#(if I make any story/art content I'll include it anyway.)

[ruby-static]

I've finally been playing a little more New Vegas lately!

And guess what!

FOUND YOU, FUCKER-

[maireadralph]

Entrapdak Zine 7 AND 8 - Submissions OPEN!

Trying something rather different and opening both this year's zines at the same time the email address is open more often that it's shut anyway

The Themes and Dates are as follows:

Zine 7 - Theme: Lucky - Deadline July 1st - countdown to deadline

Zine 8 - Theme: Wishes - Deadline Dec 2nd - countdown to deadline

If anyone needs an extension for any reason just get in touch, I don't ask questions as there is time allowed for this.

For anyone who's taken part in a previous Entrapdak Zine the submission guidelines are exactly the same as previous Zines. Anyone who's new or needs a refresher just have a quick read of the following Wall of Text under the Read More

BASIC GUIDELINES:

This Zine is:

A Digital Zine containing works created by the fans for the fans

100% Free

Preferred Language is English - other languages maybe used as long as there is an English translation available somewhere in the work (eg an author's note)

SFW content suitable for a Y7-PG13 age range (same as the show’s age rating)

Sign up period:

I don't do this, just submit work to the email address before the deadline - I’d rather you have more time to work on your pieces 

Anyone can submit regardless of age or skill level - this is not a job application - just follow the guidelines and email in your work

The email address to send work to is entrapdakzineisluvd[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with @ I write it like this to prevent spam bots email me)

Submissions can be Fan Writing (poems, fan fiction, character analysis, eassys etc), Fan Art, or even photos of your Entrapdak IRL work (cosplays, fancrafts etc)!  You can submit an older work that you have published online previously if you wish - or even update a work you submitted to a previous Zine! Just have fun!

Guidelines applicable to all work:

Content Age Rating:

Like the show this Zine will contain content rated Y7 and PG13 rated - so please no swearing, censored out swears (eg skulls or **s instead of actual swear words is okay) 

No hate work of any kind - we're all here for a good time

There WILL BE NO NSFW or 18+ content - I will politely deny any work of this nature let's please keep this suitable for all ages thank you.

Beach/Summer other work with nudity is allowed please adhere to the minimum clothing requirements:

Male presenting character -> speedos/underpants

Female presenting character -> bikini/bra and underpants 

Unsure? Use the female presenting criteria

Theme:

The July Issue theme is LUCKY The Dec issue this is WISHES

This theme is a suggestion and if you’d rather make an Entrapdak piece without incorporating the theme please feel free to do so. I want you to have fun!

Allowed Characters:

As long as both Entrapta and Hordak are the main focus and the piece follows Age Rating it will be allowed.

Other allowed characters in the Entrapdak family include Emily, Imp and the Clones (also known as Spacebats)…yes weirdly this also  includes Horde Prime.

Other She-Ra characters will be allowed but Entrapdak is to be the core element.

Phew that’s a lotta text sorry about that - now on to the fun stuff! What sort of stuff is allowed?

Any AU, canon, Fanon, corssovers and head canons are all welcome. Make something Entrapdak related that’s PG13 rated and have fun!!

Fan Writing guidelines:

This includes fan fiction, analysis eassys, poetry or whatever else you’d like to write about. 

For Fan Fic I would recommend a minimum of roughly one page length. As some people like a work count goal I'll set that at 1k words minimum, please just write what your story needs. If you’d like to write Chapters then please do, just make sure to label them!

Written work can be emailed in the body of text, sent as pdf attachment or as a link to a Google Doc - I can work with any of those.

Please include you name/username somewhere as it helps with the filing. If there’s no name on the piece I’ll add one at the start with the title.

Fan Art guidelines:

Fan art can include rough sketches, screencap redraws, comics (appox 1-10 pages length), coloured sketches or full colour pieces. 

Fan art can be in the digital or traditional medium.  

Traditional fan art can either be submitted as a photo or scanned, which ever you prefer.

Preferred sizing for Digital art is as follows, my aim to to have everything on International (UK) A4 paper sizing where possible*

2480px x 3508pm DPI 132 

Portrait layout is preferred**

PNG is preferred but I will understand if you only wish to send a workable JPEG

The aspect ratio (width:height) of A4 paper is 1:1.4142 (1:√2)

If you need a template here’s one -> Here’s a prepared A4 Canvas PSD File (2480pm x 3508px 300DPI) if you’d like to download it and use it 

Notes: 

*Images outside these sizings are still okay but may end up with a white border on the edges due to the PDF publishing settings.  

**Images in the landscape layout will get boarders when posted on a portrait page due to the PDF publishing settings, however if I receive landscape art I will make some extra pages at the end of the Zine and attempt to turn landscape art into a two page spread (which does look awesome!).

How to Take Part:

Make your work and email it to entrapdakzineisluvd[at]gmail.com by JULY 1st 2024 for the July/Lucky issue or by Dec 2nd for the Dec/Wishes issue

Please make sure to include your Social Media contacts and which name or username you wish to be identified by.  If you forget to include social media details and have been a part of a previous Zine I’ll use the details I have on file 

I will reply to confirm I have received the content and that’s it I take care of the rest!

Please note I DO NOT KEEP any records of anyone’s email addresses.  When the Zine is out I batch delete all emails sent to the email address (this is usually done a week after the Zine is out) and I keep no further records of these address. I respect your email privacy at all times.  

The only records I keep on Zine applications is a private Google Sheet that has the following details: Submitter’s name, rough description of the item submitted and their social media contacts. I’m the only person with access to this Google Sheet as I use this as a Master List reference when compiling the Zine 

FAQs:

Why no Application form/Sign Up period?

I don’t want anyone to feel like they are applying for a job here, this is supposed to be fun.

Will there be Guest Artists or Guest Writers?

If they apply sure, I’m not advertising who applies to be a part of this Zine until it’s ready to be published.  I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated just because a certain person has chosen to participate.

Can I submit more than one piece?

If you’d like to certainly!  If you’d like to submit up to three pieces of art and 3 fan writings, sure go for it! I’m certainly not going to stop anyone having a good time

May I post a preview of my work to my Followers?

Sure! Bonus points if you link them to this post so that they can take part if they wish

May I post my work online?

I would ask if you could please wait until the issue featuring your work is published. Of course this does not apply if you are chosen to submit and older work - in this case may I ask that you edit or add to said post to mention the work was also used in the Zine?

Is this only for people with a [insert certain social media account here]?

Nope, this is for anyone who wants to take part.  I only ask for a social media contact so that others who like you work for the Zine may follow you on your preferred social media platform.

Can I send an update to a piece?

Of course! Just let me know which piece you want to use and I’ll update on my end

Can I send another piece on later?

Of course that’s not a problem!

Ah I can’t get this done before the deadline - it’s almost ready!!!  I need another day!!!!

Contact me - my Asks and PMs are always open or emailing the email address. There is extra time allowed for an extension for anyone who needs it with no questions asked to why it is needed. Just get in contact, I'll put you name on the Extension List and that extra time is yours.  Once all names come in (or the deadline is reached) I will finish up my work and get the zine out. I will not be sending out a further reminder (because I’ll forget sorry 😅).

Why don’t you make the Extension time public?

Because I can’t finish up the Zine if extra stuff comes in at the last second - I get jittery enough with final deadlines so this is how I manage my stress

More Entrapdak Zines??

Sure why not? If the community still wants them I’ll keep compiling them ever three or so months.  I’ve seen what us nerds can do!

Where can I find the finished Zine?

All finished Zines are all hosted on a shared Google Drive folder https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1My_hDY8NmOWV7v6z0sYi0TSvxv07WowX  Please share it with your other Entrapdak friends when it is ready.

Thank you for making it all the way to the end of this WALL of TEXT.  It’s pretty much exactly the same as the previous Zines but with a few minor edits.

[greenerteacups]

Hey GTC, I have always been such a fan of your Tumblr and your engagement with the fandom. However I must say that as of late, the questions you’re being asked most often are essentially variants of “Will X happen?” or “Will Y character do Z like in the book?” or even, “I’m noticing Theme A, will it continue in future chapters?”

A significant element of the fun that you’ve created for Lionheart readers is that we don’t know which elements and events of the JKR texts you’ll preserve untouched and which you’ll turn into the sixth and seventh year Lionheart storylines. I adore making my guesses to which parts of canon you’ll play with and which parts you’ll completely and utterly upend. Unfortunately, questions that ask about canon events in books 5-7 ruin so much of the fun.

Historically, you’ve used the Ask box to provide us with analyses of your own work and characterizations, but I feel as if recently you are often indulging questions about books 5, 6, and 7. I hate to say it, but I even feel that your answers veer into spoiler territory. I used to lurk your Tumblr incessantly, but since I’ve started to see this influx in predictive questions these past couple weeks, I’ve been avoiding the app.

It’s such a gift that we get to engage with your work on such a vibrant epistolary and interactive space as your Tumblr. I know that you can’t control what fans ask, but I humbly request that you please consider refusing to answer questions that ask you to ponder future events. Thank you for your tender care to everyone in the fandom. ❤️‍🔥🦁🧡

Hey, what's up, dude. I hear you. Sorry about that.

The problem is that the line between spoilers and not spoilers is totally subjective, and the line between "spoilers that are fine" and "spoilers that bother me" is also totally subjective. I don't know where you are on it, but we probably don't line up, and that's okay. I just don't know how I'd begin to sort out questions that one person considers "too much" from what someone else just thinks is fun analysis. My hard rules are as follows: I don't answer any questions about future ships, events, or arcs (and I get a lot). I haven't revealed anything that I would be unhappy to discover in a Tumblr askbox instead of a fic itself. True, I've dropped teaser/trailer stuff for 6 and 7, but to be honest, even looking over the stuff I've posted recently — I hate to say it, but I disagree with you. It isn't spoilers. Not to me, anyway.

But that's just me! There's no right or wrong answer here, it's just a coordination problem of how we can both cultivate social media experiences that make us happy. For instance: I like answering questions about my fic. It makes me happy to talk to people who want to know what happens. It encourages me and gets me excited to write about it, and I don't believe that any of the content on my Tumblr spoils what's going to happen. I don't really want to stop doing that, so I'm not going to. If that means you and other readers whose spoiler thresholds are below mine can't engage with my Tumblr, that's a natural consequence of us having different attitudes about media, and it was bound to happen. I'm sorry that that's the case, but it would bring me much more grief for you to injure your reading experience than it would for you to avoid my (largely irrelevant) e-journal full of random metatext. I love my fic, and I love my readers, you most certainly included; I do not, candidly speaking, love my Tumblr account. And for what it's worth, I absolutely do not think anything I've written on here is worth diminishing your experience of a story you enjoy. It wouldn't jive with my philosophy of literature and art.

So here's what I got: I'll continue tagging spoilers about past and current events as [#lionheart spoilers], and if a question makes reference to events not published, I'll use the tag [#prognosticating]. That way you can block the tag, and other readers can enjoy content that fits under their threshold of non-spoilerism. If our thresholds still don't line up, then I think the only solution may really be to block the [#lionheart spoilers] tag altogether. That's probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's the best I can do.

[kirby-n-co]

Welcome to Kirby ‘n Co!

This is a Kirby ask blog run by 5 mods. Feel free to ask any of our characters (or their buddies) questions! Please be aware that our blog may feature sensitive content (e.g. blood or violence); we will do our best to tag appropriately.

Curious about the world of this ask blog? Wanna know more about the mods? Look under the read more:

The world of Kirby ‘n Co

TL;DR – This blog is basically just a multiverse. Kirby first talked about his experience here!

This ask blog takes place in a shared universe. One day, certain key figures (like Kirby!) mysteriously disappeared, and a doomer concerned with continuity needed to find people to act as replacements until the originals could be found. Characters from all sorts of different universes were plucked and thrown into this shared universe… Kirby’s response to being thrown into a completely new environment was naturally to make a blog. For finding friends, of course.

This blog features 5 artists who all have separate sets of headcanons and lore, so having a multiverse allows our differing interpretations of characters to co-exist.

The mods

Mod Mod

hi I'm Mod Mod. my name is mod. any pronouns. socials: splitster (tumblr) or splitsterart (twitter) favorite game: idk. forgotten land? favorite character: kirby n gala favorite anime episode: i dont watch the anime uhhhh that one episode with max flexer Favorite Kirby: olimar i like kirby and gala. actually i like all the kirby guys. i also like kirby ocs

Mod Fishy

Hiiii I'm Mod Fishy! I go by He/She/They Fave Game: Star Allies Fave Character: Sailor Waddle Dee Fave Kirby: what the fuck does this mean Socials: @letolimarseehisfamily on Tumblr Fave Anime Episode: The Hour of the Wolfwrath Sailor is sassy and I call the reincarnated void Niru

Mod Paint

Hi there i’m Mod Paint! She/They Socials: @kallulily on Twitter, Instagram, and tumblr! Favorite game: Kirby Triple Deluxe! I’m so emotional over Taranza and the ost. That game also debuted Paintra, who I have a HUUUGE BIAS towards. Favorite Character: Falspar, Paintra, Meta Knight, Dedede, Kirby, Falspar, Tiff, Taranza, Falspar Favorite Anime episode; Ask me again when I make my 3 hour Kirby Right Back At Ya retrospective video bc that’s such a loaded question I cannot answer. Anyway its Falspar Favorite Kirby: Kirby and Falspar

I have a huge brain rotted bias towards the Kirby anime to where I have an entire webcomic and story planned. Literally me grabbing the 100 episodes of the anime and brushing it down with a fine comb and making a solid lore filled world. But it’s all 99% head-cannons. I can talk for hours about this anime.

Mod Cosmic

Howdy, I'm Mod Cosmic! I go by she/they, though I'm fine with any. Socials: cosmicoCoffee(Twitter & Tumblr) Favorite Game: Forgotten Land! My first Kirby game. Favorite Character: Meta Knight and King Dedede Favorite Anime Episode: Hoshi no Kaabi Episode 64! Fave Kirby: Every Kirby!!!

Nimbus is full of the passion I have for this franchise, and I hope to share that through him! I hope you like him as much as I did creating him!

Mod Nova

Hey there! I'm Mod Nova! I use (she/he/they) pronouns! socials: @soupvnova (tumblr, insta, twitter) @soupvnova-draws (art blog on tumblr)

favorite game: return to dreamland deluxe is based but i also love forgotten land and star allies..

favorite character: magolor if i had to choose. idk i love a lot of characters. (including OCs.)

favorite anime episode: I never watched the anime but every meta knight appearance is pretty based.

Favorite Kirby: all the Kirbys

OC: I got a couple of OCs but one of the one's i'll draw the most is Vivi the Vividria. She reminds me of everything I love about Kirby and I love her dearly. Feel free to ask questions bout em. She's also the only good thing about star allies, play star allies do it now.

[youredreamingofroo]

hello to all the soupers out there, I'm Roo, not to be mistaken with my own OC/Persona, Roo.

I'm 18, go by He/They, but you can use any pronouns. I play a lot of games, but the one that I'll be posting about (the most anyways) is the Sims 4! I love a lot of other games tho, like Rain world, Project zomboid, Beyond two Souls, Detroit become human, Far cry 5, Minecraft... the list could go on. i've been playing the sims for as long as I can remember, starting with Sims 1, and working up to, now, the Sims 4, Sims 3 will always be my favorite sims game however, no matter how much I play TS4

In TS4, I primarily make sims, occasionally build, play through legacies and share the story of my sims. I love making stories, I'm not that good at writing, but I only make stories to make characters, and to convey character, not to be a masterclass writer.

I'm also a blender user, while not skilled whatsoever in it, I enjoy making simple scenes with as much emotion and atmosphere that I can convey :)

I will frequently update this as my simblr grows and I do more stuff

This section is all dedicated to my beloved OC Roo, and his family, and in general, story. If you follow me, you will get well acquainted with him, and will probably get attached to him.

[ Roo-seum - If you want to get to know Roo, this goes over pretty much every single year of his life, from age 9, to age 28.

[ Roo - Any and every post about Roo.

[ Roo's Family - If you want to get to know Roo's entire family, from his mother, to his sisters, this is where you wanna be.

[ Roo (Other) - Extra characters in Roo's story who don't apply to the above tags, this includes friends, enemies and pretty much anyone who isn't immediate family.

[ For individual characters related to his story: - Virginia, Reese, Jordynn, Devan, Deliahna, Juniper, Leo^, Hayden^, Rylan^, Sean^^, Evan^^, Josey^^, Noah^^^, Mateo^^^

No Carrot: Immediate Family ^: Directly related, affected his story one way or another, or just a character who means a lot to him ^^: Not directly related, but close to him, like a family member ^^^: Not related to his story at all, and moreso related to/affected a family member

[ Amnesia (Sharkie) 🦈 - Status : Hiatus ]

[ Not So Berry - Status : Hiatus ]

[ Not So Berry RECAP - Catching simblr up in a very scuffed three post long recap of my NSB save (which is, as of writing this, on Gen 2-3) ]

[ Heir Tags: - Coral (Gen 1^), Cataleya (Gen 2^^), Calico (Gen 3^^^)

^: finished gen ^^: gen in progress ^^^: born, haven't started/finished last gen

[ Individual characters: - Don (Lothario), Peregrine, Constance, Emmett, Callum, Malcolm (Landgraab), Alexander (Goth), Philly, Lunea, Thalia

[ roossimsoup - Just my Sims ]

[ roosmakeovers - All my townie makeovers! ]

[ Simsbingo - Not finished! 2/5 ]

this section is dedicated to my two OCs, Ithuriel and Nanel and their separate universe.

[ Ithanel - This is for posts of just Ithuriel and Nanel ]

[ IthanelUNI - This is for posts in the Ithuriel and Nanel Universe ]

[ Blender Renders - All of my renders that I've made in blender ]

This is for any other tags I may use (like reblogging)

[ rb - All the posts I've rb'd but clumped up (sometimes I forget to add the tag, but usually I rmbr and edit it in) ]

[ yapping - Posts where I just talk or where I answer something (if I remember to add the tag) ]

[ Unrooleased - This is content that I've made before, but haven't posted, from my stupid art, to sims, to blender renders and whatever else I can find ]

[queerofthedagger]

Hey I hope this is okay to ask. I saw that you sent the Sandman Big Ban a ask about the faq. Are you satisfied with their reply? I don't know if this is really common and if I should participate

Hey nonnie, that's entirely fine to ask yes!

Short answer: no, I'm not.

Long answer, giving a few reasons with none of my snark being aimed at you personally:

This is how it's done. No, this is absolutely not standard practise - I can name you at least 5 bangs off the top of my head that do not, in fact, do this. Including content restrictions is very much a choice that the mods are making, whether it also is their private opinion or not. None of those other bangs have problems matching, which brings me to:

No PWP: first of all, their word count requirement is incredibly low at 6k, and claiming that authors would struggle to hit that with "porn only"? That's, I'm sorry, ridiculous, not to mention condescending as hell - authors are perfectly capable estimating whether they can hit goals or not with whatever plot (or lack thereof) they are writing.

Artists/betas won't want to claim, or need to know what they get into: First of all, there is a huge bunch of amazing nsfw art and artists in this fandom who, I'd assume, would be happy to make nsfw/dark art. Second of all: have authors provide content notes/warnings for the claiming process, problem solved.

We're not banning dark/nsfw content, just any glorification of it: Right. And who decides what's glorifying? Do they vet this during sign ups? Claiming? Might I end up submitting a fic and get it pulled? Do I have to provide personal information about my trauma to be "allowed" to write dark content in a certain kind of way? This is a slippery slope at best. It is also massively hypocritical because, you'll notice, there are no such restrictions when it comes to violence or murder etc. It gives big ole "I can excuse the eye-eating serial killer, but I'll draw the line at porn" vibes which is a staple of anti culture.

On the above point, it is also worth noting that the entire argument is moot to begin with because even if it is "glorifying" or "romanticizing" it literally does not matter. It's fiction. It's not real. Tag your shit, give warnings during the claiming process, and it's fine. Everything else is cuddling up to censorship, there is no middle ground to be had here. (Which is arguably very ironic considering both the source material and the source material author's stance on such things. Yes I'm salty as fuck about this. Anyway).

All this is to make the event "more accessible." This is, frankly, absolute goddamn bullshit. If people warn properly for their content, and if in the context of a discord server for the fest you have designated spaces to talk about nsfw and/or dark content, people are perfectly capable of curating their experience, what they engage with or not. Conversely, banning content, considering yourself as mods an authority on what is and isn't glorification, is not only condescending as hell, it also makes your fest, in fact, less accessible for anyone who a) wants to write such content, or b) simply is not a fan of censorship vibes in their fandom spaces.

So long story short, I'm the opposite of satisfied and will absolutely not participate. People are, of course, welcome to run their events however they want. I am, of course, perfectly in my rights to run my own big bang without all this nonsense, which is something I am considering doing because I love big bangs, and hate the thought of relinquishing the fest format to something so inaccessible. 😉

[butterscotch-goat]

Your oc lore, please give it to me, I arrived very late and am rather confused but also incredibly intrigued! (Also side not idk how to explain it but your art is very comforting! Says the man who has seen 2 drawings. But my point still stands lol)

This means so much to me 🥹🥹 Im glad ur interested!!! I'll give u some quick summaries (quick as I can be bc once I start talking about my silly little blorbos it's hard for me to stop-)

IF YOU EVER HAVE QUESTIONS PLS ASK IM DYING TO TALK ABOUT MY GUYS

SO! First group of OCs is a project I'm currently calling "Escapism" which takes place in 1890s England. (Check the #buttersketch-escapism tag for content of em)

Okay so I started typing and realized I included WAYYY TOO MUCH info but I worked hard on it so I'll still include it, bUT

TLDR: Aster (tired, anxious, hopeful) is magic (plant magic) and is being used for experiments and tests by Charles(friendly guy, stubborn, cheery) and Beatrice(joyful, caring, passionate) until Beatrice herself becomes and experiment when Charles wants to find out what would happen if you attached wings to a human being. Also aster and Beatrice are girlfriends. Charles accidentally kidnaps Martha (extroverted, curious, peppy) because her magical(healing magic) girlfriend Grace died and Martha has info about her magic. Eventually Aster kills Charles and is haunted by her guilt, which is manifested in a character I call Ghost!Charles (self-explanatory)

Here's uhhh escapism for ya!! Sorry,, you don't have to read it there's a lot of text I know-

Second story which I haven't posted about as much as one I'm calling "Dawn" which takes place in the modern day, and is about demons & angels, heaven & hell & earth type stuff. Simpler than escapism, thank God- (check the #buttersketch-dawn tag for some content of dawn!!!!!)

Here's the cast!! Refs are somewhat outdated but do the job. (Sorry for the last image I don't have a ref for him yet)

I'll keep this short, for real this time!!

In 2019, Chigs accidentally falls off the edge of heaven and misses earth so they fall straight to hell. They didn't have any evil intent so are still an angel, but they need to find a way back to heaven. They stumble into Dawn's office and Dawn reluctantly agrees to help them. Frappe also barges into Dawn's office to hide, as she's on the run from the police. Gene comes around to check on Dawn and finds an outlaw and an angel. Dawn, Chigs, and Frappe run away to earth. Gene recruits Ronnette to help him track down the trio. The trio accidentally gets separated on their way to earth; Frappe and Chigs find each other but Dawn is left to navigate a modern day earth on her own. HIJINKS ENSUE!

time for some lore that's BARELY plot relevant!

Gene and Lucy used to be boyfriends but Gene broke up with Lucy in the 1920s because Lucy was so drowned in his work and wouldn't care about anything else. They get back together eventually tho :3 I make a lot of Lucy & Abigail content even tho he only shows up in like one flashback scene maybe??? Sorry about that.

Anyway THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT MY GUYSSS I tried to keep it short, also bc it is getting late and I have school tomorrow OFBSHHDHFHDHSJ.

my inbox is ALWAYS open for questions of any kind so hmu if you ever have any!! Sorry again for all the info!!

[writernopal]

🏴‍☠️ This is your Captain speaking 🏴‍☠️

So I thought I'd make a little post to encompass some important updates and some changes that you'll probably notice around the old blog in the next few months! However, I will do you all the courtesy of putting this under a cut because holy mama it turned out longer than I expected 😅

Updates

I'm doing my first NaNo this year!!! I'm excited but also really nervous because 50K is an aggressive goal and I'm not sure I can do it BUT I decided that I'm just going to try my best. I won't be starting a new project for this, instead, I want to use this as a time to beef up AASOAF 3 as I'm a little behind where I'd like to be in terms of progress.

AASOAF 3 has a release date! Err, more like release season lol. The announcement is here in case you missed it, and includes some beautiful Mariel and Fay art for you to feast your eyes on! Spring 2024 is the time to watch so keep a close eye on the new release tag, witness moonrise on oepus, for any content/posts related to release activities! Obligatory plug for AASOAF 3's masterpost and taglist so you don't miss a thing!

M.O.W will go on a brief hiatus at the end of November. But don't despair, it will return in January 2024! I decided that this series will take a month-ish hiatus at the end of each part so Part I will be nice and wrapped up before it goes on a break. Obligatory plug for M.O.W's masterpost and taglist so you don't miss a thing!

Work on AASOAF 3's super secret companion material has begun! For reasons I hope are clear, I can say nothing about this other than to look for it in Spring 2024 when AASOAF 3 releases. Just know that I'm super stoked to be teaming up with @illjustpretend again for this project and it's going to be an even bigger undertaking than Mariel & Axtapor's Scrapbook was for AASOAF 2.

Changes

Now you might be reading all of those things and be thinking, "Wow Nopal, that's super cool but isn't it a lot?" To that, I say, "Indeed, dear reader it is." But know that I do this to myself because writing is genuinely what I love to do and, let me toot my own horn here for a second, my stories deserve no less!

However, these things combined with work and a few other things going on in my personal life (all other good and exciting I assure you!) mean that I need more of that constructed but dreadfully measurable commodity: time. So you will likely see less of me around here but that doesn't mean I'm disappearing!

Believe it or not, this little corner of tumblr has become a huge part of my life. I love reading about y'all's stories, updates, and getting to cheer you on as you go do The Thing so I'll definitely be around 😊 Tag games and asks will most likely fall by the wayside though advanced apology for that 😅

Anyway, I think that's all for now! (I write as if this wasn't already long enough LOL) Wishing you all fair winds in your sails and many words on your pages 💙

AASOAF 3 Taglist: @outpost51 @thelivingdeceased @faelanvance @captain-kraken @illjustpretend @elshells @writeblr-of-my-own

M.O.W Taglist: @moonluringfrost @writeblr-of-my-own @illjustpretend @sparatus @outpost51

[kernels-art]

Emergency Commissions

Current Slots Open: 3/3

Long story short, I'm hovering just over broke and I need to pay for medicine. Plasma donations can cover some of it, but not all.

I'm opening three slots for now, and plan on opening at least seven in total, maybe eight or nine depending on complexity, but that'll be a bit further in the future because I'm currently on a bit of a time crunch. I'll keep this post updated with how many slots are available. I'd like to make $300 total by the time all seven/nine are done.

Anyway, on to pricing.

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Sketch + Headshot = $15

Sketch + Bust = $20

Sketch + Half Body = $25

Sketch + Full Body = $35

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Lineart + Headshot = $30

Lineart + Bust = $35

Lineart + Half Body = $50

Lineart + Full Body = $60

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(Color + Shading) + Headshot = $40

(Color + Shading) + Bust = $45

(Color + Shading) + Half Body= $65

(Color + Shading) + Full Body = $75

---

+ Extra Character: 50% before background

+ Simple Background: $30

+ Foreground Elements + Large Props: $30

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Examples:

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One important thing to remember, though, is that I do traditional art, not digital. I've tried swapping to digital a few times, but it's faster and easier for me to do it this way. The lighting on these example pieces aren't all great, but I will hold them to a higher standard - as in, they'll be clean, like the lighting of the rabbit characters' pages - since these aren't just personal projects and clarity matters a lot more in this context.

I can edit the photos to remove the white "background" of the page and alter the colors a little bit, but once the lineart is on, it's on, and there's no changing it without redoing the entire page. I have a light board, so it can be transferred fairly easily, but it will still take time. That's why it's the most expensive step.

Will draw:

Humanoids

Animals

Pokemon

Ponies

Slugcats

Iterators

Furries (Mutants included)

Mobians (separate bc their proportions are different)

Chao

Skeletons + other Monsters (UTMV)

Won't draw:

Mecha

NSFW

Comics

... Mainly bc I'm not used to these yet, although maybe I could try in the future. That's quite a ways off from now, though.

I reserve the right to turn down any offer at my discretion. It should go without saying that it will be an automatic rejection if the order includes any form of hate speech/symbol, and I will research the subject to avoid proship content as well.

I'll ask you before posting the finished piece, and you are free to post it separately as well. Just remember to credit me, and maybe mention somewhere that my comms are open, if that's not too much trouble. You can use the art for icons, character sheets, whatever you like, as long as it's not monetized.

Payments will be made over P@yp@l, and are listed here in US dollars.

If you're interested, DM me here, or on Discord @ kernelbastard

[curatoroffiction]

The Curse of Alice: Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of a new series for the Ikemen: Villains series. In it, the reader is gender-neutral and accidentally wanders back in time due to having a curse of their own. (Really, it's more an excuse for me to play around with time-difference shenanigans.) ----- Also Tumblr deleted half my Content Warnings in the tags, so please let me know if I'm missing any -----

Content for this series is likely to include;

Canon-typical violence (For any of my readers who are more familiar with my Twisted Wonderland and Obey Me writings, please note that "Ikemen: Villains" is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE VIOLENT AND DARK than those two combined.)

Canon-typical trauma triggers (Again, this series is so much darker than the other ones I write for, please, please, PLEASE pay attention to the content warnings for this series as I write it. I'll be doing my best to thoroughly tag)

Spicy romance scenes (These will also be thoroughly tagged so my romance-averse/touch-averse readers can avoid them.) I might later have some specific single stories that address AFAB player content in this same AU, but those will be separated from this series (You will not find AFAB-specific content in any chapters from "The Curse of Alice", but if you're seeking that content out, you might check out other stuff I've posted for this fandom)

----- Content warnings for this chapter;

Suicide mention

Suicide/Forced Suicide (It's a background character, but it's still DARK and vivid.)

MURDER

Blood touches the reader

Abduction

----- You aren't fond of tours.

You never feel like they really show you what you want to see on a tour. At least, nothing you couldn't learn from a written tour guide. Those usually have more information in them, anyways. Tours are always focused on showing you exactly what you're meant to see, and your heart calls to see what people don't want you to see. You yearn to see things that people keep secret.

If it weren't for the fact that you'd heard that this mansion had a particularly intriguing piano from the 19th century, cursed by the soul of a man who committed suicide in front of it, you'd have never even come here. A story like that is stoked with tragedy. You heard that the man had a long list of sins that came out after his death, which made you curious about the story, because it made it dark. Did he kill himself because he felt guilty? Did he kill himself because his sins were going to come to light? Did those sins only come to light because of his suicide?

If anything, it would make for a fascinating story study.

You're an aspiring writer who likes to test your mettle against darker plotlines, so you're attracted to learning stories that touch the macabre.

Unfortunately, the mansion only allows guests to go along with a guide. So you're trapped in a night tour. The mansion's corridors are lit up only where the tour guide leads everyone. There's many more corridors darkened by the night's ambiance, giving an eerie sense to the experience.

You bought a tour book, but out of respect to the guide, you aren't reading it. It's stashed away inside your backpack.

Most of the information the guide is giving is about how people used to work in this building, showcasing some of the old art of the time from around when the suicide took place. What intrigues you is that they don't really mention the artists of the architecture that much. They make some over-all claims about the designers and architects, but they can't tell you exactly who designed or crafted the banisters of the stairwells, or the tiles of the floor. You take several pictures of these fixtures, especially some of the more run-down areas.

When the tour reaches the room with the famed piano, you take a video of the instrument as the tour guide talks about the stories of the night that the man killed himself. Some passerbys that night had faintly heard the sound of piano music on the night of the incident. Particularly, a postwoman had a haunting account of the song being played. She couldn't place it, but she remembered it sounding mesmerizing, like it would have drawn her in, had the front door not been locked.

You take diligent notes, writing small comments to yourself about things to research as you do.

The hallways of the mansion are a veritable labyrinth. So when your tour continues, you find your eyes drawn to the hallways you're not allowed to go down. You look down a particularly dark hallway and see a small, white bunny rabbit on the ground, you pause and blink. "...." You look back to your tour guide group, but something calls to you about the rabbit. The tour group is already moving on, but surely.. They won't notice you missing from the group, right?

The white rabbit sees you and darts down a hallway, and you turn to follow it, separating from your group. The hallway it turns into is outside the grasp of the light from the hallway you came from.

It's almost as though there's a threshold here. In your heart, you feel like if you walk past this point, you'll be walking into the night itself. An impenetrable darkness.

Impenetrable by all except that little white rabbit, which you can see at the end of the hall, staring at you.

You feel.. Compelled to follow it.

You were so bored, and this is so interesting and exciting and it feels like you're actually chasing a story. Getting to see something the tour guides won't show you. There was no mention of rabbits. Does someone keep a collection of them here?

It feels like everything you were seeking would be found if you follow this rabbit, which is such a strange and foreign experience that you just.. Follow it.

It's hard not to, when it feels so right.

Corridor after corridor, you find yourself following the rabbit through the halls, until the rabbit disappears entirely. No matter how much you look, you can't find it. You must have scared it. What was a rabbit doing in this place anyways? You have so many questions, none of which are getting answered.

Looking around, you have no idea where you are. There's a room number on a nearby room plaque though, so you decide to try to figure out how to get back to your tour group by checking out the map. By the light of your cellphone, you figure out where you are and begin to head towards the main entrance. You'll get in trouble, but that's fine. You're used to getting in trouble for straying from groups, ever-curious.

As you're walking through a hall that you swore was lit earlier, you begin to wonder if the tour closed down early. You couldn't have been gone from the group for THAT long, could you? What if it's closed down already? You're walking into the darkened main foyer when you hear a hauntingly delicate tone drifting through the halls of the mansion.

The sound of the piano.

Ah, the tour must have ended, and someone was now playing the piano to make sure it was operational. You'll just have to explain yourself to whoever is in there that you got yourself separated from your tour group and apologize.

Phone blasting light, you open the door to the room that the music is coming from, only to get hit with a splash of something warm.

Something dark.

Something red.

You see the body of the man in front of you on the floor first. The last breath escapes the man who has obviously killed himself by stabbing himself in the neck with a knife, in the light of your phone's flashlight. A shiver goes down your spine as you're going to be sick. You're covered in a dead man's blood. Your phone has no signal.

The piano playing stops and you look up, your phone light illuminating 8 figures in the dark.

Is this.. Some kind of sick after-tour live action retelling of the suicide? "... I uh.." Your eyes keep traveling down to the man at your feet. It's so convincing. You're visibly disgusted. "... Sorry, I got separated from my tour group. ..." Your eyes watch the man on the ground. He doesn't look like he's acting. He doesn't look like he's breathing anymore. His body went limp, even with your interruption. Too convincing to be just an act. The wound looks too realistic, too. Blood pooling out from under him in a growing pool that makes you step back. Maybe it's a convincing mannequin? Your mind wants to make sense of this in a way that doesn't focus on reality. .... Whatever it is, your stomach is churning. Those special effects have to be really good, if they're special effects.

"Well, well..! I wasn't expecting a guest." You hear a voice from deeper in the room, which is dark. Too dark for an after-tour play. In the dim lighting illuminating the room, you can see seven figures all standing around in the dark. The man speaking to you, however, is stepping away from the piano, making eight people total. When he sees you in the light, he cocks his head to the side with a soft, excited grin. "Hmmn.. I'm not familiar with you."

"Hrm.. That's a bit troublesome. What should we do with them?" A man with rose-pink hair and a soft, milky-smooth voice asks, looking in your direction. "And what is that light?" He asks, his curiosity piqued at your phone.

"Sorry to spook you, but this is just a rehearsal for a play." A very easy-going man with a cocky grin looks up to you in the dim light.

"..." You look down to the body in front of you. "... It uh.. It looks pretty real. ... What kinds of special effects are you using?"

"It's a secret."

"...." Your face tells them everything, that you're not convinced.

"... Y'know, it really would've been better if you had at least pretended to believe it." His smirk is palpable. Like you just walked into a trap. It drops as he looks to the guy who'd been playing the piano; "What should we do, Will?"

"We should take them with is, of course - To the Palace's Reaper."

There's a click of a tongue and one of the men to the side is visibly scowling as he mutters; "That's why I toldja to lock the damn door!" a particularly gruff man says, audibly scowling.

Another man chuckles. "Well, I didn't think we'd have a tresspasser! You're a naughty little thing, aren't you?" He smiles to you, and you think you can make out a rifle on his back.

They're all so non-chalant as they stand around. The body on the ground has stopped sputtering, and has released its last vestiges of air. You know this isn't fake. They've killed this man and made it look like a suicide. Why? And why here, in this room?

"Why don't you come over here? There's no escape at this point anyway." The gentle tone of a dark-haired man beckons you deeper into the room.

Every part of your spine is tingling with danger. You have to leave. You need to leave. You've followed the rabbit into something horrific and now you're ready to go home.

As though he could sense your growing panic, the man from the piano looks to you with crimson eyes and a smile that's much too warm and inviting; "Come here, pitiful one." The words feel so much heavier than anything else said tonight.

Your legs begin moving on their own. You're visibly startled. What is this?? Why are you moving? You're moving against your will, and you want to run, but you can't. They only stop when you're standing in front of the man.

"Pardon me." He says, tugging you in closer so he can see your face better in the illumination of your phone's light. Your light also shows you his eyes in a way that showcases their vibrancy and deep crimson - Like the blood you can see splattered on your own clothes, it looks too real to be fake. You've seen red contacts before. These don't look like contacts. He reaches up and wipes the blood from your face with his thumb, and he grins. ".. There." releasing you from his touch and his control. "Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. My name is William. William Rex. I'd like to invite you to have dinner with us tonight. What is your name?"

Your knees buckle as you're released from his verbal commands, and you drop tot he ground, barely able to stand. You're visibly dazed. The pink-haired man comes alongside you, looking at the device in your hand, peering over your shoulder. "And what IS that thing?" he motions to your phone.

"...." You slowly look to him, and give him a questioning look. His question is so outrageous it's ripping you out of your mental shock. "... It's a phone..?"

"Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen.." The even-toned, deep-voiced man with the rifle expresses, curiously.

"You'll have to tell us more over dinner." William kneels beside you, holding a hand out to you. He doesn't command you. He's practically asking you to come along, like you didn't just witness something horrific and somehow magically had your body controlled against your will.

When you stare at him in quiet shock, visibly perturbed by the idea of taking his outstretched hand, eyes darting between his eyes and his bloodstained glove, your heart sinks.

You're surrounded, and there's no getting out of this.

William can sense your hesitation, and he he begins to ask questions about you, redirecting your attention to talking about yourself. You're wary and not wanting to comply, but he doesn't force you like he did to make you come into the room. They stand around, patiently waiting for you to get your story out as William calms you down. It's like they have all the time in the world.

At your own pace, you explain your circumstance to the men, and how you got here. As they hear your story, William's eyes can't help but to light up as he watches you. But all of the men appear to be surprised, and intrigued.

"I promise, if you just help me find my way out of here, I didn't see anything-"

"Ooh, it's much too late for that now." William smiles, almost apologetically. "There's someone who will want to meet you."

Despite your protests, you're brought along and taken to their base of operations.

---

You didn't expect the horse-drawn carriage. Or for the block to look so... Different than it did when you came out of the mansion. It's the first clue that you're not where you're meant to be. The city in the distance looks completely different too. This isn't the city you've been exploring all day, this is something older. The buildings look different, both newer and older. There used to be a building with lots of windows out front, but now it's just.. Small shops?

Except that doesn't make sense. One moment, you were taking a tour, then you were following a white rabbit, and now the world is different around you. None of this makes any sense. You wrack your head as you stare out the window of the carriage. Did you bump your head? Have you gone crazy? Are you in a dream?

It's too vivid to be a dream.

Maybe you're crazy. It'd be easier to swallow if you'd gone mad. Maybe they'll let you go if they think you're crazy too.

What's weird is that they didn't take your phone from you. Kidnappers would take your phone, right? You look to it repeatedly, and you've gotten zero bars this entire ordeal. And now you're going further into what looks like the countryside. You're even being allowed to see the entire route to get out here. Why wouldn't captors take your phone? Wouldn't they cover your head to keep you from knowing where they work and how to get back?

One of the men in the carriage is eyeing you as you peruse your phone. It's a touch-screen. "... What a curious device."

You glance up to see a man with dark hair and a weary smile on his face. Like he's tired. Too tired. He smiles warmly to you. There's a blonde man sitting at his side who looks almost picturesque. Like someone hand-crafted his face. You look back to your phone. "...."

The dark-haired man taps the windowsill of the carriage, causing you to look up again, and he motions to the castle coming up in the view. "We've arrived. This could be the place where your life ends, the root of all evil - Or rather, our base." He's still smiling as he says this.

You look up to see the castle and it's astounding how beautiful and dark it looks in this lighting.

You knew you made a mistake following them into the carriage. You were just so thrown off by how the whole street looked different from when you arrived, that your brain went into auto-pilot, and you let these strangers cart you away.

Now you might die here. The word 'Might' is pulling a lot of weight in giving you a sliver of hope in this whole ordeal.

".. Is this real?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It's neither a dream, nor an illusion. It's what you may call the harsh, inescapable reality." His words ring out in your mind. This is not a dream, this is reality. Something tickles at your mind and you harshly find yourself rejecting it.

"This can't be real." Your answer causes him to chuckle, but you can see sadness in his eyes as he does.

"If you want to believe in a sweet dream, who am I to deny it?"

---

As you walk up to the castle, the curious pink-haired man comes up alongside you, asking a million questions about your phone. You show him the device, explaining it to him, confused. It really is like he's never seen one in his life before. When he sees that moving pictures can show up on the screen, and that you can interact with it by touch, he wants to learn everything he can about it.

You're hesitant to hand him your phone, as it's the only contact with the outside world that you might have, wherever you're going - But you do choose to open up a game on your phone to show him what it looks like. He's practically glued to your side as he watches you play, learning about this game. He's overflowing with excitement to get to see something so novel to him.

But you don't understand why he's so enthralled. Everyone here should know that phones exist, shouldn't they?

One look around at the prying eyes stealing glances at your phone tells you that they likely don't. While the pink-haired man is the most curious, the gruff man with black and white hair also keeps stealing looks towards your device.

---

A bright, excited, celebratory man's voice calls out as you and the men enter into what looks like a dining room, and there's the distinct popping sound of a party popper. You blink, confused. Is this how assassins typically celebrate their kills? His eyes rest on you. "Oh..? Who is this?"

"This is ___. They just happened to be at the target's mansion." William explains. "They appear to have technology that's strange and different, and the story they told us was quite interesting."

"Wow! What a.. Fateful coincidence!" The dining room man with dark, long hair looks to you curiously.

"You don't even know the half of it." William chuckles, then looking to you. "___, this is Victor. He serves as Her Majesty's personal aide."

..... What?

You stare in complete shock, not sure what to do. Surely, these guys are just fucking with you at this point, right? Your mind refuses to believe any of this could be real. It has to be some kind of twisted dream mashing up everything you'd interacted with that day. You must have bonked your head without realizing it, and will be waking up any moment in a hospital or something.

This can't be real.

Victor walks you through your experiences with the group, and asks questions about how you came to find them.

When you explain that you were on a tour group for the building and then you followed a rabbit down a hallway and found yourself lost, his expression shifts to earnest surprise as he only has one question; "What color was the rabbit?"

".. White?"

"...." Victor glances to the group, who all appear to have the same thought as there's nods all around. He looks back to you. "Do you have anything from the tour?"

You nod and rifle through your backpack, producing the tour guide - And your notes from the tour. "This was the tour I was on, and those were my notes."

He begins reading through the tour guide, intrigued. The dates and comments in it are intriguing him the most. Accompanied by the quality of the paper and the print on it. He's never seen anything like this, or any machines that can produce this quality of work. When he gets to your notes, however, he's even more impressed. "... And what year would you say this is?"

"----...?" you say the year you came from, visibly confused.

"......." Victor looks to the cocky guy from before who has been staring at your eyes as you speak. He gives Victor a nod. "... Fascinating. Well, ___, I think this might have actually been an incident of fate."

"...?" You look to him questioningly.

Victor reaches into his jacket pocket and produces another party popper, which he'd stashed just in case the first one failed, and he pulls the popper, letting out a loud sound and spraying confetti at you with a bright smile; "You're cursed!"

You stare at him in exhausted silence.

He coughs and straightens up to explain; "You see, we all here are cursed. You're familiar with fairytales, yes?"

"... Yeah?"

"Fairytales, stories, they all hold some tokens of truth to them, I would say. We each are cursed with a fairytale curse, which binds our destinies to a dark and turbulent path. I think you've got the curse of 'Alice'!"

"....." You look even more exhausted than before. Are they going to kill you, or induct you? Is this a cult? Have you been abducted by a death-cult?

"... I see you must have many questions. Please, feel free to ask away."

".. What is this 'Curse of Alice'..?"

"It's a term I just came up with right now!" Victor beams proudly. "I've never heard of someone with a curse like yours. Jumping through time to completely different realms.. Hahh.. That must be such a fascinating experience!"

".. Jumping through time?"

"The year at this time is 1886."

"......" You shake your head. "Nah. I don't believe that. Nope. That's just not true. Look, I know you guys murdered someone tonight, if you could skip the mind games and just kill me, that'd be appreciated."

Victor laughs, shaking his head. "Oh no, no. We can't kill you, we'll need to study you."

"Oh, absolutely not."

You hear a voice behind you, the gentle voice; "Should we kill them then?" You peer back and lock eyes with the gentle expression of Ellis. The dark-haired guy who told you that you couldn't escape and coaxed you deeper into the room where the murder happened. He stares at you in almost.. a vacant kind of way. "I don't think it would make them happy, but if you ask me to, I will." He seems to be addressing Victor as he says this.

"..." You turn your attention back to Victor. "So uh, what kinds of experiments are we talking about here?" wanting to avoid the outcome that points at death.

"We'll need to thoroughly understand your curse, which means we'll have to keep you under surveillance. And you'll have to work with our resident medical professional, Roger."

You follow Victor's motion to meet Roger. Your voice is completely disturbed as you flatly say; "... Nice to meet you, Doc."

"Oh, I'm not a doctor. My license was revoked." He gives you a big smirk.

You immediately look back to Victor; "... Please kill me instead."

"Is that what you truly want?" William asks, eyeing you with interest. Something deep inside him is intrigued by how his curse reacts to yours. He wants to guide you. He wants to know you. He wants to watch you come apart.

"...." You grimace as you realize they're taking your jokes literally. "... No. I'm just frustrated. And I don't want to be experimented on."

"Might be more careful about voicing such false desires." William motions behind you and you turn to see Ellis has gotten right up behind you without you noticing. You visibly startle at how close he is, and the soft-spoken man just smiles warmly to you with his dark purple eyes.

You feel a shudder run down your spine as you feel like your body just narrowly escaped death in this moment. You turn back to William. "... I'll keep that in mind."

Victor takes charge again; "You must have a lot of questions about us. Go ahead and ask away."

"... The thing is, you've read that guidebook now, so even if I asked if this was the murder of 1886, you'd know that you could say 'yes' to cover it up. I don't know if you're on a power trip and you're just messing with my head because you can, or if you're actually telling the truth. It's impossible for me to know." You explain everything. "And honestly, I'm not entirely sure that I'm not just crazy. That'd explain this whole thing so much more. I'm going to wake up in a hospital bed and discover I slipped and fell on those old tiles or something. I just know it."

The cocky man from before smiles as you speak. He likes how little you trust them. It's a good sign that you'll make a good partner in their line of work.

"Patient exhibits delusions of fantasy." Roger is already making notes. You shoot him an annoyed look. He grins to you.

You look back to Victor. "None of this seems real. Can you somehow prove that it's real?"

"You experienced a curse firsthand tonight." Roger motions to William.

The gruff man with the annoyed expression scowls at Roger, admonishing him for spilling 'state secrets'.

William just smiles to you and nods. "Yes, cursed people have special abilities, and you experienced mine earlier tonight. I can command people to do anything I want them to, just with my voice."

You're reminded of when your body moved on its own at his command. That feels real, but you're still not sure. "... Do it to me again."

William raises an eyebrow at you, curious. His lips wear a smile, but he's interested to help you believe that this is reality. So he holds his hands upwards, as though beckoning you into his arms. "Dance with me."

Your body moves on its own once more. You're pulled into his arms, taking up the position as the lead in a dance you've never learned before. You're visibly shocked and surprised. William dances with you around the room, amidst the circle of onlookers, before he releases you from his control.

You can feel that heaviness from before overtake you once again, except this time it's much less intense. You were a willing participant in this command. The more he has to overwrite your will, the more energy it must take to control you. You're still lightheaded though, as you spin out of the dance, visibly dazed. ".... Okay. I'll believe that. If that's the case though, then what's MY power?"

"Well, isn't that the question of the hour." Victor grins to you again. "It seems you can travel through time, though not at your own choice, which is a fascinating problem. Might be quite the handful keeping an eye on you. Just don't go following any white rabbits while you're here, alright?"

"Where IS here?"

"This is the headquarters of Crown, the root of all evil in England. Where we fight evil with evil. The cursed carve a path for goodness to survive in this world, and we learn more about the curses as we do." Victor begins to explain to you about Crown's operational code.

".. Evil?" Your tone is audibly skeptical.

Liam, the pink-haired man, speaks up now; "Yes, cursed people are doomed to commit evil and meet a tragic end." He smiles warmly to you. Much too warmly for the subject matter. "For example, when someone has the Cat's Curse, they can't suppress their curiosity. Ever heard of 'Curiosity killed the cat'?"

"But satisfaction brought him back - Yeah, I'm familiar."

Liam is pleased that you're familiar, but his eyes get a little sad as he looks to the side; "Well.. Satisfaction doesn't always bring the cat back. I have the Cat's Curse at this time. According to the records, the person who received the Cat's Curse before me dabbled in all sorts of horrific things. Arson, robbery, self-mutilation, adultery.. All to satisfy his own curiosity. He was tortured and had his limbs torn off, but still, he laughed through the tears and screams escaping him to laugh "This is a great new first for me!" before throwing himself into a bath of sulfuric acid."

You shudder at his story. It would make a great scary story to tell around a campfire.

Roger speaks up now, looking to you in the eyes. "If you truly do have a curse, which I think you do, then the safest place for you will be right here, with experts who know how to deal with such things, who can understand if you begin to do evil things."

"... I haven't had any evil impulses."

"Really?" Alfons, the man with the tired eyes, smirks to you. "Trespassing.. Leaving your tour group behind to follow a little rabbit into places you knew were off-limits.. The need to tell people when you think they're wrong even if it makes things worse.. Following a group of strangers into a vehicle to an undisclosed location.. Do you think these are the actions of someone who wants to be a law-abiding citizen?"

"......." The curse definitely would explain a lot of your behavior today. Though you've always followed things that catch your eye. "... If that's true though, then why now? Why did this happen now, instead of when I was a kid?"

"It's possible that it did happen to you when you were young, and you just didn't know." Victor explains, looking to you empathetically. It's not every day that someone finds out they're cursed and doomed to tragedy.

"..." Your nose scrunches up as you think through your memories. You did wander a lot as a kid. You still wander a lot. It would definitely explain some things. "... Don't like that."

"Not many people do. I'm sorry we had to be the ones to tell you."

"So what's this about fighting evil with evil?"

"You saw that in action tonight as well. We killed that man."

You think back on how the man died. It looked like a suicide. Your eyes meet William's, and he just gives you a warm, knowing smile and a soft nod. You shudder. ".... Why?"

They explain how the man was a key figure in some horrific underground organizations. The list of his 'sins' as dictated in your notes wasn't even half of the things he actually was 'sentenced' for, and the list was already pretty bad.

They go on to explain that cursed people are often regarded as dangerous and evil, but England is, at this time, the only place which has organized and nationally recognized them and their potential. That 'Crown' is an organization of cursed individuals, and everyone in this room is cursed. They go into the hearts of the most evil places in this country where police and military cannot touch, to wreak havoc and disrupt evil.

Victor explains that, because the nature of cursed people is to commit evil acts, this organization is meant to allow them to do that without fear of punishment, so long as their evils benefit the country.

And now, as a cursed individual who has seen this organization and knows what it's capable of, they have to make a decision about how to deal with you.

"We'll need to study you, that's certain.. But hmm.." Victor wonders out loud. His mind returns to your notes. They were very well taken. "... Do you like writing, perchance?"

".... Yeah."

"Then I think I have a solution~! While you're stuck in this time period, you shall be our fairytale keeper!" He's very pleased with himself. "You had wonderful prose and writing in your notes from what I saw, so I have every belief that you can write something worthy of using as our reports to Her Majesty. You'll write all the evil deeds committed by the people here, including yourself, and write them as fairytales. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like a fake job."

"I just designed it right now, isn't that exciting?" Victor's eyes dance with excitement.

- "It feels like you're just trying to avoid doing more paperwork.." The cocky man gives Victor a sideways glance.

His insinuation isn't stopping Victor's excitement train. "Well, what do you say, ___?"

".. If I say no, are you gonna keep me against my will anyway?"

"Naturally. You know too much and will still need constant supervision."

"And will saying 'yes' and doing this job for you at least give me some kind of freedom in this arrangement, and a chance to earn your trust that I won't go spilling your secrets?"

"Of course."

"Then I guess I'm on-board."

Victor claps his hands excitedly. "This calls for a celebration! Our cursed little family just got a little bigger tonight~! Now, let's get you acquainted with your new home. This calls for a tour!"

...

You really hate tours. -----

End

-----

Next Chapter ----- If you like this chapter, you can stay easily updated when more chapters come out via AO3;Link All of my other random off-shoots for this fandom will also be posted there under "The Curse of Alice - A Collection" series. Thank you for reading!

[moon-swag-tourney]

very late, but aruru submitter again!! it's like, a little hard to explain what all exactly is going on with revue starlight, but i'll try my best! essentially, revue starlight is a multimedia franchise with three main facets!

the basics

revue starlight as a franchise revolves around young girls partaking in underground battles (typically referred to as Revues or Auditions) to try and claim the title of Top Star, which comes with the ability to perform in any one stage and show of her choosing! the participants in a revue perform songs as they battle, which is why a good chunk of the fandom overlaps with other anime music franchises such as love live or bang dream! at the beginning of the series, it primarily features nine students attended seisho music academy (two of which are currently participating in battle-couple-battle at the time of writing!) as they prepare for their annual performance of the play Starlight! the rest of the girls, including aruru, don't come in until later installments (primarily the game, but there's a fair few characters that got their start in the stageplays!

the stageplays/concerts

live action performances done in person by the voice actors of all the characters! most franchises that have stageplays tend to get different actors for the stageplays since not every voice actor is comfortable with stage acting, but revstar actually went the other way around! revue starlight started with its first stageplay, so the (main) girls all started out with stage actors, all of which persisted into their animated roles! revstar was actually the start of a fair few of the actors' start in the voiceover side of the acting business! while none of the stageplays have been officially translated, fan translators have been working hard to make sure that the english side of the fanbase can partake in them as well! i personally lean towards the fansubs done by spicyveggiesub on here, if you're interested! there's also the concerts! most of which are centered around just performing songs that don't originate from the stageplays, but occasionally also feature story segments!

the anime

i find it easiest to describe the anime as the jumping off point for the franchise despite it coming after the first stageplay because a lot of the plotlines for the (main) girls got expanded upon here! officially the first stageplay and the 12 episodes of the anime are both valid starting points, but personally i would say the anime does a better job as a hook than the first stageplay does. would definitely recommend watching both though! but anyway, after the anime there's also the OVA (which is split into three shorts), the recap movie Rondo Rondo Rondo (which i would recommend watching due to having some additional content!), and the sequel movie!

the game

this is where aruru first gets introduced! prior to the game's release the franchise focused on the 9 girls from the main school of the franchise (seisho music academy), but the game introduced three new schools (rinmeikan girls school, frontier school of arts, and siegfeld institute of music) with five members each, all with their own unique stories that intertwine in the main plot! aruru attends frontier school of arts, and in terms of irl marketing is considered the school's "main" character! truthfully speaking, i really wouldn't recommend *actually* playing the game, as its incredibly scummy in terms of powercreep and microtransactions, but i would whole-heartedly recommend reading the stories online!

i can totally understand that having all of that thrown at you at once can sound a bit overwhelming, but i promise it's not nearly as bad as it looks! currently, aruru's appearances are in the game's school story for frontier school of arts, the game's main story (with her biggest role being during the main story's third arc, arcana arcadia!), assorted game event stories, and the starry diamond concert! i will say that i don't particularly recommend jumping straight into the game stories for aruru, as they feature pretty big spoilers for the 12 episode anime and first stageplay, but altogether those only take about six hours to watch! i would get into what i would personally recommend as a watch/read order for all the content outside of the game, but this ask is already crazy long, so i'll leave that for if you're interested in starting!

OOh, alrighty!! And fr don't mind the long ask, honestly I'm able to read and enjoy any length if it's split into some sort of chunks like here lmao

Honestly because the anime is very short compared to other popular series, I'll probably end up finding time to watch it, and I suppose from there I'll try to get into the games for Aruru! I am a sucker for musical-like thing and anime, so it definitely could end up being a fixation lkdsf

I'm not super sure what to say but the info is very appreciated and has been absorbed! It's kinda funny to me that of the series I've been told about so far, two of them had to do with performing arts and I just had no idea

[sevensistersofsussex]

Hi !

First of all, I am a huge fan of your works (so good)!

I just saw that most of your stories on Ao3 are now available to subscribers only, including Would it be a sin? (😭)

Was there a reason behind this change?

Anyway, I can't wait for the future chapters of Throne of Blood and Liberal Arts !!!

Thank you so much!

Restricting Work

I want to be thoughtful and transparent with the decision to restrict fics to registered users of AO3.

With the proliferation of AI in fandom, particularly art though its making its way to fics, I had concerns about my words being used to produce AI content. I am under no delusion that I am a prolific or popular writer. (I like to imagine that I sit in my little corner writing the stories I want to read and am delighted when they seem to spark joy in others.) But the idea of the work and effort I put into writer, the hours I spend doing this, being used to generate AI produced work makes me queasy.

Fandom should be generated by fans. It should take some kind of human effort.

So when OTW released this announcement, that queasy feeling got worse. I'm not a published author. I write derivative works for fun based on my love and enjoyment for an established property. But I feel like my words should still be my words. Plagiarism or data scraping should matter.

There is no easy answer and part of me feels hopeless in the face of AI. I still post most of my work on Fanfiction.net and I highly doubt there are any measurements in place to protect against data scraping. And what has happened has already happened and no one can go back in time to stop that.

Maybe my work wasn't used. Maybe it doesn't matter if I restrict or not. Maybe its just something that I needed in this moment to feel a little better. I don't really know if it matters that I did or not. I don't know if I'll change my mind and open up the visibility to my fics in the future. It's all so unknown.

Guests

The downside of this is the guest readers. I don't want to stop anyone from reading my works and I don't know how much of a barrier it might be to people to get a registered AO3 account. I don't know how many people reading my works it affects and I do want to be mindful of that. Perhaps foolishly, I was surprised to get this ask. I was surprised that anyone noticed. Maybe I don't have a good grasp of how many people are reading my fics that are guests and not registered users. It's hard to gauge. I primarily look to comments and asks to gauge "readership" or the interest in my fics and maybe that isn't the best way to try to do that.

If I find out that this does affect a lot of people, then it is something I would consider when thinking about whether to keep work restricted or not.

I don't want my words used to generate AI fic but I also don't want to stop people from reading. They are competing priorities that are difficult to balance.

The visibility may stay restricted or I might change my mind the more I think this over.

[scrittarts]

I'll admit, I really like both the Slipfins and your take on Mechs/Techno-Organic lifeforms. I'd kinda like to make a Slipfin, but I don't want to upset you by just trying to make one without permission. Are Slipfins an open species or are they closed?

You can make your own Slipfin Alien OC under the following terms:

You cannot use the Slipfin species or character for commercial purposes.

2. You may not distribute products, software, VR Avatars or 3D model files of Slipfin Aliens without my witten permission - even if not for commercial purposes.

3. Attribute or link back to any of my active social media to credit for the species (tumblr, twitter or FA - links are in my pinned post). "Slipfin Alien species by Scritt"

4. You acknowledge that the only canonical lore for the species is what I write for them, and is subject to change based on what I need them to be for my stories or worldbuilding projects. Only characters I design and include in released content are canon to stories, setting and lore. Refer to most recent species guides posted for details. 5. You will not portray them as evil, in hateful content, or use them in connection with crypto or NFTs. (I need to update species guides and lore posts)

_______

As for my Living Mechs, they are't technically a species. They are designs of elaborate fancy suits of armor that can house humans, reptilians and a number of other species on a... permanent basis. But the mechs all *were* organic at some point, transformed to biomechanical by their new bodies.

Species wise, that is like asking if Human is an open species. I am not sure how to go about this because the Living Mechs largely are a construct for transhumanist worldbuilding projects of mine, so for now, I have to go with no!

The main reason is that the few times people have tried making OCs they almost immediately used those distinctly outside what the lore says they are or can do... for example, in vore themed art.

And then that's just by definition not a Conceptua Machinara living mech. That is their own species, but using my design elements.

The mechs can't eat you, and have no need for a throat, sorry.

Anyway, that highlit for me that the Mechs aren't well enough defined in their released content, to be really possible to make OCs of yet. I'd need to draw up and categorize a few specific frames for them, along with their respective functions and abilities. Addition: Although… I suppose the whole story and narrative is about whether transformative technology changes your species, and I'm learning towards the fact that maybe it does... Iunno, the mechs might be a species?

-scritt 2023

[magnoliabutters]

who art thou?

• who the hell are you •

my name is katrina (she/her), nice to meet yah! i am a pansexual queen, welcoming to all my fellow lgbtqia+ babies. i hope to create fanfics for a variety of readers! currently, i am obsessed with my mans, eddie munson. i like to write smut&fluff balanced series, but may send out the occasional smut post to keep things interesting! i also am a big fan of action so i tend to include that in there with my fluff&smut if the universe permits.

i write 18+ content. please do not interact if you are a minor. seriously. not for you. also please don’t plagiarize, it wasn’t cool in school and it isn’t now. i am open to your feedback and would love to hear your thoughts on my writing! promise you won’t get sass if feedback comes with pure intentions 😈 i'm hoping to improve my writing when it comes to describing the scene and making you feel as though you are truly within the story! i want to provide you with an opportunity to escape real life, if you happen to need a quick break. i may include some resources in posts to better support this concept (e.g., playlists). my writing usually has a word count between ~1-10k, but there may be some outliers.

also also, i am always looking for mutuals and more writers to interact with! please feel free to hit me up in the chats <3 i’d love to get to know you! also also, i try my hardest to read other posts out there and give feedback reblogs. i’ll be honest after a day of work, reading past 2k is rough but give me a follow if you want some recs 💖

• when and why do you write •

i am still working to consistently post weekly. lately, I’ve been getting hit hard with a writing bug and then my brain is dormant for like 2 weeks. anything i write during that time is literal poo-poo on fire. hopefully it doesn’t last haha updates and recent posts can be found on my nav page. i will update when i’m writing a post and when i plan to post ✨

if any of my posts suit your fancy, please reblog, comment, message, or anon request that you want a part two. if y’all want it, i’ll write it. like literally i will have like next to no likes on a post and if someone asks for a part two, hoe you getting it. 🫂 also, a “small” bit of why i write is to get some hoes horny. that is a huge compliment for me and like lmk. anyways, i like to lean more into the “smut or porn?” type of writing too…

i am best supported by reblogs!  + comments really keep me encouraged to write 🥹 follows and likes are also much appreciated. i’m not uber comfy with tips but like if the thought pops in your head, and then you take like a day to think about it, and it’s still there, and then you take one more day after that and it’s still there, then like here’s my cashapp 🫠 i

will continue writing as long as someone out there is reading 🥰 reading your comments and feedback gives me so much joy! but like not too rough of feedback cause i'll cry ☺️ also, taglists are awesome, but please feel free to let me know if you want to be taken off. no judgment here, i promise you. i understand not wanting to be notified constantly! 

oh! and here is my view on #tags. warning may not be a popular opinion 😬 in the first few days of a post, i will use whatever tags are needed to get your eyes to see it. i work really hard on my writing and i want to make sure it’s seen. however, my posts always include the appropriate pairing right at the top so you are more than welcomed to say “fuck this” if it doesn’t match the tag you were looking for. with that being said, once the hype goes down on a post, i will make sure to appropriately tag my pieces. also in the cases of my oc’s, i still consider the oc as the reader. we are all becoming the oc in my posts ♥️ time to escape to another universe!

• what do you even write about •

i am looking into exploring characters and experiences within: (1) the tv universes of stranger things, the walking dead, the boys, buffy the vampire slayer, the l word, z nation, supernatural, true blood, game of thrones, house of dragons, shameless, etc. (2) the video game universes of left 4 dead 2, resident evil 6, the last of us: parts 1 & 2, dead by daylight, etc. & (3) the movie universe of the hunger games, top gun (rooster is very special to me), twilight, avatar (ma’jake 🤤), mcu, harry potter, etc.

i pretty much am hoping to write about whatever i am currently obsessed with haha as we all should. each series is written within their own universes, so some things might not match up. apologies in advance! also as some of these universes can be quite violent, i write a little violence but always disclose in the warning so check those out! i am starting to dip my toe into the ideas of requests. please feel free to send me your thoughts on what you'd like to read ✨

my reader povs will always be 18+ and consenting adults. we also support and promote safe sex here, despite the shenanigans that may be happening in my smut series 🤤 i explore different areas of mental health, but anxiety is a common theme amongst my series. i'm an anxiety queen so i am making us all queens. my warnings will also include any triggers associated with smuts, as well as mental health (i.e., trauma). i write my series to bring you nothing but happiness, so please check out the warnings before reading! also sometimes my smut my just be down right porn, so please do enjoy. that is my intent 😚

• inspirations • 

tags to the authors who have left a lasting impact on me and my writing. these are my favorite posts from them so far! most of which either make me feel something (which is rare lol) or give me a writing bug. these are also the most wonderful humans who are willing to help my noobie ass. i encourage you to check them out as much as possible because if i’m over here tagging and reblogging, they must be fucking legit. send them my love.

✨ @theoreticslut • celebrate good times • eddie munson •

✨ @seidenbros​ • there’s no one like you • eddie munson • 

✨ @indouloureux • bloom later • steve harrington •

✨ @ghosttownwherenoonegoes​ • a look to open the skies • eddie munson •

✨ @fandomxpreferences​​ • macho man • bradley “rooster” bradshaw •

✨ @hellfirebabes​ • scream for me • eddie munson •

✨ @mcplestreet​ • bartering • eddie munson •

✨ @darkworkcourier • ghost request • simon “ghost” riley •

✨ @nackrosor • slutty feline jester • eddie munson •

✨ @sunflowersteves • another day, another dollar • bradley “rooster” bradshaw •

✨ @fairysluna • little wolf • aemond targaryen •

• nav • requests open •

[chromochaotic]

Reads of 2023 Part II (so far)

i was sad i couldn't fit all the cover pictures in my Part I post without it going off the screen, so might as well split it into 2 posts! update as of 6/11!

thoughts/reviews:

Heaven Official's Blessing: Volume 1

It's happening! My friends have been deep in this author's works/fandom for a while now, I'm pretty late to the party... Well, I guess I've dabbled in some of the animated/live action content that's out there for the different series. Anyway, this was a fun read! There's something so lush about historical dramas that definitely comes through here. When you add in the bits of humor and adventure, the whole story is really refreshing.

Even though the translation is still a tiny bit unprofessional, it's clearer than other options, haha. I was able to get a way better sense of the world and characters on this attempt (I had a good time watching the animated show! But as my friend put it, the season moved lightning fast, so it brushed over a lot of things). I don't have any other real nitpicks, other than like... the odd sexism that pops up now and then. Lmao

I am ofc in love with the main characters... They invented love... They invented devotion... I'm also delighted by the pace of things! Their relationship has managed to be both teasingly slow (like, the gradual reveal of Hua Cheng's true identity) but also very satisfyingly forward (the escorting!! the painting!! the righteous anger!!). Excited to see where things go with them, and the rest of the cast! (3.5/5—would be a 4, but the translation still kind of hampers things.)

Naomi Vandoren's Forest of Light

The second art book I bought from this artist! Same thoughts as before; for a quick browse, this was a refreshing little collection. Her style is just nice and soothing, with some fun surrealism/dreamscape vibes thrown in.

I'm not sure I'll buy any more of these, since the book didn't add quite as much insight into the works as I was hoping. Plus some of the concepts don't really resonate with me/seem that well researched...

I think one of my favorite things included was this abstract work the artist did—she wrote that she started with random watercolor mark-making, and then turned that into a piece. Those were very cool explorations! (2.5/5)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian

Done!! With the series! (Unless... It looks like there might be some followups to the main story?) I understand why the darker tone got dialed up, and other than the excursion with Nico, why the story kind of broke from the wacky-roadtrip vibe of the others. It made sense, while still keeping some of the lighthearted narration from the others, which was nice. I think what I appreciate the most about the series is the fun it has with its world. (Side note—I watched the movie based on the first book recently, and I can only assume it didn't do well! Bc omg, it completely missed the mood of the books. Instead of lingering on the whimsy, they focused on... making Grover a very cringey stereotype? Nah.) (ALSO??? THEY CUT OUT MY DAUGHTER CLARISSE????? THE AUDACITY???????)

I think my biggest gripe with the book was the very weird way the Annabeth-Percy-Rachel dynamic was handled. Like, it just got kind of tiring after a bit, especially with the way Annabeth acted so uncharacteristically catty at times. Plus, like, Percy's off falling in love with Calypso after like 5 minutes, the girl is right that he's kind of flighty. Rachel's ending also felt, just... eh.

Other than that, I was very into the last book!! There were some really moving character moments, like, Nico struggling with his place in the story, everything we learned about Luke... AND THE BIGGEST MASTERSTROKE OF ALL!!! I have been waiting to scream about the sapphic Patrochilles take??? At the end??? Clarisse has two hands and she can hold both Chris's and Silena's. She was moved to go into battle!!!! For her!!!!! She defeated one of the most terrifying foes in NO ARMOR just with a SICK ASS SPEAR and I LOVE HER. Anyway no notes, except they better do Clarisse justice in the new adaptation or I will riot. (4/5)

Secrets of the Oak Woodlands

Ooo I'm out of practice doing these reviews... Mostly from a funny cocktail of outside factors slowing me down, but also because nonfiction can be such a slog for me to get through. Tragic, because I do want to learn more ecology, I'm just... bad at it. Anyway! Bought this book on a fun West Coast road trip, I think I picked this up in the Sequoia National Park gift shop? The writing itself is great, especially how it tackles some pretty complex concepts in a way that's approachable. The book doesn't feel like Baby's First Nature Guide, but it also doesn't completely lose me when it explores why coyote populations actually rise when they're hunted or why Oak Mistletoe is a keystone species.

Even though the watercolor illustrations in the book were lovely, I sort of wish the visuals could have focused more on the tougher scientific concepts being explained. Like, instead of the illustrated "anecdote" of a quail sitting sentry, it could have been good to have a cross-section diagram of an oak gall or something. I guess it's always hard to balance interest and clarity in scientific writing, though. Overall, I think this was a pretty good eco-starter book! I'm just a square peg trying to force myself into a round hole, reading these nonfiction books. (So... 3/5?)

The Dragon's Bride

Hoo boy... Hoo boy... Listened to this audiobook at the recommendation of my friend who's very into erotica/romances. Which was an adventure, for me! To start with the good points, I really like the founding premise of this whole world/story. Deals with demons walk that perfect line for me of intricate and taboo power dynamics—and at the same time, the author satisfied my inner hopeless romantic by making all the demons (that we've met so far, at least) morally viable! So yeah, the world building and characterization is really nice, tbh.

I think my two sticking points are the smut itself, and that I didn't find these particular protags very compelling... It's interesting comparing this to, say, an above-average smut fic. On the one hand this has better prose, but on the other hand the smut veered into being a little too flowery now and then... (not to say all the sex scenes were like that. Uh. There were some choice ones.) I also personally found the frequency of the sex scenes a little ridiculous, but for most people that's probably a positive! 😂 And then, when it comes to the main characters themselves, I think they were well-rounded and the dynamic itself made sense. The personalities just aren't the kind I normally latch onto, though—they're not my blorbos, you know? So, where I'd go into a smut fic already attached (and therefore more into the smut itself), these... I could take it or leave it, haha.

That said, this installment did pique my interest for others in the series. I'm curious about the one with the succubus........ And the one with Eve..................... Those tidbits seem more up my alley. :] Also, the voice acting was pretty fun, tbh. They got separate VAs for Briar and Sol, the two POV characters, and they knocked it out of the park (even/especially in the smut scenes)! (well, except for a very funny instance where the guy VA had to voice Briar's lines in a smut scene in a Sol POV chapter. Damn, did he try.) Might pick up one of the other installments... if they come out on audiobook! (3.5/5)

Legends & Lattes

Another recommendation!! From a different friend! Apparently this book is popular on booktok but since booktok sounds like a cesspool (not really—pls don't come for me) I'm glad I didn't know that going in. As a purveyor and avid consumer of slice-of-life fluff.......... I loved this!!! First of all, the main character is My Kind of Girl, and exactly the kind of character I want to see getting a happy ending. Then, the rest of cast provided so many different kinds of delight—the warm Found Family feeling of a grumpy kind father figure and an adorable little Creature baking actual cinnamon rolls and a prim but secretly dorky girlfriend and and and—so many greats! Even the antagonists were enjoyable, in their way.

Hmmm... for the negative part of my postive-negative-positive sandwich, I think I'd just echo what I've seen in a few other reviews—I could have done with a teensy bit more of the romance. Or I guess, more of the cuteness of it? All we really got was a little bit of lead-up and then a big get-together, but I feel like the romance scenes I like most (shy flirting, a tiny bit of pining) got sort of skipped over. It's not a huge negative! Especially for this story, which seemed like it hit exactly the balance the author intended. Yeah, I might have just had the epilogue cover the main ship being cute and in love, instead of the little righteous vengeance scene that we got.

So this was a perfect little comfort listen (audiobook again! with really nice acting done by the author himself!). I saw other people calling the first chapters slow, but tbh I loved the steady, hopeful mood that came from all that straightforward hard work happening and then paying off. A great story, if you go in with the right expectations! (4.5/5) (P.S.: also this article touches on some other L&L points that I think explain why it resonates so well in post-pandemic life) (P.P.S. now I'm trying to parse out why I liked this book so much more than House in the Cerulean Sea... I think part of it is that the cast felt more respected? Like, it was more than just The Most Special-est Pretty Boy and his Plucky Boyfriend Fix Fantasy Racism)

[youredreamingofroo]

Long winded rant of me talking about NSB, doing a new series, storytelling and whatever else I talked about under the cut, feel free to read it's just me rambling, I don't really care if ppl read it or not it's VERY long 😭

I've been painfully itching to start a new series, I know I'm doing NSB rn, and I do plan to at least finish the normal NSB legacy (up to Gen 9), although I might finish or take a break at around Gen 5 or 6, just because I don't wanna lose motivation and also because it takes A LOT to make some of these posts (for example, the last NSB post... took a lot out of me), and I'm only on Gen 2, almost Gen 3 rn, and I was originally planning to do all 30 or 40 Gens in the updated ver of NSB, which def doesn't seem like it'll be happening right now, because at the current rate at which I post, and how fast things in my game move, Sims 6 will be out before I even finish Gen 30 😭😭

Anyways, I don't know what the series would be about, if I were to do a new series, it would definitely be a lot more story based, if not completely story based, I don't know if I'd do/include gameplay, but I really wanna dive into more storytelling and setting up scenes, I'm not a film or theatre kid by any means, and I really don't know much about writing and setting up scenes and stuff, to be honest, i don't even know how I storytell, I guess it's just regurgitated content molded to shape the statue of my story if that makes sense lmao, I guess it's also the art of using so many fucking metaphors and similes that doing something like comparing love to drowning in a cold ocean comes sorta easy to me? I'm not grammatically inclined and don't know a lot about punctuation, my teachers all kinda gave up on me in English class, so all of my writing is basically self taught, which I guess is the case for a lot of things I do- I feel like starting a new series would help me learn how to write better, even though it seems like a lot of ppl love my writing, I still feel like I could improve so much and do so much better. I already have a couple ideas in mind for a new series, I don't think I'll say much rn just in case I decide to make them a series, but as for right now, I've got plans for Gen 3 NSB (aka Calico), and if I were to start a new series, I would not stop playing NSB, but due to how I function and shit, I would have to put NSB on hiatus, I kind of have a hard time doing two stories at once, hence why Sharkie's story got put on hiatus, because it was too stressful for me to double up, especially with how often I post (at least 3 or 4 times a week), I would like to go back and play Sharkies story and share her story up to this point where I last played her, her story is a lot more gameplay centered (for example, I am more inclined to make a blender scene for NSB, then Sharkie, for Sharkie, I'd do stuff like go to the bar and see how it plays out and take screenshots and just edit those) which I like more, but that's not to say I don't enjoy NSB, because I equally LOVE storytelling as I do gameplay.

While writing this, I did think of something I could do, which would be posting NSB every other week (so one week I do Sharkie or some other series and then the next week I do NSB, then a diff series, so on so forth), the only problem is that usually when I get an idea, and I finish that idea, I like to post it asap, I'm not good at scheduling posts lmao, but it might be worth it if people want to see another series (that is if anyone is still reading up to this point lol), I'd like to channel my storytelling into a more story based save/story, but idk! I'm just kinda doing my thing rn and I'm at a point where i wanna do something different. I especially wanna start doing more in blender, it just takes fucking forever to do some of the stuff I wanna do, and some of it means learning new stuff which is thrice as hard and takes thrice as long compared to normal posing and stuff 😭