#progression ask

[ae-azile]

In your latest Progression chapter I loved how Namphueng did the cake announcing her sexual identity. It was such great idea and now I wonder what other characters would make as the same cake? What are others sexualities/sexual identities? Do they identify somehow other than gay? Kinn and Chay are gays but what about others? Is Porsche bi or pan? What about Tankhun and Arm? Also Kim expressed somehow being genderfluid and he is definitely demisexual or grey asexual. I think it would be extremely interesting for all of them to have some kind of discussion like that.

Namphueng loved her cake too LOL. She was very proud of it. I spent a while thinking of how the cake would look. While I couldn't find a cake that described what I wanted her to do, I did look up some reference pics for inspiration. Here are several that kind of fit some aspects of the style!

If you mix the aspects of these cakes all together, you sort of get what Namphueng accomplished. Girl worked HARD. It was so important to her because:

1. She remembers her first love, or at least bits and pieces. She remembers loving her deeply. I think creating a cake so elaborate and more suited for a small wedding was her way of committing to her true self, along with finding the woman she loved and clearly still loves.

2. She may have struggled with being her true self or being open about her relationship first time around. She isn't doing it anymore because every bit of her autonomy and happiness was kept from her.

So, yes! In Progression, Namphueng very much identifies as a lesbian. As for the other characters, some are probably up for interpretation, but I guess this is how I view them (at least for this fic).

Kim: I also see him as demisexual or sex positive ace. I think he is enjoying sex with Chay. A LOT. But he can only come to enjoy sex if he is in love with and feels comfortable with the person he is sleeping with. Since he struggles with being so guarded, Chay is his first. I think his romantic orientation is likely panromantic, but his trauma and seeing so many people in his family get hurt/killed likely made him push the idea of romance away for a long time.

As for the potential for him being gender fluid, I don't think it is something he feels like he needs to find a label for, but wouldn't deny it if asked. I think he does certain things and presents himself in a way that feels right. He likely leans towards more masculine presentations, but likes light makeup on occasion, doesn't align with overt masculinity or societal expectations for men, etc. I think he also likes looking good for himself, and sometimes looking softer and slightly more feminine is something that appeals to him.

Overall, I believe he struggles with labels for multiple reasons. He doesn't like following traditional or strict expectations, nor is he great at communicating clearly (although he is getting a lot better). I think he also falls into this limbo in between labels, so he doesn't know what to make of it. He struggles with seeing himself as asexual (especially now) since he is having a very enjoyable sex life with Chay. He should probably should look into demisexual. I think it will be something that eventually comes up, even though he doesn't feel a NEED to find a label. However, an explanation and a sense of knowing he isn't the only one may help. 🙂

Porsche: I think he is probably pan, but could also be bi. Episode 8 showed him express minor anxiety over dating a guy, although I don't know if it was the emotional or physical aspect that worried him more. Regardless, I tend to categorize him a little more as pan since that tends to take a meaning of "experiences sexual attraction regardless of gender". However, I also see him as demiromantic.

Khun: Despite his and Kim's personalities being extremely different, I also see him as demisexual, panromantic. Part of his demisexuality likely stems from immense trauma since he needs to be with someone who understands him and he's comfortable with, but I don't think the gender of that person matters. In fics, I often mention him having a girlfriend prior to his kidnapping. I believe I did in this fic too. Now, he's very much in love with Arm. And like Kim, he also might be gender fluid, but doesn't over think it and just does what feels right.

Arm: He's a hard one, but he could be demisexual too, and he may lean towards homoromantic. That isn't to say he doesn't like to be seductive though. He takes his shirt off when drunk for a reason. However, I do think he was repressing a lot of desires until he became more comfortable with Khun. So yeah, maybe demisexual/homoromantic.

Pol: He says he's straight! But I also think he is a guy who needs and deserves a lot of love. I don't see him hooking up with just any woman or being in a FWB situation. He is probably heteroromantic, but does find a lot of satisfaction in platonic love too.

Vegas: gay, but demiromantic.

Pete: demisexual, biromantic

Macau: He's saying he's straight in this fic, but I don't see him sleeping around like his brother likely used to.

Kinn and Chay : gay and gay

Milan's sexual and romantic orientation will also become more clear in flashbacks as well.

Thank you for the ask! 🩵

[room-on-broom]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on you WIP(s)

I am also procrastinating actually writing. If you’ve multiple works in progress you can give a different answer every time!

🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s)

🍄Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”  

🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your wip(s) need if you intend to share it?

🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?

⚠️Which wip your most likely to finish or update next?

💾What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?

🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

Enjoy!

[theerurishipper]

I feel like people really underestimate the importance of Dick being the first Robin. Like, reverse Robin AUs are interesting and such, but I just hope people realize that in the context of canon, they would never work. The reason Batman and Robin ever works is because the first Robin was Dick Grayson specifically. Because Bruce would never have taken in any child if Dick's tragedy hadn't specifically happened to mirror his own experience. Dick Grayson was the only one Bruce truly saw himself in first, because the fundamental event that defines them is the same. And he sees the opportunity to help someone the way he was never helped, to make sure that Dick didn't go down the dark path he did. So, my point here is that the only one Bruce actually made the choice to take in, the only one who could kickstart it all, is Dick Grayson, because he is the only one with whom Bruce could immediately empathize and connect with.

This never happened with any other Robin. He took in Jason because he missed Dick, he took in Tim because Tim forced himself into the role, he took in Steph because he was trying to make Tim come back to being Robin, and Dick made Damian Robin. Of course, he loved all of them, and they all have their unique relationships with Bruce that are very important and inform their characters, and he does need them too. But he specifically formed this connection with Dick that made Dick the only person he ever considered taking in. It took a very specific set of circumstances in Dick's backstory that made Bruce commit an impulse adoption that just isn't really present in any other Robin's story. And the reason Jason or Tim or Steph or Damian or anyone else whom Bruce has taken under his wing even got that chance is because of the work Dick Grayson put into Bruce Wayne.

Before Dick, Bruce was reckless and didn't care at all about himself, to the point of almost being borderline suicidal. He was more brutal, more violent, etc. The reason all this changed, is because of Dick Grayson specifically. He was the one with whom Bruce opened up, with whom Bruce was forced to grow up, to take responsibility and learn to take care of both Dick and himself. Dick, to Bruce was the one who brought "color to their [his and Alfred's] monochrome lives." Dick Grayson's specific brand of happiness and joy changed Bruce for the better. Dick gave Bruce hope. This is true for other Robins too, but only because they followed the precedent that Dick Grayson set, only because they slid into his role (they have their own interesting relationships with Bruce, but this specifically is from Dick that other Robins carried on. A legacy, if you will). Dick Grayson turned Bruce into the kind of man who would become a serial adopter.

Without his influence, without his precedent, there would be no Batfamily, because Bruce would never have gotten to the point where he would be able or willing to take in someone else and care for them properly (It took living through his trauma again to get him to take Dick in lmao). Hell, there would be no Batman because Bruce would have gotten himself killed a long time ago if Dick hadn't helped him learn self-care. Dick knows Bruce best, because he understands him on a fundamentally deeper level than anyone else in the world. And he's the only one who can make Bruce open up at his rawest, most downtrodden state. He is the only one who can give Bruce at his lowest that kind of hope. There is no Robin without Dick Grayson. It's literally a tribute to his parents, using their colors and the name his mother called him. He created that identity as a symbol of hope. He helped Bruce become the kind of man who could and would let other people that he had to care for into his life. Without Dick Grayson, you can simply forget about any other Robin or the Batfamily as a concept even existing.

[speakergame]

Progress Update - 3/4/24

Hello and happy March!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? 😅 Well, I finally have some good news for you this time: I have some actual news!

I'm happy to be able to announce at last that an update is on its way! I’ve still got some assets to make and code cleanup and testing to finish, but I should finally have something to show you soon.

I’ll put a cut at the end of this and go into more detail about the what and why of what I’ve been working on during this long and unintended hiatus, but the tl;dr is that I hope to have an update out by the end of the month, and that said update will break any saves made in Chapter 4. Unfortunate, but unavoidable, since Chapter 4 had to be recoded from the beginning 😞

I just want to thank all of you once again for sticking with me through my extended silence! Especially to my patrons who’ve put up with me putting everything on pause month after month while I dealt with my real life shit, and to everyone who’s sent me kind and supportive messages to let me know Speaker hasn’t been forgotten. It really means a lot to me.

Okay, enough of that sappy shit! I’m gonna get back to work finishing this up 😁 I’ll put out another update later this month once I have a more definite release date.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you’re having a fantastic 2024 so far, and that the rest of the week treats you kindly. See y’all soon! 💙💙💙

(For those who want a more detailed breakdown on what’s been happening and what to expect, hit the readmore)

I won’t go into the personal life stuff I’ve been dealing with this past year that has slowed down my work, but as far as the actual game goes: 

To put it simply, I just wasn’t happy with it. Some of it could be because of how many times I had to reread the same section while I was coding the scenes that would’ve taken place after the last update, but no matter how much I edited or rearranged it, I didn’t like how that scene turned out. There was something… formulaic that had been happening with the way I always laid out scenes, and a bit of stagnation in the story, character, and relationship development that bothered me.

So I rewrote it. And when I still didn’t like it, I rewrote it again. And I still didn’t like it. I thought about scrapping the whole thing on more than one occasion as I struggled to get out of the corner I’d written myself into.

Inspiration finally struck at the beginning of this year, thanks in part to another interactive novel I follow, and I really like the direction I’ve taken it now. 

Instead of the RO split scenes happening where the last one left off, Speaker, Seer, and Gavin are gonna have a chat about Things™ to move the next story arc forward. Then Speaker will get some downtime, by themself at first and then in an extended scene split with the RO of their choosing. 

All the Big Plot Things that were going to happen in Chapter 4 will be moved to Chapter 5 instead, and 4 will be a bit more of a filler episode. A deep breath before the plunge, as it were.

This split won’t just be a quick conversation/reaction from the RO, but a full on different direction for the rest of the chapter based on who you choose. Most of them will involve leaving the house; all of them will involve actual one-on-one time (or one-on-two time, as the case may be) away from the others. And though romance isn’t required, all of them will have the potential to really move the romance forward if you so choose. One or two might even have a lock-in choice (maybe. I’m not 100 percent on that, so don’t hold me to it) 

These scenes won’t be in the next update, because they’re all very complex, but the update will definitely have the Seer chat and at least some of the by-yourself stuff. The update after will have the rest of the alone time stuff (including the clothes/body CC you’ve all been waiting for), and then the one after will start the RO scenes. I think.

I may actually split the RO scenes into separate updates, and let my darlings over at Patreon vote for the order they’re released. That way I can focus on one at a time instead of trying to split my attention six ways at once.

Okay, that’s enough rambling for me today. Time to get back to work! Still got a lot to get done before this is ready, but it’s so close now.

[reegis]

reegis I owe you my life and soul for your mechs art i am eating and kissing it all and chasing my tail barking snarling going feral i will never be normal about your art mwah

here have some more🤲🏻

*shaking with barely contained homosexual longing*

[thatonekimgirl]

Percy basically asking Annabeth to go to a movie with him 👀

[11thsense]

Going through my files of my more illustrative work and this is a bunch of studies, abandoned pieces, and Wips. Some of which I posted then deleted.

[anniflamma]

if you were to have a design for Penelope, what would it be?

Sneak peak!

[layzeal]

one of my favorite headcanons with little to no canon support is that xue yang and mo xuanyu were guidao jin disciples at the same time, and mxy mentioned a few times wanting to ressurect the yiling laozu to kill his mom's evil family, so when xy saw him (or rather his body) entering yi city AS the yllz, he was like "son of a bitch he actually did it"

[clownmcgown]

I know I've asked you for enough already, ignore me if annoyed haha.. but a chubby/fat woman like myself needs more..

How do Sun and Moon feel about a chubbier y/n? Do they comment about it? More hugs? ( look at certain assets in admiration?)

Thank you again 🖤

They really like the softness!!! To them it feels like holding a big stuffed animal!!!!

I do not think there is just one thing they would admire :o)))

[ae-azile]

You have no idea how excited I am for the next chapter of Progression. I think Kim coming out as an ace (to anyone or to himself only) will do wonders for his mental wellbeing. He might feel awkward with some things that allos have no issue with (openly flirting, sexual innuendos, him being inexperienced etc.) and him realising that he is not "weird" but just ace, thus perceiving these things differently, will be relief for him. I am so glad you are writing it like that, because it is so rare to find fic with ace character and his asexuality being discussed like that. Thank you for that. Now I think Kim should make a cake like Nam did:D. But with ace colors. I love how she is proud of her identity and makes it a point of conversation whenever she feels like it. And Kim should be too:D. He deserves to be comfortable in his own skin even in this aspect of his life.

Hello! I think having more understanding about himself and not feeling completely different from everyone else will help too. I think he is starting to become a little more aware that he and Chay - while sexually compatible - also approach and view sex differently. Chay, of course, sees sex with Kim as the best sex he has ever had. There is a strong emotional connection he simply hasn't had with the many partners he had prior to his reconciliation with Kim. Sex was likely somewhat lacking, which may be part of the reason why Chay overdid it - he felt turned on, but emotionally unfulfilled. That being said, he still fantasizes about Kim, worships him in bed, and gets significantly turned on by making Kim feel good.

Sex for Kim is very different. I think it's clear that he likes sex with Chay a LOT, but it takes on a different meaning for him. He enjoys the closeness and intimacy, things he thought he would never have with anyone due to trust issues. He does find Chay physically attractive, but he is more attracted to the bond and closeness he and Chay have developed. Sex helps that bond become closer in their case, and it feels good. But Kim also probably finds kissing, writing music, cooking, and going on day trips with Chay just as enjoyable. The same physical sensations might not be there, but activities like that strongly nurture his closeness and bond with Chay. He likely falls somewhere in between sex favorable asexual and demisexual, not clearly fitting in either. On top of that, both categories are in a grey area. So Kim may do a lot of back and forth on that.

I do think I may include ArmKhun in Kim's journey, who - at least in this story - are both likely demisexual. But it does present itself a little differently in each case. Arm is more likely to find someone physically/sexually attractive from a distance, but would never do something sexual with someone unless he built a strong bond with them. Tankhun actually has a sexual history prior to his kidnapping (fooled around and made out with different people at random, but was monogamous with a girlfriend he had and went further with her) before facing significant trauma shortly after this period of his life, which reshaped his identity and made it so he needed absolute trust before even considering sex to be a possibility. He also likely has some self-worth issues he was hiding due to how he was perceived and treated.

I think Kim has witnessed both of them flirt with each other and check each other out though. It doesn't exactly match how he operates. He definitely looks at Chay, but it's usually with love and sometimes low-key giddiness (like during their impromptu vacation where they kept getting smiley and sidetracked). It isn't really with lust. If there is sexual arousal there, it is definitely a secondary emotion/sensation that does not take away from the primary need to just be close with Chay. So Kim may lean slightly more towards an asexual sex favorable/positive identity from an objective standpoint. But at the same time, he might struggle with fully understanding that label when he also sees himself as someone who needs a strong emotional connection, love, and trust before having sex with that person. He also may struggle with it when he has - in the past - used hypothetical fantasies of being with someone he loves (prior to Chay, this was likely just an ideal partner he made up in his head) and occasionally porn to come to a release while alone.

I think it will be a confusing, but eye opening journey for him! He definitely realizes he needs love, trust, and understanding before having sex. Now it comes down to analyzing how he operates in comparison to the other people around him. I also think Chay will be confused and concerned at first (Has he been faking it? Does he not like what we are doing? Why didn't he say anything, wtf?) but will ultimately be accepting and educate himself - probably while Kim is still educating himself. Kim may also realize he can't just pick one or another and go with a label that is more vague but can sort of allude to both.

Thank you for your ask, anon! I really appreciate it, because, like Kim, I am trying to figure out exactly where he falls too!

[realmothchu]

i know that dinluke situationship is crazy

[nn-ee-zz]

I don’t really have a lot to ask I just want to say I love your art style! It kind of reminds me of like Eldritch Horror meets Celestial Divinity type of thing so with that said I was wondering on how you came to this type of art style you do and how long did it take you to experiment until you found the style that you wanted? Sorry if that sounds kinda confusing 😅 thanks for taking the time to read this and have a good rest of your day!

Thank you! I did not found my artstyle, my artstyle found me. Here is a timeline of my digital art/illustration journey

2014 - The beginning

I finally took my tablet and bit the bullet that was digital art. I remember specifically forcing myself to draw (because it was not fun) because I wanted to learn digital art no matter what it took.

2016 - Experimental

Boldness seems to have dominated this phase, not because of the themes but because I rendered without any under sketch (example above of how the first draft looked like vs the end)

2017 - The breakthrough

It was only from here that digital art began feeling RIGHT. The most important things I've learned were how to render texture variation (especially softer things like hair and fur) and how to color a drawing from greyscale. I was slowly settling onto my desired artstyle

2019 - Happy accident

We were tasked to design characters based on chess pieces during college. 1 week deadline. With the mindset that no one will see my designs except my teacher and I, I did things boldly and rendered them (trad ink plus digital shading) to emphasize shape and design, rather than texture variation.

I began mixing traditional lineart with digital rendering.

2020 - Fallen from heaven

My friend and I decided to attempt to design angels based on widely popular tumblr emoji mashups. It was the first time I colored one of my character design drawings, using similar methods to the ones I've learned in 2017.

2017 - 2024

I cannot name nor describe my artstyle nowadays. I haven't seen many people with something similar either. I use what I've learned in all my phases; the spontaneous boldness of 2016, the texture variation of 2017, the sharp shapes and design mindset of 2019, the mix of traditional and digital from 2020. It all melted together and keeps evolving.

The way I approached art changed too. I was so worried about making things beautiful and technically outstanding when today I only worry about making things interesting and readable.

[canisalbus]

lmao i remember when i sent an ask asking about machete and vasco’s first kiss and now we have all these science experiments trying to figure out how they actually Do That and if they even can. nature is cruel and homophobic 😔

The power of team effort.

[devotion-disorder]

a petition needs to be started to make harper an actual love interest because dear god i want to romance this doctor so badly

when i first started dol, harper was actually the one i wanted to romance the most, with sydney being a close second 😮‍💨 im so glad i found your blog and all the harpers that come with it!

thank u....im glad you enjoy my harpers........ if there ever comes a day when a harper LI update drops i will be speedrunning that shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but also. quick harper doodle naow

[ssaraexposs]

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY'RE ACTUALLY TALKING, WITHOUT FIGHTING EACH OTHER OR SCREAMING INSULTS