#and i gotta finish the party designs for my game

[she-anemone]

opened up rpgmaker for 30 whole minutes today. game mastery here I come!!

[maydaymadier]

Tagged by @joycrispy

Rules: Make a new post and post your latest/most recent line from your WIP and tag as many people as there are words.

Okay, the 'active' wip has been on the back-burner a bit since the 5e campaign I'm running is about to wrap the current arc so we're gonna have bits and pieces from a few different things.

This is actually the follow-up to something I wrote and then decided 'No, there's more, I need to write a sequel.' So the original is called Fox in the Hen House, the current project is The Quickest Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach. I will say that this is a vampire project where everyone is trying to communicate but no one wants to change. A tagline I wrote for the series: Vampirism as self-destruction. Love as consumption. Eat his heart to keep it close to yours.

LINE from the wip:

"What am I supposed to say to that?  What do you want to hear?  That I have a problem?  Do you think I don’t fucking know that?  This was never a problem for you before."

TAGGING PEOPLE: @shaylogic @doccystrangelove @liquid-fire-hazard @renaissaniccatherine @vigothebloodprince

DND STUFF!! Bc I'm excited about it and wanna show people

So there's a 20-card fortune-telling deck in my campaign setting and I'd like to get all 20 done soon-ish, I've already made one, card 4, The Vestibule, they would all be in this style. Doing a minimalist/lineless thing so I don't get stuck designing the individual details of things for 5 million years.

This was the response my wizard got to her Divination spell when asked if she would ever see her deceased friend again (whose ghost she saw recently)

Rings forged from the same metal have a habit of finding each other.

And if we're sticking to art things for a bit I did a test line-up of the party I play a paladin in (Reverence, tiefling redemption paladin), to get a better idea of everyone's relative heights and to see how all the colors and shapes look next to each other. I've been meaning to come up with proper designs for these characters for ages.

[penisbutterjellytime]

Got to the end. Behold... the Rook I finished with

The pouty elf...

more elf screeshots

Okay after 7 hours Veilgaurd has finally downloaded

[iamespecter]

the mazersize part of the game almost made me quit(I just looked it up at the end lol) so I would love to see your version of a chica venue :>

(made this post before the internet died lol)

YEAHHHHHH I wholeheartedly agree with you!!!!!!!! as much as I love Chica.... I cannot turn a blind eye to WHATEVER THE FUCK MAZERCISE IS!!! Like, I am a hardcore Chica lover and all of her variants but you CANNOT pay me to say "I love Mazercise. It's so clever" it is legit the worst section in ALL of SB and it PISSES ME OFF

Anyways what's the venue? Why, it's Chica of the Sea and Dancercise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still not letting go of the fact that everyone gets a cool venue but Chica gets fucking Mazercise. bleugh. disGUSting. I am offended get that shit away from me!!!! BONNIE'S VENUE IS SO MUCH COOLER AND IT'S A BOWLING ALLEY. HOW'D YOU MESS UP THAT BADLY MANNNN

Anyways, Chica of the Sea would be located in where Kid's Cove is. Which means, Kid's Cove and Mazercise have to switch places, in order to make the venue work.

Unlike the others' venues, Chica of the Sea actually requires you to go a little deeper down below via an elevator; to emulate the feeling of getting transported 20,000 leagues under the sea to experience the attraction.

As the name implies, it is an ocean-themed location where guests can learn things about marine life, as well as having multiple mini-attractions to offer, like an aqua park. A mermaid version of a golden Chica statue resides in the middle of the lobby before the elevator, one of the first things one would usually see when first entering the venue.

Unfortunately as it stands to the current day of the Pizzaplex, Chica of the Sea is now abandoned to rot beneath the mall, as Chica's popularity dwindled due to the Voicebox incident and management could not afford to keep it running. instead, she is given a new (albeit smaller) location: Dancercise!

Dancercise is Mazercise, but better. It's a DDR-styled maze with a dance floor in the middle, where Chica would host countless party games like "simon says", and zumba dances. The venue is designed to keep the oceanic theme a little bit so they could reuse as much props from the og as possible, and the goal is to keep the customers occupied as much as possible to bleed their wallets dry.

The Fazwatch map for Dancercise would be this:

Top left: Exercising room (away from the loudness of the main room) Top middle: Restrooms Top right: Staff room/Parts and service

Middle left: Food court Center: DANCE DOME: Hexagonal Maze (outer), Dance floor (inner) Middle top: Changing rooms and lockers next: Souvenir/gift shop corner: Arcade, maybe?

And the maze/dance floor would be this:

I also had a concept art in mind for the Dance Dome/Maze, but.... I didn't finish it due to my frustration at my skill level of making environments back then

The Dance Dome would be where Chica's boss fight happens. But before you enter the Dome, you are FORCED to give up all of your belongings to a party bot because an incident had already occurred before where someone brought a laser gun and a fazcam in the dance floor, resulting in a pretty heavy lawsuit.

A botched simon says game ran by a intercomms!Chica will then ensue where you have to play in the dark, only some parts of the floor will light up and you have to avoid the REAL Chica. You'd be given a limited amount of glowsticks in order to make traversal easier but you gotta place them wisely. (think like, Funtime Foxy's Night 4 in Sister Location)

And then instead of getting crushed by the compactor in the original; once the fight ends, a staff area would unlock, allowing Gregory to access the catwalks of the Dance dome. A small fight between Gregory and Chica happens, and Chica gets kicked onto the Jumbotron. The jumbotron on top of the dance dome would then fall taking Chica with it, causing the whole dancefloor to collapse, and a second phase to begin with shattered Chica; all in the now abandoned and grimy Chica of the Sea exhibit buried underneath.

I wish I could show and tell more, but this is where I've stopped making visual concepts. I mean, I still have MORE ideas.... and I still even have the glamrock decals for Chica of the Sea.... but I dunno if anyone would be interested in wanting me to expand further on what Chica of the Sea contains lol

[eledritch]

hey! are you playing the new dragon age? thoughts!

yes, I finished it!

I have.....a lot of thoughts, but what it boils down to is that while I'd recommend the game (it's generally quite fun as a game, polished, gorgeous environments, combat that is overall fun & dynamic, & it actually made me care about Solas so that's a point in its favor) and I think it's amazing that it exists after such a long & fraught wait, it was disappointing for me in several big ways:

1. I didn't like Rook's character (someone said it feels like a JRPG in the sense that the protagonist is kind of already a defined personality meant to serve as more of an anchor to the party characters and I agree; it felt like Rook got minimal characterization & development throughout). I wish we'd gotten to play Rook's origin story and/or had way more dialogue choices. The flatness of Rook as a PC consistently made it tough for me to get engaged with this game the way I have with the other DA games.

2. Yikes @ Taash & all of the nonbinary/trans rep in the game. I wanted to love Taash so fucking much, you guys. I could not. Every aspect of Taash's character fell flat for me (except their design, that's great), especially their coming out scene with their mom (I thought Shathann was a super interesting character and I felt like the game did not want us to like her, much like DAI wants you to dislike Dorian's dad...but only one of these parents is worthy of disdain). I think the game also does an astonishingly poor job at trying to make a storyline about intersectional identity. Don't get me started on how Qunari, particularly the Antaam, are portrayed in the game...

I also played as a nb Rook and those dialogue choices all felt weird (& sometimes viscerally cringe & HUH) to me too, it only felt affirming when other characters used they/them pronouns for my Rook and bro that's the BARE MINIMUM. so I was just totally disappointed and also confused as to how this happened, given that I've really loved Trick Weekes' writing in the past.

3. There is a lack of inter-party conflict and the romance leaves a lot to be desired. I do think that especially by Act 3 this game does have some ~Dragon Age Edge~ to it (I liked a lot in Act 3, big Mass Effect vibes...at the same time tho, why does a Dragon Age game have Mass Effect vibes?? They've always felt so distinct to me in previous games; less so here). But I get why people were upset that, for example, your Rook can't be a jerk or even critique other characters (though Rook does have a lot of dialogue with what felt to me like an unintentionally condescending tone). They do try to create a confrontational dynamic between Lucanis and Davrin but that felt forced and unconvincing to me.

Because of this, because I never felt like I really knew my companions' core beliefs or flaws, and I wasn't able to argue with them or change/challenge any of their beliefs, I didn't feel very attached to many of the companions. I do think Emmrich was quite well written, and Neve is good too, but I romanced Davrin and I gotta say, the romance in this game was weirdly minimal (in my experience at least). You can't talk to your companions whenever you want. You can't give them a little kiss whenever you want. This is a core aspect of DA games for me so it was a bummer not to see it in Veilguard. There ARE a lot of cool cutscenes and interactions between the other party characters, but Rook is just a witness to those, kind of standing on the sidelines or awkwardly interrupting. Which comes back to the problem of Rook in this game! (For me, at least.)

4. This game's approach to slavery or lack thereof is a glaring issue. I could write a whole essay on this but I won't do so here. Suffice to say: I thought this was handled poorly and in a frankly cowardly way, considering that this game was so big on inclusion and social justice. I played as a Shadow Dragon elf Rook and there was ONE conversation about how "being an elf in Tevinter must be hard" (DUDE...). We do not see slavery in Tevinter except in a few codex entries (one by Dorian which...I HAVE THOUGHTS) and allusions, random NPCs here and there, and "uh oh gotta help the Dalish," etc. Fenris's absence haunts the narrative HARD. This is a big problem and I haven't seen a lot of talk about it, but especially since slavery also existed under the Evanuris, and Solas is supposedly anti-slavery, the way Veilguard consistently swerves around slavery is wild.

Idk, it just feels shitty that they devoted the resources to hiring diversity consultants to write a nonbinary character (presumably, because most of the dialogue about that reads like a DEI statement) but they did not devote time and energy and nuance to including slavery in the narrative in any meaningful way. Although maybe it's for the best that they didn't, given how not nuanced a lot of the writing in this game felt to me.

So, yeah...some things I liked about it and I do think when it comes down to it, Veilguard is a good game, but it's not a great Dragon Age game, and it's certainly not the DA4 I personally wanted :/ I am planning to try to replay it and maybe my thoughts will develop more after that, because believe me I wanna give this game all the chances.

[dr-spectre]

Guess what game I just finished!!!

I dont have a lot to say on this because I think over the past 20 years people have already said enough.

But... MY GOD! The level of variety, creativity, and fresh ideas each chapter brings holy SHITTTT!!! One moment you're going underground with a cute goomba girl, then you're fighting a dragon, then you're playing a World 1-1 recreation with BOWSER! Then you're playing as Peach who has this deeply emotional and sad relationship with an AI (Tec is the goat, I love that ai. Top 10 ai in fiction idc), then you're doing a tournament arc AND THEN YOU'RE DOING A TRAIN MYSTERY OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

The combat is really fun and charming, THE DIALOGUE IS SO WELL WRITTEN AND I LAUGHED MULTIPLEEEEE TIMES!!! I love the characters, I love the world, I love the art style, i love most of the boss fights, the music is banging (I played with the original ost), God there's so much to love.

I will say, the final chapter of this game did kinda drag on, and there's so many points where I was thinking "okay NOW I get to fight the final boss!" And it takes another hour to get to them.... there's so many obvious signs of padding (copy and pasted hallways, a trash "pick the right door" puzzle, etc.)

I also didn't like how when you swapped partners that counts as a turn, i feel like you should be able to swap without wasting a turn because it would help with the flow of combat and make using Goombella's tattle less of a fucking pain...

Also....

VIVIAN IS SO FUCKING CUTE!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! SHE'S MY FAVOURITE PARTNER BY FARRRRR!!!!! Goombella is really cute too and she has amazing dialogue. I love the storyline of Admiral Bobbery too and that stuff made me cry... but...EEEEE I LOVE VIVIAN!!!!

GOD I JUST WANNA HUG HER!!! I WANNA PINCH HER CHUBBY CHEEKS!!! I WANNA RUB HER BELLY!!!! Nintendo I need a plushie of her yesterday. Come on. Please... I need one...

I shall leave my partner rankings as well, i wonder if I got any hot takes or not...

6. Flurrie.

No. Just... no I don't like her. Her design creeps me out, I don't give a shit about her moves. I never used her. Get her away from me.

5. Goombella.

Although very cute I found her more of a hindrance and i kept going, "ugh I gotta swap to her to get the tattle..." At least her design and personality are cute. Plus, she's more useful than that creepy ass Flurrie....

4. Koops.

I like him! He helped me out a LOTTT in the final battle, his later moves that you can unlock make him pretty damn good. Although I am jealous that this wimp has a girlfriend....

3. Admiral Bobbey.

Honestly I think the reason why he might be this high is because of his story. I really felt bad for him... his design is also killer, I LOVEEEE Bob-ombs so much!

2. Mini-Yoshi.

The fact that you can name him is really funny to me idk why. He's got some very helpful moves and his ability to help you move faster in the overworld is really nice. I like how he calls you Gonzalez too. What a fun character man.

1. Vivian.

I already said why I like her earlier but I'll go on further.

I LOVE HER STORYLINE TOO!!! I LOVE HER DESIGN!!! I LOVE HOW SHE'S TRANS AND THE REMAKE DIDN'T GET RID OF IT LIKE HOW THE ORIGINAL NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN RELEASES OF THE GAMECUBE VERSION GOT RID OF IT!!!

God.... I love her. I wanna kiss her on the cheek. She's so cute. Her moveset too is fire!.... wait..

Also btw I didn't know that this RATTTT was an optional party member... oops...

[eirikrjs]

A Personal Party Problem

(This is the kind of post that would have been part of an ask or multiple asks in normal times)

One disappointment for me (and maybe only me) in SMT5/V overall is finding it difficult to round out a favorite but practical demon team. I like to use demons with personal significance and my ideal party would then be Cu Chulainn / Odin / Michael:

Cu Chulainn: his story made myth 'click' for me, among other things.

Odin: I was born on a Wednesday; Odin and Norse myth helped ease me into myth in general, with credit due to Final Fantasy's version as well.

Michael: I was also born on Michaelmas

I've been using Cu Chulainn and Michael since I got them in my Vengeance playthroughs. But the third?

It should be Odin, but the Ultra design assures my favorite deity is dead to me in SMT. I've accepted that Rune Odin will never exist again. Maybe it was always a hallucination?

Halphas might seem obvious, but I dislike that he's attuned for ailments.

Both Satan and Lucifer I found underwhelming in Vengeance.

Mithras, but it's always bothered me he's a Tyrant.

Zaou Gongen, but his cloth wraps look terrible on the new model because they're entirely stiff.

Look, it's entirely nitpicky, but as the 3D demon roster only keeps growing, I think being selective keeps things focused. Thus, Nocturne remains the only game where I can make my ideal party, aesthetics and all. Here's the ones who should be the obvious fill-ins, but they currently don't exist in 3D:

Stolas, the ultimate cute mascot for the occult and a reminder of why I find the silliness of Christian occultism so compelling.

Lham Dearg, my other go-to in SMT4

Bael, literally my face on the Internet. Maybe in SMT6 or Persona 6? Likely to show up first in Dx2.

Until then, I guess I'll continue using my Repel-all Mad Gasser. Almost finished my Vengeance platinum. Just gotta beat Canon Of Creation one more time (I'm doing so on Hard/Godborn just for the heck of it).

[a-crow-is-white]

2025 media roundup: persona 5 royal 🎮

Before you say "Mads, you've played Persona 5 at least five times, why is this here?" Well. I hadn't actually played Royal Until Now. And it's 2025, the year of Persona 5. To me. Warning: Spoilers Below for those who have not played the new content in Royal! (And also a warning that I can't find my USB stick so I've taken photos from my TV, along with screenshots from when I abused the PS4 remote play to bypass the locked scenes to stream the 3rd semester for my girlfriend, haha...)

If Royal was the original release, I think I would have liked it. But because I have played vanilla so many times, the additions with new characters all felt very forced and tacked onto an already complete story. (Which is my biggest complaint of the game, I'll be real!)

To say some nice things about the game: I loved all the updated sprite work, I loved all the additional dialogue from characters, the mini games were fun, and I certainly enjoyed the actual social link with Akechi.

But the things I didn't like... I just could not get into Sumire's character... Something about her rubbed me the wrong way from the get go. For lack of a better word, her character is just such a "nothing burger" and never once felt like an actual Phantom Thief. All members are outcasts from society who have been wronged by adults in positions of power, but her fight never felt... like she wanted to help herself. Her inferiority complex makes an interesting character, but not a good party member.

Sumire lacks a real personality-- which I think hurts more as she is puppeting her sister's likeness for the entire game. What actually sets them apart? Their hairstyles? Do we as a player learn about any of her actual likes or dislikes? The only slight glimpse is when her gymnastics coach talks about bringing out her own "style" -- but we don't actually see any changes to her model, her fighting style, her voice, or dialogue. It's almost like she's a phantom in her own life by design.... Which would have been an interesting dynamic to indulge in, but ultimately she is wasted potential. I'm mostly disappointed she wasn't a playable femMC, because her design is very cute.

Maruki I think I can be less hard on, as his inclusion makes sense from a story point of view. Shujin just had a student attempt suicide, and one of their teachers was abusing the student body.... Of course they would hire a therapist!

.... But again, he's so blasé and isn't actually a therapist; Which in theme of the game again of those in positions of power to take advantage of others, makes a lot of sense. (And I think it's also just super funny that he isn't a legally registered therapist, which makes his social link and general motives so laughable.)

^I will say that this was sick as fuck, so I gotta hand that final boss battle to him. It was cool.

His themes of man's hubris surpassing god in becoming a master manipulator makes sense in game, but again, this is not a novel. You have to play through him giving the same speech over and over again... He never feels like a real threat, and... I know P5's narrative of having people take responsibility for their wrongs is a core theme of the game, but I really wanted to let him go and forget about him there.

The changes to the ending I did like as they give a little bit more info about how they banded together to break the real world's cognition, and broke MC out of prison. It's also a nice coming-of-age milestone how each of them come to head with their own struggles in drifting apart and becoming the person they really want to be... But I don't like how they don't have a road trip together to drive MC home! That was such a cute and sweet ending to me! Instead he just takes the train back so we can insert the tacked on characters for a 0.5 second cameo?

After finishing 'Confessions of a Mask', I'm sure you will write about your Gay Agenda Mishima.

Overall, I can't say I hated Royal but I can't say it was good, either. It was a good experience, but there was just so much nitpicking I was doing in the background that probably made me seem like I loathed it, haha. I did platinum it though so now I have to play all the spin-off games I own.

As an ending note, Hifumi best girl.

[tunabesimpin]

TUNA CONGRATS ON THE MILESTONE!!! I MIGHT HAVE ACCIDENTALLY SENT AN ASK BEFORE I FINISHED TYPING-

you can crucify me and like stab me for that I don’t mind-

Omg your art has this cute bouncy quality to it, I love love love it!!!!! It’s so cute??? But also has this paintery quality to it, I totes dig it!!!!

Tuna’s overblot design? Pogging-

You’re super cool and I am high key shivering in my boots typing this out to you-

Erm for the event can I get Ceru Marple?

Fav thing to do in the summer would be reading a good book in the shade. It’s an excellent time to read, with the sunlight warming their skin.

What they would do at the party? Beach volleyball sounds super fun! They’ll love to play~ whoever’s on the opposite team is going to get destroyed/j

Their Favourite colour is light blue!

Ceru plans to wear swimming trunks and a jacket over it. Y’all gotta pay for the midriff/j

They’ll bring along sunscreen, and a cooler bag full of cold drinks! Well, perhaps some interesting potions mixed within…

Can I bring you as a plus one/j

Most likely I’ll bring Grim! Convinced him with tuna, what else-

THANK YOU SO MUCH ANS CONGRATS ON THE MILESTONE!!’n

--- The sun was harsh, but Ceru was prepared! Quickly setting up under one of the breach umbrellas they were quick to get their sunscreen and jacket ready. After setting up the volleyball net with Leona, Tuna trotted over to see Ceru. "Hey!!! I'm so glad you could make it!!! When I got your RSVP I was so happy!" The smile on Tuna's face seemed to stretch for miles. Leona yelled out from the makeshift volleyball court "Come on we don't have all day, are you two playing or not?" After a nod of agreement from Ceru and Grim, the two followed after Tuna to the court. "Alright!" Tuna exclaimed "It'll be me, Ceru and Grim VS Leona and Ruggie!" With a smug grin Leona questioned "What? you guys get a third and we don't? seems a bit unfair doesn't it... Well whatever, we'll still win against you pipsqueaks" The trio grimaced at the snide remark but readied themselves on their side of the net. "You're gonna eat those words Leona!" Tuna wailed as they set the ball. The game was heating up! Players running about the field and tumbling through the sand. Tuna performed a few exaggerated shots, yelling 'ROLLING THUNDER' after some rolls. Leona retorted with a hard spike, but Ceru was able to catch the ball! However, the pure strength behind the shot sent the ball flying up high. Tuna and Grim both reach for the ball, but end up missing the receive! Depth perception be damned this ball was gone! Point for Leona & Ruggie. The game went on plenty, but it was quite an easy win for the two opposing jocks. I mean they do play Magift and train constantly, it should be no surprise. Ceru, Tuna and Grim collapse to the sand a sigh of defeat resonates through the air. "Welp..." Tuna sighed but gave a light hearted chuckle "Don't worry team! We'll win the next one for sure!" "THE NEXT ONE?!" Grim and Ceru exclaim, not understanding Tuna's never ending energy. ---

AAAA THANK YOUUUUU SO SO MUCH FOR UR KIND WORDS AAAAA IM GLAD U ENJOY MY ART AND EVERYHTING AAAA <3 I APPRECIATE IT ALL SM TOT <3 & dw!!! I don';t see any extra/ double asks so ur all good! ALSO YESS I HAD SM FUN DOIN THE OVERBLOT IT WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I NORMALLY DO SO IM GLAD U LIKED IT SO!

Ceru is so pretty aaauughh!!! My heart!!! I wasn't sure of their pronouns or anything so i kept it gender neutral i hope thats ok!!! I wanted us to win so badly but bro ain't no way against the savanaha claw duo LMAOOOO I'm sure after all that exercise tho a nice book and drink to relax with will feel much more gratifying!!!

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR COMING TO THE PARTY AAAA

[allthingsfangirl101]

The Star of Our Story–Keys

"Popping today and not in a good way. Sales for Free City 2 continue to slip with numerous reports of bugs in the code and lagging online play."

I looked away from my makeshift desk at Millie's kitchen table to see Keys and Millie watching the news. Ever since Keys streamed Guy finding Keys' and Millie's build in Free City, everything in the news has been about Soonami's fall from grace.

When Keys first started working at Soonami, Antwan needed a new graphic designer. Keys recommended me. A week later, we were working at Soonami together. I didn't know much about Millie. Keys met her at college and they seemed to instantly click.

He talked about building a game with her and often asked my opinion on designs. I sent him a couple, but I'm not sure if he ever used them. He used to talk about their game every time we talked. A few months before he started working at Soonami, he stopped talking about it. The one time I brought it up, he instantly brushed it off. I didn't bring it up again.

A few weeks ago, he asked me about one of the NPCs I helped design. I looked into Blue Shirt Guy and noticed something was off about him. Keys and I looked more into it and eventually discovered that Guy's AI had changed.

"Embattled Soonami game founder Antwan Hovachelik finds himself in the crosshairs."

"Crosshairs," Keys chuckled. "He's in the crosshairs and embattled."

"We're too busy to gloat," Millie sighed.

"I'm a victim! I'm a victim!" Antwan yelled to the camera.

"Victim," I scoffed. "Yeah right."

Keys and I shared a glance. I looked away, going back to working on one of our new characters.

"Speaking of busy," Mouser said, "we just doubled the amount of unique visitors we can handle. It's amazing. Who'd have thought that so many people would just wanna watch video game characters instead of shoot at them?"

Keys and Millie stared at him for a second, holding back their laughs. "Oh yeah," Keys chuckled, "we did."

"Yeah," Millie giggled. "You know, you're pretty cute when you brag."

My breath got stuck in my throat when Millie patted his shoulder and walked away. I looked over when I felt someone staring at me. Mouser was watching me, nothing but pity on his face.

Mouser was the only one who knew about my feelings for Keys. I never told him. He just knew. A couple of months before Millie's venture, Keys, Mouser, and I were at an office party. Keys was talking to another graphic designer and I was having one too many beers. Mouser just walked up to me and told me he knew about Keys and me.

                              ~•~

"But seriously," he laughed as he poured himself another drink, "how long have you been in love with your best friend, Y/N?"

"I don't know what you mean," I scoffed, finishing my drink.

"Come on, Y/N," Mouser sighed. "It's not like I'm going to tell him. But I figured it might be nice to have someone to vent to."

"I'm fine," I brushed off. I started to walk away but stopped. "You promise you won't tell him?"

"Of course," Mouser promised.

                              ~•~

"Anyone else want a coffee?" I asked, standing up. "I suddenly am dying for anything with caffeine and foam."

"Not your usual?" Mouser asked. I looked over at him and glared. "Medium coffee, cream, two sugars?"

"Sometimes you just want something fluffy," I said through my teeth. I grabbed my wallet and left Millie's apartment. I slowly walked down the street to the coffee shop Keys and I grew up going to.

"Y/N, wait up."

"Leave me alone, Mouser."

"Come on, Y/N," he sighed. He gently grabbed my wrist and spun me around. "You gotta talk about this."

"No, I don't," I said, pulling my wrist out of his hand.

"You and Keys. . ." He started.

"There's nothing to talk about," I cut him off quickly. I wrapped my arms around myself and took a shaky breath.

"Y/N," he started again.

"Please," I cut him off again. "I don't want to talk about this, Mouser."

"Alright," he said, putting his hands up in defense. "At least let me help you carry four coffees back to the apartment."

We started walking down the street, but I could feel Mouser continually glancing at me.

"Besides," I sighed, "it's not like he would ever have feelings for me."

"Why not?"

"Because we've known each other since we were little," I explained, "which means he's seen me through my awkward stage, through every stupid crush, through every heartbreak. Why would he want me?"

"Because you've known each other since you were little," Mouser shrugged, throwing my words back at me. "I've seen how he is with you, Y/N. He's protective, but that's not a surprise. You guys have so many inside jokes, it's actually annoying."

"Why would he want me?" I asked again, this time under my breath. "I don't understand coding. I don't understand AI. I don't get all of this programming. All I do is design characters. You guys are the ones who program and create them. The point is I'm not like you guys. . . I'm not Millie."

"Y/N," Mouser sighed. "I've said this over and over again. Keys does not have feelings for Millie. They're just friends."

"I should just leave."

"What?" Mouser grabbed my wrist again and stopped me. "Y/N, you can't just leave. Don't you think that's a little irrational?"

"What's the point of me sitting on the sidelines for Keys' and Millie's love story when I know I'm just a supporting character?"

"What if you're not 'just a supporting character'? What if you're actually the star of the love story?"

"I'm not," I scoffed. "Besides, it's not like anyone would care if I left."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah," I scoffed, "I'm sure about that."

"Why don't you ask him if he would care?"

I turned around to see Keys standing behind us. By the look on his face, I could tell he had heard way more than I wish he had.

"Keys," I stuttered. "It wasn't what it sounded like. . . I mean, I can explain. . ."

"I'll let you guys talk," Mouser said, looking between the two of us. He cleared his throat before walking back to Millie's apartment. I crossed my arms over my chest, no idea what I could say or how this would go.

"How much did you hear?" I finally asked.

"I followed you guys from Millie's apartment."

"So, everything?" I asked.

"Yes," he said softly. I looked away, not wanting to see the look on his face.

"You don't have to say anything," I said, looking at my feet. "In fact, let's just pretend that I didn't say anything. Let's pretend that. . ."

"How could you think I wouldn't care if you left?" He cut me off. "Y/N, look at me."

Suddenly, his feet came into view. He used his finger to slowly lift my chin until I was looking at him.

"Mouser was right," he whispered, still holding my face.

"What do you mean?" I asked under my breath. I gasped when he leaned down and pressed his lips delicately to mine. I was so shocked, I could barely kiss him back. When I finally wrapped my head around what was happening, I slowly started to kiss him back. We broke apart, neither one of us being able to breathe.

"How could you think you were 'just a supporting character' in my love story?" Keys asked, his voice soft. "You're clearly the star of it."

[cvbullshit]

I just realized that I'm getting busy again in art related sections and other stuff

I gotta make shit for a game

Gonna do a drawing collab with Alicia

Gotta make a new design for Ballora

Has the urge to draw Mafiafell and Dream

I wanna go to my friend's play, whenever that is

I need to plan a party on March 9th

I gotta draw or type up a special surprise relating to CV Dust and Geno

I wanna draw up different animatics

I wanna make more art in general

Not to mention all the other stuff I started and have yet to finish

*fandub Eggman dying noises*

[brekkie-e]

I will probably be pretty quiet on here till I finish the game. But preliminary thoughts:

Insane how much my favorite character line up has shifted since EA. I will not go anywhere without Shadowheart and Wyll now. Karlach as well. I dont even remember who Gale is. Astarion might only be in my party because I feel legally obligated to include him.

I might have to change my years long plan to romance Epi with Astarion because Wyll is 1. A good man™️ and 2. Their narratives are accidentally perfect foils. It's emotionally destroying me.

I came here expecting Karlach to be my Larian assigned girlfriend, and somehow I left commited body and soul to My Wife, Shadowheart.

Mutli-classing Bard and Sorcerer is everything I dreamed of.

Magic items + the right builds make for god tier game play.

On a character design level, I find great joy knowing tieflings are spiked EVERYWHERE. I mean it sounds uncomfy but gotta love the uniqueness.

[pikespendragon67]

Work today was also...a thing, so for now I'll destress by talking about my current interests to see if folks wanna talk about them! Gonna list them individually

Anime seasonals:

Vampire Dies in No Time: It's fun knowing the seiyuu for this. Some jokes are hit or miss (such is the fate of comedies), and I like when it touches on more heartfelt moments. Usually watch the newest episode during my lunch breaks on Mondays

Vinland Saga: God seeing Thorfinn's character development is fucking beautiful. Canute's slowly becoming one of my favorite characters.

Revenger: Originally got into this for Teppa (if you know, you know), and I like the seiyuu cast, but it's...boring, I think? Either that or I've watched too many anime to really get hyped for this kind of stuff. Not wacky or bloody enough to keep my interest, so it's just background noise for Thursday lunches

Urusei Yatsura: Same with Vampire. I would have this as my lunch break anime if HiDive had a pop out player/mini player/whatever it's called

Hero Academia: HOOOOOOOOO DARK ARC SO GOOOOOOOOOD.

Trigun Stampede: Love how expressive the 3D animation is, and some of the new elements surprised me. I still miss Millie, and wish we had more time to really explore character dynamics/world building

Nier Automata: "hm not sure how they'd cover all the endings-IS THAT REPLICANT"

To Your Eternity just ended its second season last week. I didn't cry like I did with the first season, but this arc had a nice conclusion. ...Rushed a bit with the "where are they now?" part, but eh

Then I'm currently going through Iruma during the lunch breaks where a seasonal anime doesn't air. Pretty charming so far. I tried getting back into watching '98 Trigun, but I lost my place and I don't feel like starting all the way from episode 1 again. If HiDive allowed it, I'd probably watch the rest of Big O or Moribito next. I thiiiink after Iruma I'll have to figure out what to watch next.

Games:

SO HELP ME I WILL GET THROUGH OCTOPATH 2-

Nah but for real, I always think I have enough time to play it on my Switch during my lunch break, but nope. Hour's too short I say. I just finished recruiting all 8 party members and I'm currently in the middle of Throne's chapter 2/intel digging. I like the spruced up mechanics like the day/night cycle, but god I wish we could change party members on the fly to make level grinding easier.

The game collecting spark rose again as I got reminded of the eShop closing on March 27th. I have a few titles I say I need for the sake of having them before it's too late, but eh, nothing so incredibly urgent that I gotta have it now (already got those games. Thanks 2020 Pikes for getting me into this hobby). I almost got 999 on DS, but I already have that on PS4 (I feel iffy getting the same game on different consoles unless it's like a remake for a game that's old) & I've already gotten some other games.

Paranormasight's really got me interested. I'm not really one for horror media, but I absolutely love the character designs

And then I've just been plushie collecting, too

so ye

[overgrownmoon]

tag game!!!

tagged by @nosongunsung11 !!!

share your wallpaper: my lock screen is a group photo of a bunch of my friends at a party, and my home screen is a selfie of my n my bf in front of a space shuttle!

last song you listened to: better in the morning by birdtalker

currently reading: i constantly have like 5 different books in progress at the same time, i can never just pick one at a time. some of them include entangled life by merlin sheldrake and japanese design by patricia j graham

last movie you watched: fuck i think it was puss in boots the last wish. 1 braincell

craving: chocolate,,, and cock

what are you wearing right now: p'jammies

how tall are you: i am 5'1" i am SMALL

piercings: on my ears i have 2 lobes and my cartilage pierced, theyre still healing tho

tattoos: not yet! but!! me n my mom are gonna go and get quotes soon!!!

glasses? contacts?: both! i swap between them depending on how I feel/how lazy i am.

last drink: woter

last show: me n my bf were watching castlevania together before the end of the semester we gotta finish it

favorite color: i fucking love pink and i will never apologize

current obsession: been obsessing over hollow knight for the past year, also getting into rain world

unrelated obsession: gamefreak may be shitting the bed big time rn but i fucking love pokemon, i never outgrew it i love them little dudes

any pets: a cat named daisy and a dog named red!

do you have a crush on anyone: ,my bf? of course. obsessed w he

favorite fictional characters: hornet, the hollow knight, little ghost, medic tf2, link and zelda (do not separate them), jessie james and meowth (DO NOT SEPARATE THEM), and all of the blorbos that live in my head :)

last place you traveled: johnson space center in houston!

im not gonna tag anyone bc honestly idk who to tag, but if you see this feel free to participate!

[wispythreads]

THE CLINIC

(full disclosure even though I'd rather not have this count

Oh yeah I can eat and game at the same time nothing can possibly go wrong :)

*walks straight into a bouquet of grenades in the Cloud*

...

I had an audience and I didn't want them to be bored waiting on me to finish my food first, my first death in the Sierra Madre. It was stupid and easy to spot when I went through and was actually paying attention to the game.)

Dean has been taking out the Ghost People pretty easily, and has been actually decapitating a few, so I don't even have to run over and slice off their heads myself sometimes. Thanks, buddy!

Alright this was pretty easy to figure out last time, we'll just have the Hologram patrol the first floor and then go up to the second floor after-

I can't find the right terminal. He's just standing and watching the stairway I need to go up when I use this terminal to get him onto the first floor.

...

ok guess I'm dodging and weaving between doorways when he's got his back turned let's go-

AHHH HE SAW ME *Ducks into a doorway, shuts the door, dives behind desk* just gotta wait here until he- *Dean walks out through the doorway, gunshots go off* DEAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET BACK HERE

This happened twice. Dean picked a fight with a Hologram after warning me that attacking them wouldn't do anything and was predictably knocked out. Twice.

To give him some credit though he did only do that when I triggered the security into going all Red Destroyer mode, so I guess it was more out of a 'companion is being attacked help them now' kind of goal.

Survived that, have the Assassin's Armor now which is pretty cool, and Christine has joined the party!

Now that I'm playing my comfort build that is more designed around speech/intelligence based skills, it was easier to actually communicate with her and get her backstory. I did manage this the first time around with my action-build, but, y'know, had to rely on mentats and magazines.

Also she had an interaction with God, which I didn't see last time around! Not a pleasant one as he was. Well. being him and it came across as threatening enough that she reflexively went into a fighting stance. But still neat to see.

Gang is all gathered at the fountain now! Next time will be setting them up in their right spots. Probably will start with Dog/God like last time and hopefully get some more experience to level up with before helping Christine.

Starting Lvl: 1* Current Lvl: 5 (Citizen) Death Counter: 2

[softlittleheartsandsparkles]

how do you start a hobby like the one you do? I'm scared to try something like that and mess it all up...

If this is more like psychological fear, I'd say just take it slow... Like my first one I've ever done was really rough. (It was a seahorse who's body portions weren't right... He was huge compared to the piece of aida I was working on. I was suppose to have room for 3. >.> he was a big boy. There wasn't room for three. lol) I think when you try something new, and your learning a new skill, it's better to just do the activity as a journey/experience rather than trying to focus on it looking "perfect". Like think about a MMO or something were your doing a quest, your new to the game. The experience is finding the item the npc requested, it doesn't matter how you go to it or how long it took you to find the item, you return the quest & You had the experience that makes you wanna keep playing. Crafts to me are similar, only you have no npc on the other end waiting. It's easy to criticize what your doing, or even become paralyzed with fear and not try it because your worried about it not looking right. But I think sometimes reframing the thought as rather then this is a artsy- craftsy, I gotta be good at this sorta thought. Just think of it as this is just an experience, and I wanna see where it goes. My first project as I mentioned was pretty rough, but I really liked cross stitch. (I love looking at peoples finished works) and cause I have some experience doing other crafts (drawing, painting) I do try to use the thing I mentioned before which is try to recognize when I'm new to something, I'm *new*, so I try to remind myself I'm not going to be as good as someone who's been doing cross stitch for 10 years, or someone who was taught as a wee one & there now a fully grown adult in whatever stage of life. Its not fair to compare myself or hold myself to those standards. I'm also not actually comparing myself properly cause I can't see there original (first) works. Why compare myself to someone who's mastered something - and me someone whos a novice. Thats not fair to either party & it also puts unnecessary stress no one else is applying to me. What I do instead is pick out aspects I like about cross stitch & try to notice when I feel confident/happy. I also find noticing how cross stitch makes me feel (the activity) really makes it more benfictional compared to just being 'oh i'm sorta better at it now". & what I mean by feel is I mean like, for me cross stitch helps me tap into that mindful/relaxed feeling. I find it enjoyable, even the ripping up stitches aspect. (meaning I don't view this as a 'ugh. *hates this aspect of the craft so much I'll abandon it*' aspect.) I also like that its a hobby I can pick up a lot and keep adding too it, compared to like drawing where there's a point when you feel like you gotta stop, or in water color, a point to where the paper is like 'no more water please!' 'Oi! I don't think you heard me, anymore water and i'm about to no longer be paper!' xD Sorry I started rambling. I'd say if your nervous, just try it, you can find really easy (small) freebies online, DMC, kofi, there's designers who will offer out freebies for different holidays. (Shannon Christines does really nice easy looking freebies for holidays. Just the pattern, you have to get the supplies yourself.) Viewing stuff as an experience or journey has helped me a lot more, rather then tips like: trying to ignore my feelings/attempt to push thru them. Cause it can affirm your fears or hesitant if you do "mess" up or you are unhappy with how you finished. If I can pick and pull apart aspects I like even if my first project wasn't the "best", and that leaves me feeling satisfied or even better it helps me create a goal, or drives my interest to keep trying. I like that a lot more. :3