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if-whats-new · 4 months ago

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What's New In IF? Issue 31 (2024)

By Aj, Dion, Briar, Jen and Peter

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3

~ EDITORIAL ~

Apologies for the delayed Issue!

As you might know, we unfortunately had to delay this Issue due to some personal matters. But as promised, it’s finally here! We wouldn’t want you to miss out on any news.

As this Issue says on the front page, it contains news from November 23rd to November 29th.

But! The Events should be updated to match their status on December 4th, as they are more time-sensitive.

Issue 32 should be released on time. That means two Issues this week!

We want some feedback!

As we’re starting to get a hand of things, we would love some feedback from you guys! What you enjoy, want more or less off, how we could improve... Anything goes! We even have a nifty form.

We hope you enjoy this new issue!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

~ BE A PART OF THE ZINE ~

THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!

Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Videotome Jam - "Waiting" ~

November 16th to December 1st 2024

Videotome Jam is a two-week-long game jam for games made in any of the Videotome engines with the optional theme of "Waiting".

What is Videotome?

Videotome is a series of small homebrew IF/VN engines made by Freya Campbell (communistsister), an indie game developer focusing on narrative games that are usually:

science fiction, horror, &/or romance

close to 100% LGBTQ characters

free/PWYW with low tech requirements

liable to make players keysmash due to feelings

Videotome was first released in April 2022 as a part of a game entry for the Domino Club collective. The initial idea for the engine was to make writing text-heavy games as hassle-free as possible, focusing not that much on the visual presentation format, but more on the writer's experience. It would allow writers to write in a notepad and then it would somehow grab the .txt file and parse the lines into an array, spitting them out one line at a time as a kinetic novel.

At the moment there are four engines available:

Videotome, for linear, no frills text / images / music;

Videotome ADV, adding a more conventional layout with ignorable choices and branching;

Super Videotome, for more fully featured and freeform image/canvas use;

Videotome Heartbreak, adding a stat raising dating sim & storylets structure to the above.

If you're more interested in the process of making these engines, check out the devs blog post - Words, Friction, Syntax: Stuff I thought about when making Videotome. (The post also includes a very interesting case study concerning other game engines Freya has experience with.)

If you want to check out some examples of projects made with Videotome, take a look at this collection. It includes games made by both Freya and other devs.

~ ENDED ~

The Educational Jam has ended. Check out the thirteen entries and learn something new!

The voting for ECTOCOMP 2024 is officially over! Check out the results!

You can now check out all 16 entries to the Videotome Jam!

Disabled Rep VN Jam has a very simple premise but a very important message. Check out the submissions!

~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~

A Very Hallmark Game Jam has entered the voting phase. You can now vote for your favourite out of the five entries.

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!

This year’s Yuri Game Jam is in full progress. The devs have until December 2nd to submit their projects.

Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.

Are you perhaps a fan of more somber, melancholic themes? Then check out the Dying Year - Visual Novel Jam! You have until the end of the year to participate.

The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.

IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on your projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024), regardless of whether or not they are previously released! You have until January 15th 2025 to join.

Winter Visual Novel Jam 2024 is here! You have until January 1st 2025 to submit your projects.

Are you familiar with Decker? Then why not take a part in the Deck-Month 2?

Another bitsy jam is here. This time with the theme "better late than never".

~ OTHER ~

PIZZAPRANKS is accepting submissions for their Indiepocalypse Issue #61. If you’re a dev and would like to try out your luck, definitely check it out! Any game is welcomed, not only IF.

~ NEW RELEASE ~

You stand at the edge of a vast and foreboding cave system, its mouth yawning like the jaws of some ancient beast. This is no ordinary cave—it is the entrance to the Caverns of the Forgotten, a labyrinth of twisting tunnels, hidden chambers, and unfathomable mysteries that have claimed countless explorers before you.

Generations ago, invaders brought magic to the Kingdom of Jubai, setting battlemages at the top of the noble power structure and leaving everyone else oppressed. Now, a secret organization of mage hunters has risen up, phoenixlike, to stand against the mages' power and overthrow their rule. Can your secret order of mage hunters save the kingdom, or will internal strife tear you apart in Magehunter: Phoenix Flame (CScript)?

Today is your first day of work here at Toy Maker’s TOY BOX (Ren’Py). Pull apart stitches or rip off an arm or two; we support whatever you must do to ensure that you only save toys of the highest quality. Should you ever feel unsure, there’s no need to panic! Simply toss the trash where it belongs: the incinerator. After all, it’s of the utmost importance that inspectors upkeep the Maker’s image.

You're struggling for friends in a new town and decide to check out a cute diner! — 'That New Diner', huh? Odd name for a restaurant, but I see advertisements for it everywhere. Might as well check it out. Who knows, maybe I'll meet somebody?

What does the glass sound like? Quite tinkly. It crumbled into sand under the feet of all those worried people circling around. As for you, there was darkness in your eyes for a long time. And the glass has melted into silence long since. But what is this place? And who is this stranger standing in front of you? And most importantly, where — or who — did the bullet hit? — Monarch (Ren’Py) is a short visual novel game that was made during Ukrainian Micro Visual Novel Jam in 10 days.

Halloween is a big deal in Port Gillain, steeped as the town is in old folklore and ghost stories. You, the local psychic, regularly attend the festivities. This year, you can bring a friend. The Second Sight: All Hallow's Eve (Twine) is a companion story to The Second Sight: Dead Reckoning.

Your Aunt’s House (Adventuron) is a short story about mourning. @kessielrg

The story centers around Larry, a cab driver eking out a meagre existence in a dystopian near-future, until he unwittingly finds himself centre-stage in the midst of a technological revolution. — For the first time this multi-media project can be experienced in the form of an interactive novel. Larry Folger Volume I contains all the chapters of the ongoing narrative complete with music from the series.

Your feather, my wing is a game about getting close to the object of an experiment that your 'super-secret lab' leads! It's all about fun, fluff and cuddles. Nothing serious and if anyone from the "normal world" came to this organization, they'd be disappointed by the lack of pathos, mystery and seriousness. But do you care?

Nestled at the edge of an ancient forest, Ravenwood Hill looms like a shadowed sentinel against the pale moonlight. This is no ordinary place; whispers of its dark history echo through the trees, carried by the wailing wind. The townsfolk speak of disappearances, of mysterious lights flickering in the mansion atop the hill, and of secrets buried deep beneath its crumbling foundations. In Ravenwood Hill, you are the only one brave—or foolish—enough to uncover the truth.

As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!

~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~

Iberian Tales (Twine) - Life was once tranquil on the isolated coast of your city, surrounded by a loving family and promising prospects for success in your societal position. However, tranquility shattered as flames engulf your city, escape becomes the only viable option, if luck favors you enough to evade the soldiers blocking your path that is. @iberiantalesif-game

The Thorned Garden (CScript) is a Harem Intrigue game where you can die at any turn. Build up skills and connections to survive and climb the rankings. @opossumfern

Locked in a luxurious but ominous hotel, you are forced to face trials alongside five other people. Who abducted you and for what reason? What does the future hold with different organizations fighting for power over the world? And just how much is at stake when you play a twisted game without rules? Whether you want it or not, welcome to the Threshold (Twine). @thethreshold-if

5 days (Ren’Py) - Every step forward feels like another memory slipping through your fingers and yet, the world moves on — forcing you to find a way to follow, even when it feels impossible to let go.

~ UPDATES ~

As Gods Fall (CScript) released Chapters 4 and 5. @asgodsfall-if

Knight of Greenhaven (CScript) released Chapter 2.

Lost in your eyes (CScript) released part five of Chapter 3 on Patreon. @kathrinesadventures

Saturnine (CScript) added new content to their demo. @satur9-if

The Thousand Of Us (CScript) added new content to their public demo. @ivanwm-05

Weeping Gods (CScript) added new content to their demo. @jcollinswrites

The Summoner (CScript) released a part of Chapter 4.

Ashenmaw - Dragons of Marrowoods (CScript) added a part of Chapter 1 to their demo. @ashenmaw-if

Our Life: Now and Forever (Ren’Py) added Step 2 introduction scenes to their public demo. @gb-patch

Wasteland Pony Express added new content to their demo. @katieaki

The In-Between (CScript) released Chapter 11. @dalekowrites

Crown of Exile (Twine) released Chapter 10 on Patreon. @ramonag-if

~ OTHER ~

350p Adventure has been ported from Infor 6 to PunyInform. You can either download it or play it online in your browser. — (Some interesting trivia: The game is sometimes called Advent, because the system it was created on in the 70s would not allow filenames to be more than six characters long. This game is sometimes considered as the very first text adventure.)

As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks.

If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!

~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~

We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...

Shoot us an email!

~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?

An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?

Tell us about it! And it might appear here!

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...

Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!

As we end this issue, we would like to thank:

our awesome mysterious anon!

all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on the last issue! What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us! Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And see you again on Saturday!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 31

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comment-day · 7 months ago

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Some Resources To Help With Commenting

If you have ever gotten a comment full of pull-quotes, you know it is a joy to get as an author. You get to know exactly which parts of a fic stood out to someone! Which lines made them keysmash or delve into character or made it all click! Amazing!

If you've ever tried to write one yourself, you know that scrolling to the bottom of the screen to get to the comment box again and again is an exercise in frustration only matched by repeatedly closing your hand in a door while the fire alarm goes off. So. Here are some resources to help with that!

(Note: The high-tech versions below are for Ao3, but they replicate functionality Wattpad already has built in— you can comment line by line on that site! The low-tech resource linked below should work for any site that allows you to leave comments.)

The High Tech:

There is an amazing use script written by @ravenel which gives you a comment box that floats on your screen, which is detailed below.

It can be intimidating to install a use script, so @bourbon-ontherocks wrote a tutorial about it here:

For people who use Ao3 site skins, here's the code to make an Ao3 site skin and add a bookmarklet that turns having your comment box at the bottom of the screen on and off. Bonus: this will also work on mobile!

Here is an alternate Ao3 comment box that lets you open a box, type your commentary in the moment, and then send it down to the comment box at the bottom of the page, and then close it again! Includes an update by @aidaronan which was designed to work on mac and firefox!

The Low Tech:

Honestly I have been meaning to install one of these cool scripts, but I keep putting off installing them, so I just use my notes app. I open up a new note, and on my computer I put it behind my browser window so I can click to it, and on my phone I just keep it so that I can swipe across apps. So Then I copy-paste the quotes I want, dump them in the notes app, and put my commentary below! Simple, fast, and fantastic for when you are stuck on the bus for an hour.

So what do you comment?

What kind of commentary, you ask? I will be honest, a lot of the time the commentary is me going OH NO or keysmashing after lines. And that's also okay! I have been told so by authors before!

I know I have personally gotten comments where commenters did delicate character analysis after lines and those comments are in my treasured forever box, and I also have comments where someone went OH NO OH NO AOHNFDIOFNDISJFODISJIDJSIOFD YOU DIDN"T AUTHOR NO and I also hold them dear to my heart all the same. The author gets to know the reaction a work got from their reader! And that's fantastic!

The point of the pull quotes comment is showing the impact a work is having on you as you go through the work, section by section, and sometimes that's a digression about how this line made you think about the characters relationship and how he DESERVES THIS HAPPINESS, and sometimes it's responding to a heartbreaking line with twenty weeping emoji. The impact of opening up a comment email and seeing 10 lines of quotes of your own work will hit whether you have thoughtful commentary or you are rolling yourself into a little ball like an octopus and tumbling across the screen (ordinary standard unhinged comment I have left on the works of writers who make me feel Like That).

Go forth! Comment in detail! Let the authors know which lines made you go "oh no" out line in the kitchen as you made soup! Let them know about callbacks that you just realized and now you figured out the whole mystery! Let them know about how this one bit was so cute you had to step away from the computer for a sec! Let them know what you thought!

#Comment Day #Ao3 #Ao3 fanfic #Ao3 comments

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wheredostarsgowhenyoudie · 1 year ago

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Dear ML Fandom,

Do we have a list of funny Adrinette fics where Mari is emphasized as Adrien's VERY GOOD FRIEND and she retaliated for revenge/fun??? or where Adrien is talking about Buttercup and he's clueless it's him?? Basically fics where Adrien is an idiot but a very lovable one and you just cannot stop reading.

Something like the ones in the list below, and yes I realize I am just about to share my own list again LOL, so feel free to read if you're in the mood. But pretty please give me more suggestions to add to this list because I am currently in the need for more.

I wanna be amused/laugh at the silliness of fluffy things.

So here goes:

My list of Lovable idiot Adrien fanfics (in order of my latest nth reread/recollection)

1) Adrien Is A Dumb Blond by DracoGal - one shot where Marinette is a brave girl who confessed and flirts above and beyond (A++ really) and is still labelled a VERY GOOD FRIEND because Adrien is that clueless.

2) your keysmash says it all by Noukon - a very sweet friendship social media series fic where our Mari is a sweet friend who loves Buttercup but is still shipping Adrigami out of loyalty, and Adrien is having feelings/stirrings but he's also blind. This brought me a whole lot of big smiles but is also still ongoing.

3) words he only dreamed to hear by alizeh (maketea), maketea - where LB is the sweetest and they are officially dating (and kissing, yes your honor) but our boy is clueless, he doesn't know they're dating.

4) pretty lady, look at how he's smiling by Missnoodles - this is more sweet and romantic than funny but I wanna add it in this list anyway because well, it is SO cute and they fell in love because of camembert and etsy cards lol

#ml fandom #ml #mlb #adrinette #marichat #ladrien #ladynoir #buttercup #very good friend marinette dupein-cheng #buttercup adrien agreste #fluff humor dumb adrien #silliness #fluff #lots of fluff #oblivious adrien agreste #for the love of very good friends

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solifloris · 3 months ago

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:D SERVER'S OPEN!!!!!! this will make zero sense for anyone who goes under the cut i just needed somewhere to liveblog so youll see this post get updated sporadically and it will probably be just filled with keysmashes LMAO

[jumpy bouncy noises] ITS LOAAADDDIIIIINNNGGGGGGGGGG

Lord help me and my internet for loading this slowly its like watching a snail </3 IMSTILL BOUNCING BUT AT WHAT COST. AT WHAT COSTTTTTTT

so close yet so far...

75% YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN DO IT IM CHEERING YOU ON GO GO GO OG GO GO

WHY IS IT STUCK AT 92% WNFKJW HELP

[secret agent voice] i'm in 😎😎😎

WHY?!

HWHDHWHHDHWHEHWHWHOOAAAAAHHH?!?! ITS SO PRETTY 😭😭😭😭 NOW THAT ITS ACTUALLY ON MY SCREEN

OOUUUU IM SO EMO RN

*PATHETIC WHIMPERS* 😭😭😭

ok ok ok ok ok ok. STORY TIME

oh my poor mc.... fellow chronic nightmare haver...

FUCKING EVERRRRRRRRR WHEN I CATCH YOU EVERRRRRRRRRRRR <- automatic reaction after one (1) ever mention

WHAT THE HELL????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

ohhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDHFWKJSEDNGKJVHNDKFJHBNKJDFNCXKJVMF "is the new fleet colonel defying the hunters association" HE'S NEW????????????? AND HE'S DOING WHAT NOWWWWWWWWWWWW??????????????

WHAT ARE WE DOING WHY ARE WE IN THE UNIFROMFSKJGNJDK "ROOKIE" IM SCREAMINF

why IS the fleet investigating a crime scene.... is that what they do??? why are they involved im crying

"prohibiting hunters from investigating" oh I GET IT. OK BRO

oHMYGOD JENNA

omfg the AUTHORITY QWHFNVKDJGHJ GOOSEBUMPS.CHILLS.

"concerned about the confidentiality" FLASHBACKS TO THE CALL WITH CALEBGVBDKF IM SOBBING SO HARD RN

"jenna shows a rare instance of exasperation" SORRY JENNA T^T

JENNA YOU'RE LITERALLY MVP OMFHGKEJRSNDFKJG I LOVE YOU HUHUHUHUHUHU

i like how, realistically this wouldn't have been possible,,, bc military is super strict about the info they have on cadets,,, like omg if they did that w the military academy here there'd be hella price to pay HWJSKFNVSKJDFBUT SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF !!!!!!!!

SHE'S FUCKING WEARING IT 😭😭😭😭😭😭 HUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHU😭

"butting heads with the association" GHWEJSKDGNVKJEDFKJGH SMOOTH MF YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SLICK...................

"don't poke your nose in places where it doesn't belong" yeah that's an accurate representation 😭 authority and position mean hella. if you're just a cadet... a rookie at that... you don't get to do much if they say you can't 😭

I FUCKING CHOKEDHKEJRHGNKJDF THAT'S LUKE'S VA?????????? IM CRYIN RNHYGKEJDG ID RECOGNIZE THAT IN A HEARTBEAT 😭😭😭😭😭

I CANT DO THIS I CANTHFVWKJSD IM JUST SEEING LUKE WHAT THEY CANF DO THIS TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I KNNNOOWWWW THE TWINS ARE JUSTTT SIDE CHARACTERSSSS BUT COME OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

😭

OTL OTL OTL

sorry anyway. back to regular programming.

WAIT

HIS EYES. HIS EYES ARE SO. WEHKJGDHVKHSKDFJGHVKEJDFNGKJVDNFKJGHNVKJNKGVJDNKFJCNVKDJFNJKGHDKFVNKDJF HOLY FUCK

"UNFORTUNATELY FOR THEM, I ALREADY DANCED WITH DEATH ONCE." SIR. MARRY ME

OH GODDAMMIT I CANT STAR LINES YET COME OOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

haha he used limitless. /jJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

I LOVE HOW WE STARTED BOTH CALEB'S AND SYLUS' DEBUT CHAPTERS WITH MURDER LIKE YES. GET EM BOYS

THE WAY HE

THE WAY HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE WAY HE FHEKJSDRNKJFGHKDJRHWIPED THE BLOOD OFF OF

OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"maggots" hELP HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS CAPTAIN DUDE

OHM YGOD

HE HGERKJSDKGJSD THE FUCKINGKRHSDKGJ TOM CRUISE-

IM CRYIGNSDKFJ SOHARDF

FUCKHDFKJGHFUKCING HELL WHY IS

HES SO GODDAM ATTRACTINVERKJG

WAIT

joseph.........

"his voice... sounds familiar." NO SHIT GIRLIEHGKBJDFHXKGJBNKDFJNV

STOPESHGKJSHK "I'D RECOGNIZE YOUR VOICE IN AN INSTANT" APPLIES TO BOTH OF THEM 😭😭😭😭😭

HES SO FUCKING HOT BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

the tone of voice the. the GAZE. the WORDS. the. EVERYTHING. hejkfhWHFDSJ HE CARRIES HIMSELF WITH SUCH. COLD. RUTHLESSNESS

AND HES SO. SMART. HES SO. HES SO

OUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH HIS BRAIN

FUCK IT I WANF HIM

OH SHITGNVKDFSJHGKD WE'RE TALKINF ABOUT COGNITIVE DISSONANCE OHMYGOFHSKJDFH CALEB I FUCKING LVOE YO U

HIS EVOL IS SO FUCKINF POWERFUL

OH MY GODHFEWNKJDSNKGJNVKJDFNXCKVJDNMFXKJGN

OHH MYGODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CALEB YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

"the order is cold, and everyone snaps out of their daze."

*SWOONS*

OMYGODWHGSKSKJD SHE RECOGNIZES THE EVOL 😭 THE FLASHBACK IMSOBBINGS O HARD RN

"it's not because i'm scared. i heard this voice before. i know this voice."

SCREAMING CRYING THROWINF UP

"no need." "I'll do it myself." IIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYELLINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[ R E S T ]

I NEED A MOMENF WAIY

ok back to regular programming.

"can you really be called a small fish?" OH HE'S TEASING HER 😭

IM ABOUT TO SOB IM SOBBGINKRJDFHKJGKDVJFHKJGOHHYMGOD THE WAY HE REVEALED HIMSEJFKSHKJDF THE HAT THE HAT THE

"show some respect to the farspace fleet's colonel." SIR YES SIRRRRRRRRRR

i cant believe i cant star his lines yet. i already have a collection in my head

. MY GIRL'S DELUSIONALHGKJWHSDKJGHKSJD I GET IT. I WOULD BE TOO. I FEEL YOU MC. I FEEL YOU.

"watch your mouth." SIR

OH THE EYES. THE GAZE HE. oh hes losing it. oh hes trying so hard to act calm. oh caleb you absolute fucking puppy

"smart move." LET ME STAR HIS LINESSSSSSSLET MEEEEE STARRR THHEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

KEJHRGKJHWKJRHG I CANNOT WITH HIM HES SO WHGJDVKJH THE KABEDON THE. THE NECKLACE. THE WAY HE'S LOOKING AT HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR IM SOBBING HES TRYING SO HARD. YOU THINK YOURE SOOOOOOOOOOO SLICK CALEBBB. ITS NOT WORKINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG I CAN SEE YOUR YEARNIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGG

"i... i miss him." IM SOBBING SO HARD

"do what you're told, and don't cause any trouble." SIR YES SIRRRRRRRRRRR

"be obedient, and it will be over before you know it."i need. immediately. to hear this line in japanese. IM PLAYING THE ENTIRE THING IN JAPANESE LATER OK HOLDON. he calls us a good girl i know it I JUST KNOW IT I KNOW HE DOES.

IM FUCKING WHEEEEEEEEEZIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG THE BATON FHKJSDHKJGHS HE'S HAVING SO MUCH FUN I CANT WITH HIM OH CALEB YOU'RE NOT SLICK AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

HE'S BEEN WATCHING HER THIS WHOLE TIME 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 IM . I CANT DO THIS HE'S SO CONCERNED HES USING THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO ASKHER OHMYGOD HES SO PUPPY. HIS EXPRESSION. HES SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NOT THE WAY HE JUST GOES :D

"did i scare you? :(" IM GOING TO CRY YOURE SUCH A PUPPY

the more pathetic he gets, the more i love him. let it be known.

THE HUG THE HUG WE GOT THE HUG OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

MC'S VOICE ACTING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 TOP TIER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM ABOUT TO SOB WITH HER AWWW WHAT THE HELL THGKWJSDKJ MY HEART

STARTS SOBBING CRYING THROWING UP

CALEB YOUUUUU 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

WE GOT A LIL APPLE PATPAT 😭😭😭 IM SOOO 😭😭😭 WHAT THE HELL I LOVE HIM 😭😭😭😭😭

SOBBING CRYING ON THE FLOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 WE HAVE A SECRET SPOT 😭😭😭 OMIGODDD 😭😭😭😭😭😭

oops ok image limit. PART 2 OF MY INCOHERENT YELLING IN THE REBLOGS <3

#lnds spoilers #3.0v2 shenanigans #aka roxie going insane probably #(this user thinks about caleb daily)#lnds garden 🌹

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cyberphuck · 7 months ago

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The Patreon Post

SO HERE'S THE DEAL: I do not want to make anyone have to pay to see my art.

Let's be real: there are like fifty bajillion other, more skilled, and better-known artists on Patreon putting out more detailed, more unique, more in-demand, and just more art than I am (or want to). I'm a self-taught, frequently distracted amateur who's had an iPad for a year. I'm not gonna pretend that I am going to be able to pull in more Patreon subs-- or keep them, for that matter-- on the strength of my random doodles alone. I have never really thought or even hoped that I could do that, because it would mean Doing Art As A Job, and I absolutely do not want to associate "drawing" with "work." (I also don't have the means, time, motivation or experience to self-promote and/or keep a small community of followers entertained, and even the thought of having to do all that on top of having to Draw For Work is terrifying.) There's the self esteem-destroying gutpunch that someone with BPD (me haha!) receives when they ask if something they created is "worth" a certain amount and are answered with silence. (If you have BPD, you know that 'silence' is so much worse than 'no.') I don't think that anyone is actually saying my work is worthless any more than I think stairs were invented to fuck over people with bad knees, but I want to avoid one for the same reason I avoid the other: hurts and bad for healing. And also, maybe most importantly, most of the fans of my work are my friends, and most of my friends are poor people. I do not ever want someone to have to choose between "Eggman weeping as he cradles a slain Speedy Gonzales" and "rent." Lots of people I know just don't have any money to spare even for professionally made entertainment, or, like me, sometimes they have money (yay, beginning of the month!) and sometimes they don't (booo, end of the month). I'm not gonna put a paywall between my friends and my art. So, as always, you can view all of my art on Patreon for free, without an account*. (*you will have to have an account to view NSFW stuff but this will be in the 'free' tier as well.) H O W E V E R. You guys I am so fucking poor. If you follow my blog you know the whole story already-- mental illness, chronic illness, chronic mental illness, surprise rescue puppies, surprise fines from the city, the fukken recently concussed clown show that is social services in my area-- and you've seen me having to crowdfund for everything from food to gas to dog emergencies. We budget down to the cent and have cut out so many things (like the meal replacement shakes for my eating disorder lol) and we're still not making ends meet. I've got friends who help, and they help a lot, but I hate the miserable, humiliating task of asking for help every single month. (You guys also know that I don't have family that can help me, even if shit goes critical. I was on my own while I was a homeless sex worker, on my own when we lived in a shed with no windows, on my own when we were in a house with no heat and only one source of running water, and definitely on my own now, in desperate need of mobility aids, house cleaners, and a god damn break.)

So here's where I'm at: I can't ask a few people for a lot of support, but I can ask a bunch of people for a little bit. If you like my art and want to help me keep making it, want to help me make shitpost replies to people on the internet, want to help me do free askbox art challenges: Put your doodle prompt requests in the askbox. You can even request stuff anonymously! Participate in polls about what prompts you wanna see. Reblog the art you like, show off the doodle you got, leave keysmashes in the tags. The more people see the post, the more statistically likely it is we'll find the one person on Tumblr with disposable income. Also, people should know they can get free art when the prompts are live! Sub to the Patreon if you can spare three bucks a month (you can also do Ko-fi if you don't want to make a Patreon account). Ko-fi is also a good place to just plunk something into the tip jar once in a while. There are Artcards and Monthly Sketch sub tiers on Patreon for a little bit more, but I will send an Artcard to pretty much anyone who asks as long as I have some left. The art is free, it will always be free. But if you can, spare a dollar (or three).

#artists on tumblr #queer artist #mutual aid

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annerbhp · 1 month ago

Note

Hey, just reaching out for advice. I’m not really a writer but my best friend has recently asked me to read and feedback the first draft of a book he has written, it’s his first big prose writing project ever. I know it’s quite a personal thing to share so I want to be as helpful as possible without trampling all over his work. Hence me reaching out - what would you say is helpful to look out for in a first draft and how should I approach my feedback? Thanks so much in advance.

Hi! That's a great accomplishment for your best friend and a nice thing you are willing to do for them!

I think the absolutely most important thing is for you to ask. You need to have the conversation with your friend about exactly what kind of feedback they are looking for. There are quite a few types of betas (as we call them in the fanfic world), and each have their uses, and it might be difficult for you to know which type to offer and it might even be difficult for your friend to know which one they want (or be able to be willing to be honest with themselves). You also need to be clear on what you can offer and what feels out of your ability.

Here are some basic approaches that a beta can offer that you might be able to use to frame a conversation:

Cheerleading

I also call this the "Squee Beta". This is someone I ask to read my story in order to give me their live reactions. This can be things like "omg! that was so funny, love this set up right here." or "wow, we just met this character but I am so curious to know more!" or simple keysmashing or emoji reactions or things like that.

A cheerleader kind of lets me know how a reader experiences the fic and can give me positive reinforcement and sometimes even the boost to actually keep writing, to believe the story is worth finishing and posting.

Writing is such a solitary thing, that it can be easy to get in your head about it. Cheerleading can really help with that. Cheerleaders rarely offer edits or things to change.

2. Outlining/Soundboarding

This role might not fit since it sounds like the novel is already in its complete rough draft. But a soundboarding/outlining beta can be someone you bounce ideas off as you are constructing the story. So this kind of beta is usually involved from an earlier stage of the story.

3. Structure/pacing

Sometimes it can be really helpful to have a beta reflect on the overall structure and pacing of the story, especially bigger projects. This could be someone who points out when a particular scene seems to drag, when something seems to go by too fast, or any places where the reader might get confused. This could also be advice on where chapter breaks happen or the balance of POV or the balance of action versus descriptive passages versus dialogue, etc.

You could also ask for this level of beta on any area in the fic. Say, if someone just really wants to know if the character arc feels right, or if their dialogue feels true to life. Whatever the author might want.

4. SPAG

A "Spelling and Grammar" beta is someone who reads the story through to find any glaring typos or grammar issues, or to highlight any sentences that are a bit wonky, the kinds of things that once you have been working on a story for a while can become invisible to the author.

5. Line Edit

This is a much more intensive form of SPAG. This is someone who goes through each sentence for spelling and grammar, yes, but also flow, word choice, and offering suggestions for making the writing the best it can be. Not a lot of people have the advanced grammar knowledge for this role. This is the one I am more likely to expect using a professional for, if this is a project for formal publication.

6. Sensitivity Reader

This type of beta is someone who can offer advice for writing the settings/stories of people/cultures that are often underrepresented in media or are frequently stereotyped. This can be anachronism checking (no one uses tiktok in the 1990s!) but is more often letting an author know when they have taken shortcuts with a culture or character that runs the risk of reinforcing negative stereotypes or essentializing/fetishizing a culture. This again, requires some specialized knowledge on the part of the beta. If one is seeking out this kind of feedback for a published work and has to find someone with that specialized skill/experience, this is another one I would expect to pay for, for many various reasons.

In addition, no matter the role, another thing you want to ask is in what format they want feedback. Some authors are totally fine with someone giving in text edits as suggestions. Others do not want anyone else touching their sentences and just prefer all feedback as comments in the document rather than track changes. Again, just ask! And also check in to see if what feels comfortable changes over time!

That's just the major examples of major roles a beta can take on, if that helps start up your conversation. It's possible to do multiple of these at once. But it is absolutely essential to know what your author wants of these and only give them what they ask for. Not to add pressure, but an author getting the "wrong" kind of beta can really do psychic damage to the author, depending on where they are at the moment.

So, I'd say the most important things when offering feedback for someone:

Set clear expectations for what kind of feedback is being asked for, and then stick to it.

Set clear, reasonable expectations for how long it will take you to give the feedback. It doesn't have to be quick, you just have to give some sort of timeline and then stick to it, or your author might lose their mind waiting.

Offer all feedback as an option. It is ultimately the author's decision if they take that feedback or not. Or if they change anything based off your feedback. You have to make sure to keep your ego out of it. If they reject a suggestion, that's not rejecting you, it's just them deciding what works or doesn't for the story, and ultimately, it's their story to write!

Remember ALWAYS that your job as a beta or someone offering feedback is not to get the person to write the story the way you think they should or to write the story you want to read. You are there to help the other person complete their vision, write their story. You should do your best to center that and make every offered feedback as a matter of "what will help this person get their story finished and feel proud of it?"

Keep lines of communication open. Just check back in and ask how the set up you've created is working, if the author would like anything to change. Or if anything needs to change on your end! They might ask for one thing but then find that it's actually not enough, or that they actually do just need more cheerleading for a bit and less SPAG. Or you might start to feel overwhelmed and just need more time, or for them to bring on another person to help out, if they can. Just keep talking!

Best luck to you and your friend!

#writing #beta readers #feedback #i write therefore i complain

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retphienix · 11 months ago

Text

I'mma ramble for a second.

I think the silly haha minigames in Abiotic Factor are ingenious solutions to a distinctly "not fun" trapping of the genre.

Not "Universal" solutions, but solutions I think A GENUINELY SIZEABLE PORTION of the genre would be better off adopting.

Sleeping in survival games is boring; It often forces all the players in a multiplayer setting (which many of these games encourage) to sync up and stop playing the game at the same time so they can skip through the night, or they annoy a player in that group who wanted to do night stuff or vice versa etc.

Sleeping in more hardcore titles just forces more and more micromanaging such as if you're in a coop game where one player has some variant of "sleep deprivation" and the other has the opposite- now you have someone desperate to sleep all the time but unable to do the "fast forward" option many of these games implement because their partner isn't tired.

As much as Project Zomboid is one of my favorite games ever, I can't say "sleep in a multiplayer session" is high on my list of positives for the game both in terms of the literal implementation and in how it forces me and my buds to use similar perks or modify the server to allow us to not go absolutely mad from how our sleep schedules struggle to line up naturally.

Now the "solution" for this last case has always been "Well, just don't pick different perks then" but isn't THAT a problem?

So here comes Abiotic Factor going "What if sleep didn't advance time and didn't need to be synced in any way" "What if sleep was a per-player mini-game where you can speed up how long you're stuck sleeping by doing well, and the mini-game has a longer base-time based on how tired you are" and bam, a lot of things got improved all at once.

Because sleep in Abiotic Factor doesn't demand your fellow players bend their playstyle to your will, it instead lets YOU feel in control of it entirely. You're guy has sleepy disease? Well then YOUR gameplay will be influenced by that as you'll be seeking out couches and beds to catch quick cat-naps in, but you won't be dragging down the experience for everyone else because of it!

Also the decision to make sleep not fast forward time, but instead be game-ified like this honestly does give you the "feeling" of managing your various survival health stats while still letting you experience all aspects of the game-world's time states (IE: You still feel like you're managing your little science guy, but you also get to interact with day AND night threats instead of effectively missing half of it because you're sleeping through it).

Pooping is another layer of improvement in my opinion, because so many of these games give you 50 bars to micro manage but it all really boils down to "eat and move around and sleep".

Meanwhile Abiotic goes "Hey, the bars in this game all have some gameplay tied to them to encourage some fun. Scavenge, farm, or kill for food. Boil, filter, or scavenge for water. Keep an eye on your sleep with a small minigame aaaaaand poop."

All of them are tied to figuring out solutions- finding the thing that fulfills you, or building it. Finding couches or making a bed. Finding fresh water or figuring out a solution for it. Finding food or figuring out a source of food. Poop is just straight up another entertaining bar.

The solution to it is exploring the world for an easy to access toilet, or making one. It's VERY similar to sleep in that respect, and handled the same with a minigame.

I got lost in the sauce a bit but basically, Abiotic took a very smart approach to their micromanage bars- one that SPECIFICALLY emphasized FUN instead of just being there because it's expected to be there.

Food is pretty entertaining in this game. It's usually entertaining in these types of games, but I really do enjoy the variety of solutions here- everything from farming vending machines to hunting to cooking feel valuable to the pursuit- it's well handled!

Same with water as mentioned, lots of solutions, it makes it rewarding to tackle the problem.

Sleep is almost universally an "Unfun" part of these games. Not a NEGATIVE exactly, but there's nothing "fun" about sleep in these games- and Abiotic said "Why not?" and just made it non-intrusive to coop gameplay and turned it into a minigame that doesn't force you to skip hours of game-time. Genius!

And pooping is just a fun addition- a fun bar to manage- a silly one that has more depth than initially grasped. Because yes it encourages exploration which in itself is great, but it ALSO gives an early game risk reward of providing farming material in return for an easily dispelled debuff, and for those seeking to solve a problem there is a means to turn this bar into a resource with no debuff by making your own toilet.

It exclusively adds to the gameplay and fun instead of being a survival bar for survival bar's sake.

I struggled to convey my ideas because this is all one keysmash ramble, but basically I think Abiotic Factor did a good job at taking genre trappings and turning them into fun gameplay. Nice :)

#abiotic factor #RetPlays

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poppitron360 · 11 months ago

Note

*slides you a 20 [whatever currency you're using] bill* now tell me about how you got to ship valzhang and what you like most about it, along with your headcanons and scenarios

...please<3

THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU.

Okay sorry for taking long to reply I needed to schedule 3hrs out of my day to respond to this because I have a LOT of thoughts- Valzhang was my otp LONG before Valgrace. Be prepared for a lot of caps lock, keysmashes and exited ramblings.

We are phenomenally deprived of Valzhang fanart/fanfiction and that is a CRIME. They are so fun and cute to draw next to each other because they’re just so different- I love how Leo looks SO FUNKING TINY next to Frank.

But seriously, we are lacking. I searched up “Valzhang” on Pinterest earlier and there is NO JOKE only 5 pieces of fanart on there. We need to step up our game!

I’ve already posted this, but here is some Valzhang fanart I drew a while back-

So, how did I come to become the No.1 Valzhang Defender, you ask? Well…

Reading TLH was going slowly (bc of Spotify Audiobooks and their stupid listening hours feature), but I needed to shovel content into my brain like popcorn and so by the end of the first book I’d known all the spoilers and I knew that Frank and Leo would have a rivalry- and I was already SUPER attached to Leo, so I was prepared to HATE Frank.

So imagine my absolute frustration when I read SoN and found myself absolutely falling in love with this massive softie. I tried not to, I really did, but I couldn’t help it.

So, naturally, I was COMPLETELY on board with them becoming besties.

I was also all for their rivalry because it had so much potential for Leo angst- he’s already antagonising himself because of his powers, so someone else treating him like shit would only make him feel worse- thus I have more ways to cathart my own pain through fictional characters, so either way, it was a win-win for me.

But the blossoming bromance we got from it-

Oh my gods.

I already made a post about my feelings on Valzhang and how Caleo is just a shitty re-cycled version of them, but NO WAY was that all my thoughts, so here goes (and bear in mind I am only on HoH so this isn’t even their arc as a whole):

*Clears Throat*

*Shuffles note cards*

*Clears throat again*

*Deep Breath*

1. FRANK IS NO LONGER AFRAID OF FIRE BECAUSE OF LEO!!!!! I mean HOW CUTEE IS THAT!!!!!! He thought that there was nothing worse than fire, he was terrified of it, it was his biggest weakness. And then he met this tiny annoying hyperactive boy who is the MOST UNLIKELY OF FRIENDS- And he taught him to not be afraid. Like there is a moment where his trousers are literally ON FIRE and he doesn’t freak out because Leo taught him to not be afraid anymore. AND IT’S NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE POUCH!!!! Frank learns to trust Leo with his life- and there’s that moment in that scene where he’s faced with a choice to give him The Stick or not, and he chooses to trust Leo. He learns that fire (Leo) may seem scary and intimidating, but it can also be good and warm and wholesome and healing.

2. AND IT GOES BOTH WAYYYS!!!!! Leo was afraid of opening up to people, of letting down the mask and letting people see the real him. Sure, he did it a bit with Jason and Piper, but notice how in TLH, he only does it bc he didn’t have a choice. He used his fire powers to save them, and then Jason sort of just pieced together what happened the night Leo’s mom died. The first time he actually TELLS someone about it was when he tells Frank- someone who he thought was big and intimidating and so was putting his defences up with the jokes. To him, Frank looked just like someone who would’ve bullied him in the foster homes, he was the last person Leo thought he’d open up to. But he does, and Frank comforts him. They realise they’re not as different as they thought, and bonded over similar trauma and dead moms.

*Takes another deep breath*

3. LEO REALLY IS SO BRILLIANTLY TINY NEXT TO FRANK. IT. IS. SO. CUTE. Unlike Calypso and Leo, who were not planned out, Frank was WRITTEN to be Leo’s rival. They are exact opposites. The Yin and the Yang. The Sun and The Star (lol). They both juxtapose each other so beautifully- on the surface they contrast and clash but looking deeper they actually parallel each other but ultimately they compliment each other both in flaws and in strengths!!!! (*steadies myself on table* “Whoa, flashback to GCSE Eng Lit- using the same analysis structure. Are you proud of me, Miss Cox?”) But seriously, they initially are rivals because they look like complete opposites- tall/short, muscular/built like a twig, calm and careful/reckless and loud, animals/machines, Roman/Greek, Outwardly confident/Outwardly insecure, etc, etc.

4. But, as I said, looking deeper, they actually have a lot in common. Not just losing their moms, but Leo’s just as afraid of fire as Frank is. The only difference being that Frank’s afraid because of how it could hurt him, Leo’s afraid because of how it could hurt others, which directly contradicts Frank’s initial impression that Leo is self-centred and egotistic. Honey, that’s just an act. They’re also both very insecure, and both feel like the least useful member of the seven, and struggle to feel accepted. Because of how Leo felt threatened by Frank, he put his defences up and lashed out with his jokes, attacking Frank where he was most vulnerable, ridiculing him. They completely misjudged each other at first, and had an ANTI-meet-cute (Leo firing on New Rome) and it took a while for them to take down those walls that they’d built up, making it a lot more meaningful when they do open up.

And now we get onto specific hcs/scenarios I have, and I have a LOT of them:

1. Nico reveals to Leo that Frank’s mom is in Elysium because she gave her life in war to save others, whereas Leo’s mom is not, and instead is in Asphodel, despite all the little things she sacrificed in order to raise him, knowing he’d be important to the fate of the world. This causes a lot of resentment and jealously for Leo, as Frank has the one thing he desperately wants- a chance to see his mom again, make things right, get closure. Frank is annoyed by the fact that Leo is suddenly acting so cold and angry towards him, until Leo finally explains why.

2. Leo’s lactose-free mac n cheese is Frank’s favourite thing on earth. He has some sort of magic ingredient that makes the fake cheese not taste so plasticky, but he refuses to tell Frank what it is so Frank has to keep begging him to make it. Leo also makes it high in fibre and carbs, so it’s good workout food. Leo makes sure all his meals are Frank-Friendly.

3. I need to see them in battle together. Frank is incredibly anxious and overprotective of his tiny reckless bf/bff. Leo’s just a ball of freaking energy bouncing around going “ahahahbahjabkakdfkajkjaaa” and Frank’s like “Leo, no, those have teeth-“ He’s fine though.

4. As much as Frank acts like he hates Leo, he would risk his life for him in a heartbeat. I imagine Leo gets injured in battle and Frank drops whatever he’s doing and just fucking RUNS to help him. I can vividly picture him transforming into an elephant and scooping an unconscious Leo up in his trunk, and carrying him over to the medic tent. Yes, he’s currently being fired on by so many enemies, but nothing matters except getting Leo to safety.

5. Frank helps Leo with his machines. He can turn into small animals and get into tiny spaces, and he can become desert creatures, so the heat in the engine room doesn’t bother him.

6. Frank often finds Leo asleep on top of his blueprints, his welders-goggles askew, and he turns into a cat and curls up next to him to keep him company.

7. Also, when Leo skips meals because he’s spent too long working and he’s lost track of time, Frank makes sure to bring him food and water and his ADHD meds… and then he asks him to make him some mac n cheese.

8. Frank knows about PTSD from seeing his mom and her military friends, and so is often there to comfort Leo when he has flashbacks to the night his mom died, or one of the other miserable things that happened in his childhood.

9. All the things that used to freak Frank out about Leo (Leo making fun of his insecurities, Leo’s fire, the whole Sammy thing-) they are now 100% comfortable joking about together. Before, Frank would get upset when Leo ridiculed him, but now Leo does it as a sign of affection rather than as self-defence, and Frank can tell the difference. It is their love language.

10. When I write fanfiction, I often write important scenes when I think of them, and then write around them. Sometimes, it’s just one or two lines, for example I found this in my notes app the other day:

“I hate Hera,” Leo said, “She yeeted my dad off a cliff.”

“Yote,” Frank corrected.

And I had nothing written around it, nowhere to put it, it was just lying there. Anyway, that was important to share.

11. Also, I have this:

“I’m hugging you now,” Frank said, pulling Leo into an embrace and squeezing him tight.

“O- Okay, big guy,” Leo said, his voice muffled in Frank’s chest. His tiny body was practically swallowed in Frank’s bear-hug. He squirmed and fought and wriggled, but his weakling arms worked about as well as spaghetti against Frank’s brick-like build.

“No,” Frank insisted, “I will smother you with love and affection.”

“Get. Off.”

“No.”

“Let go of me, Zhang, or I’ll burn you.”

Frank let go. Leo rubbed his bruised arms.

12. I ship them platonically, but the joke-flirting is 1000% a thing they do. Hazel is the main pedaler of this, and often introduces them as “My boyfriend Frank, and Frank’s boyfriend Leo.”

13. Frank reluctantly admits to Leo that he likes Taylor Swift. Leo is obvs a swiftie, so absolutely goes MENTAL at this news, ofc ridicules him mercilessly for it, despite how hypocritical it makes him look (“This is not about me!”), but still insists they sit down with Hazel and make friendship bracelets (Frank no longer has the heart to tell him that he wasn’t actually a huge fan, just had a couple of her albums and liked her songs, unlike Leo who knows every word to every song, all the lore behind it, and Tay’s favourite colour, star sign, and shoe size.) AND I KNOW I HEADCANNON EVERYONE AS A SWIFTIE SHUT UP LET ME PROJECT.

14. Frank buys Leo fidget toys he think’s he’ll like. Sure, Leo can make his own, but it’s the sentiment that counts.

15. And they stay friends after the War. Frank frequently visits from New Rome University. They have long iris messages where they gossip and talk shit.

16. Leo becomes godfather to Frazel’s children. Absolutely SPOILS THEM ROTTEN (I also have a shit-tonne of hcs about Leo babysitting Percabeth’s kids, so lmk if you’d like to hear that.) Will visit the Zhang-Levesque household on the weekends, makes the kids gifts, teaches them how to safely use a fire extinguisher, helps them prank their dad.

17. I know Jason is meant to be Leo’s best friend BUT if Valgrace was cannon then that would leave room for Frank to be the BFF. NO BUT, YOUR HONOUR, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND- They started out hating each other, but then became INSEPARABLE once they took the time to get to know each other and realised they were actually really cool people. It’s not enough for them to be friends, they need to be BEST FRIENDS. They need to be their ONE AND ONLY. They need to knock on each other’s cabin doors on the Argo II at 3am and have long discussions about Their Feelings. They need to be 100% comfortable with each other and tell each other everything. Yes, Leo is annoying but he is Frank’s annoyance. Yes, Frank is a goof but he’s Leo’s goof. BEST. FRIENDS.

They’re just such an unlikely pairing, I love them sm.

Thank you for sticking with me, I will not apologise for my ramblings, you were warned, but if you did make it to the end, here, have a sweet 🍬 You are clearly just as dedicated a Valzhang stan as I am (It is currently 00:54am where I live)

I will probably have a lot more Thoughts and Feelings coming your way soon, so don’t think for a second that I’ve got it all out of my system. I still haven’t finished the series yet, and I know that as soon as I post this I’ll think of something else that I should’ve added, but I hope this was enough for now.

(Also, I’m British, so I’d use a £20 (“twenty pound”) Note, in case you were curious.)

Again, thank you so much annon for the Ask- as you can see, I LOVE VALZHANG.

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happikattwuzheere · 11 days ago

Note

sorry you probably get this a lot (like. a LOT a lot) but you know how it is i’ve been rereading tcitwtsiayk (crossfire. it’s crossfire. personally tcitwtsiayk is very clearly a much better name but *sign* i GUESS i can deal with crossfire… smh my head) and haha wow that fic is sEVEN YEARS OLD at this point wow!! so i was thinking to myself yeah this is definitely abandoned by now but *WHAT IF*… so i checked your profile and from there, your dedicated fanfic blog… and i saw you’d posted about it in december and i was like wow that’s actually weirdly recent?? and then i saw some other post about something you meant to post on your main so i then came HERE and was like holy sHIT you were last active last YEAR but you somehow happen to have been online tODAY??? so basically clearly the stars have aligned and therefore i’m meant to ask this definitely over-asked question

anyway point is

do you genuinely reckon you’ll ever continue it :? and,, if not,,,, (which for the record is totally understandable?? it’s been seven freakin years?????) do you think you could perchance share any sort of outline for what you had planned Back In The Day or whatever so that i can daydream about where the story might’ve gone lol

ok thanks sorry to bother you

(p.s. oh shit i completely forgot to check for an faq page i’m even more sorry if you’ve already answered this and i’m being redundant)

(p.p.s. god i didn’t even say anything i enjoyed about the fic i just started demanding answers fuck

it’s quite literally the best fic i’ve ever read—and, if i’m not mistaken, one of the first ones i read too!! i remember back in like 2020 when i was first getting into homestuck (yeah i know still relatively recent but for me it was a while ago okay!!!) i got really mad when i reached the end because >:OOO!! the davekat hasn’t developed in this fic that is tagged as davekat and is therefore davekat-centric!!! and of course the fic was already long completed (and like probably abandoned) by then so i was like nOoOOooOOOooo anyway as i reread it with the wise old eyes of a nineteen year old i’m like wow why the fuck did i focus so hard on the davekat lmao this is very clearly Not About That (fun fact i also thought ben was a good guy!! because i was 14!! and stupid!!!) ok anyway to reiterate BEST FIC I’VE EVER READ the art is gorgeous the writing is amazing the characterization makes me Feel Things gaaah i love it so much!!!)

(p.p.p.s i’m autistic. if you. ah. couldn’t tell. thank you for reading my bullshittery i’m so sorry)

(Im possiprobably also autistic/def a rambler and an obsesser of things no worries)

Thank u so much tho for the kind words (keysmash goes here I’m screaming but mobile hell cannot convey my gratitude correctly ❤️❤️❤️) and also an opportunity to explain what I’ve been up to behind the scenes!

Folks who have been here ages might remember me taking about doing a silly little webcomic about people turning into animals and having a war and stuff and also beefing with the manifestation of the concept of fate. Anyone here remember Altered? Lmao. Anyway I’m back on my bs but like actually for real this time, I’ve been overhauling that and planning to do patreon things about it. Not done w planning stuff but the goal is to get that started this year, and my hope is that once i have that properly going I’ll have time open for other projects. And one of those would definitely be crossfire I have too much in my head not to

So that’s the deal re: crossfire I gotta get my original thing going first and then I’ll get back to u on that crazy train

#katt blather #aardwoof #I’d talk about it altered more but im on mobile cuz my desktop hates tumblr lol

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solidwater05 · 2 years ago

Note

Shchlignus aflibgna?

Oh god. Am I about to get spammed by nonsense anons

#ice speaks #if this is a cipher you're gonna have to give me some sort of hint because i couldn't find any matches online #ask tag goes here #anon ask #keysmash

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whatmattersisyou · 3 months ago

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robin kai try? :0

Your art is so cute! Is this an OC? ~excited :D~

OMG HI YES YOU ASKED ABOUT MY OCs AAAAAAA I AM SO HAPPY I GET TO KEYSMASH AND OVERSHARE ABOUT THEM HERE WIII THANK YOU I LOVE YOU

Robin and Kai are the main characters of the story I’ve been working on for a while!! A comic!!! A secret project!!!!

It’s a slice-of-life-y romance comic that is a not so hidden love letter to art!! And poetry!! And loving oneself!!!

Robin and Kai fit a lot the grumpy x sunshine trope (I LOVE IT) and they both are a bit part of me. They study in the same uni and get to know each other once Robin (they/them) comes back from studying abroad and meets Kai (he/him) who in the meantime has been introduced to Robin’s friends group.

Kai is a burnout-depressed art student (the grumpy of the situation) who loves art till it aches, till it hurts him, till he hates it with a fiery passion. He’s stuck and tired of fighting and doesn’t know what to do in his life and with his life. He never had a dream outside of making-breathing-being art and now art feels so far away he wouldn’t reach it even by screaming his lungs out.

And what do you do when your dreams are exactly what’s killing you? Who are you outside of your dreams? Do you even exist if all you’ve been doing is reduced to that, is there even anything else in you outside of it? Do you exist outside of it? Are you willing to?

Then there’s Robin, who is Not Lost and Has Their Shit Together. They are a brilliant coding/programming student and are the sunshine of the trope: they smile, they laugh, they are bubbly and happy and Always Know What To Do And What To Say to make people feel better. They are popular and have a lot of friends and they know what they want to do in life. They excel in their studies, and they write poetry in their free time and keep it that way. They basically poop rainbows.

With only one issue: they actually don’t. When Robin goes back to their hometown, they have to ditch their binder and their name in order to survive. When they look at themselves in the mirror every morning, they see a mask so well crafted that it’s impossible to take off. They hate what they’re doing, but it’s their only way out and they have to smile through it. They have to be grateful, and they have to be careful, because any misstep could lead to their downfall.

When Robin and Kai meet, they don’t understand each other. Kai sees Robin as The Robin of the friend group, the unreachable standard, the bar so high he doesn’t even feel like getting up and try to grab it. Robin sees Kai as everything they ever wished they could be: chasing their true dreams. They clash, they scream at each other, they even hate each other a bit. Neither wants to let the other in.

Until they do, and their world starts changing, little by little.

OKAY I AM DONE HERE THEY ARE IN A VERY EARLY STAGE OF DESIGN FROM 2023 THE FIRST ONE IS KAI THE OTHER IS ROBIN I LOVE THEM GOODBYE

WIP Folder Game!

#wip folder game #ask #rae draws #my art #digital art #OCs #oc art #original art #raes comic #raes ocs

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