#<- renaming them still but I’ll update later

[squuote]

more scribbles of my guys that no one knows about. because I wanna post more ocs.

[shellyseashell]

THE SHADOW WARS (DEMON HUNTER AU)

first as a note, i decided to just post about this au on this blog because i’d probably mix up the blogs anyway, so any post about it will be tagged with #demon hunter au or #taking back the night (renamed from ties that bind), and i’ll probably also say it in the post name. anyway, this is a repeat of the initial introduction i made for this au, but it’s been six months and i’ve made a lot of changes, so consider this an update i guess?

basically. first, beast becomes king of his small kingdom, and decides he wants to eradicate all magic. in doing so, he messes with things he doesn’t understand, and accidentally pulls three realms together: his own, with timelines mixing, the everrealm, and the boiling isles. because i do what i want.

this causes magic to be imbalanced and chaotic, as three different systems with three different bases mix together, and separations between otherworlds are basically destroyed. quickly, a group of countries that later become auradon ally together to fight the biggest threat: the shadow court, led by chernabog.

during the first phase of what later are called the shadow wars, a few very important things happen:

- the boiling isles, still early in recovery from belos, are destroyed completely due to the shifts in magic. some manage to escape, but many did not. unfortunately, belos was also revived. again.

- the mystic isles, controllers of magic and generally a force of good, get involved and attempt to bring some sort of stability. beast, either not caring or unaware of the nuance, has them wiped out.

- the mystic isles being destroyed generally makes things worse, so in a desperate attempt to stabilize things, king, still young, sacrifices himself and his power to stabilize magic. he’s not dead, he’s just in a similar situation his parent was in. his soul is melded with the world, i guess, and he’s trapped in the in between realm.

- the mystic isles were also worshipped by many in the everrealm, so by taking their place king (and his family) is worshipped by many of these same people. belos is furious about this.

- with the destruction of the mystic isles, many of the magical kingdoms begin to realize not everything is what they thought, and secret alliances are forged

soon, the shadow court is trapped on the isle. it was meant to be a temporary solution, until they could figure out how to permanently stabilize magic and close barriers and ensure they’ll remain trapped away. unfortunately, beast turns on the magic kingdoms of the alliance, and the second phase of the war begins:

- avalor, logres (camelot), prydain, the moorlands, agrabah, corona, arendelle, and tirulia form the guild from their networks of secret alliances

- france (auradon central), maldonia, dun broch, ulstead, charmante (renamed from cinderellasburg), the southern isles, and sumerrvale (charmington) form the guard, named after the order created to hunt witches

- other kingdoms, like kumandra, motonui, greece, and atlantis (as well as like, majority of the everrealm, but these guys border auradon) remain neutral, often self-isolated

- beast allies with frollo and belos; together they establish the king’s guard, an order meant to hunt down witches and demons. belos mansplain manipulates manslaughters his way into being in charge of the entire order.

- at some point, the pirates (from potc) are either pulled in or just made aware of the conflict. elizabeth, now pirate king, allies herself with the guild. at least william, jack, and barbossa do the same.

in the end, the guild is forced to surrender. both sides suffered heavy losses, both from the war itself and still generally being in an apocalypse. even with the shadow court trapped, they only managed to get the leaders and most powerful. the foot soldiers are still on the loose, and with barriers between worlds thinned, the barrier is a little ineffective without constant monitoring.

guild rulers are allowed to keep their thrones under the condition that they 1) send witches who were highly involved with the war to the isle (who for the sake of consistency are considered villains in canon), 2) allow guard rule, and 3) send at least their oldest child to the prep, which in this au is a training school for the guard.

certain kingdoms, like prydain, logres, and kumandra isolate themselves to varying levels of success, and agrabah is far enough from france that the guard doesn’t have much influence.

and that’s it for the shadow wars, which sets up the entire au! probably i’ll post about auradon societal structure and also characters soonish :)

[bonefall]

Bonefall Rewrite: Changed Mentorships

An ask from @halogenwarrior made me realize I don't have a central place for all the changed apprentice/mentorships in my rewrite! This will be an evolving list just like my renamings post, whenever an update is made, it will be added here.

Additionally, I'll explain some updated cultural concepts about mentorships here, too. Consider this a good introduction to Bonefall Rewrite apprentices and mentors!

The Social Purpose of this System

A mentor is like a social parent to their apprentice. They're tasked with making sure the apprentice can both hunt and fight, guiding them through their adolescence, and shaping them into an honorable member of the Clan. While not an official adoption, the apprentice will often grow closer to the mentor's family as a result.

Socially, this is expected to weave Clanmates closer together, and discourage cats from breaking into tight family groups. This is the reason why parents are usually not chosen to mentor their own children; though it's not forbidden. A savvy leader will also reward key allies with apprentices in the hopes of making more supporters.

Additional Restrictions

Mentor/Apprentice mateships are completely banned for obvious reasons. They will never happen.

A mentor must experience all four seasons on their own before getting an apprentice, meaning they have to be at least 2 years old.

That means that a cat who has a long apprenticeship won’t be eligible for mentorship until even later.

The List So Far (by arc)

Bonefall TPB

Onewhisker + Runningpaw

Morningflower + Whitepaw

Frostfur + Elderpaw

Stonefur + Heavypaw

Onestar no longer mentors Whitetail; his new apprentice is Runningbrook

This needed a fix because Onestar and Whitetail become mates later, and Onewhisker was too young at the time anyway.

Morningflower is the new mentor of Whitetail

She is also much older than Onewhisker, and not his sister. Morningflower is becoming WindClan’s Rosepetal, training LOTS of apprentices.

Ferncloud and Elderberry are mentored by Darkstripe and Frostfur

Elderkit is surviving, Dustpelt is too young to get an apprentice, and Ashfur is being shuffled to a later Brindleface litter. Frostfur is given Elderpaw to encourage her to return to warrior duties.

Stonefur mentored Heavystep, who watches his execution in Darkest Hour.

Heavystep’s mentor is getting swapped with Shadepelt’s. He has Heavystep, while she has Blackclaw.

Bonefall TNP

Iceheart + Mousepaw

??? + Ashpaw

Skyheart + Reedpaw

Mousewhisker’s mentor is Iceheart, formerly known as Scourge

Spiderleg was too young to have an apprentice, but will be surviving much longer so there’s plenty of time for him to get one of his own. Mousewhisker is DESPERATE to learn That Move but no, Iceheart does not teach it to him.

Ashfur has been aged down; his mentor is still undecided.

Dustpelt would have been a good pick, but he’s mentoring Squirrelpaw at this point in time. Still deciding this one.

Reedwhisker has a terrible apprenticeship with his aunt, Skyheart

His warriorship keeps getting delayed as she sets ridiculously high standards and generally makes his life difficult. All the while, he’s being bullied by Stonefur’s apprentice, Heavystep.

Bonefall Po3

Longtail + Jaypaw

Brackenfur + Hollypaw

Oakfur + Marshpaw

Jayfeather has warrior training; his mentor was Longtail

Longtail comes out of retirement to mentor Jay. He gets his full name, Jayfang, before choosing to train as a medcat. Jayfeather is an honor title.

Hollypaw is the prodigal apprentice of ThunderClan’s deputy, Brackenfur.

Not actually a ‘change’ but worth mentioning, because the dynamic has been updated.

Marshwing’s mentor was Oakfur

Marshwing is the kit that Brackenfur saves in TNP. Oakfur is ShadowClan’s Rosepetal, he’s an excellent teacher that has a lot of apprentices.

Bonefall OotS

Birchfall + Dovepaw

Brightheart + Ivypaw

Marshwing + Tigerpaw

Breezepelt + Furzepaw

Harespring + Boulderpaw

Dovewing’s father has been changed to Lionblaze; her mentor is Birchfall

Birchfall often fights with Lionblaze over how he seems to be trying to control his apprentice. Dovewing is closer to him than her own father, eventually naming a kit after him. Birchfall no longer trains in the Dark Forest.

Ivypool is being mentored by Brightheart

Brightheart needed an apprentice. Eventually, she bonds with Ivypool over intense survivor’s guilt when she accidentally kills Antpelt twice.

Tigerheart is being made younger, and her mentor is Marshwing

Being changed away from Oakfur, who makes jokes about how he’ll take that unruly girl if he doesn’t want her. Marshwing is the kitten that Brackenfur saved from an eagle in the mountains. Tigerpaw is an apprentice on the Beaver Quest with Dovepaw.

Breezepelt’s apprentice is Furzepaw, who he involves in the Dark Forest

Furzepaw is being swapped with Boulderpaw, it is now a plot point that Breezepelt involves his apprentice in the Dark Forest training and Harespring does not.

Harespring’s apprentice is Boulderpaw.

See above

Bonefall AVoS

Squirrelflight + Sparkpaw

Sparkpelt’s mentor is Squirrelflight, because she is now a Bramblestar x Jessie kitten.

After Jessie goes back to her twolegs after being mistreated by Bramblestar, Sparkpaw relies on Squirrelflight a lot for emotional support. They’re extremely close, to Bramblestar’s chagrin.

[inkblackandblue]

A bit of a better backstory for Val and an updated name, Apollo

Val: she/they Apollo: he/him

This story begins with high school sweethearts Apollo and Val. They both had reached the stage where they wanted to start having a family. The two had met in Val’s first year but later began dating in her senior. At 23 and 25, they’d since become engaged. Val was originally a bikini barista at a chain but had found much more interest in beginning their own business in light of the upcoming expensive events in her life. Apollo had worked in financial advising previously but had started to take a step back to help out with Val’s venture. Quickly, the two discovered that Val had a knack for management and social media savvy, having her food truck coffee business blow up online. Nothing could have prepared them for the reception, with Val unable to keep up with the four employees on rotation in the small truck making coffees and teas for paying customers. They renamed her truck “Latte Ladies” and furthered their ventures into starting a physical bar in the city. Money rolled in, with their success story being everywhere in the town.

Things were starting to look up for their career! Meanwhile, she believed their inability to conceive during this time must’ve been due to the stress and excitement, so they’d paid it no mind. Apollo, however, became worried when, after a year and a half of trying, they’d found no luck in their journey. After a heated discussion and convincing, Val went to a fertility specialist with Apollo to figure out the issue. Two referrals and three visits later, it was confirmed Val could not conceive children on their own, having false periods and no egg drop each month. It was devastating news, to say the least, bringing up many hard conversations in the coming weeks. Neither could deny that it was hard to define the words to speak to one another regarding the subject, but they were not willing to back down from their dream of having a family with one another. Apollo had recently seen in the news that uterus transplants and synthetic uteruses were coming into the market to help couples with infertility issues and same-sex couples conceive. “We have the resources,” he argued to her late one night. “Why not give this one last go?” Upon this, they were again in the clinic, speaking with a more experimental doctor. “To do this, we could transfer the uterus to you.”

The doctor tapped her pen on the clipboard in front of her, taking down notes. “However, your blood type is far rarer than your partner’s, so the transplant may take far longer to come to fruition. There’s no guarantee it would take either, given your phantom periods.” The two looked at one another, slightly puzzled. Apollo eventually gave way to the conversation with a confused look. “So what are you saying? We’re not candidates, then?” The doctor glanced up from her notes, hesitantly placing her hand on the counter. “No, sir, I’m saying that this procedure would be more effective if it were on you.” A pause filled the room. Val hadn’t considered this possibility and wasn’t sure what their partner would say. “I’ll do it if it still means we genetically contribute.” He casually responded. Shocked, she stared at her partner for a long while. This was so outside of what they’d anticipated this process would be like, but she’d be lying if it didn’t bring joy to them, knowing their partner would take on the challenge no matter the difficulty. “I’ll certainly give you a few days to truly consider this, as this is a serious procedure and experimental, to say the least.” A smile crept onto the physician’s face.

“You would be one of the first, which would greatly impact this community.” With that, Apollo’s mind was entirely made up. He had no intentions of changing it, but he understood the wait period nonetheless. Eventually, after giving further consent, the procedure took place, which was a pretty lengthy surgery that lasted hours with heavy sedation. Val stayed by her partner's side until she asked to wait in the reception area. She was undoubtedly nervous. The doctors had assured them the surgery would be successful, but they’d have to wait until it was proven to begin the DNA extraction and embryo implantation. The surgery was a complete success, though the recovery time was brutal for them both. Soon enough, the transfer took place, and the new waiting game began. There were two failed transfers, which they’d been told was possible given how IVF usually went down. On the third try, however, things stuck. Funnily enough, it wasn’t a checkup or morning sickness that tipped Apollo off that the procedure had worked. He’d just been cooking dinner when the smell of his regularly cooked dish felt so off he was taken aback. “This has to be a sign; I did read this somewhere.” He muttered as he turned off the stove. With Val still at work for the day, he drove out to the store and bought several more tests (as many of us know, you test practically every day in anticipation and quickly run out). Waiting felt like an eternity as if they hadn’t waited long enough for this. Finally, time passed, and he looked back, two blue lines staring back at him. He covered his mouth silently for a moment, sitting there dumbfounded. “Holy shit.” He finally uttered. This was less about it working and more about trying to prepare a surprise in a half hour. He was incredibly excited, desperately wanting to shoot a quick text and dump the news. He knew better than that, though, as Val would, at the very least, like to be at home when told in person. So, he went back to his dish, having removed it from the fridge and finishing it off with seasonings and the like. When she did get home, he had wanted to put a little note on the table or something like that, but he was still so worked up that it hadn’t fully crossed his mind how much time he had. Eventually, he heard the door creak open, only for her to find him sitting on the floor, zoned back into the test. He looked up and remembered he’d wholly forgotten to surprise her. It didn’t matter though. Tears budded in their eyes, then down her cheeks. “Oh my god, are you serious?” He glanced up, tears forming in his eyes as well. He nodded slowly, a more significant smile forming on his face. “Oh my god!” She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him like a big bear. “We’re going to be parents.” They exclaimed. “Parents”. He replied happily.

BONUS: Character Sheets

—————————————————

Full Name: Apollo Heights

Age: 25

Birth: Ontario, Canada

Height: 5’10

Hair: naturally dark brown/black, dyed light purple/grey

Eyes: hazel

Occupation: Originally a financial advisor, he had became a stay a home dad after Everly was born. After the twins birth, Apollo became a successful surrogate and advocate for uterus treatments and transplants.

Siblings: one little sister

Heritage: family is a mixture of African, Puerto Rican, and Dutch

Religion: would be considered spiritual, or paganism

Hobbies: is the cook to Val’s baking, loves fantasy role-play, and traveling from time to time to new local places

Likes: loves to go for long walks, is a total foodie and loves trying out new restaurants, and enjoys parenting related activities like building sensory boxes and random petting zoo trips

Dislikes: quiet spaces as the silence kinda freaks him out, having small talk with others, and confrontation. He’s the shyer out of the two, and generally doesn’t like crowds either

Strengths: incredibly adaptable as a person. Apollo would stick his neck out for those he cares about. He’s also very resilient and can go with the flow easily. The rock of the family, so to speak. Protective of his children, spouse, and friends no matter what

Weaknesses: shyness can lead to not always being the most exciting person in the room. He finds himself anxious when he doesn’t know the room, and can’t be casual with others. He’s great with change, but isn’t always the most understanding for those that aren’t

—————————————————

Full Name: Valerie Heights

Age: 23

Birth: Ontario, Canada

Height: 5’4

Hair: naturally dark brown/black, dyed purple

Eyes: green

Occupation: started out as a Bikini Barista at a chain, but eventually after opening her own food truck they became a small business owner and bar owner of her in person business. Could be considered an influencer in some ways as well

Siblings: two siblings, both older brothers

Heritage: family is a mixture of Italian and Greek

Religion: would be considered spiritual, or paganism

Hobbies: enjoys baking, latte art (obviously), and the occasional jog or hike

Likes: working within a team, creating interesting food combos, supporting her coworkers, and taking her partner on creative dates

Dislikes: crowded spaces, a party like atmosphere, being overly personal about her life, and intrusive people

Strengths: is a very dedicated coworker, leader, friend, and partner. Loves to support where she can and for those she trusts, they are very loyal to. Very much someone you could find reliable

Weaknesses: isn’t always straightforward with their responses. It can be hard to read her at times, and they could be considered a very rigid person that has trouble trusting new people who aren’t in her circle

[bvannn]

Weekly update March 22, 2024

I’m still exhausted beyond words. I’m also on a bit of a spiral where I’m worried about the quality of my art and about my output, but it’s okay because I’m chipping away at old big projects still and as soon as classwork is subsided I’m going to try to learn a new skill, because any time I feel insufficient I learn a new skill so I can be better. Classes have been kicking my ass mostly but hopefully big things will be coming sooner rather than later.

I’ve been doing a number of drawings to time myself and update my comms. Turns out I’m a lot less consistent than I thought so it’ll be a bit longer till I get prices sorted out but it’s coming along. Also good chance I’ll add more on to it later once I sort out more things I can offer. My usual drawing style will be the main one, but I’m hoping I can also add the epithet erased style, the chibi dnd mini style I do sometimes, options for backgrounds, and eventually also music.

Problem with music though has been my exhaustion. The only music stuff I’ve really been drilling at has been bigger projects, but I’d like to just sit down and do a small beat as well at some point. Once I catch up with classwork I might try. I have been chipping away at a couple instrumental pieces, as well as the larger vocal cover and I did some lyric writing today for the two ‘finished mostly’ ones I’ve been sitting on. I did have to scrap and redo a character theme for the second time this week but once I have some time with a clear mind I can reroute that one and use the melody I wrote for the last draft. In development right now are an ambient character theme, a 16bit-ish instrumental theme, a Zelda medley, a song cover with Kyo, a small gabber song with no affiliation to anything, the two original vocal songs, one symphonic rock and one EDM, and a handful of others that I haven’t been actively working on. As soon as I have significant time I’m going to try to finish off some of them.

Once the music is finished I’ll have to throw visuals together for them too. I really want to put in effort to make animation rigs again but I don’t have the time or energy. I might do one for the vocal cover song since I could be reusing the character but I’m not sure it’ll be necessary. Once the cover is done I’ll storyboard something and decide then.

Comic is also still going, I haven’t had a ton of time to do thumbnailing/writing, but I should be down to the last scene. No guarantee I won’t have to add more after editing, but it’s getting there. Once that’s done I’ll try to post roughs of specific panels so it’s a bit easier to keep track of where it’s at. The thumbnailing is a big bottleneck right now because it takes a lot of brain power but it’s almost done. If I get myself together this next week it should be done by the next update. No promises though, I have a lot of classwork.

Last couple things, a good amount of my exhaustion is the result of insomnia, but I’ve been using that time to plan out TTRPG campaign stuff. I think I have some really fun creative encounters. I think I probably will try to write it out and find a way to release it, just in the interest of getting more people to play the anime campaign system (or whatever they end up renaming it to when the epithet erased version of the rules drops… eventually). I might throw together art for that too, but that’ll be a ways off, after the writing and encounters are done. Plus ideally I’d want the module to be available for free, so I don’t need to add too much anyway.

Last thing, as I mentioned I’m a bit unsatisfied with where I am with art stuff. I want to thank everyone who has been sticking around, I am trying to make it worthwhile for you too. But whenever I am unsatisfied with myself I need to learn a new skill, so I may be dipping my toes into pixel art soon. I do have that 16bit ish instrumental song I mentioned, that’s been on the back burner since January but I’ve finally been hit with the inspiration to finish it, and a little pixel animation would be nice to go with it, but that would require me to learn pixel art itself first, so I’ll try to do that in the coming weeks. Idk how soon though.

This next week will be primarily dedicated to clearing up schoolwork and fixing my sleep problem. After that I’ll try finishing up that cover song, finishing up comic thumbnailing, and finishing up that instrumental song, in that order. Anything else is a bonus. Will class work and insomnia get in the way? Probably, but I’m still doing my best.

[luciferfemme]

some things that help me is using organizational systems in my bookmarks. so like folders. for files, again using folders and well labeled and titled documents. for to-do’s, using a project management platform like asana or wrike or something like that can be very helpful. does require a little more effort to maintain and keep updated but it’s an option! i find that trying to keep things simple helps. so only using one system. or one for work and one for personal. so if i use my notebook, ONLY use my notebook. that way i can trust that if it check my notebook, i’m not missing anything. for me, having something that i ALWAYS have on me is important, so having it available both on my phone and laptop is important. really it’s whatever works for you! it seems like maybe for you, it might be helpful to have some sort of system to categorize different types of things you are trying to remember, so that you can sort through them quickly, and look over them all at a glance - this is why i find folder structures to be so helpful. this way, when you do have something that you want to stand out, it actually WILL. and only use those sticky note level things for short term stuff otherwise you’ll quickly become blind to it. my strategy is don’t try to make my brain remember it, export that energy onto a notebook or computer that is much more reliable. so if you have a system you can rely on, you don’t have to remember where you wrote something down or where you saved it, bc it’s just right there in its logical place. this does require strict adherence to the system, so don’t get lazy or say “oh i’ll put it in the right spot later” - no. save it and name it correctly in the moment bc you will not remember to do it later lol!! and every now and then just go through things and make sure everything is looking good and organized and check up that the system is still working well for you. maybe rename or restructure some stuff. hope this helps!

wow thank you so much!!!!

I love hand writing things, truly my worst habit tho is going between like 6 notebooks and never remembering which notebook I wrote which thing in. So I really have to work on that too.

[substituted-shinigami]

Writing Update: Creative Corner April 2023

Welcome back to “Writing Updates”, which I’m thinking of renaming to Creative Corner, but uh we’ll see! (I tend to go back and forth on these things😅) My thought process is that instead of doing the “Good News/Bad News” format I’ve done in the past, I’m going to do a “Writing Corner” and an “Art Corner” instead. I’ll try it out and see how I feel about it. Anyway, let’s get on with the news!

TL:DR Version: I’m taking this month off…kind of. Last month was busy, but really fun!😁 This month was busy, but uh, not at all fun…long story.😅 Anyway, so no new one-shots this month. However! I did find some RenRuki fluff drabbles that I think you all might like, so I put them together in their own series. They’re perfect for a rainy day when you just want to feel good!🥰 They should be out later this month!

Read on if you want the long version:

Writing Corner: 

*Sighs heavily* Alright, I’m gonna be honest, this month sucked. Between burnout, family stuff, and depression, I barely wrote at all. I have a nearly completed piece that I could try to rush edit and finish in time, and would at least come out okay. But I thought about it, and realized that while I do like the piece, it’s not at all what I felt like reading right now. I don’t read a “hurt/comfort with a bit of angst” piece when I’m sad, I read fluff, lots of fluff. In fact, I had a google doc with a couple of fluff scraps that didn’t fit anywhere else that I would sometimes go back to and read whenever I was sad just because it made me feel good. And then I thought, what if this month was bad for other people too? Would these pieces make them feel good? So I’ve decided to release these instead in a brand new collection I’m going to call “Soft Moments”. Admittedly, they are more like eating a sugary sweet dessert than having a hearty protein filled one-shot meal, but that’s exactly what they are for! They are there for people who need to read something nice on a hard day. Anyway, they aren’t exactly a one-shot, so that’s why I decided to put them in their own collection, rather than adding them to “We Can’t All Be Winners”. In the end, I’ve decided to release the “hurt/comfort” piece another time. This also works out well for my new (ever changing😅) schedule for WCABW, where I am going to do 3 months on, 1 off, 3 on, and so forth! 

Art Corner: While I haven’t done much writing this month, I have gone back to my roots on this blog somewhat and started working on comics again. If you saw one of my earlier posts, you will know that I’m taking a crack at human based comics. They…are absolutely not proportional. But um…variety is the spice of life, right?!?! Anyway, hopefully they will at least be funny, but uh, we’ll see! That said, I'm thinking of eventually switching to digital art so that I don’t have to redraw backgrounds and unmoving characters, but that requires me to figure out how to draw with photoshop on my mini touch screen laptop so uh…………..

Bloodlines Corner (because let’s be honest, it gets its own spot at this point): 

Me: *glares to some far off corner in my google docs* You do realize it’s been months now, right?

Bloodlines: *shrugs innocently*

So I’ve realized I haven’t actually explained the premise of this story to most people on this blog, so here we go. Originally, Bloodlines was a one-shot in its own series of one-shots based on the idea of “What would happen if Rukia got Hisana’s illness?” However, I realized that I hadn’t really thought it out well enough for an entire series. So then I was going to make it a one off one-shot in a series of one off one shots, thus spawning WCABW. However, it clearly needed more editing, so I decided to release “prestigious school au” instead. Fast forward several months and not only am I still editing it, but that one-shot turned first into a multi-part and eventually a multi-chapter fic, all the while the events of the story still staying within the same time period, and therefore taking place over the course of one day. It is… utterly ridiculous. 

So anyway, it’s pretty long now, (well for me anyway, it’s almost 30 pages), which makes it take forever to edit. Unfortunately, I think that has caused the back chapters to suffer a bit, because for some reason I always prefer to edit things in order, so by the time I get to the end I’m pretty mentally exhausted. Therefore, I’ve decided to divide it up by only editing one chapter a day to make it easier on myself. Hopefully this will work out, and I can have it out by like August or something, but we will see! (Not being done until December is unfortunately still probable! 😅)

*Sigh* Welp, this has gotten long, but this month has been even longer so I guess it’s appropriate. In any case, thank you all for reading! The new fluff-filled anthology series should be out by the end of the month. Like I said earlier, it’s more like having dessert than dinner, but sometimes that's just what you need! See you all next month! 😊

[greekstar]

[Blog Info!]

This is my only blog! Honestly nothing is better then Warrior cats and I don’t see the need in having any other one.

You guys can call me Greek, or Greekstar, it’s your choice.

I go by she/her and I’m often on but maybe not always posting.

Warrior cat Hypo kits(Semi Open!):

Honestly, I love doing these.

These are open! I can do 3 of the same ships and they will all be tied together in that Au.

Most ships are still open, though FireSilver(Firestar x SilverStream) have 1 more go and I won’t do anymore with them.

All the other ships I have done are still open and free to go. You guys are free to use the designs/characters in your guys own Au’s. No credit needed though it is fully appreciated.

Greekstar’s requested Rewrites/Au’s;

These are 100% open! I will get to them when I can and will make the best out of whatever you want me to do!

I haven’t read the latest series or the series before that because I haven’t got the money to buy them so please keep that in mind when submitting Requested Rewrites?

I will be on top of these and will do 1-2 a day because I am a person and have things other then this blog lol! Please note the ones Ive done and if there is anything you’d like to see with it!

Warrior cats: a new change(Credit to Cryptidclaw for ideas):

Link - to the first Book: Into the Wild (finished! I’ve probably have made some mistakes but eh- I’ll get to revising it later after I get the second book up and outa here)

Link - To the second book: Fire and Ice (I haven’t been updating much cause I’ve been stupid busy so hang in there guys.)

I write these docs with Cryptidclaw being a editor on it sense there’s a lot of their Au’s.

Warrior cat Oc/Au art:

I have a lot of cats being born that aren’t canon in my Au. So I have been drawing them.

I’ve done- Watereyes, Tinyclaw, Tallflight, Frogpool, Appleweb, Hootwhisper, Cowstep, Lambcry.(I won’t link them all because that’s to much)

What I plan on doing:

Mossclaw(kit)’s kits with Darkstripe.

Re-designing Dustpelt’s, Thornclaw’s and Ferncloud’s kits.

Princess (Now Sapplingheart)- Renamed after joining. Being mates with Dustpelt now and Thornclaw with Ferncloud.

Doing Feathertail’s and Reedwhisker’s kits.

—

That’s it, I’ll update this when I get the chance.

[justmiha97]

TS3, boderderless, new machines and FPS limit!!!

UPDATE 2.0 Except borderless gaming app and initial explanations, this guide is now OUTDATED!!! Read new guide HERE: https://justmiha97.tumblr.com/post/633811982604222464/another-way-to-limit-ts3-fps IMPOTANT!!! UPDATE FOR 1.69 GAME VERSION INSTALLATION!!!

Check down in step 4.a. for changes on how to do this properly. For people who renamed their files to:

Rename them back to: TS3.exe  to  3booter.exe TS3W.exe  to  TS3.exe TS3W.exe.backup  to  TS3W.exe

Original post:

I never knew I would be making this post till few hours back, but until now it wasn’t really much known that sims 3 in windowed mode could be run with FPS limit, which forced a lot of people to run the game in full screen. Recently a friend (find him here) and I discovered how to limit FPS for both 1.67 and 1.69 game versions in windowed mode.

Why is this important?

Well, on newer PC’s, ones with a GPU processing power that can easily render recent games, Sims 3 is expected to run exceedingly well... but because Sims 3 is so poorly designed/optimized on a technical level, there is a problem with that. Sims 3 has no FPS limitation, so on newer cards, FPS can get up to even 1k FPS which is INSANE. Personally I had from 500-700 FPS on loading screens myself. This means that: 1. Your card is being overworked and overheated and will be damaged 2. The in-game micro stutter that happens frequently is because the game constantly has short but extreme peaks in frame rate (from 60 - 600 FPS) This is why it’s desired to FPS limit TS3.exe or TS3W.exe!!!

What does windowed mode have to do with all of this?

It’s possible to limit your game FPS in full screen mode trough your graphic control panel application. Though for me it did not work, a lot of people report it working for them. Until now it wasn’t known that the same could be done for windowed mode, meaning users with high end PC running the game windowed were doomed to experience GPU crashes or even worse component death. Now however, a fix has been discovered.

But why would I want to run windowed then?

In full screen mode, game is rendered way darker, which is why EA just lazily slapped on a brightness filter, which makes the whole game brighter than it actually should be. This also means that screenshots of the game taken in full screen (unless they are taken with in-game screenshot feature, which is lower quality) are practically unusable since they are too dark.

When in full screen, the game goes out of memory faster, especially if you are alt tabbing (switching windows) a lot.

Ok, ok but how do I get rid of borders now?

That’s why this guide is here. For that you will need a third party borderless games application. You can find it here, but this will be detailed later in this step by step guide.

THE GUIDE

Before we start, if you want to have your games set up to run well, read trough and apply fixes from these guides:

-https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350

-https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/The-Sims-3-How-to-Minimize-Lag-and-Stabilize-the-Game/m-p/9647783

-https://twitter.com/crosimmer/status/1291882081191170048?s=21

They are all similar in nature but have their own additions to making the game run better. They are extremely helpful and effective. They even include guides on how to FPS limit the game in full screen if you want to keep playing the game that way. Also, be sure to read the last ( 7.) point in this guide as it is important and will determine if you even want to do this or not.

Now that that’s out of the way...

1. First thing to do is run the game and make sure that full screen is off. This is luckily easy to do. If it’s not off, turn it off in options:

2. Next, if you’ve applied FPS limit trough your graphic control application as advised by guides, make sure it’s disabled because it will interfere with this fix. 3. Once you are sure that it is disabled, get 3booter and FPSlimiter from this page: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=15585.0 (files in first two posts) 4. Open both .zip archives and extract all their contents to: - C:/Program Files (x86)/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Game/Bin or -C:/Program Files x(86)/Origin Games/The Sims 3/Game/Bin or whatever your install location of the game is.

4.a. If your game version is 1.69 there is one more step here. Once the files are extracted, you will need to rename launcher like this: Sims3Launcher.exe  to  Launcher.exe And then download and extract this new launcher exe in the bin:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lMmkXBF_5sknVo0UvxbNp6h_JZu9z7E/view?usp=sharing

Rename it to Sims3Launcher.exe 5. Now that you have the fixes set up properly, you can run the game: - Trough 3booter.exe if you are on version 1.67 (feel free to make a shortcut) or - Trough new launcher, Sims3Launcher.exe, if you are on 1.69. Note that your shortcuts to game launcher will now point to this new launcher due to filename. If you want to use the old launcher, make a shortcut for Launcher.exe

6. BUT WAIT!!! What about that borderless thingy m’ bob? Well here comes that part of setting up windowed mode to look like it’s full screen. First you want to go to the link of the program, I’ll post it again for convenience: https://github.com/Codeusa/Borderless-Gaming/releases Then scroll down a bit and download this:

Once that’s downloaded, install it and run it, after you’ve ran the game in windowed mode. You will be greeted with this:

To have your game in borderless mode, add it to the list on the left by selecting your game name from the list. It will be the name of the last expansion you are running, with [TS3W] next to it ([TS3] if you haven’t installed FPS limiter on 1.69). After the game is selected, click the arrow

And your game will automatically turn into a full screen-like application. IMPORTANT!: DO NOT CLOSE borderless gaming app, only minimize it. It has to run at all times while your game is running or the game will stop being borderless. Make sure to set borderless gaming app to run on windows launch if you don’t want to bother reopening it every time you start your PC.

7. Final notes. (Still IMPORTANT) If you’ve gotten this far, congratulations, you are one patient simmer willing to put in effort to perfect your sims 3 game experience. Not everything can be perfect however, and there are some additional notes to take care of. - First, the FPS limiter program only limits the game to 30FPS. People who have had the game run at 60FPS might be disappointed by this. However the game already runs it’s animations at only 30FPS so there is no need for additional frames. However it’s still you choice. If you do see a difference with 60FPS and don’t want to change it, you can still run the game full screen with 60FPS graphics control limiter. -Second, if you are NOT experiencing FPS higher than 60 in any part of the game (even load screens and main menu), there is no need to install this fix. However be vary that whenever you change hardware, especially GPU, you might need to take care of this. -Third and final, as a side note, there is a program that lets you unpark your CPU cores for that final addition of sims 3 smooth experience. This is completely OPTIONAL. Here is the program’s page (scroll all the way down for download): https://coderbag.com/product/quickcpu To set it up to unpark all cores you just have to do this

And click Apply.

FINALLY DONE?

Yes, yes. Finally done. That’s it Folks. Have fun with your games and good luck simming! And thanks to crosims for helping me out get this working on 1.69.

[mr-and-mr-diaz]

Buddie Fic Masterpost

Prompt😂Updated 06/13/2021!

I can’t believe I’ve written enough for this fandom that this actually seems warranted but here we are!! For those who want to keep track, here are all the Buddie fic I’ve written in one spot, and I’ll update as I add more: 

NEW! All My Buddie Drabbles In One Places

This is where I put my short buddie drabbles for when you need just a quick Buddie bite, no commitment, no long stories :) Enjoy! <3

The Best Wingman

Summary:  In Josh’s first date since being attacked, Buck and Albert come along, each bringing a date of their own for a big old triple date of mutual support and fun. Of course, now that they've offered, they both need to go find dates...

I wrote this as part of a larger idea and also to indulge my deep love of Shy!Buck. 

ROAD TRIP!

Summary: A glimpse into Hen, Eddie, and Buck’s 20-hour road trip to Texas in the fire truck during the crossover.

This moment had such potential for fluff and funny road trip hijinks, so glad I got to give it a fic treatment :) Contains season 4A spoilers

The Way To A Man’s Heart

Prompt from @agentmarymargaretskitz​ and @justsmilestuffhappens​: Eddie & Christopher move across the hall from Buck and Buck is smitten. The 118 tell him to bring over baked goods.

This was pure fluff. Tooth-rotting cotton candy. 

Have You Ever Heard of Scrabble?

Prompt: Can someone write me a Buddie with Christopher fic continuation of them having a family night while playing Scrabble? With fluff. I believe that would be an adorable fic.

You were 100% percent right, it does make an adorable fic! Contains season 4A spoilers

Home

Prompt from @the-wardrobeintocamelot​: ABO-verse, Chris snuggling and scenting omega!Buck whenever possible because he smells like love/home/family. ❤️❤️

My very first ever ABO fic ever, also first for the Buddie fandom. I’m so happy with how it came out and I’m even more happy with how many people love it! Y’all are the best!

A Good Friend

Summary:  The missing scene when Eddie comes to pick up Chris from Buck's place in 4x08 because we were so robbed!

I renamed this “Missing Scene--Eddie Comes To Pick Up Christopher” on AO3 so don’t be confused when a different title comes up. It gave me a cathartic chance to fill in this missing scene as well as air a bit of grief for how harshly Taylor dealt with Buck, telling him he’s a shit friend, despite teh fact that three seconds later she calls him for help which is something we all do to shit friends, right...? Contains season 4A spoilers

The Damned Disgrace

Summary: When Maddie is kidnapped by the infamous Commodore Douglas of the Royal Navy, Evan Buckley and her lover Chimney Han enlist the help of the only crew that dares to go against him: The Damned Disgrace, led by the fearless and terrifying Captain Robert Nash.First impressions are leery though. Captain Nash's first mate, Eddie Diaz, takes an instant dislike to Buck, doubting his motives and his ability to be of any use to the Disgrace's crew.

There aren’t a huge amount of us Buddie Pirate AU lovers, but this is still my indulgent fic for that AU because it works really well, and I truly believe that the firefam and buddie fits well in most scenarios like a ship (lolz). It also gives me a place to indulge my love for an au where Sharon hasn’t died, where Lena is still around and they are both in love with each other. I’ll update this one as often as I can!

Instinct

Prompt: ABO-verse: Omega Buck not having his safe space at his loft, starts hanging at eddies more, nesting there. Eddie buying softer blankets, etc for buck. But doesnt comment on ti, not to freak or embarrass buck.

My second Buddie abo fic! I started to write this and then writing did that thing it does where the story spirals out of control and it deviated ever so slightly from the prompt. So glad to see how many people enjoyed it!  Contains season 4A spoilers

Eye of The Tiger

Prompt from @agentmarymargaretskitz: Buddie + “Your hair is really soft.”

Eddie Diaz realizes that Buck is the exception to yet one more rule... This one kind of popped out of my head onto the keyboard in a big PLOP. One moment I was looking at the prompt and the next I was looking at the fic, just like that! Please enjoy! Contains season 4A spoilers

Surprise!

Prompt from @justsmilestuffhappens :  But- but what happens when Buck or Eddie say I love you to the other and not realize what they said until the conversation is over or they're in another room or leave huh?

This is what happens 😂 Enjoy!

The Other Two Halves of My Heart

Prompt: Okay but that surfing gifset is so goddamn cute... any thoughts on a sweet buddie + christopher ocean outing??

I loved this prompt! And I decided to write a fic where Ana and Taylor do exist, but aren’t dating buddie. Seriously when they aren’t trying to be shoehorned into romances that just don’t work they can breathe so much more as characters. It also gives them the leverage they need to shove these two oblivious assholes together. Featuring surfing and Soft Eddie Diaz. Enjoy!  Contains season 4A spoilers

[traincat]

Can you explain the fantastic four volumes? Why are they separated like that, are they different continuities, should i read them all, who wrote which, and such? They‘re very confusing to me

Welcome to the terrible world of comics renumbering, aka the reason we have volumes. The long and short of it is, at some point, the big comics publishers got it into their heads that more people would buy their comics if they had easy jumping spots, the logic behind this being wouldn't it be more friendly for new readers to pick up an issue #1 than an issue #389? Which, sure, in theory, until you have, for example, six different Fantastic Four #1s, some of which were published very close together, and then no one knows at first glance where the hell they should start. But Marvel persists in this practice anyway because for some reason they think that one of these days it's actually going to work. So yes, unless otherwise noted -- because volumes are a publishing quirk and not a specific continuity quirk, so for example something like Spider-Gwen, which until recently took place out of the main continuity, has multiple volumes -- they're in main continuity, with the notable exception of Fantastic Four v2, kind of. I'll get to it. As to who wrote what, it varies -- some volumes have a ton of writers on them, some only have the one, like Fantastic Four volumes 4 and 5. It kind of depends on the length of the volume. Should you read them? It depends on if you're looking to be a completionist or not. If you're still confused, that's because it's unfortunately a feature of this particular system, not a bug. It is not a new reader friendly solution to having a huge series with hundreds upon hundreds of issues, despite the fact that Marvel just will not stop doing it.

If you look at most long running Marvel series, you'll probably note that most of their "volume ones" are actually extremely long -- Fantastic Four v1, for example, lasts from issues #1-416. The first renumbering takes place in 1996, and this one kind of has a good reason behind it. In the mid-90s, Marvel was, how can I say this nicely? A complete dumpster fire, and I don't mean from a storytelling perspective. In 1996, Marvel temporarily outsourced production of two major titles -- Fantastic Four and the Avengers -- to the studios of former employees Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. This outsourcing took the form of what appeared to be a "hard reset", especially for the Fantastic Four, who during v2 got an updated '90s origin story with updated '90s costumes and updated '90s personalities, essentially brought back to the beginning of their continuity without memories of their previous iterations. This is because, as it was later explained, though the Fantastic Four and the Avengers seemed to die in the main continuity, they were actually sheltered in a bubble reality by Franklin Richards. It's. You know. It is what it is. So essentially, volume 2 of Fantastic Four (1996) takes place in a separate continuity -- you can skip it and not miss much. Volume 3 (1998) picks back up in the main continuity when the Fantastic Four return to their own continuity and try to pick their lives back up while the world has moved on without them. It's VERY good, from a characterization standpoint -- a lot of volume 3 is written by Chris Claremont, who handles all the characters with an extreme amount of nuance. From a plot perspective -- I mean, it's totally fine as long as you don't care about anything making sense ever. Claremont was not here to write a coherent plot; he was here to write extremely an extremely insightful and sensitive Johnny Storm, and I applaud him for that.

This is where the numbering gets messy again, though! Because you know what looks really dramatic on the front cover of your comic book? A big ISSUE #500. So when volume 3 was approaching what would be, in what's called legacy numbering, issue #500, they switched the numbering again. Fantastic Four goes from Fantastic Four v3 #70 straight to Fantastic Four #500. There is no Fantastic Four v3 #71, something that can be confusing for new readers who are JUST trying to follow a book from issue to issue. From my perspective, I'm generally in favor of a return to legacy numbering, because it really is so much simpler to just have whatever number the issue actually is on the cover instead of having to be like "Fantastic Four issue #499 is actually Fantastic Four v3 #70." But Marvel hates simplicity! Loathes it! We need more new readers! Who definitely will pick up anything labeled #1 and not worry about THAT WHOLE MESS behind them! So while Fantastic Four retained the legacy numbering for 88 issues, it soon switched things up again when the entire title of the book was renamed. When Johnny dies in the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #587, the book was renamed from Fantastic Four to FF (just the initials) to reflect the change. This is a creative decision that I don't personally hate -- I think it makes its point well -- but also it really makes this entire period of Fantastic Four hell to read when the book comes back with Fantastic Four #600 after 12 issues of FF, but the FF title also remains, and the two are supposed to be read interchangeably at that point. Good luck figuring out how that one's supposed to go on first glance and thanks a lot, Marvel.

After Hickman's run wrapped up with Fantastic Four #611, Marvel entered a period where it was relaunching a lot of its main series basically every year. This is why there's a Fantastic Four v4 (2013), closely followed by Fantastic Four v5 (2014). These are basically one writer brief runs that are encapsulated in their own volumes for very little reason, especially since towards the end of Fantastic Four v5 it reverts to legacy numbering once again, with the last four issues of the run being Fantastic Four #642-645. Congratulations, nobody could have thought of a worse system. Then there came the three year Fantastic Four publishing ban (a real thing that happened) and when the book relaunched in 2018, it was with Fantastic Four v6, which is still using its own numbering, with issue #36 just released. It's essentially like that scene from Pacific Rim about how the kaiju keep coming faster and faster, except, you know, with comic book runs.

So here's a very basic reading order: Fantastic Four #1-416 -> Fantastic Four v2 #1-13 -> Fantastic Four v3 #1-70 -> Fantastic Four #500-588 -> FF #1-12 (at which point FF separates into its own book with three separate volumes) -> Fantastic Four #600-611 -> Fantastic Four v4 #1-16 -> Fantastic Four v5 #1-14 -> Fantastic Four #642-645 -> Fantastic Four v6 #1-36.

That brings you up to the present, not counting series like Secret Wars (2015) which slots in between #645 and Fantastic Four v6 #1, or things like annuals, which are issues published sometimes annually that may be standalones or may be important to the main plot, you can never be sure. Comics are terrible.

As for whether or not to read all of that, like I said above, it kind of depends on you as a reader, whether you're a completionist, whether you bounce hard off certain decades or creators, etc. There's really no one right way to tackle a comic series that spans 681 issues and six decades, especially not when the publisher doesn't exactly make it easy for anybody to keep track of what exactly they're supposed to be reading next. I do hope that clears up some of the confusion for you, though, even though the truth is the way a lot of American big two comics are published are, very simply, in an incredibly confusing, extremely new reader unfriendly, archaic way.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

Just a few quick updates, really (it’s been a slow year for me so far, writing-wise, alas).

The usual plug for my writing discord--it’s pretty quiet, but come say hi! Sometimes I brainstorm there, but mostly it’s just intended to be a more interactive version of this tumblr.

And let’s go ahead and do an Open Question Night! My askbox is always open, but tonight I’m around and keeping at least half an eye on it. Questions about writing, or any of the fandoms/etc. I post about on this blog (or on my AO3) are fair game. I also take prompts, but am bad at filling them in a timely manner, lol.

Okay, I think that covers it! Actual updates are behind the cut!

Star Wars:

SWBB gets posted at the end of this month and...while it’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it this year, it’s definitely been like pulling teeth to get the story to actually come out, haha. It’s not my best work, but I love the event and I’m glad I did it. I may not participate as a writer next year, we’ll see how I feel.

Precipice is...I swear I am working on it in the background XD I just haven’t gotten much actually down on paper because...well, the aforementioned stuckness/pulling-teeth on the other SW project which is taking all of my SW brain (except for the part that’s getting distracted by self-indulgent crossover nonsense, lol). Hopefully I’ll get more done once SWBB is through.

I don’t have any Other SW Projects actively under construction right now, but I’m sort of poking at what I might do for next year’s BB, if I do decide to participate...I feel like it won’t be as much of a struggle if I have a more solid plan when I get started? So, anyway, some of the SW/BSG crossovers I mentioned in a post here a couple weeks ago are definitely things I’m considering!

Castlevania:

I think I’m just going to give up on expanding that first scenelet in Incinctus, lol. Just give it a better conclusion, and then I can get started posting, probably later this month. I do like a lot of what I have going there. (Even if it...like, this was supposed to be self-indulgent Alucard whumpfic with a side of dumb jokes and the OT3 finding their way together at the end; it ended up being like 40% about Lisa’s Feelings which I’m not complaining about but I was not??? Expecting????)

After I finish that, depending on how that goes over and if I sustain my interest in this fandom well enough, I do have another prompt/story I might write out...we’ll see!

AtLA:

I do still really want to write fic in this fandom, but I’ve got so many other things floating around in my head, haha. The main one is still the Avatar Zuko prompt, which is still largely lacking in text (I’ve been in a slow period for...a while, I guess...but that aside). No idea on when this will come out.

BSG:

I am definitely pushing forward on The Other Battlestar AU, which is going to be a million words long (even if I do cut off at the end of the Pegasus arc which I probably will, at least for now) and also needs like. An Actual Title. (My brain fed me Bellerophon which I don’t like but I’ve got nothing else XD)

I’m also filling out some of the Supplemental Cast (mostly various Pegasus officers/crew because. like. we know a solid Five People and...we need more than that XD). I was doing some digging into How Aircraft Carriers Work because the senior medical officer/Cottle’s counterpart is going to be a pretty significant player and yeesh there should be a lot more subordinates there...but I will probably handwave that because while I do need More People there, I also need to keep things. Like. Manageable. So, there’s Daphne (the aforementioned Senior Medical Officer), and then a Marine captain who grew up with Baltar on Aerilon (who is an old OC of mine from my last time actively in this fandom but needs to be renamed because his original name was Rex and that just. Will Not Work For Me Anymore), and then probably a few other people.

Also working on sketching out the second of the OCs who will fill in some gaps on the Galactica side of things; I know more or less where I’m going with them, but they’re basically just two bullet points and ‘I don’t necessarily need to actually Show Them but I know how I’m going to introduce them during the miniseries sequence.’

I’ll have more once I do a dedicated rewatch of the first two seasons + Razor (which I’m not allowed to do until I’ve finished SWBB, lol) but I’m having fun already XD

[another-rogue-trevelyan]

If you liked Dragon Age Masterlist

If you’re anything like me, you’re into niche market, high fantasy, single player RPGs, preferably with a historical setting and romance options. So if you’re looking for a new game, here I am with some suggestions!

Sorted by studio:

Bethesda:

Oblivion (2006)

“In the shadow of evil, a hero will rise from the ashes of a fallen empire. The gates have been opened, and the battle has begun. Only one thing can save the world from Mehrunes Dagon and the demonic hordes of Oblivion. The true heir of the Septim line must be found and restored to the Imperial throne. The fate of the world rests in the hands of one. Find him, and shut the jaws of Oblivion.”

The Elder Scrolls series were my gateway into RPGs and hold a special place in my heart. Oblivion features a wide open world, immersive combat, and the ability to customize race, class, and gender.

Skyrim (2011)

“The Empire of Tamriel is on the edge. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered. Alliances form as claims to the throne are made. In the midst of this conflict, a far more dangerous, ancient evil is awakened. Dragons, long lost to the passages of the Elder Scrolls, have returned to Tamriel. The future of Skyrim, even the Empire itself, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons.”

I have sunk so many hours into this game and still have not experienced all there is to experience. Just like Oblivion, Skyrim offers the ability to customize your character and find a play style that suits you. A huge open world offers tons of opportunity for exploration and questing. You could play this game many, many hours and not even touch the main quest if you wanted to.

BioWare:

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021)

Just do it. Just fucking do it I’m still sobbing I’ve never had a game wreck me in this way. I might possibly like it more than Dragon Age which feels sacrilegious to say but it was so good. You follow Commander Shepard (customizable) for three whole games and the choices have serious consequences. Also, romance. Truthfully this might be the most well written storyline I’ve ever seen in a video game. Also, same studio as Dragon Age.

CD Projekt:

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (2015)

I’ll let the website description speak for itself, but Witcher III was good enough that I didn’t mind being forced to play as a man (those who know me know that I exclusively prefer to play women and often dislike games where I can’t do so)! The characters that make up this story are captivating and suck you into their world, leaving you with some tough choices to make. Also, bonus points for romance! (Yen is one of my all time favorite characters, Triss never stood a chance for me. Sorry Triss fans 😂)

Larian:

Divinity Original Sin 2 (2017)

“The Divine is dead. The Void approaches. And the powers lying dormant within you are soon to awaken. Choose your role in a BAFTA-winning story, and explore a world that reacts to who you are, and the choices you make. With five races to choose from, and an adventure playable solo or as a party of up to four, lay waste to an oppressive order in a world afraid of magic. Become the God the world so desperately needs.”

Full disclosure, I have not finished playing this one yet and will update when I do, but what I’ve played so far has been great! A classic, turn-based RPG that allows you a wide range of character customization. I find this game incredibly satisfying to be a rogue (my preferred class) because it lets me live my dream of throwing knives at people. Also, romance!

Baldur’s Gate III beta (2020)

“An ancient evil has returned to Baldur's Gate, intent on devouring it from the inside out. The fate of Faerûn lies in your hands. Alone, you may resist. But together, you can overcome. Gather your party.”

Fair warning, as of my most recent update to this post (March 30th, 2021) this game is still in a beta phase, which means it is NOT complete and has aspects that are missing, glitchy, or subject to change. With that being said, I’m so obsessed. It’s so, so good already and is only getting better. Another wide open world to explore with a group of companions with strong and sometimes clashing personalities, choices are abundant in this game and will affect how your party members think of you. This game so far gives me the feeling that choices are complicated and aren’t always easy to tell which is morally right, which I personally love. Also, I can be a sarcastic ass with a good heart, which is always fun. Astarion basically owns me now, but if you can resist him there are plentiful other romance choices as well! Customization is already a wider range than I’ve seen in most RPGs and they haven’t even finished the character creator yet, which has me SO excited for the finished product. Also - good hair?!??!! I love it!

Lionhead:

Fable III (2010)

“Lead a revolution to take control of Albion, fight alongside your people, and experience love and loss while preparing to defend the kingdom against a looming threat. Your choices as ruler will lead to consequences felt across the entire land.”

I’ll be honest, this one isn’t my favorite on the list, but was good enough to still make it! This game allows you to choose between playing as the prince or the princess on a quest to save your kingdom from itself, and then a greater threat as well. The game takes place in a kingdom loosely modeled after industrial England, and what did score it some major points were (SPOILER WARNING - skip the purple if you don’t want to know!) that the last act of the game lets you play as the monarch, where you are forced to make some tough decisions in order to save your kingdom. It is very easy to back yourself into a corner, pinch pennies in order to fund the army and save the kingdom, but make your citizens hate you because of it. You’re gonna have to be very, very careful, which is something I did really enjoy about this game. (I’ve heard Fable II was better, and that’s also on my list to try, will update in the future!)

Nintendo:

Fire Emblem Three Houses (2019)

“War is coming to the continent of Fódlan. Here, order is maintained by the Church of Seiros, which hosts the prestigious Officer’s Academy within its headquarters. You are invited to teach one of its three mighty houses, each comprised of students brimming with personality and represented by a royal from one of three territories. As their professor, you must lead your students in their academic lives and in turn-based, tactical RPG battles wrought with strategic, new twists to overcome. Which house, and which path, will you choose?”

Currently playing this one and I’m so addicted! This one is slightly outside of my usual taste but it has made me interested in playing more games like it. The player controls Byleth (you can rename them if you wish), who becomes a professor of combat and battle tactics despite their young age at a monastery and finds themself in charge of a house of students. Battles are tactics and strategy based and classes are highly customizable. I sunk like 30 hours into this game in the last three days. I won’t say more about the plot to avoid spoilers, but it’s been a ton of fun and also has slow burn romance

Spiders:

Greedfall (2019)

This game destroyed my soul in the best way and when I finished it I immediately started a new game to play it again. You play as Lady or Lord De Sardet, Legate of the Congregation of Merchants and effectively the right hand of your cousin, who has been appointed governor of your new colony on the island. While I enjoy the combat in this game, which allows you the choice between one handed, two handed, magic, and pistols or rifles (save that ammo for when you really need it!), this game focuses heavily on diplomacy and relations. Be careful what information you give to whom and how you treat every decision. The enemies you make early on might be people you need on your side later. I also love that choices aren’t always clearly right or wrong, and often are more complicated than they first appear. Even the best intentions can sometimes go awry.

Ubisoft:

Assassin’s Creed, Syndicate (2015)

“London, 1868. In the heart of the Industrial Revolution, lead your underworld organization and grow your influence to fight those who exploit the less privileged in the name of progress”

Another one that I’ll admit, I haven’t finished, and is definitely the odd one out on the list because it’s set in Victorian England, but I was having fun with what I had played so far before Greedfall distracted me. In this game, you alternate between controlling twins Jacob and Evie Frye as you explore and liberate London while meeting famous historical figures and running a gang on the side.

Assassin’s Creed, Origins (2017)

“Ancient Egypt, a land of majesty and intrigue, is disappearing in a ruthless fight for power. Unveil dark secrets and forgotten myths as you go back to the one founding moment: The Origins of the Assassin’s Brotherhood.”

In the spirit of honesty, I haven’t started this one yet, but I am so confident that I’m gonna love it when I do that it’s here anyway. I’ve purchased it, and will get to it soon, I swear! In the meantime, I wanted to put it here because I’m confident some of you will enjoy it. Will come back with a review once I know more.

Assassin’s Creed, Odyssey (2018)

“Write your own epic odyssey and become a legendary Spartan hero in Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, an inspiring adventure where you must forge your destiny and define your own path in a world on the brink of tearing itself apart. Influence how history unfolds as you experience a rich and ever-changing world shaped by your decisions.”

Y’all this game owned my soul for a while. I’ve sunk so many hours into it. You have a choice to play as either Kassandra or Alexios and navigate the wonders of Ancient Greece. The world is stunning, the choices are important, and this game took a big step for the assassins creed series in becoming a true RPG. I can’t recommend this one enough, you should absolutely go for it!

Assassin’s Creed, Valhalla (2020)

“Become Eivor, a legendary Viking warrior. Explore England's Dark Ages as you raid your enemies, grow your settlement, and build your political power in the quest to earn a place among the gods in Valhalla.”

This game is brand new, hot off the press, and has already been a massive hit. I have only JUST started playing it and am about an hour in, but so far so good! It’s here on my recommendations list because of its wild popularity and because I’ve already enjoyed other games in this series, so I feel confident that some of my fellow dragon age fans will enjoy it. Will update again once I get further in.

Other games on my To Be Played list (otherwise known as things I don’t want to recommend because I know almost nothing about them but will update here after I know more)

-Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2

-Horizon Zero Dawn

-Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

-Fable 1 and 2

-Kingdoms of Amalur

-Breath of the Wild

-Crimson Desert (not out yet but I’m intrigued)

[c4pricornc4ts]

Who Would Ever Want to be King? - Chapter One

Also on my ao3: here

--------

Eret has long decided that his loneliness is worth never hurting people again. He ruined his family, he wouldn't ruin anyone else's.

And so he lived on, and he lived on alone.

Or; two children escape a war that was never theirs to fight and find themselves right where they belong.

Eret lived alone. And not the kind of alone that a hermit or a loner might enjoy, he lived alone not by preference but forced to by his terrible choices.

Betraying the only people who stood by you tends to cause one to find oneself alone. He earned this crown through blood, but not by his bloodline.

Eret Rivera was king, and Eret Rivera was lonely.

He wasn't in complete isolation these past five years, the occasional traveler would stop for the night and tell him stories of the world and update him on the affairs of all the neighboring kingdoms.

He heard of every war, he learned of a place called Pogtopia and how L’manberg and been renamed ‘Manberg’ under new rule.

Sometimes when he hears of these issues, he feels grateful to be alone. He was tired of hurting people, of getting children involved in wars they were too young to understand.

When he betrayed his country, he betrayed war. Becoming a king with nothing to offer but shelter for the wary.

Eret has long decided that his loneliness is worth never hurting people again. He ruined his family, he wouldn't ruin anyone else's.

And so he lived on, and he lived on alone.

He's lying down on his silk sheets, reading by candlelight when it happens. It was storming out, the rain pouring in sheets with the occasional rolls of thunder. Perfect for reading. Not so perfect if you’re outside however.

"Tommy?! Oh God, Tommy?" Someone shrieks from the woods outside. They sound young, and more importantly they sound scared.

Eret snaps the book closed and hurries outside, not caring about his pajamas or the fact he had no shoes on, only grabbing his sword before rushing out the door to find the source.

"Hello?" he calls out. The rain made it almost impossible to see anything. He had to hope someone would reply.

He hears someone gasp, and then the rustle of leaves over the constant downpour. The people were scared of him.

"I'm here to help, this is not enemy territory you've found yourself in." He makes a show of lowering the sword, in case the person could see him.

A few moments later, he sees a brunette in a green shirt step out from the cover of the forest. He looks young, no older than 12. But his body was battered like that of a soldier.

Eret felt sick. He knew the people in that war, either side would've had no qualms with children fighting their battles. He probably was a soldier.

"Help him, please. H-he's not waking up I don't-" The boy is out of breath, even through the rain the king can tell he's been sobbing.

"Take me to him then." He steps forwards, the sword forgotten behind him. There were more important things than a weapon right now.

The boy jerks his head in a nod and starts to walk back into the woods, before long he is brought behind a bush where he sees another boy lying down. His clothes soaked through and his blond hair stuck to his forehead by the rain.

Upon further inspection, he realized the boy was bleeding from a gash on his forehead. It was getting washed away by the rain but there was so much blood it was still noticeable.

That, Eret decided, was definitely not a good sign.

The boy was small, not as small as his friend but still easy enough for Eret to pick up. So he does. Cradling his head gently to avoid further injury.

He turns to the other boy. "We need to get him inside, are you alright?"

The other nods in response, but Eret wasn't expecting anything more. He was shaking so badly he was afraid the younger boy would collapse.

He carries the unconscious boy out of the forest and right through the castle doors. Only glancing back to check on how the other was doing.

He lays the blond down on his bed, and gestures for the other to sit down on the left side.

He'd prepare another room for them soon, but for now he tries not to think about how his sheets were getting ruined by all the blood and dirt.

"What happened?" He was wrapping the gash on the side of the boy's head as they spoke.

"Tommy, he and-and I-- we, we uh well he- h-he tripped and- is he gonna be okay?"

"He's gonna be alright. You're gonna be alright too." The poor kid was scared out of his mind even now that he was getting help. Eret wanted to reassure him, even if he had to make promises he wasn't sure he could keep.

"Tubbo. I-I'm Tubbo. And thank you." The boy smiles but doesn't look up at Eret. Just continues to watch as the bandages wrapped around Tommy slowly turn red.

He goes over to his dresser and gives Tubbo a pair of dry clothes. Before going over to figure out how to get Tommy in something dry before they're dealing with more than a head injury. Tubbo changes quickly and goes to put his clothes on the porch outside the room.

"Are you twins?" Besides their age, they don't really seem to have much in common. Tommy was blond and tall with sharper features than the usual ten year old. Tubbo was short and had brown hair with much softer features. He knows there are thousands of more important questions he needs to and should ask the pair, but those can wait till after the storm.

"No, he's my best friend. I'm from Manberg he's- well he's not. He's from somewhere else I don't-" Eret's eyes darkened. His heart hurts to realize these were children who didn't even know where they were from anymore. He doesn't think he wants to let these two go back to that mess.

"Come help me lift him up, we need to get him in something dry." Tubbo does, he hesitantly takes Tommy's shoulder and helps Eret put a new, much warmer shirt on him. The blond stays dead to the world, which really wasn't good.

They lay him back down and Eret quickly finishes swapping his clothes. Tossing them on the porch with less care than Tubbo had previously shown.

He grabs a spare blanket from under the bed and drapes it around Tubbo's shaking shoulders. Before pulling up a chair beside Tommy for him.

"I'll watch him, you lie down alright? You don't have to sleep but just relax or your body won't warm up." He can't stand seeing the poor boy shake anymore. Children shouldn't suffer like this. He won't let them get hurt anymore.

"What's your name?" The boy lies down on Tommy's right side and props the pillow up so he's facing the king.

"Eret. I’m a king of some sort, I’m not sure if your kingdoms still speak of me.”

“Sometimes Fundy says your name, only when he thinks no one's listening though. Why?”

“I did something bad, I hurt a lot of people. But that’s the past, and everyday I’m trying to make up for it.”

“Once you’re forgiven you don’t need to keep making up for it though.” His eyes close, he’s struggling to stay awake.

“I wasn’t forgiven unfortunately.” He whispers, afraid his voice might waiver if he said it any louder.

“I think Fundy would, he really seems to miss you.” The boy yawns, and this time let’s himself fall asleep.

Eret picks back up his book and settles into the chair behind him. Prepared for a long night. He knows head injuries can be tricky. He’s not so sure he should be letting Tommy sleep right now, but he didn’t have the heart to put the boy through the pain of being awake with this injury.

Around 2 am, Tommy wakes up with a gasp. He tries to sit up to which Eret responds with a hand pushing against his chest. Stopping him from affecting his injury.

“Who the hell are you?” The boy glares at Eret, but thankfully doesn’t try to sit up.

He’s taken aback by how bold the boy is, he wasn’t expecting it after how timid Tubbo had been. Perhaps that’s how the two survived this long. The mean one to get them into trouble, the quiet one to get them out of it.

“I’m someone who is trying to help you. Tubbo’s right there, he’s fine too.” Tommy can’t really turn his head that way and still be lying down so he reaches out and grabs Tubbo’s hand before lifting it up, checking that it's him. Eret assumes it is as Tommy sets down the hand and sighs.

“Thanks, or something.” He grumbles and before Eret could respond he’s already out again.

Eret runs a hand down his face and laughs to himself, what exactly had he just gotten himself into?

[timbertumbr]

Boneafide Gamer (A Reverse Harem Fic)

Chapter 1, Signing In

Quotev Link

Welp- Guess who’s joining the skeleton train?!

Note: When it's in your perspective, it's more than likely going to use the boys Usernames instead of their Nicknames since they legit just met so… here's a list of the usernames I've come up with-

Blue (Underswap Sans): Magnificent Blueberry

Stretch (Underswap Papyrus): Carrot

I'll add more as the boys are introduced. (Also for the horror bros I'm using ratsoh-writes nicknames.)

Finally, after a year of waiting, you have it!  Basic MMORPG VR edition! You squeal before thanking the delivery person and closing the door.

You tear open the packaging as you enter the room, open the case and put the disc into your computer. You gently place the case onto the desk before setting up your V.R set. The game boots up as you put on the VR goggles and you begin the intro. 

"Welcome to Basic MMORPG VR edition. A world that was heavily inspired by Sword Art Online, but our game is much better in so many ways! Would you like a list?" Snorting, you select yes.

"You do not have to fight any creatures in this game.

There are many skill sets to choose from like cooking, fishing, farming, bounty hunting and many many more!

A world that gets updated throughout the seasons.

Create, craft, or find many items the world or players around you provide.

You are not strictly assigned to a specific class, want to be a mage that wields a sword? You can BE a mage that wields a sword!

There are-" Holy crap, this list is long… you'd review it later, you wanted to get to the good stuff! Gameplay!

You enter the character customization screen and make your persona. Then came the most difficult part of making a character, giving it a name!

You tapped your foot as you thought of what to name them… do you want something funny? Something normal? Or something stupid? Man, this is hard…

You go for the grandest name of all "fart." You snicker as you accept the name, knowing you could change it whenever.

Hitting "confirm," you wait as the game loads on a public server. And when it loads in, there aren't a lot of people on… Wasn't there a lot of hype for this game?

You shrugged and went to the infamous Quest Master to receive your class, first weapon, and first quest. 

After all was said and done, you were "fart," jack of all trades (because you couldn't choose just ONE of all these cool classes!) And off you went to the fields to complete your first quest, kill/befriend/collect 5 slimes. 

Holding your multiweapon tight, (Again, you were VERY indecisive and basically created a multitool for weapons.) You venture into the fields to see a lot of slime and very few people.

Legit, there were only two people here. Skeletons, one named "Magnificent Blueberry" and the other named "Carrot." Very fitting considering their choice of armor/robes.

Intrigued, you decide to focus on your quest conveniently close to the skeletons, waiting for the chance to jump in their conversation and make friends! Haha! Genius!

While you slashed more than the acquired amount of slimes with your sword, the short skeleton was reading all the features this game held while the tall one was trying to figure out the controls.

"OH WOW! PAPY, DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE CREATURES?!" Blueberry exclaimed using voice chat, turning to his struggling younger brother.

"Really? I think we both know who'd like that," Stretch says amused, Blueberry huffing before helping Stretch with the controls.

"INDEED! OKA WOULD LOVE TO MAKE A SLIME FARM! (THE TRIGGER IS TO ACTIVATE STUFF LIKE GRABBING AND DROPPING ITEMS) AND I THINK EDGE WOULD BE MORE THAT HAPPY TO HAVE A CAT 'ARMY,'" Blueberry exclaims, happy that there's so much to do in this game! (Even if it is a waste of time according to Edge.) 

Stretch nods, finally getting used to the controls and thanking Blueberry, who enthusiastically welcomes him.

"What other features are there?" Stretch asks curiously, peering at the cybernetic screen on Blue's arm.

"OH LOT'S! THERE'S HUNDREDS OF FEATURES IN THIS!" Blue exclaims before scanning the list to look for one Stretch may like.

"Oh wow," Stretch comments amazed, he knew there was a lot but HUNDREDS?! It's every gamer's dream! (Red may enjoy that.) 

"LIKE THIS ONE! IF YOU HOVER OVER A PLAYER, YOU CAN ADD THEM TO A PARTY! LET'S DO IT!" Stretch shrugs.

"Sure, why not?" With stars in his sockets, he hovers his disembodied hand over Stretch and adds him to a party which Stretch accepted the request for. Blue then renames the party to "THE AMAZING DUO!" Stretch raises a bone brow with an amused smile.

"Really?"

"REALLY! OH LOOK, A POTENTIAL FRIEND!" Blue exclaims, finally noticing you. However you were focused on the slimes.

"They've been there forever though," Stretch points out.

"WHA? PAPY, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" Blue says sadly, Stretch shrugs again.

"They seemed busy," Blueberry looked at you again and you were still focused on the slimes.

"WELL, MAYBE THEY NEED A BREAK!" Blueberry exclaims before approaching you. Stretch sighs before hesitantly following his brother. 

"GREETINGS FART!" He exclaims, causing you to burst out laughing.

"Ahaha! I knew that name was a great choice!" You say before turning to the smiling short skeleton.

"[Insert pun here] MWHEHE!" You hear a groan come from the taller skeleton that just arrived.

"Hehe! That was a good one! As you know, I'm Fart. And you're…?"

"I'M THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY, MWHEHE! BUT YOU MAY JUST CALL ME BLUEBERRY OR BLUE!" Blue exclaims.

"I'm Carrot," Stretch says afterwards, causing you to snicker.

"Those are great names! Say, what are your classes?" 

"WARRIOR OF PEACE!"

"Mage, You?" You chuckle sheepishly at the question.

"I… chose all of them…" You admit, making Carrot snort.

"Couldn't settle for one huh?" Stretch asks amused, you cross your arms and huff.

"Hey! It's not my fault there's so many choices!" You exclaim.

"I THINK IT'S NEAT!" Blue chimes in making you smile.

"Thank you Blue. Hey, are you guys new to the game?" You ask and they both nod.

"Well, so am I! How about we explore together?" You suggest, Blue lit up like a Christmas tree.

"THAT'S A GREAT IDEA! LET'S GO NEW FRIEND FART!" Blue exclaims before leading the way, you and Carrot snicker and follow after.

So you spent the entire day exploring the HUGE town made for beginners and it's also a hangout/meetup area for experienced players. You got witty remarks from Carrot, puns and fun little facts and features from Sans as you explored. Before you all knew it, night had arrived and you had to log off.

"Oh shoot! It's 8 already?! I gotta go guys, thanks for exploring with me!" You announce making Blue jump.

"IT'S 8?!" Blue yelled before quickly logging off, leaving you with Carrot.

"He… doesn't play games a lot. He usually works hard," Carrot explains, you nod.

"Makes sense," You say before you go to log off.

"Wait a minute," Carrot says before you press the logout button.

"Could I get your discord? I have some… cousins that could use some social interaction from someone like you," You smile.

"Is this your way of telling me you want to hang out more?" You ask in a teasing tone, Carrot snorts.

"Yes and no," He answers simply with a smirk. You exchange discord usernames and codes (Cheesepuff ####) before saying your final goodbyes and logging off. 

You take off the VR headset and wince from the lack of light and strain on your eyes. You shut off everything and begin your nightly routine. Once done, you scoop up your phone and check your messages on discord. 

Cheesepuff: Yo, it's Carrot. I came to wish the jack of all trades goodnight. And to tell you Blueberry says he's sorry he left so suddenly.

You snicker before replying.

(Username): Thank you Carrot. Tell Blue I said it's okay. Goodnight to both of you!

You then go to message your friend hoping they weren't asleep already.

(Username): Dude! I made friends! :D

Totally not the writer: Oh? Do tell.

And so you do, telling them EVERYTHING! 

Totally not the writer: Woah. I gotta get that game. And they sound nice but keep on your toes okay? Not everyone is who they seem.

(Username): Don't worry, I will! Good night you night owl. (You better go to sleep once you send YOUR good night.)

Totally not the writer: No promises. Night.

Sighing, you shut off your phone and head to sleep and dream of Slimes, Carrots and Blueberries.

Holy shit! That took a while to write. One pair of boys down, 4 to go… Will the other chapters be as long as this one? It honestly depends but let's hope not for both our sakes.

So we got ourselves a new series! Huzzah! I’ll try and post the chapters here with links to the next as the series goes on but I could also post it onto quotev or something if you guys prefer that.

Next Chapter

[killjoyhistoryarchive]

“Conventional Weapons” and the Rocky Road to “Danger Days”

In 2009, My Chemical Romance was buzzing with activity. The band performed several shows and festivals (including Summer Sonic in Japan), Gerard and Mikey Way attended San Diego Comic Con, and The Umbrella Academy was named one of Amazon’s top comics of 2009. Ray Toro held a Whopper eating contest on the official MCR website (no joke), while a certain comic series written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon was announced in August. And at a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, MCR performed three new songs from their upcoming album.

But while their next album seemed easily slated for an early 2010 release, MCR was about to hit a series of hurdles that would leave them with a scrapped album, a lost drummer, and a totally new outlook on where their music was headed.

On July 31st, 2009, MCR performed a set at the Roxy that included three new songs–“Kiss The Ring,” “The Drugs,” and “Death Before Disco.” Gerard was enthusiastic about the new tracks, even telling Rolling Stone that “Death Before Disco” was “the greatest song we’ve ever written.” Videos of the tracks soon appeared online, where fans eagerly devoured what they thought would be the follow-up to 2006’s The Black Parade.

As the days and weeks went on, the media blitz kicked into high-gear. While Ray Toro posted short studio clips on MCR’s website, the band gave several interviews where they gushed about producer Brendan O'Brien, discussed their new stripped-down style, and claimed that this would be their best record yet. In an interview with MTV, Gerard described the still-untitled album as a “true love letter to rock and roll,” adding:

“There’s something about being an American rock-and-roll band that we’ve kind of grown into and we’re very proud of. And I think that’s what we’re celebrating with this record. There’s no agenda, there’s no mission; it’s just about rock and roll.”

Meanwhile, Gerard Way and close friend Shaun Simon had another surprise in store: a comic series called "Killjoys.” Dark Horse Comics announced the release at San Diego Comic Con. Jeremy Atkins, the Dark Horse Director of Public Relations, described “Killjoys” as “a psychedelic rock-and-roll road trip adventure geared toward both fans of The Umbrella Academy and My Chemical Romance.” But not much else was said about the comic, as MCR’s upcoming album had become Gerard’s top priority.

As the album drew closer to completion, MCR gave fans more glimpses of what lay in store. They shared the titles of various tracks, including “Still Alive,” “Trans Am,” “Hail To The King,” “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back," “L.A. Heavy,” "The Only Hope For Me Is You,” and “Black Dragon Fighting Society.” They cited a variety of influences, including Queen, Judas Priest, Bruce Springsteen, The Killers, and Blade Runner. By all accounts, this was going to be MCR’s defining album.

In December, MCR previewed seven tracks for SPIN magazine. A month later, in January of 2010, the album–which was still untitled–was rumored to be released on March 30th. As they continued to rework the songs, they realized that the stripped-down sound wasn’t working. As NME reported in January:

Things turned around with a song called “Trans Am,” now renamed "Bullet Proof Heart,” the likely first single. And perversely, they did it by returning to fiction. Broadly, it’s about a boy in New Jersey, dressed in a Judas Priest T-shirt, called Johnny. And a girl called Jenny who might be his girlfriend, but who also (honk the pop fact sirens!) might also be the missing girl from “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Killers.

But in the same interview, Gerard restated that the album would give "the purest, best version of the band you could ever hope for.” And in early February, MCR finally started to wrap up production, telling Big Cheese that the album would probably be released in spring or summer.

“Killjoys” also looked promising–back in January, Scott Allie had reported in a blog post that Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan were ready to get started. Once Gerard wrapped up the album and finished working on the Umbrella Academy movie screenplay, it seemed like he’d be ready to dive in.

But February was also when the band publicly stumbled for the first time.

Before the Big Cheese interview, MCR had abruptly cancelled their appearance at the Soundwave festival in Australia. In a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank claimed that Gerard was having voice problems (he jokingly implied that it was due to coffee and cigarettes) and required treatment to make a full recovery.

Fans were disappointed, but most understood that it couldn’t be helped. But a month later, the fandom received another shock: MCR’s drummer Bob Bryar had departed the band. In another blog post, Frank told fans:

As of 4 weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and expect you all to do the same. We also wanted to give you all a quick heads up on how the record is progressing. We have been writing some very powerful new songs so this week the four of us entered the studio once again, and what has been ending up on tape each night is some of the most exciting and honest work we have ever created.

The fandom was stunned. Clearly, MCR had been experiencing some behind-the-scenes turmoil, suggesting that the process wasn’t going as smoothly as fans had thought. While it wasn’t known at the time, they also parted ways with producer Brendan O'Brien, who had been hired specifically to channel their raw, back-to-basics sound. Where would MCR go from here? And when would fans hear the latest album–which was apparently undergoing rewrites once again?

It wasn’t until late 2010 that fans would finally learn what had happened to this unreleased album.

This moment, says frontman Gerard Way, looking back on what went wrong, “was the hardest part”. Guitarist Ray Toro was “home dealing with some family things”, leaving Way, his bassist brother Mikey, and guitarist Frank Iero alone in the mixing studio. “The sinking feeling was really starting to become loud that it wasn’t right - that the record wasn’t finished, I couldn’t even put them in a track order … "Thinking about it now, it’s kind of upsetting, because I just felt so lost,” Gerard says.

This was discussed in an interview with Herald Sun, where they talked about the process of starting again after the departure of their drummer and producer. Speaking to Music Radar, Ray Toro talked about the struggles the band had with original producer Brendan O'Brien, admitting that it hadn’t gone as well as they once thought:

“He was really trying; he did the best he could with us. He knew things weren’t clicking, and he’d try to rally us. I remember he said, ‘Hey, on some songs, I’d love to hear you do what you did on The Black Parade.’ Because there wasn’t any of the harmonized guitar parts or the stacking that I usually do. He was trying to get us to make one record, and we wanted to make something totally different.

Musically, we wanted to go back to our basement. But just because we wanted to do something different didn’t make it easy. In many ways, we felt as though we were holding ourselves back creatively. We were going through the motions. Some of the songs were good, but we weren’t happy with all of them.”

Needing a break, Gerard took a vacation to the desert that surrounded Los Angeles. There, as he told Terminal 5, he realized “I had started the band after 9/11 when I hated art. Black Parade had been about hiding and punishment. I couldn’t tell the truth so I’d talk about cancer instead. I had to put on a mask to show people who I really was. But now it was time to own it. To be who I was before this band started. And I had something in my back pocket: this song, ‘Na Na Na.’”

Reunited with producer Rob Cavallo, who had worked on The Black Parade, the band kicked things off with “Na Na Na.” Gerard and Shaun Simon’s comic “Killjoys,” once a separate side project that had nothing to do with the band, suddenly became the concept that they formed the album around. Fueled by fresh creative energy, the band wrote and re-wrote tracks, came up with concepts and characters like Dr. Death Defying, and shredded the limitations that had confined them. At one point, Gerard turned to his brother Mikey and said “Danger Days, here we come again!”

Not everything from the previous record was scrapped. “Trans Am” became “Bulletproof Heart”; “Death Before Disco” became “Party Poison.” A few new versions of old tracks appeared on the record, as well as the Mad Gear and Missile Kid EP that came later. But MCR’s fourth album had gone from a rock and roll record that deliberately avoided ambitious storylines, to a vividly realized concept album that invited fans into the world of post-apocalyptic California. In many ways, it was the opposite of what they had originally planned. And it seemed to be exactly what they had been looking for.

During this time, Frank snapped in-studio photos that he sold on MCR’s official website, offering one-of-a-kind peeks into the recording process. In March, Mikey Way stated in a blog post that “One day you will wake up, and nothing will ever be the same again, but it’ll feel like an old friend.” He was talking about upcoming changes to the MCR website, but in a way that statement reflected the band’s process at the time–they had completely reinvented themselves, and yet there was still a certain familiarity in the old tracks they had revamped.

The band completed the album with fresh energy, offering sporadic updates in the coming months. Fans waited with some skepticism to see what MCR had in store. And finally, one day in early September, MCR’s website disappeared and was replaced with a mysterious transmitter. The Danger Days era had begun.

But was the scrapped album hidden away, never to be heard again? Not quite.

In 2012, in a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank talked about the feelings of depression that he had faced after The Black Parade. He felt like MCR had done it all, leaving them with nothing left to accomplish. In November 2008, Gerard called him up to talk about the band. As new ideas took shape, they prepared to start recording the album that would eventually be scrapped after months of work.

Frank pointed out that while the band had limited themselves during the recording of this album, the songs weren’t inherently bad–in fact, some of them were among his favorites that the band had produced. As time passed, he developed a greater appreciation for the tracks. And when the band met up and listened to those songs, they decided to release a selection of tracks to the public–two tracks a month for the next five months, for a total of ten.

After all this time, the album finally had a title: Conventional Weapons. Tracks included “Kiss The Ring,” “The World Is Ugly,” “Surrender The Night,” and the fan-favorite “The Light Behind Your Eyes.” Listening to the tracks, it was clear that MCR had aimed for a rock album with a pure American sound–no ambitious concepts or storylines, just a set of killer tracks. Whether they succeeded is up to the listener to decide, but they provided some insight into what came before Danger Days.

Due to its unconventional release, and the fact that the album was a series of random tracks and not a finished product, Conventional Weapons is not considered an “official” MCR album. But while Danger Days was the final album, Conventional Weapons was the final release before MCR broke up in 2013. Since the split, the release of CW has caused many fans to wonder–will My Chemical Romance’s fifth (and unreleased) album ever be shared in a similar fashion? Or will it be locked away forever, like the other CW tracks that were never released?

Only time will tell. But for now, Conventional Weapons serves as an intriguing part of MCR’s history–a time when the band set out to make one type of album, and ended up making the complete opposite.

(Picture credits: 1 2 3. Other in-studio photos by Frank Iero.)

[Originally published 07.09.2017]