#{I would have added dialog in such a matter if I did.}

[livingslime]

Just finished playing the game and DAMN do I like it :3 (this is gonna be a long message hope that's okay, and discussing spoilers if that matters lol)

First, I, as a queer he/they, always appreciate a gender-neutral MC, so thank you. Also, love the design of the Doc, he's really cute, and I like how his eyes are both super big and adorable, but also really creepy when need be, good art

Second, during the first night, those eyes appearing in the door?Genuinely really scary. Like, I was expecting some level of creepiness from a game like this, but that was just terrifying. Anyway, my theory is that those eyes were the Anselm because this guy would probably freak tf out at the idea of someone else watching the MC. Bro would be possessive af (at least I sure hope he is)

Third, the endings. I liked them, yes I would love an ending with a seemingly happy life with Anselm, even if it technically isn't a good ending. I just have a soft spot for doctors. For the bad one, I don't know how dark you are going to go with the story, but my theory is that he did something to the MC's body, like their legs or something, to make them weaker so they can't escape, which is why he was so aggressive about the MC not being able to go on a walk. I mean... my body is pretty weak, but unless the MC is made of paper, they wouldn't just start bleeding out from standing up unless something was up? I'm onto you...

ANYWAYS! Excellent start! However, my one issue is the "illusion of choice" if that makes sense? Like, the little options the player is given over dialogue options don't have that much impact in the end? The only one that seemed to make a difference was choosing to accept or reject the medication. I think it would make the game a lot more dynamic and make the player feel like they have more impact in the story if the dialogue options had more branching paths. Like, if in the final product, depending on how you talk to Anselm, it affects how he treats the player or how far he is willing to try and go to keep you? I just feel like currently, the player lacks a bit of agency, but that's my only "complaint", and something that could definitely be explored in the final version! Hopefully, I'm not coming across as too mean.

I hope this game gets its final version, as I need more content with the doctor immediately! I love him!

-🐈‍⬛ (idk if you do anon tags and if you do hopefully this one isn't taken lol)

Hi hi! (°◡°♡) I'm overjoyed to hear that you enjoyed my demo! ♡

Note - I will try to be as spoiler free of the story so I cannot deny or confirm any theories ><

Hehe I'm really relieved I was able you freak you out! And yes, Anselm is certainly very possessive about you. Canonly, the MC is he first ever love, I would like to expand on this in the later chapters of the visual novel's full release!

For the neutral ending of the demo, its a continuation of the storyline! So in terms of story, there is still more to come. And of course, there will be endings for the MC and Anselm where they will be "together" (づ ◕‿◕ )づ

That's a very interesting theory! But I guess we'll just have to wait and see~ muahaha!

Yes! I actually do completely agree with you on that. This is something I wanted to touch on my next devlog.

I do plan on adding more content for day1-day3 of the demo, branching dialog, probably 2 more bad endings, CGs , Etc , before I start writing the later chapters, I do have a general idea for the story but I still need to finalize everything. I plan to have this update maybe beginning 2025 hopefully!

No no don't worry you are not coming across as mean at all I promise you ♡(◕ᗜ◕✿).

Personal note - I actually created Anselm when I was in a bad space. So every time I read how much love he gets, sometimes I feel like I might tear up... like I'm so touched (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ ♡♡

I do hope I can bring the passion project fully to life! and thank you for loving him ♡

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Ending progress + poll results💙

Hi again and welcome new followers, here's another progress update about the game! >;]

But before I write that out I just want to say a very big thank you to everyone that participated in the poll I did so far, The results and responses have been helping me for the final version. :,] If you still want to give your vote/opinion on the start of the game here's the poll from my tumblr! There's less than 24 hours to vote!

I took a small break to gather my thoughts before continuing from where I left off. I was brainstorming a lot about this because I didn't want the beginning of the game to be too long when it comes to figuring out how to get to Noah, but I do want the explorative side to give some lore.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind that'll help me solve this issue I've been having. :,]

Last week I mentioned the two endings you could get that are from the [Extended Demo]. I don't count this as spoilers but these endings will have their own separate choice to go down instead of it being in the same path. This replaces a section from the [Extended Demo] and lowers the amount of time it takes to figure out how to get to Noah, especially for those that are new to the game. Consider this a healthy quality of life change, only one ending has been put on the shelf that I didn't have a connection with so far! :] This also gave me a chance to go through both endings individually and give a deeper exploration into these areas as they do play a part in the game. I added a few choices to show the differences in the terrain and how the player(Y/N) reacts to it. You can get an alternate situation but it will still end the same. I also fixed up some errors I found through the alternate choices that I almost missed too. For right now I'd say this ending will be finished once my play testers look through them! They've given me pointers on the CG's and dialog but not everything else yet. x] Speaking of quality changes I also went back and adjusted some of the new CG's I've drawn. I had a habit of drawing the landscape too low so you couldn't see anything unless you toggled the text box away. :,,,] Luckily this was a quick and easy fix.

Here's the results:

Before:

After:

I'm very happy with how far I've come when I draw backgrounds now! It's been a interesting journey but overall I enjoy knowing everything is coming together no matter how long it might take. There was another one I wanted to share but this the second CG I tried posting gave me an error. Luckily I had everything saved so I don't have to rewrite anything! :,,]

It took some time but I went back and fixed one of the effects that happen when you lose HP. The old version lights up the edges of your screen but sometimes it can be hard to see if there's another effect happening. I went back and gave a small hue effect every time you lose HP instead.

Lastly in other news, I finally started work on Noah's reference sheets! >:]

There will be a total of three(?) which will have specific details for each one! It's took some time to create since I'm still learning how to do angled faces/poses but I've gotten time to practice so I'm ready. >:] I also want to state that Noah's sprites/side sprites in the [Extended Demo] are accurate to how he's suppose to look too. Since I've improved my style certain specifics of his appearance might be slightly different! :]

Almost there to the cabin section, yay! I just have a few more things to fix up. >:]

If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do on kofi! All donations and tips help tremendously while I work on the game. Also a very huge thank you to those that have optionally bought the [Extended Demo] and the March 2023 demo on itch.io too, it really means a lot. :,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask here or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I would really like to hear from you guys!

There were some other things I wanted to discuss but this post is getting too long so I'll save it for next week, thank you guys for all of the support, I appreciate it! :,,]

[yelenasdiary]

Different Kind of Love - Part I

Pairing: CEO! MobBoss! Natasha Romanoff x Assistant! Reader (Platonic)

Summary: Working for Natasha was never easy and being a low-level assistant for the CEO wasn’t where you thought you’d be after working your hardest for 2 years. After catching you in tears on Christmas Eve, Natasha cold ways start to warm up.

Dark Themes | Angst | Comfort | Language Warning | Reader is a single mum | Sexual Assault Mentions | Spiking | Mentions of drinking | Mentions of Depression | 3.6K | 

Notes: Dylan’s dialog is meant to sound like how a 5-year-old would talk and his nickname is Dyl and not a misspell. Reader is 26 while Natasha is 38.  

Different Kind of Love Masterlist

"Good morning, Miss Romanova" you smiled softly after knocking on Natasha's office glass door. The redhead looked up and smiled in return for only you to see, "Good morning, did you have a lovely break?" She asked. After Christmas, Natasha gave you two weeks off, paid of course, to enjoy some much needed one on one time with your 5-year-old son, Dylan.

 "It was lovely, thank you so much for everything with Christmas and giving me some time off, it really means a lot to me and Dylan" 

Natasha nodded slightly, "You're very welcome, like I said, you have been working extremely hard and I'm sorry I didn't see that before. Dylan is a great kid and I hope this new position will give you both more time together" she smiled once again, "Now, I'm really sorry but we have a meeting in about 25 minutes about the Davis case. Can you please make sure meeting room 4 is set up and ready?" she asked while putting her reading glasses back on. 

"Of course, Miss Romanova"

Natasha is the CEO and Founder of Romanova Lawyers. Being a lawyer herself, she and her business are one of the most successful businesses in New York City. Natasha has won over 450 cases and is considered one of the highest paid lawyers in the country. Not only does she own a law firm, but she also has another side business that runs through Romanova Lawyers which offers clients to hire Natasha herself or another highly skilled detective to do private detective work. Safe to say, Natasha is a very busy woman with a lot of money. 

It didn't matter what job it was, if you could get a job at Romanova Lawyers, you basically had a golden ticket into the work force. Many other law firms will hire past employees with Romanova Lawyers on their resume simply because you worked there. Getting a past employee of Romanova Lawyers was almost like getting the best football player to play on your team. 

Now that you have a new role at the firm, your work is a lot more interesting than before. You'd follow Natasha from meeting to meeting, taking notes, and making sure the Russian had all the necessary paperwork she needed before court or a meeting. She still would ask you to do some pointless jobs like a coffee run or pick up her dry cleaning, but you didn't mind doing that as much. Her attitude towards you was very different to how she treated the other employees. Her cold ways were still just as strong, she still groaned and raised her voice at people for small mistakes and even though you thought it was very harsh of her, you couldn't help but see this was the way she was able to become the woman she is now. 

"This case is going to be a fucking pain in my arse" Natasha mumbled while walking beside you as she quickly refreshed her memory of the case details, "why are men so stupid?!" she added with a light shake of her head. "Would you like me to record this meeting or just take notes today?" you asked, ignoring her comments that she clearly was saying to herself. "Might have to record this one" she replied before handing you the case file and adjusting her dress before walking into the meeting room with a welcoming smile. "Gentlemen, shall we start?" 

----

After your shift, your new hours being 7 am to 3:30pm you made some last-minute emails and signed off for the day. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Romanova, don't forget you have a skype call appointment with a Miss Maximoff at 4:45" you smiled with your head peeking into her office, "oh yes! Thank you for that reminder. Have a lovely night, say hey to Dylan for me" Natasha quickly looked up at you and waved you off. 

"Mommy!" Dylan came running from the living room and wrapping his arms around your legs before you could even kick your shoes off, "Hi honey, how was your day?" you asked with a smile on your lips as you placed your handbag on the floor. "It was good, but my fire truck needs more batteries and Kate don't know where you put them" he looked up at you with his big blue eyes and curly dark hair, "Do you want to go and get your truck for me?" you ruffed his curls before he took off back into the living room. 

"Hey there Miss Moore" Kate smiled while wiping down your kitchen countertop, "Kate, we've been through this" you shook your head playfully, "call me Y/n" you added. "I forgot, I'm so sorry" she replied, "Dylan just had his afternoon snack, he had half a banana and a small bowl of yoghurt so he should be fine until dinner" Kate explained, "oh and his fire truck Santa got him for Christmas needs new batteries, but I wasn't sure where you kept them" 

"Thank you so much for today. I usually keep them in my room, so I'll get some for him. I'll just go and get your money" 

"Here's my truck mommy" Dylan returned with his fire truck in his hands, "Thank you honey, I'll go get some new batteries right now can you do me a favour and get mommy's purse from her handbag please?" you kindly took his toy from his small hands, "sure mommy" Dylan smiled and raced off to get your purse. "God he's adorable" you heard Kate speak to herself, "You're not here when the word No is used" you joked before walking down the hall to your room. 

After dinner and Dylan was in bed you were doing your nightly routine of catching up on emails for work, looking at school for Dylan to start in September and now with the extra money you're making, you were considering putting him into pre-school. Being 5 years-old and barely having any friends and not having the time to do pick up and drop off you were excited for your son to finally make some friends and start learning new things every day that would blow his mind. 

*Buzz Buzz*

A smile tugged at your lips when reading the message. Christmas was different but lovely to spend with Natasha, you learnt so much about her and saw a side of her that you wished the entire office was able to see. The way she kicked off her heels and got on her knees to play with Dylan and his trucks, the way she sat with him and helped him read one of the books 'Santa' had gotten him but mostly what stood out to you was the way she spoke to you, the way she opened up to you and shared things about her life that honestly took you by surprise. 

——

The next morning you walked into the office already hearing the raised voice of an annoyed Russian. "Candice, do you think I give a crap about your husbands broke foot?! I asked for these documents to be done before today!" She slammed the file onto her desk. "I'm sorry Miss Romanova, I was doing them last night, but I ran out of time, I'm really sorry" the lovely woman who couldn't even hurt a fly or even yell at one for that matter replied. "News flash Candice, we're going to be late because of this!" Natasha spat back grabbing a pen from her pen holder. "Candice, why don't you go back to your desk, I'll take care of this" you whispered standing behind the woman, giving her an apologetic smile when she saw you, "Thank you" she mouthed.

Natasha frustratingly scribbled down words onto the unfinished documents with a huff and puff, "Miss Romanova, I'll finish those, you have to get ready for the Davis case in court today" you offered as you walked into her office. "No! These should have been done yesterday! How are things supposed to ever get done when people don't listen?!" She snapped, nothing unusual for you. "I'll have them done within the hour; I promise"

"Fine" Natasha sighed, placing her pen on top of the small pile of documents and grabbed her coat from behind her chair and her brief case from the side of her desk. She wore her hair up and a black suit with a red shirt underneath. "I can't be dealing with people's mistakes today. Do you hear me?!" She looked up at you, "Yes, Miss Romanova" you nodded before she brushed by you, storming out of the office. 

Everybody was on edge today whenever Natasha was around, after yet another case won, you'd think she would be happy but the look on her face when she looked up at you spoke other words. "Cancel all my remaining appointments and meetings today. I have some things to take care of for the rest of the day" she huffed, unloading her briefcase, "But Miss Romanova, the Maximoff case is marked urgent" you reminded her. "Well, you fucking deal with it!" Her eyes shot up at you full of rage which worried you as you'd never seen her like this before, "Just cancel or move whatever the fuck I have left today and don't let anybody contact me!" she added as she grabbed her keys and handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk. 

"Yes ma'am" you replied watching her walk out of the office. 

It wasn't until Saturday that you'd see her again. The rest of the week you had to postpone and move her meetings to a time that you only hoped would work better for her. You wanted to message her and ask if she was okay and ask when she'd be back into the office but decided to give her space. 

A knock at your apartment door made little Dylan jump with excitement, "I'll get it!" He called from his room. "No, you won't honey, we spoke about this!" you hollaed back already having your hand on the door handle and pulling it open. "Miss Roma- I mean, Natasha, Hi" you smiled even though you were shocked to see her at your door. "Hey, are you guys ready? We don't want to be late" she asked with a small smile of her own. 

"Miss Romanova!!!" Dylan came running down the hall with a wide smile. "Hey there kiddo!" Nat kneeled down to his level, "Are you ready?" she asked him. Dylan nodded, "will there be other kids?" your son asked with a hint of hope to finally be able to play with other children. He's always been so good at making new friends no matter how old they were, walking down the mall Dylan would always say hello to strangers. As nice as it was, it worried you that he was so open to talking to people he didn't know. 

"There's going to be plenty of other children for you to meet and play with, are you excited?" 

"Yes! Mommy said I can start pre-school this year" Dylan boosted with excitement, "That sounds very exciting" Natasha smiled softly at the young boy, "we should get going" she looked up at you. "I'll just get my handbag" you replied. 

----

"Isn't he a bit late for pre-school?" Natasha asked while Dylan was busy playing on his tablet, the car ride would be an hour long and for an excited young boy, that was like years. "Only by a year, I wanted to put him in last year but uh," you paused and looked away from your boss, "it was just my work hours, I wouldn't have been free for pick up and drop off, so it was just easier to get a sitter", you didn't want to talk about Dylan's pre-school admission, you wanted to ask her where she'd been, is she was okay but did you even have a place to say anything?

"I had some family things to deal with. I'm sorry I didn't contact you; I was confident you were able to step up and take charge while I was gone" Natasha spoke, seeing the way you looked at her, screaming your questions to her without saying a word. "You don't have to explain anything, I was able to move things to next week and the Maximoff case we decided to wait until you came back. I'm not a lawyer and I never went to law school so I wasn't sure what to do" you explained, your palms starting to sweat hoping she wouldn't cuss at you in front of Dylan but instead she nodded, "thank you, I'm sorry it was sprung on you like that" 

"It's okay, family always has to come first" you gave her an assuring smile, "you're right, it does" Natasha replied with her eyes shifting to Dylan. 

Arriving at the party, you were introduced to Natasha's best friend, Clint Barton and his family, Laura his wife and their children, Copper, Lila and Nathaniel. It was Nathaniel's birthday party and just as Natasha mentioned, there were plenty of other children for Dylan to mix with. 

"Hi, I'm Dylan" he smiled at Nathaniel, "Hey, do you want to join me and my friends in a nerf gun fight?" Nathaniel offered. "What's that?" Dylan asked picking at the hem of his shirt nervously, "it's just a toy gun fight, with these soft bullets they won't hurt and if you want you can wear my old armour vest" Nathaniel offered with a smile. Dylan looked up at you, his eyes full of excitement but he always made sure his mommy said yes before taking off with anybody, especially somebody he just met. "Go on, baby, go have some fun" you smiled and before you could blink, Dylan was running off with this new friend. 

"So, how long have you been working for Natasha?" Laura asked sipping her iced tea. "3 years in June actually. It's gone by pretty quickly, but I've enjoyed it for the most part" you replied forgetting any of the bad. "She's not tough on you, is she? I know she can be a little bossy" Laura chuckled, "oh no, never" you said sarcastically, chuckling with her. 

For the first time since Dylan was born, you found yourself enjoying the company of other mothers and fathers, people who knew exactly what you were talking about and even shared stories of how their children were when they were younger, funny stories, happy and the normal yuck stories of eating dog biscuits or having poop smeared up their backs. Natasha kept her eye on Dylan even though she knew he was more than safe, she loved watching him run around with her best friend's children with the wide smile that she felt was starting to light a fire in her cold heart. 

Every now and then she helped herself to a quick glance at you as you smiled and laughed with the other parents. The need to protect you came to mind as she sat back and thought about the past 2 years, she's known you. "Nat!" Dylan came running up to the redhead, breaking her thoughts. "What's up kid?" she smiled, "could you please tie my shoes?" he asked kindly, "I can't find mommy" he adds while looking around for you. Natasha nodded and kneeled to tie his light up shoes that Natasha got him for Christmas as a gift from Santa, "Your mommy is just over there" she pointed in your direction. "Thank you, Nat" Dylan smiles and gives her a quick hug, taking her by surprise as she slowly wraps her arms around the small boy and smiles softly at his kindness before he's rushing off to ask you for a drink. 

----

"Thank you so much for today, I had a lovely time and I think Dylan did too" you smiled at Natasha while running your fingers through Dylan's hair as he was snuggled into you fast asleep. "He really enjoyed himself" Natasha watched the scene in front of her, the limo giving plenty of room for you all to get comfortable. 

"He's really excited to start pre-school; I think today was really good for him"

"He told me all about it, you've done and still doing a great job raising him" Natasha complimented as she made eye contact with you. "It hasn't been easy but" you paused as your eyes dropped to your sleeping son, you smiled softly, "he deserves everything I can give him and more" your eyes traveled back to Natasha. There was a moment of silence between the two, you could see Natasha was wanting to ask the question everybody wants to ask, who's Dylan's father? 

"You can ask" you spoke. 

"Ask what?" Natasha frowned slightly.

 "You have that look in your eyes, the one everybody has when they want to know more about Dylan's father"

"You already told me, he couldn't afford to help" Natasha replied, you shook your head, "I lied" you admitted, licking your lips as your eyes fell to Natasha's feet. "What's the story?" she asked as if she didn't have a care for your emotions but looking back in her eyes, who was she to tell? You took a deep breath and made sure Dylan was still fast asleep before gently placing a kiss on the top of his head. 

"He was possessive. When I first met him, he was lovely and so kind you know…he never failed to make you smile or laugh, I considered him a good friend. One of his friends was throwing a party and my parents were fine with me going as long as I wasn't back too late, I was almost 21 and they trusted me. I got to the party and started having a few drinks with my friends. Then later on my friends were heading home but he convinced me to stay for an hour or two, so I did.

I knew better than to get drunk like he was, I had two drinks with him and I was out of my mind. I told him no and that I wanted to go home.." you paused as tears filled your eyes, "all I remember after he pushed me onto the bed was him saying I'd been asking for it all night…3 weeks later I find out I'm pregnant. It took me months to find out who assaulted me that night and when I told him I was pregnant he just laughed at me and said the baby could be his or one of his two friends and that I'd never know because I was too drunk and wasted to remember asking for it" 

Natasha's jaw clenched at the details you shared with her. "But if you were ever saw him, you can see that he's Dylan's father, there's no doubting it" you added, tears streaming down your cheeks. "He needs to help responsible for this" Natasha leaned forward and gently took your hand into hers, "I tried. I went to the police before I found out I was pregnant, and they turned me around and told me to come back when I had hard evidence" you explained.

"But you were pregnant, that's more than enough evidence. They could've done a DNA test"

"Natasha, by the time I processed everything and told my parents…I didn't want people to see me…I hid myself away for most of my pregnancy and after the police turning me away like they did, I didn't think they would believe me. 

"I'm so sorry, Y/n" she wiped your tears and looked deeply into your eyes, "That little boy is so lucky to have you as his mother. You got a fucking amazing job with him, you give him everything a mother could give a child and I have a hell of a lot of respect for you. Thank you for sharing all of that with me"

"Like I said, it hasn't been easy but every morning when I wake up and I get to see his beautiful smile and those big blue eyes he makes me forget all the horror and I only see the good. He saved my life, if I had apported him, I don't know what I would've done" you replied trying your best to keep from crying more. Natasha's soft hands gave yours a gently squeeze, "if you need anything and I mean anything, you come to me. Okay?" she kept strong eye contact with you, "I mean it, I don't care what time you need me, if you and Dylan need me, I will be there" she assured you as you nodded slowly, "thank you Natasha" you replied. 

----

Natasha carried Dylan up to his room for you as you grabbed his backpack full of toys, she gently placed him in his bed and pulled the covers over him before giving him a secret kiss on the forehead, "sleep well kid" she smiled before leaving his room. 

"Thank you so much again for today and tonight, I'm so sorry I was unprofessional and sharing my personal life like that" you looked at her as you placed your belongings on the countertop. "You're not the only one with secrets, maybe another time we can share a bottle of wine and I can share mine" she offered. "That sounds nice" you smiled softly, "Well, I guess I'll see you Wednesday morning" Natasha replied. 

"Wednesday?" 

"Yeah, take Monday and Tuesday as an extended weekend" she playfully winked before heading for the door, "thank you" you said once more. "Y/n, thank me one more time and I'll fire you" Natasha chuckled, "Oh, I'm sorry, boss" you smirked, "goodnight" she shook her head before closing your apartment door.

Taglist:

[emeraldspiral]

Thinking about the progression of Zim and Dib's relationship and who would/did fall for the other first. Like, I know I already said Dib would be the first to recognize and come to terms with their feelings because he doesn't rely on denial nearly as hard to avoid dealing with uncomfortable truths as Zim does. But I'm talking about like, the subconscious development of feelings and how they progressed throughout the show and the comics.

With Dib, it was obsession at first sight. Which makes sense. To Zim, Dib was just some random earth native he knew nothing about and needed time to evaluate. But to Dib, Zim was everything. Zim was proof that he wasn't crazy, a way to win his father's respect, a ticket to the career he always wanted, and the key to unlocking fathomless knowledge about outer space, other worlds, and advanced technology. Zim was everything Dib had ever dreamed of.

So Dib was down bad straight from the Nightmare Begins, but on Zim's end it took awhile for him to really reciprocate. Dib proves to be a problem for him as early as the second episode when he breaks into his house and snaps a photo of him in NanoZim. But Zim has multiple chances to do away with him for good starting with that episode, but never tries to actually off Dib until episode 8. Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy is the first time that Zim makes an actual attempt on Dib's life, and when he thinks he succeeded he doesn't seem to regard it with any gravitas. So I think up until that point Zim didn't really regard Dib as an equal, just a pest he thought he could get rid of as easily as Keef. But by the end of that episode, Zim realized that he'd underestimated Dib. Dib was so determined death only made him stronger, and left Zim with no choice but to completely abort his plan. This is notably also the first time Dib actually beat Zim, unless you count driving him out of his house in Planetjackers. Gaz was the one who defeated him in NanoZim and Zim trounced Dib in Dark Harvest, The Wettening, and Rise of Zitboy. So it makes sense that Zim didn't really take Dib seriously until BBRP.

Then, what happens in the very next episode? He tries again to get rid of Dib in A Room With a Moose, and it's in that episode where he explicitly acknowledges Dib as a Worthy Opponent by declaring him the only one who can appreciate his plan and implying that he enjoys being challenged by Dib.

So Dib's been obsessed from the first episode but it wasn't until BBRP that he won Zim's respect and Zim began relying on Dib's validation to boost his ego. This is further reinforced in the next episode, Hamstergeddon, where their dialog with each other is more relaxed and respectful, like they've really begun to see each other as equals.

The thing is though, at this point Zim and Dib are both fixated on each other, but they don't feel the same way about each other. Zim can see qualities in Dib that he likes, which is why Dib's opinion matters to him. He thinks Dib is cunning and intelligent so he crafts plans that he hopes Dib will admire. He starts hallucinating about the "Gangsta Specter of Defeat" and then gains the resolve to redouble his efforts in Door to Door only after Dib taunted him, because he didn't want to lose face in front of his rival. He's unable to resist Dib's obvious manipulation when he claims to admire the cleverness of his revenge in Bolognius Maximus. By the time of Mopiness of Doom, Zim is completely dependent on Dib's validation to motivate him to continue his mission, and in the comics more the once he outright says his plans are "for" Dib. Then of course, there's the more overt indications that Zim likes Dib and wants Dib to like him back. Most obviously, that time he was baffled that having him for a brother wasn't a dream come true for Dib, or programming Clembrane to think Dib loves him, or posing dramatically just especially for Dib when he finally decided to come out of the toilet.

Dib on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the same sort of open-secret admiration for Zim. He stands up for him to Tak's ship and claims that his Zim is the best since he beat Zib and all the other Zims in the Zimvoid, but it's framed as just him coping because if he admits that his Zim sucks then what does it say about him if he hasn't been able to defeat him? Dib's only ever really expressed any kind of admiration of Zim a handful of times. Aside from the aforementioned instances in the Zimvoid arc, he was impressed the first time he saw Zim's base in Bloaty's, admitted that he liked his boots when pressed to say SOMETHING nice about him, and complimented his work in ETF. Notably, ETF is the only time he really had anything nice to say about Zim. His boots and his base are just things he has, and insisting that he's a genuine threat isn't really a compliment. It's indicated at the end of the Virooz comic arc that Zim takes the fact that Dib considers him a threat as enough of an admission that he must have some respect for him, but ETF was the only time Dib ever verbally confirmed that he thought any of Zim's plans or inventions were any good and therefore that Zim himself has a respectable intellect.

Where Zim's fixation on Dib seems to be based on Dib having actual qualities Zim likes, Dib's obsession seems to be based on pure objectification. Dib does not view Zim as a person, but a means to an end. A way to get his dad's respect, a way to jumpstart his career, a way to get validation, and a punching bag to vent his frustrations. He sees Zim as pure, uncomplicated evil. No redeeming qualities, no feelings worthy of consideration, and no "humanity", for lack of a better term, worthy of any dignity or decency. Which conveniently means he doesn't have to worry about the ethics of wanting to dissect him or experiment on him, let alone bullying him at skool. But to be fair, Zim is entirely complicit in this. He wants to be seen as pure evil. He calls himself and his plans evil all the time. He nods along when Dib outlines to Chammy how they can never be friends because Zim is an irredeemable monster incapable of any emotions except gluttony and warlike ambition. Zim wants to be objectified because he's been socially conditioned to think of himself as an object. A machine with some organic hardware bred and programmed to be a cog whose only purpose is to serve the Empire and those in charge of it.

ETF is the first time Zim is ever vulnerable in front of Dib and it's very uncomfortable for him because it goes completely against how he's always viewed Zim. It's the first time he's seeing Zim as a person with feelings, and feelings he can relate to no less, and that's hard for him to process. That's why he's so quick to accuse Zim of faking it after he betrays him. Because it's easier to go back to that simple, comforting, uncomplicated idea of Zim as pure evil rather than try to integrate the idea that Zim can do the things he does while also being person with feelings and pain that Dib can sympathize with. But this isn't the only time in ETF Dib's perspectives of the people around him are challenged. He thinks his sister just hates his guts but it turns out she doesn't, and she won't kick him when he's really down and will support him when he needs it. He thinks his dad doesn't respect him or have his back and he needs to work for it to get him to be proud of him, but he finds out he was wrong about that too.

Overall, ETF was a big coming of age movie for Dib where his perceptions were challenged and his black and white views became more nuanced. The comic Dib's Dilemma would continue to show Dib's evolving perspective of himself and his father and his quest to prove himself.

So it seems like Dib is on track to shed his more childish views and understand the world with more nuance like anyone else does as they grow up. I know some people like the idea of Maladjusted Adult Dib, and that's a perfectly valid concept to explore. But I feel like the evidence is pointing us in a more positive direction. Like, as of Dib's Dilemma he's already begun to realize that his dad is imperfect and that he can make the conscious choice to be better than him, and specifically better about treating others with more empathy.

So to summarize the evolution of ZADR:

Dib was obsessed at first sight, but the person he's obsessed with doesn't exist. He's only barely begun to see the real Zim through the cracks in his facade as of ETF. But there's reason to believe that he is capable of eventually seeing the "humanity" in Zim and recognizing that he is a victim.

Zim meanwhile, initially didn't peg Dib as a significant threat until BBRP, at which point he began to respect and admire him, which grew into something of an infatuation to the point that the need for Dib's validation is about of equal importance to the Tallest. He even has the exact same reaction to Dib abandoning him as the Tallest.

But Zim is still wrapped up in delusions and denial 24/7 and convinced that he is incapable of love like all good Irkens should be, while Dib is growing and maturing and changing his beliefs according to new information. So I stand by my earlier assessment that even if Zim is the one who started to catch feelings first and Dib's barely even beginning to start thinking of him as a person, let alone a person he has any kind of affection for, Dib's the one who's going to be able to recognize and come to terms with whatever feelings he develops way before Zim will.

[wings-of-ink]

First Devlog?

Hello everyone...boy, there are a lot of you already, still trying to digest that...

So, I gather that I should do these logs on occasion. I do not know how often, perhaps just when I have a few things to say. I will try not to ramble too much, but my fingies like to talk.

Anyway, I am working on chapter 3 right now. There’s some fun moments so far in it that I hope you’ll like, and we’ll get to meet Zahn, Duri'naan, and then Rundis. I’m trying not to rush because there are some exciting scenes that I’m eager to get to. I’ve outlined them to tide myself over until I get that far. There’s some quiet moments you’ll get to have as well, and right now I feel like that’s what I’m struggling with. Those areas of my story are like bridges to the next, more exciting, parts and sometimes I feel like they fall a little flat. But, I’m trying to keep in mind this is my first draft. I’ll go through it another time or two to perk things up. Those moments are still important for letting the MC get to know each RO.

My mind has been in a million directions lately too, and I’ve had a lot of ‘duh’ moments. I’ve done so much world building since I started this last year (around August/September I think), that I have pockets of important details that I kinda just forgot! So, I plan to re-read all the notes I’ve made and try to also put them into one place. I have some in my phone, in a notebook, and in no less than three folders on my laptop. It’s a wonder I have survived this many years…

What you can expect for coming updates…

-A couple fixes, of course – thank you to those who found some of those pesky buggy bois for me.

-A nicer front page, instead of being slapped with my ramblings, I’d like to actually have a nice start page. I’ll figure it out eventually, lol.

-I’ll be adding a name bank to the MC’s Nameday scene that will also show you what each name means, so if that is important to you, it’ll save you the internet search. If it tickles your fancy, the name selection will correspond in some way to the marks (names meaning "night" or "storm," etc.) so you can theme your MC a bit.

-Extra coding in case you decide to shorten MC’s given name to just “Ravi.” I did not once consider that anyone would do this, and my first play-tester – my own spouse – did….He told me about it since it made some dialog with Oswin make zero sense, and then I published the story without fixing it because I completely forgot about it.

-Different contrast color for dark mode links. I feel like I have drastically improved this with a new gold color. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t use the gold before. I love it as an accent, I use it all over! The blue never felt 100% right, but my brain shut down after thinking about it too long. Here’s a sample and a (M) Zahn tease:

When can you expect an update?

I’d like to make my next update during the Amare Games Festival, ideally containing both chapters 3 and 4 since they go pretty tightly together. This will also insure that you meet the rest of the posse. It’s a tall order for both chapters to be submitted on time, and I don’t want to rush them either, but I’m going to try really really hard, lol. I will focus first on polishing chapter 3, so that no matter what, I can at least get it out in time.

Here’s a link to the post about it:

And this is the submission time frame: open from March 31st 2024 at 11:00 PM to May 1st 2024 at 12:00 AM

As a side message, should you want to read on…

I also wanted to give you all a big, like really big, heartfelt thank you. I have received so many kind messages and comments that I just can’t believe it. I am so happy (and honestly, genuinely shocked) that you’re enjoying my IF, and I’m motivated to work hard so you also enjoy each new chapter of your journey. There’s so many secrets I want to share with you about the world, and I am struggling to be patient myself, lol.

I am not usually a very open or social person, and I was scared for a long time to share anything I wrote. I reached a point in my personal life in the last few years where I just needed to embrace what I loved to do and share it with a community that shares in that love. I encourage you to do the same whether there is a story in your heart, music on your lips, or a paintbrush in your hands. Life is NOT about your 8-5. We may not be able to survive without it, but whatever moment you can, do what you actually love. Put away the those things that don’t matter, the things that stress you - including people, and make time for who you are.

Thank you all and take care!

~Lunan

[citrusella-flugpucker]

An idea about ways to change the way the geoglyphs quest works which will Totally Please Everyone™

...What do you mean, you can't please everyone?

So, I said in December that I wanted to make a post about a game mechanic change in Tears of the Kingdom that could make everyone happy with regards to the delivery of the geoglyphs' story points.

I, for instance, liked finding them in whatever order and did not find it negatively affected my experience of the story, but some other people found they didn't like that the "correct" (read: chronological) order wasn't enforced.

I had an idea that could fix that, and it centers on a lot of conditionals, and to start off, I'm going to describe it using one already extant story progress condition a lot of people probably have never encountered. (But plenty of people probably have.)

You get this text box if you manage to arrive at the pedestal while having not started the regional phenomena main quest. (Even if you got the paraglider. It's linked to starting Regional Phenomena.)

(I spent two hours trying and failing to glitch into the room with a clip from above before finally giving up and trying precarious ascend instead because I didn't wanna steal a shot of this off a YouTuber. Everyone clap

Also, I was going to include other images but brain doesn't want to alt text right now so)

So, anyway, the idea I had is that you see this sort of text box (not that EXACT box, it's only an example), but only in certain scenarios. Imagine, if you will:

Prior to arriving at geoglyph #1, everyone--if they try to interact with another geoglyph--sees a message like, "You don't yet know how to interact with this." or something.

Then you get to #1 where Impa is waiting for you as she does in the actual game (this is where all the other images would have gone if I included them here XP). She gives you the spiel, you go up in the balloon, and some of her text is changed from the actual game in a way that suggests that when you examine again and actually have it work, you realize it involves recall, yada yada (the actual interaction with the tear doesn't change from canon, I just wanted the text to change so there's a story reason you "know" what to do now). Impa shows up after you view it, as she canonically does.

Here's where things are really changed up: While she still brings up going to the Forgotten Temple, she very much telegraphs to the player that if they go there, they will get answers as to the order, so that people will be even clearer than the actual game that they can find the map and order there (though maybe not being that direct about it when presenting this dialog to the player as it would be to say "there will be a map and pictures there"). Then, like in the real game, she suggests Link make his way there as well... BUT then a dialogue option comes up.

Will you meet me at the Forgotten Temple as soon as possible?

[Sure!] [I can manage on my own. 🅱]

And then, just in case you were spamming B, pressing that will trigger a confirmation.

Are you sure? I suspect there is important information about the geoglyphs there.

[Okay, I'll come.] [Maybe later. 🅱]

No matter which one you select, the quest is added regardless just like normal (albeit perhaps with slightly different flavor text depending on whether you agreed to the meeting or not).

If you hit B and reject all attempts to go "immediately" then the game works as it does currently: The quest is granted, all geoglyphs instantly respond to you in whatever order you approach them in, Impa goes to the Forgotten Temple, etc.

If you ever hit A on the top option, the quest is granted and you're not immediately transported there or anything, but until you arrive at the Forgotten Temple, a flag is set and all geoglyphs respond by producing a Not Yet box saying something like "You remember that you promised to meet Impa in the Forgotten Temple."

So you head to the Forgotten Temple. Regardless of whether you agreed to come or came later, just like in canon, Impa's there, you find the map and order on the wall. Some of the in-game interactions happen, but instead of Impa suggesting you take a picture (or perhaps, instead of her only suggesting you take a picture), she says something that allows you to have the order be enforced. Maybe it's writing from a book she read about the geoglyphs or something, since it's established in canon she read about the Dragon's Tears somewhere. Maybe it's connected to you taking a picture with a quest ❗ on it with the Purah Pad (though this would require you to have completed a different quest first to get the camera. oof.). But somehow, this order is imparted to you so that Link himself knows it in game.

If you reject the enforced order, you're still free to take a picture like in canon, but the flag preventing you from investigating geoglyphs is cleared and you can access them in any order just like if you'd rejected going to the temple immediately when Impa asked at tear 1.

If you agree to enforced order, the flag preventing investigating the glyphs at all is unset, and a different flag that says you chose to enforce the order is set instead. Then, if you approach a geoglyph that's not next in chronological order, the game presents a box saying something to the effect of "This doesn't look like the next geoglyph..." Maybe it's not a strict enforcement, and so when you get this box, you also get dialogue options of "Look anyway." or "Leave it alone for now." Just in case you agreed to the enforcement and then went "wait, I don't like this".

Also considered the idea that unlocking the sensor on the Purah Pad would grant you, in addition to shrines and compendium entries, the ability to track geoglyphs (maybe with changes in which geoglyphs it alerts to, dependent on if you're in enforced order or not--i.e. unenforced alerts to all, enforced only alerts to next). But that also felt like it might be too handholdy? IDK.

Anyway, this is my attempt at a best-of-both-worlds between people who want to be guided through parts of the story in a specific order and people who really don't care/don't think the variable order is a detriment and maybe just want to hit things efficiently while they're crossing the map doing other things.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk

[dreadlordberri]

I never post written things on platforms. But my head is so filled with baldurs gate 3 rot that I will explode if I don't get this out.

Spoilers for baldurs gate 3

The newest patch has just come out which was a lot faster then I expected. When they talked about what it would include they pointed out that they would finally give karlach an ending she deserved. I had assumed this meant fixing her content and actually adding in the content to fix her engine. I was wrong. All they added ( from the notes on the patch ) was a few extra bits of dialog choices regarding her returning to avernus. The place she was forced to be for the last 10 years that she never wanted to go back to. Now she will consider it more and you have the choice of going with her AND wyll assuming you did his questline. This isn't a fix or barely even a bandage. In the end the choices don't even change.

I love larion and I do love this game. I just hope this is another temporary hold over until they actually implant content for her that has a way to resolve her heart. Not just oh well sucks to go back but better then dying. Karlach has such little relevance on the plot of bg3 that if you took her away the game would be no different. If your going to make a character and give her a tragic back story like that LET US HELP HER FIX IT. Otherwise what was the point of the character other then " heres a hot lady you'll fall in love with only for her to not matter and die or be sad again "

#justiceforkarlch

Anyway rant over thanks for coming to my hyperfixation post.

[venomcasserolecomic]

Uuuh so Happy New Year folks I hope your year is starting better than mine. Anyhow This page did not love me. I did not love this page. It's been repainted an absurd amount of times and I hated nearly every one of them. Only this last iteration was passable but admittedly I'm still not in love but I've really spent way too much time on it and would very much like to move on and never have to look at it again. There is actually a fully colorized version of this but I really wanted to continue using colors (or lack of) to convey emotions. In this case it's how I feel things look during adrenaline crash and disassociation periods. I also added on a filter and texture that I made aaaaages back but have re-found and am really digging. Not sure if my progress will be very quick on these but I am happy to say I already have the next seven pages sketched and a couple inked. Hardest part lately is coloring them though since I'm fully painting the backgrounds in each panel (and before they're shrunk these pages are very LARGE) and I know that sounds excessive (it feels excessive) but this started as a project to practice backgrounds. No matter how much I'd like to phone it in I think the practice is more important (particularly since I still feel like I'm really bad at it.) Also I found a backup of the font I liked on my old laptop so hurrah no more having to try and neatly write dialog.

[spikeinthepunch]

okayyy i finished the new ending in Lisa the Joyful so yeah, heres another long Lisa post. this will more so have a short list of what i did and didnt like of the game since i know opinions are often mixed. but ill have a long focus talking about the new content compared to the rest of the game. and will later go on about characterization and writing in detail.

Also while you can find a no commentary video for the new ending, almost all uploads skip an earlier portion of it, so I uploaded it myself! with timestamps.

TW for uhh the same triggers- sexual, physical, verbal abuse mostly.

SO OKAY. Okay.

The brief on the main game....

What I did like:

I like the general story. I enjoyed the horror of watching more and more joy mutants arriving, even some of the warlords being joy mutants already, and normal characters like the uhh shelf vendor guy being a mutant. additionally things like wearing a mask mattering. i think it was important to too still have some weirdos bc thats one of the key things in displaying the cycle of these men's behavior. music always good too of course. i enjoy Buddy's internal conflict too and i dont mind here characterization-- its just the pacing. I actually liked the epilogues a bit more than what the endings actually told us lol... tbh they carry more weight in terms of giving us information about the past. But the ones that hit hardest are the ones where Lisa tells Buzzo to mutilate her so her father wont want her anyways. and the one with Brad's father forcing him to drink alcohol and go with him to lisa's room (to presumedly watch his father abuse lisa).

What i didn't like:

the "original" endings (not the new definitive one) were weak and i am sure most feel that way. I think actually the issue for me is the choice... cuz playing with joy? well i think the "stay with them" makes sense as she gets more fucked up and unstable (and assume addicted). the joyless route makes me feel like i should fittingly take the "leave them" ending bc she is mentally aware enough to know she still hates what happened to her and wants to leave them behind. the choices of them feel conflicting to the routes you might choose but you dont think about it bc there is no consequence to taking joy! the pacing of course is a big complaint. cuz see i dont think the story or writing is horrible i just think it needed to be longer in order to expand on all those things rushed through. the ideas would feel good if the pacing didnt speed through it. the Yado epilogue is fine too but i think just left more questions than answers than the endings themself so i would have rather done without it imo.

As stated i will go WAY more into the characters after I talk about this new stuff. I will talk heavily about what happens in it too so feel free to read this later if you dont watch it... but you really should look at the new Painful and Joyful content as they also kinda go together.

NEW CONTENT..... kind of new ending, it plays directly into it. Unlike Painful where it doesnt alter the actual ending content. and i will go over the normal endings a bit more in relation to this bc of how it affects pacing etc...

So On one hand I like what it added and on the other hand it wasnt great-- which all plays into the games already existing pacing issues. Which is a shame. i liked collecting the items, the meaning of the statues (n the dialog being the same as the Painful one), and the exploration leading up to the warlord fight. I chose not to fight the warlords because they were so damn strong and I like that there was recognition for not fighting back. Idk if i feel like there was a good reason for them to be there but I think it at least gives more meaning to the warlords since they didnt DO that much in the game other than to be killed. Most had barely anything to say.

For the bigger Secret at the grave for Lisa-- I liked this a lot too actually. Getting to hear from the guys their thoughts about Buddy that is from the assumed context theyre already dead here (w how Sticky's death is mentioned esp) is just kinda nice. The further content with Berny and Dusty, where Berny tells him to fight harder and to treat girls with aggression.... yeah that hits. The cycle of abuse really just continues huh. The rest of it is fine, I feel like it does give some better commentary on character's thoughts but it is quite short, and is left on a more metaphorical note with the flowering skull and whatnot.

Now is the part I see more conflict on AGAIN and I dont blame people for being conflicted about it. I didnt mind the way Buzzo talked about Brad in the original-- I dont think that writing was an actual excuse to Brad, I think it was just Buzzo trying to blame himself instead for everything (the new contents dialog with the sticky/rick/cheeks also had good to say on Brad's behavior and not excusing it but talking about the abuse of drugs in the context of that). I did feel that the conversation wasnt enough in the original though, to fully imply that he was talking like that or to give a better conversation on drug abuse. Buuut here we are w the extended new dialog with Buzzo. I did like how he started getting more depressed and angsty about Lisa! And the comment "she would have loved it here" is interesting bc i feel the implication is that she would have loved being in a world where all these men are now gone. but let me move onto the rest bc like, that matters the most here.

woof okay. So Buddy goes off when Buzzo says that which i get. However this conversation falters in the same way the whole game does. Buddy gets a LOT of talking time here. And she kind of keeps going in a way that really doesnt feel plausible you know? The new stuff added more connection between her and Lisa but its not enough to make us think she should be defending Lisa. I think there couldve been a neat exploration of all this comparing to Lisa but Joyful doesnt have that time. While I cant claim it, Buddy's rant kiiinda feels like a rant from behind the scenes with how less in character it feels. Buzzo is made far more pathetic and I don't disagree with this realization that he'd dissolve into a little pathetic man, again the game just doesnt have the time to make it work better.

and dont even get me started on Buddy's inconsistent opinion on Brad... this is like, annoying and I mentioned it in relation to the ending choices. After this new dialog rant Buddy sounds like she is forgiving Brad/coming to realize things about him that gives her more understanding. And i think that is fine BUT the issue is that right after talking to Buzzo the game returns as normal and when she sees mutant Brad approach, she reacts with genuine upset at seeing him and comments how she never wanted to see him again :/

I know at this point there is no way they could have "salvaged" Joyful for this release-- that would be too much and I dont think itd be right to get rid of the old endings entirely (Painful didnt, nor did the new content change anything about it). Its a shame- some of it was good. some of it i think they just shouldnt have done (the end buzzo fight) because it just conflicted more/kind of highlights the pacing problems. if anything i think leaving out that buzzo rant would have made the rest of that feel like it did help the pacing because it gave a pause between the ending of the game. anyways.

CHARACTERIZATIONNNN

righto. i think i covered pacing enough so i will try and leave that out of every comment i make here lol.

So like, I dont have a problem with Buddy's intentions in the game exactly. Her actions in many ways make sense... at least I would say that its fine she is very violent. That is literally the main thing Brad taught her whether or not you look at the start scene of Joyful, it reflects in how she would always be told how dangerous the world is too. The pace of course, makes this all happen so fast.

And of course the biggest hit that I think turns off many is how much talking there is. I certainly love hearing more from characters, Brad was quiet because he was brad, yet no one else needs to be quiet too so i think thats fine. But with Buddy's life it seems like she should have been quiet until her mental state and mindset shifted due to her treatment and justification of violence. even in Painful she seems relatively quiet and Joyful takes place right after pretty much.

In terms of others-- Rando is fine, like hes not that bad. We didn't know him all to well and what we know of Dusty i expected him to be a nice kid, esp w the whole adopted thing. But his back and forth with Buddy was more annoying w how short the game was (doing things, wanting to run to the other place and being stopped for a scene at the campfire by force. repeat.) I did like the whole deal with his friends and later his death too. Buzzo so i dont completely hate buzzo minus the fast jump in the new content. but he was pretty unhinged in Painful and to see it completely drop seemed wrong. i do think it make sense he probably felt loads of guilt for brad... but we just again, didnt get enough time with these characters.

Other characters? Well i mentioned it above but the warlords did NOT get much of any character. Which sucks bc if those parts alone had been extended (their area being longer or more full of interactions) i think it would have helped the game too. In terms of the other antagonist, Bolo, considering he was new for this game I think he was just fine. His role was small in a good way and honestly when he did appear it was for good moments that worked. The whole scene with him, Rando, and Buddy where Buddy tries to save Rando was probably my favorite part lol? Simply bc i think it worked well for all of their characters. For all of them I think it was my favorite moment of characterization-- Buddy's choices to drop or hold him both work for her i think. And yikes, disgusting moment with Bolo. And I will be real, I think Joyful needed that. The game was short so i wouldnt have wanted more but, Painful had it uncomfortable and gross moments and I think that is important to an extent of really pushing the importance of narrative and experiences of Buddy (and reflecting Lisa).

uhhhhh yeah i think thats most of what I can say. iirc i wasnt around for the old kickstarter but Joyful was a stretch goal right? and i heard Austin isnt exactly happy with it either? its really really a shame that it was a stretch goal that felt forced. I get why it was a tempting goal for people but.... it just sucks bc its clear that is why this game turned out the way it did. i wonder often if him not doing much else with the series is simply bc joyful had to be the "conclusion" and its not one hes exactly happy with either. tbh the series could have just been Painful and it would be fine. but if Joyful wasnt a DLC i imagine it would have been likely we'd see a full fledged sequel instead and it sucks it had to go that way. i definitely dont hate the creator for it but itsucks for everyone that even the additions in Definitive cant fix what happened already with that game.

[gaykarstaagforever]

Here is an article from Variety about how the writers' / actors' strike will probably lead to Apple buying everything like Shudder, while CBS and Disney will continue to lose market share and money:

I post the link because I think the author is correct about the market impact, generally.

Now the problems with it.

1. Her premise is that the strike is hitting the billion-dollar content dragons "at the worst possible time," as they bravely fire people and purge IP to make more money for shareholders. The narrative that this is all some unfortunate act of nature is utter bullshit. They all did this to themselves, and are ONLY doing this to themselves because of greed and lies fueled by greed. Zaslav is the one who promised everybody that his company owning 47 others would lead to good times that will never end. That wasn't "market forces" or "the wind." This is Smaug laying upon his Golden Hoard, bemoaning the apparent death of the world because it isn't making any more gold for him to steal...because he's already stolen it all. Then set the mines on fire. What a shock that Variety, a trade publication, would pretend like the market leaders in that trade are downtrodden simpletons just tryin' to make their way through this mixed up ol' world. But they are decidedly not.

2. Traditional or "Grandpa Media", your network television goons / Disney / Paramount, haven't been in a position to blow money on stuff that can't compete with offerings from Netflix or Amazon for like more than a decade now, yet they are continually eager to keep trying. So maybe stop wasting money on that? Like I don't believe you are in actual dire straights when you've refused to steer out of then for 12 years. And keep trying to build a house there.

Paramount should have given up on their grey water service ages ago, but are seemingly refusing to out of spite. The networks are spending tons maintaining free ad-supported services that are destined to never be profitable, because no one under the age of 70 is willing to put up with this goofy format to watch even more tepid CSI knockoffs.

Why are these companies investors allowing them to keep doing this? It is YOUR money they are flushing away on bad ideas, guys. This is why everything is a mess. It isn't because a staff writer wants rent money for churning out bad dialog for some shit G-rated fireman show only 6 dads watch. Again, you people fucked this all up from the front end.

3. If motherfucking Disney, with all of their billions and monopolization of IPs, haven't figured out how to make streaming work yet, they are never going to. At least not with this leadership.

You brought Iger back. He oversaw the first Disney stumbles into streaming, where they did whatever and it worked because they are Disney and people were willing to put up with whatever. That "successful formula" isn't going to work again. You actually have to fix that godforsaken broken POS app and put shows on it that aren't Mandalorian Season 3. And the confused old man who basically led to all this of happening in the first place is in no position to fix it.

4. The demands of the striking talent are not grandiose. They are asking for living wages and humane working conditions and being valued as creatives and artists by the corporations making billions from their work. Regardless of the market, this is baseline stuff they should have had already. The writer of the article knows this, but still seems to bemoan the timing, like this will hurt their chances of getting concessions.

Lady. They ALREADY HADN'T GOTTEN THE CONCESSIONS. When times were good. Obviously it doesn't matter, because the companies aren't interested in doing what is right. So what the hell does it matter?

Maybe kicking them when they are down, because they've already kicked themselves, is a better strategy. Because with all the talk of AI and CG doing everything, that is being said by people who barely understand what those are, who STILL NEED TO PAY PEOPLE TO DO THOSE, the cheat code they think they have to beat the system isn't a cheat code. ChatGPT can't make a show anyone with a brain would watch. And you have to pay people to composite actors in. And because you low-ball the rates for that, you're burning through the companies that can do that: they keep going out of business. This isn't sustainable, or even fundamentally doable.

The companies are wounded animals, and their fix for it is to chew off another limb. That isn't a position of strength. Striking writers can go get other jobs if they have to. But what is NBCUniversal if there are no new episodes of...let me look it up here...Chicago Med? They are an entertainment company. They can't transition into a lumber yard or something.

I realize they are owned by Comcast who has a monopoly on paid internet and cable TV in a bunch of US markets. But Comcast isn't going to keep them if they aren't profitable. They're all at risk if they don't settle with talent and make more shows thst someone, apparently, is watching.

[zombeebunnie]

Game development Trembling Essence update:

Hello guys and welcome new followers, I hope you're all still having a awesome spooky month! :] This update will be a bit long but I tried my best to condense everything.

There's a specific route I ultimately decided to rework. I wrote everything during the summer and looking at it now, it had the same problem I had fixed in another one which was the odd responses/reactions from both Noah and the player(Y/N) and not many choices. There was also a lot of alternate dialog that didn't make too much of a difference, hard to keep track of, and made things very cluttered.

I decided to lessen some of the alternate dialogs and instead focus more on it changing and having situational variables depending on what you choose since in this scenario, regardless of your closeness with Noah to a certain extent, he still feels a certain way towards you and I don't think adding extra dialog to it is needed like I thought it was months ago.

The only exception to this is for a ending you can get since it would make the player(Y/N)'s reaction to everything seem really weird if I didn't change it up.

I also switched two situations around so it flows better. In the old version Noah's view of the player(Y/N) didn't line up in a certain scene so it felt as if everything leading up to that part didn't matter.

Lastly, something interesting happened while I was fixing up everything. There was a choice you could get that would be brought up and reflected later on in the route. I went and fixed it since I thought the alternate situations from it were too repetitive and gave off more of a Day 4 situation than a Day 3. The next day I adjusted it again and ended up starting them over from scratch because I thought the fixed writing was too cheesy. I was halfway through the second and accidently wrote over the one I actually liked, THEN everything crashed and reverted back to what I had there in the beginning. :,]

I took it as a sign and asked my play tester to play through it before I did anything else to it. :,]

They initially thought it was pretty good and I told them the issues I was having with it since they didn't see the other two situations you could get, the both of us bounced ideas back and forth for a while up until I went back and mixed both of our suggestions together. The revised version ended up being the one that was enjoyed a lot more since it felt more organic and the reactions were natural and not too cliché.

Now it correctly flows into a choice afterwards the can determine how the day ends. Overall, all of the revising will make this path even longer but I think it was worth it! :]

I think that is everything I have to share right now! Thank you guys very much for all your support and I hope spooky month continues to go well! >:]

[flatstarcarcosa]

dinner plans

ship: need a bastard? content warnings: language, ig

*****

Reese shoves the door shut with their heel and drops their bag on the table. A metallic clank catches their attention, and they look down to find a .45 laying on the floor.

They let out an annoyed growl in the back of their throat as they bend down and pick it up. They check it over, finding the safety off, the mag full, and a round in the chamber.

“God fucking damn it, Tony!” they snap, ejecting the mag. “Your shitty fucking memory doesn’t override basic fucking firearm safety, why the fuck is there a hot gun sitting by my goddamn door?!”

“Hey-!” Tony calls, appearing from the kitchen entryway. “I think what you should be focused on is that I didn’t accidentally shoot the fucking Instacart driver.” He pauses, adding, “hence the gun on the table.”

Reese sighs, dropping the mag on the coffee table and engaging the safety on the gun. “Why would you have shot the Instacart driver?”

“I ordered some groceries,” he says, shrugging, “forgot I did it by the time it got here. Hence the gun.”

“Jesus christ,” Reese mumbles, pinching the bridge of their nose. They notice the spoon in his hand, and frown. “Why were you ordering groceries?”

Tony blinks, fumbling for words for a moment, and then points the spoon at them. “Better question: why are you home from work when the sun’s still up? Pharmacy don’t close til midnight.”

“I quit,” says Reese. They collapse, face first, onto the sofa.

“Oh.”

Silence.

“Soooo,” drawls Tony, “how’d that go?”

[Corner Pharmacy, 2 Hours Earlier]

The phones are ringing. There is no one to answer them.

Correction, there are people. And theoretically, the phones could be answered, if only the people present weren’t all preoccupied with four other tasks at the same time, each with varying levels of priority.

The droning of the phones and the wailing of the drive thru alarm have all blended together with the moderate tinnitus into a blanket of white noise Reese has, somehow, learned to block out entirely.

A woman stands in front of the counter attempting to continue her phone call while also expecting to be served, and they can’t help but notice that between her cellphone, purse, and jewelry, she’s walking around with more monetary worth than they have in their savings account.

They blink the thought away, attempting to repeat their sentence, only for her to interrupt them to continue her call. She glances at them, glares, and waggles her insurance card.

“Ma’am,” they say, “we still haven’t heard back from the doctors office.”

“But I’m already-” says the woman, adjusting her phone, “no, not you I’m at the pharmacy. I’m already here. Just refill it from the last one.”

“We cannot fill another prescription for that medication until we hear back from the doctor,” recites Reese, a well-practiced script that feels more like selecting a dialog choice than having a real conversation.

“But I’m already here,” the woman repeats. For emphasis, she flings her insurance card across the counter. “You’ve filled it before, and it’s Saturday, my doctor isn’t even open. I need that now.”

“I understand that, but legally we cannot just give you more medication until the doctor has authorized it,” they say.

“I’ll call you back,” the woman snaps into the phone, before slamming it down onto the counter. “You can’t just refuse to give me my medication.”

“I’m not refusing,” says Reese, “it’s not a matter of refusing anything, it’s a matter of legally not being able to-”

“I’m already here!” the woman snaps, voice raising. “I called before and said I was coming for it! It was supposed to be ready, and I’ve gotten it filled here before, so I’m not leaving until I get it!”

They’re clenching their jaw so hard that it hurts to open their mouth to speak. “You spoke to me earlier, and I told you then that we were waiting to hear from the doctor, and that you’d be notified when we heard back and got the prescription ready.”

“And it is Saturday,” the woman yells, stressing each word as if the issue is that Reese doesn’t understand the days of the week. “What are you not getting about that? What am I supposed to do, just be without the medicine until Monday?”

“If that’s how long it takes the doctor to get back to us, then yes,” says Reese. “Now, if you don’t mind, you’re holding up other people behind you.”

The woman lets out an affronted gasp. “Don’t you speak back to me like that, now you’re being fucking rude!”

A pop of white flashes in their vision.

“I’m not the one raising my voice and swearing,” they say.

“But you are being rude! You’re refusing me my medication, and now you’re telling me to just leave!”

“I didn’t say leave, I simply pointed out that you’re-”

“I know there’s people behind me, you fucking cunt!”

Another pop of white, and Reese slams their hands down on the counter. “I guess it takes one to know one, you entitled fucking bitch.”

“Where is your manager?!”

Someone from behind them shouts their name as Reese turns away from the counter.

“Man, fuck this,” they say. “Fuck this, and fuck you for never helping,” they add, pointing at a coworker coming around from a filling station, before gesturing to a different one, “and fuck you for always blaming me for the shit you never let me do, never getting fucking done! I fucking quit! I hope y’all drown in the goddamn F1s!”

[Reese’s Apartment, Now.]

Tony lets out a long whistle. “So, all things considered, coulda been worse,” he says.

Reese lets out a snort, muffled by the couch cushion, and drags themself into a sitting position. “I did clock out when I left, though,” they say, “don’t want them fucking up my hours that I was present by claiming they don’t have any records.”

“Now that’s covering your ass.”

They run their hands down their face, dropping their arms by their side, and frowning. “What smells like it’s on fire?”

“Fuck,” Tony darts back into the kitchen. The sound of clattering pan lids echoes out, along with the pattering of little feet.

Rufus appears from the entryway, tail wagging as he decrees whatever happenings in the kitchen are no longer as important as Reese being home early. He paws at their lap, and they give him neck scratches and greetings before finally getting up to see what in the hell is happening in the other room.

“Before you say shit,” says Tony, turning towards them from the stove, once again pointing the spoon at them, “you weren’t supposed’ta be back yet. I was gonna just leave this shit in the fridge and then the rest of it in the sink.”

“You...were going to make a mess while I wasn’t here, gorge yourself on whatever this is, and then also leave me the mess?” asks Reese, exhaustedly attempting to follow his logic.

“It’s fucking spaghetti,” he says, “an’...yeah, basically.”

Of course.

He can’t just make them dinner, and be normal about it. Making them dinner for when they get off work to be nice goes directly against his insistence that there’s no forward momentum to be had with him; it implies a level of existence to the relationship that he denies is possible to achieve.

Instead, he makes the food and covers it up as just having conveniently caused leftovers, leaving a mess in the kitchen for an added layer of plausibility.

The major flaw in the plan obviously being why he’d be making himself dinner in their apartment seems to have escaped him entirely.

“What are you burning?” they ask.

“Uh, the noodles, apparently,” he says, turning to look at one of the pots.

“My Taskmaster in christ, how do you fucking burn boiling noodles?”

“Oh, excuse me for not wanting to give my brain a hard reset just to absorb some Gordon Ramsay to make fucking spaghetti!”

“It’s noodles,” Reese protests, “not a fucking filet mignon with a reverse sear and a finishing sauce, for fucks sake!“

Silence.

“That actually sounds way better, though,” mumbles Tony.

“Yeah,” sighs Reese, “it does.”

“Fuck it, you wanna go get steaks?”

Reese shrugs. “Yeah, fuck it, may as well.”

[wumpyprincessdrea]

Hi all! Here is an additional segment to The Light of the New Moon! I really hope that you enjoy it! I will caution that the content of my story may upset some individuals. The cw's in this bit are as follows: medical trauma, experimentation, broken bones.

Please like, comment, or reblog this post if you would like to be added to my tag list.

Tag List

@theres-whump-in-that-nebula

The Light of the New Moon

Part 3

Nocturna woke up hours later in the same place where she was left.   Upon opening her eyes, she could finally see the familiar shapes of the room.   Everything was much clearer.   She tried to sit up but found she was still very tightly bound to the table.  Her body hurt, but the inferno that seared her veins was no longer present.   The pain was more of a throbbing ache which one would experience after strenuous exercise.  Nocturna let out an exhausted groan.

"Oh good, you're awake.   I was starting to worry if our little experiment was too much!"

The woman quickly walked over to Nocturna's side again with her journal.  

"So, how are we feeling?"

Nocturna closed her eyes for a minute, and frowned as she continued to come to her senses.

"It's a bit difficult to say at the moment.   But my muscles are sore and I have a throbbing headache."

The woman recorded this new information in her journal.

"I see.   However, it does not surprise me.  You were in a great amount of pain, you were afraid, angry, and a touch anxious.  In normal circumstances that would be enough to cause any lycan to go into a frenzied state. It would likely cause the lycan to be forced into transformation. Your body was internally fighting itself.  Part of you wanted to transform, but it couldn't. This may explain why you are so sore."

Nocturna sighed, closing her eyes again from fatigue.

The woman walked in a circle around Nocturna, studying her. 

"But why didn't you transform? It is almost as if the wolfsbane kept you in your human form."   We will have to test this theory later. I want to allow you oneday of rest. I need you at full streng th.  Now that we know what that tesvb t did to you, I'm going to have to do it again... but I have more things in store.   I want to see if I can push you into transformation.  

Nocturna winced at the woman's words, whimpering slightly. 

"Don't be such a baby, you will be fine.... at least I am giving you a chance to recover."

Nocturna sighed, her face becoming neutral, hiding her fear.

"Since, I am unsure of when this... will end, what do I call you?" Asked Nocturna.

"I am Lorelei, however, I dont think there will be much dialog between us, so I dont think it matters.  Now, I did promise you a day of rest so that you can recuperate before our next assessment.  She pulled a second lever by the table and the chains and leather retracted, leaving Nocturna unbound. Nocturna sighed heavily in relief, at the removal.   She tried to sit up, but instantly regretted it and laid back down, her face grimaced from the pain as a rib cracked.

"Oh. I should have warned you... you should probably lay still.  You see, due to the nature of our experiment, your muscles, bones, and other structures are incredibly weak.   Moving, is not only futile, but will only worsten your discomfort.   Oh dear..... tsk tsk tsk.... Your rib.... it's cracked.... such a pity...."

Lorelei beamed at this new opportunity.   "Oooh I know just the thing to help it!! We can test a new formula I developed!" 

Nocturna winced at her words, and without thinking she moved her hand to her injured ribs and cried out in pain, feeling her muscles from her shoulder to her hand spasm. She swore under her breath.  

Lorelei ignored Nocturna's complaining and left to retrieve something.   She returned holding a small container that held a strange balm.  Lorelei appeared more unhinged than before.   She approached Nocturna and sat next to her with the jar.  She then put on a pair of specially made gloves and opened the small pot which contained a deep purple cream. 

"Now, I have done some research and it turns out that while wolfsbane is extremely toxic, it also contains some healing properties... I want to test my new product...."

Lorelei chortled, dipping her hand into the jar and scooping a dollop into her hand.

"I am not sure how this will effect you, so please, be very honest with me.  Again, all of this is for science and it will be used to help the rest of us.....Remember, moving will only make the pain worse...."  

Nocturna said nothing.   She laid completely still and found a focal point on the ceiling. She slowly tried to force herself to zone out.

Lorelei smiled, and applied the salve to Nocturna's injured ribcage, who instantly recoiled at the moment the linament was applied, crying out in anguish as more internal damage was inflicted.  

"Oh dear.... and here I thought this would help...."

Nocturna did her best to lay still despite seething in agony.   She tried to speak and beg Lorelei to stop, but no sound came out.   Lorelei took a step back and watched as Nocturna's body shook with anguish. She watched as her body lurched from the pain.    Then she lay still, completely unconscious.  

[pavindu-mga2022mi5016]

Component 1

Storytelling in videos games

When it comes to   videos games I believe there is something very different, when compared with other mediums of entertainment. Video games are able to tell stories in a ways that movies or books are not able to do, and is also able to bring a different level of immersion to the consumer.

When games where first created it was never really about the story, it was more over about the gameplay of a game and the enjoyability of its gameplay mechanics and design, that is what it was more over about, it was never really about creating a good story for a game, but even if it were to have been the case the technology at the time was very limited. Then again some cases the story of a game would just be in the games manuals, or it would just be something simple that can be told in the game it self. Such as donkey Kong, nothing really complex.

But as time when on and as technology got better so could story telling in video games

And what game creators would realize is no matter what medium good story telling sells, not only does it sell but it’s a good way to keep the play motivated to keep playing the game.

And as newer consoles came out, with better technology the games were created got better  and lesser limitation did the game creators have in terms of gameplay and in terms of storytelling. 

An example of a game would be chrono trigger coming up with creative ways of telling a story in videos games which would inspire games to come , and this would be  achieved by giving the game multiple ending and creating replay ability. And another way replay ability was achieved in games was by adding side quests.

And then later on  when technology got more advanced 3d games were starting  to be created, creating lesser limitations. An game being Bioshock not only does it have a really ambitious story but it also has and amazing sound track that immerses the player into the game.

Anyways lets come to the present moment and talk about the state of videos game story telling , Video games as a whole has advanced tremendously  compared  to where it started.

Game in the present moment can be said to rival movies itself in terms of story and in term of visuals  Games such as god of war and god of war Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West  to name a few, which have stunning visuals and exceptional stories.

So far I have been  talking about how story telling has been in videos games in the past and how far story telling has gotten in the present moment, now I would like to talk more about how story telling in videos games can differ massively from other mediums of entertainment.

For one yes it is true that stories can be told in the same way movies are told, but I believe that stories could be told in more unique ways due to interaction and more immersion factor in video games.  And I would like to talk about it.

First being something I already talked about cinematic games, games like god of war and Horizon Forbidden West  which are more over like movies but with interaction in it, I am in no means devaluing these games, as these games have a really good narrative and are really fun, but they are more over in the traditional route in telling stories.

Second,  player choice, giving players different choices to make can make the player more engaged to a game as it will give more dialog option when talking to NPC, so the player would have to think before they make a choice as it might have a significant impact in the whole games narrative, making the player  more over emotionally invested to the game and its world and characters,  the more time a player spends in  a game the more invested they are and the more immersed they will feel, which is something games have an edge in when compared to movie, where a movie might be 1 hour to 3 hours, where as depending on the game and the replay ability  a game could be played for around 30 to maybe even an 100 hours.

 Examples for Player choice can be : Mass Effect, Chrono Trigger and Witcher.

3rd story telling through environment, this is another way games can tell a story through environment  and props, it is true that  this can be also achieved in movies, but the thing is when it comes to movies you aren’t really able to observer everything in fine detail, where as in an game it is possible look at every small detail, and can really immerse the player into the game, not only can a story be told through the environment but it also can be done through items in the game. 

Such as dark souls not only does the game tell a story though the environment of the game, but it also does so  through items.  When it come to dark souls  the story is there and the game tells the story to you but not in the traditional sense, when it comes to dark souls  you as the player must fit the pieces to gather  through reading item descriptions to figure it all out, or you could just watch a 1 hour lore video of the game on YouTube, but the fascinating thing about it is the way it tells the story, sure it does so through NPC dialog but if you wanted to dive deeper into the lore you can also do so by reading  items, or weapon descriptions.

Then there are also games that cover topics like mental illnesses, games like

Hellblade – that cover psychosis

Celeste – that covers anxiety and depression.

To the moon – that covers autism.

The point I’m trying to make is through the interactive and story telling features of games we can bring awareness  to mental illnesses, and create a true form of empathy. And I feel that the way to achieve this is by having a good idea. I feel that this was achieved in a game called Omori that I play some time ago.

Well at the end I believe that there is still so much untapped potential in terms of story telling in video games. And I hope that we can also use this as a way to bring awareness to certain topics and issues that we might be facing and bring it to light. Through storytelling in video games.

[souleaterpostanime]

SE-POST Reread part 2/4

Well continuing my reread, so here some notes and doodles again.

chapter 10:

Even after all this time and rereading it, I'm not sure of the title of this mini-arc is clever or just tedious to read and comprehend. I guess I let you decide,

Think this one improved shows an improvment in drawing the faces, or atleast it has some panels that were quite nice or probably just used a relevant reference. I even like the scratchy coloring of Ragnarok. Ofcourse some action panels still are hard to read and rushed which is one of the biggest flaws of it t. The other flaws that I noticed atleast when rereading it now was the clunky dialog, with all the repeated words and some of it probably being unclear without the context of being the author. Still I think I liked the chapter for a few reasons: Firstly, a lot actually happened in it, not only having a lot of conversations in different scenarios with different scenarios but also an action scene and other variety. I think I made Ragnaroks perspective interesting enough, but maybe I have read not enough stories to know if it truly is just cliche and explored better in them. Still, maybe being an asshole as a defense mechanism so others dont realise how pathetic you are is relatable to somebody, even if nobody would admit it lol. Anyways this is a two-parter, so I probably will write more developed thoughts after rereading that one.

chapter 11:

I think I once said this was one of my favorite chapters, and even if I like a bit less than before, I still find it solid. Think if I didnt rush the art in certain parts it would be a big improvement already, even though I quite like the visual direction for it overall. Maybe having Ragnarok face such a suicide-like situation is a bit to extreme, but I guess you can only redeem yourself by being on the brink sometimes. Still hope people liked the humor as much as I did, even though I expressed it through clunky dialog as allways. Atleast the gift giving scene at the end should be ok for most people, but if it isnt, I dont care cause I know its good lol. Still wonder if anybody who cares about "power systems" thinks my justification for the resonance and the whole "soul-world" interaction to be bullshit But I think stuff like that doesnt really matter to much, especially in a story like Soul Eater. Anyways, hoped I have something deeper to say in this note, maybe the chapter speaks for itself afterall? Oh also go to youtube and type "village sniper" if you havent by now, funniest video.

chapter 12:

I still wonder if people get who I was referencing as the bad guys in this chapter, because I made it obvious enough, but maybe the overly rushed sketchy look of the designs obsucred it too much. Still if serial killers can be shown as kishineggs, why not evil businessman and politicians (we had allcapone afterall). Still the biggest loss due to the bad art in this chapter was that I couldnt convey the drip of the certain Bahanas resident in a way it actually looks good. But maybe Pattys training paying off makes up for that, hope I didnt make her to "OP" or "Mary Sue-ish", think she has enough charachter flaws for that not to be the case, and (maybe I should have shown that more clearly) she probably wouldnt survived against the big bad if Kid hadnt shown up (and Liz too, because maybe if they weilded each other and werent distracted by sibling rivlary, but eh that would be to soon for the story...) Also Kid snaping out of one phase and jumping into another - maybe the change was a bit too quick, but eh, think he was in his "literal kid" phase long enough, and repetive jokes get old, nomater how thematicaly relevant they are (like the 8 and symmetry jokes got old in my opinion, not counting the times they got some variety and clevernes added) Anyways this chapter also set up alot of stuff that didnt get resolved completly by know, but what should be of importance in future arcs, some things getting payoffs sooner than later...

chapter 13:

Man, I remember wanting to finish this chapter but being super tired, so I did the cover art at a time my brain was probably already shutting down, because I only later realised how shitty it looked. At the moment of its creation I genuinly thought it looked well rendered, and just after the fact saw what a polished turd it actually was, weird how impresions can change. Shows that I should get more experience in rendering things and not just sketch aimlesly... But on the chapter itself - I think the dialog is often less clunky than in the beginning and not bad overall. I wanted to portray how everybody thinks of Kurma as a joke but that her delusional confidence actually is able to overcome some of the disrespect by the end. Is that a good message or interesting dynamic - maybe. One could wonder if introducing an even bigger threath right now is a bit overkill, but I thought it would show that the only threats arent just some witches having a midlife crisis. Also saying "sis" instead of "bruh" lol. Anyways, one could say that in the end it is a set up chapter, but I enjoyed my intepretation of witch society, from its culture to worldview and eccentricities. Maybe I went a bit to farcical with the whole humor, but eh its a stupid fancomic of a stupid cartoon, so to make it all gritty and serious would be even more stupid. And maybe the witch society being so broken is kinda a point, I mean complaining that Satan gets worshiped the wrong way seems to be a sign that mayb the fundementals werent that great anyway Oh also it has the tease for the school dance chapter, so lets see if that holds up as the best one yet...

chapter 14:

yeah this one is still great. The art is improved from the previous ones, the plot is fun and yeah I dunno I just like this one for some reason, cant say much more

chapter 15:

I wonder if I had started with the art quality of this chapter, if the reception of the whole story would have been different? I mean it still is amateurish and sloppy in the fight scenes, but still, atleast to me, looks acceptable for a fanwork. But ofcourse this chapter was very dialog heavy, so thats one reason for all that. And that probably isn't what most people like, it got a bit sacherine and overly sappy even for me, and I think the brief action sequence was included just so it isnt all just charachters crying about how they love each other lol. (And for thr gnomesis pun, gnosis, gnome, get it????!) Oh it also was one chapter that started hinting the whole oil thing that got later revealed as necessary for the black blood, I wonder if this will go anywhere... Anyways maybe writing about a charachter who is an orphan wothout first hand experience is not the best idea, but I guess if one couldnt place oneself into others shoes, all books would just be authobiographies.

chapter 16:

Ah the Giriko chapter, fun fact when I was "storyboarding" it out, I thought it would be a two parter again, but then I realised that it all fit into one chapter. It is also the first chapter where you can really see Crona developing his dislike for witches, and we all know how that goes (technically it began at the end of last chapter, and there were hints earlier but you know). Think the faces and stuff were mostly good, but some the action was so bad that even I had difficulties telling what is supposed to happen, lol. But still I think it is a decent chapter, having a lot of action but also some humor and interesting conversations and developments. Also a few setups that still only have developed a little, so you know I have a lot planed, and I'm not close to finishing writing this weird story, maybe by the end it all will make sense...

chapter 17:

Oh boy, the start of the probably most out of left field miniarc. But with soul having a vintage bike he just casually rides around, why not? They uave to move around somehow And its a more original thing to include than playing nintendo games or something like more than one soul eater fic I read did lol. But anyways, I actually liked the weird pencil like "shading" in the beginning of the chapter, had a nice look to it, matching the whole cartoony but dark asthetic of hitchicking at night. Think the whole chapter has a unique look to it. Things about art aside, I guess the main conflict could sound a bit to overdramatic, would Crona break down like that after something like this? Maybe not, but I think I made it plausibel with the disapointment of having your selfdoubts confirmed again after a brief moment of hope, especially when everyone said that its so easy and you think ypu would disappoint people. Still wonder if people felt this chapter is to weird and I might admit that I put in stuff I didnt even want to consiously, maybe some bad memories warped too fit the story... But anyways, the story turns into a kindof b movie thing so that will be more obvious in the next one.(Also did anybody get the Magic Mountain joke?)

chapter 18:

I don't remember this one being this good lol Probably just remembered messing up the reveal of the GT-R and thought the whole thing was trash, but nah, dont care what anybody thinks, this shit was entertaining. I mean who would come up with fighting a car? And even the moral/lesson worked lol, think its something everybody needs to hear. I mean, I admit some panels were hard to understand, like Crona using Ragnaroks wings to get a boost to lure the car into the swamp and ect. but still. Oh and also, out of all my typos, "Jhoney" was on porpuse, if you know you know. Anyways, I dont know, guess I just liked the humor and interactions and shit, dont know if it resonantes with anybody but me, but if you wonder why, this all was why. Even hard to summarise it all, so lets go to the next one, think that one was genuinely kinda lame, but maybe I'm wrong again

chapter 19:

This one probably really felt like filler for many, and yeah it is more of a slice of life one without too much "happening", even though a lot of charachter development, seeds and set ups do occur in it. Also I quite liked the coloring and shadows in this one, must be when I accidentally had the right settings in the programm before I actually understood what I was doing later lol.

But yeah, maybe I overdid it with BlackStar bashing in it, like I find it funny that he interupts some make a wish foundation thing for a kid who has literal cancer, but that is maybe more of familyguy tier humor that doesnt really mesh with the tone, but eh Still think I gave BlackStar enough self awarness to not make it tottaly a hitpiece, and I guess the way is going is also because I actually have in a certain sense the most longterm plans for him, but if that ever gets fully realised, I dont promise cause, man, it will take more than anybody would ever expect. Anyways, as said the movie referenced was "Wild at Heart", a weird movie that one should not watch with anybody, especially not with relatives. Maybe just watch some scenes on youtube, like the one about the main charachters, Sailor's, alligator jacket. Anyways maybe I should say more but maybe not so

[jake-g-lockley]

Good morning sorry if I bother you you can Marc Spector x fm!reader

Reader is depressed because I think the past ( reader is old avengers and widow ) and Marc she’s love so much and tell casual words

Sometimes Cliché is Okay (Marc Spector x fem!reader)

Masterlist | Spotify Playlist

Trigger Warnings: Violence, depressive episodes, PTSD, trauma, self destruction. 

Ye ye ik thats Santi but Santi is basically mercenary Marc in my head atm and I love Oscar’s face in this xxx

Whoohoo another one. I’ve seen a similar one somewhere (if any of y’all find it please let me know). I hope you’re okay with me adding PTSD into the mix. Sorry about the lack of dialog lol. Anyway, keep the requests coming in &lt;3

Parings: Marc Spector x fem!reader

Word Count: 900 words

A/N: How do I write these at top speed? I’m bored and I like it when people give me lil ideas :))) Also, much of the diagnostic criteria for depression and PTSD in this story are taken directly from the DSM-5 but again, it is not accurate to a single individual. 

If you or anyone you know is suffering from mental health issues, please seek professional help. I just wanted to let you know that you are loved no matter what &lt;3

☾ .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Have you ever felt like you were sinking into quicksand as the rest of the world is speeding past you? That's the only way you could describe the anguish that you were facing at the moment. 

At a young age, you had your livelihood stripped away from you and it was hard to get out of the cycle of torture when you had no one to protect you. You were thrown around, like an object, like an apparatus to an experiment, a tool to something bigger. 

The assassinations felt grousome at first but eventually it made you numb. Your judgment was clouded by the instructions you were given and at one point you did everything blindly. The things that they taught made you forget about yourself, about other people and it desensitized you and made you almost robotic. 

After you dropped the entitlement of being a Widow, you were recruited to join the Avengers and you thought you found your purpose and you started to heal. Knowing that you were purposely saving lives with the skills that you possesed instead of destroying them gave you a sense of hope that you knew you might be able to get by. 

However, the blip changed everything.

Everything you knew, everything you loved, was gone. 

You witnessed the fall of Wakanda. You were there when you heard Wanda’s grueling and gut wrenching scream as Thanos tore the mind stone from Vision. You remember the snap that echoes deep inside your mind each time you try to close your eyes. 

Nothing could drag you out of the misery post-blip. Those five years were the most fatiguing years you have ever had. The world was dipped into a whirlwind of chaos, millions of mourners, and every single one of them blamed the Avengers. 

Afterall, are heroes really heroes if they can't protect the ones who could not defend themselves?

One day you lost it.

Steve Rogers found you curled up in the corner of your room in the Avenger’s compound. You were screaming, hysterically trying to get rid of the painful memories in your head. You had fought every single person who came into your room that horrible day and you trusted no one, the paranoia evident in your self-destructive ways. 

Rogers, on the other hand, that man was made of steel. He patiently waited till you got tired and calmly made sure that you got the help that you needed. 

You had to go for therapy for 3 months before you could come to terms with yourself without causing anymore self destruction. You denied your diagnosis for so long, as you tried to push away the issues you were having, hoping it wouldn’t catch up with you. You thought that your mind was stronger than the parasite that was consuming you. You eventually accepted that you were suffering from PTSD and had crippling depression. 

It took months of healing after that, but bouts of depression would occasionally come around every now and then. You again had started to isolate yourself, until the day you met Marc Spector. 

You didn’t know he was a vigilante / superhero at first, but you had your usual suspicions. He was the only one that made you feel like you were someone again. It was almost like he brought out the human in you again. But most importantly, he made you feel loved. 

Every single thing he did would increase your love for him by tenfold. The way he would lose his contact lens in the sink too many times for his liking, the way he hummed while he cooked and the way he would drive you up the wall with his tickling. 

He, of course, had his own problems, but he was a problem solver too. He had ingenious ways to combat the issues that he and you were facing. He didn’t treat you as if you were fragile, but when you broke, he was there to pick up the little pieces and put you back together. 

Both of you have sleeping issues and would spend nights laying awake, staring at the ceiling until Marc would drag you to your feet and the both of you would dance in the silence, to your own rhythm in each other's arms. Sometimes, he would turn on some music and you would laugh at his silly moves as he shimmied around the apartment you shared.

When you felt horrible and couldn’t get out of bed, he would do everything in his power to make you feel comfortable. You learned to not argue but comply with his doings even when at times your guilt would consume you. He would bathe you, clothe you and feed you, making sure that you were well hydrated. 

Sometimes, when you were ill, he would stay up for hours by your side, as you fell in and out of consciousness, changing the wet towels on your forehead or feeding you medicine. 

When the night terrors struck, he would hold you for hours until you stopped shaking, soothing you with whispers of beautiful words of endearment as you sobbed into his nightshirt. 

Slowly, you felt yourself getting much better, your trust in humanity slowly easing its way back into your world. You stopped ditching your therapy sessions and made sure you took your medication. He had a devotion for you and you also had a devotion to him and that pushed you to get better. 

As cliché as it sounds, he was your knight in shining armor. But sometimes, the only thing that could save you from eternal pain is a cliché.

☾ .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Reblogs are appreciated <3 love you all so so much *muah*