#I'll make edit in the future to try and make it more unique

[antiquatedsimmer]

"Holy Cats! Extra! Extra! Billions Lost in Stock Market Crash!"

The year is 1929, and your Sim finds themselves among the countless affected by the devastating aftermath of the stock market crash. With nothing left but shattered dreams, they must now begin anew!

No job, no home, and worst of all, NO MONEY :(

The goal of this Mini Decades challenge is to get your sims to build, live and have raised a family in a happy home by the beginning of world war 2. The great depression was considered over by the start of the 1940s

I didn't invent the Rags to Riches challenge or the Decades Challenge rules. I'm just sharing a slightly tweaked challenge I've been enjoying and thought others might like too :)

*currently working on a random encounter table to make this version a bit more unique

My Guide Below:

I am following these guides with basic tweaks

Rags2Riches Challenge

Decades Challenge, Follow the 1930s Rules

BAISCS OF THE CHALLENGE & MADATORY RULES

• You must follow technological limitations of that Era.

• No Cheats or Mods made to make the challenge easier allowed.

Being this is a Decades inspired Challenge the use of CC & mods for realism involving historical gameplay is fine. At the end of the day the point is to have fun!

• Choose your sims age & lifespan.

Whether your sim had a family & children prior to the crash is entirely up to you!

• Sleep in a public area or a friends home if you do not own a bed.

Historical Tweak:

During the Great Depression, the prevalence of "slums" or homeless encampments surged due to the housing crisis that plagued people in the early 1930s.

If you opt to invite Sims into your household, take on roommates, or utilize the FOR RENT Landlord ability to rent out beds, you can do so. However, it is imperative that you secure the necessary funds to construct housing for these new Sims.

• You may eat/ make dishes using public spaces or a friends home, however taking food with you is not allowed.

Historical Tweak:

In the tough times of the Great Depression, families were really struggling, which means your Sims' neighbors might not have much food to spare.

If your Sim wants to hit up a neighbor's kitchen for a meal, they gotta flip a coin:

Heads - They can grab a quick meal from the fridge.

Tails - Sorry, no luck. Time to try somewhere else.

So, your Sim might resort to begging if they are unable to feed themselves But hey, it could lead to some interesting stories and maybe even some new pals along the way.

• No selling through household inventory

• No selling through Plopsy - no internet in 1929

• No selling through Retail job due to the unemployment crisis, if you can afford to purchase a retail lot however you may open a retail business.

• You CAN sell items through the Food Stand or Market tables.

●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●

GOALS OF THE CHALLENGE

Build a home:

• At least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, a study ( with a type writer if u have historical CC ), and a outdoor garden area.

MANDATORY STEPS FOR BUILDING A HOME:

In order to build a home you must have completed these steps:

• Reach level 7 Handiness and level 5 gardening before you begin building or placing items outside.

• Have 1 Bedroom with bed, a bathroom with toilet and shower, a living room and kitchen area.

• you must own at least one of these: Fridge or Icebox, sink, stove, stove, counter, table, chair, and couch.

• A blueprint for your house cost $500

HAVE A FAMILY

Find love, and have the opportunity to raise a family despite the hardships of the great depression!

• Get married

• Become a grandparent

MANDATORY STEPS FOR STARTING A FAMILY:

due to the affects of the great depression I feel like it would be unreasonable to expect a FULL HOUSE BUILT before you can start a family, so instead I'm tweaking that a bit.

You don't need a HUGE MANSION by the end of the challenge but a decent house should be expected. the point it escape being forced to live in a shack.

• For every new Sim joining the household, you must ensure there is a dedicated room to accommodate them. This room must be equipped with basic necessities, including a bed, access to a bathroom, and sufficient funds and food to sustain them.

• Max Toddler Skills

• A Child must complete one of the options before becoming a teen:

Reach level 5 in 2 skills with perfect grades or reach level 10 in any skills.

• Teens must complete one of these option before becoming a young adult

Reach level 5 in 2 skills & a part time job or reach level 10 in 2 skills.

• Host a wedding every time a pair of sims get married.

ASPIRATIONS:

• Complete at least one aspiration for your sim and it's spouse

• Complete an Aspiration for each of your sims children.

[kalims]

⭒ㅤwhose (not) random kid

premise. crash landing from the future is apparently your kid, not that you know that anyway... in the form of a mixture between you, and your... supposed counterpart, clues are bound to pile up as to whose child this is.

parts. rosehearts, kingscholar, ashengrotto, al asim, schoenheit, shroud, draconia

cont. gender neutral reader, use of 'mada' which is just 'mama' and 'dada' cut in half for our resident shrimp (aka yuu), a yummy 5.8k words that I did not expect to get this long lol

note. I only have a rough outline of what's going to be included with the others parts after the names of the kids lol. I'll probably write leona's as usual after this but I can't promise I'll release one more part after his this month, the rest will probably come next month considering I'm bombarded sadge. paper defense, then final exams next month save me

also hello! my unnofficial: I'll try to post more

late edit: comment if you want to get tagged <3

riddle

when you slid a foot over the portal to heartslabyul there’s some sort of a strange–inexplicable air that surrounds it. usually the dimension is light to be in, unlike the tingling feelings of being in octavinelle or the eeriness of ignihyde. all dormitories had their own particular sensation that weighs on you depending on where you were.

you squinted, deciding to shrug it off. there was no way you had a sixth sense for feeling in the literal air!

barely a foot in though, was something you could only explain as an army of card… soldiers trudging from the other end of the sidewalk to the next. dumbly, you stopped right in front the shimmering portal that settles into a smooth sheen of silver behind you as they just kept coming.

they seemed to be looking for something–or whatever but you don’t really want to know what so you slowly inched to the side, hoping to sneak past them even if you had to go into one of the confusing mazes (which was a struggle considering you’re trying not to laugh as one of them trips).

must be ace’s wretchedness rubbing off of you.

the real question was, where in the seven were your resident idiots? you’d already sent a text over for your impromptu visit to the chat consisting of you three and figured they had seen it like they usually do then waited for you with feigned begrudging-ness that does not fit well with them showing up in the first place. 

you fish for your sad excuse for a phone in your pocket, cater’s words not yours. you’re more busy trying to merge your backside as you shuffle and pull up the chat to notice the ever nearing edge of the hedge wall that makes you stand out in comparison to the lighter shade of green brushing against your uniform.

not deuce: you guys ever notice the card soldiers infestation near ur mirror portal…?

not ace: you nedea to RNR RUN RN!!

not yuu: what???

there’s not much time to ponder about the cryptic, seemingly panicked expression of deuce’s message as you looked up from your phone, feeling a slight chill crawl up to your spine like you attracted some sort of unwarranted trouble that is also unwanted.

disclaimer: you (uu) did

“over here!” an unfamiliar voice yells, freezing you in your tracks just when you were about to make the sneak of the century. without a moment’s hesitation you darted deeper into the maze and shoved your device within the confines of your pockets as you held in a mortified scream at the sudden mob upon your tail as you ran.

WHY WAS THERE SO MANY? you yelled in your mind. number one rule in horror games don’t look back. don’t look back. don’t look back–

oh sevens you’re looking back.

the decision immediately fills you with regret when you spot the diabolical amount of card soldiers trailing after you like you just slaughtered their queen in front of whatever kingdom they came from! was this someone’s unique magic? there was no way riddle would let this sort of thing go rampant on his dorm!

you almost keel over in shock when the pointy end of a heart on the end of a pole sticks right on the patch of grass you just barely managed to trudge across with increasingly heavier steps. maybe you should actually take jack’s offer to join track and field–your stamina is horrible–you’re gonna get stabbed.

goodbye world. you thought warmly with a chorus of pants.

a deeper voice bellowed from the crowd from your behind. “three of hearts! are you thin-headed? do not harm the majesty!” the steps behind you stop almost abruptly, and you don’t stop running even as the voices fade. idiots for choosing to chastise their idiotic comrade but you’re not complaining as long as you get away from this horrid situation.

your majesty what now?

you don’t know how far you ran by sticking to all left turns until you flop down on the entrance of the maze, the archway barely offering you any relief as you took deep breaths and fought the urge to lay down on the grass and hope it camouflages your grey uniform.

that won’t work but you’re coping at this point.

not deuce: HELLO  I ALMOST GOT SKEWERED BY LITERAL CARDS?

not yuu: that’s a humiliating way to go down from

not ace: don’t be insensitive ace! are you ok?!

not deuce: NO? WHAT IS GOING ON

not yuu: riddle got dethroned and i'm not even happy

not yuu: it's the absolute WORST AT THE DORM!

not yuu: you better turn back rn and get away from ‘labyul coz it’s getting run by a kid

not deuce: BACK INTO THAT DEATH MOB? no thanks

not ace: yuu brace up, cater texted that the new boss is on his way to you

not yuu: F for yuu

not ace: F

not deuce: F u

what you expect to be the final boss of your life, you guess from the approaching pairs of footsteps nearing your defeated form sprawled across the flecks of grass and still heaving comes in a surprising form of softness, and youth.

“mada.” 

the blueness of the sky is shadowed by a tiny little head peering over your head. you’re startled by the tuff of red hair, and familiar pair of eyes which was strange, considering you have never seen this kid in your life. this was the new queen of heartlsabyul? you thought incredulously, since when were kids allowed in nrc…?

the thought was a breeding ground to raise the most evil person on the planet, considering the equally as evil people in night raven.

out of habit from the familiar chubby, round face you blurted: “riddle?”

the child blinked before they shook your head. “I am not papa.” their lips twitched into a small smile directed to you. if taken a closure look, this child’s resemblance with riddle really is uncanny. from the hair, even to a small golden crown sitting primly on the middle of their head. “mada, I am glad I found you. I have not seen papa yet.”

was this season 5 of stranger things?

they straightened. attention straying from you as you glanced to the other pairs of legs, whom you put a face to quickly. trey and cater both cast you a look of exasperation and pity.

then done like a true riddle–their face does a complete 360 and curls into anger as they stared off inside the maze. “all of you!” the tiny child rages with a concerning… change of color around their cute face, fingers pointed accusingly. how can a child be so horrifyingly scary?

the two third years do not mirror your confusion as you sat up, following the kid’s gaze to the archway where a myriad of thundering footsteps almost have you scampering away if not for them laying a small hand on your shoulder and somehow managing to ground you to stay still.

whose kid is this? you looked to cater who shakes his head uselessly

then to trey who wore a resigned smile.

the child’s brow twitches when the card soldiers lined up obediently. “I thought I had made it clear you not hurt mada.” they seethed, voice tilting in clear threat and a I demand you! sort of way. the card solider, three of hearts who had scared the living soul out of you trembled less subtle compared to the other guards.

of course this child had to get more terrifying by being observant, they caught the shiver of one soldier and narrowed their eyes. “ah, found the culprit. three of–”

trey shuffles forward with an awkward laugh that belies his usual laid back with–on his face is a twinge of concern as he raises his palms in a placating gesture. he steps forward three more times, sliding between the child and the line of soldiers but keeping the distance warily. “hey, kid. maybe we can discuss this with some tarts, and some tea?” he tries. children love sweets, right?

they keep their head level despite the astounding height difference. “I told you, uncle trey! being called ‘kid’ is disorderly! It's alice!” still, despite the brief protest their eyes sparkled with interest at the notion, even if they seemed a bit embarrassed to admit it. “i’m not supposed to eat sweets on mondays.” 

“huh.” cater mumbled before the thin line of his lips rose into a familiar grin. “as in, rule 102 of the queen?” he queries with a nervous slide of his fingers through his hair. he’s not so obvious to directly state that he’s tiptoeing around… alice but a bit of months knowing him, you can tell.

alice nods along. they no longer look as bothered as before, the card soldiers all slump their tense shoulders a little when alice shifts their piercing gaze from the three of hearts before settling onto cater, who they offer a brief nod of agreement before returning back to trey.

well, a kid is a kid. 

“but i can eat sweets on tuesdays.” they added hastily. like they don’t want the notion of trey’s treats slipping from their fingers but that would be strange, if the look of confusion you three share with each other you would have thought trey had initially baked for alice based off the tone of wistfulness in their tone.

trey smiles at them. “tomorrow it is.” reassured by their sheepish innocence he stops in front of them and grasps their shoulders, turning them away from the stiff soldiers. alice spares a brief glance at them. “what about these rule breakers?”

you stood up fully. “uh, don’t worry, they didn’t do anything wrong. i ran for too long.” you supplied in defense. if anything , a resemblance to riddle of all people meant that they could have the head offing in their blood. you did not want to stick around to find out, neither did cater.

alice considers you for a moment with a small sparkle in their eyes, with a wave of the small wand that maternalized in their hand, the soldiers fade into glittering spots of gold. only then do they let trey lead them back to the main pathway towards the dormitory of heartslabyul.

you fall into step behind cater who probably sees the question in your eyes so he lowers his voice discreetly, glancing at the back of trey who keeps the child’s bay attention so they don’t notice you two slowing down a little. nonetheless, still walking.

“that was little alice’s unique magic.” he says to you with a shrug, sighing after a glance at the former’s small, regal form. “pretty overpowered… kind of like my split card but less cute, and more dangerous.”

he winked, you frowned.

in front of you two, alice seems tame in comparison to the subtle bribing of trey questioning about their favorite sweets as you all finally reached the nearing entrance of the main dormitory

“where’s riddle?” you questioned.

he pursed his lips, navigating though the fountain in front of the dorm. “last i know, he went out early to campus cause of a meeting with his club for the upcoming NRC tour festival…” 

oh, right. I have not found papa. alice’s voice echoes in your mind, so you echo the question that appears in your mind right after the memory. “alice called riddle ‘papa’ which i’m pretty sure is a term for a parent…” you trailed off. riddle seemed to be the least likely person to have a secret love child of some sorts, he seemed like he had most of his life planned out.

if riddle bent over backwards for his rules then he wouldn’t stray from the path he had set.

there’s a flash of interest in cater’s eyes, it was already there before, just dwindled. you watch it spark to life. akin to lighting some sort of fire within the guy, a gossipmonger at heart as he leaned in eagerly just as you both trudged up the stairs to the front doors who opened politely, and closed behind you as you walked in the main hall of heartslabyul.

“they look, and act like riddle!” he chuckles. “imagine our shock when alice popped up straight out of nowhere with an army at their beck and call.” cater clutched onto his arms, and shivered. you leaned away when he reaches his arms out to you in a teasing manner.

he adds. not at all offended by the way you scrunch your face at his ‘affections’. “they seem to listen to you though. like someone.”

you only regard him with an impassive raise of your brows. “i don't think so. riddle doesn’t listen to anyone. much less me.” befuddled by the mere idea, you scoffed. in all your magic-less glory, the best thing you might have achieved here in this other dimension was having the ability to wake leona kingscholar up from one of his power naps.

cater doesn’t seem to agree. only sighing at you from what it seems to be an of course. “only you can be so oblivious to the chaos you leave behind.” he says in response, making an exaggerated show of peering behind your shoulder and widening his eyes in feigned shock.

you humor him as you turned your head. the scene of the main entrance of the dormitory was the only answer to your eyes as you both walked into the living room–where little alice sits alone. you caught a glimpse of trey’s dark hair as he disappeared into the kitchen, most likely going off to make her a treat.

vaguely unsure if the male had heard him, cater calls out a “make us some too!”

“not my fault the students here are so… unstable.” you remarked with a roll of your eyes. remembering the overblots to be the most plausible reference to the chaos cater was talking about as you begrudgingly sat down on the couch and reeled in any other remarks for the child in the room.

who was now shuffling closer to your seated frame even if they thought they were being subtle in the movement.

what was two seats in the space between you and alice eventually became none at all, as they settled beside you and peered up with innocent eyes.

you tilted your head at them, alice copies the movement.

then to the other side.

they mirror the lull of your head.

“besides those.” cater cleared his throat after a bewildered glance at the child. “what’s more impressive is that you’re still here, yuu-yuu. night raven is like… a pack of wolves trying to run you off crying, and you? you’re a very weird sheep.”

still a bit enraptured on this child, you replied without your stare wavering from the roundness of alice’s cheek as you reached up to pinch it. to yours, and cater’s surprise. their previous cute ferociousness is not present at all as they leaned against the warmth as though instinctive. “i didn’t do anything.”

you don’t entertain the accusing look in cater’s eyes.

“if that was you not trying to beast tame the school then i don’t know what’ll happen if you put in the effort.”

you both lapse into silence as cater–who seemed to sense the finality of the conversation lets it slip fully and instead, busies himself with the entertainments his phone provided. you redirect your full attention onto the elusive red-headed alice.

“so,” you started. “how did you end up here? must be a great feat if you were able to go past the barriers.”

alice curls their fingers within the fabric of your blazer, inspecting it as they reply softly. “i’m not sure, mada. i was just sleeping, and woke up in a garden. the hedgehogs showed me the way after i offered them a caterpillar.” they do not mention a bleary moment in their sleep where they curiously wondered how you and riddle came to be as they drifted off. “as pertaining by rule 210… if you are lost in a maze, give the hedgehogs an offering and they shall show you the way.”

you can’t help but let your mind drift over to riddle, who echoes the rules to be followed when mentioned.

your lips twitch into a smile, much to the delight of alice. “strange indeed. must have been scary.”

their eyes squinted. “i’m not scared.”

you chuckled and pinched their cheek. they pout.

“where are you from?” you ask instead, wanting to know more about the.. figurative alice from nowhere. 

alice looks at you strangely.

“from the queendom of roses…” could they simply be a relative of riddle’s? you thought mindlessly. drawing your fingers through the surprising soft red locks who seemingly part eagerly for your touch. “with my mada, and my papa. sometimes my uncles visit.”

unsure of how to reply, you merely nod along. parting their hair by half and twisting it into a braid. “you called me mada.” you hummed.

“because you are my mada.”

she says like it’s the only thing that makes sense in her small world, not relinquishing her grip on your blazer but instead tugging at the wrists to expose the small slither of skin and hold onto it. clingy. you thought, deciding not to question it.

… was this your freaking kid?

the smell of strawberries wafts over the space of the living room alongside the ticking of the oven–momentarily taking both alice, and cater’s attention. the latter stretches before standing to stride over to the source of the smell, no doubt requesting trey to change the taste once more.

alice’s eyes, like yours slid to your own. a bit shy in their demeanor as they clutched onto the skin of your wrist. “can i eat some of uncle’s tarts?” they queried under your breath, only meant for you alone. you felt a bit confused but nodded nonetheless. 

their lips twitched into an eager smile before it settles into a more controlled look of impassiveness.

that was adorable. you thought, unable to resist leaning down to scoop them into your arms as you stood. alice makes a sound of brief surprise before their arms loop around your neck. they sat pliantly still as you walked over to follow cater inside the kitchen, catching a glimpse of your scent that they sought for, so alice nuzzles their face into the warm pulse on your neck.

trey glances up from the animated retelling of cater about the crazy day. “new responsibility?” he wore a humored smile, apron long discarded and folded over the handle of the oven for the meantime.

if riddle saw this, he would not believe it no matter how intelligent he was. trey deduced.

he gestures to the tray set on the counter. “there’s frosted strawberries, blueberry cornmeal, and the good old mont blanc since i got left over ingredients from the last unbirthday party.” 

alice feels the shift of your head as you glanced down at them, they don’t remove their head from the crevice of your neck for a moment and meets your eyes with a raise of their own. “frosted strawberries, please.”

“good choice, little alice.” cater comments.

“careful, it’s hot.” trey chided gently as he watched you pick up one of them, drawing it near alice’s waiting hunger as they tilted their head up from your shoulder. they took a small bite at the corners of the tart, smiling at the taste and only wider when you wiped remnants of crumbs around the edges of their mouth.

alice chews, and swallows before they spoke again. their eyes gleaming with admiration as they stared at trey. “it’s always the yummiest when it’s fresh out the oven.” they recited.

trey blinks.

“you’re a bright one.” he remarked, ruffling their hair when he drew near. “don’t tell anyone about the wicked secret ‘round the kitchen, all right?”

they nodded vigorously. “thank you, uncle..” they spewed politely, but evidently genuine.

cater munches from the other end of the counter. “we gotta protect alice,” he chuckled, eyes crinkling as he pointed his phone to you, tapping to snap a picture of the scene despite your warning stare. “too nice for the vultures we call students here.” 

“you might be right.” trey shook his head, and you nodded mutely. more absorbed into letting them take bite by bite into the tart until it was about finished halfway. only then do you lay it back on the tray. how much sweets was ideal for a child to take anyway? regardless of you deeming it as enough, alice stays quiet and does not complain.

if they wanted more, you wouldn’t know.

“later.” you promised, leaning back when you were satisfied with their prim appearance. a pat of their hair to smooth down trey’s earlier disruption.

“later..” alice echoed. 

a resident third year enters the kitchen. only to pause in their tracks and back away.

“domesticity is really the enemy of the students here.” cater sniffed, earning a chuckle from trey who found the comment funny. “imagine being happy, being broody and emotional are the real requirements to get admitted.”

cater finishes his snack with a pleased hum, and a grateful nod to trey. “by the way i messaged adeuce, sent them to stall dorm leader from going back as long as the dorm was… kind of in a wre–predicament.” he cleared his throat, casting a brief glance at alice to spot if they had taken offence to his almost uttered word.

“so now they’re en-route?” trey guessed, transferring the leftover tarts to a glass bowl. leaving the tray in the sink to wash for later. cater nods in response, typing on his phone with one hand. likely in cahoots with the two right now. “told them the coast was clear! no more trampling soldiers scampering around.”

trey eyed him. “what about the–”

just then, whatever trey was going to comment in rebuttal of cater’s easy reassurance was promptly interrupted by new individuals peeking inside. ace, and deuce poked their heads from the corner. as if trying to ascertain the danger level of whatever may be inside.

ace rougly nudges deuce when he spots you with a child in arms. for two people insisting on their unique, varying selfs. they mirror each other’s look of bewilderment as though their brain cells crackled and connected into a singular one. “what the seven?” ace mouthed.

you all do not notice the look of familiarity on alice’s face.

nor the brightening when riddle strides in with a petulant huff,

if riddle thought strangely, or disapproved of the two’s behavior then he wouldn’t have had the chance to comment on it before he was leveling trey with a sharp, inquisitive stare. “i would like a very good explanation as to why my hedges have been mangled to the ground.” his eye twitches with the effort of containing irritation. “three hours i’ve been gone. three! and when i enter heartslabyul the first thing i see is devastation upon my gardens!”

perhaps emotionally, riddle cried out in the last sentence.

even though such an expression should have frightened a child to some degree, alice relaxes in your arms but their face clouds in shame at his voice.

riddle whirls back to the other two lingering by the doorway who both flinches imperceptibly–cater tries to intercept with a nervous chuckle but is only met with a steely don’t even start! “ace, and deuce have me running around the school. saying something about yuu getting kidnapped by those.. vermin excuses of… students from octavinelle!" riddle seethed, breathing still a bit labored as favor of his statement about running around.

“dorm leader!” ace stood straight stiffly.

oh, did he just come from a frantic search in octavinelle?

“i even had to threaten collaring azul who i thought was lying about yuu.” with a deep intake of air, riddle breathes out and pinches the bridge of his nose, collecting his temper. much to the chagrin of deuce.

“we apologize.” deuce added sadly.

cater feigns ignorance by looking away but it’s trey’s look that has him adding to the defense of the two, rather than using the opportunity to scamper away with his head in tact. “ahem… we had these two keep you busy. so don’t be too harsh on them, riddle. us upperclassmen will take responsibility.”

a nod of agreement from trey gets riddle quiet.

the former tilts his chin to you. “yuu is fine, they’re right here.”

like he hadn’t even noticed before (he really didn’t), riddle’s head snaps to you immediately. his eyes would have been stuck to you, prodding for a valid explanation to your ignorance to his angry calls but instead, settles on the bundle in your arms.

“who…” a blink. “why in the world do you have a child! they are not welcome on school grounds! especially this time in the school year–.” riddle sputtered, instinctively sauntering over to take a closer look at alice who only stared without an inch of fear.

“papa.” they mumbled, voice measured but still echoing in the now quiet kitchen.

ace leapt up to your side. “that’s not right!” he gasped, squinting dangerously at riddle. any traces of earlier mortification gave way to whatever emotion he’s got on his face. “how could you sully yuu! they’re not a babysitter for your kid!” 

“what?” riddle seethed, head flicking from ace, to you, then to alice.

despite a look of great reluctance, deuce nods from the doorway still. mumbling to himself. “dorm… dorm leader has a child…”

you vaguely remember trey offering the dazed guy a glass of water.

“unconfirmed earlier, confirmed now.” cater adds unhelpfully to the blazing fire of riddle’s rising anger.

riddle’s teeth grind together, jaw clenching as his fingers tightened into a fist. it was more of one his attempts at calming down rather than preparation for a physical alteration. “I did no such–!”

“don’t be mad at mada.” alice reaches for him, tugging at his blazer which surprisingly, quells the reddening of his face. now, he just looks a bit confused.

alice turns their head slightly. “mada, you can calm down papa.”

deuce paused before dropping to the ground.

“AH! he’s dead. this is why you don’t betray us by keeping secrets, yuu!” 

“uh oh… trey help me with deuce… wait, should we just leave him? i mean, he’ll be just fine here, right?”

“... just take the other arm, cater.”

all the way back to the living room, riddle’s face remained tinged with warmth. alice, while reluctant to part with your embrace, seemed wholly pleased to stay by the other red-heads' side. insisting you sit next to him when you moved to sit by your two friends.

you obliged them despite riddle’s interest with the carpet.

the couch dipped at the weight of another. even so, the non-verbal conversation between alice, and riddle continued. the former pressed their lips together thinly, seemingly assessing the… youthfulness of the latter. they aren’t so used to this kind of look from him.

cater flinched, and look away from the flash of his phone. he elbows a dazed deuce.

“so,” ace cleared his throat, blinking his still wide eyes. “who the heck is this kid?!”

“language.” riddle chided sharply. though softened from its usual end even he isn’t so sure why it is from the mere presence of alice alone. 

“rule 13, always present yourself with appropriate language.”

“always present yourself with appropriate language.” alice repeated.

riddle squinted at a relaxed alice, who tilts their head as if to ask ‘what?’.

“genetics is crazy. what’s next, the kid beheads us too?” ace points between the two. 

alice shrugged. “only if you break the rules.”

“i do not have a child!” riddle protested.

“i am your child.” replied alice.

“apparently this one’s our kid.” you agreed begrudgingly.

riddle stares at you with a mixture of disbelief, and confusion.

darting between you and the kid like they're gonna start collating him in all his glory! sure, alice had red hair like him but quite a lot of people in the island have it too besides his relatives. the idea of… of him and you is just so out of this world that he can't wrap his head around it.

you? you who he hadn't paid attention to when you arrived at the ceremony? the very first person in that event that broke the rules? you, the very fading into the background student whom he believed to be a bad influence to his students ace, and deuce? 

you he had almost hurt beyond repair at the bursting of his control so tightly held in his hands?

the brief skip of his heart when your eyes meet over the head of alice is enough to send blood rushing to his head, coloring it with his signature red whose warmth doesn't feel like the usual simmering anger he struggles to keep submerged. if anything, this feeling is practically leaping out the water and baring his face to everyone. 

riddle does not look away. managing a look of what he tries to name as conviction but easily crumbles to fluster.

then the idea wasn't so bad considering this young child has proved to be raised dutifully, correctly without any worries of what he used to be burdened with as a child.

it gives way to curiosity. 

despite his incredulously, riddle queries. “the gardens.” he starts with a measured narrow to his eyes, not too intense to possibly upset this.. future child of his whose eyes are strikingly familiar enough to halt the normal circulation of his heart once more for half a second. “were you responsible for the destruction of some hedges I've come across?”

alice shrinks into themselves. “i'm sorry papa.” they pursed their lips, voice genuine by the lower tilt. “i thought i could use my card soldiers to look for you, and mada. you told me about this place called heartslabyul before?”

“i have?” riddle blinks. the idea isn't too bizarre, it's only natural to think back on such things.

they nodded. “yes, papa. you talk about it a lot on our friday’s. about how it looked, how you were as it's dorm leader…” alice peeks a glance at you. “and your parties with mada.”

“unbirthday parties.” trey corrects. “sometimes birthday parties if it really is someone's birthday.”

ace perks up. “let me tell you then! from first hand experience!” he blanched. like opening light about his own struggles in heartlsabyul magically meant the truth to riddle’s own kid. “labyul is really strict on rules. you know on my first day, I ate a tart and—”

deuce stirred slightly.

at riddle’s glare, ace visibly wilts to which cater snaps a picture with snickers. “I mean… the tart was really good, made by riddle and all…” he sweatdropped.

“you shouldn't eat a tart that is not made by you.” alice replied thoughtfully. riddle can't resist a light smile at her words, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he nodded along. his hand hovers for a moment before it pats down on their hair. “that's right. I must have taught you well.”

you absentmindedly patted their head, taking turns with riddle to do so while  expertly avoiding his gaze. “you said friday though, why?”

“on friday’s we don’t go out.” alice says.

“that isn’t a rule by the queen of hearts.” riddle points out.

“you made that rule papa.” they replied innocently. “in our home, so we get to spend time together as a family.”

silence reigns.

“wow.” you cough. sparing riddle an approving glance. that… sounded nice… domestic, and nice. you supposed even as an adult riddle would still have some sort of grip on rules, considering he grew up with them, it helped him live.

and now rules he shaped helped him live with alice, and you apparently. 

tick.

tock.

tick.

tock.

alice peers down at the watch they pull out from under their little adorable coat, oblivious to the stunned silence they left behind. hesitantly, they place a hand on your knee, legs swinging as they rest the other on riddle’s. “mada.” they smiled, this time widely. “papa. I gotta go.”

“what?” riddle's eyes widened. “you haven't finished your tart yet.”

“it's okay. I already ate a tart earlier, papa.”

“you can eat another, just this time. if you want.” he insisted, strangely worried.

cater raises his hand. “can I?”

riddle disagrees immediately. “no.”

muttering something about favoritism, cater looked away with a long sigh.

riddle's eyes lingered on the roundness of alice's face. from the shape, to the more detailed parts of their features. eyes, your eyes. the lushness of their hair, the soft curve of their lips tilted with innocence sends an unexpected grip in his heart, like it's heart stopping.

gosh. his heart just stopped. would he really have his own alice? his eyes darted to you. with you?

alice huffed lightly, skin glimmering lightly as their shade slowly grew transculent and faded with each blink of your eyes. “I can always eat papa's tarts. they're so delicious.” 

“don't use too much magic.” riddle scolded with a crease in his brows.

you add. “don't anger riddle too much.”

“please eat his tarts.” ace encouraged.

trey shot him a look. “don't teach alice bad things.” he sighed, glancing at said child with a smile. “I'll teach you how to make your own tarts, ask uh… future me?”

cater, not wanting to be outdone quickly perked up. “as a future magicam star, I'll make you one too. little alice!” he added, self assured of his future fame.

when it all settles, all that remains is a space between you and riddle that feels too little than vast. and a remainder of your future.

“atleast we know what name we'll choose.” you can't resist but tease. riddle does not blow up like you would have thought from your remark, only sparing you a look of feigned annoyance with warming ears that doesn't support the idea of his irritation.

he resigns to a small nod. “I am assured they are taught well.”

ace glances between you, and riddle. “I miss alice already. riddle seemed a lot more lenient with them around. you think they got embarrassing stories from the future?” he comments off-handedly, leaning back against the couch and blowing on the fringe over his forehead. “when are you guys gonna make an alice? please make one now.”

cater whistles out of there.

trey shakes his head.

deuce–still passed out is thankfully considered by trey, who dragged his limp body with a nod of goodluck to ace.

you waved at ace. F indeed.

wait! don't leave me, upperclassman! ace cried in his mind, feeling the panic splinter his state of mind.

“ACE!” riddle gritted his teeth. “i'll hand down my sentence, the verdict comes afterwards–”

ace paled.

“off with your head–!”

trivia

alice’s name is very much inspired by alice from the one and only: “alice in wonderland”.

their unique magic is called: under my decree which is simply being able to summon card soldiers, and command them at their will! (in this case, after being sent to a maze and finding their way out thanks to the hedgehog. alice was able to discern that this was heartlsabyul, and figured they might be able to find their parents here, hence, why they used their magic.)

alice is written to be a well-behaved 8 year old.

the watch is a nod to my previous commissioned work who also dealt with the concept of time travelling and related to going back (ha, ha).

alice woke up by the sound of a clock ticking, and knew that hearing it again meant that their time was up.

the entire thing happened due to alice helping untangle a fae who happened to get stuck in their gardens at the backyard while they were looking for a hedgehog that had not yet eaten (spoiler: hedgehog was hiding in a small crack under the tree) the same fae visited them at night whilst sleeping and granted them a dream of whatever they wanted to wish. alice, feeling swayed by the magic despite being not aware made a wish to fulfill it.

boom! baby rosehearts in your faces!

alice woke up and immediately said young riddle was funnily shy to yuu. much to the confusion of actual current riddle!

their favorite tart is: anything with strawberries, like riddle.

rule 13, and rule 102 are entirely fictional and made up by me… for plot purposes…

not deuce = is actually yuu

not yuu = is actually ace

not ace = is actually deuce

deuce been sleeping for the entire time lol.

ace got roped into fixing the gardens with the collar on  #thatswhatyouget

riddle invites you to study for the nearing quiz season the following day.

[hamburgerndsprite]

Sprite's Favourite Fics {Bangtan Fics} Part 14

Note: (I'll keep updating the lists as I read more fics. Also, all the moodboards are edited by me therefore I request everyone not to repost them as theirs)

[Masterlist]

[POLY]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Potion 609 by jincherie

✩ — pairing: seokjin x reader x jimin ✩ — genre: poly, magic au, roadtrip au, mutual pining, borderline crack, fluff, slight angst ✩ — words: 10.8k ✩ — summary: A four day roadtrip into the depths of the mountains with the two best friends you’ve recently realised you have feelings for is probably the last thing you need. It becomes a reality, though, when Seokjin and Jimin bring home a cursed doll that reacts with the potion you were making and lands you all cursed yourselves; both forced to say whatever comes to mind and bound to each other. Now stuck in close quarters with your two idiot best friends who for the life of them can not shut up for the foreseeable future while you venture to fix this, you’re beginning to doubt whether you or your heart can survive this trip in one piece.

[KIM NAMJOON]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Butterfingers by jincherie

↽pairing: namjoon x reader ↽genre: hybrid!au, teacher!au, hybrid!namjoon, teacher!namjoon ↽words: 8.2k+ ↽summary: He had you at the very first pebble he gave you.

➺ Tounge Tied by dovechim

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader Genre: Fluff/ Harry Potter au Word count: 2.6k Summary: Namjoon is down with a very unique curse, but it turns out to be a blessing in disguise. 

➺ Free Delivery Not Included [M] by dovechim

Pairing: Fertility Specialist! Namjoon x Reader Genre: Smut Word count: 7.1k Summary: The premise is simple, really. you’ve been wanting to have a baby ever since you and your husband got married three years ago. Dr Kim Namjoon is the top fertility specialist in town who boasts a 100% success rate. the thing is, your husband has given up on trying to have children, so you find yourself visiting Dr Kim Namjoon in secret, only to realise that his methods are slightly unorthodox.

➺ Warmth by jincherie

↽pairing: Namjoon x reader ↽genre: fluff, drabble, demigod!au, demigod!Namjoon, roommate!au ↽words: 3k ↽summary: Even Cupid’s son needs a break every now and then, but Namjoon’s trip to the human world brings about more realisations than he intended.

[KIM SEOKJIN]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Golden Boy [M] by kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Jin x Reader Genre: Fluff, smut, neighbours au Word Count: 9,208 Summary: The golden boy of the porn industry, prettier than half his female co-stars. Will sue if you pull his hair. Always bothering his neighbors with pizza delivery.

➺ A Lullaby on Canvas by jincherie

✧ pairing; seokjin x reader ✧ genre; neighbour au, siren au, artist au, fluff, smut ✧ words; 15k ✧ summary; Your neighbour, as far as you knew, was mute. You weren’t sure what exactly had happened, but you figured that perhaps it contributed to the stunning works he created with paints and clay. You were curious, and that curiosity led you to grow closer – but perhaps, in growing closer and getting to know him, you were getting a little in over your head.

➺ Fast Lane by yminie

pairing: FormulaOneRacer! Jin x PitCrew! Reader genre: enemies to lovers, smut, fluff words: 20.6k summary: “Disgruntledly, you think to yourself how frustrating it is he can be quite so awful of a person and still be so good looking.” Alternatively, Boy Toy racer Kim Seokjin lives to test; the laws of speed, how many women he can bag, how much money he can convince people to give him, and quite how far you can be pushed before you snap.

➺ Lost & Found by jincherie

↼pairing: seokjin x reader ↼genre: selkie au,roommate au, fluff ? ↼words: 9.1k+ ↽summary: How were you supposed to know that beautiful sealskin coat you picked up on the beach belonged to none other than your friend Kim Seokjin, the most beautiful man alive and the keeper of your heart?

➺ Is that my shirt you're wearing? by snackhobi

pairing: seokjin x reader genre: fluff (sfw/general) word count: 1.9k

{SERIES}

➺ Clichés and Canapés (M) by kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Seokjin x Reader Genre: best friends to lovers; fake dating; billionaire au Parts: 2/2 Synopsis: After twenty years of friendship, you’d think you were used to Seokjin’s proposals by now. In the past he’s forced you to participate in skydiving, skinny dipping, and even staging a rescue from the local shelter. Seokjin has always had big ideas but this time, even he may have gone too far. Granted, break-ups are stressful, and Seokjin’s latest one up was bad. Really bad. As in, they-ended-things-in-December-and-now-she’s-dating-his-brother bad. It almost makes sense then, when Seokjin asks you to come home with him for his parents' party. Almost makes sense when he says his family assumed you were dating, and he didn't correct them. What doesn’t make sense is the longer you fake things, the more you find yourself wondering if this was real all along.

[MIN YOONGI]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Sugar Rush Ride by lo1k-diamonds

PAIRING: Yoongi x Reader GENRE: coworkers (mutually) pining to lovers WORD COUNT: 12.6k SUMMARY: You produced a song based on your hidden desires for your fellow producer and promised yourself that tonight, things would change. You were done pining after him, but then he arrived at the listening party.

➺ Love Roulette by whatifyoulivelikethat

pairing(s): yoongi x reader genre: friends-to-lovers; fluff / feels / a bit of a slow but sweet burn; agonizing over becoming an adult; smut summary: You get dragged into some dumbass shit thanks to your roommate and childhood best friend, Kim Seokjin. What is the Love Roulette you ask? Seven men put their names in a hat and six consenting women draw their names from said hat. You have to date them for three months. Social experiment, yeah? And the last nonconsenting woman? Why, that's you!

➺ Vulpine by jincherie

↼pairing: yoongi x reader ↼genre: gumiho!yoongi, supernatural creatures!au, smut ↼words: 12.7k+ ↼summary: Life as a supernatural exterminator is never boring, but when you get called to a case at a large home in the woods you think its nothing more than just the usual haunting. It didn’t take you long after arriving, however, to realise that it wasn’t a ghost or poltergeist plaguing this house, but something different, something dangerous.... something alive.

[JUNG HOSEOK]

{ONESHOT}

➺ The Dragon's Princess by jamaisjoons

⟶ pairing: dragon shifter!hoseok x princess!reader ⟶ genre: angst • fluff • smut ⟶ wordcount: 23.5k ⟶ summary:  with your mother’s death, and your father remarrying, came your abandonment in a tower - under the pretence that you’d be saved by a prince when you were older. now, it’s been over a decade and the princes come in droves to save you from the dragon that guards you. but you don’t want a charming prince. no. you prefer sweet ferocious dragons. one sweet, ferocious dragon in particular. fantasy au. royalty au. fairytale au. childhood friends to lovers au.

[PARK JIMIN]

{ONESHOT}

➺ The Boyfriend Concept [M] by kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Genre: Porn Star!AU / fluff / smut / slight angst Word Count: 22,063 Summary: Win a Date with a Porn Star! You saw the sign when you walked in, of course, but you had no idea your friend dropped your name into the raffle. Fast-forward to later that day, when you actually win. You are horrified, of course, with no intention of accepting and setting yourself up for embarrassment. But then you meet Jimin, and decide this might be worth a shot.

➺ Reset [M] by dovechim

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Genre: Strangers to Lovers, College au Word Count: 10,226 words + Drabble Summary: We are made of the pieces of what we remember, and we hold in ourselves the hopes and fears of those who love us. As long as there are memories to call our own, there can be no true loss. But Park Jimin has no such privilege. 

{SERIES}

➺ Opposites Attract by kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Slytherin! Jimin x Hufflepuff! Reader Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Smut, Hogwarts au Parts: 9/9 Summary: A series of drabbles about Slytherin!Jimin and Hufflepuff!Y/N, the sister of his self-declared mortal enemy.

[KIM TAEHYUNG]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Day by Day by hueseok

pairing: taehyung x reader content: fluff | smut | strangers to lovers au | a dash of supposed one-night stand au | eventual established relationship au word count: 8.2k summary: as surprising as it sounds, you and taehyung didn’t just meet after a considerable amount of drinks, shameless dance floor grinding, and a one-night stand turned legit relationship—because as it turns out, you two have met each other approximately three more instances in the past, every encounter building up until finally, the universe decided it was time.

{SERIES}

➺ Mystery Gang; Unsolved by jincherie

☾ — Pairing: taehyung x reader ☾ — Genre: demon au, supernatural/paranormal au, buzzfeed unsolved au/inspired, smut (oncoming), f2l ☾ — Parts: 3/3 ☾ — Summary: Ever since you met taehyung in one of your first year classes at university, you seemed to click and you hadn’t parted from each other’s side since. you’ve been his friend for a few years now, and your mutual interest in the supernatural and taehyung’s propensity for finding the spotlight wherever he goes led to the two of you starting up your very own supernatural investigation vlog series. friends isnt the only thing you want to be, and one night close to hallow’s eve when the two of you get a little in over your heads in a way you never have been before, you find out that maybe it’s not only you that feels that way.

[JEON JUNGKOOK]

{ONESHOT}

➺ Petty by hamsterclaw

Pairing: Jungkook x f!reader Genre: Crack, smut, rookie lawyer reader and criminal JK Word count: 11k Summary: You end up being responsible for Jeon Jungkook, who's impulsive, annoying and in the habit of breaking the law. Unfortunately for you, he's also funny and sexy as fuck. There's no way this can end well, can it?

➺ Chewie & Choco Boy by hueseok

pairing: soccer captain! jeongguk x reader genre: fluff | light angst | college au | best friends to lovers au word count: 14.5k + sequel summary: all your life, jeongguk has always been and only been your best friend. no matter the countless misunderstandings and the never ending teasing when it came to the true nature of your relationship, you two remained firm about it—saying that you were really just really good friends and nothing more. though lately, that doesn’t seem to be right anymore, especially as the both of you begin getting confused yourselves.

➺ Heavy Lifting by snackhobi

Pairing: jungkook x reader Genre: fluff + comedy Word count: 13.4k Summary: you work the night shift in a supermarket. and now your crush, aka the cutest boy in the world, aka the guy you’ve been thirsting after for months, aka jeon jungkook, works the night shift too. les geddit

➺ Kiss it Better by jincherie

✩ — pairing: jungkook x reader ✩ — genre: college/uni au, smut, cheerleader!jk, pining, borderline crack ✩ — words: 11.7k ✩ — summary: When one goes to Kim Seokjin for advice, it’s almost guaranteed to never end well. This is something Jungkook learns quickly when he mistakenly follows treasured advice to ‘be smart’ and ‘use his assets’. He just did what he was told! Of course, the execution was a bit poor… and embarrassing. But hey, if rocking up to cheer practice in a skirt doesn’t woo your crush, what will?

➺ Heartbreak Veterans by hueseok

✩ — Pairing: Busker! jeongguk x reader ✩ — Content: fluff | light angst | strangers to lovers au ✩ — Word count: 10.3k ✩ — Summary: “But what about you?” He brings up a new topic, gesturing suddenly at your whole figure and you remember that you still had the ridiculous hot pink cocktail dress on in front of this handsome man. “What’s the story behind all of that?” You lean on your chair, pulling at the ends of the dress as if presenting it to him. “I attended a wedding. My best friend’s wedding.” He raises his eyebrows, curious and definitely more interested, leaning on the table slightly. “Let me guess… is this best friend of yours secretly the one you’ve been sobbing about?” You nod with a loud laugh. “Bingo.” “Damn.” Jeongguk chuckles. “Then that just makes us heartbreak veterans now, huh?”

{SERIES}

➺ A Lover's Kiss by hueseok

pairing: jeongguk x reader content: smut | angst | fluff | friends with benefits au | idiots to lovers au | college au | yearning? pining? | ft. swimmer!jeongguk, editor-in-chief!reader parts: 16/16 summary: a friends with benefits relationship never ends on a good note. unless, both parties are not dumb fucks who find themselves falling for each other along the way of their agreement, of course. and in yours and jeongguk’s case, you should have known better than to think the two of you would be an exception to the so-called curse of being friends with benefits with someone you already hold dear to you, since not even five months since it was agreed upon—the line between being only friends and being a little like lovers only continue to get hazier and hazier.

[oviraptoridae]

research & development is ongoing

since using jukebox for sampling material on albedo, i've been increasingly interested in ethically using ai as a tool to incorporate more into my own artwork. recently i've been experimenting with "commoncanvas", a stable diffusion model trained entirely on works in the creative commons. though i do not believe legality and ethics are equivalent, this provides me peace of mind that all of the training data was used consensually through the terms of the creative commons license. here's the paper on it for those who are curious! shoutout to @reachartwork for the inspiration & her informative posts about her process!

part 1: overview

i usually post finished works, so today i want to go more in depth & document the process of experimentation with a new medium. this is going to be a long and image-heavy post, most of it will be under the cut & i'll do my best to keep all the image descriptions concise.

for a point of reference, here is a digital collage i made a few weeks ago for the album i just released (shameless self promo), using photos from wikimedia commons and a render of a 3d model i made in blender:

and here are two images i made with the help of common canvas (though i did a lot of editing and post-processing, more on that process in a future post):

more about my process & findings under the cut, so this post doesn't get too long:

quick note for my setup: i am running this model locally on my own machine (rtx 3060, ubuntu 23.10), using the automatic1111 web ui. if you are on the same version of ubuntu as i am, note that you will probably have to build python 3.10.6 yourself (and be sure to use 'make altinstall' instead of 'make install' and change the line in the webui to use 'python3.10' instead of 'python3'. just mentioning this here because nobody else i could find had this exact problem and i had to figure it out myself)

part 2: initial exploration

all the images i'll be showing here are the raw outputs of the prompts given, with no retouching/regenerating/etc.

so: commoncanvas has 2 different types of models, the "C" and "NC" models, trained on their database of works under the CC Commercial and Non-Commercial licenses, respectively (i think the NC dataset also includes the commercial license works, but i may be wrong). the NC model is larger, but both have their unique strengths:

"a cat on the computer", "C" model

"a cat on the computer", "NC" model

they both take the same amount of time to generate (17 seconds for four 512x512 images on my 3060). if you're really looking for that early ai jank, go for the commercial model. one thing i really like about commoncanvas is that it's really good at reproducing the styles of photography i find most artistically compelling: photos taken by scientists and amateurs. (the following images will be described in the captions to avoid redundancy):

"grainy deep-sea rover photo of an octopus", "NC" model. note the motion blur on the marine snow, greenish lighting and harsh shadows here, like you see in photos taken by those rover submarines that scientists use to take photos of deep sea creatures (and less like ocean photography done for purely artistic reasons, which usually has better lighting and looks cleaner). the anatomy sucks, but the lighting and environment is perfect.

"beige computer on messy desk", "NC" model. the reflection of the flash on the screen, the reddish-brown wood, and the awkward angle and framing are all reminiscent of a photo taken by a forum user with a cheap digital camera in 2007.

so the noncommercial model is great for vernacular and scientific photography. what's the commercial model good for?

"blue dragon sitting on a stone by a river", "C" model. it's good for bad CGI dragons. whenever i request dragons of the commercial model, i either get things that look like photographs of toys/statues, or i get gamecube type CGI, and i love it.

here are two little green freaks i got while trying to refine a prompt to generate my fursona. (i never succeeded, and i forget the exact prompt i used). these look like spore creations and the background looks like a bryce render. i really don't know why there's so much bad cgi in the datasets and why the model loves going for cgi specifically for dragons, but it got me thinking...

"hollow tree in a magical forest, video game screenshot", "C" model

"knights in a dungeon, video game screenshot", "C" model

i love the dreamlike video game environments and strange CGI characters it produces-- it hits that specific era of video games that i grew up with super well.

part 3: use cases

if you've seen any of the visual art i've done to accompany my music projects, you know that i love making digital collages of surreal landscapes:

(this post is getting image heavy so i'll wrap up soon)

i'm interested in using this technology more, not as a replacement for my digital collage art, but along with it as just another tool in my toolbox. and of course...

... this isn't out of lack of skill to imagine or draw scifi/fantasy landscapes.

thank you for reading such a long post! i hope you got something out of this post; i think it's a good look into the "experimentation phase" of getting into a new medium. i'm not going into my post-processing / GIMP stuff in this post because it's already so long, but let me know if you want another post going into that!

good-faith discussion and questions are encouraged but i will disable comments if you don't behave yourselves. be kind to each other and keep it P.L.U.R.

[mortish-writes]

[Play Bride of Shadows for Free] [Patreon Edition]

The Patreon for Bride of Shadows is live! All that whinging yesterday and it only took a few hours for them to approve it.

What's in The Nightborn Edition?

Right now, not a lot of extra stuff apart from Night V of the Zealot route. When I started writing Bride of Shadows, my aim was to avoid paywalling the story. I know from experience that there's no better time for romantic escapism than when you don't have money. So instead of clipping Bound/Unbound modes from the free version or stopping it after x amount of nights, I opted to make a version with early releases and fan-chosen extras. Each month, we're going to have polls on things like additional tendencies, story branches, and features that will be exclusive to The Nightborn Edition. Your version will have a lot of extra choices and even a few unique story lines.

I took the liberty of adding one much-requested feature to the new edition, and that is a brand new Bound Mode which has an MFM-poly story line and an optional Valdricht only route*. In this mode, Valdricht and Serax will have a platonic maker/progeny relationship. Starting in Night VI or VII (depending on your route) Bound mode players will be able to choose whether to try to juggle the passions of both ROs, or go deep down the Valdricht rabbit hole. Or you can make two save games and do both.

This Sunday we'll have our first poll relating to some baby stuff and I'll be posting an excerpt. Apart from that, I'll be pretty hands-off for the next few days as I focus on finishing the Heretic Night V route. As soon as that is done and edited, it'll be added to The Nightborn Edition as an early release. Then we'll have some polls that will let you shape Night VI and the upcoming NSFW content. I'm dying to write the NSFW Zealot scenes.

The extra content aside, the Patreon will go a long way toward helping me to write Bride of Shadows full-time, which means more content, more quickly, for everyone.

What if I can't/don't want to subscribe to Patreon?

The Nightborn Edition will be available on Steam once the Bride of Shadows IF is complete. I don't have a date on that, it will be dependent on whether I'll be able to write full-time this year. If there is a subscription service similar to Patreon that works in your country, let me know and I'll see about setting up an account.

For everyone else, the free Bride of Shadows updates will be one week after each Patreon update. They'll still have all the content I'd initially planned, including the NSFW stuff!

I donated on Ko-Fi, can I have a free month?

You sure can! In fact, I've already sent messages to everyone who gave a Ko-Fi donation. You should have a link waiting for you that will give you one or more free months of Darksinger membership, depending on how much you donated. If the value of your free months doesn't meet or exceed the amount of your Ko-Fi donation, let me know because I may have sent you the wrong link. Likewise, if you didn't get a message, let me know. I might still use Ko-Fi in the future, either for alternate memberships or goal funding, but for the time being Patreon isn't as temperamental with payments and NSFW content so I'll be focusing on that.

I am one of the two people who donated on Itch.

First of all, you're wonderful. Second, feel free to message me for a link to a free month of the Patreon or the March Nightborn password if you aren't able to do Patreon.

The Patreon page looks so boring and plain.

I KNOW! But I'm not allowed to make it look pretty until I finish Heretic Night V and the new Elovyr map. It's a rule I made because I know I'll sink at least a full day into making it look fancy. Also, The Nightborn Edition store page is basically identical to the regular game. It's driving me insane, too, but that's gotta wait. Writing always comes first.

Final Note

Please remember that the new edition is a work-in-progress and that the extra content will be added as patrons begin voting on it. Right now, it's very similar to the free version, with only the new Zealot night and some hidden variables. The Heretic route is under construction to make some updates for the new Bound mode and will not be playable until the Heretic Night V update next week.

Thanks for reading and supporting my writing. Even if you aren't able to subscribe to Patreon, I appreciate you just following me, chatting about the story, and sharing it with others who might enjoy it. I am grateful every day to be able to write and share Bride of Shadows with you.

-Mortish

*I hear you barking. I know you want a Serax-only route. Maybe it can be a thing later. I kind of have an idea of how we can make it work. Give me some time to think it through. I don't want to promise any story routes until I know 100% that they'll work in the context of the broader plot and that they'll be satisfying.

[hellsdisneyprincess]

Weddings and Funerals in Hell

I like to imagine that every Ring has its own traditions and values, and therefore cultures that affect major life events such as weddings and funerals. The anthropologist in me wanted to talk about ideas I had in this regard. I was going to write it out better and include more things (births, expressions if love, birthdays, milestones, etc) but it got way too much so I'm sticking to just weddings and funerals since I had those written down for most Rings anyway. Even still some are likely to be more fleshed out than others. Not everything that goes on in the wedding/funeral is listed, but I do go over unique features. I MAY edit this as I think of things.

Also, I say "bride and groom" a lot, but these are really not gender specific, really. I just find it less confusing to show who I'm referring to rather than "the couple."

Obviously, these are just my headcanons for flavor (though people can certainly pull from them if they like), but another important note is that these are only traditions. That doesn't mean that every individual in any given ring follows these to the letter or can't do anything from other Rings. Such is the way of an ever-evolving society with lots of admixture like there is between the Rings. Especially with ideas brought in by Sinners.

Also, for the purposes of this, the Pride Ring discussions will be for the Goetia since the Sinners is an insane melting pot of traditions that will more reflect their original time and location of their living days and how they navigate those after death, etc etc. So instead of a discussion on what is essentially an urban diaspora of EVERYONE across all time, I'll focus on Goetia for Pride Ring discussion.

General

Weddings

They are vaguely Judeo-Christian in structure since the initial origin point is from that religious base (also in true anthropologist fashion I acknowledge my biases in knowledge and experience here)

The officiant typically makes references to all the Rings in Hell in their speech when the couple joins together. Usually these entail how the various sins of each Ring are to bolster the couple in their marriage. Some do this more eloquently than others but there are standard versions that get used.

The couple, instead of wearing white and/or black, typically wear their Ring's colors in some shade. For couples of different Rings, they usually either wear from their home Ring, or both wear a mix of the two.

Funerals

There are no burials. There is no belief in an afterlife for Hellborn so burials or other practices that entail preservation of the body are not present. Funerals, yes. Honoring the dead after they've past, yes. But no rituals that implicate an afterlife since there is none to be found. (As a mun note this made it really interesting to try to find unique traditions that would be specific to each Ring but still all adhere to this.)

Pride

Weddings

Large emphasis on family lineage and honoring the families being brought together.

Ceremonies incorporate traditions from previous generations and then are encouraged to add something of their own, putting a mark on the ceremony going forward and preserved through time. As one can imagine, Goetia ceremonies get more complicated and ritualistic with each successive generation.

If for some reason there are no traditions found, either due to lost knowledge, establishment of a new family, or family disowning, etc, the bride/groom can ask to use another family's traditions, but that's akin to asking to be considered part of that family. It is taken very seriously as a result.

Funerals

Most of the eulogy is spent on the deceased's accomplishments in life.

Private cremation. An elaborate urn either of the deceased's design or a depiction of their accomplishments (often both) hold their ashes. This urn is placed in an above-ground crypt so that future generations can honor the prior generations. These urns are often accompanied by trinkets valuable or personal to the deceased.

The upkeep and decoration of these crypts are indications of wealth and status. It is encouraged that if a family member moves up, that they renovate the family crypt to reflect this and elevate the rest of the family with them. That said, the family member this reflects oftens gives themselves a place of honor within the crypt, so organization within said crypt is often a matter of one-upmanship.

Wrath

Weddings

There often are competitions wherein each family proves their worthiness to the other before the ceremony. These are usually days-long festivals where the bride and groom side with their families in various activities.

Once the wedding ceremony is done, there are more games but now it is couples against the rest of the family. Depending on how competitive the families involved are, they may let the bride and groom win, but not always.

If there isn't some sort of injury, it's considered a boring wedding.

Weddings that then result in someone's death definitely happen and each family usually has some sort of story about it occurring.

Funerals

The deceased is tossed into a volcano.

Individual family tradition decides who gets the honor of throwing the deceased into said volcano, such as it being next if kin, witness to the death, predetermined by a will, determined by contest, etc.

If the deceased died of anything other than a battle, a member of the family will symbolically wrestle or otherwise defeat them so they can have that good death of a send-off.

Gluttony

Weddings

The bride and groom prepare or arrange a great wedding feast. Recipes are often passed down through generations for this purpose.

Funerals

Ritualistic cannibalism and none of the deceased goes to waste. There are plenty of recipes for using bones as stock, different cuts of meat, etc.

If the individual cannot be eaten directly (or anything is leftover), they are created and their ashes used to make a special flour used to make a traditional death cake that is presented at the funeral. This cake is usually baked either by next of kin, dearest friend, or a type of bakery/kitchen that specializes in death feasts.

Greed

Weddings

There is a great show if haggling dowry/bride price. These negotiations can go on for a long time and the wedding cannot take place unless this is resolved. These are often mediated meetings. Bribing this mediator is also part common.

While these negotiations go on, it is common for the bride (or groom) to be stolen in the meantime. This also factors into the negotiations.

Appearance of wealth during these weddings is important. There are whole industries surrounding appearing wealthy at a budget, but it's a balancing act for discerning eyes.

Funerals

Wills are highly emphasized. Since they cannot be taken to the afterlife (as there is none), every item must be carefully bequeathed. The reading of this will during the funeral is a major part of the ceremony. It also functions as a list of all the wealth the deceased acquired in their lifetime.

Funeral pyres echoing Goetian cremation. But public to make sure the deceased is actually dead and not just faking it to escape debts.

Lust

Weddings

Smaller than one would think. There is a great focus on the families becoming one rather than just the bride and groom. The couple give special attention to each and every guest to express love and thanks. More than just a quick hug, etc. So smaller weddings make this more manageable. That said, there are often second parties purely to celebrate, especially in more modern times.

Funerals

The deceased is cremated but their ashes are pressed into colorful beads. Colors chosen by the deceased if they are able to do so. Otherwise it is usually their favorite color, blue (for the Lust ring), or an assortment of colors. One of these beads is added to a large family string while the rest are passed out among loved ones.

Due to the potentially complex nature of relationships, sometimes these strings can become complicated. There are craftsmen dedicated to this work.

Envy

Weddings

They are fairly scripted, but not in call-response, but more in telenovela-style drama. Friends and family take on specific roles such as the former lover, the disapproving parents, etc (not all weddings have the same roles but you get the idea), regardless of actual feelings. Sometimes professional actors are hired for these.

The two roles that ARE present, even if there aren't any other are the Objector and the Advocate. They go back and forth to argue why the bride and groom should or shouldn't get married. The Objector includes general arguments against marriage as well as individual flaws and slights and insults towards the bride and groom. The Advocate has a response for each and every one of these. The Advocate always wins.

Funerals

Prior to their death, they are encouraged to write out their dirty laundry to be read out at the funeral. Typically these are worked on their whole lives. If the deceased doesn't have one or it cannot be found, friends and family will write one for the deceased instead.

In return, guests are encouraged to say or write nice things about the deceased, but it is common to make these witty or backhanded in nature.

The deceased are given over to the creatures of the depths to be eaten.

Sloth

Weddings

The bride and groom's friends and family take care of all arranging and organizing. The couple don't lift a finger. They're even carried into and out of the venue, are fed by others, etc. Some families might have traditions on who does certain parts (such as either parents or the most recently married couple feeding the bride and groom, etc) but the main thing is that the bride and groom are fully taken care of.

Funerals

Sky burial. There are platforms for the bodies to rot and decompose naturally. They are usually placed in serene poses, adorned in their favorite clothes and colors and flowed, etc. These are usually kept a good distance from the more populated areas so accidental dropping of parts doesn't happen. After they are reduced to just bones, caretakers collect the bones, pulverize them, and either scatter them to the wind or incorporate them into medicines.

[cleolinda]

The happenings, Tumblr edition

Obviously I am not happy about the prospect of Tumblr going into sunset "guess we'll just let it die" mode (or possibly "Let's sell it to fuck knows who!!"), if that is indeed what is happening. My clinical anxiety needs a lot of things. This is not one of them.

I've been using Tumblr as my primary hangout for pretty much exactly a year now. I am tired of watching platforms enshittify and crumble. Why does this keep happening to us. I am weary.

At the same time, yeah, Twitter is dogshit now, but a year after it got taken over, it is there still. There were some problems on Reddit, but it's thoroughly still there. There was time to figure out some migration for all the good it did.

I worked on essay-type posts and recaps all this year to figure out approximately how many spoons I have and how much I can expect to post a month, before I actually got the Patreon running in October. A solid 1-2 Long Posts a month, it seems like, and maybe more frequently if I do shorter posts. And Tumblr has great opportunities to just keep reblogging and sharing things, sometimes adding comments, so I feel like I'm active even when I'm stuck trying to finish a post of my own.

So now, fuck me, I guess

So I have the Patreon as a way to say, hey, I'm here no matter what else happens, sign up for the ~*free*~ weekend linkspam/check-in, here's what I posted wherever this week, I'll put up some early or extra stuff if you'd like to upgrade to a fancy tier someday. It is truly most important to me for people to just know where I am; you don't have to commit to the $1 or $5 tiers.

But I also want a way to post my writing publicly, so people can, you know, see it. So I'm gonna start mirroring my own longer posts on Dreamwidth, I guess. That's the place I know to go back to.

Hopefully Dreamwidth does not go also down in flames!!!!

I've started archiving some of my work (also from LJ and Twitter) as PDFs in Dropbox. Mostly as a safeguard for myself, but I'll make it a public link on the Patreon.

I would really like to keep up with where people are going, what sites people are going to try to migrate to next, and I'll pass that info on as I get it.

All that said, I think most of us will stay on Tumblr as long as we can, if only for the very unique shoot-the-shit culture it has. Like, people aren't leaving it so much as preparing for the future.

[aylacavebear]

Master List

A/N: New Master List Link if you've found yourself here.

So far, I only do series, and I'm working on several. I hope you guys enjoy reading these as much as I had writing them and rereading them. Most are a work in progress, and I'll post them when I can.

Whenever I write, I always picture Maria Winter as the character in the story, even if it is Y/N or the reader. She's been with me through many stories that I've written over the past 30 years. I love that I get to share her with all of you.

I'm one who enjoys the reader to be something different than human. Somehow, writing those always brings a lot of unexpected things to the story. I haven't yet written where the reader or OC is human. There's always something hidden below the surface.

I think if I do any AUs, I will try out having the reader be human but with something utterly unique to the AU that's like 1 in a billion.

Many thanks to all my readers. Your comments, reblogs, hearts, and follows are what keep me writing and sharing them here. I love hearing from all of you.

----------------------------------------- One Shots Master List Well, it finally happened. lol -----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------- She Thought She Was Normal (Series) (Completed) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Female A/N: Smut in one chapter

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

Stockroom Antics (Series) (Completed) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Female Soulmate "AU" with some SPN show stuff.

----------------------------------------- Retribution (Series) (Completed) Pairing is Dean Winchester x OC Reader/You A/N: Severely DARK. MAJOR TRIGGER WARNINGS 18+ ONLY -----------------------------------------

The Traveler (Series) (Completed) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Reader & Sam Winchester x OC Female Reader. Soulmate "AU" but still with regular SPN show stuff. A/N: Make sure to get in on the fun here. -----------------------------------------

Soulmates? Yeah, right, pft. (Series) (currently writing) Pairing: Mechanic Dean Winchester x OC Female Reader/You AU where with only characters from Supernatural. Uploads on Fridays, for now.

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

The Curse that Changed Your Life (Series) (Part 3 - on hold) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Reader/You Does not follow the "show" timeline.

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

What's the Opposite of Healing? (Series) (in the works) Pairing: Cas x OC Reader/You Does not follow the "show" timeline. Reader request.

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

Bloodlines & Fate (Series) (in the works) Pairing: Alpha Dean x OC Omega Reader/You A/B/O Soulmate AU.

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

Not A Dream (Series) (on hold) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Female Soulmate "AU". Doesn't follow "show" timeline.

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

Dimensional Shift (Series) (Editing & Writing) Pairing: Dean Winchester x OC Female A/N: This one is basically the show with a twist, and it will start just before Dean comes back from hell. A/N: I have to put this one on hold. It needs more editing than I realized. -----------------------------------------

Permanent Tag List: @roseblue373 @flamencodiva @reignsboy19 @stillhere197 @foxyjwls007

@hobby27 @megs-gadom

If you'd like to be added to any and all future fics, drop me a comment.

[gumywyrm]

WoF RPG - DevLog #1

hello!!! figured a devlog might make things more organized

The sprites are done! The generic ones, that is (meaning NPCs and such). Next I'll need to do the battle sprites, make unique edits for the player character and significant NPCs, and possibly flying sprites for the overworld/map selection.

Also also, lore dump! Here's some of what I've come up with so far:

The game takes place in a future AU with some adjustments to canon

Burn ascended the throne and transitioned the SandWings to a constitutional monarchy

^ Blaze also survived and has chosen not to involve herself in government in any way + Blister was killed by her own dragonbite vipers

JMA was started a few years after the end of the war

^ It still exists and has opened applications to any and all dragons

After bringing the Rain Kingdom to a more stable place, Glory stepped down from the throne and passed it down to a different RainWing (via the competition)

^ The new RainWing queen is now trying to reintroduce old practices such as the assassin training program

There are three main NightWing communities: the NightWing village, Renewal, and the NightWing Island.

^ The NightWing village still remains under the rule of the RainWings.

^ Renewal is gradually expanding back into the former Night Kingdom. A new NightWing queen was crowned after enough dragons immigrated to the new kingdom

After a decade or two, NightWings traveled back to the island in an attempt to recover lost items. Some then started an effort to revitalize the island by reintroducing plant and wildlife, the ground invigorated by the volcanic ash.

Pyrrhia is still experiencing unrest, partly because of the war and also due to growing conflict within the tribes. Some are questioning the monarchy system after being plunged in a devastating war over a conflict that was never planned for

[guardian-angle22]

Felt like putting together a little themed fic rec list! Here are some coda/missing moment fics for 3.07 Red vs. Blue. If I've missed any, let me know and I can add them to the list! (I also might make edits to these posts to add more fics as they get written. If I ever do so I'll be sure to reblog the post for visibility!)

Enjoy all of our amazing fandom writers and leave them some comments & love!

[Disclaimer: If you're an author and don't like to be tagged or linked for any reason, let me know and I'll remove the tag and make sure not to do so in the future, no questions asked.]

SOFTBALL FOCUSED:

◆ Win or Lose by @heartstringsduet (Words: 8.3K; Rating: E; d/s elements)

What if the softball game ended with nothing but TK receiving his rightful reward for winning? What if Carlos ever so slightly tweaked his plans?

◆ in your corner by @heartstringsduet (Words: 7.1K; Rating: M; d/s elements; part 5 of a series)

Win or lose, Carlos promises to reward TK after the softball game tonight. But all it takes is a single moment to unravel what they’ve built together.

◆ it's hotter than hell where i'm at by @petalwritesx (Words: 1.3K; Rating: M)

“If I would’ve known a softball uniform did this to you,” T.K. says, breathless between kisses, “I would’ve bought one a long time ago.” OR: Before their little award ceremony, Carlos and T.K. have some alone time.

◆ Sex Drive by @welcometololaland (Words: 3.8K; Rating: E)

Carlos has a thing for TK playing softball and TK has a thing for reflective surfaces, apparently. OR A season 3, episode 7 missing scene.

◆ "You love this, don't you?" by @irispurpurea (Words: 403; Rating: T)

Fictober 2022 Day 28. Prompt: “You love this, don’t you?” Missing scene from Red vs. Blue

◆ Gold name and number by @goodways (Words: 3.6K; Rating: E)

“I’m just saying Carlos, it was a simple ‘talk shit, get hit scenario’, the law has no place getting involved,” TK spoke with a tone like he was explaining simple first grade math. “First of all, that’s not true and second of all… no, no I think that’s it.” * Carlos has some feelings about TK in his softball outfit.

◆ Take Me Out to the Ball Game by @chicgeekgirl89 (Words: 1.5K; Rating: T)

He’s seen his boyfriend’s ass in a lot of outfits; his uniform, jeans, slacks, but nothing, nothing tops this. His boyfriend is hot. He’s so fucking hot. Carlos isn’t sure he’s ever seen anything hotter in his entire life.  A follow up fic for 3x07 "Red vs. Blue" in which T.K. wears a new kind of uniform and Carlos likes it. A lot.

◆ your hand under my jacket by @kiras-sunshine (Words: 5.8K; Rating: T)

"You know, I’m grateful you came to watch,” TK hums as he steps into their loft through the door, and immediately turns around to give him one of those wide and brilliant grins, and pokes the peak of Carlos’ cap upwards, “even though it looked like you were trying to be as incognito as possible.

END OF EPISODE FOCUSED or BOTH (TW: discussions of grief/death/dying):

◆ Everest to mariana by @paperstorm

A tag for 3x7, 'Red vs Blue', in which Carlos fulfills a teenaged fantasy and TK gets devastating news.

◆ i can't just bring them back, but darling i can hold your hand by @morganaspendragonss (Words: 2K; Rating: T)

It’s been hours, and TK hasn’t said a word. He hasn’t screamed, or cried, or done anything that Carlos has come to expect from someone who just found out a loved one passed away. He’s just curled up in a ball on the bed, staring blankly at the wall, and that’s where he’s been ever since he walked away from the party like a ghost. * a 3.07 coda/3.08 spec fic

◆ underneath by @kiras-sunshine (Words: 4.2K; Rating: T)

Grief is a powerful thing, and it affects everyone differently, creating unique pain and ache for everyone, and it is always a process, and TK has had his grief only for mere hours. It is still new, growing and invading space in him.

◆ not a victory march by @reyesstrand (Words: 2.8K; Rating: T)

Carlos approaches, still under the assumption that everything is fine because it's supposed to be, and TK feels his eyes start to burn when Carlos asks him to tell his mom he says hi.  Because that's something he's never going to do again.

◆ Surrounded by Love by @bluenet13 (Words: 5.8K; Rating: T)

A look at TK in the days, weeks and months following Gwyn’s passing as he processes his grief with the help of his family and friends. A 3x07 Coda

◆ this weight off your shoulders by @marjansmarwani (Words: 1.9K; Rating: T)

When Andrea Reyes receives a call from her son with terrible news, she makes a promise to a woman she only met once but always felt she knew. A 3x07 Coda

◆ may there be abundant peace by @maxbegone (Words: 2.6K; Rating: N/A)

Carlos sighs. “Baby, I’m so sorry.” “Yeah.” “I’m so sorry.” It warrants no further reply, because at this point Carlos is crying along with him, resting his forehead against his temple and securing his hold even tighter. If he didn’t feel so numb, TK would reciprocate somehow. But this day has been simultaneously a blur and the sharpest image, burned red-hot in his brain. He could relive every single moment in perfect accuracy, he swears. __ An introspective episode coda sometime after the events of 3.07 and 3.08.

◆ No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. by @tkstrrand (4 fic series, Total Words: 13.1K; Rating: G)

TK tries to balance moments of joy with grief/guilt following the months after his mother's passing.

◆ sometimes grief is an open wound - it bleeds and bleeds and bleeds by @morganaspendragonss (Words: 663; Rating: M; TW: Self-harm, Suicidal Thoughts)

His doctor puts him back on his antidepressants and he takes them without complaint, even when sometimes they feel like they’re doing more harm than good. The side effects leave him nauseous for a week, his already unpredictable sleep schedule fucked up beyond repair, but TK dutifully swallows them down every morning, because this means that he’s trying, right? It means that… It means something. It has to.

◆ wrap me up, enfold me by @strandnreyes (Words: 2.3K; Rating: G)

“She’s dead.” Those are the last words he has spoken in at least ten minutes. Now as Carlos sits beside TK on the couch, he isn’t sure what to do. His boyfriend is silent and unmoving, almost hauntingly so, and there’s this vacant look in his eyes that makes him look so unlike himself that it jars Carlos.

◆ Before...And After by @littlemissmarianna (Words: 256; Rating: G)

TK takes a shuddering breath. He doesn’t remember much about last night, except that he was catatonic after the call, then dissolved an hour later into a sobbing, hyperventilating mess. The only reason he didn’t shake apart was because Carlos had held him.

◆ wrapped in a cloak of misery by @pendragonsandbuckleys (Words: 1.1K; Rating: G)

The phone clattered to the ground only seconds before TK’s knees buckled from underneath him. - a 3.07 coda.

◆ silent answers by @blueink3 (Words: 577; Rating: T)

It’s Paul who notices first because of course he does. “She’s dead.” Who clocks the fact that something has gone horrifyingly, catastrophically wrong. “She’s dead.” “Carlos?” Not ‘hey, man’ or ‘you good?’ Not the casual, easy tone Carlos has come to appreciate ever since that night at the club. It’s diffused more than one high pressure situation, but this -  Nothing can fix this. A coda to 3x07.

[justwierzba]

Genetically Accurate Belladonna Cove

Hi everyone, It was a really long while… Yeah I said I will finish it soon back in December, but a lot of stuff got in the way so I couldn't really do so. But I finally managed to finish it so here is probably last GC hood from me - Belladonna Cove.

To be honest, if someone didn't ask about Belladonna Cove I would've forget about it for some more time. No idea why but that one question/request thingy reminded me there's just Belladonna left to make. The idea is simple - I took 1st gen ancestors, mixed them together and mixed these results together to get new faces for our playable sims. Tried to make them look as good and unique as it was possible with these faces. I like most of these faces so that's a good thing. (Not biggest fan of mixing face template based ancestors lol).

Unplayable sims (like deceased parents, spouses, uncles, etc etc) also got genetically mixed faces so I recommend checking trees if you feel like it. Also I added 2 missing sims to the tree, because Duarte Gere and Pasha Dordrius didn't have spouses and I don't like unfinished trees… Nothing too interesting about these, mainly there to fill the gaps.

This is based on clean version of hood, so there should be no mess left in the files. And as always their ages were set as it says on sims wiki, so hopefully also as they are in default version. I had to launch these neighbourhoods in game to edit everything so UC is required. In theory I didn’t use any expansion packs but that’s how the sims works sadly.

I probably should check on my subhoods, cuz in Desiderata post I said it will be (and is) JW07 but in my game files I noticed I already made JW07 and 08 for Olive's victims as townies subhood lol. Also ST genetic Bella subhood also has same number as something else. So yeah.. this one is 09 and for the future it will be less of a mess.

Also… for the first time I took my time to add missing translations for ancestors I added, so there shouldn't be any random names if you play other languages than english. I consider doing so for my previous GC hoods too. If you have any issues with these (or even this one) please tell me as I may fix them while working on that.

also feel free to comment opinions. And I'll try to not take so long to do stuff

That’s all I guess, so here are the links Belladonna Cove mainhood Belladonna Cove subhood

[kaecodes]

HI, so long time no talk! I haven't gone anywhere, I just had some personal financial troubles that were resolved via...lots of overtime! I am a physicist by day, so that meant I became one by night for a couple months. But I remained coding, designing, & sketching things in my scant moments.

More importantly, I've been doing a lot of reading & observing of the Jcink RPC & I am really gutted by the lack of free resources I've seen become manifest. As a result, I've been percolating some easy design methods I could use to fast track totally free skins to give out as bi-monthly as I can manage in the near future.

Because I'm not one to stick to an aesthetic or design style so much as following a settled philosophy of coding, each of my skins will be entirely unique (no reused assets besides utility scripts, perhaps fonts, etc) but will all be;

Designed to be entirely responsive, with fallback & default setups for Custom Fields, image appearance or omission, etc.

Designed to load in a second & half or under, universally.

Neatened to be readable, cascade-organized, & fully notated with CSS & HTML notes to explain important components, how they work, & how to edit them.

Provided with a dark, light, & middle theme colour option as well as High Contrast option.

Provided with Staff, Member & Character profile & miniprofiles.

Provided with a full Custom BBCode suite of site templates to match the skin.

Based on the UI/UX design of a game with striking visuals that can be used for similar genres.

Now, this is a tall order, but I really want to flex my muscle & try to give folks something to be optimistic over in a landscape of drama-blog wastelanded distress. I want to put out something productive & positive, to make the community better & bring us together a bit <3 As a result, I'm going to need a little help from you all. I need to figure out which "Inspos" to work off of first based on desire for them, to fill the starving niches from most important to "least" so to speak. For the next few weeks, I'll post some polls & would be endlessly grateful if you all paid it forward by boosting but also voting on the games whose vibes you want to see MOST PRESSINGLY manifested as skins in the Jcink RPC.

I will, also, eventually port each one to Forumactivo, so for my Forumactivo folks, please let me know when you get specific polls so I can prioritize converting those skins for you! You deserve just as much love!

Of course, if there's a specific game you want to see feel free to comment on this post & I'll make sure to put it in the first poll, but for now that's all. The first list of inspo options will come out later today or tomorrow, Stay tuned & stay awesome, may the Dance keep you all absolutely blessed!

[the-nocturnal-writer]

Dev Log 5

By goodness, it’s been a while since I could just sit down and post about any progression. Life is still keeping me busy thanks to personal matters. However, I’ve been chipping away and doing stuff when I can. I’ve been more or less creating stuff here and there that I can post, though most of the free time I managed to get went into writing and completing tasks. 

Finally have some time to get a dev log written out, I’m hoping to update everybody on what I’ve been up to and have planned since my radio silence (and here’s to hoping the next dev log isn’t forever away…)

One of the bigger changes I’ve planned is turning Evenfall Grove into a Choicescript game rather then Twine. This decision was made to help shorten the time a bit, I don’t get as often as hoped to do what I like, so using Choicescript was a good workaround due to it being a little more simple to use. 

I still hope to make a game with Twine, maybe in the future when i have more financial stability and time to just still and put my full heart into it, but until then, I can say that making Evenfall Grove using Choicescript won’t change anything story or choice wise. I do need to figure out how to work the whole “you can die or get injured when exploring at night” thing, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out…

Next on my list of things to update everyone about is a few changes to my profile, I wanted to make it easier to access information and stuff, as well as easier to read. I might need to tinker with the colouring, but so far I think it’s better. Which leads to me saying that RO profiles have been taken down for the moment. 

I’ve been writing A LOT whenever I could. A lot of rewrites since the ending became more and more clear as I wrote, and a bunch of short stories about the characters. Thanks to this, my brain is forcing me to do another redesign to make them all feel… Well, more them. 

Constantin is the first (and only one even close to done) and has gotten a lot of love, I brought back some stuff from both his older design drafts and made him feel and look more like a man who has been beaten down by life over and over. Exactly what I’m going for.

Another change is the title banner! I still have a few more things to mess with, but for now it less of a priority over writing. I love it more though and the font is real pretty!

Aside from more redesigns, I mentioned character short stories, I might edit and post them if the need calls for it, but it did really help develop each of their backgrounds and helps decide how I want them to be and act, especially around MC! 

It has made me need to rewrite a lot and pace out how MC will first meet each of the characters (as well as how romancing them will go about), in the end it’s helped me decide how I want the ending to go and how I want each character to end up by the end. It’s not just MC going on a journey of power and character development. Each romance option has their own unique way of growing throughout the story.

While I’m mentioning characters, MC’s Familiar has been narrowed down to four animals; Squirrel, Owl, Badger or Fox. Feel free to make more suggestions, my only tip is smaller forest dwelling animals, since familiars size and shape are based on the power of their witch and the environment they're in! MC isn’t the powerhouse they are capable of becoming quite yet.

That is all for now, not as much as I hoped to update everyone with, but I like to try and get a word out when I can so no one is left wondering if this interactive fiction is no longer being made. Still fully intend to make Evenfall, it’s just at a busy snails pace.

Thank you all again for sticking around and having such patience with me, you’re all lovely and I couldn’t ask for better readers! (I need to get to answering asks, I apologise so much for the delay and I'll do my best to dedicate some point next week to answering them!)

Have a good day/evening, witches!

-Red

[the-campaign-coach]

Game Review #2 The Konosuba RPG

As part of a year-long GMing challenge where I ran 12 new to me RPGs, I ended up with a chance to run the Konosuba RPG with a few friends. 

I had never seen the show previously but in anticipation of the game day, my partner and I jumped on CrunchyRoll and binged the first season. Having a fresh view of the series, I was very pleasantly surprised just how well the game managed to be true not only to the tone of the series, but to the mechanics of the games the series itself is drawing inspiration from. In a future post, Adapting Stories: Themes versus Aesthetics, I'll be speaking more about my personal philosophy about running games based off of pre-existing IP. 

This RPG is one of many using a base system created by a company called FarEast Amusement Research, otherwise known as FEAR. This game system is primarily used for them to adapt pre-existing animes, and while I haven't played any of the other games using this system, I do like how it works with Konosuba. For those looking to try out a new type of game, this one's nice because instead of using any special dice, you're simply going to be using piles of d6. 

This is a dungeon diving RPG, and this as a guiding principle allowed for other rules to support the core gameplay loop in a way that was unique and interesting. 

We decided to go with pre-generated characters for this event, and my only complaint would be that some of the translations of the original text leave certain things up for interpretation.  I'm sure that if I had spent a little bit more time learning the system, or had played any of the other FEAR games , certain aspects would be a little bit more intuitive. It felt much like any game that is made here in the West assuming you are familiar with the D20, as well as the Six Attributes. I feel some of this confusion might stem from this being my first RPG from Japan. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It was a fun experience to bring a bunch of people of different levels of games savviness into this world. My players were, my partner who had played less than a dozen sessions of any RPGs, a friend who primarily had only played 5th edition,, and the owner of the rule book, who is the most voracious reader of RPGs I've ever met. Each session you're going to be given a chance to select the mission that you wish to go on. Rather than a lone quest giver in a tavern much like the traditional setup of other sword and board RPGs, this is a guild signup board, so you should be able to provide the players with a lot of options each time. The players have a choice to make.  Do you go for the high payout mission, knowing that there's a chance you might not survive? Or do you choose to spend this week trying something a little simpler. 

The crux of this choice is not just the opportunity to do a harder mission for the XP, but the payout. Where normally this might be so that the players have money to buy things like magic items, this game adds a subsystem I am certainly going to steal. You can choose a higher standard of living to get buffs for the dungeon dive, or a more simple room will leave you going into the fight at normal strength. You can even choose to rough it for the night and that ends up with you taking some hits to your stats, including the resources you use for spells and special martial abilities.  While I am not normally one to use XP for leveling, this concept of room and board affecting character stats is such a good implementation that it makes me want to use it more often. The game takes the decision so seriously that most of the game will hinge upon this one choice. For the game play itself, I commend the application of a single resource for both spells and martial maneuvers that allow all players to have a similar sense of scale and effectiveness . One of my favorite, “oh thats why” moments was when we realized that our fighter was carrying a sword so large it actually affected her speed stat. From there our funniest situation was when the player with mostly only 5e experience, made a wild decision to carry around a goblin corpse as a way to trigger traps. This led to some wonderful comedy when they came across other goblins, drawing agro in a way that can be defined in the system mechanically simply as “angry”. We also didn’t know going in the way bosses are designed. Rather than in 5e where you are pretty hardy for the day, until you have seen multiple serious fights, this game is all about preserving each and every HP and MP you can till you hit the bottom of the dungeon (or in this case Rocket Mushroom Forest) I don’t think that the system as a whole really struck our group in a way that left us wanting more immediately, but I would be glad to run it if someone really connected with it and I will certainly be working on implementing my favorite rules from it. 

[itsmissing]

Hi, you said we were allowed to ask random questions, so I wanted to get your take on this if it is ok. I have followed you for years at this point, and your creations are incredible! They inspire me so. I recall some time ago posting a.... reskin? Revamp? Of one of your DnD characters? I know most of your characters are not dnd nor should people use them in their own games, but if I am reading this correctly it means you yourself play or have at least played TTRPGs in the past. So, since you are welcoming questions, I thought it fair to ask an insanely creative person like you.

So I am in many DnD games right now, and most of them are very RP heavy. I find I can articulate myself well digitally when I can edit what I'm saying to make myself look thoughtful and knowledgeable. But when I RP verbally in the moment - particularly characters that have different thought patterns than I do- I flounder and words become difficult.

Suffice to say- how do you approach RP from a creator's stand point? Creating many different characters and making them unique from yourself but still compelling and competent? What is your thought process to RP?

If you do not feel comfortable answering this ask and that is perfectly fine- I realize this is coming out of left field but you did say you were bored and wanted asks, so I thought this line of questions was fair game. Regardless, I do wish to share how insanely creative and incredible I find your works. If you do not mind more questions in the future, I would love to ask a bit more of your inspirations and thought processes towards how you approach art, but instead I'll settle on my odd ask and hope I am not egregiously overstepping.

thanks for the question! bit of a long answer so i'll put it under a Read More.

i've actually played a couple of campaigns of dnd and blades in the dark (tho they were all over discord calls, and none of them ever concluded naturally), and i totally understand where you're coming from! tho i'll be honest, i haven't played ttrpgs in general in a good long while. i definitely had frustrations in my first ever couple of sessions of dnd (using a character i lovingly designed from scratch), and i think a lot of those pain points stemmed from me trying to force a narrative journey i already had in my head, pre-planned, that i imagined during the design phase for that character. but at the end of the day, dnd is improv, and if you're not used to that, your character's going to end up a little different than how you imagined, and that's ok! a session is always going to be a collaborative roleplaying space, where the party's stories as a group and as individuals are crafted gradually, over time, and some of the ideas you had for your character at the start-- their backstory, their personality, the way they talk and think-- are going to be constantly workshopped into something different, naturally, over the course of a campaign as you get more comfortable. i also find it's a lot easier to rp when you stop trying to inhabit The Exact Character That You Made With Love, and instead try to rp with their essence in mind instead. the most important thing for me when roleplaying is to understand the basics of my character-- whether they're nice or mean, outspoken or reserved, polite or straightforward, etc-- more than anything else. more practical, actionable advice is that it helps to ask yourself questions in your off time and try to answer them as best as you can, out loud and in-character. interview yourself as your character! what's their favorite fruit?

thanks for the question, and also the kind words about my art! i had typed a lot more than this out but i felt like it was mostly incoherent rambling. this might still qualify as that, actually. hope this helps in any way!

[amelias-calamity-quintet]

46, 54, 56, 58, 65, and 77 (for GoS and MoaH), for the fic questions thing :] feel free to skip any of these i just picked a handful i thought would be interesting

Ah! You spoil me! I'm gonna try to get them all. Thank you for the ask!

46) How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

Oh boy, this one is tough for me. Generally, I'd say action-drive considering how quickly I try to get to the plot, followed by character. I like having big casts (if GoS and MoaH haven't given that away).

54) What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I feel like this is a bit of a cheat, but honestly, the posting process. It is a bit of a double-edged sword, but getting to see y'all's reactions makes my day. And it always feels good to be part of fandom and folks who also enjoy this thing I enjoy.

I guess less cheat, the sandbox/worldbuilding process. Getting to take the parts of the setting and play with them. For example, in MoaH, I'm having so much fun with reimagining the lineages/races and how they exist in this setting unique from other moments in canon. Marela's Zora design really started a deep dive there (pun absolutely intended!) on the fun things fic can do when it's not constricted by hardware limitations.

56) What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I just got a compliment on my worldbuilding today, so I'll say that for one. Personally though, I'm gonna say my originality. I definitely can't say I came up with the idea of "original legends," but I have also never seen anyone tell stories how I tell stories. Things like how I divide chapters and the "..." chapter continuations. It's definitely my own style!

58) What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Writing! Look, I'll get lost in worldbuilding, but the writing it part is way more fun. Is there anyone who genuinely said editing tho, because I don't understand you.

65) Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

Since GoS is complete, I'll answer this for MoaH. Currently, in book 2, there's a gala coming up with very good Zelink interactions I'm looking forward to.

And, as a future project, in book 3, oh, in book 3. Well, let's just say I'm correcting a mistake I made in GoS in introducing a very important character so late. He shows up much sooner.

77) Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter? 

Since I was asked for both Goddess of Secrecy & Mark of a Hero, I will give you one of both.

For GoS, and this is a very late scene not yet imported to AO3, a tie between the boss fight in the Soul Temple and the final phase of the Ganondorf fight. Getting to bring so much of the cast back was an absolute blast, but also the emotional impact of the Soul Temple fight. Ah! It was so good. And what a twist! Setting that one up so the title didn't spoil it was a challenge and worth it.

For MoaH, oh boy. Where to start. 90% of the scenes I'm thinking about are Zelink bull y'all don't have yet and won't be out until like, at least October. If not later. The earliest one, oh...there's a scene in Overworld Chapter 34 that absolutely is going to get me comments for the tease of it.

Closer, there's a really good scene coming up in Overworld Chapter 25 that brings back someone from GoS in a way, and I love this interaction of them.

Thank you again @doubtfulloser! I will absolutely always answer all of these if you send them.