#i've got several games and animations in progress

[alliseearekingsandthieves]

I have so many thoughts right now!!!

[cube-cumb3r]

What's the deal with Mannequins?

I was supposed to do an exam the other day but I've been terribly sick, so naturally instead I spent the day roaming around in DBBQ and taking screenshots of Mannequins in interesting places, and now I've decided to put together a post with all my little observations.

In the world of Dream BBQ they can be found in nearly every location, but are only seen moving in the bright Uncanny Streets (and in the gray Outworld version of Uncanny Streets as well), where they're often seen wandering, dancing or just standing around.

Purely game design-wise, a common use for lifeless Mannequins seems to be to act as a player hint, to lead their attention to a certain area either to progress a quest or to find a secret. Like near the platform in the pit you need to jump down to to acquire the taxi head, or near the challenging gap you can technically jump across to reach the other side of the bridge to skip the bridge quests, to name two examples.

This doesn't really necessarily have to mean anything in terms of lore. They might just be hints.

However, I do think it's interesting where they're located. They're often find limp near gaps, near places Ena might've jumped, and fallen down. Notably, you can find an enormous amount of lifeless mannequins close to rivers, even ones where the gap is too large to jump across, or where there's nothing interesting on the other side.

Or this one here, hanging over a gap you actually can't jump into. Perhaps to indicate that while it might not have been you, someone attempted to jump down here, at some point.

This is all to say, Mannequins are found near points where Ena would respawn, either because she fell down the river or a gap, or because she went too far out of bounds. I think it's interesting you can find several mannequins in the center of the roundabout outside the ship. I point this out because this is because this actually is the main default respawn point of this area!

More interesting, I noticed a mannequin in the corner of the queue room for the Purge Event during my exploration and took a screenshot of it. Some days later, user @hachiqtpie submitted this to @ENA_facts on twitter, which shows that if you open a save file from this area, when it opens, it will play an animation of Ena getting up from that very corner.

This definitely got my interest, so I had to check out myself if this was true and,

IT'S TRUE! (The first half is a short animation during which you can't control Ena, the latter half is my own input, for clarity). As far as I'm aware, this is the only animation like this in the game, there are no other points where you temporarily lose control of Ena when save file, which feels.... significant somehow?

I think it's also noteworthy that the white river, the one river where you can't respawn when failing to cross it, is also in one of the very few areas where there are no Mannequins anywhere to be found.

It's therefore a very easy conclusion to come to that the Mannequins and the respawn mechanic in Dream BBQ is related in some way.

We already see Ena "respawn" in the hub out of a Mannequin, so who's to say this hasn't been happening all this time during the game?

Though, I wouldn't say it's exactly 1:1 that Mannequins are literally respawn points, as there are many respawn checkpoints where there's actually no Mannequins nearby at all, like the checkpoints during the Ascension to the Orb. Though, on the other side of the bridge is also the place where you'd find some Mannequins on top of buildings, hanging of the edges, which happens to be underneath all the platforms that take you to the Orb.

Which seems to imply that the way these Mannequins ended up there was because they, or someone, fell down from the platforms above while attempting to climb them.

There's another interesting quirk of the respawn mechanic. In the gutsy caves, there's this one Watcher who's trying to reach this net and you can help them by taking a leap and attempting to grab it. However, the only way you do this is by falling and grabbing the net on your way down. When you respawn, you have successfully completed this task, meaning you seem to be able to bring items with you when you respawn. In all honesty I found this moment a little bit morbid, in essence, you have to sacrifice yourself and "die" to complete this task. (Which in the greater scheme seems to be a repeated motif...)

Some other Mannequins I found interesting are these two. The one in the image on the left is found in the Dark Uncanny Streets, on the way to the Purge Event. In normal gameplay, the building that crashes down to block your path will fall right on top of this Mannequin. (I don't have anything to say about this one I just found it morbid).

The one on the right can be found during the party itself, it's in some sort of fetal position on the ground. This one I found interesting too, because just like Ena in this moment, it is also missing limbs. Namely, an arm and a leg. Maybe it too had to pay the toll (an even greater one than Ena, it seems), but perhaps this is too another strange connection between Ena and these Mannequins.

The last observation I want to show you is this, from the Outworld. Just like Ena, all the Mannequins seem to accumulate rocks around themselves too, and there is no one else in this area that this happens to. In fact, the Mannequins that are found closer to the ship have accumulated more than the ones further away.

Of course, the most notable one is the one you walk past inside the ship, who seems especially burdened by rocks. And when you reach the Door and it has closed, the only way to progress is to turn around and walk back and face this Mannequin, who is getting completely buried, just like Ena. Calling attention to the fact that things that happen to her, seems to be happening to them too.

read part 2 here!

[anim-ttrpgs]

hi

i'm not going to get into it in your inbox but i've been dealing with some worsening chronic pain this year and the way eureka goes about this stuff (both grievous wounds/literally and monsters/metaphorically) is nice to read. thanks

all the snoops are sooooo cute. i was going to try and name a favorite here but i genuinely can't i love them all. what delightful little creatures

Thank you! Chronic pain is one of the things that I myself suffer from too, since (topically) my medical insurance refused to cover any treatment besides some X-rays and two chiropracty sessions after I got hit by a car going about 60mph. I’m very lucky that I can still walk and even do some martial arts when what’s left of my upper back allows.

One of the reasons that the Grievous Wound mechanic in Eureka is the way it is is because I wanted to represent how humans are both very fragile and very resilient. An injury much less severe than what i went through can make a person’s body never quite as strong/fast/coordinated as it used to be, but also most things in life do not necessitate a person to be at the very peak of their physical potential, not even investigating mysteries.

Also thank you about the snoops! There are some I like more than others, but I really can’t pick a favorite either.

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but you can still check out the public beta on itch.io to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, etc.!

You can also follow updates on our Kickstarter page where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

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If you want more, you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy earlier, plus extra content such as adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

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If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

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We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[ashlynniis-bracketeers]

REBORN KING GREGOR {Limbus Company}

Woe, extremely self-indulgent concept be upon ye. A.K.A. "What if Gregor got an ID where he was both happy with himself (not in the "throws himself into being a weapon" sense) AND more bug?"

I've had this design/concept, through multiple revisions, sitting around for ages. Finally got around to making a colored piece of him after seeing some people theorize that he's going to Bug Out™ at some point after what we've seen in the new Intervallo. So I decided to take this concept back out of the shed to finally post it publicly. The two sketch pages are a hodgepodge of sketches of different ages from multiple other concepting sheets lmao. He deserves to be both happy and more bug at the same time. Most of his "happy" IDs have him lack his bug arm.

Meet Gregor, the Reborn King! He's a funky earwig-mantis-roach thing that runs his own cult of personality.

I'm not going to hash out any coin or Sin Affinity info, because I don't know what to give him for those things. I also don't know if he'd work better as a Bleed + Poise unit or Bleed + Rupture unit. All I know is that his "in-game" gimmick would basically be Dawn-Office Fixer Sinclair and Wild Hunt Heathcliff's "form change" gimmicks taken to the extreme: Progressing through multiple forms where he cannot change back after reaching the next form (kind of like a Pokemon evolution). These forms are Base (1), Chrysalis (2), and Reborn King (3). Base needs to build up enough stacks of a unique status (which I'm calling "satiety" for now), which then makes him enter Chrysalis, which he needs to survive (with special Guard skills) for a specific amount of turns to emerge as the speedy glass cannon that is the Reborn King state. Each state has completely different moves and/or Affinities.

TL;DR for this Greg's story: His bug mutations became more severe, and then one day his body made a chrysalis, and then he came out both as Extra Bug and with both human arms back. Then he founded a cult... or maybe the cult found him. Who knows lmao. Compared to being treated like an animal, a mere tool, a weapon with no humanity, running a cult is a pretty sweet gig. Definitely a better gig than a lot of fates in the City lmao.

(Meta + in-universe) Info:

- His cult is simply known as the "Cult of the Reborn King".

- He's got little mantis feetsies at the end of his big claws! I drew them (and the feet on his legs) simplified.

- He's got the mantis shimmy when walking. You know the one. He prefers to fly when wanting to get anywhere with any good speed.

- The amount of bug limbs he has is asymmetrical. One on the right side of his face, two on his neck, his two big claws, one tiny claw on the right side of his torso, and four legs, making for ten bug limbs in total (not counting wings and tail). If they were symmetrical, then there would be twelve.

- His general body shape/posture and big claws are that of a mantis, while the wings and tail shape/pincers are those of an earwig. Pinchy tail and big fancy wings that fit in a tiny elytra. - (Fun fact: Did you know that roaches, mantises, and termites are all related? They're all Dictyopterans.)

- He probably has a Mouth of a Thousand Nightmares if he fully opens it. Just don't let him catch you catching him cleaning his claw-feet like how mantises do it and you should be fine lmao.

- Unlike earwigs, he has a stinger. No venom or ovipositor, he just Fucking Stabs You. It's retractable, so he generally keeps his pincers closed over it.

- The extra asymmetrical limbs + plating on his face are based off of the G Corp Manager Corporal Gregor ID.

- The thing he's holding is a fancy smoking pipe, its shapes based off of his old pre-chrysalis claw.

I hope you like it!

[yarameijer]

hi, I'm the one who sent in the Deaf tenma and coach kageno fic ideas awhile back, and I thought I'd get your feedback on a fic I'm trying to write

it was a while ago, but I read a ina11 fic that had a female oc. I'm not going to name it here because my opinion on it is... very not positive. either the writer of it was male and (probably) sexist, or had some internalized misogyny to work out, and that's all I'll say on that. but it got me thinking about the way ina11 handles its female cast, which, after a lot of thought, isn't much better. and sure, the og was in 2008, and it was a different time then, but even today I'd still say it's not this shows strong suit. and frankly it pisses me off

it made me actually put (metaphorical) pen to paper, and start writing my own fanfic

the problem is, I have absolutely no idea how to progress the fic now that I have chapters posted, and now it's been several months since I've posted, and I have no clue how to get the ball rolling again. whenever I get an idea like for the fic, I'll be sure to write it down, but all the scenes I'm getting inspiration for are several episodes away, so to speak. I don't know what the very next scene should be. is this a problem you've encountered before, and if so what do you do (please don't suggest a kidnapping, it would not fit the vibe of the story.... unless)

Heyhey! First of all, this sounds like an interesting idea! I'm a bit torn on how Inazuma Eleven treats their female characters, on one hand they're pushed to the side quite easily sometimes, but at the same time they are relevant and relatively developed as characters. To me it seems like they're treated the same way as some of the other characters on the Raimon teams (in both the OG and in GO) - they're side characters. They've got a role, but not a major one, so there's not much time spent on them. Compare them to, let's say, Hayami or Kurumada, they don't have a lot of screen time or depth either.

To be honest, I think it's partly got to do with the target audience, and also the fact that during tournament Arcs, girls aren't soccer players (I just realized though, that outside of OG season 1 and 3, and GO season 1, which are all tournament Arcs, the other seasons all have female soccer players. Not many, but again, target audience explains that, and the fact that girls are involved at all is pretty notable for a sport's anime).

The girls are quite variable in personality, too, when you think about it. I really don't like how they made Rika's dominating personality trait her obsession with Ichinose, but at least that's just her. I mean, Touko is pretty tomboyish, while Natsumi is a stubborn know-it-all in season 1. The OG has quite a lot of female characters withcrushes on Endou, which I think is unnecessary, but it's not their dominating personality trait and I can overlook it (though I haven't watched the OG in a long time) - and they did this a whole lot better in GO, because there's no real focus on romance there, except Endou being married and to be honest I liked that little snapshot into his life ten years later (and the relationship between Endou and Natsumi gets so little screentime that I honestly don't think it's any fuel for shippers or distracts from the main storyline, plus, in the games he married Fuyuka - honestly, complaints about this specifically is just because the fandom's got such a focus on romance, not the anime). In GO, Kinako is a mix between ''mother figure'', ''excited puppy'' and ''confident striker'', and Midori is a hothead (but also badass, I love her). You could argue that they're pushed into stereotype roles, but it's not super extreme, and they're all individual characters. They just lack depth, but, again, side characters.

So yeah, I'm torn! I love the girls and I love writing about them and including them, I've never been super bothered by how they're depicted in the anime, but I agree they're lacking depth and could be considered stereotypes. It could be a whole lot worse though!

As for the actual writing part of your ask - yeah, I get that. I totally get it. Writing connecting scenes suck, so much, if you've got no idea for them and it's something I struggle with writing to this day, unfortunately. I'll try and give you some tips that I usually try, but I can't promise they will always work. Still, I hope they might help a bit!

First of all, have you considered kidnapping??

Lmao no I'm kidding, only add kidnapping if it actually adds to the story :'D

On a more serious note: if you can, add time skips.

This isn't a perfect fix-it, and sometimes it just doesn't work because you need a buildup for the next 'big scene'. But sometimes you're so focused on ''how do I move on from what just happened'' that you might not realize - the aftermath isn't relevant. You can skip hours, days or even weeks in a story without it messing up the story. Don't write filler scenes if they don't have a function in foreshadowing, character development, or fun for you. I've read the advice that you shouldn't write filler scenes at all, and, respectfully? Bullshit. I love developing my characters by having them goofing off or doing irrelevant stuff, and the scenes could be taken out of the story without impacting the plot. I write them because I like writing it, and I'm having fun with it, and I notice that those are the scenes that readers comment on to say how much they enjoy the depth I'm giving characters. Scenes that are, plotwise, incredibly irrelevant, but I'm having fun and the readers do too.

So, to keep it simple: you might overlook that you don't have to write connecting scenes, and only write fillers if 1) buildup between planned scenes is necessary, 2) they have some sort of function in the story, or 3) you really want to write them for fun.

But, let's say you can't skip the connecting scenes. What then? A trick I've started using is POV changes. If a scene doesn't work, or you don't know how to advance with the character you were previously writing, try and switch POVs. A lot of the time when you're stuck in your writing, it doesn't matter how much you push it, it's not gonna work, or you're gonna hate what you wrote. Switching which character you're writing about keeps it fresh, keeps you thinking (and thus inspiring you!!) about the other parts of the story, and might even bring twists you hadn't originally planned for. This even works if two characters are together the whole time - sure, they go through the same events, they experience the same things, but they look at it differently and their thoughts on it won't be the same. Switching to the other character keeps it fresh and allows you to focus on details that character 1 was too distracted for.

If that's not it either, if you really have to stick with the character you were writing, or switching POVs still leaves you hanging, try to figure out what has to happen to get from Scene A to Scene B. Is it just time passing between these scenes that you have to fill? Try to add some slower, ''calm before the storm'' moments of daily life - Big Event A happened in the morning, Big Event B is happening at night, you could write your character going through their normal life (going to school, getting groceries, walking the dog, etc.). If they know Event B is coming, you can dive into their mental state here (and add some character depth while you do it) - are they distracted? Nervous? Does another character pick up on it? Or do they not know about Event B, but they're trying to process Event A? And if it's neither, just adding the contrast of calm, regular, slow versus Big Event Happening can just add some character depth, story depth, and/or give the reader some room to breathe in between.

But maybe it's bigger than that. Maybe it's more than ''just time passing''. Maybe they need to learn skills, or travel, or get something and it's not enough for a ''big scene''. What I see a lot of writers do in this case is writing shallowly. Zooming out. Just describing their actions ''They traveled there, then got lunch and caught a train there.'' That's fine, because too much detail is distracting, but you can add some filler details to make it more interesting: ''They traveled there, then got lunch - which first resulted in a heated debate between character X and character Y about whether pancakes were a suitable lunch food, and then nearly made them miss their train to [location] because they lost character Z when trying to find a toilet''. Quick, not a full scene, bridging - but with some details to keep it lively.

Alternatively, if that's too fast paced for you, I personally like zooming in on smaller moments. Let's use Inazuma Eleven as an example - if they need to train for a match, and you don't want to describe the hours of training they've done, or spoil what they've been practicing, you can focus on shorter moments instead. Have them talk during their water break. Describe your character getting ready in the morning, arriving for the training and then skip over the training itself in a few shorter, summarizing sentences (like I did above with the ''they traveled there, then got lunch'' thing). Maybe take it slower during the water break again and have characters complain about the grueling training they're doing, and then messing around. Or focus more on the thoughts and worries from one specific character, get into their head, go introspective. All of this adds to character depth and story depth, and most of all the pacing. Is it a ''necessary'' scene? No. But it gives more details, makes the story seem more complete in the end, and most importantly, gives you a chance to explore the story you're writing and add little, ''insignificant'' things. It gives the reader room to breathe, instead of going from Action A to Action B to Action C to Action D. That's similar, in fact, to how I write angst - it's not Angst A Angst B Angst C, it's Angst A, Humour, Angst B, Slow Scene, Humour, Angst C. Why? Because if something is 100% angst, then it's not as impactful. It hurts so much more to see a character sad and desperate when you've seen them happy. Similarly, action is so much more fun to read when it's been slow-paced and insignicant, too. It's all about finding that balance.

Whoo, I think I went a bit overboard here, lol. I hope this helps you though! Again, this is a struggle, and it's going to keep being a struggle, and tricks that work for me might not work for you. Sometimes you just gotta get through that annoying scene and it's going to take ages to write it. Just try to keep having fun in your writing, that's really all I can say about this - the most demotivating thing is if you're not having fun with what you're doing.

[jimmedicated-jambino]

hiii umm feel free to ignore this if u want. im not really good at words and articulating things and i know the full project and context is still yet to come but i would really like to ask what direction you’re coming from with this… cause im perceiving like, a sort of unempathetic “HA stupid shit idiot loser finally realized he needs therapy and medication to be worth something” undercurrent (yknow not maybe in those exact words but this general vibe) and i would really like to know if im totally wrong about this, cause i like your art plenty and it gets shared in my circle but something still pokes the back of my mind y’know? i hope the rest of your day is good :)

Ok I avoided mentioning this because I really prefer not to share details about my mental health and personal traumatic experiences, but I guess I should've said this sooner:

TW: Depression, su*cide attempt

Note: To be clear, whenever I mention "Jimmy" I am NOT talking about the character from the game. I'm talking about the Jimmy in my AU.

This AU is rooted in my own experiences with mental illness, severe depression, and taking medication. I have struggled with depression for the majority of my life and around 4 years ago I reached my lowest point. It got so bad that just being alive hurt. Living hurt. Everything just hurt. From the moment I woke up until the moment I fell asleep all I could feel was just pure pain. Not just emotional pain, it manifested into physical pain. And it was bad. I felt like I was rotting on the inside and my soul was trying to climb out of the torture chamber that my body had become. I was willing to do anything to make the pain and suffering stop. I was prepared to end my life and if I hadn't made the decision to try medication as a last resort, I can say with 100% percent certainty that I would be dead right now. I really couldn't take it anymore. I had reached the absolute bottom. I gave up.

Jimmy in this AU is sort of a projection of myself, both past and present. Good and bad. Not sure why my brain decided to pick this character specifically to project onto. I hated him with a passion when I first finished the game. Idk might have something to do with me having autism and adhd or something or all the jimcurly fanfic I started reading. I'm doing better now, but that experience will always stick with me. Because it's part of me now in a way and I found that using creative outlets to sort of cope really helps. Like taking parts of my trauma, creating something new out of it, and then just putting it out in the world and letting it go. It's not trapped inside my body anymore. It takes some of the weight off my shoulders. It's helped me heal a lot. I also have a tendency to use self-deprecating humor as a coping mechanism. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Maybe I've been too hyperbolic about Jimmy's traits? I'm not sure. I tend to do that a lot to myself.

But, all of this au stuff isn't just something I pulled out of my ass or made up. It's all based on something real that happened to me. This is built on an actual person's experience. My experience.

Jimmy is also meant to be a lot more nuanced. There's an animation in progress that tells the story a lot better. It's like one of those animatic music video things ppl make and post on YouTube. The song is really important to this AU, honestly it's kinda like the theme song to me?? Idk It's called TENSIONNN by Webcage (such a bop legitimately) it's meant to describe the tail end of the "fallout" and the entirety of the "split" from Jimmy's pov. The most important lyric in that song and probably the lyric that this AU was created around is:

"I won't leave you now, It's too poetic"

It's poetic that Jimmy left with the intention of watching Curly crash and burn without him in his life, only to turn around and watch him succeed and soar. It's a tragedy. But it's ALSO poetic that Jimmy started to heal and worked so hard to get to a place where he could re-enter Curly's life and have a healthy relationship with him. Now they're together again, but this time they're not two impulsive, emotionally immature, 20 year olds. They're two adults that have had time to learn and grow as people. And that is beautifully poetic to me. Also super interesting to explore that concept.

If canon Curly and Jimmy sticking together was what allowed the events of Mouthwashing to happen, then them spending some time apart could be what prevents it from happening. Atleast that was my logic while writing this. I wanted to make a sort of fix-it AU to fill the "wholesome Jimcurly" hole in my heart bc fanfics like that are scarce as fuck (understandable bc of the source). I tried to write this whole thing as a fanfic, but I quickly realized that 1) I'm not good at writing anything longer than 1,000 words and 2) this story requires visuals to properly tell it in the way I intended.

Also, I'm having fun. Drawing and writing all of this makes me happy. Obviously, the story isn't very "fun" (I've cried for hours while writing and drawing the more depressing parts probably 20 times by now), but telling it is. I don't know. I'm just a guy that draws. A depressed guy that draws and is still healing. I'm in no way "cured" by the medication I'm on. I still have depressive episodes, but I've been managing them better. I'm in a much better place mentally rn and I'm proud of myself. I've been fighting an intense mental battle against depression everyday for 10+ years of my life at this point. I'm not like 100% happy, I'm just kinda chillin rn idk.

I'm glad you asked this question! I encourage other people to ask questions! It helps me grow as a beginner writer and storyteller.

I hope that answered your question. I appreciate you.

TLDR: No, that isn't at all what I'm doing here. Jimmy is a reflection of myself and my experience with having severe depression and how I started my healing journey. It's based on very real events and thoughts that I have had. No, I don't have any bad intentions. No, I don't hate mentally ill people. I'm mentally ill and neurodivergent. I'm diagnosed. (We're in this fight together, man why would I do that??) I'm not a mustache-twirling villain with an ulterior motive. I'm a tired, mentally ill college student with audhd that is recovering from severe depression that literally almost killed me and drawing these guys is my current hyperfixation that helps me cope with that. That's it.

Also Jimmy is my favorite character (in this AU!!!!) idk why ppl think I hate him. Don't artists usually dump all their trauma on their ocs and make them suffer incomprehensible horrors bc they love the oc?? I thought we all did that. I did that. That's what I'm doing rn. 💀

[magnuficentwo]

Certified Magnus Recommendations for Videogames that you Should play. Or don't idk, I'm a guy on the internet not your dad

Darkest Dungeon (Turn based strategy game with some horror sprinkled in for character designs and story, hard as balls, but the risk and reward are balanced out in such a way that you're always compelled to keep sending out your guys to face the horrors. You always have to be ready and prepared for everything because you never know how the mission may end up / which enemies you'll fight in which order. It's a lot of fun to play around with the party building and see which combination of heroes is the most effective for everything, how the move sets click with each other, etc. Just don't get top attached to a character if you don't know how they'll fare in combat. For your own sake 💔)

Alder's Blood (Another strategy game with some kind of eldritch horror creeping in, this is a theme throughout this list. It's a western style horror with cowboys going places and having to manage resources inbetween combat / investigation stages, with the story naturally progressing as you get to new town locations. The main characters Duke and Chief are the main vessels for how the story progresses, and their banter and interaction with other characters is everything to me. Like a lot of strategy games it Can get a little repetitive at first, especially if you're grinding out levels for your party, plus I don't think the random encounters are quite as well executed as scripted out events, but it's still a fun little game. Really recommend for story especially + I love everything about the art style.)

Look Outside (I've already begged you to play this game on a previous post and that's what inspired me to make this list in the first place, but MAN this game FUCKS. It's an RPG maker horror game with turn based combat, and the eldritch is on FULL display. It is the very first thing the game introduces you to: You're prompted to look outside, and the second you do you get spaghettified into a horrid flesh mass by perceiving things you don't comprehend. It's so fucking perfect man. From the sound design to story to character design to the combat itself (and how you learn different abilities) to the dialogue that feels so unbelievably natural coming from everyone's mouthes. It's peak. The way it's structured incentivises you to keep exploring and looking around new areas you're most likely to have encounters in, and you gain significantly more XP than if you were to play it safe for the entire 15 days you're meant to stay inside your apartment building. Sam is also the funniest mf alive play it for his ugly lil ass, he's so charming)

Darkwood (Survival horror game. Gameplay is very simple, you click stuff to discover what it means and what it does, manage resources and try to ignore the ever growing horrors of the world around you. I really adore the visual identity this game has for its narrative. Genuinely scared the shit out of me several times as I was playing it because things happened really slowly at first and then jumped out at you insanely fast. It IS permadeath, so the replayability of it gets increased even more when you die at points and already know how to get back there after, but it also puts a huge hindrance in your progress if you're playing it blind. Gist of the story is that it's the 1980s and there's a mysterious plague causing havoc in the darkwood (title drop) forest, causing its citizens and the animals that dwell within it to go insane, and you were Supposed to investigate but given it's a horror survival game, shit goes wrong really fast. It is a Visceral experience. I adore it thoroughly and you should put yourself through it <333)

Diablo ii (Yeah yeah Diablo isn't A GREAT series by any means, it's got it's flaws, especially the third installment, but mannnn I just adore Diablo ii. I won't even pretend like it's here for any reason other than I just like it a lot, but I also just find it so charming with how clunky and weird it is. It's a top view rpg game where you kill low polygon demons with big blasts of power and equip cool looking items to look cool first and to help you second, everything in its influence is either religious or rule of cool, and you know what ? it IS cool. The difficulty is a little more unforgiving than any of its companion games, so you end up dying a Lot despite how much you prepare, and that's normal. I don't know, I just love my emotional support 2000s videogame)

Hollow Knight ("But Magnus you plug Hollow knight everywher-" PLAY HOLLOW KNIGHT BOY. What is there to even be said about this game man. It's a metroidvania platformer about bugs going through an apocalypse caused by the hubris of a king. It's like the Dark Souls (narrative-wise) of Bugs. There's so much to love all around, but I feel like by singing the praises of what it does really well would diminish the effect it has on the average player, so instead I'll just give you a non-spoilery version of everything. The gameplay consists of descending into the gut of this once very alive world and taking it apart to discover what it is that's making it rot. The deceiving vibrancy of each background and area, combined with the different enemies and other such things patrolling everything, comes together to form one of the most visually stunning things I've ever gotten to experience in a videogame. All this paired with Christopher Larkin's talented ass making all the music, and you have something genuinely breathtaking in your hands. It's such a story of tragedy, where your arrival in these lands doesn't mean you'll save them at all, just that the end of them has come and gone, and it needs to be finalized so everything in it can finally rest. You are no hero. You are just the end. anyway you should play funny bug game)

Celeste (Not as narratively good as I wish it was honestly, especially when you sit with the story for as long as I have, but that doesn't even matter because THE GAMEPLAY IS BEYOND EXCELLENT AND IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE. This is one of the greatest platformers you'll play and that's a promise. Celeste has like, 3 movement options (walk, dash, jump) and it manages to elevate it to such an unbelievable level, it's genuinely insane how far it takes its dash mechanics. Each area you explore has a unique theme going on throughout it, with a different gimmick to keep everything feeling fresh, and Man it works like a fucking charm. I love every hazard and every movement booster in this game. It beats your ass HARD, but deaths don't feel like it's just the game bullshitting you so much as it is Truly a skill issue. Everything is presented clearly in charming pixel graphics and I love it. Madeline my beloved. I wish her story got to involve more of her flaws so that Badeline could feel more like a tangible parallel, but I feel like this is made up for with how it handles depression and ideation tbh. Fuck the core though that chapter sucked shit)

Some other recommendations I have but that I don't rlly have a whole rant prepared for that you could also play possibly

Goodnight Knight (Slightly clunky combat and learning curve for each ability, made up for in charm and humour. I love the unserious way this game presents itself)

Stardew Valley (Has somehow consumed my every waking thought to a point where I have sdv aus for all my ocs. It's a good little game)

Beyond Galaxyland (Puzzle solving + Turn based combat + Exploration + Really cool story, I appreciate what it does. Also I like it's graphics a lot it's so sick)

Spirit farer (I just wish it wasnt so wholesome constantly, because I do adore the concept, but it feels like it's dragged down by its need to be defanged. It's good though)

Wayfinder (One of The most exciting turn based combat systems I've ever seen <3)

Child of the Light (Changed my brain chemistry since I was 13)

Borderlands 1 + 2 + The Pre-Sequel + 3 (AUFGFHGHSGAFHGAFADGDHAFSGSFDHAAG !!!!!! AHGGHHHGGGHG!!!!!!!!!! AHAHHAHDGHGGGH !!!!!!! play it)

[feralcatalyst]

Do you have any tips for drawing?

Never stop. Just keep drawing. No matter what your evil brainworms whisper in your ear, no matter what the public or the internet says about it, no matter what you do, do not stop. Take breaks, of course, stretch and refresh yourself with water, but never GIVE UP on drawing. The more you do it, the more you study and watch and learn and the more time you spend actually drawing, the more progress you will make. Hitting a wall? Does what you draw look bad to you? That's GREAT!!! Study what you made, and figure out WHAT and WHY it looks bad to you. Are the eyes wonky? Get to the grindstone and study different styles of eyes, from toony, to realistic, find something that looks and feels good to you, and practice practice practice. Is the hand looking off? Look at your own hand! Look at hands other people have drawn, study and watch and learn and replicate, even tracing and reference is okay so long as credit is given when and where necessary! As long as you are taking steps to learn what you are doing *wrong* then eventually you will find solutions and ways to make them look right! It may take you days, weeks, months, even years, but if you never give up, you will eventually continue improving. My personal art history below the cut for context, I hope it helps and brings some form of inspiration to everyone, even non-artists trying to learn or get into hobbies or new skills <3

I've been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil, so let's say since I was about 2. No one taught me how to draw, as I aged I started to notice that things were 'wrong' with my art and I would work to fix them. I realized very early that most animals don't have 4 legs on one side, so I'd draw two legs and add the "missing" two behind them, I saw the sun did NOT in fact wear sunglasses or have a face so I stopped with that childhood trope, I drew and drew and drew the things I loved the things I wanted the things I found beautiful cool or mysterious. (Dragons and yoshi's...) I was easily the best artist in my elementary school and I won some award for a recycling calendar our whole grade submitted art to.

I started growing up into a cringe teen that loved wolves and anime and emo skater aesthetic. My focus went from free-handing art to learning to do "real" practiced and professional style art, IE sketching the drawing in pencil and then lining it in ink, and then coloring it with colored pencils. I got my first drawing tablet around 13, when i was also old enough to join deviantart. I made fanart for everyone that reached out to talk to me, I drew characters I wasn't used to drawing, I wanted to make people happy so I drew and drew and drew for my friends and artists I looked up to. I started drawing fanart of my favorite tv shows, I dabbled more and more into digital art and I was BAD but I kept at it. I didn't let my mediocrity stop me. I knew I would never get better if I didn't at least TRY. There are no failures in art, only happy accidents. The only time you 'fail' is when you refuse to stop trying. But you can pick the hobby/job/skill back up whenever you ARE ready to try again. It's never lost to you.

Then I got into a car accident at 16. I had a concussion and a traumatic brain injury. I was injured severely enough that I had to relearn how to do… Well almost everything. I had trouble walking, speaking, playing games, and worst of all for me at least, drawing. I couldn't do it anymore. The wires in my brain weren't bridging the right connections anymore, trying to draw was like trying to speak a different language and no matter how hard I tried everything I had in me was just…. gone. I had to start from scratch, a blank slate but this time I had everything going against me, a brain that struggled to remember retain information and learn, and a body that struggled to move and react as I intended. I was so depressed, it took almost a year to get back on some semblance of improvement, and just as I stubbornly refused to stop drawing, I stubbornly forged my path forward. I got into a new fandom, started seriously practicing the human form since before then I'd only focused on animals and fantasy creatures. Yeah I sucked, my anatomy was shit, my understanding of the body the facial expressions perspective it was all off. But I kept doing it.

I started drawing smut when I was 18, it helped me immensely in practicing how bodies could interact, what made poses or people feel rough or stiff, I studied porn and cgi and famous smut artists, i took time to learn what I liked about it, what was right but looked wrong, what was wrong but looked right, how light and textures were supposed to look, I had no obligation to improve I just wanted to. I had striven to keep going and make small steps in the right direction, taking time to study all my old pieces and figure out WHY they were bad, all the things that were WRONG, how how I could edit or fix the issues to a point where I would deem it acceptable. I never deleted any 'finished' works. I can still access my art from when I was a cringe tween, I can see my mistakes from every year I was active on the internet. I also did my best to not self deprecate, I would objectively critique my abilities and pieces and not take any feedback negatively no matter how harsh or scathing it may be. If someone had a strong enough opinion to voice it then I should have a strong enough backbone to listen and hear them out.

I started taking commissions once I felt comfortable in myself and my abilities. I never turned a commission idea down (Unless it was genuinely unethical) and used every opportunity to give MY BEST to my clients. Even if it was content I did not enjoy or characters with complicated designs or anatomy, I vowed to TRY and give my best and if I didn't know how to do or convey something I studied whatever it was until I felt confident enough in my understanding and embraced the challenges as they came. Study, learn, draw, reflect, redraw, rinse and repeat. Never give up. Try new styles. Try new mediums. Just keep trying! Do and do and do and see and watch and study and keep going.

[hopeymchope]

Tribe Nine status update: Chapter 1 complete; Chapter 2 is NOT underway.

While the rest of the TooKyo Games/Kodaka/Post(?)-Danganronpa fandom is wrapped up in the demo and hype for The Hundred Line, I remain fixated on Tribe Nine. So this is more-or-less my follow-up to my first impressions post.

Despite its less-than-appealing roots as a mobile game with some gatcha elements, I'm still finding it to be quite good as a game in its own right. It doesn't flood you with a boring open world full of 20,000 objectives around every corner like some other gachas I've tried (Genshin Impact, Infinity Nikki), nor is it a glorified visual novel with just basic RPG combat added like other gachas I've quite enjoyed (Magia Record, Fate/Grand Order). Once you get past the tutorializing, Tribe Nine is an actual game with lots of legit gameplay exploration/combat routine—but there's still a lot of story pinning it down.

First off: The Steam version is finally playing smoothly! After a difficult process, I eventually got my Steam and IOS Tribe Nine accounts linked together. Now I can keep my progress rolling on my Steam Deck, and I MUCH prefer playing with button controls.

Perhaps most important to me is that I'm interested in the (goofily dark?/darkly goofy?) story. I've been compelled by the desire to take down the bizarre ruler of Shinagawa and its dominating ruleset—the evil "corporation" structure that lets the President and his twisted director execute whoever they want. I enjoyed driving that all the way to the climactic Danganronpa-style "baseball argument" thing.

Senju severely wrecks shop.

I'm currently NOT so compelled by the characters, honestly; they're likable enough and have great Komatsuzaki-style designs, but their characterizations are pretty damn thin so far. The ones who I'm attached to are either just excellent in a fight (Hyakuichitaro Senju), have a central personality quirk that's endearing (Tsuruko Semba), or I've gotten to know them better by having recently watching the anime (Kazuki Aoyama).

Speaking of the anime: "Q" in the game is Ojiro Otori from the show. Some might consider that to be pretty obvious, but I was a little slow to put it together, so I'm just laying it out there: Same voice actor, considers Kazuki his most important friend, supposedly "atoning for past sins," same hair and eye colors... yeah.

...did I mention that the soundtrack is excellent? Danganronpa's Masafumi Takada is in the house on this one. Very moody, cool, funky, atmospheric.

I've currently finished the story of Chapter 1/Shinagawa, and I want to move on to Chapter 2/Minato (which already has a good central hook/mystery driving me there), but I'm stuck grinding out achievements due to the arbitrary gatekeeping where you can't pass certain points without having enough "stamps" from Zero. Which fucking sucks.

For the record: Beyond the trio of characters that all players get for free (Yo Kuronaka, Tsuki Iroha, and Koishi Kohinata), I've also unlocked Roku Saigo, Yutaka Gotanda, Hyakuichitaro Senju, Santaro Mita, Minami Oi, and Tsuruko Semba.

The barrier to starting Chapter 2 has given me time to work on every single side quest in Shinagawa, at least. On that note...

Most Upsetting Side Quest: Forcing a bunch of homeless people with nowhere else to go to vacate the aquarium because some fish-obsessed idiot thinks he's going to re-open the business despite knowing jack shit. I definitely felt like the bad guy.

Why are they so intently after her???

Most "???" Side Quest: Repeatedly rescuing that one woman who keeps getting cornered and attacked by masked thugs who repeatedly assert that they don't know why ANYONE would take her side. It seems obvious that she's harboring a secret reason why she's always being harrassed, but by the current end of that quest line, it's not yet been explained. All we've done is beat up her harrassers without ever knowing why they're on her case. I assume this story thread will wind up continuing into Otami or popping up again elsewhere.

Something I want to know a lot more about is WHICH members from TooKyo Games were involved in this title. Who's writing, you know?

[wickedmage4106]

Stripping into Dangerous Situations Chp.2 AlphaDoffyxOmegaOC

Summary: Your secret job as a stripper, while your real job pays you barely nothing. Throw in a mix of secret side hustles, and the Devil soon takes interest in you. But be careful, as all things come with strings attached. Throwing a huge wrench in you life, and the Devil comes in to make an offer you want to refuse. But how delicous is the offer the Devil is making?Will you take the deal?

Story Plot, Eventual Smut as Story progresses (none at the moment to build up to), 18+ due to mention of drugs, violence, stripping, abuse, and posioning. Alpha/Omega verse in Modern One Piece tale, bit of a twist on my end. Animal ears and tail, no human ears.

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net, same name here for my accounts I post at.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

A month has passed since I saw Kitten or Joker as my boss called him, though I never cared for a client but for some reason I had a curious nature of knowing who he was. His money clip that I was allowed to keep, when I first got home after taking a hot shower in my shitty apartment. I couldn't help but fiddle with it in my hand. For some reason, I kept thinking of it as a Jolly Roger like some pirate symbol, but I also had a feeling I've seen this image before. I can't remember where, but my déjà vu sense was tingling. But like most things, I placed it back in my purse, and went to bed. I continued on with my life at my shitty job and at the strip club.

Currently, I was at the club going over several orders that was being delivered to us to stock up on more drinks, glasses, and entering all the expenses in the books. There was a massive fight in the club last night, and several things were broken. So, I called in emergency Sysco order, and had some cleaners come clean up the mess that was left from last night. Also, had to have a plumber come in as two of the men's toilet were stopped up meaning I was paying extra for the service since it was Saturday around lunch. Julie, who was the manager who would also handle this kind of stuff was out as her sons were in little league, and they played a game today. Which left me to deal with everything even from being here the night before. I made sure to tell Lawrence I needed a shower before I come back to deal with everything, but then again, I live across town. Would have to take a subway and then walk three blocks which didn't sound fun to do twice. So, the gym I go too had one close by, and took a shower there. With my spare cloths I brought; I wore a loose V-neck off the shoulder baby blue sweater that tucked into my jean short shorts, black thigh-high socks, and simple black flats. I had light makeup on to hide the circles under my eyes, with my hair held up by a clip with several strands falling loose and my glasses on.

It was freezing when you aren't dancing under the hot light in this place or how crowded it can get. Flipping through some papers, I sat at one of our VIP booths in that had full view of the whole club with two of the books in front of me with a calculator, cash draw out, papers of bills from the service people, and several other papers I had to calculate. Currently, I was on the phone with one of the electricians we hired with a mild headache coming on with how irritated I was with the man on the other line.

"He left wires and entire electrical panel out! That wasn't fixing it! I am not paying for a half shit job your new guy did, send someone back to fix this now!" I yelled at the bastard, slamming my phone down as I covered my hands over my face frustrated with the man. Over arrogant jack-ass! "Fuck!"

"Sounds like a frustrating call," I lifted my head and I saw Kitten standing there in a black pinstripe suit with his white shirt with a maroon tie with his large feathered coat hanging off his shoulders. Still had those weird sunglasses on, but at this moment I don't care.

I leaned back against the leather seat annoyed, "Why are you here? We're closed right now."

Behind him, another tall man older man in powder blue suit with another over the size fur coat on him in a weird spotted design, black sunglasses, black dog ears/tail with snot hanging from his nose became angry, "Nyeh Nyeh Nyeh, do you know whom you are talking too brat?!"

"I'm talking to Kitten and if you get snot on anything in this club, you're paying the cleaning bill," I dead tone replied with my face holding no expression.

"You!" He growled raising his cane, but the blonde held his hand up stopping his associate.

"It's fine Trebol, I enjoy her sassiness. Fu fu fu ~" Kitten spoke.

"Nyeh but Doffy!" Trebol whined.

"Doffy?" I was confused, is that his name?

"Don't you dare say his name! That is for family only!" Trebol howled even more.

"That is enough Trebol!" Doffy scolded. Whispering as Trebol was sent away grumbling. Turning back to me, his grin back on as he leaned closer holding his hand out. "Apologies my dear, as I have not introduced myself properly. Donquixote Doflamingo."

I stared at his hand with it being large like his frame with long fingers. Staring for about a minute, I reached up and shook his hand that was warmer than most. "Bunny Sinclair," I introduce myself.

"Bunny! That is an interesting name."

"So, is yours, now why are you here?" I asked going back to my paper work before me. "I'm busy."

"I am here to Lawrence, another surprise to see you here so early," he replied as he leaned against the booth as I could feel him looming over my shoulder trying to see what I was doing. "What are you doing? Shouldn't the manager of the be doing this?"

"Julie is with her kids little league seeing she usually does this, Lawrence is shit at the books, and in their absence, I tend to it as I often do when he fucks up. Lawrence is at brunch with his mother until one, so it will another hour depending on traffic when he will arrive," I answered as I wrote down several numbers into the book.

"Well, I have come so far," I suddenly felt the plush seat dip greatly, I looked to see him sit directly next to me. His arm over the back of the seat leaning over me with a tiger grin. I blushed for a moment at the intrusion as his scent of his cologne tickled my noise that had some tropical lingering scent. It was an interesting scent he was giving off as I enjoyed it but I pushed it passed me. He leaned in close as I moved away not liking the closeness. "Then, I shall wait for him here."

I groan as I placed my hand on his chest pushing him lightly back, "Yeah, well you can do it over there. Your looming doesn't help and I like my space."

His eyebrows shot up, ears down, and grin gone as if he has never been I guess rejected before, but I really don't like him this close. He creeps me out. Attractive but really creepy. Then in a moment he threw his head back laughing hysterically like a mad man then slammed his hand on the table making things shake and me jump in my seat.

He pointed at me as his grin wider than I ever saw someone grin, "I like you; I really do my dear. You can call me Doffy."

"Gee, Thanks," I was unsure how respond to that.

"Fu fu fu fu fu~" his chuckled deep from his throat as he still sat near me.

"Bunny!" Turning from my odd guest, Julie walked in with her boys. Julie was a feline Omega with a loving Alpha husband; she had shoulder length hair that was dyed bright red with black highlights as the black matches her black cat ears and tail. She was five foot eight, skinny as a twig even after three triplets she had a great athletic body. Soft tan skin, bright green eyes, and loves Gucci. She wears mostly Gucci and even has the logo tattooed on her right fake breast. Most of all the women here have implants except me, but her implants wasn't ridiculous like the others. She used to be an A cup but upgraded to an C. Personally it looks good on her. Her boys, Jason, Jones, and Jackson looked like their father being all blonde hair, blue eyes, and white/black feline cat ears and tail. I watched as two of the boys ran up to me, I smiled at them while the third Jackson, I noticed was with his mother and had a black eye.

"Oh, my gawd what happened to you!" I exclaimed, I reached up over the table softly grabbing his face looking at the poor boy.

"Foul ball got him good," Julie replied as the poor boy moved from my soft grasp hugging his mother, her hand rubbing his head.

I sat back down as I pointed to Jason and Jones, "Go to the bar and ask Venice at the bar to get your brother a bag of ice for his eye," I told his brothers as they ran off to the bar. I looked at Julie who watched then turned back to me.

"Sooooo, I knew you didn't get any sleep last night."

"Uh huh?" I stared skeptical at her. She has a grin on her face knowing she was up to something.

"You didn't sleep?" Doflamingo question as I help my finger up at him to hush. From the corner of my eye, I could see him be taken back by what I did and just chuckled.

"Who is this?" Julie questioned as her hands were behind her back as I could see something pink but couldn't make out the object.

"No one, what's behind your back?" I leaned to the side to try and see.

She giggled pulling from behind her back was a medium size pink dessert box that was from the famous bakery known as Charlotte's Pastry Shop! My mouth drop as I started to heavily drool; I love their sweets! Eyes all starry looking all I could focus on was that box. Julie snickered at my appearance as she knows how much of a sweet person I am and in love with these treats. Their expensive and they often have long lines just waiting to get in and purchase their delicious goodies.

"Gimmie gimmie gimmie gimmie!" I threw my arms out as I hungrily reached over the table for the box while Julie teased me keeping it out of my reach before finally, I snatched it out of her hands having her laugh at me.

I don't care! THEIR MINE! I will share my food but my sweets I will like Jewelry break anything if you take my sweet treats from me! I flip the lid up as I squealed in excitement as I bounced in my seat and tail wiggling like no tomorrow. Five strawberries in strawberry and white chocolate with chocolate drizzle, large pretzels dipped in white and raspberry chocolate with pink/white/red sprinkles. Three macaroons in each flavor of strawberry cream, raspberry mint, cookie and cream along with coffee expresso. Small three strawberry and white chocolate bars so tiny than a normal size candy bar. Two berry liquor cupcakes with white wine frosting with raspberry drizzle and white pearl sprinkles on top. And clear sugar cane pops with dried strawberries and mint lollipops in heart shapes. Scattered across the box was also tiny white marshmallows.

"Ahhhh!" I threw my head back squealing like a kid, I reached over hugging Julie who hugged back still laughing at my excitement completely forgetting the amused look on Donquixote's face. "Thank you! Thank you! I love you so much!"

"Ha ha ha, no problem Bun. You do so much for us and I had to get a special treat for you," Julie responded as I scooted back into my spot and dug into my box.

I picked one of the white chocolate strawberries, placing the plump fruit entirely in my mouth. Moaning as I chewed into the delicate sweet juice and mixture of the harden chocolate. My feet under the table on their toes doing a little dance I relish in the taste. "Damn straight," I mumbled with my mouth full with a chuckled as I chewed.

Julie grinned as her boys came back with a bag of ice, she took it as she gently held it to her sons face who placed his own hand on it to hold it in place. I swallowed the strawberry in my mouth as I took out a coffee macaroon as I nibbled to not rush into my large sweet box and try and make it last. Sensing something moving towards the box, I slammed my hand down hard on top of the table as his hand was snatched away quickly grinning but also heard from away by his subordinate exclaiming, "Nyeh Doffy!"

I was still growling low at him as he moved closer, looming over me as he let out a low purr that also mixed with a growl from the back of his throat. Looming at I stared up at him while I stared at his glasses unable to see his eyes. He spoke calmly though I could hear the threat in his calm, deep voice, "No one has survived hitting me, Little Omega."

"Then, don't touch my sweets," I hissed, Julie laughing at us.

"Careful sir, Bunny loves her sweets, but she loves Charlottes even more. She may be a bunny, but she fights like a feral cat," Julie joked.

"Really?" Amusement lacing his tone when he spoke. "Sounds exciting."

"You would think that," I grumbled as I put the rest of the macaroon in my mouth while closing the box and moving it on the other side of the table away from his hands.

"Anyway, I wanted to drop this off, and get him home so he can rest. Try to get some rest when you go home," Julie answered as she waved bye.

"I will, I get the night off as Lawrence is paying me for all this," I waved my hand over the able at this mess.

"Alright, well have fun." Julie left with the kids; I do hope that black eye clears up quick. Good kid.

"Have kids?" I looked up at him confused.

"Huh?"

He looked from where Julie had left through the exit in the front back towards me, "Do you have kids?"

"Oh, gawd no!" I gaped at him. "Hell, I would need a mate for that and I am not in the business of looking for one. I have too much bullshit going on to worry about having kids or relationships."

"Really? Big, tough Omega like yourself be sure to have some boyfriend –"

"Okay I am going to have to stop you," I looked at him frowning. "Why do even care about that shit?"

"I don't."

"Then, why ask?"

He shrugs, "Just curious is all."

"Well don't. I'm just a stripper and financial work at my other job, and I'm just doing my best to survive."

"Survive?" He inquired.

I paused in my work sighing deep. Moving some papers to the side I climbed up on the table, sitting in front of Donquixote. I could see him straighten as I gently placed my feet on top of his thighs with my legs open. I watched as his chest moved inhaling, then exhaling. Scooting forward as I was on the edge of the table; I gently moved my hands to his tailored collar of his black pinstripe suit lightly trailing my fingers under the collar. His arm that rested on the back of the booth moved as his hands slowly glided up from my ankles to grasp the back of my leg calves. My hands lay flat moving down his chest with my face looking relaxed as I moved my hands down.

"Your breathing is even as I can tell your used to women touching you," I calmly spoke in a low whisper just for us to hear.

"How can you tell?" Doffy inquired.

"You aren't phased when I got close to you, your breathing isn't shaking from my touch unlike some of the drunks that come here. Even the most powerful men shudder, but you don't even miss a single breath or twitch," I answered as I continued to move my hands. There was a rumbling as I figured a low purr from his chest. "I spent my time as a stripper since I was eighteen learning about men, what fantasy they want to escape wherever they come from, and their wants," moved my hands from his chest up to his neck to his tie. I began to slowly untie the fabric as he leaned forward just a little, "The reason I must survive by stripping in this shit joint is because Omegas are only used for breeding and making pups." I finally pulled the knot of the tie slowly down until the knot was gone. "I have to survive in this male domanial, alpha world because I am at the bottom of the food chain. Weak, little omega whose only job is to get fucked and watch the kids. Not to have a powerful job, just to do what they are told and I don't approve of that." Still grasping onto the tie with my other hand tracing the button of his silk white shirt, tracing in an S-motion down to his matching pinstripe vest. "So, here I am working as a stripper, dancing to make enough for my bills, and to give fake fantasies to drunk men. I've learned over the years how to make men give up their money even from the littlest of touches."

"And what if a woman's touch doesn't do anything to me?"

I snorted with a sly fox grin.

"Say that to the semi hard-on that is pressing against my left foot."

His ears perked up from their relaxed position as his relaxed expressing turned into a joker's grin.

"Clever observation my dear," he purred.

I still smiled as his dick didn't bother me, I've had plenty of dicks rub up against me all the time so this wasn't anything knew. Just part of the job. I was first creeped and hated it when first started but as time goes on, I just void it from my memory and just do what the men like. If I am able to make them hard, I have given them a great lap dance, and money in return. That's what I try to remember is the bills I have to pay, food I need to eat, shelter, cloths, student debt, and my grandmothers housing. I learned hard after my parent's death that money rules everything in this world. Money is power. I'm not a greedy person, I just want to live my life with a good job, not having to degrade myself some nights to make ends meet.

Then an idea popped in my head.

I grinned, "I bet I can get five reactions out of you with barely using my body against you."

A deep rumble from his throat vibrated with sounds as I now held both pieces of his tie by his throat, Doflamingo leaned forward with his joker grin teeth bared, "Is that a challenge?"

I pointed at him with my free left hand, "One."

His hands flew from my calves to grasping hard onto my hips, knowing I would have bruises on them by tomorrow. I winched from the sudden pain for a quick second, then grinned wider. His chest puffing up.

"Two."

Lifting my left foot, I roughly placed it on his dick dragging it from the base to the tip earning an inward hiss through his teeth.

"Three."

His grinned dropped realizing he has lost three, and only had two reactions remaining he immediately went to lean away from me. But I tightened grip on his tie, holding him in place. Reaching with my left hand, I brought it up to his left cat ear, gently tracing the back with my nail to earring as I know having pierced earrings make the skin very sensitive to the touch. He grunted clenching his jaws, I could see his shoulders shake.

"Four," I whispered closely to his lips as I stared at his colored lenses.

"Enough!"

I was slammed down hard onto the table with his hand gripping my throat tightly. Gripping his wrist as he leaned over me with a scowl on his face, but I couldn't help to chuckle even as my air intake was being cut off.

"Five," I choked with my nails digging into his clothed wrist.

"Seriously," I arched my back to lean my head back to see my boss Lawrence standing in front of the table looking unamused. "Why isn't every time I come here, you are causing some sort of trouble with our VIP client?"

"Just lucky I guess," I choked out a respond with a smile.

He inhaled pinching the bridge of his nose, "Sir Donquixote, please release Miss Sinclair from your grasp. I need her alive."

"Certainly," his hand released my throat as I coughed, thankful of the air I could breathe now. I sat up from the table while he sat back down.

"Bunny, you can go. Here is what I owe you for taking care of everything this morning," Lawrence handed me three hundred dollars from his wallet. Taking the cash, I grabbed my purse and desserts to hop off the table.

Clearing my throat though still sore, "Everything has been placed within the folders, and calculated into the books. The electrician is sending back another person as the first guy fucked up. Most of the deliveries have all come, and the cleaning crew just left. Club should be ready for tonight."

"Great, now go before I get upset," Lawrence still seemed upset so I shrugged.

"Pleasure talking with you my dear," I turned to see Donquixote with a grin back onto his face.

"Bet it was, bye," I snorted with a wave, then headed out.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

Doffy's eyes from behind his lenses watched as Bunny left the club. Eyes half closed being fixated on her swaying hips made him lick his lips. He could see the talent that she had in her, his hard on was proof of that. Usually, he had great control over his body, but she had quickly him in the palm her hand. He admired that and her bold personality. Made things more interesting.

Lawrence shook his head at his employee, then placing his hands together similar to praying turning his attention back to his guest, "I am truly sorry about her Joker, if she offended you in anyway. I will personally-"

"Shut the fuck up Lawrence," Doffy interrupted disgruntledly while he stood up from the booth as Lawrence snapped shut in fear. "Your voice is really irritating to listen too."

Lawrence slumped into himself where he stood with his eyes grazed down in fear as he knew he was in trouble.

Donquixote Doflamingo was an extremely powerful Alpha, and someone you do not want to cross. A ruthless businessman who is worth billions, one of the leading drug lords across the different Grand Line, and in the New World Pacific's. Trading of illegal goods within the black-market as one of its Brokers, Joker was by far the most dangerous man you could ever meet in the Underworld. Committing crimes from the public from murder, drugs, slaves, and supplying weapons to countries that have on going wars to the enemies. This man was a Monster. And he knew it too. Lawrence was absolutely terrified on this man, as he tried to make the man's visit as pleasant as possible but with Bunny. He was starting to get worried she may have crossed a line. Lawrence knows this man will kill to get whatever he wants and shows no remorse for his actions. The public doesn't know of Donquixote's crimes as they been secretly kept out from light but when dealing with the man directly, you quickly figure out you just made the wrong deal with the Devil.

Raising his hand, Doffy snapped his fingers and everyone who was near heard it began to leave the main room. Others who didn't were ushered outside. Doffy adjusted his sleeves while Trebol walked back up standing behind the club manager making Lawrence start to sweat as the air was becoming increasingly tense.

"Lawrence," the racoon man gulped. "I heard from a little bird that you threw away or rather flushed away thirteen thousand dollars' worth of SMILE, down the fucking toilet," Doflamingo lips curled up with a snarl leaving his throat at the end.

"Well – I – I mean-" WHACK! "Ahhh!"

Trebol swiftly swung his cane as he struck Lawrence in the back, making the stubby man fall to his hands and knees. Several more swings of the cane had Lawrence on the ground crying out in pain, with his hands and head bleeding. After about a minute and a half, Doflamingo held his hand up making Trebol stop.

Pulling up his pants sleeves while crouching down before the badly beaten man, Lawrence looked up at Joker who had several veins on his forehead with a deep frown on his face. "The cops showed last night due to the brawl," Lawrence coughed out blood as he weakly spoke. "They had a dog that was going crazy, and they started looking for drugs. I had to get rid of it. I'm sorry Joker."

"Does she know?" Lawrence was confused until it clicked.

Lawrence shook his head, "All -cough cough cough- employees had to leave the club. Only those who knew of the drug being sold here flushed it."

Doffy hummed staring down at the pathetic shit before him, quivering in fear and pain. A grin appeared as it thrilled him to see this, Doflamingo loved being powerful and feared. Makes things much more fun when you can get away with it and no one would dare go against him.

"Well, Lawrence you are in luck," Lawrence looked up confused as Doffy stood up straight with his hands in his pockets. "Your sweet little bunny employee put me in a good mood, so I will give you one," Doffy held up one finger. "One chance to fix your fuck up. Get me the money you lost by Monday morning, and I will forget all about this incident. Don't, well you don't want to know what will happen if I don't get the money."

Lawrence gulped nodding his head as he knew if he didn't get the money, he'd end up dead.

"Good, Trebol lets go. We're done here," Doflamingo spoke as he began to walk towards the entrance.

"Nyeh, yes Young Master heh heh heh heh," Trebol laughing at the man he just beat following Doffy out.

Outside of the club was a black limo waiting outside was Doffy noticed his family member Lao G, another Alpha of his unique family with grey wolf ears and tail while wearing a simple black suit. Opening the door for the Young Master and Trebol before heading to the driver's side.

"How was your meetin-G Youn-G Master?" Lao asked while driving off from the club.

"It went well as it could be, make sure to pick up the money Monday morning. If he doesn't have it, kill his mother. Hopefully then he will learn not to throw away my product, stupid man," Doffy grunted in displeasure as it irritated him that the bastard had the nerve to flush all his drugs down the shitter.

"Nyeh Doffy, what about the girl? She disrespected you!" Trebol complained.

"What G-irl?" Lao questioned looking at the Young Master through the review mirror.

Lao g watched as Doffy smiled, "Leave her be Trebol."

"Nyeh! But Doffy!"

Doffy snapped his head to his subordinate who submitted from the glared from under his bosses' glasses.

"Leave her be, besides I find her interesting," chuckling Doffy looked back out of the window of his heavily tinted limo. "I might have something planned for her. So, no one is to touch her, understood?"

"Yes sir," Trebol and Lao G responded.

Lips curling up into a grin, Doffy then looked down at his still loosen tie that hung from his neck. Picking up the silken fabric, he brought it to his nose inhaling. Eyes closing as the scent of strawberries, vanilla, and sugar filled his nose. Pulling the tie away as he stared at the fabric, his grin grew.

'Bunny Sinclair," Doffy thought amused. 'I can't wait to see what you will do next my dear.'

A dark chuckle formed at the back of his throat as he anticipated their next encounter.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

[episims]

Over time, I've gotten some questions about how my Biotech Station mod differs from simler90's. To make answering easier in the future, I finally attempted to write all the changes down.

But a disclaimer that it's been two years since I worked with that mod, so I'm very likely forgetting something.

Sims can't catch the mysterious disease from making medicine with my version

I added the practice interaction

I added the interactions for making medicine/virus in bulk

I made it so that the medicine/virus made on a business lot goes into the business owner's inventory

I made failed attempts to add an empty bottle to the inventory (as a junk penalty, similar to what fishing produces)

I stopped children from being able to make medicine on their own

I lowered the skilling speed of the object

I added the missing object anim to making medicine

I changed the vial to a medicine bottle and made it sit on the ground level (after animations too)

I greatly lowered the relationship requirement for giving medicine, as I wanted to have it possible for a doctor to give it to a patient after a few successful interactions (simler90 has the requirement as 50 STR, I have it as 10 STR)

I made the requirements for successfully giving virus more straightforward by removing the logic & charisma skill check that simler90 has included and raised the LTR requirement instead

I turned giving virus always causing a relationship hit (simler90 has it giving a boost when accepted)

I stopped it from being possible to give virus to children

With simler90's version, sims might get busted by the police if they make virus. I wanted it to be possible to have a setting where viruses are legally made for research purposes, so I removed that

I made it impossible to sell viruses in OFB businesses as that should be illegal, but I allowed selling them for profit in buy mode so that sims can still get money from 'researching' them (simler90 has virus priced at §0)

In update 3 of their mod simler90 made it so that if giving medicine/virus is refused, the medicine/virus gets moved into the giver's inventory, even though it's not usable from the inventory. I changed it back so that the giver will find a surface to place the bottle back onto, so that it can be given again without first replacing it from the inventory

I changed the original Eaxis formula (which simler90 uses) for making medicine/virus: originally, it had the sim's niceness points as one factor for determining how potent the outcome will be. It didn't make much sense to me, so I took that away. During testing, we also noticed that the sim's logic skill level only had a small impact so I made that weight more instead

I completely rewrote how medicine works: instead of always lowering disease severity, my medicine is capable of insta-curing certain diseases, depending on how potent the medicine is. This required a lot of new code as simler90's version doesn't have a cure code of its own but relies on the game's general disease progressing code (and for that reason there's always a delay before the sim gets cured with simler90's version)

I added pop-up messages showing if the sim got cured or not

I also completely rewrote how virus works: simler90 has it so that the disease virus gives is always the mysterious disease (=a disease of which symptoms and other qualities have been randomized). I made the less potent virus to give either food poisoning, a cold, or the flu instead, and only the potent version to infect the mysterious disease

simler90 has relationship checks for giving medicine/virus interaction to even appear, and an additional mood check for the sim to be able to take virus themselves. I removed all of that

And probably more, but I think that covers most of it.

[floralifetime]

Presentation post.

I realized (better late than never😅), that I have never made a "presentation" post about me and my blog, I made a post about the rules to follow and yet I have not made a presentation, I am late😅.

Usually I would never have done it, I don't know why, but I don't have much creative imagination to make a post like this captivating, but I saw some nice ones and I got "inspired" and wanted to do one too, even if there's not much to say, actually.

So, you can call me Flora and I love writing (I don't write angst, nor smut, nor dirty stuff of any kind, sorry but I can't write them), watching anime and cartoons (even if some might consider me too old for that😅), playing video games, listen to music, creating characters for my stories and reading (I read a bit of everything, but especially fantasy and adventure). I've always been passionate about Native American culture so I inform myself as much as possible, given my poor skills in understanding the English language.

I'm not English, as I always write in the "warnings" of my fics, in fact I'm Italian, but here I use the English language (with the poor school knowledge), since it is literally the most used language here on Tumblr.

So…I don't think I need to specify, but this is my personal space so I only do/post/write etc. things that make me feel comfortable or what I want. It is strongly discouraged to try to make me change my mind about anything, I am not at all famous for listening to others and in my personal space I prefer my "independence" if you can call it that, rather than people/followers who are not okay with this. Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome as long as they are presented clearly and politely, sterile whining on any topic is not.

Now, this is a topic surrounded by the whining mentioned before, but yes, I have nothing against the use of AI, so I can use it to create the images (and only the images, the writing process is all my work, not AI) related to my story and I will use it (the other images are taken either from Google images, or from Pinterest.), if you are okay with it perfect, otherwise it doesn't matter (Don't like? Don't be here, or don't read my fics, I'm not a people pleaser or a people chaser, to be further clear) because I will continue like this until an authority worthy of the name says that it is illegal to do so.

If you don't like something, you are not obligated to read or follow my blog, I want to make this clear.

In case you need it for some reason, the rules post is here, the post with more details about what I write can be found here (Part I and II), for your free consultation.

That said, here are my fandoms:

-Hunger Games (I haven't read The Ballad of the Nightingale and the Serpent yet)

-Harry Potter (Not the Cursed Child)

-Avatar (both the movie and the cartoon)

-Percy Jackson.

-LOTR (I hope I wrote it well😅) and The Hobbit.

-Amphibia.

-Hazbin Hotel (I'm slowly catching up on it and I'm not an active fan yet.)

-Some Disney cartoons (Koda Brother Bear, Mulan, Pocahontas, Treasure Planet, Simbad and the Curse of the 7 Seas.)

-Witch (I'm catching up on it.)

-Winx Club.

-TMNT (2012) + Bayverse (I saw it a while ago, As soon as I can I will rewatch it)

-Gladiator (currently only the second, but as soon as I can I'll catch up on the first.)

I think I've finished them, however I could add something since I'm catching up on some series that were recommended to me, so I reserve the right to modify this post by adding some fandoms that were added after its publication or, more likely, some fandoms that I forgot to include, which are always there😅.

My current stories (this part will definitely be edited in the future to update it.) are:

-Toruk Makto's Sister (Fandom: Avatar. Ship: Tsu'tey x Jake Sully's sister reader.)

-A fearsome down at Avalon (My original work.)

-The Sun Hide the Darkness (Fandom: Percy Jackson. Ship: Percy Jackson x Oc)

I have several in progress, both long fics and one-shots, in case you're interested✨.

Asks are open, but I reserve the right to write only what makes me feel comfortable, and… Nothing. If you like to follow my blog I'm happy, thanks for your attention✨.

[hapuriainen]

Hapuriainen's animation, comics & Games from 2024

Anime: Delicious in Dungeon, One Piece Fan Letter

The magical girl stuff: Wonderful Precure!, Heartcatch Precure!, Precure movies, Märchen Mädchen, Sasaki & Peeps, MahoAko, MahoAku, MahoNare, Acro Trip, Magilumiere, Samurai Flamenco

Manga: Shangri-la Frontier, Pokemon Adventures, How Do We Relationship, Vinland Saga, A Sign of Affection, Maison Ikkoku, Girls Last Tour, A Sinner of the Deep Sea, Go with the Clouds North-by-Northwest, Enidewi, Is Reiroukan still alive?, A Kingdom of Quartz

Continuing: One Piece, Undead Unluck, My Hero Academia (end), Spy x Family, Frieren, Witch Hat Atelier.

The magical girl stuff: Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Shugo Chara Dream Joker, Magical Girl Dandelion, Mermaid Melody Aqua, Champignon Witch, Pretty Guardian Stress, Who Said Blues had to be Cool

Games: Zelda games (Adventure of Link, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, A Link between Worlds, Echoes of Wisdom), Pokemon Scarlet DLC, Animal Crossing New Horizons DLC, Ghost Trick. Unfinished: Some Pokemon BW2, Overcooked, Super Mario Wonder.

Movies: Elemental, Spy x Family Code White

Overall I think I watched very little animation that wasn't magical girls, and those have been extensively documented on the other blog. Dunmeshi and the second half of Frieren the only non-mahou anime I can remember, and I meant to watch many of the newer Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks movies but keep missing the chance and haven't even seen Wish yet. Hopefully next year will be better on this front, I do like magical girls but it's nice to branch out too.

The manga side had a bit more variation. I finished/caught up with several titles that were in the Humble Bundle set of award winning manga, but there's still plenty left. Vinland Saga is really good and I'm sad to see it go now that it's clearly about to end, Shangri-la is shallow as a puddle but good fun, and Sign of Affection is ok I guess but a bit bland. I also read a bunch of Harta/adjacent manga this year for the art and vibes.

Then I surprisingly started reading Pokemon Adventures, because I simply need to meet the manga version of Scarlet. I started from the beginning though and haven't even made it out of the Ruby/Sapphire arc yet so it's still a long way. So far I've been really happy with the writing of the female characters, but I hear the quality drops on that front after Platinum which makes me worried.

This year I've been quite the gamer because I played something other than one of the big Nintendo franchises I've been playing for years. Which is Ghost Trick and Overcooked, both of which were great. Mario Wonder is still in progress, it's a fun game but doesn't exactly have a gripping narrative, but I'll finish it for Daisy. Next year looks promising for game variety too since I bought a bunch of games from the Switch e-shop sale (and already finished Gris but that was in 2025).

For Pokemon I unexpectedly became a total hardcore player and voluntarily gave Protect to more than one mon. Ultimately getting into the competitive aspect is way too much upfront work with team building, but I feel I gained a lot of appreciation of the franchise in how there's some really complex mechanics under that kid friendly gameplay. And then I even got into the gotta catch 'em all aspect when I finally downloaded Pokemon Home and started filling my Dex, but that project is on pause right now since there's just no way I'll be able to get some of the rare/version exclusive mons. Also I found 3 shinies in like a week which still baffles me.

Best work: Echoes of Wisdom

Best music: Eow final boss final phase

Best visuals: One Piece Fan Letter, EniDewi

Best character design: Delicious in Dungeon in general

Best OP: Magilumiere (for the song)

Best ED: Samurai Flamenco ed1 is the one I most often didn't skip so I guess it wins, no real standouts this year

Biggest WTF: All those shinies in Pokemon. Also Mikau's death (in Majora's Mask) was really funny. The reveal of the painting in Ghost Trick was a great twist.

Best Girl: EoW Zelda, PokeSpe Sapphire for runner up

Best Boy: Thorfinn (Vinland Saga), Sissel (Ghost Trick) for second place

Best Side Girl: Hilda (a Link between Worlds)

Best Side Boy: Kieran, and also my Skeledirge! (Pokemon Scarlet)

Worst Girl: Lukia from Mermaid Melody Aqua

Worst Boy: This goes to Mermaid Melody Aqua too, forget his name but he sucks

Worst Side Girl: the other magical girl from MahoAku had a cute design but character wise was pretty worthless

Worst Side Boy: the one note big corporation boss from Magilumiere, those blue armoured freaks from Zelda 2 (assuming they're male)

Best romance: Elemental was ok, or alternatively SatoIro from Wonderful Precure

Best non-romantic relationship: I like what they did with EoW Link and Zelda but I'm not sure if I ship them

Worst romance: Lukia's drama from Mermaid Melody Aqua

Worst non-romantic relationship:

Plans for 2025:

Maybe it'll finally be the year of NGE? I should start keeping track of how many years I've been saying I'll watch Eva at some point…

Some anime that is not magical girls

Finish the backlog Precure seasons

Finish the backlog Zelda games

Wish, Inside Out 2, Wild Robot, Moana 2

The stuff from the Switch e shop sale

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Ok since it's taking a while to finish my enormous post of every game I played in 2024 (mostly because the construction outside is still neverending and is ruining my sleep and ability for form coherent thoughts) I guess I can make a quick list of stuff I didn't finish yet for one reason or another but am still at least in theory working on.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Almost everything about it is great except for chapter 12, which is bullshit. In a less great game that would've been enough to get me to give up, but the characters are too much fun not to keep hanging around with them and seeing what they get up to in the last act of the story.

Hi-Fi Rush: The presentation is incredible, with so many little details animated in time with the music. A lot of people had a lot of fun making it. I don't 100% click with the gameplay though, so it's been slow progress.

Froguelike: I couldn't resist just based on the name. Another frog-themed bullet heaven game. It's not done yet, and it feels not done yet, but it definitely has potential, and the way each run ends up being a little narrative story is nice.

Wylde Flowers: If I had finished it in 2024 it would be very near the top of my list. Instead it'll probably be very near the top of my list this year. It fixes just about everything that stresses me out about stuff like Stardew Valley, and the characters are way better written and developed than I expected at first.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: I decided to try jumping forward in the series a bit after the first game felt a bit too dated for what I'm in the mood for now. I'm several hours in and it's going better, but it still hasn't really grabbed me yet.

In Stars and Time: I really was hoping to finish it by the end of the year, but it's one of those things that deserves my brain actually functioning, and that's been really hit or miss lately and hasn't aligned with also being in the mood to play it for a while.

Slay the Princess: I started playing it like a week before they announced the huge update, and then having to wait a week for that kinda killed my momentum. I'll get back to it at some point though.

Live A Live: Having a good time with it, but I've only been doing a single chapter at a time every now and then because they're self-contained little stories that work that way. It holds up better than a lot of stuff from back then does.

Astral Chain: I really meant to finish this a while back but got distracted and forgot about it. It might be heretical to say this, but I like literally everything about it better than the previous Platinum game I played, Near a Tomato (except maybe the music).

Radiant Historia: Yes I first made a post about this one multiple years ago. No I still haven't finished it. Yes I still think it's excellent and will get back to it when I get the 3DS off the shelf and put it somewhere I see it and remember it exists.

And now just 27 more entries to go on the year in review post (out of I think 182 total if I counted right).

[goldenflowers]

Thank you to both @fea-therlight221 and @onedayillknow for tagging me!!

Last song: the original broadway cast version of defying gravity from wicked

Fave color: purple

Last book: the last one i finished was a reread of an old favorite series--stars above by marissa meyer, the last book in the lunar chronicles series!

Last movie: inside out 2, which i just got around to watching for the first time today.

Last TV show: technically it was the granada sherlock holmes series, because one of the episodes takes place on christmas eve/christmas so i watched it with my family on christmas and i haven't been able to make time to sit down and watch any shows since then lol

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: sweet

Relationship status: single

Last thing I googled: "dreamlight valley coconut ice cream"--was looking up the recipe to give it to donald duck as a gift in the game lol.

Current obsession: honestly my brain is constantly bouncing between several different obsessions at once most of the time. lately i've mostly been obsessed with twisted wonderland as usual, but i've also been obsessed with wicked again since i saw the movie. there's also baldur's gate 3 since i started making more progress in my current playthrough, and a3 since i've been reading more of the events and started making gifs of the anime!

Looking forward to: taking a trip to new orleans for the first time next week! i'm going there to meet up with my best friend for a few days and on one of those days we're gonna go to fanexpo new orleans.

No pressure tagging: @nerdalmighty @rosenfey @ihrtmichael @deweyduck @augustmishas @whencartoonsruletheworld and anyone else who wants to do this, just say i tagged you! i always forget which of my mutuals like to be tagged in these kinds of things so i don't tag many people because i don't wanna bug anyone haha.

[emmavakarian-theirin]

a question for y'all concerning something i've personally considered doing and am genuinely curious what people think about it:

i've had mixed feelings about it but those who i've talked to about it think it's a good idea, but i don't want to just go with it because of a handful of opinions. my thought process:

i feel like doing screenshot commissions pales in comparison to the artwork commissions i've been offering for over a year now (in which.... hasn't done that well) but mostly because it feels like such a small amount of effort in comparison. i can spend hours working on getting nice screenshots and only end up with a few that night, whereas a drawing can take up hours a day over a week.

however, the screenshots i make do take time, effort, planning, testing, filtering, editing, getting the location/angle/timing/FOV just right, and sometimes starting scenes over again and again and again.

art is something i went to university for and have a degree in. screenshots, not so much, although i did partake in several photography-based units and have been taking flycam screenshots for years.

by personalised, i mean i can create your player character as you see fit (or edit them with mods if you're unable to access mods but wished to use certain ones), pair them with a requested character, take solo portraits, swap animations/roles, etc

^^^ that said, i feel weird profiting off the use of someone's mods (whether it be cosmetic, character swap, animation) and the camera tool i used is something i paid for that someone not involved in the game made for the game specifically.

if i were to proceed with it, i'd probably charge about $4 AUD per 4K photo. they would strictly be BG3 shots but not limited to gale only pairings, although i'm still on my first playthrough so there's characters/locations i haven't come across yet. so i could just wait until i've made more progress or start with what i've got for now.

all feedback is appreciated!