#I also happened across a new tumblr glitch while trying to put it together! How not fun! :D

[sysig]

Your Weekly TV Guide

On Monday you can expect:

2:30 PM: Handplates/The Sims 2

And Tuesday:

2:30 PM: Handplates

Wednesday:

2:30 PM: Dream doodles

Thursday:

2:30 PM: The Mouse and the Mermaid

Friday:

2:30 PM: The Sims 2

Saturday:

2:30 PM: The Mouse and the Mermaid/Just Desserts

Sunday:

2:30 PM: Bunnies and piggies

Thanks for tuning in! (Patreon)

[meandnotyou1001]

I keep reading Irondad fanfics (because it's almost life) and so many of them are centered around Peter and his emotional problems, which is all well and good, but it gave me an idea. Here is my first ever one-shot to be posted on Tumblr. (I have others on Fanfiction.net.)

Ask For Help

An Irondad fic. Part 1.

Summary:

Someone needs help and it's not who we're expecting. How are Karen and Friday going to get them the help they need when it's impossible to ignore certain protocols?

Warning: Attempted Suicide. Not a lot of suicidal thoughts, because it’s from someone else’s point of view. If this is going to trigger you, please don’t read. I’d rather you be safe, than have one more reader. Everyone please take care of yourselves and call for help if you need it.

------------------

Peter didn’t notice it happening. He’d never seen it happen before. Hell, he didn’t even think it could happen, but with hindsight (being 20/20 and all) he kicked himself for how stupid that thought was. Mr. Stark was human, of course he had problems like that. But, all in all, Peter was just a little busy. It was finals week. He was doing EOC’s, AP exams, and finals. It was so hectic and stressful he’d even cut his Spiderman hours by nearly two-thirds.

Peter didn’t think much of it when Mr. Stark had texted, repeatedly throughout the last month of school, asking if he’d be by the Tower that day and he answered that he couldn’t, he was busy.

He didn’t think much of it when Mr. Stark called and told him Pepper was going on a business trip to Shanghai and they should get together for a guys’ night. He couldn’t, he was busy.

He didn’t think much of it when Mr. Stark said the Exvengers (or Rogues, Peter prefered that name) had settled back in the Compound to mooch off of him and use him as their punching bag once more. He was sorry, Mr. Stark, he would love to hang out and meet the Avengers, but he was busy.

So, Peter wasn’t really concerned about anything but his stupid AP Litertature exam one Thrusday night when he sat down at his desk to study. He was ten minutes in, when his phone dinged an alert. Looking up, Peter saw a police report about a mugging gone wrong, ending with two injured and one dead. The teen frowned, but reluctantly put his phone down. Aunt May had been very clear about him Spidermanning during finals month.

Ten minutes later, on the dot, Peter’s phone dinged again. Looking up, Peter saw another police report. A jewelry store robbery with nearly four million dollars in jewels stolen. Peter frowned again. Mr. Stark said education came first, before Spiderman. He put the phone down.

Ten minutes. A report on a drug bust that ended in a shoot-off with six dead. Peter stared at the report. “Karen?”

“Yes, Peter?” his AI answered from his phone.

“You know I’m supposed to be studying for my AP final right?”

“Of course, Peter. Stay in School Protocol states you are not to go out as Spiderman, when you are studying for an exam.”

Karen’s response seemed innocent, but why on earth was she sending Peter police reports. She knew how much it irritated him, not being able to help, but unable to disobey Aunt May and Mr. Stark for fear of the consequences.

“You are studying very hard, Peter, perhaps you should reward yourself.” His AI’s voice was kind.

Peter hummed lightly, feeling just a little, like he was being played, but staring at the police report, he found he didn’t care. “This is giving me a headache anyway, maybe an hour or two will give my brain a break.”

Pulling on the suit, he was surprised when Karen automatically stated, “Peter, you are supposed to be studying for your AP exam, I will have to inform Mr. Stark that you are going out.”

“What?” Peter demanded. “You’re the one you said I should go out.”

“I would not do that, Peter,” Karen countered, “as it goes against my Stay in School Protocol.”

Peter blinked. “Screw my homework giving me a headache, all your mixed messages are giving me a headache. Fine, tell Mr. Stark, but while you’re at it, tell him it’s  just for a little while and cause I need a break.”

“Message sent.”

Peter sighed, shaking his head at his AI. “You’re as confusing as any human girl, Karen, but I still love you.”

“Thank you, Peter. I love you as well.”

Peter didn’t respond as he climbed out the window and started his patrol.

It was nearly ten o’clock in the evening, just as he was turning to go home, hoping for a full night of rest and at least part of a chance to actually pass said exam, when Karen sent him an alert.

“Peter,” his AI addressed him, “Friday says there seems to be a problem at the Tower.”

“What?” Peter was suddenly on high alert and the AP exam far from his mind. “Is Mr. Stark there?!” Peter didn’t wait for an answer as he quickly began to throw himself from building to building, as quickly as he could.

“Friday states she is unable to give Spiderman Mr. Stark’s status, as it is against the Boss’s direct orders.” Karen told him.

Peter faltered just for a second. “That isn’t what I asked.”

It wasn’t a question, but Karen answered, “I know, Spiderman.”

Peter’s mind shot to their weird conversation just before he’d gone on patrol and something in his stomach sank. What was going on with his AI, and now Friday to. He pushed himself harder to get across New York City faster. Something was up, something neither Karen or Friday could tell him, something that had Karen loopholing her protocols to get Peter on patrol, because now that he thought about it, now it made too much sense.

Peter slammed into the Tower, crawling as fast as he could up the side of the building aiming for one of the less occupied floors. “Karen, can you ask Friday to open a window?”

“Friday says the Boss had ordered no one to disturb him.” Karen responded, seeming to completely ignore Peter’s question once more. “She also says, any and all defensive protocols are prohibited from being used on Spiderman.”

Peter’s mind faltered again, as he continued his frantic climb. “You two are giving me whiplash with your weird-ass answers,” he remarked. Peter wasn’t stupid though. For whatever reason, Mr. Stark didn’t want him to know what was going on, but Friday wanted him to anyway. Friday was telling him, without breaking any protocols, that he needed to break into Stark Tower, to help Mr. Stark. Or he was going insane as two top-of-the-line AI’s glitched out.

So, he did just that. Busting through a window in Mr. Stark’s lab, Peter let himself in, crouching on the ceiling ready for a fight. “Where is he?” He asked, not caring which AI answered.

“I am prohibited from giving Spiderman the Boss’s location or state of being,” Friday remarked, Peter could have sworn she sounded frantic, and pissed.

“Karen, where is he?” Peter begged, not even wanting to know why the two had suddenly taken to calling him Spiderman, instead of Peter.

“There is a heat signature in the penthouse, in Mr. Stark’s suite, the bathroom,” Karen answered, showing Peter on his HUD. “The temperature of the body is extremely low.”

Peter’s stomach dropped to his feet and suddenly he felt like throwing up, but he pushed it it a side, deliberated only for a second, before diving back out the broken window, to launch himself up the side of Stark Tower, crashing into the penthouse, and tearing toward Mr. Stark’s suite. His heart was pounding, his head at war as desperation told him he was imagining things, but logic told him he was right on the money.

Peter burst into the bedroom, making a beeline for the bathroom. Not even bothering to knock on the door, Peter tore it off its hinges and tossed it aside. “Mr. Stark!” Peter froze upon seeing his hero, his mentor, his father! slumped against the bathroom counter, pale as a ghost, just as still and in a pool of his own blood. It was Uncle Ben! It was Uncle Ben all over again! But worse! It was worse! Way! Way! Way! WORSE!!!!

“Peter, the best course of action would be to put pressure on his wounds, secure his airways, and get him medical care immediately.” Friday’s frantic voice cut him out of his spiralling panic attack.

“Y-yeah!” he gasped, dropping to his knees, trying not to hurl as he splashed blood everywhere that it already wasn’t. He latched onto Mr. Stark’s bleeding wrist, his hands trembling as he tried to stop the bleeding, without accidentally hurting Mr. Stark more. “M-Mr. Stark?! Tony! Can you hear me?! Don’t you have those Iron-medic-bots, Friday?!” he demanded as he laid Mr. Stark on his back, practically in tears when he realized the man was breathing. He couldn’t clam his own heart long enough to hear if Mr. Stark’s was beating, but it seemed to be, if he was breathing.

“I do, Peter, but without an override of the Boss’s orders I cannot use them.” Peter didn’t have time to think about what this could mean, regarding how the two AI’s had gotten him to the Tower in the first place, all he cared about was his mentor.

“Mr. Stark! Tony! How do I override your stupid protocols?! Please! Don’t leave me! Please?! How do I override them, Friday?!” He screamed.

“Ms. Potts.” Friday stated.

“Call her then!” Peter cried.

“Boss’s protocols--”

“Karen!” Peter was desperate, bordering on hysterical.

“Calling Ms. Potts,” Karen responded.

At the same time, Friday said, “Peter, there are towels just above your head. Be careful of your strength, you could hurt Mr. Stark if you hold too tight.” Peter scrambled for the towels, using his web-shooters when he couldn’t reach them without letting go of Mr. Stark.

“Mr--Tony! Please, don’t die one me!” Peter didn’t quite know how in the hell he wasn’t bawling his eyes out, but his eyes remained dry, almost as if his body was aware of how desperately he needed his vision clear.

“Tony, Babe, I love you but seriously, if I’m going to do this stupid share-holder meeting for you, you can’t call me in the middle of it, using Peter’s AI isn’t going to change that. You’re lucky we’re on a lunch break right now.” Ms. Potts' voice suddenly spoke in Peter’s, making him visibly jump.

“M-Miss Potts!” Peter exclaimed. He was honestly surprised it came out, rather than the sobbing mess he felt like he was inside. “Mr. Star--”

“Ms. Potts, Friday needs a direct override of the Boss’s protocols.” Karen interrupted in an urgent voice.

“Friday, directly override every one of Tony’s protocols that you want. Access code: Even when I’m wrong, I’m right. ” Ms.Potts answered without hesitation. “Peter, what’s going on? Where’s Tony?”

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He was breaking down. There was an adult present (sort of) he no longer had to be strong. He choked on a sob as his eyes blurred, but hardly had time to really get into it, before several loud crashes echoed through the building and two Iron Man suits erupted from the floor.

Peter shrieked as Mr. Stark was ripped from his hands and placed into a silver and red suit with the American Red-Cross symbol on it. He had very little time to do much else as he too was encased in a suit, though this one was the typical red and gold.

The two sets of armor shot out of the building with a blatant disregard for property damage and shot through the sky toward the north, gaining speed and going supersonic in a matter of minutes, going only as fast as was safe for Mr. Stark.

“I am transporting them to the Compound,” Friday announced in Peter’s ear. “Helen Cho is being contacted. I am sending Happy for Mrs. Parker. Your plane is being prepped and will be ready for take-off by the time you arrive, Boss Lady. Emergency Level: Yellow. Guardian Angel Protocol activated. Rhodey has been notified and is inbound in the War Machine armor. EAT: Five minutes.”

Peter’s mind seemed to blank. One minute he’s shooting toward the Compound at a speed that made his insides turn on each other, the next, he was in a long white hallway surrounded by the Avengers. There was frantic, yet hushed whispers as everyone but Vision questioned Mr. Stark’s wounds.

Distantly, he heard a voice calling his name, but all he could think about was Mr. Stark’s cold prone form on his bathroom floor. Emergency Level: Yellow. He knew what yellow meant. He understood what had happened. He understood now, why the AI’s had been acting strange. He knew everything!

Aside from: why?!

He couldn’t understand! Why would Mr. Stark do it?! Why would he feel that way?! He was Tony Stark! He was amazing! He was always so strong and confident! He was always ready with a snide remark and a smile, teasing Peter, but never lacking in his praise! He was always perfectly put together and understanding and patient!

But you've seen a mask like that before, a voice in his head defended. You knew it was possible.

"But not for Mr. Stark!" he wanted to scream. He never imagined it could have happened to his perfect father-figure, who never so much as faltered.

“Peter!” He jerked out of his thoughts and into his aunt’s arms. Happy appeared behind her, face grim as he went to Vision and Colonel Rhodes, who stood whispering in the corner near the door. “I’m so sorry you had to see that, Baby,” his aunt tried to sooth in his ear.

“Why?” he asked, his voice sounded so dead he almost flinched. Was that really his voice?

“After everything?!” May demanded. “I...no one should have to see someone they love like that, especially a child.”

“So, is someone going to tell us what the fuck is going on?” All eyes turned to Sam Wilson.

“Language!” May and Happy snapped at the same time.

“This is no time for games,” Natasha Romanov countered coldly.

“There is a child present!” May snarled, not even a little intimidated by the assassin-spy turned Avenger.

Before any of them could continue the war, Ms. Potts came sprinting down the corridor barefoot and frantic. “What the hell happened?” She begged. “Nothing has changed!”

Colonel Rhodes and Happy shook their heads looking lost. “Not in the last month, Boss,” Happy said. “Coffee every morning with me.”

“I called at lunch,” Rhodey supplied.

“We had dinner together,” Vision agreed.

All four sets of eyes turned to Aunt May and Peter. Peter flinched in confusion, but Aunt May spoke. “It's a month before school lets out. They've started EOCs, AP testing, and finals. He's been busy, but he texts him all day.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Wanda Maximoff asked, looking particularly at Vision.

But Peter had put the pieces together and he understood exactly what changed. “It’s my fault?!” He gasped, suddenly feeling like the world, already wobbly and confusing, was jerked out from under him. He was free-falling.

“No!” Aunt May turned to him. “No! It’s not!”

“Yes, it is!” Peter cried, tearing away from her as the world spun. “I’ve been blowing him off! I kept telling him I was busy!”

“No, Pete! Baby, he knew you had finals! You text him all the time!” His aunt tried to reassure him.

“It doesn’t matter!” Peter cried, suddenly unable to breath. He couldn’t swallow. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t think! He couldn’t think past the image of Mr. Stark slumped in a puddle of his own blood! “It doesn’t matter! He comes first! He should always come first!”

“Pete! Peter, breathe! Breathe, Sweetie. Follow me. In, 2...3...4, out, 2...3...4.” Peter tried his hardest to follow his aunt’s words as his mind continued to bake up cruelty after cruelty at his failure.

He’d driven Mr. Stark to suicide!!

“Attempted suicide?” Falcon asked, a conversation having happened during Peter's panic attack.

"That is a coward's way out," Scarlet Witch snarled.

Several things happened at once. Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes, and Happy all jerked forward ready to rip the girl a new one. 

"I agree," Steve Rogers stated.

Vision took on a sad sort of disappointed look, Black Widow had no reaction toward the words, but Falcon looked pissed.

Aunt May froze.

Peter...Peter stepped forward and faster than any of them could think, let alone see, a SLAP! and CRACK! resonated through the hall.

And the door at the end of the hall opened to reveal Dr. Helen Cho.

[imacrowcawcaw]

1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 23, 29, 38 😘❤️ Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

Hi mimi thank you so much for all the questions!!! This is gonna be really long lol - also, sorry it took a while, Tumblr kept glitching and erasing EVERYTHING

1. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them? Oh my god SO MANY! I have roughly 50 works in progress, and so many more ideas running through my head - I just haven't had the energy or the time lately to actually work on them. One that keeps coming back to me is Sam and Danny chilling in bed on a lazy Saturday, after a sleepover, and Sam announces that if they had sex, it would be the best either of them ever experienced. They debate for a while, and of course end up getting it on... it'll happen someday.

4. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic. There's a lot of fluff and heartfeltwords; I try to keep it lighthearted too, though, and throw in what I hope is some funny stuff; smut of course, or at least some kissing; metaphors and figurative language galore. I feel like I'm still very much trying to find my voice and my style, so I think my fics differ a lot in their styles, but there are things that I generally like.

5. Share one of your strengths. Hmm, I was going to say that I know how grammar works (that feels rude but- ) actually I'm going to say that I always turn out things that I really enjoy. That may be more of a personal strength - i.e. it only matter to me - but if I post something I am satisfied (enough) with it. I like my work! I write what I want, even with requests, and I put my all into my writing because I want it to be such good quality that it would make me squeal if I came across it.

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

"Dude, that's disgusting."

Danny just smiled at Josh, showing off a rather gross mouthful of mangled food, and kept eating his pineapple pizza.

"Seriously, pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. Can't you just eat regular toppings like the rest of us?"

Danny shook his head and swallowed. "Nuh-uh, I can't. I'm not like the rest of you."

"Hmm, you know, you're right: you're not like the rest of us. It's way hotter in the Wagner corner." Josh looked at him coyly, licking BBQ sauce from his chicken wings off of his fingertips.

Danny froze and Josh laughed, using a napkin to scrub away the rest of the sauce and continuing to messily eat his 'regular' pizza. Danny shook his head, closing the lid of his box to save the rest for later.

Idk if anyone other than @satans-helper would be interested in Josh and Danny (like, together, or at least flirting) but.... I thought this was good. It was fun to write - still not anywhere near done, though - and I think it captures them pretty well. I think dialogue is good when the characters speak for themselves, literally, without having to rely completely on prose to give it meaning.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

"The bass pumped through Sam in the same rhythm as his cannabis-speckled blood, sludgey warmth crawling in his veins as he took a second hit of the blunt being passed around. Hidden away from the eyes of management constantly trying to tighten the reins, as if they weren't rock stars in - or perhaps even before - their prime, he let the dark corner he and a few new acquaintances occupied be his cover from an eventual scolding."

Let this be a little teaser for the Collab Zara and I are doing (!!!) lol. I think it's some of my best writing; lyrical but not too long as I'm learning how to do it right, offering information with every little part, setting the scene in a concise but not info-dump way, some bit of irony and humor.

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write? Ohhh man, well there have definitely been MANY that I've gotten stuck on for months, if not over a year -- but, the finished fic that was hardest was probably "Forever", to be totally honest. I think it turned t out very well, but I revised over and over and over, and scrapped a very large portion of it. I know what I wanted, but it wasn't coming for a very long time.

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write? "Blood Brothers". It just flowed so well, I sat and types furiously in my phone for a good 3 hours without stopping, and it was born.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across? There's quite a few pieces that I always think of: write what you want to read, adjectives and adverbs slow the pace (learned this recently and it's very handy), sometimes straight-forward is best, don't be afraid to scrap things and start over.

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose? Oh man, that's a hard choice. I think that "Eyes of Juniper" (metallica fic, not finished 😔) would actually be the best choice, because it's funny, I would love to see the guys in the 80s, and, while it deals with bodies/nudity/sexuality it wouldn't be a straight up porn film lol.

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? A mix of both, I think it just depends on how my ideas are flowing. If I'm really on a roll and know I won't be interrupted, then I'll just write it chronologically. But, if I have a small idea, or I know how I want to end but dont know how to begin, then I'll just start writing something. I'm always afraid I'll forget what I want if I don't write it down, so I work on what I'm able to and fill in the rest later.

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions. Well, I usually end up doing the most of my writing hunched over sitting on me bed in the dark and furiously typing on my phone lmao. I would love to get a laptop and a dedicated space, but it's just not gonna happen rn. So, I'll go with dark, undisturbed, comfortable

23. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why? there are quite a few that I can look back at and be like noooo what was I doing. I think, though, one that could be really really amazing if revised would be "Black Dog", a guns n roses fic I wrote. It was good, but one of my firsts. My style has improved, and I think I could just make it a lot better, and the dialogue at the end could be a lot more clear and realistic sounding

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose? Oh mannnn there are so many fics that have made me want to somehow write/find more, I'll go with "Angel of Apple Valley" (pairing: Duzzy fandom: gnr, on rockfic, I cant find it rn though sorry). It was so amazing and I still think about it. I don't think I could do anywhere near justice to the original, so of course I wouldnt actually, but I just really want more

38. Talk about a review that made your day. Ohhh ok pretty much every review makes me suoer hapoy, but the lovely helena_s_renn left me a comment on Ch. 4 of "Skin on Skin, Hearts Laid Bare" and it nearly made me cry

"Girl, I think you've discovered your voice. This has an intensity beyond any of your other work that I've read thus far (not saying the previous isn't good - it is!!). I was glued to my phone by the eyes, didn't want it to end, and yet it did in what seemed like 5 seconds. Danny's acceptance of Sam's physical needs without asking anything more of him than "just sleep with me" is love. On that subject, I think you've thrown more words at the wellspring of Sanny Love from Sam's perspective than one would have thought possible, and they all ring true."

Like, holy shit thanks?!?! Lol. But really, I've been seriously trying to find my style, and to hear this from one of the writers I respect the most was huge. I felt like a favorite teacher was giving me a hug and telling me i did good!!!

[arharmon]

Life Is Strange 2.3 Review

I never really been interested in playing the Life Is Strange games but ever since the reveal of the Season 2 I was totally invested in the universe. I played the first season, BTS and the DLC and fell in love. Now that I’m playing the second season I can easily say it’s the best one to be added to the universe so far. 

Anyways this is my hot take on this episode.

Mainly I wanted to talk about the romance within the episode since it’s a really big topic people are talking about. The ships and romance have started some controversy within the fandom which is understandable, to say the least.

The episode starts off with a flashback before the incident that caused Sean and Daniel to flee their home and we see some brotherly dispute between to the boys and after a talk between Sean and his dad the brother’s make up. We then skip back into present time and If you ask me it really foreshadows how this episode is going to play out. 

Seeing Hannah topless gave me a bit of a shocker because of I never expected the writers to go this far however the video game had already given us so much in previous episodes so seeing someone naked should have been inevitable.

Sean is in a very troubling and even some would say traumatic time in his life that he is sure to remember. The plot of the game and the character's goal (Sean’s goal) to protect his brother and get him to safety in Mexico. It’s clear to see that journey has very much changed Daniel which is easy to notice throughout the entire episode. Daniel constantly acts out and cold towards Sean simply because Sean prefers to hang out with kids his own age instead of Daniel. To be honest Daniel’s behavior is understandable but not tolerated. His behavior is the reason for the many unfortunate things that happen later on in the episode. 

To put in blatantly, Daniel wasn’t really my favorite in this episode. Like I really enjoyed seeing him on screen in episode two and many of his outburst was determinant based on the players' choices, so not really Daniel’s fault and the ones that were (like him being upset with his grandparents about his mother) is totally valid.

I was hoping that in this episode Daniel would become more mature and realize the very dangerous situation that their in and him fucking up could really mess things up for them at the farm. Which he totally ignores and acts more like a brat and fucks shit up for everyone.

To be honest I saw it coming and I am surprised they even lasted as long as they did. Anyway, enough about Daniel and more about Sean. My favorite.

Sean went through I lot this episode and one of those things being is his love life. Now I read a lot of stuff on Tumblr about the romance options and people having mixed feelings about things and the main reason why I’m writing this is that I wanted to share mine. While some say the romance wasn’t needed in the game, I would totally disagree. 

I think the romance was a must in this game. 

The genre of the game is Adventure/Slice of Life with a bit of Fantasy or Paranormal. But most importantly it’s Teen Fiction. I think most people forget that Sean is only a 16-year-old boy. A teenage surrounded by other teenagers pumped with hormones and testosterone. Not to mention drugs and alcohol.

Honestly, the Cassidy x Sean romance was clearly going to happen and anyone could have known if they paid attention to their first interaction back in the previous episode. However, I never expected us to get a romance with Finn. I applaud DontNod for making both of their MCs Bisexual to give the player a choice of who they wish to romance. 

Now I want to talk about both Cassidy’s and Finn’s romance routes separately.

First up, Cassidy. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my girl Cas. I think she’s a badass just look at her. However, the game developers really pushed a Cassidy romance. I mean it seems like she’s all over Sean every second. I mean their very first interaction was flirtatious. I feel the players that went with the Cassidy route got to experience the full-on romance bundle. The went skinny dipping which was a sweet call back to the first season, AND THEN THEY FUCKING HAD SEX!!!!!! Like what? I was not expecting that to happen?!?!

Now everyone had mixed feelings about this scene and some people even saying it was wrong because “sean was pushing himself to do things he didn’t really want to do just out of fear that he won’t get to experience” which I don’t understand how you could get that idea from that scene, but it’s false. Like I said, in the beginning, I knew we were going to get more nudity in this episode and thought that lake scene was enough... but then Sean lost his virginity.

Though I was shocked I was also happy the scene was included, because like I said before, Sean is 16. His whole life was just flipped on its ass and he finally felt as though he got somewhat of a new family that actually cares about him and his brother. And no one can say that’s not true. Look at the way they all interacted with one another during the campfire scene. It was easy to see they were a family.

Sean losing his virginity was pretty sweat. He did feel embarrassed when it was over (as every teenage boy would feel after his first time) which was expected and valid. Cassidy reassuring him was also sweet. 

In conclusion, I really like the Cassidy romance and I don’t think it was forced or that came out of nowhere. 

Now let's talk about Finn... oh boy Finn.

I have mixed feelings about this route. Like everyone else.

One reoccurring thing that I see people talking about was that Finn’s feelings for Sean weren’t ideal and that he simply manipulated Sean with a kiss to make him go along with the plan. Every time I see that I ask myself; “were these guys even playing the game? did they see what I saw?” I mean anyone could see that Finn genuinely cares for Sean and Daniel. Take a look at all the flirting he does with Sean and tries to play it off as jokes and how he is willing to stand up for Sean and Daniel by literally taking a punch for Sean. 

I can see why it looks kind of shady that the only way you could kiss him if you go along with his plan, I can certainly see this as Finn being manipulative (then again it was completely unnecessary since Sean had already agreed to go along with the plan). I think this is just bad writing on the developers part. Also, I wouldn’t say that Sean becoming gay came out of nowhere because that is not true. When you decide to stay and get a haircut you’ll eventually end up talking about sexuality and stuff. And it’s clear to see after that that Finn may have a thing for Sean.

I don’t find Finn manipulating Sean by kissing him, I just see Finn confessing his feelings and wanting Sean and Daniel to stay with them. Not to mention it’s not like Finn asked to kiss Sean. Yeah, he basically takes the opportunity to confess his feelings to him but the player is given two chances to reject Finn love and still go along with the plan. It wasn’t Finn being manipulative he just saw an opportunity in a moment of happiness and made his move. He also is actively trying to have Sean stay with the group and him by getting the money from Merril. 

Speaking of which I want to talk about Finn’s plan. I think the whole situation was morally ambiguous. And I actually agree with it. 

Now hear me out.

Back in episode one and two, we got a first glance of the bullshit Daniel and Sean had to go through on the road. Sean basically got kidnapped by some racist asshole, they had to sleep outside in the woods for a time and then moved to some old cabin that wasn’t any better (not to mention it was in the middle of winter). Also, don’t forget that Daniel got sick and Mushroom was killed by a puma (which could have easily been one of the boys if the mushroom wasn’t there). The point I’m trying to make here is that it’s clear to see that being on the road alone was dangerous for them. Who knows what would’ve happened to Daniel if the didn’t make to their grandparents' house, or before that if they didn’t find Brody who gave them money (and good advice to Sean) for them to stay in a motel for the night.

So basically Sean and Daniel had help, and without that help, they would have never made it this far. The thing I’m trying to get at here is that them taking that money would have helped them in the long run. I think Finn tries to explain that to Sean and when he offers for Sean to stay with them after the heist it made me feel even more confident in the plan and the aftermath knowing that if it did go well they would all be together still. Safety in numbers and all that. Also, it proves further that Finn does care about Sean and Daniel.

Honestly, the reason why I agreed to Finn’s plan is that I knew even if I constantly disagreed with it Daniel was going to go through it anyway. So I knew it would be best if I was there with them and that way Cassidy wouldn’t be there to get hurt or injured. 

It kind of bothered me that no matter how much you successfully managed to execute the plan you still get caught... but whatever. 

What people need to realize is that romance in this episode was a must and wasn’t just a “forced fling” but something completely more that impacted the characters completely. No one's forgetting about the many other important things about the game like family bonds, mourning lost, racism, exploitation, illegal drug trade/use and countless other important themes. But as a writer of Teen Fiction myself people need to understand that though it shouldn’t be centered upon; sexuality and romantic bonds are very important and were crucial in this story.

For me, this episode was an 8.5/10 it would have been a 9/10 it wasn’t the obvious glitches that were going on during my gameplay. I was trying to ignore it but completely lost it after Cassidy’s beer bottle was oddly floating in mid-air during the campfire scene.

Sorry for the long post, but I had to get my point across and give my honest opinion. I’m going to be making another post about my predictions and wants for the next episode.

Thanks for reading!

[the-writing-dump-bin]

Mista request

Tumblr must have glitched and I lost the ask, but I had gotten a request for smutty Mista and F/Reader. So here you go, Anon, I hope you like it ☺

MILD N*S*F*W 18+

Today was like any other day these past couple weeks. Everyone went out on missions while you sat back at the restaurant on your own. "Don't worry, I'll find you a job that would be suited for you." Bruno had told you over and over. But with each passing day, that hope seemed to slip away.

Aimlessly twirling your fork, you looked up to see Mista turn the corner and head to the table. Your eyes met his as you two shared a look of annoyance. It wasn't that you hated each other, it just seemed like the two of you didn't get along that well. "Its just you here?" He said flatly.

"Don't act so disappointed." You answered sarcastically before filling your mouth with food. "Done your mission?"

Taking a seat across from you, Mista sat down; the waiter came by to fill a glass of water for him. "Yeah." He grunted. "The others went home and I was hungry so I came here. Thought I would be alone."

You rolled your eyes. "Again, sorry to disappoint."

"Why are you here anyways?"

"I've been coming here by myself for the last few days while everyone has gone and done missions. I'm just waiting my turn."

The waiter came by again to take Mista's order then turned to you. "Is there anything else I could bring you?"

"Just the bill is fine, thank you." You smiled.

"Oh, no," the waiter held up a hand. "Its on me again. Enjoy your day." Once the waiter left, you smirked. This was the third time this week the same waiter paid for your meal.

"That's not fair." Mista grumbled. "He's only giving you free food because he obviously has a crush on you." He eyed you while you wiped your mouth free from any mess.

"So, what if he does? You guys get free food here too." Setting the napkin down, you stood up to leave. "Enjoy your meal, Mista. Oh!" Before you could make your way to the exit, Bucciarati came around the corner and nearly bumped into you.

"Ah, Y/N, I finally found you." Bucciarati looked to his left and noticed Mista sitting at their regular table. "And you're here too, Mista. Perfect! I have a mission for you guys."

Mista's face fell to a pout while yours shined bright with a smile. "I'm sorry, Mista, I know you just came back from one." Bucciarati was sympathetic for his friend. He pulled a chair out for himself and you returned to the chair you had and listened for your orders.

"There is a duo that is causing trouble on a couples retreat island not too far from here. Rumor has it that they are trying to kidnap people for ransom. I need you two to go undercover and fix the problem before anyone gets seriously harmed."

"So we have to use ourselves as bait to get closer to them?" You asked.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'undercover'?"

Bucciarati knit his brows together. "I was sure I was pretty obvious about that. Its a couples retreat. I'm sending you and Y/N to pose as a couple to put an end to them."

Mista and you looked at each other with wide eyes. The two of you didn't get along that well in the first place, now you had to act like a couple? Neither of you were thrilled, but a job was a job. "Fine." You huffed. Bucciarati handed you plane tickets for you and Mista, stood up and left.

The tension between you two was thick. No words were spoken for a while, even when the waiter came back with Mista's order. "Oh, you're still here? Could I get you anything? More water? Dessert?"

"Four pieces of cake, thanks." You said without taking your eyes off the man across from you. By the time the waiter came back with your cake, Mista was halfway through his meal. He set the cakes down between the two of you and walked away.

The cakes sat there, untouched. You had no intention on eating them. Mista glared at you with anger as he finished his food. "You did that to annoy me, didn't you?" You didn't have to confirm. Getting up from the chair, you made your way out. "I'll meet you at the airport in an hour." You patted his head, hat becoming crooked. "See you then, hunny."

---

The heat off the runway hit you hard as you and Mista got off the plane. Scanning the area, it looked to be safe for now. "So how do you want to do this?" You asked, grabbing your luggage.

"Well, they're targeting couples, so we would probably have to stand out more to get noticed by them." He hesitated for a moment, but eventually grabbed your hand. His cheeks were flushed with pink, his eyes looking around at anything but you. "Lets get to the resort and figure out our next move."

Why did your heart pick up pace when Mista grabbed your hand? You didn't think his hands to be soft, but they were. He was right, though. Now was the time to act like a couple if you wanted to complete the mission, so you laced your fingers with his and walked to the resort's hotel.

"This... Is not what I expected."

The room was definitely made for couples, the way it was decorated. The walls were painted a dusty pink with romantic paintings hanging off of them. Wine and champagne bottles sat atop the table in the corner. There were two large glass doors that would lead you out the the balcony. The bed was king size, silky red sheets and bedding. What was more off putting was the mirrors on the ceiling, making your face scrunch.

"Is.. Is this a honeymoon suite?" Mista questioned out loud, setting the suitcases down and shutting the door. "Why would Bucciarati book this room?"

"Maybe to get the enemy to target us quicker?" You shrugged. "What's more of a target than newlyweds?"

"Pretending to be in a relationship with you was one thing, but we have to act like we're married?!"

You narrowed your eyes. "You think this is a skip in the field for me too? A job is a job." Standing in front of him, you poked him in the chest. "Now let's start investigating."

---

The afternoon was a bust.

Nothing seemed that out of the ordinary as you and Mista took part in couples activities. It was awkward, but you had to push through it.

"Ugh, come on! Aren't you ready yet?" Mista yelled at you through the bathroom door of your shared room. "Women just take forever."

"And men whine and complain a lot." You retorted. "I'm almost done." You were getting ready for dinner with Mista, hoping to find the people who were kidnapping tourists.

The sound of the door opened and Mista sat up from the bed. "Finally, are you ready to-" he stopped talking when his eyes took you in. The dress you wore fit you perfectly, the way you had your hair brought out your features. The pink in his cheeks returned and he stumbled over his words a little bit. "You... You look... Good." He moved closer to you.

It was your turn to blush now, also taken with how Mista looked. You had never seen him without his hat before, which he took off for the occasion. His hair was dark and short; the suit brought out his dreamy eyes. "You... Look good, too." The small gap between became even smaller when you moved forward as well. "We, um, should head downstairs, you know, we have to complete this mission."

"Right." He nodded and stepped back a little. "The mission. Let's go."

During dinner, you two had made yourselves noticeable to attract the attention of the enemy. From flirtatious banter to feeding each other. It was embarrassing for the both of you with a bunch of eyes from the other tables staring and muttering about you. Then you caught sight of something odd.

A few tables over were two men sitting alone, looking right at you. "Mista..." You looked all lovey dovey at him. "I think I found them, a couple tables over to the left. They're looking at us." Mista shifted his eyes to look subtly. "Quick, Mista, kiss me."

"What?!"

"I said kiss me!" You grabbed at his suit and pulled him to you, planting your lips on his. The kiss was hasty, but you made it look like you were kissing your new husband. When you pulled away, you looked at the men at the table. They stood up, but didn't move anywhere. When you followed their gaze, you seen that they were actually looking at two women who walked through the door behind you guys. They were waiting for their own wives to arrive.

Sighing with frustration, you let your grip on Mista's suit loosen and sat back. "How are we supposed to find these people?!"

Mista sat still. The feel of your lips lingered on his. His heart raced and his breath hitched. What was this feeling? He tolerated you since you became a member of the gang, but since this mission started, he had started feeling something more towards you. It was like...he wanted you. "Where are you going?" He asked when you stood up.

"I'm going back to the room. This whole day has been coming up empty and I'm going to relax for a bit. You comin'?"

Mista's body acted on its own and stood up, following you back to the room. In the elevator, you noticed him clench his hand in and out of a fist, like he was holding something back. Once back at your room, he held the door open for you, but he didn't look at you. "Hey," you took his hands in yours after he shut the door. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I-I'm... I don't know." He huffed.

"Was it the kiss?"

His eyes widened and his head snapped to you. It was the kiss. He hadn't stopped thinking about it since it happened, as fake as it had been. But it wasn't the only thing he had been thinking about. He actually had fun with you during the day and throughout dinner. "I-It's fine. It was just for show, not like I would want you to kiss me for real anyways. Or me kiss you, that's just stupid."

You can see he was visually flustered with the way he avoided eye contact with you. Its not like you weren't feeling anything either. To be honest, you probably would have kept kissing him if you weren't distracted by those two a couple tables over. Would have done it better, too.

What was taking over you? Your mind started to cloud as you took in the sight of the handsome man shifting his feet in front of you. He was taken off guard when he noticed you against him, pushing him gently to the nearest wall, hands on his chest and face so close to his. "Wh-What are you doing?"

Your noses touched, you could feel each other's sharp intake of air. Your hands traveled up to the back of his head and pulled him in for a slow and sensual kiss. One a hell of a lot better than before. He kissed you back, melting with each one. His own hands rested on your hips, finger tips digging into you.

Bringing you hands back down, you pushed the jacket of his suit off his shoulders, letting it fall behind him to the floor and started undoing the buttons of his shirt. He grabbed the zipper of your dress and pulled down, letting his free hand explore your exposed back. The dress fell softly to the floor next to his jacket as you brought up your legs one at a time to remove your shoes.

Mista took the lead and backed you to the bed, shedding the shirt you undid. Slowly and gently, he placed you on it and removed his pants, climbing on top of you. He couldn't help himself. Like he had no control over his mind and his body was on autopilot. The feel of his body on yours sent exciting jolts throughout you and you wanted more. "Mista..." Looking up, you saw yourself and Mista in a tangle from the mirrors that were on the ceiling. Earlier, you thought of it as unnecessary and disturbing, but seeing the two of you wrapped up like this made the experience thrilling.

Your hands roved his back; finger tips sinking into his skin every time you felt a rush of excitement. You needed to feel him more. Reaching down, you grabbed between his legs and guided him towards your entrance. He complied and entered you slowly; he was afraid to hurt you. Sharp gasps emitted from your mouth as you took him in, your walls adjusting to accommodate him. He set his hips at a steady pace as he slid in and out of you, making you moan with pleasure. "Oh... Oh, Mista..."

Mista pinned your wrists to the bed and continued to thrust into you, watching your beasts bounce with each movement. "You're so beautiful. How have I never noticed this before?" Leaning down, he connected his lips to yours again. "This feels so good. You feel so good."

Picking up his pace, he drove his cock into you faster; the noises you made spurring him on. "God, Mista! Fuck me harder!" You whined with laboured breaths. You could feel the tightness in your core on the brink of snapping. Mista reared back again and went as fast as he could, watching your face as your orgasm was reaching its peak.

Eyes rolling back, you let the exhilarating pleasure take over you. Mista was feeling his too as he tilted his head back and watched the two of you be thrown into bliss from the mirrors above. After he had emptied himself inside you, he slowly pulled out and buried his face in the crook of your neck, sucking small bruises into your skin. You let your hand rest on the back of his head, softly stroking his hair with your fingers. Being together like this was something you never thought would happen between the two of you, but here you were.

"Y/N..." He whispered. "When we get back home... Do we go back to the way we were, or do you want to keep pretending?"

That was a good question. What does happen next? What would the rest of the gang think if you two struck up a relationship? Would Bucciarati allow it? Kissing his temple, you closed your eyes. "Let's keep pretending, see how far we can get."

You could feel his mouth form a smile as he made his way down your body with a trail of kisses. "The night is still young. There is still a bottle of wine on the table. Let's have some more fun."

---

Meanwhile, back home at the restaurant, the rest of the gang sat at their regular table. "I hope our mission was a success." Fugo said, taking the last bite of his meal.

"What did you tell them, Bucciarati?" Abbacchio asked.

"I told them that there was someone kidnapping tourists on a couples retreat. They fell for it and set off for their fake mission. If it was a success, they'll come back as a couple themselves."

"I can't wait to hear what they thought of the room!" Narancia said excitedly. "I booked them the most romantic room the resort had!"

"Let it be known that I had suggested just a normal room." Giorno put his hand up, defending himself from Narancia's shenanigans.

"When are they supposed to get back?"

Bucciarati smiled. "I'll give them a couple more days together, then I will tell them the kidnappers were caught at a different resort and bring them home."

[senseless-septic-shambles]

Miles to Go Before I Sleep - Chapter One

(Banner by the amazing @dinadinu )

Summary: Jackieboy Man has been missing for so long even he is losing hope of ever finding his way home. Henrik Schneeplestien is struggling to cope after the events that left Jack in a coma. Chase Brody is trying to piece his life together after it crumbled around him. Marvin is feeling separated from his family. Jameson Jackson is fighting his own demons. And Jack is sleeping through it all. Ev̡ęr͝ythi̸n͏g is go̡i͞ng̢ acc̕ord͏i̶ng ţo̕ ̡p͞la̡n͠.͞ ҉

Warnings: Implied torture

Beta Readers: @xtracheesy , @dinadinu and @a-septic-writer-of-art A/N: Alright lads here we go! It is on AO3, but given Tumblr’s latest hissy fit, the link will be in a master post or something accessible from my blog. I shall have to figure out the best way to get that to you! :) Also, a lot of you have probably read this chapter before, but it has been edited a fair bit since then!

Perhaps he had been cocky. Perhaps he had let his guard down. Perhaps someone had found his weakness. Whatever the case, Jackieboy Man found himself in a small cell, trapped. The cell was three paces along one wall, four along the other. Rectangular. A separate, much smaller room for relieving himself off one of the walls. He knew because there wasn’t much else to do but pace.

He tried to escape - of course he did. But somehow, his captors - masked men who were clearly working for a higher power - seemed to know his every weakness. They knew him far too well. Food was scarce, they kept him hungry - kept him desperate.     

And then he started visiting, about two months after his capture. The monster in the night. The creature in the dark. The glitch in the system. He taunted Jackie, he laughed and glitched and told him about his friends. He reminded the former superhero that he was weak. That he was unable to protect his friends. That he had failed.

“Yơu̸ ́w̨e͜re͢ e҉asy ́tơ ̧ca̛p̧t͟ur̵è ̧-̧ ͡e͞asy̕ ͢to ̴remov͜e҉, F͡a͜͏r ́t̶̵o̕o̸҉͟ ͞e̡a͞s̸̕͘y̵̸,�� the glitch would say, giggling. “And͜ ͘I̸ ͡k҉íĺl̡e̷d him͢. I ҉sli͘t̶ h̀is thr̨oat – ͠he̛ wa̷s͟ ̡we̴a͡k͡. ̸W͘e͠ak̷ j͢us̸t͢ like ͢you͜.”

He would leave, leave Jackie in a deadly silence, a silence filled with thoughts and images of the things the creature had done to his friends filling his mind. He had failed them. He should have been there. This was all his fault.

The physical torture didn’t start until about six months after his capture. Until then, the monster had been content to laugh, to gloat, to watch the guilt cover Jackie’s face as he realised that his friends had been hurt and it was all his fault. But then he got bored.

Jackie wasn’t allowed to sleep for days at a time, kept awake despite his exhaustion. Food was kept from him, even water withheld for a time. That was only the beginning.

Jackie was used to pain – it was part of his job description as a superhero, after all. But this glitch seemed to know just how to make the pain unbearable, to leave him weeping and weak after each visit.

He lost track of time not long after. The pain often caused him to black out, and he didn’t know for how long. The food came more sporadically as well and he wondered if maybe that was part of the torture – to disorient him, to make him lose track of what day it was.

Pain was the only constant here, and he was beginning to lose hope he would ever be free.

Then, one day, things changed.

Doors clanging and the sound of footsteps jerked Jackie from a fitful sleep. He pressed himself against the wall, alert and scared – scared that it would be the glitch, scared that it wouldn’t be. Life had gone on so long without change he wasn’t sure if he wanted it.

His door was pulled open and he shrank back, heart thumping and the cuts and burns, fresh or otherwise, throbbed painfully. But it wasn’t the glitch – instead, a body was flung into the room and the door slammed shut again.

Jackie stayed still for a long time, waiting. Waiting for the glitch to return, for the motionless figure on the ground to move. The figure was dressed in a white coat, green hair a startling colour in the dullness of his cell. And he seemed familiar.

When nothing happened for a long time, Jackie slowly moved. He pushed himself up, crouching low and in a fighting stance – his muscle memory unable to forget the years of training he had gone through despite being stuck here for so long. He dropped down beside the other man and examined him.

It was Henrik. The good doctor – his friend. He wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he was no longer alone. He could get news of what was actually happening with his friends. His fading memories of a life before the pain were true.

But at the same time, his friend was here with him. His friend was stuck in this hell. And Jackie would rather he be stuck here for the rest of his life than have any of his friends go through even a few days of what he had.

He crouched down beside Henrik, rolling him over and checking his pulse. He was alive – but didn’t seem to be in good condition. His throat was bruised,  his skin pale, his breaths shallow.

“Hen –” His voice was rough and caught in his throat – he had barely said anything for who knows how long. He had only been screaming. “Henrik?” he managed finally, the sound barely a whisper. The doctor shifted, muttering something in German under his breath. Jackie shook him gently.

            He suddenly shot up, shouting loudly. “Nein! Lass mich allein!” Jackie scrambled back, the sudden movement sending a shaft of fear rushing through him. The two men sat pressed against opposite walls, staring at each other.

            “Jackie?” Henrik asked after a moment of silence. “Is – is that you? Nein. It cannot be.”

            “Hey, Henrik,” Jackie rasped, trying to force his lips into a smile. It was more challenging than he had anticipated – there wasn’t much to smile about here and he’d forgotten what it felt like.

            “How are you alive?”

            “Honestly, I – I don’t know,” Jackie admitted, looking down. “He doesn’t want me dead, I guess.”

            Silence fell between them. Jackie wanted to ask questions, to ask if Jack was alright – if he was alive or if the glitch had actually killed him. If Chase and Stacy had sorted out their differences. If Marvin was any better at magic.

            Tears were pricking his eyes – how much had he missed while stuck in this dark hole? Did his friends even remember him?

            “Jackie?” Henrik asked, moving across the room. He sat down beside Jackie and laid a hand on the superhero’s shoulder. He flinched away, unused to gentle touches. “What has he done to you,” the doctor muttered.

            “I – I’m sorry,” Jackie said.

            “What for?” The question took Jackie by surprise – what for? For everything! It was all his fault. He had got his friends hurt. He was the reason Henrik was here. If he had been there to protect his friends. If he had fought against the glitch harder. If he had done something more. It was his fault.

            “I – it’s my fault,” he said softly. “I should have been stronger, should have resisted him more! I should have done something.” And he was crying, tears running silently down his face.

            “Of course it’s not your fault,” Henrik said. “He’s too powerful for even you to take on alone.” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair and rubbing his neck. “I still can’t believe you’re alive.”

            “How – how long has it been?” Jackie asked softly, ignoring the first part of Henrik’s comment. Of course it was his fault. Hadn’t the glitch made that clear enough?

            “Almost a year.”

            A year. Almost a year of this darkness, of this pain, of this hell. How much longer could he last?

            “What happened?” he asked, almost whispering the words. A lot could happen in a year – were all his friends still alive? Or had his weakness caused them pain as well?

“A... a lot,” Henrik said quietly. He ran a hand across his neck again and fell silent for a long moment. Jackie felt a moment of fear – was it really that bad?

“Chase… well… he and Stacy had a divorce. It – it was messy. He… well, I…” he trailed off, seeming hesitant to continue. Taking a breath, he finally spoke again. “I had to stitch up a hole in his head… Self - self-inflicted.”

Jackie lowered his eyes. He should have been there for his friend. He should have been there to support him, to help him through his time of need.

“Is he okay?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“Not really. But he’s alive.”

The silence fell again, and Jackie tried to word the question he had. Or bring up the courage to ask it.

“A – and… and Jack?” he said quietly. “He said he had…” he trailed off, not wanting to put into words what that monster had told him.

Henrik muttered under his breath in his mother language.

“That monster tried. Not long you vanished. We were all preoccupied, no one noticed what was happening until it was too late. He… nearly died.” The doctor closed his eyes, as if remembering what had happened. “I managed to save him but… that monster didn’t give up. And this time I – I…” he trailed off, looking down at his hands. Jackie noticed suddenly that they were shaking.

Had something happened to Jack? He should have been there. He should have been there to protect his friend, to keep him from harm. That was his job and he had failed it. He had failed.

“I – is he alright?” he asked quietly.

“I… I don’t know,” Henrik said, as if forcing the words out. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t save him… He was going to die and all I could do was put him into a medical coma. I don’t… I don’t know if it worked. Or if he’ll ever wake up. I – I should have done more!”

Silence fell again. Jackie wasn’t sure how to answer – obviously it wasn’t Henrik’s fault. It was Jackie’s – if he had been there… If he had done something more…

“What now?” Henrik asked. The words pulled Jackie back to reality, to the hard stones under him, to the pain still piercing through him. He closed his eyes, a shudder running through him. It would only be a matter of time before the glitch returned.

“We survive,” he said quietly.

“No,” Henrik said after a pause. “We escape.”

Jackie glanced up at him, shaking his head. He had thought like that, once. He had been cocky and brave, throwing himself at whatever the glitch sent his way, so sure that he would get out.

But a year had passed. Why would they have more of a chance now?

“He’s too powerful,” he said quietly. “We can’t escape. I’m sorry, Henrik. I should have done more. But you’re stuck here with me now.”

Henrik looked over at him, a deep sadness in his eyes. Jackie couldn’t meet his gaze – he looked far too similar to the glitch.

“Jackie,” he said gently. “We will get out. I promise, with two of us here we have more of a chance. We won’t be here for long.”

Jackie didn’t answer, just stared at the floor. He didn’t allow himself to hope, not here. Not after what he had been through. But maybe they could get out. Or at least survive for just a little longer.

~*~

            Eight months. Eight months of pain from their captor. (Anti, Henrik said, was his real name. But names had power and to give him one seemed to give him more. So they simply called him ‘the glitch’.) Eight months and Jackie could tell Henrik had almost lost hope. They sat together in one of the few moments the glitch gave them when he wasn’t tormenting the other. Back to back, pressed up against each other, wanting the security of the other’s presence.

            They were quiet, which wasn’t unusual. Talking wasn’t always needed, they shared the same pain, they understood each other without needing words. Eight months of being trapped in a cell brought you closer than you ever thought you could be.

            “What are we going to do?” Jackie asked softly. He often asked that, wanting to hear Henrik’s optimism. Wanting to think that maybe there was a chance for hope. But after eight months, Henrik’s optimism was lacking.

            “I don’t know,�� he said softly, for the first time – usually he could think of some kind of plan. “I – I don’t know.”

            The words felt like a punch to Jackie’s gut. Henrik always had a plan, he was always the one giving Jackie hope, if only a little. To hear him so… broken hurt Jackie more than anything the glitch could do to him.

            “I think he’s distracted,” he said, after a long silence. “He’s planning something… either with us or with the community. I – I don’t know what but last time he was this distracted you showed up.”

            Henrik muttered a curse.

            “We have to stop him before he can get anyone else,” he said. Jackie agreed – the thought of another of his friends sharing this hellhole with him terrified him.

            “But what can we do?” he asked. “How can we stop him?”

            “We escape,” Henrik said finally. “If he’s distracted we can come up with a plan. We can slip past him while he’s focused on the community. We can do something.”

            “Do you have a plan?” Jackie asked, shifting to glance over his shoulder. Henrik shrugged.

            “Not yet…” he said slowly, which to Jackie said that he was coming up with a plan. He settled back down, leaning his aching body against his friend and closing his eyes.

            “We’ll do it, Jackie,” the doctor said quietly. Jackie didn’t answer, his body overcome by exhaustion. At least Henrik was sounding more hopeful. Maybe they would be able to escape.

            Their plan was put in place the next day. Using the long ago shattered frames of his glasses, Henrik had fashioned a lockpick. They hadn’t been able to use it, for fear of the glitch noticing, but with him distracted there was a chance. And, as Henrik had put it “What do we have to lose?” It was a last ditch effort, a final attempt for freedom. If it didn’t work, there was no hope.

            Fear and nervousness curled in Jackie’s chest as he watched Henrik slowly jiggle the lock. He sucked in a breath as the lock clicked and Henrik slowly pushed the door open. But he refused to get too excited – he had escaped from his cell before. The glitch always returned him.

            They stepped out together, watching each other’s backs. Slowly, they made their way through the damp halls of their prison, searching for a way out. Jackie’s heart was beating so fast – what if they did it? What if they did escape?

            He could go home.

            They rounded a corner and saw the stairs, rising up – high into freedom. The two men exchanged a look and began to make their way up, slowly, nervously, both fighting back the urge to break into a run.

            Jackie’s leg was aching, it still wasn’t healed from when the glitch had broken it about a week ago. He was beginning to breathe quickly, only after a few steps. Once he could have bounded up those stairs without even thinking about it – now they seemed endless.

            They reached the top of the steps and found themselves in another long hall – but this time Jackie could see light at the end of it. A soft breeze flew through the hall, causing goose bumps to pickle Jackie’s skin.

            “The end,” Henrik whispered beside him and the urge to run grew stronger in Jackie. They moved as quickly as they dared, hurrying down the hall. Jackie was nervous, his gut twisting and turning as he tried to push back the hope that was rising in him. They were so close.

            The exit came into view – it seemed to come out under what seemed like a bridge. Distant noises came from above – cars rushing past, people talking – normal life. Jackie had never made it this far.

            Henrik suddenly broke into a run and Jackie scrambled to follow him. If they could just get out, just get to some form of civilization they would be safe. The glitch wouldn’t dare follow them there. They were so close.

            Jackie’s heart was beating quickly as he ran, fighting the stabbing pain of his leg, fighting his exhaustion, pushing his body. Henrik burst out into the air and Jackie was about to follow him.

            With a sharp flash of pain, his leg buckled and he tumbled to the ground with a cry. Henrik turned back and an alarm blared through the underground complex. With a sickening thud, a barred door slammed into place between them.

            Jackie stumbled to his feet, lunging forward in a vain effort to escape. But it was too late.

            “No!” he cried, gripping the bars. He was so close. So close to freedom. So close to escaping. Henrik grabbed his hand from the other side, his eyes roving around the door.

            “We can open it,” he said, sounding panicked. Jackie nodded, searching for any sign of opening on his side. But a noise caught his attention, a noise that filled him with dread. A giggle, a high-pitched, insane giggle.

            The glitch was coming for him.

            They didn’t have time. The glitch would come for him, and then he would go after Henrik. They would be back to where they had begun and they would be punished.

            “Go!” he said suddenly, trying not to think about what that meant.

            “Nein! I am not leaving you, Jackie,” Henrik said, his face full of fear and alarm.

            “You have to go! Please, Henrik!” Jackie said, speaking quickly. “I’ll hold him off. Get out of here! Please!” Tears were starting to fall again – he was so close. So close to freedom, so close to leaving behind the pain and despair. So close and yet he wasn’t going to escape. “Please.”

            “I – I. No. No I’m not leaving you. Wir gehen zusammen. I can’t let you face him alone.”

            “I can’t get out!” Jackie shouted. Maybe he could bear it a little better if he knew Henrik wasn’t trapped with him. “Just go!”

            Henrik stepped back, eyes wide.

            “Jackie –”

            “GO!” the superhero shouted. With one last hesitation, Henrik turned and ran, stumbling over the uneven ground and vanishing from Jackie’s view. At the same time, something grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back, bringing tears to his eyes and a gasp of pain.

            He was thrown to the ground, the glitch standing over him. Shakily, he tried to push himself up, tried to fight, but the glitch kicked at his broken leg and he screamed, pain flashing through his body.

            He gritted his teeth, remembering the look of despair Henrik had given him as he ran off. Remembering all the taunts and accusations the glitch had thrown at him. Remembering how he had been too weak last time – he couldn’t this time. He had to buy Henrik sometime.

            So, leaning heavily against the wall, he struggled to his feet. The glitch just smiled, moving in a way a human shouldn’t be able to.

            “W̴h̛at ̛d̨o ̵y͞ou ́t͠h̸ink͘ wi̕ll ̀ḩa͝ppen ̶t́o̴ you̶r̢ ͘fri͘en̴d,” he said mockingly. “I͘’v҉e le͝f̧t h҉im̨ a ̸g̕i͟f̛t̡ – ̷a̡ ̨troj҉a̧n͟ h͟ors̶e̶.” That horrible giggle filled the room as the glitch spun his knife, flickering in front of Jackie’s gaze.

            “You won’t win,” he panted. “They will defeat you.”

            “W͟i̛l͜l̶ ̕the̶y?” the glitch said. “T̀ḩey̕’r̕e ̕weak and ̀bli͢n҉d! All̛ of҉ ͝th͜em. ̷And ͞the͞y wi̷l̀l҉ a͝l҉l̷ d̶ie.”

            Jackie gritted his teeth and lunged, his fist in a ball. The glitch flickered, catching his hand. Jackie let out a scream of pain as his hand was bent backwards. He was forced to his knees, his vision flickering from the pain.

            The glitch kicked him again and he let out a gasp of air – sure his ribs had been broken. Then a cold metal was touched to his neck and he looked up to see the glitch, crouching at his level, his knife at Jackie’s throat

            “Y̶o͡u’r͞ę ͢ju̢st ̀my̧ t҉oy̴,” he giggled, and Jackie felt his blood run cold. Why did he ever think he could fight against this monster? Why did he ever try?

            But Henrik had escaped. Henrik was free. Henrik didn’t have to go through the pain and horror of the last eight months. Henrik was free.

            So he looked the glitch in the eye – not caring for the consequences.

            “Never,” he hissed and spat.

            The pain that came was expected. The glitch let out a hiss of anger and buried the knife into Jackie’s side. He slumped to the ground with a cry of pain, gripping the wound as pain shot through him. It wasn’t fatal – the glitch knew better than that. But it still hurt, blurred his vision, consumed his thoughts.

            He could do nothing but curl in a ball as the glitch continued to rain blows on him, kicks landing all over his body and pain becoming his whole world once again.

            But Henrik had escaped. Henrik was free. And Jackie could live at least a little longer with that knowledge.

Tag List (Let me know if you wanna be added!)

@watermelonsinmyattic @cute-anxious-kitten

[fell-in-love-didnt-you]

Crashing and Burning: SnowBaz Fanfic

Before we begin, I want to talk about the new safe mode and how it affects my blog. If you don’t want to read, I don’t mind. Skip ahead and enjoy the fic.

The safe mode doesn’t really do anything to my blog in particular, but I do follow blogs on this account that are considered explicit (they marked themselves as explicit), so a few things are going to change.

I’m going off mobile on this account. However, you can find me a @macs-personal. It’ll be a more unfiltered, less scheduled blog of mine. I’ll reblog stupid things that I think are funny and that wouldn’t necessarily fit with the structure of this blog. That’s also where you can most definitely reach me the quickest. I don’t carry my laptop around with me all the time, and sometimes it glitches, so the messages from tumblr don’t come in instantly.

This also means that I will change the way I’ve formatted my tumblr. I’m going to go through all of the people I’m following and unfollow people who have either marked themselves as explicit or no longer show up on my feed because of the safe mode. I will begin to put more time and energy into finding more SnowBaz related fan accounts and try to broadcast them out to my audience.

And now for your regularly scheduled angst.

TW: panic attacks, descriptions of panic attacks, mentions of blood and harming someone, vomit

His fucking shoes won’t come off.

Simon’s not sure how long it’s been since he’s walked through the door, but his shoes are definitely taking far too long to get off. He can’t seem to make his limbs work correctly, and his brain won’t cooperate with his thoughts. Simon doesn’t even want to think, but he can’t stop the racing thoughts in his mind because if he stops, he knows he won’t be able to start again.

“F-Fucking hell!” he screams, finally managing to kick a shoe off. It skids across the floor and comes to a stop against the wall. Simon gets the other off and kicks it away as well. He drops his coat off on the hanger, and he can finally begin to piece together what had happened.

It was a routine day. Nothing was out of the ordinary at all. He was just supposed to go and help with a hole in the magical atmosphere. All he had to do was go along with Dr. Wellbelove and check out the hole. That’s the only obligation he had. And somehow, he’d manage to royally fuck up.

He’d yelled before the spell landed. It was just a spell that was supposed to take down the vines and trees growing at the boundary of the hole. But he didn’t yell loud enough. Penny had still walked in front of him. If she was an inch off, it might’ve just singed her hair, but of course Simon couldn’t get it to her that she needed to move. Of course he couldn’t.

She’d assured him that she was fine. He watched Dr. Wellbelove heal her back at the magical hospital. He’d watched as the blood stopped soaking her white jumper and the gauze wrapped over her wound. She’d grunted twice, but then she didn’t grunt again. There were no more noises of pain after. She should gain full mobility of her body in three days, and until then, she’d stay with the Wellbeloves.

She was fine.

Something in the pit of Simon’s stomach lurches, and it makes an ugly noise come out of his mouth. It’s a cross between a whimper and a gag. The sound echoes through the empty apartment, and an acidic taste comes with it. When the first noise stops, another comes up. Simon moves his feet quickly from the spot, through walking through the apartment makes him dazed. He lands in front of the toilet right before the real gagging starts.

It feels like something huge is roiling in his stomach, but it also feels like that something doesn’t want to leave his stomach. The ugly noises aren’t accompanied by vomit or even a little bit of spit, but they don’t stop. Simon’s fingers dig into the porcelain so hard that Simon believes he’s leaving imprints. He’s never clung to something like a lifeline, but this is as close as he thinks he’ll ever get.

The gagging is suddenly accompanied by ugly sobs and little plopping noises as tears fall along with the nonexistent vomit. The disgusting taste of acid is still present in his mouth, but there’s nothing. Simon begins beating on the seat of the toilet, still gagging and sobbing. He’s tuned himself out, but he can tell the noises he’s making are loud and ugly.

A knock on the door rings out in the small bathroom. It’s not even a loud knock, but it’s enough to make Simon jump on the ground. The knock sounds again, and this time Simon hears the door creak open slightly. “Simon?” Simon feels like another heavy weight has been dropped into his stomach. Baz is not supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be out with his university friends, and he shouldn’t be back until late tonight. “Simon?” he asks again, and Simon watches as he peaks around the corner of the door.

The illogical thing about all of this is that Simon wants to cower away from Baz. He wants to hide wherever he can, but the bathroom is too small. There’s nowhere he can hide. The second Baz locks eyes with him, he starts to move closer, but Simon throws his arms up in defense. “Don’t!” he yells out, covering his head as much as he can while still heaving over the toilet. “No, you can’t be here! Y-You have to go!”

“Simon,” Baz says again, and this time the voice is level with Simon. Simon peaks through his arms to see Baz crouched on the ground, keeping his distance but not leaving. As Simon starts another round of particularly bad heaving and sobbing, he feels Baz’s hand on his back and feels Baz’s body closer to his. “Breathe, Simon. You have to remember to breathe.” Baz starts demonstrating, breathing in deeply, holding it, and breathing out as well. Simon begins to try and copy him, starting off shaky and eventually calms down a bit. He doesn’t feel well, but it’s enough to get him to pry his own hands off of the seat.

“I’m sorry,” Simon mumbles out, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His whole face is wet, but he only has the energy to get rid of the spit. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be out with your friends.”

“I don’t care about them right now,” Baz replies, still soothing his hand over Simon’s back. Simon rests his head against the toilet seat, and Baz continues. “Penny called me, and everyone understood.” Simon closes his eyes to keep in the tears that rise at the mention of Penny’s name. Baz notices, and he says, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I hurt her,” Simon whimpers out.

“Not intentionally, Simon,” Baz insists. “Look at me, love.” Simon opens his eyes, letting a few of the tears he held in slip out. Baz gently brings his hand up to Simon’s forehead and pushes back the hairs that have gone slick with sweat. “Penny’s okay. She’s not in pain. She wants you to visit so she can tell you herself.” Simon nods at Baz, and Baz smiles sadly. “I’ll draw us a bath, and we can relax, okay?” Simon nods again, and Baz whispers, “Okay.”

[rpgmgames]

January's Featured Game: Wishbone

DEVELOPER(S): Skitty, Kwillow, Ellie, Natasha ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace   GENRE: Western, Drama, Farming Simulation WARNINGS:  N/A SUMMARY: Wishbone is a character drama-slash-farming sim game that takes place in a wild west-inspired setting. The player takes the role of a farmer, fresh off the wagon in a new town and tasked with building a successful ranch. Wishbone might seem sleepy and mundane at first, but there’s trouble brewing on the horizon: a fierce, prolonged standoff between the lawmen and the outlaws that will decide the fate of the town itself.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself!  *Skitty: Hello! I'm Skitty, a scruffy weirdo whose hobbies include drawing, programming, and cooking. I also happen to be the coder, project manager, and one of the main artists. In 2014, I released my first game, Theo's Big Adventure, but actually haven't really been involved in the community... I'm a bit of a hermit.

*Katie: Hi! I’m Wishbone’s portrait artist, and I also do some other less easily categorizable stuff, like writing, spriting, concept work and research! This is the first game I’ve ever been a part of the team on, if you don’t count an unfinished choose-your-own-adventure game I made in Flash when I was 13.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Skitty: It's kind of a funny story. Several years ago, I used to be part of the Fallout: New Vegas roleplay community on tumblr. Just for fun, a few of my friends and I came up with an alternate universe where instead of living in the post-apocalyptic desert, all the characters lived in the wild west instead. We ended up having a lot of fun with the idea! My friend, Ellie (who is also working on this project as a writer), suggested the idea of an Animal Crossing-esque game based on that setting... and I, having coding knowledge and having made a game before, volunteered to make it. The struggle between the four central characters remains the same as the initial concept, but the project and the people of the town have evolved a lot since then.

How long have you been working on your project? *Skitty: I started it around April 2015, so it's a few months short of two years old. Progress has been slow because I'm also juggling a job and other obligations, but even during busy times, I typically manage to work on Wishbone every week. Every couple weeks, new features get done and updates are posted to the dev blog.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Skitty: The three biggest ones are Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Red Dead Redemption. From Animal Crossing, we have have befriending townspeople and decorating your house. From Harvest Moon, we have the farming mechanics and romance. From Red Dead Redemption, we have hunting, foraging, and outlaw bounties. And I suppose Fallout: New Vegas deserves a shoutout for kicking the whole project off, albeit indirectly.

*Katie: I’ve liked Wild West settings for a while, but this project has made me go big on trying to absorb as much information from both the actual time period and from media as I can. Lately I’ve been trying to cram as many old Westerns into my eyeballs as I can so I get a good picture of the (romanticized) aesthetic and shorthands that have been used for this genre in the past.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them?   *Skitty: Honestly, we’ve been fighting against RPG Maker’s limitations since the beginning, since the game we’re making is quite unlike a top-down RPG.

I would say that the biggest difficulty so far has been the patch of code that manages animals aging, getting sick, eating, giving birth, etc when the day rolls over. Originally, each animal event had an autorun page that would process that information when the player entered the barn map, but that would get very messy if the player didn’t enter that map all day. It got even messier if the player sent the animals in the barn out to pasture! To solve this, I first had to learn the order in which autorun events are evaluated (tip: it’s determined by the event ID number!). But that wasn’t enough… as more features were implemented, it became obvious that that approach just didn’t work. There were too many conflicts, and every time I’d fix something, I’d have to go through 20+ animal events, each with 40 pages, and change something over, and over and over… it was incredibly inefficient, typo-prone, and hard on the wrist.

Eventually, I got sick of it and recoded the whole animal system to use “generic” Common Events for interaction (basically I copy the animal’s specific stat variables to “generic” variables used by the function, then call it), with the aging/giving birth/eating/etc handled by a single event that was called once when the player slept. In hindsight, it seems so obvious… but my previous project didn’t use Common Events at all, so the first year of Wishbone’s development was largely dedicated to learning how to use them effectively.

*Katie: My biggest obstacle has been myself. I’m both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, which is just a horrible combo for ever getting anything done. Thankfully Skitty keeps me as on task as she can, but I still get mired in fixing-loops, and you would not believe the amount of times I’ve sent her revised images just because I moved a nostril two pixels to the left because it had been bothering me so badly.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Skitty: It actually hasn’t changed a whole lot. In the beginning, we had this core concept, basically just Animal Crossing plus Harvest Moon. But even back then we knew we wanted a big plot and minigames and sidequests and stuff… it was just a matter of figuring out if those were feasible to program.

I’d say it actually has more features now than it did in the original concept, too. I think in the beginning we had maybe five minigames, now it’s more like 8-10ish (depending on what you consider a minigame).

*Katie: It’s far larger than we had intended, that’s for sure! The art style has also shifted quite a bit, from the switch to wholly original graphics from borrowed sprites to subtle alterations in the sprite and portrait style. I think the biggest, most significant change, aside from making all-new sprites, is the inclusion of the sky in most of the game’s maps.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Skitty: It’s pretty much the same as it always was–me as the programmer/project manager/spriter, Katie as the portrait artist and other spriter, Ellie, Dax, Jester, and Reuben as character/plot contributors. Oh! I guess the big difference now is that we are in the process of hiring a composer?

What was the best part of developing the game? *Skitty: Seeing it all come together into something finished and cool. Sometimes I like to just lovingly look at the maps and videos and such I’m proudest of and think “wow, I did that! And it turned out almost exactly how I’d imagined!”

*Katie: Agreed! The little bits and pieces don’t seem like much, but when they’re part of a whole it’s like they’re completely transformed. I’m also happy to be working in a group - it makes me so proud to be part of this effort!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Skitty: Man, I’d definitely be craftier about how I handled the code for the animals. I didn’t know a lot about scripting at first, MONTHS worth of headache could have been avoided if I’d known how to use script calls.

*Katie: I don’t want to say ‘I wish I could change everything!’ because that’s not true, but it’s hard to keep myself from feeling I can always improve the parts I’ve contributed to the game. I’m doing a lot of learning on the job, and when I look back on things I’ve done before - even just a couple of portraits or sprites ago - it feels like I need to do everything over and make it better!

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Skitty: We definitely have plans to use the characters again, but when they’re revisited, it’s going to be in different contexts. You won’t see the desert of Wishbone again, but the characters will absolutely be popping up in future projects.

*Katie: Yeah, these characters are sort of like… actors, in a way. Type-cast actors. We like to put them in different scenarios and see how they adapt.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Skitty: Gosh, it would be amazing if people liked the game enough to call themselves a fan! I’m definitely looking forward to people’s reactions to discovering plot twists and easter eggs and such. I hope people like the characters, too.

*Katie: Having something like this done would feel amazing. I’ve never been part of something this big before, and it’s a lot to be proud of. After that - if even a handful of people like the game, I’d be elated!

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game?  *Skitty: I hope there aren’t too many bugs in it when I release it! I mean, I’m testing it as I go, but it’s a really big and complex game… there are going to be things I don’t catch. I’d be really disappointed if I released it with a glitch that broke people’s save files.

Also, I really do hope people actually like the characters… I’d be sad if they didn’t.

*Katie: I hope the art does justice to the game… I’d hate for it to be distracting or off, it’s something I worry about frequently. And boy I hope the story and characters come off okay!

Question from last month's featured dev: What's the biggest turn off you can get on an RPG maker game? *Skitty: Hmm… honestly, using the default sprites tends to be a pretty big turnoff. As an artist, it is very important to me that the game have an “aesthetic”, a sense of atmosphere, that the characters feel like individuals… that’s what really catches my eye and makes me want to learn more. I know not everybody is an artist, but like, a simple 8-bit sort of style, or even a “shitpunk” style like Space Funeral is more eye-catching than the default tiles.

Also, I find games made with the default tiles tend to be very easy to get lost in due to the generic nature of said tiles… if you gotta use those, at least make sure your maps are tightly-built and easy to navigate. I’ve played several RPG Maker games where the player spent a lot of time in huge, empty green fields with little or no landmarks. Add some stuff to make the area memorable… players will thank you for it!

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Skitty: Try to set realistic goals for your first (or second, or third…) project. It’s so tempting to want to tell your magnum opus immediately, but that’s usually a recipe for ending up frustrated, disappointed, and quitting. My first project, Theo’s Big Adventure, was fairly short, used mostly ripped sprites from Mother 3 and ripped music from other video games, and still took a year and three months to complete.

Also, try to make working on your project a habit. I find that the hardest part is often just getting started… but once I get in the zone, I can work for hours. Set goals for yourself (whether it’s as big as “I’ll finish Chapter 5 by April” or as small as “I’m going to work on my project for at least 30 minutes today”) and reward yourself if you complete them. If you don’t complete them, don’t beat yourself up… just set the goal again (adjusting it to be more reasonable if needed) and give it another shot.

Oh, and one more thing… it’s alright for something to not be perfect. One of the biggest killers of a long-term project (aside from overambition and having it not be a habit) is perfectionism. Don’t get caught up in the cycle of continually revamping the same pieces over and over again–just let it be imperfect and move on. Nobody’s first project is perfect, but future-you needs the experience and confidence you’ll gain from finishing it to pull off the project of your dreams in a few years.

*Katie: All of the above, but from someone who’s less disciplined, to people who perhaps have similar issues: get somebody who’ll keep your nose to the grindstone and get you working and finishing things when all you want to do is either chase butterflies or toggle an eyeball back and forth to make it “perfect”. You would not believe how much it helps.

We mods would like to thank Skitty and Katie for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Wishbone if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum