#and the second...well that is to make my own version of an existing game
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Ukobach - Day 188
Race: Genma Arcana: Devil Order: Pyro June 19th, 2025 Happy Pri-demon-th! ALSO HAPPY RAIDOU DAY TRAHITGSJAGHASIGH

We give you a break from your regularly scheduled gay demons for something that is evidently NOT that, and all for one very specific reason: a high school detective demon summoner. Yep, it's Raidou time. And I will use this time to point out my own pride in the other sense of the term because I FUCKING CALLED IT IT'S NOT JUST A REMASTER ITS A FULL REMAKE!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Sorry, Vee-ho is being restrai-hee-nd right now. Give us a second...
(Art version was donated to me by my epic cool friend @get-the-evil, he's a really good artist :3)
Ahem. Sorry about that.
The Raidou Kuzunoha games have quite a unique bunch of demons to their name; the unique setpiece, different gameplay, and heavy feudal Japanese theming all tie together into a wonderfully cohesive whole. Even still, though, it still maintains the mainline SMT trappings of demonology and rather obscure mythological calls, and the very first demon you obtain in the game is among both categories, interestingly enough. You know it's bad when fucking @eirikrjs had to make a post about it. Introducing the Ukobach, a demon that's got an incredibly confusing story behind it; a single secondary source that lacks primary sources, for one, and another thing: that the single source we have to work on is the Dictionnaire Infernal. Yep, this is another one of those episodes. Prepare for a weird one.
Ukobach's existence is highly confusing, as it appears first to most people's knowledge in the Dictionnaire Infernal, but the way it's referred to seems to imply that it isn't just an invention of the author. The way that most grimoires work, and the Dictionnaire is no exception, is that they're collections of pre-existing knowledge; in a way, it's literally a dictionary of infernal creatures. The name is very apt. As for what the Dictionnaire says about Ukobach itself, it describes it as a small, goblin-esque imp who fuels the flames of hell through a bedpan of coals, with large ears and a long nose to listen to the screams of its victims and smell the burning of flesh. His huge eyes and wide mouth also hint towards this, as it basically shows that his senses are very heightened. The Encyclopedia of Daemonology describes its flames as also being the source of the Jack-o'-Lantern's fire, saying that it is the 'Lamp oil for the jack-o'-lantern.'
He also stands to have a connection to Orobas, possibly, as it's posited that he could have been connected to Orobas once upon a time. This is where Eirikr's post ends, and while I'd love to add on more, I... can't really find much. Apparently one of the editions of the Dictionnaire Infernal mentions that he's representative of the west, but I can't find the exact source for this and it might just be made up to give him a bit more leeway to his... well, his existence. Past all this, the Dictionnaire also says that he was the inventor of fried foods and fireworks.
I do find it pretty funny that, while a primary source of Ukobach doesn't really seem to be known, he is still one of the most prominent demons in our pop-culture; when you think of an imp, you'd typically think of this hunched over little guy, and that's where his design comes in. It's basically just one-to-one with his appearance in the Dictionnaire, minus a certain appendage between his legs and a nicer hairdo. Is it boring? Sure. But it works.
#smt#shin megami tensei#megaten#persona#daily#if anyone can find the hidden yamai i'll give them like#a cookie or something
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I think in the new year I'm gonna learn how to make video games in godot.
#chit chat#i have not touched a video game editor in ten years and last time i did it was unity or something#so we'll see how it goes#there's two goals at play here#the first is to make my retail horror game that i think about at work all the time#and the second...well that is to make my own version of an existing game#to see if i can make a small version of it that would theoretically fit on a ps2 disk lol#i don't have the technological knowledge to actually make something that would be playable on the ps2#but i can certainly set a storage size goal
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Alright,
A base lore info about my setting.
Most of it was yapped away through the asks already, but I decided that it's still worth to organise this stuff in a coherent manner. This text also doesn't really touch on the character's arcs and their relationships with each other. This is more about the wider setting.
SHORT VERSION:
Tginf is a horror roadtrip game I'm planning to make. Embark on a terribly convoluted forest car ride with different local creatures hitchhiking your car.
EXTENDED VERSION:
The main character: You (are going to) play as the Nameless, a 20+ year old without a name, a concrete gender or any understanding of who to become to avoid getting crushed by a closing in adult life.
The forest:
The forest they got unlucky to travel through is a strict eco system. Everything not useful to it gets digested by it. Literally slowly disintegrated to at least feed the soil. At least this process takes some time.

The feudals:

Luckily, the forest road is ruled by three higher beings that can save unlucky travelers by giving each of them a useful (in their opinion) role to play.
The names of the feudals are:
the Oxygen, the King of the road, the Mine.
You can easily envision their domains if you split the forest space in three layers. Everything above it, everything that is on the ground, and everything below it. Every forest entity that the Nameless encounter serves one of them.
Because their territories are literally stacked on top of each other, the three don't get along particularly well and have been in a territorial conflict for centuries. For feudals, acquiring new followers through picking up the lost and stranded is another way of getting new resources in it.
The specifics of each feudal and their individual followers:
The Oxygen:
The Oxygen is physically invincible and, because of that, she never had to rely on anyone in her existence. This had a big effect on her personality. Unlike the King of the Road and the Mine, she doesn't really NEED to pick up lost and stranded to make new followers. She can create servants out of thin air, like she did with the Dummy*. She picks up travelers for her own amusement, since entertainment plays a big factor in a lot of her actions, and because the King and the Mine are invested in collecting them.
Her followers are:
The Dummy,

the Diver,

the Time Seller.

* The Dummy was created as a jab at the King of the Road's second hand - the Knight.
* The Diver is there as a statement of ineffectiveness on the King's ruling manner. He does the same type of job his followers do, but unlike them, his mind was in no way altered or modified*
* The Time seller, despite previously being human, was made into a tiger, because the Oxygen wanted to see what would happen if she fully dehumanises somebody. She likes experimenting like that.
The King of the Road:
The King of the road is very physically fragile. He needs protection, and, despite his rather gentle demeanor, time made him paranoid and fixated on the idea of control. He collects the followers to avoid any new and unpredictable variables appearing in the forest.
Through trial and error, he came to a conclusion that love is the greatest source of loyalty and motivation, so he tampers with his followers' brains to make sure they love both him and the work he gives them.
His followers are :
the Tenant,
the Radio host,
(Sorry, don't have a proper picture of her yet, since her main way of communication is...well...radio, and because I ran into Tumblr's picture per post limit, I decided to cut what I had of her imagery away)
the Knight.

*The Forest is full of eldritch, sentient and, most importantly, hungry places, such as the House, the Radio Tower and the Grand Lake. The King aims to station his followers in them, so they also stay in his area of control. The Tenant and the Radio host view their designated places as if they are their marriage partners. They love them, they provide for them.
*The King also prefers to take his time before taking a new follower in. After all, the more he waits, the more the traveler gets digested by the forest, allowing the King to rebuild his new follower to his liking. Sadly, the opportunity to wait long enough rarely presents itself because of the Oxygen and the Mine interfering all the time, thus, the only follower he got to fully reconstruct from the state of blank meat was the Knight. This made him the most predictable and by extension the most trustworthy being in the forest to him.
The Mine:
About a year ago I watched a documentary about mine workers. A part of it was dedicated to the fact, that, in case of that particular mine, people should have been working inside of it 24/7, otherwise the tunnels were guaranteed to slowly become toxic. What caught my attention was the way they spoke about it. They said something along the lines of "otherwise she would start to suffocate". And that unexpected personification never left my mind ever since.
SO, the Mine in tginf sufferers from a constant lack of oxygen, and starts to gradually suffocate if there's is no one performing the maintenance work inside of her. The problem is - she is toxic, thus none of her followers live particularly long inside of her. Which places her in a constant struggle to get herself the new ones. She lets some of her followers out on the road only for one purpose - to promote the service to her to the new travelers. Followers like that are all called Pr agents. Out of the three feudals, the Mine is the most reliant on others to survive.
Her followers are, you won't believe it:
Pr Agent 117

Pr agent 121,
Pr agent 124/178 (the number changes depending on the story route)

*None of them lived long enough to meet the other.
I also made a voice claim post some time ago, you can check it out to feel the characters too
And Incomplete Character relationship chart :]
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[WIP] TS3 UI "Krystal"
I figured it would be cool to finally publicly share what I've been working on behind the scenes, as well as some mockups!
A few of you on Patreon or Discord may have already seen sneak peeks/given feedback. I kept things quiet because I wasn’t sure I’d even do it in the first place as a next modding project, and I didn’t want to let anyone down.
Luckily, @lazyduchess’s Monopatcher made the job ten times easier. The biggest hurdle was that I would've had to make a core mod to override UI code (I’m normally anti–core mod), but the patcher solved that and let me push ahead.
(Psst, if you're looking at seeing the mockups bigger, I also posted this post on my site: Simblr.cc 😉)
Creating the Mockups
Fun fact: I actually have a degree in UI/UX design! (for websites) While principles like “How wide should this padding be?” or “Which colors send the right signal to the user?”—game UI is a whole different beast.😬
Main Menu


I started with the main menu:
Cut the SimPoints clutter and the “Buy TS4!” banner—after a decade, we get it exists 😉.
Grouped items into clean blocks
Added a text-free “Create New Family” icon
Swapped lot thumbnails for family shots (still baffled by EA’s original choice).
Dropped an options gear in the bottom-left; might label it if it’s too subtle.
Different backgrounds: one solid blue, one closer to the classic gradient.
A lil' sneek peek of where I'm at:

She's not finished, but it's definitely getting there! 😉
Load Screen


Not much has changed here! It's just less... busy I suppose, lol!
2 Different backgrounds to choose from
Moved the Game Tips to the bottom, so the main focus stays on that loading bar 😉

I also have a third option but I'm strongly leaning towards just having the loading bar as it's the most clear!
Live Mode

The hardest of them all lol. Kudos to EA for figuring that one all out! I really struggled with this one in regards to shape and what to even move around/remove!

I figured, it should be nice to pull really into that glassmorphism I've been using over the Mockups! Now I do realise that it can hamper user experience in the sense of not being able to read anything. But these are pictures! So that should be all fine and dandy.
The active item in the queue will now be more "visible". The queued item however, you'll see look a bit more "unactive" compared to what the current version has.

I also completely overhauled the thumbnails for your sims, showing their moods a bit better, and giving the active sim a tiny plumbob! :D

And now the real deal: The control panel! You might notice it's not the whole thing, but I'm still working on that part.
I removed the camera controls from the panel. However, upon feedback, I did hear that it's better to have them as some people are limited in their hand movements on their keyboard and that those controls are really useful. So I will make sure to share 2 versions :)
I also realised I completely forgot the Build/buy mode buttons 😬 So, err, stay tuned for that? lol.

Notifications I really just tidied up :p
I am aware that the space where the text is and the thumbnail is huge, and normally I'd wrap the surrounding text, but apparently in TS3's UI stuff that's practically impossible. Hence that they got this "2 column" effect to them 😉
About releasing the UI:
I'm hoping to release them all in bits and pieces! So first up is the Main Menu (and possibly the Loading screen given it's simplicity).
After that, I hope in my second "update" to release a big portion of Live mode, but that's a bigger task on it's own of course 😉
Any feedback at this point is also completely welcome by the way!
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sugar baby | alexia putellas x reader
a big big big thank you to @codiemarin because this fic would not exist without her suggestions and ideas!!! also back from my hiatus (maybe) hope yall enjoy!
warnings: smut 18+ minors dni


This had become normal for you.
Every second night, instead of lying in the comfort of your own sheets or servicing clients in the club you used to work at, you were standing in the kitchen of your newest employer, plating up the takeout that had been chosen for tonight.
Sunday nights were take out nights, because it was typically Alexia’s game night, which meant she was starving by the time she was home and looking for a quick eat. Majority of the time, she was riding on an adrenaline high, which meant one thing, you were in for it.
Sunday’s had very quickly become your favourite night of the week for this reason, Sunday night had expectations, ones that Alexia was extremely specific about.
You were to have dinner done by the time she was home, you were to be wearing whatever lingerie she’d most recently bought for you, the shortest skirt in your wardrobe and your cunt and ass stuffed with the vibrator and butt plug that Alexia required you to wear in preparation before she got home.
Normally, being stuffed exhilarates you, it’s your favourite way to spend your afternoons in Alexia’s apartment, as you aimlessly clean and spend time on Alexia’s balcony reading in the Barcelona sun. Normally, she edges you for hours before she returns home, controlling the vibrator stuffed in your pussy with the app on her phone. Today though, she’s left you stuffed but with no stimulation. It’s equally exhilarating knowing that Alexia is giving you a bit of a break, knowing that it means she’s going to destroy you as soon as she walks through the door.
Alexia after a game is always your favourite version of Alexia, it’s like all of the control issues, the built up adrenaline and exhaustion somehow mix into a perfectly horny Alexia who always managed to make you feel good in all of the worst ways.
You swore that you didn’t hear the door open or Alexia’s footsteps making their way through her apartment, slowly approaching you, too focused on plating up the food and making it look less like it had been crammed into a plastic container and more like it was a home cooked meal. Chances were Alexia couldn’t care less, as long as everything was clean and put away by the time she got home and the food was good then none of it really mattered.
She snuck up on you, her hand gently placing itself on the back of your neck. You did your best not to scream in surprise, instead squealing as quietly as possible at the warm hand that was now pressed firmly against your mostly bare thigh.
Ale’s breath is also equally as warm against your neck, you can tell just by her grip and firmness that it’s been a tough game, a bad day for her standards.
You never check the scores on her matches for this exact reason, it meant that there was always some element of surprise as to how Alexia’s mood was going to be when she arrived home, if it was a good game, an easy game, then she tended to be a bit more mellowed out, floaty and happy on the adrenaline high she was coming off of, bad games however could result in many different versions of Alexia.
“Hola.”
Your voice is croaky, the sudden pressure on the nape of your neck making it harder to enunciate.
“Hola.”
Alexia’s voice is short and scrapy, like she’s been yelling for hours upon hours, which you suppose could be the case.
“Dinner is on the table, from Clarice’s.”
It’s a boutiquey mediterranean place that Alexia loves.
For you, it’s mind boggling that she’s willing to spend such an insane amount of money on food that is only half decent, you suppose, though when you have exorbitant amounts of money you might as well spend it.
“You’re eating with me.”
Alexia doesn’t wait for you to take in her words, she grabs onto the hair at the base of your neck and pulls you towards the dining table, dragging you with her.
You don’t normally eat with Alexia, preferring to talk with her after her games or prepare yourself how she wished for whatever the rest of the night was going to entail, tonight though she seemed to have other plans.
Instead of guiding you into one of the seats at the table like you’d expected though, Alexia took her own seat, before dragging you down to your knees below her.
The floor was hard on your bare knees, not that you actually minded.
Alexia kept her hand in your hair, locked down on a clump of roots at the lowest point of your hairline where your neck and hair met.
She didn’t have to say much, her spare hand tugging at the waistband of her shorts was enough of an indication of exactly what she was expecting you to eat.
Your hands replaced Alexia’s, nails digging into the elastic of her shorts and tugging them down her ass and thighs. You didn’t take your time, not when Alexia was clearly so worked up, you dragged them off of her until they were still pooled at her ankles.
Next you moved onto her panties, taking them off with the same intention as her shorts.
You didn’t waste any time staring at the clear wet patch on Alexia’s panties, or the scuffs and scratches up and down her knees and thighs that told you the game had been rougher than she was letting on.
Her knee was cold, you realised that when your shoulder brushed up against it, like she’d had an ice pack pressed to it until she’d walked into the apartment.
Once her panties were off, you took a second to admire her, spread out directly in front of you.
It was one of your favourite sights, quite possibly your number one.
You started at Alexia’s knee, pressing warm sloppy kisses to the skin on the inside, slowly making your way up to where she wanted you most.
Were you purposely teasing her?
maybe.
It didn’t take long, a couple of wet, rough kisses along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh managing to be enough to earn you a harsh pull of your hair, jerking your head backwards so you were looking up at Alexia.
She has a fork in her hand, clearly enjoying her meal.
“Don’t test me, keep teasing me and you won’t like the consequences.”
Alexia’s voice is definite, if you disobey her then she’s going to punish you, it’s a clear outline of her expectations.
Normally, you’d put yourself right in the middle on the scale of brattiness and submission, maybe teetering a little bit further towards the bratty side.
You knew where to toe the line though.
Praise was something you craved, you didn’t necessarily like to be constantly in trouble, you liked to please people and the easiest way to do that was to obey.
So without much fuss, you gently pulled your head from Alexia’s grip, moving past her thighs and with slight hesitation giving her exactly what she wanted.
You started with one thick, broad stroke, directly through her heat.
She was soaked, like she’d been anticipating this her whole way home, which sent a shiver down your spine.
Alexia pushed you where she wanted, up to her clit, you got the message and started to suck, hard.
It was exactly how Alexia liked it, your teeth grazing her most sensitive place every so often, her hips jerking so slightly when you did.
You weren’t all that surprised when her hand reached from your hair to the place inbetween your shoulders, tapping until you correct your posture.
It was random things like that Alexia was a complete freak over, posture, cleanliness, little stupid things that you couldn’t have cared less about.
Yet for some reason, you found yourself adjusting to how Alexia wanted you, even if it meant your head was that much closer to hitting the bottom of the table and your back was now cramping. It was worth it if it meant that Alexia was more at ease and you could avoid punishment.
Alexia wasn’t a loud lover, on a good day the best you could get out of her was a groan or if it was a really good day then a moan, it wasn’t any surprise to you though if you couldn’t get anything out of her.
Alexia stayed silent, apart from the noises of her slowly making her way through the food you’d plated up for her.
You had become a master of Alexia’s body, it was necessary considering she was so quiet, you knew her tell tale signs and exactly when she was close and how to get her there.
It didn’t take long, it never really did after a game.
You were no scientist or professional as far as women's health went, but you assumed it had something to do with all of the hormones and energy that was built up, it put a person closer to the edge.
You weren’t surprised when Alexia’s thighs slowly began to tighten on either side of your head and her grip on your hair became so tight that you struggled to move against her.
Everything in Alexia’s body tensed up, she went rigid and then finally, without any show at all, she relaxed, her clit throbbing underneath your mouth and thighs relaxing on either side of your head.
As soon as she’d come you moved your mouth down from her clit, cautious of over stimulating her too early and instead moving down to her opening and cleaning up the mess that you’d made.
It might have just been the best dinner you’d ever had.
You keep your mouth on her, not wanting to displease her in any way.
As she’s finishing her food and you lazily kiss and lick her pussy you become progressively more aware of the pooling wet heat that has begun to settle into your panties and is slowly beginning to leak out across your thighs, you feel so full and yet so empty, craving to feel more than the motionless toys that you’ve been stuffed with for hours.
Almost as soon as Alexia is setting her fork down on her plate she’s pushing your head away from her, pushing you back until your ass is sitting on top of the backs of your heels.
“Clean up, I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”
Before you can nod your head Alexia is already standing, walking off towards her bedroom and leaving you on your knees in front of the chair she’d previously occupied.
With sore knees and arousal dripping all over your face you stood up, collecting Alexia’s empty plate and walking unsteadily towards the sink and washing it off before stacking it into the dishwasher. You do the same with her cutlery before closing the dishwasher and putting away any other mess you’d made and making sure the kitchen was as you’d found it, if Alexia found anything out of place in the morning you knew she’d punish you for it, so you took time making sure every meticulous detail was correct.
Alexia kept her home as she kept herself, organised to an obsessive point, everything had a specific space or place that it had to occupy. She had a dish for the tv remote, an alphabetically sorted spice rack, every painting, picture and frame had to be centred and her wardrobe was sorted into so many different categories that you struggled to comprehend how a person could put together an outfit everyday without having an aneurysm.
Alexia loved it though, and for whatever reason she expected you to uphold her level of cleanliness.
Once you were certain that the room was exactly how Alexia liked it, you began walking towards Alexia’s bedroom, your favourite room in her apartment.
The door was half open, giving you a glance into the space before you stepped foot into the doorway.
The lights were dimmed and whilst you couldn’t see Alexia, you could see the items she’d left out on top of the bed spread and it had you quaking from the inside to out.
The anticipation of actually getting to see Alexia is enough to get you through the door, slowly pushing the door open and allowing yourself to step foot in the room.
It didn’t take long for you to find Alexia, she was standing in the doorway of her wardrobe, hands on her hips and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.
She was stark naked, excluding the strap that was hanging from the space in between her legs.
The red dildo was one that you’d never seen before, and for that you were glad.
It looked far larger than anything you’d ever taken with Alexia, there were veins up and down the length of it and the girth alone was intimidating, the length though, the length was enough to make your eyes pop out of your skull.
Alexia looked as smug as ever, the cocky grin on her face and the way that her muscles bulged out just above the strap. Alexia’s got a good body, she knows it, everybody on earth who has a functioning brain knows it. It’s one of your guilty secrets that you get it all to yourself, that you get to see parts of her body that nobody else gets to. You’ve seen thousands of women, super models, athletes, people from all walks of life but you’re fairly certain that nobody would ever come close to Alexia Putellas.
It wasn’t just her body either, it was her demeanour, her aura, everything about her was attractive to you. She was a good person, but she was also a good fuck, the best sex you’d had in your life was with Alexia and you’d worked in a sex club for years. You can’t be taught experience or confidence, it’s something that you have or you don’t and Alexia was the best. You supposed she liked to be the best at everything, the best at football, the best at life, the best at sex. Her strive for perfection in all walks of life never deterred.
“Alexia.”
Alexia pouted at you, her hands anchored at her hips, giving you a full view of her full breasts and her rock hard nipples.
“That’s not what you call me.”
You bit down on your lip, the stickiness between your thighs only getting stickier.
“Daddy.”
Alexia’s smirk broadened, her teeth biting down into her lip.
“Yes baby?”
You felt your pussy quiver, your cheeks reddening.
“It’s to big.”
Alexia’s smirk faded in a matter of seconds, the blonde starting to take steps towards you.
“I don’t like that attitude baby girl, you’ll take what I give you unless you want to make me mad, and I don’t think you want that, hm?”
The condescending voice, the way her eyes looked down at you, the saunter in her steps. If you hadn’t already soaked your thong then it was now.
“Daddy, it’s huge.”
Alexia nodded, like you were telling her what day it was instead of talking about the appendage that was attached to her hips.
“Wanna say that again? Wanna make me mad? Wanna put me in an even worse mood than that game did, because I recall that your one job is to do the exact opposite.”
She’s right, you were quite literally employed by her as a means for her to manage her stress. It had started at the club you’d worked at, Alexia spending half of her week in the shitty mildewy basement of a run down sex club in Barcelona just to enjoy your company. Eventually she was spending more time paying for your time at the club than at her own home and that was when she made the decision to give you a proposition, one you’d accepted happily.
“No daddy.”
Alexia nods her head, taking the final step to bridge the gap between the two of you.
“That’s what I thought princesa, now how about you lie back on the bed for me, you know how I like you.”
You didn’t hesitate, brushing past Alexia and straight to her bed, climbing on top of the covers as gracefully as you could manage, trying to give Alexia a show as you crawled your way to the top of the bed. Once you made it to the pillows you flipped onto your back, opening your legs for Alexia and keeping still as she liked you.
Alexia peered down at you, admiring the clear wet patch that was embedded in your thong. It was a sight that she was equally as grateful for every time she got to see it, the evidence that you were just as needy and worked up as she was, that you were equally as desperate for her as she was for you.
“So wet princesa, is that all for me? Does your perfect little pretty cunt get worked up at the thought of me?”
She knows the answer, she only asks you to try and get a kick out of you, to rile you up and try and get you to brat back at her, you know her tricks and you know that it’s best to answer her with some kind of submissive variation.
“Yes daddy.”
Alexia moves her way around to the side of the bed, leaning over to reach for your chin, her index finger pointing it up so you’re looking at her eye-to-eye.
“You’ve been good today? Doing as I asked and not touching what belongs to me?”
You shake your head obediently, you’ve learnt from experience that disobeying Alexia is the worst possible thing you could do, for starters the woman always seems to find the truth anyways and she’s more creative than most with her punishment tactics.
“Yes daddy, I’m always good for you.”
Alexia smirks big and wide, her grip on your chin tightening.
“I’ll be the decider of that. What colour are you princesa?”
You take a big deep breath before answering Alexia, composing yourself to give her a proper answer.
“Green, daddy.”
Alexia nods, her fingers staying on your chin with a grip that you couldn’t even try to escape.
“How are you feeling about being tied up baby?”
You thought about the question for a few seconds.
“Fine, I’m green daddy, I’ll let you know if I don’t like anything.”
Alexia smiles, softer, less aggressively domineering.
“That’s what I like to hear, what are your rules?”
You almost roll your eyes, almost.
Alexia’s made you memorise them, you know them like you know the colour of your eyes and the surface of your palm.
“I know my rules daddy.”
Alexia’s soft smile reverts to the harsh line, the same one you’d been met with when she’d found you in the kitchen.
“I didn’t ask if you knew them, I asked you to tell me them. Don’t make me have to punish you when you’ve been so well behaved so far, what are your rules, slut?”
Alexia’s grip turns into a bruising hold, her finger tips digging into the skin of your chin bone.
“No touching myself without permission. No talking without permission unless I’m spoken to. No cumming without permission. Use my safewords if I want to stop at any time. No moving unless you tell me too. If you tell me to do something, do it.”
Alexia nods, climbing onto the bed beside you and hovering her face just inches above yours.
“There’s my good girl, you can be good if you want to, huh?”
Once again, you do your very best to shrug off the condescension in Alexia’s words, smiling at her and simply nodding your head.
“Yes daddy.”
Alexia leans down, pulling your bottom lip with her teeth before your lips even begin to meet hers. Everything about the kiss is as controlled as Alexia, she goes at her own pace, deepening it when and however she likes, eventually pushing her tongue into your mouth.
It’s slower than you’d like, and with both of your holes still stuffed but unstimulated it’s ten times harder to endure, but you assume that’s Alexia’s doing, she’s trying to get you as riled up as possible, although you are unsure of her endgame.
“You look so pretty with my cum all over your face baby, I taste divine if I do say so myself.”
Alexia’s fingers begin to trail down your body, over the top of the lace that your breasts are confined to and straight down to the waistband of your panties, gently brushing over your hips before her hand dipped below the wet lace and swiped through your heat two times, collecting as much arousal as she could without touching any of the places that you were yearning for her the most.
Alexia’s hands are gone almost as quickly as they arrived, her hand creating a gap in between the kiss. Her fingers replace your lips, her index and middle finger being pushed into her mouth.
The way that Alexia sucks, nips and licks at her fingers is simply mesmerising, you're in a trance watching her.
“Such a fucking filthy slut, all wet from getting daddy off, huh? You taste magnificent, baby.”
The mixture of praise and degrading has your head spinning in circles, all of the different words mixing inside your head, sending you into that perfect headspace that Alexia always managed to drift you into.
“Open.”
Alexia’s fingers, now wet with her slobber, tapped at your chin and without any hesitation whatsoever you opened your mouth, sticking your tongue out.
Within seconds, Alexia was spitting into your mouth, directly onto your waiting tongue.
“Swallow.”
You obey her once again, swallowing the spit on your tongue, faintly tasting your own arousal mixed in.
“How do you taste, baby?”
You focus on swallowing properly before answering Alexia.
“Horny, daddy.”
Alexia rolls her eyes before landing a sharp but playful slap to the inside of your thigh, plastering it with more wetness.
“Behave and maybe I’ll do something about it.”
Alexia’s lips don’t return to yours, instead they hover just far enough out of reach that you can’t connect yours with hers.
Alexia lifts herself up and off the mattress, walking over to the pile of different toys she’s left out on the bench at the foot of the bed and picking out a set of silk ties.
She walks back over to you, reaching for your wrists and knotting the silk around them before reaching up to the posts on each side of your bed and securing your wrists to them. Once she’s done she nods at you to check them, you move your wrists accordingly, testing her bonds.
They’re tight and methodically done, immobilising you how Alexia wishes, but they’re also loose enough that if you really tried you’d be able to escape them without much effort.
Once Alexia’s satisfied with her knotwork she walks back over to her pile, picking out a few items that she keeps hidden from you.
Alexia crawls her way back up the mattress, stop halfway up your body and opting to pull the sticky panties off of you, she peels them off of you, slowly tugging them down your hips until they’re sitting at your ankles. Alexia trails her fingers back up a long your legs, tracing little white lines across your skin with her nails as they made their way back up to the space that your panties had previously covered.
Alexia didn’t touch anything, instead she gently began to tug at the vibrator nestled deep inside of you, it’s lying painfully motionless inside of you and whilst you were more than happy to be filled up with something, it’s almost a relief having it removed.
“Such a good girl staying stretched out for daddy, hmm?”
You nod your head at Alexia, trying your hardest to keep your composure as she gently traces the tissue around your hole, never dipping inside though.
“Such a pretty little pussy, so perfect for daddy to stretch out and play with.”
You suck in a deep breath as Alexia’s hand comes down in a firm but quick slap, the pain flashing across your most sensitive areas.
Your back arches, a few months ago you would have been embarrassed that your body was seeking out that kind of contact but with Alexia that all changed, how could you feel embarrassed when she looked and talked about your body like it was created by God himself.
Her hand comes down again, this time more targeted towards your clit, it takes everything you have to turn the scream that was ready in your chest into a groan.
“Be as loud as you want, princesa, it’s not going to make me stop and it’s not going to make your body dislike what I’m doing to you.”
Alexia’s hand comes down again, the squelchy slap ringing out across the room, this time it’s more targeted directly at your stretched out hole. This time you let out something that sounds more like a ringed out scream, your vocal cords unable to truly suppress the extreme amounts of pain and pleasure that are being sent through the nerve receptors across your cunt.
Another two slaps fall in quick succession and by the end of both of them you’re groaning and moaning as much as your lungs will allow, hips chasing any contact you can possibly get or find.
“Such a little pain slut aren’t you, desperate for any kind of contact daddy will give you, you take it so well princesa.”
Alexia places gentle kisses across your hips and thighs, it’s nice, but it’s nowhere near what you want from her.
“Ale, please.”
Alexia’s lips move from your skin almost immediately, her head jerking up to look at you, her brows knitted in annoyance.
“It’s daddy to you, slut. The only noises I want to hear coming from your mouth are the sweet little sounds that you make when I’m touching you, understood?”
You nod your head, well aware that too much disobedience will earn you a very sore ass and no relief for the night.
Alexia reaches down to her pile at the end of the bed, picking up something that you don’t get a look at.
You find out quick enough, when you hear the whirring of a vibrator and seconds later it’s pressed directly against your sore and puffy clit.
Your body thrashes in reply almost immediately, it’s a painful overstimulation that your body was most definitely not ready for.
Your back arches and thighs clench, even though it’s clear that there is no escaping the forced contact, Alexia’s hand stays steady, pressing the vibrator down hard against your bud. Eventually, the vision blurring pain begins to subside, and your sent into the most unpleasurable slow lead up to your orgasm.
You were close nonetheless, and frighteningly aware that the chances of Alexia giving you an orgasm right now were slim and even if she did it was going to be possibly the least pleasurable one she could give you.
You didn’t need to wait long to find out, Alexia sensing your impending orgasm pulled away, giving you a chance to take a deep breath, a mere second.
A second long reprieve was all you got before she laid down another two quick slaps against your clit.
You screamed. As loud as your vocal cords would allow, you screamed. If the overstimulation before had been too much then now it was completely incomprehensible. There was an accumulation of sweat on your forehead similar to the pool of wetness accumulated between your thighs.
Alexia gave you another second to breathe, before the vibrator was pressed straight back against your clit, making you scream once again, your vision full of white as your body shook from the pure pain you were going through.
Alexia wasn’t wrong when she called you a pain slut, it was why she’d frequented you so much at the club, it was why she paid you so much for your company. Not a lot of people could take the amount of pain you were willing to, and still find it pleasurable, yet you loved every single second of it, or you loved the result that always came after taking some pain.
Alexia always made it worth your while, and she knew where your limit was.
“So perfect bebita, taking what I’m giving you, you’re so wet princesa.”
Alexia’s finger trailed down to your hole, briefly dipping inside and collecting some of the wetness. She smeared it across the flat part of your stomach, leaving a long trail of your arousal against your stomach.
“Can you feel that princesa? My little pain slut, hmm? Getting all soaked over me abusing your cunt. How’s it feel?”
It’s hard to talk and articulate what you’re feeling considering how much your body is being affected by the painful overstimulation Alexia is putting you through.
“Good daddy, so fucking good.”
Alexia smirks, silently proud of herself and silently just as proud of you.
“Mm, you reckon you can take another two for me baby? Another two edges and then you’ll get a reward, can you do it for daddy?”
You actually weren’t sure if you could, maybe another one, but two seemed like it could be teetering on the edge of too much. Alexia realised your apprehension before you managed to voice it, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your lips.
“Let’s try for another one and see how you feel, hmm? You’ve been so good for me princesa, if it’s too much let me know and we’ll stop or take a break.”
The soft Alexia fades as soon as you nod your head, the determination on your face returning, you didn’t want to disappoint Alexia and you didn’t want to tap out unless you were seriously struggling, so you tried to control yourself as much as possible and focus on the lesser sensations.
It didn’t take long for you to get close once again, once the pain subsided you were left with pure pleasure, pleasure that was almost as blinding as the pain that you had previously been experiencing.
As soon as it starts to be perfectly, consumingly good, the vibrator is taken from you and your overwhelmed with the pain of Alexia’s hand coming down on your pussy again. This time around she’s kind enough to spread her hit across your whole sex, instead of targeting your clit, the pain is there all the same though.
“What’s your colour, princesa?”
You take a few seconds to reply, focusing on taking a couple of deep breaths whilst you wait for the immediate pain to pass.
“Green, I’m green daddy.”
Alexia reaches up to press another soft kiss to your lips, her lips linger on top of yours.
“You feel like you can go for another one? I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”
You take your time replying to her, enjoying the feeling of her lips pressed to yours and the vibrations that would spread across yours whenever she breathed.
“I can go again.”
You could feel Alexia’s lips perk up against yours, a smirk growing on her face.
She keeps her lips pressed to yours as she brings the vibrator back to your clit, making it a little bit more bearable.
Alexia’s lips stay connected to yours the whole time, the scream and moans being pushed straight against her lips as you work through the pain and pleasure coming straight from your core. As soon as you’ve begun to get closer to the edge, it’s gone and just like every other time, you’re hit with an overwhelming pain as Alexia’s hand comes down one final time.
Her lips leave yours as you groan and try to process the overstimulation that you can feel radiating across your lower half.
The pain is soothed by Alexia’s tongue, her lips and tongue flattening out across your puffy clit, it mellows out the pain slightly, but simultaneously begins to push you back towards the edge that you were so desperate to get over but also be away from.
Your hips cant up as a reflex, a reflex that is quickly put to rest as one of Alexia’s hands pushes down against your hips, keeping you pressed against the mattress.
“Stay still and let me clean you up princesa.”
Alexia’s tongue gently traced it’s way around your cunt, lapping at the wetness and getting as much of it on her tongue as possible. Her spare hand pushed it’s way underneath you, locating the forgotten butt plug nestled between your cheeks and gently tugging at it.
While her mouth doesn’t provide any real kind of pleasure, the tugging and twisting of the toy in your ass certainly does. Alexia’s been stretching you out for weeks, it’s been a slow process, but worth it, it’s elevated your experiences with her that extra bit, to the point where you could probably come solely from her playing with your ass. You’ve got no doubt that one day she’ll want to try it and when that day comes around you’ll be more than happy to oblige her, there was something so much more special and sacred about having her play with your ass in ways that nobody else had. You were no anal virgin, working at a sex club meant that you’d experimented more than the average person but never in the ways that Alexia managed to, even now that the two of you were months into your situation she still managed to surprise you by introducing new things.
Alexia didn’t wait for you to get to the edge, she needed you to stay conscious and she was fairly certain another edge might put you too far into subspace, to the point where you weren’t coherent enough for her to be using how she wanted to. Right now, you seemed to be floating in that perfectly obedient place where you typically fell after some proper exertion, compliant enough to do anything Alexia wanted. It was her favourite place to have you.
You mewled at Alexia as she pulled away, stripping off the rest of her clothes and leaving them in a neatly stacked pile at the foot of the bed before reaching for the strap she’d left on the edge of the bed and fastening it around her hips with practised ease. It was a new dildo that she had attached to the strap, larger than she’d had you take before, she was well aware that it might be a bit to big for you, but she was also excited to see if you were up for it.
Alexia crawled her way in between your legs, pressing the silicone cock flat against your stomach before pressing her lips to your neck, reaching behind you to take off the bra that was still attached to you. She keeps her lips attached to the skin across your chest, marking you up just how she liked to. Alexia loved the fact that you were all hers, hers to mark up, hers to order around, hers to come home to.
“Daddy, please.”
With the feeling of silicone pressed against your stomach and Alexia’s lips sucking deep purple marks along your collarbones, it was hard to not be insanely desperate, especially considering just how much she’d focused on working you up.
“I’ve got you princesa, daddy’s going to make you feel so good.”
Alexia finishes with one last hickey before pushing herself up onto her elbows, giving herself a better view of you.
“Gonna give you your reward princesa, gonna make you feel so good.”
Alexia leans back, positioning herself in between your legs and lining herself up with you, slowly beginning to work her way in.
The groan that you let out as Alexia slowly starts to thrust the length into you. Simultaneously, as she’s slowly working her way in, she reaches down, tugging at the plug still slotted inbetween your cheeks.
It seems to be the right move, because your body practically melts from the mixed stimulation, making it that much easier for Alexia to ease her way in, your body pretty much opening up for her.
Just as she bottoms out, she tugs at the plug, pulling it out and replacing it with her fingers.
You moan in a way that Alexia’s never heard before, your whole body vibrates along with the moan, like your whole body is generating the sound.
It only spurs Alexia on.
Once she’s certain that you’re comfortable with the length and width of the strap, she starts to quicken her pace, rocking her hips against yours, her fingers following the same pace. Alexia nudges your legs just a bit further apart and a bit higher up, giving her a better angle to start properly fucking you.
Alexia is mesmerised by the feeling of being inside of you in two different places, she hadn’t planned this for tonight, but she’s so grateful that it happened because it feels different in all of the best ways.
She roughens her pace as you seemingly begin to get closer, your body jerking to meet Alexia for every single thrust.
“D-Daddy, fuck, please.”
Alexia quickens her pace, beginning to roughen her thrusts.
“Hold on for me baby, wait till I’m ready and we’ll come together.”
You bite down on your lip hard, the double penetration is making you feel things that you’ve never felt before and you feel like you're about to explode in more ways than one.
“Please daddy, need to come.”
Alexia nods her head, desperate to get herself to the edge so that she can ride it out with you.
“I know baby, just a little bit longer, daddy’s got you.”
Alexia leans down, pressing a kiss to your jaw and pistoning her hips as hard as possible, getting enough friction against her clit for her own orgasm to begin to grow, the coil in her stomach beginning to tighten.
“Go ahead baby, come with daddy, I’ve got you.”
It doesn’t take long before you’re plummeting over the edge, your orgasm hitting you like a semi-truck, quite literally.
You go boneless immediately, all the pent up pleasure and pain finally coursing it’s way throughout your veins and all the nerves inside of you lighting up like a christmas tree.
Alexia’s orgasm isn’t as strong but it hits her all the same, she pulls out slowly before collapsing on top of you, slotting her head into the crook of your neck and letting the both of you come down.
When your body stops shaking and your breathing evens out, Alexia lifts herself off of you, pulling the strap off of herself before lying down next to you and bringing you into her arms, allowing you to come down in her arms.
The skin to skin contact does wonders for you, sending you into a warm cloud of post sex happiness as you burrow your way into Alexia’s neck, trying your hardest to jump inside of her skin.
“Princesa.”
You try your hardest to ignore Alexia, opting to attach yourself to her.
“Princesa, c’mon you need to get up.”
Alexia doesn’t have the heart to actually try and lift you off of her, but she does have a brain that is telling her that there are things that need to be done before she can enjoy your company in her sheets.
“Princesa, go to the bathroom, I’ll fetch us both some water from the kitchen and then we can have cuddles, okay?”
You groan into Alexia’s neck, clearly displeased with her suggestion but also forcing yourself off of Alexia to do as she’s asked, knowing that it is the logical thing to do.
“I want cuddles when I get back, proper cuddles.”
Alexia rolls her eyes.
“I don’t pay you for cuddles.”
It’s lighthearted, a joke that has you even rolling your eyes.
“No but you probably should, I’m a pretty awesome cuddler.”
Alexia snorts, nodding her head, it’s true.
“Cuddles once you pee and drink some water, okay? I’ll even sleep in an extra hour for you, how does that sound?”
It’s an offer you’ve got no business denying.
“Meet you back in bed?”
Alexia nods her head, already making her way into the kitchen.
“I’ll meet you there.”
———————————————————————
anyways this fic was written in three different countries and i sooo can’t be fucked with editing it so sorry if you experienced the after math of that!!! love yall and hope you enjoyed this 🫶
#woso#woso community#sammykworshipper thoughts#daddy alexia putellas#alexia putellas smuttt#alexia putellas is mom#sugar daddy alexia putellas#alexia putellas x reader#alexia putellas imagine#alexia putellas#woso imagine#woso one shot#woso fanfics#woso smut#feral#i’m unhinged
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THE KID AT THE BACK
-theories
(- Posted before the new version of day 1 and day 2 -)
Did i sit down and analyze this game for 3 hours straight because I'm hyperfixated on it? Yes, yes i did.
This isnt proof-read and long as hell so buckle up for a joyride, y'all (by the way, there's another TKATB fanfic in the works as we speak and also some fanart, though I'm not sure wether to post it or not... well, we'll see!)
Some of these might not seem all too thought through (??) Since i was kind of grasping at straws here (and it was like 2 a.m. lmao), so if y'all have questions/need me to elaborate or have theories of your own feel free to share!
(There's some inspiration here from other people in the Fandom, most of them from the community section on itch.io which isnt available any more)
Sol knows the player longer than we think
My theory ->
-Fantasia stated that one of her 3 biggest inspirations was the game AMNESIA
-In amnesia the mc loses her memory in an accident. One of the love interests is her childhood friend and also the only yandere in the game (at least from what i could find out)
-She already drew Sol with Forget-me-nots and in the valentines day special the boquet sol gave us also contained Forget-me-nots
-In the book (this gallery thing with all the cutscene images) on the top of sols page is written 'Remember Me' which implies we forgot about him
-Annabel Lee Poem:
+The poem contains the line 'I was a child, she was a child' which furthermore implies that Sol and MC knew each other as kids
+Except for the last two paragraphs the poem is written in past tense, which could be talking about sols POV with us
Perhaps MC had an accident, as mentioned above, and MCs father (highborn kinsmen) tore MC away from Sol to the countryside
+The poem mentions angels killing annabel lee which could also mean something like this: MC doesnt die but, however, gets amnesia. That way, the MC sol knows and loves is dead because MC no longer exists the way MC did before (also the fact that she forgot him)
Some people theorize MCs farm is near the sea and that is the reason why sol hates the sea (i believe the city is near the sea and that's where MC 'died' (maybe MC almost drowned and got Amnesia that way?(apparently its possible for people who almost drowned to get amnesia)))
+"The speaker loves annabel lee to the point of death and even after death" (MCs view how to interpret the poem) (-> Sol loves MC to 'death' (the day they got amnesia) and even after 'death' (after MC got amnesia and 'died' in a sense, as a person))
-sol says he thinks death is beautiful, i didn't really know what to make of that, the only conclusion i came to would be: If MC actually did drown and lose their memories due to that, sol might have been involved in MC drowning (or at least blames himself for that) but viewed MC losing their memories as a 'second chance' with them, since they can start from anew (perhaps he made some mistakes with MC in the past which all eventually built up to MC drowning (it could be that we were already teens at that point)
-sol states afterwards: "But people refused them to let them be together, as if fate refuses them to die together" which supports my theory that MC was taken from Sol by someone (most likely the father after he witnessed Sols behaviour and his final straw was MC drowning because of him) the 'let them die together' could mean something like their relationship 'dying' and then starting over again or perhaps he tried to die with them, who knows (all this is really far fetched i am grasping at straws here lmao)
-in a really quick scene right after he mutters "I'm won't let it happen to me... not again" (some people view this as Sol already lost someone he loved dearly but it could also be the MC who was taken from him
ANOTHER THING I COULD IMAGINE -ABOUT DYING TOGETHER COULD BE:
MC almost died, Sol went after them but they were already saved, Sol just didnt witness that and almost died himself/wanted to die but was saved from that by someone (maybe hyugo? Though, he is an exchange student)
-Another theory on hyugo. It's canon that he is an exchange student, however i do believe he is from this city (since he knows about the hierarchy and his brother Geo apparently is no exchange student), moved away and is now back for business (relating to his 'mafia schemes' but under the disguise of being an exchange student)
Maybe he moved around the same time MC left or some time after that
-Hyugo mentions on the rooftop that we remind him of someone and the pronoun of the person he refers to changes based on the one the player picked for the MC in the beginning. It could mean we remind him of someone else entirely, someone maybe not even related to sol (though i doubt that) or to the MC and he knows them from back then but maybe thought MC died as well and cant believe they actually survived (maybe he want to spike MCs memory by doing that)
-A dream within a dream: MC mentions that this poem, at least to them, talks about the uncertainty about something, like life (which could also imply that they might be uncertain about some things in their mife because they simply forgot them due to amnesia)
-THE SECOND DAY 'THE KINGDOM'
+some people think the kingdom (by the sea) refers to MCs farm and implies its near the sea, however in day 2 we find out about the hierarchy in the city and considering my theory that MC actually is from the city and almost drowned there, i believe the kingdom by the sea is the city. MC does mention in the beginning that they lived on the farm ever since they were a child, however, it could very well be that we moved there right after the incident that caused MCs amnesia (if MC was akid when it happened it would really matter because then it would still fit with the fact that they lived there since theyre a child, however if they were already a teen, perhaps the father moved there immediately to cut off all ties to Sol and told us we have always lived there on top of that (considering the previous theories)
The father also didnt seem fond of the idea that we go to the city (the fact that he is is indebted to someone from high class could imply he might be from there), that could be because he knows how dangerous the city is (and how we could potentially meet sol again)
-maybe the reason for the debt is that MCs father suddenly bought the farm land to get us away from the city as soon as possible and had to take on a loan from one of his contacts in the city
-we know that this is MCs last year at the university, if we say shes minimum 22, and was already in the school for 4 years that would mean she got there at 18. If the 'drowning theory' events took place when MC was a teen (like 16 maybe) it would explain why the father was indebted (i also think 2 years is an believable timeframe a higher class person would give someone to pay off their debt)
-at the end of day 2 sol says he's sorry for leaving us and "i dont know what I'll do if..." which supports my theory that he lost us once (and he blames himself as the reason (again, MC drowning?))
-inspirations:
+ https://www.tumblr.com/sweet-herbal-peach-tea/746168072919023616/tkatb-theories?source=share
+ https://itch.io/t/3749638/whats-the-secret-between-hyugo-and-sol
Another theory:
Sleepy Hollow and The kid at the back
-In the nicknames the boys have for MC (fantasia released that on twitter and tumblr) sol calls MC pumpkin (like the pumpkin of the headless horseman (also in the gallery there is a pumpkin above the book)) and Crowe calls them '(star-crossed) lover'
Star-crossed lovers are people who love each other but can't be together
I believe this might imply that, even though Crowe is the second romance option, MC can't be with him no matter what they do
I also found out that the nickname is a phrase from romeo and juliet (which furthermore implies crowe will die)
We know what romeo and juliet is about: romeo and juliet cant be together because their families are enemies (some people believe Crowes father might be them man MCs father owes money to(i personally doubt thah though but it would support this romeo and juliet situation)) and at the end romeo thinks that juliet died, kills himself and then juliet turns out to not be dead but kills herself after seeing romeo dead
-Jericho Ichabod is a character from Sleepy Hollow, along Katrina (the FMC who owns a farm (what a coincidence)) and Brom Bones (its implied he is the headless horseman). In the story, jericho courts Katrina at a party, she rejects him and on his way home the headless horseman kills him (in the scene where Sol accompanies MC to class he says 'it's always been you ichabod' which could furthermore imply that crowe or his family have something do to with the fact that Sol and MC arent together)
In the library scene with Crowe he asks MC about their opinion on marie Antoinette and when MC says something negative about her, his reaction seems kind of strange. MC also brought a book about torture devices and execution methods and in that book is a picture of 'The Executioner' and he has scars on his arms, wears a mask and a chained collar. This correlates with some of sols features. He has scars on his arms (as seen in one of fantasias drawings), wears a chocker (he also wears a mask when he breaks into MCs room but that's really something anyone who does that would do). This implies even more that he will kill crowe.
#tkatb sol#tkatb vn#the kid at the back#solivan brugmansia#Crowe#jericho ichabod#Crowe ichabod#sol brugmansia#yandere visual novel#yandere#yandere vn#tkatb#tkatb theory#tkatb crowe
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One of the largest projects I've been working on is this typeset and book version of 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, one of my very favorite video games. (Which later became the first game in the Zero Escape franchise.)
The game is a visual novel and escape room game combo with multiple routes and endings leading to a true ending. So this version is structured like a Choose-your-own-Adventure book where you flip to different pages depending on your choices.
I also made it possible to skip all the less linear escape/puzzle sequences because they don't read very cohesively. But they do contain a lot of funny or revealing lines so I didn't want to eliminate them entirely.
I should also mention one of the reasons for doing this is that I wanted to preserve the original text of the game from the Nintendo DS version from 2010. When it was remastered/ported to PC and Switch a lot of the dialogue was rewritten very much for the worse. As well as making the novel sections optional, which destroys a lot of the point and atmosphere of the game.
The book is a full leather casebind, with stenciled titles. The leather was honestly a little too thick and required a lot of paring, which is terrifying because any slip could ruin it. And the final satin finish I put on made a lot of the leather flaws look worse and more obvious, which is annoying. It was my first time doing faux raised bands on the spine, and they came out nice.
My printer decided to fuck with me while printing this one and the color alignment is off. This is my second attempt at printing it and it's better than the first but still not great. But I wasn't gonna waste so much paper again.
And no, I'm not planning on doing the sequels. I can't imagine trying to deal with VLR's 28 endings when doing 6 was this challenging and annoying. And the sequels are perfectly represented by their existing playable versions, unlike 999.
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Mortholme Post-Mortem
The Dark Queen of Mortholme has been out for two weeks, and I've just been given an excellent excuse to write some more about its creation by a lenghty anonymous ask.
Under the cut, hindsight on the year spent making Mortholme and answers to questions about game dev, grouped under the following topics:
Time spent on development Programming Obstacles Godot Animation Pixel art Environment assets Writing Completion Release
Regarding time spent on development
Nope, I’ve got no idea anymore how long I spent on Mortholme. It took a year but during that time I worked on like two other games and whatever else. And although I started with the art, I worked on all parts simultaneously to avoid getting bored. This is what I can say:
Art took a ridiculous amount of time, but that was by choice (or compulsion, one might say). I get very excitable and particular about it. At most I was making about one or two Hero animations in a day (for a total of 8 + upgraded versions), but anything involving the Queen took multiple times longer. When I made the excecutive decision that her final form was going to have a bazillion tentacles I gave up on scheduling altogether.
Coding went quickly at the start when I was knocking out a feature after another, until it became the ultimate slow-burn hurdle at the end. Testing, bugfixing, and playing Jenga with increasingly unwieldy code kept oozing from one week to the next. For months, probably? My memory’s shot but I have a mark on my calendar on the 18th of August that says “Mortholme done”. Must’ve been some optimistic deadline before the ooze.
Writing happened in extremely productive week-long bursts followed by nothing but nitpicky editing while I focused on other stuff. Winner in the “changed most often” category, for sure.
Sound was straightforward, after finishing a new set of animations I spent a day or two to record and edit SFX for them. Music I originally scheduled two weeks for, but hubris and desire for more variants bumped it to like a month.
Regarding programming
The Hero AI is certainly the part that I spent most of my coding time on. The basic way the guaranteed dodging works is that all the Queen’s attacks send a signal to the Hero, who calculates a “danger zone” based on the type of attack and the Queen’s location. Then, if the Hero is able to dodge that particular attack (a probability based on how much it's been used & story progression), they run a function to dodge it.
Each attack has its own algorithm that produces the best safe target position to go to based on the Hero’s current position (and other necessary actions like jumping). Those algorithms needed a whole lot of testing to code counters for all the scenarios that might trip the Hero up.
The easiest or at least most fun parts for me to code are the extra bells and whistles that aren’t critical but add flair. Like in the Hero’s case, the little touches that make them seem more human: a reaction speed delay that increases over time, random motions and overcompensation that decrease as they gain focus, late-game Hero taking prioritising aggressive positiniong, a “wait for last second” function that lets the Hero calculate how long it’ll take them to move to safety and use the information to squeeze an extra attack in…
The hardest attack was the magic circle, as it introduced a problem in my code so far. The second flare can overlap with other attacks, meaning the Hero had to keep track of two danger zones at once. For a brief time I wanted to create a whole new system that would constantly update a map of all current danger zones—that would allow for any number of overlapping attacks, which would be really cool! Unfortunately it didn’t gel with my existing code, and I couldn’t figure out its multitudes of problems since, well…
Regarding obstacles
Thing is, I’m hot garbage as a programmer. My game dev’s all self-taught nonsense. So after a week of failing to get this cool system to work, I scrapped it and instead made a spaghetti code monstrosity that made magic circle run on a separate danger zone, and decided I’d make no more overlapping attacks. That’s easy; I just had to buffer the timing of the animation locks so that the Hero would always have time to move away. (I still wanted to keep the magic circle, since it’s fun for the player to try and trick the Hero with it.)
There’s my least pretty yet practical solo dev advice: if you get stuck because you can’t do something, you can certainly try to learn how to do it, but occasionally the only way to finish a project within a decade to work around those parts and let them be a bit crap.
I’m happy to use design trickery, writing and art to cover for my coding skills. Like, despite the anonymous asker’s description, the Hero’s dodging is actually far from perfect. I knew there was no way it was ever going to be, which is why I wrote special dialogue to account for a player finding an exploit that breaks the intended gameplay. (And indeed, when the game was launched, someone immediately found it!)
Regarding Godot
It’s lovely! I switched from Unity years ago and it’s so much simpler and more considerate of 2D games. The way its node system emphasises modularity has improved my coding a lot.
New users should be aware that a lot of tutorials and advice you find online may be for Godot 3. If something doesn’t work, search for what the Godot 4 equivalent is.
Regarding animation
I’m a professional animator, so my list of tips and techniques is a tad long… I’ll just give a few resource recommendations: read up on the classic 12 principles of animation (or the The Illusion of Life, if you’d like the whole book) and test each out for yourself. Not every animation needs all of these principles, but basically every time you’ll be looking at an animation and wondering how to make it better, the answer will be in paying attention to one or more of them.
Game animation is its own beast, and different genres have their own needs. I’d recommend studying animations that do what you’d like to do, frame by frame. If you’re unsure of how exactly to analyse animation for its techniques, youtube channel New Frame Plus shows an excellent example.
Oh, and film yourself some references! The Queen demanded so much pretend mace swinging that it broke my hoover.
Regarding pixel art
The pixel art style was picked for two reasons: 1. to evoke a retro game feel to emphasise the meta nature of the narrative, and 2. because it’s faster and more forgiving to animate in than any of my other options.
At the very start I was into the idea of doing a painterly style—Hollow Knight was my first soulslike—but quickly realised that I’d either have to spend hundreds of hours animating the characters, or design them in a simplistic way that I deemed too cutesy for this particular game. (Hollow Knight style, one day I’d love to emulate you…)
I don’t use a dedicated program, just Photoshop for everything like a chump. Pixel art doesn’t need anything fancy, although I’m sure specialist programs will keep it nice and simple.
Pixel art’s funny; its limitations make it dependent on symbolism, shortcuts and viewer interpretation. You could search for some tutorials on basic principles (like avoiding “jaggies” or the importance of contrast), but ultimately you’ll simply want to get a start in it to find your own confidence in it. I began dabbling years ago by asking for character requests on Tumblr and doodling them in pixels in whatever way I could think of.
Regarding environment assets
The Queen’s throne room consists of two main sprites—one background and one separate bit of the door for the Hero disappear behind—and then about fifty more for the lighting setup. There’s six different candle animations, there’s lines on the floor that need to go on top of character reflections, all the candle circles and lit objects are separated so that the candles can be extinguished asynchronously; and then there’s purple phase 2 versions of all of the above.
This is all rather dumb. There’s simpler ways in Godot to do 2D lighting with shaders and a built-in system (I use those too), but I wanted control over the exact colours so I just drew everything in Photoshop the way I wanted it. Still, it highlights how mostly you only need a single background asset and separated foreground objects; except if you need animated objects or stuff that needs to change while the game’s running, you’ll get a whole bunch more.
I wholeheartedly applaud having a go at making your own game art, even if you don’t have any art background! The potential for cohesion in all aspects of design—art, game, narrative, sound—is at the heart of why video games are such an exciting medium!
Regarding writing
Finding the voices of the Queen and the Hero was the quick part of the process. They figured that out they are almost as soon as writing started. I’d been mulling this game over in my mind for so long, I had already a specific idea in mind of what the two of them stood for, conceptually and thematically. When they started bantering, I felt like all I really had to do was to guide it along the storyline, and then polish.
What ended up taking so long was that there was too much for them to say for how short the game needed to be to not feel overstretched. Since I’d decided to go with two dialogue options on my linear story, it at least gave me twice the amount of dialogue that I got to write, but it wasn’t enough!
The first large-scale rewrite was me going over the first draft and squeezing in more interesting things for the Queen and the Hero to discuss, more branching paths and booleans. There was this whole thing where the player’s their dialogue choices over multiple conversations would lead them to about four alternate interpretations of why the Queen is the way she is. This was around the time I happened to finally play Disco Elysium, so of course I also decided to also add a ton of microreactivity (ie. small changes in dialogue that acknowledge earlier player choices) to cram in even more alternate dialogue. I spent ages tinkering with the exact nuances till I was real proud of it.
Right until the playtesters of this convoluted contraption found the story to be unclear and confusing. For some reason. So for my final rewrite, I picked out my favourite bits and cut everything else. With the extra branching gone, there was more room to improve the pacing so the core of the story could breathe. The microreactivity got to stay, at least!
A sample of old dialogue from the overcomplicated version:
Regarding completion
The question was “what kept me going to actually finish the game, since that is a point many games never even get to meet?” and it’s a great one because I forgot that’s a thing. Difficulties finishing projects, that is—I used to think it was hard, but not for many years. Maybe I’ve completed so many small-scale games already that it hardly seems that unreasonable of an expectation? (Game jams. You should do game jams.)
I honestly never had any doubt I was going to finish Mortholme. When I started in late autumn last year, I was honestly expecting the concept to be too clunky to properly function; but I wished to indulge in silliness and make it exist anyways. That vision would’ve been easy to finish, a month or two of low stakes messing around, no biggie. (Like a game jam!)
Those months ran out quickly as I had too much fun making the art to stop. It must’ve been around the time I made this recording that it occurred to me that even if the game was going to be clunky, it could still genuinely work on the back of good enough storytelling technique—not just writing, but also the animation and the Hero’s evolving behaviour during the gameplay segments which I’d been worried about. The reaction to my early blogging was also heartening. Other people could also imagine how this narrative could be interesting!
A few weeks after that I started planning out the narrative beats I wanted the dialogue to reach, and came to the conclusion that I really, really wanted it to work. Other people had to see this shit, I thought. There’s got to be freaks out there who’d love to experience this tragedy, and I’m eager to deliver.
That’s why I was fine with the project’s timeline stretching out. If attention to detail and artistry was going to make this weird little story actually come to life, then great, because that’s exactly the part of development I love doing most. Projects taking longer than expected can be frustrating, but accepting that as a common part of game dev is what allows confidence in eventual their completion regardless.
Regarding release
Dear anonymous’s questions didn’t involve post-release concerns, but it seems fitting to wrap up the post-mortem by talking about the two things about Mortholme's launch that were firsts for me, and thus I was unprepared for.
1. This was the first action game I've coded. Well, sort of—I consider Mortholme to be a story first and foremost, with gameplay so purposefully obnoxious it benefits from not being thought of as a “normal” game. Still, the action elements are there. For someone who usually sticks to making puzzle games since they’re easier to code, this was my most mechanically fragile game yet. So despite all my attempts at playtesting and failsafes, it had a whole bunch of bugs on release.
Game-breaking bugs, really obvious bugs, weird and confusing bugs. It took me over a week to fix all that was reported (and I’m only hoping they indeed are fully fixed). That feels slow; I should’ve expected it was going to break so I could’ve been faster to respond. Ah well, next time I know what I’ll be booking my post-release week for.
2. This was my first game that I let players give me money for. Sure, it’s pay-what-you-want, but for someone as allergic to business decisions as I am, it was a big step. I guess I was worried of being shown that nobody would consider my art worth financial compensation. Well, uh, that fear has gone out of the window now. I’m blown away by how kind and generous the players of Mortholme have been with their donations.
I can’t imagine it's likely to earn a living wage from pouring hundreds of hours into pay-what-you-want passion projects, but the support has me heartened to seek out a future where I could make these weird stories and a living both.
Those were the unexpected parts. The part I must admit I was expecting—but still infinitely grateful for—was that Mortholme did in fact reach them freaks who’d find it interesting. The responses, comments, analyses, fan works (there’s fic and art!! the dream!!), inspiration, and questions (like the ones prompting me to write this post-mortem) people have shared with me thanks to Mortholme… They’ve all truly been what I was hoping for back when I first gave myself emotions thinking about a mean megalomaniac and stubborn dipshit.
Thank you for reading, thank you for playing, and thank you for being around.
#so that got a bit verbose. you simply cannot give me this many salient questions and expect me otherwise tbh#the dark queen of mortholme#indie dev#game dev#dev log
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Something that always made me curious is what is the difference in the FBAU? It's clear something happened before the cannon timeline that caused Lukas to not be present in the FBAU timeline.
Something I've noticed is that maybe Lukas is just a bit more closed off. All of your Lukas' before this one have been, not eagered, but happily open to the idea of being kind to everyone and making connections. While FBAU Lukas prefers to not talk to people and may see these connections as a liability.
My question is why? Did Lukas get hurt by people much earlier in this timeline? Or is that just how he was spawned in differently.
You can see this version of Lukas turning into the one we're used to because of Jesse, does that mean Jesse is the reason for this?
Also the FBAU Lukas seems very passionate about this ecological book while your cannon Lukas is already ready to put down the feather pen and take a break from writing. (Going based off Recovery AU)
Do all your Lukas' have a personality shift I haven't noticed? And if so, what's the reason for them? Are they the reason for choices made?
I would say that mine and Andy's Lukas' all tend to have a personality shift because of Jesse's positive influence on him.
I have always headcanoned Lukas as autistic, but he will never be labeled as such in our stories. We try to show those traits rather than just out right say it as is. That, and I don't think autism would even exist as a concept in the mcsm world. The world thinks you're weird. They don't care what kind of weird you are. Just being different is enough for them to give Lukas the cold shoulder.
FDAU Lukas struggles with that immensely.
In canon, he seems to have a hard time figuring out where he belongs and seems to share a hint of jealousy towards Jesse's group with how well they all manage to get along. He finds difficulty in connecting with others, and seems to be conflicted with his emotions towards the Ocelots. Having second thoughts on if they are a good team for him, but then wanting to prove he is a good friend by wanting to go after them, despite them being awful people. It's like he wants to prove to himself that he is just as much a good friend to his team as Jesse is to his own. He wants to prove to himself that he can grow and change and that influence comes from the kindness Jesse shared towards him. It gave Lukas the confidence to take on the idea of going out on his own to find his friends, only for Jesse to express deep concern in his well-being and talk Lukas into staying. That is the kind of connection Lukas has been striving for.
In FDAU, Lukas spawned at The Citadel, which is where Aiden, Maya, and Gill also happened to spawn. This is where I like to headcanon they all met. In the canon world, I like to think Lukas struggled with what he wanted to do in life and kind of just forced himself to fit in with others. He took up building as a hobby and ended up traveling a long ways away until he'd eventually land himself in the town at the beginning of the game. He'd teamed up and formed The Ocelots on the way here, and they all settled down in town since.
In the AU, Lukas didn't buckle under the pressure to fit in and instead found his passion for writing and nature. But in the world that he lives in, if you aren't someone who is a hero or a builder, basically someone who isn't directly contributing to society, you're viewed as a weirdo and outcasted. Which is what happened. Lukas was ridiculed for his interest and barked at relentlessly by many people that his chosen role in life was a waste of time. People, especially Aiden and his friends, would even hurl insults that someone like him should be left out in the dark for zombies to get so maybe it would open the opportunity of an actually useful individual spawning and taking his place in the world.
Lukas disconnected himself from society because of this and focused on his travels, even if that meant commiting to a life of loneliness. Of course it's not what he wanted, but for a long time, it is what he felt like he deserved. He spent many years traveling alone until he eventually found Dewey and Dewey accepted to be his travel companion.
Unfortunately for him, he felt a deep hatred for heroes along the way. The way he was treated back at his spawn city was a deep rooted trauma that followed him for a long time. It was only until his Villagerese mentor soothed his frustration towards heroes and had Lukas looking towards them with a different outlook. He doesn't like feeling hatred. It's an awful feeling, so at the beginning of the fic, you see he's actually excited to see the famous town built up by the world renowned heroes. He's trying his best to live a positive life depsite all that bad stuff that happened all those years ago, and it's that positive outlook that helped him cope and eventually forget about those feelings, which is why he'd completely forgotten who Aiden was until he was reminded of his aggression one fated night.
Lukas can connect with Jesse so much better than he has ever been able to connect with anyone, because for the first time in his life, he's found himself a listener. Someone who wants to hear him out and understand what his motives in life are. Lukas loves yapping about his nature knowledge, and he's never really been able to do it with anyone before! Everyone would just roll their eyes or laugh at him for being enthralled in such useless things. Plants? Nature? Who cares. Pick up a sword.
Jesse is the first person Lukas has ever been able to comfortably spill his emotions for. He's been choked up on so much for so many years, having no one to talk to but himself and Dewey, that it's pretty explosive once his emotions get out of hand, brought upon by Aiden and Lukas' own self hatred alone.
He's been in denial all these years. He wants to love himself, but he cannot help but hate that he is different. That people hate him for being different. That he truly believes he will be alone for the rest of his life just because he can't seem to fit in anywhere.
Jesse is the only person who made him feel comfortable with being himself, and because of that, Lukas invested his heart out into Jesse. Jesse is the reason he can believe in himself again.
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THE ANIMATION VERSUS KICKSTARTER HAS LAUNCHED !!!!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/animationversus/animation-versus
which MEANS im going to make a post detailing everything of course .

https://youtu.be/K4lvfmbMkcw?si=73cLDy92Aaron3yL
god. GOD !!!!!!! IM SO EXCITED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT DUDE
the game looks INSANELY good already and that's considering the game, as we see it, is supposed to release in 2028 !
it looks like it has 28 days to go to achieve its goal (and it already is doing really weel as i write this XD i mean, 14k dollars already??? god DAMN !!!)
(new art on kickstarter page! the artist cooked)
i find it INCREDIBLY cool that the lead developer of the project is the person who made the ava/m rivals of aether mod. how cool is that dude
right away from the trailer im incredibly happy they're including purple in the main cast (another purple cameo on alanspc for the win)
(i do admire the way blue is just fine with it)
the fighting kits are INSANE MAN ?? its a little surprising that orange's main moves are projectiles (which however is incredibly cool. both a throwback to anim vs. physics and (unintentional?) parallel with vic perhaps) <- (although, now reading it, it seems like the projectile objects will rotate with every move!)
green having a guitar in his kit ???? are you kidding. /vpos . i was wondering how they would optimize blue's kit but it looks SO cool dude (its likely im going to be a blue main XD)
red's kit looks interesting, especially with the shark move! its genuinely not surprising that its red who's kit currently looks best ingame lol. it's also no wonder purple's kit is best at air attacks!
the backgrounds are just. Holy hell.
the whole fact they're making like. 4 different backgrounds per Stage ??? Good lord.
and. hello??? hello? hi ???? hello ????? im Sane ???????
other notable details: its so cool to get more details on the city from up above, seeing it's so progressed. other details: "primoral descent" billboard which is a reference to dj's original comic! plus corndog guy's stand in the second bg (also we really gotta acknowledge that moon exists in the outernet sometime.)
(as im writing this the amount of money has already went up to 34k. holy hell.)
its interesting to me as well that the game's version of special attacks charge bar is a "node meter"! another one for the computer/internet references

("a node in network refers to any physical device or point that is capable of sending, receiving, or forwarding data")
which also seems like a general running theme for the fighting scene in game itself, given that those "nodes" are also seen on the art and the character's fighting profiles
it seems like the game will either feature new game-specific soundtrack or compile existing soundtrack into a batch (which is making me Squeal because im so interested in how individual soundtracks are going to be named — yes im a fan of such details XD)
the reward tiers are. hough. holy hell
beta tests ???? tco palette???? (as im guessing with sec?????) exclusive character pins??????? FUTURE DLC???????
(also, cursor lobby pet implies that there Will be a lobby. lol)
the kickstarter page also says: "Today, we have six characters that we’re excited to share with you. With your help, we’ll be able to bring even more iconic heroes and villains from AvA into the game!"
if that means we WILL eventually get rocketcorp characters + king. oh my god. oh my god.
and also. DIGITAL ART BOOK??????
(selling my kidney.)
plus. "At some of our higher tiers we're offering the opportunity to join a development meeting to see how to game is made, and the option to design your own original character stick figure in a level background!" Hello ?????
god i barely can word anything right now dude im so excited i cant stop stimming what the HELL !!!!!!!!
#animator vs animation#animation vs animator#animation vs minecraft#animation versus#alan becker#haha point and laugh typo in the last official outtake/j#the fact it IS multiplayer means we can as well do . heh. competitions. looks at my friend#oh im so sane about the rocket billboard oh my god.#also i just noticed. cursor palette? Inch resting
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I just finished watching the anime Overlord and I had conflicted feelings about Ainz the entire time like "YES DON'T EXPLOIT WORKERS AND GIVE THEM EQUALITY" and "WHY DID YOU LET DEMIURGE EAT THE CHILDREN!?!?" so to cope a little, what would be your take on Desmond reincarnating in that world? Another possible scenario I kinda want to see would be Desmond actually being one of the Supreme Beings and getting Isekai from the start of the series
Oh, nonny. You reminded me that I really need to watch the new season. I’ve been putting it off because I’m so weak for Albedo that, had it not been for my RL situation, I would have been severely tempted by these.
Anyway, let’s lay some ground rules.
The world that the anime Overlord is set in would be more or less a typical magical world. It’s ‘unique’ setup is the fact that the main character is isekai’ed in that world together with the NPCs he and his guild members created for their guild. They become pretty much the villain in this situation and the main character loses some of his humanity because he became a lich.
Sooooo… let’s fuck Desmond up and put him in a similar situation.
.
Let’s say that the game exists in his world and it’s globally published by Abstergo Entertainment, using a lite version of the Animus. It loads longer and extremely bulky compared to the Animus console in Black Flag and it’s the predecessor of the console that would be used to distribute Liberation (the version Abstergo edited).
During her free time, Rebecca messed with her Animus and made it possible to play the game (named YGGDRASIL in Overlord and we can keep it, make hints of it being connected to the actual Yggdrasil device Odin used) but, because of how her Animus works, only Desmond can go into the game. She noticed how Desmond was more relaxed playing it so she made NPCs for him because it’s a (illegal) private server. Shaun made one or two as well.
And it became Desmond’s downtime activity before leaving the Animus. It actually lowers the chance of him having a Bleeding Episode after leaving the Animus because he can go into the game and the NPCs would call him “Desmond”. It gives him time to remember who he is while still feeling the same realistic but alien sensation that the Animus gave him.
He also starts messing with the world. Well… the small kingdom that they created anyway.
They based it on the guild system with Desmond as the leader. At first, Rebecca created two NPCs based on her and Shaun to help Desmond get used to the control.
Afterwards, they started filling up their base with other NPCs that would work as bosses for each levels. Rebecca had to mess with the setting because there was no players to attack their base so she made NPCs and monsters from outside the base attack it randomly. This gives Desmond more to do.
What Desmond enjoyed though was managing the headquarters and upgrading the buildings and facilities. Shaun joked that this was because of Ezio and maybe it was.
Before long, Desmond was making his own NPCs and no one had the heart to tell him that he was making NPCs based on his ancestors and people they know (especially after Rebecca painfully elbowed Shaun before he could say anything the first time Desmond presented them with his first NPC)
After they got to the Grand Temple, Desmond used the game more like a coping mechanism, making their home impregnable with the best facilities he could think of (even going as far as research architecture and stuff)
By the time they got the key from Connor Davenport’s grave, Desmond had:
Created an underground tower with more than a hundred floors or so with their own themes and ‘gameplay mechanics’.
His first NPC has become the second in command, based on a homebrew race that Rebecca could only describe as ‘like human with divinity in them but with more omph!’. He’s based and named after Altaïr and is so OP that Rebecca actually says that he’s pretty much unbeatable. Desmond doesn’t care, it’s not like he was playing the game to play it with other people after all. Altaïr is magic-focused with maxed out magic and speed. His favorite attack is to rain down the stars in the sky and turn the lands into a cacophony of explosions.
Desmond’s second NPC isn’t any better. He’s based on Ezio and there’s actually three of them, each based on the three major points in Ezio’s life that Desmond relived. He’s in charge of the second to the last level, not that anyone has gotten that far to be honest. All three of them have different focus. One focuses on physical melee, one focuses on long range physical attacks, and the other focuses on magic. His level is actually the most populated because it’s filled with ‘cannon fodders’ that Desmond named after people Ezio recruited.
There’s a lot more NPCs that are bosses. Ratonhnhaké:ton is actually one of the ‘youngest’ NPCs created and Desmond barely managed to optimize his skill set. He’s a shapeshifter and, just to be a dick to anyone who want to go explore their base, he’s not a boss but a ‘traveler’. If the intruders have been in the same level for more than the specified (secret) time limit, Ratonhnhaké:ton would teleport to the floor and randomly take the shape of one of his forms. A wolf with a pack of ghost wolves, a large and fast bear with high self-healing stat or a large eagle that can phase through walls, all of which are picked at random. (In other words, Ratonhnhaké:ton works like the Reaper of the latter Persona games)
There’s a Malik NPC who acts more like a secretary and is in charge of Desmond’s level if he’s ‘offline’. (Does this mean Malik is Desmond’s Albedo? Uuuhhh… let’s just say he shares the same occupation as Altaïr in this case).
Shaun’s NPC is the boss of the library level where everything and anything is stored. In the Animus, this is actually Shaun just cramming every information he sees into the game because, hello, it actually has a bigger size than his laptop’s hard drive. A lot of shit in there was taken through… the ‘high seas’.
Rebecca’s NPC is the boss of the topmost (first) level. She wanted her NPC to act more like a tutorial guide and honestly? Being the first level boss means her NPC gets a lot of ‘screen time’.
Haytham is also a boss in one of the lower levels and his stage is set in a cathedral. He’s only one of the few NPCs that have a holy attribute.
Desmond doesn’t know it but the other NPCs he made are actually based on AC characters he will never meet (Edward, Arno, Shay, Jaocb, Evie, etc). He just thought he was filling up the roster and making different themes (Viking, Ancient Greece, Steampunk) because he was bored.
Oh. The last NPC Desmond created is a dragon egg he named Clay. Whether this Clay is an actual NPC dragonling or is actually Clay’s digital avatar that will get screwed up by his new draconian lineage is up to you XD
When he dies after saving the world, he wakes up in a bed that he recognized as the bed he always teleports into whenever Rebecca switches the Animus to the game for his downtime.
He knows something is wrong because his body feels weird but he would never understand how badly he’s fucked because his body composition stops him from seeing it as a fuck up.
Because Desmond’s player character?
The race of his character is a homebrew God race.
And Desmond is a god that cares for those who worship him and sees those who do not as dirt on the road.
.
In other words, Desmond and his ‘guild’ gets transported at the opposite side of where Ainz was transported. Also, Desmond’s base is underground so it took a bit of time before people realized they were there.
Enough time for Desmond to realize how the world he was in right now needed the guidance of a god who will be merciful to those who worship him.
#that’s right#we fucked desmond up so he would actually act more like a templar#with the skills and habits of an assassin lollol#desmond is like… a full isu in a sense#assassin's creed#ask and answer#teecup writes/has a plot#fic idea: assassin's creed#desmond miles#fic idea: overlord#fic idea: crossover#desmond miles is the ultimate isekai protagonist#altaïr ibn la'ahad#ezio auditore#ratonhnhaké:ton#connor kenway#rebecca crane#shaun hastings#i aint' tagging the others XD
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what made you wanna write the story for bitchless?
this question is so important to me... so i'll do my best to answer in full detail okay !!
i've been on and off in the south park fandom since i was in grade school, posting art on deviantart, alright? i love south park and i consume a lot of fan content. it's the autism, definitely. i got diagnosed during my second year of art school.
but i think that if art school gives you a specific mindset it's one of questioning visual art in all its forms. so, after my last comeback to these spaces in february 2022 i came to the conclusion that i don't like a few things that i see in fanart:
(this is not me saying that you shouldn't. if you or anyone reading this like them it's totally cool!! tropes and ships are popular for a reason, you know?)
1- i don't like stan's characterization. cishet (and in denial), popular, jock stan was a very common headcanon/trope that i grew up with, especially during the last decade. it made a lot of sense when the show started, but as we watch the current seasons, we see stan evolve into this nerdy kid who is obsessed with board games, quotes anime and enjoys metal music. we see him pay little to no attention to his girlfriend and growing more and more fixated towards his male best friend, he's always been curious about gender to the point of imitating big gay al. we see him literally question his own gender in bathroom doors. we barely see him play sports at this point? i don't think that the stan we currently have is headed to the direction the fandom had pointed towards him. so i started drawing him like a nerd. moving on.
2- i don't like how weirdly protective people are about canon ships (a.k.a. if someone made me date my grade school boyfriend right now i would hate it so much). stendy, creek and tolchole (to a lesser degree) are often kind of treated like a monolith- they're unquestionable and unmovable and always there, "because it's canon". i know how important was for creek to become canon, i was there. but after watching post-covid... man. does it give me a weird aftertaste that these two ten year olds who were forced into a relationship ended up married and these other two ten year olds who have lived in the same town for decades are now in a weird situationship. they should date other people at least for a little bit, develop emotional maturity and decide if they wanna stick together at least lol. and with stendy, i'd stay first love should be a first love and that's it (i was talking with pom about that!!), making it endgame after such a long time of seeing that stan barely cares makes me feel weird. people being super weird about creek or style to the degree of calling themselves purists and DNI'ing whoever ships other things threw me off immensely as well. i'm sorry. this is just a me thing probably.
3- this is very similar, but i like to see different dynamics and how they play out!! after almost 30 years of existing, south park fan content often falls in the same common places. nothing wrong with that of course!! but i wanna see things playing out in ways i don't see often.
4- this is just a pet peeve of mine and it's not as common nowadays but why are we giving older designs of characters a big version of their childhood outfits. i don't know a single person who still wears or even keeps the winter hat they wore as a kid. the characters should be recognizable through their outfits!! there's so many possibilities, we should make it fun you know!!
edit: i believe it’s important to add that i really enjoy not only being a contrarian and venting about not liking these things, but i also wanted to make this sort of essay about loneliness experienced in different ways and how it affects your personal relationships. for stan it’s realizing when depression takes over and you’re missing out on everything your loved ones are doing— the world is moving, time is passing and you’ve been in bed the whole time. for everyone else? well, we’ll see.
i started out just drawing these guys, but i felt like making a full story would be more compelling. i love doujinshi and fancomics and i believe that we should always question the quality of the content we consume- and if we don't like it we should just make our own interpretations and stories. that's the beauty of fan content!! reflection and creation, not just mindless consumption. canon is not a guarantee that things are good!! so many things don't even make it to the final cut, the original content gets digested by networks and companies and sponsors and political interests before we even get to see it!! making a comic is rough (and i've spent three years of my life creating this material about characters i don't even own legally), but a start is a start and well. i like this, i've always liked graphic novels and i always wanted to make one. i kind of owed it to myself too.
in conclusion, i just wanted to make something that i found fun and new and i could share with my south park fandom friends after my autism diagnosis (it was rough, but i was medically cringe and thus i felt very justified to be obsessed with my childhood special interest)!! i'm very lucky to be able to complement and elaborate on some of my choices with theory about art and media analysis that i get at uni, and i'm even luckier that so many people have taken a liking to it as well!!
so thank you for enjoying my comic so far <3 and thank you for showing interest in it. thank you so much!!
#ask#ask conejito#shroomerr#im getting emotional it might be my cold medicine#omg un conejo que habla#marco teorico#i dont wanna sound like a pretentious dick im just ramblin#if you do the things that i dont like in fanart ur still super awesome#in the end of the day its only south park
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OC Tag Game
Thank you for the tag @andromedaancunin!! I love Andromeda and I love YOU so much 💖
🩸Ofelia Montez 🩸
General
🩸Name: Ofelia Montez
🩸Alias: The Dark Urge
🩸 Gender: Female
🩸 Age: 22
🩸Spoken Language: English/Common, Spanish
🩸 Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
🩸 Occupation: College Student, Waitress
Post-Game: I hesitate to go into full detail since I want it to be a surprise, but there is one thing I can guarantee- she will end up with Astarion! I have a lot of cool things I will have her do. I don't think there will be a lengthy sequel of any kind, but I will have some little post-game one-shots exploring her future after the epilogue. I can talk about a scrapped idea! I was originally going to have her journal sort of become her own version of "There and Back Again" and have her return to earth with him and publish a book about everything they went through, but I have left that by the wayside to instead indulge in a future I think she'd much rather appreciate. Do not fret- Astarion will get to experience Earth in my fic in my own little way, but if you want more Ofelia+Astarion getting to see it, this fic by @caffeinatedmunchkin has some of the most amazing Astarion writing I've ever seen and has plenty of vampire fun!!!
Pre-Game: Before she'd gotten picked up by the nautiloid, Ofelia was living on Earth- she'd found parents that loved her, only to lose them. She got booted through the system for the rest of her adolescence, did bad things, saw gore and evil, but somehow came out on top. All of her experiences shaped her into a better person, and being hidden away on Earth, she luckily was never picked up by Sceleritas. She loves music, used to have a band in her last year of high school, draws and reads in her spare time, goes to college at Cal Tech, and works the rest of her hours at a singing diner! She previously wanted to study the stars (cough cough title sort of fits) and I intend to use that desire in the fic!
Favorite
🩸 Color: Red and Midnight Blue
🩸 Entertainment: Reading, Movies, and Music
🩸 Pastime: Preferably playing guitar, though she's good with other instruments. She also likes drawing, writing poetry (sometimes she'll make songs) and dancing!
🩸 Food: Pasta, Cantalope, Cherries, Pazole, Migas, Ice Cream
🩸 Drink: Coffee, Tequila, Wine, Water (she loves some ice water)
Have They...
🩸 Passed University: Well... probably not now. She was in year two, poor girl needed a break anyway.
🩸 Had Sex: No. ._.
🩸 Had Sex in Public: There's no way no matter what that they're not having fun on that grave.
🩸 Gotten Tattoos: Unfortunately not, but they exist in Faerun so I have a feeling she'll get a couple eventually.
🩸 Gotten Piercings: She's got a bunch! Her nose, both eyebrows, and a ton on her ears 😊
🩸 Gotten Scarred: She has a few little "v" shaped scars on the back of her neck from a fire poker. (thanks foster brother) She also now has the one big hole-shaped one on her back from the ogre club, and the set of bite scars on her neck that refuse to heal.
Are They...
🩸 A Cuddler: Yes! She loves contact- a held hand, a head on her shoulder or vice versa, an arm around the waist or a hug. She loves to give, but is respectful of boundaries.
🩸 Scared Easily: She never used to scare easily and was especially fearless as a child, but as she got older she started to become more wary and paranoid. She is most afraid of herself.
🩸 Jealous Easily: She tries to hide it, but she's unsuccessful most of the time.
🩸 Trustworthy: Extremely! She's loyal to a fault 💖
Family
🩸 Sibling(s): She has some foster siblings, but none related by blood. Also, Orin, as a technicality.
🩸 Parents: She only really acknowledges the first people who took her in when she was a baby as her parents- Isabella and Ramon Montez. Both of them were Hispanic/Latin American, second generation. Her dad did manual labor in construction, and her mother worked in the service industry- they struggled a lot in those first 9 years, but they loved each other 💖
🩸 Children: Ofelia has a firm position on no children- she knows all too well what happens to an abandoned child, and that in part holds her back from ever bringing one into the world. I'm also not sure how how this would ever get brought up in the fic, but she physically can't. She wasn't designed for that, ergo, that function is nonexistent.
This was super fun to do!! I haven't done a little questionnaire for Ofelia in a really long time, so I'm glad I got the opportunity!! I know this a long post, so completely no pressure to all of you!!
@pinkberrytea @caffeinatedmunchkin @bby-bel-art @khywren @bum-dragon @vividiana @preciouslittlebhaalbae @verbenaa @elinorbard @badbloodwitch @justabiteofspite @inkymoonbunny @bloodinwine @nerdalmighty @lanafofana @obsessedwhyyes @deadly-diminuendo @roguishcat @alwaysmauria @bhaal-battle-beer-bard @coyote-mint @marlowethebard @bardic-inspo @hellethil @larvasmoon @zekeen @arzen9 @bitterprincipality
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Sky being self aware had been plaguing my mind since I wrote this other piece where he confronts you about having played through his game, however while you could read this as a sequel it is written as something separate!
before the main thing though just gonna say, I don't actually support yandere behaviour in real life - I don't usually mention this because in my opinion it goes without saying, however since reader borders a little bit on being one in this I just wanted to make it clear!
[masterlist]
It’s been so long since I last played Skyward Sword, Really I think the last time I picked it up was at least a year ago now. I’d almost forgotten I actually had it on the switch, if it weren’t for me needing to do a clear out I might have never remembered that I had this. I’ve got some spare time right now so really there shouldn’t be an issue if I took a break to play for a while would there? In the worst case I’d get distracted for a bit, but it’s not like I can’t just carry on cleaning tomorrow. Setting up the game was easier than ever, not like setting up any switch game is particularly hard though. My old save was still waiting patiently, I could never bring myself to delete it even after getting a hundred percent. Perhaps it’s finally time to try out hero mode for the first time?
The opening cutscene is nice to watch again, even if I can’t help but feel bad for Link in it, seeing what it’s building up to. Huh? I could’ve sworn my controllers were working a second ago, they can’t have disconnected during the cutscene either, could they?
“[Name]? Dearest… you’ve finally come back…”
What.
It’s like I’ve just been plunged into ice water - I- I’m dreaming right? I have to be, there’s no way this could possibly be real. He’s a game character. Link can’t be speaking to me as if he’s a real person. He can’t be.
“Darling, You - you look so pale are you alright?”
Another step toward the screen, a head-tilt and clear concern on his face. More than possible. I knew it, this has to be a dream.
“Darling, I know that this is strange for you - don’t you think it’s strange for me as well? I mean - I know I’m not supposed to exist as I do. I’m only supposed to be a blank slate for you to play this game as not - not have my own feelings.”
A sharp inhale laced with the sounds of static reverberated throughout the room, with a far too alive sounding sniffle as he wiped his eyes and took yet another step closer. Even eerier was the laugh that followed when he made eye contact with me, something sad and wet sounding like he’s barely holding himself together. It sounds too real.
“It’s been so long I thought that you - I thought that you forgot me. That you weren’t going to come back. I hoped - no I knew - that you didn’t though and you didn’t! You came back to me my love and now I’m not going to let you out of my sight again. I know that it wasn’t your fault that you took so long, I - I mean you didn’t even know that I’m alive but I’m not going to risk it happening again.”
He’s right up against the screen now, staring at me as he presses his hand up against it, like he’s testing it. Gently testing as if he’s trying to see how much pressure the glass can take. If there’s any time best to wake up already it would be now.
“I’ve been stuck in here alone for so long, if I didn’t have something to focus on I would have gone insane! Can you imagine that? If I didn’t have you to think about all that time I would have lost myself! I was made for you; I know you care about me as well. Please [name] I - I don’t know who I’m supposed to be any more, I’m not - not your character. I’m so much more than that empty husk.”
His hand pushes further on the glass as his fingers tense up, now like he’s preparing himself for something. Link, I’ve never seen him - any version of him in any version of the games acting even half as emotive as this. That proves that this is all a dream, he can’t be - this can’t be real.
“There’s one other thing that being trapped in here for all this time has let me focus on I think I know how to get out now… If I press this just-”
A sickeningly twisted smile found its way onto his face with each shrill crack of the glass screen under his hand. The other moving up to join it as he pushed even harder, intending to shatter the barrier, he’s convinced himself is standing between us. My chest feels so tight right now, why am I so sore in a dream? If I were awake I’d be convinced I was having a panic attack but - no- no I’m not awake.
“Right. Then - Well you can see can’t you dearest? If I carry on like this, there won’t be any-”
A loud wince as his hand shatters through the screen, the glass shards cutting through his skin effortlessly marring both him and the remaining screen with - with his blood. The laughter that followed the screen cutting to blank with his hand reaching through seemed to tighten the band that’s seemingly wrapped itself around my lungs making it harder still to breathe. How could I breathe when link - the link is dragging himself out of my tv.
“Come on darling..? I know you feel the same way about me, I’ve heard you say it all. So please don’t just stand there looking terrified. You have no reason to be scared of me, I love you so much [name]. Can’t you see I’m doing this so that we can be together? I can’t wait to finally hold you in my arms.”
Frozen. That’s the only way I can describe how I’m feeling right now, my once-warm blood has turned to ice within my veins. He’s not stopping. His shirt that was once a pale beige is now stained with red patches, as his head and torso are out of the screen now. What was once a comforting face to see, one of my favourite characters is staring me down with a downright vicious grin while he is dripping with his own blood. Even beneath all of that though, there’s still something so tender, so scared about him, something is worrying him.
“Please darling you’re so pale, you don’t need to be scared - I promise you everything is going to be alright. [name] please just say something to me…”
Dark spots are starting to show in my vision now and… I’m not sure if this is a dream anymore. There are too many things adding up that don’t make any sense. But if it’s not that, I don’t…
“[NA]-”
><><><><
Did I pass out? I mean it really feels like I did, but I don’t feel like I hit anything. If I passed out when I was alone then I would’ve hit my head on something. Maybe I’m just waking up from that weird dream. Hopefully. Although that wouldn’t explain -
“You’re alright darling, I’m here. I’ve got you, you’re safe, you’re alright.”
Why I feel like someone’s holding me?
“Oh dearest you’re finally awake… You - you scared me you know? I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch you, that you were going to get hurt. I’m so glad that I did though love.” It wasn’t a dream. That was Link’s voice, the same one as before. It’s link thats holding me in his arms. Link that’s nuzzling into my hair as he seems to be fighting off tears. That means… That means…
“...Everything was real..? I - you - it…”
He’s holding me so gently like he’s scared of me disappearing. If what he said is true? I can’t hold that against him with what he’s said, but even still. I can’t just stay in his arms pretending that him stroking my face with bloodstained hands isn’t bothering me. He’s so happy though and he isn’t hurting me really why don't I just - no I have to tell him that this is making me uncomfortable.
“All of it, all of it was real [name] and I couldn’t be more glad that it is, because it means that I’m finally here with you.”
“Link…”
“Yes dear?”
… this is all real. I’m actually talking to him. He’s real. And he’s downright obsessed with me.
“You - you’re still bleeding, you should deal with that and- and with everything.”
I’m not sure that was the right thing to say, but why shouldn’t I not accept him. This isn’t some stranger, it’s Link. One of my first fictional crushes, he’s probably heard the things I’ve said about him; since I’ve said in the past if I got a chance like this that I would take it… why not see where this goes? He looks adorable like this, hopefully, if he stays like this long enough I’ll be able to get the image of him crawling through my tv out of my mind.
“I - you’re worried about me, love? I - I knew that you’re my soulmate, oh my dear. You're so beyond perfect.”
“We should go get you some bandages Link. I know you’re not quite used to everything yet so I wouldn’t want you to get an infection immediately.”
Yeah, I’m not going to let this chance slip. He’s so much nicer in person, why should I throw this away? He’s perfect and now?
He’s mine.
#linked universe x reader#yandere linked universe x reader#yandere linked universe#link x reader#yandere link#yandere legend of zelda#yandere sky#self aware au#self aware lu#moss✦writes
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Isn't it illegal to shit talk competitors while drawing direct comparisons between your product and theirs?
Not that I don't enjoy it
Well, there’s multiple answers to this. First of all, no, as long as you aren’t lying.
If we said something like “Call of Cthulhu sucks because every third page of the English rulebook is accidentally printed in Chinese, and our game is better because the whole English version is printed in English.” then yeah that would potentially be grounds for a lawsuit.
To say “an issue we and many other players had when playing Call of Cthulhu is XYZ, and so when we made Eureka we fixed this by doing ZYX.” is not illegal.
Second answer is it doesn’t matter because lawsuits are stupid and in reality any company could sue us for anything at any time and just rely on them having more money to win no matter how stupid their claims are.
The real deciding factors over whether we get sued or not are
A. If the company is even aware we exist.
B. If they think that whatever we’re doing is costing them more money than it would cost to pay lawyers to shut us down.
The answer to both is No across the board for pretty much any company worth more than about $10,000. In fact we have actually driven quite a lot of traffic to specifically Chaosium and gotten people paying for some of their products who otherwise wouldn’t. Not that corporations always make the best financial decisions, but really we consider pretty much any developer or studio making half-way-decent games to be more of an ally than a “competitor” even when those games have things directly in common with our own games. (That just means that our products have a better chance of being cross-compatible and people have more a reason to buy both.) I am not saying “a rising tide raises all ships,” because that isn’t true, but in the state of the industry right now, and the mission of A.N.I.M. to get people to play TTRPGs seriously as an artform with rules and design that matters, and stay afloat enough as a business that we can afford to live, it’s really most of us vs Wizards of the Coast.
Then there’s “shittalking.” I recognize that I have a bit of a “4chan accent” as some people have said, and that this wouldn’t hold up super well in court, but I wouldn’t say that most or any of what I’ve said while running the A.N.I.M. account is really “shittalking” (unless it’s the occasional reblogged funny post about D&D5e).
This is an artform, and art is meant to be engaged with, it needs to be engaged with. Sometimes art is good and sometimes art sucks. Very often art is really good in some areas and totally fails in others. That isn’t a moral judgement, I don’t subscribe to the philosophy of “playing D&D badly is activism,” I don’t think that making or playing bad games makes you a bad person. People who do think all that are going to read it like that and take offense, but those people would take offense to anything anyway, so there’s no point trying to please them.
Identifying and expressing where and how different RPGs just plain fail has been invaluable to my growth as a TTRPG designer, and Eureka would be nothing without it. Eureka would make all the same mistakes.
Without anyone being able to recognize or express when things suck, that they are lazily or misguidedly designed, that they fail to accomplish their artistic intent, nothing in the artform ever gets better. This is plainly apparent in the changelogs of our own projects. “Removed this because it sucked.” “Removed this because it was bad.” “This failed at what we were trying to do so we’re trying something else.”
You gotta say shit sucks sometimes. It looks ugly that way maybe, but in my opinion it’s a lot better than a lot of the “criticism” we’ve gotten that starts out pseudo-polite and then descends into rancorous anger, relational violence, and callout posts as soon as our response is something along the lines of “we are aware of that and working to fix it,” “we don’t think that’s a bad thing,” or God-forbid “that criticism is based on a misread of the text.”
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Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Season Four of BtVS
[Reverse unpopular opinion meme.]
I’ve been (very, very slowly) rewatching Season 4 on and off all year (and occasionally writing Tumblr posts complaining about this very process about the episodes I’ve been watching), and I think it’s fair to say that this is definitely not the best way to enjoy any season of television.
That being said, I feel I’d be lying at this point if I pretended this was my absolute favorite season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In hindsight, the show was in a strange transitory place this year: having lost some of the grounding framework that the high school setting gave the first three seasons of the show – as well as having suddenly lost some of its actors and writers to the new Angel spin-off – and not yet having quite figured out what it was going to do instead. One can imagine some alternate reality where the show ended up taking a very different direction after this season.
That being said, here are five things I like a lot about Season 4, with as few caveats as I can manage:
I think the opening four episodes of this season – The Freshman, Living Conditions, The Harsh Light Of Day, Fear Itself – are as strong as, if not stronger than, the first four episodes of any other season of the show. Every other season has at least one dodgy episode in this opening block – in fact Season 3, my favorite season of them all, manages to have two of them! – but where is the bad episode here? The Freshman is a criminally underrated season opener. Living Conditions is a fun character episode and a great showcase for SMG to act in ways she doesn’t normally get to on this show. Fear Itself is the best Halloween episode the show ever did and it’s not even especially close. The Harsh Light Of Day is my least favorite of the four, for reasons I guess it would be against the spirit of the game to go into, but I certainly wouldn’t say it was a bad episode by any means. Perhaps none of these episodes would trouble my personal top ten, but they are four very solid episodes nonetheless.
While Anya had of course appeared in a handful of Season 3 episodes, I think Season 4 is the point where Emma Caulfield really makes the role her own. This season’s version of the character – a blunt-speaking outsider whose romantic struggles are often deliberately contrasted with Buffy’s own [in the aforementioned The Harsh Light Of Day, for example] and who is inexplicably attracted to Xander Harris – could easily have come across as a fairly lazy attempt to replace Cordelia Chase, and I think it’s largely to Caulfield’s credit that she doesn’t. Anya feels very much like her own person this season, and an increasingly integral member of the group. It’s a performance that retroactively redefines the character: of course this is who Anya is. Of course she always acted this way. It's only when you back and rewatch The Wish or Doppelgangland that you realize she didn't. And I think it’s pretty obvious, for example, that when people [e.g. people like me] go back to write Season 3 fanfiction where Anya features more heavily than in canon they [again, meaning me] invariably end up writing the Season 4 version of the character instead. Anyanka might have appeared for the first time in Season 3, but Anya belongs to Season 4.
I really like how important to the show Willow has become at this point and how much of this season is all about her. Just go back and look at the first season, in which Willow is arguably the member of the Core Four the writers cared least about – when she existed mainly to nurse a sad unrequited crush on Xander and to be good with computers when the plot required someone to be – and then compare that to this season, where she is Buffy’s best friend and roommate, unambiguously the second most important Scooby, and the center of a – genuinely pretty groundbreaking for the time – .season long subplot about coming out as a lesbian. And of course Amber Benson is great as Tara too. I’ve criticized the character of Oz for being very transparently written just to be Willow’s Nice Supportive Boyfriend and never becoming much more than that, and on paper you could level the same sort of charge at Tara. And sure, obviously she was written to be Willow’s girlfriend and it’s impossible to seriously pretend otherwise. But I think Tara manages to become a more rounded character than Oz very quickly. Even in this season, when she doesn’t yet have much connection to the others (she will, later, go on to become a key member of the group and a friend of Buffy's in ways I don’t think Oz was) she feels a little more complex than he did.
Faith is in this season! I don’t just mean in the two parter This Year’s Girl / Who Are You? either. Of course, both of these episodes are great: the scene in the church in Who Are You? In which Faith (in Buffy’s body) breaks down while fighting Buffy (in Faith’s body), -- screaming repeatedly at her own reflection that she’s “nothing”, “disgusting”, and a "murderous bitch" -- is one of my favorites in the whole show. But Faith feels like a real presence in the show even in the episodes she’s not actually in herself. Unlike Kendra or Jenny in previous seasons, or even Cordelia the season, the other characters still talk about her and remember she existed when it’s appropriate that they do so (and in a way that they won’t really do again until … well, until Faith comes back in Season 7’s Dirty Girls).
Finally, Restless is possibly the best episode the show ever did, and certainly one of its most creative. Willow’s dream sequence in particular is fantastically well done. I think this might be my favorite single act in all of Buffy. Why this all works for me – apart from the fact that the show now has years of history to fall back on and reference – is that it’s an example of the show being utterly unafraid to play to its strengths. Characterisation, dream sequences, dialogue, foreshadowing, oddly striking visuals, random moments of comedy … these – rather than tightly written plots or rigorously consistent world-building or anything that requires a working knowledge of world history or how the US military functions or what capitalism actually is – are the show’s strengths. So Restless embraces all of these elements, and just doesn’t bother with anything else. And the result is a season finale that – by virtue of not really being a season finale at all, at least according to the usual rules – is not quite like any other season finale the show ever did. Which is, on reflection, a pretty fitting end to Season 4, a season of the show not quite like any of the others.
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