#but it would have been nice ya know

[moeblob]

Rey, who is in my very biased opinion, one of the funniest "girls" I have because she's just a guy, truly. Like Rey is just short for Reynold because he was recruited by a a goddess to help the hero she selected and the hero is conveniently Reynold's younger brother. So he agrees to help under the condition that the goddess gives him a female body for the other world. She's like "really odd flex but whatever" and gives him a female form and he's like "you know. I can't really blame anyone but myself for not specifying 'please don't turn me into a Lisa Frank personification'."

[deiaiko]

#19.3 Unravel

It had been some time since Agni felt this nervous. Not even talking with Jinsung Ha recently had made him feel like this. He fiddled with the mask on his hand as he waited for Grace to come back. He had thought hard on how to deliver the news, but he knew that no matter how he phrased it, Grace would be upset. Velt nuzzled under his palm and Agni gave her a few pats, before deciding that she would be better inside her bowl in his lighthouse, just in case the shinsu acted up around Grace after he received the news.

Grace came back wearing the comfiest shirt and shorts Agni knew Grace liked to wear on lazy days. He joined him on the floor, and they ate dinner together. Agni always finished last, so while waiting for him to finish his meal, Grace told him about his day with Bam. Grace was intrigued by how much his way of thinking had changed, and how glad he was to be able to be by Bam's side when he was having a bad day. It reminded Agni of the hidden floor, when Grace faced his sworn enemy.

They left the used bowls on the coffee table and went to brush their teeth. Afterwards, they turned off the light and went upstairs to sit on their bed. Grace's curious gaze never left him, and Agni curled his feet nervously.

Grace was the one who broke the silence. "So…what is it?"

Agni's breath hitched. This was the part he dreaded most. "I talked with the crocodile earlier. Did you know that he could manipulate stone already?"

"Huh." Grace needed a few seconds to let the information sink in. "Didn't Rak learn it on the Hell train? How does he know it?"

"Turns out our crocodile also traveled back to the past like us. He found the young crocodile and taught him."

"What?!" Grace gasped, wide eyed. "That means our Rak is–!!"

"He's dead." Agni quickly snuffed out that hope. They had been in delusion for long enough; it was time that they faced the bitter truth. "He suffered a fatal injury from the explosion. He couldn't have lasted long without proper help." Agni omitted the actual cause for Rak's death, but still kept his words true. "I'm sorry."

"…Oh." Grace looked lost, just like Agni was. His lips parted a little, but they closed before any sound escaped.

Agni gently squeezed Grace's hand, encouraging and comforting as he let the silence stretch on, giving Grace some time to process the information.

"Agni…" Grace whispered, "do you think Hatz and Isu…?"

Agni bit his lip and avoided his gaze, as the nightmare of that day replayed in his mind. He witnessed Hatz get his arm ripped off when trying to protect him. He could still recall the clang of a sword hitting the floor, and Hatz's suppressed scream that gnawed deep at his guilt. He witnessed Isu get beheaded after being taken hostage, the memory of warm blood painting them both still vivid like it happened yesterday. 

Agni refused to acknowledge their possible deaths, because it felt like a nightmare that one day he could hopefully wake up from. He avoided the topic when Grace brought it up, so he wouldn't have to say it aloud and make it real. He had been so hard on himself, because he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had failed Grace and everyone else involved.

Agni knew this had to change if he wanted to live better, now that they had gotten a second chance. So he swallowed down the lump in his throat that had built up over the years and asked mostly to himself; "What are the odds of their survival?"

"There's always a chance–"

"Grace." Agni looked him straight in the eye. "They were already severely injured before the explosion hit."

Grace fell silent and went still.

Agni felt a pang of guilt upon witnessing Grace's reaction. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Agni fiddled with his hands. He realized that he didn't know how much Grace knew of what happened. "My scar…do you know how I got it?"

"I…was told it was from the family heads' battle." Grace looked thoughtful. Agni knew he was trying to be careful with his words. "A stray attack?"

"It could have been worse." The memory of the scorching heat on his skin felt like it had only happened yesterday. He passed out right when he was about to heal Isu, and only found out later that he also lost sweetfish at that time. The days he spent recovering from the burn, to withstand the excruciating pain every second he was conscious, and finally coming to terms that it'd be a permanent scar, was one of the turning points that had changed him forever. Were Grace not there to care for him, he might have ended up destroying himself even more.

Agni hadn't realized he had his left hand clawing on his cheek until Grace pried his hand off and frowned, "You're doing it again."

"Maybe I should wear the mask…" Agni muttered to himself. After all, Grace gave it to him less so he could hide the scar but more to prevent him from unconsciously hurting himself. The only time he could safely take it off was when Grace was around.

Agni bit his lip nervously when Grace didn't reply. He no longer had the courage to look Grace in the eye that spoke so much concern, so he leaned close and rested his head on Grace's chest. "Rak, Isu, Hatz and Hwaryun were trying to get me out of that damned place. But we were caught while escaping, and…it was a bloodbath. I was…too occupied to react to the incoming heat. Rak shielded us from the explosion. And when I woke up…"

"They weren’t with you," Grace finished it for him after Agni trailed off a moment too long.

Agni nodded dazedly, "I've been telling myself that they're still alive, after a blow that could kill rankers. But…who am I kidding? I was lucky enough to survive with just this little–" Agni vaguely pointed to himself– "inconvenience."

Agni felt a hand gripping his arm, and he pulled away to see Grace looking at him with a pained expression. His eyes were glossy and his lips were pulled into a thin line. Trusting his instinct, Agni reached out to gently trace and cup Grace's cheek with his free hand.

"I'm sorry," Agni muttered. "I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner."

Agni silently witnessed tears that streamed down on his love's face. It was a bitter sight that Agni wished he'd never have to see again, that he had tried to avoid for so long by not telling him. He pulled Grace in and held him close to his chest, as if Agni was trying to gather his own crumbled heart back together.

Grace mumbled their late best friends' names as he held onto him tighter, shaking from each breath he took between sniffles.

Agni felt his own eyes sting with unshed tears. He remembered the years he spent climbing the tower together with his old team. Despite their banter being his source of headaches, Agni knew he too had come to acknowledge them as his cherished friends. Only when they were gone did Agni realize how much he'd miss having them around. Seeing the younger them didn't exactly close the gaping hole in his heart, but at least the emptiness was more filled.

Agni squeezed Grace tighter. "We have their younger selves with us now. We will protect them better this time."

Grace only nodded and sank further into his embrace. And Agni planted kisses on his hair, relishing the thought that after everything he had gone through, Grace was still a constant in his life. As long as he had him, everything would be okay.

When Grace started shaking again, Agni caressed his hair and hummed a comfort song they had known by heart. Still, it didn't make falling asleep any easier for Agni, especially not after admitting that his nightmare was very much real. However, as he had been through grief…this, too, would pass.

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[lady-harrowhark]

listing stuff for resale online and i'm just... so tired of taking pictures. cropping pictures. taking measurements. weighing out postage. finding boxes. writing descriptions. i'm so tired.

[mokeonn]

One of my favorite things about being in my early 20s is that I'm starting to understand that I can use things not for their intended purpose. When you're growing up, you get told what an object is and what its intended purpose is, and as a kid/teen, I just accepted all of it at face value. As a young adult it's finally clicking that I can simply do things a different way if it makes me happier. Sure, I was taught that you stand to take a shower, but there's nothing stopping me from just sitting if I don't feel like it, ya know? I might have always had my medication in the kitchen, but if I'm no longer remembering to take it, I can just move it somewhere where I can remember. You don't have to specifically store all food in the kitchen, you can have a little snack cart or snack station in another room.

The downside to finding out the various ways you can use objects is that you develop habits that would probably go on an r/relationships post where everyone says you're a little freak.

[witchhazelevesque]

What a wasted opportunity to not give Jason a set of twin blades, one bronze and one gold

[dazzle02]

Ya know, I'd be genuinely interested in what the reaction would've been if Buck had got with another male character on the show other than Eddie. Like, one that the fans already loved. Someone like Ravi or Albert. A character who people already love and were wanting more of, but ISN'T Eddie. And like, have pretty much the same exact story of Buck not really understanding why he wants this persons attention, maiming Eddie and all that. All the "controversial" moments still happen. But here, Buck is the older one. In fact, with Albert they've got about the same age gap as Buck and Tommy, only Buck is the older one. Albert was 20 when he first appeared in the show in S3 and Buck would've been 28/29ish. So it would've been a similar age difference. But we would never have them calling Buck a predator or anything. Because they're very aware that they're all adults. But it does make me wonder what the reaction would've been.

Having Buck realise he's bisexual and start dating a guy, and it's not Eddie, but it IS a character they claim to love. And there's no sign of it not lasting. No actual sign of Bvdd!e happening. All signs point towards this relationship lasting a while.

Would they start hating on this character they've always loved beforehand? Because we all know that the main reason so many of them hate Tommy is because they see him as a threat to their ship.

But like, imagine Buck and Albert for some reason started dating (which I could never actually see but I do know some people have shipped this...) and BUCK said the things that made people decide they wanted Tommy to be killed. They'd have a completely different reaction.

This is just something I was thinking about last night while I was trying to go to sleep... 🤣

[raycatz]

Two hours left!!! The campers went home yesterday and today we're doing the final cleaning up of camp. Cleaning and closing program areas and units, dashing for trash, cleaning the camp vehicles, cleaning kitchen, the dining hall, etc. We're going to get to "shop" through the leftover kitchen food to take home later yaaaay!!!! Then we clear our stuff out of the staff house and leave TAT

[flockoff]

(Happy belated birthday to me :) ) Thank you guys for the wonderful year. I haven't been able to post as much lately-but I just wanted to-well I wanted to take a picture of the beans with a cupcake. I'll do a more proper retrospective of the year in my main channel, but--this little devil may cry side blog, though small and less frequent in updates than I would like--has been really nice, and really encouraging honestly. I've actually made some progress on a possible webcomic, and I do think--part of that confidence did come from the support over here. So here's to the next year, and who knows, maybe we'll get something during the next game showcase. 🥂✨

[snowballthekitteninwonderland]

This is for like, the maaaaybe other 10??? 7??? People who even know this series. And I will most likely still be The Black Sheep™, of this niche fandom, first of all, bc I envision the character both design wise and writing wise completely different from canon, and second, most importantly, bc oh boy.....Amy Gumm, how I hate your canon yet you have such a special place in my heart.... it Dorothy Must Die books have 1 hater that's me, if Amy Gunn has 1 fan that's me.....

I've always had a love-hate relationship with these books. Even when I first read 'em back when I was 15 I was raging constantly at the terrible writing, infantile edginess, rice paper like "deep dark" aesthetic, yet the concept itself was so good, I kept raging and also making my own version alongside it in fury. "no, you author!!! Dorothy shouldn't be the original Dorothy But Now Turned Evil Just Bc™ (and also constantly demonizing femininity and sexyness while at it was and is disgusting and pure hypocrisy bc you yourself are idolizing the color pink, but only doing so via a traditionally masculine lens and demonizing it's feminity), it should be her own abusive mother or at least have her face!! Make Amy all a-ok with committing murder but the moment she faces her she's terrified bc her mother is Her Personal Monster™, make her bi (or better yet, a comphet lesbian) and let her explore her orientation, make her love interest Ozma, the only character that had no ulterior motive towards her and make EdgyBoy n. 173374919172737289 her platonic friend where she can find comfort in as they had similar experiences with abusive mothers gdi", and many more things. God I absolutely despise the ending, it was the rotten cherry on top of a trash ice cream.

But I love Amy. I will always do. She reminds me of my own mom so much, their personalities couldn't be more different, but some of the emotions and experiences she describes within the pages echo so much of the tales she's told me of her youth, of her rage and frustration and fear and depression in her abuse filled past. I wanna give her an ending where she reclaims her autonomy from the emotional chains that bind her.

Also design wise I always pictured everything as some ever so slightly edgy looking cartoon a la old black & white animated shorts. or idk, Cuphead mixed with Bendy. hence the cartoonish like style.

[altruistic-meme]

if you could... describe aftg in 5 words

oh this is not as easy a question to answer as it should be akfhsdkf bc like. i could describe its plot, or my thoughts on it as a fan, or how it makes me feel, or just make a joke, or or or and bc idk why you're asking it makes it harder :'))

but let's see...

plot: gay sports mafia found family.

fan: drama, familiarity, trauma, comedy, home

feelings: love, understanding, chaos, joy, comfort

joke: you know, i get it-

(as you can see, i couldn't pick which one to go with, so choose whichever 5 words you want lmao)

[faunandfloraas]

inadvertently stopped using my freckle fade cream without thinking.... right around the time i started making gifs of felix.... coincidence?

[wingedarchivist]

hmmm I've been thinking about changing the url of my sideblog, I've grown quite tired of archivistsotherstuff and would like something.... idk cooler DKLSF I've been thinking about it but still got no fun ideassss T-T

[gamebunny-advance]

Hi! Just popping in to say that you're wonderful! And plz don't feel pressured to change designs that you don't want to, or add details that is too much. Your art is yours, and your wellbeing comes first! Have a nice day/night!

Thank you for your kind intentions, but I didn't ask any (closed) questions on the survey about things that I was unwilling to change~ I have my preferences, but ultimately I do want to please as many people as possible.

These are the facts: NSR has a low amount of merch, fan-made or otherwise. The most substantial things are the plush, but all 3 were limited, and there's only 3 of the 16 main characters (12 if you count 1010 as 1 character). Even including the official stuff, you could probably count on less than one hand every piece of physical merch that has been made for any given character from the game.

My philosophy is this: I already draw whatever I want and post it for free for the enjoyment of the masses. All of my initial designs are already out there, so if I wasn't making them into keychains, then I've already achieved my usual goals when posting art.

But if I'm going to be one of the limited sources of merch, which is to say that I'm making something that people will pay for, then I want it to make the most amount of people happy. For some characters, I will be the only source of merch for them, so it oughtta be the best I can possibly make it.

I promise, I'm not doing anything that completely compromises my desires and/or values, and I will make every design in a way that will make me happy first, and hopefully y'all happy second. Because ultimately, I can't make *everyone* happy, so at the very least I need to make myself happy first and foremost, which I intend to do.

Sometimes it's just a matter of, "How do I do the thing they want, but in a way that pleases me?" Sometimes I can't do it (as was the case with Fyra's guitar), but I want to at least try to meet y'all half-way if I disagree with the masses.

[keeps-ache]

lost vocation: fish

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Yesterday I got the chance to go on the zip line, and I'm desperately afraid of heights but I still want to do things at heights, like the climbing wall or a high ropes course. And I've tried both of those things but quit very soon or before even starting, because I can't fucking do heights. But last night I got the chance to do zip line and I really wanted to, but was incredibly terrified.

So one of my dearest friends, a woman I deeply like and love, first reassured me (I was afraid I was too heavy for the zip line) and then said "Would it help if I went with you?" And yeah, she's one of the sweetest people I've ever met and she's an incredibly comforting presence, of course I said yes.

So we walked up to the zip line platform, and this is her job so she's very good at reassuring people (usually little children, but it worked for me too) who are scared to go on the climbing wall or zip line. So as I was trying to comfort myself, she told me how it would work, and that I could just sit and the harness would hold me, so I tried that and it helped, and she told me I could just lift my legs and I'd go. So I did, and she went at the same time as me, and

My god, the anxiety and the thrill, flying through the air with her next to me, seeing her wave at me as we went, getting off at the end and her asking, "So do you want to do it again?" And wanting to do it again with her, it was one of the most amazing feelings I've ever felt. I truly felt like I could've done anything I wanted with her by my side.

[smile-files]

(looking at inanimate insanity under a microscope) hmmmm i know there's a moral orel au in here somewhere......