#This update brought to you by supporters on Patreon!

[littlestpersimmon]

Hi guys. Am sick rn, but had wanted to post this before I go and sleep.

Some of you may already know that patreon sent out an update that charges anyone using ios to subscribe to artist's patreons 30% more.

I immediately feel this impact mere hours later, and now, days later. I'm hemorrhaging patrons & have less income. It would mean the while world to me if you guys could please reblog this.

If you use the desktop version or the android app? you will not have to pay 30% more. Needless to say this decision of apple has completely fucked me over months and months to come, unless I somehow make up for my loss by other means.

My patreon is only a dollar a month!

I have around 400 exclusive artwork on it :)

I am working on uploading more art there, and more comics once I am done with my current contract as a comic artist.

I am currently partially homeless- so being alive in general is hard ;y; I wanted to focus more of my work on patreon, until this update- I only have one tier.

I am working as hard as I can, every month ♡ I am also the caretaker of three disabled people- as my dad, who used to do all the housework, is now too sick with a swollen liver that could possibly be connected to his heart problems, and my mama who has limited movement- she "died" of sepsis many years ago after giving birth to my sister, and was revived with nerve damage. I don't know the medical terms, but she was brain dead for however long, and was successfully brought back in a different hospital. She was comatose for months; this event has lead to my family losing everything in hospital bills, our car, our house (literally we became homeless) ah. But long story short, I am the only person in my family who works- as my sister is a teenager, and she is autistic with a very, very low frustration threshold, as she is also a picky eater and still going to school! I'm sorry, many of my followers already know this story by now, I have already doxxed myself multiple times trying to avert crisis after crisis, ahaha. But yes. Patreon added to my cart of Sorrows, and would love to have more folks who aren't using apple, or are using android and the web to come on over and maybe enjoy some of my private art up there. I post around 3-6 art a month, if I am lucky 7. I want to keep making art, and my patreon was what was giving me a semblance of stability until that silly update. Sorry for the long post, and I appreciate everyone helping, reblogging, saying kind words to me, praying for me. G-d bless you all, and stay safe

My patreon:

Direct tipping jar:

My print shop!

[trikaranos]

TRIKARANOS: THE PROLOGUE

TRIKARANOS is a dramatized narrative based on ancient events following Crassus (and Pompey and Caesar) through the years 87-48 BCE. Intended for an adult audience.

⭐ Trikaranos will always be free to read (in the near future, you’ll have the option to support this comic & my ability to make it through Patreon!)

⭐ There is no set update schedule (chapters vary in length and will be posted as I finish working on them)

⭐ alternative places to read it (coming soon!)

CREDITS all additional art used are in the Public Domain [as per the Met's Open Access policy]

🍊 The Abduction of the Sabine Women, Nicolas Poussin 🍊 Obverse, a Terracotta neck-amphora depicting Aeneas rescuing his father, Anchises, during the fall of Troy. [description taken from the Met] 🍊 compositional study for The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David 🍊The Battle of Vercellae, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 🍊 The Capture of Carthage, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

UNDER THE CUT creator's commentary, ancient citations, whatever else seems relevant. ideally, this is optional! you shouldn't need the citations for it to make sense as it unfolds since it's a comic and a story first and foremost, but it's here if you're curious and want to see where the inspiration is coming from!

so! there are a couple of accounts about the return of Marius and Cinna, I've chosen Appian's account for the primary source of inspiration, although I've cut the cast down to it's barest essentials because I want the claustrophobia of violence to really eat itself.

Cinna now began to despise his enemies and drew near to the wall, halting out of range, and encamped. Octavius and his party were undecided and fearful, and hesitated to attack him on account of the desertions and the negotiations. The Senate was greatly perplexed and considered it a dreadful thing to depose Lucius Merula, the priest of Jupiter, who had been chosen consul in place of Cinna, and who had done nothing wrong in his office. Yet on account of the impending danger it reluctantly sent envoys to Cinna again, and this time as consul. They no longer expected favourable terms, so they only asked that Cinna should swear to them that he would abstain from bloodshed. He refused to take the oath, but he promised nevertheless that he would not willingly be the cause of anybody's death. He directed, however, that Octavius, who had gone round and entered the city by another gate, should keep away from the forum lest anything should befall him against his own will. This answer he delivered to the envoys from a high platform in his character as consul. Marius stood in silence beside the curule chair, but showed by the asperity of his countenance the slaughter he contemplated. When the Senate had accepted these terms and had invited Cinna and Marius to enter (for it was understood that, while it was Cinna's name which appeared, the moving spirit was Marius), the latter said with a scornful smile that it was not lawful for men banished to enter. Forthwith the tribunes voted to repeal the decree of banishment against him and all the others who were expelled under the consul­ship of Sulla.

Accordingly Cinna and Marius entered the city and everybody received them with fear. Straightway they began to plunder without hindrance all the goods of those who were supposed to be of the opposite party. Cinna and Marius had sworn to Octavius, and the augurs and soothsayers had predicted, that he would suffer no harm, yet his friends advised him to fly. He replied that he would never desert the city while he was consul. So he withdrew from the forum to the Janiculum with the nobility and what was left of his army, where he occupied the curule chair and wore the robes of office, attended as consul by lictors. Here he was attacked by Censorinus with a body of horse, and again his friends and the soldiers who stood by him urged him to fly and brought him his horse, but he disdained even to arise, and awaited death. Censorinus cut off his head and carried it to Cinna, and it was suspended in the forum in front of the rostra, the first head of a consul that was so exposed. After him the heads of others who were slain were suspended there; and this shocking custom, which began with Octavius, was not discontinued, but was handed down to subsequent massacres.

Appian, Civil Wars I, 70-71 (trans. Horace White)

Plutarch's biography of Marius also recounts the same event, but I was leaning more on Appian for this.

ALSO! the choice to use Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's painting The Capture of Carthage as a backdrop to Octavius: it's because Cinna and Octavius were co consuls for a minute and Rome and Carthage are twin cities (instar Carthaginis urbem babyyy), and I do love the doubling/twin-ification of a thing. which is what co consuls are to me. we're overlapping the themes, in addition to the overlapping of violence, which is what all iterations of Rome are founded on.

Textual Monuments: Reconstructing Carthage in Augustan Literary Culture, Nora Goldschmidt

the chapter cover is my own illustration of an Etruscan kantharos because Crassus may or may not have had some kind of Etruscan heritage. YMMV but for me it's fun to think about

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward (& the citation!)

[jscwrites]

Please Follow this Backup Blog for Vendetta-IF

Hey guys, it's jsc, the author of Vendetta. I'm making this blog to backup all of the stuff I've posted over on the vendetta-if blog because I can't access my main account. Until I can access my account again, this will be the blog I'll use to interact with all of you and post updates. And in the worst case scenario, this will become the main blog.

So, please, follow this blog as I will be posting updates and answering asks like usual here. Also, for those who want to share their fanarts and other fanworks, please tag this blog too so I can see it. I'll also start reblogging some posts and asks from the Vendetta blog here in hopes of preserving them as much as I can. So, be prepared for a little blast from the past as we walk down the nostalgia road, I suppose.

I'm really sad because just earlier today, I checked my followers count and saw that we were 30 followers away from reaching 4K Followers in the main Vendetta blog, and I was thinking about what to do to celebrate it. Plus, there are also so many awesome fanarts and asks that I don't want to just be gone, which is why I'm making this blog to reblog all of them.

For those who are new and wondering what my story is all about, please check out the intro post I've reblogged. I might need to make another intro post in the future if I never get access back to my account, but for now, I hope it'll suffice.

IMPORTANT LINKS

[ORIGINAL INTRO POST]

[VENDETTA BLOG ARCHIVE]

[DEMO | Latest Chapter: 6 Part 1 | 272.8K words total] 

[FORUM] 

[PATREON] | [KO-FI]

[DISCORD]

CHARACTER RELATED MASTERPOSTS:

[CHARACTERS LIST]

[ARTBREEDER PORTRAITS] [ROs] [Other Pt. 1] [Viktor] [Other Pt. 2]

[CHARACTER PLAYLIST]

ADDITIONAL LINKS

[PUBLIC SIDE STORIES LIST]

[AO3 WRITTEN FANWORK] -> Currently 3 works

For those who are interested in what happened, I'll tell the details under the cut.

So, a few hours ago, I decided to open my iOS Tumblr app to check on notifications and stuff, as I usually do. But instead, I got hit with the Tumblr error messages over and over as it keeps trying to load in.

At first, I just thought it was my cellphone Internet connection, so I tried logging in on the desktop. At first, after I input all of my login credentials, the page loaded, but it brought me to the viewing page of my Vendetta blog as a non-user. I tried again, and this time, it said that my account got terminated. I never got any email from Tumblr about this, and it came as a shock because I just used my Tumblr earlier today to reblog some fanarts with no problem and I have never really used my account for other non-IF related stuff.

So, I scrambled to ask my members in Discord whether my Vendetta blog is still up, and thankfully it still is. But, my main account is somehow gone. The problem is, my Vendetta blog is actually a sideblog to my main account, jsclarissa.

As you can see here, when I tried searching for my main account, it says "Ghost blog! This blog does not exist." despite me having used that account to respond to comments and send asks to other authors before.

I have sent a support ticket to Tumblr support and also tweeted them on Twitter. I really hope they can give me my account back as I'm pretty sure this is some kind of technical issues on their end. I'm just worried about how long it would take them to respond and of course, the worst case scenario that it actually got terminated, so, I'm making this account.

Even if I got my account back, I'll still reblog stuff from the main blog here and maybe I can finally have a more personal blog where I can talk about stuff that is not really related to Vendetta.

[moons-of-dewclan]

You don't have to lock it behind patreon. You can send things like WIPs, early pages (maybe days or so earlier than the Tumblr itself), or life updates there instead. Plus, people can just... Pay you to pay you. Pay because they enjoy the content. Not because there's anything they get out of it. You don't HAVE to give anyone anything to have a Patreon or Ko-fi up, sometimes people just want to support authors they enjoy. I know if I had income I would.

OH YES OFC

JUST SO PEOPLE KNOW no comic pages will be locked away forever! patreon and kofi will be way early access and extra content. and i’ll just have to dedicate my extra non-drawing-comics-and-commission time to the communities that gather there!

you guys will aaaaalways get the story whether you can join patreon/ko.fi or not. it’ll just take longer

i am a massive broke-ass who enjoys small things in life and i’d be gutted (even if i was understanding) if i suddenly couldn’t afford to see something that brought me joy anymore bc i couldn’t afford it. i don’t plan on hitting anyone with that!

also ngl ‘sometimes people just like to support artists’ never occurred to me ALDSLLJ

ADMITTEDLY IM BAD AT ACCEPTING THINGS WITHOUT GIVING IN TURN so they’ve gotta get SOMETHING outta it

[whoblewboobear]

I feel like dropout is the wrong comparison to make with watcher tbh? Dropout started out of necessity because college humor went out of business. Dropout offers a lot more variety and has a more varied roster of talent to fill out a full weekly schedule.

When watcher launched their new channel, it seems like that was always the goal to have bigger roster of shows that eventually featured different personalities. But in the past 4 years they’ve been independent, not all of the shows have worked and the shows that didn’t feature Shane and Ryan and to a lesser extent, Steven, really failed and never got brought back. A majority of people aren’t excited for Worth It to come back either and that being one of the selling points is kinda.. I’m fully biased, I haven’t ever been much of a Steven fan and the episode of here’s what you do where he said he’s still close friends with people that are homophobic/racist left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t watch his shows. Which isn’t a huge deal, but with how Watcher’s release schedule is, they’re airing one show at a time, weekly updates til the season ends. So if you don’t like the show currently airing you’re kinda out of luck. If that changes to them pumping out 2-3 shows or more at a time, then it could justify the price. But I don’t see how that can happen either when the shows people want to see are mainly Shane/Ryan/Steven. It would be unsustainable for them to be shooting that much to keep up with a schedule like that. They mentioned that from now until May 31st will be a trial period but a lot of people really aren’t willing or cannot afford to be a company guinea pig right now.

This is very ambitious and a big ask for a lot of fans right now, there’s no way around that. It can work, it reminds me lot of how Noel Miller and Cody Ko moved away from Patreon to launch their own streamer. They still post on YouTube, but the draw of TMG Studios is that you get an extra hour of bonus content along with other shows. You have the option to choose which shows you’d like to support and opt out of at different price points. Hell, even Rhett and Link still post on YouTube while having a streamer of their own with the Mythical Society and the major draw of that is seeing what the crew is up to. In both of these cases, both TMG & Mythical took their time before making a leap like this. I believe TMG took 7 years and Rhett and link have been in the game for even longer.

I’m not familiar with the watcher crew, they don’t have a lot of other front facing people on the team outside of Ryan/Shane/Steven making shows at the moment. I don’t want them to fail and I’m sure they will be fine, but it’ll be a rough transition to start and I hope they survive it. Completely leaving YouTube does not feel like the move though. I feel like you need a lot of balls in the air and plates spinning to keep drawing people to a new subscription service. Whether that’s YouTube, TikTok, instagram, etc, if no one knows what you’re up to outside of 1 episode of a new show/season hitting the YouTube channel you abandoned every couple weeks/months then it’s a tough sell.

[deusvervemakesgames]

Project RBH Devlog 0072

Sorry that this week’s update was late; I was busy yesterday and then forgot that I hadn’t done it yet.

I suppose I can continue talking theory regarding the use of raw damage as an upgrade option in this game.

Dealing more damage is always good. Shocking I know. But this actually complicates many facets of game design. For example, in a turn-based RPG, there is the classic ability that temporarily buffs yourself or weakens the enemy. Pokemon in particular has dozens if not hundreds of moves for specifically that. But, hear me out, what if instead of spending one turn on setup and another turn attacking, I instead… attacked twice?

There are similar risks in RBH as well. If the player can effortlessly mow their way through the enemies, then there’s no challenge. The entire central gameplay loop falls down. Even more distressingly, there are other ways to increase your damage output than simply hitting harder. For example, hitting more often. Like by having a higher rate of fire. This is why most shooters give shotguns terrible range—to compensate for increased damage by providing an element of risk. You have to get closer to the enemy, in turn leaving yourself more vulnerable. Even though a real shotgun doesn’t struggle at the ranges they do in games.

Upgrading the player is a delicate balancing act. If I make the player better at killing, I need to in some way compensate the enemies. So far I’ve done this in a few ways. I can reduce the player’s range by making their bullets not last as long, or I can slow their projectiles so it’s harder to hit the enemy. I can even make the weapon less accurate.

This is also something that ties into enemy design. If enemies all had to slowly walk towards you to hit you at close range, there would be no risk to a player with a ranged attack like in RBH. That’s why some enemies are stationary and/or provide covering fire, like an expanding ring or explosive missiles.

There are other enemy behaviors as well that can upset the balance by simply not reacting to players—such as by following the walls on a continuous loop—or by behaving unexpectedly. An enemy that can teleport or that can fly over gaps would shift the fight in different ways.

Relatedly, dealing damage over time only really matters if that time is relevant to the fight. Sure I can light an enemy on fire and wait the whole ten seconds for them to incinerate… or I could take two seconds to shoot them to death.

I noticed that particular issue a while back when I added in damage over time status effects. I simply don’t think they’re very effective in this game. Perhaps replacing them with others could be useful; a frozen enemy may not be dead but it’s temporarily out of the fight and that is useful.

All of this to say that I still have a long road ahead of me to getting all of the game’s upgrades done.

Until next Devlog!

-DeusVerve

DevLogs like these are brought to you by Patron(s) like Haelerin!

Support me on Patreon to get Early Access to builds!

[soaringeag1e]

Escape {63}

Detective!Dean x Victim!Reader

Warnings: Language, Fluff, Sadness, Dead Body

Words: 2,352

Series Masterlist - Main Masterlist -Patreon

Sorry I haven't been able to update the Escape Masterlist, it's been a little crazy on my end. Hopefully I'll get to it soon. Love you guys!

Dean smiles contently as he stands at the kitchen counter. The two mugs in front of him are full of steaming fresh brewed coffee and he can’t wait to drink it. But first he adds a little sugar and creamer to one of them and then he carefully makes his way to the table. You lean your head back as he walks up behind you and sets your coffee down on the table, both your smiles growing when he leans down and steals a kiss in front of his family.

“Thank you.” you say to him quietly, earning a wink from him before he slips into the chair next to you.

“Did you know that that place is closing down, though?” You look across the table, putting yourself back into the conversation as you take a sip of your coffee. You have to take a moment to really savor that first sip though because Dean had it spot on. “They made the best muffins. I’m so bummed.”

“What place are you talking about?” You have to ask, clearly missing the beginning of the conversation.

“Annie’s. They’ve been around for…I don’t know. For as long as I can remember. But apparently the original owner passed and her kids can’t, or don’t want to keep it up without her, so…” Sarah shrugs, but it’s clear she still isn’t happy about it.

“That’s sad.” Marry adds, lifting her mug to her lips. “But to keep up a business is a lot of work, so…they probably made the right decision.”

“You’ll just have to find better muffins somewhere else.” Dean teases her, smirking behind his coffee.

“There will never be somewhere better than them.” Sarah tells him with a playful angry tone, getting the rest of you to laugh a bit.

After the laughter dies down, the six of you fall into a content silence. All of you enjoy more drinks from your coffee’s and even take a few bites of the doughnuts that Sam and Sarah brought along. But when Mary sighs, all eyes go to her. With the sun coming in from the window, her golden hair glowing from the spotlight and the soft grin on her face, it seems to spread around the table to the lot of you.

“It’s such a beautiful morning.” she finally says, the rest of you agreeing with either a soft hum or just a nod of your heads.

March had finally shown and spring looked like it was just around the corner. The colder weather hadn’t been around for the past few weeks and none of you were complaining about that.

After a few more minutes of quiet, Mary and Sarah started talking about some things that were happening around town now that the weather was picking back up, like farmers markets. The three of you girls were already planning a get together when someone's phone started going off, and you knew it was Dean’s the second it did.

He shifts in his seat so that he can pull it from his pocket and takes a quick glance at the caller ID before scooting his chair away from the table.

“Excuse me.” he says to the family in a low voice, not wanting to interrupt his mom and sister in law from talking and then he steps into the other room, just out of earshot for all of you. 

You knew it had to be work and you were trying not to let it get to you. This was his life and you supported that. He was a good detective and an honest to God great officer for when they needed help with little side jobs. It just got you down a bit knowing that this day was supposed to be special and you had a gut feeling that he was getting called away on a job right now. You were heading out with the girls to look for wedding dresses and the guys were off to get their tuxedos, but you were getting the feeling that the tuxes were going to have to wait.

You tried to get into the conversation at the table but you just couldn’t do it. You looked on with the best smile you could, but you had your head tilted back a tad in attempts to hear Dean with his phone call. Unfortunately you couldn’t pick up anything, just a few ‘okay’s’ and ‘yes’s’ here and there, otherwise you didn’t hear anything until his boots carried him back into the dining room.

“Hey.” The tone told you that you were right. As for the others, it updated them on what their day was going to be.

“Work?” John asks right away as the other three just looked a tad disappointed.

“Yeah. There was a hold up at the convenience store off of Wesley last night and they need me.”

“Is everyone okay?” Mary was the first to ask the dreaded question and you could see just from the way Dean was looking over all of you that the answer was no.

“No.” he finally says in a somber voice. “So, I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone the tuxes. I mean, it shouldn’t take us long to find good ones, so…we’ll do it soon.” Both Sam and John nod, understanding, and though you did too, the slight jealousy you felt that work took your fiance away again must have been showing. 

“I promise it’ll be okay.” he tries to assure you, his hand resting on your shoulder before he looks over his family again. “So, you girls go out, have fun. Get some lunch and enjoy yourselves.” he takes a second and drinks a little more of his coffee but then squeezes your shoulder to get you to look up at him. 

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” That of course didn’t help how you were feeling in that moment, but you nod and follow him out to the foyer.

“What’s up?” you ask when he gets you alone. But he just reaches into his back pocket and digs out his wallet. You don’t understand what he’s doing even as he pulls out one of his cards and hands it over to you. You’re so confused that you don’t even know what to ask.

“If you find the right one.” he tells you, getting your eyes to snap back to him. “And don’t worry about the price, there should be plenty on there.”

“Dean…” you choke, looking back at the credit card in your hand. “No, I can’t…”

“Look, I know that you and your family aren’t exactly on the best terms because of the Jeff thing and…” he shrugs, not knowing how to explain himself without bringing up the heavy subject. “If you were able to get a hold of them and they showed interest in coming out, then maybe they’d get you a dress. But that isn’t the case, so.” he shrugs again, a little nervous that he probably upset you.

“Still, I don’t think it’s customary for the groom to buy the dress.”

“Well, as far as I know, I’m just not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony. I haven’t seen any rules on seeing the price of the dress.” he jokes, getting you to finally smile a little.

“Dean.” you whine, still slipping the card between your fingers nervously. “I don’t feel right doing this.”

“Well, you should.” You feel his hands slide along your arms, but you can’t pull yourself to look  him in the eye. “You deserve to have the dress of your dreams, Y/N.” Your eyes continue to burn holes in the credit card, your head trying to decline the offer with short sways, but you knew Dean wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“I hate you.” you finally say, unable to hold back a soft, grateful grin. 

“I love you too.” His reply makes your lips break even more and then he steals a kiss before backing towards the door. “Have fun.”

-

News vans were already outside the store, cameras rolling in hopes of catching something good with all the commotion going on. Caution tape along with select officers keep the curious crowd of civilians and news crew back at a safe distance and Dean ignores the news anchors as he ducks under the tape and heads for the entrance of the store. 

He can see Eddie through the glass doors and even catches a glimpse of Bobby before he walks behind the counter. When he steps through the threshold, the men look up to see who the new body is and aside from his boss and partner, the other officers go back to work.

“Dean.” Styles gives him a nod and then looks sedately back down at the floor. Dean catches a hand sprawled out on the floor, blood dripping from the fingertips. As he takes a few more steps in, the body of an older man lays sprawled out on the floor, a gun laying just a few inches away from him.

“He tried to stop whoever it was.” Dean crouches down next to the body and Styles continues to tell him what they found. “Looks like the suspect shot him twice, once in the chest and the other in the head. I’m pretty sure the headshot was the fatal one.”

“Cash register empty?” Styles nods when the detective looks up. 

“Cigarettes are all over the floor back here too, so we think he stole some cigs before taking off.”

“Yeah, well, why not, right? You already killed the guy so grab what you can and get out.” Standing again, Dean glances around the store and notices that nothing else seems to be too out of place. “How are we with the surveillance footage?”

“Got Johnson on it now. Doesn’t look like it’s been tampered with so we should be able to get something off of it.”

“Good.”

-

“I can’t believe you came.” Sarah giggles, draping a veil over her lap.

“Why? My plans fell through so I had nothing better to do.”

“But usually guys like to be as far away from this stuff as possible.” she counters and Mary just sits off to the side holding back laughter.

“Well,” Sam shrugs, looking over at a rack of dresses. “Y/N’s like a sister to me, so…thought it’d be fun.” Sarah can only smile at her husband, honestly loving how close you two are.

“How are you doing in there, sweetie? You need help?”

“No, I almost have it! I’ll be out in a sec!” Sarah smiles to herself and then looks down at the veil again. She thinks you’ll really like it, but it was one of the last ones on the rack, so she snatched it just in case.

“Sucks about Dean, though. Do you think you’ll be able to get tuxes soon?” she asks her husband, Sam taking a seat next to her after that. 

“Yeah.” he says with confidence. “Dean was right, it doesn’t take long to find a good tux. We’ll get them.”

“Alright,” When the three of them hear you through the door, they look up just in time to see you step out with a light sigh. “What do you guys think?” Each one of them is speechless and there for a minute you were beginning to think they didn’t like it.

"Oh my God, Y/N. You look…" Sarah is unable to finish her sentence, but Sam is able to help her out.

"Gorgeous."

"Really?" You question, looking down at the dress and pulling at the lace.

"You're glowing." Mary adds, her eyes studying every detail of the gown. "But what do you think? Your opinion is the one that matters." You look from Mary back down to the glistening gown.

The subtle glitter gives it the perfect amount of sparkle and the little bit of lace gives it just enough character to stand out from the rest. Grabbing the dress from the sides, you pull the fabric up a bit so that you can walk over to the mirror. 

This mirror was bigger than the one in the dressing room and gave you a better perspective on how it looked on you and you couldn’t understand how a mirror, such a simple invention could change how you saw things. Somehow, unknown to you, you loved the dress even more looking at it now than you did inside the dressing room.

“I love it.” you finally speak, emotion in your voice and even your eyes are glistening in the mirror, matching the shine of the dress. Sarah squeals in her seat, looking as if she’s struggling to contain her excitement while Mary and Sam just look at you, admiring the gown as much as you. 

“Do you think this is the one?” Sarah asks as she jumps out of her seat and comes to your side, her fingers unable to keep to themselves any longer as they feel the lace and the fabric itself.

“I think it is.” you confess, tears becoming more prominent in your eyes. 

More squeals come from your friend and she takes a few more moments to look over the gown, then she glances towards the dressing room, craning her neck a little as she tries to see inside.

“How many do you have left?”

“Um…” you think for a second. “Two, I think.”

“Okay, go ahead and try them on. We’ll see if anything else catches your eye and then when you’re done, put this one back on. That’s how you know.” she sends you a wink and helps you back towards the dressing room.

“I would say she just likes playing dress up with you, but I can confirm that that is a good way to know you got the right dress.” You laugh a little at what Mary says before Sarah shuts you inside your dressing room and then you go for the next gown. But even while trying those other two on, you couldn’t stop looking at that dress and you couldn’t wait to put it back on.

[cocrante]

Walking the Wire

[SOLANGELO FANFIC]

warning: it contains significant spoilers, please do not read it unless you have read the third book of "The Trials of Apollo". If you decide to proceed, I will not be held responsible.

summary: The dreams at Camp Half-Blood have vanished. Gentle nights embrace the campers in their hours of sleep, but just as the dreams have disappeared, so have the prophecies. For a mortal, this might not mean anything—nightmares suddenly gone, sweet nights wrapped them in the warmth of the sheets—but for a demigod, dreams are the bridge that connects them between the mortal and immortal worlds, an annoying bell that keeps them constantly on alert, and without those to disturb their nights, it was like losing their compass. But not everyone is without dreams, if "dream" this can be called, one is still allowed to travel in the dream world, perhaps out of pity and compassion of the Fates.

note: the chapters will be updated every Wednesday. If you want to read upcoming chapters of the fanfiction in advance, I invite you to follow me on Patreon. Subscribing is not necessary, these chapters will be added for free on the platform on Saturday. Following me there is just a kind and free gesture to support my work c:

Reblogs are highly appreciated c:

[CHAPTER 7]

Jason is dead.

NICO KEPT REPEATING IT TO HIMSELF, UNABLE TO STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. It was all absurd, he kept telling himself it must be a dream –another nightmare– that he had passed out in the arena and Will had taken him to the infirmary, and now he was still dreaming. He couldn't be dead, not in such a gruesome way as he had dreamed: marked by all those wounds that would have brought anyone to their knees, while he continued to fight like a true hero. At that thought, more tears began to streak his face. Will continued to hold him, protecting him in his arms, stroking his hair. Nico wanted to disappear instantly from there, to run away somewhere, but he remembered he couldn't do that, he couldn't bear the thought of Will despairing because of him.

Slowly, Nico stood up, helped by his boyfriend who continued to support him. The son of Hades felt no strength in his body anymore, actually, he felt nothing but pain. Will told him they needed to go to Chiron, that he would want to see him. Nico said nothing, he simply let himself be guided.

At the camp, everyone had stopped, no one dared to do anything after that devastating shock that had also spread outside the arena. Half of the camp had heard that vibration, coming out terrified from the cabins as if they could collapse at any moment. They knew who was responsible for it all. Nico felt the eyes of the other demigods on him, who had come out to see him, trying to understand what had happened, to know why he had almost wanted the earth to split in half suddenly.

Some of the demigods began to mutter about his battered appearance, whispering among themselves without being able to look away. The boy had no idea how horrible he might look to the campers who were staring at him curiously, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore now that Jason was gone. The tears stopped falling at some point. It was too much pain for one body to bear.

Among them, curious murmurs arose, and words were flowing like a river from the lips of the campers, enveloping the two boys who were heading to the Big House. Will felt overwhelmed by having everyone's eyes on him, talking about things they didn't understand and laughing among themselves At those words, the son of Apollo turned to them, ready to confront them and shout at everyone present to go back to what they were doing; the show was over, there was nothing more to see. Nico, as if he had sensed his actions, put a hand on his arm. "Will" he spoke with a subdued voice, unable to lift his gaze. "Let them talk, I don't care" Nico knew he would never be welcome at that camp, and those dark gazes were reminding him of it. He knew he wasn't the only one there with one of the Big Three as a parent, yet everyone looked at him with a strange fear, as if the same shadows cast by the demigods seemed to want to move away from their owners, fleeing to take shelter elsewhere. At that moment, it was hard for him to hold back his power; maybe he wasn't even aware that he was still emanating that destructive force that had almost leveled the arena.

Will simply nodded at his request, putting an arm around his back, enveloping and protecting him from prying eyes.

Together they entered the doors of the Big House, where Chiron was waiting for them seated in his magical wheelchair. Will helped Nico sit down, sitting beside him, not letting go of his hand for a second.

"What happened, my child?" Chiron asked gently, encouraging him to tell him what had happened.

"I'm sorry" he apologized, unable to look into those ancient eyes. "Jason is..." the words choked in his throat, he squeezed his boyfriend's hand, having him close gave him the strength not to cry.

The centaur didn't speak, letting Nico take all the time he needed to explain what had happened at the arena that afternoon. Nico's breath trembled, he couldn't get out those harsh words that were drying up his throat.

"Chiron" he raised his gaze, it couldn't be said for sure if he was looking at the teacher or if he was still lost in looking at the souls, those eyes chilled the blood of both present in that room. "Jason is dead" those words he had held back for so long were like a stab.

A black veil descended in that room, no one spoke anymore, those were the last words heard for many minutes. Nico closed his eyes, distancing himself definitively from his father's realm; when he opened them, he looked at Chiron seriously, also telling him about the dreams he had during those days. "I can't leave him without seeing him one last time, Chiron" the centaur stroked his beard, thoughtful about what the boy was asking him.

"I should give you permission to leave the camp" the centaur thought aloud, looking with his deep, old eyes at Nico's face, which was slowly stiffening. "In a moment of tension like this, it wouldn't be wise to leave these boundaries"

Nico frowned, he knew better than anyone else that innocent blood was being shed out there, that the best choice was to stay at the camp and train, but how could he stay idle when his friend had died to surely save Apollo and ensure the mission continued?

"I will leave. With or without your permission, you can't stop me" everyone in that room knew it was true; he could disappear even at that moment. Nico just wanted to inform him of his decision. "Hey, wait! If you're leaving, I'm coming too" Will exclaimed, looking scared into Nico's eyes, almost fearing he would leave him.

"Will..." he was about to stop him, but the boy was faster. "No, listen to me! You always think you're alone, that you have to rely only on your own strength, that others can't understand you in any way, but that was before, now you have people who care about you and love you. I love you, Nico" he said all at once, tears starting to prick his eyes. "And I won't let you go without me" he forced himself to adopt a stern expression, the same one he used in the infirmary when he told the children of Ares to behave and stay quiet on the cot.

Nico blushed, both out of embarrassment and because in that outburst of anger he had forgotten about Will. He was right, he couldn't –nor did he want to– leave him.

He sighed weakly, in the end, the ultimate decision belonged to Chiron. "I suppose there's a reason the Fates showed up" the centaur's tone was frighteningly calm, as if he were pondering what the boy had told him about those dreams. He was a son of Hades after all; the thing shouldn't even surprise him, but there was a thought nagging at him. "You have my permission to leave the camp" he stared at Nico's impassive face, convinced that he too was having the same thought as he was.

"Thank you, Chiron" the son of Hades lifted his lips into a smile. "Are you sure you want to come too?" he turned to his boyfriend, hoping he would say no, but Will smiled challengingly. "I told you, you're not alone anymore" he said, touching Nico's hand with a kiss, not even wanting to leave him.

The son of Hades sighed, but he was happy to have Will by his side. Whatever happened at Camp Jupiter, they would face it together.

They both thanked Chiron, leaving the Big House. The centaur watched the two boys, happy walking towards the camp and without waiting any longer, he brought three clawed fingers to his heart and, sighing, pushed them out.

The next day, Will and Nico would leave for New Rome.

Prologue

1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7

↬ masterlist

[wings-of-ink]

Hello! I just discovered your if today and had a great time going through it. (If you saw a blog going through your asks recently and liking a bunch of posts, that's likely me, I'm too shy to show my url ><) The characters and the relationships MC can build with them feel so genuine and sweet; the dads are especially precious! I will definitely romance all the ROs and looking forward to future updates! Just wanted to ask, will this be a standalone or a series? And will the final ver be paid? Ty!

Hello-hello and welcome, my new friend!

It's totally cool if you want to stay anonymous, I get it, I'm pretty shy myself. I about did myself in when first publishing this story I was so freaked out, lol.

I am thrilled that you are engrossed in my little world, Nony. There's lots to look forward to on our journey together.

For the future of GC, I am not 100% sure yet. As far as I know, it will be standalone (that's at least what I first envisioned). The thing I worry about there is if the story becomes too large to neatly fit into one package. This is my first IF, so I am still learning all that might crop up. It's been brought up that I could sell the final product on Steam and/or Itch, but I don't know what I ultimately want to do, but I like that idea of course.

I have tossed around the idea of starting a Patreon or Kofi so I can offer extra content as well and help support me in adding things to the game like character art.

Sorry for the non-answer, but that's where I'm at as well. As soon as I feel pulled in a more set direction, I will post about it. Thank you for the ask, Anon! ^_^

[marsoid]

(above gif by okapitar on twitter!)

yall i just wanted to say

this year has been wild, so many personal ups and downs. and you guys (tumblr/twitter/instagram/patreon/tapas/webtoon etc followers) have all been so wonderful and supportive and sweet. so many kind messages and emails and comments and they’ve really been keeping me going.

i still can’t believe Ride or Die won an Ignatz award just a few months ago, and it was thanks to yall for voting for it. you don’t even really know me, i’m just some dingus artist on the internet and yet so many of you go out of your way to say nice things or throw some money at me and it’s like BAFFLING and so immensely appreciated. making art and comics for you guys is my fulltime job, the best job ever, and i just feel so lucky i’m able to do so??

SO UM ANYWAY i just wanted to say thank you so much for a great 2022... so excited (and maybe a little scared LOL) for 2023!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this post brought to you by me reading nice comments on the recent comic update and my new meds probably making me sappy. idk if that’s a side effect but i’m blaming them anyway

[ladypepperofdavenshire]

Stories Masterpost

Parallels

Genre: Superhero, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Spy, Mystery

Synopsis: A group of ordinary people who live mundane lives all wake up together in a dreamworld/other dimension where they have superhuman abilities. This other reality is parallel to theirs, just with scifi/fantasy elements thrown in that are typical of a superhero universe. Part of the mystery is finding out how they are all brought to this other reality, and why they were “chosen” to connect as dreamers/heroes, but it becomes more difficult since the dream picks up where it left off if they go unconscious in the Superhero Reality/Mundane Reality, which leads to realities blurring.

I haven't really explored The Mundane Reality parts all that much yet, so this is mostly the superhero aspects that I've been developing/posting 😅

Tags: #parallels comic project | #parallels

Knightsbridge Hollow*

Genre: A mix of mystery, comedy, fantasy, spy, and slight horror

Setting: 1961-62, British Countryside

Synopsis: Set in the Parallels universe, immortals John and Muriel Traxton move to the little English village of Knightsbridge Hollow after a disastrous attempt at living in the city outside of the pocket dimension they had been calling home since their marriage. Muriel wants to attempt a "normal" life, and John is just going along with it because he loves his wife and wants to support this endeavor. This, however, comes to bite them when it turns out that Knightsbridge is a magnet for all sorts of mana-infused people and creatures...and it seems like all of the creatures are working under someone who has it out for Muriel...

*Current comic project I'm working on | you can follow the blog for more updates too

Tags: #knightsbridge hollow

Sci Fi WIP Universe (it has a name but you have to find out on Patreon hehe)

Genre: Sci Fi

Setting: Thousands of years in the future, after humanity has colonized the known galaxy

Synopsis: I have three stories (so far) in this universe, all at different points in time!

Main Story - The one that I hope to write in the future that serves as the introduction to the universe these stories are set to take place in. Thrust into the seat of power after her father was assassinated, Empress Ariadne Fenway II has to contend with a planet of people who have been under the heel of the Fenway Dynasty for far too long and are ready to revolt as she tries to enact reforms to help make reparations. Ultimately she is forced to flee when a charismatic member from the Priest Sect who calls himself “The Demagogue” joins forces with a rival noble house on the planet and enacts a coup.

Tags: #untitled sci fi wip | #untitled sci fi story

Assassin Story - Follows two genetically-engineered assassins--Taran and Renata--as they navigate their new lives after breaking away from their masters and deciding to do things on their own terms. They have to come to rely on each other to avoid bounty hunters and other mercenaries sent after them, oh, and the Death Squad the Assassin Makers send to liquidate their AWOL assets. Set a century or two prior to the Main Story.

Tags: #assassin story

Shadow Sector - Takes place about a hundred years after the Main Story. The setting is on a massive research station in what has become known as "The Shadow Sector," following a widower, Shaw, and his three girls as isolationist genetically-engineered human societies start reintegrating back into the Imperium. This includes Representative deGrav'aine being sent to the Station as part of an exchange program for the GEs and Baseline humans to trade their knowledge. Unknown to the Imperium at large, there are some GEs and Baselines who are opposed to the commingling of races, and will do anything they can to put a stop to it, even perhaps starting a war.

Tags: #shadow sector

Okay. That's it. THERE YOU GO

[askagamedev]

What are your thoughts on reselling assets in games? Criticisms imply that, if you bought the assets in a previous game, any other game reusing them should be reused n the base game already or be brought in via free updates, so that nobody has to buy for the same thing again, otherwise it’s money predatory, greedy, and shady in every possible way. But how do you and other devs see this practice?

The argument tends to break down if you poke at it. A single purchasable asset is never atomic - the purchased item is comprised of many parts like the 3D model, the diffuse textures, normal map, occlusion map, any other materials, rigging, animations, shaders, and so on. The vast majority of assets can't be dragged and dropped into a new game without some changes made to some of those elements in order to make sure the finished asset looks right within the new game. Epistemologically, it's a question of how many elements must be the same in order to retain (reasonably) the quality of "sameness" in the player's mind, and thus retain ownership of (or access to) that asset.

Regardless of opinions on partial ownership and whatnot, the reality is that players generally want value for their money and dislike it when we offer things they want at a price point they are unwilling to pay. In this situation, some players feel frustrated that their purchases don't carry forward, so they voice their opinions. Some game devs have listened and tried to address this - Call of Duty, for example, carried purchases from MW2 to MW3 and kept support for those purchased items in the new game. If MW3's carry-forward is wildly successful, other devs will take notice. If it is not, it is likely the initiative will be retired and developments will move on. Personally, I think it is unreasonable to expect that game developers must continue to spend their development time each game to support legacy player purchases for the rest of time.

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[beesmygod]

im on my way to an allergy appointment so short update but im quitting hiveworks. ive been milling over it for months and when the option of no longer being represented by them was brought up my heart didnt sink and i didnt feel anxiety over it. me, who has anxiety about everything.

100 dollars a month was supposed to be the price of selling my soul for the privilege of belonging to an art collective i once thought of as aspirational. instead ive become clumped into a work culture i find spineless and inauthentic. im sick of being angry every day because i have to explain a basic human concept to a 30 year old only for them to ignore me and history to vindicate me.

i was always an obvious mismatch for the company and always questioned WHY i was even asked; i do not have the artistic ability on par with what they want, hiveworks readers universally bounce off of AGS if they even click, and i myself am uhhh. disinterested in contributing to a company culture that runs counter to my own beliefs.

i have no plans. ill just be moving things back to my own hosting. ill probably forgo having a store at all since its rarely, if ever, used. i think that will be the biggest change outside of layout.

i was on a waiting list for a new comment system for literally 3 years so ill see if i can continue that on my own or if ill be teaching you all how to turn on adblock for my site again to keep using disqus :)

okay well. thats da news. im sure ill be overflowing with feelings lol. ive been low key pissed for years. please bear with me

e: oh and you can continue to support me on Patreon, where i will have more time hopefully

https://www.patreon.com/aghoststory

[khttrpg]

Cracks knuckles.

Alright team. Let's talk the next few months.

The short version is I'm going to have a basic version for v0.3 out by mid-September. The current plan is to finish work on it through June, finish privately testing it by mid-August, and then do a closed playtest with Patreon supporters through the rest of August. I'll make any further adjustments, playtest one more round if needed, and then throw it out to The People!

This is going to be a more compact initial release than previous versions. The version of the game to release will be through about level 21 (out of 100 levels). Unlike V0.2, though, it will be playable at release - no waiting to learn how to make enemies. There are several reasons for this smaller release, but the most important is changeability: this way, instead of needing full years to adjust everything I've made if something about the base game is completely off course, it'll only take a month or so. Quicker turnaround for adjustments!

I'll be sitting down to do a sort of psuedo-Q&A on Friday, June 28 on my Twitch at 7 PM EST- playing some Kingdom Hearts, answering questions as they come up, talking about what I've been up to and longer-term plans. If there's anything in this post that you don't understand or want elaboration on, send an ask, and I'll answer it on that stream!

Some of the big changes you can expect in V0.3, under a cut for brevity (some of the details and names may be subject to change still!):

Combat Stats. You know, in retrospect, there was no good reason to not use KH's existing ATK/DEF/MAG stats and just directly translate abilities using them. The new version has the actual stats used in KH games connected to the more roleplay-oriented Stats from previous versions - e.g. ATK being connected to Body - but ultimately separated in terms of usage.

Sword, Shield, Staff. This will appear in very basic form in this version, to be elaborated on once the core game has been adequately playtested. I've wanted to include the chance to "choose your path" since day 1, but could never find a way to integrate it; the addition of Combat Stats provided a clean opportunity to try it out!

Dice. This was something that got brought up relatively early on in the Discord, but at the time I didn't have the experience to handle it. Now I do! Attacks have a more standardized pattern and there's no longer going to be a situation where you can hit and do 0 damage. Not unless you intentionally do some really bad numbers. I can't stop you from that.

Job Classes -> Job Paths. There was a consistent issue in the first two versions, where the intent of job classes - to be loose guidelines rather than strict classes, with lots of mixing and matching - was unclear. They've been re-contextualized as sets of Abilities, with one feature being a prerequisite to the next. My hope is that this will allow people to view them closer to as intended, on top of some other interesting things that have opened up to do with them.

MP. I really wanted to stick to KH1-style MP because I love the low numbers and wanted so badly to make them work. But ultimately, the MP numbers from KH2 and KH3 were easier to deal with. There's just no #/5 equivalent to 12/100.

Hordes. Yes I've reworked them again. I'm so happy with them this time though!! I think I finally struck a balance to make it both quick and large. Hopefully. Playtesting permits.

Memories. Will finally be a full part of the game! There'll be ~5 options minimum at time of initial publishing. I'd REALLY like to get it up to 7 for that sweet sweet number symbolism, but that won't be a priority for this initial release.

Leveling. There will be a way to calculate the EXP for level ups, and that leveling is simpler to understand.

And other stuff! Some of it in too early stages to talk about for this release, some of it is just formatting, some of it is hard to explain quickly.

I will not be updating monthly, because after trying to make myself do that for several years now, I'm forced to accept that I'm not capable of doing so on a for-fun project. But I will make a concerted effort to be more present here and to keep everyone appraised of the Big milestones, like when I open up playtesting for patrons.

Thank you all so much for your patience, as always! <3

[dndoggos]

DnDoggos Pawsed - #39 “About Me”

Thank you all for the love and support last week for TDOV! It really means a lot to me.

I thought I’d talk a little about myself here, plus a photo, so you can see the face behind DnDoggos.

I’m Scout Underhill. I started DnDoggos in 2017, and around fall of 2019 I began my gender journey. 

I’m nonbinary and my pronouns are they/them. I like masculine terms! Being transgender is only a small part of who I am, but realizing this part of myself has brought me more love for not only myself but for everyone in my life. 

When I’m not writing and drawing dog comics, I love to spend time with friends, eat lots of food, drink way too much tea, and ride my motorcycle. I also love a good yard sale.

There’s also a rather long update about Life Stuff for public viewing on my patreon!

[k-s-morgan]

Pinned Post

This is going to be a pinned post: all updates, replies and reblogs will take place below) Just wanted to tackle some common questions & requests I get. 

Blog readability 

My blog has long since become a multi-fandom space. If you want to see posts about specific fandoms and you don’t want me to clutter your dash with discussions you aren’t interested in, please block the corresponding tags.

For Hannibal fandom: hannigram, hannibal

For Black Butler: sebaciel, black butler, kuroshitsuji

For Harry Potter: tomarry, harrymort

For Batman: batman, batjokes

For Devil Judge: gahan, the devil judge, lawful husbands

Asks & support

I welcome practically all kinds of asks, the only problem I have is with antis. I’d rather not explain why fiction preferences have no relevant impact on reality, so if you think about asking these questions, please don’t)

Also, if you want to justify Ruzzian aggression against my country, Ukraine, then I’d appreciate not seeing this. I won’t reply to such asks. 

Sometimes it takes me a really long time to reply, but please rest assured that I read and care about every ask I receive. If you suspect that Tumblr might have eaten your question, you can send me a follow-up message with a reminder, I don’t mind!

If you can and want to support me financially and/or you’d like to read 10 chapters of my original dark romance novel: here’s my Patreon. I set it up as a version of Buy-me-a-coffee because PayPal wasn’t accessible in Ukraine. You can contribute $1 or change it to any amount you want & cancel the subscription or keep it up for whatever period of time you prefer.

Now I also have PayPal: emberlynn48@gmail.com

An important note to this: I’m doing more or less okay at the moment, so there is nothing urgent happening. However, war has brought many negative changes into my life, and I deeply appreciate any help I get. 

Fic recs & Other recs 

(I’ll keep updating these posts when I can)

Original books that I loved

Fic recs based on a fandom 

A list with TV shows that some of you recommended and which I watched