#I had wanted to go more steampunk feel with this story but that didn't happen

[allisonreader]

VCCS (Vector Climate Control System)

Here is my completed @inklings-challenge story for this year. It's not really what I had in mind for this story, but it works. I have included the first part in this, though I have posted that first part previously. So for those of you who have read that bit before; once you see this; 🌨️🌧️⛈️🌪️❄️💨, then you know that we're starting into the new section.

It was a cold blustery type of day like they hadn’t had in a while. It was a forbidding omen of the changing seasons as old ripped propaganda poster flapped with each gust of wind. The faded words speaking of the Vector Climate Control System still legible.

It always surprised him just how many posters and old billboards remained, proclaiming the wonders of how the VCCS was going to change the world for the better.

He pulled up his coat collar to try and block some of the wind as he made his way home from work. He’d have to remember a heavier coat with a hood in the coming days.

The wind was going to make his face as red as his hair with the way it was whipping through the buildings around him. The wind was gusting hard enough to rip down an old flyer and try to blind him with it. He huffed as he read it.

*A Revolutionary New World Is Coming! The Vector Climate Control System will eliminate the question of "what will the weather be like today?"

Once the V.C.C.S. is employed extreme weather will be curbed. No more droughts! No more hurricanes! No more tornadoes! No more blizzards!

Extreme weather will be controlled and moved where it is most needed and is safely out of the way.*

There was more that he could have read, but he didn’t need to. He scrunched up the flyer to dispose of it at home, putting it in his pocket until then.

He knew all about VCCS as they had learned all about it school. They had been taught all about the seven circuits of nine towers. How each system worked both in its own little loop as well as within the entire system.

But also how it failed.

There were both political reasons as well as technical factors. As the system did not work as intended or expected. Making a bigger mess than if it had never been set in place.

The towers still remained as they were too large to demolish with any ease. Finally he made it to the warmth of his home.

"Hey there Delilah, I’m home!" he called out upon entering.

"I hear you!" Delilah called back, coming out from the kitchen a couple minutes later. Which had given him a chance to remove his coat and take the flyer from his pocket, ready to recycle.

"Oh! Jake! You’re as red as your hair!" Delilah exclaimed, putting both of her hands on his; as expected, red cheeks. "What do you have there?" she asked when she felt the wad of paper in his hands as he hugged her.

"It’s nothing important. Just one of those old VCCS flyers that tried attacking me in the wind," he said.

"Well that was rather mean of it, after everything else that happened with that."

"Hmm, at least now there will be one less flyer littering up the place about it."

"There’s that I guess," said Delilah. "Let’s get you warmed up properly."

🌤️🌩️🌨️🌧️☀️⛈️🌪️❄️💨

Over the next few days the weather grew more intense, more wild and unpredictable, until the weather casters were starting to speculate that there was a malfunction of one of the towers a part of the VCCS.

Complaints about the suspected malfunction grew day by day as the weather continued to get increasingly worse and more wild. Wind was practically nonstop and rain, sleet, and snow cycled through without a rhyme or a reason. Other than harsh winds, you never knew what you were going to get.

The weather casters were speculating/observing that from what weather conditions and patterns there were that it appeared to only be the one tower in the system acting up and it was the one closest to us. Which was still many kilometres away from where we were.

Messages were sent to those who managed the towers to see what was happening with the tower and what was going to be done about it. No response was ever received from anyone who anyone tried to contact. No one wanted to deal with the malfunctioning tower that was supposed to be shut down.

The weather grew worse until he was unable to walk to work anymore. Not that Delilah wanted either of them to go out in this wild and unpredictable weather.

That didn’t end up mattering. 🌨️🌧️⛈️🌪️❄️💨

As the weather continued to get worse, he knew something had to be done about it. If the officials in charge of the tower weren’t going to do anything about it, he would.

He had been praying about it as the weather grew more out of control. He knew that Delilah wouldn’t like it, but he was going to go out in the stormy weather and make his way to that tower and try and turn it off himself, before the surrounding areas were destroyed by the wind, rain and snow.

It wasn’t going to be an easy conversation to have with his wife, but he couldn’t leave without her knowing what he was going to try and do. The journey alone was going to be dangerous as he went northwards to where the tower was. Let alone what challenges and difficulties the tower itself might bring.

Thankfully the tower he needed to go to was on land, not all of them were. Some were build on platforms in the oceans in certain locations. This one was built in the arctic tundra in Nunavut, near the Bathurst Inlet . So far from his home in the prairies.

At least it was on the mainland and not one of the islands.

There were probably people who were closer who could deal with the problem, but the question was would they.

It was possible that no one wanted to even try. He was at least willing to.

He was procrastinating… he needed to go and discuss what his plan was going to be with Delilah. She needed to know.

He took a deep breath and said a little prayer before going to speak with his wife.

🌤️🌩️🌨️🌧️☀️⛈️🌪️❄️💨

The conversation went well. Delilah had been thinking about the same things as him and also praying about it. It was going to be difficult, but they were going to make the trek north, to middle of nowhere Nunavut to try and turn the tower back off.

They were going to have to pack as much as they could for this trip. Food, water, warm dry clothing, his tools, probably some of Delilah's tools too. Just in case they needed something finer than what he had in his kit.

At least he had a vehicle that he had been working on that would be able to handle this weather decently. All weather tires, with a spare set specifically for off roading.

The wind was going to be more dangerous than what the road or lack of road, conditions might be. As long as they weren’t blown away they’d be okay.

Their travel was going to take them so much longer than it would in good conditions. The average drive between home in Moose Jaw to Saskatoon was two hours, they’d be lucky if they could do it in five today. It would be better to be safe than sorry, especially as no one would likely be able to find them for a long time if anything went wrong.

It took them a couple hours until they had everything properly secured in his Jeep. They were truly going to be living on prayers for the next few days.

They stocked up on fuel before leaving Moose Jaw. Chamberlain would be their first town and check point for how they were doing for travel; next would be Davidson, Hanley, and then once they made Dundurn, Saskatoon wouldn’t be far and they’d stop for the night.

Hopefully there would be a hotel that had room for them.

After that they’d start out again and it would mostly be towns from then on.

Once they actually got on the road the first part of the journey wasn’t too bad, other than constantly fighting the wind. Which wanted to blow them all over the road.

At Chamberlain they stopped and switched drivers. Mostly to give his arms a bit of a break, as it took them twice as long to get there as normal.

They stopped in what was the Twisted Sisters ice cream shop parking lot to do so. Twisted Sisters long since closed considering it was only open over the summer anyway, and this was the beginning of October.

Once they made it to Davidson, stopping in the rest area of the giant kettle and tea cup, he switched back to driving and would continue the rest of the way to Saskatoon.

The wind continued to buffet them and sleet came down harder from the wind. He was exhausted by the time he finally made it into the largest city in Saskatchewan. They drove through town, over Circle Drive Bridge on the South Saskatchewan River, until they hit the Travelodge Hotel, overlooking the Idylwyld and Circle Drive intersection, an intersection that they’d be using to start heading further north yet.

They did manage to be able to stay at the Travelodge. Under different circumstances they probably would have made use of the pool and waterslides. There wasn’t the time or energy for that though.

They planned their next bit of trip. They knew what they were doing until they hit La Loche, where the road would end and the real wilds would begin. Getting from there to the Bathurst Inlet, where the tower was, was going to be difficult, especially if they couldn’t fly. Hopefully there would be some options once they got to La Loche.

Until then, they still had a few days of driving to go. Maybe they could come up with something on the way.

After leaving Saskatoon they drove past Martinsville to Blaine Lake, turning past the town in the direction of Least until they finally made to Shellbrook for a break. Another two hour drive that was twice as long as it should have been.

They made sure that they stocked up on fuel again. There was going to be less and less places to be able to get fuel as they went north.

They drove through Canwood and Debden, deciding to sleep on the side of the road, praying that they’d survive their sleep and that the wind wouldn’t blow them away. There were times they were short with each other. Being cooped up in the Jeep was uncomfortable and tiring.

Road trips; even the best ones could be trying at times, one like this, was all the harder yet. There was no relief from the howling weather, bathroom breaks were uncomfortable and inconvenient at best. But at least their food was doing alright at the moment and they weren’t at the risk of freezing to death currently. Though they might eventually get to that point. They’d take their blessings as they got them.

After Debden came Green Lake, then Buffalo Narrows, then Bear Creek, before finally after many days of traveling, arriving in La Loche. They still didn’t have any idea of how they were going to get further north so that they could get to the tower near Bathurst Inlet in Nunavut.

They used that as an excuse to get out of the Jeep for a bit and walk around, to see if anyone might be able to help them. Praying that they would be able to find some way to get to where they needed to go.

At some point they ended up in a small local restaurant to refuel their personal hunger and not the Jeep's. They were discussing what they needed to do when a couple overheard them and had their solution. The two of them and their one friend could help them make it to the Inlet.

Between the three of them, they had planes and could help them get to the tower. It was going to be risky to fly, but there was no other way to get that far north.

Upon discussing the plans to make their way further north, it turn out that they each ended up having a skill set that built upon each other’s. They might actually be able to do something about this tower's problems.

It took them about a day to get everything set up for the next bit of travel. Thankfully, up here, it seemed slightly less crazy for the weather, though the wind was still strong.

Their companions were a lady named Jane; pregnant with her first child, her husband Brad and their family friend Brenda.

All three knew how to fly and would be rotating turns and could step up if anything happened to the one flying. They would have to make at least a couple of stops to refuel the plane. Maybe in or near Uranium City, possibly in or near Reliance NWT and then their stop near the Bathurst Inlet.

It also gave them plenty of time to get to know their fellow travelling companions. Delilah and he learned that Jane and Brad had been married for a few years longer than they had been and that they and Brenda had lived in Northern Saskatchewan for most of their lives. Barring some travel and some schooling that they all had.

They all quickly learned that they were all Christian and had been praying about what they could or needed to do. His and Delilah's arrival had been their catalyst to actually get moving. His tools were some of the ones that they had been worried about not having, so clearly the Lord was working through all of them.

The plane ride was by far the most treacherous part of the journey so far. There were many prayers for safety uttered together as their little plane was buffeted by turbulence nearly continuously.

Jane was holding up well, even though she was carrying a little passenger of her own.

They did have to make a couple of stops to refuel the plane with few issues thankfully.

It was immediately obvious when they came upon the tower. They hit some of the harshest winds and turbulence, and then they punched through and it was dead calm, like the eye of a storm. It would have been peaceful if they didn’t know what it was like beyond the calm.

Thankfully there was a landing strip for the plane, though with the little plane being a float plane they could have risked the inlet.

The tower was a massive and hideous creation. Like some kind of terrifying mix of the CN tower and either the big metal power poles or the Eiffel Tower, creating a large metal cage around the lower third of the tower.

Whoever designed such a monstrosity should be jailed, if they weren’t already. It wasn’t going to be easy to get into the tower, even if there were doors on ground level.

They all took turns trying to pick the locks, but nothing worked. There had to be something blocking the doors from the inside or a heavier lock like a bar across the door.

That left trying a door on a higher level. Where they would have to try and climb up to. He and Delilah decided that it would have to be them. Hopefully her fine tools would be able to help them pick a lock and get into the tower.

From there they could hopefully navigate the building and let the others in at one of the lower doors.

It was going to be a long climb up, but thankfully there were ladders that could be used and they didn’t have to try and just monkey up the metal beams. The climb was still a test of their strength and endurance, even though it wasn’t as hard as it could be with the weather being so calm and nearly warm around the tower.

It must have only been around the freezing point for temperature. It still meant cold hands and cheeks, but keeping warm feeling from the exertion of the climb.

Delilah was climbing above him and they both found themselves praying about their climb. Not forgetting a prayer of thanks once they made it not only to a door, but that Delilah was able to successfully pick it with her tools and get them in to a more solid and less narrow space to walk.

Surprisingly, everything was still lit. Maybe that shouldn’t be so surprising, considering the weather, but he wasn’t sure how the tower was being powered. It would be something that they’d have to look into.

Even better was the fact that there was a map of the tower that they could follow to the ground floor to let in their companions. Going down the stairs was much quicker than their climb on the outside of the tower, though they definitely didn’t trust the elevators in the tower.

As they expected the lower level floors had their doors barred in a way that they could only be opened from inside with several different types of bar locks. The two bar tabs like you’d see in some bathroom stalls up and down at the top and bottom of the doors, only these ones were at least an inch in diameter, if not two or three. Along with a literal bar across the door that had to be raised.

Once all five (six if you counted the unborn as well) were in, they could start figuring out how to turn this town off.

After a bit of searching, they figured out that that they would have to first turn off the climate control part of the tower and then destroy the power source so that the malfunction couldn’t happen again.

One of the things that they had to do, was cut the power to the series of Tesla coils that helped with the energy to move the weather. Once that was done the power to the computer system guiding the weather could be cut, before finally removing the rest of the power source to the building, which would leave it all dark.

Thankfully, each of them had the skills to help with the shutdown of the system. The absolute last thing would be to physically destroy/cut the tower's power. Which meant cutting a lot of wires that Jane was forbidden from doing, just to be on the safe side for her and her baby.

It took them a few hours to do so but once it was done, the relief was immense. It didn’t take long for them to start seeing the results.

The calm that had been around the tower started to dissipate. They hung around for an extra day or two just to make sure that their rather physical solution was going to hold, before they started the trek back to their homes.

The plane ride was much smoother going home. As was their drive, with not having to constantly fight the wind or sleet.

Surprisingly the weather didn’t seem to hang on to the patterns that the tower had created. Perhaps it was because it was only the one tower that had been active and not all 63 of them, like before.

The one thing it did prove to them was that there needed to be a more permanent solution than how the towers had been left. It wouldn’t do for this to keep happening if other towers acted up. And it could be much worse than what the prairies and surrounding areas got.

[shinyzango]

So, about that "A Steampunk Carol" graphic novel...

I totally did not forget to make the post about it like I promised I am so sorry.

For those who are not familiar with it, long story short a while ago I came across a Kickstarter project for what seemed to be a steampunk adaptation of the Nutcracker story and was bummed that I missed out on it and wasn't able to support and secure a copy for myself, but a fella made me aware that it did actually get published in Italy a few years ago, and that it was sold on Amazon. And after discovering that there was literally only one copy left, I bought it on a whim to both read it and to hopefully attract more attention to it for reasons I'll discuss in just a bit.

I'm just going to say that I'm very back at writing reviews so apologies if this doesn't say anything at the end or if you didn't get the answers to your questions dkfjgn

Alright, now for the book itself.

First things first, the story. I won't go into details right now as I do not want to spoil folks in case this does get released in english to a wider public, but I can add a Spoilers section in the future where I explain in detail what happens if I get asked about it.

The story, like I said, is an adaptation of the Nutcracker And The Mouse King, but it is quite different in many elements, and spices things up quite a bit, especially after the introduction.

Sadly it feels quite rushed in its execution imo, I assume it's because they had to fit everything in a single volume. Which is a shame because there are many concepts and ideas that are very fascinating and interesting, both for the plot and for the characters themselves.

Speaking of the characters, they are quite unique and interesting.

The main kid, Caitlin, who is the Clara/Marie of the story, can be a little sassy, but she still feels grounded and has a good balance between putting down her foot and being nervous about the situation. I don't mind her character.

The Nutcracker, who is only called Schiaccia (just a shortened "Schiaccianoci" which is nutcracker in italian. I assume he's called Cracker in english if they kept that logic), feels solid. He's a loyal soldier, skilled but does show hints of insecurities. A good lad.

The mice are great as well, I'm really intrigued by the lore they cooked up for them, and the Mouse King is actually not bad, and I like what they did with his character.

There's also another supporting character, a tin soldier who goes by Sergeant Idle. He is basically a companion to the Nutcracker. He is basically a plot tool, helping with the backstory and moving the story forward, but not in a bad way. He's very enjoyable.

I would have loved to see them all explored further, but like I said it all feels rushed probably because it had to stick all in a single volume. I don't know if the authors ever considered this to become a series or if it's just a one-shot story, but I would honestly love to see this evolve into a series, if only because I love the characters and I would love to know more about the lore they cooked up for it more in detail, letting all the elements have the time to shine.

Moving on to the graphic...

I love Lorenza's art style. It looks very sketchy, with a clean roughness to it if that makes sense. And I really like all the designs of the characters.

(Apologies for the glares, I tried my hardest to limit them as much as possible. also ngl I'm giggling a little seeing how Schiaccia looks similar to my Hans skdfkjhn)

All in all, I really like this adaptation. It's unique and enjoyable, if only a little rushed.

Like I mentioned before, this was Kickstarted a while ago to get properly published in english. It was successfully funded and as far as I know, they're currently in the process of printing copies if not even shipping them for the backers. I still don't know if the folks at Last Ember Press are planning in making it available to purchase outsite the Kickstart, but I really hope so because I do think this deserves to be available to everyone.

[marzipanandminutiae]

I see you talking about ouat and it unlocked thoughts that have been neatly filed away for years so here I am, yelling them at you.

I assume at this point spoilers arent a problem anymore for you but you said you originally didn't watch past the frozen but a warning just in case.

I kept watching for quite a long time, but I quit after the whole thing with ruby and Dorothy because what? it just felt so incredibly forced and badly written? and I'd gotten so annoyed because before we'd already had the whole thing with aurora and mulan, which I was rooting for but okay, that didn't work out, too bad for mulan. then we get a perfect set up for ruby and mulan. and it's just. never mentioned again???? ruby comes back eventually but wtf happened to mulan? it annoyed me so fucking much let me tell you.

also I remember trying to write out family/relationship trees and stuff for ouat to see how weirdly convoluted everything got. was very impressed that it seemed they managed to avoid accidentally having incest or something in the show with everything that was going on there.

I have so many more things but this has already gotten way longer than intended. do you have a favourite part of the show? I'm assuming your favourite characters is either regina or emma?

Oh man all of that brings back memories. I didn't stick around long enough for Ruby and Dorothy, but I got the sense that they were doing it to try and counteract the "avoiding Swan Queen because homophobia" allegations.

(I actually don't think they WERE avoiding Swan Queen because of homophobia, necessarily. I think it was never their intent to begin with; they just happened to attract a sapphic audience who were deeply on the Enemies to Lovers train. I do think they may have indulged in a bit of queerbaiting, though, because of some Emma/Regina moments that happened after the writers definitely knew the ship existed. I think it was never going to be canon, but they handled it poorly once they realized that people saw it as an option.)

I stopped watching around Frozen for a couple of reasons:

On a personal level, I just got sick of seeing the characters I shipped with other people. That's not an objective problem; it's my opinion and not everyone will agree. But to me, Hook was a whiny insecure manchild and Robin had the personality of Clippy the MS Word paperclip, and damnit, I wanted Emma and Regina to kiss each other instead of them!

On a This Is Bad Storytelling level, I HATED how Frozen was integrated. Earlier stories had been a nice blend of traditional fairytales with Disney adaptation elements- Beauty and the Beast where Gaston and Chip are both kind of there but in subtler ways, for example, or Cinderella where her dress resembles the 1950s animated version but everything else is different. Frozen, though, was just...Frozen. The entire plot of the movie Frozen had happened before the characters entered the OUAT storyline, their costumes were identical to those in the movie, and while I've heard that they added some different backstory- it just wasn't the "Hans Christian Andersen story with subtle Disney touches" that I would have expected from earlier seasons.

Personally, I don't think the initial curse should have been broken in a season. I feel like that locked them into a pattern of having to continually invent a new Darkest Evilest Most Powerful Magic EVER!!!!! to top the previous season, and that took them to some really weird places (I heard they went to literal hell at one point?). The show had a cool premise and some interesting ideas- I loved how they managed to give individual kingdoms distinct cultures and even fashions. You can tell the "look" of Snow White's kingdom from Cinderella's and Cinderella's from Ariel's, etc.

Everyone who would watch an entire season of Abigail's Ancient Greek Steampunk-ish kingdom, raise your hands. Seriously, so cool.

But something went wrong, IMO around season 4. I'm not sure if the show had just outlived its original concept or had outside pressures pulling it in different directions or what. All I know is, as far as I'm concerned, the show ends when Emma and Henry leave Storybrooke in season 3A. Pity It Was Cancelled So Soon, etc.

(although OOC Matronly SnowTM would have been perfect for live slug reaction memes, so there's that)

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @kaylinalexanderbooks!

Wip Questionnaire

Rules: answer as few or as many as you'd like!

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

For Honor's Outcasts, it was the Trench. There was this game I played a lot while waiting for my sister to get out of cheer practice called Seashine, and I guess I just imagined what would happen if people were trapped down there and how they'd survive. That's where Izjik came from. When I decided she needed a friend, that's how I came up with Sepo. (If any of you want to play the Trench simulator, Seashine is free on mobile)

For Mortal God, the first thing I came up with was the villain, Vermir. I needed a villain for an arc in my dnd campaign, and I figured some crazy lich trying to encase her body in steel while experimenting on the local population was threatening enough. Mashal and Astra were created as a way to get my... less than clever party to her hidden layer. I liked them enough that I decided to write a book about their story.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Honor's Outcasts' intro would be War Pigs by Black Sabbath. I think the intro sequence would be a bunch of their battles stitched together chronologically, so you could see everyone's abilities change and grow. Maybe some short sequences from End's siege of the Watchtower mirroring that too.

Mortal God intro would be Night of the Living Ted by Hillbilly Moon Explosion. It's got a country sort of vibe and even though the lyrics don't match at all, I think it fits the chaos of the story.

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

Good lord, that's a tough question. I like all my characters. If I had to choose though, I'd pick Izjik for Honor's Outcasts. She was the first one I made, and it's mostly her who drives the story forward. Also, her POV is just really fun to write.

Astra is my favorite from Mortal God, despite all the difficulties I've had with refining her character. She's just a lot of fun, and she's also a sort of plot catalyst like Izjik.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

I mean, any high fantasy books. I think Honor's Outcasts and the Lies of Locke Lamora would share fans because of the pirates and found family vibes, though Locke Lamora is a lot grittier and less magical.

Mortal God would have a place with the steampunk crowd. A lot of people also compare it to Star Trek? I've never seen Star Trek, so I don't know how accurate that is. In my own mind, I compare both series to Mistborn eras 1 and 2, in that they take place on the same planet, but the second series is some time in the future.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

The making of the Honor's Outcasts plot was an absolute roller coaster. Every book I wrote like it was the end of the series, only to go, wait no, this doesn't feel done.

With Mortal God, I had more trouble with the characters. I knew I wanted a romance, but I'd never written one before, so setting up that early chemistry between Astra and Mashal was rough. Also, riding that edge of making Ivander a likable jerk wasn't easy.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Uh, I don't really like to write pets. I always forget about them and my characters move around too much. Case in point, in Honor's Outcasts book 2, Sepo has a horse. When they teleport post haste to Unity, they leave poor Landhorse behind, and we never see her again. (She just ends up with their neighbors, don't worry)

Similarly, Astra has a cat named Mercher's Day. In book 2, she leaves him with her parents so he's not in danger when they travel north. The meta reason for this was because I knew she was going to have to leave her vardo behind at the end of the story and I didn't want to abandon poor Mercher in some icy city.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Transportation changes between the series due to the time jump. In Honor's Outcasts, the quartet's main mode of transport is by boat, at least until Twenari learns to teleport people. Even then, she can only do it once per day, and only with a physical piece of the place she intends to go, so they're still walking a lot.

In the time of Mortal God, trains have been invented and are a common mode of transportation for rich city folk like Ivander. Astra prefers her vardo. The DuClaire Extraordinaire is a steam-powered, steel crocodile-legged, self steering vardo wagon covered in bright paint and electric lights. It isn't fast, but it's her home and it can make it over almost any terrain. It's very much based on Baba Yaga's chicken house.

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

The Honor's Outcasts series (still gotta come up with a real name for that) is written. I'm working on finding beta readers, saving up money for professional editing, and working up the courage to query.

Two books of Mortal God are written, with plans for a 3rd under way. I need to find readers for the first two and maybe a developmental editor before I finish the series.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

People eat found family up, so hopefully that'll mean they like Honor's Outcasts. There's so much found family in those books. Also, queer characters, no romance, and some spooky eldritch horror.

In Mortal God, I think the slow burn between Astra and Mashal will make the romance subplot people happy. There's also robots and I love robots, as well as some themes of classism and empire.

For both series, I think it's my worldbuilding that really shines. I read a lot of high fantasy with super detailed worlds and magic systems, so it's my hope that my books approach some of that.

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

I want to publish both of them. Not really for the money, but I just think it's the best way I can get my stories out there, you know? I long for the day when I'll be able to read fanfic someone wrote of my books.

I'll tag @mk-writes-stuff @somethingclevermahogony @nbwriteschaos @autism-purgatory @cssnder and anyone else who wants in :)

Blanks under the cut

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

[trickster-shi]

Wednesday 01/03/24

I am so not ready to go back to work tomorrow, but I am pretty pleased about the work I've done on my writing projects this week.

Project Zander

Chapter Two, 1840 words

I finished the first scene of the chapter, which is from Darius' POV and I uncovered his core character strength and weakness while writing and then brainstorming separately. Darius is the tol sunshine puppy of the group, with seemingly endless sass and optimism, but that's actually covering up a lot of insecurities, fear, and mother henning tendencies. His internal thoughts are fun to write because he feels everything, worries about everything, and ties himself up in knots while trying to be brave and funny for the people around him.

They're in quite a pickle at the moment, so he's been incredibly introspective while the other two sleep, trying to figure out why they ended up somewhere they shouldn't have and how they're gonna get out of it.

He's also worrying about Zander and what he had to do to save Darius and Elivia in chapter one, and wishing the sisters were there to take over because Darius is very much not ready to Adult at that level just yet.

I'm still trying to work out some world building issues to marry this story into the ending of Fred and Taz's series that is not completely written yet, so that's also fun. I'm throwing in an alternate Texas circa 1940's or so, steampunk elements, magic, and gods into the mix with surprise time travel, so there's a lot of moving parts but I'm excited to tackle them.

Since I work Thurs-Friday, I don't know how much writing I'll get done those days, so it may be down to the weekend to make more significant progress. We'll see.

Home Across the Universe, Story #10

Untitled, 2987 words

I wrote the entire 2987 words today, so I feel really good about that. I've written a couple previous drafts of this story since October but they just didn't quite come together how I wanted, so I put it on the back burner until now so I could concentrate on NaNo and then Project Zander.

So far, this story is about Stiles taking advantage of a new opportunity and seeing where it leads. It will be pretty Stiles and Peter-centric, with some Derek POV scenes thrown in. I am still developing the Kate plot thread introduced in Boyfriend Achievements: Unlocked, so I don't know if she will be appearing in this story or the next one. It depends on how long this piece decides to be.

So far, this first part was Stiles and John talking over the new opportunity with lots of Stiles' inner thoughts and references to things that have been happening since Christmas. I would say that Stiles is currently the most hopeful he has been in quite a while, so that's really nice to write.

Still, you guys know me. I do love my angst, so I'm sure I'll get to weave some in there somewhere, but so far Stiles's only angsty struggle is that two someone's currently occupying the Stilinski home *cough, Mini-Stiles and Austin, cough* broke the coffee pot and there's been a creative punishment enforced to work off that debt to buy a new one. And Stiles hasn't had coffee first thing in the morning in a week.

He's quite testy about that. But the new opportunity has the added incentive of free, good quality coffee, so he's all for it, even if it does come from Peter.

Other Projects:

I haven't physically worked on the other projects currently occupying other back burners this week, but the following stories are still in active progress:

Into The Black Episode Two

I did restructure what exists of Episode Two during December and wrote around 1k-2k on it. It is currently sitting at 5,876 words. Mainly it was tightening up the narrative, so I cut out a lot of stuff that was dragging the chapter down and fixing stuff to move the plot forward. I'm excited about what I have planned for that episode.

Rabbit Come Home, Part Three

I haven't touched what I have written for the third and final story in a while. It's currently sitting at 16,636 words. I know what I want to have happen in my head but I've had a hard time actually getting it written down, so that one may just need to marinate for a while before I can finish it. I want to do my vision justice and nail the ending.

That's all for now. I'm going to finish up some things and head to bed. 5 am is gonna come way too quick, I can already tell *cries*

[chronautical-dev]

Trials and Tribulations of the Chronautical Art Style

When I first came up with the idea for Chronautical, it was for a story rather than a game. So when it came time to make it into a game, I had to think about visuals in a more concrete way.

This log will detail the long journey I had designing Chronautical's art style over and over again.

From the beginning, I knew what the stylistic pillars were: seafaring stories, steampunk-adjacent technology, and a storybook adventure. I gathered up a pinterest board full of all the things that made me dream of Chronautical. I wanted to create a sense of wonder and a full-feeling world so unlike our own. But there was a roadblock to that.

As an artist, I've had a lot of self esteem problems. It's common. So at first I didn't think I was capable of making anything I needed. So instead, I used Photobashing and some light Matte Painting to achieve my goals. If I couldn't do it, then surely editing things together could work. Even more so, I pixelized it, thinking my photobashing wasn't where it needed to be, so all pixel art could be what we needed.

But luckily someone said just to keep the photobash how it was. And this was fine. I was still very uneasy in my art, so I justified the process. If the game is going to be big, I need to work quickly right?

These produced some… interesting results, combining artbreeder faces and pinterest clothes bodies. Well, as I progressed the photobashing just wasn't cutting it (clearly), we needed characters to be drawn at the very least.

Alistair eluded me. Jack was very easy, I knew his face as soon as I saw it. But to this day I don't think Alistair is quite right. So through development, he changed subtly (or not so subtly) several times. I did several face studies of a variety of faces from around the internet, and nothing quite stuck.

During this time, I still was trying to match oils to the realism of the backgrounds, a process which remained stiff and forced. I was still trying to get my footing as an artist, and had many style tries throughout this stage.

But then, the style changed again, it's most influential change (barring the one I made at the beginning of this semester). I was assigned to do the whole trailer! And I had only one weekend to do so!

Designing a trailer and designing the assets are linked, but I needed all new ones for what I had in mind. I also gave Shannon (who does sound and music design) a vision for what I needed from the trailer's soundtrack.

How do you sell a visual novel? The same way you'd sell a book! You have to bring the viewer into the world, and deliver them the immersive action and in-depth world that reading the story makes them feel. So off to learn premiere!

I spent 30 hours in total drawing all the characters, assets, and constructing the backgrounds. Then everything got Parallax'd to the beat. Drafted, storyboarded, constructed, all in 3 days flat! (I barely talked to my poor sweet girlfriend for those 3 days :[ )

What was important about the process though, was a crunchy textured inking pen I did everything in, and the flats I used as a fast process. These I carried on into the next phase of Chronautical assets. These were better than any previous iteration, and for a while, I was content with them.

But then, I knew I wasn't really enjoying the process. I'm an painter at heart, and flats wasn't giving me what I was looking for. And the palette I had previously used for comics was too bright and garish for the soft storybook feel I intended.

So the last redesign happened. And this time I had enough self confidence to do the backgrounds as well. So all of it was being redone!

My art professor was the one who inspired the style, as he said that watercolor forces me to stop, and usually I get too worried about things and overwork them. And he was right!

So that is the final style, with all assets from characters to backgrounds to ui 100% drawn by me, in a nice ink-and-watercolor way.

So the main lesson is! Don't doubt yourself! If I had only just drawn it all from the beginning, maybe I wouldn't have to redo it so often!

[otterpedia]

I think I'm gacha fatigued. I played quite a few games with gachas in them this year and after having my soul crushed repeatedly by my crappy pulls in DTW while my friends and my wife pulled characters I desperately wanted and gleefully showed them off to me (which is valid, and I'm genuinely excited for them too), I decided to reexamine why I was even playing some of these.

I want to begin by making it absolutely clear that I know gachas are gambling. I am aware of my gambling addiction, which I'm pretty sure is equal parts hereditary on my mother's side as well as a kind of mind game these activities trick your brain into. I have a lootbox problem and I am especially vulnerable to costume collecting.

I saved up tons and tons of gems or orbs or tickets or whatever for this game and that game, and because one game in particular had such powerful hooks in me, I didn't notice that my expectations for every other gacha were unrealistic.

I spent actual, real-world money that I needed for new clothes or a haircut or funds for going out and touching some fucking grass on the teeny tiny chance that I could get just one more character or costume or event prize for my digital harem simulator or whatever.

I like to collect things. (Hoarding is also a genetic failing on my mother's side, come to think of it.)

That's why these games are so dangerous in my opinion. I'm glad I don't like any other form of gambling games, and that cute anime girls were the motivation instead of the temporary thrill of winning.

Genshin Impact appealed to me because it felt like a "real" game that just so happened to have a gacha. The way the odds worked for the banners were also very F2P friendly, or so I told myself, with a guaranteed 4-star character or weapon every ten pulls.

The story was robust and the music was gorgeous. The fandom seemed pretty chill in my little corner of the internet, though I did hear the occasional rumblings of shipping drama. I read quite a few fanfics that were cute or funny or even spicy. It was a nice break from other games, or something interesting to do when Final Fantasy XIV had longer maintenance periods and I was anxiously waiting to log back in.

I truly love the world of the game still, even though I haven't played in probably at least a month and a half. I was super hyped for Sumeru, and I pulled my favorite character on my birthday last year.

That being said, I wrongfully assumed the new area in Genshin Impact would make me feel as before. The newest chapter of the main story dropped last week I think and I barely even noticed.

I felt nothing.

There were adorable cat people and steampunk elements and underwater exploration things and I. Felt. Nothing.

I decided that was enough of a reason to quit the game. If I'm not emotionally invested anymore, then why keep playing? I tried to quit before a couple times, but then I convinced myself that it had become a money sink, an investment.

That's not how games should make me feel.

Logging in started to feel like a chore. Grinding for ascension materials or talent scrolls or artifacts was tedious and boring. There were too many characters to keep track of, and they kept adding more and more stupid gimmicks. If I missed even one day of an event I wouldn't be able to finish it in time and receive rewards that would never come around again.

If I didn't log in, I told myself, I would get left behind by the friends I play co-op with. I would waste everyone's time because they would have to go back and redo stuff because I was lagging behind again because I play a lot of other games besides this one.

If I stop playing, I can't stay in the discord server we made for Genshin and I can't see all the funny memes and cool screenshots and drawings and fanfic recommendations.

Somehow I convinced myself that I had to keep playing this game that no longer held my interest or made me happy because if I didn't, then I'm letting my friends down.

This isn't the case, of course, but my brain likes to bully my heart a lot. I'm not letting anybody down. If anything, Genshin Impact has let me down. I have the power to uninstall the stupid thing and never touch it again. It's my damn computer, my phone, my life!

I like Genshin Impact still, but I don't play it anymore. If my friends are disappointed by that, that's okay. They're not disappointed in me, hell, they probably sympathize with my disappointment in the game because they are my friends, duh.

There's no reason to stress myself out over this. Which is why I needed to just write it out and be done with it.

So, there you have it.

I'm excited that my friends are excited, and that's good enough for me right now. If that changes in the future, then I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

And if my friends come across this post, I just want to say:

Thanks for playing with me, you guys! ❤️

[3vocatio]

the thing abt one of the most <3 solomon scenes being copied word for word for diavolo is just so. it's not even insane or unbelievable to me it's just extremely irritating like these are genuinely such wonderful characters in a wonderful setting how are the devs messing up on the writing bit THIS bad.

idm the fan service because like... otome game & all that but also that doesn't mean that they can't have a compelling plot and good writing to go with it????? especially in events like clearly they keep trying to include every single character and it just. doesn't work. and there are just SO MANY events too like if you're playing for non-plot purposes it's still so goddamn annoying because let the players breathe 😭

idk i just wish the writing quality in the game would improve at the very least. like it's fine if it's 'cringe' or wtv at least come up with original and decent plots instead of just repeating the same things over and over again yk?

sorry about the rant i've just been really pissed about this lately in the game 😭

oh my GOSH raaz solomon is the last person the obm devs haven't messed up (+ the new side characters, specifically mephistopheles) and i'm so terrified of the obm devs ruining him like they did everyone else...

in this new steampunk event, the locked route is SPECIFICALLY being catered for whales. unlocking the chapters was easy to build up to, but now you need 15 keys off the bat to continue, and i feel like it's heavily reflective of how indifferent the devs are towards actually doing their own characters justice. everything is meant to serve their whales, bring in more revenue, and sit comfortably even when they know they're angering their own fanbase by rubbing salt in the wound (i.e. making satan self-aware of his cat obsession, solomon outwardly expressing discomfort for the erasure of his humanity from other characters).

the devs are growing to completely disregard their own story, slapping together some fanservice in the main story when most of their fanbase can't even reach that point. why not serve your veterans & those who financially support you with consistent & cathartic story arcs? why not balance everyone, everything?

so i share your frustrations: obey me has been spiraling down in quality for a long time. i think that the last time i've been satisfied with the story was during season 2, when the fandom wasn't as big, and people were invested in figuring out what'll happen next because everything was cleverly panning out to a huge event: the dagger scene with lucifer. people didn't know what to make of simeon's play, and i remember when people theorized that the play would parallel a huge event near the end of the season... and we were right! and so many people were genuinely happy with the story being able to keep their interest and keep them on their toes.

now, there is a severe lack of anything reminiscent of holding anyone's interest, even the veterans, even me. i would woefully log onto tumblr as season 4's lessons rolled around every week, and would share everyone else's disappointment when we gradually accepted the fact that the story was easy to predict given how lazy the devs had become. i want them to take their time so badly, to give us quality over quantity, but with solmare now becoming so big with their new cash cow, obey me, compared to their previous cliche otome games, i think they've allowed the success to get to them.

thoughts of “it's an awful game, i hope no one plays it” and “it's a nice game to play, i can't wait to share my thoughts” are two things that can coexist, albeit shaped into something more along the lines of “it's a horrendous game that i can bond over with friends” once you find yourself being sucked deeper into it.

i don't think i'll stop playing anytime soon, because as i told someone in the past, “[it has] flavor in all of its terrible, atrocious glory”. i'm able to use concepts & ideas that the story gives me and, in my eyes, i get to make it better. i get to share my thoughts with like-minded people like you, and everyone jumps on the inspiration bandwagon. people bond over the same failures that makes us frustrated, and that's one of the few reasons i have any semblance of gratitude for obey me.

[commander-diomika]

For the rqg asks 1, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16 (I know you write a lot for the show and I absolutely adore all of what you do but what are you most proud of?) 19?

1. What is that one moment from the show that you will find yourself thinking back to, intermittently, for years to come?

Grizzop's death and afterlife. I listened to the show out of order, jumped in with my partner toward the tail end of the Damascus Arc and when Grizzop took those hit points for Sasha and went down, I shed some genuine tears and again at his epilogue. That was the point where I decided to go back to listen from the beginning and I was truly lost.

5. Pick a character and make a prediction for their epilogue.

Barnes Carter and Cel are going to move to a cabin by the seaside and live their best non monogamous monster fucking lives. (we didn't see REALISTIC predictions for the finale.)

7. What is something you do not at all think will happen in the finale, but is just fun to daydream about?

HONESTLY all the things that I had been daydreaming about have already come to pass: Aphophis turning up with the steel chair, Amelia and the Vengeance getting their smash on Guivres (I still don't know how to fkn spell it), the rest of the NPCs turning up to help!! Like!! This is what narrative satisfaction feels like!

So LBR the thing that I don't think will happen in the finale but is very fun to daydream about is both Zolf and Wilde making it out alive to their soft epilogue because Ben and Alex are gunning for that tragedy.

9. Which was your favourite arc and why?

The Mr Ceiling and Unreality arc in Paris. It's really the first moment in the show where the lid PROPERLY blows off in terms of how steampunk and science fiction this story is despite being set in the Pathfinder/fantasy world, and even though it seemed clear the party was in a fantasy pretty quickly, I am still a sucker for simulation/unreality stories, especially where characters are forced to go back and do the hard thing instead of staying in a blissful illusion.

14. What’s a detail of the show that you always forgot, and when you’re reminded of it it always comes as a shock?

Aziza's death. The fact that Alex did that felt... almost too much. I really hope it was something that was discussed with players but especially Bryn beforehand, because that level of RPing tragedy and grief isn't something that you want to spring on players, and it has the potential to really veer the character off in a new direction in a way that the player doesn't have a lot of agency over.

16. If you’ve ever created fan content for the show, which piece are you most proud of?

THIS IS SUCH A HARD QUESTION AND LIKE MAKING ME PICK MY FAVOURITE CHILD!!! Like I think there's something good about almost everything that I've written for RQG, from the longer-form Strange Company stuff to the oneshots I did for Kinktober. BUT if I have to choose I suppose I would say I'm probably most proud of the most recent installment of Strange Company (It Takes a Great Deal of Courage) because writing the love confessions and culmination of a slowburn is really hard, because you've got the weight of the 20k build up behind it, and doing that justice took a lot of wrangling. I've still got more SC to go, but unfortunately I have missed my initial goal of finishing ti before the series ended. Hopefully the finale doesn't break my heart so badly that I can't keep going with it.

19. Can you try to put into words the crushing nostalgia you now feel when you think back to the prologue episodes, and how you felt listening to them for the first time vs how that would feel now?

I don't carry the weight of crushing nostalgia that some of you might because I foolishly only got into RQG about six months ago! I pounded through all the content within a couple of months and then started in on shovelling fan fiction in my mouth as fast as I could. And whilst listening back definitely makes my heart hurt in a delicate and aching way, I don't have the 6 years worth of feelings that I know some of y'all are currently going through. My life had also changed a lot in the last six months tho (went from studying to new job, Covid tumultuous times, gender and hormone times). So weirdly when I think back to listening to the starting eps I think about me and how much I've changed and ploughed ahead, and how grateful I am that this show and the community around it has inspired me to get back into writing for the first time in years.

[sleepyxdarling]

Found pt4 (a dadmic story)

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SOME ANGST, TALKS OF DEPRESSING THOUGHTS, ANXIETY, AND PTSD..DON'T READ IF THESE TRIGGER YOU

The first week with hizashi was weird..it was so awkward and you weren't sure if you truly belonged there. You felt uncomfortable but training with him made you feel better.

The first month was better..things were okay with you both and you got to decorate your own room however you liked and hizashi helped out. He got you a bunch of cool stuff and got you an expensive vinyl record player with a bunch of records of your favorite songs..he says it adds character whatever that means.

The next six months was when things became perfect..you were a family..he got you a dog as a gift for behaving so well. The dog was a something that made you feel less lonely..which was good since with hizashi working a lot you tend to get quite a few panic attacks as well as flash backs

Things were amazing..you two would stay up late into the night laughing and having fun..hizashi's birthday was coming around so that's when you decided to shop for a gift for him.

"what should I get him Totoro?" You asked the large gray Alaskan malamute who simply stared up at you and gave a low but short howl. You petted the dog before walking out the door to go out. You figured the mall was a place where you could but anything..only issue was you didn't know what to get him..hizashi was a complicated guy.

You ended up getting him more than one gift and quickly went home before wrapping it up..horribly before working on the cake you wanted to make for him

When hizashi walked into the door he saw the frosted cake on the table along with a few gifts.

"hey..bubbles..what's all this?" He mumbled out as a smile creeped onto his face as you slid the cake closer to him

"blow out the candles mic!"

"sing happy birthday to me bubbles! As the birthday boy I command it!" Hizashi's stubborn behavior made you roll your eyes since you both knew you couldn't do that

You simply wipe frosting on his cheek before blowing out the candles for him.

"open your gifts I'm anxious to see how you react" you said while starting to cut him a slice.

Hizashi chuckles before taking a seat and starting on the first gift. He unwrapped it before his eyes lit up with joy.

"bubbles! These headphones look amazing! I mean.. steampunk is the coolest thing ever!" He chirped out as he looked at you with an excited grin.

"I say we are even..you got me those seashell headphones..though it's embarrassing for a boy to wear pastel headphones like that but it's from you so I'll adore it" your slight pout made the hero laugh before he went to the next gift which was a pocket watch.

When he opened the watch his eyes softened as the picture you and him grinning that was inside. He was already starting to cry while you simply ate cake..it was yummy.

"oh bubbles..this is just-"

"there is one last gift mic!" You cheers out and he simply smiles before opening the last gift and his heart simply exploded.

A travel mug that said coolest dad..here came the water works.

"I..it's a joke from that one time I called you dad..and the next six times after that" you mumbled out before being yanked into a hug by the pro hero who was bawling his eyes out.

"let's make it official" his soft voice shocked you as you gazed at him and it was your turn to tear up as he reached into his pocket and took out a folded paper.

He watched as your shaking hands unfolded it only to see that they were adoption papers. Most of it was filled out already and the only thing you had to write was your signature.

"m..mic..a..are you serious?"

You were so scared of being rejected so the fear started to pool in your eyes which he caught on to so he simply messed with your hair to try and relax your nerves.

"yeah..you are already family to me [name] so it doesn't matter if you sign..but I would love if you became my official son..so what do you say bubbles..wanna be a yamada?" He asked out his voice shaking as he locked eyes with you and you gave a sly grin before running off to your room and returned a few minutes later with a signed paperwork.

Hizashi was shocked for sure and simply hugged you tightly in his arms.

"I have a son...I HAVE A SON!" His voice boomed with excitement as you were lifted and squeezed against the male.

You were a crying laughing mess and the two of you celebrated with cake, icecream, and a whole lot of jamming to music.

If only you two were prepared for the struggles ahead.

School started up again soon and hizashi just couldn't contain himself from blurting out the news and before you knew it everyone was walking up to you asking you questions.

You took in a deep breath before trying to answer as best you could.. everything was fine.. everything was fine.

"he adopted a troubled kid like you.. present mic is so sweet"

Everything was not fine!

Who knew a single comment would cause your self esteem to tarnish and your confidence to vanish. All those months of therapy and medicine just..cracking. you felt so stupid for thinking such dark things but they invaded your brain faster than you could comprehend.

"I'm... I'm..not a trouble kid..I just made a few mistakes"

"didn't you get expelled from your last schools?"

"woah expelled?!"

"what happened?!"

"I heard he went insane and attacked a teacher"

Your brain started to turn to mush at this point..static was blurring up your senses as you stood there being unable to move and your body started to feel hot with shame.

"I heard he attacked a student.."

"I heard he destroyed a classroom and set stuff in fire"

Lies...lies..lies..

"he hurt a teacher so bad they went to the hospital"

It wasn't your fault..it wasn't. You felt your breathing get shaky and you couldn't think properly as harsher words escaped from the students mouths. You were right here and there they were whispering as if you couldn't hear them.

"I heard he threatened students and blackmailed teachers"

Those were lies..so many ugly lies covering the truth. You felt your body shaking as you were now wheezing as scales grew up your neck and onto your cheeks.

"I heard he slept around to get what he wants..even with teachers"

"is that why he lives with present mic now?"

Stop..stop it. You couldn't take this anymore..it wasn't your fault.

It was your fault

It was your fault

You shouldn't have looked so helpless

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

Your banshee like scream caused windows to crack and you heard bodies dropping to the floor..you used your quirk again.

You couldn't breathe and everything became so numb..your vision became blurry and as it did you heard a distant shouting

"[name]! [Name]?!" It was hizashi..you reached out for him before passing out and one thought came to you.

I always get him into trouble..I'm such a bother.

[hippyexd]

Collection of my stories: Explained

Here is the post that nobody cares about but I'll share it because I just want the world to know.

1. Demon Academy.

I've posted some things about it already, it's a comic I started in 2014 originally in hungarian. I'm not quite happy with the way I started it, but I've built an interesting world, and I adore the characters, it's one of my best work that I'm very proud of. I drew 260 pages in total (book 1 and book 2) and I intend to pick up the story again sometime soon, when I get over exam season.

2. Runner

A medieval-themed fantasy story that I eventually want to make into a cartoon series. It's a bit cliché, but the characters are fun, and it has a lot of potential for epic music. I basically came up with the entire plot while listening to fantasy music mixes. Fun times. I've only got some character drawigs, and I just recently managed to finally have eneryone's finalized version. I also have a side story/shared universe thing planned for it.

3. Xyber-no

A post-apocalyptic cyberpunk futuristic action horror cartoon series idea. I've got the characters done already, and plans for like 2 seasons worth of content, I'm just lazy to edit the 1st ep's script. It's not even 20 minutes long. Honestly I'm just anxious to touch it. Got most of my ideas while listening to Neffex songs.

4. Racer

I watched Initial-D, and way back I had a roleplay about a car racer dude, and these two motivated me to write this story. It's not really a novel, it resembles more to a script but it's not actually a script. It was mainly dialogue practice, to make the characters feel more fun. I just finished the rewrite like a week ago, I think it turned out pretty great. Planning on adding a part 2 or a season 2 or something like that, but again, too lazy to actually touch it. It's fun to re-read though.

5. Singer

I'm currently working on this story, because when I'm bored, I write. And when is the best time to be bored? Exam season. Hell yeah. Anyway, it's about a suicidal dude falling in love with a singer (also dude, I love my gay kids okay) and then they figure out their shit. Good story to fit in as much angst as possible, with a few lovely fluff parts.

6. ZR series

Most of my followers came from the ZR community, so y'all know what this one is. But in case not, it's a comic series portraying my reactions to various moments that happen in Zombies, Run!, a really fun and creative workout app. The comic is on hold right now because I've already got too much shit to do til christmas. (Such as the Fellow Five drawing I promised. It's not forgotten, I just don't have time!! XD)

7. Demon and Vampire

Basically an over the top gay fluff love story with a little angst. It's pretty cool, sometimes it's boring, it's full of clichés and stuff, but I read it like 6 times and usually I hate my own writing, but there are parts that I just genuinely love in it. Fun stuff.

8. Psychoville

I've written the first 10 pages in like 30 different versions, because I'm unable to nail it. The main character is the daughter of Satan, who's name is ironically Angel, and she lives in a small town called Psychoville in the desert in Nevada, next to Searchlight, Nevada. As the name implies, she lives with 9 (or 8, I forgot) psychopaths, killers, mass murderers, insane mentally ill people who love each other to bits (and sometimes cut each other to bits) until she gets the task to investigate something for her father away from her home. Got a lot of inspiration from Welcome to Night Vale, and that lawless town in Kansas, I think? The yes theory made a video on it on yt, it's pretty dope.

9. Hollywood Undead Hungarian Fanfiction

It's just what it is. A fanfic of the boiz going on tour, getting in trouble, drinking and so on. No romance (bc that's gross and I couldn't find any fanfic that was not in some shape or form a ship fanfic). Da Kurlzz was still in the band when I wrote it. I was like 12. I just wanted to have fun. The chapters are 2 pages long in total. But the hungarian fans liked it, was trending a bunch of times on wattpad and it has a lot of reads. Despite being horribly shitty, I'm proud of it, and it has a lot of really fun parts and jokes.

10. Wrong Number

I almost forgot about this gem, but this was my first finished english story. It's almost entirely written in sms text format, it's progressig a bit too quickly, but at the time I was having a lot of fun with it, and that's all that matters. It has some really funny lines I came up with, I like re-reading it just for that. But also, it was a fun way to get around having to write long paragraphs lol. I just wanted to have fun with it. Heavily inspired by the Call me Beep me klance fanfic.

11. Milky Boiz

Context: my friend and I, at 2am, were thinking about what our ship name would be, but I kept typing "mmmmmilky" in the chat, that turned into milky boiz, and she said, that if we were guys, that would be our ship name. This gave us an idea for a webcomic, which we didn't actually progress with yet, but we do have an insta page where we already posted some of our boiz, you can find it under the name of @ink.stars , go pay a visit, it's my art and my friend's, and she is a wonderful artist and a lovely person and I love her to bits.

12. Night Vale Steampunk AU

It's pretty much dead, but while I was really actively part of the Night Vale fandom, I started a Steampunk AU. It was fun, it got like 4 chapters or something and big plans, but the characters were not in character, and it lost the Night Vale vibe, so I just let it go.

13. Cop Comic

Also a dead project of mine, but I still like it. It was inspired by a moment on one of our high school class trips. The characters were based on me and my friends, but the resemblence stops at hair color, that's all. Mabye not even that. Anyway it's what it is: cops dealing with crime and their personal problems. I wish I had known Brooklyn Nine Nine back then, would have been a great help.

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So, there you have it, all my favourite finished and unfinished works/ideas, just so you know if in the future I reference one (planning to post more Runner, DA and Xyber-no content along with the ZR comic)