once a game is delisted, it cannot be purchased via any method. 

Since this change to Steam’s TOS and as of this writing, over 80 adult games have been delisted, and I’d like to take a second to emphasize what this means.  Being delisted on Steam is the same as having a game functionally permabanned.  Delisting means that anyone who has the game can still access it, but the title is taken off the marketplace completely, and new players will never see it or be able to access it.

Steam is effectively being held at gunpoint.  Without the ability to accept payments from the two largest, most duopolistic processors in the world, its continued resistance would likely destroy them as a marketplace. This attack on Steam gives Mastercard and Visa an unprecedented amount of power over gaming as a whole and has already had huge consequences.  This sets a disturbing and wholly unfair precedent of disproportionately silencing queer and/or politically charged art.

What’s shocking about this is that in the past, Steam has worked to maintain a high level of neutrality in its content offerings.  As long as games were rated properly and appropriate themes were disclosed during the rating process, Steam generally let explicit content slide even if their content was questionable to some.  The problem now lies in the fact that corporate overlords have now taken the power to decide what is and is not artistic expression, and historically, that does not bode well for anyone challenging or commenting on the status quo.  If you’re queer like me, you know you challenge the status quo by simply existing.

The Future is Unknowable

Unfortunately, it just got a lot murkier for me and for TCM.  Because TCM’s queer leanings, its focus on sexualized men and monster fucking, the game will certainly be seen as transgressive to any remotely conservative leaning weirdo looking for a power trip.  I don’t know if we’re on the chopping block and there’s literally no way to prepare.

I’ve heard several people mention Itch.io as an alternative, and, firstly, please understand that I adore Itch.  Itch is where TCM got its initial start and early community from, and I owe a lot to Itch’s commitment to its devs and the freedom to produce whatever content they want.  The problem is that if payment processors put pressure on Itch, too, they will be forced to acquiesce.  I can’t stress enough that Steam is astronomically larger and more powerful than Itch- and if they didn’t have the resources or independence to hold to their ideals in the face of pressure from Mastercard, Itch won’t either.  At this point, it's less of a criticism or doomerism on my part and simply an ugly, unfair fact.

This kind of uncertainty alone is enough to stagnate a lot of business in any industry.  This puts the burden on me to either pre-emptively censor the game myself or to cope with the immense financial instability of going forward with unclear and/or unfair guidelines that- once again- disproportionately target queer creators.   

We saw it with the widespread tariff confusion earlier this year that had a pronounced effect on global commerce.  Stephanie Sterling elaborates on the burden of uncertainty in this video about YouTube’s unclear and inconsistent demonetization rules and the clamps it puts on artistic content.  She’s a lot more articulate than I am and paints a really robust picture about why having vague content policies- like the ones Mastercard is pushing- throws a wrench in the whole creative cycle, especially for artists hoping to make a living via their art.

What This Means for TCM

Honestly, this could mean a lot of things, and unfortunately, I just don’t know what the road ahead will look like in 6 months.  Or even next week.  Because I really value transparency, I wanted to lay the situation out for y'all so you can hopefully see where I’m coming from and why this is so incredibly devastating to hear about.

I invested a ton of money into making this game.  More than that, it's been about five years of my life with no other projects on deck, building this game and community from the ground up.  I believe in this project, and I believe in queer adult entertainment that’s inclusive and fun and sexy.  I really do.  

But if I get financially deplatformed, I can’t create.

Essentially, I planned to invest my own money up front, offer the base game (Amir, Mori, and Akello’s full routes) for free, and then make DLC in the form of additional character routes and charge money for those to recoup costs and eventually get me out of the hole.  I hoped that people would really enjoy the base game, get a feel for my writing style and Atlas’ art, and hopefully find that a paid DLC for another character is a worthwhile purchase.  Now, I’m reevaluating how I want to move forward, and I wanted y'all to be a part of that 1) because I need you to see what factors I’m dealing with and 2) I’d like to give as much of a heads up as possible if plans change.

So, right now, the game is in a state called “Early Access”.  This tells players that the game is still in development, still getting updates, and generally taking player feedback/bug reports into account as development furthers.  Once the game is “completed,” I was going to take it out of Early Access and into “Fully Released”.  

One option I’m now considering is charging for the game once it hits that fully released state.  

People who already have the game will not be affected by this at all.  You’ll get the Full Release without having to pay.  (Anyone who has the game in their Steam Library before the changeover will get the Full Release for free.).  The Full Release won’t have significant content changes but will probably have minor bug fixes, polish, things of that nature.  I’m not sure what price point I would set it at.  But like most options, there are pros and cons to this- namely, I made it clear that I wanted to keep this chunk of the game free, but I’m worried that might not be possible.  The benefit to structuring things this way is that I may be able to recoup some of the development costs before a potential delisting, which would essentially terminate my ability to make extra content like I’d intended.

Talking Numbers

I would like to share my budget with you so that you can see the figures I’m looking at.  Again, my ultimate goal here is gaining yall’s understanding first.  I know it’s disappointing to talk money and numbers when we’re all surviving out there, but things are getting dire.  (Note that these numbers are general but close estimates.)

Artwork includes: Sprites, CGs, Logo Design, Menu, GUI/UX assets and implementation, other In-Game Assets, Commissions for birthday posts/special occasions, Trailers, Animations, Capsule Artwork, etc

Ads, Hosting, and Business Misc includes: Ad runs on websites like Furaffinity and Tumblr, Hosting and Domain fees, Business Name Registration, Studio Peaches logo

Custom Music includes: 6 custom-performed and recorded tracks exclusive for TCM

Equipment/Tools includes: Software licenses, computer hardware, graphic design tools.

The game does pull in some money on the regular, and I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for my patrons, kickstarter supporters, and for my itch donors because your generosity and loyalty have helped add some stability to this situation, and I’ve gotten good at making your every dime count.

And just for transparency, here’s what the Kickstarter ended up looking like:

Now, with Kickstarter, I have to emphasize that these numbers don’t represent failure- this was pretty much what I expected going in.  Kickstarter is a great way to raise awareness of projects, and in that respect, the TCM Kickstarter was very successful, even if I cut it perhaps a little closer than I had intended.

So, now you can kind of start to see where the stress is growing.  Over the past five-ish years, I’ve invested close to twenty thousand dollars into this project, and although I have wonderful patrons, backers and itch donors, I’ve barely put a dent in that debt.  This is what game development costs for a game of TCM’s quality.  Currently, I pay Atlas commission rates for their work, but I had hoped to be able to actually employ them.  I personally have never been paid for the time and labor I’ve put into this game, and I work on it about 30 hours a week, every week. 

TLDR

To recap, there are several reasons I’m taking the time to write this up today:

Prepare TCM community for the possibility of changes coming to the plans going forward

Inform the community of some very alarming developments happening on gaming platforms

Help show the community just how much game development costs, and how imperative it is to find a financially viable future for this project.

Prayer circle we don’t get delisted

The bottom line is:  TCM needs to make money if it is going to continue being developed. If the game gets delisted and deplatformed, I might need to make serious changes to keep this project alive.  I may need to make serious changes to mitigate what’s already happening to adult games.  

Things are scary out there for artists and especially for queer artists.  I have absolutely no idea what the future holds for TCM and no idea how much worse things are going to get before they get better.  Transparency has always been a priority for me, so definitely expect updates and announcements as things evolve and change over the coming months. Just please understand that I may have to pivot or change tact depending on what Mastercard decides is a violation of their content guidelines. 

For better and for worse, nothing is set in stone today, but that does mean I’ll need to continue monitoring the situation closely, and I’ll do my best to keep everyone informed of TCM’s development with as much notice as I can.

Finally, I encourage all of you to do further research into this on your own.  I encourage you to sign the petition that the ACLU has been circulating as a first step towards fighting this unfair hold payment processors have on our content.  I encourage you to talk to performers excommunicated from OnlyFans and Patreon for having “objectionable” material. I encourage you to talk to Furries who were booted from Fansly for being incorrectly labelled as deviants with bestiality kinks.  I especially encourage you to look into the oppressive, hateful groups pushing for this kind of artistic suppression and pressuring Visa and Mastercard to tighten (comprised largely of swerf, terf, and bog-standard conservative purity politics).  Send angry emails, support your favorite creators, and cultivate safe online spaces for queer adult content.

As always, please hit me up with any questions you might have- I can be reached in all the usual places:  Here on Tumblr @tricitymonsters, on discord @pockatuck or via the TCM server, or even email if you have something longer to send > tricitymonsters@gmail.com

Some source links for you:

ACLU Petition: https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy PCgamer Article Breaking the Story: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steam-introduces-new-rule-prohibiting-certain-kinds-of-adult-content-that-might-make-visa-or-mastercard-unhappy-financial-deplatforming-in-action/

VICE Article that was pulled that lists the groups behind the push: https://web.archive.org/web/20250719204151/https://www.vice.com/en/article/group-behind-steam-censorship-policies-have-powerful-allies-and-targeted-popular-games-with-outlandish-claims/

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

https://bsky.app/profile/ebihimes.bsky.social/post/3luoe7z2zps2d

This hasn't affected tcm yet but uh...

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Blink Report Form.

Hi Guys,

To make it easier to report bugs/spelling and grammar mistakes. I have created a super basic Google form that can be accessed here.

Feel free to drop anything found in there.

Thank you. 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

hi there.

i just had a random thought for an ask. in cyberpunk 2077 during the credits and depending on your ending, the RO´s and certain characters leave V/the MC voicemails on their phone. this lead me to this ask and the following scenario:

"after many months of infiltrations, information gatherings and maybe a tiny bit of torture, MC was able to finally fullfill their revenge. so they enter the main building of the bad guys[it been some time since i last played, so im sorry for not remembering the name] alone. cut to the worried RO´s (relationship-stage) and the Professor, not knowing if MC is alive or dead (maybe not even knowing where they are). they try to call, but they can only hear the voicemail. what would they say (if they even say anything)?"

as a bonus and only if you want to and have tim. no pressure: after a few days/a week, the RO´s hear a knock at their door. they open and its a) MC, wounded and bruised OR b) a letter and noone around. it says "i was successfull, but have to go into hiding. i dont know for how long. im sorry.". ==> i dont mind if you choose a or b. maybe flip a coin or choose depending on how angsty you want to be. thank you for your answer and i hope that i dont request too much.

No problem, the ask was really interesting to write and got me to rewatch a couple of the endings for Cyberpunk. Honestly, it's still one of the better ways to make the ending feel impactful, being able to see how each actually affected the characters.

It took a bit longer than I thought, as I didn't know what to put for some characters, as it could be spoilers, but I bit the bullet for one, so a slight warning that there is some potential spoiler stuff that won't come up until later in the game.

Reactions below -

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

Sorry, but your call cannot be connected at this time; please leave a message after the beep.

BEEP

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

Echo -

Hi MC, It's Echo...but you probably could tell that...

I...I can't do this, act like everything is fine, and pretend this is just a stupid social call.

Where are you?

Are you ok?

I've spoken to everyone, and they don't know anything about where you are, if you're safe, or if you're even alive...please j-just call me back, and...if you don't want to speak to me, at least call the professor they're worried sick.

I-if I don't hear back from you, I swear I will send every contact, every connection, to dig up anything. So please just call me back. I-I can help if you just tell me what's going on.

Cy -

Cy, again.

I know I don't have any right to say this, but please just call me and let me know you're ok.

I have been searching everywhere, tracing your last steps, and found nothing. Not a faded footstep or even just an idea.

But I promise I won't stop; I will find something, and you can tell me everything when we're back together.

I promise, I won't leave you.

Love you, always.

A -

Hellooo, you guess who it is...if you've seen your other missed calls.

I'm still living my life; I got a job, and this guy ended up paying us with boxes of old tech. There was some insane stuff in there...good times.

So how have you been doing? Got all of that past trauma out?

... I really started talking to the voicemail now...

Please just give me a call. I get it; you love being all mysterious, but seriously, not even a call a week? I've got more calls from that insurance salesman than you this past month.

I've missed you...you know.

Anyway, just call me when you get the time, please.

Salem -

Salem here, still haven't heard from you...starting to think you're trying to avoid it.

No, that's what this is, isn't it? You're running and trying to hide, not thinking about all the people you're leaving behind...

Sorry, that was...uncalled for. Just at least give Harper a call; you know how they get, and they are ready to call a state of emergency at this point.

Have your time...and come back when you're ready, I will still be here.

Harper -

It's Harpers. I hope you're doing well. I and Salem are still just working as we normally do...

MC, I-I just wanted to say that I-I know that I'm not the smartest. I-I know that I trust too easily, but I can help. I-I know I can.

I'm sorry that I-I wasn't competent enough for you to feel you could come to me, but I've been training, and I know I could at least make things easier for you.

So please just consider it and give me a call back when you...my number is still the same.

Love you.

Professor -

MC...I-Im sorry it was never my intention to mislead you or...to use you.

I understand if you don't want to speak to me, but please at least reach out to the others when you can. They...they're really worried.

And if you feel differently than I think you do, please don't hesitate to reach out.

I will still help you whenever and wherever I can, even if there's no forgiveness there.

Thank you for listening.

Thanks for the ask! 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Choices

Hi Guys,

Was doing some planning stuff for Devil You Know well in between writing the next update for Blink, and a question popped to mind.

Originally the MC was going to have a set weapon choice, but with the planning I realised that it could be an option, so what would people prefer?

Also, if you prefer a choice, would you rather have more choices between weapons but with less varying text or fewer weapon choices but more varying text?

The reason why I'm not planning to just add all weapons having unique text for each choice in combat scenes is just due to how much writing it would be, and fight scenes are already hard enough to write as it is without thinking about how different sizes and ranges of weapons can affect the flow of the scene.

Poll below 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

I can't express how excited I am for more of this story. I loved the interactions between the MC, professor, and echo and really enjoy being able to have a MC that is both a cute little cinnamon roll of a character while also being a whirling dervish of death. The drawing ask was just too adorable. I had a NSFW ask you planted in my head so now I just have to ask how would the charactors respond if they visited when the professor was gone and MC greeted cheery and innocent as could be violating the poor professors clothing is not optional rule?

Glad you enjoyed the dynamics of the three goofballs.

The MC really just has two modes: terrifying, competent assassin and sad little cinnamon roll.

Reactions below, slighty NSFW.

Echo -

Probably somewhat used to it at this point, she won't admit it out loud, but it bothers her even more so than the professor. She doesn't get it...why walk around naked? Will be trying to gently poke the MC to get dressed, while trying to eye the obvious places her eyes are wandering.

Cy -

As soon as they see the MC naked, they are running around trying to find anything to cover them; they have to protect the MC's chivalry. Even worse if the MC is acting all cheery; maybe...they don't know that being naked in front of people isn't that normal. Will probably end with the MC wrapped in multiple blankets while Cy explains to the MC why people wear clothes like they're a child.

A -

A is enjoying the view but also trying to figure out if this is something that MC is specifically doing for them or if it's just something that happens when they are alone in the house, like, are they just one of those people that always wander around naked in their own home, or is this a sign?

Salem -

She just kind of freezes, wouldn't even attempt to act like whatever is happening is just staring on while her brain does quantum-level computing trying to put together what this situation is. She would probably just end up leaving and then text the MC an hour later, saying she's not coming back until the MC is clothed.

Harper -

Brain short circuit—they don't know what to do. Should they point out the MC's nudeness? Would that be embarrassing for the MC? They would just awkwardly continue trying to ignore the obvious nakedness. With a steadily growing blush.

Thanks for the ask!💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Hii! I just read through the demo and omgggg I'm in LOVE with it so much it is incredible I am so excited to read more of this story and im about to run and read the other demos you have I will be eagerly (and patiently) waiting for the next update!!

Hello!

Thanks so much for the kind words; hope you enjoy the other demos, and hopefully the next update should be out a lot sooner.

Thanks again. 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

What would the ROs reactions be to MC saying they had a nightmare where they abandoned them?

You wake up in a cold sweat; the ache of the empty space next to you digs its claws in your chest and rips away any comfort the blanket draped around you could provide.

Your panic rises with you as you frantically look around the darkened room, praying for any signs of other life.

Only to be met by the same quiet that haunted your dreams, driving the sense of loneliness deeper and deeper into you. You knew this wasn't ever going to last, but you let yourself believe and hope for a different ending. One where you're not sitting, confined, alone.

Breath comes shallow, as the ever-increasing tightening in your chest causes your eyes to close and fists to ball.

What were you thinking? You must be a masochist with the way you consistently build yourself up so you break yourself down brick by brick.

You did this to yourself, opened yourself up to spite yourself? to finally feel anything? something?

The feelings coalesce and meld into a weight pushing down on you...all broken by the creak of door hinges.

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

Echo -

Echo stands, hand pushed into curls and phone screen lighting her face. Another stressful call that you know will be weighing on her mind the rest of the night.

All the stress that plagues her seems to dissipate as her eyes land on you, her hand slowly falling from where it tangled itself in her hair.

"MC_name." She comes to you, slowly, gently. Like a ghost of a dream, filtered by the fear of a nightmare.

"What's wrong?" The slow touch of her fingers on your arm, cementing that this is reality. She's here, present in a way to mock your manifested misery.

It takes a moment for your mind to recognise the safety with the typhoon of thought that batters it.

"N-nothing, i-it was just a nightmare..." That same calloused shield that you raise to protect yourself.

But she knows, she always does. Know's you better than you know yourself in most cases.

And you know it yourself, as her arms circle you. The gentle embrace born of love that you crave. "Nightmares are sometimes worse than reality."

Like always, you don't need to word your distress; you don't need to dwell on the cause. Only medicate yourself with the aftermath, the real.

You lay there, in her arms, drink her warmth like your first glass of water in years.

Until she retreats far enough that the warmth of her body is still present in the air. "You want to watch that movie you've been talking about?"

It seems random, but you know what? It is a distraction. An opportunity to drown the isolation in a moment of togetherness to spite the worst that memory can conjure.

And you're not fool enough to deny it.

Cy -

Cy stands, like a mockery of the events that have replayed themselves in every fibre of your being for the past two years.

An effigy to abandonment made manifest to torment you with the reality.

One glance at them and you break down further, the lines between real life and subconscious dream fading with every moment until you can't tell you're awake.

But their arms around you, the comfort of touch, and the joy of warmth. It has to be real, because you don't know if you could face it not being.

"MC_name..." The words are whispered, close enough to your ear that it forces you to focus on them.

"I'm here, I'm here." So, so simply. But the mantra is enough to rip the tears from your eyes and stoke their shirt.

They're here now, maybe not in the past but in the here and now. They're here.

"Never again." Spoken quieter, not for you but for themself. A quiet acceptance bathed in guilt became a promise for you both.

For all the pain inflictted, you are still in their arms, leaning onto them for protection from a world that you have never understood.

And you will always be with them, until the day you both break apart and return to the ash that litters that same world.

That is enough; forgiveness might never come, but you know they will work towards it with every minute you have left. given or not.

A -

A stands looking as exhausted as you feel. Clearly they are only just getting back from another night of whatever it is they do.

But even with bags under their eyes, they seem to be breaking you down all the same with a single look.

You know they can tell something is wrong; you could see it in the way the muscles in their neck tensed the moment they saw you.

So you don't attempt to hide; you let the walls break themselves down and put faith that they will be there to build them again.

And they are by your side in a moment, shielded from the isolation that tries to drag you into it.

"Nightmare?" A asks simply and almost convinces you it is that simple.

You give a nod, leaning into their embrace and letting their steady heart beat lead your own.

"You want to talk about it?" Easier said than done, but the whisper of their voice on your ear is enough to make you want to try.

"Y-you were gone, just...gone, and I was left. Exactly the same as then..." The words die in your throat; you can't say more, the noise cementing in your mouth before they have a chance to leave.

"I wouldn't ever do that to you, not like them." You know who they are referring to; maybe, somewhere deep down, they are the cause of it. But you don't have the energy to voice the realisation.

You sit with A in the silence, letting them be the ground to find your footing.

"Let's go out." The invitation comes suddenly and causes you to face them fully.

"It's 1am..."

"So? Who needs sleep anyway? It's not like you're going to get a good night's sleep anyway." Well, when they say it like that.

Salem -

Their Salem stands, backlit in a way that accentuates the sweat that coats her body, a clear sign she just got back from a late-night gym session, if the towel resting on her shoulder wasn't a giveaway already.

With a single look she has already moved and crouched in front of you, looking into your eyes as all you can do is watch the movement.

There's no need for words, as she reaches out and slowly wraps her arms around you. Allowing you to flee the comfort if you dare, but you can't.

You just rest your head on her shoulder, allowing yourself to be cradled and sheltered.

The silence that haunted you before melts away with the overwhelming isolation as Salem's warmth reminds you that at least in this moment you're not alone.

"I'm here." It's simple: the words that dance along your ear. An equation simplified to a dreamlike fantasy.

But...at least for now, maybe you can let yourself be swept away by the joy such a fantasy could give.

At least for now you aren't alone, and the promise in the two words can stave off the fear of the opposite for a while at least.

Harper -

Harper, blurry-eyed and wrapped in a fluffy robe two sizes too big, said, condensation from the glass of water in their hand slowly dripping to the ground.

You would hug them if you weren't completely frozen by your own shock.

"Mc_name? W-what's wrong?" Their voice comes out soft, softer than you remember. Grounding in a way that causes tears to prick at the corners of your eyes.

"I'm fine." You croak out in a broken little voice.

Maybe it's the slight break in your voice or the quiver that seems to stick to muscles, but it's clear Harper doesn't agree, abandoning their glass of water on the bedside table and sitting next to you on the bed.

They don't say anything, just offer open arms that you fall all too easily into.

Your head leans on their chest, their heartbeat a steadying call that lulls your own into submission.

"I had a nightmare...you were gone and..." The confession works its way out of you and into the quiet of the room. Dying as quickly as it existed.

"Never." Harper's reply is single-worded, not a denial, not a contradiction. A single word with the weight of a promise as sure as the sun's rise.

You try to reason a rebuke in your own head; the falsity in such a sure statement. But fail as the words wrap around you and provide comfort undeniable. "You don't know that..."

"I do." They don't and can't know. "I will prove it to you every day." But maybe you could throw yourself into such an impossible dream.

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

I don't know what happened when I was answering this, but my brain went straight to causing as much emotional damage to the MC as possible.

Thanks for the ask! 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Is it possible during our first encounter with Cy, the MC would have the opinion to feel scared or in denial? Like:

Scared MC: slowly backing away "NO! STAY BACK!! I won't go back, you won't take me back Cy!!!" MC pull a knife to their neck with a maniac look in their eyes "I'll rather die than have you drag me back to that hell, old friend"

Denil MC: MC fell to their kneel while staring wide eyes at Cy "No... It's can't be, you're not real... you're not real... you're not real" MC put both their arms over their head as they curl up in a fetal position on the ground while repeating the same words over again with tears in their eyes. "You're....Not..... Real..... You're.......Not............Real....."

I don't think there will be any specific options for fear or denial, as all of the options will have parts of denial and fear inherent to the reactions; the reactions won't be a full outburst from the MC yet. Mostly because they will get cut short due to events happening in the scene.

So a lot of the specifics of the reactions will be more in the MC's head than they will be spoken out loud. It also gives a bit of time in the story for Cy and the MC to still be on unsteady ground, with Cy not having a full knowledge of what the MC is feeling and having to navigate around in interactions.

Thanks for the ask! 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Hey!! How would each of the ROs react to a MC with ADHD. Like, say usually the MC is usually really calm and collected and... as normal as they can be, and then when they feel comfortable and let the mask slip- they start stimming or randomly make a weird noise or start talking 5000 miles a minute.

Anyway, hope you have a nice weekend :^)

Hello! The ask has been in my inbox for a while, but I did have a good weekend. Thanks for asking! ---------------

Echo -

She would definitely be watching the MC closely, more mesmerised by the change than anything else. She might let out a little comment about the MC being more chatty than normal, but she wouldn't do anything that would stop the MC; she's all too happy to just listen to them.

Cy -

I imagine that Cy would already be somewhat used to it from the past, so they would just be listening to the MC. Pleased with themselves that they have managed to build back enough trust with the MC that they are comfortable enough to show this side to them again.

A -

Would watch on in fascination and definitely be trying to get the MC to talk faster and faster; they would be able to tell the switch and would be amused and adore it in equal measure.

Salem -

Wouldn't show much of an outward reaction but would immensely appreciate the fact that the MC is comfortable enough around them to open up. She would happily listen to the MC without bringing up the sudden change.

Harper -

I don't really know if Harper would really pick up on the difference; they aren't great at picking up social cues in other people. So they would probably just be chatting along with MC and trying to match their pace as well as possible. If it's a common interest, they are probably already talking at a million words per minute anyway, so not much different.

Thanks for the ask! 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Sneak peak (not for Blink)

"Isn't this what we fought for!" They don't look you in the eye, starring at the same patch of gold slowly soaking into the soil. "Then bring them back!" Your throat stings, the skin on your fingers burn's and boils. "Please…j-just bring them back…" The only answer you recieve is the arid, suffocating air brushing your ear.

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Blink Dev Update

Hello!

So where have I been for the past 2 weeks? Honestly, after releasing the last update, the one-week break I took from writing Blink became 2 weeks, became 3 weeks, and so on. It wasn't really a planned thing, but the more that I came back to my writing file, the more I struggled to actually get anything written down.

It literally became me writing a sentence a day and then spending the rest of the week just rewriting the same sentence over and over again. I had the whole of last week off of work, where the plan was to just write a rough draft and get the majority of the next update at least written as roughly as I could. So instead of feeling like I wasn't making any progress, I at least had something to work on if I couldn't think of anything new.

The problem was that I sat down to write and decided to reread the last update so I had a good idea of where I needed to continue from, and I wasn't happy with anything in the last update or pretty much most of chapter 1. That then just spiralled into me spending the week analysing the chapter line by line trying to figure out what wasn't gelling.

And all in all, I haven't come to a conclusion. The last update felt rushed in parts that should have been longer and more impactful and too long in parts that should have just been set up. But as I keep having to remind myself, chapter 1 is just supposed to be a setup chapter to introduce the reader to the MC as a character and their key goal and an introduction to the world before the main plot of the story is introduced.

I haven't really figured out if there is really any way to fix that other than doing a full rewrite, which I'm trying to avoid, as I know it will absolutely kill any enthusiasm I have for writing the story. It would feel like a step back from trying to move the story forwards, and I don't think it would ultimately make that much of a difference in the overall pacing or quality of the game.

So with that in mind, I have started to write the next update. I'm going to write it with the above in mind and hopefully make the overall next update better. I want to at least get all of Chapters 1 and 2 done before I even look at doing anything like a rewrite.

To make a long rant short, work on the next update is continuing at a somewhat rocky but steady pace.

I also wanted to say a thank you to anyone sending in asks over the last couple of weeks. Even when I haven't been answering any, the inbox is quite full at the moment, and I'm going to start working through the asks from the oldest to the newest. So those should start being posted in the next couple of days. I'm also planning on doing dev updates again in between the updates; no real schedule for these, but they will probably be biweekly.

Thanks again as always. 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

small update

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say sorry for the silence the last couple of weeks. Still working on the game, and I will get to answering ask soon. But it's been a weird couple of weeks; I will post a longer dev blog in the next couple of days.

Thanks! 💖

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

How Cy would feel if mc lose their memories? They can't remember everything but their guts says them that Cy is not trustwhorting and better not engage with them.

They would feel a sense of relief mixed with anguish; the MC losing their memories would also mean that they lose what could be the worst time of their life. It just so happens that it also means Cy.

Depending on whether the MC looks happy, I don't even think Cy would try to contact them; maybe keep in touch with people that know the MC to get updates, but they aren't going to destroy the MC's newfound happiness for their own selfishness.

Thanks for the ask!

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

genuinely feel so bad for echo, my mc is so gay and still mourning his relationship with cy 😭 he’s so sweet and oblivious tho he does not understand she’s flirting and is just so nice to her and unknowingly leading her on i feel bad but my boy is gayyy

Yeah, I was originally going to put a sexuality option at the beginning of the game that would have stopped any romance options for certain characters, but I ended up not doing it because it kind of broke the flow, and I think I might have forgotten about it as I was writing the other parts. Might be something that I go back and try to add in somewhere as I'm working through some other changes.

Thanks for the ask!