#(I'm combining these two days into one piece. Because two characters and I do what I want. :P)

[thepiper0fhameln]

Inktober 5 & 6

[stylesispunk]

fics I love on this app: Some march recs ✍️✨

i'm thinking i'm gonna start doing this to spread love and share the wonderful pieces of writing people share with us on this app. Please forgive me if this seems rushed but I did on my phone but with so much love for it.

I haven't had a lot of time to read the past few days but i'm sharing the reads I've enjoyed the past few weeks and days!

Writers on this app deserve love 💌 (i'm suck at words but i'm trying to not to say a lot to not spoil the stories)

p,s; please share your recs with me, too.

I must dedicate a special place for these two fics that have stolen my heart ✨💌

the boyfriend act (frankie morales x f! reader) by the lovely @capuccinodoll

I can't express how perfect this whole story is. Since the first chapter you fall in love with the characters, the story, the writing and i'm dying to find out more about what's happening. The characters are so unique in different ways, the tension is so well written that you feel like you're watching the best rom-com just right out from the 2000s' but so much better.

falling (Joel Miller x oc!female character) by @damneddamsy

Once again, i have no words. One day I just found this fic and I fell in love with it. The story is such an original concept and I love the way all characters are so complex and full of stories that reach a point in common. One of the best on this app.

Stories I have enjoyed the past few days:

Then send me a son (outbreak! Joel miller x f!reader) by @miss-oranje-disco-dancer

I found out about this one a few days ago and when I say It left me speechless, it's true. The story combines angst, fluff and smut in such a wonderful way just as a wonderful story itself. I think the plot is perfect and original

To go, please (harry castillo xf!reader) | part 2 by @lonely-ey3s This story fueled my desire to watch the materialists and to find my own harry to take. The story was amazing, and I love the whole story. I think it is a good read to spend time enjoying because is wow.

Be my guest (no outbreak! Joel Miller x f!reader) by @aurorawritestoescape

I believe this was one of the things I enjoyed most these past few days. It got me kicking my feet and giggling the whole time I read. The plot was amazing, original and straight out from one of those perfect rom-com.

You in my eyes (Javier peña x f! reader) by my loooovely @greenwitchfromthewoods

You know I always love a good story of my man Javier peña and Aneta delivered as always. The story is the enemies to lovers type we all deserved to sit and read to enjoy a good time, And so far, this has it. I'm loving it.

Also by @greenwitchfromthewoods A white stone | from her short stories from life (Joel miller x f!reader) these stories are one of the best things you can come across with on this app, you should go and read them all.

Ace of hearts (Harry castillo x reader) @pedgito

I think you all must have read this one by now, but it's amazing. I love every single minute of it. I'm down for the stories where characters realize what they have in front of them and try to make all work. Also, this story got me kicking my feet and blushing the whole time. One of the best I've read ever.

The seamstress (marcus Acacius x fem!reader) by @yxtkiwiyxt

For all the Marcus Acacius girlies, this one here is a great read! I loved the emotions captured in this piece the written. Also love how the reader stands by herself all the time.

Amor Vincit (Marcus Acacius x f!reader) by @misguidedasgardian

When Jo came to me to tell me she had written something inspired by my "The soldier in the armour" fic, I felt flattered. This story is amazing! From the Bethroned prompt to love being a complex thing...give it a go I know you will love every single minute of it.

Don't give up on me (Harry castillo x f!reader) @punkshort

What can I say? This was so good to read. It was perfectly well written, and I enjoyed it very much. I love it when women make grown men cry haha.

[nyahongo]

I started using this book to help me study kanji alongside the TokiniAndy Anki deck (see this post). I really like the visual breakdown of the kanji pictograph, though I wish there were a few more rows of squares to practice writing (and that the squares had dotted lines inside them).

For reference, here is the list of kanji that are in that Anki deck. These kanji are pulled from a combination of N5 and Kanken level 10 lists.

一 二 三 口 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 日 月 白 百 千 万 円 上 下 人 火 土 水 木 王 玉 国 金 休 目 見 耳 止 足 正 車 手 子 字 学 田 力 男 女 友 父 母 毎 分 今 午 年 寺 時 小 大 犬 半 前 来 川 山 出 入 天 夕 名 化 花 竹 早 草 林 森 交 校 言 語 話 売 読 本 文 書 右 左 立 音 問 間 聞 生 青 赤 先 石 糸 後 気 空 高 何 町 村 中 虫 行 良 食 雨 電 外 北 南 西 東 長

As of this morning, I'm almost halfway through this list! 84 more meaning cards to go, and then I'll start seeing sentence cards!

My goal is to study 5 new cards per day in the kanji deck and the vocabulary deck; I'm doing them in tandem to reinforce kanji pronunciations and review previously learned vocabulary. By focusing on the meaning of the kanji and practicing writing, I'm able to tie the meaning to two pieces of information to help solidify it in my memory: 1) the mnemonic if I use one, and 2) the stroke order of the kanji. Some of the stories in the kanji deck are not super memorable for me, so I'm using some of my own mnemonics.

I much prefer this method over WaniKani because:

My studies have been more consistent. 5 cards per deck (10 total) per day, in the morning before work.

I've been less stressed out. I am learning the meanings of individual kanji first, and not worrying about all their readings.

My vocabulary is growing. I am reviewing vocabulary I already know, and learning new words. (I guessed that 閉まる means "to close" based on the context of the sentence it was in! This made me so happy! 😭)

I've started recognizing kanji in words I already know. For example, I learned 末 today from the aforementioned book (I haven't come across it in the Anki deck yet). I already know the vocabulary word 週末 (this weekend) and how it's pronounced (しゅうまつ). Thus, all I need to worry about right now is to remember that 末 is pronounced まつ in this particular word, and not stress about what the other readings of 末 are. I can learn that later, when I see vocabulary words that have it.

Once I finish learning the meanings of the kanji, the deck will start giving me sentence cards that contain vocabulary words using those kanji. This will help me learn kanji readings in the context of vocabulary words, rather than lone pronunciations.

This last point is something that really bothered me about WaniKani. For example, 丁 was connected to the character of Mrs. Chou to remember the reading ちょう. Although I remember this mnemonic, how can it be connected to 町, which contains 丁 but has a different pronunciation (まち)? Turning Japanese sounds into words (e.g. りょく→ rock) is tricky, and I'd rather spend my time practicing writing or learning words rather than stretching my imagination to come up with these farfetched mnemonics. 🤷‍♀️

[accirax]

DRDTtober Day...... uhhhhhh......

Given that we are (*checks calendar*) now half a year out from when DRDTtober 2024 was meant to begin, I think it's finally time to admit... yeah, I don't think I'm ever going to go back and make art for those prompts 😔✌️

I did, however, draw this back in September, in accordance with my original plans for the event! For those curious, below the cut is a (hopefully) brief explanation of what these designs were intended to be for, and why the comics ultimately never came to fruition.

As you may or may not recall, librariansrose kindly shared 2024's DRDTtober prompts to Tumblr well in advance of October's beginning, on August 22nd. Because I had so much fun making all of the comics for 2023, I definitely wanted to participate again. However, making the comics for 2023 took a lot of time, so I resolved that, if I was going to commit to these comics as a fairly big time investment, I might as well go all-in and make something nice that I could ideally use as a portfolio piece in the future. One polished, paneled page per day, in a 31-day overarching story. That idea also aligned with my personal desire to do something different than I had done last year, just for spice.

"This will be so easy!" I thought. "I have the end of August and the entirety of September to make my designs, write out my script, and get well ahead of drawing the comic itself so that I'll have plenty of buffer for the beginning of October!"

A few days after the prompts were shared, it was announced that DRDT Chapter 2 would resume on September 6th.

Suddenly, all of the time that I had mentally blocked to work on my DRDTtober comics was absorbed into watching the series itself and writing up my episode-by-episode dissections, as well as reading and responding to other various theories. It was awesome, obviously, but by the end of September I had done basically nothing other than make some very loose notes and draw up these first passes at character designs. At the beginning of October, I played with the idea of doing 7-page bursts at the end of each week, but when the first week ended, that turned into starting it mid-month and finishing in November, to starting in November, until it devolved into where we are now.

The biggest reason why I never wound up making this comic is because, to this day, I still don't have a clear idea of what its ending would be. With the comics being one connected story instead of 31 largely separate jokes, I needed to know what the ending would look like in order to properly set up the beginning. And, as I quickly found out, trying to make up a satisfying story that has to feature 30 random prompts in a specific order and feature 17 different characters when you only came in with the desire to make a comic instead of to share a story, is really, really hard 😅

What I can say about the story is that it would have had David as the protagonist, with Xander and Teruko starring as fellow main characters. They would go on a quest throughout the kingdom and into the wilderness, encountering the rest of the cast (themed to various prompts) at various points along the way. For instance, you might be able to recognize Hu, Eden, and Min as representing the "magical girls" prompt, while Whit and Charles exemplified the "coffee shop" prompt. There was also a lot of lore, the details of which were also never fully fleshed out. If people are interested in hearing more about the story, maybe I can share the beginning of the script that I wrote out, and the layout sketches I made of what the first few pages would look like.

But yeah, unless I wind up reviving this story in some other form in the future, I don't think I'll ever wind up circling back to 2024's prompts. I'd be much more likely to either just wait until 2025's prompts come out, or continue making my own events, like the Secret Santa and Valentine's Day series I've done. I guess I could maybe try to combine 2024's prompts with 2025's prompts to do two prompts per day? That sounds kinda interesting. But also really hard. No promises!

I have no idea if anyone was still anticipating these from me at all, but in my mind I did promise that I'd do the prompts eventually, and leaving that dangling thread was bothering me. Plus, I did like these designs, and hopefully you do, too! Probably so, if you're still reading this. Thank you for reading this! It's not a month's worth of comics or illustrations, but hopefully it was interesting regardless :)

[egg-emperor]

Ooooh boy, I hope this reaches you on time (my home in the Pacific Northwest is eight hours behind you. Time zones are a bitch to monitor XP).

Anyway, here's some stuff for you!

I made this the previous year and originally planned to submit when it was his birthday but I chickened out at the last second.

I'm honestly really proud of how this one turned out even though I took some liberties with Zavok's design (I'm aware he doesn't have much of a chin, but oh well). I also came up with that pick-up line on my own :D

I thought I'd give him some minions. As for why they've got such basic designs, I made them up on the spot. Guy on the left is supposed to be a fox while the guy on the right is a comodo dragon. I didn't give them names or a backstory. As far as I know, they're just blank canvases. You can do whatever the hell you want with them.

I feel like a lot of folks tend to forget that this dude's not all sunshine and sweetness. I find him super fascinating only because I've never seen a character who's both a fasion designer and a mob boss. That's such a unique combination!

Happy Birthday!

WHAATGAHJHSJTHAKGB THREE BEAUTIFUL PIECES OF MY BOY ⁉️⁉️⁉️ 🥰😍💘💖💕💜💖💕 *explodes with joy*

You're just in time for it to begin actually as it's only just turned the 25th here!

It's so cute to see him with the big strawberry shake yesss, he's the world's biggest lover of big pink drinks fr. The most sugary and sweetest ever that shocks people with how easily he can handle it with such a big sweet tooth it's impressive and awe inspiring XD

Casino Egg deserves to meet Zavok and discover his monsterfuckery like main universe Eggman ahsjgnbagkhg the pick up line is so him and I love Zavok's alarmed confused blush. His charm and charisma works on everyone, you can try to hide it but you're not immune hehe

YESSS for capturing his sinister side too omg! It's a very important asset of his character just as his silliness and sweetness and flirtatiousness and I'm delighted to see it represented! And two new characters for me??? The minions look really cool! I always need more non official faces to be a part of his crew so I'll definitely be adding them into it, thank you!

I'm very happy that you enjoy the concept! Yeah he's a unique and vastly multi talented guy huh, he can really do it all XD A mob boss but extra fabulous and fashionable is what the world needed I think. Being a jolly casino owner and showing off his stylish clothing line by day and organizing and partaking in all kinds of messed up evil crimes by night!

You captured every side of him perfectly with these with love and care for attention to detail with his cute sweet silliness, flirtatious charm, and sinister evil side and that really means a lot to me, thank you so muuuch 💜

[mortmere]

Lupine Bond (oil pastel painting)

Wolf pack behaviour among Arctic lupines. Ray is very soon going to be licked directly on the mouth. Who gets there first, Dief or Fraser?

Notes under the cut (they're long; I can't write anything short!)

Another day, another finished WIP - or rather, a new piece reworked from a nearly abandoned digital WIP. This idea had sat in the "rough photomanip" phase of my digital painting process for two or three years and was going to stay there because I was unable to find a usable reference photo for Ray (the one I had was blurry and entirely differently lit than everything else in the picture). There wasn't much else in the manip than the character references plopped on a stock photo of two guys sitting in a random field, and then I had a bunch of separate photos of Arctic lupines.

After drawing Dief admiring cherry blossoms with oil pastels earlier this year, I knew I wanted to paint the field of Arctic lupines with oil pastels, too, and of course I also wanted to see how these rough manips would work as references for oil pastel paitings, and how easily I could combine stuff from other reference pics on the spot. I'm happy to say it worked pretty well - this only took me three hours and didn't feel very hard - not that I was being very careful with their arms etc. I did suspect working like this was going to mean compromises in character likeness, and I wasn't wrong. :D Their faces are an inch and a half high on the A4 page, so not much room to fiddle with the blunt pastel sticks there ("CKR without a map" was a phrase that I repeated in my mind while I was working on Ray's face, wiping everything away and trying again - then I decided to keep everything really vague). But the lupines were just as pleasant to draw as I thought they would be! And the lupine creature in the middle, of course. 

You won't get through these notes without some speculation why lupines are called lupines. What do they have to do with wolves? There seems to be two theories. Some sources say Romans thought the plant was toxic to wolves, and that's it. The other theory is that lupines were considered predator-like because they can grow in very poor soil where other plants can't: people assumed they had robbed the soil of whatever other plants would need for growing. Sadly, where I live (Finland) lupines are just like that: they spread from gardens into wild nature decades ago and have now invaded huge areas, replacing many native plants. I think lupines are really beautiful in bloom - they are an essential part of early summer landscapes for me; the best time is right now! - but hardly anything else grows where they have taken root, and they're also very harmful to bumblebees. I was relieved that I could put my aesthetic love of lupines into this picture with a good conscience, because Arctic lupine is native to Canada - it is actually considered to enrich the soil and recommended as a garden plant, too. 

[hollow-lime-green]

Share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have fewer) and tag ten people.

ty for the tag @detta-pica! <3

it seems like a good day to do some reminiscing/reflection on the ol' fics. i like first lines. sometimes i have a good idea for one, and it'll really guide the story. sometimes i don't, but by the end of writing the piece i can go back and find something that fits for me.

interestingly, exactly the last 10 (no more, no less) of my posted fics are JJK, and they are all in the FIYM extended universe. so i shall post them in story chronological order:

1. it's not gay unless the domains touch

Geto Suguru was fifteen years old when he first met Gojo Satoru, and he instantly decided he couldn’t stand him.

but that's in flashback. the story really starts with this one (one of my favorites)

Suguru can’t quite figure out if Satoru didn’t get enough hugs as a child, or if he got too many. 

i'll put the rest under a cut so this isn't a longboy on peoples' dashes (do people care about this? i do not know.)

2. too gay to function

So, for the record, none of this was Shoko’s fault. She got dragged into this shit years ago. Not like, ‘kicking and screaming’ dragged - nothing so loud and hysterical. No, she got dragged down slowly but surely - like a poor, low-level gangster with his feet cast into concrete shoes. Drowned by gay bullshit: R.I.P. in peace, Ieiri Shoko.

wow okay so i'm literally already cheating because technically this is the earliest chronological point. but c'mon i had to start with domains.

3. two sorcerers chillin' in a hot tub (five feet apart cause they’re not gay)

Geto Suguru ate his first cursed spirit at the age of five and a half. Curse manipulation was, among other things, not an especially intuitive power. It took a creative, slightly deranged sort of person to look at a warbling mass of cursed viscera and think, ‘Oh, yeah, that looks tasty’. However, as a general rule, five-year-olds are more than willing to put almost anything in their mouths, except green vegetables.

you will see that there is a trend of me starting with a one line 'paragraph' and then a multiline follow up paragraph. i simply like this.

4. the uncertainty principle

Gojo Satoru is sick in the head.

this side piece is an interesting and special one for me. i was talking to a (non-fic) writing friend at the time, particularly about atmosphere, characterization, and introspection. and what i like about that pieces is that, in hitting all of those things - nothing happens. like, actions are not taken, nothing is happening. and yet, it is still a scene that works, and an important piece of the story (very important if you read in sequence, because it is our first look into gojo's pov in the whole story).

popular books but especially BoyFantasy (tm) (i am staring directly at you brandon sanderson) fall into a trap of being so egregiously action driven. once you break out of that, you can build a lot more character depth and tension. (read name of the wind read name of the wind read name-

5. blueshift

To most people, the train out of Shinjuku was a bit louder than usual. To Satoru, it was utterly deafening.

rare case where i feel the summary actually goes harder than the opening line

Gojo Satoru loves in black and white; he suffers in technicolor.

6. string theory

Satoru’s eyes burn. This, in itself, means nothing. Less than nothing, actually, because the combined time that Satoru’s eyes don’t burn is far less, fractionally, than the time that they do. Less than half. Maybe less than a third. Usually, it’s the sun’s fault. You’re not supposed to stare at the sun, obviously, but you’re doubly not supposed to stare at the sun when it burns your retinas in three spectra instead of one. It’s not the sun’s fault this time, though, because he hasn’t been outside in three days - almost four - and the library sconces don’t burn that brightly.

from the start, we can certainly already sense that Something is Wrong With This Man, so that's effective.

7. relativity

‘Just relax, baby,’ Suguru murmurs. Except, he doesn’t. Because Suguru wouldn’t say that - the ‘baby’ thing - and Satoru doesn’t even know if he’d want him to. Because ‘baby’ sounds, like… weird, and girly and stuff. And he’s not a girl, so- Nope, he’s not getting into that tonight.

relativity my beloved

8. gal pals (ongoing)

The train ride to Kyoto goes by in the blink of an eye. Not because it’s pleasant, and not because it’s particularly quick, but because Shoko’s brain isn’t really in good enough shape to fuck with the concept of linear time.

go read about the lesbians, guys. this pride, it's your civic duty to care about the lesbians as much as the gayboys. also when i have the stamina to post about it again... i am telling you folks, i am cooking something here. i am cooking a fucking feast here (admittedly the dessert will be in ch 3 and i need to get through ch 2 without putting an ice pick through my eyeball because i need to write some complex choreo)

but when i get there?

when i get there you will understand why this had to be a side piece, and why i am doing the alternating posting structure with fellas.

despite my recent blah, whenever i think about finally get to post the end of gal pals, i smile. oh. oh. you guys are not prepared, you're simply not prepared.

when i get there.

9. fellas is it gay to be his one and only (ongoing)

AN: Special fangz (get it, coz Im goffik) 2 my gf (ew not in that way) nanami, bloodybread7:3 4 helpin me wif da story and spelling. MCR ROX! Hi my name is Satoru Light’ness Dementia Raven Way and I have short ivory white hair (that’s how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my shoulder and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Anderson Cooper (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!). 

i forgot what the opening line for fellas was because i was thinking about the chronological start of the plot for fellas and not the start of the text, not the greatest writing of my fanfiction career. and the stars aligned so i got to post this on 4/1... i think i had this in the drafts, fully edited ready to go, for maybe 6-8 months before it got posted? i peaked here. i really did.

aaaaaand...

10. ??? (upcoming)

Suguru’s never been a fan of early mornings, but, like most things in his life, they’re a habit he’s tripped and fallen into.

ohhh i'm cheating again i'm cheating again someone call the fanfiction tumblr police i'm cheating again. this is from a WIP (the tropefest WIP I have been oversharing on).

technically the 10th work in FIYM is teeth and tongue, which is fun and if you are interested in my uraume then you should go read it. but it's very tangential to the plot and set in the heian era.

this upcoming work has been a nice, lighthearted full comedy break from some of the heavier FIYM writing (not that I can describe the fanfiction scenes as heavy... yet?). i'm having fun with it. :)

======

Tagging: well i feel like in her post olga stole of ton of people who i would think of tagging and 10 is such a big number, so like always I am going to cop out and say ANYONE WHO WANTS TO WHO IS READING THIS POST.

but of people who i remember are writing things I will tag (and I am re-possessing from olga)

@mildlyannoyedscoundrel-blog @andiftheycare @alpha-hydra @fushiglow @lmskitty

and (beta counts for 5 points i don't make the rules)

@benevolentkitchen (oohhhh you thought you were safe just cuz you've never posted ohhhhh you're not post your wip do it you won't ohhhh)

[angel-of-the-moons]

I need me some venom angst…

Can you do some Venom/Eddie x reader angst? Whatever you want idm! Also the reader is goth. No specific reason. I just like goth girls…:P(sorry if that last part was weird idk how to say it…)

*cracks knuckles* Hoooo I'm boutta make y'all cry up in this bitch (I know I said I only had requests open for 2 days but I only got two requests during that time frame so you get this as a lil treat 😘)

Chocolate Friends

Venom x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: Angst angst angstttt! But don't worry , it gets fluffy!!! Depression, mentions of domestic violence/abuse, self-harm, suicide attempt, Reader has long hair and piercings (I love me some goth girls, too, especially the classic onesss)

Dividers by @/saradika-graphics

It was a typical night in the city--the nasty, dirty, smelly city that was crawling with vermin once the lights went out.

But during October, it was different. Especially because of Halloween. Children frolicking in the streets, asking for goodies and playing games... well, people of all ages, really.

They needed someone to look out for them.

And that's what they did. That's what he did.

Venom. The one many consider to be a "bad guy". It's not his fault he needed to eat people's brains to survive. And besides, he promised Eddie he'd only eat "bad guys".

Which is what he did. A you g family with their two innocent little children were on their way back from a candy carnival when they were jumped by three men with masks and blunt weapons.

They weren't expecting Venom to be prowling the streets tonight--to be right above their filthy, filthy heads. They certainly didn't expect to have their heads bitten off, either. (Venom of course ensured the children didn't see anything of course, neither he nor Eddie would ever traumatize such tiny people!).

The police showed up not long after, but before that, one of the children rushed up to Venom and placed in his massive hand a little plastic baggy full of chocolates!

Venom patted the little boy--dressed like some green video game character--and left before the police barley rounded the corner.

"Tonight was amazing!" Venom growled as he popped another piece of chocolate into his maw. "Ate some bad guys and got some chocolate!"

'Yeah,good job, Vee.' Eddie chuckled softly from within.

He practically skipped from rooftop to rooftop across the city, humming and singing to himself as he did.

However, something gave him a pause.

Atop some sort of warehouse building was a figure dressed in all black. His first instinct was maybe it was some idiot trying to be some kinda super villain. They were all over the place, these days.

However that changed as he silently crept closer. He strained he and Eddie's combined senses to the highest level to examine the person.

You.

You were crying. Your long, wispy black hair blew in the breeze from the dank city. Your face was an almost ghostly white with thick black streaks cutting through like tar on snow. Your dark lips trembled, your snakebite piercings (At least that's what Eddie said they were) poking through the delicate skin, shining off of the dim city lights.

Your eyes were shrouded in thick, heavy eyeliner and eyeshadow, your wispy lashes brushing your cheeks as fresh tears fell.

Your feet teetered on the edge as you looked down, your hands grasping one another as if having second thoughts.

"Oh, shit!" Venom cursed to himself.

You were going to jump.

He thought quickly, rushing and leaping onto the rooftop with you. You either didn't notice or didn't care, your entire body shaking in the chilly air.

Your clothes had holes shredded into them in multiple places. Fishnets poked out from beneath your baggy pants, the chains tinkling as you shifted your weight around; an equally baggy shirt for some grunge band or another fluttered a bit as the breeze caught it.

Your nails were a nice, lacquered black, almost like his own inky body.

Apparently Venom and Eddie both blue-screened and their body merely acted on its own accord.

He plopped his butt down on the edge of the roof next to you, hanging his massive legs over the side.

"A little close to the edge, right?" Venom tried to say lightly. He could just barely make out the scent of blood on you, and he didn't like it. Neither did Eddie. They were both worried for you, and they didn't even know who you were.

"Wh-what do you care?" You asked, your voice trembling as you side-stepped by an inch, your eyes hesitantly dragging to the dirty street below.

"Just a little close, is all." Venom grumbled out with a shrug, kicking his feet a little.

"One wrong step and--" He made a descending whistle and then a "boom", gesture with his fingers. "Splat! Wind up decorating someone's car for Halloween in a real gross way."

Despite yourself, you huffed out a laugh, followed by a sniff, "Well it w-won't be a problem I have to worry about then, would it?"

Venom snorted, "True. But think about the poor guy that's gotta scrape the bits off the sidewalk! Traumatizing!"

You shook your head, swallowing deeply.

A tense silence falls between you as you continue to contemplate your fate--trying to make that one decision whether to end it all or back away like you have so many times before.

Venom broke the silence as subtly as a bulldozer trying to drive over a frozen lake.

"So. Why are you up here?"

"Because I want to die, wh-what does it look like?" You sniffled, trying to fight back the fresh sobs that tried to claw their way out of your chest.

"Well, yeah. That's obvious," He replied, tilting his head to the side to look at you. "But why?"

"I... I just..."

You weren't prepared for that. Nobody just asked you things. Nobody cared. Nobody just asks someone why they want to die. Right?

Your shoulders slump as you collapse into a squat, burying your face in your arms as you cried.

"I'm so tired... I can't take it all anymore."

"Can't take... what?" Venom pressed gently, his body relaxing slightly, hoping your new posture indicated you weren't just gonna swan dive over the rooftop.

"I... I try so hard, y'know?" You whispered, barely audible from how you had your face buried. "I try to take care of him, to help him get better, but... but he turns around and says it's all my fault. That it's all me. That he only does it because of me."

Venom looks at you, his fingers twitching. Ah. So that was it. He let you continue;

"I know he doesn't mean it. He just--he gets so angry when he drinks. Tonight I tried to h-hide the b-bottles and he... he just--"

Venom feels something nasty twist in his gut as you choke off into another crying fit.

"But he's my dad. If I don't s-stay... he's all alone. And he's gonna drink himself to death!"

"If he needs you, why are you up here?"

You snapped your head to look up at him, your makeup smeared down your face as your brows pinched.

"I mean, obviously your dad needs some serious help, but by your logic, he won't get it if you're not around..." He looked out into the city streets for a moment, "Don't understand it."

"I..." You swallowed, your mouth going dry. You sighed deeply, letting your body sag. "I don't know. I'm so tired. I'm sick of people treating me like shit just because of how I dress--I-I had an old lady hit me in the back of my head with her cane because she said I'm some kind of--of Satan worshipper!"

Venom growled lowly, making you jump a little as the sound vibrates off your bones, "Stupid." He spat.

"Y-yeah!" You say, letting your feet dangle over the edge, like his.

"It... It's just that I like being like this! But nobody has ever understood it!" You say, exasperated. "They just... They just..."

You couldn't find the words to continue, and was shocked when Venom held out his hand, offering tiny wrapped pieces of... candy. Chocolate?

"My other half says chocolate is good when you are sad. It makes your brain feel better." He said rather plainly. He could have gone into details of the effects it had on the human brain, but you didn't seem like you were in the mental state to have a scientific conversation right now.

Your shaky fingers take the morsel, unwrapping it before popping it into your mouth.

"So people treat you bad because you like to dress in all black?" He scoffed.

"People always equate goths to bad things in general." You replied sadly, your eyes downcast around the chocolate as it coated your tongue, "I'm not even really into the subculture itself, I just... sometimes the fashion is pretty and the makeup is crazy intense y'know?"

Venom grinned, happy that you've stopped crying, offering you another piece of his previous chocolate loot and letting you vent to him.

"What's wrong with dressing in all black?" Venom said, puffing up his chest a little dramatically, even striking a bit of a pose, "I think the look goes quite well with everything."

The sound of your laugh made him relax a little bit more, the tenseness in the air fading as he shared his snacks. He listened to you talk about the kinds of clothes you liked, makeup, music, how you DIY'd some of your own fashion yourself; and most of all, how people treated you because of it.

But the only person to really accept that was your dad. He just had his own problems, and didn't have the strength to drag himself out of the pit he was drowning himself in after he got laid off from the job he'd had since you were a baby. Since before your mom...

Little by little, your exterior chipped away and the sight of the real person you were came bubbling to the surface. Despite your dark aesthetic, you were a very bubbly and sweet person. Perhaps caring a bit too much about others rather than focusing on yourself, yes, but it showed how big your heart really was.

Eventually, the candy ran out. And you apologized. And before you knew it, it was well past midnight.

You don't want to jump anymore.

"Do you want some help?" Venom asked.

You nodded, whispering; "Please."

He took one of your tiny hands into his, as if you were made of the most delicate porcelain and lifted--pulling you onto the rooftop with him.

You rubbed your elbow, feeling guilty for everything, despite what was going on that wasn't your fault.

Venom could tell you were still feeling upset... and he didn't like he could still smell blood on you.

"... you're hurt." He finally pointed out, noticing how you flinched.

"It--it's not that bad." You muttered, your heart pounding as Venom crossed his arms and stared you down. Not in a malicious way, but in a way that said "I'm not falling for your bullshit".

And, of course, you break. You tell him about how sometimes, when the pain gets so bad, you... hurt yourself. You take a razor, or a knife or a pair of scissors and just... cut. The injuries are always to your legs so nobody can see, so they are easily covered by pants, but... obviously Venom could smell they were there.

"How about this." He held up a finger, "Meet us here again tomorrow night. My better half will get us more chocolate--"

His head snapped to the side and he growled, "You promised!"

Venom turned back to you after apparently having an argument with... himself, and said, "--and then we can sit down and talk some more. It can be our little chocolate spot any time you get the feeling like you want to hurt yourself. We can give you our number!"

"But..."

"No buts!" He said, wagging his large finger at you in reprimand.

You can't help the laugh that slips out of you, wiping at your face, uncaring if any more of your makeup got ruined. Despite yourself, you nod.

"Yessss!" Venom hisses, holding out his fist for a bump. "Chocolate friends!"

"Ch-Chocolate friends." You hiccup, giving him the bump.

You never came back to that rooftop with the intention of throwing yourself off of it, after that. It only became associated with your new and unlikely friend, the sweet treats you shared, and the knowledge that out there--there was somebody even weirder that you who was treated as much as an alien that you were.

And he/they had one hell of a sweet tooth.

[rocksibblingsau]

How did you come up with the idea for I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home? What was the process like?

So the initial idea of "What if Barb adopted Branch" was a random idea I got after I got deeper into the fandom. I came into the fandom thanks to the third movie showing up on my TikTok feed and did a deep dive into the other movies and media and fell in love with the second movie and the different tribes. I love fun villains and Barb was really fun. I don't know why I thought she'd be the perfect big sister for Branch, I think I was trying to combine a fix it AU with my favorite character.

After I had the initial idea of Barb adopts Branch, I ran to AO3 and couldn't really find anything that fit what I was looking for. There really weren't any fics that had Branch being adopted by anyone other than the bros.

I sat on it for a day or so and went "What the heck, what if I just wrote a lil bit of how I thought that would go?" and wrote the first chapter. I had intended for it to stay private and it'd be something I'd tinker around with randomly but after writing it I went "What if I put this out there?"

I sat on it for a day or so and went "Oh alright, I'll post this." and put it up on AO3 on anonymous. I started getting comments and I decided to put out the Poppy intermission. I was getting a lot of good reception on a fic I thought would get a max of 7 kudos so I decided to try and put out a few more chapters.

When I was working on the third chapter or so, I stopped and went "Okay, I guess I'm doing this. I need an actual plan."

I sat down and opened up a word document and just started typing vague plans for the fic. I decided when and how Branch would get his colors back, what would happen with the movies and a few other milestones I wanted in the fic, like the one year anniversary. I cannot stress how vague the initial plan was.

As I started putting out the next few chapters, I began to plan more thoroughly. I went over how I wanted characters to get introduced, scenes I'd like to write and the lore of the world. I have a very messy notepad of just random bits and pieces. Some chapters were just made up on the spot, some I put a little more thought into. The more I wrote, the more I started to figure out the scenes I did and didn't want in the fic.

I still have things very vague. Right now I couldn't tell you when we'll get to the first movie except that it's looking like chapter 80+ now. Some big events I also still have no plan for, while others have a vague concept and "wing it" underlined in red. I kind of let the characters lead the way a bit, which is how Billy became so relevant and how Dickory got introduced. The original outline had 0 Dickory and that's a shame.

A lot of the ideas I get come to me from very vague ideas that I think would make a cute chapter or I think are needed. Branch's hang out day with Barb for example, I knew I wanted Branch to try to hang out with Barb in a special way, and I sat down and tossed around some fun ideas for the two to do. Branch almost did bumper cars instead of laser tag, which would've been a shame because laser tag is his THING!

Some chapters are made because I want to share lore or world building. Branch's school for example, I thought it would be fun to show off what Rock School is like, as well as show how Branch would react to that environment. The New Years chapter as well, I had random world building ideas and wanted to show them off.

Sometimes I have ideas that just don't make the cut, and I have to consider what makes for a good story. One of my initial drafts for Barb bringing Branch home included a song, but I looked at it and went "Branch asked her not to sing, and I think Barb respects that. Barb wouldn't do this, I just wanted to see it." Some scenes are cool but make the fic a little clunky. I save them in a word doc just in case, and so I can look at them later.

A lot of ideas I get by turning on music and just daydreaming about the characters and letting my mind wander.

I think one of the most helpful things to my writing is experiences. The arcade chapters I drew from a trip I took to an arcade, and if I'd never went, I might not have come up with the idea of having Branch go to an arcade. Not every chapter is an experience I've had, I've never gone to a haunted house, but I did get scared at a house I went to on halloween as a kid and I ran outta there so fast.

I think for me there's a middle ground of planning. If I had no plan for the ending, I think I would have gotten demotivated and quit writing. If I planned everything too much, I think I'd get frustrated with it as I came up with new and better ideas that there were no room for. Right now there's still a lot of wiggle room for changes in the fic.

[lucagray813]

Journeytober (2024) Days 1 - 15

Last year I discovered @vorpaldoodles's Inktober/Journeytober prompts halfway through October and I decided that I wanted to go back and do the first half that I missed.

This is a project I've been working on on and off for the past couple of months and because I wasn't on a time limit I wanted to try and challenge myself in different ways and I definitely did that! Very glad I did it but also very glad it's done! 😅

If you want to check out the ones I did last year - you can start here at Day 16

Below the cut is a bit more detail on each prompt.

Day 1 - Tree I'm really pleased with how this one turned out, I think the sketch and the line weight of the ink is really good. I'm forever trying to figure out the right medium for colouring and I was determined to give pencils another go. I really tried to do it "properly" doing layer after layer to get it looking right. The leaves I think I nailed but I definitely lost steam by the time I got to the hill 😅 but overall I'm still very happy with it

Day 2 - Ghost So one ambition I had for completing this challenge was to try and do less straight up screenshot redraws and while this is still technically a redraw I definitely put a lot of effort into changing it up! I looked at so many screenshots and artwork of LBD's little ghost things but in the end two pieces of art really helped me figure it out. The first is this amazing work by wurmje and the second is this work I found on Pinterest that I unfortunately couldn't find the original post for. I honestly don't know how wurmje got those smoke trails on the skulls looking so good - experience, practice and talent probably! - but even after staring at smoke trail vectors on Pinterest this was still my best attempt 😅

Day 3 - Fruit I had an epiphany when I was brainstorming ideas for the remaining prompts and that was that there was nothing stopping me from taking inspiration from my own fanfics. So, this basket of fruit is reminiscent of the one Wukong gave to Wǎn'ér the last time he saw her in Until the End. His inclination to peaches means that they always end up being the most prevalent fruit. Generally, the more he likes you, the more peaches he'll give you. But he put together this basket about two dozen times trying to put together the best possible combination for Wǎn'ér's health and enjoyment and the amount of peaches was a critical consideration. At several points it was just a basket full of (non-immortal) peaches. I was experimenting with the line weight to indicate shadows but I was always messing about with new liners so it's maybe not quite as tidy as I would like and also I don't know actually know how the shadows would work here but I gave it a good shot!

Day 4 - Bear Meet (Zǒu Xíng) Shí Xióng, the (Misshapen) Stone Bear, Nǚwā's assistant and one of her failed attempts to create MK - you can find out more about him here. Bear Ref I used was this.

Day 5 - Lotus Who else was it going to be? I struggled with this one a lot - I wanted to try my hand at a non Lego body type and I really struggled with the face, especially the eyes. I must have looked at hundreds of different LMK artists to see how they drew their versions of characters and I honestly still don't know how they make them look so good (I mean, I do - it's practice but you know what I mean). But overall I think it was a decent attempt! I really tried to make the line weight a bit dynamic but honestly I really like how I messed up his wheel and just went ham - maybe a style to really commit to another time!

Day 6 - Cycle Get it? It's a motorcycle? Sorry 😅 People that draw machines are built different. People that can ink circles though? God like ability. You should have seen me sweating putting pen to those wheels and then I messed up the back one so badly I just coloured the whole thing in (it was still a bit off so I also cut out some paper to try and fix it a little). I accidentally missed out some little bits by not getting the proportions quite right but I don't think you can really tell so I'm calling it a success!

Day 7 - Scripture So my initial plan for this was to have Tang crying over some scrolls but I was trying to demand something of myself I just didn't have the skills for yet, positioning a character I didn't have a reference for, and it was just getting frustrating so instead I pivoted to trying to do backgrounds and using line weight to show distance from the viewer. Overall I think I did ok but the pillars were impossible to get straight 😖

Day 8 - Legacy I had a much more ambitious idea for this one but it was turning out to be more frustrating than challenging and I was getting grumpy so I changed tact and did something simpler!

Day 9 - Wound/Scar My initial plan was to do a couple different characters from my fics and focus on one of their most significant scars but I really want to try and explore other styles and since this was going to be a straightforward prompt (i.e. not fully body drawings) this felt like a good opportunity to experiment a little! So I did some little studies of some very talented fan artists work trying to understand how they put faces together and make them look good! Links to the artists and their works: pinkydonatsu, bismuthfool and ninjadudexx

Day 10 - Spider I've written some more about this scene here but basically this is pre-working for Spider Queen and she's got her eyes on Syntax. Pretty happy with how this turned out! I'm not the best at blending different coloured pencils together but I think it looks pretty good! It is pretty obvious that the yellow was a higher quality pencil tho 😅 I also managed to preserve those white lines in his hair so it doesn't look like on big mass.

Day 11 - Creation I did think about doing someone with Nǚwā and her stone carvings but Red Son's little flame sprite from Season 5 just really grew on me the more I looked at it. Decided to have a bit of fun with it and do a little fakemon evolution for it, I actually did a digital version first (add link) before putting pen to paper. Also decided to give the glitter gel pen ago and honestly apart from the fact the glitter sometimes clogs up the ballpoint it was actually pretty nice to work with. But it also does NOT dry as fast which I didn't enjoy accidentally discovering 😤

Day 12 - Underworld So this is another example of me drawing inspiration from my fics. In my Monkey Talk Series, the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey is the celestial primate of the "underworld" - predating the Ten Kings by eons. She's held many a soul in her life time. You can read more about her here and this is the ref I used. Did a digital version of this one too! Continued to try using the gel pen and found it's more forgiving than traditional liners when it comes to hand shakiness, I'm not sure it layers quite as nicely though!

Day 13 - Pagoda The colours for the 100-Eyed Demon were just so ahem eye-catching and I thought I could maybe do something fun with it. I was messing around with various pencils and pens but the bleeding on some of the pens was really annoying me and so this somehow became a bit of a paper craft project with at least 5 layers and 17 different cut out shapes! Very finicky but I actually did enjoy it! And got to experiment with some pencil techniques so overall I'm happy with it!

Day 14 - Lunar Cutting out paper with a craft knife? Way, way more difficult than it has any right to be. Also, I kid you not, as soon as I was done my brother came through and was like "Oh, yeah, I've got a craft knife specifically for cutting out curves." RIP me, I guess. But I think I did alright regardless! I was half tempted to add some craters to the moon but I was too scared of ruining it.

Day 15 - Mercy I struggled coming up with what to draw for this one but eventually I remembered that Sandy exists and how he very pointedly spares Huntsman! But I wanted to give myself a bit of extra challenge and so tried to draw his hand a bit more realistically. If you're wondering why he's missing part of a finger that's because I used a picture of my dad's hand as a reference, who due to crane related incidents, is down half a finger. But I could believe Huntsman lost a finger in his life - I had thought to add some scars but I forgot. But yeah, overall happy with this one!

Overall, I'm pretty proud of myself! Even if a drawing didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped I can still find something I like about it and almost everyone had it's own unique challenge that I gave my best shot! Thanks again to vorpaldoodles for the prompts!

[adachimoe]

Persona 4 anime sound drama CD #1, "I guess I'm not lucky after all"

Adachi isn't in this one at all (GIVE ME BACK THE HOUR I SPENT LISTENING TO THIS???) so this is not quite as in-depth lol. The drama adapts some of Yosuke's Social Link and also depicts August 15-20th in-game where the protag would either work at Junes or go to summer school with Kanji and Rise. It takes place concurrently with episodes 13/14 of the anime. (In episodes 13/14, the calendar shows the festival on the 20th and the watermelon on the 22nd, so the customer event must be on the 21st cause of the timing w/summer school.)

Yu, Chie, and Yukiko are hanging out at Junes while Teddie works at the shaved ice booth. Rise and Kanji aren't there because they got stuck in summer school. Yosuke thinks he's run into a bit of bad luck - he lost rock paper scissors and has to run the Junes customer appreciation event on Sunday. Yu, on the other hand, seems to have rather good luck. He offers to buy Yosuke a soda, and he's a lucky winner so he gets 1 free drink. Yosuke opens his soda and it's all shaken up, but Yu opens his and it's fine. (Like Yosuke's rank 4 SLink scene, two Mean Girl employees complain at Yosuke about their schedules.)

Yosuke goes over to the Dojima's to do summer homework with Yu. (This is combined with the segment from Yosuke's Social Link where they're in Yu's room, Yosuke asks him about The Goods, then Nanako comes up and mentions she is going to a friend's house.) Yosuke's bad luck comes up again, and he asks Yu if he knows a fortune teller. It turns out that Yu does, kind of.

Yu takes him to Tatsuhime Shrine where Margaret has a tent set up. She sits behind a cloth and has Aria of the Soul playing on a stereo lol. Yosuke thinks he was born under an unlucky star/planet sign, and asks if Margaret can do anything about his future. She very quickly replies that it's impossible. Rather than relying on her, she suggests Yosuke try to change himself, and points out of how Yu went through a lot this summer, pushed himself, and underwent change. She thinks Yosuke still doesn't see what's important, but new experiences will help him discover new truths.

One of the older girls who works at Junes, named Kazumi, calls Yosuke and says she can't work at Junes on the customer appreciation event day. To replace her, Yu and Chie end up agreeing to help, and Chie also volunteers Yukiko to come. (Kazumi is mentioned in Yosuke's SLink. The anime drama made her a character who Yosuke briefly interacts with.)

Come the actual day of the appreciation event, the Mean Girl duo from earlier hears that Kazumi doesn't have to work during the event, and they complain at Yosuke. (This incorporates the Yosuke Social Link scene with this where the girls shit talk Saki, his rank 7 scene, then Yu intervenes and says he feels bad for Saki.) The 2 girls leave work during the event, and Yu calls in Kanji and Rise to replace them. Since it's Sunday, the 2 of them won't be at summer school.

Yu boasts about Yosuke running the event to Nanako, and she thinks he's amazing, and that the roof is like some kind of amusement park. Yosuke downplays this, as he was only thinking of this as something he ended up doing cause he lost rock paper scissors.

During the limited time sale period, a stampede of women rush around Junes buying things that are on sale, and we lose both Teddie and Kanji, who Yosuke sent to die on the frontlines by assigning htem to herd customers around while him and Yu restock products. RIP in pieces, our fallen brothers in arms. After the sale period, Yosuke gives a speech about The Power of Friendship. Just like Margaret said, he didn't see what was important, but now he does. This whole time, he thought he was so unlucky, and that's all he could think about. But he has such good friends who show up and support him like this, and having them all here with him by his side makes him feel like the luckiest person ever.

...and then like 10 seconds later, it begins raining, and Yosuke realizes that his luck really is god awful.

[aspoonofsugar]

Hell is Forever

Adam's song fucking rocks and it is pretty important for the story, the characters and the themes. Let's see why!

DISNEY-LIKE SONGS

Overture has two songs, which pay homage to classical Disney tropes:

Happy Day in Hell is a combination of the "Introduction song" and the "I want song"

Hell is Forever is the "villain song"

This is important because Hell is Forever is both a mirror and an answer to Happy Day in Hell. In other words, to understand Adam's song, we must quickly consider Charlie's. Just like to understand Charlie's journey we need Adam's character.

HAPPY DAY IN HELL

1- Happy Day in Hell as the "introduction song"

The introduction song shows the world and how the protagonist fits in it. Or in Charlie's case how she doesn't fit:

Charlie: There's a warm, fuzzy feeling That wafts through the air Every street so revealing It's hard not to stare! It's a realm so appealing it beats anywhеre If you don't mind the smell… It's a happy day in Hell!

The point of the song is that Charlie is the Princess of Hell, but refuses to see Hell for what it is. She is so focused on dreaming (ideal), that she forgets where she is (reality).

This is highlighted by both the music and the imagery.

Musically, the demons are not in harmony with Charlie. Rather, they contradict what she is saying:

Hi, mister! (Demon: Go fuck yourself!) Demon #1: There's an endless trash fire that's burning my soul (Charlie: Hello!) Imp: And a ton of barbed wire to shove in his hole! (Charlie: Ah, excuse me!) Demon #2: Doing what is required, we all have our role Demon #3: I'm not doin' well! Demons: Another shitty day in Hell!

Visually, Charlie at one point finds herself surrounded by musical notes:

She is so enthralled by her music and lofty dreams she ignores her surroundings. She is lost in her own head.

2- Happy Day in Hell as the "I want song"

I can hear all their stories The lost and displaced And I know that they're more of an acquired taste But if I open the door and I give them a place At my Hazbin Hotel It'll be a happy day in Hell!

The I want song conveys Charlie's desire, which is really the story's main message. In other words, it is the main theme: everyone can redeem themselves and hell can become a happy place.

So, Charlie's song conveys both her goal (the theme) and her main flaw (her inability to face reality).

HELL IS FOREVER - THE VILLAIN SONG

What about Adam's Hell is Forever? Well, it is the villain song, so it introduces the protagonist's main external obstacle. Not only that, but it is really Adam and Charlie's first fight, which is commented by a visual detail: the sheets of paper both characters use.

Charlie starts her speech by showing Adam and Lute drawings that explain her Hazbin Hotel project:

As the song goes on and Adam grows more and more dismissive and rude, Charlie's papers get more and more ruined.

Charlie squeezes them, as she is trying to repress her frustration and Lute symbolically cuts them, as the two angels are cutting Charlie's hopes down. Finally, Charlie herself burns them, as she is about to explode in anger:

At this point, Adam ends the discussion with a piece of paper, which says: "Fuck you, I do as I want!!":

And both Charlie and her drawings are unceremoniously shoved out of the room:

What does this motif tell about Charlie and Adam?

It suggests two things:

1- Charlie and Adam are both immature and it shows in their respective papers. Charlie tries to convince the angels to support her plan with a bunch of childish drawings and no substance. Adam's extermination order is instead mean and gives no explanation about his choice. This isn't by chance, as Charlie and Adam are two men-children with deep self-issues, that stem from their relationship with the Rulers of Hell. Charlie wants to make her parents proud and to have them back. Adam wants to make Lucifer and Lilith suffer and to destroy their world. Charlie and Adam pursue these opposite objectives through personal projects, where they position themselves as leaders of the people (the demons and the exorcists).

2- Charlie and Adam's fight is a political one, which is why "papers" are a perfect metaphor for it. What's interesting is that the Princess of Hell and the Leader of the Exorcists fight for different ideals. Charlie fights for redemption, whereas Adam fights for extermination. The nature of their personal beliefs drives them to clash.

In other words, Adam challenges Charlie in two different ways:

He is similar to Charlie, so he highlights and amplifies her negative traits (the character flaws)

He is Charlie's opposite, so he believes a different truth (the anti-theme)

Let's explore these two ideas.

CHARLIE'S WEAKNESS

Hell is Forever starts with Charlie's reprise of Happy Day in Hell:

I know Hell's population is out of control It's a bad situation It's taking a toll If we rehab these Sinners And cleanse all their souls At my Hazbin Hotel— Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself! Right! Extermination! I know you guys fly down Just to kill once a year And it must be annoying To schlep all the way here If they join you in Heaven That trip disappears! You can wave that chore farewell It'll be a happy day in—

This reprise is too quick and it is overall confusing. Charlie jumps from one idea to the other and fails to make a strong case for her hotel. Sure, Adam has no intention to listen, but Charlie's performance doesn't help. The result is that she is interrupted before she can finish:

Adam: Let me stop you right there Charlie: Oh Adam: Save us all precious time Charlie: Okay…

After this moment, Adam imposes himself and doesn't let Charlie speak her mind:

Charlie: Okay, but— Adam: Just try to chillax, babe You're wasting your breath Charlie: Hehe…

He keeps covering Charlie's voice with his to the point it is almost impossible to hear what Charlie is saying. Pretty rude, right? However, isn't this exactly what Charlie does to Vaggie in Happy Day in Hell?

Charlie: If I can show them the dream I've dreamed That any soul can change! Vaggie: Those angels' minds are hard to change Charlie: Then they will know everyone can be redeemed From the evil to the strange! Vaggie: They're bloodthirsty and deranged!

Basically, Charlie is initially so self-absorbed, she doesn't listen to her loved ones. This makes it pretty fitting that her major antagonist is a self-absorbed douche, who doesn't listen to her.

Charlie has two problems when it comes to communication:

She is unable to convey her feelings (she can't keep up with Adam's arguments)

She doesn't consider others (she dismisses Vaggie's warning)

These two flaws are why she loses to Adam in their first battle.

ADAM'S TRUTH

Adam answers Charlie's happy go lucky tunes with a powerful rock song. This musical difference mirrors the two characters' opposite belief systems.

Charlie believes everyone can be redeemed. Adam believes no-one can redeem themselves:

Adam: 'Cause Hell is forever Whether you like it or not Had their chance to behave better Now they boil in the pot 'Cause the rules are black and white There's no use in tryin' to fight it They're burnin' for their lives Until we kill 'em again!

Charlie believes true happiness lies in everyone being happy, so it can be reached only if Hell becomes a happy place. Adam believes true happiness doesn't exist, as he could not find it in Heaven. The only way to feel satisfied is to hurt people, who have it worse than you:

Adam: And when all's said and done (Said and done) There's the question of fun (Ah-ah) And for those of us with Divine Ordainment Extermination is entertainment!

Charlie asks for empathy. Adam enforces justice:

Adam: Fair is fair, an eye for an eye!

This frame references the internet music video Bad Apple:

The character on the screen is called Eiki Shiki and she is the judge of the dead. She decides who goes to Hell and who goes to Heaven.

Adam is similarly framing himself as a supernatural judge of what's right and what's wrong. All while reminding Charlie she is a "bad apple" herself, as she is Lilith and Lucifer's daughter and her parents gave humanity the worst apple ever.

In other words, Adam embodies a strict and unforgiving system:

Adam: Did I hear you imply That they don't deserve death? Are they Winners? Are they Sinners? 'Cause it's cut and dry

He divides the world in good people and bad people, blessed and sinners, winners and losers. If you are suffering, it is your fault. If you are happy, it is to your credit. Good luck and bad luck become moral attributes.

Adam references this hierarchy throughout the whole song and makes it very clear:

He is at the very top, surrounded by holy light and blessed.

Charlie is at the very bottom, covered in bloody guts and cursed.

There are two things that are interesting about Adam's point of view.

First, Charlie shares Adam's white and black vision to an extent. She lacks Adam's mean nature, but she too has a simplistic understanding of good and evil:

Angel Dust: "Oh, I'm a bad man on the streets who never got enough hugs, now, where's an innocent kid I can sell crack to?" Wow, who wrote this? Charlie: It's great right? Keep going!

If you are good, good things will happen to you! If you are bad, bad things will come! At the beginning of the series, she is acting on this belief. What makes her different from Adam is that she believes it's never too late to start "being good". Still, her idea of good is superficial.

Secondly, Charlie and Adam express opposite ideologies, but what is their approval rate?

Charlie is initially believed by no-one:

Angel Dust: I'm choosing to be here and I think it's all stupid. We're in hell, toots. That's kind of the end of the road, ain't it?

Adam has instead a large group of people following his creed, which is why he symbolically summons a bunch of golden exorcists in the climax of his song:

ADAM: IDOL

Adam's golden exorcists are both:

The groupies cheering the rockstar

The followers adoring the cult leader

That is because Adam is built on the idea of "idol", both in the musical sense (a singer and musician) and in the religious sense (a fake god). This double nature is highlighted in Hell Is Forever by two metaphors.

A concert (musical motif)

Bow-now-now-nownow Guitar solo, fuck yeah! Oh, da-ah-ah now-now-n-now-n-now-n-now-n-nownownow

Adam's song mimics a rock concert with improvised "guitar-solos" and fans cheering and dancing.

The golden calf (religious motif)

According to the Bible, Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, but takes a long time and the Israelites lose hope. They start adoring a calf made of gold, only to be called out by an angered Moses once he gets back. In short, the golden calf is an idol, a fake god. Adam is the same:

As shown above, Adam has the golden exorcists (his personal golden calves) be a part of his choreography. He uses a guitar made of light to attract them like moths to a flame. Three of them position themselves behind him, so that it seems he has 8 wings. This is very much not accidental, as the frame is referenced also in official merch:

Why 8 wings?

It's because the Seraphims have 6 wings and they are the higher ranking angels. So, Adam imagines himself with 8 wings because he wants to be above the Seraphims. In particular, he wants to be better than one specific Seraphim:

Adam: You?! Judging me?! You're the most hated being in all of creation! Lucifer: Well, your first wife didn't seem to hate what I had to offer… or the second, bow-chicka-pow-pow!

And finally he wants to be God:

Adam: No… you don't get to end this! I'm fucking Adam! I'm the fucking man, and you're just some fucking clown or something! I started everything on Earth! All of mankind came from these fucking nuts! You all should be worshiping me, you ungrateful, disgusting, fucking losers-!

Adam's first appearance foreshadows his ending. He is introduced as a shining golden idol (a rockstar), but in the end he is unmasked (literally, as he loses his mask :P) as a wanna-be god. His light is enthralling, but it is fake.

CHARLIE: TRUE LIGHT

Charlie is still immature, naive and a little self-centered. However, she has much potential and she is slowly starting to shine of true light. After all, she is the Morningstar, the brightest star.

So, she is able to guide a lost moth:

The other exorcists follow Adam's artificial light, whereas Vaggie finds a better and more natural light in Charlie.

Not only that, but throughout season 1 Charlie starts growing and faces some of the weaknesses she shows in Happy Day in Hell and Hell is Forever.

In You Didn't Know she is finally able to find a proper retort to Adam's argument and she sings it in a reprise of Hell is Forever:

Charlie and Emily: If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie (Emily!) If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

This reprise refuses a black and white vision and shows Charlie is slowly outgrowing her early mindset. So, she is shown finally thinking back at Vaggie's (and Lucifer's) warning:

Charlie: I was told not to trust in angels Adam: By her? Lute: Ha! She should know Vaggie: We should go

In The Show Must Go On Charlie openly resists Adam, not only with words, but by attacking him:

Adam: "These sinners are my family"! Do you even hear yourself? You should've stayed in your place, girlie- Charlie: That's Princess of Hell to you, pig!

And after the fight she is cheered up by her loved ones, who end the season with a reprise of Happy Day in Hell:

Everyone: We can do this We can build it Best hotel that you've ever seen! Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it Lucifer: With more sinners than you can dream! Lucifer and Vaggie: It starts with you, Lucifer, Vaggie and Angel Dust: You know it's true, Everyone: Fulfill your destiny!

Charlie and Emily: If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie (Emily!) If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

This reprise is important because Charlie starts the story by singing alone to a kingdom, which refuses to sing along. In the end, though, she is surrounded by the people she inspired and who love her. They are reminding her of her own song. So, Charlie might not have a huge army of mindless followers, but she has a small group of loved ones, who accept her for who she is and believe in her.

Finally, the reprise is slightly different from the original:

Everyone: We can do this (Charlie: We can do this) We'll be better (Charlie: We'll be better) Though redemption may take a while (Charlie: Though it may take a while) Wayward sinners, clear their ledger Alastor: And we're doing it with a smile Charlie: Al! Angel, Vaggie, and Niffty: Yeah! Lucifer: Oh this guy… Charlie: We'll make a difference, wait and see Charlie and Vaggie: We're gonna do this, you and me Everyone: And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin' happy day in Hell!

Today isn't going to be a Happy Day in Hell, but tomorrow might be. Charlie has grown enough to accept she can't change things overnight, but she knows she still has to try together with her found family.

[scifibabee]

hey fam, welcome to the March roundup of the best hannigram fics i've read this past month! i read close to 60 fics total, and these were the cream of the crop.

as a reminder: the ingredients for a five star rating typically (but not always!!) include some combination of a.) believable characterizations of both Hannibal and Will, b.) compelling plot and/or character arcs, and c.) high quality smut.

that being said, my judgment of the aforementioned ingredients is powered almost exclusively by vibes and as such, is incredibly subjective.

and if you have any recs of your own for me, PLEASE SHARE.

(Inaugural roundup can be found here)

anyway, in no particular order, let's go!

~

Title: Bones of My Bones (& Flesh of My Flesh) by everyday_forever Word Count: 15,759 Summary: When Will & Hannibal reunite in Italy at last, Will doesn't fear becoming Hannibal. He knows he already is Hannibal. However, Will feels as if he's a derivative of Hannibal, made in Hannibal's image, from Hannibal's own raw material. He doesn't feel like he's Hannibal's natural equal. Will thinks the only way he can forgive Hannibal is by claiming a piece of Hannibal in return, and choosing to make it a part of himself. He has to eat him. And Hannibal is all to happy to let him.

As far as I'm concerned, this IS canon. Truly some of the best canon-compliant characterizations of them that I've read. This is absolutely what would have happened if Will hadn't tried to kill Hannibal after leaving the Uffizi Gallery. It was perfect. And so them. And obviously, mutual cannibalism. *chefs kiss*

Title: Do you feel the hunger, does it howl inside? by merrythoughts and ReallyMissCoffee Word Count: 261,929 Summary: It's been weeks since the Fall. Since Will had leaned against him, the wild scent of blood thick and cloying on the air, and had taken them from the top of the cliffs. And for every second of every day since, Hannibal has been calmly dealing with the fallout of his decision that night: Life over death. Will had intended them to die, had allowed himself a moment of weakness, of desperation. Perhaps the last act of an exhausted soul. Yet Hannibal had denied him.

I am being dead serious when I say that this fic changed my brain chemistry and managed to do something that several years of therapy had not. I wanted this to go on forever (there IS a sequel!) and did my very best to savor it instead of plowing through the entire thing in a single day. Check the author notes if you're unfamiliar with these two writers–the format took me a couple chapters to get used to, but clearly it wasn't a big deal for me.

Title: Sensational by bigfootghostdick Word Count: 39,607 Summary: Franklyn’s obsession with Hannibal Lecter truly knows no bounds. His obsession only grows worse after being fired as Dr.Lecter’s patient. Feeling slighted by Hannibal's rejection, Franklyn follows him home one evening only to stumble upon something that he never expected to see. Who’s that dark-haired man locking lips with Hannibal right outside his front door? Overcome with jealousy, Franklyn decides to seek revenge on his tenth psychiatrist. How? By selling the photos he took of them to Freddie Lounds.

Listen. I love a good jealous!Franklyn, especially when Hanni and Will firmly put him in his place. Sue me.

Title: The Stress-Sex Connection by shotgun_sinner Word Count: 48,090 Summary: When Will gets out of the BSHCI, he resumes therapy with Hannibal Lecter. His stress levels are through the roof, and Hannibal makes an offer that Will doesn't turn down. Hannibal assumes he's going to take Will to bed and make love to a fragile man, shy and delicate. Will enjoys taking Hannibal to bed, and proving him wrong. OR the story where Hannibal is shocked to find out that Will is a profiler in the streets, but a demon in the sheets.

I was sold on the last line of the summary, "Will is a profiler in the streets, but a demon in the sheets" because it actually got a good cackle out of me, and then who would have guessed! Essentially porn with feelings, but I loved.

Title: hold me, kiss me, rip out my tongue by multifandom_fanfic_writer Word Count: 18,005 Summary: Will notices things. He notices a lot of things, can’t turn it off. Some of these things are about Doctor Hannibal Lecter. He watches Hannibal watching him eat. He watches the touch on his elbow lingering, possessive. He watches Hannibal's eyes darken when Will pulls his hair and fucks his throat hard.

Okay, so I'm realizing that a lot of my five star fics this month were pretty smutty, but I make no apologies. That being said, I did find the characterizations of both Will and Hannibal to be very compelling, and it had the added bonus of Will getting to rub it in Alana's face that Hannibal chose him not her.

Title: Ligare by InfiniteCrisis Word Count: 8,280 Summary: Will's never gone down on a man before and is feeling nervous about it. His solution: tie Hannibal up first. Hannibal has no complaints.

Initially shied away from this one because Will essentially drugs Hannibal to knock him out and fuck him for the first time, but I PROMISE Hannibal knew exactly what Will was doing and allowed it. However, if that isn't your thing, this won't be for you.

THAT BEING SAID, my honest reaction after this was, "fuck fuck fuck, dom!Will might be my new favorite." Bonus points for it being the first in a series, and the rest is equally good!

Title: Oboedire, Implorare, Vovere by InfiniteCrisis Word Count: 18,715 Summary: At the end of Ligare, Hannibal said Will should "test" his willingness to submit to him. Will takes him up on that, and the results are more than either of them expected.

As I said, the rest of the series was SO GOOD. This was basically off the charts hot.

Title: To the Devil His Due (His Due is You) by everyday_forever Word Count: 26,3319 Summary: Will Graham is in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, courtesy of one Hannibal Lecter. And Will wants payback. He threatens Hannibal with a reckoning. And then Will has a terrible and wonderful idea- he opts to get back at Hannibal and make him jealous by pursuing a sexual relationship with Dr. Frederick Chilton. Feeling emboldened, Chilton sends the audio recordings of him and Will together to Hannibal to boast of the new development in Will's 'therapy.' Hannibal knows at once Will is the mastermind behind it all. Hannibal is most displeased with his manipulative albeit cunning boy. Chaos ensues. Will continues to manipulate both Chilton and Hannibal in order to make Hannibal jealous. Will has entered into a dance with the Devil after poking Hannibal's beast and Hannibal is eager to teach Will a lesson and remind him who he belongs to...

HEAR ME OUT. Prior to this fic, I had never considered Will/Chilton. Ever. Let alone reading a fic where most of the on paper smut is ChilWill. And yet here we are. Hannibal was just so present through it all, given that Will was only screwing Chilton to get at Hannibal (although, I liked that there was some genuine affection between Chilton and Will, it wasn't completely callous), and it just all combined to be an excellent fic. Sue me.

Title: Trope: Fake Date (Hannigram AU) by TigerPrawn Word Count: 4,207 Summary: Will's possible promotion is relying on his superiors thinking better of him. One way to do that is to take his omega to the upcoming cocktail party. Only problem is, he doesn't have one, having to rely on one sent by an agency. He wasn't quite expecting Doctor Hannibal Lecter.

Fluffy first meeting AU, nothing more nothing less. I just love seeing them happy!! (sometimes, lmao)

~

And that's a wrap on this month! See ya next time!!!

[brucewaynehater101]

Oh I was absolutely going with them Jason Finds Out During TT route. I think it would be especially funny if he's heard horror stories from Rouges and his own Henchmen that Robin The Third is some kind of demon that Batman summoned on accident. There are some rumors about how the demon feeds off of grief or anger or vengeance because it's illusions of being g a human are stronger when the Bat is there so *clearly* it is taking its power *from* the Bat. Others say that Nightwing summoned it so that it would keep Bruce on a leash without the first Robin having to come back. Some say it was some person in Gothem who did it or that it was the combined form of the many curses on the city.

All Jason knows is that when his replacement turned around, it's head luled to the side just an inch or two, like a puppet on strings that had to much slack on that one string. Jason manages to shoot one of its arms but instead of a spray of blood, it is broken shards of porcelain and sand. His hits feel like he's punching a solid wall but some do leave visible cracks in Tim. This Thing in a Robin Costume could not ever be human. He knows because when he left, he took a handful of sand in a vile to see if he could figure out what it is. Jason still has that vile to this day, the only proof he has that Tim isn't a human. Sometimes he will set it on a flat surface and watch the sand in it make it slowly roll towards whatever direction Tim is in.

As for how he heals, that's to the magic that animates him, all Tim needs to do is hold his pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle and after a few moments the piece he's holding will weld itself back into place. Also his sand will slowly come back to him, attracted like a magnet and he can tell where all his sand in instinctually. He let's Jason keep the vial of it as it's basically an unhacklable Jason Tracker. The sand isn't fast at moving towards him, roughly about the pace of a snail or sloth. It's certainly moving but just getting from downtown to the Batcave could take his sand a week. Also the pull isn't super strong, gaining about as much force as a particularly stubborn ant.

Ras took half a pound of Tim's sand instead of his spleen and Tim would very much like his sand back.

As for Cass knowing, she 100% does. Tim has shown her his true gorm and when she asked why he didn't show the others, Tim replied, "they wouldn't understand. They would worry over things that aren't problems and try to fix things I already fixed and end up breaking those things."

Eventually the Bats must find out though, and when Dick asks if that means they need to do special things to keep Tim from dying to Magic Users, Tim laughs and laughs like Dick has told the funniest joke in the world. When he calms down, he asks a question of his own, "Dick. How could I possibly die if I have never been alive in the first place? I am simply an object enchanted to move and speak. I am no more alive that the AI Babs uses to scan the internet for pictures of us. I am no more alive than a character in a video game. At most, at *most* I can be compared to some of Ivy's plants that she uses to attack us. I can not be killed for I have never been alive. Broken, yes, but that I can fix. I simply have to be put back together like a jigsaw puzzle."

Oof. Poor Dick is going to have to figure out how to feel about that statement. Tim not being alive at all and comparing himself to a video game or AI might fuck with Dick's sense of self, sentience, etc. I would love to see how they all logic, cope, and understand identity after this.

I do love the idea that the sand tries to make its way back to Tim, but he knows where it is at all times. Jason has an estimated location of Tim (N, S, E, W), but Tim has like coordinates.

I wonder if Cass would try dancing with Tim. Since his movements are different, perhaps she would enjoy learning to dance in a way that's similar to how he moves? It could be eerie and fun for her.

I'm curious how Ra's would feel about Tim and his sand in this. Why did he keep the sand? Does it look distinct from other sand? Was it just cause it was part of Tim and Ra's thought he might be able to use it? Also, does he attempt that shit he did with his Nyssa since Tim probably can't reproduce?

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown, round 2 of bracket one

Propaganda:

For Zoro:

Literally training to be the greatest swordsman in the world. Has a special three swords technique (one blade in each hand plus one with the handle held in his teeth). I haven't read the manga or watched the anime but the live action adaptation gives me extremely gay vibes and based on the fandom things I've seen I'm not the only one

bro uses three swords. has one in his mouth. dont ask how the HELL he manages that. one day he will be the worlds greatest swordsman....after he beats the current greatest for both the titles of greatest swordsman and fruitiest swordsman. he's dramatic as FUUUCK like bro what the hell. has homoerotic fights with the local twink like everyday. directionally challenged, can and will get lost in a paper bag, doesnt know left from right...he probably cant read, too. hes too silly ngl

First of all, im in like episode 250 and so far he hasnt been shown attracted to any woman at all during the whole show so far, not even when one changed clothes in the same room as him and this is anime so you know there were other characters with bloody noses and shit. With that out of the way he wields three swords at once [two in his hands, one is his goddamn mouth dude. Its cool af trust me.] When he was little he made a promise to his best friend that he'd be the best swordsman in the world. Later she died in a tragic accident and left her sword which he still uses today. He also carries a cursed sword but he overpowers the curse with a combination of skill and sheer luck. He got stuck in a chimney. While his crewmates sail their ship he takes naps. He learned how to cut through metal by fighting a guy who could turn his body into metal blades. That's metal. He refuses to fight this liberal marine officer because she looks like his childhood best friend and its just understandably really awkward for him. He's autistic. He's a he/him bisexual lesbian. He's a gay man. He's ace/aro. He's whatever you want him to be babey!!

he has 3 swords, wields one in his mouth sometimes, his dream is to be the greatest swordsman in the world

three swords and big aroace-spec gay vibes

He not only has a sword he has *three* swords. He's absolutely gay there's no way to see this man as straight. Also one time he licked his sword for no reason and that was really funny to me so I had to mention it

Look, this man thinks about three things: Swords, His Captain, and Booze. He’s on a quest to be the worlds greatest swordsman. The Live action has a scene where he declares his undying, unwavering loyalty to his captain WHILE reaffirming his promise to be the worlds greatest swordsman. At this point His dream and his Captain are so intertwined it’s crazy. Man is so sword-y he’s got three of them. When one of his swords broke he carried its empty scabbard until he was able to give it a SWORD FUNERAL. He hears a sword is cursed and takes that as a challenge. He will literally tell his swords off for “bad behavior” when they “act up” due to being straight up cursed. He tests one by throwing it in the air and sticking his arm out to see if it is so blood thirsty and ill tempered that it will cut him. Even though he’s literally the first mate if you ask him what his role is he’s going to answer Swordsman.

He's dedicated his life to two things: becoming the greatest swordsman in the world and his captain, Luffy. 

He mastered the three sword style. Its his style. It would've been more swords but he could only fit one sword in each hand and one in his mouth. He wants to be the world's greatest swordsman, a deal he made with his childhood best frenemy (before she died falling down the stairs). He thought he was All That at the start and was almost completely decimated by the actual Worlds Greatest Swordsman. Now, after two years forced training with that guy, he's probably in the top tier no-doubt, and honestly could already be the best but we just don't know for sure yet. Also, did I mention: he's got the whole demon/devil imagery going on at times. And he has absolutely no sense of direction! plus is a total softie when it comes to Chopper and all the children who somehow gravitate towards him. And he loves naps!

One of the guy's main goals in life is to be the best sword fighter and he fights with three swords which I think is telling enough of his skill.

For Sayaka Miki:

my favourite scene is the one where Sayaka turns off all her pain receptors to battle the shadow witch, uncaring of the damage dealt to her body, because what is a body but a decaying vessel you must eventually abandon anyway? that was very depression of her <3 Also there’s that one time (in the rebellion movie) where Sayaka stabs herself on her own sword to release the witch that dwells within her. and then she immediately gets up to fight back to back with her girlfriend. that moment lives rent free in my head. Sayaka is so depression and I love her for it:)

SHES SO GAY ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY SHE FLIRTS W THE MAIN CHARACTER HER NARRATIVE FOIL IS ANOTHER GIRL W TBE OPPOSITE COLOR SCHEME THEYRE RED BLUE LESBIAN MOMENT YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT ELSE ??? SHE COMES TO THIS FALSE REALITY LITERALLY JUST TO SEE HER GIRLFRIEND ALIVE THEY LIVE TOGETHER AND THERES A WHOLE OUTRO SEQUENCE JUST W THE TWO OF THEM SHE STUDIED THE GAY BLADE I STG also she uses a sword 🗡️ love u sayaka

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Friday Fun-day Five-star day!

Inspired by 5/5-day organised by Jess Levine, where you rate 5 games on itch.io (because the algo sucks ass, and you should tell people that you liked their stuff).

friday fun-day 5-[star] day Neo-Twiny Edition

Which I think is fitting, considering we're right in the middle of the event (you should totes submit!). There's been about 300 entries over the past three edition of this event (check you @neo-twiny-jam!). And I've diligently tried to write notes about each submitted piece.

There are a lot of amazing ones, and you should really check out everything. But for today, here are just 5 from the the First Neo-Twiny Jam:

You Bird by Wandering Basil

ᕁ᙮ᕁᕽᕽ CozmoPets ᕽᕽᕁ᙮ᕁ by @groggydog

Taxi Bargain by 98cicadas

EVISCERATETHISGIRL.COM by (@kanderwund)

Palazzo Heist by Ju/@smwhr

Next Friday, I'll do the second edition :) But I'll come back to other entries in the future - I shared vanitas last week.

If you want some words about them, check below (+ links to reviews, which are tiny):

You Bird by Wandering Basil

My feeling about this entry is as succinct as my original review: this is a good game. It knows what it's about and does it really well. It takes advantage of the medium and the format to enhance the writing. It's only 500 words, but it feels longer than that (there are multiple endings!). And it's just downright fun to play as a bird looking for a snack!

ᕁ᙮ᕁᕽᕽ CozmoPets ᕽᕽᕁ᙮ᕁ by GroggyDog

I had a Tamagochi when I was a kid (and let it die more time that I dare to count), and played Pokemon on my friend's Gameboy Color (and was terrible at it) - which were two of my favourite things for like... two years. So imagine my face when I played this: combining those games into a tiny little one. Instant nostalgia. Like I said two years ago, it's cute and the graphics are really well done. It reminded me of a simpler time. So I'm going to pet the slime again.

Taxi Bargain by 98cicadas

I'm a sucker for many things, and devil bargaining is definitely up there. The never-fair exchanges, the little-letters contracts, the handshakes with crossed-fingers-behind-the-back, the trials and tribulations, the shock and horror of the realisations... It's such an interesting concept, and this entry does it so chillingly (and not spookily like I said in my OG review) and incredibly bittersweet. There's a lot of heartache, as well as determination, woven through this theme. And the timing of the multimedia assets makes the piece more poignant.

EVISCERATETHISGIRL.COM by Kanderwund

Do check the CW before playing (content/animation), even if the title might give away what to expect - I'd even marked the OG review as mature Since I first played it, this entry had been updated multiples times, including added content - so I went and replayed it. It still goes as hard and as weird as I remember it, more even. Very bleak, in the way that you can take your eyes away from it. And obviously cruel, no matter how you interact with it (even if you choose not to! which is stomach turning). If you're into the horror, and visceral, and weird, and gruesome, and like being uncomfortable and horrified, go play this game now. If you want to get carpal tunnel by clicking as much as you can to get the highest score, go play this game too.

there were no parsers in this first edition, but a text-adventure with a puzzle to solver - which is close enough in my book, so we're going with...

Palazzo Heist by Ju/SMWHR

I've recently returned to the work of Maurice Leblanc, and his very charismatic character: Arsène Lupin. And I kept thinking about how fun it would be to play a Gentleman Thief in an IF game (which I am sure exist already - if you know a title, hit me up). I knew I'd played something in the same vein before... and I finally found it again. A breaking-into-a-secure-palace puzzle, that sets up the scene for potential future heist shenanigans (maybe one day...). It's not particularly difficult, but very atmospheric. What I found the most interesting here was how the INK engine is being used here to create this text-adventure/puzzle format, almost in a parser-like form in how it reacts to your actions.

Honestly, a good thing about this whole side project is that I realised I've forgotten to rate some of the games I've been checking out. So remedying this! And if you follow me on itch,you probably were spoiled about this... sorry.